If You Don't Believe Your Country...

...Should come before yourself, you can better serve your country by living somewhere else!

How punk rock is that?

In attitude, 100%!

It is a song by Canadian music legend/icon/rebel Stompin' Tom Connors, that you can check out by clicking anywhere on this sentence.

Stompin' Tom passed away yesterday at the age of 77.

He was born Thomas Charles Connors in Saint John New Brunswick on February 9th 1936 and raised by foster parents in Skinners Pond,  P.E.I.

Years ago, my family and I visited his school house in Skinners Pond and I still remember the pair of black boots on the monument outside this simple, one-room white school house in the middle of about nowhere; humble beginnings to say the least.

I also had the opportunity to see him twice in concert - a true entertainer until the very end... It's hard to go anywhere in Canada without a song or two coming into your head.

In fact, I think the Capitals Song is the reason I passed grade 3 geography.

He was a great teacher, but his upbringing definitely fostered a rebel and a great punk attitude... The best example going back to 1979 whe he returned all 6 of his Juno awards out of protest against the Americanization of the Canadian Music Industry.

So who better to get into the Order of Canada and the Governor General's Award?

I could go on and on about what his music and attitude has done for this country, but in short: Mr. Connors, Canada is better for having you and your music will live on for generations!

Levon Helm - Rest in Peace!

Yesterday we lost one of the greatest musicians - Levon Helm.

If you haven't seen The Last Waltz buy it now... Not rent... It is that good - if you don't enjoy it, give it to someone with a soul.

If you're not familiar with it, The Last Waltz is a celebration of the end of the career for the group collectively known as 'The Band'.  They were originally Bob Dylan's backing group until they started writing their own music and becoming hugely successful with tunes like: The Weight, Up on Cripple Creek, and The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.

And not too mention, they are Canadian - so what's not too love?

Levon was the drummer (primarily), and usually lead vocalist - not a combo seen very often.  I use the words 'primarily' and 'usually' because the entire group was so talented - They all played multiple instruments and contributed to vocals in different tunes.

As for Levon, I had the pleasure of seeing him last summer at the Black Creek Music Festival opening for John Fogerty.  Since The Band broke up a few years before I was born, this would be as close as I would get to the real thing.

Levon, you were a great performer until the very end.  Thank you for your music and enhancing the lives of millions through it!

27... the scariest number in rock

So as you may of heard, Amy Winehouse died this past weekend.  While I can't say that I was ever really a fan of her music, my condolences do go out to those that were and her family.

What truly caught my attention was the fact that she died at 27.

I remember when I was first getting into rock music and at around 12 or 13, 27 seems kind of old... not so much anymore.

What I soon found out, from watching different documentaries and stuff, was that alot of rock stars (especially from the 60's) died at 27.

This includes:

- Jimi Hendrix
- Janis Joplin
- Kurt Cobain
- Jim Morrison
- Brian Jones

Am I missing anyone?

It is unfortunate when anyone leaves this world at such a young age, especially those with talents that bring joy to so many others.

For any parents that read this, please educate your children about drugs, their addictive nature, and the short and longterm side effects...

RIP Ms Winehouse!

Let the music do the talking!

I love music... it is a huge part of my life... anyone that follows this blog with any regularity knows that I have made reference to groups from the Dixie Chicks to Motorhead... So ya, my tastes are pretty broad.

I know this blog is primarily about HR, jobs, and career-related topics... but it's my blog so I'm gonna do what I want  :)

There are 2 albums coming out this summer that I can't wait to get my hands on:

1. The Head Cat - Walk the Walk... Talk the Talk

2. Whiskey Devils - The Mahones Tribute Album

The Head Cat, for those who haven't heard, is a Rockabilly side project of Lemmy (Motorhead), Slim Jim Phantom (Stray Cats), and Danny B. Harvey (Rockats).

Anyone that loves the great rockabilly music of the 50's and 60's should definitely check out The Head Cat... it is a great return to rockabilly roots, with the gravel sandstorm that is the voice of Lemmy Kilmister... The album comes out July 5, 2011 - can't wait to crank it this summer!

Two other genres that I love are Irish/celtic music and punk... it works... And a Canadian-based group called The Mahones do it very well.

For their 20th Anniversary, Whiskey Devils was produced as a tribute to The Mahones and contains covers of classic Mahones tunes from The Bloody Irish Boys to The Gobshites.  The album comes out June 28, 2011.

If you know of any other great bands I should check out I would love to hear about them!

Happy Listening!



The Future Belongs to us!

Kinda sounds like something a pimply kid would say at a high school graduation, eh?

But think about it - How many of you when you were kids wanted to be on TV? Be a singer? Write a book?

As 1999 as it may sound, the internet has allowed all of us the access to do this, to some degree, very cheaply or even free.

Major media industries are changing/crumbling, so this really might be the turning point where all of us do get a have the ability to get a bigger piece of the pie.

Any of you familiar with the show Dragon's Den from the CBC?

The show allows entrepeneurs the chance to present their business ideas to a group of Canadian business moguls, for a portion of their company.  This almost completely cuts out any 'middleman' and puts the financers face-to-face with the entrepeneurs, who are putting their own money on the table.

And what about the music industry? Well I think most would agree that Napster was the beginning of the end of that dinosaur.

Now, SliceThePie (a British site) allows everyday people - like you and me, the chance to finance artists as well as to be paid to rate music.

So my question is this - are we better for having broken down some of these walls? Do you care? What industries do you think will be transformed next?

~Ian