slayer day

I am spending today listening to the music of Slayer. www.nationaldayofslayer.org

Itunes single of the week 09-05-25

Polly Scattergood's I Hate the Way is has attracted a lot of hate. The description of the track on Itunes does Polly no favours in comparing her to the like of Amy Winehouse and Kate Bush. This track while having fairly clever cryptic lyrics is lacking in energy and passion. I think the two star average rating is about double what I would give it.

Friend Feed

As is often the case I have gotten myself caught up in the excitement of a new product or service and jumped into it headfirst, only to find out I am not nearly ready for it. The concept of friend feed and twitter appeal to me. Simpler (at least in theory ways of sharing information with friends or like minded individuals. But figuring out how to navigate through these unfamiliar landscapes seems to be a bit more than I am up for these days.

itunes single of the week 09-05-24

Grizzly Bear's song cheerleader seems to have really divided up the reviewers on Itunes. The sparse minimal lo-fi sound has a lot of fans and a lot of detractors. A haunting children's choir sound in the background adds the mysterious atmosphere. I found the more I listened to it the more I liked it. Looks like most aren't giving it that much of a chance though...

much a twitter about nothing?

I am getting increasingly interested in participating in twitter, friend feed and perhaps other forms of social networking. This Week in technology podcasts feature many lively conversation on these emerging media. The relative merits, conflicts and potential interaction between these different but potentially harmonious platforms is a simultaneously exciting and frustrating. It is fascinating that Lance Armstrong would decide to bypass official media and just send his statements out into Twitter. I would rather hear directly from Lance than through the mass media's filters. I find the whole concept of press conferences absurd. We don't need to assemble a rag tag collection of know it alls in one particular room to get statements anymore. In another twitter news http://mashable.com reports that rumours of an official twitter show are untrue. It actually is hard for me to imagine, but hey if more high profile people like the most successful cyclist of all time make it their main communication locus it might become a necessity.

the new media

Having just bought a new IPOD touch that has both a lot more space and wifi access I am able to download a lot more podcasts. Its been exciting and overwhelming to explore the amazing diversity of information out there. I have long been a fan of the CBC (the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) and have downloaded a of material from there. I have also discovered another Canadian institution - Amber Macarthur, who hosts many great podcasts, as well as old fashioned media events as well. Amber and Leo Laporte are involved with several events with a several projects titled This Week in Tech with the whimsical TWIT acronym (which I love). There is a wonderful warm free flowing vibe to the broadcasts that I have heard. The TWIT podcasts feel like a socratic dialogue rather than a one way authoritarian feed. Something else that struck me is the way that advertising is worked in. In early days of mass communication sponsor announcements were ingrained with regular programming. Leo who has a talk radio background makes all the content including advertising seem like a fun conversation.

Star Trek movie review

I fall somewhere between the hardcore trekies (or trekers as many perfer to be called) and the haters who have no time at all for the pollyanna-ish vision of the future. One of my earliest memories is of being dragged downtown to see Star Trek the motion picture (doing research it would have happened in 1979). I have followed some of the various incarnations of the show with various levels of intensity over the years. So here we are 30 years later and the franchise has come full circle. When I first heard the premise of this feature movie I was indifferent. The more recent incarnations of Star Trek appeal much more to me. However word from friends, the blogsphere and mainstream media reviews seemed to indicate that this was actually one of the better offerings out in this summer so far. So I tagged along with a couple of friends and saw this latest offering. Overall I found it to be an enjoyable movie. For a hollywood science fiction movie it's fairly well written, executed and performed. Those with a more sophisticated palate may find it hard to overlook the holes in the flimsy storyline and the fact that the extremely improbable way the same small group of characters keep colliding into each other. Overall though it is an entertaining and optimistic collection of eye candy that doesn't take itself too seriously.

Christian Bok reading at the tulip festival

Sound poet Christian Bok, came to the Mirror tent of the Tulip festival in Ottawa. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_bok . Christian seems to like taking on mascochistic projects. Eunoia is Christian's most successful project to date and was the main focus of the reading. Euonia - apparently the shortest word in the English language to contain all the main vowels. In his book titled Eunoia, Christian composed several poems that were composed only with words containing a single vowel. Christian also performed other of his own works as well the work of other avant garde writers. I first became aware of Christian Bok from an interview on the CBC program Q. Q host Jian Ghomeshi, interviewed Christian after Eunoia became the best selling book of poetry in Britain. javascript:void(0)A remarkable achievement for such an arcane work.

Itunes single of the week 09-05-11

K'Naan's Bang Bang, has garnered an incredible amount of praise on Itunes customer reviews. A quick scan through yielded very few less than positive reviews - interestingly one of which still awarded five stars. I agree with many of the reviewers that this is a very fresh sounding track, the melodies, pace, rhythm, and phrasing change up. The lyrics are incredibly clever, fun and well composed and equally well delivered. I give it four and a half stars...

Itunes single of the week 09-05-04

Cage the elephant - Ain't No rest for the Wicked is a great track. A gritty folk feel with a lot of attitude. One reviewer on Itunes described it as having a Beck meets Kid Rock feel which is pretty apt. The reviews are mostly positive reflected in the 4 star average ranking. Personally I would give it 5. The clever lyrics and roots slide guitar make this the most memorable track I can recall on Itunes single of the week. I am keeping my eye on this band.

the start of festival season in Ottawa

Well the Ottawa International Festival spring edition is wrapped up. Like so many of Ottawa's festivals it continues to be an overwhelming success. This year the Ottawa Writer's festival was held in St Brigid's a deconsecrated church. Seeing as several of the events were to big for the biggest room at the previous location. Neil Wilson quipped this was a match made in heaven. The Tulip Festival is already going on, and soon enough The Chamberfest, Bluesfest, Jazzfest, Reggaefest and Folkfest will arrive before the summer is over. Even after the summer is over, Ottawa will have the Ottawa International Animation festival in September. If you can check out as many of these as you can.

Michael Ignatieff @ Writersfest

Over 800 people swarmed around St Brigids community centre in the Byward Market. At the Ottawa International Writers Festival, the leader of the official opposition was there to read from his recent book. He read an excerpt from the book True Patriot Love, had a discussion with CBC Radio host Adriene Harewood and signed copies of his book. This converted church was brimming with enthusiasm. As someone who has been a professional writer Iggy (as he is often called) is articulate. Currently ahead of Steven Harper in public opinion polls, Iggy is very likely to become the next Prime Minister of Canada. The Ottawa International Book Festival continues to constantly delight and amaze me. The current stream of the book festival continues until May 2nd 2009.

Itunes single of the week 09-04-15

One Track Mind (featuring Joel Plaskett) by Classified. Seeing Joel Plaskett's name attached to this track certainly caught my eye. This is not a rock project however it is rap. It is a track with a lot of "real" instruments thrown in but the vocal aproach is certainly delivered in the "MC" hip hop style. A few reviewers have compared the lyrical delivery to Eminem, and this comparison is not without merit. Most reviews about this funky pretty energetic song and with fun lyrics are positive. This track got an average rating of three and a half stars, I would give it about the same.

The Net at the GCTC

The Net by Marcel-Romain Theriault runs by Apr 14 to May 3 (2009). It is a tragedy set in fishing village in New Brunswick. Like all Great Canadian Theatre Company productions, it has a small cast - this one small even by GCTC standards only 3 actors. The length is also relatively short - a one and a half stretch with no intermission. Within this play many issues are explored like loyalty, poverty, politics, economics, corruption, traditions, violence. Inspired by real incedents in New Brunswick a few years ago, tt is a gritty ride. Having said that, the well chosen dialogue does contain some humourous moments as well. It was a play that I would like to see again.

Itunes single of the week Apr 6 2009

Band of Skulls track "I Know what I am" is a rocking tune, high energy, fun lyrics, good beat, I like it a lot. The reviews on Itunes are positive for the most part. It got an average rating of 3 and 1/2 stars. Some comparisons to the White Stripes and Franz Ferdinand, I can see the later but not the former.

cube gallery vernissage

Gallery owner Don Monet (yes that is his real name) decided to have the launch for the most recent Cube Gallery exhibition. Water opened Sunday April 12th, with a meet the artists reception and live music. The exhibition shows a diverse collection of works, mostly paintings with themes of water. Some of the works were traditional landscapes, some of it realistically rendered images. Others were abstract or expressionist, there were sculptures and what appeared to be found objects as well. More information is available on the cube gallery web site. Noticing several copies of Sky News magazine around, I picked up a copy, Don Monet invited me to keep the copy in my hand and pointed out that advert for a future exhibition. . On a sad note I walked by the Parkdale Gallery - located just around the corner from Cube and although the sign is still up the the building appears to be emptied out.

The Spades @ Gracies east 09/04/09

Being a big fan of Beaus brewery when I found out that they were having a launch of a fresh batch of beer I got excited. I attended a similar event in December last year at The Elmvale Tavern. The beer was great as always. Locally made organic www.beaus.ca for more info if you are interested. The Spades were a pretty diverse band. When seeing a band playing unfamiliar material its hard to keep track of things. One of the songs that they introduced was called "Joints and cigarettes" it had a great laid back funky feel. Another song that seemed to be called "apple of my eye" had a southern fried feel. Others had Dick Dale energetic surf guitar feel. The Spades are a very talented band that I would like to see again.

the changing landscape of intellectual property

Intellectual property has long been an interest of mine. The CBC program Spark, recently had a very good program on the topic. Amongst the things you can here is an interview with a musician in Isriel who mashed up some individual youtube clips to make a new original collaberative piece of music. If you are interested you can hear the episode at www.cbc.ca/spark the episode in question is episode 73. Although I think all of the episodes are interesting. North Young host of Spake points out that intellectual property is becoming more and more of an issue for more and more people. What is logged about uploaded to sites such as Flier or youtube are now potential areas for conflict of ownership.

We Are the Same Tragically Hip album reviewed

Well I have given it a few listens, it is bit mellower than I personally would prefer. Most of the tracks featuring lush melodies and harmonies rather than rocking riffs that I have come to expect from them. However I will say that their lyrics are as clever and cryptic as ever. I should say that several of the tracks are pretty rocking from Queen of Furrows (the 8th track on the CD) the energy level really picks up. Speed River and Frozen In My Tracks (tracks 9 and 10 respectively also have some good dynamics. Love Is A First (track 11) has already been released to Rock radio for airplay a good choice powerful and experimental it is my favourite. The Final song Country Day (Track12) closes the album on lighter note again. Perhaps I misheard what was said by Gord Downie during the Cineplex broadcast the other day. I thought that he said Jim Bryson was joining the band, I thought that perhaps some of the melodic passages on this album might be his work, however I searched throughout the album notes and found no mention of Jim Bryoson. Early reviews on www.Itunes.com show some disapointment with the lighter more melodic sound. As of the writing of this entry Itunes has not compiled an average user rating with the five star system. Speaking of Itunes, I could have sworn that I saw something in the credits during the Cineplex broadcaste on April 6th that said an extra track was available on the Itunes version. I found no reference to such a track on Itunes. I also saw mention of a limited edition package including a special crate and tshirt CD bundle. No mention of that on www.HMV.ca UPDATE the most recent icon for the the We Are the Same download on Itunes mentions an exclusive track. I don't have any information on it, lest I get some attention like Roger Friedman. The average rating on Itunes seems to be four stars.

tragically hip album release event

After hearing about this event it struck me as as surprising that this kind of thing isn't done more often. This evening Ciniplex sold tickets to watch a broadcast celebrating the release of We Are The Same, the latest release by the Tragically Hip. For 25.25 you got admission to the broadcast as well as a copy of We Are The Same. I have no complaints about the broadcast at least. The production qualities were great, the sound and visuals were superb, clear and sharp. George Stroumbuolopoulous made a great host, asking good questions, some his own some sent in by us the audience members. Contact information was shown on the screen to send questions and requests by email, test message and Twitter. The event started with George walking us into the house that has served as the recording studio for the Hip and introducing us to the band as well as some of the behind the scenes crew. Props to local boy Jim Bryson, who has been added to the band adding a lot of texture on keyboards. In my younger years I remember attending many an album release party, a practice that has all but disapeared in recent years. It was highly inspired to combine interviews, performance and albums sales broadcast live in HD. This was a memorable evening and I would certainly be willing to attend future events like it for other artists.

Itunes single of the week 09-03-30

I decided to write a review of the current free single of the week from Itunes. I generally don't pay that much attention to the little reviews on the Itunes site. Thunderheist's Jerk It, apparently is offered up apparently not a very new track. Thunderheist is an electonica duo and they release catchy pop songs. While far from an expert on this kind of music I have ventured into enough raves to know that this is a well rounded and polished accessible track. The tempo and rhythms are well varied and the lyrics saucy and catchy. I would say that this is one of the better tracks I have heard of this kind of music.

Metallica

Metallica somehow always manages to be a big marker in my life, going way back into the 1980s when I taped the Hit the lights, off of Chez106. This weekend, Metallica are officially being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of fame and tickets went on sale for the Ottawa date of their concert tour. I spent a lot of this morning trying to order tickets. The web site seemed to have frozen right away, an unfortunately all too common occurence on Capitaltickets' site. I eventually got through on the telephone and seem to have secured two seats in the 300 level.

trying mobile system

so this is my first post on new PDA, typing on this system is taking some getting used too. I hope that eventually I am writing regularly - hopefully with this system. I am actually adding to this entry after the fact on a laptop. This is a much more comfortable system to type with. I am reminded of a phrase I read somewhere a long time ago (I forget where unfortunately): "Tools do not equal talent" I do hope that this new tool does help me share my talent but should not expect it to be able to create In time I hope to be comfortable enough on the pocket sized PDA to do entries like this. Perhaps I could start with regular TWEETS on TWITTER. I do have a TWITTER account setup but thus far haven't used it at all.

hockey country

Just as the Ottawa Senators plummet to their worst showing in over 12 years, Ottawa is hosting two different world class tournaments. The World Juniour Hockey Tournament is in Ottawa this year and the Bell Capital Cup which is an annual event here. Despite the floundering state of the Sens (having lost 13 of 14 recent games). Detriot (or Motown) claimed the term Hockeytown, in recent years there has been an attempt to brand Ottawa (or O-town) as Hockeycountry. For this period with all this action going on it does seem to live up to that billing. I only took in one game - team USA vs Kazahkstan) and found it an entertaining game despite the lopsided score. Kazahkstan was the favored team that night and droves of people cheered them on. Impressively many had Kazahkstan merchandise like flags and shirts - which I don't think were onsale on site. Some of these fans came dressed up as Borat (for those who don't know the fictional character portraying a very satirical and innaccurate portrayal of the country). In any event yesterday team Canada, clinched a finals spot by beating Russia in an overtime shootout. It looks likely Canada will land its 5th straight gold medal in this tournament here in Hockeycountry.