I found out about Ween’s demise last week, and I have been trying to think of how to sum up what they meant to me – and the world, but of course! – in some kind of measured way. I have a rather bizarre relationship with them: I came to them rather late (2001? 2002?) …
The Hockey Hall of Fame Bias towards “Last time we won the cup was…”
The more I went through previous Hockey Hall of Fame admissions for a previous blog entry, the more I became aware of a pattern: the sheer number of inductees who played for a franchise’s last cup winner. Memory is an extraordinarily powerful force and it seems like the memory of a franchise’s “last great team” …
Percussion Music: Works by Varese, Colgrass, Saperstein, Cowell, Wuorinen (1974, 1997, Nonesuch) by the New Jersey Percussion Ensemble
This is a fine selection of modern “art music” attempts to break out of western traditions by making percussive music. Not really knowing a ton about any of the composers, save Varese, that’s tough for me to say, but it seems a fair sample.
Bob Dylan
Though I regard the “medal of freedom” as a rather laughable thing – and would like to think that if I were as famous and inscrutable as Bob Dylan I would not have accepted it – I feel like now is as good a time as ever to say: Bob Dylan is the greatest “rock” …
The album isn’t dead…and if it is, that’s not a good thing
I reject the claim that the album is dead since I own hundreds and I know many who also own hundreds. Moreover, I live near multiple stores that sell albums. I bought one for my brother the other day. I intend to go by some this week for myself, as well. But if it is …
The Hunger Games (2012, Gary Ross)
So first, my general impressions: the film is pretty well-made, if a little long for its subject matter. I didn’t detect any glaring problems with the editing, direction, etc. The problem is, of course, the source material. As one would expect from a novel aimed at teens or tweens, there’s not much here for adults: …
Women in Jazz (1998, Retro Music) by Various Artists
The cheapie box set is an interesting phenomenon: Gather some recordings from major artists where the copyright has lapsed (or never existed), Put the recordings in any arbitrary order you choose, Use more discs than are necessary to convince the buyer they are getting a great bargain, Give it a catchy title.
The Conservative Majority: One Year Later (2011-12)
CBC had a very helpful little piece about what the Conservatives have and haven’t done in their first year. Here are my thoughts: What they have done so far:
Capitalism: A Love Story (2009, Michael Moore)
Full disclosure: I don’t like Michael Moore. I agree with him on many, many things, but I absolutely can’t stand the way he manipulates his audience. I am a political philosophy major and so a lack of clarity of concepts makes me insane. So…
The Invisible War (2012, Kirby Dick)
I hate to say it, but 2012 was my first year attending Hot Docs. And because I didn’t get my act together, I ended up seeing one movie. (The other two we tried to see were sold out, one a week in advance.) So what follows is my review of that movie, Invisible War:
Wings of Desire (1987, Wim Wenders)
I think that Wenders is perhaps the poor man’s Fassbinder. He clearly has many similar abilities: this film has some absolutely spectacular (and ballsy) shots in it, and has a pretty great sound design, both things Fassbinder was also extremely adept at. But where Fassbinder grabbed you with his very human dramas – despite his …
Contraband by Velvet Revolver (2004 RCA)
I remember the instant hipster derision when this came out. Specifically, I remember watching the lead single’s video, and a friend of mine – a hipster if memory serves – was nearly apoplectic when Slash stepped forward to play the solo. Apparently such a longstanding expression of “rock” authenticity was just totally uncool, at least at that …
Bar Stool Economics
I can’t pretend to have been following the wrangling between the NDP and the Liberals over the budget and the prospects of an upcoming election. I guess I just have better things to do. (If we accept that systemic reform at the federal level is the political issue in Canada then a squabble over tax …
Dick Clark is Dead
Dick Clark died the other day. I woke up to a CTV news feature which included a CTV employee saying that Clark had “real talent” and was very nice… unlike all those other “middling talents” who weren’t so nice. If Clark had real talent, I wonder what all those musicians he showcased had? Extra-real talent?
Transmission by the Tea Party (1997 EMI)
It’s easy to rip on bands who rip off others. But when they rip off stuff you like, it’s significantly harder. I guess this sort of explains how the blogosphere etc can over-hype revivalist bands all the time when it might make no sense to the rest of us. If you like a genre enough, …
The Campaign to Fire Brian Burke: The 2011-2012 Maple Leafs Report Card
This is my report card for our 2011-2012 Maple Leafs’ season.
Steal this Album! by System of a Down (2002, American)
The internet is a funny thing. You’d think that people want to hear the music their favourite bands want to release, as opposed to things their favourite bands haven’t finished. But alas, that’s not how most people think. Most people just want, want, want.
Greatest Hits by Sublime (MCA 1999)
It’s impossible to judge a band by a compilation, especially something like a clearly arbitrary “greatest hits” comp, but even worse when the arbitrary comp is this short (it is unbelievably short). That being said, I will do it anyway.
Set Yourself on Fire by Stars (2004, Arts & Crafts)
I have a real problem rating these guys. You see, I saw them live before I ever heard their music. And well, if you like live music, I’m not sure you want to see Stars.
Fuck you, NCAA
I really mean it: fuck you.
The Queen is Dead (1986, Rough Trade) by the Smiths
I usually don’t have trouble liking rock I’m “supposed” to like. (I.e. the generally accepted rock canon.) I can’t say the same about pop I’m supposed to “like”. (Frankly, I just prefer inventiveness, grit, rhythm and other such things to melody, aesthetic angles to precision arrangements, appropriate to clean production and mixing, etc.) I usually …
The Campaign to Fire Brian Burke: Grabovski
I like Grabovski. He is probably my favourite forward on the Leafs at the moment. But liking him has nothing to do with sound hockey decisions and this contract is not a sound hockey decision.
The Campaign to Fire Brian Burke: Aulie for Ashton
Keith Aulie traded to Tampa Bay by Toronto for Carter Ashton With this trade, the last non-Phaneuf piece of the fabled Phaneuf trade leaves Toronto.
Ramones (1976, GRT)
The Ramones’ debut album begs the question: can we determine greatness without looking at influence? If the Ramones released this album, and it didn’t influence half the rock musicians alive today (maybe a slight exaggeration) would we still consider it great?
Wings of Desire by Wim Wenders (1987)
I think that Wenders is perhaps the poor man’s Fassbinder. He clearly has many similar abilities: this film has some absolutely spectacular (and ballsy) shots in it, and has a pretty great sound design, both things Fassbinder was also extremely adept at. But where Fassbinder grabbed you with his very human dramas – despite his …
L’amour de loin by the Canadian Opera Company
I’m pretty sure I forgot to tell you that we went to a performance of Tosca a few weeks ago. For me it was a real experience to see a Puccini, even one I didn’t know. I know reviewers felt like the leads were a little wooden but having only seen a couple operas in …
Crazy Italians: On the Cultural Disconnect Between Myself and Italian Cinema
Nearly a decade ago, when I was living in Australia, I went for a couple of organized tours of parts of the country I had never been too. One such tour occurred in the southwestern corner of Western Australia, an area that is one of the most beautiful I have ever been to in my …
The NBA still needs to adopt the CFL crossover rule in order to be fair
A quarter of the way through the season, it is already apparent, as it seems to be every season, that some decent western conference teams will be left out of the playoffs for yet another year. Here are the standings of the top 20 teams by winning percentage:
Cineplex doesn’t want me seeing movies, that’s for sure
So yesterday the GF and I went to our first movie in a theatre since TIFF, and our first non-festival movie (together anyway) since last spring or thereabouts. We went to see Shame, a film we were both interested in seeing.
The Shield (2002, Shawn Ryan)
Note: I have only ever watched the first four seasons all the way through, as far as I can remember.