.Doraemon Takes the Cake.

la la la lawn mower!




Rob and I are going flat hunting again today (whenever he wakes up) and this will likely be the last time we do so. Tai Wai is a fantastic little spot and I can't wait to buy a bike and explore. I've been craving very badly the sensations that make bike riding so wonderful.

Work at interkids is fine and dandy, but I still need way more hours, plus, getting paid monthly always sucks. What's wrong with this city? Why can't they just pay bi-weekly like everywhere else on the planet?

I've been keeping in touch with a lot of people so far this time around. The last two years away I've been pretty much off the map when I came to speaking with anyone back home, but thanks to Gabe's computer I've been doing much better.

Thanks to my sis, steph, I have this crazy idea that growing a big red beard would be awesome. So I'm anxiously waiting for puberty to kick in to fill in a few patchy spots.

Oh yeah! This is hilarious. Thanks to my lovely friend Ming I had the chance to meet Giorgio Armani. Oh yeah........that's right!!
I just assumed the guy was dead, but apparently not.
Myself, Shaun and Rob dressed up a bit and went to this massive armani building in central last wednesday, and lined up with about eighty other people for his book signing of his tour through China.
The book is actually a bit odd, because it's more like a family vacation sort of thing, though the design and photography are fantastic. If you want to buy it it'll set you back $800 hk, or if you'd like a copy that reads,
"Dear Brendan:
Giorgio Armani" (his signature looks nothing like any of the letters in his name)
do let me know.
I seriously plan on selling it on ebay.
I had my photo taken with him. I've got my arm around him, as he does on me, and I've likely got a goofy smile on my face, though I've yet to see the actual photo.
As he was signing the book I stood in front of him. He looked up, I smiled politely, than he looked up again and touched his own ear lobes whilst saying, "very nice" and than flashed me his big weird smile. It's as though he has no upper lip. He smiles and it almost seems as though his top lip is curling under itself. Anyway, I politely said thank you, posed for the camera and went on my way.

All this happened at about one o'clock and whilst waiting in line I managed to drink two glasses of really expensive, incredibly lovely champagne. Then I went to lang kwai fong, had a pint with rob and went home to make some food.
speaking of which....

MUMSY! I miss your readily available food! Can you email me a few recipes.
I'd love to try my increasing culinary skills out on those corn patties, your tofu burgers, plus any sort of soup ideas you have....like your potato and leak soup, or the broccoli one you made before. I tried to make my own risoto yesterday, but ended up making an admittedly delicious curried rice dish instead, because I had no idea how to make risoto such as yours. So, you know what I like Mumsy.

In other news, I've made a few new friends, I've posted a couple of new pure Brendan tracks on my myspace account, my health is in excellent standing and I'm going to see Sigur Ros this friday. Why Sigur Ros are coming to Hong Kong is beyond my understanding, but none the less, I can't fucking wait. I'm sure it's going to be a superb show.

Here's what I've been listening constantly for the past three weeks:

My Morning Jacket
Emilyn Brodsky
Neutral Milk Hotel
Canada
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Iron and Wine
You Say Party! We Say Die!
Sufjan Stevens
Mogwai (The new album, Mr Beast, is incredible.....buy it!)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs ('Show Your Bones' is a solid record. It makes for great music during dismal train rides)

Well, that turned out to be much longer than I expected.

LINKS GALORE!!
My myspace profile
The Doublethinks official site
No Terra Incognita: My music with Peter Wilson
Emilyn Brodsky's music
Canada's music

thank you and good night
.brendan the geek.

No way....an update!!!!

Quick Update:

I made it back to hong kong in one piece. My flight took a while longer than I thought, but none of that matters now because I don't have to worry about planes for a while.
I've begun working at Interkids again, and I'm in the process of finding more work, as well as finishing my tefl cert.

Doublethinks is doing very well. We've been doing a lot of really interesting jam songs that go on for ages, and I can't wait to play in front of an audience again.

For those of you whom I've promised postcards to, you will indeed get them...just be patient.

I'm eating very healthy and spending way too much at the fresh markets, but it's totally worth it. Steph and Josh: Thank you so much for the "How it all Vegan" cookbook. It's fucking awesome. I bought a blender just over a week ago to help me along with making various oatmeal and rice milks, plus a load of veg burgers and soups. I just finished a massive pot of chili which I made last week. I made so much of it, and it tasted fantastic.

Rob and I have started looking for a place to live in Tai Wai. We've found one flat that seems quite good, but we're still going to look around one more time to make sure we can't find anything even better.

That's pretty much all for now.
Feel free to let me know how you're doing.


brendan the geek
p.s. I miss star trek: TNG

tell me where the light is

WERD!!

toronto tastes better

Well well well.
I had a great weekend at work, full of busy drunks and a load of running about.
Sunday consisted of me waking up far too early at 12:45pm. I was hoping to reach my usual 2pm wake up, but for some reason I awoke early red eyed and drousy. After four conscious hours I went down to the bus station and hoped on the next bus bound for Toronto.
Last night was quite entertaining. Josh and I furnished our stomachs with some delicious indian food. I tried the bindhi korma which I had never had before, and let me tell you, was it ever tasty! The Rich Indian Restaurant on Young definately passes the curry challenge. I may have to go there again today for the ultimate test. Do they make a killer Aloo Ghobi? I sure hope so.
Anywho, josh steph and I hung around at their flat for a while, and after an hour of sitting and chatting we all started to feel a bit fatigued. I brought up the point that I probably wouldn't be able to get to sleep until the early morning unless I got a bit drunk, so mr. josh and I headed off into the freezing fucking cold weather in seach of a good sunday night. Steph had had a long day at work so she was more than content saving her drinking strenght for whatever festivites arise tonight.
I'm rambling at bit...I know.

Well, after a few hours of sleep on steph's yoga mat with a cozy fleece blanket I dragged my sensitive stomach off the floor and out the door. I'm well used to going to sleep at 6am, but I not at all used to waking up so early.
I made it out the door feeling surprisingly alert and healthy and went on my merry way towards my destination.

The whole point of my toroto trip (besides just having fun) was to apply in person for my new birth cert so that I can get a new passport before leaving for hk. I was told by many that I would have to get to the birthcert office no later than seven o'clock if I wanted to get my application through that day. Well I have just one thing to say about their advice.....it sucked. There were only four people ahead of me!!!! Four!!! That's it!! ....idiots.
The office opened exactly at half seven, and I was literally walking out of the front door no later than 7:40am.
Actually I'm not at all bothered by being there so early, because I'm just plain happy that nothing at all went wrong. Plus, on the actual birth cert form it says that it takes five days to recieve your passport, if you have proof that you need that quickly. In fact it only takes three days, which means that I can get my passport sooner, and thus relax.

Beside me now is josh, and to his left in my big sis. We're sitting in a row like we're in a duck shooting game that you play at the carnival. We're off now to grab some grub grub. This morning we were discussing plans to go snowboarding next week. I've never been before and neither has the aussie.
oh baby, it's gonna be gouda.

take care comrades!

bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbrendan

doublethinks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh baby, the day of days has finally been confirmed. On the 15th of March I shall leave the great white north for the tiny eastern S.A.R. Hong Kong.

Doublethinks, drinks, cantonese, teaching, ladies, constant rush hour, markets, smells/stinks, noodles, aloe juice, cheap ass soya milk, buddist restaurants, studios, beach parties, umbrella's, and a whole lotta other stuff that's totally hk...........

....I'll be back for st.patty's day!

So, what this means is that if any of you fine young canibals wants to hang out, just let me know! That means you jamie! We need to collaborate on some noise. Holly cee, we need some wine!

cheers
honky honky honky honky honky honky.
26 days suckers!

I need a job

later still

Fuck crap shit ass balls

I've spent most of my sleep free hours today tearing apart and looking into every box which I could find. Every cupboard and drawer has been scrutinized.

Now that I've gotten all excited about going east again, thinking, "fuck yeah, I'll be back in Hong Kong by the end of the month!" the fact that I now have to wait 'til the second week of march just plain out sucks.

My birth certificate is missing in action, and unless I find it over the next couple of days, I have two options to obtain a new one. The first option is to apply on line, filling out all the proper documents, having all the right signitures, then I can wait 15 days for that s.o.b. to make it to my house.

Or

The second option is....
I go to toronto to some office that's probably going to take me ages to find, then I wait all day (literally the process takes all freaking day) in some office, where, if I have all the right papers and all the right signatures, I can obtain my new birth cert in 48 hours.

Option number two seems like the best route to me, but even if I go through the whole process on monday, I won't be able to pick up the birth cert 'til thursday. If, with my shiney new birth cert, I go down to the passport office on friday and wait in line all morning + afternoon, the whole process of obtaining my shiney new passport will take at least another two weeks. I'm fairly sure I can put an express on that, which I will, but I don't want to buy my ticket unless I know for sure that I'll have my new passport on time.
I could use my old one, but somehow I think that all those hong kong and macau stamps would be a bit of a deterent in regards to letting my illegal ass back into the country.

In the mean time I've got to work on my tefl and do a whole lotta job searching. Plus the extra time, though it will be passed in anxious waiting, will be a good opertunity to earn some extra cash.

Kachun, how's this sound? "Doublethinks Incorporated"
Let's turn our sound into a visa pumping business operation. You could list me as some sort of graphics designer, or maybe a sound engineer.

Let's think about it.

Lastly, Peter and I were working on a couple of tunes last night for our three week project, tentitivly titled, "Stoney Creek Incest" lol, we're still thinking about the name.

Here are some new pictures from last night.








and here are a few pics that I took during the day. As you can see, I spend a lot of time by myself, lol, so I didn't have anyone else to model for the lens.














that's all for now!
tartar ra ra ra,

oh yeah, what happened to the wanch?
cheers!

talking with friends

I wanna wanna wanna rock and roll.

I saw a few groovy bands last night at the Underground.
The headliner had my booty shaking and my lips parted with delight.

Controller.Controller

I saw a gal I went on a few dates with last time I was back from HK in the summer of 2004. When we last parted ways I didn't bother to get any contact information from her, which as I found out last night, bothered her a bit.

OH yeah I joined the myspace army! Hazah! A friend of mine has been harrassing me to join for the past few months, so I caved and did it a few night's ago.
wanna be friends?
go to
www.myspace.com/talkingwithfriends
or
<"link link link">

Shaun, here's a picture of a lovely new record that I know you're interested in.
I've been buying lots of cheap records and having fun with them on my living room floor lately.
enjoy.









and now, an insider's look at doublethinks in the recording studio











that's all for now.
take it easy chumps!

book!

Awesome! I just woke up, walked downstairs to an empty house and to my surprise was a package from labarinth books!

I ordered Aldous huxley's, Island, and Hakim Bey's, Temporary Autonomous Zone, from two seperate companies via amazon.com about two weeks ago, and I thought they would take a lot longer to get here. I was wrong!

I finished my last book Mark Twain's, The Prince and the Pauper two nights ago, and just last night began reading Mary Shelley's, Franinstein: or, a Modern Promepheus,

BUT BUT BUT now I MUST MUST MUST read what was in that lovely pale yellow package!

ISLAND!

Sweet loving!

And it's holly cee's birthday today!
And!!!
When I was visiting my sis in toronto she told me that she still had another box of books from uni/ her own collection in storage under the house. In that box supposedly is Margaret Atwoods, A Hand Maid's Tale, which though I haven't heard much of it is apparantly another classic to go in line with 1984 and Brave New World.

"If there is hope, it is in the Proles!"

I've got to work tonight at eight, which is alright in my eyes accept that my finger is still obviously broken. But I need the cash, because I keep having dreams about being in Hong Kong with all my old friends, and I can't wait to start playing with the band again.
Though I have to work I'm actually going to go do something with my life and head downtown to a couple of tattoo shops. I've finished the piece I want for my upper/outer left arm. Nice mice nice.

Oh yeah, I haven't been able to update for the past two weeks or so because my computer was and still is massively being fucking by viruses. Sometimes I can get on msn, sometimes I can't. Sometimes like right now, there's a massive lag between what I'm typing and what appears of the screen....which is highly annoying.

A short update. I really want to get back into the groove of things in regards to hk. I never thought I'd be away this long. but there's not much I can do about it. I'm paying off a lot of debt which rocks, but I'm also going to be pushing myself right back into it when I get back to hk.

Shaun, you're patience and generosity are astounding. I obviously didn't show you how incredibly appreciative I was at being able to stay at your place rent free for two months. You have no idea how much that helped me out. My only payment I can really offer you is that the shelves and pillows are yours if you want them. I can't actually remember what else I left with you, but said items are yours for the keeping.

In other news, I want to come back mid february. But realisticly I'm coming back whenever my new passport comes through, which I'm assuming is about the second or third week of february. It'll be nice to come back to hk with a blank passport. I have a sneaking suspicion that if I tried to get back in with the one I have now, they'd just take one look at it in immigration, then look at me, and then swiftly kick my ass back onto a plane bound for canada at my own expense.
And that my comrad's would suck!

Other news. I'm still working. I seem to have fractured or broken a bone in my right middle finger, but there's no way I can take a weekend off to let it heal, so I'm just going to have to deal with it, because by golly I needs the dough!

Kachun!!! Good work with the demo, it's finally there, and I still owe you some serious mula for everything. I'm incredibly enviously of you because you're going to be playing your own show in japan! One of these days I'll make it out there, and hopefully I'll be ready to play my own gigs when that day comes.

This break has been good for me. I've had a lot of time to relax, read, write, and improve my guitar tecnique.

---------------------
above is what I wrote last friday, but I couldn't publish any of it because my computer was driving me nuts with it's massive lag.

anyway, today has been hella good. I cut up my visa card......into a star shape. It was great.
I've been searching around for cheap tickets to hk and I think I've found what I need for about 5 or 6 g's HK.

So, tomorrow's plan is...

1) Wake up before 2:30pm
2) Go down to the passport office.....blarg!
3) Make an appointment at cottage 13 for some fresh ink.
4) read read read
5) ................
.........any suggestions?


Happy camping everyone!
Cheers!

Goodmorning 2006!!!

I hope everyone's holidays rocked as much sock as mine did.
New years came and went. Sorry hong kong I slept through your countdown, though my dreams were with all of you.
Thankfully I didn't miss the ontarian stick to midnight. I was quite sober actually, and didn't get too drunk until the wee hours of the morning. I spent the evening at the lovely Alexandra's house with a lot of new faces, and of course a few classics.

The night before I went out to Kingdom to dance my ass off with Caroline (my sis) and a bunch of her friends. I met my friend Bre when I was there as well, and everyone had a wonderful time. I found out that my friend Bre's full name is quite similar to my own.
Mine being, Brendan James Harrington, her's, Breanna Jean Lewington.
Earlier in the week I went out for a few drinks with ex elta's Melissa and Laura, including mel's brother and a a couple of laura's friends from Mac. It's rare that I meet another fella with the name, 'brendan' usually I meet those with the american, brandon. Well, one of Laura's friend's name was incidentally, Brendan Harrison.

Two funny similarities.

Steph and josh have both found jobs in toronto, and just yesterday they were accepted for the flat they wanted to rent. So, next sunday they're moving up to toronto for a while, which is very good for me because I can visit the big T.O. and have a place to crash if I get a bit too inebriated.

I'm working regularily at the Slainte now, which is great because I'm no longer burning through what little savings I have.

I'm trying to find out what the best airline to fly with is, for a route back to hk. Prices are pretty high now, so I'm trying to find a sweet deal amoungst the money grabbing freaks living at the local travel agencies.

Well that's all for now, because dinner is ready and willing to eat.

Cheers!
bbbbbbbbbbbbbrendan!