This week on Capital Rock City, #83, we start off in a festive spirit, with a lovely tune from The Blue Violets, and continue on with more music from Eric Harper, Double Dance Fall Sampler artist Aidan Knight, and, lastly, The Peoples Side Project. Enjoy!

Download: Capital Rock City #83

and remember kids, every time you subscribe/rate/comment to Capital Rock City on iTunes or use this RSS feed, a baby otter slides down a muddy embankment in the most adorable of fashions.

DJ Notes:

01) Blue Violets – “Blue Christmas”
02) Eric Harper – “Missing in the Dark”
03) Aidan Knight – “Jasper”
04) The Peoples Side Project - “Spray Paint”

Next week, I am looking forward to a visit with Aidan Knight (I hope), music from Vanband Whitfield and a new group I have a demo for called…. I can’t even remember, that is how new they are!

***B A N D S***

any of you have Christmas songs recorded or think you can record something?  I’d love to do an all Christmas CRC 86 for December 22.

CRC 87 on December 29 will a retrospective/Best Of ‘09 dealio.

Thank you for downloading Capital Rock City, if local indie rock is legit, then please pass on the link to my podcast/blog to your social network and help me grow my baby into a strapping young beast that can do my chores in 2010!

Go with youself.

illScarlett performing in the Zone (last summer, but it was the only picture I could find)

The past couple weeks have seen a parade of bands come through The Zone Afternoon Show.  Here are the interviews with a bunch of them.

Download: illScarlett (perform “Milkshakes and Razorblades”)
Download: USS (perform “Laces Out”) *this interview is too funny
Download: Daniel Wesley (perform “It’ll Be You”)
Download: Priestess

The USS interview is my favourite.  I always enjoy hanging out with Ash and the Human Kebab.  Ash tells his Lenox Lewis story and we even dabble  with some wrestling talk.

Thank you for finding my blog and downloading.

Go with yourself.

I must apologize, I have a few blogs to get up but have been so busy and working on other things.

I’ll let you know about that, plus a Capital Rock City post and interviews/performances with Daniel Wesley, USS, Priestess and Ill Scarlett all on deck!

Coral Crawford: I’m like ashamed to admit I really love that new 30 seconds to Mars song.

you and every other 13 year old, you and every other 13 year old my dear.

Coral and I are back to grind after our fun weekend in Vancouver with Dave and Lindsay checking out the Canucks/Oil game.

Canucks crushed which sucks for Dave, but Coral and I had a fun time sitting along the highest row of GM place with our Blue and Green Canucks shirts and drinking expensive beer.

The game was wicked fun, Canucks got out to a HUGE lead early, then I got to listen to Dave lament the rest of the game with his hilarious observations.  There were lots of Oil fans up in the plebes with us, so lots of good natured ribbing.

After the game, it was pouring rain and we wandered the city looking for a pub without an aggressive line of oppressive cover charge and settled for Lenox on Granville and Robson.  Oddly, I used to work right by this pub but never drank there.  (too touristy) but hey, now I am a tourist!

The bar was full of Australians… weird, but we made quick friends with a table of immigrants and had times that were good.

Dave was buying the rounds so I indulged him.  We stumbled out of there in time for Coral and I to once again experience the rain and catch the last skytrain to the East.

I was in no shape to drive when we returned to Coquitlam, but was in great shape to run around the bushes and and eat cheeseburgers.  Mighty times back in the Coquitlam.

Now we are back and this will likely be Coral’s last week at the government before lay-off time.

We are at peace with the lay-off.  Coral will get to be with Madelyn and get to be a stay-at-home Mom for a bit.  I’ll try and track down as much work as I can handle and we’ll see what happens.

With that, I am working on a new weekly downtown night.  Still hammering out details, but if the night happens it will have me working actual turntables and I’ll have to get my hands on Serato.  Exciting stuff and should help me elevate my performance (and generate a little income to start a proper business).

I will need a new url as I let http://jeremybaker.ca slip.  doh! Its a bit of story how I even got the domain, then had no way of using it, then it expired and now… well once again we turn to a BBM from Coral.

Coral Crawford: OMG! jeremybaker.ca is about masturbation!!!
Jeremy Baker: ha ha!
Jeremy Baker: Its about time.

***

Go with yourself.

Battle of Queenston Heights, War of 1812

I read an interesting Wikipedia article the other night.  Something I remember reading some time ago, but it was a good refresher.

In the 1920s, the US had a plan to invade Canada should they need to butt heads with Imperial British Aggression again.  Seeing as Canada was so conveniently located just a stones throw from the border, the Americans felt that if they needed to teach King George (who whoever runs that Empire) another lesson, it would be best to do it in Canada.

Read: War Plan Red

pretty basic plan, seize all the major ports and industrial cities of the east to cut us off from Britain and wait for our hippie sensibilities to take over and capitulate.

Victoria would be invaded from Port Angeles… hmmm, not sure if their war department ever visited PA, but that would be pretty comical, a bunch of logger skids invading the Pride of the Pacific Fleet and one of the few militarily protected and defended regions of Canada… but yeah, the rest of the plan makes sense.

BUT whoa there beatnik, put away the white flag!  Canada isn’t just going to roll over to the Yankee invader!  Somewhere buried in a bureaucrats drawer in Ottawa we had a plan errr scheme of our own for just such a plot to overthrow our collective Socialist freedom!

Read: Defence Scheme No. 1

Not so much a plan, it was called a scheme.  Zoinks… a scheme is something your uncle comes up with to “get rich quick.”  AND the plan was drafted by some military mucky-muck that had the word “Buster” in his name.  Yes, quotation makers, “BUSTER.”

But not a bad plan.

In a nutshell, Canada gets wind of the impending invasion… so we pull a George Bush and drop a little preemptive strike on the ole Red, White and Blue.

Not too insane, there’d still be a little of the World War One Can-Do attitude in the ranks of the Canadian Military of the 1920s.

We’d all be called up, packed on a boat and sent to Seattle to catch a game, do some shopping, and blow up every bridge between Tacoma and the border.

Armies would head  south from Alberta to Montana, from Quebec into New York State and New Brunswick into Maine.  The bulk of the Canadian Forces in Ontario would repel the American Invasion into Ontario (we WIN!) then counter punch into the US.

The plan wasn’t to hold any position, but strike, destroy shit, retreat to Canada, wait for Britain.

We even sent spies… well “Buster” to Vermont for a holiday ski trip/recon.  he found the people of Vermont to be, well kinda nice.  Didn’t drink too much and were looking forward to a trip to Canada to enjoy a fine micro brew!  WHAT?  was that the loose lipped Vermontians letting the invasion plan slip?  no, just Prohibition era citizens thirsty for some suds.  If there is not a statue for “Buster” on Parliament Hill, then what exactly do you have to do to get one in Canada?

Our possible second dance of the War of 1812 sounded like fun… but then Hitler invaded Poland, we collectively had bigger fish to fry and wah wah wah… we’re all friends and cheer on Dancing With the Stars together, as BFFs 4 lyfe!

I joke about “Buster” but he was actually an accomplished soldier and served Canada during some trying times.  He retired in Victoria.

Read his bio: James “Buster” Sutherland Brown: Canadian Hero

Go with youself.

Toronto singer performer Ko is in Victoria to perform tonight at Element.  If you have never had a chance to see this guy, you must take the time.  A talented performer with an exceptional life story.  He is a genuine, humble person and he sounds good singing about blazing.

Download: Ko performs “Capable” and “Kurt Cobain” on The ZAS
Link: Ko Nation dot com

See you at the show tonight.  Go with yourself.

I am slowly beginning work on my epic historical podcast and step one is reading John Jewitt’s first person account of his stay on Vancouver Island.  Luckily his book is over 200 years old so it is free on the internet.  I have only read the introduction written by another Doctor years later.  He traveled to Vancouver Island in the 1860s, and his account of our region is amazing.  So worth the time to read.

The Adventures of John Jewitt

Go with yourself.

This week’s CRC dives into some Kuba Oms. A man making some waves in Vancouver on The Peak 100.5FM and every Wednesday at Darcy’s Pub. Blue Violets got a great review in Exclaim magazine, talk about that, then go into MTV’s Peak Season. A recent episode featured Victoria rockers The Paper Cranes on the soundtrack.  Show ends with a new artist to tuck into.  Eric Harper, singing about something we Garden City kids know lots about: RAIN. Thank you for finding my show, tell a friend about it and help spread the word.

Download: Capital Rock City #82

***

DJ Notes

01) Kuba Oms – “Ride On”
02) The Blue Violets – “You Said”
03) The Paper Cranes – Telephone”
04) Eric Harper – “Rain”

Thank you for finding my show.  Go with yourself.

We are all living in a village and a terrible horde of Mongols descend on our hamlet.  So many Mongols that there is no way to fight them, we all have to go down into the cellar and hide.  Here we are, 100 hundred of us, huddling in the cellar waiting for the villainous Mongols to move on, if we make one tiny sound they will find us and slaughter us all!

And you brought your baby and the baby is hungry and is about to cry.

Would you smother your baby and kill her to save the village?

What a crazy question right?  I was listening to Radiolab tonight and their topic was “Abstract Thought.”  Have a listen, Killing Babies, Save the World.

If we asked our little village of 100 what they would do, it would split down the middle 50/50.  Half of us would kill the baby and half could never.

That split would likely fall down the line of who has kids and who does not because if the question is, “Would Jeremy kill Madelyn to save all you fuckers?”  then my answer would be no, I would not.  Sorry folks, but you’re all target practice for those murderous Mongols’ arrows.

However, if the question is, “would you kill A baby (no baby in particular, but just A baby) to save the lives of 100 people?” your (and even my) rationale brain would say, yes it must, sadly, be so.

weird stuff to think about.  The podcast goes on to discuss this abstract scenario.

You’re walking along the Sea Wall sporting a mighty fine $1,000 suit (or you ladies might be rocking a signed R Patts T-shirt) and you happen upon a drowning woman in the ocean.  Do you jump into the sea to save her but ruin your new suit?

The answer for almost all of us is, yes I would jump in the sea and ruin my $1,000 suit to save the life of this drowning woman.

Now you feel like a hero and you get home and in your mailbox is a letter asking for a donation of $1,000 to save the life of A girl somewhere else in the world.  Do you cut the cheque and drop it in the mail?  The answer for most of us is… no.

Why?

To quote Pearl Jam, its evolution baby.  The woman we know, we see drowning… we save because basically, she is part of our tribe.  We have an emotional attachment to the situation.  The woman dying of starvation in Ethiopia is an abstract thought.  What lady?  who? where?  never heard of Sierra Leone… and we move on.  Am I bad guy?  Kinda when you think about it, but not really because my simple brain can’t comprehend it.  I have no emotional connection to the starving lady across the world but I have an emotional connection to $1,000 err $300 in my bank account.

This is a super duper problem because right now, the biggest issues facing our planet, pollution/global warming/war/starvation are global abstract problems.  neat.

***

I love listening to the radio.  When I am not working on the radio and I am driving around I enjoy punching around the dial.  I find that I am more likely to find something I enjoy somewhere on the FM dial than I am am poking around my TV.

Today I was listening to the CBC and they had this great documentary about the history of the Steam Engine.

Listen to the Story of Steam. amazing bit of radio both sonically (sounded great) but also a mighty fine story.  Basically it talks about how huge the invention of the steam engine was for all of us today.  If you’re a dork like me, it’ll be worth your time to listen to the show.

Go with yourself.

The Wayback Guy reflects on the first band to be labeled “punk rock,” and as you can imagine, he does not approve.

Download: The Wayback Guy hates the punk rockery

Thank you to Zone producer Sheldon for helping to put together the Wayback Track each week for The Modern Rock Countdown.