thundering blissful

October 22, 2004

new pants ‽

I know I said there'd be a five in heavy rotation up soon, but it's not today.

Today, I talk about shopping.

I bought some stuff.
It was fun.
Here's some pictures: shirt 1 | shirt 2 | boxers

However, I am currently engaged in self-debate over whether I should keep or return a pair of pants I have purchased.

They're very nice pants.
Here's a picture of them.

At the same time, they're more than what I'd usually be okay with paying for pants, and I am working three jobs because I'm effectively broke, not because I want all sorts of frivolous things.

(Which I do, but that's neither here nor there.)

...I can't believe I'm having a pants conundrum.

October 18, 2004

four sentence update:

Job #3 is ultra-boring; I spent 3 hours on eBay looking at scarves (and saw a bunch I liked.)
Five in Heavy Rotation sometime later this week; you can probably guess one or two tracks given that I've been listening to Matador's 15th Anniversary compilation fairly heavily; in fact, I think you should try - tracklist is here.
Tours are fun... now if only they'd pay me.
Can we stop discussing Quinn's emoness (or lack thereof) and maybe vote on the shirts some more?

October 15, 2004

design by democracy.

choose one:

typical emo anatomical heart, with pistons coming out of the three arteries that come off the aorta and go to the head (and arms, I think; been too long since I've done anatomy). both pulmonary arteries have sparkplugs coming out of them, and the superior vena cava is accepting a stream of cogs. there might be an exhaust pipe leading from where the inferior vena cava should be; haven't decided yet. caption on back between shoulderblades: "I need tungsten to live"

or

typical emo heart again; this time, it's wearing headphones (eggos, even) covering both pulmonary arteries, with little notes coming out the ascending arteries (come to think of it, it's the carotid and then both subclavians that pop out the top of the aorta; Patricia, let me know either way) and maybe a stream of little CDs flowing into the superior vena cava. caption on back: "Do I listen to pop music because I'm miserable or am I miserable because listen to pop music?"

nebulous one-liner

it's interesting that the more time one spends near* someone, the less one likes said person.

*that's right; near, not with.

October 14, 2004

purchasing! on! whims!

bought, although I really should'nt've, Matador's 15th anniversary compilation yesterday. It was a huge impulse buy, and although there was some buyer's remorse, it vanished the moment I popped the plastic wrapper off and dove in. It's a 2 CD and one DVD set, composed of 1 disc of greatest hits from the last five years, 1 of unreleased/rare material, and one DVD of videos I haven't had the chance to watch yet. The whole thing came to $22.88 after taxes, a rarity for a single CD from Zulu, let alone a 3-disc extravaganza.
Matador, in case you didn't know, is home to artists such as Interpol, Spoon, Pavement, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Yo La Tengo, The New Pornographers and various others, and the greatest hits CD serves as an introduction to the artists which one may not be familiar with while remaining anchored by familiar songs. Unless, of course, you know the entire stable, in which case I tip my hat to you. The rarities disc is similar but not the same; the artists are familiar while the songs are not, and sometimes both confuse the pants off of you. I found myself digging out the CD player, looking at the track number, then seeing who the artist was on the CD case in a lot of cases, with songs from The New Pornographers, Interpol, and AC Newman being the only ones I recognized off the bat.

Whatever. They're both really good.

I've been listening to the first disc more than the second since I bought it, partially because I've been introduced to a lot of artists I'd only heard of in passing and find myself liking, and also because Cornelius' Drops is incredibly addictive.

more later; must study.

October 13, 2004

for the boingites:

I realise that the first (now second) thing you see when you click through isn't terribly interesting, and there's really not much for me to do about it - I am a university student with three jobs and sometimes, I just lack the energy to write something exciting.

There is some decent stuff, though, so I'll cobble together a few links from the archives because I know you're jonesing to waste time if you're clicking through random submitter links of BoingBoing.

but, yeah, here's some stuff:

but, yes, for the most part, it's ultra-typical pap (whee! I used pap in a sentence), so have fun with it.

for the usual gang:
go here. Brie's now an internet celebrity, and since I submitted the story, people appear to be dropping in here, too.

October 12, 2004

things to do

generally, I start my internet slacking off here, so by having a list of things that I should be doing instead, I'll be able to stay efficient for the day.

pay off VISA
study for midterm
prepare questions for Chris
Iron out term 2 schedule
get said schedule to ISIT
visit Christina
yell at bookstore re: mispriced book.
figure out which tours I have to cancel on, get those to Jackie
figure out finances (budget?)
write CD review
work on shirt design

it's an exciting life I lead.

October 09, 2004

five in heavy rotation: 10/9/2004

the premise is simple: I write about five songs I'm listening to fairly frequently, and post 'em up somewhere for you to download. I was thinking about using a GMail account for that, but since it would require contacting me first so I could give you a login and that might put some people off (what with me being a minor internet celebrity in the Netherlands and all) so I'll probably figure out some other way to post them for your enjoyment - suggestions are welcome.

[edit: they're going up on yousendit.com; links will be the song name, and they're only up for seven days, so make sure to get them fast.]

in the meantime, here they are:

Snow Patrol - How to Be Dead
This, if I remember rightly, is the song that moved me from "this isn't too bad." to "I'm liking this.", or in Hipster Body Language, from the Arms Crossed and Decidedly Not Moving to the Nodding in Time. It's no Run but it's what's in heavy rotation, so it gets a moment in the sun.

The Futureheads - Robot
My favorite part about these guys is that you can tell that they're having fun, and it shines through their music. Two minutes of post-punk-pop with tight harmonies and delightful lyrics. If/when they show up in Vancouver again, I am totally going to see them.

The Arcade Fire - Crown of Love
I think this is an underappreciated song. Everyone loves Neighbourhood #1(Tunnels) or Rebellion(Lies) but this one slips under the radar; until the bass and the violin light up the ending, anyway.

Ellen Allien - Erdbeermund
Chopped beats, clicks, bleeps, incomprehensible German women, a slide whistle and basslines that could've stepped out of a videogame. This track is made for playing Scorched Earth to. Or practicing your post-apocalyptic dance, because in the nuclear winter of the far future, it is your groove that will ensure the survival of the human race.

The Cardigans - And Then You Kissed Me
Stop snickering. The Cardigans are far more than a one-hit wonder band and their latest release shows remarkable range from the band that brought us Lovefool . It's easy to dismiss as a throwaway (but nonetheless solid) mopey pop song with a slightly country bent, until you realize exactly what the song is about.

October 06, 2004

I am so weirded out.

found this while checking my referrers.

www.akt-online.nl :: Bekijk onderwerp - Staplerfahrer Klaus

translation: I got today this link of a friend of me. It is a German small film concerning what there all wrong can go with heftruuk in t magazijn. More does not will I say, you must look at him simply itself http://heeeraldo.blogspot.com/2003/12/foreign-safety-videos-awesome.html and on the officiele Internet site seem be able download m. you, but I cannot find where.

who's his friend?
am I his friend?
is someone else directing random Dutch people to my archives?
I'm so confused.
hold me.

barely a real post

news:
- have a third job, working at Arts ISIT in the C-Block Labs.
- maybe going to see GWAR and reviewing it for discorder
- won't try and save Plaza stage with the "we can do it all for $1000" plan; have decided to try for Control.
- got two plain shirts yesterday; will stencil after prewashing.
- Jill's here tomorrow! Woo!
- I imagine you're all tired of point-form posts, and this should be the last one for a while; there's a Five in Heavy Rotation tomorrow, and possibly some photos.

October 03, 2004

grenouilles and bougears and dropkicks, oh my!

blogposts about whistler never really encapsulate all the things that happened.

all that really needs to be said follows:

- RIP Upper Plaza.
- I have come to terms with being an Old Person.
- being a hack is way more fun.

September 30, 2004

my last few days! itemized!

- Snow Patrol on Tuesday was an excellent show. You're all idiots for missing it.
- Whistler this weekend; promises to be interesting.
- The Arcade Fire shirt turned out really well. Pictures later.
- CiTR is all sorts of awesome; I've been in on silly discussions on punk subcultures (chafecore, anyone?) and apparently I'll be in the masthead for Discorder.
- Between doing CDs and shows for Discorder and Arts for the News, I am going to become a review machine. It'll be awesome.
- Cufflinks came. Pictures later. I'll be wearing one pair (of the eight [!]) at Whistler.
- Who knew tweed jackets were so much fun?
- I like Distance Education.
- Still no leads on Job #3.
- I'm starting to give tours next week. This is equal parts harrowing and sweet.
- next three shirts: bzzr.ca (some sort of dark colour on white), whatever I make when Neil settles on a design (hurry up, damn you!), and maybe an interpol one that isn't just the antics cover or the band's faces; more on that later.
- My contract (by which I mean my brother's contract) with Telus is up in November, and they're offering me (by which I mean my brother) a deep discount on a new phone as well as being able to continue on my (you get the idea; I've been carrying around the damn thing for over two years and so I'm used to referring to it as mine) current plan (evenings/weekends/lunchtimes unlimited, evenings from 6pm-8am, 150 minutes daytime, caller ID/waiting/voicemail included), and I'm all for it. Only problem is that the phones suck. Anyone have a bead on where to find CDMA phones that don't make one want to throw shit?

that's it for now; will probably put something up after whistler, and I think it might be time for another round of Five in Heavy Rotation after that.

September 25, 2004

two thoughts, four snippets

I am slowly developing a crush on Ellen Allien:
- she's hot
- she runs a record label
- she spins fantastic music
- she hates trance!
-

She's definitely on the "People I Want to See Live" List.
___
Went to a party for a family friend who was recently engaged; saw a bunch of people I hadn't seen in a good long time, and while it was good to see them, I hated the feeling of constantly being scrutinized by a bunch of brown ladies, all of whom were thinking the same two things:

a) can I marry him off ?
b) failing that, can I badmouth him?

seeing as a) is clearly not an option, I had to keep my guard up for b). Managed to escape without anyone telling me there was a girl I should meet, and fairly sure that I'd done nothing offensive.
___
If this whole school thing falls through, I am moving onto banditry - specifically the holding up of engagements/weddings/receptions etc.
Why people need to wear gold chains ON THE OUTSIDE OF THEIR SHIRTS is beyond me; while I do have one, I'm frankly sort of embarassed by it and can't fathom flaunting the thing, let alone wearing one that came down to my navel (!).

Middle-aged Indian women: the only ones blinging harder than rappers.
__
Speaking of People I Want To See Live, who's on your list?
Mine is currently:

Radiohead (seen)
Pixies (seen)
Squarepusher (seen)
Interpol (have ticket for)
...trail of dead (also have ticket for)
Coldplay
Bjork*
Ellen Allien*
The Walkmen
The Wrens*
The Arcade Fire
Broken Social Scene
DJ Shadow*

stars indicate that cost would be less of an issue, because these are shows that are either ultra-unlikely to come to Vancouver, or guaranteed awesomeness.

September 24, 2004

goddamn suburbs.

there's nothing quite like spending a full fifteen minutes saying goodbye to people at eight-thirty to move one's mindset from "okay, I can do this" to "fuck, where's goddamn job #3 I need to move out."

:\

September 22, 2004

getting all trivial up in here

is it wrong of me to be excited?

now, I need more shirts with french cuffs.

...who's up for a shopping trip?

September 21, 2004

infected with memefluenza

having seen Graham's Five Albums He Found This Month, I'm going to do one of my own.

the deal is simple: post 5 albums you found this month and particularly like. encourage others to do the same. enjoy.

here's mine (yes, they're mostly things I should've been listening to ages ago):

1....and you will know us by the trail of dead - Source Tags and Codes
I'm stuck for words here; songs are epic in scale, the album works as a whole, and it's just really, really good.

2.Iron and Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days
I was surprised that I liked this; I'm not typically a singer/songwrite kind of guy, but this was... different, somehow.

3.Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over the Sea
I'm six years late on this one, but it doesn't matter. This doesn't feel like an album from 1998 at all, though; it's similar to the Decemberists (other way around, really) in that it's got storytelling lyrics and lush instrumentation, and a willingness to cross boundaries at will; going from man-and-guitar folk to fuzzed-out rock in the blink of an eye and somehow making it all work.

4.The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin
Jeph (of Questionable Content) said it best, really: "I swear, Wayne Coyne could sing a song about nuclear war and manage to make it sound utterly blissful. I don't know how the man does it." Also, see this.

5.The Arcade Fire - Funeral
No, I didn't see the 9.7 on Pitchfork, flip out and go download it; I took Jeph's (see above) recommendation.
It is the new hipster favorite, and deservedly so; complex enough to stand up to repeated listenings and catchy enough to make one want to listen to it repeatedly. They're also the only band that's ever made me want to make a shirt within a week of hearing them.

Bonus Track: Interpol - Slow Hands (Britt Daniel Remix)
Take Slow Hands. Remove guitar except for specific flourishes. Marvel, then dance.
*Britt Daniel is the lead singer of Spoon, if anyone was wondering.

September 20, 2004

shakespeare quote, etc etc

dear Mazatlan,

It's time for you to get archived. We've had a fun summer together, but with autumn all but here, it's time for you to get shelved in favor of more... season-appropriate stuff. I mean, there's no point in We Came to Play if I have to catch up on my Brain and Behaviour homework, right?
That's not to say that I won't miss your addictive hooks and catchy lyrics; far from it, as the case may be. I simply won't appreciate you like I should, and so we must part.

Until the sun shines again, and I am free of obligation.

September 18, 2004

they say it fits, if you let it...

Today's mission was simple: buy cuff links.

I recently found a shirt with french cuffs in my dad's closet, and promptly appropriated it; only to find that my dad never wore it because he bought it and couldn't find his cufflinks.

And so, Lana, Rob, Neil and I set out downtown, first trekking through Pacific Centre and then down Granville in our (well, mine, really) search.

Along the way, we partook of some silliness, and the semi-serious findings are as follows:

- I look surprisingly good in purple.
- Shirts really should come with their own haiku.
- Neil + Sean John = hilarity (Rob's got the photo, else it'd be up here)

and then, somewhere in a mall, I saw these.
I'd have bought them, were they not $325. or $375. The saleslady couldn't remember.

I guess it's off to eBay for me, then...

September 15, 2004

weird.

impromptu bus survey reveals that I may be the only brown guy of undergraduate age at UBC without some form of goatee.

...did I miss a memo?

September 12, 2004

the only thing worse than lululemon wearers...

...are the bags.

someone returned a uniform in one, and I've spent the last two minutes being baffled at how someone's managed to recreate an anthony robbins motivational program on the back of a shopping bag.

Visualize your eventual demise. It has an amazing effect on how you live for the moment.
Breathe: this lets you live in the moment.
Observe a plant before and after being watered, and relate these changes to your body and brain.
Do not use cleaning chemicals on your counters. Try vinegar and lemon juice; someone will inevitably make a sandwich on your counter.
Dance, sing, floss, and travel.
You ALWAYS have choice, and the conscious brain can hold only one thought at a time. (note: not true; most people can keep track of five to nine things at once.) Choose a positive thought.

now, most of these are fairly innocuous and while they seem odd on a clothing store bag, they're not full-on bizarre.
Until, of course:

Just like you did not know what an orgasm was before you had one, nature does not let you know how great children are until you have them. Children are the orgasm of life.

did you see that?
allow me to repeat:

CHILDREN ARE THE ORGASM OF LIFE.
THE ORGASM OF LIFE IS CHILDREN.

because it needs immortalizing:

...which is so not true.

I plan on having children when I get suicidal.

Apparently they rob you of all your energy and vitality.

... huh, which is kinda like an orgasm, I guess."
Gina | Homepage | 09.15.04 - 12:44 am | #

...

I thought you were in a sorority, not retarded.

Love,
Spencer
Spencer | Email | Homepage | 09.16.04 - 1:12 am | #

September 10, 2004

from a great height...

it's pissing out, and so I took the bus all the way home because the parents went visiting.

odd note: Surrey and Delta look exactly the fucking same in the dark. I had to ask the bus driver to inform me where my stop was. He got it wrong and I had to walk an extra block, which is how weirdly faceless this place is.
___
The first week of school hasn't sunk in. I've been in Brock Hall the entire damn time. Sigal asked why I wasn't going to classes, and I explained, at which point she informed me that she'd been in exactly the same position before, which made me feel 10x better about the whole thing.
But, yes, Peer Advising is over, and Student Recruitment begins; training tomorrow for which I am stoked.
___
The weirdest thing about working in Brock Hall? Being the one who knows stuff. Last year, I'd MSN Aleks or ask someone who was close at hand, but this year, I was the one who knew and the one who other PA's would ask. I get the feeling that this is going to be a recurring theme in most of the stuff I get up to, and while it's a little unnerving, I think it's for the best.
___
Need to start hanging out with more people my own age; the end of this year brings the graduation of some of my favorite people, and as much as I don't want to admit it to myself, I'm going to need to rebuild a social circle.

September 09, 2004

coupla thoughts:

I'm getting into Medúlla as an album now; both Oceania and Who Is It? keep surprising me with new nuances.
__
I need a haircut. This length is manageable, but it's starting to bother me.
__
I thought I could handle another year of commuting, but being reexposed to the teeming masses of humanity again makes me a little unsure about it.
__
Fucking suburbs. Honestly.

September 06, 2004

post-party notes.

party was fucking ridiculous amounts of fun; only problem was that I should've taken a nap beforehand so people wouldn't have drawn on me.

...and I still don't know why Alasdair's number was on my arm.

props, trimble crew.

September 04, 2004

dilemma

I started work at 7 today, and woke up at 6:30. This means I had to skip breakfast, and am now feeling peckish.

Unfortunately, the only vaguely edible thing in my bag is my two-six of Tanqueray.

Fuck.

September 03, 2004

news // goals

news:
- now a campus tour guide.
- working basically all next week at Brock Hall.
- iPod, here I come!
- I won't sell you a shirt. I will come over and show you how it's done, or make you one as a gift, but I will not sell you a shirt. Stop asking.
- Interpol! woo!

goals:
- get licence.
- learn to ride a bike.
- go to 80% of all classes.
- join CiTR, undergo DJ training, then go work mostly for Discorder.
- do My First Triathlon.
- get a summer job that doesn't suck.
- flat stomach by summer.
- more! striped! shirts!

September 01, 2004

lightning? check.
someone to curl up with and watch lightning with? we're working on it.

in which I earn the enmity of my liver.

tonight: beers with P and I.
friday: steve's going away party.
saturday: trimblepalooza.
sunday: spark that screams release party.
tuesday: pixies.

August 30, 2004

today.

spent the day hanging out with Neil and making shirts, which was awesome.
accidentally ditched Jordie, though; I forgot his phone was disconnected.

am making a shirt out of this, which will be sweeet. also decided to have monthly shirt-making afternoons with Neil because I don't generally see him enough.

aside from lack of response to applications, things are looking good.

August 28, 2004

note to self:

if ever the opportunity arises, SEE BJORK LIVE.

current music: Bjork - Vespertine Livebox - Unravel
current mood: scandinavian

in the midst of another binge...

...on music.

this will be one that's drawn out a little more, but will also be substantially larger than the last one.

it's started with a little Bjork; Vespertine, Vespertine Live, Vespertine Outtakes, and her newest, Medulla.

Now, I was expecting Bjork to do something out of left field with this one, because none of her albums are ever really like their predecessors, and where Vespertine had it's electronic textures, Medulla trades it in for people. I was intrigued by the blurb on Amazon, where it was declared to be a "celebration of the human voice" and became sorta puzzled when I read on her website how she recruited 3 world-famous beatboxers (Rahzel, Dokaka, and Shlomo), a Tuvan throat singer, and a pair of choirs.

And what does it sound like?
It's a giant mindfuck, listening to something that doesn't sound at all like anything the vocal chords can produce, and realizing that it's a person. Beyond that, though, I haven't gotten much further with it; it's a dense album and one that takes getting used to. I think I'll like it, though probably not as much as Homogenic.

August 27, 2004

steps of t-shirt creation.

Neil asked me to detail how I made shirts, so here's a rough guide, without all the work I do in between.

Find source image for shirt. For the example shirt, I used this picture of a Lion Rampant.
Using Photoshop/Fireworks (whatever you have), transform image into one that is easily made into a stencil. Here's what I had after I finished with the earlier picture.
print image onto paper side of freezer paper
cut out stencil, using exacto.
iron shirt
iron down stencil onto shirt.
paint.
dry.
remove stencil
iron paint to set it
enjoy.

[edit @ 12:29PM: images are down; will resize and let you know when they're back up.]
[edit 2 @ 8:20 PM: images are back up.]

August 26, 2004

I'm in the viewbook and I look like death warmed over.

:\

I thought I had a lot to say, but then I didn't.

August 22, 2004

stuff:

I'm retiring OMQOCs. Deal with it.
If I could point and cause heads to explode, I'd do it. A lot. At work.
Lisa from Housing hasn't gotten back to me yet, which is worrying.
Interview at Arts ISIT this week; need to call back and schedule tomorrow.
It's hard to keep a straight face when senior management comes in and asks for ponchos.
While looking for a Lion Rampant to put on a shirt, I found this. It makes me giggle.
Finishing the "Don't Panic" shirt tonight; pictures up after the 42 goes on the back.
Dunno if I want to do COGS anymore; some of the required courses don't look too hot (MATH 102/104, CPSC 121/122), so I might pull a Britt and do a focus on memory/cognition and reevaluate the whole double major plan.

August 21, 2004

shirt plans

I always have the awesomest shirt ideas that I forget to write down/sketch, so they're going up here:

Wrens
British Sea Power
Snooze Button
"do not make me defenestrate you"
some sort of Batman, possibly taken from Batman: Black and White
gloss-black Lion Rampant on a black t-shirt.

August 19, 2004

the deal with naf's underpants:

just before last christmas, Nanessa and I were brainstorming a gift for Naf. At this time, Naf had full-on co-opted the phrase I'd sort of introduced to the gang, "well, shit."
And so, after some discussion and some laughing, we decided that we'd somehow get the phrase onto a pair of underpants (or several) for Naf.

I was actually planning on making Naf a shirt with an iron lung on the front and a quote from "My Iron Lung" on the back, or underneath, or something. At some point at work, Vanessa expressed difficulty at finding a gift for Naf, and so I thought maybe we could do underpants, because then I wouldn't have to buy them. The plan was that Vanessa would buy the underpants and I would stencil them.

What happened was that Vanessa got stuck in an orientation, and so we weren't able to make it to the mall on time, and so I had to go out and buy the damn things on Wednesday morning.

I realized that I had no idea what size I needed to get Naf, so I ended up having this MSN conversation Wednesday morning:

gerald // home: aleks!
gerald // home: I have the randommest question ever that you would probably know.
gerald // home: and it doesn't have to do with radiohead.
Aleksandra (okay, so South Kiosk is pretty disfunctional...): go for it
gerald // home: what's naf's underpant size?
Aleksandra (okay, so South Kiosk is pretty disfunctional...): ha ha ha ha!!
gerald // home: what?
gerald // home: it's a serious question.

and from there, I was all set to go to Metrotown and have the most hilarious shopping trip ever.
and then my mom discovered her blood sugar was super-low, and I didn't want to leave her alone, so we went to the Zellers in Richmond, where there was a healthy selection and I was bewildered.

so, I turn to my mother, and explain the nature of the gift (without telling her what actually goes on the back), and then ask her to pick some out that were comfortable looking and cotton. and then she did.

also, I picked up a nifty X-Acto kit with a bunch of spare blades and a special cutting mat thing.

got home, cut out the stencil, stencilled, let them dry, packed them up and went off to curry, where they were well-received by everyone including Naf's mom(!).

August 16, 2004

my first shirt

see it here.

it's not as good as it could be, but I know where I went wrong, so they'll only get better from here.

[edit: shirt refers to this comic]

August 14, 2004

dear my subconscious: whatthefuck?!

(I'm on the PC to check the directions to the airshow, to which my parents have won a ticket and are just leaving for...)

I had a dream that was epic like a miniseries; in two hours*, we'd established that I was an exchange student in a Midwestern hamlet, doing a lot of drugs to fit in, and that my love interest had been kidnapped.
I figure the rest of the slacker teens (composed, weirdly enough, of PNE people I've helped in the last few shifts) would band together, led by me, overthrow whatever evil conspiracy threatened us all, and gain respect from the adults or something equally as predictable and syrupy.

Mostly, though, I'm wondering: why me?

*alarm went off, turned it off and went back to sleep, dream started, woke up 2 hours later.

August 10, 2004

I'm just a knife, cutting around...

Have been working on new design as of late (see also: new comment text), and so I haven't posted. Apologies.
__
Friday:
Council/BBQ was... okay.
Whole thing felt very highschool, especially since the party separated into distinct groups after about an hour. Bits were okay; the Dick Davis/Gavin chest hair battle was amusing, and I had a pleasant chat with Costa, who I hadn't seen in a while.
someone on council may want to move something about stupid comments (be it resolved that any comment during a meeting which causes more than 50% of council to sigh or roll their eyes will result in a smack upside the head by the councillor closest to the offender.) because you're going to end up with a lot of it otherwise.
ps: that motion would require 2/3rds because it'd be policy.

Ditched at about 11, and went to Graham's with the Karl. I had a lot more fun there, because it just felt more like a party. Dunno how else to put it, but the music didn't suck (and was suitably loud, but not too loud.) met a lot of cool people, and it was cool to see people I rarely see again. Swapped 19th birthday stories with Graham's roommate, Matt ("you remember your 19th birthday?" "yeah. it was four months ago." "doesn't that mean it was during exams?" "yeah, I wrote one hung over." "AWESOME.") and had a variety of interesting discussions with cute foreign girls (who were impressed that I was drinking Kilkenny. hot. ) also had a lot of fun with Vanessa ("so, how do you guys know each other?" "she's my boss.") it was good times all around. Got picked up at about 1, was mildly relieved at the lack of kegs, although I did chug the majority of a 500mL beer, and went home.
__
saturday:
Morning/afternoon weren't all that exciting. Slept in, went to the pool, dug through my closet and cleared out some old clothes as well as finding my old SLRs. One's a Pentax K1000, which has a serious ding in the outermost ring of the lens, meaning I can't put any filters on and that putting the lens cap on requires me to pay attention. Furthermore, the ISO has to be set one stop down or the shots underexpose, which blows. The other one's a Mamiya/Sekor 500DTL, which needs a new battery and a serious cleaning. I can't wait to get them both working again and see what shots out.

Later on, I headed down to the fireworks with Brie, Pat, Rob, Jordie, and assorted other people, and the fireworks were fun. I thought Sweden deserved the victory, and so Drew's outrage at China not getting the prize were puzzling. Took the newish SLR down with me and shot two rolls (currently undeveloped; should fix that), which reminds me:
a note: I've been using SLRs for close to five years. I know how they work, which aperture/exposure settings are most appropriate, how to stay still during long-exposure shots (need both hands, but I can do it), and generally, I know what I'm doing. Should you desire to sit next to me and give me advice on how to take every single shot, I will make you dead. Very, very dead.
Aside to Lana: I understand, now.

Post-fireworks, the gang went drinking, and I went and stood in line at Waterfront. I got into the line at 11:30something, and got on a train at 12:32. I spent a solid fucking hour standing in line with a bunch of greasy suburban kids all trying to pick each other up, headphones firmly applied and Ultravisitor providing a sonic buffer against the noise of a thousand teens trying to get into each others pants.
The train ride was no different, unless you count me turning up the volume to account for train noise and a closed space.

Bloody suburbs.
__
Sunday
Woke, moped about, killed time.

Headed to Rob's for evening drinking, but had to stop at the cambie liquor store first, because it's the only one in Vancouver open on Sundays. Picked up a six-pack of Harp and a two-six of Mount Gay for Doug, then headed down. Saw Alex for the first time all summer, hung out with Pat, played poker (badly), then mini-movie'd Rob attempting to make a Black and Tan with Guinness Extra Stout and Harp - it didn't layer, but it tasted just fine. I think widgeted beer is required for layering, because the nitrogenation affects the specific gravity/viscosity.
got picked up by dad, even though taking the bus to work from Rob's the next morning would have been easier, and had an uneventful ride home.

__
monday
work! it's fun, the people are cool, exhibitors are interesting, and I'm getting to know more of the people about the office.
IF I HAVE TO LISTEN TO THE BEAT FOR ANOTHER SHIFT I WILL KILL.

worked on new design.
that was about it.

happy birthday, graham!
you may be old, but at least nobody asks when you're done high school.

__
today

Worked on new design.
Picked up plain t-shirts in black, dark green, and navy blue.
Have been working on designs for said shirt.
So far, a The Hipster Theory of Relativity shirt is in the works, and I don't know what else I want...

Suggestions?

August 06, 2004

no! more! feud!

a) I'm in entirely too good a mood for a feud.
b) Quinn just enlightened me on how to make my own graphic tees.

all grudges are dropped.
my site still looks better, though.

August 05, 2004

things are good.

hired. twice over.
I had a bottle of stout for lunch.
Partying tomorrow.
Brie's back Saturday, also fireworks!
whee!

opinion time!
this one or this one?

I don't really know what it's for at this point; I'm sort of toying with the idea of throwing down a "real" website, but I'm not sure.

[edit: sorry, got rushed and forgot to change the link. they're different now.]

August 04, 2004

hrm.

my blog is usually the first thing I check when I have nothing better to do, so having this list up here will remind me that I do have things to do and that I should go do them.

learn XHTML/Dreamweaver MX
take more photos
find job #2, maybe one for school year
figure out finances, specifically:
- Franz Ferdinand?
- new CF card?
- pants?
overhaul site?
pressure brother re: website
re-set sleeping patterns; get used to <8 hours again.
Alarm Clock Mix 2004?
time for my own site?

OMQOC: a prime MSN quote: "I just realized Scarlett Johansson was also in Ghost World, thereby increasing her hotness by a factor of dork."

August 01, 2004

thoughts; long form.

a pair of thoughts I had at the fireworks, either watching everyone try and take digital photos of the fireworks (which is damn near impossible to do right), or watching Drew do the same with his PDA.

#1
I'm not huge on convergence. I like my gadgets separate from each other, so that their UIs can be optimized for each device, and even if I have to spend 4 times as much time learning, I'm happier.
This whole "cameras in everything" trend is slightly worrying; digital cameras embedded in things hardly deliver the shots that a consumer camera would, and come nowhere close to the quality of a pro(sumer) device. Of course, that's okay for most people - I don't think most people I know with cameras ever adjust their white balance or anything like that. A shame, really, because it'd help bump the shot from "okay" to "good". Even if the camera is only to record events, doing it well is never a bad thing*.
What I sort of wonder about is if the trend towards one widget will cause the standalone digital camera to ~~fade into the west~~ get dropped by manufacturers - Asia's already got 3MP cameraphones, which is enough for a decent 5x7 print. I can see the average user moving towards a cameraphone - the camera does the job and is integrated into the phone that would be carried anyway. I wonder, idly, if this trend would eliminate the standard consumer camera, or (as Rob suggested) leave a less contiguous market, where the extremes are marketed to, and cameras come either as super-basic ones or envelope-pushing professional models. I think what's more likely is the same thing that's happened in the PDA market; where four companies (Treo, Palm, HP and Sony) are continuing to produce a decently large range of PDAs, all of which have their own specialties, and all the others simply crashed.
I wonder which four will make it in the camera world...
Canon's in for sure; being the professional choice for both film and digital, I don't see them going away.
Nikon is also definitely in, because if one doesn't go Canon, they go Nikon.
I'd like to see Panasonic over Sony, partially because Leica > Zeiss, and also because Panasonic prefers memory formats that don't suck in addition to providing good kit at decent prices. Don't know if that'll happen, though.
Last spot leaves: Fuji, Sony, Kodak, HP, Casio, Konica/Minolta, and a plethora of others that I can't be bothered with, most of whom will wither away when the wave of firsttime buyers subsides. I can't really say who will stay and who will go, but it'll certainly be interesting to watch.

*it can be a bad thing when you find yourself stuck behind the camera at every event you attend, not only not having fun, but having that one guy who thinks he's a better photographer than you offering tips at every turn, so that the evening is spent watching other people have fun while resisting the urge to turn around and hit said person.

#2
Film is dying, and it's simply a matter of time before walking into London Drugs with a roll of 35mm C41 process colour film gets you the same look as it does if you walk in there with a roll of black and white today**. This is unfortunate, I think, because film has an experience that digital can't match. The struggling inside light-sealed closets as one tries to get the film onto the spindle, the measuring of chemicals and temperatures, the super-careful shake, shake, tap of the developing process, and the satisfaction of slowly pulling out a strip of film and seeing the moments contained thereupon. We're not even going to touch the magic of darkrooms, or the fun stuff you can get up to with a little light, mid-developing process.
What it sort of reminds me of, though, is vinyl. Vinyl as a consumer format is dead. It's reserved for enthusiasts and professionals, who own the proper equipment to show it the respect/love it deserves. Also, said professionals/enthusiasts get up to some extremely cool stuff with it that it's difficult/impossible to do with their successors.
I'm not saying "OMG FILM IS THE NEW VINYL, JUST LIKE PINK IS THE NEW OLIVE GREEN", but I'm wondering if it'll reach the same status, and what we'll start seeing in terms of envelope-pushing art when it does.

I can't wait.
and now I want a darkroom.

**namely, one saying, "Are you fucking nuts? Also, that'll take two weeks and cost more than one-hour colour processing."

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.

July 28, 2004

geek lust.

Motorola RAZR V3

OMQOC: Quinn supports limits on freedom of speech!!

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.

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.

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...

July 21, 2004

argh.

what I want:

psyc 217
psyc 205
phil 120
cogs 200
cpsc 100

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

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 ~~swim~~attempt laps, and do a little weight training while she's on the treadmill.

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?

July 02, 2004

...well, shit.

Google bans Gmail swaps and sales | CNET News.com

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.

June 29, 2004

ah, capitalism: part 2 of what is probably going to be many.

eBay item 3684821346 (Ends 29-Jun-04 18:15:21 EDT) - RedWingsFan@GMail.com

things just got a whole lot more interesting.

edit: I just registered 3 accounts with the intent of selling them. whee!

yesterday's thoughts, neatly timestamped

7.02
after about half an hour, I'm convinced that my poll supervisor knows what she's doing, but doesn't believe that she knows what she's doing. She seems ready to explode, but things are running okay. The Conservative scrutineer team has arrived; 3 old brown men and one younger one in a suit. Could be interesting.

9.30
due to lack of anyone, I am now being paid to read Return of the King.
Fuck. Yes.

10.26
it's recess outside, and a bunch of kids showed up outside the gym doors to ask if they could vote. When rejected, they had a quick chat with the information officer (guy at the door who directs people) about the parties and then went off to play kickball. Lucky bastards.

10.30
asked for current address, got a life story. I hope this doesn't happen a lot.

10.57
I don't speak Punjabi.

11.15

"Arr, what be thine current residence?"
"Have thee thine driverrr's licence?"
"Thine ballot is democracy's booty"
"Walking the plank be nothing should thou be lying about thy citzenrrry."
"Y'arr! Exercise thine right to vote or I shall send ye to Davy Jones' Locker! Y'arr!!"

also introduced my registration officer partner to the concept of Talk Like A Pirate Day.

11.32
Conservative candidate just came by to "thank us for all our hard work."
Tool.

11.50
COUGARED!!
the intent was certainly there; I almost had to make put my arms up and make lots of noise.

nooon

Carrion - British Sea Power
Little House of Savages - Walkmen
Electioneering - Radiohead
Almost Crimes - Broken Social Scene
Come On My Selector - Squarepusher

1.01
More RoTK.

1.55
Liberal scrutineers = cute brown girls.
Conservative scrutineers = old brown men.

2.01

dance games
paintball
Death Ball (from JSRF)
naval battles

2.40
Dear Stupid Poll Clerks,
When we ask you to check if someone is on the voter's list, CHECK IF THEY'RE ON THE VOTERS LIST.
Asses.

3.05
I don't speak Punjabi. Stop assuming.

3.17
Have been sending text messages to Spencer and Naf all day. I wonder if that counts as taint.

3.45
Judging from who fraternizes with which scrutineers, the Conservative power base appears to lie with the older Punjabi people; who are most often parents brought over by their pseudo-yuppie Liberal voting children.
I wonder what'll happen as the turnover proceeds.

4.01
Have found the envelope full of extra scrutineer tags, including several now-defunct parties.

5.39
"I'm in the wrong place, through no fault of your own, and you're trying to help me get where I need to be?
Fuck that noise. I'll settle for you making feel guilty and useless instead."
- inside the head of a random brown lady.

6.04
if your elderly mother doesn't speak English, and the registration table consists of a coconut and a caucasian, DON'T LEAVE HER ALONE WITH THEM.
Idiot.

6.32
I continue to not speak Punjabi.
Maybe I should put up a sign.

6.57
having been throwing been Diet Coke all day (1.42L and counting), I could cause some serious bodily harm for some rum about now.

7.03
polls closed. Off to the other bit of this job.

7.26
have now moved to head office; will be receiving results as they are called in. This makes for 13+ hours of paid work. Might just be able to afford Curiousa.

Speaking of - who's in? As much fun as a Corbett/Gerald roadtrip would be, more people = more awesome.

7.29
people are amazed that I share.
I'm confused.

7.44
first results.

9.16
riding caffeine high.
last real meal was at 4-ish.
have been throwing down mini-Mars and Snickers washed down with more Diet Coke.

this can't be healthy.
will drink ludicrous amounts of water tomorrow to make amends with digestive system.
until then...

10.00
DONE.
have scored a reference out of all this insanity.

now, to save-on, to meet the parents.
but first, the Hot Donut light is on...

June 28, 2004

one more cog in the electoral wheels

people are stupid.
I am tired after 16 hours of elections work.
documented my thoughts, and will type them up later.

have a good night.

June 26, 2004

woo!

I don't know why Sarah and I end up making such exciting drinks (we last collaborated on the Gerald Special), but I'm not going to complain.

anyway, last night we created something that is still nameless; we were too busy enjoying the thing to dub it properly.

1-2 oz gin
a healthy squeeze of lime
half a can of Citrus Splash 7-Up
a splash of orange juice
garnish with a lime wedge, and enjoy.

a Gerald Special?

1-2 oz vodka
splash of cranberry juice
splash of orange juice
top with 7-up

hanging out at Costa's was fun; hadn't seen some people in ages, and although I missed out on Karl getting shot in the face (with a suction cup arrow), it was bitchin'.

also formulated plans for the night in which I smoke, drink, and gamble - haven't done all 3, and I keep intending to... suggestions, anyone?

June 24, 2004

question time:

change the photos on the side?

photo 1
photo 2
photo 3(upside down intentionally)
photo 4
photo 5

they're a bit summerier(yes, I know, not a word), and I'd probably change the colour scheme around, too...
leave a comment, either way.

June 23, 2004

ah, capitalism

eBay - gmail, Software, Memberships, and Other Hardware Services items at low prices

it's interesting that GMail invites are the new hot commodity.
had I been thinking about it when I got my account, I would have sold my invites and not given them away to the likes of you.

...no matter. I've got 5 left, and google's being pretty liberal with them so drop me a line if you want in.

June 22, 2004

occupying my headspace:

June 21, 2004

that's luck, she said.

not the internship manager.
I suppose this is where I rationalize things and make myself feel better about it.
[shrug]

back to the grind.

mood: phlegmy
music: AC Newman - Come Crash

June 19, 2004

"I have clean water and the vote. Life is good."*

and they were right.

fuck this.
I tire of moping.

Once I vanquish this cold, it's time to do things differently.
Until then, ~~blood and souls for my lord arioch!!~~ fluids and bedrest.
And comics.
__
News: am registration clerking for elections canada. am weirdly, suddenly ill, and the drugs/fever combo are affecting my verbiage. have given up any semblance of a normal job, and will be applying to as many temp/part time/paper routes/what have you as I can. should be interesting. will probably buy a bus pass (2-zone; did the risk/reward and it works well out in my favor) hence I'll be around more. have curtains now. fabric will also make exciting shorts. physio has been immensely helpful.
__
oh, right. I think this counts as being back.
dunno if I'll redo the design. It's grown on me.
__
*author of quote wishes to remain anonymous. thus, they will remain anonymous.

June 11, 2004

why do you build me up (buttercup)?

July 2003 - 6 months, he said..
"It'll be an experiment; we'll be there and back and things will be fine."
They came and went. I'm still here. Things aren't fine.

July. "We've barely lived here. You can't hate it yet."
August. "The commute will be better when school starts."
September. "Is it really that bad?"
October. "6 months, remember?"
November. "Your brother likes it here, and I think it's more convenient..."
December. "You'll be home when?"
January. "Just a little longer."
February. "I need to get this one listing done..."
March. "I promise. Soon."
April. "I hate it here as much as you do."
May. "After exams."
June "August. Seriously this time."

I'm not getting my hopes up this time. It'll make dealing with the inevitable easier.

June 06, 2004

today's objet d'hot

Leica - Digilux 2

now, do I want to go to school for a year, or do I want the camera?

June 04, 2004

worth writing about

Pitchfork: Daily Music News

FUCK YES CURIOUSA FESTIVAL AUGUST 21 SEATTLE WHO'S GOING?

May 30, 2004

intermission?

I.
I can't.
It's just.
Well.
I guess.

Fuck, whatever.

On hiatus.

Back later.

May 28, 2004

stuff!

I am fairly sure that extended periods of time at home cause me to
revert back to being, oh, 16.

The Dreamcast
The Radiohead
the wanton disregard for nutritional content.
the sudden desire for a newish gaming console.

in happier news, am volunteering with Naf and Spencer and
others this weekend; looks like it's going to be fun*.

*by which I mean tiring and laden with awesome stories; I mean,
there's a man named Zull involved!!

May 25, 2004

2 dreams, 1 meme, scads of confusion.

dream #1:
I move back to Vancouver. Alone. And live in an apartment on Kingsway (between Slocan and Earles) above a Chinese restaurant. Nothing particularly strange happened. Just the setting that was odd.

dream #2:
go back to the old high school to brush up on my biology, and find that I'm not the only one there. for some reason, me and a bunch of people I graduated with are there, getting ready to dissect fetal pigs (note: we actually did this.) but there's a number of details wrong.

the teacher (same one I had in grade 12) is wearing a polka dotted dress.
snootiest person I knew in high school is making googly eyes at the ultra-nerdy russian-accented guy in the grade below us.
nobody I remember liking during highschool (aside from the teacher) was there

it was significant amounts of bizarre, and the other bit I can't remember specifics of was right up there in strangeness content. I guess watching Angel marathons right before bed is a bad idea.

meme:

gerald` may explode without warning

M
EXPLOSIVE

From Go-Quiz.com

May 24, 2004

(untitled)

barefoot.
warm cement.
cold air.
popsicle in hand, I step on to the grass.
wiggle toes.
sigh, a little closer to peace.

"WHAT THE FUCK DUMB BULLSHIT YOU TALKIN' BOUT YOU CRACK-ASS SLUT?!"
"I SAID, YOU BITCH, THAT YOU SLEPT WITH MY MAN!!"

peer over the hedge to watch two teens stomp by, swearing like sailors and taking turns out of a bottle in a bag, heading towards the elementary schoolgrounds next door.

shake head.
breathe.
consume popsicle.
look at the sky; lost among the cables and poles is venus.
another deep breath; wondering when I won't be here.

cold cement.
cold air.
popsicle eaten, I head inside.

May 23, 2004

parting thought

there's something utterly relaxing about opening up to someone.

May 22, 2004

crossposted to indiemixtape

made a CD for driving.

no specific theme, and some of it's not terribly indie (OMG!!), but I figure the 33% CanCon evens things out.

Spoon - The Way We Get By (2:40)
Coldplay - Amsterdam (5:19)
Young and Sexy - Young and Sexy (4:17)
Broken Social Scene - Anthems for a Seventeen Year-old Girl (4:35)
The Shins - Pink Bullets (3:51)
Walkmen - We've Been Had (3:29)
Death Cab For Cutie - A Lack of Color (3:35)
Metric - Calculation Theme (3:31)
Wilco - Ashes of American Flags (4:44)
Hawksley Workman - Safe and Sound (3:58)
Interpol - Leif Erikson (4:00)
Modest Mouse - The Ocean Breathes Salty (3:45)
Matthew Good Band - Strange Days (4:25)
Radiohead - No Surprises (3:48)
The Decemberists - Grace Cathedral Hill (4:28)
Doves - The Man Who Told Everything (5:47)
The New Pornographers - Loose Translation (2:59)
The Streets - Empty Cans (8:13)

May 21, 2004

something of actual consequence.

I realize that I haven't seen a lot of people for a while, and that
one of the reasons I started this was to keep people updated on my
condition.
so, how am I?

- bored.
- broke.
- still jobless, increasingly frustrated.

+ driving more. might book a road test soon.
+ physiotherapy is helping.
+ I bought a new razor. It's very red.

that's about it.
see you at the Decemberists, if not before.

so that's where codswallop comes from...

The English-to-American Dictionary

May 20, 2004

(single tear)

sad comic moment

yeah, I'm a hopeless geek.

May 17, 2004

worse than expectant parents

haven't settled on a name yet - it'll keep changing for a while.
jail! shame! wrenches! only makes sense to a select
few, and it's not all that funny, anyway.

testing

so, apparently I can email entries to my blog.
which is exactly what I'm testing.

breakfast thoughts

can a pancake have too many M&M's?

I'm about to find out.

edit: I think it can, but I came nowhere near the threshold. I suspect there's a candy:batter ratio that one has to stay under, and only more testing will reveal it.

May 14, 2004

notes to self:

shave more often
bring up being 19 less, especially when talking to cute girls.
get drunker and start more fistfights.

for all my hipster friends

enjoy.

even if you're not a hipster and just know a bunch of them, read the comic. it's funny stuff.

May 13, 2004

more words for life.

"...we are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is." -Dr. Mark Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut's Cold Turkey, courtesy of Matt Good.

pseudo-moblog photographic wankery.

really, that's all this is. I got to granville island well before I was supposed to meet people for the One Man Star Wars Trilogy (which was great), so I busted out the camera and took some photos. On the skytrain, I scored the "drivers seat" so I started fiddling with the camera modes and took some photos. I'm still not entirely used to the size of the camera, and I keep reaching for the focus/zoom ring. Old habits, I guess.

thumbnails don't seem to want to work, so here's a list:

all images are 640x480px, and somewhere between 16 and 46 kilobytes.

May 11, 2004

weird dreams

I've been sitting on this post since this morning, because I still can't figure it out...

had a dream last night, involving me getting caught evading fares on the Skytrain station, and trying to make a run for it. Entirely normal, given how much fare evasion I commit in my newly UPassless life. Run out of the train, fake Skytrain cops hot on my tail, off the train platform, down a flight of stairs, past another platform, and then dow-- hold up, two platforms?!

in a half-asleep (but thoroughly bewildered) state, I replayed the dream as best I could, and tried to piece together where this imaginary station would've been, using the scenery and any other cues I was able to pick out of my dream, and came to the conclusion that Patterson station had had Royal Oak station put on top of it, and the whole damn thing was moved out to Boundary and Lougheed.

And there I was, evading fares.

fun times, redux

went to the beach with a pair of high school friends last night. Conversation topics ranged from the standard "what are you doing" to the unfortunate lack of green in sunsets to the origins of the Oxford English Dictionary, to Iain's Illustrated Oxford Dictionary and how awesome and useless it is at the same time. After the (spectacular) sunset, we headed to Koerner's*, where we started off with some Okanagan Springs Pale, which, of course, brought about discussion about the Fair. Patricia had enjoyed herself vastly (and still hasn't finished her synopsis), and Iain missed it due to a paper he had to write, which meant he had to stay in Victoria. Switched to Darkwoods Nut Brown afterwards, which was, well... educational. Very smokey, caramel/barbeque and no aftertaste. Like, none. It was weird, and we sipped cautiously at first and then gave up and started throwing it back before it got too warm. Somewhere in there, we switched from Big 2 to pool. I left there at about 20 to midnight, got on a B-Line, took some blurry shots from the Skytrain, and got home just before 1.

Fucking North Delta.

The long and short of it? I feel a lot better about most everything than I did yesterday, and there's a few jobs that look interesting that I'm going to go apply for now...

here's some photos:

*we were 3 of maybe 10 people at Koerner's, and we were ID'd by the same guy who let me in at the AMS elections results thing with Jordie's ID, and was at Dave Tompkins' when the underage jokes began. He did a double-take on the date, which amused me greatly.

May 10, 2004

ye gods

I don't know how much longer I can do this.
the constant stream of resumes and cover letters is tiresome and more than a little depressing.
no word back from anyone at all, not even the video store (yes, that video store).
I can't do this again; another jobless summer will drive me up the fucking wall.

...back to jobbank and newspapers and word, and maybe this time I'll find something, or something will find me.

May 09, 2004

slowly! learning! CSS!

yes, this is nothing more than a lightly customized template, but I'll make it different, I swear.

in the meantime, what do you think?

stopping to digest

I've given most of yesterday's binge a listen-through, and I've divided them into rough categories, all of which are fairly self-explanatory.

[Updated: Monday, May 10] listened to the other stuff, added a new category:

Fuck, Why Wasn't I Listening to This When It Came Out?

Pavement - Terror Twilight
Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted

Love at First Listen:
The Walkmen - Bows and Arrows
Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism
The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
Metric - Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?

Affection:
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Hearts of Oak
British Sea Power - The Decline of British Sea Power
Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antarctica (not the rerelease)
Les Savy Fav - Inches

Will Probably Grow On Me:
The Walkmen - Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Gone
Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Love Bad News
The Wrens - Meadowland

Probably Won't Grow On Me:
Muse - Absolution
Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Crematorium
Buck 65 - Talkin' Honky Blues
Erlend Oye - DJ Kicks (one amusing track, though)

May 08, 2004

binge!

every now and then, I go on a music ~~downloading~~ "acquiring" spree. I'm in the midst of one of them, gleaned from references on other blogs, ecstatic reviews (both media and personal), and things I should probably already have listened to, given the way other people talk about them.

so far, I've got:

Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Love Bad News
Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antarctica (not the rerelease)
Ted Leo and The Pharmacists - Hearts of Oak
Pavement - Terror Twilight
Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted
The Walkmen - Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Gone
The Walkmen - Bows and Arrows
British Sea Power - The Decline of British Sea Power
Muse - Absolution
Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Crematorium
Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism
The Wrens - Meadowland
The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
Metric - Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?
Buck 65 - Talkin' Honky Blues
Batman - Arkham Asylum: Living Hell

recommendations?

May 07, 2004

five in heavy rotation

repeat on your own blog.
or not.
whatever.

5 songs you find yourself listening to a lot of, lately. I suppose the "all one's music + random play, then write down which ones come up" meme involves a larger sample, and thus is more reflective of your musical tastes as a whole, but I like this because it provides a little insight into whatever's happening with you right now.
Or maybe that's just me.

regardless:
1. The Decemberists - Grace Cathedral Hill
2. Young and Sexy - Life Through One Speaker
3. Interpol - Obstacle 1 (Arthur Baker Mix)
4. Squarepusher - Tetra-Sync
5. Matt Good - Bright End of Nowhere

what is this saying about me?
I tend to put on the Squarepusher (or any d'n'b, really) when I'm trying to get things done, and the rest of the stuff is pretty mopey.
thus, my life is currently 80% mope and 20% bouts of frenzied work (or, rather, trying to find work.)

...on second thought, the Obstacle 1 remix is pretty good for rocking out to, so make that 70% mope, 20% work, and 10% rocking out.

May 06, 2004

what is it about trillian, word, soulseek, and neil that result in me getting nothing done?

oh, wait, no, it's just neil.

May 05, 2004

geek thoughts.

I spent three hours last night freeing my uncle's PC from spyware/malware/"HOT FREE GIRLS JUST 4 U" (it's funny because he's a priest), only to find that some of it decided to take bits of critical data with it, so that his video drivers didn't work.
Checked to make sure that there was nothing hugely important, and then performed a clean install of Windows XP.

Firstly, a 2.2GHz P4 with a fresh install of Windows is pretty hot (given I run a 700MHz Duron, and there's too much random shit on the HD to do fresh installs of Windows. Maybe I'll remember to partition next time.) Secondly, Windows Update is absurd. After setting up his DSL (for some reason, it's a whole lot slower in Surrey), I went to the Windows Update site to see what needed installing. IE crashed because there were so many updates required. Ridiculous.

I then went on to install a firewall, an anti-virus program, an alternative browser, and two anti-spyware programs.

The point?
I really shouldn't have had to. I realize that a large portion of Window's problems come from people searching for holes because it has the largest market share, and that I'm not enough of a geek to talk about how to fix the problems (Jay? Jordie? Matt#1?), but if you can release patches constantly, can't you predict areas of vulnerability and fix them beforehand?

...fuck, whatever. I'm saving up for a Mac.

May 04, 2004

another one falls, another one falls, another one starts a blog

a) I'm sorry. That was gratuitous and unnecessary.
b) Tara has a blog now, solely due to the peer pressure power of Neil and myself*.

*the peer pressure power of Neil and myself isn't very large, Tara wanted one from before.

May 03, 2004

remember all those windows games we'd play as kids?

like skifree and chip's challenge and tripeaks?

I found them.

I am not responsible for the loss of your time.

windows only, unfortunately.

Alison and Trevor both blog now... and most of us are effectively paying them to do so.

blogger seems to be working fine.

you guys are crazy.

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