Merry Christmas, Yo

"Me, I Want A Hula Hoop"

It's only just the beginning of December and Christmas music is already all over the radio. Now, I don't mean to shit on all Christmas music, but I think we can all agree that 99% of the yuletide tunes out there suck big time. So in the spirit of not being a total grinch this year, I present my top five Christmas songs.

5. Brenda Lee - Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
I love the guitar on this track. Now, you might not immediately know what song I'm talking about here, but trust me, you know this song. Just think of any Christmas-y type movie made in the last fifteen years or so. This is usually the song playing during the traditional of montage of holiday hijinks.

4. The Chipmunks - The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)
Sure, it's a novelty song, but just try and deny that you know every lyric by heart. I suspect that every parent has a deep seeded hatred for not just this track, but the whole Chipmunks phenomenon. Though I feel bad for kids growing up with the Chipmunks these days, because they'll never know the childish joy of listening to the old LPs. When you're a kid, the only thing that's more fun that listening to the Chipmunks is listening to them at various unintended speeds on your record player. If you play this track at 78 rpm and you're bound to give someone a seizure.

3. The Beach Boys - Little Saint Nick
I think the Beach Boys are part of my musical DNA. Both my first casette and CD were Beach Boys collections. When they come out with music in neural implant form, I'll be sure to pick up Pet Sounds before anything else. Now, I like this track for a variety of reasons (not just because I think there's a hidden satanic message in it). Back in their heyday, the Boys put out several albums a year. So you can just picture a scenario wherein Brian Wilson and the gang are sitting around some big conference table with the execs from Capital Records. "Um, Brian, we love all these surf tracks, but, uh.... Do you think you could make a Christmas album?"

2. Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmas Time
Paul is probably my favorite living Beatle (sorry Ringo), mostly because his post-Beatles material is the only stuff I can stand. Now, I have no idea when this track came out or what was Paul's motivation for making a Christmas song with probably the single most bizarre synth riff you've ever heard, but it's still one hell of a good Christmas song. Expect to hear this on the radio and in the shopping malls aproximately 4000 times before December 25th.

1. Run DMC - Christmas In Hollis
As if there was any doubt that this track would be number one on my list. If you haven't heard this song, download it NOW. It is the only Christmas song you will need to hear this year. Just imagine a vintage mid-to-late-80s rap song complete with Christmas samples. The Reverend Run starts it all off by telling the story of how he found Santa's wallet and returned it to him, only to receive a fat wad of cash for his good natured efforts. After that DMC schools us all on what a proper Christmas in Hollis entails. Complete with a list of all the fine foods that Mom will be cooking for the big festive meal.

And since it's just not enough to tell you how great a song this is, I present the vintage video for Christmas in Hollis:

30 Shopping Days Left

I can't believe it's almost Christmas. Wasn't it just Halloween or something?

I've got most of my Christmas shopping done, but I still expect another mall trip or two will be required in the near future. I'm not looking forward to fighting my way through various malls and Wal-Marts for those last minute gifts.

As much as I love seeing those clips on the news of people running over top of one another and getting in fist fights over the year's top items, I actually hate to be in midst of such situations. I guess that's schadenfreude for you.

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

On a completely unrelated note, Guns n Roses played in Halifax last week. I didn't go for a variety of reasons. Thankfully, though, someone was good enough to post on Youtube what would have been my favorite moment from the show. For your viewing pleasure, I present Bubbles and Axl Rose singing "Liquor and Whores."

"Such Heroic Nonsense!"

Apparently, Transformers: The Movie has just been given a 20th anniversary special edition DVD release. While the geek in me is giddy with anticipation, my inner-cynic can't help but see this as a cash-in opportunity/cross-promotion for the upcoming live action Transformers movie. But rest assured cats and kittens, I'll have my grubby paws on this DVD as soon as I can find it.

If you grew up in the eighties and you haven't yet seen Transformers: The Movie, shame on you. It's the kind of movie that couldn't be made today. Not just because kids these days won't watch any cartoon that isn't 110% Japanese, but simply because of the sheer number of deaths in the movie. Heck, within the first thirty minutes Optimus Prime bites the big one. Can you imagine what kids went through at the theatre during this? There they were, five or six years old, having just witnessed the dramatic demise of the guy on their pajamas.

On of my favorite things about the movie is that it featured Orson Welles as Unicron. Apparently, Orson hated the movie, but I can't really blame him. Can you imagine what it would have been like to have started your career in the greatest movie ever made and ended it playing a talking killer planet?

***BONUS***

There's plenty that could be said about what you're going to see here, but I don't want to spoil the magic.

Brown Leafed Vertigo

Things I did not do this month:
1. Write Chuck Palahniuk some fan mail. (I did just get a copy of Invisible Monsters though.)
2. Watch a buttload of horror movies in celebration of Halloween. (And I seriously have buttloads of horror movies.)
3. Keep the blog up to date. (Sorry blog fans.)
4. Win ten million dollars. (Publishers Clearing House can suck my arse.)
5. Think of a clever thing for #5. (Sorry list fans.)

Things I did do this month:
1. Went to a Halloween party this past weekend. (Dressed as a hobo.)
2. Got a flat tire. (Today.)
3. Got trained to handle and dispose of Household Hazardous Waste.
4. Picked up a copy of the new Maltese Falcon Special Edition DVD.
5. Read an awesome book about B-Movie king Roger Corman called How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime. (Recommended reading for any movie geek.)

"Send Me A Postcard."

Chuck Norris movie review #5: Invasion U.S.A.

Plot: Chuck Norris is a retired CIA agent living on the bayou with his pet armadillo when a group of communists decide to invade the United States. Chuck is hesitant to get involved until the commies kill his native-american-fanboat-driving buddy. Then all hell breaks loose as our hero single handedly takes on the entire communist insurgency. Those pinko bastards had no idea what they were getting themselves into.

How you can tell this movie was made in 1985: All the C's are there: cold war politics, communism, cocaine, and Chuck Norris.

Best depiction of communists as soulless killing machines: We start with a nice establishing shot of a quiet suburb, straight out of Anytown, USA. Some neighborhood kids are playing football in the street (despite the fact that it's night), some teens are making out in a Trans Am (that dude is totally gonna score), and a nice, white, Christian, nuclear family are decorating a tree on their front lawn (well, actually Dad and the kids are decorating, Mom's in the kitchen cooking supper). Suddenly, a non-descript truck pulls up and a couple of commies with rocket launchers start blowing up houses. In the span of thirty seconds, the commies blown up five or six houses and then take off. No one in these houses had anything to do with the rest of the movie. They were simply there to appear to be wholesome and then appear to be on fire.

Quammy's favorite scene: It's Christmas time in Miami (or wherever this movie is supposed to take place) so the commies decide to start some shit in a shopping mall. Chuck Norris, hip to their plan, drives his pickup truck into the mall (literally) and starts kicking some ass. This leads to a major shoot-'em-up and then to a truck chase through the mall.

Now, ever since I was a kid and saw the Blues Brothers movie for the first time, I've always wanted to drive a vehicle inside a shopping complex. Whenever I see a show car in a mall, I dream about being the guy driving it around inside the building. If I ever direct a movie it will have a vehicle-inside-a-mall sequence.

R.I.P. Six Pack

I'm not much of a drinker. That is not to suggest that I don't drink. It's just that I can't drink very much (or very well, depending on how you look at it). It was typical for me to pick up a six pack before heading out to a party. That way, I'd have enough beers to catch a buzz and appear to be social, but not enough to find myself puking behind a boat house (hello, 24th birthday).

But those days are over now. It was recently announced that the almighty NSLC is going to discontinue the sale of six packs in their stores. My local liquor store hasn't had six packs in stock since the end of August. I just assumed that they were out of stock after a vigorous race week, since Chester folk love their booze so much. But no, the six pack has been pulled from the market.

So what does this mean? Well, for most of you, nothing. You can probably hold your booze and/or you didn't buy six packs in the first place. For me, it means that I'm gonna have to pony up the other four dollars every week or so and pick up an eight pack. Which means that I will get drunker than I usually tend to, which can only spell disaster for the few people who will hang out with me on the weekends.

Rest in peace noble six pack, we hardly knew ye.

"Bill Groundhog-Day, Ghostbustin'-Ass Murray!"

Today was Bill Murray's 56th birthday. I'm of the opinion that Bill Murray is one of today's greatest living actors. The movies he's done in that past few years have totally surpassed the work he did twenty years ago (most of which remain classic to this day). In honor of Mr. Murray here's a clip from Coffee and Cigarettes in which our man has some coffee with RZA & GZA. Enjoy.



If you're a fan of Bill Murray, you have to see...

[1979] Meatballs
[1980] Where the Buffalo Roam
[1980] Caddyshack
[1984] Ghost Busters
[1988] Scrooged
[1991] What About Bob?
[1993] Groundhog Day
[1994] Ed Wood
[1998] Rushmore
[2001] The Royal Tenenbaums
[2004] The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (Possibly his greatest performance)

What She Said.

Damn, Whitey, that's cold.

"We Could Live Forever Tonight."

I happened to be reading Wikipedia today and there was a headline on the main page about how Edvard Munch's painting The Scream was recovered yesterday. The painting was stolen (for the third time) two years ago. And while The Scream is probably my favorite painting, I always have to laugh when I read about famous works of art that get stolen or defaced. Like when people go into museums and throw stuff at old paintings. How does a person get to the point where they say to themselves, "Alright, today I'm going to sneak some sulfuric acid into a museum and destroy some priceless art work. I don't see how I have any choice in the matter."

On a completely unrelated note, it's the 40th anniversay of the Beach Boys masterpiece Pet Sounds. Critics and music geeks always place Pet Sounds in competition with the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band for the title of "best album of all time." It apparently says a lot about you, depending on which side of the debate you find yourself. I, myself, am a Pet Sounds guy. As much as I like the Beatles, Sgt. Pepper's is not my favorite album of theirs. I could maybe see Revolver or Rubber Soul going head to head with Pet Sounds, but not Sgt. Pepper's. So, if you're a music buff and you haven't heard Pet Sounds yet, I urge you to seek out a copy of it. This may sound dumb, but try and get a copy that has the original mono mix of the album. Brian Wilson is deaf in one ear, so that's how it was meant to be heard.

Race Week Recap

Chester is a town full of old money and older people. And since the town is right on the water, sailing is a big part of the local "cultural" identity. So in the middle of August every year, the local elite throw themselves a little party known as the Chester Race Week. During this week, which is really only four days, sailors and sailing enthusiasts from all over descend on Chester to rejoice in all things sailing related.

On the last few nights of Race Week, the Chester Yacht Club opens its doors to the general public. The small club and its smaller lawn area overflows with people from every tax bracket. Millionaires stand shoulder to shoulder with blue collar joes, all waiting in line to trade their drink tickets in for rum drinks and beer in plastic cups.

The real treat, for a jaded guy like myself, is the chance to see people that I've haven't seen for countless years. It's like a high school reunion every summer, but with enough booze to go around to make it all palatable. I bump into old friends, bullies from high school, the guy I used to play G.I. Joes with when I was seven, old teachers, former neighbors, kids I used to babysit and countless people with whom I make an effort to avoid eye contact.

Over this past winter, the Yacht Club underwent some serious renovations. This meant that the open grassy areas of yesteryear were made smaller and less grassy. Also, in a move that seemed almost baffling, it meant half as many port-a-potties as usual. On more than one occasion I found myself going directly from the bar, with a full drink in hand, to the port-a-potty line. And by the time it was my turn to urinate, I had alreay finished my drink.

While many specific memories from this year's Race Week are difficult to recollect, I do know that I had enough of a hangover after it was over to reasonably assume that I enjoyed myself.

"There Are Some Things A Man Just Can't Run Away From."

For this guy, one of those things happens to be this blog. Since nothing really exciting has been going on in my life for the last week or so, I thought I'd at least tell you about some of the movies I've been watching. (But fear not, dear reader, Chester Race Week kicks into full effect this weekend, so you can expect a hangover induced post in the near future.)

First up is one of my favorite westerns, 1939's Stagecoach. This movie is chock full of awesome characters, from the drunken doctor to the gentleman gambler and even a hooker with a heart of gold. Film geeks like myself will tell you that not only was Stagecoach the first western to be filmed in Monument Valley, but it was also the movie that made John Wayne a star. Also, rumor has it that Orson Welles was somewhat obsessed with this movie. He apparently privately screened it some forty times while he was making his masterpiece, Citizen Kane.

Nextly, a pair of 80s classics, Revenge of the Nerds and Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise. I recently managed to scare up a copy of the out of print Nerds/Nerds II DVD from Ebay, so I was pumped to watch these flicks again. Sure, I have them on VHS, but how long will those puppies hold out for? Anyways, what I can tell you is that these movies still hold up pretty well, despite their age and identification with all things 80s. The first Nerds movie was a bit more slapsticky than I remembered and when you see them both back-to-back you can't help but notice how the two movies are pretty much identical. Not that solving your problems with a creative song and dance routine ever gets old though. These flicks are required viewing for any fan of 80s movies.

Return of the Living Dead has to be one of my favorite movies for a variety of reasons: it has zombies, it has a punk rock soundtrack, it's totally 80s, and it has zombies. I guess it was originally meant to be a continuation of George Romero's Living Dead series, but ask any horror movie purist and they'll tell you Return isn't even in the same league as Romero's flicks. A lot of them won't even recognize this as a zombie flick because it has probably the first appearance of fast zombies, as opposed to the classic lumbering slow zombies. But, all horror movie politics aside, this flick is pretty good. I even got my hands on the elusive workprint version of the movie, a rough cut featuring some twenty extra minutes of alternate scenes and dialogue. If you like zombies, you have to see this one at least once. Return of the Living Dead is b movie schlock gold.

And finally, a movie I haven't seen in a long time that I'm looking forward to seeing when it finally comes to DVD next week, The Wizard. Anyone who remembers the hoopla surrounding the release of Super Mario Bros. 3 back in the late 80s must have at least some recollection of the marketing tie-in that was The Wizard. While it is little more than a ninety minute commercial for vintage Nintendo games and products ("I love the Power Glove. It's so bad.") I'm still stoked to see it again after all these years. Maybe I just long for the days when seeing someone else play Double Dragon seemed so awesome. I don't know why it has taken them this long to put The Wizard out on DVD, fans have been crying for a release and snapping up bootlegs for years now. The Wizard even made a recent list of the top twenty-five most wanted DVDs. The Wizard finally makes it to DVD on August 22nd (you can read a review of the DVD here), so be prepared to push a few fanboys out of the way if you want to get a copy of when it finally hits the shelves.

The Sultry Sounds Of Sackville

Well, now that my hearing is about back to normal (or about as good as it will ever be) I might as well tell you about my trip to Sackville, NB, last weekend.

You see, Bagtown (as it is apparently referred to by the locals) was playing host to the Sappy Records Music Festival, a three day celebration of New Brunswick indie rock. Also, it just so happened that the last day of the festival would feature a performance by one of my all-time favorite bands, Eric's Trip.

I began the journey to Sackville early and slightly hungover. But after three and a half hours over torn up roads, I reached my destination. My first obstacle was to find my hotel, sorry, my motel. I had some printouts with me from Yahoo maps, but as my friend Danielle suggested, "Yahoo maps is full of lies." Thankfully, Sackville isn't very big, so it didn't take me too long to reach the motel.

My next obstacle was the motel itself. I had reserved a room at the Tantramar Motel. Now, while it is possible that at one point (say the late 80s) the Tantramar Motel might have been a thriving location, it seems to have descended into a poorly run Mom 'n Pop type establishment. I don't mean to give the impression that it was a bad or dirty place, it just seemed very slack. My key wouldn't work, so I was instructed to jiggle the doorknob until it sorted itself out. It was lame, but I wasn't going to let a shitty doorknob ruin my weekend.

Eventually, I met up with a bunch of my New Brunswick friends. It was a mini Flophouse reunion. (The Flophouse being the nickname of a house many of us shared near the STU campus in Fredericton.) We headed down to what was advertised as a record fair. Now, as a record collector, when I hear the words, "record fair," I expect to find lots of reords for sale. Unfortunately, this wasn't really the case. There were a few tables set up with records, most of which had been released by Sappy Records themselves. I did manage to pick up an Eric's Trip LP and few cool 7"s, but I was hoping to drop some serious cash on vinyl.

While at the record fair, I also managed to score an Eric's Trip t-shirt, but it took a little doing on my part. You see, as a fat guy, I don't tend to fit into the hipster sizes you normally find at merch tables. So, I made some inquiries into larger sizes. Lucky for me, the guy who made the shirts happened to be there and he was kind enough to silkscreen a fresh shirt for me. He also hooked a friend of mine up with a ticket for that nights sold-out show. He totally did us a solid. And if I could remember his name, I would totally plug his print shop.

Sometime later, my friends and I made it down to the show, you know, the thing we came to Sackville for. It was being held at George's Fabulous Roadhouse. I'm not saying that it was fabulous, that's just what the place is called. The bar was small and hipsters tend to be tall, so while I didn't actually see many of the bands, I was able to hear them loud and clear.

One band, the Singing Saws, set up a large tent in the middle of the bar. They had people standing inside the tent spinning it around and shining funky lights while the band played. I didn't care much for their music, but I was impressed by the whole tent and lightshow shtick.

The band I was most surprised by was Purple Knight. Lead by Mark Gaudet, the drummer from Eric's Trip, Purple Knight put on one hell of a show. While I know little of the band's history, they are celebrated icons of the Moncton music scene. I was right up front for their set. I also happened to be very close to the speakers, so I was pretty much deaf by the time they were done.

The last band (and the best band) of the evening had to be Eric's Trip. I would have driven to Sackville just to see them, even if no one else was playing. Despite having broken up several years ago, Eric's Trip manages to put on a handful of reunion shows now and again. And I was lucky enough to be at one of those shows this time around. They were amazing. They played virtually every song of theirs that I wanted to hear. Everyone was super psyched to see them play. And while I'll admit that the band was a little rusty (maybe because they hadn't played together in more than five years) they still managed to rock my socks off.

Following the show, my newly hearing-impaired friends and I found our way back to the motel and called it a night. A few hours of sleep and a big, greasy breakfast later, I was back on the road.

And that, my friends, was my exciting trip to Sackville.

"Should I Stay Or Should I Go?"

No, this isn't a post about the Clash, it's actually a post about the Rolling Stones. You see, the Stones are going to be playing a show in Halifax in September and I can't decide if I should go or not. Tickets go on sale on Monday, so time for debating the issue is very limited.

What bugs me most (even more than the $99 ticket price) is the fact that they haven't announced who'll be opening for the Stones. I look at it this way, if the opening act is good it's like a bonus for the money you spent to see the main act. But, if the opening band sucks, you feel like an idiot because part of your admission went to a bunch of douchebags. Knowing my luck, if I decide not to go, it'll be announced that the Who are playing a secret opening slot. And if I do decide to go, the opening act will turn out to be someone like Journey and I will have to kill myself.

What's a guy supposed to do?

A Few Things I Miss From The 90s

- Mixtapes
- Crystal Clear Pepsi
- Nirvana
- Jean Chrétien choking out protesters
- Duckman
- A time when almost no one had cell phones
- Eric's Trip
- The novelty of laser pointers
- Kids in the Hall
- Laughing at people who thought yo-yos were cool
- Pogs
- When Much Music (or MTV) played music videos
- Mr. Show
AND...
- The distant hope that the Star Wars prequels would be awesome

What do you miss?

"Do You Guys Have A Problem With Being Quiet?"

Duck I went camping with some friends over the weekend. We went to Kejimkujik National Park, a beautiful spot about an hour and a half away from where I live. I'd been to Keji maybe twice before, but I never remembered the place being quite as busy or as modern as it was this time around. For starters, the camp grounds are littered with public bathrooms with indoor plumbing, soap dispensers and electric hand dryers (the kind that sense when your hands are under them). Since when did camping involve freely dispensed soap?

Also, as I mentioned, the place was rather busy. My friends and I, a motley crew of twenty-somethings, had three adjoining sites in the midst of what seemed to be the section of sites reserved for families. The major problem with that is that families tend to enjoy starting their day bright and early, while twenty-somethings often enjoy sleeping off their hangovers until well into the morning.

And if you were wondering about the above quote, it came from one of the park's rangers as he escorted us back to our respective sites for being too loud and rambunctious (ie: drunk) on one of the beaches well past quiet time. Personally, I think the whole quiet time thing is ridiculous. Who the hell wants to go to bed at 11 when you're camping anyway?

Duck Did you know that one of the alternate titles to the original Transformers cartoon show was Super God Robot Force? I'm seriously not kidding.

Duck Spaceblood, the rockingest band currently residing in Fredericton, NB recently had one of their songs chosen as "Song of the week" by Exclaim magazine. You can check that track out by going here.

Goose Mr. T is giving up his trademark gold chains. After witnessing the devastation in New Orleans first-hand, Mr. T decided that it was no longer appropriate to adorn himself with piles of gold. This thoughtful gesture is only further proof that Mr. T is one of our greatest living heroes.

Noise From The Great White North

Seeing as tomorrow is Canada Day, I thought I'd put together a little list of some of my favorite albums of yesteryear made by Canadian artists. Since all best-of lists are biased on behalf of the list maker, I will fully admit that this list is biased in accordance to my tastes as they were over the last dozen or so years. Nothing on this list was released after 1999, so there is a complete absence of any newer hype-worthy Canadian bands (ie: The Arcade Fire, Death From Above 1979, Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown, etc.). In the end, this isn't so much a best-of list as a retrospective of five good Canadian-made albums that really don't get any play these days.

Moxy Früvous Bargainville (1994)
In the early 90s, every busker in Ontario must have been dreaming of making it big. Thanks to the grass roots success of Barenaked Ladies, Moxy Früvous went from the street corner to centre stage with their debut album Bargainville. When it first came out, I loved it for its comedic elements, songs like King of Spain, Spiderman and My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors. But, seeing as I'm a such a big fan of the Beach Boys (Pet Sounds > Sgt. Pepper's), I can't help but love the harmonies on this album. What makes this album still enjoyable today is that a lot of the leftist political messages still ring true. The environment is still in danger, blue collar work is still rough and there is still war in the middle east. Songs like Stuck in the 90s, with the line "buy a new gameboy for the fun and the fashion," are even more appropriate today than they were twelve years ago.
Download: River Valley, Stuck in the 90s, The Drinking Song, Gulf War Song

Burnt Black Nervous Wreck (1996)
The girl I went to my high school prom with introduced me to this great Halifax-via-Yarmouth band. They had a heavy sound with some alternately haunting and screamy vocals. It was no surprise to me that the lead singer would go on to work with bands like Wintersleep and Kary, as well as have a half dozen other bands of his own (ie: The Trephines, The Remains of Brian Borcherdt and Holy Fuck). I remember trying to get my hands on a copy of this album for years. I even wrote the band, only to be surprised some weeks later with a long, hand-written letter and some stickers. I would eventually come to acquire this CD from a pawn shop in Fredericton, NB. While it remains criminally out of print, this album is a cornerstone of what would become the Halifax sound of later years.
Download (if you can): Purpose Served, Leaving You, Coming of Estrus

B.T.K. Birth Through Knowledge (1998)
While this album of white-boy rap stylings isn't quite on par with the other albums on this list, it should be noted that it is still a good album. BTK came and went from the Canadian music scene faster than......well, it was just fast. Ask anyone today about BTK and they will immediately think your talking about an American serial killer. Nobody remembers the great video for Peppyrock featuring all those puppets and Sesame Street parodies. But that's the way it goes. You have one moderately successful track with a clever video to back it up and then you're forgotten before the year is over.
Download: Peppyrock, Superchile

Gob How Far Shallow Takes You (1999)
This was the last good Gob album. After this, Gob traded skate punk for the oh-so-lucrative pop punk sound, with albums like The World According to Gob and Foot in Mouth Disease. I almost got to see Gob once in concert when I was in University, but it ended up that I had to go the opera instead (seriously). This album can almost be considered the last album to be spawned from the punk revival of the mid-90s (read: Green Day, The Offspring). After this, popular punk became pop punk (read: Sum 41, Good Charlotte, Simple Plan). Thankfully, this last blast of credibility from Gob still sounds good today.
Download: On These Days..., Beauville, What To Do

Eric's Trip Forever Again (1995)
I only started listening to Eric's Trip a few years ago, but I have since become obsessed with the band. I have shelled out some serious cash for their vinyl singles and I'm planning on making the pilgrimmage to Sackville, NB in August for their reunion show. This album is probably my favorite of all the band's records. From start to finish, it's an indie rock extravaganza. Rick White was a genius when it came to making lo-fi recordings. The album sounds as if it were lovingly cobbled from various archival recordings that could have been easily lost to the ages. It's really a shame that Eric's Trip isn't more well known. Despite having been the first Canadian band signed to Sub Pop (a tradition continued even today by bands like Wolf Parade), many of their albums are either out of print or are simply overlooked by record stores. Do yourself a favor and seek out a copy of this album.
Download: New Love, Girlfriend, Always There, View Master

So, kids, that's it for your history lesson. I have a big day of drinking and fireworks ahead of me tomorrow, so this will have to tide you over for a while.

"I Am Looking For A Dare To Be Great Situation."

I know I promised something Moxy Fruvous related in my last post, but two things prevented me from doing so: John Cusack and a turtle. I'll get Cusack out of the way first and then I'll tell you about the turtle.

Today is (or was, depending on when you're reading this) John Cusack's 40th birthday. I happen to be quite the Cusack booster. In fact, my appreciation for the works of John Cusack once bordered on obsession, but I'm better now, he doesn't need any more stalkers. So, I was all set to sit down and write a post about the various Cusack flicks you should run out and watch (like Better Off Dead..., One Crazy Summer, Say Anything..., Grosse Pointe Blank, and High Fidelity to name but a few) when I heard my Dad yell out, "you wanna see a turtle?"


As it turned out, this turtle had somehow found its way to the parking lot of what was once the gas station across the street from where I live. I approached the turtle cautiously, took several pictures and made at least one Crocodile Hunter joke. I wasn't really sure what to do with said turtle. Should I let nature take its course or should I intervene? Such a philosophical quandry for someone in a gas station parking lot. In the end, it was decided that this was no place for a turtle. So with the help of my friend Adam and some neighbors, we took the turtle down the road to Stanford Lake and set it free. The turtle must have appreciated the change of scenery because it immediately shuffled its way into the lake and swam away.

So, barring any more celebrity birthdays or errant wildlife, my next post will be about Moxy Fruvous in some way, shape or form.

I Am A Bad Blogger

I used to criticize bloggers who would go weeks between posts, but that was when I was unemployed and had 8+ hours to spend online in the run of a day. These days, I'm gainfully employed and my internet time has to be carefully rationed between checking my favorite mp3 blogs and scouring eBay for choice finds. But fear not blog-fans, I promise to pay more attention to my blog. So, look out for more B movie reviews and Sunday morning hangover reports.

If you've read this far, you may be asking yourself what I'm doing for work these days. The new job I alluded to earlier is that of a scalehouse operator at the local sanitary landfill. What does that mean, you might be asking yourself. To which I might suggest that you are one nosy bastard, but I'll tell you anyway. It means that I monitor the weights and loads of vehicles entering and exiting what is commonly referred to in rural communities as "the dump." Though glamorous it is not, as a new employee of the local government, I earn a good wage and will be privy to various benefits in the new future.

Also, my new job has provided me with the means to get a car. Every morning I cruise to work in style in my new (to me) 2003 Pontiac Sunfire. Boy, oh boy. It's a good car and it's in great shape. Though I still managed to get a flat tire the other day, which totally sucked ass. This is actually my first car, I had never really wanted to own a car before, but since my new job is 20+ minutes away from where I live, I had little choice in the matter. I know and care very little about cars, so don't expect me to be one of those guys who spends all his time "tricking out" his "ride" with fancy rims and a stereo worth more than the vehicle itself.

And finally to whet the appetite of anyone still reading this blog of mine, I'm brainstorming a special blog entry in honor of the upcoming Canada Day holiday. I'm not gonna give too much away, but I will say that it may or may not involve Moxy Fruvous.

"The Next Time I Have To Come In Here I'm Crackin' Skulls."

Sad news blog fans, beloved character actor Paul Gleason died over the weekend. Though best known for his role as Principal Richard Vernon in the John Hughes classic, The Breakfast Club, Gleason had roles in almost 100 different movies as well as appearances in numerous TV shows. He will be missed.

Select Filmography:

[1983] Trading Places
[1985] The Breakfast Club
[1985] Ewoks: The Battle for Endor
[1987] Morgan Stewart's Coming Home
[1988] Die Hard
[1993] National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1
[1994] Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love
[2001] Not Another Teen Movie
[2002] Van Wilder