Across the Universe in 131 minutes

Last night I saw the movie Across the Universe with some friends. Having seen a trailer for the movie about six months ago--a Beatles-fueled anti-war movie set in the Veitnam era--I was very excited to see this movie. Unfortunately, I realized that even a little help from Lennon & McCartney and Co., is not enough to float a whole musical.

And that's what it is: a musical, which was a bit of a surprise to me. Being a fan of good musicals, and being a major fan of Beatles songs, I was still on board for what I was about to see. Unfortunately, the movie felt like a patchwork of music videos put together by UCLA film students; equal parts "Dreamgirls," "Born on the 4th of July," and "High School Musical."

The film's premise is clumsy and falls under the weight of its own aspirations. Jim Sturgess's Jude character has a distinctive McCartney-esque look to him, and hails from Liverpool. When Jude decides to cross the pond to find his war-vet father, he befriends Max, and falls in love with Max's sister, Lucy, who--after her first boyfriend is killed in Vietnam--becomes a fervent anti-war protestor. Along the way, this threesome pick up more friends, conscpicuously named Sadie, Prudence, JoJo, etc...., and the hits keep coming.

The movie has many interesting cameos, including Joe Cocker (raspy and awesome as ever, playing a bum and a pimp,) Bono (playing a guru LSD shaman character), and Salma Hayak as a sultry nurse easily stirring the Florence Nightingale effect in her patients. I lost my patience when Eddie Izzard appeared in a tired, trippy drug scene that just got weirder and weirder.

The imagery isn't subtle, including the most heavy-handed image of the movie: a host of soldiers carrying Lady Liberty during, arguably the best Beatles song ever, "She's So Heavy."

Don't get me wrong, the music is as awesome as Beatles songs are capable of, "She's So Heavy," being no exception. But if you want to get anything out of this movie, buy the soundtrack and stay at home. John may have said "All you need is Love," but this film proves that you may need a little bit more than that... at least if you want to get through a long film.

Life after Falkner

My life is divided into two separate eras: life before Jellyfish and life after Jellyfish. Jellyfish is a band whose brief two-album career made waves in the music community of the early 90s. Quite apart from the grungy music of the time, Jellyfish's music was at once innovative, while paying unambiguous homage to classic groups like The Beatles, Queen, ELO, among others.

I'm not sure if this is a singular experience of mine, or if there are others like me, who find a great band which acts as a porthole to other great music. Jellyfish was my first great find; I felt like an archaeologist discovering an ancient burial ground of lost treasures. While only two albums deep, Jellyfish caused me to discover amazing artists such as Jason Falkner, Jon Brion, the Grays, Roger Joseph Manning Jr. and a host of other spin-offs and pairings. The two most significant off-shoots of Jellyfish in my personal history have been Jon Brion, whose considerable talent has received love on this blog before, and Jason Falkner.

Due to the infrequent nature of his touring schedule, I have not been able to witness the spectacle of the latter's brilliance. Until this Thursday, that is. And now when I describe my life, I may just be able to divide it into two distinct categories (quite apart from the above categories): life before Falkner, and life after Falkner.

Perhaps the significance of the event is somewhat exaggerated here, but he puts on an amazing show, despite playing almost entirely from a new album which no one on this continent has been able to legally purchase (until the night of his concert during which, I was sad to find out, every single copy of his disc was sold out before I ambled over and tried to buy a copy).

Despite the fact that I wasn't familiar with most of Jason's song's that night, his performance was stellar. His voice is flawless. Indeed, he has no problems singing in low ranges all night, and then dramatically soaring over our heads in a vocal manoeuvre that takes his songs to new heights. He is such a master of his craft that even a steady, pounding, simple rock riff on an A chord can be transformed into a dynamic delight. As a musician, I can appreciate his tone, his playing and his craftsmanship. As a lover of music, I can appreciate how great his songs are; the elegant melodies bouncing off the walls.

The night also had some peripheral fun: Alanis Morissette was sitting beside me the whole night. She was obviously trying to keep a low profile (we were both seated in the back), but I could see her giant teeth peeking behind her chestnut hair, which she draped in front of her like a veil. Although I'm not a fan of Alanis's later material, she clearly has good taste herself, as she seemed to enjoy Jason's music (at least from what I could tell).

Jason played a riveting set, almost two hours of new music, energetic rock, and delectable jams. He is, and shall remain, among my favourite artists.

Before I go, I will point out that the opening band, Castledoor, was a rare surprise in an opening band. Despite what you may guess from their less-than-stellar name, this six-piece band, comprised of drums, bass, guitarist, singer, and two keyboardist/singer/abstract instrumentalists kept me constantly guessing, while imbuing their songs with hooky melodies and catchy beats. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time with this group, and I can say without hyperbole (which I am prone to do) that this was the best surprise of an opening band I've ever witnessed. That not be saying much, but it is meant to. Readers are encouraged to check them out here.

Interview with Canada: ten questions.

Hi Canada. Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to speak with us.

Canada: No problem. I wasn’t really doing anything anyway.

Q: So what have you been up to lately?

A: I’m working on a solo album. It’s sort of a mix between Joni Mitchell and Nickelback, with a little bit of jazz mixed in. Oh, and I’ve started my own clothing line. “Canad-uh Clothing,” as in, “duh, don’t you want to buy this?” It’s really avant-guard.

Q: Canada, everyone’s dying to know- what makes you so special?

A: If you don’t already know, I’m not going to tell you.

Q: Fair enough. If there was a war between Europe and the United States, which side would you fight with?

A: Hmmm, that’s a tough one. I’d probably wait and see what Australia did, then do the opposite.

Q: Boxers or briefs?

A: Commando a la Paris Hilton.

Q: Why do you like hockey so much?

A: Uh, I dunno. I guess hockey is my passion. That, and trading beaver pelts, while eating whale blubber in my igloo with your Mom.

Q: What’s a toque?
A: It’s the correct way to spell and write ‘beanie’ or wool hat.

Q: If I sew a Canadian flag on my backpack while traveling abroad, I am….

A: An imposter. Build up your own good will, asshole.

Q: If you could be any other country, what country would you be?
A: Burkina Faso. I don’t know why.

Q: What’s your least-favourite part of Canada?
A: My butt-hole (aka Windsor).

Q: Last question. Any hobbies?

A: Antagonizing America is kinda fun. But you gotta keep it within reason. America still owes me money after last Friday’s poker game.

20 Best band names:

Below is a list of my favourite band names. This is not to be confused with my favourite bands, because there is rarely, if every, a correlation between talent and good band names. Case in point, The Beatles. Stupidest band name, possibly ever. There are some very good bands here, but a list of my favourite bands would include some very boring names (Jellyfish among them). So here it is, 20^th to first:

20) I Mother Earth

19) The Dead Kennedys

18) The Violet Burning

17) The Tragically Hip

16) Dogs Die in Hot Cars

15) The Mars Volta

14) Belle and Sebastian

13) Sneaker Pimps

12) …And You Will Know Us by Our Trail of Dead

11) Ned’s Atomic Dustbin

10) Deathcab for Cutie

9) Fountains of Wayne

8) The Polyphonic Spree

7) The Jesus and Mary Chain

6) Toad the Wet Sprocket

5) They might be giants

4) The Velvet underground

3) Guided by Voices

2) Joy Division

1) Depeche Mode -- A French prostitute? It just doesn't get any better than that!

A few notable runners-up:

A Cat Born In An Oven Isn't a Cake
Accidental Goat Sodomy
Adventures in Shrubbery
The Band Formerly Known As Sausage

Mott the Hoople

Dillinger Escape Plan

Apples in Stereo

I feel the earth move under my feet

I've been living in California for almost two years now and, although I've slept through a few earthquakes, I have never actually felt one. Until this morning. About 17 miles east of our apartment, there was a 4.7 magnitude quake which shook our bed a little bit. Nothing too crazy, but I can finally say I've felt a quake.

Adventures in Dog-sitting

This weekend, Dara and I had agreed to watch our friend, Hilary's, Dog (Ciera). Ciera is a big, cute, geriatric, golden retriever who has always been very friendly. We've watched her in the past (usually three walks a day), and we glad to do it again.

Unfortunately, we noticed first thing yesterday that Ciera seemed to be pretty sick. I won't get into the gritty details, but it starts with a D and ends with rrhea, which wasn't a good sign. This morning when we went to walk her, we noticed a minefield of poo-patties all over the livingroom carpet. Poo-patties and vomit and all kinds of fun things! So we took the dog to the vet, only to find out that she has pancreatitis, a possibly deadly inflammation of the pancreas. Fortunately for poor little Ciera, we got her to the vet in time. The vet told us that, if we hadn't, she probably would have died. Unfortunately, it means we have a little poop bomb on our hands for the weekend. Hopefully she'll feel better soon.