July 30, 2004

make! my! decisions!

do I go to Curiousa, or the Pixies?

Curiousa:
- $75 + gas
- at the gorge.
- four bands (three of which I know/like) + second stage.
- many people seem interested, but nobody wants to drive.
- scheduled to work that day.

Pixies
- $55
- at the plaza of nations
- sold out
- about half of everyone I know is going.
- unfamiliar with the band (shock, horror, etc.)

edit: going to the Pixies.

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July 28, 2004

geek lust.

Motorola RAZR V3

OMQOC: Quinn supports limits on freedom of speech!!

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July 26, 2004

news

  • Working at the PNE as of Friday; in the Employee Services/HR departments. Vanessa is my boss.
  • dropped off application to Peer Advise again.
  • Ran into Virginia, which was nice.
  • Was on a bus that rear-ended a BMW. Everyone was fine; I thought we'd hit a bump until someone yelped and I looked out the front windshield (and up from my book) to see a BMW 320i with it's trunk crumpled up and pushed a fair distance away.
  • Ran into Naf, which was (as always) super-awesome.
  • have lost weight.


Obligatory Mean Quinn Comment: Quinn Omori has been known to drink... Sleeman CLEAR. Take that as you will.

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July 25, 2004

public service announcements:

  • The Exit Pill now has a clearer description and a deadline. Check it out, and maybe write for it.
  • Gavin has a blog.
  • Rob Cross wants you to know that the livejournal robert_cross isn't actually him.
  • Neil is alive and well; apparently he's going to start wrestling bears.
  • Happy Birthday, Ryan Corbett! I'm sorry I have to miss out on the gong show party, but people won't pick themselves up from the airport.
  • Quinn claims his blog is more aesthetically pleasing than mine. Since I designed my own and he picked his off of BlogSkins, I am somewhat outraged and will be making derogatory comments about him until he retracts his original statement*.
*I'm not actually mad.

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July 23, 2004

coupla musical thoughts

At first, I thought it was bizarre that Interpol would name an album Antics, given that their mope/rock stylings seem fairly serious. I've been listening to it a fair bit, and it makes a little more sense; the lyrics contain references to such exciting things as heists*, zombies**, spies***, mistresses+, and taking bribes(?)++. Maybe I'm just reading too much into things because I am incredibly bored on transit.

*Not Even Jail
**A Time To Be So Small
***Slow Hands
+Take You On A Cruise
++Evil
____
I've started listening to Parachutes again, and I'd all but forgotten how much I liked the album; especially the title track and the ones that don't often get played on tour (High Speed and We Never Change come to mind.)

I think I'll do my exit pill piece on it...

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July 21, 2004

argh.

what I want:

    term 1:
  • psyc 217
  • psyc 205
  • phil 120
  • cogs 200
  • cpsc 100

    term 2:
  • cogs 300
  • psyc 300A
  • psyc 314
  • anth 140
  • phil 125

    what I've got:
    term 1:
  • psyc 217
  • psyc 205
  • phil 120

    term 2:
  • anth 140
  • cogs 200
  • cpsc 100
  • phil 125
  • cogs 300 (I'm not sure why it let me in, either)

looks like there's some serious add/drop form chicanery in my future, in addition to the standard jail and shame.

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July 19, 2004

stuff, part something in an ongoing series.

my hits, by country

...who's reading this in Indonesia?
____
voicemail haiku:

inconceivable
i missed your telephone call
leave message post-beep
____
nitobe gardens at night = awesome.
____
fun times with interpol's antics:

between this lyric:
Bottom of the ocean
Saw him under the boat
Saw you making knots
Saw you get the rope


and this lyric:
when the cadaverous mobs
In the doors to the tent


I'm pretty sure that A Time To Be So Small (the closing track) is, in fact, about pirates and zombies, and more specifically the only thing I can think of (although I suspect Karl will prove me wrong here) that involves both, Pirates of The Caribbean.

now, should we file it under (post)post-modern irony, or an accidental reference, or intent?

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July 16, 2004

...oh, Steve Martin

Josh directed me to his newest venture last night, and though I'm happier with a camera than with a pen/keyboard/what have you, I'm going to try and submit monthly, and maybe help out on production with the underground; part of expanding my horizons or something of that ilk.

anyway, here's something that's more about writing about music than about actual music, and as such, probably something that will kick around here instead of being submitted Joshwards:

So much of preference is based on experience, and not having shared the same experience as anyone else means that my preferences are bound to be different than anyone else's. Knowing this means I can't (won't) make sweeping "GO LISTEN TO THIS NOW" statements to anonymous readers because it seems supremely egotistical and really, not something I want to be doing.

There's more here, but I feel a need to play Earthbound and listen to the Cardigans while sipping iced tea, which is exactly what I'm going to go do.

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July 14, 2004

embarassing people! woo!

Rob Cross is so awesome I'm surprised he doesn't just explode.

I would be sad if he did, though.

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July 11, 2004

...

I've been writing on the bus; scattered thoughts about how long commutes turn transit vehicles into places of their own and not merely a means to an end.

Realized later, though, that I was avoiding what I was feeling and writing pointless commentary about the dynamics of attempted conversation (and how to quash any unwelcome ones) on buses so that I could delude myself a little longer; the equivalent of rolling over and going back to sleep for another hour when there's something that needs to be done.

...time to wake up.


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July 08, 2004

in which some things equal other things, and other things don't.

  • frozen raspberries + apple juice = the awesomest healthy fruity drink ever. it's hyper-pink, so beware if you're wearing light clothes and are spill-prone.
  • the gym = not so bad, now that the soreness seems to be subsiding.
  • my sister = control freak. there will be several more arguments.
  • elections canada hasn't paid me yet. fuckers.
  • parents are out of town until sunday.
  • Interpol's Antics = bitchin'
  • The Plastic Constellation's Mazatlan = awesome summer album.
  • Earthbound = like crack.



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July 05, 2004

RAWR GERALD SMASH

my sister's here while her husband's in Fiji for three weeks.
so far, I've been kicked out of my bedroom, have been told that I'm going to hang out with her Wednesday night (hence, no Chalet/Collins for me), and can't play music on speakers without her complaining endlessly.

and it's been a day.

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ow ow ow ow ow

back from gym/pool.
delta's rates are reasonable; $30 gets you a month of weightroom and pool use.
I seem to have forgotten how to swim.
oh, and my mom is my gym buddy - she has her underwater aerobics while I swimattempt laps, and do a little weight training while she's on the treadmill.

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July 03, 2004

lately

ran into a cousin of mine in the Punjabi Market on Main today. Was there keeping my grandmother and mom company, but had gotten tired of their shopping antics ("we need to go to one store and get one thing." somehow becomes a 3-hour trip) and was sitting in the minivan, idly reading the Georgia Straight and listening to random rock on the Fox when she strolled by, saw me, was amazed, and came over and knocked on the window. I, understandably, jumped out of my skin (I hate the sound of knuckles on glass.) and got out of the car, and so a half-hour conversation began.

we used to work together at House of Brussels, and I hadn't seen much of her since I'd started school; the odd email or phone call or run-in at a family gathering (sister's wedding included), and so it was a lot of catching up from what I knew, and that was well and fine...

...fuck, whatever. I'll get to the point.

She's off to South America in a matter of weeks. Is putting a darkroom in the back yard. Has a car, and an exciting job as a freelance writer/photographer; we had a lengthy chat about Chomsky and how she interviewed him, and then how he had tea with her, and invited her to Indianapolis...

...and all this because she's not bothering with school, but works down on Granville Island (some tea place) and has the time to do it.

So, I'm a little disillusioned. I have another 3, maybe 4 years ahead of me, spent frantically learning in school and frantically finding work when I'm not, probably stuck in the suburbs, working towards a degree that I have no idea what I'll do with when I'm done. It would be so easy; find a pair of shitty jobs, and work until I have what I need, then go travelling...

[there's no way to adequately denote large periods of time spent mulling, so read this and then go away for ten minutes and then read the next line]

...no. I've started this, and I'll see it through. Even if it takes six years, I'll still be 23 when I graduate, and there's still plenty of time to see the world and be a crazy idealist.

...right?

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July 02, 2004

...well, shit.

Google bans Gmail swaps and sales | CNET News.com

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July 01, 2004

dibs on australia!

seen on a bunch of blogs (Jon F, Spencer, Kate)...

You are an SEDF--Sober Emotional Destructive Follower. This makes you an evil genius. You are extremely focused and difficult to distract from your tasks. With luck, you have learned to channel your energies into improving your intellect, rather than destroying the weak and unsuspecting.

Your friends may find you remote and a hard nut to crack. Few of your peers know you very well--even those you have known a long time--because you have expert control of the face you put forth to the world. You prefer to observe, calculate, discern and decide. Your decisions are final, and your desire to be right is impenetrable.

You are not to be messed with. You may explode.


also:
from Neil



You're Siddhartha! by Hermann Hesse

You simply don't know what to believe, but you're willing to try anything once. Western values, Eastern values, hedonism and minimalism, you've spent some time in every camp. But you still don't have any idea what camp you belong in. This makes you an individualist of the highest order, but also really lonely. It's time to chill out under a tree. And realize that at least you believe in ferries.

Take the Book Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.

I got The Handmaid's tale the first time, which was puzzling.

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