The Bestest

I guess I'd better toss my Year End Best Albums list at ya before 2002 ticks away. Only mine is the "Top 10 Or So" list (screw you Mr. Metric!). These are in no particular order, although the first two are probably my two favourite albums from the past year.

Now, I didn't hear a few of the albums which seem to be appearing on many other people's year-end listsóColdplay, Solomon Burke, Sigur Ros, Warlocks, Warren Zevon, Soundtrack Of Our Livesóso they may well have made mine if I'd have heard them. But, that's the way the CD crumbles...

Top 10 Or So of 2002:

Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Neko Case, Blacklisted

Bruce Springsteen, The Rising

Norah Jones, Come Away With Me

The White Stripes, White Blood Cells

Steve Earle, Jerusalem

Beck, Sea Change

Paul Westerberg, Stereo/Mono

The Flaming Lips, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots

Emm Gryner, Asianblue

Sam Roberts, The Inhuman Condition (EP)

Christine Fellows, The Last One Standing


Honourable Mentions:

Nathan Wiley, Bottom Dollar

George Harrison, Brainwashed

Bob Dylan, The Bootleg Series, vol. 5, Live 1975: The Rolling Thunder Review

Rolling Stones, Abkco Reissues

Lord Of The Pings: Return To Jimbuck2

I'm back in Le Grand Fumee. Flew in late last night. Back at work today. Ugh.

Had a nice time back home for the holidays though. Mostly just hung with the family. Every year we have a pre-xmas gathering, usually at the home of one of my three sisters who live in Summerside. My brother Ron lives in Charlottetown, a 45-minute drive to the east (ícourse on P.E.I. that's half way across the province!) Because they all have families and in-laws and competing holiday commitments, we try to all get together sometime before things get too crazy. Plus my dad's birthday is the 21st, and there are a few other December birthdays, so it serves multiple purposes. We have a meal, the younger nephews and nieces exchange presents, and there's a collective birthday cake. It was my dad's 78th. The last several times I was able to make it home, I missed the Gathering, so it was nice to be there this time.

I was the only sibling home from away this year. (The phrase "from away" is used by Prince Edward Islanders to refer to anybody who's a non-Islander. Sometimes "PFA" is usedóPeople From Away. I always get a kick out of that. It's like there are two types of people on the planet: Islanders and People From Away. I'm not joking. This is real sociological shit. The Island psyche is an interesting thing.) Actually, I think this is the first time that there are as many siblings who live away as there are who live on the Island. A 4-4 split. My brother Bob and his family moved to Yellowknife, NWT, earlier this year; my brother Grant lives in Oshawa; Anne is in LA; and, of course, I'm here... in Jimbuck2. So that leaves Patti, Kathy, Paula and Ron on the Island. And Mom and Dad, of course. Ron has three kids and one grandchild and is freshly divorced after 27 years of marriage, but has been seeing a lady who grew up in our neighbourhood, and it seems to be going okay. Patti, Kathy and Paula are all married and have two kids each.

So when I say I spent time hanging with the family, that's not quite the laze-fest that it might seem. It can be pretty time-consuming. There's a lot of hanging to be done! But I don't get to see them very often, and I was able to spend time with everyone at one point or another, so that was good. Don't mean to sound like an old codger or something, but as I get older, I certainly appreciate my family more and more. They're all wonderful, nice and kind people, especially my lovely and crazy sisters, and I'm very fortunate to have them. To me, that's what xmas has always been aboutófamily, gathering together, community.

And of course lots of food, bacon and eggs every morning, and tons of eggnog and sweets. Oh yeah.

And I got to see my great-nephew (grand-nephew?) Liam for the first time. He's about to turn one year old and already walking, with a little assistance. Spitting image of my nephew Nyall, who's 27. He and his wife June live in San Jose, CA. They were married this summer in her hometown of Dawson's Creek. No, she's not a TV character. Dawson's Creek, B.C. Somewhere in the interior of the province. First time meeting her too, and I was happy to see that she seems nice and genuine. She certainly didn't seem out of place jumping right into the middle of the family gathering, so that's a good sign.

Didn't get to see any of my friends in Moncton, though. We moved there when I was 13, so all of my high school friends hail from there. Just wasn't time to fit it all in this year, so family came first. Sorry guys. Next time.

Travel was generally fine. No major problems. With the new airport security, I lost a pair of scissors on the way up (didn't use them anyway; didn't even realize they were in my head-shaving kit, still wrapped in plastic with the other attachments for the clippers). And on the way back, they gave my umbrella a closer inspection, and swabbed the outside pocket on my carry-on bag. For drug residue, I guess? Bomb residue? Dunno.

And now the New Year is upon us. I think 2003 will be a good year for me. I really do. I was born on the 23rd of the month, so numerologically, they both add up to 5, which is a good number for me, I think. I used to think 4 was my lucky number, but I've changed it to 5. Can you do that? Well, I am. Just try and stop me!

Cheers and Happy New Year!

1st Xmas In Jimbuck2

I'm jetting off home to P.E.I. tomorrow for the holidays. Back in a week. Here's wishing all of you a happy and safe holiday season. Cheers!

Mi Case, su Case

My Neko Case piece is now up on the SOCAN web page.

File Under What-thu?

Yes, it just wouldn't feel like the holidays without an appearance by that old stand-by, the Christmas dragon.

Shiner Whiner

Nice. Why go to all the trouble of getting a black eye, when nobody at work even notices? Sheesh.

Or maybe people are just too polite to ask?

Actually, I think it's just not that noticeable with my glasses on. There's a bit of a dark semi-circular bruise below the eye, but most of the darkness is in the outside corner, behind the juncture of the frame and arm. Swelling's gone down quite a bit. There were even times during the day when I forgot it was there. So that's good.

I guess.

The Stopper

Played ball hockey tonight, and in an unusual move, I ended up playing goalie for one game. Usually we have a couple of guys on each squad who are pretty decent goalies, and they rotate every few games to give each a chance to play out. But there was only one such guy there tonight on our side, and when the time came for him to play out, nobody else wanted to don the glove and blocker and get between the pipes. So I did. Just for one game.

Now, I'm not much of a goalie, but I did okay in my own awkward way. Stopped their best player on a break-away, which was nice. Then with their team pressing, the ball went to one of their guys (my friend Ross, actually) coming in on my right with a clear shot, and I went down on my knees to cover off as much of the bottom part of the net as possible. His shot went high, and was zipping towards the top corner, but I was there to make the playóbrilliantly stopping it with my left eye socket.

Ouch.

I was wearing my contacts, but it hit the outside corner of the eye, so the contact didn't split or get damaged in any way, which is good. But there'll be a shiner. It's a little purple and swollen-like right now and I've got ice on it. Actually it's not that bad. Looks like a bad mascara job. I look like Michael Stipe during his eye make-up phaseówell, one eye does anyway.

We'll see how it looks tomorrow. Not much I can do about it. Just let it run its course.

I don't have prescription sunglasses, so I'll just have to put up with the public leering for a few days. "You wanna piece o' me too, Granny! Bring it On!"

Maybe it won't be as noticeable when I wear my glasses.

Holy Kitty Halitosis!

They're baaaaaaack!

Breaking Nooze

Bush Doll Talks Tough
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A new President Bush doll is talking tough on terrorism, but like the real president, it occasionally misspeaks, too. [read more...]

Nooze-worthy bit: "The fledgling company isn't planning to stop with Bush. A talking Ronald Reagan is in the works for the spring. After that, Wessling and Warnock plan to manufacture talking Richard Nixons, Bill Clintons, John F. Kennedys and George H.W. Bushes."

Ah, yes. The Bill Clinton action figure, with Drop Actionô pants!

Agile Butterflies Use Different Strokes To Fly
LONDON - A butterfly relies on a variety of aerodynamic techniques, often in successive strokes, to fly. Researchers at the University of Oxford trained red admiral butterflies to fly toward a fake flower at the end of a wind tunnel. Wisps of smoke were blown over the insects' wings as an ultra-fast digital camera captured the turbulence.

By comparing the smoke patterns to mathematical patterns, Adrian Thomas and Robert Srygley found the free-flying butterflies (Vanessa atalanta) flap and rotate their wings in six different ways to stay airborne and land. [read more...]

Nooze-worthy bit: The researchers say if engineers could understand how insects manoeuvre so easily at low speeds, they could learn how to build tiny flapping-air vehicles.

Never mind a cure for AIDS or cancerówhat the world really needs is tiny flapping-air vehicles. And these would be used for what exactly? Air delivery of single postage stamps? Air-lifting small quantities of lint?

*shrug*

Punched It. Drank It. Loved It

Saw "Punch Drunk Love" tonight. What a great film. So oddball, offbeat, weird, funny... and probably the most romantic movie I've seen in quite some time. Maybe that says a lot about my idea of romance.

P.T. Anderson is one hell of an interesting filmmaker. This film was so interesting visually. There's a sceneóone of the more subtle onesówhere Sandler and Emily Watson are strolling down a city street at nightóI think it's after the restaurant scene, their first date, I thinkóand there's a big transport truck slowly turning the corner behind them. For some reason, it struck me as so poetic, in terms of the vocabulary of the film. Grace in the mundane, the ordinary.

And I loved the placement of the harmonium. I'm sure there's a term for that in film lingo, but I don't know what it is. Anybody? Ferris?

A pretty incredible break-out performance from Adam Sandler. A great "beautiful loser" character, if I can call Barry that. As weird as he is, there's really nothing about him that I couldn't relate to on some level. He gives in to uncontrollable rage when people hurt him, especially those closest to him, yet also surrenders to his deepest despair and cries like a baby. Who hasn't wanted to do both of those things from time to timeóor perhaps daily? But most of all, he's scared to death of love, but pursues it bravely. He's anti-heroic and heroic. In a sense, he's also a contemporary Everyman. He's nuts. He's screwed up. He's dysfunctional. But isn't that the proper response to living in a nutty, screwed-up, dysfunctional world?

There's also a strong smell of fear in this film. I think maybe Fear is the main antagonist.

Go see this movie if you haven't already.

p.s. Interesting fact about P.T. Anderson (from IMDB): Dropped out of NYU's film program after two days. Subsequently got his tuition payment back and used the money to make "Cigarettes and Coffee" (1993).

That's my kind of filmmaker.

Snapshots

Finally figured out how to get my LA trip photos on the web. So here's a series of snapshots from my trip. Enjoy!

Hermosa Beach/South Bay area:
My sister's place is the two windows on the lower right portion of the building. Small, but very nice. This is taken with my back to the Strand. If I turn around, this is the view from in front of Anne's place, looking west toward the Strand and the beach. Walking down that laneway, you come out onto the Strand. These signs are posted on the concrete barriers. I like the "Leave Only Footprints" bit at the bottom.

Some shots of the Strand:
- looking north
- looking south.
- Multi-dogging!

I liked the fact that the houses along the Strand are a mix of quaint 'n' cozy, and modern 'n' cool-looking. But all very expensive, I imagine. Location, location, location.

It's a very nice beach, and there weren't many people around. Of course, it was in the low 70s F, so it wasn't great sunbathing temperatures. Saw the lifeguard truck, but no Pam Anderson. But there were a few people frollicking in the water. From the Hermosa Pier I snapped a shot of some kids jumping waves on their boogie boards. I think these might be the younger brothers of the other boogie-boarders. Not ready for the real waves yet.

I call this one "Lone surfer at sundown". Beautiful waves. And dig that sky.

Saw this in a store window while strolling around Hermosa Beach. Welcome to California. (Incidentally, I didn't realize until recently that's it's pronounced 'pie-lah-tees'. I thought it was 'pilots', as in Pontious. A little further on, I felt someone watching me, and looked up to see this guy: "Now go away or I shall bark at you a second time-uh!".

And speaking of dogs, this guy was really bootin' around. On Dasher! On Dingo!

Pelican Row. Taken just before sunset on Redondo Beach Pier - Fisherman's Wharf. These guys know they're stars. I think they even have agents.

A shot of sunset from the end of Redondo Beach Pier. Red sky at night, sailors delight.

Mexico:
Run for the border! Welcome to Meh-heeco!

A disco bar on a corner in downtown Ensenada. I think that's King Kong (note Faye Wray in his right hand). And a snowman on the roof. Naturally.

A huge ó†and I mean HUGE ó Mexican flag in the main square in Ensenada. Taken from the car window as we were driving into town.

On the way back, we stopped for dinner at a beautiful hotel in Rosarito. Here we see some folks at the Hotel Rosarito patio, being serenadd by a mariachi guitarist. And lovely colours in the dining room, enlivened by the late day sun.

We stayed overnight in San Diego, at the home of Anne's old friends, Kathy and Larry, also Canadians. Larry was the Canadian military attachÈ in San Diego. Tough assignment. Here we see Anne with Molly, Kathy and Larry's truly cuddly doberman, modeling the new scarf Anne brought her. She's really just a big pussy cat in a dog's body.

They put me in a room at the end of the house, and in the morning I awoke to find the room bathed in an orange glow. Opened the blinds and found the source.


The Desert:
Driving across the Mojave Desert to Las Vegas. Anne had worked a night shift at the hospital the night before, and was sleeping in the back seat, so I took this shot while driving. Not a very interesting photo, but hey, it's me driving in the desert! Meep, meep!

They say this is world's largest thermometer! It's in a place called Baker, Calif. No doubt aptly named in the summer. Of course, there's a fine tradition around North America for having giant things by the side of the highway. But I found myself wondering what kind of people would live out in the desert. And this left me with the distinct impression that desert people are kinda weird.

If there were aliens living in the desert, I wonder where they'd live? Hmm. "Nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Zzyzx. What an interesting name. Is it French?"

Las Vegas:

Yes, Las Vegas. Where there's no such thing as a has-been.

Anne claims that I hold the world record as the only person ever to visit Las Vegas and not drop so much as one nickel in a slot machine, or partake of any gambling whatsoever. It's true. I don't like casinos. They're too noisy, smokey, and all you do is sit around losing money. Woo. But it was great to see the sights of Vegas. I liked Fremont Street the most. It's where the older casinos are located. The original strip, I guess. You've seen it in the U2 video for "I Still haven't Found What I'm Looking For". Recognize the Fremont Casino?.

This was very cool. Fremont Street is covered by this canopy thing. Every hour on the hour, the lights on the whole street go down, and the "ceiling" comes to life. We just happened to be there when it started. It was some sort of story about the history of civilization told in music and this amazing animation display. Truly spectacular.

Then there's the famous neon cowboy at the Pioneer Casino on Fremont Street.

I love seeing signs like this one. We were leaving the Hilton after a delicious Thanksgiving meal at Benihana. I assume 'Paradise' was another casino.

A dark photo of the MGM Grand. Can you make out the giant gold MGM lion?

Hey, I made it to "Paris" afterall! We went up the half-scale Eiffel Tower. All the staff there try to speak French. They shouldn't. The woman who was our elevator attendant sounded and looked like Carol Channing with a 2-pack-a-day habit.

Back in Hermosa, last day. Anne and Tyler, one of her dog-sitting charges. He was a lot of fun. When he was excited, he'd hop in the air and spin around, doing 360's! What a riot!

And finally, Me making out with Tinkerbell in the Columbia House men's room? Flash in the can? Actually, I had one last exposure to use up before dropping the film off, the so I went for a self-portrait.

Driving The Point Home

Mike's just had a close call. Glad he's okay, but his car doesn't look too good.

My sister Anne, the one I just visited in LA, was hit by a drunk driver when she was driving on the freeway many years ago. Pretty much shattered her knee, the steering wheel sliced her liver, and she had various other injuries. She came through it okay, after much surgery. Her friend who was in the passenger seat, wasn't so "lucky". She smashed her head against the window, and hasn't been the same since, mentally.

And yet, despite this, there have been times when I've hopped into a car with someone who probably shouldn't have been driving. When I think of some of the times when I was going to school in Frederiction, and my friends and I would drive some of the dark, winding backroads after a party, I'm lucky to be alive. What is wrong with us?

I don't care if I sound like a PSA. Please, everybody, if you're drinking this holiday season (or anytime, of course), take a cab, or use a designated driver. And if you see someone who shouldn't be driving, take their keys, call them a cab, give them the fareóeven if they think you're being an asshole, it's not worth the risk. I can't imagine living with the guilt of knowing I had killed someone's child or spouse or parents, just because I was stupid enough to drink and drive. They may curse you now, but they may thank you later.

Just A Little Off The Top Please

Major shake-up at work today. Head office in New York got rid of our Exec VP/GM (the big cheese) and the VP of Marketing (my boss's boss). Something like this has been rumoured for a while, since the company was bought several months ago. There were a number of lay-offs in NY as well.

Bad timing though. Our xmas party is tomorrow night. You'd think they could have waited until Monday.

Frankly, I think they needed new blood running the company up here. Maybe it'll shake up the culture of mediocrity that seems to prevail. Just hope the axe doesn't swing my way. I think I'm pretty safe, unless brass in NY decides to source all copy from the States. Our department has apparently been meeting all our targets, and I think we do good work. And I think they'll always need copywriters for the Canadian marketóones who are knowledgeable of Canadian artists. At least I hope so. Glad I'm the senior copywriter.

Makes me nervous though. I've worked for three companies since I've been in Toronto, and each of them has undergone a major restructuring. The first resulting in the company falling apart completely, and the second resulting in my position getting eliminated.

So we have three people in from NY to oversee things for a while, including one who seems to have taken over a new position as chief of personnel. That makes me a bit nervous. If there are to be more axings, it would make sense to have an "outsider" wearing the black hood.

But let me just say that I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords...

On The Case

Thanks to the thoughtfulness of my friend Howard, who manages content for the SOCAN web page (SOCAN = The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canadaóthe people who license performance rights and distribute royalty payments in Canada), I interviewed the one and only Neko Case on Monday night for a short piece that will appear on the organization's web site.

Loyal readers may recall that I have at times in these pages expressed rather intensely positive and supportive views about Ms. Case. But rest assured that I was 100% professional during the interview. Pardon me for a moment...

I HAVE NEKO CASE'S HOME PHONE NUMBER!!! I HAVE NEKO CASE'S CELL PHONE NUMBER!!!

[said in dreamy voice] I'll never wash my right ear again. *sigh*

...ahem...

Where was I? Ah, yes, 100% professional.

[But seriously, of course I would never under any circumstances divulge those numbers to any third parties. Or use them for my own twisted purposes. In fact, I'm chewing up the paper and swallowing it right now. *gulp*. Oh wait, that was my grocery list...]

She was at home in Chicago doing laundry in preparation for a trip to Tuscon the next day. The interview went quite well, except for a place or two where it fell completely flat. One of the reasons SOCAN is doing the piece is because she has retained SOCAN to handle her licensing in Canada, even though she has since gotten bigger internationally, and she could have the American licensing organization ASCAP cover Canada. I asked her about that and she said it was because she was with them first (I assume originating from her days as the drummer in the Vancouver punk band Maow). I said something like "so it's a matter of staying with the one that brung ya", referring to that old saying about leaving the dance with the one "that brung ya", i.e., staying loyal. I could hear crickets chirping. She didn't get the reference at all. I sort of stumbled about a bit trying to explain what I meant, before cutting my losses and moving on to another question. Ugh.

But I think I redeemed myself later. We were discussing what she termed the "cinematic" nature of her latest album Blacklisted, and I was telling her that I likened her song "Deep Red Bells" to a cross between Johnny Cash and David Lynch, and she replied that it was nice to be compared to men for a change.

I scratched the Patsy Cline question off my list.

But it's always nice for me to do a story on an artist that I really like and admire. Better get back to transcribing the tape...