Why I Hate Winter; Or, There is No Such Thing as Altruism

Winter hit big last night.

I woke up this morning and was greeted with a good couple feet of snow on the porch and driveway. The few peers I have that are up that early on a Monday were busy flooding Facebook with questions about whether the university was having a snow day. Whispering a silent prayer, I logged on to Western's site to be greeted with the unapologetic headline, "University remains open." (Edit: Oh sure, now they cancel classes.)

Except it didn't even matter in the end, because after waiting thirty minutes at my bus stop for a late bus (after trudging through the unplowed roads and sidewalk to get there), I decided to turn back around and call it a lost cause. Upon discovering that I was now locked out of my house, and no one else was awake yet inside, I undertook the arduous task of shovelling the driveway instead.

Shovelling used to be more bearable when my brother still lived at home. Sure, his sense of what constitutes "half" of the driveway was always askew, but at least he was out there with me in that icy hell. Nowadays it's just me and my thoughts, and those thoughts are often soured by the old people at the end of our court.

It just so happens that we have a lot of retired old people populating the circle at the end of the road. While I have nothing but bile for a huge snow like we had last night, it's as if it is what those people live for. They congregate and laugh about it, and they do so much too early in the morning. They start up their snowblowers and clear their driveways. Then they begin their systematic clearing of neighbours' drives.

This is the part I hate most.

My November Playlist

I thought it would be fun to put up a monthly playlist of what I'm listening to at the moment so you can share in my enjoyment. After all, walking on campus with earbuds in is a pretty solitary experience, but listening to music doesn't have to be! I've got a good mix for you this November; you can download it here, and I'll list the tracks and a bit about them below:

1. When They Fight, They Fight by Generationals: Catchy song full of throwback instrumentation and vocal style.
2. Living in America by Dom: This is how you use synthesizer in 2010!
3. DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshake by Art Brut: I've been listening to this record like crazy lately. Punchy bass punctuates witty lyrics.
4. Clawing Out at the Walls by Dominant Legs: Chill track that kind of reminds me of Talking Heads.
5. Gorgeous by Kanye West: His newest record wasn't my favourite, but this track has a hell of a hook.
6. Miami by Foals: I like this guy's voice.
7. Walking Far From Home by Iron & Wine: His first release off his upcoming 2011 record; it's a departure from his traditional style, but I really like the new direction.
8. Your Soul and Mine by Gil Scott-Heron: Industrial beat mixed with Scott-Heron's engrossing spoken lyrics.
9. Eyesore by Women: My friend Stefan raves about this record. While I'm not sure I'm sold on it yet, this track is pretty damn great. Great way to end the record, so I cribbed it to end my playlist as well!

Disclaimer: These MP3s are purely for sampling purposes, and if you like the music, you should support the artists somehow. If you own the rights to any of the music posted on my blog and want it removed, simply let me me know, and I will comply 100%.

Hope you guys dig it! More music posts to come as I begin deliberations on my Top 2010 Records list. :)

My Ambrosia

I sit in my dimly lit room, the day's sun already expired. Winter is upon us now; the first snow happened last night as we stood freezing on a balcony getting air. Like a glove it slapped our faces, and funneling between the surrounding buildings, it whipped at our coats mercilessly. The winter is a time of profound coldness-- a feeling I personally abhor-- but paradoxically, also of warmth. In a battle against the elements, people don sweaters and they light fireplaces. Even metaphorically they are warm; season's greetings abound, and cheeriness permeates even the most frigid of hearts. Seasonal drinks become popular too, from hot chocolate to pumpkin spice lattes to hot toddies of all sorts. I'm enjoying a beverage as I write, but it isn't anything special like those. Or perhaps in a way, it is the most special of drinks.

Minute Maid is a company that makes juice. Maybe you've heard of them? Right now I am drinking their patented Fruit Punch blend, a concoction that the manufacturers claim is comprised of grape, pineapple and apple. I honestly couldn't parse out the individual flavours myself; maybe at one point it was possible, but to me now, I only taste one flavour: Fruit Punch. Remember in The Matrix when we learn how the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar sees lines of code on a monitor as a vivid image that the code is actually describing? I guess that's sort of like me with Minute Maid Fruit Punch; I've been drinking this shit so long that I can't see the inner workings of it anymore.

They Say Rap's Changed, They Wanna Know How I Feel About It

One look at me is enough for most people to assume that I'm a wealth of knowledge about the "rap game." After all, I'm white, I dress like an upstanding citizen, and I drive a van. Now if I don't belong in a rap video, I don't know who does.

Alright fine, I'm no expert when it comes to hip-hop (when did they start calling it hip-hop instead of rap, anyway?), but since I enjoy a variety of musical styles in my leisure time, I am occasionally involved in the pastime of listening to rap music. It just so happens that I've been listening to quite a bit of it lately, and I've got some random thoughts to write about. Maybe they will form some sort of cohesive blog post in the end? Let's find out.

Item 1: Dr. Dre has released a single off of his long-awaited new record, Detox. Outside of a few featuring credits in songs, this is the first new Dr. Dre song that I've heard since his 1999 LP, 2001. Eleven years! Dr. Dre has always been my favourite rap artist, and I consider 2001 his best work, so I've literally been waiting almost half my life for a follow-up to it. Can it possibly appease his fans after that long a time? The closest comparison I can think of is when George Lucas brought out the new Star Wars trilogy-- and we all know how those were received. If the single is any indication though, it seems like Dre hasn't lost the magic. "I Need a Doctor" is a solid track to be sure, featuring a catchy beat and inspired lyrics by Eminem, that culminates in a grand return by Dre wherein he calls out "fairweather" friends and professes his love to Eminem. It gets borderline bromantic between the two of them, and it's not the best song Dre's ever produced, but it's not a bad start; I can't wait to hear more. Supposedly Detox is finally coming in February, but I've been citing release dates for it since grade nine, so we'll see.

The Christmas in November

Have you ever been involved in a well-executed surprise party? It's rare. Have you ever been the subject of a well-executed surprise party? Rarer still. This past weekend, I had the wool pulled over my eyes like you wouldn't believe.

It was Saturday night, and my bandmates Lana and Stefan had just picked me up because we were going out to dinner to celebrate my birthday. I admittedly was fine with a low-key weekend because I had been busy all week with assignments, and I needed the weekend to study for a critical Monday exam. I didn't plan anything big for my birthday because of this (and also because it seemed like a bunch of my friends were going to be out of town or otherwise occupied this weekend...), so I was fine enjoying dinner with my favourite guitarist and drummer. At least I thought I was fine with it; I later had a couple different people tell me that I had been mopey during the days leading up to my birthday. Truth told, I had a small compunction about the dinner, feeling like I was a little bit of a charity case for Lana and Stefan.

As we rounded the bend onto the main street that would take us to the new Chinese joint Blue Rice (a terrible name by any measure), Lana informed us that she had forgotten her wallet, and that we would have to stop by her place to pick it up first. This was not unbefitting of Lana's usual character, so I didn't bat an eye at our detour. To sweeten the pot for us, she claimed she had just set up her drum kit in the basement, and naturally we would want to see that shit.

So we all went inside the condo to see the drums. Except the drum kit was very much unassembled, and in its place was a surprise party waiting for yours truly.

My Obsession of the Moment

As I hastened through the chilly moonlit campus this evening after class (thanks to daylight savings, it's officially pitch black outside when I head home), my thoughts drifted from those of Personality Theory to something more gratifying. In actuality, to say my thoughts "drifted" isn't quite accurate. No, ever since Saturday when I embarked on this new adventure, the machinery of my mind has been dominated in one form or another by it. The schema of the person known as John has fundamentally shifted, and where there was once resolute calmness in my mind, now there dances unrelenting thoughts of tactical skirmishes and square grids that cover all terrain.

I'm talking about Final Fantasy Tactics, people.

How many readers did I just lose? Yes, I'm blogging about a video game. But it's not lame! Alright, I guess it is about as nerdy a game as they come, but it's addicting as hell. I downloaded it on my Playstation a few days ago, and I've become pretty taken by it! Which isn't great, considering it's a busy time of year school-wise...

Innocence Found

Every so often, in a completely pedestrian and non-creepy way, I watch the neighbourhood kids playing on the street that my house is on. The people who live across the road have three children, all of which I remember seeing as babies. The youngest (whom I had a very one-sided conversation with the other day) isn't speaking yet, but she is certainly up and walking around. It feels like it wasn't long ago that their oldest was just a baby himself. I can't help but reflect on time and how its flow is both speedy and unstoppable.

Sometimes I feel like I'm still a kid myself-- that is, until reality's cold hand slaps me in the face.

My younger sister and her friend came to watch my buddies and I play baseball a few months ago. It's the same pastime we've been engaging in for years: just the neighbourhood kids playing America's favourite sport. That's how it read in my mind at least, until my sister's friend commented that she wasn't expecting to see a bunch of grown men on the field in the park. It was then that I stepped back and noticed the beards, the selectively aging physiques, and the beers in hand… no, she was right; these people were a far cry from being children.