tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16138779507194054962024-03-05T01:46:20.184-08:00What I Saw, What I Heard, What I FeltI am constantly intrigued about the world around me. I am the proverbial cat which curiosity will eventually catch up with. So I thought it would be nice to jot these things down. So here you will find my observances with an emphasis on mass media, my own commentary or evaluations (I am not a critic) of music I've heard, movies I've seen and books that I've read...I'm sure I'll throw in other gems along the way.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01198044313639331203noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1613877950719405496.post-47193943046004186202015-04-22T17:43:00.001-07:002015-04-22T17:44:03.666-07:00Earth Day is a Croc!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They say it’s “Earth Day” my social media feeds are blowing up with “Happy Earth Day” messages. I believe “Earth Day” is a croc. We don’t need an Earth Day anymore than the Earth needs people. I believe the emphasis of “Earth Day” is misplaced. We don’t need to save the Earth. What we need is to preserve the habitability of it for us, the human race. We need a “Human Day”. For the Earth will be around long after we have left it and you know what? The Earth won’t blink. It will simply reclaim all that we’ve done to it.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We need to put aside selfishness and pettiness and fight for humankind. Instead of Jewish people and Arab people fighting for land, why not just be people people working together to ensure that the River Jordan and the Dead Sea continue to thrive and people have water. For if you cut a Jew and cut an Arabian, both will bleed red.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Instead of killing in the name of a God whom you call “Merciful” why not live in the image of your God and be merciful yourself?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For once people put aside their differences with people, then we can work cooperatively to ensure the amount time our children and their children can inhabit this planet. Governments can find budgets to foster positive change rather than building their weapons of destruction and keeping others from building their own.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-2f7b462a-e3b9-a617-179e-7fdbb9d899b1"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let’s not worry about saving the Earth. Let’s worry about saving the people. </span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01198044313639331203noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1613877950719405496.post-50530950184262927882015-04-19T19:16:00.001-07:002015-04-19T19:16:09.778-07:00Mishima Album Launch<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“True beauty is something that attacks, overpowers, robs, and finally destroys.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">― Yukio Mishima</span></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-34e9452b-d49a-c438-a716-9a03412d41d4" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An artist is a complex person. An artistic genius exponentially so. What do to when your spirit is torn in so many artistic directions? Divide and conquer is the solution employed by one Michael Dowling. He is soul, R&B, reggae, calypso, rock and roll, and punk-rock. In the two years I’ve known him he’s been Molahsiz, Mic Dainjah (as in microphone danger), Henry Lee Rawlz, John Orpheus and most recently Mishima. </span></div>
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<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/bSrIlaqh22n0e_mRSDdKauwtqiEFC1-ZnB8ZgJzo7s-S-ktjvg518U8tNC6tQ-Klof59nLEhS0TZY9KDb0XUyziuls4NOqaFEh-s5JmrhMQtmHyvoIeUFOUYreGJU-GB5Fab5p4" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272px;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/bSrIlaqh22n0e_mRSDdKauwtqiEFC1-ZnB8ZgJzo7s-S-ktjvg518U8tNC6tQ-Klof59nLEhS0TZY9KDb0XUyziuls4NOqaFEh-s5JmrhMQtmHyvoIeUFOUYreGJU-GB5Fab5p4" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="154px;" /></a><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/3TOdAlreMlySA827xGbbYMCUagFVMQR5cFgEtDZFMcwdN0D36n_Bn7D-fLZqokPIUGqr0nlsAarckvGAj8AM9uDTizzZHBx_Z1O8iR4WpCNXHOhkJzfkQzy-PxSmvsLBAo011yM" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272px;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/3TOdAlreMlySA827xGbbYMCUagFVMQR5cFgEtDZFMcwdN0D36n_Bn7D-fLZqokPIUGqr0nlsAarckvGAj8AM9uDTizzZHBx_Z1O8iR4WpCNXHOhkJzfkQzy-PxSmvsLBAo011yM" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="172px;" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mishima is a Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario band (big up to The 5-1-9!) and is comprised of the aforementioned split personality, who is the lyrical composer, vocal lead man and bassist of the trio. Kevin Suess, a fan favourite, grooving on keys, providing back-up vox and adding percussion on </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gToQpamzpaE" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Überdude</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and fed the energy with hair-flipping head-banging. Rounding out the trio is drummer and record producer Ryan Dugal. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mishima held their inaugural album launch for “Love Is The Revolution” at the iconic Kitchener hot-spot, The Boathouse (AKA Bo-Ho) on April 18, 2015. They had the place pumping with their hard-hitting grooves, hands were clapping, fans were dancing and heads were nodding as they ran through the full album. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On my first listen to the album had a feeling that something missing. Mind you I had prime seats at the show, right next to the stage, my ears and head were ringing for hours afterwards and as I drive back to The Six playing the CD over a few times I felt like what I missed was harmony. After a good long sleep I awoke and took my car for a short drive to get some gas and listened to first two songs again, what I realized was that the harmony wasn’t what was missing. It’s what I had been missing. Listening, to the passion and the lyrics on this album what I found was that I was not supposed to sit and consume this, I was meant to participate, to fill in the harmony with the emotion that was elicited. Yes, the harmony was in me all along. Mishima was the needed catalyst. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kali Kali</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eFFa9fexQ4" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eFFa9fexQ4</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/john-orpheus/enough-dance-by-mishima/1696232923937713" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #232937; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Enough Dance by Mishima</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">21, young and dumb </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cocked back like a loaded gun </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Accelerating. Desecrating.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the money. On the run.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fire kiss. Arsonist. Burning bridges with her lips. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I got no time to reminisce. Got bills to pay, chasing hits"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ashed her cigarette on God.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Epiphanies in bathroom stalls. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stiletto tall: 'fuck them all" </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Strapless back against the wall</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Racing through red carpet nights</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Neon gospel, flashing lights </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Revlon jungle. Red eye flights</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Still waiting for my wings to make it right</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01198044313639331203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1613877950719405496.post-24616893283351950022013-06-09T19:31:00.001-07:002013-06-10T18:45:45.373-07:00Alysha Brilla - In My Head - CD Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Have a seat and strap yourself in because Alysha Brilla’s music career is about to take off like a rocket carrying a new crew to the International Space Centre. The Tanzanian-Canadian artist’s second album, “In My Head” is set to be released on July 11th, 2013. </span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-7bb6ec94-2bca-d86b-455d-4fce5132661d" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Already much acclaimed, as a musician/song-writer, Brilla (A.K.A. Alysha Brillinger) had a record deal with a major US label, but walked away due to creative differences. Now an independant artist, Brilla wrote, performed and produced the album which follows a torrid relationship from beginning to end.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here is a track by track</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">look at the new album:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In My Head, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the title track begins the story of the relationship with her </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">crazy</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> obsession with a partner. Musically, the track is mainly piano driven, with quirky circus-like sounds thrown in and some horns to add to the fun. The song itself is an old friend from Alysha’s eponymous titled first album, “Brilla”. The original one was acoustic and guitar driven.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nobody</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> finds a jubilant Brilla, who must have made a connection with that guy, because, she is on top of the world. Brilla gives a nod to her </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tanzanian heritage by doing a verse in Swahili. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This song is highly percussive and charged with happiness. My aunt heard this song and said, “I could have used this last week”. I dare anyone to listen to it and not smile, or sit still. You’ve got to dance! I can actually picture the smile on Brilla’s face while she sings this. Can’t wait to see her do it live! </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sailor’s Wife </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">was the first new song off the album that Brilla started to perform in late March. In the song Alysha declares her commitment to the long distance relationship, “I’m gonna wait for you”. The song has a Bob Marley-esque reggae vibe, with a bubbling bassline, which I love, and is flavoured with a trumpet(!) solo, brilliantly played by Marie Goudy.The</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">music video for this song</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> i</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">s nothing but fun to watch! Love it!</span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/l6hLrmXGoLY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Suddenly, the relationship changes course, the “kisses aren’t as sweet, and the hugs aren’t as tight” in</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Ain’t Right</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The horns take the lead on this track, along with a bouncing bassline. The song is bluesy and jazzy at the same time and I imagine it’s what I would hear in jazz club in New Orleans.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why? Why! Why would someone do this to you Alysha!!? Why? Who hurt you so much? “The truth came out that you cheated and you lied.” This led Brilla to tears, and now she needs some serious drinks to numb the pain with </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Two Shots</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Despite the sad lyrics, this track is surprisingly uptempo, and peppy. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The next five songs are representative of </span><a href="http://grief.com/the-five-stages-of-grief/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the five stages of grief:</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> denial (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">L.A. Hotel Room</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">), anger (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Never Gonna Get Me Back</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">), bargaining (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sorry)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, depression (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mark on Me</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) and finally acceptance (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lifted)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The poignant, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">L.A. Hotel Room </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is one of my favourite tracks on the album. Alysha’s guitar, vocals and emotions are front and centre. The song is sweet and haunting, and I think it will be a sin if it doesn’t become a huge hit. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another familiar friend, the uplifting (pun purely coincidental) </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lifted</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is Brilla’s anthem, a floor-filling show closer, that embodies her mission of making music to make people feel good. Just like the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In My Head</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, this track is taken from the Brilla album and given the band treatment to great results.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Closing th album on a positive note, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I Don’t Need the Stars</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, takes us back to a point between tracks one and two when the relationship is still new and fresh, it is a jazzy and sultry number, bass plucking, horns swooning, Alysha and background singers working the mics. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Overall I found </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In My Head</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to be a great album. I love Brilla’s voice, her songwriting and her spirit. I can see this being a very successful album for her, so make sure to pick up your copy and check her out live when you get the opportunity, she always puts on an awesome</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">show. She’s certainly made a Brilliever out of me! </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For tour dates and more information check the links below.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="line-height: 17px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://alyshabrillawaterloo.eventbrite.ca/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Thursday July 10, 2013 - Album Release Party, Waterloo, ON</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://abrilla.eventbrite.ca/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Friday July 11, 2013 - Album Release Party, Toronto, ON</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://alyshabrilla.com/">http://alyshabrilla.com/</a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01198044313639331203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1613877950719405496.post-88204939735203857602013-05-14T09:56:00.002-07:002013-05-14T09:57:20.327-07:00Stay in School, Kids!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I recently got a new car and it came with a free trial of
GM’s OnStar service. By touching a
button on my rearview mirror I’m connected to a live operator who can run
analysis on my car’s systems or give me driving directions, etc. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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My car didn’t come with a built GPS Navigation system, which
is fine because my smart phone is one of the best Navigation devices around,
but from time to time I’ve made use of OnStar just for the novelty of it. I mean might as well make use of my free
trial, right? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well I had this humorous conversation with an OnStar
Customer Service Rep (CSR) the other day and I thought it would be worth
sharing. This is paraphrasing, but it’s
pretty close to the actual conversation.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>OnStar CSR:</b> Hello, this is L******, how may I help you
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<b>Me:</b> Hello L******, my name is Tony and I’d like
directions to a restaurant called “Bangkok Gardens” please.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>OnStar CSR:</b> Is that in Vaughan?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Me:</b> No, it’s in Toronto.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>OnStar CSR:</b> Is that Bangkok, like the country?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Me:</b> No, that’s Bangkok like the city.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>OnStar CSR:</b> Huh, the what?
Oh…yeah…I have those directions for you…they’re downloading now.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Me:</b> Thanks L******,
you have a great day!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<o:p>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01198044313639331203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1613877950719405496.post-64678006294522272013-03-22T20:55:00.004-07:002013-06-09T17:54:44.182-07:00Experience BRILLiAnce<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.081636460730806" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When a good friend of mine invited me to see a singer I had no idea what to expect. She refused to give me any clues as to what I would witness. What I found was a true diamond in the sky. </span></b><b id="internal-source-marker_0.081636460730806" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.081636460730806" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My friend Mary, had attended an open air concert by Esperanza Spalding at the TD Jazz Festival and happened to be sitting next to a young lady. They struck up a conversation and soon the young lady had to leave because she was a singer herself and was off to her own gig. Before leaving she left my friend with her contact information. </span></b></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.081636460730806" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.081636460730806" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not long after that, my friend decided to check her out live at </span><a href="http://reservoirlounge.com/?page_id=178"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the Resevoir Lounge</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and was moved by her incredible vocal ability.</span></b></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.081636460730806" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I saw her at the </span><a href="http://www.abclub.ca/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Amsterdam Bicycle Club</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, a small bar on The Esplanade, a chic, tiny stretch of bars in the core of Toronto. </span></b></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.081636460730806" style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://alyshabrilla.com/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alysha "Brilla" Brillinger</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> took to the stage at 10 pm sharp, strumming her guitar, and accompanied by Sam Dlugokecki on the cajón. She opened her set with the Jackson 5's </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I Want You Back. </span></b></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.081636460730806" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was immediately taken by Brilla's playful open handed guitar strumming which made every song sound fun. Her stunning, soulful voice channeled Amy Winehouse. </span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHNTfn8-GZS6GTDphDZbj5vjyABOdKYXhRmC6ZB-aJD1PtZFzD0SepKUmaFk1741WJqE4q2hxLyog9pIHNi0Ut4nnY3KpqrCLE9AdTx-q3nOkgUHIHNTBpTeR-cct7S9jig9us02Fw7pU/s1600/IMG_20130322_004949.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHNTfn8-GZS6GTDphDZbj5vjyABOdKYXhRmC6ZB-aJD1PtZFzD0SepKUmaFk1741WJqE4q2hxLyog9pIHNi0Ut4nnY3KpqrCLE9AdTx-q3nOkgUHIHNTBpTeR-cct7S9jig9us02Fw7pU/s200/IMG_20130322_004949.jpg" width="200" /></a><b id="internal-source-marker_0.081636460730806" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What ensued was a serious of cover songs with Brilla's own originals distributed through the night. Her originals were as good, if not better than anything she covered, and what she covered ran the gamut from the aforementioned Amy Winehouse (</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Valerie</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) , to Bob Marley (</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stir it Up</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) to Jessie J (</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Money</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">). </span></b></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.081636460730806" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.081636460730806" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Throughout the night she was joined by guests, Mark who laid down a rendition of Let's Get it On that was so good you know Marvin was smiling down it. Djembe by Garima Harvey added to Sam D's drumming. Brilla reminded the audience that percussion was the first sound we heard in the womb as a fetus hearing our mother's heartbeat. </span></b></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.081636460730806" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">During her third and final set of the night Brilla wss joined by a musician that she drew a lot of inspiration from, her father, Yasin Dewji. He stood at the back of the stage playing bass guitar. </span></b></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.081636460730806" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.081636460730806" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The night climaxed with a packed dance floor grooving to Brilla's anthemic Lifted. What a great night. Brilla has a weekly residency at the Amsterdam Bicycle Club and I was already looking forward to the next Thursday night I could make it down there and if you have the opportunity, you should go check her out too! </span></b></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01198044313639331203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1613877950719405496.post-35135796466531224932012-08-01T20:19:00.000-07:002012-08-01T20:19:10.918-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div style="line-height: 1px"><div style="width:200px; height:40px; overflow:hidden; line-height: 100%; background-image : url(http://embed.yelpcdn.com/bling_borders?color=C41200&width=200&BGcolor=CCCCCC&position=top&height=40) "><a href="http://www.yelp.ca"><img src="http://embed.yelpcdn.com/assets/0/www/img/325472601571/p.gif" style="height: 20px; width: 40px; margin-top: 2px; margin-left: 80px; margin-right: 80px; border:none; "/></a><div style="text-align:center"><a href="http://www.yelp.ca/user_details?userid=aIRuPE2Us54uKB8iKMmuwA" style="font-family:arial; color:#FFFFFF; font-size: 12px !important; ">Recent reviews by Tony S.</a></div></div><iframe frameborder="0" width="200" height="295" scrolling="no" src="http://www.yelp.ca/blogbadgemap?v=2&userid=aIRuPE2Us54uKB8iKMmuwA&width=200&height=295&uicolor=C41200&textcolor=FFFFFF&type=latest&speed=10">
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01198044313639331203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1613877950719405496.post-37270567622869065042012-01-03T20:02:00.000-08:002012-01-08T19:11:58.028-08:00Prince's Welcome 2 Canada Tour<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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For more than half of my life I was a die-hard Prince
fan. It started when I first saw Purple
Rain and was solidified when I saw Prince live in early December of 1985 on the
Purple Rain tour. Prince has released at
least one album every year since 1978 and as far as I was concerned every
single one of them was genius material. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Then one day in mid 2010, I was listing to Prince’s Twenty10
album I realized that the music was not good.
Then it dawned on me that the album before that was not good either, nor
the one before that, I had to think back to late ‘80s to find an album that was
great. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Over the years I’ve been lucky to see Prince perform live
many, many times. He’s so good live that
I’ve often travelled for his shows.
Aside from my hometown of Toronto, I’ve seen him in Montreal, Buffalo,
New York and Minneapolis where on July 7<sup>th</sup>, 2007 I was lucky enough
to see two of his shows in one day, first at the Target Center and then at 1<sup>st</sup>
Avenue, on the very stage where Purple Rain was filmed. That was the last time I’d seen him until a
month ago. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9MXPH4wkvDmbaVK3So1YN3_FGzpKlACEoLzKT5ogbbVFNy1qqjHhKqPop8N3ePxlsR_CwqKjRh5QfZvEOuQBj36D9M2a7yEclSZ1HHTtuiUh8-MZpZlqmNjAysOcHyOuUQcf0zWFq968/s1600/photo2-e1324600694367.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9MXPH4wkvDmbaVK3So1YN3_FGzpKlACEoLzKT5ogbbVFNy1qqjHhKqPop8N3ePxlsR_CwqKjRh5QfZvEOuQBj36D9M2a7yEclSZ1HHTtuiUh8-MZpZlqmNjAysOcHyOuUQcf0zWFq968/s320/photo2-e1324600694367.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pince symbol shaped stage<br />
Photo courtesy www.skinnydip.ca</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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On November 25<sup>th</sup>, 2011 Prince kicked off his
Welcome 2 Canada tour in Toronto and I already had a commitment out of town, so
I had to miss it. I ended up catching
him in Ottawa a week later at Scotiabank Place on December 3<sup>rd</sup>,
2011. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I was super-hyped to see this show, it utilized the same amazing
stage that was used for Prince’s performance at the Super Bowl four years
prior. It was shaped like the hieroglyph
which Prince had used as a name for a few years. <o:p></o:p></div>
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He opened the show with the song <i>D.M.S.R. (Dance Music Sex Romance)</i>, from the “1999” album which was
released in 1982. The music was
thumping and Prince looked more like a 20-something than a 53 year old. I was rather surprised to see how lithe he
was, considering that it was well documented that he had a bad hip from his
years of high-heel wearing, however he could not take the hip replacement
surgery due to his religion which forbids him from having a blood transfusion. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Prince brought the funk throughout the night and he focused
mainly on his music from the early to mid-80s. The one exception was the song “<i>Guitar</i>” from 2007’s “Planet Earth” album
and when he played that song it was so unfamiliar to the audience that the
energy in room just deflated, even though it was a very energetic song. It was clear that he’d lost his audience with
this one and he quickly returned to the ‘80s bangers. <o:p></o:p></div>
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This was the first time that I wasn’t familiar with the
whole band line-up. Of course I
recognized a couple of the musicians that had been with Prince for a while. The prestigious Maceo Parker was featured on
saxophone. John Blackwell, who was with Prince on 2004’s
Musicology tour returned as his drummer, but not very well featured. A newcomer to the band, Andy Allo, is a
female rapper and backup singer, was stunningly gorgeous wearing a print top
that featured her own face. <o:p></o:p></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFtLdHYUk7ymFyiqIXRMe-lgWxLHtBhMJz1Sf1Fw6ijrluU-p3s_LpxggFmUxmofbNOmdLpmtSthX9a041rnkTQwWD0WL_1tmXBXQtH2isSTQSNkholcKDJD3ENLkJjeH-H12zWMmPQXA/s1600/tumblr_lo6ugfvFjQ1qgem2bo1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFtLdHYUk7ymFyiqIXRMe-lgWxLHtBhMJz1Sf1Fw6ijrluU-p3s_LpxggFmUxmofbNOmdLpmtSthX9a041rnkTQwWD0WL_1tmXBXQtH2isSTQSNkholcKDJD3ENLkJjeH-H12zWMmPQXA/s320/tumblr_lo6ugfvFjQ1qgem2bo1_500.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prince with Andy Allo performing at the Montreal Jazz Festival.<br />
Photo courtesy of www.lipstickalley.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Andy Allo is featured on a rap during Prince’s song “<i>Extralovable</i>” which had been released
the week before to coincide with the launch of the tour. Interestingly, the
song was originally recorded in the early ‘80s, during the sessions for the
1999 album. It was never released and
finally Prince went back on re-recorded it.
In fact he mentioned that he plans to release three different versions
of the song. The original was a brutally
misogynistic piece, but the new version was considerably softened. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So here’s Prince with a new song from the early ‘80s and
almost every song he performed in the show was from the ‘80s. It was if he had
come to same conclusion as I had about how much his more recent works lacked relevance.
Although he never did perform “<i>Extralovable</i>”, he did perform three songs
from The Time, a group that was a prodigy of his, and it is generally accepted
that he wrote most of the their songs and produced their albums. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Prince rarely
performs songs exactly like the record, his thinking is that it’s got to be
better than the record, his songs are his babies and they continue to grow
through years, but I was thrilled that the guitar solo ending of “<i>Let’s Go Crazy”</i> was a duplicate of the
record, as was the guitar solo in “<i>Purple
Rain</i>”. <o:p></o:p></div>
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A really cool part of the show had Prince playing with a
synthesizer that triggered samples of various songs. He teased the crowd with one song or the
next. Prince’s mission with this show
was to turn the arena into a dance club.
I think he succeeded. I think
Prince is one of the greatest concert performers of all time and I truly
believe every other musician or serious music fan is missing out if they do not
see him live. Yet, maybe it was just me,
but I couldn’t help to think that Prince failed to connect with the audience at
this show. This is one of Prince’s
fortes, building a repertoire with the crowd and I didn’t sense that this time.
I felt that he wasn’t totally engaged on this outing. He had after all just played Montreal, one of
the greatest cities on the planet the night before, so maybe he was tired on
this bone chillingly cold night in Canada’s capital city. <o:p></o:p></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01198044313639331203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1613877950719405496.post-89890267246212366682011-12-23T13:32:00.001-08:002011-12-23T13:45:48.034-08:00The Adjustment Bureau<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B004WCTLNY/ref=as_li_tf_il?ie=UTF8&tag=wiswihwif-20&linkCode=as2&camp=15121&creative=330641&creativeASIN=B004WCTLNY"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.ca/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B004WCTLNY&MarketPlace=CA&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&tag=wiswihwif-20&ServiceVersion=20070822" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.ca/e/ir?t=wiswihwif-20&l=as2&o=15&a=B004WCTLNY" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div>
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This is a movie that examines what we perceive to be reality, somewhat similar to The Matrix, but this is different. We become acquainted with The Plan (destiny), and the concept that once in a while there are accidents, things that happen that are not part of The Plan, enter The Adjustment Bureau, a group whose responsibility it is make sure that these diversions are corrected. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Now imagine a man falls in love with a woman and that is not part of The Plan. What you end up with is Love vs. Destiny. This movie is the story of the struggle between the two. <o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s an interesting enough premise and an enchanting love story. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm-ca.amazon.ca/e/cm?t=wiswihwif-20&o=15&p=8&l=as1&asins=B004WCTLNY&ref=tf_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe>
<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm-ca.amazon.ca/e/cm?t=wiswihwif-20&o=15&p=8&l=as1&asins=B004WCTLO8&ref=tf_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe>
</div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01198044313639331203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1613877950719405496.post-75228038303987152602011-12-20T18:09:00.000-08:002011-12-20T18:18:22.277-08:00A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXyqwNIM4Es4_lMAgCnvXWFTRrmJvRA7_2NRdRaP7F4STGglWuXJyPXsmCmRRC9I2Ip_Sg_D06r6Af24lJaInygEmuP8D2AF5SO92v5A0N6tCOsb6D1nFETzzId6WTm6jdad-NZRBNUy4/s1600/harold-kumar-christmas-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXyqwNIM4Es4_lMAgCnvXWFTRrmJvRA7_2NRdRaP7F4STGglWuXJyPXsmCmRRC9I2Ip_Sg_D06r6Af24lJaInygEmuP8D2AF5SO92v5A0N6tCOsb6D1nFETzzId6WTm6jdad-NZRBNUy4/s320/harold-kumar-christmas-poster.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>
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I'm not a huge fan of Christmas movies, but I do love the
Harold and Kumar franchise. This is the
third installment of the series. A few
years have past since the last movie and the characters' lives have progressed
in a realistic time continuum. Well at
least Harold’s has. He’s married his
dream girl and he’s now a member of the 1% that owns 99% of the wealth. Kumar hasn’t fared quite as well. He’s living in a dump, his girlfriend
recently left him and he’s still nothing more than pothead looking for his next
hit. Throw Neal Patrick Harris in the
mix (again) along with a pissed off mob boss, a waffle making robot (Wafflebot)
and Father Christmas himself and you’ve got a wild ride of a Christmas movie. </div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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I have to admit that I didn’t expect much from this movie,
but I was surprised. This movie was so
dumb that it was smart, so wrong that it was so right and so messed up that it
was neat! Harold and Kumar have done it
again. <o:p></o:p></div>
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One hint of advice, if you’re going to see it make sure that
you see it in the 3D, there’s a couple of gags that really play up to the
effect...have fun and Merry Christmas!<o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01198044313639331203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1613877950719405496.post-60891262583995987602011-11-06T17:32:00.000-08:002011-11-06T17:40:46.930-08:00Horrible Bosses<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSuFr8PXP8qUsdp6LyNYebh3jhBjh9AEubW8oU2WJs00XtR3SB8Xgjg60rN3uvVYmKjmSDKchwTh9ZErI_jDWtdKkzowILAqvaaNayWW85KlU6flpGSF_fJUzpNABNObMtBDE8IaTpvBA/s1600/hb1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSuFr8PXP8qUsdp6LyNYebh3jhBjh9AEubW8oU2WJs00XtR3SB8Xgjg60rN3uvVYmKjmSDKchwTh9ZErI_jDWtdKkzowILAqvaaNayWW85KlU6flpGSF_fJUzpNABNObMtBDE8IaTpvBA/s1600/hb1.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.ca/e/ir?t=wiswihwif-20&l=as2&o=15&a=B005JVNRA0" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL3c4WqpaMdeAzjiP8LZ6tmk74dVBTUzgAEieUj4zWy9zhNqSBdsDOwYqvcZ5KkK8sOfJe2rvYYB5TNVowoAQGsktfVBjVkuCllPYUzHEpoFpTt6gdlFJgjrFznp_ru0uPxE-Y6K2ap4c/s1600/hb3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL3c4WqpaMdeAzjiP8LZ6tmk74dVBTUzgAEieUj4zWy9zhNqSBdsDOwYqvcZ5KkK8sOfJe2rvYYB5TNVowoAQGsktfVBjVkuCllPYUzHEpoFpTt6gdlFJgjrFznp_ru0uPxE-Y6K2ap4c/s1600/hb3.jpeg" /></a></div>
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Once again a movie that I expected would be very funny,
failed to make me laugh. This movie had
a promising premise: Three long time
best friends find themselves in terrible work environments and they come to the
conclusion that they would be better off if their bosses were to stop breathing
and set about to help make this happen. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6BAyxyR0eJ2rsn-q_svNSGzTjQ0VW4m4KH_eUi9dW7PBNprS1HO9-VapPs424b-xgoBgbC4pSVZ741i2cO741ptQiOhYpwqRp5nfXtNMcuIWjmWQn9JjT19SlzEndoadXErS1ERhfAOk/s1600/hb4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6BAyxyR0eJ2rsn-q_svNSGzTjQ0VW4m4KH_eUi9dW7PBNprS1HO9-VapPs424b-xgoBgbC4pSVZ741i2cO741ptQiOhYpwqRp5nfXtNMcuIWjmWQn9JjT19SlzEndoadXErS1ERhfAOk/s1600/hb4.jpeg" /></a><br />
<br />
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The problem is that the premise is flawed. For one of the guys, his boss is truly a horrible person and when he
threatened to quit, his boss threatened to ruin his career if he went
elsewhere. For another guy, his
cocaine-addicted boss just recently inherited the company from his father after
he suddenly dropped dead and his cost cutting threatens to cause an environmental
disaster, the world would truly be better off without him around. The error in logic occurs with the third guy
who is trapped in his present job because he is undeservedly on sex offender
registry and no one else would hire him.
It just doesn’t make sense him wanting his boss to die because he’d
still have the same predicament of not being able to find employment
elsewhere. <o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji8G7iG34Vjh28B5TVTAZCEyBU5-cd4kCs_lxl0CZ5gwF8DuBDTJ8RloDDr-ThIMJmnIu0dw3XK2FaFaAgjoM0QY-vpes7TWwswlM_rFlXVMhEKSXJ_ciGJjRerPvmBH91hFxVCcDnF8k/s1600/hb5.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji8G7iG34Vjh28B5TVTAZCEyBU5-cd4kCs_lxl0CZ5gwF8DuBDTJ8RloDDr-ThIMJmnIu0dw3XK2FaFaAgjoM0QY-vpes7TWwswlM_rFlXVMhEKSXJ_ciGJjRerPvmBH91hFxVCcDnF8k/s1600/hb5.jpeg" /></a><br />
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Despite the lack of laughs and the imperfect premise, the
movie isn’t half-bad and still worth a look if you’ve got some spare time and
not very high expectations. <o:p></o:p><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm-ca.amazon.ca/e/cm?t=wiswihwif-20&o=15&p=8&l=as1&asins=B005JVNRA0&ref=tf_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe>
<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm-ca.amazon.ca/e/cm?t=wiswihwif-20&o=15&p=8&l=as1&asins=B005JVNTGM&ref=tf_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe>
</div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01198044313639331203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1613877950719405496.post-25169615914873865982011-10-21T21:29:00.000-07:002011-10-21T21:38:35.343-07:00Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour by Cirque du Soleil<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSB2Yi2GbTKRQNp94xesEIrGurF1QUwPJa0plnGNLRtPiFdbsJ7OcSnecHCiLwhCXz9IGF-HNqXfY3QLuIH_eDahQmFk-fz4l07zVlUmm4yed_Yv_IslRXPQQngXudeDO3mDnNiKy1obI/s1600/69314a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSB2Yi2GbTKRQNp94xesEIrGurF1QUwPJa0plnGNLRtPiFdbsJ7OcSnecHCiLwhCXz9IGF-HNqXfY3QLuIH_eDahQmFk-fz4l07zVlUmm4yed_Yv_IslRXPQQngXudeDO3mDnNiKy1obI/s1600/69314a.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">After Michael Jackson passed away I was so touched
by the number of people who told me that they thought of me when it happened.
Even people that I grew up with but had lost contact with over 20 years
ago remembered how fanatical I was about Michael Jackson. The truth is
that I had forgotten how much I loved MJ. It's sad. The music is so
timeless that I see young children today who share in the
same fervent love for his music as I did over 25 years ago. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Tonight I attended the Cirque du Soleil show, "The
Immortal". I went in blind - I had no idea what to expect.
I've been disappointed by Cirque shows in the past, where I felt that
they were too bourgeoisie for my taste.
More recently though, I saw the Cirque show “Believe” in Las Vegas which
was thoroughly entertaining. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The one thing that I did hear about this tribute to MJ prior to seeing
the performance was a tweet stating that if you are in any way a fan of MJ,
this show is a must-see. I absolutely
concur.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">I was very touched by this show.
It went beyond being an absolute fitting tribute to the beauty of MJ’s
soul. I imagined that this would have
been a show that MJ himself would have been happy to have been a part of. I felt that wherever his spirit was that, he
was seeing this show and he was proud of it.
They captured his very essence, his message and his music. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01198044313639331203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1613877950719405496.post-44830232725148292182011-10-12T22:59:00.000-07:002011-10-12T23:04:12.542-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Bridesmaids</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After a summer of friends telling me how amazing it is, I finally saw Bridemaids. Like most movies that have been hyped in that manner, I was sorely disappointed. The storyline basically focused on a woman’s descent into a total meltdown. It wasn’t funny at all and it was downright gross at some points, however about ¾ of the way it turned sweet and poignant. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The highlight of the movie for me was that the actor that played the Illinois State Trooper was Chris Dowd, who also stars in the British sitcom, The IT Crowd, a big, big favourite of mine.</span></div>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01198044313639331203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1613877950719405496.post-27579406336364534512011-09-11T12:25:00.000-07:002011-09-11T12:34:02.277-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ-SvuO5ko-BrVZ30dqlC0UJW9hEu8DFFdr5XKL4xXrZP_WKStflDbR4hUEfntlcGPilD5Bqiuj8LV40VhSCy3qI4qlOaBfGpr-8Ml4MGJrEW58mAsOQKpj10KlnV_fYbZ69bR4qWDdWE/s1600/48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ-SvuO5ko-BrVZ30dqlC0UJW9hEu8DFFdr5XKL4xXrZP_WKStflDbR4hUEfntlcGPilD5Bqiuj8LV40VhSCy3qI4qlOaBfGpr-8Ml4MGJrEW58mAsOQKpj10KlnV_fYbZ69bR4qWDdWE/s320/48.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">I'll never forget that day, but in the wee hours of this morning as I listened to a New York City Police scanner and heard, reports of shots fired here and there, I couldn't help but think that the Americans do such a great job of killing Americans, there really isn't a need for terrorists to do it. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">There's been a lot of talk of 9/11 unifying Americans, but people are universally violent. Americans continue to kill Americans. Canadians continue to kill Canadians. Middle Easters kill Middle Easters. They say the world was forever changed, but has it changed in the right way? The only change I see as a result of 9/11 is "justification" for more killing.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">I miss those two buildings and every time I've see the New York skyline since then, my heart aches. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">For all our technological advances, man still no more than mere barbarians. As far as relationships with each other, we our no more advanced then cavemen. We continue to be Neanderthals. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">It's 2011 people, let's get beyond the savagery and learn to work to help each other and be good to one another. </span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01198044313639331203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1613877950719405496.post-65244974939559753552011-07-25T18:11:00.000-07:002011-07-25T18:14:28.363-07:00The Tourist<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div style="background-color: transparent; text-align: center;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.9279582728631794" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tourist-Johnny-Depp/dp/B004A8ZWSS?ie=UTF8&tag=wiswihwif-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="The Tourist" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B004A8ZWSS&tag=wiswihwif-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wiswihwif-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B004A8ZWSS" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.9279582728631794" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.9279582728631794" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Tourist is a movie that had been on my to-do list for awhile but after seeing many awful audience reviews of it, I’d kept it on the backburner for quite a while. After seeing it, I thought maybe everyone else had been a tad too harsh. It’s not as bad as the reviews would have you believe. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Starring Angela Jolie, it reminded me of her previous outing, Salt, without the huge stunts and effects of that movie. Johnny Depp is also a very watchable actor. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of my favourite things about this flick was the setting. Most movies use Venice, Italy as a backdrop, but The Tourist gives a great view of this magnificent place. The city is just gorgeous. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All in all, I would not say that The Tourist is the total waste of time most of its reviewers declare it to be. </span></div><div style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; text-align: right;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=wiswihwif-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B004A8ZWSS&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left; width: 131px;"></iframe></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=wiswihwif-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B004IFYN2E&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left; width: 131px;"></iframe></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=wiswihwif-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B004A8ZWT2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: left; width: 131px;"></iframe></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; text-align: right;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wiswihwif-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B004IFYN2E" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01198044313639331203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1613877950719405496.post-78502095539065619702011-07-19T20:10:00.000-07:002011-07-19T20:10:07.947-07:00Green is the Colour of Will<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Green-Lantern-Ryan-Reynolds/dp/B004EPZ07K?ie=UTF8&tag=wiswihwif-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Green Lantern" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B004EPZ07K&tag=wiswihwif-20" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I saw The Green Lantern back on its opening night on June 17th , 2011. I usually don’t like to see movies as soon as they come out; I prefer to avoid crowded theatres, but the new Cineplex UltraAVX theatres with their reserved seating made it painless. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I’ve been told that this is the summer of comic book movies. A hardcore comic fan friend was interested to hear my take on Green Lantern. He had attended the midnight screening as soon as it came out. He wanted to know my thoughts, because as a non-comic book junkie I would not have any expectations. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I like seeing movies when I don’t know what expect from them, it makes it hard to be disappointed. I found The Green Lantern to be a fun roller-coaster ride of an adventure movie. The best way I can describe it is that it’s Spiderman meets Top Gun meets Star Wars. I have the feeling there would be a “meets Lord of the Rings” in there too, but I can’t in good faith say that, as I haven’t seen any of the LOtR movies. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The only disappointment for me in this movie was the climatic battle, particularly the way it ended, it was pretty weak. Also I thought the use of 3D in the film was well done, but for some reason 3D movies give me a headache and make my eyes hurt.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I had heard a lot about the principle actors in this movie, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, but have to admit that I had no idea who they were. Reynolds reminds me a lot of a younger Ben Affleck and Blake Lively is an absolute stunner whose mere presence would make a movie worth watching. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So if you like Spider Man or Top Gun or Star Wars, I’d say give this movie a shot, you’ll probably like it too.</div><br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01198044313639331203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1613877950719405496.post-38001148367407291252011-05-30T11:38:00.000-07:002011-05-30T11:38:16.452-07:00RUSSELL PETERS - THE GREEN CARD TOUR on Vimeo<a href="http://vimeo.com/23890046">RUSSELL PETERS - THE GREEN CARD TOUR on Vimeo</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01198044313639331203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1613877950719405496.post-83252565511021262402011-05-28T19:19:00.000-07:002011-05-28T20:25:30.477-07:00Kid Rock Born Free Concert at the Air Canada Concert<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdFRpxFZIGZJjJBB8sTqGcVtc8ELeyrX7e82t6Y4slvnFIuZ4phAMN2SFMsRsYoC0_1hVOAj1ojSjDzz7ZEs9AY0ytgKTICh3XfdW9IAXviXNAY3HUlL5BLn18VEIjhZoIZsWdIphC7PE/s1600/247178_10150615007720321_750855320_18411690_1560277_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdFRpxFZIGZJjJBB8sTqGcVtc8ELeyrX7e82t6Y4slvnFIuZ4phAMN2SFMsRsYoC0_1hVOAj1ojSjDzz7ZEs9AY0ytgKTICh3XfdW9IAXviXNAY3HUlL5BLn18VEIjhZoIZsWdIphC7PE/s320/247178_10150615007720321_750855320_18411690_1560277_n.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<br />
Kid Rock’s Born Free Tour exploded into the Air Canada Centre on May 27th 2011. After a nice opening set by hometown based The Trews, the highlight of which was their poignant “Highway of Heroes”, Kid Rock and his Twisted Brown Trucker band unleashed a masterpiece of a show. <br />
<br />
<br />
It opened with a video collage of photos and video footage from when he was young up to the present and then he made his entrance on the stage which looked like an old-time bar in someone’s basement, with wood paneling, and members of the band set up on the bar counter tops. <br />
He walked through the saloon doors in the centre and just totally rocked out. I loved that songs from his lesser known most recent and most mellow album, Born Free, were sprinkled between the crowd rousers. <br />
<br />
Midway through the show he talked about turning 40 earlier this year and a video played greetings from many celebrities, mainly talk show hosts sending him birthday wishes. He then informed the crowd that he intended to turn this whole tour into a yearlong 40th birthday party and launched into a hilarious song, “Fuckin’ 40”, which I could certainly relate to.<br />
<br />
His greatest songs, “Cowboy” and “Bawidaba” were executed to perfection and I was happy that he played some other personal favourites, “Sugar” which for some reason he hadn’t played on his “Rock N’ Roll Jesus” tour, as well, he led us into the chant of his name from “3 Sheets to Wind” before taking to the DJ decks for a demonstration of incredible scratching, while pouring himself a shot of Jim Beam and then standing up on the bar top all the while continuing to scratch, he then played some lead guitar before taking over the drum kit. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkZxaKdlKHHhNMNPYj8OvZH5oUlLBL7ckXgbktI3PRGXfRLIz4SO1zr06CTkBwy2iNjCVfCRM_3hOFTT68-PsASCV4Kw6EGAPHzo0xXgt2hTCF15vWIA2JeUsRt3zdPY6MGOPcZAMzNJo/s1600/1c53fc7d-a4f4-490f-8538-7964092c1bab_6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkZxaKdlKHHhNMNPYj8OvZH5oUlLBL7ckXgbktI3PRGXfRLIz4SO1zr06CTkBwy2iNjCVfCRM_3hOFTT68-PsASCV4Kw6EGAPHzo0xXgt2hTCF15vWIA2JeUsRt3zdPY6MGOPcZAMzNJo/s320/1c53fc7d-a4f4-490f-8538-7964092c1bab_6.jpg" /></a></div><br />
At one point, five bar stools were set up in the middle of the stage as three guitarists, including Rock and the two backup singers sat down to play. Rock introduced the song by saying before he had hit the road an interviewer asked what could be expected from this tour, his response was “Strippers and stripping down”. By stripping down he was referring to the acoustic rendition of “Purple Sky” which followed. By the way the strippers were fantastic too. <br />
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Aside from excellent music and musicianship the there was a full-fledged visual assault of pyrotechnics, lasers, fireworks, video effects, to compliment the aforementioned strippers, all of which just totally worked and never seemed overdone, or detracted from the incredible music. <br />
<br />
Kid Rock himself, in my opinion, best showman of this century, was so spirited, jumping around, dancing, high-fiving members of the audience, acknowledging signs and giving the audience his sincere gratitude for spending our hard earned money to come see him. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7MZI9ualnOABRC2_96pjfFH6FYzLiG0I_MRAJrGeGcNqikVf074pJy9B6PuZ8en9BiMjM5S1jSzgNKYCmljxZ6CKRYvhtyiYGHtd0zoa8_ui_4cq6eKrHAz2VRJvUgKGULdsSpB88pko/s1600/a42dd627-4660-49c3-943a-97d020391386_6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7MZI9ualnOABRC2_96pjfFH6FYzLiG0I_MRAJrGeGcNqikVf074pJy9B6PuZ8en9BiMjM5S1jSzgNKYCmljxZ6CKRYvhtyiYGHtd0zoa8_ui_4cq6eKrHAz2VRJvUgKGULdsSpB88pko/s320/a42dd627-4660-49c3-943a-97d020391386_6.jpg" /></a></div>The encore consisted of a wonderful, funky stripped down version “All Summer Long” with Kid Rock dancing and playing maracas. He then sat down at the piano to play “Only God Knows Why”. The piano rose out of the stage revealing USA and Canada flags as it turned a 360 and then Kid Rock climbed up on top of the piano until it retracted back into the stage. He closed with the best song of the “Born Free” album, which is its title track. <br />
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I’ve been to many great concerts throughout the years, but this one concert, was the best I’ve ever witnessed. <br />
<br />
10 *sAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01198044313639331203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1613877950719405496.post-17737378914907647482011-05-28T14:55:00.000-07:002011-05-28T19:40:43.107-07:00Call Me Russell<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0385669631/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&tag=wiswihwif-20&linkCode=as2&camp=15121&creative=390961&creativeASIN=0385669631"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.ca/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&Format=_SL110_&ASIN=0385669631&MarketPlace=CA&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&tag=wiswihwif-20&ServiceVersion=20070822" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.ca/e/ir?t=&l=as2&o=15&a=0385669631" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Russell Peters is a comic genius. On May 6th, I attended his show at Casino Rama. I’d seen him many times in the past, at small clubs before he was very well known and at big shows. This was the first time in a long time I had seen him, and I’d always enjoyed him a lot, but he was operating on a whole different level on this night. <br />
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See, many comics have a routine that they take on tour and do from city to city, but there was so much interaction with the audience at this show and it showed how naturally funny Russell is. Not only that, but he took the tidbits that he got from the audience and masterfully stitched them into stories. He interwove these segments with the prewritten segments masterfully and it is for that reason that I proclaim that Russell Peters is a comic genius. <br />
<br />
A week later I picked up my first e-book. “Call Me Russell,” is an autobiography written along with his brother Clayton Peters and acclaimed screenwriter Dannis Koromilas. This is not a humorous book. Do not buy this book expecting big laughs. <br />
<br />
In this book you will learn about Russell, as a man, where he comes from and what he values. The tale starts long before he was born, tracing his roots from his grandparents in India, to his parents’ migration to Canada and then his own story, his upbringing and the his route into comedy and stardom.<br />
<br />
I was able to relate to this book for a few reasons, one being that I migrated to Canada with my family when I was very young; because I am familiar with the area where Russell grew up and writes about in the book; and because I am one year younger than Russell, so we grew up in the same era. <br />
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This book offers a deep insight into a Canadian comic icon and if that appeals to you then I recommend this book otherwise I suggest you pass.<br />
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</div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01198044313639331203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1613877950719405496.post-19374193710886159652011-05-27T21:55:00.000-07:002011-05-28T14:41:20.302-07:00127 Hours<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B004K6MGIE/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&tag=wiswihwif-20&linkCode=as2&camp=15121&creative=390961&creativeASIN=B004K6MGIE"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.ca/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B004K6MGIE&MarketPlace=CA&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&tag=wiswihwif-20&ServiceVersion=20070822" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.ca/e/ir?t=&l=as2&o=15&a=B004K6MGIE" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">Without a doubt the most decorated movie of the past year was The King's Speech. It won four of the twelve Oscars it was nominated for, including Movie of the Year, yet I have to admit that I didn't care for it. This dumbfounds just about everyone that I tell, but in a word, I found the movie to be quite dull. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">Another movie that garnered much accolade during the award season earlier this year was 127 Hours and I just couldn’t imagine a full length movie whose sole topic was a man trapped in the wilderness, but I came across an opportunity to see it and decided to find out what all the fuss was about. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">Right from the opening seconds I was hooked and I realized that this was a movie that I was going to enjoy, I could tell from the music and from the pacing of the shots. This movie did not disappoint, in fact, it exceeded my expectations. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">Admittedly there were a few times where I felt lost, but these were during the scenes depicting Aron Ralston’s delirium, so it was appropriate that I wasn’t able to make sense of it. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">Danny Boyle’s directing was masterful and Jon Harris must have worked his fingers to the bone editing the shots so tightly. This film really gives one an appreciation for fine film making. Full credit also to James Franco for his outstanding on-camera appearance, in what could only be a difficult role to play. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">From what I’ve read after watching the movie, what we see on the screen is incredibly true to what actually happened. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">Well worth seeing! </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;">8/10</span></span></div></div><table><tr>
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I became a <a href="http://www.kidrock.com/">Kid Rock</a> fan on June 5, 1999. That was the day that he performed his song, <a href="http://community.kidrock.com/video/video/show?id=2085824%3AVideo%3A505761">“Bawitdaba” on the MTV Music Awards</a>. That performance singularly melded rock and rap the way Run DMC intended it to be when they teamed with Aerosmith on “Walk this Way” in 1986. <br />
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Since then I have collected all of his music and seen three of his concerts in Toronto. I heard him continue to jump from genre to genre or fuse two or more effortlessly. Aside from the aforementioned rock and rap, he also brought country, blues and jazz into the blend. Basically if it was popular American music, he was playing it! And no matter what he was playing it had soul in spades. <br />
<br />
In two weeks I’ll be seeing him for my forth time and I figured it was about time I got around to checking out his new album. It had been released six months ago! <br />
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What I found with the album is that rap had left the fold, save for a few measly moments when rapper T.I. injects hip-hop into “Care” which also features country music star, Martina McBride. <br />
<br />
Yep, the country is there and the rock can’t leave, it’s in his name! What I heard was all that is American. I thought either this SOB is the most incredibly patriotic son of a gun out there, with his ear on the pulse of exactly what the typical blue-class American family needs to hear, or he’s a marketing genius that’s just ready to tap into the wallets of this culture. <br />
<br />
The lyrics touch home for US military families waiting for their loved ones to come back from Afghanistan, and Iraq. Patriotism rages on this album and many songs are anthemic in nature. On “God Bless Saturday”, he sings a hymn for the blue collar worker, but it seems so far removed from his experience as a huge celebrity who was at one time married to Pamela Anderson. <br />
<br />
I really enjoyed the first few songs on the album but by the time I got near the end, all the songs had started to sound the same and I kept hoping for some rap to mix things up a bit, but he stayed true to the rock/country fusion throughout the album. <br />
<br />
This album is the first that didn’t carry the parental advisory sticker and it’s truly a mature and mainstream outing. I’m surprised that it hasn’t been more successful and better embraced. I did hear it last week in Las Vegas though while waiting in line tickets to a show and again the next night they were playing the album before a show started. <br />
<br />
As usual, I am really looking forward to his show. He never disappoints live and I highly recommend it.<br />
<br />
This gets a rating of 7/10 for me.<br />
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</div></div><div style="text-align: right;"><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm-ca.amazon.ca/e/cm?t=wiswihwif-20&o=15&p=8&l=as1&asins=B003ZHQVJO&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01198044313639331203noreply@blogger.com1