Mobile blogging

Trying this new app which ties into my blogger account. Or is it time to switch to wordpress?



PS. Pic is off collegehumor.com.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod Touch 1G

Coldplay releases new Live CD... for free!

One of my favorite bands, all the way back when I first heard "Yellow" when I was in the UK, have decided to give away a 9-track free CD titled, "LeftRightLeftRightLeft". It'll be made available on their website starting on the morning of May 15th. If you're lucky enough to be attending one of their concerts this summer, make sure to grab your own copy of CD, ya know those silver discs that you use as coasters?



1. Glass of Water
2. 42
3. Clocks
4. Strawberry Swing
5. The Hardest Part/Postcards From Far Away
6. Viva La Vida
7. Death Will Never Conquer
8. Fix You
9. Death And All His Friends

"Fix You" is one of my favorite tunes and is wonderful as a live track.

Bonus: a few recent KCRW online shows featuring Patrick Watson and Ben Lee.

Lego + Rock Band = New Game

Joystiq has confirmed the rumours of the unliking pairing of Lego and Rock Band. Looks like an interesting go to make it more family friendly? Also for any "Arrested Development" fan, this becomes a must buy with its inclusion of Europe's "The Final Countdown" in the game.

March Madness On Demand

I laugh at those studies about lost productivity during March Madness. CBS doesn't help with it's MMOD website that streams every single game live in "High-Quality" (and in lower varieties as well so you don't hog the office's bandwidth) that utilizes MS Silverlight which ruling out Chrome use, but is ok with Firefox, Safari and, of course, IE.


It isn't the full TV experience though. They switch to some no-name commentators for a separate half-time show feed and they don't let you flip to another game which it goes to commercials which is kinda annoying. But it does includes a "Boss Button" to switch off the broadcast to make it look like you're actually working.

More Music Awards

With the Grammy's over and my Top 10 lists out of the way, here are some other worthy awards that should be given out this year. Maybe call these the OMA's...

Best Live CD: John Legend - Live From Philadelphia (Close second: Linkin Park's Road to Revolution Live at Milton Keynes)

Top Albums Missed from 2007: Against Me - New Wave & Once OST

Best Band That's Been Around That You've Probably Never Heard Of - The Perishers, a Swedish indie band with three CDs out since 2002

Best TV OST & Comedy: Move over Grey's Anatomy, HBO's Flight of the Conchords rules the roost in 2008.

Best Movie OST: Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist OST (Close second: 21 OST)

Most Disappointed Albums by: Keane, Mobile, and Kathleen Edwards

Best Re-release: Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American (2001)

Best Mash-up/DJ: Girl Talk - Feed the Animals

Web/Online OST: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Best EP: Coldplay - Prospekt's March EP

Best Title: Martha Wainwright - I Know You're Married But Ive Got Feelings Too

Cool Word that Band Names Must Have in Order to Show Everyone that They're Cool: Against (Against Me & Rise Against)

Coolest Duet - Jack White & Alicia Keys - Another Way To Die (Theme to 007 Quantum of Solace)

Coolest Featuring - City and Colour featuring Gord Downie - Sleeping Sickness (from Bring Me Your Love)

Best Concert: VirginFest Calgary, saw almost 20 bands in two days, made up for all the ones that I passed on in 2008. Concerts by NIN & Feist were also very entertaining.

Best Albums of 2008

Tonight is Grammy's night, so here's my recognition of the best music from 2008. My exposure to music is continuing to decrease and so is my time for listening to tunes. But I still managed to pick out some great stuff that's still worth listening to. Please feel free to include your "Best Of" list in the comments. Enjoy, O.

Honourable Mentions:

• Kings Of Leon - Only By The Night
• The Verve - Forth
• Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak
• Common - Universal Mind Control

10. The Killers - Day and Age: Great comeback after their previous disc. I think they do a better job in channeling David Bowie for this album than Bruce Springsteen who they (unsuccessfully) tried to do with Sam's Town.

9. Weezer - (The Red Album): Great singles with "Troublemaker" and You-Tube inspired video for "Pork & Beans". Rest of the album shows their diversity. "Everybody Get Dangerous" chorus feels lifted from OK Go.

8. Glasvegas - (self-titled): These guys could be the NBT from Scotland, which has exporting some of my favourite bands of all time (Snow Patrol, Franz Ferdinand, Del Amitri, and Simple Minds just to name a few). "Geraldine" has to be my most favorite tune of 2008. But the whole disc is pretty good, hence no mention of these guys (and gal drummer) in my singles list. Lots of potential here folks...

7. John Legend - Evolver: Kanye West's protege actually passes his master this year with his third studio album. With his talent, he can recruit the best in the biz with contributions by Kanye West, Brandy, Estelle and Andre 3000. "Green Light", "Everybody Knows" and "Cross the Line" show his take on love from different angles.

6. All-American Rejects - When The World Comes Down: I should have banned these guys (or put them on my dead-to-me list) for canceling their Canadian tour this fall. Their excuse was this album, so I have mixed feelings about it. Their use of an orchestra/strings is getting a little bit excessive.

5. The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing: Just like the White Stripes, how can a duo make such good music? Yeah, I know they cheat with looping samples etc. Front woman Katie White, who actually plays the guitar during their shows, picks up the rock gal crown (that Shirley Manson abandoned) in an imaginary title fight with Karen O of the YYYs. Very infectious tunes. Very much a guilty but admit-able pleasure.

4. Vampire Weekend - (self-titled): Managed by the same manager as the previously mentioned White Stripes, these guys are awarded my Rookie Disc of the Year trophy. Better attempt at fusing Congo/African rhythms than anything Paul Simon put out. Do they poke fun at themselves with "The Kids Don't Stand A Chance" or the doubters out there?

3. Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs: I still regret not being able to see these guys live. But at least the next time I do, I'll get to hear them jam to "I Will Possess Your Heart" which reminds me a bit of "Roxanne" with its stalker overtones.

2. Snow Patrol - A Hundred Million Suns: I was actually a little disappointed when I first listened to this album. They seemed to fall into their Grey's Anatomy groove with their mellow side of things, but the more I listened to it, their more energetic side did show through on "Take Back the City" and "Crack the Shutters". This is their first album in a while not to take the top spot. Am interested in Gary Lightbody's rumoured solo album though

And the winner is (drum roll)...


1. Coldplay - Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends: These guys don't seem to rest on their laurels. They could have just slapped something together and have their iPod ad and magazine reviews do all the work, but Chris Martin and the boys holed themselves up in an old bakery to work on their latest effort. "Lost" defiantly starts off with stating that, "Just because I'm losing, doesn't mean I'm lost". "Viva La Vida", the video for "Violet Hill" and even the album artwork all have subtle or not so subtle religious or political references and undertones. They joke about giving their fans a choice in what to call this album with its long title. Grab the Prospekt's March edition if you haven't picked this up yet or just add the EP as a supplement. It even has an appearance by their label boss, Jay-Z.

Top Singles of the Year (2008)

The Grammy's are this weekend, so it's time I try to round out all the tunes that I've been listening to from the last year. This is the tunes I dig (in no particular order), should have my annual Top 10 CDs out this weekend (which will have some bands that would have been listed here, but I don't want to reference them too much).

The Kooks - Always Where I Need To Be
Cold War Kids - Something Is Not Right with Me
Time To Pretend - MGMT [Too catchy / guilty pleasure]
Estelle - American Boy (Featuring Kanye West) [Great beats & hooks]
Feist - My Moon My Man (Grizzly Bear Remix) [Fav remix]
The Submarines - You, Me and the Bourgeoise [Fav indie]
Jem - It's Amazing [Fav 'should be on Grey's Anatomy' tune]
The Fratellis - Mistress Mabel
Rise Against - Re-education (through labor) [Fav punk]
Nine Inch Nails - Discipline [Best Free Tune]
Stills - Being Here
Hawksley Workman - When You Gonna Flower?
Raconteurs - Salute Your Solution [Most rockin']
Kathleen Edwards - I Make The Dough, You Get The Glory [Best hocky reference]
Hayden - Barely Friends [ConCan]

What's your fav tune from 2008?

Hockey Math: Why the Calgary Flames are Better than the Oilers

So if the Buffalo Sabres beats the Edmonton Oilers 10-2 and the Calgary Flames beats Buffalo 5-2, does that mean the Flames would beat the Oilers 25 to 2? Also does this show that the Flames are 12.5 times better? Trust me, it's an easy proof to do :-)

The Oilers were pounded was so bad, even our local sports radio station had to mention it in a song. For all those fans of the Oilers and the Kinks (or are curious about cross-dressing):

Goal (sung to the tune of Lola by the Kinks)

"But when Jochen Hetch scored, you must've known you were screwed..."

I was camera-less for the game, but the Flames did put on "Military Appreciation Night" where some season ticket holders donated their ducats to local soldiers. During the pre-game ceremony, they had a video montage playing some Johnny Cash that was so good, it even had the Flames starting line-up pull back from the blue line so they could check it out on the jumbo-tron. Another nice touch was that all the side games during the tv timeouts had soldiers vying for prizes. As for the game itself, Kipper made two ridiculous saves and the linesmen should have waved off two icing calls against the Flames (luckily they didn't cost us a goal). You usually only hear the "Oilers Suck" chant when they come to town, but the fans busted it out anyways as the Flames pulled ahead in the third period.

Calgary Art Show

An ambitious and aspiring attempt at arranging artists altogether (who knew I could alliterate? My high school english teacher would be so proud). It takes place this Sunday all under one roof (the future Meals on Wheels home) and is totally accessible since it's free to the public.



For more info, check out their website: www.oneoneoneone.ca

PS. Happy new year and all the best in 2009 to all my friends and family.