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  • Saturday Livin’ – Vars Ontario

    On Saturday, Vero and I headed out to Vars Ontario to look at a house. I must admit I was a little skeptical in driving out all the way to Vars which is approximately 30 km from St Laurent Shopping Center.

    It was a beautiful drive though. We pulled into a dead end street and admired the house. The owners were great in showing us around the house and I must admit that I finally saw the glitter in Vero’s eyes. It is a pretty sweet pad. 3/4 acre, the house is wired for sound (literally…there are speakers in the garage and the back yard and I’m pretty sure in the shower as well?), and there is a room dedicated as a home theater room which soundproofing (excellent to set up my recording studio!).

    There are a few minor things that can potentially become major things (no dishwasher? Even if we put a dishwasher in, that’s a loss of some valuable cupboard space!) so we’re not sure about it. Also, I’m the holdout in terms of the commute. Vero’s commute would be cut down, but mine would potentially be added to. Gak. So…a lot to think about.

    After checking out the house, I drove over to Mike’s where Krista and Ben met up with us and we headed to Costco to make a beer run. I also picked up some amazing steaks for the night.

    We headed home to have a BBQ with Eric, Annie and the kids. The steaks came out fantastic and all was well in the world. The family had to run home as William was getting quite tired. Mike and I were left to our own devices and we were planning to settle in to watch ‘It Might Get Loud’, but then Mike realized it was Earth Hour so we turned off the lights and listened to Chez 106’s acoustic hour (which, funnily enough, had a wild electric song somewhere in the middle of the hour. Someone messed up!).

    At one point, Mike says he can see a cat in the backyard. I do notice some black shape and think nothing of it. Then he says “Man, that’s a really big cat.” I decide to throw on the back porch light and they weren’t cats…they were two giant raccoons in the backyard! Raccoons definitely are not scared of much as they just sauntered around the yard and eventually went under the neighbors deck. We saw them come in and out for the next hour.

    Mike and I then watched ‘It Might Get Loud’, a documentary about Jack White (White Stripes), The Edge (U2), and Jimmy Page (do I even have to tell you what band he’s in?) and their thoughts about guitar.

    This movie pretty well sucked. We were hoping for some awesomeness when the three of them get together. In the end, out of the 90 minute film, there is maybe 10 minutes of the film dedicated to when they get together and I don’t even remember them playing guitar! They were individually filmed playing guitar and talking about their history but that’s about it. It was interesting to see The Edge talk about their first concert at a high school, or Jimmy Page talk about the recording of one of Zep’s albums in a house…but that’s about it. Nothing really to the movie and we were quite disappointed.

  • Review: U23D

    logoBenoit, Cinthia, Michael and Trish joined me after work on Friday to go see U23D…their 3D IMAX filmed opus from their Vertigo tour.

    We made it just in time for their 7PM show (although I was intrigued with what looked like a dance competition going on inside the Museum of Civ) and slapped on our 3D glasses and got ready for the ride. I think the last 3D film I’ve seen was Captain EO at the Epcot Center. Clearly I have been out of the 3d loop for years.

    The film is a a concert video culling some greatest hits footage from a few South American dates on their Vertigo tour. I noted that the stage set up was different than what I saw at the Scotiabank Place in 2005. Must be the difference between an arena and an open-air stadium show.

    All in all, it was a great film. I wasn’t as impressed with the 3d elements as I was impressed with the IMAX element. The sheer immensity of the wide angled shot on a 100-foot screen makes you feel like you’re right with the crowd! Also, it’s all about the details. You could see Larry’s drum kit having a bowl of something next to him as well as a box of Kleenex. You could see the sweat on The Edge’s fretboard. It was quite spectacular.

    The 3d elements were neat…at various point it makes you feel like you are part of the crowd as you see people’s arms flailing in front of you.

    If you enjoy U2’s music, do yourself the favour and spend the $15 to see this film!

  • Review: An Evening with Our Lady Peace – Ottawa – Centerpointe Theater (Spiritual Machines)

    Night 2 of 2 for OLP in Ottawa. I picked up Mike and we headed to the theater with high hopes as we were sitting in the direct middle of the theater this time around which would make for a better viewing/listening experience compared to hugging the right wall from the night before.

    Spiritual Machines is a killer album and it turned out to be a better album than Clumsy; in terms of a live setting. It was full out rock and was quite amazing to see live.

    The crowd was into it from the get-go and half the theater was standing for the first set. This was an excellent night to come see the show and I’m disappointed I convinced Vero to come to the Clumsy night.

    The stage was pretty sparse for the first set but the energy coming from the stage made up for it. The band was in top shape and Mike and I were loving our center-stage viewing positions.

    The most amazing part was the guitar work by Steve Mazur. He was all over the place. At one point I thought he was part guitar player, part tap dancer as he navigated his effects board. I loved how The Wonderful Future was described as ‘something that was never meant to be played live’ and he nailed it! All in all, Spiritual Machines was great.

    We met a couple next to us who was interested in what happened the night before and we chatted with them during intermission. They were quite nice and Mike and I decreed them as our ‘rock neighbours’…good people there for a good time, with a lot of knowledge about the band. We told them what we had experienced in the second set the night before and expressed our hopes that it wouldn’t be the same set.

    Unfortunately for us, it was the same exact set, except that the three Spiritual Machines tracks from the night before were substituted for Clumsy tracks. Also, Naveed was dropped but Starseed was played. That was a welcome closing song.

    However, I can’t complain at all for seeing an awesome band do what they do best, even if I did see them the night before. The Clumsy songs came off amazing compared to the night before…the classic sing-along to Superman’s Dead and 4AM occurred whereas they were non-existent the night before.

    4AM was a big highlight as Raine decided to throw the house lights on and stand out in the middle of the theater amongst the fans…this was not a good time for Mike and I to forget our cameras as he was two rows behind us. It was quite a cool moment although I enjoyed his run up to the upper balcony the night before more.

    All in all, Night 2 killed Night 1 for the overall experience…Spiritual Machines is definitely the better album to listen to live and the crowd was into the entire night. However, I can’t forget that there was the amazing feeling of being in the trenches for the first set of Clumsy and then the triumphant return to grace for the second set. That was a powerful moment.

    An Evening with Our Lady Peace turned out to be a great couple of nights and I’m glad that we still have the opportunity to see a favourite band in a setting like this.

  • Review: An Evening with Our Lady Peace – Ottawa – Centerpointe Theater

    Last night, Mike, Vero and I went to Centerpointe Theater to see An Evening with Our Lady Peace; a show where they would play the entire Clumsy album and then a selection of hits. Followed by Night 2 where they would play the entire Spiritual Machines album, followed by a selection of their hits.

    We had some decent seats…Row B in the Orchestra, hugging the right wall. This cut off some view of the stage for me, but not enough to matter. However, we were super close to the PA stacks and I believe the bass line from Duncan may have given me a new hairstyle!

    The show started off with a classic Clumsy video (which opened up all their Clumsy arena shows) with the old man reciting some poetry. The band came out and ripped into Superman’s Dead and it was all good.

    However, I must admit that something was off. At first I thought it was the crowd…Ottawa crowds tend to disappoint me and disappoint me they did. No one stood up in their seats. This is an interesting quandary that people deal with when in a ‘theater’ setting. Do I stand up? Do I rock out? Or am I supposed to sit here and enjoy the music?

    So we sat there and enjoyed the music. But it was just weird. No cheering during the songs, no singing along to 4AM, which arguably hasn’t been sung by Raine Maida in years considering it’s usually THE sing-along song for the audience.

    I then started to notice the band…and I noticed that Raine definitely was having trouble with his voice. Some of the falsettos weren’t coming through and at one point he was on the megaphone and we stood there wondering where the heck the vocals were. I have no idea if it was user interruption or if we were in a dead spot due to the PA (as Mike theorized).

    The stage lighting was also quite minimal and I thought that perhaps this is what the band is going for in this ‘Evening with OLP’. Perhaps they want to have people sit down.

    The climax of the set, Car Crash, didn’t pay off in the end as the wails from Raine just didn’t happen. Everyone remained sitting down for the entire show. It was brutal. It was like the band were playing for a bunch of record executives who are deeming if their material is worthy or not.

    We left the theater, picked up some excellent posters and a t-shirt and headed to the car where I laid my feelings out to Mike and Vero. I thought the show was brutal. The audience was horrible…it was just an awkward event. They agreed that something was definitely off. Vero thought that perhaps this was the ‘more intimate’ vibe they were going for.

    We walked back into the theater hoping for the best. At the very least, I thought that not knowing what song would come up next would be the clincher that would win over the crowd. It is definitely not surprising to know exactly what song is coming up next.

    When we got back into the theater, I heard the two guys behind me chatting about the same feelings I had. We chatted about it and Josh was upset that no one was standing up and giving it their all for the band. He decided to take matters into his own hands and got up and cheered for everyone to stand up. He had a great time attracting attention and I felt this would change things. Even before the band showed up again after intermission you could start to feel the electricity in the air. This was a crowd that felt like they had let down their band in the first set and they were going to give it their all in the second set.

    The second set starts and everyone is on their feet before the band hits the stage. Josh is running around getting everyone to stand up and cheer. It was a great, redeeming moment in the night…we weren’t alone in feeling that the first set felt out of place. The band came out in full force and opened with Monkeybrains and the power from the crowd and the power from the band was equal and all was good in the world. The smoke show and light show had started up and this was a full on rock show!

    I personally felt amazed at how the crowd had taken a 180 degree turn and came back to be one of the best crowds I have ever witnessed. The band were really into it (as they should be!) and they were loving the vibe. The theatrics of Raine Maida came out in his songs, while Jeremy, Duncan and Steve took the charge in giving it their all on their instruments.

    At one point, Raine talks about how the first set felt with everyone sitting down while they played…he paused to figure out how to describe the emotion and someone yelled out ‘awkward’ and he agreed wholeheartedly. It was quite the moment for the crowd and the band to be on the same level, and then realize that they have to work together to bring this show to what it *should* be. Raine also put a shout out to Josh who was leading the charge. I enjoyed how he told him to ‘control himself’ but said he was just joking. But then during Naveed he was singing some song with the lyrics ‘control yourself’ and I thought that was a neat link.

    The rest of the show was stellar. They had everything a fan would want…some greatest hits, some obscure tracks, some tracks from Spiritual Machines (from tomorrow’s set)…it had everything I wanted to hear.

    Some of the highlights (other than hearing the Clumsy album…that was neat, but considering the crowd wasn’t into it, I don’t have good memories about the time other than the fact of seeing some songs that I’ve never seen live was pretty darn cool) included:
    One Man Army – One of my fave live tracks as Raine goes spastic with his military walks and whatnot.
    Naveed – What a booming bass line to get everyone going. That song can play for hours and I would still love it.
    All you Did Was Save My Life – Near the end of the song, Raine down the aisle and appeared up in the balcony seats to get everyone standing up! I had a good laugh when he noticed some kid still sat down and he said “What the hell man? What are you…fifteen? Are you lazy or something?” He sang the rest of the song up in the balcony and it was amazing.
    If You Believe – An AMAZING take on a great Spiritual Machines track. I have never seen this live and it was really great.

    At one point, Jeremy threw out a drum stick and it ended up between two seats and no one saw it. Mike pointed it out to Josh’s friend who nabbed it and handed it to Josh at one point. I thought this was sweet justice for the guy who led the charge for the night.

    All in all, I was very impressed with the night. It started out awkward and had me thinking evil thoughts about Ottawa crowds, but the redemption of the night put some faith in me. Music is the common element between all of us in the crowd and we should embrace that. Embrace it we did.

    Night 2 will have Mike and I attending and I hope that we don’t have a repeat performance of people sitting down!

  • Review: Bon Jovi at Bell Center

    Setlist

    Blood on Blood
    We Weren’t Born to Follow
    You Give Love a Bad Name
    Whole Lot of Leavin’
    Born to Be My Baby
    Lost Highway
    Have a Nice Day
    Thorn in My Side
    When We Were Beautiful
    Superman Tonight
    We Got It Goin’ On
    Bad Medicine [with Hot Legs]
    It’s My Life
    Homebound Train [With Richie Sambora on vocals]
    Hallelujah [Leonard Cohen]
    I’ll Be There for You
    Diamond Ring
    Something for the Pain [Acoustic]
    Someday I’ll Be Saturday Night [Acoustic]
    Keep the Faith
    Work for the Working Man
    Who Says You Can’t Go Home
    Love’s the Only Rule

    Runaway
    I Love This Town
    Wanted Dead or Alive
    Livin’ on a Prayer

    Twist and Shout [The Top Notes]
    Captain Crash & the Beauty Queen From Mars [Tour Debut]

  • iPad Thoughts – Round Two

    It wasn’t until I saw this video of what Penguin Publishing is thinking of creating for the iPad that I realized how awesome of a device this will be.

    Seriously, watch the video before reading any more of this entry. Alright…you done? Let’s chat.

    I will admit that I probably wouldn’t even use any of the books that they advertised…kids books, anatomy books, star books…but it’s the concept of what they can do with a book that amazes me. Look at what a kid can do with this device (although I had a great laugh at someone’s comment about they would LOVE to let their kid play with their $500 device!)! Look at how you can click to see inside a human body.

    Imagine what it would be like reading a book on this device if it was implemented properly. I can envision the following….imagine you are reading The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown and they mention a painting. You could click and see the painting, or perhaps the specific section they are speaking about. They do that now with the Illustrated Version of the book. Imagine if you come to a word that you just don’t understand. You could highlight it and run a Dictionary search to find out what it means.

    Imagine if you were online and enable comments on a page of a book. Perhaps you could tap into what people say about a particular passage of a book…imagine if you are doing a book report and someone has already commented on specific themes in the book and highlights where they appear. Or if you wanted to find the Top Ten phrases uttered by someone in the novel. Voila, they are there!

    Until today, I was on the fence about the iPad. I figured it wasn’t impressive as a piece of hardware. But much like the iPod Touch, the magic is in the applications that people build for it. Kind of like how your computer isn’t something to be impressed with, but the software you install *is* what is impressive. I think I’ll be taking the plunge for the iPad solely on the excitement of what people will develop for it in the future.

  • Wedding Invites – 8-Bit Style

    This is freaking fabulous!

    http://mashable.com/2010/03/03/8-bit-wedding-invitations/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

  • Dogs in Slo-Mo!

  • Painting Yourself Into a Corner

    Considering I took my relax day on the Saturday, Sunday turned into the day of work. More importantly, clean the house before those friends of Vero’s Dad come to check out the house on Monday! (We have since learned that they have decided not to bother coming to look at it. Not a big deal…it kicked us into high gear to clean the house up). I did some research and found out that the Salvation Army pretty well takes everything you can offer them…I brought over five garbage bags of clothes, a few old computers, a couple of computer monitors and two old bicycles that were taking up valuable real estate downstairs.

    I then settled in to paint the basement stairs as my mother had suggested. I dropped over to Canadian Tire and asked for a quart of grey paint and they passed me an oil-based paint and some Varsol. No problem! It would just smell a little strong and need some chemicals to wash the brush.

    I started out by throwing on a Pearl Jam bootleg on the stereo, changing into some painting clothes and placing a book and telephone in the basement because I figured I would be down there for an hour or so. I was planning on painting myself into the basement as it was definitely easier to paint going down the stairs instead of going up. I had it all planned out. The only thing I figured I didn’t need some liquids because there was no way I would be down there that long.

    After painting the stairs (and I was running dangerously low on paint near the end of it!), I settled in with my U2 book (which is an excellent read, written by the band) and cozied up in my old chair that doesn’t get enough love. The time was 1PM.

    After an hour, I took a look at the stairs and was thinking it may not be drying as fast as I thought it would be. The top stairs was JUST starting to dry and that was painted two hours ago. Hmm…I went back to my book.

    Fifteen minutes later I’m starting to feel a little cold hanging out in my basement with a t-shirt on. I’m starting to look at my surroundings. What can I use for warmth? Of course, Vero’s Snuggie that was in the laundry basket came to the rescue so I sat back down with the Snuggie and read some more.

    Fifteen minutes later and I’m thinking I should be getting ready to go to Mike’s for the Canada vs. US final Olympic game. Hmm…I wonder how the stairs are doing? After looking at them again and realizing they were nowhere near being dry, I start to think this was a bad idea. Here I was stuck in the basement of my own house and Vero was not home. It just did not add up…how come the paint was not drying as fast as it usually does?

    It then dawns on me and I leave the following phone message with Mom “Mom, I’m just wondering how long does oil-based paint usually take to dry?”. Click.

    Awhile later, Dad phones back and I explain the situation and you can hear Mom laughing in the background and then I believe the word turkey was used more than once. I could only laugh at myself during this time as well. It was a good story to tell!

    In the end they offered up some suggestions on how to escape the basement…I couldn’t find any plastics bags for my feet so I decided to just run up the stairs and get rid of my socks afterward.

    That’s how I escaped my basement before the final game of the Olympics. There are some spots that need touching up as the socks lifted a few layers of paint. I also checked the stairs out this morning and I sure hope I have enough paint left to touch all the stairs up. Otherwise another quart needs to be bought.

    Lessons Learned:
    – Oil-based paint takes 4-5 hours to dry.
    – Oil-based paint is quite sticky.
    – If you do plan on painting yourself into a corner, think in terms of ‘worst-case scenario’ instead of ‘normal scenario’
    – While in ‘worst-case scenario’, supply yourself with a bucket to urinate in, a 12-pack of beer, and ensure that the TV is properly set up to watch the Olympics game. I will be honest with you…I was contemplating just staying down there for 5 hours but the thought of a) missing the game and b) setting up the tv, but not having a few beer to have during the final game, made me realize that I can sacrifice some socks.
    – If you plan to leave the music on upstairs, put on a a normal length CD and not a 3 hour long bootleg of the 2005 Ottawa show by Pearl Jam. While it’s a great bootleg, I was eying up my guitar downstairs thinking I could get in a few hours of playing but the stereo was cranked and I would competing against it the entire time.
    – Stick to latex paint.

  • Sam Adams Draught in Canada!

    Excuse my ignorance as there may be bars across Canada which already serve Sam Adams in draught format. But I have not found any in Ottawa.

    But the Boston Beer Co. and Moosehead and teamed up to distribute Sam Adams beers in Canada. Sweetness! I heart Sam Adams beer.

    http://greatcanadianpubs.blogspot.com/2010/02/boston-beer-co-moosehead-breweries.html

    Can I also point out that I am reading this excellent book concerning beer in Canada throughout history? It is quite amazing. For example, I never knew that after prohibition ended, it was still some time until alcohol was allowed to be drank in public…PEI didn’t allow it until 1964! What the heck?!