Rant of the Week: Trains

I understand the need for trains. I like trains. I wish we used passenger trains far more here, and, with a country as vast as Canada, I can’t figure out why we don’t.

But.

There is a time and a place for trains, and rush hour is not that time when the place is the middle of a city. Yesterday, for the SECOND TIME THIS WEEK, I was stopped for a good 5-10 minutes by a train on my way home from work very close to 5:00 pm. Now, I understand the need for trains to run on time. I get it.

But.

There are two periods in the day, when automobile traffic is at its peak, that trains should not be running through the city. The train that I ran into crosses quite a few main routes along its line through the city’s south side. The one I keep running into trouble with crosses city streets on several occasions:34 st, 75 st, 86 st, 91 st, 97 st, and about 5 times along Gateway Boulevard access points. Now this would be fine at 8 pm, or something like that. But from 7:30 – 9 am and 4:30 – 6 pm, it causes problems. That’s only 3 hours, 1/8th of a day, where trains shouldn’t be filling city streets. It creates terrible backups, clogs interesections, and increases the risk of accidents. Not to mention, it contradicts the anti-idling movement that’s sweeping the nation. What’s worse than a 10-car lineup at a Tim Horton’s drive-thru? A 100-car lineup at a railroad crossing. There. Trains in rush hour = evil because they cause idling. No further proof needed.

Sure, maybe its just inconvenient and I’m attempting to justify the torrid pace of my lifestyle, but after all, this is the Rant of the Week, and this gets me a little hot under the proverbial collar. I need a nap.

Nine Inch Nails: Unforgettable

After taking in the auditory assault that was Judas Priest and Testament the previous night and waking up feeling like crap, I was unsure of the shape I’d be in for the Nine Inch Nails (NIN) concert. Thankfully, I persevered, otherwise I would have missed out on the best concert of my life.

From the first few notes of 1,000,000; an excellent track from NIN’s new album, The Slip, I knew I was in for a hell of a ride. The multi-talented Trent Reznor and his touring band started the show off hard and heavy, delving into new numbers like Discipline and fan-favorite March of the Pigs in front of a wall of rotating lights. The energy these guys brought to the stage was amazing, and they had the whole floor rocking out and singing along.

The first light show was good enough, but Nine Inch Nails surpassed anything I’ve seen during the rest of the show. As screens of LED lights descended from the rafters, guitars and drums were replaced with synths as NIN dove into some of their more electronic material in front of columns of green light. It was a eerie effect, and it set the mood perfectly.

I was even more surprised when the synths gave way to xylophones, cellos, and oboes (or was it a clarinet?) as NIN performed some of the tracks from their ambient album, Ghosts, finishing off with a new rendition of a classic, Piggy. If this was any other band, this would have been a low point in the show. However, NIN’s brilliant display of layered, semi-transparent LED screens with awe-inspiring lighting compositions provided the perfect backdrop for the laid-back, atmospheric music. From a desert scene complete with layers of clouds to a thick wall of static that eventually gave way to the band performing behind it, the concert was a treat for the eyes as much as the ears.

After the ambient interlude, Trent got right back to business, launching into classics like Wish and Terrible Lie before finishing the main set with an energetic rendition of Head Like a Hole. The show finished with a strong four-song encore, including fan-favorite Hurt and ending with the atmospheric In This Twilight.

Reznor’s voice was flawless the entire night, and his band’s multi-instrument work was a thing of beauty. I was apprehensive about how the material from more electronic efforts like Year Zero would translate from album to arena, but they sounded excellent. In less capable hands, this show could have been a mess, but Reznor proved again why he’s one of the best things going in the music business today.

Crystal Castles opened, but I could only stand two songs of their 8-bit-noise/house beats and painful vocals. 30 seconds into Nine Inch Nails’ performance and I had forgotten about them. Apparently their albums are better than their live show, so I won’t write them off entirely just yet.

Between the visual aspect and the musical intensity, NIN’s performance was unforgettable. Best show of the year? Try best of my life.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Bow to the Priest

I can almost die happy.

Last night, I was able to make my “bands I want to see before I die” list one shorter, and Judas Priest did not dissapoint. I was a bit worried that Rob Halford would have lost his incredible vocal range (he’s 56 years old now), but he performed admirably. Sure, he doesn’t move around quite as fast, but he still managed to change between a wide array of studded leather trenchcoats will relative ease. K.K. Downing and Glen Tipton still have the chops as well. Their dual-lead guitar stylings never fail to impress me on albums, and they were just as sharp live.

You have to love a show where the singer starts off by rising out of the stage wearing a shiny robe, carrying a trident, and singing about Nostradamus. A bit much for some, perhaps, but the crowd ate it up. Judas Priest didn’t dwell in new territory for long, though. They quickly launched into fan-favorites Metal Gods and Between the Hammer and the Anvil (a personal favorite), and from that, the crowd knew that they were in for an amazing show. Things kind of dragged in the middle with one of the slower songs from their new album, Nostradamus, and the forgettable ballad Angel from 2005’s Angel of Retribution (I would have preferred Judas Rising, by far the best track on that album). However, my faith was restored with the rousing finale of Sinner (the highlight of the night) and Painkiller, followed by an encore of Hellbent for Leather, The Green Manalishi, and, of course, You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’.

Opening act Testament made me an instant fan. I now regret not checking these guys out earlier, as they put on an intense, incredibly heavy opening set. The sound in the Shaw isn’t made for thrash metal, but Testament persevered with an onslaught of pounding drums and Chuck Billy’s crushing vocals. It’s the first time that my ears were ringing after the opening act, and I loved every second of it.

The only disappointing thing was the long line to get in followed by a relatively small crowd of 3500 in the venue. I know Monsters of Rock was yesterday and Priest played there, but c’mon Edmonton! This may have been your last chance to see the Metal Gods themselves (though I sincerely hope not), and if you weren’t there, you missed out on a hell of a show.

Rating: four out of five.

A win is a win… Eskimos squeak by Tabbies

Well, the Eskimos managed to squeak out a win over the lowly Tiger-Cats tonight. Was it overly impressive? No, but it was nice to see the Eskimo Defense rebound after a brutal outing in Toronto last week.

Defense
Holding Jesse Lumsden to 55 yards is no easy task, but the Eskimos D got it done. Sure, Lumsden probably isn’t 100% yet, and he still averaged 5.5 yards per carry, but most of those yards came later in the game. The Esks managed to throw him off his game early and he never got into much of a rhythm. Sure, Hamilton’s offense wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders, but the D put a ton of pressure on Casey Printers, and it paid off. Printers was scrambling all night, and was the recipient of a number of sacks for his trouble.

Offense
Another 300+ yards night from Ricky Ray. When he’s good, he’s good. It was also nice to see the ball get back into Kelly Campbell’s capable hands. After a plethora of dropped balls early on (including a potential Fred Stamps touchdown), I was a bit worried. However, the recieving corps came through, especially Kelly Campbell, who had the only touchdown of the game. If the last few games are any indication, when Campbell gets involved, the Eskimos win. Still, Ray threw 47 passes, and the Eskimos only managed 73 yards on 14 carries. Not bad, but not great. Our offense is still pretty one-dimensional, and I’d like to see the ball in AJ Harris’ capable hands a bit more.

On a serious note, I hope Jason Tucker is alright. He he didn’t return after a nasty helmet-to-helmet collision in the 3rd quarter. He was able to move his hands and feet later on, so that’s a good sign. Here’s to a speedy recovery.

Special Teams
Mr. Prefontaine goes 4 for 4, Tristan Jackson has another competent game, and they managed to hold Hamilton to very few return yards. Again, special teams may have won us the game here.

Final:
Edmonton Eskimos: 19
Hamilton Tiger-Cats: 13

Game Ball:
Noel Prefontaine, K, Edm
-Another near-perfect performance including 4 field goals and a nice 10-yard dash to avoid a potentially blocked punt. Well played, sir.

Vroom vroom….Wait, is that who I think it is?

So its Indy time in Edmonton, and you know what that means. Fast cars, Danica Patrick, sweltering heat, and…parties hosted by b-list celebrities? What a great way to start this blog.

Alright. I get it. Edmonton isn’t Vegas. But c’mon. Despite having aging-yet-awesome rock star Gene Simmons waving the starting flag at the race itself, we’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel:

“The downtown Globe Hospitality group (Globe, Oil City, Fluid Lounge, Bank Ultra Lounge) has put up its Indy Downtown Summer Party Tent, with Kevin Federline tomorrow and Mini Me Saturday.”

As reported in the usual local source for bad celebrity news, we’re gettin’ K-Fed to host the big party. If that wasn’t awesome enough, Verne Troyer is taking over for the second night of tent-partying.

Precious.

Personally, I think we would have been better off springing for someone who isn’t well beyond their 15 minute of fame. Even someone less famous, but a bit more, y’know, respectable. Really, what does this say about Edmonton when we have one of the biggest jokes in the entertainment business and a one-hit-wonder (Mini-Me of course, I haven’t seen Verne’s sex tape yet) hosting one of our allegedly hottest parties of the year? Do we really respect these people because of what they do, or do we just want to attach a name to our event to raise its profile? Note to the organizers: It’s an Indy car race. That’s a global sporting event that we are very lucky to host! Hell, even Gene Simmons is a fan; I’m sure we don’t need K-Fed and Verne to get people excited about it.

Oh hey, there’s a race going on too. Get out and enjoy it if you got free tickets from work. Otherwise, good luck

Tapping the keg…

That may be the last beer-related tagline you’ll see on here. Unless I’m actually talking about beer, which is a likely scenario at some point down the line.

So, you’re here. Thanks.
What can you expect to find here? Well, I won’t spoil the surprise. Check the “About” tab to see why I’d dedicate a blog to writing about Edmonton, and what exactly you can expect to find. This will be under construction for a while, so bear with me. I’m still working out a few kinks with WordPress as well, but I’ll get the hang of it soon enough.