Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In MySpace

So this blogging this isn't working for me much anymore, I admit. Still, I like this corner of cyberspace and I'm not about to give it up, but for now, please check for rumblings from me at my MySpace site instead. I have a small blog going there and will add to it periodically. Satellite Town will continue to exist, but won't be updated until I'm in a position where I have the proper time to commit to it and the drive to do it right. When that is, I can't say with any certaintly.

Hope to find you here instead: www.myspace.com/darkstar416

-Jason Paris

Enjoy The Silence

I know, I know... It's been terribly dead at this particular web portal for the better part of two months. However, things will soon be getting exciting again. I promise!

To be perfectly honest, I never really went into this blogging thing knowing what I wanted to do with this corner of cyberspace. So I just started writing when I had a chance and the results were relatively good, but I think inconsistent. So I've been doing some thinking about it and have come up with some new ideas that I'll be testing soon. For the most part, the tempo will be much quicker and the posts will be more personal (and likely shorter). Although, I'd still like to get some longer-form stuff up here as well. Also, I'll be making some colour scheme changes as well as a few other modest adjustments as long as I can figure out the wacky world of HTML.

In the meantime, thanks for continuing to visit Satellite Town and I promise new postings, dialogue and ideas real soon!

Spiritchaser

Since I've been tardy with this blog over the last two weeks (and you've thereby been getting more ass than you ever probably wanted), I figured I should do a quick post about some lights at the end of the dreary radio tunnel. First off, at least in these parts, don't bother with over-the-air radio as we already know there's little quality there. Also, I don't own satellite radio, so I can't accurately comment on that, but here's some great online radio stations well worth a point and click:

WOXY - Cincinnati-based internet only radio station that is everything that CFNY would be today if it hadn't corporatized. Real announcers with real personalities, massive playlists and one of the best places to discover new music anywhere. The station takes lots of musical chances and isn't afraid to mash-up the genres while continuing to support its hometown (Ohio-based) talent. Unfortunately WOXY has run into some "temporary" financial problems, so it's currently charging $9.95/month USD, but still well worth it in my opinion. WOXY genuinely got me excited about music again a few years back.

BBC 6 Music - The best in music snob radio. Basically, it skews a bit older than BBC Radio 1 (but only in a good way). A founding premise of the station is to make significant use of the extensive live music archives belonging to the British pubcaster (including the impressive "Peel Sessions" put together by the late and very great John Peel). There's also tonnes of live music sessions and unplugged specials. The station's presenters truly know what they are talking about and can get away with their sometimes over-the-top music snobbery. Basically, if you've always been a musical anglophile and were born in the 1970s and your partying ways peaked around 1999, this is probably the station for you.

CBC Radio 3 - This gets a bit confusing as there's so many different platforms. However, I'm talking about the internet version here, not the Sirius platform, nor the version that airs on Radio 2 over the weekend. Confused yet? If not, it's recently been re-launched (with an accompanying blog which is quite witty), as a one-stop place to hear the newest in avant-garde and bubbling-under Can-rock, pop, hip hop and dance. In other words, what everyone was talking about at this year's SXSW.

A few others...

Radio Nova - Based in Paris and wonderfully French and sexy in all the good ways. I like to think of it as Radio Dee-verse-eat-ay!

Iceberg Radio - Toronto based service that offers 100 channels streaming commercial-free music, 24/7. Something for everyone here, but little personality.

Speaking of fantastic personlities, also be sure to check-out CFNY alumni Lee Carter (who is also BBC Radio's Toronto stringer) who has recently uploaded two very excellent podcasts available via the Spirit of Radio website...here.

Happy listening!

Spirit of The Ass

Once upon a time, the radio dial in Toronto had something pretty unique; a commercial radio station that actually took chances and played some pretty darn progressive music to the masses. Moreover, it didn't repeat the same songs ad nauseam and even believed in allowing their popular DJs to have a say in the programming of the station. If that wasn't unbelievable enough, this same station also wasn't shy in straying beyond the often pigeon-holed "modern rock" format and would often venture into jazz, hip hop and intelligent dance tangents as well. This station was most commonly referred to by its call-letters "C-F-N-Y" and its legacy continues to play a large role in the lore of Toronto music history.

CFNY does still exist today. Well, technically at least. The call letters are the same and it still broadcasts remarkably clear to much of Southern Ontario and Western New York on the 102.1 FM frequency. While the station may have moved from the satellite city of Brampton to the Eaton Centre smack-dab in downtown T.O., the biggest change has not been from geography, but from philosophy. Basically, a rapid corporatization of their brand began around 1991 and then continued unabated. While the station remained a reasonably progressive force until the mid-1990s pretty much all was lost upon its reincarnation as "The Edge" (which was created by a U.S. consulting firm) a little later.

In the station's heyday, it was considered a genuine cultural barometer and one of only a select few radio stations on the continent that truly mattered in shaping the future of music (up there with L.A.'s de-famed KROQ). Sadly, that distinction has been waning ever sense, and today The Edge is nothing more than your run-of-the-mill North American alt-rock station that would probably be as comfortable broadcasting from a storefront in Kitchener as they are from their studios in downtown T.O. They may pretend to have their ears to the ground in this city's music scene, but their ears are firmly planted high above Yonge Street listening carefully to what shareholders are demanding in the next office. Their audience is overwhelmingly male and overwhelmingly collegiate and while introducing groundbreaking new music may have been the modus operandi of the station in the past, it's now about squeezing its demographic every which way it can. Their play lists are extremely tight, limited and uninspired. They aren't playing much of a role in Toronto's exploding indie rock scene and they strangely seem more content on being that station that you might listen to for a few years when you didn't really know better than one that you would be willing to give your all-out devotion to for a few decades of your life. CFNY's fall from relevance is well documented though, and that's not really what this entry is about anyway.

Today The Edge is little more than frat boy radio or as I like to call it "beer fart radio." So perhaps I shouldn't have been totally surprised by the new low that their marketing department has recently taken. If this were Q107, I might just shrug my shoulders and look the other way, but admittedly every new inane thing The Edge ever does seems to perpetually remind me of all that's been lost. What I'm referring to in particular is their new lowest-of-the-low Buns of Steel promo. As they say themslves...it's ASS-tounding!

Basically, fans of the station are invited down to The Edge's street-front studios where a lucky (or unlucky depending on the dorsal I suppose) intern gets to snap their posterior. A quick view down the Buns of Steel sub-site shows a wide variety of mostly collegiate trail in both official genders. Some pinchable others kickable and some that you wouldn't want to share a room with. But that's besides the point. The point is, what is the point?

This isn't some voyeur site. It's the website of a federally licensed radio station that purports to be on the leading edge of music and culture. Now don't get me wrong, I like looking at the backsides of 20-somethings as much as the next person and I'm not in the least getting moralistic on your...umm...ass here. I just don't understand the raison d'être of the contest. Apparently people have until March 8th to vote for their favourite ass on the Buns of Steel page. Online voting will narrow it down to a "Top 5" of which thier owners will be invited to the Dean Blundell Show on March 10th to take part in an "ASS-Olympics." That's right...an ASS-Olympics!

Now someone in Corus' marketing department might think they are pretty clever, but really, this isn't clever at all. In fact, there's nothing ironic or even worthy of a second thought about this contest. Having your bum posted on a corporate-owned website isn't rebellion, unless you like it spoon-fed to you. However, listening to something groundbreaking like Sigur Ros very well could be. This stunt is being done for mild shock value and has nothing to do with being progressive or edgy. In fact, a better blogger could probably argue quite the opposite. This antic is interesting on the same level that a bunch of drunken' frat boys in a suburban bar's parking lot yelling "show us your tits" to some girl is amusing.

In my eyes (and words), CFNY has just hit its all time low in terms of quality. I know, its been bottom feeding for ages now, but this is quantifiably absurd. To be honest, I'm not even sure how the station is doing in the ratings anymore, but I'm sure the frat houses are all over it. Quick ratings gains aren't everything anyway. It's about self respect and building audiences slowly, but surely. It's also about keeping the focus on what your organization is supposedly all about -- the music. This whole campaign smacks of desperation and feels and looks like a lame attempt to increase the station's ratings before the next book. Yup, even more desperate than getting Steve-O to piss on your station's carpet.

CFNY was once the station that introduced a continent to New Wave, but now it's introducing the world to the bum hole's of Toronto's 20-somethings. And all the while horribly derivative Nickelback is playing in the background (as it does on every other station in this city I might add). Speaking of, the only thing worse than this stupid promo that I can imagine is Nickelback with their pants around their ankles posing for it!

Oh and I think we've finally figured out what those call letters really do stand for...C-F-a-N-Y!

---------------------------------------------------

In other news, someone please give this man a job!

Miasmatic Inhaler

For those that long for the days of overwhelmingly loud and droning music performed by motionless bands who would sooner stare at their feet, look no further!

They aren't the greatest of quality, but I've come across a freakin' fantastic collection of shoegazer videos that Much Music wouldn't even dare play on a 04:00 in the morning. Ride, MBV, Chapterhouse, The Boo Radleys, Revolver, Spiritualized, Slowdive, Swervedriver, Lush, The Pale Saints, etc. All the biggies -- and a few not so biggies -- are all here.

So just click here for tonnes of swirly fun.

Enjoy!

St. Clair Saved!

Finally some good news around these parts...St. Clair Avenue has been saved! That's right saved! Rescued from an organization of parochially dishonest interests who were set to derail (literally and figuratively) a sensible plan to increase the reliability of transit service on a busy mid-town corridor. As per yesterday's court decision, the city now has the approval to spend the $65 million to build a transit right-of-way (R.O.W.) along St. Clair Avenue, between Yonge & Gunn's Loop (just west of Keele Street).

This decision wasn't only important for those in the area, but also because much of Toronto's new official plan and the TTC's ridership growth strategy were based on the idea of increasing light-rail in dedicated R.O.W.'s on major avenues. It is a sensible and realistic way of moving more people faster and without the prohibitively large costs and the politics associated with building a subway in 2006 Toronto. If this idea to both intensify our avenues and increase the reliability of transit on them couldn't succeed somewhere as bloody obvious as St. Clair (which had a streetcar right-of-way originally by the way) than the rest of those plans -- and perhaps our metropolis' transportation future -- were doomed as well. So this is really a victory for the entire city. As John Barber speculated in today's Globe, we may soon be seeing streetcar/tram R.O.W.'s in many other parts of the city as well.

The S.O.S. organization had pretended to speak for the area, but only ever represented a loud, but minority view. Moreover, they delayed this whole project on a technicality, not on a convincing argument. In the process they've costed themselves (and the city) a tonne of money. The public consultations that this process went through were one of the longest and most detailed that this city has ever endured. Despite the S.O.S.'s suggestions, nobody was ramming anything down anyone's throats.

St. Clair has long seemed the black sheep of Toronto's streetcar "avenues." It has felt, for at least a generation now, like its best days were well behind it and it often looked that way too. Few people go there for anything anymore and a large invasion of dollar stores has mostly replaced the charming ethnic eateries and specialized shops that once dotted the entire stretch. Most decent retailers left the area as much of the Italian population picked-up and headed for North York (to be followed by another move to Woodbridge a few years later). In turn, many stopped shopping and dining there and in large part due to the inconsistent transit situation. The R.O.W. will be a positive development. The area still has some charm and tonnes of potential. If people are quite willing to endure a 30 minute streetcar ride for latest it bar in Parkdale, I'd dare say they are more than ready to throw their money at a rejuvinated St. Clair.

Streetcars filled to the brim with 70 people will no longer get stuck behind single-occupancy vehicles spending five minutes trying to make a left turn. St. Clair is on two subway lines, is a very wide avenue, has lots of density to it and has always had a European way to it, both in terms of population and feel. A more reliable streetcar service anchoring the neighbourhood (with streetscape improvements as part of the package) can only enhance and restore the neighbourhood to its former glory. The new St. Clair may not be quite so Italian anymore, but at lesat it will now have European-like transit infrastructure.

For the record, traffic is getting worse regardless, at least with the R.O.W., one of the modes will have a reliability to it. And it's the mode that is the most urban and environmentally sensitive. It's also the mode that our elected officials -- through an exhaustive public consultation process -- gave the green light to. If the people of S.O.S. are really so concerned about traffic, they should stake a chunk of the Oak Ridges Moraine and declare it a nature preserve.

In the meantime, boycott's over, Go St. Clair!

Sour Apples for Downtown T.O.

I must admit, I know very little about the Mac world. I'm willing to cede that they are probably the better machines, but I'm only basing that on the opinion of smart friends, not personal experience. Anyone whose ever seen me try to navigate around a Mac desktop will attest to the fact that I can probably speak French better than I can operate a Mac. Strangely though, this doesn't mean that I wasn't excited by the prospect of a flagship Apple store for downtown Toronto!

From my travels to London, England and...ummm....Yorkdale Mall...and yah, from internet pictures too, I've always found Apple stores to be high on design, high on accessibility, high on friendliness and just general darn good places to experience "retail" for all its glory. Moreover, in major cities (like the San Francisco store pictured here) Apple has always set-up shop on prominent downtown streets where a real presence on the urban landscape has been made. While a retailer making a major presence isn't always a good thing, in Apple's case they've always seemed to do it tastefully and in such a way that their large windows looking into their busy stores symbiotically interact well with the bustling streetscape passing by on the other side.

Apple's tech-savvy followers which include many musicians, graphic designers, film-makers, artists and such are all decidedly urban creatures. Which is why it is with both confusion and regret that I found out today that Toronto's Apple flagship store is going to be situated inside the south end of the Toronto Eaton Centre with no street presence whatsoever. While the extenda-galleria that is the Eaton Centre is arguably one of the best quasi-public spaces in the world, it still isn't very urban and just doesn't seem to mesh in my mind with who I think of as the typical Mac consumer and where they like to shop. Moreover, it doesn't do much for the image of Toronto as a strong city for street-based retail (which it isn't, but perhaps was getting slightly better).

It's not like there aren't plenty of other sites available in downtown T.O. Heck, some even in other parts of the Eaton Centre would have sufficed, but this one is up on the 3rd Floor and will have no street presence at all. Moreover, the space doesn't seem that big and will probably be horribly overcrowded much like their Yorkdale Store always is. I fear Apple will simply take all it can from Toronto, but not give anything back. In other words, it won't be any different than any of those other retailers in the Eaton Centre (or most any mall for that matter).

I really am still confused about the location. For instance, why not use the former J.J. Muggs site on Dundas which would have given Apple both an Eaton Centre presence while also fronting Canada's busiest corner? Alternately, they could have taken over one of those Eaton Centre stores fronting Yonge Street who prefer to keep their Yonge Street doors closed (defeating the whole point in the newish "faux-mo" Yonge Street facade of eight years back). Moreover, they could have moved in to Metropolis and given that project a bit more of a positive buzz. There would have also been options for Bloor Street and for Queen Street (perhaps in the ground floor of the new Canada Life Tower). Maybe they still will as I'm sure Toronto's big enough to handle more than one downtown location. However, in the meantime it's still disappointing that when people want to come visit our Apple Store that we'll have to take them to one of two malls.

Apple is supposed to be a hip and quarky company, right? Heck, even sexy! And while the store I'm sure will be somewhat impressive, it likely won't be worthy of "flagship status" and likely won't have that hip, quarky and sexy feeling of those other Apple flagships from around the world. It's just all so uninspring for a company that often exceeds expectations about these things. Moreover, this is downtown Toronto, the heart of a region of 5 million. Not exactly a small catchment area. What gives Apple?

And if you really want a taste of sour envy in your mouth, check out some pictures of Apple's newish SoHo store in NYC. Sour apples for the T.O. indeed.