Five Seventeen went on the CBC this afternoon to talk about the Licking The Beaters cookbook for which he did some artwork, and also to plug Lake Holiday and the upcoming Wavelength show. They played “Awake Too Long”, making this the second continent on which that track has received radio airplay (it was played on Australian campus radio a few months ago). World domination, one station at a time. Clear Channel will surely be all over it in no time at all.

Guitarist magazine talks to Teenage Fanclub on the occasion of the release of their compilation album, Four Thousand Seven Hundred And Sixty Six Seconds. Read it here. And speaking of Fannies, there are a bunch of rare and live mp3s available on their website.

And on the topic of guitar magazine interviews, Guitar Player sits down with Yo La Tengo’s Ira Kaplan.

np – various artists / Beat The Retreat – Songs By Richard Thompson

RIP, Bob Hope. Your television specials were a staple of my childhood through the eighties. 100 years is a helluva run.

And all of a sudden, things have gotten really quiet. Look at my concert list over on the side – there’s two shows I’m going to in the next two months (one I’m still undecided on). TWO. I went to three in the past week! On the same note, there are no new album releases of interest to me until the 19th of August. Three weeks of no reason to pester the record store clerks. Weird. I suppose this will give me time to get my shit together for moving. I have the first week of September off, specifically for this reason. Yeah, that’s my vacation – instead of traipsing about New York City as I’d originally planned, I’ll be humping cheap kitchen supplies back from Honest Ed’s. I should really try to sell off some of my surplus guitar gear before I move, though. No sense in moving stuff that I don’t need anymore.

Surgery may help keep Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington from throwing up when he sings. That’s great news, now if there was only a treatment to keep those of us who accidentally listen to them from doing the same.

np – various artists / Return Of The Grievous Angel – A Tribute To Gram Parstons

The ‘unplugged’ show at the book release went pretty well today. The rain turned out to be a non-factor – the sun was actually more of a problem – it got pretty damn hot out! But still, the drummerless (Clay had prior commitments) played a pretty nice acoustic set down in the schoolyard. Definitely a configuration that merits revisiting if the show dictates it.

I watched Die Another Day in the afternoon. Bond is fun. I never rush out to see a new Bond film, but generally enjoy them when I do see them. The Madonna theme song was god-awful, however, and while Halle Berry’s character was alright I don’t see the need to spin her off into her own film. She wasn’t anything special.

The main event of the night was Richard Thompson at the Toronto Star Blues Festival. I appreciate the irony of having an artist as far removed from the blues as RT is playing a “blues” fest – anyone listening to his utterly unique folk/celtic/rock-influenced playing would know in a second that there’s nothing from the Delta in this man’s music. Having missed him in concert at least three times in the last four years, I was really looking forward to finally witnessing him play live, and was not disappointed. The man is simply a guitar god, no one can touch him. Though you’d not know it from listening, he’s been a tremendous influence on me… I bought my acoustic guitar because it looked like the Lowden he was using at the time, and my Telecaster has the same unusual pickup configuration as his Ferrington. And as otherworldly as his playing is, his songwriting and singing are just as good. If I have to pick highlights, I’d go with the obvious – “Shoot Out The Lights” – and the encore solo acoustic performance of “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” Am I gushing? A little? Good, I mean to. Did I take pictures? Yes, I did.

Pirates Of The Carribean is bloody fun – A summer blockbuster you don’t feel guilty or stupider for enjoying. Not much sense going into any sort of a review of a movie that most people will be seeing, so I’ll just say that Johnny Depp is terrific as Cap’n Keef, Keira Knightley is some kinda pretty (sorry, am I broken record?) and Orlando Bloom… feh. Don’t know what the ladies see in him, sorry. Y’ahhhhr.

The weather doesn’t seem too accomodating for our afternoon gig in the park. It’s overcast and threatening to thunderstorm at some point. If the forecasts are to be believed, it’ll all have passed by the afternoon, but we’ll see what shakes out. I’m looking forward to the acoustic set, but if it’s not meant to be, it’s not meant to be. The weather better not interfere with the Richard Thompson show tonight, though. I hate being at the mercy of the elements.

np – The Decemberists / Castaways And Cutouts

I bought Metal Gear Solid 2 Substance this afternoon. I figure, I have a bitch slapping new computer, it can handle anything I throw at it, right? Wrong. Turns out my video card is about 1500 model numbers too low to run the game. I can *listen* to it, but can’t see jack or shit. My cousin works for ATI – maybe I can get a new video card through him. Man, this sucks. At least the game only cost me $25. I’ll be able to play it… someday…

Back to Snood for me. Sigh. It just seems so… hollow, now.

np – Death Cab For Cutie / The Photo Album