July 31, 2005

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
Peter Berg, 2004

7.5
i believe! i really do believe! for a few seconds there Peter Berg had me in the palm of his hand. he didn't lose me, but the tone and texture of the film are so realistic (minus 'the mom', who annoyed the hell outta me) that that moment was like a shock to my nervous system. Berg tries to be as frank as possible (he succeeds in most cases) within a very Hollywood story. it gives the film a very observational tone, which i'm always for. but a football film, however realistic and down-to-earth it is, also needs its emotional content. he weaves it in ever so slightly, never really overdoing it. i was actually surprised he was able to keep it as low-key as he did the whole way through. but i had two emotional reactions while watching this thing. the first one came so much out of left field for me (my reaction; not the actions on-screen, which were surprisingly predictable, but emotional nonetheless for me), i simply felt hopeless - and very much aware of it while watching it :) and my eyes actually watered up for the second one. explosions in the sky's atmospheric and bombastic songs pepper the score and help Berg steer the film away from boring underdog football film right into a more mature feel. i liked the film and its dry tone. and although i won't watch the film again, i must recommend it for anyone who has a passing interest in sport. not for the football, really, but for a very well-told story.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:06 PM |

JULIET IN LOVE
Wilson Yip, 2000

8.0
Francis Ng (and his re-teaming with director Wilson Yip) is what drew me to this film. i found him refreshing in Bullets Over Summer and wanted to see what else he could do. well, i hit the jackpot here. he plays this spastic punk with such comedic verve that it was hard to believe it was the same actor i'd seen before in a more mellowed out role. he simply goes all ou here. but the effect is well thought out because the film veers into an entirely different territory once the wheels start turning and we get an accomplished human drama that is extremely funny, touching, and forlorn. and Wilson Yip, thanks to his actors, is able to pull off all of these effortlessly. Francis Ng and Sandra Ng Kwan Yue bring an honesty to their roles that is laced with an underlying sadness - without ever falling into the melodramatic. (as for my Francis Ng love - it grew (nay, expanded) so much with this film. i could literally watch his face as he sat in silence doing nothing but stare into space. he gives such a fascinating performance.) and when the banal backstory rears its usually ugly head it doesn't even feel out-of-place but is rather welcomed because it is so well-(and maturely-)handled. a touching drama that is surprisingly easy to take; i can easily recommend this one.

Posted by Anonymous | 1:03 AM |

July 30, 2005

go wish 'pearly' a Happy Birthday today!!
she and her friends are celebrating by spending the weekend in Montreal. they'll be at the Organ show tonight.

Posted by Anonymous | 5:49 PM |

July 29, 2005

well, i'm pissed. just watched last night's Big Brother 6, and although the HOH Competition was incredibly, and satisfyingly, tense the whole way through, Maggie came out the big winner over our beloved Janelle. godammit. fuck. this week won't be fun. but -- there are five hamsters for Maggie to choose from - Kaysar, Janelle, James, Sarah, and Howie - but she will only be able to boot one player out next thursday. haha! they're still more powerful than Cappy's little paranoid team, that's for sure. (but still - godammit!)

Posted by Anonymous | 2:19 PM |

Future Shop.ca gets a facelift. not sure how i feel about it, though. a bit too cold and metal-y. we'll see if they add some stock to go with this re-launch.

Insound has a 25% Off Summer Sale going on 'till September 9 -- new customers-only, though. sucks for you but it's cool for me :) i'll see what i can gather in the next couple of weeks. okay. here's my problem - i'm using Mozilla and it seems that, although i keep adding cd's, the cart remains empty. is this a known problem? i just upgraded to the newest version of the browser and i still get the problem. IE works fine with the site but i don't know safe the browser is. any tips or comments?

wow. that was quick - the english prints of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory have already left town. fuck! (there's no fucking way i'm going to see Stealth.)

i've been rather busy/not-busy this week. it's strange. as always, i've been working every evening, and my days have been good (i've been able to catch a couple of movies during the day, thanks to the cool, rainy weather; follow my Big Brother cast; play with the iPod - a lot; and get a few runs in when the weather was nice enough), but the week still feels a bit unfulfilled for some reason. maybe it was the cloudy weather. the weekend will do me good. only one small workday left and we're done! enjoy your last workday :)

Posted by Anonymous | 2:00 AM |

July 28, 2005

DODGEBALL - A TRUE UNDERDOG STORY (UNRATED)
Rawson Marshall Thurber, 2004

6.5
an almost funny film that, sadly, comes from a predictable script. i know it wasn't supposed to reinvent the wheel but, goddammit, i think i only heard myself laugh, like, 3 times during the whole movie. that's not a lot. Vince Vaughn plays another cool guy who's in with the losers and Ben Stiller another hyped up Zoolander-type dude. i can't possibly when that'll get tiring. (oh wait.) uninspired and predictable. thank god Vince Vaughn was there, but even he didn't even seem to try. i really wanted to like this film but in the end, like i said, i only registered a few chuckles and that was it. take that any way you want to.

Posted by Anonymous | 2:10 AM |

July 25, 2005

this morning i woke around 7-8 with the silliest of dizzy spells. it was like i'd just drank and went straight to bed. you know that feeling when you can't close your eyes because you're gonna get sick? well, that feeling woke me up. urgh. not fun. the dizziness came back later this morning so i decided to play it safe and call in sick to work. eating well and taking it easy was gonna be the order of the day. i'm feeling better now, thankfully.

ah..... the final order (4 of 4) of my recent online splurge came in today:

doves - lost sides (limited edition, 2cd)
Röyksopp - The Understanding (Deluxe Edition, 2cd)

i've been eyeing that doves comp for a while now. Action Records had it and i was saving it as my next purchase for more than a few months. the Röyksopp packaging looks good.

the ex is busy tonight but she might put aside a couple of hours so we can catch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory around 7 tonight. she'll let me know later on.

four Canadian dates have been added to the Garbage tour (hopefully they make it back to Montreal by this fall). presale for fan club members is tomorrow, and the dates are:

8/25/2005 Burton Cummings Theatre - Winnipeg, MB
8/27/2005 MacEwan Hall - Calgary, AB
8/28/2005 Red's Entertainment Complex - Edmonton, AB
8/30/2005 Commodore Ballroom - Vancouver, BC

tomorrow's BB will have all the delusional grandeur that spanned the most beautiful stretch of days so far this summer. hopefully the editors will be able to show Eric, April, Yvette, and Maggie in all their paranoid glory. these past few days haven't been good for the cooped up losers. (but, of course - they don't care. ha!)

okay. i've had this for a couple of days but it's just too cute not to post. get your computer screen cleaned by a professional.

Posted by Anonymous | 4:14 PM |

July 24, 2005

another beautiful day. sunday, this one. woke up really late because i was on the computer really late last night.

the ex and i did go to Ikea yesterday afternoon. it was fun going there again. since it's out in Montreal i don't go nearly as much as i'd want to. we were going for the ex but was gonna take a look around. i remembered that i wanted to buy a floor lamp for my room. after much looking for the one i had in mind (which they sadly don't have anymore) i got the next best thing - a $65 lamp. i set it up as soon as we got back and i love it. perks up my room and i've already got ideas about new stuff up to make it even better.

we weren't able to get back in time to catch The Island, though. so ended up coming back to my place to rest, watch Big Brother (LOVED IT. although, this particular episode wasn't nearly as well edited as the Big Fight one was. it didn't put across how paranoid and egomaniacal everyone is now in that house. but tuesday's episode should clear all of that up as the big chunk happened after the Nomination Ceremony. and hopefully Kaysar doesn't get too big an ego about it when his week's over). then we went and caught the 10 pm showing of The Island (i still stand 100% by my review). and that was it.

then i came home and enjoyed my favorite activity this time of year -- reading up on the Big Brother Live Feeds :) you wouldn't understand :)

i just came back from a short run, then walked around the neighborhood for the next 45 minutes because the sun felt nice and my Podcasts were fun (PreRelease and TheCommute)

oh, i missed this but another single was released off Martha Wainwright's album; why the fuss? it includes got my personal favorite -- New York, New York, New York -- which was on her Factory cd-r (self-released back in 2001). no idea if it's the same version but methinks it's been rerecorded. holy hell, i'm in heaven :)
ps. she didn't play it at our show, though. boo.

Posted by Anonymous | 4:34 PM |

THE ISLAND
Michael Bay, 2005

4.5
utter. trite. shite.

[ there are a few good moments in the film, but they are simply overrun by the terrible staleness of the Michael Bay style to have any kind of positive effect on my enjoyment of the flick.

oh, and in this world, MSN Search is the biggest thing; and a character cracks that sponsors are people who own you, all while a big-ass Budweiser advertises behind the stars' heads for the entire sequence. ]

Posted by Anonymous | 12:28 AM |

July 23, 2005

got woken up by the roommate's music at around 11:30 this morning. we were supposed to maybe see each other this afternoon it fell through because we're feeling lazy today (she lives outside of the city). asked the ex what she felt like doing. she wanted to shop for some shelves for her new bathroom. checked out the Ikea site. that interested her. you know what? we're going to Ikea! haven't been there in a while so that'll be fun (and totally unexpected). and we're coming back tonight to catch The Island. woo! today's gonna be a fun and exciting day after all.

Posted by Anonymous | 1:14 PM |

July 22, 2005

KAYSAR WINS HOH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
enough said. i am ecstatic.

good day.

2:33 PM

haha. order no. 3 of 4 just came in (this one from Future Shop.ca) after being out of stock on release day:

SLIM THUG - Already Platinum - Limited Edition, 2cd

Scorsese names his top twenty films with the best use of color and light.
goldenfiddle |

Posted by Anonymous | 2:08 PM |

July 21, 2005

late posting but i just had to profess my serious BB6 love for Howie tonight. i'm reading the feed recaps and they're simply splendid. here's hoping Kaysar, Howie, and Janelle pull this thing off tomorrow night. ::hope hope::
have a good night.

10:58 AM

i'm up! i need to go to the grocery store, then come back to do some laundry.
i also recently made a few online purchases, which should start coming in pretty soon. i'll let you know what they are as they come in. i'm pretty excited about them too :)

can somebody please tell where the fuck in rural Quebec The Arcade Fire bought their church? i can't find any info on it. it would be cool if it was around these parts.

12:54 PM

got back from the grocery store, swung by the mailbox just in case the mailman dropped by early ... and i had two packages waiting for me!!! [ and already only two to go! ] i was hoping they'd get here before the week was out but in no way was i actually expecting them to get here today.

GARBAGE - RUN BABY RUN (Australian single)

and these two dvd's which shipped yester-fuckin-day [ Machiaveldvd rules! ]:

BATTLE ROYALE (Tartan, NTSC 5.1 Version)
OLD BOY (EDKO, Region 3 -- yes, after some tweaking, i finally have proof that my player can play any region! :)

Posted by Anonymous | 3:14 AM |

July 20, 2005

hey, long time no speak. i've been working and trying to stay cool under this oppressive weather of ours. but today, even though it's about 31C with humidity, it's actually quite nice out. i even stopped the AC and opened all the windows of the apartment. there's a nice breeze going. finally.

BB6 -- Eric the Midget's little rage-induced Napoleonic outburst saturday night. CBS actually did a great job, i thought, with this episode. we weren't sure if they'd even acknowledge it, but as hours and days passed, it was obvious they couldn't let it fly by. but i'm extremely pleased they made it the point of the show with the awesome, tense buildup to it all. and it was chilling to hear the producers(?), Skippy(?) intervene over the speaker system like that. i was impressed with the episode. and they didn't, i don't think, sugarcoat Eric's responsibility in it. although, the ending did make it look like he was sorry. and he probably was. but as the schizophrenic he is, he did spend the entire next couple of days talking Michael down and not taking as much responsibility for his actions as the show made it look. Michael's officially a walking dead man. too bad. 'cause, aside from the perverted part of him (yes, you are, Michael), i started to really like him as a player. hopefully he'll raise some hell before going tomorrow night and out some of these nitwits. wouldn't that be fun? here's hoping that Kaysar, Janelle, and Howie raise a goddamn team to be reckoned with.

oh, and you didn't get to hear Ivette's comment about how Kaysar can't respect women because he's Muslim. that's where her comment was going before they cut it off. oh, she's lovely. (she even called him a camel rider (not to his face, though. i would assume :) and the British comment? lo-vely. she's on a hate-roll.) i hadn't realized Kaysar had actually stood up to her like that, though. go, Kaysar!! he was fuming. he's definitely my favorite player.

Posted by Anonymous | 2:25 PM |

July 18, 2005

wow. Daniel Lanois and Tortoise to collaborate on tour this fall.
shit. that looks final. hopefully they'll extend the tour.

Posted by Anonymous | 1:50 PM |

July 17, 2005

Haloscan is fucking up. they're showing double comments now (except for the last one which i deleted all the double posts because i thought it was a fuck-up for that particular one. it seems it's all my comments). hopefully their boards can help me out with this.

hey, so yesterday one of our coworkers was having a party at his place out in the country. but the thing is - he told me and my partner about it and dropped a detailed map to his house, the day he was going on a two-week vacation. yeah. so we were to tell everyone about it. but the thing is that a lot of folks already had plans for this weekend. i even chickened out of going in the afternoon (the party started early because he has a pool) because no one else i knew was going. another coworker and i finally decided we'd drop by in the evening for a couple of hours and conveniently slip out around 10 because she already had something (which was true). we got there and realized that not a lot of people had shown up. his girlfriend, whom we know from work, had also invited all her coworkers, so that was nice because we know some of the girls from their department (it was actually her sister, whom i also know, who asked me friday if i was going, that convinced me to at least swing by. she seemed surprised and sad when i told her i couldn't go, that i may swing by in the evening - which looked doubtful already. but she seemed dejected by my news and i wasn't ready for that. so that's why i went; and then i thought i could have fun at that party even if not a lot of our people showed up). but almost no one showed up. not even from their department. but it was still cool. they have four dogs and it was fun having them around. there were also a couple of middle-thirtysomethings, and some kids, which was weird and kinda changed the style to something closer to a family party, but there was also beer and some weed. but i was also pleasantly surprised to see these two girls from their department whom i hadn't seen in a while (i think i even passed one without realizing who it was. she later came by to introduce herself to me. lol. hopefully she didn't think i was snobbing her - which was why i made it a point to say bye to her when i left and gave her two kisses on the cheeks). that was fun. but it would've been a lot more fun at a proper outdoor party with loads of people milling around. hopefully that'll happen next month. hopefully. so that was my evening yesterday. i also spent the day washing my car, trying to get some sun. it was strange because i'm rarely 'barechested' (what the fuck is the word i'm looking for??? 'cause i know that's not the right one. that one's for a Fabio-covered romance novel and i do feel strange applying it to me :) but it was cool.

oh, so last night i'm laying in bed listening to some Podcasts when i suddenly hear the ex-ex's laughter in my head and i miss it. i make a note to write her an email in the morning letting her know this bit of info. aw, fuck it - i get up and phone her :) she wasn't there but i told her roommate just to tell her i called (it's around midnight). five minutes later the phone rings and it's her :) she just came back from the wedding she wanted me to accompany her to last week. we talked for about half an hour while she got her fake nails off (which sounded like fucking hell and now her fingertips are raw :)

so that's it. i have today off. the sky seemed more clouded up than expected and i think i'll watch a movie today -- ooh! and watch last night's Big Brother! have a good one :)

1:47 PM

how about that Big Brother, uh? wow. already the unthinkable has happened and i'm turning a corner with Janelle (totally agree with Tim - Friday and Sunday posts) and am liking her chess-playing/strategizing ass. and Howie too, for that matter. maybe the fact that they didn't show him getting his cock out in this episode helped. and i like Michael (minus the pervert part) and, of course, Kaysar. (oh, how fast things turn in the Big Brother house.) so i was sad to see Eric go after them. i do like Eric but his control freak outbursts do put me off big time (but his Iraq speech was heartwarming; i do seem to have a love/hate relationship with that guy). the new season is starting to get interesting already. (and how cute were Beau and Kaysar on that couch? lol.)

[ oh my freaking god - it exploded. i'm reading the recaps from last night, trying to get the feel of the housemates after the nominations (Michael seemed pissed at Eric when he was nominated and then given a piss-poor excuse of an explanation). oh my god. oh... you're so gonna see this on tuesday's show -- definitely tune in :) and my new man (*maybe) Howie surprisingly jumping up the challenge. ]

4:50 PM

doing nothing but surfing the net today (the roommate and gf came back earlier this afternoon so i can't really sit down and watch a movie).

Kieren Hebden (Four Tet) was in the (original) Creep video??? cool.

6:54 PM

god, CBS is really lame about announcing/promoting cool ideas -- they've got an HOH Blog set up so each HOH can write out his or her thoughts at the end of their week.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:32 AM |

July 15, 2005

MARTHA WAINWRIGHT // 07.14.05 // Granada Theatre - Sherbrooke, QC

okay. i must admit up front that, although i bought her debut album when it came out, i had yet to listen to it. i have nothing against her personally, i've been doing this with a lot of albums this year. too little time, too many albums. i'd listened to her ep and the Factory cd-r she'd assembled, which i'd gotten at one of Rufus' shows in Montreal a couple of years ago (and freaking loved it). so last weekend, when i learned that we finally had our tickets for the show, i made it a point not to listen to her album. i wanted to go in and enjoy her voice and the songwriting, and not nitpick through the songs. the place was set up cabaret-style - lush decoration with small oil lamps on each table. the crowd was older than i'm used to (although i didn't even know who'd turn up at this show since it wasn't publicized much) but it did make sense since her musical family is well-known in our country, and she would appeal to a literary crowd. she came out with her acoustic guitars, a piano player, a drummer, a bassist, and her cousin on backvocals (who was part, the ex-roommate informed me, along with Martha, of Rufus' backvocal ensemble when we saw them a few years ago). her songs are passionate and bohemian, speaking mainly of love and self-hate. and the songwriting itself is refreshing, giving way to complex melodies. and she's an astounding guitar player too! i wasn't ready for that, but she mastered those acoustics like a madwoman. her songs can be as explosive and breathtaking as any of Rufus' soaring melodies. what can i say, they've got drama in their blood. the quieter songs hit you in the gut with astonishing revelations. the audience loved it. she even played Leonard Cohen's Tower of Song, and threw in a couple of french songs for the crowd. it was a nice two-hour set that only proved what i thought of her from those Rufus shows and her two ep's i've got -- the girl's got a voice that cuts through anything. and it's not about the notes she can hit (because she can - with no superficiality to it), it's her tone. she brings me chills everytime i hear her sing. and tonight i felt what i felt watching Martha and Rufus playing together - two little kids having fun putting on a show for the parents every weekend. she has talent to spare - has been in it since birth. that's obvious. but more importantly - she knows how to have fun with it. and it's damn infectious.

ps. i even spotted an old crush i'd only come across once in the past four years. sigh... see, we need a better musical scene around here so i can spot-n-meet girls who have similar tastes as mine :P

Posted by Anonymous | 12:24 AM |

July 14, 2005

LA CIENAGA
Lucrecia Martel, 2001

8.5
La Ciénaga has one of the most affectingly moody opening scenes i've ever seen. the sky is clouded over, heavy with impending rain, as characters try to take shelter from the oppressive heat. the film doesn't have a story as much as it follows the lives of this one particular family. the heat. the fucking heat. Martel makes sure you feel its discomfort throughout the entire film. you, as the audience, are not spared one minute from the heat. but - Martel is able to maneuver around alienating her audience with great characters, a amazingly observing eye, and, most importantly, superb performances from her actors. everyone does a brilliant job capturing Martel's naturalistic tone, but it's Mercedes Morán (the imdb informs me that she's in The Motorcycle Diary!!), as Tali, whom i noticed the most. she brought such an alert presence to her character. because of the heat, no one here is ever lively (even the kids crash in between running after each other), and it could easily bring tensions over the boiling point. but i was impressed by the two fathers' loving patience for their kids. it was very touching to see them nonchalantly care for them as much as they did. some characters have more obvious flaws than others, but the actors' performances are so raw and natural that they end up coming across as real people and thus walking that fine line where you just accept them as they are. this was a true find for me. so happy i stumbled onto it. i am definitely gonna be on the lookout for Martel's future projects.

Posted by Anonymous | 3:05 PM |

well, it looks like the Big Brother blog from houseguest Michael is for real. hot damn.
and fans of the show really should follow the feeds 'cause they really don't show every interesting thing on the show. i followed them last year, and loved it, but this year i was kinda over it. too much work. but i just read about some stuff and now i'm not sure anymore :) just read 3 full pages this morning.

for the last time - Martha Wainwright, tonight :)

Posted by Anonymous | 11:58 AM |

July 13, 2005

nothing much is happening this week except for things being a bit fucked at work but nothing that's not manageable (at least for me; my partner was having a hard time adjusting last night). today i should go and get some groceries. fruits rock. tonight is my last night of work (and an easy one, at that) before Martha Wainwright tomorrow!!! yeah, that's right. we finally got ourselves tickets yesterday. can't wait. should be a great night (because of Martha but also because i'm taking the night off from work :) that was about it. just wanted to mention that. oh, i've been getting into Podcasts, and i've already found a few favorites. i added links to those on the right. have a great day.

Posted by Anonymous | 12:18 PM |

July 11, 2005

well, my hopes and dream weekend were dashed late last night as i got a call from the ex informing me that we wouldn't be doing our weekend together. see, she has a boyfriend, which i knew from our conversation earlier that day, but he's spending the summer in Colombia and they'd apparently told each other they were free this summer. but yesterday he called her up and seemed especially keen on coming back and be with her. so she assumed he hadn't done anything with anybody else while he was there (which, knnowing him, she'd assumed he would). so she felt guilty and had to call off our weekend. it's alright. i'm not angry about it. she had to do what she had to do. but it was cute seeing her heartbroken because she couldn't have that weekend with me anymore. we ended up talking on the phone from 11:30 pm to 1:30 am, though :) we didn't wanna hang up and reminisced about old times, and most importantly wishing we could have done our weekend because it would've been the sweetest thing. i actually just got an email from her hoping i had a good night and wishing me a good day :) cute. we both spent a great day after our first call yesterday. spent it smiling from ear-to-ear. i'll still carry that feeling for the next few days even if it's not happening, only because i know someone out there deeply cares about me. i knew she did. we both do, and know we'll be part of each others' lives for a long time, but it's nice to have it expressed like this from time to time where you actually see and hear it from the other person. have a nice day :)

Posted by Anonymous | 11:34 AM |

July 10, 2005

hhholy shit.
/ warning -- blathering about an ex up ahead. /

i got a call from the ex-ex last week, a message, in fact, wanting to get some news. see, we lost touch this past spring. no reason. just didn't stay in contact. it was no big deal because we know we'll always stay in each other's lives no matter what. but we didn't even write. early june i emailed her some birthday wishes and then sent her off a quick email about noticing a couple of girls who kept reminding me of her last week. her message was kind of unexpected, though, and her voice made me giddy inside (like it always does; we have that kind of chemistry). a little bit of history of me and this ex: i met her for the first time in a health food store my brother was working at in montreal. she was the cashier when i came in and asked for my brother. she was beautiful. but i never saw her again. then, jump to a year or two later when in walks my then-roommate's new girlfriend. he's late coming back so she waits for him with me and we chat. i don't recognize her ... until, half an hour or an hour later, she mentions her previous job in montreal. i freak out. i tell her about meeting her once. she doesn't remember, of course. i don't know if i told her about my short-lived crush on her that day. i forget if we had that kind of easy relationship from the get-go. so there. all's good. she's fine but she's my roommate's girlfriend so it doesn't require too much self-control on my part. i don't even think about it. then they split up. then a couple of months later, out of the blue, she invites me to her birthday dinner with friends of hers. it's nice. we kept in touch. a month later i'm moving into my own apartment and, along with my mom, her bf, and my cousin's husband, she comes along and helps out. at the end of the day (8-9 pm) my apartment is filled with boxes. she says i can come stay over at her apartment for the night and she'll help me with the boxes the next day. there's no hidden agenda (later on that night she'll even tell me she sees me as a friend), it's just a friendly, and generous, gesture. so we celebrate my new apartment by watching fireworks and later on drinking some beer at her place. whoa. what? okay. no more details. lol :P i just wanted to explain the history between the two of us. but what you must understand is this -- i've never felt as attracted to a girl as this one in my entire life. we just have it. a mindblowing chemistry. i never thought it was possible, and i've been looking out for it ever since. that's what you must understand. after that summer (2001) we "split up" (never really officially going out together but we were together everyday and, shit, i never called in sick as much as that summer :) we kept in touch for a good year or two after that. and everytime we hung out together, it felt like two magnets (and we still feel after all these years - even over the fucking phone). we knew it. we kept saying it was dangerous when to meet up :)

so this morning i get a phone call. and yep, it's her. she's in Quebec City. been living there for the past two years, i think. i never went up there. too scared to. and she always said if i did i drive up, it'd be for a day - no overnight sleeping. too dangerous. but this morning i get a phone call from her. she wanted to hear my voice. we talked about our current lives. then she realized something - she's a maid of honor next weekend... what if i accompanied her!!! fuck. lol. that's not what she was calling for. and it would be perfect. but i'm scared and have nothing to wear to a wedding. she was so excited by the idea. but i had to turn her down. chit-chat some more then she asks me if i'd come up this summer, before the end of July? that left only two other weekends, wtf? she said what about the next weekend? and it would be a two-day thing... yes, sleeping over, in her bed, is involved :) so yeah. after some talking, and mentioning my anxiety about it, i said yeah :) why not? if something happens, it happens. if nothing happens, it doesn't. btw, this is not the reason for this weekend. we haven't seen each other in about two years. we tried to see each other last summer but could never find the time (i must admit that i was also a little apprehensive about meeting her again because we can't simply just meet and chat; there's something, for lack of a better word - electric - about us). but we also really really really care about each other, so even though we know the inevitable would probably happen, there's something completely innocent and loving about wanting to meet. we'll do some rollerblading, eat on a grassy hill or something. at the very least it'll be a very romantic weekend. we're both well aware of the risks involved but we're much more carefree about it than before. much more. i'm just excited about spending a weekend with her (and she is too :) and it feels great not feeling worried sick about it for once but going ahead with it instead feeling untroubled by it all. so that's where we're at right now.

so i'm gonna spend a weekend in Quebec City with one of the coolest girls i know :) it feels great and sunny inside thinking about it.

now i'm gonna go run a bit to celebrate and feel joyful :)

Posted by Anonymous | 11:26 AM |

LES REVENANTS / aka They Came Back /
Robin Campillo, 2004

8.0
the blurbs made it sound like a Shaun of the Dead-esque zombie film (the sci-fi b-movie english title doesn't help any), when in fact, it's quite the opposite. there's no talk of zombies here, no gore, no monsters. instead, and from the very first frame, director Robin Campillo treats this simply as people reappearing in life. the atypical nature of the event is acknowledged (the film's leads are part of a committee trying to deal with the crisis, giving us an incredibly sharp and helpful running commentary during the entire first act) but the filmmakers are not interested in setting up a mystery or trying to come up with a scientific explanation to it all. it just is. that's the premise of the film. the filmmakers are simply interested in the emotional reactions to this large-scale event. how do you deal with a loved one coming back into your life after years of getting over them? what's the nature of grief? do we simply forget about our loved ones? they're tackling tough subject matter, but it's handled with flair and intelligence. one would assume such a premise would make for a heavy -and dreary- film, but quite the opposite -- this film is humble, dignified, and a touching experience.

Posted by Anonymous | 1:50 AM |

July 08, 2005

holy shit -- i gotta watch last night's Big Brother premiere!!!
i'm not used to this. gotta get used to having shows to watch when i wake up.

yesterday i went for the lvery last time to my mother's house. i did it on a whim too, hoping they wouldn't get back in the afternoon (i don't like sunning with them there). i managed to go around noon and spend a good hour-and-a-half lying on a mattress in the pool :) then i came back home, planning on stopping at the grocery store since i got my pay yesterday, but realized i could also stop by Future Shop for a minute. i got Missy's The Cookbook and Audioslave's Rick Rubin-produced Out Of Exile. when Audioslave first came out i was weary of supergroups forming other supergroups. and the name. god... i think i liked the third single from that first album (note: gotta get that at the used record store). i'd never planned on getting this one either but i've recently grown curious about them, thinking they were more serious than it looked on paper, and i dug their style on the more laid-back stuff. so i'm at Future Shop and the disc is cheap. i check the backcover -- Rick Rubin produced it. it's a no-brainer and i immediately it.

only one day of work left. yay.

oh, yesterday the ex went to a show in Quebec City. some mutli-instrumentalist guy she heard about. she and her friend were all excited about seeing him. she left two messages this morning telling me to call her back. you know what? there was another show afterwards - for which they stayed and enjoyed immensely ... Daniel fuckin' Lanois. god. i was floored and jealous. and she knew i would be :P
[ ah - one look at Daniel's tour dates shows us that it was the famed Festival d'été de Québec, and the guy they went to see was Xavier Rudd. ]

oh, btw, when i saw War of the Worlds the other night we had the trailer for Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown [ trailer ]. that title never inspired me but it's Cameron Crowe, definitely one of my top three contemporary film directors. but the film stars Orlando Bloom, which i can't stand since The Two Towers (he was just freakish in the Fellowship; thought he was god-awful in the two others). thought that would spoil it for me -- until i sat there in the theater and saw the preview. wow!... it looks like Cameron still hasn't lost his personal/human touch. and i bought, in that minute-and-a-half, Orlando. and you know what? i got teary-eyed during the trailer. yes i did. the film is about Orlando coming back to his hometown for his father's funeral. and of course the subject of losing one's father is hits close to home with me. and it felt like Cameron knew what he was writing about. i seriously can't wait for this film to come out and i'll be the first one in.

holy shit (#30, i'm sure. i get excited easily :)
just jared discovers James Badge Dale (aka Chase) on the set of Scorsese's The Departed. (imdb doesn't even list him.) very cool. i wasn't hating this remake, but i wasn't gonna rush out to see it either. but this is turning the tide for me :)

Posted by Anonymous | 11:09 AM |

July 07, 2005

Big Brother is finally upon us!!
to wet your appetite before the beginning of tonight's BB6, please relive the glory that was with Scott and Jase: The Love Below. enjoy.

1:58 PM

terrorist attack in London!
coordinated explosions rocked London today as the G8 Summit is getting under way in Scotland.

other news seem pointless for today. i'll be back tomorrow.

Posted by Anonymous | 1:39 AM |

July 06, 2005

Big Brother 6 starts tomorrow night and it's starting to sound more exciting than it did a week ago. they're calling this season The Secret. or Secrets. i don't know. seems the contestants will be secretly paired up but will be told only they are working with a partner. also, it seems one of the houseguests, Michael Donnellan, has a blog running from inside the house, courtesy of CBS. of course we won't know until we see the live feeds if this is for real but it sounds cool. and he's been told he's the only one who has a blog, but he doesn't believe it. is this part of some big, secret, online scavenger hunt CBS has thought up? it would be cool. anyway. only a day or so until the new season starts and i get back to reading my live feeds everyday. i was fucking addicted to them last year. (gawd, i was.) 'night! :)

oh well. i'd planned on spending one last afternoon in the sun at my mom's house today (before they came back tomorrow). but i just woke up and the sky is just clouded over. they're expecting a few showers today and it's chilly out. shit. i was really looking forward to getting some more sun today. oh well. at least now it looks like a movie-watching day :)

largehearted boy has a Daniel Lanois show [ 2005-06-7, New York ] for download. (also on board - Broken Social Scene, Leonard Cohen, Elliott Smith, and Rufus Wainwright. aw, shit, which reminds me - i gotta have a talk with the roommate about Martha's show next week.)

Celine Dion was booed at Canada's Live 8?? cool!! (her performance was a fed in from Vegas, where she resides.)

Posted by Anonymous | 2:28 AM |

July 05, 2005

great pic of Garbage in Moscow.
Butch just sent in a bunch of 'em. check out the site for more.

bump :: what are your favorite Podcasts?

after what felt like weeks of patient waiting, and some proper speculation by fans, the Criterion releases for September have finally leaked!

BAD TIMING Nicolas Roeg, 1980
THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH (2 discs) Nicolas Roeg, 1976
AN ANGEL AT MY TABLE Jane Campion, 1990
MASCULIN FÉMININ Jean-Luc Godard, 1966
NAKED (2 discs) Mike Leigh, 1993

now there's a fantastic lineup.
and Bowie's on the commentary for The Man Who Fell to Earth!

Posted by Anonymous | 12:27 PM |

July 04, 2005

Happy 4th of July to our neighbors to the south.

in other news, i spent close to three hours late last night getting into Podcasts :)
i downloaded iTunes 4.9 and discovered the wonderful world of Podcasts. i'd actually thought it would be cool to be able to listen to various 'radio broadcasts' with random hosts chatting away and playing good music as i fell asleep with my iPod every night. then boom, i discover Podcasts. love it.

tell me -- what are your favorite Podcasts so far?
thanks.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:11 AM |

July 03, 2005

WAR OF THE WORLDS
Steven Spielberg, 2005

9.0
this is one solid, ferocious movie. and it scared the hell outta me. it had been a while since i'd last been frightened at the movie theater, but this one was overpowering. and it has thankfully no relation to the childish A.I. or the vapid Minority Report. it goes all-out. it's ties are closer to The Lost World (the darkness) and E.T. (the warmth of the performances). this is a dark, dark, dark piece of filmmaking. it's a cross between Independence Day (the destruction, not the insignificant flag-waving), Signs (the creepiness), and Alice in Wonderland (you'll see). (at one point, there's also some staggering 9/11 imagery but it's not overemphasized and it doesn't take you out of the story. it's just used very wisely.) by the way, i want to stress this -- this is not an action film where Will Smith saves the world and american flags are waved in victory. it is not that film. it's a human drama that follows one man through destruction and chaos. and Tom Cruise, who i think has been coasting on his smile for most of his past few roles, here, with the exception of the opening sequence, is in a truly different mode, finally creating a normal person i could believe. Spielberg also uses Dakota Fanning, not as a child prodigy, but as a normal kid. these are the two leads. but if there's a breakout star in this movie (big if because the movie is never owned by anyone other than Spielberg or who Spielberg decides to put the spotlight on) it's Justin Chatwin, who plays Robbie, Tom's son. he was phenomal, holding his own against Cruise and Spielberg. a truly terrifying performance. you know the story by now but the backbone of the screenplay rests on Ray (Tom) and his committment to his family, ie. his children. and that is executed nicely against the backdrop of invasion and total annihilation. if there's one thing that mr. Spielberg has taught me it's that, no matter how much hell and chaos are raised, there's always a clear path cleared up for your protagonist and his minivan to effortlessly navigate through. the only big dud of the film was Tim Robbins' character, which was entirely non-existent, and who's only point was to tighten the gears up for the final act. a brilliant and noble part, i presume, and executed to perfection by Spielberg and company, but a cog does not a character make. and this character was just empty. of course Robbins' stature made him look menacing, but it was hard taking him seriously, mostly because of that hood they had him peering out from, which did not make him look brooding at all, and his arc was just predictably boring. but that aside, the film delivers solid chills and felt like one huge nightmarish event. the special effects are overwhelming (thank you, Dennis Muren). you know that dream you have of being chased but never being able to escape? well, Spielberg made that come to life for ya. oh, hell yes.

Posted by Anonymous | 11:42 PM |

update:

i got both the aqualung - Strange and Beautiful (which sadly is a sort of compilation of his earlier material; although, remixed and cared for as a separate and new album by Matt Hales) and the Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape (Dave drumming, everlong, and, apparently, a more introspective batch of songs). the girl working weekends there is cute and, i think, has been looking at me for a while. but yesterday i thought it was obvious as she threw out a quick 'bye!' my way as i was going out the door :) i kinda made it a point to smile extra nicely to her today. and hey, i even noticed her putting lower prices on both cd's on the register so i ended up not paying any taxes on the marked prices :) that was mighty nice of her (and she did it while not even mention it to me).

tonight the ex and i are going to see War of the Worlds. it's apparently -and thankfully- not the Spielberg of A.I. and Minority Report. the reviews i've peeped do make it sound ferocious. happy to hear that; especially since Tom and Dakota are in it. the ex told the roommate about our plans (they're both at work today) and he's interested. he's just gotta convince the girlfriend to go see the film in english.

that's it for now. i'd planned on going to my mom's house (they're coming back thursday) and get some sun by the pool this afternoon but i woke up too late and had some errands to run. gonna go tomorrow since it looks like it'll be a bit hotter anyway. have fun. i'm gonna go run now (on the iPod: Ted Leo + Pharmacists - Shake the Sheets).

Posted by Anonymous | 2:05 PM |

July 02, 2005

Bob Geldof's LIVE 8 is going on right now. CTV is airing the whole damn thing. Barrie was live a few minutes ago. i think they'll switch back to it in a few. enjoy. it actually looks tremendous and heartwarming to see so many people involved in this.

more on the Pumpkins' possible reunion. Jimmy's back in and talks about keeping in touch with James through emails. good to know. i thought there'd been no communication between the two halves of the Pumpkins over the years. my biggest wish is for Melissa to fill in the bass role, though. crossing my fingers for that to happen. from the outside, she'd be the perfect fit for it. i don't even think D'Arcy's coming back. and even she were up for it, Billy has always stated that she was an okay bass player at best and they didn't even need her. Melissa kicks everyone's ass and gets along with everyone famously well. it's not for the near future but that's my wish if it happens.

STOP THE PRESSES!! Martha Wainwright is coming to my fucking city for a show thursday July 14! holy shit. having nothing to do you find yourself browsing sites. i remembered a small theater downtown that sometimes surprises with bigger bands (Tea Party, Bran Van, Jean Leloup) and cool arthouse films. well, the news was right there on the first page. $22 a ticket. just called the ex-roommate who's on her way north of Montreal for a camping trip to tell her the great news. we'll talk some more when she gets back early next week but she was definitely interested. (she will be at the Ottawa Bluesfest the next day -- Rufus will have played there on the 14th; so i guess no surprise guest spot for our show :P)

i saw the aqualung album at the used record store today. anyone can recommend a $13 purchase? (mishie?... :P) [ forgot that i also saw the Foo's Colour and the Shape there. will purchase it tomorrow if i go for aqualung. ]

Posted by Anonymous | 12:07 PM |

July 01, 2005

HAPPY CANADA DAY, everyone!

i may come back tomorrow before i leave for work and actually write down some sort of list of canadian artists to listen to. i might. it's late, you know.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith -- still going. gosh. how amazingly cute are they? even Brad with the bleached hair, which usually instantly uglies anyone up, here it has the reverse effect and makes him look even more beautiful. amazing. i actually really love this couple.

ha -- crosswalk button hacks. get instant Walk signs :)

Posted by Anonymous | 3:19 AM |