Favourite lyrics of 2008

I'm still putting last minute touches on my Best of 2008 list, so for now, here are some of my favourite lyrics of the year (I'm sure I'm forgetting some).

You take the pieces of the dreams that you have
Because you don't like the way they seem to be going
You cut them up and spread them out on the floor
You're full of hope as you begin rearranging
(The Lovers Are Losing by Keane)

Got my dreams, got my life, got my love
Got my friends, got the sunshine above
(Happy by Natasha Bedingfield)

Revoluationaries wait
for my head on a silver plate
just a puppet on a lonely string
aah who would ever want to be king?
(Viva La Vida by Coldplay)

And sing that old song, how does it go?
Look out sunshine, here's the punchline
No one gets you anymore
(Look Out Sunshine! by The Fratellis)

You make me so much better
I hope I don't make you worse
(This is Happiness by Gavin Rossdale)

Safety pins holding up the things
That make you mine
(Shine On by The Kooks)

My heart beats fast
but the clock ticks slowly
You can be my one and only
As anticipation beckons
I feel the thrill of 30 seconds
(Thrill of 30 Seconds by Skint & Demoralised)

Forgot about the accident
The words you didn't say
Forgot to call the ambulance
To take your heart away
(Hiding Place by Serena Ryder)

For now I'm faking it
Till I'm pseudo making it
from scratch begin again
but this time
I as I not as we
(Not as We by Alanis Morissette)

No I don't want to battle from beginning to end
I don't want a cycle of recycled revenge
I don't want to follow death and all of his friends
(Death and All His Friends by Coldplay)

What do you want for tea?
I want crisps
(Never Miss a Beat by Kaiser Chiefs)

Photo Blog #7: Santa Claus is coming to town

Toronto Eaton Centre

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all.

A big thank you to my blog readers, Facebook friends, Twitter followers, Flickr viewers and Finetune listeners for being part of my online world.

Music highlights of the year

The best songs (and albums) of 2008:

• Coldplay - 42 (epic haunting track), Yes (love the low tone vocal), Viva la Vida (track of the year) and Death and all his Friends (best rhythm riff of the year), album of the year and the best band in the world today
• Kaiser Chiefs - Never Miss a Beat, best catchy song, incl. best lyric "what do you want for tea ? I want crisps", plus best small club concert
• Oasis - The Shock of the Lightning, still cheeky and still rocking, now with psychedelic backdrop
• The Fratellis - Tell Me a Lie, many fab tracks on the album, top band I still want to see live
  
• Glasvegas - Geraldine, you can feel the angst on the Scots' guitar strings
  
• The Dears - Crisis 1 & 2, dark and moody layers from Montreal, perhaps summing up the somber moods of 2008
  
• Beth Rowley - Sweet Hours, simply a beautiful voice
• Duffy - Warwick Avenue, tough job selecting just one track off this fantastic album, sadly, the wee gal isn't so engaging live
• TV on the Radio - Shout me Out, complex sounds massively varied across tracks and album
  
• Kings of Leon - Crawl (best guitar riff of the year - even versus AC/DC), wonderful, mature 3rd album from Tennessee boys, I'm converted and sold, hallelujah
  
• AC/DC - Rocking all the Way, the list really wouldn't be complete without wee Angus
  
• The Heavy - Our Special Place, eclectic album, better beats than sound-a-like Gnarls B
  
• The Streets - I Love You More (Than you Like Me), Brit rap joy, album also includes must-mention clap along track Heaven for the Weather
  
• The Killers - Human, quirky pop brilliance, looking forward to the big show in January
  
• Neil Diamond - The Power of Two, heart felt lyrics beautifully produced from old timer
  
• Jason Mraz - Lucky, super sappy duet with beach girl Colbie C
  
• Elbow - On a Day Like This (anthem of the year), pastoral, emotional with strings
  
• MGMT - Time to Pretend - thank you Strombo for the early tip
  
• Black Mountain - Queens will Play, retro rock done right by Vancouver scruffs
  
• Morcheeba - Thumbnails, deep late night instrumental electronica
  
• Thievery Corporation - Hare Krsna, surprise new inventive exotic grooves from one of my early electronica faves, looking forward to seeing them live in February
  
• The Kooks - Do you Wanna, sing it loud, straight up pop Rock
• The Last Shadow Puppets - My Mistakes Were Made for You, keeping Monkey fans happy with superb Turner lyrics
• Razorlight - Wire to Wire, passionate sounds from the rocking lads
• Travis - Chinese Blues, the album is still growing on me, great come-back-from-the-dead rich sounds
• Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, last minute addition - rating and classification not quite dry, tip from my bro and making a few critic best ofs, punchy indy tracks with weird hint of Paul Simon.
  

I started making the list thinking 2008 was just an average music year, but now having sampled all the tracks above again, I have to say 2008 was a fantastic year for new music.

As most of you know I'm a big Brit music fan, but surprisingly a quick tally across the globe shows a healthy 11 of the 26 artists coming from North America.

Some one-hit wonders of 2008:

• Ray Lamontagne - You Are the Best Thing, I love horns and a rough voice, may be more goodies on the CD, but this track is standout
• Black Kids - Hurricane Jane, gentle sounds with urban feel
  
• Gabriella Cilmi - Sweet about me, fantastic musical and vocal trip from a very young lady
• Sonya Kitchell - Here to There, beautiful Canadian voice rolled into a landscape piece
• Usher - What's your Name, guilty hip hop pop find from Victoria Secret show
  

Old stuff rediscovered and/or triggered by new releases:

• Joy Division - Atmosphere, early new wave beats with ill-fated lyrics
  
• Primal Scream - Some Velvet Morning, one of my favourite dance tracks but the Kate Moss vocals wasn't the kicker
  
• Brazilian Girls - Don't Stop, very catchy and toe tappin' tease
  
• The Wombats - Moving to New York, original version plus Paul Van Dyck Remix, nice find of missed hipsters of 2007
  
• Susan Tedeschi - Share Your Love with Me, you gotta have some lady blues in your mix
  
• The Dears - Lost in the Plot (best old track discovery), no that's not Morrissey singing
• Just Jack - Life Stories, great Brit hip hop chappy pop grooves

Concert highlights:

• Oasis (Virgin Festival) - lived up to the reputation and hype and then some
  
• Kaiser Chiefs (Mod Club) - lots of bawdy fun and bouncin', almost helped surf Ricky over to the bar
  
• Coldplay (Air Canada Centre) - magnificent show, energy, lighting and a lively crowd
  
• Morcheba (Opera House) - groovy scene showing class electronica performance with lots of guitars
  
• The Kooks (Mod Club) - always lots of fun, even with a broken ankle
  
• Duffy (Mod Club) - clean sounds from the tiny Welsh chantreuse, but I found her stage presence a little uncomfortable - still on the list because she just sounds fantastic
  
• John Mayer (Molson Amphitheatre) - for saying we were seated way back, the sound and performance was top notch
  

Apologies for the no-link post, but it would have taken me just too long to put it all together and I wanted to complete while I was in the groove. But you can listen to many of the tracks and artists on my latest Finetune playlist 2008 Big Update.

Music highlights of the year

The best songs (and albums) of 2008:

• Coldplay - 42 (epic haunting track), Yes (love the low tone vocal), Viva la Vida (track of the year) and Death and all his Friends (best rhythm riff of the year), album of the year and the best band in the world today
• Kaiser Chiefs - Never Miss a Beat, best catchy song, incl. best lyric "what do you want for tea ? I want crisps", plus best small club concert
• Oasis - The Shock of the Lightning, still cheeky and still rocking, now with psychedelic backdrop
• The Fratellis - Tell Me a Lie, many fab tracks on the album, top band I still want to see live
  
• Glasvegas - Geraldine, you can feel the angst on the Scots' guitar strings
  
• The Dears - Crisis 1 & 2, dark and moody layers from Montreal, perhaps summing up the somber moods of 2008
  
• Beth Rowley - Sweet Hours, simply a beautiful voice
• Duffy - Warwick Avenue, tough job selecting just one track off this fantastic album, sadly, the wee gal isn't so engaging live
• TV on the Radio - Shout me Out, complex sounds massively varied across tracks and album
  
• Kings of Leon - Crawl (best guitar riff of the year - even versus AC/DC), wonderful, mature 3rd album from Tennessee boys, I'm converted and sold, hallelujah
  
• AC/DC - Rocking all the Way, the list really wouldn't be complete without wee Angus
  
• The Heavy - Our Special Place, eclectic album, better beats than sound-a-like Gnarls B
  
• The Streets - I Love You More (Than you Like Me), Brit rap joy, album also includes must-mention clap along track Heaven for the Weather
  
• The Killers - Human, quirky pop brilliance, looking forward to the big show in January
  
• Neil Diamond - The Power of Two, heart felt lyrics beautifully produced from old timer
  
• Jason Mraz - Lucky, super sappy duet with beach girl Colbie C
  
• Elbow - On a Day Like This (anthem of the year), pastoral, emotional with strings
  
• MGMT - Time to Pretend - thank you Strombo for the early tip
  
• Black Mountain - Queens will Play, retro rock done right by Vancouver scruffs
  
• Morcheeba - Thumbnails, deep late night instrumental electronica
  
• Thievery Corporation - Hare Krsna, surprise new inventive exotic grooves from one of my early electronica faves, looking forward to seeing them live in February
  
• The Kooks - Do you Wanna, sing it loud, straight up pop Rock
• The Last Shadow Puppets - My Mistakes Were Made for You, keeping Monkey fans happy with superb Turner lyrics
• Razorlight - Wire to Wire, passionate sounds from the rocking lads
• Travis - Chinese Blues, the album is still growing on me, great come-back-from-the-dead rich sounds
• Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, last minute addition - rating and classification not quite dry, tip from my bro and making a few critic best ofs, punchy indy tracks with weird hint of Paul Simon.
  

I started making the list thinking 2008 was just an average music year, but now having sampled all the tracks above again, I have to say 2008 was a fantastic year for new music.

As most of you know I'm a big Brit music fan, but surprisingly a quick tally across the globe shows a healthy 11 of the 26 artists coming from North America.

Some one-hit wonders of 2008:

• Ray Lamontagne - You Are the Best Thing, I love horns and a rough voice, may be more goodies on the CD, but this track is standout
• Black Kids - Hurricane Jane, gentle sounds with urban feel
  
• Gabriella Cilmi - Sweet about me, fantastic musical and vocal trip from a very young lady
• Sonya Kitchell - Here to There, beautiful Canadian voice rolled into a landscape piece
• Usher - What's your Name, guilty hip hop pop find from Victoria Secret show
  

Old stuff rediscovered and/or triggered by new releases:

• Joy Division - Atmosphere, early new wave beats with ill-fated lyrics
  
• Primal Scream - Some Velvet Morning, one of my favourite dance tracks but the Kate Moss vocals wasn't the kicker
  
• Brazilian Girls - Don't Stop, very catchy and toe tappin' tease
  
• The Wombats - Moving to New York, original version plus Paul Van Dyck Remix, nice find of missed hipsters of 2007
  
• Susan Tedeschi - Share Your Love with Me, you gotta have some lady blues in your mix
  
• The Dears - Lost in the Plot (best old track discovery), no that's not Morrissey singing
• Just Jack - Life Stories, great Brit hip hop chappy pop grooves

Concert highlights:

• Oasis (Virgin Festival) - lived up to the reputation and hype and then some
  
• Kaiser Chiefs (Mod Club) - lots of bawdy fun and bouncin', almost helped surf Ricky over to the bar
  
• Coldplay (Air Canada Centre) - magnificent show, energy, lighting and a lively crowd
  
• Morcheba (Opera House) - groovy scene showing class electronica performance with lots of guitars
  
• The Kooks (Mod Club) - always lots of fun, even with a broken ankle
  
• Duffy (Mod Club) - clean sounds from the tiny Welsh chantreuse, but I found her stage presence a little uncomfortable - still on the list because she just sounds fantastic
  
• John Mayer (Molson Amphitheatre) - for saying we were seated way back, the sound and performance was top notch
  

Apologies for the no-link post, but it would have taken me just too long to put it all together and I wanted to complete while I was in the groove. But you can listen to many of the tracks and artists on my latest Finetune playlist 2008 Big Update.

Reporting live 3 days ago...

This "live report" at 4:26pm on Friday, December 19th got lost in the mash of the tech transfer circus...posting so I can document this weather related little adventure...

Trying to get home.

Subway cars are jammed packed, it's going to be a nightmare for those commuters transferring to surface routes - I'm lucky I just have a nasty 10 min walk home in the blizzard. But still, I'm sure driving is worse. Dumb thing is, I actually chose to go to the office, rather than work from home today - I chose poorly.

Blackberry shot from the office at 1:30pm on Friday

Sears helping us remember our soldiers overseas

I stumbled on a special event at Sears on Tuesday. It was a presentation for Operation Wish with Sears Canada CEO, store manager and husband and wife military captains on hand to talk about the program and give people a chance to sign the banners that will be sent to our troops in Afghanistan. I signed a simple greeting of Thank you. Stay Safe. Although Christmas is supposed to be a time to think of others, our busy personal lives and precious family time normally take precedent. Take a moment to think about how lucky you are that you're safe and have the comfort of a home around you. Over the next week or so, contemplate the lives of those less fortunate or the brave troops making huge sacrifices for the greater good, maybe it will help put things in perspective. If you can do more, fantastic, but reserving a little place in your hearts and minds for others is something we can all do.

Make my day, shoot someone

I have been seeing signs for "Pixels for Pistols" around town over the last few months and got a bit of a clue as to the details behind the program. In today's Metro and saw some great news...Police trade digital cams for 1,900 guns !

I never would have thought such a simple, yet generous program would have such a large impact.

So make my day - shoot someone... shoot a friend laughing, your sibling teasing your Dad, a beautiful face of a girl on the street, or an old man whose face tells a thousand stories. I believe in shooting a lot and often, photography is a fantastic hobby, I love discovering great photography and love sharing my own shots.

Some links you might enjoy: Flickr portrait photographs; all my posts about photography; my page on Flickr; Digital Photography School blog. I have lots more, just let me know if you want some specific pointers.

Cheese.

A TTC rant - and not an obvious one

Why is it taking the TTC sssssssoooooooo long to repair the down escalator at the Eglinton Subway station ? I'm close to actually finding out what bureaucratic pin-head is behind this shameful example of incompetence and putting his name publicly on the virtual wall-of-shame. All public transit believers pay good money to take "the better way" and we patiently tolerate an occasional break in service. But this ? Come on red hats, get your act together. I photographed this same elevator debacle back in May and I'm sure we're past its anniversary. The result is the same - hundreds of people forced to navigate down a narrow, two-stage, side stairway. while others try to come up the stairs against the flow (either healthy types looking to burn a few extra calories, or those wanting a 6" short cut, or those not seeing the fully functional up escalator).

Yes, the sign says "maintenance", but I'm not sure what kind of maintenance takes over a year !

This is what makes YouTube so much fun

Excitement in Canadian Politics

Yes, your read that title correctly, there is actually something to get excited about in Canadian politics. There's even a live blog happening right now...

If you've been following the political crisis going on here in Canada, perhaps you'll agree (or disagree) with some of my thoughts on the matter...

• If the opposition parties really want to form a coalition, why didn't they do that a few months ago so we could vote on it during the election ?
• Can we really feel comfortable with a coalition (or even an opposition party, i.e. the Liberals) who don't appear to be very comfortable with their leader
• I've heard that the Conservatives made a similar move with the Bloc Quebecois some years ago, but they are playing on our short term political memory and saying support from the Bloc creates a separatist agenda - I don't buy that
• Who's telling the truth - have the opposition parties really made any realistic and specific recommendations to the government on dealing with the economic crisis ? Harper says they haven't, Layton says they have. Interesting and ironic side note that Harper was supposed to be in Woodstock this morning for the opening of a new Toyota plant !
  
• I'm still confused on what justification is required for the Prime Minister to ask for a prorogue parliament. Is it just a legal wiggle to bide time ? And what about the fact that Harper already delayed the confidence vote last week ?
  
• I'm still uncomfortable with this idea that the coalition is suggesting that they are "re-configuring" their seats to create a majority coalition without any public say. That just doesn't feel right or democratic.
• I actually found myself liking Jack Layton during his press conference last night, I can't say I support his NDP agenda, but in coalition with the Liberals and the Bloc, he may be a more interesting choice as a leader than Dion. Could Layton (or for that matter Dion) really put aside their partisan agenda in favour of a united opposition. It sounds nice, but it's still a big stretch to actually seeing how it would work.
  
• Although a few months ago I was thinking it was nice to have a wide variety of political parties, I'm beginning to understand the benefits of having just two or three choices and actually creating a government that can get things done.
  

I'd love to hear your thoughts and arguments.

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