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July 15, 2009

Metric- Band Biography and Succexy Video and Lyrics

Before I came down to Boston I asked my friends at Mount Allison what music I should listen to. One gave me over 7000 songs, and partway through that list was Metric's Succexy. I put it on my ipod Shuffle and ended up hearing it a few times a day on my commute to/from work and surprisingly I didn't get tired of it like I did of most of the other songs after a week of shuffling through the same 60 or so songs.

When I switched over to new songs I actually missed it. There's something really alluring about Emily Haines' voice. I looked her the band a bit more and found out that I'd heard her before when she was in the band Stars and Broken Social Scene. It turns out that she has played an important role in the Canadian indie scene for quite a while. Here's Metric's biography and the Succexy video with lyrics.

Metric

Biography by Mark Deming

Metric are a band who have embraced an eclectic and adventurous outlook -- the group's music encompasses elements of synth pop, new wave, dance rock, and electronic, while the group has collectively been based in Toronto, Montreal, New York, Los Angeles, and London over the course of their existence. Metric's story began when vocalist and keyboard player Emily Haines met guitarist James Shaw in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Haines, the daughter Paul Haines (a poet who has collaborated with jazz artist Carla Bley), was born in New Delhi in 1974 but moved to Toronto with her family when she was three. While studying at the Etobicoke School of the Arts, a high school for aspiring artists in Toronto, Haines formed her first band with fellow student Amy Millan. Haines and Millan would go on to form a group called Stars, which also included Torquil Campbell and Chris Seligman. Through Campbell, Haines was introduced to British-born and Canadian-raised Shaw in 1998, not long after he had relocated to Toronto following three years of study at the Julliard School of Music in New York City. Haines and Shaw discovered they were musically simpatico and began writing songs together. During a sojourn in Montreal, Haines and Shaw began recording demos of their new material that would become Metric's debut EP, Mainstream, released in 1998. Later that same year, Haines and Shaw relocated to Brooklyn, New York, and after cutting more demos using synths and a drum machine, they were scouted by representatives of a major music publisher who flew them to London to work with producer Stephen Hague. Haines and Shaw combined the London-recorded tracks with material they cut in Brooklyn, and the results formed Metric's first album, Grow Up and Blow Away. In 2000, Metric signed a deal with Restless Records, but shortly before the album was scheduled for release in 2001, Restless was bought out by Rykodisc, and under the new ownership the Metric album went onto the back burner. Around this time, Haines and Shaw met drummer Joules Scott-Key, who was born in Michigan but had relocated to Brooklyn after studying at a music school in Texas; Scott-Key was soon invited to join Metric, and before long his friend Joshua Winstead, who attended the same school in Texas, came aboard as bassist. Metric had moved to Los Angeles while trying to sort out their deal with Restless, with Haines and Shaw returning to Toronto for a spell to work with their old friends Amy Millan and Kevin Drew in the group Broken Social Scene, and once they began working with the new rhythm section, Metric decided the pop-oriented electronic sound of Grow Up and Blow Away was no longer representative of their music. Metric parted ways with Restless and took the masters for Grow Up with them; in the fall of 2003, the Canadian independent label Everloving Records released Metric's second "debut" album, Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?. The album (later picked up by Last Gang Records) was a major critical and commercial success, especially in Canada, and in 2005 Metric issued Live It Out, another success which was followed by a lengthy international tour. Metric took a hiatus after touring behind Live It Out. Haines went on an extended vacation in Argentina and made guest appearances on albums by the Stills and Jason Collett in addition to releasing two records with her solo project Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton. Scott-Key and Winstead moved to Oakland, CA and formed the band Bang Lime. Shaw headed back to Toronto and opened a recording facility, Giant Studio. A revised edition of Grow Up and Blow Away received a belated release in 2007. In 2008, after Haines decided she'd had enough of the downbeat music she'd composed with the Soft Skeleton, Metric regrouped in Toronto and began work on their next album; Fantasies was scheduled for international release in April 2009.




Succexy


Lonesome for no one when
The room was empty and
War as we knew it was obsolete
Nothing could beat complete denial

All we do is talk, sit, switch screens
As the homeland plans enemies

All we do is talk, static split screens
As the homeland plans enemies

Invasion's so succexy

Let's drink to the military
The glass is empty
Faces to fill and cars to feed
Nothing could beat complete denial

All we do is talk, sit, switch screens
As the homeland plans enemies

All we do is talk, static split screens
As the homeland plans enemies

Invasion's so succexy

Passive attraction, programmed reaction
Passive attraction, programmed reaction
Action distraction, more information
Flesh saturation, lips on a napkin
Ass ass ass

Where does the time go?
We're waking up so slowly
Days are horizontal lately
Out of body, watched from above
Out of body, watched from above

Passive attraction, programmed reaction
More information, cash masturbation
Follow the pattern- the hemlines, the headlines
Action distraction, faster than fashion
Faster than fashion, faster than fashion

Lonesome for no one when
The room was empty and
War as we knew it was obsolete
Nothing could beat denial



July 14, 2009

Bunnyhug?...You mean a hoodie, right?: The curious case of the Bunnyhugs of Saskatchewan


What comes to mind when you think of the word bunnyhug? Bunnies hugging? A child making a big mistake and trying to hug a wild rabbit? For those in Saskatchewan it has come to denote that common teenage attire known in the rest of North America (when I use the term North America, I am using the local usage and definition from Fowler's Modern English Usage meaning the United States and Canada together) as a hooded sweatshirt or hoodie. I had not heard of this until a friend of mine from Saskatchewan was talking about her bunnyhug and I thought she might be mentally unstable (I'm sorry if you're reading this). It just so happens that it is the common term for hoodie there...even so far as having police officers in SK (from the Canadian, nonviolent version of Cops) use the term.

In trying to find the origin of the term most of what I initially came across was rather angry arguments on facebook and urbandictionary.com that led me to the conclusion that people who call the article of clothing a bunnyhug and those who aren't are...expletives I can't repeat here.

Even the government funded CBC Radio 3 had no answer:

Tonight On Lanarama: Bunny Hug?
Posted by Lana Gay on Mar 19, 2008
24 comments | » Post a Comment
Since Easter is quickly approaching I thought, "You know, I really need to go hug the most giant rabbit in the universe, while wearing a Cosby sweater."
On Lanarama I take pride in knowing I promote deep and political conversation. Past profound topics include "Which greasy spoon is the best in Canada?" and "What is your favourite song that incorporates animals?", well tonight on Lanarama, another in-depth discussion incorporating an infamous Canadian debate:
Is a hooded sweatshirt a "Hoodie" or a "Bunny Hug"?
I don't know where this Bunny Hug fiasco began, but according to R3 host, Amanda Putz, it began in Saskatchewan. R3 Graphics superstar, Ahmed, added that his girlfriend, Deanna, thinks that "calling a hooded sweatshirt a hoodie is a ridiculous affectation." Might I also add she is from Saskatoon, and apparently has street cred.
In addition to Saskatewanians, my friend from Winnipeg has been known to use both terms. I, on the other hand, think that calling it a bunny hug may lead children to think hugging a rabbit is a smart idea. It is not, as I learned in 1988 at Colasanti's Petting Zoo. I almost lost my left eye to a rabbit's claw of fate. Bunny's aren't noisy for a reason, they are secretly plotting their revenge against your retinas.
What is your verdict? Let the bunny hug versus hoodie battle begin!
Where did the origin of Bunny Hug come from? Do you think it dates back to the fur trade? (According to Wikipedia, it's a dance move)
To help us out Carbon Dating Service will attempt to provide the answers with Canadian Dictionary: Bunny Hug. As well, songs from The Local Rabbits, Handsome Furs and the Phonemes "Easter Suit".

I did however come across an article in the StarPhoenix and the Bunny Hug Project Website.

I even came across official University of Saskatchewan Bunny Hug with the definition displayed proudly on the front (top picture).

It is a definite conversation piece and has gained popularity with being recently seen on "facebook". The front of the bunnyhug quotes and footnotes the Oxford Canadian Dictionary's definition of the "bunnyhug" and on the Left sleeve the title "University of Saskatchewan" appears in white screen print. The men's and women's bunnyhug has a front hand pouch and a shoelace drawstring from the hood. The navy bunnyhug is a fitted female hooded sweatshirt. *(When ordering the ladies' XXLarge you will be shipped the equivalent sizing, a men's medium). It is 80% cotton and 20% polyester. Machine wash in cold water, do not bleach, do not dry clean, tumble dry on low, wash with dark colors, cool iron if required.

...
This product currently CANNOT be shipped to the following locations:
United States of America

From other commentary it seems that Saskatchewanians are proud of their mysterious, homegrown, linguistic oddity.

Here is the StarPhoenix report and the Bunny Hug Project Website

Bunny hugs fit province perfectly
Unique moniker for hooded sweatshirt may be Sask.-only term

Janet French
The StarPhoenix

Monday, April 16, 2007


CREDIT: Gord Waldner, The StarPhoenix
Tyler Cottenie, a U of S linguistics student, says using the term bunny hug when referring to a hooded sweatshirt appears to be a uniquely Saskatchewan practice
It shares its name with a dance move from 1912, and was once also called a "cotton popover" and a "kangaroo sweatshirt."

What the majority of the English-speaking world refers to as the hooded sweatshirt, or hoodie, is known in Saskatchewan as the bunny hug. Now, a University of Saskatchewan student has decided to find out where this puzzling term comes from.

Tyler Cottenie, a 21-year-old linguistics major originally from Yorkton, only recently learned his beloved bunny hug was a Saskatchewan-only phenomenon.

He can still remember the first time he heard the term -- at age six, when his mother asked if he'd like to order a bunny hug from a catalogue of apparel his school was selling.

"I remember thinking, 'What is that?' Then she told me, and I thought, 'Bunny hug, man, that really doesn't make any sense at all,' " Cottenie said.

When an opportunity arose this year to research the origin of a word for his History of English Language class, he hopped right on bunny hug.

What he found is that, along with a sprinkling of western Manitobans, bunny hug is recognized and used in lieu of hoodie across much of Saskatchewan, especially by people in their 40s.

But watch out -- the term bunny hug could one day be an endangered species, especially in Moose Jaw and southwestern Saskatchewan.

"With younger people, like high school age, it seems to be losing ground all over the place," Cottenie said.

He surveyed about 50 people across Saskatchewan and outside its borders in Alberta, North Dakota and Manitoba, asking if they knew the word, if they used the word and where their parents came from.

From Estevan to Pierceland, the bunny hug was common currency.

Bunny hug wasn't able to burrow under borders to the west or south, though. One survey respondent from Lloydminster reported people on the Alberta side of the border city say hoodie, while their Saskatchewan neighbours stick with bunny hug. A couple of North Dakota students had never heard the term before.

Then Cottenie turned to the repositories of Canadian fashion history -- dog-eared Eaton's and Sears catalogues from decades ago.

The hooded sweatshirt first surfaced in the 1959-60 fall and winter Eaton's catalogue as a children's fleece-lined hooded sweater, but without a distinctive front pouch, according to Cottenie. The pouch appeared in the following year's catalogue and, by 1964, the sweatshirts were sold for men, girls and boys. A similar garment didn't appear in the Sears catalogue until 1976.

Scanning old U of S and Saskatoon high school yearbooks, Cottenie found no one was wearing bunny hugs to school until the early 1970s.

Where the term bunny hug came from is still open to interpretation, Cottenie said.

The Bunny Hug is also a sultry dance move that originated in the early 1900s.

"It was basically the two dancers grinding together," Cottenie said. "I don't know how that could have a link with this sweatshirt."

It's more likely the shirt's name has a link to the Bunny Hop dance -- a 1950s craze in which people formed a chain by wrapping their arms around the waist of the person in front of them.

"That pouch pocket is right where the other person's hands are, so that seems a little more likely there's a connection there," Cottenie said.

His research shows people called the sweaters bunny hugs as early as the 1960s, and the phrase seems to have originated in the Prince Albert-Melfort and Yorkton areas, he said.

Other theories on the origin of the term include the resemblance of the points of the bunny hug hood to bunny ears, and that the warm, fleecy lining feels soft like a bunny and wraps around you like a hug, according to Cottenie's research.

By the 1970s, bunny hug had populated the whole province.

"It's weird that it spread through the entire province so quickly," Cottenie said. "It's almost like it had to be in a catalogue or something that had a lot of currency in the province."

Also compelling is how some Saskatchewan people have embraced the term bunny hug as part of their identity, sparking exchanges of barbs between Saskatchewanians and Albertans, he said.

"It seems like some Albertan people, younger people, when they hear the word . . . they know that it's a Saskatchewanism, and once they find out, they really don't like it," Cottenie said. "I never found that same hostility with Manitobans."

Cottenie said he hopes the bunny hug is here to stay.

"We don't have a lot of things that set us apart in Saskatchewan, really, even from the other Western provinces," he said. "I think it's good to hold on to these things."

He plans to pin down a more precise origin of bunny hug, and is asking people to help by filling out his survey at www.geocities.com/tylercottenie.

jfrench@sp.canwest.com

© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2007

Thank you for your interest in my research on the origin and spread of the word "bunny hug".

This word (although it is spelt with a space it is in fact a single compound word) first piqued my interest sometime in 2005, when I first heard that it was only used in Saskatchewan. How could this be possible? Was it used anywhere outside the province, in neighbouring Manitoba or Alberta? Was it used everywhere in Saskatchewan or only in parts? Surely its spread would not fit in the perfect rectangle delineated by our borders; or could it? This question is what prompted my initial investigation.

I first did a Google search for all references to the article of clothing (not the dance). Most of them were quite obviously from Saskatchewan sites - from schools, Corner Gas, etc. There were a few exceptions though, and I e-mailed these people to ask them where they had learnt this word. All of them reported having learnt it from a Saskatchewan resident. For example, one person was in L.A. but had gone to school in B.C. and lived with a Saskatchewanian roommate. It was hard to believe, but it seemed upon first glance that it might really be a true Saskatchewanism.

Fast forward to the 2006/7 school year. In my History of the English Language class, ENG390, I had the opportunity to do a "word study" paper. Immediately I remembered my peculiar initial findings about "bunny hug" and I realized that this was my chance to do some more serious research.

My research involved yearbooks, newspapers and catalogues from the '50s to the '70s and consulting with people knowledgeable in the history of fashion and the hooded sweatshirt, but most heavily relied on questionnaires. These questionnaires use people's living memory to ascertain where the word is used now, where it is not, and where in Saskatchewan it seems to have been around the longest, i.e. where it may have originated. It also asks for any ideas as to why it has this name. This latter question is still unanswered.

While the paper is handed in, the research is far from over. I would like to add to my several dozen survey responses. If you are interested, I would appreciate any responses to this questionnaire. This applies to all people, of all ages, wherever you are from, wherever you live now, whether you use/understand the term "bunny hug" or not. The more responses, the more complete the picture!

UPDATE: The question of why it has this name is still unanswered. The research on where it originated has turned up interesting leads. Several people have informed me that they used the word when they were young (in the '60s) in Eastern Canada. This makes me think the word might have appeared in a national publication of some kind - a national newspaper, a national catalogue, or even on CBC radio. I would like to obtain survey responses from Easterners in their late 40s and older, and I would like to do more research in archived catalogues. I searched the Sears and Eaton's catalogues from 1958 onward but found nothing. Perhaps I missed it, or perhaps it's in some other publication. In any case, the research is suspended for now as I'm living in Taiwan and have no access to such things.

Here now is the questionnaire. I left a lot white space just in case, but don't worry - it's short and simple. Thanks for your help!

I always knew that "Attractive People" were up to no good..


Quebec Police Warn Against Attractive People at ATMs
7/13/2009

By David Morrison
Police in the Canadian province of Quebec are warning Canadians and U.S. residents to be cautious about attractive people standing close to them at ATMs.

According to the police, fraudsters on both sides of the border are working in teams of two, one of whom is usually a very attractive person, to steal card data from unsuspecting ATM users. In the scam, the attractive partner in the criminal team distracts cardholders as they enter their personal identification numbers so they won't notice them being copied. A device is also often attached to the ATM to collect the card number and other data when users swipe their ATM cards.

Police urged ATM users on both sides of the Canada/US border to exercise caution about using an ATM while other people are close by.

Toronto Globe and Mail...don't you mean "Canada's National Newspaper"?

Just a quick tidbit. I was watching Hardball with Chris Matthews and noticed something the vast majority of his American audience probably didn't. Let's see if you can catch it.

MATTHEWS: Let's take a look at something that columnist Margaret Wente wrote in today's Toronto Globe and Mail. By the way that's the number one paper up there. But she's a, she was an American who moved up there. Quote: "According to leading Republican pundits, Judge Sotomayor is a hot-tempered, dim-witted bigot whose judicial activism (read nutty identity politics) could play havoc with the Constitution. Amazingly, these are the same people who continue to insist that Sarah Palin is qualified to run for President of the United States." I thought this grabbed me as a brilliant comparison. It, it really did. Because the very qualities of Sotomayor which is, up from her bootstraps, studying hard, you know bringing yourself up and then this other person that they seem to like based upon no preparation like that. No homework, no scholarships! No effort that's been manifest. What's the story on the Republicans? Why do they like somebody who's shown no sweat equity against somebody who's shown nothing but sweat equity?

Yeah...that's right...the Toronto Globe and Mail. And he didn't say it sarcastically or mockingly misstate the name of Canada's so called "National" Newspaper. In the rest of Canada...for those of you who don't realize...the Globe and Mail is known for being...well...a Toronto-Centered newspaper that spends much more time on Toronto City hall than the rest of the country.


50 Things to Do at Mount Allison University

So I came across a list of things to do at Mount Allison...most are pretty good...while others...maybe not so much. Take a look:

1. Shine shoes, pack groceries, or wash cars to help support Cystic Fibrosis during Shinerama Day.

2. Astronomy 1001: See the stars with Dr. Hawkes.

3. Order Joey’s garlic fingers after midnight.

4. Lounge in front of residence on a sunny day.

5. Watch for the Hart Hall ghost.

6. Meet the Student Life team; they know the answers!

7. Visit all four of Sackville’s art galleries.

8. Enjoy Sunrise, sunset, or moonlight in the Waterfowl Park.

9. Cheer at a varsity game in garnet and gold face paint.

10. See a live band (especially when sponsored by the SAC).

11. Join a club or society, or better yet, start one!

12. Check out a Toonie Movie, Fridays at midnight at the Vogue.

13. Participate in the annual Variety Show — or at least attend.

14. Perform in a residence coffee house — or help organize one.

15. Grab a world-famous milkshake at Mel’s.

16. Sing carols and take a sleigh ride through downtown Sackville during Midnight Madness.

17. Visit the Drew Nursing Home — and put a smile on some older faces.

18. Get to know the cleaning staff in your residence...and show them they're appreciated.

19. Earn four certificates from the President through Leadership Mount Allison.

20. Kick back on the couch over a frappé at Bridge Street Café.

21. Write an article for the Argosy, our well-known student newspaper.

22. Host your own radio show on CHMA Radio, 106.9 FM.

23. Take part in all residence activities.

24. Learn to tell Student Services, Student Life, and SAC apart.

25. Volunteer in Sackville — the opportunities are endless.

26. Visit Cranewood, home of President Robert Campbell and his lovely wife Christl Verduyn.

27. Smile with the SMILE program by helping children with special needs at the YMCA on Saturday mornings.

28. See a play at Windsor Theatre.

29. Skate on the Swan Pond.

30. Check out a Film Society flick, Thursdays at 7 at the Vogue.

31. Go to Sackville’s great little Farmer’s Market, Saturdays from 9 in the Bridge Street Café.

32. See SUSHI perform — you won’t find better improv in the Maritimes.

33. Don’t miss a single Garnet & Gold musical.

34. Attend the Performing Arts Series, then try to find better talent anywhere in Canada.

35. Go to Tidewater Books on Bridge Street and choose a Sackville post card for your parents.

36. Buy at least one article of Mount A clothing from the Bookstore — if you can stop at one.

37. Have lunch at the Golden A — Mount A’s answer to Saved by the Bell’s “The Max.”

38. Get to know your profs by their first name; get them to know your name too.

39. Get yourself photographed on the Pub’s web site.

40. Learn the names of and set foot in every building on campus — all 43 of them.

41. Do the Relay For Life — an overnight marathon with food, entertainment, and lots of fellow walkers in support of cancer research.

42. Introduce someone new to Mount A.

43. Go cross-country skiing at Beech Hill Park, just outside town limits.

44. Chow down on some international cuisine at the Society of All Nation’s Banquet.

45. Make friends with at least two international students.

46. Thank your monitors, dons, and house executives. You’ll see when you get here that they do a great job.

47. See campus through the chapel’s stained-glass windows.

48. Stay all summer for an experience like no other.

49. Try to buy every installment of Conduct Becoming: Mount Allison Voices Against Cancer — a fundraising CD with our best local stars.

50. Walk across the stage at Convocation Hall to receive the most prestigious undergraduate degree in Canada.


3. Order Joey’s garlic fingers after midnight.

Yes...it's really bound to happen at some point. And really...after 12 what doesn't taste good?

8. Enjoy Sunrise, sunset, or moonlight in the Waterfowl Park.

The waterfowl park is great anytime

10. See a live band (especially when sponsored by the SAC).

Bands like Plants & Animals, Wintersleep, and the Constantines come to play in Sackville...seriously. You should be sure to come to at least one show at George's Roadhouse- where the better bands play. It's kind of a walk from campus but well worth it.

12. Check out a Toonie Movie, Fridays at midnight at the Vogue.

More commonly referred to as the midnight movie. My first was The Dark Night...fantastic.

24. Learn to tell Student Services, Student Life, and SAC apart.

Umm...that's really not going to happen. That's why they are changing the name. Student Services is now The Registrar's Office. That's pretty self explanatory. Student Life includes Counselling, The Student Health Centre and the like. The SAC is the Students' Administrative Council but almost never referred to as such is pronounced Sack.

28. See a play at Windsor Theatre

Good advice...there are a few great shows a year.

38. Get to know your profs by their first name; get them to know your name too.

A major plus about being at Mount Allison is the small class sizes and personal attention given by professors...but you have to make the effort to establish a relationship with your profs. This will get more and more important as your move into smaller and smaller classes.

40. Learn the names of and set foot in every building on campus — all 43 of them.

Very unlikely...you won't have to even go near most of them...just focus on remembering the main residences, academic buildings, Gym, and Con Hall and you'll more or less be set. I'd even hazard a guess whoever came up with that can't name twenty-five of them.

July 13, 2009

8 Weeks From Now...featuring forethought and Bright Eyes-The Arc of Time (Song with Lyrics)

In less than eight weeks I'll be back nestled in the small town of Sackville, New Brunswick. Away from the hustle and bustle of city streets and the wail of sirens of the Boston Police...and back to the hustle and bustle of campus life and the wail of sirens of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. (They usually aren't Mounted anymore...and the Royal title seems outdated...but it sounds much more...regal...and Canadian to refer to the RCMP..rather than the Canadian Police. I'll be writing about the rigorous RCMP Youth Academy I completed in March 2007 soon.)

Anyway...just about eight weeks from today I'll be back in Sackville...at Mount Allison...the surroundings will be the same but everything else will be different. We'll be one ones laughing at the immature, uncultured 'frosh'. We'll be laughing at their questions and try to guess how long it'll take for them to learn the ropes...oh...and everything else as well. The over the past eleven weeks I've had time to do a lot of thinking that I was too in the moment to do at Mount Allison. In September I think I'll be more...deliberate about how I spend my time. We'll see.

Mount Allison is about eight weeks away. From talking to friends...it seems we've made it past the sticking point. For so long it has been "oh man 19 weeks...it's so long to be away from Mount Allison"...to "13 weeks...so long"...to "9 long weeks"...but then suddenly it was "just a month and change". I think a lot of it is that we're past halfway...and now it seems that instead of "I have so much time and nothing to do" it's the opposite. I'm working 35+ hours a week and have plans every weekend...without enough time to just...do nothing. I tried finding time lapse photography of something taking 8 weeks...to show just how much can be done in so little time, but I came up with this video. It really is amazing...eight weeks and two cells become so much more.



The older you get the less you change it seems. I've been thinking of how I've changed over the past eight weeks and how I'll be different once I'm on a plane to Canada. It has been an interesting experience for sure. In fact I've already written much of what will be posted here automatically on September 5th, and trying to imagine how I might feel. For instance I've chosen two songs as the soundtrack for the day of travel and have written a short retrospective (trying to think of what my thoughts will be in the future) about Berklee and my summer in general. I think it'll all be true by then...but I wonder if it will be what I'll be thinking at the time. You don't know what I mean but you soon will.

I've been keeping a mental note as the time passes...the day I'm counting down to in my head is now 7 weeks from Friday...Friday September 4th when I'll be taking the last train home from the Back Bay and packing to leave in the morning a few hours later. It's closer to 8 weeks away...but there's 7 weekends left...which is important because my weeks are already filled by work and the gym. Over the next seven weekends I'm planning to:

Go to New York (paid in full)
Go to Springfield (possible)
Get re-certified in CPR
Tour the Institute of Contemporary Art (Shepard Fairey exhibit)
Travel to Montreal
Assist with Berklee's Fall Orientation
and then board a plane...with my Canadian passport in hand

Right now I'm pretty certain about most of the above...but "You can make a plan...






Carve it into stone
Like a feather falling
It is still unknown
As the clock speaks up
Says it's time to go
You can choose the high
Or the lower road
You might clench your fist
You might fork your tongue
As you curse or praise
All the things you've done
And the faders move
And the music dies
As we pass over
On the arc of time

So you nurse your love like a wounded dove
In the covered cage of night
Every star is crossed by frenetic thoughts
That separate and then collide
And they twist like sheets until you fall asleep
Then they finally unwind
It's a black balloon
It's a dream you'll soon deny

I hear if you make friends
With Jesus Christ
You will get right up
From that chalk outline
And you'll get dolled up
And you'll dress in white
All to take your place
In his chorus line

And then in you'll come with those marching drums
In a saintly compromise
No more whisky slurs, no more blond haired girls
For your whole eternal life
And you'll do the dance that was choreographed
At the very dawn of time
See, I told you son
The day would come

You will die, you die, you die, you die
You will die, you die, you die, you die
You will die, you die, you die, you die
You will die, you die, you die

To the deepest part of the human heart
The fear of death expands
Until we crack the code we have always known
But could never understand
On a circuit board we will soon be born

Again and again and again and again
And again and again and again and again
And again and again and again and again
And again and again and again and again

July 12, 2009

When Selling Out Really Doesn't Pay

Since September I've included ads (in addition to the selected links) on this blog partly for a more official feel (check major websites and tell me there's no advertising) and partly to see if I could make any money on the side (I am a low-income college student). It turns out the most effective ads were the most annoying. While the ads didn't present any serious issues ads they did include I would not endorse and distracted from the writing. Also, after ten months I haven't earned enough to meet their threshold to see a penny. With all that in mind I've removed the ads and canceled my account. Enjoy the new clutter and ad-free layout.

Independent Candian Music: My CBC Radio 3 Playlist

For a long time I've had my CBC Radio 3 playlist embedded along the right-hand side but no longer. It has interfered other online media. I'll be talking about music fairly often (and even more so in September as the entertainment writer for the Argosy. If you are in fact interested in what independent Canadian music I've added to my list over time see http://radio3.cbc.ca/play/gbcamp or the embedded playlist (which over-time will fall off the main url and stop interfering with other media) below.

Ben & Jerry's Hot Fudge Reese's Pieces Phish Food Sundae

Yesterday was Berklee's 5-Week Summer Performance Program arrival day. For me it started with waking up before sunrise and ended after sunset with a Hot Fudge Reese's Pieces Phish Food Sundae. For everything in between see the SAC blog.