don't talk to me about 2.0

A little over a month ago I went to a party. I know, bad idea. It was mostly okay, work-related, lotsa people I actually like, etc. But somehow I got cornered into a conversation with a fella who seemed intent on impressing me with the fact that he works in "Web 2.0, you know what that is?"

"Um, that means you're on Facebook?"

I spent the next 25 minutes in the year 2006. And yeah, basically the dude sets up Facebook accounts for businesses. Which is fine, but the guy had that evangelical zeal for "interactive online community" that inevitably trumps content or even function. Which is, like, at the corner of Nowhere Street and Whocares Avenue. My unwelcome Ajax tutorial finally ended when I admitted to having a blog but not having a solid SEO strategy.

mp3: "Narrow Minds" by Angil and the Hidden Tracks

30 Under 30 #8: Well, who wants fat hair?

I am totally balding. Not so much that you would notice, but enough that I would notice. Because I'm not only balding, I'm also vain.
My hairline has been beating a slow, but steady retreat for about five years now, and I reckon I've lost about half-an-inch of shoreline. Luckily, I've always had a bit of a widow's peak, so it's sorta just like my hairline is merely becoming more pronounced. But I'm worried.
See--and I'm not fishing for compliments here--I'm not the most handsome dude around, but I have always (except for when I did terrible things to it--but more on that later) been proud of my lovely locks. They are, those that remain, thick and curly. LUSCIOUS.
But soon, that will all be in the past. There will be nothing left for me to do but to become a cartoonist specializing in Canadian historical graphic novels.
For now, though, I'm merely content with the fact that I've yet to thin at the back of my skull. When that happens, I suppose, it will be time to just go hairless.
I'll miss my hair. We've had a lot of fun together. Especially on roller coasters. But it hasn't all been good times. There was a period where I used 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner. I had a ponytail when I was 12. And I never took it swimming in the ocean.

30 Under 30 #4: Fashionable People are a Wild Party

Back when I was mild-mannered music reviewer for a mid-sized metropolitan daily newspaper, I once took some flack for calling Joel Plaskett the Kim Mitchell for a new generation. I guess my love and admiration for Kim Mitchell wasn't then well-known enough for this to be recognized as a compliment. Now it can be revealed: I loves me some Kim Mitchell. Not quite to the same degree as my love for Andy Kim, but that's a horse of a different colour, anyhow. So here (at the bottom of this post) is the new single from the Joel Plaskett Emergency, "Fashionable People" from the new album Ashtray Rock.
What's great about JP isn't just that he revels in the patio-lanterned sentimentality of good-time rock and pop that Kim Mitchell brought forth unto this Earth, but he's also got a soft spot for hip hop and r&b, and occasionally brings elements into his music.
The first time I noticed this was at the old Easy Alibi on Scarth St. in Regina. It was a Wednesday night show, back when I was doing the old Spo-Dee O'Dee Radio Hour on Wed. nights, and there was also a provincial election going on. I voted for JP, who was playing with the Emergency that night. It was right after (or maybe just before?) Truthfully Truthfully came out, and I had yet to really cotton to JP. Midway through a song, Plaskett busted into a verse of a then-current hip hop club anthem (whose name escapes me now) and then back into his own song like it ain't no thing.
Later, on "Nowhere With You" (which was also a Zellers ad, minus the nihilism), Plaskett borrowed the tongue clicks from "Drop It Like It's Hot".
On "Fashionable People", Plaskett goes back to the Neptunes with a synthy sounds and plenty of falsetto, all tempered with a party-prog vibe Plaskett cribbed from Trooper.
Joel Plaskett Emergency plays in Vancouver this friday.
MP3: "Fashionable People" - Joel Plaskett Emergency