Specifically, the song, "I Can't Hide This Anymore" from their latest album, 1000 Arms.
I first heard a Blue Rodeo song in a Toronto record store in December, 1987. I fell instantly and deeply in love with this band and their music. I've seen them multiple times live and own every single album. They deserve to be as big in the U.S. as they are in Canada, but they're not.
I picked this song at random from the new album. Like much of their music, it's country and it's rock, and though this live take isn't as good as the studio version, it's still a lovely piece.
You can buy the album on Amazon and possibly at record stores. Check it out, and while you're at it, buy Outskirts, their first album and one of my desert island top ten.
I was working in Toronto and living alone there. I went with a few local friends to the Diamond Club to see what had just become a new favorite band--and what is now, all these years later, still a favorite group--Blue Rodeo. They played most, if not all, of their debut album, Outskirts, which for my money is one of the best albums ever made. This is a live version of "Heart Like Mine," the first track on that album. Give it time; it'll grow on you.
Country, folk, rock, jazz--that album mixed up a little of all of it.
I still love these guys.
I will never understand why this group, which I have loved since December, 1987, is not huge everywhere. Their mix of rock, folk, country, and pop sounds like nobody else, and it's often wonderful.
You simply can't go wrong with any Blue Rodeo album. Their first, Outskirts, remains one of my desert island top 10 discs. Their most recent original album, last year's In Our Nature, contains this lovely song.
This holiday season, treat yourself or someone you care about to a little Blue Rodeo. You'll be glad you did.
If you've read this blog for a while, chances are good that you know that Blue Rodeo is one of my all-time favorite bands. Outskirts, their first album, is still one of my desert island top ten picks. These guys have been playing together since the late eighties, and they're still making wonderful music. Now, their new album, In Our Nature, is in the stores and available online. I haven't listened to the whole thing yet, but from just this opening song I can't wait to hear the rest.
If you want more samples from other albums, you can find great songs in earlier blog entries of mine.
Do yourself a favor: Spin a little Blue Rodeo, and then pick up both Outskirts and In Our Nature.
I'm excited to report that one of my favorite bands, Blue Rodeo, will be releasing a new album, In Our Nature, on October 29.
At least for a short time, you can listen to three tracks from the album here.
If you don't know Blue Rodeo, let me recommend strongly that you immediately buy their eight-CD box set, 1987-93 (available from Amazon here).
I've featured many of their songs in past blog entries, including this one. It bears repeating, though, so enjoy it.
Today's travel stupidity comes to you courtesy of...me. Yes, this morning I met my colleagues, headed out of the hotel to the self-park garage, and completely failed to find my rental car. Because we were in a hurry, we took the car one of my colleagues had, but, boy, did I feel stupid.
We did easily find the car when we arrived back at the hotel after our last meeting of the day.
Apropos only of travel, I walked once into Sam the Record Man on Yonge Street in Toronto on a cold winter night, heard this song from Outskirts, their debut CD, bought the CD, and began my long love of Blue Rodeo.
The audio here isn't great, but so it goes; for that, you have to buy the CD. You should own it anyway.
and because this song has been in my head off and on ever since the Blue Rodeo concert the other night, here it is, for your enjoyment.
Yeah, I admit it: Sometimes, I like me some sentimental shit.
Of course, other times, I don't, which is why I'm psyched for Saturday night: a great dinner, The A-Team, and then home to watch the DVR'd UFC 115. I should probably work more that evening, but right now the plan is to take it off entirely. What a lazy man I may be!
Sometimes I forget that not every house and family run the way we do.
Here, courtesy again of Gina, are two photos from right before they opened the doors at the Blue Rodeo concert the other night. 
In this first happy snap, Sarah and I are fighting the earwigs that are attempting to burrow into our brains. Though I realize it may not look that way, we are winning.
Unfortunately, though we were ultimately able to repel the alien invaders, one managed to draw the lower half of Sarah's head partway through a pan-dimensional wormhole into an anime universe, leaving her looking like this for much of the evening. Fanboys were swooning all around.
Sarah recovered in time to write her weekly prose blog entry, this time one that had to be 30 words long and include "hawk." Check out this lovely paean to her brother. Scott is so proud.
Don't forget to play the song Sarah embedded--but not at work, and not around kids. (Really.)
As Sarah and I observed as we were listening to this tune from within The U of Power, the benefits of a Duke education are already becoming apparent.
played tonight at the Carrboro Arts Center, so five of us went to see them. Long-time readers will know that Blue Rodeo is one of my favorite bands, so there was no way I was going to miss them. If you don't know them or their music, check out some of the videos I embedded in earlier posts or, better still, pick up one or more of their CDs. Their first CD, Outskirts, is definitely one of my desert island top ten.
The concert was wonderful. Though they were playing to a fairly small crowd--estimates ranged from 75 to a max of 200--everyone in the band put on a great show. They played a strong list of songs that included the three I'd most hoped to hear ("Heart Like Mine," "Till I Am Myself Again," and "Five Days In May"), a great selection from their newest disc, and a nice assortment of other tunes. "Five Days In May" was absolutely astounding, as several solos, notably the pianist's and the violinist's, were so energetic and so full of joy that I was for several minutes transfixed with happiness. Amazing.
A great surprise was the opening act, Cuff the Duke. I'd never heard of them before, but now I own both their CDs. Though their lyrics were overly simplistic, their music and performance were so charming and so catchy that I wanted to hear more.
At the end of the encore, Blue Rodeo brought all of its musicians and Cuff the Duke onto the stage; courtesy of Gina, you can see a picture of them below. They then closed the show with an ending song I've seen them use before: "Lost Together." I knew it was coming, I've heard it live several times, and yet it was still magical, the two bands, the audience, all of us singing and, in that moment, truly lost together in the music.
Blue Rodeo should be huge in America. If they come near you, catch their show, and find out for yourself just how good they are. 
Last night, reflections on my mortality kept me from falling asleep for quite some time, even though I was exhausted.
Today, I've been churning with emotion all day. That's typical of me. When that happens, I frequently find myself absorbed in music. For no particular reason, these two songs bubbled into my brain.
The first one has nothing to do with anything except that I like it and have always found it energizing. If you already know it, then the odds are that you either love it or hate it. If you've never heard it, then give it a listen and decide.
The second song reminds me of the night I discovered Blue Rodeo in Toronto. This is the first cut on their first album. As I stood in the record store and this piece began, I almost tuned it out, because by reflex--a bad reflex, I must admit--I tend to walk away from country songs. Then, about a minute in, the song changed, and it became a country-rock hybrid.
This live version isn't as good as the one on the album, and it's recorded low, so you'll have to crank it up, but give it a chance. Marvel at how young Keelor and Cuddy look, and let it reach the chorus.
I heard this first in December, 1987. Man, I know it was over 22 years ago, but sometimes it feels like yesterday. Every day has been so full, and yet I still feel that I've done nothing at all. I still burn inside and want more. I want a hundred hours a day, a thousand days a year, ten thousand years of healthy life. I know I can't have any of that, but I'll never stop wanting it.
I love reading Sarah's writing. I know I'm biased, but in this case, I'm also right. For samples, check out the blog she and some friends are doing, a site I've mentioned before: A Year In Prose.
This entry of hers in particular grabbed me. Who hasn't missed someone that way?
I was surprised by her post this week, because it's skiffy of a sort and unlike any of her previous writing.
While you're reading her entries or any of the others on this blog, be sure to listen to some of the music. They've provided a nice selection of songs, and you're almost certain to encounter something you've never heard before.
Okay, enough bragging about my daughter. What can I do to atone for such an indulgence?
I know! A little bonus Blue Rodeo. Enjoy.
Yesterday's entry was the thousandth I've posted on this blog. That's got to be some kind of milestone. I'm just not sure what kind.
On the one hand, it's proof of a lesson I learn over and over in life: if you keep doing something every day, eventually you end up having done a ton of it. Kinda obvious, huh? Yet it never seems to be. At one point, Bill and I had published over a thousand (later, it became 1,500) by-lined pieces of tech journalism, and someone asked us how we did it. All we could reply was, "We wrote an article, repeated, and let time pass."
On the other hand, I could view this blog as proof that I can indeed maintain a journal of sorts, because I've never previously done that. I really didn't think I could journal, much less do it in public.
If I had a third hand, I could cite a benefit of this blog: education. I've learned a lot about the realities of blogging from doing this. Here's the most important lesson: the vast majority of blogs have very few readers. I was discussing this very topic at TEDActive with a person from a large software company. This person's job was to run some blogs. Most months, the readership was very low. This blog's readership is many hundreds of people a month, but not thousands (would that it were!). So, my books vastly outsell my free blog.
Though I periodically consider closing down this blog, I'm going to keep doing it. I'm not honestly sure why; maybe just so I can see what it's like when I hit 2,000 posts.
In any case, you're stuck with me (or not, of course; you don't have to visit). Tomorrow, I'll return to more normal posts.
In the meantime, please enjoy "Bad Timing," a bittersweet Blue Rodeo song with Jim Cuddy crooning about a love that hasn't quite made it.
Blue Rodeo, one of my favorite bands, has put out a new album, The Things We Left Behind. You should buy it. You have no excuses, because it's available on Amazon.
Of course I already have it; I pre-ordered it from their site.
While you're making up your mind, enjoy these two videos of songs from the album.
The first, "One Light Left In Heaven," was a preview video for the album. Jim Cuddy goes all romantic on this one.
The second, "Arizona Dust," is both more playful as a video and as a song.
I wish they would play a show near here, but at least I have the CD.
You should have it, too.
I head to the airport in eight hours, and I've yet to write, pack, pay some bills, and do some work. Typical. Starting tomorrow, I'll be reporting from San Francisco for a week.
Until then, I leave you with these brief notes.
You can now see Jain's art balls online at her site. To go right to the gallery of the cool creations, click here. Waiting for Sam, one of the niftier pieces in a collection of great creations, won an art show award at WorldCon and could be yours for a mere $245 (as the online gallery now shows). Someone needs to nab this one before Jain wises up and raises the price. (Okay, yes, I'm pimping Jain's art balls again.)
While I'm in a pimping mood, if you are anywhere near the five U.S. cities where Blue Rodeo will be playing, treat yourself to a great show and catch them in concert. I would if I lived anywhere near them.
If you're in San Francisco, you could do worse on a Sunday afternoon than to come by Borderlands Books, listen to my reading (or pretend to do so while you catch up on your email and text message backlogs), buy some books from the great folks there, and then join us for ice cream afterward. If we get a good crowd, I may offer the double treat of both reading a few pages from Children No More and doing a bit from the Science Magic Sex show. I hope to see some of you there.
First up, the Fray. I couldn't find a good video for this one, but as compensation you get lyrics on this one.
Blue Rodeo's first big hit, "Try," is the second. I saw them perform this song in January 1988 in the Diamond club in Toronto, and I swear some women near the stage literally swooned.
It's Blue Rodeo time again. Don't ask me why; it just is. This time, turn down the lights, think about loves that matter and have mattered to you, and let Jim Cuddy sing about hurt and longing the way only he does.
I love this band. I hope I get to see these guys live again one day soon.
If you live anywhere they're playing, don't miss them.
You need some Blue Rodeo, and I'm here to help.
First, a love song without a video. Trust me, the music is good enough that the lack of images won't matter. What's better than being head over heels, at least for the good moments?
Now, because we all also need a thousand shiny moments.
There. Don't you feel better?
On Sunday, I bought a new iPhone 3G and transitioned my mobile number to it. (Later that night, I reset the old one and gave it to Scott, who wanted to use it as an almost iPod Touch, in which role it works well.) Having now used the thing for a couple of days, I thought I'd give you my initial impressions.
First, I think it's a bit better as a phone than the iPhone, which frankly was a mediocre phone at best, a real C student. I'd give the 3G a solid B on this front.
The 3G data network is a definite improvement anywhere it's available. I still wish that Apple had signed with Verizon instead of AT&T, but what iPhone user doesn't? Web pages download faster, email is snappier, and the thing is just nicer to use. It does, though, still lose its email brain from time to time, at which point it tries forever to connect but can never get email from either of my accounts. Powering it down and back up will fix this problem, but that's an annoying issue I was hoping the 3G network might somehow help.
The most annoying aspects of the 3G are the omissions that it shares with all iPhones, such as no ability to cut and paste. Come on, Apple, get your iPhone developers working on the items users want most!
The transition between iPhones was also nowhere near as good as it should have been. I had to re-enter all my email account settings, none of my weather cities moved, and none of my stock settings moved. Surely Apple could have backed up and restored these settings.
Overall, though, I like it.
And now, because it's been a while, here's a Blue Rodeo song. Enjoy.
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