Studio Studio Studio!

You're probably wondering why you haven't heard a peep from us in a month. Well, we've been in the studio! Of course, this wasn't an easy task given that Matt and Paula both couldn't stop comparing penis sizes and whipping each other with their respective members... But it's all good now -- we didn't even have to bring in Phil Towle -- and we're tracking 8 songs at Maximus Sound. I've posted a photo album at our myspace if you're interested (see the links to the right).

Proud to be a Canadian?

Today, the minority Conservative government proved that political opportunism in the attempt to gain a majority government did nothing but waste $300 million of Canadians' money. After all is said and done, we are left with another minority Conservative government, hardly a scratch beyond what Stephen Harper and his cronies did in 2006 -- shamefully after criticizing the Liberal Party for frivolously calling more elections than necessary without fixed election dates and lobbying the change Canada's Elections Act to have fixed 4-year election dates. Hardly 2 years from their last "victory" of a minority government, Harper called the 4th Canadian election in the last 6 years -- a time lapse which would normally have been witness to just ONE election. Beyond that, voter turnout was 57% this year, which is all-time low, surpassing 60.4% in 2004. Granted, I tend to share Matt's sentiments that not voting at all is completely irresponsible, however, I can't help but feel that Canadians have been made to feel like voting in an election is a waste of time -- I disagree with that, but the results of this election prove that this particular effort was indeed a waste of time, and most importantly (sorry if I'm spouting out this number again) $300 MILLION FUCKING DOLLARS which could have easily been used for housing, food, shelter, drug treatment, health care, and other basic necessities which Harper and his government have proven time and time again that they do not care about. The only consultation for me in this election is that they are once again a minority, and do not have free reign to tun Canada into an elitist empire. And for that, we can only be grateful. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and put my head in the toilet.

Rock The Vote

On October 14th, Canadian readers have the opportunity, if not an obligation, to vote in our Federal election. If you're eligible, vote. Plain and simple. Not voting is both a disservice to you, but also to your country (as cliched as that sounds).

I, myself am voting later today in the advance vote due to the fact that I will be travelling on election day.

The core of this blog "rant" is that there is an increasing amount of apathy among first time or young voters. In short, educate yourself on the issues and ask questions. If I hear one more person say to me "Voting doesn't accomplish anything" or "I don't know anything about the election, therefore there's no reason to vote", I am going to fucking hurt someone. If you choose not to vote, please spare me the bitching and moaning about high tuition, your environmental issue du jour, the Olympics and the price of gas (to name but a few).

I myself am torn as to who to vote for. You might think that not voting is your big fucking political statement. To you I say...grow the fuck up! There are choices you can make at the polls that will reflect your distaste for the political landscape. Those choices will make a difference.

Not voting is suffocating your own voice. P. Diddy had it right when he said "Vote or die". So get out an vote.

You sexist pigs

Obviously Matt and Robb are picking on me because they're just jealous that my penis is bigger than both of theirs, and that the only people i've shown it to are the bass players that don't work out. I know they want to see it, but the most they'll get is that bulge down by the bottom hem of my jeans.

Little Book of Scottish Folklore

So, apparently Matt feels that I unfairly made him come across as anti-Scottish when I said on stage that he referred to Scotland as a "colony of retards." I will admit that this was unfair on my part, mostly because I did not give the context under which that statement was made. Matt claims that he wasn't saying he hated Scottish people; rather, he was saying that he hated Paula. So let me give you the entire dialogue as best as I remember it, and let you be the judge:

Paula: There's this documentary out, I don't remember the name, but it's about this isolated colony in the Northern UK that's inhabited by, and entirely run by, handicapped people.

Matt: I heard about that too.

Paula: Oh yeah?

Matt: Yeah, it's called Scotland.

...so, as you can see, Matt was clearly taking a shot at Paula and the one-fifth or so of her that is Scottish, and not at Scottish people in general (insert sarcasm here). Needless to say, it still won us a bunch of British fans.

Feel better, Laforest?

On a semi-related note, we have been auditioning bass players lately. In the meantime, our fill-in approach has been working wonderfully. The problem that we have with keeping bass players full-time, however, is that either Matt keeps subjecting them to his "Eau De Wrath" or Paula keeps sleeping with them. So we've decided to audition bassists who my gay-dar tells me aren't into women -- which means we only have to worry about Matt throwing drum sticks and other random bits of machinery at them in rehearsal (oh, and me trying to sleep with them if it's a Sunday).

But seriously though, Matt and I were at a party to launch Ryan Worsley's EchoPlant Studios over the weekend, where Colin Bales, the bassist in Dawntreader, remarked that he thought Paula was, "like a rock groupie who got lucky and actually joined the band." Although I had just finished asking Dawntreader how much longer they were going to replace Matthew Thomas with a male vocalist, Matt (Laforest) and I didn't much appreciate someone in another "band" talking ill of our bandmate. Remember, we can say all we want about one another, but if some outsider cuts us down, well, that's grounds for a monster beating.

So Matt and I dragged Colin's sorry ass down the hill and curbstomped him in front of his wife.

Canadians: remember to vote on October 14.

My turn!

Okay, hello my pretties! ...so, as Matt so kindly alluded to, I have been moving lately. Downsizing a little as well; I left with my record collection, guitars, laptop, and alcohol collection. I've been collecting bits of furniture, but nothing significant aside from a mattress and a blanket. I'm going for a very minimalist zen thing these days -- although I certainly make up for it with my diva selection of hair products! Was it not Al Pacino playing Satan in The Devil's Advocate who said, "Vanity: my favourite sin!"... regardless, I spent the long weekend doing a lot of writing! (this in response to Matt's previous post -- wait till we start going Gallagher bros.) -- some song titles in progress so far are:

After
We Are Not What They Are Wanting to Hear
Go to Sleep
Madonna

Yes, "Madonna" is an old, old Paint song for the faithful among you, but it's been completely re-written into a much more refined song -- kudos to Matt and Paula for their new energy and musical insight into all things Paint!

...more are being written still, and to reiterate what Matt wrote, they will all be debuted at the September 19th gig -- and don't forget about the radio spots earlier that week, where you can also get previews of the new tunes on radio or "internet podcast land" as Ben Lai at CiTR would say.

Ai'ite.

Bring The Noise

Alright Paint fans. Buckle up. We're getting noisy. We've been busy writing (well, the music anyways. Robb is too busy moving to write lyrics) and rehearsing. We have 5 new songs and they sound quite nice. I'd love to let you in on song titles, but that too falls into Robb's category. Let's just call them "Untitled 1 through 5". We'll be debuting these songs and hopefully more new ones at our gig on September 19th. Bring your earplugs!

Oh...and I guess I better educated Paula about good music. Sublime and the term good music have never been in the same sentence together (with the exception of this one). Sublime = talentless whining drug addict.

Don't remind me...

So I was thinking to myself if we do concerts for our families in school singing and playing their classic songs from their day and age, will our children be singing and playing Brittney Spears and 50 Cent for us someday? I hope not. I will swear an oath right now to educate my future children on good music. I will tell them about The Kinks, Sex Pistols, Cream, Pink Floyd, Sublime, AC/DC etc... I grow old to forget about the shit pop culture we have right now. I don't want my kids reminding me of it at the annual Christmas concert singing Jessica Simpson carols.

"But he loves you...."

We lost a shining star today. George Carlin passed away at the ripe age of 71 today. Nothing could be said about him more than the genius he exudes in this clip:

"Religion is Bullshit" by George Carlin.

The sun is on you, my friend.

Our Nation of Hypocritical Ritalin-Pushers

This is an interesting little bit of transcript from the Canadian Parliament proceedings this week between Libby Davies, New Democratic Member of Parliament for Vancouver East, and Tony Clement, Conservative Health Minister...

Davies: Mr. Speaker, yesterday B.C.'s Supreme Court decision makes it abundantly clear that Insite, the supervised injection facility in east Vancouver, is a health facility. The ruling also makes it clear that closing Insite would be "inconsistent with the state's interest in fostering individual and community health and preventing death and disease". Can the Minister of Health assure the House today that his Conservative government will abide by the court's decision and not appeal this important case.

Clement: Mr. Speaker, I am not in charge of appeals. That is the Minister of Justice. But I can say to the House that on this side of the House at least we are disappointed with the judgment. We disagree with the judgment. We are, of course, examining our options and I would say to the House that we on this side of the House care about treating drug addicts who need our help. We care about preventing people, especially our young people, from becoming drug addicts in the first place. That is our way to reduce harm in our society and we are proud of taking that message to the people of Canada.

Davies: Mr. Speaker, if the Minister of Health claims that he cares about people who use drugs and the issues they face, then he will respect the decision of the court. The medical, scientific and now legal conclusions just could not be any clearer. Insite is a life-saving facility and harm reduction is an essential component of Canada's drug strategy. When will the minister put aside his personal ideological position, respect the court's decision and get to work on changing Canada's drug laws to allow access to health facilities such as Insite? When is he going to do that? He is taking too long.

Clement: Mr. Speaker, it is a bit rich for the member from the New Democratic Party to start lecturing us on ideological positions. That is its bread and butter over there, but we on this side of the House are here for public policy. We are here to help our kids, prevent them from getting on drugs in the first place. We are here to help addicts.

...it is amusing to hear Mr. Clement talk about keeping kids off of drugs for the obvious reason, that being the always cheap political tactic to use fear-based emotional strategies aimed at paternalism towards helpless children. The other, more significant point of amusement is that until 2006, Mr. Clement held a 25% stake in Prudential Chemical Inc., a pharmaceutical company.

This is ironic because pharmaceutical companies can be the most oppressive drug pushers in the world, who particularly prey on vulnerable children. For example, over three million people in America are currently being prescribed Methylphenidate (Ritalin). This coincides with massive diagnoses of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), which can be mis-diagnosed on children who exhibit regular behaviours for their age group. Propaganda campaigns claiming that 20-30% of children in America have ADHD are simply a means of spreading fear amongst parents and teachers, and subsequently, selling more Ritalin.

Richard DeGrandpre, author of Ritalin Nation, says that "Ritalin is little more than coke for kids." Furthermore, Nora Volkow and colleagues at Brookhaven National Laboratory, in the Archives of General Psychiatry in 1995, found that "Cocaine has pharmacological actions that are very similar to those of methylphenidate [Ritalin], which is the most commonly prescribed psycho-tropic medication for children in the United States."

We find ourselves in Canada talking about a "war on drugs," and taking an abolitionist standpoint on illicit drugs that are used by people suffering some socio-economic poverty -- meanwhile, the same Health Minister who has this ill-informed view while fully supporting pharmaceuticals, which prey on the fear of parents but do appeal to a more affluent, upper-class demographic. Could it be possible that the "war on drugs" is really just another attempt by the wealthy to keep an "undesirable" segment of the populous under control?

Mr. Speaker, does the Minister of Health really care about helping addicts, would he rather support a system that creates prescription-drug addicts?

NOTE: As far as I can from searching their product listing, Prudential does not deal in Methylphenidate. And of course, ADHD is properly diagnosed in many cases, and Ritalin has indeed been helpful in those cases.

No longer a Paint virgin

Oh boy, so exciting, my first blog on the site!
Hey all, i'm Paula de Balla.
All in all, i'm quite happy with how stuff went down at the radio show and at the backstage lounge. However, I'm just a little disappointed that the sound on the radio show was better than the sound on stage at the backstage. I guess that's what you get without a sound check though.
If you want to check out the radio show, go to cjsf.ca and check the archives for May 20th "Melodies in Mind".
You'll get a few cracks at Matt (box man), and get a preview of a new song of Paint's, "Strangers".

I swear i'm more interesting in person.

Anyway, i'm off for some raspberry hukkha.

Fear and Loathing in Victoria?

Since I'm sure it's burning in your loins, I'll confirm the rumours: that was indeed me on the CBC ten days or so ago talking about the University of British Columbia (UBC)'s letter to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper encouraging him consider scientific research on Insite, North America's only supervised injection site (based in Vancouver), rather than taking a moralistic, law-and-order stance on drug use in Canada. Okay, that wasn't exactly their recommendation, but that was essentially the stance I took (conjecture perhaps, but I think it's really just semantics).

In June 2003, Health Canada granted the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority (VCHA) an exemption under Section 56 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) to establish Insite under an umbrella of a scientific research pilot project in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (for a list of FAQs on Insite, go here).

Twenty-two peer-reviewed studies have been published by the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (in conjunction with UBC researchers), in journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, the British Medical Journal, the Canadian Medical Association Journal, and even The Lancet. A snapshot of the results indicate that Insite has led to an increase in intake into detoxification and treatment; a 70% decrease in needle-sharing (which has been a leading cause in epidemic rates of HIV and Hepatitis C infection in the Downtown Eastside -- as high as 85% for Hep C and 40% for HIV); and most significantly, ZERO deaths due to overdose (a more extensive summary of research results can be viewed here). Despite the overwhelming evidence that Insite has been successful, consistent with the use of supervised injection sites across Europe, the Harper government continues to rely on fear-mongering and reductionist tactics, using sensationalistic portrayals of drug addicts as violent, sporadic, and criminally-inclined. Consequently, the Section 56 exemption is set to run out on June 30.

On Wednesday, May 21, a bus-load of drug users and community supporters (of which I am one) will be going to Victoria to sit in on the British Columbia Legislative Assembly, where Vancouver-Mount Pleasant New Democratic MLA Jenny Kwan will be making a motion to keep Insite open as a medical health facility in the Provincial jurisdiction, thus taking it out of the hands of the Harper government and its inadequacies. This is a noble effort on part of the provincial government, and something the local community is excited to throw their support behind.

Vancouverites can hop on at 380 E. Hastings at 8 a.m. on the 21st, Victorians, see you there at 11!

Jetlag

Hi. I'm Matt. I play drums in Paint. I probably won't contribute too much to this blog, but as I sat here on this sunny Sunday morning, I thought I'd share my thoughts on jetlag. This is mainly due to the fact that I am still trying to figure out what fucking time zone I'm in. I was in Toronto (centre of the universe and smog capital of Canada) for a week and returned home to Vancouver on Friday. Obviously, I was conscious of jetlag, but thought that I could buck it. WRONG!!! I'll just have to make do and walk around in permahaze until this shit passes.

Obviously, this is deep subject matter, especially from a drummer. Calm yourself. My next blog will be about drool...

The Housing Crisis in Vancouver is now a Human Rights Violation

Article 25(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that, "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control."

We have a tendency to look at crises in housing as "Third World" problems, however, we are dealing with epidemic levels of HIV and Hepatitis C infection, social exclusion, and poverty right in our backyard in the ten-block radius known as Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Botswana has an adult HIV prevalence rate of 24.1%, the second highest in the world after Swaziland. In the Downtown Eastside, the HIV rate grew from 4% in 1992-1993 to 23% by 1998. It's now sitting around 18.6%. The reduction may be partly due to harm reduction initiatives in Vancouver, including the opening of North America's first safe injection site (Insite) in 2003.

In response to epidemics such as this, the Pivot Legal Society, the Impact on Community Coalition, and the Carnegie Community Action Project is officially filing a Human Rights complaint to the United Nations, arguing that the City of Vancouver has breached Article 25(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since winning the 2010 Olympic bid in 2003, the City has converted or closed more than 1000 single room occupancy (SRO) beds through loopholes that allow tenants to be evicted while landlords carry out renovations to buildings. The City has purchased 17 SRO hotels, promising that they will be dedicated to social housing. This is, however, only 20% of the stock homes in he neighbourhood. This means as many as 5000 more people who are already on income assistance will end up on the streets by 2010.

Stephanie Levitz of The Canadian Press notes that "In 2006, a UN committee described the state of homelessness and inadequate housing in Canada as a 'national emergency,' and in the fall of 2007, the UN special rapporteur on housing took a two-week tour of Canada and recommended a national large-scale project of social housing" (April 11, 2008).

The complaint will take approximately 18 months to be resolved, just in time for the 2010 Olympic games. In the meantime, however, we are left with a crisis that is still actively displacing individuals and their families -- while the world watches in wait...

We're auditioning bass players

...if you know anyone who plays bass and may be interested in our music, please refer them to us! Thanks :-)