It may have been one of the worst nights in the city for weather in
some time, but that didn’t stop The Balconies from putting on a
fantastic show at Crocks Wednesday night in front of the few brave souls
that dared to venture out to see them.
Some bands may have taken the night off but Jacquie and company
performed as if they were playing to a sold out house. True
professionals they performed their polished and well-rehearsed set in
support of their latest album “Rhonda”. Their latest offering is a mix
of hard hitting alt-rock-pop songs with some sweet 80’s synths.
Jacquie’s range of vocals were predominantly strong, powerful and
passionate - but she had no issue switching gears to soothing and
melodic.
The band last night comprised only of herself, fellow guitarist Liam
and drummer Mike. Their Bass player was MIA for a few of their gigs
which forced the band to use some technical ingenuity to fill out the
rest of lineup. The result was a slick and encompassing performance.
If Jacquie wasn’t rocking out on her guitar, she was dancing up a
storm.
The Balconies are heading west on this leg of their tour but hope to be back in Thunder Bay soon.
For more information about the band: http://thebalconies.ca
We're 2 days away from playing a big stage at the CLE Wednesday night. We haven't played since Sportnet's Hockeyville event at the Marina back in January.
We got a good rehearsal in last week and it didn't take much time at all to dial everyone in and get things nice and tight.
Last night's practice was fun - we went over all the cover songs and 2 songs we may throw into the lineup if we need them. Spirits were high and everything sounded right.
Carlo suggested i use his new Savage amp. He liked the way it sounded. I got used to the subtle differences after adjusting a few things in my effects chain. We're going through the whole set list again I'll run that amp through it's paces. It will definitely save some effort moving it instead of my 4x12 cab and amp head.
I've really made an effort with Tourist Bureau to 'add' nuances to the songs instead of 'blasting' through with my guitar. There's a lot going on and my approach of less is more i think seems to be really helping the overall sound of the live shows.
I'm really looking forward to this gig. It's outdoors and from what I hear it's a big stage. Maki is doing the sound I believe and that's always a great thing. My family are able to attend which is always important for me to have my kids see me doing what I love doing. I hope it inspires them to do what they love doing.
Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman take a three-month motorcycle trip.
My personality type is the kind that likes to deep dive on interest. Once I like something I tend to exhaust it. Leave no stone un-turned is my motto. My latest obsession is Long Way Round. It's that documentary that came out about 10 years ago with Ewan McGregor. He and a mate of his decide to ride motor cycles around the world in 3 months.
They wanted to document their adventure. Before the journey they challenged themselves to do a video diary at the end of the day. It's pretty interesting.
My life - is no way as interesting as say Ewan McGregor's and the prospect of other people having an interest in my day to day ventures is pretty scant. However I really liked the idea of journalling for myself as record of my accomplishments. The idea of having something look back on as a reminder that I am living my life is assuring.
Video blogging for myself - I will see about that. My comfort level isn't there yet. But I do see is it's merit.
So the latest episode of Song Exploder was released yesterday - it's one of my favorite things for my earballs. They break down artist's songs - everything from lyrical influences, instruments, themes etc.
The latest was about the theme to BoJack Horseman. It's pretty awesome. Patrick Carney of The Black Keys explains how he was experimenting in his studio and plugged his Protools click track into the CV of an analogue keyboard and put it through it's arpeggiator to come up with the opening of the track.
He got his uncle involved - Ralph Carney of the Tom Waits band who is an amazing Sax player. Together they shipped the song tracks back and forth and collaborated on this piece not knowing what would come of this composition.
The creators of BoJack Horseman were big fans of The Black Keys and got in touch with Patrick. The rest is history. The Carney's little project became the them song to the show.
I've never seen BoJack Horseman. But after hearing this Song Exploder I just had to see what it was all about. It's got a favorite actor of mine - Will Arnett as the lead voice.
The theme song ads a ton of weight to this crazy cartoon.
Based on the most recent discussion on the SteveDanglePodcast and the debate over off side calls and robots….
I think you have to first decide FIRST which interest is more important:
1. Fans / Entertainment -or-
2. Teams/Coaches/Players
-Fans WANT to be entertained. Teams NEED to win.-
When you state that Sports is ENTERTAINMENT that may be true – but it’s jobs and money for Teams/Coaches/Players.
So the way I see it – Video Replay is solely for Teams. They will exploit anything and everything if it means winning at the end of the day. Teams are eliminated from playoffs based on one game. That will cost a team Millions of extra dollars if they miss out.
If TEAMS is the primary interest – then I agree with Jesse – ROBOTS.
However the opposite is true if the FANS are the primary interest.
Eliminate Video Replay. Even goal line reviews. All of it. How many times has a missed call been complained about by the coach to a ref and the ref than makes up with it by calling something against the other team? How many times have we heard how vital the Refs position to influence the game is?
I had every intention of going to Kakabeka Falls to hike the "Little Falls" trail. But the weather wasn't co-operating and I was running out of time.
I opted to Urban Hike. There's a bike path near my home that borders the river. I took every opportunity to walk off the path and in the brush to make make it more hike like.
It was chilly but spring was definitely in the air. The sounds of Robins - almost of dozen of them off to the side of the path were trying to stay warm. In the same wooded area I spied some sparrows and a single Wood Pecker.
Later on two I spotted 2 Loons making their way up river. I imagined the fowls second guessing their arrivals back to this area. There was still some snow and some ice along the water way.
I spent roughly 2 hours plodding up the river than back down taking in the sights and sounds. Traffic was minimal and didn't influence my state of mind terribly. I took as many moments as I could to stop and really take in the nature around me. Staring into the rushing river I hoped to see some Steelhead as rumor had it they were starting to run. The sound of the water, and the brightness of the sun's reflection slowed time.
I've had this on my must see list for years. My anticipation and perceived weight of the film could be why I didn't care for it.
Nixon, Impeachment, Watergate etc - all big words and concepts I've grown up with since I was a kid but never quite understood. I always envisioned this movie to be my 'aha!' clarity movie for this event in history.
Sadly it was not.
Redford's character was pretty good. Hoffman annoyed me. The audio wasn't clear and add to that Hoffman's mumbling made this very hard to understand - especially specific details that would make understanding this conspiracy so much more comprehensible.
I really wanted to love this movie but since I had to Wikipedia Watergate to get a better understanding of the event I have to flat out throw this movie to the curb.
That being said - if I were to watch this again having a better understanding of Watergate - it may make more sense.
When this came out in '76 - the details fresh in everyone's mind this film I think would have been better - but 40 years later it just doesn't hold up.
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Inspired by the book - A Walk In the Woods that I picked up while visiting in Canmore BC, i really got into the notion of hiking.
Nothing crazy - but my goal is to do some sort of hike every weekend. Spring is right around the corner and I'm just chomping at the bit to get going.
When I was younger my friends often camped and hiked. I miss it. A lot. My first set of hikes will be re-visiting the old trails that I haven't seen in probably 20 years. This weekend I'm planning on hitting the Kakabeka Little Falls trail.
It's a nice little 2KM in 2KM out.
My plan is to journal my hikes here on the my blog.
I'm
not a 'comic book' guy. I did enjoy it. I think i would have enjoyed it
even more if i had never seen the Jim Carey in the Mask.
All in
all a great entertaining flick. Because it was 'R' i was excited by the
unpredictable path this story took. It wasn't glued down in the last 10
years of traditional comic book movies.
I always like
stories/films that don't involve 'the fate of the world' plot lines.
Individual people stories are far more fascinating.
I won't give away any details. It's worth seeing if you don't have any idea what it's about.
Based on Tim's Website (TIMHORTONS.COM) here is what's of interest:
1. 38 Cars (2016 Hona Civics) in total
2. 113 LG TVs
3. 23, 578 $100 GCs
4. Ontario has 131,264,160 contest cups floating around
And what ever you do - DO NOT TOSS THE BAR CODE if you win. The bar code is necessary to claim your prize. The donughts and coffee - i don't think they worry - but the big ticket items - you're best keeping the whole cup. :)
I don't profess to be the BIGGEST Cure Fan. I did however go through a Cure phase back in high school. For about 4 years I was very influenced by the Cure. Porl Thompson was a guitar hero to me and most of my favorite tunes involved his contributions. I'm in a small minority when I claim the WISH album was the pinnacle of the Cure. That's when 'my' Cure sort of dissolved after that album. Some players left and were replaced. They weren't' quite the same for me after that. I enjoyed some of the stuff they put out but feel they would never recapture that 90's period. After all I was a teenager then and nothing really compares to that very impressionable age.
I recently had a very good friend discover the Cure. The catalog is vast and spans I think almost 4 Decades. Here are the albums that resonated with me the most.
Standing on the Beach the Singles. This was my introduction to the Cure. It was a sort of best of up to 1981 I think. Killing an Arab, Jumping someone else's train, A Forrest. The late 70's early 80's dark textures really struck a chord with me. The BassIV and droning bass lines stirred up the 'alternative' personality in me and a identity germinated and planted some pretty strong roots. I was now part of a culture outside the norm.
I was fortunate to be born in the 70's and my teenage years aligning with the release of Disintegration. I was a fan after Standing on the Beach, but I was official with being hit with Disintegration. I absorbed this album. Front to back. I wrote high school essays on Plain Song. I recorded all the videos on VHS (Love Song, Pictures of You, Fascination Street). I started growing my hair out and dressing more and more 'cooler'.
I got my first pair of Doc Martins. Had Rolling Stone articles cut out and pasted in my locker. I even bought a massive Robert Smith Disintegration album poster for my room. I was now in a band and we started covering these songs. For the next 4 years - THE CURE was ME. What a bloody dark record. It really had me digging deeper and deeper into myself.
A few years later WISH dropped. A very guitar-centric album - probably the biggest reason this was my favorite release and incarnation of The Cure. TONS of textured guitar parts with loads of effects. I read everything I could about the making of this album. My favorite is Robert Smith story is how he just went into the studio after dinner, stomped on a bunch of BOSS pedals and ripped off the solo for Edge of a Deep Green Sea in one take.
The lyrics are pretty awesome as well. Smith has always been known for his great poetry but Wish to me was his best work.
Could have been my parting years in high school, but this album really connected with me. Not as dark as Disintegration (which was a relief). It was dark in texture but not in theme. There was a bit of lighter air to this album. The Cure this formation was MY Cure. They just looked like the coolest MFs going. I had a friend who had this awesome t-shirt with the band standing in long wool coats with a snowman. That has always had a huge impact on me. I too had a long wool coat, my hair was now down to my shoulders and I could see myself playing on stage with the Cure.
The Cure was never quite the same for me after that album. Some members changed and the direction had changed. But so did I. Maybe that's why i'm not so keen on the later albums.
Blood Flowers came out a while back and was a re-visitation of Disintegration and Pornography. There was a cool concert they did where they played those 3 albums live back to back to back. What an undertaking. I liked Blood Flowers but it seemed more nostalgic in tone. Nothing would top WISH for me.
Had an interesting discussion about podcasts today. Here's my favorites at the moment.
First i'm so glad that Andy Greenwald and Chris Ryan re-surfaced after being laid off. They're now part of the Bill Simmons Podcast Network and that's just awesome. Channel 33 is what it's filed under.
Steve Dangle Podcast (you might know him from the Leafs youtube videos that show up on Sportsnet from time to time). His Leafs centric podcast with Adam Wylde is great. Hockey player impressions.
Marek vs Wyshnyski - more hockey. Also hilarious, but with a bit more depth to it. Jeff Marek of Hockey Night In Canada and Greg Wyshnyski of Yahoo sports really get into some meat and potato stuff. More hockey player impressions. Oh and it's extra special when Greg Lozzo is on.
Eli Glasner on film (CBC) quick in depth movie reviews.
The Filip and Fredrik podcast - to Sweedes talking pop culture with a very abrasive comedic flair. They are celebrities in their home country. North America - not so much - which is what makes this such a great listen.
The Nerdist. I'm a huge fan of @midnight so when i found Chris Hardwick's podcast it was love at first listen. Primarily a long form interview style pod - he get's some pretty big hitting guests from the entertainment world - music/film/tv. It's in depth but also very humorous. He's not just a funny guy - he's pretty smart too. My favorite so far was with Garbage's Shirley Manson.
Get it Done Guy - with Stever Robins. Quick and dirty tips to work less and do more. Everything from consulting tips, negotiating, organizing - all with an undertone of world domination.
