Ronnie James Dio (1942-2010)

Four, five days later and I still don't know what to say. Dio was a god among men. He shall be missed.

Below, find some thoughts from the people who knew Ronnie James Dio, and a few videos showcasing his finest performances over 38 years he has recordings for.



Lars Ulrich: "Ronnie, your voice impacted and empowered me, your music inspired and influenced me, and your kindness touched and moved me. Thank you."

Kiss: "Ronnie was a true gentleman who always emanated great warmth and friendship to us and everyone around him. We will miss him."

Mike Portnoy: "Looks like Dime, Randy, Cliff and Bonzo just scored the ultimate singer....this is one of the saddest days in metal ever."

Iron Maiden: "The world has lost an irreplaceable talent and, first and foremost, one of the finest human beings you could ever wish to meet."



Dr. Brian May: "He was in many ways the antithesis of the current mould of TV-bred singers. He had no apparent desire for fame, in the sense that so many X-factor contestants seem to. He was not a TV face, a 'celebrity'. He just loved doing what he did."

Tony Iommi: "Ronnie loved what he did, making music and performing on stage. He loved his fans so much. He was a kind man and would put himself out to help others. I can honestly say it’s truly been an honor to play at his side for all these years, his music will live on forever."

Vinnie Appice: "My heart is so broken. We are now in a world without him and I will miss him so much. I can only think of how fortunate I was to make music with him that was in his heart. Music that will remain to be listened to by all his fans all over the world, whom he adored and loved!"

Michael Anthony: "Ronnie was a great guy. I remember when we opened for them, all of us were back at the hotel having some drinks; it was his birthday, and I remember us all just hanging out, and he was just a great guy."



Doogie White: "I first met Ronnie 10 years or so ago and he said, 'Ah! So you are Doogie, I know who you are, but never knew what you looked like. Come in, son and have a glass of wine. Is red okay?' This was backstage at the Wembley Arena. He dedicated 'Man On The Silver Mountain' to me that night, saying 'To my new friend, Doogie. You may have sung it, but I sang it first.'"

Lemmy: "I'm devastated."

Jon Schaffer: "I think we've all had run-ins with our childhood heroes, and sometimes it can be a disappointing experience. This was definitely not the case with Ronnie. He was a wise, kind, and special person, and a dear friend that will be greatly missed."

Biff Byford: "The last time we met was in Finland last year, both bands stranded in an airport with flight delays. What do you do?! Go to the bar, get drunk and tell rock and roll stories. He told great stories... To absent friends."



For me, Dio was always one of the greatest vocalists I've ever heard. His music has been the source of inspiration and relief. To know that such a giant has left the scene saddens me greatly. You can't make such great music and expect to not be missed. For a man short enough to require platform shoes, Dio has left a bigger hole in the hearts of those who knew him, and those who never had the pleasure, than many of his contemporaries could ever dream.

The King of Metal is dead. Long live the King!

Splitting at the Igloo

Montreal won one of their two games in Pittsburgh, and now the Pens and Habs get to go to the Bell Centre to see what might occur on Montreal's home ice. Jaroslav Halak returned to his series-winning form in Game 2, and the zone defense Montreal played so well against the Capitals was back as well. The players blocked shots and Hal Gill led the way in that department again (can I emphasize how important he is to our defense, now that Markov is gone?). Josh Gorges has gone from an occasional scratch to our prime shutdown guy with Gill all of a sudden - playing with Hal has had a great effect on the young D. And PK Subban has done exactly what we needed him to to - brought strong, dynamic, energetic offense from the blue line without the defensive miscues of Marc-Andre Bergeron.

But then there's Mike Cammalleri, Scott Gomez, and Brian Gionta leading the charge. The Little Big Three combined for 5 points, including all three goals, on Sunday. Cammalleri scored two gorgeous goals, the first when he kicked the puck up off his shinpad and batted it in with his stick past a diving Marc-Andre Fleury, and the second when Tomas Plekanec sprung him between the D into a breakaway, beating Fleury high on his glove side with a wicked wrist shot - Joe Sakic style (those who know me know this is about the greatest hockey praise I can deliver).

Good things happen to those who play team hockey, and Jacques Martin, who's hiring I originally criticised, has a team of players that were considered goons (Gill), has-beens (Gomez), under-achievers (Cammalleri), and unexpected surprised (Halak) come together to play great team hockey. When their team hockey was strong they put the best individual player in the NHL to shame. Now they managed to do the same to a strong team offense. If Montreal can win twice at the Bell Centre, they take a commanding 3-1 lead back to Pittsburgh. We'll have to see how Crosby and Malkin respond tomorrow night.

Vancouver 2010: A moment belonging to all Canadians...if you pay $59.95.

I was worried about this the second I heard that CTV had received broadcast rights for the 2010 Olympic Games. I decided, this morning, that it might be an idea to go watch some of the final game from the Olympics, being in a hockey mood of late. From time to time I've watched the highlight reel from the 2002 final game, as broadcast by CBC. CBC, of course, is a publicly owned station, and its products essentially belong to all Canadians.

On YouTube, I found a series of fakes and photo montages, almost all of which complained that their original posting of the video clip had been taken down. CTV, of course, is interested in selling their DVD of the event, even though their announcers had hyped each medal win as "Canadian" or "belonging to Canadians", "a moment in Canadian history".

You shouldn't copyright Canadian history. I'm not saying to put the entire DVD set online, but would it kill CTV to allow a few crucial moments onto YouTube? Toss an advert for the DVD set at the beginning, and let me see Jon Montgomery's walk through Whistler, or the final 2 minutes of the Gold Medal Game, or Joanie Rochette's figure skating program.

Of course it would, because CTV is an old-school organization that has very little idea how to market in the digital age, and quite frankly, is disinterested in doing so. By giving CTV Olympic broadcast rights, we've taken part of the broadcast, of the moment, away from all Canadians: we've denied Canada its own moments, its own history. Way to go, whoever made that call.

Habs win, Caps go home!

I'm in shock. I had predicted the Habs losing to the Caps in 7. After all, Halak has the hot hand, but really, who expected the firepower of Mike Green, Alex Semin, Mike Knuble, Nicklas Backstrom, and Alexander Ovechkin would falter at Halak's door for four of seven possible games? Not I. But boy, was I wrong.

Halak posted a 2.46 GAA and a .939 save % on route to winning 4 of 6 games he played in this series. Mike Cammalleri snagged 10 points in 7 games, Tomas Plekanec was second with 7 points in 7 games. They weren't always pretty goals, but they were always in the net, which is more than can be said for Green and Semin, both of whom were held scoreless.

The biggest story is the Habs' penalty kill, which was 97% successful. A lot of people seem to think this reflects on the Capitals failing to convert, but I think it's a combination of running into a hot goaltender and excellent team defense. Hal Gill blocked 31 shots in the series. If it was a failure of the Capitals to score on Halak, then why didn't Carey Price get lit up hard when he started? Even most of the goals on him were even strength or shorthanded for the Caps.

The Caps are done, and I hope the Habs are looking forward. Last year, I'd be more worried, because that would have been the first playoff series a lot of guys in the locker room won, and for most of the rest, they'd never seen the conference finals. This year, I'm feeling much better about our prospects. We have three solid veterans leading the way in Brian Gionta (The C without a C), Scott Gomez, and Hal Gill, all of whom have established themselves firmly in the locker room. They may not speak French - hell, they might all be American - but they're wearing the rouge, blanc, et blu with pride so far, and trust me, we'll take their leadership and skills as we make an unlikely drive forward.

The Penguins are the best team remaining in the east, both in terms of talent and in terms of experience. Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Gonchar, and Fleury are all legitimate superstars, and we're going to have a very interesting time up against them. I find myself wondering how Crosby is preparing his team to face off against Montreal. This hasn't happened in a long while, and Crosby's never played a playoff game in the Bell Centre.

I think we'll shock the Penguins. I think the layoff combined with Montreal entering in on a roll will be enough to let us win one game at the Igloo. I'd love to see us win both at home and go up 3-1, and then close it out at the Bell Centre in Game 6. In fact, I think that's my prediction - Habs in 6.

If that happens, I imagine we'll face the other hot goalie still in the playoffs: Tuukka Rask. Bring it.

Collectivization of culture in the West

I was having a conversation with Joé McKen from Preliator pro Causa on the Twitter regarding the nature of the Internet and the exposure of war crimes, and I said, and I quote:

Amazing how the Internet forces us to confront our own demons.

Of course, I'm referring to today's exposure by Wikileaks of the brutal and unprovoked murder of two Reuters cameramen, and two unarmed Iraqi civilians by the US forces in Iraq. Although I am not an American, I am sickened to my stomach to learn that people who are supposedly from the "First World" can chuckle about cold-blooded murder, especially when they bear an supposedly august flag, like the Stars and Stripes, on their shoulder.

Of course, the war in Iraq has nothing to do with being Canadian, as we have remained (except for the briefest of involvement by JTF-2) completely apart from the conflict, and it's made me think about why I feel so compelled to see the people who committed this crime punished. And I now think I know the answer - because I feel like we should know better. The we isn't "Canadian" or "American", but instead, it is "Westerner".

Since World War II, there's been a collectivization of interest in a manner we haven't seen since the days of Rome. NATO countries now contain at least a tenth of the world's population but most of its industrial production, economic power, and military might, and they share a series of common governments with common protections. From the disunity of the Second World War, an overarching common culture is developing in the West.

This change from nationalism to collective interest has been formalized by the European Union and the NAFTA treaty, among others, and has seen the death of many old hatreds that lasted for centuries - the Irish and the English, the French and the Germans, the Dutch and the Germans, the Belgians and the Germans, the Polish and the Germans (it's like the Germans did some bad stuff). Sure, they don't like each other, but they work together, economically, militarily, and to an extent, culturally. I have European friends from the UK, Holland, France, Germany, something that was impossible a hundred years ago. We're at the beginning of seeing a new strong country arise from two dozen nations who were at each others' throats like 10 times in the last two hundred and ten years.

Similarly, the United States and Canada have gotten progressively closer, though less governmentally and certainly more culturally. Canadians and Americans watch the same television and movies, they go to the same universities, and they have the same opinions on many things. Of course, Americans tend to be more politically conservative, but we have teabaggers here, just as there are people who are rather favourable to the Canadian political or social systems in the States. I'm not saying we're inseparable, but we are closer than ever.

The thing that made me start pondering the concept of collective Western citizenship was when the Middle East went apeshit over the infamous Mohammed cartoons published in Denmark in 2005. Denmark, a particularly small and progressive nation in Europe, mobilized everyone in the West when we considered the concept of freedom of speech versus insult of religion (AKA, blasphemy), and weighed how we felt about the subject. Most of the Middle East was united - blasphemous images of the Prophet should be punished, preferably by death, as the sanctity of the Qu'ran is considered to be more important than any other considerations, whereas in our society - Danish, Canadian, American - our central tenement is the freedom of speech, which, in this case, created two values at a complete impasse.

The fact that seven hundred million people would agree on a political point of view without religious encouragement is completely, totally unheard of in human history. We haven't seen Europe agree on one single point since the Crusades! But in this case, they agreed that freedom of speech is more important than the possibility of blasphemy (except for the Irish, but that's another story).

So I feel now like I am a citizen of something in its infancy, but growing: the concept of the West as the overarching cultural ideal. I feel like we have a certain collectivization of cultural values that we can all rely upon - freedom of belief, of religion, of assembly, the freedom to vote for who we wish and to seek political office, and we recognize this in each other, respect it, and most importantly, we are willing to support and fight for these values in each others' cultures, which is why I think I care about foreign politics as much as I care about my own.

When I see something that violates these concepts, such as the brutal murder of four innocents by people who swore to defend our values, even if those murderers aren't Canadians, I feel betrayed. I feel...soiled that I share these basic concepts. I feel cheated. And I feel like the only way we can grow past this is to bring these offenders to justice. Our justice: innocent until proven guilty, with due process of law.

The same protections all of the West offers to even its worst criminals. Guantanamo Bay excepting.

More on Canadian identity: Numero 9

I've profiled him before, but I'd like to explain a bit about why Maurice "The Rocket" Richard is so important to Canadians.

He was an unparalleled hockey player. He remains one of only two hockey players to score a goal per game in a season (the other is Wayne Gretzky). He smashed the career record for goals by over two hundred. To this day, he is still in the top 30 in goals scored. He led the Canadians to many Stanley Cups, including five straight in the twilight of his career.

But he was more than that. He reminded Quebec that it had a voice, a reminder that has led to Quebec becoming a strong and robust part of Canada. A Quebec that was long subjugated under first English and then Duplessis rule, that is now rendered a nation, a distinct society. Quebec is a nation within a country that is also a nation. We couldn't be Canadian without the Quebecois. The Quebecois wouldn't be who they are without Canada.

The Rocket represents these concepts. When Maurice Richard was born, women couldn't vote in Quebec. Factories were run by the English bosses speaking down to the Francophones. Government was done either in English or run by thugs belonging to the near-dictatorial government of Maurice Duplessis, who ran a provincial political stranglehold so vicious it would have made Tammany Hall blush.

Richard was a machinist. He wanted to fight in the Second World War, but the Canadian Army refused him twice. He volunteered as a machinist in the RCAF, but was turned down because he hadn't graduated high school, even though he had several years experience as a machinist. The RCAF took many Anglophones with similar experience, but not Richard. So he went to school to earn a diploma as a machinist.

During this time, while he worked full-time as a machinist, he played hockey, twice a night, under pseudonyms and under false pretenses, until finally he was signed by the Montreal Canadiens. Coach Dick Irvin saw something in the oft-injured tough young man from Montreal. Maurice was a right-winger, and he played alright hockey - until injured 16 games in. They tried to trade him, but nobody would take the "lemon".

Two years later, the Rocket scored a goal a game. 50 goals in 50 games is now considered the hallmark achievement for an NHL goal scorer, and the Rocket did it first, and nobody did it again for 35 years. He was humble. He was modest. He credited his teammates and his fans.

Except when it came to unfairness. The Rocket called out the English bosses of the hockey world. He reminded the Quebecois that they had a voice when he called out Clarence Campbell, the boss of the NHL, for his biased decisions on suspensions - oft handed out to people who harmed English players, less so to those who harmed the Quebecois players. Conn Smythe of the Maple Leafs wouldn't hire a single French player, even though Quebec made so many great hockey players.

He was forced to retract these statements, but that made him no less loved. When Campbell suspended Richard for punching out a linesmen, and then had the audacity to go to the next game in Montreal, the city rose for three days. Only desperate pleas from the Rocket calmed them down. However, the city, and Quebec, had realized something - they realized they were strong.

When Duplessis died, Quebec's electoral politics instantly changed and the Quiet Revolution occurred. One man's humble nature and refusal to accept the status quo, but his strength in restraint, had taught a province a valuable lesson. You can change who you are without violence; you can alter your destiny with dignity. This is the lesson the Rocket left in Quebec. He was the most beloved man in modern Quebecois history, and possibly the greatest Canadian-born Francophone of all time.

Vancouver 2010 - A Canadian Identity

It's hard to explain exactly why the now-ending XXI Winter Olympics has been a banner event to all of Canada. It's hard to explain why the international criticism from the United Kingdom and some from the United States bounce off our hides. It's hard to explain why six billion dollars feel well spent when they probably all weren't.

This country hasn't had something to make it Canadian in a long time. If you're an older Canadian, you remember the 1972 Summit Series. If you're in your 30s, you remember the 1989 Canada Cup in Hamilton. There was that 2002 Olympic gold in Salt Lake. But nothing on this stage.

The 1976 Summer Olympics was a disaster. The 1988 Calgary Olympics were well received but overall a disappointment. We've never seen a sporting event in Canada with both the scope and the success as the 2010 Winter Olympics, at least not since 1972 (which will probably always be the seminal moment in Canadian sporting history). But it's not just about the medal count.

It's about the country.

It's about a nation that mourned with Georgia as we confirmed the loss of Nodar Kumaritashvili in a terrible luge accident.

It's about a nation that embraced our bloody-handed past and welcomed our First Nations people as equals at the beginning and at the end of the game.

It's about a nation that wept in joy watching Alexandre Bilodeau embrace his older brother Frederic, who has cerebral palsy, watching two men share a dream come true, and watching a horrible affliction turned inspiration.

It's about a country that watched Jon Montgomery's classic celebration through the streets of Whistler with a gold medal and a pitcher of beer, and lifted our glasses to join him.

It's about a country that sighed collectively with disappointment when we lost 5-3.

It's about a country that cried when Joannie Rochette claimed bronze in ladies' singles figure skating when her mother died on the eve of her heartfelt and heartbreaking performance.

It's about a country that bid farewell to Clara Hughes and welcomed Jonathan Toews.

It's about a country that cursed a failed shot and celebrated with a successful one on the curling rink.

It's about a country that shared in the love of Charles Hamelin and Marianne St-Gelais as he celebrated her silver medal win with her; and she celebrated his golds with him.

It's about a country, 34 million strong, that screamed in joy and ecstasy when Sidney Crosby scored in overtime.

We see ourselves in these achievements. We see ourselves inspired by Frederic Bilodeau. We know the pressure that was felt by Cheryl Bernard, and know we sometimes fail. We know the heartbreak of Joannie Rochette, who lost someone so dear to her, but yet honoured her with beauty and grace by holding her head high. We know what it's like to fire the puck in overtime, whether or not it is in our minds, or on the stick in our hands.

We are Sidney Crosby. And Wayne Gretzky. And Catriona Le May Doan. We are Jonathan Toews and Cindy Klassen and Rick Hansen. We're Meghan Agosta and Maelle Ricker and Frederic Bilodeau. We're me, and you, and my family, and my friends. We've remembered that it's possible, francais et anglais, West and East, to hurt and fight, live and love together. We're Canadian, unique, e pluribus unum (if I may steal a phrase), and we love it, love this country, love this place.

Forgive the patriotism, but I feel that this sometimes dysfunctional, self-hating place has grown up a tiny bit...grown up and remembered what it is to be young.

Album Review: Horror Show

OK, first, blog news: I have a new blog where I make a recording about hockey. Check it out at http://mcguireisterrible.blogspot.com!

I've been on a huge Iced Earth kick lately. Iced Earth has always clocked in as one of my favourite bands, but the albums I would generally consider to be best by them were The Dark Saga, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Night of the Stormrider, and of course the masterful 3 CD live set from Alive in Athens. But recently I think all those albums have been supplanted by one I had always sort of dismissed: Horror Show.

Iced Earth has this great tradition of theme albums and concept albums, and they usually work out pretty good (though I'm not sold on the two new Something Wicked albums). The Dark Saga is probably their most famous theme album, and it is about Spawn (the comic book character). But Horror Show takes the theme concept to an excellent conclusion. Each track on the album tackles a horror-esque figure.

The album has two long epic tracks, which I consider the best. "Damien" is about the Antichrist rising to rule over all mankind, and "The Phantom Opera Ghost" is about Erik's mad and murderous obsession with Christine. The album has some fantastic shorter rockers - "Wolf" and "Jack" both rock. "Jack" (about the Ripper) especially I find good. It makes me feel very aggressive when I listen to it. Not to women, but just in general. I'd listen to it before a sporting match.

There's a few good medium length songs. "Dracula", "Frankenstein", and "Jeckyl and Hyde" have good riffs, decent solos, and the lyrics fit the theme. "Ghost of Freedom" is an almost ballad-style song. If you're familiar with Iced Earth, you know that Jon Schaffer (the guy who is pretty much the core of Iced Earth) is a huge Americo-nut. I only found out recently he's pretty much a Tea Partier, which has hurt my opinion of him. I get loving your country, but anyway..."Ghost of Freedom" is very close to a "When The Eagle Cries" stinker, but not quite. Unlike The Glorious Burden, this song doesn't smack of American jingoism, but more of a quieter patriotism. It could be used in the propagation of Canada's national myth, for instance.

"Dragon's Child", originally, sounds like an OK rocker, but that's giving it a lot of benefit of the doubt. The lyrics are boring and the music is pretty plain. "Im-Ho-Tep", by comparison, is a bit more exciting and tends to be a decent middle-of-the-road song.

They use a lot of effects on the lyrics, especially on "Wolf", "Jack", and "Im-Ho-Tep", doubling or tripling lines. On "Wolf", the chorus is jumbled together, probably representing the multiple forms of the subject lycanthrope. "Jack" and "Im-Ho-Tep" use more of an echo, to represent the Ripper's tortured soul and the Mummy's time encased in stone.

Anyway, despite the lower points, I'm addicted to the album. 9.5/10

How hard can hockey commentary be?

Here's my thoughts on it (in .mp3 format).

See? Not too hard.