Luke Surl Comics

Something I stumbled upon on the interwebs. I'm finally branching out from xkcd and garfieldminusgarfield!




The website can be found here!

ON THE HIIIGHWAAAY TO THE DANGER ZONE

Sometimes, I get sad. Yes! Even me!

But when I get sad, I have a sure-fire solution. And a back-up sure-fire solution, when the sure-fire solution is unattainable.

To quit my being sad and return to my usual degree of epic awesomeitude, I do nothing more than pop my Top Gun DVD into the player and chill with Mav and Goose. However, after his breakup, I lent my Top Gun DVD to an old friend. He still hasn't gotten it back to me. If you read this blog, bro, and I hope you do, I want my Top Gun back. Soon. So nights like this don't require a back-up.

My back-up is, of course, my Get Psyched mix CD + playlist. It includes the most important part of Top Gun, that being Kenny Loggins' Danger Zone. Track 3. Other highlights: Jump (track 2), Tom Sawyer (track 8), The Final Countdown (track 10), Eye of the Tiger (track 14), Song 2 (track 17), Don't Stop Believin' (track 20), and You Give Love A Bad Name to open the whole thing up. Awesome. This is how you keep things awesome, bloggees: Arena Rock.


And scotch.

February.

Something magical is going to happen. I'm convinced of it.

This February is the first month since 1998 to be a perfect rectangle on a calendar. Look at it. Every Saturday is a multiple of 7, and it consists of 28 days. Sunday to Saturday, Sunday to Saturday, Sunday to Saturday, Sunday to Saturday, done. It hasn't happened since 1998 and won't again until 2015. It's an aesthetically pleasing month and the rarity of such a thing, oh I don't know.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, look at your calendar. It's so beautiful and symmetrical (which gives me hope for Wednesdays, being the axis! And I love Wednesdays anyway). Maybe this is just my own version of superstition, but to hell with that. I'm convinced that February is going to be a beautiful, magical month, specifically Wednesdays and Saturdays, and if you try to tell me otherwise I just won't believe it. Okay? Okay!

2009-01-26

I know I haven't been posting much lately, but I'm really focussing on my studies at the moment. I'll write a rant or a review of one of those albums I snatched from Sharon or something sometime soon, but not yet. Now I'll just give you a rundown of my first radio show.

THE MONDAY NIGHT SPECTACULAR
2009-01-26

1. The Port City Allstars - Pettin' Dogs
2. Sharp Like Knives - Holy Gaud
3. New Royalty - Fluorescent
4. Wintersleep - Avalanche
5. Old Man Luedecke - Just Like A River
6. Jessie Kussin - Dodging Daggers
7. Kyrie Kristmanson - Oh, Montmartre
8. Matt & Chris Time - Lucy and Disasters, too
9. Woodhands - Dancer
10. Shotgun & Jaybird - Marquee Glass
11. The Tom Fun Orchestra - You Will Land With A Thud

Any questions about any of this music, where you can find it, etc, come to me. Or just google them, an awful lot of them have myspaces. Most of them, I should imagine. All of them, likely. Stay tuned next week for another block of absolute wonder from this strange man in your noise box.

MEDIA PROLIFERATION

Starting Monday, 26th January at MIDNIGHT

I, your faithful blogger, shall be ON THE AIR playing a selection of my favourite tunes from home and away. Something like 10-15% Saint John music, too. Be excited.

Mondays at midnight, tune in to CHMA 106.9 if you're in the Sackville area or here if you are anywhere else in the world--we do a webcast!

So, check it out. Playlists will be posted here the day after a show, so check it out!

Stereophonic, Day 5

all photo credit to vanessa blackier

The final day of Stereophonic 6, on Tuesday January 20th, was a nice night, a nice concert, but it definitely had its downsides. But it was wonderful and an adequate culmination of the wonderfuliciousness that was Stereophonic. Personally, I preferred Friday night's show at the Vogue, but this was another fantastic show. Two of the acts I'd seen before (though one of them not for years) and the third act has been intriguing me for some time, and I'm glad I got to see them. But oh, where do I begin?

My friend Neil, who has been to all of these shows with me, and has been a sounding board for some of my reviews, took ill last night, and as such left the concert early. This was a little bit of a bummer, but I latched on to other friends and still made the night worthwhile from a personal standpoint. And Ian's message on the Friday's Special blackboard was still there. The mind, I suppose, remains a powerful trick.

I was a little bit excited about the first band on the lineup; I saw them back at the Halloween show and enjoyed them more than I really know how to say. Maybe I'm just a sucker for a synthesizer and a pretty girl, but New Royalty are definitely more than just a synthesizer and a pretty girl! There are two pretty girls. I missed the beginning of their set at Halloween, but the earliosity with which I arrived to the show and the length of time before the show started, I caught the whole thing this time. They're a wonderful lot on stage, friendly and fun, encouraging dancing and clapping, and they're coming off a PEI Music Award win for Best Pop Recording of the Year. These kids have promise! And I hope they keep playing together in some form once they disperse--the one record is not enough! And gosh, it's a cute record. You have to get your hands on it at some point. It's a 5-song EP, home-packaged, and the liner notes are just adorable as anything. The EP is titled "Sleepover!", and what do we do at sleepovers? Do any of you remember those little paper whatsits I and at least a few others remember as cootie catchers? The liner notes are folded into one of these, with the lyrics written on the inside flaps. Adorable! And wonderfully danceable synth-driven pop-rock which you have to check out. If I haven't directed you before to their myspace, go there now! Apparently they'll be playing in Halifax on the 7th of February... so check that out, if you can! And pick up that adorable little award-winning EP of theirs! I have, and definitely am not regretting it. If you cats end up reading this, I am officially a huge fan.

But both I and that first band were eagerly anticipating the next two. First came Plants and Animals out of Montréal, who I first heard when their record came out to a whole lot of celebratory gunfire in the blogosphere. These boys put on one hell of an awesometastic set, I thought, given there were only three of them up there on the stage at any given time. But holy mackerel, the sound that the three of them could pump out! Absolutely amazing. It might have had something to do with the epic pedal setup this multi-instrumentalist of theirs' had going on at his feet. They played quite a bit from the album, and also a couple of new songs which might one day be heard on a future recording. It was lovely to see and hear so much of the crowd singing along to so many of the songs, and they knew them so much better than I did. I could belt out a couple of them but some of these guys seemed like right proper devoted fans. I like seeing that kind of crowd reaction one hell of a lot, it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Near the end of the set, for Bye, Bye, Bye, one of them set down his guitar, or his bass, or whatever he had in his hands at the time and picked up an auto-harp. This made me smile more than the crowd. Autoharps > Happy people. It's just a fact of life. Autoharps, you see, they create happy people, and thus by this productive quality are greater than the things they produce. Except the sounds. Oh, don't listen to me! I'm making no sense. The crowd reaction to the band was so rad that they came out and did an encore of one of my favourite tracks from the album, Mercy. They had the whole crowd, even those who didn't know their music, shouting M-E-R! C-Y! M-E-R! C-Y! It was a beautiful moment in flu-season Sackville. But of course, the show was not yet over. There was more to come.

The last time I saw Wintersleep was in 2007, on their tour promoting the then new Welcome to the Night Sky record. The first time I saw them was in 2005, at a release show for their then new untitled 2005 record. In the years since my first Wintersleep show, the band has grown, has gained national fame, has won ECMAs and Juno awards, and has changed. I'm not sure if this change is for good or for ill, even though I'm a big fan of their first two records. I picked up a clear-vinyl pressing of their debut record that night, the record from 2003 that got me into the band. To be frank, I can't get into Welcome to the Night Sky. I've tried. I've tried dozens of times, I've listened to the album through a number of times, but it just doesn't stick like the noodles I used to throw against the wall when I was a wee one. Sadly, they relied mostly on this newest album for the material they played on Tuesday night. They played a few songs which I knew well, but Orca, which had been their most popular and successful track in the pre-Weighty Ghost era was missing entirely from the set. The main set did not disappoint me, though, as I was expecting an emphasis on new material, and they were awfully sloppy. I was awfully sloppy, myself, so I don't hold it against them. And my love for the band remains, because the encore they played felt like it could have been the show I went to in 2005. They played Sore, from their first record, which is one of my favourite cuts from that album, and they closed the show with a cover of Neil Young's Words (Between the Lines of Age). These two, feeling like old Wintersleep again, gave me hope that their upcoming record might sound at least something like their first two. My love for Wintersleep has not faded, no sir! If anything, this show has restored my faith in one of the most talented bands to come out of the Maritimes and on to national prominence in the last few years.

And with that, Stereophonic closed its pages for another year! And my focus can return to my studies. And keeping up this blog, of course. I have an announcement to make, regarding my eventual proliferation across media, but I shall wait until tomorrow.

Good day!

Stereophonic, Day 4 (Pt. 2)

some photo credit to vanessa blackier (the good ones)

I think I've pinned down why I felt so off on Saturday. That afternoon it had been my friend's birthday and over the course of an hour and a half I had had about ten beer. I was mostly sober by the time the shows rolled around, but there's no denying that that would have had a startling effect on me. I don't like beer. Me, I'm a wine-drinking man, as my bottle collection will inform you. I don't know why I agreed to do a century with them. I really don't know why I was one of only two to pull through all the way. But more on that if you ask, no more here.

When I got to George's, for this penultimate show of the Stereophonic festival, PheasantCougarBear was playing something I didn't really enjoy. I like the individual members, all students here at Mt Allison, but the music left a foul taste in my mouth. When I got there, I wanted to just settle in at a table and have a drink, before the show started. I figured since I left Struts so early, nothing would be happening yet at George's and I'd have some quiet time. No such luck! But oh well. If you want to see PheasantCougarBear's set, or indeed some others from the night (including THE STANCE, who rocked my socks right off, but more on that later), check out CultureHub.ca, a Saint John based videocast site. Apparently they'll be posting more videos from the night as time goes by! Maybe you'll even get a peek at me; watch the crowd for 3D glasses!

After PheasantCougarBear there was a little break as people arrived and whatnot, came in, got settled, the rest of the crew from Struts came. The Stance played first, and I'd heard nothing of this band before a few days ago when I was doing my CHMA training and one of my co-trainees played a cut from their album. I thought to myself, well, fuck, why haven't I heard of this band? Why haven't I heard that they're playing? They were a late addition to the festival, along with New Royalty who are playing tonight, but who I reported on. Anyway, they really impressed me, and I'm snatching that record from the offices as soon as I can, since they didn't have it for sale. I described them to a buddy of mine at the time as 'the Black Keys if they wanted to play dance music'. You can catch a video of them at that website I mentioned earlier. They were a whole lot of fun, I thought. Definitely check those boys out! I wish I knew more about them, so I could say more about them, but it's been a while since I've seen a band I'd never heard before and enjoyed them so thoroughly. The last one I can remember doing that was Hey Rosetta!, and they ended up being my pick for best album of 2008.

The Stolen Minks, an all-girl punk group out of Halifax came next. I hadn't seen a punk show of any description in quite a while, unless you count that thing at the pub a few months back. Okay, I hadn't been to a real punk show in a while. I don't even know. Anyway, I liked them! A friend of mine has their record, picked it up at the show, and I intend to give it a listen some time and share that with you, faithful reader. Sharon! Get me that CD! and the Maynards, too! It was a lot of fun to dance to, having had my own indie concert baptism in Saint John's hardcore scene. It was a little bit like going home. Just a little bit, though; those Saint John bands never played like this. And the moshing was a lot more tame. I only got punched in the face twice over the course of the night! Come on, now. It was an ace show, really ace.

In between here they had Elton John playing over the sound system. This led to a group of us singing along to Tiny Dancer and Rocket Man, drunkenly around a table. I have to say, it was quite a load of fun.

What can I possibly say about Shotgun Jimmie, who came on after our little interlude? He's been described as Sackville's mascot and its ambassador to the rest of the world, and he really does embody everything wonderful about the town. He's a magical personality. The first time I saw him--well, I don't think I blogged about it! I think it was the show which inspired the blog, though. It was just him and a looper pedal in a friend's living room, and what a beautiful set that was. This time, though, he came on with a three-piece band and they played a rather wonderful assortment of his solo music. I wish I'd picked up his album at the 67 Bridge show back in November, but sadly, no dice! All I can do is direct you to his myspace and hope you enjoy yourself there. Jimmie is one of my very favourite things about Sackville. One of my other favourite things about the town, as you probably know, is Julie. As you may or may not know, the two of them, along with Fred Squire and a couple of others who have yet to be mentioned in this blog made up Shotgun & Jaybird for a few years--a band I rather miss. However, this evening, Julie bounded up to the stage from where she was next to me in the crowd and joined Jimmie onstage to close his set with a duet on Bedhead, which may well be Sackville's favourite song. You can find it on his myspace. It was just oh so much fun, and I am beyond glad to have that moment now in my memory. Oh Julie, oh Jimmie! What a beautiful night you created.

But that wasn't the end of the night.

No, we were just beginning! After Jimmie came The Maynards, who put on a high energy show that was a lot of fun. Here I was starting to drift out and drink more, not in the front of the crowd rocking my heart out as I usually would be. This is what I meant in the last post by not really being myself. It's slightly upsetting. The Maynards, though, were dorky in a hardcore way, I'm not sure how to describe it. My advice to you is, once again, head on over to CultureHub.ca and check out the video of their performance. It really is a lot of fun, and you're expecting it if they open up their set by saying 'This is a song about eating out your friends! It's called.. Friendilingus!' What I heard of it I enjoyed, and Sharon I want you to get me their CD, too, so I can hear what they sound like. I did enjoy them, from what I could tell, but I need a better indicator! And I'll be back once I've heard an album with a review, you just watch. Super-fun performance that had people making out for free beer. That's all that really needs to be said.

And! Finally! As you likely can tell from the header of this post, the night was capped off with the Tom Fun Orchestra, my very favourite band to see live. Sadly, Morgan, their fiddler, he wasn't with them because of some kind of surgery, yikes. They still put on a rad show, but there was definitely something missing. The focus on the trumpet though was neat, Bert took over some of Morgan's parts. I still really do miss Alicia, and I miss her most when I hear them do Watchmaker. Carmen really is growing on me, but I don't know. Watchmaker is where Alicia really shone. I have to stop talking about them in terms of what's missing, and have to talk about what was gained! They closed the show with the most epic version of You Will Land With A Thud. I have never seen them play the song live, probably because it is just so very long. It was a gorgeous end to the show. They did Bottom of the River, another one I've never seen live, and proceeded into You Will Land With A Thud as the encore. Absolutely beautiful stuff, and it made up for the whole missing Alicia and Morgan. Ian, too, was very Ian. He did a call-back to the last show they played at George's referring to the blackboard aside the stage, which had led the crowd that time in a chant of SWEET AND SOUR MEATBALLS! But this time, oh no, it was covered up! So he pulled the sheet down from the wall and wrote on the blackboard, underneath Friday's Special: THE MIND IS A POWERFUL TRICK! I'm rather hoping it's still there, though I have a feeling it's been replaced by Monday's and then Tuesday's specials. But, one can dream! Oh, Tom Fun Orchestra, you are such a delightful group. You ended the night on a beautiful note. I hope I can manage to see them again soon. Between the stage presence, and the overall awesomeitude of the music, well just, gosh, I can't think of any band I would rather see live.

And with that, Saturday night ended, and Stereophonic took a break, before the final show on Tuesday night, at George's. To which I'm going in an hour.