An Inconvenient Truth

I had the opportunity last night to go see Al Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth" about climate change. This is a must see. It is no slapstick doc like "Fahrenheit 911" or "Supersize Me", rather it presented information about climate change in a clear way and explaned things that I had no idea were actually happening or could actually happen in the near future (like Greenland breaking up and melting in the next 50 years).

Here is my political rant for the day. It is such a tragedy that Al Gore lost the presidency the way he did to George Bush. Go see this film. Here's the link.

An Inconvenient Truth - Climate Crisis

Looks like we have a plan!

Hey,

Just talked to Woods about this weekend. It looks like he has some appreciation soiree on Friday where he will be roasted and given a gold watch as part of his depature from his current employment, so he won't be coming over until Saturday. I am just going to be lounging on the deck all day, so come on over anytime on Saturday. Give me a call when you're getting close, so I can get out of my tanning Speedo and put on some real clothes.

See you Saturday. Slip, don't forget the meat!

Video Game Poll

Seeing as how there has been a bunch of new info released on the 3 main video game consoles over the last month, I thought I would throw this poll out there. I added an option for a 360 and a Wii since you could probably get both for the price of the PS3. Whaddya think?

Funny Photoshopping

Fellas,

Thought this was reeeeeeally funny. Its a photoshop contest on how video games are perceived by grandmas. Check it out: Video Games According to Grandma.

On another note, I just wanted to point out that Wooderson's post below with the Mod Club video was #300 for the Moon Tower! W00T!

Mod Club Video

Near-DVD quality video of about half of the Mod Club Ben concert. Worth a watch...

Woods.

http://entertainment1.sympatico.msn.ca/Music/Artists/Articles/benharper

(Dubby - I think you might need a PC to view ?)

WWF on The Apprentice

If you watching and want to keep all aspects of the finale of The Apprentice a surprise, then stop reading, but if you want a little insider info on the show then here it is...

The finale involves the World Wildlife Fund and The Barenaked Ladies. The VP of Communications for WWF Canada, who will probably be on the show, works at the Toronto office.

And nothing close to Woods Ben Harper encounter, but I had the chance last week to attend a WWF organic food event where Steven Page was speaking on behalf of WWF. But in hind sight, my most memorable celebrity encounter will still always be filling up at a gas station along the 401 between Toronto and Kingston last Christmas across from a sunglasses/hoodie clad Gord Downie. Don't fuck with the 401!

Songs We Sing

Check out Matt Costa's "Songs We Sing".
Enjoy...

When are we getting together ??? What do you guys have on Saturday June 3rd?

NEWZ from London...

Gents - News from London. Gave my 2-weeks at Protek on Friday. Im off to Anixter...yes the same Anixter that spurned me but a month ago. That was screamin' up on 3 years in the same job for me. Toooo long. Looking forward to the new challenges that lie ahead.
Lets talk soon.
C.

(Heard of "Wolfmother" ? Not bad. New-ish Black Sabbath meets Zeppelin...)

Lotion & Tissue

Two things you DON'T want to find under your male colleague's desk...

What Celebrities Do You Look Like?

I uploaded my ugly mug to myheritage.com, and apparently, my closest matches are (in order):

John F. Kennedy

Viktor Yushchenko - didn't this guy go all pock-marked due to KGB poisoning?

Russell Crowe

Julio Iglesias - I am most proud of this one

James Garner - my namesake (Brett Maverick)

Joe Pesci

Pierce Brosnan

Go figure.

A Swarm of Angels

I came across this project last week and found it very interesting, I even signed up. There are already several amazing people involved including Cory Doctorow (BoingBoing) and Tommy Pallotta (Waking Life, A Scanner Very Darkly). Check out the info and link below.

Want to Remix Cinema?

You can help invent the future of film by joining the Swarm in creating a £1 million pound film and giving it away to over one million people in one year.

By using the Internet as a medium to fund, help make and distribute this film A Swarm of Angels wants to remix cinema.

A Swarm of Angels is a new way to create cult media. The project is a giant new media experiment to gather 50,000 people paying £25 each to create a new type of movie.

This feature film and associated original media embraces the flexible digital-age copyright of Creative Commons, because we want people to freely download, share, and remix the original media made for this project.

A Swarm of Angles

This guy ROX0R$!

At first, I thought someone caught Colin on tape, dancing up a storm in Vegas...

Viva Las Vegas !!!

I'm off to Vegas this Saturday for the Perritt-McCall Wedding. Going to be RIDICULOUS ! Can't wait. I'll be back NEXT Wednesday, and we will HAVE TO CHAT, big news from London pending !
C-money.

(Edit - No. I have no affiliation with The FRIEDMAN Archives)

In Your Face

Slip, since you have your creative hat on, I thought you would be interested in the "In Your Face" project at the AGO. It is an open call to send a 4 x 6 portrait to the gallery (by June 1) and they will add it to the collection. On July 1 they exhibit will open and it is anticipated that it will be the world's largest collection of portraiture art ever assembled.

For more info go to the AGO website

Gabacha Palabrotas

I was invited by a Mexican font collective (called Tiypo) to take their most recent dingbat font which came together as a collaboration of several Mexican graphic designers. Each desginer created a graphic that reminded them of Mexico. Animators were then asked to take the font and create an animation that was tied to the theme of 'Mexico'. I decided to search the internet for slang that was exclusive to the Spanish spoke in Mexico. I used bits and pieces of the dingbats to create characters, threw together a pumping music track, animated my characters dancing to the beat and delivering the slang which was clumisly strung together by yours truly, a non-Spanish speaking animator from Canada! The title of the animation is "Gabacha Palabrotas" which is clumsy Mexican slang meaning "Foreigner's Big Words"

You can check it out here:
Gabacha Palabrotas - Quicktime

Slippy Photos

Yo. Decided that with all the internet trollers and strange individuals online, we would take down our family photo blogs (e.g. the one of Will), and instead put it up in a photo gallery that had a little more security.

Youze guyz are more than welcome to join and see photos. You can even add your own if you feel so inclined (no nudies, dubby, please, although pics with REALLY long sausages are acceptable), as I have some excess server space right now.

Here's the link! http://www.toggle.ca/gallery/

Check you later!

Hobos (Part 2)

Wormy Gleen and Nootka the Flatworm
Originally uploaded by Slippy McGavin.

Following in Dubby Hornblower's footsteps, I added a hobo of my own tonight... #640 - Wormy Gleen and Nootka the Flatworm.

Although always a big hit at boxcar parties, Wormy Gleen and Nootka's shapeshifting abilities often scared the hobo children.

Sketches, Snapshots and Scribbles form Mexico

I've posted some of my sketches and photos from my trip to Mexico. Take a peak...

Sketches, Snapshots and Scribbles fro Mexico

Picture in a Frame

No Burritos? NOO!!!!

You've probably heard about the immigration debate going on currently in the US. I thought this guy summed it all up with his sign.

El Mariachi

El Mariachi! Snapped this photo of some tough looking Mariachi ready to play some fuckin' Mariachi tunes! This was at Agua Azul waterfalls, just down the road from the Miso Hal waterfalls (where they shot Predator).

Toronto

Was on a boat cruise last night, so I thought I would share a photo. Took it with my Treo - I am actually pretty impressed with the quality I am getting out of it, with minimal manipulation in the 'pooter. Too bad it is only 640x480 max...

E-HOBO

Remember when I did the illustration of the hobo a while back, well there was some junk about Flickr not allowing illustrations, only photos, so some guys set up a group for the hobo images, now there is a website. My hobo is #400

E-Hobo.com

The Simpsons

I thought this was well done...

Hola from Mexico!

Greetings from Oaxaca!

We are making our way through Mexico. It seems like ages ago that we flew out of Buffalo. We hooked up with my pal Mario (from Habitat) for a few day in Mexico City. He has a wicked pad in the hills where we chilled out and dashed in a out of the city to take in some of the sights.

From the city, we flew to Villahamosa and checked out the giant Olmec Heads. I did a paper on these ancient sculputres back at Western. We zipped deeper into Chiapas and visited the Mayan ruins in the jungles of Palenque. Spent a few days over Easter in San Cristobal de las Casas in the highlands. On Good Friday the people of the city took the streets and acted out the stations of the cross and the crucificion of Christ for all to see. It was surreal.

We are now in Oaxaca City wandering, eating and drinking the mezcal! We are heading back to Mexico City tomorrow to hook up with my friend Nacho´s parents, then with good luck we are going to catch a night of 'Lucha Libre' - Mexican wrestling!

Can't wait to see you guys and catch up! Adios amigos!

Ben Tix Secure

Kids - Got 6 tickets - Section 201 - its to the right of the stage, and I dont know actual seat #s yet, but we DO have tickets. One group of 4 (Colin, Brett, Warren and Sarah) and a group of 2 (Christa and Aaron).

Hopefully Saturday September 2nd is a nice day, as the doors open at 3, and Im pretty pumped about the opening acts - Bendouin Soundclash and Damian Marley.

Cant wait !

C.

Interesting Gaming Theories

Interesting top 10 list...

Guess where I am!

In an attempt to start blogging from unusual locations, I bring you my first post. While I highly doubt that I am the first to blog from here, it is a first for me. Thanks to my trusty Treo 650 for providing the capability to do this.

Guess where I am!

Magical Night at the Mod Club Pt. I

Life is complete...I met Benjamin Chase Harper.
Took a chance and went down to the Mod Club yesterday afternoon after a somewhat shady email transaction to secure a ticket.
Lets just say it was a good chance.

Ridiculous. I could write a book on the events of April 10th...let alone a Blog post. Magical...incredible, unbeleivable. Not enough superlatives. I know I love my Ben, but he is amazing. About 530PM, waiting in-line with the typical menagerie of 12-15 Ben fans one might expect, a white van pulled up to the front of the club, it was immediatly obvious that Ben was inside. He poured out of the van, and walked right up to us, as the group I was with had been at a similar show in Montreal the night before.
Talk about humble. He was just a normal dude ! Not that I expected him to hover off the ground or anything, but MAN was he cool. Trying to remember peoples names as he met them...listening to every word his fans had to say, just as they listened to his music. Can you imagine me ? I was in total awe. One of the Benharper.net icons was there and chatted with Ben like they were best buddies. Pictures were taken...posters were signed, and handshakes were exchanged. Needless to say, I was in my glory (and quite honestly, am going to be for a while). I would not have needed to fork-over my cash for the ticket, as Ben was quite willing to add ANYONE to the guest list. A couple of guys who had just shown up in hopes of getting in- were in, just like that - no questions asked.
Remember..in my little story, Im still in-line OUTSIDE the bar !!!! It only gets better. I met some cool people in line though, and had a great afternoon alst while buzzing like crazy after meeting THE MAN.

Magical Night at the Mod Club Pt. 2

...not sure if you have ever stepped foot in the Mod Club when its primed for a concert, but if not, imagine yourself stepping foot into a Quentin Tarantino movie (kind of Kill Bill meets From Dusk til Dawn?). Amazing joint...Ben aside the environment alone was verging on surreal. Red, and orange lights cast over everything. Two 'Both Sides Bullseyes beeming across the room, and on the stage with a light mist wafting over them...two chairs and mike-stands sitting idle on the stage. Deep purple lights fill the stage area...



The 45 minute wait was long, but only helped stir the antcipation ! We were AT THE STAGE. Christa was LEANING on the stage, Aaron and i perched close behind with a direct line of site at the stage ! (Also a PERFECT spot for the Creative Labs Nomad to record might I add).
Heres the quick version of what transpired. Imagine a FULL BLOWN Ben concert...with only two members performing...with ONLY acoustic guitars ! It hits you JUST THE SAME WAY. Bone chilling in fact. Deafining clarity like you have NEVER heard before, especially from acoustics. Mind you, I was standing beside a speaker tower probably 15 ft high ???
Setlist as follows -
(Played about 2Hours - Most acoustic sets he does are an hour - hour and a half. Not sure what it is about Toronto, but he LOVES to play there)


Power of the Gospel - Amazing. He screws up the guitar at the beginning and starts over - gets a good chuckle - very apologetic.
Another Lonely Day - Man...Ben can WORK an acoustic. Litterally BENDING the guitar as he plays it.
Walk Away - A classic. Well done.
BADASS Instrumental (called "Walk Alone" on the setlist) - CRAZY BLUESY DOBRO. Cant quite describe this, but Ben at his "guitarical" best !

11th Commandment/Well Well Well - Sweet sweet guitar....
Please Don't Talk About Murder - Michael joins Ben for their first song together. Again...amazing to me this song was played with ACOUSTIC guitars. Shivers.
Reason to Mourn - One of my new favourties. Very Cat Stevens to me.
Picture in a Frame - I maintain...the new Amen Omen, might be slightly more amazing with the Band, but still acoustic genius.
Crying Won't Help You Now - Beautiful, heartfelt song.
Engraved Invitation - One of the high points for me. Ben screams chill me to my core. We are so close, we can litterally see spittle fly out of his mouth as he rocks the chair back on two legs, SCREAMING at the TOP of his lungs. Deafening.
Never Leave Lonely Alone - Another new one...takes some growing, but outstanding nonetheless.
Morning Yearning - Didnt think acoustic guitars could sound like that. For the "new" Criminal, Micheal is OK with me...
Gather Round the Stone - Ben chats with the crowd here. About his love for Toronto...his love for all the STYLE in Toronto.
Please Bleed - Words cant quite describe. This is something Ive ALWAYS wanted to hear acoustic, and it did NOT dissapoint. Not sure what was better - Bens vocals, or Micheals guitars.
Waiting for You
There Will Be a Light
Where Could I Go

Encore:

In the Lord's Arms - SOOO Rare. Beatiful.
The Drugs Don't Work - A request made by Neil - the guy who hooked me up with the ticket. Ben never plays it. It was awesome.
Forever - Classic. Purple lights.
Diamonds on the Inside - Another "new classic". Done slightly slower than normal, but equally as impressive.
Glory & Consequence >>> Indifference!!!!! >>> Glory & Consequence - We could see Ben trying to coax Michael into Amen Omen at the crowds urging, instead we were BLESSED with this. CMon are you KIDDING ME. Starts with a CRAZY version of G&C...blends into a funky parlay on which I had no idea where it would end up, and next thing I know they are into Indifference by Pearl Jam. At this point in the night Ben should NOT have had a voice, yet its HERE where he unleashes the most chlling VOCALS of the night. As per the vocals, he litterally SCREAMS HIS LUNGS OUT !


2 Hours of absolute bliss. Im SORRY you guys could not be there as it was INCREDIBLE. Im not teasing you here or bragging...I want to SHARE this with you guys !!!

Rumour had it, right from the horses mouth that after the show, Ben was going to hit the Revival for Open Mike...a bunch of concert go-ers headed over, but sadly after waiting over a few beers, we gave up. Oh well !!!! I was exhausted as it was. Sorry for the long post - their still may be a Part III.

Part III.

South of the Border, Down Mexico Way

Gents,

I leave for my trip to Mexico tomorrow. We are flying out of Buffalo, checking in with my friend Mario for few days in Mexico City, then we fly south to visit the Mayan ruins of Palanque. We are planning on spending Easter in San Cristobal, and from there we are hoping to hit the beaches, visit Oaxaca City and return for a couple more days in Mexico City.

I'll try to post a few times while I am away. Have a great April and I'll chat with you lads when I get back.

My Xbox goes down!

It's not quite known right now what the damage is, but apparently, a youngster living in my house (who will go unnamed until proven guilty), inserted a wary twist-tie into the Xbox this morning, rendering the disk device inoperable. I am anticipating some surgery this evening to attempt to resurrect said device, but my hopes aren't high. It does, however, still play the games on the hard drive.

This might be the push that sends me over to Xbox 360... The Xbox is dead! Long live the Xbox! Microsoft, why couldn't you make a gaming console that would withstand the curiosity of a 2-year old???

Mini.ca

Dudes,

Have you seen the mini.ca website lately? I guarantee that you will get a few teehees and maybe even a giggle or two out of it. You'll know where to click!!! (Where it says, "click here")

Big Move & Happy Birthday! [UPDATED]

Boyz,

First of all, Happy Birthday to the both of you. I spoke to the Wood on Wednesday, but here's my shout-out to Dubs for a happy b-day and a great St. Patty's Day.

Some other news: After much contemplation, I have decided to stop working for "the man" and start working for "the MAN"! I am tendering my resignation today, and starting up Toggle Consulting Inc. (pending a successful name search, although MoonTower Consulting is a back-up!!). Its something I have been wanting to do for a very long time, and the timing is now right. My first job is already lined up - I am about to become "chocolate guy" again. Obviously, this has benefits for all of us, except for my girlish figure.

So I am adding yet another business card to the pile. Hopefully this one will be the one that sticks! As always, check you later!!

UPDATE: Got the name, "Toggle Consulting Inc." instead...

Picture in a Frame...

Did you guys get that download link to work...for Both Sides of the Gun ?
There are some GOOD TUNES on the new disk.

Picture in a Frame (the next Amen Omen ?) Serve Your Soul (Faded, Ground on Down, Oppression?)

Thats all I got figured out so far.
Its good.
C.

Next Boys Weekend !

When ARE we gonna get together ?

What's spinning on the iPod

Hey, what's up with the listening habits lately?

Juts can't get enough of Eliott Smith's "Basement on the Hill" disc, picked up a Sarah Harmer cd, going through a Beautiful South revival and totally addicted to Bob's "Kaya" album. Woods, really had a chance to listen to that You've Been Spiked!" disc and it has a permanent spot on the iPod as of late. Craving the Ben disc...

And if you guys haven't converted into Ricky Gervais fans, you gotta check out his podcast. They did 12 episodes and the are hilarious, Slip, this is definitely car communte material!

keep it real.

Smoked Maple Syrup Salmon

Slip, next time yer out in Van, you can pick up the best smoked salmon, just make sure it is the maple one! Here is where we got some...

Caper's Market

Next time we hook up, hopefully you will have a business trip shortly before, so you can get me some!

I thought this was funny.

Both Sides of the Gun...

Gentlemen - I ask you to harken back to the end of this summers Ben Harper concert. The emotionally charged ending to "With My Own Two Hands"...Ben and the crowd of 2200 musical-friends chanting "I Believe in a Better Way...I Believe in a Better Way". Fast forward to the present, Bens upcoming album will open with an equally charged song called "Better Way". I have an early version, and it sounds GOOD. Real Good. March 21st cant get here FAST ENOUGH. Heres a great interview with Ben about the album.
Enjoy - Woods.

Relix
February/March 2006

Reel Time

Rocking The Boat
With Ben Harper

By Daniel H. Brown

In a recording studio, in the middle of a boat, in the middle of L.A., Ben Harper is in the middle of a world at odds. But after being cooped in this place for over two-and-a-half months he has finished Both Sides Of The Gun, a two-disc album that weaves together a variety of old and new musical styles from his career, creating an auricular tapestry that is strangely cohesive. With soundman Danny Kaleb capturing the differnet moods of each song, Harper has been free to confidently explore any number of musings. Flipping the Lakers game on mute, Harper kicks back on the couch to chat about his newest work.

The Gist

My favorite records are the ones you half know what you're going to do, you half know what you're going to say, and you half have it exposed to you during the process. That's what this has been.
I started these songs the second I finished my last record. The way this one's built is for people who dig what I do. Ther's a lot of different shit people want to hear-funk, slide, ballads-but this way, with two records, I could represent the different things that interest me.
Each side is 32 minutes, the first side harder than the second. I kind of went by b.p.m.s organizing it. If something's moving with a certain force it's going to end up on the first record. Not that there's any less of a force on the second record, but it's just that it's a slower tempo on the whole. There's a difference between the two in the lyrical context as well. The discs are charged differently: that's why the album is titled Both Sides Of The Gun.

The Sound

I stumbled onto this electric xylophone in a pro drum shop and I was like, "This thing is magic." That was it: cool. The xylophone with the guitar gave it a new, almost haunting sound. And then on the instrument list, Jeezus! All types of amps, a baby grand piano, mumerous keyboards and melatrons... the percussion instruments go on for days-tablas, dumbecks, drum kits... On this record I went every place that I love to go and even places I've never been that came from the back of my distorted brain into the studio room through the mics. Luckily, Danny was there to capture the amazing sound of all the instruments. That man... He's a genius at recording.

The Tunes

We had to cut a couple of songs for time reasons but I did not need to abandon anything because I got hung up. I narrowed the tracks down to 18, and then "Black Rain" came along, which knocked another off. I wrote that song after watching that shit in New Orleans go down and straight-out put pen to paper and recorded it with various members of the ICs (Innocent Criminals).
On "Better Way" I just layered the shit out of the percussions-I don't even know what the shit is going on there, I just layered and layered. After that I laid down the bass, slide guitar and vocals, and there it was.
On other songs like "Serve Your Soul", I brought in a couple of friends of mine whose playing I've admired. I showed them the changes and how it went and we just jammed. The different musicians I brought in, well, look man: If I'm going to be bringing someone in on a song they'd better bring something to it that I can't on my own, otherwise I'll just play the shit myslef. So anybody I brought in, whether it's the string players on "Morning Yearning", my own band The Innocent Criminals on "Picture In A Frame", or the three cats from Austin, Texas, on "Serve Your Soul", it's because I know they bring a certain, special sound and energy to the process.

The Philosphy

You sounded more confident on this record.

Look man, I can't sit up here and agree with you, cause I don't. I don't have an unconfident record. Straight up, every time I've stepped to a note, on every single record, on every single song, it's been with the utmost confidence. Is there evolution reflected? Yes. Maturity? I hope so, but I'd like to think I've been in a state of "becoming" since the first record and I hope to still be there after this. I think the second you arrive somewhere and want to rest there, fucking stagnation sets in and then you constantly end up wanting to be that person time and time again. I don't want to ever do the same thing twice. I don't mind doing parts of the same thing, but I always want to be trying new shit and this record shows an extension of experimentation, for sure.
After you've been loved and loathed for a certain amount of time, the praise and criticism falls on deaf ears. I've never done it for that. I mean, do you do something for ego or because you have a soul calling? I hope, without sounding ethereally ridiculous, this is my shit. This is what I do. It gives my life meaning and if it connects through people I'm all the more fortunate.

Last Thoughts

I laughed in this record more than I've laughed on any other record. It's cabin fever, man, you're locked up in here from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. every day for three months. You get a little bit nuts. But in the process of this record, more than any of the others, I felt like I surpassed my expectations for myself. And man, I hope that translates to the way people hear it. *

Young Dads of the World Rejoice!

Just picked up Jack's Curious George movie soundtrack, "Sing-a-longs and Lullabies". Great set of tunes. Quite a intersting duet version of Ben's "With My Own Two Hands". Diggin' it!

Bob

Happy birthday, Mr. Marley. We hardly knew you.

www.warrenbrown.ca

I registered the domain: www.warrenbrown.ca

I am planning to get some of my personal work up on the web and see who looks! I am looking to choose a web hosting company for the a basic package. You guys have any thoughts or recomendations?

New Ray Bans - Predator 3212's

I just want to announce that I finally picked up my first pair of adult sun glasses. Sarah made good on a long over due birthday promise and bought me a pair of sunglasses this weekend.

Let me introduce you to my new goggles! - gunmetal frames with grey - green lenses. F'en smooth.

Ashes and Snow

Fellas,

I think this is an amazing website. It is of the photography and videography of Gregory Colbert. You may have seen his stuff before...

http://www.ashesandsnow.com

The Inaugural Moon Tower Poll!

Where is Lepos?

Have you seen lepos?

http://www.whereislepos.com/

Ree-dick-u-lous GOAL !!!

Alexander Ovechkin is seperating himself from Sid the Kid recently. Not sure if you have seen this goal, but its insane.
Enjoy.

C.

http://www.thebeerguy.ca/ovechkin/goal32.avi

(Dubby I hope you can see it.)

You HAVE to check this out!

I was playing around on the Internets just now, searching on "moon tower" on Google, and you'll never guess what I came across...


A band called, "Moontower"!!!!! If that wasn't enough, I started frickin' grooving in my seat to their tunes!

No shit. Here's the link: http://www.myspace.com/moontower

Make sure to check out their influences and you'll see why their name is so appropriate. They may very well be us in a parallel universe where we can actually play instruments and stuff.

*NEW* Moon Tower Features

In an ongoing effort to attain continuous improvement and spiritual enlightenment, I've added a few new features to the Moon Tower. On the left, you will see a new link, as well as a list of where the last 10 visitors came from. Don't know which one of you checked from South Roxton, Quebec, but we now know. The link (BF Stats) will take you to another page with, wait for it, more statistics. It's kinda interesting 'cause it tells you how people (other than the 3 of us jokers) find the Moon Tower. Apparently, we had two separate hits from people searching Yahoo with the term, "both sides of the gun ben harper", so Woods, you are creating traffic.

I also added a Google PageRank near the bottom of the left bar. We have a low (very low) page rank, which means we are not very important in the world of this internet thing based on searches and visits and links and stuff. BoingBoing and Yahoo have a 9 ranking... And since Google ranked us as "minuscule in the grand scheme of things", then fuck it, they are going near the bottom of the page.

Check you later!

Movies

Dudes,

Couple of movie rentals from the weekend that I think you've both seen, but I'll mention anyways. Its All Gone Pete Tong (was in a previous post), and the 40-Year-Old Virgin. Both were great movies.

2021 Draft Prep...

010306 025
Originally uploaded by Wooderson.

Had our first skate last week. Lots of fun. Sadly he enjoys falling more than skating...Brett, thus making him an early target for the Leafs.

New Ben Album !

Ben Harper Sees Both Sides

Singer-songwriter polishes off a disc of funk and a disc of ballads
Ben Harper will release a two-CD set, Both Sides of the Gun, on March 21st. While Harper released a collaboration with the Blind Boys of Alabama in 2004, this eighteen-track collection, divided into nine songs per disc, is the follow-up to his last solo effort, 2003's world music-inspired Diamonds on the Inside.

At an hour long, the new material would easily fit on one CD. But Harper wanted to give each disc a distinct sound, one harder and one softer, as he just "wasn't able to find that magic balance."

Among the tracks on Both Sides' harder-edged half is the title track, which melds funk with a Seventies soul vibe, and the blues and funk-driven "Black Rain," a song in response to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. In contrast, Both Sides' second half features the power ballad "Picture in a Frame," and the romantic closer "Happily Ever After in Your Eyes," a track Harper hopes will become "the ultimate wedding song." (Harper and longtime girlfriend actress Laura Dern actually chose holiday tracks for their recent wedding ceremony this December 23rd in Los Angeles.)

While the California singer-songwriter turned to his usual backing band and a number of L.A. "jazz-heads" for recording, he self-produced the album and, on several tracks, played all the instruments. Harper says of his very hands-on effort, "I feel confident there's not an ounce of filler."

With tour plans in support of Both Sides in the works for either February or March -- and a co-headlining slot for the Langerado Music Festival in Sunrise, Florida, on March 11th -- Harper finds himself itching to get out on the road. "I'm jumping out of my skin. I can hardly sit still. I just can't wait to get it out and play it."

Ho Ho Part 2

Here's that creepy sumbitch in all his Christmas splendour. I might sound like a Scrooge here, which couldn't be further from the truth, but this "thing" was a little disturbing. Like when you stare at strange patterns in the concrete and they begin to take shapes like minotaurs and clowns. 

Ho Ho Ho...

Yeah, I know what you're thinking. "Look! It's Santa!", but let me tell you that this "Santa" stood over 4 feet tall and wiggled to Christmas carols at my parents' house - and it was friggin' creepy. Luckily, we were kind enough to give Santa his own private Christmas gift... hohoho, if you know what I mean! 

Happy HoHo

Merry Christmas Gents...
All the best from London.

Warren - Gonna check out "Its All Gone Pete Tong."

Talk soon.
Woods.

Super Hero 02

Super Hero 02
Originally uploaded by Dubby Hornblower.

Another bit of depressing goodness.

Super Hero 01

Super Hero 01
Originally uploaded by Dubby Hornblower.

Here are a couple of sketches from the world of Dubby Hornblower

Just in time for a non-judgemental holiday moment.

The Original (in B&W)

The original actually turned out to be a good shot of the Wooderson. Here it is...

Have a great Christmas, fellas! 

From November...

Just found this image on my computer. I thought I had grabbed a couple of the Wooderson! Keep on smilin', fella!

(click on pic to enlarge)

Pod Collective

Have you guys seen this before? What a sensory masterpiece. Check out the work of Phong in particular...

http://podcollective.com

Jack Johnson and Friends Live DVD...

If it is not on your Christmas List...put it on there ! Outstanding 2-disc DVD. Basically two concerts shot with some amazing in between song footage.
Check it out and enjoy.

Mele Kalikimaka.

Edit - FYI - Jack is nominated for 2 Grammys. Up against some stiff competition though, including Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder...

Gold Digger...

The second best song on the album is "Gone".
Check it out, its good.

Listening to a little Kanye...and a little Common.

Peace-out...

Logo Request

Dubs,

I was wondering if you could do me a favour and do up a quick logo. I understand you are busy and there is no rush on this. In fact, if you want to tell me to "sod off", that would be cool, too. However, if you do find a few minutes, I don't think this will take you long. I am putting together some business ideas, and one of them is "Moontower Consulting". Go figure - I never said I was all that creative. Anyways, my idea is loosely captured in the picture here, but I figured you could make it look much better, or at least that it wasn't done by 4 year-old in crayon. Lemme know what you think.

Christmas Lights on Crack

Youze guyz gotta check out this here little video I found on the internets.

http://media.engadget.com/videos/lights.wmv

All I gotta say to this guy who obviously has a tonne of free time on his hands is:

Bravo. Brav - frickin' - o.

The Lunatics at the Emmersive Gallery

The Lunatics are getting a little attention around the world wide interweb. We were featured on a technology + art blog called We Make Money Not Art. And some tech news program called MoBuzzTV featured us in a news segment. We have had 1700 hits on our website since last weekend.

The Lunatics
The Lunatics on WMMNA

At the Leaf Game

Got to go see the Leaf game tonight. They look as uninterested in hockey at the arena as they do on TV... Good seats, though. Got this shot (which I funkified) of a face-off after Eric came by to see me and told me to say, "what up" to Wooderson. 

Hey Beeaches!

What up, dudes? Haven't heard or seen any poop on the Moon Tower lately, and was wondering what is keeping y'all bizizee these days? Let's get crack-alackin'.

My Tree

I luv my tree. It may be old, but it can still stand. When winter comes, my tree lends its leaves to me. In the spring, I try and put them back. I luv my tree.

Animal Liberation Orchestra

Hey fellas,

Monumental effort this weekend. It was good to see you!

I am going to call it! I think this band might be right down our alley. I have only heard one song and I caught it listening to KCRW radio this morning. Then I checked out their website and saw that they are signed to Brushfire Records and Jack is lending a hand on their next album. They are also opening for DMB on some crazy cruise concert. Here's the website:


www.alomusic.com

Friday!

Hey fellas,
Looking forward to the weekend. I figure we will probably end up staying in on Friday and getting up to no good, but if we wanted to venture out, my friends (who are part of the band, Off The International Radar) are playing. You can check out their sound here: OTIR

Slip, are you planning to stick around for breakfast or are you going to make the early morning escape?

Michael Franti

Last night was amazing! Sarah and I went to see Michael Franti perform at the Bloor Cinema. It was GA, and everyone grabbed seats and then we watched a film by Franti called "I Know I'm Not Alone". Last year, Michael Franti went to the middle east with some friends, a video camera and his guitar to find the humanity trapped behind the sanitized media potrayal of the war in Iraq and the occupation of Palestine. In a word, it was truthful.

He introduced the film and updated us about how his two man and van tour was going. He was so humble and barefoot! After the film he took questions from the audience about politics, humanity and music. The audience was a strange mix of hippies, social activists, elders and little children. Then Michael, strummed his acoustic guitar and sung whatever the audience requested! He brought out a bongo player from the band, The New Deal and let people come on stage from the crowd to sing and dance. During his last song he invited a guy from the crowd to play guitar with him and when they couldn't get the second guitar to plug into the sound system, Michael handed over HIS guitar and let this dude play out his last song. And this guy went crazy, wailing on the guitar at an astonishing high level of skill. It was magic.

At the end of the show, Franti spoke to the crowd about fighting the good fight and leading your life with positivity. Then he jumped into the crowd to chat and dance.

He truly is a music man.

Dubby - I think I've disappointed you

I know I said that my next 'pooter would be a Mac (actually a Mac Mini), but we ended up going with a Dell. I hope I can make it up to you. Say, Friday, November 19?

Lardy Jerry Lard-0 (#400)

Lardy Jerry Lard-0 (#400)
Originally uploaded by Dubby Hornblower.

A guy on Boing Boing asked people to design characters for a list of 700 hobo names. Here is my contribution. The only glitch is that I don't have enough photos on Flickr to be included in public tagged galleries, so I am uploading some photos now to try and change that.

AIM

Do you guys IM at all? I just signed up for an AOL IM account and have iChat up and running. The fact of the matter is that my online posse is pretty small and the IM chat is non-existent.

What's the word for the 19th?

New Slippy Pics

Howdy.

Here are some fairly recent pics of the Slippy Clan...

Pics!

Battlefront II

Its been AT LEAST a couple of months since I have been this excited about a video game - Star Wars - Battlefront II. Awesome. Think its a "buyer" for sure. Its like re-playing anyone of the key battles across the 6 StarWars movies. Very well done. Addictive as all shit too....

'May the Force be with you....

Battlefront II

Photoshop CS2

I've been working at Photoshop CS2, and I must say, I frickin' love it. I am trying to build some skillz in it, but I am absolutely amazed at some of the features, particularly the improved heal tool. I've been shooting in RAW format as well, and the flexibility with respect to post-production is, well, splendiferous. I thought I'd share.

By the way, I am looking good for the weekend of Nov. 19 - maybe not the whole weekend but at least a day and a night fo sho.

Ding Dong...

Gents - Whats the good word ? Just trying to map out my November...NOVEMBER is just around the corner ! Ethan is going to be 3 ! So much fun...Hot Wheels EVERYWHERE. Hockey coaching has just started again. About half the kids back from last year, and at this point in the season, they look very familiar to Porky's of last year.
Anyway, dont want to ramble cuz we're gonna get together SOON.

C.

Movie Adaptations of Video Games

Well, I've heard that the "Doom" movie really blows. Ya think? Even casting "The Rock"??? Here's to hoping that "Halo" in 2007 by Peter Jackson will turn things around.

Found this interesting article that reviews the major vid game-to-hollywood movie transitions, all that go wrong. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9726659/

Beck's Guero DVD

Fellas,

Just picked up Beck's "Guero" CD/DVD set. Very nice. Has the album in 5.1 and a video for every track. It also has a interactive visual mix for the album by a video artist, D-Fuse. I haven't had a chance to truly explore the DVD, but I am digging this album since I scored the MP3s a while back.

Jamaican Hair Hat! I want one!

Check this shit out!

Hair Hat

Caption Contest - Welcome Back Hockey !

19827214
Originally uploaded by colin_chalmers.

Woo. Glad its back. Sens beat Leafs in NHLs first ever shootout !

Michael Franti

I don't know if I am dreaming, but I picked up tickets to see Michael Franti perform an acoustic set at the Bloor Cinema! I saw a tiny ad in NOW Magazine and ordered the tix through TicketMaster. Needless to say, I am very excited. If you haven't heard his album, "Songs From the Front Porch" you is missing out, bro!

Michael Franti & Spearhead

Armed Attack Dolphins Freed by Hurricane Katrina

This is a bizarre twist. Apparently, dolphins trained by the US Navy to attack underwater terrorists were inadvertently freed by Hurricane Katrina. Time to put your chainmail wetsuits on before swimming again.

Armed and Dangerous

Don't call me on Thursdays!

Survivor is back. I am jonesing for this new season. There isn't gonna be just one twist! There's gonna be two! Whoa!

Commenting Systems

Alright, gents. I have thrown up a few different options for commenting. The one on the left is new, the middle is the old, and the right is the blogger interface that Dubby hates.

Lemme know your preference, or if you are going to make me find something else. Maybe something that automatically matches your eye colour?

Kirsten thinks we are all geeks - like we didn't already know this!

iPod Nano!

Holy crap! Check out the latest technology porn from Apple.

Get out yer kleenex!

Moon Tower is 2 years old!!!

Holy crap. Can you believe that we've been averaging at least a post a week each for the past 2 years? We're a developing part of Internet history, even if only the 3 of us actually read this stuff!

To commemorate this wonderous event, here are the first posts from each of us:

Tuesday, September 2, 2003, 10:46am, posted by Slippy:
Welcome to the Moon Tower! Well, all I'm saying is that I want to look back and say that I did it the best I could while I was stuck in this place. Had as much fun as I could while I was stuck in this place. Played as hard as I could while I was stuck in this place. Dogged as many girls as I could while I was stuck in this place...

Tuesday, September 2, 2003, 11:50am, posted by Wooderson:
Glad to be here...The older you get the more rules they are going to try and get you to follow. You just gotta keep on livin man! L-I-V-I-N!

Thursday, September 4, 2003, 3:27pm, posted by Dubby:
The Moon Tower...

This place used to be off limits man 'cause some drunk freshman fell right down the middle smacking his head on every beam man. Autopsy said he only had one beer...how many did you have?

You're dead man. You're so dead.

B, glad you started this blog thing. It could be really cool. Just got in from Amsterdam. I have loads of stories to tell. And websites to share, but I have to ask the blog master how much I can sweare when I type.

Check you later! Check you later!

Firefighter in the Family

Just thought Id pass along a couple of pieces of big news from London-town.

1) Jason got hired yesterday by the Mississauga Fire Department. He starts mid-September. Needless to say he and Sue are beside themselves with excitement ! Mississauga is currently revewing whether or not they will go to a 7-day 24Hour work period, which would mean Jason would only have to work 7 days of the month, and they would not necessarily have to move.

2) (and not ranked in any terms of importance re item # 1 above) Ethan has a new cousin! Baby Brooklyn was born August 18th at 8 pounds 6oz. All is good with mom and baby. Everyones very excited with new the new addition, although Ethan gets pretty jealous when Pam's around Brooklyn. Its funny. And yes...this has started us thinking about the possibility of # 2 ourselves.

3) I have decided to stay at Protek. Renogiated by contract for the better, and am very happy with my decision. I really like what I do here, and the company has show a good interest in me and the value I bring. All good.

C-Out.

NHL 06 vs NHL 2K6

Time for the annual debate Brett. You put me on to the 2K Series a couple of years ago, and I have bought it every year since. Im prepped to buy it again this year, although EA has made some pretty good strides this year too. Think Ill probably buy 2K6 right away (Sept 6th) and try and hold out for Christmas in hopes of NHL06.

(PS - 2K6 has Bob Cole and Harry Neale doing commentary...)

Warren and his man-sized Inukshuk

Warren and his Inukshuk
Originally uploaded by Dubby Hornblower.

Here's a pic from Iqaluit.

www.selftitled.com ?

I know I have touched on this subject before, but I am considering building a website. I kinda fell in love with the name "Self Titled" as a monicker for my personal work. The domain name www.selftitled.com is one of those search engine/web topic pages. Can you buy these domains or has some company bought it and is just sitting on it?

www.selftitled.com

Bedouin Soundclash

Another music sighting. I might be a little behind the times, but have you heard of a band called Bedouin Soundclash. They are from Kingston, Ontario and are getting a lot of radio play with their single, "When the Night Feels My Song". When I sampled some of their other tunes, I got deja vu of One's "Smoking the Goats" album. If you read their bio, you will see they have some street cred when it comes to reggae collaborators.

I am thinking of downloading their MP3's from the iTunes Music Store as an inital purchase using that service. Have either of you used the Music Store in iTunes?

Bedouin Soundclash Homepage

Possible Guys Weekends!

Fellas,

Sarah is off on a WWF cruise from Sept 17-25. I was wondering if either of these weekends might work for a possible guys weekend. We could even go as far as checking with Falsetto to see if he would make the trip to T.O. I would guess that Anthony would be out since he now has little Grace, but it might be worth an email.

Input?

Belated Happy B-Day B ! (and other random thoughts)

B-Happy Belated Birthday !!!!! Had every intnetion of calling you on Sunday night, but fell asleep ! Hope you had good one !
How are things with everyone? Dub, I expect yer back from your travels to the Great White North ?

Im going through some pretty good drama at work these days. Fun Fun Fun. Its actually resulted in me going on a couple of interviews (both which went swimmingly might I add). Winds of change could be blowing. Acting like a bit of a free agent, if Protek steps up to the plate, things could stay OK here.

Im a whole new man now that I know a hockey season is coming in October...a HUGE void will be filled in my life. I know...Im a geek.

Checkin In.
C.

Greetings from Iqaluit!

Bob and Doug MacKenzie would be proud. I am truly in the Great White North (although not so white this time of year). Iqaluit is a little place with a population of 6,000 (mostly native Inuit). We have spent a lot of our time wandering about both through the town and over the tundra. We are north of 60 and above the tree line so there is little more than lichen, small flowers and heather growing on the land. We made it out far enough to come across a human sized Inukshuk. We are here for a couple of more days, then back to the 'south'.

Talk to you soon.

New Bloodhound Gang Song

Have you guys heard the new Bloodhound Gang song, "Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo"? I nearly peed myself listening to it on the way into work today...

Heading to Iqaluit

Hey, just a quick post to say that I am off to Iqaluit this Sunday for a week. I have no idea what to expect once we arrive. I am sure Jeff and Parisa will show us around. We were told to bring our toques! Might me a little chilly compared to the temperatures around here right now.

Check ya later.