Tag Archives: Neil Young
Happy Birthday Neil Young
Review: coffee, beer and mosh pits
On Tuesday night I had the opportunity to visit the Toronto Reference Library and listen to Randy Bachman tell stories like no one else can. But that is for another blog post. Today’s post – and photos – is from an amazing collection of photos, videos and posters which exhibit Toronto’s diverse and eclectic music scene from the 1960’s until today.
This jam is amplified. So just glide and let your backbone slide. Remember Maestro Fresh Wes from Scarborough? Now my favourite Canadian rap artist stars on Mr. D on CBC. Soon, he’ll be a guest on Toronto Mike’d with Mike Boon.
Toronto’s Broken Social Scene is perhaps the most influential musical collective and is headed up by Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning. The group has helped with the musical maturity of acts such as Metric, Leslie Feist, and The Stars. You can actually see the latest incarnation of Broken Social Scene this summer at the Field Trip outdoor concert festival.
Classic posters and hand bills in the gallery.
Yorkville was once home to future musical greats such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell.
Coffee, Beer and Mosh Pits runs in the TD Gallery of the Toronto Reference Library until the end of this month. Visit the website for more information
Cost: Free
Pono, meet iPod: The latest details about Neil Young’s ultra-Hifi audio service
You all know (or should know!) how HUGE of a Neil Young fanboy I am. Here is a piece from GigaOM on Young’s Pono music player.
Happy Canada Day!
Happy Birthday Canada! Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdiCJUysIT0&w=420&h=315]
Neil Young: 1972-2012
Recently I conducted a session at our social media agency in Toronto. It was about Neil Young and his mostly musical career over the past 40 years. I say past 40 years because Neil has been rocking in the free world for much longer.
[slideshare id=20160276&style=border:1px solid #CCC;border-width:1px 1px 0;margin-bottom:5px&sc=no]
Others have written much on Neil and his dealings with technology. Here are three of them.
Technology Highlights:
- Lionel Trains – model trains
- LincVolt – big cars can be clean cars
- Pono – 21st century digital
(VIDEO) Neil Young: on music, social revolution and social media
On December 14th of last year Neil Young (my favourite music artist by the way) was invited to speak at a Salesforce conference in Japan. During this short appearance, Neil talked about the power of social media and its ability to inspire change. He compared it to the 1960s and 1970s and the impact music and radio had on society at that time.
Enjoy the video. It is well worth watching.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t70S0jHSjEg&w=560&h=315]
What are your thoughts on Neil’s comments? I would love to read your comments below.
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the local public library
This blog post was supposed to be about the loveliness that is Google Plus. At the same time I’ve been wanting to write about my love affair with my local public library.
So why is this particular blog about the local public library? Because I live in Toronto. And Toronto is under attack from the current Mayor, Rob/Doug Ford.
However, this post won’t be about the politics.
I believe that even in today’s hyper-connected, always on, mobile and social society, that the local public library still provides massive value for all of us.
Books:
Seriously. I still read books. Old ones and new ones. Fiction and business-focused books, too. The great thing about borrowing a book is twofold: If I don’t like it I don’t feel like I wasted $25 on a purchase. I just return the book. Second, the 2-4 week borrowing period allows me to focus on finishing the book before the late fees start accruing. And please don’t tell me that books are dying and that tablets will rule the world. That’s another blog post. By the way, libraries offer more…
Magazines and Newspapers:
Oh yes! I can browse through the latest (or oldest! Really any edition) Men’s Health and figure out what exercises I should do to lose weight in 3 simple steps over 14 days.
Audio:
Being able to borrow CDs from classic artists like Neil Young is priceless. My library also has books on CD. But wait for this one: I can also use my computer to download audio files to listen to. Amazing, I know.
Video:
Videos and DVDs. I can catch up on all the popular TV shows of today as well as movies I’ve yet to watch or haven’t watched.
For The Kids:
Probably most important for me is what the library offers to me as a dad. It’s by far and away one of my son’s favourite places to go and visit. He loves to read and be read to. And the library is FULL of kids books. They also offer toys, a kids area and kids programming during the holidays and vacations.
So I like the library and everything that it has to offer. Even the amazing people who work there. For me, the local public library is part of my neighbourhood and community. No matter how connected, social and mobile I am and become, I’ll still go into the library and hope to find my next good book.