Live At The Academy, Winnipeg Style

I've posted a quick review and some mp3's of Jesse's show from last Thursday night March 1 on my other blog, Teenage Dogs In Trouble. If you love indie (and not so indie) music this might be the site for you, I try to keep that blog exclusively about music and music related stuff. I listen to music on a daily basis, so my Ipod is full of the newest releases (..and leaked upcoming releases), so it gives me great pleasure to share my thoughts and recommendations with the world. If there's any bands or upcoming shows I might be interested, please let me know..I'm a bit of a music geek.

Thursday Night Live!

If your in the mood for some live music on a Thursday night (March 1st), drop by the Academy Bar and Eatery before 8:00pm as Jesse Miki and friends will perform. Jesse's friends' will probably include his sister, Alex and Leif, from Locker 369,( who he's opening for) and it promises to be an interesting mix of rock, jazz, folk and whatever.

There's probably a minimal cover charge, but get there early as both these groups have a large (student) fan following. Hopefully I'll have some photos to post in the next few days, as well as some sound samples if I record the show.

Kibo - The Wrap-up! Part 2

If you don't know what the Kibo concert was all about or you don't live in Winnipeg here's a some background. I know this might be boring some people (sorry), so this is the last post on the subject, then I'll get on with my life.

On Saturday, rehearsals began at 10:00am and ran through until late afternoon. I arrived at the Theatre around 10:30am and drank as much coffee as I could before practicing our piece. The finale rehearsal ran smoothly despite many changes and add-ons on how to finish the finale. The whole show seemed so surreal, I never felt any panic or nervousness, but instead an almost serene feeling. I guess this was in part because our piece was so close to the beginning and it didn't have time to let the anxiety build. It sure felt nice that I didn't have to stage manage or worry about other performers.

One of my favourite parts of the evening was the intermission, I went out to the lobby to see if there was anyone I knew that came to watch. Apart from the usual family, I spoke to my ex-prof from University, artist Ivan Eyre, he was shocked to see me on stage. Not only is Ivan one of Canada's most well-known artists, he's a great person, teacher and very humble. I also briefly spoke to a few of my sister's friend's, Kathy and Tannis, as well as a bunch of customers' from the store I work at. After the intermission, Shayna and I grabbed some drinks and returned to the balcony to take in the second half of the show.

After the concert, the performers were invited to the Japanese-Canadian Cultural Centre for some Chinese food and drink. When I say drink, I don't mean beer or wine but Sake! This was a great way to wind down after a long tiring day, I of course resisted the urge to indulge too much (the weather was a little rough that night), but instead enjoyed blasking in our brief triumph. While the Taiko performers noisily chugged Sake, I sipped Coke's and enjoyed catching up with my pal Sumi, from the Aurora Dance group.

As I said yesterday, the show went off pretty much without a glitch, it would have been nicer to have a full house, but at least we had the opportunity to perform in the grand Pantages Playhouse Theatre. The big stage, the blinding lights and the crystal clear sound could become addictive for a performer, I had never appeared on a stage larger than the West End Cultural Centre (unless you count grade 8 band at the Centennial Concert Hall), and I would welcome the opportunity to do something like this again. It was fun, but it's time to move on to the next project.
The photos on stage are from the rehearsal in the afternoon, while the group photos were taken before and after the show.

Kibo - The Review? Part 1

Since the Winnipeg Free Press has their continued fascination (ass-kissing) with celebrities, giving washed up actor/wannabee rocker, Dennis Quaid yet more front page exposure in Sunday's paper, of course they failed to mention anything about the Kibo concert. Not that I was really expecting much, but since the Free Press was one of their major corporate sponsors, I thought they might write a review or at least publish a photo from the show.

The audience was told before the show, "no photos will be allowed during the performance!", so any quality pictures from the show will be rare and hard to come by (let me know if you have any good photos from the show, especially during the Brent/Geoff/Shayna song). I remembered to bring my camera, so I attempted to take as many photos as possible. After performing my piece with Shayna and Brent, I snuck up to the front row of the balcony and snapped away... sans flash, the result was some very blurry shots. The zoom on my camera doesn't really have much zoom, so the least blurry shots are the more distant looking. Earlier in the day during dress rehearsal, I took the opportunity to take some closer-up photos as well as some casual candids. My regret is that I didn't get any decent shots of the out of town performers, Kaoru Watanabe, Shoji Kameda and Chieko Kojima. All the other performers in the show had to make their way backstage for the finale piece, so I missed virtually all of their dance, drum and flute performance, I was told their piece was incredible, and I managed to get a glimpse of Chieko's dance from the side of the stage.

Overall I think the show was a success, I'm not sure how much money was raised or how many seats were sold. The middle section on the floor was full, but the left and right sections were only full half way up, then there was several rows of empty seats, but the last couple of rows ($35 tickets) were occupied. The balcony was closed to the public, but many of the performers found their way up from backstage. Rumor has it the show was being video recorded (from the balcony beside the sound/lighting table) and may be distributed to the performers which I'm surely looking forward to.

There were many highlights, as previously mentioned Chieko, Shoji and Kaoru were great, Hinode Taiko were busy with their own numbers (including one I haven't seen before, Stress, which even drew some laughs) as well as a collaboration with the Aurora Dancers on V.

The Aurora Dancers probably had the most stage time from beginning to end. The beauty of their pieces and the calm gentleness of their movements always finds a soft spot in my heart.

Musically, the show was solid, Michael Oike is truly gifted, a professional pianist who performed some Schumann as well as accompanying his niece, Alex Allen, who danced to a piece called, Hitori Botchi, Yuugata no uta.

Singer Shayna Paulicelli belted out First Love, a song in Japanese and English, she has an amazing voice and look for big things from her in the very near future (can we say Canadian Idol?). Shayna also joined Brent and myself for Okaasan no uta, which is a fairly haunting, yet quite lovely song. It was a pleasure to play guitar for these two talented singers, I think it sounded okay, except for when the sound cut out at the beginning of the guitar intro. I had accidentally pulled the cord out of the DI (direct input) box at the side of the stage when it snagged on one of the layers of curtains. Special thanks to Pam Okano for thinking of me for the guitar part.

An interesting element to the evening was the readings that members of the community gave in honor of a grandparent or relative. As Wayne Sato, Karleen Manchanda, Russell Kunz, and Kristen and Stacey Matsumoto each read their relative's profile, images flashed behind them to give some insight and perspective to the audience. The use of the images on screen were most effective in the first piece of the night, Hajime ni ("in the beginning")- "out of hardship and dislocation, a community is born and thrives. The roots of Manitoba's Japanese-Canadian community are outlined in this multi-artist, multimedia creation developed for the concert" (as quoted from the program book).

The photos posted today are from the actual show (again I apologize for the blurriness), in the next posting I'll display some group shots and some behind the scene rehearsal photos.

Can't Get Enough Of The Office

Always seem to jump on the bandwagon late, I watch movies from rental stores that are already on 7 day rental and finally watch Oscar award winning movies years later. Same goes for TV, I have never watched Lost, 24, Grey's Anatomy, House, Heroes, or Dancing With Stars.

One show that has me completely hooked is the Office (US version). This Christmas I received the first season on DVD (only one disc) and I couldn't stop watching it, I ran out and rented a disc from season two and then luck would have it, my daughter traded (borrowed) the complete season 2 for me to burn (oops, I mean make a back-up copy). I've been attempting to watch as many new episodes as possible, but you know how it is to try to find time, every week. I presently have the first ten episodes from season 3 on my computer to catch up. If you haven't seen this show, trust me it's addicting, it's one of those shows where the awkward silences and eye-rolls will have you busting a gut with laughter, it's brilliant! Steve Carell is perfect as the goofy boss of the Dunder Mifflin paper supply company in this mockumentary-style parody of water cooler culture. Check out the NBC-The Office site for highlights, previews, episode guides, webisodes and other goodies if you have lots of time to kill.

Here are some select Fansite's for The Office
Dwight Shrute's Schrute-Space
LITO:Fansite for the Office
OfficeTally: the Office Fansite of the Office

These are some of the character (actor/actress) myspace.com sites. (very cool!)
Pam Beesley/myspace (Jenna Fischer)
BJ Novak/myspace (Ryan the Temp)
Kevin Malone/myspace
Creed/myspace
Toby/myspace
Melora Hardin/myspace (Jan Levinson)
Meredith/myspace

Kibo: Special Deal

Remember I was concerned about the high ticket prices for the Kibo fundraiser concert on February 24th, lo and behold Ticketmaster has now offered a student rate for $20 per ticket. I don't know if there are any students that read this blog (or anyone for that matter?) or any students that are interested in this type of show. When tickets are discounted the week of the show, I always have mixed feelings. How about all the people that paid the full price, will they feel ripped off? If you buy a $50 pair of jeans then find out it's on sale for less than half price, I would feel slightly pissed. Usually when shows try to sell off seats it's the last row corner's or the back of the balcony. These discounted seats are still the best available, as good or better than the $50 version. It's clear that sales haven't gone as well as predicted, so plan B is to get as many bodies as possible to fill the building. Which isn't a bad idea, as who wants to perform to a half empty hall. On Ticketmaster's site you just have to type the words, HUMANRIGHTS in the special offer box to receive your special price. To be honest, if I wasn't a student I would still try to get this offer because how will they know if your a student or not. As of Wed. 7:00pm, the available "special deal" seats are still outstanding (row 10 middle). Good luck!

Practice, Practice, Practice!

There are only 4 days until the Kibo concert and all I can think about is practice. It seems quite simple, play one three minute song then I'm done, I can pack up and go home if I want, but really it's more complicated than that. I'm playing guitar for vocalists Shayna and Brent, both youngster's with years of stage experience, I haven't been on stage for over a year and I have never performed in such a large venue, like Pantages Theatre.

Shayna was the lead in Grant Park High School's (my old school!) production of Ragtime this past December at the Burton Cummings Theatre, and she has many musical theatre shows and singing competition's on her resume.

Brent recently performed (acted) in the play Arcadia, as part of the StoppardFest and in early March he is off to the New York Frigid Fest to perform his play, Jesus Christ, I'm Sorry. The three of us played the song only once on Sunday during the Kibo show rehearsals and we won't have a chance again until the day of the show, as Brent is away until Friday.
My guitar part is fairly simple and repetitive, but I have to set the speed and tempo. The challenge for both of them is the language, they have to sing this song in Japanese and harmonize together, a lot trickier than singing solo to recorded music.
Oh well, I suppose I should return to my bedroom and play Obaachan No Uta again and again, I tend to practice it a couple of times then proceed to play other stuff for hours. I guess that's a good thing, I'm starting to write songs again and I'm getting the urge to find some gigs and perform again, either with Zamboni Joe or solo...stay tuned.

Our Hope, Our Future?

One project I'm involved with is the upcoming KIBO concert on Saturday February 24th at the Pantages Theatre in downtown Winnipeg. Kibo ("Our Hope, our future") is a celebration of Nikkei spirit and artistry that features international performers from Japan and Los Angeles, as well as local artists. The Manitoba Japanese Canadian Citizens' Association, with the combined efforts of the Manitoba Japanese Cultural Centre and the National Association of Japanese Canadians are hosting this gala event to help raise funds for the proposed Canadian Museum Of Human Rights.

If you love Taiko drums you should enjoy this show, Winnipeg's Hinode Taiko will be joined by Chieko Kojima and Kaoru Watanabe of Kodo from Japan as well as Shoji Kameda from On ensemble from Los Angeles.

Local performers include the Aurora Dancers, pianist Michael Oike, singers Brent Hirose and Shayna Paulicelli and myself on guitar. I have previously written about Brent, Shayna and Aurora in past postings on this site (August archives), while there is info about Michael on the Kibo page. I'm not totally sure about the overall format of the show, but I know there will be photo images projected in the background that follow the history of the Japanese Canadian journey from the end of WWII to the present. There will be a lot of familiar faces flashed on the screen combined with drums, dancing, music, martial arts and spoken word, so brace yourself for a complete multi-media extravaganza.

I almost forgot to mention tickets! They are available through Ticketmaster or better yet call or drop by the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (180 McPhillips) as they are selling a limited number of tickets, so you can avoid the ridiculous "Ticketbastard" agency fees. As of right now, there are great seats still available and prices are $50 and $35. A quick check at Ticketmaster tells me that the first row left and right sections are still open, $35 seats are only the last three rows on the floor and that balcony is not open, this may change if they sell out the floor.

I don't know if I'm just cheap, but the ticket prices are a bit on the steep side, I don't like to even spend twenty dollars to see a band I like a lot, so to spend fifty it has to be special. I suppose people spend upwards of 40-80 bucks no problem for mid-range popular acts and over a hundred for classic rockers such as the Who, Eric Clapton or Van Morrison. This Kibo show is different though, it's a fundraiser/showcase, a reflection of the talents within our community. I'm not sure if her highness Ms. Asper will be in attendance, as I really hope she can experience in person the efforts this organization has put forth and I hope we can at least raise enough money to maybe pay for one window on that grand Museum at the Forks.

VisionTV Sucks!!!

As I was flipping channels, I stumbled upon the 1983 movie WarGames starring a pre-Ferris Bueller's Matthew Broderick as a young computer whiz kid who starts a countdown to World War 3 when he accidentally hacks into a secret super computer. Is it a game..or is it real? A movie that gives young viewer's a glimpse of how much computers have shrunk in size since the 80's.

I thought what the hell I should watch this, I've never really seen the whole thing, and the 2 hours won't kill me, yet it was pretty lame by today's "high standards". As this movie reached it's climax, as it counted down to mass destruction (missile attack), 4, 3, 2, 1...then the TV screen splits the screen in half. On the left side, it plays advertisements for this station's upcoming programs, much like when they show the credits at the end of movies on TV and they shrink the credits so you can't read them. On the right side of the screen, the movie played on...it seemed everyone was celebrating, but I couldn't completely tell because the audio was cut for the commercials. A minute later the screen returned to full size and the movie resumed. Celebration turned to panic when the computer tried to launch the missile's itself, but first it had to crack the military's 10 number code. It was another race against time as David (Broderick) played tic-tac-toe against the computer to confuse it into a draw...the final number was cracked by the computer, David typed something, then....ZING! The next program started! Emily Of New Moon, it was 10:00pm! They completely cut the film right at the most climatic point of this whole movie! I was outraged. It was like cutting off a hockey game in overtime with a team on a breakaway. I ran to the computer and fired off this actual e-mail to VisionTV.

subject: your station sucks!!!

Hey, what the hell happened to WAR GAMES!! During the climax of the movie (at the top of the hour) your crappy station CUT the end of the movie, not the credits but the CLIMAX of the movie. What type of two-bit, second rate station are you running...better stick to Sunday school programs instead of "real" movies!! Maybe if you guys didn't interrupt the program with SO many commercials you can show a WHOLE movie.

I have a vision your station won't last very long!

So long forever,
Your dissatisfied ex-viewer!!!

I know, I probably overreacted, but someone has to say something, I hate it when TV or radio stations take their audience for granted, does someone in Toronto flip a switch at the top of the hour or is everything automated? What's with this VisionTV anyways? According to their website, it's Canada's (and the World's) only multi-faith network, their "cornerstone" programs shown during prime-time focus on "spirituality" in it's broadest possible content, and their shows range from Neon Rider, Little House On The Prairie and for some reason, Party Of Five (a photo of Neve Campbell always makes me feel better).

I urge you to take action when you feel riped-off, this might be minor, but I'm pissed!! Ask VisionTV (audience@visiontv.ca) what happened to the end of WarGames, I bet they don't have a clue about what you're talking about.

Slightly New Format - more updates!

Ok, I know I haven't posted in almost a month, I've been so busy doing nothing, I haven't had the time, nor the energy to post anything interesting. Don't get me wrong, lots of shit has happened not only in my life, but the world as a whole (or half, whatever). I guess what I'm saying is that this site hasn't excited or inspired me as much as my sister blog-site, which focuses mainly on music, such as concert reviews, new/old CD's reviews and posting live recordings. This site was suppose to be my non-music (interesting stories in the news) blog and also a platform for any ranting that I may feel inclined to express late at night while surfing the net. This is meant to be "a site for red eyes" a late night beacon, where I can spew off whatever comes into my head while I'm trying to avoid watching mindless TV at 1 or 2 am.

Instead of copying and pasting public interest stories, I've decided to try a new-ish format, the old traditional style of blog, where I talk about what I'm doing in my life, my upcoming projects, my hockey pool team, my music career (revive the band, play some shows?), my fledgling art career (believe it or not, I am an art school grad), my hockey career (well, once a week career) all that boring stuff people talk about in blogs. I'll also keep you informed about any interesting movies, TV shows, and plays that I've seen and I'll especially let everyone know when something pisses me off either in the news or real life. If I do this, I'm sure I'll be able to post at least a couple of times a week, because I HATE blogs and websites that never update!

Boxing Day..I Mean Boxing Week Blowout!

So Christmas is over, but the rush to the Mall has just begun...for real! The week before Christmas is suppose to be the time when desperate Men frantically jam the shopping establishments to over-buy and over-pay. I always get lots of flack for waiting to the last minute, but this year I actually didn't leave the house on December 24th. On Saturday evening, I was at the Fork's and McNally Bookseller's, but these were just minor "stocking stuffer type" items.

In Winnipeg, (I'm assuming that other cities' residents are just as stupid) there is one big shopping day, Boxing Day! The major electronic and furniture store's open at 7:00am and hardcore bargain hunter's camp out the night before just so they can save a couple of bucks. One furniture store (which I won't name, to give it more free advertising), every year offers 99% off one selected item in it's store ($18.49 for a $1849.00 table), this store always garnishes press in the first couple of pages of the paper and it's "lucky"camper get's his name in the paper. One goof and his friends showed up at Best Buy at 8:30pm Christmas Day to be first in line (about 1,000 people were waiting when doors opened), he calculated that spending the night in the parking lot he saved about a grand on a laptop computer and a stereo system. "It was a good night's work, for a 10-hour shift, I made $1000", he figured. First of all he didn't make $1,000, he probably spend $3,000, and he just saved money on products that B.B. most wants to get rid of before year-end and the most discounted items seem to be the demos and reconditioned.

I was at Polo Park Mall (arguably the largest mall in the city) on Wednesday a day after Boxing Day and the Mall as expected was still packed and uncomfortably crowded. The deals just don't justify digging through piles of clothes under the watchful eye of store security, in reality I spent most of my money and ran the ol' Visa up to heights it has never reached previously. It was estimated over 191,00 Manitoban's were looking for bargains on Boxing Day and according to Visa Canada, sales rang in at $44 million. The credit-card company expected six million Canadians to spend $1.9 billion on Boxing Day, with almost 60% still looking for Christmas presents, the average shopper will spend $319. Our society has this greed mentality where we project this perception of giving and generosity at Christmas, but as soon as Christmas is over we have this need to run out and spend on ourselves, all the shit we didn't get that WE WANTED! Enjoy!

We're You There?...I Sure Wasn't!

As I sat in my warm living room watching the Grey Cup game with family and friends chowing down on nachos and wings, I wondered why I didn't attend the game? The game was held in my hometown for the third time in the past 15 years. Before 1991, this championship game was held in every other CFL city, (especially heavy on Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver) but Winnipeg and Regina. If you don't remember the ridiculous Grey Cup game in Regina in 1995, it was the first and ONLY time a non-Canadian team captured the CANADIAN Football League title. In my opinion, it was a low point for the league, a desperate attempt to capture an (non-existent) American audience.

Enough history, the point is why didn't I go to the game, I've watched probably every Cup game since the early 70's and though I haven't been to a Bomber game in at least 3 years..I still consider myself a CFL fan. I do follow the CFL more closely than the NFL and I read about the trials and tribulations of the Bombers week to week. I have been to one Grey Cup game, 1983 in Vancouver, the first year of the domed stadium B.C. Place, as the Argos beat the home team Lions. It was my first year of university and my two Pals Mike and Ox flew to the coast to party Grey Cup style..good time! Too bad the hometeam lost, cause it totally killed the party mood of the city.

I had an opportunity to go to the 1991 game here in Winnipeg (this is the year that featured the part owners of the Toronto Argonauts Wayne Gretzky, John Candy and that later to-be-convicted crook Bruce McNall on the sidelines) as my boss Jan (then and presently) offered to buy me tickets a couple of days before the big event. I turned the tickets down as the thought of freezing my ass off on a cold November evening (there was snow on the ground this Cup and the temp was probably in the -10/20 C. range.) and sitting on steep metal temporary bleachers didn't seem too appealing at the time. This year you couldn't asked for better weather especially for this time of year, and the hype in Winnipeg was building all week. I must admit, I avoided anything Grey Cup-related, I didn't attend any concerts, parades, luncheons, award ceremonies, nightclubs, parties or even drinking heavily during Cup week. I obviously have no civic pride, but I don't care, do you think Mr. photo-op Gary Doer paid for his ticket to any of the events? Maybe I'm getting old or maybe I'm cheap (tickets were $250 in the side stands), I just think if you're going to spend that kind of money, either the home team should be in the game or I should be watching the game in another city. I think the domed Roger's Centre in Toronto would be a great place to watch football in November. Hmmm... sounds tempting, maybe I'll see you in Toronto for the '07 Grey Cup!

Nooooo...Nelly!

Two lucky people attending the 94th annual Grey Cup will have the opportunity of a lifetime at this year’s big game, to be played Nov. 19 at Canad Inns Stadium in Winnipeg.

Grey Cup organizers announced today that one fan and a guest will get a chance to meet Canadian and international recording sensation Nelly Furtado face-to-face.

Everyone attending this year’s game will be automatically entered to meet Furtado, whose recent multi-platinum CD Loose features No. 1 hits like Promiscuous and Maneater. One lucky name will be announced during the first quarter of the game.

That person and a guest will be invited to come down to field level to watch the 2006 Rogers Grey Cup Halftime Show, which will feature Furtado as the headline entertainer. They will then get an exclusive, V.I.P. meet-and-greet with Furtado following her performance.

I don't know if it's just me that wonders this, but who decides on the half time entertainment for the Grey Cup? I find it strange that a typically manly spectator sport like football would target it's half time show to pre-teen girls or older folks with really BAD musical taste. I thought half-time was a time to go wait in line for more beer and wait in line to use the bathroom. The Winnipeg stadium (CanadInn stadium?) washroom is traditionally the warmest place during November, must be the steaming pee-trough in the men's room. Fortunately, gone are the days when the half-time show was a "Up With People" type of tribute or some kind of travelogue entertainment promoting the host city. Bands such as the Tragically Hip or Sam Roberts seemed like a perfect compliment to the masculine adrenaline of Canadian football...what's wrong with that? Perhaps it's because the skanky Nelly Furtado is so "mainstream" and popular that this 5 minute spot will lure little girls into accidently viewing a portion of a sport they would otherwise avoid. Hey, maybe they'll like it and convince their daddies to buy them some season tickets for the upcoming football season. "Hey (insert airhead girl's name), Nelly's on the Grey Cup, that's sooo cool, let's watch and help increase the viewership for CBC..hee hee..what team's she on? Sorry to burst your bubble kid's, Nelly doesn't give a shit about you, football or for that matter Winnipeg, I'm sure she would even freeze her ass in Regina with the promise of $$$ for performing 1 or 2 songs, not a bad gig.

Here's a portion of an interview with Nelly Furtado a couple of weeks ago:

Q: Have you ever been to a Grey Cup? If not, do you have any recollections watching it on TV?

A: I have seen it a couple times on TV. But I have never been to a game. I am looking forward to it. I don’t know a lot about football. I’m very naive when it comes to it. I know more about basketball and soccer.

Q: You were born in British Columbia, did you ever go to see the B.C. Lions play?

A: No, I never had the opportunity, but I heard a lot about it.

Q: Do you have any interest in the Canadian Football League?

A: I am learning more about it.

I am learning about it? You've heard about the B.C. Lions, good for you, did you know the Lion's are playing in the game that preceeds and proceeds your grand performance? I guess it doesn't really matter, I doubt the American group Black Eyed Peas even knew what country they were in for the Grey Cup in Vancouver. I'm sure Nelly Furtado will nicely lip-sync Maneater, shake her downfilled jacketed ass and thrill the hell out of the shivering "football" fans in the stands.

Who's in charge here? Was Burton Cummings booked up already signing autographs at Sals? And was Brad Roberts too busy to pull his head out of his ass from his "Ghetto pad" in NYC. Maybe Nelly Furtado wasn't such a bad choice after all.

Enjoy the half-time show and welcome to Winnipeg!