First Noteworthy Album of 2006

I picked up the new Strokes album, First Impressions of Earth, a couple of weeks back but I didn't blog about it for various reasons; actually, only one: I was lazy. But now I am blogging about it to tell others that it is a very good album, one that should be mentioned come year-end list time next year. I say "noteworthy" and not "great" because it isn't a great album: it's a solid album that won't disappoint current fans but likely won't attract new ones. It's more aggressive, as though Julian Casablancas is through with his bouncy, happy-go-lucky songs of the past and now deals with harsher things. Rolling Stone will tell you that he comments on "God and fate and the meaning of the universe" and Spin reports that Casablancas "may incur accusations of terminal flameout." The lyrics are conveniently vague, but the music is darker, heavier, harder ("beefier") than the previous two albums; this album has some weight to it. Key songs are "Juicebox," "Heart in a Cage," "Razorblade" and "Ize Of the World." I'll give it three and a half meditative singers out of five.

Million little topics of discussion

I know this is an old story, but if you haven't read about the controversy surrounding James Frey's Million Little Pieces, read The Smoking Gun article here. It raises many questions about authorial intention blah blah blah, but if you like to see what gets Oprah squiriming, read all about it. Slate's take can be found here, or read about the book's "emotional truth" here. I really have no opinion, except that a good read is a good read, even if the author seems to misrepresent him-/herself. Would you enjoy a book any less if you knew more about the life of the author? Should you?

Update, finally

Sorry about the lack of posts lately - we've been a bit busy. My dad visited us from Manitoba last week. We showed him the sights as best we could, but due to unpredictable weather, we mostly stayed in and watched the first season of Lost (thanks Jess and Mark!). Now, we've stayed away from Lost for a few reasons, the main one being that we missed the first episode. This show is good. At least, it kept our attention for six straight nights. Now we have to catch up on Season 2. My dad and I also went to see Munich on Friday. It is a great film. Some people don't like him for his "Hollywoodization," but he makes enjoyable films: that's the bottom line for any paying customer. Anyhoo, it was a great visit with my dad. It was really good to see him and we enjoyed having him at our humble abode. I've also been working a lot in the last few days, and as such am a bit rundown: I've got that nasty cold everyone seemed to get over the holidays. Not to worry, the blogging should be back to normal now.

The Biggest of 2005: The 200 Bestselling Books of the Year

As an employee of Chapters, I am familiar with most of these titles. It is an interesting contrast to any "best of" list, though there will inevitably be some crossover. Check it out, but kindly disregard the incorrect use of "it's" in the first paragraph - I'm sure the editors of this site need not be reminded of the irony of a grammatical error on a top-selling books list. Or perhaps it's indicative of the growing divide between "literary" and "popular". You decide.
The Biggest of 2005: The 200 Bestselling Books of the Year

Quick! Buy books!

The advent of the Sony Reader may change the book industry - for real, this time. For years, book purists have been lamenting the "death of the book" in the face of digital technology; for years, the paper book has thrived nonetheless (evidence at Chapters is overwhelming). The drawbacks of digital technology, such as the low-quality reading screen of computers, have prevented ebooks from replacing published books. I, for one, feel that the paper book will never become obsolete. However, Sony is making me question my confidence. The new Reader, a hand-held screen about the size of trade paperback, may just change the way people think about books and reading. Read this article from David Derbyshire of The Daily Telegraph; then check out the Reader's main site. Will the book become obsolete? I hope not.

Starbucks revealed

I used to think that Starbucks was just an overrated product, an easy and convenient way to get coffee without much consequence. However, two things have changed my outlook: one, I now work for The Second Cup; two, I've had some decidedly bad cups of coffee at Starbucks lately. Since I also work at Chapters, it is difficult to not go to Starbucks, but I feel that even the trip to Tim's is worth it over a cup at Starbucks. Tim Harford, I think, agrees with me: his recent Slate article examines the economics of the "tall" cappuccino. At the Second Cup, our regular size is smaller than the SB's tall, making it a better drink (we also add a touch of love). Coffee drinkers and economists, and especially coffee-drinking economists, will enjoy this article.


Starbucks Economics

Yay Canada!!!

We may complain about the weather, but we're not complaining about Canada's junior team - a perfect 6-0 for the second straight year and a second straight gold medal. The Canadians beat the Russians soundly, convincing those naysayers that Canada is always in the hunt for the gold. Yay hockey!

Farewell, Irving

No, not John Irving but Irving Layton - one of Canada's most important - and controversial - poets. He was a Jewish writer from Montreal, contemporary with Mordecai Richler, A.M. Klein, Al Purdy, as well as mentor to later poets, particularly Leonard Cohen. He is a great favourite of mine, as he is, I feel, the Canadian equivalent to D.H. Lawrence. Read more about him here and here. In tribute, here's a favourite Layton poem of mine:

Whatever Else Poetry is Freedom

Whatever else poetry is freedom.
Forget the rhetoric, the trick of lying
All poets pick up sooner or later. From the river,
Rising like the thin voice of grey castratos - the mist;
Poplars and pines grow straight but oaks are gnarled;
Old codgers must speak of death, boys break windows,
Women lie honestly by their men at last.

And I who gave my Kate a blackened eye
Did to its vivid changing colours
Make up an incredible musical scale;
And now I balance on wooden stilts and dance
And thereby sing to the loftiest casements.
See how with polish I bow from the waist.
Space for these stilts! More space or I fail!

And a crown I say for my buffoon's head.
Yet no more fool am I than King Canute,
Lord of our tribe, who scanned and scorned;
Who half-deceived, believed; and, poet, missed
The first white waves come nuzzling at his feet;
Then damned the courtiers and the foolish trial
With a most bewildering and unkingly jest.

It was the mist. It lies inside one like a destiny.
A real Jonah it lies rotting like a lung.
And I know myself undone who am a clown
And wear a wreath of mist for a crown;
Mist with the scent of dead apples,
Mist swirling from black oily waters at evening,
Mist from the fraternal graves of cemeteries.

It shall drive me to beg my food and at last
Hurl me broken I know and prostrate on the road;
Like a huge toad I saw, entire but dead,
That Time mordantly had blacked; O pressed
To the moist earth it pled for entry.
I shall be I say that stiff toad for sick with mist
And crazed I smell the odour of mortality.

And Time flames like a paraffin stove
And what it burns are the minutes I live.
At certain middays I have watched the cars
Bring me from afar their windshield suns;
What lay to my hand were blue fenders,
The suns extinguished, the drivers wearing sunglasses.
And it made me think I had touched a hearse.

So whatever else poetry is freedom. Let
Far off the impatient cadences reveal
A padding for my breathless stilts. Swivel,
O hero, in the fleshy grooves, skin and glycerine,
And sing of lust, the sun's accompanying shadow
Like a vampire's wing, the stillness in dead feet -
Your stave brings resurrection, O aggrieved king.

"O Layton, your dead feet will never be so alive now that you are one with the earth. Breathless! It is the mist and the wind, blowing the mist across my face with such aggression and jealousy that I do not fall and bow. Whatever else, Layton, your poetry is freedom, and we your subjects."

Great news for the New Year

The previous post documented some of the moments that made our weekend so great. But one such moment requires its own post. Lindsay and Monique came back from Australia (where they spent Christmas) engaged to be married. Congratulations! Bonnie and I are extremely happy for the happy couple, who will most certainly have a wonderful life together.

New Year's festivities galore!

This year's New Year's celebrations were by far the best I've ever experienced. We had a full house - the Prairies were well represented by Bonnie, Scott, Lindsay, Monique and I. We went to three major museums: National Art Gallery, Canadian War Museum, Museum of Civilization. We hit a hockey game, walked around Parliament Hill, went to a Scottish pub, replete with piper, for New Year's Eve. Everyone left today and Bonnie and I are certainly sad. We will never, ever, forget this year - our first Christmas away from home was joyous and fantastic (though we still missed going home for Christmas). As I said, we'll never forget it; with the following pictures, nor will you:

This is the War Museum. The building is tremendous - a great tribute to our past, present and future soliders.

Here's Bonnie putting on her happy face at The Highlander. She pretty much smiled the whole night, except after doing those tequila shooters.


Here's me, Bonnie, Lindsay and Monique shortly before New Year's. We enjoyed ourselves immensely.


This is Scott's happy face talking to Ben at Saskatchewan New Year (we celebrated twice).

Well, there you have it. Those are just some of the moments of our weekend that made it most memorable - Bonnie and I are lucky to have such wonderful friends. Happy New Year, everyone!

Friends-a-plenty in Ottawa

Our house is full today - Scott, Lindsay and Monique are all in town and bunking with us. A full house, or fuller, anyway, but much appreciated. "The more the merrier" seems to be the motto of the day. Today we are going to the War Museum, and then tonight Chubby, Scott and I are going to the Islanders-Sens game at the Corel Centre. It should be a fun filled day!

Merry Crochet-mas?

Bonnie has recently taken up crochet. We now have many a dishcloth with fancy colours, in addition to some bigger projects: Bonnie made herself a toque. It is the cutest thing I've ever seen:
She's just relaxin' in her new toque, not a care in the world: just how a toque should make you feel. Bonnie's new hobby borders on obsession after only a month and a bit. That's some addictive stuff! While she can't get enough of crocheting, I can't get enough of Kill Bill. Bonnie insightfully gave me vols. 1 & 2 for Christmas (which we promptly watched), concretizing what was only a passing fancy. I really like those movies, or that movie, as Tarantino would no doubt say. I think they're in my top 10 (as one entry). We are also enjoying microwave popcorn for the first time in a while, as my mom and my sister got us a microwave for Christmas It's so useful! You can cook a lot of different things in a microwave. Like eggs. Who knew? Though the microwave is useful, we haven't forgotten about our beloved toaster oven, which has served us dutifully for years. You can't toast stuff in a microwave oven, and that will never change, no matter how advanced the technology gets. Anyhoo, Bonnie and I quite enjoyed our Christmas. It was a nice, relaxing day and we talked to our families and friends throughout. Though I worked Christmas Eve and Boxing Day, I still felt like I had a nice long, break. Scott's coming to Ottawa today and Lindsay and Monique are coming tomorrow: we'll have a full house for New Year's, but, as far as I'm concerned, the more the merrier!

PS here's what I mean about Bonnie's new hobby being a "big" thing:

PPS "toque" isn't in the blogger spellcheck dictionary. No surprise there. When will Americans adopt the term?

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Samberg and Parns save Christmas

If you missed last week's SNL (with Jack Black), you also missed a kickass "digital short" from Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell ("Samberg and Parns"). Slate's Josh Levin writes about it here: "Andy Samberg (aka Samberg) calls up Chris Parnell (aka Parns) 'just to see how he's doin'.' Soon enough, they 'mack on some cupcakes' from the West Village's Magnolia Bakery and debate which online map service will reveal the 'dopest route' to an Upper West Side screening of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Then the chorus kicks in: 'We love that Chronic—what?—cles of Narnia / Pass that Chronic—what?—cles of Narnia.'" Though the article is a pretentious jab at SNL's "decline", he thankfully links to the video. Check it out for that reason alone, but if the description above doesn't convince you, he also provides a link to the infamous "more cowbell" sketch about the making of Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper". Consider it a Christmas bonus.

Holiday spirit rising

Okay, so this morning Garry wasn't a happy bunny. Indeed, I was sad being away from friends and family for Christmas, plus the fact that I am working a heck of a lot in the next week. However, the holiday spirit has reached me this evening and today was, in the end, a good day. Chapters is really busy and sometimes frantic but people are always nice - only one or two rude customers today. I was cheered by the store spirit - people are happy when they find what they want for loved ones. I also heard from Scott today. He's coming up to visit us on the 28th to celebrate New Year's here in Canada. Then, on the 29th, our friends from Sk Lindsay and Monique are coming to Ottawa on their way home from Australia, where they are spending Christmas. It will be a fantastic Sk reunion for the New Year. Bonnie and I are quite excited. And this weekend, we are going to have a nice Christmas, even if it is just the two of us. So don't worry! We are happy and cheerful in this holiday season.

Christmas season - *sigh*

It's really early in the morning and I'm about to head off to work and it's cold - cold for here, anyway. It just got thinking this morning that it isn't like Christmas at all. We have the tree up, and I've been eating chocolate like there's no tomorrow, and we've received several packages from home - but Christmas in three days? Doesn't seem possible. I am getting a little sad for home, and worried that Christmas will be so different that we won't hardly recognize it. But the important part is that Bonnie and I are together and we'll make it our own Christmas - and it won't be bad. We miss everybody terribly, though. Enjoy your day, everybody.

A Christmas Must-Read

Marshall Heyman's review of The Truth About Diamonds by Nicole Richie, available here, proves that celebrities should be encouraged to write more books about their lives so that the average person can gain access to the glittering world of the famous. The book seems to have something to offer everyone. Even those of us who are fairly well-read can learn more about the English language. For example, I can now add the triple negative to my repertoire of writing tricks: "We were nothing if not unoriginal," the narrator, a character named Nicole Richie, tells us about her friends. Richie's language is rich and powerful, presenting the reader with similes and metaphors that will remain with her forever: A reporter is "harder to get rid of than body lice." Kicking heroin "is kind of like the worst flu you ever had combined with the worst food poisoning you could imagine, and then times the whole thing by forty." No matter how hard I try, I know I will never be able to create such gems.

I am truly in awe of such brilliance. I can only hope to find this under the tree on Christmas morning.

Christmas at Parliament Hill

Whatever the collective opinion of the occupants of the Parliament Buildings here in Ottawa, the buildings themselves are truly magnificent this winter. Bonnie and I ventured to the Hill this Saturday to take in the lights: The glint off the centre path made for some incredible images. In one picture Bonnie's breath is visible, making for another great shot: Here's one of Bonnie in her new coat:
Here's one of the "Saskatchewan" tree:
Ottawa is quite beautiful this time of year. Pretty soon we'll be skating on the Canal - we'll put pictures up then, too.

John Lennon 1940-1980

Today is the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's untimely death. I still get a little choked up when I think of the life that was wasted; while Mark David Chapman rots in prison getting fed and staying warm and being able to live, all those who loved John Lennon and/or his music must mourn eternally. This day was good, however, as I successfully convinced the management at Chapters to play 2 full hours of Lennon in the store today in homage, and I plan on listening to more Lennon here at home. If you can, listen to some Lennon music today, either The Beatles or his solo work, but hopefully not The Plastic Ono Band.

Anatomy of a Latte

Okay so this is a cappuccino, but they're virtually identical. Yesterday I was tutored in the ways of the barista, and I can now steam milk like no one else, save for, perhaps, every other coffee shop employee in the world. I made some mean hot chocolates last night during my second shift at The Second Cup. The customers had to wait while I fumbled my way through the process, but they weren't disappointed. Well, some of them may have been, but I didn't hear about it. It's a great place to work, however; my co-workers are all friendly and helpful, and we all want to serve the customer the best we can. I know this sounds like a shameless plug, but it's true. Anyhoo, I work again on Sunday night, and then on Monday morning at Chapters. I'll be tired, for sure, but those Christmas gifts aren't going to buy themselves.