North Bay

Hello,
A few things to get caught up on as I have been very absent over the summer months.

One, I have been working like a dog all summer with a day camp that I was assistant manager of. This was by far the craziest 4 months of my life.. I spent a large amount of my time working long (un-paid) hours just to prepare for the arrival of thousands of kids throughout the summer. It was a great learning experience that I will do again in a heart beat.

Moving on, I am still playing the blues and with some great progress as well. I did play at the club a few times, but not on the Thursday night blues night. However, I played on the open mic Friday night quite a few times.

NEXT!
I am currently residing in North Bay Ontario. Here is the layout of what my past week has looked like.

Monday Sept. 7th 2009 1pm : Drive to London from Perry Sound (nice relaxing long weekend at the girly's cottge to end the summer)

Monday Sept 7th 2009 7:30pm: Pack up belongings from London residence and drive home to Sarnia

Tuesday Sept. 8th, 2009: Just after setting up my turtle's pen outside I begin to cut the grass. While cutting the grass I receive a phone call from Nipissing University asking me to join them at school for their BED program. I say yes (why not)

Wednesday Sept 9th, 2009 1pm: Go to bank and continue to put myself in more financial dismay (get a loan ...again)

Wednesday Sept 9th, 2009 3pm: Go to London to get the rest of belongings. Quit job at the club. Get my GF's parents a thank you gift/card. Return to work to sort out payroll issue with Sue.

Wednesday Sept. 9th, 2009 5:30 pm : Drive back to Sarnia TD bank in order to sign papers that will secure my future financial destruction.

Wednesday Sept 9th, 2009 8pm: Sort and pack all that will be needed to drive 6 hours to North Bay and find a new place to live for the next 8 months.

Thursday Sept 10th, 2009 5:30 AM: Wake up and start the 6 hour drive to North Bay Ontario (quite fun actually Thanks Dad)

Thursday Sept 10th, 2009 12:oopm: Dad and I see a Moose!

Thursday Sept 10th, 2009 1pm: I arrive at Nipissing University for my very condensed orientation while all other BED students are out in their placements doing an observation week.
I drop eleven hundred dollars (OUCH) and they say, "See you Monday!"

Thursday Sept 10th, 2009 4:30pm: The father and I saunter around North Bay for hotels to stay in. We find one and it is nice (and expensive). We eat dinner drive through town and look at the lake Nipissing and trout lake.

Thursday Sept 10th, 2009. 11pm: Sleep

Friday Sept 11th, 2009. 7am: I wake up eat breakfast and get ready to go adventuring/ fishing on Trout Lake.

Friday Sept 11th, 2009. 8am: I realize it is 9/11. I break dance. Father is confused. (actually happened)

Friday Sept 11th, 2009. 12:30pm: Father leaves for home. He goes the scenic route to see the giants. Now, when I say giants I mean windmills located south of Perry Sound.

Friday Sept 11th, 2009. 3pm: I walk to Lake Nipissing and adventure on the lake. and head home to sleep.

Saturday Sept 12th, 2009. 9:30am: I wake up in time to get the free breakfast from the hotel. It sucks. I eat only the fruit loops. They were delightful. I shower and prepare for the day.

Saturday Sept 12th, 209. 11:30am: I get on a bus and purposely try to get lost in North Bay in order to better adapt to the layout of the city. I fail. I know where I am and find myself at the North Bay mall. The mall is amazingly HUGE and very impressive. Now, it does not have a roller coaster or anything of that magnitude. However, for a city smaller than Sarnia with the demeanor of Courtright Ontario I am very impressed with the selection and size of the mall. I get out of the mall and decide to walk a fair way (this is another attempt to lose myself in "The Bay"). I end up sitting on a brick wall of a french catholic church on fifth street. I sit on a wall that is on a hill that provides an inspiring view of "The Bay" (local slang for North Bay). I write in my journal give a peace sign and advance. Shortly after I hear the blasts of cap guns and the laughter of children who find make believe murder hilarious. I quickly agree with the children and laugh with them as I pass by. My laughter is cut short by a tall slender girl, no older than seven-teen or eight-teen, holding a bible. She smiles and asks me, "what are you looking for?" I stop, see the bible, and quickly answer, "Why you of course!" She forces a smile that is riddled with confusion and proceeds to tell me about Jesus. I act polite and listen with a grin, not a smile, a grin. She stops talking and asks me a question about my faith. I do not answer on purpose and keep the grin positioned on my face. She answers for me, "You don't have a faith?" I laugh and ask where she is from. She tells me that she has come from Utah in hopes of spreading the love of Jesus Christ. I say, "of course Utah" and she is now finding her exist strategy. She hands me a post-card with a picture of Jesus on it and a pen. She looks at me and says, "When you feel the need write Jesus a post-card and drop it in the mail." I inquire about the mailing address and I get nothing but a confused face. I answer the question for her, "My faith is the address. Right..." She tells me her name is Sister Rigby and that she has enjoyed her time speaking to me. I give her my best and go to leave. She looks at me as I am packing away my post-card and says, "You are unique, God Bless." I turn and walk toward a bus stop to head back to the hotel. On the way back to my room I chuckle to myself. I laugh because the irony hits me. Something about once was lost but now am found rings through my head. I get back drink a beer watch two seasons of "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" and fall asleep.

Sunday Sept 13th, 2009. 11am: Wake up and start to pack. Make a phone call to an old professor about living with him. He tells me to call him back Tuesday. I finish packing and play Mario Kart. I nap, swim, and even work out (taking full advantage of all hotel features is important to me. Why? I don't know). Caitie arrives and I move my things to her place on Trout lake.

Sunday Sept 13th, 2009 9pm: I fish off of Caitie's dock for 45 minutes. I get creeped out by the darkness and haunting Trout Lake monster stories in my head. I leave the dock and head inside and go to bed.

Sept 14th, 2009. 8am: I wake up come to school late. First day, I am late and very new. I walk into Gym class. Everyone turns t me. Silence, followed by the beckon of the professor, "Go change...WAIT! Who are you?"

Now I sit here in the Nipissing University library writing a synopsis of my week at a glance. It has been complex and stressful. However, I am glad that I am here and doing something a little bit off book.

Now, I start to get my teaching degree and hope to find a job one day telling kids how to be a slacker and still succeed. Like ME!

BYE

The Blues

The cottage was a great adventure. Had a lot of beers and some good times. Can't wait to get back.

Now this is not so much a blog about anything but....meh,

I have decided that I am going to learn how to play the blues this summer. Why? Because the blues are awesome and the root of all music. So, I ask anybody who plays an instrument to take up this task with me. Or, if you could send me some cool links to awesome videos or books that I could buy during my learning process. Yes, this will be a self-taught adventure. The goal for the summer is to get good enough to participate at the LMC (where I work) Blues Jam every Thursday night.

I will post some mp3's of my own development throughout the summer, and blog about Bluesy things.

In short, IT IS THE SUMMER OF THE BLUES!!!!!! Ironically, this make me very happy and excited. 

See you soon

Deliverance

Heading to the cottage avec Dane Shavis and A.J. tomorrow night the 20th after the exam. I will be incommunicado for at least a day and  a half. Men are made from these trips, so I am sure I will have something to say when I return.

See you then

Youtube's Got Talent

Let's talk Andy Warhol for a moment. 

Andy Warhol, was anAmerican painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. After a successful career as a commercial illustrator, Warhol became famous worldwide for his work as a painter, avant-garde filmmaker, record producer,author, and public figure known for his membership in wildly diverse social circles that included bohemian street people, distinguishedintellectuals, Hollywood celebrities and wealthy aristocrats.Warhol has been the subject of numerous retrospective exhibitions, books, and feature and documentary films. He coined the expression "15 minutes of fame."

 Thank you very much Wikipedia you are the bread and butter of the lazy scholar.

 So, now you are aware of Andy the artist and apparent socialite, but did you know that he was also a legitimate psychic. Yes that is right everybody Andy Warhol could predict the future!!! The term "15 minutes of fame" actually came from Andy's quote, "In the future, everybody will be famous for fifteen minutes." Now, look at theinternet sensation Youtube, or just look at this- I am sure it is familiar  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60og9gwKh1o Yes that is right the Numa Numa guy who was made famous by dancing to that god awful song. Remember this one? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXttxi82TCM

Yes, the dramatic chipmunk!!!! Whoa hilarious right? Not really? Well what if Samuel L. Jackson was tossed into the mix. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3HjGHVJdwk&feature=PlayList&p=9811D7E9B6CECDBF&index=35  I know, still not funny just stupid. Okay, what about this guy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwTZ2xpQwpA Or, recently this kid, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txqiwrbYGrs 

Trust me you can surf Youtube for days on end and find worst videos. However, the point is that these seemingly simple, borderline stupid, things have made all of the participants famous. They were, just like you and I, insignificant people who became famous, but like Andy said only for 15 minutes. 

So, it is established that Youtube has brought forth an age of, for lack of a better word, idiots. Now, I am not going to go on a rant about how Youtube just produces stupidity and saturated material. Nor will I complain about how Youtube gives Assholes a chance to become famous- because I am an asshole. I will in fact defend Youtube, and all online videos for that matter, by stating that like everything else you have to find the diamond in the rough. Yes, most times than not you will stuck with watching some dumb viral video at a party that you will see at least ten times throughout the night - depending on how drunk everybody gets. 

However, every once and a while you will find this,  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzqumbhfxRo A hyperactive editing of drums and piano done one drum/note at a time. Absolutely incredible!! These are the videos that showcase something worth-while, and not some dumb intense chipmunk that has now become somewhat of a cultural icon. Still not convinced? How about a Youtube subscriber named Kutiman? Kutiman utilizes the useless videos of others to create original pieces of music.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tprMEs-zfQA  Kutiman, like myself, was most likely annoyed with the saturated garbage that he was overwhelmed with on Youtube. Instead Kutiman, UNLIKE ME, did something productive with his frustration and made these outstanding pieces of music/art. There is an astronomical amount of talent in what he has created, and I for one will respect that to the end of my time.

Youtube is filled with talent like Kutiman that are worth the time checking out. I could post several more links of amazing talent that exists, or made public, on Youtube. However, I want you to experience the self-satisfaction of discover some on your own. I may not want to submit to the stupidity that is the commenting section of Youtube, but I will absolutely continue searching for the "sweet meat" that exist behind the gross fat of Youtube. 

Perhaps, it is a little extreme to say that Andy Warhol was a psychic, but he was at least one hell of a philosopher. I want to announce that Andy you were correct. Now everybody, thanks to Youtube, has the resource to become famous for fifteen minutes. However, should everybody be famous for fifteen minutes? Probably not, but how do you control that? Can you? Who knows? Maybe a war we should seek. Let us, you and I, battle the saturated, talent-less, mind- numbing, viral shit that makes it's way from teenage loner's bedrooms to CNN. Our weapon of choice, the spreading of obscure talented videos like Kutiman’s through blogs such as this one!!!!! Too much of an ambitious war plan? Sorry, perhaps a more Guerrilla style of warfare. Orders are to present a smug and pretentious attitude toward the millions of people who sat down and made the Numa Numa video a phenomenon. I mean being a little pretentious has got me this far so it has to work right? Meh..

To be honest sometimes both worlds collide. The viral world adapts and actually picks up a talented video (of a person etc.). Like this classic   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0bHeiRNg That video is the most hit Youtube video of all time (I think) and deservedly so. That guy has got fucking talent.

Just don,t get discouraged and keep surfing because like my pal DaneShavis says, "These social-networking sites are, like it or not, going to figure very heavily in the future of public discourse and information-sharing.” Youtube is all but a part of that future. Use it accordingly 

SNL, Treading In Dangerous Waters

I was finally able to catch an episode of SNL on April 11th. It has been months since I have seen an episode.(because let's be honest they were getting horrible) 

However, the recent hope shown by cast members Bill Hader and Andy Samberg gave me some reason to sit through an entire episode sketch after sketch. 

Not to my surprise, I was filled with the same annoyance as before, but now frustrated with the amount of wasted talent. Samberg, Hader, and Forte, or FortHaderBerg for short,  all exist in a cast that does not allow them to facilitate their fullest potential. I can only hope that their ideas are being shot down left right and centre because of the edgy content. If that is the case then I feel for members who cannot express their talent through the watered down sketch show that has become SNL. 

What ever happened to the edgy content that the show was so famously known for? Canadian comedy programs have gone the same way. remember the sketch comedy of KITH (Kids in the Hall)?  I mean now we have Comedy Now!! That is the worse shit I have ever seen before. And don't get me started on the Jon Dore Show.

The SNL problem is that the talent is not being appreciated. Instead, we are stuck with Jason Sudeikis shoving the same arrogant self into as many sketches as possible- I mean come on Sudeikis do some characters.

  However, SNL does have hope in the new cast member Michaela Watkins. Watkins can actually develop and hold a character while improvising in an attempt to mess up, or challenge, another cast member. I have only seen two sketches with her, but already I am far more impressed with her than I will ever be with Sudeikis. Now, Watkins is not the show's Obi-Wan Kenobi . SNL has Hader and Samberg, but they just need to be set loose. I repeat, I can only hope that FortHaderBerg are not giving in to writing the watered down material out of pure principal. I suggest that those three cast members do the the ol' shit or get off the pot before they end up like Hammond. 

The show is treading in dangerous waters. However, the show has not attracted the sharks quite yet. FortHaderBerg needs to step up and utilize Watkins in all ways possible. The potential is there waiting to be the next big SNL superstar cast. Keep the digital shorts, but drop the rap satires-we get it already- and push for more edgy content. The show needs to get into trouble, be insensitive, be controversial, but do not lose the clever finesse. I know, if I want a KITH edge to my comedy I should surf the web. But where is the tradition in that? I love the internet age, but not since everyone and there sister can make shitty ass sketches and become quasi famous comedians because of it. However, that topic is for another day.

 I am a devout SNL fan that has defended it for years. I will continue to do so as long as they listen to ME!!  Ha, like anyone will read this blog 

Sorry, I need to go and watch some Sudeikis sketches to feel better about myself. I just hate him so much.

Cheers

B.O.D.