Bandaged hands and a bloody phone

The phone was off the hook and there was blood splattered underneath. Nearby, outside a single-family home, seven or eight cop cars had their lights flashing. An ambulance was parked beside the phone booth and paramedics were walking around the area, not looking too urgent.

Police escorted a black woman out of the house. She wore a yellow t-shirt with a Superman logo emblazoned on the front in green and blue track shorts. There was a little blood on her t-shirt, just to the left of the logo and on her shorts as well. The woman’s forearms were in bandages and as the police gently led her away, they seemed to almost gently place her arms behind her back.

Several people stood near the phone watching. No one seemed to know what had happened. They were just curious.

The police led the woman to the ambulance and closed the doors after she entered. Later, they spoke to a tall man outside the house who also had bandages on his forearms. I left shortly thereafter.

A couple hours later I returned to use the phone. The blood had dried underneath and the receiver was back on the hook. As I pedalled past the house, the woman was in her front yard, speaking over a white picket fence with her neighbour. The police cars were gone.

Andrew W.K. and Evaporator photos up (but not here)

As per my previous post on the Andrew W.K. and Evaporator concert Tuesday night, photos are now up here on uptownsound.ca.

Not a concert… not necessarily a celebration either

I feel fortunate to have escaped with my camera, my health and my dignity intact after taking photos of Tuesday’s Andrew W.K. concert at the Biltmore Cabaret for uptownsound.

The photos should be up soon, as should a review by my colleague, Quentin.

Some observations, though.

First, you can actually get into bars with a piece of identification from Guam. Makes you wonder why teenagers try to forge B.C. drivers licenses when they could make up Id’s for places like, say, Micronesia or Palau.

Second, getting people to stand up at a concert is easy. Getting them to sit down on a dance floor during a rock concert is infinitely harder, but that’s something Nardwuar, of Muchmusic fame, was able to accomplish with his band the Evaporators. Pretty cool. And makes for easy photos.

Andrew W.K. prefaced his show by saying “this isn’t a concert, It’s a celebration.” Well, it wasn’t much of a concert. Not much of a celebration either. More just a gongshow with half the audience ending up on stage and crashing around speakers, monitors and other seemingly valuable pieces of equipment. If you think it’s hard shooting a concert in your normal bar, where there is no convenient barrier between a slightly-elevated band and a raucous crowd, imagine the difficulty when the crowd joins the sole performer on stage. Fortunately, they all fell down in a heap. Again, go to uptownsound.ca.

Eventually, the concert ended with Andrew W.K. telling the crowd that sound equipment had been damaged and he couldn’t keep playing. Interesting to say the least.

Winter’s last days (photos)

A certain important web critic has brought it to my attention that I have neglected posting many photos recently so here are a couple of Warsaw’s old town that the weather will soon render dated:

Statues of libertiski (photos)

In addition to the photo I posted last week, there are a ton of statues here:

This isn’t a statue. It’s called the Belvedere and Poles call it their White House. Except the President doesn’t live there (any more). It’s used for balls every now and then, though.

Looking out (photo)

This statue stands just before one drives under the old city of Warsaw. Apparently it’s a tribute for those who fought during the Warsaw Uprising (not for the Nazis, obviously). To be honest, it’s kind of scary.

Cold, red Torun (photos)

Having sufficiently de-thawed my once blue fingers, I can now finally post photos from our recent skull-chattering trip to Torun, a historic city a couple hours west of Warsaw notable for its brick architecture.

A common observation of the trip was how, when you’re travelling in the middle of January, taking photos becomes less like part of the trip and more like the focus. You walk out of your hostel, shiver and bee-line your way towards the attractions, quickly snap some photos, go to the next attraction then try and find somewhere to warm up, be it a restaurant or museum.

Torun boasts its own leaning tower. Literally, that’s what this is called:

And did I mention it was cold?

No winter cruisin’ for us.

Icetime (photos)

Ice and Light (photos)

A Mazurian Winter (photos)