last week in music...

Heavy Trash - 05.09.06, Call the Office

a band comprised of jon spencer, matt verta-ray and the sadies, how could this miss? gritty, greasy, and loud as hell. the band is obviously full of some seriously talented musicians - the sadies never seem to miss a beat, no matter what outfit they're playing in, they're just spot on with each other, with seemingly very little stage interaction.. or noticeable interaction, at least. it always amazes me to watch these guys - and though their proficiency shone through on the night, there were definitely some moments where i felt they were a little outta step with mr. spencer, and mr. verta-ray. spencer is full of raucous rock n roll grit, growling and screaming his way through songs... a man of his (smaller) size, producing a sound of it's own (larger) size, is quite a juxtaposition in sight and sound. definitely there were some great moments, pockets of songs, that really stood out, but for the most part i found the songs much weaker than the strength of the playing. eventually it was too much of the same old, and by 12:30 i was starting to nod off in the bar. for me, the night was made most enjoyable from watching sean dean (bass - the sadies) hammer away on his stand-up, and from picking out dallas good's parts and listening intently to those - the man has quickly become one of my favourite guitar players, and i thought his accents were perfectly placed and tastefully executed all night. all in all, its always a treat to see musicians such as this come together, especially on a quiet tuesday night in the city, but i really do wish that the songs themselves stood up to the playing.

Small Sins - 05.12.06, Call the Office

well, my 3rd time seeing small sins (first time they were the ladies and gentleman), and i really do have to give these guys credit. i will say, of the 3 shows i've seen, this was probably my least favourite in some respects, but it wasnt bad, and there were some things i was really glad to see. first of all, these guys are a poppy indie-rock band, and you wouldnt expect much jamming or re-arranging, but i gotta say the songs have really grown in their own ways, outside of and apart from the album. the first time around the show was absolutely excellent - blew away all expectations, and after picking up the disc that night and giving it a listen, you could really hear where they were trying to take those songs to the next level. the 2nd time we saw them was incredible. even blew the first time away! the show was rocked up even more, the songs had developed their own charm and taken on their own flavour in a live setting. this time around, there was certainly more of that, but i felt as if, at times, they were again trying to take some of those songs to yet another level. trying to really create something within them, push them in one direction or another. its a hard thing to describe, at least i am finding it hard right now, but definitely, to my ears, the songs had a bit of a different flavour to them, and i wont go so far as to say they were perhaps in an "experimental" mode, but maybe it was a little bit of "well, what about *this*, *here*.. " kinda thing.. if that makes any sense. who knows. the band was still very much in-sync with each other, we got our favourite keyboard solo, and i got to sing along with some great tunes that are becoming more and more familiar to me everyday. and, i always enjoy seeing a band try new things within their songs, whether or not they come off perfect everytime.. if you never try, you'll never discover the possibilities.

Black Crowes - 05.13.06, John Labatt Centre

alright, the big one! the black crowes, reunited once more and rocking canada coast to coast, making a saturday night stop in london, ontario, a mere 3 minutes away... my first opportunity to see them was foiled by a silly "of-age" law in early winter '99, so i was completely stoked for this. the JLC had the whole theatre vibe thing goin on, closing it up to 3000 people or so, and we had floor tickets so all was good. missed the openers, matt mays, but for there in time for the crowes to rock our faces off. and they did. with a big southern swampland wall of guitar sound and jammy gospel goodness. chris robinson could be the frontman of all frontmen, wailing away, dancing, clapping, in all his divine jamrock god glory... rich robinson, his brother, perhaps one of the most underrated, underappreciated guitar players in rock n roll grabbed my attention with his tasty southernfriend licks all night. marc ford, the other guitar player in the band got to show off his chops quite a bit as well, and you could tell there was no ego between the 2 guitar players... trading solos, giving away to each other when the time called, it was a great lesson in playing together. the band pulled out a bunch of their older hits including sting me, thick n thin, wiser time, a conspiracy, she talks to angels, remedy, and thorn in my pride, along with a couple choice covers, most notably, dylan's this wheel's on fire, to close out the encore. for me, the highlights of the night were remedy, which seemed a little sped up, she talks to angels, this wheels on fire, and thorn in my pride.. in fact, the jam leading into and the jam in the middle of thorn in my pride were the clear winners.. some seamless movement of music right there. i was super impressed with all their jamming all night.. they opened the night welcoming us to a night of music for heads, by heads, and they certainly delivered. and the next day, my head hurt a little.

after the show ended we took the party back to 175 dundas, and it was nice to entertain some out of towners for a little post-show come downer... scottie and his buddy paul got out the acoustics and treated us to a drunken little latenight rooftop set, highlighted by the soulful singing of mr. king and the smooth stylings of mr. aitken... a perfect way to cap off a sweet week of music in london rock city.

3 dollar chinese

old whiskey river

willie nelson kicked off his canadian tour last week at the john labatt centre here in london! holy shit! what the f??? willie!! WILLIE!!!

seriously...

we (brahm, rachelle, and i) decided to check the box office, night of, to see what we could get and take our chances.. showed up right near the end of the nitty gritty dirt band, needed 3 seats in a row, and hit the friggin jackpot! we were 3 rows up from the floor, perfect eye level, just off to the side of the stage on a great viewing angle - beautiful! all day when i was checking online all they had left were nosebleeds... just after we got to our seats a woman came by ranting about how her mother ordered tickets and was told she'd be in a great spot but, when they got there, they ended up way up in the rafters or something, and wouldnt you be disappointed if you came all the way from windsor and they stuck you way up there, i bet you would, she ordered these tickets for herself and i told her i would bring her, all the way from windsor, for her 81st birthday... well, wouldn't ya know, ma'am, we came from down the street 5 minutes ago and they stuck us right here. *shrugs*

great show overall, and man, i was impressed by willie - totally exceeded all my expectations. the pace of the show, the sound, loudness, i thought was great - the ease with which the band with each other.. trading off parts here and there, transitioning from songs.. it was great to see and hear. they opened with whiskey river and wound through a good 4 or 5 tunes before taking a break and addressing the crowd.. i was impressed with that. and willie's lead playing, i thought, was phenomenal the entire show. the man can play! and all on the acoustic all night, it sounded so nice.

i dont remember the setlist exactly, but i know he opened and closed with whiskey river. everything else you'd probably wanna hear was in there.. then he threw in some waylon, and hank.. then some more stuff you'd recognize but i dont know the name of. it was great.

willie nelson, baby.

tamarindo, costa rica: the pictorial

click here.

tamarindo, costa rica: the editorial

whoa.. it's already been a week since i returned from 10 days of beach, sun and hammock in Tamarindo... where has the time gone?? oh right... i've been working.. and... umm... exercising... or something... and all the while musing about how i might like to document my trip, in typed form, on this little piece of world wide web real estate.. i wrote a ton while i was down there, and have been taking ideas and themes from that, but in the end, here i am, typing away, with no real ideas... off the cuff we go...

so - tamarindo - hmm... well, they say a picture paints a thousand words, but i suppose you need the right picture. does the opposite hold true? can a bunch of words create a thousand pictures? sometimes, maybe. i'd ask you to close your eyes while i got it all out, but then, well, you wouldnt see anything on the screen... so, you're gonna have to do 2 things at once here.. like walking and chewing gum... i know some of you can do it - the rest, well, maybe time for a little evolution, hmm?

evolution is maybe where i should begin. the town has evolved, and continues to evolve more fully, into a haven, a paradise, for rich white people. from the way the land is being sold off and developed to the sizeable amount of tourists... someone told me it is the most touristy place in the country - not surprised. if you're one of those people who is looking to invest in a piece of land, tamarindo may be the place for you: you're hard pressed to go anywhere and not see a billboard for Century 21 or Re/Max. the boom is apparent as soon as you move 3 or 4 streets deep into the town - there is construction everywhere - future vacation palaces being built for a buck 50 an hour. i was taking some pictures one day of the moon through some trees, i happened to be in front of a construction site, and a local walking by asked me if i was "recording the destruction of tamarindo" - i got him. in talking to some locals, i realized how quickly this has happened. in talking to some others, i got the feeling that this has always been happening to them.

i am a white person. by no means would i say i am rich. but parts of me still felt guilty for feeding into something that i dont necessarily agree with. it was a little difficult for me to deal with for the first part of my trip while i got settled with where i was. i didnt stay at a resort. in fact the place i stayed was incredible and exactly what i would have hoped for - and i'd recommend it to anyone. in fact i will right now:

Casa Tamarindo, owned and operated by Kyle Zelley - a little property with a couple bungalows and a house and incredible rates for the area, with a great host, and a perfect location, given you're far enough away to avoid the noise and craziness of the nightlife, but also close enough that you can jump right into it, or onto the beach, with a short 3 minute walk down the street.

the town itself really panders to the tourist. cool - makes it real easy. but sometimes, its a little much: such as showing up for a brazilian music night at a restaurant, and yes, granted there was a brazilian on stage, however the songs he was singing were far from brazilian. not even the same hemisphere. the food was good, though.

actually, the best places i found to eat were the ones that weren't pandering to the tourist... the best food, feel, and prices came from the most authentic.

there is lots to do, if you have the cash and the right number of people to do it with. otherwise, the beach is beautiful and the hammock's are comfortable. and sometimes, for some people, thats all you need. i certainly got my fair share of relaxing in - so much so that i started to get bored. i guess it is possible to relax too much.

left the town one day, we rented some scooters and went on a little adventure, which was a lot of fun... took backroads to Avellanas on Easter Thursday. it was neat to see parts of their "countryside" - is that what you'd call it? i guess for lack of a better expression.. and for me, the most intriguing part about it was seeing some of the little villages and housing.. i wish i got more pictures than i did, but we took a different way back and missed a lot of that. basically, a lot of shacks, or poorly constructed dwellings, but hell if they didnt have their own little charm! thats probably when i felt most connected to where i was - exploring and seeing that side of it.

i mentioned Easter Thursday. i wasnt even thinking of this when i planned the trip, but it happened to fall right into their Easter Fiesta celebrations... and they take that shit SERIOUSLY! i guess everything around the country shuts down from Thursday on, but being in a resort town, we didnt feel that crunch at all. well, they did stop selling alcohol until saturday, but that was it, really. so, Easter is a big deal... thats when all the Tico's come to town and take over - and good on 'em! but good lord, do these people party! you know, i've partied once or twice in my life, but even i felt out of my element amongst them. when we ventured down to the circle on good friday night to check out the scene it was like out a movie with all the people bumpin' and grindin' on the streets, in the backs of pick-ups, drugs and alcohol everywhere you turned - mayhem is about the only way to describe it. mucho mayhem. after a few trips through the crowds and deciding it was all too much for me, i decided to regroup on a log on the beach, where i ended up hanging out with a gay costa rican who wanted to fuck my brains out. it wasnt all that bad, he was actually cool to hang out and talk with, and given my state of mind at the time, i thought it was rather funny that this was happening to me - of course it couldnt have been a sexy beach bunny - c'mon! he likened my name to Scott Paper Towels with a remark about kimberley-clarke (talk about attention to detail!), and i told him he'd always think of me when he wiped his ass. i later found out they dont do that down there (it's a luxury for the tourists, apparently), which made me even more glad that i didnt get raped. they're forward as hell, though: i had to tell him "no" more times than i was comfortable with before i bolted. i might not have stuck around as long as i did, but like i said, alcohol sales stopped on thursday, and well, he had some beers for me... the aftermath the next day is something to see, as well... drunks sleeping in beach offices, crackheads down the way sprawled out, chewing their faces out, lotsa litter, the whole deal. interesting to see and experience, though.

the rest of my experience there basically consisted of lounging on the beach, or lounging in the hammock, and eating... like i said, a ton of relaxing. i got about 200 pages into Another Roadside Attraction and wrote a shitload. day 3 i got burned so bad on the tops of my feet that i could barely walk for 2 days. my head, too - it bubbled up and eventually started leaking and peeling in a most sexy manner. settle down, ladies....

i'd say, though, on the whole, i learned more than a few lessons on that trip. i think i learned some things about myself, and the way i feel. i learned a bit about the culture, though i really do with they showed their identities more. and i learned a little spanish along the way, too, but dont ask me to speak any... most of it is likely forgotten by now....

one of my best memories of the trip will be the spanish lesson i received from a 47 year old woman whom i met at dinner my first night in town - somehow in her broken english and my non-existent spanish i agreed to meet her for a morning swim, that surely would have killed me had i gone through with it, and turned into a vocabularly lesson in the pacific ocean. not a bad welcome to the mighty pacific.

my other favourite memories spawn from the thoughts and feelings i had within myself during my times hanging out at on the rocks at langosta point, watching the sunrise, sunset, and moonset... my walks on the beach puffin' cubans, and the little interactions i had with the locals, getting a feel for the way they live, and the way they feel... and also from the people i met while travelling, whether by shuttle bus or plane, or hangin' in the airport.

overall, i cant say this was a bad trip at all. certainly it had its ups and downs, but on the whole, it was really good for me. i think i got most of what i needed out of it, and the rest, well, its a good excuse to go back, right?

stay tuned for the pictorial, coming soon.....

blowfly

thursday night, brahm and i went to check out blowfly at call the office. a pioneer of rap/hip hop, the man claims to have recorded the first rap album ever, in 1959. he was hip hop before it was even dreamed up, so i was curious about this gig.

going into it, i knew very little, but i knew i was in for some serious raunch, and likely some funky music. i could certainly deal with that.

we get there and we're among 20 or 30 people or so in the bar. ouch. sat through the opener, a rapper from new york city who's name i couldnt make out anytime he said it. he didnt have a DJ, so he was alone on stage rappin' over an audiotrack to about a dozen people or so.. he seemed a little perturbed by the sparse turnout, but quite honestly, who had ever heard of the guy? he wasnt advertised, and in the end he was mostly boring.

has anyone ever noticed how standard and cliche hip hop mannerisms are? they all do the same thing. they all walk the same, use their hands and arms the same - it's like a code, and you cant break it. where's the creativity in style? compare that with rock n roll, and you got windmills, strutter steps, laid back slinky guitar playing, rock ninja kicks, swagger, all kinds of creative body language. i dunno, just an observation.

so, enter blowfly: a 60 yr. old crackhead in a superhero outfit and a mask with a generic white boy funk back up band, rappin' about dirtier things than have ever entered my head. brahm likened him to a extra raunchy hiphop weird al yankovic. not a bad take. for example, instead of queen's another bites the dust, we got treated to blowfly's version, a song about young girls called "another one learns to fuck". so you get the idea. add to that a few drunken dudes at the front "masturbating" their beers until they "splashed" all over each others faces, and you've got yourself one weird fucking scene at call the office.

im not even sure what else i can say about it. it was just a night of filthy listening in a vastly empty bar. the novelty wore off after a few tunes, but i guess it was entertaining for a night out. 3 girls in the crowd and they were picked on quite a bit, but were good sports about it - even eggin' him on here and there.

i guess at the very least i can say i've seen blowfly - whatever that means.

thank you, canon!

last night i got to see my first NBA game, live and in person, as a guest of canon canada in their private box at the air canada center. mountains of food, rivers of booze, a great view of the game, and a great group of guys to be hangin' with - one of my fellow henry's managers hooked this up with our canon rep and about 8 or so of us, along with our staff development crew of 2, and a "warehouse guy" went along to live it up for a night, get shitfaced, and see the raps lose.

once we had everyone in tow, the headcount in the caravan stood at 8. with a combined weight of Lord Only Knows, but i'll say this: half of the guys in the van were 4 of the biggest dudes i know. im the smallest of the crew and somehow i lucked out with shotgun. sorry bout your luck in the back, boys - hilarious ride up.

got there and walked into a cozy little suite all decked out with sushi trays, cheese platters, and someone waiting to take my order. i ate so much i had to go puke to make room for the rest of the rye and beer. if you're in a gut wrenching situation and there is ice cream involved, you can take comfort in the fact that cherry garcia ice cream bars taste about half as good coming up as they do going down - not bad. FYI. keep that in your back pocket. i think the ribs were the clear winner on the night, though. meat just driiiiiiiiiiiiiiiipping off the bone. aaaahhhhhhhggglgglllrrrrssshhhhhhhhooohhhhhhhhyeah. .

the game itself was pretty good, i thought. bosh was out with the sprained thumb, alonzo was out for the heat, and shaq wasnt dressed. but mo'pete stole the show and played an amazing game - unfortunately it wasnt enough, as dwayne wade lead the charge for the heat and put 'em to bed late in the 4th. the raps played a great game and at times lead by 15, only to run out of steam in the end. they started taking it to the outside way too much as the game wore on and they werent having much success - but they were having great success on the inside for most of the game. oh well, 98-94 finish for the heat, and an exciting game right down to the last basket (which was an over/under deal breaker for some of our crew - someone owes someone some chicken wings, i think. in the "$11 range").

and lemme tell ya, fellas out there, the scenery at a basketball game is unreal. all i've gotta say about that is "smirnoff". scanning the crowd and other boxes with the binos was a lot of fun. saw chewie from london sitting a few rows below us, that was hilarious - nice to chat with him... and, as luck would have it, we also spotted pretty much all of our bosses and head office folk about a dozen or so boxes away from ours - so much for keepin' our little boys night out a secret. hahah. funny scenarios all over the place all night.

the bill at the end of the night was ridiculous - glad that wasnt my credit card. we gave a hundred dollar pizza to a homeless guy on the street instead of change. probably the biggest score he's ever gotten.

cant wait for the retreat.

unintended in london

no, not a witty slogan for my time spent here in this city. this week i had intended on attending the unintended at call the office. the show was last nite, and indeed i did.

my cronies along for the ride: scottie, brahm, darin and erin.

the unintended are The Sadies with Rick White (Eric's Trip / Elevator fame) and Greg Keelor (of Blue Rodeo fame).

canadian rock n roll at it's ugliest and most pyschadelic. they ploughed through most of their only release to date, a self-titled album that was born on keelor's farm in the winter of 2003, and mixed in some newer tunes and some ridiculous covers for the encore. it was obvious to me that Dallas Good is the pyschadelia in the band, while Keelor is the man keepin' it heady... the grin never left his face all night... due to rock n roll or hashish, i dont know, but i'll take it either way. i've seen Keelor twice before on larger stages, so it was great to see him in a club setting like this. also, having seen the sadies before, it was a real treat to see them show off some of their more grittier skills. at times, the 4 guitar assault was mind bending and ear piercing, but very welcome... throw dallas on the organ, close your eyes and drift... put keelor on the 2nd kit, and the double drum attack had me thinking back to my grateful dead collection, reminiscing of a sweet '68 Eleven jam. right on! i cant offer a setlist, but i can tell you my favourite of the night was Stay Calm - a super heady subway that winds it way through a snowy forest and reminds us to stay calm in the cold... yes.. will do... thank you. i think it was The Collapse that closed the set and that was an absolute monster - massive jam to finish the show in a big way, or rather, to set up for an even bigger encore... they came out and launched into a raucous version of neil young's Are You Ready For The Country, then followed that up with 2 successive tracks from pink floyd's Pipers At The Gates of Dawn.... are you kidding me??? the most EPIC of encores!

this was a real treat to see this little canadian supergroup, especially in a little club 3 minutes away... show was sparsely attended, maybe 40 or 50 people, and as usual, we missed the opening act, Andre Ethier of the Deadly Snakes... which is too bad cuz i really wanted to see that, and darin said he was real good. shit.

all in all, a great show, and im real glad i was one of the few lucky londoners who got to take this in. looking forward to more future unintended related musical goodness - if they're ever in your neck of the woods, dont miss 'em.

happy birthday mom

i know as i've gotten older and started to build my own life i may not call or come around often enough, but that doesnt mean im not always thinking about you.

you're one of my biggest inspirations in life, and a true survivor in every sense of the word. to be the person you are with all you've endured in life is absolutely amazing and gives me hope for my genes.

love you, mom.

may you always be 39.

the boys are gettin' stinko

today has been a very good day.

happy st. patrick's day.

thought for the day...

asspants.

if you're going to wear asspants, it might be a good idea to make sure they fit first. not only will this help to ensure that you can walk straight throughout the day, you'll also likely be more comfortable, as will those in your general vicinity.

thank you.

what am i for?

if not to lie among the palms?

montreal > buffalo

phew, it's been a good week! 2 little road trips, 2 slip shows, lotsa good times...

only in montreal....

so healy and i got to montreal last wednesday night, and turns out carpenter was still at work, so we chilled out with his roommate, got settled, watched school of rock, saved the rental from getting towed, searched for a parking spot, cursed the city like the devil when we couldnt find one, and eventually, about a half hour and 2 and a half blocks later parked the car and made our way back for the rest of school of rock and the imminent arrival of our host, the fish himself. carp found us shortly after midnight and we spent the rest of the night catching up and getting drunk

next morning/afternoon found us having breakfast at chez cora's and good lord what a breakfast it was! so good we went back the next day as well. in fact, all i ate in montreal was breakfast. and a slice of pizza.


breakfast is over. healy's not happy.

we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxin' at carp's place gettin' ready for the slip show at the main hall. it was gonna be a doozie, i'd been waiting for this for a while... very excited! it was gonna be healy's first slip show as well. Needless to say, his slip cherry got fucking smashed. we took the metro uptown for a good 40 minutes and hit up this really cool place, whose name is escaping me at the moment, i should write this shit down, but anyways, it was a wicked little bar with cool lighting and seating and whatnot, great vibe, very bohemian.. anyways, we had a drink there then headed on up to the show in time for most of apollo sunshine's opening set.

met brad outside on the way into the show and he told us they still had about an hour to go, which was good, we had time to get some drinks, get our bearings, and catch the openers... and good thing - apollo sunshine were a great treat, and an awesome new music find for me. wow, they really got my attention. i bought the cd, then it got stolen. so i bought it again in buffalo. it's really really good. i think if i had to describe them, and to keep with the breakfast theme, i'd call them a meaty rock 'n'roll breakfast skillett. it had everything. madness to ukelele duets. great rock melody to all out noise assault. 3 guys and great to watch live, as well. so after them came the big show, the one we were in town for: the slip.

i guess this was really their own first big show in their new hometown, and they came out swinging! they put on a great show with a setlist packed full of pretty much all of my favourite new songs - not much in the back catalogue, but no big deal to me, i like their rock n roll quite a bit. brad's voice was sounding really good on this night, and marc was a man possessed, playing rock star on a dime - man, he is so fun to watch when he's layin' it down. andrew shone as always, and he got a chance to showcase his vocal talents as well, for a verse in sleepyhead.


The Slip
Main Hall, Montreal QC
03.02.06

Even Rats
Wine & White Soda
I Hate Love
Sleepyhead
Paper Birds >
Mudslide
Lonely Boy
Children Of December

encore:
Soft Machine*
If One Of Us Should Fall

encore 2:
Poor Boy

*w/ simon angel - introduced as brad's neighbour

my favourites on the night were soft machine, i hate love, and paper birds > mudslide - ohhhh, that was awesome!! sleepyhead was really fun to hear, as well, as it's been a bit of an anthem of mine for a little while now... and of course, the even rats opener had to happen - the spring is nice is canada.

lotsa friends from all over the place made the trip up, and the party afterwards was a lot of fun - back at the econolodge with team ottawa representin' a dozen or so strong, very nice indeed! new brunswick even made an appearance! haha! great times all over the place and we eventually cabbed outta there around 5 or so in the morning.. montreal looked great from the back of the cab in the pre-dawn not quite black... buildings nicely lit, gorgeous architecture.. whatta trip... one of the best parts of the whole adventure. once back at the fishtank we chilled for a bit, passed out, and it wasnt long before morning came and we had to think about getting back on the road for the monster trek back home.

not before we got some breakfast though. where we got the brilliant idea to go bowling before leaving the city - leave with some dirty montreal alley grease under our fingernails.


one lane, one game, to settle an old score.


that's right. (cue 70's badass bowler theme music..)

it'd been a while since the doc and i had been on a lane together, and this was pretty much reminiscient of old times - us sucking it up for the most part. after 6, we were tied.



but it wasnt long before the doc put me in the proverbial camel clutch and locked in for the win..


Doctor 1 - Dio 0 - the fish very respectable. i wish we coulda had him on the team.

we only paid for one game, but the doc upped the ante... he wanted to have another go at it... so, we had at it...


that's right.


so, with that, back on the road to london, and what a drive it was... man, i was so tired. but we did it, pulled in town ultra late, and i grabbed a couple hours sleep before work... had to work the weekend and most of monday, then it was on the road again....

next stop: buffalo!

monday night the slip were playing the icon in buffalo, so i made sure i was gonna check that out... it's not often they play that close to home, and i didnt care that it was a monday night. went out with craig and sari and shain was there as well, writing for jambase - i did some photos as well, but most of them were shit. we had a bit of a border stop, they didnt trust us good little canadians, and that held us up long enough to miss apollo sunshine, which was a real drag cause i was lookin' forward to that, but, we did get there in plenty of time for the slip. and they put on another rockin' show filled with some nice improv, some big rock, and a couple older crowd pleasers.

The Slip
The Icon - Buffalo, NY
03.06.06

Sleepyhead
Wine and White Soda
Even Rats
I Hate Love*
Get Me With Fuji
As Long As There's One Of Us Standing
new marc tune (mostly instrumental)
Cowboy Up*
December's Children

encore:
Before You Were Born
Take A Beetle To The Badlands

* w/ a guy on keys from Sam Champion - forget his name

the new marc tune is 'mostly' instrumental in the same way Proud is - with Brad bringing in some big vocals at the end of the tune.. but it winds its way through a few changes and keeps picking up steam as it goes... it was like a weird train, that doesnt necessarily chug along, but more or less kinda clamours and fights its way through.. i really liked it.

bit of a strange venue... i guess it was like a car garage turned into a rock bar - kinda cold and cavernous... maybe 50 people at the show, really light on the attendace, which played to a weak kind of energy in the room.. i thought the band did well to overcome that, but there still seemed to be a bit of apprehension in the crowd. still a solid monday night out in buffalo - the show was over by midnight.

im really glad i got to get to both of these shows this past week - the soul got rocked to satisfaction, and i got my slip fix for the next little while.

thought for the day...

sometimes it's nice to greet people with a standing ovation.

Even Rats

just click and listen.

rise and shine sleepyhead

rise and shine sleepyhead
up and at 'em
outta bed
the day is new
love's been lookin' for you
rub your eyes
ya got somethin' to do
you're a miracle, boy


i've been sleeping.
but i've been listening. constantly. to these:

surprise me, mr. davis - 11.23.05
ryan adams bedhead 5 live compilation

nathan moore and ryan adams do wonders for my soul.


(above lyrics by nathan moore)

the flu.

well, it finally caught up to me - months of resistance are now proving futile, and it's making me pay dearly.

sweating buckets while shivering.
enormous coughs that dont do anything to move the cue-ball sized ball of phlegm in my chest cavity, which oddly enough feels absolutely hollow with each cage rattling hack.
diarrhea.
sinus' pounding.
energy low.
and aching bones and muscles that make it nearly impossible to stay in any one position for a prolonged period of time.

put a fork in me.

at least i've got Lord Lionel to watch over me.

gospel. voodoo. bunk.

said thorgnor.

the constantines are a damn good rock n roll band. heavy in the tradition of fugazi - fuzzy, raspy, loud, political, intelligent - and homegrown. i believe they call guelph home, though i'm pretty sure a couple of the guys are from right here in sunny london, ontario.

they played call the office on friday night, sold the place out, and put on another great rock show in that bar - man, i love their energy. although i've been a fan for quite a long time, i never got a chance to see them until last august, the last time they played the orfice - that show was mostly a showcase for the new record, as most of the tunes from that night appeared on the album when it came out... friday was no different, lots of new stuff, but no Draw Us Lines, the lead track on the new album - which i really wanted hear - however, i did get to hear Justice, a favourite of mine from their first album, that they didnt play last time. see, i guess all things balance out.. haha..

i wish i remembered more, but we had a bit of a rager back here afterwards, plus it was 2 days ago - im toast. Team London had a full roster for the night, queen mary of toronto made an appearance, a bunch of folks from the bar that i dont know and might never see again, and a couple guys from the cons. a long night indeed. i dont even wanna get into the debauchery, but i think it was some kinda gospel voodoo bunk shit.





(9:30am, saturday morning - the results.)

the bus stops here

yesterday, tough yardage running back extraordinaire jerome bettis, one of the games greatest and most respected, fulfilled every kid's dream who ever played a sport: to win your sports world championship in your hometown in your final game ever. wow. i was a baseball player when i was growing up, and at one time in my life i tricked myself ino thinking i might be able to take it somewhere (kids....), and believe me, that was my dream. so i can only imagine how that man must be feeling. on top of the frickin' world!

congrats to the bus and his pittsburgh steelers!

scottie threw the superbowl party so we watched the biggest sporting extravaganza* in north america over at his place (*i'll come back to this). 2 screens, i brought my projector and we had that on one wall, and then the tv in the living room as well... and the little guy in the kitchen so you wouldnt miss anything when you went to get a beer. played some tiger, played some madden, watched the game, ate and drank a shitload, and had a great time! woke up this morning and paid for it dearly. crazy heartburn to wake me up, and my morning shit was marred by all the cheese bunging me up long enough for the chili to sear my colon. jesus hubert christ. the chicken wing dip won the prize for sure. however, there were no chicken wings involved.

so im gonna go back to the "biggest sporting extravaganza", and i wanna type about something i was thinking about yesterday when al michaels went on about the sheer size of the thing and basically what it is to america - it is quite a celebration. the biggest. and really, of all the major's (nfl, nhl, nba, mlb), the superbowl is the newest of all the major titles. so i made some comparisons and drew up some parallels that kinda got my noodle goin'. i thought if this game is america's new past time, let's look at it against america's old past time, baseball. football vs. baseball, nfl vs. mlb, world series vs. super bowl, whatever. and let's look at western culture and social values, or rather, how the culture might be perceived, then and now.

im a baseball man. i love the game, i played it growing up, i wish i still could, and in fact i just might again. as a kid i was always fascinated with the lore.. the history of the game is incredible. i loved reading books about old-time baseball, or reading my total baseball encyclopedia pushing stats through my head for fucking fun. watching ball talk videos, you name it. baseball held a certain respect that got my attention at a young age. baseball had a feeling. and it was looked upon as a gentlemans game, tough and competitive, but with a certain civility. and that aspect, i think, was part of the celebration of that game at that time - it was a certain pride, a standard the game was to be upheld to. it was the game - respect it. now, the baseball timeline im using for this analogy is old time baseball, say, loosely, up to the halfway point of the 20th century. (in real baseball historical timelines i'd say that extends a couple era's beyond old time baseball, but thats not really the point here...)

all that said, i love me a good football game as well. i also played organized football as a kid, and grew up with a certain fascination for that game. my dad was a green bay packers fan. i can tell you that, but i couldnt tell you what his favourite baseball team was. vince lombardi was his man. so naturally, my fascination had more to do with the history of the super bowl than the game itself. but, really, the super bowl is the game. the super bowl has become the most celebrated sporting event on this continent. america goes apeshit for it. hell, so does canada! moreso than our own grey cup event! 4 hour pre-game shows, star studded events, the half-time show, all of it - the whole deal is incredible - and we all eat it up. but its really the sport that is being celebrated... and the sport itself is mean as hell. in the last 40 years the sport has risen to unprecedented heights. it's tough, it's rough, and its our favourite. the trash talking, the cockiness, the badass gangster attitude of the sport is where the love now lies. the special segment from last nights superbowl was about the a guy who was arguably the meanest, hardest hitter the game has ever known. and as this sports popularity has increased and become dominant, baseball has gone the other route.

it's quite a contrast.

then i started thinking about our culture, my own perceptions, history classes, history books (though, who's to say what our future history books will look like - depends on who's in charge, i suppose), various topical studies, culture studies, social/political, etc etc. and when i go back in time, to my old time baseball era, i see a culture that had heroes. real heroes. people to be proud of. class. some of them were in uniform, many of them were overseas, some of them even wore suits. i see a culture that, in some ways, could have been seen as a hero itself. i feel like the people held themselves to a higher standard, a better respect. there's something about that time in our history that lines up very nicely with baseball at that time.
i thought of us now and football now, and the progression through time, the evolution of a species socially, (un)ethically, and the changes that have occurred, the people in charge, and the eras that have come in between to get us from there to here. and here feels kinda filthy. it doesnt smell so good. there is nothing sacred. and man, there is a ton of smut. corruption, greed, and people with little respect for anything runnin’ the show. then we look back at the nfl - the players that get the most airtime, the ones setting the example, are the ones who are the most disrespectful, the greediest, the most arrogant. you have the minnesota vikings throwing sex parties on boats, and panthers cheerleaders gettin' it on in bar washrooms, and hey, fine and dandy, that's cool and all, you do what you like, but man, there is a ton of smut! who's thinking of the children? you've got hold out players, juice monkey's, showboats, etc etc... there's an attitude that surrounds the game and it’s not so different than the attitude today's western culture is perceived to have, the world over. and the future doesnt look too bright.

so with all this on my mind, i watched the bus pull into detroit, put it in park, and turn off the lights. and with that, the game lost one of its greatest role models. and it couldnt have come at a worse time.

the kids need heroes.

campbell's martini party

my buddy mark and his roommates threw a martini party the other night at their place, and wow, big party! 2 in a week like that, and man, i wasnt sure if i could do it! im gettin' old! i only knew, literally, a few people there, and it was definitely a university party, and though im not so far removed from that and certainly no stranger to the party, at times it was still a little strange for me in a bit of a nostalgic kinda way, remembering back to my good ole college days partyin' it up with all my good people... it's an interesting perspective being an outsider... and kinda weird not really having an answer when someone asks what im doing in school. hahah... but yeah, good times, in ways made me miss a lot of people, in others, made me feel real good about where life is now and where it's headed... a good reminder that although the faces and places may change, good times and good people are just that.. nostalgia aside, plough on - the good times dont end if you dont let 'em.

[spoon] all i need is a crew...

l - r: mark, box, myself, erin

erin and some dudes...



one that can stay on cue...



one that can act as if..



uh-huh, alright... [/spoon]


(pictures courtesy of the lovely lady in the hat)