Top 10 lists March 2006

Spins

Toto - Falling in Between
Corrosion of Conformity - Animosity
Pat Metheny Group - First Circle
Rolling Stones - Their Satanic Majesties Request
Christian Fennesz - Endless Summer
The Paul Bley Quartet (SF)
David Torn/Mick Karn/Terry Bozzio - Polytown
John Denver - Greatest Hits
Amon Tobin - Chaos Theory
Amon Tobin - Out from out where

Movies (by Director)

Shawshank Redemption - Frank Darabont
Dazed and Confused - Richard Linklater
Prisoner of the Mountains - Sergei Bodrov
The Mirror - Andrei Tarkovsky
Solaris (1972 original) - Andrei Tarkovsky
Space is the Place - Sun Ra
Shinjuku Outlaw- Miike Takashi
Izo - Miike Takashi
The Jokers - Michael Winner
True Grit - John Wayne

Changes to the blog

I just changed my settings on the blog. There's only going to be a max of 10 posts per page, because some people with lower bandwidth connections were complaining that the page took too long to load. So if you're looking for old stuff, search the archives. Thanks and cheers... M

The World's Largest Axe/Piss-cuttin'er (NB Slang Pt.4)

A steel axe measuring 18.28 m (60 ft) long and 7 m (23 ft) wide, and weighing 7 tonnes (7.1 tons), was presented to the town of Nackawic, New Brunswick, Canada, on May 11, 1991. The axe was built to commemorate the town's selection as Forestry Capital of Canada for 1991. Calculations suggested that it would take a 140-tonne (308,647-lb) lumberjack to swing the axe... luckily, a crane was at hand to lift the colossal chopper into its concrete base. (source: http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=48180)

This is how fucked up and hick New Brunswick is. Someone was serious enough to construct the world's largest axe just to prove to the world that yes, we are Canadian and dammit to hell, we have better wood better than any other wood in the world. Was the big axe really necessary? Well, maybe it was.

Anyway, yes, this is where i was born, not in Nackawic, NB but about 1 hour and 15 minutes from there. Doesn't really matter where you come from in NB, you still have to admit to people that your dad drove a tractor for a living and loved it.

NB SLANG PT.4 – piss-cuttin'er/piss-cut (verb) - Usually used as a in the gerund form "piss-cuttin'". It implies using excessive speed, usually in an unpredictable or out of control situation; "He was just piss-cuttin' 'er trying to outrun the cops!" meaning he was going really fast in order to get the law off his tail.

GI Mitch

Who's that fag in the gay army uniform in the 2nd row, 3rd from the left? That's me, you pricks! Yeah, it still seems like a dream that I was in the militia for a year. I actually had a lot of fun, met some crazy fuckers, a few long-term friends even. But when I look back at photo this I have to laugh. Jesus, now you'd have to force me to eat raw rats before I'd ever join the army again. Nope, no way, no how.

What a sad looking bunch we were. If we ever DID have to go to war w'ed be a pretty pathetic bumch of grunts, probably end up blowing each other up before we even reached the enemy. All our superiors were a bunch of drunks and most of the regiment couldn't even figure out simple gun drills (including me). I think a few of these people went on to have careers in the military. Well hats off to you, good luck not blowing yourself up with a grenade.

And I'd also like to give Mr. Bush a big hug for killing and torturing so many innocent people and also trying to drag Canada into their fucking problems. Thanks. I'll buy you a cheeseburger next time I'm in town.

Adbusters

Just thought I would put a note about Adbusters on my Blog. Very interesting magazine with excellent writing, mostly from Kalle Lasn and other contributors. Started about 10 years ago in Vancouver. It's also an interesting coincidence (or maybe it isn't) that I was introduced to a student recently named Taizo Katoh, who used to work at Adbusters in Vancouver, and now does the Japanese version of Adbusters, only in online fromat at the moment, which I'm going to be helping him with. I also hope to contribute some work someday for the magazine. Anyway, the site address is http://www.adbusters.org

This is a basic description of Adbusters (taken from their site):

"We are a global network of artists, activists, writers, pranksters, students, educators and entrepreneurs who want to advance the new social activist movement of the information age. Our aim is to topple existing power structures and forge a major shift in the way we will live in the 21st century.

To this end, Adbusters Media Foundation publishes Adbusters magazine, operates this website and offers its creative services through PowerShift, our advocacy advertising agency."

Also check out Kalle's books, "Culture Jam" about America's ridiculous overconsumption, and "Design Anarchy" (go to https://secure.adbusters.org/orders/designanarchy/ for a detailed description...

SITE UPDATE: new movie added/CGI Films/Stop Motion Films/George Lucas/Jan Svankmajer

Finally, I've added a new movie to the movie section, just click on the the 5th circle on the movie page and it will load. Be patient, because it may take a little time to load. It's the longest and the best yet and I spent many hours on it, so I hope someone out there digs it. I did everything frame by frame in Photoshop, then imported the sequence into Quicktime, then added music. I did it that way because I like the roughness and jumpy quality of it, the unpredictability. I wasn't going for smooth transitions, I was going for something with more tension in it.

I think the next thing I'd like to try just for fun is doing a short stop-motion animation film. I've always admired that medium and really appreciate the extreme time and effort it takes to make a stop motion film. It's too bad it's not so appreciated these days since the domination of CGI films in the last 20 years has steadily increased. I can do without CGI thank you very much. The only movie using CGI that has impressed me so far is Lord of the Rings.

And STAR WARS? I thought the CGI on all 3 of the prequel films was pretty lame in many parts. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who's pissed off that Mr. Lucas has deprived his old fans of ever seeing a proper DVD issue of the original 3 films. Lucas has become a greedy bastard indeed. Sure they're his films, but HIS FANS made him the filthy rich prick who he is today, and to just shrug off all of his purist fans is very selfish. Shame on you George. You should know better.

Anyway, those of you who care about stop motion should check out the work of Jan Svankmajer from the Czech Republic, one of the undisputed masters of the genre, who's surrealist mix of stop motion and real life footage always blow me away. Start with his short films, then delve into his longer works.

Other stop motion stuff I've been re-discovering recently is the old Davey and Goliath series originally produced by the Lutheran Church in America between 1962 and 1975 and the creators of "Gumby," this series about a young boy and his dog live life by standards set by God. This Christian based TV series is awesome, no matter what your religion. It's pretty trippy stuff actually, so grab a beer, smoke a bowl and sit back and enjoy...

Attik Noise 3.5

Well, I was lucky enough to find and win Attik Noise 3.5 off ebay a few days ago. Still awaiting the delivery, but very much looking forward to getting it. The last time I saw it was about 7 years ago, my old art director had it (along with all the other Noise books) and at the time I couldn't believe that human beings made this shit, it looked like robots made it or something. Those books are all fucking awesome. Now I'm looking for Noise 3 and Noise 1 (if it exists) so if anyone has a copy they are willing part with, please contact me...

UPDATE and CORRECTION: I just saw the newly designed Attik website today (March 21), and there is a gallery of each volume of the Noise Series and Noise 1 is there. It's the first time I've ever seen it. But strangely, Noise 2 is not there. I know that one exists because I have it. Hmmmmm. Weird.

Also, I got Noise 3.5 a few days ago and it rocks. And my old creative director, Olaf Strassner, is GIVING me Noise 3 this summer as a present. I still have a hard time believing he's serious, but it looks like he is. It's not in perfect condition, the spine is broken, but hey, I'll take it any condition. Lately, I've looked at many design books, and everything else just seems to pale in comparison with those old Noise books. Now, I just have to find number 1. Number 5 is in the works.

Greaser's Palace

It was about 10 years ago I think, good time in my life, I have fond memories of that time period. I was living in Halifax with 2 other guys in a top floor apartment. Anyway, one of my roommates, Tony, and I, were just sitting around bored on a Saturday night pounding back a few cold ones as usual. It was about 1 in the morning and this film called "Greaser's Palace" came on the Showcase Revue. I think at first we both wanted to change the channel, but neither of us wanted to get up and walk the whole 100 cm to the TV (we didn't have a remote). I also have to say I was curious about a movie with a title like that. Did it have something to with taking a shit? Some pretty strange pictures rushed into my head when thinking about the name.

Anyway, the movie started with the credits. As you know, the full credits are usually at the end in most films. After the credits roll by quickly, it shows a horse and carriage going around in a circle, then shows "the palace" for a few seconds, then goes to a barroom scene with a really strange country tune in the background with accordion, violin and slightly out-of tune vocals. The whole scene kind of reminded me of old spaghetti westerns visually, but was thrown off by this quirky little tune. Definitely not Ennio Morricone, but actually quite catchy. You see the camera cutting from on person's face to another, pretty funny expressions on everyone's face.

A little imbalanced, but still pretty normal. Suddenly enters a guy dressed with a white sheet over his head with holes cut for the eyes and the mouth and a cheap cowboy hat smoking a big cigar. Without saying a word, he casually butts it out on Lamey Homo's chest (you'll later find out his name and that he is Greaser's son a little later in the movie) and Lamey starts screaming and writhing on the floor as if he's being tortured or something.

From that scene, I knew this was going to be one headfuck of a movie, but an enjoying ride. Today, this remains one of my favorite movies of all time. I watch it at least every 6 months.

Some of the paragraph below is taken from a review I found on Amazon. I'm a lazy writer, so I just stole this guy's version and edited it.

"The whole story is kind of like taking the story of the bible and setting it in a western theme. The basic "plot" is this. Jesus Christ parachutes into the old west wearing a pin-striped suit and a tophat. He is on his way to Jeruselem to be an actor/singer/dancer. All he wants to do is sing and dance and he gets to do both at Greaser's Palace which is a saloon run by Seaweedhead Greaser, who spends a lot of time in a lofty outhouse trying to entice a bowel movement, while the townsfolk (and a mariachi band) wait below in anticipation."

OK, now for specific scenes. Let me just say that the whole movie is absolute madness from start to finish. The scene where the Indian is beating himself on the back, mercilessly, with an old boot, the scene where "Coocoo" pulls out his John Thomas and rapes a wooden Indian, Herve Valaquez yelling for his male, flannel night gown bearded lover, "Petuniaaaaaa . . . Petuniaaaaaaa" or the recurring line throughout the movie, "Who is he gip" or the other line, "If ya feel yer healed". What else, Jesus copulates with a young woman in the front cab of a surrey-with-the-fringe-on-top. Jesus also has an "agent" who he meets out in the desert, who looks like a beat-up version of Lou Reed with a thicker than thick Bronx accent, wearing a space helmut.

This is definitely a love or hate movie, most people will turn it off after 15 minutes, completely confused and pissed off that they spent hard-earned money on this trash. But I'd just like to say that it is absolutely worth getting, no matter how hard it is to obtain. It was issued on DVD about 5 or 6 years ago, but quickly went out of print again. It'd be nice to see a special edition of this released by Criterion or another reputable company, but I don't think we ever will. It's a shame that shit like "Titanic" gets re-issued about every 6 fucking months and movies like this never stay in print for long. But you folks who constantly like to be spoonfed the latest Hollywood garbage will never understand the importance or the genius of a film like Greaser's Palace.

This is only ONE of Robert Downey's films. Also check out the equally brilliant "Putney Swope" about a white advertising agency taken over by black people. Also, "Pound" where people play dogs in a pound. Sadly, most of his earlier work is lost, even Robert Downey doesn't even have prints. So it's hard to say whether that stuff will ever surface. I sill haven't seen much of his earlier work. But when I was doing some research last night, I found out that "A touch of greatness" is now available" on DVD. It's documentary from 1964 about the remarkable teacher Albert Cullum, who broke the mold for the boring, uninspiring public school teachers in the 1950s and 60s. So I will surely be picking it up when I get a chance...

Here's Robert Downey's Discography as a director:

1. Rittenhouse Square (2005)
2. Hugo Pool (1997) ... aka Pool Girl (UK: DVD title)
3. Too Much Sun (1991)
4. Rented Lips (1988)
5. America (1986) ... aka Moonbeam
6. "The Twilight Zone" (1985) TV Series (episode "Children's Zoo") (episode "Tooth and Consequences")
7. Up the Academy (1980)
... aka Mad Magazine Presents Up the Academy
... aka Mad Magazine's Up the Academy
... aka The Brave Young Men of Weinberg
8. Moment to Moment (1975) (as Robert Downey)
9. Sticks and Bones (1973)
10. Greaser's Palace (1972)
11. Pound (1970)
12. Putney Swope (1969) (as Robert Downey [a prince])
13. No More Excuses (1968)
14. Chafed Elbows (1966)
15. Sweet Smell of Sex (1965) (as Robert Downey)
... aka Sweet Smell of Perfume (USA)
16. Babo 73 (1964)
17. A Touch of Greatness (1964)
18. Balls Bluff (1961)

Darth Balls

This is a scene from the upcoming STAR WARS Episode 7 - The Grocery Store Strikes Back

Epidemic Cause Live March 4th

Well, it was a really fun night, that's for sure and everyone got pretty blitzed afer the show. We had to peel a few people off the floor at the izakaya we went to. It was about 5 in the morning when we finally left, some people left earlier, because they had to work.

Anyway, the show wasn't a complete success, but not bad for my first gig with them. Had to admit I was pretty lit when I got on stage and a bit nervous after not playing live for awhile,so I've been a bit green. The first 2 songs went well, I did vocals and basically flipped out all over the place, but I played guitar on the last 3 songs, and well, it sucked balls. I had patch cord problems. I should have learned my lesson by now not to buy cheap patch cords. In the past, almost every fucking gig I've played was hindered in some way due to gear problems, mainly bad cords, or connections. Great guest vocals from Kan (Money is God), Jun (Demonoid 13), and KA-Y from Mother of Soul.

Anyway, it was a blast, and I'm looking forward to playing the next show which will probably be in Nagoya in August with Demonoid 13 and some other bands. Met lots of fucking cool people. Everyone was really nice and professional.

Didn't get many good pictures this time, but I think we're getting a video of the show.

Website Update

I have finally made some updates to the site. There's a bunch of new stuff in the portfolio section. I replaced some of the images on existing pages, because the colors were off or another reason. I've also added a second photo page with 100 new photos, so enjoy. I got a lot of feedback from the 1st collection of photos. I'm also going to add a few new movies soon, they will hopefully be finished hopefully in week or two, so check back. Thanks for all your comments and feedback about the site, and thanks for all the comments on the blog. Cheers!

Holy Smokes...

Well, I quit smoking 5 weeks ago and I feel fucking great! It's really nice to be rid of that filthy habit. And you know what? I don't even miss it. I still have the odd craving, but it quickly passes.

Anyway, I know that many people consider reformed smokers can be the worst when it comes to preaching about the evils of tobacco. But guess what, I really don't give a shit. I think every smoker wants to quit in the back of his mind, but can't, because of the fear, brainwashing and the illusion that this little crutch called the cigarette is giving the person some sort of pleasure or relieving your stress. Ask yourself why you smoke and what is it doing for you? Shit! That's what it's doing for you. So fucking quit!

If you want help, read Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking, it helped me. I quit over 6 years ago and stopped for 2 years, the started again. Why? Stupidity I guess. Anyway, if you read this book and have a good attitude about quitting, you can do it. It's not difficult. So read the goddamn book and stop paying 10 bucks a day to systematically kill yourself.

If only the government would ban tobacco and legalize weed (the "killer" drug), that'd be a start. Thousands of people die every year from tobacco related deaths. How many people die from pot use? Very few. Look at the facts. If the government legalized it, it would solve many environmental problems, it would free up prisons for more suitable criminals and the government would make a shit-load in taxes. To boot, it's also been proven to have several medical uses as well. If you want to read more about the subject, pick up Eric Schlosser's book "Reefer Madness". I'm not defending its' use because I smoke it, I actually don't like it because personally, it makes me paranoid and jumpy. I'm defending it because it's ridiculous to ban a drug which has so many positive uses, then on the other hand, make tobacco, a drug which is killing off thousands every year, legal. Some people have been handed life sentences for possession. It's pretty fucked up when someone in possession gets a harsher sentence than a convicted murderer. Who's the criminal?

Anyway, if you're a smoker or a toker, read the books I mentioned above. Cheers...

Top 10 lists February 2006

Top 10 spins for February 2006

Devendra Banhart - Rejoicing in the hands
Devendra Banhart - Cripple Crow
Bolt Thrower - Realm of Chaos
Eddy Arnold - Cattle Call
Gentle Giant - Acquiring the Taste
It Bites - Thank you and goodnight
Suicidal Tendencies - (ST)
Napalm Death - Scum
Johnny Cash - Songs of our soil
Tempest - Living in Fear

Top 10 movies/DVD's for February 2006

The Idiot - Akira Kurosawa
The Bad Sleep Well - Akira Kurosawa
Sodom - Lords of Depravity (doc. and live)
Memoirs of a Geisha - Rob Marshall
Corner Gas Season 2 - Brent Butt
Davey and Goliath Vol. 1
Davey and Goliath Vol. 2
Tokyo Story - Yasujiro Ozu
The unbearable lightness of being - Philip Kaufman
Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 2