A house is a machine for living in.

Last night, I went out with Mr. Brett Lintott for a few pints and to catch up on old times. We reminisced about old times, talked about modern music and generally engaged in some quality conversation.  At the end of evening, the talked turned to musicals/plays. Brett told me about how his friend (M. Banks) had told his mother that he was trying out for a musical (obviously, not Brett’s cup of tea.)  I made the comment that Brett would only be in a play if he were some sort of pundit.

That comment lead me to wonder their have ever been any plays/musicals about newsmen/political pundits, where that feature is a primary plot aspect. It would be interesting to see how a play set on Crossfire, for example, would portray itself.  I imagine that writing a script where the main conflict is between two political ideologues could become quite cumbersome and stilted and thus, not .

A more realistic theme would be a character who is a pundit and how that affects his reltionships with the other people in his life. Such a premise is broad enough to allow any sort of play/musical (tragedy, comedy, interpretive dance, etc..)

I am deeply interested on what people’s feelings, opinions, and ideas about such a project would be. I certainly don’t have an artistic/dramatic bone in my body and thus, have little experience with such themes.

Albert as a robot…

Very creepy and cool at the same time.

Pitstops, Noseblows and Bluenoses

I just got back from my week out in B.C., a week that was much needed and very relaxing. I stayed the week at my Uncle’s place, which, although he is renovating, is quite nice. Nonetheless, I don’t want to go into many specific details because that isn’t too interesting for anyone who reads this blog.

What I would like to talk about is the different pace of life between there and here. Out West, the pace of life is slower and more relaxed; people are not in a rush to be places. Contrasting that to the frenetic pace of life, it feels to me that the quality of life is better out there. Furthermore, the people who live out there seem to be more friendly than most of the people that you would meet in the Golden Horseshoe.

Nonetheless, there are a few things that I prefer about Southwestern Ontario, which include a greater diversity of activities, weather that isn’t hot and dry 99% of the time and the fact that there aren’t poisonous Black Widow spiders living all around your house.

Anyway, the vacation was very good and I can easily imagine taking vacations out there again.

Black Widows standing guard around my bed.

I just wanted everyone to know that I’ll be in British Columbia this week and thus will be off the blog until Sunday, at the earliest. Cheers.

In which youths delight in a prank.

Courtesy of Wondermark:

For some reason this reminds me of the comics some of my friends made in high school.

I’ve got my life of complication here to sort out.

Scotland is often thought of as being a dour, grey, almost lifeless country filled with moors, mountains, fog and rain. The fact that the lyrics of many Scottish bands seem to have a forlorn, hopeless quality to them could possibly be the result of growing up in such an environment. Nonetheless, this environment has produced many great bands and songs that any music listener should check out.

Camera Obscura are a band formed in Glasgow during the mid-90’s who have received a modest following and have released three records prior to this year. Eternally compared to the band Belle & Sebastian ,(the lead singer of which has directed a music video for Camera Obscura) this six-piece released an album this year titled Let’s Get Out Of This Country.

The lead single from this album, Lloyd, I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken, is a response to a 1984 track released by Lloyd Cole entitled Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken? While the earlier track was a call for intellectual revolution within the music industry, the 2006 reply is almost a clever poke at that call. Featuring lyrics such as „Hey Lloyd, I’m ready to be heartbroken/ Cause I can’t see further than my own nose at this moment„, this song plays on the original intellectual challenges of the LLoyd Cole track with light-hearted replies accompanied by a brisk pop rhythm. The track is, for lack of a better description, really fun and one of my favourite songs of 2006.

Camera Obscura – Lloyd, I’m ready to be heartbroken

Camera Obscura – Lloyd, I’m ready to be heartbroken (video)    

(use Realplayer to view the video) 

I can see I’m alone, time understanding the seeds that I’ve sown.

Sing

Can’t feel
‘Cos I’m numb
Can’t feel
‘Cos I’m numb
So what’s the worth
In all of this
What’s the worth
In all of this

CHORUS:
Sing to me (x2)

So what’s the worth
In all of this
If the child in your head
If the child is dead

REPEAT CHORUS

Sing to me

It’s like a truckstop urinal.

I don’t like the smell of egg salad. It smells like sewage. I don’t mind when  people eat it, but I have to sit far enough distance away or else it’s too much.

Just Another Jive-Assed White Colonial Theft.

Today, I made a mix cd for my friend Catherine to continue what has been a recent tradition. In making this post, I would just like to share with my readers the contents of that mix cd because I really do not have anything better to make a post about.

Tracklisting 

1. Judith Juillerat – Promenade apéritive d’un noctambule
2. Múm – Nú snýr óttinn aftur
3. Jose Gonzalez – Heartbeats
4. The Fiery Furnaces – Benton harbor blues
5. Primal Scream – Come together
6. Wir Sind Helden – Nur ein Wort
7. The New Pornographers – Sing me spanish techno
8. Camera Obscura – Lloyd, I’m ready to be heartbroken
9. Belle & Sebastian – Baby Jane (Live at Sirius)
10. Malcolm Middleton – Break my heart
11. Arab Strap - Don’t ask me to dance
12. Golden Boy feat. Miss Kittin – Rippin kittin (Ellen Allien mix)
13. The Knife – Neverland
14. Au Revoir Simone – Back in time
15. Sigur Ros – Hafsol
16. Air – Le voyage the penelope
17. Sven Väth feat. Miss Kittin – Je t’aime moi non plus

All in all, it is a very diverse mix featuring musical artists from 8 different countries and in 5 different languages. It is a mix that features instrumental post-rock, traditional indie pop and driving electroclash all mashed up together. It starts out quietly, things go well, things go sour, and in the end everything works out peacefully and full of love. And there ends the pretentious description.

The day the patio door saved my ass in Baltimore, the best city in America.

Niccolo Machiavelli was a 15th/16th century Italian bureaucrat who had quite modern views of government including lying to the public can be useful and that governing using fear can be very effective.

Back in high school, in Mr. Massey’s Civilizations class, we did a test of Macchiavellian orientation in class and I scored substantially above the rest of the class in that regard. That would classify me as a High Mach.   High Machs “ tend to take a more detached, calculating approach in their interaction with other people. They tend to believe most people are concerned only with their own well-being and to depend too much on anyone else is foolish. They believe the best way to get by is to use deception, rewards, promises, flattery, and even punishments to manipulate others into doing their bidding. To them, power may be more important than love.“

I disagree with that description as one that pertains to myself. Although I see the world through a Machiavellian lens, I don’t really agree with the idea that the way to live life is throuh deceit.  I just think that people are a lot less virtuous and altruistic that they claim to be. Essentially, I’m waiting for modern society to prove me wrong.

Note:  This is what happens when I write when tired. Nonsense.