interim

Hey James Cameron,

You know what I'm NOT doing on Earth Day?

Buying/ watching Avatar.

I'm going to go outside, thanks.  That's because I love nature and not overhyped 3D CGI bullshit (okay, so I haven't actually seen Avatar, but whatever!  I'm allowed to have uninformed opinions!  Especially when the spotlight is stolen from Mama Nature.)

Love,

Kayla.

Best Concert Moments

Holy shit!  Two posts in one afternoon!  That'll keep you kids quiet for a while (all 5 of you who read this).

It's time for me to reminisce about my favourite concert experiences!  I've been to a fair amount of gigs in my time: some great, some terrible, and some I don't remember all that well (thanks 130 King St. !).  

Here we go.

5) The Sadies- "My Heart of Wood".  Fall 2008 at the Starlight in Waterloo, Ontario.   This was the first time I saw the Sadies, and this moment was when I really fell in love with them.  If you know me and my taste in music, you probably know that the Sadies are one of my favourite bands, and "My Heart of Wood" is one of my favourite songs.  This was the show that really started it all.  I went with my roommates Justin and Catherine, and we had an amazing time.  The Sadies played a double set, and a total of... shit was it 57 songs?  These guys are really the hardest working band in Canada.  "My Heart of Wood" was what really hooked me, and I listened to exclusively the Sadies (and Neko Case) for weeks after.

4) Great Lake Swimmers- "Various Stages" / "There is a Light".  Stay Out of the Mall at the Ebar in Guelph, Ontario.  I believe it was November 16th, 2006.  The show had six acts, with Great Lake Swimmers being the final act of a very long night.  The audience was full of hippies, some dancing, and some sitting on the floor.  I remember standing, in awe.  They opened their set beautifully with "Various Stages", which happened to be my favourite song of theirs at the time.  Later in the show, they played a new song.  One that I had in my head for weeks after.  It had this great lyric of "put all your weapons away, and end all your casual ties" (see that sweet wordplay!).  It ended up being "There is a Light", which is on their third album Ongiara.  How perfect.  I'm kind of in love with Tony Dekker.  These songs are two reasons why.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO1-V3HUblo&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V69X4XSvXNY (song actually starts about 3:15 in)

(these aren't actually from the show I went to, obviously!)

3) Broken Social Scene- "All the Gods".  January 21st, 2006.  Kool Haus in Toronto, Ontario.  This show was fucking incredible, and I was like the most rabid bss fan at that time.  The way they opened with "All the Gods" is seriously one of the most perfect musical moments I've ever experienced.  The anticipation for the show to begin was so tense.  We'd been waiting there for hours, somehow found our way relatively close to the stage, and were waiting impatiently for the band to actually take the stage.  No opener to sit through, this show was serious.  "All the Gods" was a b-side that had leaked like the week before the show, and the band came out, and started playing it mostly in the dark.  As they hit the lyrics with Kevin Drew screaming "all the Gods!", the stage was lit in bright white light.  A bit cheesy sure, but fuck, it sent chills down my spine.  Here's a video of the show... "Almost Crimes" with Feist and Amy Millan.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-am9Hm7BdWA

2) Constantines- "Nighttime Anytime" (It's Alright).  The Starlight in Waterloo, Ontario.  The date on this one I have a hard time remembering.  I've seen the Cons a few times, and each show is incredible.  I think this was the second time I saw them somewhere in late 2006 or early 2007.  I'll give you a video of what they're like live, but seriously, videos fail to capture just how intense and awesome Cons shows actually are. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWlNqqYUWXU  Anyway, this show was the first time really that I went to a gig that felt like a party.  Pretty much all of my friends were there, and it turned into this awesome dance party for us, because we were all huge Cons fans.  "Nighttime Anytime" was my favourite moment, because my friend Matt Paterson (of Trap Tiger.  Sure, a shameless plug, but it's also his birthday!  Happy birthday, Matty!), grabbed my shoulder at the start of this song, and went "THIS SONG'S FOR YOU!"  I always think of that whenever I hear that song.  Thanks, Matt.  :)

1) Wolf Parade- "I'll Believe in Anything".  August 9th, 2008.  Kool Haus, Toronto, Ontario.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVNZBtuNnaE  This one should come as no surprise to anyone who was there.  Another show I went to with a huge pack of friends, we went absolutely mental during this song (the one that speaks to us all, we'd been waiting for it the entire show).  It was the last song of the encore, and we knew from the opening notes what song it was.  I remember Dan's sweaty hair hitting me in the face, us screaming along the lyrics, Spencer Krug calling us "sweet", and so so so much love.  It was perfect.  Absolutely perfect.

Things I do instead of work: episode 1

Well if I haven't made it clear enough already, I'm a huge procrastinator.  Take today, for example.  I have an enormous stack of books on my desk relating to the imminent research I have to do on Jean-Luc Godard and women in silent film, but instead I'm drinking tea, listening to The Smiths, and writing this blog.  Hell, one time I started writing down all the things I did in term one instead of my work, but seriously, I didn't even finish the list.  That's how bad I am.

SO!

Sunday evening, my dear friend Kyla told me to look up MEERKAT MANOR.  I was not disappointed.  Have a look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIARDIz4E5U

First off, meerkats are adorable.  That in itself is frankly enough to get me to watch.  However, there's so much more!  Although I'm just repeating what Bill Nighy tells you in the narration,
I'm going to tell you again... just in case you didn't actually click the link.  Anyway, these meerkats are the subject of a study by Cambridge University, and the show follows a family called the Whiskers.  It's a telling of their daily lives, which are filled with all kinds of danger and drama.  I'm only on episode four, and already so much shit has gone down.  Babies have been born, snakes have attacked, leaving one meerkat on the verge of death, predators have threatened attack, and there has even  been West Side Story-esque territory battles- forbidden romance and all!  It's seriously like a Shakespearian tragedy at times... appropriate given that there is a meerkat called Shakespeare.

When introduced, Flower, the dominant female, has given birth to a new litter of pups who are about ready to be introduced to their environment.  Before they are ready, the pups stay underground in the borough.  Okay, this is amazing, because meerkats live in a sort of matriarchy with the dominant female in control.  There is a dominant male (Zaphod), but he still not the one in command.  From what I understand, the dominant male is the one that the dominant female chooses as a mate, and he can be overthrown, whereas there has been no indication that a coup for female leadership can take place.  This is made clear when we learn more of Youssarian, who the title sequence introduces as having "[social problems]", as he was once the dominant male and Flower's choice for a mate, but was eventually cast aside in favour of Zaphod.  Just as an aside, Zaphod is totally Youssarian's brother.  How's that for some sweet drama.  Oh, without giving too much away, [social problems] is a serious understatement.  I think because Animal Planet probably can't say [total fuck-up]. 

As indicated by this photo, baby meerkats are like the cutest thing ever.  And this show has lots of 'em!  In addition to Flower, her wayward daughters Mozart and Tosca have given birth to their own litters of pups.  This is totally dangerous too, because only the dominant female is allowed to reproduce.  She may choose kindness and let the transgressions go unpunished, but she may also choose to banish her daughters and their pups, or worse, kill the pups!  Meerkat pups are subject to so many predators, and the more pups there are, the more need protecting.  It's a dangerous world we live in, especially when you're just a tiny pup.  Thus, large numbers of pups at one time are not ideal for a family.  Moreover, Flower would want her own pups privileged.  Watching the meerkats protect the pups is also totally incredible.  For one, when there are pups, the meerkats take turns being babysitting them while the others go out looking for food.  Incredible.  And when there is a predator nearby, a bunch of the meerkats will surround the pups (kind of like whales do!), while others will bob up and down in an attempt to confuse the predator.  Similarly, if a meerkat is injured, others will stay with it to provide company, and to keep eyes ready for predators.  My God, animals are incredible.

The only real downside of this show is that it is really intense, and sometimes a bit too much to handle.  I didn't need to see a dead pup lying in the desert.  I really would like that image removed from my memory.  Also, you grow so attached to these little critters that when anything bad does happen, it's just so so tragic.

Regardless, check this show out if you haven't already! 

p.s. Mozart is totally my favourite.  She's described as [caring],

sont des mots qui vont très bien ensemble

I'm back, bitches!

Seriously this time (I probably said that last time).  Up my sleeve I have long-overdue reviews/ rants about Bright Star and (500) Days of Summer, and a handy list of archiving acronyms that you should learn to make my life easier so I don't have to continually explain what things like FIAF are.

In the meantime, check out things that made me laugh hysterically this weekend:

Stop Making That Duckface, which amused me for a good 40 minutes at 3am last night when insomnia hit.  Living the dream right here, folks.

http://antiduckface.com/ 

Look at That Fucking Hipster.  

http://www.latfh.com/

Incredible.  The Internet outdoes itself sometimes.

Now, I must return to my soup, even though an enormous daddy long legs sits above my kitchen sink and is totally threatening to jump down into my hair.  Normally I'm not that afraid of daddy long legs (they only have six legs- it's the creatures from Hell with eight legs or more that really get my phobias going).  Wish me luck.

So I'm a liar

Okay seriously, I will write in you, sweet blog.  Especially with the whole moving to England thing, because I assume if I have readers still, they might be interested to know of my adventures*.  Don't lose faith!  I will stop being a deadbeat really soon.

*My adventures typically involve film archives and my fear of dropping/ breaking things.  Brace yourselves for THAT thrill!

Coming Soon...

More blog posts!

Dear sweet blog (and readers?), I will be writing soon!  I promise!  I have many ideas (including a list of things I don't understand... like algebra).  There will be postings.  I will stop being a slacker!

Love!

Things That Will Not Survive the Recession

I'm thinking I've built this blog post up way too much, and it will just be a disappointment to you all, but here we go.

As the economy worsens, there are just things that aren't going to survive.  I have compiled a small list of things that I feel just aren't going to make it:

1.  Gourmet grocery stores.  I feel very strongly about this.  Mostly because I tend to dislike things that are "gourmet", but also because, seriously, how many of you can afford ridiculously expensive groceries?  I know I can't.  Who even shops here anyway?  I can see going to get the odd delicious item, but in general?  Do people actually go and get their entire groceries for the week here?  I just don't understand it.  Furthermore, the David's Gourmet in downtown Kitchener has already closed down.  They claim it's because of building issues, but I don't believe them. 

Note: also likely to see severe losses are expensive chocolate and pastry shops.  

2.  Ponies.  Now, you know I think ponies as a concept are hilarious.  They are.  Think about it.  And I'm sure as a species ponies will be just fine.  However, are little girls getting ponies for Christmas this year?  Not during a recession, they're not. 

3.  Business cards.  (Sorry Zoey)  These are an expense that can just be cut.

4.  Blu-ray.  Honestly, is anyone converting to blu-ray?  Is it really that special?  Besides, I just switched to DVD!

5.  Plastic wrap.

6.  Playstation.  One gaming system has to go.  I don't foresee it being the Wii or Xbox, so by default, it's Playstation.

7.  80% of the clothing stores in Uptown Waterloo and what I refer to as $100 t-shirt stores.  Who shops at these places?  Tourists?  This city is mostly populated by students and recent grads trying desperately to pay off debt.  I guess in the past, people looked at OSAP like it was free money, but given that the availability of jobs has decreased significantly, this attitude's going to change.  Thus, these stores are collateral.  The main one, to me, is that store next to Kitchener City Hall.  I went in there once, and I swear it was like $550 for a SKIRT.  They have a perpetual "SALE" sign in the window, but even 50% off, it's still insanely expensive.

8.  Spring Break.  Who's going to Cancun in 2010?  No one!

9.  Expensive haircuts.  I'm growing my hair out for this reason.  I just can't factor in $50 for a decent hair cut anymore.

10.  Movie franchise Easter candy (I believe Stefan or Zoey came up with this one).  It's more expensive than the rest, and it's usually pretty cheaply made and not all that special.  Also, let's be honest, the film industry has been in a steady decline for years.  At the Oscars every year they do that "please keep going to the movies" plea.  This frightens me, but then, I rent movies more than anything.

One final note: Has anyone noticed how many places are using the Recession as an advertising tool?  At valu-mart, just as recession talk became really common, we suddenly had this whole No Name brand promo.  Similar promotions have occurred since then.  Amazing.  Part of me wants to believe that this whole recession thing is really just some big media hoax, but maybe that's just wishful thinking.  Oh god, debt scares me.

Love.