Friday, February 28, 2003 I arrived in Amsterdam earlier this morning. I've been wandering the streets with Lucas, Diana, and Sarah for now...Finally downloaded the Unwed Sailor artwork, so this should be off to the factory shortly. :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 02:30 PM CST Wednesday, February 26, 2003 I was in Hanoi, Vietnam this weekend. It was quite an interesting trip that I made with my friends Justin and Sanna. Hanoi is a city of motorscooters, motorcycles, and mopeds; crossing the street means stepping from the curb and walking ever so slowly so that the sea of traffic can slowly move out of your way. Justin and I discovered the magic of bia hoi on the street with a bunch of older Vietnamese, but his wife was a little more afraid than we were. We visited Ho Chi Minh's masoleum where he is still preserved in a Lenin like state. We also saw Fidel Castro leaving the opera house; he was in town for a special visit that coincided with our visit. We took a visit to a pagoda about an hour away where we spent another hour on a rowboat and then a two hour hike up a mountain. On the trail, a Vietnamese teenager was interested in one of the pins on my bag, so now his a future fan of The Trouble with Sweeney : Dear Life. We saw the famous water puppets with traditional music; I was so impressed I bought a dan bao for myself. It was a very different trip and very exciting. In btv news, both The Trouble with Sweeney and Unwed Sailor are preparing for their US tours. Be sure to check them out while they rock the states. Denison just got back from his UK dates, but I haven't heard how they went. Some of my friends did go see him play with My Morning Jacket. I'm sure that was a great show. I heard that the two Reels of White Softly Flow shows went well, the show with Saxon Shore a long jam. I am envious that I keep missing. I'll be back boys, sooner than soon. I'm leaving Singapore soon for Amsterdam for a special meeting of the bdfc. Then on for a week in France and my return to the US. Hopefully all of the piles of snow will be gone. That's all the news for now. In the year of the goat, hanoi rocks. :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 09:01 AM CST Wednesday, February 19, 2003 More complete dates have been listed for Unwed Sailor's spring tour with the Singing Mechanic. Be sure to catch them for their first US tour in more than a year. Starflyer 59 will be playing an acoustic show at the gallery formerly known as Reset Art on Camac Street in Philadelphia this Saturday, 22 February at 3:30pm. It's a special matinee show before they go up to NYC to rock. Ben is taking over for the show since I split town. :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 04:37 AM CST Tuesday, February 18, 2003 I am waiting for the completion of the artwork for Unwed Sailor : The Marionette and The Music Box which should be done any minute now. It's been such a long wait that we're all very excited to see what Jamie Hunt has done. cds are already being duplicated so that they can be sold for the Unwed Sailor tour dates. I went to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this weekend and saw the two tallest buildings in the world, as well as the world's largest flagpole. Had some decent Malaysian food and explored the different night markets in the city. Got quite a few DVDs, including a couple of Ali G, Britain's favorite rapper wannabee. Impossible to get these in the US. My friend and I went on a search for obscure Asian vinyl...the last time I was in Malaysia, I found 7" from The Surfers and The Stylers which were '60s pop bands with a bit of a psychedelic and surf flavor to them. Pretty decent and very interesting and I was hoping to find more releases or other older vinyl releases. In the end, I didn't find anything really good at all. I hear stories of crazy snowstorms from my parents in Indiana and friends on the East Coast. I can't say that I am envious of it all. It just started raining a few minutes ago, but the storms pass quickly and it's normally sunny and warm here in Singapore. On Friday, I'll be going to Vietnam with my friends Justin and Sanna. We're excited to see something new and different. According to the Chinese calendar, it's now the Year of the Goat. Metal fans, rejoice. :::scott: Posted by Scott @ 02:03 AM CST Sunday, February 9, 2003 I just made it to Singapore this morning after quite a long flight from Amsterdam. I did get to see my friends in Amsterdam for one more night. Denison is leaving tonight for London to play some shows in the area: Monday, Feb 10 London, England @ the Garage W/ My Morning Jacket (Badman, ATO Records) Wednesday, Feb 12 London, England @ Borderline w/ SubPop Records' Rosie Thomas, Iron and Wine, and James Mercer (the Shins) Friday, Feb 14 Dublin, Ireland @ Whelans, Wexford Street w/Glen Hansard of The Frames (www.overcoatrecordings.com), Mark Geary Saturday, Feb 15 Dublin, Ireland @ Whelans, Wexford street Saturday afteroon all-ages show!!! doors : 1:30pm adm :6 euros w/ Paul O'Reilly (www.voltasounds.com) Monday, Feb 17 London, England @ The 12 Bar w/ James William Hindle (Badman Recordings) So make sure that you go out to see him if you're in the area. Especially you, Sarah...and Nic... :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 01:01 AM CST Thursday, February 6, 2003 I added a few new titles to the btv on-line store, including Unwed Sailor : The Marionette and The Music box in hardbound book/CD, LP, and regular CD formats and The Trouble with Sweeney : I Know You Destroy! CD and LP. Neither title is ready to ship at the moment, so these are for pre-order at the moment. I added The Lionheart Brothers : White Angel, Black Apple who are friends of mine from Norway that combine MBV guitars with some '60s psychedelic pop melodies. Excellent record. Also, some new releases from Joan of Arc, Bonnie Prince Billy, the amazing Mt. Eerie album from The Microphones, and more. :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 05:59 AM CST Tuesday, February 4, 2003 I am now in France and it isn't as snowy as I thought it might be. There's a film festival happening in the city, Clermont-Ferrand, so I may stop in to see some films, but my French listening skills aren't really that good. I spend the weekend in Amsterdam with my good friends there...Lucas, Diana, Sarah, Dorein, and more. Jan-Erik was visiting after playing some shows with At the Close of Every Day. They have an ep out in Europe and Matt from Broken Factory will be releasing this in the US, I think. In the meantime, the 10" is available from the on-line store. We all hung out, ate, drank, walked around, and watched a couple of films. I saw Festen (The Celebration) for the first time; it's one of the early Dogma films. Amsterdam is one of my favorite cities to visit, mostly for the friends. I still haven't seen any of the tourist things. :::scott::: Posted by Scott @ 08:18 AM CST [ Archives ]