Song of the Week - Bill Withers

Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine
Album: Just As I Am

You know a song is great when Rolling Stone ranks it at #110 in the top 500 albums of all-time. What's even more amazing is that Withers wrote this song while making toilet seats for airplanes at the age of 31. More recently (and on a less grand scale), this 1971 hit has lit up the extended Hutchins Twitterverse after a recent mass email shoutout. "Ain't No Sunshine" won Withers a Grammy for Best R&B Song of the Year, his first of three during a legendary career.

And for the record, he repeats "I know" 26 times in a row.

Credit where it's due: Mütter

When Soccer Goes Wrong and a Missed Opportunity to Make Amends in Glasgow

When I was younger, my parents got me a sweatshirt that said: “Soccer is Life... The Rest is Just Details.” I loved wearing that shirt, but I soon found out that every other kid at school had one just like it, though with his or her own sport of choice. “Volleyball is Life”? Who would actually believe such a silly thing? Though I was for ‘Team Soccer,’ I was always fully aware that life does not revolve around soccer, or any sport for that matter. Many soccer hooligans revolve their lives, however, on hate and violence towards opposing fans. For them, soccer is life, and there is a serious problem with that.

When it comes to rivalries, no two teams are more dominant in domestic soccer than Celtic and Rangers, both from Glasgow. They are the only two strong clubs in Scottish football and the proof is in the championships. Historically, both clubs have won a record 9 consecutive championships, since the league’s inception in 1890 only 19 times have neither Celtic nor Rangers won the championship (again, that’s since 1890!) and the most recent time a non-Glasgow team won the Premier League was way back in the 1984-85 season when Aberdeen won back-to-back titles. To add to the tension between both clubs, their fan base has a strong religious divide; Catholics support Celtic, while Protestants favour Rangers. Back to present day soccer, with 4 games remaining in the season, Rangers leads the Scottish League by 1 point over their rivals, though Celtic does have a game to spare. Their head-to-head match-up this past weekend resulted in a relieving 0-0 draw. I say 'relieving' because no one was killed. Seriously.

A Review of Tom Ford's 'Essentials'

Last week, we reviewed Tom Ford's lessons to be a modern gentleman. This week, we look at his list of 22 Essentials, some must- have's/must-do's for men. Here is Mr. Ford's list:

While the list is a good starting point, it is hardly realistic. Some stuff is too expensive or unnecessary. Instead, I give a realistic list of things all non-millionaire men should have. Instead of seeing this new list as essentials for the modern gentleman, we should see it as essentials for the common gentleman.

Song of the Week - Penny & the Quarters

Penny & the Quarters - You and Me
Album: Blue Valentine Soundtrack / Numero Group - Eccentric Soul: Prix Label

Very little can be found about the soul group Penny & the Quarters. Numero Group, an archival record label, came upon old demo tapes at an estate sale in Columbus, Ohio. Despite efforts by fans and researchers to find out more about this group, not much has turned up. It's figured to have been a demo rehearsal that was recorded in the early 1970's by a group of teenagers, but even that can't be known for certain. Nor does anyone know of the songwriter, or even who Penny is. And despite these unknown roots, the song rose in popularity after the release of the independent movie Blue Valentine (2010), where Ryan Gosling presented it to Michelle Williams as 'their song'. The lack of background into the artist is a mysterious story that really leaves the listener to enjoy the music for itself. How else could you describe a lost treasure?

A Review of the Tom Ford's 'Modern Gentleman'

Tom Ford was recently described in AnOther magazine as a “fashion powerhouse, film mogul and old school romantic.” The first two are well known: Ford was a star for Gucci before creating his own fashion line, and his recent directorial debut in A Single Man was well received, garnering plenty of recognition at the Golden Globes and Oscars. To add to the list, apparently he’s an old school romantic to boot. I’m not sure precisely how one garners this ‘old school romantic’ label, but his recent lists of “Tom Ford's five easy lessons in how to be a modern gentleman” and “The Essentials,” the latter a list of 22 must-have’s/must-do’s for men, have certainly made a tangible case for where men are lacking.

In this two-part series, Tom Ford’s lists for what it takes to be a modern gentleman will be looked at again. Some parts work, whereas others don’t. Today, we examine Mr. Ford’s teachings for modern gentlemen, and at the same time we will critique and simplify.

Song of the Week - Kevin Fox

Kevin Fox - Away Too Long
Album: Songs for Cello and Voice

It's always nice to hear about a new artist that's typically found as a back-up to many greats. With the exception of Yo-Yo Ma, cello players never get their time in the limelight. Kevin Fox has recently released his third album, Set Right, but he is still often an unknown background personality composing for bigger names such as pop sensation Justin Bieber and regularly touring with another great Canadian artist, Chantal Kreviazuk.

All the while, Kevin Fox has created a solo album that really simplifies the music down to, as his album states, his cello and voice. The combination creates a soft, relaxed feel that, despite the melancholy, creeps into the foreground of the room. One just has to sit back and listen.

Credit Where it's Due: n(ada)

Song of the Week - Tribute to Cohen

Antony - If It Be Your Will

(written by: Leonard Cohen)
Album: Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man

The soundtrack to the 2005 film Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man features some amazing covers to the greatest songs written by a music legend. While it seems mostly everyone is set on singing Hallelujah to the point that even Cohen himself says there should be a moratorium on people singing it, Antony produces an amazing rendition of another Cohen classic. The whole album speaks to the repertoire that Cohen has offered over the decades to us.

Antony is a transgendered British singer-songwriter from the group Antony and the Johnsons. The group has released 4 albums, as well as collaborated with music greats such as Rufus Wainwright and Bjork.

Credit Where It's Due: ayalah

The Political Needle

CBC has recently released its VOTE COMPASS, a survey involving 30 questions to see where one aligns politically. The questionnaire was developed by a team of elections researchers and political scientists in conjunction with the University of Toronto. The Vote Compass has in its first week open to the public via the CBC website been often used, though still under scrutiny for a perceived Liberal bias. Both the National Post and Toronto Sun have cited Queen’s University professor Kathy Brock’s finding that the online tool is flawed a skewed in favour of the Liberals. While the questions can be answered on a scale of ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree,’ those who find themselves without polarizing opinions tend to align closer to the Liberal centre. Meanwhile, many NPD voters are finding themselves aligning closer to the Green Party, a ploy perhaps to improve Liberal chances in NDP ridings according to some critics.

Meanwhile, Vote Compass executive director Clifton van der Linden has maintained that the online form is “not meant to tell people how to vote,” but rather is a tool to promote discussion and raise awareness of the views of political parties. In that, the Vote Compass has succeeded. What strikes me, however, is where the 5 major parties lie on the four-quadrant grid dividing “economic right” with “economic left,” and “social liberalism,” from “social conservatism.

Song of the Week - Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers

Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers - Jubilation Day (live)
Album: Rare Bird Alert

This fun-loving break-up song adds to Steve Martin's ridiculous resume. The actor/comedian/singer/writer has been a regular of Saturday Night Live, written a best-selling novel (Shopgirl), been in a plethora of movies, and won a Grammy and an Emmy along the way. In fact, he's only missing an Oscar and a Tony from the exclusive EGOT club, but those missing two seem well within reach.

In the meantime, Steve Martin has resumed his banjo-playing ways, and this time he has joined the talented Steep Canyon Rangers to help him out. Let's hope this isn't the last we hear of this tandem, but, if anything, at least we get a glimpse into the forgotten world of sweet bluegrass twang.

And you know they must be good when your dad calls you up to ask if you've heard of them.

aa.

Credit Where It's Due: Poppa Hutchins