Tuesday, July 04, 2006

ウェ ファンク レジオ

Got some tea and finally have settled down in front of my laptop to update my blog. Not to much to mention other than July is become as busy as I thought it was going to be. An interesting program has started at our office called “Summer Time”. Basically, the day is moved up by an hour so everyone comes in at 7:45 AM and can leave at 4:15 PM. The premise being that everyone will have more time to do something after work like play park golf or volunteer. Kevin was part of it last year and we are both excited about it. However, this is evidently not the reaction of the entire office. Thus only half the office does it at a time and everyone rotates at a weeks duration at a time.

I made a new podcast discovery last week I thought I would share it. It’s called We Funk and it’s run out of McGill University We Funk plays all sorts of funky beats and underground hip-hop. The tragedy of the We Funk podcast is that it is not a true podcast in the sense that it is streaming only; so no taking it with you on the iPod (or mp3 player of your choice) and listening to it on the go. Alas, I must make do. We Funk have a massive back catalogue of their weekly radio shows going back years on their website. It will take a long time to work through that. This kind of podcast makes me very proud to be Canadian. Canada seems years ahead in regards the future sound of hip hop, or maybe the main-stream will never find it because it’s not extreme or shiny or sexy. I don’t want to over describe the station’s wicked beats, sick rhyming, and dangerous groove; but one should just go have a listen for themselves. After listening to quality hip-hop, it’s easy to spot how main-stream gangster rap is weak weak weak: The rapping is slow, the slowly repeated verses about “hoes” become painful. Nothing creative, nothing special, nothing cool; especially the commercials! Ah podcasts; how I love thee. Another strong podcast is the normally innovative CBC Radio 3 podcast. (I admit some shows are better then others.) One small quibble I have is that I don’t think they highlight Canada’s amazing hip-hop scene as much as they should, but I am bias. As artists get discovered from the podcast and move on and up, the smaller artists will take over and the cycle repeats. And again, it’s commercial free. Both podcast have streaming radio stations so the music can stay beaming around the world.

I have recently entered a runner’s twilight zone. Lately it has taken little or no effort to get out after work for a run. This is even more odd in light of my other running habits of not tracking distance, not timing anything, not needing a running buddy for encouragement nor even setting goals. Just lucky I guess.

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