CrazyChesterandtheOldfashionedSugar

Got more soul then a sock with a hole

2010-05-12T18:27:00.000-07:00

bonjour internet. I'm in a bit of an old man phase so I'm going to follow up my post on vinyl with a post about radio. I love the radio. It starts me off every morning and tells me everything I need to know; news, weather, entertainment, everything. The morning announcers have become so familiar to me that it's almost as if they are in my house with me just having a nice conversation about what's going on. I especially love the programs on the CBC. My favorite program has to be the Vinyl Cafe with Stuart McLean. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Vinyl Cafe it's a radio show that happens every Sunday. The show has Stuart McLean telling stories about Dave, owner of a second hand record store, and Dave's wife, Morley, their two children, Sam and Stephanie, and assorted friends and neighbors. I can't really explain it much more then that you really have to listen yourself to understand it in it's full glory. Other programs I enjoy are Age of Persuasion, (A show about advertising and the work that goes into making it) GO! (A live radio show with games, music and other random fun) Q (a Talk show hosted by Jian Ghomeshi) Vinyl Tap (A show hosted by Randy Bachman where he talks music and stories) and a whole bunch more CBC shows.
The only problem I really have with the radio is that I'm not always the one controlling the dials. Here in Halifax there are three different pop stations. Z103, 101.3 (The Bounce) and C100. This means that anyone who has access to a radio probably will pick one of those three stations considering no one my age really enjoys talk radio or classic rock. I'm going to use this to segway into an anger fueled rant about pop music today so if you're someone who likes that kinda music and would like to remain blissfully unaware of how crappy it is skip this next paragraph. Otherwise read on.

First off I'd like to start with auto-tune. Auto-tune started as a little program to fix little pitch errors in singers and what not. It wasn't used as an effect until Cher came out with a song called Believe. Nowadays there are people like T-Pain who are apparently big fans of how Cher sounds and use it in hip hop songs. To me this takes away all artistic credibility from artists who barely had any in the first place. I mean these people barely have any lyrical abilities since all they rap about is money and the things that come with it and now it's not even their voice. I love hip hop but it's getting to the point where with auto tune no artist is unique. T-Pain and I would sound almost identical with auto-tune so what's stopping me from taking his place? The answer to that is image. T-Pain looks like a rap star I'm just a little white kid, which brings me to my next point. Image should have nothing to do with musicians. Lots of musicians are ugly, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, The Rolling Stones and those are some of the biggest names in music history. Which leads me to one of my least favorite names in pop music Lady Gaga. For some reason Lady Gaga is viewed as this "visionary" and so "unique" I suspect it's because she dresses so strangely. That's all well and fine cause I don't know anything about fashion but I do know that she shouldn't be viewed as a good musician with lines like "let's have some fun/this beat is sick/ I wanna take a ride on your disco stick" and that's disregarding her "lyrics" that aren't even real words. In my opinion she should stick with fashion and get out of music. By far my least favorite thing about pop music today is one specific song. It's called sexy chick. In this song Akon says "I don't know how to describe this girl without being disrespectful" excuse my Caps but ARE YOU KIDDING ME! This is literally saying that Akon cannot call a girl beautiful or pretty or anything even close to that because all the things he calls girls are words like hoe and bitch. This song is extremely popular and I have to ask any girl reading this would you enjoy dating or being with a guy who doesn't know how to say you look good without calling you a demeaning word? No of course not but there are a lot of girls who mindlessly listen to this making it more and more popular. I'd be pissed if I were a girl and this guy was putting women down like that on such a massive level.

I'd like to apologize for the anger in that post it's just I'm forced to listen to the radio at work and I needed to vent it out.
To make up for it I'd like to unveil on the blog for the first time the Old Shug Film Co.! That's right Brendan and I (plus Jenna and Rob who are friends of ours) have started making short films here is a link to some of the ones we have made so far. There are two now but a third will be up soon. Enjoy!

I know I used caps lock earlier but just know it's not your fault and I still love you
-Grant

The Crowd Gets Caught like a Needle in a Groove.

2010-03-28T18:30:00.000-07:00

Frequent readers of The Old Shug know that I'm an avid collector of vinyl records. I know a lot of people think that vinyl is a dead platform and that it doesn't stand up to the convenience and quality of digital music, but I honestly believe that if you listen to the same album on vinyl and CD you will have a much better experience with the vinyl copy. There are a few reasons that cause me to think this. I'll start out with the act of buying the album.

If you are shopping for an album on CD then you go into a store with thousands of CD's and DVD's and you find a CD that you want to buy. But, before you make the purchase you want to know about it a little more just to be safe. So you ask an employee. Now I've generally had some pretty knowledgeable people working at the major CD stores but every once in a while you'll have someone who has no idea about the music and see's working at the store as just another retail job. Now, on the other hand if you're buying the album on vinyl you walk into the store that is filled with records and CD's you flip through the milk crates until you find that album you're looking for. You pull it out and you have this amazing 12 3/4 x 12 3/4 inch piece of art. At most record stores you'll only find one person working but you'll find this one person has an incredible amount of knowledge so when you ask him or her about the album they almost always can tell you something about it because if they sell records you know they have a passion for the music and it's not just a retail job for them.

So now you have the album and you're at home ready to open it. I'll admit that I get just as satisfied peeling off the plastic on a new CD as I do a new LP, but opening the two is a different story. When opening a CD there generally aren't any surprises unless it has an ad in it for other new CD's from that label. Opening a new vinyl record, on the other hand, can come with any number of surprises such as, posters, stickers, or in the case of many new records a digital download or a CD copy of the record.

Now... for the best part of all... Listening to the record. With the CD there are two different ways of going about this. You can either put it in a CD player, or do what most people do now-a-days which is upload it on their computers and putting it on their MP3 players. Then when all that is done you can put on/in your head/earphones and finally hit play. The main problem with this is that, with the whole portable aspect of my iPod, I end up doing something else and not focusing on my album. The vinyl copy is much more satisfying to me because once you have it opened you can take out the inner sleeve and slip the record out. Now you have this physical object that you can hold, and if you run your fingers along the grooves you can literally feel the music. Now for the moment you've been waiting for, you gently put the record on the platter and drop the needle. As soon as the needle catches you get this warm, genuine sound coming out of your speakers which keeps you hooked until the very end of the record which you now can enjoy as an experience instead of just a collection of songs.

Some of you might think that even though all that is nice and good don't CD's have better quality then records? Well, that's actually not necessarily true. Vinyl records are recorded in analog which means that it reflects the sound waves in one constant stream. Cd's are digital which is more like taking little "snapshots" of the sound. This causes a lot of sound to be lost in the final product of the recording which ends up giving CD's a more dull, flat sound compared to vinyl. (More info)

One of the biggest reasons I prefer vinyl is not a matter of personal taste or enjoyment, but a matter of respect for the artist. Vinyl ensures that you listen to the whole record and not just the singles or the songs that you've already heard. There is no skip button on a record player so you have to hear the whole record just the way that the artists made it and recorded it and just in case you do get distracted there are two sides on a record so you have to flip it which will get you right back into it.

I understand that maybe there are people reading this who aren't quite ready to make the jump all the way back to vinyl but if you liked this article I ask that instead of downloading single mislabeled songs off limewire you go to your local CD store and buy a whole CD instead to support the artists because that's what it all comes down too. We need to support the people making the music we like so that they can keep making new music for people to enjoy. and you never know, maybe someday you'll be at a yard sale and you'll pick up a record player for a couple bucks and join me and my fellow audiophiles.

Thanks for listening, keep on spinning

-Grant

Pat LePoidevin Live @ Waterfront Campus

2010-02-26T18:35:00.000-08:00

...yes another music review.
The other night I saw Pat LePoidevin play an acoustic show at the NSCC waterfront campus. I was blown away. Pat, accompanied by his good friend on drums, created a melodic mountain-folk sound using a variety of stringed instruments. LePoidevin used a looper pedal to build a fusion of self-harmonies that sounded more like a full band then a solo musician. His songwriting painted a beautiful scenery of the north-american wilderness in a simpler time. After the show I bought his new album "Moon Wolves" and now I can't stop listening to it. If you enjoy Fleet Foxes you will enjoy this man's music.

Here's a link to his myspace http://www.myspace.com/patlepoidevin
Shine on,
-Brendan

Gloryhound - Leave It Alone

2010-02-12T08:56:00.000-08:00

"They traded in the Plaid shirts for Leather Jackets"
Gloryhound's second album entitled "Leave It Alone" was released on November 2o, 2009. I picked it up at HMV last week and have been listening to it ever since. Unlike their debut album "Gloryhound and the Skyhawks", this is a full-charged, fast paced heavy rock record. What used to be a band heavily influenced by Tom Petty & the Hearbreakers, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, and The Band, has been redirected to Iggy Pop and The Ramones. It is clear that Gloryhound has respectfully changed their genre, shying away from the "East Coast" label, and it looks like they finally found their groove. Just like their accelerated, high voltage live shows, "Leave It Alone" is the definition of "Rock n' Roll", and meant to be played loud. Produced by Robbie Crowell, the record was recorded in the Halifax, Nova Scotia and was tracked in the Sonic Temple and the Echo Chamber. The band sent their record to New York where it was mastered by Fred Kevorkian (White Stripes, Iggy Pop, Willie Nelson).
As much as I miss the old sound, it's nice to see this hometown band's sound grow and mature.

Beware the hound,
-Brendan

Seriously

2010-02-03T17:55:00.000-08:00

Hello one and all!
I started a new semester at school which means new classes! I have Film and Video Production 12, Math 12, and Drama 12. In film and video we get to do a film review every week so I thought I'd share this review I did of the newest Coen brothers film A Serious Man So enjoy!

A Serious Man is the newest film by the Coen brothers. The main character, Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at a small university. Larry doesn't have much going for him at this point in his life. His wife is leaving him, his son has disipline issues, his daughter sneaks money from him to save for a “nose job” and his brother who consistantly becomes more and more of a burden is living at his house. On top of all that there is anonymous letter writter attempting to sabotage his chances of getting tenure at his university, and did I mention there is a student attempting to bribe him for a passing mark? Larry throught the movie goes to three differant rabbis to seek an answer as too why it is all happening to him and how he can become a rightous person.

I thought that this movie was yet another masterpeice in a long line of Coen brothers classics. The story was very well written and you were immediately engulfed by it as soon as you heard Jefferson Airplane playing at the beginning.

The movie is a very dark comedy so to an average viewer they may just watch this movie and see a sad story about a man who appears to have absolutley nothing going for him. Although I also saw the sad in this movie there was a number of scenes which I laughed out loud at, like the scene where the father of the son who tried to bribe Larry shows up at his house bumping his fists together reapeating the phrase “culture clash” in a heavy east asian accent. Or when Larry's son calls to complain about F-Troop not having good reception on the TV which leads to a scene where Larry learns there is an anonymous letter writer threatening his chances at tenure at which point he recieves another call from his son which Larry answers with “Is it F-troop again!?” in an extremely distressed voice. It's moments of dark, dry humour like this (which I could never possibly do justice by explaining in print) that makes this move so genious.

It was a movie of subtleties, whether it was subtleties in facial expressions or tone of voice the actors in the film did an phenominal job in potraying these little things which made the very real, very raw human emotion in the film. Another aspect of the film I enjoyed was the simplicity of the shots. There were very few shots where the camera moved. The colours in the film were also very pale and dull. Those two aspects gave the movie a very minimalistic feel which I think mirrored the plot.

The only negative points in this movie are mere matters of opinion. For example if you are the kind of person who enjoys moives that make perfect sence when taken at face value you would not like this movie. It is very dry, subtle, slow, and dark upfront but when you start to scratch at the surface you see the humour, life and reality that can make this movie such a peice of art for viewers like me.

Personally I found Larry to be very identifiable with. Although I have never been through the struggles he went through in the film I feel like his reactions to his situations were very real and were reactions that I think I would share if put in his situation.

I think that the Coen brothers were doing what they do best in this movie which was showing raw human behavior. Although the plot was somewhat far fetched (as it is in many Coen brother films) it was a great representation of human emotion and human reactions to such extreme emotional situations. I think they did a great job of showing it in this film and I hope to see it again in their up coming film due to be out in 2011

Overall I give this movie two huge thumbs up and recommend it for film buffs and anyone who likes movies that take a little bit of thinking.

Seriously yours,
Grant M. Hawkins

Halifax Music Scene (everybody knows this isn't nowhere)

2010-01-07T14:30:00.000-08:00

The other day I was reading The Coast and came across an article called "Decade in review; music scene not a machine". It caught my eye because it talks all about Halifax's music scene. As you may know, I am an avid music fan, especially when it comes to local talent. The article begins talking about the "post 90's" era, when Halifax was being called "the next Seattle". While many good bands came out of this city in the 90's, (Sloan, Thrush Hermit, The Guthries...) and although Halifax did not quite live up to the hype, it still developed to become the happening spot for music goers it is today, opening doors for many other genres such as blues, R&b, jazz and hip-hop. The article gives very good reasons to why Halifax has what it takes to develop such a name for itself in Canadian music. First of all, Halifax is home to many universities, giving it a very high population of students, and students seem to give the city a very 'arts appreciative vibe'. Second, Halifax has a lack of bands stop here on their tours compared to other big cities, and so this only adds to our propensity to entertain ourselves. Halifax has many music festivals including Halifax Pop Explosion and In The Dead Of Winter, and very supportive radio stations like the CBC and CDKU. The Halifax music scene wouldn't be complete without talking about the venues, The Marquee has been the home to many bands such as Matt Mays & El Torpedo , and Joel Plaskett Emergency for years until it's closure in January of '09, and of course the legendary Seahorse tavern has been around since 1948 and is still rocking today.

I don't really know where i'm going with this post, but I'd just like to say that in an age of auto-tune, and where "good music" is a dieing breed, it's nice knowing that my home town is still going strong.

keep on rocking in the free world.

Brendan

10 years ago.

2009-12-14T17:21:00.000-08:00

Holy cow it's almost 2010. That though came to me the other day when sitting in class, and it got me thinking... We're nearly a decade into the new millennium crazy thought isn't it? in the year 2000 I was eight years old in grade 2. Now I'm 17 in grade 12 Time sure does fly.

It's crazy to think how much the world has changed in only 10 years. With the huge advancements in technology, especially the internet (Google, youtube, Twitter, Facebook Myspace), major political events (Obama being elected, 9/11, The wars in the middle east) and so many more major events. All of that and it's barely scratching the tip of the iceberg in terms of what happened in the last ten years. I did so much in the last ten years as well. I started competing in gymnastics which took me too every province but Manitoba, one territory, and of course Japan. I went through many fads like Pokemon, YuGiOh, Harry Potter, video games, neopets and countless changes in music tastes.

In the end I think what makes these last ten years so important to me is that this is the decade I grew up in. I entered the millennium 7 and I'm going to leave it 18. So even though I was born in the early 90's I really am a child of the 2000's. This is the decade that I'll never forget, heck I'm graduating in 2010 so I'll be invited to high school reunions which will remind me of this decade and all the things that happened to me and to the world. and living through these amazing times.I hope to one day tell my grand kids or even great grand kids judging by medical technology about what it was like in the early 2000's

Writing to you live from the year 2009
-Grant

New Blog Post(er)

2009-12-10T13:23:00.000-08:00

-Brendan

Don't Trust Your Photographs

2009-11-01T05:39:00.000-08:00

I purchased the self-titled album by Fleet Foxes on December 27th 2008. I had never heard of them before and was very intrigued by the album cover. It grew on me, becoming one of my favorite albums of the year. It wasn't until eight months later, when my comrade Grant bought the album on vinyl that I was shown the liner notes written by Robin Pecknold and Skyler Skjelset. This is some of what they wrote; (please read this in it's entire)

"My first memory has always been of me and my mom on a cold grey day down at some beach in Washington, along the puget sound somewhere near Seattle. I would be around two or three years old and we're with a friend of mine from the neighborhood and his mom. Walking around among the driftwood looking for crabs. Even now, I can remember the smell and temperature of the air, the feeling of the sand and the swaying tall grass I can even remember looking over at my friend and how his face looked when he smiled back at me Another memory that I'll sometimes recall as my first memory is dressing up in the dead of winter as Jack London with tennis rackets on my feet and wearing my dad's hiking pack, in the middle of summer after seeing Disney's (terrible) version of White Fang. or There's the memory of stealing my neighbor's big wheel and riding it halfway down the block before getting caught and having to turn around defeated, or of wearing a fireman's outfit while washing my parent's car, or eating an orange popsicle from the ice cream truck.

These are and have always been some of my most distinct and persistent memories of childhood, so i came as a disappointment to me when one day as a teenager I opened up a photo album and found pictures of each and every one of those memories. I didn't have a single memory that didn't belong to or somehow grow from pictures my parents had taken of me when I was growing up even the scenes I remember so clearly in my head are from the same angles as those photographs and I don't really know what to to make of it. I'm going to guess that I'd seen all theses photographs at some point, forgotten they were just photographs and over time made them into my most tangible memories. That's scary to me in a way.

This leads me to something weird about the power music has, it's transportative ability. Any time I hear a song or record that meant a lot to me at a certain moment or I was listening to at a distinct time, I'm instantly taken back to that place in full detail..."

I can't describe to you how relevant Pecknold's thoughts are to my own. He goes on to explain in detail how music is like a 'time machine' that can deliver both memories and emotions. For eight months I've lived with these notes in my possession and i had just disregarded it for just a brown paper sleeve that held the Cd. I want to thank Grant for showing this to me.

Song recommendation: "These Days" - Nico http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_z_UEuEMAo

go make some memories,

-Brendan

We Are Your Friends

2009-10-17T18:59:00.000-07:00

Hello one and all. How are you? I'm good.

I'm bored so I figure I'll do a spontaneous blog post and see what I end up talking about.

I got this new job coaching gymnastics that I briefly mentioned in my last post. let me tell you something about this job... It rocks. I quit gymnastics in March and honestly I didn't really miss it that much. Then I got a job at Sobeys and I absolutely hated it with all of my being. Luckily I got offered a job to coach and I took it as soon as I could. I've been coaching since September now and I love it. I have a group of four, an 11 year old, two 12 year old's and a 13 year old. They are all pretty well behaved and that's a really small group so it's easy to handle. I still enjoy the sport I just hated to do it, so now I can still be involved in it and get payed for it! Too imagine what it's like to have my job, picture getting payed to tell kids what to do and be interested in the activities you're telling them to do. It is pretty mint.

In other news I've bought some more music but I'm trying to cut down. It's hard though cause I'm addicted. Since the last post I've bought By The Way by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ummagumma by Pink Floyd, and Magic Potion and Fleet Foxes on vinyl. I'm trying to save my money because a me and a friend agreed a few years back that the next time the Red Hot Chili Peppers go on tour we'd go see them at the closest place to Halifax. (This could be soon because they just went back into the studio to make a new album!) So even though I'm saving, I'm still saving for music. (which I don't have a problem with but the parents would probably like to see it go to something like school) I've also been getting into a band called Justice they're pretty sick a friend of mine lent me their debut CD and their live album both of which are awesome.

Thats about all for now. I'm trying to think of something deep for my next post cause I haven't really made a thought provoking post in a long time and I'm well due for one.

Music's got me feelin' so free.
-Grant

Song Recommendation: D.A.N.C.E. by Justice It's a very feel good dance song

Two Coasts for Comfort

2009-10-09T15:24:00.000-07:00

Two Coasts for Comfort by Jon Bryant is set to be released on October 28th 2009. The clever name comes from the "Two Coasts" where Jon wrote his songs, (Europe, and here in Nova Scotia). Jon's music is melodically soulful and rich in comfort and deep thought. His Folk roots are entwined with a hint of alternative-rock with inspirations from Dallas Green to Radiohead. A while back I got a call from him, asking me if I wanted to "make sweet music". I packed up my drums and met him at The Open Gate along with fellow musicians Michael Sheldon and Jerry Albert. Since then we have jammed from time to time and I have accompanied him in playing at Fall River chapel. It is amazing how much musical talent comes out of my home town. I feel blessed to be a part of the scene and hopefully one day have my own record to release.

If you want to learn more about the album and Jon, here is an excellent video made by Luke Adamski http://vimeo.com/6977850

Do what you love

-Brendan

Music from Highway Six De Da

2009-09-30T18:39:00.000-07:00

it's been a while I know.

Time for a big music update. I have a job now so that means lots of new music anytime I can make it out to the mall. First off is my new records; Highway 61 Revisited, Music from Big Pink, and LaDeDa. Highway 61 is one of my favorite Dylan albums with maybe my favorite Dylan song Like a Rolling Stone plus 8 other great tracks. Music From Big Pink is a classic album by the Band with the Weight and I Shall Be Released being the most notable tracks but of course the rest of them are awesome too. LaDeDa is by the local wonder kid Joel Plaskett. LaDeDa is definitely one of my favorite albums by him it's got this nice acoustic sound with a couple of almost computerized sounding tracks thrown in very discreetly so that you wouldn't notice unless you were listening very closely. It also has a very Canadian feel to it I find.
Now those three vinyl records aren't all I've bought. I've also stopped into HMV and picked up a couple CD's; Pinkerton by Weezer (I actually got at Wal-Mart), Rubber Factory and Chulahoma by the Black Keys, Mothers Milk and Californiacation by the Red Hot Chili Peppers Keep it Hid by Dan Auerbach, Ghetto Pop Life by Danger Mouse and Jemini, Do You Want More?!!!??! by The Roots, Funeral by The Arcade Fire, Obscured by Clouds by Pink Floyd, Enter The Wu-Tang by the Wu-Tang Clan, Set Yourself on Fire by Stars and Blonde on Blonde by Bob Dylan. I also got The Last Waltz on blu-ray and The Office season 4 on DVD. So as you can see when I'm given a steady paycheck this is how I spend it. I'd go through and talk about all those CDs but I haven't got a chance to listen thoroughly to all of them yet but the ones I have heard are spectacular.
Other than that I've been pretty busy with school, my new job coaching gymnastics and students council. Listening to music has practically become a part time job though with all the new music I have now.

That's all I can think to say for now I'll hopefully try to post more often but you know me

Be nice
-Grant

PS: Revenge is like ice cream it's sweet and best served cold.

Don't criticize what you can't understand.

2009-09-16T16:16:00.000-07:00

Chronicles volume one, is a window into the mind of Bob Dylan, his thoughts and influences. Written by the great man himself, he is able to take you back to a simple time. Dylan gives an in depth look at his early life as a folk-singer living in Greenwich village. The detail given to simple situations could only have come from Bob. He is able to recollect moments from his past and paint a picture of words so clearly, it is as if you were there. Surprisingly Dylan does not cover his most 'prolific' years. Skipping over them to focus more on a less known and unappreciative time of his life. Just like his songs, Dylan's extraordinary talent of telling a story allows you to never tire of what he has to say. It is written very relaxed, as if you are sitting down and having a conversation with him. Chronicles allows the reader to dig deep into the thoughts of a man that has been such an inexplicable character throughout the years. This is the most personal and detailed autobiography I have read to date, and I will be first in line to purchase a copy of Chronicles volume Two when it is released.

Song reccomendation; "He Was a Friend of Mine" - Bob Dylan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak4_gP4Qj1k&feature=PlayList&p=179487017787F258&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=5

Have a good one,

Brendan

Ain't it just like dyin'? 'Cept you can still feel the shame.

2009-08-31T18:29:00.000-07:00

*insert cliche reason why I haven't posted in forever here*
Hey y'all how are things? I hope they are nice and easy. I've been working a lot lately. whether it's at SobeyS or at the gym or at the school. Sobeys sucks pretty hard but hopefully if things work out at the gym (I'm trying to get a job coaching gymnastics) I won't be there much longer. As for the school things have been going pretty good. other then a few technicalities it's all been moving pretty smoothly. Now that I've been working I've realized how much I really need to find a job that I love to do. I've been nothing but miserable knowing that I'm selling my time. Everyone has told me that it gets better after you get your first paycheck but I still feel pretty shitty even though I finally have money to spend. (and I've been spending it well) I think it all comes back to my weird fear of time elapsing. I hate thinking of the time I'll never get back and when I'm at work that's all there is to think about. All I can think of is if my time is worth the 8.60 they're giving me an hour. I feel like money and my time aren't even on the same scale when it comes to worth, my time on one hand is something I'll never get back, on the other hand without money it's all I have. Weird how that works I guess. Without money I have no material goods, no home, no food, nothing.... Nothing but time... Time that can be exchanged for money but without time you have even less.
Maybe I just don't fit in in this world. At least I got Music and Love and I'm working on Peace

Thanks for reading
-Grant

PS: I hate to get political but seriously America gear down Obama is just trying out the poor and you're comparing him to Hitler? Helping the poor... Where have I heard that before?

Song Recommendation: I Want You -Bob Dylan

GreenFest 09'

2009-08-23T15:42:00.000-07:00

About a week ago I received a call from my longtime friend Mo Kenney. She asked me to accompany her and her band "Berend's Pages" at a three day long Environmental Awareness Festival of Arts simply known as the "GreenFest". I of course accepted the invitation and started rehearsing with them right away. We practiced at "Shambhala Studios" in downtown Halifax, a very 'chill' loft filled with records, books, instruments and everything music.

We drove down an old dirt road until we reached an old farm with about a 200 acre field filled with tents, hippies, horses, and I think there was a Gypsy. We spent the day listening to music and playing music outside of the tents. We also kicked it back in the 'green room' where we beat the heat. The green room was a room for the performers in an old farm house with old couches, fresh fruit, and free beer. Because of the chance of a hurricane, the main stage had to be relocated causing the schedule to become chaotic. We didn't get on until 10:00, which was actually a good thing because the crowd grew in size as the night went on. We ended up opening for Juno nominee and 15 time ECMA winner Lennie Gallant. All in all, I met some great people, heard some great music, and had a great time. I will be there next year and I hope to see you to.

The picture above is from the Greenfest. Taken by Rachel Shrum on Polaroid.

Here is a link to Berend's Pages MySpace http://www.myspace.com/mokenney

and here is a link to GreenFest http://www.thegreenfestival.ca/

Have a great last week of summer.

- Brendan

Ban Your Rays

2009-08-10T07:09:00.000-07:00

So I wanted to buy a pair of RayBan Wayfarers to pay homage to some of my heroes, Bob Dylan, John F. Kennedy, John Belushi, Roy Orbison and Andy Warhol. Who were all famous for wearing the iconic metal framed sunglasses. The only problem is that a certain group of adolescence have adopted the trend by wearing bright and colourful cheap knockoffs to express their "artistic" and "ungovernable" state of rebellious youth. These people are known as "Hipsters". You may confuse them with their sister group the "Emos" however, a hipster will be more colorful. I would have no problem with this group of people if they stood for something. But really, they are just feeding into this trend of false-appreciation for the arts. If i go out and purchase my RayBans I will be seen as just another hipster. When really that is clearly not the case. Just like the Emos have stolen the once respectable "Chuck Taylor" style Converse sneakers. The hipsters are stealing the once iconic metal framed eye-wear. You can not walk down the mall without seeing colorful plastic knockoffs being sold everywhere.

I do not want to sound hateful, because that would be very "un-dude" of me. I am only reinforcing for our youth to think for themselves, wear clothes that fit, and love one another.

Song Reccomendation: "Mountains of the Moon" - Grateful Dead

Do what you love,

-Brendan

it's been too long

2009-07-28T18:11:00.000-07:00

Hey all. It's been way to long since my last blog post mostly due to the lack of anything interesting enough to write a whole blog post about. So I'll just list a few things that have happened/are going to happen/I have done since my last blog post.

-I got a job at Sobeys most likely pushing carts and cleaning. It starts on the tenth

- I got the New Wilco album/Yankee Hotel Foxtrot on 180 gram vinyl they both are awesome (YHF came with a free CD version of the album)

-my Wisdom teeth are coming out on the 14th of August right in the middle of me being busy with a new job/students council stuff

-I have a new found appreciation for Is This It? by The Strokes

-I watched seasons 1 & 2 of Scrubs I love it and I'm working on getting season 3

-I'm planning on going on a road trip soon with my fellow blogger and a good friend of ours it should be good. I'm expecting great times, tunes and people

-I heard In the Court of the Crimson King by King Crimson for the first time and I love it

-I renewed my love for Mario Kart.

I'd say that's about all that's happened in the last little while. I wish I had more to blog about but as you can see I've had a bit of a writers block in term of interesting things to blog about.
I leave you with this one question. How do you get a stereo sound out of a record? What is it in the record that can decide which sounds come out of which speakers?

-Grant Hawkins
Resident Unmotivated Blogger

Consistency

2009-07-19T08:54:00.000-07:00

I take comfort in consistency. In this crazy world we live in, it nice knowing that somethings will always be there, just doing their thing. I like radios, when I was younger I had a transistor radio that i would listen to as I would fall asleep. It didn't matter what was going on in my own life, the radio always stayed the same. Keeping me company, buzzing and humming the current events. I take peace in simple things like that. In the town I live in, there is a Tim Hortons. This Tim Hortons is open twenty-four hours a day. I can't tell you how many times I've stumbled my way into it at 2:00 in the morning. It's nice knowing that it is always open, always there to provide shelter and coffee. I don't really know my neighbors across the street, all i know is that they watch T.V, and a lot of it. My window faces there house and every night as I'm going to bed I see the familiar glow of their television set. It doesn't matter what time I go to bed, it's always on, and it brings a smile to my face, knowing that I can always look out and see a hazy coloured image of something on their screen. I guess what I'm trying to say is that routine and consistency fills me with the feeling of comfort.

Song Recommendation: "Bobcaygeon" - The Tragically Hip

Take enjoyment in the simple things in life.

-Brendan

Another (Belated) One Year Anniversary

2009-07-10T08:46:00.000-07:00

As you know the blog recently had it's year Anniversary but that's not the only one that's happened recently. On the 7th of July (A little late I know) it was also the one year anniversary of my beautiful girlfriend and I. This last year has had it's ups and downs for us (Mostly ups) but we go great together and that's all that matters. we've had a fun year full of playing video games, playing on the trampoline, watching movies, and the occasional geeking out over Star Wars. I just have to say that it's been one of the best years of my life and here's to many many more. :)

I love you babe <3

-Grant

When my train comes in

2009-07-05T16:36:00.000-07:00

Hello all, it's been a while. Last week I got my wisdom teeth out, which put me on the sidelines for about a week. I'm just now starting to enjoy solid foods again. Summer is finally here, and what better way to kick it off than with a night of Joel Plaskett and fireworks. Alderney Landing filled up with 'lazy bones' and 'fashionable people' to celebrate Canada's birthday. It was a great show through and through... and through. In six days Joel will be opening for one of the most influential musicians in the world, Paul McCartney! *Que audience applause* That will be a great show, unfortunately, I will not be there because I don't have the money. *Que audience disappointing Aaah*

On another note, Wilco just released their latest album entitled "Wilco (the album)". This album covers all of the wide genres of past Wilco albums. Jeff Tweedy and the band seem more relaxed and comfortable with the sound. With collaborations with Canada's own Leslie Feist on "You and I", and the Dylan inspired "Country Disappeared" to the experimental sonic fusion on "Bull Black Nova". My rating: I give this album a thumbs up and two smiley face stickers.

Artist recommendation: Adam Baldwin http://www.facebook.com/pages/Adam-Baldwin/87649677491?ref=ts

Have lazy day

- Brendan

Happy Birthday!

2009-06-27T05:17:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a whole year since the very first post on Crazy Chester and the Old Fashioned Sugar. We've laughed, cried and maybe even bled depending on whether or not you took Brendan's advice on public bathrooms, oh so long ago. In the last year our fan base went from 0 too about 10ish completely by word of mouth and we're hoping to get 10 more for next year! Me and Brendan have covered everything from strange philosophies on life to Christmas to Neil Young to a whole bunch of music reviews this year and plan on keeping that up and more.
So the next big question is "where is CCatOFS going to be in another year?" well, Brendan and I will be seniors at Lockview High next year and we'll both be turning 18 near the end of 2010 which means we'll be able to vote here in Nova Scotia. I'll be Co-Prez of Students Council which will make me busy but I will try to post at a more regular rate. Also I'm hoping to get some sort of group together to jam with/do little shows with and maybe get into making some short films. If any of that happens I'll be sure to keep all you guys posted on it.
That's all I got to say I think... Here's to one year of the Olde Shug! I hope to see all you guys (and maybe some new comers) here this time next year!

Happy B-day Crazy Chester and the Old Fashioned Sugar!

-Grant

PS: Brendan got his wisdom teeth removed that's why he hasn't been posting lately

RIP King of Pop

2009-06-26T05:07:00.000-07:00

As a aspiring musician there is a part of me who feels obliged to honor the late Micheal Jackson because he is just one of those legends who really changed the game for everyone. His Thriller album is the best selling album of all time and I'm not afraid to admit that I have a copy of my own. For someone like my self who is only 16 I grew up in a time where the only time I ever heard Micheal's name was when he was on trial and when Neverland was shut down so I always had the "look at how crazy he is now" side of the story and it took me a while before I really realised what he had done and how he influenced almost the whole world. I hope now that he will be remembered for his music and not the weirder things that he was know for when I was growing up.

RIP Micheal you're the King

-Grant

PS: Enjoy

Danger! Mouse!

2009-06-23T11:25:00.000-07:00

Brian Burton AKA Danger Mouse is a producer that I'm a huge fan of, so I was pleasently surprised when I heard about his new album. But this isn't just any regular album... It's a blank CD-R. I know you're all thinking how could he release a blank CD and expect it to sell? Well here's the story; Mr. Mouse has gotten into arguments with the label EMI and so he won't release the actual music for fear of getting his ass sued off the planet. so he's just going to release a blank CD with a 100+ booklet with original photo's by David Lynch (who is on the album) that are inspired by the music. My first question was what about the music? Is he just going to forget about it and never let it see the light of day? No. According to the website "Danger Mouse remains highly proud of Dark Night of the Soul and hopes that people that are lucky enough to hear the music, by whatever means, are excited as he is." now upon first reading that just seems that only select people will be able to hear it but if you read it again it says "by whatever means" Now on all the articles I've read on the story this is essentially Danger Mouse saying "I want people to hear this so I don't even care if you download it." very formally, and to that I say kudos Danger Mouse! You are a great example of the music being more important then the money and I respect that a lot. Personally I have already found a torrent for the album (It's incredible) and plan on buying a copy as soon as I get a job and the money to pay for it. I think that if you love music you should pick up a copy of the CD and download the tracks just to support the idea of music over money.

So now that I'm done talking about Dark Night of the Soul I'd also like to mention that I never realized it until recently but Danger Mouse is in a lot of my favorite albums. He produced Attack and Release which is my favorite Black Keys album he also produced Demon Days by the Gorillaz which is awesome and even Beck's new CD. He also teamed up with MF DOOM to make DANGERDOOM and made one of my favorite hip hop albums, The Mouse and the Mask. He's half of Gnarls Barkley and last but certainly not least he mashed up Jay-Z Black album and the Beatles White album to make the Gray Album which is incredible!

So now that I'm done writing about being obsessed with Danger Mouse I will sign off

It's not just good it's great depression.

-Grant

PS I would have no idea on where to find a torrent for that album *cough*.*cough

Change

2009-06-19T16:27:00.000-07:00

Change is always happening. We can't stop it. We can only learn to deal with it, make the best of the situations we are presented with. Lately I have been seeing a lot of changes going on, in my own life and the lives around me. I'm not one who likes change, hell... I don't think anyone does. I'm to focused on living in the past. Reminiscing on better times when everything seemed so simple. Of course, at the time, you never know how simple it really is. So years from now I can look back and think about how simple things were right now. It's all perspective. I guess that is what keeps me sane.

“Life can either be accepted or changed. If it is not accepted, it must be changed. If it cannot be changed, then it must be accepted.”

Song Recommendation: "I Feel A Change Comin' On" - Bob Dylan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94n39Gc652g

-Brendan

Highly Illogical

2009-06-09T18:40:00.000-07:00

I consider my dad to be a fairly wise man. He's full of so many sayings, quotes and stories with strong morals that too the untrained ear he sounds like he's talking in riddles. Although he's passed all his knowledge and sayings down too me there was always a few stories my dad told me that seemed out of place. For you see my dad as a kid/teen was a fan of the adventures of the United Star Ship Enterprise. That's right... Star Trek. Now as a kid I always saw Star Trek as the nerdiest thing and I usually ignored those stories, but there was one in particular that I always thought was a great story anyway. It was a particular episode where the Enterprise comes in contact with a planet that had been engaged in a massive war and there were only two survivors. The survivors were on opposite sides so as you can imagine they get in a bit of a scuffle on the bridge. One of the survivors (Note: These guys were both white on one side and black on the other) was claiming that the other should be arrested and was obviously "inferior" the crew of the Enterprise was confused about why he was inferior. So after a while of trying to get them to see why he was so inferior he points out that their sides are inverted. (one has the black side on the left the other has black on the right) I always thought this was a great story about how we're all the same and that we need to put aside our minor differences. This story was especially moving because the episode would have been released around '69 where racial issues would have been an issue still.
Now that I'm older, with the help of my dad and the kick start of seeing the new Star Trek movie I began watching the original series. This not only taught me why my dad talks the way he does (weird Shatner like pauses and all) but I've also learned that they make a lot of commentary on their own culture. In one episode the Enterprise gets flung back in time to the '60's and they beam aboard a fighter pilot who is stunned at women on the deck. This is interesting because since the Enterprise is in the 60's they are in the time period that the episode would have been written making it a direct commentary on the treatment of women in that time. Also Lieutenant Uhura (the head communications officer) was played by Nichelle Nichols who was an African American woman which was a double whammy for it's time.

Live Long and Prosper
-Grant Hawkins

Song Recommendation: Fearless by Pink Floyd. I had the time of my life laying on the floor of my room listening to this on my dad's old record player (No, I was not Inebriated)

Autumn's sweet but we call it fall, I'll make it to the moon if I have to crawl

2009-06-01T15:30:00.000-07:00

well Brendan put it best. We are unmotivated. So now I'm here feeling bad about not posting in forever and trying to squeeze something out to say.
Well lets see... I went to Joel Plaskett last week and it was incredible. He had the girls that sang back up on Three to add a new vibe to some old songs and do what they do on the tracks from Three. Also I watched the Big Lebowski like 10 times which is still the greatest movie ever just in case you didn't know. I also got the new Doom album Born Like This and I'm listening to it right now and it's the bomb. Aaannnd I've been helping out with student council activities at the school now that I'm co-president elect it's making council next year look pretty promising. I haven't been doing much else really... The only thing I'm really motivated to do right now is get my record player fixed. The automatic thing that controls the needle is off so it cuts off to early so I miss the end of the last song on most records which is a real pain since I just got a nice 7" with three unreleased tracks from the Joel Plaskett concert and I can only listen to one full song and the other two cut too early.
I guess that's all for me... I like Brendan's little song recommendation thing so I'll do one too

Listening Recommendation: Doom (formerly known as MF Doom) Born Like This

Keep it easy dude.. I know you will
-Grant Hawkins

Motive-nation

2009-06-01T13:39:00.000-07:00

It has been about twenty-two days since my last post. Andy every one of those days bloggin has crossed my mind. From time to time I would check the old blog, see if my compadré has written about his life lately but sure enough no post since May 8th. "Why?" You may ask. Well because of MOTIVATION! (I thought the caps would emphasise... but it kinda makes me sound like a tool) Both Grant and myself are the least motivated people you will ever meet. I can not even imagine what we could do if we tried (mostly because imagining takes effort) It is our duty as Internet celebrities/Heroes to keep our audience entertained. And we have failed... again. It has almost been an entire year sense Grant and I finally decided to get off our ass and startedwriting our thoughts down... well i guess we didn't even have to get off our asses, we sat down at the computer. If you Google "theoldshug" The first six links are to our site, right after "Did you mean: theoldscout" If that isn't fame than I don't know the definition of the word.

Today is also the first day of June, that's cool... or not cool, it depends if you're taking that literally.

Music is still a big part of my life, I have been playing a lot more lately. Hauling my drums around is a pain in the ass, which is why I like to play harmonica. I've been playing with a lot of different people lately, it is important for a musician to play with a wide variety of people, change things up a bit. I have decided to move on with my musical-ness and start writing/making my own music again. This is due to MOTIVATION (It's the word of the day)

Song recommendation: "Sitting" - Cat Stevens

Most folks are about as happy as they make their minds up to be.

- Brendan

Dear ghost of brendan's past...

2009-05-08T06:22:00.000-07:00

Please read the link posted before reading this post...

http://theoldshug.blogspot.com/2009/01/beginning-of-beginning-of-end-of.html

To my past-self: This is your Future-Self talking. Congratulations on not dieing in the 109 days from when you/I posted that. Not much has happened in the last 3 and a half months. The new semester is pretty good. I got my drivers license, and got a few haircuts and have learned a lot about myself. Here are some tips from the future that may help you out:

Don't eat the chip-dip in the fridge. It has expired.
Don't slack off in Math and Bio class. This is very important.
Try and get tickets to the April Neil Young concert. (you will regret not going)
Don't kiss any pigs from Mexico.
Two of your favourite T.V shows are now off the air so enjoy them while they last.
Sign Up for Twitter now so you can say to everyone "I had Twitter before it was cool to have Twitter"
If you are going to make sports bets than bet on the Pittsburgh Steelers to win the super bowl.

Yeah, the last 3 months have been pretty darn good. I can't complain. It's funny how so little can change in a long period of time and then in an instant your world can be turned upside-down. This may have been a weird post and hard to follow. But it has given me a chance to reflect on my own life.

Song recommendation: "The Past" - Matt Mays

"May the dreams of your past be the reality of your future"

-Brendan

What a Day.

2009-05-06T13:43:00.000-07:00

Over the last few days there have been 2 or 3 school riots in the area which all occurred after the fire alarm had been pulled. So today everyone was kinda on edge thinking it might happen at my school. And it almost did.
This morning started off just like any other except there was an announcement made during first class that said "there have been riots at such and such a school. Don't pull the fire alarm its a crime blah blah blah" so I lean over to my friend sitting next to me and say "he's only giving them ideas" and as I had predicted about half an hour into class the fire alarm goes off so we all walk outside into the cold damp parking lot. Everyone is standing around talking about how someone probably just wanted a riot at our school or thought it would be funny and whatever. After standing outside for about 45 minutes we realized something was up and it wasn't just some dumb kid. At this point it's raining and there's a firetruck and five or more police cars. We are then informed that half the people have to go to the junior high down the street and the other half go to the elementary school. so off we went approx. 1400 kids walking down a single sidewalk to the nearest schools. my half finally arrives at the junior high where after waiting another while longer we need to let the school know where we're going because from 9 to 4 we are the schools responsibility so we line up do a attendance thing and sign a sheet of loose leaf letting them know that we are going home. Me, my brother, my sister, and my girlfriend decide to go to my home since it's the closest so we head back to the school where we realize we can't get in my brothers car cause the whole school is sealed off so we walk all the way to my home in the poring rain.
I've now been informed that a 19 year old student walked into the office and said he was going to blow the place up which is what led to the fire alarm being pulled. This guy has been arrested and is under investigation.
Moral of the story: Don't do stupid things like that because if anyone finds out who you are there are 1400 kids ready to kick your ass for making us stand in the cold rain for that long

Think
-Grant Hawkins

Wishful Thinking

2009-04-22T17:25:00.000-07:00

I wish I could play the guitar. Not even very well... just good enough. Good enough to pick it up and strum a few chords that friends can sing-a-long to at a bonfire.
I wish I was rich. Not for reasons you might think. I wish I was rich so I could focus on more important things in life than making money. I would not buy expensive material things, I would just have it so i would not have to make it. Does that make any sense?
I wish everyone in the world listened to the words of Gandhi, and listened to the songs of Bob Dylan.
I wish I made movies. Clever ones, with good soundtracks and meaningful messages.
I wish I had a sweet tree-house. Like the Swiss Family Robinson one.
I wish Hitchhiking was not frowned upon.
I wish I lived at Big Pink, up in the mountains of Woodstock in 1968. That would be the life.
I wish Winter was shorter.
I wish I had better social skills.
I wish I had better grades without putting any effort in.
I wish for World Peace. But then what would we complain about?
I wish I had some more things to type.

Iced Caps taste good. I had one the other day. My first of the new year. I drank them all last summer. and in that first sip all of the good memories from last summer came rushing back, as if they had been frozen in time and forgotten about all winter long until I unlocked them with a sip of my frozen caffeine beverage.

Song recommendation; "Jolene" Ray LaMontagne

'May your mushrooms always be sauteed and your onions always be grilled'

-Brendan

Rainy Day Women 12 & 35

2009-04-20T14:51:00.000-07:00

Hello, Hello, Hello

Today as many of you probably know is April 20th. Now this may be a seemingly meaningless day to some but there are many people who see it as some sort of international marijuana day. I am not one who partakes in such activities but I know a lot of people that do. 4/20 has always made me curious because I have no idea what the connection is with today and Mary J. Most of my inebriated amigo's tell me it's cause of things like "it's Hitlers birthday" or "just cause maan.." so I dug deep into the vast articles of the Wikipedia to find events that take/took place on today April 20th

1534- Jacques Cartier begins his voyage on which he discovers Canada
1972- Apollo 12 lands on the moon
1999- Columbine massacre occurs in Colorado
2001- China removes homosexuality from it's mental illness list.

that's really all the notable events that have happened on this day. in terms of births there are:

1889- Adolf Hitler
1937- George Takei (Mr. Sulu in the Original Star Trek)
1967- Mike Portnoy (Drummer for Dream Theater)
1972- Stephen Marley (Bob Marley's son [I think this is the real origin of 4/20])

that's all the names I recognise... So I learned something new today. It is actually Hitlers birthday and thats not just some myth circulating around my stoner friends. So anyhow happy 4/20 to all that celebrate it and to the rest of us... Have a nice regular day.

EDIT:!! Thanks to the genious of my co-blogger we have found the most plausable reason the date of this day is 4/20. It is on this fine April day because of the California senate bill that is trying to legalize Marijuana which is obviously California Senate Bill 420.

- Relax

Grant Hawkins.

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day

2009-04-15T16:29:00.000-07:00

One thing on my mind lately has been the concept of time. It is one of the few things that we cannot control, so instead we try and beat it. Everyone is in a rush. We now live in a 'high-speed' patientless world. When really, everyone has to take a step back and really think about it. What's the hurry? If we rush through life, we miss the most important things. As I drive down the road I see many people in a rush, speeding, not giving a hoot about the rules of the road. C'mon people, that's just putting yourself and others in danger. If you want to be somewhere for 2:00, leave at 1:00 instead of Quarter to. Hell, less than 100 years ago it would have taken us weeks to cross the country when now we can just hop on a plane and be in Vancouver in about the same time it takes to watch the LOTR trilogy.

So next time you are behind a slow driver, or in a long line, don't be impatient, just take a deep breath and take it slow bro.

Song recommendation : "To Beat The Devil" - Kris Kristofferson

- Brendan"Time to Kill"Morley

And the Sun is Shinning!

2009-04-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

Hello One and all!

hopefully we got some new members from the facebook group following The Crazy Chester. If there's someone here who doesn't know; I'm running for Co-Prez of student council at my school there's a group on facebook which can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=68627832171

So now that I'm done with that self-endorsing on to the usually bloggy stuff. Lately I've become a Twitterer which is pretty cool if you ask me. I've made it into a sort of condensed more frequently updated Crazy Chester by throwing all my thoughts and ideas in there for example:

GrantHawkinsM: Isn't it enough to see a garden is beautiful without having to beleive that there are fairies under it too?

GrantHawkinsM: Allah at cha boi

GrantHawkinsM: Eatin' tacos

On a completely unrelated note it was very sunny out today in Fall River, Nova Scotia which of course makes me very happy and excited for the summer time. The summer time is exciting because it opens up opportunities for adventure all around the place without having to bundle up and freeze.

That's about all for now I think. I haven't really been listening to anything new.. Just lots of MF Doom.

How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?

-Grant Hawkins

Good Things Come In Three

2009-03-29T09:47:00.000-07:00

Dartmouth's own Joel Plaskett has just released his latest album entitled "Three". This is no ordinary album though, it is a Three disc album! Very few artists have attempted a three disc album, and even fewer have been a success. The theme of this album is obviously "Three" (three discs, third solo album, and many of the track titles are just three of the same word repeated ex: "Deny, Deny, Deny".) I purchased this album two days ago and have just now listened to it all the way through one or two times. I love it, Joel covers so many genres he is influenced by. Like most albums, there are those few songs that jump out as "singles" but overall it is a solid group of songs. Great driving tunes. I would definitely recommend this album to anyone with ears.

Keep on thinking wishful thoughts,
-Brendan

I Quit My job

2009-03-21T14:00:00.000-07:00

I bought a CD this weekend by Old Man Luedecke called Hinterland, and first I have to say that its a great album and it is so different from everything else i listen to (which can be a nice change). The first song on the album is entitled "I Quit My Job" and it talks about this materialistic world we live in. And how when it really comes down to it, we're on this earth for such a short time why waste it making as much money as you can instead of living and appreciating life for what it is. One key line in this song is "Don't Let them take, the joy that you make. On your own." For some reason that line stands out to me especially. Since first hearing this song last summer with Grant at a concert featuring Old Man Luedecke, I have lived by that line. Another great verse is "Don't kill yourself about making it. Just be takin it easy but be takin it. There's enough out there who are fakin it." This verse just emphasises his message even more. In conclusion, I hope you can "take you hearts candle and relight it", "Discard your store bought realities"... and finally

"Don't Let 'em take, the joy that you make"
- Old Man Brendan

The Freewheelin' Thick Food

2009-03-16T09:59:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. Let me explain to you the significance of those three seemingly unrelated pictures. The one on the left is The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, the one in the center is MM..Food by MF Doom and the one on the right is Thickfreakness by the Black Keys. What do these three albums have in common?? Not a lot I can tell you that much but they all share the fact that I found them at my local record store, Taz Records in Halifax. For all you followers of the blog Brendan mentioned in an earlier post that he started getting interested in records and vinyl and such and as you can guess I have too. Any of you who know my musical tastes might know I've been looking for more MF Doom for a long time and you can imagine how excited I was when I found one of his records in Taz. I've listened to it about three times now and I love it. It's got all these old samples from old superhero cartoons that featured Dr. Doom (The character MF Doom based his persona on) from the fantastic four. It's also a double disk so it's a bit of a pain to me being an amateur to turn tables and having to deal with a four sided record but it's well worth it because I can see it becoming one of my favorite Hip Hop records. Now on to the other two. Thickfreakness is already beginning to steal the title of my favorite Black Keys album from Magic Potion and I've only heard it maybe two times through. To tell you the truth I haven't even listened to the Freewheelin' Bob Dylan yet it was more of a "I don't have any Dylan in my collection so I'm just gonna get one to say I have it." I will defiantly listen to it eventually but I am in love with the other two right now so when that dies down I will defiantly give it a good listen.

Keep on keepin' on
-Grant

Didn't WATCH WATCHmen

2009-03-13T17:55:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted something, so i felt i should... the only problem being I don't know what to talk about.
The other day some friends and I drove down to the ol' moving picture show to catch the new Watchmen flick. We were early, so we bought our tickets and then walked over to a near by book store. At the book store I saw some very interesting books, some on music, some on philosophy, starwars, joint rolling, movies, religion, biography's, and comic books. All of which I would read given the time, We got so caught up in literature that we almost forgot that we were there to see a movie. When we got back over to the theater, we walked towards the young man working at the booth. We must have looked pretty stupid, all of us trying to act old enough to get into the 18+ movie. Our friend Ian went first (because we all thought he looked the oldest), he handed the man his ticket. The man looked at the ticket, then looked at Ian, then at the ticket, then looked at Ian. "I.D please?" and that was it.. no movie for us. I felt so young and helpless at that moment. However, whenever you are in a situation like that, you always look back and think to yourself 'oh i should have said that' or 'If only I did this' but when you are in an awkward situation your main goal is to leave that awkward situation.. so that's what we did. Disappointed and hungry we made the walk of shame/victory through the doors of Wendy's. Nothing says I dont need your stupid movie theater like eating a messy and delicious burger. Even though we did not accomplish our goal of the trip, we had a good time, and maybe we just were not meant to see Watchmen at that place and that time.
Anyway, that's all I've got to say.
Stay Golden,
-Brendan

we raise the bar and fly over it

2009-03-05T18:07:00.000-08:00

Haldo one and all. It's me Grant back for another round.

As many of you probably know I'm a gymnast... well was a gymnast that's right I have retired. It's almost been ten years of gym and 9 of competitive gymnastics. Now in this blog I'm not going to go over the reasons why I quit or anything like that instead I will be enlightening you about the sport of gymnastics. The reason I'm doing this? Well over the last nine or more years I've been asked a lot of really dumb questions. So today I will help you not look like a complete retard if you have an encounter with a gymnast.
Ok first off is the basics. There are six mens events that the men do they are as follows; floor (the floor everyone flips on) Pommel Horse (the one the guys swing their legs around most only call it pommels) Rings (the two rings the event the iron cross is preformed on) Vault (the big table people run at and flip over) Parallel Bars (commonly referred to as P-Bars it's two bars that are parallel to each other about shoulder width apart and the same height as each other) and High Bar. (the high metal bar guys swing around)
For Women it's almost a differant sport. Women only have four events Floor (same as guys only with music guys don't have floor music) Vault (same as mens) Uneven Bars (almost like P bars but further apart and one is higher then the other) Beam (like floor on a little skinny elevated srip of floor only girls do beam and theres a good reason for that.)
So now that we've covered the basics I'll answer some of the most frequently and the dumbest questions I've ever been asked as a gymnast

1. Can you do a back flip? Yes. I can and chances are if you're asking a competetive gymnast they can too.

2. Can you show me? Now unless you asked a gymnast who just learned it and are excited about it theres a strong chance we won't show you. Why? Cause we get asked that question at least once a day and when you're doing it at the gym almost every day it loses it's novelty fast

3. What's your specialty? Don't ask that question. Just don't. Gymnasts compete every single event untill you get to an olympic level and even then you still compete every event

4. Can you do an Iron Cross? 1st of all even though thats technically it's name no one calls it that. Everyone calls it cross. Most guys learn this skill around 13 or 14 at least at my gym mostly cause of muscle development at that time but not everyone can do it. (Girls don't compete rings so the never do cross)

5. Will I see you at the olympics? I don't know why people think that gymnastics is a shoo into the olympics. It's just as hard as any other sport if not harder to get to the olypics with. Statistically you'd have a better chance with a sport that has a bigger team like soccer or hockey.

Gymnastics is weird in the sence that you have to always be at the gym. At my peak I was at the gym 20 hours a week thats four hours on Monday Tuesday Thursday Friday and Saturday. This is because gym relies on muscle memory so if you stop for like a month or so you're not going to be as good as you were back then so you have to be in the gym as much as possible.

Thats all I can think of for now if you have any questions about the sport go a head and comment I'll do my best to answer it for you.

Yours truely
-Grant Hawkins

P.S. Hate is contagious... but so is love. You decide which one to catch

Happiness is a Clean T-shirt

2009-02-21T10:51:00.000-08:00

I have come up with a list of some of my favourite things in life at the moment;

Flight of the Conchords; I've been a fan of the show since the beginning, but the latest season is so funny, and it makes my Monday mornings a little bit nicer.
Free Period; With a new semester comes new courses, and my favourite has to be Free. Whether I'm kickin' it in the council room with Grant, or digging through LP's at Ian's house. Free is short for freedom, which is what I get out of it. No work, no stress, I don't know how i survived without it.
NBA Live 2003; I haven't touched this game in years, but since I got a Wii I've been playing more of my old G-Cube games. And I've forgotten how awesome it is. Not only is it the last basketball video game to feature Michael Jordan but it also has much better game-play than any of those new games. So if I haven't blogged in a while you'll know that its because I'm off gaming 03' style.
Vinyl Records; Lately I have been very interested in vinyl records. Collecting, listening and viewing other's collections. There is a very distinct sound that they have that is incomparable to any other for of music. Grant and I are thinking about starting up a collection/trading 'club' you could call it.
My new t-shirt; A couple of weeks ago i stumbled across a sweet t-shirt from my favourite movie The Big Lebowski on the Internet. I ordered it and it came shortly after. It is very sweet how while wearing it people i don't even know will see my shirt and say things like 'Hey sweet movie' or 'The Dude abides man'. So i thought that was pretty cool.
Coffee; I've only started drinking it a few months ago but I love it, and not because it is a 'mature' drink, or the satisfying thought that it was made my little African children for pennies a day. I like it because for me it is a patient drink. I drink it slow, and i like the time i spend drinking it. I could spend hours in a coffee shop observing the people around me and having discussions with friends.
Philosophical Conversations; One of my new courses is 'Comparative World Religions' which has got me thinking about 'the bigger picture' and pressing human questions. I could talk about it for days, Why are we here? Are we alone in the universe? Is there life after death? ....the list of questions goes on. I've had discussion with friends about these questions and they all seem to ponder the same things as me.

So now you know what has brought my life enjoyment and peace of mind. Thanks for reading, - Brendan

Dear Visitors,

2009-02-12T11:25:00.000-08:00

Good Afternoon,

Grant and myself started this blog as a way to express ourselves and as a place to store all of our thoughts. But what I want to know is 'Has anybody read it?' It is not the point of our blog to see how many subscribers we get, but it would be nice to know if anybody has stumbled across our little blog and has taken the time to read some of our posts. If anybody is reading this, it would be nice if you could you post a comment. It's be pretty cool for us to find out that someone has shared a thought or taken an interest in anything we say.

Thanks for reading,

Brendan

Random Thoughts of Neat Disorder

2009-02-08T15:36:00.000-08:00

Ok so this time I don't really have a single topic so I'm gonna give you a run down of some random things

first is a list of my favorite days of the year

1. Christmas
2. My Birthday
3. The first day of the year where I can comfortably walk to school in a T-Shirt

Second: over the weekend me and my awesome girlfriend rented two things; Nick and Norah's Infinite Play List and a game for the wii called De Blob

Nick and Norah I thought was pretty good it's got some good jokes and a great story about two people who fall in love over Indie Rock

De Blob is incredible. I've had a wii for some time now and even though I haven't played a lot of games for it this is one of, if not the best one. You play as this blob of colour in a town that had all it's colour stolen. you're part of a radical rebellion that is trying to bring colour back to the world. It mixes cool art with a great interactive soundtrack I recommend it for all Wii owners.

That's all for now commrades

The dude abides
-Grant

Quick Thought

2009-02-06T19:50:00.000-08:00

Good Evening,
Today I was sitting in class thinking about life when I came upon something pretty deep. Here it is;
If time is money, and money is the root of all evil, than is TIME the root of all evil?
If anyone reading this can clarify this or comment on it, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for reading,
-Brendan

It's Been a Long Time Since I Rock and Rolled

2009-02-01T04:42:00.001-08:00

Well ladies and gents it's been a while since I posted. I'd like to say it was because of exam week and I was studying but that would be a straight up lie. I had my final exam (Comparative World Religions) at the worst possible time which was Thursday at 1:15 which is the latest possible time for an exam. This sucked cause I wanted it to just be over and done with, but no there had to be a snow day so I had too wait all the way 'till Friday afternoon to get it done. Things aren't all bad though since there was a snow day that means there's no school on Monday which means I get to go back to double free on Tuesday.

So now that I'm done with all that examination rigmarole I have more time to do what I do best, sitting around and listening to music. I finally got to spend all my HMV gift cards that I got for Christmas and I got: A Ghost is Born -Wilco, Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan, Uplift Mofo Party Plan -Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Oracular Spectacular -MGMT. A Ghost is Born is really good it sounds a lot like Yankee Hotel Foxtrot to me which is a good thing. Highway 61 Revisited is also an awesome album that opens with Like a Rolling Stone which is one of the greatest songs ever. The Uplift Mofo Party Plan is some old school funky monkey Red Hot Chili Peppers with a funky cover of Subterranean Homesick Blues and other such hits as Party on Your Pussy, and Fight Like a Brave. Finally Oracular Spectacular. It's alright I didn't get to listen to it a whole lot but from what I've heard it sounds like a crazy heroin trip in a room with a synthesizer and a drum set and maybe a guitar and bass every once in a while.

So yeah that's what I've been up to lately. I'm excited for the new semester to start with Chemistry, Free, History, and Math it should be good times. I will do my best to post more often from now on.

Farewell until next time comrades

-Grant

The beginning of the beginning of the end of the beginning.

2009-01-18T12:08:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

Exams start in a week, so I will probably not have any time to blog until they are over. Exams also mean the beginning of semester 2. So here is a re-cap of first semester;

Overall, the work load wasn't so bad. I had some pretty interesting teachers, met some interesting people, heck... i even learned a thing or two. I would not say it went by fast, however it did not go by slow either, it went by normal. Some days feel longer than others, that always amazes me, how one day its Monday than in what seems like seconds its Friday already.

It'll be interesting to see how this new semester fairs out, its strange how a few months can change a person. I wonder what i will be like in May? So I'll just ask myself...

To my future self: Hi future self, how are things? am i still alive? anything interesting happen in the past few months? reply back when you read this.

- yours truly Present/Past Brendan

(ps: stare at the picture from far away)

My mind is filled with radio cures

2009-01-14T12:39:00.000-08:00

Hi.
There is a lot that people don't know about me, so I've decided to post some interesting facts about myself. Who knows, it might make a great conversation starter some time. for example "Hey did you know that Brendan has flat feet... nice to meet you my name is _________"
Okay, here we go
Brendan narrates his own life, like in the show Scrubs.
Brendan likes to imagine himself in different situations like.... while drumming Brendan almost always imagines himself playing in front of thousands of people. or when Brendan is shooting some hoops in the backyard he likes to pretend he is in the championship game and hits the shot ftw.
Brendan sometimes gives human characteristics to objects, whether its positioning his toothbrush so it has a view out the window, or matching socks up so they won't be lonely.
Brendan always has a song stuck in his head.
Brendan once killed a man (OK so this one isn't completely true, but it makes me sound like a bamf)
Brendan uses his ipod as an excuse not to talk to people.
Brendan loves mornings.
Brendan tries to not hate people.
Brendan has no life, and is completely fine with that.
Brendan has nothing left to write.

Music roundup

2008-12-30T15:02:00.000-08:00

This roundup is a rough round up of what I've listened to this year. now it's not necessarily music that came out this year just what I've been listening to in a rough order of how bomb I think it is.

So here we go a rough top 15 (with a runner up!) albums I got into in 2008

Runner Up!. The Basement Tapes. By Bob Dylan and The Band
amazing unreleased material by the most amazing artists I've ever heard

15.Discovery. By Daft Punk
I hated techno until this. it contains Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger for those of you who only know a bands most popular song but it also has so much more. It reminds me of Tokyo at night time.

14.Moment of Truth. By Gang Starr
This year was defiantly a year that got me out of my usual rock and roll and into some serious Hip Hop. Gang Starr's got that old school flavor that I have come to love in Hip Hop.

13.LaDeDa. By Joel Plaskett Emergency
an album I got a while ago that I never really paid attention to until I saw Joel Live and I realized how many amazing tracks this album contains

12. The Cool. By Lupe Fiasco
amazing hip hop by my favorite rapper. Very original in a world of cut and paste hip hop great concept album.

11.Feed the Animals. By Girl Talk
very unique album that's free to download. it's made up completely of samples from other artists and is very fun to listen to. It also takes a stand on copyright in music and all that jazz.

10.Sky Blue Sky. By Wilco
Amazing easy listening album. I really got into it after seeing Wilco live at NY. great album I recommend it to everyone.

9.Alive 2007. By Daft Punk
Daft Punk live. amazing mixes of my favorite Daft Punk songs. really gets you in the mood for serious party/dancing.

8.Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. By Wilco
crazy noises and sounds all coming together to make beautiful music just the way I like it.

7.Magic Potion. By the Black Keys
Amazing album I really got into it it's got some quality blues-rock and maybe the most air-guitarable album ever

6. Food and Liquor. By Lupe Fiasco,
This album is easily one of my favorite Hip Hop albums ever to be released it's not something you'd expect to hear in today's hip hop (it even criticizes modern rap videos) great album I'd recommend it to anyone even people who don't like rap/ Hip Hop

5.Stage Fright and The Last Waltz. By The Band,
A tie between these two incredible Band Albums Stage Fright has some incredible band songs. Now keep in mind The Last Waltz would easily be #1 if it weren't for me reading Levon helm's book and learning what a rip off it was but it's still amazing and still one of the best thing's I've ever heard

4.Enter the Wu, (36 Chambers). By The Wu-Tang Clan
Enter the Wu is the first and best (in my opinion) Wu Tang album. It has such a genuine sound to it and it really opened me up to some heavier Rap.

3. The Mouse and The Mask by DANGERDOOM.
The mouse and the mask is a great collabaration between MF Doom who has become one of my favorite rappers and Dangermouse who is and incredible producer/beat maker. Doom is a lyrical genius and Mouse knows how to make some sick beats together they make an incredible Hip Hop duo

2. Real Emotional Trash. By Steve Malkmus and the Jicks
one of the few albums that where I love every single track. Steve and his crew of Jicks have a unique indie rock sound that I've never really heard but I've fallen in love with. It sweet simple and amazing.

1. Things Fall Apart By. The Roots
This is my favorite Roots album. It is not number one because it is nessicarily the best album on the list it's number one because it introduced me to Rap and Hip hop. Before the Roots I was your every day rock and roller with a narrow vision in music and little respect for the rap world let alone any other genera of music but because of the roots I've been introduced to so many rap albums that I've fallen in love with and some that I thought were bomb. So thank you The Roots for opening my musical doors and introducing me to new artists and new music.

So there you have it a list of albums that I got into heavily in 2008 I recommend every single one of these albums for anyone reading this blog.

Happy new years everyone
-Grant Hawkins

PS: here's a quick list of my favorite albums released in 2008

5. Feed The Animals. By Girl Talk
4. Flight of the Conchords. By Flight of the Conchords
3. Rising Down. By The Roots
2. Attack and Release. By The Black Keys
1. Real Emotional Trash. By Steve Malkmus and the Jicks

Wilco

2008-12-28T19:21:00.001-08:00

Just before I get to say what i have to say, I would just like to comment about my last post. It was really hard to pick 10 albums that were released in 2008, there were MANY that I discovered this year but where older. So my list isn't perfect, its just a rough outline of what i listened to. Okay... back to the topic;

One of the great bands I was introduced to this year was a band by the name of Wilco. It was my friend Ian that let me borrow their CD Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. He had told me how great it was and so i was eager to give it a listen. At first I didn't really get it, a lot of random noises, and affects that seemed to take away from the primary instruments. I put it on the back burner and moved on to other albums. It wasn't until the countless nights driving around with Ian with YHF playing through the car speakers that I started to understand it. The album is to complex to understand after hearing it just once. But once it becomes clear, you can truly understand the extraordinary musical harmony that Wilco creates. The album evenly covers all of the bases of tempo from soft folk, to upbeat rock and everything in between. Not to mention their lates album Sky Blue Sky (but that's a post for another time)

It was simply fate that they happened to be opening for Neil Young at the concert I attended in Halifax. In the film about Wilco "I am trying to break your heart" Rolling Stone's David Fricke is quoted by saying 'I truly believe that later on down the road Wilco will finally get the credit they deserve.'

That's all I have to say, I don't know if any of it made sense... because I can't really explain what I want to say, but what is important is that in my opinion Wilco is one of the best bands of it's time.

Thank you

-Brendan

Top 10 Cd's of 2008

2008-12-28T08:21:00.000-08:00

Good afternoon avid readers,

As you all know 2008 is coming to a close so I thought I would give my top 10 favourite albums of the year. This is not necessarily an order of the best albums, just which albums I listened to and affected me the most.

10.Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

9. Attack & Release - The Black Keys

8. Love at the End of the World - Sam Roberts

7. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

6. The True Love Rules - Dave Marsh

5. Oracular Spectacular - MGMT

4. The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs - Bob Dylan

3. Gloryhound & the Skyhawks - Gloryhound & the Skyhawks

2. Terminal Romance - Matt Mays & El Torpedo

1. Real Emotional Trash - Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks

Thanks and Have a happy New-Year!

- Brendan

Happy Birthday Santa!

2008-12-25T11:30:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Spin-off / Common Courtesy

2008-12-17T13:45:00.000-08:00

Hello, I just read my comrade Grant's post and decided to add to it, like a sequel... or a spin-off. But not a cheesy, bad spin-off that gets canceled after 4 episodes, a good spin off like Fraser, or Joey... actually just Fraser. Any way, this story takes place not with I, but a friend of mine by the name of Colin. Colin woke up this morning at 8:30 to the site of his buss driving passed his house. Instead of explaining to his mother that he had slept-in and missed the bus and having to endure a huge lecture, he decided to just walk to school. This would not be that big of a deal, but Colin lives a good 40 minute drive from the school. So Colin sets off into the cold. After walking for about and hour he is stopped by a young couple in a car who were quite lost and need directions. They were very grateful and just before driving off they asked him if he needed a ride. He was very cold and accepted their offer. When they came to a fork in the road and Colin was headed one way, and the young couple were headed the other way, he got out of the car thanked them, they thanked him, and he was on his way again. After walking for about another half of an hour another car stops along the side of the road, this time it is an elderly lady and a baby. She asks Colin where he is headed and he replies 'Lockview'. Her only reply was "hop in". Again, These random acts of kindness helped my friend Colin arrive at school.
*INTERMISSION*
Lunchtime... The snow is coming down really hard and for some reason Colin and I decide it would be fun to walk down to Monster Pizza. So we set off, Colin, Matt, Tyler, and myself. We arrived frozen to the bone. I sadly realized that i had no money and so I could not buy anything, however, my friend Matt treated me to a slice. We get a hold of our friend Mike, who had his car with him, but he only had enough seats for three of us. Instead of just one of us walking back in the snow storm, Colin and I both decided to walk back. We were both in a good mood, talking about common courtesy and random acts of kindness when we had an idea. We decided to shovel this elderly lady's drive way. This driveway is on a corner of two streets and is often used as a shortcut by hungry teenagers. The old lady who lives there is very nice and so Colin and I thought it would be nice to shovel it for her. There were two shovels on her front porch that we grabbed and went to work. The entire thing took about an hour, in which we got a lot of funny looks from people passing by. In the end we were very proud of what we did. I'm assuming the lady was not home because she did not come outside. Its a great feeling knowing you've done something nice for someone. In this story I just told you their are at least five acts of kindness, you would be surprised how giving someone a drive or paying for someones meal will affect others around you. So that's my post, and that's how it connects to Grants through "common courtesy" So I hoped you enjoyed reading about our Day.

Peace peacemakers!
- Brendan

A New Years Reslution

2008-12-17T13:04:00.000-08:00

New Years is coming which means resolutions that will more then likely be broken. This year I decided that I'm gonna give myself a bit of a resolution. I don't normally give my self New Years resolutions cause I figure whats the difference between any other day of the year to start changing yourself? But since I coincidentally came up with this idea around this time of year I figured I'd slap it with the title of "New Years Resolution."
Pretty much what I plan to do is be more calm and more peaceful. I consider my self a very peaceful/calm guy already but even more peace and calm couldn't hurt I figure (It would be pretty ironic if it did hurt). I recommend everyone put this on their list of resolutions because I think if everyone followed it, it would make everyone a little happier and a little more nice . So next time you're stuck in traffic cause someone is being a bad driver or waiting in line cause someone can't make up their mind of what they want at McDonald's instead of yelling at the person or making a scene consider what it would be like if you were trying to make up your mind and someone started yelling at you. You probably wouldn't like it very much. So next time a random stranger is doing something that annoys you don't think "uggghh that son of a bleep-bleep-bleep-mcbleepidy bleepery bleeperson is being an idiot and I hate them and I'm gonna tell them" just try and focus on something else, think about how much you'd like it if that person freaked out at you or just keep your mouth shut cause yelling at random people makes you look like an idiot.
I'm saying all this because of something that happened to me a while ago that I remembered earlier today. It all started one day when I was talking to Brendan trying to convince him to let me on the loft at our school (this was back when B-ren was on students council) and some random chick who I've never seen before was like "hey are you in grade 9?" and I was like "...yeah" and she said and I quote "I can tell... Grow the fuck up" I just kinda looked at her and thought "...oooookaaaayyyy.........youcrazybitch" and walked away. But it was at that moment that I thought we all need to be a little more polite and even though I never took it very seriously from my parents "if you don't have something good to say don't say it at all" seriously it's a good idea.

Sending messages of peace and love,
Grant (The aspiring peacemaker) Hawkins

Boring Saturday afternoon.

2008-12-13T12:26:00.000-08:00

Good Afternoon,
I am bored, so decided to pass the time by blogging. Lately I have been feeling more and more compelled to make music. It is really bothering me because I miss being in a band a lot. It is hard to form a band, you need many assets, first; you need to find people who are cooperative, are good at their instrument, and most importantly enjoy the same music styles as you. Its pretty damn near impossible if you ask me.
I've been bored lately so i have filled in my spare time with good music. Sometimes I forget how awesome "The Band" is. Which reminds me, there is a "The Band Tribute" concert at the end of the month at the Seahorse Tavern and I would really really love to go. However, I am not +19, so I can't go. It really sucks, all of these great musicians come to Halifax and I can't go because i wasn't born in 1989. It sucks.
Well. thats all I have to say for now, have a good one.

- Brendan

Dear Santa

2008-12-08T10:31:00.001-08:00

Good morrow,

As you may know Christmas is just around the corner and today I have been getting in the festive spirit. I woke up to find out school was canceled due to a snow storm, I spent the morning decorating my Christmas tree and drinking hot chocolate and listening to Vince Guaraldi 's 'A Charlie Brown Christmas'. Christmas is a great time of year, that people begin to forget because they get caught up in the materiel things or the 'every thing has to be perfect' state of mind. I find to make the best out of the holidays is to go with the flow, spend time with your loved ones, listen to Christmas music watch Christmas movies and reflect on past Christmases. One thing that really grinds my gears is when church and state get mixed in with Christmas. For example: Every year of my elementary school life we would have an annual "CHRISTMAS Concert" and we would sing "CHRISTMAS songs". My younger sister came home from school the other day and invited me to her "HOLIDAY Concert". Turns out the school took out everything with the word Christmas and replaced it with holidays. Now that's just silly, i don't care what religion you are you can still celebrate Christmas. It has become more than the celebration of the birth of our lord and savior Jesus Christ, it is a time to spend with family and friends. eat cookies, and exchange gifts. Call me Ol' fashioned but I believe Christmas has kind of gotten carried away, i mean some of the gifts that i hear people getting these days cost more than my house. And these spoiled children make lists longer than themselves with useless electric gadgets that they play with twice and than put on a shelf to gather dust. Maybe that is what is expected nowadays, maybe that is where this "Holiday" is headed. I sure hope not. What i love about Christmas is the traditions, the opening of one present on Christmas Eve, and the Advent calender leading up to that special day. And watching the best X-mas movies of all time; A Muppet's Christmas carol, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and Rudolph the red nose Reindeer.

I hope you have a Merry Christmas, and in the words of Michael Scott "Happy birthday Jesus, sorry your party's so lame"

-Brendan (Santa's little ginger) Morley

NYC

2008-12-08T08:36:00.000-08:00

I also went to the Neil Young concert so let me give you my perspective on the whole thing. You're probably thinking "won't this be like the exact same as Brendan's post?" No because my post is from the perspective of someone sitting about a foot to Brendan's right. so The night opens up with Everest who were pretty good and kinda reminded me of a Matt Mays/Sam Roberts type band but all I can remember was when the lead singer got everyone to clap and it was like *clap clap clap clapclap clapclap clap clap* and Brendan had a slight struggle catching on. Then Wilco came on. At the time of the show I was a complete Wilco amature save a couple songs (the only one I recognized was Walken) but before the concert Brendan showed me a bunch of Wilco songs which happened to be almost the exact set list so when ever a new song would start I'd hear a "this is the song I just showed you!" coming from about a foot to my left. That live preformance lead me to get Sky Blue Sky and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot from Brendan which are amazing albums. now on to the real deal, the man himself, the shark among fish, the god among men, the god among fish.....? Niel Young! who burst onto the scene and rocked the house down! Ignoring the fight behind me the first song got everyone "rocking in the free world" if you catch my drift. he then went into Hey Hey My My which was conveniently written on the shirt I had just got from the roadies running the T-Shirt booth. Then after that he broke out like a tiger breaking out of a cage into "Everybody knows this is nowhere" followed by a personal fav. "Cinnamon Girl" After that he played Powderfinger and an amazing version of Cortez the Killer which was the cats pajamas if I do say so myself. Then Neil did a little Harvest section with such songs like "Needle and the Damage Done", "Old Man" and "Heart of Gold" (On Old Man Neil had a banjo player who had quite the stache) Then during a little break Neil started to strum his guitar and talk to his drummer for a second and Brendan goes "cowgirl in the sand" and whadda know? he started playing it! and let me tell you it was the best version I've ever heard of it. (sometime in there Neil played 3 new songs which were pretty damn good) at the end of it all Neil closed off with my personal anthem "Keep on Rocking in the Free World" I was rocking in out and all around the free world when he started to play that it was just spectacular! After that the big NY left the stage and the whole place started to yell his name until he came back on and put the cherry on top of the awesome sundae and played "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles which I think was a surprise to everyone.

all in all it was probably the best thing I've ever seen. if he ever comes back I'll be there front row to watch one of the few true rockers left today.

-Grant

This Note's For You

2008-12-02T15:55:00.000-08:00

On November 29th Neil Young played a show in Halifax. Opening for him were the bands Everest and Wilco. This was an incredible concert, the best i have ever seen...EVER!
The night started out with Everest, who were pretty good for a no-name band, they played for half of an hour. Than Wilco came out, those of you who know me know that i am a HUGE Wilco fan. They did not disappoint, they were absolutely fantastic. They played all of my favourite songs from opening with "You are my Face" from their latest album "Sky Blue Sky" to finishing with "I'm the Man who Loves You" from one of my favourite albums of all time "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" At this moment in the night i could not imagine it could get any better... oh but it did.
At around 8:30 the man himself Neil freakin' Young, dressed in blue jeans a white t-shirt and a jacket with a pin saying "Hippies for Obama" walked out on stage, the packed crowed went insane! Just then, a fight broke out behind where Grant and I were sitting, i had to make a decision whether to watch the fight or Neil, I chose Neil. He opened with "Love And Only Love" followed by an energetic "Hey, Hey, My, My". I was surprised to see an ageing man like Neil Young rock out the way he did. He rocked Old Black until i was sure the 45 year old guitar was gonna break. Neil went on to play a lot of great rock tunes from the Crazy horse days "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" "Cinnamon Girl" and one of my personal favourites "Powderfinger". Then came the most epic version of "Cortez the Killer" i have ever heard, it was simply magical. As the night continued Neil switched it up a little and played some acoustic 'crowd pleasers' such as "Heart of Gold" and "Old Man". He also played some new material which was very good.
As Neil was getting ready to play the next song and lightly strumming some strings he was talking to his drummer, just then it hit me "Cowgirl in the Sand!" I shouted, and sure enough just after i yelled that the epic snare and ride intro to Cowgirl in the Sand broke out, great song. Neil's closer was the epic rock balled "Keep on Rocking in the Free World" awesome!
As Mr. Young walked off the stage the crowed began chanting "Neil! Neil! Neil! Neil!" Before i knew it he was back out for the encore which was the classic Beatles song "A Day In The Life". What a great ending to a great concert. I must have gave him at least 10 standing ovations.
All in all it was a great night that I will never soon forget, and it has revived my faith in good music. In the words of the great man himself; "Hey, Hey, My, My, Rock n' Roll can NEVER die!"

Keep on Rocking in the free world.
-Brendan

Keep on Truckin'

2008-11-23T14:02:00.000-08:00

Good evening avid readers....

So today i was watching the classic Simpson's episode entitled "Homerpaloza" and it came to the scene where Homer was doing this funny walk where his legs were stuck out far in front of him. This captivated me because for some reason it was very familiar and because it is the Simpsons i figured it must be a cultural reference. So I did some research and found out that it is from the 1960's Robert Crumb one page comic "Keep On Truckin". The strip's drawings became iconic images of optimism during the hippie era. Like most underground comics "Keep on Truckin'" was not copyrighted, and images of it have been widely reproduced on T-shirts, posters, and other items.

So in conclusion...

Old Simspons episodes are great.

Underground comics are great.

And i hope to purchase a "Keep on Truckin'" t-shirt in the distant future

- Brendan

Things I don't Understand

2008-11-22T09:17:00.000-08:00

hello one and all

it's Saturday afternoon and my house is covered in a thick blanket of snow so I figured I'd post in the ol' blag-o-blog.

today I will be sharing with you a list of stuff. On this list are things that I can't understand how they became popular or why anyone on earth would like them.

1. Black Licorice: Gross just soo gross

2. Country Music: it's the twang on everything from the guitar to the vocals it just irritates me to no end

3. Auto-tune: This is really popular today for no real reason. The only time I can stand it is in the occasional Daft Punk song but even that's pushing it.

4. Bad Rap Names: Hurricane Chris? Lil (insert name or strange adjective)? what happened to the creative names like; inspectah deck, Black Thought, Ludacris, or even Will.I.Am thats freaking clever.

If you like any of this stuff thats alright but personally I just don't see the appeal of annoying high pitched voices or the taste of black licorice. I dunno maybe I'm just nuts

-Grant

Someday Baby

2008-11-08T18:01:00.000-08:00

Ok, so.... I know i said I'd update the ol' blag weekly and I kinda let it slip a couple of months.

So, let's do a little bit of updating:

OBAMA WON!

I had a birthday!

I bought a new harmonica in the key of G.

Scrubs is one of my new favorite TV shows.

My dog got these cool socks, and now its funny when she walks.

I borrowed my friend Ian's CD collection, all 200.

Well that's about all that happened in about 2 months. Sometimes it amazes me how exciting my life is.

Also, The Neil Young concert is 20 days away, it is going to be aw some! especially since Wilco is opening, and I've been really getting into their music.

I don't have anything else to say so i won't waste any more of you're precious time. It may be another two months before I update this, I'll try to blag more often.

Go in Peace - Brendan

oh, and about the picture... i have no explanation

RIP

2008-09-16T04:23:00.000-07:00

This morning I woke up and read the news paper like I always do only to find some horrible news....
Richard William Wright the piano/keyboard player for Pink Floyd died in his home on Monday after battling cancer. This is horrible for me cause Pink Floyd is one of if not my most favorite band of all time. I don't know if I could pick a favorite Pink Floyd song but if I had to it would probably be Great Gig in the Sky which was written by Wright.

RIP Richard your music will always live on in the hearts of not only myself but the hearts of millions of others.

-Grant

2008-09-15T17:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Brendan! Go learn to drive!

- Grant

Seasons Greetings

2008-09-15T03:54:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Brendan

-Brendan

Random thought

2008-08-27T15:07:00.000-07:00

I do a lot of thinking and my regular thought process is usually goes along the lines of me watching people and continually asking why we do stuff. Just about everyday when I go to school I see people interact with each other and I always ask why? Why are we nice to each other? Why are we mean to each other? Why do we care about each other? Why don't we care about each other? Since I'm a man of science it usually all roots back to the basic reasons for living which is surviving and reproducing. Thats not a new thought though people have realized that before so I dig deeper why do we want to survive and why do we want to reproduce? that leads into genes and the fact that were naturally programmed to pass on our genes. This is where my thought process gets hazy. I'm no scientist so most of this is just theories and stuff in my head. Which might explain why I always can't dig deeper then genes. I mean genes are made up of what? Chemicals. Could it be that we're all just a huge chemical reaction? and how do all these chemicals react to make us do the things we do? It's not like chemicals have thoughts or plans for us they just react in a way that gives us life..

any how if that made any sense to anyone let me know and help me with my theories I always like to see other peoples point of view. if it didn't make sense don't feel bad I was kinda just rambling on here I don't even know if it makes sense I just kinda wrote down my thought process.

In conclusion.... Am I crazy?
- Grant

Summer / Back to School

2008-08-25T09:53:00.000-07:00

Well, summer is coming to a close and i have to say, I'm not very good at summer vacation. I do not make the most of it and always waste it. This is the first summer that I've had a real job. I did landscaping, let me be the first to tell you Work SUCKS. I've said it a thousand times this summer 'I'd rather be broke with no job, than have a job have some cash'. All year I thought that last summer was the worst, but I've realised that I think that this summer has been even worse. And that is hard to believe, because last summer we were building our new house so we needed some where to stay and ended up and like 6 different places. the whole month of August was spent in a small apartment in Shwartzwald. I didn't think it could get any worse, but now that I look back, i actually miss that small apartment. I look back and think of all of the memories, I would not have made it through the summer without the help from The Strokes first Album "Is this It?" Sleeping on a couch for two months and falling asleep watch the biography channel. and hey, at least I still had my band. This summer I feel lost, with my band breaking up and this shit job, I've been looking for new priorities, and I have found none... yet. For the first time, I am not dreading going back to school, seeing all the new niners looking lost and scared and also getting to see every body again. Which brings me to my next topic: 'Back To School Clothes' Stores make it sound like another holiday or something, like it is necessary, and its NOT. I have nothing really against buying a new t-shirt or a pair of shoes, if you need them but don't go out and buy a bunch of shit just because you think you have to. I have a challenge for you, when you go back to school don't wear you new clothes, wear something old, because every one will be wearing their new 'tees & bling & kicks and trousers' so just wear your old Adidas t-shirt you got from your Aunt at your annual family Christmas party three years ago. And slowly work in your new clothes.

Wow, that is allot of words.

Happy Birthday Grant!

Peace - Cha Boi Brendan ;)

Nothing More to Say

2008-08-24T15:25:00.001-07:00

Wow, its been a while, sorry about that, I guess Grant and I have just been busy (not really). Anyway, i thought I'd post something but i have nothing to say... and now I'm being called for supper. We're having BBQ hamburgers, its hard to make a good burger. They never turn out like Wendy's, or Harvey's. First of all they make the buns to thick and the meat to small, and you need a good meat to veggie ratio. Today, i climbed onto my roof and listened to Neil Young and almost fell asleep. Which by the way, Grant and I are going to see Neil Young in concert!
Well, I think that's all for now, I'm going to try and post daily from now on (if i can remember to)
Peace - Brendan

The Memories

2008-08-01T10:02:00.000-07:00

So I was sitting around one day on my computer when a buddy of mine sent me a link to this website where they take rock/punk/metal bands and turn their songs into lullabies. I forget the web site now something along the lines of "rock-a-bye somethingrather" but that's not the point. I was going through some of the renditions of the Metallica songs. One particular song struck me though, that was Battery off Master of Puppets. the intro of that song reminded me about how awesome Metallica is and I began to think why did I stop listening to them? Then I remembered that they were total jerks when they cracked down on Napster but you know what? Even though I don't like those guys doesn't mean I should stop listening to their music. Master of Puppets was the first CD that I bought with my own money and I listened to that album until I knew it inside and out. I also got the Black album later on which was really good too. So moral of the story is even if the people in the band are jerks now they made good music at one point and you shouldn't give up on the old stuff. Also Master of Puppets rocks especially Battery and Welcome Home (Sanitarium).

-Grant

Gloryhound & The Skyhawks Come Home!

2008-08-01T09:19:00.000-07:00

Gloryhound & The Skyhawks came home to Fall River to play a show on the 25th of July. It was a great time. The opening act was 'Dave & confused' a few local ol' timers who could really jam. they opened with some recognisable tunes from such bands as: The Beatles, The Hip, Skynyrd, and.... some more Beatles. Gloryhound came out around 10 o'clock and opened with one from their new album. (By the way, super duper CD!)They played allot of their new stuff from the album and none released, they also did a fast paced song by the Ramones (Rockaway Beach) and ended with a great version of "I wanna be your dog!" by Iggy Pop. As good as the concert was, their were a few things that bothered me. Up until recently, Gloryhound consisted of 5 members, now there are 4. Adam Baldwin (on keys) is no longer a part of the skyhawks, I do not know details, but i know he is now performing with Matt Mays. It must have been hard for him to stand and watch his old band mates rocking out while standing on the sidelines. Also, the other day i was listening to my ipod and a track from "New Vinyl" came on (Gloryhounds old name) and it just reminded me of how things were when they were not so complicated. Anyways, back to the concert... good crowed, cool t-shirts, good music, free RedBull = awesome time!

ps: I got a new Ipod BITCHES!

More than an ipod

2008-07-18T15:10:00.000-07:00

Friday, July 18th, 2008. My ipod passed away.

It was a good ipod, nothing special, just a 2 gig 1st generation black ipod nano with a nice black leather case with a red racing stripe. It got the job done. I bought it second hand. The previous owner hadn't taken good care of it by adding such music as Nickleback. I rescued the ipod in early October of 2006, we bonded right away. It seemed to be alive. It had all of the same interests in music as I had. We got through some rough patches and alot of adventures, we traveled across the country together. Whenever i had it on shuffle, it always knew just what songs to play. My ipod's battery had never died on me as long as i had it. Today, as i was carelessly putting on a wash of my clothes I forgot to empty the pockets and my ipod was left to die. It's weird... I feel like i'm loosing a friend, the one friend who was always with me, no matter where i went. Its going to be weird not having that object tucked away in my pocket now.

We've had a good run you and I. I hope your in a better place.

rip,

-Brendan

"This Wheels' On Fire" Levon Helm and the story of The Band.

2008-07-17T11:09:00.000-07:00

This Wheel's On Fire is truly the perfect "Untold Story" of the Band. The Band's story was never well documented besides... The Last waltz (bullshit). This book really brings you close to Rick, Levon, Garth, Manuel, Dylan, The Hawk, and many friends, hell... even Robbie. All of the stories and experiences told by none other than a true American Hero Levon Helm. You will not find a more in depth piece of literature about any band especially one as great as THE BAND. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, but more than that, it will take you back to when music was MUSIC.

-Brendan

A Bit of a Rant

2008-07-12T14:09:00.000-07:00

You know whats been getting on my nerves lately? Disney but more specifically Hanna Montana/Jonas Brothers/High School musical. These seemingly harmless kids shows are whats killing music. I know it's cool now to act like you enjoy these things even if your a teenager (oh har har I like kids shows and I'm not a kid! Real original guys.) but can't you see that it's all about the money? These people are only puppets in Disney's money making scheme. Now some of you are probably arguing this saying "these people are musicians weather you like them or not" well guess what I might believe that if there wasn't so much god damn merchandise out with there face plastered on it or if they wrote the music they release. There are people out there who say "yeah but they're still good singers....Who cares? Bob Dylan couldn't sing and he wrote the best songs of the 20th century that are still being covered by countless artists today.

So to rap things up it's not about how good you look or how well you can sing or how much money you're making it's about the music.

-Grant

Terminal Romance revue

2008-07-09T07:14:00.000-07:00

Matt Mays & El Torpedo's second album "Terminal Romance" was released on July 8th and I have to say "Bravo" *claps, claps* Matt Mays has found a way to mix the eastcoast-rock methods of their first CD which was self titled with the electric synth style of Matt's second solo album "When the Angels Make Contact". Do not be fooled by the cheesey Album Cover. I will now go through track by track and give you some details:

1.Building a Boat - Building a Boat is a fast paced catchy rock song with a Catchy sing-along chorus.

2.Digital Eyes - Digital Eyes is a slower song with a "Digital" aspect to it, great lyrics with another catchy pre-chorus

3.Tall Trees- Tall Trees is the albums first single, its sort of a "heavier" song with a catchy guitar riff.

4.Rock Ranger Record- Rock Ranger Record is an up-beat fast rock song. It is a little short at only 2.01 minutes but is one of the most up-beat songs on the record.

5.Terminal Romance- Terminal Romance, the title of the album is a slow song played on piano. It is the longest on the album at 7.40 minutes, but don't get me wrong, you will not be bored and it is very well written. The drums and guitar don't come in until 4 minutes in where the tempo of the song changes and eventually falls into a heavy ballad of the line "She sang Rock n' Roll with the Devil" very good song.

6.Shining Eyes- Shining Eyes is a great light rock song with a brief piano & synthesizer intro. I have noticed that on this album Matt Mays changes his voice a bit from his other albums, it is a more mature deep voice but only on some words, you can notice it in a couple songs but especially in some parts of this song.

7.Northern Belle- Northern Belle is a great rock song about the end of summer, it has a mix of rock organ, electric geetar and tambourine on the chorus.

8.Stand and Deliver- Stand and Deliver is another great fast rock song with a catchy " Do do do do do" in a few parts of the song. Allot of tension and release in this song, which makes it great. Overall good song.

9.Laser Guided Love- Laser Guided Love starts out with a long heavy synth-electric noise that breaks into a great guitar riff. Great chorus. This is a good example of a mix between "When the Angels Make Contact" and self titled album "Matt May & El Torpedo"

10.the Hunter, the Hunted- The Hunter, The Hunted is a dark song with almost an eary tone, with a soft chorus that starts to get a little faster and darker. Great pre-chorus.

11.Long Since gone- Long Since Gone is a great ending song, it is slow and emotional, with some strage lyrics, "President Bush is dead"? Nice song with a good chorus.

There you have it complete overview of the Album, I strongly recommend that you buy it, along with the related Albums that i mentioned. They've done it again! Great Job MM&ET!

-Brendan

The Name

2008-07-03T07:30:00.000-07:00

So.. you may be wondering "Grant, Brendan, what the hell is up with the Name?" if you were wondering that... you are incredibly rude. But fo real, the name "Crazy Chester, and the Old Fashioned Sugar" derives from two sources;
First is: "Crazy Chester" is a character often used in songs by THE BAND specifically a verse sung in The Weight by a great man by the name of "Rick Danko" (you'll hear us talk about him)
Second part is: "Old Fashioned Sugar" There really isn't much to this part, Grant and I were at Tim Horton's one day and notice the doughnut shelf was almost bare except for the lonely shelf with "Old fashioned Sugar" doughnuts. This sparked a conversation, "no body eats the Old fashioned Sugar doughnuts, its like they are there just so you won't buy them and buy other flavours instead."
"That's sounds like a good band name" says Grant
And that is where we came up with it, Just to clear it up
-Brendan

Juggling

2008-07-01T14:14:00.001-07:00

the other day I was sitting around my basement and I found three little hackey sacks. Thats when I remembered I could juggle. So I've been spending a lot of my time sitting around juggling trying to learn new tricks which led to a revelation, juggling is one of the best things I've ever learned. Why you ask? because there are a bunch of benefits from juggling. Now you're probably wondering what benefits could come from such a seemingly useless skill well let me lay 'em down for ya

-increased hand eye coordination (this can help in a lot of everyday activities .)
-Patience (When teaching yourself to juggle your gonna drop the balls a lot and theres no one to get angry at other than your self)
-Reflexes
-Ability to absorb information (As a juggler things seem to move a little slower cause I'm able to think quicker.)
-It's impressive (It's nothing thats gonna have women all over you but it entertains people.)

I had a few more but I forgot them all. Another pro to juggling is it's cheap if you don't already have three spherical objects that are roughly the same size and weight it's not to expensive to go pick up three tennis balls. It's also a great cure for boredom especially if you have a lot of time to do nothing I taught myself to juggle in about one day with three little bouncy balls I found. So if your like me and have a lot of time on your hands with nothing to do I recommend picking up some tennis balls and teaching yourself to juggle. It will test your patience at first but it'll be worth it in the end.
-Grant

The Danger of Bathrooms

2008-06-30T13:46:00.000-07:00

Public or Private, bathrooms are very dangerous places.

Every time you sit on that toilet you are taking a gamble. You are completely vulnerable to anything and anybody because once you have started you can't stop until its done. Its risky buisness. And anything could happen to you when you are on the toilet, ex: Nucleur bomb attack, spiders, robbery, pedophile, bullies, or pedophile bullies who rob you with spiders who have been mutated by nucleur bombs! and once those pants hits the floor and you sit down there is nothing you can do abut it.
So the next time you have to go to a bathroom just remeber... you are taking a riskl and gambling your life.
Good Luck - Brendan

The 1st and 2nd

2008-06-27T18:10:00.000-07:00

This post (The "Attack of the Clones" post) is my introductory post.

Well well well...where to start... I'm Grant who is the second man in this blag and I'll probaly make a lot of posts about weird observations/ideas/theories and I'll probaly also talk a lot about music considering thats what I live off (I know thats cliche but I really love my music.) You can also expect a lot of weird referances from all over the place.

You're all probaly thinking "this guy sounds like he's got some stuff to say about things. I got stuff to say too!" well if you have something to say about something I posted or something completely different feel free to leave a comment.

To start things off I have a question that I address to everyone who reads this. If Wendy's never freezes there beef how do they get it to the resturant? Does the meat come strait from the slaughter house to the resturant before it rots away? or is it some kinda air tight thing that they use to keep the germs out? If anyone knows how they do it give me a shout it's been bugging me for the last few weeks.

I think thats about all for now I don't think I have anything left other than feel free to come here anytime and lay down your ideas/opinions and I'm sure me and Brendan will listen to you and discuss it with you.
- Grant

The Encore

2008-06-27T17:59:00.000-07:00

Oh, your still here? We'll play one more song... Happy Thanksgiving

And so it begins, if our Posts were a Starwars saga this would be the "Phantom Menace Post".

I had a thought, if a "semi-circle" is half of a circle then does "semi-formal" mean half formal and half not? So you could where a fancy shirt and tie... but then just have your old pajama pants that you made in grade seven Family Studies class on and that would be considered "semi-formal?"
Thank you - Brendan