barack obama - yes we can.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Thursday, January 31, 2008
reason #138 i love living in ottawa....
... skating on the canal in the afternoon, then stopping for some backbacon on a bun and a steaming cup of maple syrup and boiled water, while a middle aged troubador butchers neil young songs.
all just steps from my apartment.
all just steps from my apartment.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
nero reunion shows 2008
two epic nights of monstrous music courtesy of nero, and the annual pilgrimage to ottawa for the phamily reunion made for one ridiculous weekend for the record books.
so much could be said about these shows, but you should really listen to them for yourself:
night one
night two
my highlights were..
- the opening intro leading into breakline to kickoff night one
- that nasty stuff dave started pullin' off in the middle of darius
- all the heavy shit
- everlasting beautiful night - a great song that totally reminds me of my other favourite trio
- both of the choice cover tunes, especially the Time and Breathe (reprise) to close out the 2nd set on night 2
- actually, the entire 2nd set on night 2 - it was like bombs exploding in my brains.
its pretty amazing to me how well these guys pull it off playing only once a year, obviously with minimal rehearsel time - somehow they manage to keep it fresh, and push some new and different directions, and that takes a lot of guts. makes one wonder what the evolution could have been had they kept playing all this time.
i tell ya, there's not much better than losing yourself in one of their jams only to open your eyes, look up, and see dave really goin' for it, the punk thumpin' it out, and jay's big smile as he's holding the groove down. then you look around and see the faces of everyone else in the room, and you can feel everyone in the room feeling the same thing... pretty awesome.
steve played the role of 40 main (r.i.p.) both nights post show, and i was pretty surprised at how well that all went off, too - its a pretty important thing for the nero phamily to have a place to reconnect with each other, its a really unique thing thats been built around this band. we were happy to provide a venue for that and were completely impressed with how respectful everyone was - cant wait for next year!
so much could be said about these shows, but you should really listen to them for yourself:
night one
night two
my highlights were..
- the opening intro leading into breakline to kickoff night one
- that nasty stuff dave started pullin' off in the middle of darius
- all the heavy shit
- everlasting beautiful night - a great song that totally reminds me of my other favourite trio
- both of the choice cover tunes, especially the Time and Breathe (reprise) to close out the 2nd set on night 2
- actually, the entire 2nd set on night 2 - it was like bombs exploding in my brains.
its pretty amazing to me how well these guys pull it off playing only once a year, obviously with minimal rehearsel time - somehow they manage to keep it fresh, and push some new and different directions, and that takes a lot of guts. makes one wonder what the evolution could have been had they kept playing all this time.
i tell ya, there's not much better than losing yourself in one of their jams only to open your eyes, look up, and see dave really goin' for it, the punk thumpin' it out, and jay's big smile as he's holding the groove down. then you look around and see the faces of everyone else in the room, and you can feel everyone in the room feeling the same thing... pretty awesome.
steve played the role of 40 main (r.i.p.) both nights post show, and i was pretty surprised at how well that all went off, too - its a pretty important thing for the nero phamily to have a place to reconnect with each other, its a really unique thing thats been built around this band. we were happy to provide a venue for that and were completely impressed with how respectful everyone was - cant wait for next year!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Sunday, December 02, 2007
ball talk
baseball's annual winter meetings begin tomorrow morning in nashville and im in the mood to talk a little baseball... with healy in korea and me living with 2 females now, i dont get to talk a lot of ball these days, so im gonna use this as a bit of an outlet...
first, with all the big news pretty much already non-news (torre to the dodgers, a-rod back to the yanks, hunter to the angels), and the free agent pool sporting a sign that reads "NO DIVING IN THE SHALLOW END!!", it seems all the good action this winter will be coming in the form of trades.. and with some top quality players on small market teams heading into their free agent/arbitration years, you can bet there's gonna be at least a couple big moves.
a message for wayne krivsky
as far as my cincinnati reds go, i like what they've done so far getting dusty and signing cordero, and i think we're in a great position and with one or 2 more key moves we could be set up to compete for a long while. you listening, wayne? we could have the next big red machine on our hands here, its up to you not to fuck it up. you do, and we could be screwed for another half decade. i say go with the youth movement. phillips, hamilton, votto, cantu, encarnacion, bruce.. this is the makings of a tough, powerful, young line-up. what does that mean? good-bye dunn, freel, hatteberg, griffey.. hello pitching. a package including some of those guys should net them a bonafide #3 starter to compliment harang and arroyo, and sit in front of homer bailey who should blossom over the next few years in the 4 spot. i think freel and dunn have to go to make room for the younger outfielders (hamilton, bruce, possibly hopper, sometimes votto)... yes, freel can play the infield, too, but with encarnacion, phillips, cantu, gonzalez and keppinger already taking up 3 spots, where's he gonna play? he's too injury prone, and lets face it, balls out and fun to watch, sure, but he doesnt hit like any of those aforementioned players... and with the reds recent pitching history, they need all the runs they can get. a line-up like this gives the team a lot of depth and flexibility because so many of these guys can switch up positions. votto lf/1b, cantu 1b/2b, keppinger 3b/ss, etc.. over a long 162 game season the ability to keep players fresh would really show its dividends. dunn and hatteberg might be attractive trade options for teams looking for solid left handed hitting, but i might consider hanging onto griffey. he's a hometown guy who's just shy of 600 homeruns - he's still the draw in cincinnati, and as long as this team is losing they need to find ways to put bums in seats anyway they can.. and not only that, i'd imagine he'd be a great mentor for the younger outfielders coming up. his contract is up at the end of this season anyways, so you can look to the mariners when they're making their play-off push around the trade deadline. he should have already hit the milestone and sold the tickets, so give him a chance for a ring if we're not in the hunt as well. truthfully, though, i think we're still a couple maturing years away. so far, i like what we've done with the bullpen, and im really hoping they've targeted livan hernandez as an innings-eating #3 starter.. a soft-tosser who's pitched 200+ innings every full-season he's pitched in the bigs, except 1 where he pitched 199 2/3's innings. this is something they need to give that bullpen some rest - especially in a #3 slot, where it can give some key guys a day off before you get down to your 4 and 5 starters, where you typically know you have to rely on your relievers more. having shored up the closer role by signing cordero, they move weathers back to his more natural set-up role and have burton there as well adding depth to the late innings. the back of house is lookin' good, and if bray, majewski, and/or livingston start to pan like they're supposed to, and coffey regains form, they've got a fairly solid foundation in the pen. the reds bullpen has endured some painful years recently, but these guys are young, and i think with the hardknock experience and now the added confidence in the end of game scenario, you'll see a different pitching staff next season. if we can keep our young line-up intact, possibly move dunn/freel/hatteberg/maybe gonzalez/maybe griffey later on, and get a decent #3, some experienced and proven bullpen help, and/or pull of a hernandez-like signing, i think this team could be set for great things for the next 5 years, and start to make a real push within the next 2. if we lose the opportunity on some of these guys, or trade away too much of our youth, i think we can kiss our asses goodbye for a good long while. its already been 17 years, dont fuck this up, krivsky.
whew.. ok.. done with that..
so, the real biggest news, now that a-fraud has slipped the pinstripes back on, is who the next big yankee acquisition will be - and what it will take to get him. johan santana. for possibly, the previously untouchable phil hughes, coupled with melky cabrera and a tba. if im the twins, its a go. if im the yanks, im obviously doing it, but i think im pretty stupid. santana is 29 and coming off a not-so-santana like year. whats this penchant the yankees have with signing players on the downswing? im not saying santana is done, not by any means, but shit, hughes is 21. twenty-one. and dynamite. i think cashman would be wise to remember the names maddux, smoltz, and glavine and what they meant to someone else's organization, and think what the names chamberlain, hughes and kennedy could mean to his. there is fear, obviously, of the red sox landing him, and part of the prestige is having the current, albeit arguable, "best pitcher in the game", wearing pinstripes. they open a new billion dollar stadium in 2009, they have the next home run king playing 3rd. they are the new york yankees. of course they are going to get johan santana. when will they ever learn?
of course, there's still the possibility that the sox could pull off a deal - they're said to have put previously untouchable ellsbury into the mix, a key element for the twins who've just lost star centerfielder torii hunter to the angels. how could anyone possibly deal with a rotation that consisted of beckett, santana, dice-k, an emerging clay bucholz or jon lester (whoever the twins dont get in the deal), and an aging curt shilling and tim wakefield? no thank-you.
the consolation prize could very well be dan haren, at a slightly lesser cost, which, in my opinion, in the long run, may be the way to go anyhow. again, you gain a few years on a pitcher going into his prime years, rather than about to be exiting his prime years, and you likely get to hang on to something. other teams said to be in the mix for these guys are the mets, dodgers, and angels, but i wouldnt say any of them have the bargaining chips that the yanks or sox do.
another blockbuster deal that could be made involves the bat of miguel cabrera... the marlins looking to unload a contract for young talent, and more than a few teams looking for a power bat at the corner infield, especially with the a-rod sweepstakes over so quickly. apparently the marlins are asking for quite a lot, so its possible a deal may not get done, but again, you gotta expect he'll be going to a larger market who can pay him for quite a while... either of the los angeles teams, is my best guess.
i also wouldnt be surprised to see the orioles dangle bedard and tejada once the santana's, haren's and cabrera's have been plucked and teams are looking for final pieces.
the free agent class is lacking punch this winter, but the bigger stories will likely be which owners overpaid for which remaining centerfielder... rowand, jones, or cameron... somewhere, someone's going to get screwed, i guarantee it. i think even with the weak free agent class, there'll be enough signings and movements through trade to make for an interesting re-shuffling of the deck next season, but i think the real stories at the end of the year, as usual, will be which teams stayed true to their systems and built from within using what they had to fill key holes, as opposed to just blowing a wad of cash on a bunch of numbers accumulated elsewhere.
with that, im sayin' go reds, and screw the yanks! come on, wayne, let us hear it one more time... "... and this one belongs to the reds!"
- r.i.p. joe nuxhall
first, with all the big news pretty much already non-news (torre to the dodgers, a-rod back to the yanks, hunter to the angels), and the free agent pool sporting a sign that reads "NO DIVING IN THE SHALLOW END!!", it seems all the good action this winter will be coming in the form of trades.. and with some top quality players on small market teams heading into their free agent/arbitration years, you can bet there's gonna be at least a couple big moves.
a message for wayne krivsky
as far as my cincinnati reds go, i like what they've done so far getting dusty and signing cordero, and i think we're in a great position and with one or 2 more key moves we could be set up to compete for a long while. you listening, wayne? we could have the next big red machine on our hands here, its up to you not to fuck it up. you do, and we could be screwed for another half decade. i say go with the youth movement. phillips, hamilton, votto, cantu, encarnacion, bruce.. this is the makings of a tough, powerful, young line-up. what does that mean? good-bye dunn, freel, hatteberg, griffey.. hello pitching. a package including some of those guys should net them a bonafide #3 starter to compliment harang and arroyo, and sit in front of homer bailey who should blossom over the next few years in the 4 spot. i think freel and dunn have to go to make room for the younger outfielders (hamilton, bruce, possibly hopper, sometimes votto)... yes, freel can play the infield, too, but with encarnacion, phillips, cantu, gonzalez and keppinger already taking up 3 spots, where's he gonna play? he's too injury prone, and lets face it, balls out and fun to watch, sure, but he doesnt hit like any of those aforementioned players... and with the reds recent pitching history, they need all the runs they can get. a line-up like this gives the team a lot of depth and flexibility because so many of these guys can switch up positions. votto lf/1b, cantu 1b/2b, keppinger 3b/ss, etc.. over a long 162 game season the ability to keep players fresh would really show its dividends. dunn and hatteberg might be attractive trade options for teams looking for solid left handed hitting, but i might consider hanging onto griffey. he's a hometown guy who's just shy of 600 homeruns - he's still the draw in cincinnati, and as long as this team is losing they need to find ways to put bums in seats anyway they can.. and not only that, i'd imagine he'd be a great mentor for the younger outfielders coming up. his contract is up at the end of this season anyways, so you can look to the mariners when they're making their play-off push around the trade deadline. he should have already hit the milestone and sold the tickets, so give him a chance for a ring if we're not in the hunt as well. truthfully, though, i think we're still a couple maturing years away. so far, i like what we've done with the bullpen, and im really hoping they've targeted livan hernandez as an innings-eating #3 starter.. a soft-tosser who's pitched 200+ innings every full-season he's pitched in the bigs, except 1 where he pitched 199 2/3's innings. this is something they need to give that bullpen some rest - especially in a #3 slot, where it can give some key guys a day off before you get down to your 4 and 5 starters, where you typically know you have to rely on your relievers more. having shored up the closer role by signing cordero, they move weathers back to his more natural set-up role and have burton there as well adding depth to the late innings. the back of house is lookin' good, and if bray, majewski, and/or livingston start to pan like they're supposed to, and coffey regains form, they've got a fairly solid foundation in the pen. the reds bullpen has endured some painful years recently, but these guys are young, and i think with the hardknock experience and now the added confidence in the end of game scenario, you'll see a different pitching staff next season. if we can keep our young line-up intact, possibly move dunn/freel/hatteberg/maybe gonzalez/maybe griffey later on, and get a decent #3, some experienced and proven bullpen help, and/or pull of a hernandez-like signing, i think this team could be set for great things for the next 5 years, and start to make a real push within the next 2. if we lose the opportunity on some of these guys, or trade away too much of our youth, i think we can kiss our asses goodbye for a good long while. its already been 17 years, dont fuck this up, krivsky.
whew.. ok.. done with that..
so, the real biggest news, now that a-fraud has slipped the pinstripes back on, is who the next big yankee acquisition will be - and what it will take to get him. johan santana. for possibly, the previously untouchable phil hughes, coupled with melky cabrera and a tba. if im the twins, its a go. if im the yanks, im obviously doing it, but i think im pretty stupid. santana is 29 and coming off a not-so-santana like year. whats this penchant the yankees have with signing players on the downswing? im not saying santana is done, not by any means, but shit, hughes is 21. twenty-one. and dynamite. i think cashman would be wise to remember the names maddux, smoltz, and glavine and what they meant to someone else's organization, and think what the names chamberlain, hughes and kennedy could mean to his. there is fear, obviously, of the red sox landing him, and part of the prestige is having the current, albeit arguable, "best pitcher in the game", wearing pinstripes. they open a new billion dollar stadium in 2009, they have the next home run king playing 3rd. they are the new york yankees. of course they are going to get johan santana. when will they ever learn?
of course, there's still the possibility that the sox could pull off a deal - they're said to have put previously untouchable ellsbury into the mix, a key element for the twins who've just lost star centerfielder torii hunter to the angels. how could anyone possibly deal with a rotation that consisted of beckett, santana, dice-k, an emerging clay bucholz or jon lester (whoever the twins dont get in the deal), and an aging curt shilling and tim wakefield? no thank-you.
the consolation prize could very well be dan haren, at a slightly lesser cost, which, in my opinion, in the long run, may be the way to go anyhow. again, you gain a few years on a pitcher going into his prime years, rather than about to be exiting his prime years, and you likely get to hang on to something. other teams said to be in the mix for these guys are the mets, dodgers, and angels, but i wouldnt say any of them have the bargaining chips that the yanks or sox do.
another blockbuster deal that could be made involves the bat of miguel cabrera... the marlins looking to unload a contract for young talent, and more than a few teams looking for a power bat at the corner infield, especially with the a-rod sweepstakes over so quickly. apparently the marlins are asking for quite a lot, so its possible a deal may not get done, but again, you gotta expect he'll be going to a larger market who can pay him for quite a while... either of the los angeles teams, is my best guess.
i also wouldnt be surprised to see the orioles dangle bedard and tejada once the santana's, haren's and cabrera's have been plucked and teams are looking for final pieces.
the free agent class is lacking punch this winter, but the bigger stories will likely be which owners overpaid for which remaining centerfielder... rowand, jones, or cameron... somewhere, someone's going to get screwed, i guarantee it. i think even with the weak free agent class, there'll be enough signings and movements through trade to make for an interesting re-shuffling of the deck next season, but i think the real stories at the end of the year, as usual, will be which teams stayed true to their systems and built from within using what they had to fill key holes, as opposed to just blowing a wad of cash on a bunch of numbers accumulated elsewhere.
with that, im sayin' go reds, and screw the yanks! come on, wayne, let us hear it one more time... "... and this one belongs to the reds!"
- r.i.p. joe nuxhall
Monday, November 26, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
oh, there you are....
thought i forgot about you, eh? nahhhhhhhhhhhh... its just, you know, some things came up... lets see... there was the month of october... then i moved again... made some coffee, and here we are.
october was blurry as hell... lots of bus rides back and forth from the boonies to downtown, some wicked rock n roll, a thanksgiving for the ages, and a halloween i would be wise to always keep in mind.
how 'bout a rocktoberfest rundown... i'll see if i can remember all that i saw...
eric's trip, grand theft bus, torngat, plants and animals/the acorn/elliot brood, bruce springsteen and the e-street band, jimmy swift band, ween, and the golden dogs. was also supposed to see voxtrot, but that got cancelled, do make say think sold out, and i bailed on shout out out out out and a few others... if anything, that month was too much!
at the beginning of november, i moved back across the river to ontario... aylmer, as nice as it is, just wasnt my scene. too slow, too quiet, too far away. but, it did have a nice beach and a cheap depanneur, so it wasnt a total bust. im now living with 2 girlfriends in a big place downtown, which also includes a studio space, sort of just off elgin in what they call "the golden triangle". i can walk just about anywhere now, and the buses are a lot more reasonable, when necessary. its perfect so far, and could potentially be one of the better living situations i've found myself in.
so thats where we are now... novembers winding down and things are settling in... the cold might be on its way, but im feeling pretty warm about things these days. its about time.
october was blurry as hell... lots of bus rides back and forth from the boonies to downtown, some wicked rock n roll, a thanksgiving for the ages, and a halloween i would be wise to always keep in mind.
how 'bout a rocktoberfest rundown... i'll see if i can remember all that i saw...
eric's trip, grand theft bus, torngat, plants and animals/the acorn/elliot brood, bruce springsteen and the e-street band, jimmy swift band, ween, and the golden dogs. was also supposed to see voxtrot, but that got cancelled, do make say think sold out, and i bailed on shout out out out out and a few others... if anything, that month was too much!
at the beginning of november, i moved back across the river to ontario... aylmer, as nice as it is, just wasnt my scene. too slow, too quiet, too far away. but, it did have a nice beach and a cheap depanneur, so it wasnt a total bust. im now living with 2 girlfriends in a big place downtown, which also includes a studio space, sort of just off elgin in what they call "the golden triangle". i can walk just about anywhere now, and the buses are a lot more reasonable, when necessary. its perfect so far, and could potentially be one of the better living situations i've found myself in.
so thats where we are now... novembers winding down and things are settling in... the cold might be on its way, but im feeling pretty warm about things these days. its about time.
Friday, October 05, 2007
Thursday, October 04, 2007
chicagoholgapanoramic
on a team scott mission to chicago a couple years ago, i fucked up a roll of film in the holga - but put together and viewed as one long piece, i think it ended up turning out kinda cool. click on the image for a larger view:
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
who likes the slow jamz?
ween's releasing a new album soon, and the last song on it may be the best slow jam ever written.. this chorus is gonna stick in your head for weeks:
we had the best time at your party
the wife and i
thank you very much.
check it out: 'your party' download.
we had the best time at your party
the wife and i
thank you very much.
check it out: 'your party' download.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Ryan Adams and The Cardinals, Sept. 19/07, Theatre St. Denis, Montreal
well, i only got 1 song from my mental list of tunes i wanted to hear (cold roses), but that didnt matter at all, this show was absolutely stellar, top to bottom. got in around 8:30, missed the first couple tunes, but still got a full 2 hours out of him.. was a little nervous when they left the stage at 9:27, but the 3 encores amounting to another hour or so more than made up for it. not only do i think they were just having a ton of fun up there, part of me thinks they burned through a lot of songs fairly quickly and just realized how early it still was each time they got backstage. mockingbird almost felt like it was in double time, and dear chicago also felt a little sped up.. i actually felt that way about a bunch of the tunes in general, though things like easy plateau, i see monsters, and magnolia mountain were jammed out. setlist looked like this:
1. Please Do Not Let Me Go
2. Peaceful Valley
3. Beautiful Sorta
4. Wildflowers
5. Off Broadway
6. Dear John
7. Goodnight Rose
8. Blue Hotel
9. Mockingbird
10.Magnolia Mountain
11.Shakedown on 9th Street
12.I See Monsters
encore I:
13.SYLVIA PLATH (solo piano)
14.Sweet Lil' Gal (solo piano)
15.Rescue Blues
16.Dear Chicago
17.Cold Roses
18.Games
encore II:
19.Nightbirds
20.Goodnight Hollywood Boulevard
encore III:
21.Easy Plateau
highlights:
first, the atmosphere. really dark and subdued, sometimes you could hardly see the dudes on stage... the big curtain behind them was lit up with tons of small lights that kinda looked like stars, and there was a massive disco ball.. totally enhanced the headiness, and the band definitely plays to that as they got pretty pyschadelic at times.
the cardinals in general totally knocked my socks off.. what a tight tight band!! and such a sweet smooth sound, those guys can certainly play and they're definitely well tuned to each other. the harmonies they were creating, as well, were out of this world. such depth, at times the harmonies were as pyschadelic as the playing. dear john blew me away, and the end of easy plateau, where they kept repeating "heeeeeaaaaaaaad.. heeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaad.. etc etc.." was great, too, not only because of how good it sounded but for its borderline comedic effect for how long it went on for. ryan, on his own, has some of the most incredible vocals... so clean, so crisp and straight from the heart. soul-baring. i was really amazed at how great he sounded, considering he had the flu/fever this week - you'd never guess he even had it in the past year!
the banter was pretty good, too, some good self deprecating humour (ryan "captain reasonable" adams).. and the summoning of the "god's of fret action" before starting up games with a big "oh, fuckin right!" - fuckin right, indeed!
as for the tunage, well, damn, whats to say after looking at that setlist.. so good.. a little surprised that we only got 2 songs from the new album, but the biggest surprise was probably the Sylvia Plath! where did that come from?!?! i loved all the piano tunes.. sylvia, sweet lil gal, rescue blues, nightbirds... sweet lil gal had me tearing up a little.. ok, maybe a little more than a little... made me miss my dog - i had found out a couple hours before the show that our family dog had passed away that afternoon, and that was one of the tunes where she came wandering through my mind. magnolia mountain was a little "birdsong-esque" in the middle, the closing easy plateau jam was awesome, and the chords coming out of the jam in the middle of cold roses, before they sang the last part, it sounded like ryan had cranked it up to 11 - i just leaned back and loved it!
all in all, i was really impressed with the show - the band was stellar, ryan's vocals were awesome, they all seemed to be in a great mood, and it didnt look like ryan was ever gonna pull the plug on this one. hell, when they came back for the 3rd encore, the lights were on, the music was on, and half the people were leaving. the guy sitting behind me was pretty funny, though - everytime someone yelled something out, he got a little nervous... "ooohhh shit.. oh shit!", to big nervous breaths and sighs.. hilarious. ryan musta been in a pretty good mood, though, some of my friends ended up meeting him and the band when they were having their post-show meal and they got him to pose for a picture with them.. i totally regret not going down the street with them. next time...
steph w/ r.adams and the cardinals
negman, kat, and crystal w/ a golden god.
none of these pictures are mine. i stole them from my friends. :)
the rest of the day in montreal was pretty awesome, too.. after checking out a couple record shops we wandered into this park o' crazies, where we were entertained by the family tree flag guy, the birdman, a group of scavenger hunters, a dude riding around in circles on his bike with headphones on *singing* nonsensicly very loudly, mr. manboobs across the way, and 2 drunk girls with 5 teeth between them who needed their beers opened, then proceeded to tiptoe around the park hiding from the cops. fucking awesome. also got to hang out with the carpenter for a few hours before the show, and that was absolutely tops - been far too long since i'd seen the fish.
here's the birdman yelling at the fountain before summoning the birds.
gettin' wasted with the carp, pre-show.
rock'n'roll. what a show.
1. Please Do Not Let Me Go
2. Peaceful Valley
3. Beautiful Sorta
4. Wildflowers
5. Off Broadway
6. Dear John
7. Goodnight Rose
8. Blue Hotel
9. Mockingbird
10.Magnolia Mountain
11.Shakedown on 9th Street
12.I See Monsters
encore I:
13.SYLVIA PLATH (solo piano)
14.Sweet Lil' Gal (solo piano)
15.Rescue Blues
16.Dear Chicago
17.Cold Roses
18.Games
encore II:
19.Nightbirds
20.Goodnight Hollywood Boulevard
encore III:
21.Easy Plateau
highlights:
first, the atmosphere. really dark and subdued, sometimes you could hardly see the dudes on stage... the big curtain behind them was lit up with tons of small lights that kinda looked like stars, and there was a massive disco ball.. totally enhanced the headiness, and the band definitely plays to that as they got pretty pyschadelic at times.
the cardinals in general totally knocked my socks off.. what a tight tight band!! and such a sweet smooth sound, those guys can certainly play and they're definitely well tuned to each other. the harmonies they were creating, as well, were out of this world. such depth, at times the harmonies were as pyschadelic as the playing. dear john blew me away, and the end of easy plateau, where they kept repeating "heeeeeaaaaaaaad.. heeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaad.. etc etc.." was great, too, not only because of how good it sounded but for its borderline comedic effect for how long it went on for. ryan, on his own, has some of the most incredible vocals... so clean, so crisp and straight from the heart. soul-baring. i was really amazed at how great he sounded, considering he had the flu/fever this week - you'd never guess he even had it in the past year!
the banter was pretty good, too, some good self deprecating humour (ryan "captain reasonable" adams).. and the summoning of the "god's of fret action" before starting up games with a big "oh, fuckin right!" - fuckin right, indeed!
as for the tunage, well, damn, whats to say after looking at that setlist.. so good.. a little surprised that we only got 2 songs from the new album, but the biggest surprise was probably the Sylvia Plath! where did that come from?!?! i loved all the piano tunes.. sylvia, sweet lil gal, rescue blues, nightbirds... sweet lil gal had me tearing up a little.. ok, maybe a little more than a little... made me miss my dog - i had found out a couple hours before the show that our family dog had passed away that afternoon, and that was one of the tunes where she came wandering through my mind. magnolia mountain was a little "birdsong-esque" in the middle, the closing easy plateau jam was awesome, and the chords coming out of the jam in the middle of cold roses, before they sang the last part, it sounded like ryan had cranked it up to 11 - i just leaned back and loved it!
all in all, i was really impressed with the show - the band was stellar, ryan's vocals were awesome, they all seemed to be in a great mood, and it didnt look like ryan was ever gonna pull the plug on this one. hell, when they came back for the 3rd encore, the lights were on, the music was on, and half the people were leaving. the guy sitting behind me was pretty funny, though - everytime someone yelled something out, he got a little nervous... "ooohhh shit.. oh shit!", to big nervous breaths and sighs.. hilarious. ryan musta been in a pretty good mood, though, some of my friends ended up meeting him and the band when they were having their post-show meal and they got him to pose for a picture with them.. i totally regret not going down the street with them. next time...
steph w/ r.adams and the cardinals
negman, kat, and crystal w/ a golden god.
none of these pictures are mine. i stole them from my friends. :)
the rest of the day in montreal was pretty awesome, too.. after checking out a couple record shops we wandered into this park o' crazies, where we were entertained by the family tree flag guy, the birdman, a group of scavenger hunters, a dude riding around in circles on his bike with headphones on *singing* nonsensicly very loudly, mr. manboobs across the way, and 2 drunk girls with 5 teeth between them who needed their beers opened, then proceeded to tiptoe around the park hiding from the cops. fucking awesome. also got to hang out with the carpenter for a few hours before the show, and that was absolutely tops - been far too long since i'd seen the fish.
here's the birdman yelling at the fountain before summoning the birds.
gettin' wasted with the carp, pre-show.
rock'n'roll. what a show.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
meanwhile...
.. as the continent is happily distracted by britney, its looking as though more new shit is going down in the usa, as we roll over the 6th anniversary of "9/11".
the us air force has been ordered a complete stand-down for september 14th, meaning on friday the united states will have zero air defences. remember what happened last time they were on stand-down? yep.
so, why the stand-down? well, see, its so everyone can be on the ground in order to review safety procedures and protocol. why would they need to do that? well, see, someone accidentally shipped 6 nukes across the country on a b-52 bomber.
link.
another link.
first of all, i think its crazy to think that nukes can just "accidentally" get moved around like this. that's just naive. this has been planned by very high level people and something is going on.
why would they order a complete stand-down of 100,000 active-duty airmen when they just made an announcement warning of new high impact al-qaida attacks? link. just after the release of the new "bin laden" video? does it not seem weird?
well, the conspiracy nut in me thinks its just getting weirder...
there's been some recent stock market activity that is eerily similar to the activity that took place in the weeks leading up to 9/11. basically, *someone* is betting close to 2 billion dollars that the stock market is going to collapse before september 21. how? perhaps a "terrorist attack". or maybe the u.s. is about to bomb iran, which would send oil prices skyrocketing, and likely cut off much of the world oil supply, which would kill their dollar. there is also speculation that china is going to dump u.s. currency, which would be a massive move on a world economic scale. this link has a lot of information about that, but if you're up on the financial technical jargon and whatnot, check this thread out.
then there are some weird israeli connections... such as an israeli terrorism and security website (debka.com) stating at the top of their page that from sept. 11th, reporting will be limited to special security events, returning to regular programming on sept. 18th.
a little closer to home, there's something else that makes this a little more worrisome. there were talks about it at montebello, and its been in the works since 2005. The North American Union.
what would it take to get that ball rolling? well, 9/11 worked so well for the patriot act, how bout another mass attack? maybe this time, a little bigger. (what was that again about the nukes?). it would allow the opportunity for the president to declare marshall law and pave the way for the amalgamation of the continent under security purposes. come to think of it, an economic collapse would also pave the way for the amalgamation for global economic reasons. so, either way...
it really feels to me like something big and completely fucked is happening soon. it just all adds up. with the iraq report coming up due, a new bin laden tape, the cia warning of coming attacks, nukes being moved around the country, options being sold on the stock market predicting a collapse... then you have the political climate in the u.s. to factor in, pre-election posturing, etc... hey, why did tony snow, white house press secretary, announce his resignation effective sept. 14th? what does everyone seem to know about the days we're heading into? and why isnt anyone talking about it?
i cant even imagine what might be up... well, i can, and it makes me sick... if something goes down in the next 10 days, i really hope people finally start looking on the inside and we finally get some truth in this world. its getting to be a little much.
happy 9/11.
the us air force has been ordered a complete stand-down for september 14th, meaning on friday the united states will have zero air defences. remember what happened last time they were on stand-down? yep.
so, why the stand-down? well, see, its so everyone can be on the ground in order to review safety procedures and protocol. why would they need to do that? well, see, someone accidentally shipped 6 nukes across the country on a b-52 bomber.
link.
another link.
first of all, i think its crazy to think that nukes can just "accidentally" get moved around like this. that's just naive. this has been planned by very high level people and something is going on.
why would they order a complete stand-down of 100,000 active-duty airmen when they just made an announcement warning of new high impact al-qaida attacks? link. just after the release of the new "bin laden" video? does it not seem weird?
well, the conspiracy nut in me thinks its just getting weirder...
there's been some recent stock market activity that is eerily similar to the activity that took place in the weeks leading up to 9/11. basically, *someone* is betting close to 2 billion dollars that the stock market is going to collapse before september 21. how? perhaps a "terrorist attack". or maybe the u.s. is about to bomb iran, which would send oil prices skyrocketing, and likely cut off much of the world oil supply, which would kill their dollar. there is also speculation that china is going to dump u.s. currency, which would be a massive move on a world economic scale. this link has a lot of information about that, but if you're up on the financial technical jargon and whatnot, check this thread out.
then there are some weird israeli connections... such as an israeli terrorism and security website (debka.com) stating at the top of their page that from sept. 11th, reporting will be limited to special security events, returning to regular programming on sept. 18th.
a little closer to home, there's something else that makes this a little more worrisome. there were talks about it at montebello, and its been in the works since 2005. The North American Union.
what would it take to get that ball rolling? well, 9/11 worked so well for the patriot act, how bout another mass attack? maybe this time, a little bigger. (what was that again about the nukes?). it would allow the opportunity for the president to declare marshall law and pave the way for the amalgamation of the continent under security purposes. come to think of it, an economic collapse would also pave the way for the amalgamation for global economic reasons. so, either way...
it really feels to me like something big and completely fucked is happening soon. it just all adds up. with the iraq report coming up due, a new bin laden tape, the cia warning of coming attacks, nukes being moved around the country, options being sold on the stock market predicting a collapse... then you have the political climate in the u.s. to factor in, pre-election posturing, etc... hey, why did tony snow, white house press secretary, announce his resignation effective sept. 14th? what does everyone seem to know about the days we're heading into? and why isnt anyone talking about it?
i cant even imagine what might be up... well, i can, and it makes me sick... if something goes down in the next 10 days, i really hope people finally start looking on the inside and we finally get some truth in this world. its getting to be a little much.
happy 9/11.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Miller Time
"The cancer of time is eating us away. Our heroes have killed themselves, or are killing themselves. The hero, then, is not Time, but Timelessness. We must get in step, a lock step, towards the prison of death. There is no escape. The weather will not change."
"Human beings make a strange fauna and flora. From a distance they appear negligble; close-up they are apt to appear ugly and malicious. More than anything they need to be surrounded with sufficient space - space even more than time."
from the first and last pages (respectively), of Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller, first published in 1934. next time you're at the library, or browsing a bookstore, it's worth sticking your nose into.
"Human beings make a strange fauna and flora. From a distance they appear negligble; close-up they are apt to appear ugly and malicious. More than anything they need to be surrounded with sufficient space - space even more than time."
from the first and last pages (respectively), of Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller, first published in 1934. next time you're at the library, or browsing a bookstore, it's worth sticking your nose into.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Thursday, August 16, 2007
i think i've found my calling
well, i think i've decided i'd be best applied at a "think tank". thinking seems to be what i do best, i put a lot of effort into it. and i can think with the best of 'em, about anything, and with a great deal of stamina. a real thinking man's thinker. world class. so, if you've stumbled upon this and you happen to be part of a think tank, or know someone, or know of a think tank looking for new thinkers, dont even give it another thought - let me do it for you. im ready to think... i think.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
atlantic city
well now, everything dies, baby, thats a fact
but maybe everything that dies someday comes back
put your hair up nice
fix yourself up pretty
and meet me tonight in atlantic city
- bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce
here's 3 versions for your afternoon listenining pleasure...
i. the original
ii. a live version with the seeger sessions band
iii. covered by hank williams III on the nebraska tribute
this link will self destruct in 7 days.
but maybe everything that dies someday comes back
put your hair up nice
fix yourself up pretty
and meet me tonight in atlantic city
- bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce
here's 3 versions for your afternoon listenining pleasure...
i. the original
ii. a live version with the seeger sessions band
iii. covered by hank williams III on the nebraska tribute
this link will self destruct in 7 days.
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