The Monks - Drugs in my Pocket. I loved that song in the 80's and I still love it today. The youtube can't be the video for it though.

thanks flapjack!
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 6:43 AM on May 22, 2008

With ornate insect's exceptional knowledge of American music history, I imagine he knows that Russ Freeman, Craig Chaquico, Larry Carlton, Brian Culbertson, and others are, in fact, outstanding musicians.

ornate insect, you have an impressive knowledge of jazz. Kudos!

What netbros mentioned above is very true. These smooth jazz people are VERY talented at what they do. Despite how they sound, they are more than proficient... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 10:38 PM on April 20, 2008

Twenty years ago! So, twenty years ago, I was sitting in a bistro in Ottawa's Byward Market (it might have been called Claire De Lune) with a bunch of friends and my new girlfriend. I was young and inexperienced in life and was simply loving being out and about with these wonderful and hip people. The album must have been playing for a while but when Mining For Gold came on, I noticed. Christ, I noticed! And that was it...no more conversation from me. I sat at the table, no doubt with an... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 11:07 PM on March 14, 2008

"What you see is what I got!"

I........I don't know what to say about all of this. What a shameless man.

Thanks for the link Matt?
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 11:37 AM on March 8, 2008

That was great. Would it be weird if I was inspired to start watching Spongebob because of this?

What's weird is that you already don't watch Spongebob. Spongey (as my daughter calls him) is fantastic and I recommend the show to everybody whenever I can.

Casablanca will never be the same.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 11:37 AM on February 12, 2008

christ on a stick! that made me dizzy.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 8:27 PM on February 11, 2008

Hey man, didn't Dylan live in Bethel for a while. Yeah, I think he did.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 8:49 AM on January 9, 2008

I read. A lot. I've read a good many authors on that list. Some of them, such as the ones specifically pointed out, I read voraciously. Now I'll never pretend to be a sophisticated reader, understanding all the finer points, hidden meanings, morals and the raison d'etre for an author's need to write a book, but I do know what I like. Pullman, Rowling and Fleming all wrote books that are easy to read, enjoyable and hard to put down. As did C.S. Lewis, Rushdie, Iain Banks, Moorcock and many... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 7:25 AM on January 7, 2008

Good story. Thanks, moonbiter.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 6:24 PM on December 25, 2007

A true innovator and remarkable composer. It was good knowing that one of the greats was still alive and doing his thing for as long as he did. There are fewer and fewer original great jazz people left.

So long, Oscar. Thanks for leaving us with so much fantastic music. Canada and the rest of the world will mourn.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 11:57 AM on December 24, 2007

cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy was once in a New Wave band called Images in Vogue (big single: Lust for Love (youtube), you might remember the song). Skinny Puppy also made the reputation of Nettwerk, who now specialize in groups like Barenaked Ladies, Sarah Mclaughlan and Avril Lavigne. (Yeah, Nettwerk also has Datarock, Billy Talent, Sum 41 and so on, but nobody matches the extremism of Skinny Puppy.) I also read somewhere but I can't find it now, that Nettwerk was created solely to record and... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 8:34 PM on November 26, 2007

I once watched Mars Attacks while on mushrooms. It took me about six hours to get through it.......I was watching it frame by frame, deliberately. Tim Burton is a genius.

That is all.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 8:00 PM on November 21, 2007

beyootiful! udderly fantastic! I loves me some rube, wonderful, flashy rube. In other words, thanks for the link, twas very cool.

try again, commish.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 8:05 PM on November 5, 2007

yhbc, do you have adblock? If so, you might have the flash overlay thing-y on, or off or something.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 8:17 PM on November 5, 2007

mabye try the google cache?
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 8:19 PM on November 5, 2007

yhbc, that's the problem right there: you need to switch to firefox, years ago.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 8:41 PM on November 5, 2007

Yeah, I've seen some of these, but how I missed Joyce and Heino......... I dunno. I just found out that I'm nowhere near as hip as I thought I was. At least I discovered mc pooh. Now I'm going to clean up my monitor.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 5:29 PM on November 5, 2007

yeah, not mentioning saul williams was pretty stupid. i claim extreme fatigue dulling my thinking processes.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 6:33 AM on October 31, 2007

rats! doubled. delete at will.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 6:35 AM on October 23, 2007

rats! doubled. delete at will.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 6:34 AM on October 23, 2007

“The one rock star that makes me know I’m shit is Polly Harvey. I’m nothing next to the purity that she experiences.” — Courtney Love.

I was just reading a excellent timeline about PJ Harvey over at Exclaim! magazine (the best rock mag in Canada, yo!). I highly recommend it.

And yeah, that Satisfaction cover was pretty fantastic. Bjork amazes me with her talent and ability, not to mention that I think she's damn hot, and... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 9:55 AM on October 7, 2007

In my eyes, jonmc has his finger on the pulse of rock. I find his opinions to be informed and usually right on the button. When I'm looking for a good critique of somebody, I will usually see if jonmc has made a mention of them somewhere.

That said, he's firmly entrenched in the rock of the 60's, 70's and 80's, with a less firm grip on the 90's and an even lesser grip on the 2000's. But I think that comes from being of a certain age, and when it gets right down to it,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 7:49 PM on October 7, 2007

Faze, very interesting comments that gives me much to think about.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 7:18 AM on September 1, 2007

That is some very impressive photography. Thanks for linking to it.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 6:58 AM on August 23, 2007

It's a fine line between what is "real" and what is "fake". I guess it's all about the actual reasons why the so-called bands were formed. The Blues Brothers were formed because they were a skit, to make people laugh. Their success was phenomenal enough to allow them to become "real" for a time.

The same thing goes for Spinal Tap and The Commitments. The original intent was make a movie, not do gigs. It just so happened that they were... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 10:18 PM on August 7, 2007

vanity reading. how pointless.

anyway, i've never seen the site and it looks pretty cool. thanks for the link.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 7:53 AM on July 11, 2007

tzikeh: ashbury - I don't see it as vanity; quite the opposite. I can rec all sorts of good books through librarything to friends and acquaintances, and browse through others' listings to see what they have to say about books I haven't read.

Sure, I can see the value of that, but there's all kinds of resources online that can do that. Most libraries have online resources and links that do this exact thing, without the big splashy covers on... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 11:37 AM on July 11, 2007

Bah, I'll think it's cool when I find some mirrored writing.
.buıʇıɹʍ pǝɹoɹɹıɯ ǝɯos puıɟ ı uǝɥʍ 1ooɔ s,ʇı ʞuıɥʇ 11,ı 'ɥɐq
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 6:40 AM on July 2, 2007

It sounds scary.

It also sounds like an elaborate promotion of a new movie.

I wonder how it all ends?
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 7:59 PM on June 29, 2007

I really enjoyed the credits for Delicatessen. I always enjoyed the Pink Panther opening credits, and so of course Monsters Inc was fun to watch.

I've always payed a lot of attention to the opening credits. Thanks for pointing this site out.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 9:08 PM on June 24, 2007

That's an interesting article but I wish it had more meat. So, kids don't travel around like they used to, and this has a negative effect on them, and...........what?
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 6:38 AM on June 15, 2007

Uh, I don't get it.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 9:07 PM on June 7, 2007

freecycle is the only way to go. I got a beautiful old piano this way.

and what humblepigeon said.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 10:19 AM on May 27, 2007

I just cant stand Bob Geldof and Bono. I cant believe anything they do is done for any other reason than they're own personal promotion.

Neither of them are saints.

This was just another promotional exercise.

Which is better: a rich and famous rock star trying to use his influence to make the world a better place, or a rich and famous rock star who doesn't do anything to make the world a better place?... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 7:40 AM on May 16, 2007

From the comments in the article: This is a wonderful post -- the best I have read. Truly insightful and taking a big risk by going against the conventional wisdom of blaming the family. Mike

Posted by: Mike Asher | April 18, 2007 at 02:48 PM


Is it the conventional wisdom to blame the family? I didn't realize this, and if it is indeed "conventional", it strikes me as being wrong to blame anybody but... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 5:50 PM on April 18, 2007

Telling it straight to the very end...

.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 8:12 PM on April 11, 2007

I don't often find covers of songs to be better than the original, but Gary Jules' version is infinitely superior. I've been listening to it a lot, lately. That said, I didn't find either video to be that impressive. It did bring to mind koyaanisqatsi, though.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 10:50 AM on February 22, 2007

It's not theft if it's any good. It's borrowing and making it better. Many musicians have gone on record as saying that they borrow many aspects of their music from other musicians. How is this any different? Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 11:13 AM on January 22, 2007

Last word!
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 9:00 PM on January 22, 2007

phooky, that was some seriously weird shit. I've never come across the show, but it looks pretty interesting. I hope it wasn't a kids show! Creepy and beautiful indeed.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 8:38 PM on January 22, 2007

For those new to his thoughts, pick up the Illuminus! trilogy. Also check out his online library.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 6:22 PM on January 14, 2007

damn fnords. and i spelled illuminatus wrong. delete away.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 6:23 PM on January 14, 2007

so, uh, how many times has he died over the last two days?
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 6:30 PM on January 14, 2007

This company is too good to be true, never mind the discussion about the merits of solar/wind power. Somewhere, somehow, I suspect that people who go with this company are getting scammed and will lose in the end. And that is a pity.

steven, you have a very convincing argument, but I don't think that solar power should be abandoned. Refined so that it works better with the existing systems, maybe.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 7:42 PM on January 11, 2007

Ya know, what with hollywood stars sleeping around with hookers, their drug and alcohol problems, their strange scientology issues and yada yada, not to mention all the rock stars who do some of the strangest shit around, I have a hard time caring about whether or not he groped her (which he did). OMIGOSH! HARLAN ELLISON TOUCHED HER BREAST!

A tempest in a teapot with absolutely no importance whatsoever to anybody. And besides, isn't this what stars do, be they actors,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 8:32 PM on September 1, 2006

dinsdale, he didn't say "I'll probably be dead anyway so fuck it, party!!!" He said : "I hope to live out a full life before it all goes kablooey." FFF has many times in the past shown that he cares very much about our environment and does what he can to take care of it. No, if he's guilty of anything it's that of a cynical attitude, nothing more.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 6:09 AM on August 2, 2006

This is a serious question: why do I need a database of barcodes? What use is this?

I don't get it. Now somebody educate me, please.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 9:25 PM on July 26, 2006

I like little-known facts and trivia about places. Thanks for the link.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 7:08 AM on July 23, 2006

caddis, you suck.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 5:16 AM on June 21, 2006

Very cool. Thanks wolfdog.
posted to MetaFilter by ashbury at 11:36 AM on June 19, 2006