Dance Party in the Balkans!

Alriiiiiighty! So, today was the first concert of the Fall season for me. It was especially awesome because the ticket was a gift from my awesome friend Pamela .

I've only known of Beirut for a few months...but they're like pure awesomeness in a can. We got to Sala Rossa at about 7:45 pm and waited for about 30 mins until they let us in. We were one of the first few people to be let in...and as such we got places right up in front of stage...which rocks considering it was a sold out show.

At this point, one of the openings acts was playing. He was called "Alaska in Winter" and I later found out that his cd is called "Dance Party in the Balkans" - but on the screen behind him it was written as "dance parti in ze balkans".
De toute façon, he was great! It's basically one guy that loops different sounds that he recorded. While that's happening he sings and the screen behind has little squares...in each square is him doing something different. So, picture one dude playing keyboards, drums, banjo, guitar while doing the running man dance, or just plain singing. His costumes also matched those in the video. In the first song, he was wearing his full outfit or pants and red sweater with a tie and his furry hat. And that's how he was dressed in the video. later he took off his tie, and then his shirt and pants...only to find another pair of pants and shirt under...but they were white instead.
He was also pretty funny :) at one point he was singing and said " I dunno what I'm supposed to say right now, but I'll keep saying something anyways"
and later "The song is nooot overrr...but if you want to get a drink you can, just ask the bartender".
Another time, he went to a little corridor off the side while dancing...we're like o_O what's he doing. He comes back. Then we see an arm stretched out from said corridor with a Corona. Anyways, lotsa fun. If he came to play, I'd go :D
http://www.myspace.com/alaskainwinter

Next was Colleen. She had a quiet set...played Cello and Clarinet and sometimes wind chimes. They asked us to sit on the floor for this...which was kinda cool, except my foot was falling asleep. One song gave me slight shivers...so that's good stuff there.

So Beirut comes onto this small stage. They are 8 people playing all kinds of instruments - ukelele, horns/trumpets, violin, drums, keyboards, xylophones. It's great :D

Here's the setlist (I stole it after the show, muahahaha!)
Elephant Gun
Brandenburg
Nantes
La Fête
Sunday Smile
Cherbourg
Scenic World
Mt. Wroclai
In the mausoleum
Cucek
Le Moribond
After the curtain
Carousels
Penalty

----
Encore:
Postcards from Italy - this was absolutely epic...all the instruments together :)
Closing Song/Gulag Orkestar


and theeen, he did a surprise cover of "Hallelujah" on the ukelele :D

I don't really know what to say other than the show was reaaaally good. I wasn't really expecting anything...so I was pleasantly surprised. Pamela and I paid tribute to Laurel and her awesome finger dance during "After the Curtain". There was a part where it was just really fitting, bwahaha.
The singer was kinda funny too. He was like "i need some more cognac up here :)!
And people would scream things of course. So one time, someone goes "WOOOOOOOO" and he goes "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
So people tried to woo again to make him ahh! but he said "Yeah, it ain't happenin again".
Then, another crowd person said "more accordion!", he said "Everything...all the time. I'm just going to repeat what you guys say".
I was only sad that they didn't play Guyamas Sonora. That's my favorite song off of the new album.

So yeah, awesome night :)

Concert Log

I figured it'd be a good idea to keep a list of the concerts I've attended. I remember most of them...except for some reason 2006 was a blur and I had to consult my Pamela's list (she is my concert buddy extraordinaire...and I went to most of these with her) D:
So here it is:

2003 - The beginning of concertdom (before that I'd only ever been to my dad's christmas concerts/other choir concerts - as such, they don't count):

August 1 - The Vans Warped Tour - Parc Jean Drapeau
September 3 - Mogwai - Spectrum
September 6 - A Perfect Circle - Metropolis
December 14 - Placebo - Metropolis

Total = 4

2004

February 14 - The Stills - La Tulipe
February 26 - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Metropolis
April 16 - Muse - Metropolis (worst crowd)
May 9 - Sondre Lerche - Cabaret Music Hall
May 16 - Orgy - Club Soda
June 6 - Katatonia - Foufounes Electriques (worst ear damage ever - had ear ringing for like 3 days)
June 24 - Mum - Cabaret Music Hall
August 8 - Mogwai - Spectrum
August 13 - Vans Warped Tour - Parc Jean Drapeau (muddy :P)
September 17 - Jimmy Gnecco (Ours) - O Patro Vys (w/ Fil)
October 9 - Explosions in the Sky w/ the frequency + Adem - La Sala Rosa (awesoooome)
November 17 - Marilyn Manson - Metropolis (w/ Fil, Gina, Mave - so much fun! - including the weird electrocution dance during irresponsible hate anthem)

Total = 12

2005

January 5 - My dad vs yours - Casa del Popola
January 22 - Bright Eyes (+ Coco Rosie) - Spectrum
May 9 - Nine Inch Nails - Kool Haus (Toronto - w/ Erin!)
June 6 - Mindless Self Indulgence + Birthday Massacre (Amanda + Fil - awesome, we met Bday and I taught chibi how to say pantalons :D - also the first time I met Amanda!)
August 3 - Coldplay - Bell Centre (for Gloria's birthday - shivers during the scientist, woosh :o)
October 6 - KMFDM + Birthday Massacre (for Melissa's birthday! met bday again and this time got pics)
November 11 - Nine Inch Nails - Bell Centre (w/ Erin!)

Total = 7

2006

March 9 - La Clemenza di Tito - Opera de Montreal (it was free :) and I went with Melissa, Paul, Nick, Will, Gloria, Leilani and Harley)
April 18 - Final Fantasy - Club Lambi
May 29 - Imogen Heap - La Tulipe (w/ Kris, Jess, Louis, Pamela and two of Skrud's friends...from Vancouver -- soooo good)
June 11 - Les Ogres de Barback - Theatre Maisonneuve
June 18 - Indochine - Metropolis
October 1 - Ladytron - Metropolis
November 1 - Death Cab for Cutie - Metropolis
November 6 - Imogen Heap - Spectrum (w/ Kris, yay :) )

Total = 8

2007

March 25 - Explosions in the Sky w/ Eluvium - Le National
March 28 - Amiina w/ Tom Brosseau - Le National (the cutest band ever :P)
May 13 - Arcade Fire w/ St. Vincent - Arena Maurice Richard (HAHAHA I was like yes! finally I get to see them. Pamela and I were not disappointed)
July 3 - The Polyphonic Spree - Spectrum (w/ Fil - we left that concert feeling like the happiest people on the face of the planet...covered with confetti)
July 14 - Ours - Le Gymnase (w/ Fil and Pamela - Jimmy's voice is just amazing, never ceases to impress all of us)

Total so far = 5


Coming up

August 27 - The Birthday Massacre - Petit Cafe Campus (Fil + Pamela, who else?...I'll find out)
September 8/9 - Osheaga Music and Arts Festival (not sure about this yet...there are a bunch I wanna see on both days, but it's quite $$)
September 26 - The Cure - Bell Centre
October 9 - Matthew Good - Club Soda
October 10 - Gogol Bordello - Club Soda (Start wearing purple, the gypsy punks are comin to town and we (Laurel, Pamela, Fil, Vlad? and I) are gonna see em!)
November 3 - Mum - Le National (eeeee!!!!!)

5 for sure!

Between the click of the light and the start of the dream

I only really started listening to the Arcade Fire after they came at the end of feb in 2005 and I missed their 3 shows at the end of April because of finals. They were introduced to me by Paw who saw them open for Hawksley Workman a while back. She sent me the song "Headlights look like Diamonds"...and thought this is not bad. but ehh...lets see what else they have :)
So fastforward to two years later. ZOMG they're playing 5 shows in feb...and didn't get any tickets because they were playing at a tiny venue called the Ukrainian Federation. People lined up all night in the cold to get their hands on those cardboardy tickets and savour the sound of this band for about 1 and a half hours. I decided it was my turn...and the next time they came I would not miss it! And so today...I finally got to see them.

They played at Arena Maurice Richard...never been there before. In fact, I don't usually trek out to Viau. East side of Montreal is like unknown territory to me. I've been there before, but I don't hang out there. I have only been to Point Perdue (Pointe-aux-Trembles) once. So, Paw and I arrive at 4:15 pm. Doors open at 6:30. We're searching for these epic long Arcade Fire fan lines...and WHAT? we're one of the first ones there. There was a small group of people who did camp out overnight, or so I assume...because they had blankets and themoses n such...oh, I felt bad for them :P. While waiting in line we ate apples and crackers. Paw's most awesome for providing snack food. I also ran into my grade 8 Math teacher.

Fastforward once more...we get awesome seats. Off the side to the left first row. Seats are great in arena shows because you can go potty without losing your spot. The show started at 8...opening band was called the St Vincents. Actually, it just started off with the vocalist singing by herself with an electric guitar. It sounded very gritty and almost industrial. Her dress was a nice shade of blue, but looked like a potato bag with straps.
When the band came on, the sound changed slightly to some form of dancy rock indie something music which was just plain awesome. I picked up their EP and hope to hear more from this texan band.
The floor started getting really packed, tons of people cheering, hopping around in anticipation for the band to come on.
At about 9:00, they took the stage...all 9 or so of them. The stage had 6 long poles in the front and 4 circles screens on posts on each corner of the stage. I found out later that the 6 long poles were giant glowsticks. There was also a large screen in the background...and a pipe organ.

The following is an approximate setlist...I know the first 6 are absolutely right and the last 3 as well as the encore. It's the shady in between...

Keep the Car Running
No Cars Go - this song is awesome if only for the line "between the click of the light and the start of the dream". Regine's voice goes up high and cute. So sweet :)
Haiti - *happy jumping ensues* This is a great dancy song. Regine always goes crazy near the middle doing somewhat robotic movements. Then at the end, the band goes crazy.
After the song she said that 1$ from each ticket is going to a charity, and that there were many branches of that charity in haiti.
Black Waves/Bad Vibrations - initially I wasn't super fond of this song...and never heard it in its entirety. Big booboo. But now I have and I've learned the error of my ways. This song rocks, nuff said.
Neighborhood #2 (Laika) - I wasn't expecting this song, and boy am I happy they did it. The highlight has to be Win's brother going off to the side and banging one of the posts with his drumstick like a madman.
Intervention - "I don't think the arena is gonna let rock bands play here anymore...but we took it while we saw an opening". Then they started playing. Good stuff once again.
Ocean of Noise - a little quieter than the rest but very nice...joined in the ooo's
My Body is a Cage - such a dramatic song. you cannot beat the doom and power of the organ in this song.
Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)- One of my favorite of the night..absolutely love this song. I generally sang along to the songs in the concert, but this one was particularly fun to sing to, especially this part " Then we think of our parents, well what the hell ever happened to them?!"
Antichrist Television Blues- Regine went kinda nuts again with her tambourine , shouting at the crowd :)
The Well and the Lighthouse - nice ending. reminds me of old school dances from like the 60s :P
Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) - "Thank you for coming out. I've always thought montreal was a very (something along the lines of nice and curteous forgot the exact words) city." Then they burst into song, the crowd goes wild dancing like crazy monkeys. They even did a prolonged ending.
Rebellion (Lies) - This gave me shivers of happiness. Everyone was clapping and singing along. When the band walked off, everyone in the crowd was still singing "Oooo ooo ooooooooo" until they came back out.

Encore

Black Mirror - I like this song, but the sound was a little strange for it. A little hard on the ears. But still very good.
Crown of Love - someone in the crowd had a sign saying "Crown of Love". Win's like, change of plans. Someone made a sign and I'm a sucker for signs, so we're gonna play this song. Lighter moment.
Wake up - just before playing this song, someone in the front had a sign saying I need a drumstick. They held it up for the whole time too. Win was like AHH YOU IN THE FRONT! PUT DOWN THE FUCKING SIGN! I'll give you a drumstick, just put it down! stop it!
Anyways, wake up is an epic ending for a concert. Naturally, everyone was into it :)

I don't know if I can say anything else about the concert. I just kept saying how great everything was. It's great dance music! Great music to forget your troubles! Or to just scream it out!

As I was on my way home, I spotted two concert goers. They were twin brothers, both wearing arcade fire tee's. As the got off at Vendome, the yelled into the car "ARCADE FIRE IS AWESOME!" and a passenger nodded. I couldn't agree more.

So it ended up being

Carrots in roasted garlic hummus...also had some corn on the cob.
That's good enough for me. I don't think I've ever devoured corn on the cob like that.
Food shopping was extra fun. I was in the vegetable aisle like AHAH I WANT THAT AND THAT AND THAT! Also got these mini melba toast rounds - multigran to be exact. They're awesome.
So yes. Tooth freedom rocks.

Also, it's 13 degrees C today and Sunny. Most awesome.

Carrots in Babaghanoush

I went to the orthodontist today. He says that in one month (March 28 to be precise), I will have my braces taken off. I started my treatment april 13, 2005 and it was supposed to last a total of 18 months. It's been almost 2 years (grumbles!).
During that time I've had wires poking in my cheek and the usual friction that people experience on their cheeks with the brackets. But I think I've had a record number of brackets falling off...and always in strange ways.

To name a few:
- eating sushi, a front bracket fell off. I consider rice to be soft, so I don't get it.
- eating fish at a resto in st-laurent. I had to find it and wrap it in kleenex and bring it to them.

- I'd say the weirdest happened while flossing. I passed through the wire, next thing I knew the bracket was gone. It completely disappeared from this planet. I did not see it come out of my mouth, I did not feel it either. I didn't hear it fall into the sink. I took a flashlight and searched the bathroom. Nowhere to be seen. Even if I did find it, say on the floor...I don't think I'd want it back in my mouth anyways. But yes, strange bracket disappearance.
I was afraid that they'd be peeved that I didn't have the bracket and accuse me of being a Forceful Flosser...but no...didn't really care how it disappeared, just that it did and they had replacements!
While replacing that one, they found another loose one. But, with this one, the metal completely unglued itself from the composite backing...and the backing was still on my tooth. The lady had to remove it all then replace it with a completely metal one.

They've had to replace at least 10 of them and some of them more than once. I guess the cement was not strong enough (or perhaps it's due to my acidic saliva :P one dentist told me I might have that and may be the reason I have so many cavities...since I have pretty good hygiene and don't really eat many sweets on a regular basis, certainly not due to that).

So yeah, once the braces come off, I can get my 1 million cavities filled which is good.

After they take my braces off, they're gonna take an imprint of my teeth and send it to the Damon laboratories for them to make "The Positioner". During that waiting period, I'll have to wear some kinda light clear retainer. woo.

Then when the positioner comes (the next week), I'll have to wear it 24 hours a day for a week, unless I'm eating or brushing my teeth. He says it resembles a mouth guard and I'm not allowed to talk...for the whole week...otherwise the thing will fall out.

I found a picture of this positioner thing:
It's meant to fix little things/bring all my teeth together in that "perfect" position or something like that.
It's going to be interesting to be mute for a week. I can use thumbs up/thumbs down and so-so waving hands, shoulder shrugging and head nods! If asked to explain something, I'll let out a mrar type grumble with a corresponding facial expression of unhappiness.

Once it's all over, I can eat carrots :O in their raw form :O dipped in hummus :O or maybe even babaghanoush :O

woosh people!

This is my new desktop picture, most awesome. Got it from here
Next, Modest Mouse's new album leaked. Check out the song "People as Places as People"
Also, 2 NIN songs leaked: "Survivalism" and "My Violent Heart". This will take some getting used to...
On that same site, there's a version of "Clocks" (by coldplay), remixed be Buena Vista Social Club. It sounds pretty good...well at least if you like latin music. Give it a listen if you wish.

Concerto:
Arcade Fire is coming May 12 and 13.
Tool is coming April 28.
YAY :D

Happy Chinese (Early - since it's tomorrow) New Year!...I wish I got special red enveloped :P
It shall be the year of the Fire Pig. I don't know what exactly that means, I just know that pigs mean luck or something. I wonder what the fire pig will bring for the wood ox this year.

Vitalic - My friend Dario

screeching on the tarmac - my musical update

My friend Dario has a super mega car, drives too fast, drives too flash, the noise the wheels make screeching on the tarmac, echoes in his head, then echoes in his pants

This is the first time I see the video, but you gotta love air drumming and air guitar.

I've been in a huge electro mood lately...apparently most of it is "Electroclash". <-most awesome term. According to wiki, electroclash is: a style of fashion, music, and attitude that fuses New Wave, punk, & electronic dance music with somewhat campy and absurdist post-industrial detachment in addition to vampy and/or camp sexuality. The movement combines the 1980s electropop/New Wave/Italo disco sound by means of synthesizers and drum machines.

Yeah, you could say that. I'm now a closet raver, woo! I'm far too lazy to be an actual raver.
#1 I don't know where exactly most of these rave places are.
#2 I was invited to red lite a few times (like tonight), it turns out that place is really far...and right now it's cold...and late. I don't wanna wiggle all night with other sweaty peoples.
#3 Getting home could be a problem depending on where you are/who you're with/how awake you are.

So back to the music. My electro mood started with the Party Monster soundtrack ...decided to listen to it recently(haha I love this movie). Tracks that stick in my head: Get Happy, Overdose, Two of Hearts (just that particular part that goes I-I-I-I-I-I I need you...like when Seth and Culkin are dancing), Seventeen, Frank Sinatra, Take me to the Club, Le Rock 01 and Money, Success, Fame, Glamour.
After that, I decided I should check out more Vitalic because "Le Rock 01" is a totally top notch track. Ok Cowboy is the album and it's definitely good. If you wanna check out some tracks in particular, I suggest:
Polkamatic
Poney part 1
My Friend dario
Rock 01
No Fun

As for some other electroclash, it seems Miss Kittin (which I've loved for about 4 years now) is in there, Ladytron, Felix da Housecat, Tiga, Peaches, Fischerspooner annnd Goldfrapp.
I'm not a big peaches person, though some song are okay.
I lurve lurve Miss Kittin and Ladytron (so envious of the europeans who get a nin tour w/ ladytron opening -.- the perfect combo).
Check out:
Miss Kittin - First Album <- the whole thing, because every track is great. Ladytron - discotraxxx, international dateline, true mathematics, fighting in built up areas, Cracked LCD (live in sofia version is really good), last one standing, seventeen, playgirl, he took her to a movie. As for non electro stuff, here's what I'm lookin forward to:

The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible - March 6
The promo on their site is funny and their first single "Black Mirror" plays as well. I hope they come back and tour here. They had 5 sold out shows...and I hear that for the 50 ticket dealy people actually camped out all night to get some. CRAZY PEOPLE'S. In the summer I guess it's a little less insane, but I still wouldn't. One hour maybe, 2 even (When it's not cold). But camping out :o
I hope the show was worth it. I've only heard good things.

Explosions in the Sky - All of the sudden I miss everyone - Sometime later this month
Classified as post-rock of some sort. De toute facon, what's important is they're excellent. Already seen em live once with Paw. They completely physically exerted themselves, but gave such good performances. I shall see them again in march, hoorah!

Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position - Out in europe feb. 26 I think...in NA - May 1. How sucky is that?
Accident and Emergency was enough to get me hooked. He needs to come here though. :D

Bloc Party - A weekend in the city
They've got catchy stuff, I'm curious.

Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero - April 17
I'm a slight ninomaniac. Less so than before, but I still like their stuff a lot. What's most intruiging about this release is that it only took 2 years to come out (with teeth came out may 7, 2005). Trent always took like 5 years in between. I'm sure I'll dislike it at first or somethin, and then love it. Go gaga and wanna see the nin camp live again. If only ladytron would play with them here...It'd be double happiness. Or some other equally cool band. Imagine if the arcade fire opened for nin. HAHAHA...zomg >_>

The Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist - July 7 (oh ho ho 7/7/07)
I wonder what they can come up with...I heard Auf Der Maur will be filling in bass on tour. I did always feel bad that I didn't know much before they broke up (and that's just when I liked them too -.-). Now I may get the chance to see them live...althought it won't be the original line up, still yeekees.

Amiina - in mtl 28th of march, oh yeaaa
They have a cd out, I'm just happy that I'll be seeing them live. They're from iceland and they make pretty music.

Okay, I may have forgotten things, but that's ok. I've written enough. I need to wake up early because I have to buy boots (hopefully).

Snow Cake

Snow Cake has just about everything I like in a movie: good cast/acting, strangeness, made up games and words, nice soundtrack. That makes it my favorite movie of December 2006. Or maybe even...of the second half of the year.
The movie stars Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver and Carie-Anne Moss. Basically (taken from imdb), it is a drama focused on the friendship between a high-functioning autistic woman (Weaver) and a man (Rickman) who is traumatized after a fatal car accident (which killed the dauther of weaver - he had given her a lift). Carie-Anne Moss lady is a neighbor.
One of my favorite parts was "Comic Book Scrabble". You can use any word you want or make one up. Kaboom, Shazaam, or whatever you like. However, you must be able to give an example of how to use the word in a sentence. They came up with two great words: Yaamool and Dazlious.
I don't wanna go too into the movie...it'll ruin it for you. Both my friend and I felt some form of inner glee after watching it. When it comes out on dvd I'll definitely get it.

If you wanna flip through some clips though, youtube has a bunch.

Now...some other movies.
-There was a preview for a movie about the lady who wrote the peter rabbit books. it looks awesome. Will see.
-I saw Eragon yesterday...meh. I think I may be tired of the mandatory english accents for people in fantasy movies and how they have to speak some other language (like elvish) to do magical spells...as well as dragons. It ends up being this repetitive thing where a boy discovers something, he doesn't know what it is. He decides to investigate. Then he finds out the world is in trouble and he's been chosen to save it. He doesn't want to, but he must accept his fate because everyone is willing to die for him and need him to restore peace in the lands. He decides, okay, I'll do it, and also saves some pretty lady who doesn't fight very well (wants to meet at some later date to have some fun :P), and defeats the evil ones. The End.

I think the only series of fantasy movies I'll keep up with is Harry Potter because it's fun and more imaginative/childlike (the main characters are youngin's after all)...most enchanting :).

Accident and Emergency

Merry Christmas people who read my blog :D
My celebrations commence tomorrow with extended family. I've decided to make 1 pineapple cake and 1 chocolate cake. What's best is they're both vegan...this means I don't have to take lactaid. I already made the pineapple cake once as a test...dad, mom, friend, friend's mom and another friend all agree it's awesome. I may just bake everything vegan now :D

Anyways, as for the title of this post, paw was kind enough to introduce me to the new single by Patrick Wolf. It's incredibly catchy and happy. I encourage you to listen to it as well :D.

Rampaging Cows shooting pizzas

This is what you come up with when you discuss the possibility of blind people being able to hunt in texas with a friend. Firstly, at the end of the article, it mentions Cheney accidently shooting his friend while hunting for quail. He's not blind, imagine what they'll do :o.
Second - I don't like hunting for sport. I understand if people are actually eating the animals...but hunting just for fun is not cool...not to mention there's meat in grocery stores.

So, I told my friend "I don't understand, it's like you and I are having a snowball fight, and then a cow decides to shoot us just for fun".
him: "lol, dont ask me, i dont get it either.. and most definitely don't want to be shot by a cow..."
me: "yeah I'm imagining this rampaging cow..."
him: "with a crossbow...on a tree shooting hunters"

alright, good stuff. That explains the cow on the tree.
Now for pizza.
I had two finals in two days, mind boggle, completely saturated. Need some time to empty it of previous course content and prepare it for the upcoming finals next week. So, my friend and I decide we should meet, drink tea and eat foodies. What? We decided to make pizza from scratch. He made the dough this morning (1.5 cups whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup water, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 pouch of yeast, knead it 5 mins, let it sit for at least one hour, roll it out, awesomeness in a ball).
What did we put on it? Onions, mushrooms, pineapples, olives, gouda cheese and tofu (we cut it in thin slices, put a mixture of soy sauce, worchestershire sauce (whatever it's called), liquid smoke and black pepper on it...then baked it for 20 mins on 375 F. It was crispy and awesome...kinda tasted like bacon o_O), and we also put this kinda ketchup chili sauce on the actual crust. We baked that for 20 mins on 400 F.
It was a pretty much improvised recipe apart from the crust. It turned out great though...absolutely yummy. Crust was just right. It even tastes good kinda cold...and we didn't smother it in cheese too.
Anyways, so he walked me to the metro later...and he was saying bye bye...and I was saying "indeed, we did some great pizza..." and then he's giving me this kinda gun shot wink thing, then I said "shooting" instead of "making" when I saw his hand gesture. This resulted in much laughter and then remembered the evil rampaging cow who hides in the tree shooting humans, now with pizza as ammo.

My ms paint skills are not super awesome, but I think that cow looks angry.

Right now, I'm hoping that the cow shoots the people who made the FIVE arcade fire shows sell out in less than a day at 3 selling spots + admission.com. They will probably come again, but it's insane.

Anyways, I must go.

You guys should eat our pizza if only because pineapples rule the fruit kingdom. They even have spiky crowns.

Happy December

So, I'm checking meteomedia.com this morning...checking out the weather.

...UN DEBUT DE DECEMBRE TOURMENTE...UNE INTENSE DEPRESSION PROVENANT DU SUD DES GRANDS-LACS REMONTERA VERS LA NOUVELLE-ANGLETERRE CE SOIR.

It's so dramatic, it's awesome. haha. So yeah, November has been pretty nice to us Montrealers...even yesterday, it was 15 degrees C, a little rain, but tolerable. My russian teacher said it's the day before december and it's so warm, no snow. (btw, in russian class yesterday, we had to sing O Christmas Tree in russian. Much fun was had. We all sucked)
HAHA, well, now...switch to december. BAM. Freezing rain warnings...snow in the next few days, and temperatures dropping below zero. Just like that. I just hope that the McGill students on Dr. Penfield don't experience a similar slippery fate, like they did last year...with the firetrucks and ladders.

I'm hoping for some nice winter nights, with snow and such. Walk around in a park where the lights shimmer on the snow :D


So, now that leads me to "Songs for Christmas". Paw is awesome for telling me about it...because I bought it soon after. It's Christmas 5 eps made by Sufjan Stevens. He recorded one every years, starting from 2001, with the exception of 2004 when he was working on Illinois.

The songs are incredibly catchy and happy.
One of the best lines from the song "Get behind me Santa!" Is "you move so fast boy, like a psychopathic color tv" <- referring to santa. Other fave songs so far are: Sister Winter Come thou fount of every blessing Once in Royal David's City Christmas in July Star of Wonder Holy, Holy, Holy If you'd like to hear the stuff, all of the cd's are streaming here
Only 25 days till xmas, which means no school...decorating someone's tree, getting a santa hat, awesome foodies, general chilling...and whatever else people do at xmas.

Well, it's school time. 2nd to last day of classes!
Lataaaaaaaaaa

Imogen Heap is the bizzomb & bagel injuries

Yes, it is true. Imogen Heap rocks much. Her rockingness holds no bounds.
The coolest vegan and I went to see her on Tuesday @ The Metropolis...this is the second time we've seen her. One great thing is that Imogen never does the same thing twice. While the songs may have been the same, she has a new spin on them everytime. She also has a knack for choosing the coolest opening acts.
Last time it was Zoe Keating - a cellist. Totally awesome. When she joined imogen on stage during her songs, it made for a kinda softer/more mellow feel.
This time there was Levi Weaver and Kid Beyond.
Levi is kinda like alternative/folk rock. Nice stuff...he has a good sense of humor...although kinda morbid at some times (when he was introducing his last song, he was sayin how he was driving his car, and he was joking bout how in england they call flashers something else...in anycase, he said he turned on the wrong one, and then a truck hit his car. His bro was in the passenger seat and he died. So he dedicated the song to him. But it's like, everyone's hahaha...then whoa...that sucks <_<).

Now Kid Beyond. Holy crapola. It's like his has a drum machine in his mouth. This dude is sic. I mean I don't typically listen to that kinda stuff often...but we were just amazed. On his site he has a clip of how he does the stuff, and there's also a clip on youtube of him doing a cover of Portishead's Heads - Wandering Star .
Imogen Heap came on around 9:15 pm. She had a live band this time (not only her parrot - aka her keyboard/looper). There was a drummer, bassist and her schnazzy new transparent and white piano. She was wearing a pink corset and a pink floofy skirt...funky hair as usual. Same quirky sense of humor.
She played (in no particular order):

• Headlock
• Goodnight and Go
• Have you got it in you
• Speeding Cars
• Clear the Area
• Daylight Robbery
• The Walk
• Just for now
• Closing In
• The moment I said it
• Hide and Seek
• Let go
• and another song from her first album...but I forgot the name. All she said was she never played it in the USA or Canada before.
  

Hide and Seek gave me shivers!
She collaborated with Levi and Kid for some songs...truely amazing. Kid's doing all these technoish sounds just with his mouth. Levi's guitar added some cool stuff to the songs.

Also, this is probably one of the first times that I wasn't in the crowd (on floor) at a concert (at least at the metropolis. Not counting the bell center because it's huge...I don't wanna be on floor there because if you have to pee you'll lose your place/hard to get back in). It's a totally different feeling. For one, it's less crowded/sweaty. We wandered around a few times to find better spots. Secondly, my ears weren't ringing...which is always good. I think for that night it was appropriate since I was pretty tired. In anycase, both are enjoyable.

I do not have pics of this event...will possibly have video later. The cool one took a few clips during the show for her sis. I'll see if I can get them lata.

If imogen comes again, you guys should totally go. Worth it!

Also, another that happened that day - I was wounded by a bagel during the vegan cheese hunt. Not the softies from montreal bagel mind you. I went to an Eastern European store called Bucarest. It's on Decarie just south of queen mary. They have these cool little round, dry bagels on a string. If you want you can wear it as a necklace and eat them off of there. Instead I decided to break them off. Whilst in the process of breaking one...it scraped my index and middle finger. I didn't realize this till bout 5 mins later. Then I told my friend "my god man, the bagel wounded me. I'm bleeding"
"Deadly bagel!"
So if you happen to have these, you can use them as a weapon. Muahaha. You can either
1) Throw the bagel necklace at the person offending you
2) break one in half and scrape them multiple times
3) whatever else you can think of doing with bagels

The best thing to do though is to eat them. They're quite yummy.
Anyways, that's enough for now.

Adios.

Death Cab for Cutie

Paw has also posted about this concert.
Twas a shivery day...we arrived at the Metropolis at about 6:15pm. Doors opened at 6:30. By the time we got there, there was already quite a line up. Even so, we managed to get pretty good spots...3rd/4th row back from the barrier. The only problem, as paw noted, was the two tall guys in front of us. I was able to see most times, but sometimes they'd just stand right in front. booooo.
Ted Leo + the pharamacists was the opening band. I didn't really know much about them...maybe heard one or two songs from paw's awesome music mixes. I'd say they're good dancy/party music for the summer. She kindly sent me some songs...the one I enjoyed most was "Timorous Me" which has a kinda irish guitar sound going on about halfway. Most excellent.
At about 9:10, Death Cab for Cutie took the stage. They were more rocking than I was expecting. On their cd's they sound more or less mellow, with the exception of some bouncy/happy songs. But that's more like wheee, not rawr I can jump to this.
I'm glad that they were so energetic live, because eventhough I enjoy the studio albums, I don't want just a repeat of it (like most people :D). So yay for rocking death cab. (There was one song in particular where there was like a 4 minute drum duo...Ben on a mini drum set and the drummer doing his thing, while other guitarist was on the piano. I think it was we looked like giants).
I tried to remember all the songs they played...there's a few I forgot and some that I didn't know the names of. But all in all, they played the songs I wanted them to play. Here's what I remembered (in no particular order really...except I know for sure that the sound of settling, tiny vessels, and transatlaticism were last, they were part of the encore):

• Your heart is an empty room
• Photobooth
• The new year
• Crooked teeth
• Title and Registration
• Expo 86
• We looked like giants
• Soul Meets body
• Marching bands of manhattan
• Summer skin
• I will follow you into the dark
• What Sarah Said
• The sound of settling
• Tiny Vessels
• Transatlaticism

(In red are the ones I especially wanted to hear. Trans gave me slight shivers. That's always a good thing).
Below are some photos taken by Paw.

This was at the end of "Transatlaticism". Ben Gibbard came toward the crowd and was singing "So come ooooooon". Everyone sang along. He really loved that. He also brought 3 people on stage to sing the "Come on" part, and they really got into it...especially one girl with red hair.

Paw also took some videos. The sound is pretty good considering it was taken on a digital camera. The first one is "I will follow you into the dark" and the second is "Title and Registration". Just little clips of like 45 and 17 seconds respectively.
http://download.yousendit.com/3D90B95F1833160D

http://download.yousendit.com/FAD25D925FCD9744

Long overdue discoveries

This is my 4th blog entry in 4 days, and while it is probably due to a combination of having things to say and procrastination (always during midterms period), I feel like I've sold my soul to the internet. Chatting for hours on MSN, visiting message boards, downloading various multimedia, that's alright. But blogging everyday is foreign to me...and most people I know don't do that.
My friend's take on this: "Sell your soul to the internet - Brought to you by the Devil's internet provider".
In anycase, today's procrasinatory tidbit has to do with a discovery I made today:
I was reading demonbaby's latest post about poop to my mom earlier this evening (it's quite funny), when the telephone rang. So I started fiddling around with my laptop keyboard...which in the past has caused me much grief (but I accepted it as part of life and just dealt with it).

Here is, what I thought was the cause of my keyboard woe:
About 1.5 years ago, at the beginning of March 2005, was the funeral of a friend of mine. Sad day, as can be expected. After coming home from the service, I decided to turn on my laptop and then make myself a cup of tea. I'm walking into the living room with my cup and then I trip. Naturally the tea spilled all over my laptop. What followed after was "AHHHH...SHIT, damnit, freaking...fuckin, blarghy, mrar" and so on. I turned off the computer, flipped it over, and lay it on paper towels in an attempt to save its life.
After I tried turning it on hours later, there was a black screen...a few hours later, some error messages. Things that I don't like to see. I forgot what exactly I did after, but it somehow started working again. hoorah. all is well in the world...until about 1 month later, my keyboard started doing funky things when I typed.

For example, if I typed gmail, it would come up as g0a53.c60.
I thought that maybe this was a delayed response to the tea incident. I didn't know what to do. The only thing that seemed to work was plugging an external keyboard to the back of my laptop, and then somehow, all the keys worked perfectly. I sent it to a computer fixer dude who my family knows. He had no solution. Karate teachers husband..."well, i guess the external keyboard overwrites any signal your shortcircuited keyboard sends to your computer" (not his exact words, but something like that). Someone upstairs who got himself a new laptop, donated his old laptop keyboard to me (which was of the same make). We installed it...still the same problem.
So for 1.5 years, I've been plugging this large, old, external keyboard into my laptop to be able to type properly. During that time, my mom even offered to get me a new laptop. But I figured I could survive like this for a while.

So here's the discovery. I only found out today (after 4 years of owning this thing), that laptop keyboards have numlock. I figured that the keyboard area is so small, that numlock just didn't exist, and there was no real reason to have it anyways.
I noticed that the little green light was on where the numlock thing is, which indicated that numlock has been on all this time. I turn it off...lo and behold, I can type.

On the one hand, I'm really happy that my keyboard is fine after all and my laptop doesn't need changing. But I also feel really, really, really stupid. All this time I had been blaming the tea incident for my keyboard problems, when it was just numlock, that for some reason had been turned on for 1.5 years. I'm only comforted by the fact that I wasn't the only one that missed it. Still. You may all laugh now.

-signing off...and feeling slightly sheepish.

Because I'm lame

And I like lists.
I was blog browsing and found a post about "Musical horoscopes". I don't see how it's a horoscope at all (doesn't even correspond to the number of signs in the zodiac...in anycase). All you do is shuffle your music list and write down the first 10 that show up. So now you can all see some of the music I listen to. yayishnest.

Behold, my "Musical Horoscope" for today:

1) Type O Negative – White Slavery

2) Placebo – Spite and Malice

3) Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Gold Lion

4) Radiohead – Anyone can play guitar

5) The Tiger Lillies – Snip Snip

6) The Arcade Fire – In the backseat

7) Coldplay – Proof

8) U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday (Rattle and Hum live)

9) Death Cab for Cutie – Brothers on a Hotel Bed

10) Radiohead - Permanent Daylight

and an extra - Mindless Self Indulgence - Shut Me Up

I'm rather pleased with the outcome...I enjoyed listening to all of them. Haven't listened to Radiohead, Death Cab, Coldplay, YYY or AF in a while. Good stuff.

Anyways, on the topic of music lists. There's this thing I did on a message board (ts.net :D) in 2004, called "The Soundtrack to your life". I've done it 3 times (keeping a record of each to compare). Here's the most recent (April 22, 2006) , with what intended to be a few song modifications...whee

*Opening Credits: Mum – Green Grass of Tunnel
*Waking Up Scene: Sigur Ros - Hoppipolla
*Average Day Scene: Modest Mouse – The World at large
*One Night Stand Scene: Silverchair - Steam will Rise
*First Date Scene: The Crystals - Then he kissed me
*Falling In Love Scene: Pete Townshend - Let my love Open the door (e.cola mix)
*Sex Scene: Massive Attack – Risingson
*Fight with Friend Scene: Thom Yorke - Analyze
*Break Up Scene: Devotchka – How it Ends
*Get Back Together Scene: Sondre Lerche – You know so well
*Life's Okay Scene: The Beatles – Obladi Oblada
*Heartbreak Scene: Imogen Heap – Hide and Seek
*Mental Breakdown Scene: Ladytron - Cracked LCD (live in Sofia)
*Driving Scene: The Cure - Disintegration
*Lesson Learned Scene: Malcolm Middleton – Crappo the Clown
*Deep Thought Scene: VNV Nation – Endless Skies
*Flashback Scene: Les Tetes Raides – Ginette
*Party Scene: Party Monster OST - Money, Success, Fame, Glamour/Le Rock 01
*Summer music: Kaoma - Lambada/Daddy Yankee - Gasolina
*Back to School: Final Fantasy – The CN Tower Belongs to the dead
*Happy Dance Scene: T-Rex - Children of the Revolution
*Regret Scene: New Order - Ceremony
*Long Night Alone Scene: Michael Andrews - Mad World
*Saying Goodbye: Bajaga - Moji Drugovi (means "my friends" in serbian)
*Closing Credits: The Pixies – This monkey’s gone to heaven

It's a fun little exercise (imo :P at least), and I invite you to do it too. If you want, you can post it in my comments or on your own blog thing.

Tone Difficulities

I am the worst breed of Canadian born Nigerian (of the ngwa sector). I can pronounce various words (mostly numbers) in about 10 other languges...count like a CBC (canadian born chinese - told to me be a few chinese people, not my own evaluation), sing in Russian, but cannot say dad properly in Igbo (the languge in south eastern nigeria, which my dad speaks). I don't blame him for being slightly depressed.
In my 21 years of existence, I learned how to count, say hello, greetings and thank you - all with horrible pronunciation. Whenever people ask me to teach them something, I refuse...just because I suck. I end up mumbling...It's pretty embarassing.
My dad suggested that while learning russian, I send him some of the words they give us to learn by email and he'll translate it to Igbo. Cool! Instead of emailing him, I just wrote it down and discussed with him on Friday night.
I discovered a trend, woohoo...adding various suffixes to words changes its meaning (like in possessive terms).
my - mo
yours - nkege (short form - ge)
theirs - nkha (sf - ha)
ours - anye
hers/his - nkya

so if I wanted to say my mom, you would do mom + my -> nne + mo = nnemo. Our mom would be nneanye. Not to be confused with anya which means eyes.
What's also great is, like russian there are no articles.

So what's the problem? Tone Difficulties.
During my study break (which has now lasted for 1 hour - far too long), I decided to look up Igbo on the internet. It led me to an article on wikipedia:

Igbo (also known, less commonly, as Ibo; asụsụ Ndi Igbo in Igbo) is a language spoken in Nigeria by around 18 million speakers (the Igbo), especially in the southeastern region once identified as Biafra. It is written in the Roman script. Igbo is a tonal language, like Yoruba and Chinese.

note - Yoruba is a language spoken in Western nigeria.

YAY, tones. Wonderful tones. I already screw up some words in Russian because of stresses (or just misread words completely. Example: thursday I read bad city and somehow made city feminine instead of saying bad weather. City is gorod and Weather is pagoda. I dunno how I did that).
Instead of saying King ( eze - with a kind of low tone at the end - also used as a name) I say tooth (high tone), just because of these doomful tones. (When I learned Eze was tooth, intially I'd asked my dad..."why would someone name their child tooth?")

Apparently in Mandarin (I dunno how true this is, I got it from a website) -
Just by saying "ma" in different tones, you can ask, "Did mother scold the horse?" - (mā mà mă ma?)
So, I shall make the Igbo equivalent Tooth King...or alternatively King Tooth. Whichever you like best.
(The Tooth King could be the ruler of the tooth fairy kingdom and set up dispatching schedules for all the shaky teeth around the world. I'd imagine that the King Tooth would be one of the molars though... Not wisdom teeth, they're kinda like the wise old village men.)

In anycase, these tone difficulties only encourage me to eventually master (or at least know enough to come across knowing something without sounding stupid) these languages. Mandarin and Cantonese were already on my list of future languages to learn (probably mandarin first), and Igbo because it's 1/2 of me. (the other half - french has been studied many times as part of the curriculum at school :P).

I figure once I do these harder languages, ones slightly related to them will be a lot easier to learn.
This is what I know and what I'd like to learn - ambitious list and I doubt I'll get to know most of them...but it'd be fun.
Legend:
Yes! = I know it, mostly
IP = In Progress/Counting rocks
N = Nothing

Yes!
English
French

IP (hoping to do most of these...the one that'll probably suffer is tagalog.)
German (#1-10)
Spanish (#1-10/hello/goodnight)
Mandarin (#1-10/hello)
Cantonese (#1-10/hello)
Japanese (#1-10/tidbits/karate terminology + singing along to songs)
Tagalog (#1-5/ 6-10 always escape me)
Igbo (you know the story)
Russian (learning that right now at school)

Nothing (* priority over others)
*Dutch (recently added - shall be difficult)
*Italian (slightly related to french or so mommy says...hoping that when I tackle it, it won't be so bad)
Portuguese (toughest of latin languages, god help me)
Vietnamese (this is gonna be really hard)
Korean ( a friend of mine wants to learn it one day, I said I wouldn't mind joining in)
*Icelandic (the spy machine is pretty much what I know)
*Arabic ( I could've put this in IP, but I can't even count, I just know hurry, I love you, sweety and it's enough)
Hindi/Punjabi/Tamil - one of the three and I'll be happy.
Classical Tibetan (my friend is learning that now and it looks so cool. I'm interested :P)


If any of you are interested in learning more about Igbo Language, I found this site today: http://uwandiigbo.com/wb/pages/lessons.php
It has 12 lessons, some of which are accompanied by an mp3 to show you how to pronounce sounds. There are some words that my dad uses which are not included in the lessons (like in the greetings), but it's a lot more than I've found in the past about this language.

And since I don't even know how to say "Bye", here's how to say Greetings - "Ndewo".

The Evils of Industrial Bread

Firstly, I'd like to inform you all, that on Wednesday, October 18, 2006 at about 7:45pm, a bag of Ginger Green Tea that had been in my bag since August 12, 2006 (a gift from a fellow counsellor), was consumed. Here's the play by play:
1) water was boiled in a pot
2) after the water was boiled, the tea bag was placed inside the pot...and it steeped. (we huddled around the pot waiting for our tea)
3) poured it into 2 cups...and went back to the couch to continue viewing "Goodbye Lenin!" (excellent movie by the way).
This is what fall is all about. Sitting in front of a fire, drinking tea and watching movies.

After the movie, we ate foodies with his parents. It was boiled carrots and turnips (butter optional - but was nice and melty), some kinda pickled onions, and bread (not just any bread, it was baguette).
Tea friend mentioned that the bread was pretty good. Sir Tea said well "It's just from IGA, didn't make it to premiere moisson in time. But better than industrial bread".
Mrs. Tea says "le pain industriel, ce n'est pas du pain, c'est du "Blegh"". Basically, industrial bread is not bread, it is yucky. It's too soft, doesn't have much flavor, etc.
"Tu sais, le pain POM...un si bon nom, pour un pain si "bleh"."
I found out that night that POM means "Pride of Montreal". Mrs Tea then said that she understands why people like montreal bagel, because it's real bread baked in those nice wood ovens. Ah yes...wonderful fresh bagels. yum. (His dad also mentioned in passing that cockroaches give bagels their real flavor. Then his mom said that that's how Raisin danishes were created. She's joking of course... :P)

Anyways, after thinking about the state of bread for a little bit, it's pretty true. However, there are presliced industrial breads that are not as bad as others. I don't remember all of them, but I shall make an attempt to rank the bread that I know. Feel free to add any breads you know...if you feel so inclined to comment.

1)POM - everyone knows pom. It comes presliced in white and whole wheat flour varieties. It's soft and squishy, very square. I'd say it's decent and convenient. 6/10

2)Country Harvest - they've got a whole selection of breads...the 12 grain, 7 grain, stone ground, flax seed. I'd say I'm pretty satisfied with this one, just because of the selection, some of them are organic and there's little to no white flour in most of them. My only complaint is that I've found some moldy ones sometimes. That's the supermarket's fault, not theirs though. Stone ground for the win. 8/10

3)Zellers sandwich bread (probably not the exact name, but whatever) - it's cheap...something like 1$. It's nasty. My mom says it sticks to your palette (like most long loaf, thin square sandwich bread. Good for toast, but lacks personality). Not my style. D: 2/10

4)D'italiano - white and whole wheat varieties. Before crossing over to the country harvest side, this was my family's bread of choice. Soft, tastier than most and not thin/lacking substance. They used to have one style of white bread that had sesame seeds on the crust...don't see that anymore though. Only on their hamburger buns. saddness. 7/10

5)Bread from La Vielle Europe - this store owns. So anything from this store owns. I don't get to go often, only because I have to travel on the orange line for about 20 mins, then walk for 10. I won't do that only for bread (for wild cherry tea on the other hand...- I'll have to make a tea post one day). In anycase, their bread is nice, tasty, and not thin. There is real substance there. 9/10

6) Premiere Moisson - Apart from homemade bread (by people that know how to bake), this is probably one of the best. This is the bread that occupies Mr. Tea's house 90% of the time. They have sooo many different kinds, and you can have them sliced. All tasty. 9.5/10

7) This organic bread you find at health food stores...I forgot the name. It's nice and crunchy...tasty too. But not for those with weak teeth. My mom thinks it's like eating concrete...but it's really good for toast. 8/10

So, I'm going to challenge myself...just for fun. I'm going to try and avoid Industrial/Supermarket bread. My family needn't participate - they probably won't, they think my tastes are strange enough as it is. De toute facon, I got some round whole wheat bread from Exofruits today.

Oh, and another thing I got - Spaghetti Squash. For those of you who've never tried it before, it's awesome. I had it for the first time on thursday night at my karate teachers' house. All she did was steam it and when she scooped it out, it was all noodly. It blended in well with the buckwheat soba noodles. I shall attempt to recreate it tonight or tomorrow.

Finally, listen to this kinda catchy song if you want - It's by a russian musician (dead now) - Vladimir Vysotsky - "Стоял тот дом, всем жителям знакомый..." (and paralink translator translated it to "There was that house, to all inhabitants the friend... "

Alright,
Until next time

200% KISS OWNAGE and other tidbits

I was talking with a friend of mine the other day while trying to decide what picture I should put up on the csme site. I showed him 4 pics, all varying in degress of rockingness.
1) I had my tongue sticking out going \m/ - total webcam fuzziness. Suiting for a VP Academic n'est pas? Seems not.
2) Halloween 2003 picture. I was supposed to be Twiggy Ramirez. According to a different friend that was in the picture too (dressed as a checkers board), I looked like someone from the band emperor...if only emperor had a female bandmate.
3) + 4) both pics from the same night at checkerface house. I was pretending to play electric guitar. I cannot play, I plonk, it sounds like crap. But that's okay. Air guitar, baby...air guitar is all you need.

So friend I'm talkin with evaluates these photos.
He sees the halloween one: "SO KISS FEEL D: - KISS feel will own all noobs "
Then guitar picture: "if that guitar look combined with halloween make up --> 200% KISS ownage"

At that moment, I had never heard such genius. I laughed...for a while. And told many people...but now I'm making sure everyone knows about 200% Kiss Ownage...as it will become part of my regular vocabulary. So when I say it, don't be shocked, alarmed, or confused...just nod in agreement.
Finally, one of the guitar pics was chosen.

Now onto other tidbits:
TA's in a slight funk:
Numerical Methods:
My general approach is to write the procedure on the board in a clear/more or less concise way, then show how to use it with the given examples. That part's good. yeah. The booboo comes when I explain. It's like when they ask a question, my answer comes out all wrong and confusing at first (I try to use the "mathematical notation as given in their notes). Then, I decide, HOLD ON MY PEOPLE, I will do this question first, and then if you are still confused ask me. Then it's all good...I'm somehow able to explain it ("yeah, dude, just...never do that for these kinda questions"). Is this normal? Or am I just a bad TA? :P

Tidbit 2:
Saw a friend on friday. Good times. Nearing the end of our encounter...she told me about this Talent Night her department is hosting in april. Her friend was thinking of doing something for it...but they weren't sure what. She thought maybe sing, but sing what? So I suggested, why not change the lyrics of a song to make it suit your field of study? Eureka! So that's what we did!
We ended up choosing the song "I still haven't found what i'm looking for"...and this was the result. (some of the stuff in there is Physical Therapy lingo...like OSCE's, rom's, mmt's. Dr. Penfield is a steep street, and osmer house is one of the mcgill PT buildings. (?) near the physio because it sounds kinda strange)

I have climbed Doctor Penfield
I have run to Osmer house
To learn how to treat you
Learn how to treat you

I’ve endured hours of class
I’ve endured many OSCE’s.
Many OSCE’s,
Only to treat you

But I still deserve more than this salary

I have touched many backs
Used my healing finger tips
That sooth while healing
Massage like no other

I speak the tongue of the physio (?)
I’ve held the hands of the injured
To help them to walk
They won’t face this alone
Mmhmm

But I still deserve more than this salary

I assess the wounded ones
r-o-m’s and m-m-t’s
m-m-t’s…
Yes I’m still working

We’ve come this far and we’ve worked our brains
Carried the books
With so much pain
So much pain
And now I’ll be leaving

But now I can see what I’m working for
And Now I can see what I’m working for
But I still deserve more than this salary

She's gonna show this to her friend tomorrow, or sometime during the week...if they actually decide to do this, I'm gonna be super happy and help them...hahaha. Le dude, slight excitement. >_>

After showing this to a fellow mech. eng. friend of mine, he suggested I write one for mech eng. It sounds kinda depressing. There's no way you can modify a Nine Inch Nails song without keeping the general mood. It's slightly embarassing...for some reason. I'll post it, and then end this long ass blog post (it's to make up for my lack of activity for these passed few weeks. take intermissions if need be)
I used the song "Reptile" because it sounds so mechanical haha. Now, this song doesn't express my exact feelings about the program (there are times where I've been frustrated, but overall it's been alright. I'm not that doom)

Books on my desk wide open to let the knowledge in
Sheets leave a trail of mistakes to show me what I've missed
Solving large equations to show where flow begins
Results from experiments produce these giant lists

Oh mech engineering
With your large course load
My desire or pain infliction
I am so unsure
Oh…
Drill it…

Teachers speak of the way in which things manifest
My head leaves from the droning sound of this torment
Give me something concrete to alleviate my bewilderment
Tell me, what is bending moment and shear stress?

Oh mech engineering
Epoxy resins galore
Lathes, milling and grinding
I can take no more
Oh mech engineering
Forced convective flow
Differential Equations
What else is in store?
Oh mech engineering
One more year to go
Leaving all this behind
To learn something more

AHHH, okay. Stop reading.
Now.

I'm feeling slightly bulgarian

Well, I saw Ladytron on Sunday. I really only knew two songs (International Dateline, Playgirl). But le dude, it was tres awesome...really fun. I could always go into detail about that actual, but my friend Paw the music connaisseur has done that already. So click her blog :P.

I will however show you the setlist:

(yes twas signed by the band - this is not my copy of the setlist...it's this girl we met there, who's an uberfan. We did meet the band though and take photos with them. They're really cool and laidback people. During the show they said come with us to Cafe Cleopatra, right across from Club Soda. So of course, we go...though my friend remembered it's a nudie bar....We went anyways. There were lots of confused people outside when we got there though..thinking maybe they meant cafe cleo somewhere else. So we went back to Metropolis, saw one of the band mems, and he's like yeah, follow me, it's all good. So this was indeed the place they wanted to go to, but the room they wanted was closed - The Transvestite room. He said last time they were here, well the room was completely empty except for some trannies singing, and it was marvelous, absolutely beautiful. Not to mention it was free. Saddness, so we went with them to a club across the street and hung out a bit. The opening band was there too. Their name is CSS - I can only think of Cascaded Style Sheets...though it's spose to stand for CanSeiderSexy.
In anycase, Reuben - another band member is the one we met after Danny. He's also super laid back...though could've been the alcohol or tired neither, possibly both, either way, cool. He'd be dancing around every now and then, then taking pics with people...had a leather coat, made him look badass. Helen left early, so our uberfan friend was quite sad. Then we met Mira...kinda shy girl. I read later that she has a PhD in I think...Molecular Genetics. She's also bulgarian. Awesome! Dr. Mira sometimes sings songs in bulgarian (like true math, fighting in built up areas, discotraxxx) - It gives the song a very industrial feel. In anycase, after taking photos Paw and I left with slightly blocked and ringing ears...but a fantastic night. )

Well, I'm gonna listen to more Ladytron and do some heat transfer...good day.

PS. Entirely unrelated, watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qvDzvVwVtE It's from summer when I was working at camp. We all decided to scream randomly...and it was filmed. Look at the attacked counsellor! aye, I'm too easily amused.
you should look at this too: http://www.keepersoflists.org/index.php?lid=1906
pants pants paaaants wheeeee