Historic Commons vote paves way for same-sex marriage across Canada, La Chambre des Communes a adopté le projet de loi sur le mariage gai  

chris lloyd 

to pm, martin.P
 More options
  1:37 am (22 minutes ago)

Dear Paul,

How did my apartment ever get this hot? Courtney, Sarah and I just
arrived in Montréal, roughly on schedule, after a full day of packing
and painting and another full day of driving. And my place is a
veritable oven. It's a damn good thing i had Kuan shaved on Sunday.
I'm going to have to sleep on my balcony tonight; there is no air flow
in my living room. Courtney and Sarah have my room because they need
the door; they have their four-legged furry friend Nikita with them.
Who, I might add, was the most well-behaved traveling cat I have ever
driven with. She actually broke free from her travel case a couple
hours in, and sat on Sarah's lap for the rest of the trip, more or
less content.

Spend most of Monday painting their old apartment, the kitchen, the
kitchen cupboards and trim. They were worried about not getting their
damage deposit back unless they painted. Also patched a large hole (I
helped create the hole, but that can mostly be blamed on old plaster
and wood strapping). I had thought Sarah and Courtney were
exaggerating about their landlord but this morning I met him and he
was the most anal and uptight I've ever met. I argued with him about
his plans to charge them $40 apiece to remove the two fridges in their
apartment. They had two fridges because Courtney broke one (defrosting
the freezer in a manner similar to me), and the landlord, Shamir
(pronounced "Shmear", as if one was in NYC asking for a bagel and
cream cheese; you know, "shmear"), brought them a replacement, a
fridge he had most likely found outside somewhere, because it smelled
badly of mold and despite Courtney's repeated attempts at cleaning it
with bleach all their food ended up stinking. Nice. Shmear was
bemoaning the fact that he had to haul this moldy fridge up to them,
and I reminded him that these sorts of things happen when you are a
landlord. Then I got him to help us take the fridge down. It's on the
sidewalk outside at the moment. We brought them both with us to
Montréal, figuring we'd find a place to dump them along the way.
Shmear then tried to dock $25 off their deposit to cover a can of
paint for the molding in one room but he hadn't counted the interest
added so it evened out. He hovered as they bagged all the garbage.
I've never seen anything like it. Then again, I've often slipped out
in the cover of darkness, and usually forfeit the damage deposit in
lieu of unpaid rent. But S and C need the money; the truck is costing
them close to a grand, and since gas is at an all-time high (102.4
cents per litre in Montréal! What the fuck?), it is costing them a ton
more in travel. Three fill-ups has cost $320. Yikes. Still close to
six hours to go. The drive is taking longer because the UHaul is
equipped with a bizarre warning bell that goes off every time the
vehicle travels faster than 120 km/hour. It dings repeatedly and
non-stop until the speed is reduced. It of course has no CD player or
tape deck, but thankfully it has AC.

Anyway, I'll fill you in more tomorrow, after I unload Jen's stuff (oh
right I picked up a few of Jen's items from Ryan), and load up mine,
and get into TO, and unload C and S, and return the UHaul and meet up
with Claudine, all of this of course happening before Swintak's
opening at the AGO. I must go now and shower and shave and clip my
toenails before I collapse from some sort of heat and driving
exhaustion.

-chris

Same-sex marriage bill on its way to adoption, despite Tory rear-guard action, Le projet de loi sur le mariage gai semble en bonne voie d'être adopté

chris lloyd to pm, martin.P, chrislloyd, Claudine
More options 9:41 am (0 minutes ago)

Dear Paul,

I'm in Halifax. The flight was delayed an hour due to some sort of incompetency in the baggage loading department. The pilot apologized over and over again. I have a sneaking suspicion that it is part of an Air Canada strategy for when things go wrong; apologize, over and over again, in that way that renders you completely unable to muster any sort of anger, the sort of way a child or weaker friend of relative might apologize to you, in a way that feels unnecessary. So we all sat there on the plane, sweating buckets, because of course the slow loading of baggage also had something to do with cooling units and engines not starting, and then, when they did start only one of them was starting, and the lights were flickering in a very disconcerting way, in a way that almost looked like they could have been trying out a part in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (sans musique).

So. The flight went well, once airborne. Trevor looks good, has his head perpetually shaved. He had some good stories of family squabbles down at the Old Cabin. Hearing about Uncle Danny and my Dad arguing, my dad annoyed at Danny's rambling dissertations on the "criminal" construction industry and rich doctors and Cuba (he's never been to Cuba, no one in my family has been, I don't believe; though my parents have been to Florida a few times, which is close but definitely no cigar), and then Danny is kicking over lawn furniture and wine glasses and Trevor is brandishing a poker and threatening to crown his uncle; wow, I had forgotten how exciting this side of the family could be. (...) Maybe I exagerate, (...) Unless we want that sort of entertainment, of course. We could book them as some sort of comedic act. (...)

So this morning Trevor rode me downtown on his motorcycle. It had been a long time since I had been on one. He has a Katana 750. I'm all suited up now, as my 3/4 pants and flip flops and T-shirt just weren't going to cut it. Nope, I needed boots, socks, jeans and a leather jacket, all borrowed from Trev and all still on my person, the helmet beside me. It is impossible not too feel So Fucking Cool walking around town on a sunny day in a Black Leather Jacket carrying a Motorcycle Helmet. I just want to stand on streetcorners and smoke and drink it up, except that would seem utterly odd and ridiculous, as it appears the Smoking Bans have been uber effective and I have yet to see someone smoking, even outside, where it is the only place allowed, outside of personal dwellings. But I digress. Now I want one. A bike. Maybe Eric's ideas from a few months ago weren't so far off the mark. I could save some cash, buy a great touring bike, get my licence, then Claudine and I could do a crazy criss-cross the USA and winter in Mexico. (...) Maybe it would be easier to winter in India.

I'm meeting up with Courtney shortly and we'll get the moving truck.

Hey, did I not tell you that I had Kuan shaved yesterday? She looks absolutely ridiculous, though I'm sure she feels much cooler. She looks like a cross between a lion and one of the dancers from the movie Flashdance. It looks like she is wearing four pairs of legwarmers. I'll post photos on the blog once my computer is fixed and I can format all my photos.

-chris

Pride pushes away from politics despite critical week for same-sex issue, Une centaine de marcheurs demandent la régularisation des sans statut  

chris lloyd 

to pm, martin.P, ecart, chrislloyd, lifetrip101
 More options
  6:05 pm (0 minutes ago)

Dear Paul,

What a start to the weekend, to summer, to my new found unemployment. First off, there was my last day of work, on Thursday, when I managed to break a window, which added four hours of unnecessary repair work to our day. Gregg called me the 'Master of Disaster". It was a good opportunity to practice my putty skills on an old window, which is good, especially if my folks buy a building in SJ. Old windows always have bad putty jobs. It's like people smooshed the stuff in with only their fingers, as if playing in Play-Doh.

Thursday night Eric and I showed up at S & M's new apartment but after thinking about it for ten minutes and smoking a cigarette we decided against working and bought some beer instead, then met up with Rudy and her co-workers at Ste-Elizabeth. Eric and I were tired and grumpy, still sore from moving the appliances. S Roberts met us there and we left together to catch the metro but we decided at the last moment to get three minute photos made and of course managed to miss the last metro train, resulting in a cab ride home.

Vendredi tout le gang, sauf Melissa, ont rencontré chez Dusty's pour un grand petit dejeuner avant nous nous avons commencé peindre. Tout les ports puis le trim. Braden a aidé aussi. Nous peindrions pendant deux heures puis on a commencé boire du bierre. Il y a un grand party dans la rue avec tous les voisins, c'etait vraiment sympathetique et jolie. Beaucoup des drapeaus Quebequois. Rudy, Eric et moi allions vers le veille port pour voir Caimon Fü mais ils ont deja finir. Zut!

Back to my place for more beers and sunbathing on my front terrace in our underwear. Eric and Rudy's new friends Celia and her boyfriend Alex came over for a barbecue. Celia went to NSCAD so we talked art school stuff and Québec politics with Alex. They come from France. Melissa came over and after many beers and Pinä Coladas we all left; the gang headed down to meet Braden at Parc Lafontaine to play in the fountain and Melissa and I headed to a loft party in Mile End. Braden went to the big concert at Parc Jean Drapeau and said the Cowboys and Loco Locass were awesome. I toyed with the idea of going but $40 is a bit steep; I need those 40 smackers to shave old Kuan.

I managed to get more drunk at the loft party than I have been in well over a year. Melissa left me while I was go-go dancing on top of a huge cat scratching tower. I smoked some pot with some architects and filmmakers and had bizarre conversations in both English and French with a bunch of other folks. Christine was there, whom I had met in Rouyn and battled for the Manif d'Art 3 T-shirt. Just by chance I was wearing the Manif d'Art shirt (getting lots of compliments on it as well; everyone loves the threads that hang from the letters). I took it off so she could try it on and it actually fits me much better so she gave it back.

Late in the night (morning?) Melissa grabbed me and we went to the Hall on St. Laurent where Sixtoo was spinning some funky wax and I danced (wobbled?) until she dragged me back outside and into a cab. I walked home from her place (staggered?) and when I got home I called Claudine. For some reason I thought that calling her at 4:30 in the morning would be a good idea. Actually, she didn't seem to mind in the least. (…)

So today was the hardest day. Eric called at 9 AM and shortly thereafter we were in full throttle moving mode. We did five heaping full truckloads until 4 PM, when we had to stop due to exhaustion and possible heat stroke. I love the heat but loving furniture is probably not the most fun thing one can do when the degrees are pushing 32. I was oozing beer sweat all day. Right now the gang has dispersed for some much-needed down time. I've borrowed Sarah's computer so will be hooked up again until tomorrow at least. I still haven't brought my computer to be fixed. I'm starting to think it might make more sense to do it in Toronto, especially if it needs to be sent to Apple Headquarters in California to be repaired.

I've had the weirdest dreams the past few nights. In one dream I had taken all of the letters I have written to both you and Jean and I was dumping them in the driveway of 24 Sussex Drive. A skinny security guard tried to tackle me but I effortlessly shrugged him off, but then went with him and his partner to a small interrogation room for questioning. They let me go right away so I could take photos of the letters and properly document the process. The dream has made me think
I should maybe try it in real life, a sort of drive-by letter-dumping, and shoot it on video. What is security like at 24 Sussex? Perhaps I should get permission, I don't really feel like getting arrested and dealing with the media hoopla that could ensue. Who should I talk to about this?

In the other dream Claudine and I had run away to live in Mexico; I think we were on the run, like outlaws. I think we had robbed some banks or something. I was trying to speak Spanish, how confusing for everyone involved. But I felt very comfortable there, the streets, the buildings, the sun, the people, the light, it was all so animated. Maybe we'll try to visit Eric and Rudy and S Roberts there in December, if Cuba doesn't work out. We shall see.

Anyway, I need a nap before tackling some packing and apartment cleaning of my own.

-chris

Bloc Quebecois will not support NDP push to oust ethics czar, Pauline Marois dit se distinguer par son expérience, un atout de choix  

chris lloyd 

to pm, martin.P, chrislloyd, ecart
 More options
  10:27 pm (2 minutes ago)

Dear Paul,

Today was mostly windows; removing storms, scraping, filling, sanding, priming, painting. A bit blah. Sunny again, which was nice. I heaped tablespoons of SPF 45 on my nipples as they were still burning from the Nair. Is the word "Nair" a noun or a verb or a proper noun? Is it copyrighted or a registered trademark?

I also helped Ann with some computer stuff. Ever since she learned I had a Mac she's been asking me advice. Ha! Me? A
computer-advice-giver? As odd as it may sound, it's been working. Opening email attachments, changing file names, opening new folders, etc. Stuff I can handle.

Painted tonight at S & M, sans Eric. He was off doing his weekly mountain biking. I imagine that he'll be in really rough shape
tomorrow; these guys (and a few girls) fly through tight trails and over rocks and stumps and bushes and small horses and other barnyard and wild animals, like boars, that get in their way. They flip and wipe out all over the place. Crazy fools. I imagine that he'll be in pretty rough shape tomorrow, seeing as the two of us were already a bit sore today, due to the appliance moving the night before.

S & M fed me again tonight. I'm hoping to get home early and read and relax and maybe make a To Do list, since I think I have lots to do in the coming days. Things like packing and paying bills and housecleaning and laundry and getting my computer fixed, or at least dropped off somewhere, before Friday, because everything will be closed for St-Jean-Baptiste. Do you have plans for St-Jean? If not give me a call, we can hang out, maybe check out some shows at the old Port (free, Caimon Fü, with Isabelle Blais, yum!) or Parc Maisonneuve (free, Radio-Canada filmed, family-oriented) or Parc Jean Drapeau (Cowboys Fringants, Loco Locass, political and costs $30). I'm trying to stay busy so I can burn up the hours to Toronto. Shouldn't be a problem.

Gotta go, I'm sleepy and zoning out.

-chris

From chris lloyd  
Sent Tuesday, June 21, 2005 10:52 pm
To pm@pm.gc.ca , martin.P@parl.gc.ca 
Cc ecart@cablevision.qc.ca , chrislloyd@videotron.ca 
Subject Manoeuvring over same-sex marriage legislation headed for vote showdown, Richard Legendre se porte candidat à la direction du Parti québécois Manoeuvring over same-sex marriage legislation headed for vote showdown, Richard Legendre se porte candidat

Dear Paul,

Today, within the first five minutes of painting overhead while up a thirty-foot ladder, a huge glob of sticky, tarry paint landed directly on my face. I spent the rest of the day looking like the fifth member of the rock band KISS. I was also ADDing, but in reverse; meaning, I was painting over spots I had already painted, rather than missing spots entirely. But we did take Nap Time in the middle of the afternoon, high atop the scaffold, bathed in hot sunlight. We contemplated adding some leftover vodka to out juice but decided against it; thirty feet in the air on a wobbly scaffold with no safety harness and a bright hot sun seemed a tad too risky.

After work I stopped at Rudy and Eric's and double Naired my chest hair. My nipples have been burning ever since. Have you ever naired? That stuff stinks. I probably shouldn't have done the second coat so soon after the first but I had missed a few spots and didn't want to resort to shaving.

In the evening Eric and I moved appliances for S & M. We picked up the fridge, stove, washer and dryer from Anna's dad's house and loaded them into S & Ms new apartment. The dolly we borrowed from Ann, from the current job, broke. Just before we were to bring the fridge up the stairs. We managed it anyway. I broke a lampshade and we made some good dents in the wood frame. Bent the fridge handle as well. It wasn't the smoothest move in the world.

But good news on the iBook front: I received a message on my blog from someone who knew a link to an Apple FAQ and it looks like the problem is covered under an extended warranty. I still have to bring it in somewhere but from what I've read it should be covered; Apple will pay to have it fixed, even return shipping if necessary. Excellent. I was just on the verge of renouncing them as my computer manufacturer of choice and looking into generic PC laptops.

Melissa made us lasagna and we watched ten minutes (the most I could take; more, and I think my head would have exploded) of the most inane TV program I have ever seen in my life: I want to be a Hilton. How is it possible that every time I think humanity can sink no lower, it does? What could possibly be next?

-chris

From chris lloyd  
Sent Monday, June 20, 2005 10:15 pm
To pm@pm.gc.ca , martin.P@parl.gc.ca 
Cc chrislloyd@videotron.ca , ecart@cablevision.qc.ca 
Subject Residents of Drumheller, Alta., hoping for the best as flood approaches, Jean Ouimet confirme qu'il se lance dans la course à la direction du PQ

Dear Paul,

Today was full of paint. The day and me. Painted at Anne's, lots of
tudor siding, heavy thick black alkyd paint in the hot sunshine, yay!
Up and down on scaffolding, like a monkey. Got a bit too much sun on
my neck. At 2:30 I felt giddy sunstroke coming on. Gave me the
giggles. And I started painting sloppy. The paint was like tar,
seizing up on the hot wood. After work Eric and I went to S & M's and
painted some more. Yay! Painting interiors is a world of difference.
Only one problem: hairspray stains on the bathroom wall which repel
the paint. May take a few coats.

Now I'm at S & M's #1, old apartment, checking email and chatting with
Melissa, who unfortunately has a headache, and is actually dozed off
at the moment. We might watch a movie. Maybe. Last night I watched
Team America here but kept dozing off. It was fun, a bit gross in
parts (the marionette sex scene is World Famous). I might just go home
and relax and read for a good long while. I need to feed Kuan, too. I
don't want her angry with me. Come to think of it, I need to feed
myself. I forgot to eat supper.

Have you ever had an ant infestation? If so, how did you deal with it?
Garlic or ant traps or exterminator?

-chris

Martin, EU officials reach deals on security, environment at brief meeting, Les provinces doivent faire front commun en péréquation, selon Charest  

chris lloyd 

to pm, martin.P, ecart, chrislloyd
 More options
  11:03 pm (21 minutes ago)

Dear Paul,

Had a great weekend, despite the apparent demise of my iBook. Claudine and I always have great weekends together; in fact, impossible as it would seem, they actually get better and better. This weekend we (…) to the Air Canada crew at a party at my place (consisting this time of Kent, Elie, Anne, Dominique, Miché (sp?) and Matt; a bigger than normal Air Canada turnout as I only met the latter three once before, at Anne's party last winter, and Eric and Rudy and Izza and Babak); A very successful party, I might add, judging by the amount of dancing to great '80s pop music, and the astounding amount of alcohol consumed by those in attendance. I'm adding that it felt to be a successful party because neither myself nor Claudine have had much luck throwing parties in the past (I believe if you go through the archives of my previous letters to Jean you will note that Karina and I perhaps threw one or maybe two successful parties, one a thanksgiving get-together at 5676 Macara and the other a wild keg party at 1333 Dresden, (…), but there were many duds in between; (…)). Also, I believe having to remove my bathroom door by its hinges because the doorknobs fell off is also a good indication of a good party. Only one glass broke the whole night long and then I broke three while cleaning the apartment today, my clumsy fingers, working under the influence of brain fog, brought on not only by a night of heavy drinking and smoking–I smoked way too many cigarettes—but also by the sudden and dramatic change of weather; the return of the hot sun, though this time without the humidity. It bathed the whole city in that hot light that seems to melt through everything. Anyway, the bathroom door is still off. Repairing it is just one more thing to do this week while juggling work, painting S&M's new apartment (still not done as we didn't paint this weekend), getting my computer fixed (hopefully, fingers crossed), and packing. Which of course I haven't started yet, mostly because I don't quite know where to begin, not for lack of excitement or keen anticipation. And this afternoon I started reading A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, which Claudine bought for us (isn't that great? She buys books we will read and share together. All the time I'm floored by this incredible woman (…) how the hell did I get this lucky? (…) Ahhh, one can't be too worried about such things, things over which we have no control).

Anyway, at about 1AM we finally all busted a move and clambered into three taxis and descended on Sky Bar in the Village, where for some reason (the multiple tequila shooters perhaps?) I was convinced (…) and tried to play matchmaker, failing miserably (…) which is actually a bit adorable as it is so obvious when she is drunk (…) as soon as we got home, at like 4 AM, with the sky brightening.

And today some déjà vu; grabbing a cab to Dusty's on Parc where we were meeting the Air Canada crew for breakfast, this time the whole crew, not like Saturday morning, when we met Elie and Anne and Eric there, before wandering down St. Laurent for the street festival. What festival, exactly? Who knows. "Sell cheap goods for cheap festival". This morning we sat on the terrace and I didn't forget my umbrella, I remembered to pick it up. And promptly forgot it someplace else, on the street or in kent's car, perhaps. The Air Canada crew dispersed, off to places far away and exotic, like Switzerland, Québec City or Trois Riviéres. Claudine and I stayed in, laying in the sun (…) went for a walk, had ice cream, drank each other up.

Talked to my parents on the phone. Happy Father's Day, BTW. It will be nice to see them soon. (…)

Anyway, I'm watching the film Regular or Super with Melissa, a documentary on the Mies van der Rohe gas station on Nuns Island. Have you ever seen it, or perhaps bought gas there? Can you tell me why gas prices fluxuate between 86 – 99 cents per litre in Montréal? What's the deal? And what's going on with your email accounts? My last couple letters have bounced back as "undeliverable".

-chris

Critics call for resignation of "incompetent" ethics commissioner, André Boisclair entre dans la course au leadership du Parti québécois

chris lloyd to pm, martin.P, chrislloyd, ecart
More options 7:00 pm (7 minutes ago)

Dear Paul,

Horror of horrors! One of my worst nightmares came to pass early yesterday afternoon and continues to this very moment: I think my poor little iBook has died! It sounds like it boots up but the screen remains deathly black. Today after work (if you could call 2 hours of dismantling scaffolding and adding clearcoat to the cushion box work), Eric and I tried to hook the portable extension of-my-brain-and-art-career up to a monitor her lent me, to no avail. I tried squeezing it just above the hard drive; for a moment, I thought we had brought it back to life, but then, horror of horrors! Weird bad scrambling images appeared, the screen froze, everything went black again. I'm going to have to take it into the shop; this is gonna cost me.

But no time to write more; I'm on my way downtown to meet Eric and Rudy and Braden and the love of my life, Claudine, who descended upon my apartment with Anne and Elie in tow last night, to take in a Cirque du Soleil performance. Good thing I've already paid for the tickets.

-chris

Quiet protest as abortion crusader Henry Morgentaler awarded honorary degree, Trois autres députés péquistes confirment leur appui à André Boisclair

chris lloyd to pm, martin.P, ecart, chrislloyd
More options Jun 16 (1 day ago)

Dear Paul,

Another day of rain. Actually, today is mostly overcast, but it is spitting a bit and still too wet to paint. A good opportunity to do errands, like apartment cleaning and laundry. Claudine and her friends Elie and Anne might be arriving at my place tonight around midnight. I'd like to have eradicated most of the errant cat hair by then. And maybe even clean up my work desk, which hasn't seen any work in
months. I prefer to work in situ, you know that. The world is a much better studio than a cramped little room.

I booked a flight to Halifax for the end of next week. I'll be helping Courtney and Sarah drive their moving van to Toronto. You know I love to drive. I'll be on the move for the next month and a bit, it's a bit exciting to be living so nomadically. The flip side is that I'm wanting to just (...)

Yesterday Eric and I continued to paint at Sarah and Melissa's new place, until we ran out of paint (and got bored), so we went back to his place and ate frozen pizza and watched Beyond the Sea. Typical biopic, but I learned a bit about dear Bobby Darin and the movie had some fun twists as well as singing and dancing numbers. I really should take dance lessons. I really should go to karaoke more often. I really should call my student loans collectors. I really should finish organizing my papers. I really should stop plagiarizing Kelly Mark in my letters. I really should ask Kelly Mark to write to you for me.

Hey Paul, it's Melissa taking over because Chris has a mental road block and his laundry is almost done. Did you know he's always over here pilfering our laundry soap and taking up all the space in the washer and dryer? I'm so glad he's leaving town.

I'm just joking of course. Yesterday I met up with C and his friend Karen (she's also an artist) at the Museum of Contemporary Arts and can you believe it, that was the first time I had been there! Usually I find contemporary art to be full of good ideas but rife with simplistic or poor execution, but there were quite a few pieces I was really into.

Kelly Mark had some sweet pieces using fonts and characters to construct images in a way that I hadn't seen done before. Instead of adhering to the lines she was all over the place and it was stimulating. Then there was Annie Baillargeon who did these large photo collages where she took shots of herself in various poses and
then enlarged or shrunk the images and arranged them in a certain way. They were super stimulating to look at, especially the one called "Camouflage" that was a full wall of spaced out images of her with the odd small black circle mixed in.

I've gotta go. So far today I've written two stories, did an interview with DJ Ram and I still have to make mix tapes and hop on a bus to Ottawa because my friend is graduating tomorrow and I'm going to the ceremony.

Later!
Melissa

OK, Lloydly here. Melissa's letter reminded me that I haven't adequately written to you to describe the MACM show more completely, or the Christopher Flower videos at YYZ last month, or their relationship to Jasper van den Brink's videos. So here's a quick run, an homage of sorts to the Lola Shotguns:

Christopher Flower uses a deceptively simple process of animating objects in sweet service of the video medium. In strapping a camera to a box that blocks all other external visual stimuli, Flower is able to animate any and all sorts of objects by shaking the camera, and by extension the box, thereby giving gravity-defying powers to pencils, cups, water, bananas and bricks. My favourite was the one where he has
a dancing can of Coke impale itself on a nail protruding into the box; the ensuing death throes of the can with it's black life liquid spewing all over the inside of the box is worthy of an Oscar nomination.

The inverse of Flower's videos are those made by Holland-based artist Jasper van den Brink, whom I met in Rouyn at TRAFIC. Jasper straps cameras to moving objects to get their perspective on the world. Ever imagined what it feels like to be a bowling pin or a fork? After watching his videos, you will.

What I truly enjoy about both these artists is how well their approach melds with the medium of video; its time-based nature, the way they consider the camera itself as part of the 'landscape', how it plays an integral role not only in delivering the video, but within the narrative of the video itself. It truly follows a different path from film. You wouldn't necessarily go about strapping an expensive 35mm camera to the side of a cement truck or windmill now, would you?

Anyway, my laundry is finished and I had best get back to the apartment cleaning. More reviews to follow, I promise.

-chris

From chris lloyd
Sent Tuesday, June 14, 2005 4:41 pm
To pm@pm.gc.ca , martin.P@parl.gc.ca
Cc ecart@cablevision.qc.ca , chrislloyd@videotron.ca
Subject Liberals expect to survive confidence votes, warn MPs to show up, Gilles Duceppe continuera de mener les destinées du Bloc québécois

Dear Paul,

Sorry I didn't write yesterday. I had every intention of writing this morning but I didn't sleep well; it was too damn hot! Too hot, but I love it. Kuan seems to like it less, and was panting like a dog the other day. All she does is wander the apartment slowly looking for cool places to lie down. A massive thunderstorm woke me up at 5 AM this morning; I think the same clap of thunder woke up the whole city. The rain fell from the sky like heavy rocks. I was exhausted from painting at Sarah and Melissa's new apartment with Rudy and Eric until late the night before. And yesterday we worked on Anne's house in the hot sun and high humidity all day, high up on scaffolding, hoping against hope for nap time. Working in that heat is damn near impossible. I hadn't made a lunch but Eric made one for me. I haven't bought groceries in I can't remember how long. Though last night I bought sausages and cooked for Eric and Rudy at my place on the barbeque.

But today it rained all day, throwing off our work schedule. We still did some window prep at Anne's, and I finished fxing up the painting on the cushion box, but we were still done before noon. Stopped at Saithong to visit Jean-Guy in his new store; he really, really likes it. Picked up my shirt from the bus station; Ariane had sent it from Rouyn. We went back to Eric's place and Gregg met up with us and we watched Hitch. Three guys watching a cheesy romance trying not to cry at the sensitive bits. (...)

We're off shortly to continue painting at the girls' apartment. Melissa doesn't like the colours and we might have to change a couple. Her article on me is up on http://www.maisonneuve.org/ ; you should check it out, it's quite accessible and a fun read.

-chris

From: chris lloyd
Date: Mon Jun 13, 2005 12:30:07 AM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca, martin.P@parl.gc.ca
Cc: ecart@cablevision.qc.ca
Subject: Federal promise to protect universal medicare conflicts with facts on the ground, Amis et adversaires pensent que Gilles Duceppe restera à Ottawa 

Dear Paul,

I'm back from TO. Things magically fell into place Friday afternoon, after a lot of wheeling and dealing and changing of plans, which included hitchhiking with Babak, to taking the train or bus, to renting a car. Finally, that's what we did, with Eric's generous and kind assistance. I had actually found a rental company, Pelletier, that initially agreed to rent me a car, but the guy backed out when he learned that neither Babak nor I had a land line. I was a bit flabbergasted, as I can't see what that has to do with anything. And the idea of 2 guys hitchhiking wasn't very appealing. But Eric signed up as a principal driver with Discount and we were able to use his Gold Card auto insurance, saving us more money, and the rental company gave us a brand spanking new 2005 Chevy Impala with a meagre 42 kilometres clocked on the odometer. We coasted down the highway making sweet time until just a half hour from the downtown core when traffic on the 401 ground to a dead halt. After a half hour of inching forward we passed a tractor trailer that had flipped over and rammed through a concrete barrier. But even after dropping Babak off at his cousins and driving downtown to meet Claudine we still had a band and a half to go before Wolf Parade hit the stage, one of Clo's newest favourite bands since she saw them opening for Arcade Fire a few weeks ago. It was part of the North by Northeast Off-festival. I ran into a dozen old Haligonians at the club, including Mitchell, Swintak, Greg, Claire, Lydia, Victoria, Robin and Matt. Burned the top of my mouth with fresh early-morning pizza. (…)

Saturday consisted of (…) breakfast at Swans with Clo, then a drive to Niagra Falls. What a weird town; sort of a Las Vegas-inspired blend of fantasy, carnivals, heart-shaped whirlpools, wrestling, theme parks, Ripley's Believe it or Not, wax museums, tacky souvenirs and much, much more. Oh yeah, some sort of grand immense natural waterfall with a perpetual rainbow stuck to it seemed to be a constant draw for a shit-load of tourists. The Falls are so iconic that one almost forgets to look at them and see them as a force of nature. I bought commemorative coffee mugs with your and Jean's names on them (to add to the Curio Cabinet) and Clo treated us to a trip on the Piledriver. Great fun for a lad slightly scared of heights. We continued to Niagra-on-the-lake for wine and supper; every restaurant over-priced and no tourist or local to be seen under the age of forty. Never before in my life has a simple meal for two at a Chinese restaurant cost over $40. Two glasses of wine and some cheese and crackers was close to $30. Mind you, the wine was nice, but still. We careened out of that sleepy little town back to the bright lights and big bustle of the Honeymoon Capital of Canada and (…) Heck, the bottles of beer were almost $7 each! We drove further outside of town looking in vain for a campground, and parked instead in a farmer's field (…) Slept there for a few hours before driving back to TO, to her hot and humid apartment, and sleeping more, waking to the sudden and heavy rains, then back to sleep.

Had brunch this morning at Saving Grace on Dundas with Babak and his cousin, Peter and Rebecca, and Swintak, Sarah and Mohanad. Though he only stayed for coffee because he's a workaholic and works weekends on his own side-projects. We'll hang out more when I arrive in Toronto in a couple weeks. (…) Swintak got us into the AGO for free and we marveled at her amazing wall work, a symmetrical arrangement of a floor on the wall, built around a door frame, complete with Deer's head, matching beds, columns, tables, beer cans, video cassettes, spare change, photographs and much, much more. Best work in the whole darn museum. We raised a raucous and scandalized the guards but what do you expect from a bunch of artists in a museum? It's like our playground.

Spent a few more quiet hours with Clo, getting sexy with one another, and synchronizing our day planners up until the fall. (…) The coming year will be both thrilling and challenging, what with us living apart, maybe together, maybe in TO or NB, maybe Dawson City or Whitehorse in the spring or summer, planning (…)

Hit the road by 5:30, grabbed Babak from the waterfront and we were back in Montréal by 11PM. We talked about Iran and politics and culture and literature and films and linguistics the whole way, smoking cigarettes and drinking water and Red Bulls and stopping to pee on the side of the road every now and again.

Tomorrow it's back to reality and work. Need to make the money to pay the 2 parking tickets I managed to get within the first eight hours I was in TO. And as you know, gas isn't cheap.

-chris

From: chris lloyd
Date: Fri Jun 10, 2005 7:36:48 AM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca, martin.P@parl.gc.ca
Cc: shepburn@artgallerycalgary.org, info@manifdart.org, ecart@cablevision.qc.ca
Subject: Experts say Supreme Court ruling opens door to parallel private health system, Experts say Supreme Court ruling opens door to parallel private health system 

Cher Paul,

Il faisait chaud, vraiment chaud, finalement. Hier j'ai brûlé au travail quand je peinturais un desin, un reparation actuallement, sur une grande boîte. Nous travaillions chez Anne, encore.

Hier soir je rencontrais Jen sur Le Main et nous avons soupé chez Frites Alors! La rue était barré de voitures, à cause le Grand Prix cette fin de semaine. Par coïncidence, Les Fermières Obsédées étaient fait un spectacle sur le même rue. Elles traversaient ensemble, avec haut vitesse, en portant leurs même tailleurs qu'elles toujours portent. Les tailleurs étaient plus sale, après beaucoup des spectacles. À l'avenue du Pins, où le rue était ouvert pour voitures, elles ont monté un grand camion et continuant de faire le bruit, sifflé, joue comme en angoisse ou douleur atroce, crié, jettant les petit papier, comme le riz, dans l'air, et faisant les pétards. Tout sur et environ le camion, qu'il conduisait lentement jusque'à la galerie La Centrale. Là, les Fermières finissaient avec bottles of coke they shook up all over the place, themselves, water guns spraying, truck engine revving, dunking their heads in a pool of Coke and finally, shooting fireworks off the cab of the truck. It must have been a rental. Anyway, I'm late for work. I'll write more later, probably from Toronto. I'm hitchhiking there this afternoon with Babak. We had hoped to rent a car together but as you know, I don't have a credit card and even though he does, he doesn't have a drivers license. That combo just doesn't work. So wish us luck,

-chris

From: chris lloyd
Date: Thu Jun 9, 2005 7:42:57 AM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca, martin.P@parl.gc.ca
Cc: shepburn@artgallerycalgary.org, info@manifdart.org, ecart@cablevision.qc.ca
Subject: Goodale calls on rich countries to "belly up to the bar" on Africa aid, Pour des raisons familiales, François Legault renonce au leadership du PQ 

Dear Paul,

Sorry for not writing yesterday. Been busy during the days and evenings as well. A couple nights ago I had supper with Rudy and Eric and we went to see the new Star Wars movie afterwards. I can't say I was totally disappointed; there was some sort of pleasure in seeing the series finally wrapped up, despite wooden acting and a convoluted plot. Last night I was going to rent Team America, as I have yet to meet anyone who has seen it and not liked it, but Sarah R. called me and we rented House of Sand and Fog instead. Then she fell asleep during it. Lucas could take some lessons from it; then again, he could take lessons from a lot of sources, even his own. After we finished work early yesterday, because of rain, I started to watch Dude, Where's My Car? at Eric's but thankfully fell asleep after the first twenty minutes. Now THAT was a dumb movie.

Did a brief telephone interview with a Phlis McGregor in Halifax, regarding my participation in the Commons Service Group anti-GATS inserts at the Venice Bienalle. I'm such a publicity whore. I love that shit.

(…)

-chris

From: chris lloyd
Date: Mon Jun 6, 2005 11:32:22 PM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca, martin.P@parl.gc.ca
Cc: shepburn@artgallerycalgary.org, info@manifdart.org, ecart@cablevision.qc.ca
Subject: O'Brien quits Liberals over gay marriage bill; threatens to topple minority, Louise Harel est désignée chef intérimaire de l'aile parlementaire du PQ 

Cher Paul,

C'était une journée un peu lourde aujourd'hui, à cause de la chaleur. Aussi à cause de lundi. Un lundi immédiatement après le grnad Tour de L'Ile. Nous travaillions maintenant pour un femme que nous avons travaillé deja, pour celle sous-sol, pendant le mois d'avril. Cette fois c'était la cuisine, et il y a très chaid là. Il y a très chaud partout la ville de Montréal aujourd'hui. J'ai dit a gregg que je vais quitter travail puis la ville a fin de juin. Il m'a demande ce que je peut travailler avec lui et Eric chez la chalet de Anne a Nouvelles Écosse pour deux semaines à la fin de juillet. Je vais le considérer. Je veux vraiment les temps au juillet pour organise mes choses artistiques, pour moi puis le galerie à st-jean. Mais je besoin l'argent aussi. Eric m'a dit que si je ne paye pas mon prêt etudiante alors le gouvernement peuvent m'arreterai aller au autre pays. C'est vrai? Tabernaque! (…)

Mais, bon nouvelles: Braden vas prendre mon apartement pur les mois juillet et aûot. J'ai soupé avec lui et Eric et Rudy ce soir. On a mangé de pizza. J'ai bu de bierre. Maintenant je bois le reste du vin que claudine m'a apporté. J'ai parlé avec Robyn, Claudine, Sarah R. et Andrea M. ce soir. Je utilise mon casque à écouteurs, parce que je peur la radiation.

Il faut que je prend un douche tout de suite, puis en rassant.

-chris

From: chris lloyd
Date: Sun Jun 5, 2005 11:09:22 PM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca, martin.P@parl.gc.ca
Cc: info@manifdart.org, shepburn@artgallerycalgary.org, ecart@cablevision.qc.ca
Subject: oops, j'ai oublié quelque chose…

Cher Paul,

Je m'excuse. Je t'ai oublié dit que les petites "*" dans mon dernier lettre indique que je vais te dire plus, parce que l'exposition c'était un de les meilleurs qui j'ai vu dans deux ans, puis le film c'était aussi vraiment beaux, puissant, affectif. (…)

-chris

From: chris lloyd
Date: Sun Jun 5, 2005 10:52:26 PM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca, martin.P@parl.gc.ca
Cc: ecart@cablevision.qc.ca, info@manifdart.org, shepburn@artgallerycalgary.org
Subject: Martin says cities, towns will have a say in future federal decisions, Au moins une candidate est déjà sur les rangs pour succéder à Bernard Landry 

Cher Paul,

C'était un vraiment super fin de semain, mais trop court. Claudine est deja parti. Nous avons fait le Tour de L'Ile aujourd'hui, sous un ceil bleu, un soleil fort et brilliant, avec Eric, Rudy, Braden, Sarah R. et sa soeur Rebecca, puis environ 35, 000 autres. J'ai brûlé par le soleil, parce que je n'ai porté pas mon T-shirt après le premier pause, ni l'écran total. C'était une journée longue, surtout pour Clo et moi, à cause de la nuit hier. Nous allions partout centre ville samedi après midi sur notre velos (elle a emprunté le velo de Jen pour le fin de semaine): Le Plateau, MACM* pour voir l'exposition L’Envers des apparences, le quartier Latin pour voir le film C.R.A.Z.Y.*, chez moi encore pour faisant souper, finalement Club Soda pour rencontions le gang, mais le Club c'était plein des gens, donc Clo et moi avons fait un petit tour dans St. Laurent en cherchant les shooters et petit verres des bierres. Nous avons rencontré Melissa chez Le Pistol, et parlent de (…) Shakespeare, MUTEK, etc. À trois heurre nous avons essaié a trouver le gang chez Club Soda mais il n y a marché pas. Nous sommes decendu dans le parc lafontaine (…) jouent un peu sur le grand scène dans notre sous vétements. C'était presque cinq heurre de matin quand nous avons couché. Maintenant je suis vraiment faitgué; j'espere qu'elle vas arriver à Toronto en plein forme, après un sûr trajet en voiture. (…) J'ai les temps pour practique mon parle. Je m'excuse, j'ai trop fatigué a continuer.

-chris

From: chris lloyd
Date: Sat, 04 Jun 2005 14:39:23 -0400 (EDT)
To: paul martin , paul martin
Cc: MANIF d Art , art gallery calgary , chrislloyd@videotron.ca, galerie l'ecart
Subject: (…)

Dear Paul,
 
(…) but last night, while sharing a cheese plate at café Sol on Mont Royal, after viewing Jacob's play at Fonderie Darling, and after Claudine arrived, comme une ange, and we hugged and embraced and I drove the car because she was tired, having just driven from Toronto, and I was hungry, having not eaten since the afternoon, when I had met up with Marie-Éve and her friend she met in Cuba, Claudia, a welder and stunning party animal, and Eric and Rudy, and we ate at a great Vietnamese restaurant on St. Denis, then I did laundry at SSM, after biking with Sarah and viewing their new apartment, the apartment that Eric and I will paint in the coming weeks, and later had a brief nap; I was tired, having worked in the morning, finishing the job at Saithong, which went so smoothly, and Gregg was happy, and we received a good paycheck, after all that, a busy day, full of sun and summer, after rushing to hang my laundry and vacuuming my apartment and taking a cab to Fonderie Darling, after meeting Claudine, after meeting up with Ariane and her sister and some more of Marie-Éve's Cuba friends, but just briefly, for I needed to eat and was feeling faint, and after eating a bit, and smoking a cigarette (…)
 
-chris

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From: chris lloyd
Date: Fri Jun 3, 2005 2:05:02 AM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca, Martin.P@parl.gc.ca
Cc: ecart@cablevision.qc.ca, info@manifdart.org, shepburn@artgallerycalgary.org
Subject: Homolka weeps as public gets glimpse of one of Canada's most hated convicts, Karla Homolka ne représente pas une menace pour le public, plaide son avocate 

Cher Paul,

Un autre jour, un autre dollar. C'était une journée pleine de peinture; trois couches de couleur jaune, et puis à-cause de la peinture c'est trop transparent.

Jean-Guy, le proprietaire du magasine, pour qui je travaille me donne un certificat cadeaux pour leur magasine pour cinquante dollars. Peut-être je vais acaheter une statue de Budha, en bronze, pour $1800. Ha! Peut-étre juste un collier (pour $125-ha!)

J'ai rencontre mes amis Ariane et Marie-Ève et nous avons bu des bierres chez Soho sur le chemin St. Hubert. C'était amusant; nous parlions de l'art, du film Hôtel Rwanda, des Êtats Unis, George Bush, Farenheit 911, le trafic, etc.

Je suis un peu saoul; je vais dormir tout de suite.

-chris

From: chris lloyd
Date: Wed Jun 1, 2005 11:56:06 PM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca, Martin.P@parl.gc.ca
Cc: ecart@cablevision.qc.ca, info@manifdart.org, shepburn@artgallerycalgary.org
Subject: U.S. offered to return Arar, but only if he was charged in Canada, Des groupes s'interrogent sur les défis de la réinsertion sociale de Homolka 

Cher Paul,

J'ai fatigué; c'était un longue journée du travail. nous avons fait deux couches sur la plafond avec le pistolet du peinture d'Eric, puis un couch sur un grand mur, puis deux couches sur l'autre mur. J'ai eu une goutte de peinture dans mon globe oculaire droit. Peut être je besoin des gouttes pour les yeux? Il y a un peu piqûre.

I finished the interview with Melissa while at work, yakking away on the phone while pushing Eric around on the scaffold. We got into existentialism and postmodernism and the media and all sorts of weird stuff that probably won't make it into the article, but was fun to chat about

Après travail j'ai retouvé mon velo. J'ai eu le laissé en face de Place des Arts plus de deux semaines passé. Je me soulange que personne n'a volé pas ça.

I picked up my tickets and bibs for the tour de L'Ile on Sunday. Stopped by Jen's but she wasn't home.

Il a fait tres chaud aujourd'hui, mais je travaillais à l'intériour, dommage. The cycling was fun though.

J'ai soupé avec Sarah R. jusque avant elle a part pour un jou de soccer. Elle a fait un grand lasagne. J'ai fait un petit somme dans leur sofa, durant un emission sur Radio Canada de le comique Martin Petit.

J'ai passé le plupart de mon nuit chez moi, sur mon ordinateur. J'ai volé le petit boîte blanche d'elle, le branche, le câble, pour faire marcher mon OD, encore. Haleureusement, Ariane et Marie-Éve vont revenir à Montréal demain avec mon apparei, peut être le chemise j'ai oublié à Rouyn aussi.

J'ai MSNé avec Claudine; nous appartons un grand appétit et enthousiasme pour toutes choses sexe; il sera un excellent fin de semaine, j'espere! We chatted about travel plans and the future and all sorts of fun things.

I'm going to bed; there is now pus in my eye, gross! Damn toxic paint. Why is it just flaring up now? Bizarre.

-chris