Friday, May 13, 2005

happy friday, eh!?

Yesterday could not have gone smoother getting here. I did a long term parking deal at a BART station in the east bay (which saved me a good $20-$50 from the airport's long term parking), and it was easy as pie to hop on the shuttle from there to the airport, getting me there in plenty of time to wait in the ridiculously long security line (Oakland airport always seems a little out of control in that dept).

I was SUPER glad to have a 3 hour layover at JFK, because it was JUST enough time to go to baggage claim to get my suitcase from the first flight, take the airtrain to a diff terminal, check-in for my next flight and even grab a bite to eat. However, I must say here - what is up with JFK? Man, that place is crazy! I thought they'd have it more together there.. it's like a twilight zone! But no big deal, besides the piling us all on a third-world bus to drive us to our puddle jumper plane, it all worked out.

That flight left a tad late, but got in at the same time - and there was Kat! United at last! haha! I was afraid I wouldn't recognize her, but all I had to look out for was a girl who looked like someone I'd hang out with - and so as soon as I saw her striding towards me, I knew it was her... and she's awesome!

So we cabbed back to her place, chatting away (which is good, because you think - shit, what if I don't get along with this girl at all? Ya, *no* problems there!) and us already getting into a good stream of "wait, where was I?" and then helping each other back to our train of thoughts that spiral in 10 different directions, a mile a minute. We drop my stuff off, check out her place, I meet her Australian roomate, Cass, and Kat & I head out for dinner.

kat, showing me the sights of toronto

If any of you are familiar w/ Toronto, she lives near the Kensington Market, which is Chinatown/Little Italy area... very cool and eclectic, like our Mission (and our Chinatown I suppose, but not as crowded?). Lastnight we walked down College Ave. to a sushi place and then afterwards to her sweet local record shop, Soundscapes. Great little store, and nice people. Kat bought some records and we chatted w/ Marco, who works there. In fact, I just ran into Marco while getting coffee this morning. It's already feelin like a small town where I run into people who say "hey willo!" while I'm walking down the street - haha, how cool is that?

Kat got the new Guided by Voices, The Duke Spirit* and the new Spoon! Nice! I wanted to pick up the new Pony's, but didn't. I might have to go back for that. I also can't wait to get Feist (Jem, do you have that yet?).

*We picked up The Duke Spirit after I asked Marco if he'd heard of The Heartless Bastards yet... he said he'd heard some ppl ask about them, and it was in their listening stack so he popped it in. After hearing it he said it reminded him of the voice in The Duke Spirit, and so he popped that in & he was right - really similar. Except The Duke Spirit isn't as hard edged, it's more flowy and we liked it! So she picked it up. woohoo! Kat & I are stoked to swap some music this weekend.

Oh also when I mentioned Heartless Bastards, some guy said he just saw them live & they were really good - which is great to hear because I hate it when I start loving some band and find out they suck live... so I can't wait to check them out myself sometime!

It's pretty funny to hear how close knit the music scene is here. She's got stories about seeing, knowing and hanging out with everyone from Metric, Broken Social Scene, Arcade Fire, and Constantines. Where they work around town, who play where on random open mic nights, etc.

So ya, lastnight Kat & I met in person for the first time and holy shit, she was right. We are SO cut from the same cloth. She's rad. Lastnight was super fun, and the weekend is only beginning! Tonite she's having a dinner party so I get to meet her boyfriend and a couple of her friends, which will be very cool. Plus, apparently she's a crazy good cook! yay! I love it when people are good cooks AND they cook for me! So I'm so happy she's having this dinner party while I'm here. What she's making sounds amazing! woohoo!

So ya, today I'm finally up on the internut, after a slight delay - but I'm connected now! And listening to Bagel Radio's live show (you should tune in toO!). Alright... best see if I can get some work in today since this weekend there will be no working and tons of playing! yay!!!