Rush in SLC

Last evening, Canadian rock band Rush played at USANA Amphitheater in West Valley City (Salt Lake City suburb).
These photos of the concert come courtesy of the Salt Lake Tribune.

My Favorite Canadians

I've decided to highlight some of my favorite Canadians in a weekly or bi-weekly series called "My Favorite Canadians."


This week we'll have a look at Canadian hard rock band Rush!

Rush is a Canadian rock band comprising bassist, keyboardist, and vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart. Rush was formed in the summer of 1968, in the neighbourhood of Willowdale in Toronto, Ontario, by Lifeson, Lee, and John Rutsey. Peart replaced Rutsey on drums in July 1974, two weeks before the group's first U.S. tour, to complete the present lineup. Since the release of the band's self-titled debut album in 1974 Rush has become known for the instrumental virtuosity of its members, complex compositions, and eclectic lyrical motifs drawing heavily on science fiction, fantasy, and individualist libertarian philosophy, as well as addressing humanitarian and environmental concerns.

Musically, Rush has changed its style dramatically over the years, beginning in the vein of blues-inspired heavy metal on their eponymous debut to styles encompassing hard rock, progressive rock, a period dominated by synthesizers and, more recently, modern rock. Rush has influenced various modern artists such as Metallica, The Smashing Pumpkins and Primus, as well as many notable progressive metal bands such as Dream Theater and Symphony X.

Rush has been awarded several Juno Awards and was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1994. Over the course of their career, the individual members of Rush have been recognized as some of the most proficient players on their respective instruments with each member winning several awards in magazine readers' polls. As a whole, Rush boasts 23 gold records and 14 platinum (3 multi-platinum) records, making them one of the best-selling rock bands in history. These statistics place Rush fifth behind The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Kiss and Aerosmith for the most consecutive gold and platinum albums by a rock band. Rush ranks 76th in U.S. album sales according to the RIAA with sales of 25 million units. Although total worldwide album sales are not calculated by any single entity, as of 2004 several industry sources estimated Rush's total worldwide album sales at over 35 million units.

The band is currently promoting their latest album, Snakes & Arrows. An intercontinental concert tour began June 13, 2007.,

from Wikipedia

Something to think about...

"The problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so sure of themselves while wiser people are so full of doubt."

- Bertrand Russel

Something to think about..

"America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can't just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the "land of the free"."

- The American President (1995)

There's always room for Wheaton!

I've mentioned here before that I'm a fan of the writing of Wil Wheaton. He shares a lot of insights into life that people usually take for granted. Whether it's his Geek in Review summary or little snippets he shares from his life, every time I tune in to the Wheaton channel I find something entertaining, enlightening, challenging or pensive which is why I try to make time every day for a visit to Wil Wheaton's blog; it's one of the few highlights of my life I can enjoy while at the drudgery of my employment.

Here's just another reason why I enjoy his blog.

Homesick for Vancouver, B.C.

It's raining again here in Salt Lake.
Whenever it rains I'm reminded of my second home in Vancouver, British Columbia.
I only lived there for two short, wonderful years, but I left my heart there behind me when I moved back to Utah.
I took my wife and daughter along with my mom and dad back to Vancouver with me last June. We were only able to spend a week there, not nearly enough time for me. When the time came to travel home, I insisted I drive the Suburban across the border so as to give me something to think about; left to my own idle recognisance I would have cried in grief at having to leave my second home behind again.
I would have gladly stayed were it possible, had I not a mortgage and a position of responsibility at home.

One day I'll get back there for good.

I've still to finish school, and that will occupy the majority of my time until 2010; maybe I can get done in time to see the Winter Olympics there.

This looks familiar, vaguely familiar,

Almost unreal, yet, it's too soon to feel yet.

Close to my soul, and yet so far away.

I'm going to go back there someday.

Sun rises, night falls, sometimes the sky calls.

Is that a song there, and do I belong there?

I've never been there, but I know the way.

I'm going to go back there someday.

Come and go with me, it's more fun to share,

We'll both be completely at home in midair.

We're flyin', not walkin', on featherless wings.

We can hold onto love like invisible strings.

There's not a word yet for old friends who've just met.

Part heaven, part space, or have I found my place?

You can just visit, but I plan to stay.

I'm going to go back there someday.

I'm going to go back there someday.

From "The Muppet Movie"

Space...with an attitude.

From http://www.badastronomy.com/

"To celebrate 6209 days in space, the European arm of the Hubble science community has released the extraordinary image above. It’s of the Carina nebula, a vast complex of gas, dust, stars, forces, and energy sitting 7500 light years away. The image is a mosaic of 50 frames from the Advanced Camera for Surveys onboard Hubble. It shows a region only 50 light years wide… and yet there is so much to see!

"In 17 years, Hubble has taken a half million images of 25,000 astronomical objects, producing 30 terabytes of data in the process. If everything goes as planned, NASA will service this magnificent instrument yet again in 2008, and it will have many more years of service. What other images will it take, inviting us to peer farther into the Universe and add even more to our already considerable knowledge?

Or will the Universe itself have something to say about our hubris?




I don’t believe in signs… but I do believe in humor, and if the Universe has a sense of one, it has a funny way of showing it. But you can find everything in that nebula. Even an attitude."