Song of the Day: About to Snap - What's the Fucking Point

Ever noticed the band t-shirt the guy across the hall has on or the girl with the colourful pins on her labcoat and backpack? From my own curiosity and quirkiness, I noticed these things. So when a dude has numerous pins that look vaguely familiar, I get to investigating. Turns out these pins were of the Hardcore styling of music (very very particular).

Anyways, my friend Tim is totally immersed in the music and has his own distro and putting out hardcore music for quite some time now (totally for the love of the labour). Knowing that Tim just pressed a few copies of his band About to Snap, I thought I'd be the good Samaritan and strike up a conversation with this guy who has these particular buttons and market Tim;s new release by giving this guys a copy.

The result?
Turns out this guy HAS heard of the band and actually tired out for the band! This dude knew more about the band than I did! Boy did I feel like an ass. What are the chances that this dude in my class would know of a band who just started and just pressed a EP: almost slim to none. Just goes to show that I'll stick my neck out to help the greater cause. I think music is definitely worth it. And if I'm going to help anyone out, I'd be Tim. If he was doing it for the money, he'd be outta the game a long long time ago. It was just so much easier to send my notorious mixtapes abroad like in the summers of my high school days.

Was I trying to help the HC scene? One would argue either both scenarios.

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Song of the Day: Sufjan Stevens - All Good Naysays Speak Up! Or Forever
Since the recent Tim Hortons campaign for ROLL UP THE RIM 2005 started, I've diligently bought my average of 3 cups of coffee a day. According to the contest rules, the odds of a prize is as follows:

"the approximate odds of being eligible to win a food prize are one in 9".

I was 0 for 24! How does that stack up?!?!? Anyways, I'm pretty content with my muffin right now, but I feel Tim has some explaining to do. Let's hope the Law of Averages works in my favour as I put more of a concerted effort to consume more coffee. With time winding down, I am going to up the stakes and double or dare I say it triple my coffee consumption. That home theatre will surely be mine! Hello Plasma, goodbye ass-clown television set!

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Song of the Day: Blaze Berdahl - You Gotta Believe

I confess, I'm a little obsessed. After a great Easter dinner compliments of the Zeller/Haiser union, Henry, Eric and I had a conversation of some of our favourite shows while growing up. I must admit I was a big PBS fan (Public Broadcasting Station was the shit back in the day). So my top three shows were

3. Street Cents (CBC, but close enough)

2. Square One TV especially Math Net (if you know Mathnet, you rule!)

1. Ghostwriter!

"Aww yeah, Aww yeah, you gotta believe!"
As Henry and Eric mentioned the show, I was totally taken back down memory lane. I mean I watched this show religiously on Sunday evenings for like three years. It was the first show I watched that had a Vietnamese character in it ( I never watched 21 Jumpstreet. Dustin Nguyen is a punk-bitch!). It was funny how vividly I remembered all the episodes. It was a moment of verbal diarrhea as I recalled almost every episode from memory and I was pretty damn accurate too. Note that this show was on from 1991 to 1994, so it was quite some time ago. Anyways, the show was so good because, it was a show where kids were solving mysteries. It wasn't your typical 22 minute-problem-solved show, but it was a series of episodes where the gang would solve a mystery. What also made it good was that it was 1 full hour of Ghostwriter. Back-to-back episodes where previous week's episode was aired before the current installment. I really think MTV programming ripped PBS off on this. The episodes were smart and the cases were tricky. Every character was different:


L to R: Alex, Tina Jamal, Lenny, Gaby, Rob

Lenny - the rock star (and super hot babe. I still have a crush on her)
Jamal - the science whiz kid who explained to me what a modem was
Tina - the token Vietnamese kid who had instinctive journalist skills
Alex - the heartthrob of the show who was the tough, but loving big brother
Gaby - the naive little sister of Alex
Rob - the streetwise poet who has a passion for writing

I was seriously glued to the television when GW was on T.V. Seriously, I don't think I was ever as devastated as the week where I turned onto PBS to find Bob Ross painting instead of a fresh and hip episode of GW. Now back to present time. After the great dinner, I rushed home to 'google' the show to find out what ever happened to the show and where I could get my grubby little hands on some episodes. Turns out I'll have to wait a while since this educational series was never released on DVD. Also, to my delight, I wasn't the only one who misses this show. There's network of people my age who have a dire love for this show as well. There's documented accounts of why everyone loved the show:

Mysterious Marco

Registered: forever
Posts: 1
Location: Woodland, California

Song of the Day: Weezer - Across the Sea

I don't know how to say it any better, but the new weezer song is old balls (= bad). Rivers you fuckin' liar! Even the Ninja Turtles I soundtrack was catchier than this. Whatthefuck! And thirtyfivedollars to see weezer at a scumbag of a venue, fuck that!?!? I've said this somewhere in the past, but when I die, I'll be holding onto a copy of Pinkerton. If the weez doesn't ship into shape, I'll have to rescind on my previous statement and revert to holding my Paula Abdul - Forever you girl CD. RIVERS, don't let this happen! Make better music. Rivers, read this article here and live up to my expectations. I really don't want to replace these posters in my room as they are covering some big holes [end rant].

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Song of the Day: Knock Knock Ginger - Stained with Blue

Ever wondered how a chicken would look like if it were to exercise?

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Song of the Day: SS Cardiacs - Noo Noo (In a Foreign Dialect)

Tonight I was witness to something incredibly special. After 5 long years in Waterloo, I was able to witness something organic unfold in front of my eyes. Waterloo music at its finest in the SLC in front of about a handful of eagerly patient individuals. I must say, it's times like these that make all those shows where you wanted want to leave worth your while to stay. My friend and roomie Matt and his new band knock knock ginger were amazing. Not because they sounded particularly good this night, but rather the organic vibe that was emanating from this collective of 4 + 2. I mean people were really digging it. It's really hard to tell from a typical KW music crowd, but this was the odd exception. People were clapping and toe tappin' (yes, the movement of the lower extremities where one moves to elevate). I'm truly excited to see what the KW music scene will become. Some great bands have come and gone (R.I.P. Masters and Moderns and Gaffer). What holds for the future of KW music? What I saw tonight might be the resurgence of a great and ever-evolving scene.




No one ever expects anything great to come from their back yard, but I have a feeling about this one. If the band can stay together and refine their sound, I think they might go places. I have a few photos from tonight's show I'll post. Try and see if you recognize any of these people. If you do, go up to them and thank them for putting life back into a deflated social scene at UW. Not everyone is totally anal about their grades and standing. Just relax, breathe, let go and see a show in your local Waterloo establishment!

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Song of the Day: Weezer - Beverly Hills

Thanks to Eric, I have a radio edit of the new Weezer single Beverly Hills. It's remeniscent of 'American Girls'. Still not the old shit that I like. Nice try though. Let's hope the rest of thew album is better (May 10).

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Song of the Day: The Killjoys - Rave and Drool

I fucking suck. Somehow I got sucked into another sore throat. This has been 3 weeks straight with some sort of ailment. I'm so serious about having my tonsils taken out. As of now, they are so swollen, it's hard to get water down there. With me being sick, the weekend was useless. I tried working on an assignment on Firday night, but ended up doing nothing. Saturday was the same ol' shit, but in a different location: London. It was good to see Kerri again, before we give her the old heave hoe to Scotland. Man, how London has changed. To my surprise, London now has a Dimitrie's. How posh...

As for anything else that transpired this weekend, I care not to talk about because it was either

• stupid and uneventful
• made me so mad that I ...

Song of the Day: The Arcade Fire - Haiti

Ever "Googled" yourself to see what pops up? People keep telling me that I have a 'unique' name, but that's totally not the case. There's tonnes of us out there. I did recently do the "google' thing and apparently I wasn't too far off by studying science as an undergraduate degree. I guess think is what I might look like in the future.



I think I might email this guy to see what he's all about. Maybe we're distant cousins. Nice glasses by the way!

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Song of the Day: Dashboard Confessional - Shirts and Gloves

Grad Ball was great! Saw a bunch of familiar faces. Everyone looked great! More pics to come as I figure out how to erase this huge gap from the title

Song of the Day: Pluto - Goodbye Girl

The weekend was filled with so many events. Let's start by looking at Friday. I spent the whole time studying for Evolution, which I think wasn't;t as hard as I expected. We'll see I guess. Anyways, studied till like 3 a.m. in the SLC until I couldn't open my eyes.

Saturday started at 8:30 with a Science and Business conference called "Keys for Success" and a success it was. Sci Biz kids definitely had it going on. The organizers attracted quite the number of companies out this year. It's good to see that industry recognizes Waterloo for something other than computer science and engineering. I had the chance to talk to a couple of industry representatives, which were great. I had the chance to ask questions that only they could give insight into. Someone was quoted as saying that it was funny that I was referencing journal articles and news articles. My answer is that I did my homework - plain and simple. If I'm interested in something, I'd usually try and find out as much as I can. I'm deeply interested in the Canadian biotechnology/pharma industry and I follow it because it's interesting to me. I just didn't want to ask boring questions that a rep might be faced with all the time from forums like this. After talking to the Merck Frost development manager for quite some time, my interests in regulatory affairs is apparently boring. I think I was rubbed the wrong by this lady as well. My interests weren't her field of specialty, so I guess I was boring her with questions. Anyways, the rest of the informal discussions went really well. It's really good to ping questions to industry experts to get an inside view of something that might be augmented in the media. The more I go to these functions, the more I'm enthralled with interests in the industry. If anything, these conferences make we want to pursue additional education more than anything else. All in all, great experience. I hope this event blows up and gets more attention to science at Waterloo.

As for the evening, the Science Grad Ball was exactly 45 minutes from the time I got home from this conference. So with a 5-minute suit change, I was ready. Had a blast, seen some old and new faces. Everyone looked great too. And contrary to anyone else's opinion, I thought the comedian Amie got was funny. Before I leave you, here's a few pics from the Grad Ball:

Song of the Day: Bloc Party - Banquet

It's terribly interesting that in a scientific sense we can explain exactly what combination of amino acids you're made of, yet it can't explain why a person would save a child from drowning in a pool...

Maybe with more cramming, I'll figure it out.

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Song of the Day: Q and not U - Wonderful People

Well, this I think I finally kicked this cold to the curb. Though it only took 2 weeks, I'm glad to see it's finally gone. Today after work, I had a scheduled meeting with Professor Glick. Usually, I'm pretty apprehensive when dealing with professors, but this must have been the exception. We ended up talking for like half an hour. Though the topic strayed from the context of the course, it felt good to be able to ping ideas and thoughts. What I also found amusing was his sense of humour. His lectures are pretty dry and his jokes are always a miss in class. When a man shares his displeasure of Sesame Street and tabloids, the conversations turns into a hours of hilarity. He was so funny that I actually thought about inviting him out for a beer. Stupid I know, but hi-larious when I told Henry about it.

Anyways, the weekend is full of studying and somewhere in between I have a grad ball to attend. As of now, I'm pretty agitated about the whole situation. Girls need to make up their minds. And if they don't I will for them.

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Song of the Day: Kanye West - Get 'em High (Ratatat remix)

Today I attended one of Larry Smith's inspirational guest lectures for the faculty of Engineering. The premise of the seminar was convergent technology. As he elaborates on his muses, I become more intrigued in his ideas of technology and the human component of IT. He critiques the university infrastructure and its conforming effects to faculty or program. He also comments on multi-disciplinary programs will be the wave of the future. This was rather an important point for me as some colleagues in my program have had their doubts in the program throughout. The lecture motivated me and I wish other science and business students could hear that Larry had to say. Another important point he made was about basic industry-specific problems. Most of the basic problems have been solved. Larger problems are at stake and will include more and more different outlook. I wish I could have attended more of his talks in my earlier years. Basically, the lecture made me feel good and re-enforced my ambitions of what I wanted out of this 5-year investment I've made.

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Song of the Day: Limblifter - Drug Induced

Update on the cold, it's in remission right now. Still have the sniffles, but that's alright. I'm fine with that right now. The drugs are gone and I'm dependent on loose drugs here and there. I might be start licking mold from Kerni's bread for medication. heh

Studied for midterms this past weekend. Who has midterms scheduled for a Saturday morning?!? WLU...

On the bright side, I did coax a friend's little bro to check out a sweet band -- Limblifter!
It was a great show! It was too bad my roomates and I don't have that connection music-wise as we used to in first year. I guess times change and people change. Anyways, new lineup was good and the new Limblifter release is great [I/O]. Sweet sweet basslines from a sweet sweet bassist.

Sometimes it takes a smile from a certain someone to brighten one's day...
Thanks Meegee...

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Song of the Day: Limblifter - Get Money

Oops... I messed up while doodling with this 'Hello' bloggerbot thingy and tables.
Oh well,so here's my first pic of 2005.

Song of the Day: Lali Puna - Call 1-800 FEAR

OK, so I got this from another blogger who will remain anonymous but I thought it was important to clarify a few things...

"Uyen is pronounced like "WIN" not as in UuuYen... Or You-Yen.... Or U-WIN! It's easy... Please.. If you can't say it.. Juss ask.. I don't get offended!! I am Vietnamese, not Chinese , not Filipino, not Korean, not a Halfer"


So eloquently expressed. Anyways, I wanted to blog about my frustrations of how school really sucks. Five goddamn years is coming to an end and I'm agitated that it's not over yet. In September I was afraid to be finished, but now I'm eagerly awaiting my entrance out of the university womb and into the world.


By the way, the cold is getting better, but I'm still a bit stuffed in the nasal vicinity. Good news is the doctor gave me some sweet free drugs. It was a hefty donation of grapedrink dimetapp. Sweet sweet shit! Thanks Doc!


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