Joshua Van Tassel

For no reason whatsoverer, the strange blond creature on the left swung her shopping bag at me and hit me in the shoulder. No chance of it being an accident, because this little oompa loompa was about 3 apples tall and smelled like a wet bag of concrete. Plus, her and her younger evil henchman laughed at me.
Therefore, you get blogged because I was too confused to say anything to you 5 minutes ago. Now back to the chocolate factory, you small strange woman.

Today at 2 and again at 10pm I’ll be playing with Kate Rogers on CBC 99.1 FM for the show Q. We’re doing a little acoustic set and some good old fashioned talking. If you like music and the disembodied voices of humans check it out…….

Here’s some beats from that fun little iphone app beatmaker I blogged about a little while ago that i made on various forms of transportation as we traveled around…..

BBC Manchester had a tv museum where I met this handsome gentleman. We became fast friends and I promised to keep in touch with him.

I’m back from a super fun tour of the Uk with my good friend Kate Rogers, and I’ve got plenty of little aural snapshots to help me remember things. Here’s a few that I’ve heard so far from London that stand out - -

Ah the tube. So fast, and so very small. Tall folks like me have to watch out for yellow bars and people moving very quickly and quietly.

A nice classic London church, peaceful, old, and full of tourists like me.

Here’s possibly my favorite sound I’ve heard so far. There’s a great neighborhood called Camden Town, kind of like a Toronto Kensington market area. Lots of shopping, lots of food, and a whole lot of people. I recorded this in a tiny tiny little boutique that just sold hats that were way to hip for me to even attempt to put on my head. It came from a tiny little portable record player, and it was the most calming thing I’ve heard in a while. I would have stood there all day, but the owner seemed a little suspicious of my slack jawed glassy stare and my phaser looking device that I was pointing at his beloved french 7 inch…

More to come as I get myself together…..

So for the first time in about 2 weeks the sun is shining in Manchester. The tour is almost done and it’s been great. I spent about 8 hours in scotland and am thinking about buying a castle and becoming a lord. Not the lord, just a lesser lordly dude who owns a castle.

London is a good time so far. I’m currently outside of a dental office getting strnge looks from people hoping to fix their stereotypicaly bad teeth. We’ve done a couple BBC shows, had some good pints, and learned some new words. I also got some new ties for 2 pounds, which in reality is about fifty dollars. I also am getting some great sounds that I’ll share asap. …..

I’m in London with no jet lag, it’s amazing, I’m very happy. It also helps that I just had a crispy bacon sandwich wityh cheese and coffee. Everything looks and sounds as different here as I thought, but also strangely the same. U suppose that comes from the fact that we all speak English. Right……anyway, getting lots of good sounds, and had a fun session at the BBC last night. Pictures to follow as soon as I can find some poor sap who doesn’t put a password on  their wireless.

And ps, everything relly is really expensive here. No really. REALLY expensive.

I’m headed out for 2 weeks tomorrow to the UK with a great artist named Kate Rogers, and although I’ll be recording tons of sounds of double decker buses, people making proper tea, and sodium rich foods, I won’t be able to post them all that often. I will be able to post lots of pictures and descriptions of all the weird and wonderful things I’m hearing though, thanks to my new best friend, so stay tuned…..

are what I’m working on today -

and also watching this over and over - - -