Peaking Out

"Ultimately, there really are only two options. One is to militarize the taking of oil, which means to get your population to understand that if they want to continue to drive SUVs and have the cars and consume energy in the way that they are, that they will be in war after war. The other position is to begin to prepare for what we all see coming, which is and end to the era of cheap oil, and to to invest in alternative technologies for energy that are cleaner, safer, and have less detrimental effects on the political and social make up of oil exporting countries themselves."

Watching this movie (A Crude Awakening) makes me envision a totally dystopian future where horrible ethical and moral atrocities are committed in the name of oil consumption. Kind of like when the vampires run out of a a blood supply in that movie Daybreakers. :P I'm actually feeling kind of glad to be alive at this time in human history, because it looks like the use of fossil fuels is pretty much the reason the human race has made such leaps and bounds in the past couple centuries. As Bender would say: "We're boned."

Full Of Warm Food And Happy-Making Music

Say it with me, Torontonians... "Lousy Smarch weather!"

On a day like this it's no wonder my motivation to spent time out in the world was especially low. Therefore, the evening was spent making homemade tuna bisque, plus I started watching A Crude Awakening. Things I have learned tonight: butter makes everything delicious, and never underestimate the power of human rapacity.

In any case, it's time to enjoy a new song. I bring thee some Canadian content, a new Danny Fernandes song called 'Take Me Away'. LOL @ his vision of Toronto in the future.



Did I mention there is a BENNY BENASSI REMIX of this already lovely song?! Oh yes, there is. Enjoy, my pretties. :D

Don't Forget The Lyrics

In the heat of love, I can feel you touch me places.
Can you warm it up? Till I'm never cold.
You're the only one that my burning heart desires.
And it's just begun; let the fire grow.

I wanna feel your moonlight turn to sun, wanna feel the morning come.
Wanna feel your fire.
I wanna feel your winter turn to spring, wanna feel that summer rain.
Wanna feel your fire.

My body’s hot, I need you to break my fever.
And don’t you stop, I’m getting close.
Take me in your arms, can you feel my heartbeat racing?
It’s a five-alarm; burn out of control.

I wanna feel your moonlight turn to sun, wanna feel the morning come.
Wanna feel your fire.
I wanna feel your winter turn to spring, wanna feel that summer rain.
Wanna feel your fire.



I’m not yours and you’re not mine,
But we can sit and pass the time
No fighting wars, no ringing chimes,
We’re just feeling fine
This is where we’re supposed to be,
Sitting by a broken tree
No tragedy, no poetry,
Just staring at the sky

I could wait a thousand hours,
Stay the same in sun and showers
Pick apart a hundred flowers
Just to be quiet
Tell me when you feel ready
I’m the one, there’s not too many
Hold my hand to keep me steady
Just to be quiet with you

I like it here beside you, dear
You’re even more than you appear
And in the clouds my head is clear
Every time you say hello
Here’s my heart and here’s my mouth
And I can’t help if things come out
Cause there are words I want to shout
But maybe I’ll stay low

I could wait a thousand hours,
Stay the same in sun and showers
Pick apart a hundred flowers
Just to be quiet
Tell me when you feel ready
I’m the one, there’s not too many
Hold my hand to keep me steady
Just to be quiet with you

Best Finished Object Yet!

Wasn't feeling so well this weekend so I ended up spending lot of time in bed or on the couch. And since I didn't feel like reading, I took the opportunity to start a new crochet project. I decided on a pair of fingerless mittens in maroon and I can't believe how beautifully they turned out!




When I finished the actual mitts I realized the body looked kind of wonky at the end of the rounds, so I decided to cover it up with a flower. But the flower pattern I chose had a hole in the middle too big to be covered up with a nice little button (my original plan) so I ended up sewing in some small jewels that fell off one of my shirts, LOL.

Massive Music Post Of Massiveness!

I am BRINGING THE THUNDER tonight, ladies and gents! Prepare your auditory canal for some serious funtiems. :D

1. Flo Rida ft. Akon - Who Dat Girl

SHUT YOUR FACE, this is my theme song right now. :P

2. Keshia Chante - Table Dancer

Again, shut your piehole! I actually didn't like this song when I saw the video on TV, but when you're not distracted by how sexed-up Keshia Chante has become (or KIM AND MELANIE FROM SYTYCD CANADA OMG!) the song is actually really good.

3. David Guetta ft. Rihanna - Who's That Chick

LOL, first "Who Dat Girl" and now "Who's That Chick"? Originality fail! ;) As always, David Guetta delivers!

4. Metric - Help I'm Alive (Twelves Remix)

A coworker introduced me to Twelves remixes, predicting I would dig them. She was right. I love Metric and especially this particular song, but this is really well done!

5. Crookers - We Are Prostitutes

A song I acquired from a friend; dance remix of a anti-capitalist punk song? YES PLEASE!

6. Arnej - We Need Them (Club Mix)

Best for last: a song that a friend actually sent me as a "birthday present", hahaha. This song... speaks to me. Listening to it actually makes my soul expand, like I'm connected to the rest of the universe. I must have been a raver in a past life or something. Interestingly enough, Arnej also has a song called They Need Us, which is kind of the doppelganger of this song.

Ringing In The Season

This past week was the office Christmas party, which was so amazingly fun! One of the things that surprised me the most is how the CEO actually went out and bought every single employee a personalized present, so very thoughtful. :)

I got a bunch of fantastic DVDs:


Glenn Close! I love her, and I've heard good things about this documentary.


This is actually three films in one package: Manufactured Landscapes (ZOMG I've wanted to see that since forever), A Crude Awakening, and The Refugees of the Blue Planet.
All in all, so amazing, even if environmentalist documentaries isn't the first thing I would have picked for myself, hahahaha. The CEO actually apologized for not asking us beforehand like he usually does every year, which is probably why he didn't get me something more appropriate like a book on, say, string theory. ;)

The Stuff Movies Are Made Of

You guys have to hear about the dream I had last night!

In this dream I was back in university, going to school at Ryerson, but one of my current coworkers was my best friend and we hung out together. We were walking around downtown and we came upon a period movie being filmed, and we spontaneously decided to sneak in by posing as craft services or something like that. We walk in carrying these big pitchers of water we snagged and then we end up sitting at a table chatting to all these high and mighty British actors when security realized we were gate crashers and grabbed us to escort us off the set. So we got thrown out and we had a laugh about it but as we were walking away down the sidewalk, I felt like someone, maybe security, was following us.

Eventually we made our way into the subway and when we got down there, we realized there was some sort of political protest going on. I believe there were people actively protesting Rob Ford's motion to destroy Transit City. :P Anyway, I got really into it and started leading the rally with all kinds of loud chants when a bunch of conservative jerks took offense and shoved me while I was on the subway platform. I stumbled and fell onto the very edge of the platform and if I had leaned back I would have fallen onto the tracks and gotten electrocuted or whatever. But just as I teetered on the edge, the guy who had been following me from the movie set appeared from out of the crowd. I told him to help me and he pulled me away from the edge.

The guy was none other than this fine gentleman:


Oh my gosh Mos Def I love you!
So after he saved my freaking life, Mos Def offered me his arm and said he'd escort me home. He told me how he'd been watching me sneak into the movie set and thought I was awesome for being so ballsy. I pretty much spent the entire walk home looking at him like this:


And then I was suddenly sitting in class with a surprise test I hadn't studied for. Eventually I just threw the test in the garbage and left the classroom, hahahaha.

Shake Your Body Down To The Ground

What up y'all? Music video post time!

First off, Kylie Minogue being utter fabulous in 'Get Outta My Way'. LOVE THIS WOMAN SFM.



Next, Stromae's 'Alors On Danse'. French has never sounded so freaking awesome and the video is just so European, love it.



And finally, one the greatest videos I have ever laid eyes on: 'Lonely's Lunch' by You Say Party. India + sci-fi dystopia + interesting female lead = WIN WIN WIN!

Where's That Flying Car I Was Promised Twenty-Five Years Ago?

I'm pretty sure the reason I do not post more often is because the only thing I have to say these days is stuff like: "I AM GOING TO NUKE THE DAMN 401 FROM OUTER SPACE." Seriously. I've been a Toronto driver for five and a half years and it just gets more and more frustrating with every passing year somehow.

Crooks And Liars

Okay, well, needless to say I’m disappointed but unsurprised that Ford is now mayor of Toronto. Politics are so disheartening. I find that what’s happening up here is very similar to how I feel about politics in America as well. I don’t want to vote for the Conservative party, so I vote for the Liberals, but the problem is that ideologies aside, both parties are corrupt as hell and drunk on power and waste no time in screwing over the people.

I was going to say that I should run for city councilor because I know that I could do a way better job than the rest of these heartless monkeys, but then I realized that I live in a city full of greedy idiots. Clearly, I need to drive around in a van all day long, passing out feminist pamphlets in the hopes that my brothers and sisters finally WAKE UP. :P

Would You Stay Mine From Dawn Till Night

I hope my neighbours aren’t sick of Alex Gaudino yet; this past weekend was only the beginning. LOL.



I also seem to be feeling a lot of Rihanna lately. I’ve discovered this new song of hers that features my man Drake, called “What’s My Name”. (Note: all the versions on YouTube are sped up or slowed down, this one is sped up.)



Finally there’s the Rihanna song that’s all over the radio right now, “Only Girl (In The World)”. I actually didn’t like the song much when I heard it on the radio, but I saw the video on the weekend and it struck me as so joyful yet frantic too, somehow sensual and innocent at the same time, like she’s created a visual interpretation of what falling in love feels like. Kudos to her, I love it.



I can’t wait to play this song on Audiosurf. Perhaps tonight. Perhaps this instant, since I have the mayoral elections results already and now know that Toronto is (as I suspected) full of GREEDY IDIOTS. *headdesk*

My Thoughts...

... on the Toronto election, summarized in three words.


Yep, that about says it.

Too bad I think he's going to win. :(

Random Encounters With The Beauty-Industrial Complex

Yesterday I went to the mall after work to pick up some gray tights. As I was going from store to store, searching for something that fit the bill, I ran into a man who was giving out free samples of something. I automatically associate free samples with food, so I picked up the cup only to find it was hand cream, not a snack. Still, free hand cream isn’t all that bad. But that’s when he started his pitch.

Him: “Oh, are those your natural nails?”

Me: “... Yes.”

Him: “Then I simply have to show you something! Come over to our booth and I’ll show you.”

So I walk over there, no idea what he’s going to do, when he tells me to hold out my right hand. He then busts out this buffing block and starts filing the surface of my thumbnail, going on and on about their patented smoothing system that gets rid of lines and ridges until your nails are shiny and smooth.

Him: *finishes* “Well, isn’t it shiny?”

Me: “Well, yeah, it is shiny.”

Him: “So what do you think of our product?”

At this point I was sorely tempted to reply with: “Ugh, it isn’t enough that women have to worry that our hair isn’t glossy enough, that our skin isn’t flawless enough, that our waist lines are not small enough, that our boobs are not big enough, that our eyelashes are not thick and lustrous enough, that our lips are not luscious and plump enough... we have to worry that our fricking nails are not smooth enough?! Stop enabling the patriarchy!”

But I doubt that would have gone down very well, so I told him the other truth, that I actually really don’t like the sensation of something rough or textured rubbing against the surface of my nail, it weirds me out and is vaguely uncomfortable. I walked away then, relieved that he wasn’t going to buff my nails any further.

Unfortunately, it’s the next day and now I can’t get over the fact that I have One Really Smooth & Shiny Nail. The asymmetry is driving me nuts! :P

Sitting On Top Of The World, Watching The Stars Go By

Is it wrong that viewing this page made me actually salivate? Can you blame a girl? A new Benny Benassi song (itself worth drooling over) remixed by the likes of Alex Gaudino, Fedde le Grand, and EDX? Blisssssss!

The Classics Are Classic For A Reason

Oh my god, why have I not posted the video for this dance song yet?! It's the very epitome of what a good dance song video should be. I present to you: 'Another Chance' by Roger Sanchez.


Moral of the story: people with big hearts suffer for it because everyone else is afraid of love.

Opa!

I don't have the patience to describe my Taste of the Danforth experience, so I'll let some photos do the talking instead.

I Hope I'm Not Wrong, That'd Be Embarrassing

Interesting... I went to look up the lyrics for the song 'The Five Ghosts' by Stars and lo and behold, Google could not provide. Therefore, I'm going to attempt to write up the lyrics myself, despite the fact that I am notorious bad at mishearing lyrics.

The Five Ghosts by Stars

When I was a little girl
The world was small to me
All the light in my life
Filtered softly through the trees

The shadows in the photographs
Five ghost who followed me
I was only truly frightened once
They called my name and said they wanted me

Oh, what a beautiful day to try to die
Oh, how whole for one sweet second
Without the eye, the eye, the eye, the eye
x2

When I grew in age and fame
And traveled through the world
All the rivers of the city
Like flags of blue unfurled

Me, pressed against a railing
Me, taken to a room
Me, waking in the morning
Dark with a sense of coming doom

Oh, what a beautiful day to try to die
Oh, how whole for one sweet second
Without the eye, the eye, the eye, the eye
x2

Now I have grown old
And all my grace and beauty gone
Five ghosts surround my garden
I don't tell them to move on

I walk deeper into shade now
That dappled light again
I see you standing at the gate
My one and only friend

Oh, what a beautiful day to try to die
Oh, how whole for one sweet second
Without the eye, the eye, the eye, the eye
x2

Whoa, Unexpected!

Oh hey, I hear Prop 8 was overturned! Good times for my Cali peeps.

In commemoration, a happy song about love: Lollipop by Mika.



Cheers, y'all.

Dark Clouds Can't Stop Me!

This past Saturday I went to Lilith Fair, thereby fulfilling one of my life goals: seeing Sarah McLachlan live in concert! Me and a friend showed up at Molson Amphitheatre at 3 PM and faced the worst kind of pouring rain ever. We had ponchos and umbrellas, but we also had lawn seats so there was nothing to really protect us from the elements. Thankfully, it wasn't cold at all and the experience was generally fun and Woodstockian (for lack of a better term). We set up camp in front of the main stage (in the lawn seats) and had a clear view of BMO field, so we pretty much watched the TFC game live. But since we were at the main stage, we didn't get to see any of the side acts.

Amazingly, just as the main stage acts started the weather let up a bit!




The performers on the main stage were Court Yard Hounds, Chantal Kreviazuk, Lights, Mary J. Blige, and Sarah McLachlan. Of course they were all awesome, but I was surprisingly most impressed by Mary J. Blige. I say surprisingly because I've already seen her in concert, so I wasn't expecting anything I hadn't already seen before. But she not only busted out her best songs, but she also did One Love and STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN by Led Zepplin ZOMG. It was unreal. She had so much emotion and love for the crowd, I loved it.

Sarah was amazing of course. The moment she got on stage, I started screaming "DO ICE CREAM!!" hahahaha. She ended up doing it for the encore, which was amazing. I think I actually strained my vocal cords while singing the harmony for all her songs, LOL.






It was nearly 11:30 PM by the time we got out of Ontario Place; felt like I'd been hit by a mack truck the next morning, hahaha. Such a fun time. :)

Get Into It!

Today's musical subject is local band Elliott Brood. They apparently play "death country". Sounds more east coast than country to me, which is probably why I find it palatable. Here are three songs of theirs that I like best.