one last thing before I quit

20 years ago yesterday, music changed forever. I'm sure you've heard that millions of times, but I assure you, this story is new to you. And I will attempt to keep it short.

Mother Love Bone was a Seattle band that formed in 1988. On March 19, 1990, just a couple days before their debut album, Apple, was about to be released, their lead singer, Andrew Wood, overdosed on heroin. Mother Love Bone immediately dismantled which put into motion the start of our most popular grunge bands.

Former MLB members Stone Gossard (guitar) and Jeff Ament (bass) were approached by Wood's roommate Chris Cornell, to record a couple songs in memory of Woods. They accepted. Soon after, they were joined by Matt Cameron, Mike McCready and Eddie Vedder, and quickly turned the two songs into a full length album, all under the name of Temple Of The Dog. Following their one and only album, Cornell and Cameron went on to form Soundgarden, while Gossard, Ament, McCready and Vedder started up Pearl Jam. Wow.

If you've heard about Winnipeg, but are not from there, I'm sure you hear most people joke about how we have different seasons. It usual involves some words like mosquitoes, construction, winter and Hoth. I don't actually find it too funny.

Now, it seems like our winter is fading away quickly right now. So what would one call this season? Pothole season. It's talked about everywhere. We even have a 'hotline' to report potholes. Ugh.

There are two people who beat us to something that screams Winnipeg. Mypotholes is a place where a couple of artists are showcasing their pothole art.
Why couldn't we think of this?!

Jeff Anderson is not a name that will ring many bells. He's 40, from New Jersey and has appeared in only a handful of movies. But when I simply say that he plays Randal Graves, you'd better know who I'm talking about.

A little while Jeff met a man named Devin in a bar and they became friendly with each other. Not that kind of friendly. They bumped into each other again a few weeks later and had some good laughs. A while later, days or weeks, I'm not too sure, Devin was killed while sleeping in his bed as a tree crashed through his family's home.

Jeff learned about this shortly after the accident. He decided to try and help using his fame in the cult-movie industry. He made an offer to everyone, donate a minimum of $10 to a fund to help the family rebuild, and he'll send you a signed page from his Clerks II script. The minute I head of this, I jumped on-board. Not only can I help a family, but also get a thank you in the form of an authentic piece one of my favorite directors' movies. I waited many weeks, thinking that maybe I was too late, as there were only 103 pages in the script. Or maybe he just wasn't going to spend the extra money for international stamps to send a piece of paper to Canada.

But hell froze over and I got my gem!Pages 46 & 47 from a real on-set Clerks II script. Signed by Jeff Anderson. Awesome. I also have my name, amongst other things, in the credits of the movie. Unbelievable.

Creed Bratton. You may know that name from a character in The Office (US version). Well, that's the name that the actor ges by as well. I do watch the show every week and I absolutely love it, but I can't say that I'm a big fan of his character. Maybe it's just because he's not very prominent in most episodes.

Anyway. That's not the point. Much like many of the actors in the show, I knew nothing about them before the show. Some had starring roles in other TV series, or maybe they mostly just have a stand-up background. Well Creed used to play bass in a band. The Grass Roots. Since 1966. He had a top 10 single. And a platinum album. Seriously, insane! I hope he's got some musical scenes in an episode sometime soon.

I listen to a ton of music spanning many genres, and something I rarely find to be mediocre, and either just awesome or crap, are covers, remixes and sample songs. Sample songs and 'artists' seem to be constantly growing for the last 10 years or so thanks to the internet and its fun time download freedoms. So, curious as to who's playing whos song? Check out Who Sampled? It looks fairly new and just getting going, as sample artists like Mike Relm and Hot Chip don't have much info yet, but some more seasoned bands like Van Halen and Foo Fighters have some more songs going for them. Yes, this site certainly isn't close to perfect as Wikipedia is or anything, but maybe quite possibly it can blossom into a nice little gem of a site. And if it doesn't, oh well.

I get to go on an official bon voyage this Saturday as me and my lovely are both experiencing our first Europe adventure as we'll be hitting up Paris for a week. Chances are you shall be seeing some of this trip as it unfolds.

Monopoly is a game I've certainly enjoyed. Sure, I haven't played it in many years but that's mostly due with the fact that it can potentially take three weeks to play a full game. Now why bring it up? Well, I don't mind the 731 spin off games that they've made, as I understand the niche demographic that they're made for. But their new 75th anniversary edition just seems strange. A circular board, no cash but a credit card. Weird.

Yes, I know what's going to happen. One of my friends will buy this and we'll end up playing. I'll get suckered into the new modern look and enjoy the lack of having to pay attention to counting bills. I shall get reeled in like many others, I'm sure. Crap.

Despite my unquestionable enjoyment for varieties of music, my actual musical capabilities are quite low. I spent my elementary years playing the traditional recorder, xylophone and wood blocks to a T, but that came to an abrupt end once middle school started. I did pick up a bass once though, in my college years. I learned about a dozen songs in two weeks and played a New Year's Eve at a frat house for, and with, a bunch of friends. That bass was never touched again. I've just accepted that I'll forever live my rock star dream vicariously through my best friend.

But maybe I can learn this. A company called Misa Digital has come up with this ... touch-pad guitar?! INSANE!



Here's the simplest description of it's possibilities that I've found: In electronic music, the timbre of the sound can be morphed in an infinite number of ways. For a guitar to do this, the strumming hand needs more control than just plucking strings. Apparently it allows you to control elements of the sound, such as sustain, pitch, filter cutoffs, contour or any other synthesizer parameter, in a way that has no physical constraints.

And yes, you can plug it right into your regular amp and fire away. I'm curious how long it'll be before Harmonix gets their hands on something like this for a new Rock Band experience.