... Urban Adventurist....

... not a new route, but joined by an old friend.... good times in early fall... Robby took pictures, I'll post them once he send.



View Robby And Sam Cycle in a larger map

... let the good times roll...

... Just watching this great documentary on the highly-underrated TCM...

Let The Good Times roll is a documentary about the Rock-n-Roll movement in the 1950s. It was made in 1973, One of the earliest rock docs there is. At least of its kind. It is preceded by films like Lonely Boy and Don't Look Back (one of my favourite films around)

But this documentary is not Cinema Verite, as the others are. Pennebaker and Koenig were chronicling a revolution, a celebrity with their cameras. They determined the film by being present at the moment the images were captured.

Let The Good Times Roll is great because itstitches together live concert footage of a 1973 Rock Revival concert tour with news footage, educational reels, photos and clips from the era in which the bands were most popular. The acts range from Chuck Berry, Little Richard, The Shirelles to Bo Diddley... everyone who began the revolution of rock and roll. And it speaks, FROM the 1970s ABOUT the 1950s by reaching back in time and creating a picture of a certain era using the cultural products created at the time. The films message has to be defined entirely through curation and editing.

And watching this film in 2010 adds so much perspective to that type of act of creation. It forces the viewer to become aware of its structure. The construction of the film, the choice of photos, the images from the present (in 1973) laid next to the pieces of the past show just as much about 1973 as it does about 1956. the message the filmmakers seem to be trying to send to Americans living through Vietnam, the Bicentennial and musical revolution in a post-Woodstock america seem to be that this future was inevitable, but that hope was to be found in rebellion.

The film seems to say that this "Wild and crazy hippie movement" was not so unexpected. The seeds of a life of love and passion, music and Life with a capital L, had been sewn over 20 years earlier. When those who passed laws, sent boys overseas and silenced protests were still young, just screaming mobs of high school students doing the Twist.

watch it....

... you're telling me....

I'm reading Plan B by Jonathan Tropper right now. After tackling the thought-provoking and subtle words of Ishiguro I felt that I needed a silly, American fluff, full of obvious plot turns and heavy on the sarcastic and familiar pop cultural references.... I went to Chapters looking for something a little more Nick Hornby....

And I found this novel. I am only 60 pages in right now. It seems ok, it is a bit "Jay MacInerney lite", but its exactly what i was looking for. Its about a group of college friends about 8 years after graduation, as they pass their 30th birthdays, with a little less than enthusiasm.

Its hitting close to home I guess, with the 30 staring me in the face. The idea laid out in the early pages about realizing the hopes and dreams of your childhood had become the expectations of your near future, and that you don't seem to be making the kind of progress you should towards becoming an adult. About how hard it is to let go of the enthusiasm of his 20s.

The protagonist, Ben, on first love:

"Lindsey did nothing halfway. She found something fascinating in every experience, and her enthusiasm was infectious. She drew me in with her ardor even discussing the most mundane things, and when she listened it was with rapt attention and an unwavering gaze. She could make me laugh not only with a sarcastic remark but simply by laughing herself. When she cried at movies she cried hard, and I would inevitably deel my own eyes watering. When I was with Lindsey I came out of a shell I didnt even know I was in, and it was as if the world was suddenly in sharper focus, with brighter colors. She gave me leave to discard my insecurities, and buoyed by her wake, I felt as if I was finally getting my moneys worth out of myself. I knew early on that if Lindsey loved me, she would bring the same passion to bear on me, and I spent countless hours in contemplation of that intoxicating possibility."

... i don't know about you, but I hate the idea of reaching a landmark where that kind of thinking is only considered with nostalgia... i want to own a house and all, but I am not sure I am ready to give up excitement.

... Never Let Me Go...

... y'know when you see a movie based on a great book and it just doesnt do it justice and you are all disappointed? There is only one thing worse.... seeing the movie first, and then reading the book its based on... Knowing it is never going to be as good as it would have been have you not seen the film yet.

That's why I was determined to read Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro before the movie comes out in September. I will admit, I  didnt' know the book existed until I saw the trailer for the movie a little while back. And it definitely looks like its totally my type of flick.

But Ishiguro wrote the novel that was the basis of The Remains of the Day, an amazing film that swept the Oscars in 1994, one of the first years I took any serious interest in "grown up" movies.

I am definitely glad I read this book before the film.... Not because I think the film will be shit. It actually has, in my opinion, a 2 in 3 chance of being good, which is directly related to the starring trio of Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Keira Knightly. Carey Mulligan totally captured me (and the rest of the world) in An Education last year. And Andrew Garfield was brilliant in the totally underseen 2007 film Boy A. Keira Knightly, on the other hand, is the wild card here. As the biggest "celebrity" among the three she has not really been in this kind of character and dialogue driven quietly powerful film in a while. But perhaps being taken out of that element will prove her as an actual talent... She was pretty good in Atonement, which has a similar subtle thrill to its narrative. I WAS disappointed when I went back and re-watched the trailer after finishing the book. It actually shows the entire plot of the book in the minute and a half that makes it up. But I guess thats the point.... there is very little STORY to this book... its how it gets there, how it tells it, that makes it so good.

And that returns me to my original point in this post... THE BOOK... which was amazing.

The story is a wolf in sheeps clothing.... its science fiction done up in the disguise of an idyllic tale of British Boarding School. And the first person retrospective of the narration perfectly teases the weird into the mundane. Its distinctly British... science fiction without a single computer, alien or flying car.

It is science fiction in its truest form. A novel that comments on the world of today by illustrating what could be with one element changed. The whole Butterfly/Tornado bit. And thats the best kind. It highlights the very basic elements of human nature... and does so beautifully. With amazing descriptive passages, metaphors and mental pictures.

I have to say, it has made me even more excited for the film.... But only because I have seen the one the book put in my mind... the one without Keira Knightleys lemon-sucking face on it... seriously, that girl has the BIGGEST lips on the smallest head. I met her once, I thought sneezing would literally knock her over....

Here, watch the trailer, read the book, see the film:

... the Kubler-Ross Playlist****...

y'know when music ain't just music? when you are living some cheesy teen movie in your head and your music collection becomes the soundtrack to your mini-major drama? I just had me one of those....


The very best thing to come out of it, I can now see, is the on-the-go playlists I created on my ipod. I will spare you the "10 Things I Hate About You" details and just tell you the tunes:




Denial:
Sam Cooke - You Send Me
The Kinks - Strangers
Guster - Center of Attention
Tragically Hip - Long Time Running
James Taylor - Walking Man
Smokey Robinson - Cruisin'
REM - Stand
Loggins and Messina - Same Old Wine
Ratatat - Tacobel Canon




Anger:
Tokyo Police Club - Favourite Food
Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill
The Love Language  - Heart to Tell
Menomena - Dirty Cartoons
Dashboard Confessional - The End of an Anchor
Phil Collins - That's Just the Way It Is
Vampire Weekend - White Sky
Good Old War - My Own Sinking Ship
Dispatch - Riddle




Bargaining:
Van Morrison - If I Ever Needed Someone
Good Old War - Coney Island
Good Old War - Tell Me
The Kinks - The Contenders
Samantha Crain - The River
Mos Def/DJ Dub - Respiration Remix f.Talib Kwali
The Phoenix Foundation - Buffalo
Hold Steady - The Weekenders
Florence and the Machine - Girl With One Eye
Dr Dog - Jackie Wants a Black Eye
The Gaslight Anthem - We Did It When We Were Young
The Kinks - Got To Be Free
Three Blind Wolves - Hotel




Depression:
Florence and the Machine - You've Got the Love
Lady Gaga - Again Again
Two Hours Traffice - Sure Can Start
Miike Snow - Sans Soleil
Mos Def - Kalifornia
The Beatles - Come Together
Jett Valentine - Outlaws
The Powder Keg - Mariposa




Acceptance:
Sally Seltmann - On The Borderline
Hark The Herons - New Start to Start
Matt Ponds PA - Ruins
Mos Dub - Kampala Truth Work
The Crookes - Backstreet Lovers
Otis Redding - Down in the Valley
Born Ruffians - What to Say
Florence and the Machine - Dog Days are Over
Her Space Holiday - If You Want to Sing Out
The Futureheads - Heartbeat Song
Folded Paper Figures - Invent It All Again
The Hoof and the Heel - Lets Hangout
Otis Redding - Amen




I made a youtube playlist for the whole shebang, which you can find here






**** the Kubler-Ross model is the proper name for the five stages of grief

... manifest....

I had the opportunity to take part in a Wiccan Full Moon Ritual tonite. Totally outside my box. After having participated I can say that, like any organized system of belief, it may not be entirely for me. But I am also happy to say that many aspects and rituals from the ceremony spoke to me. I can see the natural way that life presents itself to me as it unfolds each day in the practices of the wonderful women I met tonite.

As a part of the ritual i had to pull a Goddess card. And I am not embarrassed to say, I owned a pack of these. I fully believe in one's ability to subconsciously direct ones world, and to connect with a larger energy. It the best decription i can give of fate, or better yet, propinquity.

I also fully believe that interpretation is key when it comes to these things. And it is built into the Wiccan belief system. Everything is tied to the way in which you interpret the symbols and to the world around you. It is your energy that affects the world around you. It may sound very "new age", but could anything be more true?

You receive back what you put into the world.

Thus I will not be able to fully explain why drawing Eireen from the deck meant so much to me. Not without admitting much more than I am comfortable sharing with the Internet (or more specifically the random person who is bored enough to have read this random blog this far down). But suffice it to say that it was perfect for me today.... and most days.

Meet Eireen, who represents Peace and Calm:

Goddess Eireen – Peace- There is no need to worry, as everything is working out beautifully. Even though appearances may seem chaotic, I assure you that a higher plan is in action. This all loving power carrying you and supporting you completely.Your gratitude attracts even more blessing into your life.

  

Even when we feel bogged down by life we have to remember a few things. 

One we are all human so we will all experience the human qualities of over thinking, worrying, and analyzing things over and over again. This process is really not helpful, over thinking just leads us to be depressed and then leads us to feel negative and then we bring more of that into our lives. 

The second thing to remember is “guess what we are all here to learn, grow, and perfect our souls!” So part of the reason that we go through hardships is to do just that mission that we have all come here to do. I mean how could you perfect your soul if everything always was perfect all the time?? How would you know great joy if you never felt any pain?  How would you appreciate and love laughter if you had never shed a tear in sorrow? 

Third - yes it is hard to be away from the Source/Goddess/God. When we are away from home that loving bond is very missed. What we have to remember is that, that love is truly all around us, in us and with us, everyday.

Spend some time to day in Gratitude. Look at the positive things you have in your life and let the rest go!

... G20 insanity....

5:01pm:

has the police presesence (and the cost of the security) been a self-fulfilling prophecy?

... or just a really good idea.

Obviously, we can never know, and generally its probably a little bit of both.

But it is safe to say that the violence and chaos erupting at the Eaton Centre and in the financial district is basic mob mentality and less and less about the issues or democratic free right to speech and political expression.

The problem is that whats happening in Toronto today is not being represented in the news, which is the way the world IS, in fact, watching this unfold.

What they do not see is that there are over 9000 people in the downtown core who have no violent intentions, have only something to say, and a ghost town in which to shout it out.

There is literally no reason to go into the business and financial district today unless you are in some way drawn to the arena which has been created for the G20. I am not sure that all 9000 know what they are saying when they are chanting the slogans such as "Down With the Wall" or "Economic Sovereignty Know" but each one of them is participating in the democratic process while doing so. And its what makes it work.

Unfortunately, just as old as the democratic system are the ways that people in power exploit it, and the lengths that those who feel powerless will go to express that and regain what feels like freedom.

They have ripped up an American Apparel - and given the free chance, who of you wouldnt love to take a shit on Dov Charney (except he'd probably like it)

But the ridiculously idiotic actions of a black bloc have ruined the exact point of the demonstration... and those fucking morons who donned a black mask as a disguise rather than a safety technique. Who enjoy the destruction more than the message. Its these asshats that have necessitated the ridiculous spending on security. Without the ridiculous police presence, fences, crowd control measures, it would be buildings burning, not cars... There is no limit to a mobs capability, except if it is stopped.

Those police are protecting peoples daughters, fathers, brothers, and friends... perhaps yuppies, or capatilists, pigheaded consuming morons with big carbon footprints... but people. You guys are the reason they need to leave Police Cars in the streets to serve as decoys and draw the destructive element, and leave the police some freedom to move on the busloads of bikes i saw being unloaded at the Delta Chelsea earlier this week.

and if you assholes put them in harms way you DO need to be stopped.

The news makes it sound like "Activist" is a dirty word. but you stupid morons with rocks and bricks and lighting fires and throwing feces into broken store windows are making it look like one.

But the rest of you. Those of you with things to say and are willing to stand behind them, no bellaclavas needed. you keep to the streets, you say what you mean, and stay safe.


5:32pm:
this is making me fucking mad... I love this town, and you guys are seriously scratching it up... you small group of morons are making it look dirty and angry and it sucks.

tomorrow the 100 of 25000 protestors in bellaclavas. using masks to commit violence will have left black stains, broken glass and angry cops for the rest of us to deal with.

You call yourself protestors, but you cheapen that term for all the true protestors out on the street, you are the fucking problem... you think you would make a better world? in Ghana or Rwanda or India you would be the warmongers and slumlords.... it makes me sick.

5:37pm:

It happened in Seattle, it happened here. I know it will be fine. We will still be Toronto.

I wonder if Twitter and Facebook will be used to find perpetrators later

5:46pm:

Mayor Miller in a press conference. Last violent protest in Toronto was 15 years ago... and you can find one at least once a week.

He ain't lieing. Toronto has a political assembly on the lawns of Queens Park, Nathan Phillips Square or University Ave at least that often. Political expression is a part of everyday life here. That is one of the only things I thought may make toronto a good site for a G20 summit. There is a knowledge here, a group memory of peaceful protest and freedom of expression.

But Mayor, you have just made yourself look like a moron by saying you learned about the 5-metre rule from the Toronto Star. Its true, Dalton McGinty was like the asshole older brother that didnt tell you he was holding a party when mom and dad were away... but c'mon, you should have been reading his diary or hacking into his email... thats your JOB!

Thats because those required political opinion and actual brain cells.... G20 is like the Michael Moore documentary of a protest... All you need is a general idea of issues (at least a soundbyte or slogan) and a really big anger to enjoy it.



6:14pm:

Police Cruiser out front of Steve's Music on Queen is on fire and fire department cant get anywhere near it... May burn one of the last independently owned business left in the area.... way to go Black Bloc, was that your point?

Your violence is literally making more room for the GAPs and Starbucks of the world to take over...

fucking morons.

Intelligent passerby on CityNews. They are by far the best coverage i've seen. The woman is saying the Black Bloc IS distracting from the peaceful protest. But its hard because they are a product of the very thing that so many are protesting against. The product of a world that is raping its natural resources and selling its soul for power.



6:25pm:

cops showing up at the fire at Steves... should be ok... probably tonnes of smoke damage to hundreds of guitars, pianos, etc... which fucking sucks....

police on the scene... in droves! but its pretty peaceful... looks more like order than oppression, thanks to both the police and the crowd. bravo on that, at least

Mayor Miller yelling at CTV newscasters for trying to misquote him during a live interview broadcast: Priceless!

... word vom....

take the below post for what it is... the utterly pointless ramblings of a Cultural Studies major asked to sum up how her degree applies to the industry which she works in and lives in....

I just saw a commercial for a rerun of the MMVAs with clips from the two-hour live broadcast, and seeing all the biggest stars in pop culture, gathered on the streets of  Toronto’s entertainment district.  There were a decent amount of Canadians stars on that stage.

… And not the minor Canadian celebrities that MuchMusic has always trotted out in order to reach some kind of CanCon quota. We had Justin Bieber, we had Drake, Hedley, Shenae Gimes…

Don’t get me wrong, I am not defending the talent of these people. I know as much as the next guy that they are all pretty much fluff or drivel, at best. But they are certifiably famous. Famous in the annoying TeenBeat, CW, Perez Hilton kinda way…

Canadians have really entered the world arena... And they have done it as Canadians. The fact that the telecast of this awards rivalled the cheesiest the CW or Nickelodeon could come up with attests to that fact. Except it was distinctly Canadian. 

The show is filmed live in the streets of a city that is currently being locked down for an International Political Summit, the G20. And its born of necessity. Toronto has no Kodak theatre. there is just no camera ready venue in Toronto. But that colours the semiotics of the product as much as if it were a conscious decision. But that openness, that inclusion, the agora created by including everyone and anyone that happened on Queen and John on Sunday evening (even though only a moron or a sadist would have approached it without a backstage pass) is the exact thing that you are seeing at the Grammys, the MTV Movie Awards, and the Oscars. Call it the influence of the internet. Call it the inevitable and long-awaited  democracy and equality that has been growing for years. But the world is ready to see itself, in all its weird and varied, disparate and beautiful glory. 

All the stars up on those stages are moving further and further away from the stick thin or big muscled empty vessel that characterized the 1990s. We want to see some PERSONALITY (even if it is in whitewashed and measured doses... so as not to scare the white bread). We want our Kate Perry's, our GaGa's , our Miley "cant be tamed" Cyrus... We want the people we put at the middle of our lives stories to be whoever the hell they are... just like we want to be, and still believe that we can be the star of our own story. 


And thats what the MMVAs delivered. For the people, Of the people.

In short, Muchmusic, the most Canadian broadcaster i can think of that is not run by the Government, nailed it.

But they had help from popular opinion. Its kind of just our time to shine, the “celebrity” is more and more closely resembling the Archetype of the Canadian Hero. a misfit that has been developed over centuries of film, tv, books and theatre in the “other” North American country.

This particular idea, of the Canadian as a deviant antihero, is a theory I have been compiling for the better part of a decade. The Canadian Hero has always jumped out at me as being defined only as being the “other”. He’s an antihero. She’s quirky, he’s dark, she’s a deviant.

Being located just to North of the 49^th parallel has given this country a complex, to be sure. Since the dawn of the TV age, and through the rise of Cinema, The USA has been the frontrunner on the world stage. And not just on the screen. They have led the way in arenas of business, politics, military, and definitely cultural production. And Canada has always lived on the edges of that bright shining spotlight. 

We are the nice next door neighbour, the reliable, slightly dumpy yet utterly lovable cousin. we are the black sheep of the family.

Canadians are almost American, but not quite. And our National Identity has been built in defining the ways we are Not with a capital N. Not Republican, Not Warmongers, Not Mainstream, Not Closeminded. We are defined by the paradigm that surrounds the American Patriot.

However, in a post-911, post-Bush, post-Guantanamo, post-Economic Crash world it is just that person, the NOTS, that are being celebrated and pushed into the worlds eyes as heros and role models.

It is the deviants, the creative’s, the open-minded, open-armed friends of the world that we need at the forefront, and the US Cultural Machine has a ready pool of talent to draw from.

Its been building slowly since the fall of Bush and the rise of the Yes We Can ObamaNation. Popular Culture wants a leader that is Not everything they have had. an antonym to the last decade.

and we, as a nation, have been studying them carefully for a century. We mimic their products, their customs, their costumes, but just NOT QUITE. We are the Other.

And the world needs a little Other right now.

Hurray for the Other.

... Future with a capital F....

Once again, William Gibson has found the words.

From his blog (bolding is my own, to stress my favourite bits):


"The Future, capital-F, be it crystalline city on the hill or radioactive post-nuclear wasteland, is gone. Ahead of us, there is merely…more stuff. Events. Some tending to the crystalline, some to the wasteland-y. Stuff: the mixed bag of the quotidian.


Please don’t mistake this for one of those “after us, the deluge” moments on my part. I’ve always found those appalling, and most particularly when uttered by aging futurists, who of all people should know better. This newfound state of No Future is, in my opinion, a very good thing. It indicates a kind of maturity, an understanding that every future is someone else’s past, every present someone else’s future. Upon arriving in the capital-F Future, we discover it, invariably, to be the lower-case now."

... two bands, two things...

When i write cards, be they birthday, goodbye, congratulations or random, I always write,

"may life bring you good luck and happy coincidence."

I was lucky tonight. i got both. I did one of my favourite things... I got a last minute invite from a friend to go hear a band i didnt know... and they were awesome. so was the band that opened for them.

First Aid Kit and Samantha Crain both rocked the Riv tonite.

And i learned two very valuable lessons. Valuable enough that i felt they needed to be recorded for posterity, to last for all time on the interweb (the closest modern day equivalent i have to stone tablets):

"a hard on doesn't mean you're in love"  - Samantha Crain

"time is tough on me"  - First Aid Kit

both valuable insights.....

... my hero...

I may have mentioned one or two times before that William Gibson is the closest thing to a god that this agnostic little jew has known.... Seriously, the way that man sees the world, and foresees it, it blows my mind....

And I think I may have just locked into the secret of the whole thing in this interview he did with Amazon.com:

"Amazon.com : We have your original proposal for the book up on our site, and the thing that struck me immediately was that none of the characters you discuss ended up, at least with the specifics that you give them at the time, in the final book. I'm just curious how you progress from one group of characters to another as you're planning the book or writing it.
Gibson: Well, I think the key thing there is that I never really believe in the proposal. 

Loves it....

No one ends up what they start out to be... The key is to not tie yourself too much to what you claimed in the beginning...

By the way, you can read the whole interview here on Gibson's website.... which you should check out anyway, cuz he just kicks all kinds of ass


***** i am adding to this post again... I did it twice already, and now it feels like cheating not to admit i jkeep coming back and adding more stuff... But I forgot how much I love this man... so many things out of his mouth are the ones i wished i had said first (if I had ever done anything worth asking me my opinion on these matters, anyway). This little gem is from his blog

"It’s unlikely that meeting a writer of fiction will get me any closer to the writer’s work, in my experience. The opposite effect is sometimes noted. Writers of fiction, as I understand them, are writers because they can get closer to you *as marks on paper* than they can any other way. They cannot sit and tell you. If they could tell you, then why would they write? They cannot explain. They do not know, that way. They know transiently, at best, in the act of marking paper."

... for the love of beards...

I have been following this blog ever since i first got a reader... in fact, it was the very first blog i ever added to my reader....

I love that she's been writing about, collecting images and even making beard crafts for almost 2 years...

loves it!

ps. if you want to secure my undying love or one whopper of a good mood, get me one of her yarn beards... i so want one

... the hunt....

I first read this article for a first year class. Actually it was this article that led me to consider cultural theory as a degree.

Someone reminded me about it today. I was talking about 'coohunting'. Not the website (no matter how much i love it), but the profession, marketing practice that was popular pre-internet. Searching through streets and stores and skate parks and dark bars for the people whoknew what was 'up' and then ripping it from their hands (or off their feet, their backs, their bookshelves and cd racks) and selling it to the public... forcing the alterna-kids to find the 'next big thing'.

It got me to thinking about whether that is possible, or even worthwhile in the exponentially faster trend cycle of the internet age... and so I went to search for it online. To remind myself what exactly that article said that made me so curious about spotting meaning in social symbol, and the process by which things become "things"... the journey of a real-world meme. and whether that process which so enchanted me a decade ago could be applied to the world i live in now...

.... and after some googling to avoid paying for a New Yorker Subscription to access their online archives i realized it was written by Malcolm Gladwell... The Canadian-raised author and theorist who had his 15 minutes when his books Blink, and the Tipping Point became the hottest things to pick up in the airport before a transatlantic flight, or a long weekend at the cottage. I always resisted, even refused, to read these books... for the same reason I hate Michael Moore movies. They have all the right ideas, but men like Gladwell and Moore make it so easy to fire off empty catch phrases without any content, research or thought... It propagandizes ideas which I actually believe to be true, worthwhile and useful. But they are never implemented or even studied because people would rather have the cliche than the lesson. It pisses me off that no matter how much I hate the Tipping Point for its Celestine-Prophecy-freakonomics-michael-moore-fly-by-night-nyt-bestseller list popularity Gladwell has a point...

I just think he pretty much summed it up in this article.... in 1997.

What does Gladwell think about trending in the internet age? I should probably read his book.

Its ironic that the only reason i dont want to read it is because everyone else loved it so much....

... the pursuit....

from Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay:

"Oh, Harry," she said, "I wish I were a different kind of person."

He took off his glasses with one hand, a gesture she loved, and studied her. He was exposing himself to her gaze even as he was seeing her with his own eyes.

What kind of person, he wanted to know.

"Someone," she said slowly, "who truly loves life."

He was still looking at her, still cradling his glasses in his left hand. He said, "You're the kind of person who never stops trying."

***********************

i don't know, in some ways, i think that the person always trying has it better off.

... a lesson in radio...

in my last semester of university i took an independent study course in radio editing. i did it with a friend, and we had a professor, Brian Morel. brian was a tenured professor without a track. the university had slowly cut off his courses as they transitioned from a hands-on to a theoretical approach to Cultural Studies, an already quirky and tiny faculty in a school putting its dollars into Scientific Research.

Brian was the crazy uncle left to quietly amuse himself. officially, he was responsible for the summer arts programme and tiny symposiums hosted by the department. but mostly he just hung around the cultural studies building, acting as unofficial caretaker, affable host and occasional mentor to the wackiest of grad students. The buiilding itself was a saggy townhome that teetered precariously on the steepest part of Peel Street. There was a screening room on the first floor (the only part of the building still used for any form of actual teaching), a few offices on the second floor for associate proffesors not valued enough for a space on the campus proper, and on the third was Brians lair. his office, playground and kingdom.

this is where i took perhaps the most applicable and useless course of my post-secondary education.

For the sake of clarity i would like to say upfront that i have never used the fine skill of splicing tape i learned on that third floor... and the lessons on delivery certainly didnt help me out during my audition as an audio book narrator for the CNIB. but Brian taught me how to enjoy yourself in a professional situation that is... shall we say, less than a balls-out marathon of tasks and deadlines.

Brian knew that two young graduates of a cultural theory degree in the new millenium had little need for the skills he excelled in. the antiquated processes of the CBC in the 70s, the reel to reel editing and radio documentary. but those lessons were a background to our true education. Above all else Brian stressed finding fun and lightheartedness in your daily work, curiousity and passionate engagement with whatever the task at hand.

one day my friend and i found ourselves literally pawing through a box of dress up clothes, making fun on the third floor, to fill time and engage in the play of radio drama. i learned the number one rule of interviews - to ask the next question, always ask - during long afternoon talks with him in his office, learning about his crazy life, seeing his photographs, listening to gossip about other professors.

i use those skills all the time, every day. ask any graduate with an arts degree. no one cares what you know or think about McLuhan. and the ability to reason your way through the most difficult of subjective hypotheses in 50 pages apperently does not prove that you can run the department. things become cliche because they are so often thecase, you simply must pay your dues. as a result you will spend a lot of years with tasks too simple and a lot of time on your hands. This is a simple fact, but not necessarily to your detriment, as brian was to teach us. reaching the other end of the spectrum, he was in his twilight years, constantly beating back his retirement in perhaps the one job that cant make him go away. he loved working, no matter how ridiculous he looked to the rest of us. and he taught me how to love my work, no matter what it happens to be.

he taught me that the best thing you can do is be curious.... about your job, your company, the processes and people involved in what you do. you need to make a life for yourself in your job. not make a job your life mind you, but the exact opposite.

Learn, whatever you can.... and care about what that means. make sure you have a few laughs, enjoy what you are doing every day. even if it wastes a little time and indulges the most childish of impulses. as long as you are engaged and aware of your function - your responsibilities, the fun can come in the spaces where there is room for it.

you probably don't think this was a skill that could be applied, or at least, not a learned skill. but Brian taught me about finding your niche in the world, a world that doesnt always make room for you to shine in all your capable glory. He was waiting for his moment, and finding value in the time he had and the space it afforded him to indulge his curiousity, his need to learn about and experience life. the opportunity it afforded him to stretch himself, to enjoy himself while remaining responsible and finding worth in the work he did do, the few places where he retained his value to the bureaucratic machine that ran the University.

he was dead serious about his work, but he also loved his life.

mmmm...... bacon......

I love bacon... apparently so does the rest of the world... as it has prevailed despite its health risks and supine beginning...

As a jew, I am not really supposed to like bacon, or even know whether i dislike it or not, as its cloven hooves makes it forbidden. But I love all things bacon...

However, even the most kosher of jews could enjoy this:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=43285042

... yup... thats just about exactly it...

A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz:

"'Let's do it," Bruno said, and immediately my stomach tightened. Why? A strange physical reaction was going on inside me. As soon as my idea was embraced, I no longer liked it. It now seemed to be a stupid idea, really awful. I liked it much better when it was in my head all alone. Now that it was going out in the world, I would be responsible for something that I no longer had any control of.

This was my first of a lifetime of battles with ideas: the battle of which ones to air and which to bury, burn, destroy"

I so totally get that... I have been losing that battle for years now.

Urban Adventurist: Freight Train, Each CAr Looks the Same

I was so so close to not walking at all today. But I really wanted to test out the new app I downloaded on my Android... Plus I have a coat so warm it would make a Yeti jealous... and I needed to do something today, it was gorgeous and sunny out.

The route was a little bit of a mash up of the

high park and junction routes I have been doing recently. Perfect test for MyTracks. Below is the result of

my wanderings, and the testament to the marker setting on the GPS tracking system. It may have started military, but like every other technology worth its stars and stripes, its now suited to rambling and pointless thoughts and observations. Long live web 2.0

View Freight Train... Each Car Look The Same in a larger map

If you are that bored, you can click through on the markers to see the inanities noted in each spot along the journey...

I remember in the comic books I read as a kid, a million double digests filled with archie and jugheads hijinx, there was this one thing they would used to do. Its such a faint memorie i almost feel like I am making it up. But I remember they would have these pages that would be just one panel - an aerial view of a room or neighbourhood - and there would be a dotted line following the path of mischief and destruction that L'il Jinx or the family circus kids or whoever would beat through the world. I feel like MyTracks is the modern version of that....

I love it for the same reason I love the stitched digital photographic works of Alain Paiement, like this one below:

Parages (pane mundial)
Lambada C-Print Mounted on Diabond
48"x83"
2004

Just makes me wish for the ten millionth time that I was artistic, and not just creative.

Creative - Artistic = eccentric

(by the way, theres a marker titled "Rods of steel" that referred to a picture that for some reason didnt show up.... its below... imagine the gams a girl would have living in any of those houses!)

... how much do i want this...

.... this may even force me to break my NO DECALS rule....

especially since my laptop is starting to look like shit....

Urban Adventurist: The Junction

The Junction is the Bermuda triangle of Toronto. Everyone has heard of it, not many have been there. The truth is, most people have no idea exactly where it is. And once you go there, there is no coming back. People disappear into the Junction, never to be seen from again. It was armed with only this knowledge that I left for my adventure.

(Ed Note*** This is in no way meant to be any sort of a travel guide. It chronicles the journey from my house to this place, and includes anything of interest I see along the way. If you were planning to use this to plan your day trip.... well... don't do that. Not unless you were planning on leaving from and returning to my house)View Urban Adventurist: The Junction in a larger mapI got off to a little bit of a rough start, heading straight north from my house and ending up in a little bit of a sketchy neighbourhood just north and east of Bloor and Dufferin. Urban Adventures need to happen in a place you feel safe getting lost and wandering around in. When you have your phone out and 9-1 dialed (finger hovering over the last 1), you know you have to find a new street to walk on.

But I quickly got my groove back by hopping onto Wallace heading west. 2 minutes later I stumbled upon the

watertower at the corner of Ward and Wallace. It doesn't look like much. But any local tech geek worth his facebook status knows that this abandoned building is the home to the new office of Ubisoft. Its pretty cool that they found a space this big in a building that has some history behind it. No

t sure what it was in its heyday, but it brings a very industrial age to mind. Which is funny, because I guess animators and game designers are just the factory workers of the new millenium. You need a TONNE of them to get out any mass of product, performing repetitive and highly specialized craft skills.

These guys just get more than minimum wage, and have drum sets and pool tables in the break room.

This office is going to go a loooong way to bringing more peeps into this hood, and lending some cache and importance to the drive to name this area. You can check out the issue and discussion thus far at fuzzyboundaries.ca

After Ubisoft I really feel into the swing. Its fun to come to a corner and make a last minute decision on your direction. If you sort of blank out and follow your nose you stumble on some great stuff. Next on my list was Yasi's Place. I had been there once before with a friend I love and havent seen in FOREVER, but never quite new where i was. Now I know, its the corner of Wallace and Campbel. And its just about the cutest thing ever. The menu is stellar (and vegetarian friendly, for those of you who tend to the herbivoric) and it just s

eems like a great place to cuddle up with a book on a bleak day.

That was not, however, on my agenda, so I trundled on along Wallace, reaching the end and the greatest pedestrian bridge i have discovered in Toronto in all my 28-some-odd years. Apparently it has been there s

ince at least 1932, as this picture shows. Which is very cool. I really dig that about these walks, and Toronto in general. I am always able to unearth some history. Don't get me wrong, I know I am no archaeological excavator. But stuff like this, and the water tower at Ward reminds me that there was a time BEFORE, stories and people that are all but forgotten in the new world of neighbourhoods we think we are discovering for the first time. I mean, we all talk about how we are "discovering" or "introducing" Leslieville, or The Junction or whatever. But its been around forever.

Anyway, up and over I went, and saw a bit of the Junctions greenery from overhead right before I plunged back into it.

The next twenty or thirty minutes was really just pointless wandering and real estate lusting. I have finally reached a point in my life where people are actually acquiring property. Its weird, to have friends that OWN houses... I am so so so far away from it. but still, it makes me look, and lust, at houses. H

ouses with big windows, houses with too many stairs to the front door, houses with driveways, houses with porches, and balconies, and turrets and additions.... By the time the bank will trust me enough with a mortgage (and it will be awhiiiiiiiiile) I will be ready to go.

I think I need to live near a park. I grew up a block away from one, and I loved it. And I want my (future and entirely hypothetical) kids to have one. The one in this neighbourhood is pretty cool. Baird Park is your typical, mid-city space, open with a playground and a wading pool. But it also happens to be the home to the West Toronto Lawn Bowling League, which is pretty fucking awesome. There was one in the park near my house as a kid. I never played. But always associate the sport with childhood. Maybe I will try it out this ummer. I think its like bocci ball.... but I have to get together some whites.

From there I was pretty much officially in The Junction proper, signified by the development of any historic space into lofts. I counted 5 churches in a 2 block radius around Anette and High Park Rd, 3 were being condo-fied.

And when I reached the main drag at Dundas I found many many businesses accomodating the furnishing of these new lofts by young hipsters in the style to which they have become accustomed (and will demand, cheap)

Mjolk (there is an umlaut supposed to be in there somewhere) is a kickin' design shop at 2959 Dundas St W. It is way out of price range (signifying its quality) but has stuff I would trade my left arm for (signifying my taste). Its only been open since December, but the kids are discovering it fast. The place was packed. I went in thinking i found the hot Junction bar... turns out, it was just shopping day on Dundas.

Smash has been around a little longer, I am told. But its definitely not tired or 'done' yet. Smash is a store and gallery that specializes in salvage and restoration of kooky and kitsch. They were clsoing up when I was walking by. But if you get there soon, you will be able to see the nose print i left from smooshing my face up against the glass to peer inside at themounds of treasures stacked to the ceiling. A quick run across the street will show you a twin set of smudgy nose prints as the stores "warehouse" is a glass front across the way. Its like eye candy treasure for a design freak like yours truly, and definitely worth the trip to the Junction even to stare through the windows at.

The last place on the journey, before officially heading for home was for a much needed caffeine jolt. And if I was judging a neighbourhood by its coffee shops alone. The Junction would be worth its weight in fair trade Colombian. My cuppa came from Cool Hand of A Girl, a cute shop that is bare cept for the things it needs to deliver sweet sweet caffeine rushes to my bloodstream.

So thats it, my day in the Junction. Well, if you take a look at the map you will see I doubled back and around a bit before heading for home. This was completely unintentional... Its just I had absolutely no idea what direction I was headed in, until I happened upon the West Toronto Lawn Bowling clubhouse, from the exact same direction I had encountered it the first time.

I have a theory on this, because I am generally REALLY REALLY REALLY good with direction.... like I NEVER get lost. But when Dundas curves up the entire grid pattern that Toronto is built on swivels around. Everything going south is now west, everything east is north... its discombobulating.

But maybe thats why, when people go into The Junction, they so rarely come out again....

... blown right away....

.... between a longstanding love for film, a healthy respect for architecture, a nearly fetishistic obsession with design and a newfound respect for the sheer AMOUNT and quality of work this kind of animation requires I must say that Alex Roman's film The Third & The Seventh literally BLEW MY MIND this morning....

The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

Seriously, you must go full screen to enjoy this....