Muchmusic turns 25 this week. Somehow I would have thought it was even a little bit older, I guess mainly because MTV was launched 3 years earlier. We didn't get MTV at the time though, so for us, Muchmusic was the first.
It was decidedly Canadian. It was low-budget, the hosts were huge dorks, and the first song the ever played was The Enemy Within by Rush. When it was launched, and for a decade afterwards, it was the likely stop if there was nothing else on TV. There were only 20 some channels at that time so it was a regular stop; plua Erica Ehm was hot. At some point MTV became available in Canada but they stopped showing videos around the same time. The same thing has since happened to Much. Maybe that's why they dropped the 'music' from the name. It's very rare these days that you can actually turn it on and find a video playing.
Back in the day, though, it was actually pretty great. Campy maybe, but great.
A few months ago one of the many jackasses I play rugby with showed up at a party with the 3 Wolf Moon Shirt. It was humorously ironic; this is a shirt you would typically find in a truck stop in North Dakota so it was so uncool it was cool.
It started with a fake review on amazon and from there the meme took off. You could actually see people everywhere with wolf shirts. But at what point does wearing something uncool to be cool become uncool again. I think the picture above might answer it. At the very least, it stops becoming ironic, as noted here.
There is, however, still much humour to be found in the the wolf vein, as witnessed by Alan's wolfpack speech in the The Hangover. We laughed at this, among countless other jokes in the movie, when we saw it in Wales. I got another kick out of it when I found this song North put on my (S)iPod:
It was recently brought to my attention that there exists a website dedicated to the waterfalls of New Brunswick. It lists all of the waterfalls I can remember ever being to, which, sadly, is only a list of 3 - Dunbar, Falls Brook, and Williams Falls at Mount Carleton. I guess I could add the North Branch of the Little Southwest Miramichi River at Little Forks because it is basically one long chute from the Beaver pools down. So that's 4. Fortunately, the website also lists the Forest Hill Falls and Odell Falls both of which I have walked by countless times growing up in Freddy. So that's 6 and I'm guessing I'm forgetting at least a few (Fundy?, does Little Falls in the St. Croix count?) so I can at least claim a few. It's clear, though, that I have missed the vast majority. And for people in that position this website is perfect. There should, one day, be a map on my wall full of pins showing these waterfalls. Maybe one of these summers when I have any time. Until then I have a great place to plan my trip.
North sent me the link to some footage he took on our perfect day in Saint John on Saturday. First a brief clip of the insane motocross jumping on the boardwalk. Remember this happened in the 20 feet that separates the Boardwalk patios from the stage.
The next clip is a surprisingly high quality video of Matt Mays from the Blue Olive. You should probably watch this:
He dedicated that song to Les Paul. Nice work North.
John Prine played the Playhouse last night and, as luck would have it, I ended up at the show. I hopped on Kijiji early yesterday afternoon to check if any poor soul had to unload a ticket. Sure enough a couple of offers popped up and I sent the first one a note. I got a response a few minutes later from Doherty who couldn't make the show and had to give up the single he found on the same site the week before. So I was the 3rd pair of hands on this ticket and very happy to have mine on it.
My earliest memories of John Prine are riding around the Maritimes with Malcolm heading to rugby games of the fishing camp. So to keep with that tradition I stopped by Malcolm and Nancy's for a beer before the show. I arrived at the show just in time to get a beer and find my solo seat. I was half expecting (fully hoping) to sit down next to some jilted beauty who broke up with her boyfriend but kept the Prine tickets in the split. No such luck. . Nevertheless, as with every seat in the Playhouse, I did have a great view. The opener was good but I was antsy for a few laughs from a legendary entertainer
Sure enough, as soon as Prine hit the stage and launched into his vast catalog that spans witty and whimsical to wise and downright weepy he had the crowd eating out of his hand. He has aged since I last saw him in Saint John 4 years ago but he still had that great old raspy voice and lots of help from his backing duo. He played almost everything you expected to hear. He did not play Illegal Smile but he did play my favourites, All the Best, Angel from Montgomery, and Paradise. I would have to say that the highlight, for the sheer delight of the crowd when he played it, had to be Let's Talk Dirty in Hawaiin. Kicka puka maka waawaa heenee!
Needless to say, I'm glad I checked Kijiji. Thanks for the ticket Doherty; thanks for the mental souvenirs John.
No clip of last night's show yet but this one is great for his rapport with the crowd. That has not changed.
Summer around here is supposed to be full on long, hot sunny days that can be packed with all kinds of summer fun so make up for the short days and numbing cold of winter. It's a delicate system; if the balance is off it throw your mood for a year, and this summer hasn't had anywhere near it's requisite number so that balance was in question. That may be changing as the weather is finally here and yesterday I took advantage of it with a near perfect summer day.
I started off by sleeping late then driving to Surf City with the boys. Saint John is typically cooler than Freddy Beach and this day was no exception. However in this case that meant it was only 32 in Saint John and 37 here at home. A little too hot for rugby but I think our fitness work must be paying off and we routed the Trojans 50-3. I can't lie, that was a good start to my day away in SJ.
We left the game and headed to the Royal Kennebecasis Yacht Club to join Moe on his party boat. We steam up the Kenebecasis towards Rothesay and then over to the Kinston Peninsula for a swim. Perfect day for a boat ride, hot as hell but enough of a breeze on the water to stay cool. Moe's Labbatt products didn't hurt either.We got off the water and had a huge feed at Craig and Heather's.
From there we went to the Boardwalk just in time to catch an insane motocross exhibition right beside the patios on the boardwalk. It was actually nuts, only 10 or 15 minutes but crazy. I was hoping to find a clip on YouTube but no luck as of yet.
We left the Boardwalk at 11 and headed out Rothesay Ave. to get to the Blue Olive and cap off our night catching Matt Mays at the intimate little venue. The place was not packed, which was perfect, because we could get right up close and personal. He played a (relatively) short but sweet set (setlist above). He rocked out hard, jamming most every song. Highlights were Month of September, Rock Ranger Record, Cocaine Cowgirl, and an epic Terminal Romance for the encore. He also played an unknown honkey-tonk labelled California Time on that setlist. It was kick ass.
We ended the night choking on leftovers and then spent today recovering in the water at Douglas Lake just outside Saint John. It was another amazing day. Nearly perfect; hopefully more to come before summer is out.
It was a noteworthy and newsworthy week in guitar history. Monday marked the 100 years since Leo Fender was born. And, sadly, on Thursday Les Paul died at the age 94. The two of them were synonomous with the electric guitar and are major reasons it is the centerpiece instrument of the most popular music of the last 50 years.
Fender was an inventor and, beyond giving the world the Stratocaster, basically invented the solid body electric guitar. Paul, around the same time, was creating his own version of a solid body which was the basis of what became the other classic rock guitar, the Gibson Les Paul. Beyond that he was sound and effects innovator and a very accomplished player in his own right.
The list of guitars of the Guitar Gods would certainly list these two guitars as 1 and 2. In fact the list for the Strat and the Les Paul (all Gibson incl) are a who's who of rock legends.
For a good clip of a Les Paul in action check this out:
For a great example of a Stratocaster in action and a fitting memorial to these two icons, here is another icon: . Classic. Thanks fellas.
These days it is a pretty rare treat if Poppa Pacey and the Pacey siblings get a change to get together. So it was a very rare treat yesterday to get not only Dad, Sarah, Will and I together for a visit but also all of Dad's sisters and a slew of their friends. As an added bonus Mom and Sam showed up from the Island to join in.
The occasion was simpy the opportunity. Aunt Mary Ann and Dave were home from Edmonton for a vacation so we got a chance to see everyone together. I was disappointed not to get to see everyone when they got together a few days earlier but I just couldn't pass up that trip to Wales.
So we made it back last night in time to hit the clubhouse for a beer and a chance to recap the tour with the boys. When asked how it was all I could tell them was that it was great. That was quickly followed by me imploring them all to start organizing another tour that I can be a part of. I'm not sure if I mentioned this but being on tour is the best.
As for my impressions of Wales; well there was far less Tom Jones playing than I expected. The Big Book of British Smiles is probably due for another volume from Wales and I still can't figure out if it's an orthodondist's dream or nightmare. But the fact that I can say that indicates a pretty happy people. Friendly as well. Bottom line I was visting a place that was pretty much identical to the place I left. So much so that the most memorable quote of the trip was memorable for it's unmemorability (I think I just made up that word): Bored teenage girl at the bus stop - "Iss Mondee init?" Equally bored man she was talking to - "Yeah, Mondee". He pushed his hands deeper in his pockets and rocked back on his heals while she lit a smoke. Mondees are Mondays after all.
From all reports I got my week away saw the arrival of summer. Hot and sticky as it should be. It's raining again today so it would appear that summer is already over. On the plus side my lawn is lush so this song makes perfrect sense today:
Well the rugby is over. We played our last game of the tour tonight vs Crosskeys. Like every other club we played, after the game they served us some curry with rice and a side of chips. It was always good and I can't say enough good things about the beer over here. I've certainly tested many of them. That part of the hospitality was as good as I remembered. On the flipside though, the hospitality from the players was lacking. In both games I played we sat and ate with our opposition but no one was buying their opposite number a beer, which is a given from a host around here. I would hazard a guess that this has something to do with the professionalism of the game but that would just be a guess. Some further investigation might be needed. Maybe I could do a tour along the same lines as the author of Muddied Oafs. It's a worthwhile thought because, as this tour reminded me, there is nothing quite like being on tour. If I could only somehow find a way to get paid to do that I would be all set.
We've had a bit of a hiccup in our schedule over here. The Newport High School Old Boys had to back out of there game with us on Monday so we are now playing tonight vs. Blackpool and tomorrow in our regularly scheduled final game vs. Cross Keys. This has meant that our preperation went a little off the rails on Sunday. After a long day out with the Loyalist crew, walking the city and laughing like little kids on vacation. We went to see a movie and then went back to the hostel to relax. We were then told the news of the switch and were quickly back downtown doing some 'team bonding' over beers. Yesterday was a bit of a wash because of it. We did have a training session and are now gearing up for the game vs. Blackpool.
The one thing I am left thinking about at this point is the prospect of playing two matches in 24 hours when I am already sore. I like to think of myself as an old sports car; I am still finely tuned (and some might say lady-driven) but I have high mileage. I can't be run too hard. We shall see how it goes. In the meantime, here's is another Welsh band singing what I keep telling my chassis:
That is also one of my favourite songs.
One last note: Nancy sent me a link last night to an article on the front page of the gleaner. I love that one line - "One of the good news items out of that is we now are not Nova Scotia - who would want to be, let's put it that way. Especially on New Brunswick Day, I think we're all proud of that, and we owe a debt of gratitude to Ned Winslow."
So that went ok. We lost 49-21 to a bunch of professionals. More importantly we actually played well in spurts. They beat us on turnover ball. We made a mistake and they capitalized in a hurry. Probably scored 4 or 5 tries directly off of our turnovers.
I was nervous before the game. That is nothing out of the ordinary. I still get nervous before most games. But this one was a bit different. We were playing a very high quality team and, moreover, I was playing out of position on the wing; a position where your mistakes can look bad and lead directly to tries. I was reminded, however, that once the game kicks off, it's really just another game of rugby. Instincts and long learned skills take over and it's nothing out of the ordinary. It's faster and maybe even harder but it's still just rugby. And, make no mistake, fun as hell. Kind of like this clip.
Muchmusic turns 25 this week. Somehow I would have thought it was even a little bit older, I guess mainly because MTV was launched 3 years earlier. We didn't get MTV at the time though, so for us, Muchmusic was the first. 
