Skip to main content

On Sunday, 15 April, Dakin flew to New Zealand. For three days, Dakin and Jamie drove away from Auckland toward Wellington, where they would see Richard Buckner play at the San Francisco Bathhouse. The journey, while an adventure, is but a prelude.


Day One


I am exhausted. It takes 9 hours to drive from Wellington to Auckland, and I've done it with as few stops as possible. I just wanted to get there, check in to my hotel, and go to a pub. It was 9:00am when I left Wellington, and it was getting dark when I hit the Auckland motorway at 6:00pm. Everything was going relatively smoothly, so I was able to reflect when I finally sat down with a pint of Guinness at a small Irish pub on Victoria Street.


The last time I saw Dakin was in 2001. Before he moved to Seattle we spent the hours dreaming to life record label schemes (this led to the birth of Duck and Cover), drinking too much, and experiencing the odd brush with death here and there. Too often we promise each other we won't smoke before meeting, but end up running to the nearest gas station to buy a pack of Camels. This latest encounter promised to be no different.


Though between various emails Dakin and I swore (pinky swore, in fact) that no cigarettes would grace our fingers, not one hour after stepping out of the hotel, I walked into a Superette and put down a tenner for a pack of Lucky Strikes. Sitting with my pint and watching a rainy Saturday night gear up, I lit my first cigarette in three years and hoped to myself that the ensuing week would not destroy me.


Upon finishing my cigarette, I looked for an ashtray (the fact that I didn't just flick my butt into the gutter betrays how unaccustomed I had become to the smoker's world). There on the wall of the covered patio was a hollow tin box, and printed on its face was advertising for advertisers. Something to the effect of "advertise here," but using a homonym pun that just wouldn't work outside of New Zealand / Australia. In centre-aligned layout, four words cascaded down the page: hare, hair, hear, here.


Subtle differences such as these for me make the horizons in an ever-shrinking world just a little bit broader.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

May Day Is Lei Day

For the past 31 years in Honolulu, the Brothers Cazimero have hosted an annual May Day variety show at the Waikiki Shell Ampitheatre (because May Day is Lei Day!). When living there, I had the privilege of attending twice, the last time being the 30th anniversary, and just after the sad passing of the legendary Don Ho. Both times were, at the risk of allowing my cynical mask slip, magical. The May Day show is great fun, and follows the format of an old time variety show -- there is an aura of glamour interspersed with a decidedly camp sensibility, with hula stars of past and present gracing the stage. Spirits are high, and the banter among the performers is priceless; at times it feels as though you've wandered into a family reunion, and are a long lost cousin -- instantly at home and enveloped in the warmth. It's a time to celebrate the spirit and culture that truly do make the islands such a special place. There's a song that plays before the Sunset On The Beach movies...

Celebrate Halloween with Peter Squires's New Video, "Witch"

I don't usually do festive or holiday posts. In fact, the closest I get is writing some kind of seasonal bent against a track, and only then when I've had too much coffee and can't find any relation to a song other than what the weather is doing. I just think holiday-themed posts / articles are lazy. But Halloween is different. Why? Because Halloween, to paraphrase Wesley Willis, whips a horse's ass. So when Ryan from The Musebox put me on to Peter Squires a few days ago, I knew it was going into the annals of Duck & Cover (that's right, I said "annals" on the Internets). From the Press Release: Peter’s direct and honest vocal delivery is reminiscent of contemporaries such as Kimya Dawson and Luke Temple. The album is all heart, laid bare for our aural pleasure. Woe Is Me was recorded in Peter Squires’ Brooklyn bedroom and is available on his website for fans to download at no charge. The first video from the album is “Witch” and it was just rele...

The Pogues + The Dubliners = St. Patrick's Rovers

In celebration of St. Patrick's day, and because I spent a good deal of time living on Ireland's west coast (if you can call Limerick a coast), here's an old video of The Pogues and The Dubliners singing "Irish Rover." I love the fact that Shane MacGowan is puffing away at a rollie on stage--and I'm pretty sure it's not water in that styrofoam cup. This video reminds me of a musician I palled around with during my stint in stab city. A mesmerizing performer, Damo would often celebrate the fact he scored a gig before the gig itself. When it was time for him to go on, he would be completely trollied; too drunk for his own performance (which, if you knew Damo, you would concede is no small feat). Damn, I miss those guys.