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At family functions I am often surrounded by old Italian men of whom I envy their ability to age gracefully. I can only hope to be so lucky.

Top 5 Wedding-Related Memories

I've been to quite a few weddings in my time, and here are my Top 5 Wedding-Related memories (excluding my own, which would undoubtably be uncritical and overly sentimental).

1. In the middle of a wedding with a full-on Catholic high mass, complete with lemon trees for decoration, the priest takes a moment to read the happy couple a special benediction from the Pope John Paul II, catching us all by surprise.

2. In the middle of the reception, the chef wheels out a lamb carcass for inspection by the head table and the promptly lights it on fire.

3. At a wedding reception in Las Vegas, the wedding party (including newlyweds) make plans to go to a burlesque show afterwards.

4. Going whitewater rafting at a bachelor party. Ten minutes in, the father-of-the-bride goes floating down the river...

5. Hearing a roving mandolin player wander from table to table playing "My Heart Will Go On."

June's Reading List

Once upon a time I read a book every three days. I also bought books as often as I bought CDs. I now have a significant quantity of both. CDs at least typically only take an hour to listen to, and I can listen to them while doing other things. Not so much with books. I no longer read a book every three days. Instead I'm doing well if I can read three or four books a month. I also no longer buy books for myself (though I buy them for my wife and her reading tastes are such that I often want to read whatever she's reading eventually), however I am also quite lucky that people give me new books (and CDs) to read for free if I offer to tell them what I think about it. It's a pretty sweet deal with one embarrassing complication.

I have a lot of unread books at my house. These are the books that I bought after my reading time was significantly reduced but before I clued in to the fact that I should stop buying books. I estimate that at my current reading rate, if people suddenly stopped giving me books, I could read a book from my unread book pile for the next four years. Like I said, it's embarrassing and I loan some of these unread books out to people since I can't bring myself to part with them.

Here is June's tally:

Currently reading:

Kaya Oakes - Slanted and Enchanted: The Evolution of Indie Culture (2009)

Gary Small - iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind (2009)

J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2002) (I'm reading this to my daughter)

J. Lloyd Trump - A School For Everyone (1977)*

Robert T. Kiyosaki, Sharon L. Lechter - Rich Dad, Poor Dad (1997)*

*I'm in no hurry to finish these, but for different reasons

Books Acquired

Kaya Oakes - Slanted and Enchanted: The Evolution of Indie Culture (2009)

Gary Small - iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind (2009)

Davy Rothbart - Requiem for a Paper Bag (2009)

Aravind Adiga - Between the Assasinations (2009)

Jeb Brugmann - Welcome to the Urban Revolution: How Cities Are Changing the World (2009)

Books Read:

David & Stella Gemmel - Fall of Kings (2008)

Davy Rothbart - Requiem for a Paper Bag (2009)

My daughter, LLB

Like many five year olds, my daughter likes to take a stuffed toy with her to sleep. Also like many, she eventually slowly starts to accumulate a fair number of stuffed animals in her bed. Two nights ago we noticed that the stuffed animals were crowding her out, and so last night, my wife told my daughter that there were too many stuffed animals in her bed. I didn't hear the particulars of the conversation, but I could tell that my daughter was trying to argue the mountain of Care Bears was in fact, just right.

Later, once she was asleep, I poked my head into her room to see if my daughter and complied with the wishes to remove the stuffed animals. What I discovered was that she had, in truth, complied with the last instructions my wife gave her, "I don't want to see those toys in your bed."

Technically, I think you can still Good Luck Bear peaking out from beneath the blanket but the future lawyer appears to have covered her bases...

Sled Island, If I Could Go

When Sled Island announced their initial band list way back when, I had only one event on my June social calendar that could prevent me from seeing many of the bands I was eagerly anticipating. Sure enough, I soon found myself on a collision course between personal punk rock fantasies and family obligations. While many of you will (hopefully) be enjoying some of the musical fruits of this city, I will be attending a family wedding that is currently charting in the upper third of Italian wedding insanity. Fear not, for though the music fan in me is saddened, the novelist is silently add more details to an eventual piece of work involving weddings.

I would still like to throw my two cents in though, since I will have to enjoy Sled Island vicariously through all of you:

Wednesday, June 24

I've seen both SNFU (playing at the Ship), and The Superfantastics (at Verns) and they are great bands. The Factory Parties (at the Uptown) are quickly becoming legendary, presenting a good opportunity to network with friends about how to spend the rest of Sled Island. If you're not going to see Dragon Fli Empire later in the week, I'd recommend seeing them now. I would be ducking out of the Factory Party to go see Pete Samples at Tubby Dog.

What I will really be doing: Errands and working on writing projects that I would normally be using the daylight hours on the weekend to accomplish.

Thursday, June 25

I have friends in Woodpigeon, Hot Little Rocket, and Cripple Creek Fairies and I encourage everyone to check them out if you haven't seen them before. Woodpigeon is on earlier enough that I would probably go see them at Central United before running over to check out Japandroids at the Legion since their album Post-Nothing, is shaping up to be one of my favourites so far this year.

What I will really be doing: Last minute wedding errands or babysitting for those that are.

Friday, June 26

My initial Sled Island pipe dream involved seeing the Breeders at Olympic Plaza with my daughter, since we both loved last summer's album. However, 9:30 PM is a little late for a five year old to be hanging out downtown, even if it's with her old man. With that in mind, Mt. Royal and Puberty (at the Marquee Room) are two bands I've been meaning to see for awhile, and this would have been an excellent opportunity to kill to birds with one stone.

What I will really be doing: Unless Sled Island has booked bands at the airport, where I'm scheduled to spend the night picking up cousins, my musical opportunities appear grim.

Saturday, June 27

The Bronx at the Distillery. Prepare for mischief and mayhem.

What I will really be doing: praying to good they don't play Andrea Boccelli at the reception.

Sunday, June 28

Hiphop Doc: The Art of the Rhyme, The Plaza Theatre

What I will really be doing: Options are open here. The morning after an Italian wedding could be anything, including disposing of bodies.

More Films For Father's Day

I received a couple of suggestions following yesterday's search for films to watch on Father's Day, such as Kurt Russell's Used Cars (1980), which followed in our National Lampoon's Vacation. A few people also disagreed with my saying Clark Griswald was the man of our age, pointing to Harrison Ford's portrayl of Jack Ryan in Patriot Games and a similar character in Firewall. Similarly it was felt if we were going to allow the Steve Martin remake of Father of the Bride, then it would be appropriate to allow the 1991 version of Cape Fear with Nick Nolte as the mild-mannered father forced to fend off Robert De Niro's maniacal escaped ex-convict.

Some of my favourite suggestions however built on my throwaway Fight Club comment, calling for Andy Samberg's Hot Rod, which sees him constantly trying to fight his stepfather, played with gleeful malevolence by Ian McShane. Also mentioned as a tender father-daughter moment was From Dusk Til Dawn, when Harvey Keitel warns Juliette Lewis to shoot him before he becomes "a vicious lapdog of Satan."

Films for Father's Day - Or Griswald Knows Best

Last night I settled down to watch Hellboy II: The Golden Army, and commented that having the time to watch it was like a pre-Father's Day present, since no one else in my house is as enthusiastic about watching it as I am. However, this made me wonder, what films would be fitting for Father's Day? Obviously, it would have to be a film in which a father figures prominently, but I think that such a film would have also have to explore what it means to be a father, and the relationships that fathers' have with their children. Thinking of films that fit this bill became quite difficult. In fact, my immediate thought when I thought of films about fathers as Fight Club, specifically the scene where Edward Norton and Brad Pitt discuss who they would most like the fight, and the one replies simply, "My father".

Fathers have become surprising scarce in the cinematic landscape over the thirty years; either entirely absent, or else as in The Namesake, one of several players in a supporting case better known as "family".

Having thought about it then, here are some suggestions for movies worth watching on Father's Day:

Rudy, 1993

The Pursuit of Happyness, 2006

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, 1989

Father of the Bride, 1991

Sleepless in Seattle, 1993

However, the film that most people we talked to mentioned was National Lampoon's Vacation (1983). I guess this is only fitting since Clark Griswald, a far cry from the days of Atticus Finch, best embodied the shifting roles of fathers throughout the 1980s. The rise of post-modern theories throughout the 1960s and sexual politics of the 1970s, coupled with the economic decline of the Carter years, did much to diminish the "Father Knows Best" image of the successful, knowledgeable, and powerful head of household from the 1950s. Clearly Clark Griswald, admirably portrayed by Chevy Chase, is doing his best with what little resources he has to wring some semblance of success from an outdated image of the American Dad.

Suggestions?

Music Update

Musically speaking, the last month has been dominated by the glorious noise drenched ramblings of Vancouver's Japandroids and their album Post-Nothing. Here they are living it up with the CBC:

I've also been spending a fair bit of time with hometown heroes The Dudes and their new album Blood Guts Bruises Cuts as well as Iggy Pop's jazz-inspired Preliminaires. A friend and I briefly wondered whether songs like "Search & Destroy" or "Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell" would make the set list for this tour. Anything's possible.

Thoughts on David Foster Wallace

Stumbled across this posting by Mike Soron on David Foster Wallace's death last year. I'm not sure what I found more shocking, his suicide or the revelation that he was suffering from severe depression. Here are Mike's thoughts.

The Namesake (2006)

Last night I began watching Michael Antonioni's Blow-Up. I had been trying to watch this film for some time, but after the jeep full of mime's drove through the frame in the first five minutes, my wife switched us over to The Namesake, featuring Kal Penn. The film follows the development of a Bengali family living in United States. In a way, as a story of a first generation American, it was somewhat reminiscent of Zadie Smith's debut novel White Teeth. However, unlike the Samad, the father in Smith's novel, who is constantly struggling against life in his adopted country (England), Irrfan Khan gives Ashoke, the Nikolai Gogal loving physicist, a quiet strength and perpetual sense of wonder at the possbilities offered by America. Kal Penn demonstrates the serious side of his craft playing the first generation trying to weigh two cultures, but it is Khan who's presence lingers with us long after the film is over.

Doors of (Psychic) Perception

There are things, which once seen, cannot be unseen. How to go on, knowing this door is out there? Kafka would have had a field day, crafting an entire short story about it. I might one day do likewise, or at least give it a cameo.

Welcome

Welcome to What Sister Ray Said. After the closing of The Daily Wenzel, I found myself in need of a place to record a lot of the ideas that come floating through my head on a regular basis, someplace to jot them down so that I can revisit them later. That turned out to be one of the powereful experiences for me as part of The Daily Wenzel, the ability to write down the main ideas from conversations with other people. With that blog now finished, look to What Sister Ray Said to become my repository for transient ideas.

Joy Division Covering Velvet Underground

Sometimes the things that you find are too much to let them disappear.