From the World Of...

Okay, so first of all let me just get this out:  last night’s hockey was terrific!  To be clear, I’m not exactly what you’d call a “skill player”.  I’m more of the tenacious, Buchberger style of guy.  But last night I was on fire!  I had a new linemate who was on his first time out and we were just clicking….everything seemed to be working.  I had two beauty goals, a couple of assists off of killer passes (if I do say so), plus many more chances and shots.  And these weren’t plays of circumstance…my first goal was a clear cut breakaway where I just beat the goalie one-on-one with a shot 3 feet off the ice, inside the post stick side.  Passes were hard and tape-to-tape.  It felt so good!  Anyway, at the end of the night as we’re all piling back into the locker room Lorenzo pipes up over the crowd in a long drawl, “Briiiiaaan Fuuurrrman had the gaaame of his life!”  I was a happy cat leaving the rink last night.

I’m kind of hoping that we stay in this house mood that we seem to have found.  I think it’s starting to finally click in, all the things we have to do and the motivation to get them done.  It’s a frame of mind.  And a lot of it is fun at this stage!  Planning what we want to do, looking for ideas…shopping!  I’m forever making lists of things we need or projects to do.  Some are cheap and easy…some are much more involved.  The point being that no matter what the mood, what the day or how much time, there should always be something on the list that can get done. 

Tonight we have no Ruby…just Julie and I, so I’m pulling out my list of things to go shopping for.  It’s kind of like a date night when we’re child-less, so instead of going to the Empress and spending $100 on booze as we would normally do (heh, heh), I’m gonna take her out for dinner and then get out the shopping lists.  Trust me guys….shopping is looked upon as a fun date night by girls.  Here to help.

We’ve got a variety of things to look for.  From decorative items: floor lamps, artwork and picture frames, drapes…..to lovely furniture type things: ottoman, living room chair, sofa for TV room…to DIY projects like the flooring for the music room, hall closet doors, paint.  So again, no matter what the mood there should always be something on the go to keep us happy and engaged with working on the house.  I think tonight after dinner, it’ll be a trip to Finesse Furnishings to look around for some of those needed furniture items.  Even if we don’t find anything to buy, it’ll make a great evening.

By the way, as of today we’re one week away from leaving for Texas to catch Austin City Limits!  Wahoo!  Doing the weather checks, it’s hovering around plus 30 down there right about now, which sounds just perfect.  I can’t believe it’s only a week away now.  Here’s a link to this year’s lineup at the festival:  http://2010.aclfestival.com/?sort=by_day

The Friday Five

Hold Your Head High – The Heartless Bastards, The Mountain

Yeah, I’ve been waiting for this band to pop up!  Let’s get this straight…I love the Heartless Bastards.  They’re one of my favorite discoveries and I don’t mind taking a little credit for spreading the word amongst anybody that’ll listen me.  I read about them on some website under an “Up and Comers” type article and decided to seek them out based on what I read about them.  Hit the nail on the head with these guys!  Lead singer Erika sings hard and emotionally.  She is definitely the centerpiece in an otherwise tight band.  They came through Edmonton last year and played the Starlite as opener for Gaslight Anthem.  I didn’t give a crap about Gaslight, but was giddy as a kid to see the Bastards!  We chatted for a while with the bass player, Jesse, outside after the show over a couple of smokes.  He told us the strange story of earwigs in his hometown that Julie and I continue to reference as an inside joke.  Earwigs!

Party In A Forest – The Wombats, A Guide To Love, Loss & Desperation

In February of this year, Julie and I went to the Dominican Republic with a couple of friends of ours, Rob and Victoria.  On the plane ride back, sitting side by side but for the aisle separating us, Rob leans over and hands me one of the ear buds that’re plugged into his shiny new iPod.  The song was “Let’s Dance To Joy Division”, which is good tune.  I was sure I had heard it somewhere before.  Anyway, based on that, I bought the album when I got home.  Meh.  I’d say on the whole it’s average.  It's funny...you know that weird phenomenon where Brits, etc. lose their accents when they sing?  Yeah, these guys don't.  

Boyfriend – Best Coast, Crazy For You

This was actually one of the more hyped albums I read about this past summer.  After making a post on my Facebook status asking my friends if anyone was listening to it, the return messages were favorable, so that sealed it’s addition to my CD stand.  And yes, believe the hype.  It’s a great summer album that has been characterized as surf-pop.  I don’t know if I’d agree with that term, as it kind of conjures the Beach Boys for me, and this is pretty far from that.  It does however have kind of a dreamy, etheral vibe to it...not totally unlike the feeling you get from laying in a boat and letting the waves just take you along.  Okay, I get it.  Lead singer Bethany Cosentino, formerly of Pocahaunted, sounds an awful like Neko Case, who I like a lot.  It’s one of those albums that gets better with every listen.  Having said that, it’s in my car CD player right now.

Ziggy Stardust – David Bowie, Changesbowie

This isn’t just a song…this is an era defined!  This song, indeed the entire record, was a concept album from the early 70’s that also spawned a live concert movie.  Bowie created a whole persona around this character, Ziggy with his Spiders from Mars, and took it to the road in what I can only imagine would have been one of the most memorable tours of the time.  I haven’t seen the movie yet, myself…but always intend to.  I’ve seen him play live twice myself…once was at Commonwealth Stadium for the Glass Spider tour, which lives on as one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.  Neato fact from that show, Peter Frampton was the guitar player in his band for that tour.

Crystalised – The xx, XX     

The xx kind of came on the scene last year.  A lot of people have been digging them as another up and comer.  A number of sources ranked them well on “best of the year” lists.  They grabbed my attention as one of the band member is an alumni of Four Tet, who I’m a fan of.  For me, this was another average album.  They played at 2009’s Sasquatch Festival and everyone I know that saw them gave rave reviews, so I have to guess that their live presence is a strong one.  Maybe that’s one descriptive word I find missing from how I view their album; strong.

 

Wednesday Night is “Boys Night”.

There is just not enough gratitude that I express for Wednesday nights.  During the winter months, anyway, that is Boys Night.  I mean, yeah it sucks that it’s in the middle of the week and all…I mean, Friday would certainly make a better night to run free with the fellas.  But then again, our boy’s night is not about going to the bar or whatever it is other dudes might look forward to doing with their pals.  It’s a specific night.  It’s Hockey Night.

For about 10 years now I’ve been part of a group that plays regular ice hockey.  It started as a summer league team in the Alberta Men’s Hockey League, but has morphed into today’s version.  It’s pretty much the same guys every year, with one or two inevitably moving on and being replaced by newcomers.  But generally speaking, the core has been there all along.  This year we seem to have taken advantage of some kind of seniority at the rink in which we play…there have been years where our ice time was Sunday night at 10:15pm, putting you home after 12:30am, with the start of a work week to look forward to in the morning.  This year, we got Wednesday nights from 8:45-10:15pm.  Perfect!

Julie is just about the best girlfriend a guy could ask for and here’s one of the reasons: come Wednesday night, she volunteers to look after 5 year old Ruby, ensures I get a hearty dinner after work and then sends me on my way to Boys Night.  Generally, we guys have a protocol to fill.  Being that we step onto the ice at 8:45, that means you gotta be in the locker room by 8:15 or so.  So, I leave by about 7:00, grab my evening Gatorades at the local convenience store and go to meet Lorenzo and Wiggy in the parking lot by about 7:30.  There, we talk hockey until it’s time to go in.  After the game, it’s generally more of the same; meet the boys in the parking so we can hang out, recap the glorious plays we made and goals we scored until we all decide we’d better head home to our families.  It’s a simple night, but man it means a lot!

This year one of the additions to our team is a former NHL player, Brantt Myhres (aka Doggy).  Not too shabby to have a dude like him on your line feeding you passes.  The guy was a fighter in the NHL, most notably for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers and Sane Jose Sharks.  He also had brief stints with the Calgary Flames and our Edmonton Oilers.  During the last game he played in the NHL, for Calgary at the time, he got in a fight with big Georges Laraque.  As it happens with these things, Big George caught him and crushed the orbital bone around his eye, literally breaking his face.  Ol’ Doggy never played another game.  As an enforcer in the big league, Dog wasn't exactly at the top of skill pool…let’s face it.  His talent was fighting and intimidation.  But man, when you see him out there with the rest of us, some who have played to college and Junior levels, he is so far above the rest of our skill sets.  It’s ridiculous.

But he takes it easy out there…he knows he’s not getting scouted.  From time to time, he’ll dazzle the rest of us with a power skating move that cuts to the net in the blink of an eye, cutting his edges so deep into the ice the can hear the “Whoosh!” all the way out to the lobby.  Then with a little *bing*, the puck is upstairs and bulging the twine.  But typically, he’s just there to have some fun.  He can control the puck and keep everybody honest.  Always generous in setting up his linemates and springing us free from the position of a cherry picker, he’s a lot of fun to have out there.  Even though he must think we’re terrible hockey players that’s not really the point.  On Wednesday nights, we’re all equal.  We’re not out there to keep track of our stats and get revenge on the other team’s douche for the hack he put on last week.  The one reason we’re all there that is common throughout the group:  Boys Night.

Home Sweet Home

Man, I gotta start writing about some things on here lest it become a weekly update of what I have on my iPod.  And that would just be sad.  I guess it’s about embracing new habits and such.  As we all know, I am a creature of habit.  So although that bodes badly for adopting new practices in my life, it sure looks good down the road once I get it into me!

Speaking of habits and changing the mindset, it’s time we get this house rolling.  When I bought my first house, it was an almost hundred year old farmhouse in a historical neighborhood.  It needed work.  That was one of the things I really enjoyed about it, too….it was fun to do the work!  Well, for the most part anyway.  So now into this house and the previous owners had done a bunch of renos, although there are many things left undone that Julie and I have to finish.  Anyway, because of the renos that were done and all that, we haven’t put any emphasis on doing work around the house.  That is bad.  To be fair, we’re still a fairly new couple and with some stress to relieve, we’ve just been going out and enjoying each other’s company.  That is good.

Now that the Empress has become Chernobyl, it’s a perfect opportunity for us to re-focus and spend all of our socializing money on making our house a home.  It’s all about frame of mind.  So, we started last night.  Sure, maybe we’ve started small…but at least we’ve started!  A quick trip to the Home Depot and a couple of little sore spots were easily rectified.  And nice to see; not a lot of effort for a nice change of atmosphere. 

First, new door handle on the downstairs bathroom.  It has been without one since we moved in…just a door with a hole in it.  Julie refused to use it…haha!  Done!  Next, I caulked the bathtub in the upstairs bathroom.  Although they had very nice tile work done around the tub and on the floor, they must not have had any kids.  Ruby splashes like a mermaid in that tub and let me tell you, water don’t mix so well with grout.  So I rubberized it.  Done!  After that, it was on to the living room where the bracket that cradles the curtain rod had been ripped from the wall.  It’s been like this since we moved in…two holes in the wall where the screws, anchors and all, had been torn free, leaving my drape hanging only by it’s right hand side.  At first I thought the base of the bracket might be big enough to cover the holes when re-installed a half inch over from its original perch, but I was wrong.  So, a bondo job it is!  Got me some Poly-fill and started the process.  One more fill tonight, then it’ll be on the sanding and painting before I can properly hang the drape again.

Lastly, a little cosmetic attention.  We bought a rug that really ties the room together.  Understand this: we hardly ever use our living room, thus it’s easy to put off making the room cozy.  But as I was saying, we gotta get on this stuff.  Julie picked out a rug which we brought home and unrolled last night.  What a difference maker!  It’s almost amazing, the effect of a little décor.  Anyway, what it does now is accent how empty our walls are of art.  Guess what we’re doing this weekend?

The Friday Five

Hey y'all...time for the regular pre-weekend shuffle of the music pod.  Let's see what little nuggets (or dung piles) turn up today...

Mean Monsoon - Dan Auerbach, Keep It Hid

This is the first solo album from Dan, who is better known and lead singer and guitarist for the Black Keys.  I actually like this album better than either of the Black Keys albums I have...it's really terrific.  My tastes generally fall to the blues based stuff and, for me, this album is a great example of what I would kind of call modern rock blues.  Being a half-assed guitar plugger myself, I like the simple, straight ahead style of this album.  Dan's garnering a reputation these days and is writing and producing with a lot of other artists.  Still being fairly new to the scene, I'm looking forward to seeing where this guy goes.

Save Me - Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds, Live at Radio City Music Hall

As blogged in another entry on here, Tim Reynolds is a friend and sometimes collaborator with Dave.  They've released a couple of live albums that are showcases of the two of them playing alone together; two men with their guitars.  I'm telling you right now, Tim is frickin' great.  Especially if you like the jams that improvisation tends to produce.  This is album is no exception.  Excellent intertwining melodies and riffs galore!  Save Me is a cut from Dave's solo album, Some Devil.  The jam culminates for the last minute with Dave's reverberating three-beat "Ungh, ungh, ungh!", which is surrounding on the outside by some classic scat (or Davespeak) which always, always gears me right up, every time I hear it.

Trouble In The Country - Corb Lund, Hair In My Eyes Like a Highland Steer

What can you say about Edmonton's (all right, Alberta's) prodigal son?  This is a classic example of Corby's country songwriting style.  Storytelling with a sometimes outlaw, always down-home feel is something that just does not come along often enough in music, at least of this calibre.  Corb Lund & The Hurtin' Albertans have been rising fast in recent years and deservedly so.  This is throwback stuff to how country music used to be.  In my opinion, how it should be.  I've always said I hated country music, growing up with Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, et al.  But this, I hardly even classify it as country.  I heard once that country was the original punk music...thanks, Corb for bringing us back to that.

Hussel - M.I.A. (feat. Afrikan Boy), Kala
Here's another rising star in the mainstream.  She's got some really creative beats and sounds, often getting away from typical time signatures, which has gotta be different for someone making music usually heard on a dance floor.  I first heard of her years ago when I attended a Gwen Stefani concert.  M.I.A. opened and I liked her immediately.  She was fresh, different, energetic...and somehow, I dunno...believable?  Do you know what I mean?  She was performing for the music somehow, moreso than for the crowd.  I haven't picked up her latest album yet, but it's on the list.

I'm Only Sleeping - The Beatles, Revolver

Okay, there's a bit of confession in here that's sure to offend music fans.  The first time I ever heard this song was as a cover by The Vines, done for the soundtrack of I Am Sam.  Sinful!  But, please..let me plead my case!  I have always been a pretty big Beatles fan.  Really, my mom got me into it as child and I never faltered from that.  But, see...I had this thing.  I didn't particularly care for the earlier half of their career.  You know, the "Love, Love Me Do" shit?  So, I tended to lump anything pre-Sgt. Pepper into that class.  Revolver is often considered one of the best albums ever made, but I kept resisting, thinking it was just more of the pop-era bubblegum stuff.  And a little of it is...but it was moreso the transition record, I think.  This song is a great example of that.  Thanks, mom....

The Empress' New Clothes

Well, the time has come for change within my community.  My little local, The Empress Ale House, has had a lobotomy.  Part of it's brain has been removed and it's now destined for an existence that befits such an operation.  It'll become a droning zombie, responding to it's atmosphere, rather than creating one.  There once was a girl named Sue, who used to run things over the Black Dog, one of Edmonton's most favored pubs.  Sue decided to open her own place, away from the weekend revellers and douchebags that a hot spot like Whyte Ave is bound to attract.  So one of the regulars at the Black Dog bought in on the venture by fronting some cash...I don't know the spilt in cash ownership...but let's just say Sue had enough for about 30-35% and her partner floated the rest.  The Empress came to be.

It was a pub built around community.  This isn't just a bar, or a place to go drink on the weekend.  This is where you went to visit your friends.  You knew everybody and they all knew you.  We knew all the staff, as did all the regulars...and the first drink of the night was always on the house.  For me, it just so happened that at a time in my life when I really needed to feel a part of a community, the Empress took me in.  I can't express here how important it was to me at the time to be treated as I was by my friends at my local.  And now that the bar is successful and running well with a solid reputation, the money-man has reared his head.  This "friend" of Sue's made her the victim of a majority shareholder firing.  Turfed her to take it all for himself.  One of the first things to happen after he delivered the bad news to the lady whose heart & soul built the place, was to start drawing a huge salary out of the bar for himself and his wife.  Greed. 

So in response, everyone stood up for Sue.  I believe that's what a community does...looks after their own.  Last night all of the staff...bartenders, waitresses, bouncers, DJ's from each night of the week...they all stood up and walked out.  Screamin' Eagles Style.  Tigercats.  Thunderbirds!  And I say good for you!  It takes balls to pull that shit.  Take their livlihoods and throw them on the line for what's right.  I support my friends.  And now, it affects me.  Where will my community go?  Where will the locals meet up with eachother again?  Where will the staff end up working?  What will become of the Empress?  Where the hell am I gonna go for my weekend beer??

I guess all of those things will work out just fine.  But I will miss it.  I spent my last three birthdays there.  I met the last 30 of my closest current friends there.  I met Julie there.  When I was excited about having secured one of the first DVD copies of the White Stripes documentary of their Canadian tour, bartender Bobby hung a sheet from the ceiling, brought in his own projector and we screened the movie right there in the bar.  And Leah's chalkboard, with insane chalk drawings she conjured up to announce the night's theme, complete with drink specials.

It was a place to see your friend's band play.  It was a place to see Corb Lund play!  One of the bartenders, Victoria, accompanied us on our vacation to the Dominican Republic.  When we came back from New Orleans, we brought a gift for the Empress...an alligator head that decorated the back of the bar.  I guess it still does, but I wonder for how long.  How long will it take before the money-man starts tossing reminders of the community that was once there.  I wonder if he'll take it home with him and sell it in a garage sale?  Just another way to make a profit off the back of the community.  I wonder if he'll sell it and put the three dollars in his piggy-bank?  Tonight we go to the secret party for the Empress staff and patrons.  Secret location...call a cell number when we arrive at a building and someone will come let us in.  Do not bring anyone with you.  $6 at the door.  No outside booze allowed.  Respect the space.  As if they even need to say that last part.

So, to the Empress:  a cheers!  You were there for me and now I am there for you.  I can't wait to see where we all end up.  As Pablo so eloquently misquoted; Goodbye and thanks for all the fish!

The Friday Five

Okay, so I know I missed last week's...but to be fair, I was driving on the highway down the the good ol' U S of A.  And I know today is Saturday, so I'm late.  I did, however, do the Friday Five song shuffle yesterday while on my lunch break at work.  I wrote them down to blog later, so although I am a day late, you can rest assured that the following is a true Five from Friday.

No Reason to Cry – Tom Petty, Mojo

It’s funny, because I’ve been on a bit of a Tom Petty resurgence, lately. Although I always kind of liked him over the years, I wasn’t what you’d call a huge fan. The only album of his I ever owned was “Wildflowers”, which I still think is a fantastic album, top to bottom. This song is from his latest release this past summer, “Mojo”, which is his first album in 8 years. Definitely a bluesy kind of album and it really is very good. I was lucky enough, just a couple of months ago, to be able to catch Tom and his band of Heartbreakers as they came through town on their tour. My pals, Marvin and Ginger, managed to score some awesome tickets in a luxury box and took Julie and me as their guests! It’s Good To Be King!

Right Right Now Now – The Beastie Boys, The 5 Boroughs
You know, it’s funny…back in the days of my misspent youth as a mall rat, I remember vividly when the Beastie Boys came on the scene. “Fight For Your Right…” was an enthusiastic anthem among the other testosterone filled fellas I was hanging around at the time. But I never really got into it. Maybe it was all the Weird Al influences that were popular of the day, but the song (in fact their whole album) always seemed to me like some kind of self-mocking joke. I thought their five minutes of fame would be over in three. Man, was I wrong. Later in life, when I gave them a more fair chance and had a broad enough spectrum to realize that sometimes impact and emotion could drive a song as easily as good songwriting, I became more of a fan. But still, to this day, whenever I hear any Beasties, it still puts me back to Phase 2 of West Edmonton Mall.

From a Sinking Boat – The Magnetic Fields, Realism

On their previous album, The Magnetic Fields were still more about the feedback and distortion noises of making rock.  This time out on "Realism", it's much more tuneful.  I find it very orchestral music...very smart and wry lyric writing.  It's the kind of indie-rock thing that can inspire other bands to take on the sound and run with it.  It's artful...but not in that pretentious kind of way.  This is actually the first album of theirs that I've purchased, but considering it's already their eighth album in the spotlight, it certainly makes me want to explore their back catalog.  Makes me wish I'd been along for the whole ride.

Goldmine Gutted – Bright Eyes, Digital Ash In A Digital Urn

Bright Eyes is a project of one of the premiere songwriting prodigies of today, Conor Oberst. I haven't had a ton of exposure to him.  I see him as having more the style of a guitar-in-hand songwriter, but with Bright Eyes and this album, they’ve taken a more techno-synthesized route to achievement. I bought this album based off of a review I read somewhere, without ever having heard any of the tracks before. Shot in the dark. This is one of my winter-Sunday-morning kind of albums…it’s slow and heavy. But it has little trouble establishing a mood…and if it’s a mood you’re aiming for, nobody can help sink you into it better than young Conor.

Call My Name – Prince, Musicology
Now here's a man with some history!  What a range he's established.  This is a 2004 album that a lot of people thought of as a comeback, although I didn't really see it that way.  Anyway, this one goes into the funky, R&B inspired side of things which from Prince, I love.  He came through Edmonton on tour around the time of this album and what an experience!  He chose a small venue in the Jubilee even though he could've packed a much larger room.  On top of that, word of the show was only announced maybe a week or two before the actual show.  Tickets went on sale immediately on the day of the announcement that he was coming...it had the vibe of a surprise, secret show.  He did not disappoint!  Funky as shit, that show...


Cheers, y'all