Some things unrelated:

Read this article on Salon concerning one of the greatest actors of all time. And while we’re talking about Bill Murray, it should be mentioned that he will be playing a lounge singer (!) in Steven Soderburgh’s remake of Ocean’s 11, which might also be starring Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Warren Beatty, Micheal Douglas, Johnny Depp, George Clooney, Alan Arkin and Matt Damon, among others. I swear, I’m not making this up. Did I mention Bill Murray plays a lounge singer?

Next time school closes, will someone tell me about it? Ignorant bastards.

On a somber note, WWF legend Yoko Zuna is dead. Full story here. Rest in peace big guy.

It has to be at least a dollar actually. But is that too much to ask for our sharp humour and cunning witticisms? No, it is not.

Amazon.com has set up a new system called the Amazon Honor System which is the electronic equivalent of throwing money in to our hat as we amuse you on the sidewalk of [lame cyber-analogy censored].

The system allows an independent website (like our humble aov) to put a cute little (actually quite large) graphic on their page that when clicked will allow viewers to pay the site authors for their brilliance. Transactions are a minimum of $1 and maximum of $50. Amazon takes a 15% cut in exchange for handling the transaction.

Stay calm though! Keep your plastic in your pockets! You can’t give us money yet. You need a U.S. Checkings Account for Amazon to pay you (and U.S. bank accounts are hard to come by on Prince Edward Island).

Those wacky folks at Amazon (or at least the wacky remaining 85%) are always cooking up cool new schemes. The Amazon Purchase Circles are another cool one (especially for you privacy buffs). You can view popular products by employer (Microsoft seems to be quite self-interested). The Amazonians must be trying to keep busy to avoid killing Jeff Bezos for his incredibly annoying laugh.

A brief accounting of my goings and doings, to borrow a phrase, over the past few days. This excludes certain foods eaten, some drinks drank, numerous things said and overheard, a couple sleeps slept, some women ogled, a few phone calls made and received and many other events, small and large.

Thursday
54-40 (rock and roll)
And the verdict is: Meh. 54-40 are good musicians, they’re a tight band and I was surprised at the number of songs I recognized. That said, there’s something missing – they just aren’t exciting.

Friday
House (video)
This 1997 Canadian movie, starring Daniel MacIvor, was recommended to me by the man known as Windom Earle. Really more of a one man play than a movie, the stories contained within are clever, moving and odd (like me!). An excellent movie.
waydowntown (movie)
Another excellent (much more so, in fact) Canadian movie. See the ugly website and/or read this post by Steve (stunt-driver extraodinaire), which should, but does not, mention that the cast includes Don McKellar, as all casts should.

Saturday
Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou? (movie)
Depression era America as fairytale. This movie, and more or less everything within, is brilliant. Excellent performances by John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman and (especially) George Clooney. Amazing cinematography and music as well.
The Lone Star (restaurant)
Love them fajitas and salty chips.
Eyes for Telescopes (rock’n’roll)
Still the best band in Charlottetown, even if their drummer sang a little (more than a little) out of tune. They’ve been together less than a year and have an incredible number of good songs.
Port Citizen (rock’n’roll)
Heavy punk stuff – not so good. Funkier Reggae songs – pretty damn good. They’re better everytime I see them, which makes you wonder why they don’t invite me to more shows.
Flush (rock and roll)
See the above review of 54-40, but not the part about recognizing the songs. Added bonus(es): Drummer spits a lot and hits drums extremely hard, guitarist wears tattoos, mohawk and no shirt.
Richard Wood (MC for rock show)
Inexplicable. Unecessary. Uninformed. Goofy lookin’ too. Sorry man.

Alright, that took a really long time to write. Next weekend I’m either doing less stuff, or just not telling you about it.

When I tell you that Mike Lecky is the future of the Internet, understand that I am wrong. Understand that I am being entirely too hopeful, that the future of the Internet will likely follow the future of all things these days – less art and more product.
Less art and more advertising. But I can dream.

So then:
here is dmo (newer) and dmo (older).

Socks, headphones, supermodels and other things sad and beautiful.

Saw waydowntown at City Cinema* last night. Excellent movie. Smart, stylish, and very funny (kind of like matt).

The movie is about a group of friends who make a bet to see who can live in the connected office building apartment complex in which they work and live without going outside for one month. Having once spent three days in Halifax at a conference without breathing fresh air (the two main hotels, the conference center, and of course, the casino are all connected), I was having retroactive claustrophobia.

   View the trailer »
 

Chapters.ca used to be a good ecommerce site. It’s relatively easy to use (thanks to a heavy amazon.com influence) and your orders would actually arrive. This is no longer the case. The site is still quite good, but don’t expect your orders to actually arrive. Here’s my timeline (complete with pertinent news):

• January 18th
  Ordered two books from Chapters.ca.
   
• January 19th – 29th
  Sat around waiting for my books.
   
• January 30th
  Now disgruntled, I cancelled my orders from Chapters.ca and re-ordered the books from Indigo.ca.
   
• February 1st (that’s only two days later for those of you who aren’t too strong in the maths)
  My two books arrived from Indigo.ca.
   
• Also on February 1st
  Indigo.ca squashes Chapters.ca, rendering my complaint somewhat useless.

Bottom line: Order from Indigo.ca, not Chapters.ca (not that it matters anymore).

I’ve never felt so old in my life*. The Sum41/Treble Charger concert at The UPEI Barn was like being at a junior high sock-hop (only with more piercings and pot). The opening band, Sum41 can be summed up as: Blink 183. They couldn’t have been more than eighteen years old and judging by their appearance, this is what the kids came to see. They actually looked like the audience: spiked/dyed hair, big pants, and novelty t-shirts. To call them unoriginal, while true, would be to miss the point completely. They were fine entertainers. The drummer lit his drumsticks on fire, literally. It was amazing.

Treble Charger’s set was good, as always, but seemed like a bit of an act. They are a smart and quirky pop-rock band. Unfortunately, their latest album and tour find them focusing more on the “pop-rock” and less on the “smart and quirky”. They pandered to the young crowd successfully, but it was transparent. Sum41 can get away with juvenile-behaviour-as-entertainment because they are actually juveniles. Treble Charger, on the other hand, came across like smart old guys pretending to be young and stupid.

That said, hearing the old Treble Charger songs from self = title is always a pleasure. A few years of touring have turned songs like Red and Morale beautifully polished pieces.

What’s this? Eminem and Limp Bizkit on the P.A.? When I was a kid we listen to real rock and roll. I’m going to go listen to Siamese Dream now.

www.billgatesisdead.com

Living in the world of Napster has an unexpected side effect. The Blinking Search Effect (I’m still working on the name – email me if you have a better suggestion). You find yourself staring at the blinking cursor in the search field and draw a blank. You can find anything your greedy little heart desires but you can’t think of a single thing to search for. It’s overwhelming.

This paradigm (well, it is a paradigm, isn’t it?) is not conducive to finding new artists (since you can’t search for something you haven’t heard of).

Thanks to Jevon Mac for breaking me out of my slump with a tip to check out Dashboard Confessional. If you can get past the vocalist’s remarkable similarity to the singer from the Ghandarvas this is a great album. The songs are simple and the voice is always on the point of breaking, but doesn’t. The album is called Swiss Army Romance and I recommend starting with Age Six Racer.