Temptation of Victoria

By New Order.


Forgive the less than stellar vocals...the audio was taken from a New Order show in 2002.

Moon Review

I finally saw Moon today. If anyone remembers I posted the trailer sometime during the summer, expressing the excitement I felt about seeing the film. I gotta say my excitement was not met with disappointment. All I'll say about the plot of the movie is this: Sam Rockwell has been on the moon for three years mining its energy sources (this takes place in the not-too-distant future), and only has two weeks left before he can head home. Then some strange things start occurring...really strange things. I know, from that description it kind of sounds like your generic run of the mill sci-fi thriller. But it is so much more than that. Rockwells performance is amazing. Which is a good thing, because he is the only person you see. He speaks, don't worry. He is taken care of by a super-computer, in the same vein as HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Only this time it's voiced by Kevin Spacey.

If you can't tell, I really enjoyed the film. Especially the soundtrack. The eerie music of Clint Mansell really drives the imagery and the emotion of the movie. Not surprising, considering he wrote the music for Requiem For a Dream and The Fountain.

Do not miss this one.

Please Billy, Spare Us.

On September 19th of this year, Billy Corgan announced on his website that the "Smashing Pumpkins" will be releasing another album. And not just any album, one that will be spanning forty-four tracks, and will be free to all. Normally if an artist that I know and love were to make this announcement, I would be beyond excited. Sadly, this is not the "Smashing Pumpkins" that I know and love. With the departure of the original drummer, who has been replaced by some 19 (maybe 20) year old, Billy is the only remaining original Pumpkin. Not only that, but the last "Pumpkins" album that was released, Zeitgeist, was a fucking mess. It was nearly impossible to listen to. It was like watching your childhood teddy bear get ripped to pieces, then suddenly being urinated upon. That bad.

You can imagine my worry when I saw this announcement. Then I read the paragraph where Billy has tried to explain the significance, or 'meaning' of the album:

"The story of the album is based on 'The Fool's Journey', as signified in the progress of the Tarot. It is my intention to approach this by breaking down the journey of our life here into four phases as made by these different characters; the Child, the Fool, the Skeptic, and the Mystic."

Thanks for the essay proposal Billy. To make things sound any more sane, Billy has named the album Teargarden by Kaleidyscope. What?

The quote suits the man.

Please Billy, stop destroying the Pumpkins name, and stop making it harder for me to be a fan of your music.

Plan the Parade

The Leafs won tonight, against a good team who has a penchant for losing to bad teams during the regular season.

Yippee! Hooray! Alright, lets not start jerking each other off just yet. The Leafs still need to play at over .600 for the rest of the season to even think about contending for a playoff spot.

Interestingly enough, the last time they had a starting record this poor, (they went 0-10 before winning a game), the year was 1967.

The last time they won the Stanley Cup.








Now I really sound insane.

Someone Is Getting Fired

Alright, who's crazy idea for a bad joke was this?


According to the National Post, Canada's World Junior Team will be wearing green jerseys when we compete for another gold medal in Regina and Saskatoon. The reason? To honor the fucking Roughriders. A western CFL team, who's roster is full of American players, playing the bastard Canadian child of an American game, is being honored by a fully Canadian team. They're saying 'oh, its to honor the fans of the Roughriders, because they give so much support'. Who cares? If the Juniors go to Toronto, will they be wearing blue to honor the Argo's and the Maple Laughs? The logic behind this change is absolutely insane. Not only that, but everyone in the stands will be wearing red and white, our national colors. People are going to think we're bloody Irish.

Paranormal Activity

You may have heard about this movie already. The one that only cost 15,ooo$ to make, is in the same vein as the Blair Witch Project, and was actually 'voted' into theaters by fans.

Its the story of some generic couple, who happen to be haunted by some ghostly being. The whole thing is filmed through an amateur video camera (hence the Blair Witch reference), which doesn't seem like a cheesy gimick at all while you watch it. Other movies (Cloverfield) have tried to replicate this, and have failed terribly. Anyways, the whole thing consists of instances of them being haunted, generally at night, then attempting to deal with it during the day. I'll admit, the film did indeed have me pretty creeped out more than once. Its amazing how little can be used to create such a large effect. Something as simple as a swinging ceiling light, or a slamming door can jolt you. The only thing is, at the film goes on, I started to not be bothered by anything that was happening in the film. In the second half of the movie, when something 'scary' happened, I just simply wasn't fazed by it any more. The 'scare factor', wore off almost completely by the end. Its not that things weren't going on, the novelty had worn off. Maybe my attention span and need to be entertained 24/7 is getting to be too much.

I am Boring

I literally have nothing interesting to write about. Want to know what I did last night?

I stayed up until 7 am playing Fight Night Round 4 and watching the boxing documentary When We Were Kings. That's how awesome I am.

Rocked.

Yesterday.

Had a couple of firsts yesterday. Both of which were bizarre. The first being inside a car when it got totalled. We were turning left on a green (I was in shotgun) and we got side-swiped by a ford escape. Luckily the friend of mine who was driving accelerated, or writing this post may have been pretty fucking difficult. Either way, quite a harrowing experience. Its one of those things that you don't believe is happening while it is. The feeling you get when you look to your right only to see a speeding car about half a foot from your window is indescribable. Then the bang comes, and before you know it you've done a 180 and are facing the other way, with your door smashed in and glass all over the place. Thank whoever made those old Audi's so strong. I'm happy to say everyone involved was fine, save some pretty severe whip-lash.

The second first, of which may be a shocker to some considering I'm more or less a movie fanatic, was watching American Beauty. A decade of praise for this film and I still had never bothered to watch it. Well I can safely say that I was pretty blown away. Kevin Spacey's character has easily become one of my favorite film characters in recent memory. Its a bizarre, hilarious, moving film. If you haven't seen this one before, go rent/download/buy it...whatever. Just do it. Now.

Dead Man's Bones

Ended up listening to the whole of Dead Man's Bones, Ryan Gosling's foray into music. And I have to say I was not that impressed. The first song I heard by them (just below this post) gave me a sense of optimism. Maybe it was just the surprise of a movie star making music that wasn't completely un-listenable. That means you, Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton.

Almost all the tracks feature a choir backing the duo's vocals, which sounded like a pretty good idea. Until I listened to the whole album. I didn't really find one song on the album that I truly enjoyed (Name in Stone isn't on this album), and frankly the whole thing was pretty boring. Sometimes the choir works, and sometimes it just completely falls flat. Like on My Body's a Zombie For You. I'm not sure what is so unsettling about a dozen children yelling "My body's a zombie for you!" repeatedly. Maybe it just didn't strike the right chord with me, but I wouldn't exactly recommend it to anybody. Sorry Ryan, but maybe stick to what you're good at.

Who Knew?

That dude from Breaker High is in a band.



Cool.



Who knew...James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins), Taylor Hanson (yes, that Hanson), Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne) and Cheap Tricks Bun E. Carlos had formed their own "supergroup". James Iha...what the hell happened?



Not so cool.

Mid-Term Fear.

We've all been there, we've all felt it at one point or another. That moment when you realize your month or so of binge drinking, sleeping, missed classes, waking up in strange beds and places, and a general reckless-abandon towards your academic life has landed you in hot fucking water. When you just have to bend over, and receive a raping in the form of actual work and responsibility. It's a pretty special feeling, having the weight of the whole semester come crashing down upon your head in one swoop, and having no one to blame or turn to but yourself.

One will do anything to get out of such a pickle, and desperation starts to kick in. Nearly useless cramming becomes the norm for a few short hours. You even start to believe you can pull it off. Then before you know it, you find yourself sucking down butts at an abnormal rate, loading up on lotto 649 tickets.

Wake Up Maggie

Downloaded a bunch of albums this week, which included Rod Stewart's Every Picture Tells a Story. This album features what is likely his most well-known song, Maggie May. I had never been a Rod Stewart fan before, simply because I would always see commercials of him on television as an old crooner, seemingly only singing for middle-aged women. How wrong I was. This guy fucking rocks, as does this album. The whole thing is great. Mixing various styles of rock and roll, Every Picture never gets boring, and I never skipped a track.

Who would have thought this guy, and the dude all fucked up on various narcotics were the same person:

I also grabbed Ohbijou's sophmore album, Beacons.

It's an enjoyable listen, but they seem to be just another re-hashed version of Arcade Fire. Only this time from Toronto, with more ukulele and banjo! This album didn't blow me away or anything, but its definitely soothing, relaxing music with some songs getting to the point of being boring (I'm looking at you, We Lovers and Jailbird Blues). Check it out, if only once. Good for a rainy day, but I don't see this getting up high on my rotation.

News/Sports

Surprise, surprise, the Maple Laughs are playing terribly. They are still win-less this season, and until things turn around I am seriously questioning this man Burke's thinking. I mean, trading your first picks for the next two years, along with your second pick this year? Very, very risky if you ask me. Kessel is a good player, but he also had one of the best passers in the league feeding him the pick last year. This year he'll have Matt Stajan. Time will tell.

Other news around the NHL is that No. 1 pick Tavares is ripping it up, 5 points in three games. I'll admit I was doubting his abilities coming straight into the NHL. If things continue, I and many other of my friends will be eating our words.

Heatley is showing that if he's the center of attention and gets exactly what he wants, he can all of a sudden be one of the most threatening goal scorers in the league. Great for him, and the Sharks, but what a baby. But I guess if he keeps that up, Thornton and Heatley will be a lock for the Olympic team.

I don't even like baseball, but the Boston Red Sox got their asses kicked, as they should.

Now onto a much more pressing issue than sports. Obama. How in the hell he got awarded the Nobel Peace Prize is completely beyond me. The way the Nobel committee has been explaining themselves is kind of outrageous. They've been saying he got it because of the way he speaks about peace, and his intentions. His commitment to a nuclear-free world, peace in the Middle East, health care, blah blah blah. None of these things have happened. If these things had been achieved, then by all means give him every prize he desires. He'd be a fucking saint. But he hasn't. Not only has he not done these things, he's done the opposite of what peace means! A war in Afghanistan, a war in Iraq, health care bill being shot down in Congress, and not to mention the prison on Guantanamo Bay is still open. I seem to remember him saying (during his campaign) Guantanamo was going to be one of the first things he was dealing with when he took office. I'm not calling him a liar (yet), but to award this man the Nobel Peace Prize cheapens the validity of the prize itself.

Long Weekend

Went to Toronto on the Thursday night (yes I am aware that's not the real weekend) to enjoy some clubbing. Went to this place called Strangelove. I was half expecting crazy psychedelic lighting, maybe with some 60s go-go dancers. There was nothing of the sort. The only other detail I can seem to remember of that place was that the song seemed to never change. The next morning while waiting at the corner of Sherbourne and Dundas for a streetcar, (remember this place is #1 in Toronto for crime) my friend Skyler and I were approached by a rather haggard looking gentleman. He told us he wanted to hang around us white guys because the police were looking for him, and he had 1500$ in his pocket. He then told me us white folks we were tougher than anyone else, which I found to be quite hilarious. Slowly as I saw a cruiser approaching, he took off like the wind, and told us he was never there. I'm still not sure if he ever was.

Friday night was the usual get shit-canned in Hamilton and go to Hess routine, where Che turns into a high school reunion. The only thing of note from that evening was witnessing some poor sucker get his face clobbered in by about four bouncers. Watching his nose get crushed about four times with blood pooling right under him reminded me what a bad idea it is to rush bouncers after you've been thrown out of the bar.

Saturday was interesting, as I was out until about six in the morning and had forgotten my house keys. Rather than trying to sleep in the garage again (I had tried this the previous winter, it was not pleasant), I called my house. There's nothing quite as embarassing as having to call your mother from your front porch at that hour, and asking if she could let you inside. Especially when your cousins are showing up the next day for thanksgiving lunch. I slept basically until they showed up. At 4:45 pm.

Step Inside My Hyundai

Beck fucking rocks.

Hype

Sports Hype:

This morning James Duthie posted this hilarious article on TSN, explaining why the media and fans need to relax and realize that we're only around three games into the regular NHL season. Vancouver hasn't started out great, so Luongo stinks right? San Jose and Detroit haven't been playing well, so obviously they're going to tank for the rest of the season. Toronto hasn't won a game yet, and won't for the rest of the season. On a side note, the two players to be most excited about on that team, Gustavsson and Stalberg are fucking injured. Great. Anyways, onto why I'm even basically paraphrasing what was already said on the TSN article. TSN is the epicentre of the NHL hypemachine, so I find it quite ironic that Duthie of all people is calling out the media and fans for freaking out after two or three games. Duthie and his cronies sit at a table all week disecting teams, already trying to call whether or not a team will make the playoffs, which goalie will falter, it goes on forever. In conclusion, it's cheesy to call out the hockey analysts for playing into the hype, when you are in fact the lead analyst on a network that does nothing but create hype.

Music Hype:

I'm sure some people had heard about this band called Girls a couple of months ago, as the release of their extremely anticipated debut album has had a whole heap of hype surrounding it. I had only heard about them a few days ago, and have since then listened to the album, which funnily enough is called Album. The title itself is so painfully indie it makes me want to puke. Kind of like watching Juno. Or anything else starring Ellen Page. Music sites and blogs are riddled with people who have been going ape-shit waiting for this album, with the song samples making them jizz into their vintage corduroy's. It's not the greatest, most awesomest thing I have ever heard, and it certainly doesn't seem like these guys are going to change music or anything. To be honest one song in particular, Laura sounds like a bad Libertines rip-off. But all the bashing and hype aside, its actually quite a good album. Sounds like they pumped this thing out in their garage into a lo-fi tape recorder. And that's not a bad thing. Check these tracks out:

Summertime
Hellhole Ratrace
Lust For Life

Music! (Old and New)

It's surprising (to me) how little I knew about this band, considering they've been around for a hell of a long time, and basically sound like a mash-up of some of the first bands I started listening to in high school. About two weeks ago this song was put on the stereo at my house in Guelph, just after a nice pass around of the old wacky tobacky. I asked my roomate (repeatedly) when the fuck Robert Plant put out this song, and if it was with Zeppelin backing him or not. I was met with a few looks of bewilderment, and was asked if I was as retarded as the question. Soon after I did feel like a fool, as the band was clearly Supertramp playing School. Since then I have listened to this song a couple dozen times. That Pink Floyd inspired guitar and song structure mixed with a Plant-esque voice has had me hooked, feeling like I'm in grade nine again listening to The Wall for the first time. This is off their album Crime of the Century.

I downloaded a Neil Young album this week. I had heard about it reading some article that was talking about Uncle Neil releasing a huge set of previously unreleased work, which includes mostly live material. I decided to get Sugar Mountain: Live at Canterbury House 1968 from the extensive set. And wow, what a great fucking album. The recording isn't perfect. You know that white noise sound in the backround you hear when you play a tape? Yeah there's alot of that in here. But Neil's voice is crystal clear, as is his guitar work. It's quite early on in his career, and I don't think I've ever heard his voice sound better. The show was an intimate one as you can tell it's a tiny crowd by the small amount of clapping, and the way he addresses the fans. Considering it's 1968 and Young hadn't hit the music scene as a huge solo artist yet, this album feels kind of special. He's playing his heart out. Go give it a listen, if not only for the version of Sugar Mountain. Or when he rambles on about taking speed pills while trying to work a real job.

(sorry I couldn't find a sample from this recording)

I also got Raekwon's new album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt. II. This is a big one, as it runs at over 70 minutes and has 22 tracks. Not that it's a particularly bad thing, for the most part they're solid tracks. But maybe a few songs could have been left out, simply for the reason that it's almost hard to listen to the album the whole way through without getting bored. But that's just me, I'm sure rap fanatics would have no problem doing it. If you're a fan of Wu-Tang, definitely check this one out, as many members return to help out, along with other non-clan members.

Its Easy to be Cynical.

The Leafs have come out of the gate stumbling. In three games they have posted a 0-2-1 record after their loss to the Senators this evening. Fan-fucking-tastic. Not only that, but Stalberg got absolutely leveled, and looked like he had a concussion. He did not play after being hit. The team as a whole did not play well, but at least Gustavsson did OK.

So the Leafs lost tonight, a few hours after I got surgery on my mouth. The surgery put I guess what would be replacement roots in my gums for my three missing teeth. It was a pretty strange feeling, being awake while someone literally hammered three steel rods into my gums. Not that it hurt much, but it sure rattled my whole skull while it was happening. Now I'm stuck with a swollen face, a very empty stomach, and a weak-looking Leafs squad. At least I have some severely powerful painkillers.