my random thoughts
|
|
| BLOGGGGG my random thoughts |
|
|
Wednesday, August 31, 2005 I don't think the rain storm hit last night. I had the window open and didn't hear any large downpours. Usually I wake up when stuff like this happens. It feels like being stood up for a date that you've anticipated all week. Ok bad analogy. Anyway it just goes to show you that meterology is sorta on par with astrology. Except that the former is a credible branch of science. Really, you weather people should seriously try to make better weather models or something. After work yesterday I took mum out to dinner at East! on Queen W, the one located directly across CityTV/MuchMusic. I wasn't aware that the Olson twins were going to be in the area, and therefore walked ourselves right into a mob of screaming teenaged girls and their teenaged boyfriends. Boy were they loud. I swear their shrieks could shatter glass. I have to say though, we got pretty good seats inside the resto. We got a clear view of the VJ interviewing the girls. I don't konw what his name is, but he's the blonde one that you can easily mistake him for a her if you're at a distance. Oh yeah, the twince looked a bit freaky too. Witch-like is how I would describe it. Poofy hair is not cool if you're short. posted by Ben | | | 10:17 AM Monday, August 29, 2005 As Promised, the song from Le Fate Ignoranti. The strings do it for me, and it's so typical of Italian Pop... Well, actually I'm not really sure how Italian pop sounds like, but it sure is similar to the stuff on those RAI International music shows. posted by Ben | | | 10:30 PM Remember a few years back there were several incidents at Kennedy subway station that involved violent brawls between high school aged youths? Then shortly after, the staff started pumping classical music (Baroque and Classical) to, I assume, calm people down. I guess it worked since there hasn't been too many incidents in the news that stem from Kennedy station. Back to 2005 and to my job in the retail sector. The video tape machine broke, and so we've to replace that never-ending loop reel with other source of sound: Jazz FM. Seriously though, if you walk into the store with no background noise of any sort, it really does feel like you're in a dark alley about to be ass raped. Anyway, it's a great station, and I encourage everyone to listen to it. It's even available online as an audio stream. I'm hooked on it. What makes it even better is that the station is not-for-profit. Think NPR sans the talk. What does that mean to you? only 4 minutes of commercial every hour as opposed to 14 minutes. Having it around just makes the whole store seem so classy, and the clerks just a notch more snootier (not that i'm snooty or anything...in fact I'm the most friendly, down-to-earth and humble individual you'll ever meet!). We should band together with starbucks next door and bring in some lounge chairs, espresso machines and turn down the fluorescent lights LOL. People come up to the counter all the time to ask me what we're playing because it's so good. I'm like...it's just Jazz FM DOOD! The crowd likes it. Come to think of it people who live in the area are quite educated and therefore appreciate the art that is jazz. You get your Bay Street/financial district types, doctors, gay urbanites, uni students. So it makes sense that their taste in music includes stuff OTHER than top40 commericial stuff. jazz at the store could also be a social experiment of sorts. would the new vibe also discourage people from stealing products? Would it scare off those freaky drunks from coming in? Ya know, vampires hate sunlight. Vagrants hate Jazz.. They'll be like 'OMG JAZZ!!! I'm MEELLLLTTTTIIIINNGGGG". Oh, by the way, the hurricane kinda missed New Orleans. That's great news. But i still wouldn't want to be in the middle of that thing. posted by Ben | | | 12:52 PM Friday, August 26, 2005 I decided to do up some foreign films last night, and took home two titles: 1. City of God (Cidade de Deus) -- Brazillian, based on a true story. LOTS of killing and gun violence. I don't mean gangsters shooting eachother out. They're kids! Like teenagers, adolescents, and 6 year olds! The city is infact a slum somewhere outside of Rio. Everyone there is incredibally poor and often rob trucks that pass by for money and other things. The entire thing was narrated by a guy who happens to be living in the city. He's an aspiring photographer, and got his big break when he was able to take photographs of the turf war and published it in the paper. But it's not JUST about him. The story of the gangs, the leaders, their background was very well told. The photography is very stylish and fast paced like a music video. The format is like Swordfish (the one with john travolta and halle berry). You start at the end, rewind to tell the story, and the it finally meets up to the time point where the movie started and continues as the closing. I think it's one of the best films i've seen this year. There's another film under the same genre. Also Brazillian (I think), but I don't remember the title. What I do remember is that the cover art for the video/DVD case has a guy in a wifebeater with his palms together as if he was praying. 2. His Secret Life (Le Fate Ingnoranti)-- Italian. Completely random 'grab' off the shelves. I usually don't read the back to see what it's about. This second one wasn't as interesting as the City of Gods. I shouldn't be comparing the two since it'd be like comparing apples and oranges. This is the completely opposite of what City of God is. It's a chick flick. So brief snyopsis is basically this: Woman married to man for 15 years. Man gets killed in a car accident. Wife finds out man has been having an affair with someone for 7 years. Turns out the Mistress is a MisTER. I'm not much into gay themed movies because most of the time it's the same formula used over and over. But there really isn't much of that in this one so I give it a thumbs up. Plus the soundtrack is good. I'll post a few to sample in a day or two. posted by Ben | | | 9:38 AM Tuesday, August 23, 2005 More movie's I've seen in the past week: 1. Resident Evil (the newest one) - It was really sad that you could recognize Toronto so easily in the movie. What's worse, they called it "Raccoon City". Yeah there have been problems with racoons lately, especially in my neighbourhood. But still! Numerous 'product placements' (or were they just mistakes on the photographer's parts?) of CIBC, BMO and TD in arial shots of "Raccoon City". I thought Jovovich was gonna be hot like the first Resident Evil (and the 5th Element). But the other chick totally trumped her. 2. Shaun of the Dead -- The fat guy (he plays Shaun's roomate, who eventually turns into a zombie) looked like one of my co-workers back in the day when I worked in the art department of a local weekly classified newspaper. Funny as hell. The Brits sure has a sense of humour. 3. Harold and Kumar -- 'nuff said. Playing on COUNTLESS racial stereotypes. Great way to waste 95 mins. of your life. 4. The Day After Tomorrow -- there really wasn't a story to it, was there? All i recall was stuff freezing over, and Americans smuggling themselves into Mexico. Yay mexico! Jake Gyllenhaal is a talented actor (as seen in Donnie Darko) but what happened here?! 5. Saw -- People told me the movie was supposed to be gross. But I didn't find it that bad. Yeah there were some pretty nasty scenes, like when this guy tried to crawl through a cage full of those barbed/razor wires, or when this girl gutted this guy while he was still alive. Anyway,the whole experience was like watching the Phonebooth except it took place in a dirty washroom somewhere. 6. We Don't Live Here Anymore -- I recognized the two male actors -- Mark Ruffallo (he was in collateral, 13 going on 30) and Peter Krause (6 feet under). It goes sorta like this: Two couples, A and B. Man from couple A has affair with woman from couple B. At the same time, Woman from couple B has an affair with Man from couple A. Shit happens, and they end up in a really sad state of affairs. posted by Ben | | | 4:29 PM Saturday, August 20, 2005 Wyclef Jean's "Fortunate Son" has a pretty good beat in the background. It's basically marching band meets army brigade. I think it'd go well with Amerie's "one thing" as a remix. The password is 'ben'. posted by Ben | | | 10:25 PM Most of the time I spend at work is running simulations. Some of them are computationally intensive, often taking several hours to do. And I can only read so many academic papers before my eyes start to water and get sick of them. I've been browsing photos on Flickr.com a lot recently to pass time, and also sites run by other professional photographers. One in particular that I came across yesterday was the site of Steve McCurry. He took the famous Afghan girl for National Geographic. Really great stuff. posted by Ben | | | 1:08 PM Tuesday, August 16, 2005  The city of Toronto has designed some new garbage bins for use. Frankly they can easily be mistaken for parking meters, or vending machines. But the local gov. wants YOUR feedback. so do it! posted by Ben | | | 10:20 AM Monday, August 15, 2005 Came across something really really sad. Two Iranian teens hung for *being* gay: http://direland.typepad.com/direland/2005/07/iran_executes_2.html posted by Ben | | | 10:49 PM Ethiopian Toilet reviews: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/15/international/africa/15ethiopia.html?8hpib posted by Ben | | | 7:57 PM Thursday, August 11, 2005 I've been exercising regularly for over two months, and I think the health benefits are starting to show. I can run a LOT longer than i used to and I don't feel like gasping for air. What's stopping me is the fact that my legs hurt real bad after abou 20 mins of non stop running. I don't think i'm stretching proper before hand. I've gaind some muscle mass too! So i'm not all skin and bones anymore. About a month ago I started alternating swimming with gym exercises too. Swimming is incredible! It's a LOT more involved but it feels GREAT afterwards. On top of that the endorphin high after a hard session at the gym is extremely gratifying. I'm so addicted. posted by Ben | | | 10:20 AM Saturday, August 06, 2005 dats right...
posted by Ben | | | 12:27 AM Thursday, August 04, 2005 Once in a while, you come across a tune that you just can't stop listening to. Yup I found one over the weekend. First heard it on Aaron Ross' show on the BBC. Great tune. It's a vocal house track done by a bunch of Italian guys. Pete Tong's been banging it for weeks apparently. I like it, very disco-influcneded. I think it's cuz of the organ synths in the background. I'm sharing it here: http://sr2.mytempdir.com/106189 First time trying this mytempdir service. Let me know how if it's any good. The file name got chopped so the full name is here: Alex Gaudino & Jerma pres Lil' Love - Little love (Club mix) What else..? Right. That plane crash miracle on Tuesday. WOW. I am so amazed and happy that everyone survived. Kudos to the crew. It's posted by Ben | | | 9:21 PM Tuesday, August 02, 2005 I came across a music blog over the weekend too. It's located at http://siik.org. Check it out. It certainly is better than Top40 radio. posted by Ben | | | 10:15 AM Monday, August 01, 2005 Shit. Murphy's Law striked again. I spent a good portion of my morning yesterday tidying up my room, thinkin' it's a long weekend and I needed to ge rid of some clutter on the floor and desk and clean the floor. Later that afternoon the landlord had contractors in my bedroom ripping out drywall to replace some electrical wiring. Those bastards left dust all over the floor, my computer, my bed *everything*. At least they were 'kind enough' to put newspaper over most things near the work site. My backpack was covered with white dust, and so were my shoes. The floor is filthy. My suite mates got pissed too. There was dust all over his laptop. Damn it, if they only had advanced warning. What's worse, I'm the one that has to clean up because they just walked up and left. There's a huge pile of wood dust on the floor. Those assholes. Sometimes it's not even worth doing all that cleaning in the first place. posted by Ben | | | 3:15 PM |
|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
 |
|||||||
|
||||||||
