Month: April 2007

Well, another year of constant schooling is done with. That’s 2 out of 4, not too shabby.

Last night’s exam was…interesting. I feel that the professor pulls questions out of thin air which are not based within the textbook or the lectures. So then I have to take wild guesses at the answers. I find her to be very unprofessional – as in she is telling everyone to shut up while the exam is occuring but then is passing out essays (by calling out people’s names). Way to let people concentrate lady!

I am on Day One of Freedom and am pondering what to do with it. It looks like it’s going to be a killer weekend coming so I will have time to finally clean my car after a winter of neglect. I also have to map out what the heck I want to do for summer holidays. I am toying around with the idea of doing some camping in the Adirondacks/Catskill and then heading into New York City to see the sights. But at the same time, I think it would be cool to go down to Gaspé for a bit to hang out with the folks. Haven’t figured out if I will head home for summer this year. There is a wedding I could go to, and there’s also Lumberjack Festival but I really didn’t care for the festival last year so I don’t know if my time could be spent elsewhere. Plans to plan, that’s the rub of it. I have to submit my vacation want list by next week. Yikes!

I am also looking forward to catching up on some reading of things I LIKE, rather than school readings. I am nearly down Stompin’ Tom’s second autobiography and I am starting a book Krista lent me which is called The Rebel Sell which talks about how culture can’t really be jammed because it just envelops the jam itself. For example, when a little revolution comes along (like punks for example), culture just wraps themselves around it and then it becomes a commodity (like how it’s cool to be punk). I am interested to hit upon talks of the alternative scene and how Kurt Cobain couldn’t handle the stress of it all – wanting to be anti-establishment when he eventually became the establishment. He was the figurehead of the alternative scene which is an oxymoron later on as it really wasn’t an alternative scene, it was THE scene of the moment.

Also want to buckle down and get some songwriting done. I have bits and pieces of riffs, lyrics and song ideas floating in my head which I need to solidify into actual songs.

I also want to reconnect with friends – it’s not like I’ve lost touch (well, not in my mind at least) but I don’t get to see people all that much due to school.

All in all, I am looking forward to the next few months before school hits up again and I get sucked into its pit of doom. Until then, p-a-r-t-y time!

To learn an instrument, I think you really need to start young. If you’re forty years old and pick up a guitar, I don’t think you’re gonna be able to play the B.B. King licks. You have to spend more time with that guitar than you do with your wife. That’s why I’m by myself now. I had to come up with a divorce, because my wife would tell me, “You’re putting too much time into the guitar and ain’t givin’ me none.” And I said, “You go, I’m keepin’ my guitar.”

– Buddy Guy – Rolling Stone interview 2005

Well well, looks like I may be buying an all access pass to Bluesfest this year as the lineup is stellar. Let’s take a gander at some of the neat bands coming our way that I’m interested in seeing:

Thursday, July 5 – Bob Dylan, City and Colour
Friday – George Thorogood and the Destroyers, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
Saturday – Nothing really of interest yet.
Sunday – The White Stripes, Hawksley Workman
Monday – Hedley, Jonny Lang
Tuesday – George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars (awww yeah!)
Wednesday – STEVE MILLER BAND!!!
Thursday – Blue Rodeo, Robert Cray Band (of Eric Clapton fame), Xavier Rudd
Friday – INXS, Metric
Saturday – Nothing much of interest.
Sunday, July 15 – Sam Roberts Band, Alexisonfire.

Honestly, you can’t go wrong with a lineup like that. I am actually thinking it’s better for my body to just take the entire week off of work to compensate for the beer drinking that will occur. We all know what happened last year after going for one night…I can only imagine an entire week!

I was talking to Troy last night after commending him on his stellar demos that he and his bass playing buddy Oram (assuming this is a last name…) recorded (which are amazing by the way. Their cover of Living on A Prayer is by far the best cover I’ve ever heard) (way too many parentheses scattered around)(this)(entry).

Anyhow, Troy was talking about how he loves Guitar World – the must have magazine for guitar players.

I’ve given up on magazines for the past few years as I really didn’t feel they had much to offer that I couldn’t get off the Internet. Sure, they are great for reading when you have a moment but if I’m looking for some hardcore information, it’s usually out there somewhere in cyberspace.

However, he piqued my interest when he mentioned how this month’s issue has a great write-up from the engineer of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Well, I can’t really pass this up!

Until I get to the newsstand and I notice the price tag.

$10.

$10?! For a magazine? What the heck? Where I have been all these years? Do people actually pay this much for a magazine? Granted, this magazine had a swell CD along with it, but still!

I checked out the Guitar World website (Troy, this is some good info for you buddy) and they say a subscription is $40. That is awesome, yet utterly ridiculous.

I understand why they do this. Subscriptions are guaranteed sales. Newsstands are not. Numbers are the new king in the world. If I can tell my boss that we have 90 subscribers that guarantee some revenue, but only 50 newsstand issues that may get returned…well, the outlook is still good.

So there is the potential that they will get some unsold copies returned to them at the end of the month. So why not slash the price of the magazine for some guaranteed sales numbers so they look good?

I must admit that as a subscriber, you can’t really complain. If I get this subscription, I’ll be getting 12 mags and 12 CDs for $3.33 an issue as opposed to $10.

But what about the casual readers like me? Doesn’t make much sense to me to go out and pick up an issue for $10. That’s 3 issues in subscription land!

In the end, they achieve the result they wished for. I will go forth and order a subscription in hopes that if it processes fast enough, I will get the Sgt. Pepper’s issue. It’s a different world nowadays. When I was a kid, subscriptions would get processed 2 months later and then you would wonder if you would get the newest issue or the one from two months ago! I had a subscription to a Star Wars mag last year and I was afraid of missing an issue so I bought the 2 issues in the meantime, but they sent them to me! Argh, what a rip. So this time, I’ll go ahead and order the subscription and not bother buying any off the newsstand. Worst case scenario, I’ll just borrow Troy’s issue one day while I’m visiting.

Memory: This brings up a memory of how…I think one of my grandmothers got me a subscription to Spider-Man. Coolness! Until I got them in the mail. Mail is NOT the way to get a comic. Not only was it bent, mutilated, etc., but inside the plastic bag when I opened it, the cover was off! What kind of collectible is this? I had to go out and buy the issues anyhow so I could have one in pristine condition. Not impressed. I can’t remember if I wrote to Marvel Comics or not, but that was ridiculous. So Nanny, if you’re reading this, the gift idea was great, but it really didn’t work out.

iplaying: Everything Back But You (Avril Lavigne – The Best Damn Thing)

I’ve been in super study mode for the past week.

Although it really didn’t work out for me on Monday night. I love my media ethics class. I really do. The professor is top notch also. Best professor I’ve ever had.

He hinted towards what he would be asking on the exam. I knew this and I still couldn’t figure out a way to approach it.

After cramming, I sat myself down and lo and behold, it was what I expected – a single question dealing with what my opinion was and I needed to back up my opinion.

So far in my academic career, I have mastered the art of regurgitation – memorizing facts and spewing them back onto a piece of paper. No worries there. I can tell you what each Supreme Court case dealt with, what the verdict was, and the main issue to learn from it was.

But I haven’t mastered the art of providing my opinion and backing it up. Lord knows I have an opinion on many issues…but I usually just throw out random tidbits to back up my arguments, not some full blown examples from six Supreme Court cases. Gak.

I froze. I felt sick. I think a tear dropped down my face. Alright, it wasn’t that bad. (no really, it was!) I really didn’t know how I was going to approach it. The fact of the matter was, I didn’t know if I did have an opinion anyhow!

Krista mentioned how it’s not about having an opinion – it’s about finding the knowledge to back up either side of the argument. I will know for next time, that’s for sure.

I wish I would have had a week to work on this exam – I could have put a lot more thought into it. But two hours was all that I had and I have a very bad feeling that the two tests that I aced in the class will be relied on heavily to bring my mark up from the bottomless pit which will be my mark on the exam.

I’m always interested in the markings of exams. I’ve had this feeling before back in college (but not this bad) and I think I did really bad on the exam and in the end I come out with a decent mark. How did that happen? Then I wonder if some Professors go easy on the whole group during exam time because they know they under pressure so they are easy on the marks. I need to find the inside scoop.

Anyhow, I have another exam on Thursday and then I’m a free man for 2 months until the school thing starts up again for me. I haven’t been doing too well in this other class so I am cramming hard for the exam. I think I figured out where I went wrong in the last test so I know how to adjust my studying so I feel confident. Also, it’s multiple choice. What’s the beauty of multiple choice? At least you have an answer no matter what. The catch is, you may choose the wrong one. But it’s way better than leaving a blank sheet.

Lot of talk going on today about the deaths at Virginia Tech.

Lot more talk on how safe our environment is. I was just watching a segment on the news where they were looking at U of Ottawa and Carleton U to determine how safe it is.

They spoke about how emergency procedures need to be relayed to students, perhaps in the first day of class. They also spoke of how safe the campus is, with security guards, cameras, etc.

The scary thing about all of this is that we live in a world where it’s just not safe. It’s a very sad, sad thing to say but I think it’s true. I understand the reasons why there is always talk about security measures in place – it alleviates some fears that people have.

But let’s be honest here. This is the reality here – if I’m in a classroom, there’s no emergency plan that is going to prevent a gunman coming into a classroom (unless someone captures him beforehand). This is the same scenario for public spaces of any kinds – shopping malls, hockey arenas, etc. I always have this fear that I’m sitting in the middle of class and someone opens the door and pulls out a gun. I even go out of my way to sit away from the door because I figure that would make me less of a target. It’s sad that I have to actually think about stuff like this when I enter a class at night at the University. But it’s the reality that we live in. Sure, people may think I’m a little paranoid, but heck, I just have an overactive imagination every time I step into class.

My thoughts not only go out to those who were directly affected by these deaths, but also those around the world who are now indirectly affected and wonder about their own safety and the safety of their friends and family.

I’m also making it a point not to read anything about the killer in question. He doesn’t deserve to be read about. I will be reading about the victims though. That’s what people should be reading about if they are interested in what happened. No real need to know what type of gun the person was carrying or how he carried out the killings. Does it really matter?

What’s the old adage? Hell in a hand basket…

update: Here’s a great article written in the Ottawa Sun bringing out the points I agree with.
http://www.ottawasun.ca/Comment/Editorial/2007/04/18/4055820.html

Uh oh.

I like the first Avril album. I actually like the second one better. It was a solid album.

Eric shares my opinion but he had his doubts when he showed me the new single from the album.

Hmm…seems like the new single is tres pop-like and geared towards little girls.

Alright, hold off on picking up the album. No, wait! $9.99 on release day? Hmm…well, I did like her last album and I usually give artists a chance if their last album was decent. Let it be noted that the first to fall from this way of thinking were The Cranberries where their Bury The Hatchet was so horrific that I never picked up their next album. It wasn’t until I was at a garage sale when I picked it up for $5 on a whim and realized it was actually a better album.

Anyhow, for $10, I wasn’t going to pass it up.

But what’s this? The first track is *censored*?! Argh, what have I wasted my money on? This is a teeny girl album to the up most caliber if they have to CENSOR some bad words. Sigh…ah well, you live, you learn. Thank the Lord for the Internet where I can just download the uncensored version.

I’m sure you’ll hear me complain of how bad the album is when I actually get around to listening to it. Hopefully I am wrong and it is some decent work. But Nine Inch Nails is calling my name with their new release today of Year Zero.

iplaying: The Good Soldier – Nine Inch Nails (Year Zero)

Friday night brought me out of my hibernation from exam studying (read: exam procrastination) and brought me to the Theatre Prom! That’s right, let’s flash back a decade to my other prom where my date to be ditched me with a few days to spare. Boo hiss! Ah well, such is life and did it really matter? No, because last Friday night’s prom was THE event to be at!

The prom was mod-themed so I had to scramble on Thursday night to forth and find some mod worthy clothing. I did some extensive research on the Internet (thank you Wikipedia!) as well as go through the thoughts of some friends. I decided to go as the classic mod style – the 60s shirt and tie combo with a touch of pizazzz with my hat from yesteryear.

I stumbled upon an Oxford cut shirt at the Gap of all places which had a picture in their window of exactly what I was looking to become. But when I went in there, they said they did not sell ties! What kind of false advertising is that?! If it’s on a picture in your front window, you should be selling it fools!

Anyhow, the shirt was bought and I scoured the mall but no ties were to be found. I was on the hunt for an obscure tie – a black, skinny one. The next day I found it (along with another snazzy blue one…always needed a blue tie) at The Tie Rack.

Friday night arrives, I dress to the nines and head on out to pick up Vero. Good thing I brought a book as she ended up getting off of work a bit late. No worries though, we’ve got plenty of time to spare! Or do we? Hmm…the fact that they are serving supper starts to concern the both of us as we are heading there 1.5 hours after they opened the doors.

We head to the Capital Music Hall (home of many bands that we’ve seen) and head into this room which is straight out of the television shows/movies which involve proms! They had their light shows going around, they had a dark ambiance, they had tables full of people dressed up in all styles imaginable (I noticed that I could have dressed up psychedelic-like which would have been a good alternative!) but there was no punch bowl to spike. Wha??? What’s going on here?!

We find our friends seated right in front of the stage (natch) and talk for a few moments before heading to the buffet table. Unfortunately, the supper bit the big one as the veggies were still hard. That’s a good indication that if you take a chance on the chicken, you may be dancing the funky chicken later that night. After scarfing it down, they cleared the tables away to make way for the band.

I am pretty excited to have a band at the prom as 90% of the places you go to party nowadays have no live music. It’s a thing of yesteryear. I think live music needs to make a comeback! I’m not talking about the live music that I tend to go to – some good rock concerts here and there. I’m talking about some live music that makes you want to dance! Where there is crowd interaction! Where the room moves with the music! There was this one couple who had some great swing dancing skills where I commented that there really isn’t anywhere to show off these skills in this day in age. Maybe your own living room?

The band looked pretty good upon stepping onto the stage – they had a brass section and all the other goodies which make a good rocking band. They started off the night with Fleetwood Mac’s Go Your Own Way which is now forever stuck in my head to the point where I learned it on guitar last night. They also stated “If you don’t know this song, you don’t deserve to be here!” after every second song as they pulling out the classic rock hits.

Hit after hit kept coming and the crowd was having a great time. Pulling out the dance moves of yesteryear, I was surprised that Vero and I did not have a dance-off again that night (as it is common when there is a giant space to pull out our killer moves.) I am looking forward to beating Vero at the dance-off the next time around as she creamed me at Jason’s wedding last summer. However, my claim to fame is that I did the power slide across the dance floor and ended up burning a hole in my pants. No joke. They melted. It was pure rock running through my blood.

Unfortunately the band was only there for an hour and then a regular DJ came out (who was awesome by the way. He was having the time of his life up on stage.) and we danced the night away. It was bloody humid in that joint and soon the hat, tie and shirt became a disarray (as so often happens when one wears a tie and the beers are flowing) but in the end, the night was a stellar event.

To all of those who knock going to proms after your high school one, don’t! There’s not as much hype towards the event which allows you to have an all-around good time (other than the food. Blech). At least I ended off the night getting a slice from Johnny’s Pizza. That is some good pizza if you’ve never had it. It’s on Laurier. Check it out.

Well, as of 12:49PM today, I have failed the experiment as I had to eat a sandwich. Mmm…sandwiches.

Experiment: Over.
Status: Mmm…I am loving this ham sandwich. It’s delish!