Guess Who's Back...

Back Again... Been back in town for about two weeks now. Took me one week to get over the jet-lag. Didn't take many fotos at all, my dad, uncle and brother-in-law took plenty, so I'll post them all soon enough for everyone. It was good to get away, pretty mellow trip, but very relaxing. Plenty of rest has helped me gain a few more inches on my vert!

Googled an interesting article on the publishing of indepedent magazines when I was trying to find out whatever happened to a Vancouver mag called Banana as I didn't come across it when I overnighted there for the J.E.W. show (which was great, but I'll save that for my holiday post).


Happy holidays everyone!! Best wishes and plenty of blogs for 2005!!

Holidays

Sorry for lack of posts, but I've been totally busy with work and play. Doesn't help that I'll be leaving for a 3-week holiday starting tomorrow night. Returning to the motherland, Hong Kong, to catch up with relatives and also spending a week in a villa in Bali. I just pushed back my flight from Vancouver to Calgary by 24 hours so I can stick around and catch Jimmy Eat World play @ the Commodore ballroom before I come back to reality.

All Hallow's Eve

I'm still surprised that I don't get more than 25 kids by my house. Don't they realize that the candy density tm is high for a condo complex? Mikey carved up a whole family of pumpkins and I had the scary music to put the ones that did come by. Watched a few movies that would match the night starting with Van Hesling as all the kids were coming by and then we turned off all the lights and a bunch of us caught Open Water (aka Blair Water Project due to its indie and scary nature). Not the best idea if you were planning (and I was) on going scuba diving anytime soon. At work, most of IT and HR dressed up and I had to say that the dude that rented the Scooby Doo costume was hilarious.

Music Reviews

Here's a half-dozen reviews of CDs that I picked up recently:

• Flutterby by Butterfly Boucher - She kept mentioning to buy her CD when she opened for Sarah McLachlan, so I picked it up for way cheaper online that what it was being hawked for at the 'Dome. If it were up to me, I would have made I Can't Make Me the lead-off single, with its clever lyrics and emotional singing, rather than Another White Dash.

• Hello Starling by Josh Ritter - Another opening act for another Sarah (Harmer). Caught this humble performance at the CPA, so it sounded great and it was a more intimate performance. His rendition of Kathleen sounded familair but it took me a few days later to realize that I did heard this track before... via Liz Phair's recommendation as he opened for her earlier as well. Bright Smile Dark Eyes mellowed the crowd out while everyone (but me it seemed) laughed at the s&m reference in You Don't Make It Easy Babe.
  

• So Jealous by Sara & Tegan - This hometown twin duo's latest disc is garnering some critical acclaim. I was impress by their previous work, If It Was You, so I was definitely looking forward to this one. Listened to the CD a few times so far, nothing's caught on yet, so I'm still reserving judgement on this one...

• Folker by Paul Westerberg - Total disappointment. This guy's releases yo-yo's in quality. A few interesting tunes and a few good lines, but few and far in-between unfortunately.

• Wayward Angel by Kasey Chambers - Another disappointment. Her last CD showed a lot of promise and potential but it I think she takes a step back this time around. Maybe I will have to give it another listen when I don't have such a negative
  
• Futures by Jimmy Eat World - One of the best albums of the year. I could go on about how great it is, but I recommend that you listen to the whole album, but their first single, Pain, is a good start. Work and The World You Love are my two favs, tho Liz Phair's help and vibe on the former are an unfair advantage. I'm sure I'll be writing more about this disc in my annual Top 10 CD list.

NHL Takes a Break

Like Ross & Rachel from Friends, the NHL and the NHLPA are "taking a break". Heck they're not even on speaking terms. So what if it's officially a lockout and not a strike? Either way, the only NHL hockey I'll be seeing will be on my Gamecube or my roommate's PS2 rather than in da 'Dome (chillin' with Jarome... thanks VIBE 98.5 for bringing back the flames playoff parody song).

The way they have drawn their lines in the sand makes matters impossible to settle. There is no middle ground on the "cost certainty" / salary cap issue to work towards. The implications of a long puck drought will affect both sides, but neither is willing to budge. Both sides will take a hit as revenues will be lower as the new TV contract takes place and as fewer fans will be back when (if?) everything gets settled.

The notion that this league is the fourth Major league after the NFL, NBA, and MLB is pretentious. At this rate, it is being lumped with soccer and lacrosse, as the PGA, NASCAR, and even tennis get more coverage across all forms of media. It may be tough for some to admit so, but the league's popularity has been slipping ever since Bettman took office and a work stoppage doesn't help.

So on the supposed evening of the Flames home opener where we would have raised the Western Conference banner, we went to Joey's Tomatoes instead. Many other fans did other things besides pouring over hockey pool stats or going to games and will continue to do even when the NHL comes back.