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Sparta at the Pacific Colosseum

It’s true that Sparta was opening the show for Alice In Chains and Velvet Revolver last Friday, but I think my mind went in reverse for this show. We caught the first half of Alice in Chains and missed out on all of Velvet Revolver. We got in there just in time for Sparta to take the stage, though.

Ticket and pass to interview Sparta

Actually, RadioZoom was slated to have yet another interview with the band[RZ#118, RZ#130], this time with Keeley and Tony. Sadly, and you can read Rebecca’s post about the whole night, it just didn’t work out. This was night number one of being on this tour with VR, taking them around various parts of North America.

Combine the working out the kinks and a big arena show, it wasn’t the strongest performance I’ve seen from Sparta. Don’t get me wrong, they played really well, and the last few songs all seemed uber tight and rocking. I chalk it up to first show jitters. The quarter full Pacific Colosseum received them very, very well.

As an extra mention, Alice In Chains, believe it or not, were pretty amazing. I was a total, non-believer of them going back out on the road without Layne Staley[wiki]. At the same time, we have to be honest to ourselves and understand that Layne is gone forever, so that this would happen isn’t all too surprising. You can’t expect it to be the same or as good as it ever was, so the show must go on, right?

Rocking the Gorge
Photo credit: Jenya Campbell on Flickr

Well holy crap, was I ever blown away. William DuVall[wiki] actually works. The guy has a voice that fits with Alice In Chains, and stage presence never hurts. Even though he has big shoes to fill, I think he is doing a hell of a job making a mark for himself. When they opened up with Again and then busted into Grind right after that, I looked at Rebecca and asked, “Remember when we were sixteen?” To me, that means something. I wanted to keep hearing them rock out and relive my glory days in the nineties, but I had a job to do.

As a side note, I can also say that I’ve seen Jerry Cantrell[wiki] play. Maybe not one of the biggest guitar gods in the world, but a prominent person, to me, in rock and roll history when it comes to the heyday of the Seattle grunge scene. He’s really skinny, too.

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RadioZoom#139 – Local Concert Series; Vancouver Trivia

Recorded on Monday night, posted Tuesday morning.

Flying blind with a case of the Mondays I just wanted to crank out an episode and play some kickin’ tunes. On top of featuring artists who all have concerts in town this month, I prepared some Vancouver trivia for John in honor of his 2 year ‘Vancouver anniversary’, which is just around the corner.

47:11 minutes
radiozoom.net

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WiFi enabled iPods are here, bonus for podcasters

New iPods

There are still things that could be better with the new iPod Touch, but overall, I can’t complain too much. This is one step closer to what could be really good for the realm of podcasting. Putting wireless internet into an iPod makes getting podcasts that much easier. Grab a coffee in a place with free WiFi and download the latest episode of RadioZoom while you’re there. That way you can listen to some new tunes when your in office listening gets stale.

Not sure about my opinion on the rest of the new gizmos, but it would be nice to replace Rebecca’s ailing iPod Mini. Perhaps with the iPod Touch, she could take mobile blogging to whole new levels. It’s almost like not needing a laptop, but it remains to be seen. Have to say that I’m digging those new nanos as well.

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The Arctic could be ice free by 2030

Regardless if you believe it or not, that’s a scary damn thought. It doesn’t help when you read things like this.

The Arctic ice cap has collapsed at an unprecedented rate this summer and levels of sea ice in the region now stand at record lows, scientists have announced.

Experts say they are “stunned” by the loss of ice, with an area almost twice as big as the UK disappearing in the last week alone.

So much ice has melted this summer that the Northwest passage across the top of Canada is fully navigable, and observers say the Northeast passage along Russia’s Arctic coast could open later this month.

If the increased rate of melting continues, the summertime Arctic could be totally free of ice by 2030.

Mark Serreze, an Arctic specialist at the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre at Colorado University in Denver, said: “It’s amazing. It’s simply fallen off a cliff and we’re still losing ice.”

The Arctic has now lost about a third of its ice since satellite measurements began thirty years ago, and the rate of loss has accelerated sharply since 2002.

Dr Serreze said: “If you asked me a couple of years ago when the Arctic could lose all of its ice then I would have said 2100, or 2070 maybe. But now I think that 2030 is a reasonable estimate. It seems that the Arctic is going to be a very different place within our lifetimes, and certainly within our childrens’ lifetimes.” [guardian]

I say bring on the mass transit and new methods of creating cleaner energy. We need it now. Driving around the lower mainland as much as I have in the past month is proof positive as to how much pollution spews into the air from a few million people crammed into the valley. Forget doom and gloom. Let’s just start breathing some cleaner air.

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A great scene from The Great Dictator

TruthDig passed this on today, and they were pretty spot on when saying that it seems to ring true today just as much as the wanning days of WWII when Charlie Chaplin[wiki] did this talkie. There were numerous films by Chaplin that I’ll forever hold close to my heart, but The Great Dictator[imdb] transcends that which he was so well known for, that bumbling tramp who had crazy, silent adventures.

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RadioZoom#138 – Six Song Donut Spectacular: August 2007

Recorded Thursday and posted on Friday.

I, Rebecca, join John for this late, but ‘better-late-than-never’, episode of RadioZoom as we dedicate #138 to entirely Can-Con.

What’s Can-Con you ask? Well tune right in while we educate the masses about how broadcasters in Canada are required by law to give Canadian artists and Canadian produced music 35% of their airplay. We one-up these regulations and churn out 100% Canadian content and share six awesome tracks.

43:57 minutes
radiozoom.net

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Lost in the matrix

john and his code.
Photo credit: miss604 on Flickr

Just one of those other things that I toil away on. I wish that I could say that I understand more of what I see on this screen, but it’s really a trial by fire situation. This issue, on the other hand, has been a pain in the ass to figure. To put it simply, GD library support on a Apache web server running in the Unix environment can be a nasty thing to deal with.

Yeah, nerdy. Eat me.

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The Crazy Canucks #39 – Live from the jersey unveiling at GM Place

Recorded, edited, and posted today

Rebecca, DaveO, and J.J. snagged some of the free tickets to attend the new jersey unveiling for the Vancouver Canucks. There has been a lot of talk and speculation as to what would appear today, and everyone shares their opinion of what they just witnessed.

Also jammed in the middle is audio from a video that Rebecca shot with her digital camera of the montage that ran just prior to the players skating out onto the ice in the new threads. Apologies for the quality, but you might be able to make it out if you try.

12:18 minutes
The Crazy Canucks

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Finally, the new Canucks jerseys are here

The new RBK jerseys of the Vancouver Canucks
Photo credit: canucks.com

I had to work in Pitt Meadows this morning for the day job, but that wasn’t going to stop me from seeing what I could of the new Canucks jerseys. However, I still missed it by a few minutes. As much as that sucked, you kinda expect these things when it comes to driving anywhere around the lower mainland.

So let’s cover what the jersey is supposed to encompass. There is the “Vancouver” across the top that pays homage to the Vancouver Millionaires[wiki] from ions ago, the first professional hockey team here and the last team to win the Stanley Cup. The orca logo is pretty much what we’ve had for the last ten years, but with a minor tweak in terms of colors. The stick-in-rink (my preferred, overall logo concept) gets to be a patch on the shoulder, much like the last set of jerseys with the whale. And of course, the colors are a throw back to the original jerseys from when the Canucks joined the NHL in 1970[wiki].

on sale...soon
Photo credit: miss604 on Flickr

That being said, I’m not in awe of what I see. I like it, but I’m not in love with it. It’s pretty cool in some respects, but Rebecca said it well when she mentioned it being a fairly busy design.

Now, it could be much, much worse. I’ve spent most of the morning hearing people complain about the amount of jerseys and logos the Canucks have. It might be true that in the history of the team, it’s changed a fair number of times. But did the organization go Buffaslug on us? No, and that makes me thankful. It’s nothing extremely new, but there is certainly nothing here that makes me say “holy crap!” like I did about Buffalo, or even Nashville for that matter.

how do YOU feel?
Photo credit: miss604 on Flickr

I can handle it, and the colors make me love the jersey more than the logo. Let’s face it, the last jersey was very red, white, and blue. These colors not only fall back on the original scheme of the team, but they give stronger roots to B.C., at least to me. The previous jerseys had a more American look to them, and what have they ever done for the good of the game?

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Blog find: NHL Tournament of Logos

NHL Tournament of Logos With the new RBK jerseys being launched all around the NHL for this coming season, there is a lot stirring in terms of discussions about team logos. Enter the NHL Tournament of Logos.

I’ve been pretty fascinated with the material they have been covering about the entire league, and the tournament over who has the best logo in the league is entertaining. I love how the site has been as nearly mesmerized over the coming Canucks new jersey and/or logo, whatever the hell it’s going to be, as the rest of us fans have become. It’s also opened my eyes to what the rest of the league has been toying with, not to mention fan concepts.

Watch for more teams to unveil their new looks over the coming month, and this site will help you keep tabs on it..