If I’m not mistaken, the answer’s bacon.

There sure are a lot of songs about food.

* = Canadian

1. Old Man Luedecke* - Big Group Breakfast (Proof of Love)

2. The Grand Archives - Orange Juice (The Grand Archives)

3. The Lovely Feathers* - Breakfast Cake (Hind Hind Legs)

4. Shotgun Jimmie* - Cereal (The Onlys)

5. P:ano* - Supermarket One (Brigadoon)

6. O' Death* - The Crab Apple Shift (Head Home)

7. Millencolin - Story of My Life (Life on a Plate)

8. Yo La Tengo - Sugarcube (I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One)

9. Women* - Black Rice (Women)

10. Fish & Bird* - Steak (Fish & Bird)

11. Tom Waits - Eggs and Sausage (In a Cadillac with Susan Michelson) (Nighthawks at the Diner)

12. The White Stripes - One More Cup of Coffee (Bob Dylan cover)

13. Ron Sexsmith * - Dandelion Wine (Retriever)

14. Buck 65* - White Bread (Situations)

15. Demetri Martin - The Grapes Song (These Are Jokes)

Old Man Luedecke had another song that would have been perfect for the show, the Joy of Cooking off of Hinterland. The man likes his food.

Work is a four-letter word.

I just got a job as an archaeologist, which is kind of neat because it's what I went to university for four years to do. The first four songs reflect my new career while the rest of the show was a celebration of jobs and employment in general. People were requesting whatever they wanted: jobs they had, jobs they wanted, jobs they'd dreamed about having some day when they were children.

* = Canadian

1. Wintersleep* - Archaeologists (Welcome to the Night Sky)

2. SNFU* - Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump (In the Meantime and In Between Time)

3. Gruff Rhys - The Court of King Arthur (Candylion)

4. Joe Strummer - X-Ray Style (Rock Art and the X-Ray Style)

5. Dumb Angel* - Harvest and Bread (I Woke Up This Morning)

- for Lily Grisdale, who wants to be a baker (but can`t handle the hours...)

6. The Bloodlines* - Modern Science (The Bloodlines)

- for Laurie Johnson, scientist.

7. The United Steel Workers of Montreal* - Goddamn the CPR (Broken Trucks and Bottles)

- for Scott Welygan, who wanted to be a railway man when he was a lad.

8. The Barmitzvah Brothers* - Thrift Store Owner

- for April, who feels an affinity with Jenny Omnichord`s thrift store owner parents.

9. The Constantines* - Working Full Time (Tournament of Hearts)

- for Brendan Flaherty, because I couldn`t find Simian Mobile Disco or Loverboy.

10. The Radio* - Crystal Blue (...Vancouver Special!)

- for Jay Allen, radio man extraordinaire.

11. John Lennon - Mother (John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band)

- for Chantel, who called in and liked the Radio song. She`s a student and a mother.

12. The Polymaths* - Lumberjack Song (So Long, Castle Road)

- lumberjacks are awesome (or at least this song makes them seem fun and romantic)

blog special features (post-show requests):

13. Atmosphere - The Waitress (When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold)

- for Nicole Almond, who serves at Louis. Wikipedia says Tom Waits beatboxes on this track, and that is rad.

14. They Might Be Giants - Minimum Wage (Flood)

- for Brent Mcfarlane, who`s pain I have felt.

15. Old Man Luedecke* - I Quit My Job (Hinterland)

- amazing song, I`ve been playing it every time I quit a job lately (which has been surprisingly often)

Cathartic, maybe?

* = Canadian

The songs I wanted to play the most are near the end.

The beginning was good too, though.

1. Pearson* - This is not a letter, nor is it a postcard (Clear Thinking on Mixed Feelings)

2. Crash the Car* - Building (We Built Houses Here)

3. Great Lake Swimmers* - Moving, Shaking (Great Lake Swimmers)

4. Del Barber* - Love is Just a Wrecking Ball

5. Old Man Luedecke* - Sad as a Forest (Proof of Love)

6. Jose Gonzalez - Lovestain (Veneer)

7. Owen - Everyone Feels Like You (No Good For No One Now)

8. Pedro the Lion - Fix (Whole)

9. The Weakerthans* - Utilities (Reconstruction Site)

10. Leonard Cohen* - Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye (Songs of Leonard Cohen)

11. Gregory and the Hawk - Boats & Birds (Gregory and the Hawk)

12. Noah and the Whale - Do What You Do (Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down)

Canadians in Space

"Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-boggingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the drug store, but that's just peanuts to space."

- Douglas Adams

Canada seems to be increasing its presence in space lately; Robert Thirsk is one of the additions to the Space Station crew and Circque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté is set to become Canada's first space tourist. Our interest in space has varied over the years, mine included, but the succesful exploration and study of it continues to be one of the most challenging projects humanity has undertaken.

My favourite songs from the set are the Lemonjelly and Langley Schools Music Project contributions. The Lemonjelly song uses voice samples recorded during actual Apollo Missions (and is just a really beautiful song) and the Langley Schools one is a cover of the David Bowie song as recorded by around 70 students in B.C., and is Bowie-approved. Thanks to Kris for pointing it out to me.

* denotes Canadian musicians

1. Guided by Voices - Hey Hey Spaceman (Devil Between My Toes)

2. Spiral Beach - Rocket Fuel (Ball)*

3. Devo - Space Junk (Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!)

4. The National - Looking For Astronauts ( Alligator)

5. Laura Barrett - Space Seed: The Musical ( Victory Garden )*

6. Lemonjelly - Space Walk (Lost Horizon)

7. The New Pornographers - Star Bodies (Twin Cinema)*

8. Carbon Dating Service - Starbeat Graduation March (Polyentendrii)*local

9. Modest Mouse - Space Travel is Boring (This is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About)

10. Greg Macpherson - 1000 Stars (Balanced on a Pin)*

11. Broken Social Scene - Stars and Sons (You Forgot It In People)*

12. Wintersleep - Astronauts (Welcome to the Night Sky)*

13. Langley Schools Music Project - Space Oddity (Innocence and Despair)*