If you visit this site then you've heard me go on and on and on and on about them. So, I'm very happy and proud to announce that they now have 5 songs in the podsafe downloads. the Superfantastics - What Will You Do Now?
From their Myspace blog: Rock Plaza Central are looking for places to crash during their upcoming western tour. Imagine, while your friends are bringing home CDs and T-shirts, you can bring home the band!Last time we went out West on tour, we stayed with so many wonderful people. For me, it was probably the best part of it. Getting to know so many of you who like what we do. Any chance anyone would like to put up five musicians again? We have mats and sleeping bags. We just can't handle pets because of allergies.
In addition to the dates on our page, we're also likely to be in and around LA and San Diego in the June 15-16 area, Phoenix on the 17 and Missoula, Montana on June 22. Then back into Canada for what looks to be:
Lethbridge june 23, Edmonton the 24, Red Deer the 25, Saskatoon on the 30, Regina the 31, and Winnipeg July 1, my sister's birthday.
Then I think it's Madison, Des Moines and Iowa City or Chicago?
Please fire me an email at chrisrulesbigtime at sympatico dot ca is you think you can help.Thanks!
Rock Plaza Central - Anthem for the Already Defeated
A bunch of stuff to tell you about and since it's all interrelated I thought I'd do it in one post. First there is this article from Chart about Julie Doiron's adoption of the Superfantastics. ""It was pretty wonderful," says drummer/vocalist Stephanie D'Entremont. "Julie Doiron is one of my favourite songwriters/drummers/singers and people. Her partner in crime, Dick Morello, who was playing drums with her on tour, is also amazing.Now (via Radio 3) it turns out that Julie's band Eric's Trip is getting ready for a bit of a micro tour that goes like this:
"It's really cool to just be in her presence because Julie is so maternal, I find. This was the first time we'd ever been out in western Canada. It was kind of scary, but as long as Julie was there, everything was OK… She always knows how to get to all the vegan restaurants in the area.""
Tue June 3 - The Mod Club, TorontoAnd the Superfantastics are getting ready for a bit of a tour themselves like so:
Mon July 7 - The Warehouse, Calgary
Tue July 8 - Starlite Room, Edmonton
Thu July 10 - Plaza Club, Vancouver
Fri July 11 - Sugar, Victoria
Sat July 12 - Marymoor Park, Redmond WA
June 5 Halifax, NS @ Gus' Pub w/Slate Pacific and Quiet ParadeNow pay special attention to that Criminal Records show on June 13...if you'll notice they're playing with Calm Down It's Monday - I have to point this out because that too is Julie Doiron (and Dick Morello).
June 6 Charlottetown, PEI @ Lyons House w/BA Johnston, The Stolen Minks and The Barnkats (all ages, 7 p.m.)
June 6 Charlottetown, PEI @ Baba's Lounge House w/BA Johnston, The Stolen Minks and The Barnkats (10 p.m.)
June 7 Fredericton, NB @ The Capitol Bar
June 10 Montreal, QC @ Crobar w/The Ease Down
June 11 Ottawa, ON @ Avant Garde
June 12 Peterborough, ON @ The Montreal House w/The Burning Hell and Shotgun Jimmie
June 13 Toronto, ON @ Criminal Records w/Mardeen, Old Man Luedecke, Shotgun Jimmie and Calm Down It's Monday (5 p.m.)
June 13 Toronto, ON @ Clinton's (NXNE)
June 15 Toronto, ON @ Rancho Relaxo
July 26 Antigonish, NS @ Evolve Festival
Julie Doiron - Darkhorse
According to internetnews.com the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) is suing Facebook charging 22 distinct violations of Canada's privacy laws. ""Facebook purports to provide users with a high level of control over their data," said Harley Finkelstein, one of the law students who wrote the complaint. "But our investigation found that this is not entirely true -- for example, even if you select the strongest privacy settings, your information may be shared more widely if your Facebook friends have lower privacy settings. As well, if you add a third-party application offered on Facebook, you have no choice but to let the application developer access all your information even if they don't need it.""
Into Canadian indie music? Ready to stop just listening and become an active participant? Vancouver's Mint Records home of Immaculate Machine, the Pack A.D., Neko Case, Young and Sexy, Hot Panda, Bella, the Evaporators, the Choir Practice, Kellarissa, the Awkward Stage, Carolyn Mark, the Buttless Chaps, Cub and many, many more..needs your help. Do you love music? Do you love Mint Records? Do you love getting free CDs and getting on guest lists? How about postering, handing out flyers for shows and distributing fancy treasures to the good citizens of your hometown?
Since we do not have a Mint Records magic carpet (yet), we need a little help spreading some Minty joy through Team Mint. Should you choose to join this elite bunch, we'll send you on secret missions that may or may not involve putting up posters, loitering in record shops and taking goodies to your favourite venues, stores, cafes etc. Heck, when they're in the neighbourhood, a band might even need help selling merch.
And, to reward you for your noble efforts, you shall be rewarded with free CDs (often before your friends get 'em), guestlist spots for the occasional show and other fanciful treasures.
Some cities we're looking for helpers in (but not limited to):
- Seattle
- Portland
- San Francisco
- Los Angeles
- Chicago
- New York
- Boston
- Austin
And in Canada:
- Victoria
- Calgary
- Edmonton
- Saskatoon
- Regina
- Winnipeg
- Ottawa
- Quebec
- Montreal
- Halifax
Awesome video for an awesome song! You can, by the way, download the MP3 for this in English and Mandarin! (seriously) at Stereogum. Obviously you can find more Immaculate Machine stuff at immaculatemachine.com/Don't worry Toronto, the Superfantastics will be in town for North by Northeast (stay tuned for details) but for now they are still at home and next Thursday they are playing at Gus' Pub along with the Beginners, Slate Pacific, and Quiet Parade. Kate Maki and Will Currie and the Country French will both be playing this Saturday in Toronto. Unfortunately they are not playing at the same venue. 
Canada is behind the United States in dealing with net neutrality issues. In February, the U.S. regulator held a public probe into the traffic-shaping practices of Comcast Corp., the country's largest ISP. The hearing prompted Comcast to promise it would abandon traffic shaping in favour of a non-discriminatory network management system by the end of the year. Representative Ed Markey, a Democrat, also introduced a net neutrality bill to the U.S. House of Representatives in February.The Conservatives appear with allowing Bell to do as it pleases with it's taxpayer funded monopoly on internet infrastructure.
The Bicycles were on CBC's GO! this weekend and a bunch of the audio from it is online. You can download bits from the Bikes show, as well as other music, clips and even full shows from http://www.cbc.ca/go/audio.html. GO!, the radio show, also has a YouTube channel where you will find bits like this: The Bicycles doing a cover from some obscure British band.
Legendary Canadian filmmaker Bruce McDonald, Director of such films as the Tracy Fragments, Hard Core Logo, Highway 61 and currently at work on a documentary about Broken Social Scene's Brendan Canning will be at Eyes on Toronto this Monday, June 2nd at the Gladstone Hotel. 
A bunch of stuff in InsidetheCBC.com today. "Lacroix said poor communication between the senior executives and guild representatives underscored an urgent need to rebuild a proper relationship. Lacroix’s said his mission since he joined the CBC 18 months ago has been to build a greater level of respect and transparency at every level of the organization.This is good news for the CBC across the board. With nothing having changed substantially since 2005 and a constant need for cash at the CBC I would have called a 2009 work stoppage likely just a few days ago. (I actually still think it's likely, but wish Mr. LaCroix all the luck in the world.) With public support somewhat weaker than it was in 2005 a work stoppage next year could be disastrous.
Lacroix called for a “paradigm shift” (yes, he actually said “paradigm shift”) in thinking to incorporate more pride and positivity. He added that he knew the job was hard because the same executives are in the same place as they were during the 2005 lockout. He also highlighted that each member of his senior management team had been fully briefed on the importance of the CBC/CMG relationship, and “failure is not an option” to them."
"Marketplace is the only adult show on CBC to not run ads, a commitment the show has kept since it started 36 seasons ago. This is in keeping with the shows spotlight on consumer affairs."
"The major ISPs claim that throttling is needed to ensure better quality of service to all customers, yet it also has a significant effect on the video marketplace. Cable and satellite companies have begun to sell new video on demand services to consumers, which compete directly with video distributed over the Internet."If we had a reasonable Government (which we do not) or a responsible opposition (also no) this practice would already be illegal. Legal or not it is certainly criminal and further erodes Bells already very low reputation.
"Industry Minister Jim Prentice may very well introduce a bill to amend existing copyright legislation before the end of the current session of Parliament in the next few weeks. Unfortunately, there is reason to believe that his bill will be no better than previous attempts, which I, along with the other members of the NDP caucus, felt failed to address the needs of consumers."So, here we go again. Here are the address' to complain to.
Industry Minister Jim Prentice - Prentice.J@parl.gc.ca, Minister.Industry@ic.gc.ca
Prime Minister Stephen Harper - pm@pm.gc.ca
Find Your Local MP
"The theremin is one of the oldest electronic instruments, and the only one known that you play without touching. Moving your hands in the space around its antennasSo, the teremin will sound familiar to you if you've watched alot of old sci-fi. From wikipedia:
controls pitch and volume."
"To play, the player moves his hands around the antennas, controlling frequency (pitch) and amplitude (volume). The theremin is associated with "alien", surreal, and eerie-sounding portamento, glissando, tremolo, and vibrato sounds, due to its use in soundtracks such as Spellbound, The Lost Weekend, Metroid Prime, Ed Wood, Mars Attacks! (together with the Ondes-Martenot and pre-recorded Theremin samples)[4] and The Day the Earth Stood Still. "
For some time now things have been good for the media. Every day they get an easy story just by reporting on gas prices and then going out to find people (usually people who drive SUVs, minivans or Hummers) to complain about them. "Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum production is reached, after which the rate of production enters its terminal decline. If global consumption is not mitigated before the peak, an energy crisis may develop because the availability of conventional oil will drop and prices will rise, perhaps dramatically."What's more increasing energy prices are just the tip of the iceberg - anything imported is going to start going up in price, the farther away it's imported from, the higher the price will go. Ultimately all of this will be a good thing. It will, hopefully, lead to less fuel consumption which is good for the environment. Once import prices begin to climb it will mean more local jobs, including (probably) manufacturing jobs and it will finally force governments and business to get serious about alternative fuel research.
Now that some of the raw emotion from the latest TTC Strike has work off, Spacing is hosting a poll to see if people still believe the TTC should be an essential service (thus losing the ability to go on strike. 
In Saturday's Globe and Mail John Degen, head of the Professional Writers Association of Canada, declares a personal cease fire in the Copyright wars. He is offering, for free, a PDF version of his most recent novel "the Uninvited Guest" through his website."Does this mean I've surrendered, that I agree cultural product should cost nothing to obtain? Not at all. I'm a professional writer and I insist on a viable economic model for my work, and for the work of publishers and booksellers. I'm not giving my novel away out of a sense of hopelessness. Rather I'm investing in my confidence in the literary marketplace.Whatever the future outcome(s) of the copyfight Mr. Degen is positioning himself to win. For over a decade now producers of music, film, television, literature and other cultural works have been fighting for more rights, better enforcement and more money and they have been losing. I think, if you're a producer, you'll find if you start with the supposition that your fans are not your enemies, that you can and should have a symbiotic relationship that it will quickly point the way to the end of the war.
People who like the download are free to share it and thereby market it. After all, the literary sharing economy was created long before we went digital (think libraries). Those who really like my book can pick up an offline copy from their local bookstore. There are, ahem, a few remaining. Importantly, all this activity will occur within the legal boundaries of copyright law. The Uninvited Guest remains my intellectual property. When it comes time to sell the film rights, for instance, it will be me doing the selling.
Time for us all to take a breath, I think. The war, if there ever was one, is over."
Want two free songs from, what Soundproof Magazine calls, "Toronto's finest young electro-indie-pop four-piece"? Of course you do! How could you not. Here's a bit of a preview of the latest addition to the podsafe downloads Spiral Beach!
"The Canadian government passed legislation in 2005 mandating the creation of a do-not-call registry. The registry is scheduled to take effect in mid-2008, yet many Canadians may be disappointed to learn about the exemption of a wide range of organizations (registered charities, business with prior relationships, political parties, survey companies, and newspapers). Under the law, exempted organizations are permitted to make unsolicited telephone calls despite the inclusion of the number in the do-not-call registry. However, organizations must remove numbers from their lists if specifically requested to do so."Using ioptout.ca you simply enter your contact information, select the organizations you never want to hear from again and ioptout.ca sends the requests for you. If, after sending these 'opt out' requests you hear from the organization again, simply file a complaint with the privacy commissioner who must, by law, take enforcement action.
Many people believe that the CBC is run by the Government. This is not quite true. While the Canadian Government provides funding and lays out the CBC's mandate the Government does not directly control the CBC. Instead a board of directors appointed by the Government provides oversight - maintaining an 'arms length' relationship between Parliament and the national public broadcaster. 
