the todd shapiro show

Want to know what's going on with ex-Edge morning cornerstone Todd Shapiro? Dean Blundell's former right hand man has landed a new gig. The Todd Shapiro Show will premier March 3rd  at 9 AM on Sirius XM Canada. He'll be on channel 168 - the spot for uncensored Canadian comedy.

"Todd brings a candid, unique and energetic voice to our airwaves that we're very excited about" shared John Lews, SVP of Programming in the company presser. "He's genuine, incredibly likeable and fun to listen to, something his fans already know. We're confident that will resonate with the new audience - across North America".

To read the full Press Release go Here. 

saul's doodle

The best Google Doodle appeared today on the popular search engine. The video celebrated Saul Bass' 93rd birthday. Bass was an American graphic designer and Oscar winning filmmaker, who was primarily known for his design of movie title sequences, film posters and corporate logos. Might have seen his work in The Man with the Golden Arm, and was the guy who did came up with  AT&T "bell" and its "globe" logo in the 80s.

the today that almost never was.

Today was a good example of when you push yourself to the limit, anything is possible. Let's rewind a bit. The past few weeks, I haven't locked in more than 5 hours of straight sleep. Blame mostly allergies and insomnia. It's extra special when they drop in on the same night.  This brings me to this morning. I woke up drowsy with a little under 3 hours of rest. I couldn't lay in bed anymore. I knew if I did, my whole Monday would be wasted. I got up, poured the coffee, had breakfast, and started to work the morning while slowly waking up. As I pulled up my daily To-Do List, I realized that I wasn't happy with my previous server that hosted my old Photography site. I decided before I get what needs to get done today, I need to find a better server. So the search started. It didn't take long to find a new home. The day was spent building. Designing. Writing copy. Uploading. Erasing. Re-writing. Redoing. Finally, just after 6pm, I was done. Satisfied with my work. Amazed how much work I did on a day that almost never was.

Great momentum to go into my 34th Birthday on Saturday, I thought.

I would  like to thank my veggie salad with extra olives, tunes from Phoenix and The National, positive energy from the Sunshine, and the black bird who kept me company on the window sill that helped me get through the day that almost never happened. I owe you all.

Now, Time for some rest. After I pop my allergy pill.

'Night.

digging in the deep

Add the cute factor and a recent hit from the hit parade and you've got a guaranteed successful viral video on the Tube. Here's one that got me putting on repeat this morning and sharing around the office.

notes we love.

Thanks to The Airchecker for the kind words. Don't forget you can check out the Shane Alexander Show every Wednesday Here.

happy birthday steve

Hope you're still hungry. Hope you're still being foolish.

valentines doodle

The creative folks at Google came out this morning with the Valentines Google doodle. Here it is. Still think it would be better if she shot him. No hard feelings, here.

cross starts squish.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The internet is the future of regular radio. The radio we know and love disappeared a long time ago. Ages ago, in fact. The internet has slowly started to take over. More people are going to the world wide web to broadcast and showcase their talents along with new music. With no restrictions,  it's easier to be free with content. The content that's missing on terrestrial radio. Humble and Fred did it. And the big boys took notice. I've been doing it since last May. And now, Music nerd God Alan Cross has started it. The local pop culture hero has started Squish. An online radio station backed by Astral Media. Cross wrote about it yesterday. Here's what he had to say...

I'm most grateful to Astral Radio for giving me my own online radio station. After months of planning, this work-in-progress received a soft launch this week. It's called Squish.

Squish aspires to be the best alt-rock station you've ever heard with a mix of music that includes everything from the familiar and classic to the coolest and newest indie stuff. In fact, music discovery is a big part of Squish's mandate.

Here's what's going on.

I was approached by Astral to helm Squish last spring. Putting something like this together is a HUGE issue, not least of which is the acquiring the necessary licensing for all the songs. (It's not as simple as buying a download or ripping a CD. Trust me.)

But we're almost--almost--there.

The station is by no means in its final form. The sound and music mix is still being shaped. There's production, imaging, techincal improvements, segments from me and a lot more music that needs to be added to the system. But it's at least at the stage where it's time to take everything out for a shakedown cruise.

The cool thing about a station like this is that there are no content rules, no worries about bad language and no endless repetition of the same five songs. There's freedom to choose music from all corners of the alt-rock universe. And there are no commercials.

This kind of radio is still in its infancy, so there's a lot of blind guesswork going into what you, the music fan, really want from a such a service. As the adjustments continue, I hope you'll give things a listen and offer suggestions, critiques and feedback.

Ultimately, the programming of Squish is 100% my responsibility, so if you send me a note, you're sending it to the guy in charge. What can we do together to create an absolutely AWESOME alt-rock station?

Seriously. I want to know. My direct email address is alan@alancross.ca

Go here to check out Squish.  

humble and fred join rogers

It only took three months and 62 shows till blog buds, Humble Howard Glassman and Fred Patterson took their internet radio show to the next level. The duo announced this morning on CITY-TV's Breakfast Television that they'll be teaming up with Rogers Broadcasting.

(TORONTO – January 24, 2012) Rogers Radio today announced the debut of Humble and Fred Radio.com across 18 Rogers Radio websites and on mobile devices through the Rogers Radio app.

"We are thrilled to partner with Humble and Fred and are very excited and proud to be able to offer this unique, innovative show to our Rogers radio listeners." says Julie Adam, VP Programming. "It's like having a 56th station... it's just that this radio station lives solely in the digital space."


Humble and Fred Radio.com is an uncut, uncensored and irreverent podcast baked fresh daily and delivered to listeners around the world. “Humble” Howard Glassman and Fred Patterson offer up a variety of special guests, hot-topic discussions and very funny content.


“We’ve never had so much fun” says Patterson, “And to have Rogers recognize our efforts and want to give us access to their millions of listeners is flattering. Rogers vision of the future is very impressive.


“We’re very happy to be part of the Rogers Family” says Glassman, “In fact from now on we’re going to call Bob McCown dad, and Erin Davis can be our mom.”

The deal will also see the duo joining local sports guru, Bob McCown for bits on FAN 590 and a special little thing with 680News.

x and 'mind

If you were a fan of Hip Hop in Toronto back in the late 80s to the 90s you would know that you couldn't get the sounds if you didn't listen to some of our local college radio shows. And you would also be familiar with two names. Mastermind (now on FLOW 93.5) and DJ X. I'm sure there's a few thousand heads around my age who always wanted to be in their position. Spinning the tunes and interviewing the biggest emcess coming through on a promo tour. And like the true heads you respect, you are always in awe when they speak of the `old days'. No matter how old you are, you sit down and be quiet and hear their stories.

Came across this interview the two did promoting a new mixtape they did together. You can download it here. But first, check out this well directed interview as X and Mastermind talk Hip Hop in a Hip Hop heads' playground. The record shop..

family...

This video went viral this week, and at first I thought it was one of those spam videos you would find on Facebook. Glad I realized it wasn't and watched it. Powerful. Check it out. It'll make you feel good.

birp picks up the unaided..

The good people at Indie Rock site, Birp.fm chose my mixtape, The Unaided to showcase on their site for the month of December. Incredible news. The tape has gotten really good response so far and I'm just thankful. You can also download it there. So, In case you haven't heard it yet or want to give it another listen, you can check it out Here.

blake's book..

As a web junkie and avid Google user, I know I should've known about Google Books before. I just started using it today. Granted, they need more selection for the cheap readers who don't want to spend a buck to buy a virtual book, but what I found I'm content with. Classics are always worth another whirl. The first e-book I read while having my tomato soup lunch (which was excellent, by the way, especially with my whole grain bread slices), was Songs of Innocence and Experience With Other Poems by .. In his manner, Blake delighted me with a few great poems that had me both laughing, tearing and a bit of both for a couple. Thought I'd share a couple of dandies with you..

A Little Boy Lost

``Nought loves another as itself,
Nor venerates another so,
Nor is it possible to Thought
A greater than itself to know:
``And Father, how can I love you
Or any of my brothers more?
I love you like the little bird
That picks up crumbs around the door.''
The Priest sat by and heard the child,
In trembling zeal he siez'd his hair:
He led him by his little coat,
And all admir'd the Priestly care.
And standing on the altar high,
``Lo! what a fiend is here!'' said he,
``One who sets reason up for judge
Of our most holy Mystery.''
The weeping child could not be heard,
The weeping parents wept in vain;
They strip'd him to his little shirt,
And bound him in an iron chain;
And burn'd him in a holy place,
Where many had been burn'd before:
The weeping parents wept in vain.
Are such things done on Albion's shore?

The Little Girl Lost

In futurity
I prophetic see
That the earth from sleep
(Grave the sentence deep)
Shall arise and seek
For her maker meek;
And in the desart wild
Become a garden mild.
* * *
In the southern clime,
Where the summer's prime
Never fades away,
Lovely Lyca lay.
Seven summers old
Lovely Lyca told;
She had wander'd long
Hearing wild birds' song.
``Sweet sleep, come to me
Underneath this tree.
Do father, mother weep,
Where can Lyca sleep?
``Lost in desart wild
Is your little child.
How can Lyca sleep
If her mother weep?
``If her heart does ake
Then let Lyca wake;
If my mother sleep,
Lyca shall not weep.
``Frowning, frowning night,
O'er this desart bright
Let thy moon arise
While I close my eyes.''
Sleeping Lyca lay
While the beasts of prey,
Come from caverns deep,
View'd the maid asleep.
The kingly lion stood
And the virgin view'd,
Then he gamboll'd round
O'er the hollow'd ground.
Leopards, tygers, play
Round her as she lay,
While the lion old
Bow'd his mane of gold.
And her bosom lick,
And upon her neck
From his eyes of flame
Ruby tears there came;
While the lioness
Loos'd her slender dress,
And naked they convey'd
To caves the sleeping maid.

dead

Days like these I enjoy checking out CNN.

the sixty one

Stumbled on a new site earlier this evening. Don't remember exactly how, actually, but I'm glad I found it. The Sixty One. The site has taken the idea of social media, online gaming and music nerdism to the next level and combined them all into one. I won't explain the site here, since I just joined less than an hour ago and don't want to leave out some of the vital vitals. Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think.

Check TheSixtyOne Here..

wallpaper is stuck on me...

It has been my favorite read for a long time. Since I got over the fallen off Hip Hop 'zines and sport reads. I needed something more to feed my instinctual apatite. With the right mix of seasoning and meat, Wallpaper Magazine's website is not only easy to navigate, but also pretty cool looking. What I like the most is that it fits the magazine's image. If you haven't read the magazine yet and into Art, Architecture, Fashion and Lifestyle, check out the site and then pick up the hardcopy version next time you grab that Grande at your local coffee pub slash magazine stand.

Check the Site Here.

rip steve jobs

"I want to put a ding in the universe." -- Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

what does this mean?

I saw a rainbow this evening. I ran to get my camera to take a shot. As I stepped outside, I noticed that there's a slight double rainbow there. I laughed. Remembering the double rainbow guy from last year. Had to look him up one more time. For old times sakes. He never gets old. Rainbows never do, either. One thing the double rainbow guy was right about, however, is that these magnificent nature creations are sure one hell of beautiful.

happy birthday google

Another 13 year old who thinks they know everything.

#nowlistening

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