Thinking Chaos, Thinking Fences

28 November 2002

Heroes with 1003 Faces Hee, hee. 7:53:05 PM    comment []

The Hip, Conversely, Rocked Last week we saw the Tragically Hip at a 1500 seat venue on the north side. Here are my comments: The Ambassador Theatre is a former cinema. The main floor has two bars, no seating and is gently sloped toward the stage. The balcony, which I couldn't really see very well, was considerably steeper, and started about halfway back from the stage. There seemed to be about 1500 people there, and we figured they were 90% Canadian. We brought a couple of Irish people with us, and they guessed there were few Irish at the gig. Judging by the height of the average audience member and the striking clarity of the air (there were fewer smokers than usual), I'd say this was true. Because of their proximity, the small size and Canadianess of the crowd, Julie commented that "it was like seeing the Hip in your high school gym." That's not a reflection of the theatre's architecture, which was understated and charming. The band seemed in fine form. They offered 5 songs from their new album (including 2 in the encore..."Lake Fever" and one other). The high point for me was a transcendent version of "100th Meridian", with Gordie muttering at length about memory during the bridge. He repeated "life is forgetting" for a while, and then broke into a rapid-fire "Iremembereverything, Iremembereverything, etc" and then flying right into the actual bridge lyrics, double-time. Other high points included "Ahead By a Century", an understated "Grace Too" and a furious "Little Bones". All in all, it was a fantastic show. Seeing them live actually gave me a bit more insight into Gordie's surreal lyrics. 7:50:15 PM    comment []

I Would've Rather Seen Bryan Last night some friends and I saw the up-and-coming singer/songwriter Ryan Adams. I (and several of my friends) am sorry I went. This is what I posted to the Ryan Adams forum about the show: 10 Steps to Rock and Roll Success Enquire, early in the show, when a cellular phone rings in the audience, as to whether you can borrow the phone to call your booking agent to tell them "never to do this to me again". Dismiss the song order as "the most f***ed up set list I've ever written". Employ a mediocre cellist and violinist and a truly amateur guitarist. Use them sparingly and inappropriately. Rework songs so that they're unrecognizable to the casual listener. After all, you're an established superstar with an enormous back catalog of music to draw upon. Be a kind of caricature of a rock star. Complain about the "50 clowns" in your entourage, throw cigarettes and glasses, and touch your hair a lot. Ensure that all your songs are of the same tempo. Be petulant. Petulance always appeals to audiences. Especially Irish ones. For the encore, bring on the opening act and play one of his songs. After all, the audience has probably seen enough of you, even though you haven't played "Come Pick Me Up" or "New York, New York". Apologize for "f***ing sucking tonight" to the crowd on several occasions. The audience loves to hear how they've wasted 40 euros. Recognize that the audience is supremely privileged to see you, instead of the other way around. This was my first Ryan Adams show, and I was ready to like him. His first two albums are quite good, if derivative. Unfortunately, he demonstrated a glaring lack of professionalism and artistry. Bob Dylan used to do that in 1964, but he ain't Bob Dylan, and this ain't 1964. In short, it was quite a dissapointment. Predictably, I raised the ire of the forum, which is something of an Adams' love-in. You can read the gory details here (I'm 'TheFoot'). 7:45:57 PM    comment []

Google Zeitgeist - What Can It Teach Us? 'On a monthly, weekly, and sometimes daily basis, this Google Zeitgeist page will be updated to reflect lists, graphs, and other tidbits of information related to Google user search behavior.' I love pages like this--they're information about information. It really lays bare what the world (or rather, that tiny sub-set of the world with Internet access) is interested in at the moment. What's hot at the moment? I'm afraid there's not much hope for humankind: the bachelor die another day thanksgiving celebrity big brother karla knafel I actually had to look up who the heck Karla Knafel was (and who cares, really?). And what are the people searching for thanksgiving actually looking for? As for just www.google.ca (and what are the artificial factors affecting these results, I wonder...who specifically uses, by default, the Canadian version?): britney spears eminem halloween costumes vin diesel air canada harry potter hockey tunisie foot anime sniper Why are so many Canadians interested in the Tunisian national football (that is, soccer) team? 7:40:04 PM    comment []

Cool, geeky neckties I'm shopping for a suit at the moment (send me tips on suit buying--I can't find any decent resources), and recently read about these cool neckties in the New York Times. I particularly like the 45 Record Adapter and the atoms. 7:33:44 PM    comment []