Song of the Day: Rilo Kiley - Close Call

I sometimes get a tad obsessive about nouvelle things I come across via internet/word-of-mouth/or television. Welcoming something new to a more or less mundane nine to five happens less than I would like. Anyways, so the new obsession is none other than that cottage time-killer Scrabble. Up to two weeks ago, I have never played this game. I just never thought I'd enjoy a game of words. Thanks to my affinity for documentaries, I stumbled across 'Word Wars', a film that was entered into the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. The film is by far one of the funniest and intriguing flicks I've ever seen. It combines the novelty of a common board game mixed with a handful of quirky characters and the intensity of sport and competition. With the recent success of card games like poker, I think it this film became more appealing. The documentary was so inspiring that I had to find out myself what it was like to sleep with letters floating around in dream. I swear this happens! I also swore I could have seen a Scrabble tournament on ESPN was I was down visiting family in Texas last year.

So if you're looking for something to watch next time you're at a movie rental centre, take a look for Word Wars. You won't be disappointed. In the meantime, who wants to play?

Marlon Hill - My pick for the 2008 World Championship title

Labels: movies

Song of the Day: Forest City Lovers - Song for Morrie

What an end to a rather relaxing vacation. This past week I was away enjoying the vast Canadian wilderness in a sunny northern town of Restoule. Having a week out of the year nestled into some of the most beautiful untouched landscape really helps take the edge off the daily urban grind. I think the for 6 days I was there, it only precipitated once and to be honest, it wasn't too bad. I even experienced my first sunburn! Drinking, swimming, and laying on the dock really takes its tole on you to the point where it renders you sleep! To add to the amazing weather, old friends and great BBQ contributed to an overall enjoyable summer vacation.

One of the highlights to the vacation was hearing one of my close friends play a couple of his penned songs. My buddy has gone through a very trying period of two years where nothing was really stable. There were some moments throughout the last couple of years where I haven't seen him this happy ever. So when things went into a further nosedive, he turned to crafting some very personal songs. And to my glee, these songs were amazing. The lyrics and strumming was so beautifully intertwined that he was successful in painting picture of his tough times. I would really like to see him shares these songs in some way. I would really encourage him to play at coffee houses and whatnot. They are too good to not be heard.

While having time to mull things over without any additional issues, I've realized that life is one large collection of personal pain. Sure, everyone has there problems, but what they learn from it, or deal with it makes them that much better. It was good to see a friend able to block and jab his way out of his personal struggles. Though pain may not be fully healed (it may never be fully recovered) it was good to see alternate interpretations of coping with the heavy heart. The outcome of time alone resulted in this conclusion that life as I know it can really suck, but I might as well enjoy it as it reveals itself to me. xend transmissionx

Labels: vacation