Month: June 2003

Updated Saturday, June 14th: The link for the video for people without BitTorrent is now fixed.

It may be up for a limited time only, so download it and put it on your favourite file-sharing network…

Sk8r Boi as performed by me on accordion at MuchMusic

If you have BitTorrent, try getting it from here.

If you don’t, download it from here. Yes, this link is now correct!

Be sure to play it LOUD. You Friday the 13th will not be complete without it.

(The video’s 27 megabytes and in MPEG format, so you should be able to play it on any operating system. Big thanks to Lauren and Martin for the space!)

My friends Jason and Matt have digitized the video from the MuchMusic performance. It’s not one of my better ones, yet I feel strangely proud of it. I’m singin’ flat but lookin’ sharp. I’m working on finding a host for the video file, which is a whopping 27 megs.

Mental note to self: when performing a song solo, make sure you can also learn a chord button arrangement. Things sounds a little sparse without them, but I learned the song in a bit of a hurry.

If you’ve got a high-bandwidth web site and would like to host the video, drop me a line and I’ll make arrangements to get the file to you.

(Ghyslain, in case you were wondering, is the “Star Wars Kid” — you can read his story here.)

Once again, I’m busy with work, but that doesn’t mean I’ve left you with nothing to read.

Here’s an account from my friend Helen, who came to the studio to see the performance. Helen lives in London, England and is here in Accordion City for the summer. She’s my personal advisor on all matters British and part of my all-female volunteer squad of potential girlfriend background-checkers — just like Colonel Khadafy’s bodyguard squad! — who size up anyone before I’m allowed to date them. I didn’t form this elite cadre; they formed themselves after the New Girl Incident.

Meryle also came to see the show live and mentioned it a couple of times in her blog.

My friend Diana was also at the show and sent this writeup to everyone on the Thirsty People of Toronto mailing list:

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Well, here’s a recap. First there is the line up outside — a CityTV staple. A bunch of teenagers stand out on the street or sit on the ledge. I am standing out on Queen Street, too. I haven’t stood still on Queen Street for any length of time since back in the days when I had no money to do anything else. Two guys try to sell manicure kits for $5 bucks to everyone going by. A guy in khaki’s sits on his coat with a sign that says “I’m only $3 short of taking over the world. Please help.” Everyone outside the studio is looking cool, waiting for the sign.

I feel a bit strange, being the only person who has broken 18 years old in this crowd. The guy in front of me turns to me and says he is high. He always stands in lines when he is high. Then he never knows where he’ll end up. Then into the building — all coats must be checked. Cameras are okay to bring in but not coats or purses — they don’t look good in the shot.

Then we are ushered into the “Street Level Studio” where the show hosts Jenn and Rick rehearsing their intro. Joey is warming up in his oh-so-posh swivel chair, sporting striped pants, an American dollar tie and the obligatory black shirt. There is an “audience rehearsal”, where we practiced being a good audience. Screaming and being enthusiastic. The teenaged girls did a better job than me.

Now we are live. After a few segments, Jenn and Rick introduce The Accordion Guy. Joey says the entire month of June is National Accordian Awareness Month (who knew!). Jenn and Rick are impressed and give the floor to Joey.

The Accordion Guy wastes no time. He reels in the crowd with a skillful intro then belts out the song he came there to sing: Avril Lavigne’s Sk8r Boi. Everyone working in the studio stops to check it out. When they realize he is singing Avril, they smile and applaud. Me, too. It is excellent. Joey wraps up the song with an accordion flourish and much applause. He talks about doing the song and being on Much, then he plays a tune to take the section to commercial.

Well done, Joey!

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Thanks, guys!

I asked a dumb question on Freenode’s #infoanarchy IRC channel and got sent the URL for this graphic:

Okay, okay, hint taken.

But see if I ever play any accordion requests for you again, smarty pants. I don’t play “dumb requests”, you know…

I’m trying to find enough time to properly document everything that’s happened in the past couple of days, but I also have some clients for whom I must write software. Since they’re paying the rent and this blog isn’t, guess which one is getting short shrift for the time being. My apologies, Gentle Readers.

I’ve give you the quick version right now…

The MuchMusic Gig

I saw my MuchMusic performance the way most people saw it — on television — during the repeat performance last night at 11:00 p.m., my time zone (that’s Eastern Daylight Time, which for my friends outside North America is in the same time zone as New York City). Murphy’s Law would have it that my least favourite rendition of Sk8r Boi would be the one that ends up on TV. Singing flat, playing some chords that don’t exist outside of jazz or too many hits off the bong and tripping over lyrics, geez! Luckily, the audience was too in shock — Avril? On accordion?! — to notice.

My friend Richard, who works security at MuchMusic, said that VJ Rick liked the performance, and I got a nice thank-you email from VJ Jenn.

I would understand if Avril said “Smithers, have the Accordion Guy killed.” Actually, Avril, if you’re going to send thugs after me, may I recommend t.A.T.u? They could try to wrassle me to death in a vat of creamed corn. I’d put up a good fight.

Still, I kept my game face on, bounced around like a maniac, gave 110%, smiled all the way through and had the legal limit of fun. My thanks to MuchOnDemand VJs Jenn and Rick as well as producer Shelley for having me on the show, my thanks to the crew for welcoming me back as if I were a real rock star, and also to VJ Brad for coming over and saying hi!

(By the way, I think that I’m the Asian rocker who’s been given the most live airtime in the MuchMusic studio — well, at least after James Iha, formerly of The Smashing Pumpkins. I’m pretty sure I’m in the top 5. Asian rock stars, demand to get on!)

TV shoot number two

Hot on the heels of a live TV appearance, I spent this afternoon doing my segment for an episode of an upcoming TV series for the W Network called Living Romance. This particular episode is about serenading, and I’m the “wacky guy”.

They shot footage of me biking about town, wearing the flaming cowboy hat, accordion on my back. Then, a quick interview, followed by a performance. Then, they sent me to Queen Street West to try and pick up girls by serenading them. I was in top form, musically and with the one-liners. I even managed to rope in one or two! I’ll tell that story in more detail later.

Since they couldn’t afford to get the rights to any of the songs I usually cover, I had to write a song while other people were having their segments filmed. The tune’s good — I have complete faith in my ability to arrange chords and melodies — but the lyrics…well, I’ve heard worse:

(Chords for the verse are C-G-Bb-F)

You know, I live to see the smile on your face

No matter where you go you light up the place

You come near, my heart skips a beat, starts to race

You bring me back down to Earth from outer space

And…

(Key change! Chords for the chorus are D-C-G-D)

That’s why it’s no mystery

My head and my heart agree

You and me, we’re meant to be together

(some keyboard noodling goes here)

I also came up with this country-tonk ditty:

(This is a I-IV-V country tune that I did in E)

Maybe it’s true that I just love you too much

But that’s because I need you like a stickshift needs a clutch

Please understand me darlin’, I’m really not that strong

If you’re leaving me, can I come along?

Yeah, it’s totally goofball. Cory and his damned novelty tunes are rubbing off on me.

Lastly, here’s a punk number that the director thought was funny:

You may say I’m a liar

I swear that I’m not

But baby is it legal

For you to be that hot?

Okay, so it’s not Radiohead. I had to make this stuff up in a hurry!

…would be my own personal evaluation of the performance. Sk8r Boi is one that I can’t do “on autopilot”. It’s still a very new one for me, but why play if safe all the time? Anyhow, I misplaced one or two chords and flubbed a lyric, but all in all, it was a performance I’m proud of. I’m doing a writeup of what happened, and it’ll post the entry a little “l8r” tonight.

I forgot to set my VCR to tape the show, but it’s on again tonight at 11:00 p.m. Eastern. I’ll be watching it for the first time along with you. If you’re only interested in my segment, I’m on about 20 minutes in.

My thanks to everyone at MuchMusic and MuchOnDemand for having me on the show! Also, thanks to Diana, Helen, Debbie and Meryle for coming out to cheer me on!

My MuchMusic gig, in which I promote National Accordion Awareness Month on MuchOnDemand, is today! The live broadcast is at 5:00 p.m. Eastern, and they’ll repeat the show at 11:00 p.m. Eastern. Check your local listings, and all that jazz.

You’ll never hear Sk8r Boi quite the same way again!