Mr. Musicface

I once had an orange

That was made of silver...

crap

No idea Jaimoe, but my understanding is usually broadcast TV uses pan-and-scan mainly 'cus the resolution sucks so bad, you're losing tonnes of visual information by doing the box. DVDs can get away with it 'cus the base amount of info is so much higher that you can get a better picture.

Too bad, I agree pan-and-scan sucks. All time worst moment - JKF, where Costner is talking to Donald Sutherland on the bench, and they keep having to pan between them TOTALLY breaking the tension of the scene! Grrrr...

- M.

So to fill the large hole in it's schedule/revenue stream, CBC has just annouced it will show movies on Saturday nights during the hockey season. The schedule actually looks pretty good:

Oct. 16

Disney’s Dinosaur

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Jaws

Oct. 23

A Bug’s Life

Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom

Blazing Saddles

Oct. 30

Remember The Titans

Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade

Young Frankenstein

Nov. 6

Pocahontas

Back To the Future

Psycho

Nov. 13

Disney’s The Kid

The Mexican

The Birds

Nov. 20

Happy Gilmore

Bagger Vance

Tin Cup

Nov. 27

Disney’s Tarzan

A.I.: Artificial Intelligence

Rear Window

Dec. 4

Lilo and Stitch

Legally Blonde

Hustler

Dec. 11

Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron

The Last Castle

The Usual Suspects

Dec. 18

Alice Through The Looking Glass

The Royal Tenenbaums

Get Shorty

Peace,

Mr. M.

We'll probably have it on the CBC site after it's done. We posted Annan and Bush's speeches yesterday. (BTW I love Kofi, he's the only one willing to stand up and give the U.S. sh!t along with everyone else when they actually deserve it, rather than sucking up to them all the time.)

They'll likely either add it to this story:

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2004/09/22/martin_un040922.html

Or they'll post a new story. Check about 1 pm or so I'd say.

Peace,

Mr. M.

Nice bill! BTW what's the cover?

- M.

I'm going to get this " revised " trilogy, but fortunately I have the last issued original three video widescreen package ( the one in the Darth Vader box ). I hate the fact that Greedo shoots first. Han is great because he's an anti-hero. Greedo shooting first makes Han only a hero.

Exactly! It helps set-up the the whole struggle that we see within Han throughout the series, where he's struggling with his own self-interest vs. being part of something larger. You see him resolving this after the Jabba barge scene in ROTJ, where he thanks Luke for coming after him and he finally realizes that all these people love him too much to leave him behind, and he's really changed by that. But there's hints of this in all the movies, from his saving Luke at Yavin and Hoth as well as his relationship with Leia. It's Han's transformation throughout the 3 movies is actually a lot more interesting than that of any character IMHO.

- M.

I would like to think that he could still produce the AWESOME folk music that he used to release, if he wished to do so; to this day.

I actually just listened to his a cappella version of "Peace Train" off one of the links that Paisley posted in that other thread:

http://islam.about.com/library/weekly/aa102201a.htm

He certainly still can sing if nothing else! I believe he also sang at the Mandela tribute/AIDS benefit concert last year.

- M.

Just to add to the geekdom here. Lucas has also changed the Emporor in Empire Strikes Back and changes the dialog between Vader and The Emporor so it is now the Emporor who tells Vador that Luke is his son.

If you want to read an ULTRA-geeky discussion of this particular change, check this out:

http://www.nightly.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=025055;p=0

It's actually kinda interesting 'cus it ascribes pretty complex subtext to Vader and Palpatine that actually make this change somewhat justified. Personally I still don't think it was necessary but it doesn't change the story substantially.

He has also redone the Catneena scene so that Han now ducks and shoots at the same time as Greedo.

Goddamnit George, give it a rest! What's gonna happen in the next version, Greedo's gonna get hit by lightning. Let it go already!

- M.

He ain't no terrorist, just a washed-up, misguided folk singer.

I don't know if "washed-up" is fair - he decided not to be a performer anymore for his own deeply held reglious reasons, not 'cus he wasn't selling records anymore.

- M.

Stupidness. This is all because he made some slightly questionable statements about Salman Rushdie's book "The Satanic Verses" a bunch of years ago, statements that were (a) GROSSLY misinterpreted and ( he has long since apologised for. This is just idiotic paranoia - we're talking about the the dude who wrote "Peace Train" after all!

Peace,

Mr. M.

I'm unwilling to compromise on integrity. That seems to be the one thing that you can always stand behind and believe in to reach your goal(s).

Having principles is a big pain in the ass sometimes. It's what made me feel like I had to quit my last job, and it's what will probably ultimately make me quit my current one (although not for a while, I'm still having fun!)

My wife said to me the other day after an extended rant something to the effect of "apparently you just have to find somewhere to work where everybody tries to do everything the right way, and are willing to admit when they're wrong. Good luck with that." She's a smart lady.

- M.

I'm afraid for the health of my remaining family members.

Same here, although I do appreciate and accept the inevitability of death. I suppose it's the suffering, my own as much as anyone else's, that I fear the most.

That links directly to the part of me that is selfish, which is something about myself I dislike more than fear - although I do fear what my selfishness can make me do if I let it.

- M.

"St. Augustine In Hell" by Sting, particularly the spoken word breakdown part:

Relax, have a cigar, make yourself at home. Hell is full of high court judges, failed saints. We've got Cardinals, Archbishops, barristers, certified accountants, music critics, they're all here. You're not alone, you're never alone. Not here you're not.

Okay, break's over!

Peace,

- Mr. M.

I don't have a problem with most of that list, yes even "Roll The Bones" which admittedly is the cheesiest Rush single ever (although I was in a band that played it for a while, believe it or not) but where the hell is "Seasons In The Sun" by Terry Jacks?!? THAT is the worst Canadian song ever, hands down.

I do think "Spadina Bus", "Just Came Back" and even "She Ain't Pretty" are somewhat unfair inclusions. And "Black Velvet" isn't really that bad a song, I would have put "A Song Instead Of A Kiss" or whatever the hell that piece of crap is called up there instead. Yuck!

(Oh and dark star... screw you, I like that Paul Janz song.)

- M.

character animation is the hardest for CG stuff..

Meh, I don't buy it. Did anyone who saw LOTR for a second not buy Golem? I certainly didn't, I actually managed to completely forget that he was a totally CG character, and bought into everyone of the huge range of emotions he displayed, as well as all his actions.

The problem with Yoda, at least in part, is that we have this preconception of how he should look and move 'cus we've all got the amazingly well done Muppet in our heads. The biggest thing Lucas has to fight with every time he makes a new SW movie or any changes is everyone's memories.

Oh, and Jar Jar doesn't count 'cus he's just an annoying character, CG, puppet or otherwise.

- M.

LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME.

Where the hell is Qui-Gon's spirit? Answer me that Lucas you son of a bitch!

Maybe since Luke never met Qui-Gon, his spirit can't appear to him? I dunno, don't ask me how the friggin' Force works...

Slightly stranger is that Ben and Yoda never refer at all to Qui-Gon. TRULY strange is that Luke never asks, and is never told, anything at all about his mother! Once you found out your father was Darth Vader, wouldn't you want to know what the deal with your mother was?!? (There is, in fairness, one moment on Endor where Luke asks Leia about her mother, which of course is also his mother (but she doesn't know that until a few seconds later when he tells her) but wouldn't you think that he'd actually ask someone who knew her when they weren't an infant? But I digress...)

Anyway, Greedo shoots first is about as bad as a decision as has ever been made in film, and putting Hayen in there is kinda dumb and unnecessary, and I miss the old Ewok celebration song at the end of ROTJ that sounded like the Sesame Street theme, BUT I do like some of the things that Lucas tried to do with the special editions. For instance, restoring some of the scenes in New Hope, particularly Luke's brief reunion with Biggs before the Battle of Yavin, does add to the story in a positive way. And some of the effects are definitely gratuitous (the extra windows on Cloud City) but some are done with humour (the extra inhabitants seen riding into Mos Eisley) and taste (the remastering of many of the battle scenes to improve the contrast so we can see what's going on better).

On the whole personally I believe that less is more but the changes don't make these any less great. I would personally have liked to have both the original editions as well as the new ones on the DVDs, but hey I've got the videos of the originals so I can always dig those out.

Peace,

Mr. M.

"Cliffs of Dover", nice call dave-o!

I've said it before but I'll say it again, "YYZ" would be pretty obvious, as would some King Crimson ("Disipline", "Red", any part of "Larks Tounge" etc.)

Some Police could work, "The Other Way of Stopping" or even an instrumental version of a tune like "Deathwish" would be pretty cool.

Also, believe it or not I just got a copy of "The Bends" yesterday (yeh, yeh, yeh, I know I'm a little behind sometimes) and anyway I was thinking a version of "Bones" could be fun.

Or anything by The Darkness - can't you already hear Punk screaming "GET YER HANDS OFFA MY WOMAN MOTHAFUKA"?!?

Peace,

Mr. M.

And Mr. MusicFace, I learned that a concertina was a much smaller accordeon, octogonal in shape, with buttons on both ends (each a different note). The button accordeon you showed was the regular large rectangular in shape. Or maybe that's just the English concertina... (My fiddle teacher also played the concertina, so I know some of this.)

Yeh you're definitely right about the octogonal shape and buttons on both sides, my mistake to use them interchangably 'cus they are clearly different in that regard. Thanks for the clarification. However, I believe they do sound different notes on the draw and blow like a button accordion, correct?

All these images are from the great site http://www.larkinthemorning.com/ which I discovered quite recently. Lots of very cool mostly acoustic instruments.

Peace,

- M.

And what is really the difference between a violin and a fiddle?

I think this one is really just a difference in style. Fiddle is just more of an informal name, like calling a harmoinca a blues harp or mouth organ. I don't think there is any difference in the actual instrument played, but I could be wrong on this one.

As far as the trumpet/cornet/flugel horn thing goes, I think as brad says they are different sounding instruments that are played with the same basic technique. They each have 3 valves but lots of note changes are done with the embosure (i.e. lip and mouth techniques) rather than the valves. I think tuba and euphonium are also bigger members of the same family, so I think in principle if you can play one you can play 'em all. (I'm actually gonna check with Tara on this 'cus she plays trumpet and flugel horn.)

And hey, you guys write lots of interesting things that allow me to be a lazy ass in my own way, so I just see it as part of a great lazy-assed continum.

- M.

Musicface you were at a Fais Do Do.

Actually this seemed more like a little concert with chairs and vendors selling corn and stuff. And it was the middle of the afternoon and outside. I always thought of a fais do do as more like a house party with dancing and whatnot. But I could be wrong. It's happened before. Lots.

- M.

When I was down in Louisiana a few years ago, my wife and I stumbled a bit off the beaten path between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, and ended up at this crazy mini-cajun festival at an old plantation house. There were these 8 or 10 year kids playing some of the fastest, most insane music you've ever heard! One kid who couldn't have been more than 8 or 9, he would play accordion for a bit, sing a little (in French of course), then drop the accordion and pick up a fiddle, sing a bit more, then grab a guitar, and so on, and smoke on every part. Just nuts!!!

BTW thank god New Orleans doesn't look like it's gonna get totally destroyed by the hurricane (touch wood). I was really worried one of my favourite cities on the planet would be toast.

- M.

In fairness, there is a natural separation between zydeco and polka styles in part 'cus they actually use completely different instruments. The typical accordion used in cajun and zydeco music is a button-style accordion (also sometimes called a concertina) as seen here:

This style of instrument is typically diatonic (i.e. plays in one key such as C-major) and sounds different notes depending on if you are drawing or blowing air through the bellows of the instrument - in other words, if you change the direction you are pumping air, the notes change. This is basically the same principle as blowing in or out of a standard (non-orchestral) harmonica, you get different notes for each.

Polka music usually favours the piano accordion, as seen here:

This obviously uses a piano style keyboard for the right hand melody parts, and an AMAZING array of buttons for chords and bass notes as accompaniment. Although they have some visual similarity to those on the button accordion, these buttons always sound they same notes/chords regardless of whether air is going in or out of the bellows of the instrument.

(The preceding information was brought to you by your accordion-geek-in-residence.)

Peace,

Mr. M.

Yeh I just cued up "Lost In The Flood" from Live in NYC, fantastic later-day E-Street BTW, I recommend it highly.

SO glad I'm heading with Jef down to Ohio and Michigan to see him with John Fogerty (who will also be backed up by the E Steet band, THAT should be pretty amazing) and R.E.M. in October. Gotta love those swing states!

- M.

OH! I don't think anyone acknowledged 'ersh's post about hanging with The Constantines who are another terrific band, indie or otherwise. I think the idea of bands like that doing shows together is absolutely fantastic. Frankly I'd say BNB have at least as much in common with The Constantines as they do with say nero, other than that all 3 are great bands.

Anyway great stuff 'ersh, I'll certainly try to make some of these shows myself.

- M.

bruce springsteen: the wild the innocent and the e-street shuffle

bruce springsteen: greetings from asbury park

been listening to these all day and i think they're great pictorials of how indiejam music could sound if the 2 genres got all mashed up in a heady goulash. no wonder people were goin ape sh!t about him by the time born to run came around..

Okay, NOW you're talking! Bald Guy in A Blanket lent me this tape from I think about '74 of the E-Street Band. I'm sorry, no indie band, jam band, hell nearly any rock band in history could beat these guys when they were on their game for killer songs AND killer jams. The energy level they had was just unreal, and you totally get that just from listening to a crappy old cassette.

I know Bald Guy was making an arguement a little while back in another thread that I'll try to pick up on (he's back being teacher-boy now so is unlikely to be around much to pick this up himself). Anyway, the essential quote was "if your audience is bored, be less boring." Jam audiences (to make an unfair generalization) like hot playing, lots of interaction between the musicians and audience, so that's what they are going to respond to. Indie audiences (to make perhaps any even more unfair generalization) like great songs delivered with lots of energy. Can these things be mixed? Absolutely! Dig up some of those old Springsteen shows for proof.

- M.