Anything involving html means that several days will be lost dicking around with code. It’s like pig latin to me, so the process is purely trial and error for the most part. It’s like french class back in high school, and I barely passed that one. No wait – I actually flunked grade nine french, and had to repeat it in grade ten, at the “basic” level. The school where I lived organize things such that you would be sorted into ‘advanced’, ‘general’ or ‘basic’, because that’s gotta be good for self esteem, right? Basic kids were unpredictable, and I bet you a lot of them went on to do things they never would have imagined, even if the biggest accomplishment in basic french was to make a laminated placemat with french words all over it. Anyways, I used “fanbridge” to create a LNOYL mailing list you can subscribe to. They were the best providers of the bunch that I checked out, but I just couldn’t relate to their name and logo. I altered the html as much as I could to remove their ‘totally awesome’ logo. They still say that im ‘totally awesome’ and should ‘clap my hands’ when I log into my “fanbridge” account. Pretty campy, but it works well. I encourage you to subscribe to it – were going to send out our upcoming tracks for free this way, as well as blog updates (http://www.lnoyl.com/subscribe-to-mailing-list/).
Vinyl Collective
Rabid music fans can be found at vinyl collective. Thanks to everyone who participated in our promo, and we’ll announce the next one on the mailing list. Vinyl for all! People from Montreal to Texas are going to receive the first promo release of our vinyl L.P. (Yeah, I typed stuff on the back of the photo). Check it out: http://vinylcollective.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=49665&page=1
Rehearsals
Last week we parked a cube van up against one of those desolate highway motels – you know, the Hitchcock bungalow psycho styled joints. We rented a room and practised. Somehow we had left the guitar amp in Kingston, so I leaned my guitar into the dresser to amplify it. Yeah, I used a piece of furniture to amplify an electric guitar. You lean the headstock into an open drawer, push up into the corner, and the whole unit amplifies the strings. It worked best during the intros and verses, but I got drowned out at other times. The toilet in this place did not work very well. At least is was clean.
Considering what that thing is worth, im amazed that Kirk lets me mess around with the cello for photography. Hammer in the f-hole is the best shot so far, and so far, not a scratch.
Archives of Canada
So when you make a record, and manufacture the pressing yourself, the government of Canada views you the same as any other record label. One copy of everything you create must be submitted to the National Archival library, and we got a letter a few weeks ago telling us that we are obligated to send the album in. I had no idea this library existed, or that there was such a law, and I don’t mind the idea of it. As an archival medium, vinyl is great. It is impervious to the effects of magnetic disruptions that render tape or hard drives useless, and it still works even if its surface degrades, unlike CD’s. And you don’t need advanced technology to decipher its contents. Any sharp, thin piece of metal (sowing needle or paperclip) attached to something hollow will reveal whats on the vinyl. Im putting a note inside the record, so that when the aliens come a millennium from now, they will know that a copy of the record has been set aside for them and is available for a spin – like at the end of Steven Spielberg’s A.I…
A month ago, I learned that I lived 20 minutes away from a nuclear bunker (http://www.lnoyl.com/2010/04/04/diefenbunker/ ). Yesterday I figured out that I also live 20 minutes from the Canadian archival library! Im totally set for Armageddon. So I took the record to the archive building yesterday. It’s got all these little windows on the outside, resembling port holes on an ocean vessel. The archival office was closed, but the first floor was still open for visitors. The security guy had this uncertain look on his face as it looked like I was taking photos of the floor. He said “just don’t use flash”.
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