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Before the BlackBerry

by Reb Stevenson on May 12, 2012

Today, a realization.

When I look at an old building, particularly the very old buildings you can’t get in Canada, I’m not just admiring the storybook sags and the friendly half-timbered patterns. I’m searching for answers about the meaning of it all. Life. Death. The passage of time.

I’m reaching, longing, straining to hear an echo of the past; a message from a world that is once us and not us at all. Are we, running around with our smartphones and our mass produced goods from China, even the same species as the folks who populated this very piece of earth in the 15th century?

I wish I could – just for a moment – have a glimpse into the heart of someone who sat in this Tudor building when it was newly constructed. In spite of war, poor medicine, sewage on the streets and all that jazz (look, I know it was far from perfect), was this person fundamentally happier than me?

The simplicity of the quiet lives of yore – limited lives governed by nature and good old fashioned human interaction – intrigues me. Things have changed so much so fast. My grandma grew up in that model; I’m nowhere near it.

Knowing full well that technology conveys these very thoughts to your computer screen, I’ll admit that some days I despise it – Twitter, WordPress, iPhone, iPad, Pinterest, Facebook, Gmail, Text Messaging and the lot – and would rather bake bread for a living, oblivious to the world beyond my village.

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The Rewind Button: London Calling

by Reb Stevenson on May 11, 2012

The Rewind Button is a group blogging project instigated by Rachel Tynan. As part of her New Years’ Resolutions for 2012, she set out to listen to Rolling Stone’s top 50 albums of all time. I thought it would be fun if a group of bloggers listened to the same albums at the same time, then posted their reactions. Starting today, we’re going through the Top 40 and will be continuing with a new album every Thursday. Want to join in? We’d love to have you. Email me if you have a blog, or just offer up your two cents in my comments area below.

Last week’s album (I’m late due to travelling): London Calling (1979)

I didn’t listen to London Calling in London, but I got pretty close: I listened to it on a train cutting across the English countryside.

Did that help me connect with it? No. In fact, it was very much at odds with the sheep, green rolling hills and stately homes that greeted me beyond the window. This is an urban album. It makes me think of graffiti, tattoos and cement.

London Calling strikes me as the other side of England – the Trainspotting England. The council houses. The track suits.

And yet, despite the social commentary and the rebellious tone of the album, it’s so upbeat. That’s a typical English thing, one that Bill Bryson touches upon in Notes from a Small Island – a “this is bollocks but let’s make the best of it, mate” attitude that I really admire.

It’s funny, too, to think that this is “punk” when you hear that horn section rocking out in “The Right Profile.” Have a look at the hardcore, guitar-smashin’ cover image when the trumpets really kick off. If these guys are punks, they’re nice punks. Punks that you’d let babysit your kid.

London Calling is the type of album I’d have tried to force myself to like in high school. Something gritty enough to be cool but not so gritty it’s inaccessible to a middle class girl. It’s an album you could jump up and down to in your clunky Doc Martens without fearing you’ll be reduced to a pulp in the mosh pit. Like Rancid, a band that was obviously heavily influenced by The Clash. I recall feeling so relieved when I heard “Timebomb” on that Rancid tape.

Alas, now, as then, punk or any variation thereof doesn’t do it for me. Maybe I just prefer the countryside?

Fave Songs: Death or Glory and Lost in the Supermarket

Least Fave Song: The Guns of Brixton

Note: Better on the second listen.

Who else rewound London Calling?

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Across The Pond: The Fully Welsh Full English

by Reb Stevenson on May 2, 2012

I tend to only eat the “full English,” or a “cooked breakfast” on the first day of a trip to the UK, otherwise I’m in for some serious lethargy and/or self-loathing and/or judgement from vegetarians.

Today, we made our first official press trip stop just over the Welsh border at a place called Hawarden’s Farm Shop. Everything local, fresh and homemade.

Totally loved it, EVEN THE BLACK PUDDING!

(Google it.)

The deal with these posts: As my travel schedule is basically dawn ’til yawn, instead of doing full posts every day while I’m in Wales and England, I’ll be sharing multiple quickies like these. Then, towards the end of May, I’ll be launching my best U.K. series ever! If you see something that piques your interest in the coming days, don’t worry. It will be covered more thoroughly at a later date.

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