Musings at 140km/h: Fuck the OPP, Fuck the MTO

I was driving down the 401 just outside Toronto, doing 140km/h with everyone else.  I got to thinking about how frustrating it is that the police know full well that everyone drives this fast, and yet do virtually nothing about it.  The thing is, I don't want to them to start enforcing MORE, I want them to stop pretending they give a shit.

We all know the drill: driving from Ottawa to Montreal or Toronto, it's totally cool to go 125km/h or so and you're golden, unless it's a long weekend, in which case LOOK OUT, because there will be speed traps. Of course the speed traps are out in rural areas where it's safe to pull cars over.  Once you're in the outskirts of either city, there's nary a trap to be seen, despite that fact that the top speed for most drivers is 140km/h.  The only people that get pulled over in or around the city are people that are driving like jackasses, with crazy fast speeds and lane weaving. If everyone is driving the same speed and safely, the cops don't bother you.

What does it say that once a month, the cops go out and ticket speeders in name of public safety and education, and then spend the rest of the month doing nothing about it?  If it's such a safety issue, shouldn't you be devoting a lot more time and energy to the other 29 days of the month? Aren't people dying by the hundreds because you're not out there making the world a better place by stopping speeders in their tracks?

They're not out there because they know, just as well as we do, that it's perfectly fine for people to drive 140km/h in good road conditions.  But once in awhile they have to go out and make a very public effort to curb dangerous driving, and issue a big press release at the end saying "We ticketed over 900 this weekend and charged 5 individuals with street racing. Look how good we are at our jobs."  Every. Single. One. of these drivers knows that tomorrow they can drive fast again because they won't see the OPP again until May two four.

This frustrates me to no end because I've been ticketed twice for driving 135km/h, each ticket costing upwards of $300, all because I got caught in a speeding blitz. Equally frustrating is the fact that the extent of my fine is determined by how many km/h I was over the limit. The problem is that the "limit" on the signs is not the real limit and everybody knows it. Drive by the OPP at 120km/h and they won't even blink an eye. That's because 120km/h is the "real" limit. I know it, you know, they know it.

Here's the breakdown of how much you pay, depending on how fast you were going over the speed limit:

1-19 km/h The amount of km over times $2.50 = fine
20-29 km/h The amount of km over times $3.75 = fine
30-49 km/h The amount of km over times $6.00 = fine

If I had my druthers, I'd gladly pay the fine for going 15km/h over the REAL speed limit of 120km/h.  But this sliding scale of bullshit makes me insane, especially on days when I'm driving directly behind an OPP officer who is driving 130km/h but doesn't appear to be responding to a call.

Look I'm not going to argue that fast driving is safer than regular driving. I just want to point out the frustrating hypocrisy that the OPP and the MTO display by pretending to give a shit about speed limits, but only once a month.  If they really gave a shit, there would be hidden speed cameras everywhere down the highway.  There would a no-haggling speed limit with absolutely no way to reduce your fine when you're caught.  This is how it seems to work on the portions of the autobahn that DO have a speed limit. Why can't that work for us?


In Las Vegas, open carry alcohol is tolerated. It's not technically legal, but it's tolerated. I spent a week there and did not see a single act of drunken public debauchery.  Everyone behaved and had fun, all while walking down the street, in and out of bars and casinos, drink in hand. I don't know how long it's been like this but clearly it shows that the city won't burn down in a hellfire of anarchy because of people drinking beer in the streets.

Now imagine that once a month, Vegas cops hid behind corners and jumped out at tourists and wrote them tickets for drinking in public, and then did absolutely nothing for the next 29 days.  Well that's what the OPP is doing to us with this bullshit hypocritical speed limit enforcement.

Ice Bucket Challenge: Thanks But I'll Pass

Apparently I've been nominated. I'm not going to do it. Call me a spoil sport, I'm ok with that, I've been called worse. Recently I was called a condescending jackass.

I think the ice bucket challenge is great. I want to shake the hand of the guy or gal who came up with the concept - it's brilliant. I want to congratulate everyone who's donated so far, and who donates in the future.

But I'm not going do it, nor am I going to contribute to the cause. I don't have the kind of money to spare for such a thing, AND my wife already did the challenge and is making a contribution. Since we share income I say hey, good enough. Check out the video below, featuring Mrs Lefty (Headmistress Holly Sin, far left), Randi Rouge and Betty Bright Eyes. It's not safe for work, what with all the hot wet t-shirt action. I filmed it. It was hot.

I contribute to other charities enough not to feel guilty about skipping this one. I also don't contribute to the annual United Way fund they run at my work every year, and they have yet to burn me at the stake.

Why not just do the video to nominate more people, and just kinda silently not make a donation, because hey who would ever know? Because I don't want to, and I think that's a great reason. I'm not interested in falsely representing myself on the internet.

Look, the challenge is going to peter off eventually, it can't go on forever.  Consider me to be one of the people that stops clapping first at the end of a great show.

If you have a heart of gold, go and donate to Canadian ALS research, it's a good cause.

If you have a black heart like me, you might enjoy this song, wherein I name drop Lou Gehrig. Download a copy if you like.  I know this is pointless because no one will bite, but any music sales I make this week will be donated to ALS.
 

Dying With Dignity: The Only Way To Go

UPDATE: Holy fuck. Supreme Court strikes down Canada’s assisted suicide laws
 ------------------------

My Mom posted this article on Facebook yesterday. It's about a woman who chose to die with dignity instead of living the rest of her life wasting away with dementia.

By the end of the second paragraph my jaw had literally dropped, and my eyes had started to well up:

On Monday morning shortly before noon, Gillian Bennett dragged a foam mattress from her home on Bowen Island to one of her favourite spots on the grass, facing a craggy rock cliff, the place she had chosen to die.

Bennett, who was 85 and in the early stages of dementia, chose to take her own life with a draught of good whiskey, a dose of Nembutal mixed with water and her husband of 60 years by her side.

Holy shit. That's some powerful stuff. The thing is, those tears that almost but didn't come out because I'm not some little bitch, those were tears of sadness and joy all at the same time. Up until I read that, I didn't know that was even a thing. Tears of joy, sure. I've had that watching puppies or a nice sunrise. Tears of sadness, duh. But both at the same time? Mind blowing.

I don't have a lot of strong opinions on major issues because I don't consider myself educated enough, or I can see both sides of the story. Death penalty is a good example. For the life of me I can't decide if I'm pro or con. Some days I think it's the most barbaric thing in the world, other days I think it's a damn good idea. I seriously cannot make up my mind.

But there are a few fundamental human rights that are controversial to some, but no question for me: gay marriage, abortion and euthanasia.

Everyone is stuck with the body they're dealt at birth. Sometimes that body is great (case in point: mine). Sometimes that body is not so great (case in point: my wife, who looks great but is more fragile than peace in the Middle East).  Modern medicine allows us to make changes to our bodies, be it plastic surgery or insulin shots, in order to lead more productive lives, but medicine has its limits and sometimes there's nothing you can do but suffer in your shitty shitty body.

Everyone should have the choice about whether they want to keep living in their shitty bodies. We have the ability to make all the other choices: haircuts, tattoos, weight gain, gender reassignment, glasses, kidney donation.  We're in control of our bodies in every way except the ultimate one: we're not allowed to legally give up on our bodies. Or at least, we're not allowed to ask for help. As a result, people end up having to do it on their own, which means that their loved ones end up stumbling upon their bodies, which is just not right. Especially if they chose chainsaw.  Dying with dignity means being able to choose how and when (already allowed) and to be able to ask for help so that you don't make a mess or traumatize anyone (not allowed). In the above mentioned story, the woman had her husband by her side, but:

“She wouldn’t let me help her, and I didn’t wish to,” said Jonathan. “I don’t know where she got the Nembutal or the instructions; she didn’t tell me.” Nor did she let him help her drag the mattress outside, although that final effort was physically difficult for her... He and his wife knew that if anyone assisted her, they would be breaking the law. “Gillian and I both disliked and disapproved of the laws making it impossible to help a loved one with something as important as death.”

Jesus christ.

Some people will say "Think about who you're leaving behind". To that I say screw that shit. If my loved ones would rather I stay alive in a constant state of suffering so that they don't have to cry for a week, then they're not really the kind of loved ones I'd stay alive for.

My death plan, if I can manage it, is this: The Irish Goodbye. I'd duck out to my favourite place, the wilderness, and just fend for myself until I decide I'm done. I'd leave a note for whoever's left behind:

Dear loved ones: Thank you so much for helping me enjoy my time on Earth. We've had many great adventures and we'll live on in each other's hearts and minds.  I want you to be happy that I've run off to finish existing under my terms. I will die soon, and I will die happy. Take that to your graves. I love you all.

I don't know how I'll off myself, I'll probably get creative. I might even try death by moose. However I've already decided that when the time comes, I'm going to start smoking again. I really miss smoking, but common sense prevents me from starting up. When I'm going out under my own terms? Smoke 'em if you got 'em. Also booze.

Oh and in the event that I'm incapacitated and can't make the trek out to the woods, no problem because I'll have my living will tattooed across my chest:

Vadge vs. Vag: The Most Important Debate In Human History

I believe, with a conviction deeper than the Mariana Trench, that the short form of the word "vagina" should be spelled "vadge" and not "vag" as most people spell it. Here, I present the reasons why I'm right and why you should all obey me. This is a long read, so if you don't have the patience, here's the short version: I'm right on this. Trust me.

First off: neither spelling is listed in the dictionary. Well, not the one that comes up first on Google. I'm not going to bother with paper books. The closest I could come is a search for "vadge" redirecting to the definition of "vagina".  Note that a search for "vag" on the same dictionary shows that it's apparently shorthand for "vagrant". We're in a unique situation where the word has entered common parlance without yet being included in the dictionary. There's a word for that: neologism, or "...the name for a newly coined term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use but that has not yet been accepted into mainstream language". Someday "vadge" will be included in the dictionary, I'm sure of it. After all, "cunty" made it this year. But for now, we're left to decide how it's properly spelled.

My main argument is that "vadge" rhymes with "badge" and "vag" rhymes with "bag". Pretty straightforward, right? Except that when I posed the following question on Facebook...

When you shorten vagina, do you write vag or vadge? Think about the words bag and badge when answering.

...every single person replied "vag".  Not a single person agreed with me. I thought for sure it'd be 50/50, but I was surprised that even after I laid out a few arguments, people still replied "vag". The hint, the most basic clue to how right I am, was right there in the question, yet every person said "Sure there's that whole rhyming thing but whatever, I spell it "vag" and I've never questioned this."

The reason why otherwise spelling-capable adults are making this mistake is that they're great at memorizing HOW a word is spelled, but not at understanding WHY it's spelled a certain way, which brings us to...

1. Follow the rules, children

We all were supposed to have learned spelling rules in grade 3, but as is evident by our Facebook feeds, it didn't stick for a lot of folks. That's fine, we expect the stupid people to spell everything wrong, but this is a different situation where people who are otherwise great with spelling still fail to spell "vadge" correctly.

This website lists a bunch of spelling rules, let's cherry pick the one we need:

There's no denying that the /j/ sound in "vadge" is the exact same sound as in "badge" or any of these other listed words.  As for the hard /g/ sound in "-ag", let's use the songwriter's best friend, the rhyming dictionary:

Ok yes, there are a lot of made up words in that list, but the ones in blue are real words and they ALL end with the "-ag" sound. Of course, that's because I used a rhyming dictionary, but do you want to know something?  If you put "badge" in the rhyming dictionary you get only four words: cadge, hajj, madge, maj . I don't know what any of those mean, but I think this proves my point. If something is going to make a /j/ sound at the end of a word or after a short vowel, English spelling rules say that it must be spelled "-dge".

2) Hey Lefty, spelling rules are great and all but there are so many exceptions in the English language, why can't we just make an exception here, you gorgeous hunk of man meat that makes me question my own sexuality?

The English language is very fucked up. I've heard that it's one of the hardest languages for foreigners to learn.  This topic has been covered at great length over at Cracked.com. Let's take a look at the history of spelling rules, courtesy of Cracked writer Kate Peregrina:

In the 11th century, English had developed its own standardized set of spelling conventions that had an almost perfectly phonemic orthography -- meaning that each letter had a specific sound it made, regardless of what word it appeared in or what other letters were around it. People went around saying things, and the things they said looked like the things you'd see on signs and whatnot... 

Then, in 1066, the Norman conquest happened. William the Conqueror invaded with an army of French, Norman, and Breton soldiers, who quickly established Latin and French as the standard languages throughout the British Isles. French and Latin words were absorbed into English like fried Twinkies in a county fair goer's stomach -- that is to say, poorly, and with much regret. "Seize" and "siege," for example: In French, those words (and those vowel combinations) have very different pronunciations. But that distinction didn't survive the migration to the new language, even though the spelling did. Now we write them totally differently but say them the same, because we're just giant wrecks here and nobody is coming to help us.

The problems continued: Norman scribes convinced English speakers to change "cwen" to "queen" and "cwic" to "quick," because, English being the language of the lower class, French speakers were the only ones who could afford any books. Naturally, those original spellings look stupid to you now, but that's only because you're not used to them -- if you're thinking in terms of logic and accessibility, why would you just start throwing "k"s and "q"s around like that? Someone's gonna get hurt. The "k" has those big sharp pointy arms, and that "q" may look soft and round, but it's clearly trying to hide some sort of little club behind its back. Don't you trust the bastard

Read the whole article here 

My point? Exceptions happened because of idiots a thousand years ago.  You know what else happened a thousand years ago? The Motherfucking Crusades. In modern times, we've adapted to a language that, for the most part, follows basic spelling rules, with a bunch of difficult-to-memorize exceptions.  I'm arguing that for any NEW words, we should stick to the spelling rules that we've all learned. Why complicate things for immigrants who need to spell the word "vadge"?

Who decides if "vadge" becomes a new word?  A new word gets in the dictionary by tracking its usage among regular people. If enough people use the word in the same context, it just "becomes" an official word. I'm fighting for proper spelling so that when "vadge" gets put in the dictionary next year (mark my words), it'll be spelled correctly. I'm not too worried though, because I'm assuming that folk over at the dictionary will look at the word, regardless of how it's spelled commonly, and heed common spelling rules in favour of "vadge".

3) Hey Lefty, "vadge" is a terrible abbreviation, it's only one letter less than "vagina", whereas "vag" is three. I can count. 

First off, "vadge" is not an abbreviation in the typical sense of the word. This distinction is necessary because several people have brought up this numerical "proof". Let's all take a second to learn what an abbreviation is:

abbreviation [uh-bree-vee-ey-shuh n], noun: a shortened or contracted form of a word or phrase, used to represent the whole, as Dr. for Doctor, U.S. for United States, lb. for pound.

While it doesn't explicitly say so in this definition, it's pretty evident from this list of abbreviations in the Websters Unabridged Dictionary that abbreviations are, for the most part, written and not spoken. Look at the list and see if you can find a single abbreviation that can be used in spoken word. Properly, I mean. Any of us can open our mouths and say "agric". I can also say "ungbatulark".

What I'm trying to say is, most abbreviations are meant to be shortened in the written word only. When the text is read aloud, we read the word that the abbreviation is meant to represent. Read this aloud: "I took my R.V. down Main St. to visit Dr. Feelgood so he could take a look at this growth on my vadge."

"Vadge" as we know it is most likely a word that started out spoken, and had to be retrofitted with proper spelling. As a spoken word, it's three syllables shorter than the root word, just like caf/cafeteria* and info/information. I'd bet you four dollars that caf and info started as spoken too. The spelling of their shortened forms were much more intuitive and therefore never became a hot button issue like vadge/vag.

*[edit: it's been brought to my attention that "caf" might be incorrect, alongside the word "prof" for professor, and that they should both end in double f's. The latter, spelled that way, should rhyme with "of", not "off". "Caf" is a different story because it doesn't seem to rhyme (spelling-wise) with anything. If you use "calf" in a rhyming dictionary, you get a whole mess of rhyming words with a bunch of different spellings. Note that not all words ending in "f" make the same sound. Of/if, for example. Now that I think of it, ARE there any other words that end with "-of" and make the same sound? Rhyming dictionary says no, and all rhyming words end with "-ove". Maybe the word OF itself is wrong. Same thing for "-if". If this has taught us anything, it's that English is indeed a fucked up language.]

4) Hey Lefty, you can't just change or add letters to a word when you're making it shorter, just to fit a pronunciation scheme. 

Just Watch Me, a story by me Lefty:

Stephen, an out-and-proud lesbian alcoholic, went to the refrigerator and pulled out a slice of baloney. "Hey Steve," said the baloney. "If you're going to eat me, you'll need some mustard, which is on the second shelf of the fridge, ya big old alky lez". The end.

5) What about spelling reform, you hyper-intelligent being from another, sexier dimension?

Holy crap, spelling reform. Some people think that they can actually change the English language.  There's a light hearted take on this over at Cracked.com. Suffice it to say it's possible, with enough pressure, to change the spelling of pre-existing words whose spelling makes no sense in the context of English spelling rules, but I doubt anyone will make it happen within our lifetimes.

It's a neat idea but it doesn't apply here, because spelling reform "seeks to change English spelling so that it is more consistent, matches pronunciation better, and follows the alphabetic principle." It wants to take previously fucked up spellings and make them more intuitive.

In the case of "vadge", I'm just trying to fit it into the pre-existing mold determined by our spelling rules.  If you want to spell it purely phonetically, you could try "vaj" on for size, but the problem with that is that a j at the end of a word brings to mind a soft /j/ sound as in Taj Mahal. The difference is subtle but does exist: soft /j/ is used in French, as in the word jus (ie au jus), whereas in English it's a harder /j/, as in "juice".  So in English, we use "-dge" to denote the hard /j/ sound at the end of the word, even though we don't even use the soft /j/ so the distinction isn't necessarily... necessary.

Critics of spelling reform say that the written word, and not the spoken word, should dictate language. To that I say "I ain't tellin' ya to git the fuck outta here, but y'all should git the fuck outta here".  The evolution of language begins with the spoken word, evidenced by regional dialects of a single language within the same country. Those dialects don't come from groups of people living in an isolated part of the country and, within a period of several decades, coincidentally coming up with new words in writing, independently of each other. These new words come from people talking out in the streets or down at the bar or at the lacrosse match, and someone eventually deciding to write them down.

Joual is a GREAT example of this. Quebeckers are renowned for their complete butchery of the French language with their incomprehensible slang, to the point where you can almost call it a separate language. This Quebec slang is called Joual, and has its roots in the spoken word, not the written word. In the 60's, playwright Michel Tremblay published Les Belles-Soeurs, a play wherein the dialogue is written in Joual, and it blew everybody's minds. Here's an excerpt:

"J'pense que j'vas prendre le rouge avec des étoiles dorées. J'sais pas si tu l'as vu... Y'est assez beau, aie ! J'vas avoir des chaudrons, une coutellerie, un set de vaiselle, des salières, des poivrières, des verres en verre taillé avec le motif « Caprice » là, t'sais si y sont beaux... Madame de Courval en a eu l'année passée. A disait qu'a l'avait payé ça cher sans bon sens... Moé, j'vas toute avoir pour rien ! A va être en beau verrat ! Hein ? Oui, a vient, à soir ! J'ai vu des pots en verre chromé pour mettre le sel, le poivre, le thé, le café, le sucre, pis toute la patente, là. Oui, j'vas toute prendre ça..."                               For more Joual craziness, click here

Conclusion
My regular readers know I suck at conclusions, and that I tend to just end my writings abruptly.

The word "pie" may be used euphemistically in reference to female genitalia, but it is considered silly and outdated

Abstract: The word "pie" was proposed by a second party as a proper euphemism for the word "vagina". A formal survey of the author's social network revealed that while it may be used in this context, it may be considered to be a dated reference, particularly in reference to the 1999 movie American Pie, best known for the character Stifler's Mom, portrayed by Jennifer Coolidge.

Introduction: A burlesque performance on August 16, 2014 portrayed a joke wherein, during a mathematics-themed striptease, a pair of underwear were revealed displaying the symbol π in the crotch area, denoting the Greek letter pi, and more specifically the mathematical constant popular in geometry. The performer/costume designer was confident in the audience's ability to interpret the meaning of the symbol and to infer the punchline of the joke, specifically that "pi" is a play on words with the intended word being "pie", as a euphemism for the vagina (hence the placement of the symbol on the crotch).

Upon viewing the photographic evidence, the author called into question the use of the word "pie" as a euphemism for "vagina". To be clear, the author understood the meaning of the play on words, but was dubious as to its proper use as a euphemism in this context.  

Methods: The following question was asked of the researcher's social network, specifically the forums of Twitter and Facebook: "DROP EVERYTHING AND ANSWER THIS: Is "pie" a common euphemism for vagina?" Respondents freely offered their opinions using the reply button over an 11 hour period. Data was gathered and tabulated in Microsoft Excel 2010. A total of 17 respondents offered their opinions, 4 female and 12 male and 1 transgender.

Results: 70.6% responded  positively that "pie" was an acceptable euphemism for the word vagina (Figure 1).  There was no significant correlation between gender and final answer (data not shown).  Furthermore, there was no correlation between the final answer and the social media platform upon which the data was gathered (data not shown).

Discussion: These data indicate that the majority of the population within the author's social network believe that "pie" is an appropriate euphemism for the word "vagina". However it should be noted that several (n=3) respondents indicated that the reference was outdated, leading to the conclusion that while the reference may be historically correct, the use of a more contemporary euphemism is advised. For example, Fuckingham Palace.

Getting your music played on college radio

So you made a record and you want college stations to play your music.  Here are some pointers. I'm no expert, but I've been in college radio for several years now as a DJ (catch me on Friday Nite Truck Stop on CKCU y'all) and I've got some pointers that, while not universally true for every station or DJ, is a good place to start.

I'm not going to tell you how to find radio stations, that's what Google is for. There are resources and lists, just go look it up.

On to the pointers...

1. Contact individual DJs one at a time, letting them know that you've sent them a CD and asking them to consider your stuff for airplay. You may not hear back, but don't construe that as ignoring you, the DJs have a lot of emails of this type to sift through and might not have a chance to reply. If you can't send multiple CDs for whatever reason, alert the DJ to the presence of your CD in their library, and offer to email them mp3s or their own copy if they really want one. You're probably safe to follow up once, about 2 weeks after your first email (asking if they've received it, had a chance to listen to it). This will remind them if they've been meaning to listen but haven't yet. After this you should probably stop bugging them with unsolicited emails, it'll start to get annoying.

2. Two weeks after you sent the CD, contact the music director during their tracking hours (they usually set aside a time of the week to field these calls, it's typically available on the website). When you call, you ask if they'd had a chance to enter your album into the library. If they have, ask them what kind of airplay it's getting. This step doesn't get you airplay, but lets you follow up and know the status of your recording. If it hasn't entered the library yet, call back every week until either it's in the library or whether they've decided not to include it. Either way, you'll know its fate.

Things to think about when submitting your album:
-Your chances of getting a burned CDR of demos into the charts are pretty slim, even if the music is top notch some people will assume it's amateur and not even give it a listen. It might not even get entered into the library, they usually only put official releases in there... if you just want transient airplay then submit the demo to DJs and let them know when they can expect a full-length album. Sometimes you can even just email mp3s if it's easier for everyone. But for getting on the charts, send in the real deal.

-Include a one-sheet (on 1 piece of paper, duh). Make your one-sheet as easy to read as possible, as your album is one of hundreds that the music director has to go through in one sitting. Include the following information:

1. Brief bio + picture. Include something important sounding, like "Featuring former members of Hobo Knife Fight and Vagenda (as if people should know who these bands are) or "Juno-nominees blah blah blah". Don't lie though. Also include 1 or 2 quotes from someone in the media who's reviewed your album or live show. Highlight these separately from the main body of the bio.
2. Description of the type of music (some music directors appreciate this as they now don't have to think about creative ways to say "yet another indie band"). Don't get too flowery here. Be succinct and clear. Nothing bothers me more than reading a description like "...it's like nothing you've ever heard before" or "genre-bending sensibilities". No, just write Punk/Hip-hop/etc so they know what pile to throw it in.
3. RIYL ("recommended if you like") - compare yourself to established indie artists that might catch the interest of DJs. This is another way for them to gauge what kind of music they're going to play. I know it's not rock and roll to compare yourself to others music, but you kinda just have to, really. Write it out like this: "RIYL Englebert Humerdinck, Celine Dion, Whitesnake."
4. Track listing, including song durations. Highlight in bold which 3 or 4 songs are recommended for airplay. This gives a DJ a quick idea of what you think are the best songs on the album. Without that information, a DJ will usually play the first song on the album, because most indie bands will put their best one first, for that whole attention-grabbing thing (more on that below)
5. If there's foul language or obscene material on some of your songs, you may want to consider indicating which songs are clean for airplay (especially if you're looking for airplay on US stations, where sometimes cussing is actually illegal)
6. Consider doing two versions of your one-sheet (printed on either side of the same piece of paper): a short version (for the music director to quickly peruse) and a long version (for DJs that like your stuff and want to mention something about you or your album after they play your song). I haven't seen many people do this but I did on my last album (example here). I also included descriptions of the song feel and content, in order for anyone to quickly figure out what song they should play on the air. Admittedly the whole is very gimmicky but that was the point: I wanted my one-sheet to stand out from the rest

-It's a good idea to include a sticker on the front of the album that has a very abbreviated version of the one-sheet. Something like "Butthero's debut album, From The Devil's Armpit, is a triumphant display of accordian prowess and expertly played spoons. RIYL Stompin' Tom, Ernest Tubb. Tracks for airplay: 1,2,5"

-If you have some small merch, throw it in with the CD. Buttons, sticker, patches, that sort of thing. DJs like free goodies.

-This is something to consider before tracking your album: make sure the first 3 songs are among your strongest (you should probably ask your engineer or producer for input on this - they won't be biased). Music directors and DJs have to go through mountains of music, and generally need a quick sample of quality to determine yay or nay on whether to even listen to the rest of the album. If your first song is 2 minutes of experimental noise and static or a weird ballad leading into a strong second song, there's a good chance it'll get dismissed. Once you're mildly famous and people know your name, then you can experiment with album structure. But when you're unknown, just put the really good stuff up front.

-Another thing, for your mail-out:  If you're mailing CDs across the country, get bubble envelopes from the dollar store. They're generally lighter and obviously cheaper than the ones from Staples or Canada Post. When you mail them, try your damndest to keep the weight under 100 grams. That's the dividing line between cheap and expensive rates at Canada post. I've actually gone to the trouble of trimming the excess envelope (there's usually a couple of extra inches because they start off as rectangular) in order to more snugly fit the CD. This really helped keep it under 100 grams.

Incidentally, for another take on this exact same thing, by someone who took more time to write their post, click here

So I was sexually assaulted last night, I guess

(Originally posted 8/6/14)

I was at the latest edition of Wacky Wednesday Fungasm at the Rainbow Bistro. For the uninitiated, it's a night of extreme fun with bar-wide Cards Against Humanity, Tic-Tac-Tits on bikini models, lip sync battles, Twister tournaments and so much more. It's always fun. Except for the guy that kept grabbing my ass.

I don't know who he was or who he was there with. He knew me by name but I didn't recognize him. This isn't uncommon, I have the memory of an Alzheimer's patient who already had bad memory to begin with. He was bold and confident, two traits I generally approve of.  Except when that that boldness and confidence leads to uninvited ass grabbing.

It started in the Twister tournament. We were on opposing teams, next to each other on stage with two separate Twister mats. Just as the game started he reached over and grabbed my ass and tickled it, kind of also in the scrotal or taintal area. All this to distract me, to tease me into failing at Twister. I brushed it off, yelling something like "anal intimidation is cheating". Maybe my lightheartedness about it just invited more because at least three other times throughout the night my ass was grabbed and/or massaged by this guy.

I'm generally OK with a bit of grab-ass amongst pals who have an understanding that it's hilarious and not an actual come-on. I'm not threatened if a dude touches my intimates if we have an understanding, but in the case of a guy that I don't know... well it just felt wrong.

The weird thing is, I'm mostly OK with what happened. I never felt threatened, just really confused as to how this guy thought it was OK to grab me like he did, repeatedly. That kind of behaviour would get someone's ass kicked six ways from Sunday if it were done to a homophobe. Me, I'm not the slightest bit gay or homophobic but I've been in enough interesting sexual situations to not be intimidated by a male hand on my ass. But he had no way of knowing that I'd be OK with this.

The double standard is that if a guy did this to a girl, she'd be perfectly justified in yelling "ASSAULT" and having his ass thrown out of the bar. But as a dude I feel like I have a responsibility to roll with it without making a stink. To play it cool, no big deal, you know? I guess this is the main problem with male rape victims - they're generally reluctant to speak out because there's this popular notion of "How can you rape a guy? Every guy wants to have sex all the time".  I suppose fellas should speak up more, but they don't and won't and male rape will probably forever be a dark little punchline for humanity.

I walked away from the bar tonight not feeling violated, but feeling like I SHOULD feel violated. Does that make sense?

For more on Wacky Wednesday Fungasm, join the Facebook group here. Don't worry, it's generally very anti-rape. Unless the right cards come up in Cards Against Humanity.

How to help your friend's band/art/business with one click of the mouse

I originally posted this on Facebook and people seem to like it, so I thought I'd share it with the rest of the world. Note that this only applies to Facebook. However on Twitter there's always "retweet" but it's not the same thing as what I'm talking about here. (Originally posted 6/25/14)

PSA: if your friend posts a gig through their band page or personal page, and you like your friend's band and want to take a second to help them spread the word, click the Like button. It's that simple. Same thing goes for regular posts, like "Hey tune in to my radio show tonight" or "I'm selling my art to pay rent"

See, when they post it, only a fraction of their friends and fans see the post (this is called reach, and it's usually in the neighbourhood of <10% of total fans/friends )

However, when people start clicking the Like button (or better yet, Share), the reach starts getting bigger and bigger. Suddenly your post goes from "Seen by 16 people" to "seen by 200". This is because Facebook loves all the interconnectivity

So help out a friend who's a struggling musician/artist/business owner by clicking the damn Like button, and your kindness will be rewarded in karma points

An Actual Conversation I Had With Someone Who Has a PhD

We'll call her Doc for today's purposes.  It also helps if you picture this with a thick Chinese accent (her) and a tone of increasingly trying to hide my frustration (me)
(Originally published 6/12/14)

Doc: Hey you ordered a new kind of test tube, but it seems like there are less tubes in each bag than the previous type.

Me: Oh yeah? How many?

Doc: I didn't count, but it seems like there's less.

Me: Well there were twenty-five per bag for the old tubes, how many for these ones? I think they're about the same, it's pretty standard.

Doc: I'm pretty sure it's less. I'm just letting you know so that when you order next time, you get more than you normally would.

Me: Why don't you count them? The bags are in that drawer right there.

Doc (comes back with bag, shows it to me): See, it's less. (note: the bag is a clear ziplock type bag, and it takes about 5 seconds to count the tubes)

Me: How many are in that bag?

Doc (shows me bag again): I think it's around twenty.

Me: Did you count them?

Doc: No

Me: Why don't you count them?

Doc: *whisper whisper whisper whisper* Twenty-five.

Me: *facepalm*

Opération Tourtière Poutine

(Originally published 3/14/14)

Mon ami m'a challengé a écrire cet aventure en français but fuck that shit, I can't be funny in French.  Another thing: I don't know if I could even have sex in French. I was thinking about that once - I live right next door to Québec, the land of easy beer and easier women, and I realized that if I were ever lucky enough to bed one of these Francophone fillies, I would have literally NO IDEA how to fuck them. With words, I mean. The penis part, I got that - with French girls all you have to do is drop trou in the same room as them and their vaginal vacuum pressure will do the rest of the work. But I wouldn't know how to tell her how badly she wants my hot load or ask what hole she needs filled without sounding like I was back in grade 7 with Mme McLellan at Ecole Catholique Colonel Forbes in Petawawa.

We (mon ami, see above) were at the Kingmakers show the other day and she revealed to me her secret for sounding like a natural-born Québec girl while being only partially bilingual: add an essy "z" sound to your d's and t's when they're followed by an "i" sound. Like this: "dynamite" becomes "dzynamite". "Tourtière" becomes "tourtsière". "Poutine" becomes OH MY GOD I NEED TO DROP EVERYTHING AND MAKE TOURTIERE POUTINE.

So that's how that came about. The two most delicious Québec foods I know of on one plate? There's no way this can fail! Or so I thought. On to the food. For starters, I'm no chef. I can heat food up in creative ways, and I can dice veggies like a motherfucker, but when it comes to creating stuff from scratch, I'll leave that to the professionals. So I started by purchasing everything pre-prepared. The CanCon of this meal is off the charts:

 

Lets not kid ourselves, this is a heat-and-serve meal. I won't pretend I had anything to do with the flavours. I plopped the pie in the oven as instructed, and went to take a dump. 'Twas on the john that I had an epiphany, as I often do: my original plan was to bake the pie, take a slice, put cheese curds on and add a hot mess of gravy. I realized during my bowel movement that when the gravy ran off the edge of the pie, the cheese curds will have only been in contact with the gravy for a few seconds, and wouldn't get gooey.  The solution was to heat the gravy and pour it over a bowl full of cheese curds, to soften them up before administering them to the pie. I did this for 5 minutes while the pie was cooling. Yes it was super tempting to just eat this and put ketchup on the pie.

I told you, this is an easy recipe. After 5 minutes I cut up some pie (anything less than a 1/4 slice and I might as well declare myself the gayest vegan of all time)...

 ...and plopped the gooey gravy and curd soup on top. Et voilà:

Some salt and pepper to taste, and... disappointment. Dammit. Not in the way you'd think, though. It wasn't terrible but there was an immediate and obvious problem that rendered the entire experiment moot: the spices in the meat and the delicious butteriness of the pie crust easily overpowered the cheese curds to the point where for the life of me I just could not taste the curds. I tried really hard, like when you're trying to keep hard for a girl you pretty much don't want to ever see again but you've been naked for 10 minutes and an exit now would be awkward. But I couldn't keep it up, and my mouth just said "Hey neat, meat pie with gravy is good! What's this flavourless piece of rubber doing there?" In the end, I could barely finish the plate and it wasn't because it tasted bad. I think it was just the disappointment that left a bad taste in my mouth, and the gravy just couldn't wash it away.
All that to say: Me and the band are playing this amazing show at Babylon on Thursday April 10th. It's called Beer, Barley and Food and it features food/beer pairings from local chefs and local breweries. How could this go wrong? Chefs from Whalesbone, Manx Pub, Das Lokal, Murray Street, Patty's Pub and Quinn's, pairing their food up with beer selections from Beaus, Clocktower, Kichesippi and Ashton Brewing Co. Seriously: does this not sound amazing? Click the link below for details
https://www.facebook.com/events/247457192093150/
See you guys at the show!

I Am The John McEnroe Of Driving

I yell and scream a lot when I'm driving. Here, for your enjoyment, is a list: 
(Originally published 10/15/12)
 
The Top Ten Things Yelled By Me Lefty While Driving

10. Signal, fuck!
9. You drive like a little bitch!
8. Fuuuuuuuuuck yoooooooou!
7. Oh you fucking cunt
6. Hey! No! Eat fuck, you fucking fuck
5. No! Don't even think about it asshole, I was here first.
4. Moooooooove! Too slow! Move move move move!
3. I WILL murder you, just fucking try me
2. Fucking GO, fuck!
1. Fucking Quebec drivers...

Please Don't Do This When Driving

(Originally published 9/17/12)

Here's a thing that not many people think about: how quickly you pull up to a stop sign or red light.

I was driving down St. Laurent in the right hand lane. I saw a car barreling down a side street (my side of the road) towards the intersection that I was about to drive through. "Uh, he's going awful fast". I checked to make sure I had a green light - I did. "He's still going way too fast. Is he going to hit me? Does he see the red light?" At this point, if our velocities were to remain the same, we'd collide. I started braking while trying to figure out what in the hell he was doing.

He finally slowed down at the last minute, coming to a complete stop about 10 feet past the white line, mid-right turn. There was something about the body language of his stop that indicated that he knew about the red light and the sudden stop wasn't a result of surprise. He just pulled up really aggressively and braked hard.

I drove past and gave him this look*:



When you're pulling up to a stop sign or light, it's important that other drivers know that you're aware of the fact that you're supposed to be stopping. Otherwise they're left to assume you're about to kill them. Watch this video. You don't even have to watch it all, just watch a few red-light t-bones.



When you pull up to a light really fast, you look like you're going to run the light and kill someone. Sure, YOU know you're going to stop, but anyone watching you thinks you're one of the idiots in the above video. At best this style of driving is making everyone nervous. At worst, you're giving people near heart attacks.

I'm an aggressive driver. I'm impatient, I like to drive fast and I don't like when idiots get in my way. But I still don't pull shit like this, because it scares people. So please don't do it.

*By the way: after I passed the intersection, the guy pulled up directly behind me and tailgated for a few seconds before whipping out into the left lane, pulling up next to me and manically waving and pointing and yelling and then I swear to god rolled down his driver's side window and threw a half-full fast food soda cup** over his car and directly into the side of mine. I gotta hand it to him: insanity aside, that's some killer aim.

**I don't know what brand. Stop nit-picking

Operation Shake n' Bacon™©®

(Originally published 7/30/11)
 
A few days ago I was watching a video of Imelda May and Wanda Jackson singing Shakin' All Over, and suddenly it occurred to the songwriter in me: Shakin' rhymes with bacon. If they go well together in song, they must go well together in my mouth. And that, boys and girls, is how Shake n' Bacon™©® came to be.

I googled "Shake n' Bacon"™©® and came up with no recipes, so clearly I have invented this concept (never mind that I could have googled "breaded bacon"). I vowed that, before my vacation was over, I would attempt this unholy union. And with oodles of time to kill today, I let 'er rip. Here are the results (skip to the end for a recipe synopsis):
1) Ingredients:

The egg and milk are for an egg wash, which is commonly used in baking to give a crust a golden glow, but is also used as a sort of glue. Onion rings and chicken fingers are typically made with this, so it stood to reason that Shake n' Bacon™©® would benefit from this. I bought regular pork Shake n' Bake, because it made the most sense. Obviously, any one will do, and seasoning is probably an excellent idea for future attempts. For now, I just wanted to see if it would work.
2) Mise en place and preparation:

Preheat the oven to 400°C. Maybe you could fry the bacon in a pan, but I decided to go straight to the oven. Incidentally, this is how I cook regular bacon these days. It's no-fuss no-muss, with little clean-up and no splatter (I cook topless so this is very important to me). Anyway, I went oven because I didn't want to move the bacon once it was coated in bread crumbs. Doing it in the oven allows you to just leave it unattended for 10-20 minutes, depending on the level of crispiness you're looking for. Line a baking sheet with tin foil, no need to grease it because duh bacon is fatty as fuck.
For the egg wash, mix one egg with about 1/3 cup of milk, and pour into a shallow bowl. This should be enough for half a pound of bacon. For the Shake n' Bake, use one packet (the box comes with two). Spread on a 9-12" diameter plate (the one pictured is too small, I changed it after I snapped the pic). I cut the bacon in half because the pieces are easier to handle (you'll see what I mean).
Dip a strip of bacon in the egg wash, making sure to cover both sides fully. Lay it out on the bread crumbs, flip it and do the same to the other side, and lay that sucker on the baking sheet. Repeat until you run out of room and/or bacon.

3) Cook them bitches. I cooked the first batch for 10 minutes, and they didn't look quite done so I gave them another 8. The end product was technically delicious, but stiff as a board and definitely had that overcooked bacon taste to it.

I knew I could do better so I made a second batch, cooked as follows: 10 minutes on one side, then flip and cook 2 minutes on the other side, for good luck. The outcome:

Shake n' Bacon™©® tastes exactly how you expect it to taste: delicious. Bacon to the breadth degree. It was fully cooked but not too chewy. The bread crumbs were perfectly adhered to the bacon - I was afraid they'd crumble off once I picked up the bacon, but the egg wash really did the trick. Oh, and all the grease that normally floats around the baking sheet? Totally absorbed into the bread crumbs. The tin foil was practically dry. Which meant the Shake n' Bacon™©® was completely saturated in bacon fat, and therefore completely saturated in awesome. As pointed out by Peter Pritchard, these are almost begging to be dipped in a melted cheese sauce of some sort. Someone try it and let me know how it tastes.
Shake n' Bacon™©® would make an excellent treat for when you're having friends over and you're feeling a little bit silly, or when you're alone and sad and you want something salty before you eat that pint of ice cream. Serve with beer, even at breakfast time. Especially at breakfast time.
Recipe synopsis
-Bacon (1/2 pound)
-Shake n' Bake or some such shit
-1 large egg
-1/3 cup milk
-Beer (you need something to do for 12 minutes)

Preheat the oven to 400°C. Line a baking sheet with tin foil, no need to grease it. Mix one egg with about 1/3 cup of milk, and pour into a shallow bowl. Spread Shake n' Bake on a 9-12" diameter plate. Cut the bacon in half because the pieces are easier to handle. Dip a strip of bacon in the egg wash, making sure to cover both sides fully. Lay it out on the bread crumbs, flip it and do the same to the other side, and lay that sucker on the baking sheet. Repeat until you run out of room and/or bacon. Bake for 10 minutes, then flip and bake another 2 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit 2 minutes, crack another beer and enjoy.

It's The Blame Game, Vehicular Manslaughter Edition

INFLAMMATORY STATEMENT WARNING: If you've ever been hit by a car while on your bike, you most likely share half the blame.(originally published 6/8/11)

While biking to work this morning, I had a very close call with a white minivan. Had we connected, and had I survived the ensuing head trauma, I'd like to think that I'd still have enough common sense to know that I shared half the blame, even though I hadn't done anything (legally) wrong.
I was biking at top speed, and approaching a light that was about to turn red. I timed it and knew that I'd get to it before it changed, and committed myself to going through. I was coming up on a van that had clearly made the same decision, as I saw no brake lights as it drew closer to the intersection.
I also saw no turn signal, so I started to overtake her on the right (I bike fast). We both got to the intersection at the exact same time, and this is where the driver decided at the last minute, still not signaling, that she would turn right and nearly kill me in the process.
I caught on at the last minute. I swerved as she braked suddenly at the sight of me. I yelled and flipped her off, and continued on my merry way. She drove off probably cursing me for, I don't know, "sneaking up on her" or some bullshit. But if she'd hit me, I would have to accept that it was my fault too, because I wasn't watching for her to fuck up.
Cyclists don't always realize how vulnerable they are on the road. You can't just cycle down a city street believing that your "rights as a cyclist" will somehow provide a force field that will make cars bounce off you. Drivers fuck up all the time, it's just that a fender bender between a car and a cyclist has oh so much worse consequences that one between two cars.
The only way for a cyclist to avoid being turned into sausage innards is to learn to drive defensively. The key to this is to assume that every vehicle is going to fuck up and kill you, and to watch every car you interact with for signs that they're going to end your life. This means watching for:

-turn signals (or lack thereof) without recognition that you're trying to pass on right, like in my little story;
-drifting towards the curb, which would run you off the road;
-drivers about to exit a parked car as you zip past them (I always look in the sideview mirrors of parked cars, and if I see someone sitting in the driver's seat I get ready for a door to open)
-cars that aren't planning on stopping for a red light on an intersecting street, setting you up for the t-bone of a lifetime

You're in the most danger when in close proximity to a car, especially when you're passing it. You have to assume that they have no idea there's a bicycle coming up on their rear, and act accordingly by watching the car very closely for signs that they don't see you. These collisions are preventable in that an observant cyclist will see the fuckup early and react accordingly; that's their responsibilty. Don't get me wrong, the car drivers have a responsibility to not kill anyone, but let's face it, people are idiots when they drive and cyclists have to account for that.
I can think of one situation that's not preventable by the cyclist: getting hit from behind. A few years ago there was an unfortunate situation where a group of cyclists were brutally mowed down by a driver who came up behind them and I guess just... didn't see them? There's really nothing that can be done in a situation like that; even with rear-view mirrors you can't expect a cyclist to watch behind them constantly. They have to keep their eyes on the road ahead of them. I perform a shoulder check every 10 seconds or so, to familiarize myself with the scene behind me, but even that can't prevent me from being hit by someone coming up fast and just not seeing me.
Cyclists are taught to wear helmets and make themselves visible with goofy neon vests. That only skims the surface of bicycle safety, yet it's "good enough advice" for most. Check out this bicycle safety website I came across:
The Canton Police Department and Bicycle Safety
Do you see how much I wasn't kidding about the helmets and vests? Cyclists aren't taught defensive driving, it's something they have to figure out on their own, based on personal experience and advice from awesome people such as myself. Now where's the freaking medal I so clearly deserve?

I Am The Charlie Sheen of Driving

My car runs on tiger blood, and it has one gear: GO. When I'm on the road I'm an F-18, and I will destroy you in the air and deploy my ordnance to the ground. I'm a total bitchin' rock star and the only thing I'm addicted to is winning by getting there first.(originally published 4/12/11)

This is the first of what will likely be many installments in a series called either "I Am The Charlie Sheen of Driving" or "At The Mercy Of Idiots". In this series, I will impart driving wisdom I've gained over the years, in order to either help other impatient drivers get ahead, or teach the slow ones to not be so goddamned inconsiderate.
Today's lesson: How to get past a slow guy at a red light.
The key to getting somewhere faster than everyone else is to not be stuck behind them. This is easy to do when there are two lanes and you can just, you know, pass their ass. But on streets with parked cars in the other lane, that's not so easy. This trick will work for you if you're near the front of the line as the light turns red.
1. Get in the right hand lane. All the other sheeple are getting in the left lane because they see the parked cars up the road. Take the empty spot on the right, but make sure to stay back one car length.

2. Watch the intersecting light. You should be able to see the light itself, but if you can't because of the angle, try looking for the reflection of the light on the little sun shield that's over each light. When the light turns yellow, start moving forward. Don't floor it, there's no need to go fast, as long as you're moving.

3. If you've timed it properly, you'll be entering the intersection when the light turns green. The potentially slow lead car is just now noticing that the light has changed, and in the amount of time it takes for them to process this signal and tell their foot to put on the gas, you're already halfway through the intersection and in front of them.

Watch out for red light cameras. I haven't figured out exactly how they work, but I suspect that if you enter the intersection before the light turns green, you might get a ticket, so watch your timing.
The reason you stay back one car length is in the event that the lead guitar driver has F-18 tiger reflexes that match your own, but still likes to drive the limit - you both start moving the instant the light changes, but you don't get to pass unless you friggin' floor it. Or, some people who fancy themselves "the road police" will decide that they're not going to let you pass, and they'll race you when the light goes green. If you're one length back, there's a very good chance they don't even notice you're there, so you can just scoot on in.
Now this technique has an inherent danger to it, so listen up: If you're the first person through a fresh green light, you're at a much greater risk of getting t-boned, ESPECIALLY in this situation because you're essential sneaking out of nowhere so the red-light-runner might not see you and decide to just go anyway. In order to not die you still have to look both ways before proceeding:

This will be expanded upon in a future post, entitled "Why it's usually the cyclist's fault when they get hit by a car."
*edit*
Clearly, this whole thing doesn't apply if the opposing lane gets an advance green. It's up to you to be familiar with the intersection to know whether they'll get one or not.

The Thing About Bass Players

ABSTRACT: Bass players are insecure and need to come to terms with their lesser role in the band. (originally published 3/28/11)

____________________________________
Before you get all riled up, you should know that I'm a bassist. I play several instruments at various skill levels, but rock bass guitar is what I started on, and it's the instrument I'm the most comfortable playing. Somehow, your knowing this excuses everything I'm about to say.

I suppose this I should clear this up too:

ROCK BASS [rok beys]: The guitar with which a musician plays the lowest part in harmonic music in any type of rock music setting, from the Beatles to Fucking Slayer.

ROCK BASS [rok bæs]: Any of numerous edible, spiny-finned, freshwater or marine fishes of the families Serranidae and Centrarchidae

Rock bass is not a very difficult instrument to play. Relative to the other instruments in a rock band (guitar, drums, keyboard), it has the least possible ways to fuck up. There are only two ways to make a mistake on the bass: hit the wrong note, and hit it at the wrong time. Both are very easily fixed by quickly jumping into a scale and claiming you were just being "jazzy". If the rock band were a restaurant kitchen, the bass player would be the dishwasher (drummer = deep fry cook; lead guitarist = head chef; rhythm guitarist = food prep; keyboard = saucier; lead singer = when the owner drops by to "help" and just fucks everything up because he's not really that familiar with the actual inner workings of a kitchen).

For that reason, the bass player in a rock band is the most easily replaced. His parts are the easiest to learn in a short amount of time, and because he's the least recognized member of the band, no one really notices when a new bass player rolls into town. Need a new drummer? Fuck, we're out of commission for a month. Need a new bass player? No problem, we'll just grab someone off the street before soundcheck.

Bass players have it easy - they have the least pressure about fucking up, because no one ever really notices when they do. They have the least pressure when it comes to skill level, because at the bare minimum all they have to do is wait for the guitarists to come up with the music, then just play a simpler version of it on bass. Compare the bass and guitar parts on Guitar Hero, you'll see what I mean.

Bass players know at some level that no one really cares about them. They're important to the overall sound of the band, but unfortunately it's one of those instances where they just don't get the credit they deserve, much like the guy that removes gum and cigarette butts from urinals. As a result, they're burdened with one hell of an inferiority complex, which causes them to do things that a bassist shouldn't be doing, so they can shine like a crazy diamond, even if just for a second.

Next time you're at a show, watch the bass player intently for a few songs. He'll most likely perform what's known as a "slide" at some point, hitting a note high on the neck and sliding down to a heavy-handed root note. It'll be in a quiet part of the song, like when the drums and guitar cut out for a second - that's his time to shine, one big hurrah.
The especially insecure ones will take it a step further and slide UP the neck first, so it's like "buwAAwugh!" instead of "BEeoooo!" Watch his face when he performs this move - he's glowing from the sheer intensity of his moment of glory. Or, even worse, he's looking out at the crowd with a "Yeah that's right, you all want to fuck me now" look. It's kind of sad.

Another thing an insecure bass player will do is too much noodling high up on the neck. The bass guitar is supposed to provide a middle ground between guitar and drums. Rhythmically it locks into both instruments, and sonically it provides a low end such that in some circumstances you don't so much hear the notes as you do feel them. This low end is achieved by playing in the bass guitar's strong area: anywhere below the 7th fret. All that other space? That's just filler, necessary for the length of the neck, and to give the guy somewhere to slide down from. It's ok to wander up there once in awhile for a kick ass solo, or during an entire section of the song that's dynamically different from the rest, or for a quick flourish, so long as the majority of the song is tastefully played below the 7th fret, preferably on the E, A and D strings. When an insecure bass player moves too far up the neck too often, it just takes away from the low-end rumble of the bass that's supposed to be reaching down into people's throats and poking around their guts.

Some bass players like to compensate by adding extra strings to their instrument. A 5th string, provided it's tuned to low B, adds 4 extra notes to the bass, but the're at the low end where it matters so I'll allow it. My main bass through high school was a 5-string, and I used the shit out of that extra string, so it wouldn't go to waste. But there are bass guitars with 6 or more strings, with the high string(s) tuned to lord knows what. All it does is add more room for wanky high-up noodling which sounds ridiculous (see above). They also allow for complex chords, which just end up sounding like shit on bass. It's ok to hit a couple of notes at the same time for a neat little oomph, but an entire chord? No, that's what guitar players are for, and you're not a guitar player.

The bass player should stand out visually, not sonically. He should have the longest hair in the band, he should sling his bass as low as humanly possible, he should giv'er the hardest on stage. Their parts are the easiest to play, so they can use all that extra mental capacity to run around, headbang, execute perfectly timed rock jumps, scream bitchin' backup vocals, that sort of thing. Bass players get laid for their antics, not their talents. Take this quiz by guessing which one gets laid most:






[edit]
Here's a joke I heard, from @trevorbattle (find him on twitter)

So this kid goes to his dad and says "I think I want to be a musician, I think I want to take bass lessons". So the dad says sure, and signs him up.

After one lesson he comes home and the dad asks "How was your lesson?" and the son says "Great, I learned how to hold the bass, and I learned the names of the strings!".

After lesson two, the dad asks "How was the lesson?" and the son goes "Oh it was awesome, I learned how to tune the bass and how to pluck a string!"

After the third lesson the dad asks "How was the lesson?" and the kid says "Ah, I blew it off today, I had a gig."

[edit 2]
THIS


Courtesy of one of the funnest afternoons I've ever spent, at http://www.rockandrollconfidential.com