Saturday, February 28, 2004
Ring Ring
If you ever want to develop a tolerance for rejection, I suggest you go do some telephone surveys. For the last 3.5 hours of my 5.5-hour calling session, I got no one. Not a bite! And I thought that only getting 9 respondents to do a 10-minute survey on Monday from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm was bad. Maybe Friday afternoons are just not very good for business surveys, but man, did it suck, sitting there, getting voice mail after voice mail, and always hearing "oh, he's out of the office for the rest of the day." Geesh. And I've got a full week of this next week!
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
9:03 AM
Thursday, February 26, 2004
Huzzah!
That list of order-of-vote-offs for All-Star Survivor that I, errrr, accidentally read a few weeks ago? Fake. Woohoo! It got the first four votes right, but tonight's ep screwed it allllll up! *happy dance* A reprieve, I say, a reprieve! I'm so glad that Survivor has been un-ruined.
NP: Colin Meloy - Everyday is Like Sunday
posted by Hanson |
7:33 PM
Dangle that Carrot
The Pixies touring again. Meh. I've never been much of a fan. Braid getting back together? Whatever. I don't even know their stuff that well. Lou Barlow and Jason Loewenstein touring again as Sebadoh? Now that's what I call a cool-ass reunion! I would kill a small animal to see this -- several, actually. Sadly, the only Canadian dates are in T-dot and Montreal. Bleh. Figures. No killing for me.
Ditto for the Frente reunion show in NYC in March. Bands you thought you'll never see again getting back together, only to play thousands of miles/kilometres from you. Gah. So close, yet so far. This is a special kind of agony indeed.
NP: Stars - Heart
posted by Hanson |
12:03 PM
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
The Sound of Unsettling
*woooosh*
Oh? Oh! Did you hear that? Yeah, that's the sound of the gauntlet being dropped -- projects getting into crunch time, and me getting into no-time time. Frig.
And Winifred Burkle.... wah.....
NP: (The West Wing)
posted by Hanson |
9:29 PM
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Can't Resist
I don't do these things often, but here ya go:
Season Three - A lot of people say that you're the
best, and who could really argue - you're
pretty, witty, and you've got one of Buffy's
best adversaries: the Mayor. Pound for pound,
you're why so many people love Buffy.
Which Season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Hehe. Woohoo! I'm the best!
NP: Stars - Death to Death
posted by Hanson |
6:10 PM
Monday, February 23, 2004
Diddled My Skittles
Boise was fun. The quiz bowlin' was pretty good, and the people I met down there were fantastic too (i.e. not hardcore and just plain fun). Hanging out, drinking, and sharing stories about testicular mutilation -- yeah, fun was had. Did you know you can shoot somebody through both balls without hitting anything else? Nope, me neither.
BTW, we came in 3rd among 14 teams. After going undefeated through the bracketed round-robin, we lost our first semi-final match against Montana State-Billings, won the losers' bracket match against Alaska-Fairbanks, only to lose the get-to-the-finals match against Montana State-Billings again on the last question. Actually, it was, as one teammate put it, "a comedy of errors." That last question was just one in many mistakes we made. Ah well. You win some, you lose some. The important thing was that the trip was a frickin' blast, 12-hour drives up and down notwithstanding (although we *did* count license plates from 30+ states and 5 provinces).
So yeah, I drove back to a mess of work. I spent the entire day today (8:30 am to 5:00 pm) at a marketing research firm doing phone interviews for my project. The good: I might eventually conquer my fear of the telephone; the bad: the phoning might kill me before then. I finished 9 in total and I need about 50. Gah. It takes so bloody long!
But yay. Stars on Saturday! I can't believe it'll only be my second show of the month! I still have tonnes of shit to do, but at least I'll get my fix soon!
NP: (Daily Show)
posted by Hanson |
11:49 PM
Thursday, February 19, 2004
The Beat Is Back
In the past, The Shins have been heard on Gilmore Girls, and a few episodes ago, the CD case of Chutes Too Narrow was even seen on the show. In an episode taping today, they're going to do one better -- yes, The Shins will be PLAYING Gilmore Girls! Like Aimee Mann on Buffy and Rooney on The O.C., The Shins will strut their stuff in front of a national audience, playing a song or two (five bucks says So Says I is one of them). Too cool :-)
NP: (people rummaging through stuff at the computer lab)
posted by Hanson |
11:38 AM
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
Finally!
After sitting in my bag for months, and seeing book after book jump the queue on my reading list, I have FINALLY finished An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. It only took, oh, *months*! Ironically, just days before, there was a question about it in ACF Regionals. Had I been playing, I would've nailed it on the first sentence. Thems be the breaks, I suppose.
I'm heading off to lovely Boise State tomorrow for College Bowl regionals, so I probably won't post for a few days. Well, maybe I will. They have computers in Idaho, don't they?
Oh. Newest obsession: using "consists of" and "comprises" correctly. Damn you Carlos!!
NP: Mary Lou Lord - Salem '76
posted by Hanson |
10:12 PM
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
Ready Set Go
Row 15, seats 51-52, smack dab in the middle. They're good tickets -- and at $49.95, they better be. Now I'm off to find someone to go with. For Sarah McLachlan, going alone sucks less because there'll be a bunch of people I know (both on and offline) going as well. For Dido, that's not so much the case. I'm taking a shot here because she's quite well-known, so hopefully, I'll find a taker. *fingers crossed*
NP: Ben Gibbard - (This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan (live on KEXP)
posted by Hanson |
10:42 AM
Monday, February 16, 2004
Mo' Sho'
Dido! Monday, May 17th, QE Theatre! Pre-sale tomorrow at 10! I hope these tix are cheap enough so that I can afford to get a pair and play wait and see. Hehe... get a pair.
NP: (nothing)
posted by Hanson |
10:25 PM
Sunday, February 15, 2004
Friday the 13th Indeed
Angel, the only surviving vehicle for Joss Whedon on TV, the greatest hour of television this season -- cancelled. This is so fucking lame.
When Sarah told me about it yesterday, I shrugged it off because I had read a few weeks ago that Angel has already been renewed for a sixth season. It now appears that she is right and I am wrong. Ugh. This sucks. Angel has been the best show on TV for the last couple years, and to end it now so unceremoniously ugh. It pisses me off just thinking about it. Fuck you WB. Fuck you up your stupid ass.
NP: The Elected - Don't Blow It
posted by Hanson |
1:13 PM
Friday, February 13, 2004
I Won!
Just the other day, I was saying how I wanted one of those SFU coffee mugs, and yesterday, I got one! My name was drawn at the SMA Association Day raffle, and my prize was a nice shiny blue mug. Woohoo!
The Donald fired another cute one last night -- Jessie -- because she was too nice to that crazy Omarosa (as-o-ramo spelt backwards). Huh? I know nice guys finish last, but nice girls too? That's retah'ded.
NP: All-Time Quarterback - Stark Mobile
posted by Hanson |
3:34 PM
Thursday, February 12, 2004
Come Again
Should I talk about how wonderful the Decemberists were last night? Or how Colin Meloy said they were coming back in May? Or maybe how the nine guys and girl from Zulu were pretty good as openers, kind of a Broken Social Scene-esque groove but without the bevy of varied and wicked-ass songs? I guess I could talk about headliners The Walkmen too and how their mics kept falling apart. Hmmm. Or not.
Anyway, I was walking towards the WMX today when Papas Fritas' "Way You Walk" started playing on my mp3 player. Suddenly, I was transported to that Dentyne Ice commercial -- you know, the one with the chick and the guy in the subway and she wrote her number on the window after breathing on it. When I got to the big glass door of the building, I looked around -- no cute chick and no number. Well, maybe next time.
NP: Travis Morrison - Born in '72
posted by Hanson |
9:22 PM
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
Kaput
Dressy Bessy! Monday, March 29th! There's another mess in my pants!!
NP: The Wrens - She Sends Kisses
posted by Hanson |
11:38 AM
Aural Orgy
Oh geeeeebus! The line up for Coachella is directly responsible for the mess in my pants -- both of them. Look and drool:
Saturday, May 1st, 2004:
Radiohead / The Pixies / Kraftwerk / Wilco / The (International) Noise Conspiracy / The Rapture / Desert Sessions / Hieroglyphics / Kinky / Stereolab / Future Sound of London / And you will know us by The Trail of Dead / Peretz / Death Cab for Cutie / Laurent Garnier / LCD Soundsystem / Living Legends / Sander Kleinenberg / Black Keys / The Sounds / Howie Day / Junior Senior / Mark Farina / Moving Units / Sahara Hotnights / Electric Six / The Stills / Seb Fontaine / 22-20's / Juana Molina / Phantom Planet / Dios / Jem / Q and not U / Erase Errata / The Section Quartet / DJ Icon
Sunday May 2nd, 2004:
The Cure / The Flaming Lips / Air / Belle & Sebastian / Basement Jaxx / Paul Van Dyk / Bright Eyes / Atmosphere / Thursday / BRMC / Cursive / Le Tigre / The Crystal Method / Dizzee Rascal / Adam Freeland / Mogwai / Ash / 2many Dj's / Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra / Muse / Sidestepper / The Thrills / Broken Social Scene / The Sleepy Jackson / Ferry Corsten / Prefuse 73 / !!! / The Cooper Temple Clause / Sage Francis / T. Raumschmiere / Stellastarr* / The Killers / Home Town Hero / The Section Quartet
And I've only bolded the ones I'd pay to see on their own! There are just as many bands there that I'd simply like to see, like Howie Day, Le Tigre, The Stills, The Thrills, Sahara Hotnights, BRMC, Mogwai, Future Sounds of London, etc. Gees... if only I were loaded....
NP: The Decemberists - Shiney
posted by Hanson |
11:35 AM
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
Smack
Don't you hate it when you realize you did something wrong right after you hand your midterm in? Yeah. That sucks.
NP: (Daily Show)
posted by Hanson |
11:18 PM
Monday, February 09, 2004
You Know It's Coming
Every Monday night, this blog turns into a "Lets Comment on the Last Episode of the O.C.!" dealie. Well, let me first say that Azure Ray's New Resolution appeared on my year-end CD long before the O.C. picked it up. It doesn't make it any less exciting to hear it on there though! I know a certain enclave of O.C. fans out there will be very happy with the ending of the episode (and I’m not talking about the obvious fallout from the whole Oliver affair), but since spoilers have wounded me recently, I will not drop them here. Oh! And there was a really creepy moment in this episode -- you'll know what I'm talking about when you see it. Ew! Cringe-worthy indeed. I hope the writers don’t go with it.
Um. The new Pedro the Lion sounds, uh, different. Not terribly so, but it's certainly noticeable.
NP: Pedro the Lion - Discretion
posted by Hanson |
11:31 PM
Sunday, February 08, 2004
Why Spoilers Are Evil
Ugh. Why do I do this to myself? All-Star Survivor? Nearly ruined entirely. Angel? Oh my heart aches. Fack-fack-fack!!
NP: Papas Fritas - Girl
posted by Hanson |
3:06 PM
Thursday, February 05, 2004
Suck
Gah! Tickets for Sarah McLachlan are $65 each, and that's before all the TicketBastard surcharges! I was going to get a pair, and then try to find someone to go with me afterwards (going to seated stadium shows alone suck balls), but now, I'm not so sure I would want to take that big of a financial risk.
So...... anyone want to pay a left arm to go see Sarah McLachlan with me? They'll be good seats! :-)
And going from bad to badder, the power went out just as they were about to cast the votes on Survivor. It didn't come back on until 9:30, and by then, I had already missed Rudy getting his 75 year-old ass voted off, plus half of The Apprentice, which meant that I didn't get to see what led up to the demise of Kristi. And she was one of the cute ones too....
It's not all bad news today: apparently, the Pedro the Lion show has been moved to Saturday, March 6th, which means that I won't have to double dip, which means that I won't have to get to Liz Phair late, which means I won't have to miss Rachael Yamagata. Well that worked out!
NP: The Elected Greetings in Braille
posted by Hanson |
10:35 PM
Wednesday, February 04, 2004
More Sounds
Stars! Saturday, Feb. 28th: Richard's
Broken Social Scene! Wednesday, Mar. 3rd: Commodore
The Sounds! Wednesday, Mar. 10th: Richard's
stellastarr*! Sunday, Apr. 25th: Richard's
And Pedro the Lion on March 5th is an EARLY show at Richard's. My non-existent prayers have been answered! I can now safely double dip -- Pedro first and Liz Phair second. Yay!
NP: Bright Eyes - Something Vague
posted by Hanson |
11:33 AM
Tuesday, February 03, 2004
Models Can Be Complicated
So, Julie Cooper got kicked out of Tyra Banks' vanity show this week. I'm talking about her, not her, but don't they look identical (except for the bigger eyes)? Speaking of clones, haven't I seen the tall and awkward one walk around Napanee before? And let me just say how glad I am that one of the (really) hot ones listens to indie pop. I guess she's following in the tradition established by The Shins guitarist-dating ultra hottie Elyse from last season. Yay! Another someone with cool music tastes to cheer for :-)
NP: The Elected - Go On
posted by Hanson |
10:49 PM
Monday, February 02, 2004
Going Down On Yourself
A couple weeks ago at curling, something hit me. No, not the ice -- I hit the ice. What I mean is that I have a tendency to put myself down, for example, by saying things like "oh, I suck at curling." And I really mean it too -- I do think I'm a pretty miserable curler. What I didn't realize before was that when I say stuff like that, it might come off sounding like I was trying to fish for complements. People automatically say: "oh, no you don't." Well, I do. Really, I do. I don't put myself down just so you can prop me up -- I do it cos that's just what I do. Is it a defense mechanism? Perhaps, but I think it's just that I have high expectations of myself. When it comes to curling, I haven't gotten good enough to untie myself from the label "suck," and until I've satisfied myself, I'm going to continue to put myself down. Same goes for other things: if I say I suck, please don't tell me otherwise.
Note: This is not a post of self-loathing. I know I'm good at plenty of other things :-)
NP: (IM chatter)
posted by Hanson |
11:57 PM
Sunday, February 01, 2004
Good Cause + Good Show = Happy Ho
Have you ever been in an audience that has been so totally and completely enthralled, the only sounds in the room came from the stage? Friday night at the Van East Cultural Centre (aka "the Culch"), Sarah Harmer was able to do that to us, armed with only her guitar and her amazing voice.
The show that night was part of the week-long Rock for Choice thingy, the only annual benefit of its kind still left in North America. Flying in all the way from Ontario to headline two of the shows were Sarah Harmer and Hayden (who was headlining another show), and on this night, openers included Joel Tong (of local outfit Black Rice), native singer-songwriter Sandy Scofield, and "new skool cowboy-folkster" Rae Spoon. To keep it short: a) Joel Tong was impressive, though he would've sounded better if he had his band with him; b) Sandy Scofield made me fall asleep in my foldout chair (literally), her songs in Cree and native drumming delivering the knockout punch; and c) Rae Spoon was fantastic, bringing a lil' bit of that upbeat, androgynous honky-tonk to the mix.
Before Sarah came on, one of the many "surprises" we were told to expect was revealed: Bif Naked. Yes, the Bifness herself came out with a couple of band members to play three acoustic numbers. Each sitting on stools, they played and she belted out two songs that I knew and one that I didn't. I've never really been into her stuff, but it was an interesting surprise nevertheless.
After a short intermission, it was Harmer Time *cue dancing parachute pant legs*. In her hour-plus-change set, she packed in about half the songs from You Were Here (no singles), plus a bunch of songs off her new album, All of Our Names (she played "Silver Road" too). The new songs were so fucking on, with "Greeting Card Aisle" being my favourite of the new batch. During one of the new songs, Hayden came on and played some harmonica. Cool. He was announced as "H," but dude, everybody knew it was Hayden. In between songs, she told stories, like the one about how she shot a video in Montreal and how she was asked to shave her 'pits. Ah... banter.
If my memory serves, this was my fifth time seeing the Harmer, so I thought I knew what to expect. I was half right. Unlike the previous four times, Sarah was band-less on Friday, only bringing with her from back east a guitar that has been sitting by her stove for the last two months. With her band, she could rock like nobody's business; without it, she could still bring the audience to its knees (and get it to do anything she wants while down there). At times, the room was at a complete standstill, all of the attention focused on her strumming and singing. Not only could I hear a pin drop, I could even make out the sounds of it colliding loudly with oxygen molecules as it raced its way towards the ground. The room was hers -- completely and utterly hers -- happily eating out... of her hands.
Magical? You bet it was. I can't wait 'till she's "coming around this corner" again.
NP: The Wrens - Thirteen Grand
posted by Hanson |
2:30 PM
|
