Retro Rock Trivia

So I'll spring board off my brothers question weather or not I'm the second coming or just him and haven't aged in regard to kicking ass at music trivia. I can go off on many different stories off this one... Okay so my oldest brother when he was around my age would go to retro rock trivia night at a pub and always come out on top. After my movie knowledge I would consider music to be my second close passion. I even took a Rock and Roll Philosophy course in college. Now that I think about I think I pulled my best grade in college out of that course. I would have taken a similar movie course if only it was offered during my time. Just like movies I like all genres of music...well maybe not all but I can appreciate them all on some level. You certainly won't see me blaring country from my car speakers any time soon.

So how did I obtain all my musical knowledge? Well it sure as hell wasn’t from my parents. Have you ever perused your parent’s record collection? Fun, eh…but if you ever looked through my parents collection you’d find that it does have some awesome ones but by and large it has a lot of not so great ones. I say peruse their collection but I bet some of you have just stolen their collections and claimed it for yourselves. My brothers don’t know this yet but that sure as hell is at least my plan, lol. However at least two of then will probably end up reading this so I guess it’s no longer a secret plan. They will probably think to themselves why the hell should I get it. Two reason really, First b/c the next thing I’m investing in is a USB turntable. That’s right I going to transfer some of these records straight to my computer. That’s my next pet project although I should really finish my Europe scrapbook, however I can easily do both at the same time…ah genius thinking. Plus I plan on using the LP covers as art. That’s right…you can actually buy frames to display album covers. That’s totally going to be the décor of my house along with movie posters. It’s a little gay but I actually can’t wait to design the look of my place. But now that I think about the one area they did help in was an appreciation for the old 50’s and 60’s tunes. Both my parents enjoy listening to AM radio so whenever I was chauffeured around as a child I would be hearing the golden oldies.

I would say that a big part of my knowledge and love for music came from my oldest brother. He is six years older than me so when you’re young you look up at the older brother and want to be like him. Therefore whatever he likes you like too. Come to think about trying to be like your older brother is a stupid idea or at least it is for me. My parents are always saying and even to this day “oh your just like Dylan” or when I say or do something it’s “that’s such a Dylan”. Screw off! …Who the hell am I then! When my brother does certain things thing I think to myself that’s a ‘me’ he’s doing not the other way around. Plus my parents are always calling my one of my brothers names. What the hell is with that? Do I not exist? I think therefore I am damn it! So I think, okay I’ll grow my hair long, get a tattoo, grow the goatee, live an exciting life in travel and adventure that you’d think I’d have enough different things going on for myself that my parents would get my name right….NO! Okay I think I’ve gotten off topic here, but these types of posts are a fantastic idea for something to look back on if I ever develop Alzheimer’s disease or amnesia. Where was I…Oh yes, so not only would my oldest brother buy the current stuff he would also go back and buy the old stuff as well, such as The Doors and Jimi Hendrix. Then it became my brothers tape and CD collections that I would peruse and steal for a limited time before they realized it was missing and kicked my ass. Geeze some brothers eh? Plus instead of the parents chauffeuring you around b/c it’s so lame at that age, it becomes your oldest brothers and you get to listen to the CD’s or tapes that they blast in the car.

So that’s one part of my musical education. Another one comes from my enjoyment of watching documentaries regarding the history of music. Usually every weekend you can find such a program on Much More Music. Some of my favourites have been VH1’s 100 most shocking moments in rock and roll history, and the Metal Years (not sure if that’s what it was called but it was a 4 part documentary covering each decade of metal). The next two are a little bit more comical. Back in the day when music video’s were the new thing my brother would tape a full tape of music video’s from the 80’s on the old Betamax. Yeah my parents picked wrong in that format war, haha. I actually still have a working Beta machine. My parents were going to throw it out a few years ago but I couldn’t bare to part with it even though it wasn’t working anymore however I was actually able to restore it to working condition. Not that it really matters, I think just about everything that we had on Beta I now own on DVD but there are certain things such as old 80’s TV specials and the music video’s that you just can’t replace. Back when the music video’s were taped I was more into cartoons, but it was something I discovered a few years later as I was gaining a love for movies. I would watch old 80’s movies (well old now, current at the time) mixed with old music video’s from Duran Duran and Michael Jackson. So I’ve pretty much covered how I know my music from the 80’s and 90’s and gained a partial knowledge of music that came out before I was born. So how did I pick up my music knowledge from even earlier eras…Infomercials! That’s right those old late night CD commercials that would come on after midnight promoting the best of the 50’s, 60’s or 70’s. I would stay up all night and watch those as a kid. Well I wouldn’t stay up b/c of them. At that age I was a real night owl and stay up to all hours of the morning but I didn’t have my own VCR back then and nothing is good on TV at those hours of the night/morning. You can actually pick up quiet a lot from those commercials.

Okay so there you have it …a more or less simplified version of how I gained all my musical knowledge. So back to the music trivia some friends from work wanted me to join them for music trivia. It’s probably been like six years since I played some sort of trivia in a pub. The last time it was movie trivia, I would go out with my second oldest brother and his friends. The down side back then was I didn’t drink…at all. Great for the brother and friends b/c our winnings or I should say my winnings would pay for their drinks. I still had an awesome time though back then. It gave me a chance to hang out with my second oldest brother, which hadn’t happened since our gaming days. It did get boring though winning all the time plus I’m sure others really hated playing against me. Now I’m more of a social drinker so at least I can take advantage of my teams winnings. The team we were up against last week were in for a shock when my team showed up. On my team I was playing with two other hot shots like myself. If I didn’t know the answer one of them would and visa versa. The other team didn’t know what hit them and they were the group that would go every week and win. Well their winning streak is over…The funny thing is their team was made up of people more or less the same age as myself. They did a great job on the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s but totally bombed the 90’s how is that even possible, that’s there generation of music. Plus they were no match for my Michael Jackson impersonation, lol.

Q &A With Garrett

What a smart/lame idea for a post, which could potentially backfire making it even that more funny for my readers. So as I’m watching ‘A Threeevening With Kevin Smith’ and talking with Julie today I think to myself, I could do that. For those of you who don’t know ‘An Evening with Kevin Smith’ is a series of movies Kevin Smith does where he goes on college tours and lets fans ask him questions. He answers even the most basic questions with really in-depth funny and candid stories. I’m not saying I have anything interesting to say (well that’s a lie) but I might have some stupid/funny/sad stories to share for those interested. Why anyone would really be interesting I’m not sure but I have nothing else really pressing to do right now. The only down side is I have to resort to typing it out, so it won’t have that spin I can throw on it if you were hearing it in person, but it does give me more time to think about it. I know Julie has some questions lined up (the other reason I suppose making this worth while), just please go easy on me Julie! So if you’ve ever wanted to know my thoughts on a random subject or something you’ve always wanted to know about me, go ahead ask and I’ll tell you no lie. I just won’t answer in that case, HA!

Battle Of Bishop.

So in my previous post I was mentioning a movie from my youth called 'Nightmares'. It's a horror anthology movie with 4 segments. I first saw it on A&E back in the day when they used to air really sweet cult classic movies, such as Repo Man. On a side note they once aired this one horror movie during a Sunday afternoon and it was so violent that I thought they had aired it by mistake b/c what they showed would have been cut for broadcast. Plus this was back in the day when no channel would dare play any movie uncut. The only scene I can remember from that film was a girl getting pulled through the middle of a staircase by some crazed psycho that was after the group of teens. Her friends tried to pull her back up but all they got was the top part of her torso. It was so gruesomely awesome. My challenge is to one day find this film. Anyways back on track here...Nightmares. A sweet horror anthology film that I'm trying to find on DVD but it's been out of print for years and goes for some hefty prices online. One day I'll get it. So one of the segments was called Battle Of Bishop with Emilio Estevez. He plays a gamer who becomes so good at a video game, that the game comes to life to collect him. It was a pretty sweet story. I think it and Repo Man were the two actually films that introduced me to some classic punk music. Every time he plays the game he puts on his walkman and blasts his punk music. Well anyways the point of the post was after talking about the film yesterday I felt like seeing the trailer for the film. So I go on youtube and check out the trailer and someone has actually posted the Battle of Bishop segment in 3 parts for people to watch. So if anyone was interested in checking it out here are the links

Part1
Part 2
Part 3

What I’m Currently Listening to

Other than the new Tragically Hip and the reissue of Pearl Jam’s Ten

I made myself a new G-Mix CD the other day and thought I share my track listings.

1. Fear-I don’t Care About You
I had two minutes left worth of space so I threw this one on. I don’t like space going to waste and it clocks in at a minute 50. Normally I throw such as space filler at the end but this song fits nicely as an opener to the first half of the CD. It’s got a great chorus to the song-I don’t care about you-FUCK YOU! Perfect song to sing aloud to, lol. The first time I heard this song I think was I elementary school. It was part of a horror anthology movie that I saw on A&E called Nightmares. It was a sweet movie that I’ve been trying to find on DVD for years but it’s been out of print and copies of it go for like $100. They played it during the one entitled 'Bishop of Battle', where a teenager (Emilio Estevez) becomes so good at a video game, that the game comes to life to collect him. Hopefully I find a copy some day or they will re-release it. A&E used to play some super wicked shows back in the day. I wished they'd return to those.

NIN/JA Tour Sampler-free download of Nine Inch Nails, Jane’s Addiction, and Street Sweeper previously unreleased music.
2. Jane’s Addiction-Chip Away
3. Nin-Not So Pretty Now
4. Street Sweeper-Clap for the Killers
5. Jane’s Addiction-Whores
6. Nin-Non Entity
7. Street Sweeper-The Oath

When I heard JA’s ‘Whores’ I was like that’s been released before I have it. Yeah, I was wrong partially. Every version I have of it is live. This is the first time it’s a studio recording. I also learned something very interesting about the band Street Sweeper. I was like who the hell are they. I go to their web page and find out it’s Tom Morello’s (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave) new band with Boots Riley of The Coup. Their genre is rap rock. Their two songs were pretty good. I may have to pick up their album when they release one this year.

8. One Day as a Lion-Wild International
Did you ever wonder what Zack de la Rocha from Rage Against the Machine was up to? Well this is what he has been doing. And yes I am well aware that I put two songs back to back from Rage members.

9. My Chemical Romance-Desolation Row
Not a fan of the band but it’s from Watchmen, plus it’s a Bob Dylan song.

10 Arcade Fire-Wake Up
Old song used in the trailer for ‘Where the Wild Things Are’
“now that I'm older, my heart’s colder”

11. Danny Elfman-The Little Things
Used in the film Wanted. You may know Danny Elfman as the composer to every Tim Burton film amongst other but I first knew him as the lead singer to 80’s ska-influenced new wave band Oingo Boingo.

12. 3 Doors Down- She Don't Want the World
Now we start to mellow out the CD. I could see this song used in a slow motion movie montage love/dream scene. Theres this chime in one part of the song which is sort of hypnotic. First time I heard the song I put it on repeat for like an hour. It’s a very calming song.

13.Kelly Clarkson-All I ever wanted
Can you spot the guilty pleasure song ;) I actually like Kelly Clarkson she has had some good hits. I just hope she never goes the trashy route to sell albums like other starlets. I was playing the album in store and this song just has a really good beat.

Thrid Eye Blind
Yeah! New stuff from Third Eye Blind! I’ve been waiting 6 years for this. To me their lyrics are really poetic. This is all the leaked stuff I could find. I can’t wait to pick up their new CD.
14.Non-Dairy Creamer
15. Red Star
16. Why Can’t You Be
17. Your Not Gonna Break Me
18. Second Born
19. Lightening Comes and goes
20. Why Can’t Say We

Palm/Tarot Card Reading

I finally went to one of those fair’s that comes around every year…it only took me 15 or so years. And like every good fair there is a fortuneteller, which I always thought would be cool to get an official one done. I say official b/c my ex-girlfriend was into tarot cards and she was pretty good at it. However it wasn’t part of the fair that I first sought out. I really only did it b/c a friend of mine was getting theirs done and I’m really glad I did! I do actually believe in that stuff. I know by getting one done you hear what you want to hear. Plus without yourself consciously being aware of it you probably drop hints to things but you tend to ignore that b/c of the information she is telling you. Speaking of which, haven’t you noticed that all fortunetellers are women. So for the low, low price of $30 I was able to get my tarot reading and palm read. So the things that stuck with me out of the tarot reading. First off there is always a spirit that comes with the cards. Mine was an old man who looks out for me. Which I thought was cool b/c I feel like at times I’m an old soul. Also from the cards I’m close with my mom and I should listen to her. Yeah that’s all I need to hear, lol ;) Also my dad is there for me. I will be doing some traveling and will be seeing lakes and mountains. The funny thing is she said it wouldn’t be hard living in BC. Then one of the cards said I would be crossing a boarder. I just so happen on planning to be go on vacation in late summer down the west coast into California. She also got from the cards that I’m very lucky, which is really true with my family. The whole lot of us are really lucky people. She asked me what I did for a living and she said things are looking good. She told me I was just starting out and that I would be successful. It would also lead me to bigger better things. As for the love life she told me I’ve been hurt, but who hasn’t right ;) The next person who comes along won’t hurt me, and she will be someone I can trust. The next part is the damn thing. She asked me if anyone close to me has died recently. No one ever close to me has died, (but I never let that one slip to her). She went on to tell me someone close to me is going to die in 3 days, 3 weeks or 3 months. It’s going to be sudden. It’s not going to be my Mom or Dad, she’s not sure who. She told me (don’t quote me on these words) I’m going to be disappointed but will get over it quickly. Now that is some freaky shit. This could mean I may lose either my grandma or grandpa, soon. I don’t want to sound like a cold bastard but that’s exactly how I feel I’d take the news of there passing. So at least that’s more or less what I could remember from the tarot cards. Then for my palm reading…I going to live to an old age somewhere into my 80’s… Sweet! Time to take living life to the edge! At least more than I already have, haha. The way that two of the lines meet in my palm show that I don’t make decisions hastily, I think things through. The woman I’m meant to be with will be the next woman to come my way. I guess these last two things could come together. I don’t see myself dating someone unless I see a possible future for the two of us. Were going to grow old together, and have two kids. I’m also going to have to have a lot of grandchildren. As far as career I going to be well off financially and successful and may even have my own business. She couldn’t tell me of any illnesses coming my way b/c my palm told her I was healthy. Good to know all that fast food hasn’t had any affect on me yet, haha. At least that’s what I can remember to the point of putting in a clear somewhat legible post. True or not for any of that stuff it feels good to hear it, especially the love stuff ;). I can’t help it I’m a hopeless romantic, no matter how much I probably deny it around people. Although the death stuff did suck. However now that I’ve heard all of this I can easily make it fall into one of those selfulfilling prophecies ;) On a side note I always thought tarot card tattoos on my thigh would be a cool idea. May still get one if any of this stuff proves true!

What Love Is

How the fuck do I know...If I knew anything about love I'd be out there making it instead of talking to you people...lol. No, I'm refering to the Mars Callahan film. Who is that you ask? The writer, director, and star of the the cult hit Poolhall Junkies. If you've never seen that one your missing out. Poolhall Junkies is an uber cool film. I'll leave it at that considering I think I've made a previous post on that film. I feel compeled to describe my love for this film, partly b/c I feel it has been given a bad rap on IMDB. It only got a 4.7 out of ten, however only 534 people actually voted on it. I personally give it a 5 out of 5, and it's also now on my extensive list of favorite films of all time. As I said on facebook it's one of those rare films that I'd hold screening of just so I could show my friends. The film star Cuba Gooding Jr, Matthew Lillard, Mars Callahan, Gina Gershon, Anne Heche, and Sean Astin. It came out in 07 and was released on DVD at the begining of last year, but I never saw bit until last week. I've always wanted to and it was on the top of my list for films to find when I was in the States. Here's the plot from IMDB

Tom (Cuba) plans to surprise Sara with an engagement ring, and he's asked his four best friends to witness the popping of the question at his place on Valentine's night. Trouble is Sara's left him a "Dear John" letter and will be by soon for her suitcases; plus, thinking it's a party, Tom's friend Sal has invited five women who were at his bar to come too. First the men talk - about women, sex, love, and homophobia (Tom's pals include a happily married guy, a gay man newly engaged, a metrosexual, and Sal, an inveterate player). Then the women arrive and argue in the loo about men and sex before joining the boys for talk, alcohol, and hookups.



I'm posting a trailer here for the film but in my mind it's a really shitty trailer, so don't base the film on that alone. I thought the film was funny, serious, and had great viewpoints on the topic from both male and female. First they give the male views, then the females views, then they come together at the end. It's a think piece and covers the topic from what seems like all angles. The film has some really sweet monologues (and that's sweet as in awesome not sweet as in cute)(and yes I realize I could have just used awesome and saved my time explaining it but then it's not as funny, HA!). The film also would have worked brilliantly as a stage play, and if I had actually gotten into acting this is one I'd tour around. Here's just one of the funny monoluges from Cuba. If you not around whenever I hold my own screening for it about were interested in a film on the subject you should check it out sometime.