From : chris lloyd
Sent : May 1, 2004 1:55:00 PM
To : pm@pm.gc.ca
CC : chrislloyd5676@hotmail.com
Subject : 3 children dead in overnight Montreal house fire; parents seriously injured
Dear Paul,
…oh, and I forgot to tell you: Karina called me back yesterday. She is going to Halifax today to try to retrieve some of her things that were left behind—(at this point Mr. Mittens is stepping on my keyboard. Perhaps he has something he wishes to tell you?)— on Dresden Row. She spoke to Lyndon, who has developed an insane hatred of me. Apparently he told her that I will “never work in this town
again”. Wow, this is shaping up to be quite a feud!
Now it is the warmest and sunniest it has been in a long while, and Claudine and I are going to cycle around and go shopping at hardware stores and look for some clothes as well. I’m waiting for some laundery to finish before we leave, and really enjoying sitting on the back steps overlooking the cat alley—today Big Blackie and Ole Blue Eyes and Skinny Grey came visiting into the kitchen, but I haven’t seen any others.
I think I have neglected Janine’s plants, I had better go water them.
(Friday, Midnight): And now that the moving weekend is full upon me, let me recap, in point form, as things are happening quickly:
-read up on the history of Dollard after Mo and Clo and I played bad hackey sac in front of his monument, instead of watching kill bill. I wonder if it has been made into a movie? I’d love to see the scene where Dollard throws the homemade grenade.
-finished some touch-ups (and didn’t finish others) at the apartment. Did manage to throw a door off the balcony of the third floor and have it stick right-side up in the garden below. I left it there; it looked good
-had lunch with Claudine and then zipped up to Janine’s to clean her place and finish washing laundery. Almost flooded her kitchen when the drain pipe fell out of the sink.
-went to Liz’s place, now mine, and did paperwork, lease stuff.
-Aaron and Dad arrived hours ahead of my schedule and then both our cell phones died while I was trying to give directions while being harrassed by drug-dealers on a corner off Papineau
-we finally met up and had been at Claudine’s apartment(she had lent it to us for the night, and went off to Caro’s) for five minutes before Mohanad dropped Sarah K. and Courtney off. We all ate at , then I drove Sarah K. and Courtney to my place. There was bad communication at SSM and they couldn’t stay there. Luckily Liz had a place to go. Very confusing and stressful. Chain smoked on my way down to Tony du Sud to visit Jen and Sarah R. and Melissa and wish Jen a happy birthday
-drove round in circles looking for a parking spot for the van
-had beers on the balcony and enjoyed the sweltering heat. I love this weather.
-did my French homework
-we had breakfast at St. Viateur Bagel Café, then stopped at my new place, took stock of the situation, then Dad and Aaron dropped me off at class
-got bogged down slightly with passé composé and l’imparfait, and left class early to go help with the move. I feel incredibly guilty that Dad and Aaron are doing all the work.
-chris
From : chris lloyd
Sent : May 3, 2004 12:39:29 AM
To : pm@pm.gc.ca
CC : chrislloyd5676@hotmail.com
Subject : B.C. employers win legal battle in fight against striking health workers
Dear Paul,
We covered a lot of ground today and there is still more to go. We left Montreal early, around 8am, after having bagels and coffee at St. Viateur Bagel Cafe on Mont Royal. The drive was mostly uneventful; my Dad and I took turns driving, and we had set up one of Liz’s chairs as the third seat for Aaron. Last night we took the metro downtown to wander around and look at stuff, and stopped for beer at Bierre et Compagnie on St. Denis. Watched the Expos play the Dodgers; they were leading when we left, but I heard later that they lost (what else is new? And do I even care? No). Anyway, at this point I am exhausted, and have to leave for Halifax tomorrow morning. Am going to try to retrieve a few more things from Dresden Row, where my name is mud. I’ll let you know how it goes. Right now I have to figure out how exactly I am getting myself back to Montreal.
-chris
From : chris lloyd
Sent : May 3, 2004 11:10:56 PM
To : pm@pm.gc.ca
CC : chrislloyd5676@hotmail.com
Subject : $100 million not stolen in sponsorship scandal, $250 million is suspect: AG
Dear Paul,
Is it still considered a B & E (break and enter) if you have a key to the place? And all you take is your own belongings? The mission to 1333 proved effective, and we met little resistence. More on that later. In fact, more on the whole moving trip later; I still have to drive into Saint John and drop off the van, or else I’ll get dinged with another days rental. Am catching a ride to Halifax with my grandparents tomorrow and then a flight to Montreal. Should be much more enjoyable than a sxteen-hour bus ride. Certainly faster.
-chris
From : chris lloyd
Sent : May 5, 2004 11:12:38 PM
To : pm@pm.gc.ca
CC : chrislloyd5676@hotmail.com
Subject : June 28 federal election a go as parties agree on debate format: sources
Dear Paul,
Decided to spend the extra thirty dollars and fly back to Montréal; sixteen hours on the bus would definitely drive me batty and around the bend. Nanny and Poppy dropped me off early; they had just arrived at my parent’s place from Sarasota. Had plenty of time to make some phone calls and have some beer at a very bland bar in the departure are called “Legends”. Had a long telephone conversation with Jen about the state of arts funding in the province; my newly formed right-wing views are starting to surface. Since most arts jobs don’t pay enough for people to live off, why not abolish them altogether? And the market should really dictate what is quality artwork. Let the good artists really work for it and sell to make a living. If no one wants to buy it then it isn’t art. Let the “market” decide. Shut down state-funded galleries and museums; people can learn all they need to learn about themselves and others from TV. Who needs an independent voice when it comes to culture? Culture is not important, unless it is the culture of money, and everyone is getting some.
On the other hand, I had a nice—albeit brief—talk with Svava at the Khyber yesterday. She is one of the artists in residence (Swintak is the other). She is continuing work on the theme of undisclosed animal substances in commercial products. Of course it is important that artists are granted the time and space and resources to create works that challenge our thoughts and senses; that’s what we do. (I guess I still consider myself an artist? Can you enlighten me as to why I possibly qualify? My thirty-five thousand dollar student loan?) But for too long artists have adopted the non-confrontational, non-political position, safely wrapped in debates of aesthetics rather than substance.
I mean, geez, I bought a paper (Globe) today, and not one word of arts-related news. What gives? There is lots of art being made today, this very minute. It just doesn’t fit into the format of the “news”; hence, it is not newsworthy. Why is a spontaneously occurring flesh-eating disease that affects only thirty people out of over thirty million such news? Fascination with the horrific? Is this the state of the avant-garde: shock and awe through the mainstream news? (Please tell me it isn’t through art that bores to tears). What exactly are contemporary artists out to prove anyways? Hell, you might as well just throw as much money at them as they want, seeing as they aren’t going to reach anyone beyond the already-converted anyway. We’ll all end up with our loans forgiven and working as elementary schoolyard teachers or accountants; fine, upstanding contributors to a global society hell-bent on self-destruction. Sure, we’ll all recycle and compost and weed out as many bad habits as possible, as we let Star Wars become a reality, continue to drive our cars (or planes) everywhere, and continue to argue and fight and kill one another over the pettiest of differences.
For three days straight I have been fighting the urge to smoke many, many cigarettes in a row. I should be working on my French. I should be thinking about my art career. Ha! What career? How the hell can someone make a viable career about unanswered email to the CEO leader of a barely-populated overshadowed, second-rate western country? What the hell was I thinking anyway? I should be thinking of a career—any career. How many years have I been saying that I am sick of being poor? Maybe plumbing is the way to go.
So anyway, Aaron and I picked up Trevor from work once we got into Halifax yesterday, and we went to his place for lunch. Then we drove around in circles looking for Liz; we didn’t have a way of contacting her, she wasn’t at her apartment. Went to the Khyber, said hi to Andréa and her (and my) replacement, Emily Vey Duke (and retrieved my Cyclorama Last Supper bauble). They were both busy with the upcoming mailout. I changed my address with them; I miss getting the mailouts.
Does Avril Lavigne sound better as one gets drunk, or is it just the familiarity?
Anyway, after a couple hours Liz called, and she met us at her place, and we unloaded the whole van in fifteen minutes, and then we hit 1333 Dresden Row. There was a huge mêlée; Lyndon and his two lackeys were there playing cards, taking a break from painting the whole place. A huge screaming match ensued, and Lyndon fled the premises when I started throwing things—the can of paint was highly effective; a very nice pattern resulted from it striking the wall and ceiling in the living room. We loaded up the van with a bunch of bags of Karina’s fabrics and I tore down the curtains and set fire to Sarah Fork’s cork collection as a final gesture. Drove like a bat out of hell on the way home, through periods of heavy, heavy rain.
Oh yeah, so Greg got the Atlantic nomination for the Sobey Art Award, good for him (I never did get the email, maybe I’ve been ostracized?) Maybe now is the perfect time to embark upon my musical career as front man for a wacky punk band. Either that or become a plumber. Fuck this art thing. They are all just a bunch of whiners; all bark and no bite. I WANT MORE BITE!
By the way, I am now an official Real Artist: I received my Certificate from the Real Art Laboratories in Brooklyn. I’ll have to frame it. If I do they want a picture of it in my “studio”. So now I guess I have no choice: must make art.
I’m getting drunk; perhaps I should prepare to board the aircraft? Ahh, of course, the flight is now delayed. Or re-routed? I can’t tell, can’t really hear the announcements. My flight is either leaving in another hour or in twenty minutes. Maybe I should ask somebody. And have another cigarette (yes, I caved and bought a pack). It’s foggy as hell out. It’s been raining cats and dogs (Big cats, Big dogs) in Halifax, the Maritimes, all weekend. Flight delays. Fun stuff. Maybe I should eat something? Or just watch the soccer on TV? The smoking room is much cooler than the rest of the bar. NB has a new anti-smoking advertising campaign, calling for a revolt of sorts on the part of the “majority of non-smokers”, running on the radio. But smokers are friendlier, it seems. Just met a guy from Gander, NF, going to ON to visit his sis for her nursing graduation. Was that another boarding call? I can’t hear. And I have to pee again. Be warned: this is going to be a meandering letter. Like you even read them anyway, you fake hipster-blogger. Maybe I should put my computer away before I spill beer on it?
And then, almost by fluke, by chance, I check in with the departures board and find out my flight had been changed, and is boarding in five minutes. Change the boarding pass. Go to the bathroom. Pay for and down the rest of my beer. And then I’m on the plane, half passing out and falling asleep. It’s sunnier above the clouds. Damn, why did I ask for ice in the water? I don’t need ice. Who needs ice when the sun hasn’t been visible in two days? The guy next to me stole my seat, and he’s at least seven feet tall. Reading the free in-flight magazine like it’s a major manifesto with his knees up against the back of the seat in front. Hard to get around him. And after I do he moves across the aisle. Sixty-six percent of (computer battery) power left. Just want to listen to some music and fall asleep for the whole damn flight. I love and hate flying at the same time. Damn waste of resources. All that fuel! And when the hell am I ever going to join the “mile high club”? And do I even care? With all the flying you do, you m just be a member. Are you?
This is a British Airways plane, model 146. I can’t tell the difference. The cheap cookies are the same. My Flash MX doesn’t work. The guy next to me is passed out. I just want to sleep. But at the same time I want to yell, tear down the curtains to the first class section, cause a scene, disrupt the normalcy of the whole travel by air thing (I still think it is magic, somehow).
Hmm, more shortcake biscuits are offered. And I thought Air Canada was going bankrupt.
And then there is the whole EI thing. I’ve been calling every week since April 1 regarding my “transfer of account”. As late as last week it still hadn’t gone through. Then yesterday, out of the blue, the woman on the other end of the line said that it had gone through April 18. huh?? And that my account was now “dormant”, because they hadn’t heard from me. Those fuckers! No more Mr. Nice Guy! F**ing overstuffed, inefficient, non-communicative bureaucracy! They’ll rue the day! What a hassle, all over a measly $600/month. I’ll go to the local office tomorrow and piss on the floor, just like I did at the Salisbury Irving Big Stop. What the hell was the deal with them raising the price of gas by TEN FREAKING CENTS per litre in one day? (ed. Note: and today it happened across the board here in Montréal, a big jump to 94c/litre) Is there more I can do to voice my displeasure with the status quo, with our reliance on fossil fuels, with needless wars, besides urinating on floors? BASTARDS! Why does it make me so angry? What is it that makes people just accept this bullshit as normal?
After my flight touched down I caught a transit bus downtown, and took the metro home. Had a short nap and a long shower. Courtney and Sarah K. came home and I went to the grocery store, bought some food and made a chicken curry for supper. Went to bed early. Had crazy spins for almost an hour; it was as if my brain was riding a rollercoaster.
Didn’t get nearly enough sleep, and was sluggish all day at work. Still managed to demolish the tiles in a bathroom and tear down all the wallpaper on the second floor. My arms are stinky with the gluey, pasty water.
Made supper and ate with Mohanad and Courtney. Fiddled with some of the lighting in my apartment. Went for a meandering walk with Courtney through back alleys, looking for old cast-aside furniture. Found a folding chair for one of the terraces and a garbage can.
Oh, and yaga and kuan seem to be settling into the new apartment fine. They have come out from underneath the sofa.
-chris
Ok, so Courtney is now timing me to see how many words per minute I can type—with my two fingers. Sometimes I use three or four, but never more than four. Did I ever tell you how many times I think about why I never took typing in high school? Not often, but when I do it makes me think of my finger. (64 words/minute)
From : chris lloyd
Sent : May 10, 2004 12:40:49 AM
To : pm@pm.gc.ca
CC : chrislloyd5676@hotmail.com
Subject : Hard to see big difference between Liberal, Tory positions on health care
Dear Paul,
Sorry I haven’t written in a few days. And sorry about the previous long ranting letter; I have a tendency to go on and on when I am traveling. It took me a few days to recuperate from all the moving, most likely because I was so quickly back at work. Not that we have been working long days, but it does take awhile to get to the job site. And tearing off wallpaper and ripping up carpet and smashing mirrors and running in circles around ladders can take a toll. Tomorrow I am going to attempt cycling to work; I expect it to take about 45 minutes. Good exercise. I bought a used bike from an old Chinese man the other day, and haggled him down to $50 from $65. It actually rides OK, but could use a tuneup and new brakes.
Friday night Claudine and I had couscous at a neighbourhood restaurant, then she baked a chocolate cake for dessert and helped me with my french homework. She stayed the night but she is allergic to my cats and her nose was all stuffed up. She is convinced that the cats actually gave her a cold now. On Saturday, after my class, I went to Karen’s house and helped her make a bamboo roof out of cardboard tubes wrapped in green plastic. I was exhausted by the time I got home (ended up heading in the wrong direction on the wrong metro again, which increased my travel time). Courtney and Mohanad were already loaded, we had pizza and waited for Rebecca and Sarah R. and Jen to come by. We piled into Jen’s Volvo and picked up Nick/Tim and his friend, and then went dancing at one of those over-rated nightclubs on Ste-Catherine. We played pool and tabletop soccer and danced like maniacs, before catchig cabs home. Mohanad, Courtney and I bought bagels on Beaubien at 4 o’clock in the morning.
The weather was excellent today. I painted the second coat on the kitchen walls at SSM, then took my new bicycle for a whirl. Had a nice lunch with Claudine on her front terrace and we enjoyed the sunshine and the warm breeze and watched people walking up and down Mont Royal. Lazed about for a bit, lost track of time and place, then biked up to my new landlord’s place.
Now there’s a story: I get a phone call from Mohandis, my landlord, mid-week. It appears Liz hadn’t paid rent for May, even though I had given it to her. Suddenly there are threats of eviction. And I haven’t even been in the place a week! So I got ahold of Liz, and she is putting $ in my account, and I dropped a cheque off this evening. Hopefully it won’t bounce. Artists!
Anyway, I’ve got to get home and put the paint away before hitting the hay. Courntey made supper for me tonight while I put the first coat on in the living room. We ate on the back terrace with a candle lit and watched Yaga and Kuan visit my neighbours next door. They gave Yaga a catnip-filled toy (or he stole it), which he proceeded to spaz out on. Quite entertaining. They still haven’t worked up the nerve to explore the stairs.
From : chris lloyd
Sent : May 11, 2004 9:08:44 AM
To : pm@pm.gc.ca
CC : chrislloyd5676@hotmail.com
Subject : Guite and Brault face six fraud-related charges in sponsorship scandal
Dear Paul,
I biked up to the SAAQ on Blvd. Henri Bourassa yesterday morning to get my permis de voiture replaced. It didn’t take long, but cycling there and then to work did. I took a few wrong turns on the way. Why is it that I only look at maps after the fact, to see where I’ve been, instead of helping me plan where to go? The rest of the day was fine, after a brief period of lacklustre plastering and moving grabage bags we hit a ‘work spurt’ and plan to ‘hit it and quit it’ for the remainder of the week. Cycled home in just under forty minutes.
Finished painting the living room and had a quick bite to eat. The cats venture outside but still not down the stairs. They enjoy looking at the birds on the tree and in the cracks in the wall next door; visions of birdie sandwiches dancing through their heads.
Stopped at SSM to get my computer and ran into Sarah Fork on her way back from the airport, and Venice, and Medugorje, where she had been for the past ten days. Medugorje is a small village in Bosnia, once unknown even in its own country, set in harsh landscape in the far south, 30 kilometers southeast of Mostar. The Catholic parish of Medugorje dates back to 1599. Today, Medugorje is visited, like similar shrines all over Europe, by the sick who are seeking consolation and healing. However, healing is not the primary reason why believers make the trip. It is, rather, the Virgin Mary’s visitations, translated daily into many languages. Witnesses say that the Virgin Mary has spoken on several occasions about great tensions in the world and that mankind is on the verge of catastrophe, but that faith will restore self-confidence, which is why the Virgin pleads for conversion. Masses celebrating the anniversary of the Virgin’s first visitation are held in 13 languages. Through the history of the Roman Catholic Church, theologians have recorded all witnessings of visitations of the Virgin Mary, but it has never been recorded that the Virgin has appeared every day for years, and to the same group of children, as has been the case in Medugorje since 1981. Sarah was a bit disappointed that she didn’t see any visions, or fall down when blessed by the parish priest, as many others apparently do.
Went to Claudine’s to watch a movie but Jackie Brown is just too long, and takes a long time to build. We got distracted. Then the disc froze in my computer, and took awhile to get going again, and shortly after we fell asleep.
-chris
From : chris lloyd
Sent : May 11, 2004 11:20:29 PM
To : pm@pm.gc.ca
CC : chrislloyd5676@hotmail.com
Dear Paul,
I’m so much enjoying this city. I love the half-hour to forty-five minute bike ride to and from work. The sun was out this afternoon, we drove to Beaconsfield (Mohanad had to pick up a floor sample), and I found a powder blue Samsonite suitcase in the trash. I’m accumuting quite the collection of luggage.
Speaking of which, the latest news on the Brown Suitcase Project is that I have to shred a busload of documents. They will be arriving for me by the end of the week. I’ve been instructed to use dull, rusty scissors. The remains will be used to stuff homemade crash test dummies.
Biked to Claudine’s after work for supper. We had steaks on the barbeque and drank Heinekens. I am going to borrow her saw and make some shelves when I get home.
-chris
From : chris lloyd
Sent : May 12, 2004 11:21:21 PM
To : pm@pm.gc.ca
CC : chrislloyd5676@hotmail.com
Subject : Martin tries for conciliation with Chretien loyalists, signals June 28 election
Dear Paul,
Sometimes you’ve just got to love the simplistic manner in which the news media will present an item. Take this “poll”, for example, on the canada.com webpage:
Liberal MPs used their majority on the Commons sponsorship committee to suspend public hearings and begin an interim report on the scandal. Was this the right decision?
Yes. The hearings aren’t getting anywhere.
No. Canadians will never get to the truth now.
The bike rides to and from work are wearing me out. This morning I had breakfast with Claudine at a fun little place called La Grand-mere au poulé before cycling to work. Couldn’t help but notice the inflammatory video photo of the decapitation. It was front page on most of the papers. What good does an image like that do? What point does it serve?
Anyway, had a decent day at work. Continued with the scraping, sanding and plastering. Amost ready to start primiming. The job is progressing in a much smoother fashion than the previous one. Biked home and stopped at some furniture stores along the way. Three orange chairs caught my eye at a used goods store near Papineau. I bartered the old guy down to $25 for the three, then went and got Courtney to help me carry them home. They remind me a bit of the Khyber. Had a quick shower then biked downtown to meet Elizabeth after work. We walked up to Galerie D’Avignon on Laurier to meet Marilyn McAvoy at her vernissage. Her new paintings seem a little looser and more playful than before. Afterwards Elizabeth and I went to Casa de Popolo and drank jagermeister and planned out our Canadian Tire project a little more.
I think I will try to get to bed early tonight, after sawing some shelves perhaps? Oh, and bad news on the latest suitcase project: Apparently it was found and disposed of ahead of schedule.
-chris
From : chris lloyd
Sent : May 14, 2004 1:18:44 AM
To : pm@pm.gc.ca
CC : chrislloyd5676@hotmail.com
Subject : Joe Clark still fighting Conservative merger as he leaves Parliament
Dear Paul,
I took a load of laundry to work today. It fell out of my bookbag while I was cycling to work. A few buses had run over a pair of Courtney’s jeans before I had a chance to retreive them. It turns out that they were clean anyway; at least, before the buses ran over them. I am impressed with my half-hour bikling time, even with the spilled clothing.
Went to SSM after work and made some supper. Had to change the Telus account with Sarah Fork. The house is back to the usual tensions. Went to L’Avenue with Sarah R. and Melissa, and met Mohanad there. I am wondering if one receives better service if one attempts to speak french? I only had beer, but I got them right away. There was a super-model make-out session going on at the table behind us. Every day I find a half-dozen reasons to love this city. The good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful; it all appeals to me.
-chris
From : chris lloyd
Sent : May 20, 2004 9:34:38 AM
To : pm@pm.gc.ca
CC : chrislloyd5676@hotmail.com
Subject : Martin urging others to blame Ont. budget on Tory ideology, not Liberal govt
Dear Paul,
Sorry I haven’t written in awhile. Bet you thought I’d given up on you, eh? Ha! I’ve just been really busy; you know how it can be. Hectic.
On Friday I started painting the walls of the apartment with really stinky BIN primer. I was sweating profusely and high as a kite by noon. We ate at “world famous” Cosmos for lunch; It’s hard to say what exactly makes the place famous, either the waiter’s ability to smoke and eat simultaneously while on the job, or the dirty mop in the only sink in the only bathroom, or the salad consisting only of lettuce, tomato and pepper. On my way downtown after work my bike broke; the rear derailer decided to de-rail itself and flew apart across the road. I walked with it until I found a velo shop on Sherbrooke and left it for repairs and a tuneup. It won’t be ready for a week. Hopped a bus and the metro to MAI and helped Karen for a bit with her show, then her mom took us out for dinner in Chinatown. I headed home to do my French homework, got really tired, fell asleep, and talked to Karina for a bit when she called on the phone.
Saturday I was up early, finished my homework, but was still a bit late for class (this time due to a delay at the Beaubien Metro, either a jumper or construction at Henri Bourrassa). Had a good class, it felt productive, then I was back to MAI for more painting. At 4pm I headed to Articule for the GNK opening of his latest in-situ painting, “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours”. It was good to see Garry again. He was giving away huge posters. I am thinking of applying for the programming coordinator job there, even though I am not yet bilingual.
Met Courtney at the vernissage. We stopped at a grocery store on the way home. Made a version (one of many) of a Spanish Paella for supper; the rice didn’t cook that well, but I left it all in the oven and after some time it set up well. Mohanad came over with Sarah Fork, her friend Shawn the model,“Mark” and we drank beers and hung out on the terrace and kitchen (the Maritime component). Claudine came by after work. Mo passed out on the couch and, as he was the Alpha Male of the group, everyone was left directionless: initial plans for “going out” dematerialized.
Sunday was nice; enjoyed a nice early morning with Claudine, then she, Courtney, Mohanad and I had breakfast at the Coyote Café. Worked on my apartment for most of the afternoon, building my tables and fixing some shelves and putting up mirrors and straightening up a bit. Relaxed on the terrace, smoked some pot and became obsessed with discussing memory, and made a collage. Bought a Hibachi barbeque and Mohanad cooked up veggie burgers and sautéed vegetables. Courntey and I found a great bargain at a garage sale: an 8mm video camera, projector and five reels of films for $10. He’s already ordered a replacement bulb on eBay.
Met Claudine at her place and we went out for burgers and fries and Cokes. Discussed some heavy topics; I forget sometimes, in my somewhat privileged existence, that people are brutalized and harmed and violated everyday. Some of the awful things that I hear often make me ashamed to be a man.
Work continued throughout the week; lots of commuting. The 161 takes 40 minutes but conveniently leaves from Rosemont. I applied for a programming coordinator position at Articule; that took some effort. Claudine’s printer needed ink; then there were delays getting files transferred. The biggest delay was, of course, my own procrastination in writing the cover letter.
Went to the MMAC with Elizabeth after work yesterday to sample the audio tours. I find them fascinating; a weird blend of science and fiction…SciFi! A lot of paintings from the Automatiste period are “indescribable”…try explaining that on an audio tour! Some good ideas for the Canadian Tire project emerged.
On my way home I stopped by Bai des Brumes to hear Geoff play. He was billed as One Night Band. He sounded good, and the crowd was really into it. Melissa and I took the metro home together. I bought a cactus on the way.
Now I’m late for work again! I’m surprised Mohanad doesn’t fire my ass. I guess he knows I’ll get the work done, and if I’m doing it in less work hours then he’s saving some cash from my salary.
-chris
From : chris lloyd
Sent : May 22, 2004 1:44:44 AM
To : pm@pm.gc.ca
CC : chrislloyd5676@hotmail.com
Subject : Liberals attack Conservative tax-cut promise as poll suggests federal minority
Dear Paul,
Picked up my bike after work and rode home along Sherbrooke. It’s working better than Courtney’s now. Part of the reason is that he ran into a car yesterday on his way home from work. The police, and a fire truck, and an ambulance attended the scene. He spent seven hours at the hospital getting X-rays, and couldn’t work today because his back is having spasms.
I went to Karen’s opening at MAI yesterday after work, which was fun. Jeannie, from my french class, came with some of her friends, expecting the opening of an actual restaurant. The exhibit is quite convincing; the addition of the kitchen helps. Met up with Claudine afterwards and we went to the Dears concert at Cafe Campus. It was an excellent concert. We went our for sandwiches afterwards somewhere on St. Laurent.
Lately I’ve been painting the heck out of the apartment in Cote St. Luc. The primer makes me giddy and causes uncontrollable fits of giggling.
Melissa came over for supper tonight. I’m loving my little Hibachi barbeque. Tonight I tried making vegetables inside aluminum cans wedged into the briquettes; surprisingly, it worked. Got a membership to the local video store and Mohanad and I picked up a couple movies, but I don’t have time to watch any; I still have french homework to do. Also, the VCR that he picked up on his way over here eats the cassettes, and growls while doing so.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <chrislloyd@videotron.ca>
Date: Sun May 23, 2004 3:23:08 AM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Subject: Election offers voters a real choice for the first time in years
Dear Paul,
Just came back from a really fun annual art extravaganza held at a couple of linked rinks in the east end. Hundreds of artists, performers, musicians, acrobats and more filled the space with a wide variety of art and more. Ran into Annie, one of the Fermieres Obsodées, who was conducting a kiss retrieval experiment of sorts. I swallowed my shot of vodka instead of spitting; I couldn’t help it, I couldn’t let it go to waste.
Had a good french class today, I am really enjoying it. Am debating whether to take the 2-week intensive course that is offered in July or join the Y and take weekly classes through them for the summer.
Worked on MY apartment for the afternoon; vacuumed, patched holes, arranged some boxes, sawed up my worktable, and made a coffee table. It felt good. I am still feeling a bit claustrophobic; there are always people around. I need some time alone.
The barbeque fever has got a hold of me good; I cooked for Sarah R and Sarah Fork and Courtney and Jolena tonight. Then we took the 197 east to this art thing to meet Mohanad. It was wild; there were art installations everywhere, sound and video, all sorts of fun stuff. Had some beer and danced a bit, ate some free vegetarian food, wandered around from salle a salle. Just one more reason to love Montréal.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <chrislloyd@videotron.ca>
Date: Sun May 23, 2004 7:53:33 PM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Subject: Prime Minister Paul Martin calls federal election for June 28
Dear Paul,
Well, looks like the election has kicked off into high gear. There are Bloc and Liberal posters stacked on just about every pole in my neighbourhood. Some of the Liberal signs seem to be suffering from the results of angry vandals; faces cut out, and in some cases whole signs have been knocked down. Looks like you are off to a great start.
Went to Sarah Fork’s for breakfast and then doubled her down to MAI on my bike for Karen’s talk, which was a nice history lesson on Chinese restaurants in North America. Had a nice chat with Jacob Wren afterwards; we often have nice chats, when we happen to run into one another, which seems to happen quite regularly.
Spent the rest of the afternoon cycling around making rubbings and enjoying the sights. The sun was warm and lots of people were out and about. Mohanad picked up some wood for shelving, but then we went for a walk and had bagels and rented a movie. I’m back at the barbeque, enjoying the fact that I can check and send my emails on my back terrace. This is the life! I’m going to Claudine’s later to watch a movie called Québec Montréal. First things first though: after the barbeque I am building those #*%!! shelves.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <chrislloyd@videotron.ca>
Date: Tue May 25, 2004 8:29:36 AM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Subject: Error: Exception of type System.OutOfMemoryException was thrown.
Dear Paul,
Happy belated Dollard’s day, or Victoria Day, depending on which province you are in. The weather was kinda crappy yesterday. I cycled home in the rain from Claudine’s place, but the holiday and the rainy, Halifax-like weather allowed me lots of time to get things done around the apartment. Finished building three sets of shelves, put up a mirror and even put some art on the walls. Mohanad came over after he had put in a few hours work and he and Courtney watched movies while I puttered around. Claudine came over for supper, I baked some sole and made cous cous. We watched the absolutely horrifying and disturbing “Swan Pageant” on TV. Nice to see that mainstream North American viewers are being told that the bulk of a woman’s confidence these days stems from how she feels about wearing a bikini, and how much better she feels after a ton of plastic surgery and botox injections. Excuse me while I’m sick as Barbie-mania continues to plow through our cultural horizons. Excuse me again, I’ve got to go to work. I’m going to try to be on time every day this week. And since Courtney’s mishap last week I’m from now on wearing my snazzy new silver helmet.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <chrislloyd@videotron.ca>
Date: Thu May 27, 2004 12:10:51 AM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Subject: Man charged with hitting Alta Premier Klein with pie pleads guilty to assault
Dear Paul,
Kuan has finally emerged from the three days she spent confined to the bathroom, and is now prowling the stoops and balconies across the alley, chasing the other neighbourhood cats. I was beginning to think that there may have been something wrong with her, but she seems fine; she seems to like exploring. She only came back late this evening after following another cat home, who came in and ate some of her food. Neither she nor Yaga are very good at guarding their own territory.
Last night I went to the Beaubien Cinema to see Monica la Maitrelle with Claudine. It was a bit hard for me to follow, as the accents and dialects were from the 1960s, and spoken fast, with many expressions I didn’t know. I keep telling myself to study more but lately finding/making the time has been difficult. Just have to keep trying.
Work is going well. Today I pretty much finished painting the upstairs. There were a few touchups, as the painting scheme is a bit complicated; some really dark walls painted against lighter ones. The designer picked some really nice colours.
Had more barbeque with Courtney tonight, and worked on email and internet stuff. Desperately wanted a nap all evening but it didn’t happen. I’m going to read for a bit—finally started in on Life of Pi—and then get some sleep.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <chrislloyd@videotron.ca>
Date: Fri May 28, 2004 1:06:14 AM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Subject: Gagliano suing PM and government for $4.5 million over dismissal
Dear Paul,
Painted with primer for most of the day. I think I am building up a tolerance, as I wasn’t nearly as giddy or light-headed as I often get while working with the stuff. At lunchtime we drove to Monkland, as we often do (for the tasty coffee at java u and the lovely sights along the way), but this time with a sheet of plywood on the roof of the car. We decided against using ropes, and just held it down with our hands out the window. Well, of course a gust of wind blew it off, and the sheet somersaulted over two lanes of traffic and came to rest on top of a parked Mercedes. The owner was sitting in it at the time; he was not amused. He agreed to not pursuing the issue if Mohanad, Courtney and I agreed to put on red lipstick and chase one another up and down the street in our underwear while sceaming out the themesong to Gilligan’s Island. We had just been talking about doing that very thing anyway, so it was an easy solution.
After work I cycled home, then cycled downtown to meet Elizabeth at Canadian Tire for some more research into the audio guide project. I ended up re-arranging their pathetic window display. Honestly, I cannot believe how little imagination they had put into it. I mean, it’s Canadian Tire! They have all sorts of cool things to make displays with. I added some kitchen taps, toilet plungers, wastepaper baskets, sledgehammers, fishing rods and ugly novelty lamps to an otherwise dull display of lawn items. I thought I had done such a creative job that the store would want to hire me, but all I got was a kick in the pants.
I’ve been getting some interesting email lately, some good, some not so good. The not so good involves Steve from the Critical Art Ensemble. I had met him at the Khyber a couple years ago when the CAE did their Tactical Gizmology workshop that inadvertently set off a bomb scare that shut down the harbour. This time he was calling 911 after his wife suffered a cardiac arrest and died at their home. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the FBI got involved and began to confiscate his art materials, and confined him for a few days under suspicion of being a bio-terrorist. What fear-mongering! The US Patriot Act is full of beans, and from what I hear the Canadian version is just as bad. Now he’s mired in legal bills. If you’d like to help him out you can visit http://www.rtmark.com/CAEdefense/ to find out more.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <chrislloyd@videotron.ca>
Date: Sun May 30, 2004 11:01:40 PM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Subject: Jack Layton, Dennis Mills pitted in key Toronto election battle
Dear Paul,
Sorry I haven’t written lately. I’ve been thinking of taking weekends off. Besides, with all the traveling you are doing lately you must not have time to read all your email. I noticed you took your blog site off your website. What, no updates on what the PM really thinks of the election process?
I’m exhausted; had a full day with Courtney. Doubled Claudine down to the bus station first thing in the morning; she was going to Ottawa for a baptism. I’d spent the night at her place, after having yet another barbeque, this time with Courtney and Sarah Fork. The little barbeque takes a long time to cook lots of food, and it often takes two or three stages. We doodled and made collages and talked to one another with clothespins stuck to our lips (I blame that one on the pot).
Today was free day at all the museums in Montréal. After hanging out at the Tam Tam for a bit, Courtney and I went to the Musée des beaux Arts to check out the Cocteau exhibition. After about an hour wait, we got in. It was a little overwhelming, what with all the people (it’s sort of nice to see such a crowd in an art exhibition), and hard to follow the exhibit as I’m not entirely familiar with all the films and books and plays Cocteau made. I liked his erotic drawings the best, and the way they were displayed in a cordoned off “red light” area of the gallery. Picked up some exhibition catalogues at discount prices when we left.
We had lunch at Schwartz’s (another lineup), then went to Cinema du Parc and watched Super Size Me. I guess Michael Moore has created a whole new generation of documentary imitators, not that that is such a bad thing. It was sort of fun to see Mickie-Ds get dragged through the mud, though it did get a tad wearisome. After the film we biked through old Montréal, then grabbed some noodles and Pad Thai from Juste Noilles.
Back to work tomorrow.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <chrislloyd@videotron.ca>
Date: Mon May 31, 2004 10:55:48 PM America/Montreal
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Subject: Harper confident as he courts vote-rich Ontario with cash, humour
Dear McPaul,
I just saw one of your McAds on McTV for the upcoming McElection. It McSucked; it McSucked big-time. You weren’t even looking at the camera most of the time. Who the McHell were you talking to? I think you may be in danger of McManaging the campaign into McOblivion.
Do you ever wonder what the point to McLife is? Do your views change from time to time, or are they rigid?
Had a good day at McWork. Courtney and I were actually on time, and I McPainted all day. Afterwards we decided, on a whim, to have Happy Meals (Joyeux festin. en francais). The film Super Size me seems to have had an adverse and unexpected side effect on us. Cripes, I haven’t eaten at Mickie Ds in close to a decade. Working there as a teenager and actually seeing the operation from the inside out turned me off the place, and probably contributed to me becoming a vegetarian for seven years. So what happened today? Some perverse curiosity overtook us, I suppose. We wanted to see if it would actually make us vomit (we didn’t). We did set a cup holder on fire, but that was unintentional.
We bought a McFrisbee and went to Parc Jarry to watch Sarah R. play in her first official McSoccer league match. We played McFrisbee for the first half, then drank some McBeer while watching the second half. Her team lost. After the game Courtney and I stopped at…guess! Another McDonalds. Now I don’t feel so McWell. I don’t think I’m going to McDo that again.
-McChris
DEAR PM 