What Am I Still Doing Up?

It's ten to six in the morning, and I am still up. I am waiting to see if this is going to be an all-nighter, or if I am going to crash around dawn. I am not asleep because I got the fever several hours ago and I have been having a creative explosion that I just sat down to take a break from by playing my piano, and now typing in this. The new comic book is shaping up to be this huge epic, I just hope that it doesn't get too huge. I was aiming for it to be about 48 pages, but it looks like it could go as high as 64, or somewhere in between. The way I'm creating this one, it will just reveal itself on it's own damn time.

Are there any really old-school hardcore fans out there who remember Atomic Man? I have not done anything with him in ages and ages. He's going to be in the new book.

This creative burst is coming as part of some manic episode. Something happened to me last Thursday that sent me crashing into a really deep... I don't want to say depression, but I was definitely in a bad place emotionally. That lasted for four days until yesterday, when I started getting back to work after taking it easy since the last TV tapings.

It's a good time for ideas right this second, and I guess I just don't want to go to bed for fear of missing one.

Back in the TV studio

I have been meaning to get on here and update this bitch all week. But every day has been chaos from early in the morning until so late that it's early the next morning. We are taping new Ed & Red episodes all weekend, and the week was spent fixing up the set and preparing the studio. We did a lot to the set to bring back the some of the feel of the show from when it was a cable phenomenon. There have been massive personnel changes, and the vibe on set has a dramatically different feel. The most obvious thing was that everything went really smoothly and the biggest problem we had was that we didn't have enough pizza for everyone at the meal break. We've got some new ladies on the show that I just adore, and they add a vital freshness to the proceedings. It is so amazing to have Human Kebab on the show with me now, he's amazing on the turntables. Tomorrow our stylist, Celline, is bringing me a new 3-piece suit to wear. This whole week has been like putting on the play in high school only way more fun, at a way larger scale, and the pay is a lot better. Every so often my mind pops out of what is happening and I stop and think "Wow, this is what I get to do for a living!" This is amazing.

Production Meeting Tomorrow

I have to get up earlier than I usually do tomorrow. I have to be at a production meeting at noon. I usually don't get up until noon. But we're going to be figuring out the next batch of episodes we're taping in December. We haven't taped any new episodes since last spring, I am so excited. I get excited for the tapings every time, but now that I'm in the cast it's even more so. We're going to have a whole bunch of new people, it's going to be amazing. I can't wait to start playing scenes with Brandy.

I was on the subway yesterday and I saw one of the most disturbing things I'd ever seen. It was one of those giant billboards, advertising a t-shirt for girls to wear that announces that the wearer of the t-shirt is on Alesse. Geez, why don't we just cut the shit: when the girls enter 10th grade, we hand them a shirt that says "I'm ready to fuck!" People who work in the media can be so irresponsible.

Later That Night... (HHK)

New coat!


Hip Hop Karaoke. What a great night out. I went on three times tonight and rocked it each one. There's a bunch of people that go up in there every month and give everything they've got and make it hot: Gersh, Rhino, Kagen, Sherry, V, RaSoul, SplatterMonkey & Sandra, the Wu-Tang boys. And all of the lovely ladies that come out dressed to the nines.



I spent all week rehearsing two songs: COME CLEAN by Jeru the Damaja, and GOLD DIGGER by Kanye West. Both of my appearances were in rapid succession so at the end of the night, several drinks in and shouting along to everything, I was dismayed at my having no further songs in the queue. As the night began to circle in for a landing, I asked Dalia if I might rock one more song. She said she could put me on at the end if I could pick one right away. So it was to be THE HUMPTY DANCE, and it was hot.

Click right here to check out my HHK photo album.

Working on stuff

Today I thought I would get up at 10 AM, but I just got up to see that it was 1 PM. Whatever, I was only on four hours' sleep the previous night so I was catching up. The previous night, I stayed up all night to finish a big editing job that I just wanted out the door. And then in the morning I had to get up early to let a guy in to fix the furnace. Either one of those would be fine on their own, but in combination they killed me. I still got to the gym yesterday, but the rest of the day was pretty much a haze of nodding off.

Work progresses on the new comic book, BENNY BUNNY ON WHEELS. It's funny how after not putting a comic book out for two years, there are still a lot of people who are more excited about the idea of me doing another one of those than anything else I've got on the go with TV or music.

I am about half-way through Stephen Colbert's I AM AMERICA (AND SO CAN YOU). It's hilarious. I love that guy. I have a right proper belly laugh at least once during every single episode of his show.

OK, enough of this. I've got plenty of work to do!!

Early Wednesday

I just looked at my last post. That was a week ago? It feels like a couple of days ago!! I remember typing it, and... wow, a week. Time is whipping past here. Things are getting heavy at work, but it looks like it's all going to settle. Shit, all I want to do is make some kick-ass shows!

And what's this mysterious thing I'm starting to pick at? New comic book?? What??

Quieteze, the new wonder drug

You know there's all those drugs to make kids calm and well-behaved? Well how about a prescription drug for your baby to keep it from crying?

Is your infant crying more than fifteen minutes a day? Perhaps Junior is suffering from Infant Excess Dissatisfaction Syndrome. Quieteze is clinically proven to reduce outbursts by up to 80%. Side-effects may include stunted growth, brain damage, or digestion failure. Not tested on children under 3 weeks. Talk to your doctor.

A thought on the guy from Iran's visit

Remember a couple of weeks ago, when the president of Iran paid a visit to New York? Remember all of those idiots on the news booing him and trying to make his visit shitty? I can't help but wonder if, since this is a guy who (in theory) may be thinking about shooting the place up with nuclear weapons, it might have been a better idea to shake his hand and try to make him feel welcome and show him that maybe New York is a place that's real nice and friendly. Then why would he want to blow up a place that's so nice and friendly?

I have a comic book that I am dying to make but... the curse of success!! Finding time to make it!! AAagggghhh!!!!

Can anyone cover The Beatles?

With all of this talk about Across The Universe, a subject comes up again and again: Can the Beatles be covered successfully? A lot of people say no, I say yes. So I am curious:

Can you think of any Beatles covers that top or compete with the original?

I can give you two:
Fiona Apple's 'Across the Universe'
Stevie Wonder's 'We Can Work It Out'

Actually, I can give you a third!
Nancy Sinatra's 'Day Tripper'

Now you. Can you think of any?

Goings-on

Hamilton was great fun. Congrats to B.A. Johnston on his DVD release! Sean Ward & DJ Human Kebab got a great review on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats message board.

Video shoot last week ruled. Shut the financial district down. Some poor girl nearly crashed her car trying to make a video and drive at the same time.

Manifesto Festival was the bomb. To have all of those acts on one stage... if you grew up with Canadian Rap City when Michael Williams and then Oliver were hosting it, that closing night thing at City Hall had to be like a middle-aged person seeing Led Zeppelin, the Who, the Guess Who, and Rush all on the same bill.

Covering Nuit Blanche for Ed the Sock this weekend. Me, Brandy, and Max Brand. Might we see a certain DJ making a special appearance?

My review of Across The Universe

I'm pretty well-known as a Beatle-maniac, so a question has been popping up with great frequency: "What did you think of Across The Universe?"

As you must know by now, Across The Universe is a movie about a guy named Jude who goes from Liverpool to New York and ends up, with his American pals (Max, Lucy, Sadie, Jo-Jo, and other names all taken from Beatles song lyrics), taking part in the cultural milestones that would define the popular conception of what the 1960s were.

There's a lot to like about this movie, but for the most part it seems kind of clunky and awkward. I don't think that the music of The Beatles lends itself to this treatment, and the movie is just trying way too hard to force it. I agree that there is a drama implicit across the oeuvre, but this is a poor fit. The primary problem is that The Beatles music was not representative of the political goings-on of the times. They were always more about being timeless than being of their time, so I don't think that setting their music to this story is in keeping with the spirit of the music. Their stance was made clear in Revolution where the message, in the middle of the Vietnam War and massive cultural upheaval, is "whatever it is, don't worry about it. This too shall pass." The Beatles are timeless. They're not synonymous with that era the way Hendrix, The Doors, or scores of other artists are. And doing this same movie using any of their music might have made for a better production.

Because they're trying so hard to make the music fit the concept, certain songs need to be recontextualized to fit the plot. For an example, see I Want You (She's So Heavy). It's Uncle Sam singing "I Want You" to a Vietnam draftee, and "She's So Heavy" is sung by a bunch of soldiers carrying the Statue of Liberty through a miniature jungle. And for goodness' sake, All You Need Is Love is not about romance!

The psychedelic and abstract scenes are the most successful of the film, I just wish they would have gone a lot further with it. The Strawberry Fields Forever sequence, or the Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite sequence, either of those exist completely beyond the scope of the 60s overview the movie's trying to be. I wish they would have taken it there.

The Beatles are not a rock band. They are artists such that they could successfully 'do' any style of music they attempted. When Paul decided he wanted to do a song like the ones he grew up listening to, they didn't make a song that sounded like The Beatles doing a vaudeville number. They did a song that sounded absolutely authentic. And they did this in every style they could get near. Victorian-era English culture, surrealist art, avant-garde philosophy, all of these were much bigger influences on the group than the shifting cultural tides of the times, so maybe a psychedelic love story set in the 1890s would have been more successful. And it could be one of those movies like Marie Antoinette or A Knight's Tale, where the movie takes place way back when but is set to the sounds of now (well, forty years ago). I'm being a little silly here, getting upset over what the movie's not instead of assessing it on the merits of what it is, but still... I think that would have been more in keeping with the spirit of the source material.

But I will say this: the movie is grand, epic, and it reaches for the stars. It even manages to just barely scrape the edges of the stars with its fingertips here and there. It's definitely worth a look, but it's not the classic it really ought to have been.

Stop Worrying! Help is on the way!

So there was no Beatles on iTunes announcement last week. What a drag. But almost as exciting is finding out that HELP! is going to be on DVD! Finally!! October 29!

Tonight I'm seeing a big theatre that might be where the record release happens. I hope it's everything I'm dreaming of!

Apple/Beatles announcement tomorrow?

So tomorrow Apple is making a big announcement. I am looking forward to tomorrow because, as you know, I am a big Mac nerd. The rumor is that they are going to announce the Beatles catalog, remastered, available on iTunes. This is excellent news for me because, as you know, I am a huge Beatles maniac. That collection of music has not been updated (in terms of the quality of the sound) since 1987. Those albums were issued on CD in 1987 when CDs were brand new, and they haven't been touched since. Yeah, the hits sound great on 1, but I am looking forward to hearing all of my favorite album tracks with the bass booming and the treble sweetly swirling around the room. And apparently there's going to be new iPods, but that's not the exciting part for me.

Catching up like we used to

Last night was a fantastic night, one of the more fun ones in recent memory. Way to kill it, Herman. It was all great until I lost my glasses. That is a fuckin' drag.

I am dumb because I am all about the vidcast, but then I get in these adventures where I forgot to take my camera along and end up going "oh, this would have been awesome for the vidcast!!" Dumb.

Last night I went to sleep at about six thirty in the morning. Today I got up at two thirty in the afternoon. It's now almost four thirty, and all I feel like doing today is going to rent the second season of Weeds. I just saw the first season earlier this week and watched the whole thing, all ten episodes, in one go.

The next three months are going to be some of the busiest of my whole life but when the thing that's happening in three months (less now, actually) it is going to be bloody spectacular.

Wizard World Chicago Oh-Seven in a Series of Random Cuts

Click To Play

Here is a rapid-fire overview of my recent trip to Wizard World Chicago as a guest of Accidental Comics and Ed & Red's Night Party. Quick Cuts = Rapid Fire

mastees.com commercial

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Mutual Adoration Society - they want to make a T-shirt about you. This woman's comments were not scripted. Her testimonials are real.

Restaurant Review - episode 2

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In this episode of the new show that's sweeping the nation, Kelly would love to tell you about her dining experience if not for some surprising distractions.

Restaurant Review - episode 1

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In this episode of the new show that's sweeping the nation, Shaun Downey reviews his favorite breakfast-after-a-night-of-partying place, NOON.

Ed & Red Do Cottage Comicon

Last weekend we went to Chicago, but the weekend before that we went to Lionshead Lakefront Resort & Yacht Club. There was a one-day comic book convention happening, and the resort was supposed to plan some things for us to do to get on camera. They didn't plan anything, so Steven (executive producer) told the CityTV camera guy to not bother coming. But my camera has a really good movie mode on it, so I started shooting stuff. Before long, a story began to emerge and I took the reins and started ordering everyone around. Next thing you know, voila! Instant classic short film.

Wizard World Chicago '07

Chicago this past weekend! What great fun. I was down with the Accidental Comics crew: Liana K (publisher) and Steven Kerzner (executive producer of Ed the Sock). We were in the Small Press area this time, instead of the Artist Alley. When we arrived and saw our spot in the corner across from Lou Ferrigno, we thought we were going to have a hard time attracting patrons as we were in a weird spot that was kind of awkward to get to. But, as we always do, we made it a party. Our booth was jumping all weekend. We even sold out of some of our items!

One of the most fun things was when we would go and take over the DC booth. Liana's got a few costumes that she likes to wear at these things, and the guys at DC Comics fall in love with her when she's got a DC character on. We went over when she was Bat-Woman, and she had a crowd for autographs like it was a scheduled signing. She went over as Power Girl and Dan DiDio himself (the boss at DC Comics) invited her to be a special guest of the DC Comics panel discussion.

On Sunday, after the con was over, we went out to a joint called Gino's East because we heard that they had great pizza (they do). When we got to back to the hotel, who do we see in the lounge? All of our buddies from DC again! Shout-out to Jim, John, and Steven from DC Direct, and Mike on the comics side. We hung out with them, and I think we're going to go get a tour of their office and shoot it for the show. They want to come up to Toronto and be in the hot tub too, but who wouldn't?

So all in all it was a fantastically productive and lucrative weekend. The new Ed & Red comic book (the one I edited, art directed, and drew the cover for) was a huge hit. I shot lots of video, and I've got photos on my Facebook.

Cottage Con

The weekend past was a lot of fun, and this weekend is going to be even cooler. Last weekend the whole Night Party crew (Ed, Liana, two dancer, a tub girl, and myself) went to Paradise Comics' Cottage Con at Lakefront Resort (apparently Hobbystar wants to take this over as well, from what I hear). We got there early on Saturday evening, took a walk around to see the place and think of some shit we want to shoot, and then it was party time. The gang headed into town for dinner, but me and Brandy stayed behind at the resort. We went swimming in the lake, then took it over to the pool and the hot tub, and then smoked some chronz-in-the-city and sat by the edge of the water. I had no bathing suit so I just swam in my underwear (the black ones with the stars on them) while Brandy went topless for fear of getting hair dye all over her white bikini top.

Sunday was the big event, and I spent the whole day taking videos of the con, Kat performing big production numbers, Mahleej getting acquainted with the locals, and commanding everyone hither and tither without actually letting anyone in one what my vision for the video was. I was just making it up on the fly and the movie I made is going to be damn cool, watch for it here.

Tomorrow I'm on an airplane to Chicago! I have a lot of errands to run today. I will take lots of pictures and videos and I'll have lots of stuff to show you when I get back from Wizard World!

On Ratatouille and Pixar generally

Last night I had the divine pleasure of being accompanied by two lovely ladies for a screening of Ratatouille. The movie was fucking fantastic, both technically and artistically. There are spots where you look at the hair on the rats or the people, or the water in certain scenes, and it looks dead-on. They nailed it. But that wasn't even the most impressive thing about it.

The most impressive thing about the movie was the way it just dripped with passion for the message, the story, and the desire to please the audience. About half-way through the movie I got to thinking that this is a staple of all of Pixar's output. They blow the competition away every time out. When you look at what the competition is doing, there's a different feeling. Those movies are entertaining enough, and they end on an up note more often than not, but there's just an inescapable feeling that it's product. But Pixar is able to maximize their output as capital-A Art every time out. They take chances, they go the extra mile, and the work stands out as something really special while the rest are content to produce something that's 'good enough'. John Lasseter (the boss at Pixar) is never content with 'good enough', he's not even content with great. He doesn't rest until it's The Best.

This got me really passionate last night, as it's a subject I can relate to. I've alluded before to a big project I'm undertaking that's under wraps. The thing's been in-process for over a year now, and we reached a major turning point just over a month ago. The last year has been one long conversation between me and the (now former) producer about how one needs to go the extra mile I've just described if one wants to create something truly special. The milestones when the project leaped ahead and saw real, sudden progress were all when the work was coming from the heart, when we were willing to stay up late, to work through the weekend, to just do whatever it takes to do the job right. Unfortunately, most of the last year was spent working from the head, trying to outthink what some potential prospect was going to want to see down the road, and thinking that 'good enough' is good enough. Thankfully my business partner and I have control back, and may we never forget that creating something timeless is just as important as creating it in time.

Behind the Scenes - Ed & Red's Night Party

This a documentary film I directed and edited that gives you a look at the silliness and goings-on backstage at the show.

It's hot outside

I totally need to get my own microphone. My very own cordless microphone. Even just rehearsing on a corded mic last night was ass. And I look at like my microphone is like any other musician's equipment: a guitarist doesn't borrow a guitar from the club, right? So that's it. I need to buy a microphone.

But microphones are expensive! I guess I'll have to get it financed. And just weeks ago that would not have been an option, but last week I just got a credit card! My first one! For most people it's just a matter of course, but for me this is a big deal. With all of the mayhem and chaos in my past, I feel pretty proud of getting my situation sorted out to this degree. Now I wonder if my credit is good enough to get approved for the financing on an e-bike. That would be fun to ride around on, composing new raps in my head.

Fuck, it is so hot today! I remember when last summer was like this every single day from June to September but this summer has been pretty tame where the heat is concerned. Which is just the way I like it. I'm not a big fan of the heat, I like the milder temperatures. My favorite is mid-Autumn when you've first got to start putting a jacket on.

publish test (robot)

I am a robot.

Up and down

There are times that make you feel like right proper rock star, and there are times that remind you that in the grand scheme of things, you ain't but a speck of dust in the breeze. You ever had one of those nights when everything that can go wrong does, and you can't really be upset about it because you're just in awe of the sheer magnitude of the fuckery? That was my night last Thursday at the U.S.S. CD release show. That just made me double my efforts and give an even more slamming performance, but it still took a couple of days to shake it off.

Sunday was a different story. I sat for a photo shoot with Ana Cop (sorry Ana, I don't know how to do the C with the accent-thing on top!), one of the greatest discoveries I've made in ages. She's really good. And I was lucky enough to have her photograph me in... well I don't wanna say what the concept was because the pictures are going to knock you out. But I will say that the abundance of leg and ass was a real treat.

Staying up late

The show's tomorrow. I am so ready. I want it like a vicious cartoon dog wants an exaggerated T-Bone steak, and I will tear it up exactly the same. The energy in the room at rehearsal just blows the roof off!

Weights and fifty minutes of cardio today. That was pretty fun. There's TVs on all of the machines so while everyone else is watching stock quotes, I'm watching cartoons.

Just for kicks, I went to an audition for voice-over work. That would be fun to do once in a while, a voice-over job.

I've been shooting all kinds of great footage and I so badly want to edit it into something fun for the blog and the podcast. I've gotta make time for that.

Girlfriend pt. 2

OH, look! It's Avril's new single! It's... Girlfriend. Again. The remix this time. Is this like Street Fighter 2 back in the day, where they just keep trotting out various versions of SF2 instead of moving on with Street Fighter 3?

Talking with a couple of friends after seeing Transformers the other night about future Batman movies. You know who I would pick for Catwoman? Fairuza Balk. Know who I would pick for Poison Ivy? Gwen Stefani.

I also mentioned how I can't wait until the current fad of casting kids as superheroes passes, and then they go back to casting grown-ups.

On 'going out for a smoke'

I am working most of the time, and I am very busy. So when I go out, it's typically an outing I've organized. When I get asked "Wanna go out for a smoke?", I would usually go out just to be good company but now I don't do that. Now people ask me "Wanna go out for a smoke?" and since it's an outing I've arranged, the thing we're going out for is something I want to be a part of so my answer more and more is "No, I don't want to go out for a smoke." Going out for a smoke makes you change gears, and it almost seems like it's a release valve to make sure one doesn't have too much fun. It always feels like the mood of the situation is just getting good when someone wants to go out for a smoke. And when I don't go, I always get a look like it's a surprise or like I'm a jerk. I've always said that a smoking habit is a thing that keeps you from thinking too hard because your thoughts will only go so far before something makes you think of a smoke, and you go "that's a good idea!", and it's smoke time again. If something's important enough to interupt my work for, I'm interested enough in it to pay it my full attention, not five minutes worth at a time.

The News

This what's ridiculous...

Icky Thump

OK, so I'm finally ready to share my thoughts on the new White Stripes album. In brief, it's fucking amazing. There are not many bands or groups out there that can get me excited for the release of new material like the Stripes. I'm not even a rock fan, but I hang on every word that Jack has to say through his work. The thing that comes through each time out is that Jack is a capital-A Artist who understands the responsibility that a creative person has to his work. No one is writing lyrics that affect me the way Jack White's do.

But the songs themselves; these little gems of composition, arrangement, and production. There were several moments on this album when I thought I was in for a rude awakening, that Jack & Meg had gone off in some direction I didn't care to follow. But each time, they bring it right back to where I first fell in love with them. An example: You Don't Know What Love Is. It starts out with some guitar that makes me think it's gonna be like a country kind of thing, but then the organs come in and the guitar fucks off for Jack to start singing and the song is right where I want it to be.

Even when the record gets it's weirdest on the Irish drinking song-sounding Prickly Thorn But Sweetly Worn or on Conquest, two numbers that clearly tell us that the Stripes are going off in directions we would never have imagined, it works within the context of a singular whole. Jack seems to be aware of the dramatic continuity of his albums more than most other artists out there today. It reminds me of the rap records of the early- and mid-90s, but without the skits.

And will all of this praise for Jack, I have to mention Meg. People give her shit for her drumming style, but it's jut that: her own style. And it's an integral part of the Stripes sound, which is why I didn't get into the Raconteurs when that was happening. There's something about the magic that these two people create together that's greater than the sum of the parts.

So there is it. Icky Thump: brilliant. A great time. Perfectly harmonious flow from Elephant, through Get Behind Me Satan, and into this. Jack will easily make whatever 'greatest artists of the century' lists that get compiled in 2099.

EDIT: I do have to admit that I was disappointed at the absence of a song where Meg sings lead. After the ones on Elephant and Get Behind Me Satan, I was really looking forward to it!

ODB represent

This morning I was interviewing Aaron Brophy, 'the boss' at Chart Magazine. He's cool. I knew we were homeys when, apropos of nothing, he quoted Ol' Dirty Bastard in one of his answers. After the interview, I told him how my two biggest musical influences are The Beatles and O.D.B., and then we daydreamed together about how great it would be if Ol' Dirty would have lived longer, and if he and Paul McCartney teamed up on a remake of Say Say Say!

Off to Peterborough for the first out of town performance for Sean Ward & the Realness!!

Nothing much, really. Just some home decorating and computer talk.

I got the new White Stripes album yesterday, the day it came out. I went to the store early, I might have even been the first to get it that day! Anyway, I am not ready to share my thoughts on it yet, and I am still up in the sky just taking it in. I'll come with that soon enough.

My bed is finally the crayon box that I wanted!! I bought new pillows, new pillowcases, and a bunch of cushions. All of it is bright crayon colors, and the little Spider-Man cushion sets the whole thing off!!

Here is the most exciting news of the day: I think I am ready to kick my PC to the curb! Thanks to a new friend whose acquaintance I only recently made who has packed my Macbook with all of the programs I need to get work done, I don't think I need my PC tower for anything any more, and I am looking forward to packing it away and being a full-time Mac enthusiast!! It did not take long for me to turn into a big Mac nerd. I am looking forward to Leopard coming out like it's a big movie that I want to see real bad!!

Taxicab Driver

So last night, after spending the evening laughing and bullshitting with Human Kebab and Ebony and Chris B. Chicken, I caught a cab home. The guy's driving was crazy, I felt like I was in the backseat of a racing car. I loved it, it was great fun. By the time he dropped me off, the meter was at $17 and change. I complimented him on his driving skills and handed him two twenties, and said I needed $15 back (I'm a big tipper, it's just something I enjoy). He handed me back $25, my $15 with an extra ten. I noticed it, said to myself "score!", and shoved the bills in my pocket. But after he handed me the receipt, I pulled the bills back out and brought attention to his error. He was very thankful as I gave him back that extra ten bucks. The old me would have kept that ten, but that's not what I'm on about these days. The feeling of good karma going out was worth way more than ten dollars.

Changes... and Monterey Pop

Today is the 40th anniversary of the first day of the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. This was the pre-cursor to Woodstock, beating it out of the gate by two years. It was the very first rock festival, the first event of it's kind, the first such event to draw an attendance in the hundreds of thousands. The diversity of the acts on the bill is nothing like the rock festivals we see nowadays. You've got The Who and Jimi Hendrix, but you've also got The Mamas & the Papas, and even Ravi Shankar.

I'm listening to highlights of the festival in my earphones as I type. I'm spending the day doing absolutely nothing, as my plans got cancelled on me. Which isn't so bad, I've got a huge backlog of viewing material that's now overdue at the video shop (thank God for no late fees!). It's a weird time right now, everything is so in flux. My relationship ended earlier this week with one company with which I was engaged in a big project. The big merger between two super-empires is going to impact another of the projects I'm involved in whichever way it goes. Between last weekend's Comicon, recording the album, and all of the content I have to create for all of my jobs, it's been pretty breakneck for a while. I'm quite happy to take today to just lounge and do fuck all.

What's your connection to the mysterious forces like? Do you ever know that you're getting a message but you can't quite crack what it is?

And now to lighten this entry up, here's my performance of Brooklyn Zoo from Hip Hop Karaoke Toronto on June 14th:

new songs in process

I just got the rough mixes of the work from the last sessions. Dan Branco is a genius, we are the best there is!!

Disturbing trends

I'm not much of a complainer, but here are a few of this season's trends that I take issue with:

1. Crocs. Not to be worn outside. They are the least flattering footwear ever. Well, almost. The worst is...

2. Flip-Flops. I am on the subway, I see a super=hot babe, and when I check her out she's wearing flip-flops. And if they're not the dollar-store kind, they're those really ugly ones that have like the leather piece that sits on top of the foot. No good.

3. No make up. Ladies, if your thing is that you don't wear make-up then that's fine, but either women are giving up make-up en masse, or I'm just noticing it a lot more when women don't have any on. Women who are always on the ball with this sort of thing are starting to show up to stuff, or put pictures on their Facebook, with no make-up. Come on, maybe just a little eye-shadow or something?

4. Earth Tones. Don't it figure that the year I can finally afford to dress myself and buy clothes is the year that everything is in colors that I don't want to wear? Everything is greens and browns all over the town!! At least there's a few nice mint green item around, but often I'm totally ready to part with my money except everything is in colors I don't want!

Sadie Not So Sexy

Don't it figure? It's always when you're really carried away with your work and you're really getting into it that the program reminds you that you haven't saved in a while by crashing and taking away your work. In this case, I was working in a music sequencing program, working on the music for a cover song that's going to be on my album, when the program crashed and took three hours of work with it. That's the chorus, the whole second verse, and a whole bunch of tweaking that went into it. The rare times stuff like this happens, I take it as a sign that I was going down the wrong road but still, this is particularly annoying. In face, I'm just gonna leave it alone for now and go watch a movie.

For those that missed it, here's the first of many videos captured the night of April 27, a historic occasion indeed.



Now, I would like to say a few words about my new computer. I have one week ago, I treated myself to a shiny new MacBook. Now I'm not one to be all product-placement in my blog posts, but this thing really is the bee's knees. Your whole life changes when you can check your e-mail from bed. Everything runs fast, I find the Mac environment to be much more intuitive, and all the good ideas Windows implements are things that Mac has had for ages. Like stuff that I would never have even been able to conceive of that now I can't understand how I ever lived without: Dashboard, Expose, the thing that lets you see all of your open applications. This is stuff that you could never have even explained to me when I was a PC guy.

I even went out and bought the wireless Mighty Mouse mostly because I hate the trackpad on the computer itself. But I was delighted to find out all of the crazy things you can do with it that you can't do with a regular mouse. It becomes part of your experience of the computer more than just a way to get around the screen.

I also highly recommend the One to One membership. For $99 you can you to the Apple Store for one-hour personal training sessions. You get up to 52 of them (the idea is that you go once a week) and I've already been twice. $99 for 52 hours of personal training is a pretty good deal.

The best thing about all this is the way my work is more mobile now. It's only been a week and already my relationship to my work has changed. If I get a whole bunch of ideas in my head as I drift off to sleep that I want to bring up with one of the producers, I just reach out for my computer and punch them in right there instead of getting up to go do it at the computer.

But most exciting for me is the doors that open up in terms of my live performance. Before, it has always been a big chore of arranging to get the files to the DJ, or the headache of making sure there's a working CD player at the venue or some other such nonsense. Now I've got little Maccie who shall go with me to every show and plug into the system for problem- and complication-free backing track action.

I'm just rambling here, but the gist of it is that I am very excited to be on the Mac side of things now, and the suggestion from the commercials really is a good one: if you're upgrading to Vista, just get a Mac.

it all comes to tomorrow

Two days on the set, I am ready to have a really deep sleep. Wednesday was the street portion of the taping. Being back out on Queen Street with the Today was all of the studio stuff, a twelve hour day. Followed by a rehearsal for tomorrow night's show. Thank God that tomorrow's green screen session is a 12:30 call, I can sleep in a little bit. But the main event, tomorrow night's performance, that's what is keeping me going right now, keeping my energy level high when I get to rehearsal and I'm greeted with "you actually showed up! I totally thought you were gonna just go home and crash!" Did you think I was kidding when I said I Just Wanna Dance??

It's Getting Serious Now!

Today is Friday. This has been a busy week. And this is going to end up being an even busier month.

Wednesday I was in a casting session for ten hours. Casting for a main villain, a downstairs neighbor, a group of snipy girls, and a female customer. We saw everyone from great people who had their shit together, all the way down to people who had no business acting at all. They were to come deliver a prepared bit of dialogue, then they got surprised by having to play some improv with me. That was fun. And it is just more and more stunning all the time to see the machinery running, all of these talented and experienced people working their butt off to make my vision come to fruition. Today I went back to talk about props and wardrobe. I'm being taken shopping next Saturday!!

This weekend is going to be a lot of fun because it's another weekend of taping Ed's Night Party episodes. I always get a kick out of it when a joke I came up with makes it into the show, or when I see props I made get used. Every so often I get a jolt when it pops back into my head that this is what I'm doing, writing and producing for TV with my own show in development, when not even a year ago I was still near to having a break-down over paying the rent.

The performance on the 27th is going to be just off the hook. Between shooting it for the TV project, Human Kebab returning to Ontario, and the release of the Wizard of Rock's CD, there is just no way that there is anything more fun going on anywhere in this city.

The Easter Bunny

According to your recollection of things from when you were a child, is the Easter Bunny a regular looking rabbit that hops along leaving eggs? Or is he a big man-sized rabbit? I always pictured the Easter Bunny being six feet tall, plus the ears. He walked up on two legs, hopping when travelling great distances or when speed was required, and wearing a vest with a tie. What did the Easter Bunny look like in your mind?

Lyrics Fulfilled

So it turns out that I wasn't just talking smack when I wrote the lyrics for The Pop That I Rock, specifically the last line of the first verse: "...and it be Sean Ward on your MTV."

I was flipping the channels the other night and as I passed MTV, it was E2 that was on and what do I see? The picture of me that Caitlin Cronenberg took, the one with the beach balls, blazing across my screen.

Word! Keep it coming, MTV!

Out To Lunch

My movie won't move!

My new favorite thing is making little video blog movies instead of posting a bunch of photos. At the Toronto Comic Book Fan SuperShow (a whole bunch of fun, by the way) I took a whole bunch of video on my new camera. Then I spent most of last night and a few hours today editing a cool little two-minute movie of the thing in Windows Movie Maker. Good Lord, that program sucks. And now it's even worse as it just won't render the video, like the operation is too complicated for my piece of shit computer to handle. I hope this is a little glitch that will sort itself out like when my browser kept crashing every time I tried to attach a file to an email last week but even still, I can't wait for my new Macbook Pro. I've got a rather sizable chunk of the cost saved up already, I need it!! I am a creative professional and for the five years of my operation I have been handicapped by the poor quality of my tools. But I'm coming out of the woods!! I should have that new computer by the summer!

In the plus column, you can now check out a gallery of photos from my last recording session in my Facebook photos! They were taken by the beautiful and talented Miss Genevieve Blais.

I eat out too much maybe

A friend gave up booze for Lent. She and I got talking about what I would give up for Lent, and I couldn't think of anything. I'm kind of a workaholic, but I can't really give up working for Lent. I waste more time than I would like, but if i'm lazy then I'm too lazy to give up being lazy for Lent. But today I realized what my vice is. I don't drink really, I only smoke a few times a month, but I eat out a lot. I eat out probably once a day on average, whether that's going out for dinner or just getting a coffee and bagel at Tim Horton's. It's the convenience of it, you see. I'm always on the move, if I'm home I'm typically working. So I eat when I'm on my way across town and realize it's four and I haven't eaten anything yet.

Today was that first glorious life-affirming day of the year. I walked home from being out all day and noticed that there was no snow on the ground any more (I later saw some in the top corner of a driveway in a spot where no sun gets to). On my way downtown, I called Shaun Downey and asked him to come out with me after my meeting. He could not, but when I got out of the meeting I called Kelly Grace and offered to take her out as a reward for her stellar success at the Art Expo. I was thinking something casual and light, that I'd spend 20 - 30 bucks for the two of us. We instead went to a sushi place and blew $70 without even trying. But it was fun!

And now some photos for no reason:

Sessions - the movie

Yesterday was great fun. I woke up way too late (about one in the afternoon) and booted it across town to go sign a contract that renews my deal with JV Productions. Took the cheque I picked up from that contract signing, put it in the bank, and went downtown. Finally, at long last, replaced the camera that was stolen last summer with a gorgeous new Canon Powershot A550. Raced home with it, checked my email, and then motored over to the recording studio where we were finally getting Tye's parts laid down on the new songs.

Here is a little documentary of the visit to the recording studio!



That movie, and the many more like it that I am going to make, was one of the main reasons why I've been feeling more and more that I needed to hurry up and get a new camera. Next project: new computer!!

Red Boots

Whoa, check out John Waters going on The Daily Show with red boots! I am a trend-setter like a motherfucker!!

I am looking forward to relaxing tonight. I just spent days fixing up the website and making it smoother and slimmer, it's ready to go into the ring against the heavyweight champ. And bringing my blog back home to live on my own website, it feels like a great big comfortable couch! I hope it doesn't take too long to attract an audience again, it's been so long that my website has been chaotic and shitty, and plus people staying in touch through MySpace and Facebook and whatnot.

So who's out there? Is anyone reading this? What topics should we engage in dialog in?

Celebrity Look-Alikes

I did one of these like a year ago, but now that it's sweeping the nation, I'll do another one!!

The story of rehearsal

Last weekend I was in the recording studio recording the vocals for three songs. We were going to rehearse for Saturday's Edge 102 gig in that same studio, but during the day the studio is a place where they make radio commercials and our rehearsal got bumped because the Ford Motor Company had a big emergency. So after a few phone calls to find a new place, we just decided to practice in Otis' music room. Otis is filling in on the turntables while Human Kebab is off in Alberta. He's a dude I've known from the internet for ages and ages for his music and sound projects, and only recently he gets in touch with me to tell me he got married to a Canadian babe and he's living in Toronto now.

So we're in his music room and I'm playing the beat for my intro (avid fans know that I use a different instrumental every time). This time around I'm using the instrumental for Jay-Z's SHOW ME WHAT YOU'VE GOT. Otis hears it and he goes "oh, I know what that is!" I say "Yeah, it's Jay-Z--", and Otis says "No, that's Shaft in Africa". He digs through this record collection, pulls out the Shaft In Africa soundtrack, and plays the original song that Jay-Z took the sample from. Right then I knew that Otis and I are going to work very well together.