It had been at least 10 years since I'd seen what billed itself as "the Citizen Kane of alcoholic clown movies," but Shakes The Clown was on TV again this morning so I had to tune in. The 1992 movie starred and was directed by Bobcat Goldthwait and featured the likes of comics Robin Williams, Adam Sandler, Kathy Griffin, Julie Brown and Tim Kazurinsky. It's really not that funny, but a couple of cameos make it worth watching for me.
First is Florence Henderson playing a clown groupie who Shakes (Goldthwait) has an illicit encounter with in a gross and graphic scene that's not for those with squeamish stomachs. That's not the Carol Brady I remember.
Even better is LaWanda Page, who played the God-fearing Aunt Esther in Sanford and Son (one of my all-time favourite sitcoms) portraying a barfly clown who says, "I've got a peanut butter pussy: brown, smooth and easy to spread." A few moments later, while watching a clown with a puppy on TV, Page says, "As soon as that camera's off, he's going to fuck that little dog." I'm sorry, but seeing the woman who played Aunt Esther on TV in my formative years in the '70s uttering those lines just cracks me up.
I had been invited to a Toronto International Film Festival party for a new movie about Tommy Chong that he was supposed to be at last night, but elected to stay in. But I guess I got my comedy icon fix anyway.
The Monkees' career-torpedoing film Head came on TV at 4:30 this morning, but I fell asleep and missed it. I haven't seen that since a repertory theatre in Waterloo showed it when I was going to university there in the late '80s. Victor Mature and Frank Zappa gave the standout performances, in my mind, from that drug-fueled 1968 film starring the pre-fab four that was produced and directed by Bob Rafaelson with assistance from Jack Nicholson. Boxer Sonny Liston, football star Ray Nitschke, Teri Garr (a woman who I said that I'd one day marry about 20 years ago), Dennis Hopper and Nicholson himself are among those who also appear in the film.
Shakes and Head are both available on DVD and would make a very interesting double-bill.

I'm a fan of The Proclaimers' first three albums, but didn't get much out of a previous disc from Nettwerk earlier this decade. But I've just listened to the new Restless Soul album and quite like it. There's more instrumentation than the early days (although there's too much synthesizer on the title track), but there's a definite country element in some of the best songs like Everyday I Try and The One Who Loves You Now. And the organ and darker rootsy rock on Turning Away and What I Saw In You reminded me a lot of Blue Rodeo. I haven't seen the group since I first discovered it at the Pogues Picnic at London's
Finsbury Park in 1987, but it has a club date at Lee's Palace next week that I'm thinking of going to. Has anyone seen The Proclaimers recently and what did you think of the show?

I have no guilt whatsoever in saying that I've never seen an episode of Canadian Idol. But I recently was surprised to read the concert listings section of Now to see that a band called Hedley, which I had never heard of, had sold out The Mod Club. A few days later I found out that Hedley is a band fronted by Jacob Hoggard, who apparently was a Canadian Idol contender. I guess he was billed as the punk Canadian Idol or something like that. I recently received Hedley's debut album from Universal Music Canada and it sounds just like most of the other sludge that seems to pass for alternative rock these days. Congratulations to Hoggard, I guess, for getting an extension of your 15 minutes of fame from Canadian Idol with this album. But I can't really see it lasting much longer. Our Lady Peace is still with us, however, so I could be wrong again. Can we please hear some fresh homegrown music from the Canadian majors soon. I admit that I'm not as in tune with all of their releases as I used to be when I was immersed in it full-time, but Buck 65 is the only original sounding artist directly signed to a Canadian major who immediately jumps to mind when I think about what has been released this year. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

np Dios Malos - So Do I

I went to the launch for Dave Bidini's new The Best Game You Can Name book at The Paddock last night. The book draws parallels between the experiences of former NHL players and some of the musicians and music business people that Dave plays hockey with on a regular basis. I'm seven chapters into the easy-reading book and am enjoying it. I've known Dave since I started going to Rheostatics shows in the late '80s, and I've known some of the people he writes about almost that long, but it's interesting to read about them in ways that I'm not familiar with since I don't interact with them on the ice. I'll write more about the book when I've finished it, but I just wanted to give it an early plug now for all of you who were fans of his previous books or who are interested in former NHL players and current Toronto music scene people like I am.
Dave is also a big Stompin' Tom Connors fan, as am I (which you'd know from a previous post here if you didn't already). So is his friend Steve (the founder of the fun www.argos-suck.com web site) and comic Sean Cullen, who I chatted with last night about Stompin' Tom's Wednesday night performance at Hamilton Place that EMI Music Canada will turn into a DVD later this year. Apparently Tom forgot the words to a few songs, so I guess that there may have to be some judicious editing done on it.
Also in attendance at the launch were: Dave's wife Janet; his Morningstars teammates Steve Stanley, Andy Ford, Tom Goodwin and Johnny Sinclair; Don Kerr; Tim Mech; publicist Cam Carpenter; Chart's Aaron Brophy; Pete Windrem, who you might remember from my Pamplemousse review from last month; and other people who I didn't know.
I unfortunately had to leave early to go to a meeting and missed Dave reading from his book, but he did sign my copy with "To the SS" since we both play on the Horseshoe Tavern softball team. At least Dave did until his knee started acting up this season. Get well soon, my friend. The Morningstars will need you.

A conversation from last night reminded me of the time that I met the late bassist for The Who, John Entwistle, in New Orleans in 1998.
He was walking down Bourbon Street with some of his road crew, and no-one else seemed to recognize him but my friend Kirk and I. We followed him into Pat O'Brien's bar, where we ordered some hurricanes and struck up a conversation. The Ox told me that he was playing the House of Blues in New Orleans the following night, and then was getting in a bus for a show in Minneapolis after that. I laughed. While Entwistle didn't have much of a solo career, you'd think that a member of one of the biggest bands in history could have found at least a few shows to play in between one of the southernmost cities in the U.S. and one of the most northernmost major centres. After talking for a while longer, Entwistle said that he'd put our names on the guest list for the following night's show. We walked out and my last memory is seeing Entwistle and his entourage trying to get into a strip club, and him being extremely indignant at the bouncer who didn't know who he was.
We went to House of Blues the next night and found that we weren't on the guest list. We figured that if the guy had a hard time getting into a Bourbon Street sin palace, he wasn't worth our spending $20 each to see him. We went bar-hopping yet again instead.

I just got home from the Tranzac Club, where I saw fine acoustic sets by Nancy Dutra and Greg Hobbs. I hadn't eaten all day, but it was Hobbs' manager's birthday and she had a cake, so I had a piece. I stayed and chatted with people until the club closed, and then embarked on my homeward walk.
When I got to within a few blocks of my townhouse, a guy driving a new Honda pulled up and asked me if I knew of any after-hours clubs. I don't frequent those places as much as I did a few years ago, and I didn't know any that would be open on a Tuesday night. He then asked me if I knew if there was a bisexual neighbourhood in Toronto. I told him about the gay area on Church Street, but that was the best I could offer. Is there a bisexual neighbourhood in Toronto?
A minute or two later, after the guy had driven around the block, he pulled up again and asked if I'd be interested in a sexual encounter. He was understanding when I told him that wasn't my scene and that I'm a committed heterosexual. After he drove away, I realized that I apologized for turning down his offer. In the past month a couple of my closest friends have chided me for being too honest, polite and easygoing. Normally, those are things I pride myself on. But then I thought that it was weird that I had just said sorry for refusing a ride with a guy who tried to pick me up in his car as I walked home at 3 a.m. Maybe I am too polite, but I can't see that changing.

JC, Tara, Tima and myself ventured south of the border to Buffalo on Friday afternoon. Our first stop was the famous Anchor Bar, where we feasted on a platter of large and delicious chicken wings. The ladies had never had the Anchor Bar experience before, but I try to indulge every time I'm in Buffalo.
It was then on to Orchard Park and Ralph Wilson Stadium for an exhibition game between the Bills and the Detroit Lions. It was a totally uninspiring game, with the Lions taking a 21-7 victory. (You can see one of their touchdowns to the left.) I haven't seen all of the stats, but I'm sure there were more yards in penalties than there were in total offence. Though I haven't been much of a Lions fan since Barry Sanders retired, I was disappointed to see newly signed quarterback Jeff Garcia get clotheslined and go down after a long run. It didn't look that serious, but he was taken off the field on a cart and I found out the next day that his leg was broken and he may miss the entire season. I liked Garcia when he played in the CFL and with the San Francisco 49ers, and I was hoping that he might start ahead of Joey Harrington at QB this season. Oh well, we had beer to comfort us.
We all noticed that most of the kids and teenagers at the game had really big ears.
Donny Kutzbach had invited me to do a guest DJ set at the Mohawk club downtown after the game, but I unfortunately had to decline since we headed back to Toronto right after the game. Just like on the way over, there were no border delays on the way back. The drive home consisted of listening to Buffalo radio station WHTT, which was having an A-Z weekend of songs from the '60s and '70s. We wracked our brains to come up with titles from D through F until we made it home.

Lauree McArdle just pointed out that episode three of Jesus Christ Supercop (http://www.channel102.net/view.php?epid=43) also contains a Kenny Loggins reference.
Thanks, Lauree.

Caddyshack is probably one of my favourite comedies. It's also the only time I can listen to a Journey or Kenny Loggins song without totally cringing. The drummer for Ted Leo and the Pharmacists looks just like Kenny Loggins, and I've called him that to his face a few times. Aside from being an Arkansas Razorback, he's also a really nice guy and took it with good humour. If you're looking for more Kenny Loggins-related humour, check out the three episodes of Yacht Rock at http://www.channel101.com/shows/show.php?show_id=152. Steve Jordan did, and sent me the link. I'm appreciative.
If you're looking for a video from an artist who I admire and respect, the clip for Richard Thompson's new Let It Blow single can be viewed at http://www.richardthompson-music.com/catch_of_the_day.asp?id=452. The low-budget video was directed by experimental guitarist Henry Kaiser. Thompson's new Front Parlour Ballads album will be released in Canada by True North Records in the next few weeks.

I originally wrote this for www.chartattack.com:

Beers As Bands: Comparing 25 suds to rock 'n' rollers
by Steve McLean
Toronto’s 10th annual Festival of Beer took place at Fort York from Aug. 5 to 7, giving thousands of people a chance to sample more than 200 different brews.
While there was also a music component to the event, Steve McLean was more interested in beers that reminded him of bands than paying much attention to what was happening on stage. After two days of intense research, here are his findings:

St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout is a dark, elegant beer from Montreal with strong Canadian roots, but international flair and appeal. The band equivalent is The Dears.

Tiverton Bear Dark Lager is a cold-filtered lager made with no preservatives. It has a black colour and a full-bodied flavour with a slightly bitter, malty taste. This authentic Canadian beer is Edward Bear, which had a hit with "Last Song" in 1972.

Hoegaarden is a Belgian white beer that’s light and slightly fruity with a hint of bubblegum after-taste, which definitely makes it Plastic Bertrand, a Belgian bubblegum pop/new wave act who had a European hit with "Ca Plane Pour Moi" and who also sang another fave of mine, "Hula Hoop."

Niagara Brewing Company Honey Brown is a new honey-coloured beer that lacks the substance of other beers from the brewery, including Eisbock, Gritstone and Millstone. Since the taste is unexceptional, and Niagara Falls is the honeymoon capital, this beer is Honeymoon Suite.

Black Oak Double Chocolate Cherry Stout is a six-per cent-alcohol brew from Oakville, Ontario that’s thinner than most stouts. It has a chocolate aroma and tastes like black forest cake, but not as sweet. That led me to label it as the German pop-metal band, Scorpions.

Black Oak Christmas Porter is very malty with a hint of coffee and a dose of cinnamon. It’s very nice and I wish that it was available all year-round, just like I wish that Burl Ives was still alive.

Black Oak Whiskey Barrel Oak Woody Nut was the longest named beer at the festival. The light brown beverage is aged two weeks in a Jim Beam barrel and reminds me of Janis Joplin, who really liked her bourbon and may have been a bit nuts.

Niagara’s Best Blonde Premium Ale was launched on May 20 in St. Catharines, Ontario and has a taste that’s close to a lager, but sharper and more full-bodied. Its blonde colour and confusion about what it wants to be makes it Twisted Sister.

Robert Simpson Confederation Ale was launched in Barrie, Ontario seven months ago and has already won a gold medal at the Canadian Brewing Awards. This complex but balanced golden ale is definitely The Golden Dogs.

Oddly enough, after having a few Confederation Ales that reminded me of The Golden Dogs, I ordered a Cameron’s Dark 266 that was served to me by Jessica Grassia of The Golden Dogs. I liked the three-month-old, 4.5-per cent alcohol Dark 266 better after my second one, which gives it the staying power of the dynamic reggae band, Black Uhuru.

Amsterdam Framboise has a very dark red colour and a solid raspberry flavour, though not as strong as some Belgian lambics. But its boldness reminds me of the Dutch avant-punk band that was a leader in the Amsterdam squat movement, The Ex.

Stratford Pilsner is brewed by Joe Tuer, who I went to high school with in the Festival City. The brewer is also a big music fan so I gave him the opportunity to equate his beer with a band and he unequivocally stated "Slint." That iconoclastic indie rock band wouldn’t have been my first choice, but I suppose that I can be talked into certain things after downing a few easy-drinking pilsners.

Kawartha Lakes Raspberry Wheat is one of my favourite summertime beers. Its slightly sweet, subtly fruit-infused flavour offers up reminders of Eric Carmen’s early ‘70s pop group, The Raspberries, which had a smash with "Go All The Way." I could go all the way with this beer.

Neustadt 10W30 is a mild, malty dark ale that’s popular in the U.K. The 5.5-per cent alcohol beer from Neustadt, Ontario is very refreshing, but its oil-related name makes me think of cars and mechanics, so I’d make this the equivalent of British garage rock band, The Troggs.

Upper Canada Pale Ale was just relaunched as a lager alternative. The yellowy gold brew isn’t as hoppy as most true pale ales, but this is a good choice for Keith’s drinkers who want to go a bit more upscale. It reminds me of a Canadian band that would like to be English, but aren't. This beer is Hot Hot Heat.

Upper Canada Red came out in February. This upscale alternative to Rickard’s Red has a nice bouquet and the ale has a malty, slightly fruity flavour. This beer is classy, without being pretentious, which tells me that it ought to be Canadian singer/songwriter/guitarist/producer/actor Colin Linden.

Trafalgar Mead from Oakville, Ontario comes in a variety of flavours, including blueberry, raspberry, black currant, wildberry and citrus. Mead is one of the oldest alcoholic beverages and, with nine per cent alcohol, it packs a punch. Meads always reminds me of medieval times, so the Trafalgar selection gets a nod to Tenpole Tudor.

Wellington Imperial Stout isn’t too heavy and doesn’t have as much head as some stouts. But it’s smooth and has a slightly nutty taste. The Guelph, Ontario product is imperial, but for and of the people, just like The Constantines.

Glengarry 91/Shilling Scotch Ale is a hand-pumped, 8.5-per cent alcohol cask-conditioned real ale from Ottawa. It’s slightly sweet and surprisingly mellow considering the high alcohol content. It’s very unique in character and flavour, as is British Sea Power.

Captain Cascade also comes from Ottawa’s Scotch Irish Brewing Company. It’s an extremely hoppy real ale and reminds me of a British band that makes you hop and doesn’t come along every day: The Specials. That group featured singer Lynval Golding; the brewery sometimes uses Goldings hops.

Patagonia is a 4.9-per cent alcohol lager from Argentina that comes in a clear bottle to display its extremely pale gold colour. It was better than expected and has more European characteristics than you find in most beers from Central and South America. I don’t know any bands from Argentina, so let’s just pretend that Sepultura is from there and not Brazil.

Mill Street Belgian Style Wit Bier is only available on tap in the summer from the Toronto brewery. This cloudy witbier is my favourite Mill Street product. It has a nice aroma with an orange peel infusion and a hint of banana that had me singing the "Banana Splits Theme" by The Dickies.

Mill Street Stock Ale is a classic Canadian ale that’s a little more flavourful than Molson Stock Ale. This very pale, easy-drinking brew is The Tragically Hip.

Rogue Half-e-Weizen is a Belgian-style, unfiltered wheat beer flavoured with coriander seed and ginger that has a much stronger flavour than most hefeweizens. This unfiltered 4.8-per cent alcohol beer is from Oregon and reminds me of Everclear.

Belgian Peches is a peach-flavoured 3.5-percent alcohol wheat beer from Belgium with a cloudy colour and a tangy taste that, for obvious reasons, says Presidents Of The United States Of America to me.

I hadn't listened to Pavement's Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain album for a long time until this afternoon. Don't make the same mistake. The whole album is good, but Cut Your Hair is probably one of the best -- but now largely forgotten -- songs of the mid-'90s.

ASS PONYS
Ass Ponys' two A&M albums, 1994's Electric Rock Music and 1996's The Known Universe, were two of my favourites of those respective years.
Electric Rock Music begins with Grim, which features one of my favourite verses ever: "Standing on the highway/My pants around my knees/I'd write her name out on the road/But I can't piss Denise."
Electric Rock Music also features two other certifiable left-field classics in Litttle Bastard and Earth To Grandma, while Place Out There, Lake Brenda, Peanut '93, Banlon Shirt and Gypped aren't far behind. It remains my favourite Ass Ponys album.
The Known Universe suffers a bit by comparison, but still features fine tracks like the alt.country Under Cedars and Stars and It's Summer Here.
I saw the Ass Ponys play twice during this period and the band combined its rock, pop, roots and country elements flawlessly and with good humour, including a show-ending cover of Eric Carmen's All By Myself. I spent some time talking and drinking with the band in the dressing room after each show and enjoyed it thoroughly. The guys, especially main man Chuck Cleaver, have a way of describing dark things in a lighthearted way that is totally absorbing.
But the band parted ways with A&M after that and I don't think it returned to Toronto to play, either. So I lost touch with the group, which released two albums on the Checkered Past label. But my Postcard From Hell friend Jeff Keating (a Cincinnatti resident like the members of the band) just sent me a home-made compilation of his favourite Ass Ponys songs, which features nine songs from these last two albums.
The three tracks from 2000's Some Stupid With A Flare Gun were probably my least favourite, but the standout Astronaut reminded me a bit of Frank Black -- as do a number of the group's songs, now that I think about it.
Lohio, from 2001, went in a more alt.country direction than previous releases, from what I can gather. But while Last Night It Snowed starts off slowly, it soon breaks into a bigger rock sound and some subtle horns can be heard in the background. Some fiddle can be heard on Only and Calendar Days, while Kung Fu Reference, Dried Up and Butterfly easily stand up with the band's best.
Cleaver has a high, quavery voice that I know won't be for everyone, but it suits his material perfectly. The lyrics aren't your run-of-the-mill "boy meets girl" love songs, but Cleaver manages to explore potentially uncomfortable subjects without getting depressing -- which is an accomplishment he should be proud of.
Ass Ponys, to the best of my knowledge, haven't released anything since Lohio. And while the band still plays, it apparently doesn't stray too far from home that often. So here's a plea to Chuck and the boys: Please record another album and come to Toronto in support of it.
Thanks for the disc, Keats. I owe you one.

np Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain

Thanks to Rob Janes for this rather depressing bit of information:
http://tinyurl.com/ba3w2

Police: Miss. Man Kills Sister Over Bag Of Ice
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Police in Hattiesburg, Miss., said a man fatally shot his sister in the head over a bag of ice.Authorities say 35-year-old Antonio Page shot his sister with a handgun on a street corner Tuesday night.Police Chief David Wynn said the woman's name was not available.Wynn said tempers are short, but he can't understand why a member of someone's family could take that step.The shooting is being treated like a homicide, Wynn said.

I've been a big Stompin' Tom Connors fan since I was a kid. I have more than a dozen of his albums, I've seen him perform at least half-a-dozen times and have had that many conversations and beers with him. I have an autographed Stompin' Tom T-shirt and photo, two almost life-sized cardboard stand-ups of the man in my townhouse, and had a customized Stompin' Tom beer bottle until it accidentally fell off a shelf and broke. But I don't have a Stompin' Tom DVD because, until now, he's never had one. Tom is playing Hamilton Place on Sept. 7 and a crew will be on hand to shoot material for a DVD at the show. EMI Music Canada will be releasing the DVD on a still unannounced date when it's finished and ready to go.

Echo and the Bunnymen's Siberia, the band's first album in four years, will be released in Canada by True North Records on Oct. 4. While I don't know if any song ranks as an all-time Echo classic, from start to finish this may be the most consistent overall album the band has put out (this is its 10th studio album) in its 26 years. Ian McCulloch calls it the band's masterpiece, but he's never been one to keep his ego in check when it comes to extolling his own genius. But the songs are strong, McCulloch's in good voice, and Will Sergeant's guitar work is still divine. Hugh Jones -- who produced the band's Heaven Up Here album in 1981 and who's also worked with The Teardrop Explodes, Simple Minds and Del Amitri -- returned once again to take over from McCulloch and Sergeant. Jones says it's the best album he's ever produced, too, so I guess these guys (and me) must be on to something. Parts of album opener Stormy Weather vaguely remind me of a more upbeat The Killing Moon near the beginning. Of A Life and Make Us Blind are my other two favourites, but I haven't found any filler after my first two listens to this 50-minute CD. Bassist Pete Wilkinson and drummer Simon Finley, who played on McCulloch's shining Slideling album from 2003 and who have been touring with McCulloch and Sergeant, round out the quartet for Siberia. The band will be touring North America in November and December and a Nov. 23 date at Toronto's elegant Carlu is on the schedule. I finally saw Echo and the Bunnymen for the first time when the group played Palais Royale two years ago, and I was impressed by both how tight the band was and how well so many of its songs still hold up after all of these years. With these 11 new great songs to choose from to add to the set list, I'm sure this tour will bring more memorable shows.