Feel free to sing

The other day I was in my music technology class and my professor said something very simple but it really caught my attention. He said that people don't sing as much as they should. I stopped and thought about it and you know what, he is right! Singing has sort of become taboo in our society. You can't just sing. I mean don't get me wrong, there is definitely a time and a place but I think that the world would just be a better place if you could sing or rock out without being looked at funny in public.

Take for example where I work. I work as a Fry Cook at the local hockey arena. It might not be the best job ever and it sure doesn't pay all too well but I like it none the less. I've gotten into the habit at work of singing while I am frying food because it really helps the time pass but I have notice that a lot of my coworkers have said things about my singing that aren't really negative but that are a little jaded and sarcastic. If I was an easily flustered person I might have stopped singing long ago just because of some of their comments but I enjoy it and it's not like I am singing particularly loud or offensive things so I don't feel too bad about it. 

It's interesting to me how we as a society have made singing taboo or looked down. How many times have I been in my car just rocking out or singing something at the top of my lungs and then up pulls a very cute girl next to me who looks at me and laughs and snickers. It happened to me yesterday! Is a man not allowed to play a little air guitar and pound on his steering wheel a little while he is getting to when he is going? Sometimes on my way to class I will sing a little something and people turn to see who is disrupting their ho-hum journey from class to class. 

Next time you feel like singing something, do it! Don't feel embarrassed about it. I am convinced that people would be just a little happier if we all did it.

What's sounding

I figured that I would put an update on my musical life up here just to let you know of what I've been listening too recently and what I am really liking and not enjoying too much. This is one of the best parts about being home from a mission is just the wonderful time catching up on all the great music that you missed out. For me, I love music so it's really not a chore at all.

The new Guster album came out about 2 weeks ago now and is a great listen. Guster is a very great band, in my personal opinion one of the best. They never seem to disappoint even after 6 full length releases they manage to impress, grow and evolve which is maybe the part that I love most about them. Their new album, Easy Wonderful in no exception which features the classic harmonic pop feel of Guster mixed with a definite change in instrumentation most notably the lack of bongo drumming that they are so known for. They even throw in some techno influenced goodness as well as quite possibly the feel good song of the year, Do You Love Me?. If you haven't heard this album yet, go out and give it a listen. It will be worth your while and while you are at it you can give a listen to their other albums. I highly recommend them.

Before my mission, while volunteering at ckxu Garth and I found a band of some interest called Immaculate Machine from Vancouver area. I loved their quirky lyrics and their great instrumentation including harps and violins. The album, Fables was very catchy and I listened to it a lot. Upon my return I learned that the female lead singer, Kathryn Calder (also a member of The New Pornographers) had released a solo album entitled Are You My Mother? So I gave it a listen and fell in a love with it. It's so simplistic in it's approach but is very catchy and includes some of those quirky lyrics that I loved about Immaculate Machine. It's a great listen it's just too bad that as of right now she doesn't have any plans on touring because I would really like to see her live one day.

In other news, Peter Katz has done it again. While I was on my mission he released his newest album First of the Last to Know. It holds true to classic Peter Katz and even though he decided to release this one without the help of The Curious, it is still an amazing release from the Toronto native. His style has definitely mature a little and has come together quite nicely as he continues to create amazing meaningful music. His stories and the images that he creates are breath taking as he successful shares the things most important to him through his music. The cherry on the top has to be that he is coming through Lethbridge on the 3rd of November and is going to be playing at the Slice at 9:00. The last 2 times that I have seen him in concert have been some of the best shows that I have ever seen as he really does connect with his audience and makes them feel just what he was feeling when he wrote the songs. I am really enjoying this album quite a bit.

Alkaline Trio has recently come out with their newest as well entitled This Addiction. A very interesting album from the Trio that almost hints to the days of yore with a very From Here to the Infirmary feel to it but with a much more grown up approach. It almost hints to old school Nofx, most notably the horn line in Lead Poisoning and is a very different approach to Alkaline Trio than their previous release Agony and Irony. This album is very enjoyable and I think that any fan of Alkaline Trio will appreciate this recent album.

Muse Control Review

So last weekend I got the chance to go see a play. I love theater. I don't think that there is anything better in this world than seeing a live performance of something. There is just something so raw about seeing real, live people pouring out their hearts and souls in a live performance. Live is better in everything. I figured that I might write a little review about the play that we got to see.

The night was really enjoyable, partly to the company that I was with and partly to the play that we got to watch. Muse Control is a University of Lethbridge student written play about a frustrated author that is having trouble meeting his dead lines for his follow up best seller. His fears of being lost in obscurity and his extreme writers block sets the stage quite nicely as he is driven into alcoholism and depression at the though of not being about the complete his work on time. It isn't until he is invited to a quaint dinner party at his publisher's house that he get an idea on how he might be about to overcome his slump. There, the publisher intoduces his to a "muse". Literally talking about an ancient Greek power or influence of inspiration. Roy (The main character, played by Devon Brayne) is intregued by the thought that this ancient Greek power could help him along with his novel, so much so that he goes on a search to find one. After some time, he does and the muse helps to unlock a hit book that is really about his twisted love triangle with a long lost friend and former lover and a surfer stereotypical colleague from work. His Muse leaves him and Roy's life come spiraling out of control until at long last he realizes that within himself is the power to write creatively and that sometimes in the past he has given up the things that are most important to him for this power. 

The play over all was very cleverly written. It is a very funny play with some very intelligent parts and doesn't feel the need to talk down to you just because it might be playing with a theme a little more sophisticated. Muse Control is very interesting and has some great changes between hysterically funny, to very serious and  but like all university production feels the need to be a little to edgy in some parts for me. I personally, am a very awkward person and this play challenged me sometimes (which is fine) but sometimes it did it too much. The best part of the play for me was acting, headed up by the lead Devon Brayne who did an absolutely fantastic job of capturing this job obsessed, sympathetic character. It deals with some pretty deep and fascinating ideas in a fun and comedic way, and I liked it a lot and made for a very fun evening. I'd give it a 3.8 out of 5.

Sell Out with Me!

This entry is quite long, wordy and totally opinion so if you want to just skip over this entry, feel free. I know that I probably wouldn't waste all my time reading this garbage either.

Now that Garth is taking a logic class, he feels the need to apply what he is learning in every day life. Aside from being annoying most of the time because I am usually not making a very logical argument when I talk, it has brought up some good thoughts and ideas. One day on the bus we got to talking about music when we hear Burr Song 2 on the radio. Instantly, I remember the last time that I had heard the song which believe it or not dates all the way back to New Years Eve 2008 when AFI did a horrible cover of the song on MTV. This truly signaled to both Garth and I the end of the band AFI as a viable punk rock band as they successfully managed to sell out to the mainstream crowd. This topic of conversation soon lead to a rousing discussion on how one can tell if a band has really "sold out" or if they are simply finding new ways to expand and grow as artist. 

I guess it all comes down the change. Change can be a great thing but also a very bad thing depending on the type of change and the extent of it in the music, look, attitude, of a band. Bands that never change are redundant and boring. MxPx is one of those bands. While we all love Chick Magnet, I think that every single album that they have ever come out with since holds true to the same formula of Southern California skater punk. To be quite frank, I have just stopped caring about them all together, mostly just because I know what I am going to get from them time after time. 

First, I suppose that a definition of selling out has to be established to really make the point. In my personal opinion I define selling out as changing the over all feel, style, looking, personality or music of a band to such an extent for the sole purpose of making more money or to become more popular. 

It is a fine line between selling out and the avant garde. All artists are trying to push the envelope, trying to redefine something and become new and refreshing. I guess that is the endless struggle of art and this is not just found in music but all forms of art. No one wants to listen to something that they have already heard, or see something that they have all ready seen. In the words of NOFX (Maybe not the most credible source), "The music they're making, reminds me of song sung in the 70's. You might fool the kids, but you don't fool me. Have you ever heard of something called originality?" Ultimately the bands that leave the biggest impact are the bands that do this successfully. 

One perfect example of this in my mind are The Beatles. Like them or hate them, you have to recognize just how give of an impact they had on music as we know it today and why is that you might ask? In my opinion it is because they weren't afraid to change, to improve, to write something that challenges the boundaries and pushes you to think in new ways about new issues. It all comes down to that. I believe that changes that bands make need to be focused on trying to push boundaries and not simply cash grab. 

I guess I take a bigger interest in the subject than most especially since I have started to study music in school. It is very interesting the ways that people listen to music. Many simple are content with anything as long as it has a good beat and is danceable. This type of listening is completely normal and acceptable. Music is seen as a sort of retreat and away to relax or relieve stress. Recently in one of my classes though we got to talking about popular music and the differences between it and say a classical piece or music that might never make it to the upper reaches of the charts. Our professor started to explain to us that in many instances, music that is written to be very popular, especially on the radio or clubs and bars is recorded in such a way that all of the sound is compressed and made to be louder so that even in situations where maybe there is a lot of noise like in a club, that all of the parts of the music can be hear. While this may serve it's purpose, he went on to explain that many of the subtleties of the music that are created are lost when subjected to this process and that thus, a lot of popular music has the same sort of feel or sound while music that maybe not be recorded in this fashion remains true to how the music was originally recorded in the first place. Needless to say, I think that this is all part of the selling out process. Bands that are looking to change so that they can get popular appeal, and money can and usually do submit their music to this type of recording habits. 

I guess in closing, my point is that we need to be more critically thinking of the music that we spend our time listening to. Don't listen to something just because it is on the radio, or just because lots of people listen to it. Find your own style. Listen to music that makes you want to be a better person and that drives you to do something better with your life, themes that often times can't be found amongst bands striving to mesmerize the masses into spending millions just to find that cool new sound. 

Canada Hates Me

Canadian bananas are horrible! Let me clarify myself, bananas that you can buy in this country are bad! That's not to say that Costa Rica doesn't grow amazing bananas it's just that there is definitely something lost when they have to sit on a boat forever. How do they expect me to eat something so sub-par when I know what a banana really should taste like? It's very frustrating to me just how bad they really are because before living in the Dominican Republic I enjoyed a nice Costa Rican banana purchased at the local supermarket. I have been ruined. Ruined I tell you and I don't think that it will ever get better.

Let's take for example the recent Albertan weather. Rain, rain and more rain. I am miserable here and freezing cold which is a phenomenon that I have not hither to had to deal with. I mean, I am Canadian! I'm suppose to like my cold weather. In the words of my Dad, it puts hair on your chest. (First of all, I don't think it is scientifically proven that it does and if it does, even more reason to hate the cold weather!) Not to mention that now I have a cold. Great. What ever happened to summer? When I realized that I was going to get back to Canada in August I was fine with it. I figured that I could just easy my way into cold weather but I guess I was wrong. I love Canada. I am proud to be a Canadian but this country sure does make it hard to love.

For the last two years, I have been the only Canadian in my mission. Out of almost 200 missionaries, I was the only Canadian and I represented us with pride. How does Canada repay me? Horrible tasting bananas and cold weather. Thanks a lot Canada. After everything I did for you, you couldn't have stayed warm a little longer? I guess on the bright side, I do have a hairier chest now. 

Brown Backing

Well with the NFL season right on the cusp of commencement, I figured I'd come out of my Cleveland Browns fan closet and make it known to all my love for the Cleveland Browns. It all started about 3 years ago when I was invited by my good friend Garth to choose a team to start the new NFL season. I figured that out of all of the teams in the NFL, the team that needed my cheering power the most were the Cleveland Browns. Let's just be honest, they have never had a really amazing season, that is since they were reinstated in the league. They have never, ever won a Superbowl or really even come close for that matter but what they do have is a rich history of near success, a huge fan base of some of the craziest people out there and a shear hatred for the Pittsburgh Steelers who in fact, are a better team than we are as seen by all of their Superbowl wins. I think that is what fuels the hatred so much, it's a whole lot easier to hate someone when they are just better than you.

Anyways, with that said, I love the Cleveland Browns, even with all of their shortcomings and weirdness they are one of the teams with the potential for the most improvement in the league. Really, they have nothing to loose and that is what I love most about them. It makes it so easy to root for a team that can't get much worse than they are now. Honestly, I don't know what to think of the team this year but I do know that they are bound to make the league and especially their division just a little more interesting. This year, the AFC north division is a scary one with arguably some of the best looking teams in the NFL. The Ravens definitely are looking like they could be a powerful team this year and the Bengals have made some nice moves in the off season to put together a killer receiving core. All of this adds up to disaster for the Browns. Do I think they are going to win the Superbowl? No. Do I even think they are going to make it to the playoffs? Probably not but they could mess some things up for some other teams. I would be thrilled if they could pull something out and I really do hope they do but it isn't looking good for them.

I am going to give the Cleveland Browns the benefit of the doubt and give them 7 wins on the season. I am going to say that they are going to win both of their games against the Steelers so if nothing else that will make this year successful. Go get 'em you crazy Browns! I've already got the playoff beard started but if it is any indication how the beard is growing, then I'd be worry.

Joseph in the Grove

I have come to the conclusion that all cool people at one point in their lives or another have had a mustache. Just look at my dad for example, Gary Garner believe it or not at one point had a mustache. I have seen the pictures. He looked like Captain Kangaroo which brings me to another point. Captain Kangaroo was such a stud. Other Captains of notable mention are such people as Captain Crunch. People used to say that I run like Mario, why not have facial hair like him? You see all of the amazing people that have mustaches. Why am I missing out? 

Mustache Proof

So, after much deliberation and consideration on the matter I have finally decided to have a go at facial hair. I know what you are probably thinking though, can you even grow facial hair? I finally have proof that, indeed I can and that when I have an amazing mustache you'll all have to eat your words.

You see what I mean! Case closed! Next stop, Tom Selleck! What's that? You don't see anything? You don't believe that I am going to have the best mustache ever? So you need more proof than that? Alright fine, you asked for it. This photo has not be indoctrinated or changed in anyway, believe it or not.

Alright it's a little pathetic but still I have a little bit of a mustache and that's really good enough for me. One day it will something great I promise. I think that this whole mustache thing is really just out of spite. I really can't think of a better reason why

More Mustache Proof

to grow a stache. I'll keep you updated on how it grows in. I am frankly quite excited about it all. We'll see how it turns out. 

Now you know ladies... okay, maybe the lady folk don't dig the mustache as much as they used to but I am hoping to bring it back to vogue.