8.14.2009

Brooks and Done



Brooks and Dunn, the hugely popular country duo, will be calling it quits. The band, who formed in 1991, announced this Monday that they would be breaking up. No reason was given for the split.

For all those with tickets to their October 24 show at the Brandt Centre, no need to worry. They'll be honouring all current dates and doing one more tour as well before they boot scootin' boogie one last time.

Six Things I Would've Blogged About Today If I'd Had Time

1) JERKS The lying, manipulative healthcare-bashing bastards who are trash-talking Canada and Britain's health systems suck all the ass there is to suck. (Guardian)

2) CREEPS Stupid Canadian government and its evil deporting former child soldiers crap. Grrr! (StarPhoenix)

3) PRICKS Stupid Canadian government and its evil obstructions and sinister shenanigans toward a former child soldier who's a Canadian citizen. (A third appeal? Really? Assholes.) (Globe And Mail)

4) SCREWED Sask. revenue crash: uh-oh, spaghetti-o. (CBC)

5) VICTORIOUS The CUPE gang are not going to jail for election pamphleteering; say "nyah"to Sask Party. (CUPE)

6) YOUNG AND NAIVE A young New Jersey cop arrests a weird old dude for, um, being a weird old dude--and it turns out to be uber-legend Bob Dylan, who she'd never heard of because she's only 22 and doesn't give a rat's ass about ancient grampa music. (Telegraph)

Too bad I didn't have time. Poop!

PD On The Radio


Prairie dog's Stephen Whitworth (that's me!) and Planet S' Chris Kirkland (it's Chris!) will be on CBC's Afternoon Edition later today to talk about "Exciting Things To Do" this weekend. We usually start sometime between 4:10 and 4:15 and babble incoherently for about six minutes. The link is here--click on it around four, if you dare. (Did I say dare? I mean care.)

Friday Afternoon Kitty: Pon Farrrrrrrrrrrr!

There is nothing that isn't better with the right music. And this video, ripped from the outlaw realm of copyright violation that is Yootube, proves it.



Ahhhhhhhh, that's the stuff!

EDIT: More "r"s added to headline because more "r"s = more awesome. PONN FARRRRRRRR!

Budget Update


In an article I did in late March on the 2009-10 Saskatchewan budget, I suggested that for next year's budget address Finance Minister Rod Gantefoer consider dressing as a fortune teller with a crystal ball. That's because, when it comes to revenue projections in particular, much is dependent on prices that the Finance department forecasts for key commodities like oil, natural gas and potash. Today, Gantefoer is delivering his first quarter financial update. The news it contains is not good. In 2009-10, Saskatchewan will apparently take in a whopping $1.3 billion less in potash royalties than initially forecast. That will be offset somewhat by a $668 million increase in oil royalties and taxes, but that still leaves the province with a $558 million shortfall that will require the government to defer several spending committments and raid--I mean, take a special dividend of $185 million from the Crown Investments Corp. Hindsight is always 20-20, so it's pretty easy to rip Gantefoer and his officials for being so wrong with their potash revenue estimate. But it's also true that in the current economic climate, it's virtually impossible to forecast anything with a reasonable degree of accuracy. Here's more on the story from CBC.

Fiday Afternoon Kitty (Failure Edition)

So after about two hours surfing on Yootoob Thursday night, I hadn't found the right cat (or cute animal) video for Friday afternoon. I always look for videos with some kind of ineffable "prairie dog vibe", whatever that is. (You can't explain it, you can only "feel" it. Like the Force.)

The best best I'd found by 10 o'clock last night was, uh, this thing...





Well it was pretty damn funny after two hours of watching videos of cats licking their butts. Not really up to our standards, though.

I'll keep looking...

Live Tonight: Busta Rhymes, Molten Lava, The Famines

Friday, August 14

Busta Rhymes
The Drink

Busta Rhymes seems like a nice guy. Of course, I'm basing this completely on three things: 1) his music has some kind of sense of humour to it; 2) he smiles a lot, and it's a big smile, and; 3) his interview with Nardwuar, where he does really well all things considered. That's part of why I felt a little bad that his Regina show, originally booked for the Credit Union EventPlex at Evraz Place, had to move to the Drink because of a lack of ticket sales. What's the deal? Maybe the controversy behind "Arab Money" (embedding disabled) has reached Regina ears. Anyone can tell you that sampling the Holy Quran for the first single off your album isn't a good idea. Making it a typical, hip-hop club banger is an even worse idea. More likely, though, that the problem is he's Busta Rhymes in a city that's largely indifferent to big hip-hop shows.

Playing with Belly and Peter Jackson.



Molten Lava
The Exchange

If you love shredding and haven't experienced Molten Lava yet, you're a little late. Not only have they been kicking around for years now, but the Regina band now lives in two different cities and their debut album, Sevens and Nines, is sold out on LP. Luckily, they're doing a quick summer jaunt with Windsor-based Orphan Choir and are playing the Exchange, along with new Regina band Foxwarren and Violent Kin (Maygen and S.J. Kardash of Saskatoon's Junior Pantherz).



The Famines
The Club

For awesome art-rock, the Famines are your go-to group. For awesome album art, the Edmonton band's Raymond Biesinger has got you covered, too. He's done the art for their cassettes, eight tracks, and seven inches, and it's just as wonderful as the band itself. Rumour has it he even did a prairie dog cover once. Opening for them is The Czar, The Kaiser, The King. The band is two-thirds members formerly of Robot Versus Monster and one-third Dave Schneider of the Hot Blood Bombers, one of Regina's perennially awesome dudes, on bass.

Playing with John Davy and the Jump Off.



Also playing tonight: Donny Parenteau at the Pump and Acres of Lions and Zachary Lucky at O'Hanlon's.