Back to the future. Of blogging.

I opened the car door and stepped outside onto by driveway. I closed the door as the final chords of "The Eraser" hit, marking the simultaneous end of both my trip & that album.

Does this hold some deep meaning? 
Nope.
I do enjoy good timing though.

Famous belly button exhibitionist, Princess Jasmine (of my favorite non-Pixar Disney film, Aladdin) was said to be punctual. I like that in a woman. I also like her magic carpet. (rimshot!)

Tasteless jokes aside, noting beats perfect timing. Arriving at the stop exactly when the bus arrives or going to the washroom in a restaurant and coming back to find your meal at the table, these are great feelings.

Timing is chemistry between you and your friends. You and your significant other...
Timing means the success or failure of an advertising campaign, or most any other work.  

All the moments in your life have relied on your reactions to events that can only happen because your own personal timing allowed you to be there. Had you been early or late, perhaps it would be different. 

It is said that life is a big joke, and in comedy, timing is everything. 

... I wrote all that May 27th, 2010. 

It wasn't posted because it felt unfinished. There was always something else I felt I should say with it but I wasn't sure what. Some deep insight? Some lame joke? I didn't know then and I sure as shit don't know now. I only rediscovered the 'draft' copy sitting in here after a very long hiatus from any writing. 

Why post it now? I guess it felt like the right time [rimshot?].

Merry Xmas.

My power to follow mindless action movies and type at the same time

...Is impressive. I watched The Rock with all it's complex plot twists and sophisticated explosions while talking to a few people on Facebook chat. This is a high level of advanced multitasking that I possess and employ often in my daily life.

It is useful when one wants to mix business with pleasure.

P.S.

Susan is a great friend.

Top 10 Films - 2009

It's that time again! I'm going to talk about movies. Okay, so it's always that time. But this time I'm sticking to 2009, here my friends are my Top 10 favourite films of last year:

10. Sherlock Holmes

Who doesn't want to watch Robert Downey Jr. play Tony Stark with a British accent?!
Regardless of the rock 'em sock 'em style of Guy Richie, this version of Sherlock Holmes is refreshingly faithful to the original stories; Holmes is an arrogant prick and a drug addict & Watson is finally not presented as an old fat guy (it's like Smee from Peter Pan, all the movie adaptations make him this lovable fat guy when he's a creepy bastard in the original story). This is defiantly Richie's best since Snatch, and highly entertaining with good chemistry between Downey & Jude Law.

9. Fantastic Mr. Fox

A very quirky and offbeat comedy. Wes Anderson redeems himself after The Darjeeling Limited, which I found to be an unintentional parody of himself. One thing that this movie gets right is the attention to the little things; there are so many small details in every scene and sometimes they are totally irrelevant but they are great, adding a deeper texture to the world the movie has created. Plus, it's fun to watch good stop-motion animation.

8. A Serious Man

I love me some Coen Bros. They make movies in so many genres/styles but you can always tell it's them. That said they have few types of comedies such as the Burn After Reading, quirky-fun style and the Fargo, dark-quirky style. A Serious Man falls under the latter. This is a dark dramedy, and it's great.

7. Up

I watched this one in 3D, and it was pretty cool. You know, because it was made to actually BE a 3D movie, unlike Alice in Wonderland or Clash of the Titans. The beginning of this movie is so sad for a happy-go-lucky Pixar flick. I think the Oscar nomination was for that opening montage alone, it was very powerful. The rest of the movie is also really good, I'm glad to say. There's some funny stuff, some touching stuff, a talking dog, what more do you want? Balloons? Well there's lots of those.

6. Star Trek

Star Trek is usually more about exploring than blowing stuff up, but this movie is a blast (Pun, SO intended)! A reboot that's clever about getting a new audience while not pissing off the hardcores, Star Trek is the best action movie of 09.

5. Ponyo

The Little Mermaid told Miyazaki style. Hayao Miyazaki is amazing and creative as all Hell, Ponyo is no different. It's the type of movie that just makes you feel good watching it, with it's wonderful animation & rich characters. I don't like to throw around words like enchanting because I find them cliché, but it applies so I'll have to live with it.

4. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

Nick Cage is one of those actors you either love or hate. If you're like me, you're in the love-camp and he's absolutely phenomenal in this movie. This is an over-the-top (in every respect) dirty cop thrill-ride. Incredibly dark humor and an insane performance from Nick Cage makes me a happy camper.

3. Inglorious Bastards

This is the one on the list that I'm sure most people would have seen already. I don't need to go too deep into it here. QT has done it again! Brad Pitt is awesome, and we can finally say we have a WWII epic where it's okay to laugh and enjoy yourself. Only thing I have an issue with is Eli Roth as the Bear Jew – I wish that Adam Sandler had played him as QT originally intended (instead he made Funny People). I'm not a Sandler fan, but I can totally see him as that character and doing an awesome job, where I found Eli Roth's attempt at it distracting.

2. (500) Days of Summer

From the very start this movie tells you what's up, and you still don't listen. That's okay though, because regardless you're in for a really fun time. Feeling very real while still being incredibly off the wall, (500) Days of Summer is one of the most creative Rom-Coms I've seen a in a while. There are some very unique techniques used to display a character's wishes that I don't want to spoil for you here. Trust me and see this movie.

1. Where The Wild Things Are

A children's movie that's really for adults.
Where The Wild Things Are perfectly personifies of all the frustration, conflictions and confusions that come with childhood. It's not for everyone, and you shouldn't expect a happy-fun time because for a "kid’s movie" it’s scary and sometimes heartbreaking. That said, it's also breathtakingly beautiful in both its aesthetics and ability to be so simple yet so deep at the same time. Directed and written by Spike Jonze (Adaptation, Being John Malkovich), this movie takes a children's picture-book with few words and fleshes it out into a rich story full of fully realized & unique characters you can relate to, even if they are monsters. There's funny banter, really creative ideas, and pure, genuine emotion flowing throughout the entire film. I've already watched it three times and loved it, I've no doubt it's my favourite film of the year.
Bonus - soundtrack was done by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs lead singer Karen O, and it's Awesome-O (pun, also intended).
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I hope you enjoyed the list, and if you haven't seen those movies it's pretty obvious that I think you should get around to it when you can.
2009 did pretty alright and 2010 has already had a standout with My Name is Khan. I'm certain that Inception & Scott Pilgrim vs. the World will also rock; I hope to be discussing those next year come Top 10 time. Now go watch some movies!

Is your free time to free minds or for falling apart?

I felt so much more creative than usual the other day. As a creative person (so I claim) I've often wondered just what gets my mind to swirl just the right way to do what I love to do; is it what I eat & drink? Is it who I hang around with? Is it all from my dreams? I find that some of my best ideas arrive after I wake up, though I can recall those dreams and they had nothing to do with disinfecting wipes. I might never know the exact answer but as the expression goes, "if it ain't broke don't fix it."

For a few weeks things had been dull, dreary and messy. Well, my room had been very messy. Still is. But I digress, random ideas weren't popping in & working. My head is full of random all the time and it's suited me very well. What's that? A monkey with a screwdriver? Oh, no, that's just my friend Jo-Jo-Jr. Wait..there is no Jo-Jo-Jr. Okay, I think I have a beautiful mind.
See my point?

The beauty of good creativity is making something work. You can have all the random in the world but it gets you nowhere without proper application. Having the idea is only the 1st step, creativity is like many things in life where you need to try hard and go that extra mile if you want great things to occur. Personally, I am determined in my life to make as much work as possible. I kill myself to get my work done, I try to go that extra mile for my friends (even the far away ones), I wear gloves on top of gloves to use my iPod (okay, old news). What I don't do is clean my room. But I will soon. I'll snap and clean it 'till I drop. Why am I talking about that again?

I woke up a few days ago and the world was right again, creatively. I could look at anything and see so many ways to use it and abuse it. Sell it, buy it, pluck it, pull it, do what you will people. I know I have. I wrote down my ideas on receipt paper at work, and stuffed them in my pocket. Some of those ideas made it to the next level, some, well.. I couldn't read my own writing.

In time the creative work of myself & friends in advertising will inspire a range of actions and emotions across the globe. Our creativity will move them, motivate them, captivate them, they will feel different than that had previously, perhaps they will clean their desks off?
To get the ball rolling on this, be creative off the clock.
No one likes doing their job for free, but using your imagination isn't a job. It's just getting paid to have fun...While you are up all night. But if you're like me, you'd be up all night anyway writing a blog or something. I donno, Facebook? You know how you waste your time. I'm gonna go clean my room.

Title inspired by this week's song that's keepin' me going:
-Ize of the world (The Strokes)

Knocked Over Pylons - The Catalog: track 2

I'm too lazy today, here's more song lyrics from my high school days. Enjoy.

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Knocked over Pylons
-Dairy Star-Dust

He's a self-help specialist,
She's a dental hygienist,
They got nothing in common but they've got it all!

Terry's a taxman,
Terra's on welfare,
They got something in common but it's not the same!

Everyone's high on the Milky Way fume,
Messing about and trying to get through,
So high on the Milky Way fume,
Yet no one stops to breathe it in.

When I read the last page of my favorite book,
I came to the end of some great times,
Said farewell to some good friends,
And read the book all over again.

Jerry's a lie and a cheat,
Jessie's getting off on getting beat,
They'll only cope with eachother between the sheets.

Everyone's high on the Milky Way fume,
Mucking about and trying to get through,
So high on the Milky Way fume,
Yet no one stops to take it in.

Saw Bogart give her away,
Watched the globe drop away from Kane,
Witnessed the Bad Guy take his fall,
And my split-personality the cause of it all.

I'm an ass with a cause,
You're a pusher who works hard for it all,
We understand our faults and deal,
We breathe the fume and know how we feel.

Gimme, gimme shelter or I'm gonna fade away

Greetings from my cold, pale fingers pounding on black keys.

I've said before that school is back for Summer, what I should have said was that school is back, and it's frakin' cold out! Really Canada, sometimes I wonder about you. What do you on a Friday night while I'm sitting by the phone, waiting for a warm day to call and tell me it loves me.
Not too warm though, I burn.

Anyway.

Today was the 1st day back at school. It felt good to be in an establishment where I'll be pounded into the ground with work; I've been going out of my mind with all the freedom I had in the last month.
To make up for lost friends, I had a bunch of run-ins to start me off. On the bus ride there (from across the bus) I spotted a guy I knew from back in kindergarten, I had nothing to say to him, vice versa, I'm sure. We exchanged the customary head nods complete with smile and that was that 'till he got off the bus.
Once we arrived at Seneca I bumped into my friend who I haven't seen in a while. I was about to be late so I didn't have time for a Stop-&-Chat. Lucky for me he was cool enough to walk in the opposite direction of where he was headed to talk to me until I made it to my building.

Once I got into the building my super espionage skills must have kicked in without my noticing because I lot of people didn't notice me when I was sitting or standing near them.
It wore off when I was walking down the hall and bumped into my friend's Ex's brother. I was able to avoid the Stop-&-Chat once again. Score.

Really, does anyone like a Stop-&-Chat? Clearly I'm speaking of the type with people you don't have on your list of peeps or friendly acquaintances.
The idea of wasting time is freaky to me, time is money, and we all need more money. What could you be doing with your life that you don't have enough money to do? Should that read "don't have enough time to do" yeah, but it's the point I guess. Then again, I'm not sure what the point it. Oh yeah. I don't care for Stop-&-Chats, unless they are with Terri Hatcher circa 1993.

So if you ever bump into me and I have my iPod going, or am walking fast someplace, you know to stop me now if you want to torture me. I guess though, if you're bothering to read this you're someone I would like to talk to. So the joke is on YOU!


Title inspired by this week's song that's keepin' me going:
-Gimme Shelter (The Rolling Stones)

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

Knocked Over Pylons - The Catalog: track 1

It's time for some oldies (for me) and new stuff (for most of you). Here are the lyrics to a song I wrote for my band, the Knocked Over Pylons a few years ago. Enjoy.

----------------------

Knocked over Pylons
-The Scope

Sometimes I stop to look at myself,
Wonder if I should even bother.
Always I stop to look at someone else,
It's a habit that's a bother.

Customized, photogenic lenses, working on you,
Non-digitized, cinematic view, looking at you.

Every day I pause for a minute,
Think that I shouldn’t ponder.
All the time I think on you,
Should I do this, I wonder?

Thoughts stretch on and on,
The day goes on,
Though it won't stretch longer.
My peepers squint,
and then a blink,
An hour gone in a moment.

Customized, photogenic lenses, working on you,
Non-digitized, cinematic view, looking at you.

Something's changed; you're only you in name,
Ya’ don't even look like you.
Lucky for me I've got a memory,
Guess I'll have to exercise it.
Think I'll have to exercise it.
Close the lens and exercise it.