Upon hearing about the RIAA and it's lawsuits, one of the boards I post to's resident MS Paint artist designed this baby. Click to enlarge.

Thursday Link Day

It's a special Link Thursday to help all of our possible file sharing kin with the latest RIAA tantrum.

Electronic Frontier Foundation: Among many other useful things, our friends at EFF teach us "how not to get sued".

Dan Peng: One of the first of many raises funds for his lawsuit. $15K is a lot of bucks.

Anti File Sharing Groups: More information about file sharing and the bastards who spy on you than you'll ever need to know. Guides for those that are using p2p software or may or may not have legal or illegal mp3s on their harddrives.

Chilling Effects: You've been sued. Now what?

I Guess It Helped

I got up this morning and my hair was all over the place, so I reached for a spray bottle to smooth it down. The first bottle was broken. The second bottle was filled with cat shampoo (GRAEME!). I didn't realize this until about 7 or 8 sprays into it. So I had to get a shower, which in turn smoothed away the bed head.

Changes

All things are changing. Some of you know some of them, a couple of you know all of them.

So let's get down to business:

1. I'm going to be on the broke side of the tracks REAL soon. On one hand, lack of income for me is going to suck--especially with Grae's income taking a nose dive. On the other I fucking quit eight months ago. I leave Westcoast in a month's time. This is nice. Gives me a month to decide what I want to do (student loan? part time min. wage job?) as well as gives me a month to continue "working." I am not upset, but it definitely changes the whole Clubhouse events thing (sadly these things tend to cost money). I'm going to try to work things out, but we'll see.

2. I've lost a significant amount of weight. You'll notice next time you see me.

3. Christian (for those who remember this 'merkin) is looking to come up more often and attend more social events. A Clubhouse event may be done to collide with the visit schedule. We'll see (see: no. 1).

For more information on any of these changes, I'll be around. You can email me, phone me, visit with me (just not visit me).

One Movie, Two Endings!

A damn popup ad just informed me that there is an alternate ending to 28 Days Later, that one can only view currently by sticking around until the credits are done. I did just that and there was no alternate ending. I look into things further, and lo and behold, it is a new addition to the film, no doubt concocted to get people to view the film a second time! Those bastards! I really enjoyed the film (enough that even though I had downloaded it before it was released over here, I waited to see it in the theatres), but I don't think I'll make a point of seeing it again in theatres just for a last minute addition designed to drum up business. Anyone see the alternate ending? Care to let us know how it turned out?

Art

Adventures from my Inbox

Pick a band and answer only using that band's song titles:
radiohead

Are you male or female? Cinnamon Girl (cover)
Describe yourself. I Am a Wicked Child
How do some people feel about you? Give It Up, Worrywart, Scatterbrain, Paperbag Writer, Life In A Glass House
How do you feel about yourself? Prove Yourself, Inside My Head, Citizen Insane
Describe your significant other. Faithless, The Wonder Boy
Where would you rather be? Black Star
Describe what you want to be. Lucky
Describe how you live. Exuberance & Alcohol (unreleased)
Describe how you love. I Want To Know, I Can't, Paranoid Android
Share a few words of wisdom. Everybody Lies Through Their Teeth

Clubhouse Cancellations (left, right and centre)

Due to forseen circumstances, as well as many other circumstances, all Clubhouse events are on indefinite hold.

Details may or may not show up here.

Canadian Horror Night: The Tax Shelter Years

hello all,

a big thank you to everyone who showed up for the last lari the leper craptacular night (c & g, no thanks to owen). based on the strength on this, and other movie nights, the beejster & i would like to do a series of double bills around themes of our own choosing. our aim is threefold:
1. get together regularly with our friends/meet new people (our old friends should brind new friends...)
2. finally watch all those movies we've been meaning to/improve the depth of our film knowledge
3. start a base for the proposed "lari the leper treat society" (details to follow).

so... on aug 5th (tuesday) we are proud to present 2 of the handful (and by handful i mean 5) of decent films to come from Canada during the ill-conceived "tax shelter period" (don't worry, an informative & brief presentation on recent canadian film history will preceed the screening, so you'll know what the hell i'm talking about):
the changeling [1980] & black christmas [1974] a.k.a silent night, evil night
also, in keeping with the theme we plan on having maple syrup popcorn & beer available.

~meeko

rsvp filmgurl79 at hotmail dot com so we know how much popcorn to make.

p.s. we do plan on doing a part 2 to this event where we'll show "gingersnaps" as one of the films. suggestions appreciated for a second film for this night.
p.p.s. bj would like to make a neurotic commitment not to get stoned and stupid this time.

Clubhouse Summer Postponed

Due to everyone not being available August 16th is a no-go.

There will be a reschedule for an evening party in September and a day party in later August (maybe the Labour Day long weekend) which will probably be a scavenger hunt party. Let me know if you're interested/available/have suggestions.

Other events that are needing scheduling are:
Memphis Meat Night Part II
Punch-Drunk Love screening Part II
Celebration of Light night(s)
On the town evening
A plethora of birthdays needing to be drank to

If any interest you keep me posted and I'll get organizing.

Confessions of a rum-addled mind, vol. 9

[this issue: my links, Vancouver island and invite]

** MY LINKS **

http://www.kthxdie.com/Videos/sexKungFu.mpg
...this just frightens me. Imagine if Ang Lee and Ron Jeremy made a movie together...crouching tigress hidden snake...I don't know...I just can't bear to see it again. I think it's from a movie called the Chinese Torture Chamber Story.

http://www.zug.com/pranks/credit
...this is a site hosted by a guy who visually demonstrates various pranks including his credit card signature cycle and his routine of ingesting a variety of household substances that you really shouldn't...

http://www.wam.umd.edu/~rui/BitterFilm.html
..."I love this shoooow"...no really, it's one that demands that YOU participate by reading the respective male or female lines out loud...Don Hertzfeldt 101.

** VANCOUVER ISLAND **

So Angela and I went on a short vacation to Vancouver Island from July 16th-22nd and I managed to fill up a roll of film which I'll post highlights of to accompany the details of each major stop.

After settling in to the cabin off Elliot beach in Ladysmith, we explored the surrounding neighborhood and found a trendy little cafe in Ladysmith that served sushi and had live music on Saturday nights. Transfer beach proved to be too murky for swimming and lacking in Kayak selection this year.

The Horne Lake caves, west of Qualicum past spider lake, were interesting to explore, especially if you get into the locked caves on one of the paid tours. Why lock a few of BC's 1500 caves? To protect the calcite formations beneath several hundred feet of sedimentary rock from souvenir hunters and oily hands...It was dank, dark and less than 10 deg Celsius, but I really wish I'd gone on the adventure tour where they drain caverns for you and let you crawl around on your belly and repel down seven stories...$100 later...also skipped Bungy zone, regrettably.

Qualicum Beach is one of the few points on the east coast with a visible bottom, sandy at that. With trusty goggles and water socks (needed a snorkel) I went out to sea a few hundred feet and found a ridge where the temperature dropped off that was littered with thousands of sand dollars, rivaled only by the sight of several bright purple starfish spotted underwater on the side of a rock at Elliot beach. Qualicum rocked...as did the 30 flavors of soft serve right on the beach.

We went rollerblading with my Aunt Helen at the big community complex off Northfield road in Nanaimo. As you can see, we had a blast while people weren't walking their dogs on the track...something about people on wheels (albeit bikes or blades) that makes dogs want to kill...

PIC
PIC

KAYAKING! Right off the Nanaimo harbor around Newcastle island, right next to Gareth's fabled protection island...We rented a super-cheap ocean K2 and departed from the south point of departure bay, with calm waters through the passage and almost no wind. Check out these formations off Newcastle:

PIC
PIC

Here's Angela right before we hit the north end of the island and the whitecaps that produced a 2 foot chop...a little scary but we kept our wits about us and remained facing INTO the wake. Whitewater should be a breeze after that...

PIC

We returned to the harbor to catch the trail end of the silly boat festival, a small fair and some cool novelty stores along the boardwalk. I LOVE ISLAND FARMS. THEY MAKE THE MOST AMAZING ICE CREAM, SHERBET AND FROGURT HANDS DOWN...WE BUY CRAP IN VANCOUVER.

On our last full day we drove the inland hwy 19 up to Campbell River to visit my friend Shannon from way back...I hardly recognized CR despite having lived there from 1991-1994. The cheesy double-decker bus fish'n'chip restaurant is gone...ironwood mall and tyee plaza have been outshined by a giant superstore mall with a really cool aboriginal store. Courtenay really offers more in a cultural sense with various galleries, restaurants and novelty shops. We found the most amazing tea store with ingredients imported from all over the world.
Comox valley had more of the artisans and studios that Angela sought...

This is a pic of Shannon and I leaning on my car after a flock of seagulls did a dive-bomb run the night before...all that in one night...

PIC

Here's me dropping off the keys with my uncle after he joined us for Chinese food.

PIC

** INVITE **
HOUSEWARMING PARTY on Saturday August 9th
4:00pm - Midnight

To welcome Angela to the "Boiler Room" and give people a chance to check out the new water-themed motif (no cooling effect) inspired by the works of Vern from Trading Spaces (my Hilde-inspired astroturf jungle idea was largely criticized).

Slightly different format...BBQ, tennis, swimming and just generally catching up. I'm hoping to do a partial potluck and get people to bring a few simple items to create a good dinner buffet (was going to BBQ burgers, wings, ribs, Yves thingies). LET ME KNOW IF YOU CAN MAKE IT...so I can get numbers and figure out what people could possibly bring.

Can't pull an all-nighter this time, Ang has class early Sunday...

Previous gatherings have included:

* Duke's lackluster art selection

This was a testament to the fact that I really didn't care what was hanging on my walls...no offense to the one entrant who submitted for the art contest and astonishingly won.

* Duke vs. the sun

In the battle of man versus nature, bet on nature. I covered the windows with the cheapest reflective material I could find to make my apartment feel a bit less like Singapore in summer, only to further incur the sun's wrath and be accused of trying to run a grow-op.

FIN

MP3 Friday

Today's MP3 is an odd find. I have no idea where it was released, label, album or what-have-you. I imagine it fairly recently, but it is on none of the participating artists' most recent albums. It is called "Embarassed" and is performed by Slug (from Atmosphere), Eyedea (a slug protege), and Sage Francis. Each of these MCs individually, are among my favorites. Eyedea has some amazing mic skills for one fairly new to the game, Slug's delivery here isn't his best (but even so, is still better than most), and Sage always kills. I'm not sure who its produced by, but it's got a laid-back summer kind of feel that matches well with the various MC's deliveries. Enjoy this track, and if you like it you should definitely check out their individual efforts. (Although I imagine you might find Sage Francis to be quite different than this when you check his album out; it still rocks.)

Understanding Comics

I've got lots of free time on my hands, so I've been wasting my time doing these:

One
Two
Three
Four (NSFW?)

Check them out and if you have any feedback, email me at roland303 at shaw dot ca.

Some Changes

1. All previous comments are gone. POOF. So if you want to comment again, then go ahead. I decided that the other one was down too often (and for a week this time).

2. If you know Java programing (I may just pick this up to use this Halo comments), and want to do some "fun-fun" programming, drop an email or comment to me. I just want the comments box to look not too distant from the actual website. It's not too bad right now, so I may just learn basic Java for the hell of it. I do this blog stuff to write and learn to program and stuff.

3. I may be revamping this entire website in the next few weeks. And by revamp, I mean ENTIRELY. Things that will stay are: all posts, the archive, weekly links, event listings, audio section (may be expanded to include other tastes--drop me a note if you are interested) and hopefully the comments. It's going to be an aesthetic overhaul.

4. I got some email addresses this weekend at the Liver Destruction, but I wasn't typing to the best of my ability (".xom"?), so if you had friends here last weekend who are interested in further Clubhouse events, email on the email I sent to y'all--perhaps with a message to rsvp if they want on further Clubhouse events.

Mike came to the mainland for a stop over (to pick up stuff say "hi", etc.) and a bunch of us went over to Gareth's to catch Wild Zero and drink to the cries of "love knows no borders, no nationalities, no gender". And somehow a lot of beer and kissing happened. Even with Sophie & I being the only girls, and abstaining.

Like I said. A lot of beer. I think Gareth and Jordan went through a case of beer in a couple hours. I wasn't clear on the specifications, but looking back, it seemed like quite a bit. Here's Gareth proving my point.

There was nipple sharing. That's all I'm saying. All in good fun, I assure you. (I'm not sure Sophie even knows....)

And here are a couple of the G's chillin', yo.


Anyways, expect more images for other posters. I've email special pictures to special posters for them to post.

Thursday Link Day

Celebration of Light: Fireworks. I'm going to add these to the Last Time schedule. I love fireworks, and it's definitely an important time of the year for this Clubhouser.

Lebowski Fest 2003: I rolled my eyes but I still read the whole thing. "It’s kind of a 'Star Trek' convention, but without all the geeks," suggested Jon Cook, a 28-year-old Louisville salesman." Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

CULT CHART: Y'know, it wouldn't be so funny if it wasn't a Christian group that put a Christian group (themselves) onto a chart labeled "cult". But there it is. Bonus reading. Because evolution should be taught as a "theory" when it comes to biology...

The Georgia Straight: In case you don't know what to do tonight.

Twenty Questions: Twenty questions with a computer.

Animal Names: "Check out that fall of woodcocks!" "That's the coolest ascension of larks!" Impress your mother with your knowledge.

Einstein-Freud letters: What would it be like if these two were to converse on war? Interesting.

Just Concerts: Tax dollars at work for you.

"Clubhouse Summer"

This is the tentative title for the August 16th gathering at the Clubhouse. Grae wanted the theme to be summer, however, with Duke's latest invitation I think I may want to switch the theme into one of a few that have been bouncing around.

The first being a scavenger hunt. In one sense, a bunch of you just did one earlier this year (where the hell was I, and why on earth did I have to miss this!?) and doing another one might just be overkill so soon. Plus I'd think a daytime scavenger hunt would be more fun and since both Clubhouse kids work on Saturdays, it would have to be a Sunday. Which may be done for September. At least that will be far enough from the last one, and still warm enough if it runs into the evening. May need to do it Polaroid style or digital camera style. Instant photographs rather than bringing stuff back (although...).

Another is the Sorority initiation. But I honestly think that this is another during-the-day kind of thing, as well as it should be left up to the Sorority House to host it... But I'm soooo excited for a mammoth food fight (and children in Africa are starving).

Grae's for summer costumes, so maybe some kind of costume themed party is in order (with prizes, of course). I just can't think of anything right now, and giving people 3 1/2 weeks to put together a costume (that isn't everyday wardrobe) might be unfair.
I will be sending out an email regarding all of this once everything is posted and sorted on here.

Liver Destruction Party Images

First of all, I'm going to be inviting in a few more writers (because we need more writers, more events, more, more, more!). Including Marsha (whose email I left at home). Marsha, along with Megan, Jason/Jay, Chad/Chadwick and Anthony/Tony, were shuttled in by Ava (and presumably Jon), were absolutely hilarious. As it turns out Jason now plays with Freebase. This all came about from an autographed photo that Aidan gave me a few months back (while he was a) still living with Curtis and b) both of them were still with Freebase). At their pad on Robson, they had hanging by the door this black and white glossy promo, signed and framed. I fell into the hallway of their building laughing so hard at the pretentiousness of the whole thing. Curtis and Aidan signed for the four members and gave it to me. It made its way to the Fridge of Fame. Jason comes running up to me and says, "You know Freebase! You're the first person to know my band."

Grae was the only one to authentically attempt the Edward Fortyhands. His co-conspirators all backed out for one reason or another. Trevor couldn't find a "good" selection of 40s, and Andrew had the worst luck. He went to the liquor store and bought two (2) bottles of malt liquor beverage in the 40 oz. container. He then went to a phone booth to make one (1) phone call. During this phone call, one (1) thief ran by and stole two (2) bottles of malt liquor beverage. Andrew then went back into the liquor store to buy two (2) more bottles of malt liquor beverage and exited the store again. Upon exiting the liquor branch, one (1) bum bumped into him dropping two (2) bottles of malt liquor to the ground. At this point Andrew turned around and went home. He let the bad karma get to him and did not make it to the party.


Dave, however, had to work at 5am, but came out to drink his India Pale Ale. He asked me where he should put his beer box. And I said:








Even with all the backing outs, bad karma, and general unavailability of 40s, Owen decided that he wanted in on the Fortyhands (if only because Grae was all on his own). Due to the closing of the liquor store at 9, he was forced to turn to the only thing we had in large quantities in large bottles that we would not overly miss: Wine. We're now removed of all wine at our house (which is genuinely impressive).

There was success to be had with this drinking game. However, the other contender let his bottle slip to the ground (like he had a lot of control with no hands that were sweating away the duct tape) and gave up shortly after. Warm 40s, warm wine and somehow the drinking continued. Grae managed to pee while 40'd. I forgot to ask him how he managed... Or maybe I don't want to know.


As for the Moneybucks game, the winner was already announced as being Trevor. A well deserved position, as he was the only one I had known to have gotten ill over the process of the night. Which super rocked. For all that liver destruction, people were really cool about it all and no extreme disaster required clean up. One broken bottle (Fortyhands), a few spills from an overfull fridge, and Shadow knocked over a mug in the bathroom.



Trevor, this is the girl who has your money (if you're missing it).


Click to enlarge.
If this was just after Fortyhands had ended, there were more bottles to come. There ended up being one full garbage bag of empties. And not just half full or ¾ full. It was damn heavy full. Although all this chaos and cleaning up afterwards this made me realize an outdoor ashtray/paint bucket needs to be designated from now on.

Sophie finally got her Zima (which was surprisingly tasty, but this might have been well after the fact).

Liver Destruction Party in (brief) Review

It was a good time had by all and only one person (that I know of) got ill. The alcohol was flowing and Moneybucks was a huge success. Trevor walked away with the gift certificates (sort of... I think Emily took them for safer keeping) with the winning "$1,400". And if nothing else, Trevor showed pure competitive spirit for this. Pictures will be up by Wednesday (pix being developed and cd'd tonight). Met some really cool new people. I'm sure everyone has better stories to tell than I do. I was just maintaining the place while trying my hardest to not drink to excess. Apologies for those that I didn't get a chance to chill with. We'll catch up at a late August party (to be announced).

craptacular crap-a-thon 2!

hi all.

the beejster and i have finally gotten around to organizing our second crap-a-thon, this time with a very special guest: vancouver's own Jared Van Snellenberg in attendence. we will be screening the hopefully not very crappy Andrew Gurland film "Cheats". for more info on Andrew Gurland, go to ifilm.com and type in "gramaglia".

there will also be a surprise (this is where the crap comes in) & an impromtu q & a session.

please rsvp to filmgurl79@hotmail.com

date: tuesday july 22/03 (tommorow)
time: 7pm
brought to you by lari the leper productions

p.s. don't worry owen, we'll get to "fatal frames". i promise.

So the sisters need an initiation. Be assured since Karen is a women studies major and I am taking a Geography of Gender course next term, we are fully accepting of our trans and female-identified sisters. However I am using my veto on latin intials. I feel it is better to be known as The Sorority and if we must have latin, have a latin phrase which can be any bit of rude Roman graffiti you like but I just can not handle the alpha beta crap. I am not sure when an initiation can be arranged. I will have to figure out when the Morgans are having the family b-day events (ie perhaps the weedend in between my b-day and mums which is the same weekend between Karen's and mine, but we will figure something out). Also I would like to know if we are arranging any events around the fireworks. Last year for my Birthday we went as a group. We could go again (not necessarily for my b-day but as a secular event so to speak) but this time we will make a better effort to be organized and actually meet up together at the fireworks.
So my mother phones me and says she has something to ask me. She starts describing how they now have the Bard in the Beach as the Bard in the Vineyard in Kelowna and how they have wine tasting and a nice meal with the play and how she and her friend are going up the weekend before my B-day. So I start thinking ooh I'm getting a great treat for my birthday and then she asks: Could you catsit for me that weekend? :(

My Divorce from Google

Oh, Google, you have served me well in the past, but it appears that my love has wained over time and distractions such as alltheweb. With it's audio/ftp searches, I must bow down to the fun superiourity that is. You'll still have your news, and you'll still own blogger, but it seems to me that alltheweb can provide me with so much more.

I'll have a place in my bookmarks for you, but it is time that we part ways.

With endearment,

Corinne

Thursday Link Day (a day late)

Rubik's Cube in New York: A prank set out buy 6 crazy city dwellers to alter a sculpture in New York City. Hilarious.

Ripples: The story of one insane woman and her past life experience with Garth Brooks (would you let this woman near you if she said she was in love with you in a past life, or should I use this as a pick-up line?).

BabyInk: Where children as young as 6 months can get tattooed.

800x600 Project: Nifty photograph site that does mosaics of themed photgraphs. City Green is my favourite.

Lego Wordbuilder: I don't have flash, but it sounds cool.

Go-Bot Sex: The next big thing of the internet. It's a movie, that requires sound. And it will make you uncomfortable.

Stalin v. Hitler: A translated web comic for your reading pleasure.

Life in 2000: 1950's US predicts the future. I want a space dog.

1. I will need music selections in advance for Liver Destruction. The set up will involve the bedroom being off-limits for everyone to give the cats a private place, while letting the front door be open for the night. I have some fun drinking songs, and the odd "party hit", but any suggestion for keeping the beat alive would be appreciated.

2. I was mulling over Mike's disappointment with Gareth & Sophie's Casa name. Seems Mike wanted the title Casa as well. To which Karen piped in that her and Rachael's pad needed a name. As I was exiting, The Sorority House was founded (this will bring me back to point three in a bit). Anyway, as I was falling asleep last night I came up with a bunch. Here are a bunch that I recall: The Frat House, the Treehouse, the (Rec.) Centre (which I think is the most apt for Mike), the Flat, the Dwelling, the Shire (but I seriously doubt we know anyone who has a geeky enough place to warrant this), the Pad, the Beach House, the Common Room, the Forum, the Station, the Commune, the Watering Hole, the Coop, the Conservation, the Habitat, the Teatersalong (Swedish for house), the Laboratory (muhahahahaha!), etc. I'm going to work on thinking of more so that Mike can pick out one that he (and Ang) likes.

3. The Sorority House needs a birthday (as Karen & Rachael's b-days are a week apart) hazing party. This could be so much fun (and messy!). Now, of course, it should be exclusively female (and in doing so would allow for more gruesome/hilarious hazings), but I think it would be fun to have some he-sisters initiated. It'll have to occur in the summer, probably while it's still warm out, and not on a rainy day. Some traditional hazings include: dressing the "juniors" as babies (or stripping them down to their skivvies--this isn't just for the opportunity to see others underwear, as you'll see), miscellaneous food fight (this is all outdoors at a park or front lawn)--ingredients such as flour, eggs, ketchup, mustard, whipped cream, shaving cream, cream pie, other cheap mild and sticking substances that won't burn eyes or mouths, ice baths (warm summers + gross food fights + ice/hose baths = almost refreshing), parade of hazees, some sort of obstacle course, beer, beer and more beer. Of course we will have the two initial sisters Karen and Racheal exempt from the mess, but there can also be open positions such as photographer/cameraperson. I'm in for whatever mess/initiation, especially if there is a shortage of volunteers. We'll definitely need five people being hazed to make it balanced. I think Double-Pi would be a great name for the Sorority. Another one of Corinne's falling asleep ideas. May be held in and around the Clubhouse if the Sorority house is unavailable. Because, quite frankly, I don't believe one has lived until they have had a food fight.

4. Gearing up for the Liver Destruction Party. Drunken Moneybucks (the monopoly money game) will also be participated by those not drinking alcoholic beverages (see: Edward Fortyhands); those that are not drinking alcohol will take a "pay cut" as well as being discouraged to be challenged (you are just handing over $100 and the rule to someone soberish). They are still entered into the competition for the A&B Sound Gift Certificates, but they will find it harder to make money (if all things are aligned). So, the starting money is as follows:
Regular drinkers: $1,000.
Early Bird Bonus: $100 (One drink must be consumed between 8:30 and 9:30 in order to qualify)
Light drinkers (or non-drinkers): $700
Edward Fortyhands: $1500 @ 9:30, $1400 @ 10:00, $1300 @ 10:30, $1200 otherwise (this is when you have stopped Fortyhands and started Moneybucks)

It looks like there will be a different crowd for Saturday, so be prepared to meet some new people (and don't worry, there will be a secure place for personal items).


5. Uhm... the background changed... WHY?

MP3 Friday

Well, it's that time again, MP3 Friday, and Corinne has given me the power (and reponsibility) of choosing an MP3 for you all to check out. The winner this week is going to be A track called "Head Gone Vertical" by Atom and His Package. I would have chosen one his songs with a wackier song title, but I didn't want to go looking for more songs, so I figured I'd post a song I had easily accessable. Atom is an ex-punk rocker whose band left him, and he now tours with just an instrument known as 'his package' a synth of some kind now, it used to be just a cdplayer. He writes very personal songs (personal perhaps to the point of absurdity) with very catchy hooks. You might find his voice takes a little getting used to. Also check out his webpage, it has some pretty funny stuff: Hate Mail (mostly about a song of his in support of Rob Halford's coming out, which Metal fans took as his calling Halford 'gay') and incorrect lyrics submitted. Check it out, it's fun, and he's cool.

Theatre Under the Stars

I don't know many people who will want to go to this, but I'm planning on getting ticket(s) for Theatre Under the Stars's August 21st (note: different then specified in the original email) presentation of "The King & I". This is much better than the "Anne of Green Gables: The Musical" (how I wish I were kidding).

Tickets are $24 for students ($29 if you aren't or want to bring someone who isn't).

If any of you are interested in making sure I am not sitting alone (because I will if need be), drop me an email by next week.

28 Days Later Show

Bob and I (and perhaps others) are going to catch the 1:20 matinee of 28 Days Later at Station Square tomorrow afternoon. we're meeting up around 1pm in the front of there if anyone is interested in seeing this movie.

Personal note: I liked it enough to see it again.

Mr. T's Commandments

Front
Back


Chips Action

Liver Destruction Info

This Saturday (July 19) at 8pm begins the Liver Destruction Party 2003. This is going to be the last Clubhouse party for a little while.

Edward Fortyhands participants, the game begins at 8:30pm. If you haven't been briefed of the early game, email me if you are interested.

The Drinkmasters will be appointed at random at 9:30pm. Monopoly money ($1K per person) will be distributed at this time. This is pure compitition, with the ablity to exempt yourself. Drinkmasters are allowed to command someone to finish their drink, at a cost. They have to finish their drink regardless. The commanded can bribe the Drinkmaster $100 or finish their drink (if the commanded finish his/her drink, the commanded get $100). Either way, the commanded becomes a Drinkmaster whether they drank or not. Because we are not trying to give out alcohol poisoning, the game will end at midnight and the wealthiest wins a prize (A&B G.C.s). Smaller rules: Drinkmasters can't ask the same person on the same round. If you're broke and you're commanded to drink, you're drinking your drink. Drinkmasters cannot have reign for more than 20 minutes. If you fear this take small cups or watered/soda'd down alcohol. If you need a cheat code because you aren't feeling well, talk to me. We're not a vengeful bunch, and the profit is made in the declining, so don't feel guilty decling if you aren't in for a win. The more bribing the Drinkmasters, the better the compitition.

Edward Fortyhanders are exempt from the Drinkmasters' rules. Fortyhanders can collect their money to participate when they are finished. Fortyhanders will be given bonus funds (to be determined $200-$500) to compensate for previous drinking.

There may be smaller drinking games, but both of these allow for social interaction and don't tie anyone down to one table/room/game.

*Wipes Krispy Kreme Donut goo from face *

Just lounging on my second of two days off. Should be cleaning, repairing the damage the fleas hve wrought, and preparing the house for the liver destruction party. Alas, we are very uninspired to do so. We got off to a good start, cleaning the bedroom and living room to some extent, but thats about it. I did by more dish detergent and quarters for laundry, so it might be poosible that we get a little more done today. I work best under pressure, so I imagine the house will be done Saturday, about 5min after guests arrive.

Corinne has put me in charge of the mp3 friday postings, so stay tuned for that as I plan to unleash a little musical mayhem. On this note I figured I'd give you all a review of one of the newest albums I picked up. (Actually, Jym at work got me a play copy, so much props to him.) The album in question is the new NOFX album "The War on Errorism." First off, I have to say that the last few NOFX albums have left me rather unimpressed. That being said, this album definately blows them out of the water. It seems to have more of a purpose than the last few. It has been said that "Nothing provokes good punk rock like a republican in the white house", and this album proves this adage to be true. NOFX, never much of a political band (with the exception of "The Decline" and a couple token tracks) have put out a much more political album than they ever have. Tracks such as "The Irrationality of Rationality," "Franco Un-American" and "American Errorist" showcase this new found political side. They also seem to be keen on criticizing the punk scene ("The Separation of Church and Skate" and "Medio-core") and introding the kids to new bands with tales of their roots. ("We Got Two Jealous Agains" and "13 Stitches"). There still some of the traditional fun NOFX songs thrown there too, with "She's Nubs" being a tribute to a punk rock amputee (a cute, yet wacky track, no doubt) and "Mattersville" which is about a gated punk rock community where they all live. (The line about Davey Havok is classic.). All in all, a nice, complete package, with some nice extra computer stuff thrown in. (Which feature a live video of "Ignorant son of an asshole." filmed at the Warped Tour in Vancouver last year. Woot) It's nice to see that they haven't lost their edge, and that seem honestly concerned with the state of things today, rather than just making a buck, which is how it seemed with their last few albums.

I don't think I will need to eat for a few days, what with all the meat, and donuts I've eaten in the last 24 hours.

All-American Day

Yesterday morning Grae and I got up to the desire (long standing) to get some Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. Grae's access to a vehicle made this four hour trip for doughnuts possible. On the way back, we stopped off at Cost Cutters (how I love thee). We picked up a bottle of dnL (worst abuse of flash I've seen in a while) and a couple bags of Guacamole Doritos. The best part of the US is their variety.

After we got back into the country (and 6+ doughnuts later), it was time for the Memphis Blues Barbeque House. One Memphis feast and one Elvis platter and two pitchers of beer and 8 very full patrons we parted our ways. Bob headed to Rachael's, Owen took Sophie & Gareth home (and eventually onwards to Karin) and the remaining four went back to Mariko & BJ's house to hang out with K.C. and read swank comic books. The plan was for a movie, but we ended up being social instead, which was cool.

Rachael Contributes

Well, finally after a month and a half of stalling we have ADSL installed. Our housewarming went well. Plenty of people showed up. It was a jam session and we had great live loud music late into the night that I am assured my landlord who lives above us appreciated. I attempted to bore to death, by discussing postmodern theory, anyone I could corner. I was unfortunately too drunk to keep time and play the flute concurrently. Bob played well, though. We had a second quieter jam session that was this Saturday. Lots of fun we spent a lot of our time talking and listening to music from Karen's computer.
Karen and I have decorated. Our kitchen is lilac with a short breer rabbit-type story written in darker purple by the door. One of the walls in our living room is orange. We will also each pick a piece of music and paint them as sheets of music on the wall by the front door.
This week I am quite busy selling Geography Student Union shirts. Hoodies, zipper hoodies and t-shirts that have a small sfu crest with the word Geography written above it. I am holding "office hours" all week in the Geography Common's Room RCB6102 selling them. We have a Geography Student union meeting there tomorrow where we will be postering for our final BBQ which occurs on this Friday (July 18).
I am currently writing a paper for my regional development and planning course which is an analysis of sustainability in False Creek. I am very interested in social sustainable planning but False Creek is a top down authoritative model whereas if I had studied an area such as the Downtown East Side I would be discussing bottom up, community building models of development which interest me more. I am registering on Weds (July 16) I am debating whether I should take both Geog 355 a GIS course and Geog 301 methods and ideas in Geog as not only are the lectures only 10 mins apart but their final exams are only 1/2 hour apart. I feel maybe this would be too much.
I am also studying Japanese, the daily quizzes are becoming a bit much but to keep my interest keen I dragged Corinne to the public library to help me select Japanese children's' books to read.
I also bought three new books at the SFU bookstore sale. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, S.M. Celeste Galilei's (Galileo Galilei's daughter) Letter's to Father, and George Elliot's The Mill on the Floss. I am halfway through Canterbury Tales and I am almost finished Letters to Father. I am also waiting for Grae to finish the new Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix so I can read it.
My flute is going well. I recently bought a book of celtic songs which I am enjoying. My trio may be held every week rather than just every two weeks. I would like that but it would be more consistent but I don't think I can continue on Monday nights as Geog 301 overlaps the trio time and if we hold the second trio time after my already late lesson I will have no time study for Japanese on Tuesday morning.
I am going to the Folk Festival with my Mum on Saturday. I forgot I have a co-op meeting to go to that day so I will have to reschedule the co-op meeting. Corinne and Grae's liver destruction party is on that day so apparently I have to start drinking at the festival beer garden and then come over after the night concert is over. Karen is thinking of having a poetry or literary passage reading night soon at our place (Ed. Note: it's called The Sorority House, Rachael). That is about all I can think of for now.

Thursday Link Day

Web Gallery: Carvaggio is my new favourite artist ever. I used the picture of Judith Beheading Holfornes as my work desktop image.

Blog Critics: Here is a review site done entirely by blog writers. Grae: try this link.

Metacritic’s Award List: Reads like a rental guide.

Mainichi News: News straight out of Japan. Hilarious news.

Zug’s Credit Card Scam: This one has been around for a while, but I thought I would share with those who hadn’t seen it.

The Cheque Republic: They spell cheque in Canadian form, but the cheque designs are distinctly US. Anyway, these are super cool cheques. I am thinking of getting my next cheques as either the “Wage Slave” or “Warning”. Not that I use cheques at all.

Party Generator: Next party you are required to bring the following items.

Googlism: More of what you’ve probably seen already.

Panaramics: A weblog devoted to huge (but very cool) photographs based out of Australia.

Kozyndan: An art site that is awesome. The artist(s) was featured on the cover of this month's Giant Robot.

Celebrity Blogs: Everyone’s doing it now. Even Avril Lavigne.

A Casket: It’s signed by all the members and only $4,700US.

So I officially flunked out of rehab. Sounds grim doesn't it?

Basically, after a month of going to the gym for six hours a day, five days a week, my shoulder gave out. After lifting a CPR dummy from a simulated pool edge, my right shoulder just peeled back and I lost all ability to hold anything in it for about a day or so. After about a week of not doing much with it in rehab, the Workman's Compensation Board decided that I should get it looked at. It had been six months and I had not recieved so much as an X-ray. Now, I have recieved my X-ray and am scheduled to recieve an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scan in about a weeks time.

The crux of the situation is that I need to decide whether or not swimming and lifeguarding are really that important to me. If I decide to give up on both, then I will likely not be required to have surgery. If I can't live without them, then I will definitely need shoulder reconstruction. Reconstruction will give me more stability, but will take away some of my flexibility. I don't really like the idea of surgery, but then again, swimming has been a huge part of my life for ages. I guess I'll just have to see how the MRI goes and make a decision after that.

CONFESSIONS OF A RUM-ADDLED MIND vol. 8
(Circular Breathing, Graveyard and Blood Feast 2)

The following relate to events surrounding the housewarming party of Rachael and Karen last saturday night. By the way, their new place looks great...the purple kitchen w/ quoted text is very creative.

CIRCULAR BREATHING

Despite getting drowned out by drums and amp’d guitars, the didgeridoo proved to be an interesting accompaniment. After consulting two people at the party, I discovered that circular breathing isn’t something you “learn”, but rather something you facilitate by unlearning the fact that “while I inhale, I am incapable of doing anything else”. Sounds easy, but training your mouth to squeeze out the reservoir of remaining air and make an audible sound while inhaling is more of a test of self-psychology that you can imagine.

CINEMUERTE, 11:40PM SAT. July 5th

GRAVEYARD
The opening short…imagine if "Clerks" were a horror film. Two guys working at a 24hour porno book store discover after a robbery that they have been killed by the free, rancid employee coffee and resurrected by their boss (played by rocker THOR) to work graveyard for an eternity. THOR was actually in attendance and bent a steel bar for the audience.

BLOOD FEAST 2: ALL U CAN EAT
I knew nothing of this film going in, although it is a low budget sequel to the 1960's "Blood Feast" about an Egyptian goddess statue (Ishtar) that entrances slaves with glowing red eyes, forcing them to butcher people for a grand feast. Despite the horrendous grinding of hands, disembowelment, organ removal, eye scooping, scalp peeling and brain squeezing...the elements of black comedy and satire made for a very high camp factor. Touching upon every cliché you can imagine in buddy cop dramas and porno films, the intentionally horrible dialogue and acting gave as many laughs as cringes...

Highlights would be the main character-turned-hannibal-lector Faud Ramses who resembled Gerard Depardeau, the slick detective loomis, the generic partner myers (eating something in literally every scene) and the various bridesmaid victims including Bambi Deere, Laci Hundees, Trixi Treeter, Misti Morning and Candi Graham. Oh and lest I forget, the father of the bride who is accidently, but obliviously, stabbed by the overbearing mother of the bride…whose body winds up at every crime scene thereafter (which nobody notices). Plus the scene transition "SATAN...Satan...satan...". Can't believe John Waters did a cameo...

Duke

As promised: some recent photos taken of my recent adventures.

Seattle walk. Leaving Singles Going Steady in search of food (I warned them there would be none) en route to the show. It took us a ridiculous amount of time to find parking only to realize how sad the parking timing we had was. If we had spent an hour more outside of Seattle parking owuld have been half the cost. Not to mention that where we did park, it was as far from Graceland (worst venue to date) as possible.


I saw this bear leaving the Clubhouse in the back alley last week. It looked so pathetic and unloved that I just had to capture his last moments before his ultimate (presumed) demise in a dump truck. I heard the couple screaming the day before. This is why people should not have kids. They can't even keep bears... imagine what they do to the children!

Fire Pictures

This was a car that I found in an alleyway just south of the fire yesterday. It's hard to tell in this picture, but all the cars in the alley were covered in ash. It seemed to show up really well on the white car, but I can't fit a huge high-quality scan on this website. I have the photos for clearer views. They'll be with me to Cinemuerte.


More ash. This time this is the view from directly below the smoke towers. The smoke could be seen from the north shore, so there were a lot of "under smoke" areas.


All the power was out in the city for about four blocks. One of the stores, kept its doors open wide, but the iron bars prevented people from going in. It was eerie to see everyone out of their buildings milling about, watching the fire. I found out much later that they had no where to go to work. The power was out for quite a few blocks.

This is the first scene I came upon. Most of it is just smoke billowing out of the buildings and water everywhere. Emergency vehicles blocked off every road, and many traffic cops were directing cars away from the area. I wanted to get a picture of the line up of buses (the only vehicles allowed along Hastings street) but I would have got run over.

This is how close to Harbour Centre the fire was. It was a neat angle to see smoke drown out the buildings behind it. I waited for clearings to see the revolving building in the background. I bet they were busy at that time. All those people out of work, a lot of people competing for a good angle to see what was going on, and a great perspective. I wish I had thought of it then.

A giant tower of smoke. It was a dark grey, nearly black at the beginning of the fire. I left the area when the smoke was turning orange and white. The white being steam and the orange being presumably toxins. The dark grey tower was when the ash was inescapable in Vancouver. I suppose the ash continued to fall for a while afterwards.


For those of you who were out and about on Thursday, you would know that it was a gorgeous day. Very few clouds in the sky. But the black smoke was blocking out the sun at times, and from certain angles. I took this one quickly so as to not burn my eyes or anything foolish like that. Reminds me of pictures form the depths of outer space that you find on the back of Skeptical Inquirer magazines.

Barry White!

Big update either tonight or tomorrow. Will include fire pictures, Seattle pictures and something quirky.

Beta Google Search Engine.

It's in beta mode. Try using it. It doesn't work all too stellar. It only recognizes two of the many pages

Friday Audio Day
Everything But the Girl The Only Living Boy in New York (originally by Simon & Garfunkel).

I've always loved this song, and the cover stays true to the original. Perhaps a crisper sound than the original recording, but almost identical.

There was a huge fire downtown today! And I got to take tons of pictures! I'm going to run and get them developed today (or at least half, the other half are still in my camera). Also beginning tonight is Cinemuerte. There was a huge fire downtown! And I smell like smoke. It was raining ash everywhere! There were tons of fire trucks! I didn't get any classes for the second session. Man, I'm pissed off at my school's registration policy. It left me with a zero GPA for THREE terms. Bastards. And they shut of the power downtown, or at least for the block of West Pender (and a few others), so everyone was milling about. There were cameras and news crews everywhere. It was sooooooooo cool.

Thursday Link Day

Consumption Junction: Seriously not safe for work. But fascinating, none the less.

Smee and Blogg: Make sure your audio is on for this site. It's a little quiet, so make sure the volume is up high enough.

Skop: Flash. But fun Flash.

Zeitgeist: Snippets of now.

I'd post what Classic Movie I am, but I'd just repeat the image Corinne already posted.

I figured I should give my 2 cents about the movies Corinne mentioned, as I saw both of the as well.

28 Days Later:

I've been asked more than a few times since I've seen whether it was scary or not. I'm really not sure how to answer. On one hand there was a few parts where I jumped (and one part with horrible eye pain that had me cringing), and a truly creepy vibe to it. On the other, it was more about developing a fairly complex theme about social relationships and such. I think I am a little de-sensitized to zombie violence and that maybe one reason I wouldn't think of it as scary, as well, I think that to call it a scary movie would belittle the rest of what the movie had to say. Anyways, Great movie, wickedly acted, directed, and effected (the zombies were fucking killer!).

Spellbound:

It's tempting to think of this as a comedy, in which you just laugh at the the subjects of the film. But again, I think that would do the movie a diservice, since it brings much more to the table. It deals with motivations, competition, class, and parental relationships. Sure it has some of the funniest scenes and characters I have ever seen on film (all the more funny because they are real), but it also has depth. Another good movie, and tha tmakes two in a row.

Kevin's Birthday:

Went out for a few drinks on Monday night for Kevin's birthday. We met at the Granville Room. There we met Kevin and the whole BBS (Burnaby Boy Squad) as well as Rachel, Bob, and a bunch of SFU philosophy types. The BBS pussied out early, with what I am sure are truly great excuses, and the rest of us decided to leave the horrible 'chachi' confines of the Granville Room for the cozier, watered-down beer flavour of the Lamplighter. A few beer, and some really lively debate later we parted ways, in what I think was a fun and successful evening. Good times.


Link of the day: http://www.landoverbaptist.org/


Band of the Day: Good Clean Fun.

You are Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal. You are
on a neverending crusade to interrupt the
silence of God. You desire to know secrets
that aren't yours to know. You probe too
deeply, and tussle with death. Ultimately,
there is nothing.


Which Classic Art Film Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla


Gay Bear


Which Dysfunctional Care Bear Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

So I'm gay and I tussle with death.

I also slack at work.

I keep meaning to write about all the flicks I keep going to, but I just never get around to it. I guess I'll start with 28 Days Later. And of course, as always, spoilers are to be highlighted. The movie opens with a Coalition for the Liberation of Itinerant Tree Dwellers (or C.L.I.T.) style invasion to rescue what seems to be abused chimps and other cute little monkeys. However, in the midst of the rescue attempt, one of the reseach scientists enters in and calls security. El scientisto is able to give the warning that the monkeys that they are trying to save have been infected with a virus/"rage". And sure enough, as the cages are opened, the monkey's virus spreads, and the scientist attempts to block the virus from spreading in the only known way: killing the host before they can vomit blood on anyone else, or attack them in a zombie-vampire like rage. 28 days later we see a naked, unshaven Cillian Murphy lying in a hospital bed. He awakes to silence and emptiness all around London. I'm impressed at how silent and vacant the director (Danny Boyle, Trainspotting) managed to get the city. It becomes obvious when you recognize that it is almost always twilight in the movie in populated areas. The filming of those scenes apparently were a matter of minutes of open time, club-goers were the only people out at that time. Super cool. I think the parts that I liked the most about it was that it created an alarmingly realistic portrait of how the world would react to a virus of that calliber and nature. It portrayed human nature as very competative for survival, and showed how much humans are social creatures dependant on others to survive. And it posed the great question: Why survive? Why would one want to live through hell for the matter of living through hell and no other promise? For Hannah and her father it was a matter of making sure the other one is alright. For Jim and Selena, it seemed that they didn't entirely know why they were moving forward other than the basic instinct to survive. And then, it comes back to why would you fight to survive? I really liked this movie a lot, and will buy the R1 DVD when it comes out.

Also seen this weekend was Spellbound. A documentary about the US National Spelling Bee championship thingy. The story follows eight very diverse kids on their way to the nationals. I wonder how the documentarians decided who to follow, or if they followed hundreds and whittled it down to the remaining 8. Those that were removed early on in the competition were the more fascinating of the stories, I found. And my favourite was Harry Altman. The best part was a local Hooters arranged their sign to say "Congradulations" to the regional champion. Another town misspelled "champ." Those were nice touches to showing the importance of spelling. But who's to say that knowing how to spell "heleoplankton" is a vital skill? Is the spelling important or the studying and determination the value attained at these competitions?

There. I've got around to posting again.

Next week (July 9th) is Pirate Day. This means dressing like a pirate to the opening of The Pirates of the Carribean: Blah Blah Curse Blah Black Pearl.

Cinemuerte and the listings as to when to break into the Clubhouse.

Friday July 4th
7:00 - ALIVE + The Headless Horseman
9:30 - Tattoo

Saturday July 5th
7:40 - Soft for Digging + Erdu
(would I be a jerk for going?)

Sunday July 6th
2:00 - Celluloid Horror (?)
4:00 - Moonlight Sonata (?)
(I'm not sure about both/either of these movies...)

Thursday July 10th
7:00 - James Ellroy's Feast of Death
9:00 - Guyana, Crime of the Century + The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Friday July 11th
10:00 - Punishment Park
Midnight - Turkey Shoot + Scarecrow

Saturday July 12th
2:00 - Zero Day
(sucker for punishment? I would have to work at 8am to make this showing...)


This list entitles me to buy a pass, except that three of the ten are "maybes"; Then again, there are probably 3 more that other people are up to seeing that I may go along for.