Tuesday, November 20, 2012

YYC Adventures: Chili Peppers and Rebirth BB


Last night I experienced my second time ever witnessing a live performance of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. For my birthday which was last week my dad got tickets so that the two of us could go and see the band. My father and I went to go see the peppers together about six years ago while they were touring for their album Stadium Arcadium. 



Last time when we saw them they mostly played songs of their then album and with so many hits it was a bit of a disappointment. So I was hoping that with their new guitarist that they would play all of the hits that we have all come to know and love. The Red Hot Chili Peppers has always been one of my favorite bands mostly because they are one of the few bands where the base guitarist is better than the guitarist.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are such a strange kind of band that finding a band to open for them is a bit of a challenge. This is mostly because the band itself breaks a lot of boundaries within the genre of Rock, combining the likes of Hip Hop, Jazz and Rock into a new entity. Back in 2006 when they came through Calgary the band that opened for them was “The Mars Volta Project” and experimental metal group. With all of that in mind I was very interested to see who would open up for them this time around.

The Band that wound up opening for the legendary Chili Peppers was a band called Rebirth Brass Band. It is a large brass style ensemble that has a sound that reminds me of what you should expect to hear when you go to Madre Gras. I think these guys would bring the house down in a smaller venue where there was room for some good old fashioned swing dancing.

Check them out


The Peppers brought a lot of enthusiasm to the stage and proved that even after 30 years they still got it. As always flea astounded the audience with his fantastic skill of slapping the base, I cannot think of anyone who can do it better. Every song was led into with an impressive instrumental interlude that showed of the skills of the drummer and flea.

The one down side to this show was even though they seem to have astounding light technicians and a well timed video to go along with everything, they left no room for audience interaction. One thing that I enjoy when going to a live show is how the performers interact with their audience. This is one attribute of showmanship that I found to be distinctly lacking with the Red Hot Chili Peppers show.

However with that being said they put on a fantastic show and there is a reason that I will always consider this band in my top five bands of all time. I hope to see them again in my life time if they are still touring, hopefully they don’t go the way of Mic Jager and the Rolling Stones.

Sincerely Urban Yeti

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Geekdom Crossover: Star Wars Princesses


I am sorry that I have not been posting as frequently as I had promised that I would this last little while. Life has become significantly more involved than it has been before with the purchase of a house and my job becoming busier I am not finding the time to write as much as I would like. Here is a quick post just to prove that even with all the new found stress I am still thinking about this blog and it has not been forgotten. Part of the problem lies in the fact that I have packed up two of my home computers and am now down to being only able to use my Wifey’s laptop.

For those who have spent the last few weeks living under a rock of some sort, the big thing in geek news is that Disney bought Lucas Films. This means that the famous Mickey Ears now encompass the sci-fi film master piece of Star Wars. With the new purchase Disney also announced plans for a new sequel trilogy that is set to take place after episode 6.

This new confirmation of the long talked about sequels brings mixed emotions in the geek community. For starters after the abomination that appeared in the first movies by the name of Jar Jar Binks, fans are worried that the franchise may decline further. Between Jar Jar and the annoying character from the new clone wars series by the name of Asoka, both of whom are characters created to make kids connect with the franchise, we can only hypothesize how Disney will do on this front.

On that front however the internet is abuzz with images combining the two universes of the colourful Disney characters with the more adult characters of Star Wars. One idea that most people have seemed to latch on to is that with this there is now a new Disney Princess. It seems that the strong willed and rebel leader, Princess Leia, has joined the ranks of Arial, Snow White, Belle and Cinderella.

The Princesses have received her into the fold quite well, or at least as according to this user made musical. It seems to me like the princesses are going to have their hands full making this strong female icon into a dainty princess.


There also seems to be tons of fan art about this new princess that is making its way out of the woodwork. Since the announcement it seems like the internet has exploded with fans who are showing how they like the idea of a new Disney princess.



  
 Well that is all for now and I apologize for my absence as of lately, hopefully after I am moved in I will be able to post more. Also once I get settled into my new digs I will have the space needed to work on some of the projects that I have been holding off on. 

Sincerely Urban Yeti

Monday, November 5, 2012

Adventures: Star Wars Identities and a bad Hotel


Today I have quite an interesting story for you about what happened to Wifey and I over the weekend. For those of you who keep track of my stories on this blog you will realize that for our wedding I gave my Wifey a gift of a planned weekend away. See she is a massive Star Wars fan and I found out about an exhibit that was going to be in Edmonton and I planned a trip for just the two of us to go there.

We drove straight from our house there and arrived to the Star Wars Identities exhibit a little earlier than we had planned. This was one of those events we went to with very little knowledge about what we should expect. Neither of us had really done any research into exactly what this exhibit would actually be about.

It was a really astounding exhibit that displayed things like the actual movie props and some of the concept art for the characters. In my opinion the best element about the whole exhibit was that it was an interactive experience. See the whole thing is designed to explain how people interact psychologically due to a whole bunch of different aspects and this is achieved by showing us through the character development of both Luke Skywalker and his father Anikin.












At the beginning they give you a headset that is attached to a radio receiver which hangs around your neck and they give you a rubber bracelet. Each of the items has its own function, the receiver picks up signals in designated areas that explain things. The Bracelets were to be held against different terminals throughout the exhibit and these terminals would help you to make a Star Wars Character all of your own.


Wifey and my characters


After the Star Wars Exhibit we spent our afternoon shopping at the expansive West Edmonton Mall.  This was the first time in a long time where we have been able to spend quality time just the two of us doing something fun. We got to complete some of our Christmas shopping and Wifey bought me some early birthday presents. I know what they are already but I won’t get them until my actual birthday which is ok by me because I know exactly where I will put them in our new house.

The trip to see the exhibit was amazing and went off pretty much without a hitch, I say pretty much because there was one really large problem. I made a massive blunder that if my Wifey wasn’t so wonderful would leave me sleeping on the couch for months to come. Before this trip Wifey was responsible for having booked the worst hotel room we had ever stayed in but the one I booked blew that one out of the water.

This is a series of progressively worse events that would lead to being the worst hotel we have ever stayed at. First thing I noticed when we arrived was how sketchy the neighborhood was, on either side of the hotel there was a loan store. To this all I can say is red flags went up and I knew at that point I would not sleep well at all that night for fear of our car getting stolen.

That would be the first problem we would encounter with the hotel and would by no means be the last. The next red flag that went up was that while we were checking in we were required to put down a 50 dollar cash deposit that we would get back at check out. That was a little fishy and worrisome, then came the first bad news that the elevator was broken and we would have to take the stairs.

After climbing three stories and arriving at our room we were shocked by what we found when we opened the door. The bed unmade, garbage left everywhere and what appeared to be items of the people who were staying in this room. Wifey was less than impressed and channeled her inner black lady with a finger wag and a “AW HELL NO” then proceded to storm downstairs.

The lady at the desk was more than apologetic and proceeded to get us another room while telling us all about how unreliable of the cleaning staff is. Here is a tip never tell the customer that your hotel cleaners suck that just makes us very aware that no matter what we may be in trouble. So with a new room key card in hand we trudged back up the stair case to the new room we were to be staying in.

We get to the room and though it is not perfect, nowhere near in fact, we decide we will try to make the best of it. A couple notes about the “new and better” room, first there was graffiti on the walls, the bath tub was unclean and there were multiple places where gum had been ground into the carpet, So much for the cleaning staff. Second off it was an adjoining room but the deadbolt was located in the next room, also the chain lock on the main door had been kicked in and was missing the chain, way to make me feel like I was going to get killed in the middle of the night.

So making the best of a bad situation Wifey and I decided that we were going to sleep on top of the covers to avoid any unwanted STDs lucking in the sheets. I was well aware by this point that I was not going to get a wink of sleep and was prepared for a long night of stating at the light encircling the door.

Just as the both of us had settled down for a long restless night the phone rings across the room. I stumbled through the darkness to find the noisy offender and when I finally get there I pick up the receiver. A voice on the other end of the line informs me “in half an hour the water will be shut off for the night” *click* I did not say a word into the phone and just put it back into its cradle, Wifey rolls over and ask me what is up.

I repeat the newly acquired information from the phone to her and after a moment of silence with us staring at each other she replies “Fuck it we are leaving”. So I let my angry Wifey deal with the crazy receptionist to get our money back and then we leave.

We laughed about it for most of the three hour drive home, it is almost ridiculous to think about it but that is honestly what happened. I snapped a quick picture of the graffiti on the wall before we left but the picture did not turn out as well as I had hoped.


I recommend never staying at a Howard Johnson hotel ever after this terrible experience.

Sincerely Urban Yeti