Aplace

I don't mind...I don't mind...

this wasted, shaded daylight...

Run to the record store (or, you know, iTunes) to acquire the latest Stars album "The Five Ghosts". It's just....sigh. ...perfect, perfect. I think I listened to Stars and Rilo Kiley exclusively in the summer of 2005 and it still ranks as one of the best summers ever (although that might have had more to do with the fact that it was basically a four-month paid vacation while I completed the extremely arduous (read: pathetically simple) Bar Admission course, but I digress).

I would try to explain the awesomeness of Amy Milian's voice to you, but could I do it justice with mere words? No. So go listen to the whole album here: http://www.weallwantsomeone.org/2010/06/08/new-stars-wasted-daylight/ (Thank you American Public Radio). It will improve your day. I promise.

Singles of the Year

My favourite one this year? Indubitably...

Umbrella - Rihanna - Great to sing with, great to dance to, great great great. Ella ella ella hey hey ! LOVE IT !

And the rest, in order of my love for them,

Early Winter - Gwen Stefani
4 in the Morning - Gwen Stefani
Stronger - Kanye West
D.A.N.C.E. - Justice
Gravity - John Mayer
2 Hearts - Kylie Minogue
FIdelity - Regina Spektor
I Just Want You To Know - Backstreet Boys
Say It Right - Nelly Furtado
Paper Planes - M.I.A 

'cause you coming back to me is against the odds

…but that’s a chance I gotta take.

I heart Phil Collins. Truly, a lyricist for the ages. I’ve been listening to The Postal Service remake of that song for days on end and I still get a bit misty-eyed whenever the chorus starts up. I’m going through one of those moments in your life when you start listening a bit too closely to the lyrics of the songs on the radio. The usual platitudes are all of a sudden infused with so much meaning that when you hear Phil go on about how he wishes he could walk away from you, you close your eyes and sing along in whole-hearted agreement and wonder how it is that he can read your thoughts and put them to song… That can’t just be me, can it?

If May 2005 had been a playlist...

Instead of a month in time, it would have looked a bit like this:

Night on Fire - VHS or Beta
Portions for Foxes - Rilo Kiley
Breathe - Anna Nalick
The Weakness in Me - Joan Armatrading
Your Ex-Lover is Dead - Stars
One Evening - Feist
Number One - John Legend
Sunshowers - MIA
Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap
Gangsta - Akon
Helpless - Neil Young
Diamonds are Forever - Kanye West

Itunes Meme

[Although, there's no reason you couldn't do it with any music software]

Number of Songs: 199 (Since August, mind you!)

Part I (first and last song listed by each criteria)

Sort by Title
0% Interest - Jason Mraz
You're So Vain - Carly Simon

Sort by Time
I'm Not Wearing Underwear Today - Original Broadway Soundtrack - Avenue Q (0:28)
Adagio for Strings - Samuel Barber (9:28)

Sort by Album
A Good Kind of Nervous - The Lucksmiths
White People - Handsome Boy Modelling School

Sort by Artist
Allison Krauss
Zero 7

Part II

Top Ten Most Played
Last Goodbye - Jeff Buckley
Let Go - Frou Frou
Adagio for Strings - Samuel Barber
Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns n Roses
0% Interest - Jason Mraz
In The Waiting Line - Zero 7
Crazy in Love - Beyonce
Spaceship (feat. GLC & Consequence) - Kanye West
River - Joni Mitchell
F-stop Blues Jack Johnson

Part III

find "sex" - 1 song
find "death" - 0 songs
find "love" - 13 songs

Hmm... I reserve judgment re: what the above means. Except for the embarassment of having G'nR in my top 10. That just makes me a fool.

As for Martha Stewart getting her own Apprentice spinoff, well... that's just sad. I think that the Apprentice has clearly jumped the shark and weighing it down with a spinoff is not going to help. Plus wasn't Martha supposed to be classy? Shouldn't she be spending her time on probation pruning flowers and going horseback riding in Connecticut. I expect Mr. "I own casinos and cheat on my wife" Trump to have his own sinister reality show. But Martha? I thought Martha stood for something. I guess hard time in the slammer can have an impact on you, mind you.

Into the River Below

Yesterday, I saw Wimbledon with Kirsten Dunst. It was really stressful. There's this big tennis match at the end and I could not handle it at all. I was so nervous for the main character. I'm not sure if that means the film was remarkable or I am a nutjob. Perhaps both. Although the main characters were a bit chemistry deficient, overall the story was decent.

Of course, the movie couldn't compare to the good times that were had earlier in the evening at 501 Arcade. Am I the only one who didn't know how fun arcades are? Because they're insanely fun. I even have some favorite games: Vice Cop, Star Trek: Voyager and Dance Dance Revolution. The only down-side is that it's a bit of a cash suck, quite reminiscent of the Casino in that way.

The Jamboree Song

How I could I forget the Jamboree anthem !!! 2004 edition: I need a final rhyming couplet, suggestions welcome !!

Here we go from town to town
Nothing in this world can bring on down
Walking to our own special beat
Smiling at the new people we meet

Chorus :

JAMBOREE, JAM-JAM-JAMBOREE
JAMBOREE, JAM-JAM-JAMBOREE
JAMBOREE, JAM-JAM-JAMBOREE
JAMBOREE, JAM-JAM-JAMBOREE

First we went to Stouffville-Land
To see David take Megan's hand
Next we went to Kingston-Town
Woo-hoo-hoo nothing can bring us down

Chorus

Then we went to our nation's capital
No other city could be quite as radical

Do you realize?

Has anyone seen the new Mitsubishi commercial with the baby waving from the window to passerby? I know there are some tv deficient folk among you...but let me tell you it's an effective piece of advertisement. The backing track is a song by the Flaming Lips called "Do you Realize" and it's really excellent. One 30-second ad has succeeded in reversing my revulsion for the Lips or rather for their name which I've always considered very offputting. Also, when I was thirteen I got a free mixtape with a purchase of 35$ at Urban Outfitters and they had a really creepy song that I would fast forward right through every time I listened to that tape (which by the way spawned a very surreal moment in grade 11 where for about seven weeks I was at the avantguard of my homeroom's musical scene due to my possession of the tape. It was like an oracle of coolness...)

All this to say, the Flaming Lips: good stuff. So good that I'm posting at 8:00 when Admin starts at 9:30.

Note: The Aplace Nomination Derby Winner is crowned today !! Good luck to all participants !!!!

sloan @ the grand theatre kingston 27.10.03

Any band where the lead singer carefully removes glasses and places them out of harm's way before rocking out on his encore definitely deserves my respect. In fact, the whole show was incredible, definitely all time top 5. As you can imagine, the grand theatre of Kingston: eh, not so grand. That's how we ended up six rows away from the band. I thought it was going to be a slog to hear their new material just to get to the good old stuff but their new songs are hard-rocking nuggets of goodness. I will definitely be getting that album. I know the picture is lame but Bailey's plus eardrum shatteringly loud music do not make for prime photographic opportunities.

midnight at the oasis

Today, I went to a panel discussion which featured 5 members of the Queen's Law Class of '93. They all had fancy careers working for big US firms, practicing in Tokyo, founding partners of young but reputed firms blah blah blah. It was really quite informative and an eye-opener, in terms of what you can expect career wise with a law degree. It was not always pretty. One obviously talented and competent lawyer, who had articled for a big prestigious firm told us about how he was not hired back as a first-year associate, was let go from another job and went on unemployment insurance before starting up his own firm. It was a unique and ultimately heart-warming story but still... his go-getter nature allowed him to excel in his field despite being recognized as unskilled in business law by his firm. I have no go-getter nature. If I were to be recognized as unskilled, well... all I would have to rely on would be my good looks and natural charm and I'd be interested to see how far those took me

Tomorrow, I am going to see Queen's latest acquisition, a Rembrandt. I've probably seen one before I figure but I wasn't paying attention. Surely, it's greatness will be visible to the naked eye. I will report back my impressions.