MATTHEWGOODONLINE

Jordan Manners was five days beyond his fifteenth birthday when he died on May 23, 2007 in the hallway of C.W. Jefferys C.I. Secondary School (”C.W. Jefferys”) as a result of a bullet wound to the chest. The students of C.W. Jefferys honour his memory with a tribute that remains in the main hall of the school entitled “One Bullet Wounds Many”.

It was recently announced that 27 Toronto-area schools will have a permanent armed Police presence within their halls. This news might seem to prompt alarm to those in the public unawares of the rising violent crime committed in Toronto schools, nor of the rising rates of gun carriage despite efforts by both the Provincial Government in Ontario and the Toronto Police Force to stem its tide for well over a decade.

It’s part of what the Toronto District School Board calls a school resource officer initiative and is a result of last year’s Falconer report on school violence. Following its release, the board said it would draft a plan to increase safety in schools.

[...]

Toronto police already visit local schools, but under the new plan, police would have a dedicated space within the schools.

“Our goal is to make our schools safe,” said Toronto police Chief William Blair in a statement.

But will it actually work? The get tough measures come as a result of The Road to Health, A Final Report on School Safety, known as the Falconer report after the investigation panel’s chair, lawyer Julian Falconer (also on Maher Arar’s legal team).

The report reveals systemic gender violence against young women, uncovering the gang-rape of a young Muslim woman at Manners’ school. It also reports systemic violence against youth of colour, and found that one-third of students at Toronto’s aboriginal school are suspended. The picture of students as “walking wounded” has startled many.

The report’s main conclusion places blame on the school system’s “culture of silence” - yet Falconer also wrote in the report that the majority of students feel safe at school, regardless of the rise in violent crime. This would suggest that factions and cliques within school populations have been marginalized and are disconnected in more significant ways from school life, and are being drawn towards community-based violence which is more significantly on the rise in the communities in which the schools reside in.

Media reports have focused on the suggested remedies in the report; the requirement of school uniforms, police and “sniffer dogs” in schools, and other such measures. But is the TDSC capable of implementing everything expediently? The report suggests its not.

In its conclusion, the report states that “Government policy from the mid 1990’s into amalgamation emphasized cost-saving measures intended to dismantle key support structures for marginalized communities.” It continues and notes that the school board is presently “nowhere near sufficiently funded to manage” the diverse students it serves, and can’t provide enough social workers, hallway monitors or child and youth workers.

For most community-based plans which include a rise in policing, greater and more specific social programs and community involvement are needed in conjunction to make things work. In the case of school safety in urban communities, it really comes down to the degree to which a community works together to harmonize itself and find a common issue it can galvanize around. The safety of its children is a strong one to do just that, yet if the proper funding is not present to enable them to do so, having permanent police presences in schools may only limit the rates in which violence inside the schools occurs— having little to no impact on the rates and means by which it happens within the greater communities outside its walls.

Short jaunts sort of suck. You leave home in the early afternoon and arrive back east at 10 at night. Then the challenge of trying to sleep properly happens, which, for me, results in watching movies until 5 in the morning because of the time change. Thankfully tomorrow is a rehearsal day, so I’ll get to sleep in a little, at least until check out. Then it’s off to run the show and then on to the bus and to the border for a late night arrival in Buffalo. After that it’s one-two-three and then back on a plane home.

Sometimes, when I find myself in new places, such as hotel rooms, and visit the website, I get the urge to delete everything. I don’t know why, I just do. Some part of me wants to go back to writing strictly fiction. Things seemed so much less of a hassle back then – no headaches, no incredulous emails.

I’m flipping through the movie selections and there’s nothing of interest, as is usually the case. I’ll end up watching something stupid in hopes of falling asleep during it but won’t. I’ll order some food and it’ll make me feel ill in a few hours. Nothing much changes.

My shaving cream exploded in my bag during the flight, so cleaning that up was a treat. Now most everything I’ve brought with me smells like mint.

I used to write ridiculous stories, some of which I find embarrassing now when I look back on them. But at the time it was a lot of fun. In truth, it sort of beats spending hours every day doing background research for entries. The problem, of course, is that I’ve come to be known for the current content of this website, so altering it isn’t something I could easily do. I haven’t written a Dear San Diego entry in a while, so maybe that’s what I’ll focus on this weekend, who knows.

One thing I am certain of is that none of the girls in the singles adverts on Facebook are actually single. Fuck I hate advertising.

Update: I just realized that it is technically tomorrow, so that just makes everything sound weird.

Awhile back Matt invited me to join him, the crew and band on the tour bus again for a stint, and though I’m sure Lance is loathe to have me (it’s packed on there as it is) I believe myself to be small enough to fit just about anywhere there’s 3 cubic feet of space. I’ll be hopping on here in Toronto and staying for a gaggle of shows.

I’ve packed a little less in the way of clothing this time, and a little more in the way of strategic wireless internet devices- a bunch of Apple Airport Express’, setup in a wireless distribution system that should rock the packet socks off at any distance- getting wireless internet blanketed around venues and out to the tour bus for Matt, myself and the crew.

So I bring the gift of high-tech, the gift of my 5′7″ charm and vivacity, and of course networked battleship to the tour.

I’ll be posting some pics to a Flickr set, and maybe contributing some video footage again in some blog posts. Should be fun.

Oh, and hopefully I’ll see some of you tonight at the meet and greet.

Crisp Giant snare hits echoed alone after something went wrong; Put Out Your Lights chords retracted and replayed, tinkering with notes nearly sussed out; Vocal destinations for Avalanche not fully attempted- no need to strain it now. I was invited out by Matt to take a peek at the rehearsal process for the upcoming full band tour, and to offer some insight about its progress. I was also there to do a little documenting, taking some photos. I would have taken more but I definitely got lost in the music most of the time, a good sign I guess.

Art Is A State Of Being

I met up with Matt around 1pm at his pit-stop, the place where he’s holing up, fueling, and creating. He ordered up some coffee for the both of us, and though I didn’t admit it to his face I was happy to see him, and thought of giving him a hug. The reality was that he was consumed in thought and buzzing around, talking with his musical director (Dean) about the epiphanies he’d had last night about how things were going with rehearsals.

I was then reminded of the creative vortex I experienced when with him on the last acoustic tour: Matt creates a sense of organic growth & evolution when he’s working with his music, which often inspires and elevates those around him. Though I’m venturing into the cliche, as someone who has worked in the arts since I was a young teenager, it’s a beautiful thing to watch. I hadn’t even heard a song yet, and I was already feeling the energy of the upcoming tour. It was like being cranked up a roller coaster ride, hearing and feeling each upward notch to the top.

We were picked up by Tim shortly afterwards to head down to the rehearsal studio, and arriving there I saw Lance making notes, not noticing we pulled up and not noticing me as we walked towards him. When he did, a very cordial hello followed, and Matt filled him in on the ideas developed the night previous about where they needed to take things with the show- what was missing, what didn’t fit. Lance seemed receptive, as if he had been bothered by the same issue, and was relieved Matt has articulated it. The band was going over some tracks when we arrived. While they worked out Weapon, Matt drew my attention to the nuances that the boys had generated, in particular Stew’s magic pedal work.

It Ain’t Gonna Be No ‘99 Reprise

When you have the body of work as an artist that Matt does, there’s two forms of death you need to avoid: the first is the death that happens when you stop growing and repeat your past work, regurgitating it, sometimes unknowingly (that’s the worst kind). The second is the death that happens when you think you might revive your career by ripping off the latest music trends…“Ladies and Gentlemen, The MattyGoods and their hit single Mr. Feelbad.”

Thankfully Matt is artistically gifted enough not have to worry about that shit, and has integrity enough to never allow it to happens anyways. That said, there’s always the danger in performing live that you work to play the songs the way they were played live before, and Matt was not about to let that happen, even with the limited time in rehearsals. The songs needed to sound fresh and belong with each other, with the older tracks fitting within the context of newer music, not the other way around.

Though they’ve only been rehearsing for a few days, there was already the sense that as a group they have a sound of their own, they have identity. And with Matt discovering the night previous that they needed to make some different guitar choices to clean up the sound a bit and give the whole show a better throughline, it was clearly making a big difference in sonic space and helping everyone stay tight.

Hearing Champions Of Nothing, 99% Of Us Is Failure, and Born Losers for the first time with the band was pretty exciting. It was great to hear Hospital Music’s gems come to life, from the epic and dynamic Champions Of Nothing to the seductive and infectious rocking of Born Losers, complete with pedal steel guitar work from Stewart.

If you’re attending shows on this tour and are anything like me in what you like hearing Matt perform, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Older songs have new life breathed into them, while the newer stuff from Hospital Music gets a chance to come to life and be really big. I remember last spring hearing some demos for Hospital Music and thinking that this album is one that needs to be cranked up loud to be truly appreciated. While hearing Matt and the boys crank it today it felt like some of these songs were unchained, and damn did they sound good.

If I’m lucky and Lance will spare some space for me in his bunk I’ll be able to join along for a few stops around Ontario in a couple weeks, and have the privilege to again catch a few shows, write from the road, and take some photos & illicit video footage.

Updated: Some video footage of what happened, here:

Mr. Shelbourne went to Everest Restaurant on Queen St today to demand an apology from management that has told him they don’t serve customers in wheelchairs, and asked him never to come back. Mr. Shelbourne was joined by 20 supporters today. Mr. Shelbourne entered Everest asking to speak with restaurant manager Karma Sanchok who had previously told him they don’t serve people in wheelchairs.

Mr. Shelbourne sought a public apology from Ms.Sanchok and the restaurant, and a promise that this kind of blatant discrimination would not continue. Ms. Sanchok refused to speak or engage with Aaron in any way, speaking only to his non-wheelchair-bound supporters and quickly retreating behind the counter refusing to apologize or speak directly to Mr. Shelbourne as a fellow human being. Ms. Sanchok proceeded to call the police to forcibly remove Mr. Shelbourne and his supporters from the restaurant.

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As Mr. Shelbourne and his communication assistant were leaving the restaurant, after paying for their meals, the restaurant manager pulled Mr.Shelbourne’s assistant aside and informed her that they were not welcome back. She said that the restaurant was newly renovated and wheelchairs aren’t welcome because they cause damage.

“I am a person,” says Mr. Shelbourne. “The worker at the restaurant didn’t even come to tell me all of this herself but went to my assistant instead. I was angry because I am a human being and I have rights.”

These types of events disgust me beyond words. First of all, a newly renovated restaurant should have had, by code, a wheelchair accessible bathroom. Outside the restaurant should also have been some measure of a ramp by which Mr. Shelbourne and others could enter the restaurant. While it is certainly a requirement for all City owned properties that disability be considered in all designs, and that retro-fitted solutions be implemented within certain timeframes, the same is not enforced properly when it comes to private establishments, yet it is certainly law that all newly constructed facilities provide for accessibility, according to the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005.

More than an apology should result here. Hopefully this will bring rise to inquiries upon the status of the integration of accessible features within all newly constructed establishments, buildings and facilities. There is no excuse in 2008 for this kind of discrimination.

And let’s be clear here, the discrimination happened on two fronts: first, that there was not an accessible bathroom for which Mr. Shelbourne could use in the first place, and second that he was not allowed back to the restaurant because he ‘damaged’ an inaccessible bathroom.

Equality Rights, as defined by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms are as follows:

15. (1) Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.

(2) Subsection (1) does not preclude any law, program or activity that has as its object the amelioration of conditions of disadvantaged individuals or groups including those that are disadvantaged because of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.

Furthermore, that the police were called and did indeed remove Mr. Shelbourne and his supporters from the location without giving pause to the fact that perhaps his inalienable Rights were being refused is questionable. Why is it when reasonable confrontation regarding the alleged discrimination of rights occurs, judicious trivialities (in this case those afforded a private restauranteur) supersede the graver issue of rights infringement?

I will be following this issue closer and write again with hopefully the good news that indeed Mr. Shelbourne receives both a formal, public apology, and that an investigation/inquiry is launched into the status of accessibility in newly-built Toronto facilities.

But I’m not holding my breath- there was after all some uninformed city-appointed inspection officer who came to the restaurant and passed it, and potentially, many others.

In school, I wrote several papers on accessibly design and the simple kinds of ways that those building both consumer devices and structural facilities could consider the disabled and provide for less-discriminatory builds. It doesn’t come as a shock to me that many places are still building without regard for the disabled, yet it is still shocking to witness managers like Karma Sanchok ignorantly respond to it. And believe me I know first hand- working for people with disabilities for several years I’ve been witness to just this kind of situation in public pools, restaurants, parks, malls, and shops.

Even here on this website we’ve taken steps to improve the way that the disabled have access to content. Adhering to the W3C is a big one, for if a website is not coded properly it cannot be read by the various programs that are used by the disabled to ‘view’ the web. The effort ensures the equality of access to information which those of us fully abled all take for granted most of the time, including me.

For those living in the Toronto area, feel free to visit, call or write the restaurant and give your concerns if you share mine at:

232 Queen St West
Toronto, ON
M5V 1Z6
(416) 977-6969

Duane’s hotel room view, Toronto

I awoke at the early this past Sunday morning to a puddle-shaped version of Duane Storey crashed out in his bed. Duane was out with Tony, Raymi, Phil & Co. the night prior at the Toronto Blogstock, and apparently had a good time till 5:30am. Duane shared his room with me for a couple nights, sparing me some expenses which I can’t thank him enough for. As Patrick mentioned in his Massey Hall post, we had the privilege of seeing the show from the wings, an experience which will surely be burned in my memory for a lifetime, and I can only imagine how powerful it must have been for those in attendance and of course Matthew himself.

While I could ramble on about how I thought the show went, I’d rather quickly comment and make mention of something stand-out during the second encore. Matt played Fated, a personal favourite of Sara’s and one which has a place in the ‘Best Of’ list for many fans. Matthew, without question, played Fated more intensely, and with an energy which I’ve never seen before. A consummate musician, Matthew continues to develop and refine, explore and expand, and on the side of being a fan I am always awed by that.

I took a few shots of the sunrise this morning while Duane travelled his coma, and thought it better not to wake the beast, and just message him a little later on. I made a quick coffee to go, collected my things, and headed off to meet Matt.

We met up and waited for the tour bus to roll up, and both enjoyed a breakfast Gravol in chewable form. There is something strangely enjoyable about Gravol in the chew tablet form. It’s disconcerting that we Westerners just have to have to find a way to make medication look, feel, and taste like candy to throw it down. That said- in my sleepish, groggy state, that was perfectly alright. Once on the bus, I met Lance, Tim, Pete and - totally genuine, awesome guys, we cruised out of Toronto and headed for Sarnia.

I found out last night that my mother, who has been battling a malignant brain tumour and the consequent seizures that have accompanied it has had a turn for the worse and experienced 30+ petite mal seizures yesterday. In being hit with the news, I tried my best to temper some very difficult thoughts of what lay ahead for her and my family with those kinds of things one tells oneself to mediate emotion petitie mal seizures are not severe like grand mal seizures, she’s in overall good health, and it’s been bad before and she’s been through worse…

The juxtaposition of being excited about being here with Matt and crew for a string of shows, while the reality of my mother’s health is a big concern make it difficult for me to know just how I should be feeling. I wish I didn’t have to start this road diary this way, but really, when difficult, extremely gripping circumstances arrive in life, are they ever welcomed, ever arriving at a ‘right time’?

Tonight in Sarnia is sold out, like most shows on this tour for Matt. He’s currently sleeping as I write this, so for all who are coming to tonight know that your captain is resting below deck and should have a few extra drops of energy to spare for you.

I read in the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business magazine (it was sitting around the bus here) that “under federal policy, if at least 51% of direct production costs are incurred in Canada [for a given product], they can bear the label ‘Made in Canada’.”

So, the next time you’re sipping some apple juice, buying a tuque, or swigging a beer that extolls itself to be Made in Canada, think twice. It may actually have been grown/sewn/cold-filtered in a labour village somewhere in China by someone paid $1.50/day, and them dirty Canadians behind the whole operation just finance it being sold to you. Nice.

Wow, now even things Made in Canada are Made in China. Go team.

Last night was, well, the experience of a lifetime in many ways. As many of you are aware, Massey Hall is Canada’s equivalent to Carnegie Hall, so to have sold out an acoustic show there, let alone receive three standing ovations from a packed house, was an incredible experience, not to mention an honour.

I’ll not deny it, the beginning of the show was a little misdirected on my part. I knew that it was being recorded – I’ll get to that later – and so did my best to concentrate on what I was doing rather than just going with it, which is what I normally do. The ceiling of Massey Hall is also rather unique. Being that it’s rounded, it reflects sound in a very ominous way, which is fantastic if you’re in the audience but somewhat troubling if you’re on stage and using in-ear monitors. For most of the show my guitar sounded like one massive, humming chord, making it difficult to make out nuances that are usually rather easy to focus on. But that sort of thing is something that artists learn to deal with on the fly, and after a while I got the hang of how best to tackle it.

Something happened last night though that was extra special. Obviously, playing a sold out show at one of the most celebrated concert halls in the nation and receiving such a response is more than reward enough, especially after some thirteen odd years of making records and touring. But something else happen in the middle of last night’s show that was rather incredible. In the middle of a song last night, I looked out over the audience and a sensation shot up and down my spine that I’ve never felt before. It was a sensation that, when my brain finally processed it, left me with the feeling that I somehow knew I had twenty more years of making music in me. It was an enormous epiphany to have in such a setting.

It’s funny; I could have easily played for well over three hours last night without a problem. During the second encore songs kept coming to mind that I should play – Buffalo Seven, Hopeless, Empty Road, In A World Called Catastrophe, House Of Smoke And Mirrors, The Boy Come Home, Can’t Get Shot In The Back If You Don’t Run, If I Was A Tidal Wave, Ex-Pats Of The Blue Mountain Symphony Orchestra, It’s Been A While Since I Was Your Man, I Am Not Safer Than A Bank, Tripoli, Sort Of A Protest Song, Blue Skies Over Bad Lands, Symbolistic White Walls, Indestructible, So Long Mrs. Smith, Little Terror, Bright End Of Nowhere, Truffle Pigs – not to mention covers like Moon Over Marin, Keep The Customer Satisfied, and Girl In The War.

You can see why coming up with set lists ever night is rather difficult. There are certain songs you sort of have to play and new material that you know you have to perform because you’re touring a new record. I don’t know; two hours just doesn’t seem long enough most nights.

The Recording

First, I’d like to thank Duncan from Our Lady Peace for recording the show. I owe you one. Also, preemptive congratulations are in order to Mr. and Mrs. Taggart who are expecting a new addition to the family in the next few days. Congratulations you guys.

If you were in attendance, as you know, I mentioned that the show was being recorded. I want to clarify that it wasn’t being recorded for any official purpose; it was more of an experiment than anything. The show was filmed by Pete Siller, my lighting guy, but only on a standard video camera – again, not for any official purpose. I may, after going through it, offer a few songs for download, but there is the Union Hall fee to take into consideration, among other things, so we’ll see what happens. But at this point, please don’t take my mentioning of it as an indication that a live record is in the works.

Leopard

Muggy just set me up with Leopard. It’s amazing. He’ll be on the road with me over the next week, so make sure to say hey to him if you see him lurking around. Duane Storey and him have come up with an utterly amazing version of the website for the iPhone/iPod touch. I’m not sure how you go about viewing it, it might be live as we speak, I’m not sure, but there are so many unbelievable features that we’ve decided to implement a whole bunch of them on the site itself, so look for that in the weeks to come.