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West! To Jordan River

March 16, 2009 by morningaftershow

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

March 16, 2009 by morningaftershow

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.

Posted in ...this is your father speaking | Tagged , | 8 Comments »

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

March 12, 2009 by morningaftershow

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

March 11, 2009 by morningaftershow

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

Posted in neat-O gang | Tagged | 1 Comment »

Everything dies, baby thats a fact.

March 11, 2009 by morningaftershow

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

March 11, 2009 by morningaftershow

crc1

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.

Posted in Capital Rock City | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Von Bondies Interview

March 11, 2009 by morningaftershow

Interview: The Von Bondies

The Von Bondies made their second journey from Detroit to Victoria to play us a Zone show.  Before the concert the entire gaggle of them stopped by The Zone Afternoon show for a chit chat.  I am a little disappointed because this not my strongest interview.  Normally a weak interview doesn’t bother me too much cuz I just blame the artist, but Jason was really nice and off the mic we had great chemistry and he told some wonderful stories.  Then I turn the mic on and ask him boring questions.  But I think the second part picks up a bit.

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take this sinking boat and point it home, we still have time.

March 10, 2009 by morningaftershow

I have had a couple magical moments in my life and one of them would be the time I sat in the park on a beautifully comfortable summer day in a big American metropolis with Coral.  She was pregnant with Madelyn and we watched the Frames perform “Falling Slowly.”

Sometimes I feel the media conspires against (or maybe for me).  Certain threads across all the channels and noise emerge.  Last night the hero on the TV talked about memories.  Basically its about making them and then keeping them.  Happy blogs about people getting back together and taking trips, sad comments about marriages ending and essays on passion.

The essay on passion I can’t remember where I read it on the internet.  It was one of those hundreds of links that people puke out on Twitter all day.  I clicked it and read it and was amazed.

The writer is a man who is a writer.  duh.  He loves writing and is passionate about the experience.  He makes his living writing.  What he talked about was the plateau we all hit when what we love becomes work.  Then what do we love?

Wow.  I wish I could find the blog post because it was very inspiring.  What he talked about applies to many of our lives, whether it is relationships, friends, family or work.

I make my living in a creative industry and constantly find myself battling the beast that is, for lack of a better word, writers block.  Some days, I don’t want to be “funny” or I don’t really care to hear Pearl Jam and answering the phone for four hours and jibber jabbering about the weather is not appealing.  BUT my JOB is a Monday to Friday.  And deep down, it is what I want to do.  I guess that is what separates the truly great from good.  Ha, TV once again, “Good is the enemy of great.”  The blog had some excellent ideas for keeping the pencil sharp.

One idea that is helping me oddly, is walking.  I like to walk and listen to music.  Now I walk more and jam out some tunes that I want to hear and think.  Feels good and fills up the brain with thoughts and ideas.

Its time to feed my little baby monster and get ready to hop into the studio and craft a Capital Rock City.  I think this week I am going to sift through all my music from season one and find a few favourites.  April 10th is the 10 Year Anniversary party for The Morning After Show.  The MAS went on the radio in Vancouver back in December of 1998 and the current host, Oswaldo, is throwing a party in Vancouver and I am going to be there.

Subscribe to the podcast

I don’t have much anything to do with the show in Vancouver anymore, but I’d like to go and see Oz and be part of the anarchy.  I don’t have many tapes from the old shows with Paul and me, or Scott or Oz (Paul, Scott and Oz were all the co-hosts over the years and Oz took over full-time when I left for Victoria… Paul and I started the show waaaaaay back when we were just kids) but I’d like to see what I could track down and maybe make a podcast closer to April, so look for that before April 10th.  And if you are in Vancouver or want to take the trip over with me, Easter weekend, Vancouver!

Go with yourself.

Posted in history 101, music, neat-O gang | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments »

all my friends are vampires

March 9, 2009 by morningaftershow

Coral and I punched through season one of Friday Night Lights over the weekend.  Yeah, we have a minor obsession.

Nothing like a gorgeous soap opera of pretty kids, great music and football to waste away a lazy weekend.  Now we’re in the hunt for season two. (we’ve been watching season three on TV every week)

“Devil Town” is the song they play at the end of season one when the team is having a parade through Dillon after the final game.  At first I had a little bit of challenge drawing parallels of the lyrics to the scene, but I think my brain was tired last night when we watched it because today it is wickedly clear what  the song is talking about and how it applies to the people of Dillon.

It is amazing how hearing a song used in a particular context can make the song stand out.  The original is ancient (well 80s I think, not ANCIENT) and the song has been used in soundtracks and commercials before… but after watching an entire season of FNL and then hearing the song play at the end of all that, late at night, made the song sear into my head.  I’ve been singing it all day.

The show plays a version of the song by Tony Lucca, but I downloaded an interpretation performed by Bright Eyes (posted above).  Originally the song is from the man Daniel Johnston.

Posted in music | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments »

Rock Stars Gone WILD!

March 5, 2009 by morningaftershow

Lately it seems that every time I crack the mic here at the Zone, I am jibber jabbering about another rock star fight.  Let’s see what is playing out as I type.

MGMT vs. France

Wayne vs. Win

Miley vs. Radiohead

But do you know who Miley thinks is just so cool?  Coldplay!  Shocker!

Posted in music | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments »

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