pine for the cedars

you know when you ask someone;

"so, what kind of music do you listen to?"
and they say - "oh you, everything".

translation?
"oh you know, what's on the radio, and music from movies, and youtube and stuff, I guess. oh and that sweet song from the telus commercial."

so..... by everything..... you mean..... nothing? nothing or crap, from what I'm getting. well maybe not all crap, but certainly a large majority of crap with the occasional gemstone of rare top-40 goodness.

So, when someone I've just met asks me "so, Jill, what kind of music do you listen to?" and I say, "oh, you know, everything" .... you best believe I mean everything.

Dance tunes? hell yes. Lil rock and roll? of course. Ruff rap? errday. Old school hip hop? even better. Twangy country? aw hell yea. Smooth jazz? yes please. Showtunes? favourite. Dirty punk rock? uh huh. Bouncy ska? bring it on. Death metal? got it's moments. Screamo? been there. Whiney boy bands? since '94. Classical? rock me wolfgang....

but sift through the 6000-some-odd songs on my Itunes (not to mention in the extensive CD collection that stopped growing when I finally caved and got an ipod) and one genre... style... mood of music if you will, always seems to dominate....

and that my friends, is the glorious combination of a boy, a guitar, and a beautiful voice. particular all-time faves in this group include Jason Mraz, James Morisson, and canadian cutie Kyle Riabko. However this past six months, one gorgeous growly man and his magic strings have taken over all my playlists. That man is none other than vancouver born Dan Mangan, and last week I was lucky enough to see him in concert. In light of this, without further delay, I give you;

The unofficial (but still totally kind of legitimate) DAN MANGAN Concert Review!... because the charlatan wouldn't give me a press pass.

Friday, October 14th. Classes end and the scramble begins. I book it out the doors of the university centre only to be stopped dead in my tracks by a bearded beauty staring back at me from the cover of Express. I pick up the newspaper and leaf through: "dan mangan's new album Oh Fortune, out last friday, totally awesome, etc. etc. etc.... will be playing at the bronson centre tonight ...."

my heart stops. tonight.. tonight!?? ... tonight!! It feels like this whole month andthensome has been gearing up to this night, and my ears can't believe it's finally here. Time to rush home with a scant FIVE HOURS to pick an outfit and get good and concert drunk.

For those of you unaware (poor things), mr mangan is a Canadian born and bred artist armed with a talent unmatched on today's airwaves. His voice has a rusty sort of clarity that lends extra intensity to those wish-you-could-hit-them notes, and his guitar work is equally enchanting. The first song that got me hooked was "Sold" - a roadtrip anthem if there ever was one - and since then my headphones and speakers have been flooded with all things DAN. I invite you to step into the musical madness of my mind, by clicking here:

so now that you're (hopefully) on my page - I mean common, who can't be smiling after watching that one? - I can bring you into my world on the magical night of friday the fourteenth.

the night started off slow, and thanks to excessive pre-drinking and my time-challenged friends (you know who you are...) the doors which opened at 7 weren't graced with our presence until at least 8:30. Blame it on the wrong bus stop or mr. jagermeister, but needless to say we didn't even see a sliver of the openers. but, eventually, we made it. and there he was. all stage-lit and midsong.

I suppose this is more of a last-half and post-concert review, considering we walked in a few songs deep and had to lean over the mezzanine while the punctual concert goers got seats. But I didn't care, because I was soaking in every inch of the magic unfolding in front of me. I was doubly stoked when the band took a break and dan stood alone in the spotlight with his guitar and started plucking out the tune to "The Indie Queens Are Waiting" - one of the more mellow yet still unbelievably beautiful songs from his second album. It was haunting.

The night ended with a truly epic stand-up-and-sing-along rendition of "Jeopardy" where both opening bands and two kids from the audience with robot heads (no joke) crowded the stage and sang in harmony while the audience swayed along. A moment that would move even the most cynical of hearts, it's had me singing and swooning since.

After the encore and a quick "see you at the merch table!" from the man himself, kids poured out of the bronson centre doors and into the lobby. the place was packed, with no hope of even scoring a T-shirt let alone a conversation. So I muscled through, elbowing my way past the ones who were lucky enough to make it out before I did. As I made it past the front of the table and almost out the doors, a sweaty looked scruffy man in Dan Mangan's shirt walked infront of me. Is that??? Holy shit.... automatic reactions kicked in and my tongue took it's own course.....

"DAN!" .... he turned around and smiled a hello. Oh my god, that's really your name!! it's actually you!! Being a few jagerbombs for the worse at this point and completely starstruck, our actual conversation remains a bit blurry in my memory. But through my whole frantic banter (something along the lines of "I just love your music-and my sister sent me your song while I was in australia-and it's totally like my favourite-and you're just so great-and I, I, I....") .... He was smiling a big ear-to-ear smile that was a million times more vibrant than any magazine cover pose I'd seen all over the city in the last week. When I finally stopped spouting insanities, he left me with a giant smile and a friendly handshake/arm pat (YESSSS! next stop HUGTOWN!) and thanked me for coming to the show. call me crazy... but I think he meant it.

After talking extensively with the band outside the theatre - who were also awesome dudes to the highest degree - and floating home on a cloud, I fell asleep with ringing in my ears and a smile on my face.

mission accomplished,
what a night.

dan & christina

I like to think of myself as a relatively happy person.
... but do you know what makes me really mad?

Crappy music videos.

I want to throw up in my mouth a little every time I turn the TV to faithful channel 22 - just as I did all through those high school years - only to find the screen flooded with ... crap.

....But do you know what is even more frustrating than hours on end of badly lit pop tweeners and oversized wind machines? The fact that some people can't seem to wade through all the crap to find out there is actually still fantastic stuff spilling out of the music-film genre every day. I get it, okay, music videos were better in the 80s (though a few exceptions spring to mind...) but the fact is that in this decade of oversize, oversell, and overdo... some people are still getting it right... and I thank them every day for the entertainment.

So let us, for a moment, raise our glasses - or mugs, or cups, or what have you ... I'm assuming at 9:48am not many of you are drinking chocolate milk from a crystale champagne goblet like myself, due to the fact I don't have any other glassware in my new apartment - regardless, let's raise our delicious drinking vessels to GOOD MUSIC VIDEOS. Though believed to be extinct by many a critic, I firmly believe that creators of good music - new and old alike - are out there creating good videos.

I present to you here, two (rather opposite) pop videos I've happened to come across in my travels - thanks to friends with good taste in music - that don't actually suck. No whiney adolescents who can't play their instruments. No booty poppin backup dancers who are moonlighting as underpaid strippers in the evenings. Even if neither of these songs is really your style of tune, there's no denying that both videos are well done, shot with finesse, and feature actors who can act, singers who can sing, and dancers who can dance.

One; is a nice folky tune by the adorrrrrable dan mangan, with a video that is sure to make you laugh .. or at least smile real big.

Two; is a beautifully done piece by christina perri (the heartbroken, self-deprecating ink princess herself) with equally beautiful dancing & costumes.

Compare, Contemplate, and Enjoy!

inkme

This week I had the privilege of accompanying my dear friend Chelsey to the ceremonious loss of her tattoo virginity ... and decided to make her a little extra nervous .. by taking pictures of the whole painful (and awesome) ordeal! The artist was super sweet, a girl - I wanna say her name was, Danny? - from California who was guest-tatting at our beloved local Sideshow for the time being. The sweetness didn't just spring from the fact that her flaming red hair and crazy body modification made for sweet pictures. She turned out to be an incredibly talented artist and did a wicked good job on Chelsey's foot.

Thanks a lot girls, you've made the ink addiction flare up all over again.
now I'm gonna have to get more tattoos.

oh, so many more tattoos.

Below is my favourite photo from the day (though the colours could be a little brighter) followed by the lovely chelsey with her finished product. Before we left, I had to snap a picture of the artist's badASS scarification back piece. Even though I don't have the desire nor the balls to let someone slice an intricate design into my skin with a scalpel ... this was pretty damn impressive.



~~~

21 &invincible

barefoot and bleeding
stomping through the not so silent streets
dirty shirt and dirty legs
as the sunshine creeps in,
unwelcome in your night sky.

you're going to work, I'm going to bed,
this could be forever.
but while you think in numbers
I'm dreaming neon,
and your city still smells like victory to me.

time machine

just hit the right trigger
and swing to to the right song.

because one will take you home,
and the other will cause your crumble.

...

wise words

"There is a part of me that wants to write, a part that wants to theorize, a part that wants to sculpt, a part that wants to teach ...

To force myself into a single role, to decide to be just one thing in life, would kill off large parts of me. Rather, I recognize that I live now and only now, and I will do what I want to do this moment and not what I decided was best for me yesterday"

- Hugh Prather

fujifun

New age bracket, new camera, new blog ... time to have some fun
... in the spirit of the season, here are a few

SNAPSHOTS of a DELICIOUS SUMMER

plenty more to come

...

best one yet

$260 on the cell phone bill from three weeks of being at home.
thanks rogers.

take 21 years of experience. throw in a handful of your best friends in the world. shake in some city nightlife, high heels, and a few very short skirts. blend with a basement full of boys and a dance party till sunrise. stir with a daytime napfest in the mancave. top it all off with a sunshine raft adventure down the credit and half a Jurassic park marathon.

and you've got one legendary birthday.

thanks to all who made it so ♥

overture

There`s nothing like watching Alice Ripley shred the stage of the four seasons with a Tony Winning performance after 12 months of theatrical hiatus. Makes the addiction spark up all over again.