A list of every concert I've ever been to (so far)

2009

Dean & Britta @ the Vogue Theatre - January 30

Patrick Watson @ Richards on Richards - May 13

Leeroy Stagger and the Sinking Hearts @ Railway Club - May 29

Bat for Lashes w/Other Lives @ Venue - August 25

Grizzly Bear @ The Vogue Theatre - October 14

U2 w/the Black Eyed Peas @ BC Place - October 28

Skinny Puppy @ Rickshaw Theatre - November 3

2008

Autechre @ Richards on Richards - April 8

REM w/Modest Mouse & the National @ Deer Lake Park, Burnaby - May 23

The Cure @ GM Place (Pontiac Bowl) - May 25

Nine Inch Nails @ Pemberton Music Festival, Pemberton - July 25

My Morning Jacket, Buck 65, The Tragically Hip, Black Mountain, The Flaming Lips, Tom Petty @ Pemberton Music Festival, Pemberton - July 26

Matis Yahu, Jay Z, Coldplay @ Pemberton Music Festival, Pemberton - July 27

Radiohead @ Thunderbird Stadium, UBC - August 19

Madonna @ BC Place - October 30

2007

Hallmark, Ladies Night & The Petroleum By-Products @ The Royal Unicorn Cabaret - December 14

Fanshaw w/the Petroleum By-Products & the SSRI's @ The Railway Club - December 4

Final Fantasy w/Great Lake Swimmers & Basia Bulat @ Richards on Richards - October 20

Cinematic Orchestra @ Richards on Richards - September 18

Animal Collective w/Wizard Prison & Eric Copeland @ the Commodore - September 15

Crowded House w/Pete Yorn @ the Malkin Bowl - September 3

Devendra Banhart @ the Commodore - September 1

INXS @ River Rock Casino, Richmond - August 27

Kid Koala w/Kieran Hebden (Four Tet) and Steve Reid @ the Commodore - June 30

Amon Tobin w/Patrick Watson @ the Commodore - June 22

The Police w/Fiction Plane @ GM Place - May 28

Peter Bjorn and John w/Fujiya & Miyagi @ the Commodore - May 13

Patrick Watson w/Dan Mangan @ The Gallery Pub, UBC - March 23

My Generation: A Festival of Power w/Buffy Sainte Marie, Kinnie Starr, Final Fantasy, and Jim Byrnes @ The Centre For Performing Arts - February 17

Gomez w/Ben Kweller @ The Commodore - February 16

Of Montreal w/ DJ Trevor Risk @ Richards on Richards - February 7

Mad Professor w/ Dr. Israel @ The Commodore - January 26

Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton w/ Tall Firs @ The Commodore - January 18

2006

Peretz (Perry Farrell) @ Richards on Richards - March 3

dEUS @ the Red Room - March 23

Ladytron w/ the Presets @ the Commodore - April 25

The Stills @ Richards on Richards - April 26

TV on the Radio w/ Celebration @ the Plaza - May 6

Great Aunt Ida w/ Heartwarmongering @ the Media Club - May 6

I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness w/ the Rogers Sisters @ the Media Club - May 27

INXS w/Scott Statt @ GM Place - June 1

Cat Power @ Richards on Richards - August 28

Final Fantasty w/Bob Wiseman @ the Norm Theatre (UBC) - September 19

Easy Star All Stars w/Outlaw Nation @ Richards on Richards - October 6

Organ Trail, Victoria Victoria, The Choir Practise @ The Railway Club - December 5

They Shoot Horses Don't They? w/Fond of Tigers & Winning @ The Anza Club - December 15

2005

Stars w/Feist & Apostle of Hustle @ The Commodore Ballroom - March 31

U2 w/Kings of Leon @ GM Place - April 28

Thievery Corporation @ the Commodore - May 11

Boom Bip w/The Fog @ the Media Club - June 2

Doves @ the Commodore - June 9

The Digable Planets w/the Crown City Rockers @ the Commodore - June 16

Amon Tobin @ the Commodore - June 25

The Herbalizer w/Fidgital @ the Commodore - June 29

Daniel Lanois @ the Centre - July 2

K-os @ the Malkin Bowl, Stanley Park - July 3

Vancouver Folk Festival @ Jericho Park w/ Sarah Harmer, Veda Hille, Buck 65, and more... - July 16

Turin Brakes w/West Indian Girl @ Richards on Richards - July 28

Keren Ann @ the Media Club - September 4

Prefuse 73 w/Josh Martinez @ Sonar - September 11

Arcade Fire @ the PNE Forum - October 7

Magneta Lane @ the Red Room - October 27

2004

Epoxy Ruin w/Casey & Finnegan @ the Media Club - January 3

Mac Pontiac @ the Main - January 10

Slaveco @ the Brickyard - January 14

The Organ w/La Drama & My Project Blue @ the Brickyard - January 16

The Dirtbombs w/the Gung-ho's & the Sights @ the Commodore - January 22

Ninth Hour w/ This Machine Destroys & Iskra @ the Cobalt - January 30

Gomez w/Rachael Yamagata @ the Commodore - February 4

The Walkmen w/the Countless Jibes & the Decemberists @ Richards on Richards - February 11

The Notwist w/Themselves @ the Commodore - February 12

Chinatown w/the International Playboys & ? @ the Brickyard - February 20

Stars w/Young & Sexy @ Richards on Richards - February 26

Lazarazu @ the Roxy - March 2

Broken Social Scene w/the Stills @ the Commodore - March 3

Pedro the Lion w/P:ano and Ester Drang @ Richards on Richards - March 6

Ima Robot w/Maxeen & Head Automatic featuring Dan the Automator @ Richards on Richards - March 10

The Rumours w/Against the Grain & Low Note @ the Brickyard - March 19

Franz Ferdinand @ Richards on Richards - March 24

The Cooper Temple Clause w/Calla @ Richards on Richards - March 27

Chinatown @ The Capitol Theater, Olympia, Washington - April 3

Chinatown @ Studio 7, Seattle, Washington - April 4

Iron & Wine w/Hollow Paw & Patrick @ Richards on Richards - April 7

The Strokes w/the Raveonettes @ the Plaza of Nations - April 16

Dubble Full Windsor w/Singull Full Windsor @ the Brickhouse - April 17

The Pixies w/Black Mountain @ the Commodore - April 22

Coachella 2004 w/Radiohead, the Pixies, Sparta, the Stills, Junior Senior, Beck, Death Cab for Cutie, Kraftwerk, The International Noise Conspiracy, @ the Indio Polo Field, Indio, California - May 1

Coachella 2004 w/The Cure, the Flaming Lips, Donald Glaude, 2 Many DJ's, Broken Social Scene, Bright Eyes, the Killers, the Cooper Temple Clause, Air, Prefuse 73, Muse, le Tigre @ the Indio Polo Field, Indio, California - May 2

Muse w/The Exit @ the Commodore - May 10

My Morning Jacket w/some dude @ the Commodore - May 13

The Amber Room @ the Picadilly Pub - May 13

The Shins @ The Commodore Ballroom - May 19

Crystal Pistol w/ Nim Vind & Fluffy Star @ The Media Club - June 11

The Stills w/the Von Bondies & Sea Ray @ The Commodore Ballroom - June 15

Shy FX @ the Lotus - July 20

James Lavelle (UNKLE) @ Sonar - July 24

Aimee Mann @ The Commodore - August 24

Evol Hearted, Ken LaTour & Ten Miles Wide @ The Railway Club - September 28

The Philharmonic, Ponderosa & The Mohawk Lodge @ The Railway Club - November 23

Sub Sally @ Casa del Popolo, Montreal, Quebec - December 30

2003

Matthew Good w/the Dears & Todd Kerns @ the Commodore - April 17

Zwan @ the Queen Elizabeth Theatre - April 25

Kinnie Starr (& Kia Kadiri and Coco Love Alcorn) w/Girl Nobody @ Richards on Richards - June 6

The Dears w/Brundlefly @ Sonar - June 26

Swollen Members w/Sweatshop Union & Kyprios @ the Vogue - July 5

Vancouver Folk Fest 2003 @ Jericho Beach - Billy Bragg, Ani diFranco, Michael Franti, Spearhead, Kia Kadiri, Po Girl, etc... - July 19 & 20

Dave Gahan w/Kenna @ the Vogue - August 14

REM (& Thom Yorke) w/Wilco & the Dandy Warhols @ UBC Thunderbird Stadium - August 29

Radiohead (& Michael Stipe) w/Stephen Malkmus & the Jigs @ UBC Thunderbird Stadium - August 30

The Walkmen w/the Secret Three & the Approach @ Richards on Richards - September 18

Billy Talent w/Alexisonfire @ the Croatian Cultural Centre - October 2

Grandaddy w/Elbow & the Starlight Mints @ the Commodore - October 16

Peaches w/Stink Mitt & Electrocute @ Richards on Richards - October 21

Guided by Voices w/Sparrow @ The Drink - October 22

The No-No Spots @ the Brickyard - October 23

The Dears w/Pilate @ the Brickyard - October 29

Spiritualized @ the Commodore - November 9

Mono w/? @ the Brickyard - November 16

Hot Hot Heat w/Metric @ the Croatian Cultural Centre - November 17

Placebo @ the Commodore - November 20

Mando Diao @ the Picadilly Pub - November 29

2002

Casey & Finnegan @ the Railway Club - January 10

Omnisight w/? @ Studebaker's Cabaret - January or February

The Moldy Peaches w/ Daniel Johnston @ Richards on Richards - March 3

Assemblage 23 w/Noxious Emotion @ the Purple Onion - April 3

Arts County Fair @ UBC Thunderbird Stadium w/the Tea Party, Big Wreck, Swollen Members, Baby Blue Soundcrew (& Choclair), the New Deal - April 5

The Widows w/Big Fat Scratch @ Luvafair - April 17

Frontline Assembly w/Landscape Body Machine @ Luvafair - May 11

Pangina @ the Picadilly Pub - June

The Green Room @ Vancouver Jazz Festival (outdoor stage) - July

The Tea Party @ the Orpheum - October 29

Neko Case w/Jim & Jennie and the Pinetops @ the Commodore - November 6

2001

U2 w/PJ Harvey @ GM Place - April 13

Area One @ UBC Thunderbird Stadium w/Moby, the Roots, Rinôçérôse, Outkast, Timo Maas, The Orb, New Order (& Billy Corgan) - August 2

The Strokes w/the Moldy Peaches @ The Commodore - October 14

Ours w/the Complex @ Richards on Richards - November 7

2000

Peter Murphy @ the Commodore - March 5

Travis @ Virgin Megastore - July 13

Misfits w/Ignite @ the Roseland Theater, Portland, Oregon - July 23

Bad Religion w/Guy Smiley & ? @ the Croatian Cultural Centre - October 3

Mimosa @ private party - December

Download @ Sonar - December 17

1998

Econoline Crush, Matthew Good Band, Rusty @ Whistler Village - April

Edgefest '98 @ UBC Thunderbird Stadium w/ The Tea Party, Econoline Crush, Holly McNardland, Sloan, Green Day, Bif Naked, Copyright, Foo Fighters, Creed, Local Rabbits, the Killjoys, Matthew Good Band, the Watchmen - July 11

Bauhaus @ the Queen Elizabeth Theatre - August 15

Depeche Mode w/Stabbing Westward @ the Pacific Coliseum - December 4

1997

Moist w/I Mother Earth & Mudgirl @ Pacific Coliseum - January 20

David Hawkes' Modern Rock Circus @ Plaza of Nations w/ Silverchair, Local H, Handsome, Age of Electric, Mollies Revenge, Huevos Rancheros, Sloan, Matthew Good Band, gob, Pluto, Hanson Brothers, the Super Friends, Green Apple Quickstep, Mystery Machine, Crankshaft - April 11 & 12

Rusty @ Robson Square - New Music West 97 - May 9

Metallica w/Corrosion of Conformity @ GM Place - May 23

Edgefest '97 @ UBC Thunderbird Stadium w/Our Lady Peace, The Tea Party, I Mother Earth, Collective Soul, Silverchair, Finger 11 - August 25

Foo Fighters w/Treble Charger & Talk Show @ UBC Rec Centre - October 29

Moist w/Holly McNarland @ the Orpheum - November 12

The Tea Party w/Econoline Crush @ PNE Forum - November 29

U2 w/Smash Mouth @ BC Place - December 9

1996

Richmond Rockfest w/Sunnyside Down, the Salteens, Gladyss Patches @ Steveston Tennis Court - Feb 3

White Zombie w/Filter @ the Pacific Coliseum - March 15

Oasis w/Limblifter @ the Pacific Coliseum - April 10

Bad Religion w/Dance Hall Crashers @ the Plaza of Nations - May 2

Vans Warped Tour'96 @ the Plaza of Nations w/Meices, Unwritten Law, Goldfinger, Deftones, CIV, Lagwagon, NOFX, Dancehall Crashers, Pennywise, Rocket from the Crypt, Fishbone - July 10

Fox Fest '96 @ the Plaza of Nations w/Matthew Good Band, Limblifter, Starkicker, Sons of Freedom (& Lee Aaron), The Odds, 54-40, Mudgirl, Minority, the Watchmen, Slowburn, Pluto, Rymes With Orange, Bif Naked, the Doughboys, Econoline Crush, the Headstones, the Tea Party, David Gogo, Mahones, Age of Electric, Big Sugar, Colin James - July 20-22

Sex Pistols w/Goldfinger @ Pacific Colliseium - August 31

Soundgarden w/Pond & Rocket From the Crypt @ PNE Forum - December 7

1995

The Tea Party w/Econoline Crush @ The Commodore - August 10

Silverchair w/Pure @ the Commodore - November 28

Our Lady Peace w/Tripping Daisy @ the Commodore - December 3

1994

Pink Floyd @ BC Place - June 26

Rolling Stones w/Spin Doctors @ BC Place - December 18

Moist w/hHead @ the Commodore - December 22

1993

The Great Canadian Party @ UBC Thunderbird Stadium w/Barenaked Ladies, Spirit of the West, Violent Femmes, Sarah McLachlan, Snow, Pursuit of Happiness, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, Moxy Fruvous, Moist - July 1

Generation Gaming

As a child of the 80's, I truly think this is genius:

Overheard on the bus

As paraphrased from my unintentional eavesdropping on a very loud conversation on an otherwise quiet bus to UBC at 7am. Originally written on October 20, 2006.

"Yeah, and like, if I don't get in, like, I can just like, suck it up, and go into arts."

"You know, you don't need to do chemistry this year, you can do it next year."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah."

"Well, you see, I need to do really well in this course because, like, I want to get really high marks, because I really need to get in."

"Yeah, well you know Steven? He's going into medical school because he's super smart, but like, he doesn't want to go, he's like, only going because, like, his parents want him to be a doctor."

"Ugh, I hate that, like, that's totally not fair! If you don't have like, the passion for it, like, you shouldn't be allowed to even get in. I don't care! It's like, sorry! Go do something else!"

"Yeah!"

"Like, you must have people skills for it. And like, I totally have the people skills. But he like, doesn't have the people skills. I told him, 'But you need people skills for that! You don't have people skills!'"

"Yes, you need people skills."

"Yeah, and like, you know, I totally have people skills. And like, I've been talking to my doctor, oh, she's so sweet! She's going to write me a letter saying that she's known me for so many years, and she sees how good I can be. And like, I think I can get my aunt to like, write me a good recommendation. Like, I know it's kind of bad, but she has connections, I think I can get in, because, like, my aunt knows a lot of people, so like, I think she can put in a good word for me. I know it's kind of shifty, but hey, it helps right? She's totally connected. She can say that I'm really good."

"Yeah."

"And like, I'm hoping to get into physiotherapy, even though I don't really like it, but like... I know that sounds really stupid! But like... when I told my dad I was thinking of going to McGill, he said he'd have to take out a second mortgage just to pay for everything!"

"Hahaha... yeah. Well, Spencer just laughs at my student loan. But wait though, isn't McGill French?"

"No, It's English."

"No, it's French!"

"No, it's English. University of Montreal is French."

"No, but McGill's French! It's in MONTREAL!!!"

"Yeah, but it's an English school."

"No way!!!! But it's Quebec!!! Quebec HATES English!"

"Yeah but it's an English school! Have you been to Montreal?"

"Well... yeah! It was on New Year's Eve, and I was wasted!!! It was fun. But isn't that like, the Harvard of Canada?"

"Well, not really."

Smoked Tea Salmon with Baby Bok Choy

For the times when you can't be bothered to smoke your own salmon but you crave the flavour of cedar smoked salmon and you don't feel like splurging at a restaurant, this is the next best thing. What's great is that it takes little effort to make a fantastic smoky-tasting fish. The secret is the lapsang souchong tea - a Chinese smoked tea that smells like campfire. Without this tea, you don't get the instant smoky flavour. In this recipe the serving is for 1, although you can easily adapt it for more people by increasing the size of the salmon and bok choy.

Ingredients:

1 wild sockeye salmon fillet
2 baby bok choy bundles
1 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp dried chili flakes
1/2 tbsp soy sauce
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp loose leaf lapsang souchong tea
fine sea salt
fresh ground pepper

Preparation:

Time in total: 20 minutes

Salmon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place salmon fillet skin-side down on aluminum foil. Sprinkle the salmon with the loose leaf tea and salt/pepper to taste. Wrap up salmon with foil and place in oven for 10-15 minutes or until cooked to your liking. For the last 2 minutes of cooking, unwrap the salmon. When it's cooked to your liking, take it out of the oven. You may wish to remove the majority of the tea leaves off the salmon after cooking, although I found it's unnecessary. The tea leaves add depth to the flavour. They can also have the texture of Japanese nori (which is also a nice compliment to salmon).

Bok choy

Break apart the bok choy leaves. Chop the garlic into large chunks. In a frying pan, heat the oil on medium-high. Once hot, add the boy choy and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes until tender. Turn off heat and add chili flakes and soy sauce to the boy choy. Toss around so bok choy is coated evenly.


Once your bok choy and salmon are ready, place the bok choy on a plate and place the salmon on top, and you're good to go. That's it - a healthy tasty west coast meal in less time than it takes to order a pizza.

New job!

Well, I'm proud to say that I was offered a good job at a software company today. I won't provide many details other to say than I'm quite happy with it and that, now that I don't have to spend so much time on cover letters, resumes, and job searches, I'm going to happily be spending more time on my blog - yay!

Spacetime fun

I do love me some astrophysics once in a blue moon.

Seriously.

I've been fascinated by gravity waves ever since reading Marcia Bartusiak's Einstein's Unfinished Symphony: Listening the Sounds of Spacetime back when I was taking astronomy classes at UBC.

Apparently, so the folks at NewScientist are suggesting, our world may be a giant hologram - read the article!

Get On Your Boots - the new U2 song

I must admit, I actually like the new U2 song, Get On Your Boots. As a former die-hard U2 fan who was obsessed with them all throughout their experimental Achtung Baby and Zooropa era, I was rather disappointed with their last "let's play it safe and be paradies of ourselves" album. But this song? This song almost, almost sounds as if they've rediscovered their experimental sides again. I'm now curious about how the rest of the album will be.

Edit (January 24, 2009): My sister insists U2 are merely trying too hard in this song, using any kind of catchy rock riff in an attempt to sound hip, but are failing miserably. She thinks they're trying too hard to cater to mainstream tastes with this song and she doesn't think U2 are being true to themselves - she doesn't think it would be a song U2 would listen to if they hadn't written it. Meanwhile, I am only seeing this song as a faint beacon that perhaps U2 will begin to push boundaries again, nothing more. I will forever remember Bono, in the early 90's - likely in Japan during the Zooropa tour - talking about the rock records of that decade, confidently declaring that "the records are boring". Keep in mind that this was when U2 were at the height of their musical experimentation which coincided with the peak of grunge. I just hope 16 years later they've rediscovered that side to their music again because I'm tired of being uninspired by the latest U2.


BTW - It just occurred to me that Zooropa is sixteen years old! 16! Wow! Time flies!