archives
03/28/2004 - 04/04/2004
04/04/2004 - 04/11/2004
04/11/2004 - 04/18/2004
04/18/2004 - 04/25/2004
04/25/2004 - 05/02/2004
05/02/2004 - 05/09/2004
05/09/2004 - 05/16/2004
05/16/2004 - 05/23/2004
05/23/2004 - 05/30/2004
05/30/2004 - 06/06/2004
06/06/2004 - 06/13/2004
06/13/2004 - 06/20/2004
06/20/2004 - 06/27/2004
06/27/2004 - 07/04/2004
07/04/2004 - 07/11/2004
07/11/2004 - 07/18/2004
07/18/2004 - 07/25/2004
07/25/2004 - 08/01/2004
08/01/2004 - 08/08/2004
08/08/2004 - 08/15/2004
08/15/2004 - 08/22/2004
08/22/2004 - 08/29/2004
08/29/2004 - 09/05/2004
09/05/2004 - 09/12/2004
09/12/2004 - 09/19/2004
09/19/2004 - 09/26/2004
09/26/2004 - 10/03/2004
10/03/2004 - 10/10/2004
10/10/2004 - 10/17/2004
10/17/2004 - 10/24/2004
10/24/2004 - 10/31/2004
10/31/2004 - 11/07/2004
11/07/2004 - 11/14/2004
11/14/2004 - 11/21/2004
11/21/2004 - 11/28/2004
11/28/2004 - 12/05/2004
12/05/2004 - 12/12/2004
12/12/2004 - 12/19/2004
12/19/2004 - 12/26/2004
12/26/2004 - 01/02/2005
01/02/2005 - 01/09/2005
01/09/2005 - 01/16/2005
01/16/2005 - 01/23/2005
01/23/2005 - 01/30/2005
01/30/2005 - 02/06/2005
02/06/2005 - 02/13/2005
02/13/2005 - 02/20/2005
02/20/2005 - 02/27/2005
02/27/2005 - 03/06/2005
03/06/2005 - 03/13/2005
03/13/2005 - 03/20/2005
03/20/2005 - 03/27/2005
03/27/2005 - 04/03/2005
04/03/2005 - 04/10/2005
04/10/2005 - 04/17/2005
04/17/2005 - 04/24/2005
04/24/2005 - 05/01/2005
05/01/2005 - 05/08/2005
05/08/2005 - 05/15/2005
05/15/2005 - 05/22/2005
05/22/2005 - 05/29/2005
05/29/2005 - 06/05/2005
06/05/2005 - 06/12/2005
06/12/2005 - 06/19/2005
06/19/2005 - 06/26/2005
06/26/2005 - 07/03/2005
07/03/2005 - 07/10/2005
07/10/2005 - 07/17/2005
07/17/2005 - 07/24/2005
07/24/2005 - 07/31/2005
07/31/2005 - 08/07/2005
08/07/2005 - 08/14/2005
08/14/2005 - 08/21/2005
08/21/2005 - 08/28/2005
08/28/2005 - 09/04/2005
09/04/2005 - 09/11/2005
09/11/2005 - 09/18/2005
09/18/2005 - 09/25/2005
09/25/2005 - 10/02/2005
10/02/2005 - 10/09/2005
10/09/2005 - 10/16/2005
10/16/2005 - 10/23/2005
10/23/2005 - 10/30/2005
10/30/2005 - 11/06/2005
11/06/2005 - 11/13/2005
11/13/2005 - 11/20/2005
11/20/2005 - 11/27/2005
11/27/2005 - 12/04/2005
12/04/2005 - 12/11/2005
12/11/2005 - 12/18/2005
12/18/2005 - 12/25/2005
12/25/2005 - 01/01/2006
01/01/2006 - 01/08/2006
01/08/2006 - 01/15/2006
01/15/2006 - 01/22/2006
01/22/2006 - 01/29/2006
01/29/2006 - 02/05/2006
02/05/2006 - 02/12/2006
02/12/2006 - 02/19/2006
02/19/2006 - 02/26/2006
02/26/2006 - 03/05/2006
03/05/2006 - 03/12/2006
03/12/2006 - 03/19/2006
03/19/2006 - 03/26/2006
03/26/2006 - 04/02/2006
04/02/2006 - 04/09/2006
04/09/2006 - 04/16/2006
04/16/2006 - 04/23/2006
04/23/2006 - 04/30/2006
04/30/2006 - 05/07/2006
05/07/2006 - 05/14/2006
05/14/2006 - 05/21/2006
05/21/2006 - 05/28/2006
05/28/2006 - 06/04/2006
06/04/2006 - 06/11/2006
06/11/2006 - 06/18/2006
06/18/2006 - 06/25/2006
06/25/2006 - 07/02/2006
07/02/2006 - 07/09/2006
07/09/2006 - 07/16/2006
07/16/2006 - 07/23/2006
07/23/2006 - 07/30/2006
07/30/2006 - 08/06/2006
08/06/2006 - 08/13/2006
08/13/2006 - 08/20/2006
08/20/2006 - 08/27/2006
08/27/2006 - 09/03/2006
09/03/2006 - 09/10/2006
09/10/2006 - 09/17/2006
09/17/2006 - 09/24/2006
09/24/2006 - 10/01/2006
10/01/2006 - 10/08/2006
10/08/2006 - 10/15/2006
10/15/2006 - 10/22/2006
10/22/2006 - 10/29/2006
10/29/2006 - 11/05/2006
11/05/2006 - 11/12/2006
11/12/2006 - 11/19/2006
11/19/2006 - 11/26/2006
11/26/2006 - 12/03/2006
12/03/2006 - 12/10/2006
12/10/2006 - 12/17/2006
12/17/2006 - 12/24/2006
12/24/2006 - 12/31/2006
12/31/2006 - 01/07/2007
01/07/2007 - 01/14/2007
01/14/2007 - 01/21/2007
01/21/2007 - 01/28/2007
01/28/2007 - 02/04/2007
02/04/2007 - 02/11/2007
02/11/2007 - 02/18/2007
02/18/2007 - 02/25/2007
02/25/2007 - 03/04/2007
03/11/2007 - 03/18/2007
03/18/2007 - 03/25/2007
04/08/2007 - 04/15/2007
04/15/2007 - 04/22/2007
04/22/2007 - 04/29/2007
04/29/2007 - 05/06/2007
05/06/2007 - 05/13/2007
05/13/2007 - 05/20/2007
05/27/2007 - 06/03/2007
06/10/2007 - 06/17/2007
06/17/2007 - 06/24/2007
06/24/2007 - 07/01/2007
07/01/2007 - 07/08/2007
07/15/2007 - 07/22/2007
09/02/2007 - 09/09/2007
09/16/2007 - 09/23/2007
10/07/2007 - 10/14/2007
10/21/2007 - 10/28/2007
11/18/2007 - 11/25/2007
11/25/2007 - 12/02/2007
12/02/2007 - 12/09/2007
12/09/2007 - 12/16/2007
12/16/2007 - 12/23/2007
12/23/2007 - 12/30/2007
12/30/2007 - 01/06/2008
01/06/2008 - 01/13/2008
01/13/2008 - 01/20/2008
01/20/2008 - 01/27/2008
01/27/2008 - 02/03/2008
02/03/2008 - 02/10/2008
02/17/2008 - 02/24/2008
02/24/2008 - 03/02/2008
03/02/2008 - 03/09/2008
03/09/2008 - 03/16/2008
03/23/2008 - 03/30/2008
03/30/2008 - 04/06/2008
04/06/2008 - 04/13/2008
04/20/2008 - 04/27/2008
04/27/2008 - 05/04/2008
05/11/2008 - 05/18/2008
05/18/2008 - 05/25/2008
06/01/2008 - 06/08/2008
06/08/2008 - 06/15/2008
06/15/2008 - 06/22/2008
06/22/2008 - 06/29/2008
06/29/2008 - 07/06/2008
07/20/2008 - 07/27/2008
Saturday, October 23, 2004
ROCK, ROLL ALSO
The Unicorns on Wednesday! MAN I can't wait. It's hard to believe I haven't gone to a concert this entire time I've been back from Killbear. What have I been doing? Lord knows not school. I'm really bad at school. I just fuck the right people, I guess.
(On a note unrelated to school but related to the Unicorns, they are playing in "Kalamazoo". Apparently that's in Michigan.)
Also I saw Hero just now. Man was it awesome. It's difficult to come to terms with the fact that no-one will ever be as cool as old-school Chinese warriors were. I mean, cowboys got close. There was definitely the potential there. But unless space becomes another, bigger, badder Wild West, we're just not going to have that chance again.
Let me just say that if space does become a bigger, badder Wild West, I hope I'm there, if only in the form of a disembodied head in a jar.
PS. Here's a site I stumbled across a while ago. I'm unsure whether I already posted it or not, but I don't remember doing it, and I'm too lazy to check. It's pretty great, somewhere along the lines of XLP, except totally by some 20 year old Christian guy. It features his opinions on computer stuff or something, schematics of Star Trek RPG ships, and the headquarters of his Sailor Moon fan club, the Cult of Serenity (don't worry! It's not actually a cult! They just call it a cult so as not to be mistaken with club sandwiches.) And he's kind enough to provide a soundtrack to his site: Celine Dion's "Power of Love". A classic.
Friday, October 22, 2004
Mixed Bag vol. 2
So I went to that giant LCBO just north of Yonge and Bloor today cuz I heard they were hiring. I swear, that place is like liquor Valhalla! Some day I'm going to go over there with a pen and paper to make a list of all the stuff i want to sample. I could easily devote an entire day to that. It's just so damned huge.
So anyways, I had another lead on hiring which led me to the St. Lawrence market. Lead was dry, but the market was great. I should totally do all my shopping in markets. Those really people know their stuff; example: I axed the cheesemonger for a good grilled cheese alternative to cheddar and mozzerella, and not only did he suggest for me a new cheese (gruyere) but he also recommended a completely new way of grilling! (rather than using a frying pan, wrap the bread and cheese in aluminum foil and press it with an iron) Also, I learned that if you order a live lobster, they will kill it for you upon request. Isn't learning fun?
What else, what else? Oh, I also strumbled upon the WSIB Simcoe Park Worker's Monument, the most morbid monument in the city! It's a little wall covered in plaques commemorating workers who've died in grisly accidents on the job. A couple of examples: "Wayne Ferguson, nitro gas explosion. Died July 6, 1973" and "Sirindur Mann, crushed by 600 lb. slab that shot out of a large press. Died April 18, 1997."
Final thought: has anyone seen those new Nintendo ads done like anti-drug ads? Throughout the ad, you think that they're talking about drugs, and then it turns out that it was Nintendo? Pretty good way to undermine the war on drugs, I think. The one about the homeless derilect is particularity good, I feel.
Ok, bye.
"We" "gots" "teh" "tix"
Working separately and disgruntledly, Leo and I both managed to pick up tickets to the Roots concert on Tuesday. For free, basically. Tickets were being given away if you gave NOW Magazine a non-perishable food item. I rounded up a whole lotta stuff that I had, beans and the like (I have a lot of beans. I live very much on beans.) plus some pasta and gave 'em those. Apparently, there had been people who brought only single cans of SPAM or Tomato Paste or a couple Mister Noodles. I dunno. I think that a 25 dollar ticket's gotta be worth at least a few bucks worth of canned goods and some goddamn pasta.
Anyways, Yay, concert. Plus I'm going to see The Unicorns the next night.
I visited UFA today. All are doing well; Alison et cetera had just finished last years' movie, and it's being released-- at the Bloor Cinema, no less-- on the 29th. I can't make it. However, she said that there's another (better) screening happening some evening at the NFB, and we should go to that one, and that we're on the guest list. From what I saw of the movie, it looks pretty fucking slick. Course, we didn't get any money last year. That fucking Mack kid told me, to my face, that The Big Idea failed. I damn near iced that muthafucka, but instead cussed him out.
A Specially Formatted "Leo Report"
Morality test question:
You go to buy TTC tokens and the man at the booth is reading a book. You put down $10 and ask for five tokens. The man checks your bill to make sure it's not counterfit and pushes the button to give you your five tokens. He then absentmindedly gives you your fifty cents change and slides the ten dollar bill back to you. He then goes back to reading his book. Do you keep the ten? I was put to the test yesterday and the cash won. Yae YAE!
Halloween - The Yuck Files!
An eyelash landed in my eye the other day and I tried to get it off, but it just rolled back inside my eye. Now, little specks of dust can get lost back there, I'll accept that, but where does something as big as an eyelash rest once it's inside your face? Euch!
Spendin' Dough!
Today I bought a white hat. Don't worry, the signature "Nitz" will still be around, I just have more options now!
Yesterday I went to the PosterSale at Yerk and bought a Lost In Translation poster. Downtown Tokyo with a giant brontosaurus displayed on the side of a building plus (film's) Scarlett Johanson!? I'm surprised "Ben" doesn't kill me now to take it (the poster) from me!!!
Til next time, keep your eyes on the prize - the SURprise, that is! Signing off for the Leo Report, it's Leo!
Thursday, October 21, 2004
Putting the "Ale" back in "Wales"
I'm coming home this weekend for Reading Week (YAY Trent!). Saturday is Ocktoberfest at the Armoury and Sunday is our radio show so I'll probably be back sunday late afternoon.
I had to re-install Windows XP and I lost all my files, including about 4 GB of mp3 files. I'm bring my tower with me to Toronto this weekend to see if the manufacturer can recover anything. I'm also I need to download all my old drivers, but I can't do that until I can get a ethernet card driver. Anyway it's totally FUBAR. If anyone knows how I can recover my hard drive please tell me.
I've begun looking for a foreign university to spend next year abroad at. I'd like to go to the UK to study history perhaps at University of Wales - Lampeter where I could practice my Gaelic (Llanbedyr Tal Pont Ystyven!). Or perhaps I could go to the University of Western Kentuky where I could cheer for the mighty Hilltoppers.
I know all you Toronto pople have midterms and such but dammit I'm 19 and I have money so we're going out. I also want to see Team America, actually there's about 6 movies I want to see.
Go Western Spirit!
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Teen Tribes of the Townships
Isn't it funny how studying can really focus other activities. Having a midterm to study for can really bring out interesting things on your computer (or your room, or outside etc). I was just looking around on the iTunes Music Store, which was really just a time-wasting thing as a) it's not avaliable in this country and b) I can get music for "free" elsewhere. But it's really got some interesting stuff that all of you with macs should check out. You can listen to the first 30 seconds of any song which is a nice way of browsing before you buy (or steal in my case). They have these "Celebrity Playlists" which make interesting reading. Who'd have thunk Michael Moore would have a Rage song? What really did strike me though is that Beyoncé had not one, not two, but four of her own songs. Wow. They also have movie trailers and about 300 music videos on the site.
For some reason my house gets the "Kingston Herritage" newspaper, a wounderfully terrible local paper for the Kingston township. Recently their main concern have been the "Teen Tribes" in Amherstview. This "tribe" of around 150 teens go around drinking, fighting and even having sex in public[!] in the "40 foot". This is probably because there's shit all to do in Amherstview. One recent article had steller bit of paraphrasing in the closing sentence:
Coun. Ric Bresee said the meeting would also give people the opportunity to hear a more accurate view of the goings on than has been portrayed in the media.
"People need to be given a more accurate view than has been portrayed in the media…"
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
The world either stinks or is too expensive.
If it stinks, it's cheap. Everything else is expensive.
I busted about ten bucks today on photocopies. The combined total of my photocopying-related expenditures for this essay on which I am working is now approximately 21 dollars. I have about a hundred and seventy pages of Rudolf II, Prague, and his Kunstkammer. Kunstkammer sounds like German for "penis", but it's really not.
I saw Martha Crealock t'other day, and we went for coffee. She's actually pretty interesting, which surprised me, sort of. It's much easier to talk to her without that damn hair sticking out of her lip. You know the one.
She's TAing at Trent right now, she says, but she's scouting around to get her PhD and is thinkin' of York, and in Film, no less. She's got a pretty diverse collection of degrees what to keep her warm in her grave with. It was a bit scary talking to her about it, cause I can see myself being there. (BA in Poli Sci, BA in Fine Arts Cultural Studies, MA in Divinity, PhD in History, working as a carpenter before opening my own restaurant. Also I will be A ASTRONAUT.)
I have a test or something in German tomorrow. I should do that homework. I should sleep. But no. I am going to play Tron 2.0. I don't even really like it. But I feel the compulsion.
Oh Jesus.
Apocalypse "Now"
So I called up Now Magazine today to ask them about tickets for The Roots concert they're giving away with donation of a food item. The guy told me to dial another number so I did. The guy who picked up the phone answered some weird company name (I thought nothing of it - perhaps Now had to give out the tickets through another agency). The guy said his name was Cal and I asked him on the phone about what the procedure was for picking up tickets. He asked how many I wanted. I said "two, isn't that the maximum?". He told me he'd give me four if I donated a lot of food. He asked me what I was going to donate. I started looking in the basement and told him peanut butter, canned tuna. He said "we already have enough peanut butter, bring some nutella. We want pinto beans, too." "How about romano beans?". Then he hung up. So I called back because I still had questions about the procedure for getting to the Now building and getting tickets. A man with a heavy Indian accent picked up the phone. I told him I had questions about the concert tickets and I was speaking to Cal. He said, "Cal is a fucking idiot! I'm going to go slap him!". I told him that wasn't necessary if he could just answer my questions. He said "I'm going to go push him out of a window!". I said "Don't do that..." then he hung up, too. By now I'm not sure what's going on at all. So I call one last time to that number to ask if they really are affiliated with Now Magazine or The Roots concert at all. Nope. They are not.
So I called back the first Now phone number and they told me the REAL number to call. I was off by one digit when I copied it down originally. They ran out of tickets within 1 1/2 of beginning giving them away on Friday. But they may open up another batch this upcoming friday.
I'll go Friday morning. If anyone wants to come they can, to everyone else, keep your eyes to the headlines for stories about a call centre manager pushing his employee out of the window.
Sunday, October 17, 2004
AMERICA, FUCK YEAH!
So I saw Team America: World Police on friday. It was a great movie and it wasn't just Thunderbirds with political satire, violence and sex (though that's mainly it). There were a lot of meta-jokes in there, like a puppet would say something dramatic and then walk off in a very funny unrealistic way. Just like the South Park movie the songs are great. From the theme song "America, fuck yeah/Savin' the motherfuckin' day yeah" to the Rent parody "Everybody's Got AIDS/the whites and the spades" I'm wondering if I should buy the soundtrack (or, illegally download it).
That theme probably should've been playing when Jon Stewart bitch-slapped Tucker Carlson on Crossfire. Anyone see that? Stewart went on and they were expecting him to be all funny. Well he was funny, but he ripped them both to shreads for half an hour (but mainly Tucker).
CARLSON: I do think you're more fun on your show. Just my opinion.
STEWART: You know what's interesting, though? You're as big a dick on your show as you are on any show.
Go In, Ape.
Here's a little link for all you Cokeheads what like to bash my penchant for a refreshing Pepsi. Just wanted to get that out of the way.
So anywhom, I was out last night with "the gang v.6" (Leo, Ben, Neil, Maddy and theis guy Peter) and we were waiting @ the bus stop. Anyways, the conversation had somehow turned to people getting married in their teens (I don't know how, but I think Jerry Lee Lewis was involved in how the conversation went this way), and Ben says something about how people shouldn't be allowed to marry until age 28, prompting a complete stranger, David Carradine look-alike in a cowboy hat, to step up and get Ben for his "age-ism", prompting an improptu debate. It was quite the spectacle. As if that wasn't enough excitement for one bus-stop wait, we were also treated to the spectacle of some guy in a pickup truck slowing down to hit on either Maddy or David Carradine (I forget which one). Also, I hailed down a taxicab and ran away.
In conclusion and in summary, that was one crazy bus-stop.
