Future Islands

Holy WoW!

Seriously check out their new album, it will blow your socks off. Also, pretty rad cover art too.


I haven't been able to find a decent download of Future Islands' new album "On the Wave" yet (everyone was a .rar file and needed a password for some reason).

In any case, you can stream it in entirety! Finaaaallllyy something.

side note: I have listened to the song "Balance" about 17 times. 

"On the Water" album - Future Islands

"Softshelter" relief shelter system

"Dubbed Softshelter, the system can be deployed within larger shelter areas to create personal space and privacy, which is often compromised in the wake of a disaster. The kraft paper walls stretch or contract to form endless configurations and are connected simply using magnetic panels, no tools are necessary. This means that it only requires two people to set up the partitions. The honeycomb walls, which are 1.8 metres tall and can expand to a maximum of 4.5 metres, can be compressed accordian-style to a thickness of five centimetres for storing and shipping.

A designer at Molo, which is led by Stephanie Forsythe, Todd MacAllen and Robert Pasut, is currently occupying a Softshelter space inside the studio’s workshop from now until the end of September. Using the space in the same way that someone would post-disaster, he sleeps and showers there, and cooks his meals on a small propane grill. By living in the system as it’s designed to be used, the studio hopes to refine the concept."

Azure Magazine interview on "Softshelter" relief shelters

Designed by Vancouver firm:

http://molodesign.com/

Serene noise

(just a great song)

Washed Out - "Feel it all Around"

Pixel Art sculptures

"In the spirit of hyper real sculpture, Shawn Smith’s pixel art blurs the line between real and simulated. But while the deceptively photoreal work of folks like Duane Hanson or Ron Mueck are, in fact, just sculpture, Smith flips the illusion on its head. Though pieces feign digital rendering, each “pixel” is carved entirely from wood: a real, tangible thing. This process is an arduous one, sometimes taking months at a time. Smith currently resides in Austin, TX, where he continues tedious production on his work." —Tyler Curtis

Juxtapoz Magazine: Interview with Shawn Smith

Departure and getting back...

The holidays and my time spent mostly flew by with Christmas, New Years, and a ski trip up North, but this began to push back my departure. I NEEDED to book my flight. I was having so much fun with my friends and the comfort of home, but I had this feeling that I was just not done my experience yet. The journey was not complete and I couldn’t help but feel a still awaiting fulfillment I was going to obtain somehow. Plus, I couldn’t even picture myself getting a full time job. At last, I scheduled my flight and counted the days.

Leading up to my trip, I was distracted with busyness I had made for myself; I planned and decorated the house for my parents 25th Anniversary party, finally completed a painting for my parents (just in time for their Anniversary), saw many different groups of friends, recreational swimming, the gym, and actually started to pack. I spent time with my parents and sometimes just stayed in at night to read. These were all the distractions I had made for myself to make my departure less stressful, since 2 weeks prior a too familiar anxiety and nerves kicked in. Insomnia followed, but nowhere near the first time I travelled. I really enjoyed the time with my family friends and one person in particular. It was going to be more difficult than I thought to leave them.

When I left Canada, it was very different than my last departure into the unknown, since I was actually returning to a beach town in Peru I had made friends in. My bags were packed on time with only a few last minute additions. Getting to the airport was calm, but that changed once I had to leave my parents and I couldn’t help but cry… a lot more than I thought too. I continued to do so until customs. I look back now and realize that I was just overwhelmed by the fact that I liked what I had going in Canada and I was just going to leave, which normally isn’t what you do when you feel really happy somewhere or with someone. Deep down, I still couldn’t shake the lingering feeling of significant future endeavors that were going to happen on this journey. I called my good and wise friend Zsusua; we cracked jokes and exchanged travel stories. Her voice gave a sense of comfort and promise; I was doing the right thing. Also, I called Piero for one last goodbye.

This was hard. Very hard. I have to admit I had a quick thought of not getting on the plane, but marched on.

At my stop-over, I ate a massive salad to balance out the carbs they pack you with on the plane and talked with an Irish father, who I had trouble understanding because of his accent. I exchanged words with an Argentinean couple and briefly to a Peruvian. The plane ride was long and the food actually was not that bad. LAN Airlines gave us ear plugs and an eye mask, which I well received. I didn’t talk to the guy next to me.

I arrived late, but once got my luggage; I walked through the doors to see Nando, Piero’s cousin, and gave him a warm hug. It was really nice to see a recognizable face already. He grabbed some of my bags and Fernando, the Navy uncle, came to drive us. It was hot, humid and my clothes clung to my body. We went to Lucy’s house (Piero’s mom, Lili’s, sister and Nando’s mom) and I successfully gave them and the package from Lili. It was really nice to visit with their family over some much appreciated breakfast.

I went to the bus station with Nando and took the same bus from Lima to Trujillo as I did the first time. I found out that my friends Emily and Tito were going to meet me and go with me to Huanchaco together; I was staying at Tito’s house in a back room he had. I was very pleased to hear that they fixed it up and put in a bathroom too. Now I am going to be spoiled. I gazed out the window and watched the vegetation slip away; it faded into hills of sand and a coastal line. It was soothing to see a beautiful, clear sunset again.

I arrived late (again) and walked into the station to see my friends’ faces. When we got to the house, I was very happy to see my living space for the next little while. As you walk in, you are greeted by the living room and dining room… the kitchen is a shelf. Tito’s room was on the right and it had another adjoining room to it. Once you walk through the room, it’s open space above and you are outside with dirt on the ground. While walking down the path, you walk passed a storage room, a bathroom, a laundry hanging area, and at the end, an outdoor double sink with laundry hanging space and a potential garden; my room is across from this. I have a big window looking in towards the “garden.” I am grateful to have enough room for 2 twin beds and a night stand spaciously in-between them. Beside my bathroom (shower, toilet, sink) I have an open closet. This is really way more I could have asked for. I use the one bed to sleep and the other closest to the window act as a couch.

The next morning Emily took me to the best place to get ensalada de fruitas (fruit salad) and some kind of fruit “jugo” (juice), which is always made fresh and for cheap. This becomes my breakfast literally EVERY morning. My routine consists of bringing a book to read while I eat and get lost in its words for some time. That day in particular, Emily and I laid on the beach and I felt the warmth all over my body that I had missed so much when back in Canada. I have to admit, when I was home for the holidays, I purchased some vitamin D capsules, hoping to recreate that sunny and mood lifting feeling. If anything, they worked as a mild placebo. But now a month later, I soaked up the rays and closed my eyes (I ended up getting a burnt). We exchanged stories and I was filled in with all the newest Huanchaco gossip.
We ended up running into 2 guys, who were there before, one a volunteer previously, and both had come back. It was a nice reunion and later was going to go to a bar called Sabes with them.

The next day was slow and mildly hungover; too much sun mixed with beer. Emily and I read books on the beach and afterwards, surfed. It was more difficult than I remembered. The waves hit me in the face and I had to dodge people, since many surfers were in the water. I struggled to catch the wave when it broke, since it was hard to paddle fast because of my weak upper body strength. I would look up and see a 12yr old boy stand up and surf past me. I didn’t catch a wave, but at least I got in the water. I went to Sabes the next night too, in order to see my Quebec friend, Raphaelle and her Peruvian boyfriend, Maycol. We warmly embrace and I got introduced to a Swedish girl, Malin. It was nice to see Raphaelle; she was my best girl friend here the first time.

The weekend arrived and on Friday there was a fundraiser party that had a live band; it had acoustic guitars, harmonica and sometimes bongos. The lead singer was Peruvian, but moved to California when he was in his early teens. His English was perfect and they covered Jack Johnson and other popular songs. Afterwards, some of us went to a bar/ disco called “Sunkella” where a live reggae band plays and I got to know 2 British boys. I saw some of my Peruvian friends and we danced the night away.

Emily woke me up in the morning to say goodbye, since she had to go back to the United States to a job she put on hold. That day got wasted away and that night was the opening Carnaval party. It was themed a Hawaiian Luau. I went to the Swedish girls’ house (there are 3 of them) and we got ready to go together. They had paint and didn’t know if this was the paint party or not. We decided to paint ourselves anyway and some people got reeeallly into it; sparkles got busted out and used too. We finished our rum and cokes and walked down the streets to Club Huanchaco. It was a party on the streets, people crowded everywhere beneath the palm trees and no traffic could even dare break through the clusters of people. We worked our way through the massive line up to get in the venue and walked into madness. There were heaps of people and you had to push through; it was as if all of Trujillo and Huanchaco was in this building, literally thousands of people. A stage was at the back and once we got our beers, we moved forward to get closer. We got onto the stairs in front of the stage where the live band played salsa and we danced and danced and danced until morning. What a fiesta!

I went sandboarding on Valentine’s day. It was Alexsandra and Malin (Swedish), Raphaelle, Maycol, and this guy nicknamed “Travolta,” who drove us in an orange, half running, pick-up truck. We drove towards a remote spot outside of Trujillo. I stared out at vast cane fields and little hut houses next to farmland. The truck bumped along the rubble and dusty roads and every rock or pot hole felt underneath us. We got lost a little and had some car trouble, but luckily everything got fixed and we arrived at a hill Travolta was familiar with. The sand was crisp, whitish and boiling hot. Sand hills surrounded us and got lost with the mountains behind them. There was a tree everyone could use for shade shelter. We shared shoes and took turns walking up the quicksand hill. Once on top, you felt a rush of nerves when looking down and a knot in the back of your throat from being scared. I finally went down, knees bent, slightly leaned back and your hand behind you burning while grazing the sand. I fell on my bum a couple of times, but it was better than another outcome. I sat and watched the others; all the girls confessed their uneasiness. I went down only another time. I kept having fears that grasped on to the memory of when I broke my leg longboarding. It was a nice day with everyone and the heat drained us all. We made our way back to Huanchaco and saw the most beautiful sunset yet. It was hot pink and looked like someone had taken a highlighter pen to the sky. People flooded the all the way along the beach and I saw some people point upwards. It was still busy, but somehow it slowed down because of the sunset. I have never seen this before, I wish I had my camera. It was funny how this setting was above our heads on Valentine’s Day.

Later on, I went to a BBQ that turned out a little different than expected. I had the impression that people were cooking and we would pay a set fee, but it happened to be US cooking and the place just buying the food… hmm… We got there at 10pm and it took 40 minutes to get the fire starting. The boys’ set it up wrong and I had to intervene by rearranging it and explaining the solid method of the “TeePee.” I helped make the salad and cook the potatoes and prepare them. The guys did the meat… and there was a lot of it. We had a massive portion of pork, this flat sausage thing and some chicken. We set up a large table for 10 people and made even pieces.It was tasty and I ate everything, but couldn’t fit the pork in my stomach. We ended up leaving around 2am and I woke up needing to take Tums.

Nowadays, I follow the routine of breakfast and my book, yoga, practice my rusty Spanish and attempt to surf now and then. I have been helping Tito repair some wetsuits and started to draw again. I keep thinking I should be doing something grander, but this is the easy life here. I came to this, so I have to go as follows; it’s hard to slow down though. Being in back in Canada for a short time affected me more than I thought. The weekend is coming, so we’ll see what happens in the pretty and enchanting beach town of Huanchaco.

Buenos Aires last party weekend and goodbyes.

I barely got any sleep at the Loki hostel in Cusco and woke up trying my best to not wake the others/ stay awake and not fall back asleep. I grabbed some breakfast, the receptionist ordered a taxi, said goodbyes and I was on my way to the airport.

I had 3 flights now. One from Cusco to Lima, then from Lima all the way to Panama, then from Panama to Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was going to be a long day, but I will make it in time to have one last crazy party weekend. The only issue was that I was still having stomach issues and pains. The flight from Cusco to Lima was late, but like 2 hours late, which barely gave me anytime to hop on the next plane in Lima. I was naturally calm about it, since I was tired and my body exhausted. Once we landed, I realized I had like half an hour to check-in my bags, pay the entry tax, go through customs, and run ferociously to the gate. When I was in line to get my bags checked, I grabbed the security guy and help me go to the front of the line and the employee said, “You have no time; you can’t stop running.” Oh I was getting on that plane alright. So I ran like a crazy woman, arms flaring, since I have all my carry-on bags with me. I thought my legs were going to give out they were so tired, since I just finished a 70Km trek to Machu Picchu the day before. A couple other Peruvian women were running too while hearing “This is your LAST and FINAL boarding call.” We made to the gate, which was actually the farthest one and panting and gasping for air, the flight attendants verified our tickets. I sat down and fell asleep.

I arrived in Panama to only eat and met an Israeli owner of a surf shop in Costa Rica. We ate Subway together and told stories. His hair was naturally turning blonde due to the sun – crazy!

Next flight, no bags to be checked, boarded and I sat beside this couple that was sort of annoying. The guy kept over analyzing the country entry card you fill in and was stressing about it hard. The girlfriend or wife had to seriously calm him down. It was hard to not say “It’s not that difficult, please chill out” because the tension was radiating. I tried to ignore it and sleep it off.

I arranged an airport pick-up in Buenos Aires with Florida Suites hostel, the same one I started off in. The guy was late and I was waiting there forever. Finally, I arrived in the Miraflores (centre/ downtown) and walked through the streets to a comforting place.





Diego and David two good friends were there to greet me, give me warm embraces and throw my bags into storage (I couldn’t get my room until 2pm). During my Machu Picchu trek, the one Scottish girl convinced to really go get myself checked out about these symptoms and stomach issues; I may have a parasite. Diego helped me so much about this. He got me to make sure I knew my health insurance policies before I took any actions. I found out that I needed to call them to let them know I was seeking medical assistance before I did so. The trying to call them took forever; there were about 5 phone numbers to choose from. Eventually, I got threw the line and Diego helped map out where the German hospital was because there they speak English. A million thanks to you, Diego!

It was raining, but I got to Hospital Alemán okay. It was very confusing as to what I had to do or where to go or who to see. Not everyone spoke English, but we tracked down some of them. I first had to wait to see the doctor. Then she sent me to get blood taken and fill out forms. I had to wait to get that done and it really hurt because the nurse missed my veins. I made some uncomfortable noises and she thought I was going to pass out (which I wasn’t), but she yelled out for an English nurse, to find out that it just hurt. Of course I had to leave my dictionary behind throughout this…big mistake. During my wait for the blood work results, I had to wait to get X-rays done of my stomach area. We had to do them twice because I left my bra on. This was very confusing and kind of scary. Once I got my blood test results and a new number to wait to see the doctor again for the follow-up, I called the hostel and spoke to Diego and Dave – it just made me feel better. I think I was having a good game face on about this and the hospital was clean, but I was still nervous and felt very confused all the time. In very broken (but appreciated) English, the new doctor (a male in early 30s), gave me the diagnoses. Pretty much that I had to take all the results to a doctor back in Canada and get a stool testing. He wrote me a prescription for these stomach antibiotics and told me not to drink while taken them – that was going to be difficult. We chatted for a bit, he called me young, I guessed his age, it was cute and now we were laughing. Clearly my time was up and there was a line of patients, so I didn’t want to keep them waiting. I left with a large bag with full size X-Rays. I have never been able to see those in real life before.



Once I found the prescription, the sun was coming out and the day was looking somewhat better. It was approaching (Canadian) dinner time. It was a Friday night and well. There was a pub crawl coming up…

I didn’t have heels or a clean dress (or any clean clothes for that matter), so what do you do? Treat yourself and buy some. Argentina is supposed to be the fashion capital of South America and I hadn’t got anything really hear before, so that’s how I convinced myself. I got adorable grey suede 4 inch heels and an outfit to match. The girls at the store helped pick it out for me. A simple tight light grey dress and grey denim dress skirt over. Peeeerrrrfect. I ate a quick bite, but was eager to get back to the hostel to actually check into my room.

My 6 bed dorm room was filled with Brazilian girls – just like last time. They were a couple years younger, but all very nice. I spread out my stuff and tried to get everything sorted – especially my dirty clothes, which filled most of my backpack. Laundry was a must.

I got quickly ready and met everyone at the bar downstairs to start off with; the Brazilian girls came too. We went to the club, Asia de Cuba and I could feel that the antibiotics were definitely not mixing well with drinking. I got home safe and sound to bed, but it was a rougher night.

The next day I was pretty dead tired, since the lack of sleep was catching up to me at this point; it was crazy to think I hiked Machu Picchu only a few days earlier. I ate lunch with Diego at this super sandwich place and forced myself to eat the entire thing. I should have taken a nap afterwards. He later walked with me to the laundry place and it was raining. We were dodging in and out from under buildings, but still got soaking wet. As we walked back, we gave up trying to stay dry and were completely drenched. It was pretty fun actually and we were going to meet back up with the group for the pub crawl.

Again starting in the bar downstairs, I saw all my familiar bartender faces. I befriended 2 Aussie and 2 Swedish girls. We drank our free beer and walked to our first pub. There were free shots for entry and shortly after we continued to another bar. It had a band playing below and a more lounge bar area upstairs. Finally we got to Pacha as the last destination. It was big and had an outdoor DJ stage for the night, but mostly morning. I walked past a familiar face and it was Tom, an Aussie guy, who I met while organic farming volunteering. He was in a panic to find money and I was on my way to get a drink. We all danced the night away until our feet ached and the sun rose. It began pouring rain again and Diego arranged cabs for everyone. We got the last one and I check my watch and it was almost 7am. The nights fly by when you’re here.













To my lovely surprise, I came down for breakfast and ran into the 2 Canadian sisters from Edmonton, Laryssa and Olenka. We jumped up and down, gave each other massive hugs and were excitedly clapping. We all went out for brunch and caught up with each other. We got way too much food, but it all was delicious. We got a antipasto platter and a pizza. That afternoon, I picked up my fresh laundry and hunted down an official Argentina jersey to get for my brother. I found one and came back to start packing. I was a sad process and I tried not to think of it. Me and the girls met up to write emails before we left for dinner and we got the staff to play Christmas music. I was getting super pumped while I belowed out the lyrics to "All I want for Christmas" by mariah Carey. I was happy to be with family for the holidays and miss all the pre-Christmas build up stress. I thought about our Christmas tree all lite up in our living room and decorating it while drinking wine. It would be nice to sit by our wood fire place and drink Baileys. The only thing is that I don't know how I can handle the snow. I have really liked wearing shorts in December.

That night there was a staff year end party, so Laryssa, Olenka, Rafael and I went out for a last delicious dinner. We had much time to waste and it turned out we spent 4 hours at the place eating and talking. It was a fancier restaurant, buffet style featuring Argentinean asado (barbeque); there was also a chocolate fountain! The restaurant was located beside the waterfront and you could see it out window while you were dining.



We walked all the way back to the hostel and I went to change. I tried to be super quiet because of this crazy random, older woman, who moved into our room the night before. The Brazilian girls told me she had yelled at them for being too loud and doing their hair with a blow dryer too late in the night. I crept out of the room to the Fusion bar, which was decorated in a tropical beach theme and we all joined in with the staff dancing to Latin classics. I was getting super tired and passed out after before the afterhours post party began.





I woke up to find something was in my packed stuff. Completely confused, I realized it was this crazy woman and I tried to move her. She said she was really hot and that’s why she moved closer to the air conditioning. Really she looked drunk and suffering from menopausal hot flashes. She got out of my stuff and flopped into the spare bed one of the younger Brazilian girls checked out of that morning. I took my stuff to storage (far far away from that woman) and ate the hostel’s free continental breakfast.

The Canadian sisters and walked with me for one last time down the miraflores strip. I got chocolate mint gelato and started waiting for my airport pick-up bus. It was hard to say goodbye to everyone and I was getting choked up. This was the end of my trip. I told Diego and the sisters I wish the bus got in a crash and that I had to stay. I waved goodbye out of the window and I was off to the now quite familiar airport.



On the plane, I sat beside a super nice older guy from Vancouver. We talked all the way to our stop-over in Santiago, Chile, but once we were heading toward Toronto, I slept almost the entire flight and even missed one of my free meals. When I was awake, I watched a documentary on the legendary artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.
When we landed there was snow on the ground and it was instantly cold. I picked up my pack from the luggage conveyor belt and walked towards the doors to meet my parents. I didn’t feel I was back and it was very disillusioned about returning. The doors were opening and closing up ahead and I could see my parents waving and jumping; I smiled. I arrived in one piece home in Canada.

Salkantay trek and Machu Picchu