Wish I Had Brought My Camera

I went downtown today to get some shopping done and had conveniently forgotten that it was Doors Open this weekend in Toronto. So after I was done with my business at the mall (including scoring that free burger from Harvey's) I went to a few of the closest buildings.

First off was old City Hall, which has a really nice exterior and decent interior. Then I went to Osgoode Hall, which was quite pretty inside. The courtrooms, the great library, and convocation hall were all open inside, so I got to see those too. Then I went to City Hall, which was pretty cool. Here's a video, it's crappy quality because I had to convert it from a .3gp to an .avi file.



There were some displays/pieces done by the Toronto Garden club inside, which were really nicely done. There were so many people walking around with SLR cameras, it was hilariously awesome. And lastly, I wanted to go to Elgin Theater, but it was closed for shows by the time I got down there.

Hmm, what to make for dinner tonight...

Never Need A Reason, Never Need A Rhyme

I opened up my inbox this morning was greeted by the following message:


Can't wait for the day she shows up on my doorstep and takes me to go dancing with chimney sweeps. ;)

How The Internet Works

I've had an account on Last.fm for a long time and I noticed several months ago that there's now a section where the main page recommends free mp3s for me to download through the site. I'm a sucker for new music, so I always peruse that section every now and then.

A few days ago I noticed new songs and downloaded a bunch of them. Only one was good enough to be added to iTunes, a song by Imogen Heap (I love her) called 'The Song That Never Was'. Now the version of the song I had was called the TekMonki Mix and had a nice electronic beat in the background that I really enjoyed, but I still wanted to hear the original version. So I opened up Limewire and searched and searched and... you get the point. No luck. Alas.

I changed my tactic and decided to google the song, hoping to find a download link for the original version somewhere. Instead, it came to my attention that there was no original version.

From the website:

Imogen Heap wrote a track recently that was supposed to feature at the end of TV show. She wrote the song and recorded all the vocals, leaving the music for the composer who was writing the rest of the score. For one reason or another the song wasn’t used and so the track never got completed.

Now, Imogen wants you to download the parts and add your own musical interpretation.

Basically, people were allowed to download her vocal tracks and drop in their own music, and everyone's attempts were shared online. That's why there was no original, only-Imogen version. There's just people's mixes. Anyway, one of the tracks you could download for song-making purposes was something called a click track, which is sorta like a digital metronome.

After my own horrific attempts to lay Imogen's vocal tracks over some sick Tiesto beats, I wondered if there was any way to alter the click track I had been given. So I googled click tracks and somehow ended up at this blog post about click tracks, which eventually led me to another post about a BPM explorer app and from there I discovered this video on Vimeo. While the video is a pretty awesome visualization of music, I was more taken by the song itself. The creator of the video mentioned it was a song by Broken Social Scene but the title of the song was unclear.

Googling the band name and some of the lyrics ("it's a cruel world") revealed that the name of the song was '7/4 (Shoreline)', which I promptly downloaded and have been listening to ever since. No wonder; the lead vocals are done by Feist, whom I love to itty bitty pieces. :D

I just thought it was so crazy/cool how I discovered the current song I'm listening to through another random song I discovered. The internet is awesome sometimes.

Aural Therapy

It came to my attention recently that Coldplay released a new live album. Sweet, right? What if I said it was free too? BOOYAH! Name of the album is Left Right Left Right and contains old favourites such as 'Clocks', 'Viva La Vida', and 'Fix You'. But there's also a song I've never heard before that I'm really digging called 'Glass of Water'. It's very upbeat and there's a time signature change in the middle... I love those. Screw the click track! ;) The other newish track is 'Death Will Never Conquer', which is the song Will Champion sang at the last concert I went to. It's not my style but Will is an absolute sweetheart and I love him. Besides, after listening to a lot of American Idol's insipidness tonight, the sweet dulcet tones of Chris Martin (and the enthusiastic crowd) is a balm upon my sore ears. ;)

ETA: Note to self... Tim Horton's is giving out free small iced caps tomorrow and it will be 30 degrees. Capitalize!

Vegas Anecdotes & Weird Metaphors

• When we went shopping at the outlet mall, the food court had these LCD monitors that played music videos that you could vote for by texting on your phone. The moment we all sat down for our food, I'm Gone, I'm Going by Lesley Roy started playing, an obscure song that I only know through Rock Band 2's downloadable content. Then immediately after, All Around Me by Flyleaf started playing, which is another obscure and fairly old rock song I never expected to be see.
  
  
• While waiting for my flight out of Vegas, a couple sat down next to me. They looked to be in their late 30s or maybe early 40s; both looked kinda weathered but you could tell they had been very attractive when they were young. Anyway, the wife sat down a seat away from me and reached for some water and medication as the husband slowly ambled over and took the seat right next to me. Then they began to argue. He asked something like "do you have to take that stuff?" (meaning her pills, I guess) and she replied with something like "of course, what the hell are you talking about?" And then it became apparent to me that these two viciously hated each other; the wife said "I don't know what I was thinking when I married you", the husband badmouthed her parents and got all in her face, she was like "Oh I dare you, I dare you to start with me" and then she stormed off. They didn't reunite until they had to be on the plane together. It was drama-licious.
  
  
• Getting into Studio 54 and Wet Republic cost me exactly $0 at both places. Hooray for being a feminine young woman.
  
  
• Everyone we met on the trip was so nice, from the other Grand Canyon tourists, to people in the casinos and hotels. The only times people were not so nice were:
  
  
  • the one time I was alone on the strip and a couple of drunk guys heckled me and
    
    
  • when I was on the getting on the plane in Vegas and some woman smacked me in the face with her hand and kept walking.
  
  
• During the day, Luxor reminded me of Lost because of the Egyptian hieroglyphs. During the night, Luxor reminded me of Stargate. The movie, I mean. It was like: "The Egyptian aliens are coming!" ;)
  
  
• I really wanted to buy a CSI: Las Vegas t-shirt while I was there, but I wasn't willing to pay more than $10 for one. Needless to say, I came home empty handed.
  
  
• Las Vegas surprised me in certain ways. First off, it was amazing how many elderly people were there. Wheelchairs abounded at the airport and on the local transit system. The city was far more accessible than I expected it to be. Secondly, you could find sugarfree candy and sweets at most places too. I don't know if this is in response to the American obesity epidemic, but it was still good to see that options like that were available for those who need it i.e. diabetics.
  
  
• Unfortunately, after a day or two in Vegas I developed an annoying second-hand smoker's cough. I never cough, but back when smoking was still legal in clubs I used to wake up the next day hacking like crazy. The casinos stank like smoke so bad, it was disgusting. I love that you can't smoke inside up here.

Oh man, a post just went up at Pandagon that explains elitist racism using an extended Pokemon metaphor, alongside an image of a giant pokeball floating along at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. I did my best not to choke on my snack when I read the tongue-in-cheek line (I shit thee not) "I choose you, Negrochu!" Oh Pandagon... *headshake*

I Got Seriously Tanned Last Week!

Back from Vegas and was it ever fun! It's so jarring to come back to rain and arctic winds when you've spent a week in a dry, sweltering desert; it was like 35 degrees there every day. Man, that place is crazy architecture-wise. In the beginning, I couldn't help but think: "This amount of excessive grandeur seems wrong somehow." Vegas is an oasis of hedonism in the middle of nowhere. It was surprising how nice people were.

Saw the Grand Canyon and the Hoover Dam too while I was down there, which was awesome. In Vegas itself, we visited a ton of the hotels/casinos like MGM Grand, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, Excalibur, Monte Carlo, New York New York, Planet Hollywood, the Bellagio, Caeser's Palace, the Mirage, Treasure Island, Circus Circus, the Venetian, and the Golden Nugget down on Freemont Street. I have to admit that it felt pretty cool to finally see for myself a lot of things I knew from CSI. Clark County! Desert Palms Hospital! Henderson! Lake Mead! ;D

Did some shopping while we were there too, mostly of the clothing and jewelery variety. I bought myself the biggest margarita ever (as seen in Flickr), which I drank far too fast in sweltering weather... not a good idea hahahaha. But I got the souvenir I wanted in the end and that's what matters. One night I went out to Studio 54, which was lots of fun, great music. Watched the fountains at the Bellagio and the volcano at the Mirage too. Didn't get to do absolutely everything I wanted to while I was there (it was only 5 days, after all) but I did have a fantastic time. :)

Totally Missed House and The Big Bang Theory Tonight

Today was a busy day.

I had an interview in the morning where I felt I did a really good job of showing how skillful I am in my field. When I got back home, I checked the weather report and saw it's supposed to rain on and off until Sunday, even though today was sunny. Clearly, there's only one thing for a Torontonian with a sunny, free May afternoon to do: cherry blossom viewing at High Park! I took pictures, not just of cherry blossoms and not just in High Park, but the cherry blossoms were the main attraction.



After romping through the park with my camera, I met up with a friend for a free yoga class downtown. It was one of those basic, starter classes but it was still really good because: 1) it was only four of us and small classes are always better, 2) even though the two of us have both Moksha and Bikram yoga experience, we'd never been formally taught the basic poses from the ground up. It was good to figure out exact how to get the most of the poses and see what I consistently do wrong. Might go for another class on Saturday or Sunday.

Yoga is fun but... weird. I dunno, tons of people are into it but whenever I'm in a class I can't stop thinking things like "LOL instructor teaching me Sanskrit when I can recite sacred hymns" or "thanks to capitalism my religion is being sold to the highest bidder". :P

Anyway, after yoga me and my friend got Thai for dinner. It was so greasy it almost made me nauseous. And it was at a restaurant I usually like too. Every second that passes between the last bite of my meal and now alleviates the grossness in my stomach, so I guess I'll just have to sit this out until I feel better.

And that was my day. *falls over*

Writing And Photography

Augh, this past month was agonizing for GYWO. I'm anywhere from 3000-4000 words behind, depending on whose criteria I use. :(

62,753 / 200,000 words. 31% done!

Random thought: know what drives me nuts? People who title their photos on Flickr with long, pretentious sentences. Like... "I tell myself, my heart would drown if we were apart." Gah, seriously? You get all of that from a picture of toast? Why don't you call it "Lonely Breakfast" and be on your way? :P

100th Episode Of Lost Tonight!

Remember in season 1 when the Losties discovered the caves and how they found the two bodies inside? The ones they nicknamed Adam and Eve? What if they were the bodies of Rose and Bernard? They could have died whilst getting caught in the whole unstuck in time fiasco, so when Jack and Kate find them, they look like they've been on the island decomposing for 50 years. Are the black and white rocks supposed to be an unsubtle sign?

Even if it isn't Rose and Bernard, it's gotta be two people who traveled back in time. *ponders*

Collecting My Thoughts In The Heat

Am outside and on my laptop at the same time. Wheeeee! It really is too hot, even just sitting here, even with the lovely breeze blowing. A little bit of cloud cover would do the trick. I bet the temperature will be just perfect around 7 PM.

A couple weeks ago I was reading an article in the local newspaper that caught my attention. It was about an author who had written a book about new sexual trends among teenage women, in particular that many young girls see no issue with dispensing oral sex. Hand-wringing aside, the thing that caught my attention was something the author said, that when interviewing these girls she heard from many of them that they engaged in oral sex because (to paraphrase) they were amazed at how they could make a boy go weak with their skills and that having that power is hard to resist.

My first thought, of course, was: "Oh god, young women have so little power in every other aspect of their life, that the only time they feel they have some leverage is when they are servicing men sexually." Talk about a disenfranchised oppressed class.

Feeling roasted. Going inside to cool down and drink some orange juice.

"Baby, It's A Violent World."

Theoretical poll time. You know that movie 'Observe and Report' that just came out, with the girl who's flashed by some pervert and the mall cop who digs her? Apparently, there's a date rape scene in it where the male character has sex with the unconscious female after heavy drug and alcohol use. Now, how would you respond to the following:

What do you think about the "date rape" scene in Observe and Report?

1. Totally unacceptable. It's sick and wrong.
2. Sure, it's Rogen's movie, he can do whatever he wants, but can't we just avoid jokes about RAPE?
3. I thought it was funny (though I feel a little guilty about it).
4. It's a JOKE people. Get upset about more important things.

Which of the above does not belong here? Yeah, it's obvious.

But here's the twist; this isn't a theoretical poll. It's a poll at Huffington Post. And the last option is winning. Needless to say, I am periodically refreshing the poll and voting for the first option. WHY WORLD WHY? D:

ANYWAY.

I discovered a few days ago that Coldplay has a video out for their song Life in Technicolor II. How lovely! There's a track called Life in Technicolor on their latest album Viva La Vida but it's instrumental. Rumour has it that Life in Technicolor was originally a full song with lyrics and everything, but when producers reviewed the first cut of the album and said that Life in Technicolor was the "obvious single", Chris Martin was like bollocks to that and stripped the song down. And yet, if you see the Prospekt's March EP, Life in Technicolor II is the first track complete with lyrics and everything. Iiinteresting.

Writing Progress

50,178 / 200,000 words. 25% done!

ONE QUARTER = AWESOME.

April is going to be tough for me; my buffer has been depleted, so no more blowing off three days in a row just because.

Does This Mean Jim Sinegal Is Alvar Hanso?

My family does a lot (okay, most) of their shopping at Costco. Which is pretty cool; Costco has a lot of quality goods. But over the past year I've noticed something... INSIDIOUS.

*cue dramatic music*

You see, there's this brand called Kirkland Signature that I've become familiar with. My first experience with Kirkland Signature was when my parents bought a massive package of burgers in that particular brand. Now, everything from Costco comes in a massive package, so that was to be expected. The burgers were some of the best I've ever had too. So far so good. But every time we went to Costco, we looked around...

Kirkland Signature Hydrating Conditioner.

Kirkland Signature Whole Fancy Cashews.

Kirkland Signature Tri-Ply Stainless Steel Cookware.

Kirkland Signature Supreme Diapers.

Kirkland Signature Artichoke Hearts.

Kirkland Signature Men's Solid Dress Pants.

The list goes on and on; it's disconcerting, I tells ya!

The thing is, Kirkland Signature is a Costco-only brand. In-house, if you may. Essentially, most of the products in Costco are produced by Costco themselves. Which is when we realized the truth; the Kirkland Signature brand is the real life version of the Dharma Initiative brand.

Think about it. *sage nod*

Expanding My Online Reading List

Two new feminist blogs I have discovered:

Screaming into the Void - She's angry and scathing, just the way I like my feminists.

Diary of a Black Male Feminist - Now there's something you don't see everyday. *thumbs up*

An excerpt from his latest post, addressing Chris Brown (for obvious reasons):

My crossroad came when a person came into my life and shook me to the core. This person started the deconstruction of my male belief system and 20 years later am I continuing that work. I was stuck in this “man prison” because my definition of masculinity was limited. Once I alleviated both perceived and real peer pressure that motivated me to engage in physical and sexual aggression to affirm my masculinity I was free.

It's a fantastic piece, I'd recommend it to anyone. But especially men.

Canadian Content

Daily factoid:

The Dunning-Kruger effect is an example of cognitive bias in which people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it.

Hoo boy, I hate to paint people with the same brush but my first thought after reading this? Fox News. :P

Speaking of Fox News, not going to dwell upon the whole horrible event where the Canadian Forces were mocked on national television. The host apologized, but in a predictably smarmy way. "Misunderstood" my ass.

In other Canadian news (or should I say Torontonian news?) there's a kerfuffle going on over Karen Stintz taking public speaking lessons with the taxpayers' money.

Criticized for talking too fast and sounding "shrill" during city hall meetings, Councillor Karen Stintz decided she needed to do something about it.

So she spent $4,500 (U.S.) for public-speaking lessons last year. Then she got taxpayers to cover the costs.

The vocal opponent of Toronto Mayor David Miller used the services of Lynda Spillane, an author and vocal coach who has advised other female politicians.

Fnargh, I cannot stand the use of the adjective "shrill" when describing a woman's voice. It's a gender-coded insult; how many times are men described as shrill? Shrill is used to dismiss women, to shame them into silence. Using shrill to describe a woman's voice immediately detracts from the content of her message and focuses on its presentation. And isn't that a woman's lot in life, to have her content ignored in favour of her presentation?

And yet, women clearly recognize that to succeed in a man's world, you have to talk like one. Hence the lessons. Not saying that I approve of her using taxpayer money. There's a before and after video at the link above and frankly I think the voice lessons turned her into a lifeless automaton. When she was "shrill", she was speaking passionately and from the heart. Her voice was freaking fine the way it was and haters should have just sit down and shut up instead of criticizing a competent and successful woman's voice of all things.

(As an aside, I've been tweaking zee blog over the past few days. It's looking mighty shiny right about now. :D)

More Music Discoveries

I thought I couldn't love Lily Allen more!

Shame For You

I've been thinking that you've crossed the line,
if you disappeared that would be just fine,
'cause you waste my time and waste my money
and you're not too cool and you're not so funny!
Spreading your seed all over the town
getting too greedy and messing around
Oh my gosh you must be joking me
if you think that you'll be poking me.

[Chorus]
Don't take me on no, no
Don't take me on no, no
Don't take me on
Shattered the lie but you think I don't already know,
Don't try to deny 'cause my fuse is ready to blow
It's your turn to learn I think you know where to go
It's a shame, shame, shame, shame for you

Please don't come around and knock on my door
'cause I don't want to have to pick you up of the floor,
when you ask if we can still be lovers,
I'll have to introduce my brothers,
I think that they could teach you a lesson or two,
By the time they've finished you'll be black and blue
You'll be crying like a baby,
A sea of tears they'll call the navy in.

[Chorus x 2]
LOL @ that second verse. Lily Allen's lyrics can be so spiteful, but she sings them so cheerfully. ;)

Aside from that song, there's a few others I've acquired:

• Ani Difranco - Loom (reminds me of her songs Firedoor and Shameless)
• Hilary Duff - Reach Out and Touch Me (I KNOW, SHUT UP. *facepalm*)
• The Prodigy - Piranha (good ol' industrial electronica)
• Flyleaf - All Around Me (so Rock Band, reminds me of Paramore)
• Estelle ft. Sean Paul - Come Over (mellow with a smooth, reggae vibe)
• Metallica - St. Anger (I mostly like this song for the beginning verses)

Reading and Rocking on a Friday Night

For my own reference: links of interest. (Both pertaining to the whole 'Rihanna is back with Chris Brown' thing.)

- What It Doesn't Mean
- Putting Yourself In Someone's Shoes

Now that I've got that out of the way, on to lighter fare. Fact: playing Rock Band has done very funny things to my taste in music. Here is a list of songs that I have downloaded that I never thought in a million years I would like, much less listen to repeatedly.

• System of a Down - Chop Suey (I always thought this song was too hardcore for me. But it's one of the best most fun songs in Rock Band. I got attached after singing it a hundred times or so.)
  
  
• AC/DC - Let There Be Rock (I've always had a massive aversion to classic rock for some reason. This song, however, was too infectious for me to resist. Again, great guitar and fun to sing too. It comes together really well.)
  
  
• Judas Priest - Painkiller (I'm still getting used to the crazy vocals, but the guitar solo = WOW. Just... WOW. I just want to jump around and air guitar when I hear it.)
  
  
• Steely Dan - Bodhisattva (I knew this song only vaguely and it's actually really groovy and jazzy and fun to sing as well. It's the sort of song that makes you wish you could jam.)
  
  
• Modest Mouse - Float On (I have a bunch of Modest Mouse songs but I hate them all, but this one I actually like. It's the music that does it for me. But the singer's voice still annoys me a bit.)

Still trying to get through the book Consumed by Benjamin Barber, but it's hard because it's so dry. Also, I don't really agree with the author's ideology, but I'm trying not to hold that against him. His theories are interesting, in any case.

Eh, might as well throw up a progress bar while I'm here...

42,801 / 200,000 words. 21% done!

Passed 40,000 on Monday. I've been doing well lately; I've exceeded my quota so thoroughly that technically I don't need to write a single word until the 19th of this month. I like having a little bit of leeway like that.

I Had Totally Forgotten

The tesseract is the greatest thing ever.



See? :D

Gossip Is The Lowest Form Of Communication

*facepalm*

Either whoever wrote this poll is trying to trick everyone into answering a certain way, or the people who filled it out really don't have a clue.

Yes, it is important to raise awareness about domestic abuse. However, splashing pictures of a bleeding pop star on every gossip site on the web does not raise awareness about domestic abuse. It's a lurid violation of privacy. Domestic abuse is not something you gawk over, I don't care how famous Rihanna is. You want to raise awareness about domestic abuse, TMZ? It's a little thing I call 'charity fundraiser for a women's shelter'. Seriously.

To end, here's a quote from The Smoking Gun, on TMZ's history of printing photos of abuse victims:

The gossip outlet, which pays for stories and likely shelled out a fortune for the Rihanna image, last April published the name and photograph of a 14-year-old boy whom TMZ identified as the alleged victim of a sex crime. The child, the site reported, was the son of a celebrity, hence its interest in this particular minor's sexual abuse. ... [The story] was illustrated with a photo of the alleged victim that was taken when he was 10. So if TMZ editor Harvey Levin ... pops up on television to talk about his tortured decision to publish the photo of a domestic violence victim, know that he is full of shit.

This whole mess has confirmed what I already knew; TMZ is a pox upon humanity.

Progress And Such

Since the last word count bar I tried failed so badly, here's another:

26716 / 200,000 words. 13% done!

Much better. I have cracked 25,000 which is a great milestone. Here's an excerpt from my latest idea.

As soon as the sun sank beneath the horizon, I was back in action. Hidden underneath layers of straw was a small knife that I could barely grasp in my talons. If I could have used my beak to hold it, I would have. But my bastard owner had decided to bind my mouth shut as punishment for biting him earlier. And so I was left with no choice but to use my wretched claws instead. The knife was horribly dull, barely putting a dent into the bars of my cage. I pushed harder with the knife, metal noisily screeching against metal. Noise was the last thing I wanted; Qadir would bind my feet and clip my wings if he found me trying to escape like this. So I eased up on the pressure, slowly dragging the knife back and forth across the bar, praying to see some kind of chink in my prison. The light slowly faded, giving way to a dark night. Shadows were creeping across the vast treasure room when I realized that the knife was doing absolutely nothing. With a frustrated (but muffled) squawk, I tossed it through the bars of my cage, where it landed on top of a filigreed jewelery box.

I wished for a moment that Giedre was still here, to tell me that it was better to stay calm and unruffled, to tell me that I'd certainly be free one day, she was sure of it. But she was gone now and I was alone without a friend for the first time in five years. It was true that I knew I would one day be free of this place, that I was destined to lead a life of wonder and magnificence, but it was nice to hear it from someone else besides myself every now and then.

"Simmer down, Nisr. I'm trying to sleep."

Go to hell, old man. I fixed my steely gaze on Bilal, wishing I could screech at him through the darkness. Sensing my foul mood, he grumbled about my bad attitude, his grizzled form curling up on a carpet of indigo and gold that was his home. There were others in the vault, imprisoned treasures such as myself, but no one else spoke to me. I was too fiery, too stubborn, too willing to go too far and earn Qadir's wrath. If it was within their control, they didn't speak a word to me; Qadir was the strictest of men and they dared not get in his way.

Me, on the other hand? I wasn't afraid of Qadir. I'd seen worse than him. I had no qualms about testing his patience.

I have no idea where it's going but it's holding my attention for now. The best part? I have two main characters and when I write them I actually have two different voices. Awesome!