Joshua Van Tassel

Finally some time around the house to paint my room, shave my laundry, clean my face, and get it together. Started some new stuff that I’m excited about with Dean, some of it sounds like this

and some of it sounds like this

still early, but a good start.

Also excited that the next Stop.die record is done. I’ve been out of town and out of touch the last 2 months with my favorite boys, but we have a show at the Drake on August 20th that should make for a crazy crazy night. Dancers, cellos, drums, dancers, some dancers, and us.Please come……

And here’s a creepy picture of a shadow in the louvre in Paris. Weeeeeird.

On the day after me and the festiva’s one year anniversary…..I left her for a month and she’s mad at me, I know it.
I swear I didn’t drive any fancy foreign cars, you’re the only one…ok, I looked at a few Bentleys in London and sweet little Golfs in France, but who wouldn’t? I’d never leave you. I’ll always come back….

(if you’re reading this on facebook and it makes no sense, it’s because the link below goes to my blog….click on it and poof…)

And I’m back in Toronto and it loves to rain in biblical proportions here apparently. Paris was amazing, I don’t think I realized the historical significance of it before I went there and saw the sights. It’s played a huge part in so many world shaping events, and is almost 2000 years old which is completely crazy. It seems like for every street that you’re walking down that changes its name randomly, there’s a giant beautiful 800 year old something standing there looking magnificent and kind of terrifying, and not listed on any map. The people were wonderful to us, humored my various attempts to speak french, and bailed me out when I ned it in english which was great. Here’s a few sounds with pictures from the week. I know everyone says that it’s soooo amazing and yooooooou haaaaaave to go blah blah, but it is and you do. Really.

One the favorite parts of the trip, the sewer tour. So cool, it gave me a sense of the development of the city and everything it’s gone through over the years, from Romans to that crazy song of a bitch Napoleon, wars, and one meter methane bubbles coming from the polluted river.

And the mona lisa. So famous, kind of cool, but to be honest really small, kind of dark, and the room has soooooooo many people and so many flash cameras that I thought I was going to have an oxygen deprived seizure. Here’s basically how it looks and sounds in there.

Our perfect little apartment. We sat right off of a street called Oberkampf which was a super fun area of town with lot of great cafes, food and people. Here’s how it sounded more or less most nights outside, this was at about 3 am and a dance party quickly formed that we joined.

View from the Grand Roue de Paris. A big Ferris Wheel that you would assume to be cheesy, but turned out to be a trip highlight. Besides the Eiffel tower ( which takes FOREVER to get up, we went 3 night in a row, the lines are crazy, but I promise its worth it), this was the best view of the city. No sounds from up there due to wind, but here’s one I got on the street in a little shop close to it. I think it fits nicely.

ok, more to come. I’m going through a lot of sounds and I’ll throw some more up soon. It’s a beautiful place that Europe, but it’s good to be home.

Jools tour finished on a great gig at Rugby Castle that was super fun despite crazy rain. Along with picnicing very seriously? the British also come ready for rain at all times.

Im currently in an internet place in Paris fighting with a confusing french key board and i just have a minute. This city really is crazy and exciting and scary as shit and exciting. You can get lost in seconds but its ok because you’ll most likely see something great and be happy about it. So much real history everywhere. We rockced a HUGE tourist day yesterday and saw some classic stuff along with getting some sounds i’m very happy about it. iphone site app is down so no pictures yet, but they’re coming, along with my french. Gotta run for now….

So I’m on a house boat in Amsterdam. Why? We’re doing pre production and rehearsing for David’s record in the fall, and whereas the band lives between Halifax, Toronto and Fredericton it’s rare we’re all in the same city at the same time. We’ve got 5 days between shows for the Jools tour, and rather then hanging in London and spending a fortune on hotels, food, and a rehearsal space, we’re here in a bit of a marine paradise. The people are ridiculously friendly and healthy in this city, and the bike system is pretty incredible.

We had an interesting experience rolling in last night after a long drive from England, spending a bit of time in a typical Amsterdam coffee shop where I admittedly got completely messed up in a very relaxed and controled manner, and then dicovering our hotel rooms had been messed up and we had to find another place to stay. It all worked out in the end, and now we’re on water where we’re debating whether it’s ok for me to jump off the stern of the boat into the canal. I’ve seen 2 dogs, a duck, and a human in there so maybe?? They are much healthier then I am though. Anyway, pictures to follow later, and tonight I’ll be getting some sounds from the less or more desirable part of town, depending on your moral stability and disposition. …

Things here are good, getting busier, gigs getting added which is great. We’re still in Shrewsbury which is pretty much the nicest town on earth. I think they’re trying to trap us here. We do the next jools holland show tonight and the weather is perfect so far, we’re getting lucky with that. We do 2 more nights here, then just got added to a festival in wales, then to Amsterdam where I can get in touch with my inner dutchness. I got some great h4isms last night, here’s a few pictures for now.