Jaimoe

Cornmeal!

It may be that I was subjected to "Shane" in Grade 8. I was OK with Westerns before that. Jack Palance, Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Ben Johnson, Van Heflin, Brandon De Wilde and directed by George Stevens = one of the best westerns ever. Maybe you should stay away from this thread.

The Frames - The Cost certainly deserves Best Of props.

You see Julia, Timothy sucks in almost everything he's done EXCEPT for Deadwood. He's fantastic in his role as real life ex-Marshall Seth Bullock. The western as a film genre contains some of the greatest movies and television shows ever made. If a film is good, it really shouldn't matter what genre it is in.

Rome ended because of a 10-1 ratio of people watching Desperate Housewives over Vorenus, Marc Antony, Pullo and company. It didn't help that Rome cost 10 mil. an episode either. Deadwood ended through similar circumstances. Both shows are two of the best dramas I've ever seen.

Great fight, but Rome II can't be beat.

I guess it was better than Sweeney Todd?

As far as I'm concerned, what jay sanislo just wrote should be the theme of '08: "I think im gonna have to get back into the beer soon!"

NBC is doing a good job too. I've got both feeds on at work. Too bad Sam Roberts was only shown on the CBC's second intermission.

Here's a complete live "Failure to Some" video from the Mod Club show I reviewed - via youtube. It's an audience shot camera-video with poor audio and "direction", but it still captures some of the magic (especially in the end jams) of that great rendition:

One of the things that I find thrilling about tonight's win against the Hornets is that the team proves to a man that they are consistently coachable. Well done boys!

I finish work at 7 tonight and work at 7am tomorrow. I'll be in bed by 10:30. Have a good night everyone. At least I'll be making double-time and a half for 11 hours tomorrow.

I thought this was a post about Yngwie Malmsteen.

If I were a Yank, I'm not sure if I would have voted for David Cobb since I don't know who he is. Your scored -1.5 on Moral Order and 4 on Moral Rules. The following categories best match your score (multiple responses are possible): 1. System: Socialism 2. Ideology: Social Democratism 3. Party: No match. 4. Presidents: Jimmy Carter 5. 04' Election: David Cobb 6. 08' Election: Barrack Obama Of the 401,969 respondents (254 on Facebook): 2% are close to you. 45% are more conservative. 40% are more liberal. 8% are more socialist. 2% are more authoritarian. Next Steps

And this is for 'ersh and anyone else interested in the film or the band that the two stars are in or even The Frames. Here's my Once and subsequent Swell Season concert review for anyone who doesn't cruise the main page of concert section. http://www.jambands.ca/sanctuary/showtopic.php?tid/244023/

Music is the key to the film's plot, but it's not a musical. The songs are set-piece performances and are shot live and in their entirety. It's a story about a desparate lonely busker dealing with a break-up who meets a young girl who happens to dig his music. It's powerful stuff. Glen Hansard is the leader of the band The Frames and his songs are incredibly moving and he can sing like a motherfucker. BTW, I don't like musicals either and I'd never recommend one to anyone on this site. Once is an owner DVD, period. I bought it for Booche for Christmas. Good luck finding it in the stores. It sold out in many Toronto stores before Christmas.

I'm freaking out right now. I was in the process of posting a picture of Jeff Buckley's "Grace" album (which I listened to in the car ride to Kingston today) and low and behold, the CBC radio announcers just started talking about Jeff Buckley and his recording legacy.

My home computer speakers are off, but I see it's The Hold Steady. I don't need speakers to know that the song kicks ass.

Mike, you don't need to spend 5 grand. I didn't. You can get a decent speaker package with sub for $500-$600. You can get a decent entry level stereo with a good name for $300. Why buy a hunk of junk system for $300 when you'll be just buying something better (and more expensive) in a few years time? And we'll see if 7.1 becomes standard. Only a small percentage of films utilize 6.1 let alone 7.1.

And another thing, don't nickel and dime when you finally get around the nerve to buy. Get the best deal, but not at the cost of a good and suitable set. And Brad, get a fucking good sound-system - think how good all that sci-fi you've horded will sound? A good sound-system will make your TV look bigger and better too. Trust me, that comment makes sense to all of us in the HD know. And don't buy an all-in-one girly surround system. They are junk. Go to an indendent store and build from the receiver outwards.

And I think Andre, headymama wants to know if the picture will look better with a new HD TV but with her regular digital cable package and no HD upgrade. The answer is: NO. The regular digital channels will look better on your old tube TV.

I've seen some awesome A/V DLP's, but I don't think it would work above Brad's fireplace given the size of the screen needed. BTW Brad, once you get the TV, if you don't get an HD television package, you're wasting your money.

So, I went for a walk tonight on my lunch break down to the Roy Thompson Hall area of Toronto in quest to touch Oscar Peterson's plaque on The Toronto Walk of Fame. I checked every plaque. I danced on Toler Cranston, spat on Pam Anderson, stomped on Diana Krall, got a little angry while regarding the merits of fully integrated Americanized Canadians being honoured: Paul Shaffer, Rich Little, Monty Hall, Robert Goulet, William Shatner and Jack Warner. But no Oscar Peterson. Oscar Peterson! I thought he was an early inductee. Shirley this is an oversight for this proud Canadian, Mississauga resident and national icon. Stars don't buy their way onto the sidewalk a la The Hollywood Walk of Fame. Oscar should have been one of the first choices in the inaugural year in 1998, hounoured right next to Glen Gould, Pierre Berton and Bobby fucking Orr. Why not make room for Oscar by removing one or both of two other 1998 inductees Bryan Adams and Jacques Villeneuve? This is disgraceful, I tell you what.

I really like this article in today's Toronto Star: In the key of Oscar Dec 26, 2007 Ashante Infantry Pop & Jazz Critic Throughout his lifetime, Oscar Peterson's contribution to the jazz pantheon was properly recognized, but failing health caused the legendary player to miss a special tribute earlier this year. On June 8, a multi-generational lineup of jazz greats, including trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and pianists Marian McPartland and Hank Jones, celebrated the "master of swing" at New York's Carnegie Hall where his 1949 debut catapulted him onto the international stage. By the time the musicians arrived for a sound check at the venerable concert theatre that Friday afternoon, a poster size photo of Peterson stage right of the piano confirmed what had been rumoured, that he would not attend as expected due to illness. As the musicians – 21 deans and up-and-comers – waited for their turn to run through songs composed or popularized by Peterson, the words "genius" and "inspiration" peppered their conversations. "We're part of that Peterson legacy," said bassist Christian McBride, 35, rueful about another missed opportunity to meet the musical icon. Trumpeter Clark Terry who had known Peterson since the early '50s and is godfather to his youngest child, Celine, credited O.P. – as the nonpareil tunesmith was known among peers – for letting him debut his trademark nonsense singing "Mumbles" on Peterson's 1964 recording Oscar Trio Plus One. "With all respect to all the great pianists in the world, he is No. 1," said Terry, 87. "Whether it's a ballad, or swinging, or jumping, he knows how to make you feel lifted. And like Count Basie and Duke Ellington, he is a great accompanist to a soloist." Saskatchewan native Renee Rosnes, 45, was the only Canadian on the bill. "For me, he is state of the art in music excellence and where he has taken jazz piano," said the performer who chose to play "Ballad of the East" from Peterson's well-known Canadiana Suite. "I just gravitated toward the piece," she said. "It has a beautiful melody and shows his more tender side. It's a special recording as composition, then as a tribute to the country where I'm from." The 90-minute concert, which took place before a near-capacity crowd of 2,700 – with Peterson's wife, Kelly, (occasionally wiping tears) and daughter, Celine, watching from the second balcony – was organized like the popular concert series known as Jazz at the Philharmonic which brought Peterson to the fore 58 years ago. Though he performed at Carnegie Hall more than 30 times – the final in 1999 – his first appearance, on Sept. 17, 1949, was legendary because impresario Norman Granz pretended to spontaneously invite the 24-year-old unknown from the audience to sit in, though he'd brought Peterson from Montreal for that very purpose. Accompanied by bassist Ray Brown – with whom he and guitarist Herb Ellis later formed a distinguished trio – on tunes such as "Tenderly" and "Fine and Dandy," Peterson dazzled the crowd and was invited to stay for the remainder of the set. The following day, a Canadian newspaper headline declared: "Oscar sets New York on its heels!" In his 2002 bio, A Jazz Odyssey: My Life in Jazz, Peterson recalled being welcomed back to Montreal "with congratulatory abandon."

Tons of accolades and tributes are still pouring in for Oscar, but I particularly love this one from Herbie Hancock: "Oscar Peterson redefined swing for modern jazz pianists for the latter half of the 20th century up until today. I consider him the major influence that formed my roots in jazz piano playing. He mastered the balance between technique, hard blues grooving, and tenderness ... No one will ever be able to take his place."