Sad Sack Serenade: February 25th

So tired this morning I'm surprised I didn't fall asleep at the control panel. Hope it sounded alright. This is what played:

Hilary Grist - Right For You
An Horse - Listen
All of the Above - All I Want Is You
Freelance Whales - Ghosting
Audio/Rocketry - Two Chords
The Rural Alberta Advantage - The Air
Swan Lake - All The Fires
Belle and Sebastian - Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John
Angus & Julia Stone - Big Jet Plane
Metric - Collect Call
The Last Town Chorus - Modern Love
Flogging Molly - The Sun Never Shines on Closed Doors
 
Podcast the show here or listen to the individual mp3s: 1st half hour/2nd half hour.

Tune in to CJSF 90.1FM again next week Friday at 9am when chances are I will be more lively. Have a great weekend!

Movies 2010: A Year in Review

I've been putting this off expecting that I would eventually get around to seeing a number of popular and critically well-received titles that are still in theatres. Unfortunately, I still haven't seen a few that might seem obvious, but the Academy Awards are on Sunday and it might be a little bit late to post a year in review list after that, so I thought I'd go ahead and gleefully put together my favourites from the previous year in film based on what I have seen so far.

I developed a lot of favourites in 2010, although I might be more spoiled than most thanks to my rich experience at the Vancouver International Film Festival in the fall. I thought the year was particularly notable year for the display of female talent, with a host of a fantastic performances (too many to include all of them in my list), and evocative and smart films from female directors like Lisa Chodolenko, Nicole Holofcener, Debra Granik, and Andrea Arnold. Also interesting, this was the first time in a while that I was compelled to include documentaries in my top 10, with absolutely no hesitation whatsoever I might add.

My Top 10 of the Year
1 - The Ghost Writer
2 - Blue Valentine
3 - Inside Job
4 - Han Jia (Winter Vacation)
5 - The Kids Are All Right
6 - Armadillo
7 - Black Swan
8 - Fish Tank
9 - Another Year
10 - Please Give

Absolute favourites are in bold.

Direction
Roman Polanski - The Ghost Writer
Hongqi Li - Han Jia (Winter Vacation)
Derek Cianfrance - Blue Valentine
Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan
Andrea Arnold - Fish Tank

Original Script
Mike Leigh - Another Year
Lisa Chodolenko & Stuart Blumberg - The Kids Are All Right
Abbas Kiarostami - Certified Copy
Nicole Holofcener - Please Give
Derek Cianfrance & Cami Delavigne & Joey Curtis - Blue Valentine

Adapted Screenplay
Aaron Sorkin - The Social Network
Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini - Winter's Bone
Robert Harris & Roman Polanski - The Ghost Writer
Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy - 127 Hours

Lead Male Performances
Ryan Gosling - Blue Valentine
Mark Ruffalo - The Kids Are All Right
Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network
James Franco - 127 Hours
Javier Bardem - Biutiful

Lead Female Performances
Annette Benning - The Kids Are All Right
Natalie Portman - Black Swan
Catherine Keener - Please Give
Juliette Binoche - Certified Copy
Lesley Manville - Another Year

Supporting Male Performances
Pierce Brosnan - The Ghost Writer
Andrew Garfield - Never Let Me Go
Ben Kingsley - Shutter Island
John Hawkes - Winter's Bone
Christian Bale - The Fighter

Supporting Female Performances
Rebbecca Hall - Please Give 
Lola Dueñas - Yo, Tambien (Me, Too) 
Maricel Álvarez - Biutiful
Greta Gerwig - Greenberg
Barbra Hershey - Black Swan


Editing
Blue Valentine
Armadillo
Black Swan
127 Hours
Biutiful

Cinematography
Shutter Island
Han Jia (Winter Vacation)
Curling
Black Swan
127 Hours

Musical Score
Inception
Scott Pilgrim vs the World
Han Jia (Winter Vacation)
Black Swan
The Social Network

If you're interested you can check out how I rank every 2010 release I have seen on my Flixster list.

Films I have not seen yet include: Rabbit Hole, Howl, The American, Fair Game, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Sweet Grass, Dogtooth, Animal Kingdom, Buried, Exit Through the Gift Shop, Jack Goes Boating, Of Gods and Men, Somewhere, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger, True Grit, The King's Speech, The Town, The Illusionist, Toy Story 3, I Am Love, Restrepo, Tiny Furniture, Life During Wartime, Wild Grass.

Sad Sack Serenade: February 18th

And despite what they say, we're not like birds or even aeroplanes. We'll never get to fly, fly, fly away.

Happy post-Valentine's Day! A beautiful day in Burnaby and a bounty of great songs this morning on Sad Sack Serenade on CJSF 90.1FM. Here's what played from 9-10am:

Rogue Wave - Christians in Black
Lia Ices - After Is Always Before
Immoor - Porno Queen
Jim Bryson & the Weakerthans - Constellation
Joshua James - You're the Cocaine
Dolorean - Fools Gold Ring
K.C. Accidental - Residential Love Song
Priscilla Ahn - Dream
The New Pornographers - Go Places
The Mad Caddies - Drinking For 11
Cloud Nothings - Forget You All the Time
Meaghan Blanchard - Gotta' Let

Mp3 of the show: 1st half hour/2nd half hour.

Podcast the show with your favourite podcaster.

Comment on the show, leave requests, and be sure to tune in next Friday at 9. Also, you should totally come be social and party it up with awesome radio people at CJSF's FM Party on February 26th. It shall be rad.

Sad Sack Serenade: February 11th

Sorry for the lack of conversation today. Couldn't think of much to say and I didn't want to fill up airtime with a bunch of vapid jabbering when I could've just played a couple more songs. Hope you enjoyed today's broadcast of Sad Sack Serenade nonethless.

This is what played this morning on CJSF 90.1FM:

Ruben Bullock - The Rain
Joel Plaskett - New Scotland Blues
Cymbl - Meino
Neutral Milk Hotel - April 8th
Jónsi and Alex - Indian Summer
Zachary Lucky - Coming Back Home
Jenny Lewis - Pretty Bird
Rökkurró - Sjonarspil
Penny and the Quarters - You and Me
Silje Nes - Crystals
Vinyl - Graveyard
Lenka - Gravity Rides Everything
Jenny Owen Youngs - Voice On Tape

Mp3 of the show: 1st half/2nd half.

Podcast the show with iTunes.

Have a great reading break everybody. Since you don't have class next Friday, there is no excuse not to listen to the show next week at 9am.

Sad Sack Serenade: February 4th

Great show this morning. This is what I played on CJSF 90.1FM this morning from 9-10am:

Jordan Klassen - In Bodrum
Damien Rice - Older Chests
Interpol - Always Malaise (the Man I Am)
Cat Power - Say
Au Revoir Simone - Don't See the Sorrow
Black Mountain - Wilderness Heart
fun. - Light a Roman Candle
Carissa's Wierd - One Night Stand
Jill Barber - For All Time
The Dears - Missiles
Brian Eno - Emerald and Stone
An Horse - Listen
Ferraby Lionheart - Minuteman

Mp3 of the show: 1st half hour/2nd half hour.

Podcast the show by clicking here.

Thanks for listening. Do it again next week!

Frosted Mud

This is something I wrote for an english class that if I were in a clearer state of mind I don't think I would post. But alas, it's late, and I am feeling strange, so here it is. I guess it can be good to share things.

Frosted Mud

Frosted mud on days when

windows lie means a snub

and a fallen smile, or

a clever ruse from an

actor. Faces change though

and thoughts linger on in

canyons that go deep down

to the thin heart of things.

Ringing and echoing

for days until the mud

softens and faces rise,

only to fall again.

  

We were trying to keep to two different meters. I'm not sure if I did. I don't understand what's going on in the class.