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The Thrill Is Gone

CLEVELAND, OH—Sam Powers' lifelong passion for music ended this past weekend, when the 35-year-old camera-store assistant manager realized that he no longer derives pleasure from listening to and acquiring new music.

"It's always sad when something you thought would last forever ends, but I simply don't have the energy to put into it anymore," Powers said Monday. "I'll always love music, but it's not going to be at the center of my life anymore. My priorities have changed, I guess."

Powers said he realized the love affair, which began in 1979 when his brother introduced him to the first Van Halen album, was over Saturday. While preparing spaghetti at his home, Powers chose silence over a TV On The Radio album his friend had burned him.

"Last week, my buddy went to see this band, but I just didn't feel like going out that night," Powers said. "I started to listen to their album, and even though it really seemed like my type of music—well, I didn't know any of the songs. I was just about to put Beck on when I realized that I'd rather be alone with my thoughts.'"

"Look," Powers added, holding the fingers of his right hand aloft. "My nails used to be worn to the quick from peeling off CD seals. Look at them now. I'm gonna have to use clippers."

While he said he will miss the deep bonds forged during a lengthy relationship based on respect and admiration, Powers declared the painful decision final.

"Things were running on autopilot for the past few years," Powers said, pulling a copy of the 1982 X album Under The Big Black Sun from his shelf and staring at it. "I went through the motions for a while—buying a few CDs off the critics' year-end lists and making it out to a show here and there. But really, that rush I used to feel was gone."

....

In addition to the free Reggae Fest there is the Breakestra for free at Harbourfront and Chris Brown solo at the Cameron House (not free).

George Poppin' Pills

Bush Using Drugs to Control Depression, Erratic Behavior

By TERESA HAMPTON

Editor, Capitol Hill Blue

Jul 28, 2004, 08:09

President George W. Bush is taking powerful anti-depressant drugs to control his erratic behavior, depression and paranoia, Capitol Hill Blue has learned.

The prescription drugs, administered by Col. Richard J. Tubb, the White House physician, can impair the President’s mental faculties and decrease both his physical capabilities and his ability to respond to a crisis, administration aides admit privately.

“It’s a double-edged sword,” says one aide. “We can’t have him flying off the handle at the slightest provocation but we also need a President who is alert mentally.”

Angry Bush walked away from reporter's questions.

Tubb prescribed the anti-depressants after a clearly-upset Bush stormed off stage on July 8, refusing to answer reporters' questions about his relationship with indicted Enron executive Kenneth J. Lay.

“Keep those motherfuckers away from me,” he screamed at an aide backstage. “If you can’t, I’ll find someone who can.”

Bush’s mental stability has become the topic of Washington whispers in recent months. Capitol Hill Blue first reported on June 4 about increasing concern among White House aides over the President’s wide mood swings and obscene outbursts.

Although GOP loyalists dismissed the reports an anti-Bush propaganda, the reports were later confirmed by prominent George Washington University psychiatrist Dr. Justin Frank in his book Bush on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President. Dr. Frank diagnosed the President as a “paranoid meglomaniac” and “untreated alcoholic” whose “lifelong streak of sadism, ranging from childhood pranks (using firecrackers to explode frogs) to insulting journalists, gloating over state executions and pumping his hand gleefully before the bombing of Baghdad” showcase Bush’s instabilities.

“I was really very unsettled by him and I started watching everything he did and reading what he wrote and watching him on videotape. I felt he was disturbed,” Dr. Frank said. “He fits the profile of a former drinker whose alcoholism has been arrested but not treated.”

Dr. Frank’s conclusions have been praised by other prominent psychiatrists, including Dr. James Grotstein, Professor at UCLA Medical Center, and Dr. Irvin Yalom, MD, Professor Emeritus at Stanford University Medical School.

The doctors also worry about the wisdom of giving powerful anti-depressant drugs to a person with a history of chemical dependency. Bush is an admitted alcoholic, although he never sought treatment in a formal program, and stories about his cocaine use as a younger man haunted his campaigns for Texas governor and his first campaign for President.

“President Bush is an untreated alcoholic with paranoid and megalomaniac tendencies,” Dr. Frank adds.

The White House did not return phone calls seeking comment on this article.

Although the exact drugs Bush takes to control his depression and behavior are not known, White House sources say they are “powerful medications” designed to bring his erratic actions under control. While Col. Tubb regularly releases a synopsis of the President’s annual physical, details of the President’s health and any drugs or treatment he may receive are not public record and are guarded zealously by the secretive cadre of aides that surround the President.

Veteran White House watchers say the ability to control information about Bush’s health, either physical or mental, is similar to Ronald Reagan’s second term when aides managed to conceal the President’s increasing memory lapses that signaled the onslaught of Alzheimer’s Disease.

It also brings back memories of Richard Nixon’s final days when the soon-to-resign President wondered the halls and talked to portraits of former Presidents. The stories didn’t emerge until after Nixon left office.

One long-time GOP political consultant who – for obvious reasons – asked not to be identified said he is advising his Republican Congressional candidates to keep their distance from Bush.

“We have to face the very real possibility that the President of the United States is loony tunes,” he says sadly. “That’s not good for my candidates, it’s not good for the party and it’s certainly not good for the country.”

So what was the Booche love all about? Had you met him briefly when making a request or did you give him your girl in exchange for the Wharf Rat?

So I haven't found the setlist yet but the canoe write up lays out alot of what they played. Looking good for tonight fo sho.

Prince 1 of 2

No different guy.

People have really mixed experiences in particular women. I have heard some horror stories actually a number of which were in the maritimes I believe about girls having someone come in their room at night or turning their doorknob. Creepy. I think it's a case by case person by person thing though.

It doesn't look like that hot a show on paper. A few of those songs look a bit unique and others not so much (Tons of Steel). Although Days Between I would like to see, that's one of the better Hunter tunes if you ask me.

Hearts of Summer held in trust

still tender, young and green

left on shelves collecting dust

not knowing what they mean

I'm pretty sure if this guy sees me again particularly wearing the Phil shirt he'll be on a short short leash- if I start smooching at him like 'hey big boy' I really wouldn't be surprised if he Superfly Snooka'd me from the top rope.

No don't. Seriously though was I cruisin' for a bruisin' hell yeah. Did they kick ass hell yeah. Did they kick my ass hell yeah. You know in the end I wasn't even being vocal, it's not like I was screaming you suck although I was expressing it through mime if you like. In the end who fu©king cares if I flipped them the bird or whatever it's rock and roll for christ's sake. How are you supposed to act, nod intently verging on twitching and shuffling back and forth on your spot. This limp dick sh!t drives me nuts. It's not like it's not embarassing for me to get called out on this sh!t but at the same point someone has to culture jam and it's not like I don't know what I'm talking about or trying to accomplish even if it's bastardly and subversive. Be glad I'm on your team my little bitches.

I'm never going to get anything done now. Liked these ones:

<PureBredConvict> i want to die like my pop did in his sleep - not like the two poor bastards that where in the car with him.

<Duzzy> today at work, i was cutting gras outside the local school.. and then a chick came up to me.. kissed me, squeezed my balls, gave me a note and the she ran of.. and i was like wtf?!? when I got my mind gathered I looked at the note and there was a phone number.. I should send an sms to it, and that was when I realized the bitch had stolen my cellphone =(

Whatever little crack buddy. Some element of truth to that I was being a dink mainly I was off my rocker with how badass the music was.

You guys are so fu©king gullible I can't believe you believed this and the Slip in Guelph sh!t.

The funny thing is it was the first night and I had literally been in the venue for an hour and a half. It dawned on me that this had to be some sort of new record- that I had incensed the lead singer of the next big thing enough in such a short period of time for him to literally kick my ass (or chest as it were). Beyond that it felt like Happy fu©king Birthday to me!

My plan is mainly to go to Golden Dogs shows wearing my Phil Collins shirt and stand up front and make little smooch faces at Vazzolini until he snaps. That and calling for Pseudio between every song.

Here's the version of the story I sent into ChartAttack and will likely send to Exclaim! as well. (What's the bit about the song name on the music stand all about monkey?):

Golden Dogs frontman Azzolini attacks fan at Hillside

I noticed your brief piece on The Golden Dogs and thought to tell you how their show went at Hillside. First of all the hype was all true- they really are just that good. They quickly reached crusing altitude and just worked the crowd up into a lather from there on. At this point I made my way up to the front of the stage and was throwing down with all of the other teenagers, agrarians, Aquarians and lesbian mamas. Everyone was having a grand old time. In my addled mind the notion of an Andy Kaufmanesque wrestling style villain seemed particularly a propos so I started flipping the band the bird (all the while ecstatic with joy at the discovery of this fine fine group) and giving them the gladiator style thumbs down. Now this apparently didn’t sit too well with Azzolini who somehow couldn’t reconcile the joyousness of my demeanour with a negative hand gesture or two. (How do you define irony again? The difference between the literal and perceived meaning) At this point he points to me and walks towards me and just hoofs me in the chest hard. I am not talking a stage kick I am talking a full on boot kick to the heart (smack dab between the eyes of the Phil Collins gracing my t-shirt- more on this later). This seemed like quite an honour at the time like a baptism by rock and roll fire. At the end of the set it became clearer that the fellow was not joking in the least as the house lights went up and he addressed the audience saying effectively ‘all you ladies you see this guy in the Phil Collins t-shirt, don’t touch him all weekend, he’s dirty, he’s got diseases’. At this point a half hearted boo arose from the crowd as the people who had been dancing their asses off partly due to the band and my exuberance tried to reconcile Dave’s remarks with the fact that I seemed like an alright person. I guess the best response to a Kaufmanesque style wrestling villain is a drop kick to the chest so in that regard it’s fitting. I mean I was flipping the punk rawk bird and he just took it one step further. That said what kind of a moron can’t tell the difference between a Dionysian lark and genuine contempt is beyond me. I mean the guy is a genius musician but not too bright if you ask me. In hindsight I wish that I realized he was actually assaulting me in which case I could have a) fought back charged him with assault c) sued his ass. But that would have taken away from the sheer comedic and pop brilliance of the whole moment. So the moral of the story is if you don’t want people to react with uncontrollable tourettes inspired savagery don’t demolish them with pure melodic grace and guts. That and there is no place for the Cock at a lesbian rock show.

Sincerely,

Luke Bowden

(And for the record I never did get laid after that)

Okay I really wanted to write all of this into a review but considering I am not likely to get around to that just yet here's the dirt. So basically the Golden Dogs are being touted as the next big thing much in the same way Metric and BSS were in their time. I didn't know what to make of the hype around them but as soon as they got going I forgot about my fatigue and just started flailing about up front. This digressed to the flipping the bird salute and the gladiator style thumbs down as an IRONIC expression of the joy I was experiencing. Seriously everything about my body language and facial expression would have described pure joy. Anyways it all seems like a dream now (more truly a nightmare) but effectively the lead singer guitarist Dave Azzolini points to me and I've got this sh!t eating grin on my face then he walks over to me and just fu©king hoofs me in the chest. Hard. It felt like the fu©king rock and roll baptism by fire. Of course I presumed it was all part of the act but when the lights came up and he announced to the entire audience (imagine 500 lesbians turning to glare at you simultaneously): 'Girls you see this guy in the Phil Collins shirt up front, don't touch him all weekend he's dirty, he's got diseases'. No fu©king kidding. Tungsten and a few others saw it all go down as did seemingly half of Hillside as I soon found out over the weekend as the story made the rounds. Now in hindsight the whole thing fu©king pisses me right off mainly because the guy full on assaulted me and could have broke my fu©king ribs and moreover I didn't realize he was assaulting me at the time and would have reacted far differently. What a fu©king dick. What did he expect me to do the middle age lesbian watoozie for the whole set?

Oh and the write up of their set in the Guelph Mercury says little or nothing about their music and refers only to 'in true rockstar-in-training fashion Dave Azzolini berated a fan- allegedly sporting a Phil Collins t-shirt no less- for his rude reception of their performance on the island stage'. You can tell the writer didn't see it all go down because they likely would have mentioned that he kicked me in the chest or called me a dirty. Oh sweet sweet vengeance do not fail me now.

What you seem to be talking about would in marketing speak be referred to as 'purchase process and buyer behaviour'. The answer to your question is largely subjective and likely would vary from person to person. For instance if you were talking about for instance lawn care as you mentioned or perhaps organic milk you are likely more concerned with environmental or health concerns than price points. Your purchase process is based on ethical principles which you activate through the buycotting of products and services.

What could a company do for you to make you switch to their service??

In this instance price is usually a high motivator but customer service can be just as relevant. Vengeance on the company you are currently with because of their bad customer service and/or pricing is often a motivator.

What would you need to see in order to leave a company that has provided you with good service??

Again this will greatly vary depending on the profile of your customer. In terms of the four P's of marketing {price, product, publicity and placement (distribution)} any combination of these factors may sway over a customer.

With more clarity on what you need I could probably be more helpful.

Look if this were the anniversary of Rick Danko's death and someone slagged him even off hand I'd lose it. Which is to say that Keith means more to you than to me. I was just making an offhand remark about how many 'Dead' anniversary's there are to keep track of. One should be vigilant about false piety is all. Although in this case perhaps the piety is well deserved.

I'd have to concur with your buddie's assessment.

my one friend thinks they are going for lower qualifications/standards b/c that way they can pay them less money.

You have to bear in mind that there is so much 'scammy' work going these days especially for young people that a lot of businesses try and weed out people that would pick up on the dodginess. It's like those 'marketing' companies that have ads that read 'Do you like loud music?' and it turns out to be door to door knife sales. I'm not saying that's the case here but it definitely sounds like you may have been a bit too savvy or unlikely to play ball whatever that entails.

You're right that I would not want to be disrespected in the grave. Death don't have no mercy though. I have a place in my heart for Keith but the whole phenomena of the Grateful Dead implies that due reverence needs to be shown to each and every individual who ever had anything to do with them. It's ramrod day, or merl day, or bruce joined the band day, or brent's third last overdose show, it's Vassar Clements half-week celebration with Martin Fierro guesting on sax. You get my drift.

yippideefuckingdoo

No it's not Wook #18

Drunken spectacle huh? Can't relate.

So while dicking around today and reading the Steely Dan bible, I ended up getting into interpretations of Dan songs, interpretation of Deacon Blues and a reference to Nathanael West's The Day of the Locust which happens to have a character named Homer Simpson. I am all but certain for a variety of reasons that this is Groening's basis for the character of Homer. Just look at this description:

Homer Simpson - Homer Simpson stands out in The Day of the Locust because he does not fit easily into the categories that Tod has created—Homer is certainly not a performer, like Faye or Harry, but he is not a member of the crowds that Tod hopes to paint either. Nonetheless, Homer is the nearest character to these disillusioned crowds who have come to California to die, and remain on the margins of the novel. Homer is an outsider, like Tod, but from the Midwest rather than the East. Unlike Tod, however, Homer is purposeless, his only aim being to forget an awkward sexual encounter he had with a tenant in the hotel in Iowa where he worked as a bookkeeper. Homer, successful at this repression, is a largely empty character. His liveliest features are his oversized hands, which fidget endlessly and act as an outlet for his repressed desires. A small part of the novel focuses on Homer's point of view, emphasizing the blankness of Homer's daily life and the fear and surprise that he feels when garish Hollywood intrudes upon it. Early in the novel, Tod judges that Homer is not quite one of the "starers," as Homer is shy instead of bitter. Yet, as the novel continues and Homer gives up his hope of sealing himself off from the world—away from sexual women especially—his shyness and meekness become instruments of a new bitterness. Homer victimizes others with his subservience in a passive- aggressive manner. This mutual victimization creates unresolvable tension that eventually erupts into the catastrophic violence that occurs at the end of the novel.

I got nothing.