An Education.

It's been a while, but he's managed to do it again. Nick Hornby, my all time favourite author, has come out with an amazing screenplay called "An Education". It's been years since one of Nick Hornby's blunt British humoured novels has been turned into a feature film, and even though it was not first a novel, he has knocked this one out of the park. I can easily say it is the best movie I've seen in 2009 with no question and the second it hits stores I will get my gruby hands on it and watch it on repeat for about a week.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn9IMe5jmf0

Carey Mulligan played a perfect "Jenny" and now I'm watching out for more movies that she's in because she was THAT good.
Fav Quote: "All that poetry, and all those songs... about something that lasts no time at all"

If you've never heard of Nick Hornby, I can almost garuntee you that one of these movies (which are based on two of his best selling novels) will get your attention:

High Fidelity (#1 on my personal top 5 movies)
My favourite quote: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij5sKrHRlN8

About a Boy
Will: I couldn't possibly think of a worse godfather for Imogene. You know me. I'll drop her at her christening. I'll forget her birthdays until her 18th, when I'll take her out and get her drunk and possibly, let's face it, you know, try and shag her. I mean, seriously, it's a very, very bad choice.
Couple: We know, I just thought you had hidden depths.
Will: No. No. You've always had that wrong. I really am this shallow.

Beach Boys.

From their soothing melodic ballads to their vivacious up beat surf rock tunes, I will always love the Beach Boys. I am in love…



Good Vibrations


Dance, Dance, Dance


Little Duce Coupe


Wouldn’t it Be Nice


Don’t Worry Baby


I Get Around


…in love with the Beach Boys.

Music Roots.

So I'm watching Ready or Not and it's the episode where Busy decides to launch her music career. So she goes into an interview and in the background of the shot something caught my attention. It was a freaking Chixdiggit poster. I went onto you tube and watch their video "elchupacabra". Way funny. Here it is...



After watching this I decided I wanted more! After seeing this and remembering where my music taste began wayyy back in the day, I couldn't stop searching! Next came MXPX. Remeber them? They were my fav... then after a few albums their whole Christian rock vibe got a little vibrant and I couldn't deal anymore. This was one of my favs...



Now one of my ALL TIME FAVS! Saves the Day takes the cake for longest running fav band from age 10 to about 18... and they remain way up there. I have so many favs from Saves the Day but here's one I'll always love (it gives me shivers every single time)...



Now for yet another classic, Moneen. They used to play in Church basements in Caledon and Brampton were a Mayfield fav of many, these dudes are local legends. One time they even played at the Elmocombo with my brother's old band 'Dead Giveaway' former known as 'Last Man Standing' formerly known as 'ASA' (another stupid acronym)... real clever boys. I wish they had a you tube video because they were awesome too. But here's some classic Moneen for yeah...



--^ Bad sound but good song.


I think I would have passed out if I was at this show (video below)... a dream come true. I did see them together once... and it was a dream come true. To pay $50 to see Moneen seemed like such a jip at first after never having paid more than $6 to see them before but MAN was that worth it.



This post is getting long... and I bet I could go on forever and ever, but I'll leave you with one of the most classic of all. NOFX. I used to steal my brothers CDs growing up when I got tired of lying on the floor trying to listen through the wall/cracks in the baseboards between out rooms, all the while my sister was covering her head with a pillow banging on the bathroom door that connected their rooms saying shut the hell up. Oh those were the days. Best siblings ever.

This song is dedicated to my childhood best friend Allison... for whatever reason we thought it was hilarious to whisper this to eachother in the middle of class then burst out laughing... we were 9, i think it was code for "i like that boy" but I could be mistaken. Anyways... funny song.



Alright. This was a nice break from my already horrible attempt at finishing my essay on Geothermal Heat Pumps. I'm pretty sure this was more fun, just a whole lot less productive.

-S

Animal Collective.

So Animal Collective has just released their new CD "Merriweather Post Pavilion" (January 9th of this year) and it is amazing! Described as Avant-progressive rock Animal Collective continues to release incredible sounds and lyrics that are changing the way people think of rock or indie music. The dudes are currently working on different movie options to explore in their near future and Panda Bear stated that they want to "create a movie that would have visuals similar to what somebody would see if they closed their eyes while listening to Animal Collective's music". We'll see if that happens, it would be amazing of course, but seems like a dreamed up idea that may never quite pan out.

Anyways, I'm pumped about this new album. Here's a taste of what to look forward to after purchasing, I can't even begin to say how much I f-ing LOVE this track!...

Do Make Say Think.

This Toronto band has been on my iTunes ever since my “high school sweetheart” introduced them to me about 5 years ago. Today while I was headed into the gym “End of Music” came on and I thought to myself how their band name lives up to every expectation. Listening to their inspirational, all instrumental songs makes me want to get out there and Do (go to the gym, a walk, or whatever) Make (usually inspire me when I’m painting) Say & Think (Void of lyrics, their songs make me really think of how I feel without interrupting with conflicting lyrics). When you’re in one of those weird fazes in life when you’re not sure of anything, or have lost motivation, I think that Do Make Say Think is the perfect medication! Clear your mind, allow yourself to think without distraction and be inspired.

Music Drought.

Although New Years resolutions never seem to quite pan out for me, I do have one thing on my list besides the ever so typical “I want to lose 10 pounds” “I only want to drink one night a week” etc, etc. that NEEDS to be satisfied. This is the art of finding new music.

I grew up a confused child listening to whatever was blasting into my room through the wall that divided mine to my brothers. This typically included everyone’s favourites at the impressionable age of 10 (note my sarcasm)… Nirvana, NOFX, Rancid, Satanic Surfers, Green Day, Bad Religion, all the really good 90’s punk and alt rock. The confused part came when I went to school and all of my friends were listening to Spice Girls and the Backstreet boys. A ten year old girl in the mid 90s, obviously I was going to plaster my walls with images of the way too sexy (but totally all for girl power and not subjecting their bodies in any way) Spice Girls.

What does this have to do with my New Years resolution? Well, growing up with such an odd range of music tastes, I’d like to keep that going into 2009. I want to look into finding new and exciting artists and genres of music. The hard part for me is figuring out where to look. I tend to look in the “interests” section on friends facebook profiles, Now Magazine, Eye Weekly, and a couple other places, but this is not good enough. I have some serious searching to do. Since I would really like this to actually happen, I’m thinking of NOT calling it a “New Years Resolution”… maybe just a long-term goal?

Here’s something (not new but soooo good) that I have recently re-discovered (which totally counts in my books) I can’t tell if I like the original ‘Psychedelic Furs’ version of ‘The Ghost in You” or the Counting Crows version (which is the one I originally fell in love with thanks to the classic Clueless soundtrack, but anyways, this video is awesome… I should have been in my 20s in the 80s. Enjoy. Peace.

Bring Colour To Their Lives.

On August 25th, 2008 I held a Fundraiser/Art Show at Sneaky Dees in downtown Toronto. After talking to my Uncle who was born and raised in Malawi, a small country in central Africa, about the drought that would lead to thousands of people going hungry due to lack of food and sky raising costs, I decided we could help make a difference. This is when "Bring Colour To Their Lives." started. A party series where we all get together, listen to amazing music, dance, and raise money for a really good cause.

Event #1: August 25th, 2008

9 Local artists displayed their work when we turned the upper level of Sneaky Dees at College and Bathurst into a gallery to showcase the amazing talent that can be found in our amazing city. DJ Dirrty Shoes brought out some amazing tunes for the night and we managed to raise $1000 on a Wednesday night thanks to everyone who came out to support! To put into perspective the impact we had by raising that money listen to this… with that $1000 we raised enough money to feed 4 families of 4 for an entire month! And all you had to do was come down, pay $5 cover, drink, dance, and have an awesome time!


Event #2: November 1st, 2008

Since the first event went so well and made such a difference, I decided to throw party number two! This time we had local musicians Modernboys Moderngirls, Alphabot, and Djs Famous Players come out and put on what was a really awesome show! By the end of night everyone was hitting the dance floor! Despite the fact that this event was help the day after Halloween and a weekend filled with binge drinking, we still managed to raise $850 which went towards sending four girls to school for an entire year! This includes not only the cost of schooling, but also an adequate amount of food and proper school attire for the year! Currently there are photos and letters from the students who we helped to start a better life.


Bring Colour To Their Lives is coming back for round three and if you want to be a part of it STAY TUNED! More information is yet to come. I have a feeling this next one is going to be bigger and better than the last!

The Beginning.

Ever Since I moved to the city almost four years ago, I have wanted to start writing a blog. I’ve had this one set up for a while, yet I’ve never written even one post. Is it because I am terrible with spelling, grammar, and am not the greatest writer? Maybe. Is it because I am simply too lazy? It’s possible. But NOW I am going to start. On this day, January 8th, 2009, I will begin life as a blogger.

Every time I travel home to my parents house I have the greatest conversations with my Dad about just about anything. Usually business, what big things I’m going to do with my life, how I can be more creative when applying for jobs, etc etc. One thing that always makes me laugh though, is his constant attempt to through the word “blog” or “mainframe” or ‘text” into any sentence he can. My dad has always made fun of how concentrated my generation is on technology, and how lost we would feel without the internet or cell phones. He’s absolutely, 100% correct. I went crazy not having caller ID on my cell phone, and when the internet goes down I go completely stir crazy. I’m sure this is most likely what has lead me to my inability to sit down and focus on reading a novel for more than 20 minutes at a time.

Anyways, what I’m getting at is the fact that I always just laughed when my Dad went on about how everyone blogged. I was so against this whole part of the internet for whatever reason and would always respond with “Dad, no one actually has a blog” or “I don’t know anyone with a blog”. To my surprise, several people I know have blogs. So, this will be my attempt. I have a lot of really cool things that happen around me everyday and what better way to document them then this. At a party I was recently at, I was listening to a friend talk about how blogs are such a great way to document what goes on in our lives, and I completely agree. City life is amazing, there is tons to share, so now I will begin.