Hello everyone. I am very happy. Because as of tomorrow I am going on holidays for 3 weeks and my first destination is pictured above. Portland, Oregon. I first visited there in 2005 and quickly fell in love with the place. Safe, extremely friendly, environmentally sound, community minded, surrounded by greenery and mountains, great music, cool shopping, etc, etc. Luckily while I am there I will attend the Pickathon Music Festival for one day where I will catch Horse Feathers and Langhorne Slim, amongst others. Also I will see Bishop Allen and Page France at the Doug Fir Lounge which should be fun. I have been lucky to travel to various parts of the world, but I find lately I am perfectly happy to return time and again to the USA. For all its social and political problems it is, in my opinion, the friendliest country on earth and it is a country that is always exciting, makes an effort to get off its backside and achieve things. Plus the music and sport is the best there is. Hey, they invented Baseball, enough said.

After Portland it will be all new for me. I am off to eastern Canada where my primary mission is to attend the Wolfe Island Music Festival in southern Ontario. This is headlined by the mighty Wolf Parade and it is their first show in nearly a year. To say I am excited would be a massive understatement. In fact I think I might pass out at the sight of Spencer and Dan. Also playing at the festival are Holy Fuck, Apostle of Hustle, Basia Bulat, Born Ruffians, amongst others. I also am having a few days in Toronto and Montreal, two cities I have always wished to visit so this should be fun as well. To round off the trip I am having a few days through the west of the USA, taking in Mount Rushmore, Deadwood and Yellowstone National Park. All in all, a nice little trip for this humble writer. Chances are I won't go near a computer for 3 weeks, so it is good chance things will be very quiet around here for a while. I will miss Magnolia Electric Co. and Ryan Adams whilst I am away, but I think my expedition overseas will more then make up for it!

Here are some tunes I am enjoying at the moment and some from bands I am seeing soon-
MP3: Rain-Bishop Allen
MP3: Click Click Click-Bishop Allen
MP3: Blood on the Snow-Horse Feathers
MP3: Shine a Light-Wolf Parade
MP3: Junglor-Holy Fuck
MP3: My Sword Hand's Anger-Apostle of Hustle
MP3: Hat and Rabbit-Page France
MP3: Hedonistic Me-Born Ruffians
MP3: I Was A Daughter-Basia Bulat
MP3: In The Midnight-Langhorne Slim
MP3: I Live in The Mess You Are-Zookeeper
MP3: Guns of Navarone-Maritime
MP3: Thankless Marriage-Spokane