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Archive for August, 2009

Yesterday  I met up with the Vic Burger Blog guy, Donald, to mow down on a burger to add to his outstanding list of Victoria burger reviews.

I wanted to hit Cabin 12 on Pandora Street.  Last week, I met up with Robin Farrell of Kool FM for a bite, and we ventured to Cabin 12 and I was mighty impressed with the service, cost and quality of the meal.  Robin and I rocked wraps, this time, Donald and I would be trying the burger.

Donald ordered some creation with a fried egg, some bacon and cheese on top.  Pretty much a breakfast AND lunch combo thing.  I went with their classic, Cabin 12 burger.

What to say about it?  I loved that it wasn’t too saucy, an overly saucy burger makes me want to drag net the ocean bottom.  The burger came open faced on a hearty whole wheat bun and came with all the standard fixings.

Right away, the burger could do no worse than par.

The patty tasted like some kind of homemade creation from a picnic long past.  It had that “mom” feel about it and some surprises as you bit in.  Red and Green peppers?  sure, I hope that is what it was.  Donald and I had a hard time deciding if this was good or not.  The dude mentioned that the burger was very similar to the Floyd’s Burger, something about the owner being a former employee?

For the $8 something I paid and the funky vibe of the joint I’ll give this burger a firm recommend and it will become a new favourite diner for me.  I’ll need to drag Coral down sometime for a breakfast.  Ha, maybe this morning when I wake up before work.  Friday is pay day!

Go with yourself.

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I am working on a new playlist, this one is taking some time to find all the *right* songs.  I can’t share it yet, but I am listening to it now and the opening cut from Appleseed Cast, “Forever Longing the Golden Sunsets” is truly an amazing track.  This playlist is still in its infancy and will require lots of love and listens, but I like that track to open things up.  Can’t wait to share it with you.

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mmm, today I tried to jam out some grilled scallops and bok choy.

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Mine didn’t look like that, but it is still mighty.  My biggest challenge was tracking down scallops, Save-On Foods doesn’t carry scallops?  For shame.

Ingredients:

Grilled Scallops With Bok Choy

  • 16 x jumbo scallops (16/20 count), clean and debearded
  • 8 x baby bok choy, cleaned and cut in half length ways

Marinade

  • 2 tbsp soy sauce (30ml)
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce (15ml)
  • 1 tbsp honey (15ml)
  • Juice and zest of 1 lime
  • 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger (15ml)
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves (60ml)
  • 3 tbsp toasted sesame seeds (45ml)
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil (15ml)
  • 1 tbsp fresh chopped garlic (15ml)
Directions:

Grilled Scallops With Bok Choy

  1. Preheat barbeque grill to 400°F/204°C or high heat.
  2. Remove scallops from marinade and pat dry.
  3. Oil barbeque grill.
  4. Place scallops and bok choy on grill. Grill scallops for 45 seconds per side or until scallops are golden brown with a slightly crisp exterior. Grill bok choy for approximately 30 seconds per side or until leaves are bright green and heart is golden brown.
  5. Remove from grill. Serve immediately.

Marinade

  1. In a medium size bowl combine all marinade ingredients. Pour half of the marinade over scallops and the remaining half over bok choy. Allow to marinade for 20 minutes.

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Where is my red baseball cap?  The playlist I am listening to right now makes me want to punch a clarinet player.

The Mega D-Bagger (some choice cuts)

Rise Against – “Savior”
Shinedown – “Devour”
Three Days Grace – “Time of Dying”
Hollywood Undead – “No. 5”
(yeah that just happened, MySpace music circa 2005)
“Lets take some shawtz!”
Rev Theory – “Hell Ya”
Hinder – “Get Stoned”
Hell Yeah – “Alcohaulin Ass”
Asher Roth – “I Love College”
Red Jumpsuit Apparatus – “Damn Regret”
Sum 41 – “Some Say”
Apocalyptica – “I’m Not Jesus”
Chevelle – “I Get It”

*special bonus D-Bagger tune: Hinder – “Lips of an Angel”

Damn, I hate myself after rocking this set out, but you know what?  Even I break down and want to hear some base drinking tunes.

iTunes REALLY wanted me to download some Puddle of Mudd to you know, make it complete… but I gots none and I’m not sure if its worth the .99 cents.

Rise Against is an old favourite, that I got bored of once they started getting their due on the radio… but “Savior” is bringing me back into the fold.  When that track pops up on the rotation on the Zone, I stop stalking you on Facebook and crank it in the studio.  I thought RA would be a good jumping off point and low and behold, my listening took me into jock rock territory.  I figure if I played lacrosse for the junior Shamrocks, this is the sorta music I’d be listening to before challenging the skinniest kid in the room to a fight… who’d normally be me! ah, but this time I got the letter jacket.

Shinedown’s “Devour” is a song that my man James Sutton turned me on to.  I came into the Zone one day just before he took off to The Peak and he said, “don’t hate me, but I sorta like a Shinedown song.”  I don’t hate you James, just disappointed.  Fuck the song is catchy.

Three Days Grace… spooky, “I will not die! I’ll wait here for you…”  hmmm, future cut showing up on Edward Cullen’s mixtape for Bella?

Hollywood Undead, um… I have no excuse.  Kill me now.  WTF is up with these guys, seriously?  Its like the Mayfair Mall had too many ‘shawtz’ and puked out a band.

Rev Theory is the music I would fire up just before I broke into a drug dealers house to steal his stash.  This might be what dude cheerleader music sounds like?  “Give me a HELL!  Give me a Yeaaaaaaaaah!”  Oh boy, this will end poorly.  “I am a junkie 4 lyfe!”

Rev Theory had some iTunes recommendations for Hinder, but not “Get Stoned.”  You mean the band has any other song?

Oh right, “Lips of an Angel.”  Holy shit, I remember when this song was changing lives and we never played it on the Zone.  But oh man it was requested. all.the.time.  The odd guy… sure I get it, its a fantasy song about being a rock star and having a couple girls on the go… but the ladies that request it…for shame, have some respect for yourselves.  I asked Coral about it once, “Coral, what is up with girls requesting ‘Lips of an Angel?’  First off, ‘Get Stoned’ is the only song by Hinder anyone should care about ever, for the rest of time, on their tombstones, it should say… the guys that got stoned, lest we forget… and second, the song is about Johnny D-Bag lusting after some chick that has ‘lips of an angel’ while his boring ass girlfriend is sleeping in the other room?!?”

Coral said, “no girl is thinking they are the one sleeping in the other room.”

sure…

Hell Yeah… get it, “Alcohaulin Ass.”  cute.

Asher Roth had a brief, very brief, time on the Zone… then banished.  Too bad, hit my LastFM page and it is one of my most played songs!  ha.  I fucking loved college, I loved it so much, I did it twice and I’m trying to go back for a third round.

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus is that type of “punk” band that ends up on Top 40 radio… so is that punk?  Is Good Charlotte punk?  Is anything really punk?  I think the second your song goes something like… verse chorus verse and you have a branded band name, you left “punk” behind.

Sum 41, the band I love to hate.  I first met these dudes when I did security for Blink 182.  I was trolling around back stage at some huge “punk” concert at Thunderbird Stadium and I happened by the boys.  I had noticed in one of their music videos a reference to the classic film Howard the Duck and thought I’d share it with Sum 41, finally finding my soul mate band that appreciates Lea Thompson and a puppet alien duck as much as I.  They weren’t too impressed and ignored me.  sadness.  The search continues.

(so you know what I’m talking about… 8:02 into this clip of the movie and then Stevo’s jacket of this video.  See! me and Stevo should be besties, not frenimies.)

Years later I had the chance to interview them outside the arena here in Victoria.  Still dinks.  Well Stevo is and the spikey haired one,  but Cone, Cone is cool.

Apacolyptica maybe shouldn’t be on my list.  But I don’t have any Slipknot on my playlist.  Do me a favour… never tell me you’re really into metal then tell me your favourite band is Slipknot… a little part of me dies when you do that.

Chevelle… a perennially guilty pleasure of mine.  They can do no wrong by me… fire your own brother from the band?  Hey as long as you keep making your super dreamy hard rock you can fire Obama!

At the end of my list, if you find yourself asking, “Where’s the Nickelback?” well friendo, you’re a bigger D-bag than me!

Go with yourself.

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crc1

Thank you for finding my weekly Victoria rocker podcast, Capital Rock City.  As I continue the march to 1,000 weekly downloads I ask that maybe you’ll share the link to this podcast with a friend or on your social media page.

Download: Capital Rock City #68

Here we go!

***

DJ Notes

01) Funk Vigilante – “On Top of the World”
02) Goodbye Beatdown – “Feel Your Pain”
03) Lizzie and Simon – “Wherever You Go”
04) Black Hat Villain – “Rain or Shine”

Funk Vigilante reminds me of my old vigilante hat.  Many moons ago when I was snot-nosed suburban hipster, I went to the Warped Tour in Vancouver.  During the show I found this trucker hat (remember when those were so hawt!) that had the top cut off so it looked like a real D-bag styled golf vizer thing.  Written in sharpy marker was the word “vigilante.”  Cool.

Funk Vigilante describes themselves as:

The album is called “Civil Disobedience”  it’s like one of those hot lava burritos, blended up, and poured right into your listening hole.

which is much better than anything I could write.

The Goodbye Beatdown are a Vancouver band that is increasingly spending more and more time visiting us here in Victoria.  They’ll once again be here for a show on August 20th at Lucky Bar.

Liz Beattie was (maybe still is?) the bass player for Machina.  Remember that band?  Lately I notice she performs as The Liz Beattie band or on MySpace as Lizzie and Simon.  Simon is the keyboard player for Maurice and together they make some pretty indie pop.  Cute attack!

I end the show this week with Langfordians, Black Hat Villain.  You’ll get a chance to experience their post-grungy sounds live at The Station House Pub on Saturday, August 15th when they suppoert the Armchair Cynics.

Thank you for trying something new with your music and discovering some great Victoria rock & roll.

Go with yourself

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Coral and I had a very successful weekend in the land of wedding planning.

First off, we finally got around to booking our flights.  We decided to fly out of Bellingham on Wednesday evening because the flights on Allegiant Air were just $58!

Now that $58 is a super base price, Allegiant is all about the additional fees that will bring that price up quick, but still, three return flights was less than one return on Westjet.  Allegiant wins.

We’ll be heading down to Vegas on the Wednesday and coming home the following Wednesday.  Coral also is putting the finishing touches on the invites (which I know are taking forever, sorry, but they look pretty).

I bought my wedding suit!  And the ties for the Groomsmen.  Both on sale! And Coral had her dress fitting.  Madelyn’s passport should arrive late this week or more likely next week.

All that is left before we go is ordering our wedding bands.  Coral’s will be made locally at Van Isle Jewelers and mine is being ordered from Etsy.  Coral is having her bouquet and some flower arrangements made with fake flowers here in Victoria and then we’ll bring them with us to Vegas and I am in charge of wedding favours.

Funding has improved and our projections are lining up to be in a position that is allowing to us to think about some sort of reception.  Coral is trying to find something that would be fun and affordable.  There will be a reception, but will be a dinner, open bar, cocktails, appetizers, all of the above, non of the above? … well that is still being worked on and it needs to fit into our budget (which, well we have a little one, so that is nice).

Finally, we are thinking about some fun things to do in Vegas.  I know that I’ll be spending most my days trucking after Mads at the pool and the gardens.

Nights?  Well what do people want to do?  I might see if there is a show my Mom wants to do and then do that.  And I want to hit the Mandalay Bay Shark tank.  I’ll likely rent a car for at least a day, so I was thinking of hitting some off strip Casino’s and taking a drive into the desert.  And some golf might be in the cards… Sarah D. wants to do a Zip Line too.

It would be cool to go see a LV Wranglers ECHL hockey game, but their first game is the Friday after we leave!  next time.

So that is some of the plans up to today.

Go with yourself.

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Pretty magical.

low level owl

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The new video directed by the late Heath Ledger.  Savage and bizarre and wonderful.

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crc1

Thank you for finding this week’s Capital Rock City.

Today, its real easy… a sit down and chit-chat with Current Swell and then they perform some songs live.  Basically I took the live broadcast from Thursday, July 30 and replayed it here.  Enjoy.

Download: Capital Rock City #67

And remember friends and lovers, if you like the show please consider subscribing on iTunes or with this fine RSS Feed.  if you best enjoy your radio experience on the MP3 player, you might really like Pol Plastino’s Polcast!  This week he has an outstanding call with a Zoner that tries to make the case for texting while driving.  It makes her a better driver!  You got hear it to believe it!

Download: The Polcast

***

DJ Notes

01) Current Swell – “Nail ’em Up (live)”
02) Current Swell – “Red Shag Carpet”
03) Current Swell – “Mr. Golden Sun (live)”

How cool is this, their first song is based on the film ‘Black Snake Moan.’

“Red Shag Carpet” is a song that began life as a bumper sticker the boys saw while driving around.  That needed to be a song!

Lastly, a real treat on CRC, “Mr. Golden Sun” is a song they have never recorded.  They are thinking of maybe laying down on the next record, but you get it first on this here podcast (well second, if you listened ot my show last week, you got it first).”

Thank you for finding my podcast, if you like the show, don’t be shy and share the link with a friend or on your social network. Next week I am already looking forward to some new music from the Goodbye Beatdown and I might track down some music from bands taking part in the Big Time Out Festival and Sunfest?  sure.

Go with yourself.

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David Eleanor sent me this fine 13 questions with…  it brought the lolz.

1. What artist inspired you to create art?
People like Hendrix or greg ginn or Django Reinhardt. People like them don’t
try, they are. Can’t try to be cool…

2. What or who still inspires you to keep on keeping on?
Patrick Swazye, Michael Jackson, The Olsen Twins are cool. Gotta remember to look at the man in the mirror, dude. Don’t forget that, OK?

3.  What would you rather be doing right now?

Your silly facehole.

4.  Give us your best recipe? Let us have it.
No.

5. How old were you when you lost your virginity and how’d it go?

Just days after my 13th birthday & it was better than I hoped it could be. I
’ve been adickted to it ever since.

6. What makes you cringe?
Peter Setera, any form of mob, the kids, people who try to be weird (so they
can tell you they’re so weird), your problems, singing at parties, wearing
orange proudly & things having to do with teeth.

7. If you could pick one super power and it had to be either being able to fly or being able to time travel, which would you go with? And what would you do first with your new found super power? Would you rally on the side of good or evil?
I’d travel through time as captain common sense. I’d render the downtrodden impervious to these stooopid shit, fake rules that lawyers & other douche bags attempt to actualize into existence. We’d laugh more, jivetalk less, be able to shed bitterness faster & remain excited about not knowing it all.

The Good & Evil part I don’t bother with. I leave that to the people who
watch life from a safe enough distance to critique it.

8. Do you have hope for this new generation of kids who worship Lindsay Lohan, suck down TMZ, download music (and have never even owned one cd or lp) and fast food gobbling generation that is in their teenage years right now? Or are they a lost cause?
I just want them kids off ma lawn.

9. Tom Cruise… genius or psycho?
Penis Taco.

10. What in the world is affecting you right now?
Where did all the nooks & crannies go? I wanna hang out at that one place we
used to go to, but everytime I think I know where that is…. Turns out, it’s
just a Body Shop.

11. Tom Jones or Neil Diamond?
Jim Jones & Neil Hamburger.

12. What could you NOT live with out?
Laughter & popcicles.

13. Give the internet some words to live by….
Well…
1st off:  I’d like to say congratulations on inheriting Earth, meek.
2nd: The funeral services for the idea, the secret & the surprise, will be
held in yourtube & you’ll have the chance to twitz a broadband stream on my
face party & personally invade my space in real time because of all your
free time… & finally……….The internet stinks of lame more than the fart wind
of  hype it rode in on     .com’ on

***

That Buddyhead website is alright, how about this article with Marilyn Manson!

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I have this Plants and Animals t-shirt that I love love love.  Whenever I wear it out in public, people always come up to me and say, “Plant Sand Animals… ha ha, nice.”  I just nod and smile, its not worth correcting them.

I had one of those magical weekends filled with family, friends, sun and lakes.

On Sunday, Coral and I packed Mads, her Mom and sister up in the Jeep and headed to her Uncle and Aunt’s place on the beach of Lake Cowichan.

Lake Cowichan reminds me so much of summer’s at Bob’s cabin at Christina Lake.  For the hour and a bit drive from the city to Cowichan I quickly crafted a playlist.  Here are some selected faves from the list.

Off to Cowichan

01) Phoenix – “Love Like a Sunset Part 1”
02) Phoenix – “Love Like a Sunset Part 2”
03) Phoenix – “1901”
04) Yeah Yeah Yeah’s – “Zero”
05) The Rural Alberta Advantage – “The Ballad of the RAA”
06) The Rural Alberta Advantage – “Four Night Rider”
07) Cage the Elephant – “Ain’t No Rest for The Wicked”
08) Foals – “Balloons”
09) Friendly Fires – “Jump in The Pool”
10) Hadoukan! – “Declaration of War (Whip Remix)”

The first ten tracks are a great illustration of what I’ve been feeling lately.

Phoenix have this epic instrumental cut on track 4 of their album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.  I always thought it would have sounded for more promising as the opening of the record, but hey, I’m not a French rock star.  Its a very pretty slow jam and I think it lends itself well to the radio hit, “1901.”

“1901” is where we pick this show up and the design was, we’d be just climbing into the Jeep during our opening track, adjusting volumes, doling out the McDonald’s breakfast and getting the A/C set… by the time we were on the highway and feeling good, “1901” would be firing up and the drive could really begin.

After picking up Alyx we b-lined for the Douglas and headed north.  Coral’s current obsession is the YYY’s “Zero.”  She can’t hear it enough so it had to come with us.

I have the Rural Alberta Advantage in my head most days lately… I thought I better add a couple.  I love to sing along to RAA at the top of my lungs and really strain to find the emotion in the songs.

Cage the Elephant is one of Coral’s Mom’s fave son the radio right now, neat.

Foals have that fine dancey rock beat going on, this would be a great example of something I’d fire up at The Clubhouse on a Thursday.  Then some chick would fly upstairs because she can’t dance to it.  I laugh (on the inside) apologize for have the audacity to play something interesting and quickly find something retarded that everyone knows the words to and the cycle continues.  Whatever, its a small victory if I can get a few punchy ones in before the request for Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” comes in.

Friendly Fires and Hadoukan! are also what I call alternative dance songs… I think, if /when I become a better vinyl/serato DJ and look the part, you know… I’ll belt my jeans just below my bum and wear some sort of 80’s neon either on a t-shirt of fanny pack…  I’ll be able to pull off spinning this music in a nightclub and not be bothered about it.

As it stands now, thou Hadoukan! should change any young lovers dancing world, it does not. To be honest, I didn’t get it the first couple listens either, but now the song “Declaration of War” lives in my brain.  This song might make a gnarly workout track for you kids that actually… you know, work out.

I guess I better hit The Patch to find me something ironic to wear and practice my DJing.

This video is not the Whip remix, but a groovy video still.

Go with yourself.

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