Archive for October 2012

Today is Halloween...candy, costumes, Charlie Brown, drunken idiots and, jack-O-lanterns, I'm sure you've heard of it.

My plans include sitting in my suite watching TV wrapped in a toga (a bedsheet)  and handing out candy (or rather, what's left of the candy...whoops)

By far my favourite part of Halloween is the TV...I LOVE a good Halloween episode, most recently the Halloween episodes of Community. I love Community and this year the world of this wonderful TV show has been screwed around more than (prepare yourself, analogy of the year headed your way) those stupid screws that hold batteries in things (you know the ones...are the batteries so out of control that they can't just be held in with a sliding piece of plastic). The creator of the show has been booted by NBC and despite having the original season air date of October 19th, it did not return. Today brings news that it'll supposedly return mid-season. To that I say "pshaw, I'll believe it when I see it!"

So in defence of one of the best sitcoms ever, I shall share some of their Halloween greatness with you now.

Season 1:

Season 2:  

Judgement is human nature. We, as humans, have to make judgements about people immediately in order to know whether they are a threat or not. I know it now goes beyond that and can become a problem when people become overly judgemental but I tend to be a little bit judgey.

People that we tend to enjoy judging are celebrities, we decide we know them from their public persona, the roles they play or the music they write. I'm sure, on occasion  the person we think they are isn't too far from the truth because that persons acting ability isn't enough to disguise their true personality (see Kristen Stewart or Jennifer Anniston - it's impossible that EVERY script calls for her to BE Rachel Green).

Some celebrities will surprise you however. Today I will give you some examples:

1. Dolph Lundgren (Action star)

(I was going to write about him, but then I found that so...I chose the lazy path)

2. Mayim Bialik (Blossom and Amy Farrah Fowler from Big Bang)



You may have thought she was just excellent and spewing science-y sounding words on The Big Bang Theory but she actually has a Ph.D. in Neuroscience  so she's probably the only one on the show who has any idea what she's talking about when it comes to being a Neurobiologist.

3. J.K. Rowling (do I need to tell you, author of Harry Potter)



J.K. Rowling is the one of the richest authors of all time not to mention one of the richest people in the world. She was a billionaire (did you catch that "was"). Here is the surprising information - J.K. Rowling was REMOVED from Forbes' World Billionaire list because she pays such high taxes - she's said that the reason she doesn't live in a mansion in Monaco is because when she was poor she lived on government money so she feels she owes the country to stay there and pay her taxes. Also...here's the best part...she's donated so much to charities that she is no longer a billionaire. It is estimated that she has given approximately $160 million to charitable causes including over $15 mil. to Multiple Sclerosis research, the disease which killed her mother.

When J.K. Rowling decided to release the Harry Potter books as audio books and eBooks there were cries all over the internet of "doesn't she have enough money" and "just another money grab" so, I hope those people are silenced with this information. I have no problem buying a book from a woman who is so philanthropic.

FACT. I love music, I understand that pretty much every online biography, whether it be on facebook or eharmony or whatever, usually includes that sentence. But seriously, I LOVE music. I could not live without it. It houses memories and senses and feelings and happiness and depression and helps me express anger and frustration and fear. It has smells and colours and emotions of its own. I would choose to be blind before I would give up my ability to hear music. Any movie about music, centered around music or with a decent soundtrack will grab my attention. I don't like or dislike certain genres and I try not to dismiss artists because they are top 40. If I like a song I'll listen to it regardless of the track info. I would rather listen to THESE songs on repeat than never hear music again. Music has been my worst enemy, my truest love and a best friend. I believe music is an extension of poetry and therefore I consider poems to be the base form of music.

FACT 2: This is the most personal, walls down post on this blog so far. The reason is a piece of music I found today. It's actually a spoken word poem (see above.) I have heard many musicians say they have a piece of music or a lyric they wish they had written, this is one of those for me. There is a tiny amount of background music, no melody, but his voice is instrumental, rhythmic and emotive and those elements make it music to me.

The band is "Listener"; they are, in fact, a spoken word band born from a hip-hop collective. They refer to themselves as "Talk Music". The song is "Wooden Heart" check them out here

This song is about a dream Dan had, about a coastline town that wanted to build a church but didn't have the lumber. So they salvaged wood from wrecked ships and built one. This is poetry, art, and pure passion. 

While I have you here, you should check out the first song / spoken word that convinced me spoken word poems are music.

If I asked the 10 people I know, "what is worst part of any video game you've played?" I bet at least 7 of them would say "the water levels". I understand this would be an easy task considering I could just send a mass text and wait for responses but really, deep down, you know I'm right and I know I'm right so there's no need to check.

Regardless of my thesis being unsupported, I believe the water level is the worst part of video games and I'm fairly certain you agree (I'm mostly talking the ones where the task is to run right and jump on baddies to kill them).

If you aren't already nodding you head in complete agreement of my statement, let me refresh your memory.

1. Super Mario Bros.

I haven't been 16 for 11.5 years (its probably closer to 11.75 years, but I'm not 7 so I don't count that closely, always.) In fact, I don't remember a WHOLE lot of specifics about being 16. I had friends, I stressed about math and science class, I had a decent boyfriend (the first of 2 that would someday tell me he's gay), I got my drivers license and a car (my parents were worried a cougar was going to eat me while I waited for a bus to go to school 40 minutes from my house) and I was well into my love affair with playing and listening to music. Things I thought were going to ruin my life are now long forgotten and memories I thought I'd never relinquish are barely hanging on (thank goodness for my obsessive photo taking in high school). 16 was when I decided to be a music teacher, 17 was when I decided not to be a music teacher.

If I were write myself at 16 a letter, the only thing I can think to include is the advice to enjoy being 16 in 2001. In a world before over zealous airport security and border guards, before needing a passport to travel to the US. A time before an over reliance on cell phones, when Google invited you to search through only 1,326,920,000 webpages (now just searching "music" brings up over 8 billion results). On a personal note, I'd tell myself to enjoy freedom from student loans, enjoy having a very supportive family (although nagging at times). I would also remind myself to take one last, long look at Alex Trebek's moustache on Sept. 21st he would appear without it for the 1st time.

This whole entry was inspired by a fantastic video I found of a rapper / poet named George Watsky who is MUCH more eloquent than I. Every word he says is true, and beautifully spoken. I'm not 16 but he definitely inspires me and so I share him with you today.

What would you tell your 16 year old self?

This man, affectionately known to the internet as "black science guy", blows my mind. My scientific knowledge does not really exist beyond Bill Nye the Science Guy and The Big Bang Theory but this man, Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson, makes things clear to me and never fails to blow my mind.

Not only is he brilliant but he is also an excellent, charismatic, speaker. Which you'll discover after this....

TANGENT!!!

How do you feel about aliens?

There are three well known facts about me (this is a total lie, at most 1 of these facts could be considered WELL KNOWN, the other two are known by people who really know me well, and I don't think something being a fact to 5-7 people is considered "well known")

1. I have no sense of direction
2. I saw Twilight in theatre 10 times and to this day cannot explain why as I clearly understand how terrible it really is.
3. I hate movies which end with the solution / resolution / answer etc. being "IT WAS ALIENS!" See the Indian Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull for an example. It is important to remember that I do not dislike alien movies, I dislike movies that are going along all suspenseful and good but then end with the writers not being creative enough / too lazy to come up with something better than aliens. It feels like a cop out or, for the English teachers out there, is it a deus ex machina

A deus ex machina ( /ˈdeɪ.əs ɛks ˈmɑːkiːnə/ or /ˈdiːəs ɛks ˈmækɨnə/ day-əs eks mah-kee-nə;^[1] Latin: "god from the machine"; plural: dei ex machina) is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object (thanks wikipedia)

I believe that aliens exist, I believe it is a little (or a little more than a little) arrogant to absolutely deny the existence of another intelligent being in the universe. I believe the universe is far to vast to assume anything about it. Part of these beliefs surfaced and became apparent to me after watching this video and having my mind blown by Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson, the black science guy.

Won't you take 12 minutes and listen to the man and have your mind blown too?

That's me, a sucker for musicals. I love them, always have. Rocked out to Grease millions of times as a child / pre-teen / teen...I still do really, come on! Who doesn't love Grease. I've even appreciated Grease 2 (if you didn't know it existed check out "Reproduction" from Grease, it's hilarious...actually you know what, I'll save you the time here it is...