After a 6 day vacation in Orange County where surf bumbs, Disney-kids, preppie glamour models/ inheritence teenagers, Queen Latifah, so many bands, and even some regular every-day workin' joes call home, I finally had to return home to the reality called mdot.
My 1st few hours at home included hearing about prison riots (caused by gang members being kept penned up in +30C temperatures in super-saturated quarters, maybe?), a chemical burn to a 4-year-old at a playground caused by someone allegedly pouring drano down the slide, a dead call girl found on the Edmonton Southside with charges pending to a 24-year-old including 1st degree murder + causing a disrespect to human remains...
it goes on...
in Canada, one of the most prestigious awards to receive is the Order of Canada. This Canada Day, our government felt it was time to recognize baby-killers. Despite one's postition on abortion, and given the fact that Henry Morgenthaler has truly done a lot for women that get into an icky situation (through no fault of there own in many cases), I think there still must be other less controversial people out there that are equally deserving of that award. Maybe that scientist that helped Al Gore with some of his research on the polar ice caps or something.
I come home and watch my neighbor's kids playing in the yard - i think these must be kids #4 and #5 or #5 and #6. Surely, it can't be easy spending most of your monthly cheque from the Metis Society to help by some clothes and toys for that many kids. Especially if your oldest is 13 and you are about 29. But there are ways to get it done. The kids are happy, pretty healthy as far as I can tell. And with sooo many taxpayers' dollars at work for these exact sort of programs, why do we still think that this Morgenthaler dude really has done so much good??!
In short, last year's trip to nyc and this summer's trip to the oc allowed me to escape from my reality in the only home I've ever known. I know things are bad in the states. Things are bad sooo many places around the world! But to run away and hide (to Halifax? to Disneyland? to Switzerland or Australia?) doesn't really seem to be the answer. Yet escaping from a place that is spiralling out of control just seems so necessary sometimes! I feel like that besides 1 family connection, there is really nothing to keep me here at all. But if not here, then where? If not now, then when?
I miss Splash Mountain.
July 2, 2008
May 19, 2008
It's What You Do With It!
Part One: god i need to shave.
Since I couldn't think of a more appropriate subtitle for this blog (p.1 of 3 that I have in mind), and since the main title is actually the title of a pennywise song, I thought that a decent enough subtitle would be to just write what I realllllly think I need to do more than anything in the world right now. No. I mean RIGHT now.
k. I'm back. And I am smoooooothe as a (insert something smoothe here). And pennywise can sure perform. But what I really wanna talk to all you kids today about is impact. What are you doing with your life? And WHY are you doing it that way? Why aren't you doing it differently? Harder, better, faster, stronger, as one daft punk might even say. How do you come to your decisions about what you will be doing on that day, that week, that month, that year? It boggles my mind completely.
Most reasonable well-informed, non-sacreligious, non-belligerent punks or rednecks go through life wanting to leave behind some sort of lasting positive impact - one might even use that "legacy" buzz word. doubleyou tee eff. So in your so-called life you might want to produce a report reccomending environmental protection or funding for senior care programs or public transit, or you might write a poem or a song, make a painting for The One you love, or maybe even raise some offspring to be a functional contributing member of (a) society. Maybe you blog. You might plant a tree. Or maybe adopt a cat from the SPCA or a child from Chad. Even the self-loathing Schmidt (jack nicholson in About Schmidt) eventually gained a sense of satisfaction in finding out his monetary contributions to some kid living in poverty somewhere were in fact making a difference) afterall. So we go through days. weeks, months, and years. All hoping that in the end it will have been worth while.
Maybe you read. Non-fiction and history. Why bother with anything else, right? Because like in the Kite Runner, kids - dreamers - are laughed at when they're passion is as silly as writing fiction. Well, without dreamers, "science would be sterile and empty, and progress nonexistent" (m. kaku) But you continue to read your non-fiction anyways. You learn about what was, what is, and what will be given the path we're on and how history repreats itself (ice age here we come). Then there might be some sort of call for action. Maybe you even join a mailing list or write to an MP!
In Craig Ferguson's (fictional) book he writes: "All God wants for us to do is help eachother".
This to me, is great. It simplifies everything. We don't have to worry about anything as long as we are helpful to our fellow man or woman. Rather than persuing that "call for action" in Al Gore's or George Monbiot's latest bestseller, we will all just be welcomed into the kingdom of heaven so as long that we help eachother. Rather than reporting and criticizing and implementing what we may think is the best solution for somebody else, we just have to be nice and smile? ok, if you say so. Sign me up for a shift at the Bissel Center.
...More reasonably...
Is there a necessity in any or all of us to contribute to this world and all of its greatness anyways? Could a few billion people really have an impact on how a few million are shaping our world (through government and industry mostly) Irrespective of any apathy or hope for the future, couldn't we all just do better in our decisions/actions? Even if downloading global national's podcast supports some big media conglomerate, isn't it still good to be a little more informed than just giving that mustard seed resident 50 cents for a copy of Voice Magazine once a month? Rather than writing a song or getting a report approved or reading some Chomsky, isn't there something more that we could and should be doing???
What this all comes down to is priorities. How are you spending the little time you have in your life? Who are you spending it with? What impact, if any, do you hope to have given those 2 questions? The next blogs will focus more on where these priorities lay in our day-to-day lives. Stay tuned.
Since I couldn't think of a more appropriate subtitle for this blog (p.1 of 3 that I have in mind), and since the main title is actually the title of a pennywise song, I thought that a decent enough subtitle would be to just write what I realllllly think I need to do more than anything in the world right now. No. I mean RIGHT now.
k. I'm back. And I am smoooooothe as a (insert something smoothe here). And pennywise can sure perform. But what I really wanna talk to all you kids today about is impact. What are you doing with your life? And WHY are you doing it that way? Why aren't you doing it differently? Harder, better, faster, stronger, as one daft punk might even say. How do you come to your decisions about what you will be doing on that day, that week, that month, that year? It boggles my mind completely.
Most reasonable well-informed, non-sacreligious, non-belligerent punks or rednecks go through life wanting to leave behind some sort of lasting positive impact - one might even use that "legacy" buzz word. doubleyou tee eff. So in your so-called life you might want to produce a report reccomending environmental protection or funding for senior care programs or public transit, or you might write a poem or a song, make a painting for The One you love, or maybe even raise some offspring to be a functional contributing member of (a) society. Maybe you blog. You might plant a tree. Or maybe adopt a cat from the SPCA or a child from Chad. Even the self-loathing Schmidt (jack nicholson in About Schmidt) eventually gained a sense of satisfaction in finding out his monetary contributions to some kid living in poverty somewhere were in fact making a difference) afterall. So we go through days. weeks, months, and years. All hoping that in the end it will have been worth while.
Maybe you read. Non-fiction and history. Why bother with anything else, right? Because like in the Kite Runner, kids - dreamers - are laughed at when they're passion is as silly as writing fiction. Well, without dreamers, "science would be sterile and empty, and progress nonexistent" (m. kaku) But you continue to read your non-fiction anyways. You learn about what was, what is, and what will be given the path we're on and how history repreats itself (ice age here we come). Then there might be some sort of call for action. Maybe you even join a mailing list or write to an MP!
You well-respected member of society, you. I'm impressed.
In Craig Ferguson's (fictional) book he writes: "All God wants for us to do is help eachother".
This to me, is great. It simplifies everything. We don't have to worry about anything as long as we are helpful to our fellow man or woman. Rather than persuing that "call for action" in Al Gore's or George Monbiot's latest bestseller, we will all just be welcomed into the kingdom of heaven so as long that we help eachother. Rather than reporting and criticizing and implementing what we may think is the best solution for somebody else, we just have to be nice and smile? ok, if you say so. Sign me up for a shift at the Bissel Center.
...More reasonably...
Is there a necessity in any or all of us to contribute to this world and all of its greatness anyways? Could a few billion people really have an impact on how a few million are shaping our world (through government and industry mostly) Irrespective of any apathy or hope for the future, couldn't we all just do better in our decisions/actions? Even if downloading global national's podcast supports some big media conglomerate, isn't it still good to be a little more informed than just giving that mustard seed resident 50 cents for a copy of Voice Magazine once a month? Rather than writing a song or getting a report approved or reading some Chomsky, isn't there something more that we could and should be doing???
What this all comes down to is priorities. How are you spending the little time you have in your life? Who are you spending it with? What impact, if any, do you hope to have given those 2 questions? The next blogs will focus more on where these priorities lay in our day-to-day lives. Stay tuned.
note: i hope that this makes at least some sense, as it is currently past 2am.
note2: is draining the power into this pc worth writing this at 2am now, especially since i could potentially be doing something that might have an impact tomorrow if i had more sleep?
I, Remnant
Life is filled with winners and losers. Stars and and bumbs. Champions, over-exceeders do-gooders and philanthropists. Meth addicts, urban poor, minority groups, alcoholics, single mothers on welfare. There are church-goers, faith-believers, blood donors, and child sponsors. There are criminals, users and abusers. There are the handicapped. Bow-legged, cerebral palsy, amputeed, endless migraine, ADHD, wheel-chair confined AISH receivers. There are vetererans of wars and survivors of attacks. There are heroes and back-stabbers. There are the friends you will never lose and there are the friends that never really were. There are unmotivated uneducated unskilled apathetic take-it-for-granted day-by-dayers and rocket scientists attending MIT at 16. There are cool indy kids with beards and plastic-framed glasses and suicidal depressed emo kids that got sexually abused through their adolescence. There are punks and there are hippies. There are liberals and conservatives, roughnecks and environmentalists.
There's me.
I'm nothing too special. I am society's product: a result of suburban community-friendly catholic school system, multiculturally integrated with a post secondary education and a typical family life. (Some may argue that, haha). Anyways, it's stupidly normal as far as I am concerned.
Then, I ask you - why is it soooo hard? Sometimes it's just impossible to not dream of anywhere but here. I love here. Here is my home. But if home is wear the heart is, and my heart is aching so often, then maybe there might be a better place? Movin' to a Small Town is a pretty great idea as suggested by Steve Fox. Canada's East Coast was amazing, but so was The OC. New York is ... well certainly not here. But then if I moved, no... whyte ave? WEM? Starlight Room? No family?
Sometimes I wonder why some kids are left to fall through the cracks. Why do The "A Kids" (jocks and preps) as I referred to them as back through middle & highschool) bully, ignore, or hold up their noses over the rest of the "B and C kids". Privelged white folk? Who are you?! Where's the humility??
Some of these kids from highschool have even left punk rock in the dust to become fans of the much classier & technical genre of metal music. 'Cause a band called Dark Tranquility is obviously sooo much classier than a band called Guttermouth.
The different classes of society ERKS me. I know it's there. It makes me nuts. I mean, the U of A doesn't pump out 5 or 6 hundred engineers every year without some degree of arrogance in each of its grads as a result of the investment each of them put in to becoming something more. But why can't more of these kids be more down to earth? Coming from a blue-collar home, I think I can better relate to how the majority of people view our small & unique group of geers. I can see this also every Friday night when I work in a lumber yard next to 20 year old highschool dropouts and 50 year old pot-head burnouts. Not all geers will view themselves as in a more supreme class than non professionals, but when it comes to paying the $10K annual membership to the Royal Glenora Club, I am sure that there will be more professionals than plumbers registering.
I call myself a remnant because of being in the situation of having a degree but such an atypical view from most of my peers. Call me wierd? Well, it's not like it hasn't been done before. All I ask for is someone to be there for me. To disagree with me, yell at me, prove my unconventional ideas of lifestyles to be BS and lead me to believe there is much more to life than what I am seeing right now. I thought I found that person, and then that person will disappear for days, weeks on end and I won't even hear a peep. The problem with us remnants (or is it remni?), I think, is that we have sooo much humility that we fail to see that we in fact might be a pretty decent catch for someone that we can truly see ourselves with maybe as much as years into the future. A similar situation was recently conveyed by the geek on that Big Bang Theory sit-com who was on the verge of changing the very essence of who he is in order to become a more attractive catch for her. As it turns out, though, he kept his time machine rather than having the balls to tell her how he felt. For now, I'm just waiting for that day when I can say The Hell with My Time Machine - You Are My Future.
There's me.
I'm nothing too special. I am society's product: a result of suburban community-friendly catholic school system, multiculturally integrated with a post secondary education and a typical family life. (Some may argue that, haha). Anyways, it's stupidly normal as far as I am concerned.
Then, I ask you - why is it soooo hard? Sometimes it's just impossible to not dream of anywhere but here. I love here. Here is my home. But if home is wear the heart is, and my heart is aching so often, then maybe there might be a better place? Movin' to a Small Town is a pretty great idea as suggested by Steve Fox. Canada's East Coast was amazing, but so was The OC. New York is ... well certainly not here. But then if I moved, no... whyte ave? WEM? Starlight Room? No family?
Sometimes I wonder why some kids are left to fall through the cracks. Why do The "A Kids" (jocks and preps) as I referred to them as back through middle & highschool) bully, ignore, or hold up their noses over the rest of the "B and C kids". Privelged white folk? Who are you?! Where's the humility??
Some of these kids from highschool have even left punk rock in the dust to become fans of the much classier & technical genre of metal music. 'Cause a band called Dark Tranquility is obviously sooo much classier than a band called Guttermouth.
The different classes of society ERKS me. I know it's there. It makes me nuts. I mean, the U of A doesn't pump out 5 or 6 hundred engineers every year without some degree of arrogance in each of its grads as a result of the investment each of them put in to becoming something more. But why can't more of these kids be more down to earth? Coming from a blue-collar home, I think I can better relate to how the majority of people view our small & unique group of geers. I can see this also every Friday night when I work in a lumber yard next to 20 year old highschool dropouts and 50 year old pot-head burnouts. Not all geers will view themselves as in a more supreme class than non professionals, but when it comes to paying the $10K annual membership to the Royal Glenora Club, I am sure that there will be more professionals than plumbers registering.
I call myself a remnant because of being in the situation of having a degree but such an atypical view from most of my peers. Call me wierd? Well, it's not like it hasn't been done before. All I ask for is someone to be there for me. To disagree with me, yell at me, prove my unconventional ideas of lifestyles to be BS and lead me to believe there is much more to life than what I am seeing right now. I thought I found that person, and then that person will disappear for days, weeks on end and I won't even hear a peep. The problem with us remnants (or is it remni?), I think, is that we have sooo much humility that we fail to see that we in fact might be a pretty decent catch for someone that we can truly see ourselves with maybe as much as years into the future. A similar situation was recently conveyed by the geek on that Big Bang Theory sit-com who was on the verge of changing the very essence of who he is in order to become a more attractive catch for her. As it turns out, though, he kept his time machine rather than having the balls to tell her how he felt. For now, I'm just waiting for that day when I can say The Hell with My Time Machine - You Are My Future.
"There are homeless people everywhere.
This homeless guy asked me for money the other day.
I was about to give it to him and then I thought he was going to use it on drugs or alcohol.
And then I thought, that's what I'm going to use it on."
-lazyboy
May 8, 2008
My 2 Weeks Off / All Punked Out
The day I finished my last exam I drank. Severely. Borderline ready-to-blow-chunks. I remember showing up @ the campus bar @ 11am and bringing over 2 jugs of trad to the table. Turns out, the kids @ the table either don't like trad, or else already had their own jugs. So I started with 2 jugs of trad. I didn't seem to drop drinking from that point on. The only other thing I really remember was harassing my favorite asian engineer for a while and talking metal for a long time with my old friends' brothers. Eventually I came home, slept, then continued drinking back @ O'Byrne's for a while. But needless to say, that I wasn't feeling to well on account of drinking from 11 til 5. The end-of-class celebration was a success though, even if I didn't make it out til 2am.
The day after I didn't do much. I think I effed around on fb and looked for places to apply for jobs. Things were tense @ home because I wasn't all motivated and organized to have a job lined in advance for the minute I got out of school. So I pounded that pavement. With having applied to nearly 2 dozen places, I managed to get I think 8 interviews and 3 offers. But then I thought it might be a good idea to call my last boss to see if he'd speak to employers about my amiable personality and great deal of knowledge with everything to do with anything if they wanted a reference. Turns out, my old boss was willing to take me back on there though, and compensate me generously for my amazing skillz. Not only that, but they said they'd work around my school schedule! This means that I will be able to work around a summer course, then carry on with working 3 days a week in the fall! Pretty sweet. But damn' it was a pain in the ass not knowing if someone would hire you for that first week!
To celebrate, I bought myself the new Justin Rutledge disc. Man it's sooo strange being Less of a Punk these days. This music is so lazy, dreamy, peaceful and relaxing - pretty much anti-punk. But then I ended up dancing through most of The Unseen's set at starlight room and feeling like crap by the time Tiger Army played! But now the next performance I will in fact be seeing will likely be Justin Rutledge at The Starlight Room. The most anti-punk show I've ever seen at that place was probably Minus the Bear - an indie hippy group where if you don't wear a beard and one of those beanie style baseball caps and plastic-rimmed glasses, you look totally out of place.
So punkshows. I was waiting a long time for this week. Tiger Army has only ever been to Canada once before and that was for warped tour last year. The band has nice songs, but when the stand-up bass player walked to the venue from the hotel with a facecloth to stop his mascara/eyeshadow from running in the rain, it made me think about how diverse punk is, and how really, tiger army really is a sellout emo-pop band and not punk at all. Well not next to The Unseen anyways, for sure.
So after being mildly disappointed by the first show since I watched my friend's band play at a bar on whyte, I was pretty optimistic about the next few shows being better. First: Memeza Africa! Whoa. This was actually a benefit concert for a group of kids (~25 yr old) who could sing (think like gospel choir times a thousand), dance, and just really perform! I've missed a couple of other intriguing performances at the McDougall United Church before but will definately be back there for the atmosphere, if nothing else. There's something about rocking out in a church that just seems a little bit enticing to me. Anyways, the most important thing about this Memeza Africa show was the fact that it tied in HIV-AIDS awareness, the Stephen Lewis foundation, and the importance of the role of women in Africa and how Canadians must become more aware of the issues and be more involved. There was a really interesting bridge between Canadian folk music and African traditional music that just really seemed to bridge the gap and bring the cultures so much closer together and kind of brings home the idea that there are a hell of a lot of people out there that would love the opportunity to live in Canada. (even if our RCMP can't stop tasering 8o year old oxygen-infused grandpas while laying in a hospital bed or lost and confused polish immigrants that don't know any english.) But yeah: support Africa.
The very next night, SNFU was playing it's annual reunion show. This was my first time seeing Chi Pig do what he was doing 20+ years ago. All in all: Pretty Effing Impressive. To be a grungy, hairy, bum-like guy living in East Van and coming back to his hometown to put on a show like that was truly incredible on his part. The old guys body slamming and moshing for the 80 minute set was also pretty interesting to see. Even with none of the other original band members on the stage, the vocals and spirit offered by this epic hardcore hero all this time later made this one of the most memorable shows that I will likely ever see.
The other thing that I couldn't help feel was like a big nasty hypocrite. Here I am, a future professional engineer wearing my button shirt and dress slacks to the McDougall United Church with a stuffy upper-class population only meters away from the Misery Signals show that I have previously gotten totally effed up at. Then the very next night, I would be seeing 40 and 50 year olds all tattied up, shaved heads, kids with metal through their nose and bloodied up brows. wtf. If I was in fact "true" to the "scene" like Chi and his comrades, would I really be at something like Memeza Africa? Would I really be buying Justin Rutledge cd's???
I guess so. Because 2 days later I was back at it. NOFX was in Edmonton. Finally. I've never seen them anywhere but warped tour, so this was kind of a big deal. Once again, I changed out of my collared shirt from after applying for engg jobs all day, and slapped on my new SNFU shirt and some worn out jeans. Again the kids at the show ranged in ages from 3 to 53. There were "real" punks there and a hell of a lot of poseurs (as Fat Mike himself pointed out). This set pretty much was the best set ever. I knew all the songs, I felt at home. So much for that Justin Rutledge character.
So it's been a pretty exciting few weeks. In addition to some hella good shows, I managed to reserve my place for Virgin Fest. I am still counting on a few people making the trip down there with me, but what happens happens. I also have semi-plans for may long weekend, which is a change, and I have a job (thank god for that!). My Craig Ferguson ticket's been bought. That show's almost sold out too. Now I just have to decide if I want to buy the new Portishead or Millencolin album then all of the problems in the world will be solved.
The day after I didn't do much. I think I effed around on fb and looked for places to apply for jobs. Things were tense @ home because I wasn't all motivated and organized to have a job lined in advance for the minute I got out of school. So I pounded that pavement. With having applied to nearly 2 dozen places, I managed to get I think 8 interviews and 3 offers. But then I thought it might be a good idea to call my last boss to see if he'd speak to employers about my amiable personality and great deal of knowledge with everything to do with anything if they wanted a reference. Turns out, my old boss was willing to take me back on there though, and compensate me generously for my amazing skillz. Not only that, but they said they'd work around my school schedule! This means that I will be able to work around a summer course, then carry on with working 3 days a week in the fall! Pretty sweet. But damn' it was a pain in the ass not knowing if someone would hire you for that first week!
To celebrate, I bought myself the new Justin Rutledge disc. Man it's sooo strange being Less of a Punk these days. This music is so lazy, dreamy, peaceful and relaxing - pretty much anti-punk. But then I ended up dancing through most of The Unseen's set at starlight room and feeling like crap by the time Tiger Army played! But now the next performance I will in fact be seeing will likely be Justin Rutledge at The Starlight Room. The most anti-punk show I've ever seen at that place was probably Minus the Bear - an indie hippy group where if you don't wear a beard and one of those beanie style baseball caps and plastic-rimmed glasses, you look totally out of place.
So punkshows. I was waiting a long time for this week. Tiger Army has only ever been to Canada once before and that was for warped tour last year. The band has nice songs, but when the stand-up bass player walked to the venue from the hotel with a facecloth to stop his mascara/eyeshadow from running in the rain, it made me think about how diverse punk is, and how really, tiger army really is a sellout emo-pop band and not punk at all. Well not next to The Unseen anyways, for sure.
So after being mildly disappointed by the first show since I watched my friend's band play at a bar on whyte, I was pretty optimistic about the next few shows being better. First: Memeza Africa! Whoa. This was actually a benefit concert for a group of kids (~25 yr old) who could sing (think like gospel choir times a thousand), dance, and just really perform! I've missed a couple of other intriguing performances at the McDougall United Church before but will definately be back there for the atmosphere, if nothing else. There's something about rocking out in a church that just seems a little bit enticing to me. Anyways, the most important thing about this Memeza Africa show was the fact that it tied in HIV-AIDS awareness, the Stephen Lewis foundation, and the importance of the role of women in Africa and how Canadians must become more aware of the issues and be more involved. There was a really interesting bridge between Canadian folk music and African traditional music that just really seemed to bridge the gap and bring the cultures so much closer together and kind of brings home the idea that there are a hell of a lot of people out there that would love the opportunity to live in Canada. (even if our RCMP can't stop tasering 8o year old oxygen-infused grandpas while laying in a hospital bed or lost and confused polish immigrants that don't know any english.) But yeah: support Africa.
The very next night, SNFU was playing it's annual reunion show. This was my first time seeing Chi Pig do what he was doing 20+ years ago. All in all: Pretty Effing Impressive. To be a grungy, hairy, bum-like guy living in East Van and coming back to his hometown to put on a show like that was truly incredible on his part. The old guys body slamming and moshing for the 80 minute set was also pretty interesting to see. Even with none of the other original band members on the stage, the vocals and spirit offered by this epic hardcore hero all this time later made this one of the most memorable shows that I will likely ever see.
The other thing that I couldn't help feel was like a big nasty hypocrite. Here I am, a future professional engineer wearing my button shirt and dress slacks to the McDougall United Church with a stuffy upper-class population only meters away from the Misery Signals show that I have previously gotten totally effed up at. Then the very next night, I would be seeing 40 and 50 year olds all tattied up, shaved heads, kids with metal through their nose and bloodied up brows. wtf. If I was in fact "true" to the "scene" like Chi and his comrades, would I really be at something like Memeza Africa? Would I really be buying Justin Rutledge cd's???
I guess so. Because 2 days later I was back at it. NOFX was in Edmonton. Finally. I've never seen them anywhere but warped tour, so this was kind of a big deal. Once again, I changed out of my collared shirt from after applying for engg jobs all day, and slapped on my new SNFU shirt and some worn out jeans. Again the kids at the show ranged in ages from 3 to 53. There were "real" punks there and a hell of a lot of poseurs (as Fat Mike himself pointed out). This set pretty much was the best set ever. I knew all the songs, I felt at home. So much for that Justin Rutledge character.
So it's been a pretty exciting few weeks. In addition to some hella good shows, I managed to reserve my place for Virgin Fest. I am still counting on a few people making the trip down there with me, but what happens happens. I also have semi-plans for may long weekend, which is a change, and I have a job (thank god for that!). My Craig Ferguson ticket's been bought. That show's almost sold out too. Now I just have to decide if I want to buy the new Portishead or Millencolin album then all of the problems in the world will be solved.
April 26, 2008
the new me
A lot of that astrology mumbo-jumbo found in zines or newspapers or anywhere really, are usually pretty loaded with a bunch of crap. You know the type: "The second half of the month a new opportunity will open itself to you in your workplace and a you will also win many wonderful things if you take chances." They are usually so generic, open-ended and non-true whatsoever, that really, I don't know why I or anybody bothers reading them. But today's Pisces scripture in Vue Weekly referred to a shrink who advised to his patient that, "If you don't articulate your conscious desires, your unconscious patterns will come true." It goes on to recommend a week of "intense contemplation" of this psychotherapist's advice.
After a lifetime of contemplating my actions, my words, the actions and responses from the people around me, I have come to realize that a few undesirable patterns of behaviour have become apparent. This is going to be solved. Well according to the Good Doc anyways; because I plan on being much more articulate on my desires. No more goofin' around. Know what I want, and let it be known, then go out and get it. I doubt that I will be able to undo much of the unconscious (unfavourable?) patterns that make me so .... me, but at the same time, I have done a lot of this personality meyers-briggs analysis stuff over the past few years anyways, so I already know who I am, how I behave, what I am capable of, and how my behavior affects others. If anything, I might be able to consciously say that I am going to focus on some of my *behaviour* that might seem a little bit...off, according to sane people's standards...
So sooooo long filthy habits (unconscious patterns), and hellllll-o (ladies!)...wait, no that's not quite what I meant. From this point on though, be sure that I am going to be saying what I mean and meaning what I say. No more tom-foolery or shenanigans. Except on Fridays.
After a lifetime of contemplating my actions, my words, the actions and responses from the people around me, I have come to realize that a few undesirable patterns of behaviour have become apparent. This is going to be solved. Well according to the Good Doc anyways; because I plan on being much more articulate on my desires. No more goofin' around. Know what I want, and let it be known, then go out and get it. I doubt that I will be able to undo much of the unconscious (unfavourable?) patterns that make me so .... me, but at the same time, I have done a lot of this personality meyers-briggs analysis stuff over the past few years anyways, so I already know who I am, how I behave, what I am capable of, and how my behavior affects others. If anything, I might be able to consciously say that I am going to focus on some of my *behaviour* that might seem a little bit...off, according to sane people's standards...
So sooooo long filthy habits (unconscious patterns), and hellllll-o (ladies!)...wait, no that's not quite what I meant. From this point on though, be sure that I am going to be saying what I mean and meaning what I say. No more tom-foolery or shenanigans. Except on Fridays.
April 12, 2008
The Show of The Summer
kkkkkkkkkkkkay.
or ARGH!!!!
or just plain: oooooooooooooooooooooy.
just kidding. i'm really actually pretty stable.
But to be a little less non-specific,
let's seeeee...how can i put it:
yeah that's about as much as I can get out right now about everything that's going on in my head, except that today i found out that The Tragically Hip, Matthew Good, City & Colour, The Constantines, The New Pornographers, and even Ten Second Epic want to put on a show for me in cowtown on June 22. I think this is going to have to replace my annual trip to warped tour, since, I am after all soo mature and grown up and past that punk-rocker lifestyle @ this ripe old age of a hundred and fifty-two. The tickets are not cheap, but they are going to sell out fast. I sure hope someone can find it in their pocketbook & gosh-darn busy lifestyle that they can get to calgary with me for this day.
God life is so GAH! sometimes!!
or ARGH!!!!
or just plain: oooooooooooooooooooooy.
it's enough to drive a person absolutely bonkers.
i mean, you would think that
a guy that just so happens
to be teetering on the brink as it is
would get a break
sometimes.
just kidding. i'm really actually pretty stable.
i swear.
But to be a little less non-specific,
let's seeeee...how can i put it:
yowza.
yeah that's about as much as I can get out right now about everything that's going on in my head, except that today i found out that The Tragically Hip, Matthew Good, City & Colour, The Constantines, The New Pornographers, and even Ten Second Epic want to put on a show for me in cowtown on June 22. I think this is going to have to replace my annual trip to warped tour, since, I am after all soo mature and grown up and past that punk-rocker lifestyle @ this ripe old age of a hundred and fifty-two. The tickets are not cheap, but they are going to sell out fast. I sure hope someone can find it in their pocketbook & gosh-darn busy lifestyle that they can get to calgary with me for this day.
bOnK3Rs
April 9, 2008
The Evolution of "HA"
HA! has become one of those incredibly overused words in languages all around the world. It is mostly commonly used as a way to respond verbally to funny things we witness. Other times it's used as a way to act conceited and say "So There! I told you so -- so HA!" But don't ever be confused with the alternative use of "ahhh!" which has an entirely other set of possible situations where it could be used to describe a sense of relief/enjoyment/enlightened understanding; or the abbreviated version: "Ah!" as in The Count's "Ah! Ah! Ah!" after counting from one to fourteen. HA! could never be used in this way shape or form.
The thing that gets me the most though is how web tools like chatting online or writing on walls, or even blogging has drastically change how much more people emphasize the sound of that word when they are actually saying it!
Just listen. People around you at work. School. Your family. Yourself. The enunciation of the "heh" and "ah" sound are unlike anything we've been hearing ever before. I used to joke how Canadians say "eh" while Americans say "huh?" (because they sound pretty clueless about most things) but now it seems The Whole World is just saying HA!
After all. Everything is pretty funny. That, plus thanks to the realization global warming, the know-it-all conceited Al Gores of the world are saying to us all: "We knew you were heading for a disaster like this, So HA! The joke's on YOU!!"
What can we do to end this overuse of this word? Perhaps invent a new word like "mraw!" or start using that Fozzie the Bear's "wakka wakka wakka!" Maybe we can all just choose to go offline. No more networking sites, no more being silly in emails, no more chatting on msn.
Maybe this is all just me, because all of the time I spend and idiotic things I say online. But I couldn't be easily convinced because in addition to this new emphasis on this damn' 2-letter word, I have noticed that people are starting to express them self as the do-er of an action. What I mean is that facebook's status updates are causing people to think in a way that they must now present them self as the new subject which is now doing some verb on some noun. I'd sure like to do some verb on some noun, but refuse to publish Just What That May Be online... So even off of facebook (which is actually seeing less of me these days), I find that people present themselves as explicitly doing something more and more often.Well now that I have proven to myself how neurotic I in fact truly am, it's time to go update my facebook status. So HA!
This blog has been brought to you today by the letter S and the number 6.
April 6, 2008
Hakuna Matata
"Sometimes in life bad things happen, and you can't do anything about it right?"
"Right."
"WRONG! When the world turns its back on you - you turn your back on the world!!!"
"That's not what I was told"
"Right."
"WRONG! When the world turns its back on you - you turn your back on the world!!!"
"That's not what I was told"
"Well then maybe you need a new lesson!"
Hakuna Matata: the ultimate nonsensical disney-derived phrase, competing with such words as
supercalifragiliticexpialadocious,
bibbity bobbity boo, and
zip-a-dee-do-dah.
The fact of matter is that Hakuna Matata has become not only a goofy disney catch-phrase, but has also become an underlying philosophy in the way that people are responding to any mishaps that affects them directly, or major problems in the world around them, which will impact them indirectly.
Simba "finally got some sense knocked into him - and the bump to prove it", but there are many young, non-lion species all around the world that are choosing (or are forced to choose) to live by this laxidasical manner in their every day lives. The "No worries" philosophy seems to be today's solution to every problem, every mistake.
The mistakes
It's hard to get through an entire day without saying or doing something that may have potentially offended someone. When you stop to correct your mere misstep, the person usually responds "No Worries!" before you even have the chance to clarify or apologize for whatever faux pas you said or did in the first place. This could includes the the mistake of bumping somebody's foot in the desk next to you, brushing your bag against them when getting off of the bus, taking the last nacho or finishing the last of the jug of beer without consulting your mates first.
Since these are very small infractions for the most part, this Hakuna Matata attitude isn't really a big deal. I mean, forgive and forget, right? Or Shit Happens, as Gump might say. But at the same time, maybe more due dilligence or consideration is required from each of us and as a result, these thoughtless mishaps would happen less.
Using due dilligence, or shall we say..."Giving A Damn' " can be a hard thing to do for a largely apathetic population of youngsters facing a vast amount of challenging problems in their future. But the one thing I have going for me now in continuing to actually care and resisting apathy is that society is more aware now than ever of the enormity of the issues that need addressing. Also, 30, 60, 100, 1000 years ago there were still people out there trying to solve some of these problems, who did not just put there head in the sand. I think that getting used to accepting the "shit happens" ideology for incidental things like when we are mistakenly charged an extra $2 in bank fees one month, then we are not far off from accepting this attitude for bigger issues that are out there.
The problems
Timon and Pumbaa showed that really, life can be a beautiful thing if you go through it with a "problem-free philosophy", and just go through life looking for your next "grub".
This "grub" is a symbol of the human necessity of satisfying our needs despite how slimy the path may be in achieving them. We let things go unsaid, we turn blind eyes, we find that path of least resistance, we ask no questions and seek no answers. Our decisions to put it on auto-pilot and let the days drive themselves, believing that we, as individuals, have negligible impact on the world is sad, unavoidable, yet increasing at higher rates than ever, thanks to popular culture dictating what we need to be happy.
So instead, we say to ourselves that when something goes wrong, it will work itself out eventually.
no worries
The next thing you know, you're living in a city facing an obesity epidemic in which water or energy privatization has left you cold and in the dark and murder rates are the highest in the country. Well maybe Edmonton doesn't meet one of these criteria, but with time & continual inaction of an apathetic electorate, it certainly won't take long to meet the other few.
Many of us are just surviving paycheque to paycheque, and feel no duty to look out for anything more than our immediate family's well-being. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this, in its own right. The problem lies in the fact that out of the 6.6 billion people on earth, nearly 3 billion people live on less than $2/day. That's a lot of people. There is not very much that a family of 4 living on one income can do in their day-to-day lives that would help change the lives of that family of 4 living 3000 miles or 30 miles away after all, right?
Maybe we could vote for a different government (aka: that body that is supposed to regulate the well-being of society's helpless) But with 42% of the population making up the popular vote, this will not likely have any impact, especially if those who really need the help are the one's that aren't even able to get to polling stations on election day to vote for the help they need. But Hakuna Matata right? Instead corporate money buys governments and dictates where money will be spent. These big multi-nationals will take their tax break or subsidy then boast at improving the economies and livelihoods of those poorest in the world, despite their continual exploitation of millions of people worlds away. So apathy is hard to avoid for even the biggest optimist, knowing that there are people that Just Don't Care - Hakuna Matata - and knowing that money buys governments.
So Get Angry, Kids. I mean, seriously. This apathetic and impassive attitude of human beings is really starting to piss me off. Our fear of upsetting people, our apathetic attitudes, and our blissful ignorance of world issues has led us to tip-toe around every moral or social issue there is. If I had it my way, I would higher more baboons to knock us all on the head with a stick. Maybe then we would wake up & fight for what's right!
"The Arid Torpor of Our Inaction Will Lead Us To Our Demise"
-bad religion, 2002
April 3, 2008
April 1, 2008
Wavelength
Lamda. MS Word --> Font--> Symbol (or Greek). The eleventh letter in the Greek alphabet. Speed over frequency. Whatever way you think of it, this little squiggle that looks like a wishbone is one of the most key elements for a person's ability to achieve a steady state of mind with respect to how they portray themselves interacting with other people.
Waves, as you may recall, can have positive or destructive interference. They may travel in or out of phase. Crests and troughs are the high and low points and half the distance between them is the amplitude.
These parameters mimic real life. Interactions between people are often in or out of phase. They are getting along great one minute, the next: well, someone drops their end of the slinky. When relationships between people are in phase, life is just hunky-dory. Sometimes you know when you are perfectly in phase with the other person. You can say anything to them and they could not only complete your thought, but also return some quick witty banter right back (that is hopefully relevant to the conversation at hand, and not something like "... well that's what your MOM said!"). Being in sync with another person can be one of the most enjoyable relationships ever for as long as it can remain steady. Sometimes I think that the waves are travelling at ever-so-slightly different speeds though, and the second that this is realized, one person will be grasping for the aspirin, the other for a bottle. Sometimes these little remedies are enough to get the relationship back in check, or the waves back in phase, but other times the waves get farther and farther apart, and people grow tired of trying to find that constant period. It is during these times that when a new wave oscillating at the same frequency as the one that you are becomes especially intriguing; and your wave diverges from your partner's wave even faster. The amplitude of energy associated with this new wave is boosting your very own energy. It is possible, after all, for two waves to be travelling with the same frequency, but having different amplitudes from eachother.
It's not uncommon to hear about relationships that get so far out of phase from another (one person's crest is the other's trough), that they begin to converge to that same sized wavelength they were once on before. Perhaps this time, given that adversity has been overcome, the wavelengths will be shorter such that the frequency will be higher and the energy maintained in the relationship will be proportionately greater.
When two in-phase waves travelling towards eachother create positive interference, an overwhelming generation of emotion occurs. Sometimes this emotion goes over the top when you see your auntie doing cartwheels in the kitchen because she's a little over-excited for your uncle's 60th birthday. But in most occasions, this new amplitude of emotion is just a wonderful feeling and you wish that you could remain in this state with whoever it is forever. Sometimes these waves do hold out, even though they were heading in opposite directions. A standing wave equation could defend this mathematically.
Opposing waves that are out of sync will create destructive interference when they meet. Usually the lack of energy generated in this situations makes the people happy enough to just bypass eachother and not show any more emotion than perhaps a nod of the head, if eye contact is met.
I see myself as a pretty high energy ~ high frequency wave guy in most circumstances. Sure, dips in the curve are inevitable, I know, but I think that with the right person around, these dips become shallower as a result of positive interference. In return, the other person will also benefit from this high frequency (low wavelength) energy. In the end, a positive amplitude will endure through most of the wave's existence, or propogation.
Physics 20 Rocks.
Waves, as you may recall, can have positive or destructive interference. They may travel in or out of phase. Crests and troughs are the high and low points and half the distance between them is the amplitude.
These parameters mimic real life. Interactions between people are often in or out of phase. They are getting along great one minute, the next: well, someone drops their end of the slinky. When relationships between people are in phase, life is just hunky-dory. Sometimes you know when you are perfectly in phase with the other person. You can say anything to them and they could not only complete your thought, but also return some quick witty banter right back (that is hopefully relevant to the conversation at hand, and not something like "... well that's what your MOM said!"). Being in sync with another person can be one of the most enjoyable relationships ever for as long as it can remain steady. Sometimes I think that the waves are travelling at ever-so-slightly different speeds though, and the second that this is realized, one person will be grasping for the aspirin, the other for a bottle. Sometimes these little remedies are enough to get the relationship back in check, or the waves back in phase, but other times the waves get farther and farther apart, and people grow tired of trying to find that constant period. It is during these times that when a new wave oscillating at the same frequency as the one that you are becomes especially intriguing; and your wave diverges from your partner's wave even faster. The amplitude of energy associated with this new wave is boosting your very own energy. It is possible, after all, for two waves to be travelling with the same frequency, but having different amplitudes from eachother.
It's not uncommon to hear about relationships that get so far out of phase from another (one person's crest is the other's trough), that they begin to converge to that same sized wavelength they were once on before. Perhaps this time, given that adversity has been overcome, the wavelengths will be shorter such that the frequency will be higher and the energy maintained in the relationship will be proportionately greater.
When two in-phase waves travelling towards eachother create positive interference, an overwhelming generation of emotion occurs. Sometimes this emotion goes over the top when you see your auntie doing cartwheels in the kitchen because she's a little over-excited for your uncle's 60th birthday. But in most occasions, this new amplitude of emotion is just a wonderful feeling and you wish that you could remain in this state with whoever it is forever. Sometimes these waves do hold out, even though they were heading in opposite directions. A standing wave equation could defend this mathematically.
Opposing waves that are out of sync will create destructive interference when they meet. Usually the lack of energy generated in this situations makes the people happy enough to just bypass eachother and not show any more emotion than perhaps a nod of the head, if eye contact is met.
I see myself as a pretty high energy ~ high frequency wave guy in most circumstances. Sure, dips in the curve are inevitable, I know, but I think that with the right person around, these dips become shallower as a result of positive interference. In return, the other person will also benefit from this high frequency (low wavelength) energy. In the end, a positive amplitude will endure through most of the wave's existence, or propogation.
Physics 20 Rocks.
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