Velvet

Given the rabid interest in this topic I would be remiss if I didn't point out that they are trickling the lineup bit by bit.

Brian Blade and David Sanchez will also be playing (not together).

Ah, Leap Day! A whole free extra bonus day! Hope you have a good one!

I'm surprised it's not a worldwide holiday. I generally take the day off work and do something fun, but with several days off coming I'm taking the responsible road and will be working today, but I'm still gonna try and have some fun.

Did you know that Leap Year isn't every four years? They skip it three out of every four turn-of-the-century years. So there was no Leap Year in the years 1700, 1800, and 1900, though there was one in 2000. 2100, 2200 and 2300 won't have one either, but there will be one in 2400.

I don't think it's really meant to be announced yet (remember last year they accidentally put the Robert Plant info on their website early?), but there will be three nights of Dave Holland, in addition to the two shows already announced (Esperanza Spalding Radio Music Society June 27 and Chris Botti and the National Arts Centre Orchestra June 29).

http://ottawajazzfestival.com/index.php/artists/

Much of the Montreal Jazzfest has been announced, which generally gives a good hint towards the Ottawa lineup.

I am very much in favour of public smoking bans, but I think outlawing smoking in general is a bad idea that would lead to massive and violent problems with organized crime. Keep selling 'em, keep taxing 'em, and keep putting up no smoking signs. It's an imperfect system, but better than the alternative of forcing all tobacco sales underground.

100% agree.

To the profit vs costs that phishtaper mentioned I'll add that most smokers die younger than non-smokers so there's that much less pension and social security costs taboot.

I am a fairly recent non-smoker, but I fully supported the smoking bans I encountered when I was a smoker*.

*Before I get called out on it I'll concede that I found the introduction of bans very frustrating at times because as a band manager I found they coincided with a couple of tours the band did. We found ourselves sitting in a few empty bars as people began to make the social shift to non-smoking environments, but it was a timing/financial issue (and one that went away) and not a why-can't-I-smoke-wherever-I-want issue.

As a smoker (working on quitting now) I've never really had much issues with the smoking bans. In fact I was rather happy when the indoor ban (eg: bars) came into effect. I'm a conscious smoker in terms that I pay attention to my surroundings and light up in appropriate areas, or distances from others. I don't have any complaints about doing that. But it seems that the non-smokers are really only focused on the smokers instead of the source of all these issues - the tobacco industry.

Instead of stacking law upon law onto the Canadian people until we live in a complete nanny state afraid of sneezing in public for fear of someone calling foul, perhaps focus should be directed at the tobacco industry, the source of the issue. One could even argue the government (all parties) who are more then happy to collect taxes while making more and more laws would be worth focusing on as well. I mean, the direction this seems to be going is to ban smoking in public, period and restricting smoking to private. Correct? So, just do it.

As many may already know, unless you own or have permission from the owner of a home/apt/condo etc where you reside, smoking can and/or is on many occasions banned in rental properties. Owners have that right and I agree. But, considering the laws applied to smoking in a vehicle with children and the rental possibilities of smoking bans I just mentioned, it's safe to speculate that in the future we'll hear about banning smoking in private homes that have children. All the signs seem to point in that direction at least. It would be naive to think smoking will only be legal for home owners with no children, so again, why bother? - just ban smoking outright in Canada and save the money, time and bullshit wasted on enacting laws that will no doubt have funny little loopholes allowing government more intrusive powers then they already have and are lobbying for currently.

I plan on being smoke free in the future so I'm not complaining about the bans per se, just the ever growing acceptance that more laws, restrictions and intrusions from government are the best way to deal with these issues. Again, if an outright ban is the desired end result, just do it. Lobby the gov't to shut down the tobacco companies, stop taking money from them (taxes, contributions or otherwise) and ban smoking period. Done and done.

I think you're right on all points.

I think the reason smokers are targetted over the Industry is because smokers don't spend millions on lobbyists, whereas the smoking industry does.

I think part of the strategy (for good or ill) is to attack the Industry indirectly through their customers.

"Indoor air quality does far more harm to people than standing near a smoker in an outdoor area."

This statement implies that you agree standing near a smoker in an outdoor area causes harm, and I agree that if you can smell someone's smoke there is harm involved. Good one YT!

"It would be far more productive for City Hall to do something other than ban smoking."

They did do other stuff, like raise the water bills to enact a 10-year sewer fixup plan, and creating a new rental agreement for the baseball park. And I'm sure lots of other things. It's a rare thing to hear someone complain that the city staff is doing too much work. Nice one YT!

"I think people are going to need to smoke A LOT more to get through the headaches of the city fumbling through it all."

Smoking does not relieve headaches, and people don't NEED to smoke. People do, however, NEED to breathe. Not saying a person can't breathe if a smoker stands nearby, but I am pointing out that smokers fight for something that can be considered a luxury, while nonsmokers fight for a life necessity.

"Why ban it now?"

Because cities all over the world are banning it, and it's a sensible follow-up to the workplace smoking ban that came in several years ago. It would have been nice if Ottawa had been a frontrunner in the global push towards smoking regulations, but alas, we are mere followers in this regard. Perhaps you are wondering why they are banning it now instead of years ago? Nice one YT!

"Oh yeah...people think it matters."

While, ironically, some people don't think at all!

It's very telling that many former smokers support these movements. It seems to suggest that the fight for smokers rights is borne not of logic, but of addiction.

Man, I hate the purple shirt dude.

From Pollstar (I like how VIP packages are called "Even Better"):

This year’s festival features performances from The Allman Brothers Band, Phil Lesh & Friends and The Flaming Lips.

The 16th annual All Good Music Festival & Campout is set for July 19-22. The event is relocating from Masontown, W.Va., to the Legend Valley Concert Venue & Campground in Thornville, Ohio, located 30 minutes east of Columbus.

The historic site, formerly known as the Buckeye Lake Music Center, offers easy access to the festival with better roads and faster processing than the previous West Virginia location. Fans can once again count on side by side main stages with no overlapping sets.

The first round of acts announced also includes Bob Weir & Bruce Hornsby (featuring special guest Branford Marsalis), Michael Franti & Spearhead, Lotus, G. Love & Special Sauce, Galactic, Shpongle presents The Masquerade, Mickey Hart Band, Trampled By Turtles, SOJA and Railroad Earth.

More than 20 additional acts will be added over the next coming months.

Along with all that great music, the festival includes RV and traditional camping, family camping, artisan food vendors, craft vendors, regional microbrews, bonfire pits, kids entertainment, drum circles and play shops.

Early bird tickets go on sale this Friday, Feb. 24 at 12 p.m. EST. A limited amount of tickets will be available for $159, saving fans $70 off the gate price. Tickets include four nights of camping and parking.

Even Better VIP packages are also available with exclusive concert viewing and camping area close to the stages, private and air conditioned bathrooms and showers, free taxi shuttles, premium All Good merch and more.

For more information, click here for All Good Festival’s website.

It’s not every day that your hometown names a street after you.

But Kingston City Council did just that for the Tragically Hip Tuesday night, when it renamed part of a downtown street Tragically Hip Way.

The re-named portion includes a block and a half of Barrack Street that runs in front of a large entertainment venue, the K-Rock Centre, and down towards the Wolfe Island Ferry docks. Officially, the re-named portion of the road runs from King Street East just past Ontario Street.

City Council also voted to create a Walk of Fame.

The Hip are 12-time Juno award winners. The band formed in 1983, and it has since released 14 albums.

Artsy consultations

Even the public consultations were touched by the spirit of art. When speakers signed up to weigh in on the matter at a meeting last January, they were asked to draw a card. To decide the order of speakers, the mayor randomly drew cards from his own matching deck. If a speaker’s card matched, it was their turn to speak.

Some speakers were not in favour of the plan, saying they were concerned about the military history of the area. Most were in favour and wanted to use the re-naming as a springboard to develop an entertainment district.

The vote was close, with seven councilors voting in favour, and six against.

AMEX FOTL presale starts at 10am for Toronto and Montreal.

This is Buckeye?

My first Dead show was there and I've never been back. The nostalgia alone makes it even more possible I'll be there.

Wow, that looks pretty good, and the weekend after Bluesfest taboot.

May I recommend a stop at the Rock & Roll Hall in Cleveland? The special exhibit focuses on The Dead.

I'm trying to figure out what this has to do with Justin Bieber's butt.

Any idea what time of day it starts? I wanna try watching the whole thing.

It occurred to me that this was a dumb question. There is no start or end to the film, it's just a constant loop, like a clock.

Matter of fact, the movie is a clock. You can sure tell the time by looking at it.

Went to this twice yesterday and it's great. It's wayyyy more interesting than you would ever think and really engaging. The scenes flow very well, it's absolutley mastery in editing.

I went from about 6pm-7:15pm and then again from 12:15am-1:30am. Something that hadn't occurred to me was how different the scenes/mood of the film would be at different times. The first time I went there was a lot of scenes of people working late or commuting, dinner scenes and that sort of thing. After midnight there was lots of scary stuff, lots of bedroom scenes, that sort of thing. I'd really like to watch the whole thing sometime - 'twould be nifty to see all the sunrise scenes in the morning, the breakfast scenes...

Fantastic piece of art in a myriad of different ways, and I'm tickled that the Gallery bought it for their collection.

That's sooooo disappointing.

So, how/where will you guys be getting tickets tomorrow?

How can a lip be split down to the bone?

I'm having a hard time finding ticket info. When I check Ticketbastard I find no events for Lanois, and it lists different shows already happening at Great Hall, Saul Williams on March 23rd and Van Hunt on the 24th.

Any info would be helpful, especially ticket prices, and if the tix won't be for sale on ticketbastard tomorrow, then where and/or when?

Thanks so much for the heads up. Thinking about the Saturday show, though my Spidey senses tell me the first show will be better.

It's a democracy - the voters are to blame.

One shouldn't have to be "inspired", one should look at the issues and vote for or against appropriately.

Lots of people discounted Stephane Dion because of his accent. Those people are asses.

Of course, the real reason we have a New Conservative gov't is because we have one right party and three lefts. If Harper didn't win the first election there's no way he woulda won the second one.

Go eat a dick. I'll vote for who I like.

I can see why you were offended.

Oh my oh my oh my!!!

Hmmm...another Bluesfest appearance perhaps?

Exactly what I was thinking. Alice Cooper would be nice too.

If this was the USA it would be all over the front page, and could potentially destroy him.

They'll be in Montreal at the Bell Ctr on June 20th.

I believe the onsale date is the same as TO.