Occasionally Wright

A New Source of Music

Prior to trying out thesixtyone.com I had never heard of the following bands and artists:

Aron Wright
Bandwagon Device (from Saskatchewan)
Dust Rhinos (from Winnipeg)
Hudson
Paul and Storm
Sarah Donner
Squid
The Avett Brothers (who are downright awesome)

I came across all of them, and more, in the past 48 hours. Based on how I heard about the site (via an overenthusiastic advertising guy) I was skeptical about what I'd find, but it turns out there are a lot of great independent artists out there. I've mostly been listening to the folk channel includes lots of bluegrass and acoustic stuff too) as well as the rock, alternative and pop channels. The nice thing about the site is that a lot of the artists provide song to download for free, which puts thesixtyone.com way ahead of most other online radio and music sites.

You can check out what I've found below.

This is a test

If you're reading this it means I've successfully posted from my new Blackberry. If you're not reading it... Well... I guess you are, aren't you?

I'm not sure why I want to be able to submit posts from my Blackberry but it seems like a function that might come in handy some day.

Thankfully I have smallish thumbs for typing on this thing.

Music Mini-Crisis

No one ever warned me  a lot of the music I used to listen to would be a whole lot less fun after I got married.

It turns out I used to enjoy a lot of angst-filled music about relationships and break-ups. Now I can't relate to much of anything Dashboard Confessional sings about.

What brings this up is the new Matt Mays and El Torpedo album, Terminal Romance. The album is fantastic but as the title kind of implies the lyrics from some of the best songs are about a failed relationship. They're still fun to sing along with in the car, but I just can't relate any more. that's a good thing of course, but what am I supposed to listen to now?

Overreact Much?

Umm... right.

A French-language rights group is demanding an apology from Prime Minister Stephen Harper for a controversial poster hanging at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

The poster — used to advertise the embassy's Canada Day party — featured a picture of French explorer Samuel de Champlain holding a plate of poutine, Quebec's famous delicacy made with fries, cheese curds and gravy.

And then...

Perreault compared the poutine image to using a hotdog to promote English Canada.

The embassy removed the poutine from the poster as soon as Impératif Français complained, but Perreault said further steps are warranted.

He said Foreign Minister David Emerson should apologize, and Michael Wilson, Canada's ambassador to the U.S., should resign.

Really? Would anyone in English Canada be offended if a poster for a party had a picture of Sir John A holding a hot dog? I'd go so far as to wager that there have probably been posters made of him holding a beer.

If the poster had have had Champlain holding a hamburger it would of been seen as trying to anglicize him. If he had have been holding nothing it would have been construed as an attempt to make it look like French Canada doesn't know how to have fun. And let's not even start on the outrage if the poster didn't include a French-Canadian icon.

Somebody just wants to complain about something.

In sum- a special interest group wants an ambassador to resign over a poster of a French guy holding a food item made famous in Quebec.

New Member Of The Family (It's Not A Baby)

First there Sekai, our golden mix that Meg has had since shortly after she started vet school.

Then there was Eddie, who we got shortly after we got married in the fall of 2005.

Somehow we went from having a dog and a black and white cat to adding a black and white puppy that is a perfect mix of both of their personalities. Her name is Daisy. All three animals were adopted from animal shelters.



The shelter claimed that Daisy is a flat-coated retriever but they just make an educated guess so people can have a rough idea of what they're adopting. Meg happened to have a sample of a DNA dog breed test so we did a cheek swab on Daisy and sent it off to BioVet Pet Lab. According to them Daisy is a dachshund/papillion mix. Sure she is.

Here's a dachshund:

Here's a papillion:

If Daisy is a mix of those two then Sekai is a Great Dane and Eddie is a ocelot.

An Open Letter To Cook County

Dear Cook County, GA,

At no point in the future will I ever intentionally stop in your county to spend a solitary cent. If there was a way to get to Florida without driving through your county I'd do it. Who, in their right mind, imposes a 50 mph speed limit on an interstate through a rural area directly in between two 70 mph zones? I'm sure it's a great revenue generator for the county, but you won't generate any more revenue from me.

American Idol All Over Archuleta

My wife likes American Idol so I watch American Idol. It's that simple. I got sucked into this season because there was one contestant who was actually entertaining to listen to- David Cook.

It shouldn't surprise me that a show like American Idol set up the final for a David Archuleta but wow- could they be any more in love with this guy.

Here's the thing- David Archuleta went safe with every song selection and bored me to tears. David Cook experimented, showed he could sing something other than ballads, and actually had stage presence.

David Archuleta is a better singer. David Cook is a better musician and artist and will go on to have a much, much better career. Hopefully he loses so he isn't saddled with a stifling American Idol contract.

By the way, my wife pointed out that after David Cook's first song Randy said it was a great way to kick off the 2007 finals showdown. 2007? Really?

Prince Caspian

I haven't seen Prince Caspian yet, but it doesn't surprise me in the least that it's getting reviews like this:

The unexpected success of the first episode of C.S. Lewis' seven-part Chronicles of Narnia three years ago — $745 million worldwide — has spawned the inevitable sequel, a darker, more violent and more overtly faith-based follow-up... The Narnia assembly line is already cranked up for further installments, but they had better be more interesting than this uninspired sword-sorcery-and-spirituality spectacle.

The review tells you more about its writer (Hap Erstein from the Palm Beach Post) than it tells you about the movie. First of all, anyone that thought the success of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was unexpected grossly underestimates the appeal of CS Lewis. Secondly, the assembly line is cranked up for future installments because other books were written. Finally, this movie may be somewhat uninspired but it's not necessarily the fault of the moviemakers. Of the seven books that make up the Chronicles of Narnia I'd rank Prince Caspian sixth. Here's how I'd rank the entire series:

1. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
2. The Last Battle
3. The Magician's Nephew
4. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
5. The Silver Chair
6. Prince Caspian
7. The Horse and His Boy

How would you rank them?

Friends Waiting For News From Burma

It boggles my mind that the government of Burma/Myanmar still isn't allowing much-needed aid into the country, and while disasters like this halfway around the world are usually pretty faceless, this one is hitting home.

Ruth and Aung Lawt are two of my mother;s best friends back home. She babysat their first two children and she occasionally takes care of them. They moved to PEI nine years ago and both of them are originally from Burma. Aung runs the sushi stand at the Superstore on University Avenue. Ruth runs the Monsoon tea room downtown. Both of their families live in Rangoon and neither one of them has been able to get in touch with any of their relatives. Aung would probably go back and try to find them himself if he was allowed back in the country. He's a former political prisoner though and can't go back without risking his life.

If there was an easy way to get aid into Burma I'd plead with you to do so, but as it stands the only way I can think of to help these people right now is to support Monsoon.Knowing Ruth and Aung they'll do everything they can to help their families when they get word form Burma. If you're looking for a good lunch in Charlottetown this week feel free to stop by Monsoon and show some support for this incredible family. The restaurant is at 79 University Ave.

Obama's Face Shows Up In An Odd Place

As far as I know nobody else is talking about this (aside from a very brief thread on the Thrashers' message boards).

So can someone explain to me why the Obama campaign is advertising on the site of an NHL team? That in itself is odd enough as don't imagine many sports teams would risk alienating their fanbase by taking money from one candidate and thereby showing tacit support for that candidate and party. But what's really odd is that the team is the Toronto Maple Leafs. Are there that many ex-pats living in Toronto that the Obama camp thinks it's worth their while? It's a big ad and it's in a prime location on the site so I don't imagine it came cheaply.

I first saw it more than 24 hours ago and I'm still scratching my head over it, so if anyone has any thoughts please chime in. And do campaign advertising/spending rules apply to advertisements outside of the US?