Assbike Song: They Grew on Me

There are three songs I didn't really like the first time I heard them. But, I kept them in my rotation and they somehow grew on me. I don't know anything about these bands, but here they are:

First up is this tune. If I knew it wasn't I'd think it was a Bob Mould/Sugar tune. Power-pop, melodic/aggressive whatever you want to call it:

The Hold Steady Chips Ahoy (3:12)

At first I didn't like this downtempo tune with bored Indie vocals:

Hot Chip Just Like We (4:12)

This is kinda weird, with some creepy sounding singing and weird chanty stuff in the background.

The Knife We Share Our Mother's Health (4:02)

Best Tech Blog

I'm pretty cool when it comes to software, (since it's usually free), but I'm totally out of touch with hardware. Makes sense, I never have the scrilla to cop a jack. But NiggaKnow is a hilarious and cynical tech blog.

Hilarious excerpt:

Some white motherfucker, probably buying stocks at the time, gets clobbed by a motherfucking firetruck and now I can't use my motherfucking hands-free to make it clear to a few bitches just how little child support they gonna get? That's some bullshit for real. Just because white people don't got that sideways Pele vision don't mean I can't dodge a whip and handle a jack.

Snow Day

I love riding out in the snow, and amazingly a fixie rides really well in the snow; probably because the rear wheel won't skid -- unless you do it deliberately.

The city made a skating rink in the park across the street, which is nice, because the indoor rink across from my place is always booked for hockey. They spent the whole day before the snowstorm clearing it off, and now it's buried under a foot of snow.



The stretch of Bloor between about Christie and Dundas west or so (where the Value Village is) has such a different feel than the rest of the city. It feels like I'm in Brooklyn or something. Here be some pics:











I also discovered "mall shopping", hitting up Dufferin mall. I found a store called H+M that has stylin' clothes, and they're not too pricey and lots of wigger shops. I bought an Adidas tracksuit top which has the inadvertent effect of making me look like part of an 80s breakdancing crew.

...oh and there's Greta and me enjoying the snow :

Party's Over and Assbike Tip #6

Looks like we be in for a shitstorm. (Ontario Radar). If we're lucky we won't be in for a direct hit.

But this be time for another Assbike Tip.

When the snow comes down Toronto salts the fuck out of the streets, with good reason, but this means if you assbike you will get a soaker and show up to wherever you're headed looking like a drowned rat.

The way around this is to notice that sidewalks and small streets as well as the many alleyways don't get salted.



So, it's better to roll over some soft packed snow and avoid the salty slush on the main streets. Watch out for buried ice though.

Vice TV

I wrote last year, that 2006 the year viable Internet TV. So far it's been good for YouTube clips, but now something special comes along. This month the Vice TV Channel VBS.TV came online.

Like the Magazine, sometimes it's hit or miss, sometimes it's irreverent, but sometimes they come up with material that blows you away like these harrowing Heavy Metal in Baghdad stories. The backstory and episodes are here.

Gashlycrumb Tinies and Anti-Caption Contest

I always got a kick out of the old Gashly Crumb Tinies poster. The morbid, gothic cartoon that looks like somethng Tim Burton would draw. My favorite is the kid that died of ennui.



Also in a cartooy theme ...

Radosh.net has a hilarious twist on the New Yorker Caption Contest.



The Anti-caption Contest is way funnier than than the actual winning captions.

Guitar and Deep freeze

For some reason I picked up the guitar again after a few years. I had stagnated and got bored playing the same tunes over and over. I think wandering into Paul's Boutique (in Kensington) got me in the mood to fix up my guitar and look up some guitar tips and ideas on the ole internet. Not so that I could finally be a rock star, but just to get out of a mental rut.

There's tons of guitar resources on the internet, but the most prolific is YouTube. There's something about the personality of a person that woud play electric guitar. Maybe it's vanity, or need for attention, the "look-at-me kid". That's where YouTube comes in. On YouTube there are thousands, maybe tens of thousands of videos posted by guys of themselves playing guitar; mostly young guys playing metal solos (aka. "shredding"), some older dudes too. But Thousands!. ...But no girls.

That, ladies and gentlemen is the difference between boys and girls.

So we finally got hit with the deep freeze. But at least every warm day we had in January was one less we had to live though. Try and stay warm...four more weeks until March!

Prince at the Superbowl

This is one year I'm not going to miss the half-time show. Usually you're expecting John Mellencamp, Taylor Hicks or some other mangina, but this year's Superbowl halftime act is none other than the Ego formerly known as Prince. How many pre-teen minds will be twisted forver ?











Here's a picture of Peyton Manning. Check out his HEAD! His face is like a Mack Truck !










By now everyone's seen this ....

I wasn't that impressed at first, not after seeing the scintillating dance moves in Solla. But Golimar! the song has totally won me over. The Krautrock synths! The bellowing vocal delivery ! Is there a name for this !?? Electroclash ?? Reggaeton ??

Whatever it is, I love it. And when it comes to moves, this Indian does BRING IT ! Way cooler than the nard from "Heroes".

Thank You Come Again!

Joe Biden's got a case of the FMD - foot-in-mouth disease.

It's too bad because because I like Joe Biden, but then he goes and drops this hackneyed gem about all the Indians in Deleware when he goes into the Dunkin' Donuts and 7-Elevens. It's like he turned into Larry David.

His explantion/apology is even worse.

At least he didn't point at the Indian dude and say "Hey! Did anyone call a cab ?"