Song of the Day: Nada Surf - Always Love

One of my favourite indie bands breaking up .

http://www.chartattack.com/damn/2005/10/2808.cfm

xend transmissionx

Song of the Day: The Anniversary - The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

So I won't call it a comeback, but more as a long hiatus with fans waiting in the wings for the last beath of Matt Sharp and the distant-sounding moog. The Rentals are back and the pants of many many fans are now soiled in excitement. Kinda ironic that the first Rentals album was called "Return of the Rentals" as if they were planning a comeback before ever releasing an album. But hooray, hoorah to that! If only Mister Robert Moog, an electronic-music pioneer who died on August 21st, aged 71 could have seen the Rentals one last time before the passed away earlier this year. Queue the synth-rock kids, we're making another ressurgence!

xend transmissionx

Song of the Day: Iron & Wine - Cinder and Smoke

Something has to be said about the intrinsic value of companionship. The days are getting darker and the mighty wind gusts send shivering bodies to hug and cuddle with their significant others. My solution to the changing Autumn temperature was to wear sweaters. I mean, its always worked for me. Sometimes I even cheat and wear two just to be sure. As of late, I have seen a select few who have circumvented the the sweater system to accept the clutching and grabbing of the person beside them to benefit from the winds effects on surface area to volume ratio. I mean, does this not bother the person who is being grabbed? It is a rather awkward position, especially when walking to school. One would be concerned with posture and not to mention the aggravation slowing the person's cadence to benefit one's well-being. I really don't see a symbiotic communication here. If there is, it definitely does not reach Pareto efficiency and therefore not worth pursuing. If this occuring in your immediate environment, have you ever thanked the person beside you? You need to give mad props yo! If not, consider investing in a warm jacket, some earmuffs or a toque because youre broke-ass will be left in the cold pretty soon. So please, bundle up and play safe out there. Mittens and winter jackets are on sale at your nearest retail store.

This thought/observation has been brought to you by Mrs. C's raisin brownies. I don't know what's in them [she said they were raisins], but [Martin Lawrence accent] Daaaaaaaaaamn Gina! I've been trippin' balls ever since. So so good! Brownie, brownie, brownie...

xend transmissionx

Song of the Day: The Appleseed Cast - Steps and Numbers

Wow, finally got a working computer with my music library back... What a relief! For a while things were looking grim. I would have lost my Britney Spears MP3s forever. Whew! Thanks J-X. Anyways, this weekend marked another Oktoberfest weekend where students and adults alike spend excessive amounts of money of overpriced alcohol (mostly beer) and down copious amounts of sausage and schnitzel. What's so good about drinking in a hall or arena anyways? I mean the schnitzel was dry and the beer selection was lousy. You will never see me drink another Brick Lager again. It never seems to amaze me the crowd this event draws year after year. According to CKCO and the Oktoberfest chairman, attendance increased by 15% for this year's festivities. Drunkards are coming out of the woodwork with lots of disposable income to blow. Congratulations for making such an unimportant festival become the highlight of the harvest season. Did everyone forget about Thanksgiving? I guess any excuse to drink is reason enough. It was brought to my attention that Miss Oktoberfest 2005 happens to be A UW student and varsity hockey athlete, not to mention my towel girl as the gym. ooow ooow!

This weekend also brings back memories of first and second year where I spent the majority of spare time scheduling and coordinating rides & tickets for various rock shows around Southern Ontario. Usually, it was just a core of the three amigos who journeyed from one sweaty hall to another. I recall this one time where were ventured somewhere outside of the Kitchener Waterloo region to see Jimmy Eat World at the Opera House for their promotion of the pending release of Bleed American. At that time, I was totally hooked on Clarity and this was a "must go" event, even if it's smack in the middle of exams (I'm sure the microbiology final was a synch!). What made the show even more special was the appearance of Rachel Haden: one-half of the most fascinating pair of twins on earth. She happened to be singing back up for Jimmy Adkins on the records and I was so elated to see her again. The last time I saw her, she was in another band and I was 14 with a crackling voice desperately seeking salvation from the symptoms of puberty. Anyways, pictures from said show are only in film format. Boo urns to not having a scanner. You can just picture her, short dark hair with thick rimmed glasses.

Okay, so we were young and all of us had made many appearances around Ontario. You could say we earned our scene badges for attendance at that time. But at this particular show, the trio were really annoyed with one particular show attendee. Of course she made the mistake of breaking all the rules of conduct for proper show-going ettiquette. First, it started with the chain smoking, then bitching about how people were touching her, and finally the ultimate no-no: talking so loud that she drownded out the headliner during their set. Additional points were also awarded in this case because she had the most annoying voice. It was cross between that character on Friends who dated Chandler Bing and Fran Dresher. Oh and let's not forger her constant attempt at "picking up" one of the three amigos throughout the show and maybe even other shows that we happened to attend. So on the way home, the 401 Mc Donalds just outside of Cambridge was a typical stop to replenish dehydrated bodies and feast on the finest quality foods offered at 2 a.m. in the morning. With our luck, as soon as we walked in, a shrieking yell came across the hallway corridor with a shrill unmatched by any dog, horse, pony, bird or even monkey. Needless to say it came from some hybrid of a scratch from a chalk board or a tune of 1000 screaming children. As if a plethora of megaphones were all directed at the three of us, we covered our ears in terror worrying for our lives. Many a times I wake up in a cold sweat from a feverish dream with the words "It's you! It's really you. I remember yoouuuuu"! This incident has scarred me for life and haunts me to this day. And when I mean to this day, I mean TO THIS DAY. I hope that the three of us can go out for dinner sometime and reminisce about the old times. I found a perfect spot in KW where a certain waitress is more than happy to serve us :)

xend transmissionx

Song of the Day: The Shins - Pink Bullets

Gosh, it's been a long time since I've blogged. This has been in part to the self destruction of my computer. The thing gave out on me at the most inconvienent time possible. Since it has been a long time, here's a recap of some recent events.

1] Cocktail party/mixer - can't really label it a mixer persoanlly because I was having a blast with people I knew. Special thanks to the hostess who never diasappoints. Makes great drinks too!

2] Wet Willys & Jaeg with the boyz - the ultimate humitiliation as a toddler/preteen years. Let's just say it brought up alot of memories and I couldn't hold back (though I was the one administering them as a child).

3] Neil's wedding - great times with great friends that I haven't seen in a long time. I think everyone enjoyed themselves. Some more than others. We did not disappoint the banquet hall in alcohol sales. Surprising that such a small party could drink. Of course nothing would be complete without the gossip generated at such a soiree of townies myself included. I'm now updated on everyone's business.

4] Bomber - I thought I'd never see this place again, but I some how end up having a great time there. This place never disappoints to be honest, so why give up a good thing? Thanks guys, you know who you are.

5] Thanksgiving Weekend - Its great having family together again under one roof so that we could catch up on old times. As a toddler, my uncle at that time was a twenty-something foriegner to a Western culture who indulged himself in pop music of the eighties. In lieu of his musical tastes, I decided to honour his open-mindedness by playing him a series of songs that were a part of his record collection. Hall and Oates was a great hit and generated much conversation between myself, my uncle and my mother!

6] Flint suburbs - decided I wanted to visit another country during Thanksgiving and who else to parttake in this spur-of-the-moment roadtrip than Kerni? We ended up in Flint Michigan. This is the same city that Michael Moore constantly reminds his audience of during his guerilla-esque documentaries. From what I could see from the freeway, it was pretty close to how the portrait was painted. Oh, and if you're thinking of driving to the US, think again! Make sure to bring an extra tire just in case hit a pot hole or a poorly paved/patch strip of road.

xend transmissionx