news feeds oct 22

Tonight is the third and final debate leading up to the November election between  incumbent Barack and challenger Mitt Romney is what has already been dubbed "Get It On In Boca Raton," named after a popular local slogan. Obama was much better prepared for the second town hall style debate after being shown up pretty bad at the first one. The third one they will be sitting at a table with moderator Bob Schieffer (CBS News) acting as referee. The key issues will be on foreign policy (in particular current situation in Libya and Iran) with most experts saying Barack to have an edge on the issue since incumbents have access to more privileged intelligence and get more comp trips than senators. If you can peel yourself away from the Bears and Lions Monday Nighter game then take in a minute or two of the debate. Or switch over to the Giants and Cardinals game.

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If you use AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner or Verizon as your internet provider and you enjoy downloading episode of Seinfeld via Bit Torrent, you could be getting a threatening letter. That's right.. after years of trying to impose legislature against illegal downloads, they have taken their first step. First time offenders get a mild warning which also includes information to steer the guilty party away from a life of crime (what? really?). After the 'educational' phase of the warnings, if material is still downloaded illegally then they slow (throttle) your internet connection down so you can't download large files. Terminating the internet service to a customer does still appear unlikely however since copyright infringement is alright so long as you don't miss paying the bill by two days (in which case it will be promptly cancelled.)

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I had to make sure that I finished the entire series of Peep Show (seven seasons) before November 9th since, hallelujah, there is going to be a new season debuting on that very day. The show is basically a take on old Odd Couple premise with David Mitchell's Mark Corrigan playing Jack Lemmon's Felix, and Robert Webb's Jez (Jeremy) playing Walter Matthau's Oscar. Throw in the best bits of the British version of The Office (after all Mark works in a similar work place, JLB Credit), and constant interior thoughts of the two main characters and you have absolute comedy gold. From pee dripping through floorboards at a wedding, to eating a semi-charred dog or even helping a bandmate score some crack this is definitely one of the funniest shows I have ever seen. Again, season 8 starts November 9!

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Say it ain't so Lance! I have tried to years to always take him at his word. He seemed honest enough, and you always seem to have sympathy for a man with one testicle. It appears the evidence is stacked too highly against him, and in the wake of him stepping down from his own charity, being stripped of his Tour De France titles and losing his endorsements, his credibility seems to have been blown to hell. Too bad, he was a real source of inspiration for, well for people looking for that sort of thing in a cyclist. "Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling and he deserves to be forgotten in cycling," said Pat McQuaid, the president of the Union Cycliste Internationale. Remember Lance's scene in the movie Dodgeball? It was great.

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The Red Sox have gotten their man, finally. After their worst record since the 60s, Boston axed skipper Bobby Valentine after one nightmarish season. John Farrell had been Boston pitching coach prior to being named as Blue Jays manager before the 2011 season. Boston had tried to hire him before this season but the Blue Jays were reluctant to let him go to a divisional rival. But after the Jays had a season almost as bad as the Red Sox (and with just one year left on Farrell's contract) Jays GM Alex Anthopolous was more open to the lateral divisional more and picked up Mike Aviles from Boston as compensation. Farrell pitched for the Indians, Angels, and Tigers over his seven year career cut short by injury. Welcome back to Boston, John!

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The American League champion Detroit Tigers are waiting to see whether they are headed to St. Louis or San Francisco for the start of the World Series on Wednesday night. Game 7 of the NLCS between the Giants and Cardinals goes tonight in San Francisco to see who gets to represent the National League in a face-off again the powerful Tigers. Pitching for the Giants tonight is ace Matt Cain facing off against St. Louis Cardinals' right-hander Kyle Lohse who, over 18 innings has given up four runs of a tidy ERA of 1.96 while Cain's number show he's been roughed up a bit more to the tune of 9 earned runs allowed over 17 innings. First pitch is tonight at 8:07 at AT&T Park.  In a semi-related note: Remember the season Melky Cabrera was having for the Giants? He was leading the league in batting average and was the All Star Game MVP then he got a 50 game suspension by the MLB, and despite eligibility to be reinstated, he was left off the Giants playoff roster. The interesting part is that his heroics in the All Star Game guaranteed home field advantage for the National League champions, possibly the Giants. So he's even helping them while not being in the line-up. That's a dynamic player. Just saying..

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There's no hockey on. We know that. One year ago tonight, was a night the Leafs played the Canadiens in Montreal and Toronto won 5-4 on a gorgeous goal by Grabovski in overtime. Other Leaf scorers were David Steckel, Phil Kessel, Dion Phaneuf and Nik Kulemin. Anyways, here is some highlights from the game for a mild hockey fix.

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Song.

halloween

Ladies, in case you haven't found a Halloween costume yet, then give this guy a holler. Seems to have a good selection. 

news feeds october 9

After a very sting showing at last week's debate, new polls show that Romney has made the race a lot tighter, with both candidates tied with 47% support. Romney was strong and confident in his answers while Obama was staring at the floor while Mitt spoke. Obama poked fun at his poor debate performance at a concert Sunday night with Jennifer Hudson, Bon Jovi, Katy Perry and Stevie Wonder saying "They're such great friends and they just perform flawlessly night after night. I can't always say the same." Barack and Michelle's anniversary also fell on debate night; "There was some speculation as to whether this had an impact on my performance. But I did make it up to her on Saturday." The second debate is scheduled for October 16 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, taking on a town meeting style format where citizens will ask questions to the candidates on foreign and domestic issues. The folks who are asking the questions are undecided voters, looking to have their minds made up, and those nation wide who are on the fence would love any reason at all to not vote for Romney better hope that Obama comes better prepared.

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A skydiver by the name of Felix Baumgartner is attempting a jump from 120,000 ft up in the air, on the edge of space with nothing but a helmet, a space suit and a parachute (and a set of balls the size of Cincinnati). The jump took place this morning (Tuesday) at dawn. "I'm not nuts. You know, our records are meant to be broken, and I'm a very competitive person. I like the challenge," said Baumgartner. He and primary sponsor Red Bull Energy Drink have been working years on taking care of any precautions and insurance (I hope) risks. His ascent will be in a capsule hanging from a helium balloon rising for two to three hours before he climbs out of the capsule and does a swan dive off a step, tucking into a couching "delta" position that will maximize his speed. He then will fall 115,000 feet in five minutes before deploying his parachute for the final 5,000 feet. The apparent risk without the space suit include jumping through temperatures of 70 degrees below Fahrenehit and going through an atmosphere so this that his blood would vaporize. UPDATE: Still on live, but they are saying that the jump isn't happening today because of too brisk winds, and then there was problem with one of the capsules two radios going down. Here's some video from a test jump:

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Star Wars for the upper crust. George Lucas' icon franchise now has an exhibit in the Louvre. There's no actual art involved. It is actual the private toy collection of toy vendor Arnaud Grunberg who has been collecting memorabilia from the series since he saw the original film when he was 11 years old in 1977. The exhibit shows off more that 450 items from the franchises' 35 year history. The goodies include action figures, Yoda masks, Chewbacca coffee mugs, film posters, C-3P0 tape dispensers and Darth Vader Who's Your Daddy (unused) condoms. They also featured recreations of scenes including the attack on the Death Star and the Jedi arena lightsabre battle) made out of action figure and their accompanying vehicles. 

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The Beatles first single "Love Me Do" hit record stores all over the UK on October 5, 1962, or 50 years ago (not to mention John's 72nd birthday would be today). The song was written, or at least started by Paul McCartney in 1958 when Paul was 16 years old playing hooky from school. He sat down with Lennon and fleshed out the rest of the song. "It was completely co-written. It might have been my original idea, but some of them really were 50-50s, and I think that one was. It was just Lennon and McCartney sitting down without either of us having a particularly original idea." Lennon's take on the song in a 1980 interview differ from Paul's account. "'Love Me Do' is Paul's song. Let me think. I Might have helped with the middle either, but I couldn't swear to it. I do know he had the song around, in Hamburg, even, way, way, before we were songwriters." George Harrison said "First hearing 'Love Me Do' on the radio sent me shivery all over. It was the best buzz of all time… After having got to 17, I don't recall what happened to it. It probably went away and died, but what it meant was the next time we went to EMI they were more friendly: 'Oh, hello, lads. Come in."

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Cornelius Crane Chase is 69 years old yesterday, October 8th. This funny man was born to an upper crust Manhattan family in 1943 and the name Chevy was bestowed by his grandmother after "The Ballad of Chevy Chase." Chevy always saw himself as a doctor, but had a change of heart, perhaps after attending a school careers worth of stuffy shirts at private schools and wound up playing drums in a band called the Leather Canary with Walter Becker and Donald Fagen who would later found Steely Dan. Chevy then played drums and keys in a rock band called Chamaeleon Church who put out one major label album before disbanding in 1969. Chevy did many odd jobs, before finally being cast along with future SNLers John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray and Brian-Doyle Murray on the National Lampoon's Radio Hour and appeared with Belushi in National Lampoon's revue called "Lemmings." Chevy was originally hired as a writer on NBC's new sketch comedy show "Saturday Night" in 1975, but shortly before the first episode he was made a feature player and quickly became a the most popular performer on the show. His early schtick included the opening "Fall of the Week" where Chevy falls in some ridiculous manner, then look up at the camera before he utters "LIVE FROM NEW YORK, IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT." He was also the original anchor on SNL's Weekend Update. He left the show after a season and change to peruse a woman and a movie career, neither of which worked out that well. Classics like the four films in the National Lampoon's "Vacation" series, "Fletch" (and "Fletch Lives") and "Caddyshack" have been negated too many times by crap like "Foul Play," "Funny Farm," or "Cops & Robbersons." After years of releasing movies over seas, not to mention numerous failed talk shows and pilots, Chevy has had a career resurgence playing Pierce Hawthorne on NBC's "Community" since 2009. Happy birthday Cornelius!

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Rush

Not that I usually care too much about the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, but that very institution has announced its 2013 nominees and I could help but take a look at the list. Pretty eclectic. Some worthy, some I'd like to bury underneath the HOF. Anyways, the nominees include Deep Purple, Heart, Donna Summer, Joan Jett, NWA, Public Enemy, Randy Newman and Rush. Randy Newman? Really? I still don't know how anyone can listen to his voice. He sounds likes [EXPLETIVES DELETED]. I don't see how Rush and Deep Purple don't make it. Mainly since they are the only bands I really listen to but I like the idea Flava Flav there rocking out with Geddy Lee and Ian Gillan whilst Randy plays a bouncy little number on the piano in the corner. The induction ceremony takes place on April 15 in Los Angeles since even Flav wouldn't be caught dead in Cleveland. 

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Later this month, October 21 to be exact, also marks the 20th anniversary of the release of "Reservoir Dogs.'" The directorial debut is now stuff of legends, because of both the rapid fire dialogue and brutal violence within the film, but also how the film miraculously got made. Tarantino had been working at Video Archives video store in Manhattan Beach, California a planned to shoot on a 16mm camera on a budget of $60,000. A script happen to fall off the back of a truck and into the hands of Harvey Keitel, who loved the script and was able to secure an additional $1.5 million in financing. The movie follows the aftermath of a diamond heist by six gangsters and their boss Joe, and his son "Nice Guy" Eddie. One of the six men is a cop who tipped off officers about the heist and the film show the events leading up to the heist in flashbacks, and despite the fact we know who the cop is long before any of the gang members doesn't take away anything from this dark, grisly, and surprisingly funny film, Empire Magazine's "Greatest Independent Film Of All Time."

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happy thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving fellow Canadians!

news feeds oct 3: part 1

The economy. The burning issue in tonight's first presidential debate ahead of this November's election. For Mitt Romney to beat Obama in the debate is to show to his supporters and people on the fence is to "paint a compelling picture of a better economic future and why he can lead us there and President Obama can't," GOP pollster Whit Ayres told CNN. But Romney's major test may be to stand beside the current president and look and sound like a "credible alternative," to sound like a President. Obama advisers are worried that the president is too smug, dismissive and short regarding how his economic policies have been going over during his first term. So the key for him seems to be indicating how the next four years would be different without adding any fuel to Romney's economic fire.

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Getting bullied into taking the job hopefully doesn't mean you will bullied at the job… right? Justin Trudeau has dove headfirst into the Liberal Party leadership on Tuesday. I'm assuming his surname alone is enough to get him to be the Liberal leader, particularly for a party that basically had their asses handed to them after the 2011 election. We all expected this as an inevitability, but maybe a touch too soon considering he is four years into his political career, and with all due respect, is not experienced enough to lead a party or a nation. The community hall was packed (well beyond its 500 person capacity) in Trudeau's riding of Papineau to hear the party's rockstar announce his candidacy. A much more subdued Trudeau told supporters "I said to the Liberals after the last election that we need to get past this idea that a simple leadership change could fix our problems. I believe that still. My candidacy may shine a few extra lights upon us. It may put some people in the bleachers. But what we have to go with this opportunity is up to us - all of us." Trudeau has been accused since making the jump from school teacher to politics, that he is a man of more flash than substance. Trudeau dismissed his past criticisms by noting "it is time for us, for this generation of Canadians, to put away childish things. More, it is time for all of us to come together and get down to the very serious, very adult business of building a better country." Considering how influential, brilliant and downright cool his father was, I have no doubts that in time Justin could make a great PM and party leader. But is he being brought along too fast? At least Ben Mulroney isn't running.

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Apparently, the iPhone 5 has been taking pictures with purple hues on them. If there is a strong light source, like say, the sun, the resulting picture is purple. Apple claims that is the nature of the camera if such a light source is in the photo. Online geek forum over at Anandtech have over 180 comments complaining about the purple hue. "I have take 20,000+ photos on my 4S, not once had this happen." This issue along with the debacle in the maps (it will be better soon.. don't worry. geez) proves that no launch is without its troubles, no matter how awesome the device. Remember when the iPhone 4 came out and if your finger was on the bottom right corner when you held it up to your ear the volume became low or just dropped calls all together? In other Apple news, the iPad Mini has went into mass production and although it hasn't officially been announced it is said to have a 7.85" screen and its lower price point is set to compete with the Google Nexus 7, the Kindle Fire and the Nook HD tablet computers. Analysts figure October 17 as the announcement date (there's analysts working on that?) with a release shortly thereafter. 

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In a semi-Apple related story, Edwin Land, founder of the Polaroid Corporation predicted an iPhone like device in 1970. Land was an American inventor and scientist who invented the Polaroid camera which made it possible for a photograph to be developed in under 60 seconds. The cameras first went on sale in 1948. Polaroid's first major success was in 1965's "Swinger" model, the first inexpensive instant camera which retailed at $19.95. His greatest triumph was the Polaroid SX-70, the classic Polaroid camera with the film coming out of the front released in 1972. Edwin Land was also the showman type; the annual Polaroid meeting was more like a revue than a meeting of suits, with him getting up on stage showing off new Polaroid devices making everyone single person in the audience want one. In short film he made for employees, he outlined what he felt the future of photography was. In what must have seemed like something out of a Star Trek episode, Land described a device that was "something like a telephone, something you can use all day long, whenever an occasion arises in which you cannot trust your memory… you'd use it as often as you pencil or your eyeglasses." He also mentioned that cameras would be much smaller and that you'd be able to share picture instantly. Link to video HERE! And for S&G's here the first "Swinger" commercial from 1965:

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Total Recall

What is going on with food these days? Sometimes I'm glad to not eat meat. Canada is in the midst of the biggest beef recall in Canadian history following yet another E. coli outbreak, the first case that of a young Alberta girl who fell ill on September 4. An official health warning was issued in Canada on September 16 and in the United States on September 20. There has been five illnesses linked to an Edmonton meat processing plant, which now has its license temporarily suspended pending an investigation by health officials. Alberta premier Alison Redford blindly swore that the beef from Alberta is safe for consumption, saying "We are very proud in this province that we grow and breed a high quality product that is marketed around the world. It is produced to the highest standards possible and that it is a safe source of protein in Alberta, in Canada and around the world. Even vegetarians aren't safe now with that delicious Popcorn Indiana kettlecorn has been tacked off the market due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination causing.. listeriosis. You can't eat anything anymore.

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news feeds oct 3: part 2

Oh, the Beach Boys. For a band that peaked with "Pet Sounds" some 40 years ago they sure aren't going away quietly, and the famous strife that ripped that band apart originally hasn't dissipated whatsoever. The Boys' finished up their 50th anniversary tour at London's Wembley Arena and a couple of days later, founding member Mike Love announced that Brian Wilson, Al Jardine and David Marks would not be part of the post-50th lineup. Love's statement also read "The 50th Reunion Tour was designed to be a set tour with a beginning and an end to mark a special 50 year milestone for the band." The three ousted beach bums were not aware this was the case and assumed they were in the band to stay. "I'm disappointed and can't understand why Love doesn't want to tour with Al, David and me. We are out here having so much fun. After all, we are the real Beach Boys." Mike Love owns the rights to the name and will tour with a different backing band under the name Beach Boys. It's also rumoured that he own the rights to being a douche. As song from the better days:

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Dave Grohl made comments on-stage over last weekends Global Citizen Festival hinting the Foo might be going on a hiatus then confirmed this on the Foo Fighters Facebook fan page: "Yes… I was serious. I'm not sure when the Foo Fighters are going to play again. It feels strange to say that, but it's a good thing for all of us to go away for a while. It's one of the reasons we're still here. Make sense? I never want to NOT be in this band. So, sometimes it's good to just… put it back in the garage for a while." Dave has been working hard on a documentary film as well as a solo record that should be released soon. The Foo Fighters have released seven full lengths and a covers album to coincide with 2011's Record Store Day called "Medium Rare" (Killer Kiss and Angry Samoans covers). Their last record was really good, 2011's "Wasting Light" and here's a track from it with guest vocals by Bob Mould of Husker Du/Sugar called "Dear Rosemary."

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Six Flags Great Adventure is not a fan of metal. Falling In Reverse frontman Ronald Radke was arrested and later released on $25,000 bail after being charged with assault when he launched three microphone stands into the crowd after their set at the Six Flags FestEvil in Jackson, New Jersey this past Saturday. A 16 year old girl got hit in the head with a stand and suffered an injury that was treated at a nearby hospital. Spokesperson of the park had this to say: "This was the first metal show that we've ever had and will be the last. We have no plans to host another metal show. This performer was completely reckless. He had complete disregard for the safety of his fans. His actions were totally unacceptable. It's not the type of entertainment that we want to be producing." \m/\m/

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Peter Travers' fall movie preview is up on Rolling Stone's website. Check out what to see, but more importantly, what not to see (CLICK HERE)

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Last day of the major league season is today and there is still two divisional crowns up for grabs in the American League. In the AL East the Yankees just have to win to win the division, but Yankee loss and a Baltimore win means they will have to have a one game playoff to see who gets the divisional pennant. The one game playoff is happening today between the Oakland Athletics and the Texas Rangers who have lost the first two games of their last series of the season versus the A's to create the winner take all scenario happening in Oakland, California this afternoon at 3:35 Eastern. The Detroit Tigers wrapped up the Central Division a couple days ago after the White Sox September collapse. In the National League, the three divisional winners are the Washington Nationals, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants with the Atlanta Braves and the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals as the wild card clubs. The post-season starts Friday night!

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Post-goal hockey celebration.. The kid flies through the glass. NICE!

first CDs ever

About a month ago I posted about the thirtieth birthday of the CD (if you missed it you can check it out here) It was more of a look back on its history, the first CD ever released and all that kind of stuff. But instead of focusing on the slow demise of Gen X's music format of choice, I decided to ask some people what their first CD ever was and to remember how stoked they were to get it. Some of the albums are hilarious, some are terrible and some are killer. 

Since I'm much too old and bitter to think that the younger generation could listen to anything but garbage I though for a laugh I would ask a couple of the younger servers at work what their first CD was. Bob Marley "Legend" was the first girls' reply. Crap.. that's pretty solid. I was semi-shocked, expecting to get a response along the lines of Spice Girls.  The next kid, a nightclub employee named Cody admitted that he put money in Fred Drust's pocket and purchased Limp Bizkit's "Chocolate Starfish & the Hot Dog Flavoured Water." Now we're back in business, that is absolute garbage. My faith in my lack of faith in the young kids' music has been restored. 

Matt Spencer of Lost Mile Productions rocked out to Stone Temple Pilots "Purple" early one, which may have been their last killer record. Hybrid Fighting Method founder T.J. Kennedy also rocked out to some 90's grunge, purchasing Soundgarden's breakthrough record "Superunknown, as was Devin, a Toronto bartender who cranked out the record that started it all, Nirvana's "Nevermind" after his official first CD, Poison's "Flesh & Blood" proved to be unsatisfactory. Jessica Cameron (follow here here @JessicaCameron_) who has appeared in every indie horror film in the last few years it seems danced to Madonna's "True Blue" after playing the cassette version to death. Toronto based personal trainer Cassandra Hope also went with Madge early on going with the Material Girls greatest hits compilation "The Immaculate Collection."

Not too many hip hop albums on here, and these shouldn't even qualify.. but it's the closest we got. "Space Jam" the soundtrack (didn't Michael Jackson's video from the film have Kriss Kross and Macauley Culkin in it?) was purchased by Toronto actor/writer Gerry. I'm pretty sure I saw the video, presented by Master T on XTendamix. Remember that show? It was like "Rap City" only much smoother. Less confrontational. Anyways, the World's Sexiest Comedian Nicole Arbour was bumping the aforementioned XTendamix's Much Dance Mix 1992 on her boom box (Sorry, is that terminology terribly outdated?). Remember when they used to have music videos on that Much channel? Toronto bartender Charlie got jiggy with it to Will Smith's "Big Willie Style," while actor Josh hung tough and was willing to admit his first disc was New Kids On the Block. Muskoka funnyman Tyler Morrison's father certainly wasn't joking around when he bought Tyler copies of ACDC "Who Made Who" and "Dirty Deeds Done Dirty Cheap" which we all know are pretty bad ass records. 

North Toronto restauranteur and long time rocker Dan (Drums & Flats) got into CDs early on, mid 80s, and among his first purchases were U2's "Rattle & Hum" and Dire Straits "Brothers In Arms." The Dire Straits album was also the first choice of retired musical suit Scott, who also remembers buying a Sting album, the current one at the time with his first CD player. Christina, a graphic designer was loving the hair/glam rock, turning up Def Leppard "Retroactive" (a compilation of bsides and outtakes spanning the bands entire history.. ya) to an 11 of a possible 10. Karen, a bar manager, spun Guns & Roses' "Appetite For Destruction" in the late 80s, as was most of the country, whereas Toronto trainer Karen listened to the "Romeo & Juliet" soundtrack during her teenage years in the mid 1990s.

Jason Loewenstein, of Sebadoh and Circle Of Buzzards' first CD was Slint's last. "Spiderland" was released on Touch & Go in 1991. He also remembers a very early purchase of Mission Of Burma's "Rykodisc Collection" which had the longest running time of any album at the time of its release (nice little factoid Jay!). Crimes In Paris vocalist Rayce Veitch got his punk rock on with the simultaneous purchase of the Offspring's "Americana" and NOFX's "Punk In Drublic", while Crimes guitarist Stu Miller chose the classic rock stylings of the Forrest Gump soundtrack (a double album of great classic rock tracks). Gizz Lazlo, member/former member of US Bombs, Kill Detail, Dead Lazlo's Place and The Freeze, has what may be the best first album, Montreal rockers' Doughboys third album "Happy Accidents." He said when he first saw the oddly shaped case he scooped it up immediately and called it a good day. Ottawa based punkers Off By An Inch's singer Chris' got Down By Law's "punkrockacademyfightsong" after years of collecting cassette and records. The Clearing's vocalist Stephan got a copy of Duran Duran's "Decade" as a gift along with his first CD player from his uncle. The first album he actually went out and purchased was Megadeth's "Countdown To Extinction."

Anyways, that's about all. The actual release date of the first CD player/CD was the first of October 1982 when the number one song was John Cougar Mellancamp's "Jack & Diane," the number one film was E.T. and people couldn't get enough of Dallas and the Ewing family on the tele. Not sure if the CD will hit 40 or even 35 years, but it is nice to reminisce, so thanks for those who read this, who contributed and people who just love music. Cheers!