Montreal's Finest

click above to....
check this promo for DJ A-Trak's new DVD, Sunglasses Is A Must. Dude has been representing Canadian scratch DJ's for a long time, and he is still a young man. I was glad to see Kanye West recruit him as his show DJ, cause that was something that Mr. West was lacking in his live performances.

Thank You For The Money

Gotta love this handwritten note from the Sex Pistols (most likely John Lydon) rejecting an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. I am sure if the Pistols got offered some big bucks they would come, remember their comeback tour?

tribute

http://www.alternet.org/wiretap/32980/

Nice article on the late great J Dilla from Alternet

bushy did a heck of a good job

So more info has come out on the Bush administration's total lack of interest and competence in prevention and preparation for Hurricane Katrina, and specifically the knowledge that the levee's were doomed.

This to me is worst than any botched vote tally in Florida, or the Karl Rove fiasco, or the previous president's under the desk blow job. Sure, it was a natural disaster, but these new videos show that President Bush had knowledge of the depth of the disaster and it's potential. What was done in preparation at the federal level- not much. State officials were understaffed and without power to have any real force in getting people out of New Orleans.

Disgusting work and another dumb ass showing by Dubya. I try to see bright spots in his reign, but they are few.


That is my man Thomas with me on Blackcomb

I was in whistler this past week- I feel like I have not been at home base for a few months. Whistler is funny. Quite the place, I met a lot of locals this week and they are all warm and nice and understand the hugeness of the "resort" side of Whistler. I have a bunch of friends there also. My son also came and it was his first trip west, and his first time flying. He acted like he had been flying for years.


My friend Jeff and I - high on mountain air.

It is funny, lots of drunkeness in the village in Whistler, which is ok I guess. I was walking back from a friends to the hotel after a few beers and watched some of the loogans. I wondered if I ever acted like that. Probably. This is one thing that sort of drives me crazy about Whistler, but everything that sucks about Whistler, the mountain makes up for.

vegas

just got back from Las Vegas - was there for 6 days- way too many days for Vegas.

I was there for work and did a lot of walking around also. I am not much of a gambler so I hardly lost any money.

We interviewed David Copperfield and took in one of his shows. It started off slow but man did he end it amazingly. He basically teleported to a beach in Singapore before our eyes. Hard to explain yes, go see it when he comes to Canada. Which he is doing soon.

I have been to Vegas a bunch of times, all with work. I am not sure if I would pay to go. Place is cool and fun for a weekend, but by Day 5 and 6, I wanted out. I missed my little guy lots, he was started to walk as I left, and six days away from him and my wife is tough. Oh boo hoo, I know but maybe if i was a card player or high roller it would be different.

We were shooting some stories in Vegas for The Hour, and got some stuff, even stuff off the Vegas Strip. I am tired sorry for the poor update and grammer. I am home for day then off to Whistler, the fam is coming with me for this one! woo hoo!

ahhhh hip hop

Hip Hop music is the target for negativity. People are always on about how it sucks and has lost it lustre. This may be true but those in the hip hop know that radio hip hop is not representative. So on this note I gotta give props to J Dilla, of Detroit, and Slum Village fame. Althought it will not make the headlines, producer/artist Jay Dee passed away this weekend. He was a favorite of mine. Basically what J put out I got. R.I.P J Dilla. He lived soul music. Artist like De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Madlib. Dwele, The Roots, and Common owe much to Jay Dee.

On another hip hop note, I was out a a club with friends and they were playing some of the Notorious B.I.G stuff that is like a Duets record. It is so weak, I cannot believe it got released. I am not a P Diddy hater nor fan, but what I have heard of this BIG duets sucks. Bad




Tomorrow is my son's birthday. This is his first year. I cannot believe it. I never would have thought I would be a dad. It is crazy. He is such a great kid. When my wife was preganant I tried to imagine our kid, and the son I have today is not the kid I imagined, and that is what makes him so awesome. Happy Birthday Buzz!!!!!!!!!!!!

paul mccartney

I've got nothing against Beatle Paul, but these Fidelity investment television commercials are too much. They are so blantant, when I hear Band On The Run, I think of those damn commercials.

http://personal.fidelity.com/products/retirement/paul_landing.shtml

I watched some of the Grammy's tonight. It really has evolved into a series of jam sessions. They pair everybody up, and McCartney was involved in a strange collaboration tonight. He joined Jay-Z and Linkin Park, who recorded a mashup of their records. Jay-z's Black Album was great, but I have not heard the Linkin Park collab record. On one chorus, they changed their chorus to The Beatles, "Yesterday." Out of the shadows comes Beatle Paul.

All I was thinking of was Paul driving around the English countryside blaring Jay-z's, "Can't Knock The Hustle."

Then Christina Aguilera was joined with Herbie Hancock. On the soft parts it was nice but those Christina crazy vocal aerobics overshadowed Herbie.

John Legend won tons and it was much deserved. Get Lifted is a timeless record. I took a camera out one summer day last year and interviewed Legend. He was cool, he loved and understood music. He grew up in church singing.

My favorite part of the Grammy's sadly is when they show all the people involved in music who died the past year. I know it is a weird thing to enjoy, but it shows people young and old connected through music. Bluesman, R.L Burnside died this year he was one of the last true original delta bluesman. I wish R.L recorded more.

Cops and the media are all over the illegal gambling involving some hockey players. It is not right but who is surprised? They named Jeremy Roenick as one of the participates, how come I knew Roenick would be one of the player's named?

see you J!

A few years back the Toronto Raptors where without Vince Carter and a Antonio Davis led Raptor team made the playoffs. I told my wife, if we made the playoffs it is on AD and I would buy an AD jersey. And I did. Well she bought it for me as a gift. Nice eh.

The next year AD turns into a big of a baby and wants out, and is shipped to Chicago for Jalen Rose. I love Jalen, I am a Michigan fan and he was my favorite player amongst the Fab Five team they had in Michigan.

So today the Raptors shipped Jalen to New York for AD. It is a money thing. Funny how this works. AD is back. My jersey is now activated. Only thing is it has a lot of stains from wearing it camping the past two years. Think bleach will get that out?

I think new interim GM Wayne Embry is doing the right stuff, cleaning house for a new GM to step in and start new around Chris Bosh. Recently fired GM Rob Babcock never had a chance. He made some major bad moves and never recovered.

I will continue to pray for the raps. We need a good team in Toronto.

Good Luck Jalen Rose. You will be missed (clutchness) and not missed (15million a year).

groundhog day !

gotta say happy birthday to my Uncle Paul MacDonald. Happy 50th!

One of my fav people in the world is my Uncle Paul.. He and my uncle Roger were my mom's youngest brothers, and I used to follow them around and loved it when they let a little kid (me) hang out with them.

When I think of my uncle paul when I was growing up, I think of this big guy with cowboy boots and long hair. I also think about this cool tattoo he has of a prize horse with a ribbon around him. I think of his love of music and his records I used to listen to at my grandparents, (the Highwaymen and Springsteen stand out).

Uncle Paul, is married now with three grown up boys now, and is a great father. Sort of the kind I could only hope to be.

Happy Birthday Uncle Paul- now "kiss the rug!"

dead sixties

Today, Martin Luther King's wife Coretta died. I am sure she had some good stories. I was thinking if MLK , the Kennedy brothers and some of the other 60's figures had not passed it would have been interesting to see how different the world would be with their influences.



Watch a bit of Dubya's State of the Union with my brother. My bro said that he cannot stand any of the "friends". I asked him, "What the hell are you talking about?" He told me the "friends", Con delee zza (her name works with spaces) Rice, Chaney and Dubya. Killed me, but he was right they are tight and sort of smug all at the same time.

I am watching Rap City's Top Hip Hop of 2005 right now - how can "The Corner" by Common only be number 11? Dead Poets kill it-

The corner was our Rock of Gibraltar, our Stonehenge
Our Taj Mahal, our monument
Our testimonial to freedom, to peace, and to love
Down on the corner.

one of my fav ads of all time....

my friend sent me this about a year or so ago. I lost the link but came across it on the incredible yourtube site. makes me laugh watching it. when I used to play basketball in school we always joke about playing without our shorts. not sure why we thought this was so funny but it kills me thinking about it. That ad is above.

well as predicted.....

we got a new PM - I like the a minority gov't anytime- make them work together.



sort of exciting for a while there. yeah. um yeah.

The most interesting part was watching the NDP waiting for the final outcome on their opposition status. And the shots of the Paul Martin "playing cards" photo op. What was that? And where the hell was Stephen Harper. In a bunker?




Actually the Liberals did better than I had expected. Don't know what is going to happen to Mr. Martin. I got a feeling we will see him battling in Parliament.

I'm Voting For Doctor Reece....

Well it is election day in Canada, I am at home with a sick little boy. Maybe he has the real election fever. I am doing the morning shift with my little guy and then off to work and election mayhem.

The Doctor Reece reference above kills me. When I was younger whether it was any election at all; federal, municipal or whatever, my grandma and her friends all wanted to vote for their smalltown doctor, Dr. Reece. Thing was Dr. Reece never ran for any election that I know of.

I wish I could vote for Doctor Reece this election, cause I am just not feeling anyone. When I mention this to people they always say, "Vote Green Party", like they are the choice when you have no choice. I just don't work that way.

So at 9:00 am Toronto time I do not know who I am voting for. And anyway I am in Jack Layton's riding and he has it wrapped up, I might as well vote for Dr. Reece.

chris bosh

Chris Bosh is turning out to be a player.

probably

won't be updating this week- The Hour's Panel Van segment is on the road- we are in Halifax first of week and calgary the end of the week.

I did a google of panel van and the hour - and saw the typical "your tax dollars at work". The panel van is so cheap to do, it is funny. And it serves a purpose it get the people on the air talking, not the usual pundits. Is that not what cbc tax dollars should accomplish. It is also fun to edit, but damn cold to shoot.

If you are Halifax (mon Jan 9 and Tues Jan 10) or Calgary (Fri Jan 14) and Canmore and Lake Louise (Sat, Jan 15) - keep you peeps out for us and get in the van! It may look creepy but it is not.

BTW -That is not the real panel van. In fact on the road we will be using a "stunt double" of the original.

Bill O'Reilly on Letterman

http://onegoodmove.org/1gm/1gmarchive/002750.html#002750


gotta check this interview- nice to see Dave get his juices flowing. to me he phones it in a lot during interviews, so to see him thinking and bringing that to his show is refreshing. He said, "honest to christ" too.

But Bill O'Reilly is a wiping boy. He should get into the WWE he would be the ideal bad guy. He gets so booed on these talk shows.

No, Thank You Martha!

yes, I am aware she is a martha impersonator. she sort of looks more like Owen Wilson.
RAMBLINGS AHEAD.....



Martha Stewart has shot these ads that thanks all her friends (and that means you at home) for supporting her in tough times. These tough times being her recent prison stint. Too funny.



I was thinking what if all people who "did time" and technically Martha "did time" created one of these ads. What might they be like?



Would Saddam Hussein request a stylist or at least a haircut for his ad. He is doing crazy so good these days.



What ever happend to the Saddam standing tall with the rifle. He was still doing crazy but with dignity.

Check this - the place I got the Martha Lookalikes has more lookalikes


This is the American Idol Judges. That dude in the middle is going to split soon I know it. He has Jack Black way down. He is in fact Jack Black playing Simon Cowell. The Randy (i think that is his name) the producer but noones knows who he produced, is more on the Young MC tip.

dead rappers

not sure if this is funny or sort of sad

Go Vote-

WHO WILL BE THE NEXT DEAD RAPPER
http://deadrapper.ning.com/

"smoke crack got his job back!"

Ex-D.C. Mayor Barry Unharmed in Robbery
Jan 3rd - 9:09am



WASHINGTON -- Marion Barry says his life flashed before his eyes as he stared at the barrel of a pistol during a robbery in his home Monday night.

The former mayor and current D.C. council member was robbed at gunpoint at his apartment by some kids who had helped him carry his groceries.

He says young people often beg for money by his Southeast home, and he typically lets them earn it by carrying groceries. He says he feels hurt and betrayed by the teenage boys who knew who he was and called him "B" during the robbery.


Barry, 69, served four terms as mayor. In his third term, he was videotaped in 1990 in a hotel room smoking crack cocaine in an FBI sting. The following year, he served a six-month prison sentence.

He is awaiting sentencing later this month in federal court on his guilty plea to two misdemeanor counts stemming from his failure to file income tax returns in 2000.

Barry vows not to move from his home in Ward Eight, which he represents in the council. But he says he will push for tougher gun control laws.

Police recovered Barry's wallet, credit card and license. Police asked Barry not to say how much cash was taken.

(Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

happy new year..................

Happy New Year! My new years was pretty tame which was a change. My resolution is to update this blog - I fell off large.

As i write i am watching Al Gore TV -well CurrentTV and they are doing a story on food in Vietnam and how they are avoiding chicken as a result of the avian flu- they are showing someone seasoning dog meat. I cannot imagine how my dog Harper would taste.

My new thing for 2006 and the last week of Dec has been listening to all kinds of comedy on the Ipod before I pass out in bed. I used to read before and that would last 5 minutes before I would wake up at 4am with my face in the book.

Here are a few of my fav comedy listens as of late......


1.The Ricky Gervais Podcast
So awesome- if you do not know who Karl Pilkington is- you should. Never has such a weird thinker made it to the airwaves. Gervais and Steve Merchant are also pretty funny - they created BBC's The Office. Pilkington is their crazy producer.



2.Mitch Hedberg-Mitch All Together
Late great and much copied as of late, Minnesota comic who had some awesome Letterman appearances (that is where I first saw him). His comedy might take a few listens. I have played it for some friend who look at me like WTF? This is funny? But after a couple goes- you get used to Mitch's delivery and crazy mind at work. I could have used more Mitch- RIP!
One of my fav Mitch lines
"I haven't slept for ten days, because that would be too long."


3.Chris Rock-Bigger and Blacker
A polished Rock's 1999 record starts with his take on "crazy white kids" after the Columbine incident. Brillant and timely material. Hope he gives up the Oscar host spot, that is not the place for him in my mind.



4.Richard Pyror- Live On Sunset Strip
The audio version of his famous stand up film. Another dead guy, why do the greats go so young. This is a gem for sure, the Africa bit is standout.




Anyway - The Zapitista leader Subcommandte Marcos and his balaclava are on a tour in Mexico to get the left in order before a Mexican election. Things are changing in South America (see Bolivia), and Marcos is using his profile and his motorcycle to tour Mexico for six months and talk with it's poor.

The launch of the tour coincided with the 12th anniversary of the New Year's Day uprising that put the ragtag indigenous Zapatista Army of National Liberation and their verbally stylish non-indigenous leader on the world map.

Keep your eyes on this - it may flare up as a July presidential campaign is due in Mexico. That seems to be Marcos goal to stir the pot.