movieblasting

I go though phases where I simply immerse myself in the movies like a fat kid in rich, creamery butter. Now is totally one of those times. It's Thursday; I'm running on an empty tank after a big day at the office and a long night. Any sane, logical person would have gone to bed hours ago and stayed there, however, unlike your average bear, I keep on going.

Tonight I have plowed through most of Body of Lies (until I passed out). I later woke to finish the last part of the Neverending Story followed by the end of Taxi Driver, and now, instead of picking up where I left off in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, I have decided to restart that juggernaut of a film. This is bat country as you very well know. Who knows, I might be leaving on a jet plane to go to there for work to fix stuff that is broken. Unlikely, but who knows. 

Man I love my job. The randomness of my day-to-day activities suits my personality and lifestyle very well. That and I work with some of the most entertaining human beings alive; No matter how busy things get and how crazy the work; it's like a party.

I seem to have a tendency to not finish the movies I start and it erks me to no end. I'm a bit of a perfectionist; I need to finish what I start, well, unless it relates to the installation of doors; let's not go to there. Doors are what keep the crazy people out apparently.

In the movies I have watched today there have been some gems (like Paul). My ears perked in Taxi Driver where one of the cabbies was describing his love of midgets that I too share. The little people had a weak reference in Neverending Story where the big rock guy was talking about his big strong hands and how he was unable to save his little friends from the nothing. Btw, that movie ROCKS. It's a childhood favorite of mine; I think we had a VHS copy of the movie which included Ghostbusters and the Goonies. Something like that. I must have watched these three movies 500 times in my life. Watching it for the first time on bluray was like having new eyes. Yes, I'm an organ donor.

Just now, Johhny Depp threw change onto the floor when the midget who has hair like my father made the ahem noise for a tip. That's right, you walk out on that bill and screw that little dude over; he has short legs and the likelihood of him catching you is slim to none.

I am totally dressing up as Hunter S. Thompson for Halloween this year. This costume will be epic. I will internet buy whatever pieces I need to hit the ball out of the park with this one. We talk the same; short and choppy and with ability to make Sergio shake his head with the non-sense. I could be a reporter I guess, sure, why not. Routhier will be my Samoan! Dr. Gonzo and he are the same. Maybe Halloween this year won't even feel like we're dressed up. This way to awesome times.

I could add photos and movie clips but I'm lazy and don't want to. If you wanna see what I'm talking about you should cover over and help movieblast; it's a lot of fun. The stuff coming out of Johnny Depp's mouth is gold; later.

toronto

The drive to Toronto, no one likes it, the 416/401 combo is torturous. Once you get there it's pretty ok, you have arrived at your urban destination. I realized why so many Ottawatonians don't like TO; it's like a non-stop grid of Albert and Slater's. No offense Albert and Slater, but if you don't work there; you just don't go there.

Anyways, pictures say 1000 words, here was the first bit of the weekend:

One of those Ghostbusters days again.

I highly recommend taking pictures while driving.

Ye be Toronto and all her glory.

Pretty much sums it up.

The first band on Thursday, the Luyas, Montreal awesome band.

Liam Finn, that man can turn white shirt to clear, play a mean ass guitar while laying down some power drums. His band mates also had heads with a noticeably large amount of hair.

Reverse sushis!

After tax, $23, win.

Massey Hall Friday while Buddy Guy decided to walk into the crowd and all through the mezzanine.

My seats were $65 and fully pimped out.

Spending the afternoon chillin so I'm ready for my night on the town. Steve made breakfast for everyone, delicious. The best part of the morning was the discovery of something fantasticness, toast with Nutella and BACON.

I catalogued the vinyl I picked up Friday, check it out here:

http://bit.ly/hmPpW0

I got some awesome crawlspace recordings from Buddy Guy, I'll post that when I get back to town. This post will be updated once the trip is complete.

Later!

Radio Radio

Lately a lot of cool stuff has been happening, but what I am about to talk about was cool AND random. You see... I really hate schedules, plans or routines and really love randomness. I remember this one time I was actually in the middle of saying "I haven't done anything random in a while" when Duane calls:

"Wanna go see (this shitty pop/rock group that I forget the name of) at the Corel Centre; I JUST won a pair of tickets on the radio for the show that's on in 45 minutes!"

That night was fun but sadly, has nothing to do with the story I am about to tell. The night of the Radio Radio show there was a lot of randomness for Kevin Janok and that is a good thing.

Le premier temps que je l'ais ecouter

was last sum-mer avec Rou-thi-er

We were going for sushi and he pulled up at work with this shit BLARING; like full blast. He was on his 'Acadia kick' or something after returning from a trip out east which set his frenchness and greasiness skyrocketing.

Fast forward to last Wednesday where I hear that one Mark Routhier will be in attendance for a Radio Radio show at Barrymores. You know what you do in situations like these? You go to observe Mark Routhier in his true habitat. It is glorious.


Before the show we had time to

• hunt down a cupcakery
• visit friends at Gypsy & Co
• hit up three record shops where we/I bought waaay too much
• go to THREE DIFFERENT Royal Oak's on Bank St in search of one Tony B who was not at the Crappy Oak, or at the Shitty Oak OR at the Loser Oak; not that I'm upset about all that walking or anything. You now owe us BOTH drinks Tony; I don't care if you're newly "back in town!"

We failed at finding Tony so we were sentenced with penalty shots; the bartender decided that would be part tequila, part jack and a drop of Tabasco.  


The show. Well the before band was pretty fun, not very good, but fun. The lead singer was really into it, and lanky, and all flailing like this.

The Radio Radio setup was pretty interesting; 1 laptop/turntable guy, drummer, bongo set guy and two vocalists. These guys were ALL OVER the place, awesome show dudes. If there is something better than frenglish hip hop I do not know what that something is.

It was nice to see Barrymores packed for the show, I hope they start doing more live shows and stuff.

Le two step

There is so much Right On going on in this picture; Football Arm, Power Suit Friday's and a Power Kick.

I took a video of them playing Kenny G non-stop cause that song is awesome; but what is even awesomer are the Routhier dance moves. Watch the full thing here or the condensed version that you can plaster all over the internet there.






When he says the "OOOOhhhhhhh's after the triplet part, it looks like feeding time at Marineland. A blog; yet another place on the internets where you can burn your friends.

Right On!





http://enterthecrawlspace.blogspot.com/2011/02/music-side-b.html

power suit friday's

First things first, give credit where credit is due. My friend Routhier is the evil genius behind Power Suit Friday's. He got the idea from of all things, an episode of Top Gear; you know what, he says it best. Take a second and give this a read:

Power Suit Friday

After hearing about the wonders that came from his Power Suit Friday experience, I kinda wanted to give it a try. I extended the invite to my sub-team and to my surprise, we all seemed to be on board. 100% participation and overall acceptance of the idea was WAY more successful than previous team building ideas... Hot yoga didn't really fly.

"Why wasn't I invited to partake? I do have a list of 150 resumes in my inbox by the way."

I work at a place where there is no dress code per say; everyone dresses how they want to. You get everything from business casual (aka, shirt tuckage) to the ever fashionable crocs/socks/shorts combo. In a building filled with engineers, fashion is special and you get a bit of everything. 

Who am I to talk about dress code; after being employed here for 1 month and 6 days, I casually went to work dressed as Death from Family Guy (minus the scythe). It was 06/06/06, when am I ever going to get that chance again? Ya... no one got it and no one else was in costume for that day in June.

"I thought women wore power suits; men just wear suits."

I have an interesting collection of ancient suits in my basement that I acquired from my father over the years. I guess he was a suit wearing man when he was younger/slimmer. I must have three or four 3 piece suits just sitting there. The only time they are worn are for weddings and deaths; hence these awesomely terrible suits are fully inappropriate for all occasions. Time to make a new occasion me thinks.

"You went a little overboard with the vest there; Who even OWNS a vest?!"

"How's it going Peter Par... J Jonah Jamesson"

You simply feel GOOD wearing a Power Suit. It was a strange phenomenon, but all of us simply felt better than we normally do at work. It was a fun day filled with awesome quotes, rich man laughter and getting things done!

Without further adieu, da boyz.

"Does it look like I'm dressed to fix a garage door opener problem?"

Some of us are so powerful, a tie was not needed.

"Excuse me; Power Suit coming through; make a hole."

When you look this good, you don't need to carry things to make it look like you're busy.

Skinny black tie; white belt... thanks to Mr.Brown here, we're going for breakfast at a small cafe next Power Suit Friday.

I still think the best part of my day was when my manager just quietly walked into my cube with his coffee; stared at me, popped me in the back of the head, smiled, shook his head and walked away.

This V8 Fusion ain't doin' it for me; it's time for Power Lunch!

When I called the day before to make the reservation at Milestones they asked if there was a special occasion. I explained that there was no 'special occasion'; simply Power Suit Friday. The hostess burst out in laughter. This is serious business I thought. Here we are planning to take time from our busy schedules to grab a bite to eat; no humor in that.

Naturally, Power Drinks were much needed. I settled on a martini because I like gin and olives. When asked what kind of gin I wanted the answer was obvious; Tanqueray. In situations like this you just have to ask yourself, "what would Snoop do?" Apparently there is such thing as Tanqueray 10 so drink upgrade it was. My order was so Powerful, both Mr.White and Mr.Brown had the same.

Mr.Pink knows how to order drinks!

I ordered the sea bass cause it came with shiitake mushrooms; I like to eat inappropriate sounding things ok. Turned out that the sea bass is being over-fished right now or something so I had to settle with some lesser fish, meh, was tasty.

"Come on Kevin; try and order something a bit less endangered why don't you."

All in all, Power Suit Friday was a success. It was a pretty good day overall and I'm looking forward to the next one. I still think that the last payday of each month is the perfect Friday for it, but to keep it fresh we might suit it up every second month. We gotta balance the Friday the 13th pub crawls in there as well you know!

I strongly suggest that others take up this tradition, it's a great team building activity and a great excuse to dress up without having to go to a wedding or a funeral.

I wish I could always be in Power Suit mode, everything is just that much more entertaining... like conversations about getting a replacement iron ring...

the ridiculous post

Most of the crap that comes from here is ridiculous; there's just something about that word... I think we mean the same thing.


I'm not going to dive down a ridiculous story of something that happened to me recently cause that's just no fun for me. Plus whenever I do mention something ridiculous it's like no one notices or thinks it's as common as breathing. This post is intended for something different; a ridiculous montage.


Whenever I hear that word my ears must perk up and I notice it right away. In today's society I don't think people use that word unless something is completely batshit crazy. My personal favorite usage is in the term ridiculousness; it simply creates a sense that 'everything might be on fire, but everyone's ok.'


Back in the day the term ridiculous was something a bit less extreme but none the less, it was still a bad thing. More like
'how could things be on fire; we are all firefighters.'


I've been watching a lot of older movies lately and they drop the R word all over the place. I usually feel the word was not warrented or that the use of the word made a serious situation comical. I guess for things to be considered ridiculous by todays standards, things have to be a bit more pressing. What do you think?


There would be more to this montage but I couldn't figure out how to get the subtitles to copy over with the chapter; technology fail :(





The French guy is a bit off to begin with; the tanned Italian bacon guy probably drops one of the best ridiculous I've ever heard; twice! Captain nerd from the nerdery almost pulls it off but we the viewer know something he doesn't; his eyes are about to get pushed in. I had to keep the whole samurai thing in, it's just too awesome. Lastly, Jim for he says it best whether it be ridiculous or not.

han solo is da man

Let it be known that I am a huge Star Wars nerd, born and raised.


We started off with the original trilogy on VHS with no extra scenes or any of that non-sense. We watched those for years. Mom picked up the newer DVD's (two different versions if I do recall) but I have not caved since we've owned that first VHS copy. I am EAGERLY awaiting for the Complete Saga to be released in September; it's like sorta a big deal to me ok.


Obviously when the Family Guy Star Wars blu-ray's came out; I caved. I needed my fix even though they are condensed versions that make fun of the films I love. They are freakin' hilarious, who am I kidding.


That being said, I recall this happening in the Family Guy episode. If you are a Star Wars junkie like myself you would have picked up on this years ago, kept it to yourself, relished at the fact that you picked up on an easter egg from the movie. Then one day, a pompous, red headed, over-actor from Hollywood comes along and ruins this for you. No hard feelings. Nope; none all all. No.





Congratulations Seth Green, you have animator friends.


Anyways, yesterday I was deeply immersed in the 50's and I picked up on something you might not have Seth Green.


Somebody wearing somebody else's clothes in a movie isn't exactly earth shattering news; unless those clothes once again belong to Han Solo. This is one shirt and vest combo that gets around.

In this clip from the Godfather, both characters are also similar to Solo in most regards; quick tempered, smooth talking, cocky, all kinds of macho-likeness and overall; completely badass. You be the judge.





I think I know what I'm talking about here; I gots me a 6' Boba Fett just standin' there and an Empire Strikes Back print in the same living room. Like that.

sentenced in ___ for life

Because in Louisiana, life means life. You grow up with the knowledge that you're Going to die here.


I went out last night to see Music from the Big House at Mayfair to continue with the recent music kick I have been on. As of late I have simply rediscovered my love for all music and I was curious about watching a story about the birthplace of the blues.





The inmates of Angola prison were visited by Canadian blues artist Rita Chiarelli and her crew where the film was shot over the course of three days. The film pulls at the heart strings and showcases the raw emotion and talent that is contained behind bars, 


here's a taste of what to expect.


There is an underlying theme about forgiveness and redemption but there's also a strong presence to remember that there are victims. The inmates share their stories and reflect that their youth, ignorance and drug dependencies were the reason they made the wrong choices in life and ended up in Angola. The music is what helps them push on through. 


There are victims, you have to remember that and it tears at me. These guys made a mistake and it tears.


I was surprised to learn in the Q&A that this film has been widely applauded by victims groups across the states. It was also interesting to hear that St.Francisville (the town outside Angola) enveloped the crew and wanted them to make this film happen.


When asked if the inmates were going to see the film any time soon we were told that the warden would need to approve it.


It is a powerful story of self examination, morality and struggle that is made easier through music.


I strongly recommend that people go see this film tonight as it is the last screening at Mayfair. There are plans to release the DVD soon, however no label has picked up the documentary yet. This could be your only shot to see this film for a little while.

facepush-ish

Ever since I've been keeping my eye open for facepushing I've also noticed the "almost-facepush" which is surprisingly more rare.


Similar to the facepush, these are clips that almost count. You see the facepush is more than the act of pushing a face; it's an attitude and a way of life.


Take a look and let me know what you think.




Early man ape pushes a boar thing... close but not really. Belle TOTALLY has the swagger of a facepush and COMPLETELY humiliates that water; not in MY face H2O!


Just like it's big brother, I'll keep a tally on what movies I see these in.





Keep me posted on ANYTHING that might be considered the act of facepushing! I get really excited when I see one, you should too!

my hero

Someday I will make an amazing old man, I actually have started a blog post about this very topic but sadly it is not done. Until then, I'll just have to live my life like this old man.




I'm really tired and I should probably go to bed but I don't want to. Blurgh. Oh feel good movies from the 90's, there is nothing in the world better than you.


I'm just going through media on my computer and I simply HAD to put this up. Smiles all around.


BACON!

timekode

Sensory overload.


Seriously, this has been going on for 10 years?!?! What rock have I been living under? I didn't think Ottawa was this cool.


Timekode operates on the third Friday of every month. Last month the venue was at Barrymores, March 18 it was at Eri Cafe. They pull all the tables out of there, throw up some lights, put up speakers and turn the fans on. Simple. Friday there were 3 DJ's spinning;


ZATTAR * ERIC ROBERTS * MEMETIC


For the first hour or so I was in complete awe. Like my jaw was on the floor. It didn't take long for me to let loose but when I did, I danced like no one was watching and had a blast. Teri and Cathy peaced out by what, midnight. I wasn't leaving. This lone wolf partied till the lights went on.


And I'm not a dancer! I'm not having a Tim-style dance off in the middle of the circle Wasaga style. Like I consciously have to remember not to make my stupid "I'm dancing face." The beats were simply amazing, everyone is doing their own thing, no one is there to judge and no one cares how you look. Totally my style. I had my gin grin on the whole night and I was SOBER.


Everyone is simply comfortable wearing their favorite ratty clothes; plain white T's, a fair amount of plaid; whatever. Pretty hipster and gangsta all at the same time JUST LIKE ME! Right On! People that were there totally had an alternate personality. Like the uber white dude with the thick frames bustin' a move in the circle was probably a lawyer or something, and I totally met someone who's friends with part of Arcade Fire! After party...?


With my hot water tank being all busted and stuff, I had not showered after the shit show that was St.Patty's day and this place was packed, hot and sweaty. I totally fit in.


It seriously feels like a high school basement party. It's awesome because the crowd is a bit older and there are no 19 year old kiddies there to kill the vibe; except I bet everyone probably thought I was one of those kiddies...


What a great vibe, I was totally wearing the right button for the venue; dancing robot ftw. I didn't want to be that guy taking pictures of the bar so if you wanna see what timekode is all about, go check it out for yourself.

By the way timekode, I am stealing your ceiling sheer/Christmas lights combo for my crawlspace. Mom brought over some curtain stuff today and there was a blue sheer in the box... like that's going on a window... Crawlspace UPGRADE! I spent most of the night looking up at it anyways, nice touch!

I did take a few crawlspace recordings cause really, the music is the only thing that matters. Take a listen to my own remix, gawd I love my internet phone... This should tide you over until next month.


timekode - And the beats don't stop


Highest recommendation. Hit em up on Facebook too, peace.

Le Duo - Heart of Gold

Together Mr Dave Ledoux and Dr Cole Futterer are Le Duo. There music is nice.


Check out an impromptu jam session that took place a few Fridays ago before I hit the bar, way before I talked my way out of an ambulance... again.



If you like what you've heard download it and put it on your iPod or other non-apple mobile listening device (4 u CJ).


Le Duo - Heart of Gold


They play in and around Ottawa at different bars and pubs, facebook stalk them or visit Cole for all your chiropractic needs at Trailhead Chiropractic in Westboro:


http://www.trailheadchiropractic.ca/


View Larger Map

Tell him Kevin sent you for a free extra long rub down ;)

the live crawlspace recordings

The idea behind this post is to create a space where I can share recordings I take here and there. I'm going to try to not post crap. I figure if I would listen to it on my iPod, then someone else might too.

These recordings will be either from a show, Dave's studio, Quinn's open mic (which is on Sundays with Amanda Rheaume), a campfire or the crawlspace. Yes, the crawlspace has been known to become a performance space every now and again.


Admit-tingly, these are not professional recordings, they are mono and they were done with my internet phone; there's still charm none the less.


All files have been formatted to work with iTunes (as in the "Get Info" stuff is there) and will be stored in:


/Compilations/the live crawlspace recordings (I hope it works)

To start things off here's a sample of Red Heart from the Hey Rosetta! concert last night at Capital. To download a copy go to here:


Red Heart - Hey Rosetta!


Party on Wayne.

music - side D

Sorta took a week off cause I wasn't feeling too good plus life has been pretty busy these days; apologies. Might as well wrap up my brain fart about music and stuffs.

New Years was anything but boring this year. Megan and I decided to adventure to Manhattan for a day trip to see what kind of trouble we could get into. The original plan was to meet up with some friends and party it up; pretty simple.


Getting to NYC on the cheap was pretty easy. A three hour drive to Syracuse followed by a six hour train ride was all it took. Not the quickest trip I've ever but it gave us time to plan out how we were going to spend 14 hours in the city that never sleeps. All we knew was that we needed to meet up with Nick and Danielle, eat foods, party and before all this happened, check out a used record store cause New York style.


We left that place with 14 albums for $37 America dollars. Crazy low prices, amazing! Among those we picked up were the good, the bad and the hilarious:

Seriously, we bought the Joshua Tree for $1. I don't care if it ain't 180 grams or whatever, it's a dollar. We found some pretty fun albums that we would have never have picked up back home cause everything is super expensive. Shitty dollar record night was awesome once we got back home; Too bad the crawlspace is a little cold this time of year cause the acoustics down there are simply amazing.

After dinner we found ourselves searching for this quaint little jazz bar in Village Vanguard but I couldn't remember where it was. I visited it back in May and took in this 6 piece band whose average age must have been 80. They were hilarious, amazing and on the ball. Being NYE, I knew whatever act was playing there, it was sure to be just as special. Knowing the name of the place would have helped...


Along the way we stumbled across this basement bar. Being parched from our search, we stopped in for a shot only to discover all sorts of awesomeness. The owner gave us a tour of the place which included the kitchen and the most important thing, this hidden room that you entered through a secret door in the wall. Inside this 5'x5' room wasthe most glorious thing ever, what every hideaway needs; naked lady wallpaper. If I find something similar, the crawlspace is totally getting an upgrade.


We decided to say a while longer in room awesome and had Champagne. Seriously, it was like the restaurant had it's own crawlspace! Next time you visit Manhattan, check out Bell, Book and Candle. One of the most interesting places I've been to in a while. They grow their own veggies on site with a rooftop hydroponic garden and everything; something like 60% of all their produce, check it out!

After we overstayed our welcome with the glittery ladies, we Nancy Drew'd where the jazz bar was and settled at Arthur's Tavern for Sweet Georgia Brown and her lovely band.

Was a great time, one that can only ever happen in NYC.


Watch this; it basically retells the story above and the music goes SURPRISINGLY well with the pictures.




We danced the night away... all the way into a show tunes bar later that night. That place was ridiculous. It made 1/4 of us happy :P


I've never seen that many cardigans all in one place.
Again, only in NY.





The last day of 2010, a night to remember.


I think these posts had good flow to them. It could have been listened to in one go as it was originally written, however, like a record, it had numerous hiccups. I totally think this series was one kickass limited edition quadraphonic album me thinks.


Because it's on topic and only happened last night, here's another everyday sample of what goes on here, enjoy.