the pod bay door

:: What a difference two weeks make. Two weeks ago, Ashlee Simpson reduced the musical history of Saturday Night Live to one of its lowest points ever. Last week, Modest Mouse brought the level back up to where it belongs, enough to convince me to purchase their new and second newest albums. Tonight, U2 raised the bar much higher. I finished watching the east coast feed of SNL, the actual “live” broadcast, which I can watch at 9:30 pm here in Edmonton, because I have digital cable which carries the Detroit NBC affiliate. U2 opened with Vertigo, followed with a brilliant and moving ballad from the new album (don’t know the name yet), and closed the show by bringing the house down with “I Will Follow”. Rarely do bands perform three songs on SNL (I can think of Springsteen, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., and Paul Simon – there are probably a handful of others.)

I felt exhilarated watching them perform on the show. During the closing number, the entire cast of SNL was off to the right, watching, enthralled and entranced, smiling broadly, almost in disbelief that U2 was actually performing in their house. I taped the show, and rewound to watch them perform again afterwards. Three amazing performances, inspiring to watch and experience. A great band, about to hit the top again. Last Sunday, Jon Parales, writing in the NYTimes, suggested that How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb is the best album of their 25-year career.

What dumbfounds me is that Lorne Michaels presents us with top notch bands like U2 and Modest Mouse, but counters with absolute assembly line shyte like Simpson. Perhaps U2’s performance will encourage him to book top-notch high quality bands that actually perform live, well crafted, original music on a live show, and that haul ass while doing it. HTDATB will hit #1 within days of its release on Tuesday. Its purchase will be an antidote if you will, to help me forget about the upcoming result of our forthcoming provincial coronation election on Monday.

:: I’m in Winnipeg. My cousin Barbara’s wedding is tomorrow (Oct 9th, not the 7th). Tonight is a dinner at Tony and Claire‘s house, a veritable feast of Dutch-Indonesian culinary delights, including Nasi Goreng and rijstaffel. Claire notes here that she is cooking for 17 (or 18), and the ensemble tonight includes a number of her friend as well. The edible hedgehog is a durian, resembling some kind of mutated pineapple thingee.

I’ve been sleeping and/or napping a lot here. Probably my body trying to catch up on days weeks months years of lost sleep. I took my folks to see Fahrenheit 9/11 last night. Michael Moore has two new books out, one being The Official Fahrenheit 9/11 Reader, the other being a collection of letters sent to him from soldiers, entitled Will They Ever Trust Us Again?. The latter has received mostly positive reviews on the Amazon site, but the most telling has to be the one written by Andrew Balthazor, an Iraqi war vet, whose writing appears in the book.

:: Speaking of Amazon, I ordered four items today: this, this, this and this. Speaking of this, there is a good interview with and write-up on Paul Westerberg on the CNN site. And another 70s band is reuniting. When the hell is Wang Chung getting back together, dammit!

There seems to be a pop culture explosion of late, of stuff that I’d like to have. I need another nap.

:: Cough is 99% gone, today is the first day I’ve not coughed throughout the day since late August. I’m off to Winnipeg on Wednesday for my cousin Barbara’s wedding on Sat, Oct 7, and will make the round while there, visiting friends and family.

:: Check out the Mt St Helens web cam. I went to Mt St Helens in July 1981, a year after it blew its stack in May, 1980. I was at a conference in Portland OR, and my boss and I rented a car and drove to the mountain, or as close as we could. Much of the devestation was still visible.

I was in Vancouver on May 18, 1980, when St Helens erupted the first time. Later that week, I collected some ash from that eruption into a small container – the ash was on the car of a friend of mine who lived in Pullman WA, on the border with Idaho, and had driven to Vancouver a few days later. I still have it somewhere in my house, and it is the finest powder I’ve ever seen or felt.

:: So William Shatner releases a new album, and the buzz is positive. The album was produced by Ben Folds, and features collaborations with Henry Rollins, novelist Nick Hornby and Joe Jackson. He collaborates on Pulp’s song, “Common People“, with Jackson. I really don’t know what to make of this. Is Shatner’s new album kitsch supreme? I hope I have as much energy as he does now when I’m 73 years old.

:: Brian Wilson has finally released Smile – not the legendary album that never was, but a rerecorded version, just released. Legendary rock journalist Robert Christgau gives it five stars. More reviews and news available here, including the Village Voice.

:: Addendum: I forgot the Krispy Kreme update. A newspaper article in the Edmonton Journal on 30 Sept 04 reported that KK will open up a store at South Edmonton Common in the first half of 2005.

:: With encouragement from Derryl, I saw Shaun of the Dead last night, Sept 30, 2004, thus keeping alive the streak of having seen at least one movie a month since sometime in the late 1970s. It would be somewhere in the vicinity of 320-335 months.

Last year I wrote about having attended the Man-Pop Festival in Winnipeg, on August 29, 1970. I still receive comments on that post, and I’m not surprised, since a Google search reveals that very little is available about Man-Pop on the ‘net, which surprises me, actually. One of the respondents to the post, Geoff Nash, still has his ticket stub. He scanned it and sent me the image, for which I am very grateful. As soon as I opened up the .jpg, it brought back memories, and I realized that somewhere in one of my boxes of memorabilia and curios is my ticket stub, too. Well, to date, I can’t find it, but I’m still looking. In the meantime, click on Geoff’s ticket stub and stroll down memory lane one more time.

:: Sore ribs are better, coughing almost gone away. Thanks for the kind messages.

:: I haven’t been posting this week, mostly due to lack of energy. I’m not feeling 100% these days. A tickle in my throat, which began on August 26th, became a prolonged cough by the long weekend I spent in Vancouver, and it still hasn’t left my chest and throat. As such, I haven’t been exercising either, and I feel like a complete slug. I’m hoping it subsides this week so I can get back on the cross-trainer again, and I have to teach eight classes next week – coughing is not an option! Also, my left lower jaw has been quite sore for a while, as if a wisdom tooth can’t decide whether it wants to pop through my gums. It feels like I’ve been punched on the left side of my face. So…I’m a hurtin’ unit.

Last weeks Sunday NYTimes featured its annual fall look at the arts – music, movies, dance, theatre, etc. I read through the list of upcoming musical events and albums, and was surprised to learn that Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone had reunited and earlier this year, released As Far As I Can See…, The Zombies’ first album since the band broke up in 1967. The Incredible String Band, with two original members, are touring for the first time in 30 years. The Clash’s London Calling has been repackaged for its 25th-Anniversary edition, including extra tapes from the recording sessions found by guitarist Mick Jones, plus a DVD. Brian Wilson is releasing a newly rerecorded version of the most famous album that never was, Smile. British music fans weigh in with their opinions. Based on a few tunes from album made available for listening online on his web site, I like what I hear. Purists may ignore it, wishing to hear the original versions recorded in the mid-60s.

R.E.M.’s new album, Around the Sun, appears in October. The video for the new song, Leaving New York, is available on the VH1 site. I like the song. Helmet, a band I thought was long gone, releases Size Matters, after a seven-year recording hiatus. Rob Halford has reunited with Judas Priest after 12 years, and yes, a new album follows, so lock up your parents. U2‘s new album, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, is out in November, and includes a track called Full Metal Jacket. Tears for Fears new album, Everybody Loves A Happy Ending, reunited Roland Orzabal with Curt Smith, after a thirteen year split. You can see TFF’s live performance of Everybody Wants to Rule the World, taped for KTLA Morning News on Monday, Sept 13, 2004, by visiting KTLA’s web site – once there, click on “Music” in the upper left hand corner, then find “Tears for Fears” at the bottom of the screen. I’ll get this album.

Many other artists were listed in the article. It’s overwhelming. I’m waiting to buy Folker, the new Paul Westerberg album, maybe in two weeks, after payday. Interesting article in the Mpls Star-Tribune about new albums being released almost concurrently by Westerberg and Tommy Stinson, both members of The Replacements in the 1980s. It’s pouring rain outside.

:: I’m flying to Vancouver tomorrow to attend a surprise birthday party for a friend (who doesn’t read this site, btw!), and to visit a few other people I haven’t seen since 1997, the last time I was in Vancouver. I’m bringing with me a bad cough that I picked up last weekend. I’m doubling up my COLD-FX dosages again. In Vancouver, I will rent a car at the airport, and stay one night in Coquitlam, the other two nights in Vancouver. The return flight on Monday will leave at 7:00AM – ouch.

:: A number of items of interest happening in September: 1) The Star Wars Trilogy DVD package arrives in stores on September 21st. Episodes IV, V and VI are included, plus a bonus disc of material, including the following:

The fourth disc is packed with bonus material, the most notable being Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy. This two-and-a-half hour documentary traces the evolution of the saga, from a low-budget labor-of-love space saga to the movie phenomenon that defied the odds and reinvented the rules.

This comprehensive documentary features all new interviews with George Lucas and more than 40 members of the cast and crew from the original trilogy, as well as a host of filmmakers and media personalities. Empire of Dreams includes some never-before-seen behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the three films.

The Star Wars Trilogy DVD Details page explains everything.

2) The 2-hour premier of Season 15 of Law & Order is on September 22, featuring Dennis Farina replacing Jerry Orbach – big shoes to fill for sure.

3) I don’t watch The Tonight Show, but the 50th Anniversary of its first broadcast is on Sept 27, 2004. The show was developed by Pat Weaver. Weaver’s daughter, Susan, is better known by her other name, Sigourney.

:: I’m reading sporadically these days, occupied with other things. I’ve been sifting through Sharon Butala‘s book, Coyote’s Morning Cry: Meditations and Dreams From a Life in Nature, a small volume of spiritual writing, and finding it a comforting read.

:: I’m looking forward to new albums by Paul Westerberg, and Joseph Arthur.

:: What’s th-? Is SETI close to confirming the existence of extra-terrestrial intelligence?