NOW you’re playing with power.

JC/NB

This was shot in parks in and around Arizona, Utah and California. The world is AWESOME.

JC/NB

It’s a slow day.

JC/NB

This is AWESOME. Can someone please create a 1977  Ford F-250 3/4 4×4 AT-AT?

JC/NB

>

The cello is the coolest instrument in the symphony, save for the kettle drums. That’s why this video combining the cell, Star Wars and fighting is awesome.

JC/NB

Gall Darn it! When you fudge around with Hank Hill, you fudge around with the best!

JC/NB

I’m a massive Iggy Pop fan. In fact, I’m surprised I haven’t used Friday Flashback to wax poetic about more of Iggy’s work. Today, as I promised on Twitter last night, I’m going to talk about his groundbreaking album The Idiot, produced by David Bowie with help from Bowie’s friend and T-Rex producer, Tony Visconti.

Iggy is considered the godfather of punk, and for good reason. His three albums with the Stooges are the blueprint for dirty Detroit noise emulated by and influencing everyone from The Ramones to The Sex Pistols to Joy Division and even Queens Of The Stone age and The White Stripes. Iggy was known as a successor to Jim Morrison, for his outlandish stage antics, for his howls and for a crushing wall of noise on The Stooges record.

So when Iggy and his friend David Bowie decamped from LA to Europe (eventually settling in Berlin, kicking off Bowie’s “Berlin period”), fans were shocked when they heard the finished product on The Idiot.

Iggy’s style had changed. No longer was he a hard charging, straight ahead rock and roll banshee. Iggy had become more subdued. The noise, the wildness was still there, but it was controlled. Recording the Idiot was a method for Iggy to get clean and it seemed that all of his outer demons became internalized and his physical presence and anger become internal conflict and self-loathing.

The album also marked a new sound for Iggy and music in general. Influenced by Krautrock groups like Kraftwerk, the album leaned on electronic music, a first for rock and roll at the time which would later funnel it’s way into Bowie’s famous Berlin trilogy of Low, Sound & Vision and Heroes (widely viewed as his best artistic work). The overall sound and dreary yet upbeat mood of The Idiot was a massive influence on British post punk like Joy Division (The Idiot was playing on Ian Curtis’ record player as he hung himself) as well as already established acts like Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.

In short, the man who is considered the originator of Punk rock also originated post-punk.

The songs on The Idiot flow perfectly. From the kick off of Sister Midnight to the now famous (from Trainspotting) Nightclubbing, one can imagine Iggy trying to kick heroin, wandering the paranoid and cold streets of Berlin in the German winter and feeling what this album emotes. The track Dum Dum Boys comes the closest to the old Stooges, while at the same time the songs lyrics diss the Asheton brothers. Perhaps the most famous track on The Idiot is China Girl, later turned into a massive hit by David Bowie on his Let’s Dance album. But I think I prefer Pop’s version more. Where as Bowie took the track into the realm of seduction, Iggy’s version is full of self loathing, lust and at times all out creepy-ness.

Here’s a few of the prime cuts off Iggy Pop’s The Idiot. First off, Nightclubbing:

China Girl:

Dum Dum Boys:

Have a good weekend. Plug this in sometime over the Family Day holiday and let me know what you think.

JC/NB

Twitter is blowing up today over Public Safety Minister Vic Toews and his proposed The Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act. In a nutshell, the bill will force internet providers and phone companies to hand over personal information including IP addresses and unlisted phone numbers. It would also force ISP’s to  provide a “back door” to make communications accessible to police. And it also allows the cops to do it all without a warrant. Basically it means the cops can take a look at what you’re doing online and get all your personal details without having to go to a judge. While I’m sure we can all say we’re against the proliferation of child porn, this will effect every Canadian who goes online or owns a telephone. Toews even changed the name of the bill prior to voting and has told opponents that if you’re against spying on Canadians, you’re supporting child molesters.

Ok then.

Needless to say, the internet isn’t pleased. A few have decided that since Vic wants to know what we’re doing online, why not tell him? Enter #tellviceverything directed at @toewsvic, the Minister’s Twitter handle. Every day Canadians are tweeting (and in some cases CC’s him on every e-mail) the minute details about their lives. And why not? Maybe he’ll get the picture that Canadian’s don’t support warrant less surveillance and like their right to privacy.

 I even jumped on the bandwagon:

So here’s The List for this week, some funny, snarky and fully Canadian #tellviceverything Tweets.

1:

First of all, why not some personal hair growth/grooming talk, courtesy @that_angela?

2:

Oh! That’s practically bootlegging! Vic won’t like that @theRielJVL!

3:

Mr. Toews seems a little like Single White Female or Misery now, doesn’t he @tuxbeej?

4:

I’m guessing Vic would lean towards a comely lass like LDR, but I’m suggesting @ctoverdrive goes for Sleigh Bells instead.

5:

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve screwed up stir fry. I bet Vic hates it too. He feels your pain @ironfog!

6:

Impure thought! Let Vic know, then KILL IT WITH FIRE, @klaszus!

7:

A very nice summation of today’s events courtesy @paulatics

8:

I bet when Vic thinks 1984, he prefers to think about the Van Halen album instead, @mikemcpickles

So remember kids, if you have something to say, remember to #tellviceverything directly at @ToewsVic

JC/NB

One of the best things I ever did as a kid was joining the Boy Scouts. I learned a lot of things about the world, science, nature and how to get along in it. Even to this day, the Scouts still aren’t letting me down. Check out this super handy infographic on what your pee is telling you about your health.

Also, in the depths of a One Weekend Only hangover, I may have pushed myself right to the lower depths of this chart. Either way, once a scout, always a scout. Be prepared.

JC/NB

Earlier this year Burton rolled out a whole bunch of Star Wars related stuff, mainly boards and helmets, kicking off a team up between the snowboarding Juggernaut and the worlds greatest film franchise. They’re taking it one step further, with the construction of their Star Wars themed snowboarding park at Sierra-at-Tahoe in California. While it’s designed in mind for kids, it’s still pretty cool. What’s actually maddening in all of this is that Burtons gear is TOTALLY designed with kids in mind. I’m not sure if they have realized how much dough they’re missing out on by not building gear for grown ups. Anyway, take a look at the construction of the park. It looks awesome.

JC/NB