one last thing before I quit

A short list of some of my favorite things from this past year.

Favorite Movies Released in 2009
(In no particular order)
- Up
- The Damned United
- The Hangover
- Where The Wild Things Are
- I Love You, Man
- Up In The Air
- X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Favorite Movies Released Before 2009
(That I watched for the first time this year)
- Milk (2008)
- Hype! (1996)
- A League of Ordinary Gentlemen (2005)
- W. (2008)
- Fanboys (2008)
- In Bruges (2008)
- Sugar (2008)
- Helvetica (2007)

Most Memorable Concerts
- AC/DC
- Eagles of Death Metal
- Coldplay

Favorite Albums
- Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Phoenix)
- Lost In The 80s (The Lost Fingers)
- Backspacer (Pearl Jam)
- Them Crooked Vultures (Them Crooked Vultures)
- The E.N.D. (The Black Eyed Peas)

Songs Most Listened To
(According to last.fm)
- It's A Dream (Neil Young)
- Rise (Eddie Vedder)
- Kids (MGMT)
- I Got A Feeling (Black Eyed Peas)
- Wheels (Foo Fighters)
- Billie Jean (The Lost Fingers)
- Andy You're A Star (The Killers)
- Lasso (Phoenix)
- The End (Pearl Jam)
- Love Lockdown (Kanye West)

Maybe about 10 days ago, I received an early Christmas present in the mail. I had ordered a book containing 229 Pearl Jam posters, all designed by the Ames Bros from 1995 - 2007.

The book is officially called Pearl Jam vs Ames Bros: 13 Years of Tour Posters and I think it's unreal! There are two different versions. The unbelievably cheap $50 US green copy is the one I ordered. It's got 229 posters, interviews and some explanations and inspirations behind some of the posters. The $200 US orange copy is numbered, autographed by the 3 Ames Bros head designers, 32 bonus pages featuring over 250 sketches, an 8 page overlay of the printing process, and 3 silkscreen art prints, just to name a few things.

For any fan of the band, the artists or poster art in general, I can't highly recommend this enough. It's just awesome.

Back in '08, Kevin Smith had to change the name Zack and Miri Make a Porno to Zack and Miri. He then had to change his posters too. This is all due to the MPAA and their decision that it was too explicit and they thought that the word Porno would not be well received by the public. Ugh. Stupid. It's especially ironic since the Weinstein Company originally approved the project right after they just heard the title of the movie.

OriginalChanged Version 1Changed Version 2

Two quick movie updates. First is Robin Hood. I think it's safe to say that many people are excited for this movie, not just myself. The Disney version hands down one of my favorite movies ever. Back to the point. A trailer for the new movie was released yesterday. Looks like it's got potential. It looks like it'll be more graphic and dark, which'll be a different way of seeing Robin Hood. He always seems to happy-go-lucky. Thank goodness for Ridley Scott. You are a truly solid director.



But quite possibly better than that, is the new Alice in Wonderland trailer that just came out. They had a shorter teaser released a while ago, but this newly cut full trailer is just more awesome. Quite possibly the best movie of 2010 perhaps?

Living without cable or satellite, to this day in fact, has certainly lead to me missing out on many shows and channels that everyone I know seemed to grow up on. If it wasn't for the internet, I would never have seen music videos, old sitcoms, etc. And as an avid internet-television watcher, I never thought that I'd miss commercials as much as I do. Last year I had the opportunity to go see the 2008 Cannes Lions Premiere. It's a 2 hour showing of the world's best commercials from that year. This year's showing will be happening in the next few days. Fellow Winnipegers can go here for more info.

Now, not seeing many American commercials, I get pleasantly surprised when I go to friends' houses and see some of them. In last years' Cannes, they showed a spot by Sony Bravia that I thought was extraordinary.



I went to go find that spot, and I was happily surprised with finding a new ad that they have done. I think it's just an extraordinary idea and the execution is wonderful. I'm certainly a fan of their creative. Just thought I'd share. There's the spot, but if you've got a couple extra minutes, a short 'behind the scenes' is posted below. Enjoy!

Kevin Smith is my all-time favoritest person from New Jersey. And also someone that I look up to a lot. I've admired his starting point in film since I started shooting my own films, as well as his ability to stay true to who he is: a fat comic-book nerd from New Jersey that should've been born in Canada. It's not an insult. I'm envious in many ways.

Now, I could go on and on, but I won't. All I have to say is that one of the websites that I check daily for my dose of movie and television updates is Ain't It Cool News. One of their larger bloggers, Capone, was able to do a 2-part interview with Kevin Smith the other day. It's a bit of a long read, but it's what any Smith fan loves, his brutal honesty. Oh well, enjoy.

As a self-proclaimed dork, I use Google for quite a lot. Searches. Gmail. Maps. I absolutely love it. During one of my many quests of random internet searching, I found out that Google actually has a blog. I decided to skim through a bit and I found a posting by a man named Dennis Hwang. His official job is Google's International Webmaster, which as Dennis says, means that he's responsible for managing Google's international site content. But he also does these:

It all starte din 1998, before Dennis started working there. Google inventors Larry Page and Sergey Brin. They went to the Burning Man festival and decided to put up this stick figure of the Burning Man in case the site crashed and people didn't know why no one was answering the phones. Such a stupid reason.

Dennis started in 2000 and has taking over these doodles. Here's a couple of my favorites from this year. But go here if you want to see all of them. Many are made for specific countries, so chances are you haven't a lot of these.

April 27, 2009 - Samuel Morse's Birthday

June 6, 2009 - 25th Aniversary of Tetris

July 20, 2009 - 40th Anniversary of the Moon Landing

September 21, 2009 - H.G. Well's BirthdayOctober 2, 2009 - Brazil Wins 2016 Olympics

* Interlude; Them Crooked Vultures

I've been extremely busy at work these days. Not too much has inspired me lately, as I haven't spent much time freely surfing the net and looking at new things. But just last week, Them Crooked Vultures released their self-titled album and I've yet to put it down. I find that it's just an extension on Queens of the Stone Age, which works for me. Here's the second single that they released: Mind Eraser, No Chaser.



I can only wish that they'd tour closer to home.

Last Friday, my beloved Foo Fighters decided to put on a show for all of their fans via the internet. Yep. They advertised it on Facebook and Twitter merely a handful of days and they were able to get a good 440,000 people watching it.

It was a nice surprise to see that they had a laptop set up on their equipment that was constantly updating with song suggestions from fans, and in between most songs, Nate or Dave would take a peak and read some out. There was even more that made this show special. One, the fact that the advertised one hour show ended up lasting around two and a half hours. Two, they pleased the 'hardcore' fans by playing many oldies and rarely heard songs. And three, there was one fan as well as myself who requested that they play the Ghostbusters theme song. Dave said that they'd play it and when it seemed like they were just about to start the song, he ended up telling a story about how Ray Parker Jr got sued. So close.

The show was in no doubt a way for them to get out word that their greatest hits album was just about to be released, but they hardly ever mentioned it and just seemed genuinely happy to be playing a practice-style show in the comfort of their own studio. It's hard to believe that the bands' been playing for a solid 15 years already.

Here's what they played:
01 The Pretender
02 My Hero
03 Times Like These
04 All My Life
05 Cold Day In The Sun
06 Skin & Bones
07 Word Forward
08 Generator
09 Young Man Blues
10 This Is A Call
11 Learn To Fly
12 For All The Cows
13 Hey, Johnny Park!
14 Monkey Wrench
15 Big Me
16 Up In Arms
17 Long Road To Ruin
18 Enough Space
19 New Way Home
20 Stacked Actors
21 Breakout
22 Wattershed
23 Everlong
24 Low
25 Weenie Beenie
26 Aurora

It might be obvious for them to do so, but I actually really hope that they release this on DVD. It was something nice.

About a month ago, I went to a camera sale that a bunch of businesses put on. I managed to pick up a Canon FT QL for $20. It even came with two lenses. A steal. After picking up some rolls of film and a new battery, my current interest in photography continues to grow. Oh, and I even picked up a SX-70 Polaroid camera for $10.

Anyways. That should give you a good idea of what's been on my mind lately, and sets up this post quite well.

I've watched Saturday Night Live for quite a few years now and one of my most favorite things, other then the Digital Shorts, are the bumpers that they have of the hosts and musical guests. It took me quite some time, but I finally figured out who was behind all of them. Her name is Mary Ellen Matthews.

She doesn't have a website. Or even a Fan Facebook page. But I'm most certainly a supporter of hers and am very intrigued in her art. It's not like her photos are revolutionary, they're basically all just portraits. But they are quite fun and they have purpose.

Pearl Jam
"Different lighting -- you know, I’m such a fan of music across the board, but of them, for sure. I just thought this would be an interesting take, especially with Eddie Vedder. His bone structure being that it is, this would really work for them."

Tenacious D
"I saw the Simon & Garfunkel cover -- 'Bookends' -- where they’re both in the turtlenecks and they’re kinda leaning on each other, so we kind of riffed off that. [Simon & Garfunkel are] one great duo in our musical history. They're just another one [laughs]. With Jack Black, you always kind of get a show. Kyle Gass as well. They’re loose, let’s say, but amazing musicians."

Foo Fighters
"I think it just says a lot about who they are, for sure. I think it really captured them. Dave Grohl is so free-spirited, free-living, has a great time with what he’s doing. And they’re such a group, I think they really enjoy what they’re doing. And they were happy to be there that day."

Alec Baldwin

Ellen Page

Hugh Laurie

Jack Black

Jack Black, again

Justin Timberlake

Michael Phelps

Natalie Portman

Paul Giamatti

Paul Giamatti, duece

Scarlett Johansson

Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks, numero deux

Will Ferrell

Growing up and listening to many of the bigger Seattle bands, like Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Mother Love Bone, Green River and Pearl Jam. has always made me appreciate how small a world it can be for bands. Within this small community, many of the musicians have come and gone, formed new groups, collaborated, etc.

This past Tuesday, Pearl Jam was playing in L.A. and had a few special guests join them on stage. Singer-songwriter Ben Harper was there, which isn't a large surprise. Jerry Cantrell, Alice In Chains singer-guitarist, also joined them on stage. Above average surprise. But BAM! The Chris Cornell showed up! Now, I'm not a massive Cornell fan, but I was certainly on the Soundgarden train, and also the Audioslave boat. But, as I'm sure most of the world feels the same way, his solo work just doesn't reach the bar. Oh well. Doesn't matter. Temple of the Dog was officially back!

At the same time that Pearl Jam was beginning to form, Temple of the Dog was working on their first and only album. The band was made up of Eddie Vedder, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard and Mike McCready all from Pearl Jam, Cornell from Soundgarden, and Matt Cameron who started with Soundgarden and then has since joined Pearl Jam.

Anyways, Cornell went up and they sang their most well known song, Hunger Strike. It was the first time they've played together since 2003. That would've been something to see live.



And just for kicks, here's Cantrell helping out with Alive:

T-shirts. Programs. Records. Hats. Books. All typical things I've seen at a concerts. But I've never seen this before. And I bet you haven't either. I don't know much about her but then Louise Ferguson actually goes to concerts and, rather then taking pictures of the band as majority of us do, she paint pictures. It's ridiculously neat.


Check out Louise's blog or her site for more. I wonder if this will catch on a bit more someday. I know I wish I could paint...

Sunday. September 20th. 2009. Finally.

Pearl Jam's new album Backspacer is out today. I love it. I managed to find a leaked copy maybe 10 days ago and I can't stop listening to it. It's got everything. The first four songs (Gonna See My Friend; Got Some; The Fixer; Johnny Guitar) just hits you in the face with the classic Pearl Jam rock that you'd expect. I wasn't even a huge fan of The Fixer the first few times I heard it on the radio, but I feel it's place in the album and I can't get enough now.

There's also a song called Unthought Known that is basically a tidal wave of awesome. Some critics have been describing it as almost a new Alive. Though I feel like it's a great song that continues to grow on me, I don't think it's going to be that inspirational to a generation.

There's some more tuned-down songs, much that you'd think were simply left off of the Into The Wild soundtrack but still important to Eddie. One of the best feelings I get is just driving to the whole record. It just takes a weight off of my shoulders and I just feel relaxed.

Now, I may be biased, well, I am biased, but I really love this album. I think it's a definite purchase for anyone who has or continues to enjoy Pearl Jam's music. This album isn't political, like their '06 album was. It's just the 5 guys getting back to doing what they know.

Also, if you pick up the album, you're given 2 out of 9 random live concert videos. Ya, that's cool. You should probably just buy it.

Here's a few of my current favorites:

Track 7: Unthought Known


Track 2: Got Some


Track 8: Supersonic

There are many varieties of sad stories that can be told. Some deal with life and death, dreams and aspirations, hope and miracles.

Paul Mawhinney has one that touched me. It actually also made me upset. No, it's not another 'Britain's Got Talent' contestant, but just a man and his record collection. Just watch. It's very self-explanatory.



I just don't get it. How could any music museum not want to own this. Or even just a record label. I think it'd be heartbreaking for this collection to just go to some guy who'll hang on to a few albums, then tuck the others away in the attic. Ugh. Does anyone have $3 million I can borrow?!

Music-potent post. Watch out. Here we go.

Pearl Jam played in Toronto the past Friday night. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists were scheduled to open. But their singer, Ted, was stuck at the border. So what to do?! Well, Pearl Jam decided to open for themselves. Eddie came out and played Neil Young's 'Sugar Mountain' and 'The Needle and the Damage Done'. Acoustically. Alone. Gah. Unbelievable. McCready and Stone each played a couple of their own songs, then The Pharmacists played a couple tunes as Eddie stepped in to sing.



While in Toronto, Eddie sat down with Alan Cross for an interview. Any Pearl Jam fan should take time to listen.

Their new album comes out on September 20th. But here's a new song that's made it's way out. It's called 'Supersonic'.



Next. Weezer was in T.O. as well, but on Sunday and opening for Blink-182. Their new album comes out on October 27th. It's called Raditude. Rainn Wilson, yes, Dwight from the Office, actually came up with it. Anyways. The ever amazing Alan Cross managed to also sit down with them for an interview.

Them Crooked Vultures have now played 4 gigs. Reminder: They are Dave Grohl, Josh Homme and John Paul Jones. Video is now being released from these shows, and it's got potential. I'm very much looking forward to their album coming out. Here's a song called 'New Fang':



And lastly. Guitar Hero is making more and more band-specific games these days. And they just released the tracks for their Van Halen version. This will be a must-buy for me. I'm extremely happy that they're including 'Atomic Punk', 'Ice Cream Man', 'Hang 'Em High' and 'I'm The One'. Also, there will be 'Best Of You' by Foo Fighters, 'Master Exploder' by Tenacious D and 'Dope Nose' by Weezer as additional songs. This'll be fun! December 22nd. Hello Christmas!

Dave Grohl - Nirvana, Late!, Foo Fighters
Josh Homme - Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal
John Paul Jones - Led Zeppelin

THEM CROOKED VULTURES

Yes. It's a cream-dream rock and roll super group. They'd been working on material for a little while, and last week they played a post-Lollapalooza show in Chicago. No recordings, video or audio, have managed to surface.

They then posted a snippet of a teaser to a song, Nobody Loves Me And Neither Do I, on YouTube last week:



But I have since found this! Today they posted a better teaser will some footage from the studio.



They're playing in Amsterdam tonight. Gah. I just want to listen to their album. Soon enough, I know.

After not re-signing with their record label, Pearl Jam's been on their own for the past few months. I think it's doing them good. They're playing shows of their choice, both in concert for as well as the TV variety, including Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show debut.

Earlier this week they posted a wonderful promotional video on their MySpace page for their Backspacer album, coming out September 20th. I think it's a wonderful insight on the album, told straight from the band. There's also previews of a couple new songs, as well as their single, The Fixer. I just feel as though this wouldn't of been made if not for their newly acquired independent label status. Kudos to the boys. This album is gonna be awesome.

I had heard a quick story about a cover album a couple weeks ago and I finally remembered to look into it the other day. The label that put this album out is called Pterodactyl Squad. They got a bunch of different DJs/artists to redo a bunch of Weezer songs. But not like you'd think. They're totally done in the old 8-bit NES/GameBoy-esque style. I can only recommend you to listen to it. It's even a free download.

*In My Head; Queens Of The Stone Age

Before Heath Ledger passed away last year, he had started to direct an animated music video for Modest Mouse. The song is called King Rat, and it's off of their new album, No One's First And You're Next, that just came out today.



Ledger had approached the band about doing the project, which I find very random, but wonderfully honest. Ledger's film and music company finished up the project for him. Anyways, just thought I'd share this.

I spend a lot of my days reading random sites and blogs, keeping an eye out for bands that intrigue me. Give or take a couple times a year, I find one that just intrigues me. And here's that one.

Boys and girls, Seasick Steve.



Born Steven Gene Wold, he left home at 13 and worked random jobs, sometimes as a carnie, cowboy or even a migrant worker. In the '60s, he started to form his craft of being a blues musician, even becoming friends with Janis Joplin. He learned to work in the studio and began producing music, including a few Modest Mouse albums. Ya, weird.

He then went over to Europe, and spent his time writing music and busking. In late 2006 he released his second full length album. Someone noticed him and invited him to play the New Year's Eve Jools Holland's 'Annual Hootenany' show in the UK (see video above). And then his popularity sky-rocketed. Well, so much that people now knew about him, and he even got his own Wikipeida page. Thankfully, as this is where this info is all coming from.

He plays a 3-string guitar that he bought for $75, and he refuses to add the other 3 strings missing too. He also plays a single-string guitar.

Anyways. He just looks like a weird creeper, but he isn't too shabby of a musician. Plus, no one knows when he was born, which just adds more to the mystery of this man.

Gallery 1988. A place I seem to just tell everyone about, any chance I get. Their 3rd annual Crazy 4 Cult show took place this past week. The encouraged more 3-D works of art this year. As per usual, it's time to share some of my favorites pieces.

"Crazy 4 Cult 3-D: The Secret Weapon" by Tim Doyle
Various movies
Screenprint on archival paper
18 x 24 inches

"BTF 1" by Jim Horwat
Back To The Future
Giclee print on archival paper
12 x 16 inches

"Trap" by 2cents
Ghostbusters
Screenrpint on archival paper
16 x 20 inches

"Welcome Back To The Land Of the Dead" by Jason Limon
Army Of Darkness
Acrylic on wood
10 x 30 inches

"Cult Showdowns" by Scott Campbell

"UHF" by Tom Whalen
UHF
Giclee print on archival paper
10 x 20 inches

"Mushroom Cloud-Layin' MF" by Billy Perkins

"Goonies Never Say Die" by Dave Perillo
The Goonies
Giclee print on archival paper
16 x 20 inches

"Well I'll Be Darned" by Terribly Odd

"Buddy Christ Needlepoint" by Ellen Schinderman
Dogma
Needlepoint on silk
21 x 25 inches, framed

"I Want It Now!!" by Ayami Kawashima
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Oils and graphite on wood panel
12 x 12 inches

"Edward Scissorhands" by Rik Catlow
Edward Scissorhands
Acrylic and collage on board
15.5 x 17 inches, framed

I'm a mega Foo Fighters dork. I think Dave Grohl is one of the best people to ever grace our generation. Not only is he a unbelievable musician, but he's also a stupidly kind and sincere person.

So when Dave announced last September that the band was going to take a 'long hiatus', I was clearly saddened. Granted, they've never really stopped playing for years and there's many little babies that have since been introduced to the world.

But the FF were asked to play at the White House on the 4th of July. And they instantly accepted. They played a very short set, but one of the songs that they sang was 'Wheels'. This is a new song that they're planning to add onto an album that they've got coming out in November. Unfortunately, this album is supposed to be just a 'best-of' album but they do planning on adding two brand new songs this album, with Wheels being one of them. Which is awesome.

Here's the first live performance of Wheels.



I find it'll end up being a super nice summer driving tune, which makes it strange to be released in November. Oh well. I'll take any new Foo that I can.

Side note: Dave is working on some music with Queens of the Stone Age singer / Eagles of Death Metal drummer Josh Homme as well as Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. Which just screams like it'll be fricken' awesome! I'm am eagerly anticipating this. Collaborations generally kick ass.

Just a follow up to a previous post. I found some more images regarding Tim Burton's new Alice In Wonderland movie that's he's working on. They're mostly concept drawings, which is usually just as creatively awesome.

I found these all on a cool site that I had never knew even existed! The Art Of Disney Animation. This site has drawings from what seems to be most of Disney's flicks. I honestly assumed that all of this would be locked up in a vault, and tucked away for no one to ever see. So cool. Here's just a little taste.

Cinderella - 1950

Sleeping Beauty - 1959

Alice In Wonderland - 1951

Pinocchio - 1937

Peter Pan - 1953