Monday 5 July 2010

I've Moved!

All the reasons below apparently have been usurped by my greater need to blog: mostlyaboutmusic.wordpress.com

Monday 8 June 2009

The problem with blogging.

My blogging hiatus began when I got entirely too busy with the end of third year

Now I am debating whether to continue blogging or not

I have identified a few main reasons why this hesitancy has come about

1) I don't really care that much.

I like to read things, and I find a lot of things fascinating

but

I don't care that much. Not in an apathetic way, things move me but my opinions are often not strong enough to blog about it. Even in conversation sometimes I say things but afterwards think but it doesn't really bother me. Its not (ever) a case of someone telling me something that happened to them/how they feel about something and the apathy arises, but generally when I talk about something I may have found annoying, when I vocalize it I immediately feel like but I didn't reaaaaaally care haha anyways, when I go to blog about something, I'm get that 'but reaaally, do I really feel this way?' I personally enjoy my live-and-let-live attitude (its probably less like that in reality but you know.) but it does not make for good blogging.

2) Its been done

I often wonder what sort of clientele I would have if people who didn't know me read this blog. In terms of blogs/the internet, I don't bring anything particularly new to the table -- not in terms of pop culture anyways, a hobby of mine. And if I'm not blogging about pop culture, then I'm blogging about shit that happens to me I guess, but see 1).

3) I'm lazy

4) I dont like to quantify things

This is difficult to explain. Putting things in black and white makes it 'so', and why limit yourself to that perception of the experience in question? Although maybe thats silly because inevitably you have a perception of an experience whether its on paper or not.

anyways

my reasons to keep a blog?

I very often think about things I could blog about. Par example:

- Canada vs itself and why it is finally winning:

==>against = ignorant people who are incredibly defensive about being ignorant. I am white with a tan in Canada. In England I am an Indian-Canadian, both elements equally accepted and understood in a way I didn't realize possible.

==> for = come on, can you blame us/them? we try! whether its true or not, the 'multicultural mosaic' that Canadians pride themselves on makes for people who are wonderfully nice, and make every attempt to be politically correct and open minded.

The problem is that Canada is a mosaic in very small chunks. Although there are many, many different cultures in canada, Canada is a huuuuge country and there are many, many all-white communities and a very few with heavy 'ethnic' contributions. Hence the mosaic is more of a nice theory that applies in a minority of areas, not an accurate generalisation.

What I have found is that real cultural acceptance comes with a small bit of racism. Its not an ideal but I would rather have 9 people roughly understand my ethnicity (and i'm talking rough) and 1 that called me a paki*, not 10 people who treat me kindly regardless of my race but think im white with a tan and make judgments about me based on their misunderstanding of my background.**

However, as I said, Canadians pride themselves on the mosaic that doesn't really exist, and it makes them all try very, very hard to be accepting, and I think that is rare and wonderful.

Furthermore, Canada is huge, has a relatively teeny population, and there is so much space space space and opportunity for everyone -- I didn't realize how outrageously rare, if not unique this is in the world.

For a while I was hating on Canada, but now I'm really excited to come home.

Jesus.

I clearly digress. oh yah my * was that I have never been called a paki, so maybe when I am called one then I can affirm or deny the above statement. ** is that you cant blame people for ignorance sometimes because I am really, really ignorant a lot of the time, especially of my own culture. Its the judgment based on ignorance that is killer, hurtful, and frustrating especially since it often comes from friends who are meant to be closest.

The other thing thats annoying about Canada is that you can't make benign (ish) racist jokes because people dont know how to react. Example: there are no brown people in slovenia. literally. like literally literally. anyway accordingly everyone at work for the first 2 days assumed I was from india (albeit my canadian accent that refuses to wane) because 'first generation'-ers dont really exist here so much. Talking to someone, I joked that 'its the brown skin, it confuses everyone' (not hilarious but anyways) and he was like 'oh noo! no its fine!!!!' ahhahah which is cute actually and very nice but indicative of the i-dont-know-what-ground-to-tread-here attitude of people that haven't been exposed to other cultures. Again though, I dont blame people for this and its actually quite funny/cute to see people jump/react to harmless comments like this one.

anywho, I guess i conclusion the only thing I feel really strongly about is racism and race relations, I guess because they are so prevalent and for all my indifference its something I cant ignore and has truly shaped my life growing up where I did, and will continue to no matter where I go.

But honestly... I don't really care that much.

:)

Tuesday 17 March 2009

Monday 23 February 2009

"Octuplet's Domicile Threatened By Foreclosure"

-"It's okay. They can just live in her daughter's huge vagina."

i love you, onion.

Thursday 19 February 2009

Jizz in My Pants = no Dick in a Box, but nearly.

have you heard this?? 3 dudes from SNL. Dick in a box guys.

yes please.

Saturday 14 February 2009

the one where I accidentally write an essay

So I went to a (GREAT) DJ set by The Bug yesterday in London. Seriously -- this man is off the chain. Aside from the fact that it was so, incredibly, refreshing to go out and listen to exactly the kind of music I want to hear i.e. not rock and roll, he was spinning reggae/dub/heavy bass all night and it was just great.

Anyways, it was a dude ranch, and me and my girl friend were pretty much the only two chicks there, and I kept getting all these that-chicks-a-ho looks and assumptions.

yeah.

now, for the record:
1) i was not dressed suggestively
2) i was not acting suggestively.
3) if you have been reading past posts, and your all like say what bitch you were toasted, yes: i was drunk (see 2 posts below, theres no way im linking to a mouse scroll) but more so when I left the club, and I generally know what I'm doing when I drink.
4) disclosure: I had just had a free makeover with my friends in london earlier (SO FUN!) that I had won (DOUBLE FUN!!!) so yeah, my face was certainly done up, but there was no 'do me' written on my face in lipstick. it was of course an option, but i declined.

anyways, what the fuck man? just because i don't dress in clothes that impart my cultural tastes (well, I get that that statement can never be entirely true, but lets not get into cultural influences shit now) its like I must be some "ho" (I use that word only for the connotation...?) who happened to stumble into your mans dj set.

here's the whole thing about sexism, and any ism, period: it doesn't allow people to be whole. I can't possibly have be dressed up and not wearing skinny jeans and ironically sized glasses and be into music.

Now I sound like I'm tooting my own horn here, but the fact is that it was frustrating: none of the people - dudes - i chatted to knew who the bug was or were particularly into the music. Cool, fine, whatever, but isn't that shit IRONIC??? I was also talking to a guy about jazz (fuck i sound like a hipster) and homeslice would not take me seriously for a too-long period of time. he was cool in the end, but if I was a dude, or wearing something that wasn't so club-y perhaps, I'm sure he wouldn't have hesitated.

and like absolutely anyone else, I shouldn't have to change.

I admit, my instances of sexism are incredibly benign relative to the ongoing history of women, but honestly they are no less important. I've experienced many shades of grey with all the various isms that come along with being a woman, and a minority. Luckily mine have all been light grey if you will hahah but its still out there, it still contributes to the greater ethos. Its frustrating when a guy makes a dish cleaning joke. Or when someone at the library asks specifically for a 'man' for IT help, right after you ask him what his query is. Its demeaning that there is are multiple "future trophy wives" groups on facebook. Although I am obviously of the right-to-choose mentality, that shit just pisses me off.

Its funny, this whole post has made me entirely angrier about the subject hahah on a day to day, even week to week often, its not something that crosses my mind for longer than the instance itself, but the cumulative effect as I age is certainly eye opening.

And the classic question: how to change something that is so ingrained in a culture? I edited this post: at first, I used words like slut and bar skank, and realized the incredibly hypocrisy of it all (hence "suggestive") and just how much I contribute to all the isms in the world. Its astounding: just how much do we 'intelligent' (whatever that means) individuals, who likely believe ourselves to be politically correct, culturally sensitive, worldly, what have you, contribute to the exact problem we believe we are no part of?

Objectosexuals: uncomfortable time!

Seriously. If you missed this on jezzy, watch it now. Be forewarned though, it will make you incredibly, incredibly uncomfortable. But kind of in the good, oh-no-she-diint! way. A few of them have aspergers, and most have a history of abuse, and I want to point out that I'm not pulling a god they are so WEIRD why are they LIKE THAT? but still, watch, and if you aren't shocked....I'll eat my hat. after making love to it.

had to get the un-pc joke in there at some point.

Enticement: this women is ACTUALLY married to the eiffel tower, who is apparently a woman. on their one year anniversary, she goes and consummates the marriage. on film. yeah. but no nudity or anything, not porny. just...shivers.

http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/entertainment/watch/v15067234mmpcQ7Xm

I'm really fucking hungover. Suggestions?


Best hung over picture ever.

So here's my problem: I go to bed at x time, and if I've drunk too much, I wake up at crazy o clock, and can't fall back asleep. Last night, I went to bed at 6 am, and woke up at 10 am. I am really, really fucking tired. If I could just sleep after a night of partying....if i could just SLEEP.

Luckily I haven't been getting that outrageous lately (last night excepted), but thinking about it, I still wake up early here (I haven't slept past 1030 since christmas break, no matter what time ive gone to bed) in any case.

A google search (that ironically leads me to yahoo) indicates that I should be drinking copious amounts of water before bed and some shiz about blood pressure, and I can't find the stupid link now, and all the ones im finding are absolutely ridiculous. Anyways, the thing is, when your drunk enough that your blood pressure is coo-coo-cachoo, it is incredibly hard to drink 1 l of water before bed.

For my part, the best thing for hangovers in the world (but not for waking up early) is berocca and tea. not together. berocca is some vitamin supplement that comes in orange tabs that fizz and dissolve in water. unfortunately, they dont have berocca in north america, which is a terrible. on a related note, in crete I put a berocca tab on my tongue to let it dissolve to see what would happen -- i know, im like a fucking rock star with my vitmin supplements -- and it was infinitely better than pop rocks, and more painful.

shit, I could make some money off this. I need to take a page out of the wispa book.

anways. sigh. my face hurts.

Divas going bananas





There is something inherently satisfying about watching a performance where singers with amazing voices just exploit their talent with adlibs and held notes. Not for everyone, and not all the time (re: the episode of the simpsons when bleeding gums murphy sings the national anthem). Note jessica simpson is not included, i just think her singing face is funny. anyways, my most satiating examples:

Leona Lewis - Summertime ...this actually makes me shiver.


Mary J Blige - Be Without You live at the Grammy's....fruit at 2:47. the note at the end? clearly a "you know what? fuck it. i know this is going to be bad but im MARY J BLIGE."


Fantasia - Lady Marmalade cover ... yeah american idol fantasia. not even remotely a fan/paid any attention to her existance...ever...but this is sick.


Jennifer Hudson - I'm Staying (from the Dreamgirls soundtrack)...everyone should BOW THE FUCK DOWN to jennifer hudson. also, how has this not been taken down yet?

Sunday 1 February 2009

The guy from X Factor lives beside me and is getting really, really annoying

Seriously. X Factor is like the UK's American Idol but seems to be way, way bigger. Anyways he was on the same season as Leona Lewis, 2006 I believe, and apparently came in 8th. At first it was exciting when we realized who he was after hearing all the singing, but the singing has lost its novelty -- He will sing non stop from 10 pm until 2 am, and he's not singing notes so much as holding one or two notes for as long as possible, as in AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

now, imagine that over, and over, and over.

this is pretty indicative of whats going on (see beginning and 1:35), but 10 x louder, and 10x longer:

the gods, they love me.

Remember my quest for latin music i.e 2 days ago? What did I happen to come across but a website similar to (ChrisgoesRock) that posts free downloads of old brazilian albums that are no longer available!

I only downloaded one album so far (which honestly isn't phenomenal as of yet) but the wealth of music on this website...well it scares me a little. My next album will be the Sarah Vaughn covers of Brazilian tunes (?!?!?!)

Another UNBELIEVABLE blog I have come across is Armed Snobbery. I've pretty much yet to come across a song he's posted that I don't love.

example: I Only Have Eyes for You - The Flamingo's...clearly a well known song but who knew??!?...alright, probably a huge amount of people, but whatever? Funny I heard this sample on From here we go sublime by The Field (from album of same name) and assumed he was getting it from The Fugees. Think again.

Did you know Michael Phelps was caught hitting a bong??

Seriously. What ass hole took his picture and why is Phelps so stupid as to allow that to happen? Any by stupid I mean baked and probably drunk.

Thursday 29 January 2009

Latin Music

Playing with my friends itouch the other day and came across some latin music which reignited my search for good latin music...I got her to give me the album -- Latin Melt -- which is pretty good and a great starting point! I have a feeling it could be the Latin equivalent of NOW! 40 or something (my hint was the fact that the album has Guantanamera on it) but its something.

The only other latin music I have on my computer except that one Curumin song (which apparently is latin)is from Fallin' Off the Reel Vol.2 which is a series of "limited edition 45 singles never exceeding 2000 copies pressed" from the record company Truth & Soul.

I should really, really rep this album more, its amazing, and its contains the originals that Fat Freddy's Drop (best album ever?) sampled off of.

and, to end this post on a horribly racist and come to think of it, probably not even racially accurate note, AREEEEBAA!!!!

Let it Stream: Curumin

found this Brazilian guy on soul sides and this song is amazing. Its a pretty common sample in hip hop but I'm not sure of its source. I listened to some more of his music and its much more upbeat than misterio stereo -- he seems like Brazil's Jason Mraz or Eric Hutchinson or something. Although he could be pulling an el perro del mar circa eponymous album era and singing about homicide but I wouldn't know because of all the...portugese? Anyways, just let it go:

Misterio Stereo

Tuesday 27 January 2009

Dear Scarlett Johannson: stop it.

This it the worst jeff buckley cover I have ever heard.

The funny thing is she can sing; I have a version of her doing Summertime (gershwins) which is great, but this alt-rock thing...not her forte.

Monday 26 January 2009

Cant say I didn't call it: Little Boots





I am definitely the only person out there who is calling Little Boots for 2009. Definitely.

Stupid BBC had to go and put her on their 2009 to watch or whatever list when I SWEAR I was going to do a post about her like 2 days before I read that shit. btw wtf (like that double notation action?) is up with bbc putting lady gaga on that list? shes already huge, even in england.

anyways, little boots is all kylie-of-2009 but I sort of hate that stigma because even though I'm not tooootally psyched on l.boots I do think she's much more talented than k.minogue


this mix is better than any of her music I've heard so far, which makes me think she is probably pretty cool and I'm still interested to hear her new album

Stuck on repeat (live)or download a much better version

Sunday 25 January 2009

New music: Laura Barrett

for some reason this girl is like the female dan deacon for me, even though their music is pretty far off from one another. I dont want a robot pony for christmas, i want dan deacon and laura barrett to have children.

Robot Ponies

Missy Elliot = Ann Peebles?

Did you know that I Can't Stand the Rain samples this original??? I didn't. I would like to think that I like the original better but Missy takes this one.

Peebs


Missy (not the real vid...clearly.)

9 Most Misogynistic Print Ads



okay, I completely stole this off jezebel ,who stole it off of blogofhilarity, but months later, I'm STILL thinking about how crazy this is. Most of them are just funny because they're so outrageously sexist but then there are ones like above (not included in the list, possibly not a print ad) that make you shudder.

The Best songs are Braggadaccio. Re: Britney, Beyonce, alliteration.




Aren't the best songs those I'm-the-shit and eff you songs? Britney has been making a career of it since Blackout (her other forte is hung over music), and Destiny's Child blew up with Survivor. Beyonce's newest - "Diva" - is a return to form and I freaking loooove it. except the stunner shades. minus the stunner bit because it looks like shes wearing beaded curtains on her face.

Diva


Britney - Kill The Lights (not the real video)


Also every hip hop album ever.

Why can't I own a jet? Gigs in toronto and ktown.

I found this greeeeat new (canadian!) blog off hypemachine.com (thanks neha!), and I was pleased to find there a 'best of' 2008 list that wasn't a rehash of the same 50 albums I keep.seeing. Thanks but no thanks for me, fleet foxes.

Anyways even better is that most of her best of-ers are canadian! I found some really awesome bands/musicians so far, some of which are actually doing gigs in kingston...?!??!?!?!?! x 1000000.

forest city lovers - ktown on the 12th of feb at The Artel (what the hell is that ?) - t.o on the 6th of feb at The Tranzax

jill barber - ktown on the 14th of feb at The Grand
- t.o on the 21st of feb at Mod Club

Friday 23 January 2009

Dear Animal Collective. ok. I get it.

Never really paid attention to the hype about animal collective, partly due to laziness and partly due to the assumption that it would be more of the same indie rock.

Well...touché.


Animal Collective "My Girls" from Chad von Nau on Vimeo.

myspace

Saturday 17 January 2009

Wednesday 14 January 2009

chick from knife = fever ray = new solo album

Yes please!! preview one half of the knife's -- fever ray -- solo debut here. I haven't had the time to stream the whole thing but so far I'm liking what I hear. Very deep cuts-ish.

Sunday 11 January 2009

There's probably no God. So Stop worrying and enjoy your life




I actually really like this ; stirs up controversy and is not something you see everyday. One lady comments, however, that she has always believed in God and has always been happy, and she has a point. Equally though church signs and posters about God (and oh lets just say the whole of monotheistic religions) insinuate going to hell if your not ___ _____ or _____, but if that is Airine Sherine/Richard Dawkins' (etc) whole issue, why not present a non-judgmental view of the other side of the coin instead of perpetuating the process of judgement? That would certainly bring more credit to their ads.

*picture entirely stolen from the international herald tribune.

Saturday 10 January 2009

The Space Jam OST was the shit.


Remember how good all these songs were?? I remember my sister playing this album and thinking she was the ultimate, especially since she played at the time. If I ever heard the Space jam theme song playing at a club, I would literally pee my pants.



theme song:


basketball jones (maybe close your eyes listening to this one...the lip syncers are cringe worthy)


hit em high


and who can forget...i believe i can dunk. i mean fly.

Thursday 8 January 2009

Let that shit sttreeam: Dionne Warwick

First edition of 'let that shit stream' wherein you press play and, yes, let it go. My friend gave me this song a while ago, really famous but but not famous enough for everyone to have heard it?

Anyways Dionne warwick is IT, I saw her on that Divas II thing a while ago and she blew everyone out of the water, effortlessly.

Don't pay attention to her face in this video though, her upper lip makes her look like she has a stache or something; its altogether very disorienting.

Wednesday 7 January 2009

Fat Asses rejoice!

The internet is (mildly) abuzz with these findings out of Harvard med school

I am riding my badonkadonk all the way to non diabetes-ville.

YES! Satisfied. + American Life podcast

Large font and fun colours yayy! Not exactly the LSD look I was going for but close enough. will finally start blogging...coming up = a very belated best of 2008 post and some very exciting things.

To start you off, here's a podcast I have just started listening to: American Life. very famous at this point already but I'm sure there are lots of people who still haven't heard about it. Its basically true stories from across america based around a weekly theme (this week was numbers, the last was scenes from a mall, which was much more interesting than the name would suggest)...its really, really listenable and so interesting. Hosted by a guy called Ira Glass



So far I've already learnt that most Americans, when polled, want to see landscapes in their art, and every country in which this polling occurred was the exact same, except Holland who liked abstract art.

More relevant is the fact that the most hated kind of music is opera, rap, and children singing. The most hated sung about theme is holiday's, and the most enjoyed are stories or songs about love.

Mildly regret posting this since now everyone will know all these fun facts I could have otherwise wowed them with.

sigh. the things do for my readers...

reader...

jules.