Another Futile Ostentation

Trying out a new blogging app

2011-01-15T17:46:00.001-08:00

I like American pickers more than I should.

Thanks a bunch Mariko and Kat.

2006-05-04T15:46:00.000-07:00

Gah. This is the best I could do.

For Owen

2006-01-05T14:19:00.000-08:00

Thought of you buddy.

Best of 2005

2006-01-03T15:06:00.000-08:00

All and all a great year for music. So much so that I can make a top 50 list! So here it is:

1) Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
2) M.I.A. - Arular
3) The Decemberists - Picaresque
4) Jason Collett - Idols & Exile
5) Sage Francis - A Healthy Distrust
6) The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
7) Lady Soveriegn - Vertically Challenged
8) Wolf Parade - Apologies To The Queen Mary
9) Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
10) Leeroy Stagger
11) The Most Serene Republic
12) Avenged Sevenfold - City of Evil
13) 13 & God - 13 & God
14) Maximo Park - A Certain Trigger
16) LCD Soundsystem - s/t
17) Jamie Lidell - Multiply
18) Deerhoof - The Runners Four
19) Dungen - Ta Det Lungt
20) Clor - Clor
21) Serena Maneesh - s/t
22) Caribou - The Milk Of Human Kindness
23) Dangerdoom - The Mouse And The Mask
24) Various Artists - Run the Road
25) Bun B - Trill
26) Sleater-Kinney - The Woods
27) Death Cab For Cutie - Plans
28) The Go! Team - Thunder, Lightning, Strike
29) The American Analog Set - Set Free
30) Stephen Malkmus - Face The Truth
31) Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock & Roll
32) My Morning Jacket - "Z"
33) Annie - Annimal
34) Alkaline Trio - Crimson
35) Atmosphere - You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having
36) Aesop Rock - Fast Cars, Danger, Fire And Knives
37) Kaiser Chiefs - Employment
38) Iron & Wine - Woman King EP
39) Prefuse 73 - Surrounded by Silence
40) The White Stripes, “Get Behind Me Satan”
41) Animal Collective - Feels
42) Sufjan Stevens - Come on feel the illinoize
43) Clipse - We Got It 4 Cheap Vol. 2
44) sigur ros - takk
45) The Books - "Lost and Safe"
46) Devandra Banhart - Cripple Crow (XL)
47) Odd Nosdam - Burner
48) Slug & Murs Felt 2 - A Tribute To Lisa Bonet
49) Thrice - Vheissu
50) Protest the Hero Kezia

Music I feel I didn't give the Chance it needs:

The Boy Least likely To.. - To yOung to die
Antony & the JOhnsons - I am a bird now
Isolee - We are monster
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Okkeril River - Black Sheep Boy
Spoon - Gimme Fiction
Vashti Bunyan - Lookaftering
Sufjan Stevens - Come on feel the illinoize
Animal Collective - Feels
Sons And Daughters - The Repulsion Box

Movies to come...

Saving Hiphop?

2005-12-30T12:10:00.000-08:00

If you haven't seen the SNL sketch that this Slate article references, I highly suggest you check it out. It's pretty fucking funny. But to suggest, as the Slate article does, that it's the best chance to "save hiphop"is horribly wrong on multiple levels.

1) Does hiphop need saving? Anyone who thinks so is either so close-minded to warrant giving their opinion any importance, or hasn't listened to hiphop since the thugisation of the medium. Sure there's a lot of horrible rap out there, but there's good too, EVEN in the mainstream.

2) Goofy, beatie boys-biting white dudes rapping about silly things ain't gonna save hiphop, unless you think it needs saving from blackness, in which case I'm not sure what I can say to you.

3) The author clearly doesn't know much about hiphop if he thinks that there's little humour in hiphop, including the gangsta stuff. Check Paul Wall and Chamillionaire's mixtape "Get your mind Correct" for a great example.

The only reason the author thinks hiphop needs saving is because the artists he thinks are awesome (or were awesome) aren't being played on the radio like 50.

"The african medallions didn't sell platinum albums/ and that's the reason you think that hiphop died."
- Sage Francis

Porn

2005-11-11T18:33:00.000-08:00

For nerds. Leia put me through puberty. None of these ladies bring back the tingle in my loins, sadly. But it's pretty funny.

For Real.

2005-11-09T17:02:00.000-08:00

Snoop Dogg gets his own line of hot dogs. They are called (I'm totally serious) Snoop Doggs. Is this a sign of the impending apocolypse? I think maybe.

Source: Poplicks.

Western Conference Predictions...ie more procrastination.

2005-10-04T18:12:00.000-07:00

1. Vancouver - It's not just biased. Balanced scoring and few liabilities
2. San Jose - San Jose should do pretty well despite some of-season loses. Young talent.
3. Chicago - Holy wow, his team is looking better. Still missing some pieces, but Khabiboulin will carry them.
4. Edmonton - The addition of Peca and Pronger will make this team much better.
5. Colorado - The loss of some stars will hurt em, but they still have one of the top lines in the league.
6. Calgary - So over-rated. Thier #1 line has Amonte and Langkow on it, and there is little depth behind that. The loss of Conroy and Gelinas will hurt their chemistry and the new rules will prevent them from playing the defensive style of grabbing and such that they love.
7. Anaheim - Could be a good sleeper pick...some good off-season deals, but not enough to make the one of the elite.
8. Nashville - Young talent and some pretty good scoring ability.
9. Detroit - Too old, and the loss of some of their important players wil hurt em. As will goaltending.
10. Minnesota - The trap won't work as well under these new rules I don't think. Gaborik would have to emerge from his slumber for them to do well this year.
11. Columbus - meh.
12. Dallas - No chemistry and not alot new. Other teams in the conference have all improved...they stayed roughly the same.
13. St. Louis - When disaster strikes...you can't eat your way to the cup.
14. Phoenix - Gretzky can't save this hopeless team...
15. Los Angeles - Another season of rebuilding I think. Garon isn't a top-caliber goalie, and their defense doesn't move me.

Van vs Nashville: Vancouver in 5.
San Jose vs Anahiem: San Jose in 7
Chicago vs Calgary: Calgary in 7.
Edmonton vs Colorado: Edmonton in 7.

Vancouver vs Calgary: Vancouver in 6
San Jose vs. Edmonton: Edmonton in 6.

Vancouver vs Edmonton: Vancouver in 5.

and finally:

Vancouver vs Ottawa: Tough call...I'll be optimistic: Vancouver in 6.

It's our year.

Procrastination....errr Hockey Predictions

2005-10-04T15:32:00.001-07:00

1. Ottawa - Great offensive, team...Heatley will return to form.
2. Philadelphia - Assuming Fosrberg stays healthy, they will be a threat.
3. Tampa Bay - Question in goal, but lots of scoring talent.
4. Pittsburgh - Some great aquisitions to back up rookie phenom.
5. Boston - Some off-season loses could hurt them.
6. Toronto - Could go either way, if Lindros and Allison stay healthy....
7. Florida - Great goaltending and a team that's starting to take shape.
8. Montreal - Lots of young talent, and some proven scoring.
9. New Jersey - Brodeur will be hurt by the new rules, and lost defensive power
10. Atlanta - If Kovulchuk doesn't sign, they lose big time.
11. Buffalo - meh.
12. New York Islanders - Yashin is their captain....shudder
13. Washington - Still rebuilding...still, some rookie talent.
14. Carolina - Lass of O'Neill is pretty big.
15. New York Rangers - What needs to be said...barring a miracle Jagr season....

Ottawa vs Montreal: Ottawa in 5.
Philly vs Florida: Philly in 4.
Tampa vs T.O.: Tampa in 7.
Boston vs Pitt: Boston in 7.

Ottawa vs Boston: Ottawa in 6.
Philly vs Tampa: Tampa in 7.

Ottawa vs Tampa: Ottawa in 6.

Procrastination....errr Hockey Predictions

2005-10-04T15:32:00.000-07:00

This weeks Onion.

2005-09-09T11:32:00.000-07:00

Holy fuck it's funny.

In other news. Back at school TAing 6 freakin' tutorials. Not sure how I feel about that.

Sportsday tommorow. Can't wait to balance an egg on a spoon, or chase rubber chickens. Awwwww yeah.

Massive Marvel Movie Deal

2005-09-07T13:07:00.000-07:00

Wow.
Ant-man.

What the fuck is that?

Power Pack?

Gah.

Cloak and Dagger could be cool. Runaway gets her powers from Heroin overdose.....nice and dark.

I know Iron man and Luke Cage are in the works too.

No Alpha Flight????

I'm Baaaaack...

2005-07-15T00:37:00.000-07:00

This thread over at metafilter pissed pe off real good. Traditionally (although I haven't been reading it much as of late) the MF community has tended towards the socially progressive. But this thread is filled with torture apologists and deniers. It's fucking horrible that one of the countries to help create and develop what we call human rights these days is so quick to forgive their military for infractions.

"They'de do it to, us..."

"They might have important onfo that could save lives..."

Fuck all y'all. Forget the epistemic fact that we don't know what information they do or do not have, and forget the fact that simply because an enemy (whe they call evil) does an act you are not given the same moral absolution.

Fag. The state of the world blows.

The Day pf Reckoning is Upon Us

2005-05-04T15:24:00.000-07:00

The chickens have come home to roost (so to speak) and those who we have slaughtered have united against us in rebellion. What will May 5th hold? Clever add campaign? Anti-Animal Cruelty publicity stunt? Just plain old fashioned revolution? We shall soon see...

Even snopes doesn't know...

Apparently He's One of Us

2005-05-03T23:47:00.000-07:00

George W. worships Satan....just like Dio.

Back in School

2005-05-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

Stopped by school with Corinne today to drop off some library books and see if I keep my Office. Oh yeah, and to get my UPass.

Found out that my inter-libary loaned book from UofA is about three months overdue. Haha. But through some miracle noone e-mailed me, and the book was kind of lost in the system so I didn't get fined. YES! Sadly I couldn't renew it though. This means that I need to re-order it from another library because it's kind of essential for my thesis. Oh well.

Upass line-up was surprisingly long for the summer semester, but died off after I got mine. How's that for timing?

Ran into a few people, but its pretty quiet in the department. Apparently Dave is supposed to be back but I haven't heard from him yet. I'm looking forward to it.

Watched Sideways last night. Not as impressed as everyone else was. I liked the kind of bitter sweetness that it had going on, but it was a little pretentious without actually being all that smart. The hype was just too high I suppose. It wasn;t bad, just a little weak. Some of the script was a little poorly written, and the characters were all fairly unlikeable. It also took a long time to get into.

Anyhoo, just killing some time waiting for Corinne to get outta class. Listening to my launch radio station that I've negleted for the past few years... (Dj Shadow - Organ Donor (Extended Mix))

Excelsior.

Post Wedding

2005-05-01T19:36:00.000-07:00

Had a fun time at the wedding. Great food, although I ate way to much steak. Mmmm steak. Coulnd't dance I ate too much. It's fun to play dess-up every once in a while. I felt like James Bond.

Booked out early to catch the Decemberists. They started way early and played a short set. MIssed like 5 songs, catching like 8-9 or so. They did play Mariner's Revenge Song amazingly as an encore, and Colin Meloy came out and played an unplanned encore of Red Right Ankle which was nice.

I've recently picked about half a dozen play copies from my work and will review them all, possibly later tonight. (Mick JOnes, The Bravery, Kaiser Chiefs, QotSA, Rose Chroniclkes and Emmanuele (sp?))

Off to drop off th ecar. Maybe watch Sideways finally tonight.

Excelsior.

Ressurection

2005-04-29T14:13:00.000-07:00

Computer has been down for awhile (and before that my general joie de vivre) and now that both are on the upswing, I'm gonna try again to make a concerted effort to get this blog thing back on the regular. This will be made easier in that I did not get TAship this summer and am working on my thesis in the privacy of my own home all summer. Sparetiem a-plenty.

Wentt to BJ's unofficial all-guy stag last night. Not many people there. We ate meat at Memphis Blues (6 of us made short work of the elvis). Then back to Sinister Sam's place to be depressed by watcing the most horrifying porn out there. It started with some japanese faux-reality gameshow porn called Battle Rape in which two girls battle it out trying to strip each other in a shallow pool of lube. The loser gets raped by 20 guys. Here's hoping it was fake, although I'm pretty sure it was. Seriously fucked up, but also lacking in any kind of pacing/build so we all got bored. On to this video comp of some of the most fucked up torture and piss/shit eating porn out there. Gross. The shit-eating got my gag reflex going. (Learned a new word: Stalloning. It's when you're shitting into a girl's mouth and she gives the log a psuedo-blowjob. shudder.) Then we watched Mad Foxes, a eurotrash flick that's unbelieveably funny and quite disturbing. I have to get me a Stingray like themain character's. Then some Giallo and Zombie flicks beforeheading home. MIssed the last bus before the night buses so I walked a LONG way home.

Current Obsessions: Still loving the Bloc Party. The new Sole album is quite good. Just finished Season 2 of the West Wing. That show is really well put together. The pacing, the intelligence. Just plain awesome. Maybe I'll rent season 3 soon.

Party Review

2005-03-20T22:44:00.000-08:00

- New Toilet! Thanks a million for the new can, Christian, it's awesome. It's been christened too, but I'm not sure by whom...

- Lots of new comers! And they weren't crazy crackhead poets or singing mexicans. Our house was well campaigned....I guess I have to vote for Kevin now....

- Ample beer drinking, but for some reason we didn't crack out the green dye. There were Irish names handed out though...

- Flesh was signed. By me. Woot!

- I liked the Irish Rebel Music I found. A bunch of IRA themed songs...darkly humourous.

- No Hangover, but I had to work early so I was tired as hell. And I missed Chinee Foo. Sad about that.

Partly to pacify my adoring fans...

2005-03-15T22:32:00.000-08:00

recent hiphop mixed CD I've made for a few of my fellow gard students and friends...some old new, some new....a little more poppy and gangsta than I normally go for...but i've been in that mode lately.

1. busdriver – imaginary places
2. t.i. – rubber band man
3. the beatnuts – watch out now
4. non-prophets – that ain't right
5. cannibal ox – straight of the d.i.c.
6. cee-lo ft timbaland – i'll be around
7. missy elliott – hot (ratatat remix)
8. lady sovereign – ch-ching
9. sole – da baddest poet
10. a tribe called quest – check the rhyme
11. sage francis ft. will oldham & saul Williams – sea lion
12. brother ali – bitchslap
13. el-p – deep space 9mm.
14. mr. Lif – phantom
15. icecube – wicked
16. atmosphere – shoes
17. lil' scrappy ft lil' jon – what U gon do
18. eyedea and abilities – kept
19. aesop rock – no regrets

Some Sage Francis

2005-02-21T09:39:00.000-08:00

In honour of my having purchased tickets to next weeks Sage Francis show in Seattle, I figured I would drop some of his lyrics on my poor unsuspecting readers. This was the song that got me interested in him. It's not often that you hear lyrics that are quite so personal from a hiphop artist. Anyways, here goes:

Inherited Scars by Sage Francis

"i want to show you something," she said. as if i had built up
enough trust in her to the point where she could show me the
type of thing that she had first introduced by saying she wanted to
show it instead of just showing it. like "look", and i was like
"i don't feel like looking." like the uninterested type. so i
say, "alright, show that shit." but a little bit more
respect and reservation. it was my sister for christ sake. now
i'm waiting for a follow-up line. there usually always is to
statements like, "i want to show you something." kind of runs in the
same vein as statements like, "you can't tell anyone." and then promises are
made, secrets are kept.

i ain't tell anyone about what i seen or heard that day, and mums the word still.
i'm scared to plant ideas into your head while your rebellious side is fertile.
hurdles are getting knocked down, i'm running a losing race.
your legs aren't the only ones marked up. how many dreams have you chased?
if i could have said this to your face, maybe you wouldn't have to write like i do,
except i use paper instead of my body now, it's something you might want to try too.
from haikus to horror stories, it's something in our blood that we share,
something in our blood that appears on the surface of our skin when we bring it there.
my facial expression said i didn't care.
hate and aggression must've made an impression on the little kid who stared,
sitting on stairs when i would bother to bring my skates.
my feeble attempt at being a strong, big brother, doing father figure 8's.
ripping my cape on the ground that it dragged on.
tripping on fate and hearing the sounds of a sad song.
listen, it's great sharing time now that dad's gone,
but what's with the choice of words? and the body parts that you decided to tag them on?
i'm a bagabond who moved to modern day babylon and then back again,
with minimal contact, you know i can't ask your mom what's happening.
you've got such beautiful gifts, what are you doing ruining the packaging?
how ironic, come to think, i probably put this ink on my back for him.
i want you to laugh and sing more,
you dropped anchor in a place where dreams go to die and you're keeping your ass indoors.
i'm asking for you to stick it out and see things through.
you're asking for me to zip my mouth and keep it just between me and you.
just between me and you, just between me and you, just between me and you.
so that's what i'mma do, just between me and you, and wait for my cue.

chorus:
if i could have been there from the beginning, if i could be there right now,
if i could promise to be there when you need me, would it raise an eyebrow?
how would your body be different if i still dropped by for visits?
is it my place to put a smile on your face?
could i erase your body language telling you it's all been said before?
or change the words you wrote, exchanging your scars for my metaphors?
i'd add them to my collection while smiling.
next time you want to paint with razor blades and need a canvas, use my skin.
if i could have been there from the beginning, if i could be there right now,
if i could promise to be there when you need me, when you need me, when you need me, give me a shout.

hiding your sins well, i see the hell that your limbs speak.
tongue in cheek, lying awake in bed while other kids sleep.
the strength of evil begins to keep your grins weak.
no matter the length of a needle, marking up one's body is so much more than skin deep.
feel the pin prick, the grim reep what they sew and you're trained to say that you're fine.
your thresh hold for pain is greater than mine.
so i'm waiting in the lines that you give me, patiently,
while you get cut in the lines that they make you wait in, ways that they can't see.
if there's a vacancy, as far as room in your life goes,
say it to me. and don't do it with a knife under your clothes.
because the anguish of hidden skin, is letting my ghosts be shown,
plus the language it's written in, hits especially close to home.
i'm most alone when i'm out of touch with the people who feel this type of pain.
you might just aim for a day that it's raining, to strike a vein to take my name in.
changing your uniform and altering your mind set.
has your pointer finger decided if it was a fault of his or mine yet?, i bet.
i know the dialect, it's nowhere i haven't been before,
with skin that's sore. battle scars that rise from our inner war,
are decorative medals of honor that our father decided to pass through inheritance,
and it is repetitive when the kids head in the direction of evidence, proving the pain and hurt is relative.
all this pain and hurt is relative, all this pain and hurt is relative.

The whole Gannon/Guckart Affair

2005-02-20T12:45:00.000-08:00

I'm not really sure what to make of the whole thing. On one hand it's nice to see some hypocritical rightwing conservative get busted for running gay porn and having been a male escort. But on the other hand, it's a little hypocritical of the left bloggosphere to turn that aspect of his life into one big joke. We are talking about the Dem's here, the so-called party of compassion. It's a little bit over-the-top, verging on hypocritical. It's one thing to point out his hypocrisy, it's another to really dwell on it, and focus on his COCK.

Jam Jam Jammy Jam Jam, Jam!

2005-02-15T20:23:00.000-08:00

HAHA been a long, and stressful few weeks. Are things sorted yet? Probably not. That's ok. I'm edgy and antsy right now. I can't locate the cause. Maybe I should have posted this in my LJ, natch. LOLOLOL anyhoo...

Point of order: New Toy. I call him Felix. Iriver calls him the HP120 and he holds 20Gb of musicy goodness. Matches my other new toy the 200GBHdd that I upgraded to last month. Now I NEED MORE MUSIC. Suggestions?

Thesis work slow. Motivation hard to find. So many problems and issues to deal with. GAH! Narrowing topic down. Should probably talk to my supervisor and see what he thinks. Yeah good idea.

Stopped smoking. Probably for the best. (Don't be fooled. I've never been 'a smoker' in the normal sense but I occasionally have one while I drink.) This makes Corinne uncomfortable, and probably doesn't do me any good healthwize. Could also lead me into addiction, which would be bad and expensive. I expect I have the self-control, but that's what they all say, right? (But those darn stupid.ca ads make me want to start HARDCORE! awful. what were they thinking? It's like those anti-drinking ads that make me want to drink so much.....thank god cable is gone. phew.)

Had a sick weekend. Not sick in the teenage "cool" sense of the word, but actually ill. Puked and Shat my living guts out. It was really sucky. Feeling better now, with some left over aches.

Props to Hartell for the tix to the Bloc Party. THey are gonna be huge. Pitchfork and Stylus both gave the wicked reviews, and ineveitably NME will call them something like 'the band so good the universe will come to an end' because they are allabout the hyperbole. They called Dillinger Escape Plan, 'Incontrovertibly, the best band the world has ever seen.' or something like that. HOw do you top yourself when you write a review like that?

Saw Ong Bak. It was awesome. Muay Thai is hardcore. No nonsense. Shis and elbows. Tony Jaa is hard as fuck, despite looking kinda emo. I kept expecting to go all Rocky-Oh and scream BASTARD!!!!!!!!!! all the time.

Excelsior. (spelling?)

Awesome

2005-01-31T09:59:00.000-08:00

Just found this and I must say...easily one of the most fun, yet juvenile things I've come across inawhile. Goodtimes.

Swearing Jesus

Still Puppy Killing.

2005-01-23T16:48:00.000-08:00

1) Just bought Madden 2005 for the DS since I had FS gift certs drilling holes in my pocket. I really suck at it. No I mean it. I suck at it in ways I've never thoughh imaginable. Helps I know nothing about football...but still. I'm ok at executing plays on offense, but I can't make defensive plays to save my life. I imagine that this is probably what the real Seahawks are like anyways I guess. Still, the game is kinda fun, and maybe I'll get the hang of it...I just need to learn how to play.

2) I'm growing soft. I cried watching Eternal Sunshine th eother night. I've seen the movie like 4 times already....what the fuck?! Emo level rising.

3) Corinne is horribly addicted to Mr Driller Spirits. It's kinda funny.

4) Watched the Big One today. Not bad really. Underrated I think. It has some really good moments and I think the problems it deals with are more cause for concern than Farenheit 911 and Bowling. NOt as well made but good.

5) Tried to watch Grind and Extreme Ops these last few days, but the badness prevented me. It was fucking horrible. At least Grind had good clips of boarders, I didn't really catch enough of ex-O to find out...the badness was palpable.

Crap

2005-01-19T01:59:00.000-08:00

It's been sometime since I posted here.

more than a week and a haff by the looks of things.

Well, unlike Paul, I am not dead.

Just lazy.

And my DS has taken a lot of my time.

First Mixed CD of the year.

2005-01-03T01:59:00.000-08:00

Compiled from My favorite songs of the year mixed with some singles that Pitchfork tells me are good, but I haven't checked out. We will see. I'm skeptical given that both Beyonce and Britney were on their best of 2004 singles list.

1) Ratatat - 17 Years
2) Death From Above 1979 - You're a Woman, I'm a Machine
3) Cee-Lo - Childz Play (ft. Ludacris)
4) Goldfraap - Strict Machine (We Are Glitter Mix)
5) McClusky - She Will Only Bring you Happiness
6) Streets - Dry Your Eyes
7) Pheonix - Everything is Everything
8) TI - Rubber Band Man
9) Soulwax - NY EXcuse
10) Snoop Dogg ft Pharrell - Drop It Like It's Hot
11) Mark Mothersbaugh - Ping Island - Lightening Strike Rescue
12) Devandra Banhart - Little Yellow Spiders
13) Kanye West - Jesus Walks*
14) Belle and Sebastien - Wrapped Up in Books
15) M.I.A. - Galang
16) The Walkmen - The Rat
17) Subtle - Stiff Fruit
18) Annie - Heartbeat
19) Sage Francis ft Will Oldham - Sea Lion

*I actually like this song, shut up.

I forgot to include Modest Mouse in there, Animal Collective, TV on The Radio, and Usher, but whatever...maybe my next mix.

Top Ten Lists.

2004-12-31T01:12:00.000-08:00

Top Ten Movies:
1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2. Napolean Dynamite
3. The Uninvited
4. Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
5. Hero
5. Shaun of the Dead
6. Incredibles, The
7. Spider-Man 2
8. Kill Bill: Vol. 2
9. Garden State
10. Before Sunset

Honorable mentions: Fahrenheit 9/11, and Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism

Top Twelve Albums:

1. Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News
2. Sage Francis - A Healthy Distrust
3. TV on the Radio - Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes
4. Death from Above 1979 - You're a Woman, I'm a Machine
5. Rise Against - Siren Songs
6. Devendra Banhart - Rejoicing in the Hands
7. The Walkmen - Bows and Arrows
8. Animal Collective - Sung Tongs
9. Arcade Fire - Funeral
10. Cee-Lo - Cee-Lo Green Is a Soul Machine

Honorable Mentions:

Califone - Heron King Blues
Converge - You Fail Me

Top Five Guys I would Go Gay for:

5. Tie between Pharrel and Usher
4. Scott Peterson (He really is a poor man's Affleck)
3. Matt Skiba from Alkaline Trio
2. Johnny Depp
1. Ben Affleck

Wow. My list of movies has a lot more romantic comedies than normal, and my music has become way more indie rock. I'm getting old and wussy. Need more Metal and Horror.

Top Five Albums of 2003 as rated by me now:

5. Wrens - Meadowlands
4. Decemberists - Her Majesty...
3. Postal Service - Give UP
2 Non-Prophets - Hope
1. Shins - Chutes too Narrow

To Make up for my laziness in posting:...

2004-12-10T23:30:00.000-08:00

I'm gonna post the playlist of my most recent mized CD, with notes that there will be a couple of other ones on the way since I have a couple to make for people...

1)Atom and His Package - Lying To You
2)ONly Crime - Real Enemy
3)The Smiths - What she said
4)Dinosaur Jr. - I'm Insane
5) Dizzee Rascal - Graftin'
6) Modest Mouse - The View
7) Sage Francis - Ground Control
8) The Wrens - This Boy is Exhausted
9) Death From Above 1979 - You're a Woman, I'm a Machine
10) Ornette Coleman - Lonely Woman
11) Leatherface - Watching you Sleep
12) Lawrence Arms - Overheated
13) MIssy Elliot - Hot (Ratatat Remix)
14) Animal Collective - Sweet Road
15) Swinging Utters - Letters to YOurself
16) Black Keys - Set YOu Free
17) Rise Against - Tip The Scales
18) The books - S is for Evrysing
19) Bonnie "Prince" Billy - A Minor PLace
20) Maroons - Lester Hayes
21) Fischerspooner - Emerge (DFA Mix)
22) Loretta Lynn - God Makes No Mistakes.

It's a little crazy all over the place, with little hiphop and a punk leaning. No theme really emerged but some of the titles seem appropriate in retrospect. Haven't listened to yet to see how well paced it is, but it looks ok....

When World's Collide

2004-12-10T18:11:00.000-08:00

Verbose music critic attempts a review of grimy-ass, hardcore, crunk music from the streets and comes across like an ass. Worst review ever. Don't get my wrong Crunkjuice ain't a great album by any stretch, but it's just so strange to see it described like this....

My two cents on the album:

-The Rick Rubin track is wicked; an't go wring with Slayer samples.
-Some of the worst mysogenistic lyrics of all time.
-Icecube has fell the fuck off. What happened man? How can I keep pulling for you at movie nights?
- The Ludacris, Usher shit is...well....shit. gah.

Don't waste your money, dowload the singles, and buy a real hiphop record, rather than just a hyped records by a flash in the pan hot producer. (Don't get me wrong, I like Lil Jon's production, but man he needs to learn a few new tricks...don't pull a Neptunes.)

I'm not sure what to make of this...

2004-12-01T15:54:00.000-08:00

You are Salad Fingers. You are deeply, deeply
disturbed. You love rusty spoons, and
tetanus-induced hallucinations wherein you talk
to your finger-puppets. You are most certainly
NOT suitable for children, and I would
recommend you get serious help. Also, you taste
like sunshine dust.

If you don't get the reference, check yourself out
at http://www.fat-pie.com/salad.htm

What Internet phenomenon are you? -updated-
brought to you by Quizilla

Should I be pissed off? Or happy? Don't get me wrong, I love Salad Fingers, but still....

Finally. Stoked About School Again.

2004-11-29T14:27:00.000-08:00

Looks like I have at least minimal approval with regards to my MA Thesis topic. Lisa suggested I talk to David about it since he's probably better versed in the literature, but if need be, she would supervise it. I'm really excited...let's hope I do this paper justice before starting work on the thesis....I'll keep people posted on the progress of the thesis ideas and research as I imagine that my fan base will be at least moderately interested. (Assuming people actually read my shit). Current proposal involves looking at different solutions to the problem of horror (or tragedy if you want to be technical) hopefully resulting in my developing a vaguely Humean account of the supposed paradoxes that the genre of horror seems to bring with it. I'll keep y'all updated.

And for the record the Sage Francis "A Healthy Distrust" is a great album. Sea Lions is one of my favorite songs. I will post lyrics as soon as I can.

Sage Francis - A Healthy Distrust

2004-11-24T23:57:00.000-08:00

Just to keep the stupid google and yahoo people coming on in. Haha. Suckers, hoping for more info. Take that bitchez.

Wooot!

2004-11-24T20:08:00.000-08:00

New Alkaline Trio album early next year.

INFO: In a recent issue of Alternative Press, Matt Skiba tells us the name of the upcoming Alkaline Trio album will be "Church and Destroy". In terms of album titles that's on par with Good Mourning and From here to Infirmary. Expect a release early next year (source: http://punkmusic.com).

Unmotivated

2004-11-17T16:52:00.000-08:00

I'm finding hard to get motivated to post lately (let alone do anything productive). The internet has become broing and I haven't really found much in the way ofgood links lately. TO keep things going I will post 5 new albums I have been listening to death recently:

1) Sage Francis - "A Healthy Distrust"
Technically this isn't out until February but I found it on soulseek. I'm evil like that. I will however buy this as soon as it comes out. I'm pretty stoked. Probably best album of the year so far (even though it comes out next year, natch.) The song with Wil Oldham is so good. It's god more social commentary than Hope or Personal Journals, but it still retains the personal dramatic persona that Sage Francis puts forth.
2) Wiley - "Treadin' on Thin Ice"
This is what I was hoping for from Dizzee Rascal. I like it alot. Fucked up dancey beats with crazy british rapping. Grimey as all get out, but awesome.
3) De La Soul - "The Grind Date"
Haven't really listened to it too much yet, but I like it alot so far. Tracks with MF Doom, and Flava Flav really can't go wrong. It's a little on the pop production style of things, but still solid. It's being compared to Stakes is HIgh, but its not that good.....maybe it will grow on me.
4) Death From Above 1979 - "You're a Woman, I'm a Machine"
CRazy drummer/bass combo act, that kick it hardcore with lots of energy. Catchy as all hell, with a nice dose of abrasiveness and enough interesting ideas and transitions to keep the listener coming back. Awesome.
5) Ol' Dirty Bastard - Return to the 36 Chambers
Of Course. RIP you crazy fuck.

I know it's all anecdotal....

2004-11-10T13:39:00.000-08:00

But it really does seem to ring true. Even up here there's an air of melancholia amongst the people I meet. Some anger, but mostly a subtle sense of hopelessness. It helps that most of my professors and a few schoolmates are american, but still, I can't help but think that even I'm suffering from PESTS a little myself.

I'm not as bad as I thought I was...

2004-11-08T13:39:00.000-08:00

I'm not nearly as Gay as I thought I was.

Your Ultimate Purity Score Is...
Category	Your Score	Average
Self-Lovin'	43.3% When I think about you - or anyone - I touch myself	65%
Shamelessness	71.4% It takes a couple of drinks	79.3%
Sex Drive	50% A fool for love, but not always	77.7%
Straightness	5.4% Knows the other body type like a map	44.7%
Gayness	98.2% Repressed, are we?	83.7%
Fucking Sick	69.9% Dipped into depravity	90%
You are 54.48% pure Average Score: 72.7%
Take The Ultimate Purity Test and see how you match up!

This pretty much says it all.

2004-11-04T15:14:00.000-08:00

From Beer and Rap: I fucking hate Republicans.

I didn't even try for it.

2004-10-24T21:24:00.000-07:00

You rule. in 15 years, you won't be as known as you
are now, but most of the people that will know
you then will like you (or else I'll beat them
with a stick). You're nice to listen to.

What band from the 80s are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Possibly the coolest band ever.

2004-10-20T13:05:00.000-07:00

Onibaba (Mike Patton, Kid 606, Zach Hella)

I can't find out anything about them besides the fact that they are playing in San Francisco in early November. I love all three artists which make up the band, but can't find anything by them. Arg!

New Mixed CD

2004-10-19T22:16:00.000-07:00

Made a new mixed CD, this time with the attempt to keep it light. However, a little melancholy slipped in. Here it is, if you care.

1) Decemberists - "July, July"
2) The Notwist - "Pick Up The Phone"
3) Latyrx - "Say That"
4) Blackalicious - "Make You Feel That Way"
5) Brian Wilson - "Good Vibrations"
6) Alkaline Trio - "You've Got So Far to Go"
7) Souls of Mischief - "93' til Infinity"
8) Dungen - "Det Du Tanker Idag Are Du Imom"
9) The Rapture - "Sister Savior"
10) The Wrens - "Shot Rock - Splitter to God"
11) Interpol - "Roland"
12) Digable Planets ft. Jeru Da Damaja - "Graffiti"
13) The Shins - "Fighting in a Sack"
14) The Arcade Fire - "Rebellion (lies)"
15) The Streets - "Dry Your Eyes"
16) Bigwig - "Alone in New Jersey"
17) Foreign Exchange - "Brave New World"
18) Modest Mouse - "One Chance"
19) Sage Francis - "Slow Down Ghandi"

Not a bad mix, with some nice consistency, but some kind of repetitive bits sadly. Nice mood, though.

More Weekend Tomfoolery

2004-10-17T23:05:00.000-07:00

After one of the philosophy colloqiums (colloquii?) a bunch of us philsophy grad students went out for a night on the town. We started off at Taf's with free beer and dinner (Beer provided by the Department, woot!) until we decided we needed to go in search of cheaper drinks and more fun. We tried the Railway club, but cover was ten dollars so that was scratched. Instead we hit the Pic since it was no cover and it was within spitting distance. Ten dollar pitchers helped too. Crew involved: Markus, Myrto, Lee-Anna, Jen, Corinne, Angela, Vincent, Tim, and Kevin who came late. Since we each bought a pitcher and some of us bought more than one, you can imagine the drunken zaniness that occurred. I nearly killed Myrto, tried to wreck shit up in the pit but failed. We had the cool bartender who we had last time we were there (you know he's cool when he plays Guns and Wankers....I mean how many people even know about the awesomeness that is G&W???) and it turns out that he's also th elead singer of the Smokes, a band that Zoli used to drum for when he was in town. Small world. Anyways, Jen spent some time on the washroom floor and I threw up on Pender...woot! I woke up with many bruises and soreness that I can't identify the culprits of. All in all a good Friday night.

I like the Notwist. Everyone should get Neon Golden....it's pretty in a kind of Postal Service meets Radiohead kind of way. (Wow...I think I lose hipster cool points for making that comparison.)

Reminding Myself.

2004-10-13T15:57:00.000-07:00

I have a couple of essay ideas, one has thesis potential but I don't really know enough about the issue, the other will ideally be a term paper for the class I'm taking on 17-18th Century theories of emotions.

1) I want to do a paper about Native (and Slavery) Reparation claims. I'm not sure what side to take as of yet but I want to look at the deeper philosophical issues surrounding the issue, such as the governmental identity issues and moral responsibility claims on the government. That is to say, what makes our government the same as the one which caused a lot of the problems, and if it is the same, what kind of issues might arise with regards to moral responsibility. If it isn't the same entity, and we still have the intuition to support these kinds of reparations, what kind of theory of governmental moral responsibility is at work here.

2) I'm hoping Lisa will allow me to write a paper about a Humean account of the entertainment value of horror movies (and literature). There's a problem with a lot of accounts of fear and horror, that seems to make the idea of horror fiction improbable or at least difficult to explain. I think that the humean account of fear, sympathy and the ability of conflivting passions to amplify each other can give an account of the desirablility of horror fiction. We'll see how it goes.

Thanksgiving

2004-10-12T01:12:00.000-07:00

Wow. People who know me know that I am one to rarely (if ever) raise my voice. So it might come as a surprise to learn that I had a heated and angry discussion with my great-aunt (who's like 80 something) at tonight's thanksgiving dinner. The stupid thing was that we arguing about Martha Stewart and whether her sentence was justified or not. I was arguing that I didn't really see what the big deal was, that she committed a crime and that since she was found guilty that I could see nothing wrong with sending her to jail. White collar crimes shouldn't be treadted with lesser sentences simply because an obvious direct victim can't be identified. She seemed to take this as an attck on dear old Martha who she loves greatly. I wasn't attacking Martha, but she seemed to think I was one of those people who hates Martha, and had something against her. She started attributing things to me that I didn't say, and I tried to call her on it, and then she started referring to me as one of "you people" and then disparaging my arguments because I'm "a young pup" or something equally patronizing and antagonistic. So I called her on it, and said I was insulted. She replied in a sarcastic tone something to the effect of "oh no, I've insulted you..." To which I replied that I didn't need to be treated this was and left the room, rather than yell at an 80 year old woman in front of my family. She's since apologized but I'm pretty sure she doesn't see what angered me about the whole deal. I'm not one to take belittling. Especially when I'm expected to be defferent given her age. Apparently my uncle had my back while I was gone, and got quite angry about the whole deal too.

Everyone who likes early 90s hiphop should download (or grab from their CD collection) 93' til Infinity by Souls of Mischief. I just caught the video for the first time in like 3 years and I'm totally feeling it. (I guess I've heard it since then but I haven't really sat down and gave it a good listen in awhile).

Weekend Update

2004-10-10T13:25:00.000-07:00

Went to an afternoon 'punk rock' show at the Commodore on Saturday: Taking Back Sunday, Fallout Boy, and Matchbook Romance. Got free tickets through Epitaph and A&B. I'm not normally one to skip out on bands by getting to the show late, but I was feeling lazy and uninspired Saturday so Corinne and I missed the first band like true scenster elitists. Two things stick out about the crowd of the show as we hit the show: first, easily the whitest show I have ever been to. it was crazy....not even many punks in the crowd. Second, the most girls I have ever seen at a show and that includes Dashboard Confessional.

Fallout Boy kicks started our experience, much to the shrill appreciation of the audience. Cute boys singing cute rocking songs about girls, to mostly girls. They had energy, they had crazy stage moves, and they had hooks. The music was a little boring and their attempts to add a little screamy edge to it seemed a little forced. I enjoyed their show, but it didn't move me.

The crowd was there for Taking back Sunday. The crowd really seemed to have a connection to the band. There was alots of singing and emotional response from their midst. I was pretty sure that a bunch of 14 year olds went through puberty during their set. The band was lit from the back making them hard to see and far less connected themselves. They had just woken up an hour and a half ago so it took them awhile to really get positive and hook up with the crowd. By the end of their set they were really rocking and seemed to have a really good time. The lead singer twirled his mic like few mic-twirlers I have ever seen. They did a single encore in which they played a metal ballad style acoustic track. The show was fun but left me feeling old and cynical. So many clean cut white kids....is this what punk's become?

The Moon and Antarctica

2004-10-07T10:17:00.000-07:00

Here's some funny analysis of the debate in terms of vocal domination. Apparenttly scientific research show that people change their voice to mirror that of the dominant person in dialogue. Apparently if you re-watch the presidential debate you can see Bush losing this battle and sub-consciously mimicking Kerry's mannerisms. Awesome. Also if you scroll down a little there's a wonderful mini-story about Nader and it nicely explains why he's a hypocritical jack-ass. There's also a nice little story about how Mt St Helens ain't shit...Yellowstone is gonna blow the fuck up.

Neverending Math Equation

2004-10-05T23:02:00.000-07:00

Trying to keep up with this stuff can be tough, but I feel obligated. Especially when you're as busy and as brain-frazzled as I am right now. Holy fuck am I tired. Get home from the hospital Sunday.....have a paper due Tuesday, a paper due Thursday, 50 papers to mark for Thursday and a fucking cold. AHHHHHHHHHHH! Anyways. That's my life currently. It's exasperated by the sheer craziness of my last few weeks.

Also. Happy that I have got a couple people at school into some good bands (Myrto into Brother Ali, and Dave into the Postal Service and Shins....possibly Arcade Fire as well, but he may have already have known about them being from the east.) Yay! Fulfilling my narcissistic urge to spread the word of all the cool bands I'm into.

Also, the latest Modest Mouse is fast becoming my favorite album the year. Everytime I go to choose a song to put on a CD, a find a new gem on that puppy.

The Good Times are Killing Me

2004-10-04T22:41:00.000-07:00

I need to slow down my life a bit and concentrate more on school. I'm worn out and can see the horrible spiral of debauchery that I might end up on if I don't. It's been fun, but I'm just wrecked. No more drunken Graeme for awhile.

Music Stuff

2004-09-27T22:14:00.000-07:00

Rather than recount the horribleness that encompassed a bunch of my weekend, I'll talk about some music I just found.

First, I picked up five play-copies from work: Hero (soundtrack), the new DJ Krush, the new Prodigy, the new Datsuns, and the new Har Mar Superstar. The preliminary impressions are as follows:

Hero (s/t): Awesome. Defintely and underlooked aspect to the film. Evryone goes on and on about "TEH COLOURS, THEY"RE SO PRETYY!!!!!!1" but the movie was a complete film. The soundtrack stands alone as a great piece of music. Great drumming, and some amazingly pretty violin pieces.

Dj Krush "Jaku": This is awesome. I wasn't expecting a Dj Krush playcopy to come in. I haven't really listened to him since Meiso, but it's amazing how far he's taking the sound. He really works the atmospherics, focussing less on a hiphop feel, and more on a cinematic vibe. GUests include, Mr Lif (althoug that track is kind of lame) and Aesop Rock (who tears it up over crazy everywhere beats.)

Prodigy "Always Outnumbered, never OUtgunned": I picked this up more for nostalgia's sake. A lot has been said about whether Prodigy, relatively unchanged is relevant now, but that kind of talk is kind of silly. What matters are whether the tunes are good, and this album is a mixed bag. He's done something right in dropping all the tagalongs he's carried through the last few albums, rpelacing them with guest spots by the likes of Twista, Kool Keith, and Juliette Lewis. Other than that the Prodigy game plan remains intact. Similar beats, but now with less irritatting vocals (although there are a few songs with shitty vocals too). The album is pretty mediocre, but has some nice moments, the track girls being a wonderful piece of sketchy electro that ranks up there with Jason Forrest's zaniness, but less manic. The Twista guest spot is good, his quick delivery just cathing up to the insamely fast beat. NOt great, but better than I had expected.

The Datsuns "Outta Sight/Outta Mind": Pretty generic new rock in the vein of Jet and the HIves, but with a more cock-rock vibe. Shades of ACDC and Poison. I'd throw it on at a party maybe, if I were drinking beer from cans, but probably won't see much play in my Discman.

Har Mar Superstar "The Handler": I've only listened to a bit of this, but holy fuck this guy is silly. He's kind of like Jamiroquoi (sp?) but fat and ugly and all his songs seem to be about sex and partying. It's like a really fucked up in-joke given a voice. Kind of like the Electric Six of the R&B set. Some strange shit.

Other cool stuff that PItchfork told me to like and I dutifully accepted (although haven't purchased, just soulsought: the Castanets (like a more Country Bonnie "Prince" Billy meets Debandra Banhart) Dungen (Swedish psychedelic alt-pop), Comets on Fire (Cool, noisy Hendrix-influences zaniness. So loud.), Arcade Fire (MOntreal based indie rock with a immense sound) and the Fiery Furnaces (who I can't possibly describe, but are really awesome.)

New Mixed CD

2004-09-22T01:20:00.000-07:00

Dug out some CDs to make this one, since most of my mixes lately have been pretty much from mp3s that I've had recently. I decided to put some older stuff on this puppy, and I think it should be fun. A little old, a little new....it's kind of like mixing my old mixed tapes with my new mixed CDs.

1) DJ Shadow - What does You Soul Look Like? (Part 3)
2) Postal Service - Brand New Colony
3) Sage Francis - Crack Pipes
4) Gravediggaz - Defective Trip (Trippin')
5) Rise Against - Paper Wings
6) Jawbreaker - Chesterfield King
7) Portishead - Wandering Star
8) Animal Collective - Who Could Win a Rabbit
9) Weakerthans - Uncorrected Proofs
10) Rage Against The Machine - Vietnow
11) Quicksand - Landmine Spring
12) Operation Ivy - Knowledge
13) Neutral Milk Hotel - King of Carrotflowers pt. 1
14) Lyrics Born - Balcony Below ft. Joyo Velarde
15) De La Soul - Eye Know
16) Shins - Pink Bullets
17) Libertines - I Get Along
18) Jane's Addiction - Ain't No Right
19) Alkaline Trio - Fatally Yours
20) Jawbox - Cornflake Girl

Not a lot of umph to the CD...missing some of my harderfaves, as well as a little light on the experimental stuff. Porbably one of my most accesible mixes in awhile. Oh well...I'll give it a test drive tommorow....we'll see if it stands up to some Hume reading.

Cuz I'm too Lazy to e-mail myself this...

2004-09-21T09:30:00.000-07:00

And others might be bored, and interested. List of proggesive bloggers by State.

From: Talking Points Memo

The Wiggins Weekend Update:

2004-09-19T23:20:00.000-07:00

Friday Night:

There was one of the SFU Colloquia (sp?) at 3:30 by a Sexy Finn (Pat, Jen, and Kevin know it's true) who teaches at UVIC. The talk was about a islamic philosopher who wrote in the Aristotelean tradition. It involved the idea that we are all angels and animals and that the good person was one who fought a constant spiritual war within themselves. It was very cool....Ive now decided that I like the whole Islamic aesthetic. Then there was the department wine and cheese, followed by Pat and I getting to sneak into the Dinner with the speaker, on the schools tab (hopefully, we just have to avoid Phil). It was at this restaurent called Monsoon. I think this must have been the 'hippest' place I've ever been. I had Salmon on Curry-imbued mashed potatoes. It was the best mashed potatoes I have ever had, without a doubt. Perfect consistency, an abundance of flavour, etc. I think it was better than the Salmon. There was a duck-crepe appetizer, as well as some crazy veggie thing, and Satay skewers, all very good.

Pat and I then trecked to Irish Heathers (across from the packed Blarney Stone) to meet Jen and Amy. Had a couple of over-priced beers there which Pat covered...I owe him one. Mildly drunk we decided to move on to cheaper beer. (It's always good to start expensive and move cheaper, that way by the time the beer starts tasting no good, you can't tell.) Sadly we decided to go to "Pat's Pub" located a nice 5-6 blocks away and dead in the middle of ground-zero of the lower east-side. (Also, I forgot to mention we met Kevin at the Irish Heathers; he came late.) Friday was the night of record rainfall. We got soaked. And Pat's Pub was closed....what kind of Eastside Pub is closed ona Friday night???! Onwards to the Lamplighter, depsite Amy and Pat's protestations to go to the Balmoral.

The Lamplighter had cover and the beer has been raised in price since the new management took over. Fuck. Amy left us, and the rest of us drank for awhile, but slowly. Jen and I had a puddle fight and hung out with the freaky bouncer and the night came to a close.

Saturday:
Switching to note form, since I'm getting tired of writing...

- Went to Mike's to help paint his place. Colours: Tomohawk and Golden Horn!? Looked good when we left. Tried Red Stripe Beer, and import from Jamaica....I give it a 7.5/10.

- Helped prepare for Corinne's Dad's 'surprise' party. Yummy hors d'oevres. I love Bagels with Cream cheese and Lox.

- Drank heavily with a bunch of middle-aged men and women. Free beer though, which almost made up for the fact that it was Bud.

- Met this crazy old guy named Ronnie, who used the expressions 'assholes' 'cocksuckers' and 'motherfuckers' more than anyone I have ever met, while drinking straight vodka out of a 7-11 travel mug. We got along smokingly despite my liberalism. He's pretty socially conservative, but that made him even funnier....Corinne convinced him that the Pot Laws have racist beginnings. Long talks about Da Kine, Canadian regions, and school followed.

- Learned the wonders of mutually drunken text-messaging. Works especially well if you are both in the sticks.

That about sums it up.

Random Thoughts and Happenings

2004-09-15T22:29:00.000-07:00

Apparently last night at around 11pm, the landlord stopped by to finish some work on the suite upstairs before the new tenants move in. She opened the door to a large cloud of gas. She called the gas company who promptly turned of the gas. It's kind of scary how close we came to a horrible flaming death (or at least how close most of our stuff came to such a death). Anyways, this explanined why it was so fricken cold in our house last night. Today she came by, and had a gas-dude re-light all of our gas-powered stuff. Also, the plumber came by and 'fixed' the toilet. By 'fixed' in this case I mean 'got to stop leaking' but it still seems kind of screwed and sings at a very high-pitch. Apparently the clogging of the basin will require a large invasive team of plumbers to fix. This will occur on Monday and apparenttly be quite smelly.

Spent most of today reading Hume's Treatise on Human Nature and some Carnap. It's kind of a handy coincidence that the two classes I am taking are tangentally related in a kind of useful way....it's really apprarent on returning to Hume, how the modern Empiricists have really taken on his project....

Downloaded a nifty mix CD by DJ Green Lantern and the Beastie Boys called "New York State of Mind." It's amix of old and new B-boys stuff with different beats on some songs, and different rappers over B-boy beats on others....I've listened to it a couple of times and it's lots of fun.

I'm having a kind of low-energy, ind of melancholic day right now, and I'm not really sure what the culprit is....

The Onion Finds Truth

2004-09-13T15:16:00.000-07:00

"Bush Campaign More Thought Out Than Iraq War
WASHINGTON, DC—Military and political strategists agreed Monday that President Bush's re-election campaign has been executed with greater precision than the war in Iraq. "Judging from the initial misrepresentation of intelligence data and the ongoing crisis in Najaf, I assumed the president didn't know his ass from his elbow," said Col. Dale Henderson, a military advisor during the Reagan Administration. "But on the campaign trail, he's proven himself a master of long-term planning and unflinching determination. How else can you explain his strength in the polls given this economy?" Henderson said he regrets having characterized Bush's handling of the war as "incompetent," now that he knows the president's mind was simply otherwise occupied."

I would credit them closer, but this particular doesn't have a link, and it's on th ever-changing front page.

Notes from the Weekend

2004-09-12T21:35:00.000-07:00

Friday:

- Gave TA talk, and it seemed to go over fairly well. Apparently what I had to say was more useful than everything else given during the TA Day stuff.

- Listened to the various SFU profs talk about their research. I was pleasently surprised by Oliver's speech, and profoundly uninterested in Martin and Ray's. But that's no knock against them, I'm just elitist like that.

- Phil Grad student social went over really well. Lots of free beer (I managed to wrangle an above average amount which is cool with me.) Got to know a bunch of the new people. When the beer and food ran out, a lot of went to the pub to find out that there was a TA social there and we could buy 2$ beers.

- The pub: I had a blast. This was the best turnout of phil TAs for the TA social that they've had in years, and I'd like to take some of the credit for that, as wesll as credit for getting people cheaper beer than they would have otherwise have had. I got really wrecked for roughly 6 dollars since people kept randomly buying pitchers and refilling my cup. I'm cool with that. I also was awarded for my crazy screaming abilities with a BudLight and T-shirt by some random "Bud Light Girls." Many good conversations, and some throat singing. What can't be made into a pie? (And it's cheese pie not cheesecake, apparantly) I managed to convince at least one person to come to our party on Saturday, which given my level of drunkenness was greatly impressive. I think I'm supposed to make some mixed CDs for people but my recollections are dim. Bused home with Pat and Kier. Kier's all smiley when he's drunk which makes him fun to be around. Invited whole grad student list to party when I got home (I have no idea how I wrote anything remotely coherent in my state at the time.) I probably shouldn't have, or at least I should have mentioned that it wasn't really a 'philosophy party' but in the end no one was sadly surprised I don't think.

Saturday:

- Corinne got sick, so I let her sleep all day and cleaned the house in one heroic effort. I somehow managed to fit in watching the Canada/Czech game which was lots of fun. The overtime goal by LeCavalier was a goal that made me jump from my seat. I hope they play better on Tuesday, a game I won't be able to watch. =(

- Tree Brewing Co's Pale Ale is awful. Tastes like poo. Luckily there was lots in our liquer cabinet. Thanks to BJ for the Southern Comfort ("It smells like Candy!"), Doug for the Okanagan, Mike for the blender drink, Paul for the 1% Milk, and Jen for the Captain and Coke. I probably sholdn't have mixed so heavily, what with the Kahlua and Milk in there, but I ended up OK.

- I'm happy we had so many new faces this time around. Thanks to Doug, Drako, Andrew, Dave, Bonus Dave (or Bones), Sarah, Geoff (man you're tall) for all making the trip. NOne of you will read this, but hey....good job. TO all the regulars , thanks to....it was a good time. I liked the way people showed up at crazy times, just when I was expecting that people wouldn't show up. Again, thanks to Christian for making the crazy trip up....what? Our place isn't good enough for you anymore?! =p I really regret not having witnessed the drinking of the premade Banana/Sambuca shot.

- Lots of funny random encounters. We had the stoned and lost pizza guy (and believe me we almost took advantage of him (no homo)). There was Marty who heard us partying from the street and decided we would be fun to hang around. Karen chased him away by teasing him for being so drunk. We had Jim, who was only there because Raylene said she'd be there and didn't show. I'm sure I've met him before but we couldn't place it. Good guy though. No naked neighbours or BDSM next door, but lots of random cats decided they wanted to join us in our revelry.

- Party went really late....Bones, Jen, Trevor, Kat and I talked until real late. I think I hit bed at 6am, when the crows started making noise and dawn was quickly approaching. By then it was just Jen and I, and the Australian dude partying with us vicariously through the wonderful world of text messaging. Bones, Jen and I made a 4AM treck to buy Coke (for mixer), Buggles (only good when drunk) and Smartfood because Jen (as Graeme from Vermont) needs all the help she can get.

- All in all, I think it was pretty successful, and to think we are having another in two weeks or so. Woot!!!! Although I'm starting to feel like a binge drinker.

Which Deadly Viper Assassin Are You?

2004-09-11T11:53:00.000-07:00

O-Ren Ishii (Cottonmouth)

You're O-Ren Ishii! Twisted and homicidal, you respect most people, but let them know not to mess with you. You have a talent for sensing danger, and keep only the most loyal and skilled people around you.

Kill Bill: Which Deadly Viper Assassin Are You? (Vol. II spoilers... results with pics)

News flash!

2004-09-09T21:49:00.000-07:00

Da Kine is right this minute being raided by the RCMP. As my bus drove by on the way back from my night class, there was a huge swell of people and some big lights. On closer inspection there was a paddywagon, and police lines blocking people from entering the establishment. It looked pretty crazy. Of course, this was exacerbated by the fact that there was some huge filming going on pretty much right across the street with more big lights and trailers and stuff. Excitement on the drive this evening.

HAHAHAHA

2004-09-09T17:01:00.000-07:00

No beer and no TV make Bush something, something.

While perhaps a little extreme, this is pretty funny, and telling ina strange kind of way....if only this kind of crazy speculation was allowed by the mainstream media...it would be quite a sight to see the official denials that would be required.

Carter makes up for his boring DNC speech

2004-09-08T10:46:00.002-07:00

With a polite but to-the-point letter to Zell Miller about his participation in the GOP Convention. Very well done. (From Talking POints Memo)

Advice Kerry (and Democrats in General) Should Heed

2004-09-07T13:32:00.000-07:00

This link is just about a perfect description of what I think the Democrats need to do in order to put Kerry in the office. They don't seem to get that the GOP is willing to play fast and loose with facts, and spin things in really nasty ways. You can't counter that kind of campaign with complex economic arguments, most voters don't have the kind of experise required to interpret that kind of thing (Middle America doesn't really have the book smarts for it.) YOu really need to take the things that the BUsh campaign is working on showing and making it as clear as day that they are flawed, or at least unworkeable. And, sadly, you need to focus on National Defense and the War on Terror, since for some incredibly strange reason Americans have put that as their priority. (I think there's something to it, but I also think that the economy and such should probably be more important.)

Time Killer

2004-09-01T01:45:00.000-07:00

My life:
name: Graeme
gender: Male
birthday: February 2nd
relationship status: Married
occupation: GradStudent/TA/RecordStoreStockPerson

What is your favorite?
gum: Cinnamon/Light Blue Excel
restaurant: Memphis Blues
drink: Coffee
season: Late spring/Early Summer
type of weather: Sunny, no clouds
emotion: uhm…happiness?
thing to do on a half day: Catch a flick with friends
sport: Play: Basketball Watch: Hockey
city: Vancouver/Cambridge/Stockholm
store: Zulu records (locally) Powell's Books (Oregon)

When was the last time you:
cried: Beats me. Possibly while drunk?
played a sport: Does Sports Day count?
laughed: At the ninja scene in Last Samurai last night.
hugged someone: Almost a week ago
kissed someone: Almost a week ago
felt depressed: Last night, when I relaized how little I had accomplished that day compared to how much I wanted to.
felt overworked: A few weeks ago.
faked sick: Probably for work last semester some time.
lied: Not sure. (Although its tempting to answer along the lines of "My whole life is a lie" just for fun.)

What was the last:
word you said: Thanks (To the cute girl who served me coffee today)
thing you ate: Pizza
song you listened to: "Quicksand" by Dinosaur Jr.
thing you drank: Coffee
place you went to: Continental Coffee
movie you saw: The Last Samurai
movie you rented: I don't rent (unless you count from BJ and Mariko)

Who was the last person you:
hugged: My Corinne
cried over: I have no idea. What's it mean to cry "over someone?"
kissed: Corinne
danced with: My Cat (I'm not kidding)
shared a secret with: I don't have too many secrets. Probably Corinne.
had a sleepover with: Aidan, after a night of crazy drinking and ugly strippers.
called: Owen, to see if he wanted to go to Hero
went to a movie with: Aidan and Katie to see Hero
saw: Scott (on Commercial while I was out buying coffee.)
were angry with: The person who threatened violence in my house at one of our more recent parties.
couldn't take your eyes off: I won't say.
obsessed over: I'm not really the obsessive type.

Have you ever:
danced in the rain: Yes
kissed someone: Yes
done drugs: I don't trust people who haven't =)
drank alcohol: d'uh/
slept around: No
partied 'til the sun came up: A bunch.
had a movie marathon: Yup, and hopefully more will come.
gone too far on a dare: Not that I know of. What's too far?
spun until you were immensely dizzy: Everyone was a kid.
taken a survey quite like this before: A few.

Play:
i'm feeling: lethargic
i'm listening to: MP3s. Currently: The Unicorns "Sea Ghost"
i'm doing: Getting ready to go out and watch the World Cup Hockey Game with Pat
i'm talking to: Myself?
i'm craving: Contact.
i'm thinking of: Poker
i'm hating: My ability to procrastinate things

Love:
love is: a fun drug.
my first love: Karen, maybe Lindy
my current love life: Is fine thank you very much.
love or lust: Both?
best love song: Magnetic Fields "Pretty Girls"
is it possible to be in love w/ more than one person at the same time: Yes. Those who deny this are fooling themselves and tend to be way too possessive for their own good. when love hurts, i: Listen to music, loudly
is there such thing as love @ first sight?: I'd have to do some neurological research.

Opposite sex:
turn ons: Flirtatious, roundish face, spunk, eyes, sense of humour. Intelligence is over-rated.
turn offs: BO.
do your parent's opinion on your gf/bf matter to you?: Not really, no.
what kinda hairstyle are you into?: Depends. Pixie cuts are cute on girls.
what is the sweetest thing a girl/guy can do for you?: Buy me a Champion Sweater and a rose?
where do you go to meet new people?: School, work, through friends
are you the type of person to HOLLa and ask for numbers?: Sure. I'm not sure what Holla means though.

Picky picky:
dog or cat: Cat. Dogs are good, but not as good.
sunshine or rain: Sunshine since it provides me energy.
hugs or kisses: Kisses
summer or winter: Summer.
emails or written letters: Written letters.
playstation or nintendo: Both have their uses.
car or motorcycle: Car, but I could try the motorcycle option.
house party or club: House party (but nights on the town are fun too)
sing or dance: Dance?.
freak or slow dance: Freak? (Slow dancing makes me uncomfortable, damn my maleness)

Lately:
how are you today?: I'm ok. I have things weighing on my mind, but the day has gone well otherwise.
what pants are you wearing right now?: I'm not. (Ha, bet you all love that mental image!)
what shirt are you wearing right now? I'm not!
what does your hair look like at the moment?: Like it normally does?
what song are you listening to right now?: Urge Overkill – "Drop Out"
how is the weather right now? Dark.
who was last person i talked to on the phone?: Corinne calling from Pheonix
last dream i can remember?: I don't remember most of my dreams
who am i talking to right now: No one
what time is it?: 1:45 AM

More about you!
if you were a crayon, what color would you be?: Cyan
have you ever almost died?: Probably, while driving.

Catch Up

2004-08-30T00:30:00.000-07:00

Been awhile so this will take awhile.

First: In the span of two days, I've had two particularly moving artistic experiences. We previewed the new Bjork album at work on Saturday and I must say that it is downright amazing. She's put together an album that literally sent shivers down my spine. And that's in a crowded store. THis album will be god-like on headphones. The diversity of voices and vocal techniques. YOu could listen to it a hundred times and still take something new from it. Only weakness is that it's only 45 minutes long or so.

The second artistic experience is that of watching Hero. Easily one of the prettiest movies I have ever seen. Sure lot of the imagery is heavy handed an dfairly contrived, but that doesn't make it look any worse. My only issue is with the 'moral' of the tale which seems to suggest apologia for tyrannical givernment and expansionism, which given recent world history is a little unsettling. But, maybe I'm reading too much into it.

Went for a crazy night on the town (the 'town' being New Westminster) on Friday. It was awesome. Aidan got so fucked it. Some a pretty poor-ass excuse for a stripper at Muggs and Juggs befor ehitting cheesy bar Charlie's. It was fun. Thanks to Travis and Aidan for a good time out.

PLayed poker with Kevin, Scott, Bob and Dave on Thursday. Lost 7 dollars, but I think it was money well spent. Kevin ended up raking the big cash, while bob and Scott left about even. Dave and I took the brunt. That's what I get for drinking.

Picked up 6 play copies at work: New Mobb Deep, Young Buck, Tegan and Sarah, Jean Grae, Dillinger Escape Plan, and Haven St. Once I've listened to them I'll post mini-reviews.

I also just boughtthe Sonic Youth DVD (it was less than 10 bucks for all of their major label videos!). I'll review that soon too.

I miss you Corinne.

Wisdom from the Big Aristotle

2004-08-18T14:26:00.000-07:00

"I'm like toilet paper, toothpaste and certain amenities -- I'm proven to be good."
- Shaq

From a pretty good sports column, located here

I found it after reading this amusing sports/pop-culture related e-mail exchange which includes a very funny debate about Reality Bites vs. Singles.

Good Show Coming Up.

2004-08-17T00:10:00.000-07:00

Animal Collective and BLack Dice at Mesa Luna on the 23rd. Crazy neo-freak-folk and avant-noise. Should be a good show that hopefully I can convine at least some of you to come out to.

Poster Here.

Description here.

Animal Collective are really strange and cool. Experimental folky sounds with weird animal noises and I think they perform in costumes but I don't know for sure. Black Dice play extended avant-guard sounds that take up where late 70's NY post-punk left off.

Heh.

2004-08-11T01:20:00.000-07:00

You gotta admit. It's a good point.

EDIT: Fucking blogger doesn't like it. When I cut it out and look at it, it works fine. But blogger adds something to the url (like a blogger pre-face) that messes everything up.

Here's the link to vopy and paste:

http://dongresin.katgyrl.com/archives/001250.html

Fuck You Lucas.

2004-08-10T16:43:00.000-07:00

From IMDB news:

"George Lucas, a longtime foe of "colorized" movies, has sharply criticized Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment's decision to release two Three Stooges DVDs today (Tuesday) that will allow viewers to watch them in either their original black-and-white or digitally colored versions. In an interview with the Associated Press, Lucas said, that the Stooges' slapstick comedy belongs in a black-and-white universe. "Would color distract from their comedy and make it not as funny anymore?" Lucas said. "Maybe just the fact that they're in black and white makes it funny, because their humor is dated. But by putting it in black and white, it puts it in a context where you can appreciate it for what it was. But you try to make it in full living color and try to compare it to a Jim Carrey movie, then it's hard for young people to understand. ... It's not fair to the artist."

Says the man who made Greedo shoot first, added a computer animated Jabba, and seriously considered letting two members of 'Nsync be in the new movies. George you aren't allowed to comment on 'ruining movies.' You've seriously compromised the original trilogy and now you are proceeding to fuck them in the ass with these horrible prequels. Gaaah! The mere image of Haydn Christensen (sp?) makes me vomit with anger.

I forgot.

2004-08-10T00:06:00.000-07:00

Dillinger Escape Plan - Miss Machine
Crazy Spazzy-Chaos-Jazz-Metal-Core with a healthy dose of Mike Patton influence. According to NME they are "incontrovertibly the best band the world has ever seen." How's that for hyperbole?

Just to get inspired to start writing more regularly...

2004-08-09T01:23:00.000-07:00

A quick list of the best albums of this year, so far:

Eyedea & Abilities - E&A
One of the best Mcs out there, with one of the most skilled DJs. Awesome.

Cee-Lo Green is The Soul Machine
A little poppy (but in the Outkast kind of way) but hey I also like a few Usher songs and that Kelis 'Milkshake' track.

Madvillain - Madvillainy
The name says it all. Madness. Crazy lyrical delivery with the best beat maker out there. Nice and textured.

Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News
His voice has got much easier to listen to. The Tom Waits imitations are in full effect, but the lyrics are fun, and the songs well-crafted.

cLOUDDEAD - Ten
Spoken word, ambient noise, mixed with a pop kind of sensibility. Go figure.

Sonic Youth - Sonic Nurse
They take otherwise discordant and intersting sounds and make them seem less discordant and almost pop like.

Animal Collective - Sung Tongs
I can't describe, but very cool.

Devendra Banhart - Rejoicing in the Hands
Hippy music by a singer who sounds like he's gonna break.

Jason Forrest - The Unrelenting Songs of the 1979 Post Disco Crash
It sounds like a trainwreck of glitch, house,prog, funk and zaniness.

Air - Talkie Walkie
French ambient pop goodness.

The Walkmen - Bows and Arrows
Brit pop to drink yourself to death by.

Best Movies so far:

Eternal Sunshine on the Spotless Mind. (Pretty)
Napolean Dynanite. (Funny)
Zatoichi. (Wicked.)
Kill Bill 2. (Closure.)
Garden State. (Strange.)
Spiderman 2. (Kick-Ass)
The Corporation. (Take that Paul!)
Outfoxed. (Bill O'Reilly sucks.)

Also, for the record my "mexican death rattle" comment had absolutely nothing to do with my being drunk. The only context I have ever heard the words 'death' and 'rattle' conjoined is when the word 'mexican' was prefixed in front of it. I'm not sure why my ignorance is found to be so amusing, but hey get your laughs in while you can...it's not often that I am wrong.

It's the opposite of our Cat!

2004-07-23T20:54:00.000-07:00

Just because it's small doesn't mean it's all that cute.

Shows.

2004-07-19T11:21:00.000-07:00

I'll probably post this on the Last Time too, but I figured my puppy needs a walking.

Wed, July 21st The Killas (formerly the GIJoe Killas) a hiphop group from back east who dress up like Cobra Commander, Destro and the Baroness and all their songs are about killing GiJoes and other dastardly Cobra plots....my personal favorite being "Eau de Cobra."

Marine Club, I'm still not sure at what time, but I imagine 8-9 for th eopeners.
Its only 5$ and $4 if you wear a piece of Camo.

And just to keep getting those awesome "Raking Bombs" google hits, I know they are having a show on the 30th at Mike's Tavern. They put on a great show, If you don't check em out sometime before they go on tour, you'll regret it.

Back in the Game.

2004-07-07T12:21:00.000-07:00

I've lapsed, and my puppy is almost dead. Sorry about that, I've been in a mental rut the last few days, unable to bring myself to find anything intelligent to post. Hopefully, I'm out of it, but I guess my loyal fans will be the judges of that.

I will now compile some short thoughts on a variety of topics:

Euro 2004: So Greece won. I went and watched the game with the Rantoul at the Dover Arms. The first half was boring but it picked up nicely in the end. It was good to see the Portugese in my neighbourhood still went out and partied, pretty much blocking off the street. That's sportsmanship for you. It was a good touney, despite the fact that virtually none of my predictions went through, and none of the teams I wanted to win won. Guess that goes to show my lack of football knowledge. I'll have to bone up before the World Cup 2006.

Spiderman 2: Better than the first one. It was just a little better acted and scripted. The plot was stronger with more nice references to possibilities for future movies. The special effects were better; the subway scene was just awesome. All in all, pretty much one of the best comic movies put to film.

Changing Lanes: Ignore the fact that I'm pretty gay for Affleck, this flick is pretty good. You get really uncomfortable expecting these two moderately likeable (or at least multi-dimensional) characters ruin each other's lives. It can get quite hard to watch for that discomfort alone. It's shot well, and is nicely acted. What I really like is the underlying themes that it deals with. The struggle between Chaos and Order, and how "doing the right thing" is never a straightforward choice, and doesn't necessarily lead to the best consequences.

Construction: They are doing massive renos to the suite above ours keeping me awake, pretty much all morning. Mother fuckers atraighening out their property. How dare they?

Music: Been listening to the new Sonic Youth a bit lately, as well as the New Beastie Boys. Yay, for the new Indie/Alternative revival! Both CD's are good. I haven't listened to Sonic Youth pretty much since Dirty, so I wasn't really to sure how good it was going to be, but it's definetly good. Longish, distorted pop gems that recall Daydream Nation in their intensity if not in their sonics. The new Beasties is a return to straight-forward hiphop. Less experimentation, which I like because my favorite Beasties tracks are those which are more traditional hiphop focussed. Also, The Shins album is fast becoming the soundtrack to my summer. It's so damned good.

Nightmarket: Hung out with Mike, Angela, Chris, and Janet last Friday. Ate all kinds of crazy Chinese foods and picked up some cheap CDRs and a Usb Cable. It was fun to hangout with Angela and Janet as they are both so different from people I normally hangout with. But in a good way.

Go Libby, Go Libby Go.

2004-06-28T17:08:00.000-07:00

'nuff said.

My Bachelor Week (or how I need to Update more so I don' need to make really long posts)

2004-06-20T21:55:00.000-07:00

Wednesday:

Spent the whole fucking day marking papers. It was fucking brutal. The whole day. Non-stop. 15 Hours.

Thursday

Improved a few tutorials which was fun, and since I had spent so much time makring I had very little in the way prepared for a presentation that I had to give. It was alright though; things went fairly good all things considered.

That night I went o Gareth's house and we watched True Romance and drank beer. Hadn't really intented on drinking as much as I did, but in the end I got well wasted. I think I had about 7-8. I really enjoyed True Romance. It's been along time since I last saw it, but I had forgotten some the wickedness in it. Gary Oldman's full on Wigger-pimp character. The ultimate climax at the end with lots of gun play, feather, coke and Elvis. Good times.

Friday

I wandered around downtown and people watched for most of the day. Ostensibly, I was looking for a fancy basketball, but I had no luck on Friday.

Went to the Raking Bombs/Needs New Body/Hella show with Zoli. Awesome. I ran into lots of people I haven't seen in a very long time. I ran into Greg from the Red Light Sting, and Chris who I went to elementary school with. It was crazy. When did he get into good music? From him I learned that my first girlfriend is married with twins on the way. (Married to the school fuck-up, no less. OK that's harsh, but at one time he was kinda like that). That kind of disturbed me. The Raking Bombs were awesome. IT's nice finally having a friends band that is really good , and that I would definately go see again even if I didn't know them. Also Dave and Tommy are some the nicest guys I know. Props to you guys. Anyone sees their name on a poster, go to that show...it'll be a short set but yo won't regret it. Needs New Body were the weirdest group of people. There were two percussionists, a bassist, two keyboardists, and a front person who looked vaguely Amish and sometimes played the banjo. (Also, I ran into him before the show started in the washroom. He got into one of the stalls while I was washing my hands, and he kept making disparaging remarks about how gross the state of the can was, and that he was gonna have to squatt over the bowl...it was pretty funny.) They pplayed crazy music that I can't even begin to describe and their stage presence was one of the most intense things I have ever seen. Hella were very very good, suprisingly living up to both the opening bands and the hype that I had put on them. That drummer is so amazing, but the guitarist can't be overlooked. Truly intense, instrumental chaotic goodness. Best show I've seen in like a couple years at least, possibly ever. (Zoli and I split like 4 pitchers, do I have a problem?)

Saturday

Bought my basketball, and played a little by myself. (Christian, if you comment on this, I will be sorely dissappointed, it's too easy.)

In the evening Scott came over and we went to an indie HipHop show at the pic. Ran into an old highschool friend Liz, and ex-girlfriend, Lindy. Apparently she too has a kid. This has been a profoundly disturbing weekend in that sense. Luckily the alcohol numbs the pain a little. Opening act was a band from the Netherlands, In Depth (or something like that). They weren't originally on the bill but since the real opening acts couldn't get across the border, they came by and played. (I'm not sure how that works, seeings how they are from the fucking Netherlands.) They were ok, but the singer was quite drunk (This will be a theme.) Nothing special, but they put in a good effort. The second band are a bunch of locals calle dthe Sunday School Drop Outs. They were a lot of fun, and rocked theplace well. (Their 'dj' was a cd player but whatever, you gotta do what you gotta do, apparently their actual DJ couldn't make it, so they persevered.) They had good mic skills and did a song about Commercial Drive which gets mad-props. The Third act was a lot of fun too. Cee and Dj MOves, known together as the Drunken Arseholes, put on a crazy show that lived up to their name. Cee is hard to describe. He's crazy drunk, carrying a pitcher of 'magic juice' and has one of the most original flows I've heard in sometime. Awol ONe was the headliner, and despite the fact that crowd was fairly disappointing, he put on a good show too. His DJ threw on some Usher and Kelis instrumentals for humour value that he freestyled over for awhile which was very funny. He did a little Blister in the Sun cover. Good times. Finally the show ended with a whole bunch of the previous bands coming up and freestyling over what appeared to be an usher remix beat. It went on for awhile, and they traded mics and did a whole lot of beatboxing.....a nice ending. Good show, I'll have to go to more hiphop shows there in the future. Good times, and thanks to the promoter who seemed like a pretty good guy that has a love for the music.

Sunday:

Today I watched Master and Commander and Battle Royale II. I will give my reviews tommorow.

I'm So Happy I Found This

2004-06-15T10:54:00.000-07:00

This used to be my favorite comic strip. It used to be published in Terminal City, a local Vancouver periodical. Good absurdist fun.

Update

2004-06-13T22:04:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay, but I've been out of sorts...I mean out of the country.

Saw Garden State and enjoyed quite a bit. I was a little disappointed with the ending. THe flick started off really strong, and I felt myself really getting into it. It looked like it was on the verge of something really special, but then seemed to drop the ball at the end. Not only was the final scene really cheesy, but even one of th emore climactic scenes of him dealing with his paternal issues kind of fell flat. It wasn't motivated nearly enough, and it really didn't resonate withme like the rest of the flick. But all in all it was good. Some awesome sight gags (spoiled nicely by the trailer of course), nice directing, good dialogue and acting. It really developed a mood well. Also, Natalie Portman is hot.

NBA Finals are going supremely well. Detroit has the lock. Ya, 'sheed rocks, I've always said.

When did KRS-1 get so fucking awesomely crazy?

There's a hiphop show on Saturday that I would like to go to with AWOL ONE and DJ Moves. It's at the Pic Pub and it's only like 10 bux, so drop me a line if you'd like to go, as currently I have no one to go with.

Mmmmmm Coldstone. Thanks Christian, for having us...I always love visiting, and it's good to see you again.

For the record...

2004-06-07T21:34:00.000-07:00

I called it in April.

Being perhaps the only Canadian cheering for Tampa, I was quite happy with the final game. It was looking like the game was going to boring, with Tampa really just dominating Calgary from the get go. But the Flames gave it the ol' college try and kept it interesting in the end. I felt that this was the first game in which Tampa's game really came out. They played the puck well, got it out of their zone fast to prevent the viscious Calgary forecheck, and kept the Flames on their heels. Inevitably Calgary fans are going to dispute some of the calls in the game. But for every weak Calgary call there was an equally weak Tampa one. (For example the lone Calgary goal was scored on was an atrocious call.)

The playoffs were fun, but I wish we had had Bertuzzi, then it may have been us up there against the Bolts, and I think that series would have been more fun to watch.

Happy Birthday Corinne

2004-06-07T00:46:00.000-07:00

Feel Free to leave your birthday wishes for Corinne here.

I'm not sure what this means but whatever...

2004-06-07T00:12:00.000-07:00

You are a Theory Slut. The true elite of the
postmodernists, you collect avant-garde
Indonesian hiphop compilations and eat journal
articles for breakfast. You positively live
for theory. It really doesn't matter what
kind, as long as the words are big and the
paragraph breaks few and far between.

What kind of postmodernist are you!?
brought to you by Quizilla

Good Hockey and Bad Movies

2004-06-05T22:45:00.000-07:00

Just watched the sixth game of the Stanley Cup Finals....awesome. The result I wanted, despite not always being th eprettiest of games. Khabibulin (sp?) played outstandingly, as did Richards.... Lots of clutch and grab, but the refs were pretty fairminded. I always noticed when calls were missed against Calgary, but since I was watching with Calgary fans they noticed when calls were missed against Tampa. It all evened out. Don Cherry was awesome...patriotic in a good way, and he made some pretty perceptive on-ice observations that really made sense. I hope it's not his last show.

(i just learned about some strange Calgary win-ritual in which girls show their breasts. I almost want them ton win just for that. I'm all about the public nudity.)

I'm currently watching "Feardotcom" at the in-laws. Man this movie sucks. As I am sitting here the cheesy love interest builds from nothing. The movie was bad before it, but it's like a fucking downward spiral of suck. Bad acting, bad scares, bad effects, lame attempts at mood lighting......guh. It's like a really bad pop-industrial (ie: Econoline Crush, Stabbing Westward, etc...) video with a bunch of bad acting and lots of expository dialogue. The only good thing is that I am watching it on a pretty nice TV with a few free beers in me. AHHHHHH TEH SUCK.

Everyone should listen to devandra Banhart's latest album. It's fucking magical.

Finale

2004-05-25T10:59:00.000-07:00

My last Playoff predictions:

The Lightning will beat the Flames in 6 games. My predictions against the Flames are bound to be right sooner or later. Tampa has got speed and depth, and I think they are ready now, after their first gruelling experience in the playoffs so far. The Flames are no longer the underdogs to the same extent, and Tampa will be taking them very seriously.

Death By Stereo Review

2004-05-16T22:40:00.000-07:00

I went to the first punk rock show I've been to in some time on Friday. Death by Stereo, Bigwig, Belvedere, Tsunami Bomb, and Misconduct all played. I had a really good time. The rundown:

Preshow: The show was supposed to start at 9pm and I hadn't prepurchased my tickets, so I decided to get there early. I left my house at about 7:50, and got to the Purple Onion at about 8:20. Doors were locked. Noone around that seemed at all involved with the show. I decided to have a couple beer at the good ol' Lamplighter to fuel myself for the show. So I'm sitting there looking out the window, on my second beer when the guys at the table next to me ask if I could take their picture. They are all from various countries visiting (mostly Brasil). It takes like 15 minutes toget all the pictures from all the cameras, so afterwards they buy me a yet another drink. I down it quickly and head, allready slightly buzzed to the PO. I get there at the same time as these four American guys (from Burlington, home of a Krispy Kreme). Door's still locked, so we chat for awhile, and when we finally get inside I score another free beer. Woot. I buy one more for myself before Misconduct start. I was nicely wrecked.

Misconduct: They played fast tempo, 80's hardcore influenced punk rock with that Swedish accent on the singer which reminds me of Millencolin. The songs were pretty cheesy, all about 'Unity' and 'Brotherhood' and 'you.' But there was high-energy, and they played a Minor Threat cover ('Filler') and a Pennywise cover ('Bro Hymn') which brought the drowd around nicely. I was quite drunk by that time, so actually slammed a bit, and joined the 'circle pit' on more than one occasion. All in all, so far so good. Jym arrived soon afterwards (Haha, you missed Misconduct!) and bought me a beer (God bless him.) Saw Andrea again, and she seems to be walking pretty good, which is nice to see.

Tsunami Bomb: All the Americans I met seemed to think that the lead singer was really freakin' hot. She was kind cute I guess, but more in that 'I'd like to hang out with you' kind of way. They put on a good set that didn't blow my mind, but was pretty catchy and dsiplayed her vocal talent.

Belvedere: played for too long. I'm not sure why, but I really don't like them. Oh well. It would have made more sense to make them the opening band (seeings how they are from Alberta) and let Misconduct play that slot. The crowd dug em though, I'll give em that much.

Bigwig: Jym and I went up front and hurt aging selves to much entertainment. Bigwig were awesome, if a little uncharismatic. Their performance, while technically brilliant was a little 'dialed in' seeming. But It was a good time. The groupies making out next to me in a feeble attempt to fuck the band was a little irritating though. They played all the songs I wanted them to.

Death By Stereo: Against my better judgment I stayed up front with Jym, and had a really good time. Death By Stereo put their all into their shows and the crowd gave it back in spades. It was wild. The singer seemed to be having a great time, and really bonded with the crowd. He seemed amazed at the energy. There must be a reason they keep coming back. They didn't play any of the songs I knew, but I still had a good time. And woke up with multiple bruises.

5 Things Graeme Likes Right Now

2004-05-11T16:09:00.000-07:00

5)Summer. The weather is just perfect right now.
4)David Cross Comedy Album: "Shut Up You Fucking Baby!"
3)Busdriver - Temporarily Forever.
2)Law and Order: Criminal Intent. Vinnie D'onofrio makes up for the shows lameness.
1)Pink Grapefruit Juice

Will This Fuck Everything Up Too?

2004-05-10T22:20:00.000-07:00

I've become obsessed lately with all the stuff coming from the record label Anticon. The label is ostensibly a hiphop label but is pretty far removed from any of the hiphop that most people know of. Mixes of folk, experimental electronics, poetry, and ambient noise all thrown into a wonderful stew. Often labelled pretntious by those who just don't really get it, it really seems to me like the future of music. No concern for style or genre boundaries, using hiphip as the primary base for musical experimentation. Label link here, and nifty video clips here. A interesting anticon lyrics site.

Exegetical Ontologies of Fury

2004-05-08T16:48:00.000-07:00

Went to Zulu yesterday to pick up some tickets for the Decemberists show later this month. Should be fun, and it was Corinne's B'day present. Anyways, picked up a couple of used CDs: Break the Silence - "Near Life Experiences" and a highly hated (I think unjustly) CD: Len "You Can't Stop the Bum Rush." Both are very good, and seeings how I got the Len CD for $2.99, how can I go wrong?

"YOu Can't Stop the Bum Rush" has a light, poppy sound, but switches styles so often it's like a nicely diverse mixed tape. It's got Rawk (Cheekyburger, Feelin' Alright with CC Deville from Poison on Guitar - How Rawk is that!?) Old School HipHop (Crytic Souls Crew (with Moka Only, Mr Dibbs, Buck 65 on the cuts), Beautiful Day with Biz Markie, Hot Rod Monster Jam with Kurtis Blow), and all sorts of dance-y other stuff (including much overplayed but still fun Steal my Sunshine). The CD is a nice summer listen and woud work well on Road Trips or at BBQ parties. So stop the hate.

Tampa beat Philly today. I hope they win, despite the fact that I chose against them in my predictions, which is beginning to look like a bad idea. They just pay attention to the details so well. We will see, I guess.

Games night last night was lots of fun, thanks to all who showed up. Had a really good game of RoboRally, and a sad showing in the Cranium game. We answered lots of the questions and stuff right, but couldn't roll worth shit. Oh well. We will have our revenge.

It Doesn't Look Like an Ice-Scupture.....Or Does It?

2004-05-05T21:08:00.000-07:00

Wow. It's been some time since I last posted. I got caught up in writing a paper for a class I took last semester. It really kicked the crap out of me. I spent multiple nights and full days working on it, and I'm not really satisfied with it. But alas, the semester's over. I get to relax a little this summer, as I am only TAing and not taking any courses. (although I might pseudo-take A grad seminar). I plan on writing a couple of papers of my own, one about Pico Della Mirandola, a fairly obscure early modern italian philosopher, in hopes of submitting it at the end of the month to a conference in Washington. The other is for a conference in Victoria about Aristotle.

Play-Off Update

Well, three out of four ain't half bad. I haven't checked to see how well the monkey did last round, but I imagine that I probably beat him. That being said, let's see how next round goes.

Calgary vs. San Jose: I keep betting against Calgary and they keep proving me wrong. They got a lot of heart, but I think San Jose does too. I think I will keep my bets against them. San Jose in 7.

Tampa vs. Philly: This is a tough call. Philly has had a lot of emotional games. They've played hard and really had to bettle. Tampa has kind of cruised, They've played well, but their opponents haven't really put up too much of a fight. I would like to see Tampa win here, but I'm gonna say that Philly will take it in 6.

Just watched the DVD that comes with the Rock Against Bush CD, and I must say it's quite fascinating. Especially the stuff about how Bush managaed to win the election. Micheal Moore dealt with that in Stupid White Men, but this shows that it was even more complex and dastardly.

Interesting links: Nail Gun Accident. Rate my Corpse.

Bored.

2004-04-26T14:14:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in the Philosophy grad student computer room waiting for PDF's to fucking print out. They are all full images rather than text, and since the laser printer only has 1MB of space it takes like 20 minutes per doc. I'm gonna go fucking crazy.

Mixed CD's

2004-04-22T00:19:00.000-07:00

I'm having the biggest urge to make a mixed CD but I have no reason to. If any one wants one, I will then have a reason. Lemme know.

Finally

2004-04-21T17:34:00.000-07:00

I figured out what my Final Paper will be about: Friendship and the various moral complications that arise from it.

Just picked up three CD's: Alkaline Trio/One Man Army Split, "Rock Against Bush" comp, and a comp entitled "It Came from the Garage." Mini Reviews follow:

One Man Army/Alkaline Trio Split:

I bought this entirely for the Alkaline Trio side, which isn't to say I dislike One Man Army, but rather that they don't really move me. Each band does six songs. I've given it about three or so listens and I'm fairly happy with it. It hasn't moved me the way most Alkaline stuff has, but it's pretty good. Again, songs about death and lost realtionships with Goth touches delivered in a pop-punk vein. The last Alkaline song is a cover of the Damned song "Wait for The Blackout" which I used to like as a kid. Alkaline popify it a bit, but it's pretty good. "If you Had a Bad Time" is a mostly acoustic number sung by Dan, that's probably the highlight of the disc for me, none of the the first four really stick in my head yet. Not a bad buy, but hopefully it will grow on me.

Rock Against Bush

The insert says it best: "The bands on this comp have come together for one reason, and that's to express our outrage at-and form a unified front against- the dangerous, destructive, and deadly policies of George W. Bush and his administration." It's got tons of good bands (NOFX, Rise Against, Strike Anywhere, Pennywise, Ministry (?), and more.) It's got lots of ranting in the linear notes (Fat Mike's rant is nice and simple, but effective.) It also comes with a bonus DVD with three documentaries about the evils of the Bush administration and a bunch of the anti-bush ads put out by moveon.org. Songs are pretty good, the Alkaline Trio being better than all the songs on the new split. The Rise Against track is good, and you can't go wrong with Jello Biafra. This gets my support even if it had Sum41, the Offspring, and the Ataris on it. (Actually the Ataris do a faithful Bad Religion cover that's good).

It came from the Garage

This is a strange Sony comp that has all kinds of supposed Garage Rock, ranging from Bob Dylan (Subterranean Homesick Blues) to the New York Dolls (Trash) to Donovan (Hurdy Gurdy Man) to the Raveonettes (Heartbreak Stroll). I've listened to the first disk so far, and it's been lots of fun. Nice and diverse, with only a few weak points. There are some definately odd choices on the CD (namely the Monkees, Tracy Ullman, and Paul Revere and the Raiders) but it hits more than it misses. It'll make a good CD to road trip ith, or play at a party.

The Second Round

2004-04-21T13:35:00.000-07:00

A Moment of Silence for our fallen comerades.....

...that should about do it.

Well, I'm batting just above .500. I correctly predicted Toronto, Detroit, Tampa, Montreal, and San Jose. I had picked Dallas, but I forgot how Colorado turns it back on in the playoffs. I picked Vancouver, because I thought we had it, but i don't want to talk about it. I also picked the Devils as a bit of a dark horse. Anyway, Semifinal predictions, as follows:

(4) Toronto vs. (3) Philadelphia

Should be a good match-up but I think Phillie's size will make all the difference. Toronto are wounded and old. Much has been made of Belfour's performance, but I think he's not as good as he seems. Philly in 5

(7) Montreal vs. (1) Tampa Bay

I hope for Montreal, but I feel that they just aren't capable of taking the Lightening. The Lightning have the speed, grit, goaltending, and plus more firepower. Heart will carry a team, but only so far. Tampa in 6

(6) Calgary vs. (1) Detroit

Calgary are in a severe state of disrepair, and are up against the best and most experienced team in the league. Like I said before, heart can only take them so far. Detroit in 5.

(2) San Jose vs. (4) Colorado

I'm gonna go out on a limb here. This will be my dark horse. I think San JOse can beat Colorado. The pressure is back on the Avs, and I think Nabokov can show why he's one of the best (ok, so he probably ain't, but whatever...) San Jose in 7.

There's my predictions. Early guess for the Cup would be the Lightning.

Playoff Update:

2004-04-19T14:09:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened since I first posted. The Isles, Devils, Preds, Stars, and Blues have all been eliminated. In terms of my predictions, I'm running roughly 60/40. I predicted the Wings, Lightning and Sharks to win, but my dark horse picks have not been working out. Should be interesting.

Tonight, game 7 Nucks vs. Calgary.

We're winning the battle of attrition. They are missing like half a dozen players (including most of their big guys) and they aren't really all that deep to begin with. Hopefully with a few more new bodies they will lose some chemistry, and the fight will leave them. It's hard to say. The Canucks need to stay focussed. They can't break down like game six. Auld has to be better, as does our defense. Offensively, we've been doing the right things. Hopefully we'll stay disciplined, and draw some penalties. I'm stoked. Gonna watch it with Owen and Garath at Garath's. (As a side note, can you imagine how much better this series would be if we had Bertuzzi?)

Playofs, Day ?

2004-04-12T12:43:00.000-07:00

Habs vs. Bruins

Game three was good. Kovalev has finally shown why they traded for him. Good goaltending, and a much better effort all around. Hopefully Begin isn't out for too long.

Nashville vs. Detroit

Finally the speed is working. They played a pretty solid game. Detroit outshot them by a large margin, but iif the first period is any indication, they were mostly lame point shots with no traffic. Like Vokoun is gonna miss those. (Speaking of which, he played a great game!)

Nucks vs. Flames

Hard checking game. We lost Cloutier and May, but Hedberg stepped in and played solidly. Ohlund really got under Iginla's skin, and man is Iginla a really cheap fighter! Cooke playeda great game, scored the gamewinner, and dished out a bunch of good hits. I thought Rutuu was in good form as well. I worry about the lack of production from the Sedins and Sanderson. They just don't created enough space. I think Hedberg will create a little more for them.

I'll be out of commission for a few days, writing essays and grading papers....

Playoffs Day 2:

2004-04-09T00:11:00.000-07:00

Sharks vs. St. Louis

Didn't watch it, but this looking like the physical battele that was expected. Suprisingly it also looked like a pretty good goaltending dual, with Nabokov finally defeating Osgood, 10 minutes into overtime (Shock of shocks, Osgood gave up the only goal!)

Toronto vs. Ottawa

Looked like quit ethe blow out really. Toronto really didn't show to play. Lokked like Lalime was a little off, but it didn't matter. Ottawa really set the tone. It early to tell, but it looks pretty good for Ottawa.

Philly vs. Devils:

Another battle, with Esche finally showing signs of what makes him a contending starter. Brodeur looked kind of week, but also had little help. Close game, but it'll take a few more to see if the monkey is really off Philly's back.

Tampa Bay vs The Isles

As one sided as it should be. THis really isn't a shock.

Didn't watch any of these games, but whatever. (I was to busy reading the worst papers EVAR!)

Just a Little Something Neat I just found:

2004-04-08T14:17:00.000-07:00

Indeed. How many times can a man be robbed -- on the same street, by the same people -- before they call him a man? Bob Dylan said something much like that in a tattered old song called "Blowin' In The Wind." Read it and weep, you poor bastards -- because Dylan was yesterday, and George Bush is now.

That is a morbid observation, at best, and we are all stuck with it. The 2004 presidential election will be a matter of life or death for the whole nation. We are sick today, and we will be even sicker tomorrow if this wretched half-bright swine of a president gets re-elected in November. Take my word for it. Mahalo.

Playoff Action Day 1:

2004-04-08T13:52:00.000-07:00

I doubt I will keep up this pace, but hey, we'll see.

Bruins vs. Habs:

So the Bruins pretty much destroyed the Habs, shutting em out and beating them up. Raycroft looked amazing in net, but Montreal never really got a good forcheck going, and also seemed to go offside more than usual. They just didn't seem to be playing like a team, but rather (to continue the cliche) like a bunch of individuals. I also felt really uncomfortable watching Kovalev, who looked amaturish and just plain awful. To his credit, he did have a few bad bounces. In order to beat the Bruins, they are going to have to control the puck a bit better and do some hitting of their own. I knew this series was gonna be tough, but I have a feeling they can adjust.

Avs vs. Stars:

Wow, just when you think they are gonna suck, they turn it on. To be honest some of the Avs goals were a little weak, and Turco kept Dallas in it. Watching the opening period (sporadically, clicking between the Habs/Bruins game and reading papers, but I was watching) I felt the Stars played fairly well, but had a few bad bounces. This series is far from over.

Preds vs. Wings:

This series will be more fun than expected, with Nashville really carrying much of the play until the end. Sadly the Wings are able to capitalize on any breakdowns, which Nashville occasionally suffer from. Legace played outstanding, as did Vokoun. Nashville played a good game, and as long as they avoid getting demoralized by this loss, they should be alright.

Canucks vs. Flames:

I dound the game hard to watch, what with so many penalties being called. I guess it worked in Vancouver's favour, but so many lame calls, and special teams. I felt that the Canucks played fairly well, but could have played a whole lot better. Rucinsky has a good game, and we had a nice balenced attack. Some more hard hitting to ware hem out would be good. Cloutier looked sharp, as did Kiprosoff (sp?) but the Flames' defense was a little weak. Lots of strange bounces in the game, and very little flow. It was nice to see the Canucks prevent the Flames from getting a single shot on a 68 second two-man advantage.

My Three Stars:

1) Morrison (What a nice goal!)
2) Ohlund (Kept Iginla pretty quiet until the end there)
3) Rucinsky (Spent some time in front of the net, and just seemed like a threat)

Western Conference Predictions

2004-04-06T16:16:00.000-07:00

Well, since my last post was soooooo popular (One comment! Woot!) I will continue on in this vein.

The standings are as follow:

1 DETROIT
2 SAN JOSE
3 VANCOUVER
4 COLORADO
5 DALLAS
6 CALGARY
7 ST LOUIS
8 NASHVILLE

Leading to these first-round matchups:

Colorado vs. Dallas:

Prediction: Dallas in 7. Dallas is on a role, while Colorado are mired in suckage. Moral is low (I might venture to suggest that this is due to the manipulative purposes the organization has had in parading Moore around and the general lack of integrity that the most recent press conference seemed to display.) Kariya is looking like he's out for awhile, and the team really seems fragile. Dallas is getting wicked goaltending; it's also getting some healthy players back with will only make them stronger. I expect it will be a toughly contested battle with the winner ultimately being quite damaged for the second round.

Vancouver vs. Calgary:

Prediction: Vancouver in 6. Despite a strong finish, I don't think that they have deep enough roster. They're getting good goaltending, but defense is a little weak. Calgary are running on heart, but I think they have reached the end of the line. As the fifth planeteer knew only too well, Heart will only get you so far. When faced with a stingy defense and consistent forecheck (top 3 lines, woot!) they will falter. The only question mark is Cloutier. He's healthy heading into the play-offs for once, and he's got Hedberg who only seems to work in the back-up role. Can he pull it off? This will be his test.

San Jose vs. St Louis

Prediction: San Jose in 5. This was a tough decision, as I think it could go either way. I feel that St. Louis is missing some key players on defense, and that Osgood ain't so good. San Jose is a grittier team with balanced scoring, and has really rolled into the playoffs. St. Louis is just above .500 (Going 9-7-4 since the coaching change. They split the series with San Jose winning the last 2 games. This will be a good battle to watch, methinks.

Detroit vs. Nashville
Prediction: Nashville in 4….just kidding. Detroit in 6. It's possible that Nashville will be this year's Anaheim, but I doubt it. They play well against Detroit and I really hope that they can pull it off, but I just don't see the depth required. They do have a hot goaltender (who I think is very difficult to watch, somewhat like Hedberg) and some gamebreaking players, but ultimately I think that Detroit will pull it off.

So there you go, my picks. I hope I do better than the TSN Monkey.

Also, you should all check out the band TV on the Radio, and the movie "Eternal Sunshine on the Spotless Mind."

Eastern Conference Predictions

2004-04-04T20:51:00.000-07:00

Fuck. I had a huge post just fuxxored by Avant crashing. That will teach me to not use Word and copy it into the Blogger page. Oh Well. I'm feeling bored, I can start again.

Anyhoo. Play-offs are upon us, and I figure I should give my predictions for the first round. Eastern Conference today, Western tommorow.

The Standings ended as following:

1 TAMPA BAY
2 BOSTON
3 PHILADELPHIA
4 TORONTO
5 OTTAWA
6 NEW JERSEY
7 MONTREAL
8 NY ISLANDERS

Toronto vs. Ottawa

Prediction: Toronto in 7. Toronto has owned the Sens this year, and are on a bit of a role as of late. They beat Ottawa 6-0 in their last meeting and should win a toughly contested battle. Despite missing gritty forwards Nolan and Tucker, they have the scoring power and Veteran leadership that should put them over. I like Ottawa, and would rather them win. They have a nice speedy team, with some added size, but I think they lack the determination to pull it off in what's going to be an emotional series. Look for Toronto to limp into the second round, with their aged roster and a hard-edged Ottawa that should punish them.

Philadelphia vs. New Jersey

Prediction: New Jersey in 5. I expect that Brodeur will steal the show, per usual. Philly has stumbled quite a bit as of late, and is getting sub-par goal-tending. I also think that they probably haven't gotten the Jersey monkey off their back, despite having a winning record against them this season; the playoffs are a whole different ballgame (oh wait, this hockey, should I say puck-game?)

Boston vs. Montreal

Prediction: Montreal in 7. I know that Montreal has stumbled a bit, only .500 in their last 10 games. But they usually put up a good fight in the playoffs, and have split the season meetings with Boston (ok, they had an overtime loss more). I think that Theodore will shine, and that Kovalev will finally find his feet. This team has some depth, and is a lot of fun to watch. I think maybe this prediction is a little wishful thinking, but it's not outside the realm of possibility.

Tampa Bay vs. New York
Prediction: Tampa Bay in 4. I just don’t see New York as having what it takes. Goaltending is an issue, as is depth and character. Will Yashin pull his weight? Will Peca be the team leader that he should be? They have a great defense, but I just don't see it. Khabibulin will turn it on, and I think the Lightning are all on the same page. They've bought into the system, and should win easily.

And there you have it. My predictions.

Feeding the Puppy

2004-04-02T11:40:00.000-08:00

Movies:

Borrowing the VCD of Ju-On: The Grudge from one of my students. Apparently it is scarier than Tale of Two Sisters, a claim I find hard to believe as ToTS scared the living crap out of me. He also lent me the sequel on a DVD rip. If Corinne's 'rents' DVD player plays it, it might make for a good scary evening. I'll let y'all know.

Been watching "The Awful Truth" on DVD lately, and it's been pretty funny. Sometimes a little slow, but always thought provoking. I like when he makes the bigwigs uncomfortable, but less so when its some secretary. The best so far is the Bus full of gay men and lesbians and makes pretty much the south uncomfortable. Good times. I've decided that if I ever get the chance to see him speak, I won't as he makes me uncomfortable. I think it's cuz he mugs so much. It's almost like watching an embarassing uncle.

Sports:

Real big game tonight. We've faced pretty weak competition on our latest winning streak. Do we have enought momentum to take on the surging Sharks? It's hard to say, but I think that having their back-up goalie to face will make things easier. I'm not sure if May will play but that would also be a welcome edition. I'm assuming he would play in place of King or Rutuu, possibly Keane. I won't get the chance to watch it but I may get the chance to listen to some of it on the way home.

Music:

Listening to the Non-Prophets' Hope LP on the way in to school from Pitt today. It's been about a month since I last listened to it, and I must say, it really does stay fresh. Very good stuff.

Taking the Puppy For Yet Another Walk

2004-03-29T20:35:00.000-08:00

Wow. I was just going to comment about the Canucks/Pheonix game as I listen to it and was going to comment on how hard it seemed for the Canucks to score, but in the moment I logged into blogger, the 'nucks scored twice (in a span of 27 seconds!). Wow, way to ruin my post. I can only hope that the Avalanche lose, as it seems to be pretty much the case that we are going to win this game.

Steve Moore spoke to the media today, for the first time since the 'tuzzi incident. He was pretty political, avoiding any antagonism towards Bertuzzi, and pretty much not saying anything particularly interesting. Blah, blah, blah, he's getting lots of letters, blah, blah, can't remember much, blah, it was scary...etc... Really, it probably wasn't worth a press conference. He mentioned that he was unsure if he will be able to play again, but my guess is that this maybe to early to tell, and could just be a bit of a sympathy plea.

I need to find someone who's willing to go to the pub with me to watch the PPV games, as I couldn't think of anyone to call, and ended up staying at home and listen to it on the radio. Any takers? I guess it's a little late for this season as there are no more PPV games that I know of. Playoffs, anyone?

Fucking computer fucking crashed Diablo yet again. Gawdammit.

Been listening to a post-hardcore band called Christiansen. They sound kind of like Quicksand mixed with Faith No More. The Lyrics are interesting and the grooves good, with some nice drumming. I'll defintely give it some more listening.

Oh wait.

2004-03-24T12:24:00.000-08:00

I guess it didn't. Hah.

Fuck.

2004-03-24T12:23:00.000-08:00

Blogger ate my Really long post. Double fuck.