Category: Music

Maybe Howard Hughes rides the rocket?

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

It’s warm outside. Crazy warm. July warm. Thanksgiving is supposed to be the start of sweater weather, but we’ve actually got the fan running right now. 32 degrees? That’s nutty.

.:.

I forgot to mention: yesterday, on our way to meet CBGB for breakfast before the ladies went shopping, Nellie and I saw a water bottle rolling around the floor of the subway. Except it wasn’t filled with water anymore. It was filled with something yellow. I double-checked the label (from a distance, naturally) and it wasn’t apple juice or ginger ale or anything else. The water had been replaced by…well, I guess someone just couldn’t hold it.

.:.

Today’s been a day of high-caliber relaxation. We slept until 10, and have spent the entire day catching up on our TV backlog. THE ENTIRE DAY. Oh, and I may have been too harsh in my indictment of the new TV shows…Dirty Sexy Money isn’t bad, and Life is actually pretty good so far. Anyway, today’s one of those great vacation days…no school, no work, no planning, no errands, no stress…just chilling and regeneration.

.:.

Yesterday — which wasn’t exactly stressful either — we watched Shut Up And Sing (imdb | rotten tomatoes), the documentary about the Dixie Chicks following Natalie Maines’ dig at President Bush just as the Iraq war kicked off. It was, as advertised, very good. There wasn’t much new information (to me, anyway) and the uproar wasn’t quite as intense as I had thought — or it wasn’t portrayed that way, at least — but there was lots of interesting subject matter: details of the backlash, their disgust with the country music establishment, and the recording of their most recent album. Bonus: Rich Rubin and his dreadlocked dog make an appearance! Oh, and Natalie Maines is my girlfriend du jour.

[tags]toronto weather, pee in a bottle, dirty sexy money, life, dixie chicks, shut up and sing, girlfriend du jour[/tags]

All is as it should be

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Huzzah, the Canadiens won their opener. On the road, no less. I kind of watched the game in between pages of finance, and finished reading just in time to see Ottawa beat Toronto in overtime. That’s pretty much a perfect hockey night as far as I’m concerned.

.:.

Today was the first chance in months that I’ve had to make a dent in my music inbox. I picked apart the new Interpol and Rogue Wave albums, and got about halfway through the new Fiery Furnaces before I felt dizzy and twitchy and had to stop. Here’s the pile as it stands today; some of these have been on my hard drive since April.

  • apparat . walls
  • asobi seksu . asobi seksu
  • avett brothers . emotionalism
  • band of horses . cease to begin
  • biffy clyro . puzzle
  • bloc party . a weekend in the city
  • blonde redhead . 23
  • c’mon . bottled lightning of an all time high
  • good shoes . think before you speak
  • handsome furs . plague park
  • idlewild . make a new world
  • les savy fav . let’s stay friends
  • magic numbers . those the brokes
  • matt pond pa . last light year
  • maximo park . our earthly pleasures
  • metric . grow up and blow away
  • okkervil river . the stage names
  • prolapse . ghosts of dead aeroplanes
  • prolapse . the italian flag
  • raising the fawn . sleight of hand
  • rush . snakes & arrows
  • the maccabees . colour it in
  • various artists . drive xv
  • various artists . ok x
  • worker bee . divorce your legs
  • yeah yeah yeahs . isis ep

I need an intern.

[tags]montreal canadiens, interpol, rogue wave, fiery furnaces, intern[/tags]

It's still The National out in front…probably.

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

“Harmonium” by Rogue Wave is challenging for my favourite song of the year so far. Candidates to date:

  • The National . “Fake Empire”
  • Arcade Fire . “Intervention”
  • The Besnard Lakes . “Devastation”
  • Kings Of Leon . “The Runner”
  • Okkervil River . “Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe”
  • Grinderman . “No Pussy Blues”
  • Matt Pond PA . “Reading”
  • Vampire Weekend . “Walcott”

.:.

Went for a run this morning, for the first time in almost a month. It’s funny how quickly you get out of the flow…I felt pretty awkward. I stopped after about 1.5 miles; I could feel a “dumbass” injury coming on.

[tags]best songs of 2007[/tags]

"I'm with the band!"

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I’ve uploaded some of my favourite France pictures to Flickr. Here’s the slideshow. Nellie deserves all the credit; I have no eye for photography.

I also uploaded a video to YouTube. I’d had a bit to drink and decided it was a good idea to sit down at the drums for the first time in fifteen years. The guitarist was nice enough to humour me with a bass track, but I still sound quite rubbish. The shrieking you hear on the video is Nellie, who’d never seen or heard me play the drums. I sold my kit for tuition money the summer I met her.

.:.

I passed my most recent course. The marks went up today and I actually did a little better than I expected. I’m usually crap at multiple choice exams but I did ok this time around, and my other marks were good enough. Whew.

Three to go.

.:.

We chilled this afternoon by watching a light little film, Imagine Me & You (imdb | rotten tomatoes). The first half of the movie was so cute it hurt my teeth; the second half turned into a rather standard romantic comedy, but it was still kind of goofy and charming. Stunning female leads and a sapphic storyline didn’t hurt either.

.:.

Newsy bits:

  • December’s Spice Girls show in London sold out in 38 seconds, proving once and for all that drunk women with poor taste are quite adept at clicking a mouse.
  • John McCain has gone from embarrassing to…well, more embarrassing.
  • Did you miss out on the auction for Mogwai drummer Martin Bulloch’s old pacemaker? Well, fear not; you have another chance. Marty seems to replace these a lot. Next time he should get one with an audible beep; he’d never need another metronome or click track. Most Mogwai songs are around 80 bpm anyway…
  • Radiohead’s latest album pricing — where they let fans decide how much they’ll pay to download it — has gotten the attention of The Economist. George’s worlds are colliding!!

[tags]france, imagine me and you, spice girls, john mccain, mogwai, martin bulloch, pacemaker, radiohead, the economist[/tags]

77.022%

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

This morning I realized that my name is spelled wrong on my name badge. I’ve been Dan Dickson, as far as the staff here is concerned, since Sunday.

.:.

My friend Mark reminded me that I haven’t been blogging about the Kanye CDs I bought to help put Fiddy out to pasture. Of course I didn’t buy any, but it sounds as if Kanye is winning the race without my help.

.:.

Last night I took a break from school and got to watch Canada play Costa Rica at BMO Field. It was fun to watch football for a couple of hours and catch up with folks before I left for a couple of weeks. There was a psychotic banshee cheering for Costa Rica just in front of us, which was interesting.

One note that you’d only understand if you were there: Mr. YellowBoots sucks.

[tags]kanye west, 50 cent, bmo field, canada soccer, costa rica[/tags]

Wouldn't a sky god prefer, I don't know, an ostrich or something?

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I hereby declare tonight “the calm before the storm.”

.:.

Quechup sucks. I say that not because of their actual social networking site (ever tried it) but because of their dickish ways of spreading themselves around. They screwed my brother and several other friends, all of whom accidentally spammed every contact in their address book thanks to Quechup. A quick Technorati search finds lots of other pissed off victims too.

Quechup sucks. Spread the word.

.:.

Naomi Klein, author of No Logo, has a new book out called Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. There’s a short film that accompanies the book, directed by Alfonso Cuarón (who also directed the excellent Children Of Men). It’s only 6.30 in length, so I urge you to pop over to YouTube and spend a few minutes with it.

.:.

This story about Nepal’s state-run airline boggles the mind and turns the stomach:

Officials at Nepal’s state-run airline have sacrificed two goats to appease Akash Bhairab, the Hindu sky god, following technical problems with one of its Boeing 757 aircraft, the carrier said Tuesday.

I find it horrifying that any religion would call for animal sacrifice. I find it equally horrifying that a mechanic could believe strongly enough in the sky god that, just maybe, they skimp on the actual mechanical repairs ’cause they figure old SG has it covered.

Separation of church and aviation industry. You heard it here first.

[via Rick Segal]

.:.

I think Rick Rubin may have been possessed by the ghost of Johnny Cash when he tore a strip off his own record label, and trashed the music industry as a whole.

.:.

Injury update: my wrist is nearly healed. I’m about 99% pain-free, feeling twinges only when I jam my hand on something or flick it sharply (like when I’m making the bed and I snap the sheet). It’s still a little swollen, so I can’t push my hand into a right angle with my arm without pain, but for the most part it’s ok. My first broken bone, and I’d have to say I got off pretty easy.
[tags]quechup sucks, naomi klein, alfonso cuaron, shock doctrine, nepal, akash bhairab, rick rubin, broken wrist[/tags]

Empty promises, phallic symbols, indie darlings and a state of readiness

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Some issues are important to society at large and legitimately worthy of changing/swaying someone’s vote. Others are not.

.:.

Torontoist has a good piece on the CN Tower, which will only be the world’s tallest free-standing structure for a few more days or weeks.

.:.

I don’t know why, but I feel guilty for liking Vampire Weekend. And really, I only like three songs (“Walcott”, “Campus” and “A-Punk”) but I’ve been listening to them a lot lately. Still, I feel like a bandwagon jumper.

.:.

As of tonight I have finished all my pre-work for my course. Well, 99.9% of it. ~15 minutes tomorrow night and I’m set for Sunday. I also picked up a French road map today, and bought a new shirt & tie…finally starting to feel somewhat prepared for everything.

[tags]religious school funding, february holiday, cn tower, vampire weekend, mba[/tags]

"God loves you just the way you are. But he loves you too much to let you stay that way."

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Last night we watched Junebug (imdb | rotten tomatoes) which may as well have been called “The Amy Adams Show.” The story was good enough — it was a better-than-average fish-out-of-bumpkin-water plot — and the acting was good all around, but Amy Adams was a complete standout. No wonder she was nominated for best supporting actor at the 2006 Oscars, and won a slew of other awards (as you can see on the film’s awards page over at imdb). I liked the film, and think I’ll like it even more as it sits with me a few days.

.:.

Recent songs that’ve fallen into my lap:

  • Magnetic Fields . “The Dreaming Moon”
  • John Vanderslice . “White Dove”
  • Prolapse . “Tina This Is Matthew Stone”
  • Joy Wants Eternity . “Existences Rust”
  • Shout Out Louds . “Tonight I Have To Leave It”

I fell in love with “The Dreaming Moon” when I heard an American Analog Set cover of it recorded here in Toronto. God, I wish they’d record a studio version.

I’ve avoided listening to John Vanderslice for a long time for the same reason I avoid the Mountain Goats: I like being the only indie guy who doesn’t listen to them.

[tags]junebug, amy adams, american analog set, john vanderslice, shout out louds, mountain goats[/tags]

I just not that into your mov…Oh hello, cast list.

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

My birthday present has finally been installed: outdoor speakers. We can now listen to music on the balcony, or even watch TV with full sound. They sound really good, maybe even a little better than I expected them to sound out there. Thanks baby!

.:.

I have no interest in Kanye West’s music, but like my friend Joe, I may just buy his new CD when it’s released next month. In fact, I might buy multiple copies. Why? ‘Cause Curtis has been runnin’ his mouth, that’s why.

.:.

There’s a movie being adapted from the book He’s Just Not That Into You (amazon). Men have not heard of this book, but many women have, especially those (based on what I’ve heard about it) those who lack in self-esteem and/or functional synapses. I could imagine no situation in which I would watch this film…until I saw the lineup. Now I’m almost considering it: Jennifer Connelly (who would be on my all-time top five laminated list, if I had one), Drew Barrymore (umm…backup list?), Ginnifer Goodwin and now Jennifer Aniston. Madre de dios. If Scarlett Johansson or Parminder Nagra join the cast I may quit my job and just hang around outside the film set.

[UPDATE: guess I’d better write out my resignation]

.:.

Spacing asked a very good question yesterday: why hasn’t Toronto mayor David Miller imposed — or even seriously considered — road tolls? With the city in such dire financial straits, wouldn’t a few hundred million dollars come in handy? And that’s forgetting the environmental benefits, the reduced traffic, the fewer (in theory) pedestrian/cyclist deaths, etc.

Even The Economist is asking the question. Spacing goes into Miller’s explanations for rejecting the idea, but none of them pass the sniff test, especially coming from a Harvard graduate in economics. In my opinion he’s either getting pressure not to do it, or is afraid of the pressure which would inevitably come.

[tags]sonance, outdoor speakers, kanye west, fifty cent, he’s just not that into you, jennifer connelly, drew barrymore, ginnifer goodwin, jennifer aniston, spacing magazine, david miller, economist magazine, congestion charge[/tags]