Sweet Grass, Grain Exchange, and Potato Guns! Jan 22, 2009 set list

Above is a sneak-preview of the Decidedly Jazz Danceworks production "Skyscraper", that is happening as part of this year's High Performance Rodeo. Thanks to Kim Cooper at DJDW for calling in and telling us a little about the dancing history of the Calgary Grain Exchange Building - if you're able, get yourself some tickets and check out a supercool performance! There's all kinds of nifty stuff happening in Calgary this weekend, including the international festival of animated objects - get out and get some culture in ya!

It was a busy week on the derby - Kim called in, and we had a visit from local lapsliding, pickin' and grinnin', dobrolicious dog-lover Sam Masterton. Sam came by to play us a tune or two and to promote his gig thursday night, which was a fundraiser for his dog Felicia. Felicia needs an MRI and Sam was trying to raise enough dough to cover the $2-3K expense. Thanks to Sam for coming in, I hope the benefit show was a success (I was laid up and couldn't make it down to the ironwood), and best of luck to l'il Felicia for a speedy and complete recovery. If you want to touch base with Sam to find out how things are going, or to contribute some cash to Felicia's treatment, check out his web site.

In the midst of all that, I managed to spin a couple of platters for y'all:

1. the things we love - josh furey*
2. soul brother, soul sister - the capitols
3. red, white, and mali - eccodek*
4. new babylon - tim williams
5. macka splaff - steel pulse
6. pitchy patchy - junior byles
7. journey to anywhere - ugly duckling
8. united minds - arrested development
9. quadrature - squarepusher*
10. lorsqu'ils essayerent - abdal malik*
11. hadiya - emmanuel jal & abdel gadir salim
12. luck in exile - geoff berner*
13. paperclip ring (live at CJSW) - sam masterton
14. sweet grass (?) (live at CJSW) - sam masterton
15. untitled track (live at CJSW) - sam masterton
16. not fire, not ice (live) - ben harper
17. shallow grave - the tallest man on earth*
18. quiet creek - old man luedecke
19. the death of edward appletree - edward appletree*
20. step - remote kid*

There ya go - posted inside of 48 hours. I'm not going to set myself up for failure by suggesting this is a sign of things to come - suffice to say, I'll try to stay on this path.

Sam and I were talking about potato guns (please don't ask me to recall the context), and I said I would try to find some online resources for y'all in case you wanted to make your own potato projectile accelerator. I looked at a lot of web sites and how-to videos, but this one took the prize for numerous reasons: the thoroughness of the instruction and materials list; the warning issued in a real live gun shop; the clear demonstration of outstanding marksmanship; the right amount of twang in the dude's accent; and lastly, it looks like this might have been submitted as a class project somewhere! A++!



Okay - it's a crisp sunny day and my dog needs a walkin'. Talk to you later, and thanks for tuning in/stoppin' by.

PEACE,
greg

four setlists, a sweater, some lapslidin', and a half-assed apology.

WINNER! Mike Prystajecky sports his new sweater, courtesy of the soapbox derby! Congratulations, Mike, and thanks for supporting CJSW.

Well, another long time has passed since I've posted anything on this blog. I just get distracted so easily and find other things to do. Anyway, I will continue to try to do better at posting on the regs, and you will continued to be amazed and disappointed at my severe inability to do so.

So that you don't have to read through a jillion setlists before I get to the current news, here are a couple of notable soapbox derby developments:

• On this week's show (Thursday January 22nd), I will be hosting a fine local lapslide guitarist and singer-songwriter by the name of Sam Masterton. I read about Sam's musicmaking (literally - he makes and restores his own guitars!) in this month's BeatRoute, and about how he's holding a benefit at the IronWood on Thursday night to raise money towards an MRI for his canine co-conspirator, Felicia. It's a great cause, and one that tugs at my heartstrings; I hope you will all tune in to hear Sam tell us about his music and his mission and play us a couple of tunes, and also that you'll find some time on Thursday night to slide down to the IronWood, get your grub on, dig on some fine tunes, and support Sam and Felicia. There's going to be an auction too!
• At least for the next little while, and hopefully much longer, we have found a partner-in-mischief for the soapbox derby! If you tuned in last week you would have heard my buddy and sometimes host of ArtsLink, Tuesdays 6:30-7:30pm on CJSW, Mr. Bryson Montgomery. This is something of a media leak, but word on the streets is that Bryson is willing to trade weeks with me into the foreseeable future. So listen for him, and look for (hopefully more regularly) blog postings from him in the next little while. Thanks to all the peeps who filled in alternating weeks for me over the last few months.

JANUARY 8, 2009 SETLIST - HIGH FENCES
My first show of a new year! On this show we just mostly chilled out and listened to tunes, and I told you all the most embarassing story I've ever told on the air, about getting a blue-and-white taxi ride home from three doors down, after falling (rather, being pushed) off a fence and rolling out into the street right in front of the fuzz. My mom said I painted an unreasonably dragon-like picture of her in the telling of this story, and I offered to issue a retraction of sorts: My mother is not a dragon - she is however, given the choice between her and my dad, odds-on favourite to come down harshly on a fella when the cops bring him home at 4 in the morning. Here's what y'all might have heard:

morning scapes - jazzanova feat. bembe segue*
machine gun (live at fillmore w, nye 1969) - band of gypsies
do the rock steady - the termites
54-46 (was my number) - ernest ranglin
night shift - sounds from the ground*
outside inn - dragon fli empire feat. cadence weapon & lynn olagundoye
rollin' - people's eatery feat. moka only*
touch your toes - grand analog feat. kiyomi*
no rest for the weary - blue scholars
33 degree - thievery corporation*
mal estar card - curumin*
sparkle city - shuggie otis
rock in the rain - money mark
three more springs - ghostkeeper
fences are high - jenny omnichord*
your guitar, my undoing - priya thomas*
comme des enfants - coeur de pirate*
eloise & alex - devon sproule
cool it down - velevet underground
spreading the blues - the grass*




DECEMBER 25, 2008 SETLIST - IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE XMAS DERBY
Every seven years or so, it falls on a given CJSW programmer to do his or her show on Christmas Day. After a little persuasion from our program director Jane, I decided it might be fun to spend Christmas morning with all y'all, and to share with you what I think the holiday should be all about. We listened to lots of tunes about hope in humankind, peace and good will, and a better world if we will it. Oh yeah, and junkies.

skating - vince guaraldi*
spirit in the dark (live reprise) - aretha franklin & ray charles
there is no end (live) - israel vibration
one foundation - bob marley & the wailers
aish tamid (live) - matisyahu
(rock the) belz - socalled
santa got a bag of soul - soul saints*
who too the merry outta christmas? - staples singers
we shall not be moved (live) - mavis staples*
the junky's christmas - william s. burroughs & disposable heroes of hiphoprisy (click here for coppola's claymation video, parts one, two, and three)
let us rise, brothers - canora doukhobor choir
king of kings - ladysmith black mambazo
africa 178 - the innocence mission*
the telling takes me home - bruce "utah" phillips (r.i.p.)
glory, glory - odetta (r.i.p.)
here i am lord, oh send me (live) - mississippi john hurt
last thoughts on woody guthrie (live) - bob dylan
there's a better world a comin' - woody guthrie
just a bum - greg brown
christmas in prison - john prine
how to make gravy - paul kelly
xmas in february - lou reed
fairytale of new york - the pogues
brave captain - firehose (dedicated to the worst president in US history)


DECEMBER 11, 2008 SETLIST - SHINNY ON THE ICE!
On this show I ranted a bit about global economic unravelling, Alberta's wholesale abandonment of anything remotely resembling consideration for the environment as soon as the price of oil started to drop, and probably some other stuff that I can no longer remember. Also, I extolled the virtues of dawning your woolies, getting out, shovelling off a pond, and playing some shinny with your pals.

adeus batucada - virginia rodrigues
golden section - isotope*

time tough - toots & the maytals
rivers of babylon - typhanie monique
pressure tones - burning babylon
hit and run - reefer*
the bizness - de la soul
tree blues - olu dara
still? yes! - nightmares on wax*
before mecca - divine styler
busy man (sem voce) - carlinhos brown
koneh pelawoe - s.e. rogie
a short life of trouble - dave alvin
see line woman - olabelle
shinny on the ice - buddy wasisname & the other fellers
kissproof - bob wiseman
for now, i will sleep... - slow down, molasses*
enclave - mr. pine*
gin soaked boy - tom waits
that light - dark dark dark*
shoppin' at the dump - alex ferguson school & friends*
radio don't go - red datsun*

NOVEMBER 27, 2008 SETLIST - SWEATER DRAW!
The big thing on this show was the draw for the sweater - to be honest, it was long enough ago now that I can't remember what else I was on about (oh yeah, now I remember - I took the piss out of the wacko anti-abortionists who had a display on campus comparing abortions to the holocaust, genocides in rwanda and yugoslavia, etc.). Congatulations again to Mike for winning the sweater, and to all of you for pledging to CJSW during the soapbox derby and funding drive - I'll start knitting next year's big prize any day now, and will keep y'all posted.

the magic of a kind word - belle & sebastian*
cicle intro/will the circle be unbroken (live) - mavis staples*
day tripper/she's a rainbow (live) - bad brains
step it - burning spear*
hey now now - michael franti & spearhead
memphis soul stew (live) - king curtis
femme fatale - digable planets

people people - souljazz orchestra*
tired of fighting - menahan street band*
one fine day - david byrne & brian eno*
the love cats - katrine ottosen (call me kat)*
hot black blood - the rocky fortune
men of good fortune (live) - lou reed*
boxes and bottles (live at CJSW!) - ghostkeeper*
broke - leopold*
black door - the black keys
when putting it all in order ain't enough - nomeansno
arboretum arboretum - shanker & romps*

Whew.

That's it for the (hopefully) longest and most delinquent blog posting I shall ever have to muster. Please tune in this week and catch Sam Masterton, for the love of DOGS!

flip-flop, wig-wag, & zig-zag,

greg

shame on me for my delinquence

Hey - it's almost snowsliding season - here's a little stoke-a-thon for you, from the last time neon and bad hairdos were cool.

Hello friends;

My name is greg - bless me for I have fallen asleep at the wheel yet again. It has been a whole month since my last blog post. I feel shame.

But I also feel a little tiny bit justified. I threw my shit down getting ready for funding drive (then y'all threw yo' shit down during funding drive - thanks!), and I forsook a lot of regular every-day lifey stuff to do it. I've spent the time since funding drive sleeping, working, celebrating the end of Dubya-dome, turning twenty-seven-teen, and trying to get some wood in before winter.

Thanks to everyone who helped CJSW raise over $208 g's during funding drive - but extra-special thanks to Jen, Henry, Noel, Wayne, Justin, Monika, Mom, Brian, Dave, Scott, Rachelle, Doug, Bart, Yori, Carl, Denis, Hamish, Misha, Jennifer, David, David, Brian, Daniel, Bryson, Tasya, Richard, Danny, Robin, Christian, Curtis, Michael, Kim, Glenn, Rachel, Tracy, Katie, Jeremy, Michael, Kevin, and Jamie, for throwing your support behind the mighty derby!

All of you who pledged on my show are eligible for the GRAND PRIZE DRAW for a sweater I knit (see below), which will take place tomorrow morning at around 10:30 or thereabouts. tune in for the draw, plus multiple rants on Alberta's myopic resource management, Calgary's crapshoot public transit, and militant pro-lifers on campus.

Do you want to know what happened over the last little while? Well, here are a couple of setlists:

November 13th - doo-de-doo-de-doo-doo, de-doo - birthday show!
1. smile! - guitar*
2. all is full of love - bitone*
3. mighty mighty - charlie hunter 4tet
4. smile - sierra leone's refugee all-stars
5. in the morning - corey harris
6. dub bari - ojos de brujo
7. mariel port, spanish harlem - up, bustle & out
8. viente annos (live) - buena vista social club*
9. orishas llego - orishas
10. kyoto - curumin feat. blackalicious & lateef the truth speaker*
11. le premier matin - heliodrome*
12. the strongest person - the streets*
13. dishwasher - fujiya & miyagi*
14. mach dich los - dancer vs. politician*
15. brittania - chris gheran*
16. intentions alone - the olympic symphonium*
17. i feel like the mother of the world - smog
18. freight train blues boogie - smokin' 45's*
19. long legged guitar-pickin' man (live) - johnny & june carter cash*
20. crazy eyes - old crow medicine show*
21. today's empire, tomorrow's ashes - magnificent 7's*
22. words of advice for young people - william s. burroughs vs. disposable heroes of hiphoprisy.

November 6 - thanks for funding drive, not-much-talkin', black white house show!
1. chocolate city - parliament funkadelic
2. one day - fishbone
3. track #3 (no listings!) - thievery corporation*
4. fumi - loop guru
5. marina gasolina (radio edit) - bonde do role
6. in a green space - koushik*
7. get right - ling ling feat. addiquit*
8. rangoon creeper - isotope*
9. papa was stoned - fort knox five*
10. simple - bourbon tabernacle choir
11. the grieved soul - rick moody & nina katchadourian*
12. other side - angela desveaux & the mighty ship*
13. dakota from the hebrew - priya thomas*
14. jet stream - jay crocker*
15. in these hearts - daniel martin moore*
16. buddha (for the reverend RON!) - al tuck & no action
17. l.a. freeway - brittle siren*
18. history lesson part II - minutemen
19. drove up from pedro - mike watt & friends
20. big fenders - shanker & romps*

Okay, I'm outta here - gotta go get ready for a show tomorrow. Thanks for listening, thanks to all who gave during funding drive, thanks to all Americans reading this who got off yer asses and voted for something a little different (hope-hope-hopefully), and thanks for your patience if you've spent the last month wondering if I've given up on this blogging thing.

Talk t'yis tomorrow,
g

PS for those of you who like to dig on the skateboardin', check out this holy-shit-inest new stuff from plan b (i don't think i can hate on sheckler any more):



This is the Ryan Sheckler part - but go to planbtv to check out the whole thing (go to plan b tv, click "superfuture promo" ...

two setlists and... FUNding drive!

Hi everyone;

I hope you will forgive me missing a post last week - I have had my hustle on to prepare a kick-ass funding drive show and lots of sweet treats for y'all loyal listeners! The big prize on the soapbox this year is a stylized norwegian ski sweater, hand-knit by yours truly! Look super-fly on the slopes and apres-ski this winter with this cjsw-ified classic! BTW those are 45-adapters in the place of the more traditional snowflakes - cool, huh?

Here's what the sweater looks like on me:


I made it according to a "men's medium" pattern 'cos I figured that would make it fit the maximum number of folks. Right now it fits more like a large, but I think it will likely shrink a bit after it's washed as it's made from 75/25 acrylic/wool mix.

The sweater goes home with the lucky winner of a raffle, which will be drawn about a month after my funding drive show this coming thursday. Your name goes in the hat one time for every $25 you pledge on my show - so $75 gets your name entered 3 times, $250 gets you 10 raffle tickets, and so on. Oh yeah, and you have to pay your pledge before the draw date to be eligible.

Good luck, and thanks to everyone who pledges their support to CJSW - on my show or elsewhere!

OCTOBER 16TH SETLIST:

Well, the election came and the election went, and the deck was shuffled slightly, but the only real tangible change is that our country is $330 Million dollars the poorer. The 16th was a post-election reflection kind of show. Here's how it went:

what's goin' on? - marvin gaye
put the funk back in it - brand new heavies
hey world - watts prophets
vad forgive me - dj vadim vs. bullfrog
foggy mountain - augustus pablo
white man from hammersmith (live) - the clash
don't take that attitude to your grave - ben harper
satanic reverses - disposable heroes of hiphoprisy
insight - fort knox five feat. asheru*
cut chemist suite - ozomatli feat. jurassic 5
tower of babel - dragon fli empire
rafiki - zap mama feat. the roots
5 years time - noah and the whale*
las vegas with the lights out - geggy tah
neighbourhood - david byrne
making gestures - the pack a.d.*
lovin' machine - jon spencer blues explosion vs. dan the automator
below the ocean over part 24 - jay crocker*
old world lies - brasstronaut*
split decision - brass bed*
the moon's appeal - a gentle forest*
alarms part 2 - mark berube and the patriotic few*
narwhal horn - lesser gonzalez alvarez*


OCTOBER 23RD SETLIST:

This past week's show was all about grassroots NGO's working to make a difference in Uganda - in the second half of the show we were visited by a bunch of people working in really inspiring ways to make the world a better place.

First off, Geoff and Paula Owen and Dax Xenis came to tell us about an organization that Geoff and Paula founded called GARD (grassroots assistance in rural development) - they have been helping rural Ugandan communities to build rain-collection and primary water filtration systems, thus laying the foundation for healthier communities. Dax made a film about one of GARD's projects, called "catching rain" - it's world premiere was this past thursday night at the uptown.

We also heard from Carissa Hayward and Paul Locke, who are organizers of this year's GuluWalk event in Calgary, which took place world-wide today (apologies to the GuluWalk folks for not getting this post up sooner - too much funding drive going on right now!). GuluWalk is an annual, symbolic walk of solidarity with the child night commuters of northern Uganda - check the GuluWalk link above for more information. I hope you were able to get out to GuluWalk this afternoon - and if you live elsewhere, maybe you'll be able to organize a GuluWalk in your town next year!

Tunes:

early in the mornin' - sonny terry, brownie mcghee, lighnin' hopkins, & big joe williams
sallie, queen of the pines - alvin youngblood hart
the place - big mama thornton
champion of the arena - jackie mittoo
tadoussac - namori*
one love is the law - alex kajumulo*
calypsoul - clarence curven & his mod sounds*
that's how it was - spanky wilson & quantic soul orchestra
square biz - galactic feat. ladybug mecca & nino moschella
two can win - j.dilla
paper planes - m.i.a.
straight to hell (live) - the clash
young americans - danny michel
always something - yo la tengo
haliko chijende (let's walk) - hukwe zawose & michael brook
poye - issa bagayogo*

Okay kids, that's it for now - I gotta go and put together some mix cd's to offer up as incentives - right now the plan is to make one that's all about gettin' down and groovin', and one that's all rootsy and rocky and such. But we'll see how I'm able to manipulate time between now and this Thursday.

Just in case you haven't heard it a jillion times - the CJSW funding drive pledge-your-love line is 403.220.5000.

Hope to hear form you on Thursday!

PEACE,
greg

October 9, 2008 Setlist - Art for Canada's Sake

This photo (copyright la culture s'enflamme) sums up a lot of what the soapbox was all about today - "No Culture, No Identity / No Identity, No People / No People, No Country" Art has value for it's own sake - but it also has value for the sake of bettering humanity.

Thanks for tuning in today. Before I get to more serious matters, here is a list of the tunes that were played. In case you forgot, "*" means this record is on the CJSW playlist right now - so if you call 403.220.3991 and request it, the DJ has one less excuse not to play it!

rentstrike - groove collective
beans for breakfast - blktop project
moon bump - greyboy
funky manifesto - mossman
shepherd's bush - o'luge*
pepper rock - prince jazzbo
champagne & reefer - muddy waters
compacto - curumin*
night shift - dennis rollins
baaki - emmanuel jal*
we shall not be moved - mavis staples
decadencia de civilizacion - saint alvia*
sing their souls back home - billy bragg
waiting (live) - greg brown
muscle energy - alexander ferguson school*
living in the future - john prine
humdinger - old crow medicine show*
the drinking song - loudon wainwright iii*
the mine is closed - rae spoon
built for comfort - howlin' wolf
in the news - kris kristofferson
donnybrook - d.o.a.* (in honour of the beginning of hockey season!)

Okay, that's that - now on to the serious business:

1. VOTE! - It's the very least you can do to participate in a democracy. Vote for the candidate that best represents your values, or vote strategically to make sure that the candidate that affronts your values doesn't get in. In either case - VOTE! And if (in my case, when) the person you vote for is not elected, write to your MP and let her or him know that you didn't vote for them, but they are obliged to represent your values and your views in parliament anyway!

2. LOCALIZE! - There's a lot of scary shit going on right now in the global economy, and a lot of it is the direct result of a bunch of corporate fatcats getting ruthlessly greedy and taking some serious liberties with our (yup, all of our) money. Shit is totally unstable right now, and all the beancounters are recommending that you invest in gold - I've got a better idea - invest in your community and local economy. There are a number of great advantages to this approach: first, you get to participate in building something better where you live. Second, you don't have to rely on politicians or big business to make sure that value and jobs stay in your community. And third, you generally deal directly with the people with whom you are exchanging goods and services, which greatly reduces the chances that they'll try to pull an "AIG shimmy" on ya. If you live in Calgary, check out calgary dollars; if you don't, look for a local currency project in your area, or build one yourself!

3. MY CANADA EMBRACES THE ARTS! My good pal Noel Begin came by today to share some of his thoughts and concerns around the treatment of the arts by the conservative government, and particularly by Mr. Harper. Noel has written an open letter/manifesto on the subject, which he read on the air today - it is included below for your consideration, and Noel encourages you all to get back to him with your thoughts, suggestions, criticism, edification, etc.

The current discussion around the arts and government funding for them begins from the premise that artists somehow exist outside of the rest of Canadian culture - that artists are some elite and eccentric group of tuxedo-and-gown-wearing, canape-and-champagne-fuelled, fancy-gala-attending yuppity folk that the rest of us "ordinary Canadians" can't expect to relate to. This "us-and-them" cultural view is not just divisive, it undermines the necessity of arts to a functional, inclusive, productive and enlightened culture. It encourages us to think of arts as cultural experiences that happen only at prescribed times and in prescribed environs, rather than as a spontaneous, organic, essential part of our daily lives. Good art encourages you not only to think critically about art, but to think critically about everything - to live a culturally active existence, to seek opportunities to grow as a person, and to engage your community in thoughtful discussion. These are not lofty ideals to be aspired to exclusively by the elite of society - there are things that matter to everyone, and good art serves to remind people of the things that matter, and of the need to work towards the strengthening of those things.

Here are some examples of opportunities to engage in good art in Calgary, going on right now:

M:ST4 Festival: http://www.mstfestival.org
Springboard/FLUID Festival: http://springboardperformance.ca/
PCC Calgary: http://www.performancecreationcanada.ca/calgary08/

And here is a website that Noel said provided some inspiration for his letter, and here is one that that website reminded me of. Here's a link to the rockridge institute - a US outfit who is working to reclaim the ideas and reframe the discussion around "american values".

Finally, here is Noel's letter - please send him an email (weareletter[at]gmail[dot]com) if you have some thoughts or impressions that you would like to share on the matter.

Thanks for listening - talk to you next week!
Don't forget to VOTE,
g

_______________Letter_______________

Tuesday, October 7, 2008


In response to arts cuts and Stephen Harper's divisive statements.

Let's cut our losses. Harper's minority government is costing Canadians money, country, and culture. It's in our power to stop him.

To our fellow citizens of Canada

Don't let Stephen Harper sell you short. While we appreciate that Harper sees artists as extraordinary, we are ordinary Canadians too, but we find that the term "ordinary Canadians" was slyly used by Harper to divide Canada's citizens. Many of Harper's recent statements attempt to pit you against us, but WE ARE YOU. Harper says ordinary Canadians don't want the kinds of creations that cultural producers make with your tax dollars, but we think you're proud of what we make, proud of how carefully this small fraction of your tax dollars are spent, and that you're impressed by how difficult it is to receive public support.

The arts are a dynamic yet ordinary sector of the Canadian economy like any other sector. The difference is that art is something we invest in as a nation because it is less about your bank account and more about your heart and mind, less about making a living and more about understanding the nuances of existence.

The Canadian system of arts funding is envied the world over for how it ensures that monies are distributed only to artists and arts groups who maintain a high standard of professional excellence. Our system exists to expose the myriad ideas of a living culture. If the cultural industries are to maintain their integrity and continued innovation, then our system needs to remain free of the censorship Harper seeks to assert.

Some art is created for children, and some art is created only for adults, some art functions as art regardless of age. Harper's attempt to seduce voters with a plan that will ultimately under-fund children's classes also serves to reduce the Canadian public's perception of art as an activity for children, and distract voters from the fact that this should be an essential part of a properly funded education system.

Suggestion is a powerful form of influence. Stephen Harper suggests that artists are elitist and exist in ivory towers, but each aspect of the arts is a specialized field, with specialized and technical language no different from the specialization of any professional industry. When Harper suggests that ordinary Canadians don't want to support the arts, he acts to divide us from you, but again, we are you. One must ask why a Prime Minister would seek to drive a wedge into the Canadian economy, or between groups of citizens. As artists and ordinary citizens of Canada we are sure that Stephen Harper is not an acceptable choice for Prime Minister of the great country of Canada.

We are stronger together as a nation, and we want as a nation to be proud of our accomplishments in business, in science, in the arts, etc. We as artists are ordinary Canadians - we are you. We invite you to become engaged in the arts, to discover where and why a small fraction of your tax dollars are put to use, and to participate in the dialogue of art on a daily basis, consuming a byproduct of our combined strength.

A letter initiated by Noel Bégin, with input from Calgary artists, festival directors and programmers, curators, and others.

october 2 setlist - all kinds of deficits! - and a CONTEST!

This photo (copyright Tom Hanson/Canadian Press) is definitely the funniest one I could find from last night's debate, and I propose we have a bit of fun with it. Let's have a caption contest! Submit your best captions (you know, something like "I came this close to beating that guy in the triathlon, thanks to this fancy watch!", or "I am holding you in my hand, and CRUSHING YOUR HEAD!") by commenting to this post. The funniest caption will receive a prize that is more valuable than pocket lint, and less valuable than a new bike.

I spent a lot of time ranting this week, about $700 Billion bail-outs, stupid excuses people find not to participate in a democracy, and the decimation of the 200-year-old UNB woodlot in my hometown (Fredericton). Oh and I offered a long-overdue tribute to one of the best storytellers ever, a source of hope and inspiration to many, Mr. Bruce "Utah" Phillips.

Here's the low-down:

blue mode - reuben wilson
how we get along - jurassic 5
195 lbs - nightmares on wax*
politricks - terry lynn*
the cave - culver city dub collective vs. joey altruda
so lonely (so dub) - okada feat. big youth*
90% of me is you - amral's trinidad cavaliers steel orchestra*
sol tapado - thievery corporation
higher - carlos nino & li'l sci*
wanda vidal - sound directions
back home (the return) - common market*
crime to be broke in america (tv track) - spearhead
h20gate blues - gil scott-heron
money is the only thing that rolls uphill - the rocky fortune
trees falling - chuck brodsky*
darn folksinger - bob snider
bum on the rod - utah phillips & ani difranco
starlight on the rails - rosalie sorrels*
suitcase in my hand - ry cooder
i am a rich man - old man luedecke
energy bomb - sheglank'd shoulders*
song #1 - fugazi

well, that's it for this week - good luck with the caption contest! Thanks for tuning in, and I'll talk to you all next week.

PEACE,
g

PS The biggest reason I started up this blog was to give you all an avenue through which to holler back about some of the stuff I talk about on the radio, which by design creates a fairly one-sided discourse. If you've got something to say, this is definitely the place.

triple set list - i know - you've heard all my excuses.

In honour of hurricane season, I thought I'd post this cool little video depicting dubya's response to hurricane katrina

Hello friends;

Someday, I just might manage to get my shit together. But in the meantime, here are the set lists from my last three shows. At least I got the September 25th one out inside of a week.

September 25th, 2008 - 700 Billion Smackers:

I went off a little on the hypocrisy of bailing out the kings and queens of the "free market" with tax payers' green on this show. For the record, $700B is approximately $102.22 US for every man, woman and child on the planet at the time I write this. And you know if they can figure a way to make us pay, they will. Tunes:

your mom's favourite dj, side 1 - kid koala
rainbow town - up, bustle & out
shine - lee scratch perry*
it's you - toots & the maytals
come together - peter tosh
forest - big blue ball*
contradictions - azeem
crash with no cushions - the high decibels*
strange thing happen every day - olu dara
people turn around - delta spirit*
walmart killed the country store - reverend peyton's big damn band*
tiny montgomery - bob dylan & the band
brian jones - andy swan
my hands are a city - fembots*
ruben - elizabeth cotten
learn to love another - lucky sonne
nothing's alright - one hundred dollars*
the many lead the one - aaron booth
does the day feel long - devon sproule
the breeze - dr. dog*
blackwater drive - the herbalizer*


September 11th, 2008 - Just Fucking VOTE! I'm serious, dude.

Election's coming up - do you know who you're going to vote for? Here are some resources to help you decide: Elections Canada will tell you who's running with links to all your candidates' web sites. The Suzuki Foundation has a pretty good set-up for helping you make your vote count for the environment. These dudes just wanna get dusted and vibe on some wicked tunes - like these ones:

sugar water (acoustic version) - cibo matto
metaphysical (a good day) - handsome boy modeling school featuring mike d and miho hatori
sproing-a-dub - burning babylon*
brothers on the slide - the dynamics
strength of my life (live) - israel vibration
belgrade riddim - sub swara*
70's 80's - nightmares on wax
clap your hands - the herbalizer featuring jessica darling*
space out - threat from outer space*
bong bong - c-rayz walz & kosha dillz*
carimbo - sonantes*
peregrino - zuco 103
st. petersburg - brazilian girls*
so here we are - bloc party vs. four tet
new city - bob wiseman
j'suis pas d'ici - thomas dutronc*
joining another - angela desveaux & the mighty ship*
failure - laura marling*
obadiah in oblivion - death vessel*
city smile - conrad ford*
(i'd like to) buy some science - gunther*


August 28th, 2008 - the Acoustic Motorbike



There is no better way to travel than by BIKE!

On August 28th, I had the pleasure of hosting my pal Justin Brown, one of the founders of the University of Calgary Bike Club and the Associated Bike Root bike shop. We talked about bikes. Check them out sometime, and think about joining the club! Here're some tunes to ride your bike to:

radio attack - prefuse/73
dunu kan - issa bagayogo*
a few words in defense of our country - randy newman*
ganja time/legalization (live) - culture
no compromise - burning spear*
chooga cane - lee scratch perry*
original sample - project bicycle
pizza boys bike - sun ok papi ko
acoustic motorbike - luka bloom
soundsystem - m. franti & spearhead*
rock & tree - bob wiseman*
simple song - lucid 44*
all day - human highway*
dollar signs - snailhouse*
bookworm - margot & the nuclear so&so's*
kensington - azeda booth*
bbbeat - balkan beat box
fly paper - k-os
who knew duke - the high decibels*
the pressure - presto featuring rahsaan ahmad
mr. johnson - left lane cruiser*

Whew - what a marathon! That should be motivation enough for me to post a week at a time rather than three shows at once! Anyway, thanks for all of you who continue to tune in, and especially to those of you who patiently wait for me to get around to posting set lists.

I'm knitting a super-bad-ass sweater as an incentive for pledging on my show during funding drive this year - I will try to post some pics next week.

Take Care,
g