Spookey Ruben - Modes of Transportation Vol. 1
Sloan - Steady
Joel Plaskett - In Need of Medical Attention
Rheostatics - Night of the Shooting Stars
The Tragically Hip - Road Apples
The Super Friendz - Sticktoitiveness
The Joel Plaskett Emergency - Ashtray Rock
The Local Rabbits - Basic Concept

Packing. I stole a towel because I got nose blood on it and its such a hassle for housekeepers to deal with blood. I checked out and drove to the station. Parked like 8 minutes away by foot because everyone parked there. Massive ass city. We rode to brunch and discussed those Toronto Slang videos as well as Hamilton. We walked to Kensington and went into vintage stores we could not afford. “Why am I getting emotional, these aren't even my friends”. Saying goodbye was so emotional. Talked to a wonderful old woman about Toronto on the way back for fifteen minutes

I got gas. I left. I was so sleepy but I persevered. The Canadian music on the way back was more background than foreground. We were gonna get home late, and it kept feeling even later. We saw niagara, paid 7 CAD but had to walk up and down a giant giant hill. It was beautiful, but the light show they plastered onto the falls certainly felt too gimmicky. It was nice though, a nice thing to see. We kept driving, we returned to america, we kept driving, we switched cds, we kept driving, I got gas, we kept driving, we wanted canes but there was none, we kept driving, we looked at the eta and got annoyed, we kept driving, we got mcdonalds and ate it in the car. It was so good, the buffalo dip was good, but tangy bbq is better. We kept driving and driving and driving and talking and driving and driving and driving. We were commuting for like 10 hours. It was too much. My girlfriend couldn't nap properly in the car. When the local rabbits album ended, I listened to sports radio on FM. I made it to her place and drove home. I asked my boss if I could come in at nine today and he said yes. 1:05am arrival. I talked to my parents but I was honestly way too tired to maintain the conversation. Excellent trip, I Love Canada.

no music

I desperately needed to sleep in, I was in between plans, and I spent so much time on the subway. I packed The Anthropocene Reviewed because I thought I was going to need it and I was right. I read 40% of the book throughout the various commutes of the day. I ate at tim hortons (they have pizza? miraculous!) and met up at the harbor to see some contemporary art. Walking back to the subway to meet a hometown friend. Hockey Hall of Fame! The blue jackets exhibitions were lacking (fork found in kitchen) because of no stanley cups but I got to see wayne gretzkys jersey and the original stanley cup. They had Matthew Tkachuk’s mouthguard from their 2024 championship. Gross.

Dinner at the happy burger after being unable to make up my mind and more subway travel. I walked around the city and listened to Victorialand and some of Nurture, really just taking it all in. So many people, no souvenirs that call out to me. This is the day we walked through the overindulgent neighborhood, and ended up going back to the hotel because of the cold. Wintry Mix in the air.

Saturday was Rheos prep day. We ate brunch at this food court style thing with excellent service. We went to the art museum and record stores. I bought Kali Malone, who is expressly not Canadian, but they did not have any of my Canadi-favs. We sat at this coffee shop and hung out at an apartment before walking down. I'm sure we ended up going somewhere else that I have since forgotten (remembered! Random souvenir store!) The Rheos were amazing. Haven't heard the album yet, but I'm hoping the expanded progressive sound of the concert is here in the album. Very emotional experience, just the melodies and the seven minute jams. Alex Lifeson was right there, Hugh marsh!!! Hugh didn't come out after the concert. Tim did Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, one of the ten best songs I've seen live. I met Tim and both Daves and Don (First name bases). They signed a copy of Introducing Happiness that my girlfriend is letting me have. We mused about the concert and ate pizza in this place that, ill admit, was just okay. I think we went back to the hotel after? Yeah, we did. Collected our stuff, got off at a really really bad station and huffed it home.

Tim Hecker - Radio Amor
Echo Lane Afterschool - Sunburnt
Cocteau Twins - Victorialand

I desperately needed to sleep in, I was in between plans, and I spent so much time on the subway. I packed The Anthropocene Reviewed because I thought I was going to need it and I was right. I read 40% of the book throughout the various commutes of the day. I ate at tim hortons (they have pizza? miraculous!) and met up at the harbor to see some contemporary art. Walking back to the subway to meet a hometown friend. Hockey Hall of Fame! The blue jackets exhibitions were lacking (fork found in kitchen) because of no stanley cups but I got to see wayne gretzkys jersey and the original stanley cup. They had Matthew Tkachuk’s mouthguard from their 2024 championship. Gross.

Dinner at the happy burger after being unable to make up my mind and more subway travel. I walked around the city and listened to Victorialand and some of Nurture, really just taking it all in. So many people, no souvenirs that call out to me. This is the day we walked through the overindulgent neighborhood, and ended up going back to the hotel because of the cold. Wintry Mix in the air.

Sarah Mclaughlin - Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
Rheostatics - Whale Music
Rebecca West - Burners On
Venetian Snares - Rossz Csillag Alatt Született
Martin Tielli - Operation Infinite Joy
Sloan - One Chord to Another
Tim Hecker - Radio Amor

Poor planning leads to a bumpy start. Driving with a headache almost the entire way. Mcdonalds in rural Pennsylvania, the border patrol man was rude to us. Listen, This is the separator, this is where the format shifts. I went to Canada for five days and all I got were these memories and 36 film photographs. These Canadian albums are by my side. I think I failed the ambient challenge this week, but I'm just going to skip and mend it for the length of this trip because its lowkey unfair.

I really like how Canada looks and feels compared to America. Less industrial, the rural parts are interesting, the lake is so beautiful. The traffic is god awful though, It made my time in the car feel so much more endless. That, and the bred anticipation of the week to come. My girlfriend's Boost Mobile plan stopped working (fork found in kitchen) so she bought an esim, luckily Verizon let me swap between Bell and Freedom all trip. Seven thousand cell towers as you drive into Toronto. We were on the north side, so we took a bus to the train every day. Walking around the city and navigating the subways was so foreign, it reminded me of my time in Chicago though. Seeing friends, trading gifts, eating at cash only restaurants, the Blue Jackets beat the Maple Leafs (did not get to see Fantilli in the subway). So much emotion. Walking off the bus and getting back to the hotel. Watching sportsnet because Canadians have horrible television.

november eighteenth
(started november seventeenth)
sony (car aux)

Two separate morning commutes, plus a little bonus of some afternoon driving. I only know his album mist which was very Roachian, Roachian in the 00s definition, but this album is some classic flowing new age. It is still going on, it is a really really long album. I was falling asleep at the wheel this morning, to the extent that I changed it to danny brown in order to help keep myself awake. It hardly worked. Today has been slow and sleepy, gloomy clouds and early sunsets. Thinking all day about my post-work nap.

november seventeenth
library cd

I got an oil change and waited for the gas as the sunset and picked up pizza. Eating the pizza was good but I will not lie, it was much colder than I anticipated. Family room jeopardy and waiting for fortnite. Surprise! Seeing my girlfriend and watching the end of Thelma and Louise! Going to bed too late. Masterpiece.

november fifteenth
sony (headphones)

Midnights be[ca]me my afternoons. My girlfriend left, so I went out on a pokemon go walk. I have played about one hundred pokemon go events, dozens in the cold, and this was the one that was most worth it. I was blown away with the engrossing nature of it, I would have gone so hard if I had nothing else to do this weekend. The spoils of mighty pokemon and of the stops were just so amazing. The nap afterwards was inevitable but annoying

Midnights was so much better than I expected it to be. I knew I would like it, but not this much. Perfect length, perfectly catchy, loved every single. The sun was setting so I played Don Cherry, and it was all really nice.

november fifteenth
cd

I am not going to bother trying to piece together when I started listening to this album, but I was genuinely blown away with track five. Beautiful shoegaze. My girlfriend was so tired of it when we reached the final two penultimate tracks, but I just kept thinking about that time Phil Elverum saw stereolab and they played one chord for forty minutes. My post rock inspired kings, the band I love the idea of more than the music itself. Relistens required.

november fifteenth
sony (car aux)

Jury is still out on whether or not I finished this album (I have a sneaking suspicion the final two songs autoplayed when I went to a bar) but regardless I am letting it appear on the list. The bar was nice because it was all adults and everyone was just talking. I was not in the mood to dance today. The sisterhood of the traveling canes, some episodes of the chair company, and arriving at home much much later than I intended. 3 cupcakes before bed.

november fifteenth
sony (car aux)

Was checked out of this album, sorry. Walking in the unreasonably warm day, mostly because it was a warm day, but a little bit of that new pokemon event was a definitive bonus of the whole experience. Loving the mighty pokemon. The landscapes and paths are all covered in leaves, the trees are almost barren. I’m gonna miss the orange leaves on all these trees. Got some ice cream and realized truly how checked out of this album I was.

november fifteenth
(started november fourteenth)
sony (car aux)

really just some of his best work. The sobriety angle, the bangers, I really cannot complain. I was jamming in the car, bouncing around as I drove home from work. The next morning it was not really the same energy because I find the album to be very nocturnal, but I still had a good time

november fourteenth
vinyl

I do not know why, but I simply did not feel like playing fortnite. I was a little bit tired, a little bit headache prone, and it was just so much energy. That was combined with the need to talk with my parents and organize things when I got home. I watched the mammoth lose another hockey game (their stadr studded start is fading out) and I read a little bit. I booted up the xbox and played some NHL 07 to this beautiful little album, because it has been a while. I boosted the difficulty sliders and I was still crushing. Still the best album ever.