my only friend, the end...

hey folks.
this is the end of this blog.
it's been fun.

now, find me here.

twitter me this...

hey all.

as you can see, it's been a while since i've posted anything on here.
i guess i'im just kinda bored with the whole "blog" thing.
(for now.)

i've been sitting down at real tables, with real pens, and real paper, and writing things that way. drawing things too.

i'm just way more into that way of doing things for now.
(at least for a while.)

so, uh, i guess there won't be much happening on here for a while maybe.

not that there's nothing happening.

on the contrary...

if you want to keep up with me and my doings,
check out my twitter page:
http://www.twitter.com/ryansomers

short little twitter posts is about all the time i want to make for the internet these days...

take care of yourselves,
and keep an eye/ear out for the following projects:

divine styler magazine (any day now...)
brazilian faith healer (fall 2010)
eureka franklin (summer 2010)
the escape goats (fall 2010)
khmer rose (spring 2010)
oso loco (spring 2010)
fly casual (fall 2010)
montana matthews & nevada brown feat. dakota dirt (summer 2010)
black actors (fall 2010)
and,
of course,
ok cobra (EP any day now, album fall 2010)

farah fawcett dream...

ryansomers@gmail.com says: (12:25:34 AM)
dude. 
ryansomers@gmail.com says: (12:25:38 AM)
you were in my dream last night.
ryansomers@gmail.com says: (12:25:44 AM)
it was weeeeeiiiirrrrrrrd.
ryansomers@gmail.com says: (12:25:59 AM)
you were in a room with me and farah fawcett.
ryansomers@gmail.com says: (12:26:03 AM)
the two of you had gone on a date.
ryansomers@gmail.com says: (12:26:06 AM)
and i also liked her.
ryansomers@gmail.com says: (12:26:13 AM)
apparently, your first date didn't go so well.
ryansomers@gmail.com says: (12:26:21 AM)
but you asked her out again and she said yes.
ryansomers@gmail.com says: (12:26:46 AM)
and teh two of you were talking, her sitting on the floor, you, crouched down in front of her, holding her hands.
ryansomers@gmail.com says: (12:26:54 AM)
i was standing, in the doorway.
ryansomers@gmail.com says: (12:27:16 AM)
i was kind of sad, cuz i liked her, but also kind of happy for you, cuz i could tell that you two liked each other.

"Beautiful" VIDEO...

DNTO doesn't quit...

hey gang. quick note, in case you're interested. cbc radio's DNTO is doing a show this week called "i quit," and, well, being that our latest single/video is called "i quit (i give up)," they invited us up to the studio to chat with sook-yin and do a little live performance. a great experience, a real pleasure to meet sook-yin, who is super easy-going, fun, sharp and a talented conversationalist. i was a little nervous, sweating a bit, but she put me at ease and then took us downstairs to show us the original/authentic/real-deal tree house from mr. dressup!

here is the info on how to check out the show if you're interested, which, of course, you are...

here's the video.

here's the show: http://www.cbc.ca/dnto/

the show airs on saturday afternoon @ 2pm on cbc radio one, and sirius 137 saturdays at 11am and 10pm ET. it also live streams in each time zone here: http://www.cbc.ca/listen/. there is also a downloadable podcast here: http://www.cbc.ca/dnto/podcast.html?10#ref10, or a "fancier" podcast with chaptering (for itunes) here: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=331561048. the podcast is also available on the DNTO webpage on monday, following the broadcast of the show: http://www.cbc.ca/dnto/. they also have a new show called "your DNTO" that airs a week behind the regular show on tuesday afternoon @ 2pm on radio one, so check that one out on tue. nov. 3 for an alternate version of the show...

ok cobra vs. mr. dressup...

http://www.cbc.ca/dnto/MT/2009/10/ok_cobra_vs_mr_dressup.html

drowning dream...

(painting from here.)

i'm in an airplane. small one. maybe two other people in it. we're flying over water. i'm a passenger. the pilots are using their plane to fish, somehow. like, dropping nets from the planet that are dragged through the water. for some reason, i decide i want to jump out. so i dive out of the plane, and go DEEP underwater. i'm under for a long time. when i come up, the plane is farther away in the sky. i am treading water. waving at the plane. they either can't find me, or aren't looking. i'm not sure which. i'm surrounded by wtaer on all sides. no land. then i spot what looks like an island. i swim towards it. get on land. it looks like it used to be inhabited. empty buildings. abandoned cars. etc. suddenly i hear/see a car coming. i hide and watch a jeep-like vehicle approach me. no roof. two people in the front. i stand up. they see me. i either realize or am told that this is not an island, but a penisula or something. next thing i know i am in my maternal grandparent's old house (which was also where my family lived for a couple of years in my mid-teens). i am in a rush to get ready to leave for something. the only other person in the house is an older gay gentleman. upon waking, i had no idea who this person is, but in the dream, i must have known him. a family friend or someting. houseguest? friend of my mom's? i'm getting ready to go out, and i go into the bathroom, where, to my horror, i see two children underwater, drowned, in the bathtub. a young baby girl and a slightly older toddler boy. i panic. and pull them out of the water, putting them on towels on the floor, where i start cpr on them. i scream for the guy in the house to help. i run to grab the phone to call 911. i am panicking, wondering who left them in the bath unattended? was it my fault? was i supposed to be watching them? i don't remember anybody telling me they were there. as i'm having these thoughts, i'm screaming for the old man to help me, desperately trying to breathe life back into the children, attempting to call 911. i keep getting the wrong number. my call is not going thrugh. the old man is standing in the doorway of the bathroom, i try to force the phone into his hands, screaming at him to help and call 911. he does nothing. maybe he just doesn't want to get involved? but for some reason he is making me deal with all of this on my own. i finally get through to 911. and i breathe into the boys lungs and he coughs, water comes out of his mouth. then he is unresponsive. then he coughs again. there is hope. i am back and forth between working on him and the girl. i am awake before i find out whether or not i was able to save them both.

the strange thing is, i had this dream sleeping on a floor, and when i told the dream to my friend who had ben sleeping on the couch beside me, he told me that he also had a dream about performing cpr on a young boy. crazy eh?

new music canada "track of the day"

ok cobra: i quit (i give up) is the cbc radio new music canada song of the day.

check it here: http://radio3.cbc.ca/blogs/2009/10/OK-Cobra-I-Quit-I-Give-Up---Track-of-the-Day-for-October-13-2009

thank you.

"i quit (i give up)" video...

ok cobra tour dates...

hey kids.
we're going on tour starting oct. 1st.
it's us (OK Cobra), the leathers, and dj b-nutz.

here are the dates we have so far:

thu. oct. 1 - LONDON, ON @ moon over marin
sat. oct. 3 - BAYFIELD, ON @ the black dog
sun. oct. 4 - HAMILTON, ON @ the corktown
mon. oct. 5 - TORONTO, ON @ the boat
tue. oct. 6 - KINGSTON, ON @ the mansion
wed. oct. 7 - PETERBOROUGH, ON @ the underdog
thu. oct. 8 - OTTAWA, ON @ babylon
fri. oct. 9 - MONTREAL, QC @ a loft party (ask me for details)

sun. oct. 11 - MONCTON, NB @ the paramount
mon. oct. 12 - HALIFAX, NS @ gus' pub

wed. oct. 21 - MARATHON, ON @ the bar
thu. oct. 22 - THUNDER BAY, ON @ jack's

mon. oct. 26 - WINNIPEG, MB @ the lo pub
tue. oct. 27 - MEDICINE HAT, AB @ ottoman lounge
wed. oct. 28 - LETHBRIDGE, AB @ henotic restaurant
thu. oct. 29 - EDMONTON, AB @ likwid lounge

sat. oct. 31 - CALGARY, AB @ the warehouse

wed. nov. 4 - PENTICTON, BC @ voodoo's

mon. nov. 9 - VANCOUVER, BC @ the modern
tue. nov. 10 - VICTORIA, BC @ lucky bar

thu. nov. 13 - VANCOUVER, BC @ the media club

as you can see, we've got a few gaps that we're still working. still looking at booking some more dates on the east coast, saskatchewan, alberta, and plenty more in b.c. if you know of any spots we should contact, please let me know.

ryansomers at gmail dot com

thanks,
ryan

"i quit (i give up)" FREE DOWNLOAD...

click here:
https://urbnet.box.net/shared/vbvp63c740

i hope you enjoy it.

OK Cobra Skateboards... NEW DESIGN!

"OK Cobra & Urbnet Records team up with Focused Skateboards for a LIMITED EDITION "Delirium Tremens" run of skateboards!"

OK Cobra Skateboards...

OK Cobra - Delirium Tremens SKATEBOARDS!

we are doing a VERY LIMITED run of these.
if you want one, reserve it now.
email me: ryansomers AT gmail DOT com.

delirium tremens...

i've tried to write this bio a couple of times now, and, well, the thing is, I have nothing to say about me, us, our group, or our music. well, that's not entirely true. i have lots to say about it (and a million other things), but i'd rather do it over drinks in the pub than staring at a computer screen, sitting on my friend's couch, up north in the country, in my pajamas, at 3am, the night before the dude at the label is expecting a finished bio in his inbox.

and yes, i know, i use way too many commas...

so anyway, tim and i have (finally) finished enough songs to call them an "album." it's been a long road. three years or so. not that we were working on our stuff that whole time, 'cause we mostly weren't. i don't really know what he was doing for most of that time, but i know what i was doing, and, well, i was doing too much of it.

after we made the last album in montreal, i moved. a few times. (i am so sick of moving.) not living in the same city made it a bit harder for us to make music together. me being a depressed, drunk, ego-driven drug-fucker didn't help much either. but we did some demos back and forth over the internerd, and every now and again when i could scrape up the change i would head up to montreal for a spell and we'd bang on a few drums.

side note: having travelled to montreal by plane, train, bus, motorhome, hitch-hiking, and those sketchy rideshare vans on craigslist, i gotta say, porter airlines is the shit!

so anyway, after a long time of working on demos and both of us not really being focused and thusly not really digging anything we were coming up with, we both kind of lost interest or just got on with other things. tim was working. he has a real job. he works at a university or something, as the sound engineer for the film department (you can hear it in his music, i think, movie-like...). me? i'm not sure what i was doing. travelling. bartending. i fell in love with a few people. i think i was engaged at some point. i quit doing blow a few times. made a couple of weird indie films. drank too much. started a band or three. moved so much i don't even take my stuff out of boxes anymore. partied myself all the way into the realization that i was living in a black hole and it was going to take a lot of work to pull myself out of it.

after a year or so of us barely talking, i called tim earlier this year and said "i'm coming up there in a few weeks. let's get back in the studio." not to get all new-agey on you, but i had been sober for a couple months (okay, a week), had started doing daily yoga, and seeing a shrink. i realized that this music wasn't going to make itself, and i had to get my head clear so we could do the work.

somehow, we both found a new focus, and put together the entire album in about two weeks, scrapping most of our demos and rerecording everything fresh.

then we went out to celebrate and i got really drunk and ran into some old friends...

fuck.

delirium tremens.

benetton...

bear country...

valdy.

"when they told me about the bear, i though they were kidding,
i'm like "you're bullshitting, are you for real?" they said "yeah,
it lives at the end of our street, where the forest and the
country road meet, you might see it, on your way to the
beach." on my way to the beach, on my bike, that night,
i stopped at the crossing, looked left and right,
about an hour after dusk, there wasn't much light,
i heard a rustle in the underbrush, and filled with fright,
flashed my light like OFF, ON, and OFF, honked my horn, like, HONK, HONK,
my chest got tight, heavy breath, i pedaled off..."

my first day in tobermory.

got here last night, after a whirlwind "pack-n-move," something i have gotten close to mastering in my somewhat-nomadic life. "i'll be there in an hour," my brother says on the phone from the road on his way to pick me up in my mom's friend's van. (i haven't started packing yet.)

coffee. music. throw everything into garbage bags.

organized?

yeah, right.

just get in all into something that we can carry, load the van, grab some brunch and a pint somewhere - this time at mezzrow's, for greek omelets and a pint of creemore - and hit the road. goodbye flatmates (this time "big gay charles" and "holy-shit-do-you-ever-stop-talking damon"), goodbye city (this time toronto), goodbye job (this time the rhino bar & grill, on queen st. west - great place to go for a cheap pint, terrible place to work), and hit the road...

so now i'm here. tobermory.

i was here once before. the summer before grade six. my mom and her friend across the street, vera wren, rented a cottage for a week. the two of them, vera's son mike, and my brothers and i. i don't remember much of it. flowerpot island. glass-bottom boats to look at shipwrecks under the cold water.

my little brother colin, mike and i walked to the nearest store to look for comic books one day. they didn't have any. so we decided to keep walking and find another store. well, up here, it's not like the city where you're going to find a corner store every few blocks. an hour or two went by. mom and vera - freaking out that we were taking so long - come flying over the hill in their station wagon to find the three of us walking along the side of the road. happy to find us - and know that we were safe - but furious at us for being stupid and deciding to go for a long walk in search of comic books without realizing how long we were gone for. ah well, kids, what are you gonna do?

turning over rocks to find crayfish, filling up a bucket of the things, and bringing them back to the cottage to create our own little watery zoo in the cottage's bathtub. i don't really remember how that one went over.

phone calls are expensive up here. i bought a new phone card and made two or three calls and already i'm almost out of time. i'm going to have to be careful.

the view? the air? the water?

well, that's why i'm here.

fireworks tonight. i should finish this beer and climb back on my schwinn cruiser and head down to the harbour soon.

happy canada day everybody!

cocaine tooth drops?

Weed, Booze, Cocaine and Other Old School "Medicine" Ads.

[thanks jamie for the link.]

mc 900 ft. jesus...

hell with the lid off.



welcome to my dream.


one step ahead of the spider.

whatever happend to the jbeez...

i'm leaving toronto in three weeks.

going up north to tobermory for july and august. should be nice.
i'll be the guy sitting out on the lake in a canoe with an acoustic guitar that i don't know how to play, a rice hat, and a lava lamp.

day 15 of my yoga 30-day challenge. was going really well, but i either pinched or pulled something and now the entire part of my body from my lower back to my left knee is just one bit throbbing zone of hurt.

fuck.

going to see my shrink tonight. that's been going pretty well, i think.

i do love this whole "not working" thing. i wish it could last forever. fuck wishing, i'm going to make it last forever.

new 'ok cobra' album almost done. tim sent me a couple more mixes. i like it. wish i could post up here but i think he'd get pissed at me. (i'll probably do it soon anyway...)

booking a cross-canada tour in september with the boys from 'toolshed'.

what else can i tell you? i don't know.

taking another stab at this 'master cleanse' thing. wish me luck.

it's not easy. i quit drinking coffee 6 days ago and i couldn't stay awake for the first few days. i had no caffeine had that big an effect on me/people. crazy. three days of being half-asleep, half-awake, can't stay asleep, can't stay awake.

nutso.

okay, i'm off, gotta work on this new song i'm doing with some dude in turkey...

ridiculous...

my buddy ***** sent me this link. i can't believe this is for real. he says to me, "i'm going to get an iphone just for this app." crazy.