Author: James McNally

Sleater-Kinney OK!

Sleater-Kinney were better than I expected. The best thing about them was that they sold their own t-shirts. I bought one from the drummer. They sat at their merchandise table and signed CDs and chatted with fans until about 10 minutes before they went on. No rock star posturing for them. It was refreshing. I’m not a huge fan of their music (actually, it’s just the singing that annoys, they sound like a hard rock Go-Go’s), but they were so tight live that I actually enjoyed it more than the shaggy Modest Mouse show the night before.

Evidence wrapped up in the trial today. Tomorrow, we the jury face the closing arguments from 5, count ’em, 5 lawyers. That should take most of the day. On Monday, most probably, the judge will give us his final instructions and we’ll be sequestered until we unanimously decide on a verdict (on each of the 40 counts). Should be a blast…

Things bought recently:

  • Buzzcocks – Operators Manual – This is a great compilation with 25 songs from these Manchester punks. I’ve always been a fan but never owned any of their CDs. I also want to buy more from early Buzzcock Howard Devoto’s band Magazine.
  • This Is Spinal Tap – This brings to 8 the number of DVD movies I now own, without owning a proper DVD player. Sure, I can watch them on my roommate’s computer, but it’s not the same. Couldn’t resist this one. I even have the Voyager CD-ROM with the Quicktime version of the movie…
  • Please Kill Me, The Uncensored Oral History of Punk, by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain – This is a great book, compiled from many many interviews with pioneers of the mostly American punk scene in the 70s. There’s stuff here about the Velvet Underground, MC5, Iggy Pop and the Stooges, New York Dolls, Ramones, Bowie, Dead Boys, Patti Smith, Television, Blondie, almost everyone involved in the birth of the punk movement in the US. If only there were a book like this about the UK scene. Anyone know of one??

Modest Mouse OK!

The show last night was great, but didn’t get home until almost 2 a.m. I was probably about 15 years older than most of the people there, but I tried not to let it bother me. The Shins (and thanks to Jack I got it right even before I got to the show, preventing any embarrassment. No Chins in attendance anywhere) were ok, musically good, but their singer can’t sing. He also chooses to sing at the high end of his limited range for every song. It’s too bad. They had some good songs. 764-HERO were better, their singer reminded me of Bob Mould in his Sugar days. And their drummer is this tiny beautiful woman with short hair. I just stared at her the entire set. Modest Mouse played almost two hours, not surprising for a band whose CDs regularly clock in over 70 minutes. But they did have a tendency to jam a little too long. And parts of the show were more like a sonic assault, with them playing much heavier than they sound on disc. I enjoyed it but was a bit disappointed that a lot of their subtleties and musicianship were lost under a wall of noise. I brought my friend Brent along and was hoping they’d impress him with their quietness as well as their loudness. Isaac (their singer) mentioned that the last time the band were in Toronto, only about 50 people turned up, but this show was sold out, about 500 people. All in all, a good show, but it drove me back to the CDs for reassurance.

You know what I need? I need a US address. There is just so much good stuff available online that just costs me too much to have shipped to Canada. If anyone would be willing to help out, I would reimburse them for shipping the stuff from their home to mine. And if the stuff is re-wrapped, and marked as a “gift,” I don’t have to pay any customs duty. American friends rule!!

Free The Jury

One of the ladies on the jury has a home business making custom printed ribbon and napkins, and she brought in something today to make us laugh (the caption reads “Free the Jury, The Toronto Eleven” because one of our jury was excused on the first day of the trial, for unknown reasons):

And at lunch I went out to one of my favourite little greasy spoon places on Queen Street, where I saw a mouse running along the floor under the lunch counter, and then it ran under my table and back the way it came. Several people saw it, and the waitress just said, “He wants to play.” Not sure if it’s still my favourite place…

Anyhow, off tonight to see Modest Mouse, 764-HERO, and The Chins. Tomorrow night I’m seeing Sleater-Kinney. You’d never believe I was 35 years old, at this rate…

Final Two Films

My final two films of the film festival:

  • Before Night Falls – Directed by artist Julian Schnabel (who also directed Basquiat), this tells the heartbreaking true story of Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas, persecuted, imprisoned, and finally allowed to leave Cuba, only to die of AIDS at the age of 47. Beautifully shot, and lovingly acted, with cameos from Sean Penn and Johnny Depp. Any biographical film that makes me want to run out and find more about the subject is a success. 8/10
  • Comédie de l’innocence – This one was creepy. A child decides one day that his mother is not his real mother, and takes her to an address where he says his real mother lives, a woman who lost her own child in a drowning accident two years earlier. Very Hitchcockian, especially the music, and left a few loose ends (or maybe I just couldn’t make the connections). Excellent underplayed performances, especially by the child, and Isabelle Huppert as his mother. 8/10

Another film festival over. Not that my life will be any less busy for a while. I have concerts on Monday and Tuesday night, a party next Saturday, and another week of jury duty and taking care of my dad’s cats.

Is Jack Saturn OK? His sites haven’t been updated since the end of August, and frankly, I miss him. If anyone knows his whereabouts, please clue me in.

The Presence of Evil

Sometimes it’s the presence of evil in the world that convinces me of God’s existence more than the presence of good. In the October issue of Vanity Fair (the one with Kate Hudson on the cover), there is a story about the conflict in Sierra Leone, accompanied by some incredibly gruesome photographs. When I first saw these images of people raping, killing, decapitating each other, I thought that these humans had been reduced to behaving like animals, and then I realized that animals don’t do this sort of thing to each other. Animals don’t torture, rape, kill. That requires some higher form of consciousness, a soul, if you will. The good here is illumined by its absence. End of rant…

By the way, I really like Vanity Fair. Beneath the celebrity cover, there are always four or five well-researched and well-written pieces, and they’re not afraid to take risks like running the above photos. Even the celebrity pieces are usually less superficial than most.