Change of plans

I was going to write a post about how much I love Arkells and why they should win Best New Artist at the Junos tonight, but I've just learned some sad news that should take precedence.

I was checking my Twitter Feed when @AUXTV tweeted about the sudden death of You Say Party! We Say Die! drummer Devon Clifford.

Unfortunately, I missed YSP!WSD! on their recent Winnipeg stop @ the Albert, but I did get to see them a couple of years ago in Ottawa. I didn't know any of their music at the time, just their name and the buzz surrounding them from various indie music circles. I convinced my friend that we should go to the show, and we were glad we did. The band was full of energy, playing to a packed Zaphod's.

RIP Devon. Another life ended too soon.

Dancing to yesterday

At first, I wasn't sure how I felt about the new Hawksley Workman song. There's been an irritating shift for rock bands to put out dance records that started a couple of years ago with Good Charlotte's Good Morning Revival in 2007, and has since spread to the likes of Simple Plan, Hedley, and Faber Drive. (I'm not a fan of all of these bands, but I listen to everything because how can I legitimately say I don't like an artist or band or song if I've never heard it/them at least once?)

I first heard Workman's "Dance to Yesterday" while driving to work one Sunday morning, and I immediately was disappointed that he would jump on such a silly bandwagon. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE his music. But this song was just...weird. Observe:



Now, I have to say that it's grown on me. I really like this song. Why? Well, besides the fact that it's pretty impossible for me not to like everything Workman does, this song rings true for me. I've been listening to a lot of Oldies--'50s and '60s Oldies, not like 1994 Oldies!--and so I AM dancing to yesterday, in that sense. For me, this song is full of nostalgia, and that's been a theme for me lately (see previous post!).

ThunderCats and nostalgia

Here is a fact: yesterday at 5pm CST, TELEtoon Retro began a 24-hour ThunderCats marathon.

Here is another fact: When I got home from my aunt & uncle's place at 11:37pm CST, I put on the marathon and proceeded to fall asleep in from of my TV some 3 hours later.

Here is one last fact: I got up this morning, and put the marathon back on to watch what I missed last night.

This has me thinking back on the cartoons I used to love as a child, and still love to this day. Am I ashamed to admit that I just bought Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs on DVD? Of course not! That show's awesome! Sure, the dialogue is so cheesy I've considered bringing crackers to each viewing, but it's still miles better than the general ridiculousness of today's cartoons. I'm not knocking the superhero cartoons; somehow those ones always seem to maintain their level of respectability (I'm looking at you, Wolverine and the X-Men), but I am knocking such fare as the ten thousandth Pokemon rip-off, and shows like Spongebob Squarepants that don't really teach kids anything. ThunderCats, He-Man, even Saber Rider, all had lessons at the end of the episode. Does Spongebob value diversity? Or talk about sharing? Honesty? Not from what I've seen.

I think TELEtoon Retro should add more '80s cartoons, if only to balance the sad sad state of affairs Saturday morning 'toons find themselves in these days. Here are some of my suggestions:

Pirates of Dark Water:


M.A.S.K.:


Dino-Riders:


He-Man and the Masters of the Universe:


What are your favourite cartoons?