So true, Jamie, so true:


Tofino, BC
J. Ross


Sunset over the Pacific
J. Ross

Also visit:
Jeff Harris
Stereogum
Jeff Johnson

MUSIC

Current iTunes Playlist

Aria from the Goldberg Variations - Julie Steinberg
Most of the Time - Bob Dylan
I only have eyes for you - The Flamingos
Ashes of American Flags - Wilco
Studying Stones - Ani difranco
By the time it gets dark - Yo La Tengo
Que Onda Guero - Beck
E-Pro - Beck
Trapeze Swinger - Iron & Wine
Iron Man - Four Tet
Blue Light - Mazzy star

U2
Bono on the seawall? The Edge doing the Grouse Grind? Larry Mullen Jr. trying to decide which Starbucks to go to? The Vancouver Province has learned that U2 -- the biggest band in the world -- will take over GM Place for a month of rehearsals before the first date of its Vertigo 2005 tour, March 28 in San Diego. The North American tour -- by far the hottest ticket in music today -- takes in 13 cities, including GM Place, April 28 to 29.

All the dates sold out in advance. Vancouver was typical: A first show sold out in eight minutes. The second was added and went clean almost as quickly. Tour promoter ClearChannel Entertainment and its vice-president, Shane Bourbonnais, would not confirm the Vancouver rehearsal. However, a formal announcement is expected to be made in the next few days and trucks started rolling into the lots outside the stadium yesterday.

Vancouver has hosted tour pre-production before. Sarah McLachlan, Cher and Janet Jackson have all prepped tours at GM Place. A source close to U2 said: "This is a great city, geography-wise. It's close to where the tour launches. And Vancouver's a cool city." Meanwhile, the city's excited about the lads being here for more than three weeks before they head to southern California.

At the Irish Heather in Gastown, proprietor Sean Heather loved the thought that he could see the Dublin quartet quaff a pint or two in his pub -- particularly with St. Patrick's Day coming March 17. "Oh yeah, that would be interesting," exclaimed Heather, who's had experience with the big bands. When REM was recording here in 2003, Heather often served them, sometimes sending chips to the Georgia legends at Bryan Adams' Warehouse Recording studio. He also hosted a brief drop-in by U2 two tours ago.

U2 might show up at the Gastown venue again, "because of its proximity and because we pour the best pint of Guinness," said Heather. "I would be thrilled, as an Irishman, to get them through the door." These are good times for U2 -- which has had more than 40 hit songs in its 26-year career. The latest album, How to Dismantle an Atom Bomb, has sold millions worldwide and its lead single "Vertigo" -- from which the tour gets its name -- scored three Grammys earlier this month. On March 14, Bruce Springsteen will induct U2 into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

BECK
For the follow-up to 2002's melancholic Sea Change, Beck reunited with Odelay producers the Dust Brothers on a collection of guitar-heavy songs with party-friendly hip-hop beats. "There was a lot more freedom on this record," Beck says of Guero (Spanish slang for "white boy"), due out March 29th. "I even attempted a couple of rap things, which I didn't think I was gonna do."

The first single, "E-Pro," is a ragged, foot-stomping rocker that uses the drum sample from the Beastie Boys' "So What'cha Want," and "Que Onda Guero" evokes an East L.A. neighborhood with mariachi horns and street noise. Jack White sits in on bass on the sparse, bluesy "Go It Alone," just one of a number of tracks Beck recorded with the White Stripes frontman -- expect more collaborations from the pair in the future.

But Guero isn't just Odelay redux. Uptempo tracks like "Girl" are tempered with somber, even morbid lyrics. "Some Beatles songs are pretty dark," says Beck. "Or Brian Wilson's. Some of the cheeriest songs have that undercurrent."

OSCARS

Who I hope wins:

Imelda Staunton
Natalie Portman
The Sea Inside
Clint Eastwood
Martin Scorcese
Sideways
Morgan Freeman