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Archive for the ‘life or something like it’ Category

we didn’t need a story

Posted in ...this is your father speaking, Dave Babych, life or something like it, music, neat-O gang, tagged , , , , , , on October 17, 2011| Leave a Comment »


New M83 record is out tomorrow… I hope the iTunes download goes hot tonight, I am going to buy it for sure.  Actually… if Ditch has the vinyl tomorrow… I’d really like that.  I wonder?

Initial reviews have been promising.  I adore the first single “Midnight City.”

Today I have been jamming out track one/side one, “Intro”  Easy right… first song should be called intro.

Pitchfork loves this cut… I’m a little more meh on it… I am sure, in the context of the whole double album, this song serves well.  As a stand alone single or song, it doesn’t have the payoff that I enjoy in a 5 minute ditty.

This is an epic, building, bright cut that you can imagine really crushes down for the next song…  have a listen.  It features vocals from Nika Roza Danilova of Zola Jesus.

M83 – “Intro 9feat. Zola Jesus)”

Download MP3 >> M83 – Intro

Its alright, but not changing my world.  What I did enjoy… M83 remixes!

If I ever get my shit sorted and learn to make beats and samples… I’ll glitch out all night.

***


Finally made it to a Victoria Royals hockey game.

I brought Mads so I couldn’t stay the whole time… but I will say that Madelyn is finally getting to an age where she can enjoy the process.  She sits in her chair.  Loves to clap.  Pays attention enough to know that Victoria is the “Purple” team (the jersey is more blue-ish but shhhh). Yells “Go ‘Toria!” And loves her treats.

The Royals played the Kelowna Rockets (Grandpa Rob’s team) and gutted out an overtime win!

We also got to see super-stud #9 Kevin Sundher assist a Soudek goal.  He is tied for the top scorer in the WHL right now.  Nice.

I hope that I am fortunate enough to get another pair of tickets to take Madelyn again this season.

In other hockey news… Coral and I will be heading to Van for a game verse CBJ in November.  Fun attack!

***

It was an eventful weekend.  I kinda like not working my weekends away.  I get that whole mantra that to be successful you gotta be working and creating all.the.time… but I’ll save that Radio Stars of the world.  I’ll take some pleasure in a glorious Fall hike.

My brother CJ is turning into a true weekend warrior on the trail.  I had to miss out so much on the hikes because of work, but this weekend was about living Island Time and having fun.  CJ and Caitlin and I hit Gowlland Tod Park for an “easy” assent up to a lookout that offered an amazing picnic spot.  We spied the Saanich Inlet and Malahat Mountain.

I kinda want to do it again next weekend… but I think CJ already has designs on East Sooke.  Though, my bro will need a rain coat as we won’t always be so lucky to hike in the glorious sun in our temperate rain forest.

Do you have any favourite hiking spots that are an easy drive from the city?

Go with yourself.

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Winter is where she abides all the while. The hillsides are covered in snow.

Posted in life or something like it, music, Wedding, tagged , , , , , , , on October 3, 2011| 2 Comments »


Its a bit of a retro hazy throwback style, but I dig Portland’s Blitzen Trapper.

I think it was either Cait Fraser or her old boyfriend that got me into the song “Furr.”  Such a groovy song.  I downloaded a couple other songs from the band.  The other day SubPop sent their album to the Zone and it caught my eye so I punched it up.

Its a cool, cool record.  If you enjoy the folky 70s summer-esque psychedelic rock & roll, you might like this record.

I have a few favourites and I’ll share a couple with you here.

Blitzen Trapper – “Girl in a Coat”

Download MP3 >> 06 Girl in a Coat 1

This song has all sorts of imagery going on.  I like to believe its a romantic ode to a “girl in a coat.”  Singing about seasons and adventuring… its a pretty song indeed.

The other song I like talks about space!  Maybe a great theme song for DW’s SpaceBook.

Blitzen Trapper – “Astronaut”

Download MP3 >> 08 Astronaut 1

OK… so its not really about space… its about a girl, of course, like ALL songs.  But like… I hope her brother’s don’t come after him!  Nice.  Spacesuits, grand “illusions,” then some good all southern style groove.

Righteous.  I was third and inches from buying the vinyl on the weekend… found an ounce of discipline and kept from spending my meager pay-cheque on music for a change.

***

It was my last wedding of the season yesterday under the tent at Sea Cider.  I’ll have a handful of events till the end of the year, but most the hustle and bustle is winding down.

It was a very nice, contemporary wedding in a light rain.  I think I like October weddings.  Wait… I got married in October! (so did my folks).  No wonder.  Neat.

I had posted the other day about Wedding First Dance Songs.  Coral and I got married in Vegas and had our reception at Dos Caminos… mighty TIME!  But no dancing, no first dance… there were kinda some drunken speeches yelled over the din of the restaurant, but definitely not a traditional wedding style.

BUT what would Coral and I have chosen as a wedding song?  Back when we planned such things, Coral saw on Ellen that she used this Joshua Radin song, “Today.” I imagine that in 2008/09 that was a very popular song to use for a first dance.

I would choose Grand Archives, “Swan Matches” or even The National’s “Slow Show.” I dunno if its like “romantic” in the traditional sense, but an important song to me personally.

Corjamorj texted me while I was at the wedding last night.  I guess she read this blog or thought about it or whatever… but she would pick Ray LaMontagne’s “Shelter.”

Then talking with Sea Cider’s Alix… I went, “wait a minute, I have emails from all the brides and grooms and all the songs they chose as first dances… maybe I should make a playlist with the songs.”

Last night, after the wedding… I changed into my pajama pants and bro-shirt, got comfy on the couch and sifted through old emails to find all the first dance requests.  Then made:

Mixcloud: Mixtape >> First Dance Songs Part 2

Have a listen.

***

I had a great weekend with Mads.  Saturday we all mostly did chores and cleaned our apartment.  Then I took Maddy swimming which she loves.  The public pool is just $6, which I think is good value for the amount of time it keeps us entertained and active.  A movie date would cost many times that, be a strong pull towards junk food, be sedentary and keep her occupied for less time.

So I’m bullish on investing in public pools!

Sunday I woke up oddly early.  I watched a movie then thought, I better use my day before I lounge it away… as I got ready to skip outta the house, Mads woke up too and asked if we could go downtown.  Sure, so I got her ready (well Corj did her hair like always) and we went record shopping (where I did NOT buy Blitzen Trapper) then to Shine for breakfast.  It was lined up down the block with a whose-who of hipsters, UVic kids and people-about-town.  But I was on Island time so Mads and I used the 30-40 minutes to explore the city (she really like going “downtown”) and playing train.

Then crushed back the most mighty of omelets, toast, fruit and bacon!  Being only 3-and-a-half.. Madelyn is a pretty cheap date as we share just one breakfast.

That’s all I got… I kinda want to go back to Las Vegas now after recalling our reception!

Go with yourself.

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RifflandaDads

Posted in life or something like it, music, tagged on October 3, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Boitano and Me DJing at Rifflandia.  Good times.  Thank you Christi Wizard, you make good media.

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She’s Not There…but I am.

Posted in life or something like it, music, tagged , , , , , , , on August 8, 2011| 1 Comment »


Had the strangest dream last night (yeah, this is a dream blog).

I have been reading tons of fantasy lately as I plug away through George RR Martin’s A Dance With Dragons.  Lots of sorcery and shape-shifters and things that go bump in the night.

Watched a bit of True Blood last night… lots of sorcery and shape-shifters and things that go bump in the night… and tits and vampires with perfect abs.

Last night I dreamed that I could change my appearance and I changed into an “Eric The Sexy Vampire” type dude to seduce Coral.

I tried to get her to cheat on me, with me… which she did.  It was sexy times.  When I had enough, I did the big reveal… “muhahahaha, it is I!  Evil Warlock-Husband Jeremy, not a sexy vampire.  I can’t believe you cheated on me!”

Coral said, “I didn’t cheat on you… it was you I had sex with…”

wah wah wah…. she’s always so much smarter than me, even in my dreams!

Evil Warlock-Husband Jeremy will continue to plot…

***

Check this rad jam out… it is from the True Blood episode “She’s Not There.”

The Zombies (who are amazing By-the-by) originally dropped this hot #2 single in 1964 and is a highlight of my 60s sets at Veneto Lounge.

When the credits rolled on True Blood and this song came up… I instantly recognized it and Coral was jiving on it too… but what is this cover?

It is Nick Cave and Neko Case… the song was commissioned for the show by the music supervisor who happens to be a radio DJ in LA on KCRW.

Neko Case + Nick Cave – “She’s Not There”

Go with yourself.

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bye bye Jeep

Posted in life or something like it, tagged on July 29, 2011| Leave a Comment »


Today is the day I had to bring our leased Jeep back to the dealership.

I was not prepared for the emotional weight of the situation.  They should have have warned me when I signed the papers that I’d take on a love for my car.

Also you have to pay a bunch of money if you have any deferred maintenance.  Zoinks.  That said, the folks at Willie Dodge made it pretty easy and affordable.

Coral and I got this Jeep when we found out she was pregnant.  Before the Jeep I had a scooter and a Mazda Pickup Truck I got from my Aunt Brenda.

The pickup was pretty rad and Coral’s Mom drives it to this day!  Coral and I probably only had the pickup for like… a few months?  Three maybe?  Wow.  In that time we took some adventures.  I remember that we drove from Victoria to Port Hardy and back in a day.  That was pretty fun.  It rained a ton, we saw bears and Eagles, got a flat tire in Woss.  Good times like that.

Coral thought it would be best if we had a ride that had four doors and was a little more substantial for carting around soon-to-be-born Madelyn.

I love Jeeps, so Coral found a Jeep Patriot and that was a our car for the past 4 years.

Our car seat we got to match the interior.  We were so into that!


ta-da!  Coral did it all by herself.  And it totally matches!  Actually… it would match our new Honda too… you know, if we ever needed to bust this baby seat outta storage.

Go with yourself.

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I gotta phone

Posted in life or something like it on July 21, 2011| 1 Comment »


Yeah, so I totally got an iPhone the other day.  Now I can take pictures from a phone built in 2011 and filter them to look like it came from the 70s.

I don’t have a lot of apps or anything like that yet. But this Instagram is pretty fun.  And my ukulele tuner… well I don’t know where I’d be without that.

I got this iPhone because its so god damned pretty… but the first thing the guy in the phone store did is make me buy mucho $ worth of plastic to entomb it.  I only got to have unprotected text once!  Its much better.  The good news, my phone will be in mint condition when its obsolete next year.

I work 6 or 7 days a week… and to show for it, I have a pretty thing.  Neat.

Well a pretty thing I think, I haven’t actually seen the phone… but the Bell store guy told me its pretty and its somewhere buried under all that plastic.

Go with yourself.

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Meet the new car, same as the old car

Posted in life or something like it, tagged , , on July 6, 2011| 2 Comments »


Time for a new automobile.  Coral and I have enjoyed a Jeep Patriot since 2007.  We leased this car and its time has come.

We decided it was time for something a little different.  Our needs in a car have changed a bit and what we use it for and we don’t need a big Jeep.  Also we wanted to lower our monthly bills so we don’t end up like Greece.

We looked around at a few cars and had some great experiences with some.

Obviously a Chevy Cruze would work for us.  I was fortunate to be able to drive one over the winter and road trip to Vegas in it.  My folks recently bought a Mazda 3 and over the Black Keys weekend my Mom let me borrow it to drive people around (Thank you Mommy!).  That was a very nice car.

Coral really liked the Honda Civic but it wasn’t till I did a Zone radio broadcast from Campus Honda that I got interested in that car.

As is always the case… I looked at a fairly austere Sedan version… but Coral was more interested in blinking lights and what not.  I can’t remember what model we ended up on… but its pretty a decent savings per month on our Jeep (which Madelyn calls Jeepy).

We let Mads pick the colour… black is her current fave so black it is.  And she seems to be calling the new car Rosie (like Caillou‘s little sister? weird). So that’s that.

Tonight Coral and I will be DJing at Smiths Pub.  Maybe you’ll come drink with us?

Go with yourself.

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Wake up to your starboard bride

Posted in life or something like it, music, tagged , , on June 30, 2011| 1 Comment »


Not blogging everyday (or twice) really is a kick to the junk of the old hit counter.  Viewership is down.

Being famous on the internet is hard work.  Maybe I should just dance awkwardly for 5 seconds in a terrible music video?

Not blogging, doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy. Far from it, that’s why I haven’t been blogging!

Coral and I are hard at work trying to figure out our car situation.  God bless me Mom and Dad, they let me use their old mini-van for my DJ business.  BUT by the end of this month, the lease on our Jeep is up, and we’ll need to figure something out.

My goal on our next car is to buy or lease a vehicle that has a payment that is less than our current Jeep lease.  Looking at Honda Civics the other day… and maybe we found our car.  Perfect four door, affordable, easy car for Coral to go to work in and tote our child.  While being fun and modern and generally awesome.  We’ll see if we can make that work over the next few days/weeks.

DJing lots of weddings and on July 6th… Coral and I will be doing our World Locally Famous Husband/Wife Vinyl DJ sets at Smiths Pub.  Fun attack!

Lastly… been jamming out tons of great new music.  TONS and T O N S!

One of my faves right now… and likely a future add to the record collection is Bon Iver.  His new s/t album is getting major huge buzz and rocked Billboard last week with sales that put it at Number 2!

Have a listen to this!

Bon Iver – “Calgary”

Download MP3 >> Calgary

Go with yourself!

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we flew over fences

Posted in ...this is your father speaking, life or something like it, music, tagged , , , , , on June 23, 2011| 5 Comments »

Dear blog,

Whoa… its been a few days and that’s my bad.  Summertime and the living has been,  well, maybe not easy.  Busy?

I got more than one email and bunch of calls on the Zone looking to hear Maurice‘s acoustic take on “Robin.”

JP Maurice had just got off the boat from Vancouver where he had been on the outskirts of the Game 7 riot.  He rolled straight into the Zone and laid this song down.

Maurice – “Robin” (live at Zone)

Download MP3>> 20110616 Maurice

Fun fact: “Robin” is a cover of the Vancouver band Topless Gay Love Tekno Party.  Neat.

***

I don’t have any tattoos.  I know right? I’m that guy.  The no tattoo guy.  Which is funny, because I went through a punk rock phase and everything.

Today I am broadcasting my radio show from Incendiary Tattoo on Esquimalt Road.  I am waiting on a cheque, but if I get some money I might try and get one during my show.  But what?

I am thinking some song lyrics from this song.

Grand Archives – “Swan Matches”

I always loved this song.  Their s/t album Grand Archives was new back in 2008 when Madelyn was born and became the soundtrack to that part of my life.

The song reminds me of staying awake at weird hours for her birth and later staying up on the couch watching late night TV and maybe a bottle feeding during the witching hours.

Swan Matches are pretty neat.  Its an old British brand founded in the late 1800s.  They were known as “the smoker’s match.”  Obviously, they’ve changed their tag line today… but still… for the classic smoker still jamming out the match stick to light up, Swan’s is apparently the brand.  The brand was Britain’s best selling match by the 1930s.

The company is now Swedish but they still operate as Swan.

Sort of a random thing for Grand Archives to find for a song and title.

Beautiful song.

Go with yourself.

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I don’t know what the plan is, but you can share

Posted in life or something like it, music, Wedding, tagged , , , on June 17, 2011| Leave a Comment »


Huzzah! Ditch Records has copies of Foster the People on vinyl LP (I forgot to ask if the CDs came in too).

I raced down during a little lull in my crazy hectic day to snap up a copy for Coral before they went sold out again. (also got me out of the studio/office for 20 minutes and into the city).

Foster the People – “I Would Do Anything For You”

***

Yesterday I talked about buying a Ukulele and got lots of messages from friends with ukulele’s too!  Neat.

I also love how WordPress can take your tags and share them with other bloggers on wordpress that might be into what you’re talking.  I got a nice comment from a guy that writes about ukulele’s!

***

And the reason I was at L&M was to check on today’s capital purchase for my Wedding DJ business… I bought a two PA speakers, a sub, a wireless mic and all the cables/stands I need to make them go.

It will save me money making the payments vs. renting each wedding.  And by next summer… I’ll get to keep a little more profit!

Happy Weekend!

Go with yourself.

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