I now have about 5 pairs of this blessed brand which has markings on the sole like “resists satan” and John Fluevog has created an entire line of shoes called the Angel series named after people who have moved on from this earth (what a nice way of saying that they died, eh?).

This past Feb. 18 was the 4th year anniversary of my dad’s death and every year we do something to honour him. This year, we went up to his grave, told a few stories, and I went over to my buddy’s house to drink some of my old man’s favourite beer (Grolsch with that cool popping lid cap thing).

Fluevog has a killer store downtown Vancouver in Gastown

So, getting back to the shoes… in the late 70s, my dad had a factory and manufactured clogs and funky designs for Fox and Fluevog – a shoe company based out of Vancouver. They were making the most outrageous designs that were a huge hit with the pimps and hookers downtown. Eventually, they grew their niche into an extremely successful company to where they now have huge superstars sporting the footwear with 14+ killer stores around North America.

But one of the pairs of Fluevog shoes I have has got an extra special dose of sentimental goodness attached – a pair of Angels called the Henk - named after none other than my pops, Henk Boesten. Pretty rad to have a pair of shoes named after you – what an honour to have Mr. Fluevog show respect this way. Nice move.

Here’s the description of the shoe:

“This unisex Classic Angel shoe was inspired by a strong and hardy Dutchman who worked for John in the ’70s. Built upon the infamous original Angel sole of 100% hevea tree latex, and using tough Boston Nero leathers, this no-nonsense shoe will be your constant companion for many years…”

When I kick the bucket, I want a pair of shoes named after me. How about a name like “NIKE” because Nico might be too confusing for people to pronounce. Ya, Nike has a nice ring to it.

They’ve developed some algorithm and set up this cool little voting system called Youtube Comedy Slam where you can vote on which video you like better, earn points, bla bla bla.

Google engineer Sanketh Shetty explained the methodology for finding the funniest YouTube video in this blog post.

“We focused on videos uploaded in the comedy category. We captured the uploader’s belief in the funniness of their video via features based on title, description and tags. Viewers’ reactions, in the form of comments, further validate a video’s comedic value,” he wrote.

“…We noticed that viewers emphasize their reaction to funny videos in several ways: e.g. capitalization (LOL), elongation (loooooool), repetition (lolololol), exclamation (lolllll!!!!!), and combinations thereof. If a user uses an “loooooool” vs an “loool”, does it mean they were more amused?” asks Shetty.

So, without further wasting of time, I present to you the Funniest Youtube Video of all time and crank your speakers for just a little more enjoyment.

And, here’s the funniest Youtube video of the week

What’s your vote?

Frontman Grohl spoke for the band: “This is a great honor because this record was a special record for our band … We made this one in my garage with some microphones and a tape machine.”

Don't Hate the Player

TRANSLATION: Raw talent is actually still good for something. Click here to find out what a tape machine is.

He continued, “We couldn’t have done it without the best producer in the world in Butch Vig … We met each other 20 years ago when we made a Nirvana record and it was an honor to work with you again.”

TRANSLATION: Don’t burn bridges. You never know when you’ll need to call on someone for a favour 20 years from now.

Grohl concluded, “This award means a lot because it shows that the human element of making music is what’s most important. Singing into a microphone and learning to play an instrument and learning to do your craft, that’s the most important thing for people to do.”

He went on, pointing to his heart and his head saying, “It’s about what’s in here” and commenting on the fact that “It’s not about being perfect”.

I don’t know why this hit me so hard, but I felt like standing up in my living room and saying “Hell ya, that IS what it’s about”. But how does this translate in the real world. How do you train people to appreciate mistakes on an album (because within about 4 minutes of Pro Tools you can fix any sour note). Do you think there’s an inner dissatisfaction with the way “the industry” is operating that is pissing off even the biggest rock stars?

Or the bigger question, could this lead to any sort of change?

Or maybe this was just a great marketing stunt to get people believing that Foo Fighters are purists and this little acceptance speech will sell more albums. I guess I’ll have to give it a listen and see how many mistakes they left in there eh?

(skip to 1:30 when he starts talking)

Inspiring stuff.

Craig Cardiff at Streaming Cafe Jan. 21, 2012

I did a quick little interview with him before he had to catch his flight over to Vancouver for 3 consecutive shows at the Railway Club which will be posted on the TribeHouse site later this week is posted on the TribeHouse Artist Collective website. But here’s a guy who works his ass off, has a solid following (6K+ fans on Fbook ain’t shabby), and has dudes like Gordon Lightfoot saying things about him like “(Craig) is a songwriter that needs to be heard”. I think it would be fair to say he’s one of those “successful” artists.

And, of course, there are hundreds of thousands of other indie, travelling, hard-working musicians who are all wondering what the magic potion is as to how he got to this level. He played the show last night with 5 strings because there wasn’t enough time to restring his whole guitar after arriving late on a flight from Ottawa and was quick to admit that there are a slew of guitar players out there that could shred circles around his playing.

So what’s his secret? Here’s what he said:

“Be happy with what you have instead of what could be.”

Craig Cardiff is someone to follow & watch – some really refreshing views on the music industry & enough innovative ideas to tip a few cows.

Craig Cardiff’s Website

With Collabatube, I’ve thrown the idea by a handful of people that I really respect (who really know stuff) and there seems to be a resounding “holy crap, this is a great idea” so the adventure to find partners in this little venture is moving along. I’ve had a few different programmers looking into the practical details of what it would take to get this puppy off the ground & have recently hooked up with some really great local guys who are stoked about the idea.

What is Collabatube? Well, can’t tell you all my secrets but it’s basically a collaborative video project using Youtube. And yes, it is (or will be) a website [ http://collabatube.com ] where people will be able to collaborate with each other.

As with most of the design projects I work on, you (my friends) only get to see the finished, polished product but I thought I’d give you a sneak peek into the design process. Today I spent a couple of hours working on a logo concept that I was trying to get from my head onto my computer screen & I’d love to hear your feedback if you’re brave enough to offer it. I use Adobe Illustrator to create these and I find it’s best to start with just a black and white concept, incorporating colour afterward (if necessary). Which one you like?

Download the song
Read more about the dream

What Matters (2011)

LYRICS:

When my father died
Something inside
Felt like a piece of me was torn out

I just can’t seem to find it again
Aching for the affirmation
But there’s silence and I’m left here without

CHORUS
I’m filled with emotion
I’m filled with the notion
That what matters — remains

I had a crazy dream
There in front of me
Just the way I remember him — my old man

Bright blue eyes staring right through
Everything I tried to hide he knew
(he said) “Son, don’t hide your face in your hands”

BRIDGE
Now that you know what you know
So much has been taken
How am I supposed to carry on

BEHIND THE CURTAIN FACTS:

Lead vocal track was actually the very first (and only) scratch track
Music video recorded in the actual spot where my dad’s ashes are buried
In “the Story” video, the audio you hear is the actual blessing my dad gave me in the hospital 1 week before he died
The instrumental portion after the bridge has an actual beer bottle solo in it. Watch it being played here.

CREDITS

A huge thank you to Jan Vozenilek (Copper Sky Productions) for believing in this story and generously donating his time & heart into this project. Please check out his other inspiring projects here: http://www.copperskyproductions.com/

Written by Nico Boesten along with Andrew Smith & Norm Strauss
Lead Vox, Acoustic Guitar: Nico Boesten
Fretless Bass: Brian Wiebe
Hammond: Malcolm Petch
Background Vocals & Beer bottle sound effect: Ari Neufeld
Pedal Steel: Graham Ord
Drums: Eric Funk
Electric Guitar: Andrew Smith
Camera and post production: Jan Vozenilek: http://www.copperskyproductions.com/
Jib operator: Paul Cotton
Photography: Kerby Gernander & Ingrid Boesten

PRESS

Kelowna Capital News
Shaw TV
Fuel Radio
TribeHouse
Elle Strauss

I’m Nico Boesten – a husband, father, producer, singer-guy, drummer, entrepreneur, supporter of indie artists, soccer lover, and least importantly a novice land kiteboarder. All of which I love and am working on becoming awesomer at.

Having lived in Europe, US, and Canada, I have done extensive travelling performing as an artist, leading a youth ministry, and working with addicts in the heart of Amsterdam.

More recently I was a partner and marketing guy for Sayvee.com (website builder for artists) which was recently acquired by Bandzoogle.

Most recently I’m supporting the artistic and experimental efforts of TribeHouse Artist Collective and Streaming Cafe. I have also started a side project called Fair Trade Creative where I am working with different designers to create album artwork, videos, websites, book covers, tshirts etc… The profits support projects that matter like sponsoring children in Uganda but this is a fairly young idea. If you’re really bored, here are a few of the videos I’ve been a part of creating: William and Kate, Sayvee.com, David Wilcox promo, and of course my own Youtube Channel.

Albums I’ve produced:

Rachel Taylor: Inside These Walls
Maeve: Mothers of Grace Club
Kristie Levesque: Element(s)
Nico: Freekboy, Sillyman, Burn, Bly, Nashvegas EP, What Matters