Top 10 Of 2004

I won't be near my computer for the next few days as I am getting ready to leave for Ottawa for the Christmas and New Years holidays. So why not assemble my "Top 10 Of 2004"? So here it is! Discuss it amongst yourselves and if you like, submit your own Top 10 below! So here we go!

Jay's Top 10 Songs Of 2004

10. "Somewhere Only We Know" - Keane
9. "Float On" - Modest Mouse
8. "Idiot walk" - The Hives
7. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" - Green Day
6. "Mr Brightside" - The Killers
5. "Have Mercy" - Loretta Lynn (feat. Jack White)
4. "Take Your Momma Out" - Scissors Sisters
3. "Tell All Your Friends" - Projet Orange
2. "Vertigo" - U2
1. "Flawless (Move To The City)" - George Micheal

OPINION PORTION AND THOUGHTS:

As you can see, there is no Velvet Revolver in my top 10 and there's a reason. The reason is this, boy am I sick of Velvet Revolver.

You would almost swear that on FM 9SUX that they are the next greatest rock band who will reshape rock and roll as we know it. I am so sick and tired of hearing the same bloody songs and their offshoots (G N'R and Stone Temple Pilots) ad nauseum. In my mind, both 1989 to 1995 and 1991 to about 2000 were fine .. leave the bands be. Don't suddenly start to play their whole freaking back catalogue (I exaggerate .. it's the SAME bloody hit songs) because they assembled a band that plays songs that sound like either G N' R or Stone Temple Pilots rejects. Do us all a bloody favour and stop .. please. And don't get me going about Rage Against The Soundgarden .. I mean, Audioslave either!

And still on a rant about my rock station. Can you PLEASE stop playing Nirvana! 1991 was fine and so was 1994. In my mind, Nirvana puts out two albums and a live album before Kurt kills himself and they get so much play it's unreal (not to mention they play the same freaking songs over and over .. just like G N' R and STP above). If you ask me anyways Nirvana is over rated anyways. Yes, I do own "Nevermind", but I got a promo copy at College and didn't buy it. The fall out from Nirvana has been brutal! Now we have pop punk bands (or EMO) who sing songs about loss and how bad they have it and how lousy their childhood was. Oh great, look what you did Kurt! Good on you.

Despite the drek you hear on the radio (pop punk and EMO bands aside) there actually has been some pretty good bands that have managed to save the day. It's good to see some new bands that are trying to forge their own sound and carry the torch and evolve music.

The two bands that come to mind are The Killers and Franz Ferdinan. Even though a Franz song didn't make my list, they are still a band that I like and band as well like The Killers maintain that 80's retro sound but keep it fresh in the rock/pop idiom. I am curious to see where both Franz and The Killers go from here. I hope that they evolve their sounds and make it their own and not fall victim to the "one album wonders" that so many have seemed to have done in the years gone by.

I will say too that it's nice to see bands like U2 and Green Day continue on. To me it shows that all becaue you're getting older doesn't mean that you can't rock out still in your latter years. Both bands issued real solid releases this year and I was pleasantly surprised when I heard them for the first time. I will say too that it's nice to hear U2 go back in time and go old school in some respects. Both bands should be happy with what they put out and I hope that people can take some of what these two bands did this year and apply it to their own work instead of just being "there".

Also the new Loretta Lynn album is DYNAMITE. It's nice to hear a lady who is 70 and can still belt out the songs. It was also produced by White Stripes front man Jack White who kept the sound new and at the same time in it's most pure style (a fine example is a revved up and bluesy track called "Have Mercy"). I am not one for country music but this album blew me away. DO check out the album .. you won't be disappointed.

Finally, my number one for 2004 wasn't rock in nature but more like pop/rock dance. I am sure that it threw you all for a curve. I'm not really a fan of pop dance music but this song just has a catchy beat and some interesting lyrics. By using the backing song "Flawless" by New York City dance group The Ones, George managed to craft his lyrics with the music (a song about 5yrs old and was a mainstay in the club scene) and managed to tell a story about being involved in the fashion industry and it's downfalls and how you have to do what's right for you. The lyrics are somewhat depressing but they suit the music just fine.

Anyways, that's this installment and my thoughts on the year in music and what it was alongside my picks. Like I said at the beginning, I look forward to hearing your own opinions and your own Top 10 lists!

I hope everyone has a AWESOME Holiday season and that everyone will be happy and healthy in 2005.

Take care! :)

A Happy Ho! Ho! Story.

I am very sure that everyone has got this email at some point through the years. But you know, I still augh at it when I get it. I hope that it gives you the same laughs as I do. Now if you have never got the email, I hope you laugh.

Enjoy!

A Christmas Story for people having a bad day:

When four of Santa's elves got sick, and the trainee elves did not produce
the toys as fast as the regular ones, Santa was beginning to feel the
pressure of being behind schedule.

Then Mrs. Claus told Santa that her Mom was coming to visit. This stressed
Santa even more.

When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were
about to give birth and two had jumped the fence and were out, heaven knows
where. More stress.

Then when he began to load the sleigh one of the boards cracked, and the
toy bag fell to the ground and scattered the toys.

So, frustrated, Santa went into the house for a cup of apple cider and a
shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard he discovered that the elves had
hidden the liquor, and there was nothing to drink. In his frustration he
accidentally dropped the cider pot, and it broke into hundreds of little
pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found that
mice had eaten the straw end of the broom.

Just then the doorbell rang, and irritable Santa trudged to the door. He
opened the door and there was a little angel with a great big Christmas
tree. The angel said very cheerfully, "Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn't it a
lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to
stick it?"

And so began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas

Hmmm ....

What to write .. what to write .. what to write!

Generally I am not one to be lost for words but at this moment I am. Don't you just hate when that happens? It's like some days you know what you want to say and how to say it and everything flows so well but then .. then .. then .. well you know what I am getting at!

It seems like as if the mouth is engaged but the brain isn't quite working in gear. It happens to me all the time actually. What seems like one of "Jay's great moments of clarity" suddenly turns into one of "Jay's moments of utter confusion and stupidity so you better stop while you're ahead .. SERIOUSLY!". It seems like I run in these strange cycles of where I do make some sense, then make sense and then leave you scratching your head going "where'd that come from?". I suppose too that I can apply that logic here to my blog or any other of creative endevours. Sometimes after I put together a piece of music or a journal entry and it flows or sounds real nice I often think "I put THAT together? AMAZING!". Maybe I'm not giving myself enough credit and should give credit to myself where it's due but don't WE ALL get like that from time to time?

Maybe I should credit my last bout of clarity to that potent mixture of Red Bull and Pepsi that I had Wednesday night. I guess it is true that Red Bull does help you increase your concentration and allow you to focus and think more freely. Whatever the case may be, I love Red Bull end of story. I get a feeling that tonight will be another one of those "Red Bull nights" at work where I will need every ounce of energy I have since I am very sure that we WILL be swamped at the store tonight!

Also, I just checked the weather network website and they say that we're supposed to get snow on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Isn't that just ducky? It seems like the annual tradition of me rolling out in the snow and cursing under my breath about how people SHOULD shovel their sidewalks will be in full effect. That's right, me cursing under my breath and uttering certain 4 letter words that I normally don't say. in public or at all. I guess it's amusing to some but nobody has yet to feel the "wrath" of Jay.

And if I can just add to the topic of shoveling sidewalks .. how hard is it to get up off your butt and go excert some muscle power? How hard is it really? Don't want to leave your home because it's all warm and toasty? or is it because you're so lazy that you assume that the city willl look after it for you? Think about the health benefits too ...

All I can say to that is this: It's common courtesy. It's common courtesy to maintain your property and give people clear passage so that they can go about their normal business during the inclimate periods. I for one like to get out during the winter and go to the places I enjoy going to (my bowling alley and the theater) and not get that case of "cabin fever".

Anyways, I am all done with this entry. Whether or not if it was a moment of clarity I don't know but I do know one thing is for certain ... it's time for this guy to go to bed!

Ps: The Knights did it baby! Undefeated in 30 games, a new Canadian Hockey League record! Congrats guys!

R.I.P "Dimebag" Darrell

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/09/nightclub.shooting/index.html

The metal world lost an amazing guitar player yesterday evening and I lost one of my all time favourite guitar players.

It's tragic and senseless and makes you wonder why people do the things that they do. It also makes you realize just how short life can be and why you should try to make the most of any time you have.

Thank you Darrell for being a inspiration in my playing earlier on and thank you for every piece of music you put out there for us to hear.

Random Stuff

Here I am yet again with another entry.

I'm not too sure about what I will throw into this installment other than my well documented mp3 player problems have now been finally resolved. It's finally up and working and I have my buddy Jay to thank for getting it to work. The whole process was pretty amusing (and amazing) to say the least.

Did you ever (or do you hate) when it's something so obvious that in the end you slap yourself in the forehead and go "oh yeah! why didn't I think of that?". Well in this instance I was in no position to think such a thing but leave it to Jay to think of it. It was quite clever actually. All Jay did was look at me and say "did you ever think about reconfiguring your drive?" (or whatever it was).

Oh why didn't I think of that?!

But anyways, I have it working and it's been great so far. I can't thank Jay enough more than I have (aside from onion rings and coffee from Harvey's) but public acknowledgement is the best reward.

At the moment I am listening to Pat Boone's rendition of "Enter Sandman". And you know, this is the first time I had ever heard it and I have this big cheesey grin on my face. I'm a big fan of flakey remakes and this sure is flakey! I love it! (even though I also like his version of "Crazy Train") I was told though that he does do "Strairway To Heaven" and it's equally as bad (or good) so I guess I'll have to check it out!

It snowed last night too. We didn't get as much as they did in Ottawa or even in parts of Alberta (or from what I saw on the weather channel) but it's enough to lightly cover the ground. Mind you though they did say that were supposed to get some freezing rain as well but I don't believe we did. They also said too that it's supposed to get up to about +12 tomorrow and rain so all this snow and ice will be gone by tomorrow night at best. Of course after having said that, they said it's upposed to snow by Sunday and Monday as well.

Ah well, you can't avoid winter right? time to start getting used to it!

Happiness suddenly is ...

To further what I posted woments ago .. and this makes me so darn happy! (they must have read my entry .. thanks Gary and Bob!)

About time! :)

Irritation!

Most people may not care about this entry (or maybe a few will if you enjoy the topic that I will be elaborating on today) but man, I have to say something!

ENOUGH ALREADY!

I have had enough of the lack of discussion in regards to the NHL Players lock out that's robbed me and many others of our favourite sport .. HOCKEY!

So what gives? Why is it so hard to get the players around a table in one room and owners in the other and throw ideas around as to how they can mutually satisfy one another and get a happy medium so that the players can make enough, small market teams can survive and owners make money. How hard is this really?

How hard is it to sit (in a room, obviously!) and go "okay, we really need to talk so let's call Gary" or "Let's call Bob"? (we're on a fist name basis with the Commish and NHLPA Director) and get these talks going? Is it THAT hard? is it THAT taxing? Are they both being THAT lazy while the apathy of the fans grows worse every day? Are they willing to lose their fanbase much like Major League Baseball did back in 94? (and MLB has only started to regain it's base after TEN years). Are they willing to sacrifice that so they can both say "well, it's a business and we're all business men in some ways Jay ... so let us take care of our business .. thank you and be sure to buy our jerseys in the meanwhile .. good day!".

If they want to do that then they can be both my guest. I know that when hockey does return I'll be watching because I'm a diehard. But don't count on the vast majority of people watching though. Because I think the annoyance over the whole situation will do irreprensible harm to the game and should they choose to use replacement players (much like the NFL did in the early 80's) I think most may end up watching anyways since it seems as though most (and according to polls I have seen and read) fans are siding with the owners this time around.

But no matter though, the owners are just as guilty as the players in not getting these talks going and save what's left of the 04/05 season. What I believe though will satisfy people anyways will be just the mere mention of them wanting to talk. I think too just the mere idea of that they want to get this resolved and not resort to the public name calling and number wrangling (and dispute there of) will make most fans happy.

So owners, players ... get in a room, get talking and get this sucker solved! (I'll personally sit at the door and monitor pee breaks by everyone so they can get back into the board room and get it done!)