Sincerely the young cardinal

Thinking Out Loud

2012-02-10T21:52:00.000-05:00

You know, I've always associated myself with the arts more than anything. I've never really been as connected to athletics or had physical ambitions as much as a love for music or dealing with emotions.
I really loved to watch things take place from afar, and observe and create my own ideas about what they are feeling. I hate interacting with people, but I loved to be surrounded by them.

I've always wanted to be a vocalist of a band for as long as I can remember. I can write; in fact, the kind of writing that goes along with creating lyrics is the kind of writing I'm best at. I have the soul to be in a band and to display ideas and emotions that go along with it... I just can't sing.

I've been thinking lately that I really don't know where I belong. I feel like there is nothing out there for me. A kind of depressing thought process if you ask me, but it's true. I basically dropped out of journalism because I hate news writing, and interacting with people. You need to love both to follow that career path. But I still love writing more than anything.

Iwas walking home in the snow tonight, and I was listening to The Black Keys latest record - El Camino - and man, it just hits me so hard. There is so much soul in that music. It makes me wonder what people see in other types of music, like dance or hip-hop, but everyone has their own connections to things like music. Mine is to rock and roll and music that punches you in the gut and makes you pay attention.

That kind of music is the stuff that resonates with a person and can really define who you are. I don't know, maybe I'm just talking through my ass here, but I really believe it.
Maybe in my past life I was some sort of musician; maybe even a vocalist, and that's why I feel I have such a strong connection to it.

I want to be a vocalist in a band. I just do, and always have. Maybe play rhythm guitar, because I really do not have much musical talent.

Maybe that's what's out there for me.

List of Favourite Albums of 2011

2012-01-10T13:37:00.001-05:00

On my tumblr page I posted my five favourite albums of 2011, and I embed a playlist playing a track from my 20 favourite albums. I wanted to do a little write up of my top five and list the other 15 albums that appeased my ears last year. As anyone already knows, I am not at all a punctual person and have left it until 10 days after the new year to even consider sitting down and writing this post. So here I am, finally, my top 20 favourite albums of 2011.

Read on for list!

1. Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde

There were a stupid amount of fantastic albums released this year, and some from my favourite bands to listen to such as Bright Eyes and Death Cab for Cutie. I gotta say, I wasn't as impressed with my usual favourites as I would have liked to have been. I have this theory that Pitchfork is trying to move this Electronica music phase into the next section of 'cool' because every single album that incorporates some sort of Electronica gets like a 10 out of 10... and for the most part I hate Electronica, therefor hating the phase every artist is going through this year. Both Death Cab and Bright Eyes have added hints of Electronica to their albums this year and I was not digging it. A few records this year have changed my mind on Electronic influenced music, such as M83, Cults' debut record and this band right here, Smith Westerns. Now, you could argue that Smith Westerns aren't really Electronica, and I would definitely agree with you, but they are definitely apart of the chill-wave style that has been really killing it lately. (I would throw them in a salad bowl with the likes of Beach House). This style of music has really been doing it for me. It's ambient enough to appreciate the art in it and catchy enough to want bounce along to the beat. And I absolutely loved the video for Weekend. They just look like these punk kids from the 80's, hanging out and being goofy. Catching glimpses of the 80's influenced Synth, they really did go for the chilled, garage-band sound. I wouldn't say they were lo-fi but they definitely add elements of a hollow sound in a small space. It's a very very cool sounding record and in-spite of my hate for Electronica music - Caribou and LCD Soundsystem, I'm looking at you - I am starting to come around to it, making my favourite album of 2011, Smith Western's Dye It Blonde.

2. The Vaccines - What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?

The Vaccines debut record launched on March 14 and they received a lot of hype before its release. They hail from the U.K. and absolutely kill it when it comes to indie-rock 'n' roll. They have all the pop flavour you could ask for, with enough hooks and very catchy riffs to keep their tunes stuck in your heads for days. I'd say they are very early punk influenced drawing from the rhythms of the Ramones and every other punk band on the planet. No longer will you think of the Flu Shot, with lyrics like
"The angel's game, F Scott Fitzgerald
The evening news and the morning herald," from Wreakin' Ball (Ra Ra Ra) you will be sure to be singing along every time you hear the word 'Vaccines'. The most fun I've had with a record all year.

3. The Strokes - Angles

To be honest, I have just become a recent fan of The Stokes with the release of this record. When these guys came out with their first two records, I was really into bands like Linkin Park... I know, a little embarrassing, but Meteoria is still a fantasic record. I guess you can say my music taste has changed slightly, but I digress. Angles does every thing right. It innovates and stay's true to their original sound, with a little more recording equipment this time around. Compared to their first album, Is This It in 2001, Angles stays away from the low quality style that is the defining attribute of their early work and cleans up their act. #repeat album all day

4. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Hysterical

My number four is by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. On this record I would say that these guys have also changed their sound a wee bit, also adding a bit more Electronica to it, but in a much more pop'y way. It's not trying to be pretentious, or artsy, it's trying to be catchy and fun. This record bumped The Wombats' This Modern Glitch of this list because they do almost the same thing for me, with these guys capturing a little more talent. They both have the catchy up-beat, fun style to them. That's why both couldn't fit on here, I wanted the best variety in my top five, from each style. There is not one thing I liked more than the other on this record, I just really enjoyed this listen.

5. Beirut - The Rip Tide

Beirut is definitely one of my favourite bands, being very unique from most western music these days. With a huge emphasis on the accordion, and ukulele, they have a very European sound to them and that does not change with The Rip Tide. Zach Condon sticks to his very own created conventions here and that is nothing to complain about. Comparing each record to the others, The Rip Tide does sound a little different with softer and warmer tones - in my unprofessional opinion - but everything the recipe orders is present. Beirut's songs transcend to such epic proportions at times, such as in The Peacock, with Condons vocals pressed hard against the harmonies of the remaining instruments, that it's extremely hard to ignore. You drop whatever it is you are doing, and you just stare in awe at the wonderful sound of the much needed break from western music that is The Rip Tide.

6. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

7. The Wombats - This Modern Glitch

8. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost

9. Arkells - Michigan Left

10. Cage The Elephant - Thank You, Happy Birthday

11. Tennis - Cape Dory

12. Hey Rosetta - Seeds

13. Explosions in The Sky - take care, take care, take care

14. The Black Keys - El Camino

15. Real Estate - Days

16. The Decemberists - The King Is Dead

17. Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math

18. Cults - self titled

19. City and Colour - Little Hell

20. The Rural Alberta Advantage - Departing

This is a 20 song playlist with one track from each of my favourite albums of 2011. Enjoy!

Two Thousand-Eleven from heyjomo on 8tracks.

England, The Airbourne Toxic Event and Morning Coffee

2012-01-08T08:47:00.002-05:00

I had the most fantastic morning the other day. It was one of those mornings where everything felt heightened, and I'm not positive why that was. I felt very clear headed and was in a thinking mood.

I woke up, fell outta bead.
Dragged a comb across my head.

Wait... sorry that wasn't my morning, that was The Beatles'... I know, I know, bad joke. Moving on!

I woke up and knew exactly what I wanted to do with my day. It was still January and it was beautiful outside. I grabbed my skateboard, my light jacket, half a pack of cigarettes, phone and wallet and headphones, and started out for a morning coffee at the nearest place that served it.

See, the problem with living in the suburbs is the fact that nothing is ever where you need it to be. The entire trip to the coffee shop I thought about the best time to have a cigarette. (If at any point I decide to smoke, I want to make sure I do it discreetly). I feel like it's kind of a personal thing.

I buy my coffee from the same guy that has been working the coffee stand for, what seemed to me like the entire duration of my high school life. (The coffee stand is about a block away from my old high school). I turned from the counter after pouring far too much sugar and cream into my cup, and remembered the demographic of customers at 1:30 p.m., elderly-folk and new parents.

I eyed my usual spot in the corner of the seating area, near the ceiling to floor glass window. (And by usual spot I mean, occasionally once a month). I noticed about half-way through my coffee that my back is turned to everyone else in the lobby. I guess I'm not much of a people watcher, I'd much rather just think to myself.

It was a this point when I realized I had just put new music on my iPhone. New albums by The Kooks, Arctic Monkeys, Kings of Leon's first record and a band called The Airbourne Toxic Event. I went with The Airbourne Toxic Event after hearing good things about them from my friend Rebecca.

I started thinking about my town and the fact that me just sitting here, alone in the lobby of Fortinos, drinking coffee was probably odd to anyone who noticed I was there. And that if I were in a big city, like Toronto, that this action would be considered completely normal, and not addressed at all. I wondered what England would be like this time of year. I wondered what kind of scene the city had, and I suddenly found myself wanting to go. To just leave for England, and get a job bar-tending or become a barber or something. Not forever, but just for a little while.

My idea of going anywhere while traveling is just to see what everyone else sees. The day-to-day life of someone who lived there. So in England I thought it would be great to just live there, and be immersed in their culture, and by culture I mean the music they are interested in and what local bands everyone is talking about, the films they play on their movie screens. Their house-blends of coffee and the beer that they have on tap. Regular things and regular people. That's my idea of traveling. So I wanted to go to England, and I wondered if they had a great punk music scene right now. I think it was the band I was listening to that got me in that mood. I didn't want to live here anymore. I wanted to be somewhere where I felt my normal was everyone else's normal.

I finished my coffee and headed out to pick up a sandwich at Subway. The only food I ever eat is Subway and pasta, I swear to God. On my way down the parking lot I got stopped by a security guard telling me to dismount my skateboard. My headphones were on so I didn't hear him at first. I have lived in this area my entire life, and I have never once been stopped for skating in this parking lot. I didn't think he had the right. I think I was just bitter.

I started skating, and I starting feeling like this town was all washed up. It hasn't changed, I just think my needs have. After Europe it felt like this safe haven, where I was secure and I could recover from the different languages and moving from place to place so rapidly. But everywhere I looked people were walking their dogs, or walking to their kids to school, or were too old to walk at all, without the help of a device and I thought to myself that I wasn't ready to be old yet, even if I may act like it. I don't like to party, dance music gets me angry, I don't understand half the things people my age are interested in and I wear clothes that put Mr. Rogers to shame. (That last one is a bit of an stretch, but you get the picture). But I don't want to be old; not yet.

So with this new serge of yearning to be young, I threw my skateboard under my feet, lit a cigarette and pumped as hard as I could, as if I were running from an idea. People go to Burlington to retire and settle down, not to live and feel young. I need something this town can't give me anymore.
And I feel ready to go out and search for it.
I feel ready to move on.

I finished my afternoon on the back porch of my house getting ready to type this very post into my laptop, listening to The Airbourne Toxic Event - I ended my afternoon thinking this was the greatest band in the world at that point in time - with a cup of tea beside me and a book called The Underpainter waiting in the ready for me to finish this writing. I never got around to writing this post until this very moment. Alyssa showed up a few minutes after sitting down to write and we went out coffee mug shopping for the rest of the afternoon. I ended up buying a copy of The Strokes' record Is This It for 16 dollars.

I felt really alive.
I really think every day should start as good as this one did.
With great ideas, an initial destination and the motive to paint the world.

The Airbourne Toxic Event - Gasoline

"Is Your Story Worth Telling."

2011-12-10T15:56:00.006-05:00

A question was posed to me today. Not to me directly, but to the internet and I've taken it to heart.

The question was loosely based on what I want to do with my life and about being active versus passive. It's a question that I think about all the time. I am constantly thinking about what I want to do with myself and where I want to be.
But it was asked in a slightly different way this time.
The question was "Is your story worth telling."

It really interested me because I like to think of my life in terms of a movie. I like to pretend that my life is a sit-com or a lighthearted film. It really amuses me to think that if I was being filmed right at this very moment and someone had just tuned in, would people actually watch. Would my life be interesting enough to pay attention to, and not flip the channel? Now, I have no idea what that says about me. But I have lots of fun in life just thinking in those terms. So this question was perfect for me.

If my life were a story, would it be interesting enough to read? And then, you can think of it terms of what you find interesting and what kind of story you would read yourself. What kind of story would you want to write? And I think that's how I live. I want to write my own story, and I want to damn well like what I'm writing. I know what kind of stories I like to read and I know what characters I like to read about.

I wonder if, even subconsciously, we all think this. We all think about what kind of story we want to write about ourselves and we go ahead and make it happen, just by making decisions and existing. I'm no scholar. And I certainly don't study the human brain. So I really have no tangible idea of what I'm talking about here. I just like thinking about these things. I often think that I think way too much and end up thinking myself into a deep hole.
How's that for thought?

But seriously. I want to pose this question to anyone who may come across this blog. Asked first by Adam "SeaNanners" Montoya. If someone were to tell your story, would it be worth telling?

P.S. I just saw The National in Toronto a couple of days ago, and it was the sickest show I had ever attended. We paid for tickets in the nosebleeds, and were given floor tickets half way through the set. Talk about good luck. After the show we got on the subway to go back to our friend Hannah's apartment and a few people from the concert started singing Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks - the closing song, which they played acoustically - and we all started singing along. Such a great night.

Song of the day: The National - Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks - High Violet

Don't Carry It all

2011-10-28T16:41:00.002-04:00

Today I feel serene.
Today I feel like I have an idea of who I am, and want to be.
Today I feel like I have purpose.

The grey skies over my town have moved on for the time being, and I am able to breathe again. I can never think clearly when there are grey skies.

Every day I change my mind on what I want to do with myself, and what I really care about. I have wrote, what seems to me, like a lot of reflective writing since this blogs conception. And since I have started writing, the biggest idea that I fight with myself is over what really makes me happy. And I just can never figure it out.

I have these two conflicting sides. One that focuses on technology and geek culture, and the other that focuses on simplistic ways of life, and tranquility. Every time I become consumed in one more than the other, I panic. I need moderation.

Today I can commit to an idea. An idea that I need both in my life to be happy.

I always pictured myself living in a log cabin up in Northern Ontario, in some forest with a husky for a dog. And inside my cabin, I would have all of the video games and comic books, and geek culture I can get my hands on. So that way when I leave my house, I am surrounded by a simplistic lifestyle, and when I'm inside it I am surrounded by technology. Problem is, I am allergic to everything organic, meaning trees; leaves, pollen, dust. And I hate the cold. So my plan isn't quite perfect, but I'm working on it.

Anyway, today I want to commit to being a journalist. I want to learn everything there is to know about writing a proper story. I feel like I have learned too much in these two months in college, that it's kind of hard to ignore. I need to work harder if I really want this for my life, but for now, I really want to write.

It's this whole idea of talking to people, and getting the story that really intrigues me as a person. Of travelling, and putting yourself in danger, just to be loyal to the story and your readers; to the people. It's like, if I really follow this career path, and I commit to it, I can really make a difference and do something important and challenging. It's a whole lifestyle, it really is.

I feel like I have all this potential for good, and to do something great. I feel like we all do. We just have to push ourselves hard enough to accomplish something in ourselves. And a huge chuck of that comes from taking a leap of faith and not knowing what's on the other side, but believing it's going to make you a better person.

I tend to talk about the same ideas just in different contexts and situations, especially on this blog, because these are the things that are constantly going through my head. Taking leaps of faith, leaving your comfort zones, believing in ourselves. These are all things I always, and will always hold dear, even if I'm not practicing it myself. I would definitely fit myself into the hypocrite category, but I think everyone does. A friend of mine once told me, - what I took from it at least - that it starts with being a hypocrite and having idea that something needs to change, in order for you to change yourself.

So for now I want the responsibility to change myself, and to push myself for something that will give me purpose. And I think writing, and journalism is that purpose. My mind will indefinitely change again, but today, this is need to be to feel like I am fulfilling a purpose.

Song of the day: Don't Carry It All - The Decemberists - The King Is Dead

Superhero Dreams, and Batman Arkham City

2011-10-27T01:47:00.000-04:00

I had a dream last night where I was this Superhero. I had like these extendable circular baton-like weapons with a handle and two rods connecting as a frame, with electricity surging through them. Almost used like Nightwing's weapons. And I was fighting this other Super person - I don't wanna say Supervillian or hero, because it could have been either one - and she had these like deadly throwing discs. And we were fighting on a street a few blocks from my house. She was almost a ninja-like woman.

I remember me not having any super powers or anything, just these weapons and the thought that I was a superhero defending something - either an ideal or an innocent life - and that my opponent was trying to stop my goal, and/or kill me.

And then I had another dream directly after it where my family and I were in a supermarket and I found out someone was initiating *Protocol 10 - from the story arc in Batman Arkham City - and only I knew, so I tried to get my mum and dad out of the supermarket before everyone was killed.

Only, even after I knew everyone was going to die, and I told my parents about our imminent deaths, we all just kept browsing the supermarket like we had all the time in the world, looking for vegetables.

In the game, Dr. Hugo Strange counts down every hour saying, Protocol 10 will commence in however many hours over the prison P.A. So he came over the speaker phone and said it will commence in 15 minutes. So we all started panicking, like this is some surprise that we were all about to die.

It ended up like a Michael Bay movie where my family and I dove out of the supermarket with 3 seconds to spare as some poor shmuck held the door open for us all, when the place exploded and went up in flames.

I still can't figure out why that woman held the door of the supermarket open as we dove to save our lives. Most people would just panic and only think about themselves. But she still held that door open.
I wonder if she made it out okay.

I think I should stop playing Arkham City before bed...

*SPOILER ALERT!
Protocol 10 is a plan where Dr. Hugo Strange basically kills everyone inside Arkham City Prison, and no one can escape, and has permission to do so by the government.

Reflection and News Writing.

2011-10-25T16:59:00.000-04:00

Hello there!

So lately I have been on a little hiatus, mainly due to school. It seems when I don't have time to breathe and stop and think about what's happened, I am never in the right headspace to do reflective writing. The same thing happened last year when I tried to go back to high school. I just stopped writing for a while. So I am currently on my reading week (a week off from school) and am free from stress for a while, which has enabled me to come back here to my blog.

Even though I am free from school, I am not completely free from stress. I don't think that's going to happen for a while. I keep going through my head, what it is I want to do with my life. I'm in Print-Journalism and I am not hating it as much as I did in the first month. I couldn't stand going to class for the first little while, and I think that was because everything was changing. I wasn't travelling anymore; I wasn't working full-time at Canadian Tire, I wasn't just sitting on my ass playing video games (as much). And I had to learn a completely new skill that was mostly foreign to me. News writing.

I am not completely sure why I hated my first month, but that's not the case anymore. I am starting to get a grip on my school life, and have met some stellar people that have made everything better. Everyone in our program hangs out with each other after class, and helps everyone out. They're are all fantastic people, and I don't think I would like going to class nearly as much if they weren't there.

As for news writing. On the one hand it is amazing learning a new style of writing with new criteria. But on the other, it isn't exactly what I would call 'exciting'. You can't expand on anything without having quotes, and you most certainly cannot project yourself into the article. It is the opposite of an essay, and I love essays.

Everyday I change my mind on what I want to do with myself. Something creative. Something practical. Writing. Setting up stage equipment. For now I'm staying on the journalist path, and I guess I'll just see where that takes me.
Taking it one day at a time.

I'll try and write a few more times this week. I miss this.

Stress, and College

2011-08-31T15:22:00.000-04:00

Last week I starting writing down all of the things that I needed to remember to do. A 'To Do' list, if you will. I was thinking to myself at work - like I usually do instead of actually working - and I realized that I start school in less than two weeks. And mildly freaked out. So I grabbed a pen and paper and started frantically writing down everything that I needed to do before school started. The list started out as things like, space ears to size 0g, and buy Silverstein shirt off the internet - They came out with a new album by the way, its insane! - but those began to get trumped by things like, "buy a brand new stinking laptop because my College says so". So here I am typing this letter on my brand new stinking Macbook pro, and I am not happy about it. I have been a PC guy my entire life, and now I need to learn how to use this piece of shinny technology.

So needless to say I have been stressed out hard for the past couple weeks. Yesterday I started getting my shit together and bought my SEVEN textbooks from school... seven. I am not sure sure about this whole Journalism thing. I am investing so much into this idea that I want to become a Journalist, but I am not fully committed to it, at all. I think I want to do this, but I'm not positive.

And that's the whole thing behind Post-Secondary education. You have no idea if what you are spending these insurmountable amounts of money for is going to be your future career, or even if you are going to like it. There really should be a free 3 month trial of College. The worst part is the no gurantee of you getting a job after all of this is over. You can work your ass off, and find out there is no job market for the thing you picked. The only thing you can do is jump in and hope for the best. And that is exactly what I am doing.

After I got home from my one day of getting my 'To Do' list a little smaller, I sat in front of my blank computer screen and thought to myself that, the only thing I want to do is nothing. I have said it before, but after everything that can go on in a day, my favourite thing to do is just nothing. I think it will always be that way. You just have to clear the pallet, and do nothing at all. Revert back to zero, and get ready for the next day.

Cults - Go Outside

2011-08-04T18:39:00.000-04:00

I went on a lone adventure the other day. I grabbed my skateboard and just started cruising. I spend way too much time inside the house trying to think of things to do. Things that I can find to entertain myself. I’m always looking to make the most out of my time and find endeavors that I consider productive, and accomplish them. The ironic thing is that the deeds I consider worthy of my time do not give me the satisfaction that I’m often looking for. I spent most of my free time playing video games or watching movies. When really just going outside and buying a can of Iced tea and skating around town for a few hours makes me feel so much more accomplished. And, I think it’s because we spend so much time trying to fill in the gaps in our day, cramming every last activity into it as possible. We need to be constantly obtaining information, or indulging in entertainment that we don’t take enough time to do nothing at all. And I don’t mean nothing as in passively watching T.V or a movie but literally sitting outside and like smoking a cigarette or sitting on a lawn chair and just soaking in everything that happens in our day. And sometimes I think nothing really is something.

I don’t go to church very often, but the one of the few times I went I remember someone talking about setting aside time for reflection and prayer as being so important in keeping a balance in your life. And it’s the same thing in Buddhism as well, in meditation. Literally stopping the rush and the lust for constantly being on the move and just doing nothing. For some reason I gravitated to the idea of doing less, and getting more out of it. I gravitated towards the idea of cutting off connections and developments and the need to always be doing something and just letting myself breathe. I feel like I don’t breathe as much as I should.

So the other day, after I grabbed my can of Arizona Iced tea, I headed down to this ravine I know of that is surrounded by trees and is quite secluded and sat down in this mini gorge, and just threw rocks into the water for an hour or so. I watched a few birds taking baths in the water. One of which was a Cardinal! And I really didn’t do anything at all. But I loved every minute of it, and it made me feel like I had really done something. Like I had accomplished something in my day. I felt like I really started grasping the fact that less can be so much more, as long as you look at in the right perspective.

So in the fine, prophetic words of the indie-pop band Cults, just Go Outside.

European Photos Part 2

2011-08-02T12:49:00.000-04:00

A Scottish Bee


Rome, Italy

Slightly Unimpressed

Vienna, Austria

An Irish Rock

After All These Pictures, I Only Wish I Took More

2011-07-22T18:44:00.000-04:00


Athens, Greece


Prague, Czech Republic - Lennon Wall


Alyssa, our favourite goats, and Switerland


Budapest, Hungary

Wicklow, Ireland

If Memories Never Faded

2011-07-13T23:45:00.000-04:00

Hagia Sophia, Istanbul

Hello internet!
Looking at my last post, I feel like a pensioner who has just traveled the world, had his fair share of new experiences, and secluded to his life of fishing off the dock, waiting for the next fish to swim by. No, not actively seeking fish or anything, because that would involve participating in life, and that's not something I can endorse in my current state.

It's like you have a few grand adventures, and then they just become memories. And for me, that means fading memories. I have a terrible memory and probably always will. I should take those Omega3 vitamins sitting in my cabinet specifically bought for that very reason...
That's why I write and take pictures, because chances are in two years, this will all be a blur.

On our last day in Turkey we were running late, as usual, and we were on our way to catch the coach bus to Thessaloniki, Greece. The trains weren't running at that time for some reason, so taking a bus out of the country was our only option. Some how - "some how" seems to be the defining term of our trip. If it didn't happen unexpectedly, it didn't happen at all - we found our way to the Istanbul bus terminal and were greeted by a lack of buses. So being the tourists we were, with our rather large packs strapped to our backs, we wondered aimlessly around the parking lot, panicking because we needed to be on an international bus in about five minutes. That's when a very nice Turkish taxi driver approached us and explained that the buses were hidden behind the large obstructions called 'buildings', and we had to 'walk around them'. I know, crazy right? Anyway, we started a light jog to the closest tunnel through the building, with the clock ticking down. The platform that we needed was around one-hundred and twenty, and we were at platform... one. After more panicking and light jogging we jumped on the correct bus, with snacks in hand and time to spare.

We sat down and got ourselves situated at the top and very front of the lovely double-decker coach bus, we stopped panicking and breathed easily. The driver started up the engines and took off. As soon as we started moving a man came around to collect our tickets. I reached into my coat pockets, and I looked at the man with wide eyes. "Oh shit, you've got to be kidding me." Each spot I checked for the ticket got me more and more panicked. Of course I couldn't understand the tall Turkish man, but he looked pissed. It must have took me about 10 minutes - felt like 10 hours - to find my ticket, sitting pretty in my main carry-on bag. I thought I was about to be thrown off the bus, and there it was in the most obvious spot.

After that I got pretty freaked. On a good portion of the bus ride, or at least to the boarder of Turkey (about three hours) I just kept thinking about how I wasn't going to remember anything at all when I was much older. That none of this even matters because it would all be erased soon enough. It's a funny feeling when you embark on a grand adventure, only to think that none of it will be felt ever again. That's why I think writing and recording is so important, because we never know whats going to be around the next corner. But if its recorded at least you have a fighting chance at being able to return to these great places, and feelings somewhere down the road.

Even now I can close my eyes and step back into my shoes, in Venice eating gelato, sitting on a stone bridge with Alyssa, overlooking the canal. As we sit and talk, a man pulling a dolly with brown packages loaded on-top struggles to overcome every step of the bridge. Do not ask me why it would be so hard to implement a simple ramp for these poor fellows to get across these small bridges gaping the canals though. I can remember it so vividly. Like I am still there if I concentrate hard enough. It's sad thinking that this wont be possible in a few years.

For now I wait for September where I can begin school again, and try and remember the things we saw our grand adventure.

More Lessons From an Adolescent

2011-06-20T12:03:00.000-04:00

Rome

"Haldo internet, it's been a little while!

Man, where to I even begin.
The date is May 27th and its about 12:30pm Scotland time, and I am sprawled out on the floor beside our bed where Alyssa is sound asleep. I, myself, haven't been able to sleep properly the last couple of days and have just stayed up and thought about things, mostly what I am going to do when I get home. We have been traveling for almost two months now, and so far it's been quite the ride, and yes in-fact, I have discovered a few things out for myself, thanks for asking. And yes I feel as though I really did not need to travel half-way across the world, spend every penny I owned, flew on FAR too many planes, eat WAY too much 'kebap' to figure out what I did. But lets get one thing out of the way here; I wouldn't have traded it for anything in the world."

I wrote that about three weeks ago. Since then a few things have changed. The biggest one being that I have finally returned home and our globetrotting adventure has come to a close. I wanted to start my returning blog post with that paragraph because A) I slacked really hard on blogging while I was away and felt I needed more in-the-moment writing posted, and B) I wanted to comment on my thoughts only three weeks ago.

It's funny to think, that one week ago we were still in Switzerland staying with Alyssa's family, and now here I am back at my laptop scribbling words into the internet. I feel like an entire lifetime has passed, and at the same time only a few seconds. I said before that I didn't need to travel to Europe to discover what I did, and I don't think that's entirely true at this point. There's no way I would have to learned to love the country I live in and the people who inhabit and the language that we speak if I didn't get out of it. Until this point I had barely left my country, and to really discover what you love I truly believe you need to overstep your boundaries and leap out of your comfort zone. And that's exactly what we did.

The biggest thing we got out of this adventure was a brand new perspective, and sometimes that's all you really need. A new way of looking at something familiar. I learned what I already knew. As pointless as that sounds, I am ecstatic to be able to say it. I really just needed to be able to accept myself as a geek/pop culture enthusiast. I can prove that by saying what helped me learn this last lesson was actually a character from a T.V show, among other things of course. But watching this character be totally cool with being a lovable geek was a big part of helping me look at myself a bit differently. Sad? Maybe, but we all have different ways of learning all the same lessons.

One thing is still for certain though. I wouldn't have traded it for anything in the world.

P.S I want to write more on our travels but there is SO much to cover, its hard to do all at once. So don't let me forget!

The Bank of Imaginary Money, (that we don't have).

2011-04-11T07:29:00.000-04:00

It is 1:20pm on Monday and we just checked back into our hostel in Athens Greece. I say back into because today we were supposed to be on the 10:20am flight to Rome... and we both slept in a little too late and missed it. We reached the airport, was told of our situation, laughed it off and bought a new ticket for tomorrow. They definitely told us this would be an adventure.

So today we are just having a lazy day of catching up on emails, reading my new comic Death Note (that I received from the Athens comic con, Comicdom. Alyssa really didn't want to go but she eventually gave in. So much fun. I will definitely be trying to get to more comic cons back home), planning for our next destinations and reworking our budget - which we have been slightly terrible about sticking to. I say slightly because we're not dead yet, but our pool of money is draining and is being exchanged for food, transportation and water. Because apparently water in countries other than ones you are used to, isn't healthy to drink on the road. Who knew?

We have been on the road for about twelve days now, and so far it has been quite the experience. My favourite thing so far has been, not seeing all of the great sights - although they have been amazing! Especially the Parthenon and Greek ruins which we saw the other day -, but learning how to adapt to the situations that present themselves. Case in point, missing an international flight to Rome, just brushing it off and moving on. No point in crying over spilt Coca-cola, right?

I think my favourite part about traveling will be taking all of these moments and thoughts and realizations and directing them towards our own lives and learning more about who the hell we really are. I kinda feel like I know where I fit now. At least I think I know. Hopefully I will come to a solid conclusion at the conclusion of our journey. Ask me then, where I think I fit in my life and I will be able to tell you. The more things you experience the more you realize what you really care about and what you don't.

I wish I could upload some pictures, but I don't have the technology at these hostels! Meh, maybe some other time and definitely when we return home. But we are safe and sound, in case you were worried.

P.S If you ever travel to a Greek Island, make sure you aren't to stubborn to wear sunscreen... I feel like a slightly tanned lobster.

No Expectations, and No Regrets.

2011-03-30T00:57:00.001-04:00

Rough Map of Our Trip.

This may be my last post for some time on account of our departure tomorrow afternoon. These have been some of the busiest and most nerve wracking days of my life, but the day has almost arrived. Packing and re-packing, planning, parents yelling at you to not forget to do anything. Who knew that this would be such a massive undertaking? Okay, maybe loads of people, but I guess I didn't weigh all of the time and effort that goes into something like this. My first thought was "Hey, I think it would be sweet to go backpacking along with Alyssa and Hannah!" I didn't realize all of the work that really goes into that thought. And when it turned into just me and Alyssa things got even more personal, in the best kind of way. We are going to be living out of a backpack for 75 days. That's fucking crazy. The taste of the nomad life is within my grasp! Now I can find out if that's really something worth living my life for.

We are staying in ten countries and eleven-twelve cities (depending on a few factors). Our main source of transportation overseas will be the Euro-Rail and we're flying to Istanbul Turkey first, with stops in New York and Geneva on the way. I am so stoked, but to be honest I just don't know what to expect. After all of this preparing, I am still no closer to feeling that I am completely ready to take this step. I'm trying to imagine what it's going to be like. Seeing new people, new places, experiencing brand new things. I mean how many new things can one person possibly encounter? I don't know whether I will conquer my fear of heights while I am there, or find new fears. Maybe I will learn to love parties and even people in general and not be worried about random things. I might realize that my naturalistic side overshadows my technological side and that I really do care about our planet. But none of those specifics really matter. What matters is that my beliefs stay in tact and that I never have regrets.

I have a white board above my computer desk, and whatever the dominate thoughts that appear in my head are get spread across the board. It helps me to visualize what I am thinking. I am most definitely a visual person. Anyway, on that board I have had a tag that says "Europe goals" for about a month now. And all it says beside it is "Survive, and no expectations". That still holds true. No matter what happens there as long I am learning a few things I never known before, and am open to new experiences and I come back alive I will be completely satisfied with our journey.

Through trains, planes and hostels. Buses, cabs and our own two feet, we're off. With no expectations, and no regrets. So farewell for now and I will hopefully see you on the other side!
Sincerely, Jordan. (I was thinking of using my middle name, Chuck, from now on. Not sure if that's a sound idea or not yet.)

P.S On second thought, I don't think it would be too difficult to keep an update of our travels on here. Maybe a few short posts and a photo or two at internet cafes when I get the chance. I honestly think I would miss the internet too much!

Cliched Quotes and Wallflowers

2011-03-13T18:57:00.002-04:00

I spent the entire day cooped up in my room with my door partially closed, and barely any light shinning through my window - on account of the gray clouds stealing my sunlight! - while I finished the perks of being a wallflower, A novel by Stephen Chbosky. It wasn't a long book, and was an easy read (tailored to my reading habbits; which are almost none-existent. But I am getting better!) but I really enjoyed reading it. I didn't especially love the book, but it was just a book that was enjoyable to follow and included some drama and, basically a year of high school from the point of a more or less socially awkward kid. I did pick out a few points in it that I liked though.

The biggest thing was that I saw some eerie similarities to the main character, Charlie, and myself, excluding the fact that he has a few physiological problems. But it was close to the end of the book where I just got the chills from seeing so many things in this kid that I saw in myself. And I just wondered a few things. Like how ways we, ourselves, live emotionally can be so similar to completely different people. Whether they are due to home environments or even the things we watch on T.V or read in novels just like this one. Like I live my life pretty passively, I wouldn't consider myself a full-blown wallflower, but I generally don't "participate" in things, I just kinda watch them go by. And that's one thing I would really love to change about myself because its a little depressing sometimes. I believe in fate and destiny, and I believe whatever happens happens for a reason and it's meant to be as a part of life. But I'm not sure I really want to believe that.

(I also just saw the movie The Adjustment Bureau last night and it was also getting me thinking about fate and such, just to add some context).

I'm not sure what I want to believe, but just watching things go by and just hoping for the best, and thinking that whatever the outcome is is meant to happen, doesn't seem like living. I think I'm just too patient with things. I can wait for years if I think that it's meant to happen.

Anyway, Charlie pretty much feels and lives the same way and doesn't say that he is going to change that about himself, but it shows through in his actions. So I kind of got to compare the way Charlie lives to my own life and had me thinking about living my life the way I want and not what other people need. And I'm not sure whether that sounds right or wrong, but it sounds like a good thing to at least think about in this point in my day.

I really did enjoy reading the book I just didn't love it, and anything you can compare to your own life is worth consuming in my opinion. Those are the best kinds of consumption. Ones that you can reflect towards yourself and that help you to think about who you want to be. So I recommend it to anyone who is either socially awkward or into the "roller coaster" of "growing-up"... I just read the back of the novel for those cliched quotes, if you must know my secret.

Later!

"I Awoke, Only to Find My Lungs Empty"

2011-03-07T02:33:00.000-05:00

City and Colour, Bring Me Your Love Vinyl

Hello there!

So it has been a little while since I have written anything, but it is 1:22am on Monday morning and I found myself unable to sleep. With the start of the new week looming just over the sunrise I just could not bring myself to close my eyes and drift into a slumber. Working this much really makes you appreciate each and every second of freedom. I do not have a whole lot to talk about but I needed to write something, anything, down because its a routine that just needs to be followed. What kind of writer doesn't write, honestly?

Since I've last posted I have actually chosen a college to attend to in the fall. I braced myself for the impact of pressing the orange icon flashing "Accept Offer" unlocking the next stage of my life, and took the plunge! Surprisingly no streamers came down on top of my head, no trumpets were blaring in my ear playing the Auld Lang Syne song, (don't ask me why I assumed the New Years celebration song would play when I hit the button) and it was all a little anticlimactic but such a big decision, but the deed was in fact done. So now I am officially enrolled in the Journalism Print program at my local College. And I am on my way to being some kind of writer...
I don't know whether I am more frightened for the world, who just may have to read my words, or myself for producing said writings. Either way I am pretty stoked.

Oh, and I just picked up City and Colour's Bring Me Your Love on vinyl today at the nearest Sunrise Records - felt that was exciting enough to announce. That album still gets me right where it counts. Anyway, it just got released on vinyl recently, so if you happen to stumble across this post, first of all thank you for reading, and second, go pick up this record if you haven't already! It hit in 2008 and is still one of the best records my ears have ever been exposed to.

P.S, if by some shear happenstance that you read my blog before my wonderful girlfriend Alyssa's be sure to check her's out! She's gonna hate me for plugging, but I figured,
Hey, no one really reads mine anyway so it's no big deal right? Also if you do read this, don't think you need be too much of a jerk to not send me an email or comment or something...
Kidding, but seriously we can just shoot the shit or I can bore you with random geek facts, I have a ton of those. It gets a wee lonely on the internet so it's nice to hear from folks every now and again. So do it!
No pressure though.

Alyssa's blog ---> http://windowtalk.blogspot.com/

Later!

"I'm Just A Kid, And My Life Is A Nightmare"

2011-02-11T16:09:00.000-05:00

Spikey Hair Was Rad

I was just reminded at work today what the very first song that got me into music was. "I'm Just A Kid" by Simple Plan. I laughed so hard when I remembered that. My buddy Jake said the title to that album when he was describing the first time he went paintballing. He said that the first time he went paintballing he went with "no pads, just balls", and then I added in, "No helmets either?" Voila "No Pads, No Helmets, Just Balls" the title of the very first Simple plan album. We both got the reference so we had a good laugh... I guess it was one of those, you have to have been there, moments.

But yeah I remember the moment like it was yesterday. Me and my dad were picking up my friend Alistair from Karate one day and that song came on the radio. My eyes lit up like the Fourth of July - the American reference for fireworks works a lot better than, "lit up like Canada Day". Just doesn't work - and I ran home and tried to find the song online, because the radio D.J didn't announce the band after wards. After hours of searching I finally found out that the band was called Simple Plan, and I was sold from then on in. They were my favourite band for a crazy long time, and that song was the pinnacle of my existence for longer than I would care to admit. After that, I started actively searching for more music and that is how I started becoming obsessed with listening to punk rock and later the kind of music I listen to now.

It's just funny thinking about how things began. And yes, Simple Plan is still great, and who doesn't love the video for "I'm, Just A Kid"? Brings back memories of the 90's. When Tony Hawk was cool.

"I'm Just A Kid" music video

How a Semi-Retired Back-packer Changed My Aspect

2011-02-08T18:48:00.001-05:00

~National Geographic Photo, Tanzania~

It is one the most rewarding things in the world to hear stories from a semi-retired backpacker, but even better to see the stellar pictures that complete those stories. Until today I had no idea that one of my best friends dads used to be a story seeking back-packer who, in another life, traveled through Africa. I have known him for almost my entire life, through my friends, and I had never heard the stories he had to tell. I spent about an hour with him just going through old photo's of his travels through northern Africa. It was one of the more inspiring conversations I have ever had.

I had just walked through my friends front door after being out for a few hours picking up some of the gear for my trip. His family was having a Super Bowl party and I wanted to join in on the festivities. Even though I don't like watching sports in any way (not because, I am bad at them; I think I'm actually pretty good at playing them, I just have better things to do than to watch sports), I wanted to pretend like I did for the day as I cheered "Go football!". I hadn't picked a team to cheer for, so I decided to take my standard neutral stance and cheer for the entire sport. I got a few laughs out of that from my fellow sports aficionados, so it was worth it. But before the 'big game' had started his dad caught me coming in the door and asked if I had picked out a compass (I had called them earlier asking where the best place to get a compass was, because he used to be a Cub Scouts leader.) I told him no, because I was really looking for an old round one with the flip case (You know, like the ones in the old movies?) He seemed to have gotten a little stoked talking about travel gear so he went around the corner, out of sight, and came back with a nifty head-lamp that he proceeded to showcase to me.

After a short discussion about why a head-lamp is a good idea, and why the un-flashy compass is better than my ideal round one, he pulled out this folded over grocery bag from his closet. Out of the bag he removed six packages of developed pictures from an old Olympia camera, that was since misplaced in vast lands of Africa, I later learned. He went through every picture and explained the significance and the story behind each one. It was a great experience to hear the stories about real traveling first hand and not from text. And the excitement in his voice, going through some of the photos, was something that could only be seen in the eyes of a weathered traveler. He talked about his expeditions through the great pyramids, and seeing the Valley of the Kings; Laying in a sarcophagus while his friends were snapping pictures, and his encounters with refugees from Ethiopia. He explained that the News is a filtered version of the truth. That we, who watched the News, only see the product of a crisis or problem. For instance, we would only see the refugees from Ethiopia, as refugees from Ethiopia. They weren't always refugees, but we only ever see the polarities to the story. At least, that's what I took away from what his explanation. And for the most part it seemed made sense to me.

He had all of these great stories to tell about all of these people he had met and things that may have changed his life, and they were locked away in a folded over grocery bag. I kinda got a little disappointed in thinking that these great photos weren't accessible to everyone, but that's just the blogger in me talking. I feel like anything remotely great should be online for all to consume. All of those photo's that paint these wonderful landscapes and ancient ruins, and of people from all corners of the world traveling along side him, and then soon after parting ways to carve their own path through Africa. He was talking about the people he met, like one from Ireland, and a couple from Italy, and a slow talking Frenchman, and Swiss fellow and a few Sudanese folks (my aforementioned friends dad is Scottish) and they seemed to have brought back the fondest memories. Him and his good friend traveled most of the way together going south through Africa, from Egypt through Sudan, into Uganda and then I think into part of Kenya as well. This was around mid 1980's when he went so I believe he said that's when a civil war broke out in Sudan, and they were hitchhiking on the back of pickup trucks. They rode on boats going up the Nile river, while staying in hollowed out steel containers packed with people all sharing a single space. It feels like he felt the people he met along the way really made the trip, not the scenery. Cliche? yes, but it sounds pretty bang on to me.

He traveled Africa for a little over a year, and the stories he told, and the pictures he showed me probably did not even scratch the surface of the adventures he had. His camera was stolen after all, so there were at least a few photos that didn't get developed. I wanted to chat more, and ask more questions about how to prepare myself, but I know that no matter how much I plan for this trip I can never be fully prepared. No matter how many travel guides I read, or tips I get nothing will compare to being thrown feet first into a new world, and new people, and to partake in my very own adventure. I think everyone who has a story to tell has to tell it. I think that any measure that can be taken to inspire people to get out into the world and enjoy life, should be taken. He still travels a little, but not to the extent that he once did. Their family back-packed around Scotland a couple years back, so he never fully retired.

From those stories and being in the Mountain Equipment store, and being surrounded by people who chase after life and never stop chasing, I have been inspired to try - and that's a big try - to take whatever I can out of my time on this earth, and squeeze every last drop out of it. Now, I'm not talking about overcoming my fears of heights, necessarily, or learning how to swim without an inflatable floaty duck to save me from drowning here. I'm talking about not waiting for things to happen to me and being a bit more aggressive. But then again I am mostly all talk, and that is why I write. Who am I kidding, I can't form full sentences properly while speaking, that's why I write.

I got really stoked on rock climbing recently and I am excited to see where this stoked'ness takes me. Maybe I'll scale a mountain some day, or climb a glacier. I just think I need to be less fearful. I am a pretty fearful person. But who knows? Maybe I can change that one day.
Hopefully not anytime soon... frankly, I'm a little frightened.

Note to self: Learn how to paraphrase ideas, and not ramble on like a crazed mad man who just got his hands on his first keyboard.

Anyway, Later!

Wishing For Departure Day

2011-02-03T22:18:00.003-05:00

It is a Thursday evening and our first flight to Istanbul, Turkey is less than two months away. It is starting to become more and more real by the day. I keep thinking about our car ride to Buffalo and our arrival at the airport, and how nerve wracking it's going to be. That once we get on that plane - after a few stops in a few airports along the way - the next country that our anxious feet will touch down on will be that of a land which we no nothing about. It's exciting to know that we will have only ourselves to rely on. That we have to break language barriers and adapt to any situation that is thrown at us on the spot. I finally get to stop talking from my chair, sitting at my laptop and thinking about what the world is about. I am finally going to be able to step out of my comfort zone and learn and grow on the fly. The idea of writing in the middle of all of these feelings is even exciting. Maybe being frustrated, and stressed and just being able to document every little emotion and experience, whether positive or negative, so I can paint the best picture I can possibly paint of our travels makes me wish our departure day would come even sooner.

Me and Alyssa's idea of backpacking is a little different than her mum's idea of backpacking - or it could be that we are less experienced. Alyssa's mum is wanting us to pretty much plan our entire trip to the tee, daily budget and all. And we are just not that kind of people. I'm not one to be very spontaneous and impulsive, but there is no way I could have fun sticking to strict schedules and daily plans for two and a half months. Now, we are not experienced backpackers - this is in fact both of our first times backpacking, and we are doing it fairly long term - so we can honestly say we do not know what we are doing, but I think that's the whole beauty of it. That we have no idea what to expect and to just go with the flow.

Most of our big stuff is already planned, like our initial flight to Istanbul and the other flights we are taking throughout Europe (like from Athens, Greece to Rome, Italy) and a few hostels in the busier cities that we needed to book to secure a spot. But we really want to just hang out and enjoy the beautiful cities that we have the privilege of staying in across Europe. Yes, I cannot wait to see all of the beautiful monuments and some of the amazing sights that are available to us on our travels (usually for a fee), but I would be just as happy to walk around the streets with locals and drink coffee and eat each countries delicious foods and sit around, and just kind of do what the locals do. I am much more interested in daily, average life than the tourist attractions. I kind of just want to live with these people that spend every waking day in these beautiful cities that are chalk full of culture and vibrancy. I want to be apart of there culture, not watch and observe from a distance, and a touristy perspective.

I think a large portion of time will be spent getting to these places and settling down, so we will be just happy to sit around and maybe do some reading. That may sound like a waste of time, but I think we make our fun, no matter where we are. That is one of the best parts about being with Alyssa, that no matter what we do, even if its nothing at all, we still have fun and enjoy any time we spend together; and cherish every moment. Ten hours can feel like ten minutes. I can't wait to see the museums that litter the streets of these cities, but I also can't wait to drink wine and sleep, so I guess we have to see how our daily itinerary turns out. And I would much rather it that way, each day just planned as we go. We can plan what we must, and the rest we will leave to the wind.
And possibly the tourist offices.

Cage The Elephant’s Thank You, Happy Birthday

2011-01-18T07:45:00.000-05:00

Some people can make the claim that rock and roll is dead. That it’s time has come and gone, probably at the fault of the 1980’s, (thanks hair metal). But when we finally get to see a band take the sound that blew up the indie radio stations, evolve into something, that at first, made me frightened to like it as much as I did, you can breathe easily knowing that rock and roll is in fact alive and kicking. Cage The Elephant’s Thank You, Happy Birthday is a great step forward for an already kick-ass band.

Cage The Elephant’s self titled debut album surfaced in 2008 and it exploded onto the indie-rock scene. It knocked out three singles, all getting radio play, at least here on our southern Ontario station 102.1 The Edge. "Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked" was even the theme to Borderlands, a very appreciated post-apocalyptic video game. Their first albums tone was picked from a wide range of influences, even quoting to be inspired by Jimi Hendrix’s career with an interview by Alan Cross in Nashville (a host on a segment on 102.1 The Edge). Hailing from small town Bowling Green, Kentucky, jumping head first to the sketchy end of London, England to get inspired by the legends that did it before them, develop a European crowd, fine tune their sound and then continue to rip it in the States to tour and play their music. If that’s not rock and roll, I’m not sure what is.

Thank You, Happy Birthday is the best example of a sophomore album that comes to mind. It’s scary when a band you love changes their sound to one that break conventions, but its worth it in the end to find out that that change is the driving force in the band. Take a look at a band like Oasis, - one of my favourites - you can go from Definitely Maybe all the way to Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants and for the most part the sound is the same old Oasis that we know and love. Heathen Chemistry is a pretty big jump, but it’s not until their final album Dig Our Your Soul that they start to change their sound and break their barriers, and I would say it was a little to late. Cage The Elephant took this knowledge and applied it as fast as possible and produced a much noisier and almost thrash'ier record. Noisy is the word to describe their new record, even in a few pieces like shouting “way back” at the end of the chorus for “Aberdeen“, you can start to see the transition in Mat Shultz’s vocals. Once you get to “Indie Kidz” Shultz just starts screaming like he’s actually in the midst of chasing off a herd of Indie Kids that have positioned themselves in his parking spot, only to succeed and to begin chanting “yeah, yeah”. Or maybe he was just really high, it’s beyond me. The riffs in “Sell Yourself” just yell thrash punk, while a robot voice also starts chanting “Sell Yourself” close to the end. They just add all of these little touches to this record to make it the coolest sounding album.

I was listening to the thing play though my headphones a few times and I got a little scared. I kinda felt like I was listening to something from an Gothic punk-rock cult. I was thinking like, am I aloud to like this? I won't want to drink the Kool-Aid after I listen to this record nine times will I? But alas, I showed it to a few of my friends and they loved it as well. So either we are all getting together on Sunday for an morning ritual and banana pancakes, - to which you are, as well invited - or this record is really just that good.

A little static here, and little distortion there, maybe throw in some random shouting and a few singles and you have yourself a solid recipe for a great new rock ‘n’ roll record. Of course its got your hits, “Shake Me Down”, and “Aberdeen”, “Right Before Your Eyes”, and the acoustic track present on every album “Rubber Ball” that all stick to conventions, but it’s the tracks that blow up the archetypes and leave them a smoldering mound of Buffalo dung that really adds a whole new layer of style to their ever growing pile. Cage The Elephants Thank You, Happy Birthday is not to be missed.

Communication Breakdown.

2011-01-13T20:49:00.000-05:00

I am slowly getting into the spirit of the thought of long term traveling. Two and a half months living out of a backpack can be considered long term for me, seeing as how the farthest place I have been is Flordia, U.S.A. Man that is sad. Going from hostel to hostel meeting people and experiencing a world I know nothing about, while surviving on either items we have brought, or things we pick up as we move around.

- I tend to repeat myself a lot. I should probably move on from thinking about the same ideas over and over again. Or at the very least writing about them -

The idea of getting massive amounts of knowledge excites me. Sometimes I feel as though I want nothing to do with the world and just lay there in silence, with my thoughts and observations, while others I want to absorb everything the world has to offer and be social. Deep down I am very intrapersonal, but on the surface I like to think I am quite outgoing and enthusiastic. Maybe it’s the other way around. Never-the-less, running around in a new continent will be an experience that will open my eyes, if only a little more.

When I look at something I have to see the future in it, most of the time anyway. I have to see what I am doing, where it will lead me, and what I can take away from it. I find it kind of sad sometimes that I can’t live in the present as much as I do, but I like to predict the future, its like a game for me. If my future doesn’t look promising I feel very uncomfortable and stressed. With Europe I see it as an excellent writing opportunity and a time to get, almost, uncomfortably close with my girlfriend. I may even have to learn to communicate my thoughts with her.

I never really let people get too close to me. They never get to know every detail of me, or who I am. And that’s because I just don’t tell anybody - not even the parents - and let them into my head. If I am going to be spending 24/7 with her, she will definitely know more about me than, probably even my parents, which is a little terrifying. But I know its going to be amazing to let someone get that close to me, and to who I really am, especially someone who I care so much about.

I don’t think it’s possible for me to not be sappy. It’s just programmed into my brain. I wish I could talk to people in the same way that I write. It would make communication a whole lot easier.

Two-Thousand and Ten, Farewell

2010-12-31T18:27:00.001-05:00

This is technically the third post I will be making today. I usually hate doing that but a few important things happened so close to the new year, and they had to be said. So with that behind me, I can move on to the last post I will be making in 2010 and I couldn't move on to the new year without taking a look at, probably one of the best years of my life. I suspect every blogger will be busy typing some kind of farewell to the passing year; figured I'd contribute. But don't expect a new years resolution from me. I think that tradition is dumb. Lets get serious, no one follows through. Click the read more button now!

Geez, where has the time gone? I feel like every year gets shorter and shorter. Events in our lives just blowing away before our facebook status watching eyes - I never really got into Twitter. Some people are nuts for it, but I really preferred using Facebook to display quick little thoughts or messages that popped into my head this year. Even though Facebook changed a hundred times a month and was generally super buggy, I love it all the same. It would be scary to see how many hours I have clocked on that stupid website. Everyday I woke up and checked it for any messages or updates on current events in peoples lives. Oh, I do remember taking an entire week off of Facebook though! That was hard... But this year has had so many note worthy and memorable times. I have had relationships end, and others start. I have studied a religion previously new to me. I climbed Mt. Everest naked, and flew to the moon in hot air balloon made of candy. Rode a flying elephant with rockets attached to its sides fighting off an evil alien invasion...Okay, not all true, but you get the picture. A lot has happened!

To kick it off, thinking back, 2010 was a great year for music. At least the music that I pay attention to.

Top Five Albums of 2010!

1. Miniature Tigers - Fortress
2. Frightened Rabbit - The Winter of Mixed Drinks
3. Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record
4. The Black Keys - Brothers
5. Tokyo Police Club - Champ

My favourite album of the year was definitely Fortress. It came out July 27th and it was the most memorable record for me. It was fun, catchy and I felt it was experimental enough to leave some growing room.

This year was such a turning point for me. I feel like this is the year where I started expanding activities from just playing video games to thinking about the world around me, and it all started with my final year of Art class at my Highschool. We were told to create a concept and run with it, developing three pieces of art that all connected in idea - previously posted on my blog earlier in the year. I started thinking about an idea that I had forgotten up until yesterday. The idea that we have to learn about the World in order to want to save it. I really enjoyed thinking about this kind of thing, and especially writing about it.

This was also the year where I decided that I loved to write. Which, I think, is such an important thing in my life right now. Writing really helps me deal with stuff that develops in my head, and gets any thoughts I have out into the world, instead of bottled up inside. I don't feel like I would be the same person if I hadn't discovered my love for the written word. The first time I realized that I loved to write was in my final exam for my Grade 12 college English class taught by Mr. Wilkinson. I felt it was easy, and not very challenging but I got me to think and reflect on my life and to be able to play with sentence structure and development. And it was back then, probably around that time, where I decided I wanted to try and become a Journalist and I started writing on this very blog consistently.

So that means I have been writing on this thing for almost a full year now! Although the direction of this blog has changed quite drastically since then. I was looking at a few old posts and back around this time last year I was mostly writing about World of Warcraft and video game/movie reviews. In about June I switched to writing about different ideas and topics. And I haven't looked back since. But I still do play video games and they are still apart of my life, I just don't write about them anymore. So here are my...

Favourite Video Games of 2010!

1. Starcraft 2
2. Red Dead Redemption
3. World of Wacraft: Cataclysm
4. ModNation Racer
5. Call of Duty: Black Ops

Even though Starcraft 2 was my favourite game the came out in 2010 I never touched the Online. I was just too damn scared to get my butt kicked by Koren kids... those people are way too good at Starcraft.

Weirdly my most popular post this year was the one where I took pictures of me drawing the band mural on my wall, titled Photo Journalistic Blog Post

http://heyjomo.blogspot.com/2010/04/photo-journalism-blog-post.html

I am not the best at reading stats on page views, but I am pretty sure that one is the winner. I really didn't like that post to be honest. I was wearing a really goofy toque indoors, and some plastic, green lensed glasses that I found on the side of the road a few years back... But who am I to argue.

All in all this year has been amazing, and I just know things are only going to get better from here. I have so much to look forward to. College, our backpacking through Europe trip! New fantastic music, and many more video games to play. I know the next year is going to be even better than the last.
"So keep the blood in your head And keep your feet on the ground"
(Really like that song and lyric... really don't like the band. Just sayin')
And with those final words..

Two-Thousand and Ten, I bid you Farewell.
Happy New Year people!

The World Is Just Awesome... Hopefully

2010-12-31T03:46:00.002-05:00

I feel like my last post was a little... misleading is the word I am going to use here. Who am I to judge how you live your lives. I'm a gamer for shit sakes. I sit on my ass and play video games all day long. And when I am finished playing video games, I read some of my comics that I haven't touched sitting in my cabinet. The basis of the geek culture is surrounded by consuming. And here I am telling you that the way you live is wrong? Well, I just got to say that is just not right! I feel like a massive hypocrite for trying to make you believe I am something I'm not.

I wrote that a few days ago while thinking about how I can go about changing the world and making a more sustainable future... and then I got kicked in the pants by my own self-esteem and had a huge meltdown. My self-esteem proceeded to tell me that I just wasn't good enough to take on the worlds problems. That, I wasn't intelligent enough, or it wasn't my place, and that I should also just stick to playing video games; something where it wouldn't matter if I screwed up. A place where I could just respawn and try again until I got it right. No matter how many times you die in a video game, the end never changes. You still save the world. So slapped myself in the face and I started feeling a little better about myself. Cleared my head a bit, talked to Alyssa and got back on the right track - or the horse, if you'd prefer an alternative cliche. I started thinking, yeah maybe I'm in no position to be judging how others live their lives, looking at my own, but we all have room to grow and change. And man does our society have room to grow and change.

I feel like I was saying in my last post "I am far superior than all of you because I know the world needs change.. And I am the one to give to the people!" I don't know, maybe I just worded it wrong or something but I should have said that everyone, including myself, needs change for the world to get better as a whole. Change can be the hardest thing ever when you really stop and think about it. Especially if you don't want it. I am so comfortable in my life right now. I have a home, a family, a fantastic girlfriend. Comic books, my records, a safe living environment. Education, a job, food. A large portion of people living in the 'Western World' have this comfort available to them. It's so hard to ask people to change because of something that may or may not effect them directly. It's hard to ask people to not be so selfish. And I guess that's what it comes down to. At the end of the day, it's all about pegging something much bigger than yourself as the most important idea floating in your mind. And it's not about whether or not you are intelligent enough, or brave enough, but the fact that this world needs help and that you are willing to put other people in-front of yourself. Placing a bigger idea - dare I say, a Global idea - as more important than to simply survive in this world and to work on your Vinyl collection. Now, this is me taking my own advice here.

I am not sure if I have always said that "the biggest problem with the western world today is that the way we live is selfish, but mostly unsustainable" (although it has always been something on mind) but I do know that I have always said that in order for people to care about saving something, we have to know and love what we are trying to help. And that thing is people, and our planet. Why the crap would we want to help people, if we don't like them? Why would we want to save the planet, if we don't know a damn thing about it? And the answer is we won't, not until we discover the good in people and the beauty in our planet. And there in lies why I want to travel. I wasn't sure after my meltdown why the hell I wanted to travel anymore but I am certain now. I want to travel because I want to meet wonderful people, and observe a beautiful planet, and then I will know what is worth fighting for. Then I will know, that we can't afford to be selfish because the world is just too damn awesome to let die.

*Cue Discovery Channel theme song!*

So, for that I am sorry for wording myself incorrectly and sounding like a total ass in my last post... I felt this clarifying statement was necessary.

Later!

This Place We Call Earth

2010-12-31T03:31:00.000-05:00

I like to pretend that I have all of this knowledge of this world I inhabit. I like to develop ideas on why we as people do the things we do. I like to comment on why we cannot seem to create beautiful music, or why most of us cannot be bothered to become inspired enough to change the way our world works for the better. To stop focusing on consuming everything in our sights and to start creating sustainable ways to live our lives. But at the end of all of these ideas, and comments, and this false sense of knowledge are just assumptions, and speculations. I have to realize that I really know nothing at all about the world around me.
I live in this city called Burlington. Chances are you have not heard of us (depending on who you are and where you are from). But we are a moderate sized city of about 150,000 people and we are one of the safest places to live in Canada. We call it the Burlington Bubble. It seems as though as people are struggling to get a grip on a crumbling economy or fleeing a war torn state, we stay completely un-flinched by the happenings outside of our bubble. Oblivious to the outside world. Like we live in this fantasy that knows no wrong. All around us things are changing, or growing, or crumbling, or building but we here stay the same. Yeah, we read the newspaper occasionally. Yes, we watch the 11:00pm newscast. But what do we ever do about these issues that arise on these media outlets? In my opinion, for the majority of people, nothing. Now, this is not completely our fault. We have different goals. We want to raise our families as happily as possible. We want to make sure they grow up and have the life we never had. But when does it get to the point where our children have everything they could ever want and everything else we give them is just excess? The life we had was amazing in our bubble. How could we possibly give our children more than that? We have this idea that we need more and more things to keep us entertained. More stuff in our closets, more junk in our garage. I think its about time we change our goals to something completely different. Maybe it’s time we start thinking globally.

I crave knowledge. I crave the idea that we have to keep learning all that we can in order for things to change. This is my goal. It’s what I shoot for.

I always say that the biggest problem with the western world today is that the way we live is selfish, but mostly unsustainable. We can’t live like this forever. Stealing from the Earth and giving nothing that amounts to the quantity we have taken in return. In order to help this problem we have to know more about different ways to live sustainably.

We can’t just sit around anymore. We have too many bystanders and not enough go-getters. If you see a problem with the way things are run, go out and try and fix it. And that’s exactly what my plan is. To seek more knowledge of this world I inhabit and to get a better understanding of why we do the things we do, as people. I am interested in a lot of things this world has to offer, but the most interesting to me is People. I am going to go out and find this world and look under every rock, and into every sketchy alley way until I uncover the knowledge of this world and of the people I have the privilege of observing every day. I want to live different lives and tell these stories of people from my own recollection and not from assumptions and guess work.

And my first step to discovering this world is to hop aboard a plane from Canada to Europe and immerse myself into these worlds that I have not yet experienced. To get out of my comfort zone, and to jump into lives that are far different from my own. To just leave. Like I have said before, I don’t know anything at all and that’s what I am going to improve.

In March - if all goes according to plan - me and my girlfriend Alyssa and going to backpack across Europe for a couple months and experience another part of the world, and also document a large portion of it. I want to - hopefully she shares the same sentiments - document our travels and our ideas and our successes and our failures and show people that there is not only one way to live your life. That you need to go out and find this life, and jump head first into it.

I have always felt like I had no choice in the direction that my life had to go. Locked into one way of being. High-school, college, work, marriage, kids, kids’ schooling, retirement, shuffleboard. And I was okay with that. But now I see that it doesn’t have to be that way. Life isn’t as straight forward as it seems; at least that’s what I want to find out. I want to give people information on what others do to live their lives. To tell their stories and to hear their words. Maybe I will try writing a short story based on different lives I want to experience. I’ve always wanted to write a short story.

Chances are I won’t be interviewing anyone over in Europe but maybe as a larger life goal I would like to tell the stories of the world. For now, just to learn as much as we can in the two months that we will be traveling for. Any updates on our travels will hopefully be posted here; planning, gear, any tips we may have (don’t expect any of those), insights, and just plain old stories of our adventures. I think I am going to let her take all the pictures. She is much better at it than I am. And maybe steal some of them for my blog if I ask nicely. I will talk about our trip in more detail later on, I just wanted to explain why I want to do this more than anything. And why I have to. I have often said I feel suffocated in this life I live. I want to know what else is out there in this place we call Earth. And that’s exactly what we are going to do.

Later!

Spontaneity Is The Key

2010-12-21T18:20:00.001-05:00

I haven't been able to write anything lately. I have no idea why. I have had a few ideas worth writing about, but I just never took the time to turn them into an article. Maybe it has been the busyness of the Christmas holiday clouding my brain. I just haven't been able to think clearly about, well, anything. I really wanted to write a substantial article that some people might want to read and one that I could look back on and say, "Ahh, yes that was an interesting article I wrote back when I didn't know how to write. What interesting thoughts I had!" But a) That sounds awfully forced and not at all natural and b) Felt kind of boring and fake. Writing is about seizing the moment you are in and shaking your ideas out onto the page/internet. And yeah, maybe you can look back and say "This was something creative and inspiring I wrote that is worth being in a portfolio" But that's not what it's about to me.

To me writing has to be natural and progressive, but also spontaneous, which, now that I think about it, may not produce a suitable career choice for me. One where I would be forced to write under the prison spotlight with a deadline and a set topic to write about. That's not to say I wouldn't take the opportunity if it presented itself on a shinny platter on my doorstep, but I just might not enjoy it as much as I do this. Just talking into nothingness. Sometimes you just gotta write for the sake of writing. No direction; no destination. Just verbal diarrhea.

I think I need to work on my metaphors and analogies.
I wish I was back in school...

Dust In The Wind

2010-12-09T18:02:00.000-05:00

I generally don't like sifting through the past. It's not that it wasn't substantial or meaningful or even regretted. I just don't need to relive something that has already been lived. I guess I'm not much of a storyteller; maybe a dreamer? I like reviewing great moves that I have watched in the past if they were really good. Does that count for anything? Maybe as long as it 's not about me personally it's fair game. I feel like that's kind of sad in a way though. That I may live this amazing life, and I just wont care about it looking back somewhere down the road, or maybe I just wont look back at all. Like the feelings for my past lives just get erased even if the memory remains. The funny thing is I love history. Looking back through time at all of the great achievements of man! And how we got to where we are today and all that. Going through other peoples lives is amazing. To hear the stories that make up entire existences, whether they were interesting people or not. Hmm, what is an interesting person anyway? Who gets to classify someone as 'interesting'? Is it someone who does a lot of drugs and dies at the young age of twenty-seven? Or someone who lives an exotic life, like breeding plants with animals or something.
Watch out for the Venus-Fly-Hamster!
...It'll get'cha.
Maybe I just don't want people knowing anything about me that I hasn't gone through my patented internal filter already. Maybe I would just rather let my brain explode from the, apparent, lack of space to hold all of the shit that I think about. Yeah, that sounds about right.
I am so glad I have such a great girlfriend that will at least be there for the times when I do want to release some brain matter into the world. At least I have someone to share my thoughts and ideas with for the brief moments where I actually want to disconnect my internal filter and just pour everything that is splashing around up in the old noodle, out onto the floor.
These are very soggy analogies... And I apologize.

The Land Where Ideas Roam Free

2010-11-29T15:18:00.005-05:00

Lets hang up our headphones,
and hide our hope in the lands where ideas roam free.
Turn off the T.V's and stash our loneliness in the ever forgotten trees.
Lets join a marching band,
and we will march where our drums can sing through glass.
And if the nights turn to day, and those days come to pass,
we will remember the rhythm of this drumming beat,
that helps remind us of the lives we left to dust in our ever wandering defeat.

Lets pick up our coats and tap dancing shoes,
and take them to a place where our minds cannot choose.
The fear we have turn to graceful sands
that lines the inside of our toes,
that grasp the meaning and purpose for all ideas to grow.

The ink that filled the pages of books not read,
have turned to venom and numbers instead.

Lets lay in the fields of the tall grass never touched,
that slowly turns to ash in the midst of the morning rush.
And wonder about elephants, and mystics, and guns, and hands.
About tree bark, religion, hawks, and plans.

Lets leave this world we know all too well,
for one that fills us with inspiring stories to tell.
One that tells tales of patience and grace, of purpose and place.
Let's bury our feet in the sinking mud that all seems to have been erased.
Our mud must be found, for it is the only place for our feet to truely be safe.
They can walk amongst the crashing waves, and dead dreams left to waste.

As we watch them play and endulge themselves in the wind
that finally blows free,
we can return to our lives of devoid and haste,
and our ever watchful T.V.

Sink, Or Swim

2010-11-19T22:14:00.004-05:00

I have fuckin' figured it out!

Pardon my french, but I have figured out why I was broken for a few days. Directly after I dropped my girlfriend off at her house on Monday, before she left for Switzerland, I saw all of these people, these beautiful, serene people walking around, I felt like complete and utter shit. It was so weird. I dropped her off, and as we were driving home - my mother and I. Yeah I still don't have my license - I started looking around, and I saw these people, everyone, and they all looked so at peace and I felt extremely sad and I couldn't figure out why. It was the most beautiful day and I wasn't sad about anything that happened directly. Even though Alyssa would be gone for two weeks, its only two weeks. I can survive without her for two weeks. So why did I feel like, I had been torn at the seems as it were.

I still miss her like hell, and its only been three days. Is that sad?

I couldn't figure out why, oh why I was so lost, and scattered. I spent all of yesterday ready to start throwing, any object within an arms length, at the nearest wall out of frustration. My room recently feel apart, and I was making a huge deal out of it. Like my shelf literally fell off the wall. And I was ready to renovate the entire thing. Paint the damn thing brown, throw out my T.V, get a futon, the whole deal. I was treating my room, like an apartment.

I started thinking about why I was being split into two pieces. And why I was frustrated. I want the life of quiet solitude, and doing things for myself. Cooking my own meals, cleaning my own clothes. The life I want isn't here. That's why I was lost. It's because I'm not supposed to be here, in my parents house, where I have everything I have ever wanted and everything is done for me. I crave independence.
EDIT: I came to this conclusion as I was watching one of Blogotheque's Soiree de Poche's, The Morning Benders small show in this urban environment - seriously though, either check this band out, or go to

http://www.blogotheque.net/

to check out some of these videos for great bands, because they blow my mind every time. They do such a good job filming these things - and I was watching these guys play and I was just like, Ahh, I want to be there so badly, just hanging out with people like this and living my own life. I could just picture myself living in like Toronto or something with a career and an apartment. Not even filled with anything, just an empty apartment where I could hang my hat, and then go out and become immersed into a rich environment with people living their own way and getting as much out of life and what they have, as they can. I don't know, it sounds kinda crazy, but I just pictured this in my mind watching this amazing band playing their music, and living their own lives.

It's funny. I wanted to go back to high school because I didn't think I was ready to move on. To start the next chapter of my life. I needed to stall for time. The reason why I am split into two is because half of me is holding on to what I once had, and the other half wants to leave more than anything. To fend for myself. To sink or swim. I need to make my own decisions, even if they allow me to fall flat on my face. It'll feel good to know that I only have myself to blame and also to pick myself back up. Maybe with the help of friends, and sometimes family, but on my own terms. No more safety nets. No more scapegoats. Just me and my ocean.

Even if I can't have that right now, at least I know what was wrong with me, and at least I can see what I am working towards. There isn't as much fog on the horizon as there once was. I just wish this day I seek would come sooner rather than later.

EDIT: The Morning Benders - aka your new favourite band - mini show link below!
BOLD = Edited
http://liveweb.arte.tv/fr/video/Soiree_de_Poche___The_Morning_Benders/

One Inspiration, Can Lead To Another.

2010-11-18T12:10:00.000-05:00

School Of Athens, Raphael,
1510a.d -1511a.d

So I came up with a theory yesterday. I was having coffee with a good friend of mine at Tim Hortins and a really shitty song came on the speakers. This happens all the time with the state of modern music, so I wasn't surprised. But then I got to thinking, why the hell are we surrounded by shitty music with lack of morale direction, or at the very least why is it music that I can't personally relate too. If you have read a few of my blog posts you will know what kind of music I like to listen to, and what part it plays in my life. Music is something that is really important to me and it feels like, for the most part, people gravitate to music that they can also relate too. Obviously the music industry realizes this and helps promote music that us kids will love to listen to and can relate to our own lives. And that, is where in lies the problem. It is this big, endless loop of our actions reflecting against our culture, and the music industry feeding off of this, and selling our culture right back to us, in the form of music. The reason I like the music I listen to is because it isn't inspired by the 'club' scene or by 'wheeling bitties'. It is inspired by much deeper experiences than surface encounters, by intimate relationships with people and ideas.

So I have come to the reasonable conclusion that the reason why I vastly dislike most of modern music that people seem to gravitate around is because it is missing inspiration. Nobody has any inspiration at all when they are writing about such trivial things as getting wasted and brushing their teeth with Jack.

Take a look at some crappy music for example, "Rock-star" by Nickleback, yeah we all hate them, but do we have a solid answer as to why? Most people would say, because all of their music sounds the exact same. Very true, but also because it is inspired by things like getting fifty cars and a large mansion, which seems to be a common goal in our culture. If we can even call it a culture. More like lack there of. Great music, literature, ideas all derive from great inspiration. If nothing happens in our culture that merits great inspiration than it would make sense that everything we create, or at least anything that gets publicized is crap and lacks purpose.

I always think about up and leaving. Leaving to a place where inspiration can occur. I feel like we are all living in this fantasy world, where we do not take responsibility for our actions, and there are no consequences for them. The things that inspire me, are things like social activists, and the earth, and sometimes religion. And trains that travel for miles. And ideas about changing the world for the better. And music that reflects a stable lifestyle, not about burst happiness, but sustained happiness. And people with kind hearts. And classic ways of living, much different than our own. And simple things that we take for granted. We have to search deeper for inspiration. We have to go out and find it. Our 'culture' is based on neglecting responsibilities and living fast and dying hard. Maybe I about just talking about the youth of today here. But even still, as we grow up and move on from these ideals, we will still hold them close to our heart. We are going to want to be back here, to times when we could drink until we puke and smoke until our lungs collapse. I just don't think that is something we should be looking back on and wishing we had.

I have been feeling pretty lost lately. Distant. Like I don't know who I am, or who I want to be. I feel like I'm choosing between two completely different lifestyles, again. But the answer to all of the questions I keep asking myself is,

Slow down, take a breath, clear your head and think about what inspires you to live your life.

My morales and inspirations are what keep me alive and are what keep me thinking, questioning and wondering.

I write on the internet because, if I help to inspire ONE person, or make ONE person think a little differently than this entire thing, this rant outlet, isn't a waste. And I will keep writing until that is accomplished. Even if it is someday, I will still continue to write, because one inspiration can lead to another, and soon we have a culture that isn't defined by clubs and getting wasted but by substantial things like hope and ideas for a better world. As long as you keep thinking, questioning and wondering all is not lost. It's when you stop thinking and let someone else do it for you, that we really lose ourselves.

I have kinda been all over the map with this post. I just kinda needed to clear my head. Writing helps me do that. I write on the internet, because maybe, someone out there is feeling the same things I am, and maybe wont feel so lonely anymore.

what i'll be doing for the next two weeks.

2010-11-11T17:35:00.001-05:00

I've got a lot of work to do :P Figured I'd sneak a book in there to balance it out. It's funny how video games have sort of become a guilty pleasure for me. I feel like time could be better spent elsewhere. Although I am not quite sure where else. Maybe writing or playing more guitar. But alas, I enjoy them and I have left about half of these games un-finished so, I gotta complete what I started! But first, my secret project must be worked on, that not even the internet may know... I'll just let that simmer for a little while.

Indie Music Radar: Seabear

2010-11-09T22:41:00.003-05:00

There are only a few bands that can make me happy by just hearing their name. Seabear is one of them. Seabear has been one of my favourite bands for a little while now. I think I stumbled across them from a blog post a while back. It was a mixed tape by Hearts in Clouds. I downloaded his mixed tape and I listened to every track on it. It had a really good variety of songs, both catchy and ambient. But the one that stood out to me the most was 'I Sing I Swim' by Seabear. I must have listened to that song like twenty times a day. It was soothing and warm. It just played my heart strings like a concert violinist. Needless-to-say I was hooked from then on. I still haven't gotten around to grabing both of their albums on vinyl. Both of them are a must have for my tiny collection.

Seabear is an indie-folk band from Reykjavik Iceland. Yes, the land of Sigur Ros. Which by the way, I am still not a die-hard fan of, but I must say Alyssa is really pushing for me to like them more than I do. They are an amazing band, but I dunno, there's just something about em that doesn't sit very well with me. It may just be the echo'y vocals. Woah! Hang on! Don't come at me with pitchforks and torches, just yet! I know someday Sigur Ros will grow on me, just not today... not today. Okay back to Seabear, a fantastic Icelandic Band.

Unlike Sigur Ros, Seabear's vocals are in english, making them even more enjoyable... than Sigur Ros. Okay, I'll stop. I mean you really cannot compare the two bands anyways. Completely different styles and moods. Moving on. Their first LP titled, The Ghost That Carried Us Away was released in 2007. The first album recorded under the title of Seabear was much different, when it was a one man project by Sindri Már Sigfússon - the lead of Seabear now- called I'm Me On Sundays. For obvious reasons I don't really consider it the Seabear that I know and love today, but a totally different sound and direction.

The Ghost That Carried Us Away is a fantastic record filled with melodic tunes that make you feel like nothing else matters. You get lost in the music that fills your head. The first track 'Good Morning Scarecrow' is an instrumental that introduces the entirety of the album. I am actually not a big fan of this for an opening track. I feel its just a tad to pop'y and doesn't set the proper tone for the rest of the album which is much more harmonic and in depth. This is not to say that the record doesn't have its fair share of stand-alone pop'y singles, because it does. But its the connection between those catchy singles and the sounds that make whatever mood you are in melt away, that really defines the album. The last few tracks are the ones that sew the seems of the songs together and make you happy to have been able to just share this experience with the artists that created it. Lyrics like "I grab on hold to the spider's neck and ride out of town Because I'm sick and the days are long" are the ones that help you get lost in the world that they created.

Their latest album We Built A Fire which came out this year is just not as good as The Ghost That Carried Us Away. I have listened to it a billion times, and at first it didn't really stand out to me. By the time I get to end I just forget the whole album ever happened. Which is definitely something you do not want in a record. It is still a good record, its just not great.

Even thought their latest album isn't the greatest, the first one really is! It is definitely worth listening to at least one time, and then a few times over. It just grabs your attention and doesn't let go. If you don't get lost in this record then.. I dunno, you must have like a lack of taste in fantastic music... or really good compass or something. Either or. But, The Ghost That Carried Us Away is most definitely worth your time, and is a great addition to your collection of vinyl! And hey, if you were thinking of buying it for me as well while you are surfing the interwebs, you know where to reach me. I'll just be right here. Waiting. Patiently.

Later!

Link below to I Sing I Swim by Seabear.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pWTVwoecog&feature=channel

Save The Planet. Take The Bus.

2010-11-04T20:46:00.001-04:00

Metric...Wednesday? The Wooden Sky/Yukon Blonde

2010-11-03T20:36:00.001-04:00

Okay so, here we are. It's Wednesday, and I purposely postponed my Metric Monday, for a very specific reason. And did not just forget about it! Last night a few of us went out to big bad Hamilton - which by the way is wrongfully perceived. Hamilton is really great, and is filled with good people to boot. And, no, I did not post a picture yesterday. Mainly because we got home really late, and I got many pictures to post today! The reason we went to Hamilton was to see the Wooden Sky and Yukon Blonde live at a show. And it was incredible! Such a fun time. Seriously if you have the opportunity to see these guys live, do it! And they are still touring together, so here's your chance! Go now!

Breakdown of show, after the break! Edit: Oh and more pictures!

So there we were, waiting in the Lobby at the Casbah, listening to stand up comedy before the show got under way. The people start moving in, and getting in line. Everyone forgets about the comic and gets up from their seats, as the comedian is still on stage, to get into to see the opening band. I'm next in line. I walk up, and the girl gives me the 19+ stamp on the old wrist! So stoked. It was totally the beard, I freakin' know it! I bought myself a beer half way through just because I could, making my night even greater. The other bands playing with the Wooden Sky and Yukon Blonde were, The Social Workers, and These United States. The Social Workers were the opening band, and they were actually really good. A bunch of youngsters from Ancaster, who kinda sounded like the National, as pointed out by Alyssa and Maria. But I thought the dude had a kinda Jim Morrison thing going on as well. And These United States who were from Kentucky, and were a bit to country feeling for my taste. The slide guitar was a bit much.

I'm going to try and not talk about these bands running em into the ground, but I will seriously recommend them to anyone who just enjoys great live music. They both have their own style and sound about them that makes them unique. Yukon Blonde had a nice mixture of upbeat tunes, kinda with a punk twist - I felt anyway. Feel free to disagree - and mellow, catchy garage tunes. Like this is the kinda thing you just throw on your record player and hang out with some friends in your basement and jam out too. Really something special.

Wooden sky brought the folk with them. When we were on our way to the Casbah we were playing Wooden Sky in the car, and our friends dad thought that they sounded like a country band more than anything. I personally disagree, but I guess that's what folk music is, country without the twang and the southern accents. They were up on the stage, which was only about a foot off the ground from where we were, and it just felt like we were listening to friends playing music that everyone loved. It was really homey. When they played it was like they wrote all of those songs for us, the people at that show. It was this really cool sense of community, joining band to audience. It really did feel like we all knew each other and we were all hanging out and enjoying really great music. But the best part of the whole damn thing was after the show, they went out back, into a dark alley, and played a few acoustic songs with all of us who stuck around for a few minutes in the cold. It was amazing. One of em had the banjo going, and they had the melodica going and the acoustic just brought everything and everyone even closer. Like a big ol' family of hipsters. Classic.

But seriously, everyone I saw there, at least 98 % that had bough merch, bought Vinyl. So funny. Nobody I know buys Vinyl except hipsters. Gotta love em. I buy Vinyl, but I'm Hip, enough.

I wouldn't have missed that for the world. It made my horrible work day today so worth it. We were out until like 2:00am and I had to work at 8:00am. Such a great night. Anyway, like I said, these guys were incredible and I recommend them to anyone with a freakin' heart and soul!

For anyone who actually has a heart and soul, they are playing in Toronto, this Saturday - November 6th, 2010 - with Yukon Blonde, at Lee's Palace. Look up the directions yourself and go to the damn show! Ya won't regret it.

P.S Stay tuned in the coming weeks for your regularly scheduled blog post, Metric Mondays... possibly.

P.S.S I am fairly certain these last two were takin' by Alyssa!

Monocrome Makes Everything Look Nice

2010-11-02T00:21:00.001-04:00

Mmmm, Canada

2010-10-31T14:23:00.001-04:00

The Beauty of God

2010-10-29T22:18:00.001-04:00

Just in the Nick of Time

2010-10-28T23:20:00.001-04:00

Ha! Almost completely forgot about my photo commitment. Thanks to my girlfriend, I took a picture in time, with 41 minutes to spare before 12:00am.

Kickin' It Old School

2010-10-27T21:24:00.001-04:00

I am going to try and post one picture everyday. But we all know how committed I am. (Not very, in case you don't know me). Probably not even going to place an explanation for them. But this is my new record player :)

Family Trip Photos

2010-10-24T14:40:00.001-04:00

These are a little out of date. Must have slipped my mind, but here they are, some of my favourite photos I took this summer.

Does Anyone Hear an Alpaca?

2010-10-23T01:06:00.001-04:00

Okay so, since we last talked I have dropped out of Highschool!

/Gasp

Now don't jump to conclusions about me here, let me explain first. I already graduated last year and I was just going back to improve marks and waste time. Turns out I hated going back to Highschool and quickly saw the error of my ways and dropped it like a ton of bricks. And I'm a pretty wimpy dude, so those bricks dropped pretty quick.

So yeah, here I am. Back to blogging. Shesh, that's odd eh? As soon as I am no longer forced to learn things, I randomly want to write and have an opinion again! Madness I tell you. Any who, I am going to be writing a little more again, hopefully, and possibly going to try and dust off the old digital SLR camera that I bought in the summer... and never used, and take some photos. With all of this time on my hands I can start to be creative again! Muwhaha. I don't know why I chose an evil laugh there. Sometimes I think I would be better off making some sort of video blog, or audio podcast or something. My writing doesn't effectively translate my oddness.

Nah, video blogs are to 'hip' for me. I'm just gonna stay right here and try to talk via text. Become more skilled at the written word, and all of that crazy business.

Trip to see his Holiness the Dalai Lama in Toronto after the break!

As stated above, I went on my last school trip to see his Holiness the Dalai Lama today in Toronto. (I dropped out on Tuesday and I paid for this trip a while back, so my teacher let me partake in the event). Gotta say, pretty awesome. Don't want to sound like a un-worldly teenager here, but I really could not understand his English through his accent. And I think I almost feel asleep a few times, not because he was boring, I just didn't get enough sleep last night and it was dark...Yeah, I know I'm a bad person. In my defense he was just talking about world peace and our approach to it as people, and as youth. Kinda interesting but not about Buddhism, which is really what I wanted him to talk about. Buddhism and its influence in the Western World. I really should have read the brochure.

The biggest thing that stood out to me was the idea that our generation is one of passive by-standers. Totally agree with him on that point. We are all a bunch of lazy, good for nothing kids that play video games where we shoot people. It's true. We really need to go to find a way to motivate ourselves and try and help out society in some way, any way possible. Because we really are not helping by sitting on our asses and liking comments by our friends on Facebook. I obviously don't have a solution to this problem because I am a lazy kid clicking the Like button on Facebook, but if any of you have an idea, by all means, follow it to your hearts content.

Oh, side note, and I saw the Social Network with a few good friends, boring as hell. If I wanted to see a couple of rich kids in several lawsuits, I would just....(insert punch line here).

Felt like rambling. Might as well apologize for anyone who got this far. My bad :). Take care.

Metric Mondays: Hey Rosetta!

2010-10-11T15:02:00.001-04:00

I go through phases in music. I flow from genre to genre. There are so many types of music, and bands to listen to, you gotta keep checking out new sounds and moving around to different areas of music to hear the great stuff artists are producing these days. I have been moving around in the folk-indie scene for some time now and I am really loving all of the music people in this genre create. I really love how most of the bands in this area go beyond the traditional four-piece rock band set and add in instruments with more range, like violins, cellos, and even banjos (Mumford & Sons). I feel these extra instruments, often known as classical instruments, add so much more depth to the sound.

Hey Rosetta! Have been one of my favourite bands to listen to in the indie-folk scene lately. I even got to see them live here in my home town, even before I knew who they were. They hail from St. Johns, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada, and the more Canadian a great band is, the better. They have come out with two albums so far, the last one called Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood). This Album is great on so many levels. The songs on it are so powerful by the time they get to the end, that its like being enveloped by a giant alien tractor beam. They often start off slow, and somber with the string section of the cello and violin and then ramp up to a robust conclusion. They are definitely light on the folk part but its still present, mainly focusing on the indie and many rock elements with underlying solo-esque guitar riffs and hardy vocals as the track discovers its climax. These guys know how to write a song.

So if you are looking for a new band to listen to with a slow but purposeful start, that develops into a powerful conclusion, check these guys out! They help give the folk-indie scene the great name it deserves. Much better than any Lady Gaga, or Kesha have ever done for modern music! They give our generation a horrible name, Oh and Jersey Shore, is not making it any better! If you have any hope for our generation or modern music, spread great tunes around and help drown out that crap they call music, and listen to great bands like Hey Rosetta!

That is all. Take care!

Wha...Where Am I? No...No.....Not Here, Anywhere But Here! Not.... High School!

2010-09-23T20:34:00.001-04:00

It took me three weeks, but I have finally realized it. Holy shit, I am freakin' still in highschool. I feel like I just stepped out of a musty old basement that I have been fumbling around in the dark in, while looking for the damn pull chain for the light switch, before seeing the truth. And just when I yanked that pull chain for the light switch I realized, that that basement wasn't a basement at all, but it was a small-children infested highschool, complete with petty drama, and the first week flu. (I was going to say a pack of hungry coyotes surrounding me, with snarling teeth, but, I figured small flu infested children was a fair supplement.)

Do you always realize that everyone gets sick in the first three weeks of school? Yeah, that's because it's just a big ol' gathering place for germs! And I'm no germaphobe, but getting sick sucks.

Anyway, so here I am, back at highschool. I really should not be here. I'm just killing time, is all. I have felt like crap lately though. I dunno what it is, I just feel, really lonely. I gotta find myself a girlfriend, it's killing me! Not desperate or anything though. But I like long walks on the beach, and I hate Sushi, in case anyone wants to know.

The only thing that is keeping my sane is Writers Craft. A course completely dedicated to creative writing. Ahhh, refreshing. Feels good to be studying something that you love. And that reminds me, I haven't posted on here since school started. I have just felt to crappy to write outside of school. But that all changes today! So I guess highschool isn't all bad. I have a spare right after lunch, meaning my lunch is extended to about 2 and a half hours, so I spend that time hanging with Alyssa mostly, and anyone else we can find to keep us company. But still, feeling really lonely. Alright, I have rambled long enough. No need to over do it. Hopefully I will write something a bit more substantial next time, but until then...

Take care!

The lost Tape: Side B

2010-09-07T08:57:00.000-04:00

Song list for Side B of Mixed Tape

1. Leaves in the River - Sea Wolf
2. Her Words Destroyed My Planet - Motion City Soundtrack
3. Natural Disaster - Andrew Bird
4. Collector - Here We Go Magic
5. Hummingbird - Born Ruffians
6. The Ballad of Michael Valentine - The Killers
7. Gyasi Went Home - Bedouin Soundclash
8. Month of May - The Arcade Fire
9. Territory - Two Hours Traffic
10. Boston - Vampire Weekend
11. I Was A Teenage Anarchist - Against Me!
12. The Loneliness - Frightened Rabbit
13. Lisztomania - Phoenix
14. When We Were Young - The Wooden Sky
15. This Charming Man - Death Cab for Cutie
16. Winter Winds - Mumford & Sons

Combined Playlist: All tracks combined into one track.
http://www.mediafire.com/?5cmrcl18ba4tg3c

Single Files Link: Each file is separate.
http://www.mediafire.com/?e311djcj5m2at

Metric Mondays: The Mars Volta

2010-09-06T20:08:00.001-04:00

I don't know if any of you have heard of these guys but I checked them out yesterday, and the first way I was exposed to them was a live performance on Youtube and I just thought to myself "These dudes are clinically insane" I mean they were going nuts. They would probably put on one of the best shows ever. Like for instance, the lead singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala, was jumping around the stage, throwing the mic stand in the air and then catching it upside down while carrying on with the song. Nuts.

Their sound really interested me, and the lead vocalist had a really dynamic voice. He almost had a Robert Plant thing going on, but if Robert Plants voice progressed to this aggressive style of music. The kind of music they are categorized under as is in fact called progressive rock. Not for the reason I just stated but it is defined as

"Explore[ing] extended musical structures which involve intricate instrumental patterns and textures and often esoteric subject matter."

I took that definition to mean having a very, very complicated, almost mathematical, approach to musical structure, and these guys have that in every sense. The time signatures seem crazy me, and some of their tunes seem random and spontaneous like they had just thought it up on the spot. Another band that did the same thing and reminds me of having the same approach as The Mars Volta, was Protest The Hero but those guys are much heavier and definitely on the metal side, as apposed to The Mars Volta being alternative-progressive rock and roll.

Anyways, if you are looking for something a little different, and a little crazy, check them out. I have enjoyed the stuff I have heard so far. I just picked up their latest album, Octahedron which has a lot slower tunes then stuff off of their older albums but awesome none-the-less.

Video is a little bit of an interview and then Cotopaxi, off the album Octahedron by The Mars Volta.

The Lost Tape: Time Capsule

2010-09-03T15:00:00.001-04:00

So while I was making my epic list of summer goals I decided I wanted to make the best and most thought out mixed tape I that I would ever make. I have made a decent amount of mixed tapes in the past and most of them take me quite a while because I need to get the perfect song list in the perfect order. When I started out to make this tape I decided I wanted to put absolutely all of my favourite artists at the time on it. As it turns out I have thirty-one favourite bands right now and I was determined to get them all down on this thing, so I split them into two playlists, a Side A and a Side B.

Now, after this thing was constructed I thought it was just too awesome to keep all to my lonesome on a blank CD that nobody could listen to, so I remembered a blog I read a little while ago called Hearts in Clouds, a really cool blog by a musician that has since stopped writing - to the best of my knowledge but the blog is no longer active. But he used to make these mixed tapes of music that he uploaded to the internet, and that portrayed different moods, like one was called Grey Weather and was a little slower and, well, gray. So I thought that I could take my favourite bands of this summer, in 2010 and put together my own little playlist and upload it to the internet as well, only mine would serve as a time capsule to my life and the music that I found interesting. I bet in twenty years my music taste will be completely different, which would make finding this lost tape so much more entertaining. So off I went.

With the idea that I wanted to take this playlist and upload it to the internet for me to remember and for all to download if they so choose, I set out to find appropriate software to meet these goals. I found a few websites that have worked for me. The first is called Mediafire. This site is great for finding music that people upload, like entire albums of bands and most of the time you can find what you are looking for. I use it frequently to download albums from the bands that I listen to. So I signed up for an account - the free version - and I started uploading my playlists onto it, the only problem was, with the free version you could not make more than one file download-able all at once. So like if I put ten files into a playlist I couldn't download all ten files at one time, which is lame because it would be so much easier to just click on the playlist and download the whole thing for listening.

So off I went again to look for a solution. I came across a program that combines multiple files into one file called MergeMP3. So essentially I would take all fifteen tracks from the first playlist and combine them into one track. Now this works in some ways and lacks in others because you wont know which band is which if you want to download the songs individually later. But I figured that if I put a link to the single files, that you could download them one by one if you wanted to, it may be hard to find out which song on the combined playlist goes with which band, but if you really want to get the track, I dunno, let me know or something.

With the combined track, I intended it to be just an easier access to the playlist, I mean you can listen to the thing once through and hear some great music, you might not know who it is done by but as long as you enjoy listening to the thing once its all good by me.

So this playlist is, pretty much, all of my favourite bands all in one place with a favourite song from each. The genre reaches from Indie, to Baroque rock, to Punk, to just plain old Rock so I think their is something for anyone to at least find interesting in there and again this is just the first half.

Song List:
1. American Slang - The Gaslight Anthem
2. Our Mouths Were Wet - Oh no! Oh my!
3. Return The Favour - The Hives
4. It's all Gonna Break - Broken Social Scene
5. James Brown - Cage The Elephant
6. Four Winds - Bright Eyes
7. Favourite Colour - Tokyo Police Club
8. Taper Jean Girl - Kings of Leon
9. Satellite Mind - Metric
10. The First Days Of Spring - Noah and The Whale
11. Libraries - Seabear
12. In The Areoplane Over The Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel
13. Handshake The Gangster - Hey Rosetta!
14. Hysteric - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
15. John Lennon - Arkells

Combined Playlist: All tracks combined into one track.
http://www.mediafire.com/?aahdtqxdalofd4c

Single Files Link: Each file is separate, but can only download one at a time.
http://www.mediafire.com/?7sgb71lla4vsw

Hearts in Clouds Blog: Great blog where I got the idea from.
http://meondancemachine.blogspot.com/

The Faithful List; A Story Soon To Be Written

2010-08-31T21:03:00.001-04:00

Alrighty Folks, so it seems that I totally forgot about my Metric Mondays blog post commitment, for it is Tuesday and on Monday there was no Metric Monday blog post. To be honest, I was hanging out with a friend of mine, playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, admittedly not the most productive way to spend an evening but fun nonetheless. It's a damn good thing no one reads this or hangs on my every word, or else there may be some disappointed people out there. Meh, its not like I advertise this thing anywhere important, hell I don't even tell a lot of people about it. Maybe I should place vibrant posters around town, that say in neon lighting "Sincerely, The Young Cardinal - Join me in the fight for revolution!" That'll get some attention... What was I talking about? Oh yeah Metric Mondays, right, I will try and write two posts about music next Monday, hows that sound?
I'm glad you agree, so on to the big topic! My awesome Summer list.

So I made a list of things that I needed to accomplish before summer ended, to feel like I have actually done something this summer other than sit on my hiney and think about what I want out of my life. The list I made wasn't huge or filled with impossible tasks, but just enough to record and allow me to move around and get my hands on some motivation! Because that, I would say, is my biggest flaw. I have no motivation, which is why I am working on it. That list is as follows:

The Rest of Summer List: August 15th - September 7th

1. Read five books
2. Stretch ears to size ten or twelve
3. Start a brand new blog
*4. Create the best mixed tape ever - For Music Time Capsule
5. Make a killer tag
6. Buy a gray toque
7. Get a hair cut
8. Beat a video game
9. Continue to write on blog once a week
10. Work on a flaw within myself

Optional:
Learn to cut own hair
Learn to actually cook food.
Obtain M (motorcycle) license

I am pleased to announce that I, Jordan Morrison... have not finished everything on this list and I am not gunna tell you which ones. Mainly because that wasn't the point of the list. The point was to have a set of goals to shoot for and try my hardest to obtain, and to give me the satisfaction of having completed little achievements that may or may not amount to anything at all. Having them be rewarding in their own right was an added bonus. The point wasn't to have these specific goals completed, but to have completed any goals at all. I could have made them been pointless things like, eat 25 bowls of cereal - like a video game achievement - and my point would have still gotten across. That I need to set goals and then shoot for them.

But I am truely proud to announce that I have indeed completed a vast majority of these goals, but have gotten stuck on a few, not because they are hard, but just that I haven't gotten around to doing them. So my motivation flaw is not fixed, but at least I am trying. Seeing a flaw within yourself and then working to try and fix it. Goal number ten, completed.

P.S * This is a project that I have been trying to put together and I will explain another time. Possibly Tomorrow, if I remember. I got the idea from another bloger that has since stopped writing but I'll make a link to his blog and explain my Music Time Capsule next time. Until then, PEACE!

Written Trailer for... The Faithful List; A Story Soon To Be Written.

2010-08-25T20:46:00.000-04:00

Epic Movie Voice;
The date, was August 15th. The mindset, was "Holy crap, I accomplish nothing!" A list of goals was prepared, for a lonely soul to accomplish in the coming weeks, leading up until... The first day, of grade 12.5.
The holiest of lists. Containing only the most worthy of goals. But what started out as a leap of faith, into the arms of accomplishment, soon developed into a curse of the unworthy, and the overwhelmed.

This Summer;
Comes a story about loyalty.
Determination.
Perseverance.
And most of all, faith.

A story that has critics raving "THE FEEL-GOOD BLOG POST OF THE SUMMER"
Rolling Stone - "DON'T MISS THIS!"
Rotten Tomatoes - "THIS MASTERPIECE BEGS FOR A SEQUEL"
A Friend, of a Friend - "NONE STOP ACTION... DUDE"
A local, stray, Dog - "BARK, BARK...awesome"

A story by, Jordan Morrison...
Directed by, James Cameron...
Bringing you,

The Faithful List; A Story Soon To Be Written.
Coming to a Blog post near you.

Really fast legal voice;
All quotes were completely made up, and most definitely fake. All credited quotes were written and created by yours truly. The story is real.

Metric Mondays

2010-08-20T15:46:00.000-04:00

And I know its not Monday.

So I have been thinking all week long about whether or not to make an entirely new blog in which I can scribble even more words on, like maybe one dedicated to just music, because I can talk about music all day long and I haven’t posted anything about the music that influences me on this here blog yet. And I have also been contemplating making a Tumblr account at which I can just write wee bits of things that I want to talk about, because frankly I think I write far too much un-needed content and I need to learn how to just write the important stuff. So after much consideration and thought, weighing the odds, drawing names out of hats, flipping coins, rolling dice...

I have decided to start posting about my musical ramblings on this blog, with a weekly deadline of Monday and I think I’ll just call it Metric Mondays after one of my favourite bands that starts with an M, Metric. And, start a tumblr account and post different bits of music that I bump into and feel like talking about while still maintaining my personal posts and thoughts on here!

Creating a new blog was one of my half-way-through-summer goals but I’ll explain that stupid thing later. But for the tumblr account I will be posting things like movies I’m stoked about or new music that I stumble across, or video games that I am interested in. Kinda the pop culture side of me, you know, side A of my persona? This blog will continue to be about the, newly founded, B side of my persona, surrounding the three things that are quite new to me but I feel need a hell of a lot more exploring, Photography, Journalism, and Traveling while adding a music portion.

I am sick and tired of posting things on my Facebook status so whatever I would usually post on there will be thrown on to tumblr. Facebook is just getting on my nerves, the whole public social media thing, I dunno, I think I just need a little more privacy. So if you want to hear about a movie I am going to see or a new album I started to listen to, Tumblr is where you wanna be! Other than that, keep it here.

Whew, that was a lot to explain. More on my stupid Summer Goal list and my Musical Time Capsule project at a later date!

P.S I am still adding the writings from my Road Trip sporadically throughout time but I am just getting bored of posting those, so they will be dispersed throughout other posts.

The United States of America, Road Trip: Part 2

2010-08-15T15:20:00.000-04:00

Okay so we are on day number two of the family road trip, and I am still writing about it. Sometimes I just amaze myself. But where are my manors, here let me sum up the trip so far: We drove in the car... and drove in the car... oh and drove in the car some more. Took a few pictures, - one of a giant sign saying EAT. See we don't have those in Canadia, therefore it interests me - ate some road food. Really nothing interesting enough to write about but alas here I am, writing about it.

Shortly after I wrote my first entry in this, cursed, line less book I said to myself:

"Well, shit, writing without using lines is a horrible idea. It's the messiest collection of letters and words that I have ever seen, let alone written. Why didn't you just stick with what you do best and use the safe, secure, laptop?

I then Rebutted the debate with the following thoughts:

"Well, you see Jordan, its good to try different things and styles and the mistakes you make only solidify your learning experience and they help you to learn what not to do for next time. An ancient proverb states that "experience is what you get when you don't get what you want".

Yet again the argument with myself continued.

"Even if this is true and I should appreciate the "experience" that I get from using pen and paper, - which by the way keeps jumping across the page with every crack in this damn road! - why didn't I at least bring a suitable journal that included lines!"

Closing Statements:

"I agree. You are a dumbass".

So there you have it, first hand proof that I am clinically insane for having resorted to having conversations with myself. This was my last option on this trip because my brother, who happens to be no more than a foot away, has recently made me mildly upset on account of my trying to punch him, failing miserably, and severely damaging my right thumb, making this entry a pain in my rear to write. I will tell you one thing though, those steamy Appalachian Mountains - and man were they ever steaming! - were a great sight to behold, even if the rest of the trip consists of me staring at the yellow line painted on the cement and following it into the abyss... to infinity and beyond!

I miss neat, straight lines...

Run Away

2010-08-11T09:02:00.001-04:00

Does anyone else ever feel suffocated by all of the shit that we surround ourselves with? Like our expensive gaming systems or our big screen T.Vs? Then when try to fill our loneliness with artificial acceptance like watching other peoples lives on T.V shows, and feeling connected to the characters in them? And sometimes you just want to take all of the stupid shit that we entertain ourselves with, and consume, and get rid of it all and start fresh. Maybe live out of a backpack with only few things to keep you sane, creating a little stability, something that will stay constant. Like a small musical instrument that you can take out whenever you feel lost and then just… leave. It wouldn’t even matter where, just as long as you can breathe.

I just want to find the closest tall building and throw all my “entertainment products” off the highest peak of it. My stereo, my Playstation, my T.V, even this computer that I’m typing this damn message with, will be aggressively tossed off the edge and hurled into the tough concrete that our fucking society is build on top of. All of those highways and intersections, that were built through forests and streams. And maybe below the skyscraper that I throw all of my useless, trivial shit off of, I will make a hole in that destructive concrete so the city will have to clean up my mess, and fix the hole that I made. Maybe it will give someone a job, or something to do rather than watching their L.C.D T.V.

How about if you have ever felt so damn lonely in your present environment, with no signs of change in the immediate future, that you just want to leave everything that linked you to that environment behind and skip town. Run away. If theirs nothing left for you here, then why not leave? Try your fate in another environment. In another life. You may be missed but you might find whatever it is you were looking for. Something to fill your in-between, your purpose in life. Something that makes you want to wake up in the morning, and not regret the choices you have made to get to where you are. All it would take is a little courage, and a hell of a lotta faith to let you believe that there is something else out there for you, maybe even your destiny.

Why do so many people feel the need to stay in an environment that does not make them happy? Is it the sense of responsibility, that you have an obligation to stay in one place and live a certain life? Why do we get so tied down in our current state that it is impossible to leave it behind. Is our seniority at our unfulfilling jobs that important? Are our health benefits and profit sharing opportunities that accommodating that it makes you happy, or fills you with a sense of pride to be apart of it? At least in my mind, at this point in my young life, these things are not what can make me happy, finding out what I was meant to accomplish in my life does. I cannot live my life being strangled like this. With all of these useless, unproductive luxuries surrounding me in an environment that I am supposed to feel welcomed and accepted in. But how can I feel accepted in place that is so unnatural, and makes me feel as if I can no longer breathe? Sometimes running is the only right answer.

Tis’ he who fight and run away
Lives to fight another day.

The United States of America, Road Trip. Eh?

2010-08-05T16:28:00.000-04:00

Okay so it is the night before departure of our week long road trip with the family and I have decided to record and document a few things that happen on it. If I want to be some sort of journalist I’d best start acting like one, am I right? I have chosen to write with pen and paper on this snazzy hard covered sketchbook that I bought in my last year of art class, in high school. The only problem is, it does not have any lines on it…

First off I would like to note that since I have started writing, not to long ago, I have only done so on my laptop, obviously using a keyboard. Where everything is neat, and tidy. What I am getting at here is that, I WILL HAVE NO SPELL CHECK!, and quite frankly I am scared. On Microsoft word everything is all lined up and the correct font size is present, and most importantly everything is spelled correctly. I am a horrible speller, so this is a problem for me and my words. I even used to cheat off of my friend Aman in grade school because I was so bad, and she was always excellent. Don’t tell Mrs. Eaton though, lets just keep that between you and me.

Anyway, I have also brought along my trusty camera so I can take some shots and help visually represent this family, documentary, thingy - this is kinda sad that I am documenting our family road trip, meh, we all have to start somewhere. The last time I did something like this it was in like grade 4 and that was by force. This, hopefully, will be a much different experience, although the writing might not be extraordinarily better then last time. All of my focus during this trip will be on this little, tiny, minuscule, project, no matter how crappy it turns out. I mean really, how much fun can writing, let along reading about a family road trip be? Feel free to skip over this series of posts, if you wish.

But I want to be a journalist more than anything, I may even quit my job to get some more study time in next semester in high school, so hopefully I will look back at these, and read them in about 10 years and see how crappy I was at writing, and recording, and documenting and have a slight chuckle, or even a huge howl on account of its massive suck'ness, but still to remember that this is where I began my journey, and everyone knows it’s the journey and not the destination that really matters. I will try and write each and every step of the way. I just hope my favourite pen doesn’t run outta ink.

Future Me
P.S Okay so this series is about 3 or 4 posts long, including the past one about my life and what I want out of it, which was written about half way through the trip, and modified when I got back. I took some great photos - well, I think they are pretty great - while I was there and I think I’m just going to be putting some up with each post I make. And maybe make an entire post with my favourite shots I took at the end. I got a lot of writing done, and had fun doing it so, here they come!

The Sweet, Natural Sound of Pawn Shop Harmonica.

2010-07-31T22:50:00.001-04:00

These days I always feel like two separate parts of me are in constant competition with each other. Parts of myself that are complete opposite and can never co-exist. Lifestyles that can define who I am, I just can’t seem to choose which one is really me.

On one hand I used to be, and still kinda am, what people call a gamer. Someone who knows practically every video game ever released in his/her lifetime, as well as the classics, the companies that make them, and even some of the voice actors in some games. I have a large stack of video games that lie in my basement that are used on one consol and another that lie on my bedroom floor that are played on a separate consol. I have games coming out of my eyeballs. I just don’t seem to be as heavily engaged in them anymore, or at least as much as I used to. Video games were my life. But that’s just it, they are just games, right? Well, to some that may be true, but to others it’s a lifestyle. If you walk around an average high school filled with kids, or even possibly an office stuffed with aspiring businessmen and women you will find that video games take up a lot of time in the lives of many, and are discussed everywhere, online and offline. People everywhere are having Lan parties with friends, playing Super-Smash and drinking Monster energy drinks to keep your, oh so dreary eyes open, for just one more round. Going to midnight releases for games such as Gears of War 2, were just things that added a sense of depth to the gaming lifestyle, one that I used to love, and maybe still do love.

Now the whole other side of me that causes competition within myself, is a much more natural, and less technological lifestyle. One that wants to travel and experience different societies, and write my own stories instead of primarily consuming them in video games. I guess it looks like it’s the westernized consumer in me versus the starving for knowledge naturalist. Who tries to read books and lives healthier, drinks tea, and searches for great stories to tell and never lets their mind become lazy. Creates instead of consumes. It sounds like it’s the laziness versus the adventurous side in me.
Exploring the couch instead of the world. Watching Life pass by instead of Living it.

“The world is a book, and those who don't travel only read one page.”
-St. Augustine

I think I just answered the grand question of who I really am, and who I want myself to be, for myself. I just need to have to strength to not sit idle and watch life progress, but to do things and create things and to be somebody. Not to sit on a couch, stare a T.V screen, and watch other peoples lives pass by, be it fantasy or not. They live lives of adventure, and we watch them wishing that we could have that life. And that is what video games and T.V show us, a life we ourselves cannot live. So I say, we start living these lives we wish we had and dream as big as we can imagine.

I’m not saying that I don’t think watching and reading other peoples stories isn’t important, because I do, it’s the only way that we can learn how to make our own stories better. I just think that we need a balance between creating and consuming. Video games aren’t my life anymore because I just don’t think they are worth creating a lifestyle around. I think I can be someone better.

I know now that I want to center my life around three things that I have discovered recently to be a fulfilling way to live my life. With Writing stories, Photographing images to help tell that story and to travel and draw the world through my very own eyes- which I can currently doing as I write this. I’m on a week long road trip with my family at the moment, through the United States, taking photos and writing about the trip. I’ll be posting some of the stuff I write sometime soon. Whenever I find the time to convert it from my written journal to my computer.

I have found that a little stability goes a long way, meaning that even if you have a few things about yourself summarized and narrowed in, you can always come back to them if you ever get lost. Knowing what you believe in, and what you value most in life can help you through the toughest of times. But also knowing what you want to live for. I have realized that the way I live my life is being written differently now then it has been in the past, and I’m not sure if this realization came from maturity or opening my mind just a little bit more to see what is worth living life for, and what isn’t.

Writing really does free the mind because in writing down the dilemma within myself and what it was based on, I discovered what I really want out of life, and what I want for myself in the future, at least for now anyways. Anything can change at the blink of an eye, and that is the best part about life. That no matter how long you may prepare for something, life may swoop in and change everything.

Until Next time!

Grand Theft Gnome’ing

2010-07-20T00:53:00.001-04:00

So today as I was minding my own business listening to Sam Roberts on my computer - which by the way is amazing! This dude is awesome, I have rediscovered my love for his music - and my friend shoots me a text message on my cellular phone saying

“Were going Gnome Hunting”

I instantly thought to myself, how do we hunt for gnomes? Their not even real. And then it hit me. Lawn Gnomes! So the idea was that following the myth surrounding, Lawn Gnomes coming to life when no one is looking, that we would go a steal lawn gnomes off of lawns that were unfortunate enough to include these, pint sized, mythological beings and place them on lawns near or around the area where they were stolen from. Now, me being a calm, almost zen like, mature person that I am, could not bring myself to steal these ceramic lawn decorations because it just really isn’t in me. Trouble isn’t something that I can find easily, I avoid trouble at all costs along with negative confrontation. Some might use the term ’wimp’ to describe me, but I like to use… boring? Hmm, I might have to work on that one but nevertheless Gnome Hunting was the event, and the time was at dusk.

So before the actual hunt can commence special ops, recon work, has to be done to obtain the address and the street name of the target, ie the Gnome nesting grounds. And yes they do nest, if you watch them very closely. This is also best done in some sort of fast moving vehicle such as a car. Right before dusk is the prime time for Gnome spotting because this is feeding time for the Gnome and they can be caught off guard easily. Gnomes are easily apprehended when confused but be careful they are crafty, cunning creatures. After the list is made of the desired targets, its time to commit Grand Theft Gnome’ing.

Now before we continue, this may sound like a horrible thing to do but, think of it as a prank. Think about it, They are freakin’ Lawn Gnomes, they deserved to be stolen. Although I still do not partake in pranks because I am a wimp, which has been previously established and I just record the events that unfold. But in all honesty this is probably the lowest form of local, social disturbance, I could think of, I mean come on, Lawn Gnomes! That’s hilarious.

Okay now back to the action! After the list is made the ski masks may be placed on your heads if you have purchased them for this occasion or even previous Grand Theft Gnome’ing. Although, I may discourage the use of ski masks, for the mistaking of you being an actual criminal or real Thief, - because stealing lawn gnomes is not considered a crime but a Prank, just for future reference. Now you will need stealthy, motivating music to amp you up for the Prank of Pranks! I suggest something like Lady Gaga to get you super stoked on Gnome Stealing! Okay, okay maybe Lady Gaga isn’t the best choice, but use your own musical taste and pick something that motivates ya! Jumping out of the car while moving, James Bond style may look like fun but trust me, the E.R room is not as much fun. I’ve never actually been to the E.R room - knocks on wood - but I’ve heard from multiple James Bond impersonators that it sucks out loud. So I would advice stopping the moving vehicle before making the mad dash to the Gnome habitat. Its also best to have a get away driver handy, but common lets be serious here, no one wants to go Grand Theft Gnome’ing all by their lonesome, so bring a friend with a license or no license what do I care just as long as they can make a quick get-away.

- Oh and through this whole thing, I was dumb enough not to bring my brand spankin’ new camera. Clever right? -

So once you have captured, and apprehended several ceramic friends - some may call kidnapping - you will need to tie these crafty dudes up for they WILL try and escape.
Take a few photos of your Prank as well, they will make great Christmas cards and if you want an added bonus to the prank, send these photos to the house of the stolen Gnome. Classic. Once you have had your fun, the Gnome placement is up to you. You can just place them right back in the rightful owners yard, maybe in a different spot such as the front porch. Or even in a totally separate lawn across the street, or on your friends lawns as well. It really doesn’t matter to me, Go nuts! Just as long as the myth lives on, that gnomes do indeed come to life when you are not looking… and maybe even go for a photo shoot with local hooligans.

Have fun, and Happy Gnome’ing

The Grace Of A Thunderstorm

2010-07-13T13:58:00.000-04:00

I can feel it in my skin.
The warm humid air suddenly turns to a cool breeze
The rolling clouds in the distance
enveloping the previously clear blue sky,
creates a sudden darkness
Thunderous applause begin to erupt from the heavens
They are cheering.
It's coming, I can feel it in my heart and soul now.
Like a beating drum, the hammer crashes down upon the earth
But sound isn't only heard in your ears, but in your body as well
His brother joins him,
Sparks of natural electricity now follow the crashing hammer
All of the senses are being manipulated now,
A smell of wet asphalt fills the air
A taste of a cool breeze against the trees
Natural Change at it's finest, in its purest form!
The sights and sounds progress as if the sky was taunting all who oppose it!
But the Orchestra plays on,
And the grand symphony comes to its crescendo!
Water pours from the rapid, rolling clouds
That have enveloped the clear blue sky
The Darkness, The Brothers, The Applause, The Manipulation!
Natural madness at its finest, in its purest form!

And just as quickly as the insanity had ensued,
It vanishes into the descending sky
And the madness subsides
And everything goes back to the way it was
Leaving you wondering,
What would it be like if the Change was permanent
Wishing that the Change was permanent
Even if it was violent, and chaos did fill the skies
And madness did surround the people,
At least it was different to the way it was,
An alternative.
But the orchestra still plays on,
Only the sound is no longer felt, or heard
Or the sparks are no longer seen,
Or the trees no longer taste the breeze
Or the water no longer pours from the skies
All that remains is the wet earth
And the wet people,
And the wet trees
To remind us that Change can arrive in an instant
And just as quickly,
It can be taken away
If we never Change, we may never feel
The Grace Of A Thunderstorm

I wrote this while I was at work, out in the thunderstorm pushing shopping carts into Canadian Tire. I wanted to write a poem, not completely sure what a poem consists of so I tried my best. And no, mine doesn't rhyme. Hope you like it as much as I had fun writing it.

Yours truly.
Sincerely, TheYoungCardinal

Take care.

Oh How the World Spins and Spins

2010-07-07T21:10:00.001-04:00

The Persistence of Memory, 1931, Salvador Dali

A question that sometimes drives my hazy: Am I or are the others crazy - Albert Einstein.

Yes! I have finally purchased my first digital camera!
I decided to go with the Canon EOS Rebel XS or the 1000D in come countries. I got it for a super cheap price and to my knowledge is a decent starter digital SLR camera. So I have been taking pictures like crazy trying to learn how to operate this thing. So in the spirit of the occasion I have changed the pictures on my blog to symbolize the new beginnings in photography and greater strides towards me becoming some sort of journalist!

Hooray!

p.s I will take a better main blog picture soon. It was the only one I could find on short notice.

I haven't made a short post just updating myself lately so I figured it was about time. I have been thinking a lot about a few things lately concerning my life's direction and what I want out of it. I know that I want to study journalism and that traveling will give me great things to write about as well as meeting new people and new cultures. But where to go?

Recently I have been studying Buddhism and the art of meditation and I am really loving their entire system and how they govern their lives. It's quite magnificent really. So a really cool idea I have come up with is going to Thailand to study Buddhism in an environment that is richly filled with this religion. Thailand's major religion is Buddhism, Theravada Buddhism to be more specific. Theravada Buddhism, as far as I have studied, was the one the based off of the Indian Strand, which is where it originated. If I obtained the courage to leave Canada and pursue my study of Buddhism in Thailand I think that would be a wonderful experience. I'm not sure if I will be able to do it, but it sounds like something that I want to heavily look into.

Not much else has gone on lately though. Many trips to the Indigo book store to read into Thailand and Buddhism and other sorts of things that interest me. Mainly just waiting for my last semester of High School to start so I can receive more knowledge in a classroom environment but that is still about two months off. Summer has just started. Summer is mostly filled with laziness and junk food anyways. Things I used to love. Remnants of a different mind set perhaps. My old motto was Keep on Keepin' on. An album of a local band I used to listen to. A very calm and laid back motto but it doesn’t portray my thoughts at this time, because I have moved from just spin with the world, to why is it spinning, and how can I help?

How can someone change how they think that completely and that fast? It was only last summer when my entire attention was directed at World of Warcraft. A video game that steals souls! Obviously not that extreme but you get the picture. I wonder if I am just fooling myself into thinking that I want to travel and discover the world, or maybe I have just matured enough to realize it. I think this is who I am and I think this is who I want to be. I guess I will just have to wait and see, follow my heart and all of that Jazz music. Hmm, I don't even like Jazz music, I'd rather it be Blues. And all of that Blues Music.

Sometimes I wonder if I am crazy or not for thinking these thoughts.
Anyways.

Take care!

The Power, and Inspiration of a Simple Melody.

2010-06-28T16:11:00.001-04:00

Inspiration of St.Matthew, Caravaggio, 1602

“Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppression of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day” (Thomas Jefferson)

So I have talked a little about physically traveling to new places that I would love to go, and hopefully someday soon, will go. About discovering myself, at the same time as discovering the mysteries of the world I know so little about. What would you say if I told you that you could travel to far, and distant lands, to places that you have never dreamed of going, even in your wildest imaginations, without ever physically moving there.

Would you say that that is preposterous?
Astonishing?
Perhaps, unreal?

No, I am not talking about any sort of illegal Area 51 brainwash, or even something that is out of reach from people without the motivation to simply get out of bed in the morning. All I am rambling on about is the concept and the power of the music of the moment, where people dance and sing. Yeah, I think Jason Mraz knew which end was up.

I'm talking about words and ideas put to melodies that take people from where they are at that point in time and send them to worlds much different then their own, or even very similar ones that are simple and close to home. Music is a very powerful entity that can change lives, and bring people together, even when everything seems to be going wrong.

I was at The Sound of Music Festival held in southern Ontario a few weeks ago and I got to see a lot of great musicians preforming for the hundreds of people in the crowd. It amazed me how music was apart of each and every one of our lives. Old, young, black, white, everyone! Music brings people together. The sounds of each string being plucked against the plastic pick. The thin, cylindrical wood, hitting each skin of the drum. The sounds and noises vibrating in our ears. Enough to send a calm chill down someones spine. And if people come together to hear these sounds and to see these sights then great things can be accomplished, people can be moved or even enlightened.

And that is my word of the week, Enlightened . How someone becomes enlightened, why someone would want to become enlightened, and how it can change life's direction. Now, there is spiritual enlightenment and then there is giving clarifying information to somebody, but if you combine the two together you get a spiritual enlightenment that allows you get a more clarifying understanding of something. In my case, enlightenment of the mind can come from anything that inspires you to become something more than you are right now. Something that Inspires to do greater things with your life than to simply live and then die, but to find a greater understanding of the "in between". The part of someones life that gives your entire existence purpose, the part before your death and the part after you are born. And I don't feel that this purpose is created through any one mean but through anything that we believe in, whether that being God, Karma, or even the earth as its own entity. All I am trying to say is that music can be the doorway to enlightenment, the inspiration that instantly gives you the feeling that you can to be filling the "in between" with much more than just breathing, but filling it with self purpose and a greater understanding.

Biggest tangent I have ever been on but back to the Sound of Music Festival that was essentially a large four day concert in the park!

The last band I got to see were called the Arkells from Hamilton Ontario. A really talented bunch that I have been listening to ever since their album came out, Jackson Square, in October 2008. I came to watch them play the music that I have grown to love, but what started out as a short bus ride downtown, turned into a journey, led by the Arkells themselves.

"Its 1964, in the city of New York. And take the train to Queens. And meet a Jewish family" Champagne Socialist, Arkells.

The stories that would normally be written in a book, or seen in a documentary, or typed in an article are now sung instead of read. These stories that are put along side the strings, and the drums and keys are simply brought to life! They take you to a whole new place, they take everyone listening to a whole new place but the same one as the person beside you, and the person beside them. Everyone is joined together in sharing this experience of a story being transformed into music, and preformed by passionate musicians.

I'm not saying I felt enlightened by their performance because I wasn't, but I did feel that people could very well be enlightened by a performance great enough to inspire. Maybe a Shakespearean play, or even a great film. I think we are inspired everyday to do great things in our lives, and its our job to acknowledge these inspirations and act upon them. To have to motivation needed to harness these powerful ideas that inspire us and to take the time to follow them wherever they may take you. I think the universe, or God, or whatever, presents us with opportunities to change your life's direction each and every day, but we just need to be on the look out for them, and to have the strength to realize that this is a direction that will fill the "in between" of our lives.

Closing Artist Statement.

2010-06-25T16:55:00.000-04:00

I have written one last paper on the paintings that I have created in my very last year of art, in High School. I still love art and the process creating it so I will possibly be doing some projects on my own time, like finishing the mural of musical artists on the wall of my room. Something to keep my hands busy anyway. My last statement sums up my thoughts and how and why I did these painting. After this post I will go back to posting about my usual things, like questions on life and where my own life is heading. But before I wrote anymore I wanted to post all of the writings that I have done this year pertaining to art. First because I thought they were fairly well written but second, and most importantly, these writings and paintings are what has opened my mind to new ideas, and made me think a lot more about everything. These writings and paintings have made me realize that I cannot just sit idle and watch the events progress in life if i don't agree with them. They have made me crave the knowledge of the world that we all inhabit, and wonder, and question everything that life is about and revolves around. Like in Buddhism, I feel as though I have been enlightened, by just merely thinking and turning those thoughts into words. But it seems I have a long way to go, because in Buddhism craving leads to suffering. I may have a long way to go, but I feel as though it has at least begun, and that is definitely a start. So here it is the last piece of the puzzle that has opened my thoughts and gave me a voice. It's nothing special in terms of written accomplishment, but it was a very important paper for me.

Final Artist Statement.

My name is Jordan Morrison. What you are currently viewing is my collection of work that I have created over the course of this semester. The process of producing these studios was attempted a little differently, with the main emphasis being on the theme direction and development. My process begins with a story or idea about my driving theme, and then I turn those words, ideas, and stories into a visual picture. I’ve always felt more comfortable with creating words rather than visual pictures, so I tried to use that to my advantage. I make the words that come out of my piece the most powerful part of the studio. The medium I chose to work in this semester was something that is also a little different. I chose to use only Ink and Watercolour paper. I wanted a different look and feel to match my different opinions on what we, as people value. So the theme that was the driving force behind my pieces this year was Human Values, and what our generation values as important aspects of our lives.

I hope to live a different life for myself. One that, sadly, only a handful of people will want to experience. One that will allow me to travel into different worlds that make up our Earth, and show others what our connecting worlds are made up of. Hopefully I can accomplish this goal through writing. I chose to explore the theme of Human Values because that is what I am interested in. What people living in the society that we, in our developed world, inhabit value and how these values differ from peoples in much different worlds than our own. I’m not claiming to know what is out there in the world from personal experience, but I am trying to understand what is out there from the written works of others. From reading about people that do travel the world and those who attempt to draw it through their own eyes and share this knowledge with others, through their words. I hope to do this myself one day so I chose to base these studios on this knowledge and discovery.

With each of the three pieces I tried to focus on a different aspect, and a different technical design. The first piece focus’s on portraits, the second on landscapes and the third on Surrealism. I felt that each piece had their own ideas so they needed their own creative styles to go along with them. Each piece, that was developed over the course of this year, also had their own part to play in the overall theme and composition. I wanted to show a transition from one studio to the next. An idea with a beginning, a middle, and an end. I started with a question about modern Human Values, and asked why things like freedom of speech were lost in the shuffle of everyday life. I directed it towards people that stand up for what they believe in, or social activists because they really influence how, and why I think about what I do. Then I attempted to generate an idea towards ending stereotypes because I believe that they are heavily integrated into our society and they really don’t need to be. I explored the fact that consumerism is going to be apart of our culture no matter how we feel about it. We have needs and wants and they simply supply them, but I wanted to explore the possibilities of moving past it and physically moving into different worlds, therefore abolishing stereotypes. Once we truly see how people, existing in different societies than our own, experience life, we could move past stereotypes and focus on something more real, joining our worlds in purpose. But for the final piece, the surrealism piece, I directed my theme towards an answer. An answer to my questions and those of what we value as human beings. I focused on my biggest idea and tried to expand on what we could do to make the world we live in, radiate hope for our generation and make them want to discover the earths wonders before it is too late. I focused on my goal in life, to draw the world for other people to discover, but in this case I turned it into a literal sense with the hands of the people actually drawing the earth that is made up of someone else. Yes, the Earth is made up of land, and oceans and mountains but it is also made up of people, and that is where I took my inspiration from, the people who inhabit our Earth.

A lot of my inspiration this year was drawn from many sources that influence my own life. Things that just make me love the life I have, and the Earth that I live on, like music that lifts my spirits to new heights. I want to let others experience this same feeling because life is to short to spend negatively and without hope. If the world we live in can produce the hope we need to survive and to carry on happy, than shouldn’t we be trying our hardest to capture this feeling and hold on to it for as long as possible? If we draw the world for others to experience, then maybe, just maybe, our generation and those yet to come might appreciate it enough to want to take action, and save it.

The Art and How It Came To Be: Studio Number Three

2010-06-23T21:49:00.001-04:00

Artist Reflection Number Three

My third and final piece was one that I thought long and hard about because I needed to get the feel of it just right. Most of the production time was spent on the planning stages and coming up with an idea that connected perfectly with my theme. I had a lot of ideas that needed to be summed up and nailed down. My first piece asked a question about who we value, my second piece gave an idea about what we value, and my latest presented an answer to how we value.

This piece focused on the surrealism style, not completely, but enough to realize something is no quite right, like the uneven number of drawing hands and the miscoloured moons. I wanted to focus on something “out there”, almost spacey and different to look at, at the same time as carrying on with my theme. I wanted people to get lost in this piece trying to figure out what’s really going on and what it means to human values. I’m not sure whether or not that goal was accomplished to it’s greatest extend but that’s what I tried at least. For most of it I again used the circular brush stroke technique, especially the background, for a certain purpose. I wanted the background to be directly related to my previous piece - the one with the train moving off in to the unknown. The misty, fog-like background is supposed to represent the very same fog that is unknown in that piece. But this time, focusing on an answer instead of a question. I played around with a lot of different ideas concerning the composition of the piece. What was in it, how many hands there were, surreal versus realistic. But I decided, in the end, to create the setting of my idea in the imagination itself. The thought that the setting is in the fog, and the fog represents the unknown, therefore the unknown could very well be ones imagination. I tried showing this through the coloured planets, like a science fiction setting with three moons and two suns instead of just one.

I drew a lot of inspiration from various sources that influence my own life for this particular piece. I titled it “Star Crossed World” after song lyrics from a band called The Killers from a track titled “Spaceman”. My inspiration was drawn from music that is spacey, distant and different from mainstream music. I felt it allowed me to create an equally distant idea for this painting. My main focus and idea for this piece revolved around writers, and bloggers, and journalists, and everyday people experiencing the world for what it is, Drawing the world and opening peoples eyes to it. I have a big problem with corporations and businesses and companies being the most available source of information accessible to the public, telling us what we should think of the world we live in. I wanted the focus to be on people with their own voices, people who aren’t discovering the world for money or fame, only the journey and the idea that everyone needs to know that they are trying to save, such as our planet earth, before they are willing to take action.

Before I start any piece that I try to tackle, I try to plan out each and every step along the way, from concept to design. At the beginning of this semester I used an idea web to find what ideas would work best with me. I came up with more ideas than I could use, so I had a lot of room to expand my theme to different heights. I started off with the idea to make each piece not connecting at all, with each one being a collage of different materials. I knew this idea wasn’t going to come to fruition when my first brush stroke hit the watercolour paper, when I decided that using just Ink was the way I wanted to go. But I still used the concept that there was a mixture of ideas in collage form, just without the various materials. This choice took a lot away from my overall scheme of this semester because after that piece I scraped the collage idea. So my last two paintings have a lot in common but my first has little relation to the rest. If I were to start again I would add one more piece to the end of my series of works and keep the first as a stand alone addition to the series.

The Art and How It Came To Be: Studio Number Two

2010-06-22T16:45:00.000-04:00

For my second studio I wanted to focus on the idea of a landscape because I felt that the ink really reflected upon the scenery and the wide open view. I still wanted to carry on with my general theme and ask questions about humanity and the society that we live in, but just portray it differently and ask different questions. I have titled it “And so, the progress consumes.”

The main idea that surrounds my piece is the process of moving from consumerism, and commercials and what we are familiar with, towards places that are unknown to us. In turn, removing stereotypes of cultures and societies that we ourselves have not yet explored. I designed it so that the train literally moves the piece and your eye to the area that is unknown or foggy because that is what I think we as people need to do. The train is physically a large source of transportation that’s moves people and ideas across our world, seeing our beautiful earth along the way. I believe the train breaks people from the social bubbles that surround them and allows them to experience different variations of cultures and people. I began to think more critically about how we, as people, live and it showed through in my themes throughout this piece. I feel that we live here in our highly developed world day in and day out not moving forward as people. We only interact with people that seem the have to same goals as ourselves. Watching TV screens to experience new ways of life and looking at other cultures that do things completely different from a single perspective, a screen writers perspective and deciding right then and there that it is the wrong way to live. When in reality we really have no idea how other people really live unless we have physically experience their lives for ourselves. I very well may not be correct in these generalized accusations but they are what I based my second piece off of.

For the content design of the piece I really wanted to make the Ink look like watercolour and even almost like a comic book. So I used circular brush strokes and tried fading and blending colours and for the most part I think I pulled it off. Except for the blending of the red in the middle frame, I think that was a bit too vibrant and distracting. With the colour scheme I wanted the viewer to physically give the negative connotations to the first half of the piece with grey and cool colours and giving a cold, chilling feeling to it. I used the train - which I gave earthy tones of green - to make the transition from the cold to the warm colours. Once the train enters the piece I started fading out the cold colours and fading in the warm. I wanted to viewer to feel that moving from consumerism to the unknown was the best thing to do so I gave the second half warm, familiar colours so that they would physically enjoy the second half of the frames.

I am really happy with how this piece turned out in almost every way. I think the colour pallet I used really worked for the direction I was taking the piece in. I think the idea works with the landscape and the Ink. The only thing that I think I can work on and do better is the actual technique and using Ink to its fullest extent. The brush strokes kind of worked for the second half but they just didn’t satisfy me on the first half. If I could start again I would learn to paint with more fluidity.

For my last piece instead of focusing on asking questions about humanity, I want to give an answer to questions in a surreal manor.

The Art and How It Came To Be: Studio Number One

2010-06-21T12:55:00.000-04:00

Okay, so over the course of a few days I will be posting the art that I have produced in my last semester of Grade 12. I really like how they turned out and I put a great deal of thought into the design and the concept of each of the pieces. So without further Adieu, I present to you, my three studios and each of their statements that followed.

PS. My first statement and piece are kind of lackluster in every department. So bear with me through the first one and on to the ones I actually enjoy :)

Artist Reflection, number one.

The title I chose to give my first studio is Only Silence Remains. I chose this title because I think it reflects the question I was trying to ask. The media I used was a combination of black ink and coloured inks, with various paint brushes and an ink pen for the portraits.

My theme for this first studio was the silencing of freedom of speech or the censorship of speech. I hold social activists in very high regards and respect the voices and the opinions that they possess. These voices ether speak for the people or a cause that they feel strongly about or even connected to in some way. They stand up for what they believe in, so I took the chance to honour them and ask why these greats voices speaking for the people needed to be silenced. My piece incorporated this theme by using the portraits of Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X and even John Lennon as voices that changed the way we think and voices that have been ended for speaking for what they believe in.

At first I decided that I was going to do this piece in mixed media, using many different styles that I thought would reflect that many messages that went along with it. But after experimenting with different materials I had chose to switch to using just ink. And I think that choice benefited my piece positively. I chose to make a variety of images that all connected together, which in turn connected the ideas that I was trying to portray. I placed the three portraits in the top left corner of the page because I felt it was the most important part of the piece. I wanted them to be the first thing you noticed and saw and, after you would connect the other images to the portraits. The main colour I chose was a shade of gold because of the fact that I do hold these people in such high regards, kind of like a tribute to them. Even though the question I ask and the message I try to send is of negative subject matter - killing great voices and opinions - I chose to make the piece brighter and more appealing to the eye, so that its not as intrusive.

For the most part I am happy with my choices and the way it turned out but there are a few changes I would like to make if I were to do it over again a second time. The biggest thing I would change is that I would add a few more images that I had in mind in my preliminary sketches that just didn’t make in onto the final studio. I felt that the entirety of the piece felt more or less empty and that wasn’t something that I had wanted to happen. It just turned out that way. I also really wanted more contributions from the portraits of both Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, such as more connections to the rest of my images and ideas, like the Podium. I wanted each portrait to tell their own part of my message, like I had with John Lennon speaking about peace with the doves out of the megaphone. As I stands now its as if the other portraits are just not included in the entirety of the piece.

My next idea for studio #2 derives from the media and the affect it has on our everyday outlook on the rest of the world. Such as the stereotypes that surround us and everyone else. I want to incorporate traveling to dissolve these stereotypes as well, but I will need to play around with some more ideas.

Free the Gaza Strip! Proclaims the Boy With No Name.

2010-06-12T19:25:00.000-04:00

A social media outlet, or more specifically a blog, can be a powerful force, if presented to the right people, with the right voices. And that’s the beauty of the internet, anyone and everyone can have an opinion. It’s just amazing what a keyboard, and a few opinions on the government can do to change the way people think and feel about a certain topic. I mean take a look at Han Han, from China. This guy is a seriously opinionated Blogger, that has many thoughts on the way they run things down there. He is a voice among many, that stands out from the rest because of his ideas in a censorship controlled society. His posts get ripped down because the government doesn’t approve of the content that he is publishing, and that it happens to be exposing the true feelings from the people of China.

So I have decided to talk some politics and world issues that have been bouncing around in the old noggin all week, in respect and inspiration to a legend among Bloggers, Han Han. And besides, any name that’s so good that it has to be spelled twice, is a true inspiration in my books! And I know I’m not a voice that is known and respected, but I think that’s the best part. That I’m not known, and that my voice can be heard among the cooperation’s and professional News articles, it might not be, but it can. So I present to you, my opinion on political topics…

Sincerely, TheYoungCardinal.

Now, I’m not one for rambling on about touchy world subjects but I’ve been watching the News lately and the headlines have me itchin’ for some talkin’! So the Gaza conflict has been one that has really got my goat recently. The whole G8 and G20 Summit spending has had me a touch bit opinionated but the conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis have really got my attention.

With Hamas taking over the Gaza strip in 2006, and Israel placing the barricade between them directly after in 2007, things have been pretty shaky. The reason they put the damn thing there in the first place was to prevent Hamas from being able to build or acquire arms. And I understand that argument on most accounts, except for the slight paranoia, but the thing that really gets my boxers in a bunch is the denial of Humanitarian Aid supplies, food and educational supplies to the Gaza Strip from anywhere. I don’t really understand this concept, so please someone explain this to me, but cutting off their supplies is not okay in my opinion. Sure, protect your country from attacks with an illegal barricade, fine, whatever, but when you start to take education, and Aid supplies away from 1.5 million people, then my proverbial foot goes down! I could care less about the squabble between the two, their past differences and all of the past conflicts between them. All I care about is the shipments of sufficient Aid being allowed to enter the Gaza Strip. Is that really too much to ask for?

“The UN reports that total supplies (in Gaza) are one-quarter of their normal levels.”

I pulled that statement from an article in The Star Newspaper.
I can’t pretend to know the extent of the tension between Israel and Palestine right now, because I’m not a Middle Eastern history buff, but they need to come up with something to help end this useless conflict. Israel just recently prevented the biggest shipment of Humanitarian Aid supplies to reach Gaza on May 31st. The small fleet of boats, trying to suppresses the damage of the barricade, came from Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Sweden and Ireland. Stock full of social activists from the Pro Palestinian movement and the IHH movement, a Turkish humanitarian relief fund, peeved at the situation that had become of the Gaza Strip. They ignited the engines of their small fleet of boats, known as a Flotilla, bearing Wheelchairs, Medical Supplies and other Aid and they started for Gaza only to be intercepted by Israeli soldiers. Now, this boat may have been a cheap political statement at its finest, but looking at it from the

“Hey, 1.5 million people need supplies!”

position this flotilla had the best of intentions, and Israel, just taking its own precautions towards their nation, decided to disregard these intentions.

I’ve been looking at this topic for a couple of weeks now and I have been looking at it from a few different perspectives and none are looking good for Israel. Personally I think they should just quit while they are behind on this one.

Now the only opinion and advice from this seventeen year old whipper-snapper, that I can give to this situation is, find a way to make some sort of an agreement between these two nations. Sit down with some tea, and some biscuits and talk about settling this thing before it blows up even more than it already has. Or else there might be some more tension between the U.S - who has a supportive relationship with Israel at the moment and we'll be crossing our fingers to hope it stays this way - and Israel in the future, and more tension would not be pleasant. I’m not generally taking sides here, because I’m all about the compromise, but this has got to end. People are suffering for F****** stupid reasons. Out of paranoia.

If Israel and Hamas could just make up a treaty and settle this, we can rip down this dumb barricade and call it a day! And 1.5 million Palestinian people can continue to live in the Gaza Strip without Israel punishing them for inhabiting a piece of land that happens to be located near theirs.

Again I know nothing about anything, but I certainly have an opinion about one nation restricting the learning, and medical attention needed, from another nation in the same ballpark. I will tell you one thing though, if I was in Toronto last week, I would have definitely been standing on the Pro Palestinian side of the street at the Israeli Consulate.
Just sayin‘.

So if you have any opinions on this topic, let me know. I would love to hear them, because I really think the Gaza conflict is being handled poorly. Give me some insight on it as well, maybe even some clarification if what I'm saying is inaccurate. Or remain silent, that's fine to, I would rather some discussion but silence is accepted as well.

Take care!

Bloggin' On a Rainy Day

2010-06-11T11:06:00.000-04:00

It’s been raining a lot here lately. So much for the summer weather, and sunshine. I never feel like myself when the sky turns to gray. I feel like something is just not right, or like something is missing. My mood dampens and I have no energy to do the things that I would normally do, like longboard to school instead of walk.

I really don’t think I would survive in places like jolly old England, or even Ireland. I hear those places are particularly gloomy a lot of the time. I still want to check them out for myself though. Ireland is definitely on my list of places to visit, and experience for myself. But I think my first stop, once I grab a passport, some journalistic and some photographic experience, will be Southern Africa. That part of the world interests me a great deal. And besides Nelson Mandela is one person who influences my life a hell of a lot. I’m not out there in my high school foyer, presenting my ideas and opinions to the general public and standing up for what I believe is right in our society or anything like that, nothing that extreme. But more along the lines of his words inspiring me to do greater things in my own life. Social activists, in my opinion, are some of the most inspirational, and most influential voices to be heard.

There are so many places that I want to visit and become enveloped in their culture that its hard to know where to begin. But first comes research of the places that I am interested in. I am completely brand new to traveling, seeing as how I haven’t actually done it by myself, unless you count taking day trips, by train, to ether Toronto or another city close by. Which I personally count as little, small travel adventures. I’m horrible with the train schedule so I end up waiting at the train station for about an hour before the damn thing shows up!

I am going to start off a bit smaller though, and ease my way into long distance traveling over long periods of time. I’m thinking once I turn old enough to rent out a hotel - Geez, I’m young, I cant even legally pay for a room not owned by my parents! - I might traverse the country side, via train, and end up in Vancouver. I’ve always wanted to check that place out, and besides its far enough that I would actually need to plan and pack as if I were going someplace across the world. Yup, that sounds like a good plan to me. But of course I will have to plan a lot more, read a few Lonely Planet guide books, and see if I don’t change my mind randomly one day about traveling anywhere at all. But discovery of yourself and the world that you inhabit is something that everyone should shoot for. No sense in closing yourself in a social or even physical bubble and shutting your eyes to the rest of the world out of fear of it. Life is about risks! Says the guy who is afraid of heights and cant swim. If I’m more than 10 feet off the ground, I can consider it a bad day.

But my mind is easily changed about these kinds of things, I just do not have any sort of motivation what so ever. I guess I’ll have to work on that! Anyways, just had a few things on my mind, and thought I would share em.

The Nomadic Life.

2010-06-07T21:14:00.000-04:00

Traveling around the world, telling stories and living the Nomadic life. Not staying in one place for too long. Combining Writing, Photography and discovering into one, tightly nit package that I can call my life, on the road. This is life style that I would much like to explore, because it sounds like something that is tailored to me.

When I traveled with my family over the years, as a kid, I would always bring way more items than I would possibly need on our travels. I would pack, my video games, my comic books, and anything else that could entertain the average kid, along with me so that I would not be bored driving across the country side. But every time I had my backpack stuffed to the brim with items of entertainment, the items would hardly even be touched by my young hands. The pack would sit there, on our van floor, half open with my CD walkman player sticking out ever so slightly so that I could change the song if need be. The fact was, I just never liked using those items, no matter how much by brain would tell me that I was going to be bored on these family adventures. I was perfectly content just staring out of my backseat car window and admiring the sights that have befallen upon me.

To be honest, I slept a lot of the time. Just as I sleep a lot of my time away now. I should probably find a good sleep schedule for myself, so that I don’t have to take 3 hour naps directly after I get home from school everyday. Nevertheless, I continue to think about my future as hopeful travel journalist, recording my tales and adventures for other people wanting to experience the travelers life. But for now I am stuck in my moderate sized town, in simple southern Ontario, just waiting for the next chapter of my life to unfold. Just waiting for another part of my life to begin, and for the one I am currently inhabiting to end. I can see the future I am trying to create for myself in the distance, all I need to do is prepare as best I can and be as ready as possible for anything that can happen.

There is no way to determine the outcome of ones life, all you can do is prepare for it and make the best of what you have at this moment in time. All that is left to do, is to let fates sails direct your course, and hope that on the other side, you are the person you had always hoped to be.

The Grass is Always Greener

2010-06-02T15:51:00.000-04:00

I like to take trips around my town from time to time. Not in a car, or bus or anything that moves remotely fast for that matter, just on ether my longboard or my bike. I travel around parts of the town that I don't usually end up in, or even places that I just pass by in a car on my way to somewhere else, to another destination, or another objective. Well I like to take some time out of my week and travel just for the journey and have absolutely no destination, no objective and just, look around.

It feels so free to just travel for the sake of traveling, not being expected to accomplish anything at all. The point of not using a fast moving vehicle is that everything, and I mean everything, feels new and reborn once you ride or walk through them instead of past them. I discovered we have a High Society Club in our downtown area, which is located beside a Lawn Bowling Club so the high class can have a nice refreshing game of Lawn Bowling right after their society meeting. I would have never even imagined that anything along those lines existed in my town if I hadn't strolled past that one time. I had drove past that street loads of times in a car or something, but you never notice subtle buildings or places, unless you take the time to just look around.

Then you start riding, and taking turns on streets that you have never even heard of, streets that you never even knew existed. People seem to be around every corner you turn and you may give a slight wave, or a gentle nod but then you are on your way again, exploring at such a slow pace that the entire world seems to be standing still, or non-existent. And you may even wind up at a place where you are often found - like your favourite grocery store - at the end of these previously undiscovered streets but then you just keep on strolling past and looking around and realizing that, everything looks different, as if they have been given a new coat of shine. I always feel better at the end of my little journeys, and that's exactly what they are, little, tiny journeys. Journeys to nowhere at all. Once you erase the destination and constant need to be somewhere and to get to the next task, then you are truly free to take your time and to experience the world at a much slower pace.

Now, your town that you have maybe lived in your entire life has suddenly been seen in a whole new light. Life is way to short to be sprinting past it, I'm only 17 years old and even I know that life can change in the blink of an eye. From one lifestyle to the next. So slow down, take a break, and explore your town, and I mean really explore it. Don't go driving past everything and say "Yup, I've seen it all" because you haven't. Not until you have really sat down and smelled the grass and walked into random little shops that aren't located on a map, and bought something that will not help you accomplish anything in your life, that you can say that you've explored your town and experienced the wonders and tranquility of traveling for the sake of traveling.

Torchlight Review

2010-05-31T11:25:00.001-04:00

Okay so the latest game that I have played through and beaten was called torchlight, a simple Diablo 2 knock off, developed by Runic games and released in October 2009, which I picked up on the Steam store for the low, low price of ten smackeroones because it was on sale at the time. Whoops, guess I should have posted this a couple weeks ago, my bad. Anyways it is now back up to twenty bucks, still not a bad deal for this very fun, addictive game.

It is essentially a traditional dungeon crawler that has gotten the formula right, and on more than one occasion. Randomly generated dungeons, lots of loot to pick up, and all the boss battles you can get your greedy little hands on. It isn't especially long, it took me about 9 hours of play time to get through the main story quest and a few others. But you can easily spend double that playing the different classes, completing side quests and changing up the difficulty - which I recommend because I found the normal difficulty to be far to easy.

There are three classes to choose from. The destroyer is a combination between a warrior and someone who can cast mild spells, the vanquisher is like the rogue, hunter mixture and the alchemist is the straight up mage, blower-uper dude. Also at the start of the game you get to chose ether a cat or dog companion that follows you throughout the game, holding loot, fighting and doing some other tricks.They all serve their purpose and are all equally fun to play. I personally played through the game as an alchemist but I dabbled in the other 2 classes as well.

The only problem I found with the classes is the "talent" system, which is almost identical to World of Warcrafts, might I add, but to a lesser degree. Each time you level up you get a talent point that you can spend on any of the three trees, the only problem is that you do not need a certain amount of points to reach a certain skill in a tree. What I mean by that is, say that you have reached level 20 and the top level skills are unlocked for each talent tree, you can just pick up all three of these talents, when you have spare points because you don't need a certain number of talents in that tree to get a skill, you just need to be the appropriate level. Kinda confusing but the main point is that it's to easy, and there aren't consequences for going down a tree and realizing that you didn't like the ones you picked, but I guess it keeps it fun. Okay moving on.

The graphics are gorgeous but not in the Gears of War 2 kinda way. More in the artsy pants, kind of feeling like Jak and Daxter, even Sly Cooper'y way, and the spell effects are fantastic.

The games setting takes place in the town called Torchlight, and the caverns that lie beneath it. Pretty much enter the mine to the left and continue down the many, many tunnels to reach the final level. Very simple but the design of the tunnels are vast and inventive. These caves descend into many different flavours of areas, ranging from from deep mines to jungles to molten lava prisons, simply brilliant. I loved each and every area I visited, while stomping fools and picking up loot of course.

All in all this game was just plain fun to play. You don't have to think about a lot while playing, no puzzles to solve, no strategies to come up with. Just crawl through the randomly generated dungeons, put your game face on and kick some ass and you don't even have to take names... if you really don't want to.

Fantastic game, I'm giving it 4.5 outta 5 for style and shear good times!

Angels and Airwaves, LOVE

2010-05-22T18:36:00.000-04:00

I just picked up Angels & Airwaves's newst album LOVE, released on Valentines day of this year, and I am completely astonished by what comes out of my headphones when it begins to play. You could even say it's almost mesmerizing. The design of this album feels like a continuing concept album, because each song cleverly bled into the next, creating fantastic fluidity. When I was listening to it a few times over, I compared it to the psychedelic sound of Dark Side of the Moon. I know that sounds kinda "out there", and trust me it is, in every stretch of the phrase.

I can barely begin to describe just how they take your feelings and emotions and shift them into exactly what they had in mind. What a crazy concept, an album that is able to morph your thoughts and feelings, and not only through lyrics alone but a great combination of the "Space Rock" - that really describes the sound that they create - and the solemn voice of Tom DeLonge, that makes LOVE something really worth experiencing.

Don't let the title Space Rock discourage you from their music like it did me, it sounds odd and out of place when you hear the title but when you listen to the music it almost rejuvenates you, and gives you hope in modern music. I wasn't a really big fan of Angels & Airwaves until I heard this album, I just never gave their music a chance, that and I wasn't introduced to them from Blink 182 because I wasn't a big fan of them ether. Don't get me wrong, I know how important they were to modern music - which isn't saying a whole lot, but there is some really good stuff out there these days, ya just gotta search for it - but their sound was just not mature enough for me, writing lyrics about high school and things that don't not mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of life. But that's where the beauty of Angels & Airwaves comes into view. The great, groundbreaking voice of Tom DeLonge on the surface of a mature sound that feels whole and fully developed. Add in lyrics that make you think, that allow you just listen intently amongst the spacey backdrop of imagination, and you have yourself a complete package that really stands out among the many generic bands that try and accomplish the already accomplished. I love the bands that I listen to for a reason, some are catchy, some allow me to think clearly, some make me feel like brand new but "LOVE" breaks a mold while staying true to themselves and their incredible Space Rock sound.

I found a whole new respect for this band when I heard that it was released for free off of their website. A band works tirelessly to create a work of art such as this and then they choose to do that work for the sake of music, for people everywhere to listen to for no price at all. Simply amazing.

I highly Recommend that anyone who is interested in this album listen to it from start to finish. It is the only way to fully appreciate it. Seriously, anyone can find something in this album. A great modern sound that is fully developed, matured, and groundbreaking. The spacey backdrop of the instruments makes for a great listen among the equally whole and harmonized overall sound of, LOVE.

Give it a shot, you won't be disappointed, and if you are, well, you just have no heart. No heart at all.

Loremaster? Have You Gone Mad?!

2010-05-16T20:27:00.002-04:00

Mad, like a fox!

So at this point I have pretty much given up on raiding, it seems kinda pointless as of this moment. I'd probably only go and raid just for fun and good times, meaning I'm going to try and find a nice, quiet, social guild that I can just "hang" with and shoot the Proverbial shit. With that said, my new task is revealed!

I am seeking the loremaster title... Dun dun dah!

This title is crazy to me. It consists of pretty much finishing each and ever quest in the game. Well not EVERY quest, but I believe its the vast majority. I am so determined to finish everything in this game that I can, before it is changed forever with the grand return of Neltharion, the Earth-Warder or better known as DEATHWING. I've been reading alot of lore lately, ya know, to go with the loremaster title. I mean come on I have to know what I'm talking about if I'm going to hold this prestigious title of honor, right?. We should really get a Key to Azeroth with the completion of this thing. EVERY quest, whew.

I really am crazy, like a fox!

Oh, oh before I go. If anyone stumbles across this post and is also trying to obtain the unobtainable, otherwise known as Loremaster, a couple of addons I am currently swearing by are Everyquest and Lightheaded. Everquest shows you, every quest in the game oddly enough and once you scan your finished quests it will highlight the ones you have yet to complete. And lightheaded is a direct in game link to Wowhead, which is a large WoW online database. In combination it makes getting this title a whole ton easier. So check em out!

Jeg Quitting Wow, and Possibly Pugcast?!

2010-05-13T22:08:00.002-04:00

Holy Crap, that kinda sucks. I almost shed a tear reading the article, even when I decided to take some time off from the game, it's the community and podcasts that always reel me back in. With Jeg gone and maybe even Pugcast it self, it just wont feel the same.

The day after I decide to take a hiatus from Warcraft, Jeg from one of my favourite Wow podcasts, Pugcast, announces that he will be taking a break from WoW, which possibly means he'll be quitting for some time. This isn't the first time he has quit Wow, he was all into Warhammer Online: Age Of Reckoning when that first launched, and we all know how that game turned out...

Not very good at all, incase you didn't get the hint, in fact who even remembers that game? Warhammer what? Hmm, it all seems like a bad dream, as if it never happened. Eerie.

Alas the hilarious, the one star turkey himself returned to Warcraft after seeing the error of his ways and rejoiced when getting mad loots, and gearing up for more gearing up. I guess he was feeling the same way I was about the game, but I think we was hatin' more on the Blizzard store more than the game itself. The company of Blizzard, not the game, and I can't say I blame him. I on the other hand like the Blizzard store, it gives me something to spend my money on.
Wow that is a really dumb sentence. Geez I could be solving world hunger or something, but nope I choose to buy 25$ sparkly ponies on the virtual realm of Azeroth. Ah well Happiness is Happiness, that's what I always like to say.

Anyways I want to keep this mildly short, my last post was quite hefty. All I have left to say is, Jeg, and all of your Sneff like hilarity, You will be missed but we all know you will back, soon enough you will be back...

A link to his blog post will be included in the title, *sniff*

World of Warcraft, We need to talk...

2010-05-12T21:59:00.000-04:00

So I haven't made a post in quite some time. I guess I just wasn't feelin' the blog mojo, or vibe if you will. But I have felt the power and decided to talk aimlessly to the internet, yet again.

My toon has had some major upgrades since the last time I posted. I have been playing a lot of WoW and my stellar gear is my trophy for that play time. Oh and I have come to admire Gearscore... Yeah I know, crazy right? I'm just really liking how it tallies up all of my sweet loot that I pick up on my travels, but Gearscore still isn't everything. I have obtained a hell of a lot of frost emblems recently and with them I was able to purchase my tier 10 shoulders, making my 2 piece set bonus. Giving me 5 Percent crit with Soulfire, Corruption, Shadowbolt, and incinerate, which is pretty sweet if you ask me - as far as numbers go. But Numbers aren't everything ether. So what, you ask, is everything? Well I have been asking my self the very same question today.

What the hell is the purpose of this game?!
and I can't seem to find one, but that's the point. There is no purpose to this game. You get Gear to down bosses to get more gear, especially at the end of an expansion this gets increasing tedious.

So I have come up the conclusion that YOU make your own fun and enjoyment, not Blizzard Entertainment. It's been said time and time again by the community and the smart people around the inter-nether but I, myself have just figured this out today. Call it an Epiphany or a stroke of sudden boredom from the game I play oh too many hours of but This is what I have come up with. They may set the rules and boundaries from which your character exists but that is all. People make up this game, not pixels.

I realized this as I was waist deep in green, oozing slime that was projectively vomited by the ugliest Son of a B**** on Azeroth. I mean this guy, brings tears to my eyes from shear sympathy, and his name is none other than the all mighty, all engrossing, all ugly... Cover your eyes and noses children, cuz here comesss.... Rotface! the 6th Boss of ICC. Needless to say we didn't down him, on account of people being simply perplexed by the astronomically ugly... undead, thing?

So I have decided to, well not quit the game all together because I still love playing it but I will just be seeing other video games for lack of a better term. Open my world to other stories than that of Blizzards. I do play other video games on the side of WoW but lately I have just been focusing on Warcraft and gearing up to, gear up some more? I know there are other aspects of this game, and that's a big reason why I love it so much. There are so many other things to do than just raid but I just feel like I need more than aimlessly pug'ing ICC.

So I will be venturing into other lands, seeing the unseen, discovering the undiscovered and all of that jazz I thought I might try out the knock off of Diablo, Torchlight. Gotta make sure not to stray away from Blizzard to much. You how much they like our money. Anyways, that's all for now. Until we meet again, Internet!

Later.

Resistance 2: Review

2010-04-30T15:32:00.000-04:00

Four years ago with the launch of the Playstation 3, Back in 2006, Insomniac games released the first of the Resistance titles, Resiatance: Fall of Man. This game set the bar for Playstation releases at the time, winning awards, as well as becoming a Greatest Hits title. Insomniac revisited this series with the making of Resistane 2. With sceptical fans and a hope that it wouldn’t fall flat against the first game, Resistance 2 did not disappoint.

The scope of Resistance 2 is one of the biggest I have seen in video games to this date. The thought that you will be taking on an entire army with a small squad of hybrid soldiers alone makes the task seem huge, but once they threw in the biggest and most extravagant boss battles in First Person Shooters, it was taken over the top.

The storyline continues directly after the first one ends. The protagonist, Nathan Hale, had just finished his last mission when he is intercepted by an unknown group of soldiers, seemingly a government spec ops group of some sort. Like most war influenced games, you join up with a team, get a mission to complete and are set out to accomplish it. In that respect the game doesn’t present anything new or innovative but the way that it is implemented is truly where it shines.

Gameplay wise the game looks, feels, and runs with the utmost fluency. The guns feel great, the scenery is incredible to stare it from a distance and the frame rate seems to never drop, even in the 60 player online matches. On the weapon side of things, some of the guns from the previous game have carried over, like the popular Bullseye, a personal favourite of my own. But new additions have made it over as well making the arsenal ever more fun to mess around with. The secondary fire still adds practically a whole other set of guns to use, with the exception of the Bullseye secondary fire which is still an unused targeting system - well unused after I was finished getting the trophy of course. With new guns to hold and the Chimera still afoot things have a tendency to go boom, and quite often.

An improvement to the graphics from the first game makes this one even more enjoyable to sit down and play for hours on end, kiling waves and waves of Chimera. The zombie’esk ones especially, seeing as how they come by the truck load. There’s very little things that can be ill said about this fine piece of development time. I ran into a couple points where the bigger enemies couldn’t hit me up close with their lack of melee attack but that can hardly be called a flaw. The length of the single player campaign was also spot on. Not to long to make me bored and switch to another game and not to short to leave me wanting more at the conclusion. I was perfectly satisfied, except for the ending cinematic, but I think someone just needs to explain that one to me.

All in all this game was one the most enjoyable first person shooters I have ever played. This one goes on my shelf, right next to Killzone 2 and the first Halo. Crazy fun to play with all of the many weapons in the game, boss battles leave your jaw on the floor from start to finish and the story is well planned and perfectly executed. Resistance 2, you have done us proud. Now only if they would let me ride around on one of those Titan Chimeras and blast things with the huge lazer gun! Meh, maybe Resistance 3 eh?

Later!

Asses were kicked and Names were... Spelled Correctly?

2010-04-24T00:27:00.001-04:00

I have been up to a few things these past couple of days, and I thought I would share some with the endless phenomenon that is the "internet".

So I checked out the movie Kick-Ass recently and, well, I would be writing some kind of review for it, if I knew what to say about it, or even what rating to give it for that matter. To be quite honest I really don't know what I think about this movie. It is so over-the-top that I can't determine whether I will be scarred for life, or psychotically entertained by what was displayed in it.

The thing that may very well be the cause of my years of therapy, isn't a thing but a who. Hit-Girl, a main character in Kick-Ass, is an 11 year old girl that kills off a good portion of the actors in the film. I mean she really kills them. Her first "Super Hero act of justice" is a scene where she begins stabbing dudes through the chest with some sort of double-edged blade, that looks like it was taken off a Klingon from a Star Trek movie. Lets just say that my jaw was dropped for most of her scenes.

On another note, it was a super well put together film. I'm a big soundtrack lovin' guy, and let me tell ya, I was really diggin' the tunes, from intro to outro. And great actors as well. Nick Cage was freakin' fantastic in this movie. I think he should go up for candidacy for the new Batman, I mean screw Christian Bale anyways. Oh and while I'm on the subject, do we seriously need another Terminator?
End it already!
That is all.

Oh wait I almost forgot. I traveled across the barren wastes, through the parted red sea, to infinity and beyond... and while I was there I found this crazy sick skate shop that I've heard so much about from local skaters. It was a super chill place, with an xbox, some longboards, and...

Another Drum Roll please maestro

A narly mini ramp in the back part of the shop! I've never seen anything so clever in my life. There is a cage surrounding it so dudes boards don't smack customers in the head but it was a huge mini-pipe! complete with a roll in beside a spine. I skated it for about an hour, on something called a skateboard that happened to be way shorter than my longboard. It was weird, but I got over it. Anyways.

Later!

Photo Journalistic Blog Post

2010-04-17T23:50:00.000-04:00

So I don't usually do more than one post a day but in this case I just remembered I had some really awesome pictures that I took of me preparing to draw the next piece of my mural on the wall of my room.

I'll first explain what my mural is.

It is a collection of lead vocalists of some of the bands that really influence my life, and that I think influence the music world around them. Some really original stuff comes out of these artists and I wanted to make something that reflects that, the only way I know how, through writing and drawing. So here are the pictures I have taken so far. Ones that I took with my shitty camera. I think one will be my home page photo, because I like it so much.

First Photo of my "Studio". Ha my Alexisonfire poster snuck in there.

Me eying my wall. That was one portrait I did of the Lead singer from Motion City Soundtrack about a month prior to these pictures

.

Started my latest Piece of the Lead Singer from A Day to Remember!

And there you have it, only four pictures but I think they tell a decent story and it shows you how messed up my room is when I'm about to draw something, I mean look at that! I even took off my matress! :P

Later.

First Impressions of Final Fantasy XIII

2010-04-17T20:41:00.001-04:00

Okay so I finally picked up a copy of Final Fantasy XII - and for those of you who aren't fluent in roman numerals, shame on you, that is the number 13. I've been meaning to try this thing for quite some time now, but just have not got around to it. I have been playing this series since 9 and it has secured a place in my gaming heart ever since the day I saw the opening credits. Now, everyone I've ever talked to or heard mention about has not liked Final Fantasy IX, that may be because the main character resembles a freakin' monkey! But hey what can I say I'm a monkey loving fool.

Oh and I also hated the first hour of final fantasy VII and that is as much as I have played of it, so lets just go ahead and conclude that I hate Final Fantasy 7 :).

I am about 3 and a half hours into this thing and I am having a great time with it. I was pretty skeptical going into it, on account of all the talk about it being very linear and the slow implementations of the combat system. Don't get me wrong it is quite linear but it really reminds me of Final Fantasy X which I thought was one of the best in the series, but to be fair I did start playing this series very late. It is linear with close to zero exploration involved but that is almost nit-picking. Who cares if the destination paths are linear, it is a small chunk of the game, most of it lies in the story, and character relationships. That's why I play these games, I mean come on, everyone who has played a final fantasy game to the end has had to of experienced some kind of tearful moment! I know I have.

A few things that make this game's combat stand out as a great addition to the series are:

1. Combat system known as Paradigm shifting - Brilliant, Gives all new life to this series, which it really needed. Almost like a party system where you change the roles of the party but not the actions.

2. The fact that when you die in combat you are placed right outside of the encounter where you died, making it a lot easier to experiment with different tactics.

3. That when you finish a combat encounter your party is healed to full health! That is just crazy, I couldn't believe my eyes, I praised Ifreit and Shiva when I saw this. No more potion management and it creates a focus on more important things like the fun of the battle and creating new tactics.

These three things really made a big impact to how the game is played for me. The combat is a very large part of this game and the more things Square can do to make it more enjoyable the better.

The game's overall feel really takes away from Final Fantasy 10 more than 12 - which I also did not enjoy - with the linearity and the emotional ties you feel towards the characters that you follow. I'm really loving my experience with this game so far, despite all of the criticism that has been directed towards it. I think if you weren't a fan of the Final Fantasy Series already or you don't like the changing of traditional J-Rpg's than I do not think you will enjoy this game but, If you are up for something a little different or a hell of a fun game than at least check it out.

I'm not even close to finishing this game but my initial impressions of it are great. If I can finish it before my rental is due I will write what I think of it after it has been beatin' :P.

Cheers internet!

And Boom Goes the Dynamite.

2010-04-08T22:00:00.000-04:00

I decided to stay home today, ya know get away from all of those pesky classes you take in high school and reflect upon myself. I got a lot done in that time span too. It's amazing what you can accomplish with 7 and a half extra hours in your day.

My wow account was activated again as well. I had to take a little dip into my college fund pool, but man was the water nice. Perfect temperature, had the jets goin' and everything but I digress.

So I fired up my warlock, hit some heroics and grabbed some badges and was genuinely liking my new Demonology spec. I disliked it at first because it wasn't affliction but its slowly growin' on me, using Illidan mode really helps with that. Although, I am still missing a lot of hit rating with the loss of the Suppression talents that I have to make up through gems :S But that will come with better gear.

The best part was I finally got into an ICC run! Only took down the first three bosses though. It's pretty crazy that you can pug the highest raid in the game, back in BC you were laughed at if you wanted to pug ANY raid content. I'm not sure If I like that or not, on one hand its less epic but on the other hand almost everyone can see this awesome content, unlike like the illusive Black Temple and Sunwell which I never came close to seeing.

Cruse you blizzard, curse you!

So it looks like I like the change after all, seeing as how I can experience the highest raid content now, but its still not as epic as it could have been. A crap load of old timer raiders have quit the game for that exact reason, a few friends I could mention are in the boat.

So I was going through this thing and the trash mobs had like 3.5 million health. That's as much as a last boss in a heroic. I know this isn't crazy for all you raiders out there, but I never really got into raiding, I just liked leveling toons. But I'm really liking it, and I'm blowing dudes up left, right, and center. My aoe damage was off the freakin' charts. They should call me the garbage man! because I owned ALL of that trash! Okay, okay bad joke, but I was pulling close to 20k dps on that stuff, 1st on the recount meter mind you. And to top off my grand escapade I snagged a piece of level 264 gear, an awesome belt that kinda makes me look like the emo-kid, heavy weight champion of the world with my pro wrist slicing skills.

So my point to this incredible story is that Gear Score can suck it! because I have about 800 less gear score then the big shot raiders and I rock the socks off them in trash pulls, I know that trash doesn't count for a whole lot but, I am still the winner! So let my have my glory, if only for a moment.

I had a bunch of longboarding and Artsy stuff to talk about but this thing is long enough already, I'll save those stories for another time.

Until then, I bit you adieu.

The Light at the Beginning of the Tunnel

2010-04-06T15:27:00.000-04:00

Okay so I have some good news and some very tragic news which makes for a massive post so bare with me.

The good news is that I think I found a new hobby that I would like to continue trying, known to the world as longboarding.

The very tragic news on the other hand is that my wow account just ran out today, and I have no money to buy a new time card! Freakin' devastating... Oh and to make matters worse, not only do I have to be part of the stage crew at my school for one more day, but I have to do it in a real life situation! I'm stage crewin' for our Halton Music Showcase tomorrow bright and early at 7:00 and I don't know how I will survive, maybe with lots of luck and possibly a magic glowing sword crafted by Zeus himself - A clash of the titans reference for those of you who have not yet realized.

So my new hobby was founded when I watched these incredible videos on youtube the other day about the Original Skateboard team. This group went down to Puerto Rico and were skating the entire island, shredding is more like it. They met some crazy dudes and had some awesome adventure's but the skating they were doing was so crazy that I wanted to pick it up and do what they do. So i'm learning the techniques and practicing on my own longboard that I just bought for cruising, not intending to actually bomb huge hills or anything but that's what I want to learn now. I'll link part 1 of the 7 part videos for anyone who stumbles across this post. http://bit.ly/2p2cUh

So my life is starting to make a lot more sense now. Things are just kinda coming together. I have a few hobbies that are keeping me occupied, like my music and longboarding and even writing, that's why I made this blog in the first place anyways. Been playing a hell of a lot more guitar and learning some sick songs, so I'm having fun with that. I even have an idea of what I want to go to college for, which is great because I am so sick of High School!

As of right now I'm really thinking about journalism courses. I finally have a direction! I've always loved the arts, I just didn't know what I liked the best and now I think its writing. My friends are still with me, and my family is right there as well. Now I just need to find something to do for a year while I wait to start college - I decided to wait another year before I left for college, I felt I was to young. But I'm not to sure about my job at Canadian Tire. I might need to find something else soon, I was never good at staying dormant in one spot for to long.

Okay life rant over.

Begin withdrawal symptoms from not playing World of Warcraft :S

Movie Review: Clash of the Titans, 2010

2010-04-03T01:37:00.000-04:00

Why hello there, whats up? Blog time!

I just got back from checking out the movie Clash of the Titans in 3D at our local Cineplex theatre and I must say I was quite entertained, not mind blown just entertained. The rating I would give it on the Jordan scale of moving pictures is

Drum Roll please maestro.

Pretty Fuckin Sweet! Which in normal speak is about a 4 out of 5

Kick ass special effects, and a lot of great action packed into this thing, but not a titan in sight. I know it’s a remake of the oldie Clash of the Titans - which by the way I heard was crap, so I will not be viewing - but still you could have at least mentioned a titan that was involved in this plot in some way. They only mentioned it at the beginning briefly when they were introducing the Gods and how they came to be. Not okay in my books. Titans are badass, huge dudes that would have put the movie on an even bigger scale.

But nevertheless the movie was really well done. It even had some straight up humour. Not like some subtle underlying humour but actual jokes on a few occasions. Really added to my experience. I am a huge Greek and Roman mythology guy and I follow as much of it as I can. Took a few ancient history courses that got me more interested in that kind of stuff but anyways. Their use of some of the great creatures and myths that surround this movie were also used pretty well. Some Pegasus’s, - is that how you say that word? Or is Pegasus already plural, hmm - Medusa and of course the all powerful Kraken. I wanted more then anything to be Minotaur’s but nope, they did not appease my mythological craving.

/sigh.

Oh and the main dude from Avatar is also the main character in here. He goes by the name of Persius though, not Jake Sully. At first I didn’t think his acting was up to snuff but by the end I was sold, I really enjoyed his performance.

Again not one of the greatest movies I have ever seen but I think for anyone who likes a good action film with a whole lot of mythological influence should go check this out. And what the hell, anyone who has played God of War the series would most definitely get a kick out of this one as well.

Cheers.

Lazy day with my Drood

2010-03-29T22:00:00.001-04:00

So here are 3 Great reasons why you should go roll a druid right now, here they are.

1. Can dps a lowbie 5 man

2. Can Heal up the tank when healer is OOM in a lowbie 5 man

3. Can tank mobs when your tank cannot grab agro... in a lowbie 5 man

Okay so maybe I like myself a little too much but still, when you single-handedly hold up your random dungeon group I believe there is a little room for gloating.

Oh pro tip for all of you Warsong Gultch'rs out there. When both teams hold a flag and are dukeing it out on one end of the map, with 90 percent of the opposing faction beating on your flag carrier... DON'T go and hang out in the Flag room of the faction that is currently kicking OUR A**!! It is counter-productive and really frustrating.

That is all.

Druids Can Do Anything!

2010-03-28T17:04:00.002-04:00

Okay so funny thing happened to me yesterday. I was playing my hunter and i decided, hey this sucks! (I change my mind alot about which toons I want to play. I get bored pretty easily). So I jumped on my Horde Druid that is equipped with almost full heirloom items that I had accumulated via my main warlock. Then I and started owning face and was having a pretty good time, hadn't had that much fun in a while. Oh he is level 16 right now by the way.

So anyways, I was all done with my level 10 druid quest to grab bear form and was waiting for the zeppelin to take me to Orgrimmar from ThunderBluff. Which the wait time in my opinion is the equivalent to scrubbing all of Toronto with nothing but a toothbrush, while someone is playing some bagpipes as theme music following you around annnnnd, with an aggressive gnome riding on your back as all of this goes down. Oh and that bagpipe'st has absolutely no idea how to play them!

Yeah its that freakin bad.

So by the time I had got on this zeppelin there was about five other dudes waiting with me. So we all got on and started riding this thing. About halfway into the trip (about 5 minutes to be exact) this one druid, in also full heirloom gear says out loud. "Is it possible to fall off this". And I said to him, "Well, yeah but I would advise against it", jokingly of course. I mean who would be stupid enough right? And then this dude says "Well okay then, Peace" and the Mother F***** jumped off the boat!.

I don't know why but I just couldn't believe it, I guess I just wasn't expecting someone to want to end their virtual life by jumping off a flying boat, that was thousands of feet in the air, and then having to run back to grab their corpse in shame. /shakes head.

Anyways that was my short story about dumb druids, made into a long story about dumb druids.

Cheers.

Stage Crew'n Blows.

2010-03-26T21:43:00.000-04:00

Okayy, so I tried out being apart of the "Stage Crew" at my school, and man did it ever suck. First of all I was more apart of the Standing Crew because that's exactly what I did, all day long, stood around and watched other people run around like raiders with their keyboard slamming hands on fire. Very angry and exaggerated. Meaning it breaks my number one rule.

Keep a very low stress level at all times.

So that career path is down the toilet... and through the sewer system out into our beloved irradiated lake Ontario.

Okay lake Ontario isn't that bad, but I swear I saw a little kid grow a tentacle or two after he had came outta there. Anyways, bottom line, running around trying to fix problems that arise out of a school battle of the bands is not fun, at least for me. With all of you young kids and your technology ever changing and such, I just cant keep up. Which in turn would mean that there would be many new problems to fix all the time, and therefor in conclusion my stress level would reach even higher levels.

Jordan logic 101.

P.S Oh by the way these images I'll be posting are just gunna be random screenshots that i have compiled. =p

Woot, I'm bored again/ Random blogging

2010-03-24T20:39:00.001-04:00

Okay, so as the title states I'm bored again and I have decided to roll a new toon. I have chosen to rock a Dwarf Hunter because I have been recently been getting my clothy butt kicked by them in the good ol' bg's. Oh by clothy I'm talking about my main character Feareaper who is in fact a level 80 forsaken warlock. I always have a lot fun with him but lately I have just been wanting to try something a little different. And since I have leveled pretty much every class to at least level 50, I'm rolling with a class that I love to level with, the sharpshootin' hunter.

I went alliance this time because, well again just to change things up, no real particular reason. And besides I love riding those crafty Ram mounts.

Oh and just to tie up some loose ends, that Deathknight that I was talking about a year ago is level 80 and I have since given him to my brother who is using an account linked to my battenet.

Also been super bored in RL so I have chosen to volunteer for some technical setup for random events at school, such as battle of the bands! Pretty stoked, and hopefully that should pass the time a little quicker, but in the mean time off to playing my brand spankin new Dwarf Hunter.

Funny People Intended to Be an Interpretation of Classic Novel of The Great Gatsby?

2009-08-02T03:15:00.000-04:00

Tonight I was planning on posting a review on the Movie “Funny People” directed by “40-Year-Old-Virgin” and “Knocked Up’s” director Judd Apatow but instead as I sat and watched the movie, I couldn’t help but notice some distinctive influences from one of the most critically acclaimed novels of all time, The Great Gatsby.

The movie itself wasn’t hilarious but it did pose a certain comedic flare. With actors Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill as comedians in the film, their needed to be at least something to chuckle at, and that goal was accomplished but I digress. I didn’t notice these connections until close to the end of the movie. The scene that struck my memory like a bolt of Unprecedented lightning was the one where Laura (actress Leslie Mann) explains to George Simmons (Adam Sandler) that she made a mistake sleeping with him and that she still loved her husband Clarke (Eric Bana). This was directly after George tested Laura’s love for him declaring roughly “Say that you love me more than you love your husband“ which in fact was a quote made by none other than the Great Gatsby himself but this time instead to his love Daisy. There were way to many instances like this one to be a coincidence, for example the characters in comparison to those of The Great Gatsby’s.

Ira Wright (Seth Rogen) is the Nick of “Funny People” meaning he is a middle class working man that is taken under the wing of a very rich, popular, high class man other wise known as George Simmons. In the Great Gatsby Nick is the character that is associated with the lives of every other character in the story. He witness’s all the events that occur, in the dramatic lives of the wealthy while being chauffeured around the town of West Egg by a very wealthy individual who goes by the name of Gatsby. Now I’m not saying that each and every detail is identical just certain specific plot comparisons. The lives of Laura and Clarke for example. Their lives eerily reflect the lives of Tom and Daisy’s, as being quite wealthy but not without its marriage problems. Both Tom and Clarke’s characters are very wealthy and cheat on their wives at different occasions simply because they feel they can. On the Wife side of things Daisy cheats on Tom with the wealthy, accomplished Gatsby while Laura did the same with George. On another note Both Gatsby and George let their true love get away, and without forgetting the past they peruse “The one that got away” and respectfully make them each cheat on their husbands.

At the end of “Funny People” and “The Great Gatsby’s” cheating dispute, it is solved when both couples of Tom and Daisy and Laura and Clarke both retreat into their nice homes, wealth and their not so perfect love to leave anyone caught outside of their wealthy environment out to dry, Respectfully George and Gatsby are left with nothing. Now if that is not one of the biggest coincidences you have ever heard than I do not know what is. Of course there are a lot of differences between the two that makes it not a complete rip off of the classic novel, like the fact that Ira Wright in no way is acquainted with Laura. Which if you were comparing it to “The Great Gatsby” does not match up, because the soul intention for Gatsby wanting to be friends with Nick was to get closer to his life goal of winning Daisy back. (Nick was the Cousin of Daisy giving them the connection needed for Gatsby to take advantage of). Another rather large difference in plot was the fact that George Simmons or the Gatsby of “Funny People” was dying in the beginning of the movie and living through the whole thing, where as Gatsby does not see the error of his ways and ends up getting himself killed at the end. But that was a decision to make “Funny People” a happy ending instead of an open ended one where you as a reader/audience were left to think about certain themes or morals.

If anything Funny People isn’t a rip off of “The Great Gatsby” but more of an interpretation upon it with a lot of different elements put into place. The Themes of each story are completely different, with Funny People having the what’s the use in having money if you have no one to spend it with cliché, and even wealth cannot bring “the girl that got away” back to you and The Great Gatsby having its traditional themes about The American Dream, Corruption and Wealth. Only the themes of wealth seem to appear in both stories as well.

All in all Funny People will make you laugh but not in the “Spit out my 10 dollar soda all over the floor” kinda way, and the references, connections or whatever you would like to call it towards The Great Gatsby are apparent in many scenarios and in many different ways. The eerie relationships between the characters of the rich and wealthy in both stories commit pretty much exactly the same actions of corruption and retreat into their wealth in the same way, and both Gatsby’s and George’s actions to take someone of lower class under into their world and try to win back the love of their lives appear to be the same. The differences between them are the general plot of the comedic lifestyles, the lifespan of George compared to Gatsby’s and the main themes expressed in both stories.

There are many things that make Funny People seem weirdly similar to “The Great Gatsby” and many things that make it seem like the connections were a mistake but I do not think so. I believe it was intended, there are way to many connections or relations to make this a coincidence but the one point that pushed my Allegations over the edge was the fact that one of the minor characters that had a love interest with Ira Wright and was named Daisy. Its not hard evidence that it was intended but I am convinced that it was a modern interpretation of “The Great Gatsby”.

P.S this post is freakin huge, and i completely understand if you skip right by it :P

The Fable of a Death Knight's Road to Redemption: Sinsear Dings Level 70!

2009-08-01T14:53:00.000-04:00

Another segment I'm adding to my growing blog is the progress i am making with my Orc Death Knight named Sinsear. The tales of leveling him up through the harsh climates of Northrend are to be told as he climbs his way from level 70 to level 80. He is currently not in a guild so he will be going about this solo, also meaning that each instance will be /gulp...pugged. Playing a Death knight is already a challenge enough with the majority of people believing that all Death Knights are noobs, but having to fight our way into pug without a guild makes existing that much harder. Just yesterday in the Borean Tundra I overheard a conversation between a few players that went a little something like Player #1: "all death knights are noobs and should learn how to play the game". Player #2 Yes I agree, but only Death knight's with the names with Death, Decay or Blood in their names truly suck. (shows the maturity of my sever but anyways)At the time I forgot to take a screenshot but you get the idea. So my goal is to rid the stereotype that all Death Knights do not know how to play the game, This is my Road to Redemption /cue dramatic Echo. (Not to be confused with T.I's Road to redemption). I will be completing each zone in Northrend to the fullest extent going for the quest completion achievement in each, also leading up to each and every instance in that zone. This toon is turning out to be my favourite out of all of them so it very well might become my main when he reaches the glorious lvl 80. The achievement junkie in me will want him to complete every achievement possible to help influence my Road to Redemption, and make him a respectable member in every pug. As the story unfolds many great experiences are in store for Sinsear, things that will define his place, his destiny in the World...of Warcraft. Stay tuned for more adventures following Sinsear's Road to Redemption.

SincerelyTheYoungCardinal

I Hear the Winds of Change a 'Blowin With Patch 3.2: Part 1

2009-07-30T15:36:00.001-04:00

With Blizzcon coming up in a short amount of time, being held on August 21st in Anaheim California patch 3.2 should not be too far away from its ever anticipated launch.

Although people are most excited about the announcements surrounding the talk within the community about the mysterious Cataclism that blizzard has trademarked or even the wow movie that has been recently announced that it is going to be directed by Sam Raimi posted by www.wow.com on July 21st. I on the other hand am occupied with other events. Also Sam Raimi has been the director for movies such as the first two Spiderman movies, Evil-dead staring Bruce Campbell, and other cult infused films.

Patch 3.2 will bring a whole bunch of new changes to classes and players alike, which is why I am so excited about it. Class changes are what interest me the most seeing as how I have many alts and like to experience different ways of playing them. My prediction is that it will be launched and ready for play before Blizzcon. It has been on the PTR's (Public Test Realms) for quite some time now, which means their constant tinkering and tweaking will soon come to and end. I will briefly be talking about some things that caught my attention.

First off will be the rebirth of the Duel-Weilding DeathKnight. Duel-Weild is an ability that has been implemented since the launch of The Wrath Of The Lich King but it has since been crossed off the list of viable spec choices for decent DPS. With patch 3.2 Blizzard is addressing this problem by paying attention to the flaws it had primarily. If you used Duel-Wield It just did not compare in DPS to that of one using a 2-Hander. The faster strikes that come along with using two 1-Handed weapons would provide a more suitable PVP choice in the fact that it will be able to interrupt spell casting better than it would without it. As it stands now Frost is the spec of choice for Duel-Wielding a link to Skeleton Jack (a current Death Knight Blog) is posted above. This post shows the pro's and con's of each talent tree towards DW. I will also include the Death Knight portion of the Q&A posted by Blizzard Developer Ghost Crawler which Clarifies the changes to DW along with all the other topics posted there. http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/underdev/deathknight.html. Stick around for Part 2 of my Series of changes coming with Patch 3.2

SincerelyTheYoungCardinal

The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship

2009-07-30T04:49:00.000-04:00

Hello kind readers of the internet, the blog that you are currently viewing is a compilation of many things that influence and make my life the way it is. I, like many people of today's ever changing world of media and voice am interested in a large mix of things that make our so called geek world tick.

The direction that I am taking this blog in surrounds the Geek culture including things that have caught my attention such as popular Movies, Comic Books, T.V shows and especially video games, most importantly the MMORPG community surrounding the World of Warcraft or just anything that strikes my fancy. I don't plan on being the first or fastest with the latest information, we'll leave that to the professionals.

Along with reporting news on updates and recommendations to do with these topics I will be expressing my review or opinion on them while trying my best to not give away spoilers. Each site that information is borrowed from will ether be cited or have a direct link to the website of origin, also other blogs or websites that will give you more information or insight on each topic will be recommended if need be.

I hope you will stick around for this development in progress. Or not, it's up to you.