Sometimes when I require inspiration for a post, I go to my friends. By that, I mean I go on Facebook. They say you are only as good as the company you keep so with that in mind, I went on Facebook hoping someone would miraculously inspire me with an amazing Facebook status update. Lets take a look... Ahh there it is. Let's face it - remixes mostly suck. However I am in the camp that believes that not all remixes suck. So here are some remixes I think [...]
2013 is upon us. The Mayans were wrong, everything is out the window now. Here are our fearless predictions for 2013. Reeling with the success he achieved by reforming Nirvana, Paul McCartney decides to reform other bands with diseased members over the course of 2013 including Joy Division, The Grateful Dead and Amy Winehouse. Things turn real when Simon Cowell casts Fiona Apple and Chan Marshall to replace Britney Spears and Demi Lovato on X Factor With great success on the seas, Goldenvoice announces: Coachella: The Safari to great [...]
Shaolin Warriors When I read that China's Shaolin Warriors was coming to Toronto for a performance at the Sony Centre, I put it on my must-attend list. Growing up as a child in Hong Kong, I was treated to a constant yet healthy portion of kung fu televsion shows and cartoons featuring the calm, spiritual yet deadly men who inhabited the ancient temples of China. A great source of entertainment as a child, these warriors were mythical creatures who move with a grace of a deer and struck with a precision of a cobra. It helped [...]
Road Trips are a delicate creature, especially with friends you have never road tripped with before. There's so many questions to consider a) are people talkers? are they sleepers? b) is there a small bladder person? are we stopping often or going for broke? c) who rides shotgun? what are their duties? d) are there any personal topics that are off guard in conversation? Of all the questions to ask, the most important one is obviously e) who is in charge of music? Most of the time when I'm [...]
The Olympics are fun and all, but it's getting kind of stale. Every four years it's the same same sport. How many triple flips can you see before you become bored? It's time to inject some life and drama into the tournament and I am here to provide some suggestions. I have a bunch but here is the first. Escalating High Dive This is a new "sport" and tests one of the most human elements - fear as well as the ability to dive accurately. The venue will be an outdoor pool of about [...]
It's once again time to celebrate our fabulous country, one that I leave very often but always come back to. Here are some things to remind us just how great Canada is. 12 Year contract! Woo. The most loved and hated basketball players for Canadians in one picture! Steve Nash, coming to a Toronto Raptor near you (bank it). Congratulations to Carly Rae Jepsen for not only introducing us to a song THAT NEVER LEAVES YOUR HEAD and [...]
It's been a while since we did lyrical analysis here at the Panic Manual, but that's just how life is sometimes. Just like the previous time, when we dug deep and exposed the meanings of Our Lady Peace's classic track Superman's Dead , we will once again reach back in the sands of time and look at another classic from the 902s - Moist's leading single off their sophomore album Creature. That track is Leave It Alone . For the record, I really like this song. Even today. I'm sure 15 year old Ricky [...]
![14 Hour Flight Review: Toronto – Calgary – Tokyo [2012, Air Canada]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4278500_lg.jpg)
If you don't know me by now (cue up Simply Red), you will know by the end of this post that I will pretty much write about anything. I basically have no ability to sleep on an airplane. It's absolutely horrible. Friday morning I flew to Tokyo, and since I couldn't sleep I decided to provide you an hour to hour update of how things went. One would argue that by making this commitment for an hour to hour update, I have basically sub consciously eliminated the idea of sleeping already those people don't know how many articles I have [...]
It only takes a second to materialize, but that second in time seems to take forever. It's the moment upon which you realize that the elevator you have entered, is malfunctioning. You are stuck. If you are claustrophobic, it's probably your worst nightmare. If you have diarrhea, it is probably a picky dilemma. Luckily for me, I suffered from neither of those conditions. I was however, stuck in the elevator for twenty six minutes yesterday and as you would expect, ran through a gamut of emotions and thoughts. [...]
While its been a good few years since the French Valerie electro disco scene threatened (and failed) to take over the indie music world, the memories of that moment has remained in the minds of many. It's certainly remained in Nicolas Winding Refn's mind as the director chose to soundtrack his movie Drive with a strong sampling of this genre of music. One of the tracks from that movie was the opening of the movie, where the Kavinsky track Nightcall is featured prominently as Ryan Gosling drives his car around night time [...]
It's Friday, it's the end of the week. Can't think, can't analyze, can't absorb new music. Am I getting old? Hell Yes. So I've decided that I'm doing a Top 10 list every Friday. How long will this last? Probably until February. Regardless, what matters right now is this: I'm about to start my first top 10 list, and you might be wondering why do this, Ricky? Well, here is why. 10 It's easy - no story required, no in depth research and no need to think about how to frame something. Just 10 things - [...]
Can't believe 2011 was 4 days ago. Missing it already. In 2011, Winters were warm. In 2012, winters are cold. That's enough for me to want to go back. I fancy myself to be a concert photographer. More specifically, I fancy myself to be an Iphone concert photographer. It's a rare breed. Sure, a lot of people take snapshots of concerts with their phones during a show, but how many of them use them for their music blog? Not many. Those other people just look through their albums one day, wonder 'what is this?' and [...]
What an exhausting two weeks. Most of my vacations consist of traveling to some world class city, gorging on their gastronomical delights and taking in the various shops and clubs that the place has to offer. Not this trip. As I wrote in my preview , this vacation was more of an outdoor adventure kind of trip. Having survived two weeks, here are some thoughts about my trip. Firsts : - First time sleeping in a mosquito net. Sleeping in a bed that was surrounded by a mosquito net, [...]
It only seems fitting that a trip to South America should include a South/Central American airline. My flight to Lima was booked on Expedia and the cheapest most reasonable option was Taca Airlines, an airline I had never heard of. Apparently, Taca stands for Transportes Aéreos del Continente Americano and is actually a brand of five indie airlines operating out of Central America. The flights I had included a stop over in San Salvador. Here is my review of my experience. Ease of check in : A fairly painless process that included web checkin [...]
In six days I will be going on my second vacation of the year. While going on vacation is something I do on a regular basis (well, whenever I have vacation days) - this is the first time I will go on an outdoor adventure type of vacation. It's completely new to me - backpacks, hydration systems, gore-tex, wicking - these terms used to mean nothing to me. Now they matter more than ever, a strange case since hydration systems on my previous trips just meant finding a bar with good music. My chosen destination for this trip [...]
Euro Trip was one of those underrated coming of age road movies that came out in the early 2000s. I think Vik bought it in the discount bin or something. The premise is as always, high school seniors decide to go on one big jaunt through Europe before going to college where their friends will all inevitably end. Not quite sure who was the star of the movie but I remember Buffy's sister/Georgina Sparks was in it as well as the smoking hot Kristin Kreuk, someone who I've always thought would have had a better career than she did [...]
I sat aboard the dilapidated and ancient seats on the TTC subway, heading to Kennedy station once again and I got to thinking - what can I do to better my time on this journey? I'm not entirely sure if this is a better way to spend it, but I decided to write down my thoughts for each track that comes up on my iPhone. Sadly, I only decided this was a good idea when I was at Broadview Station but here we go! (these entries have been edited, otherwise it wouldn't be very readable) [...]
Toronto - In an interview published earlier today by esteemed online music journal Pitchfork Media , Kevin Drew of the popular Canadian rock band Broken Social Scene declared that the band was going on hiatus indefinitely after concluding their current tour for their most current LP Forgiveness Rock Record . Arguably one of the most significant bands to emerge in Canada in the past fifteen years, the 67 members of Broken Social Scene have done their part in shaping the landscape in Canadian music for years to come. Alumnus of the band have gone on to [...]
I first experienced the song If You Leave while watching the early 2000s prime time television drama The OC . In the scene, supposed uber nerdy but secretly cool Seth Cohen had just chosen the uber attractive valley girl Summer Roberts over uniquely hip but slightly less attractive but really only by tv standards Anna. In response, Anna decides (as you do, when rejected in grade 10 by a high school crush) to move back to whence she came from, Pittsburgh (where she is no doubt a 10 whereas she's probably a 6 or 7 in la). [...]
Inspirations can come at any time and any place. Sometimes these inspirations lead to great ideas. Most often, they lead to ideas that might seem great at first, but slowly degrades into something else. Welcome to my review of two release of albums from bands that are looking to take the next step in their respective careers. English band Bombay Bicycle Club has had a rather popular run in England on the strength of their first two albums - Flaws and I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose . Both albums [...]
The Panic Manual
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Talking Heads interpretando Psycho Killer con Arthur Rusell en el cello
Listen to Pharrell Williams’ new song “Happy”, off the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack
Review | Alright The Captain ~ Conversation Skills…
