Veda Hille

that was a good morning. rabbits in the brambles too. for a while i didn’t think about the DEVASTATING ARTS CUTS. whoops. think about ducks, think about ducks.

the theatre replacement greatest cities show is looking good. opens at the cultch in vancouver on march 9, and goes on to play in montreal, ottawa, kitchener, and at the shadbolt in burnaby over the next few months. really intricate weird borrowed language, collected in tennessee by the actors and director. i love it.

all the things i’m working on right now are lucky things. meaning, i feel lucky. greatest cities, leaky heaven and neworld theatre’s peter panties, plus an expanded craigslist cantata with my pals bill richardson and ami gladstone. and this weekend, the oscars! have i mentioned that i love the oscars? i make up a new cocktail every year. this year is Fantastic Mr. Vodka. when i have the ingredients worked out i’ll let you know.

this is what my husband likes to do after work: imagine himself as a happy forest creature.

in other news: our dec 12 concert at the vancouver east cultural centre is ready to listen to at cbc online. some songs with the old quartet, some songs with the current 9 piece extravaganza. some clapping. you know the type of thing.

what else has been going on? i just finished a little piece for the standing wave ensemble, a 2 minute remembrance of parks from my childhood. that will premiere on may 10 in vancouver. i’m working on music for the new theatre replacement show Greatest Cities in the World, opening march 9 in vancouver and travelling to montreal, ottawa, and kitchener. i have to start collecting complaints for a song for the vancouver complaints choir: send them in! and we’re still working on the new fits record, aiming to get that out for the summer time. and peter panties carries on, new songs coming without my even asking for them. ok, i think i need a nap.

whew, i haven’t had a second to myself for weeks. finally here is a couple of pictures from our show on march 9, where we officially flung This Riot Life out into the world. these were taken by adam pw smith, and his website is here. he took a marvellous picture last year of geoff berner and carolyn mark lipsmacking at the railway club. sweet.

we had a nice little jaunt down stateside last week, to seattle olympia portland. and now i am home for a solid month! in which i will rehearse neil young songs, write an ice dance score, mail out all your orders, figure out our touring repertoire, and do my durn taxes. crikey, things are just not slowing down. but for now it is easter, and i’m making puff pastry thingys and prepping for an egghunt on monday. there’s something to look forward to.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… (Continued)

oh, the first free saturday morning i’ve had in about 7 weeks. we made vegan pear ginger pancakes, i had a cinnamon coffee, and had little jumpy feelings of something like….relaxed happiness? very nice.

thanks so much for the orders for riot life that are literally pouring in. i will be sending out the first round on monday, after our rocking party on sunday night. i’m going to buy the most indulgent amount of tulips that i can afford, to decorate the hall. i’ll make sure we have some posted photos soon too. and for all those outside of vancouver, you can have a listen to a radio show that i taped last week with my friend andras jones. it’s called radio 8 ball, and it uses music as a divination tool. it’s so totally westcoast, i love it. i’ll be doing a live version of that in seattle on march 13. gosh, that’s next week. the wheel turns round again. (Continued)

okeydoke folks, the album is up on the music page! you may buy it! i see that we have a few orders in already. we are still working out a way to have a two-tiered price system, because i need to charge more for orders that are going outside north america. but we haven’t figured it out yet, so there you go. go ahead, take advantage.

what other news? i’m in workshop this week with 4 opera singers, running through some initial music for my children’s opera about trees. it’s wild, give a song to an opera singer and suddenly it sounds like opera.

things are looking good for the upcoming cd release in vancouver. at the wise hall on sunday march 9, doors at 7:30, show at 8. with duplex! (although alas, i have just discovered that the show is NOT all ages. the wise hall has to get a special permit for that, and i failed to ask for that. sorry, small ones.) and we had a grand time in toronto too, it is so gratifying to be playing live shows again. here’s to the next 3 months of fun. xv (Continued)

ok, so i’m home with the flu, which is fine because i just have to talk on the phone and write songs about trees. but instead, for the last half hour, i’ve been on youtube watching the oscar acceptance speeches and mildly weeping. i’d blame the illness, but this would get me either way. and tilda swinton is the absolute bomb. (Continued)

god, i just spent 10 minutes trying to get a sesame seed out of the computer keyboard. success!

other successful operations: the 2nd round of life support packages (which means the new record) went out on wednesday. depending on where you are, you should have them sometime between today and the end of next week. huzzah! and there are new songs up on myspace, and soon (when i have more than half a second) we will put some up on this music player as well. i did just add a few shows to the tour page, in nyc and the uk. every day a little more.

also, as fran so nicely pointed out in the comments to the last post, you can go and listen to the raft of the medusa choir piece on cbc 2 anytime you like.

what else? i did a cute interview with sook yin lee for dnto (cbc1) on wednesday, i think that will air on saturday afternoon…..or maybe that’s not for a few weeks. it was fun though, i played casios in the woods and hugged trees with her. the mascall dance shows continue to go well, and the weather keeps getting slightly warmer. i think that’s all i have to report. til next xv (Continued)

sorry folks, that info below for the signal is for next weekend, the 17th. at least you got your practice in, finding the station etc…. (Continued)

i just got word that they will be playing last week’s winnipeg show on the signal (cbc radio 2) tonight at 10pm. so the first hour will contain some songs from riot life played solo (by moi) and will conclude with The Raft of the Medusa, a new piece for choir that i wrote and ford pier arranged. there are also some other choir pieces by andrew balfour, r murray schafer, and more. you can listen online here. i believe it will be aired again next weekend, and will probably be available on the cbc site on demand.

oh, and in the 2nd hour, you can hear jesse zubot’s new symphonic piece! i’m looking forward to that, i was sorry that i had to leave winnipeg before he played. and did anyone out there see the new guy maddin movie narrated by isabella rosselini? brand upon the brain? (Continued)

ok. here is the album cover. i present it to you! a photograph by geoffrey farmer and una knox. and here are the stats: the album comes out officially in canada on march 9, and i believe in april in the usa and europe. you will be able to buy it on this site in 2 weeks. the advance Life Support copies will be mailed next week. soon you can hear the songs on this site and on myspace and of course on ape. and soon i will be playing shows, which i can hardly wait for. here’s to the new year!

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… (Continued)