2006-05-04 - 0:48

Krakow, Poland!

When I got back from a work term eight years ago, the hockey playoffs were just starting, with Montreal taking on Pittsburg. After finding out that the apartment that I was subletting lacked not only cable but also a real TV, I ended up picking up the TV that has carried me through to present times. (Thankfully, it just barely fit in Liam's car, so I got it hooked up in time to catch the next game.)

Flashing ahead to present day, playoff time saw the Habs going against Carolina. After Montreal's two wins, and as somewhat of an impulse buy, I ended up buying a crazy wide screen, high definition behemoth to take in this year's run to the Cup. Of course, as it turned out, I didn't even get to see one win on it, as Carolina rolled through the next four heartbreaking games. I guess that it was worth it, though, just for the chance to see Don Cherry's purple plaid suit in ridiculous detail. Beauty!

As for the playoffs in general, my hockey pool is a writeoff. I successfully picked Ottawa, New Jersey, San Jose, and Anaheim, meaning that I was wrong about Montreal, Philadelphia, Detroit, and Dallas. Since I had loaded up on Wings, I won't be repeating last year's lucrative success.

After a bit of a lull, my concert schedule is picking up again, starting with tonight's visit from The Lovely Feathers. I've been seeing lots of press about these guys lately, so things may be taking off for them. If so, it's deserved, as I've thoroughly enjoyed the three times that I've seen them. Once again, their live presence was frantic and the show was a lot of fun. Still no "Photocorners" in the setlist, though.

I caught Lost before I left for the show, so I missed all but the last moments of Jetplanes of Abraham, but what I did hear sounded cool. I'll have to give the group a real chance sometime.

The middle act on the bill, Duchess Says were noisy, shrieky, rhythmic, energetic, and captivating. Or, as the Feathers' Mark Kupfert put it, "That was some fucked up shit." The frontwoman for the band was wild, punctuating the music with sharp hand gestures, rolling on the floor in front of the stage, and screaming like mad. I warmed up to the band a lot after a few songs, once I was able to pick out some words in the vocals.

As usual, I'll try to crank out a real review for my other site when I can make the time.

J.