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Archive for March, 2009

When Green means bad, then Pollution means good?

Posted in science, tagged , , , on March 23, 2009| 2 Comments »

“Green” power is an environmental catastrophe waiting to happen?  Do people even know what they’re saying anymore when they pitch a new power project idea or do they just ad-lib the proposals… this is so confusingly backwards.

Times Colonist: B.C. Rivers at Risk from Green Power

um… if the project pollutes the river, like say the COAL MINE on Flathead River for example, then that is not GREEN.

I think when the coal mining industry uses the word “green” to describe their new project, its time to find a new word for environmentally sustainable.

OK, I’ll climb off my soap box now… but seriously… Rivers at RISK from Green Power!  SWA?

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sun it will rise / soon enough

Posted in history 101, music, neat-O gang, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 22, 2009| 7 Comments »

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Coral and I got busy this weekend.  We have almost organized the homestead.  I went rooting through Madelyn’s closet and dug out the record player.  Just needed to find a home for it.  An adventerous trip out to Wal-Mart and we moved the TV off the mantle and onto a TV stand and now the record player has a home!

My record player is my old man’s that lived in our family home throughout most of the 80s and into the 90s.  It is a Hitachi Direct Drive Turntable HT-350.  I don’t know if that is a good record player or not, but it is the year 2009 and its still spinning 33s.  I had this old beast set up in my old Fernwood apartment.  The top is covered in wax from candles and there was a candle spill down one of my speakers.  The speakers are the newest part of the rig, my old man bought them for me as a present when I first moved out on my own or soon after.  The amp is an an ancient Kenwood KR-4600 from the 70s I bought at a flee market in Aldergrove (maybe ? or maybe Cloverdale) when I was living with Paul in the basement of that shithole in Burncouver.  Some guy had the bed of a pick-up truck full of old stereo equipment.  He sold me that Kenwood for $20.  He said, “kid, this Kenwood is older than you and it’ll work!”

These days, the amp has some connection problems when I fiddle with any of the knobs.  I might need to take my amp in for a tune up…and heck, the LP player could use a tune up too.  Alix was saying something about a store that sells juke-boxes out in Oak Bay or something where the guy can fix up and refurbish my archaic audiophile instrumentations.

***

Here is my weekly top 9!

01) The Replacements
02) The Decemberists
03) Boards of Canada
04) Explosions in the Sky
04) Maria Taylor
06) Braid
06) Bright Eyes
08) The Promise Ring
08) The National

***
God I love Sunday.

***

I have an exciting week coming up.  I have a new project that is paying me a good living wage to do what I do best.  When it is finished and my client is satisfied I’ll be sure to share it here.  It might be a new business venture for me.  I am jazzed on the concept because it is a job that remains focused on my core values as a person.  It feels good to get paid and recognized for what you fundamentally do.  Plus I can continue to rock the Zone and live in Victoria!  Those are such massive benefits.  I might actually start a real-life business and pay taxes and get a website and everything!  as Madelyn would say, “OooOoOoH  wow Da-dy.”

on the non-profit front, I have two new podcast ideas to try and launch in conjunction with Capital Rock City.  Both are spoken word and of a more serious nature.  I doubt I have the energy for both but I think I will try a demo of both a see what I like more.

The first idea is a history podcast.  Tackling a story or idea of Vancouver Island history every week.  I like history and there isn’t a good history podcast on the iTunes store… maybe I can be the guy that makes it.

The other idea is a farming podcast.  I am working with a farming family on Madrona Farm in Saanich on some fundraisers to help save their farm from the pressures of development.  The family are real characters with an encyclopedic knowledge of organic and sustainable farming.  It would be a shame to not share their passion for your food with you!  It’ll change the way the way you think about your salad greens, that’s for sure.

That said, if the podcast doesn’t get off the ground, a mighty rock concert will.  Details for the concert will play out on this blog as they develop.  If you’re in a band and you want to take part, please don’t be shy and fire me an email.

My coffee is running low and its almost time to flip the Fleet Foxes record to the B-side so I’m out like trout.

Go with yourself.

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Capital Rock City #49 / Skies Kill, Crown the Wolf, The Faunts, Something Better, Steve Marriner

Posted in Capital Rock City, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 20, 2009| Leave a Comment »

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Come get some, Capital Rock City in late, but always on time.

Please Listen: Capital Rock City 49

and remember kids, SUBSCRIBING to the podcast on iTunes is the only way to fight a wild fire in Australia!  The cute little koala bears thank you for it.  Or heck, why not RSS Feed this bitch direct from The Zone!

DJ Notes:

01) Skies Kill – “Exhaust Fumes”
02) Skies Kill – “Remote Visibility”
03) Crown The Wolf – “Primer Ride”
04) The Faunts – “Feel. Love. Thinking of.”
05) Something Better – “Long to Tell You”
06) Steve Marriner – “Zulu Ripper”

***

Skies Kill are one of my new favourites.  Danny Peters from the group emailed me three songs earlier this week and I gave them all a solid listen.  The band is still developing their sound and maybe there are parts I’d tighten up, but the basic genesis of the music is wonderful to my ears.  The lead off track that I played on CRC, “Exhaust Fumes” is one of my stand-out picks because a lot happens in less than 3 minutes.  It is almost two songs with a long soundtracky end.

Crown The Wolf bring the Fu Manchu fuzz rock to Victoria and maybe you’ll come see them at Evolution Nightclub next Thursday, March 26th!

Adam at Sonic in Deadmonton has to yet to fail in exporting something mighty from the Champion Rock City… the hockey team might suck, but the music is wonderous.

Now Adam might not own a scarf, but I do, so I care what Pitchfork has to say about The Faunts. Actually, I don’t believe Adam doesn’t own a scarf, hypothermia is a clear and present danger in Edmonton any time of the year… maybe I should send him one?

Next I talk to Wynn Gogol.  Wynn operates 1 Ton Studios in the Quadra Village.  He recorded Something Betters music!  Nice.

http://www.wynngogol.com

One of Wynn’s favourite projects was/is working with Ottawa’s Steve Marriner, so I ended the podcast with Steve’s “Zulu Ripper” which … um… rips.

That’s all I got.  Best of 2009… so far, is coming to you next week.  If you have any ideas or request then please don’t be shy, email me or comment.

Go with yourself.

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Running a Bit Behind

Posted in Capital Rock City, neat-O gang, tagged , on March 18, 2009| 1 Comment »

Sorry, I have been very sick the past couple of days (so has Coral, and her Mom and her friend Alix… and pretty much everyone we know).

Capital Rock City is going to have to be pushed back to Thursday and sadly, the Marianna’s Trench interview was missed, BUT I did get a contact for another interview for a local record producer.

That’s all I got for now, I have to play catch up (so much work waiting for me) and get ready for a live broadcast.  Capital Rock City will be ready for your podcasting pleasure tomorrow.

Go with yourself.

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West! To Jordan River

Posted in playlist, tagged on March 16, 2009| 3 Comments »

It was a rainy, windy Sunday afternoon.  No better time to slap together some turkey sandwiches, bundle up Mads and load the Jeep full of friends for a journey west, to Jordan River err, River Jordan.

It takes about an hour or so (depending if you stop in Sooke for a nuk-nuk and some peanut butter cups or not) to make it to British Columbia’s wild west coast.  Here is the soundtrack.  Coral and I picked a few of our favourites right now.

West! To Jordan River

01) Maria Taylor – A Good Start
02) Bright Eyes – Devil Town
03) Joe Purdy – Can’t Get It Right Today
04) The National  – Mr. November
05) Glen Hansard – Falling Slowly
06) Sara Bareilles – Gravity
07) Josh Radin – Today
08) The Flaming Lips – She Don’t Use Jelly
09) Jimmy Eat World – Work
10) Maria Taylor – Clean Getaway
11) Jealous Sound – Hope For Us
12) Interpol – Untitled
13) Fleet Foxes – White Winter Hymnal
14) Grand Archives – Swan Matches
15) The National – Slow Show
16) Explosions in the Sky – Your Hand in Mine

and would you look at that, the playlist times out at an hour.  This is a pretty easy listening mix and contains lots of standards here at the Baker Homestead.

While we were out in Jordan River we found a restaurant for sale!  Just $635,000! ha.  ONLY!

We daydreamed about how fantastical it would be to live out in Jordan River and instantly double the population operating a surf bar and grill on the beach.

The for sale business is the orangey building three in from the left along the “strip” of Jordan River.  Coral and I have adventured out that way many times in our relationship and have never seen it open.  I guess that goes to show how sound of a business it might be, but still… it sure would be fun.  The restaurant sits on a fairly impressive lot.  There is a house behind the storefront (that needs some work) and a good sized yard, plus, um, you’re almost right on the Ocean!  We\d stock the bar, serve the best burgers, put a hostel (and radio station, that’s my idea, shhh, don’t tell Coral or Alix, I haven’t OK’d that with them yet) in the basement and killer patio to watch the waves.  I guess the mortgage payment on $650,000  would be more than the business could generate… $3,500-$4,000 a month sound right? zoinks!  and no bank would lend me that money anyways.  Better get me a lotto 649 ticket today.

I still think the western areas of Vancouver Island are the final frontiers. The land is empty and it is gorgeous.  Its move west or north of the Malahat and if you asked me, west is best!  Oh well… day dreams over, time to make a sandwich, a salad or soup or something, change the baby’s diaper and get ready for work.

Go with yourself.

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My 50 Word Story

Posted in ...this is your father speaking, tagged , on March 16, 2009| 8 Comments »

When Madelyn was a newborn she would wake up. I’d get up with her to let Mom sleep and we’d hang out. Late one night the CBC showed a documentary which I believe will be her future. Synchronized Swimming. I always wondered how someone got their kids into bizarre sports.

***

The Phat Bunny dot net runs a feature on 50 word stories and he asked me to right a guest spot for him.  This exercise is much harder than I thought it would be.  First off, TPB’s stories are really good and second, I couldn’t think what to write about.  I defaulted on the stayed but true, write what you know.  Music or baby.

I can’t really write about *babies* with any authority, just mine.  But I like this story because I am not sure if I ever blogged it before and it is one of those memories that is very clear for me, so it is good to write it down before I suffer a brain injury or get Alzheimer’s.

My little thought story required editing to get it to 50 words and still be a cohesive idea.  Reminded me of an old exercise we did in broadcast school.  The writing teacher (whose name I forget but he was good man) would give us a paragraph and we’d have to eliminate half the words and the paragraph still had to make sense.  Then, we’d have to halve that half paragraph.  Then sometimes, halve that one!  Yikes… but it is important for radio because generally we have to get some big ideas on the air in just a matter of seconds.  It is what has always bothered me about school assignments where the goal is a “6-page” or “1,000 word” essay.  If I were a teacher, I’d want you to demonstrate your knowledge or convince me your point in the fewest words.  Christ, teaching is a union gig, the less time marking, means more time to party.

Go with yourself.

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lets talk about some good guys, lets talk about the troops

Posted in music, tagged , , on March 12, 2009| 4 Comments »

I just got my hands on the new Propagandhi record Supporting Caste.  I must say, just a couple listens in, it might be their best.  Bold statement but the reason I believe that is because I feel that with every Propagandhi record, the band shows a little more depth in song writing and their political viewpoints are a little more balanced and argued.  The new Propagandhi is great balance of aggressive power and politics with smooth grooves.  I find moments in the record to be melodic and almost hypnotizing before building up into another flurry of aggression.

I started listening to Propagandhi in the late 90s when Paul and I did the Morning After Show.  We used to play How to Clean Everything and Less Talk, More Rock a ton on our show.  This dude named Trevor did a punk rocker show on the CiTR before us and he turned us on to the group.  I found Propagandhi to be very inspiring, kinda because musically it was pretty basic and savage.  They were the band that showed me that ANYONE that puts their energy into music, can take something out of it.

As I started collecting their records and listening more and more, I began to enjoy their newer records.  My fave always being whatever the latest disc is.  “Die Jugend Marschiert” off Potemkin City Limits is a killer focus cut form the band.  I don’t think the song has a traditional chorus, they just blast off with this story and belt out the words.  Oddly, the title track “Potemkin City Limits” is on the new record, Supporting Caste.  Some of my other favourite focus tracks if you are thinking of trying a few out would be:

“Hallie Sallass, Up Your Ass” from How to Clean Everything
“Stick the fucking flag up you Goddamned Ass, you sonofabitch” from How to Clean Everything
“Back to The Motor league” from Today’s Empires, Tomorrow’s Ashes

Website: Propagandhi.com

Go with yourself.

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Interior crocodile alligator I drive a Chevrolet movie theater

Posted in neat-O gang, tagged on March 11, 2009| 1 Comment »

Thank you Paul for this: Interior Crocodile Alligator (I Drive a Chevrolet Movie Theater)

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Everything dies, baby thats a fact.

Posted in music, tagged , , , , , , on March 11, 2009| Leave a Comment »

because all my wisdom comes from television: “No one pays to see a one ball juggler.”

bands or record labels that disable the embedding feature on their music videos make me not want to share their great art with others.  grrrr.

That is my little rant of the moment.

Here are some of my favourite bands getting play at home over the past week according to my LastFM page.

01) The Von Bondies
02) The National
02) Bright Eyes
04) The Frames
05) Explosions in the Sky
06) Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
06) The Tragically Hip
06) The Hold Steady
09) The Fratellis
09) The Flaming lips
09) Joshua Radin
09) Beck
09) Joe Purdy
09) Vampire Weekend
09) New Pornographers

The Von Bondies new record is mighty good.  I am loving it the last couple days.  I only put it on my computer yesterday!

Time for rant two:  Pitchfork, get it together.  Your new website is brutal slow on every computer I use and not very practical for me to read.  Time for a new web design intern!  Unless of course, they’re pulling a Nirvana.  Maybe they are too popular and to get back that indie street cred they have designed a site so frustratingly difficult to navigate, all but the most scene (and I suppose unemployed) will have the time to wait for pages to load and to hunt for the basics.  grrr.

The Hold Steady did a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Atlantic City.”  At first I wasn’t too into the track, but it is really growing on me.

ALRIGHT!  Sorry to yell, but Madelyn is hungry and really wishing I’d stop typing about music and feed her.

Go with yourself.

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Capital Rock City #48 / Retrospective

Posted in Capital Rock City, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 11, 2009| 1 Comment »

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Capital Rock City #48 goes back in time to 2005/2006 to play some of my old faves from the first season of Capital Rock City.
Have a listen:  Capital Rock City 48

and remember kids when you subscribe to Capital Rock City n the podcasting section of the iTunes store of punch up the RSS feed, a baby Orca is born!

DJ Notes

01) Black Tie Social – “Silver Screens”
02) Jets Overhead – “Addiction”
03) Maurice – “Hold On”
04) Heart Carried Heavy – “Courage”
05) Leeroy Stagger – “Just in Case”
06) Open Parachute – “Art and Credit Cards”

Just feeling nostalgic for some of the old tunes from the first run of CRC back in the winter of 2005 and spring/summer of 2006.  It was very hard to cut this show down to just six tracks.  I hope there is something there in that set that you’ll love.

Next week will be #49 and it’ll be new music once again.  I have a great song from Adam at Sonic 102.9 in the chute and I think Lindsey in Winnipeg is toying with the idea of sending a dispatch from the Fly Ridden City.

For episode #50 I am not sure what to do to celebrate?  Maybe a best of ’09 (so far) or listener picks?  I don’t know if I have enough listeners for a listeners pick, but maybe I’ll try that and if I don’t get enough requests, I’ll flesh it out.

Then #51 will be a project as I attempt to uncover some old audio from the original “Morning After Show.”  I *had* some old cassettes floating around from sporadic shows.  I didn’t do a very good job of archiving anything back then because honestly, I didn’t think I’d be on the radio for 10 years… but it is the 10 year anniversary of my first radio show, and I want to find some old clips to share and maybe play some of the old indie rock from the time (Dead Model Shoot anyone?).  I do know that one of my original mini-discs of “imaging” went missing pretty soon after I moved to Victoria and the other one I think has also wandered by now.  That is kinda sad.
Whatever, I’d use what I got and see if any of it is still funny and make it a special CRC #51.

***

Thank you for downloading Capital Rock City and if you enjoy my podcast, please share the link with a friend.

Go with yourself.

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