UFC in Montreal

I just got back from Montreal where I saw my buddy Joe Doerksen fight in the UFC. It was a great time, unfortunately Joe didn't win. In a fight where he dominated from the bottom with his strong guard, the judges gave a split decision to his opponent, Dan Miller.
When UFC judges are really Quebec Athletic Commission judges who specialize in judging boxing matches, something is wrong here. They need to better understand how MMA fighting works, and it seems that in this case, they didn't. Simply because Dan Miller was on top of Joe, they thought Miller had the control. Due to Joe's strong guard, Miller didn't have any control whatsoever, and he looked a lot worse for wear than Joe did after the fight.
Hopefully these judges can gain a better understanding of MMA fighting in the future to keep this from happening again.

Design Layout

In my electronic publishing class I have certainly been having trouble. I've never been much of an artist or design guy. The project we worked on today is the first one that I'm actually somewhat proud of. Things are starting to catch on and that makes me happy.

cheers,

j

PR Assignment MADD Survey!

Please click on the link below if you are a post secondary student and fill out this awesome survey!!

Click here to take survey

The daily news

Check out this article written by Brian Lilley from the Parliamentary Bureau in Ottawa. Wow!

OTTAWA — Iran is warning its citizens not to come to Canada out of fear of widespread Islamophobia sweeping the country.

A story posted on the website of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting news agency states the foreign ministry in Iran issued the warning earlier this week. The agency claims crime rates in Canada have soared recently and Iranian nationals may fall victim to this new crime spree.

The government of Iran is warning its citizens to take extra precautions if they visit Canada.

The Iranian government also claims Muslims in Canada are being denied “social and political rights” and police are not following up on complaints filed by Iranians in this country.

In addition to warning citizens to stay away from Canada, the government of Iran also recently warned its people to stay away from France, also citing Islamophobia there.

Do the Kings of Leon have Amy Winehouse to thank for their success?

Formed in 1999 in Tennessee, this family band spent the majority of the last decade touring relentlessly. They broke out in the United Kingdom initially, with their first three albums doing well there. Success in the United States didn't happen until their "Only By the Night" album was released and sold millions.

Caleb Followill, the group's lead singer, has a very unique voice. He has a soulful bluesy delivery, and his inflections are wonderfully emotional. The timing of the band's success in my opinion has to do with the fact that his type of voice was starting to get very much in demand. Soul music had become very popular in the UK, and a few years ago artists like Amy Winehouse opened the door. Popular music tends to repeat itself even though it is packaged in different ways, and the season for soul music has returned.

Followill's powerful voice can pack a punch. Regardless of what genre of music that the band creates, the vocals in this case bring that element of soul music to the table. Naturally writing strong songs and tireless touring sets the stage for the big break, but a tipping point needs to come from somewhere. In this case, it may have come from rehab.

j

Jonny from Thunder Bay, the whole story.

I only posted a partial part of my story "Jonny from Thunder Bay," and here's the whole thang. Check it!

As Jonny hopped out of the Mack truck, he could see that the haze in the distance dissolved the road into the sky. The hot autumn sun melted away his desire to start walking, so he flopped down in the tall wild grass and pulled out his map.

Pointing to the south bearing highway he mumbled to himself, “Hmmm, that’s the 11, I’m on the 17, it looks like I might be about twenty miles or so from Thunder Bay. Damnit! Too bad that guy wasn’t heading my way for a bit longer.”

Always eager to feel sorry for himself, Jonny shakily drew a slender cigarette from his breast pocket, and lit it with his Bob Marley lighter. He started out on the perimeter highway of Winnipeg at four in the morning. Over the course of the last 12 hours of traveling and waiting, and the three different rides he had managed to score, he had not had a chance to sleep yet. And the previous overnight from Regina was no picnic. "I've never met such a scary trucker in my life," he mused aloud,"I mean that guy was right fucked up."

Jonny was a tall, slender fellow with long blonde dreads. He had the gait of someone who looked like he soiled his trousers, which painted a large target on his back at school when he was growing up. Like many children with certain physical differences, he was bullied to the point where it messed with his self esteem. As he got older he realized that he could fight back, but this tended to get him into trouble so he just kind of avoided people. Being a bit of a loner soon became his identity.

As his goal was to reach Thunder Bay by sundown, he knew that he would have a tough time making it by then, especially if he was walking in this heat. He decided to wait it out and hitchhike and see if his luck would continue to ride, so he continued to relax for a bit. As he lay down in the grass, he thought he'd just rest his eyes for a bit.

Jonny awoke to a loud screeching noise. He looked for the source and saw a large 18 wheel Feedrite truck start to topple over onto its side as it plowed into the ditch on the other side of the highway. As if still in a dream, he could see it all happen in slow motion. He started to turn his head and look around to see if anyone else was catching wind of this strange sight, but no one was around. "What the hell?" he said in shock.

The large truck was fully flipped onto its side and murky oil was gushing out from the inside of the running engine onto the torn up grass below. The 18 wheels were all still spinning violently. There was no sign of the driver, at least from what Jonny could tell from his vantage point. He second guessed whether or not he should make a move toward the possibly dangerous vehicle, so he surveyed the scene closely to look for any signs of sparks or fire. As smoke billowed from the underbelly of the engine, he rounded the front of the truck and saw the driver of the vehicle in a daze and pawing at his seatbelt.

Second guessing himself, Jonny decided it was too dangerous to even try. "Luckily the driver didn't see me," he mumbled to himself as he picked up his belongings off the ground and started to head eastward down the highway to Thunder Bay. Minutes later he heard a loud bang, stopped for a moment as his mind wrestled with turmoil, and then slowly started walking again.

As the next several hours rolled by, Jonny was so transfixed on what he had just witnessed that he didn't even try to hitch a ride. He kept replaying the image of the driver desperately trying to free himself over and over. He peered at the scar marks on his wrist and noticed that they were bleeding again from all the scratching. Suddenly realizing that he was also clenching his teeth, he stopped to have a cigarette. After a few drags, the setting sun reminded him to start hustling to get a ride. After all, he didn't want to be caught out in the dark.

As the blue Hino pulled to the side of the road, Jonny climbed up into the cab. "Where ya headed?" the pudgy and splotch faced driver gurgled.

"Thunder Bay" Jonny replied sheepishly.

"You can hop in but I got one rule, if you bitch about my tunes then you can hoof it. The name's Doug." snorted Doug.

"Uh ok, ahh… I'm Jake," Jonny lied.

"Well pleased to meet you Jake." Doug grinned as he turned up the stereo.

'Shit, rarely do I ever tell someone my actual name,' Jonny remarked to himself as he leaned back into the cracked leather seat and simmered on the George Thorogood song that was blasting through the pristine speakers. 'I always liked Jake because it was to the point. Plus I've never known a Jake that I didn't like.' His internal conversation was interrupted as Thorogood belted, 'I drink alone, YEAH with nobody else!'

Jonny smiled to himself as he soaked in the lyrics, 'Fuck there's nothing like sitting on the docks and drinking some fucking Moosehead.'

The miles drifted by as the sun continued its downward spiral into the horizon. Doug's animated armchair dancing to the classic rock music was interesting to watch as Jonny kept to himself, but soon the amusement wore off and he started to nod. Through the nappy haziness he noticed the Welcome to Thunder Bay sign near the turnpike. "I'll stop at the Husky and let you off there." Doug stated as he turned the volume down.

The tractor trailers were lined up in a community of diagonal silence underneath the autumn dusk. The littered and cracked parking lot was teeming with weeds and cigarette butts. Without a word of thanks or goodbye, Jonny opened the door and hopped to the ground several feet below. 'Too bad convenient stores here weren't like the states,' he wished.

Jonny stopped in at the liquor mart on McNaughton St and headed straight for the McKellar Island. After about an hour of walking he reached the mangled docks. As he stepped over the creaky floorboards, he gazed at the burgeoning stars. Jonny slumped down and cracked open a barely chilled Moosehead beer.

"Well I missed sundown but the stars sure look fuckin-A," he said as he started to swig several large mouthfuls of golden nectar.
“Damnit!” Jonny spat the awful results into the dark water and yelled, “skunk-ass beer!”

Kings of Leon

It is interesting to see how the KOL had a great opening week in Canada, hitting #1, but not quite getting there in the US. Sugarland took the top spot. I guess Canadians have better taste than Americans. Are you surprised? I'm not! Here's hoping that the KOL album has legs!!

j

Blog assignment - Short Story Excerpt - Jonny from Thunder Bay

As his goal was to reach Thunder Bay by sundown, Jonny knew that he would have a tough time making it by then, especially if he was walking in this heat. He decided to wait it out and hitchhike and see if his luck would continue to ride, so he continued to relax. As he lay down in the grass, he thought he'd just rest his eyes for a bit.

Jonny awoke to a loud screeching noise. He looked for the source and saw a large 18 wheel Feedrite truck start to topple over onto its side as it plowed into the ditch on the other side of the highway. As if still in a dream, he could see it all happen in slow motion. He started to turn his head and look around to see if anyone else was catching wind of this strange sight, but no one was around. "What the hell?" he said in shock.

The large truck was fully flipped onto its side and murky oil was gushing out from the inside of the running engine onto the torn up grass below. The 18 wheels were all still spinning violently. There was no sign of the driver, at least from what Jonny could tell from his vantage point. He pondered whether or not he should make a move toward the possibly dangerous vehicle, so he surveyed the scene closely to look for any signs of sparks or fire. As smoke billowed from the underbelly of the engine, he rounded the front of the truck and saw the driver of the vehicle in a daze and pawing at his seatbelt.

Second guessing himself, Jonny decided it was too dangerous to even try. "Luckily the driver didn't see me," he mumbled to himself as he picked up his belongings off the ground and started to head eastward down the highway to Thunder Bay. Minutes later he heard a loud bang, stopped for a moment as his mind wrestled with turmoil, and then slowly started walking again.

Interview with author Paul Vieira

For one of my creative writing assignments I interviewed author Paul Vieira. He wrote the book, “Jesus has left the building”. This book is basically about finding spiritual truth outside the walls of a church. My questions were about his writing process, as well as the challenges that he faced and what he might do differently next time. You will find his answers posted below in mostly point form.

Writing process:
- inspiration for the book came out of presentations that I did at conferences (from public speaking career)
- went over my presentation notes and thoughts about the subject and created on outline for the book. laid out the themes of each chapter. I made point form notes on what each chapter would contain. I would add, subtract or edit these notes along the way.
- began writing each chapter in detail. I would write first, edit after. I didn't want to get bogged down with editing...didn't want to lose the momentum of my thoughts.
- I read over every chapter several times to edit, clarify and tweak what I wrote.

Blocks:
It was difficult to write on an ongoing basis. The process was 4 years, but concentrated writing happened in intense short periods of time. On 3 separate occasions I spent one week writing full-time at a friend's home in the U.S. (I would write 8-10 hours a day and knock off about 50-60 pages each time)

Editing:
I put the book through a lot of editing myself. I wanted to send publishers a perfect manuscript. I had 4 people edit the book from different angles - flow of thought, typos, consistency, etc. The publisher's editor didn't have to do very much. The publisher suggested that we eliminate 5000 words. I had 80,000 and they wanted 75,000. I had no trouble cutting out an entire chapter and other parts of the book. i wanted the book to readable and reader-friendly.

The temptation was to rush the process, but I had to remind myself to slow down. Editing lasted for about a year.

I went with a smaller publisher and this gave me a lot of control over the process. i chose the title of the book, the book image, wrote the back description. I also put a lot of time into marketing the book online. I learned a lot. We've sold about 3000 copies to date.

I put out podcast readings of the book...the first 10 chapters (all free)

What would I do differently? I would try to shop the manuscript out a little more - the publisher that I went with was really the first one to show interest. A bigger publisher might have made the book go further.

Short Story Review - The Dungeon Master

As I am a student, from time to time I am required to post assignments up on my blog. This particular piece features a review of a short story by Sam Lipsyte called The Dungeon Master. This story appeared in the November 1st, 2010 edition of the magazine.

One of the key things not to do that has been discussed in Creative Writing class, is the use of many characters in a short story. The Dungeon Master is no exception. Other than the main character, there are about ten other characters, and it can get confusing when a bunch of them are involved in a scene.
Dr. Varelli, the Dungeon Master's father, was quite interesting. He used strange language to communicate with his sons, in one example he would always call them puppies. I enjoyed the scene where the main character stumbles upon Dr. Varelli playing guitar and singing a sombre Italian ballad, very touching.
The pacing of the dialogue was quick in many cases, and this certainly provided a real conversational feeling. Due to the fact that the language the characters were using was very dungeon and dragon-like, I found it challenging to grasp where they were coming from. The fantasy world that they had been contriving did not really grab my attention as much as I thought it would when I started reading the story.
The Cherniski character, who always played a thief in their fantasy games, also played the thief in real life. I thought his character fit into the story nicely, and it was not surprising that he eventually got caught by the police for all the theft he had committed.
The Dungeon Master had a tendency to bully the other characters, and would regularly kill off the boys' fantasy characters. It was nice to see that the main character in the story finally stood up to the Dungeon Master, which caused an end to their friendship, however, their reunion in the end seemed very awkward to me.
I would have liked to read more of the story, provided that it would have addressed how the main character was to move on with his life.

If you are interested in reading the story, just click on the link below.

http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2010/10/04/101004fi_fiction_lipsyte?currentPage=1

The Pack D!!!

Great job Green Bay! Fantastic Pack shutout on defense!!

What makes a pop song a pop song? An essay.

What makes a pop song popular?


When turning on the radio or tv to a music station, it will not take very long until I hear a catchy song that I may enjoy immediately. In many cases this song will inevitably end up on my 'songs I am sick of list', simply because I tend to hear it quite frequently. Many times I wonder, what makes this song so popular? Why is it so catchy that I find myself humming along to the melody when I am painstakingly cleaning the bathroom or labouring in my front yard?
When considering this topic and hearing successful songwriters weigh in on the subject, I find two common denominators: either it is a gift from the heavens, or one can manufacture a song that connects with people by using a few key tricks. As gifts are never expected and always appreciated, I am much more inclined to put more focus on what these tricks of the trade are. While exploring the finer methods of song craft, I was validated in my understanding that the 'hook' was one of the most important elements in the creation of a catchy song.
The hook is basically a musical idea that will grab the listener's ear. This hook can consist of things such as unique rhythmical phrasing or a really cool instrumental riff.
When I spent an afternoon at an A&R demo listening meeting at the world renowned South By Southwest music festival, it was very apparent to me that the hook was a key ingredient in a song. There were A&R representatives from Warner Music, Universal, and EMI to name a few, and these experts indicated that if they were not hooked within the first minute of a song that they were listening to, they would simply stop listening.
Another element of a catchy song is to have strong and easily understandable lyrics. Bob Dylan once said that good songs need to say something. Whether it is a socially relevant subject, a heartwarming story, something funny, or a play on words, the lyrics have a large role to play in communicating to the listener's ears, emotions, and heart. Truly great lyrics will allow the listener to interpret specific meaning that they can identify with, and this could have a completely different meaning from what the lyricist may have intended.
Many gatekeepers in the music industry will not give your song the light of day unless it is a short song. In the glory days of radio, one would have been hard pressed to find a song on air that was longer than two minutes. One of the first groups to have a successfully high charting long song was the Beatles with their song Hey Jude. Clocking in at over seven minutes, it may be argued that this song received the nod to be played on air simply because it was the Beatles who released it. However it did quite successfully use the hook and understandable lyric characteristics referenced earlier to assist in its nomination for radio airplay. When it comes to consistency, local producer and Manitoba Music grant adjudicator John Paul Peters once told me that his general rule of thumb is to keep a song under four minutes. His reasoning had to do with the fact that he did not want a song eliminated from a program director's playlist considerations because the song was too long. If your song can not get played on air, how could it ever become a hit?
On the subject of Hey Jude, and the Beatles, considered by many to be the greatest group of songwriters in modern history, the sing-along-ability of a song is generally a winner. The Beatles have made it as simple as singing Na-Na-Na-Na-NA-Na-Na. I spend a fair amount of time attending music concerts of all types, and when the artists manage to engage the audience in a sing along of their songs, this seems to resonate with an overall general feeling of community. It appears to me that people who sing along to the song are feeling like they are a part of something larger than themselves, and when I see and hear them sing with all their heart, I can only surmise that this must be true.
Although there are certainly other forces at work behind what makes specific songs popular such as danceable tempo speeds, switching to the relative minor at transition points or bridges within the songs etc, a great and popular song will always be a song that can make the listener feel some sort of emotion. Whether it’s good or bad. As Kenny Gamble, one of the founders of the genre of Philly Soul once said, when you hear a great song, you think it's about you.

Kings of Leon

The new KOL album just came out. I've been listening to it while photo-shopping a picture of Rianna in Electronic Publishing class. It's pretty solid. Great strong arena ready anthems are the order of the day. I'll explore the popularity of KOL when I have a bit more time, next time. See you soon!

j

The Social Network Movie discussion post

I managed to watch the movie the Social Network on Thanksgiving Day and I must say I was entertained. Having heard a little bit about Mark Zuckerberg's story ahead of time, I was intrigued to find out more about him. I had heard rumours that he was a jerk, that he ripped people off, etc etc, but I found that the movie didn't necessarily paint him in that light.
I felt that he did what anyone would likely do if they had the talents and smarts that he did, and all is fair in love and war. He had some great ideas and a passion for getting people to connect in cyberspace, and although other people had some good ideas that he borrowed, Zuckerberg greatly improved on these ideas in a way that might have taken his competition years to catch up anyway.
On the prpost.wordpress.com blog titled "Zuckerberg, Hearst and Hollywood: PR Lessons Learned From the Past," Zuckerberg is quoted as saying that the movie is "fun" and that his life over the last 6 years has not really been that exciting, just writing code and such, and this doesn't surprise me. To achieve the level of success that his company has achieved, it would certainly take a lot of dedication and sweat equity to get it off the ground.
If anyone was painted in a bad light, it would have been the Sean Parker character, but even he was an important force in the creation of the social networking conglomerate that is Facebook.

As far as any impact on Facebook's popularity goes, I looked for some statistical figures on the matter but came up empty handed. They have so many members already, I can't see this movie improving these statistics in a dramatic way. If I had to guess, I would say that there are people out there who have joined Facebook because of the movie, and people who have left Facebook because they saw something they didn't like in the movie.

Referencing Zuckerberg's comments about the fact that they didn't properly portray him in the movie,(see the prpostwordpress site referenced earlier) I thought his critique was appropiate. I can't imagine what my life story would look like on the silver screen, but I'm pretty sure the boring parts would have been dramatisized a little more than what has actually happened. Writers do what they do to make movies entertaining to watch, and so some things just get shaped and moulded to fit into the context of an interesting story. As far as his comments having any impact on the audiences' perceptions of the site or its founders, I guess you'll win some and you'll lose some. Having this coupled hand in hand with a large $100 million donation announced on Oprah is one thing, but the fact that Zuckerberg mentioned that it was only a coincidence is a little hard to swallow.
It makes sense to have an announcement like a large charitable donation to be made on a show like Oprah, that's good PR. But to say that it wasn't planned to coincide with the movie's release just takes all that goodwill and throws it out the window.
But all in all, I think Zuckerberg deserves the success he's achieved, and in my opinion he should make sure he has someone on his team who can help him with his PR.

Ad "Buyer Beware"

As I am a student, I am required from time to time to blog about non-musical themed assignments. This particular blog is about a buyer beware group project for Ad class.

My group consisted of four members, Dave Hollier, Tristan Field-Jones, John Gaudes, and myself. Together we looked at the role financial planning has in helping people grow their wealth, and we targeted Scotiabank and their "You're richer than you think" campaign. We wanted to find out if this was something that they could actually prove to us.

We broke the project down into several parts, my group members and I looked into the various regulatory bodies that would keep an institution like Scotiabank in check. The Manitoba Securities Commission (MSC) would give Scotiabank advisors a license to sell and advise on mutual funds. The Mutual Fund Dealers Association (MFDA) would ensure that the bank follows their guidelines in place with respect to making sure the advisors provide the right investment fit for their clients. The Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI) would handle client complaints etc. All these regulators ensure that financial institution are doing their fiduciary responsibility to give good service and advice to their clients. We put together a powerpoint presentation which captured all of these details and additional ones discussed below.

As a part of our primary research, Gaudes and I visited a Scotiabank branch and spoke with an advisor. In my meeting we discussed mortgages and their rates, loan rates, term deposit rates, banking fees etc, and all of these items would probably save me money if packaged together and in turn possibly make me a little more "richer," so to speak. However, we didn't really talk much about my overall goals, and what was important to me. This was something I had expected to discuss.

The Scotiabank advisor mentioned to me that she was not licensed to sell mutual funds, but she did say she could talk a little about them. She then proceeded to use the term "recommend" to me several times when discussing stock based mutual funds or "equities", which I believe was something she is not allowed to do. Had I not known anything about the investing in the first place, I might have been convinced to invest into something that may not have been appropriate for me.

Having worked in the financial services field for over 10 years, I certainly am well versed in what advisors like the one I met can and can't do. She clearly stepped over the line, and this concerned me. How many "advisors" are there out there that are not acting in their clients' best interest? How much non-informed advice is there out there?

In additional research on their websites, we found no shortage of cases where clients had complained to the MFDA or MSC or OBSI. Complaints ranged from people being victims of churning (buying and selling investments unnecessarily to produce commissions for the advisor), leveraged schemes(borrowing money to invest) as well as inappropriate advice where the investments were to risky for the clients risk tolerance and objectives as indicated on their KYC (Know Your Client questionnaire)form.

Part of the problem is the fact that the financial services industry is set up in such a way where a lot of advisors' income is bonus and commission based. I know this because I used to be paid in nothing but commission and bonuses. When a lot of money is on the line, temptation to go for the easy money is there. And as the baby boomer generation is starting to inherit massive sums of wealth from their parents, there will be plenty more money that will be thrown at this growing industry.

But when everything goes right, and you are a client that the banks would consider a high value client, you may really feel that you are well taken care of. Plus building a good relationship with your advisor can make all the difference in the world. Sadly, in many cases it takes a large amount of money to get an appointment with a really good financial planner. The more money you have, the more attention you will likely get from your advisor.

In conclusion, I suppose that many people could be richer than they think if they did take some of the advice that is out there. When you become richer, so do they, as their fees will always be a percentage of how much money you have. However, I can't say if Scotiabank's version of financial advice is better than anyone else's, as everyone's situation may be different. I think it's best that everyone finds out for themselves, and a little research can go a long way in being confident that you are doing what's best for you.

Mayoral Forum

One of my school assignments this week was to sit in on the media forum which featured Winnipeg Mayoral candidates Judy Wasylycia-Leis and Sam Katz. This event was basically part press conference, part town hall meeting, part debate, and part school yard mudslinging. As I am working on my quote and sourcing techniques for journalism, I put pen to paper in an effort to grab as much of the juicy stuff as I could.

Having never been to an event like this before, I found it to be quite fascinating, and a little entertaining. The two candidates seemed to show very little admiration for each other, as evident in some of their quotes. Below are some of my favorites.

On the subject of rapid transit as a priority in both candidates’ platforms, Wasylycia-Leis said “ The biggest problem in this city is a mayor who doesn’t keep his word on rapid transit.”

In response to Wasylycia-Leis’ constant pressing about the secrecy of the ‘contract’ the city supposedly has for water and waste treatment management, Katz said “It’s time to teach all the candidates that run for mayor how a city works.”
Adding, "when this becomes a reality, I would be happy to share all the information on this sewage treatment plan."

It seemed to me(and possibly to Sam Katz) that Wasylysa-Leis kept beating a dead horse on that one. In another sermon of her's on the alleged '30 year deal', Katz had to interrupt her to say "For the record there is no agreement like I already said." adding "Council Voted to save us money, not sign a deal."

I suppose if Katz was able to give a much more updated picture on what official stage the waste management and treatment 'deal' situation was at, he may have put the subject to bed a lot sooner.
Instead he said things like "thanks mom" in response to Wasylycia-Lies 'put your plan on the table!' browbeating.

Sam Katz appeared to be good at working the room. Drawing several cheers from the audience which largely consisted of CreComm students. At one point when he was naming off his top three priorities to accomplish if elected, which included a nod to getting an NHL team in Winnipeg, and drew big applause among the crowd.

With the Civic election coming right around the corner, I'm finding myself getting very interested in the outcome...

j

So Linkin Park is No. 1 again, but can we give Rick Rubin some credit??

Last week, Linkin Park's latest release, "Thousand Suns" debuted at number one in album sales in Canada and the United States. This was their second straight number 1, as their "Minutes to Midnight" album debuted at number 1 as well. This is also their second straight album produced by Rick Rubin, although Mike Shinoda received a co-production credit.

In 1996, high school friends Mike Shinoda (the guy who raps in the band) Brad Delson (Lead Guitarist) and Rob Bourdon (Drums, Percussion) got together and started recording demos in Shinoda's bedroom studio. After recruiting additional members and several unsuccessful attempts to gain a record deal over the next three years, Chester Bennington was referred to the band. With his unique vocal style complementing the rap/metal sound the band was aiming for, their first album Hybrid Theory was released in 2000. The album went on to sell nearly 5 million copies, won a Grammy for best hard rock performance, and it became the best selling album in 2001.

I remember seeing the video for One Step Closer (second single released from Hybrid Theory) and I was struck by the contrast between Shinoda's rapping and Bennington's gritty singing. The song also had a strong melody, a characteristic not very common among songs in this genre at the time.

The secret to most bands' early success is and generally will be, touring. Between 2000 and 2001 when their career was taking off, the band performed over 300 concerts in this year period. What a grind! Many "pop" stars who have a meteoric rise to fame followed by a tremendous fall either have not learned this lesson, or they are terrible live. Touring with a great live show is the key to longevity in the music business. Another secret to success, is a good producer.

I never purchased any of Linkin Park's music until they released "Minutes to Midnight," and this was solely based on the fact that I was a fan of producer Rick Rubin's work at the time.

Rubin, if you may recall, put mash-ups between rap and rock on the map when he produced "Walk this Way", the collaboration between Run DMC and Aerosmith. He was also the Beastie Boys first DJ. Rubin has a very unique process, much more psychological than musical. He has either cemented or revitalized so many successful careers for artists such as Johnny Cash for his work on American Recordings, The Dixie Chicks return after the "we're ashamed that George Bush is from Texas" phase, and Red Hot Chilli Peppers huge 15 million copies sold comeback, Californication.

Back to the album "Minutes to Midnight," Linkin Park members decided to have a democratic process where each and every song that made it onto the album had to be voted for by everyone in the band. Throughout therapy-like sessions with Rubin where the band would just get together and talk without a single note being played, the direction of the album was formulated and reinforced with the help of Rubin's collective wisdom. (One can see a great example of Rubin's process in the movie "Just Shut Up and Sing" featuring the Dixie Chicks.) This new way of creating music also included analysis of the lyrics to the songs. In the album's liner notes, Bennington and Shinoda indicated that it was incredibly challenging for themselves to have their lyrics critiqued by the other members for the first time. Over time these activities created more unity within the band.

My fellow classmate John Gaudes wrote a review of Linkin Park's "Thousand Suns" on his blog called Hypebusters, I suggest you check it out. In the meantime, I'm going to check out Linkin Park's new album, and also track down a copy of "The Sound of Music" so I can finally listen to "Dark Side of the Moon" while watching it to see what Nick Mason was talking about, its just really hard to find.

See ya later,

j

How is this band not mega famous?

On Tuesday night I was fortunate enough to see the Flaming Lips at the Walker, er, I mean Burton Cummings Theater. With hardly any knowledge of their music, I purchased a ticket simply because I have heard that their live show was simply amazing.
Of the 14 songs they played that night, I was familiar with about one and a half of them.
First of all, it was very interesting to see the band basically setting up their own gear and even do their own sound check. It's not that they didn't have the roadies to do it, they had about four of them from what I was able to count. These same roadies became very involved in the show, from moving the odd assortment of props on the stage, to providing front man Wayne Coyne with a large crash cymbal whenever needed, to swapping out instruments like congas, guitars, and keyboards for the various multi-instrumentalists in the band.
From the first song on, there was a barrage of confetti that filled the area in the venue, and Coyne had these small tubular like confetti cannons that he kept firing off, one after another. Dry ice fog permeated the air from the number of emulsion devices that the band possessed on stage. Beach ball type balloons were bouncing on top of the crowd. Coyne entered a giant bubble and walked on top of the sea of onlookers as well. At times I was unable to see the band, which was a tactic that they used to change instruments and mood between sections of songs to keep the surprise factor high.
Coyne's ability to communicate with the audience in slightly rambling, yet vivid and profound clarity was exceptional. As I looked around, I could see people hanging on to every word he said. He spoke of love lost and found with the softest of poetic touch.
The fact that they had a video screen that must have been three stories high in a room as small as the Walker (there I go again)is quite astounding. The images they displayed were mesmerizing, pure psychedelia.
I realize that bands need to sell millions of records to become household names, and the Flaming Lips haven't. However, we are now in an age of music where a band's live show is becoming more and more important, and the Flaming Lips' live show certainly topped the charts for me. I recommend that you go see this band! You will not be disappointed.
My Tuesday night Flaming Lips experience was truly legendary. Check out a shot of them performing Do you realize at Berkfest.



j

Deep thoughts about Creative Writing 1 on a Friday night.

So after I got home from a toga party tonight I read a few chapters of the book "the Year of Living Generously."
It's pretty cool to hear about all those heroes out there. Men and women who give their time and effort to help others who are down on their luck. It's great when their stories are told.

Heroes always need a good theme song. The Crash Test Dummies Superman was just that song. For a short period in 1991, this song was saving the world.

j

Twitter

For a class assignment, I was required to sign up on Twitter. If anyone is interested my Twitter page is under my full name jamesbhiebert. Because this is something I have completely avoided ever since I heard about it, I'm not sure I know what I'm doing but so far so good.  
Last night I had a great night. I spent my time NOT doing homework (b/c I didn't have any, woohoo!) and playing music! One of the band's I play in is an 80's cover band, and we rehearsed the songs Rosanna by Toto, Tom Sawyer by Rush, and Rock You like a Hurricane by the Scorpions. These are super fun songs to play and sing, and it's going to be so awesome performing them. Our next show is Oct the 2nd at the Academy in Winnipeg. Can't wait!

Is it a Cosmic Coincidence? Or just universally nonsense?

The Wizard of Oz + Dark Side of the Moon = Making something big out of a very little weeeee tiny bit.

For those of you just joining me, my goal for the week was to listen to Pink Floyd's masterpiece "the Dark Side of the Moon" as I watched MGM's classic "the Wizard of Oz."

As the length of the album really only lasts up to the time Dorothy meets the Tin Man, I found that I did wish that it did run the length of the film. Some moments where the music hit upon a certain lyrical theme or crescendo, there were equally dynamic moments on screen.

When Dorothy's house gets sucked up into the tornado, the song Great Gig in the Sky starts playing. When Dorothy lands in Oz and the film switches to colour, this happens as the song Money starts. When the wicked witch shows up and hurts a few munchkins, the song Us and Them is playing and Roger Waters is singing the words, "black and blue". As Dorothy starts on her trip down the yellow brick road, the beautiful music of any color you like starts playing which gives one the feeling that a new journey is about to be embarked upon. And so on and so forth.

Does it sound like I'm starting to conjure things up here? Well maybe I am, maybe I'm not. These things did happen, but sometimes when someone is searching so hard for the meaning behind something, it's easy to make a big deal about it. Having said that, I can see why some people get so excited about this, but then I can also see why people think this kind of stuff is just ludicrous. I guess at the end of the day it's just coincidence, but I don't know if I'd go as far as calling it cosmic.

What is not a coincidence here is the fact that these are two pieces of wonderful art and that is because they were made by some of the finest artisans of their time. The fact that they are able to coexist as a visual and aural experience is quite unique. You don't have to believe in cosmic this or that to enjoy the experience, and so I would recommend it to anyone.

On a side note, having recently attended a class in Media Production where we learned a bit about composition in film, I actually found myself paying more and more attention to this. Pretty cool stuff.

As far as Pink Floyd was concerned, they wrote it to "The Sound of Music." Maybe I should watch that next week...

Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon"

I have always been fascinated with the realm of music. I love the mysticism behind legendary bands. What's their story? Why are they so popular, and is this simply because of the music, or is there more to it than that?

 Take Pink Floyd for instance, for a band that started out in the 60's, just a regular group of guys with extraordinary vision, one is hard pressed not to recognize their iconic image of the album's cover for Dark Side of the Moon. This image alone has nearly imposed itself as the band's logo. And it's everywhere. But what about the music? And what's with the deal about listening to it while watching the Wizard of Oz? Well over the next week I plan to find out. I'll let you know how it goes. In the meantime, feel free to be entertained by a video for their song, "Money."