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Three good and three bad things about Montreal

Jeremy — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:37:39 +0000

On my bike ride home yesterday, I encountered three stereotypes of Montrealers that best exemplify the type of people we don’t want non-Montrealers to know or hear about. The first was a motorbiker with an obnoxiously loud bike and a joint hanging out of his mouth. The second was a guy on a pedal bike who blew a red light and almost got hit–with his three year riding in the child’s seat in the back. Third, just before I got home, the Montrealer we try the most to hide: the guy with a red Mazda3 listening to really loud, bad dance music from the nineties. Yes, we have bikers, bad drivers and people with bad taste in music, but here are three cool things about Montreal to held you forget about those people:

Crossing the tracks is a cool little article from Maisonneuve which talks about the railway that skirts the northern boundary of Mile End:

The tracks serve as a neat boundary for the neighbourhood, dividing it from Little Italy, the Petite Patrie and the nameless industrial area to the north. To cross them, you have a choice of three underpasses: one on Park Avenue, one on St. Urbain and one on St. Laurent.

Of course, that’s if you decide to cross them legally. Most people don’t bother with that, choosing instead to duck through one of the many holes that have been cut into the chain-link fence along the tracks.

The tracks (I almost feel it deserves a capital ‘T’) are not part of Montreal. They are another world.

If there’s anything I love better than watching the battle between people tearing down the fence next to the railway and the railways people inventing new ways to try and keep people out, it’s walking down alleys. Montreal has a neat system of alleyways between every block as this image on the left illustrates poorly. Whenever I can, I take alleyways because, oddly, there are more people back there sitting on their decks or raking the gravel in their backyard that at some point they thought was a better idea than grass. Recently, Spacing Montreal featured Montreal’s Best Alleyways, full of photos of alleyways even I haven’t seen.

And lasty, the pride of Montreal: voyeurism. Am I kidding? Wouldn’t non-Montrealers love to know.

Diamond Rings: 8,000 homohms

Jeremy — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:00:53 +0000

This song and video are 8,000 homohms. “Save your anesthetic for the boy next door,” is one of the best lines I’ve heard in a while. The only bad thing about this song is that at some points there’s this synth or something that makes me think my phone is vibrating.

Bahamas and Bob Probert

Jeremy — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 13:25:30 +0000

Fresh off not making the Polaris Prize shortlist, I’ve just discovered Bahamas. But being on the Polaris long list was enough to turn some heads, including mine. Bluesy, soft–music to eat your breakfast too. Here’s Bahamas playing “What’s Worse” live at The Mod Club in Toronto last year. Also check out his song Hockey Teeth which would be a fitting tribute to Bob Probert, hockey’s greatest fighter, who died an untimely death Monday at the age of 45.

Big Bang Big Boom Great Art

Jeremy — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 12:38:11 +0000

I found this video over at Brain Pickings which is always a great repository of creative ideas. By minute two of this graffiti-animated abstract recapitulation of evolution I was already exhausted by the work and thought that was put into it by its creator (or in this case, maybe Creator) Blu–and then it went on for eight more minutes. Brain Pickings came up with a simultaneously concise and descriptive two word description of it: Lo-fi Darwinism. Check out the rest of the post here and another great Blu video here.

BIG BAG BIG BOOM – the new wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

True Patriot Love

Jeremy — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 13:00:17 +0000

Because it’s summer…

Jeremy — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 17:06:57 +0000

…and work is too hectic for me to write anything.

“I’ll admit I’m like the Raptors–I got weak first drafts”

Jeremy — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 12:10:05 +0000

When I’m writing I repeatedly edit words and rework tracks/
I’ll admit I’m like the Raptors – I got weak first drafts/
So when I’m dropping a new flow/
It’s prolly not all that solid at first post yo might call it Araujo/

I already liked Shad before I heard this song, but a reference to the Raptors and their controversial first pick in the 2004 draft put me over the top. Icing on the cake is that, as far as the press and the youtube can determine, Shad’s as down to earth offstage and his lyrics let on. Since enjoying Shad’s album The Old Prince (2007), I’ve been looking forward to his new material which hit virtual and actual shelves a couple weeks ago under the title TSOL (and it includes an appearance by Broken Social Scene’s Lisa Lobsinger on Rose Garden).It’s already one of my albums of the summer.

Shad’s on tour right now, hitting southern Ontario in a couple days (including two shows in his home town of London) and then playing the Jazz Fest in Montreal on June 25 which I’ll be at no matter how indie pop darlings are playing the Jazz Fest that night (right now that number is three). Here’s Shad’s most recent video, Rose Garden, but also check out Yaa I get it, Compromise (which features the Raptors lyrics) and Shad freestyling.

You heard it here first: oil hurricanes on fire

Jeremy — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 11:00:51 +0000

Just a few days ago, I mentioned what I thought was a worst-case scenario of a hurricane hitting the oil spill. And then…XKCD stole my idea. Well, probably not.

Someone was bound to come up with this…

How to avoid large ships

Jeremy — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 13:14:14 +0000

Been busy lately. Just finished a two part article on genetically modified food for the Sherbrooke Record which appeared yesterday and today. I hope to get that up here next week. It’s definitely not your standard take on GE food. Anxious to see what people think. To tide you over until then, here’s the announcement of this years winner of the oddest book title award:

That’s pretty good but I prefer the titles of some past winners:

This year’s runner-ups included What Kind of Bean is a Chihuahua? and Collectible Spoons of the Third Reich. For a full list of past winners click here.

Peters’ Pick: Not that you care Komisarek, but there’s someone new

Peters — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:06:22 +0000

I have to admit that over the years I have had a few man crushes. This does not mean I want to buy roses and chocolates and ride around central park with these dudes, I just find something about them engaging. Not surprisingly, most of said crushes have a direct correlation to my love of all things “Les Habitants”. My last man crush was on ex-Habs defenseman Mike Komisarek. He smashed people into the boards, fought guys that got on his nerves and probably made a mean penne carbonara. Then, out of nowhere, he stabbed me in the back by signing with the hated Toronto maple leafs. Less likely to betray me is another one of my long standing man crushes: ex-blur front man, Damon Albarn.

Albarn’s combination of progressive thinking, musical diversity, and roguish Han Solo good looks make a combination that cannot be beat. Though I am not a huge Blur fan aside from a few standout tracks like Tender, his more recent work is eclectic and awe inspiring. Most famous is the cartoon art band project “Gorillaz”. I didn’t really get Gorillaz until I stumbled across this live concert of the Gorillaz playing their incredible album “Demon Days” end to end. The concert includes a full orchestra, a b boy children’s choir, and a super wasted Shaun Ryder singing the party track, “dare”. I don’t think I blinked for over an hour. Another example of Albarn’s creative chops is this pre-Avatar 3D animated performance with a nimble Madonna.

This week, Gorillaz released a new album and saved my spring super sweeps season. Every year around this time bands go into a LP releasing frenzy in preparation for the summer festival tours. I am always pumped for this because this usually leads to what I like to call the spring super song (SSS). This song rockets up my Itunes playlist and defines a usually happy and carefree time of budding trees and shedding clothing. I couldn’t believe that after releases from surefire bands like Spoon, Vampire Weekend, and Lady Gaga, no SSS had found its way to my ear drum. Then I heard “Empire Ants”. This tour de force is like two songs in one, starting slow with a nice little two step beat. It reminds me of having an evening picnic involving a pretty girl, cheap wine and some type of brie cheese. Then, halfway through, an evil alien ship lands in the middle of said picnic and lambastes everyone with alien laser beams. It’s awesome. This song is officially my SSS of 2010. Long live the king.