Art and Friends and Fun and Holidays and Music and Photography Decemberists, NIN, Sasquatch 5:01 am
This past weekend I had the pleasure of going to the Sasquatch Music Festival in the Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington State. I camped with a bunch of old and new friends from Handsworth and had an absolute blast. This won’t be an experience I shall soon forget.
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Art and Friends and Fun and Life and Music and School 1968, HAIR, Liz's Birthday, Sword 1:26 am
Whew, I saw quite an amazing show tonight. It had . . .
Vietnam, Johnson, high school, sex, coffee, books,
food, scissors, magazines, news, cigarettes,
Hollywood, Tuesday Weld,
Burton-Taylor, pop art, pop off, popcorn, popsicle,
Andy Warpop, pop paper, pop up,
Popeye, poppers,England, outer space,
astronauts, Jesus, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair!
I haven’t seen a stage performance since first term where I saw Dark Side of the Moon which was a less than spectacular McGill production. However, HAIR, The American Tribal Love Rock Musical was a true spectacle. It had great songs, great energy, a great set and most importantly a cool setting. Not that 1968 was cool, in fact it was one of the worst years in American History. RFK’s and MLK’s death, the Tet Offensive and The ‘68 Democratic National Convention. All the more reason to ditch the dockers and let the luscious locks grow. I was really blown away by the quality. Having really only been exposed David Beare epics for the last 5 years it was great to see how other people do it. This play was topical, hysterical, jovial, grooooovy and an all around wicked time. Only downside was that it made me miss my good ol’ mane. Ah well, I can still totally be a hippie at heart.
Also, tonight was my friend Liz from Chicago’s 19th Birthday so we had a pool party in the 6th floor bathroom. I got her an amazingly cool katana that I named “Ashbringer, Blessed Blade of the Windkeeper”. Needless to say, she thought it was awesome. All around a righteous day.
Peace and love,
sash
PS:
never forget
Art and Family and Friends and Fun and Holidays and Movies and Music 3:12 pm
Merry Christmas : ]
sash
Fun and Life and Links and Montreal and Music 100 Albums, Music, Sam Roberts, Yogurt 11:23 pm
ipod headphones
As I sit here enjoying my strawberry yogurt and feeling the bacterial cultures replenishing in my battered intestines I came upon a realization. My musical repertoire has ceased to grow! Since grade 12 I’ve pretty much been listening to the same small, yet rocking, little group of bands and artists. Indeed, if one were to look back upon the history of music which I listen to there would be clear and sweeping phases. I had my early, pre-teen Our Lady Peace phase, then I discovered the Red Hot Chili Peppers, a phase that exists to this day, then I had my Mars Volta phase, my Pearl Jam phase, my NIN phase, and most recently my Sufjan Stevens phase. I’m jonesin’ for a new phase, a new artist to memorize verbatim, read up on wikipedia, draw a picture of, and basically devote my undying fanhood to. So, I have decided to leave it to the experts and listen to every single album, start to finish, on the Time Magazine Top 100 Albums of All Time. I think it will be fun! Here is the list. Wish me luck, cause I am a picky johansen when it comes to my tunes. Those crossed out are albums that I have listened to already at some point in my eighteen years.
The List:
2000s:
The Essential Hank Williams Collection: Turn Back the Years – Hank Williams
The College Dropout – Kanye West
Portrait of a Legend: 1951-1964 – Same Cooke
Elvis: 30 No. 1 Hits – Elvis Presley
The Anthology, 1947-1972 – Muddy Waters
Kid A – Radiohead
Stankonia – Outkast
Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea – PJ Harvey
The Marshall Mathers LP – Eminem
1990s:
Sunrise – Elvis Presley
Car Wheels on a Gravel Road – Lucinda Williams
Ok Computer – Radiohead
Time Out of Mind – Bob Dylan
Endtroducing… – DJ Shadow
(What’s the Story) Morning Glory – Oasis
Live Through This – Hole
My Life – Mary J. Blige
Ready to Die – The Notorious B.I.G
Slanted and Enchanted – Pavement
The Chronic – Dr. Dre
Achtung Baby – U2
Nevermind – Nirvana
Out of Time – R.E.M
Phil Spector, Back to Mono(1958-1969) – Various Artists
Ropin’ the Wind – Garth Brooks
Star Time – James Brown
The Low End Theory – A Tribe Called Quest
1980s: (This is gonna be painful)
Like a Prayer – Madonna
Paul’s Boutique – Beastie Boys
The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back – Public Enemy
Straight Outta Compton – N.W.A
Document – R.E.M
Paid in Full – Eric B and Rakim
Sign O’ The Times – Prince
The Joshua Tree – U2
Graceland – Paul Simon
Master of Puppets – Metallica
Raising Hell – Run-DMC
Legend – Bob Marley and the Wailers
Purple Rain – Prince
Stop Making Sense – Talking Heads
The Great Twenty-Eight – Chuck Berry
Thriller – Michael Jackson
Back in Black – AC/DC
1970s:
London Calling – The Clash
One Nation Under a Groove – Parliament/Funkadelic
Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols – The Sex Pistols
Rumours – Fleetwood Mac
Hotel California – The Eagles
Ramones – The Ramones
Songs in the Key of Life – Stevie Wonder
Born to Run – Bruce Sprinstein
Horses – Patti Smith
Red Headed Stranger – Willie Nelson
Call Me – Al Green
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road – Elton John
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust – David Bowie
Exile on Main Street – The Rolling Stones
Talking Book – Stevie Wonder
The Harder They Come – Jimmy Cliff and Various Artists
Blue – Joni Mitchell
Coat of Many Colours – Dolly Parton
Hunky Dory – David Bowie
Led Zeppelin IV (a.k.a Zoso) – Led Zeppelin
Paranoid – Black Sabbath
Sticky Fingers – The Rolling Stones
Tapestry – Carole King
What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye
Who’s Next – The Who
After the Gold Rush – Neil Young
Bridge Over Troubled Water – Simon and Garfunkel
John Lennon – Plastic Ono Band
Moondance – Van Morrison
1960s:
Abbey Road – The Beatles
Bitches Brew – Miles Davis
Stand! – Sly & the Family Stone
The Band – The Band
Astral Weeks – Van Morrison
At Folsom Prison – Johnny Cash
Lady Soul – Aretha Franklin
The Beatles(“The White Album”) – The Beatles
Are You Experienced – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You – Aretha Franklin
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – The Beatles
The Velvet Underground and Nico – The Velvet Underground
Blonde on Blonde – Bob Dylan
Pet Sounds – The Beach Boys
Revolver – The Beatles
Highway 61 Revisited – Bob Dylan
Otis Blue – Otis Reding
Rubber Soul – The Beatles
A Love Supreme – John Coltrane
Live at the Apollo(1963) – James Brown
Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music – Ray Charles
King of the Delta Blues Singers – Robert Johnson
1950s:
Kind of Blue – Miles Davis
Here’s Little Richard – Little Richard
Songs for Swingin’ Lovers – Frank Sinatra
In the Wee Small Hours – Frank Sinatra
Needless to say, I have lots of work to do. Oh and I almost forgot, in musical news, I am seeing Sam Roberts this Friday night at la nationale! This will be my 3rd time seeing Sam Roberts perform, each time better than the last. The first time I saw him was on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Canada Day. The second time was at Pemberton Festival last summer. Unless something has gone horribly wrong, I imagine he won’t disappoint. Anyways, I gotta get going on these albums. I figure I will go from the 50s on, to get the chronology of it.
Tah tah,
sash
*Update: Once I have listened to an album, I cross it off the list.
Fun and Life and Music Montreal, Music, Photography 11:50 am
Based upon A Day In the Life by The Beatles.
I had a Beatles day, oh boy.
About 4 lucky men who made the grade.
From Sgt. P to Ob-la-Di,
Well I just had to laugh.
I took some photographs
They blew my mind with every bar,
I didn’t notice that the leaves had changed.
I’d seen this place before,
but of its true nature I could tell you little more.
I saw a film today, oh boy,
about The Beatles, 1 2 3 and 4.
A well spent portion of my day,
and I just had to yelp,
having just seen HELP!
I loved to turn it on…….
woke up, fell out of bed
looked out my window; leaves were red
found my way down to improv and told a joke
then looking up, I noticed I was late
found my pod and grabbed my gat (cause I be gangstaaa)
met with Aunt Roksilana/Olenka in seconds flat.
found my way to reuben’s and had a bite,
one tiny nibble and I went into a dream
aaaah aah aah aah, aah aah aaaah aaaaha
I had a swanky day, oh boy.
4000 crazy things to see and hear!
And though the leaves will start to fall,
no need to count them all.
Now we know how many songs it takes to fill a human soul.
I love to turn it on.
Gaming and Music and School Gaming, Music, School 7:52 pm
the eraser
As much as I’d like to write an extensive post detailing my day, I simply don’t have the time. I didn’t expect university French to pose such a challenge, but it takes 3 times longer than my old French did. In addition to my upcoming psych midterm and essay due on The Nibelungenleid the work just continues to pile up. The leaves are starting to change colour these days and you can feel the autumn creeping into your bones. My soul could use a sunny day big time. The reason my blog is sporting the cover of “The Eraser”, Thom Yorke’s solo album, is because in a rare case of musical deprivation it was the only album I was able to listen to today because of the business of my schedule. As a result I have the songs in my head.
In gaming news, which seems to be the only gaming related activity that I have time for these days, I read an interesting article today concerning the issue of DRM and online games. I, of course, am talking about amazon.com’s controversial decision to delete negative reviews of EA’s Spore that criticized the limited activation system of the new PC release which gives three lifetime activations of the game before you have to call EA and request a new key. 1000’s of one star reviews were removed by the online distributor, who attributed the deletions to “a glitch”. The reviews have since been restored on the site. On a side note, Penny Arcade has released a recent set of cartoons detailing The Origins of the CD-Keys.
Many people believe that “DRM only punishes legitimate consumers who want to pay for the software they own”. I feel the need to disagree, being guilty of torrenting a few games in my day. I feel it is the only way to protect software developers and ensure they maintain the capital to continue producing games. Indeed by around 10PM on the day of Spore’s release I was already running a fully torrented version of the game. I think the reality is that DRM improvements are an inevitability as long as mass downloading is allowed to run rampant like it does. However, I have no sympathy for game developers that go under due to software piracy, simply for the fact that any game worth playing in the 21st century should have some form of online play or social networking that would necessitate a CD key. One game developer that presents this aspect time and time again is Blizzard Entertainment. I can hardly recall the countless hours I have poured into every Blizzard title from Diablo I to Starcraft to Warcraft III. With the much anticipated release of Starcraft II and Diablo III later down the road I can safely say that they will still have a valued customer for years to come(if I ever get my god-forsaken homework done).
Au Revoir,
sash
garrrrgoyles
 | oleh on Sasquatch Music Fest |
| oleh on Sasquatch Music Fest |
 | oleh on The Paths I Call Home |
 | Milan on IMG_0918 |
| oleh on The Paths I Call Home |
