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| A Heart in my Hole |
| 10.26.05 (8:31 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
http://sneakinout.blogspot.com/" title="http://sneakinout.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"http://sneakinout.blogspot.co...
I wake up. I wake up for the second time today and I'm late, but it doesn't matter and I don't care. The sun sends its most powerful and well-trained rays screaming through space, the atmosphere, my window to deliver a hot and blinding reverse spin kick directly to my jaw, knocking me off my drool-stained pillow and I welcome it.
In the shower I transform the tiniest piece of soap into huge, undulating blankets of lather, because this is my ‘Special Ability’, and I'm listening to Triumph because that's the kind of day i'm going to have.
I spit on pigeons from my balcony in-between heaping spoonfuls of my second bowl of Awesome Flakes, surveying my little slice of urbania, my Bastion of Ignorance.
Then I part the elevator doors, like Moses halving a salty ham with only his mind, and I run headfirst into the rabble, weaving through the crowds because I know exactly where I'm going and they're not important to my plan. Duck and turn. Jump the curb. Power roll to safety. It's exhausting but it doesn't matter because there's a line up for coffee and that's A-OK because it's always worth the wait because coffee is sexy, and real, and I'll drink it until my insides hurt because a train ain't gonna move without coal.
And on the streets I have to constantly remind myself to slow down because my velocity today is incredible and I don't want to knock anyone over and I can't believe she just cut me off. But I forgive her because she's obviously the reason astronauts created blue jeans, and I've decided, just this second, as a tribute to her, that I'm never going to work again, because she would have wanted it that way, maybe. And her name is probably Raquel and she probably loves orange candles and writes experimental poetry about a lady detective with a lazy eye because that's symbolic to her somehow. She will get home and never forgive herself for not turning around, falling into my arms and purring like a kitten.
And as I walk past the junior high school and see the kids running and laughing, I almost envy their youth and freedom and millions of choices, until one of them tries to sell me a "slightly used" cellphone and I laugh because in my day kids only sold hash and Nirvana bootlegs and that was enough because we ‘Owned the World’ and we ‘Changed Everything’ and we tried to ‘Burn it All Down’ before they could take it, but we were too late, which doesn't really matter because we've still got that feeling and we can deny everything and, who the hell are you?
My coffee is cold now but I know it still has the power to fill me with a million exploding stars, sending me right over the edge, which is exactly where I want to be, because two feet on the ground is one too many.
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| The Frightened Wizard |
| 10.26.05 (8:30 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
http://sneakinout.blogspot.com/" title="http://sneakinout.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"http://sneakinout.blogspot.co...
Fade in
Scene one, act one
A wooded park-like area
The Frightened*1 Wizard is lurking quietly*2 through a boggy stretch of woods. He is wearing traditional*3 wizard robes that look a little worse for wear and is carrying a large scepter. The sky is grey and leaves are falling from trees*4. A fine blanket of mist crawls along the forest floor. Suddenly he is startled by a nearby*5 noise, and quickly*6 moves in to investigate. He crouches behind the twisted roots of a fallen tree and peers*7 in the direction of the noise, spotting a Modern Person*8 walking their dog. "... What manner of beast*9..?, the Wizard mutters to himself. As he says this, the dog kind of glances in his direction, causing him to sidestep*10 farther behind the roots to avoid detection. Just then there is another different, louder noise approaching from the Wizard's left*11. The noise is apparently*12 coming from the tires of the two bicycles*13 speeding by on the gravel road. The Wizard stands up, jumps out from behind the roots, points*14 at the passing cyclists and hisses*15 loudly. He then turns and flees*16, returning to the entrance of his cave*17. Once inside he lights a small torch*18 and holds it to a nearby wall, revealing a*19 carving*20 that he begins loudly*21 berating. "Curse you Kynackk*22! Betrayer! Betrayer!"
Fade out
Title sequence
... And so begins...
The Tale of the Frightened Wizard
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*1 - not so much 'timid' frightened, more of a 'panicky/excitable' frightened.
*2 - is that redundant? lurking is assumed to be quiet, correct?
*3 - long and dark, some runes and symbols sewn in, a cap with long twisty wizard horns.
*4 - indicating autumn.
*5 - or not. being a wizard he probably has the ability to hear things unheard by others, acutely tuned in to the cacophonous drone of several planes of existence.
*6 - he is suprisingly nimble for a man of his (indiscernible) age, who is also wearing heavy robes.
*7 - when he peers there is a close-up of his eyes, old wizard eyes, eyes that have seen too much, too many lost souls, forever screaming. he also has very thick and bushy wizard eyebrows. and a unibrow.
*8 - i say 'Modern' because it is assumed that the wizard is ancient, from another time or a different realm altogether.
*9 - he's probably never seen a dog before for some reason.
*10 - he is already crouching very low to the ground, making this look awkward.
*11 - you’re right.
*12 - obviously.
*13 - if he's never seen a dog, there's no way he's ever seen bicycles. Or the ridiculous clothing that many bicycle enthusiasts wear, with their zany colors and way too tight around the crotch spandex shorts. "But they make you go faster." They do not. grow up. You look like fools.
*14 - with his wrinkly wizard hand, large rings on his fingers and sharp long nails.
*15 - a loud disapproving hiss, like that of an ill-tempered cobra or fighting cats.
*16 - again, suprisingly nimble.
*17 - which is quite small. He has to get down and crawl to enter, which might explain the tattered appearance of his probably once majestic robes.
*18 - apparently he does not have the ability to make the end portion of his sceptre glow, like some wizards in movies do. This adds a sense of realism to the scene.
*19 - probably ancient.
*20 - of a strange creature that looks like a human fetus with the head of a rooster, wearing a crown burning snakes.
*21 - and emotionally.
*22 - he phrases the name in a manner similar to the way a Klingon might.
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| a mind-devouring vortex is a terrible thing to waste |
| 10.26.05 (8:27 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
http://sneakinout.blogspot.com/" title="http://sneakinout.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"http://sneakinout.blogspot.co...
Today was the first day that I really noticed Autumn was here.
Actually here.
Really real, full-on here.
‘You don't need mittens yet but make sure you dig them out and keep them close because soon baby, soooon’ here.
Anyway, I was enjoying Autumn as I took a stroll down the block to the Chilled Beverage Retailer when I noticed a familiar figure cutting through the park in my direction. It was our local "spare change enthusiast" the Shit Witch. (Named so because one of the boys allegedly saw her squatting in Dirty No-Tooth Alley relieving herself as such. And I believe him.)
When I saw her heading my way I knew exactly what would happen. She would ask for change. I'd say no. She'd follow and continue asking for change until I either raised my voice or simply outran her (because she only has short, scabby little legs).
I knew this would happen because I've seen it before.
Many many times.
She was absolutely merciless in her quest for coin.
I've seen her run across a busy street to harass a half-dozen angry bikers for change.
Ravenous for quarters. Dimes. Nickels.
I've seen her eat dirty pennies. (Not really, but c'mon.)
I could hear her rabid little footsteps trotting up alongside me.
Any second now. Pop the question baby.
I totally don't even notice you vulturing me.
Go on, strike. Do what you do.
Then snap!
I stopped, turned on my heel, looked right in her face and said "Hey! Do you got any change?!"
She froze, mouth hanging open, does not compute.
And I swear to you I could pinpoint the exact second her strange little mind got sucked into the Vortex.
She was not ready.
I just turned her Quiet One-Way Street of a universe into the Endless Rush Hour Interchange of Eternity.
She's probably still standing there.
Let's go dancing.
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| Quick update |
| 10.26.05 (8:25 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
http://www.hoshq.com/" title="http://www.hoshq.com/" target="_blank"http://www.hoshq.com/
I'm back from the WCMAs. And I'm quite broke.
It was a great experience though. I've been to a lot of music festivals this year, but this one by far was the best.
Okay. I saw, heard and photographed the following musicians: Kim Beggs, John Hannam, The Yoko Casionos, Boy, The Winks, Sonic City, The Murder City Sparrows, Grady, 5440, The Vincent Black Shadow, Julie Doiron, Anne Louse Genest, Kim Barlow, Belinda Bruce, Indio Saravanja, Kyle Riabko, Randy Bachman, Corb Lund, Chin, Tinfoil Phoenix, Jets Overhead, The Waking Eyes, Limblifter, Wil, Nathan and Billy Joe Green.
There might have been more. It was confusing at times. About half of them I spoke to, and a few I interviewed. I'll have to post an entire separate gallery of the photos I took.
More important than the music though was the city. Vancouver had a great vibe to it, I loved being there. It was warm and friendly and beautiful. I certainly do miss the coast, and I really ought to think about moving down there.
And even more important were all the people I met. It's always the people that makes the experience the most worthwhile.
Anyhow, I'll write another entry within a few days with more details.
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| The Vanishing Coin Trick |
| 10.26.05 (8:24 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
http://www.sashiweb.com/archives/2005/10/26/t he-vanishing-coin-trick/# more-459" title="http://www.sashiweb.com/archives/2005/10/26/t he-vanishing-coin-trick/# more-459" target="_blank"http://www.sashiweb.com/archi...
As I was cleaning up my messy desk recently, I decided to also clean up my desk, cupboard and bookshelf drawers too. I’m a bit of a pack-rat, and I tend to hog stuff I don’t use for years on end.
But I was pleasantly surprised to discover this old ready-to-use magic trick hiding in the depths of my cupboard. It’s the kind you might see on a roadside stall or a small store in the ground floor of some shopping complexes. I remember getting my parents to purchase this gimmick (along with another one, a trick that allowed you to pour milk out of a small bottle into any container, and then you show the container being empty! The milk had vanished from both the bottle and the container! Cool stuff, for a kid at least..)
Anyway, this Vanishing Coin trick, as referred to in the packaging, is very simple, and honestly wouldn’t have fooled anyone watching. But like I said, for a kid, it’s a fun enough time-waster…
So here’s how to vanish a coin:
Step 1: Set out your tools of the trade. And a coin. 10 cents will do nicely.
Step 2: Examine the little plastic board (marked with a question mark). Looks ok.
Step 3: Examine the coin. Still valid.
Step 4: Examine the rings. Gold flaking is coming off, but still good. Wait, there’s something inscribed on this… “One Ring to rule them all….” Err. Let’s ignore that, shall we?
Step 5: Align the rings, one on top of the other.
Step 6: Cover the rings with the plastic board.
Step 7: Lift the rings together with the plastic board…
Step 8: … and place them over the coin.
Step 8: Chant some incantations, make some voodoo signs, dance naked around a fire, whatever. “Abracadabra” works for me.
Step 9: Lift the plastic board.
OMGWTFBBQ!!
The coin’s vanished, yo! It’s gone!!!
So how did I do it? Correct answer wins a cappuccino.
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| Free Speech Violation, of Sorts |
| 10.26.05 (8:21 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
http://www.politicalheretic.blogspot.com/" title="http://www.politicalheretic.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"http://www.politicalheretic.b...
Police in Long Hill Township, New Jersey are charging an anti-gay resident with a bias crime after he placed a bumper sticker condemning gay marriage on a lesbian township committeewoman's car. The Supreme Court has upheld hate crime legislation before so any challenge to the prosecution based on the constitutionality of hate crime legislation will probably be dismissed but I oppose hate crime legislation because it punishes citizens for behavior based upon the belief associated with it.
In the alternative, Long Hill can charge the defendant for vandalism and the township committee woman can always sue because her right to free speech was violated the moment her vehicle was used to endorse a belief she opposes (see Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston, Inc., and Boy Scouts v. Dale for Supreme Court precedents dealing with the forced association with ideas one opposes).
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| More on Long Hill Bumper Sticker Issue |
| 10.26.05 (8:19 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
http://www.politicalheretic.blogspot.com/" title="http://www.politicalheretic.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"http://www.politicalheretic.b...
Here's the coverage from the township's weekly.
Again, had the resident instead posted his anti-gay marriage sticker on his own car everything would be okay. There'd be no harassment charge. Vandalism and defacement of private property charges would also suffice. But, as I said in my comments to the reader in my last post, this writer does object to the hate crime charges. The state should not be in the business of making the beliefs attributed to a person the basis for treating illegal activities harsher or more leniently.
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| Desperate Househusband? or too much time on my creative little hands? |
| 10.26.05 (8:17 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
http://emptybeach.typepad.com/emptybeach/" title="http://emptybeach.typepad.com/emptybeach/" target="_blank"http://emptybeach.typepad.com...
YOU DECIDE
But here are the results of my latest project:
 <----before >
 <---after>
Sorry the second picture's not cropped--I couldn't figure out howta crop it!
I'll explain the transformation.
First, if you remember from a post about a year or so ago, I found the above picture of Patty Duke (on a hard plywood board/frame--about 2 feet x 2 feet) being sold on a street corner near Columbus Circle (NYC). Being the nutty film guy that I am, I immediately saw who it was-- and took a closer look at it. It appears/ed to be part of the sign/marquee of Patty Duke when she was on Broadway in 'The Miracle Worker' in the early 1960s. Most likely it was posted next to her name, or next to a picture of Anne Bancroft. So the guy selling it (he was one of those on the street vendors, selling used books, records, clothes, etc.) was asking $10. But said he would take $8. Well, I only had $7 on me but I would've probably run to the ATM and gotten a $20 and given him the entire thing for it.
"$7? It's Patty Duke, man," he said.
"I know it's Patty Duke," who did he think he was dealing with?
Before I could tell him that I would go get more money he said, "O.K. $7."
And that was that.
Well, I’ve had it over a year and wanted to do something with it that would showcase it a little more. But what to do? First I strung some tiny lights around it which was cool, but looked a little sad (like Charlie Brown's christmas tree).
Then, a couple of weeks ago my buddy Eduardo's latest 'friend', LA Guy, who is an actual artist (he makes these great collages) suggested I get some sort of epoxy or varnish and gloss it up.
I went to Ace Hardware, in Hillcrest, which is the gayest Ace Hardware store I've ever seen (but it IS in the heart of Hillcrest--San Diego's version of NY's Chelsea)-- its window dressings rival Macys. There I bought this shiny varnish that is used on bar tops or to cover plaques-- it makes this thick, clear hard coating over it-- and I bought a bucket and some paint stir sticks (feeling so butch, despite that it was the Hillcrest Ace Hardware).
Then (just to be totally gay) I went to Michael's Craft store and bought a bunch of Daisy stickers.
The picture of Patty Duke, though in great condition, did have a few nicks here and there that I wanted to cover up. The daisy stickers were white with a lime green center to them. I thought they played off the black and white of the photo.
 <--daisies. (The pic of the daisies close up shows that the picture is sooo glossy that the light bulb above it is perfectly reflected in the gloss!)>
I scattered the daisies all around her head and face. Ted gave me the strangest looks while I did this. a very Bree Van De Kamp moment if there ever was one--I think we might have been watching Desperate Housewives while I was doing it. Hmmm.
The next morning I mixed the varnish together carefully and set the picture outside on our patio on top of tons of newspapers. Then I poured the varnish--with a consistency of maple syrup-- over the picture. after blowing out the air bubbles (with the help of Ted) we left it to dry overnight. And voila! (wa laa!). a glossy work of art!
Possible next projects:
mosaic tile
latch-hook rug
decoupage something
sculpt?
herb garden
*suggestions welcome
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| The Constantines: An Interview with Bryan Webb |
| 10.20.05 (5:01 pm) [edit] |
David Dedrick
Swank’s Home
The Constantines have been touring steadily this year - it’s their third time in Vancouver since the spring (their first as headliners, I think). And for all the excellence of their recorded output, I highly recommend catching their live act, which can best be described as incendiary. They don’t just kick ass; they kick ass’s ass!
The Constantines are Bryan Webb, vocals and guitar; Steve Lambke, guitar and vocals; Will Kidman, organ; Doug MacGregor, bass; and Dallas Wehrle, drums. Their first self-titled album was a punk cry from the heart - recalling the Washington, DC punk scene and ur-rock forbearers like The Stooges. On their next album, Shine A Light, the sound opened up and the songwriting took a quantum leap forward. The punk past was still present, but the new sound was almost an avant-roots rock. Though they’re still compared to Fugazi and Bruce Springsteen - you have to think more left field, think Tom Waits and The Replacements. The band’s sound and Webb’s rasped vocals recall mid-period ‘Mats, but there’s the strangeness and dramatic boldness of Tom Waits too. Their newest record, Tournament of Hearts, is the culmination of the style developed on Shine A Light. I’m confident they’re going to continue to develop and it makes me wonder where they’ll go next.
The Constantines were playing at Richards on Richards in Vancouver, BC. It was here that I met Bryan Webb. Further encouraging Bruce Springsteen comparisons, he was wearing jeans and a plaid shirt, but he’s very tall - something you couldn’t accuse Springsteen of - and thin. We talked backstage in a narrow room over the din of the other bands’ soundchecks. I’m not sure what the room is used for, but there was a mysterious tray of ice that never melted at all during the half-hour we talked.
Swanktrendz: So you grew up in Guelph?
Bryan Webb: Actually, none of us formally grew up in Guelph, but we often say that we’re from Guelph because we lived together there when we really started doing things. Some of us went to school there and we all lived in this house in the Ward district of Guelph.
ST: All I know about Guelph is the veterinary college, so I think of it as a very rural place, but I don’t know if it actually is.
BW: Well, there is the veterinarian college and there’s a big agricultural component to the university there, so that’s definitely a big part of it. It’s just like a university town except there’s a really big older hippy contingent that stuck around and there’s a summer festival.
ST: Hippies aren’t a bad thing.
BW: No, I love the hippies, man.
ST: So from there you went to Toronto?
BW: Yeah, we all grew up in southwest Ontario and we all live in Toronto now.
ST: So you went to where the money is, the management is…
BW: Sort of, we started working with ThreeGut Records and they were our friends from Guelph that had already moved there: like Royal City and Jim Guthrie and Gentleman Reg were bands from Guelph that had moved gradually to Toronto.
ST: So there’s a pretty good scene in Guelph.
BW: Guelph was amazing. It’s a wonderful place. The summer festival, Hillside; I’d always heard that a lot of the younger people started bands just to get into Hillside for free. That would be enough incentive for people to start bands. And there were so many people doing music and art just for their friends, in basements and garages. It was a great place to be a band.
ST: The quintessential university town then?
BW: Yeah, I imagine Olympia, Washington is a similar kind of thing.
ST: Yeah, and they have quite a scene there. In fact, you’re going to be touring later this year with Sleater-Kinney, aren’t you?
BW: Yeah, I’m excited about that.
ST: You guys have been touring an incredible amount, haven’t you?
BW: Sort of.
ST: You were here earlier this year.
BW: We were here in April, at the end of April, I think; then we played with the Foo Fighters at Pacific Coliseum about a month and a half ago and it was crazy.
ST: With Sloan.
BW: Yeah.
ST: How was that tour?
BW: That was really weird. It was fun, but it was a great, strange adventure. It was really fast and efficient – everything is very well organized.
Did you get to see The Foo Fighters?
BW: Yeah, they were really nice – they were very welcoming and hospitable and the catering was fabulous. And they were really nice. It was pretty cool. We’d hear them blasting Voivod and Jesus Lizard records in their dressing room. And Dave Grohl’s a bundle of energy; he’s got a ridiculous amount of energy. I don’t even have that much energy right now, you know, and he’s up there.
ST: He’s a drummer.
BW: That’s true.
ST: In a lot of your reviews, it’s all “Fugazi, Fugazi, Fugazi” and he came out of the same scene.
BW: For sure, he used to play inn Scream and was from DC, I think, originally. He’s got the sort of punk ethic roots and you can tell.
ST: Speaking of Fugazi and the idea of influences, is it irritating when you’re a band starting out and everyone has to find the band that you are like, so all the reviews say “Fugazi meet such and such”?
BW: We always get “Springsteen meets Fugazi” or something like that. It’s a cool comparison and it’s fine. They’re definitely bands that we grew up listening to. But we’re definitely trying to do our own thing so it’s amazing that that label has…It was a friend of ours that wrote that initially in a paper in Toronto and every review has mentioned that.
ST: When I heard what you guys were doing – after the first album – to me it was more like Tom Waits meets…sort of a punk thing.
BW: I suppose I listened to Tom Waits more when I was younger than Springsteen. I got more heavily into Springsteen when we started the band. Steve, particularly, and Dallas were really big E Street fans and so I got heavily into it and loved that stuff after the band had started. I was definitely a big Tom Waits fan when I was in high school.
ST: Were you a teen snob? Speaking as a former teen snob. You know, everyone is listening to Springsteen so I’ll listen to Tom Waits.
BW: No, when I arrived at high school, everyone was listening to the Steve Miller Band, which I’m not against – I’m a fan of Steve Miller. And The Tragically Hip, which took me a while – that was the snob point. I was a skateboarder and we’d kind of get pushed around and harassed by dudes who were blaring the Hip. I can hear the Hip blaring, as I’m getting gas-pedalled or something by jocks. I had a point of contention with them for a while, but I think they’re a great band too.
ST: Yeah, I felt the same way. For me, it was hearing “Ahead By A Century”.
BW: It’s a beautiful song. Gord Downey is a consummate performer. I just think he’s fantastic and a great lyricist. When the band is making a theatre around what he’s singing that’s when it really grabs me. When I got into them, that was when they were getting bands like By Divine Right to open for them. Now Joel Plaskett and The Weakerthans have opened for them. They’ve definitely got an ear, taste, you know? Maybe that influenced my perspective.
ST: Touring with the Foo Fighters, were you guests of theirs, did they ask you to perform with them?
BW: The story was the bass player was at a show we played in LA a few years ago and just liked the show. He introduced himself to maybe Dallas or Doug and then two years later we got word that they were interested. They asked us and it sounded like a good sort of adventure. It was a chance to play music in that context. Part of the band has always been about trying to play in different spaces, to hear the music in different spaces. So that was a big pull factor for that tour and it was a total adventure, you know? It was amazing to hear the sound, to finish a song and hear the song end another two seconds later when it hits the wall and comes back. So, yeah, it was great.
ST: And the roar of the crowd.
BW: Yes, yes, the roar of half of the crowd.
ST: How did you end up with SubPop?
BW: We had just released the first record with ThreeGut. It was maybe within a year after it and we were playing a lot and a couple of folks from SubPop were in town when we were playing in Toronto. There was a lot of talk about our band at the time and they just sort of enquired about us while they were there. We met some more folks when we were down in Austin playing at SouthXSouthwest. It was about a year and half after our first record had come out, they asked for some music and expressed some interest. Then we sent them some stuff and they sent us some stuff – they seemed nice. We wanted to make a new record and we wanted a bit more money to do it and a bit more time and they made an offer at the right time. The main thing was they were cool with ThreeGut being our label in Canada. ThreeGut were a brilliant promotional force in Canada, but we hadn’t had much luck with distribution in the States so it was a great chance to get more records out in the States. And the back catalogue had a lot to do with it, I’ll freely admit. It was hard. There was a point where we were talking about not being swayed by the fact that Red Red Meat were on SubPop and we were getting a chance to be on this label with all these bands that we loved, like Beat Happening – this scene that was so inspiring when we were younger. I mean, the first bands that I was in covered Nirvana and stuff when I was fifteen or whatever. So it was exciting to be asked to be a part of that thing. We just went for it and it’s worked out.
ST: So from your first album to the second album, was one of the major changes to your sound the fact that you had more time in the studio?
BW: Yeah, the biggest one though, is the fact that Will Kidman joined on organ. That was a big thing. That let the band play a bit less.
ST: Yeah, I was going to say that. Your sound opened up.
BW: With the first record, all of us met through the punk/hardcore network in southwestern Ontario at the time and we were all really excited about Dischord and the Washington scene and that stuff. That’s where that Fugazi thing comes from, for sure. That’s definitely evident. We’re all just playing, you know. Everybody’s just playing at the same time, all the time and I’m trying to yell over top of it. So the band opened up when another player was added. The great thing about the organ is Will can hold his hand down and there’s this sound, this amazing sound for however long – until he lifts his hand away. So it’s been an exciting addition. From that record to this record, it’s just been even more space opening up so the vocals can settle in a bit more.
ST: Are you more aware that your vocals are audible now? Are you more self-conscious of your lyrics then?
BW: A little bit. It’s more that I got to the point that I didn’t want to yell everything that I sang. Like, I wanted there to be some dynamics in the singing too. In the lyrics there was a lot more of the melody and phrasing, as opposed to like we used to do: just write a song and then I would have a page of lyrics and try to yell them over top of parts and whatever came out was the phrasing. There’s been a bit more effort.
ST: So, more artifice, more art.
BW: Yeah, more craft or whatever. We’re sort of getting older so it’s a natural thing as a creative person to try and change and develop in the subtleties.
ST: Do you find that your influences have changed? That your tastes have broadened?
BW: I find that I listen to a lot more sentimental music; I don’t listen to the hard stuff anymore. I’m trying to think what we were listening to today…that Van Lear Rose album by Loretta Lynn – brilliant. There’s such poetry to that record because she’s, like, seventy-five and her vocal presence is so renewing. I’ve heard that when she plays she’s inclined to talk for twenty minutes between songs and the band will have to start playing to get her to remember that she has to sing a song. So that’s what I’ve been listening to – a lot of old country. There’s an amazing scene in Toronto that no one has really tapped into outside of Toronto called rat-drifting. There’s a club called The Transac, it’s a small pub where more intimate bands will play and then there’s big theatre venue in it. It’s a beautiful place. So there’s this rat-drifting scene in there and it’s all these people who’ve been playing together in different forms for years. Do you know Eric Chenaux from Flight Camp? He’s a big part of that scene. You should check out a band called The Silt and there’s a band called St. Dirt Elementary School that’s amazing. It’s kind of an open performance thing where people who haven’t played together in three months will get together for a night and everybody will sing a song – weird sort of bluegrass songs that are just shambling through. There’s this real adventure to it; this blues as heroic narrative idea - just that sort of spirit of adventure to music - amazing. [For more info try:
http://www.newmusiccanada.com/genres/artist.cfm?Band_Id=13042" title="http://www.newmusiccanada.com/genres/artist.cfm?Band_Id=13042" target="_blank"http://www.newmusiccanada.com... or
http://www.joesorbara.com/ovalwindowrecords/001 .htm" title="http://www.joesorbara.com/ovalwindowrecords/001 .htm" target="_blank"http://www.joesorbara.com/ova...]
ST: What’s with the country rock fixation in Toronto?
BW: I don’t know. It’s strange. Maybe it’s the landlocked, drinking population, you know?
ST: I mean, not every band claims to be country rock, but it seems to seep into the music.
BW: For sure, yeah. I saw that Blue Rodeo dvd that came out a while ago – and I like some of their stuff a lot; I respect them as a band. I think it was in the Globe where Greg Keillor wrote a big thing about how they started and they were kind of burnt out in New York City, like far away from home and then they heard Gord’s Gold[Lightfoot, people]. They bought a taped copy of Gord’s Gold and it just spoke to them like nothing else could at the time. There’s that sort of lineage there. And Gord still has a presence in Toronto.
ST: You’re doing that tribute album…
BW: With The Inintended, yeah.
ST: I was a bit disappointed that you weren’t doing Lightfoot as well [for a limited-issue 12” split record on BlueFog Records with The Constantines covering their favourite Crazy Horse songs and The Unintended covering their favourite Gordon Lightfoot songs].
BW: It would have been cool. There’s millions of songs. It would have been cool, an entire Gordon Lightfoot record. But The Unintended had some Gordon Lightfoot songs and we had this cover band that was doing Crazy Horse songs so this idea was thrown out there.
ST: You guys would be really good for Crazy Horse.
BW: It works pretty well.
ST: The dual guitars.
BW: It’s been a big influence on the new record, I think. Just having this openness and simple song structures that have a life outside of the recorded form.
ST: There’s not many bands that do that kind of simultaneous lead playing when I think about it now. The Local Rabbits did a lot of that on their first album…
BW: Yeah, they were great.
ST: Crazy Horse, obviously. You guys do it.
BW: Well, that’s a Fugazi thing too, you know. They had this great intertwining sound. Sonic Youth, too.
ST: I was down in Seattle recently and walked by SubPop’s offices and saw your new record on display. My first thought was “The Constantines and curling?”
BW: I don’t know…it works…
ST: It’s a great title, is what it is.
BW: Well, that’s the thing. What happened was Doug had a scarf that he had bought at Value Village when we were on tour somewhere and it was a Scott’s Tournament of Hearts scarf – the red and white. I was like, “Man, that’s a great scarf.” He was like, “It’s the Tournament of Hearts scarf!” And he was really excited about it. And I was like, “Man, that’s a great name for a record. That should be the name of our next record.” This was about a year and half ago. We actually got into curling. The Tournament of Hearts was on while we were recording this record. Dallas especially dove right in and we were all enamoured with the Ontario women’s team – Jen Hannah was amazing. For me, the title is a beautiful turn of phrase – this really elegant, eloquent turn of phrase. But it refers to something that’s mastered by the most run-of-the-mill, average people – working people. And it’s a really delicate sport. I’ve only curled once and it’s freakin’ hard, man. The stance and the positioning – it’s the weirdest thing. And to see the most regular people doing it – there’s no celebrity status to curling so you do it for the love of it. It’s the definition of amateur.
ST: My second thought was, “It’s the Youngblood’s Rock Concert.” Do you know that album?
BW: No, I don’t.
ST: It’s called Rock Concert and it has rocks on the cover. It’s the lamest rock pun ever.
BW: The layout was done by Dallas, as all the records have been. What happened was after that Weakerthans tour we were on, which was two months across Canada, and we’d been recording right before that. So we’d been pretty heavy at it for four months and we just all decided we were going to take two months off, which was the longest time we’d ever taken off as a band. And we all kind of went into separate corners – Steve went to New York, I stayed out west for a little while.
ST: Where’s “out west”, like out here?
BW: Yeah, and Dallas went to Dawson City where we’d actually played the Dawson City Music Festival last year and we fell in love with it. So Dallas went up there and stayed there for two months in a shack, like this old abandoned prospector’s shack on the property of some friends we’d met there. Basically, he made the layout out of photos he’d taken up there and things he’d found there in the shack. The place had actually been abandoned very hastily, I think, because there were clothes still left there. So the collages on the record are all based on stuff he had found. Dawson has an amazing kind of ghost town feeling, but it’s still a vital town. The music festival is amazing because people come from all corners of that area to see it. It’s one of the main cultural events around that area so people are so open to all kinds of music there. It’s pretty exciting.
ST: So where do you go next from here? You started in Edmonton, right?
BW: That was the first show. Next we’re going down to Seattle and Portland. We do a bunch of shows down the West Coast, across to Arizona and then up – we’re playing Denver for the first time, which I’m excited about. Then cutting back through the mid-West, up to Minnesota.
ST: Home of the Replacements!
BW: The Replacements are one of my favourite bands of all time. By kind of a fluke, the Replacements were one of the first underground bands that I knew – and I didn’t really know they were underground. A friend of mine found Tim in a bargain bin at Sam the Record Man or somewhere like that. He just bought it because he liked the cover. I really got into it.
[Bryan shows me a tattoo on his inner forearm: a heart with “Left of the Dial” across it – a classic ‘Mats song from Tim]
BW: That’s how much I’m into them.
ST: Well, I think this is more than enough for a “short” interview.
BW: Cool.
ST: Now I have to carefully edit it all down.
BW: You can just take out every fourth word.
ST: Thanks for your time.
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| Death Cab For Cutie - cd review |
| 10.20.05 (4:59 pm) [edit] |
By Kirk Bage
Swank’s Home
I missed it far too much so just had to sign on to Napster again - the freedom it gives you to listen to things you may not choose to buy is just too good to ignore. I've done little else but try to catch up on what I'd let pass by in the last 2 months, and there seems to have been some good stuff.
Top of the list so far is Death Cab For Cutie's latest release Plans. I listened to their critically acclaimed 2003 album Transatlanticism quite a bit in the Spring and have recommended it freely to anyone interested in alternative pop with a mellow edge.
The new album follows much in the same vein, and whilst it may not be as loved by the indie crowd as their last release it is certainly the album that will launch the band into the limelight they deserve. It is a polished and highly accomplished collection of tunes, 50% of which will have you singing out loud in no time. I predict a good few singles will come from this, not least of all the beautiful I Will Follow You Into The Dark - one of my favourite songs of the moment by any band! There are many that begrudge a cult band making it big, as if they are losing something special and made just for them, but I've never understood it. The struggle of independence can certainly colour a band's mood and creative output, but ultimately good songs and good songwriters will emerge to become exactly as big or small as they need to be. Take REM - the IRS years were great and still wonderful to look back on, but who would deny the world their biggest successes in the 90s? One band, two complimentary periods - something I see Death Cab possibly emulating, starting right here. A very good album. 8.5/10
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| BE afraid... advertising nonsense |
| 10.20.05 (4:57 pm) [edit] |
By Mark Thristan
Swank’s Home
A few weeks ago, I read a scintillating article (which I have unfortunately no record of) with an advertising guru, where he spelled out the lazy archetypes of advertising - the only one of which I can remember is the "literal metaphor" of which the Guiness Fish on a Bicycle ("a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle") is an example.
Last night I was reminded of another lazy archetype that was not mentioned in the article; crossing London Bridge Station, I saw the new poster for "Billy Elliot" which used his initials to spell out a series of "BE" statements (I can't remember which, but I don't think "BE annoyed" was one of them!). This is lazy advertising at its worst in my opinion: there are so many companies (including one for which I used to work) with "BE" initials who go down this unimaginative, uninspiring path. It always reminds me of the Birthday card (which apparently draws on a quote from Kurt Vonnegut):
"To be is to do"--Socrates.
"To do is to be"--Jean-Paul Sartre.
"Do be do be do"--Frank Sinatra.
I can only remember "be afraid, be very afraid" ("The Fly") ever striking me as a good piece of "BE" marketing, and you'll notice that the initials of "The Fly" are not - by chance - "BE". Does anyone else have any pet peeves on this front?
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| Here's a good one... |
| 10.20.05 (4:55 pm) [edit] |
By Rob Williams
Swank’s Home
Today my sister, Allyson, is driving with her husband, Braxton, and their son, lil Braxton, from Arizona to stay for a few days in San Diego. I haven't seen Allyson since last November, when she was in the early stages of chemotherapy and radiation for cancer. She went through hell but is cancer free and getting stronger every day. I’m so excited to see her and her wonderful husband and son. And not only that, but we are having a faux family reunion today.
In addition to Allyson and the two Braxtons, and my other sister Andrea and her husband and his kids (all of whom Ted has already met), Ted is going to meet, for the first time, my Aunt Jill, my Uncle Ink (Uncle Linc, but we called him Uncle Ink as kids), my cousins Debbie and Carrie and their kids and husbands. My Aunt and Uncle are long since divorced but they hang out together. I haven't seen any of them in probably ten years. Memories I have of these relatives include camping trips to the La Jolla Indian reservation--inner-tubing down the river, my cousins' bony butts in bikinis, long straight hair--a la Marcia Brady, zinc oxide on their noses (well, all of our noses)-- and then camping in the desert--goggles on all of us, riding motorcycles and three wheelers and my dad's junky dune-buggy. my Aunt, who is always so glam-- big head of hair perfectly coifed despite raging rapids or sand storms, her outfits--leather pants, down vests--impeccable. my Uncle Ink and his gruff voice, ripped t-shirts a cigar or cigarette in one hand, can of budweiser in the other (this where I got my taste for beer I guess-- only I've graduated to Bud Light).
Ted seems unphased-- if he passed the test with my dad this should be a cakewalk. But I know they're going to bring up some story about "little Bobby." perhaps they'll remember the time I was playing with --and lost-- one of their barbie dolls in the river (I was no doubt imaginging barbie as the sole survivor of a jungle plane crash).
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| Geek Site |
| 10.20.05 (4:54 pm) [edit] |
By Lezah
Swank’s Home
If you’re into technology, or if you are a self-proclaimed geek, then maybe you should look up this site, which tells about the latest technology coming out. Go to www.tomshardware.com for more information.
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| All Hail the Queen |
| 10.20.05 (4:53 pm) [edit] |
By Sashi
Swank’s Home
We’ve got ministers asking what’s going on with our national football team. We frequently hear of politicking and in-fighting going on in our various sports councils and administrative bodies.
And in the midst of all that, a young lady goes on conquering her field with nothing much more than grit, determination, self-belief and courage.
Congratulations to Nicol David, truly the queen of Malaysian sports.
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| It's time for the Carnival of Comedy |
| 10.20.05 (4:47 pm) [edit] |
By Laurence Simon
Swank’s Home
IMAO is the home of the Carnival of Comedy, and this week I've been given the distinct pleasure of providing the carnival's home away from home, as it were, by Be This The End Of Spacemonkey?
I think this is like the one hundred and fifty-seven billionth episode of the Carnival of Comedy or something like that. I've kinda lost track after episode three or four when Spacemonkey had this cartoon whatever wandering around saying "Meesa think theesa post funny" and stumbling around.
Anyway, here's the entries, I hope you lick them.
Like. I hope you like them. (I never get my lines right on the IMAO Podcast Audio Thing either.)
http://imao.us/" title="http://imao.us/" target="_blank"http://imao.us/
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| The Sights - Interview with: Eddie Baranek, Bobby Emmett, Keith Fox |
| 10.16.05 (6:10 pm) [edit] |
Swanktrendz Home http://www.swanktrendz.com
Eddie Baranek - vocals/guitar (originator)
Bobby Emmett - keyboards/bass (Joined in 2003)
Keith Fox - Drums (Joined in 2005)
While writing this article/interview, The Sights are just coming off an 8 city tour with Robert Plant. The interview is in two parts.The first part occurred at the Brickyard club, just prior to their September 23/05 gig. After speaking with the obviously exhausted and slightly inebriated group, I decided to follow up the interview with an Q&A email at a later date.
Background triviaI first met The Sights when I arrived for their gig at Richards on Richards with The Donnas and Riff Randalls, too late to see them live. I met Eddie and the band, explained I meant to review their set, but offered to purchase and review their cd. (See article here) When I heard through the grapevine that they were going to be playing the Brickyard on September 23rd, I made sure to mark it on my calendar.
Part 1 of the Interview
Eddie, Bobby and Keith were sitting by the entrance of the Brickyard and I needed to ask some basic questions. Due to the noise I slid a written note to them with the simple question, “You are big enough to be touring with Robert Plant, plus you’re an excellent band - why the Hell aren’t you more publicly promoted?”
Eddie was willing to explore the question further so we managed to secure a storage closet/furnace room where we could talk, albeit not in the most comfortable of fashion.
I mentioned our previous meeting in April, and they nodded in that polite, vague way so I gathered I didn’t make a huge impression upon them when I said I was planning to review their cd. In fact, this is a band who (in particular, Eddie) doesn’t impress easily. If anything, Eddie appears underwhelmed, almost jaded at the youthful age of 24.
I again asked why they weren’t better promoted, as I was lucky to have even heard about the gig at the Brickyard. Eddie assured me that things were going to be better since they had secured Sophie Smith at Big Hassle, and they now had a manager, Brendan Bourke (whom they hooked up with just after the gig with The Donnas.) Their record company is New Line Records. Prior to that, The Sights had not had a manager. Eddie also let me know that the band has actually played in Vancouver seven times in the past year.
I asked them how they got the gig with Robert Plant and Eddie noted that The Sights played with him on July 7 and 9/05 in Chicago, and Plant invited them to tour with him. Apparently Robert Plant likes to support local acts through venue exposure. When asked if there were any ‘big names’ that impressed any of them, they couldn’t come up with any, but Eddie stated he was ‘truly flattered’ when Plant invited them to tour.
Bobby stated that they were prepared for Plant to strut about as a big egotistical music star but the opposite happened. Plant made a point of introducing himself immediately to the band, sat and chatted with them prior to going on stage and was generally ‘an extremely nice, down to earth guy’. The band was prepared to dislike him and the whole rock star image, but Plant was so welcoming, friendly, and unassuming that they found it hard to find anything to dislike about him.
I asked what other bands The Sights have toured with to which they responded: The Kills, Guided by Voices, The Donnas, Sloan, and Billy Idol (just to name a few). They really enjoyed Sloan’s gig and have become good buddies with them since, often communicating via e-mail.
The conversation quickly digressed to Sloan’s lyrics and the band’s creative ability. That’s when I made the comparison that Sloan is big in Canada, yet (according to Eddie) draws few crowds in the Westcoast states and the US just doesn’t “get them”. I countered that The Sights can attract large crowds in the States, yet are still relatively unknown in Canada. As well, The Sights have been recognized by major music magazines, including the Rolling Stone and Spin magazine. Why they are not breaking into the Canadian market is inexplicable. That’s when I, again, brought up the publicity (or lack thereof) factor.
I also asked the group if there had been any difficult acts they toured with, and the name Billy Idol popped up. As Bobby noted, the South by Southwest Festival had four headliners sharing one trailer, but Idol’s camp decided to hijack the trailer as their personal home base, to the extreme of monopolizing the toilet paper (much to Bobby’s chagrin). ‘Do you know what it’s like to be next to go onstage and not even have fucking toilet paper? I had to send emergency text messages to Eddie to bail me out.” We continued by discussing Idol’s apparent plastic surgery as his face is a bit ‘off’. When mentioning Idol's crooked looking face I told them about the miracles (or lack thereof) of botox and how that may have contributed to Idol's appearance.
Asking a simple question about the experience touring in the UK turned into a food discussion - first the food was described as boring and bland, but then Bobby started remembering items such as beans on toast, the curry dishes, and then onward to Canada. We (Canada) apparently have great red licorice and white chocolate with almonds. This was the most animated (and hilarious) I saw Bobby get since the interview started. I made a mental note to get the boys’ addresses and send them a package of licorice and white chocolate.
Keith (drummer) was very quiet during the interview and then I learned that he pulled something in his back whilst on a water slide in Saskatoon. Out came Bobby’s caring side as he physically works out the “kink’ in Keith’s back. How caring? I’m not sure as Keith swore a lot and said “Stop it, what the hell...?’ while Bobby laughed and said, ‘No... serious, this will help.” After a minute or so of torture, Keith assured Bobby that he would just use his wrists more.
Speaking of drummers, I asked what happened to Mike (the former drummer) and Eddie said he left for Philly and Keith replaced him this spring. Mark (keyboards) had left The Sights in 2002 and is now married and presently fighting the war in Iraq. Bobby’s been with the band since 2003, So essentially, The Sights is Eddie. He originated the group in 1998 and has always been the core/ constant. Eddie and Bobby both stated that the band they have now is the one that’ll stay.
After some general chat about how much I’ve enjoyed their music, and hoped that their sound becomes better known in Canada, we drew the interview to a close. I left feeling that all three were very generous with their time, were humorous and generally likable. Considering I blind sided them by requesting an interview (when they just wanted to rest and have a couple of beers before playing) they were very accommodating.
Part Two - Finishing off With Some Email Questions
Swanktrendz: With the constant turnover of musicians, did Eddie ever feel like giving up?
The Sights:The constant turnover of musicians allows for fresh inspiration and a rejuvenation of some sorts. The changing of lineups almost makes it a different band, so there really is no feeling of giving up. The feeling of giving up comes when you are in bumfuck, nowhere and your girlfriend is back home in Detroit. Oh and I expect this lineup to last til I'm 53 years old.
ST - Why was Keith’s drum set so low to the ground - is that the way he prefers it, or was it simply gig logistics?
TS - I'll answer this for Keith since I (think) I know the answer. It is simply the way he taught himself. That is the only way he knows how to play.
ST - Eddie has a big voice, did he take vocal training? Did Bobby take piano training?
TS -The "big voice" came about because I have to compensate for my short stature (five foot six). Honestly though, the only way I know how to sing is to get up there and shout my brains out. You have to give it your all every time, you know? You can't just sit there and whisper into a microphone. People pay good money to see you, so you better give them some shouting; or prepare to get naked. The only training I've had is beer or whiskey before I go onstage. Bobby studied under Harold MacKinney, an old black jazz guy in Detroit. Keith, studying? Ha...
ST - How old are the members?
TS - 23,24
ST - Any married, girlfriends, or just single?
TS - Girlfriends, yeah we have three of them. One for each member..
ST - Are The Sights writing for a new album? Where do they write the best? On the road or while at home?
TS - It's funny, Bobby and I joke about this all the time: It is damn near impossible to write on the road. You just can't create when you are in that bonehead environment-- be it the smelly ass van, the cruddy "backstage" area (usually a leaky basement). I read in the van, and sometimes short spurts of inspiration will come to me. I usually write them down and then revisit them later when I get off tour.
ST - What will be done to promote The Sights in Canada? You are clearly an excellent band, with a bluesy rock feel - how are you going to market up North?
TS - Are you asking the band? Um, gee, I don't know. We are simply the lemmings they've programmed to grind our once lovely lives into the ground via touring. So, I think they will market us the same way in the North that they do in the U.S., which is ...
ST - When is the Canadian release date for the Sights self-titled cd?
TS - Should be out now at your local store kids!!!! Canadian Purchase
ST - What’s playing in The Sights’ cd player while touring from city to city?
TS - The Sights don't own a cd player in our van. However, our extensive tape collection includes: Little Milton, Little Eva, Little Willie John, Little Richard, and Illinois Jacquet. I am being truthful here. Another favorite cassette is Stevie Wonder's Talking Book.
ST - How do The Sights feel about the current state/trend of music ie: Rap, Franz Ferdinand, etc.?
TS - Like you said, the current trend of music is rap and Franz Ferdinand. I don't really keep up on the current trends... I'm too busy trying to figure out Irving Berlin at the moment. But I do get a kick out of you!!!!
Thanks!, later, eddie
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| The Hold Steady - Concert Review |
| 10.16.05 (3:35 am) [edit] |
Opening Act for The Constantines
Richards on Richards Oct 14/05 Maximum Capacity
By Christine
Swank Home
The Hold Steady is a Brooklyn, NY based band with members Craig Finn (vocals and guitar), Tad Kubler (lead guitar), Franz Nicolay (keyboards), Galen Policka (bass) and Bobby Drake (drums). Finn used to be with Kubler in the Minneapolis art house band Lifter Puller but relocated to Brooklyn in 2000.
The Hold Steady opened their set with ‘Banging Camp’ and it became immediately clear that the audience was made up of diehard fans, singing along to every unhinged intricate lyric.
My first impression of lead singer Craig Finn, was that he was a plump Elvis Costello meets Joe Strummer meets Paul Westerberg, and then throw in a little Johnny Rotten anger. His talk-singing voice would sway to any of the above personas depending upon the storyline of the song. At times he even had a Van Morrison delivery.
Keyboardist Franz Nicolay had a mustache reminiscent of Salvador Dali, although I doubt that he has the chutzpah to pull it off as Dali did. I didn’t even know they still sold mustache wax, nowadays.
Bassist Galen Policka had that basic ‘70s rocker look - relatively normal - as far as the ‘70s look can go.
The Hold Steady’s songs clearly follow storylines/themes. The songs often make cultural, biblical, and musical references (with Bruce Springsteen being a fave name drop). Finn sings as if he’s pleading with us to wallow with him in his angst. As well, he would occasionally do these odd little hand/facial tics - as if he was sending a secret code out to (somebody?) who was ‘in the know’.
Clearly this is a man’s band. The male fans were aged approximately 25 - 35 and were highly appreciative of the band and made the appropriate ‘rocker’ noise to demonstrate this appreciation. Finn actually asked the audience to yell out “Good Job!” instead of the standard “Whoo- Hoo!” This may have been a mistake as the keyboardist, Nicolay, began behaving very peculiar (perhaps thinking he was being comical?) after too many hollers of “Good Jobs!”.
Craig Finn made the remark that this was the first time that all 5 band members had been in BC together, which would explain the ‘reunion-good ol’ buddies’ feel to the set. He also mentioned being from Brooklyn NY but originally hailing from Minnesota. He often interjected the set with little anecdotes, or general comments eg: ”BC has the most beautiful girls and the strongest weed.” He also indulged in hockey talk - disgusted at Minnesota North Stars losing their name and mentioned he preferred baseball anyway.
Popular songs like ‘Stevie Nix’, ‘Swish’, ‘Your Little Hoodrat Friend’ were met with delirious fan singalongs. Again, impressive in that the lyrics are neither simple nor those ‘hummable’ types. For example in Stevie Nix I watched one fellow, eyes closed and swaying, sing along without missing a beat:
She got screwed up by religion.
She got screwed by soccer players.
She got high for the first time in the camps down by the banks of the mississippi river.
Lord to be seventeen forever.
She got confused about the truth.
She came to in a confession.
She got high for the last time in the camps down by the banks of the river.
Lord to be 33 forever.
She got screwed up by her vision.
It was scary when she saw him.
She didn't tell a single person about the camps on the banks of the mississippi river.
Lord to be seventeen forever.
She got strung out the scene.
She got scared when it got druggy.
The way the whispers bit like fangs in the last hour of the parties.
Lord to be 33 forever.
Last but not least - Kubler managed to throw in the, what used to be, standard guitar solo (in the same vein as historic Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin). Pretty impressive in this day and age of attention deficit disordered fans.
Overall they reminded me of a late ‘90s intellectual art band and their sound was good and solid. However, if singer Craig Finn keeps vocally throwing everything he’s got into each song - as he did tonight - he’ll be without a voice by the end of the tour.
On a trivial note. The Hold Steady landed a role in a short film series sponsored by Target called Oddsagainst7even where they play the band whom a college student books in order to impress and get beyond his freshman status. It can be seen on target.com.
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| Thank you, Mr. K. |
| 10.15.05 (12:20 am) [edit] |
Contributed by Christine
Swanktrendz's Home http://www.swanktrendz.com
Friday morning, October 7, 2005, 7:00 a.m. saw a group of teachers gathering outside of their Langley school. There was an uncomfortable air about the group, with nervous chatter and laughter interspersed with the somber reason for the gathering. They were the first of three picket shifts to bring attention to the BC Teacher's Strike.
Discomfort and nervousness are appropriate emotions since walking a picket line is contrary to a teacher's core sense of beliefs. We are nurturers and lovers of children who have chosen careers in hopes of developing students into productive and unique citizens. Teachers firmly believe that children can attain anything they wish. As our school motto states: 'Attitude Determines Altitude'.
The story behind this picket line began when 90.5% of educators voted for immediate job action against an unjust working contract. Unjust for several reasons: the contract is neither negotiated nor collective, and is definitely not in agreement with teachers' wishes. Furthermore, this contract was imposed on us by a newly-elected 'slash and burn' government who ripped up the previous contract, after promising that they would do no such thing throughout their election campaign.
When that percentage of educators, especially in conservative Langley, vote for job action, one can be assured there are issues strong to educators' hearts at stake, specifically students' learning environments. At present, teachers put in very long hours (an average 10 hour day is the norm) attempting to overcome our limiting contract to ensure that all students' needs are met. An impossible goal, but one that is pursued nonetheless.
Which brings me back to the teachers on the picket line. There are many educators present who would definitely be considered non-radical (and to some extent union oblivious) yet here they are, strapping on picket signs because they believe they are doing the right thing for their students. This is a selfless act, no glory or personal reward.
As parents, strangers, or passers-by voice their support, it helps rally the picketers' morale. Even the administrators come out with beverages and food to show empathy and understanding. They understand the situation imposed on teachers.
Then it happened - the group of teachers who had been thrown together to oppose unfair learning conditions were quickly united due to one teacher making his own stand. This so-called colleague did not show up for picket duty, but rather to go to work. Mr. K arrived at 8:15 am, averting his eyes to avoid the stares of disbelief and entered the school. He emerged only once, at 3:15 to head to his car to return home.
As he was pulling out, I asked him what on earth was he doing. To which he replied vaguely, ‘everyone has their own reasons.’ I simply responded, fine, but when we negotiate a fair contract, be sure to turn down any progress we've made. Stay with the large classes, the lack of support and the lower pay. Mr. K. does not have to picket if he is against that - he'll simply not receive the paltry strike pay that the rest of us receive. There is no reason for this man to spend a full day in school. It's not like he's in the position to engage in a day's worth of planning, marking, or whatever, as his job does not entail that much paperwork.
Mr. K. showed up again the next ‘school’ morning, same time, same aversion of eyes.
Then it occurred to me that although we may feel like fish out of water doing such blatant job action, Mr. K. in his odd way, has brought us together in 100% agreement. He has created a common ground for a large staff that does not always have things in common. Mr. K., by insulting us (through his daily presence), has made us realize that we are a solid, unified collective of teachers. We are united in our disgust and disappointment with both the government's refusal to bargain, and our one teacher who puts his own needs above those of our students, their parents, and most importantly, his colleagues.
So despite the initial discomfort and awkwardness about standing in a strike zone, we now realize that our presence demonstrates solidarity against legislative bullying. And thanks to Mr. K. we have also realized how united, like-minded, and cohesive a staff we are, with exception of course, of one lone figure.
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| Some Items to Ponder Regarding the Present BC Teachers Strike |
| 10.15.05 (12:18 am) [edit] |
Contributed by Christine
A Vancouver Island woman is taking the BCTF to court, as part of a potential class action suit, because of her increased daycare costs due to teachers being on strike (The strike is currently in its fourth day.) Being a single parent, who cannot afford to take any time off work, the plaintiff is forced to pay $80.00 per day for her two children. Once again, this action exemplifies the ugly side of education - that school is merely seen as ‘daycare’ rather than as a learning institution. A few parents (usually those with high school children) will complain of disrupted learning, but the majority of complaints for any educational job action is daycare costs.
The first thought that comes to mind is: what did these parents do when their children weren’t of school age? Did they not have daycare costs then? The second thought being: teachers are being financially shortchanged if they are seen as daycare providers rather than as educators. For example, a teacher with 29 students in his/her class earns approximately $200.00 per day. If that same teacher was being paid proper daycare costs, he/she would be earning $1,160 per day. Seems to me that a salary increase is in order.
My second concern is the media’s portrayal of striking teachers. The view that the strike is illegal and, therefore, teachers are setting poor examples for students is laughable. Teachers, if anything, are setting excellent examples as to what to do when one is being bullied (in this case by the government). One must stand up to the bully without violence and without reverse bullying. By taking a stand, the situation should be quickly dealt with and resolved.
Finally, the constant headlines about the teacher’s (secondary) strike vote having a poor turnout of 50% and thus (in the media’s eyes) making the 90.5% ‘yes’ response questionable, makes for poor journalism. For some reason the media does not want to report that the prior week had a 75% voter turnout, with 88% of the voters voting ‘yes’ for job action. Therefore, the second vote is a moot point - teachers already let the BCTF know what they wanted. And as everyone knows - if you don’t vote than you understand (and live with the consequence) of the majority result. Interesting that the present government got elected with less than 50% vote. Perhaps that should be revisited as often as the media wants to visit the recent teacher vote.
CanWest’s monopoly of media outlets is becoming tiresome, as are the sound bites made by Education Minister, Shirley Bond.
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| Bonsai – Gone |
| 10.15.05 (12:14 am) [edit] |
Contributed by Lezah
One of the latest trends in gardening seems to be empty holes in one’s yard, if you were to judge by the looks of some people’s gardens. The reality, however, is that the theft of garden plants is one of the latest trends in our fair city.
Bonsai have been especially vulnerable, partly due to their smaller size - it makes them easier to uproot and transport compared to many other trees. As well, the act of creating a bonsai, which involves skilled pruning in order to create both the illusion of age and an aesthetically pleasing shape, makes bonsai more valuable than many other plants.
This summer, Sunny Bonsai Garden Centre on East Broadway in Vancouver was robbed a number of times; within a one week period in July, $10,000 worth of bonsai plants were stolen. A number of other homeowners in Vancouver have also reported missing bonsai plants, some valued at up to $3,000 each.
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| Gehry, Pitt, and the Victorian Ladies |
| 10.15.05 (12:12 am) [edit] |
Contributed by Lezah
Canadian architect Frank Gehry is no stranger to controversy. Gehry designed the much celebrated Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, but has had many other projects that were not as universally well accepted, such as the controversial Experience Music Project in Seattle, and a high rise in Los Angeles that was blinding motorists with its refracted glare.
Gehry’s latest proposal is for two apartment towers in Brighton, England, which he says were inspired by “Victorian women in flowing dresses promenading along the seafront”; angry objectors instead have preferred to liken the buildings to “transvestites caught in a gale.”
Also involved in the project is Brad Pitt, who has apprenticed with Gehry; it is rumoured that Pitt is designing a restaurant and the penthouse suite of the project. The project, expected to cost $625 million, is slated to start construction in 2007 and be finished by 2012.
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| Boy - An Interview with singer Stephen Kozmeniuk |
| 10.15.05 (12:10 am) [edit] |
Contributed by David Dedrick
I met Stephen Kozmeniuk in the odd confines of the Abbotsford Ag-Rec Centre – basically a gigantic barn built for agricultural fairs. While waiting for him, I was able to watch the road crew struggle with the sound mix, but I doubt they were able to do much with it in that huge, hangar-like structure with its corrugated metal walls. In fairness to the venue, it wasn’t built to house rock fans; it was built to house cattle (although that may be a distinction too subtle for some).
Boy’s debut album was essentially a solo album – Kozmeniuk wrote, produced and mostly played all the instruments himself (he plays guitar, keyboards, bass, drums and can fake it on a myriad of other instruments). It’s a delightful mélange of straight-ahead rock and baroque-pop – accent on the sixties. On the excellent Every Page You Turn, Boy’s newest record, Kozmeniuk has put together a band and stripped his sound down to rock’n’roll essentials, which is not to say it’s no longer eclectic – “People Come On” and “Same Old Song” harkens back to the jangle-pop sound of the Beatles or the Byrds; Dark Side/Wish You Were Here-era Pink Floyd can be heard in “A Line To Stand Behind” and “The New Number Two”; and no one could miss the Rolling Stones in “Diamonds”. Fortunately, Kozmeniuk isn’t a slave to his influences; while some of his favourite music may influence him, his own musical personality is strong enough to take his songs in new and surprising directions. My personal fave-rave track, “Black Cat”, a mellow country-rock/r&b strum-along, is lifted into the stratosphere by this great honky-tonk piano banging away in the background – that takes musical imagination.
When I talked to Kozmeniuk, he had just arrived after a ten-hour drive from Prince George. He was exhausted from the rigours of touring and battling a drawn-out cold; nevertheless, he was extremely gracious and kindly consented to this interview. We adjourned to a small anteroom to escape the AC/DC-blaring road crew where, wearing a toque and a slim-fitting coat to fight the chill of the arena, he answered the following questions.
Swanktrendz: So how’s the tour going so far?
Stephen Kozmeniuk: It’s definitely a different crowd than what we’re used to playing for – the Collective Soul crowd.
ST: Really? I’m not very familiar with them. Are they hard rock?
SK: They’re pretty pop - mainstream radio kind of band, adult contemporary. So, it’s a lot of older…adults. We’re used to clubs and younger people.
ST: Well, we’re big fans of your cds at ST.
SK: Oh, thanks.
ST: The first one was really eclectic and fun. Your new one’s still fun, but less eclectic – more straight-ahead rock and roll, definitely a West Coast sound.
SK: Yeah, that’s really where I was coming from. I mean, we did it out here; a lot of the guys in the band were from out here.
ST: Where was the first one made?
SK: It was done in Whitehorse and part of it was done in Edmonton. But I was seventeen then, I was pretty young.
ST: Well, that can be good: you don’t know any rules, there’s nothing to stop you from doing what you want.
SK: Yeah, but then we tried to tour the record and it proved to be really hard.
ST: Hard to perform on stage?
SK: Yeah, you really couldn’t do it when it all came down to it. You had to have a twelve-person orchestra and you had to be pulling in five or six thousand a night plus, and that’s hard for a new band.
ST: Sure.
SK: And it, really, honestly, just wasn’t that fun to play live. It was pretty boring.
ST: It’s more fun to play rock?
SK: Yeah, it is, it’s more fun to play rock and roll. It’s something you can perform and get into. I’d like to do something more experimental like that again. I think the next record will be-not like the first record, but not like this record.
ST: But that’s good, you’re supposed to change and progress. Would you say your influences changed between your first record and this record? Did you change what you’re listening to?
SK: No, not really. It was pretty much the same: old Beatles and Stones, Pink Floyd and The Who and whoever else. I find that the records I like to listen to are kind of all over the place, but it seems that, nowadays, people’s attention spans are just shot. I think the media is the number one reason why people are idiots now.
ST: You blame the media.
SK: Well, sure. I mean, look at the TV, look at the Press – how they sensationalize things in crazy ways.
ST: And simplify things in other ways.
SK: Exactly. What do they tell a newspaper reporter? To write to a twelve year old’s reading level. And they definitely shoot for that. They want people to easily understand things and not really give a lot of insight. And TV, man, I can’t even handle watching TV. I don’t know. Have you seen TV lately?
ST: So what you’re telling me is there’s going to be no Boy: The Band reality show?
SK: We have this great idea to do this mockumentary – not quite like Spinal Tap, more like The Office.
ST: Ah yes, great show. Was this album different because you were working with a band and not by yourself?
SK: There was another guy in on the other record, as well.
ST: I just noticed from the credits that you are one of those people that play lots of instruments.
SK: Yeah, I can’t really. I just pick it up and figure it out.
ST: That’s a skill not everyone has.
SK: It is [different] because the band came along. I would have had a band sooner, but growing up in the Yukon it’s kind of hard…it’s tough to find a band.
ST: Let’s talk about that a bit because you must have been a little…different than the people you grew up with.
SK: Oh, definitely.
ST: One of things musicians face, I mean, all musicians face this, is the reason you’re a good musician is because you spent a lot of time in your bedroom strumming your guitar or whatever.
SK: Oh yeah, girlfriends hated it; parents were like, “Do your schoolwork.” My girlfriend’s like, “What are you doing? Spend time with me.” And my friends are like, “Dude, let’s go out for some beers. Let’s go get high.” I wasn’t really into that; I spent a lot of time in my room playing music. I was totally different. People don’t understand why you like to do it. It’s something that’s truly amazing and probably kept me out of a lot of trouble growing up.
ST: The ability to write a song – to have a song pop into your head – is something beyond my ken.
SK: I think it’s an extremely exciting process. It can be the most frustrating thing that you can ever go through and the most intense. That’s how I find it. You’re kind of going blind for so long and then, just all of a sudden, after all that darkness, that all of sudden something just pops in there, you know. And that’s why you do it. That’s why you put yourself through this whole struggle.
ST: That’s why that whole birth metaphor to art is pretty common, I guess.
SK: Yeah, exactly, exactly.
ST: How did you end up on Maple Music?
SK: I released the first record under a different label [Bumstead Records], and then I played some stuff to the A&R guy there – he’s just a friend – and he really liked it. He said he wanted to put it out, wanted to show it to the label. He was just a friend, you know.
ST: Networking – so important.
SK: It is. I never think of it as networking. But it is.
ST: How did you hook up with Brenndan Macguire - through the label?
SK: No, he’s a friend.
ST: He’s worked with Sloan, I know. Didn’t he produce the American Flag?
SK: Yeah, he’s done some stuff for them. I think they were working on some new stuff. I heard it and it sounded really good – better than anything else they’ve done.
ST: I love their first album. That’s why I brought it up. They kind of disappeared.
SK: I think Brenndan went to Toronto and worked on some stuff recently. Brenndan’s an interesting dude too.
ST: It’s the story with so many Canadian indie bands. They do some great stuff, but you’ve got to work or work at it or just disappear…
SK: Yeah, it’s a tough go, man.
ST: Sorry if I’m being depressing.
SK: No, I think it’s something totally worthy of talking about: the state of Canadian music. I think it’s fantastic. There’s tons of great music coming out of Canada – tons of hype coming, but then, you know, actual results coming too. I think something people don’t understand is when they think they see a band that’s doing really awesome, chances are they probably aren’t doing that awesome. It’s weird. It seems to actually really make it in Canada, you have to…I don’t think there’s any point in releasing a record in Canada before you’ve released a record somewhere else – especially an indie band. Look at Sam Roberts, he can’t do anything in another country – he can hardly get a release in another country. And if it does, it’s selling 800 copies. But then you look at The Dears, they can’t sell anything in Canada, but then you look at them in the UK and the States and they’re doing way better. The Stills; it’s the exact same thing. I mean, they’re selling out huge places in the States, but in Canada, they’re doing small clubs. It’s a weird, “eat your young” mentality in Canada. I mean, Canada’s an awesome place, but we have a weird attitude towards art.
ST: It’s a perverted modesty – we can’t seem to proclaim ourselves or our own.
SK: That’s totally it.
ST: It’s a double-edged sword though, isn’t it? You want an audience at your shows – you want your fans there, you want your smart fans that will understand what you’re singing to them, but you also want to sell your records. So then you get the guys who are there to be seen…
SK: To get drunk. You know, one thing I thought was amazing: we just got back from Japan a little while ago and no one gets drunk at shows. It is amazing. It’s so different from Canada. You know, in Canada, it’s about selling beer at a concert, not selling a band at a concert. The whole experience of just going to a concert, it’s just about getting hammered.
ST: And yelling.
SK: And yelling. In Japan, the only guy yelling in the crowd – you know, yelling stupid stuff - kept shouting he was from Brampton, Ontario – the only Canadian in there. I thought it was funny. It doesn’t matter who you are. I saw a million bands in Japan…
(Another band member walking by shouts out: “It’s art, man!”)
SK: The whole crowd, they almost hang on every word you say. You get crazy applause right after you play, and then the whole crowd is dead quiet. They hang on every word. I saw that happen to Oasis; I saw that happen at The Black Crows; even bands like Slipknot, you know…Duran Duran.
ST: The fans are waiting outside already [It was 4:30 – three and half hours from showtime].
SK: Yeah, these Collective Soul gigs have been packed. It’s insane. Every show’s been sold out.
ST: This is a weird venue [basically a cattle barn].
SK: They’ve been doing secondary markets. I think they’ve been touring Canada, hitting all the main markets. And now they’re doing things like Prince George, Grand Prairie, which don’t usually get shows. Which is kind of cool because they’ve been some of the best shows, I think. It’s weird being the opening band. It’s awesome though; it’s a really cool tour and everybody’s having a pretty good time. I lost my voice at the beginning of the tour. First day, I got a cold and I’m still getting over it. My top range is gone right now. I’ve been doing this for a really long time now – day after day. It starts to wreck you after a while.
ST: When you get back, do you recharge or do you have to kick yourself in the butt and get back to work?
SK: You need to recharge, but you never really get to. As soon as you get back you’ve got a million things to do you let go. Usually there’s a good week of work that you have to do and then maybe try to get some sleep again, as much as you can, which is definitely a good thing.
ST: All right. Well, thanks for your time.
SK: Thank you.
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| Three great new articles |
| 10.11.05 (9:39 pm) [edit] |
We had a great interview with the lead singer of Boy - Stephen Kozmeniuk
http://www.swanktrendz.com/php/files/10_11_2005_ 2155_2024636553.php" title="http://www.swanktrendz.com/php/files/10_11_2005_ 2155_2024636553.php" target="_blank"http://www.swanktrendz.com/ph...
And we also did a review of Tim Burton's the Corpse Bride
http://www.swanktrendz.com/php/files/10_11_2005_ 1840_1007644530.php" title="http://www.swanktrendz.com/php/files/10_11_2005_ 1840_1007644530.php" target="_blank"http://www.swanktrendz.com/ph...
and an article about another Vancouver great spot : Gastown
http://www.swanktrendz.com/php/files/10_11_2005_ 1049_1695058099.php" title="http://www.swanktrendz.com/php/files/10_11_2005_ 1049_1695058099.php" target="_blank"http://www.swanktrendz.com/ph...
I'd write the articles here but photobucket is down for maintenance, so sorry for the inconvenience
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| Google Reader and importing Bloglines subscriptions |
| 10.10.05 (7:10 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
By: Sashi
You’ve probably heard of this by now - Google’s newest tool: The RSS feed reader. This tool isn’t really a surprise, seeing how Google’s been actively cornering the web publishing market (Blogger, Blog Search).
Like many of Google’s recent free products, this one is in beta stage too, although one wonders if any of Google’s products will ever actually advance past beta (think Gmail).
Anyways, I thought I’d give Google Reader a quick spin round the block, and see how it works.
Logging into Google Reader is the same as logging into Gmail, and indeed, if you have a Google account (e.g. for Gmail or other Google Account service) you can use the same username and password for this too.
Once you’re logged in, you’re presented with the classic Google interface (i.e. sparse, and efficient). If you’ve just logged in for the first time, you get a little intro, like so:
You have now the option of adding feed URLs one by one or importing an existing feed subscription list. Since I already use Bloglines for all my feed-reading needs, I decided to import my Bloglines subscriptions into Google Reader.
To do this, I logged into my Bloglines account as usual, went to My Feeds, and clicked on Edit. Then I clicked on the Export Subscriptions link under the heading Extras. This results in a page listing the XML source code of my feeds (different browsers will display this differently).
I then saved this page on my computer as an XML file (e.g. feeds.xml).
Next, I went back to my Google Reader, clicked on the Your Subscriptions tab, and from the pull down menu (the one saying More Actions.. next to the Add a feed link), I selected the Import option.
Clicking on Browse, I selected the XML file I’d saved earlier and clicked Upload.
Google Reader took a minute to upload my file (I subscribe to a lot of feeds) and then displayed them all.
Its default presentation of feeds isn’t quite to my taste. It just orders the feeds according to the most recently updated. It looks like a jumble and basically, somewhat messy.
However, you can view them in categorical format by clicking on the Your subscriptions tab which will present your feeds like so:
Overall, I kinda prefer Bloglines’ features and user interface, but that’s just because I’m so used to it. However, Google Reader seems to be a little bit faster than Bloglines in indexing those feeds, and maybe in time I might get comfortable enough with the user interface to make it my primary feed reader.
Nevertheless, as first impressions go, Google Reader does seem to do what it sets out to do - index feeds and present them in an easy-to-read form. No fuss, no special, extra features.
That’s the Google way, I guess.
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| Think of Your Beautiful Breasts - Rose Pink Marbled Meringues: |
| 10.10.05 (6:54 pm) [edit] |
Think of Your Beautiful Breasts - Rose Pink Marbled Meringues:
Swank Home
Beck’s Home
A Contribution to "In the Pink" for Breast Cancer Awareness
Rose Pink Marbled Meringues:
The whites of 4 eggs.
1 cup of caster sugar.
2 teaspoons corn flour
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon rose essence
Pink Food Colouring
Preheat oven to 300F
Whisk egg whites until they form soft peaks.
Continue to beat as you gradually add the sugar.
Sieve corn flour onto meringue mix.
Add vinegar and essence.
Carefully fold ingredients together.
Swirl in a little pink food colouring.
Do not mix too well if you want a marbled effect.
Form meringue shapes on a lined baking sheet.
Put in the oven and turn temperature down to 250F
After half an hour turn oven off.
Leave in the oven to cool completely.
Result: Cute little pale pink rose-scented soft-centred chewy meringues with a crispy outer shell made for La Dolce Vita's In the Pink Breast Cancer Awareness event.
If you like, sandwich pairs of the meringue together with a little creme fraiche and decorate with dried rose petals.
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| The Antithesis of a Good Concert Venue |
| 10.09.05 (6:06 pm) [edit] |
Swank's Home
Boycott Abbotsford AG Rec Center for Further Concerts
By Christine
Despite being ill, I was determined that Lezah and I were going to attend Boy’s Abbotsford show (they were one of the opening acts for Collective Soul). We had missed them once already when the singer, Stephen Kezmeniuk, was too ill to play so there was no way we were going to miss them twice. Therefore, I dragged my sickly butt out of bed; forcing aforesaid companion to share breathing space with me as we headed out to the Abbotsford AG Recreational Centre.
Upon arrival, we were forced to step over discarded beer bottles and pools of vomit in order to reach the lengthy line-up that snaked back into the darkened bowels of the parking lot. Luckily, we were able to bypass this line and head right into the venue. Security was very ‘present’ but for what, I was unsure as I do not recall Collective Soul ever reaching superstar status. The security also had antiquated rules, eg: no cameras. In an age of camera phones I found this rule to be unenforceable. Besides, I couldn’t do a concert review without a visual.
Entrance into the barn-like building immediately presented a ‘70s old time concert-at-the-hockey-are na feel. A poorly placed beer garden ensured that a line of thirsty folk snaked across the front of the stage making it inaccessible to fans who wanted to be front and centre. The crowd was a real mix, with close to 50% aged 40+ preferring blue jeans, and for some odd reason, the colour brown. The tables selling band merchandise were set up at the back of the arena with the sole light source centred on Collective Soul’s offerings. The other band’s, Kazzer, items could be dimly made out, and Boy’s merchandise was literally in the dark. The background music was an odd assortment of bands from Violent Femmes to Ozzy Osborne, with the bulk of the music being that of '70s arena rock bands. Hello, high school dance! I'd like you to meet the year 2005! I mean really, it's time to realize we're in a new millenium here!
Perhaps because I was ill, or perhaps in spite of being ill, I found myself in an annoying venue, with annoying beer drinkers, and listening to annoying programmed music. Not a good space to be in prior to the gig even starting.
Before Boy was due, a band called Kazzer played their set. This group had an eclectic sound, neither great nor bad, yet the band presented themselves with an over inflated sense of self. But who were they, really? Their sound was a fusion of rock, metal, rap, and scratch hip hop. Their look was not homogenous either. The lead singer had the Vanilla Ice appearance, while the guitarist had very long dred locks, and the keyboard/record scratch fellow looked like the local country boy with his ball cap. Definitely an urban meets country look. The tunes ended up leaning more towards the hip hop genre due to the melodic bridges and choruses after the rapping. The crowd listened, tended to be young and somewhat uncertain looking. They were polite with applause, but appeared underwhelmed (with exception to two skinheads who were fist pumping and lurching about).
Boy made an appearance onstage at 9:05 only to disappear quickly after. After a lengthy passage of time (or what seemed to be lengthy as I was becoming impatient with the people around me) Boy took to the stage. By now a throng of people had pushed toward the stage, again, more of the ‘younger’ fans.
As soon as Boy began their set, I could immediately see the growth in the band’s performance since last year, when they were literally becoming acquainted with each other (as Stephen was previously a solo act). As they played, you could see they were seasoned, comfortable and arranging the songs more personally, rather than putting out the tunes in the order of the tracks on the cd. Unfortunately, I doubt if the audience would have appreciated any of these subtle nuances as the sound was appalling. Stephen’s mic was not working properly from the start, and Rolla’s guitar riffs were barely audible. Maurie (Tank) was hidden in the back with his presence known only because the drums were the main instrument heard.
As well, the band did not seem themselves. Rolla didn’t have his usual bombastic enthusiasm, and Stephen could have been bantering with the audience - who would know when you couldn’t hear any vocals? If anyone in the audience at the front of the stage knew the band’s music, I’d be surprised as there wasn’t the usual excitement shown for the songs such as ‘Diamonds’ and ‘You gave it All’. Surely someone in the central control section noticed the poor quality of sound, and why wasn’t it corrected immediately!? If I were a manager, I would have been livid.
It was extremely disappointing to watch a band that has great talent, and has come so far as a collective unit, to have a potentially excellent set sabotaged by poor sound engineering. We couldn’t even stick around for Boy’s full set, and had no interest in seeing Collective Soul, so we were off.
The Abbotsford AG Recreational Centre left a horrible impression upon me, and I left feeling worse than when I had arrived.
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| Getting on Board the Ship of Madness |
| 10.07.05 (10:57 pm) [edit] |
By Sashi
http://www.swanktrendz.com" title="http://www.swanktrendz.com" target="_blank"http://www.swanktrendz.com
Here we go again.
Last year was dismal for me, in terms of my NaNoWriMo participation. About 2000 words were all I managed in those crazy hectic 30 days of November 2004.
I mean, how the heck was I supposed to know that work would actually double during that particular month?
The world would be a better place if employers could only understand our needs to go loco with delusions of being a novelist - especially since the delusions only last a month.
Despite my abysmal failure last year, here I am about to do it all over again. Fortunately, I am far more prepared this year than in 2004 - primarily because this year, I’m fairly certain that I am - in all probability - utterly and completely insane.
I don’t know about you, but insanity is my friend. I cannot imagine how I’ll be able to go through an entire month stressing out and downing Panadols by the fistful to cure those damn pounding headaches that tend to accompany those who spend their every waking moment trying to compose that elusive sentence to continue their flimsy excuse of a story thread.
Indeed, you can see by this very post that I’m going to have a hard time next month. A crazy, hectic, mad, and insanely hard time.
So there it is. Another month of headaches, pain, stress and fistful of Panadols beckons.
I can’t wait. BRING IT ON!
Links:
* National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) official site.
http://www.nanowrimo.org/" title="http://www.nanowrimo.org/" target="_blank"http://www.nanowrimo.org/
* The 2005 Malaysian NaNoWriMo blog
http://nanomy.blogspot.com/" title="http://nanomy.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"http://nanomy.blogspot.com/
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| Christine's British Columbia Educational Rant |
| 10.07.05 (10:51 pm) [edit] |
My name is Christine, and I am an educator/teacher.
As the British Columbia’s Bill 12 ‘Teachers’ Collective Agreement’ goes through its mandatory phases, union members’ disbelief at such a suppressive act increases exponentially.
Remember when we were ‘negotiating’ our contract in 2001 and class size, class composition, and wages were the issues? Well, nothing has changed except for the fact that Campbell and his cronies illegally stripped our Collective Agreement to the detriment of student learning and imposed upon us a token wage increase.
The generally nurturing personalities of teachers make us more inclined to be apathetic or roll over and play dead - hoping they won’t sniff us out. Well, not anymore. 88% of conservative Langley voted to take job action.
Now Bill 12 is stating that the present “Collective Agreement” will be in effect until June 2006. That in itself is a joke as there was no collective in that agreement. The only thing collective coming out of this agreement is the ire of unions across the nation. I recently received phone call from a CUPE union member who is presently at the Annual CUPE Convention. Get this - the biggest buzz at the Convention is ‘Bill 12’. Teachers may be angry, but other unions such as CUPE, BC Federation of Labour, etc. are outraged. I was taken aback at the passion of the union members and also pleased with the unanimous support we are receiving from the unions. The CUPE’s position is that if this is going to be done to the BCTF, which union will be next? That thought in itself is enough to set any union member (radical or not) off.
This next stage of Bill 12 will be the pulse of the BCTF as well as Unions across Canada. Do not for one minute think we are alone: parents, students, teachers, trustees and other labour unions support us.
In closing, I am reminded of Peter Finch’s performance in Network encouraging people to call out their windows “I’m mad as Hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” However, as union suicide is not the option here - union solidarity is. Do not back down, do not roll over and play dead. This is serious.
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| Our Temporary Swank Focus - Guys, guys, guys |
| 10.07.05 (10:48 pm) [edit] |
Contributed by Christine
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It appears that all our swanktrendz ‘swank’ photos seem to focus on women. In this section we are going to focus on men (and one woman) Here goes:
Pix 1 was taken of a guy who my pal and I thought had definite potential - the picture does not do him justice.
Pix 2 was taken of a guy in an Andy cap hat, which we normally do not like, but he pulled it off.
Pix 3 was of the drum check guy (Brian Seeley or something) - again the picture does not do him justice.
Pix 4 was taken of Stuart, of ‘Who shot John’ - everything a gal could love in a a ‘bad boy’.
Pix 5 and 6 were of our fave swank guy, Billy (now known as ‘Swank Bill’.)
Pix 7 was of the waitress who had style and personality to match.
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| Ani Kyd's CD Release Party |
| 10.07.05 (10:44 pm) [edit] |
Ani Kyd CD Release Party, The Waldorf, Vancouver, BC
September 30, 2005
Contributed by Lezah
We attended Ani Kyd's CD release party at The Waldorf which, it turns out, is a great venue for live shows. Ani's show was opened by her self-proclaimed 'three favourite bands': Who Shot John, Contra Band, and 3 Hills (see upcoming Swanktrendz article) - and, I realized when Ani came on, that the feeling was mutual. Mark from Contra Band was front and centre throughout Ani's entire show, and it was obvious that he was a huge fan. Likewise with a number of other band members from the opening acts, as well as members of the Vancouver music community in general. The place, by the time Ani came on, was packed to the gills.
She took the stage in a Green Day-inspired outfit, complete with guitar on which there was a sticker proclaiming 'Satan Works for Me Now'. And once she started to sing, boy oh boy, did I believe it. You know, you always hear about people selling their soul to the devil in order to get what they want; I think here is a case where the opposite is true, because when Ani opens her mouth and that incredibly huge voice comes out of that tiny little frame, you can really see that the devil would sell his own soul (if he had one!) in order to get an in with Ani.
The show opened with the song '13' and its galloping guitars; with the three (Ani, Byron Stroud, and Ian White) up there, legs akimbo and fingers furiously flashing over the strings, it was akin to a full-frontal attack. And behind them all was the gigantic presence of drummer Gene Hoglan, aka Mr.Blister, a chap know for being absolutely merciless with a drum kit. In fact, I believe he broke two drums during the show - and band members had placed bets that he was going to go through even more.
'Left Holding the Bag' is a fantastic song that came up about half way through the set, and was immediately followed by the very loud but very emotional 'Erase'. Next was 'Left Right Left', another great tune. Toward the end of the set Ani played 'Lost' and 'My First Kill', two songs destined for the Heavy Metal Hall of Fame, and then finished up the set with the raucous 'Taste My Lips'.
The show ended with the sound-board guy saying to the crowd "Come on, you guys, you're not going to let them off with that!", but Ani's band had played their ten song set and that was it - no amount of cheering or cajoling would entice them to play an encore, in spite of my colleague's fervent wish that they would play her fave song "Hard Way Home".
By the last half of Ani's set there were people in the crowd going absolutely crazy - so much so that Ani at one point put out a community advisory ("Stay away from the drunk redhead kid - he's gonna puke on someone"). By the end of the night, the level of inebriation was rising like the waters around New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, but there was no ugly behaviour - wackily drunken dancing with anyone and anything was about as bad as it got. One guy in the crowd had a girlfriend who looked like a supermodel, but that didn't stop him from yelling out to Ani repeatedly through the show, "Please, I want you to have my baby", and other such equally romantic things.
The bottom line is, the men in the crowd (in particular) love Ani. But no matter who you are, man or woman, once you hear that voice of hers, I really do think you lose a little bit of your soul - once you're there, there's no turning back. You're hooked, in for life. And in this case, that ain't a bad thing.
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| Congratulations to the Swanktrendz Readership Giveaways |
| 10.07.05 (10:40 pm) [edit] |
Here is a list of the winners of our first anniversary Readership Appreciation Giveaways.
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Make sure you keep your eyes (and bookmark) ready for next year's September anniversary when we will be giving away bigger, better, and more gifts.
Thanks to all
Christine
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