Yeah, that’s a banner up top. I’ve bowed to corporate sponsorship. Have you heard about this kick-ass new milk-based drink thing? It’s called Raging Cow! It’s the bomb!

Actually, I’m subtly soliciting sponsors for my particiaption in this year’s Becel Ride For Heart, in which I will take my new bike and quite probably kill myself trying to ride up the Don Valley Parkway. It should be quite a spectacle. Seriously, any support is greatly appreciated. Merci.

Fun concert news – Broken Social Scene and Stars are doing a two-night stand at Lee’s Palace June 12 and 13. This one will sell out fast, guaranteed.

Picked up the new Jayhawks album today while driving Kate around to sell off a bunch of her CDs and DVDs. It’s definitely more in the vein of Tomorrow The Green Grass and Hollywood Town Hall, except for the lack of Louris/Olsen harmonies. But the stripped down, mostly acoustic arrangements are pretty and the ‘Hawks are better suited to that style than the California-style pop they were pursuing on the last couple records. I also bought the first two Dismemberment Plan albums off Kate. Haven’t listened to em yet.

KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic talks to Ben Gibbard.

np – Broken Social Scene / You Forgot It In People

Went for a super-extended birthday lunch today, and between the spiked root beer (rum and root beer… yum) and the heavy heavy chocolate cake, my timesheet for this afternoon will say “3 hours – napping under desk”.

Somehow a bird managed to poop square on my bike bell. It’s not a large bell – maybe an inch and a half in diameter. Impressive.

Paul Westerberg is releasing another doubleshot of albums this year, one as himself and one as Grandpaboy. Dead Man Shake will be a blues-based Grandpaboy record due out in the summer, and the Westerberg-branded Folker out by the end of the year. Will they be as good as Mono/Stereo were last year? Hopefully, but they certainly won’t offer the same value – I expect you’ll have to pay for each album individually this time. Full story here.

This is definitely not something Jack Bauer would do. Keifer Keifer Keifer.

Part four of The Animatrix is now up. It’s fantastic.

Just gotten specifics on another wedding I will be attending in two weeks. That’ll make three in six weeks. I may have to get my suit cleaned!

There will hopefully be some Lake Holiday gig news to report shortly. Stay tuned.

np – Teenage Fanclub / Bandwagonesque

From the irony files – Anthrax shuns Toronto appearance over SARS fears.

A bracing ride to work this morning. Fifteen to twenty minutes is all it takes. Amazing how much smaller the city seems when you’re not hoofing it. I am making use of the quick release on my seat right now, but I’m sure that laziness will outstrip paranoia in a couple weeks and I’ll just leave it out there. It’s not anything special, after all. I have to go back to the bike store tonight, though – the visor on my helmet is too small and something on the front brake is rubbing against the wheel, it’s pretty damn noisy and has already marked up the rims some.

Robert Svehla has retired, leaving the Leafs blue line in an even bigger lurch than it was before, if that’s possible. Terrific.

np – New Order / Low-Life

As a birthday present to myself, I’ve bought a bike. It’s a 2002 Raleigh Tarantula SE. It’s nice.

For those of you who always wondered how the creators of Homestar Runner made their livings, there’s an interview with Los Bros Chapman here. And another here, which I think I may have linked before but don’t remember.

Radiohead will be broadcasting their June 5 concert for MTV as a pay-per-view event, running on IMAX screens across Canada. And just like that, Radiohead and Wrestlemania become just that much more indistinguishable.

np – Lucinda Williams / Essence

This is for the hardcore geeks. Someone has already compiled a list of the names on Stryker’s computer in X2 and paired them off with their comic book references. Check it out here.

Neko Case has won the Playboy’s Sexiest Woman In Indie Rock poll. I voted for a winner!

Feel like playing video games? Of course you do. Domo-Kun Vs The Powerpuff Girls. I didn’t need a reminder that I suck at video games, but I got one anyway.

I think it was just a couple weeks ago I commented to someone how minimalist my keychain was. No longer – in the last 24 hours I’ve added a bike lock key, a bike room key and a freaking garage door opener remote control. It’s now one bulky keychain.

I have registered for Blogshares and my lil ol’ site is already worth a bling-worthy $102, yo. That means a whopping 0.0021% of the market is mine. Oh yeah.

And no, I have no idea what any of that means.

np – Sigur Ros / ( )