Wellington

"Happy 2nd anniversary, thanks for the good times Miss Howell, now get out." That's my impression of my Aussie departure, anyway. 

Wellington is the national Capital and also known as the hub of arts and culture for New Zealand. Films are shot here, music gravitates here, museums are everywhere and often free. There are also apparently more cafes per capita than New York City--and bear in mind that this is a city of less than half a million people.

Of all of the places I've lived, this has been the easiest transition, except when it comes to finding work. That part sucks because everyone is on holiday for an entire month. I tried to order pizza today and they wanted to charge me $9 for delivery because it's a holiday. December 28th isn't a holiday, but there's no one around to deliver the pizza so I think they have someone fly over to get it to you.

 I immediately noticed how well people take care of others. The generosity is unprecedented for any Western country I've ever heard of. That also speaks to the sense of community within the arts and music scene. 

You can't go far without being smacked in the face with natural majesty. Cliffs, rolling hills, waterfront in the city centre, and a very apparent connection to the cultural roots of the Maori people. I'll  make a list of things that I have found notable and fill you in a bit later. Let me know if I forget something.

Moko (Maori tattoos)  

Finding a home & the cost of living

Job hunting

Cuba Street

San Francisco Bath House (a bar)

Bodega (another bar)

Radioactive (an independent radio station)

Food

Street art

Designers & Independent boutiques

Community markets & Crafting

Zine culture & Ladyfest

Insomnia (the all night music show every night on a station called C4)

Spontaneous kitchen dance parties.

Unrelenting fairy tale vibe throughout the city.

Photo: Heather Stewart. 

Simeon's Kiwi coffee @ The George hotel bar, Christchurch

November 2009

Melbourne

I have spent most of the last two years living here. It, like Wellington, is the cultural (and multicultural) hub of the country.  My feeling is that the heart of the city is in its laneways and its suburbs (i have a preference for the northern ones). One of my favourite things is the older architecture  and cobblestones in the laneways, and the mishmash of cultures. Here's a few things I'll talk about:

Favourite Suburbs

Favourite Streets (Lygon, Smith, Gertrude, Brunswick, etc)

Laneways & their best bits

Live Comedy

Live Music (Bars & bands)

Finding work/housing & the cost of living. --What to expect when you get here.

Triple J (though it is national)

Cinemas like the chain of Palace cinemas, the astor and the Rooftop

Hamish & Andy 

Public Transit

RAGE (the all-weekend music show on ABC) and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation 

Crafters & Favourite Indie Boutiques, galleries and other shops

Op shopping

"Three Thousand, " online gig guides and other great websites.

Photo: Nicole Shaw.

In the lounge room of my first home in Northcote, Melbourne. 

Housewarming party during Earth Hour, March 2008.

Toronto

I went home for the summer (May through September) and spent virtually every other weekend in Toronto. If you are into music or television and you're in Canada, this is where you will end up. I heard somewhere that Toronto is the most multicultural city per capita in the world. That might be total crap but it sounds right. When I go back to Canada next year I imagine there's a good chance I'll be living there.

This list thing seems to be working. Here we go. Let's talk about:

The Annex, Kensington Market and other favourite neighbourhoods

Sneaky Dees,  The Horseshoe, Rancho Relaxo, Lee's Palace and other favourite rock bars

Canadian Music Week & NXNE

Red Room, All you can eat sushi,  & other favourite food places.

Pages & other book stores

Rotate This & other record shops

The Edge radio station

Public Transit

Photo: Kara Watts

Rancho Relaxo upstairs, Toronto, March 2007

Montreal

My first trip all by myself away from home was a visit to my aunt in Montreal when I was 13. I got my period on that trip, much to my aunt's dismay. 

Perhaps that is why I haven't spent as much time there as I'd like, residual trauma?  I visited briefly when I was at home, and have been several times on tour or to visit friends. Every time I go I tell myself to spend more time there.

Montreal is also special for a few reasons, aside from feminine rites of passage. When my mother first moved to Canada from London, this is where she lived. Mom put herself through school and worked at the Jewish General Hospital. I think this might be why I grew up familiar with as as much yiddish as silly English phrases like "knee-high to a grasshopper" or "silly buggers." This could also explain my soft spot for Jewish men and why I deeply envied my best friend in middle school while she prepared for her bat-mitzvah. 

My Dad is an Anglophone (speaker of English--when he's not trying to act like Deniro or Pacino) from Montreal. He met my mother in a health club and they danced and made spaghetti; and then me. And then my little brother. 

My favourite band from Montreal at the moment is a band called Parlovr. Their drummer used to be in another band called Shamus, whom I would visit as spontaneously as our first meeting in Toronto during Canadian Music Week. 

One time in particular, I had finagled my way onto a Cross-Canada tour to promote my magazine called FreezePeach with some bands. I bought a 30-day greyhound bus ticket, couch-surfed and backpacked my way West and back. After a particularly arduous experience, I had one day left and decided to visit Shamus in Montreal before it expired. 

One of the guys invited me over to their jam space where they were rehearsing. Immediately when I arrived, their reception was a breath of fresh air I desperately needed. They decided for me that I would stay for their show the following evening.  

Without hesitation, they put me up for the night, and paid for my ticket home; one of them even came back with me. I'll never forget that, unless I lose my mind, which, judging by the women in my family, is entirely possible. I will warn you never to play Monopoly with them though. They're bloody bastards when it comes to that game.

More recently, I rediscovered Jeremy playing for this band called Parlovr back at Canadian Music Week in  Toronto. Just as Shamus won my heart in about 5 seconds flat, Parlovr scooped me up immediately as though they'd fitted me with those magic dance shoes you've seen in the movies. 

They have a style that I feel stands out as being distinctly Montreal; gritty jangly guitar and synthesizer power-pop with loud yelps, gang vocals and very hard, loud, exciting drums.  Check them out at www.myspace.com/parlourmontreal

Photos: Ming Wu

Dancing to Parlovr 's set with Jacquie at Cafe Dekcuf, Ottawa 

I don't have any photos of Parlovr or Montreal; This is the closest we'll get for now.

Food Tattoos

August 15, 2009
August 31, 2009

Both done by Guen Douglas, now at 25 to Life Tattoo Studio, Rotterdam, Holland http://guendouglas.blogspot.com

The Maritimes

Perhaps responsible for our reputation as being kind people, The Maritime provinces of Canada are home of hospitality. Halifax, Nova Scotia is their biggest city. When I was on the road with a band called For the Mathematics, they ended up having a relatively significant fan base here. Enough to convince us to make the 20+ hour trip out there more than some places closer to home. Favourite stops included:

Halifax

Cape Breton

PEI

Moncton

Photos taken in Halifax, Nova Scotia 

and Charlottetown, Price Edward Island,

July 2005

Sydney

When I first arrived in Australia, I was in Sydney with my old friend Albert who had moved there earlier in the year. After he returned to Canada for a family wedding, we arranged to go back around the same time. We stayed with some of his family out in the Western suburbs. 

When I decided to venture out to a hostel in Bondi (some famous beach, I would later learn), he hung back until I found a room to rent near the city for the summer, and invited him to join me.

I found Sydney very challenging to get into. I managed to discover a few places but for the most part it seemed that you needed to know the right people to get into it, and it will cost you approximately 9 arms and 3 legs to pay for it all.

It was actually after I left Sydney after a few months when I started to meet people from there who convinced me of its merit. It can seem like Sydney has no soul and I still feel like a weekend is more than enough time, but I am willing to be open minded, and I'll share the few bits I enjoyed and the tough parts as well as things to be aware of should you decide to move there.

Cost of living, finding a home, getting work

Paddington- Palace Cinemas

Newtown

Annandale Hotel

Spectrum

Oxford Arts Factory

www.twothousand.com.au

Kings Cross

After a couple of months, a terrible "tin-man" style sunburn, and an even worse case of bedbugs (that Al managed to dodge), we moved out and Alby moved above the restaurant he cooked in and I eagerly moved on to Melbourne, via sleeper train! Just like the Darjeeling Limited-- only less Indian.

Photo taken at the cliffs on the Beach Walk between Bondi and Tamarama

November 2007