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Monday, January 31, 2005
ask me about my iPod...
They're letting me do cool things at school, this week I'm to perform a "functionality audit" (whatever that means) of the iTunes music store. To get the full customer experience I set up my own iTunes account. Let me go on record right now and say this will be the fucking death of me. iTunes is my own personal equivalent of crack rocks. The transaction interface beyond slick - you don't actually fill out any forms detailing credit cards info etc at the point of purchase, meaning the total time from pressing the "buy this song" button and downloading and listening to the product is under 10 seconds. Yup, that's some instant gratification.
The worst thing is that the (Canadian) iTunes catalogue appears to be fairly shallow and supplied exclusively by the Big 5 music labels, meaning most of the indie-ish bands I normally go for aren't available for purchase. Because of this I search for songs that I like for the wrong reasons such as tacky classic rock jams or horrible muchmusic top 30 pop-fodder that gets stuck in your head due to sheer over-exposure. The two songs I purchased today were 'Lose my breath' by Destiny's Child and 'Don't fear the reaper' by the Blue Oyster Cult. Also, I was eyeing up a couple of Kelly Clarkson and Lindsay Lohan singles.
Yeah, I'm disgusting myself too. It appears my disposable income will now be spent ironically.
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In non-ironic vancouver music news, it was recently announced that Queens of the Stone Age will be performing at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre with special guests Eagles of Death Metal on Wednesday, April 13th. GETOUTTHERETHATSHOWISGONNABEKILLER! See you at the show. Tickets go on sale on Friday.
elsewhere
tony pierce | Things You'd Love to Say at Work, but Can't
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Sunday, January 30, 2005
I hate when I miss my birthday and/or home...
The 3rd annual curl-a-thon / wend's and mine birthday party went down this weekend back home, I could write a post about it... or just cut and paste wend's email... 'eregoes:
Hi Robbie!
We had so much fun yesterday! Great bonspiel! 32 of us... 8 teams! Biggest ever!
I’ve attached the pics from the bonspiel. At the after-party I took real pics on my real camera.
Team Cuervo is trouble!! Ha!
My Dad brought a suitcase of tequila, salt, limes, corona and god knows what else!! I think it was the beginning of the demise of Gong and Dave... although in their defense they did get up and board today! Leo and Dave were so drunk last night and so funny! They drank a 40 of rye straight. Then Leo went around to everyone at the party and kind of had a heart to heart with them about how drunk Dave was and that he’d drank a whole bottle of rye. People were kind of concerned about Dave’s drinking. Then Dave finally overheard Leo doing this and realized his ploy to detract all attention for him being so drunk and blaming Dave. It was hilarious!!!!
Feel free to post the medal presentations...
Third place team – Julie, Carpet, Chaddy and Adrienne. Chaddy is also wearing another medal as he won the "closest to the button" competition
Second place – Wend, My Mom, Bubbles & Penner. The combination of the kid from Eston and the Phys Ed teacher was outstanding. And Penner has some small-town Manitoba moves herself. I just stood there and looked cute in my cowboy hat!
First place – They beat us. I was sad. It was Rusty vs. Jilly. Showdown of my parents! Team Cuervo pulled through. And I now have to listen to Darcy gloat for a whole year!!
I’ll try to get you pics of the evening. My shirt was ridiculously low cut and my boobs were well represented ;)
XO
W
elsewhere (i.e. related photos)
curl-a-thon II (2004) | curl-a-thon I (2003) | pre-curling-b-days
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Friday, January 28, 2005
Download time...
So a couple weeks back the boys of Tenacious D did a fund raiser gig for the Tsunami Victims. Jack and Kyle invited Beck, Dave Grohl, Josh Homme (you know... the lead singer from Queens of the Stone Age, who looks kinda like the bastard love child of Conan O'Brien and Craig Kilborn), Eddie Vedder, and Will Ferrel to join them on stage. Through the glory of the interweb, I've found a copy of Josh Homme's short but pleasing set, and will now share it for your asses. While normally, I'd offer some comment about how cool these QOTSA songs sound striped down to only an acoustic guitar, the key awesome-factor of this set is the guests accompanying Josh in the performance (see below, download your anus off):
Josh Homme - Live at The Wiltern LG (Jan 17th, 2005)
01. Mosquito Song (with Tenacious D)
02. No One Knows (with Kyle Glass?)
03. The Long Slow Goodbye
04. I Never Came (with Dave Grohl)
elsewhere
pinder | how to be obnoxious in french
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Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Your consistency is a turn-on...
Pitchfork Media, the supposed taste making bible of all things indie rock is slowly driving me nuts. They're falling off, kids. Dare I even say becoming mad with power street cred (or at least becoming retardedly snobbish and judging material against constantly spinning criteria)?
When I first started reading the site, I poured over it to no end because the writing staff seemed to have a balanced critical eye (uhhh... ear?) and the ability to put words together in a way which was not only shockingly vivid but also accurate. It seemed as if they were consistently able to find the words to describe the reasons for those stupid little goose bumps you'd get when you listen to a new track by a fantastic band for the first time (eg: 1, 2, 3). Now I think they're just fucking with everyone.
Case in point 1:
Regarding the US release of Tegan & Sara's "So Jealous":
The first single from So Jealous, "Walking With a Ghost", sounds like one of those dummy mp3s major labels post on KaZaA to fool unsuspecting music lovers, where the first 10 seconds loop for five minutes.
Case in point 2:
Regarding that sonic crap-fest "Over and Over" by Nelly and Tim McGraw:
...But maybe it wasn't so obvious that their first duet would be a sad, sweet, low-key lullaby. And maybe it wasn't so obvious that it would be gorgeous.
Yup... Nelly is gorgeous, T&S are repetative. Who else thinks that the pitchfork crap spining toilet is flushing in reverse here? Meh.
elsewhere
new P2p: exlite | rat fingers | Open letter to Starbucks customers
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Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Folkie McQuickie...
Folkie / Roots rock darling Iron & Wine has recorded an new EP titled Woman King set for release on Feb 22nd.
I've heard an advanced copy and it's rad-tastic (that's a good thing). It appears that Sam Beam is still further progressing from his lo-fi-muted-whisper-finger-picked roots, and is still adding more elements and sounds (eg: electric guitars) to his sonic arsenal. The result is most awesome as it shows Beam's approach to music composition isn't gimmicky... there's real confidence in his work, and more importantly because it totally pisses off the overly academic music geeks who think that the hissy monotonous style of Creek Drank The Cradle was the blueprint which Iron and Wine should have duplicated album after album. Ha ha, and so on.
Anyways, thecrutch.net has the title track from the new EP for download:
Iron And Wine - Woman King [mp3]
Mmmmmmm... dreamy.
elsewhere
back that ass up vs. back dat azz up | best carson eulogy. ever.
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Sunday, January 23, 2005
Riddle me this...
I finally saw Shaun Of The Dead. The movie was uber-hilarious and is highly recommended viewing, but it got me critically thinking about Zombies.
Clearly, this post is a real think-piece.
Zombies make absolutely no fucking sense. Of the 6,478,955,801 Zombie-based movies ever made (you can check that stat on imdb.com) no one’s actually explained what the Zombie’s actual purpose in life is. I get that they go around eating humans, and in turn the humans they eat turn into Zombies themselves, then this growing Zombie collective runs amuck eating / converting additional humans into Zombies. But what happens at critical mass? Let’s say that the Zombies suddenly rise, and kick-ass, and eat every human on the planet. They’re pretty much self-actualized at this point… and they’re out of food. Then what? They can’t go eating each other, as the competitiveness isn’t a characteristic of the zombie mob team dynamic… plus, everyone knows cannibalization is taboo. Zombies don’t age, and can’t grow old and die. Zombies can’t reproduce and have children. Zombies don’t have the advanced mental capacity to manufacture spaceships, nor do Zombies have a intuitive drive to “go vegan”. So what the fuck?!? Someone explain this whole zombie thing, poste-haste.
elsewhere
AWESOME ninja training videos | party ben mash-up mp3's
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Thursday, January 20, 2005
it would be really cool if blogger would let me update...
You know everyone in the blogosphere (sidebar: "blogosphere" is a stupid word) pushes to bring you the latest gossip/audio/picture spread first. Why just this week, people were trying to leak the new Beck album, and graciously distributed live mp3's of The Arcade Fire performing live on 'Morning Becomes Eclectic'.
Well fuck that... I can out do all y'all(s).
Little J from the drunken punk darlings LeftNutt sent me an advanced copy of their soon to be released, but not yet titled, second CD. I've had it for almost a week, and it's been on heavy rotation - BECAUSE IT'S FUCKING AWESOME. With that said, I have no idea if I heart this album ironically or actually on it's merits. Please note: I don't care. Update: ironically.
For those unseasoned, LeftNutt performs barebones punk songs about, well, things that are swear-words. Their songs are crude and void of deep meaning, and that's why they work. I've listened to 1,001 bands and put up with their posturing and posing. I've watched pretty bands come on the TV and lipsync. And I've watched labels push bands into trendy format after trendy format. The LeftNutt boys are the exact opposite of every other band out there. They don't fixate on image, but rather on their overly energetic stage show. They don't focus on slick riffs, but rather on hooks and choruses that are so shocking that you have to smile and sing along. I know this works because they're asked to gig by all the local bar owners a few times a week. But the boys are smart, and play relatively infrequently, and when they do perform the venue is packed and the kids go off. Anyways, here are a stanky profanity laced tracks from their new disk.
LeftNutt - Herpes [mp3]
I'm warning you right now. The track is not for the prudish types, and might not be safe for work... assuming you blast your mp3's across the office for all the ladies in the typing pool to hear.
elsewhere
the new postal service video is nice | stream the new chemical brothers album here
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Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Just got back from Quebec City (yes, that's 2 trips to Quebec in as many weeks). I attended the mba games... which, technically, should be the grad school version of WBG and / or UBG.
I'll tell ya right now, it was 1/100th of 1/100th of a percent as awesome the WBG's or UBG's. I mean, no disrespect to the organizers or those in attendance, but stuff like this and this and this was clearly lacking. With that said, I did manage to have a pretty good time, and managed to get rightinthefacewasted off gin-soda's (the new drink for 2005), compete in a case competition with 2 hours of sleep, and smoke a half pack of menthol cigarettes. Pretty standard, really.
Also, I'd like to point out that no one speaks English in Quebec City. NO ONE. Needless to say why I tried converse with a 60 year old francophone security guard to determine how I could order a pizza at 4am, things got painful. Also, I'd like to point out that there is nothing less sexy than a dance floor packed with 600 sweaty drunken mba students trying to dance to "drop it like it's hot".
elsewhere
cooking with rock stars | WTF?! | greatest essay ever?
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Wednesday, January 12, 2005
this is important... if you live in Vancouver.
Oh goodness, vancity hipsters... you need to stop what you're doing and clear your calendar for the night of Monday March 7th, 2005. It appears that those sharp and stylish indie-rock darlings, The Futureheads, are coming back to Vancouver to play a gig at Richards on Richards. Regular readers of this here website know that it is our my opinion that The Futureheads put out the best CD in all of 2004, and their live show is equally as kick ass. Those in Vancouver need to pick up tickets asap, that is, assuming they like at minimum one the following things:
- dancing
- fun
- rock
- complicated hair-do's
- hand clapping
- franz ferdinand
- singing
- bags of free money
Needless to say I'll be there in full force. You can buy tickets here. Did I mention tickets are $12.50?!?! Value!!!
elsewhere
family guy has a blog | 24 Great 24 Moments
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Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Back from a week in Montreal...
Lemme tell ya something… Montreal felt very different in comparison to when I lived there about 5 summers ago. Then again, when I was there 5 summers ago I was on a 2 drink minimum, tech-boom educed, corporate training thingy, where I spent the bulk of my time becoming drinking buddies friends with my new-found roommates, Special J and Zeb.
This time in Montreal, I spent every waking second competing in the ultimate nerdfest… where my teammates and myself would perform and then present a weeks worth of mba-level strategy analysis in just under 4 hours… a couple times a day. We slept, ate, and competed in our hotel for the entire week and because of this I never left the building. I felt like I was in the twilight zone… at the point where a spelling bee and a bad episode of 24 intersects. The week was one of those “test of character” type things, and required you to “think on your feet” and other “management bullshit”. Despite the fact that the stress was overwhelming and at times I wanted to drown myself in the bathtub just to stop my brain from constantly having a knee-jerk reaction which forced me to assess everything I saw in terms of financial viability or salvage value or utility of square footage or potential expansion strategy or core competency or whatever, me and my team survived battle and by the end of the week were knocking other teams all over the place. I look back on the past week quite smug and happy with myself… although completely burned out.
One of the reasons I may look back at Montreal with a happy disposition is The Pirate. Homeboy took care of me big time. On Friday evening I finally snuck out of the hotel and me and him tore a strip off the city. First we raided the mini-mart in his apartment building and knocked back a bunch of Stellas while cranking CD’s the likes of The Arcade Fire, Tegan & Sara, and Dance Mix ’92 (Don’t front, Mr. Vain was a hot jam back in the day). Then, from what I can recall, Pirate’s well educated / sassy girlfriend took us out on a tear of the city, where we feverishly consumed all the gin in the city. Which is why I might only be able to remember all of three things from the entire evening: having what seemed like brilliant conversations in an attempt to determine the quintessential Radiohead song, having a tray of shooters dumped on me by a server, and quasi-ironically dancing around like an idiot on some big nightclub dancefloor with my winter coat on (and with my collar up) to that horrific “Lean back” rap-song.
To quote Bette Middler Pirate is the wind beneath my wings… or something. Thanks pal.
(note: a few photos on buzznet)
elsewhere
867 5309 | listen to the new hot hot heat single here
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Sunday, January 02, 2005
happynewyearyo...
Ok kids... must type fast, it's past my bedtime, and I'm on a plane to Montreal in the morning...
Team vanmega just got back from 4 days worth New Year's related resort partying and snowboarding on the mountain. Despite the fact we had a smaller possie out, we went easily as bonkers as previous years' nye trips. This year's highlights included: ceazers served by the 2 litre jug, perogies cooked with multiple cooking techniques, competitive ha-tubbing, turning a small town bar's new years eve party into our own personal shit dance show, and half the team completely injuring themselves before even strapping on a snowboard. Sigh... good fucking times, no joke.
Pictures can be seen here.
Peace out, I'm off to the ULTIMATE NERD-FEST. (Will attempt to update throughout the week)
elsewhere
season 4 of 24 starts this sunday | how you, too, can earn a paltry $15 million | how to get action at a new year's eve party
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