five cent wings

Today at 3pm

2008-06-11T11:17:00.000-07:00

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is officially apologizing for this.

Make Your Own Animal Cracker Cookies!

2008-06-04T15:20:00.000-07:00

A friend just gave me this plus animal cookie cutters from Williams Sonoma. I know it's supposed to be for kids, but it's one of the awesomest gifts I've ever received!

foot fetish

2008-06-04T09:17:00.000-07:00

I doubt this is a coincidence... four right feet wearing socks and runners have washed up on the shores around Vancouver and Vancouver Island in less than a year:

click here

PLEASE END

2008-06-03T16:00:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I saw some hipster trendwhore walking down the street trying to keep a straight face while wearing bright neon orange shutter shades. Yes, everyone is looking at you awkwardly walking down the street in a horribly uncomfortable 'everyone's judging me' insecure manner. That shit was kinda funny for a millisecond. Now that the Glow In The Dark Tour has left the city... I hope this shit does too!

bring the hate, meaty!

2008-06-03T12:33:00.000-07:00

I've decided to become a vegetarian. Mostly because of this:

'Last November, United Nations environmental researchers released a report that everyone who cares about the environment should review. Called "Livestock's Long Shadow," this 408-page thoroughly researched scientific report indicts the consumption of chickens, pigs, and other meats, concluding that the meat industry is "one of the ... most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global" and that eating meat contributes to "problems of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water shortage and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity."'

ps. I miss chicken wings and bacon the most.

we should leave them alone

2008-06-03T11:54:00.000-07:00

but boy is this fascinating!

click here

sex and the city

2008-06-03T11:46:00.001-07:00

Honestly, I've been a fan of the show, but I certainly wasn't chomping at the bit to organize an omg like totally fun girls night out including martinis, cheap dresses, painful heels and a trip to check out this highly anticipated movie.

But like OMG IT WAS AWESOME!

I laughed, cried, laughed til I cried, and left the theatre screaming 'fuck boys, who needs em when I got my girls!'. haha

The encouragement of excessive consumerism kinda irked me a bit, but I suppose SATC has been that way from the start.

Sweet movie though. I'm definitely buying it on DVD.

new roots=p.o.r.n.

2008-06-03T11:20:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if I'm totally into the new Roots album, Rising Down, just yet. Usually it takes time to fully appreciate a good album. First impressions are that they seem to be delving further into the experimental acoustic art and the subject matter is pretty gloomy. The Roots have historically commented on the state of the world in their work, so I guess it makes sense for them to join the doomsday prophets.

One element that stood out for me right away was the rapper p.o.r.n. He's only featured on a couple tracks, but the verse that really stood out for me was on 'I Can't Help It':

I never said I'm ready to die, but I accept it, never said i"m ready for war, but I'm protected, I don't even know when its coming but I expect it, lost thoughts innocent hopes an now I'm left with nervous conditions, addictions, in addition to prisons that mixed in to the wrong crowd, My life is on a flight that going down, My mother had an abortion for the wrong child, With the time I felt loved, thats gone now, Thats replaced with purples rays some storm clouds, Misery love Misery, so why make friends lets make enemies, An now I got a habit thats wasn't meant for me, Now im in a marriage that wasn't meant to be, One more reason to change identity, The cars, the crime, K's, penalties.

I might even go as far as to say that p.o.r.n. has the self deprecating lyrical genius of a well known white rapper from Detroit... the tracks he chose to highlight on his myspace page leave something to be desired, but we'll see how his career progresses, if he can manage to keep his self proclaimed addictions to drugs and women in check. Interesting that The Roots would feature such an artist after tracks like 'The Water'. Perhaps it is all just for show. p.o.r.n. really seems to have talent though...

Best Day of My Life

2007-10-04T15:31:00.000-07:00

This will be a regular installment of events and discoveries that lead to the best days of our lives.

One such event was when we came across the magnificent, time-sucking wonder called www.paperdollheaven.com. When searching an image of one of the celebrity templates and her endless outfit options, we came across the above image from another blogger's site, where she has offered herself for the internet paper-dolling community. How selfless, and hilarious of her.

Another recent Best Day was when we discovered the vault of My So Called Life Episodes on www.tv-links.co.uk in addition to many obscure documentaries and forgotten tv treasures. However, the site has some kinks that can make you have the worst day of your life, especially hen you've had your heart set on watching the one where Jordan and Angela make out for the first time.

Go See Weirdsville

2007-10-03T21:17:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't love a good drug bender montage, delightfully bespeckled with medieval midgets, leg-smashing goons, and clumsy satanic cult members?

http://www.weirdsville-the-movie.com/

America's Next Top Model Meeting Minutes

2007-10-03T21:02:00.001-07:00

Word of the Day: Exterialized. Meaning 'on the outside'. Coined by our pick Ebony.

Vomit Inducing Tyra Moments: 1.) Fake French accent. 2.) Anytime she reminisces about her modeling days. 3.) Every time she says 'the next name I'm going to call'. 4.) Every time she furiously bats her eyelashes 5.) Baby talk with Miss J

Wannabe Model to Punch in The Face: Bianca

Most Notable Event of the Evening: One meeting attendee reveals her horrifyingly racist side with an inappropriate reference to food stamps.

I can breathe under water

2007-08-18T13:24:00.000-07:00

"In the following pages, I shall demonstrate that there is a psychological technique which makes it possible to interpret dreams, and that on the application of this technique, every dream will reveal itself as a psychological structure, full of significance, and one which may be assigned to a specific place in the psychic activities of the waking state. Further, I shall endeavour to elucidate the processes which underlie the strangeness and obscurity of dreams, and to deduce from these processes the nature of the psychic forces whose conflict or co-operation is responsible for our dreams." -excerpt from The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud.

A few weeks ago, a friend and I were walking down to English Bay to watch the Celebration of Light fireworks. We were a little late getting down there and as we walked towards the water we could hear that the fireworks had already begun. My friend said "Imagine those explosions were gunfire and we are in a war zone right now". For a moment I tried to imagine what it might be like to be in a war-torn country, where gun shots and bombs echo through the air on a regular basis. I felt lucky to be able to walk freely, to enjoy the fireworks, and to feel security in knowing that our beautiful city is spared from the threat of such devastation as Iraq has faced in recent years.

That night I had a terrible dream that I was living in a city that suddenly was under attack from an unknown force. I was talking on my cellphone with my mother, who was telling me how scared she was. Just as I was speaking to her, I saw a bomb fall out of the sky and explode right in front of me. I died in my dream, and felt my spirit floating into the heavens. I remember thinking to myself, "my spirit is still alive". Then I woke up. This dream made me recall the urban myth that it is a terrible omen if you dream your own death, and that you are supposed to wake up before you die. I have also had recurring dreams of being able to breathe underwater... was I a fish in a past life or something?

I've heard that symbols in dreams are signifiers of deeply embedded workings of the subconscious, so I wanted to look into the meaning of these dreams I've been having.

"To dream of your own death, indicates a transitional phase in your life. You are becoming more enlightened or spiritual. Alternatively, you are trying desperately to escape the demands of your daily life." - www.dreammoods.com/dreamdictionary

This analysis definitely rings true with my current situation because I recently quit my career in order to pursue my dreams. I don't particularly have any demands in my daily life, other than job-hunting, so the alternative explanation does not apply. I am not a religious person, but I like to think that there is some higher power, and that we do not just vanish into thin air when we die.

"To dream that you are breathing underwater, represents a retreat back into the womb. You want to return to a state where you were dependent and free from responsibilities. Perhaps you are feeling helpless, unable to fulfill your own needs and caring for yourself. Alternatively, you may be submerged in your emotions." - www.dreammoods.com/dreamdictionary

This analysis is also applicable to my current situation. Having given up my regular, full time paycheck, for the first time I am experiencing what it is like to constantly wonder where and when I will generate income. I like not having to answer to anyone and being able to charge people for my writing, which is what I love to do the most, but at the same time, I am daydreaming about being financially stable. I want to win the lottery, come into a fat inheritance, or however else people get tons of money suddenly for no reason. Who doesn't?

About submersion in my own emotions - people who know me well know that I am not one to divulge what I am feeling, especially to strangers. I tend to bottle things up a lot, because I prefer to be non-confrontational, and I don't like letting people in.

Dream analysis seems to be pretty accurate! Not that our dreams are trying to tell us anything we don't already know, but they can definitely shed light on what deeper concerns we might be harbouring and perhaps enable us to fix our problems, or just understand ourselves better.

YOU make me suicidal

2007-08-17T09:08:00.000-07:00

Silly me to think that popular music would ever break from the trend of being formulaic and milking every tried and true trend until the bitter end. Case in point - Sean Kingston's 'Beautiful Girls'. The song that's blazing up the charts and infiltrating every radio dial is nothing new... a carbon copy of an old classic (Stand By Me), paired with some simple lyrics. The masses LOVE it! Of course they do, everyone loves nostalgia.

I'm so sick of new artists piggy-backing on the brilliance and success of classic songs by pandering to the general population's love for nostalgia. I thought that pop music might have been heading in another direction with groups like Black Eyed Peas, who I sort of detest, but that's just my personal taste, but at LEAST they were creative and ORIGINAL. Will.I.Am is practically a musical genius! And I LOVE artists like MIA who constantly keep us on our toes with innovation.

Sure, it was kinda cool and novel when P Diddy started sampling 80's classics, but now it's just getting tired. It's become a cop out... the easy way to surefire success. Come on people, please demand better, don't scream 'omg I love this song!' when shit like this comes on the radio. It is garbage. If you did even a smidgen of research on new music you would be flabbergasted at the wealth of great stuff out there. Some artists are actually creative! Some thrive on taking chances with new sounds coupled with intelligent lyrics! I sort of feel bad for those artists though... since at this rate, their brilliance will one day be raped by some money hungry, fresh faced pop star who can't wrap their head around the idea of being original and developing their own sound.

I love not camping!

2007-08-08T16:51:00.000-07:00

After a recent camping trip to Harrison Lake, I confirmed what I knew all along, that I am, indeed, a city girl. The trip started off nice enough, as my group arrived at a camp site right on the sparkling lake surrounded by beautiful mountains and set up our tents and chairs and cracked our beers on the lakeshore. Some campers who had set up their base nearby came to say hello, and warned that half of their group had left that morning, after they had been assaulted by mosquitoes. I laughed and thought, ‘what a bunch of wimps! I don’t see any mosquitoes around!’ Flash forward to myself crouching in my tent the next morning, bladder about to burst, after making several attempts to venture out into the outhouse-free woods to find a spot where millions of the little blood-sucking vampires were not swarming and salivating at the thought of biting my exposed behind. Fed up and about to burst into tears of frustration, I jumped in the lake as a last resort, not realizing that standing water is a favourite hang out for mosquitoes. I spent the rest of the morning sitting by the blazing hot fire in the blazing hot sun, wearing jeans and a hooded sweatshirt drenched in Deep Woods Off, in an effort to prevent any new additions to my hundreds of bites, and vowing that that I would never again expose my sweet, alabaster skin to such abuse. From then on it would be hotels only, or at the very least, camp sites with outhouses!

I really like The View

2007-08-06T15:46:00.000-07:00

As much as I would like to strangle Elisabeth Hasselbeck, as much as I shudder to think that a young person like her could be so old fashioned in her super-right-wing-Christian ways, as much as she gets on my nerves, that's how much I enjoy the fact that there is a popular American TV talk show that brings such controversial issues to the table as the Evolution/Creation in Education debate for discussion among the women from all generations and viewpoints.

This morning it all started with Elisabeth bringing some fun new toys to the table - a line of biblical action figures now available at Wal Mart! She was excited that such controversial items in our super-PC world would be available at such a mainstream distributor with a history of being extremely picky about their inventory. The fact that anyone should be taking moral cues from a monster such as Wal Mart is another story altogether, as is the question of whether or not Elisabeth would be opposed to any other religious characters being introduced into the edu-tainment industry.

I'm just happy that an open dialogue about these kinds of things is being televised into the homes of middle-America and I hope that everyone watching is intelligent enough to take all viewpoints into consideration and perhaps even understand the difference between personal beliefs and facts, ie the important separation between church and state. I also wonder whether the Jesus Campers have a cardboard cutout of Elisabeth that they bow to at the altar like they did with GW.

Jesus Camp is still my favourite movie.

Available for Freelance

2007-06-25T18:33:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I recently quit my full time radio promotions job to pursue a career in writing! You can find some of my recent work in the June and July issues of Infamous(http://www.infamousmagazine.net).

I am interested in writing on any topic, but the topics I feel I am most proficient in are night life reviews, concert reviews, CD reviews, beauty product and service reviews. I also have a degree in Communication Studies with extensive knowledge of media messages and systems and their relationship to society and culture.

I consider myself quite tapped in to the night life and entertainment industry in Vancouver.

Please email me at jessifro@hotmail.com if you are interested in my services.

iPerverts

2007-06-05T16:23:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite things to do is listen to my iPod while walking in the city. Music is a big part of my life and so is walking since I don't have a car. Now the authorities are telling me that I should not do one of my favourite things, because it increases the likelihood that I will be assaulted. This recommendation comes after a young woman was recently followed home from a skytrain station and assualted while wearing her iPod - the argument being that she could not hear that anyone was following her due to the fact that she was wearing her iPod at the time. Vancouver Police have recommended that women should talk on their cellphones while they are walking alone so as to fend off potential assailants.

I say a big FUCK YOU to that... just because you aren't doing your jobs of keeping perverts off the streets we have walk without the joy of skipping along to our favourite songs? What the hell else are iPods for? I do yoga so I can't listen to it while I work out... so now I've just got a paperweight. Sweet! And in order to protect myself I should glue my cellphone to my face? Doesn't that cause cancer? Either that or a horrendous phone bill. Maybe Vancouver Police would like to pick up that tab for me.

Is saying that a woman is more likely to get assaulted while wearing an iPod just as ridiculous as saying she is more likely to get raped if she wears a mini skirt? I guess it's not quite the same, since a mini skirt doesn't hinder someone's ability to hear what's going on around them... but it still pisses me off because it puts the onus on the woman. Does that woman who was assaulted now feel guilty that it was her fault because she wore her iPod? I bet she can't help but feel that way.

Now they're handing out hot pink whistles to women at skytrain stations in Surrey so they can whistle for help. That's a little more realistic I think. Plus neon is all the rage right now! But come on... how many pervs are actually roaming the streets these days? Maybe they should be kept in confinement a little longer rather than being let back out into the world when they are still considered high risk.

420something

2007-04-22T19:27:00.000-07:00

The annual pot smoker's holiday, April 20th, seems to have become an excuse for 15 year old suburban stoner kids to ride the bus into the city and take part in the activity out in the open rather than at bush parties and various other hideouts usually frequented in order to keep their parents in the dark. 'Yeah man, let's go down to the art gallery and smoke some pot right in front of the cops! It's wicked, man, they don't even do anything about it!'. Yeah, sweet dude... except for the fact that on any given day in Vancouver, you can smell marijuana smoke at least several times while out on your leisurely stroll in the afternoon.

Maybe the 420 rally at the art gallery has always been like this, and I just never noticed since I myself was a young pothead. Since then the smoke has cleared slightly, so to speak, and I just don't see it as such a novelty anymore.

I used to get really irritated when this guy I was dating back in university would bring out his little pipe at the bar and giggle and snort like an idiot while showing it off. Like, cool buddy, you smoke pot and you want everyone to know! Congrats! Needless to say I dumped his ass.

The pot-smoking tourists REALLY get on my nerves! It is true that we are pretty liberal about it here in Vancouver, but come on... don't like up your chonger on a busy shopping Saturday on Robson amongst the young families and puff it obnoxiously. At least go sit on the art gallery steps or go to the Amsterdam Cafe like all the other pot tourists.

Anyways, this was all prompted by my visit to 7-11 on the glorious pothead holiday, when I happened upon a massive lineup of giggling school boys, all waiting to pay for their pina colada slurpees. Are we entirely sure that this whole fiasco was not created by 7-11? I bet their sales skyrocket on April 20th.

Monogrammed Doorags

2007-04-17T19:45:00.000-07:00

There was a time when I was totally mystified by them... Who are these people who aren't carbon copies of the granville strip chad? Where are their striped shirts, collars popped? Where are the drunken, suddenly bi-curious cokesluts with frilly minis so short you can read their lips? I had stumbled upon a sea of carelessly flailing thriftstore junkies with frizzy hair! WTF?

It was almost as though they set out each night to look as unattractive as possible. Jesus beards. Putrid christmas sweaters. Tapered jeans hugging their hideously flaccid, pear shaped bodies. Did they even bathe?! They reeked of a coolness that just hadn't been parallelled in my many years in the vancouver scene. Urine. Vomit. The stench was so refreshing, I just had to have more. They just did not give a fuck. And the pictures! Oh how I wanted to be in them! So carefree! Fun! Party! All! The! Time! The best music i'd heard in a while.

We schemed that we would infiltrate this underground society. Then I became busy with my career and forgot the plan, but he kept going. Drawn deep into the endless nights of drunken, coke infested partying that only people who hated life could really get into. I guess nasal drip and vomiting are totally manageable in between ringing through a metallic body suit or dressing a mannequin on granville while dreaming of a real fashion design career. I would hate life too.

I slowly came back to my friend, masquerading with him during some of his adventures, quietly observing and realizing that it actually takes a lot of effort to 'not care' or 'be different'. There is one rule about 'the scene': you must never talk about 'the scene' to civilians, or the evil Chads will descend and ruin everything! Can't blame 'em, really. They do ruin everything. Fuckin' bridge-and-tunneling Granville Chads.

Well guess what? There are douchebags in every scene. Whether it be the Chad in the striped shirt chugging vodka redbulls and doing the white boy finger point to the latest Akon infection in a massive warehouse club on the strip, or the 20 year old fashion student with her beer gut stuffed into skinny jeans, chugging a Kokanee and dancing around like she just discovered the Pet Shop Boys and she 'like omg totally loves the 80s' and bangs anything with a teenstache and monogrammed doorag around his neck.

It's too late for my friend, but I hope to shine the light into this toilet bowl of broken dreams and maybe save someone else.

I stole the image from Adrian's Myspace Group - How To Act Liberal to Bang Artsy Hipster Chicks. One of the best discussion groups on Myspace in my opinion.

Jaggerbarf

2007-04-17T19:25:00.000-07:00

There is this bar in Vancouver called The Roxy. It's usually pretty busy, like people wait in line for an hour to get in. I've sent inquiring tourists there and I've been in there a few times myself. The house band has this really cute drummer. But that's beside the point I'm trying to get at here.

You'll notice that every time you walk by The Roxy when the doors are open, there's this wafting odour that emanates from the bar's liquor soaked carpeting. (Side note - I don't believe carpeting is ever a good choice for a night club). For the longest time I couldn't put my finger on what that smell was. Then it hit me like a wasted chick who's boyfriend was just trying to pick me up... the wretched stench of Jagger Bombs, the average bar star's shot of choice, had saturated itself into every porous fibre of The Roxy and was now the defining scent of the place. That, and a hint of vomit. I call it 'Jaggerbarf'.

Every girl who is not a stranger to the bar scene has, at some point I'm sure, experience at least one shit-faced night at The Roxy. I myself am guilty of this, I am ashamed to admit it though, since I try to steer clear of that raging jock-fest every chance I get. But yes, there once was a time when I was that girl, sprawled across the bar, while the bartender poured some juiced down bitch booze down my open throat, and then placed a Roxy temporary tattoo on my back, while Tom Cochrane wailed in the background. YEEHAW!

Maybe I stay away from that place because I'm ashamed of what I became there... a contributor to the Jaggerbarf shrine at The Roxy. That, and I hate Chads.

I'm back!

2007-04-17T19:20:00.000-07:00

Okay so I almost forget how to use this thing and I can't post pics anymore because Yahoo has taken over Flickr and I have to sign up for a Yahoo account to use it and all these media mergers are pissing me off including the fact that my place of work just got purchased by one of the biggest media conglomerates in the country which is good I guess for my company except no one really knows what's going to happen and everything's kind of up in the air and our building is being demolished and we're still in it and how's that for a superfast-run-on-sentence-type update on my life for you?!

Oh man I have so much writing to do, I'm so behind. But it's good to be back to what I really enjoy doing.

Hype1.com

2006-02-14T15:16:00.000-08:00

Hype1.com

I'm writing for a new website - well it's new to Vancouver anyway, already big in TO.

Check out my interviews!

click here

click here

click here

I'd apprecate some feedback please! And make sure you join the site!

petty politics

2006-01-09T11:11:00.000-08:00

westender

Have you noticed that there has been an influx of tabloid-type publications lately? Even The Westender, a weekly Vancouver newspaper that was almost as respectable as the Georgia Straight, recently had a makeover and now looks more like British tabloid OK! than something that should be taken seriously.

Who's fault is this? Should we blame the papers for narrowing our choices? Or is it our own fault for gobbling up this petty crap? Ok well maybe we do have more of a choice now... but it's not the kind that is beneficial to us. Now we can choose between 15 different yet equally desperate spins on the Brangelina story. DO WE REALLY CARE THAT MUCH? Is the news market responding to our demands? Don't people want to know what is going on in the world besides the latest eating disorder sweeping through Hollywood?

When the most money is made by appealing to people's basest desires for instant gratification, false hope, and obsession with the lives of celebrities, how long will it be until that's all there is to read?

how to win friends and influence people

2005-12-21T15:16:00.000-08:00

win friends

Self help books bother me. My stepdad has read many, and is very successful in his career, so maybe they work or maybe he's just really good at what he does anyway. Ok maybe it's not the books themselves that bother me, but the people that read them and follow their instructions literally and obviously in their day to day interactions with other people.

Don't you think I notice when you're making an effort to use my name at least 3 times while we're having a conversation? It's so irritatingly obvious that you're trying to make some kind of impact on me that will separate you from the rest. Well guess what? You come off as a try hard doofus who can't hold a real conversation without employing someone else's lame self-sales tactics. So yeah I guess you are setting yourself apart from the others. You're in your own lame league.

Also, don't fake that you are incredibly interested in my life and what I'm passionate about. I know you don't really care and it's just going in one ear and out the other or into your mental library which you'll reference methodically next time we meet.

It just bothers me so much that we have this stupid system where people strive to behave like this and use interpersonal relationships as some kind of currency.

magic copier

2005-12-20T10:07:00.000-08:00

melissa

Remember that annoying, not too bright girl in elementary school that thought she was so clever by copying your test answers over your shoulder? You knew she was doing it, everyone did, and it just made her look pathetic and annoying. That's how I feel about Canadian Idol.

Sass Jordan? Her name rings a bell but I can't figure out why her career should provide any basis for being a judge of what's hot and not in modern pop. AT LEAST get Alanis Morissette or something. And of course there's the token black dude to counter Randy Jackson. Farley, why don't you go work on Maestro's career.. it's quickly dwindling. Or maybe you're too busy inviting 17-year-olds to your Much Music Video Awards after party like you did with me and my girlfriends back in 1999. Creep!

The Simon clone is also annoying. At least feign some other extreme personality trait. It's just so sickeningly contrived.

Don't even get me started on the latest Canadian Idol winner, Melissa O'Neil. I'm sure she's a great girl, and yes she can sing but she sounds exactly like Kelly Clarkson. Her new single 'Let It Go' might as well be the 'Since U Been Gone' remix. That's all fine and dandy until the pre-teen market is saturated. I guess that's the main goal anyway. Don't any musicians want longevity anymore? It's all just flash in the pan success now.

Just look at the impact Canadians can make when they don't copy American pop culture. Trailer Park Boys, Tom Green, K-OS, Alanis Morrissette, Jim Carrey, and Mike Myers have all given us something interesting and original. Of course, then they all defect to Yankee Land.

The US is sucking our will to live!

On The Corner

2005-12-15T18:59:00.000-08:00

Angel

I realized last night that I have never seen any movies or TV shows or any interpretations in any kind of media about life on the drug infested east side of Vancouver. Until now, I really didn't comprehend the tragic reality for many people in my city. My friend was channel surfing and landed on the Adrenaline Drive movie channel, which was playing a film that I thought looked rather different from the usual blockbuster testosterone overdoses. It was one of those low budget films that you can tell is Canadian just by the way it's shot and the unrecognizeable actors. I admit this is how I had originally judged the movie we had landed on, entitled On The Corner.

The film illustrates the lives of brother and sister Randy and Angel as they try to survive in East Vancouver. Angel finally gets her act together after being hospitalized and hence being forced to withdraw from her addiction to heroin, just in time for her young brother to become a slave to the street drug trade.

This movie was impossible to turn away from. Finally, I saw the absolute despair of people who live mere blocks from me. Why had I never known of it before? I'd seen drug addicts yelling to themselves on the streets, and dismissed them as 'silly crackheads', but I had no comprehension of the absolute tragedy that takes place daily in my city.

Pictured above is Alex Rice, Canadian-born Mohawk actress who beautifully portrayed the downtrodden, heroin-addicted Angel. After getting her young brother a job as a drug dealer, he becomes addicted to crack and ends up becoming a male prostitute to support his habit; a neighbour beats her up and throws her down the stairs, putting her in the hospital; and finally, her best friend gets abducted by a pedophile.

There is no upside, no solution, no social worker who saves the day.

If you have ever felt sorry for yourself, or wondered why the infamous Hastings Street looks like hell on earth, watch this movie and you'll see the bigger picture.

Gwen

2005-12-06T15:26:00.000-08:00

Gwen

I scalped my Gwen tickets. I realized that I couldn't think of any of her songs that I'd want to pay $80 to see live that weren't No Doubt songs. I even made an extra $20! I mean, she's hot and innovative kind of, but I needed the dough. I was slightly choked about not seeing MIA, though.

grey cup

2005-11-28T10:40:00.000-08:00

grey cup

I had no plans to attend any of the major Grey Cup festivities. Friday night I went to this charity cocktail party but there were like 10 people and 5 old CFLers there so that doesn't count. I was sitting at home last night after the big game, which I also did not attend and only watched the last 5 minutes of on TV, when my friend Katherine called me to come out to Crush. There were only a couple people there at the time, including these guys I went to university with, one who plays for the Stampeders and another who is a Molson rep. The Stampeder's brother just happens to be one of the Edmonton Eskimos, who won the Grey Cup just hours before in overtime. So John gets his champion bro on the phone and convinces him to come to this bar, which wasn't even supposed to be open and had no DJ or anything! An hour or so later, a big pack of burly Eskimos comes into the bar, CARRYING THE GREY CUP! AND I FRIGGIN DRANK CHAMPAGNE OUT OF IT! I DON'T EVEN LIKE FOOTBALL!

So after the Molson dude covers the $1000 bar tab, I go home to get 4 hours sleep and am now at work and I FEEL LIKE ASS!

That's my rockstar story for the weekend.

the killers

2005-10-26T23:03:00.000-07:00

the killers

Holy crap I got to meet The Killers! Due to my occupation I was able to sweet talk an A&R dude to sneak me and my friend backstage at their Pacific Coliseum concert. We stuck out like sore thumbs among the radio contest winner super fans. Don't these people dress up when meeting the one and only Brandon Flowers? I mean, fanny packs?! I know you have to store your digicam and autograph/sticker book, but put in some effort next time.

Anyhoo... got to meet all of the boys. They weren't too chatty as expected. Brandon barely cracked a smile, the big afro dude would have preferred to be somewhere else I'm sure, the not so hot blond Jesus guy was quiet but polite, and my favourite by far was the drummer - Ronnie. He has enough personality for all of them. He gave my buddy a piece of sour gum and actually talked to us like we were people! Brandon's shoes would have looked nice with a puffy shirt a la Kramer.

The concert was excellent. The stage was all glitter-and-glam-rocky, complete with a huge foil backdrop. Brandon's keyboards bedazzled to the max. Blond Jesus didn't really put on much of a show. Ronnie the drummer was full of vim and vigor. The afro guy and Brandon kept looking like they were going to make out, then afro guy decided to lie down in front of Ronnie's drums and had to be helped back up by some stage hands. Guess he's getting old? Brandon was a great performer and lived up to his stuck up rep with such lines as "just when you think this couldn't get any better..." Yeah, ok you're good, we get it.

The only part that I was kinda blah about was when they did a cover of a David Bowie song, can't remember the name but I'm sure the mostly-sweet-sixteen audience didn't get it either. The energy kind of died at that point.

After a short intermission, they played a song that apparently they don't play at all shows - the final track on their album Hot Fuss. That makes 12 songs in total. It was, after all, the very last show date on their world tour. A grand finale.

I managed to score tickets to their official world tour wrap party at Crush Lounge. The place was packed with high brow socialite hipsters who had come out of their secret bat caves for this exclusive event. The Killers actually showed up and Brandon shook my hand and said 'hi, how are you?' as he walked by me! The band bee-lined straight to the VIP room. Hot girls only! What a pathetic display of pushing and shoving and bouncers picking out the aesthetically acceptable groupies to admit into the back room to rub shoulders with the band. I snuck in for a second but the overflowing pretentiousness made it more desireable to go back to partying with the commoners.

I still love those pretentious bastards, they're damn good musicians!

feist in concert

2005-10-26T22:40:00.000-07:00

feist

From her sultry voice and waif-esque photos, I imagined Feist to have an indifferent stage presence. I love her music, don't get me wrong, but I guess people will make assumptions based on appearances. She looks like a slightly healthier Kate Moss, minus the coke habit I hope.

I was proved wrong at her show at the Commodore. She got very intimate with us and encouraged us to sing along, made us laugh, and even spoke to a fan's friend on a cell phone.

I also expected her to be alone on the stage, just her and her guitar. She was accompanied by a full band, making the experience all the more rich and enjoyable.

Her voice was exactly the same one I fell in love with listening to her songs on CD. Perfect tone and texture, never off key. She was indeed mesmerizing. Everyone in the audience seemed spellbound as they crammed together in the Commodore like sardines, trying to get as close as possible to the stage.

Though it started quite late, the show was worth the wait and I'd go see her again and again.

and you thought you had problems

2005-10-26T22:24:00.000-07:00

apples

Try moving to Salt Spring Island. You think it's all goat cheese and handy crafts? Think again my friend! Crime is on the rise! All those hippie stoner kids seem to have nothing better to do than wreak havoc on the lives of the poor artist islanders. It's getting out of control... just look at this heartbreaking tale of brutality featured in the letters to the editor of 'The Driftwood', the community newspaper of the Gulf Islands:

"Islanders beware, there's an apple thief on the loose! Do you know where your apples are? I write this missive to alert the community and to assuage the fury I'm feeling toward the low-life who ran off with the apples I risked life and limb to pick.

The thief stole a heaping-full-bag of apples that I left in the care of a rosehip bush on the side of the trail on the way to Burgoyne Bay on Wednesday, September 28th around 2pm.

When I returned about 10 minutes later, my apples were gone. The nerve! May you choke on a worm or an earwig for your misdeed! Next time I'll be waiting for you in the bushes with my quiver full of stinging nettle arrows.

Peter Prince,
Burgoyne Bay"

Thankfully, Peter's vocabulary was spared.

the onion

2005-10-04T19:34:00.000-07:00

When I visited San Francisco, I picked up a copy of The Onion, a newspaper dedicated to putting a sarcastic and jaded spin on the news of the day. How could you not enjoy reading a newspaper with headlines like Halliburton Given Contract to Rebuild Cheney and Report:US Foreign Policy Hurting American Students'Chances of Getting Laid Abroad.

My favourite part is my horroscope: Taurus: You'll be swarmed by a rare strain of Americanized killer bees who, unlike their Africanized cousins, just want to hang out and watch TV all day.

So true it's eerie.

guess what this is

2005-10-04T19:14:00.000-07:00

guess what this is

Corb Lund

2005-09-21T14:40:00.000-07:00

Corb Lund

I've realized that country music concerts can be fun even if you really dislike country music! This is especially true if you are with fun people and happen to be drinking large amounts of Smirnoff Ice.

Corb Lund and the Hurtin' Albertans were very entertaining. Their country is more old-style Johnny Cash cool rather than Garth Brooks cheese. I found myself tapping my toes and smiling from ear to ear at the humourous lyrics. And the boys in the band are quite cute as well, as you can see from Corb's picture above.

The Commodore was packed and I could tell that this band had a loyal following. The friend with whom I attended the concert had followed them to different cities and seen them perform many times. To me, that is a sign of quality musical performance.

I'm still not a country fan, but I won't be embarrassed to check out bands such as Corb Lund and the Hurtin' Albertans next time they come to town. I like to try different things now and then...

Concert Reviews Coming...

2005-09-14T21:33:00.000-07:00

I'm attending four concerts in the next couple of months: Corb Lund at The Commodore (ticket purchased in a drunken stupor since I do not normally attend country music concerts, in fact I don't like country music at all); Feist at The Commodore; The Killers at Pacific Coliseum; and Gwen Stefani at GM Place.

Should make for some interesting experiences... I'll keep you posted.

Listen to Feist

2005-08-15T22:31:00.000-07:00

FeistDrawing

I don't even know what to say... Feist is the most refreshing music I have come across in a long time. I don't want to compare them to anything because I wouldn't want the comparison to imply unoriginality. But I will anyway...haha.

Her voice is a combination of Sade, Chrissy Hinde, and Dido and it floats over the light, folky music like an mother's lullaby.

Check out Mushaboom and Lonely, Lonely. Mushaboom has a catchy melody and super cool video. Lonely, Lonely makes you long for something you never knew you were longing for.

The Exorcist

2005-08-02T21:41:00.000-07:00

no comment

Is it just me or is this chick's head on backwards?! I somehow knew Flare Magazine's Trend Report would give me some fresh material.

No Turning Back

2005-08-02T21:18:00.000-07:00

pride 2005

What's hotter?

Myself attending my first ever Pride Parade as a spectator on one of the hottest days of the year?

Watching perfectly toned and tanned male specimens shake their booties to Cher on the floats that go by?

Seeing all types of communities come together to express their belief in freedom of love? (Did you know there is a Gay Square Dance Club and Gay Bollywood Association?)

Seeing corporate Canada show their support in what they recognize as a legitimate market of citizens who celebrate diversity?

I don't know the answer to that... but I do know that after the 2005 Vancouver Pride Parade my heart is thoroughly warmed.

Afraid? No Sweat!

2005-08-02T21:12:00.000-07:00

ban

Ban insecurity! Ban fear! Wear this deodorant and ward off the terrorists!

The messages in advertisements are so blatantly misleading sometimes that it's funny. The latest ads for Ban deodorant show people participating in extreme sports, displaying total self-confidence and living life to the fullest! Want this perfect life? Tired of being self conscious and afraid all the time? Your prayers have been answered! It's as simple as putting this pasty crap under your pits!

I say ban stupid advertising that takes us all for morons.

Stuff I Love Today - Sweet Lowrider Bikes

2005-07-24T22:53:00.000-07:00

shizzlebike

I've been seeing a lot of cool dudes cruising around my neighbourhood on some sweet lowrider bikes lately. I've been fantasizing a lot lately about cruising around the seawall with my girlfriends on some sweet pink bikes like this one. I found it at www.shizzle.com. They've got some other nifty ones too. Looks like they are pretty expensive ($399US) but much more affordable than a car that's for sure!

Hi Neighbour!

2005-07-24T22:40:00.000-07:00

Mr. Rogers

When you see a stranger on the street what do you do? Avoid eye contact? Pretend they aren't there? Or do you smile and say hello? What about your neighbours, the people in your building? Do you feel awkward with them in the elevator?

What about when someone you don't know smiles and says hello to you on the street? It's weird isn't it? How do you feel about those people who sing to themselves? How many of these questions am I going to ask?

I'm trying to make a point about how we are afraid of our neighbours. When I see a happy person walking down the street, humming or whistling or singing or whatever, I think - that person must have a screw loose. But when I think about it more, I am the crazy one. Why is it so weird when someone is displaying to the world around them that they are happy? And they want to spread that happiness around them by smiling and greeting strangers? Why is the average person put off by this kind of behaviour?

There are a couple of reasons I think. A lot of us are just so concerned with our own little lives that we think we have no time to get to know the people around us. And we are afraid of them. We are afraid of the unknown. We think "that singing man must be crazy, I better not talk to him or acknowledge him or he might hurt me". Kids are taught from an early age not to talk to strangers. That's fine. Kids are naive see the good in everyone. But does that mean that when we become adults we see the bad in everyone? With all the hatred manifesting itself all over the world right now how are we supposed to trust the people around us? We are becoming more and more afraid.

The headlines say "WE ARE NOT AFRAID", followed by another headline "COULD THIS HAPPEN CLOSE TO HOME?" You never know if the person next to you on the bus has a bomb in their bag. Should we let our ever-increasing fear enculturation get the best of us?

I think it can only be a good thing if we learn more about our neighbours at home and internationally, rather than making assumptions and relying on propaganda machines to tell us what to fear. If we don't we're just going to become a bunch of hermits locked in our homes relying on technology as our real-world interface.

Please, Oh Please

2005-07-24T21:59:00.000-07:00

beach

Don't let me become a safe thirty-something. Don't let me wear only earth-toned coordinates that are disturbingly complimentary to my partner's equally coma-inducing wardrobe. Please don't let me inspire stoners on the beach to take pictures of me so they can post them on their blogs and talk about how they never want to be as dull as me. I think I've been reading too many Vice Do's and Don'ts.

A Day At English Bay

2005-07-12T22:36:00.000-07:00

beach 003

This is what summer looks like.

Mural Painting Contest

2005-07-09T22:06:00.000-07:00

winner

One of the grand prize winners at the 2005 Mural Painting Contest put on by the City of Vancouver. This year's theme was transportation. You can see all of the murals at Pacific and Seymour under the Granville Bridge off-ramp.

Stuff I Love Today - Vice Do's and Don'ts

2005-07-09T19:03:00.000-07:00

vice

Forget Glamour Magazine's Do's and Don'ts. This book is a collection of the most hideous and hilarious crimes in fashion and behaviour caught on camera and featured in Vice Magazine's Do's and Don'ts section, paired with the pee-your-pants-funny observations of Gavin McInnes. This book is the perfect indulgence for the voyeuristic people watcher in all of us.

Stuff I Love Today - Flying Wedge Pizza

2005-07-09T18:39:00.000-07:00

flying wedge

Holy crap this pizza is good. They put magic stuff in the crust and sauce that makes it a million times better than the big pizza companies or any dollar pizza on the strip. Today I had the Broken Hearts pizza with artichoke hearts and asiago cheese. Yum.

Stuff I Love Today - Common - Be

2005-07-09T18:35:00.000-07:00

common

I've had this CD in my discman (do people still use those?) for weeks and I can't get enough of it! My favourite tracks are GO! and Testify.

Just When You Think....

2005-07-05T18:25:00.000-07:00

rkelly

R. Kelly couldn't spew out any more of his signature baby-makin' tracks, he comes out with yet another album. Even through all the controversy of statutory rape charges, the creativity streams out of him.

As executive producer, writer and arranger...he makes it look as though it's easy to constantly release albums full of club crowd pleasers and bump-n-grinders. And he didn't let anyone down on this album, featuring all the in demand collaborators such as The Game, Elephant Man, and Snoop Dogg. The one guest that stood out to me was Nivea. She has the sweetest voice.

That all being said, R. Kelly hasn't come out with anything original in eons. It's always the same shit....ever since the beginning. I'm a person who appreciates originality, innovation, and reinvention. He doesn't perform in that respect, and honestly his lyrics are downright cheesy sometimes.

My favourite example of the cheesiness is the track "Sex Weed". Just listen to it please. You will die laughing. Try to feel sexy while listening to this song: "girl you got that sex weed/ I just wanna hit it/ all the time/ sex so good that it gets me high". Compare that to his classic old school track You Remind Me - "you remind me of my jeep, I wanna ride it, something like my sound, I wanna pump it, girl you look just like my car, I wanna wax it..." and so on. Hasn't changed one bit!

If you love classic R. Kelly, which I agree there is definitely a time and a place for, you will love this CD. If you are hoping he would have come with something different, better go for something different.

K-OS in Stanley Park

2005-07-04T23:18:00.000-07:00

k-os

I enjoy the concert-in-the-park scenario. Sitting on the grassy knoll, lazing around on a Sunday afternoon. Listening to K-OS perform just as he had at the previous show I attended, pumping his fists in the air while cloaked in his signature white hoodie and sunglasses. There was nothing lacking in his performance and he even performed a new song that I hadn't heard before.

I can really grove to his laid back, reggae influenced, funky music. The band solos were really long but the talent of the band members allowed for it I suppose. My favourite was the bongo dude.

The only thing missing from this concert was the sunshine, and I couldn't help but think it would be even more ideal with a beer garden. Maybe the Saturday night show was more young adult oriented, while the crowd I was a part of was dotted with families with small children. Apparently the opening act didn't take that into consideration since his performance was littered with profanity.

Killa Kela, the beatboxer from Britain, put on an impressive show, combining layers of intricate beats with only his mouth as an instrument.

I respect K-OS for using intelligent language to deliver the messages in his music, I respect the originality of his sound, and wish him continued success.

Friday Night Freak Show

2005-06-24T23:51:00.000-07:00

It is not common for me to be sitting at home at this hour on a Friday night but I feel a cold coming on and frankly I need to give my liver and my wallet a rest. I put in a good effort on Wednesday and Thursday night so I don't owe any offerings to the Party Gods tonight.

It's interesting to note the little observations one can make while sitting at home and not wandering through barville in a drunken fog. Occasionally I will hear a commotion outside and walk over to the window for some real entertainment. I just saw a brief altercation between two crack noggins on the street outside my window. Not sure what they were fighting about but I doubt they were either. That's always interesting. Once I saw a man literally crying and yelling at the rich barhoppers for money. "I NEED HELP! YOU PEOPLE ARE SO RICH AND ALL I WANT TO DO IS EAT!". It broke my heart. Then a nice man gave him a bill and did he rush to the dollar pizza? No. He obviously needed more since his dealer must have had a minimum order requirement.

Then there is the voyeur dying to come out of me. There is a posh hotel directly across the street from my window and for some reason the guests don't feel the need to draw the blinds in their rooms which feature floor to ceiling windows. I try not to pay attention but I will occaisionally glance over and get an unpleasant phallic display... I'm hoping one day I will see Brad Pitt on the crapper since I heard he stays there when he's in town. I bet I could make some good money off that photo!

I also see the warm flicker of candle light coming from the small appartments that dot the skyline. Couples spending time at home together no doubt. How nice. Meanwhile, I'm sitting at home watching movies that give me false hope for movie love, which doesn't even exist.

I can look forward to last call and the subsequent outpouring of trashed hipsters onto the street below. Sometimes confrontations arise and they are louder than usual. Once I saw the phenomenon known as a "bitch fight". This involves two girls screaming at eachother, usually in a language consisting only of slurred obscenities. It usually ends with a sparkly halter being ripped off or an acrylic nail being broken. At least there aren't any guns pulled.

Now I will try to fall asleep to the booming bass from the club below and the beeps of the metal detector being swept over the bodies of the partygoers. So that's why I like being out there instead of in here!

ship yard

2005-06-24T23:47:00.000-07:00

ship yard

this reminds me of that dark castle level of super mario brothers

Stuff I Love Today - etniesplus lo-slip

2005-06-17T11:02:00.000-07:00

etniesplus lo-slip

Cutest shoes known to man! These are from the etniesplus limited edition line. They come in lots of cool designs and colours. Check out www.etniesplus.com or pick some up at Livestock.

Stuff I Love Today - jill scott

2005-06-17T11:01:00.001-07:00

jill scott

Her poetic lyrics and soothing voice give me goosebumps! Download 'He Loves Me (Lyzel in E Flat)' from her debut album (she has since released another) 'Who is Jill Scott? Words & Sounds, Vol. 1' and fall in love with her too!

Stuff I Love Today - city of angels

2005-06-17T11:01:00.000-07:00

city of angels

Not many movies make me bawl uncontrollably. This was on TV the other day and reminded me why I love Nic Cage. I usually find Meg a little irritating but she's tolerable in this one.

Green World Electric Vehicles

2005-06-12T15:27:00.000-07:00

Scooter

I have been seeing a lot more Vespas around my neighborhood lately. What I don't get is, why aren't people buying the electric versions which are just as practical, far more economical, not to mention ecological, for everyday city use? They look just as cool and on top of that, you'll have the satisfying feeling that you are among the first to join the electric vehicle movement (which everyone will need to do sooner rather than later). When are people going to wake up and realize that gas prices are NEVER going to be cheap again, they will only go up. And we can thank all those jerks driving H2's and SUVs (and ourselves for not smartening up sooner).

Check out www.gwev.com and be a pioneer!

el furniture warehouse

2005-06-06T18:50:00.000-07:00

el furniture warehouse

bars that let you throw peanut shells on the floor are the best

D O double Geez

2005-05-31T20:40:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I saw Snoop Dogg live in concert for the first time. I had high expectations (pun intended of course). I knew not to arrive for at least an hour after the show time printed on the ticket. Just as I suspected, the opening act, The Game, was just going onstage when I walked into the Pacific Coliseum. I could tell the marijuana smoke had been filling up the place for at least an hour already, and this is what I had expected having heard the urban legends of smoke so thick at Snoop's concerts that one could not even see across the arena. I could see across the arena but almost everyone seated around me was either rolling, smoking or already baked. The Game was better than I expected. He got the crowd hyped up with the usual ode to fallen rappers and singers bit. He got all the testosterone pumping by getting the entire Coliseum to chant "suck my d*ck" to everyone he hates. He had some cute, toned and extremely flexible dancers flanking him and riding around the stage on cool lowrider bikes. He even chugged two bottles of champagne (ok, maybe more like one after he sprayed the first bit onto the front-rowers) in less than 20 seconds. Then he pointed at some hoes in the audience and his people began herding the groupies backstage for their 15 minutes of fluffing.

Then came the disappointing 2 hour gap between The Game and Snoop, during which several fights broke out and my drug enduced paranoia made me worry about a possible riot. I heard later that Snoop did not even arrive until 10pm, then dilly-dallied his way to the stage by about 10:40. The ticket said "show at 7pm". Haha.

Snoop's act started with a short soft-core porn film on the large projector screens. Of course he is the star and gets to fondle two pretend lesbians. Honestly I thought the film was a staller because Snoop wasn't going to show up at all. Then his bony ass finally slithered onto the stage. I must admit I was probably more excited than I would have been if I had not waited so long and started thinking he was going to let us down. And I do like him, I really do.

He performed all the classics and current hits, breaking only for his DJ on the projector screens from backstage acting as "DJ EZ Dick", a character from Snoop's debut CD Doggystyle. That whole thing was kinda lame. I would have preferred a real DJ on the stage doing some intricate scratching demonstrations. On top of all that, the crowd was so burnt out by the time Snoop performed that they weren't too eager to participate in his crowd-hyping activities. That was the funniest part. Snoop better take into consideration the fact that the majority of his fans are heavy duty pot smokers next time he makes an arena full of them wait two hours to see him. By the time he was singing his goodbye song, people were already filing out of the arena. There would be no encores, the stoners needed to go home to bed.

2005-05-25T22:43:00.000-07:00

I guess it's gong show pic of the month now...

Always On

2005-05-25T19:50:00.000-07:00

The Salesman

Every office has one or more of those people who are always on. By always on I mean they are always kissing someone's ass, making small talk with everyone and asking them about their lives, when everyone knows full well that they really couldn't give two shits. These people make me uncomfortable. Not that I'm a paranoid weirdo, but it seems like you can never really tell who these people are. Their true identity is clouded by this brown-nosing, charm-the-pants-off-everyone attitude. They could think you are the biggest doofus in the world and you'd never know it. Why are people like this in the business world? And why the hell does it work so well? Personally, I can't stand fake people. I hate small talk. I don't care how you are today and I'm not going to ask you because I know that most of the time people ask that question because it is a formality. No one ever really cares how everyone else is doing, and no one tells the truth anyway when asked because they know no one really cares. Ever tell the truth when someone asks you how you are? The person who asks always looks startled. "Actually Bob, this is the shittiest day of my life!". Bob will look at you like you just turned blue or something. Could you imagine if people just told the truth about how they feel and interacted with people the way they really wanted to and it had no effect on their commission? I think it would be something like this:

Client: "Hey, I'd like to buy some of your product, but I hope you don't charge me an arm and a leg and breathe hideous garlic breath in my face like you did at our last meeting"

Salesperson: "Yeah I'll charge you whatever I think your Benz-driving fat ass can afford and there's nothing you can do about it because we are the best in town and I honestly don't think you will go anywhere else. By the way I had lots of onions in my salad at lunch. hhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiii hhhhhhhhowww are you today? Hahahah! As if I give two shits! As long as you are in a good enough mood to fork over a cheque!"

Client: "Ok, I'll sign the contract and you can expect my payments to be late at least a few weeks and your harrassing phone calls to be ignored."

Salesperson: "Excellent, we have a deal then."

Nasal But Good

2005-05-25T18:55:00.000-07:00

Rufus Wainright - Want Two

I recently acquired some CDs that I would not normally be interested in, but now that my musical horizons are slowly expanding, I am trying to hear a little of everything. I've always been intrigued by Rufus Wainright's music after being a quiet fan of him when he first came on the scene, and also enjoying his contribution to the I Am Sam Soundtrack. This album, Want Two, is exactly what I expected from him... a drunken, nasally drawl, which sounds like it would be hard to listen to, but I like it. If you are depressed about a difficult lover, or you are just lounging and having a glass of wine, Rufus definitely provides some appropriate music on this album. The only thing I don't like about his style is that when he inhales to sing another line, it's like he's clenching his teeth while he breathes in heavily making a highly irritating hissing noise. Some might not mind but I personally have a thing about annoying breathing patterns. But I'm just weird like that.

Parental Discretion Advised

2005-05-15T21:23:00.000-07:00

Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle

This was my very first hip hop album. I think I was in grade 8 when I got it for my birthday from my friend Karley. I listened to it from beginning to end and knew all the lyrics by heart. I remember I sold it to a friend and later regretted it and bought it back, only to find that her mother had taken out the album artwork due to its explicit content. I have since lost that CD. I just got it again as a perk of working at a radio station.

Now when I listen to it I am baffled by how quick I was to sing along to the blatantly mysogynistic lyrics such as "bitches ain't shit" and "it ain't no fun if the homies can't have none" (meaning if a girl doesn't give it up to a guy AND all his friends she is no fun). I think back then it was the infectious beats that made me love it. I still listen to it. But now I laugh at my young self for being so naive. And it saddens me a bit because I realize how impressionable my friends and I were and how oblivious we were to the messages we were subjecting our young minds to on repeat in our CD players.

Now young girls can go with 50 Cent to his 'candy shop' and lick the 'lollipop'. The artwork in his latest album 'The Massacre' sickens me. My favourite photo is of 50 Cent and the female member of his rap group, Olivia, stirring a giant cauldron of what looks like chocolate milk. The cauldron also contains two topless women. I wonder what I would have thought of it back in grade 8. I probably would have put it up in my locker or something ridiculous like that. Other photos include underwear clad women holding guns and flanking 50 as he stares down his nose at his followers, and a lovely home scene of 50 counting cash and weighing drugs while one of his women is ironing in lingerie in the background. I would love to ask Olivia how she feels about this 'artwork'.

High Contrast

2005-04-25T19:32:00.000-07:00

For real y'all the world is a sex machine - Pussy Galore, The Roots.

Being an employee of the media, I get to attend various events of all kinds around the city. On Sunday night, I had the thought provoking experience of going to two very different events within a short period of time. One was a short concert by the artist featured below, K'Naan. One was a promotional launch party for a new beer called Molson Kick.

The K'Naan show was an intimate gathering of artsy fartsy hip hoppers and film student types. They were all there to see the documentary that featured Somalian Hip Hop artist K'Naan and also to see him perform live. During his performance, he bonded with the audience and had them singing along to his politically charged, african style hip hop songs. He delivered a message of the importance of love and taught us about the suffering in his home country. I left his show feeling as though we had all shared a beautiful moment and learned something together.

I walked down the street to another venue where a promotional launch party for Molson's new beer, Kick, was being held. The gimmick about Kick is that it has an extra ingredient not present in other beers - caffeine. Great idea. Now all the drunks will be really hyper too!

The party was full of movers and shakers who had probably received invites due to their occupations of influence. It was a total sausage fest. Props to the PR people for drawing the target demo. The entertainment consisted of topless twigs with implants and teased hair posing on the stage. The hyper drunks really got a kick out of them! And there were various go-go dancers jiggling on their platforms around the club.

I left the venue feeling cheap, with the taste of crappy beer in my mouth wondering if there were any intelligent beer drinkers in the world. Personally, I find John Sleeman's approach to advertising refreshing.

Think of Real Hip Hop as The Wife Who Couldn't Bear Children

2005-04-19T22:10:00.000-07:00

Jarvis Church and K'Naan
Video for Soobax

2005-04-17T20:34:00.000-07:00

gong show pic of the week

The Unthinkable

2005-04-15T10:02:00.000-07:00

I have been told many times "A GOOD WRITER WRITES EVERY DAY". I don't have a very good track record on this thing, so here I go.

I've been thinking about what I want to write about and sometimes I think I worry too much about pleasing my audience. And that in itself is wishful thinking because I don't even have an audience (that I know of) aside from a few friends and relatives. Then I remember what I have heard other successful creatives say. A Canadian hip hop artist who has been enjoying some major success on the home front and will soon take the world by storm, K-OS, had some words of wisdom in a recent interview. He said he only had true success when he let all his inhibitions go and just let his creativity flow. He stopped worrying whether or not the people would dig him, and he didn't hold back. The result was one of the best albums of 2004, in any genre of music. It is an innovative and original piece of artwork and that is truly what people respond to. With all the repetition of pop culture, people crave the new and exciting, and that is what K-OS had to offer. He didn't hit us with a cookie cutter, formulaic, top 40 sure thing, but an artistic expression that gained top 40 status in the most deserving way imaginable.

Extraordinary

2005-04-06T21:04:00.000-07:00

John Legend
Maybe his name refers to the fact that he's been compared to the legendary Stevie Wonder. Listen to his latest single - Ordinary People - and you can hear the influence in the piano intro. In interviews he's even said that he gets asked to sing the R&B legend's songs on a regular basis. Sometimes I wonder if artists like being compared so frequently to another artist, or if they prefer to be seen as coming with something original. That seems to be a silly question in this case since John is being compared to a literal legend in the music industry. Certainly can't hurt his PR! And with producers like Kanye West behind him, everything seems to be moving in his favour. But this singer/musician has enough talent to hold his own, even without the superstar production and comparisons. See for yourself and check out his latest single Ordinary People, and the previous release, featuring production from Kanye West, I Used To Love You.

Covered in Slime

2005-04-06T19:17:00.000-07:00

Ok so he got slimed at the Kid's Choice awards. And the mainstream media is giving the story the same weight as the pope's funeral. I ask you this...is it the media outlets who jump on the "Johnny got slimed story" or the readers who eat up this crap who are to blame for the trainwreck that is the mainstream media? I hold myself partially responsible. Britney Spears and her husband are going to have a reality show. I think it will probably be the trashiest, most pointless piece of drivel to hit reality TV yet. But will I watch it? HELL YEAH. It's like the Surreal Life. It's a car crash, you can't look away. I want to see if Flavour Flav will make out with the amazon chain smoker nudist. It's like a drug that's good for the first little while, but then when you feel braindead afterwards you sort of regret it. Truth is, maybe most of us don't want to know that the world and its resources are all going to shit. We'd rather be distracted.

Fundy-ville to Trendy-ville

2005-03-27T17:39:00.000-08:00

Ever see one of those churches that looks more like a small shopping mall with a football field sized parking lot?? And the parking lot is actually full on Sundays?? My old neighbourhood was full of those. Kingdom Halls of Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Academies, neon signs advertising the Alpha Course. Our MP was the ring leader. I heard he organized a big protest against same-sex marriages. I secretly hoped I had known about it before so I could go throw tomatoes at them. There was a headline in the local paper quoting him as saying "we conservatives are probably the most tolerant bunch in the Canadian government". Gimme a break. The same day we got their flyer on the doorstep talking about which segment of the population should be cured and converted next. Christian Fundamentalists bug me. I call 'em Fundies for short. Fundamentalists of any kind for that matter. They are the root of all the world's problems.
I had to get out of that town.

This is where I live now...one of the most sought after neighborhoods in Vancouver - Yaletown. I've never seen so many different breeds of purse-dogs on the same block. I live next to a hotel where apparently "all the celebs go". It's definitely a place to be seen. I can see into the trendy lounge when I walk by on my way home from work. It's like a big fish bowl. Floor to ceiling windows, brightly lit. Just so there's no confusion about who is in there enjoying the $12 drinks. I can see into the hotel rooms from my window. I better be careful or this is going to become "Rear Window 2005".

I also get to shop at the trendy grocery store down the street. Just try to find something suburban in that place. All the familiar brands are hard to find. But there is a whole aisle of fancy olives. I guess they're for all the trendy Grey Goose drinkers. For the life of me I could not find just a regular jar of olives. Oh! And the bottled water section! Don't get me started!

I love the city. I joke about the trend-whores but really I am having the time of my life here. There's always something going on, something to do, people to meet. And if there's someone preaching on the street corner I can just walk by and roll my eyes and not have to worry that he is making decisions for me in Parliament.