The Cube

I've never been a big fan of The Cube, the performance stage at Winnipeg's Old Market Square. This is probably because it reminds me of the cage that my parents kept me locked in as a kid. Ha. Kidding. That never happened.

No, it's partly because it looks out of place in a park surrounded by heritage buildings. If I were given an enormous amount of time and a budget, I would probably design something with more of a steam-punk look, with cables and gears that turned as the stage opened up to the audience. I can envision it, but haven't been able to draw it.

source: Winnipeg Free Press

That's part of it, but mostly it's because it just seems like an inefficient space. A cube may be great for storing M&Ms in, but it's a questionable shape for this use. It's a big imposing structure, relative to the space it's in, but the amount of usable area seems small. As an audience member, it does not invite an engaging or intimate experience because the stage is deep and the curtains close off much of it.

I understand that from a performer's perspective it's not the best either. I really do appreciate aesthetics, but I would never buy something where functionality is seriously compromised for style; but that's what seems to have happened here.

Now, to make matters worse, the chain-mail curtain is falling apart due to "wear and tear" after only two years. I hope this thing came with a good warranty plan. This is shameful. A 5468796 Architecture spokeswoman "described the loose rivets as a regular maintenance issue." I find that hard to believe. If rivets are popping out so as to make the stage potentially lethal to performers after two years, and if it's "a regular maintenance issue", then I guess the maintenance schedule must call for the rivets to be replaced sooner than two years so as to ensure safe continued operation. So, was the city or Exchange District BIZ told in advance that they would have to replace thousands of rivets every year?

Anyhow ...

Remaining shows need to be moved to different venues as a result of this. Most, according to the Free Press article linked to above, will be relocated to the plaza at 201 Portage.

 I have another idea: move them to the new Park behind the Centennial Library. It's a larger space, and it's a quieter and less distracting place to watch a performance than a busy corner just off Portage and Main.

In addition to that, it would be a great way to introduce people to this new public space.

I could see there being a potential issue with the noise of the concert disrupting the peaceful environment within the library, depending on the day and time. After 6:00 on a Friday or Saturday would not be a problem.

I think it makes almost perfect sense. I'm sure that somewhere in the $7.4 million that was spent there were hook-ups installed for a band to plug in, and there's lots of room for folks to spread out. Why not? It's a good opportunity.

Perusing the Headlines

The NDP is anti-union ... who knew?

I submitted my second ever Winnipeg Cat meme with that. I wonder if It'll make the cut? (Actually, I think I might have messed up somewhere and I'm not sure it worked.) Anyhow, just had to chuckle when I read the this:

This intervention into the collective bargaining process at Brandon University is as dangerous as it is outrageous," he said in a statement. "It confirms for us the pro-employer bias shown by this allegedly 'labour-friendly' government."

Oh my. Yeah, if you think the NDP is outrageously anti-labour, then I think your perspective on the matter needs just a little tweeking. With a sledge hammer.

Also: No. No you don't get paid extra for catching up on work that you have neglected to do because you chose to go on strike.

*****

You don't say ...

Federal audit finds no evidence jobs created by $1 billion in stimulus cash.

Really? You really expect to be able to measure this somehow? Look, I told you about this already:

The recession ended so quickly, not because money was spent, but because people think money is being spent. Just like golf, or the voices that tell me to strangle dogs, it's all in the head.

I am dumbfounded that people are dumbfounded that we can't directly link jobs to stimulus spending. Look, if you're going to force the government to produce a report showing that it created jobs, they will produce a report that shows it created jobs, and the report will be a pile of steaming feces. Please don't make them to that. Let's all be adults here. We all know what the situation is.

*****

An online music magazine recently reported the demise of CDs. For fun, see if you can count the spelling and grammatical errors in that story.

Several mainstream media outlets have picked up on this story as though it has some credibility. I will acknowledge that CD popularity is decreasing, but when revenue from CD sales is still over 4x higher than from downloads, I think it may be premature to call the game.

Anecdotally , I have bought more CDs this year than in the past I-don't-know-how-many years. Mostly this is because they are so damned cheap now, no doubt due to market pressure from downloads, but still ... When CDs came out they were $15-20. Not in today's dollars, but in 19-whatever-it-was dollars. Today, CDs are still $15-20 regular price, but half the stock at HMV is on for $10 or $5. I bought an old Sound Garden CD just for the heck of it. I picked up Amy Winehouse because I like to listen to dead people. 5 bucks? Why not? Hey look, there's The Trews .. I'll get that too!

I do like having something tangible. I admit that, but I think many people do as well. So if you were thinking of putting a CD in somebody's stocking this Christmas, I just want to let you know that it's still okay to do that.

Buildings, brain damage and food

Acid wash architecture

There has been a small kerfuffle about what to do with the old YWG airport terminal now that the fancy-pants James Richardson International terminal is opening. Heritage advocates are crying out for somebody to save it, because it is an excellent example of mid-century modernist architecture. That may be, but modernist architecture happens to be the acid wash jeans of the architecture world. Nobody, for example, would ever say “Wait! Don’t throw out those parachute pants -- they’re still perfectly good!”

Modernism ranges from the bland and block-ish, like our terminal, to the Jetson-ish stylings of the Winnipeg Clinic building, where the designers gambled on the look of the future and lost. But looks aside, the terminal building has a couple of other knocks against it: size and location. It is big and expensive to maintain, and it’s located (obviously) at an airport, which drastically limits potential uses, as does the purpose-built interior that would require massive renovations for almost any other use.

Heritage advocates should pick their fights. We have a hard enough time preserving our turn of the century classics in the exchange district to be distracted by this. If a legitimate proposal comes forward that doesn’t require a bundle of government money, then fine .. but otherwise take one last good look and say good bye.

*****

Blog action day

Apparently today was blog action day. Apparently this year’s subject was food. I do not have anything to contribute because (and this is true) I was busy building a garden. A small raised vegetable garden for next summer. Plus I completely forgot that it was blog action day. That was a factor too.

Since I have failed you, here are a couple of other local Blog Action Day blogs that are worth reading: Conceited Jerk & One Man Committee

*****

Brain damage in two languages

I read that bilingualism prolonged cognitive function in people suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Brain scans showed that “bilingual patients had twice as much atrophy” when diagnosed as unilingual patients, leading to the conclusion that speaking two languages helps you overcome brain damage from the disease. That is one possibility, but I think the researchers are missing the obvious conclusion: that speaking French causes brain damage.

*****

Late addition: Ramblin' Dan

I feel I'm not offering you enough with this post, so here is a video for you ... local artist, prolific songwriter, and old buddy of mine "Rambling" Dan Frechette, with a reggae-ish tune recorded at the Park Theatre a couple weeks ago:



Check out Dan's YouTube page for more, or better yet: go pick up one of his albums!

Royal Canoe

Okay, every time I bitch about something in the Free Press I feel kinda crumby afterwards. Even if it was about a Francis Russell column. Not because the criticism wasn't worthy, but just because I don't like being Mr. Negative all the time.

Now I know in the past that when I have expressed similar concerns some of you have told me not to be a pussy. Literally. I can't help it. Maybe I just need to pick my targets a little more carefully and then unleash both barrells when I find something that really deserves getting hacked to peices in the bloggosphere. No more of this coffee break blogging when something slightly annoys me and I write about it, more to take my mind off work than anything else.

So, to change the tone a little bit, let me introduce you to Royal Canoe. This local band created by Matt Peters from The Waking Eyes has a very, um, unique sound and is starting to make some waves. Below is the new video, hot off the presses.

At first you might think "what the fuck is this?", but shortly after the time the guys in the orange ski masks start to pour in you will probably start thinking "you know, this isn't bad", and when it's over you will be thinking "I still don't know what the fuck that was, but it was pretty cool!". Enjoy:



website: http://www.headinthesand.ca/royalcanoe/
myspace: http://www.myspace.com/royalcanoe
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Royal-Canoe/121517074421

Censorship for nothing and bleeps for free

The little faggot with the earring and the makeup
Yeah buddy, that’s his own hair
That little faggot got his own jet airplane
That little faggot he’s a millionaire

... lyrics you will probably never hear again on the radio, now that they have been deemed "offensive".

They were deemed offensive because one individual, we'll call him Whiny-Pants McLooser to protect his identity, heard the word "faggot", ignored the context in which it is used, got offended, propagated his irrational offense to every other gay/bisexual/lesbian in the country, and complained to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council on behalf of all of them. The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, being staffed by politically correct zombies, ruled that it violates broadcast standards and cannot be played.

There will always be individuals out there that are hyper-sensitive, or lacking the intelligence required to put things in proper perspective. I don't blame Whiny-Pants for anything because it's not his fault. He has weaknesses, just as we all do. His shortcoming just happened to result in an externality that affects the rest of the country, albeit it in a small way; but that's only because the CBSC is full of idiots.

Organizations that have the capacity to infridge on personal freedoms and activities like the CBSC, the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and so forth, need to have very specific mandates and need to have extraordinary adherance to those specific mandates. Those mandates should focus protecting us from words and actions that genuinely incite hatred or have tangible negative effects on society at large. Their job is not to coddle the weakest member of society ... to protect the feelings of the most thin-skinned individual at the expense of everybody else.

The song "Money for Nothing" has been played on the radio for 25 years without producing any tangible negative effects on society. It has not caused any gays to get bashed to my knowledge. It has not incited hatred. The term "faggot" in this song doesn't even refer to a homosexual -- it is a term used with jealousy in reference to a rock star who gets all the "chicks" he wants. The CBSC has far overstepped it's mandate in banning the unedited version of this song, and has actually made things worse. Thanks to their decision, the word "faggot" has not only appeared in this blog for the first time, but has appeared hundreds of times in newspaper articles all across the country. More importantly, it has created unnecessary animosity against the gay/lesbian/bisexual community: "Money for Nothing" is an all-time classic rock song with an epic guitar/drum intro that compels you to crank up the volume when it comes on the radio. But no more ... thanks to the gays you can't hear it any more.

Why create this animosity over something so trivial as a rock song? A rock song that doesn't even have anything to do with gays? It is total stupidity. Once again, I have to use the "Complete loss of perspective" tag for a blog post. Sigh....

***

A little piece of trivia for you: that other voice that you hear in the song -- the one singing "I want my MTV" -- is Sting. He was invited to collaborate on the song because that hook is the same as the hook from the Police's "Don't Stand So Close To Me". In fact, he got co-writing credit as a result of that one line.

related: Reed points out that membership in the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council is voluntary. While that may be the case, the fact that virtually every radio station in the country is a member tells me that there are consequences for not being a member. I don't know what those consequences are ... perhaps some companies will only advertise with members of the CBSC, perhaps there are implications related to royalties, or broadcast rights, or who knows what. The point is that their decisions have an impact. Not being a member is not an option for most stations.

Gerry Rafferty

I found out via Facebook that musician Gerry Rafferty died on Tuesday of this week. Gerry was best known as the artist behind the song "Baker Street", with it's iconic sax solo.

I was driving home one night and heard that song on the radio. I had heard it a thousand times before, including on the episode of The Simpsons where jazz man Bleeding Gums Murphy dies, but I didn't know who sang it. I needed to know, so I memorized some of the lyrics..

And then he’ll settle down, in some quiet little town
And forget about everything.

..and googled them when I got home, finding out of course that it was Gerry Rafferty, former member of the band Stealers Wheel -- best known for the song "Stuck in the middle with you", otherwise known as the song where the guy gets his ear cut off in Tarantino's Resevoir Dogs.

After reading this bio, it seems that his death is almost a long-sought relief from a painful existence. I really have nothing else to say about Gerry, except that "Baker Street" is one bloody good song. RIP.

And when you wake up it’s a new morning
The sun is shining, it’s a new morning
But you’re going, you’re going home.

What happens when you cross a Rabbit with a Koala?

Awesomeness!

It was about ... oh, I'm gonna say 9 years ago ... that I saw a band called Bullfrog at the Winnipeg Jazz Festival. A DJ names Kid Koala was a part of the band then, and at one point in the show Bullfrog left the stage and left Kid Koala on his own to do his thing.

Kid Koala's thing turned out to be a creative and mind blowing mix based on a Jessica Rabbit sound track. It was the most memorable part of the show for me.

Kid Koala returns to the Pyramid this year on Thursday night with a new band The Slew. I will unfortunately not be there, but I would be if I could be.

Kid Koala live:

Why pop music sucks

Courtesy of The Axis of Awesome. The song that proves that all you need to be a pop star is four simple chords:



h/t: Alfredo

by the way, if you're interested in the going's on at Manitoba Hydro, check out Uncle Bob's comments in my previous post.

The Windsor Blues

As you may know (if you live in Winnipeg) there are rumours that the venerable Windsor Hotel and blues bar will be torn down to create a parking lot -- a scenario that certainly seems plausible given the neglect of the current owners. A group has formed to save the Windsor, lead by local blues singer Kathy Kennedy. They have a Facebook group, and on-line petition, and were organizing a rally for Saturday afternoon.

Tearing down any occupied building for yet another parking lot would certainly be a blow to downtown, BUT ... there is good news! Kathy's latest update on Facebook states:

Sam Katz just called me and said that the city has no intentions of tearing down the Windsor or buying that property. So now we know this isn't true!

Right. Just like how Sam called me personally and stated that he had no intentions of caving in to the Friends of Upper Fort Garry, back when they wanted to kick an apartment developer out of town.

Here's where I am conflicted: I have gone to the Windsor from time to time and enjoy having another choice to catch some live music downtown, though if it were to disappear my life would go on. Actually, I wasn't even aware that it had deteriorated from a respectable, if divey, "Nothing but the blues" blues bar, to a "Nothing but the booze" strip joint that plays top 40 music, as some people say. Also, out of concern for downtown Winnipeg, I would hate to see a building torn down to expand a parking lot, and the loss of urban vitality that comes from losing a live music venue. Problem is, if the place really has turned into nothing more than a drunken bum factory, that's not much better than a parking lot.

The Save the Windsor group is attempting to accomplish it's goal by lobbying to have the hotel registered as a heritage building. Certainly there is a lot of history associated with the building, like that whole Charlie Chaplin thing, but is it really a heritage building? It is no architectural gem, nor is it in the middle of a cluster of period buildings that needs to be preserved. It is an ordinary, run-down building in an uninteresting part of downtown. However, it could be so much more. With the right owners in place I could envision that building being renovated into a boutique hotel with a clean and welcoming blues club attached to it. It is not the Windsor as it currently exists that I would regret losing; it is the potential of what the Windsor could be.


I was in the downtown area early Saturday afternoon, about 10 minutes before the official start time of the rally, and decided to stop by to check things out. No gathering had materialized yet. I saw three people wander out of the hotel door, one of whom obviously shops for his cigarettes on the sidewalk. There were two other people standing outside of the blues club doors who I thought might be there for the rally, but as it turns out they were just smoking a joint. On the inside it was business as usual with about 12 or so people sitting around drinking beer and giving me the eye as I walked around in my dressy wool coat. The place looks like a dive, it smells like a dive, and I did not feel particularly at home, although I never mind stopping for a beer in even the seediest of joints. But having a look around reminded me that my fond memories of drinking beer and watching bands at the Windsor have more to do with the bands that were playing and the friends that I was with, than with the building itself.

***

I neglected to post my usual Friday video this week, but here is a belated video of Big Dave McLean, who I once saw perform at the Windsor. Enjoy:

Code of conduct, and your Friday video

Well, this is certainly interesting:

Kelly was fired at about 8 p.m. Thursday, just hours after being arrested and charged with assault following a domestic dispute in the morning at his home near Philadelphia.
...
If the team can show cause, they will not be on the hook for the final two years of Kelly’s contract.

Well isn't that fortunate timing? We were going to fire him anyhow, then bingo: he just let us off the hook for the rest of the contract!

I'm not so sure. How can you reasonably argue that he was fired because of his getting arrested? especially after saying this:

It’s a tough decision but I’ve been saying repeatedly to you for the last six weeks we were reviewing the performance of the head coach and we came to the conclusion tonight that based on that assessment it was time to move on and find a new head coach. We recognize that an incident did take place but in the eyes of the law these are allegations and allegations only.

Oh well ... time to move on. And let's never again give both the head coach and GM job to somebody who has never done either.

***

After putting you to sleep the past two weeks with Black Box Recorder and The Sugar Cubes, I am going to slap you out of your coma with Probot -- Dave Grohl's heavy metal side project. Turn up the volume on your netbook and call your boss over for this one:

Party at Siloam's place

I've been after Siloam Mission a little bit recently about their ramped-up mail campaign, including aluminum tasting soup made from deadly chemicals, and their sad little ornaments that Charlie Brown would be ashamed to hang on his tree. However, they still do good work over at the mission and are a worthy cause.

This Thursday they are hosting a benefit concert featuring local talent Jodi King. I will not be able to make it, but I was at the Christmas concert two years ago (my God, have I been blogging for over two years already?) when Jodi performed along with Keith and Renée, and enjoyed the show. I encourage you to go, support the mission, and take in some tunes. If you're really lucky, somebody might come by with cookies. As noted on Ace Burpee's blog, tickets are available at Hulls Bookstore and McNally Robinson Grant Park.

Friday Video -- Take On Me

As per last Friday's post, I will make an attempt to post a video each week. I know, I know ... One whole video every week? My God, cherenkov, you maniac. How do you ever hope to keep that up?? Well ... I am not sure I can but I will do my best!

This week's is a classic cheesy 80s vid by Norwegian synth pop band A-ha, but one of the best videos ever. Enjoy:

Space, Splashes and Videos

Splish Splash - Water park at the Forks?

The only developer interested in building a water park with the help of a $7-million city grant wants to use the public money to erect a $64-million luxury hotel.
...
According to several sources speaking under condition of anonymity, the potential water-park proposal involves the construction of a $64-million "signature hotel" that would position itself at the high end of Winnipeg's hospitality market.

The proponent would purchase the city lot on Waterfront Drive for $7.7 million, thus immediately repaying the city for its $7 million investment, the sources said.

A couple of things ..

First: This is right next to the railway tracks, where they curve around the ball park. Those trains squeal like a banshee when they go around that bend. This doesn't seem like ideal placement for a luxury hotel. Sure you close the windows and muffle the noise, but isn't part of luxury being able to have your window open?

Second: they would not be "immediately repaying the city" unless the actual value of the land is $700k, and they artificially boosted the purchase price by $7m to repay the grant.* But if that's the case, what is the purpose of the grant in the first place? That's not the case, though, because 2.4 hectares of land at the Forks adjacent to a future world class museum must be worth more than $700k. I know this because the tiny gas station lot at the corner of Broadway and Main is worth $3.35m. How did I get that, you ask? $1m cash + $1.35m "donation" for "remaining land value" + additional $1m for environmental remediation = $3.35m value for a 0.136 hectare environmentally safe parcel of land. All other things being equal, the value of the hotel property ought to be about $59m

My opinion: forget the $7mil for the water park and use it to build a kick-ass polar bear enclosure at the zoo. It is shameful that we don't have one here in the polar bear capital of the world.

****

Six lucky people ...

It was announced recently that the Space Hotel is on-track for 2012. Just in time ... Six lucky people (at double-occupancy) will get a rink-side seat for the end of the world (or whatever happens when the great alignment occurs).

****

Friday Night Videos

Back in the day, before Much Music, one had to rely on video shows on regular network TV to check out the latest Luba or Thomas Dolby video. I used to so look forward to Friday Night Videos, or Good Rockin' Tonight. It was a treat to watch videos for half an hour, but Much Music and MTV made those shows obsolete.

Nowadays, 90% of the content on MM or MTV is some kind of crappy reality TV or gossip programming and the other 10% is crappy hip hop videos and interviews. I think it may be time for Terry David Mulligan to re-grow his mullet (optional) and bring back the dedicated video show. But until then, I will endeavor to post a cool video each Friday.

Today's offering: Walking With Thee by Liverpool's Clinic. Enjoy:


* (edit) I understand that the city's bank account balance will not suffer as a result of this transaction. I guess my objection is to any private development at the forks being subsidized by the city. Especially one that will compete with other businesses. This is a key area with limited supply of land, and we need to be very careful about how the remaining space is developed. Yes, even this parking lot by the tracks. This seems like another ad hoc development, and not necessarily part of a larger vision of what the Forks should be. Also, if the museum is successful, one would expect this land to grow in value significantly, so what's the hurry?

Michael Jackson lived too long

The world needed another blog post about Michael Jackson. A Google Blog search turned up only 37,223,127 hits. We need one more to hit an even 37,223,128; so I will provide it:

Many blog posts about Jackson since his recent death will recall his enormous impact on the music industry and popular culture, and lament the gong-show that his life later became. Few will go so far as to suggest that he lived too long. Fewer still will take the extra step of suggesting when he actually should have died. Since we at the Peanut are not bound by good taste, we will endeavor to fill that gaping void in the bloggosphere ...

So... where do we start? Let's start with the albums:

Obviously, the peak of Jackson's career was Thriller, released in 1982 when Jackson was 24. As you all know, Thriller was by far the best selling album of all time, racking up sales in the neighbourhood of 110 million units. The next two albums -- Bad and Dangerous, released when Jackson was 29 and 33 respectively -- sold around 30 million units. Still very good, but a big let down by Thriller standards. His last two albums sold 20 million and 10 million respectively.

Clearly Jackson's post-Thriller success was riding the wake created by his landmark album. I mean, let's face it: Jackson could have released a blank disc as a follow-up to Thriller and it would have sold millions. Not that there was no redeeming value in those albums ... I kind of liked "Dirty Diana" ... but the music quality and uniqueness decreased. basically, Bad and Dangerous were sort of take-it-or-leave-it type albums. The next two were definitely leave-it.

Looking at the music, the sweet spot seems to be somewhere in the 24-33 range. I'm going to cut to the chase and throw out an age: 27

27 is a proven age for music icons to die at. Jim Morrison died as a 27 year old, as did Kurt Cobain. Ditto Jimi Hendrix and Janice Joplin. Could all of them be wrong? There must be something to it.

As a 27 year old, Jackson was at his musical peak, as we have seen. He was riding the high of Thriller, but had not yet disappointed people with his later albums. He did "Say Say Say" with Paul McCartney in 1983, which was a fun song, and he co-wrote "We Are The World" in 1985 when he was 26. He could do no wrong, and for the most part, the weird stuff had not yet began.

Jackson turned 27 in August of 1985. In 1986, he started to hit the tabloids like only Wacko Jacko could: he bought Bubbles the chimp, he was rumoured to have bought the elephant man's bones, and he ramped up the surgical assault on his facial features to a whole new level. 1986 saw the debut of his cleft chin, among other "enhancements". ... And it all went down hill from there, with allegations of pedophilia, fake marriages, child endangerment, money troubles; and the continued physical transformation into an androgynous salamander-like alien being.

Jackson in 1985:


Jackson in 2003:


His first 27 years weren't all peaches and cream -- it included the infamous Pepsi hair spray debacle for instance -- but it generally includes most of the good stuff and excludes the vast majority of the weirdness. If Jackson had passed away as a young 27 year-old, he would have been remembered by all as an icon, and not a freak show.

Friday afternoon thoughts

Fly like the wind, little birdie

The young peregrine falcons are going to take their first flight any minute now. They are getting up on the edge of the platform, flapping their wings, building up their nerve for their dramatic leap over the traffic-filled canyon below.

You can check them out on the CBC Manitoba web site


epic immigration fail

"I have concerns that you are dangerous to the public in Canada," McPhelan said via video conference from Vancouver to a Winnipeg courtroom. "The way you have conducted yourself in Canada is despicable. You are a danger to girls under 18."

however ....

"The need to protect the Canadian public is outweighed by the risk you face in your country of origin."

Really??? To me, the need to protect innocent Canadians far outweighs the risk to the life of a convicted cocaine-trafficking sex offender. I question whether this guy is genuinely at risk of death in his home country, and even if he is, he put himself in that position. This McPhelan ass-hat has seriously fucked-up priorities and needs to be fired. 32 comments and counting on the Free Press web site.


Jazz Winnipeg Festival wind-up

It looks like a nice weekend to catch the wind-up of the 2009 festival with the free concerts in Market Square. I'm looking forward to catching one of the Beast performances. Unique sound, and cool video too


Matt Hill

I see that the young Canadian golf talent and NCAA star Matt Hill found his way into a PGA Tour event. Matt is from the same home town as Mike Weir -- Bright's Grove, ON -- and is (was?) a member of the Canadian Junior golf team. The coaches of that team include Winnipeg golf pro and frequent CPGA Teacher of the Year, Derek Ingram. The Peanut wishes Matt well with his PGA career.

WikiProject: Manitoba Music update

Yoyoyo. Wasssup.

Some of you may recall that I planned to update the lame Music of Manitoba Wikipedia page. Let's just say this hasn't been my top priority. However, after giving myself a quick primer on wiki editing, I have made a few updates, but only in the rock/pop genres. I have a lot more to do with folk, country, traditional, blues, jazz, etc.. along with working in references to some of the venues and festivals.

Anyhoo .. check it out and, as always, your suggestions are welcome. Or, feel free to update it your self like The Great Wiki, God of Information, intended.

The old page looked like this (click to enlarge):


For your watching and listening enjoyment:

Iggy Flu Roundabout Seven Video Emails

For those of you following the career of young Manitoba artist Sierra Noble, her new video is on YouTube:



It's also in circulation on CMT and MMM. You can also vote for it on CMT here.

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One down, 2186 to go. Also: Wpg Sun.

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BREAKING NEWS: Old person dies of regular flu. Nobody panics.

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If you don't already have him bookmarked, check out The View From Seven (seven what? seven thousand feet?) by Kevin McDougald. He's fairly prolific and puts a lot of work into his posts, often including graphs and even an honest-to-God bibliography in his CKND bio. As the laziest blogger in town I am shamed by his work ethic.

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I have changed my email address from my old rocketmail.com address to cherenkov@live.com. Why? Fewer letters to type. Did I mention I was lazy?

Music of Manitoba

This is pitiful:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Manitoba

Reading that, one would think that music almost died in Manitoba after BTO disbanded. Where is Harlequin? How can you not mention the legendary Big Dave McLean? What about Chris Burke-Gaffney's string of bands in the 80's?

Mind you, the articles for the other provinces are not much better. They are all part of WikiProject Canada -- a work in progress obviously. In any case, with due respect to the folks who have edited the Wiki article to this point, I think we can do a lot better in presenting our modern music heritage to the world.

I have ideas of course, and will spend a bit of time over the coming months jotting out some text to better describe our music scene, past and present, and to shed a little more light on the musical talent in this Province. I have never been really keyed into the music scene though, so I could certainly use some help in this regard. If you have any ideas, please email me at cherenkov *at* rocketmail.com or leave a comment. I'll post periodic updates on my draft enhancements to the Wiki.

Festival Du Voyageur (bumped)

Festival starts tonight. The City still doesn't have this on their event calendar. Apparently whoever reads this blog at city hall isn't powerful enough to make that kind of thing happen.

Have a good weekend. Cheers / santé !

***
The Festival Du Voyageur starts up next week. The Festival is the turning point of the winter to me. Even if I don't go, I know that we're heading into the home stretch when the Festival comes around. I plan on going this year though. I may even buy a button and go twice. Of the 125 different nationalities that make up my heritage, French is one of them, and going to the Festival helps to connect me to that and adds a little wee bit to my sense of identity.

But even if you're a burger-eating anglophone (*pfft*) you should still go. There are the snow sculptures and barrels with burning wood that will make you smell like smoke when you try to warm up, and if that isn't enough to make you put on your parka and paddle down to Saint Boniface, there is also music.

Some old fav's have returned like the Dust Rhinos; my old buddy Dan Frechette is playing; and Sierra Noble returns to the Sugar Shack. This may be your last chance to see Sierra Noble performing in an outdoor tent while you eat tourtière and drink Caribou. Her song "Possibility" is starting to get some radio play and I wouldn't be surprised to see this gal go on to some big things. She's got a good voice and tons of talent. It's hard to go mainstream when you play a fiddle, but you never know.

By the way, why is our only winter festival (and the second largest in the country) not on the City's event calendar?

Sierra Noble Possibility:

Rock The Casbah

I picked this up today:


I'm dating myself here, but I remember when CDs first came out they were $20. Now I can pick up 31 songs of classic punk rock for ten measly bucks. No doubt Limewire and Torrent play a part in this deflation. Plus maybe nobody listens to The Clash anymore. (Although they should.)