This is a few days late, but here's this week's Friday Five:

1. Who is your favorite celebrity?
Since I mentioned him in the last quiz, this should come as no surprise: Billy Joel.

2. Who is your least favorite?
Least favorite would either be Tom Green or Geraldo Riviera. Green because he's possibly the least funny comedian, Geraldo because he always does dumb things, often that put others at risk, and tries to claim they're for the public good.

3. Have you ever met or seen any celebrities in real life?
I met Doctor Demento and "Weird" Al Yankovitch when they came to the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal in the late 1980s. I even have autographs from them.

4. Would you want to be famous? Why or why not?
Not really. With the lack of privacy that comes with fame, I'd probably go crazy.

5. If you had to trade places with a celebrity for a day, who would you choose and why?
If I had to, I'd love to have been Charlton Heston, just to meet some of the other great figures he's known.

From the Friday Five:

1. What was the first band you saw in concert?
The first solo act I saw in concert was Cindy Lauper. I think the first group I saw was Huey Lewis and the News.

2. Who is your favorite artist/band now?
That's a mix. In jazz, the Marsallis Family have really been capturing my interest. In other genres, Moxy Fruvous are a perennial favorite for me. Billy Joel is my favorite solo performer.

3. What's your favorite song?
Holly Cole's version of I can see clearly now. Actually, pretty much anything she sings.

4. If you could play any instrument, what would it be?
That would be the saxaphone.

5. If you could meet any musical icon (past or present), who would it be and why?
No-brainer here! Billy Joel again. Every interview of his that I've heard he sounds like a fun person to talk with.

I realized the date... it's only two months away from the Montreal International Jazz Festival! I'm hoping to actually attend it this year. The high heat and lack of courteousness in attendees to folks with canes or what-not has kept me away... but a fellow physio participant has been going for years even with such problems. That encourages me to try.

Legal MP3 Downloads

This site offers a good selection of jazz MP3s.

Fateback was down for a while... so even though I've been updating since the 5th, nobody got to see it. Sorry.

Cindy Lauper's 2-part "Goonies" video (from i-mockery.com).

Very sarcastic, but any reminiscence about some of what I loved in the 1980s is cool to me.

I haven't posted anything here in over a month? Ack! I'll try to get back on track. Maybe trying to limit my subject matter here is part of the cause...

Nora Jones was announced as a headliner at the 2003 Montreal Jazz Fest. She apparently played at last year's shows; after winning all those Grammys, getting her to perform now is a real coup, apparently.

Outside of her one hit song though, I don't know anything of her music. Years ago, I suffered through a Julian Lennon concert in town for the same reasons. Not a situation I want to repeat!

The vigil is over. Charlie Biddle died last night.

I was never really a fan of his music - but then again, jazz bass doesn't tend to be showy - however we can't in the least discount his contributions to the jazz scene in Montreal.

Cloned Baby Case Ends up in Court

And the undeserved attention continues...

It just came to me: it has been a month since Eve, the supposed first cloned child, was born. If other scientists were provided with data on her, we never heard about it.

Can you say hoax? I guess it was after all.

A Montreal jazz legend is really in bad shape: Charlie Biddle has cancer.

Charlie is a jazz basist, but his contribution to the Montreal jazz scene is much more: he's the owner of Biddles, a rib restaurant downtown that often has live jam sessions. He was also a pioneer of the Montreal Jazz Festival. He opened the first one 25 years ago, and he's always been a major supporter.

The latest Friday Five:

1. Where do you currently work?

At home. I'm a freelancer.

2. How many other jobs have you had and where?

Let's see... if I count a summer job each time, I've had 10 altogether.

3. What do you like best about your job?

I set my own hours and I don't have to worry about dress codes.

4. What do you like least about your job?

No regular paycheques.

5. What is your dream job?

Having a freelance writing gig become a full-time position.

The Return of the King Protest

This site states clearly that it's a parody of the Two Towers Protest one... it did crack me up.

Dutch lesbian 'has clone baby 2'

With this, there are now two unproven claims, and with this one it seems more a circus act the Raelians are making. Why should the fact the woman is a lesbian even matter?

Vatican slams 'brutal' clone claim

I can't really criticize the Vatican for this. If the Raelians' claim is true, then they performed what isn't a perfected process on an innocent life, callously birthing it with no care that it could be killed by the process.

From the Friday Five:

• 1. What was your biggest accomplishment this year?

My biggest accomplishment was the move to my current apartment. After 9 years living in the same place, I've now moved on.
• 2. What was your biggest disappointment?

More of a sadness, really: a friend of my family, Rose Greenblatt, was diagnosed with major lung cancer. We have maybe a year more with her at most.
• 3. Will you be making any New Year's resolutions?

Not likely. I've been keeping a resolution from 1999 to find old friends I'd lost touch with however.
• 4. Where will you be at midnight? Do you wish you could be somewhere else?

I'll be visiting my Aunt in Burlington, VT. I'll be with my folks, my aunt, my cousins... I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
• 5. Aside from (possibly) staying up late, do you have any other New Year's traditions?

Not really.

Generally when my local TV stations air ads about their CRTC license renewals, I ignore them.

This year my Global network affiliate announced that they wanted to air opinions on getting a new commercial jazz radio station in Montreal That is something I want to speak out for!

Smooth Jazz New Year's Eve at Time Square West (From Smooth Jazz News)

Man... reading this I wish I was a New Yorker.

Smooth Jazz News

A magazine site to read up on the latest happenings in this great artform.

I'm downloading the latest version of the Phoenix Web browser as I type these words... take the Netscape browser, minus the flaws, add tabbed browser views and built-in pop-up blocker and password manager feature, and you have a great product!

I've wanted to use the Mozilla browser for months, but it takes a more powerful PC than I currently have. Phoenix is a side-project version, without the code bloat Mozilla has.