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31/01/02-
Welcome...
New Guy (Berezin) nets Habs' goal 10,000
  
31/01/02(930am)-not much time to talk right now. im leaving shortly for some more studying. yesterday i got 3 new cds, all pretty good but different- john mayer's room for squares, elbow's asleep in the back, and aphex twin's drukqs. last night was sad. the bruins beat the habs in OT 4-3. we still got the point, but we're still one behind new jersey going into the all-star break. plenty of time for them though. speaking of time, i should get going now. in the meantime, visit rane. their new site is up and it kicks ass. Project Flood is their live section, its got the full 12.28.01 equator show (the second to last equator show, ever) up for download on mp3. and if you notice the logo for the "drop" section, i made that with a little touch up from their graphic artist, novick :-P
make sure to look up top at the montreal weather. if you dont know celsius-fahrenheit conversions, thats why the little box is there. yes, that temperature is for real. dont whine when the weather is 70F.
28/01/02(1am)-a little tired now. not tired in the same way as you'd usually be tired but i donated blood today. the habs had a blood drive at the molson centre and i'd never donated blood before so it was my first time. went after classes. got there around 4. waited to get a number. waited with my number til 630 til i could wait in another line to fill out papers. during that wait, i studied some US politics and also i got autographed pictures from mike ribero and karl dykhuis. dykhuis even signed my jersey. so finally i got to fill out the papers and got to wait some more. but they gave me 2 tix to the 24 feb sunday practice and the 26 feb game against ottawa. i saw tuesday and thought it was tomorrow, good thing i checked. we play the bruins on wed. coincidentally, rane plays the house of blues, cambridge, MA on thursday night.
so i finally got my number called around 8ish. i'd been in the molson centre for 4 hrs now. around 8, they asked me all the questions and whatnot and by 830, i was finally on a table. by the end of the bag, i started to get queasy and dizzy, but the bag was finished and so they propped my legs up, then down, then my back up, then up more, then i got moved, and then i had something to eat. by 10 pm, i was finally at the metro station to go home. and so im kinda feeling weird. like not physically drained, but drained.
the big news from friday was that the habs traded long-time canadien brian savage to the phoenix coyotes, where my uncle resides. it was pretty sad news cause savage was a canadien his whole career and was on the team when they won the cup in 93. so they got this guy, sergei berezin, who played for toronto most of his career. the first game against the sens, i wasnt impressed, but the man was tired and excited. so i gave him til the next game to shape up. and he did. shortly into the 3rd period, he came outside the right circle to blast a slapshot right past nabokov, not only scoring his first goal as a canadien, but also scoring the 10,000th home goal for the habs- an NHL record. nick called it in the 2nd and amazingly it happened. new guy breaks the record. but i watched his shots and the guy has got power where it counts. i was sad and mad when i found out about the savage trade, but after giving it 2 games, i reneg. stick berezin with gilmour, petrov, juneau, and perrault, you've got a team thats over 500 and is looking at a playoff berth. im ecstatic about the direction of the habs.
as for things elsematter, or whatever, im a little less ecstatic. about a lot of things in life. period. so im going to bed. visit my site of the day: The Electronica Primer. its apparent these days that no one knows a damn thing about electronic music. "its all the same," they say. well, it isnt. so learn the difference between house and jungle, breakbeat and dub. and the next time you hear me play the new chemical brothers cd when it comes out next week, try not to bitch that the music all sounds the same.
27/01/02(1130am)- to be honest, im updating for the sake of updating. i dont know why, its a pretty shitty deal all around. i was in a halfway decent mood earlier, but now its gone rapidly down in the last half hour. if you want a better mood, check out andrew's 2 year anniversary tribute. thats where it's at tonight.
26/01/02(330am)- interesting. a few visits to my site today that i wasnt necessarily expecting. couple from uconn, couple from conn college... not that it matters, they never cared to talk/im/email me anyways...i think the other nigt i took margarets suggestion and cut down my buddy list in almost half. anywho, we went to peel pub tonight. suffice to say, im amazingly not typing that crazy considering how much ive had tonight. so im not saying all too much right now. im quite drunk, im about ready to pass out on my bed. thats about it. interesting news with the bush team on the mideast process. oh, and i started to transcribe lewis black's white album. that man is the funniest comedian, EVER. but i could never find actual print quotes from it, so i decided to get to work on it after andrew needed a quote for his site. ill probably post the whole thing here when im done, but ive only done 1/4 of it all. byebye
24/01/02(220am)-i think ive hit another one of those crossroads in life where you just cant help but think about whats next. a lot of it has to do with stuff in the apartment concerning next year, which i cant get into specifics of at this point in time. suffice to say, we're only 3 weeks into this semester and already i'm looking at major changes around here next year. that said, radical change has been due for some time in my life and although it started with moving into an apartment, its looking like that could have just been the beginning. suffice to say, as a result of the changes and various influences around them, ive been tinkering around with the idea of running for an AUS position. theres major pros and cons for both sides. i definitely want to talk to my family about it for starters. i suppose id be interested in feedback from other people like my friends, but then again, most of my friends back home wouldnt even know or care if i had packed up from montreal and left- if the past two times ive been home were of any sign.... which'll be sad, since the overall fate of the apartment for next year is right now uncertain. and yet, for all the positives of them visiting- the cheap canadian dollar, free lodging, a good time, etc...no one's convinced to come. so what can i say? i know, i just mixed 2 issues but im in one of those bummed moods. too much stress.
(1245am)-not much doing today. dad faxed me an editorial in the j.i. about the equator. and i finally found out about a hillel event on campus for the first time this year. i was talking to this girl in jewish history (imagine being motivated to attend a class you're not in) and she was from boston, organizing this shabbat dinner geared towards out of town mcgillers next friday. so i might go to that since i hadnt seen anything for hillel advertised all last semester. might see if dave and seth wanna go too cause i dont wanna look stupid going myself. thats about it for now. powweb still hasnt gotten back to me about my mp3 problem.
22/01/02(1045pm)-dont feel too much like updating a lot tonight. the link to the mp3 on my site isnt working right now, i know. i emailed powweb to find out why because i have no idea. all i know is i wanna change hosts when my contract with powweb runs out because im not always happy with their service. the file is uploaded but its not working right. hopefully ill know in a few hours. if you really wanna listen, email and send me your MSN or AIM name and ill send it to you that way.
went to an interesting lecture entitled "A Logical Proof of the Existence of God." which was exactly what it sounds like. the prof used pure aristotelian logic to prove that G-d exists. his point was that either G-d does or doesnt exist, there is no matter of belief. first off, lemme say that it took place in our largest lecture auditorium on campus and was so packed, people were standing. he was here last year, i missed it, but i remember my across the hall neighbour, kim, went last year and said it was packed. it was put on by mcgills baha'i club.
"This proof does not seek to convince anybody of anything. My dialogue is with reality, not with other people's opinions. I actually do not care whether anybody is convinced- In the first place, it is not interesting, and somewhat unusual, that discussions of the existence of G-d immediately end up in discussions about what people believe about G-d. Discussions about electricity dont end up with discussions about what people believe about electricity. They end up with laws of electricity, with Maxwell's equations. So why is it that an objective question- either there exists a Universal Call- an ultimate margin of all existence- or there doesn't.....If G-d doesnt exist...then all the belief of all the believers for thousands of years, would never bring Him into existence. And if G-d does exist...then all the doubts of all the atheists will not take Him out of existence."
he then goes into explaining a few of the rules he uses and then the derivation of his proof that G-d exists and that if you belief in any sort of scriptures, then the G-d you believe in is all the same G-d and there can be no other G-d (he used more logic for this). Therefore whether you're Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, atheist...G-d exists. You don't have to believe in G-d, but G-d does exist.
anyways, thats about it for me, ive got stuff to do. if you're interested in just seeing Dr. Hatcher's proof, it's on the following website: http://www.onecountry.org/e102/e10214xs.htm. thats it for me.
(545pm)-a recording of my song is on my mp3 page.
(1220am)-not sure what to say. the equator coffee bar in manchester is closed. for good. ive had a lot of memories in that place and now its gone. apparently it wasnt doing so well on the money end. then again, the abrasiveness of the owner, im sure couldnt have helped business. as a hangout/place to catch live music, equator was prime for all ages, but service and salesmanship are two different things. and they need each other to survive. for me, equator meant many things. i saw my third rane show there back on 19 march 1999 with margaret. at the time, it was the only place i knew in a 10 mile radius that my parents would let me go to that was all ages. the only place i could see rane. and because of that i went to rane show after rane show before i finally got a license and found a few other venues i could go to. i remember the '99 show. it was like me and margaret, i saw mora judd there, and zack denfeld, maybe a few other people. my original review of the show went something like this:
The reflection of the day is: Rane kicks ass.
Ok, I like a lot of bands from almost any music genre, but after seeing Rane last night, I figured I'd put in another plug for the local scene. I saw Rane w/Margaret last night at the Equator club. A band under the same label, Renata, opened for them. They were really good, had a harmonicist, which gave a different flavor, and their music was good, but I often found the lyrics lacking. Nonetheless, the sound was something worth buying their demo CD. Rane came on bout an hour later, and they were great. I'd heard them twice before live in accoustic shows, so this was my first time seeing them play electric. They played for an hour and a half straight, and were still playing when we had to leave. Apparently they've almost sold out copies of their second CD. This is a band that, following in the footsteps of another locally originated band, Angry Salad, will probably get signed by a major label. Anyways...they played a bunch of new songs from the new album, which will be out later this year, and a couple of songs from their first few albums. Rane is a jam band. But they do it well. They know who's doing what, they let him do his stuff, a couple of dramatic stop-on-a-dime pauses. Really tight playing, some trippy stuff, you can see where their influences lie (DMB, Phish, etc...). I highly recommend it and urge people to support the local music scene by checking out acts like Rane and Renata. You might find their worth your while.
since then ive attended probably about 30-40+ rane shows. and ive seen there be 40 people at the equator in march of 1999, to almost 250 in the tiny place in december 2001. they couldnt even allow more people in in 2001. ive seen so-so shows, awesome acoustic shows, holiday shows, shows in that joint that kicked ass... it was those equator shows that opened me up to other local bands- adios pantalones, renata, addison groove project, etc- and inspired me to do careerwise what id like to do. i thought the equator was the coolest place. it was an all ages hangout that we (my friends and I) all needed but was just enough of a schlep that it wasnt. it was a place i could take my sister and not worry cause it was a small coffee bar, like when we went to see renata. and there was always entertainment. but i guess also of importance to me was its place as an open mic venue. i wont forget the equator because it was on that stage this summer where i mustered up enough balls to get on a stage one night in july and play a few songs in front of a few people (among the crowd: brian lee). equator was one of the few good places around to open mic. its like losing a friend who moved away. you hope to make a new one.
thats my sad story for the day. i woke up this morning, debated shaving my beard and did it. got a cup of strong coffee at café depot and went right to the language lab to work on my dictée. got there at 1010, finished at 1030 for my 1035 class. i wrote a song in class cause the coffee really kicked in. then was european history, lunch, and then watched the habs play the panthers. we lost 7-5. horrible horrible game. also cooked dinner tonight. good stuff. and i wrote my first song in 9 months. like the vocals have a lot of fleshing out to be done. in terms of, the melody is really shakey and thus i'm all over the place with it. but lyrically and musically i think its the best song ive ever written and im happy i somewhat broke my lyrical block.
"Block"
by Spencer Ross © 21/01/02
The unfinished song
It leaves my mouth
But I've got all the time to hold it back
Like the shifting sand
Or the raging waves
The notes fill pages upon pages
CHORUS:
The music is there
Are you listening
Seulement dans les rêves (only in dreams)
Peut-tu l'entendre (can you hear it)
I'm never sure
If it sounds just right
If the harmony shines like her smile
Her beauty transcends
And infuses the memory
In melodious passions of the soul
CHORUS
One by one
We play the song
The rhythm beats in our hearts
Words flow in streams
Tides shift back
The musical complexities of love
21/01/02(1215am)-party last night was fun. didnt go to the new deal concert. i figured they'd probably sold out, plus no one seppppp was going and since it was mainly house music, i didnt wanna go myself. woulda looked sketchy to try and pick up. today we went to the music store. nice store, they didnt have what i want at a good price for a 50% off sale. i was just looking at a basic Boss Super Chorus Pedal- 105$. now i know pedals are expensive but i know that theres no way that it was 105$ after sale price. so i punted.
i think in terms of effects pedals, that'd probably be the next one id like to try. im more of the mind to get multiple pedals than an fx board. i guess it stems from watching bowman play. he's probably one of my biggest musical influences in terms of guitar and in terms of playing style, i think i try to emulate him the most. and watching him play has also helped me understand guitar a little more and the way you can make sounds come out. i think id rather get a bunch of individual pedals instead of an actual board is because it looks neater, plus its more where you control all the music and all the sounds that come out of the amp. take for instance with a board. you can do a bunch of presets and get the sound you want, but they're only presets. my analogy is like a pottery. anyone can pour hot clay into a mould and make a pot. and all the pots will look the same because they were just clay poured in a mould. but when you throw a slab of clay on the wheel and get it spinning, that pot will never be the same twice. sure it'll look the same overall, but the little subtleties are what makes each one interesting. plus watching the person scuplt it on the wheel is a lot more impressing than seeing clay being poured. its the art of handcrafting. well anyways, thats what i think of effects pedals. i go to rane shows and no show is the same because of the notes that come out, and the way they come out. maybe one show bowman'll throw on a little more flanger than distortion, or the other will have a little less tremolo on the part where he normally would have a lot. you cant get that with an effect board in quite the same way. plus to watch him going from pedal to pedal is one of the things that makes watching him play so inspiring. its like the potter working the wheel.
anywho. a new week. yay. habs beat tampa bay 5-1. we're now tied in points with new jersey for the last playoff spot. oh yeah and speaking of rane, im pretty much up to date with lyrics. alan sent me the ones i was missing (except for cat stevens) and so now i dont sound like a doofus with the lyrics for the single color. oh and i made an mp3 of a non-lp track from 1997 from a tape. if anyone reading this with high speed wants to grab it from me, email me your aim name. thats it for me for now.
19/01/02(5pm)-not much doing here. not much happened yesterday nor last night. i got my hair cut yesterday. the dye is mainly gone except for the tips, i could use some styling wax though. thursday was the usual day of classes. dont think we went anywhere special. well i stand corrected. after doing some work i think we went out to frappé for a couple games of pool. that was about it. same with wed, didnt do much, just some work. got some more music. this band, starsailor from the UK. they're kinda like travis+coldplay, and their lead singer sounds like hes trying to be thom yorke of radiohead. but he's not. the music is somewhat gloomy and depressing. maybe ill check them out at cafe campus next week when they play with charlatans uk. but im not sure. got hoobastank's cd. interesting, a little hard, kinda sounds like a lighter "lateralus." id almost stick with tool instead. its a shame. hmv is phasing out their cd club card. so>>????now i dont get buy 10 cds, get 1 free anymore. so i was reading a review for booster's "loop in releaseddsdaddand it claimed to be better than st. germain. so, i decided to use my last free cd and get it. its really not bad. i like st. germain a lot better, but its pretty good nu-jazz, also from france like st. germain, and also off the infamous blue note records label. its a little jazzier, a little hip-hoppier, and a little less house than st. germain, but still not bad.
speaking of music, this spring seems to have some good shit coming into montreal concert venues. i dunno even what to do with it all...
19/01- The New Deal @ Club Soda (i think im going to that tonight)
26/01- Starsailor/Charlatans UK @ Café Campus
15/02- Weezer @ Molson Centre
13-17/03- Daniel Bélanger @ Le Spectrum
15/03- Noir Désir @ Metropolis
24/03- Herbie Hancock @ Metropolis
10-13/04- Daniel Bélanger @ Le Spectrum
21/04- Dave Matthews Band @ Molson Centre
so thats that tonight. habs game at 7 vs. tampa bay, then i might go to the new deal show at club soda (i hope i can still get tix), then apparently seth and nick's friend, doug, and dre and all them are having a party. so maybe after the new deal show, ill go meet them there if its not exceedingly late- (the new deal show starts at 11). thats about it for me now. gotta do some burning this weekend, gotta do some work, maybe check out italmelodie's 50% off garage sale with nick and john...
18/01/02(1030pm)-maybe ill update later. for now though, ive started elise off with a page. i just did a simple html couple liner, explained what tags are, etc. im going to have her study what i did, do some research on different tags, and then she's gonna write a basic page for herself that ill either host here for the time being, or have her register with angelfire or something like that. hers isnt included in the php conversion. i want her to learn basic html first. besides, its not like her first page will be complex enough. speaking of first pages, my first page was about 5 years ago. i believe the high school took it down from their site, but once i did that one, i also put one up on geocities. extremely basic. apparently though, its been seized by someone else now. check out what's happened to my former space on geocities.
17/01/02(210am)-nothing really happened today. all around. we'll skip to finishing off my grammy picks.
best female r&b vocal-alicia keys. tough category. and a posthumous nomination to aaliyah is kinda weird cause she does have a good voice, but i think alicia keys has it all around. she can sing, she can write, she can play...
best male r&b vocal-another tough category. between maxwell and brian mcknight. i always thought brian mcknights voice was good and i thought he was gonna win last year, but maxwell is pretty well established himself
best group r&b-survivor's not the best destiny's child track. city high could win this one, although i found there to not be much more substance than survivor. itll depend on how well beyonce's voice wins over the academy. and if the isley brothers win, shows over cause i dont even understand their music.
best r&b song-"fallin"
best r&b album-for all the same reasons, alicia keys' songs in a minor
best solo rap-we've come a ways since the rap of will smith's grammy win. another category with fine contenders, jay-z has been running rave reviews on his album. IZZO (H.O.V.A.) is a catchy song, but can it really win over the power of dmx "who we be"?
best group rap-id be surprised if outkast's "ms. jackson" didnt win. im kinda curious how gorillaz fits into the rap category- i woulda stuck them back with the alternative category. and gorillaz is doing well in its own right. problem is, ms. jackson had everyone singing, and lets face it, outkast is one of the more talented rap acts out there right now.
best rap collaboration-probably "let me blow ya mind." another catchy song, the two voices are somewhat contrasting. and the song was rather melodic. watch out for "where the party at."
best rap album-if i was to put a line on this, id call it even between outkast's stankonia and jay-z's the blueprint. these guys are both hella showmen and both have great lyrical skills that really reflect the art. outkast's overall sound tends to be a little more experimental, which originally made me more inclined to choose them to win, but could it go the other way also?
best new age-enya. its enya. who could beat enya that easily? in any case, i dont listen to new age, so its a mere guess.
best compilation soundtrack-please dont give to moulin rouge, please dont give to moulin rouge. give it to o brother, where art thou. its something original, something new and underexposed, and it makes you feel good.
best spoken comedy album-ray romano's live at carnegie hall. i have the album. its funny. lord only knows they'll give it to queens of comedy. but...everybody loves raymond.
song for tv/film-"my funny friend and me." cause they love sting, and its probably a good song.
best recording package-radiohead's amnesiac. havent seen the others, but radiohead uses some oef their own artwork and plays on themes. looks good.
best short form video-"weapon of choice." it cleaned mtv for everything against much similar competition. i dont see why it wouldnt win here
best long form video-Moby:PLAY. why not. its moby
and there you have it. all the grammy picks for this year's grammys that i'm gonna do. if theres anything that i forgot or someone thinks of some major category i forgot, ill tack it to my picks. good night
16/01/02(945pm)-ok. ive gotta do some stuff after this, ill do the rest of my grammy picks later. but heres another survey cause jeff loves to send them to me for some reason.
1. IF YOU COULD BUILD A HOUSE ANYWHERE, WHERE WOULD IT BE?
just outside of the downtown in a major city. not in the suburbs, but not in the downtown.
2. WHAT'S THE MOST MEMORABLE THING YOU HAVE READ?
fight club and brave new world. i love those books.
3. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE ARTICLE OF CLOTHING?
i just got this new charcoal-coloured peacoat. im digging it, particularly when i wear the felt fedora my parents got me in tucson. ive gotten more comments on that hat than any of my other hats.
4. FAVORITE PHYSICAL FEATURE OF THE OPPOSITE SEX?
eyes. hair. smile. like im finding that the overall pattern with me for girls that i like is brown-eyed brunettes. not to say i havent found other girls attractive, but the majority of them have been brown-eyed brunettes.
5. WHAT'S THE LAST CD THAT YOU BOUGHT?
ive bought way too many this year. way too many. in fact. my cd list is missing about 10 more. like take today for instance. walked into hmv and bought the starsailor cd (meh), and the hoobastank cd. iese incident cd, my live rane collection has grown by about 5 more concerts since i updated the list, theres sum41, the first travis album, kid koala, bullfrog, the new deal...all good music.
6. WHERE'S YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO BE?
in the city.
7. WHERE'S YOUR LEAST FAVORITE PLACE TO BE?
anywhere where im distracted from being myself.
8. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO BE MASSAGED?
who gives me massages?
9. WHAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT, STRONG IN MIND OR STRONG IN BODY?
strong in the mind. because we all die old and decrepid, but we could still die old and sharp-witted instead
10. WHAT TIME DO YOU WAKE IN THE MORNING?
an hour before class starts. and still not soon enough.
11. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW?
Simpsons and Everybody Loves Raymond. and montreal canadiens hockey :)
12. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE KITCHEN APPLIANCE?
the stove. what could be easier than ramen?
13. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE CHILDHOOD MEMORY?
i have no idea. i miss my dog though. i know she was a dog, but maybe its the fact that she couldnt talk back that made her always my friend. honestly i cant think of anything specific.
14. WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
laughter. i catch it easily.
15. WHAT MAKES YOU REALLY ANGRY?
backstabbers. friends that just abandon you and drop you off the face of the earth.
16. IF YOU COULD PLAY ANY INSTRUMENT, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
drums
17. FAVORITE RESTAURANT/CAFE/EATERY?
pepe's pizza in new haven, ct.
18. IF THERE WAS A MOVIE MADE ABOUT YOU, WHAT HOLLYWOOD STAR WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY YOU?
like i said, hayden christensen would be good. i never thought about it, but possibly.
19. DO YOU BELIEVE IN AFTERLIFE?
if theres no afterlife, then what difference does it all make?
20. FAVORITE CHILDREN'S BOOK?
i guess i used to like mike the kite. other than that, i dunno. i also used to like bill peet.
21. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SEASON?
winter. you can always put on more layers when you're cold, but when you're hot and naked, you cant strip down anymore and you're still hot.
22. WHAT'S YOUR LEAST FAVORITE SEASON?
summer :P
23. IF YOU COULD HAVE ONE SUPERPOWER, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
either extroversion or the ability to absorb knowledge easier.
24. IF YOU HAVE A TATTOO, WHAT IS IT?
i dont have one for religious reasons, but if i was to get one, id get a chai. but that would be kinda contradictory.
25.???
yes
26. CAN YOU JUGGLE?
no
27. THE SONG YOU WISHED YOU HAD WRITTEN?
any song by rane. their lyrics are more powerful and beautiful than any i know and i wish i could write like them.
28. DO YOU PREFER CATS OR DOGS?
dogs
29.???
maybe
30. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE DAY?
friday. kinda cliche but it means that the weeks over and i can do more work on the weekend.
31. FAVORITE SONG TO SING?
sing? i dunno. ill sing along with whatevers playing. cause i love music. radiohead's good, i wish i knew more of the words, or even everything he says. but i guess if you're putting playing and singing together, i think i spent most of my time doing rane songs. true, i dont know how to play them as well as they do, but im always playing along with the new live stuff as soon as i get my hands on it.
34. WHAT ONE WORD WOULD DESCRIBE YOU BEST?
lazy. theres more than enough things i need to do and just put it off to the point where if i did it off the bat, i wouldnt be so bad. i guess procrastinator has to go along with it.
(115am)-im actually trying to get to bed early? okay, well here goes. today was meh. classes were meh. after classes were meh. dinner was okay- nick made his specialty: stirfry. undeclared was kinda funny. 24 was meh (in comparison to other episodes). i spoke to my mom on the phone tonight about a lot of things. basically its like there so many things wrong right now and im trying to fix them all at once- move the entire mountain at once. and you cant do that. if you try to fix everything, you sometimes not only end up fixing nothing, but can also end up damaging it in the process. and that seems to be what ive been doing all since august is trying to fix a lot of things but doing more damage instead. its weird but some of the most basic advice i think my mom gave me could be what i need to get back on track. its like the days of high school, when we used to do goals. i remember foley would have us write goals each quarter and then assess how we did and how we achieved our goals. ...and we'd always write some stupid, nebulous goal like, "i want to write a page more on my essays." it wasnt a goal that was hard for us to achieve. we just had to do it, and then say something like "well i just used more quotes and expanded on them." so back then, it seemed like a stupid assignment. but my mom's right. thats what i need to do. take the two most important things i need to fix, pick the top one, and focus on that. and hopefully, everything else comes a little easier and maybe fixes itself along the way. its like everything else becomes more miserable as a result. plus nothing gets achieved. atleast you can have it written down and then when its done, you can say you achieved your goal. and even though its cheesy, you wrote it down and its there in print, not just a vague idea in your head. and thats what i need to do. sometimes the hardest questions in life are the simplest answered and if you look too hard, its passed you by.
moving on to something a little less meh...the nominations for the 2002 grammy awards came out and i forgot to post my grammy picks like i did last january. due to the fact that theres several picks to make, and my computer crashed after my fourth one, this is going to be a two day thing. also, i think im making shorter comments this time around. so without further ado...
Grammy Nominations (Eligibility Year October 1, 2000 through September 30, 2001).
without looking at any other reviews, here are my picks for the top categories (or atleast the ones i know...)
record of the year-alicia keys is gonna be the big winner this year, im already predicting it. shes up against a lot of competition with bands like U2 and india.arie. but i think that for record of the year, she'll win with "fallin'". its classical piano touch is enough to give the hip hop/r&b song the edge it needs to win her the award.
album of the year-no doubt love and theft by bob dylan. i havent heard/read a bad review of that album. havent actually heard the album, but the academy is more biased towards older, experienced artists and this album fits that kind of criteria.
song of the year-who died and nominated train? their song is extremely drab, dull, and musically uninteresting. the rest in this award easily have a shot. but this award is to the songwriter, not the song. i approach it this way. take the song, and pretend some other band is playing/singing it. how would the song hold up. i toss it up to "fallin'" or "i'm like a bird." nelly furtado didnt win all those juno awards here for nothing.
best new artist-alicia keys. there really is no contest.
best female pop vocal-nelly furtado. this isnt to say that theres some other person thats so worse than nelly furtado, but she swept the juno awards last year (canada's version of the grammy), and im not convinced that she's so horrible if shes done so well up here
best male pop vocal-this is a tricky category. again, all good names here. but ill go with craig david cause he's got a fresh sound, and from what i know, elton's song has kinda been meh.
best group pop-U2. this is where U2 starts their little collection. the song is a little surprising, but itll definitely get them the win. you have nsync and bsb as your competition. true, theres some musical merit but come on. U2's got lots more musical merit.
best pop collaboration-see my comment on album of the year and replace love and theft by bob dylan, to read "new york state of mind" by tony bennett and billy joel.
best dance recording-"one more time" by daft punk. this song almost ended up being a dance anthem at the end of 2001. the music is catchy. besides, i dont know the other competition, but this seems to be hedging a good bet.
best pop album-tough call between janet's and nelly furtado's. again, im willing to say nelly furtado for the same reason before (ill probably use that reason again too). nelly furtado's singing isnt so overwhelmingly original or fantastic, but its quite nice.
best female rock vocal-tori amos. just because i said so.
best male rock vocal-toss this up between mellencamp and dylan. i dunno how much patriotism is gonna factor into this years grammys, but i think im just gonna stick to dylan on this.
best group rock-i dunno, i like coldplay. that said, they wont win. put your money on U2, but beware because of the dave matthews band.
best hard rock-rage would be interesting, not sure about alien ant farm. id hate to see linkin park. P.O.D. would be my pick for who id like to win, but i have a feeling it'll be linkin park instead.
best metal-some nice songs in this one, but im inclined to pick "schism" by tool. tools album was great, and this was a good single, very much all over the place. system of a down's is very melodic, but tool's is kinda artsy all over. made me feel good.
best rock song-U2 better win this cause they've got 2/5 nominations for this category. i think that "elevation" will win. im not quite sure what "walk on" is doing in a rock category, but it should be good. again, ideally id like coldplay to win. but alas, no.
best rock album-U2's all that you cant leave behind. excellent album. well written, well textured. goes back to u2 roots. true aerosmith is aerosmith but face it, U2 made a good album out of this.
best alternative album-i completely dig the competition: coldplay, radiohead, bjork, fatboy slim, and lastly and least, tori amos. its gonna either be radiohead's amnesiac or bjork's vespertine. i havent heard bjorks album but i hear its good. amnesiac is really good. so. ill say either of those two, but leaning towards bjork.
and thats all you get for tonight...r&b, rap, and more, coming soon...
15/01/02(2am)-suffice to say, it was a fairly shitty day. classes were meh. going to reread my canadian politics final bombed miserably. my prof wouldnt work with me on why i could write a 3 hour exam without bullshitting and yet still do poorly. meeting with an advisor is nearly impossible until after add/drop. theres turmoil inside the apartment. the habs lost. the upside is i got back in the habit of my cooking night and made rigatoni with a kinda homemade cheese sauce. used the cookbook mom gave me for hanukkah. came in handy. speaking of things hanukkah...my mom got me that star trek calendar with the ships and its hanging on the wall next to my bed, so there andrew. :-P anywho...i forget what else actually went on around here, the mood's just kinda been, as margaret would put it, fsdlkj.
so tomorrow is us politics, russian history, and going for coffee. possibly also go for a haircut and some laundry. as for the evening, who knows, probably more work. im in a radiohead kinda mood so ill jet with the lyrics of "like spinning plates," off of amnesiac.
While you make pretty speeches,
I'm being cut to shreds.
You feed me to the lions,
a delicate balance
When this just feels like spinning plates.
I'm living in cloud cuckoo land.
And this just feels like spinning plates
Our bodies floating down the muddy river.
14/01/02(215am)-i know, ive been a little busy this weekend. and my goal of having the entire website recoded wasnt quite fulfilled either. i actually got more work on that done when my highspeed wasnt working than when it is. im gonna have to fix that. so to make a long story short, the weekends been kinda interesting. im meeting this girl for coffee on tuesday so that'll be chill. got more work to do still. found an awesome pool hall, sharx. kinda classy but a nice place to go and better than frappé, albeit much farther away. i saw mora judd on friday so that was cool. so me, rob, seth, and nick were shooting pool against her and her friend and then some first-years and some australian guys. there was an article on moras art gallery at mcgilldaily.com and her exhibit there starts saturday. speaking of saturday, i wanna see the new deal at club soda.
yesterday was a chill day here and last night was the habs-leafs game in t-dot. it was a 1-1 tie, we shoulda won on savage's goal with 7:09 in the 3rd, but the video goal judges ruled it intentional (local call) and we only got a tie. damn its windy out. anywho, suffice to say, i met the guys and the girls at vocalz cause they were headed there after supersexe (i stayed home to watch the game). it was meh. that was about it. and today was chill until me rob and nick went to peel pub for dinner. we were supposed to meet seth there but he was 55 min late, and we left after 50 min and went to sharx for some pool. that was about today.
and so tomorrow starts a new week. ive gotta try and be on campus early, then is classes, then more stuff i gotta do- tomorrow nights my night to cook again. looks like ill be making use of the cookbook my mom got me for hanukkah. i guess thats about it for me til the next time. ill probably be busy, ive gotta do laundry and whatnot. maybe if i think of something to say, i'll have to say it.
12/01/02(245am)-okay, im quite a bit drunkled. ill elaborate on tonight maybe tomorrow but suffice to say, seths friend from NY, rob, came up today so me and seth and rob and nick went to frappe went out tonight. like i said, ill talk about that tomorrow, but ill try my hand at a survey in the meantime instead. we'll see what kind of answers i get while im fizzed out...
1. What is your job?
second year student at mcgill university/summer bank teller (i worked for first federal savings last summer but now that they merged as of labour day weekend, i dunno where im gonna work this summer)
2. What do you enjoy most about your job?
school? being in montreal. banking? working with people and getting to develop better inter-personal skills
3. If you could be someone else for a day who would it be?
no idea at all. absolutely no idea. i should be michel therrien for a day, make all the necessary changes in the habs lineups, playing strategies, etc, and get our habs into a stanley cup final
4. Gold or silver?
brushed silver can be kinda pretty
5. What was the last film you saw at a cinema?
i believe it was lord of the rings at the paramount theatres, opening day here in montreal for 7.50. i dont think i saw any movies over break at a cinema.
6. Favorite cartoon character?
well who doesnt like calvin and hobbes. buth other than that? i like jeremy from the strip "zits" he may be a few years younger than me but he and his dad and his mother are EXACTLY like me and my parents so its a strip that both my parents and i both read and relate to.
7. What do you eat for breakfast?
i stopped eating breakfast last year, when i started skipping breakfast time for more sleep. so instead i grab a medium cup of coffee, 2 cremes, 2 sugars and usually that holds me til lunch.
8. Who would you hate to be left in a room alone with?
those whiny annoying people that may be interested in you, but whom you have no interest in and its bad enough that you have a hard time making friends, but then to make friends with them.... ok so maybe im guilty of being one of those people, but the fact that im in the middle may mean something...
9. Can you touch your nose with your tongue?
no
10. What's your middle name?
mitchel. thats with one "L" not two.
11. Beach or City?
city. definitely. if i wanted beach, i woulda gone to U of Hawaii
12. Summer or winter?
winter. i live it almost 8 months a year
13. How old were you with your first real kiss?
a sad 15
14. Butter, plain, or salted popcorn?
plains fine. well a little salt. ok, more like popcorn that tastes like orville's
15. Best memory?
i hate these kind of questions cause we're constantly creating best memories
16. Favorite sandwich filling?
blt. or club.
17. Characteristics I despise?
people who abandon you
18. Favorite flower?
fleur-de-lis. ha!
19. If you won the lotto, how soon before you told anyone?
i cant keep my own secrets, so everyone i know would know in minutes
20. Fizzy or still water?
still water. by the way, fizzy water is the same as soda water. and soda is not the same as pop.
21. What color is your bathroom?
here? its like this kinda greyish tile with white cabinets/toilettes/tub
22. How many keys are on your key ring?
front door key, upstairs door key, room key, suitcase key. thats my keys for here and thats all i need.
23. Where would you retire?
where ever im done working.
24. Can you juggle?
not at all
25. Favorite excercise?
exercise?
26. Red or white wine?
sparkling white
27. What did you do on your last birthday?
i went to st. sulpice with david and seth (and i cant remember if nick went) and got completely trashed and although it wasnt much like any other night ive been out here in montreal, its the first time i actually got to go to a bar on my birthday (i wasnt here in time last year). plus, that made me legal throughout all of canada, so i can now drink in ontario also.
28. Where do you food shop?
either at metro or the dep a block down the street
29. do you carry a donor card?
i dont think so. i wanna be a donor but the lady said no when i put it on my license app- even with my mom standing behind my shoulder
30. half empty or half full?
what you got there?
31. one wish you have for the new year?
making more friends so im not necessarily limiting myself
32. best friends?
starting to wonder...
33. favorite food?
poutine and pepes pizza.
35. whered question 34 go?
this is question 34, with a number 35 replacing it... meaning 35 is the question that's really missing
36. do you want to answer this question?
there you go
37. whats your new years resolution?
a whole new spencer. period.
09/01/02(2am)-dont really feel like much an update now. im writing for french class what i did over break and its sad cause i didnt do a damn thing over break other than bitch about how break sucked. other than that, i went to the habs game with nick and seth and we smeared the islanders' asses, 4-0. mad props to théodore with the shutout. then we went to brutopia and then somehow hit up 2 burger kings and a mcdonalds on the way back home. short of all that, not much happened at all today, so maybe tomorrrow will make up something. more next time...
09/01/02(11pm)-i hate jeff and his surveys. theres two of em now. :P... the first one is ridiculous and the second one seems serious. and im not even in that mindframe right now
1. In your past life, what popular military dictator were you?
i think this is a word association thing and i thought castro, but he's still alive. so then i thought, hitler. but hitler reincarnated as a full jew would just be some weird karma trip that i wouldnt want to play. so how bout vlad the impaler. ouch.
2. You just pissed off you significant other. How do you make it up to them?
write a song about them and play it to/for them. that and give them something like a rose
3. Gimme your favorite city in the world. Why now would you choose that city? Where would you hang out there?
montreal. a) i live here b) its an awesome city c) i would hang out at my apartment or shoot pool at frappe. okay maybe its not my most favourite city, but if i hated being here so much, i should think i woulda left for somewhere else. nobody else realises montreals potential so i think they should visit
4. I'm serving for dinner tonight rack of lamb. What type of wine do you suggest I serve with it?
why rack of lamb? ok, im no wine expert, but i know a nice rosee or a red wine would be good, something possibly sweet with a little sharpness.
5. Regular or decaf?
regular, 2 cremes, 2 sugars
6. What are you wearing to your funeral?
a shroud
7. At said funeral, what would you like to say about the deceased (you)?
im not writing my epitath at age 19.
8. Who is the coolest MothaFucka who's ever lived?
dave thomas
9. What becomes of the broken hearted?
who have love that's now departed? i know ive got to find some kind of piece of mind. help me, please
10. When's the last time you were really kissed? I mean, really good and kissed?
oh dear. that really says something...
11. What's the cruelest thing you've ever done, you bastard? Did you feel guilty about it? Do you even have it in your icy heart to feel guilty?
i dunno, im not a cruel person. im not the kind of person who holds grudges for too long, or seeks vengeance. its usually forgive, but not forget.
12. And what's your greatest phobia?
i say it once and i say it again, fear of aloneness
13. Ever been to a therapist? Why?
no
14. Revenge: Insult or Injury?
not comprehending the question. i guess revenge is only good and insulting if youre prepared for its potential negative consequences
15. I want to piss you off. How do I go about doing that?
make me feel like a third wheel. or like you pretend to be a close friend and just leave me at your whim
16. Godzilla and King Kong are duking it out. Who do you bet on?
go-dzilla
17. You come to another funeral. Apparently, God is dead, and He left you nothing in his will. What will you say for His eulogy?
but how?
18. Ever danced with The Devil in the pale moonlight? Was he a Cha-Cha man, or more of a Tango fellow?
tango
19. How are you doing today?
oy
Here's a little survey for y'all to read:
1. Do you prefer to sleep with or without underwear?
underwear. underwear and my mcgill scrubs.
2. If you were to describe yourself as a food, what would you be and why?
a food? why would i want to be a food?
3. If you knew you'd be fine financially, what you'd your dream career be?
i just thought way to deep into the question so ill just say a musician. not a rock star, i dont want all the rock star hype, fad, etc...if i knew id be financially secure, id like to expunge all my talent and be a musician, going out on the road, seeing the world, meeting new people, expressing myself, playing my songs...but thats different then what i plan on being i guess...
4. If you could be a fly on the wall, where would you be?
club supersexe. ahahahahah! ok maybe id like to be a fly on the wall at some famous art studio or recording studio. i dunno, im so much more interested in the arts.
5. Do you feel that your friends really know the "true" you?
theres probably one or two of them that do. the rest are friends with preconceived notions from past actions that never factor in the aging process into knowing me
6. When you feel totally comfortable with someone, name something you will do in front of them that you wouldn't before:
be completely candid- make eye contact more, drop whatever defences and hangups i have...
7. Fly or Drive?
i like flying. driving is okay but who wants to be cooped in a car. and when you're at the wheel for long distances, its meh...ive done it- driven montreal to hartford myself, and its a pain in the ass.
8. Any Phobias?
being alone, friendless. someone once said we come into the world cold, naked, and alone, and we leave this world cold, naked, and alone. i hope it doesnt turn out that way.
9. Name one thing you have to see in a significant other.
sincerity
10. Close your eyes and transport yourself anywhere - where are you?
ive got a guinness glass in front of me, the first thing i thought was ireland. but i dunno. close my eyes and transport myself somewhere, it would have to be some kinda hitchhike journey through europe. i just wanna tour europe and see it all. and in all places i want to see right now, thats it
11. This question was deleted by someone.
12. If you've only had oral sex and never intercourse, are you still a virgin?
yeah
13. Your family: wonderful support or very frustrating?
Both, but that's kinda the definition of a family ;-) (what jeff said)
14. What counts more: physical attributes or personality?
id say both. whoever said looks arent everything was only kidding themself. not to put off personality, but if you can make yourself look good, it reflects on a better image. as babies, we all start off good looking, and as we go on, we control our own looks. so why not make the most of them before we look like crap when we're old. personality goes along with it.
15. If you were going to drown, name the liquid you'd want to drown in:
id say some hard liquor. say maybe vodka. that way by the time it comes that i have to be taking it in, i'd get myself drunk enough to pass out and i wouldnt have even known i drowned. it would numb it all.
16. What is something you know you don't really need, but you indulge yourself anyway?
poutine
17. Intelligence: nerdy or sexy?
sexy. theres some sharp lookin people at this school and in this city that are no dummies
18. Name something you want to experience before you die:
life. right now, i wish i was living life to its potential
19. If you could invite any one person past or present to dinner, who would it be?
famous, im assuming? i think it would be neat to meet with some great thinker like gandhi or lennon or someone like that...who's words of wisdom probably sound better and more authentic from their own mouths than books of quotes.
20. Do you feel that marriage is taken seriously?
im iffy on that. ive never been married so id have a hard time commenting on that. definitely theres stuff that goes on these days
21. Is sex without emotions possible?
no. physical attraction is an emotion and you're having sex with someone you're not attracted to, somethings wrong.
22. If your life were being made into a movie, who would you choose to play the role of you?
hayden christiansen hah! :)
23. If you could be the underwear on any one person, who's underwear would you be?
why would i wanna be some dudes drawers?
24. If you could ask any person one question, what would it be and to whom?
im going to bypass the "ask a dictator 'why'" question and say that id like to ask jeff why he gives me these surveys :P or maybe just ask the beatles how they made their music. how you get out whats inside?
25. Did this survey make you think or just drive you nuts?
it made me think. it made me think that in about 5 minutes, im doing another survey :P
(2am)-im slowly tinkering around with relinking on many of the sites. now that most of the rane section of my site is relinked, i changed the link on the navigation button bar. so the mp3 and any of the rane pages of my site are now linked to their proper php pages. i hope that by the end of this weekend, i can have the html pages permanently deleted off the site and the php pages instead.
08/01/02(730pm)-new record for hits. right now as of 730, there's been 146 hits throughout my site today. class today- us politics and russian history. russian history should be cool. after class, went to simons and bought a new scarf to go with the peacoat instead of the dinky neckwarmer that didnt even cover my chest. got some food, that was about it for the day. gonna watch undeclared and 24 tonight on fox and do some reading. hopefully i dont fall asleep now that ive got my glasses. also, i cleaned up my rane lyrics compendium. its a lot cleaner since its in the php, plus i was able to make it so the songs are at the top, and you can click on a song title and it brings you to that song, rather than having to scroll down an entire page to find the song you want. its pretty good. now i need to know why my phone isnt working...
(240am)-oy, im on a roll being buzzed so heres a survey...
1. LIVING ARRANGEMENT
10 1/2 room apartment with 4 other guys. we all have our own bedrooms, plus the kitchen, bathroom, study, sunroom, etc....come up to montreal, id love visitors
2. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW
outside of class books? im into a couple. theres lord of the rings (tolkien), executive orders (clancy), jihad vs. mcworld (non fiction polisci), and the cheerios box.
3. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
im on a touchpad laptop so i dont really need a pad, but ive got a mini usb mouse, so ive also got a compusa pad
4. FAVORITE BOARD GAME
scrabble
5. FAVORITE SMELLS?
poutinE? pepes pizza. when dinner is not burning in the stove
6. WORST FEELING?
aloneness
7. FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING?
aw shit, cant i just sleep another 1/2 hr? how bout skipping class, maybe seth is going. man maybe i should get up. a shower will wake me up. nope, that didnt do it. need coffee.
8. FAVORITE COLOR?
colour is spelled with a "u" and id say mine is paisley. either that or black or white (or black and white
9. HOW MANY RINGS BEFORE YOU ANSWER THE PHONE?
if im downstairs the answering machine usually gets to it first. if im in my room, odds are im at my computer so im next to it and get it before the second ring.
10. FUTURE CHILD'S NAME?
i was thinking harland. cause his nickname would be harley. what about oliver? or leonard? somehow noam always worked into my list of good names. if i have a girl, who knows what then. i still got time. actually, first i need to find a girl, then we'll worry about kids.
11. WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT IN LIFE?
not being alone. being extroverted.
12. FAVORITE FOODS?
poutine and pepe's pizza.
13. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?
cookies and cream
14. DO YOU LIKE TO DRIVE FAST?
yes, a good 15 miles over the limit never hurt anyone provided you can still drive safe at that speed.
15. DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL?
they're in my closet instead
16. STORMS - COOL OR SCARY?
boring
17. WHAT TYPE WAS YOUR FIRST CAR?
i dont have one. i just drive my moms volvo or my dads maxima. but id like to get a passat. that aint happening til im earning a salary job
18. IF YOU COULD MEET ONE PERSON DEAD OR ALIVE
well i know rane personally. theres so many other famous people its hard to decide. i guess id like to meet someone in music, ask them how they do it, how they come up with ideas for lyrics, how they come up with chord progressions for songs, etc...i think id like to meet the beatles as a whole, find out how they created songs. where the process comes from, how to find it within you and be able to reflect who you are through music....i couldnt just single one beatle out cause the beatles are a group. they acted like a group, they performed like a group, and they reached the world as a group.
19. FAVORITE ALCOHOLIC DRINK?
im a stickler for something sweet and simple- rum and coke, gin and tonic, vodka-cranberry, long island ice tea....usually if im ordering, thats what ill get. black velvet's are also good if youre in the mood for a little guinness. and if you want beer, a sleeman's honey brown lager is the way to go. but outside of canada, i doubt you can find sleemans cause its brewed in guelph, ontario.
20. WHAT IS YOUR ZODIAC SIGN
leo
21. DO YOU EAT THE STEMS OF BROCCOLI?
yeah, thats the only part of the broccoli i eat
22. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY JOB YOU WANTED WHAT WOULD IT BE?
i would like to be a musician. you need raw, natural talent for that, but i'd like to be that. id like to be able to better express myself, be able to allow for my emotions to pour out in a form that anyone could understand. instead ill settle for law, possibly something dealing with music though, so that i wont be out of it all. and international would be nice.
23. IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY COLOR WHAT WOULD IT BE?
ive alreay dyed it blond now. but i wouldnt mind bleaching it instead of blond.
24. IS THE GLASS HALF EMPTY OR HALF FULL?
depends on what you filled it with
25. FAVORITE MOVIES?
fight club, amelie, matrix, clockwork orange, wallace and gromit shorts, gladiator, black sheep...im waiting for amelie to come out on dvd...
26. DO YOU TYPE WITH YOUR FINGERS ON THE RIGHT KEYS
95% of the time
27. WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED?
some rubbermaid containers with stuff in them
28. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE NUMBER?
number combinations using 82182 (ie 8, 21, 821, 82) or 144
29. FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH?
hockey. and the occasional rugby or curling
30. WHO'S YOUR SECRET CRUSH? (COME ON SPILL THE BEANS!)
honestly, theres a couple of girls. im still partial to stiner but...theres a few other good looking girls here in montreal that i wouldnt mind hooking up with. now i just need to get them and im all set. there's also this girl jenny who's friends with jeff's sister is pretty good looking also. though i have no idea what her deal is...
(2am)- ok, ive been on a roll with these updates. i was able to fix the brief problem with the picture on my site. i realised they were uploaded as ascii instead of binary files. php has to be uploaded as ascii files, but graphics have to be uploaded as binary files. so anyways. me and dave and nick went to shoot pool at frappé tonight. meh. then some ugly french girls came and tried to be wiley on us while they were challenging us for the table. it didnt work cause they were ugly. blunt, but true. so that was that. anywho. rane pics from the 12.28.01 equator show(dont mind an error on the song cause i didnt remember exactly the setlist when i was captioning them) and also, a brand new rane song will soon be put on my mp3 page (hopefully by this weekend when i alleviate some server space- its making me not be able to upload all the stuff i want but part of it is currently up there, just not the last 4.5 megs) and the lyrics can be found on myrane lyrics page. im buzzed, so night all.
07/01/02(630pm)- well after a little help from jeff and a little luck, i was able to fix my cable modem without any of the need to call tech support. dunno how we did it but it miraculously got fixed with jeff's patience (he was helping me from work) and some weird luck on my part. so im glad i was able to fix it because it was really really bothering me.
so today i woke up around 930, went to my 1030 french class where a few people hadnt come back yet from holiday. not too bad though. then was modern european history. you know, in some respects, i wish i had taken history courses before polisci cause they would have helped a lot since politics is a result of historical events :P one of the books is pretty intensive, but really informative. after that i went to lunch at shatner. but nick and i have opposite schedules this semester so he wasnt there and we cant shoot pool at lunch. maybe dave will. i thought jewish history was at 230 but it was at 130 so i ended up missing it trying to get my european history books. couldnt find my russian history books. oh well. so i came home, worked on my computer problem and here i am. thats about it for now. seth comes home tonight so we'll probably go out. and other than that, nick and i are gonna watch jeopardy now. more later
(1am)- its been a few days since ive updated. unfortunately, i cant reconnect to the cable modem cause my network settings are fucked up. not sure exactly what the problem is since my settings are exactly the way dave and nick's are and plus nothing should be wrong. so i even bought a new dongle-less network card, thinking maybe the problem is the card is broken with the dongle, but that didnt even solve it. so basically since videotron said they wont help me because of the router, i can see myself being thrown around between tech supports for my cable isp, my network card, my router, and hewlett packard's windows support. its not gonna be pretty and i hate dialup. plus you only get so many free hours and mcgill has like 12 free hours on the DAS. :P i dont understand it and the internet isnt made for dialup connections anymore. gone are the days of 56k like when i first started on aol 6 or 7 years ago.
so that said, ive had some freer time and got about 30 out of 180 pages coded to the new php format. unfortunately, i havent been able to test them online, but i hope to get a bunch more done and have the entire site fully coded in the next two weeks. ive been seeing some problems on some computers where the side navigation bar buttons spread themselves out along the entire side of the page, where on some computers it doesnt do that. yet another question ill have to ask jeff. i have a feeling it could be a browser problem, but that is why i say that its best used with IE 6.0. even so, id like to fix it. in terms of the updating, its a little sketchy until this network problem is fixed cause its still harder to do via dialup since its slower. like i say, im righteously pissed.
well other than the problems with my highspeed connection, since wednesday, it went a little something like this:
i honestly dont remember much of what i did, pretty much because i was bored with being busy. one day i went to the dentists. i also bought a pair of shoes (so i dont have to wear sneakers), i think that was thursday. well the dentists was thursday i think. i dont even know cause it was all really boring. i went to the rane space on thursday night. brian lee gave me tapes from 8.12.98 starbucks acoustic and 6.7.97 arch st. tavern. that one was 2 months exactly before my first rane show. and the starbucks one was my second show, i remember some of the stuff they said. but theres a song on the arch st. tavern show that was never released, and if it wasnt for these missing tapes, would have been forgotten. but ive transcribed the words and so ill be adding them to the rane lyrics site. (dead link until i convert that page)
Rane, "Decisions," c 1997, lyrics by Greg Pastor (non-album track)
Sleep, and you will dream
Dream, and you will see
See, and you will believe
Believe, and you will be free
Decisions in my heart
Decisions in my dream
This always seems the question
I don't know where to start
Should I make ends fall
Should I let them slip, through the seas
Our hearts
Our search
A winding road
Every turn we hold
Is a piece of what we know
Should I try to say
All the things I've said
Yesterday
And you sleep...
so basically i sat and listened to them practice "the gauge" which didnt even sound like there was anything wrong with it, but they were figuring out whether to play on the tick or to the left of the tick, and i could barely tell at that speed. basically it still sounded great. chilled with the guys for a bit, showed them my pics and the LAWKI taping, and then left. no more rane shows til may :(
friday i had a job interview at rockville bank for the summer, ran some errands with my dad. that was about it. friday night, i went to the concatellis and we all talked for a while. to be honest, i thought there was gonna be more people there, but it was just me, margaret, andrew, sarah, carrie, and julie. basically indicative of where the rest of break went. and basically i dont feel so bad right now that i didnt see anyone else. if they really wanted to see me before i left, they would have given me a call. im tired of making a wasted effort. and other than that, i dont think i did much during the rest of my break to be honest. friday afternoon i picked up my reading glasses at dr. delucas. nothing much else. i stayed up real late packing on friday night and then woke up real early for the airport on saturday. had to get screened 3 times. once to get through the gate. then the kid at the ticket counter at the gate thought i was on the 640 toronto flight (yes an earlier flight than mine). so he had me screened because the FAA requires one random screening per flight (yeah, like thats gonna help). so since i was screened but i didnt count, he had to go onto the plane and pull someone else off. meanwhile, they found out that since my screening didnt count, i had to be rescreened (the third time) immediately prior to my own flight. so thus, i was screened three times. fun is eh? and i was the only one on my flight. seriously. so that was coming up here. the funny thing was, when i got into canadian customs, with all my prescription refills and everything, they didnt even bother to ask if i had anything to declare. ha! then there was some kid from nova scotia who was hitchhiking to ottawa and he was playing my guitar while i was waiting for the shuttle to downtown
i finally got back into my apartment about 10ish. not much doing here. dave came back tonight around 6ish. did a little shopping yesterday. got the bullfrog cd, the kid koala cd, and the new deal's cd. all really good cds and a little bit interesting. so i filled up my third hmv card this year and now i can get another cd :) went back to sleep for a while last night and then we went out. i coded the 30 pages last night while nick went to meet someone at le swimming. then i went to meet him and carly at frappé. she's a pretty nice girl. and so it being my first night back, and the first time in a while ive been able to drink, i had quite a few. it was kinda fun. and we also shot pool. came back and i fell right asleep.
today was a ho hum day. didnt do much of anything. slept til around 1ish. i tried to reconfigure my schedule, but the only thing left is jewish history, i wanna drop, but the other history course im taking are full :/ so i gotta see if people drop it and then try and swipe their place to get into us history. so i went to the bookstore, but i forgot that the bookstore is closed on sundays. so i had seen this peacoat in the underground yesterday for 80$. cause they're doing their post-boxing day 50-90% off sales at most of the underground. so its like get the deals while you can. so yesterday i saw a peacoat for 80$ cdn. now normally they're about 150-200$+ but this was 80. so i was like, a deal is a deal. 200$ peacoat for 80$. and its charcoal colour and 3/4 length. its really nice and a good touch for the new spencer image. :) and dave came home today. that was about it for big news today. seth comes back late tomorrow and then john comes back tuesday.
so to close it up, dialup blows. but luckily, i dont have to use up all my mcgill hours cause during the time it took to write, ive re-downloaded juno, so now ive got free dialup on the net, i just wish i was on highspeed again. 1030 tomorrow am is french class. 1130 is modern european history, and as of now, 230 is jewish history but again, im thinking of dropping that one. one more final thought to round out this update...openmike online finally has pictures from last weeks open mic and there's one of me. it says its under construction so maybe theres more pictures to come. cool!
02/01/02(1am)-
well this is it. we're now at v.7.0- the php version. for those of you who didnt check out www.smalrus.com/mp3.php, then you are missing out on the fun. ok, well maybe its not fun for me since i have to revert back from my wysiwyg editor (Frontpage), to doing hand coding. and man, after not having hand coded for a good 3 or 4 years, i forgot how tedious it is :)
on first impression, you may notice the tables and colours were cleaned up, and they look a lot neater. in addition, the site loads a lot faster. this is thanks to my good friend Jeff Wilhelm and his computership geniousity (as well as his time and endless patience- or so it seems :)) who sat with me on new years day and completely ripped apart my old html and put it back together as the php you see here now. the good thing with the php is that if i decide to change things, instead of changing it 160+ times, i can change it once and it'll change on all the pages. in time, i hope to use this advantage for adding things like search engine and possibly other stuff (to spare technical details, ill just say that it's only doable with php and not html.)
today i went to the pulmonologist. to make a long story short, he says theres underlying wheezing (although i dont hear anything wrong with myself). and cvs wouldnt refill my prescriptions right. but i did get my rane pictures back (finally) and after cleaning all 30 or so of them up, ill work on putting them up tomorrow night (wow, i gotta remember the code again :P) some came out good, others i dont know if it was me or cvs who was at fault. that was about it.
tonight i open mic-ed at peaberry's cafe in simsbury. no one came to see me, but it was okay because it was a little less pressuring on me (even though i was nervous as hell). basically the setlist i had been working with was scrapped 1/2 hr before i went on and did my 2 (instead of 3) songs- sound of sleep and broca's aphasia (both by rane). but aside from a few inconspicuous booboos on guitar, i did better than last open mic. and i met a few guys who knew matt soycher and went to a few rane shows. actually, they were at equator on fri. and also at the after show party at the space.
well since tomorrow i gotta get up early, and i forgot that doing coding takes an extra few minutes...tomorrow i gotta do some preliminary summer job hunting and whatnot, then ive got a 2pm dentists appt, then im coming home for whatever, then i'm going to jam with rane at their space (and get brian's copy of the 08.07.97 starbucks show), and then whatever. its just over 48 hrs til i have to get up for my flight....
one more thing...i found out my uncle's got a web page. he's a big ham (as in ham radio), and he finally made himself a page. if you want to see what kind of equipment he's got, its up there. or you can download his qsl card. or get with the rest of the radio world and try finding him on the airwaves- call sign: kg9jp. its actually pretty fascinating (even if i still like doing web pages over radio...
01/01/02(1120pm)-
all is quiet on new year's day
a world in white, gets underway
and i want to be with you, be with you
night and day
nothing changes on new year's day
on new year's day
i will be with you again
i will be with you again
under a blood red sky
a crowd has gathered in black and white
arms entwined, the chosen few
newspaper say, says, say it's true, it's true
and we can break through
though torn in two, we can be one
i, i will begin again
i, i will begin again, yeah
~U2
happy new
year, whoopdeedoodeedo :P 4 new live rane mp3s on my site...
year in
review...hm yeah thats not happening for a bit, if at all. this week is
busy and i have a 720am flight back to montreal. yesterday, i woke up and
went to the bank with my mom so we could wire up my money to canada for second
semester. then i hung around here and tried to find some plans for new
years. scott was going down with the youth group to new years so i was
stuck with elise and lindsey til i could finally get a hold of sarah d. so
i went over the the concatellis' for about 45 min, then came back here, sarah
and i chilled til midnight, margaret was nice enough to give me a call from
chicago, and then we left to check out first night in hartford around
1230am. hah, yeah it didnt even look like there was a party other than
some people wafting out of the bars. and absolutely nothing was open but
vernon diner. so we went to vernon diner- the only place thats still open
past 11. im now completely convinced that connecticut sucks. and two
people from RI have confirmed that even providence is better than
hartford. came back, i went to bed and woke up today around 1145.
went to
jeffs around 215. he basically deassembled my page and reassembled it in
php. and so, im sort of ready to streamline the page to php. the
thing is, i tried it with a few other pages and it came up with errors, so im
gonna see what jeff says and then try again. but the working page is at www.smalrus.com/mp3.php
on that page, you'll be able to see what v.7.0 of the smalrus website will
be. and its gonna be easier for me to expand on my pages on the entire
site at once. so if i add a search engine eventually, i'll be able to put
it on the entire site by editing one file. anyways, because of the php, my
site will look a lot cleaner as well as will load faster. and as the site
becomes more finished, the old .html pages will be deleted off the
server. so then we headed over here for lasagna and im bumming
around here.
tomorrow am,
i gotta drop my dad off at work, i gotta go to the pulmonologists at 1030,
refill his perscriptions at cvs, pick up my pics from the rane shows, and
practice for open mic. then im open micing at this place in simsbury,
peaberrys cafe, i think its from 7-9pm. not sure where exactly other than
on hopmeadow road. got a bit of practicing to do tomorrow though.
and this weekend maybe ill do some work on my php. thurs, ive got a
dentists appt and then im probably gonna jam with rane at their space. and
friday i dont know whats doing. its the day before i leave and all of a
sudden, theres people who didnt see me all of break and now they're running
against time. but i dont feel bad about it. apparently we're just
drifting apart... "you're driftwood floating underwater, breaking into
pieces, pieces, pieces. just driftwood hollow and of no use, waterfalls
will find you, bind you, grind you. and you really didn't think it would happen
but it it really is the end of the line. so I'm sorry that you turned to
driftwood, but you've been drifting for a long, long time..."
(travis) and then friday am is my 720 flight. so thats that.
i want a
doggy...i miss mine...
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