Mira Aleta

One of my favourite things to ponder, is: who has influenced me, in the course of my life. So when I heard about the "Table of Twelve" concept, I jumped aboard. What is it? Essentially it's the twelve people, alive or dead, who you would most like to share a dinner gathering with (all at once). This can include people who inspire you, make you laugh or those you would just like to meet and share some food and conversation with. Some of these people are likely friends and/or family, which is understandable. For the sake of this forum though, I propose only using easily identifiable public personae. Anyone care to share? Here's my current list: 1-Matthew Good (betcha coulda guessed that one!) 2-Naomi Klein 3-Noam Chomsky 4-Peter Joseph 5-David Suzuki 6-Siddartha (The Buddha, before his enlightenment) 7-Haruki Murakami 8-Tom Robbins 9-Emma Goldman 10-Kalle Lasn 11-Jeremy Scahill 12-Paolo Bacigalupi

Any takers yet, Emma? If not, I would love one :)

I'll chime in on this one. I've never been in the military myself but my ex's family was all military. I'll talk about it from this perspective: being the spouse in a military family, yet not coming from that background myself was slightly disconcerting. It was like they all shared a secret that I could never be a part of, yet none of them had really great things to say about the military when you did get them talking. In fact, they are the most dissatisfied lot of people I have ever come in contact with: not mean, just generally irritated by life in general. I feel that this is part of their family culture to be cynical, and it's part that I actually enjoyed to some extent, though their experiences in service seemed to heighten their sense of dissatisfaction with life. I don't think this would be everyone's experience by any stretch, and am happy that you had a great experience Mike!

Thank you for this reply: there's a lot of food for thought, therein. I tend to agree with you, in fact. I suppose I was just thinking of the fact that touring is quite hard on an artist, especially one with such strong family ties. Were Matt able to tour a bit less, I imagine that he would at least consider doing so. Whether or not this would be a financial reality is the flipside of that coin; one which you so aptly explore in your response.

I went to the Maria Doyle Kennedy concert a couple of weeks ago. She plays alongside her husband. It was a small venue, though they sounded like they were on a record, so flawlessly did the performance go. She is funny and engaging on stage, with lots of interesting stories and fun songs. She is an Irish institution, apparently. My Irish friend was in 7th heaven watching her. The opening act was earthier. Here name is Jill Zmud. She is quite folksy and real. I loved her! She'll be playing at Ottawa Bluesfest if anyone is interested in checking her out.

I think it would be great if he made an appearance as well. Perhaps I am way off target here, though in my mind he decided not to go in past years partly due to the fact that he disagreed with the commercialism attached to the music industry in general, paired with the fact that he was living with some undiagnosed mental health symptoms which lead him to express his thoughts in ways which many now consider to be "difficult". Since he has grown as an artist and individual, and also been able to seek treatment for his bipolar, he may have shifted his perspective somewhat on the Junos: at least enough to tolerate going. (Matt, if you are reading this and I am indeed way of base, my apologies.) It would be great to see him take his place in Canadian music royalty. We all know he deserves more cred than he gets, and benefit from his general avoidance of public accolades. That said, it would be wonderful if he could find greater success, as selling more albums will only allow him more freedom to create beautiful music (though it might cut down on the amount he has to tour, and the venues he plays in).

I haven't seen it. Tucker and Dale vs. Evil

He may be an eloquent speaker with a great mind, and excellents ideas: but is anybody listening? The concern I have, which stems from reading and (I'll admit it) from speaking with my American friends and family members, is that the mindset in the U.S. is at such a boiling point that common sense is not making it through. There are several problems contributing to this, that I can see: The school systems are supposed to teach kids to think, but they don't really, unless you are in a really good district with more left leaning thinkers who make a point of teaching kids HOW to think. This has been going on for so many years that the majority of voters are going to be affected by this to some extent or another, in particular younger voters who are more likely to desire change. The neoclassical economic ideal has run wild and free now for a couple of generations, grossly destabilising every form of state/national safety net for the people of the U.S., and widening income disparity. This has lead to people having to work multiple jobs, in an effort to make ends meet. How is anyone supposed to work constantly, raise empowered children, and keep abreast of international political systems, social justice & the manner in which their government falls waaaay short of the ideal, in an environment which offers no safety net should problems emerge (as they tend to do in life)? It is impossible to see anything outside of one's own immediate sphere of experience, when living in a distressed state day in and day out. The U.S. has set up, whether by art or by accident, an environment in which the base of political power is so unable to see their way clear of the day in and day out difficulties, that they can't do more than react. They don't have the time, the energy, the understanding, or even the will to go through the process of understanding what these candidates actually mean when they start speaking. Those are my current thoughts. I'm sure I'll have more as time passes. Oh yeah, and I'm voting to make Donald Drumpf again: of that I am sure!

Excellent! 10/10-Made me a Matt Damon fan again Trainwreck

Never seen it District 9

I'm wondering if people are actually bothering to send the record back, considering that Matt doesn't seem to just have fans, but devotees. Once I found out it was a pressing issue, I figured it would become a collector's item BECAUSE of the pressing issue: now I'd never send it back. LOL!

I like it, though it will never make it to my favourites list. I think it's pretty fun! As far as overplayed goes, I don't find this one to be the most overplayed. I find "Apparitions" falls into this category; so much so that I don't even have it on my faves list anymore despite the fact that it's a great song. Even my phone conspired to have me listen to it every single day, before I yanked from my playlist. The one that I listen to somewhat questionably, and dubiously is "Antipop" since Matt only wrote it at the behest of his recording company. I yanked the following quote off of Wikipedia, which explains the story: "There an interesting story behind that song actually. The record company, I had already delivered that entire record to the record company. They use this whole back-channeling system cause the Matthew Good Band was a very political band. We actually weren't all friends to begin with. It was a super political situation, everyone was always trying to basically fuck everyone else over at the exact same time, and I would just puke all day. And my record company called my management who called Dave Genn who said "oh you have to write a hit for the record". So I tried to write the worst song I could possibly come up with. And then you know, in true fucking major record company fashion, they put it on the record. That's how stupid record companies are." I love "Antipop" even though Matt wrote it to suck, which just shows to go you that even when he sets out to intentionally write terrible music, he's still great, lol! Anyway, this song is a guilty pleasure of mine, for sure.

At the end of "Strange Days" from "In A Coma", there is a radio in the background, kind of like a police radio, from about 4:05 onwards. It's mostly unintelligible to me. Anyone know what they're saying? Also some background sound effects, and then Matt saying "roll" at which point the track ends and kicks into "Prime Time Deliverance" right away. I'm pretty sure the "roll" is attached to "Strange Days", though.

You know, the glitch, or pressing issue that everyone is having with HM on vinyl, is gonna be considered for this list in a few years, lol!

Again, I'm not sure this counts, but I love the intro to "Flashdance II" where someone says: "I'm a very naughty monkey and I really think this band is really shit. Uh huh. I am naughty" and then the band members talking saying: Matt- "Dude just forget it" Other person(anybody know whose voice this is?)-"(laughter)You slammed me bud" Matt-"You're fired. I told you. We..They really..We really f&%k...I really f&%kin' hate this band. They suck" Probably my all time favourite intro to a Matt Good song.

I don't know if this one counts, but I've heard him refer to "Black Helicopter" as "African American Helicopter" in concert...anyone else?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on "The Humans". Another one which I read last year, and almost made it to my top 5 is "A Man Called Ove" by Frederick Backman. I don't want to say too much about it, as anything I say will kind of ruin the delightful unfoldment of the book's premise. I will say that it is about community, and how important being surrounded by community can be for a person in pain. I highly recommend this one as well!

My friend bought me "Trainwreck" as a 'Galentine's Day' gift last weekend. I was so f-ing funny that I had to periodically stop to let my laughter die down, and then rewind to pick up the pieces I missed during the gale force laughter: I had to do this 3 times in the first 5 minutes alone. That is some funny s*#t! I truly love John Cena in this movie: I love the WWE, and can't fathom anyone else playing that role so perfectly. Over the holidays, I saw the last Hunger Games (which was awesome), and the new Star Wars (also awesome). I am dying to see Zoolander 2: has anyone seen it yet? I loved the first one, and have been waiting years for this one to come out.

My mug arrived today! It is exactly the mug that I ordered, in blue, with the logo happily staring out at me :) It did take almost 3 weeks to arrive: totally worth the wait! The question now, is: 'to use, or not to use'? Do I risk dropping it and breaking it by making it a regular part of my rotation, or let it collect dust in a display case somewhere? Hmmm....this might be overly taxing for my mind at this time of the night. I want to thank you for your care, and concern, Girl. While everything turned out ok this time, the experience has reminded me to do my research before buying. Thanks for having my back!

I love this thought, and completely agree that being a Matt Good fan is like having a fantastic secret: and his music has impacted me so greatly that I shudder to think of who I might be were it not for the presence of his music in my life. As an aside, I recently met another Matt Good fan who, when this topic came up, said that he wondered whether or not Matt's music would have the same feel & appeal were he to have hit it as big as he, at one point, seemed destined to do. I pondered this for awhile after our conversation, and realised that he might be on to something. Matt's music speaks to me, in large part, due to the fact that he has lived through much adversity in his life: including, though not limited to, the manner in which his undiagnosed illness contributed to his fame trajectory. I feel that these difficult moments have resulted in his abilty to connect with, and create music, of incredible depth, and sensitivity. In a way, he lays his soul bare, each time he sings: even if the lyrics are not reflective of a specific moment in his life, the emotion in the music is very real, and to my ears, intensely personal. I am drawn to his music for this reason. ...or maybe I'm way off base. I'd love to hear thoughts on this one. I feel you! I was super nervous too, and left my apartment with great trepidation. I am so happy that I took the plunge: you'll be in my thoughts as you test out your new cap! I will make sure to let you know how the run goes, in particular, the response I get to "the hat"! Have a great Friday everyone!!!

I just got tickets to a small show: it's Maria Doyle Kennedy and Jill Zmud. It's being held at the Blackseep in Wakefield, QC. I don't know Jill Zmud at all, and am new to Maria's music, though I know her from her acting: she was in Dexter, and Orphan Black. Good luck getting your tickets Emma!

Thanks for wishing my luck! I got started on it last night, and was pulled into it pretty quickly. I read it until I almost fell asleep on top of it, so I have faith that I can get it finished. This passage, on Page 1, got me: "Things got worse then for a while before they got better. I won't go into it except to say that I didn't go out, not even to see my grandmother, and I didn't let anyone come to see me, either. The only thing that helped, oddly, was the fact that the weather was stormy, and so I had to keep running around the apartment with the strange little brass wrench made especially for tightening the bolts on either side of the antique window frames-when they got loose in windy weather the windows would shriek. There were six windows, and just as I finished tightening the bolts on one, another would start to howl, so I would run with the wrench, and then maybe I would have a half hour of silence on the only chair left in the apartment. For a while, at least, it seemed that all there was of the world was that long rain and the need to keep the bolts fastened"-Nicole Krauss, Great House This passage feels very authentic to me. She is using this house as a metaphor for the bereavement process she is going through. The foundation of her life is just as tenuous as the moorings of the windows in their frames; the screaming of the wind, an echo of that which threatens to escape from her soul. Her only way of coping is to focus on the bare minimum of upkeep, in an effort to get a few moments of peace here and there: the rest of her life a blank slate. I'm glad to liked it! Thank you for posting your thoughts :)

LOL! That is hilarious, in particular because Matt is responsible for my ex-husband and I getting together. My ex was hitting on me all night, and I wasn't having any of it, until he told me that he was a Matt Good fan. I figured he deserved a second look (and perhaps a few more that same night): this turned into a 13 year relationship. When we told that story to Matt when we met him, his response was "Man, saying my own name doesn't even get me laid!" I do wear it quite a bit, though it's still new to me so that amounts to about 10 days at this point (I still have other hats in the 'rotation'). I have only gotten positive comments thus far, and will keep you posted if I get anything negative. A couple of random thoughts: 1-The worst (to my way of thinking) response that I get when I tell people that I am an uber fan of Matthew Good is "Matthew who?...as though anyone could happily exist on this earth without ever hearing his music ;)...ok, maybe I'm bias. 2-the road races I have run have featured happy, smiley people on the sidelines: I've never heard a negative comment. I can do a test for you, though. I'll wear the hat when I run my 10k in May, and get back to you with the results. 3-I think that it's awesome that you're considering wearing the cap in your marathon this summer! While I can't guarantee that you'll get nothing but positive commentary, I hope that this will be your experience. I was also nervous the first day that I wore it, so I hitched my shoulders back & walked tall. I was very pleaseantly surprised by all of the positive feedback, and find that it lifts my spirits everytime. If you wear it proud, the pride will likely show through more than any nervousness you're feeling.

I've been watching the lists of top 15, and loving the picks. I thought I'd try for myself. Alas I failed to make it only 15, but managed to pare it down to 25. 1/Change of Season 2/Giant 3/Lullaby For The New World Order 4/Empty Road 5/Empty's Theme Park 6/So Long Mrs. Smith 7/Fated 8/Running For Home 9/Avalanche 10/Black Helicopter 11/Garden Of Knives 12/Born Losers 13/Weapon 14/Advertising on Police Cars 15/Zero Orchestra 16/Flashdance II 17/Flight Recorder From Viking 7 18/Life Beyond The Minimum Safe Distance 19/Letters In Wartime 20/Man Of Action 21/Prime Time Deliverance 22/Sort Of A Protest Song 23/Generation X-Wing--acoustic version 24/Symbolistic White Walls 25/Guns of Carolina

I would love to hear that one. I have no idea where you might have picked it up, and would love it if you could keep me posted if you figure out where you got it!