Jordan Bee

2010-12-13T17:51:00.000-08:00

This is my friend Will's older brother. You might recognize him from the Nyquil commercial or that car commercial, but he has some really funny stand up comedy, too. This is his choose your own adventure story. I had fun with it. You should to.

2010-12-04T10:29:00.000-08:00

no use crying over a broken bottle of hot sauce.

2010-12-02T19:36:00.000-08:00

Sandy Denny - "By The Time It Gets Dark"

2010-11-30T14:03:00.000-08:00

Did you know that Sandy Denny is the only guest vocalist to ever appear on a Led Zepplin album?

CORTEZ

2010-10-27T12:36:00.000-07:00

Let's Go, Coyote! - "Cortez" from Jordan Bee on Vimeo.

This video took forrreeevvveeerrrr. I filmed it on my trusty VHS camcorder in May of 2009. Then I exported it as 2,600 images. Then I edited each frame individually. I finished it last night (almost a year and a half later). I didn't work on it steadily this whole time, but it still took a long long time.

Dirt Dog in the Bay Area

2010-10-12T22:19:00.001-07:00

Dirt Dog in the Bay Area from Jordan Bee on Vimeo.

Part 5 of 5

2010-09-26T11:13:00.000-07:00

TORO Y MOI SPRING TOUR 2010 (part 5 of 5) from Jordan Bee on Vimeo.

Part 4 of 5

2010-09-17T20:51:00.001-07:00

TORO Y MOI SPRING TOUR 2010 (part 4 of 5) from Jordan Bee on Vimeo.

I'm posting this from Kalamazoo, MI. I hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

Part 3 of 5

2010-09-11T02:40:00.000-07:00

TORO Y MOI SPRING TOUR 2010 (part 3 of 5) from Jordan Bee on Vimeo.

Little ego hugs are nice.

2010-09-08T13:24:00.000-07:00

My friend Claire showed me a blog that did a really nice write up of the Toro Y Moi tour documentary. Thanks for the kind words Kitsune Noir!

Then I googled myself and found a "Here We Go Magic" video that said I had done something similar to the video at hand, but six months prior.

I bet in a year I will google myself and find an article that says VHS music docs are soooo 2010 and I will just be an obscure joke to the cool indie video-making community. Or maybe the joke is on me and I already am. Unfortunately, the format isn't an artistic choice (it's the only video camera I have), but maybe soon I will get a job, have some money, and can afford a nice camera allowing me to do something aesthetically different.

Until then, VHS-ahoy!

Torotourtwo

2010-09-05T12:14:00.000-07:00

TORO Y MOI SPRING TOUR 2010 (part 2 of 5) from Jordan Bee on Vimeo.

POA

2010-09-02T22:45:00.000-07:00

2010-09-02T01:04:00.000-07:00

Steve Pillinger and I went out to eat at the taco place by my apartment. I was coloring this at the table, and the waitress asked who this was. Steve quickly told her I was drawing a self portrait. She told me I have radiant nipples.

EXCITED

2010-08-30T18:53:00.000-07:00

I am really excited about F&S's upcoming releases. The one with the most momentum at the moment is a vinyl release for Coma Cinema's upcoming record "Blue Suicide". Look for it online this winter...

Toro Y Moi Spring Tour 2010 (part 1 of 5)

2010-08-28T19:53:00.000-07:00

TORO Y MOI SPRING TOUR 2010 (part 1 of 5) from Jordan Bee on Vimeo.

I will post the next one next Saturday, and then the next one the Saturday after that, and on and on until there ain't no episodes left.

Torour

2010-08-23T14:54:00.001-07:00

I haven't worked on this tour journal thing as efficiently as I should have. Not that many people really care, but I try to follow through with the goals that I set for myself. However, events have a way of exaggerating, blurring, or just disappearing altogether after it becomes two-week-old news. Plus, moods surely effect how these events are currently remembered and I am in a horrible mood at the moment. So all apologies for my portrayal of the remainder of the tour.

08/12/2010 - Minneapolis, MN

The trip through Minneapolis in June left a strange taste in my mouth. Not literally, but there was a dark, dark cloud over the city I suspect is built on a foundation of pessimism and angst. We passed a bar called "Grumpy's" on the way to a restaurant called "Hard Times".

This time around the city felt slightly different. Probably because we just went to the venue and then left, but it was still a pleasant trip. Not only was there a full buffet of catered goodness, but we had a huge dressing room, a lot of beer, and the venue provided merch table workers so I had a night off from explaining to people that I wasn't Phoenix's merch guy so they would have to buy the shirt they want from the other end of the table. Phoenix had to "Hard Days Night" it out of the venue, and it was very pleasant being able to walk past the cougar groupies and giant tour buses to our rental minivan that was bursting at the seams with equipment.

Council Bluffs, IA - 08/13/2010

This tour was a trip of firsts for me. I went to my first strip club (and now have proof to my hypothesis that I do not care for them). I had also never been to a real casino. I do not have money, but for some reason gambling seems like a lot of fun. Windish treated us to a room at Harrah's, so I spent the entire week way too excited about this show.

The show itself was awful from where I was sitting. The merch table was between the portapotties and the scorching Iowa sun. There was a parking garage beside us that loudly echoed the live music, so the whole show sounded like shitty noise bands. Or maybe what a lot of people consider remixes these days - taking a track and then adding an obnoxious delay on it. Whatever. After our goodbyes with Phoenix (they were off to Denver, we were off to Kansas City), we noticed a stack of room keys that had been given to them in case they needed to stay. We went from splitting two beds four ways to having a room a piece (with a few rooms to spare - you are welcome nice girl living in her van). After clearing out the food and beverage in their green room and meeting up with former-Columbian Nate Welker, I purchased $20 worth of chips at the $3-minimum black jack table. My chip-stack fluctuated for about an hour, then I was down to five bucks. So I cashed it in and headed to the penny slots. Before I knew it, I had spent my $20 and decided that was enough gambling for one night... you win this time casino...

Kansas City, MO - 08/14/2010

Back to reality. The venue had double booked the show with a private party. Despite our contract clearly reading "5 pm load in," they acted like we were crazy for getting there on time. We feared not because our friend Leandra provided us with awesome company until it was time to go back to the mess of a venue. The show went well, but it was ridiculous having to answer questions from a promoter such as: "How are we supposed to pay the opening band?" and "Those presale tickets just went to your account, right?" and "What does G.B.O.R. mean?" (Gross Box Office Receipts). Rule #1 for promoters: Don't ask tour managers to do your job.

Leandra and her roommate took us to a really fun party after the show, and we all stayed up way past our bedtime for the 9 hour drive we had to make in the morning.

Indianapolis, IN - 08/15/2010

Hip blogs are a powerhouse. I felt at ease knowing that the kind people at My Old Kentucky Blog were taking care of us. Unfortunately, it was not their club and I ended up having to pay for my beers (which seemed ridiculous at the time, but complaining about it out loud makes me feel like a bitch). This was definitely the first night I was excited to be away from the rock star treatment. Everyone there was so excited that Toro Y Moi was playing in there town. People traveled for the show, and provided us with endless great conversation. Indianapolis seemed like such a nice town.

After the show, we drove to Bloomington to stay with our friend Christy. She lives in an awesome little house where we ate midnight Steak-N-Shake, and listened to some early morning Paul Simon.

Knoxville, TN - 08/16/2010

Knoxville is so close to home that it feels like home. Everyone is very friendly there, and the Pilot Light is an operation I am very enthused about. I fully support bars with good music and cheap beer, but it is an added bonus when it is connected to a record/music/vintage store. As usual, a good time was had.

After the show, we piled in the van and pulled an all nighter. Everyone was returned to their parents houses, including myself (who crawled into bed around 7 AM).

This concludes tour number two, and my recollection of the events that occurred. Some photos haven't been developed yet, but I will paste those in later. Next tour recap will be action packed: photos, video, and holographic projections of the dudez playing instruments made of human skeletons (all sci-fi and shit).

Love,

Jordan

August 8th - 11th

2010-08-12T17:08:00.000-07:00

08/09/2010 - ST LOUIS, MO

Right after the doors opened, a girl no older than 5 and her mom ran to the merch table. She bought the smallest Phoenix t-shirt they had (a men's extra small - it still went all the way down to her ankles) and kept saying, "hurry mommy, we're going to miss the concert!" She also knows every word to every Phoenix song. It was one of the cutest things I have ever seen. Patrick's sister, Chloe, and her boyfriend flew to St Louis for the show and we hung out after the show in their fancy hotel (before driving to our crappy hotel).

08/10/2010 - DES MOINES, IA

Until Des Moines, I had never been to a strip club. I never saw any eroticism in a girl passionlessly dancing nude and making awkward small talk, while draining the small bills from my wallet. But where do you go in Des Moines after 2 AM if the bars are closed? Apparently a B.Y.O.B. strip club. The two girls (one of which was flirting pretty hard with Andy) took us there, and before we knew it they were up on stage (oddly enough, when a Phoenix song was played). The giddy manergy of watching our two new acquaintances get naked quickly faded into pale-faced shock when the dancing turned to touching turned to a threesome between the two girls and the stripper. Another fun fact - one crew member (who will go unnamed) from the headlining band's production team got pink eye the following morning. I guess that's what happens when you get a lap dance at the Lumber Yard. Oh, and one of the girls is a Playboy Playmate.

08/11/2010 - DAVENPORT, IA

After having our minds blown the night before, we woke up and drove to Davenport for a Daytrotter session. This was my favorite part of the tour because I got to play guitar and piano. After the session, we drove to a town an hour or two away and saw Inception. Pretty mellow day.

08/08/2010

2010-08-11T23:45:00.000-07:00

After a few hours of rest, I walked around the corner to TJ's Family Diner. I drank coffee and ate pancakes while letting my phone charge for a while. Once I assumed it was safe to turn on my phone, I found out exactly where I was supposed to be.

I never have any time to enjoy Chicago, and when I do I don't. Today was no exception. Essentially my two options were: sit around the house and relax or take Patrick to the Verizon store. I chose the latter. Patrick now has a Blackberry, and within a matter of hours he discovered it is possible to watch porn on it (as well as provide any argument-ending information necessary). I gave him shit for being glued to his new fancy phone, but it was honestly because I am jealous (my phone is soooo 2007).

A Mexican dinner was consumed, then we headed to the venue. After the initial "getting it together" rush and some technical difficulties (which involved Willie and I running back to his apartment to get an adapter) I was able to get the merch table situated. The doors were not yet open, but I guess that doesn't matter for the A-listers. My first two shoppers were none other than Jason Schwartzman and Michael Cera. Both had to find an ATM (I tried to give them the merch, but they insisted on paying for it). Apparently Mr. Cera had to split in a hurry, but Jason Schwartzman is now the owner of the complete Toro table package. Later on in the night, I went to the green room to charge my phone and grab a beer and some water. When I walked in, Jason Schwartzman was hanging out! I snapped a picture of the whole gang with Chaz's camera, then pouted all the way back to the merch table... I want to drink beers and hang out with Cool Ethan...

The show ended, the drunk people stopped telling me the ideas they had to "get Toro Y Moi more exposure," and we were finally able to drive back to Willie's apartment for my first real night's sleep in almost three days.

08/07/2010

2010-08-08T08:51:00.001-07:00

I am going to give the "tour journal" another try.

I am one hundred percent certain that my grandfather has patriotism and heroics embedded in his genetic makeup. There is no way he attempted to weasel his way out of serving in the armed forces or had any conscious objections to the conflict. He gave up full control of his life and let destiny run it's course.

I, on the other hand, have a Nickelodeon game show mentality forever stitched into my logic and reasoning. I object to and avoid conflict regularly. But I somehow justify my overdeveloped passive wimpiness by accepting most physical challenges thrown my way. Eating large portions of cake in a single bite, shotgunning a beer, jumping over things - all are feats I accomplish on the regs. As unfathomable as my latest "Agrocrag" (another Nickelodeon reference) may have seemed to my war veteran grandfather, I still spoke about it without the slightest hint of realization that it may have actually been a horrible idea.

After an abbreviated Friday in the accounting office of "Moneyball," I hopped on a redeye flight from SFO to Columbia. From the airport, I rented a van, loaded up some equipment, and then made a 12 hour drive to Chicago.

Long drives are boring. Especially when you can't DJ the soundtrack of endless interstate. Fortunately there was satellite radio in the van. I juggled "PrmCntry", "90s on 9", the garage station, the "cool indie music" station, and filled any gaps with long winded erotic stories on the Playboy station. I was also hit on by an over-apologetic timid waiter at a Pizza Hut somewhere in Kentucky.

Most importantly: I did not crash. Sometime after 4 AM I arrived in Chicago with a dead cell phone and an uncertainty of which apartment we were staying in. So sometime after 4:30 AM, I decided to go to sleep in the van.

Chris Gardner

2010-07-23T10:25:00.001-07:00

The rest of the Toro tour (part 4)

2010-07-22T10:20:00.000-07:00

June 5th, 2010 : Chicago, IL
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June 6th, 2010 : Lawrence, KS
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June 7th, 2010 : St Louis, MO
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June 8th, 2010 : Louisville, KY
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June 9th, 2010 : Cleveland, OH
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June 10th, 2010 : Knoxville, TN
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I started getting sick sometime after Cleveland. In Knoxville I felt pretty bad. In Columbia I felt horrible. When I feel like garbage, it is hard to get too excited about taking pictures. So I apologize for the lack of documentation of the last two days of the trip. To make up for it, here are two pictures from my camera that I did not take.

Andy took this photo in the green room at the venue in Victoria, BC.

Chaz took this one in the morning at our hotel outside of Cleveland. Patrick was being a kicky sleeper, so I grabbed my pillow and slept on the floor. His soccer dreams worked to my advantage and a couple hours later most of the sheets were on me.

until next time...
THE END

The rest of the Toro tour (part 3)

2010-07-21T10:12:00.000-07:00

May 27th, 2010 : Seattle, WA
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May 28th, 2010 : Victoria, BC
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May 29th, 2010 : Vancouver, BC
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May 30th, 2010 : Banff, AB
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May 31st, 2010 : Calgary, AB
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June 1st, 2010 : Edmunton, AB
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June 2nd, 2010 : Saskatoon, SK
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June 3rd, 2010 : Winnipeg, MB
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June 4th, 2010 : Somewhere between Winnipeg and Minneapolis
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...more to come soon...

Love+Hate

2010-07-21T09:38:00.000-07:00

Things I Hate Today:
- the Four Loko on my shoe making me smell homeless
- People who stay in lanes that are ending. "Just ride it out, bro!" (without the use of a turn signal)

Things I Love Today:
- that wicked zombie dream I had last night
- Morrissey - "Vauxhall and I"
- This shirt:

More good than bad. I'm keeping it half full.

The Rest of the Toro Tour Pictures (Part 2)

2010-07-19T14:46:00.000-07:00

May 17th, 2010: Somewhere between Austin and Tempe
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May 19th, 2010 : Somewhere between Tempe and Los Angeles
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May 19th, 2010 : Los Angeles, CA
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May 20th, 2010 : San Diego, CA
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May 21st, 2010 : Somewhere between San Diego and San Francisco
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May 22nd, 2010 : San Francisco, CA
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May 25th, 2010 : Somewhere between San Francisco and Portland
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May 26th, 2010 : Portland, OR
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still more to come...

F.Y.E.

2010-07-17T23:37:00.000-07:00

I recently downloaded a lot of albums that served as the soundtrack to my late elementary school/all of middle school/part of high school years. I have been listening these songs to and from work, and feel that my mood has improved substantially over the past week. Today I took a break from listening to pop punk to listen to

... but to be consistent, I went home and watched a bunch of pop punk youtube videos.

Barnowl

2010-07-17T00:39:00.000-07:00

Caribou - "Barnowl" Live at Cat's Cradle from Jordan Bee on Vimeo.

2010-07-15T18:20:00.000-07:00

R.I.P.

2010-07-14T14:30:00.000-07:00

Growing up surrounded by skateboarding, punk rock and art makes it easy to connect with the work of others that do as well. You don't have to know the artists story... if these elements are shared, the art becomes magnetic.

I was always enamored by his poster work, floored by his sculptures, and would always be tempted to buy an album he had done the artwork for (whether I had heard the music or not).

Ryan August will always be an asset and inspiration to all that is good in Columbia, SC. Rest in peace.

The rest of the Toro tour (part 1)

2010-07-05T16:43:00.000-07:00

I'm back in San Francisco now. I didn't write about the 26-ish shows that happened after Charlottesville, nor do I think I have the patience to slowly revisit that period of time in great detail. Maybe one day I will write a book, or someone will pay me to write an article about the Toro Y Moi tour. If that is the case, I will hook up the mental time machine and clearly depict the non-incriminating happenings of that month. But for now, here are a bunch of pictures (I only used landscape/longways photos ... I have a ton of portrait/tallways pictures, too... I will use those on a later post).

May 12, 2010 : Carborro, NC
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May 13, 2010 : Atlanta, GA
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May 14, 2010 : Baton Rouge, LA
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May 15, 2010 : Houston, TX
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May 16, 2010 : Austin, TX
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May 17th, 2010 : Somewhere Between Austin and Tempe

(to be continued)

Parker is such an asshole!

2010-06-10T18:07:00.000-07:00

05/11/2010

Leaving the cozy air conditioning of Carpark headquarters took a lot of encouragement from Todd. "You guys should probably leave... you are going to be late..." I reminded myself that I should be the one prying everyone from the comfortable sofa (I'm pretty sure that is a tour manager's duty) and we eventually gathered our laundry and belongings and loaded up the car top carrier.

Finally, we hit the road to Charlottesville, VA (and were, in fact, a little bit late). The venue was enormous, but one problem with playing college towns in the summer is that those large venues look even larger. Sold out or not, all the bands played really well.

After the show, we met up with Andy's cousins at "the corner" (or something similar - I'm pretty sure every college town has a 5-points, a corner, or some other popular meet up). Instead of going to the crowded bar, we caught last call at the karaoke bar next door and then headed back to Andy's cousin's sorority house where we were going to be staying.

These are the things that we imagined happening in the sorority house: pillow fights, tons of gossip, and maybe putting on a romantic comedy and eating a few quarts of Ben and Jerry's. None of these happened (though our wonderful host, Jean, did make Patrick and I Easy Mac and Ramen in the wee hours of the morning).

Now is when you ask: So Jordan, what did happen?

Let me tell you...

First off, Parker showed up covered in dirt and fruit punch and pushed his way through the door. And Jill was like, "get out of here" and Parker was like "hell no" and Jill was like "I'll punch you in the face," and Parker was like "do it then!" so Jill punched him in the face. Then of course his shirt came off and Parker was all like, "I dare you to do it again!"

During this ruckus, Patrick and I had gone out to the car to get the beer that was left over from the show. In that short walk, I was called a faggot twice by frat guys (once by a guy who was hitting beer cans with a golf club in his yard, the other by a guy who was upset that we didn't want to come party at his house). When we came back, we heard the Jill versus Parker story close to one hundred times.

Everything became calm after that. After a bit of conversation, we retired to an unoccupied room. A lot of the sorority sisters had returned to the places they are from after they had finished their finals, so we had plenty of places to sleep.

Morning came, we re-loaded the Ford Focus, and began our trek to Carborro...

more talk/less pictures, but an update nontheless

2010-05-26T09:57:00.000-07:00

05/09 - 05/10

Getting out of New York is one of the hardest things in the world to do. Not necessarily out of a love for the city, but because traffic is always terrible. We sat bumper-to-bumper for about as long as a drive from New York to Philadelphia should take.

Philadelphia is and will always be one of my favorite cities in the world. I spent quite a bit of time there the year after I graduated high school, so merely passing all of the places where I wanted to go hang out was a big tease and reminder that I need to make a leisure trip to Philadelphia. I didn't get pretzels, I didn't eat at Gianna's, and most importantly I didn't see any of my best Philly friends. That needs to change next-go-round.

The only show I had ever been to at the First Unitarian Church was Panda Bear during the summer of 2007. That was inside the actual pew and altar sanctuary area. Most shows are held downstairs, as was Toro Y Moi and Caribou's night. The sound and live experience wasn't nearly as fantastic/dramatic as my 3-year-old memories in the downstairs room, but all of the workers were extremely nice and helpful. And we got to drink beers in the pews upstairs (which feels pretty cool).

After the show, Aimee Argote (of Des Ark fame/fellow Carolinian) was kind enough to put us up in her lovely Fishtown home. Her roommate was out of town, so we got to crash in his room. We were told he played with the band Mayhem (a gold Mayhem record hung from the wall), so we were extra careful not to mess anything up and join that band's body count.

We drove to D.C. the next afternoon. Todd, as always, proved to be a most excellent host. The Rock and Roll hotel was a strange venue. I can't say much about the show - the merch table is in a separate bar upstairs where a house DJ blared terrible mashups. The speakers were within a few feet of my ear, so a headache developed quickly. NPR streamed the whole show, so I was able to listen to is later.

Staying at Todd's house is pretty epic. I was able to suppress the dork within and managed not to ask a million questions (I only asked a couple thousand). And he has the coolest dog ever.

Anyways, this post is dragging and lacking photographs. I have about another month to write about and the actual tour ends tomorrow. Maybe it will happen? We'll see.

Love,

Jordan

a drawing that took from D.C. to Baton Rouge

2010-05-25T11:02:00.000-07:00

that big old apple

2010-05-18T08:06:00.000-07:00

2010. 5/7-5/8. New York City

Chaz is funny in the car. I was given the impression that he sometimes gets a little anxious when he isn't at the wheel. So far nothing even close to backseat driving has occurred other than occasional polite request. The only quirky driving trait I have noticed was after we swapped seats during a pit stop for gas outside of New York City. As soon as the traffic engulfed us, he turned into a completely different driver - aggressive, quick to hit the horn, but safe. I always find it interesting when people have the ability to quickly adapt to a new setting - whether it is walking faster or driving defensively-yet-aggressively. Adaptation is an excellent trait to have.

We parked around the corner from what we kept referring to as "the Neon Indian apartment" and what they referred to as "the penthouse". Ronnie was kind enough to take a cab over from the studio to let us in so we could drop off our belongings and relax for a bit before the show.

"The Penthouse" was one of he nicest apartments I have ever been inside. Three levels of modern Williamsburg loft, and plenty of potential for add-ons. It was like a grown up tree fort. The only downfall of this place is that they only recently moved in so while there was plenty of floor space and big windows, there wasn't much furniture (this would only prove to be a big problem when it was time for bed - I'm the only traveler who forgot a pillow, sleeing bag, and towel).

We pulled ourselves out of our "ready to nap" state and drove to the Music Hall of Williamsburg. We were a little early, so the guys went and picked up burritos while I set up the merch table. Someone from the "Faile" crew was painting a totem pole out front. Here is what the marquee looked like:

And here is a photo from their soundcheck:

Old friends were in attendance (Jen Ray, Chris Parsons) while new ones were made (Lily and Daniel).

After the show, we headed back to the penthouse. We drank what we had, then Danny split to pick up a case of Tecate tall cans. A large crowd formed, and before too long the hanging out turned into a party. Everyone got sloppy, then the party turned into a messy empty apartment.

Everyone wandered to their sleeping area. I passed out in the vacant room of a girl who was traveling, and for the first time in months I was able to sleep until noon.

The next morning, everyone was a little hungover. Ronnie fixed us all tea, then we went our separate ways for the afternoon.

The plan was to hit up some camera stores. Unfortunately, going to a camera store in New York on Saturday is impossible, so the Hollywood Diner filled that void. We got to the Bowery Ballroom with enough time for me to wander the neighborhood until I could find a place to buy a new toothbrush (mine disappeared somewhere around the time we left Toronto), and the boys fit in a nice lengthy sound check. A lot of friends/family came out too!

The show was a success, the after party seemed fun (I had tour managerial duties, aka not letting anyone break into the car), then the night took us back to the penthouse for whatever night's sleep we could get. The absent girl who's room we had crashed in the night before had returned from traveling, so my sleepingbagless state left me resorting to the old "bunch up some dirty laundry and use it as a pillow" strategy - the hardwood floors weren't as cozy as that bed was...

The next morning, I woke up (and was wide awake) after about 3 hours of sleep. I didn't want to sit around and wait for everyone else to do the same, so I decided to do some exploring. About two blocks down the road, I got a call from one of my favorite people in the world, Karen, and my new friend, Phil. They were awake, too. They took the subway over to Brooklyn and we met up for coffee. Patrick woke up and joined us, too.

After we finished our coffee, we headed back to the penthouse for last minute hanging and goodbyes before we packed it up and headed to Philadelphia.

into the U.S. and over the hill

2010-05-15T18:11:00.000-07:00

OTTAWA > MONTREAL > BOSTON. 2010 5/5 - 5/7

After rushing out of Canadian Tire, we made the drive to Montreal and ran through the doors of La Tulipe just in time for the boys to give it a quick sound check.

The set started smoothly, but during the second song, Patrick's bass cut out. Chaz swooped in and covered the low-end on his synth, but that technical difficulty definitely shook things up a bit. La Tulipe is a 700 capacity venue and the show was over-sold. The fact that they were relying on a Behringer direct box blows my mind. Hopefully an upgrade was made after that incident.

After the show, Chaz's former tour buddy, Jamie, let us crash at his place. It was neat - neighborhood cats would come inside and hang out with you. His place was cozy, and he is an all-around nice, mellow guy.

The drive to Boston the next morning was by no means the shortest, but as soon as we were welcomed back to the United States by the policeman at the border a sense of relief came over all of us. It is not that we didn't enjoy our first Canadian portion of the North American tour (on the contrary). There was just something magically patriotic about our GPS working again, reading our speed in miles-per-hour, and the anticipation of passing a slew of Starbucks, McDonalds, and maybe even a Wal Mart.

We arrived to our host's apartment in Cambridge. He left us a key under the door mat so we could all pile out before the show. We did just that. Middle East was a pretty cool venue and in a pretty cool neighborhood.

As usual, both bands slayed. But something was different on that night... when the clock struck midnight I turned 27. My brand new age was greeted by our host, Adrian, and Patrick bringing me a Reeses brownie (which was delicious). The rest of the post-show evening was spent chatting and playing with a certain little beast named Henry.

Fortunately, a good night's sleep was had and we were well rested and ready to move onward to New York City.

Oh, and here is a picture of Patrick biting into a big slab of meat:

All of these pictures were taken by me. Do not use them without my permission. Thank you!

Fixed Gear Ford Focus (no brakes)

2010-05-11T10:41:00.000-07:00

Ottawa - 2010. MAY 4-5

After Toro Y Moi played the monsterous Phoenix Theater in Toronto, the Babylon in Ottawa was a comfortable return to what they were used to - a bar. Though it was smaller in capacity, there were sofa's, arcade machines, and a ping pong table in the green room. It also didn't hurt that they gave us a very generous meal buyout (other venues should take note and make sure to feed the supporting acts - it usually results in a better show).

The show went well - Toro Y Moi played an amazing set with great crowd response, and Caribou looked like seasoned veterans pummeling their instruments powerfully and flawlessly.

Throughout the post-show hang out, various girls stood beside the merch table, looked around the room anxiously, then disappointedly departed until finally Chaz came over to see how the merch sales were going. We had planned on beginning our drive to Montreal and finding a hotel room to maximize our time in a city that might actually feel like a foreign country (Toronto and Ottawa kind of feel like American cities with a Canadian accent). One girl chatted with Chaz for a bit, and offered us all a place to stay. It seemed like a good idea - sleeping on a floor is free. Since the first day of driving, we agreed that it was in our best interest to avoid hotels as long as we could find somewhere to sleep. Moments later, our potential hosts flirting began to turn awry, so Chaz assured us that we were going to begin our drive. We let the young lady know that we were kindly declining her offer and I started packing up the table. As she walked off, two more girls came over and began talking with the band - they seemed very mellow and nice. Then we found out they were roommates of the girl who had offered us a place to stay. We re-weighed our options, and the kind offer for a roof down the street had way more appeal than driving into the middle of the night. Our verdict to begin our trek was reversed.

We drove away from the Babylon to the soundtrack of crunching brakes - not a good tune at all. We knew that we would have to fix this problem before driving to Montreal (no one in the car speaks French, and finding an English-speaking mechanic might be more difficult than in Ottawa). Our plan for early rise was pushed even earlier. We drove to the house hoping for bed time. Instead, there was a party in progress. People, pizza, wine, beer, weed - all the essentials. Energy? Nada in camp Toro.

We toughed it out as long as we could. We made the rounds, conversed, and hung out like anyone else would at a Tuesday night rager, but after a several hour drive earlier that day and a long night at a bar one can only exert so much additional energy. We called it a night. To our benefit, the walls in this house were paper thin, so we fell asleep to the soundtrack of girls talking about how boring we are.

The next morning we drove to Canadian Tire. The person who took our keys at the register told us that the job would take approximately an hour and a half. Three hours later, we were told it would be another hour and a half. Another hour and a half later, we were told it would be at least another hour and a half... in Canada it takes six hours to change brake pads. Six hours in/around Canadian Tire resulted in the following photos:

All of these pictures were taken by me. Do not use them without my permission. Thank you!

2010-05-09T10:30:00.000-07:00

Here's a photo from Andy/Brandon/Bryce/James' graduation party.

2010-05-09T06:05:00.000-07:00

Touro

2010-05-07T00:48:00.000-07:00

Karen sat with me at the merch table at the Toro Y Moi show in Toronto on 5/3. I hadn't seen her since 2007, so it was so nice to remember how great of a friend she is. I snapped this picture of her, and I thought it turned out really nice.

I'm in Boston now - 4 shows down, 4 shows sold out, 30-something more to go. I am having a blast, and am loving spending so much time with Andy, Chaz, and Patrick.

5/5/2010 - Montreal

2010-05-05T19:29:00.000-07:00

Thusfar, the quote of the tour:
Girl in Ottawa: "Par le vu francois?"
Patrick: "Huh? Awww, fuck no!"

2010-04-26T21:38:00.000-07:00

No Way Jose! Spring Break 04/03/2010 from Fork and Spoon Records on Vimeo.

I made an edit of the No Way Jose! footage from Charleston at the beginning of the month.

03/14/2007

2010-04-22T07:53:00.000-07:00

On the topic of Juggalos: The guy to the left is the only real life Juggalo I have ever met. His name is Lil Hatch. On the right is a man named Wayne who played guitar in a band that did mostly Doobie Brothers covers. I met them at a 24/7 yardsale in Augusta, GA while I was on tour with Brother Sister. They were both really nice.

2010-04-21T19:43:00.000-07:00

maybe it is the conservative nature i somehow inherited simply by being born/raised in the south, but for some reason i have been reluctant to check out new music (and by new, i mean recently released). i am content with buying reissues/finding old soul 45's/etc, but it is so hard for me to move on. i guess when you are out of touch for so long, you are intimidated by where to pick up.

i have also always prided myself on being an avid supporter of the music coming out of my home (columbia, sc), despite having moved 3,000 miles away. but for some reason, i don't really listen to the myspace pages i click on with full intentions of listening to... i get distracted and wind up clicking a thousand links and forgetting whatever was intended.

with that being said, i am also very self-aware. and just to further prove my progress, today i downloaded "baby prayers" by coma cinema here and haven't stopped listening to it since i got home from work.

i guess last on the wagon is better than never getting on.

Contrast and Compare

2010-04-21T00:16:00.000-07:00

2010-04-18T15:29:00.000-07:00

Things I bought at record store day: Surfer Blood 7", Peter Gabriel/Stephen Merritt 7", Pavement, 4AD sampler, reissue of "Chronic Town". Then later that afternoon, "An Aeroplane Over The Sea" was on clearance at Urban Outfitters so I bought that, too.

2010-04-17T08:40:00.000-07:00

2010-04-15T10:33:00.000-07:00

www.forkandspoonrecords.net from Fork and Spoon Records on Vimeo.

Chaz is an excellent house guest.

2010-04-14T22:23:00.000-07:00

2010-04-13T22:12:00.000-07:00

www.forkandspoonrecords.net

2010-04-11T11:54:00.000-07:00

"lets get drunk and cuddle"

day at the beach

2010-04-10T09:48:00.000-07:00

Cameron Gardner

2010-04-08T22:27:00.000-07:00

2010-04-07T21:01:00.000-07:00

Aaron has a blogspot!

Hollywood called - they want their stuff back.

2010-04-06T21:05:00.001-07:00

sad day

2010-04-06T08:03:00.000-07:00

Rest easy, Otis. I miss your snorty face.

2010-04-02T22:28:00.000-07:00

I already posted this on my tumbler, but will post it here, too. My camera has a fixed lens and the flash usually washes things out too harshly at shows. What is now twice my saving grace in taking a good concert photo with my little point-and-shoot was taking a flashless photo of someone taking a photo with their iPhone (which is usually about a third of the crowd). This photo is of Washed Out/Small Black playing a sold out show at the Rickshaw Stop a week ago.

2010-03-20T10:09:00.000-07:00

2010-03-14T16:44:00.000-07:00

2010-03-14T16:40:00.001-07:00

Update.

2010-03-07T23:12:00.001-08:00

Our old upstairs neighbors moved out at the beginning of November. They were really friendly and courteous. We miss them. That apartment was vacant for awhile (and it was a nice music room). Then out of nowhere, these U-hauls started rolling in, unloading washtubs, bleach, charcoal, grow lights, rope... all those normal things that people move into apartments with. They were always sketchy, shaky, and repeatedly asked if we "partied."

The other day when we were moving things out of our old place, there was a crowbar in front of our door and many signs of attempted forced entry (a sunken dead bolt, a cracked door, and a crowbar-sized dent in our door frame). We called our landlord and let them know.

Today when I was getting the last of the things out of our apartment, our Chinese gangster former upstairs neighbors asked me if I told the landlord anything about an attempted break in. I said, "Yeah." Then they asked if I was here alone. I said, "No." Then they tried to make up some story about how the door was already like that and the crowbar was for trying to fix the other door. After they fumbled on their stories a few times, one of the guys told me, "You don't need to make any more trouble. You're messing with the wrong people... you will get yourself into a lot of trouble..."

I would never doubt that someone with their grocery store chemistry operation would bring me anything but trouble. They popped my "threatened by Chinese gangster" cherry. That is a moment I will keep locked away in a special place inside of my heart and cherish forever and ever.

We are officially out of our old apartment. Our new place is spacious and nice. The neighborhood is fantastic.

Here is the list of the neighborhood's perks:
- Golden Gate park is on the other side of the street
- next door to a bar called "Chug Pub." Around the corner from a bar called "Silver Spur."
- across the street from "Jazz Quarter" (a rad record store)
- the corner store on our block has a nice booze selection and a phenomenal deli
- tons of Chinese/Thai/Vietnamese/Japanese/Korean restaurants (and an Indian place, a pizza place, and a KFC/Taco Bell combo facility). Also, if you really miss those old KFC twister wraps, there is a burrito place a couple of blocks away that has a fish burrito that tastes identical.

Come visit me, Adrienne, and the kitten.

Love,

Jordan

2010-03-01T21:56:00.000-08:00

Way back when I was 25 (2008) I made a book called "Lovers In Love Loving The Love They Love To Love." I made 100 copies with cardstock covers. Then 100 with just white xerox paper. 200 copies is way too many, and I'm still sitting on the majority of the xerox printed ones. If anyone wants some (or all) of them, send me an email: bravehoratius@gmail.com

Mold attacked our apartment, our landlords wouldn't do anything about it, so we decided health was a little more important than a big lawsuit in our favor. So we are all on the outs. While packing up our first load, the downstairs neighbors asked us why we were moving. When we told them, they took us inside and showed us the disgusting condition of the walls in their home. The grandparents' room has a leak above the ceiling that has resulted in a big, nasty molded over spot. They told us that the landlord has always just painted over the mold on the wall, and if it ruined any portion the walls or ceiling they would just cut out the damaged spot and patch it. Then to justify any thought we have ever had about our apartment being built on a pile of shit, they showed us photos of the basement of our house - apparently the landlords had just sealed up some weird trap door. The downstairs neighbors broke through when the stench became overwhelming and unveiled what was literally a ground made of shit and walls made of flies from both rats and what appeared to be a busted sewer pipe. The pictures were gnarly, I could only imagine what it was like in real life. We told them about the S.F. Tenant's Rights Union, and that we have both the Department of Building Inspection and the Health Inspectors on the way over later this week and that they are more than welcome to invite them in. BUT ANYWAYS, Adrienne and I are staying in the Sunset, but moving closer to Golden Gate Park. Aaron moved to the Castro, and Wade found a place in the Marina. I am sad that our wonderful roommate situation has ended, but will always have the memories... memories on a foundation of shit.

Bye Bye Number B!!

Astral Glamour

2010-02-21T12:32:00.000-08:00

Just picked up the 3-disc complete discography of the Homosexuals, entitled Astral Glamour. I have been reading up about the Messthetics/Hyped2Death releases, and was really intrigued. I took a chance on a used copy at Amoeba yesterday evening, and so far on my quest into this 3 disc, 80 track adventure I have not been disappointed. Great late 70's-early 80's D.I.Y. "artpunk." Check it out if you get the chance.

Also, I finished a new drawing.

are you from out of town?

2010-02-20T11:04:00.000-08:00

2010-02-18T22:15:00.000-08:00

Bowerbirds

2010-02-17T19:16:00.000-08:00

2010-02-17T09:22:00.000-08:00

A B & the Sea (live at Different Fur studios) from Jordan Bee on Vimeo.

2010-02-16T20:02:00.001-08:00

A Cold Golden Shower

2010-02-15T22:32:00.001-08:00

2010-02-15T10:42:00.000-08:00

2010-02-14T16:54:00.000-08:00

twelve consecutive ten-or-more hour work days

2010-02-04T23:33:00.000-08:00

In the beginning I felt tired. In the middle part I was starting to feel sick. Now I am just numb.

In between two typical workweeks in the accounting office at Trauma, I dayplayed as a production assistant for some test shots they were doing for a surf movie in Half Moon Bay. They put me up at the Oceano so I could be up and at 'em for the 4:30 AM crew call. Where waking up at 4:30 AM to load camera gear onto boats is by no means ideal, I couldn't have asked for a better sunrise to work through.

(I took this with my cell phone)

Somehow, I am still somewhat functioning and really looking forward to sleeping in on Saturday morning.

Tito's Birthday

2010-01-27T20:59:00.000-08:00

2010-01-25T21:37:00.000-08:00

I have been listening to this over and over...

2010-01-24T23:45:00.001-08:00

Say Brother - "Waitin On You To Call"

Gordo

2010-01-24T20:22:00.000-08:00

Gordo from Jordan Bee on Vimeo.

Hollywood approved

2010-01-23T21:06:00.001-08:00

My art will make it's television debut way in the background of "Trauma" in a few months when the show goes back on air. Bust out the big screen TVs and sit really close...

Brave Horatius Nov.-Dec. 2009 Cassette

2010-01-20T19:38:00.001-08:00

Shoot me an email if you would like one. I made 100 and got rid of a lot of them over the holidays.
bravehoratius@gmail.com

2010-01-18T07:55:00.000-08:00

2010-01-14T07:35:00.000-08:00

Rest In Peace.

2010-01-12T08:13:00.000-08:00

Hardy took me here in January of 2008. It wasn't crowded, beers were fairly priced, and some guy in the back room was spinning Chocolate Watchband. I thought I had found the bar I would frequent after moving to San Francisco. Fast forward 10 months: after moving to San Francisco and getting on my feet at the art supply store, I decided one day's 6 pm dismissal was a means for celebration. I walked several blocks over to Delirium. I shoved my way through the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd and found a seat by a bunch of rockabilly dudes (and their dog) at the bar. The room was loud, which made me feel sorry for the dog. The beer was a little steep for a happy hour pint and everyone around vibed me for drinking alone. I finished my beer, paid, left, and have never gone back.

2010-01-10T12:15:00.001-08:00

2010-01-09T23:19:00.001-08:00

2010-01-09T20:52:00.000-08:00

yo girl. need a ride?

2010-01-06T22:13:00.000-08:00

my awesome niece. she turns 1 in a week!

2010-01-04T07:16:00.000-08:00

PHX

2010-01-03T21:40:00.000-08:00

Our 5:50 flight from Charlotte took off after 7. We landed in Phoenix at 9:20 for our 9:10 flight. US Airways put us up in the Fiesta Inn resort and gave us meal vouchers and first class to San Francisco the following evening. This is all I have to show for my 20 hours in Arizona.

Side note: I colored Le Chat's pants with soy sauce and a chopstick.

2010-01-03T19:46:00.000-08:00

2010-01-02T20:23:00.000-08:00

10 days wasn't long enough. Hopefully next time I will see these two more than briefly in the smoking area outside of the Whig.

2009-12-31T08:29:00.000-08:00

2009-12-29T22:14:00.000-08:00

2009-12-20T01:02:00.000-08:00

2009-12-15T21:02:00.001-08:00

Sewn Leather - live in Oakland, CA 11/7/2009 from Jordan Bee on Vimeo.

2009-12-13T18:35:00.000-08:00

Aaron and Jessica's wedding cake.

2009-12-13T13:03:00.000-08:00

2009-12-10T22:38:00.001-08:00

2009-12-08T20:58:00.000-08:00

being on fecalface.com is the new being in the newspaper
And the cupcake was delicious. Thanks, Unpiano!

Asshole Charles

2009-12-03T23:37:00.000-08:00

Tito is a trip. He speaks a language of golden slang. Either you are a big John or asshole Charles or something else that blows your mind. I am glad that he is my friend.

I went to Sandy Kim's photo show/book release tonight. I'm sure it was great, but I couldn't really see the pictures because there was probably 300 people squished into a tiny room. While Girls was setting up to play, I squeezed my way to the back, bought a book, ate a delicious cupcake and squeezed my way back out of the gallery. I will go check it out when it isn't the opening. But for now, I will thumb through the book and continue my daily check of the lovebryan site.

STOKED OF THE DAY

2009-12-03T14:14:00.000-08:00

Jacob & I... big time.

2009-12-03T08:27:00.001-08:00

TORO Y MOI LIVE ON PUBLIC ACCESS TELEVISION from Jordan Bee on Vimeo.

2009-12-01T00:07:00.000-08:00

The best part about No-Shave-November: The hairy canvas at the end. Here is the work of art under my nose.

2009-11-29T16:50:00.000-08:00

This was in front of a shopping center with a Starbucks, an old car museum, a plastic surgeon, and some upscale restaurants and apparel stores. However, it was lovely to watch the sun set into the swan/duck pond while the yuppies sipped lattes and passed us in their BMW's.