theMediaman.com

Quick note - I bought an All-in-Wonder in 1996 and ran it on a Pentium 166 with 64 MB of RAM and 3 GB of hard drive space. It worked beautifully. The software for my new All-in-Wonder 9600XT runs on a computer 10x faster, 8x more RAM, and 50x more hard drive space, but takes forever and a day run, change channels, or record video. When I tried to upgrade the software, the old version uninstall eff’ed up and now I can’t get it to run at all.

Gonna have to take this up with ATIGina when I see her next!

Simone and I did indeed attend the Live 8 concert in Barrie on Saturday. We arrived after Tom Cochrane and Sam Roberts took the stage and Bryan Adams was just starting. We found a pretty good spot off to one side and about 1/3 of the way back from the stage. Tom Cochrane opened, but we could hear “Life is a Highway” from the lineup into the park. I really don’t think I could name another one of his songs, so being there would be lost on me anyways.

Sam Roberts was up next. His music is okay, but I still haven’t forgiven him for his display of schoolyard wit during “The Greatest Canadian” CBC special.

Bryan Adams did one or two songs, then the screen went to Philidelphia where Wil Smith gave his speech. The whole day was filled with 15-minute sets, interspersed with guilt-ads and live feed from other venues that were performing at the same time.

Awesome to see, Pink Floyd.

Unnecessary, Mariah Carey.

Much of the rest of the day was a blur, as we went through artists like Simple Plan, Jann Arden, and Tegan and Sara, as well as groups whose music I might actually be interested in.

I was pretty excited to see Barenaked Ladies, Jet, The Tragically Hip (featuring Dan Ackroyd) and even Our Lady Peace. There were a couple of bands I’m glad I got to see, mostly because I’d never pay the fifty bucks for concert tickets, but are worth seeing once live. That group includes Motley Crue, DMC, The Bachman Cummings Band, Blue Rodeo (altho’ their tix are usually pretty cheap), Great Big Sea (ditto) and even Deep Purple, who were even more entertaining than Motley Crue.

While it’s not my music, I was also filled with Canadian pride for the opportunity to see Bruce Cockburn and Gordon Lightfoot perform.

There was a French New Rock band named “Les Trois Accords” that were pretty good. The lead singer looked a bit like the guy who plays Pippen in LotR. The only problem with their stage presence was that all guys with guitars were doing “Power Stances”. You can’t have more than one “coolest” guitar player. Draw straws, flip a coin, or just take turns. Note that U2 has “The Edge” while the other two guys are just named “Adam” and “Larry”. Their sound wasn’t the freshest thing out there, but it was better than most crap on the charts today. If I could understand anything they were saying (they really ARE a French band) then I might buy their album… altho’ that didn’t stop me from buying Static X.

Lamest moment, Great Big Sea leaving the stage after only two songs.

Funniest moment, immediately afterwards when Dan Ackroyd and Tom Green introduced Celine Dion to 35,000 ‘boo’s.

Celine’s live feed from Las Vegas started off looking like a joke, as she was using jerky, “chest-thumping” over exageration in all of her movements during her speech at the beginning. At first I honestly thought she was making fun of herself in an Air Farce/Luba Goy sort of way… I quickly realized that she really was that over-the-top. What a weirdo.

There were a couple of African-style musicians there, which was interesting to witness, but again, World Music has never held much interest for an unsophisticated music lover like me.

Before Niel Young closed the night, Tom Green - upon prodding from the audience - said “Check The O.R.” referencing his hit single he released with Organized Rhyme. Roars from the educated of the crowd (myself included), but by no means from everyone. A fun little inside-joke that I was able to be a part of.

We saw the live broadcast from London High Park of Sir Paul McCartney’s “Hey Jude” (Hey, surprise!) before Neil Young came on and finished off the Canadian show with “Keep On Rockin’ In The Free World” ten-minute rendition. Finally, we all sung
“Oh! Canada”.

Simone and I walked to the Sushi restaurant about 15 minutes away. From there we walked all the way back home. One hell of a long walk, but I got to show her a number of landmarks and attach a few memory Post-its to them. I’m glad I got the chance, because it’ll probably be the last one before my last tie to Barrie is severed at the end of August.