You Are Nefarious Juggernaut 2.0

Come on feet

2011-03-04T20:43:00.000-07:00

I calculate my comfort zone by how baggy the hoodie

2010-03-13T22:39:00.000-07:00

" Traveling Denim " Recording color fade for two years from Takayuki Akachi on Vimeo.

We just want our hermitry to stay and our coffee to go

2010-02-18T09:56:00.001-07:00

"I believe that if, at the end of it all, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try."

-Roger Ebert

Thank god for making me a super emcee slayer

2009-07-31T17:58:00.001-06:00

with two fingers out the window

2009-07-02T18:51:00.000-06:00

Nobody is here, just empty space

2009-03-13T11:32:00.002-06:00

Pirate skulls and bones, sticks and stones and weed and bombs

2009-03-05T08:53:00.002-07:00

This is where I spend my time on the internet these days:

My Nudies and superfuture.

I listen to this guy. I sometimes listen to her too.

I'm gonna go here next weekend. I'm gonna go to this shop and cop some of these or maybe some of these.

Hope everyone is doing good (that means you Jess).

Peace.

Control yourself, take only what you need from him

2008-12-18T22:37:00.002-07:00

Travis Rice's That's It, That's All is the best snowboard video I've seen in a long time. I have watched it at least 23 times so far this year.

My current snowboard stats are:
- 1 day at Revelstoke
- 4 days at Big White

I am going to keep track on here for the rest of the season.

Peace

This band's a beating heart and it's nowhere near its end.

2008-07-31T22:31:00.001-06:00

I promised Mark I wouldn't tell anyone that this is how he dances,

L keep rapper's hearts pumpin like Reeboks

2008-05-29T14:42:00.001-06:00

Wait, what?

Peace.

You know he's so much more like Spiderman than you will ever, ever be

2008-02-14T22:50:00.000-07:00

I had a bunch of homework to do tonight, but instead I made a mixtape. I call it This is why I am Still in School. It goes like this:

1 - Bishop Allen – Corazon
2 - Dear and the Headlights – It's Getting Easy
3 - Jens Lekman – Black Cabs
4 - Vampire Weekend – M79
5 - Jeremy Warmsley – Dirty Blue Jeans
6 - The Weakerthans – Watermark
7 - The Von Bondies – C'Mon C'Mon
8 - British Sea Power – No Lucifer
9 - Neutral Milk Hotel – Holland, 1945
10 - Los Campesinos! – Broken Heartbeats Sound Like Breakbeats
11 - Chromatics – Running Up That Hill (Kate Bush Cover)
12 - Kiss Me Deadly – Dance 4
13 - Wiz Khalife – Say Yeah

You can get it here if you want: http://sharebee.com/3bddb4c0 (I tried to find a place to upload it where everyone who wanted to get it would be able to, so just pick one of the sites Sharebee links to and download away.)

There's some new stuff on there that I have been listening to on repeat (Bishop Allen, Dear and The Headlights) and some old stuff that I just wanted to hear again (Neutral Milk Hotel, The Weakerthans). Hope you like it.

I leave you with a delightfully recorded live version of Broken Heartbeats Sound Like Breakbeats by Los Campesinos! Far and away my second favourite band on Arts & Crafts. They make noise like good indie bands should.

Peace.

You're not that social, just a good drinker

2008-01-22T21:56:00.000-07:00

It’s been a while since I posted anything of substance, so I thought I’d give people a little update as to what I’ve been up to (plus the Flames just won and now I have nothing else to do tonight). My job in Kelowna has had me on the road quite a bit lately. I was in Banff for a few days, and tomorrow I’m heading to Salmon Arm until Friday. I don’t mind travelling, but it would be far more enjoyable if it wasn’t for work.

The majority of my weekends have been spent snowboarding at Big White, a mountain I have found to be far more enjoyable than the Banff hills. I like the terrain (Big White has great glades) and the snow is way better. I think I’ve been getting better since I started riding out here, but I am still a little bitch about things like jumps. This has led to what I would describe as Warren Miller style riding, but not in the gnarly 80’s style sense, more in the “not cool looking riding” sense of it. That probably doesn’t make sense to most people. Let’s just say I am really into carving. Here, look at a picture (and note the wide carves):

I got a bunch of books for Christmas, which I’ve been diligent in reading most nights. I’m currently in the middle of On the Road by jack Kerouac. I really like Kerouac’s style and I’ve generally been enjoying the works of the Beat Generation. That’s the kind of stuff that makes me wish I had any writing talent. I find their works go well with the music I’ve been into of late. The Wombats (who I’ve posted before), Dear & The Headlights, Belle & Sebastian (as per usual) and Los Campesinos have all been getting lots of play. I think I could group them together under story-telling rock were I inclined to do something like that. The punk rock band of the moment is Smoke or Fire, and the hip-hop of the day is Termanology.

So that is what I’ve been up to. Hope everyone is doing well. Now I’ll leave you with something ridiculous. This Spank Rock video is decidedly not safe for work. There are boobs all over it. The beat is goddamn ridiculous though.

Peace.

If I could do it again, I'd make more mistakes

2008-01-08T13:47:00.000-07:00

This was my favourite album this year, and my favourite song on it. I listened to lots of other good stuff too, but making lists is way too much work.

Peace.

I’m gonna make it through this year if it kills me

2007-12-05T18:21:00.000-07:00

Kelowna is still lacking in live shows. Thank god for youtube.

The Wombats, live in their hometown. Crazy looking show.

Peace.

People got a lot to prove

2007-11-20T20:24:00.000-07:00

I enjoy Billy Bragg and his Old Clash Fan Fight song.

Peace.

The same taste in beers, the same basic fears

2007-10-18T16:01:00.000-06:00

I live in Kelowna now. I don’t have a real address, but I am staying here if you want to see what it looks like.

The last few days I was in Calgary were crazy trying to get everything done, but it’s been pretty chilled out here since I showed up. I`ve golfed a few nice courses, explored a few of the cities drinking establishments and spent a lot of time sitting on the dock out front drinking coffee and watching fish swim by.

I tried to look up something interesting about Kelowna to convince people to come visit me, but there honestly isn`t anything. The most interesting thing I found on the internet was that as of the 2001 census there were more people who didn`t subscribe to a religion then there were roman catholics. I thought that was weird.

I can`t even find what bands there are around here, or if there is even a music scene. This is fairly frustrating because I know I`m missing out on a bunch of shows in Calgary now. Not that I miss the city; it was noisy, traffic sucked constantly and I wasn`t feeling my job there anymore.

Actually scratch that, I just spent five minutes looking around and it turns out Jazzy Jeff is in town tonight. Fuck yeah. I`m out.

Peace.

ps - that new radiohead album is spectacular.

I'm all about the mix like a fuckin collage

2007-08-17T22:32:00.000-06:00

I could swear I feel the city breathing in

2007-08-16T11:02:00.000-06:00

I will push my hands through you, I don’t need bullets

2007-07-19T14:27:00.000-06:00

I am currently sitting in a coffee shop in Salmon Arm, BC. The owner has made sure I have hot coffee in my cup for the last couple of hours. Normally hanging out in a coffee shop isn’t the kind of thing I would do when at the lake, but it has been pouring rain for the whole morning.

We spent last night in the worst motel I can remember staying in, Traveller’s West Motel. Never stay there. The advertised Free Internet turned out to be a computer in the office, and beds that sink in the middle aren’t what you are looking for when two dudes are sharing a bed. We also appeared to be the only people at the motel who didn’t work for Tiger Forest Tree Planting.

I’m hoping that tonight we can upgrade our accommodations to something a little more reasonable. The rain has put any plans of saving money through camping out of the question. I am just not that hardcore.

Salmon Arm is a nicer town than I had imagined. It is also way bigger than I had bargained for. There appears to be roughly 7 Tim Horton’s here, which is a pretty good indicator of how big it is. It definitely isn’t Kelowna or Vernon, but I could get used to it here.

I’ll be in Kelowna next week, and then back in Calgary on the first of August. I was hoping to make it out to Toronto after than, but I don’t know if that is in the cards at this point in time.

Hope everyone is having a good summer.

Peace.

Do you need the blood I bleed?

2007-07-10T15:55:00.000-06:00

I realize this thing is pretty much useless now, so I am just sort of putting something up to let people know I am alive.

I went to the lake last week. It was a really good time. I managed to get some kind of colour on my skin, which is nice after spending the last year inside under fluorescent lights.

Calgary is pretty lame due to Stampede. I’ve only been here three years and I am already over it, although I do appreciate all the short skirts.

I’m pretty much taking the summer off to do Mod 4, which has been cool so far. I am doing not too bad for the motivation. We’ll see if I can keep it up.

Plans for the rest of the summer involve going to Kelowna, and trying not to do anything too stupid.

Peace.

I ain’t part of no conspiracy, I’m just your average Joe

2007-05-28T21:48:00.000-06:00

I have two months off this summer, which is to be used for studying and taking my education seriously. This will likely mean significant time in front of a computer, doing work that isn’t really very hard. I have decided that to make the most of this time I am going to be making some serious mix-tapes. I haven’t spent any actual time making a mix since back in the track days with Mike. My goal this summer is to come up with a mix-tape that accurately reflects each year of my life since Grade 9. This may be a lofty goal, because god knows my memory is pretty garbage, but I think I may be able to do it.

I even remembered how much I liked these two songs. Good for me. Hell, I even remember when Smashing Pumpkins were relevant, and I remember when the only album I listened to for probably 2 years was Punk in Drublic. That was the very first thing I downloaded on Napster, after Kelly took back the cd she lent me.

Peace.

If it doesn’t work out I’ll come home and be alone

2007-05-02T22:49:00.000-06:00

I had a ridiculously good time in Vancouver, my thanks go out to Jon and Christina (and Brian to a lesser degree). As a result of this weekend I am now the proud owner of my very own mancala set. I also now own Watchmen and Scott Pilgrim vol.1, which are both fantastic reads.

This video cheered me up today, while I was dying a slow death at work. The guy playing is Jeremy Warmsley, a folk musician of sorts. I first hear this song on …good weather for airstrikes’ year-end list. I stole the video from Music For Kids Who Can’t Read Good. He completely manhandles that ukulele in this song. I’m unsure if the video is as good if you haven’t heard the original song, but I have so I think it is awesome.

I hope everyone else is doing well. Come visit me.

Oh yeah on a completely different note Leo hooked me up with some tracks from his new group Wine. Yes I just linked to a myspace page. Give that shit a listen. I like where Leo is going with this. He is also on tour (as evidenced by the tour dates on that myspace page no one checked out), and his last show in Saskatoon killed. I would recommend checking him out when he hits up Amigo's even if it’s just so you can see all the people from high school who you have added to your facebook.

Peace.

There is something in the gold we're digging

2007-04-27T08:32:00.000-06:00

I am on my way to Vancouver to visit Jon and see explosions in the sky. I have been on the biggest post-rock kick for the last year or so and I haven't been this excited to leave my apartment in a long while.

I don't really get this video, but it has my favorite song as the background music. The info says it was filmed on the west coast of Egypt, which sounds like a pretty rad place.

peace.

Here we are, trapped in the amber of the moment

2007-04-12T19:56:00.000-06:00

I stole this picture, which was done by the incomparable Mitch Clem, author of the very first online punk comic, Nothing Nice to Say.

I haven't read much Vonnegut, but I have really enjoyed the books I have. This picture features my favourite quote of all time. He put words together like few others.

Peace.

Yo, do me a favour and accidentally step on your white sunglasses

2007-04-09T10:14:00.000-06:00

When I was a lot younger I was one of those kids that would stay up late reading whatever book I happened to have on hand. I would read until my parents told me to go to sleep, then pretend to sleep until I thought it was late enough, and then crack my book out again and read until it was way too late and I knew I was going to pay for it in the morning. Back then I think I just did it because I liked to read.

I have started to do this again, except it doesn’t really work the same because there’s no one telling me to go sleep like there was in elementary school and I have a little say in what time I wake up in the morning. This has lead to some terrible mornings when I’ve been reading until 3 or 4 and then I have to get up at 7 to get to work in the morning. I know that it doesn’t make any sense to do that, but it keep happening. It’s not even like I’m reading some new book or anything. In the past 4 weeks I’ve probably read 10 books and they are all books I’ve read before. My guess as to why I keep doing this is that when I am reading I don’t need to think about what I’m doing the next day, or what is going to happen after I get up and go to work. It’s my way of postponing the rest of the week, which would be great if it didn’t result in my being tired everyday at work.

So that’s the reason I haven’t been posting anything lately, and I’ve been more or less out of touch with pretty much everyone outside of Calgary.

And on a different note, if you are looking for some new music to listen to I highly recommend the following:

Hip-hop – Check out Termanology or any Joell Ortiz.

Indie – I’ve been pretty into Parts & Labour lately, I really like the way they record their drums, it's kinda like the drums on Eating Glass. Other than that it’s pretty much been post-rock around here. Other than the usual suspects (Sigur Ros, Explosions in the Sky, Mogwai) I recommend Laura, and 65 Days of Static, although they might not be post-rock. I don’t really know these things.

Punk – Just get the Set Your Goal’s cd. It’s the only punk cd you need this year (thanks Mikes).

Peace.

It's hard to take risks with a pessimist

2007-03-14T19:58:00.000-06:00

I don't normally do this, but since I decided to actually talk about real things (not just music) I thought I may as well talk about some other stuff that occupies my thoughts. Sorry.

Peace.

Well I'm not young but I'm not through

2007-03-13T12:45:00.000-06:00

Back when I started writing this blog I did it as a means to keep in touch with friends in Saskatoon, and scattered elsewhere. Lately, I have been thinking about how bad I am at keeping touch, and how the garbage I’ve put up is nothing more than filler. I am going to try and change this, but am unsure as to how at this point. I want to let people know what’s going on in my life (because I’m certain everyone is burning with a need to know these things), but I can’t think of a way to do it without sounding like a whiney little bitch. That is not to say that all I will be doing is complaining, but I’m sitting at the tail end of my busy season at work, and that pretty much clouds the rest of your outlook on life. I’m hoping I can be out of the woods with this work stuff in the next couple weeks, which will make all the difference in the world, and I can focus on being a normal person again, instead of an auditor during busy season.

For now I am leaving a list of facts about my current situation:
- Still in school (CASB) due to the fact that I don’t like working on school while working at my job and continue to fail modules. The plan is to have this school crap done by the end of this summer, but I’m beyond making promises to myself about that kind of stuff.
- Still work at E&Y in Calgary.
- Still live downtown in Calgary with Tim.
- Haven’t spent near enough time doing anything outside of the aforementioned items.
- Snowboarding has taken a backseat to work, and the last few times I have been out I have been far too hung-over to really get my shred on.
- I still haven’t sat through Neon Bible, A Weekend In the City, All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone, Friend and Foe, or really any of the other big releases this year. I blame this on the fact that I can’t chill out to music when I have staff asking me questions every ten minutes and when I get home I am way too wound up to do anything like dig in to a cd.
- I thought we were out of the woods with this winter stuff but last night around ten if started dumping. The snow seems super wet and heavy, and it kind of reminds me of those pictures you see of guys riding in Japan. I think I would like to be riding in this right now.

I think that’s about it.

Peace.

I'm nine hundred and ninety nine thou short of a mil

2007-02-27T20:11:00.000-07:00

This guy does a great job trying to explain his feelings regarding bands he loves getting over-exposed. Something I would never really be able to put into words.

This guy asks some great questions about downloading music before it comes out.

This guy (and a couple others) tries his best to get you schooled on your hip-hop.

And this is far and away the best time waster I have found in a long time. Get this: originals matched up to the hip-hop dude who sampled it. That is just brilliant, plus there is a huge archive to dig through. If learning had been this fun in school (or the last three years) I probably would have done (or be doing) better.

Peace.

Thank god it’s fatal, thank god it’s fatal

2007-02-26T18:40:00.000-07:00

The first time I saw Lil’ Bastards was at Babey’s house and Craig Leo pulled it out of a black beauty case. It was probably the first snowboard video I really enjoyed, kind of like Welcome to Hell was the first skate video I ever really watched.

Since that time I have actually started snowboarding, and know a lot more shit about the people in the industry. I’ve read enough and watched enough to know that Pelchat is really old, Walsh is probably my favourite snowboarded ever and everyone in these videos save Kale Stephens is the same height as Brian Stern/Jeff Bourassa.

That’s why I’m happy the sequel to Lil’ Bastards is coming out this year. Check out the trailer.

Peace.

And if young hearts should explode…

2007-02-06T23:00:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I’ve been excited to go to a punk show. I think right now there are only a handful of punk bands that I would be genuinely pumped to go see and the list is really down to bands I haven’t seen yet. That eliminates a whole slew of bands who have been coming through Calgary, because (and this will sound pretentious) I saw them back when I thought they made good music, or at least music I liked. The issue I have with most punk bands is that they haven’t aged very well. These days most of the bands I really liked back in high school are either broken up, wearing eye make-up or trying to make the same music they were making ten years ago.

So that is where my head is at in terms of punk shows these days. Then as I’m checking for upcoming shows I see a name I haven’t thought of in a while, Propagandhi. Possibly one of the bands that influenced me the most in my younger years, the old bastards have decided to go on tour again. Now I know that they aren’t likely to play Showdown or True, but chances are they’ll kick out some classics from How to Clean Everything, or Less Talk, More Rock. This is a show I will be going to see.

So there I was all excited that I would be going to a punk show I was actually interested in, and I get an e-mail today from Stern and it says Against Me! will be playing here in March. That was just too good to be true. If anybody actually checks out any of the videos or things I post on here you would see that Against Me! is pretty much one of my favourite bands these days, and they’ve held that position for the last year or so. In fact a quick check of my last.fm account shows that I played 353 of their songs (on my laptop) in 2006. That is 93 more than the next closest artists (Belle & Sebastien). This is shaping up to be one of the better punk concert seasons I have experienced in a long-time. Now if we could only get Raised Fist out here it would be perfect.

I will now leave you with one of the top ten songs I have ever listened to. I cannot wait to hear this live.

Peace.

I walk on fifty foot stilts built on raw skill

2007-01-30T00:25:00.000-07:00

There appears to be a decisive lack of bands (I want to see) swinging through Calgary these days. For some reason, we aren’t getting hit on any of the winter touring schedules. So far my 2007 concert viewing has consisted of Emily Haines, and I think that’s it. Now the Emily Haines show happened to be one of the best concerts I have been to in recent memory, and not just because I am in love with her. She played everything off Knives Don’t Have Your Back and a Neil Young cover. It was a really good show to see.

The line up of bands coming through is looking pretty sparse as well. Right now I only have tickets to Do Make Say Think and Propagandhi. I’m sure some more will pop up, but it has been fairly lacking.

I don’t really have much else to say so here are a couple bands I would like to see come through, posted in all their shitty home video youtube glory. I think my love for shitty quality live videos stems from my days making mixtapes for the corolla and Mike’s chevette. I had a shitty little tape deck hooked up to a computer and it made everything sound like it was bootlegged. I really like the sound

So Many Dynamos – Search Party

Menomena – Wet and Rusting (you gotta wait until 1:30 for the good stuff here)

Forward Russia – Fifteen Part 2

Zion I – Silly Puddy

But mostly I want to see these guys:

The Hold Steady – You Little Hoodrat Friend

Yeah, I’d be pretty happy if I got to see any of these folks this year. Or The Fjords. Or Leo. My place is still open for crashing by the way.

Peace.

Sit tight, don't slack, just bought a Cadillac

2007-01-18T23:39:00.000-07:00

Things I drank today:
- 1 glass of chocolate milk
- 1 box of apple juice
- 8 bottles of water
- 1 travel mug of breakfast tea
- 1 grande bold
- 1 grande pumpkin spice latte
- 2 cans of ginger ale
- 1 more glass of chocolate milk

I think I was dehydrated.

One day I'll get my Caddy.

Peace.

Parasitic music industry, as it destroys itself

2007-01-17T22:16:00.000-07:00

This is me keeping people posted on how ridiculous shit is these days.

So the feds just picked up DJ Drama of Gansta Grillz fame on pirating charges. Check out the stories and the video and then tell me if trying to support your favourite artists is worth supporting bullshit trade groups like the RIAA. Bringing SWAT in to take down a mix-tape studio? Specifically mentioning that there were no drugs or alcohol found, but they wouldn’t have been surprised if there had been? That is some stereotypin racial bullshit. I can’t believe this shit sometimes.

Nah Right post - check the comments for some better insight.

Idolator post and follow-up

Fox News Atlanta coverage

Peace.

You’ve got nothing to say and that scares me

2007-01-15T21:02:00.000-07:00

Untouchable is something to be

2006-12-20T18:43:00.000-07:00

This is my Christmas present to everyone.

And that is why I still listen to punk bands, and why I wish Dave and Mike were in Calgary with me. If you can't feel what is going on in that video I have no idea what to say to you.

Back in Saskatoon tomorrow.

Peace.

and the memory of his last work week will be gone forever

2006-12-15T18:45:00.000-07:00

This is me wishing myself luck on CASB tomorrow.

Also, important announcement for all Saskatoon people via LJK (which I am fairly certain I am allowed to put up here):

dearest and nearest friends,

what with everyone who's anyone coming home for christmas, i thought it would the idea of a decade to throw a massive party!
yes?
no?
yes!!
my parents have graciously lent their home for the evening of december 23rd (a saturday and the eve to christmas eve). party starts at partytime (8 or anytime thereafter) and all you'll need to bring is your beautiful face and your booze of choice. i'll do my darndest to whip up some nibbles but do feel free to bring along some eats if you care to cook some up. you're skills in cookery shall be much appreciated! oh! and feel free to extend the invite to anyone you wish. if you're friends with p then you're friends with me. (especially since i know i don't have everyone's email addresses and i'm sure a couple of the ones i do have are dudders).and in conclusion, here are the deeeeets.

who: you! a super friend!
what: the biggest baddest most hip-happening party the christmas season has ever seen.
when: saturday december 23rd at party time.
where: 234 blackburn crescent.
where???? here's a map!

with my loving heart and hearting love,
laura

And that is that. I am now throwing my laptop off the balcony, writing a test, snowboarding for three days in Fernie and then running all the way back to Saskatchewan. In that order.

Peace.

Until they put my face on a million dollar bill

2006-12-11T09:25:00.000-07:00

This one is for Dave. Check the flatland.

I ain’t spend one rap dollar in 3 years, holla

2006-12-07T01:00:00.000-07:00

The lives I’ve touched are frivolous and few

2006-12-01T18:30:00.000-07:00

First off, I am going to be in Saskatoon from December 21 to the 27th in case any one is interested in getting down.

Second, there are a bunch of questions I have about things that Wikipedia does not have answers for (or I can’t understand what is there). If anyone has answers for me about this shit I would be quite happy to hear them.

As an example at work one day I was confused as to how the sun stays on fire if it is in space with no oxygen. Luckily Audit Room John knows all kinds of random shit and he was able to provide an answer (which I have since lost) which involved collisions and hydrogen (maybe?) and the main fact that the sun is not actually on fire, just full of visible energy due to some kind of molecular collisions or something (sorry for butchering your explanation John, I know yours actually made sense and was technical, I just can’t retain that stuff).

In any case, it was quite enlightening (even if I have obviously since forgotten the actual answer to the question, I just focused on the fact that the sun is not actually on fire) and I would like to become even more enlightened. As such if anyone knows the answers to the following questions please be forthcoming with non-technical answers.

1 – Why were dinosaurs so big? (this one has been bugging me for years)
2 – If dinosaurs were really big, were trees and things like that bigger as well?
3 – What would happen if a hot air balloon ran into a building?
4 – How deep is the ocean and is it really hot near the bottom?
5 – If deserts are expanding does it mean they are alive?
6 – Why can’t we make copies of extinct species? (and as a moral question, if we could wouldn’t that be justification for expanding cloning research?)

So yeah, that’s what I think about during the day.

Peace.

I’ve had kisses that make Judas seem sincere

2006-11-29T01:02:00.000-07:00

The fucking police helicopter is so loud tonight that it is keeping me up. Goddamn living downtown.

Also, I saw the flames play tonight and it was pretty much awesome. Not only did they actually score goals, but I saw McCarty fight and saw Evan cheer for the Avalanche simply due to the fact taht he doesn't want other people to get points in the office hockey pool. I think that tells you what kind of dude Evan is.

Listen to more Animal Collective. The Purple Bottle is the song of the future. Panda Bear has a new album conig out soon, which I am fairly certain will blow my mind once again.

Peace.

Girl bring that drama, til our president look like Barack Obama

2006-11-17T23:39:00.000-07:00

Tell me this shit isn’t super fucking raw.

Sway and Rhymefest have to of my favourite rap albums right now. Sway’s album has the only rap skit I have ever enjoyed, mostly because I’ve never heard anyone make fun of Kofi Annan before. And I wish Saigon was still on Entourage because it was sweet when Turtle was getting his own.

Styles is probably one of the greatest rappers ever. Get out of here if you don’t agree.

More snowboarding this weekend, then some kind of Grey Cup party, which is kinda gay because the CFL is kinda gay. But then again, whatever.

Also, a decade since grade 9? Holy fuck.

Peace.

The opposite of the big fucking cars and planes you drive

2006-11-15T17:39:00.000-07:00

I miss everybody. Here's some crap I want to talk about.

Peter Beste’s Photography - I love the work this dude does. He has his photography broken down into music scenes (eg. Norwegian black metal, grime, Houston) and it is all extremely awesome.

Fecal Face has an interview up with Jason Lee, one of my favourite people ever.

I wanted to talk about Islands, who I saw play a couple weeks ago. Prior to the show I hadn’t given their cd too much thought, but after checking them out live I can’t stop playing it. There are tons of little things that I don’t think the average person would pick up listening to the cd, that are very apparent during the live show. If I was articulate I would be able to explain some of these, but I will just say go check them out if you have a chance.

Also, these are the albums I am currently rocking out to:
The Hold Steady – Boys and Girls In America
The Shins – Wincing The Night Away
Islands – Return to the Sea
So Many Dynamos – Flashlight
Thunderbirds Are Now! – Make History
Tokyo Police Club – A Lesson In Crime

On a completely different tip, I recently read through 5 months of Razorblade Runner (rather than doing some sweet CASB), which happens to be the blog of one Rollie Pemberton of Pitchfork reviewing fame (maybe it’s infamy, but I can’t get their archive to work, so I couldn’t check any of his old reviews), who happens to be one Cadence Weapon. I thought it was interesting because I like the crap he put on there, and the way he write his reviews, but I can’t get into his music. I’m of a mind that I should like his stuff because I’m typically down for dance influenced beats and fast raps. Especially if I like the dude’s writing. Logically it seems like I should be a fan of the guy, but somewhere along the way I decided I wasn’t going to be down with him and now I can’t bring myself to enjoy what he’s got.

I am actually currently listening to Sharks off the Breaking Kayfabe album and it is doing very little for me. Maybe it is the beat. Yeah this beat is garbage. I think it would be fun to make a beat like this, but damn does it not work for me. Actually I shouldn’t be in any kind of position to critique a beat like that. Oh well, you can’t be down with everything I guess.

And to keep this trainwreck moving, a list of things I’ve been doing lately:
- Listening to The Hold Steady’s Boys and Girls in America
- Waiting for Martin Havlat to come back and return the Blackhawk’s to their (very) early season form
- Spending last Saturday snowboarding up at Sunshine, and subsequently being very sore
- Sleeping through work functions
- Cheering for any hockey team residing in Alberta
- Staring at blank word documents that should be full of CASB tasks
- Patiently waiting to see Akrobatik and Mr. Lif in the flesh (Nov 21!). You should all be jealous.
- Trying to finish this stupid post.

Peace.

It ain’t a gansta party til we go and dig ‘Pac up

2006-10-27T17:52:00.000-06:00

Way back in grade 10 or 11 French with Mme. Dube, between failing verb tests and laughing at something retarded, Charles Lowry lent me a few comic books, a few of which were the graphic novel 300 by Frank Miller (the dude who did Sin City). I would probably put 300 in the top 10 comics I have ever read (and I’ve read a ton of them). So now I find out that they are making a movie based on the comics, which normally would likely suck, but after Sin City was so goddamned awesome, I think this will be equally awesome.

Then I saw the trailer for it. Now I know it’s going to be fucking awesome. This link is definitely worth checking out.

So maybe this has been out for a long time, I dunno. I kinda live under a rock (on a barstool).

That's it.

Peace.

For all the fights, for all the songs, all we said

2006-10-21T13:42:00.000-06:00

This is my favourite picture ever. I recently found out that Peter Norman had passed away. Here's an article about that I poached from Edge of Sports.

Brother of the Fist: The Passing of Peter Norman
By Dave Zirin

Almost four decades later, the image can still make hairs rise on unsuspecting necks. It's 1968, and 200 meter gold medalist Tommie Smith stands next to bronze winner John Carlos, their raised black gloved fists smashing the sky on the medal stand in Mexico City. They were Trojan Horses of Rage -- bringing the Black revolution into that citadel of propriety and hypocrisy: the Olympic games.

When people see that image, their eyes are drawn like magnets toward Smith and Carlos, standing in black socks, their heads bowed in controlled concentration.

Less noticed is the silver medalist. He is hardly mentioned in official retrospectives, and people assume him to be a Forrest Gump-type figure, just another of those unwitting witnesses to history who always end up in the back of famous frames. Only the perceptive notice that this seemingly anonymous individual is wearing a rather large button emblazoned with the letters O-P-H-R, standing for the Olympic Project for Human Rights.

Only those who see the film footage notice that he never throws a furtive glance back at fellow medal winners as they raise their fists. He never registers surprise or alarm. At a moment that epitomized the electric shock of rebellion, his gaze is cool, implacable, his back ramrod straight, a fellow soldier proud to stand with his brothers.

Only those who go beyond official history will learn about the true motivations of all three of these men. They wanted the apartheid countries of South African and Rhodesia to be disallowed from the Olympics. They wanted more coaches of African descent. They wanted the world to know that their success did not mean racism was now a relic of history. The silver medalist with the white skin stood with Smith and Carlos on every question and it was agreed before the race, that if the three, as expected, were the ones on the dais, they would stand together: three young anti-racists standing together in struggle.

That silver medalist with the nerves of steel and thirst for justice was Australian runner Peter Norman. Norman died of a heart attack last week at the age of 64 and Monday was put to rest.
Two people who knew the depth and conviction of Norman's solidarity were the two who acted as lead pallbearers at his funeral: Tommie Smith and John Carlos. Over the years the three men had stayed connected, welded together by history and the firestorm they all faced when the cameras were turned off.

The backlash endured by Smith and Carlos is well documented. Less known are Norman's own travails. He was a pariah in the Australian Olympic world, despite being a five-time national champion in the 200 meters. He desired to coach the highest levels, yet worked as a Physical Education teacher, the victim of a down under blacklist.

As John Carlos said, "At least me and Tommie had each other when we came home. When Peter went home, he had to deal with a nation by himself. He never wavered, never denied that he was up there with us for a purpose and he never said 'I'm sorry' for his involvement. That's indicative of who the man was." "

When the 2000 Olympics came to Sydney, Norman was outrageously outcast from the festivities, still the invisible man. In a conversation at that time with sportswriter Mike Wise, Norman was absent of bitterness and wore his ostracism as proudly as that solidarity button from 1968. "I did the only thing I believed was right," he said to Wise. "I asked what they wanted me to do to help. I couldn't see why a black man wasn't allowed to drink out of the same water fountain or sit in the same bus or go to the same schools as a white guy. That was just social injustice that I couldn't do anything about from where I was, but I certainly abhorred it."
Norman never strayed from a life of humility. When a sculpture was unveiled of Smith and Carlos last year in California, Norman was left off, the silver medal platform purposely vacant so others could stand in his place. Smith and Carlos protested it, feeling it fed the false idea of Norman as political bystander. But Norman himself who traveled from Australia to California for the unveiling said, "I love that idea. Anybody can get up there and stand up for something they believe in. I guess that just about says it all."

Norman didn't define himself by self-promotion, book deals, or the lecture circuit -- only by the quiet pride that he was a part of a movement much bigger than himself. By happily surrendering his personal glory to the greater good, Norman earned the love and respect of his peers.

As Carlos said about sudden passing of the man his children called Uncle Pete, "Peter was a piece of my life. When I got the call, it knocked the wind out of me. I was his brother. He was my brother. That's all you have to know."

Peace.

Gonna walk around, gonna walk around, gonna walk around and drink

2006-10-05T18:00:00.000-06:00

Everyone should listen to The Hold Steady’s new album. Vagrant has the whole thing available to stream here (because it is hard to find free music on the internet). I would classify this as feel good music, like Samiam, but the songs aren’t about friends committing suicide.

I get to see Thunderbirds Are Now! tomorrow. I am currently more excited than I have been for any show since I saw Leo burn down Lydia’s. This show is going to slit throats.

And another awesome music video:

Peace.

I feel more like a stranger each time I come home

2006-10-03T20:15:00.000-06:00

I’m back in Saskatoon this weekend if anyone who reads this will be around. It is likely that I will arrive in some fashion on Saturday afternoon, and will then leave on the Monday at some point after lunch. That is the extent of my visiting to Saskatoon until Christmas. This isn’t because I don’t like Saskatoon, although it does feel strange to return there, it’s mostly because I still don’t have a car to drive myself back. Depending on others for things like this is becoming ridiculous. Brian is being cool enough to not leave until Saturday morning because I want to stay and see Thunderbirds Are Now! play at Broken City. I’m lucky I have people who will do that shit for me.

I’m hoping I can find some fun shit to do while I’m in town, like wander through a punk show, or something. Actually, after a little internet researching I see that Magnolia Electric Co. will be playing Amigos on the Sunday, so yeah, I’m gonna go do that. Now I just need to rope people into coming with me. Who still lives in Saskatoon? I will have to determine this and track people down.

I had a bunch of stuff to write about again, but I’m undecided about what may or may not be important, which is actually kind of my main issue in life. While I figure this out check out this delightful TAN! video.

Peace.

Ride with my top down so I’m closer to God

2006-09-28T17:13:00.000-06:00

I wrote up something good, but instead of putting that up I am putting up something quick, just so Laura has to post something too.

I saw Jackass 2 on Monday. Two words for you if you haven’t seen it yet: horse cum. And now you know what you’re gonna do tonight.

This song is stuck in my head like a motherfucker, and the video is one of the classiest things I have ever seen. Actually it is pure eye candy.

As a side note, I had no idea Scott Storch looked like such a little shithead.

I also got an e-mail a couple days ago saying that the efile service for doing your taxes shuts down on Friday. I should probably get on doing those.

So yeah…. Shout Out Out Out Out plays Saturday. Watch how awesome it will be.

Peace.

God damn the black night with all it's foul temptation

2006-09-04T11:43:00.000-06:00

So I started CASB again today. I am now officially two years behind everyone I started with at work in terms of getting my designation. How awesome is that? In any case, I do actually need to pass this time, which is why I am currently at work on Labour Day reading up on legal letters (for the third time). This time through CASB is going to be different though, because I have figured out how to get rid of my main distraction when it comes to studying/doing homework.

I used to agonize over what kind of music I needed to play to get in the right mood to study. I’m talking about spending the first hour of my study time ploughing through iTunes looking for that perfect song or album. And when I did find it and it played through I would be back at the beginning. I’m not going to let that happen this time, because instead of choosing the music myself, I’m letting some super computer thing do it.

A while back I was reading one of those in flight magazines and they had an article on the Music Genome Project, which I found interesting. They went on to talk about different internet sites dedicated to helping people find new music. The first one they listed was one I already used (last.fm), but there was another that was mentioned that wasn’t quite up and running yet, but sounded like a great idea. Pandora is a project where you punch in an artist or a song and they try to match up that song to a bunch of others based on technical shit like tonalities, chromatic harmony, and syncopation (among many others). I don’t know what those words mean, but so far Pandora has done me nothing but good, and you get the option of rating the songs to tailor the station more to your liking. I only have two stations (the artists I searched) because I don’t want to end up with a ton of crap to search through. So while studying I now listen to bands that sound like Explosions in the Sky or The Bad Plus. That’s it and maybe now that I am done writing this I can see how it will work for studying.

Good luck to all the kids writing the UFE. I’ll be there to help anyone in Calgary party when it’s over.

Peace.

Ridiculous to see how you keep your arms raised

2006-08-31T23:44:00.000-06:00

Just in case anyone who happens to have to work Friday (suckers) needs to waste some time, here is some shit I found interesting on YouTube.

Inside Dilla's Studio (R.I.P.)

Jaylib Feat. Frank N Dank - McNasty Filth

?uestlove's Record Library

Wu-Tang on Cribs

Redman on Cribs

Lifetime Live in Philly

Sean White on Cribs

Dave Chapelle on In The Actor's Studio

NOFX - Seeing Double At the Triple Rock

Kid Dynamite - Pacifier (Live)

Boy Sets Fire - After The Eulogy (Live)

Raise Fist - Message Beneath Contempt (Live)

Darkest Hour - Eclipse (Live)

Against Me! - From Her Lips to God's Ears

DJ Babu - US DMC Final Set

A-Trak vs. Prime Cuts

Propagandhi - Hallie Sellasse Up Your Ass (Live '01) (Live '96) (Live '94)

Propagandhi - I Wanna See Oka Everywhere (Live)

Henry Rollins vs. Nardwuar

Ya, so that kinda devolved into live videos of bands I like. Still a good way to waste some time though.

Peace

Yes it’s a mess, but we’re here to clean up

2006-08-22T17:40:00.000-06:00

Things I have to say:

I saw Wolf Parade a little while ago and they killed it. So did Frog Eyes for that matter. Their singer reminded me of Meatloaf in the best way possible.

I am working with a group of summer students and I am pretty sure the collective amount of work they get done everyday is approaching zero (had I ever paid attention in a math class I would use some technical word there). I can't imagine dealing with this for the next year.

Summer is over and I didn’t do all too much. I don’t really mind though because that means snowboard season is coming up and I can’t wait for that shit to get going. I think an RCR Super Pass purchased by work may be in order. I don’t really care if I use it enough or anything, because it’s not my money. That is pretty awesome.

Thunderbirds Are Now! Are playing here October 6 at Broken City with You Say Party! We Say Die! There are already a bunch of exclamation points in that sentence, so I didn’t add any, but I have to say that I am more excited for this show then pretty much anything else that’s coming in the next year or so.

My sleep pattern these days is all fucked up. I’ve been falling asleep around 2 every night for no good reason. This doesn’t make me the happiest dude during the day when I'm waking up at 6:30.

Peace.

Gotta keep thinking, things, hunters and kings

2006-08-13T23:12:00.000-06:00

Two days until The Wolf Parade show. I missed them when they came through with The Arcade Fire, so I’m excited for this one.

Two weeks until Slam City Jam. I have always wanted to go watch this in Vancouver. Especially when I was still trying to skateboard. I guess I’m lucky because it decided to come visit me instead.

One day until my older sister’s birthday. Hopefully this will help remind me to phone her. My sisters are both amazing people.

One year until I am supposed to write the UFE. We’ll see about that.

Six years until I turn thirty. That seems really old.

Peace.

Ever get the feeling ideals can't take us where we need to go?

2006-08-01T17:52:00.000-06:00

Wow. Leave it to Dave, who I bailed on to go to Warped Tour (sorry again Dave), to be the guy who made me want to write something again. Down below you’ll see a video that happens to be Grade’s last song from a reunion show I never even heard about. And to think I used to all about the punk. Now I’m old and I miss when bands I used to love get back together. That is appalling.

I can’t imagine Grade was ever really anyone’s favourite band. Sure as shit they played incredible music, but I doubt too many people ever said the ywere the greatest band ever. That may be the case but they were easily one of my favourite bands live. They played that screamy emotional stuff long before My Chemical Romance and those other kind of bands (what an awful comparison, but I still think it makes my point) made the shit pop music. In fact Grade’s old label now has a splash page telling people to vote for one of their bands on TRL. That is fucked up. I think I only saw one Grade video ever, and I’m actually pretty sure I just made that up. I don’t think I ever saw a Grade video. That’s too bad because as you can see from the video below they used to throw down.

My favourite Grade memory is what I believe was the third time I saw them. They were playing at the Bassment in Saskatoon, and there were maybe 30 people in the crowd. That didn’t stop them from playing as hard as they could, because they knew people in Saskatoon loved them and they loved us. There were probably 10 people right up front , including me and Mike and the guys who were pretty much running the Saskatoon punk scene at that point. We were screaming along to whatever song it was and all of a sudden Freaky wraps the lead singer in a bear hug, and everyone just keeps rocking out. That probably sounds stupid now that I wrote it down, but at least Mike (and maybe Dave) will remember it and how awesome that whole night was.

So yeah, enjoy the last song grade will ever play together and kick yourself for missing them each time they came through Saskatoon.

Peace.

Nice day for a drive-by shooting

2006-07-14T12:47:00.000-06:00

I like stealing ideas off of other blogs and posting them as if they were my own, as if anyone who reads this would care. Today I’m not going to do that because this was such a good post by You Ain’t No Picasso that I want other people to read it. I first heard of Oh No! Oh My! back a couple months or so a go off some site I can’t remember (I probably even posted something about it here, I just don't pay attention once something is posted). I tried to track them down because at that time they were selling CD-Rs for $1.50, but they were all sold out by the time I found their page. I did manage to find two of their songs online (Jane is Fat and Walk In The Park). These were the only ones on any of the blogs as they were the ones posted on their myspace page. Both of those songs are awesome.

Today when I was doing my usual browsing I saw on Gorilla vs. Bear that they had done a live set on WOXY and a couple people had posted the whole set live. This was my first chance to hear new songs by them as I have yet to order their album off their website (if it is even still available). I don’t really know how to describe their music, but my best stab at it is a Belle and Sebastian-esque six-piece fronted by a young Neil Young. I think that is a pretty good description. So go check them out if you like good mellow music.

Peace.

Cold as numbers but let's dance

2006-07-12T22:17:00.000-06:00

Things I want to share with everyone I know:

- Metric puts on an incredible show. I saw them Monday night and I am more certain than ever that Emily Haines is an angel. Seriously. I have never been disappointed in their show, and this time I even enjoyed the openers. The Pants Situation covered Neutral Milk Hotel’s Holland, 1945, and Frosted Tipz covered Iron Maiden’s Hallowed Be Thy Name (one and the same as the song from Jamie Thomas’s part in Welcome To Hell).

- Girl Talk is the ultimate music. The best decription I have is from some blog where the guy (or girl) said "It's like "Name That Tune" and the best party you've ever been to rolled up into a little CD for you to take wherever you go". Night Ripper is probably the greatest chopped up (illegal) sample music that will ever be made. You can pick some up at the illegal art website, or his Myspace page if you are so inclined. I highly, highly, highly recommend checking this out. It will twist your mind up.

- I spend a lot of time reading shit on the Do or Die site, and Eco Action. I normally don’t like to talk about that stuff, but I thought maybe someone might be interested. It took me about five years to actually go vegetarian. I bet it takes me twenty actually take any kind of action. A good starting point for anyone wanting to actually read up on Earth Warriors and all that jazz is Do or Die’s interview with Rod Caronado “My Heroes Have Always Killed Cowboys”. It’s a good something to read to provide a balance for all the Stampede bullshit going on here, plus the man is an incredible person. Another good read is The Politics of Extinction by Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Sheppard (and maybe one of the guys who helped found Greenpeace).

- I have a week off coming up. I’ll be near Saskatoon, but not in Saskatoon. Apologies to anyone who may have actually wanted to see me. I’m going to do my best to get back to there sometime in the near future. I also owe a bunch of people e-mails but I have had some kind of block on e-mailing lately. I will get back to you eventually just give me some time.

Hope everyone is having a great summer.

Peace.

I’ll survive because that’s what I do best

2006-07-04T18:47:00.000-06:00

Haven’t done much writing lately. I blame that entirely on the heat. It is obviously far too hot everywhere these days to accomplish anything of substance, be it at work or at home. This is why I have been surviving off veggie burgers, kraft dinner and Vietnamese subs for the past week. And slurpees. Anyone who has ever seen me in a really hot climate (Palm Beach, Kelowna, etc) knows that I don’t deal well with the heat.

That being said, I have done lots of stuff lately that hasn’t been written about. I’ve been to LA, the lake and numerous watering holes in between. None of this actually warrants a detailed account, so you will just have to use your imaginations to come up with all the cool things a kid like me could do in those places.

Upcoming events on the music tip include Dashboard, Metric and at some point Wolf Parade. The first two I have seen before, and all I really have to say about them is that I’m pretty sure I am more excited to see Metric than Dashboard. On the other hand, The Wolf Parade is one of those bands that I definitely grew into, meaning I missed them the last time they came through. Their CD “Apologies to the Queen Mary” is one of the cds I played incessantly on my trip to Palm Beach, and now they are permanently associated in my head.

So I got distracted by work for about 3 hours there and now I don’t really know where I was going with what I was writing. As such it ends here. I’ll try harder next time.

And I leave you with a music video that may or may not be terrible. Or awesome. I need to watch it a few more times to figure it out.

Peace.

I wish I could save her in some sort of time machine

2006-06-29T17:32:00.000-06:00

Moshing rules. I have nothing to say.

It's stick up kids, it's christian conservative terrorists, it's porno flicks

2006-06-23T14:53:00.000-06:00

So I don’t normally write about things like this, because honestly this probably won’t be very interesting, but I thought I would try something other than shitty comments on music. Here goes.

Recently Tim and I have devoted an inordinate amount of TV time to Ultimate Fighter. The roots of this are unknown, beyond the fact that it is awesome to watch two dudes beat the shit out of each other. I never really felt the need to share this with anyone until we were catching up on episodes last night and I saw the Bisping and Ross semi-final fight. Obviously Bisping was the favourite going into the fight, simply because he has some actual technique, and appears to be semi-intelligent. Compare this to Ross who is a straight up brawler, and definitely hasn’t been shown to be very smart. He reminds me of Tank Abbott, which is honestly a huge compliment because Tank’s fights were always awesome to watch. Watching a guy go out there and throw bombs for a whole round is incredibly entertaining.

The actual part of this fight that made me want to write something about it was early in the second round, right before Bisping finishes it. They had been more or less standing up and chucking up to that point, when from out of nowhere Bisping throws a huge flying knee. Tim and I both lost it at this point. It was incredible. It’s around the 0:50 mark in the video below, and it is absolutely gorgeous.

Now that I am all caught up on episodes, I am all kinds of pumped up for the finale on Saturday. I will definitely be sitting on the couch just waiting for that to happen. I think the obvious predictions are Bisping in the light heavyweights and Ed in the middleweights, and I honestly can’t see it going down any other way. The light heavyweights should have gone to Matt, and I’m disappointed that he won’t be able to fight. I think him against Bisping would have been a war. I don’t think Josh has fought anyone of Bisping’s calibre yet, and he is going to get picked apart. Bisping has decimated both his opponents so far, and based on some other fights of his I have tracked down, he can brawl. It should be a good fight.

Ed is going to kill Kendall. I can’t see it going any other way. Now that he will actually be able to train back with Couture, and won’t be sitting around in some party house I think he is going to blow people away. His fights during the show sucked, but everyone knew who he was for a reason. Kendall is tough, but he would have lost his last match if the Canadian guy hadn’t been a pussy and quit. I’m pretty sure if Ed gets him on the ground Kendall is going to get punished.

And now the last fight of this show, Ortiz vs. Shamrock. I can’t imagine them building this one up better than they have. Dana White is a marketing genius, because I am confident everyone who has watched any of this seasons Ultimate Fighter is going to want to see Tito rip Shamrock’s head off. And there is no other way it could possibly go down. I tried to get a good video of the last Ortiz/Shamrock fight but YouTube has let me down, and the $1.99 they charge at the UFC homepage is ridiculous. By now, everyone knows everything on the internet should be free right? Whatever.

Next time I get motivated to write about something other than music you should expect a detailed rundown of why Entourage is one of the best TV shows ever.

Peace.

But I’m a big dreamer so watch me come up with something

2006-06-21T12:17:00.000-06:00

I like watching music videos on youtube, because you can find random ass ones that you would never see on MuchMusic. That is why I thought it was sweet for Pitchfork to make up this wicked list of their 100 favourite music videos of all time. Out of that list there are a whole bunch I have never seen, but there are definitely some gems. I recall being excited every time I happened to catch OutKast’s Bombs Over Baghdad, because they never really played that on TV. A couple others worth digging for are The Avalanches: Frontier Psychiatrist (a video I had never seen), Boogie Down Productions: My Philosophy (I had this on my Rap Traxx 2 tape, which was the best tape ever. Apparently, KRS rapped live for the video. Sick.), The Decemberists: Sixteen Military Wives, DJ Shadow: Six Days, Madvillain: All Caps (I’ve never seen this video, but it is hella good), Nas: One Mic (A song that completely destroys, definitely my favourite Nas beats), Radiohead: Just, Wu-Tang’s Triumph (I love this video because I could finally put a face to all of the Wu), and Sigur Rós: Untitled #1 (Beautiful video for a beautiful song).

And that’s it. Youtube is way better than watching shit on TV.

Peace.

That's somethin I learned in the pound

2006-06-20T12:40:00.000-06:00

So we got Snoop, Daz, Kurupt and a shitload of other people (I could only pick out Krondon cos of his albino ass), plus there’s cripwalking? Oh hell yes.

Fuck around and be a statistic

2006-06-17T11:47:00.000-06:00

So apparently I was just waiting for a good title to type up some random shit to put up here. It turns out that song was Biscuits by Ghostface Killah. I am ever so tempted to put up another youtube video, because just yesterday I watched the Wu-Tang Cribs episode on there, but I have refrained because I can’t imagine too many people being as amused as I am by the Wu’s antics. If you are you can search that shit out yourself.

I spent last week in Vancouver getting my learn on. I now know a little bit more about my job than I did the previous week. I am also way better at finding pubs around the Vancouver office. Nothing substantial enough to write about happened that week, so I’ll just leave it at that.

And now I just watched my team win in the World Cup. Actually there is about 5 minutes left, but I'm not worried. Ghana is going to be on a tear coming up here, so keep you eyes peeled.

Peace.

Fuck tattoos, I make real tears form

2006-06-12T20:33:00.000-06:00

Don't have too much to say these days. Marvel at some Spike Jonze.

I just put off graduating for a pair of tennis shoes

2006-06-11T22:07:00.000-06:00

We carry guns but we also carry the torch

2006-06-02T12:16:00.000-06:00

People often ask me how to waste time at work. I have no idea why they do that, but I like to help people out because I’m a good dude.

Well, if you have a job where you don’t have much to do (bank, internal audit, MPAcc, etc) I would recommend kicking back for an hour and a half and getting your conspiracy theory on. The film is Loose Change and the good folks at Google have the whole thing on the internet for your slacking off purposes.

Peace.

Kids who like to scrap with pool cues in their hands

2006-06-01T12:27:00.000-06:00

So I tossed up some links to random mp3 blogs that I find enjoyable in case anyone wants to go searching for some of that hot fire. Yes, I just used italics. I don’t know how one can make people read text in Dylan’s voice. Now that you read that, go back and say hot fire again. It’s way better in Dylan’s voice. Or Chappelle acting as Dylan. I have no idea.

You may notice that all those blogs are either indie or hip-hop, leaving out my other favourite kind of music: punk. For now this is a purposeful omission, because while there are a ton of punk mp3 blogs out there, they all seem to specialise in punk from the late 70’s and 80’s. I hate that shit. The punk I enjoy is of the mid 90’s on variety, all thanks to those awesome labels Fat Wreck and Epitaph and their wonderful samplers. I honestly think that the Sex Pistols were one of the worst bands ever, and gutter punks should be forced to bathe. That would learn them good. So if anyone knows of any sites out there sharing the 90’s punk joy I would love to hear about it.

I’m off to the lake tomorrow, and then Vancity for the next week. This will hopefully involve shenanigans, and if it does I will possibly document them here.

In other news, The Coup’s Pick a Bigger Weapon is my favourite album title in a hell of a long time. That shit is so cocky, I can’t help but love it.

Peace.

I guess we'll just have to adjust

2006-05-31T01:45:00.000-06:00

Attention Saskatonians (Saskatoonians? I dunno): Please go see The Paper Cranes at The Bassment on July 2nd. It is in your best interest to go see a band that rocks out this hard live.

That's it.

Peace.

Young girls ages 10-21, singing screaming the words to Born To Run

2006-05-30T12:23:00.000-06:00

Looks like I’m going to be in Vancouver next week, 1 day late arriving for Bright Eyes there, and one day late returning for Bright Eyes here. I am unhappy with this arrangement.

I am happy that I re-found the CBC Radio 3 live show archives. Now for all the Flashlight Brown, Sigur Ros, and You Say Party! We Say Die! concerts you may have missed there is a close approximation. Or at least for me.

That’s it. I thought it was worth mentioning. They have a bunch of shit dating back to 2001. There are probably some bands there that people should check out if they haven’t. I can’t vouch for the live stuff, but Flashlight Brown is probably my favourite pop-punk band, Fiery Furnaces and The Unicorns both make my head spin, and Dizzee Rascal puts on a killer live show (so says Leo, who also puts on a killer live show).

There is the possibility that listening to these will leave you disheartened, as I am now even more upset that I couldn’t get into the You Say Party! We Say Die! show after listening to their set on this site.

On a completely different topic, I thought this was an interesting read: Top 10 Signs of the Impending US Police State.

Peace..

Bringing raised fists to a knife fight

2006-05-28T17:26:00.000-06:00

Saw The Lawrence Arms with Brian a couple nights ago. They played with Alkaline Trio and The Black Maria. I really don’t have anything good to say about The Black Maria. They were fairly generic in what I assume is the style of the day. I saw pieces of Thrice, My Chemical Romance and maybe A Static Lullaby in there. You would think that would be a good mix but it just came off as sounding trite. I think the lead singer spouting off about doing your own thing the whole show might have turned me off too. I’ve seen people be genuine with rants like that, and I’m pretty sure that guy was just going through the motions. Enough about them.

The Alkaline Trio played last and I would say they played for about an hour too long. Someone who knows their music better could correct me here but I’m pretty sure they played their entire new album, and then another set worth of older stuff, with a god-awful acoustic set in the middle. Too much of a decent thing is how I would describe their set.

The Lawrence Arms were the best punk band I have seen in a really long time. Three dudes on stage just rocking out. I would say that they introduced four or five songs by saying “this is another song about getting wasted.” How punk rock is that? They played fast and hard, with their set covering pretty much every song I wanted to hear. I had intended on actually bringing my camera but once again forgot. One day I’ll get smarter about this shit.

If anyone wants something new to listen to here’s my weeks top 8 albums. Not that they came out recently, but I listened to them this week. These are the top 8 albums I could think of this week:

1 – Murs: Murray’s Revenge
2 – Against Me! – Searching For a Former Clarity
3 – Kanye West – Late Orchestration
4 – Delorean – Into The Plateau
5 – Thunderbirds Are Now! – Justamoustache
6 – In Flames – Come Clarity
7 – Mogwai – Mr. Beast
8 – Controller.Controller – X-Amounts

And that’s all I got.

Peace.

I kill you little kids like morning after pills

2006-05-19T07:35:00.000-06:00

Well I am off to Saskatoon tonight to revel in the glory of the city I once lived in and hopefully see everyone I need to see. I am also looking forward to how awesome it will be to have no cars on the road as I tear it up on my super huge, dope-ass longboard. I don’t know if I can explain how much fun that thing is without resorting to sweet 80’s slang. Like gnarly.

If anyone wants an itinerary, I’ll be rolling about the city all day Saturday, followed by my grandma’s 80th birthday that night, followed by Skid’s show at Lydia’s. Sunday will be rolling around the city followed by who knows and Monday will likely be a sorrowful parting with my family on Monday. Then I’m going to do laundry.

Now if anyone gives a shit, here is what I am listening to these days:
- Delorean - Into The Plateau – I would say some kind of space pop thing. They are from the Basque region and I have seen them described as danceable dark pop punk, which hardly does them justice. Definitely worth checking out if you want some fast paced, atmospheric pop. If I had to make a comparison I would say Kiss Me Deadly, or a U2 that doesn't suck. Maybe a U2/Clash cross thing.
- Asobi Seksu – Citrus/Self Titled - I’m sure I’ve mentioned them before, but they are the shit coming out of New York. Plus their lead singer is hot, which is always a plus.
- T.I. – That King album is solid gold. Plus it sold over 500k. If you can’t appreciate the beat for What You Know, I’m not sure if we can be friends anymore.
- Lady Sovereign - Yes more grime, and this time from a tiny girl. I tried not to get it just because I didn't want the Def Jam marketing machine to get the better of me, but it turns out she is touring with The Streets this summer. Anybody with that endorsement is worth a check-out.
- So if anyone is interested I can throw up some links for song downloads. I’m just too lazy right now, and I can’t imagine anyone actually downloads the stuff I put up anyway.

And that’s it.

Peace.

That’s what’s happening in the parking lot

2006-05-10T20:55:00.000-06:00

I need new music to listen to. Someone hook me up with some good ideas. Last night I picked up J Dilla’s Donuts (R.I.P), the Gnarls Barkley album and Reasonable Doubt. Those were all sweet albums, but it’s been so very long since I saw something reviewed on RapReviews, Punknews or Pitchfork that I really thought looked cool, that I haven’t got nearly enough new music going to keep me happy.

I guess I do have a bunch of older stuff that I never really got into, probably because I never put them on my work computer, which is where most of my music gets listened to. Maybe I should just pick up a pile of old stuff that isn’t on here and throw that on. That will require getting rid of a bunch of stuff though, but I need to do that anyways for some new work programs. This is quite a dilemma.

Other inane music stuff:
- The beats on Demon Days are bananas. Between that and Gnarls Barkley’s St. Elsewhere I think that Danger Mouse is destined to be a top-tier producer. As if The Grey Album hadn’t already proved that. He should challenge 9th Wonder to a produce-off.
- In Flames are coming to Saskatoon, but I don’t get to see them because work is lame. I will have to console myself with their new album, of which the three tracks I have heard all kill. That is one poorly constructed sentence.
- This is the best folk/protest song I have ever heard. Listen to it once and tell me you aren’t on your way to find out who Rachel Corrie was. Or maybe you already know who she was, in which case this Billy Bragg song should strike a chord. That man is a genius.
- Web off of Tipping Point is probably my favourite Black Thought rap ever (today). Shit is gutta. I’ve been calling shit gutta ever since I heard Funk Flex call the singing on Papoose’s Sharades gutta. It sounds absolutely ridiculous when he says it, so it makes me smile when I get bust it out. How can singing be gutta? I can’t figure it out. And then on the next chorus Flex talks over it and says “ Keep it loose, Dunkin Donuts style, keep it loose. I had the lieutenants up on the Krispy Kreme, ya heard they stepped their game up. On some real expensive donut action. No doubt!” I have no idea why but that shit crack me up. I want to get on the radio and say retarded shit over songs. That would be gutta.
- I’m going to see The Strokes this weekend. I can’t really picture what they will be like in a large venue. I sometimes think bands like that should just book a small club for a week and play there every night so no one misses them. It can’t be the same vibe in an old hockey rink as some dive bar. I’m pretty sure the latter would be more enjoyable.

And that’s about it. Looks like me and the inferno are coming down to Saskatoon for the long weekend. Be on the lookout for a kid on a dope longboard careening into traffic and whatnot. So far I only know that Mike and Leo are in town, but if anyone else is going to be around you should drop me a line.

Peace.

*edit* - did I mention Halo 3?

Dress me in red at the wake and blue at the funeral

2006-05-08T20:47:00.000-06:00

Friday night was one of the better nights I’ve had in a while. Granted I spent it in some dive bar with a completely bizarre waitress, but the fact that I finally got to see Leo perform live was most definitely worth it. It made me feel good to see someone I care about doing something with their life that wasn’t just earning a paycheque. One day I’m gonna get there too.

I spent most of Saturday chilling out on 17th with Leo and his crew. I took them to the Coup for lunch, which is quickly becoming my favourite restaurant in Calgary, and I think they all enjoyed it. The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering around and shooting the shit. That night I watched Fade to Black, which is by far the best concert movie I think I have seen. I’m hoping that new Pixies movie is done that well. Tim, Jess, Sunita and I went out for a couple drinks after that and then I met up with Chris at the Hi-Fi club for Jan’s birthday. That place is pretty damn cool because drinks never cost anything and they have cheesy punk bands playing all the time. I think The Daggers were playing on Saturday night.

I worked Sunday, and then watched the hockey game with Tim and Chris. Tim and I rented Hustle and Flow after the game, which I thought was a deadly movie, but I’m pretty sure Tim slept through. The girl from Get Real was in it. I’m pretty sure only Mike remembers who that is, or what that show was.

And that was the entirety of my weekend.

Peace.

Listen up because it’s an anthem

2006-05-04T21:03:00.000-06:00

Things I want to write about before I forget them: stupid purchases, music, weekend plans, and my life.

So I don’t know if I’ve said anything about this lately, but I’m pretty sure I am addicted to buying stupid things. Not necessarily stupid things, but just things. I just spent a weekend with my parents where they loaded me up with some cool stuff and food. You would think this may have been enough to get me through the next few weeks without having to buy something else, but obviously the stuff I got wasn’t cool enough. As such I picked up a longboard off ebay the other day. Not that I was the only one doing it, but I really had no reason to do that. Tim and Mark both picked one up as well, so I’m hoping that this summer we actually use that shit. I think I may have just bought it so I could throw it in our apartment and people will think I’m really X-TREME when they come over and see all the snowboards, skateboards, and longboards. It’s really all about looking good. Other than the longboard my latest purchases have been cds, but I don’t even really know which ones and that’s really it. It’s quite bizarre how that eats up all my cash.

I would now write something about the cds I picked up but I can’t remember what they are, so I’ll just talk about some shit I found laying around the internet. First off, for some reason I felt the need to dig up the new Taking Back Sunday. I can’t say that was a good idea because quite honestly anything that band puts out can hardly compare to Tell All Your Friends. It is because of this that I got rid of the old album and just started listening to Tell All Your Friends again. That album may well be timeless. Next up is the new Murs disc, Murray’s Revenge. He did this one with 9th Wonder again, and it is just as good as Murs 3:16. I don’t really think I can say anything about it other than that. Definitely worth picking up if you are down with any kind of hip-hop. If you don’t like it you can hit me next time I see you. Other than those two CDs all the new stuff I’m listening to is coming from Evan’s Song a Day blog. No its not that Evan but some random dude who puts up a random ass MP3 every day, and I definitely like what he’s been putting up there.

I’ve also been listening to the two new tracks Leo put up on his site. His new stuff is the best I’ve heard from him yet. I’m pretty damn excited to see him play on Friday and hopefully Saturday night (yup, I’m gonna groupie it up and follow the tour to Canmore). He’s playing at the Distillery, and I think the show is at 10. I think it would be worth anyone’s $5 to go check it out. And if anyone is up for it I think this is my last weekend hitting the hill so either Saturday or Sunday I’ll be out at Sunshine doing some really wide carves.

On to the part about my life, I stopped eating meat a few weeks ago. This wasn’t really a decision based on anything other than I don’t really want to eat meat anymore. I may have been out for drinks when the decision was made, but it was just a convenient excuse to make the call. So now I’ve been without meat for 3 weeks or so, and I am pretty sure I’ll be sticking it out. I don’t really have any desire to eat meat right now, and I think I need to show people that I can actually stick with something. I guess this is going to be it.

Peace.

Right step forward, giant step with the left

2006-04-28T18:00:00.000-06:00

And now the state line felt like the Berlin wall

2006-04-27T12:23:00.000-06:00

Death Cab and Franz played last night. Here are some random thoughts on the concert:

- I finally figured out who the band is one that Telus commercial with the parrot and the cell phone, but only because they were playing that song when we got to the show. In case you are interested the band is The Cribs and they are from Wakefield, England. I will be checking them out because their live show was fairly entertaining and I like to see how that translates onto a CD.

- Death Cab for Cutie had what was definitively the best set design I have ever witnessed in a concert. Granted it was no U2 Pop tour, but who wants to listen to the same song played by 40 year olds for three hours anyways? So Death Cab's set consisted of two small, crooked white houses, some large silhouettes of trees and then behind that what appeared to me to be large office towers, or just the lights from their windows. I have no idea if that is a good description of what was going on, but it definitely had a good vibe to it, and made the show more enjoyable. How often do set designs do that?

- When Ben Gibbard played “I Will Follow You Into The Dark” the whole place erupted for the “You and me have seen everything to see, From Bangkok to Calgary” line. It was so loud that Gibbard had to step back and laugh before following up with the next line. Definitely a high point.

- Death Cab played damn near everything from Plans, and a bunch of older stuff. I am fairly confident that their set was substantially longer than Franz’s set.

- Franz opened with This Boy and I was honestly disappointed with Alex K’s vocals on it. Luckily they picked it up for each and every song after that. Alex K. is probably one of the more entertaining frontmen I have seen. He has good personality, and seems like he is having fun. Unlike their bass player. That dude seemed out of place for the whole show.

- For “Outsiders” (maybe?) which I thought was the last song before the encore Franz’s keyboard player jumped from the keyboards to the drum kit and proceeded to rock out on the same kit as Paul Thompson, facing the drummer. It was just pretty cool until all of Death Cab ran out and kicked it on random percussion instruments for the rest of the song, then it got awesome. There was a solid two minute drum breakdown in there which I would describe as thunderous. It was a pretty cool way to go out.

That was probably one of the more enjoyable concerts I have been to of late.

Peace.

Of all the ways to skin a cat

2006-04-21T18:23:00.000-06:00

So I haven’t had much to put in here lately. My weekdays have involved work and then watching hockey, and my weekends have mostly been snowboarding. At least from what I can remember. So I’m sure it wouldn’t be all too interesting for anyone to recap viewing a hockey game, or the sweet faceplant I did off a rail in Jaspar, so instead I’m just gonna do this.

Random shit:

I’ve taken to listening to Catch 22 and Streetlight Manisfesto’s versions of Keasby Nights back to back trying to figure out which one is better and I have been unable to come to a decision. I am pretty sure anything I end up thinking about it is tainted by the fact that Catch 22 is now unentertaining, and Streetlight is the only good ska band in the world. This prejudice has very little to do with the music and more to do with the band’s history. For those who don’t know, most of the guys in Streetlight used to be in Catch 22 before some bizarre insurrection forced them to start up some other band. Now Catch 22 used to have a very distinct style, but once the band split they lost pretty much everything that made them good. Streetlight on the other hand picked up the ridiculously fast ska torch and have been running with it ever since. From what I understand they always played the old Catch 22 songs at shows, but eventually got around to recording their own version of the Keasby Night album. I’m sure this was just as much out of spite as it was for whatever small financial gain they stand to make.

Here is some live New Pornographer’s caught in Boston, and yanked from Bradley’s Almanac. My only complaint is that they skipped playing Stacked Crooked which is my favourite song off of Twin Cinema.

“Dogs in Headlocks” is by far the greatest song title I can imagine. Just sit back and picture that shit.

Avery Why has a myspace page. I’m going to leave this one at the brilliant band description: “A genius on acid with a talent-less/confused band backing him up (its hard to play along with someone who doesnt know where he is).” I think that about sums it up.

And that’s it. I’ll get better at this again soon.

Peace.

I’ll be damned if I’m gonna grow up poor

2006-04-06T22:01:00.000-06:00

In honour of everyone of I work with going away for the summer and leaving me to work on their shitty jobs, I have decided to take a week off in June (or around there) to head down to Maui with Mark. This will be my first time back to Maui since I was 11 or around there. Last time I was there I had a sweet bowl hair cut thing going on, and I am pretty sure most of my clothes were of the fluorescent variety. Hot shit. We also spent lots of time touring around looking at volcanoes and forests and stuff. I am pretty sure this trip will be different. Not different in a Palm Beach kind of way, but different in the activities we partake in. There are obviously some things I did with my family (sit on a beach) that we will likely be doing, but there are other things I didn’t get into with them (surfing, being a dirtbag) that will likely occur on this trip.

As to the surfing I am sure some of you know I am not exactly a “strong” swimmer. I am fairly certain that I failed whatever level it was I had to take in grade 3 or 4 with Andy, Paul and Jord (who all passed), and any actual instruction I did get was in my grandparent’s backyard pool, where I spent most of my time floating around on various devices. I will not let this deter me from being a mediocre surfer though, as I can hold my breath for a really long time and I think that should be skill enough to get by.

Normally I would post a song but I am too lazy, so if you have it listen to six days at the bottom of the ocean by explosions in the sky. If not, fuck you.

Other things happening around here:
- I haven’t seen Timmy in weeks. He is going to die from a stroke or something if he keeps working that hard.
- Sunshine is going to be open until May 22nd this year. I can’t see how we won’t be riding dirt by then, but if they keep it open I’ll keep showing up a little after noon.
- Drank wheatgrass because it is apparently retardedly healthy, plus its fun to drink something that tastes like a freshly mowed lawn.

And that’s it.

Except for that Metric show I went to see two nights ago. I have to tell you, not going to see this band is a bad idea. I think that their live show it one of the more entertaining I have seen of late. They only have 2 cds worth of tracks (as far as I know) so it’s pretty easy to get caught up on what they are doing, and everyone knows shows where you know the words to the songs kill all other shows. Emily Haines is a great. I would love to see Broken Social Scene play with her singing. Not that I thought Lisa Lobsinger was bad, but listening to them play the songs she helped write would be awesome. So ya, I don’t know if Metric has been through the whole country yet, but if you do get a chance go check them out. I doubt you will be disappointed. Even you Mike.

Peace.

I’m like Big’s first album, I’m ready to die

2006-03-31T00:03:00.000-07:00

I’m not sure if too many people know this but I have a knack for coming up with sweet names for songs. I actually think if I were to have any super power this would be it. This should definitely be a more marketable skill then it is. How many songs do you know with shitty ass names that are just the first two word of the chorus, or some generic adjective? I name songs sweet things like Pocket Watch Pocket, and Cakefight. I actually think those are the only songs I have ever named that existed, and maybe Dave can dispute me on actually naming them, but I am pretty sure I did. I also named an old Slippy tape I had Blast, but that wasn’t really the cool part. That was the cover made out of hockey tape. I used to have mp3s of that stuff, but I appear to have lost them in the shuffle. Maybe if Mike still has them on his computer he can hook me up, and then everyone can revel in how awesome mine and Dave’s high school band was.

I have also come up with sweet names for bands and gangs and all types of other things that have never existed. Granted there was the world’s greatest webpage for The Bulletproof 7, and we did go spray paint MRE on a bunch of shit back in high school, but the end product never lived up to how awesome the names were. The HMDs do cruise around in the summer, which should get started again soon, but I think that is mostly a drinking team. That should start up again too, before Brehon has to quit drinking so he can get smart.

I have decided that I like posting songs, so here’s another. I don’t know if anyone watches Freestyle Friday’s on 106 & Park, but if you do you might have seen this dude rip kids up. Last I heard of him he won $100k at some rap summit in the Dominican. The song is called Fuck Jay-Z but give it a listen before you decide anything.

Peace.

I’m so hard you could donate my heart to a lion

2006-03-30T23:54:00.000-07:00

I don’t know if anyone gives a shit but Papoose and Kay Slay just signed a deal to release Pap’s album in conjunction with Flip Mode Squad. I’m hoping that helps him blow up bigger, but I’m sceptical because I can’t remember any album getting pushed by Flip Mode doing anything other than some Busta Rhymes shit. Either way there should be some singles out soon. I’m sure everyone is really excited about this because I know I am.

So ya, more talk about rap. Does anyone who reads this even give a shit about rap? I can’t say it really matter because I don’t have all that much to write about when you take away music. Right now I would say my mix is 1/3 hip-hop, 1/3 indie, and 1/3 punk. It’s kind of like a well balanced meal. You don’t ever get sick of anything because you don’t over listen to anything. What I would really like to listen to is a new Fjords CD, a new leo37 CD, or a goddamn Blake Face cd. At least for the first two I’ve got one album to listen to, and I think both The Fjords and leo37 are going to be putting something out this summer. As such, I think Mike needs to step his game up and get some shit recorded. Give this shit a listen and tell me that doesn’t bring you back to the good old days of melodic hardcore. I don’t think anyone does that shit anymore. Maybe Mike is too happy these days to write songs like that anymore. Someone should fix that so the kid puts out some more music.

I think that’s it for me tonight. Unfortunately I’m not gonna be back in Saskatoon for Easter. Hopefully I can swing some weekend soon after that.

Peace.

Even your superficial raps is super official

2006-03-29T22:00:00.000-07:00

I feel naked without the internet at work, is that normal? I’ve spent the last two weeks being unable to find out what albums are coming out, what concerts are coming up, how Dora and Martin are doing, and what awesome news stories have been farked. What a waste of time. Instead I’ve been forced to work excessively hard, but have managed to get much more done. There may be a lesson in there somewhere but I’m trying my best to ignore it.

This has also caused me to be a really bad e- mailer. So if anyone enjoys hearing from me and they haven’t, I apologize.

This weekend is ski weekend at work. Somehow I was part of the committee that organized this event. Most of the jobs involved phoning the hotel and organizing a block of rooms, organizing a huge supper, or a ski race. My job was to find the banner with the work logo on it. So far I have been unsuccessful. I do however get a free hotel room Friday night for my efforts. Sometimes keeping people’s expectations low is a good thing.

I have nothing substantial to add after this. Consider the rest of this post a make-work project.

I’m not too good at make work projects I guess.

Also, The Perceptionists CD is interspectacular. I highly recommend picking it up. For those who care, this group is Akrobatik, Mr. Lif and DJ Fakts One. Plus Humpty Hump is on a track. I think that is saying enough.

Peace.

While my mother waters plants, my father loads his gun

2006-03-28T18:56:00.000-07:00

My dad doesn’t actually own a gun, we don’t roll that way in my family. My uncle does though because he is a cop, and everyone knows cops need guns in case they feel like acting really macho. I’m not actually talking about my uncle because he is a pretty mellow dude, but I have definitely met some guys who had no business being strapped. On a related note, have I pointed out that the Calgary Police made a very large Taser purchase this year? Next time I tell someone to run from the cops I hope they don’t listen to me. Based on what I’ve seen on Kenny vs. Spenny these Taser things probably cause the most physical pain a person would ever feel in their life. That sure isn’t something I think some dickhead cop should be able to use just because he isn’t in good enough shape to chase a kid down.

I am going to play hockey tonight. It is the last game of the regular season after which our team is in some sort of consolation playoff. I’m sure there will be three full lines out tonight, which is good for me because I am all kinds of out of shape, but it’s bad for me because then you don’t end up actually playing enough to get into it. In any case shooting pucks is pretty fun and I will hopefully do that once or twice this game.

I have not had much to put on the internet these days. I did however finally pick up The Perceptionists’ CD and an Against Me! CD. I think it is their newest one. Both are enjoyable.

I recommend this song if you feel like chilling out. The Perceptionists – 5 O’Clock feat, Phonte of Little Brother. It is in iTunes format so sorry about that.

Peace.

Bomb graffiti on the tomb of Nefertiti

2006-03-21T19:42:00.000-07:00

I went to see Dave Chapelle’s Block Party Sunday night with Ross, Jess and Stern. As a service to anyone who is thinking about seeing this I just thought I would point a couple things out.
1 – This isn’t a comedy show. It’s not one of Chapelle’s stand-up gigs, and to be quite honest the full out laughs were fairly sparse.
2 – That was just about the best concert I can imagine attending, and I was excited for the whole damn thing.

Now for a review of performances, that will totally give away all of the songs I can remember, so be warned.

dead.prez absolutely killed. I thought their performance of Turn Off the Radio was incredible. I wasn’t feeling Hip-Hop quite so much, because you couldn’t hear the thump that kind of makes the track. However, in case anyone was wondering you can hear it way better on the soundtrack.

Talib had a sore throat so it was kind of weird listening to him rap in a lower voice. I knew about this beforehand so it didn’t ruin anything, but it would have been nice to heard him perform at his regular level. That being said, that boy killed it and I have no idea how. I had a cold last week and could barely talk on the phone.

Mos Def did Umi Says and I loved it. It’s too bad he is actually good at acting too, because I wish he would put out more music.

Mos and Talib did a couple songs from Black Star, which is one of the greatest albums of

Jill Scott and Erykah Badu probably shouldn’t be lumped together, but to be quite honest I am not too terribly familiar with their work. All the Jill Scott stuff I have is off Jazzy Jeff comps, and all the Erykah Badu I have is either with Outkast or Guru’s Jazamatazz. That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy their spots, because both those girls can sing. In fact, I should probably dig up some Erykah because I found her songs particularly enjoyable.
I honestly don’t remember Common doing any solo joints, but that was probably because it was near the beginning and I was all focused on how big my popcorn and pop were. Good lord were they huge. I do remember his coming out to kick it with just about everyone though, either as a hype-man or to spit his guest verses. He looked like he was having the time of his life, and that was probably the best part of all of it.

Kanye played early, but for a dude who says he can’t rap very well I thought he was great. Jesus Walks is still a killer song regardless of how many times I hear it, and when he does it live I think I like it ever more.

The Roots backed everybody and did a hell of a job. The highlight of their performance for me Boom from Tipping Point where Black Thought spits like Big Daddy Kane, and Kool G. Rap. For the performance both those dudes came out to kick their parts from the song, and Black Thought was wearing a Big Daddy Kane screened-blazer. I thought that was great.

The highlight was obviously the Fugees performance, which they leave until the end of the show. Lauryn Hill singing Killing Me Softly was probably the highlight of the movie. The Score is still one of my favourite albums.

So ya. That was that.

On a different note, because that last shit I wrote about came out like garbage, instead of finding a better job I have just decided to start a gang, because I hear those dudes make lots of money. I’ve been listening to a lot of hood rap lately and I think this has adequately prepared me for a life of slinging rock. I will have to work on my knife game, but some things are bound to take time. I’ll probably ask the next cop I see what colors are taken, because I wouldn’t want to be cramping any other gangs style.

If anyone wants to join just drop me a line. You gotta bring your own gat if you want one, otherwise everyone is welcome. Except bitches.

Peace.

Slicing up eyeballs, I want you to know

2006-03-17T23:31:00.000-07:00

I went to see No Use last night. They played pretty much every song I was looking for them to play with the sole exception of Feeding the Fire. I don’t really begrudge them this omission as I think the song was recorded 15 years ago or something ridiculous. I also spent half the night explaining to Brian why bands like No Use don’t draw huge crowds anymore. The best way I can put it is that Fat Wreck’s big boom happened when we were teenagers, and I don’t really think the bands from back then remained as relevant as they could have. Shit, I couldn’t even name an album they put out after Making Friends, and I bet you three-quarters of the crowd last night couldn’t have either. I’m assuming they have put out albums since then, but I’m too lazy to look them up right now. And that is why the shows for older bands who aren’t NOFX or Bad Religion are sparsely attended. I think that makes sense.

I did however enjoy going to a show where I could sing along to songs. They opened with Invincible and kind of kept an old-song/new-song rotation going for the rest of the show. I tried to keep track of the set-list, but the best I can do is tell you they played Invincible, Justified Black Eye, On The Outside, and Redemption Song. Between those there was a sold hours worth of music. I don’t think anyone could be mad at that set.

I don’t have a ton of other stuff to say. Work has mellowed out now that I am at a new client and I am enjoying it. I also remembered my headphones today, so I was able to listen to the southing sounds of Kim Deal’s bass. I am pretty sure the opening to Gigantic is one of my favourite bass parts ever. Good times indeed.

Peace.

From the top of Fiji to the bottom of Christina Ricci

2006-03-14T19:17:00.000-07:00

A quick recap of my trip to Kelowna may look something like this:

- Arrived in Kelowna
- Ate and drank with family
- Saw Dad’s new boat (it is bigger than I thought)
- Ate and drank with family
- Returned to Calgary

And that was my weekend. Despite the fact that it could be summed up in such a small space, I had an excellent time. I got to spend some good time with Cousin Mike, who is always an entertaining guy to hang out with. I also got to see Joel, which was cool. I’ve never spent all that much time with him due to his age being closer to that of my sister, so it was nice to be able to hang out with him for a while. I missed a couple of my other cousins who were working on the nights we went out, but I did get some good time with my grandma, who is easily one of the most entertaining people I’ve met.

The boat is huge. I have no idea how my dad and my uncle are going to sail that thing on the Okanagan. My scepticism may have more to do with my lack of sailing experience, but that looks like a pretty big boat to have to steer around other boats. I guess it wasn’t even the biggest boat in the marina, so people obviously can get around on that lake, but I wouldn’t want to be the one in charge. These days I am way better at being a passenger. The coolest part I found about the boat is now I have somewhere to stay in Kelowna that isn’t a relative’s house. That isn’t to say my dad would ever let me stay on there, but it is a possibility.

That is about it, but I just wanted to put it out there that Papoose is going to be the next huge rapper. I don’t know how I missed the kid all last year, but I’m definitely keeping tabs on him now. If you don’t know who he is, check for the only person with a good verse in that horrible new Busta Rhymes video. The fact that I can sit through two and a half minutes of disjointed crap to get to his part must mean something.

Peace.

My mind and my body's not really down with me

2006-03-08T12:53:00.000-07:00

I wanted to put up something a little happier than that last post, but I really don’t have much else to say. As such I just wanted to share a song with anyone who wants it. I think by now everyone knows MF DOOM (I’m only doing the full cap thing once, it just looks ridiculous), but I don’t know how many people are down with MF Grimm, the dude who started the whole MF thing and from what I know pretty much put Doom on. Doom even changed his name from Zev Lov X after getting down with these guys. They were in a crew called Monster Island Czars, but now Doom has been throwing out little disses to Grimm and his former crew.

I can’t imagine too many people keep tabs on shit like this other than me, especially if it involves MF Grimm, so I thought I would share Grimm’s retort to Doom’s digs. This track has a bunch of dudes on it from MIC, and they seem angry, but Grimm’s part comes off as more of a request for reconcilitation.

So here’s some samples to get an idea of what’s going on. This track is an MF Grimm solo joint, but it’s off MF Doom’s Special Herbs and Spices Vol. 1. This track is off Grimm’s second album and it has Doom and Megalon (a dude from MIC) on it. The third track is the diss track . I really just wanted to share it because I think the beat fucking kills it.

And that was my hip-hop lesson for the day.

Speaking of hip-hop, I wanted to share this with anyone who likes Dave Chapelle. Scroll down a bit and download the two hour interview. I only know two people who don’t love this guy so everyone would probably enjoy this. Plus it’s better than auditing.

Peace.

We got a lot to do, we got a lot to be

2006-03-02T23:55:00.000-07:00

I am doing my best to get a post up that is not overly angst-ridden, or bile filled. You must believe me when I say it is hard.

Work has not been the dreamy walk on the beach I thought it was going to be. That I never actually thought that is beside the point. Work has sucked of late, and I have let that ruin pretty much every good thing that has happened in these past couple months. Instead of being excited that I got to spend some good times with Dave, that I have hit up the mountains more times this year than any year prior, leaving me with some rudimentary snowboard skills, or the fact that I have had my now-indie ass rocked off repeatedly at numerous shows, I have been sitting around swearing at a computer and conjuring up various scenarios that would allow me to have some time off (ie. getting arrested, getting hit by a bus, jury duty, getting arrested again, etc.). This is no way to go through life.

I have also been trying to figure out why I have been struggling so much with work, and I think I found a quote that I think describes what my major malfunction is. You should probably stop reading if you don’t want to see some possibly retarded self-analysis. It can’t all be tales of drunken glory, and love letters to various bands. Plus today I am just in that kind of mood.

So reading the Sport’s Guy today, I pick out something that was written by Malcolm Gladwell, a New Yorker columnist I have never read. They were discussing something about athlete’s not being consumed with their profession and Malcolm dropped this gem: "It's really risky to work hard, because then if you fail you can no longer say that you failed because you didn't work hard." Now, say whatever you want about that, but looking at my track record I would say this definitely applies. For two glaringly obvious examples see my aborted attempts at both Mod 3, and Math 110. That shit was hard, so I didn’t try. I don’t want to be the dumb kid, who actually put in all my effort and ended up proving that I’m not as smart as everyone else. I think this is probably what is happening at work right now, which is why I end up being so stressed out that things aren’t going well. This doesn’t seem like a good system, and I’m hoping by putting it out here that I recognize it and change something.

Upon rereading what I just wrote, I think this did turn out to be some angsty, teenage garbage. Apologies to anyone who took the time to plow through it.

On a happier note, I applied for a job at Burton Snowboards today. It would involve being their AP clerk in Birmingham, Virginia. I have no real belief that I am even qualified for a job being a Canadian and all, but the idea that I looked for something in my field that I would also enjoy pleased me immensely. I have also just realised that Option-NFA is publicly traded. Perhaps if I get home tonight I will look for some jobs there.

Also, my hair is now so long that it forms knots. Fucking hippie.

Another also, since I am trying to change things here are a few more things I need to do:
- When I phone home try and have actual conversations, especially with Megan and Tory. I've only got one family and I don’t think I’m nearly as close to them as I should be.
- Quit spending all my nights at pubs, although pints appear to be my saving grace most nights.
- Get on one of my bikes and go somewhere.

It’s a short list, but I think I can do at least two of them (or have the desire to two of them).

Peace.

What a great day to spend indoors

2006-02-21T17:55:00.000-07:00

I love work.

I can already feel the minutes being added to my lifespan

2006-02-14T20:32:00.000-07:00

The last two books I read were Women by Charles Bukowski and Wake Up, Sir! by Jonathan Ames. I bought Women because I read something in a snowboard magazine where Devun Walsh recommended it if you wanted to become a better drunken asshole, which was right up my alley. Wake Up, Sir! I got from Ash for Christmas, and I have no idea how she heard about it.

Both of these books have protagonists who are authors and drunks. Women takes the drunk writer thing in a completely different direction with Bukowski getting wasted and doing lots of random girls and writing a bit. That is pretty much the whole story. Wake Up, Sir! has the main character being unable to even talk to girls without something to drink. I have no idea where I am going with this. I don’t really want to compare and contrast anything; I just wanted to point out that it was weird that I just read two books about drunk writers. However I do think I now have a good grasp of two different ways to be a drunken author.

In honour of that I am linking to a delightful list put together by Modern Drunkard Magazine called 40 Things Every Drunkard Should Do Before He Dies. I have only managed nine of these things, but I have high expectations for this summer.

As an aside, I am trying to single-handedly convince The Joggers to tour Canada. It may involve a promise of getting them tickets to an Oiler’s game, but if that’s what it takes I’m willing to do it. I recommend giving them a deep listen. This song is called Since You’re Already Up and it kills.

Peace.

We used to be 16 but now we pushing 30

2006-02-13T21:35:00.000-07:00

This post goes out to Dave Brown who is now older than he used to be. I wish I could have made it back to Saskatoon to join in the festivities, but that will have to wait for the next time I make it back. I should be back sometime around Easter, which I used to think was Jesus’ birthday until Nikki Bucholz told me I was retarded. In any case, for all three people I know who still live in Saskatoon, it’s not that I don’t love all of you, I just need to find a long enough weekend to come back and see all of you. Because you are all special.

Peace.

I'm so glad that you're still the same, with the same name, I love the person you became

2006-02-10T18:44:00.000-07:00

Have I ever expressed how much I love Raised Fist? They are my favourite hardcore band ever. I have missed seeing them twice now, once because we just didn’t go, and once because I had AIDS or something and couldn’t leave the house.

I’ve checked their webpage ever week for the past two years in the hopes that they are doing another Canadian tour. It doesn’t look good. If I never get to see this band I will be very mad, but at least I can listen to their albums while auditing.

In fact, everyone should do that. This is great auditing music. Go here and download the song and party hard at your desk.

Peace.

I went out to pick a fight with anyone

2006-02-08T12:50:00.000-07:00

Shit I have done lately:

Saw Stars plat at Mac Hall with Evan. It was a wicked show and I am pretty sure Amy Millan is the greatest female vocalist ever. I don’t think the cds do her justice. I could write a bunch of shit about scenesters and young girls and all types of ill shit, but right now I think that may be a little too involved. Possibly at a later date.

Worked.

Watched Arturo Gatti beat the fuck out of some Danish dude. This had little to do with ridiculous cartoons of Mohammed, and a lot to do with Gatti showing up to fight 7 months after getting demolished by Floyd Mayweather. It was looking like it was going to be an easy beatdown for Gatti, where he could actually box and not brawl, but this Danish dude would not drop. I think Gatti broke his right hand around the fifth round and the fight went to 11, so he fought for seven rounds with a busted hand. And that is why people love Gatti so much, he is one tough motherfucker. Have I ever written about boxing in here before? I should have because I love boxing. I never did until I moved to Calgary. I think this city made me aggressive.

Wondered what all these people rioting do for a living. If I left work to go burn down some embassy I would have to come back and make up for that lost time. I can’t imagine taking four days off to stomp on flags outside of some random building. Some things I am pretty sure I will never understand.

I have made a list of shit that I should buy if I ever have money. This list includes awesome things like new glasses, a computer, groceries, and turntables. I need the turntables and computer to make awesome music that involves droning post-rock and clicks and beeps. I’m going to be huge in Japan.

In conclusion, Pretty Boy Floyd is fighting in April and I will be watching that; I have many shows to go see in February and March, and I will be joining the computer audit group sometime around then. This makes me one happy cat. I would be an even happier cat if I actually went to see all of these shows. Calgary is nice for this shit. I can only imagine what one would have to go through in Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal.

Peace.

Sons and daughters of hungry ghosts

2006-02-02T21:44:00.000-07:00

I am currently at work doing my damndest to finish up so I can get home and pass out, but I thought I should point this out: Everyone should at some point in time invest in some good headphones and listen to Thrice’s Illusion of Safety and Wolf Parade’s Apologies to The Queen Mary really loud. If you only have 10 minutes to do this I recommend See You in the Shallows by Thrice and Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts by Wolf Parade. It is quite a pleasant experience. I spent a month wandering Scotland listening to that Thrice album, and a week watching it rain in Jamaica listening to that Wolf Parade album (and The Joggers). Those are definitely good memories.

Also, Dave is coming out for a week in February! That is the best news I have got in a long time. Other people are also welcome to come crash at my place. It will be a den of debauchery as Tim is gone to England to audit people with pleasant sounding accents, and I will be in the midst of a mid-busy season breakdown.

That’s it.

Peace.

That's that shit that make me not wanna pass the herb

2006-01-26T18:56:00.000-07:00

I apologize that all I write about it music. You see I am spending untold hours at work these days doing nothing but auditing and listening to music. That, two food court meals a day, plus pints at night, is essentially my whole life these days. I could chronicle which nights I drank Keiths and which nights I drank Canadians, but that isn’t the most entertaining thing ever. I could write about accounting, but I can’t see that being anymore interesting (and if you find it interesting you are sick fuck).

That brings us back to my favourite topic: music. So my whole post today was gone be me making a list of my favourite Method Man songs (which is as follows:
- Da Rockwilder – Method Man and Redman (Blackout!)
- Rock Steady – Raekwon, Method Man, U-God (Tony Touch – The Piecemaker 2)
- Ice Cream – Raekwon feat. Method Man, Ghostface and Cappadonna (Raekwon - Only Built For Cuban Linx)
- Ghetto Celebrity – Roni Size feat. Method Man (Roni Size - In The Mode)
- Half Man, Half Amazing – Pete Rock feat. Method Man (Pete Rock – Soul Survivor)
- What’s Happenin’ – Method Man feat. Busta Rhymes (Tical 0: The Prequel)), but that idea kind of sucked.

Also, after listing this out I realized that all of my favourite Meth songs are just ones that feature him (save one), so it isn't really a list of my favorite Method Man songs. I thought that was weird enough to point out here. Maybe one day I will actually pick up a whole Method Man cd and find out that he can rip it on tracks by himself.

There are some things I wouldn’t mind writing about now that I got the Method Man list out of my system, but those will have to wait til things are actually worked out. I will write something that may actually be interesting sometime next week.

Peace.

They'd probably like to throw a punch at me

2006-01-24T21:30:00.000-07:00

This just in: The Arctic Monkey’s Cd is as good as everyone is saying. Plus they probably cheer for the Wednesday’s which makes me happy because that was Andy Robertshaw’s team, and I haven’t seen him in a while.

I wish I could share their songs with everyone here, but I am really too lazy to find some file sharing thing to get that working. I will e-mail my favourite song to anyone who asks.

Peace.

Sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet fire in the street

2006-01-23T17:47:00.000-07:00

I’ve been listening to a lot of instrumental stuff lately, or not necessarily instrumental, but slow with minimal vocals. Such bands as Sigur Ros, Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky. I don’t think the vocals in Sigur Ros count as anything because I can’t understand them. Either way, I got Mogwai first, then Sigur Ros and now Explosions in the Sky. I highly recommend checking them out if you need some music to chill out to. Long-ass multi guitar instrumentals are fucking killer. I started out with The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place, and then got their other albums. Seems like a good place to pick them up.

Turns out today is also the election. I can’t wait to vote in a riding that voted over 50% conservative last time. It really makes me think my vote is going to count. I will be voting for the Green Party, because that is the thing to do. I would vote Bloc if they had a candidate here, just because we all know French people make way better politicians. I also don’t think it really matters who you vote for because the smart money is on us having another election in about 16 months. My mom and dad would be pissed if they heard me saying that. I think my dad probably has a couple of the Vote or Die shirts Diddy was rocking a while back.

Peace.

Don’t wake me I plan on sleeping in

2006-01-20T20:38:00.000-07:00

I’m not sure who is more disappointed with my most recent unsuccessful attempt at Mod 3. I’m pretty pissed off that I gave up so early and didn’t even try to gut it out. I think work will be kinda choked because they want people to be CAs and obviously I’m not getting there. I’m also pretty sure my dad will be pissed. More because of the quitting than the actual failing.

All in all this sucks shit.

I’ve been through this before with my many attempts at Math 110, so it’s not really a new scenario, but that doesn’t really make it any easier. And instead of doing something about it I wrote this.

Peace.

I’ve got pockets full of Kleenex and lint and holes

2006-01-18T17:58:00.000-07:00

I’m really good at buying random things. This was kind of my specialty when I moved out to Calgary. I have all types of stupid shit sitting around my apartment that is completely unnecessary. Crunk cups, velour track suits, a snowboard that is way too good for someone of my skill level, a bmx, and more than a few pairs of shoes. All of these were bought without much forethought, but I enjoy them all.

I haven’t really had a chance to do any of that lately, namely due to being a broke asshole. I rectified that situation this morning by picking up one of these online. Why? I am still not sure, but I can’t wait to get it. Sorry if I owe you money. And yes, I read about it on Pitchfork first.

Also, Streetlight Manifesto's Keasby Nights comes out this week. I guarantee this album will be the last ska album anyone in the world will ever need to own. It will slit throats.

Peace.

Everyone started to die, shuffling papers and letting out sighs

2006-01-17T22:57:00.000-07:00

This is my new favourite website. I could spend hours annoying people with questions from here. And now I know how much the average person’s ashes weigh after they are cremated. Knowing things like that has got to come in useful eventually. Maybe now I’ll meet a girl.

I hope John doesn’t mind that I posted this at work.

So let's drink it in the darkness if you know what I mean

2006-01-16T21:07:00.000-07:00

I just listened to a song by The Spins called Cougar. The chorus was “I am looking for a virgin, but they are like the buffalo”. This likely would have been inappropriate had it not been a girl singing. Instead it was just entertaining.

I also listened to a Martin Luther King Jr. speech today. It was the one he gave the day before he was assassinated, when he talked about how he wasn’t scared of death right at the end. I’ve never really been one to sit around and listen to speeches, but this one was incredible. I certainly change the channel whenever one of those state of the union addresses, or whatever the Canadian equivalent it comes on, but I would recommend giving this a listen if you can track it down. I was most impressed by the time it ended, even though it seemed drawn out in the middle.

So I got thinking about MLK day and thought I would see what some of the regular guys I read on the internet had to say about it. Not too much from the looks of things. Dave Zirin, who I can count on to always be the angriest dude around had nothing to write about it, although he did have a sweet article about racism in the NFL. Last I checked Bill Simmons hadn’t written anything at all today, not that I really expected something out of him on that subject. I was more looking for his reaction to the Patriots’ loss this weekend. Allhiphop had a piece up, but it didn’t really deal with Dr. King, but with how hip-hop isn’t living up to his challenge. Pitchfork and prefixmag didn’t even have any good album reviews. With my daily run of random websites coming up dry, I turned to fark to see what shit they pulled out of it. Nothing. I could have gone to google and looked up some legitimate sites, but I was looking forward to some random article by some person who really had no business writing about MLK day, because those are generally the more fun to read. This definitely didn’t happen.

My conclusion from all of this is that the internet failed today. Nothing like when a billion people decided to draw batgirl after one person posted some 3 year-old concept sketches they had. That was great. So were those pictures of the cyclops cat and the green pigs.

As a final point, I need a haircut too.

Peace.

Look at me! I'm on TV, it makes up for the shortcomings of being poor

2006-01-13T01:39:00.000-07:00

For every band I listen to I have one cd that I like beyond everything else they have done or will ever do. NOFX has Punk in Drublic, Thrice has The Illusion of Safety and Talib and Mos Def have Black Star. I still listen to the rest of the music these people put out, but I always end up coming back to that one album that first caught my attention. It’s hard for a band to top the first impression.

There are some rare cases where I end up liking a second or third albums I hear more than the first (I like alexisonfire’s Watch Out! way more than the self-titled), but cases where I actually appreciate an artist’s growth are few and far between. This is often a source of consternation as new albums tend to disappoint, or live performances don’t showcase the songs I am looking forward to hearing (see Thrice last month).

Getting to what I actually want to talk about, this week Belle and Sebastian put out a live record that solves all my problems. It was recorded September 25, 2004 at the Barbican in London (home of the London Symphony Orchestra), and they simply played all the songs off of If You’re Feeling Sinister, which happens to be my favourite Belle and Sebastian album. I don’t know how to put how awesome it is to hear the band redo the album a good nine years after it was released. There are some definite differences beyond the fact that one is live and the other recorded. The songs seem played faster, and with more confidence on the live record. Plus you can hear the individual instruments better. I think all bands should follow Belle and Sebastian’s lead here. They know which of their albums everyone likes the most. Just rerecord that album you jerks. I’d buy it.

Peace.

You know there’s always tomorrow

2005-12-30T14:59:00.000-07:00

My favourite time of the year is around now because all the music dorks get their panties in a bunch over the songs and albums of the year. Is there anything more fun than reading year-end lists? For most people there probably is. Too bad because that’s what I am doing right now. My favourite albums of 2005. In no particular order, and liable to be changed at any point in time.

Top 16 Albums 2005
Thunderbirds Are Now! – Justamoustache
This was the best cd I heard in 2005. Jon put me onto these guys and I was blown away. Thanks Jon.
Best Song: Eat This City

The Decemberists – Picaresque
I found out through these guys thanks to Jeph’s Recommended Listening list. I think I sent “The Mariner’s Revenge Song” to everyone I thought would care within two listens.
Best Song: Too hard to pick

Kanye West – Late Registration
I remember thinking that I wasn’t likely to listen to any other album ever again when this came out. Now I just really like Diamonds.
Best Song: Diamonds From Sierra Leone (remix) feat. Jay-Z

The Arcade Fire – Funeral
So what if this came out in 2004? I listened to it this year and I think it was awesome.
Best Song: Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)

Bloc Party – Silent Alarm
I bought this cd thinking I was getting a Snow Patrol cd. Good thing I suck at names. I played this cd for tons of people, trying to get confirmation of how awesome it was. The result was that it is indeed awesome.
Best Song: Like Eating Glass

Slug and Murs – Felt 2: Tribute to Lisa Bonet
This was the best hip-hop I think I listened to all year. All around a stellar cd.
Best Song: Breaker Down Like A Shotgun

The Joggers – With a Cape and a Cane
I really, really like this cd. I think this is further proof that ugly people make the best music.
Best Song: Since You’re Already Up

The Go! Team – Thunder! Lightning! Strike!
This cd blew me away. I’m pretty sure it blew everyone who gave it a chance away. Kind of like listening to The Avalanches, if they had a shorter attention span and a desire to bring back the 80s.
Best Song: Huddle Formation

De La Soul – The Grind Date
I have yet to find a flaw in this cd, beyond being mildly annoyed at the Spike Lee cameo. De La makes excellent music and this is just more of it. Oh ya, and it came out in 2004.
Best Song: Church

Metric – Live It Out
I’m sure everyone has heard this cd by now, which is part of why it is so goddamned awesome. I really should have gone to see this band instead of sitting on my couch.
Best Song: The Police and The Private

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Self-Titled
This cd is really good. Apparently it sounds like the Talking Heads, but I am pretty sure the only Talking Heads song I have ever heard is Psycho Killer, and it sure doesn’t sound like that. The last song on the cd (Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood) is probably the best song I heard this year.
Best Song: Upon This Tidal Wave Of Young Blood

Bright Eyes – Digital Ash in a Digital Urn
Apparently Bright Eyes release two cds at once and this was the bad one. I liked it a lot more than the other one and ended up listening to it a lot more than I thought I would.
Best Song: Easy/Lucky/Free

The Get-Up Kids – Live at the Granada Theatre
I love The Get-Up Kids, and I am happy I got to see them before they called it quits. I think this is a worthy retrospective for the band.
Best Song: Ten Minutes

Broken Social Scene – Self-Titled/You Forgot It In People
I have already chronicled where my fascination with Broken Social Scene came from and that is why I have their new cd and the one from 2003 in here. This shit is solid gold.
Best Song: Hotel

Alexisonfire – Watchout!
I think this cd came out in 2005, not too sure. Either way, it is ridiculously good. Alexisonfire are my favourite Canadian punk band these days regardless of the flack they get. This cd was solid the whole way through.
Best Song: No Transitory

Now I think that is it. It is highly likely I forgot a bunch of stuff from earlier in the year as everything here appears to be stuff I picked up after September. Not my fault. I just suck at remembering things. There are a bunch of cds I left off that were spectacular at the time and got lots of play, I just haven’t been going back to them too much. This depends as much on my mood as it does on the actual replay value, so I am throwing out a list of honourable mentions, best songs in brackets:

Animal Collective – Feels (Purple Bottle)
Blackalicious – The Craft (Supreme People)
Architechture in Helsinki – In Case We Die (Spring 2008)
The Garden State Soundtrack (The Shins – New Slang)
Talib Kweli – Right About Now (Ms. Hill)
Stars – Set Yourself On Fire (Your Ex-Lover Is Dead)
Everything by The Shins (New Slang)
Pink Razors – Scene Suicide (Buglarized!)
Ludacris – The Red Light District (Large Amounts)
Franz Ferdinand – You Could Have It So Much Better (This Boy)
Common – Be (The Food)

Also, here are some real year end lists by people who can actually write intelligently about music. I may have borrowed liberally from many of these.

Pitchfork’s Top 50 singles and albums of 2005
- This one is notable because I read pitchfork everyday. Everyone should so they can see how I poach new bands. Also Mark’s favourite song this year got the #4 spot. Something to think about.
- Another cool thing is that they have each writer’s top 50 for the year. I find it entertainig to see whose top picks got vetoed by everyone else. I noticed MCR on a couple lists, but not on the overall top 50.

PopMatters Best Music of 2005
- Evan got me into this site because some guy he knows writes for it. I don’t mind their reviews for the most part and there list makes sense to me when you get past #25. I honestly don’t think I have listened to a single song by an artist they listed from 50 to 25. Fucked.
- They also have lists for the top metal/country/electronic albums, and top reissues.

PreFix Mag’s Top 50 Albums of 2005
- I found prefix mag when looking for top music lists from last year. I like their style and their picks on this list.
- They have staff picks too.

Jeph Jacques’ Top 20 of 2005
- This guys recommended listing list was sort of my guide to finding new bands this year. I like his taste in music for the most part

Rapreviews Top Picks of 2005
- Rapreviews does it right and lets each reviewer pick their own top 10 with some decent explanations.
- This is the only site I ever really check out to find out what new Hip Hop shit is copming out. They do a great job and I like their year-end picks.

John Allison’s Top 20 Albums of 2005
- This dude is from England and his top albums are presented in an entertaining way. Comics are way more fun to look at than plain old articles, plus his weird British sense of humour is quite entertaining.

And that’s it. I had fun in 2005. Hope you did too.

Peace.

And all those white lines that sped us up

2005-12-22T00:42:00.000-07:00

I am slowly compiling my best of 2005 lists. Just so you know.

This week hasn’t really been sweet. I appear to have lost my iPod. Not really that big of a deal seeing as it was free and all, but it is still going to make travelling for the holidays more boring then it should be. It also takes away my sweet music for snowboarding.

I’m off to Kelowna for a few days of snowboarding and watching my cousins get thrown in the drunk tank. After that it is back to the grind. Hope everyone has an awesome holiday.

Peace.