At Spin.com it's reported that Smiths' guitarist Johnny Marr and bassist Andy Rourke were finally on stage together again--that's half the Smiths reunited. One can hold out hope for a full band reunion, can't one? There is a feature In Uncut magazine's January 2006 issue on the 20th anniversary of the release of The Queen Is Dead and Johnny Marr says, when asked the question why wouldn't The Smiths reform:

"There's been an awful lot of very dirty water gone under the bridge, but it is true no one's ever asked us."

So, listen, Johnny, if you're out there, and you're looking for someone to ask, then consider me officially at the grovelling stage. It would make an army of very miserable and moribund thirtysomethings extremely happy (albeit for just a few minutes), and just think of the cash you'd make from souvenir tee-shirts proclaiming "THE SMITHS RISE FROM THE DEAD".
Seriously, though, it does kind of make me feel old to hear that The Queen Is Dead turns twenty this year. TQID was where I first entered the world of The Smiths, and what an introduction it is. However, I am of the camp that believes, contrary to popular opinion, that is is not the definitive Smiths album--that title clearly goes to their final opus, Strangeways, Here We Come. There are some albums in this world that clearly wear the story of their creation on it's sleeve (no pun intended). Like Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, Strangeways is the sound of a band disintegrating right before your very ears. The tension is there right from the opening bars of "A Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours"--is it an act of protest or an artistic statement to not have Johnny play a single guitar on the opening track? All the way through the signs are there: "Death Of A Disco Dancer", "Paint A Vulgar Picture", "Stop Me If You Think That You've Heard This One Before", and then the death-toll that is the beautiful and heartbreaking "I Won't Share You". The album features some of Morrissey's most pointed/obscured lyrics, and by far some of the best vocal performances of his life. With 20/20 hindsight, one might say the writing was on the wall, but Morrissey still insists he didn't know Johnny was planning on leaving. For a band on the verge of breaking up and not knowing it, they certainly created an album which feels like the end was near. Regardless of my pleas earlier, I have often thought that the beauty and power of Strangeways would somehow be diminished if the band ever reformed and recorded something new. The Smiths Are Dead. Let's remember them the way they were. Long Live The Smiths.

You are now here.

I'm making the official switch to the new look of the site today. Over the next little while I'll be updating content, and hopefully making it a more interesting diversion from the demands of your daily existence (and hopefully a better document of mine).

World Meet the Elected. If you know the band Rilo Kiley, then you already know Blake Sennett, frontman for The Elected, in which case you might know that he was previously known for his acting stints on Boy Meets World, Highway To Heaven and others. I didn't know Sennett had another band besides Rilo Kiley until twenty minutes ago, when I checked my e-mail. I have Google News send my Alerts when anything with the words "Rufus Wainwright" gets posted, and today it linked me to Spin Magazine's Band Of The Day site, which was The Elected, which led me to go to the band's site, which features streaming audio for their excellento-fantastico song "Not Going Home" from the album Sun, Sun, Sun, which led to the tears of joy streaming down my cheeks as I listen to it now for the upteenth time; which leads me to picture sun-kissed California beaches and wind-swept hair as tears of sadness streak the face of an impish girly-boy or boyish-girl whose just realized "sometimes you can't go home/sometimes you're already there." Click on the pic, choose the music tab and listen--I'll get the tissues.

Well, that was a fun election--let's do it again in a year and a half, shall we? I won't go on and on, because I'm not a political person, but I do have an opinion. Rex Murphy said on the CBC last night that Canadians have voted intelligently and shrewdly. They have sent a message to the Liberals, and ite message is pretty much "shame on you." But they've also sent a message to the Conservatives, and it's "don't take this for granted, we're keeping an eye on you." The leash is very short, and it's tied tightly to the post; the Conservatives can't wander too far from their yard. Why the dog analogy? Have you seen the new Prime Minister's face?

OK, it's official: iWeb sucks. It's a horrible blogging tool for anyone with any kind of experience at all; it's got crappy themes; it's hideous to customize; iWeb sucks. I can't believe that the day would come when I'd hate an Apple product. RapidWeaver, will you ever forgive me for turning away from you?
So after spending the better part of the morning fighting with iWeb, I went back to my good ol' trusty RapidWeaver, extracted some theme CSS style sheets, and set to figuring out modifications in earnest. Thanks to Matt Kappenman for suggesting I check out Cascading Style Sheets: The Definitive Guide by Eric A. Meyer. It's actually not too hard to modify a theme once you get going. I don't know how good I'd be at building a theme from scratch, but that might be something to try at a later date. ANYWAY, I did take the style sheet for the theme I use for this blog, and started tweaking and pinching and painting and... VOILA!

This is what the site might look like. Any comments?

1. Update on iWeb: My iLife '06 software arrived earlier this week, and though I haven't had a lot of time to sit down and fiddle with it, my official initial reaction to iWeb is: "eh, it's ok." The potential for original web design is there, but it's going to take some effort and time to build and design. I haven't given up hope, but I haven't the freedom to sit and play right now.

2. Welcome to the world, Michaela Perrotta (I hope I spelt her name right!). Lori, Claudio and Mateo, all my love!

3. Arrested Development rocks. I've never sat down to watch it, but am starting with Season 1 now. I love Zip.ca.

4. You should be listening to...
a) White Noise by Alpinestars b) "Chicago" by Sufjan Stevens c) Witching Hour by Ladytron d) anything by Ian McCulloch, especially Candleland.

5. I should really go clean the bathroom. But before I do, I should update the info & FAQ page.

In previous posts (like the last one) i have championed art project's like Calvin Carl's Postage Project, and this morning while listening to Fresh Air on CBC Radio One, I heard about an amazing project/idea being undertaken at the Art Gallery Of Ontario. In Your Face is an exhibit where anyone--and they do mean anyone--can have a 4' x 6' portrait displayed in a gallery. As long as you are the creator of the work, and it is an original piece, your work will be (not may be) included in the exhibit set to open July 1, 2006. I encourage everyone to participate. Now.

Click on the image to link to the Postage Project.

I haven't really been as excited about Hollywood's annual awards season this year as I have been in the past. Tomorrow night is the Golden Globes, and I haven't bothered to look at their site at all until this morning. Here's how my movie viewing of the nominees breaks down this year:
MOVIES SEEN: Brokeback Mountain; Crash
MOVIES NOT SEEN: A History Of Violence; The Constant Gardener; Good Night And Good Luck; Match Point; Mrs. Henderson Presents; Pride & Prejudice; The Producers; The Squid and The Whale; Walk The Line
That's two movies from both Best Picture categories, and all the performance categories. Which is all not to say that I haven't wanted to see any of the movies, nor that I haven't watched any movies this year (with my mail-service DVD rentals I'm seeing more now than ever), but what can you do when all the "best" pictures are released in a 72-hour time period just before the close of eligibility for the awards? I'll let the words of Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) speak for me: "...if you can't fix it you got a stand it."

As Apple is wont to do, this week it announced a whole slew of updates to its product line, introducing the much-hyped iMac computers with new Intel chips, plus a new MacBook Pro laptop with an Intel chip. That's all fine and dandy, and in a few years time when I start getting the itch (who am I kidding? A few years?? I'm scratching like I have poison ivy right now!!) I will definitely do the upgrade. But what has me really excited is the latest version of iLife '06, the creative suite of applications that truly makes the Mac a special thing. iLife still has all the great things about it's previous versions like iMovie HD and GarageBand, but the new version adds something that truly makes my eye gleam--iWeb. As great as RapidWeaver has been for creating this blog and managing it, iWeb now brings a blog/web creation application into iLife, and that is truly a wonderful thing. Manipulating and tweaking of their themes appears to be much easier and more dynamic than it is in RapidWeaver, and I'm all over that. My copy is already on order, and with that I would like to signal the official end to this blog as we know it is on the horizon, and I look forward to launching it soon from its iWeb base. (Man do I ever sound like an ad for Apple. They should put me on the payroll.)

1. It makes you feel old at 32 when someone identifies "It's My Life" as being a No Doubt song and has never heard the Talk Talk original version.

2. Christmas 2005--the day the iPod lost its appeal, and found its way into the homes of millions of pre-teens who can't figure out how to turn it off, or use the playlist feature, or properly spell song titles. But look at me! I've got white bud earphones on!! I'm cool!

3. I'm still too bummed out about #2 to even come up with a #3.

4. Mr. Eko is now officially the coolest character on Lost. Sorry, Charlie.

5. People seem to need to tell others what new year resolutions they've made in an attempt to either: a) elicit false compliments along the lines of "Why would you need to change that? You're perfect!"; b) make others feel self-conscious about their own shortcomings; c) somehow magically make their resolution a reality by telling as many people as they can; or d) justify their reasons for bingeing and indulging over the holidays.

6. I still can't get over this iPod business....

7. I can't help wondering how Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina got its name... anyone out there know?

I've had a chance to check out the site on a couple of diiferent browsers and in different situations, and I wasn't pleased with the way the new design looked on them, so it's back to the original--for now. But there are changes afoot, stay tuned...
Also, I know it's been awhile since I made a "real" post, but never fear, when I find some time, I have LOTS to talk about.

If you've been visiting this site regularly, you may have noticed that the site design is a little different. Any thoughts, comments, suggestions, insults?? Please input. I'm test-driving it, but not 100% sold on it myself yet. Let me know what you think.

1. Rufus was neutered yesterday. When reached for a comment, the cat turned to this reporter and said, "ahhhh nuts!"
2. The Strokes' First Impressions Of Earth is the first album released in 2006 that I have purchased, but it is not the first CD bought in the new year--that title would go to the Brokeback Mountain soundtrack, and Metric's Live It Out.
3. Not really 2006 news, but over the holidays I've watched a slew of Zip.ca movies, including Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, and Sideways. OK, so two movies does not constitute a slew, but I've also watched the 6-hour documentary Broadway: The American Musical which me mammy gived to me for Christmas. I loves you mammy!
4. Shuffling off to Buffalo today, more later, folks!

...kinda looks like the old one to me (ha ha ha--I know, I'm a regular riot!). It seems a little strange offering anonymous wishes to whomever comes across this blog, but in the spirit of the season, I hope you all have a prosperous and joy-filled new year. I've made myself a few resolutions, of which i will speak of one--to maintain and grow this blog. So thanks for helping me keep my new year's resolution, and I look forward to more fun and hilarity in 2006.
Check out the 2005:REVIEW page for the music that rocked me this year.