Friday April 25, 2008

My little sister graduated college with a baby. Way to go Joanna! :)

Thursday April 3, 2008

Sometimes when I’m staring at my computer, surfing the Internets for hours on end, I forget I’m in Toronto. On the Internet, you’re everywhere. And nowhere specific. Then some random loud noise from outside will snap me back into reality, like, whoa… According to Ray Kurzweil, a man who has a lot to say about technology and the future, one day humans will be able to upload our consciousnesses into computers and no longer be tied to physical bodies (who’s only real function is to keep the brain alive (which it’s apparently just barely doing anyways for much of the population)). So we’ll be able to zip around the Internet, go wherever we want, communicate with whoever we want instantly… There’s complications with this scenario of course, like developing multiple personalities by just copying the data that is your consciousness, or Bell throttling your connection speed if you don’t pay enough. Hell, if Bell is still the boss of the Internet infrastructure (ie. the phone lines) when this consciousness-uploading technology is possible, then I think I”ll opt to stay with my physical model.

It’s really quite nice outside! Get off the damned Internet.

Monday March 31, 2008

I got drunk tonight and installed Linux! Kubuntu 7.10 to be exact, in case you were an uber-geek and were wondering. Unfortunately I don’t quite know enough uber-geeks, at least in the Linux field, and was reliant on my brother to get this thing up and running. But for some weird reason he decided he needed to sleep. This was supposed to be simple! Well, it was.. an adventure. But now I’m up and running. I can use the Internets, chat on MSN/GTalk, play Solitaire… What more could one possibly need from a computer? My system will dual-boot (I hope!) so if I absolutely need Windows I can still get back to it. But for now, this whole idea of free, open-source software really appeals to me.

Last night, Kayla’s belated birthday party. It was fun! All the cool people were there. Apparently I left early. But on the way home I randomly walked into a random bar that I heard music coming from, and was very surprised when I ran into the waitress, who I last saw serving me coffee at the Bean Cellar! Life has been full of weird random coincidences lately.

Goodnight!

Wednesday March 19, 2008

I’m really sick of getting sports stories in my news feeds. I don’t care about sports! Now even if they’re local. I never played sports, I only watch them when there’s friends and liquor involved, and I just don’t even want to read the headlines. Most newspapers, in print or on the Internet, have a whole section set apart for sports. And these sections on the web usually have their own RSS feed too. The Toronto Star has about 100 separate RSS Feeds for all your different interests. SO, if I wanted Sports, I would subscribe to the Sports RSS. When I subscribe to Local New, Top Stories, International News, etc, I DON’T want Sports headlines delivered to my feed reader. I want NEWS! But the sports come anyways, because some ass-hat has decided that sports stories constitute local news. Whoever you are, fuck off already! If I find out where you live I’m going to come beat you nearly to death with a rolled up sports section. </rant>

Monday March 17, 2008

 Jon’s guide to getting a good sleep every night

 - 6 ounces of vodka before bed

- 2 ibuprofen & 1+  cup(s) of coffee in the morning

- regular liver transplants

Tuesday March 11, 2008

I absolutely HATE birds! Like, really really hate them! It’s not just that I was prematurely woken up by hordes of the damned creatures outside my window several mornings in a row now, though that has contributed largely to this outburst. But when you look into a birds’ eyes, you can see, they are pure evil! They have no soul. Not that I believe in souls to start with, but whatever quality it is that gives most humans and some cats and monkeys possess that gives the illusion of having a soul, it is clearly lacking in birds. They would pluck out your babies eyes in front of you and squak in delight to all its friends. Or associates. I doubt birds have real friends. Many nature documentaries have convinced me that birds are the most conniving, thieving, backstabbing species out there. Oh, their cries! Think of the call of the seagull, hawk, turkey vulture.. the raven! Those aren’t pleasant happy sounds at all! And the militaristic, oppressive regime of The United States of America certainly didn’t choose the bald eagle as its official mascot because it was soft and cuddly looking. Birds are an evolutionary throwback. But they chose the wrong path. Monkeys are so where it’s at now. I say, the food chain can do without them! I propose the mass extermination of birds everywhere! They’ll only lead to trouble in the end.

 Well, let’s keep the chickens anyways.. I like some eggs with my bacon.

(Please keep in mind, I’m no botanist. I don’t actually know anything about birds! Some of my information may be factually unsound.)

Sunday March 9, 2008

Friday night (more like Saturday morning) I randomly went to a rave at Blak with James. Despite the good review at that previous link, it’s one of my least favourite party venues in town. Too dark. Too grimy. Just not a comfortable place. Possibly heavy doses of narcotics help with that. I was able to justify the cost in my head though by the fact that this party was a benifit gig for the victims of the Great Queen st. W Fire of 2008. On the way home at 4am I ran into this random neighbour of mine for the third time this month waiting for the good old 313 night bus. Having someone to chat with makes the trip a lot less boring, even though we were probably too drunk and obnoxiously loud. That’s what you get for taking a bus at 4am!

So anyways, the interesting thing, and the point of this whole blog post, was when I was reading my news feeds the next morning to discover that a man had been shot dead by police very close to where I was waiting for the bus, about 5 minutes after we left. I wonder if the man who was shot was the same crazy guy I was talking to before I got on the bus. That would have been a strange coincidence. This crazy guy asked for a smoke, and then proceeded to talk non-stop, but the only bits that were remotely intelligible were something about hating the English and Jews, having Mafia connections, and starting a war. Fortunately vodka makes me immune to crazy people.

That’s the second shooting I’ve just barely missed! Once in Mississauga, Trevor and I were on our way to the movies but aborted the plan due to freezing rain, and someone got shot in the parking lot of the theatre we were going to, at the time we would have got there. I always miss the good stuff! :P Now… time to be lazy. It’s Sunday after all! God said “Don’t do shit today or I’ll get pissed off again and kill you all!” or something like that…

Friday February 22, 2008

I’ve been looking at want-ads for bass players on Craigslist lately, and they always seem so formidable, frequently using words like “serious” and “dedicated” and “professional”. I followed links to the bands’ MySpace pages wherever they were available and came to the realization that I could easily play most of the stuff I heard, in my sleep (or possibly drunk). So, I’ve decided to put more effort into actually finding a band to play with. I believe I’ve only had my bass out once since Summerfolk. It’ll be good practice. I’ve been putting lots of work into guitar though and hopefully I’ll have some new material to roll out soon.

 I’m taking an impromptu trip to Owen Sound this weekend. Chances are, if you read this blog you already know that though. I’ll be getting into town sometime in the evening on Saturday, so don’t hesitate to call/text me if you want to hang out. I’ve got absolutely no plan yet. Things always seem to work out anyways.

This entry seems too short… Oh well!

Monday February 18, 2008

Ottawa was a blast! I didn’t get outside much but we had good times visiting with Mike and Anthony and other random people who showed up. I just got back to Toronto around noon. We planned to go to bed earlyish last night and leave Ottawa around 11 this morning, but instead after still not being in bed at 5am Martin decided we should drive home then. Cars aren’t terribly comfortable to try to sleep in, but we made it alive, and I’m real glad to be out of the car, off the highway. I’ll probably put some pictures from the trip over on the TCOW Weblog Photo Galleries at some point in the near future.

In other news, I just learned that Foo Fighters and Against Me are playing at the Air Canada Centre next month, a few days after my birthday, and decided that I really really wanted to go. Unfortunately tickets were sold out long ago, and the low bids on E-Bay start up around $150. I’m sad now. :( If anyone happens across a couple of tickets to this show for $50/each or less, let me know IMMEDIATELY!

I haven’t slept since Saturday night. I should probably do so now. Goodbye normal sleep schedule!

Thursday February 14, 2008

Last night I went down to a tiny bar called Not My Dog and watched The Undesirables cover all of the Rolling Stones album Exile on Main St.  It was terrific! They also played some of their own old favourites. It’s really great to be able to see them in such an intimate venue. Corin and Shaun both have a brilliant passion for whatever they’re playing that comes out even more when you’re sitting right up by the stage, or in this case, an area of the bar where they moved a few tables out of the way so they could set up. It made me wish for Summerfolk even more! Sadly, they won’t be playing there this summer, but there’s lots of other good folk coming back, like Jory Nash. Speaking of Summerfolk, according to my calculations we are exactly halfway through the year to the next one! Just a few more months of this disgusting cold, snowy weather and we’ll be back in our tents getting drunk (optional) listening to wonderful music late into the night. I can hardly wait! And now I’ve wasted more than enough time blogging about entirely unimportant stuff, so I better hop in the shower, make supper, and fold my laundry (clearly not all at the same time!) in order to make it to The Cameron House in time to see Corin Raymond and The Sundowners play their last gig there before Corin and Shaun head off on their tour of Australia, not to grace Toronto with their music again until April.

Tuesday February 13, 2008

 Despite getting to sleep early (relatively, of course) and having minimal interruptions from the alley-dwellers, I woke up this morning feeling pretty haggard. So, the first thing I did after crawling out of bed was to drink a can of Red Bull. I thought this would make an adequate substitute for coffee, as we had no cream. Unfortunately, rather than give me energy (”wings”… Damnit I hate Red Bull commercials!) all it did was make me feel sick to my stomach. Lesson learned? Probably not… 

The goal today is to go grocery shopping, then head downtown to try to find some thermal long underwear (would you believe Walmart didn’t have any?) before I go to Ottawa this weekend (weather permitting). I hear it’s quite cold there! Ottawa might turn out to be a nice adventure. Or it might end up being dreadfully dull. We’ll see. It’s not like I’ve got anything better to do here! I also need to buy a new keyboard. I’ve been through three in the past two days. Don’t ask. The grocery shopping is done. Six minutes between the time I walked in the front doors and the time I left, with a full list! This is why I prefer to shop alone. My efficiency would make Stalin jealous. :P

I made a flyer for Drunk & Bowl ‘08! You can see it at TCOW.org. I think it looks half decent for a few hours Photoshop work. I hope everyone can make it! It’s my favourite party of the year. (Not including Summerfolk, which incidentally, we are halfway through the year to!)

Friday February 8, 2008

Two weeks ago Kyle Marshall came to visit randomly and persuaded me to take him to a rave. We managed to find one nearby put on by Newmindspaceand Triforce. It was alright. We didn’t stay long, but I had some good chats with random strangers while I was there. (You’d probably not be suprised at how many people try to buy drugs from you when you wear a t-shirt that says “Acid Test” on the front to a rave)

It was quite possibly that event that led to me going to two more raves last weekend which I previously hadn’t been planning on going to. The first, friday night, which I went to after drinking a bit too much already, was called “Cheap and Funuary” at The Kathedral. There were a few people I knew. It wasn’t exactly packed. Then saturday night I ended up at the Last Darkrave (which turned out to actually not be the last Darkrave afterall, haha). It was ridiculously hot inside, ridiculously packed, and just generally ridiculous. Still, two of my favourite Toronto DJs (Lady Bass & Basilisk) were there, so it was worth it. I made lots of new friends there too. I somehow ended up helping this girl hand out flyers for another rave next weekend for a while.

Which leads to this weekend. Sort of. I got convinced to go to this party (Destiny: Together as One) both by Devon and this flyer girl. After the last three raves I was even excited for it. So cleverly I spent almost every day of the week out and about, drinking, hanging out till 5am. And so now I’m sick! I can hardly even walk across the house, let alone stand at a rave for 8 hours! It might be for the best though. I’d probably be even more sick if I went.

I just suddenly got really bored of writing this…

Saturday October 6, 2007

Out Of Order!

Please Use Other Blog

Nick Frost

Thursday September 27, 2007

Rave tomorrow! I’m going to try to find some red pants, which, despite the precedent set by the likes of Santa Clause, are very hard to find in larger sizes. Saturday night, Nuit Blanche. This will be a weekend of very little sleep! However, I’ve decided that, at least for now, I actually do like this city. My mind might be different when I wake up on Monday, but I don’t care right now.

Monday September 24, 2007

There was supposed to be some sort of party last night. But nothing happened. I sat at home and drank vodka and watched Lord of the Rings part 3 with Naomi and Andrew. Not saying that’s not fun, but I’ve been in this house too much, and I was hoping the weekend would be full of stuff to do. No-one seems too eager to go out or do anything around here though. Everyone says there’s so much to do in the city, but I’ve been spending about 80% less time doing things here than I did in Owen Sound. I suppose the problem isn’t the lack of stuff. It’s the lack of people who want to do stuff. I don’t much like going out alone, you see. And because of the size of this city, doing things seems to require a lot more planning, coordination, and ambition.

Abby can’t come to the Dala/Undesirables concert due to it being Thanksgiving and all. Probably should have thought of that ahead of time, but I didn’t realize it was that weekend. Oops. I’m debating whether I should try to find someone else (that doesn’t seem likely at this point though), go on my own, or cancel the tickets. The show is October 6th at 6:30pm. If you’re interested let me know ASAP! Also, October 3rd @ 8:30pm I have a couple of tickets for Brian Macmillan and Jory Nash.

Umm.. so now I’m going to go sit on the porch and smoke. What an exciting day!

Sunday September 23, 2007

I had a dream that there was some sort of party in the Bean Cellar. Except it was much bigger than usual. Everyone was there, even the German Girl! It was a very good party. I woke up and it took me a few minutes to realize that I am in Toronto now.  :(

I’m going to have a bath, and then I’m going to go find out if the Black Metal Brunch is really as metal as Trevor says.  :P

Saturday September 22, 2007

I haven’t felt the urge to write lately. I still don’t, but at least there have been some things happen to update you all on. Well, not a LOT. I’ve discovered that weekdays can be quite dull if you don’t have a job. Everyone else is busy. There might be a lot of things to do in this city, but it’s still not so much fun to do any of them alone. I did manage to find some ravers to play frisbee with on Wednesday evening. Last night I hung out with James for the first time since I got here. We hung out in Parkdale for a bit. My advice: never go there! (unless you desperately need some crack. Then it’s the perfect place to be, I expect.) Then I randomly encountered some girl who upon finding out I came from Owen Sound asked if I knew Beka. What an odd coincidence!

Today I cleaned my room. I bought a lot of clothes at Value Village and just sort of threw them wherever there was space. So it needed some cleaning. I could use about three more square feet in here. Later there’s some fancy shenanigans going on down on Queen St. having to do with Car-Free day (which was thursday, but whatever) I intend to check that out. There’s going to be a parade, and those are always fun…. Some free DJ @ the Fun Haus later. Might go to that. Tomorrow, party @ Jimmy’s? Trevor’s coming into town with Jaime anyways. Drunken fun probably.

Then another week of nothing to do and no-one to see. I’m still not sure if I like it here or not. Or all the time. I’ll give it time.

Sunday September 16, 2007

Yes, I have moved. I am now officially a resident of Toronto. I got in late Friday evening and broke my spine moving things up a narrow metal staircase in the rain (It’s not literally broken! Just really sore.) I slept well that night.

Yesterday afternoon I headed over to Jimmy’s and caught up with motherf’ing Joel Elliot! Probably most of you who read this don’t know him, but once upon a time he was from Owen Sound, and he’s one cool kid. Anyways, we did some drinking, and despite plans to be home for supper, I ended up getting home… this morning. Now I’m very tired

I have NOT changed my phone number yet, but I plan to in the near future. Worry not, I’ll be sure to update everyone as soon as I do. I still have a lot of things to get sorted out here, but it’s moving along quite smoothly. Now to breakfast! Hooray for 1pm omelets.

Friday September 14, 2007

I assume you know why I haven’t posted anything in the past week. So much packing and visiting to do, and I decided that both those activities were slightly more important than the Internet. Anyways, I’m now taking apart my computer. If all goes according to plan I will be back online, in my new room, in a new city, by late evening or early tomorrow. I don’t much care for goodbyes.

 Goodbye! :(