All Families Are Psychotic - Douglas Coupland: I guess it can only be a good sign if you shout out 'Oh Fuck' while you are reading a book right? It was totally fascinating in that as I read it, I couldn't believe how messed up this family was and how much I had been sucked into the shenanigans. How can you stop reading after Ted just shot his son, and the bullet went right through him and into the gut of his ex-wife Janet?



Coupland's narratives constantly weave around making for a complete story that in the end may came to an unrealistic end, but at least it's a happy one. I once read that all his characters are too similar, sort of how everyone on the Gilmore Girls does that whitty banter thing, but I didn't notice that or at least allowed it since they are family. Definitely a nice way to spend a day reading.

I think my iPod is a major fan of Dashboard Confessional. It always seems to be randomly selecting them. Not that I dislike them, but how often can that come up when you have 3500+ songs? There must be something else it likes, perhaps a little 80's or canadian indie and a little less emo.

Most of the time I have no issues with being tall, but lately I seem to be thrown in situations where it's hard not to feel impossibly tall and slightly freakish. I was at an all day meeting and standing around can be such a pain as I seem to be on a completely different plane of existence; a few extra inches separate me from the conversations. But on the bright side I was a great homing beacon. That aside isn't so bad, what's really been killing me of late is the hallway in the basement of my apartment. It looks normal, but as I proceed down it all the space between my head and ceiling vanishes until there is nothing left and I look like a giant someone let out of the cage in the dungeon. I might as well live on the 13 1/2 floor and really not fit in.

After an artist puts out a popular album, part of you wants every subsequent album to be the same, just dressed a little differently. Well, Hawksley Workman’s new venture Lover/Fighter is not The Delicious Wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing. It’s still Hawksley, though a little more linear, a little more focused. This album isn’t as instantantly captivating as Wolves, but it is one of those albums you like more each time you hear it. The music is a little slower: the perfect setting for Workman’s lyrical genius to shine. He merges words and music in a way that conveys raw emotion so precisely that it literally fills you with song.



Delicious wolves definitely sparked my appetite for Hawksley Workman, sometime his lyrics just pop in my head (it's been fun destroying our bodies). Anyway songs that (don't dive shallow in deep dark waters) I particularly like are addicted, smoke baby and no reason to cry your eyes out. I also think the review above is right, the more you listen the more you like it.

Holy fucking fuck, is it cold out there. Who decided to build this city here? I blame him or her personally for my discomfort. And whatever happened to that proposal to bring the Turks and Caicos into Confederation?  Yay, Turks and Caicos! (http://www.turksandcaicostourism.com )



Luckily we have musical interludes to distract us from the external frigidity. My current contribution is the first album from MUTEK_REC, the new recording label of the Mutek electronica group ( http://www.mutek.ca/index-en.html ), based in Montréal but now expanding, most recently with an electronica festival in Valparaiso, Chile last week.



Down below I've pasted in a snippet of an album review with insider references that I don't totally get. Maybe you will. In any event, this CD I think is pretty spanky (except for Track 11, which I think is horrifyingly scary).  Minimalist electronica, lots of breaks and cuts that work big-time. Check it out.



Bundle up, baby

James



---------------------



Much of Don't Postpone Joy is largely upbeat, falling squarely in the crib of minimal electronic's archetypal, failsafe slickness. The record most consistently recalls the darker, respoked big beats and glitchy quirk of Mouse on Mars' Idiology and the crisp, wiry sampling (and geography) of Akufen's My Way -- although in forgoing a reliance on hooks for almost suffocating builds of cut-ups and added instrumental lines, this duo seems to aspire less to the dancefloor than to some intensified abstraction of its sweat.

The Straight Dope: What is a merkin?

The Straight Dope: What is a merkin?Revealed Finally!

Yatoo Partoo :: A month in Paris, November 2002 It's nice to see that I'm not the only tourist to take a picture with the giant vending machine in France.

Each day past the expiry date seems like a gamble with my life. Too lazy to do anything about it I proceed with caution, hit the appropriate button and pray. The entire ride down I keep harping on the fact that the elevator license is two days past and that there is no way in hell you could fit eight people in this damp cramped space. There is a massive creak at the fourth floor, which is starting to seem normal now. The worst thing of all is I want to call and complain to the elevator authorities 'Hi, the low lives that operate this building are putting the lives of old people in danger. We should do something about this right away before they start making granny pancakes'. I could never do that for fear of shutting the elevators down. I live on the 16th and don't want to start and additional stair-master regime.

Please educate your grandparents what not to do in the case of a fire. I was working from home the other day and the fire alarm went off, which is quite annoying in itself due to the wailing and pitch of the speaker box that goes off. After several minutes passing, I decided to investigate, and was greeted by a slight haze in the hall and a definite smell of smoke.



It was time to leave, after grabbing small valuable things (can't leave the iPod behind), I took the stairs to the lobby. I was greeted by 3 fire-trucks, 6 firemen, 1 fire-woman and a smattering of neighbours. It was only the case of an old bitty leaving her meat-loaf in the oven and disappearing, allowing it to smolder and ruin the afternoons of residents.



Now that I was safe, I was free to make fun of all the old people. I can't believe how stupid or clueless they were. By every elevator there is a sign that says do not take elevator if the fire alarm is going. Yet, old people kept streaming out of the thing every couple of minutes complete with hollow expressions and confusion etched on their faces. Surely these people are candidates for the Darwin Awards when there is a real fire and are burned to a crisp as they glide down the elevator shaft and set free to run around in circles in the lobby.

Any with iTunes click here. This is the funniest workout CD ever!

Apple - iPod - iPod mini

Apple - iPod mini Is this enought to capture the cheaper and more portable model? Who knows, but smaller is better in the tech game. I don't think they are quite cheap enought though. Oh, and let's not get started on the colours. Hadn't they learned their lesson with the iMacs? Why not just have some replaced sleeve?

A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry



It took me a while to finish this fabulous tale. It wasn't sluggish, but I was too busy with other things and the holidays. It's better not to devour the book too quickly, it has side affects. There should be a little note on the back saying 'Be advised that the reading of this book may cause slight depression in some readers. Please keep a picture of puppies with you at all times to curb any suicidal tendencies.'



So if you hadn't guessed my biggest issue with the book is that it never seems like any of the characters get ahead, or if they do take one step forward they take two back. I would cringe just to read the title of the chapter, or at some horrible foreshadowing that made it's self known. Perhaps we should all read it and reflect on how great our lives are. Sort of like watching Springer, but way more sobering and better for your mind.



(side note: have you actually watched the opening credits of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy? The Fab Fiuve live on Gay Street, and they cross the tracks to visit patrons on Straight Street)

austausch - whoa black betty (bam-a-lam)

austausch - whoa black betty (bam-a-lam)



In keeping with my theme of compiling mixes based on song titles, here's a new mix I like to call Back in Black. A little Cash, a little Sabbath, a little Tori, a little Zeppelin. Hopefully a little something for everyone.



Happy New Year!



cheers :)

(r)amanda



Set List->

led zeppelin – black dog

ram jam – black betty

the white stripes – black math

metallica – fade to black

soundgarden – fell on black days

the rolling stones – black angel

neil young – hey hey, my my (into the black)

johnny cash – long black veil

danny michel – mr. black

tom waits – big black mariah

tori amos – black dove (january)

pearl jam - black

soul asylum – black gold

the exploding hearts – you’re black and blue

ac/dc – back in black

slayer – black magic

black sabbath - black sabbath

I hate how big evil corporations pull the heartstrings, playing on emotions to drive sales. Heaven for bid we choose Bell because we like their service, but in case we wain there is always that Bell commercial where the grandson calls his grandpa from Dieppe to say 'Yo Wassup, and by the way Thanks', which conveniently runs around Remembrance Day. Now we have Tim Hortons bastardizing the mecca that is Canadian Youth Backpacking Around Europe; By saying that in fact the Tim Hortons Logo is more recognizable to Canadians than the Canadian Flag. I remember back in the day when I was making the European trek that's what I looked for, and when it came to identifying Americans I would just look for the Jansport backpack.