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poison
Poll #1486944
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 23

You have to serve as the bassist in one of the two following bands for three full years. You will play no less than fifty live shows per year, with regular rehearsals. You cannot quit. You cannot kill yourself. You cannot change the ethos or sound of the band. Which will you choose?

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Hootie & The Blowfish
9 (40.9%)

The Spin Doctors
13 (59.1%)

Microscopic speakers are to be inserted into your ears. One of the two following songs will be played over the speakers on a loop for a 48 hour period. You cannot sleep. You cannot remove the speakers or deafen yourself. You cannot hear anything else over the volume of the speakers. Which will you choose?

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"Butterfly" by Crazy Town
7 (30.4%)

"I'm A Believer" by Smash Mouth (Monkees cover)
7 (30.4%)

"My Humps" by The Black Eyed Peas
5 (21.7%)

"Kryptonite" by 3 Doors Down
4 (17.4%)

Current Music: 16Volt

The New Canadian Kid...I mean cat.
I've got a sad tale, cute cat photos, and a coffee mug's worth of hope.

( Cyril the cat )

ETA: Happy to report that we've found a new home for Cyril in the West End!

Fury of the Nanto Suichoken
"Don't for a second, think Obama wants what is best for U.S. He is flying the U.S. Plane right into the ground at full speed. Let's Roll."

You're thinking "So, what? It's the same old Birther 'he's a sekrit muslin terrist' we've seen thousands of times from the cesspools of Free Republic. Why get your knickers in a twist just because some loon compared Obama to the 9/11 perpetrators?"

...Because that loon is an elected US senator. Oh, and he also voted against mandatory HIV testing for expectant mothers. Why?

"What I'm hoping is that yes, that person may have AIDS, have it seriously as a baby and when they grow up, but the mother will begin to feel guilt as a result of that. The family will see the negative consequences of that promiscuity and it may make a number of people over the coming years ... begin to realize that there are negative consequences and maybe they should adjust their behavior."

(Side note: I love the idea of someone having AIDS "seriously", as opposed to "casually". How's Roger doing? Oh, he's just got a touch of AIDS, but not seriously.)

Jason, Jaki, you live in Colorado: what the hell is in the water over there?
---
The Kirlian Camera box set continues to soothe and amaze with icy depth and beauty, and Kim Stanley Robinson's "Mars" trilogy is giving me structuralist goosebumps: "History is Lamarckian".

Current Music: Kirlian Camera, "Odyssey Europa"

Are we having fun yet?
If passed, the Stupak Amendment would make legal the unspoken double-standard which existed prior to Roe v. Wade. The rich will have abortion on demand as they always have, the poor will suffer from botched jobs. No precious fetuses will be saved, and women will die.

It likely won't make it out of the Senate intact, but the fact that 39 Dems voted for it is troubling. There's a better breakdown of the whole clusterfuck here, and the link to "The Only Moral Abortion is My Abortion" shouldn't be passed over.
---
On a more pleasant note, the long-awaited Kirlian Camera box is out, and is wonderful. It's already stolen my breath away three or four times, and I'm only halfway through the first disc. A Pink Floyd cover? For real?

Current Music: Kirlian Camera, "Odyssey Europa"

"You are not a warrior. You're a beginner."
...And while I'm on a roll I may as well post a couple of Halloween photos. DJing and keeping things running at Skank ate up any fun photo time, but luckily I was able to get a few before I headed out.

I met up with my buddy Ian (who'd dressed up as Zangief) at about 3am in Blood Alley and we took a couple of (likely blurry) shots which I haven't seen.

...And yes, I did Tiger/Tiger Uppercut spam everyone at Sanctuary while DJing by playing a whole buttload of sound effects overtop of "Goodbye Horses".

Landscape Body Machine - Manifest Destiny
So I've been working on updating Landscape Body Machine's bio in honour of the new LBM album, "Manifest Destiny". As someone who's been waiting to see what Craig would come up with next for nearly seven years, believe me when I say that this album is (a) worth the wait, and (b) serious evidence that our boy didn't spend all that time sleeping. This is an album that's lush, layered, and intriguing as all get-out.

Craig's really outdone himself this time, and if you wanna find out why I'm so hyped, he'll be playing the album live at Skank tomorrow, with Isaac n' I spinning before and after his set, like two slices of hearty rivet bread covering a nutritious and filling ambient/industrial sandwich.

Current Music: Landscape Body Machine, "Manifest Destiny"

Crazy like a fox.
I know that plenty of people hold that Jon Stewart's fallen off, but his evisceration of Glenn Beck and his magical/conspiratorial thinking was fantastic. Bonus points for working in humorism.

"I came back to Earth with a great rock n' roll band..."
S'Puppy show tonight. In Van. If you bought a ticket to the last show they played in their hometown, that ticket would now be old enough to drink (if, y'know, tickets could drink). I've been lucky enough to see plenty of Puppy related shows over the years, including the Greater Wrong Of The Right Tour in Seattle, but I'd given up hope of seeing the band play in Vancouver years ago.

I got into Skinny Puppy right around the time I started heading into Vancouver on weekends. Much in the same way that my first Puppy album ("Rabies") convinced me that yes, this dark, noisy and intriguingly strange electronic shit was for me, those downtown trips (701, 160) to explore record shops and wander Granville (this is back when the majority of the street was still scuzzy and interesting) with my friends Mark and Mike convinced me that yes, this city was definitely where I wanted to live.

A few years later, I moved to that same city. A couple of years after that, I started DJing that same dark, noisy electronic shit. Today, fifteen years after hearing "Rabies" for the first time and wondering how on earth this stuff had been created, let alone if there was anything else like it, I walked to work through downtown Vancouver with "Rodent" cranked on my headphones.

I know that neither cEvin nor Ogre really consider Vancouver home any more, but this show sure as hell feels like a homecoming to me.

Skank Crew Runs Van
You know you've arrived when yr spinning at a night that has people trying to buy tickets on Craigslist.

Seriously, this year's Something Wicked This Way Comes is gonna be ridiculous. Van-city seems to be in a festive mood this Halloween season, and I don't think I'm tellin' any tales out of school when I say that the Skank crew is at the top of our game right now. Advance tickets are sold out, but we should have a few at the door, so show up early!
---
I have seen the light, and that light has a name, and that name is Cliff Lee. That man's got ice in his veins and the command of a surgeon, and he put on a clinic. Anyone who can make a batting order like the Yanks' look that foolish has earned my eternal respect and gratitude.

Current Music: Mephisto Walz / Zentriert ins Antlitz

Wu-Tang Stan and Ironman: A Dialogue
The whole trip was pretty damn smooth (got pulled over at the border but they just wanted to give the car a once-over), and Simon's a prince for d-driving for us both ways. Alex found a veg-friendly restaurant in Bellingham and prepared a finely crafted Ghost mix CD for the drive.

So here's my meeting with Ghostface, as best as I can remember it. After a fun show in front of a pretty high energy crowd, Ghost leaves the stage telling people he'll be signing "shirts only" at the merch booth. I'd brought along the liner notes of all ten of the Ghost albums I own (Ironman, Supreme Clientele, Bulletproof Wallets, The Pretty Toney Album, Put It On Da Line, Fishscale, More Fish, The Big Doe Rehab, Ghostdeini the Great and Wizard Of Poetry - the only official albums I don't have are an unnecessary best-of and a low quality live record), not because I wanted all of them signed but because he's expressed disappointment in people who download his stuff and then want to get his time after shows (there's nothing new here, CD sales are obviously in a free fall and hip hop's leading the way, but, as is his trademark, Ghost has a way of making serious business feel emotional and personal). Also, I wanted some sort of redemption after the astonishingly awkward experience that was meeting GZA (ask Alex or I about that later - don't have time to type all that out again).

Anyway, I approach Ghost at the merch table, and here (as best as I can remember) is how it went down:

Me: Hey Ghost do you think...I mean, I'm not askin' you to sign all of these, I just wanted to let you know that I respect your shit and pay for it.
Ghost: Word man, what's your top ones?
B: (Thinking he's only gonna sign a couple) Ironman, Pretty Tone and Fishscale.
G: A'ight, cool... (he's still going through all of the liners, signing them all one by one)
Random dude also at booth: Shit, this guy came prepared!
G: Yeah man, I like that. This is cool! You said Ironman...
B: Pretty Tone and Fishscale. So that album with you, Rae and Meth is gonna go off?
G: Yeah, definitely. You didn't say this one... (He's stopped at Supreme Clientele, his most critically acclaimed album)
B: No man, I love that record and all, it's just that those ones just get me...Like all the soul stuff on Pretty Tone...
G: Yeah man, that's how it is! You got your own thing and I respect that. (He's done signing them all)
B: Thanks for your time, Ghost. It was a great show and thanks for-
G: Nah, man, nah: thank you. For real. Thank you, B.

And with that I get a big, happy smile and handshake. I know I'm likely just projecting, but he seemed legitimately happy to meet someone who liked his stuff enough to pay for it, rather than just coming at him with a flyer or ticket.

Alex immediately apologised for ribbed me for being enough of a nerd to bring down all ten albums, and insisted that I trade him "Supreme Clientele" liners (he'd brought his down, but in a rare role reversal of me being the bolder one around musicians, didn't want to get in the autograph scrum), which I had no problem with seeing as he's largely responsible for me getting into Wu.

The tl;dr version: I am a complete fuckin' Wu-Tang and Ghost fanboy who got lots of shit signed and went home very happy.

Kakkate kina, punk.
I don't care how played out or nerdy it makes me: I get goosebumps every time I see this video.

---

Heading out the door in a couple of hours to see Ghostface with Simon and Alex across the border!

Ghost is pretty much single-handedly responsible for getting me back into hip hop after being turned off by what was on the radio in high school. He's one of the most engaging, perplexing and thought-provoking figures in pop music, and is the only vocalist I could legitimately describe as cinematic. When Ghost's on a straight-up narrative flow, you feel like you're in a Michael Mann movie: all of your senses are ratcheted up to eleven, and thousands of tiny details fly out from the background despite the pace never letting up. If it wasn't for the great Rakim Allah, Ghost would hold the title of my favourite MC, hands-down.

Current Music: The March Violets, "Walk Into The Sun"

Déjà vu all over again
Now that he's out of power, Bush's slips of the tongue are sounding less and less like Freudian slips and more like Yogi's pearls of idiot wisdom.* If, y'know, Yogi was famous for untold humanitarian and economic ruin rather than clutch hitting and fantastic defensive work.

While Bush's speech was mostly eloquent and free of the language gaffes he admits he is famous for, he said he regretted appearing in front of a "Mission Impossible" sign during a televised address in 2003. The controversial banner referring to the U.S. mission in Iraq, actually said "Mission Accomplished". (source)

* There's actually a picture of Yogi with Bush (and Sparky Anderson) on the former's wiki page. Coincidence? Yes.

(Go Angels!)

Mad hits like I was Rod Carew
Tonight. These two dudes. Drinkin' scotch and blastin' heads at Skank. What am I packin'? New shit from Imminent and C-Drone-Defect. Plus Ikon, Snowy Red, Spetznaz, Clear Vision, Marching Dynamics, Destroid, along with all your Skanky faves (No, I will not play "Fuck You Like An Animal" for your girlfriend unless you know the song's actual name). What's Josh packin'? Far too many Electric Six records and the delusion that playing Tom Waits twice in one night makes him "edgy". Still. Tonight. Skank: Contrasoma vs. Sickbot. Epic like Patton, ya know?

Current Music: Imminent, "Cask Strength"

Tralfamadorian influence
Oh, man of folly and hubris unlimited! See what your science hath wrought! The future is trying to destroy the large hadron collider. CERN, get Greg Egan and the dude who made Primer in on this business as consultants, stat.

Current Music: Marching Dynamics, "Confederate (Elementals' Soul Fire)"

I Went Out Shopping To Get Some Noise
Back from SF, had a great time with M. Photos to follow. Galleries, architecture, Telefon Tel Aviv, Giants games, family, records. So many records. Had been saving up for three months and hadn't bought a single one in that time, so I went gonzo at Amoeba (and Rasputin, to a lesser extent). Don't feel comfortable putting vinyl in checked luggage, so it was all CDs. Because I'm an OCD nutjob when it comes to my collection, I typed out an entire annotated list which can be seen below the cut if you're very bored. Klinik, David Sylvian and Deathspell Omega ended up making up most of the key finds.

( I Went Out Shopping To Get Some Noise )

Current Music: Deathspell Omega/The Last Resort

The birds remind me of what we made
In case I haven't yammered on at you at length about this, M and I are hitting up San Francisco for a week in a couple of days. She's got family there and has been several times before, and has been researching and planning this trip like mad for the past couple months. We've got loads of fun stuff lined up: I'm mostly excited about making a record geek pilgrimage to Amoeba, the Musée Mécanique and catching a couple of Giants games (including one pitched by Tim Lincecum), while M's all high on the galleries.

As if drawing up maps and figuring out optimal BART routes wasn't enough work, M found out that Telefon Tel Aviv are stopping in SF for their posthumous/farewell tour while we're there. I didn't think there was any chance I'd get to see this tour and you could knock me over with a feather right now. M rules.

A meanness in this world
Brothers and sisters...brothers and sisters I know it is hard and I know the pain you feel. I feel it everyday. I feel it in the marketplace. I feel it in the record store. I feel it while I'm stuck talking to a drunk uncle of the bride at a wedding.

The pain of living in a world that'll damn you for your belief. The pain of feelin' like you gotta keep that belief, that one thing that you know more than anything else, all bottled up inside.

The pain of hearing that horrible, wicked lie that you've seen through, perpetrated again and again and again, across this great land of ours, and knowing that so many are blind, blind to the Truth that we haven't just seen and felt but that we embody everyday, in thought and deed, and that they too could be set free if they only knew the Truth.

The Truth, the one whole, all-encompassing Truth that this wicked world wants to castigate us, wants to persecute us and rend our flesh for shouting from the rooftops and in the aisles of record shops across the land, the Truth that the Almighty Bruce Springsteen is the one true heir to the throne given away too early by an impatient and sinful world to the usurper, the Great Pretender, the one who mumbles among us known as Bob Dylan.

And I know it can be hard to hold our faith when the world calls it heresy, when everywhere you turn Dylan is embraced by liberal arts students with Steinlen's "Le Chat Noir" hanging on their dorm room walls, by centrist politicians the world over, by iPod commercials and cable television while Bruce is passed over as a Superbowl halftime show jock, an anthemic cornball with nothing to say, simply because he clothes himself in the garb of the blue collar rather than the bohemian.

It is hard when all are expected to bow down to the golden idol of "Highway 61 Revisited" and "The River" is left to run through the desert in isolation. It is hard when the Never Ending Tour seems to reign over this earthly toil like Babylon, while Jungleland is beset upon all sides by those who would deny our heroes their last chance power drive.

But we cannot falter, we must persevere like blood brothers in the stormy night with a vow to defend. No retreat, no surrender.

And people say to me "Brother Lord, but Dylan was the voice of a generation," and I say to them a generation of what? A generation of vipers, just as they were called in Matthew 3:7 and again in Luke. A generation of privilege and bounty who rolled in the filth of their youthful indulgence when it suited them, but later elected Reagan twice while Bruce stood for the unemployed and the forgotten.

And people say to me "Brother Lord, but Dylan has so many great works," and I say to them come judgment we will not be held to account by our works, but by our character. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall pen "Blowin' In The Wind", and yet never believe a word of it? What shall it profit a man if Jimi himself takes up his works but he himself remains a charlatan, a profiteer?

Brothers and sisters, this is a call. No matter where you are, whether you're stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues or if you're out on the misty beaches of the Jersey shore, I want you to put your hand up to that computer screen, put it up there right now and feel the power of Brooce as he shines his light on you.

Now get your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty, and meet me tonight in Atlantic City.

Amen.

Current Music: "The River"

scheduling
The Big Pink concert's been cancelled/delayed, but the fall concert schedule's still looking crazy awesome.

Sept.19, Pet Shop Boys

Oct.7, The Horrors (still confidently holding the "Album of the Year" spot for me)

Oct.20, A Place To Bury Strangers (seen 'em before, rumours are true, they're capable of producing a hazy drone at a volume which begins to feel like a heavy humidity, rather than sound itself)

Oct.25, The Ghostface KILLAAAH!!! (across the border in Bellingham, carrying on a proud tradition of US road trips for Wu shows)

Nov.3, Skinny Puppy (stand up, Van-city)

Nov.5, Raveonettes

Nov.21, Billy Bragg

Nov.22, Hypocrisy (technically they're in the opening spot for some viking metal silliness, but who cares)

Current Music: Fever Ray, "Triangle Walks"

I'm three days late on this and it won't be noticed cuz of Kanye, but whatever.
Jim was shooting dope he was twelve years old
Helped his aim from the three point line.
Jim wrote some poems and outran his friends
But couldn't outrun Jim, cause Jim died.