merry christmas!

And so it is Christmas.

At the moment I'm listening to Canada's CBC Radio Two online (a little homesick, perhaps), and someone (I wasn't paying attention to the name) is currently sending in an audio postcard of what he wants to hear online. Instead of picking the "normal" Christmas songs, he decided to pick Sigur Ros' "staralfur."

What a great choice! He mentioned how the song had featured prominently in the movie, the life aquatic, t the moment when the team encounters the jaguar shark. What he didn't mention, but I'm assuming had thought of - is how much that moment relates to Christmas. This shark was a mythical being that no one really thought existed, almost an encounter with the divine: something beyond tangible truth.

Ignoring the commercialism of Christmas, that is what we are left with - a moment with the divine. Not necessarily religious divinity, though, it could emerge in different situations for different people. Time spent with loved ones, the feeling of new snow, "Christmas spirit"...

"Staralfur" has always been one of my favourite Sigur Ros songs. Listen to it - you can definitely feel the winter season.

santas!

And so today I witnessed the:


It was quite amazing. Thousands of people dressed up like Santa parading around the Princes Street gardens. It made me laugh so hard. So, for your viewing pleasure, of course, are many many Santas. The photos don't do them justice, though. The sheer magnitude of the Santas cannot be portrayed on film.


Santas warming up. It was classic - thousands of Santas, all dancing to "YMCA"...






On another note of sheer magnitude, the choir performed at the University carol service today. Imagine this: in a beautiful hall, about 2000 people singing along to Christmas carols. So great.

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas...

But first, I have a special announcement to make: the sasquatch has followed me to Scotland.

I was pleased to open my mail today and find this - probably the most interesting depiction of the sasquatch I've seen to date.



A good friend of mine has continued my search for the sasquatch in my absence, and discovered this highly colourful sasquatch. The back of the document provided me with new information concerning the sasquatch: that they are believed to have a cry sounding like a loon. Very interesting, indeed. Hmm...

Well, back to Christmas!

They have planted a GIANT Christmas tree outside our flat here in Edinburgh. Technically, it's referred to as the "Edinburgh Christmas Tree." Unfortunately, though, said tree's lights go off on a daily basis, making for a less-than-spectacular-looking Christmas tree. Oh well, enjoy the night view from our kitchen window, note the lack of lights. This was actually a good moment, usually there's even more lights not working:

(Once without flash to appreciate the tree)



(And once with the flash to appreciate my snowflake creations)





Damn you Sean Connery...

we saw snow!

So some friends and I hiked up Arthur's Seat yesterday. It's a hike that all the tourists do in Edinburgh, but for good reason. Up at the top there is an amazing 360 degree view of all Edinburgh and the sea. Very nice.

Enjoy the photos!

let your voice be heard...

Pleas take some time out of your lives to fill out a little questionnaire to help Paul Aitken finish his master's thesis.

http://www.paulaitken.com/thesis_consent.html

Also, here's a note straight from the source concerning the project:

My thesis seeks to examine some of the major issues surrounding the building
and maintaining of online musical communities. Through observation and
participation in blog culture, online music forums, and filesharing
communities, I will be discussing aspects of online music promotion and
consumption from both artist- and audience-centred perspectives. As this
project is concerned with aspects of community and communication in online
environments, I feel it is absolutely necessary to ground these phenomena in
real practice. To this end, the inclusion of commentary by those who make
up Internet communities provides for interesting points of departure for
further investigation.

I am very intrigued to hear what individuals have to say about their
experiences with music online. I hope that the questionnaire is as fun for
you to fill out as I know it will be for me to read!

You can read more about the project at
http://www.paulaitken.com/academia_thesis.html

If you are interested in participating please read the attached Letter of
Information/Consent and questionnaire or read it and participate online at
http://www.paulaitken.com/thesis_consent.html

Anonymity for all participants is the default position for this project.
Should you wish to have your name revealed in the thesis please indicate so
on the questionnaire.

If you wish more information please contact me at thesis@paulaitken.com

well fine then!

ZUNE?!?!?! WTF???!!

"Bottom line: collective grooves dominate solo grooves."

Well now, this changes everything..



More to come...

is there no justice?

Yesterday Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging. I cannot even begin to adequately express everything I would like to about this situation. But one thing I will say is: how can we sentence Hussein to death, and Bush is still walking free?

I think everyone should read this. And note, these are Hussein's (translated) direct words. I find him much more rational and direct than Bush (who does not even write his own speeches).

http://ourworldinbalance.blogspot.com/2006/07/story-of-saddam-hussein.html

stardom and bob dylan...

Yesterday I attended a seminar-type presentation by Lee Marshall about his upcoming book concerning Bob Dylan and the star persona. Great talk; looking forward to the book being published.

But anywho, at the end he opened up a discussion about meaning, music, and whether the meaning should be placed in the lyrics, or in the singer him/herself. Of course, a great debate started about his use of the word "authority" when he mentioned that he thought the meaning was in the "authority" of the singer's command of the song. The gender card was played - authority is too masculine, we should use "lighter" words such as embodiment, or presence.

I, for one, believe that of course authority is a masculine term, but only because we have created it to be so. We can blame rock for that. For male rock stars, it's all about the authenticity - it's all about being who you are, on-stage and off. Liven' the dream, as such.

I need to get my view off my chest. In the heated debate I didn't manage to make my point. So..

Marshall was taking his view of stardom from Dyer's film theory. In this form of stardom, there is a separation from the star as image and the star as regular person. The more "authentic" the star is, the more the same she is perceived to be in her star persona and her "normal life." And so, instead of using words such as authority, Dylan's singing can be seen more of as a removal of the star. In no ways an I implying that Dylan is not a star - he's one of the biggest - but because you can sense so much of him in his singing (he's got a very strong grain), it is removing the gap between star persona and real persona. He IS Dylan, his songs ARE Dylan. Hence why so many people look to the lyrics to find the man. The man is not in the lyrics, he's in the voice, and the voice is in the man. No catch, no star. It simply IS him.

will i ever have a dog??

I am a nomad.

Since the year 2000, I have lived at eight different addresses, and have also somehow managed to end up with ten mailing addresses. Not that I'm really complaining about this. So far this lifestyle has worked out pretty good for me - I've got a couple degrees, traveled all over Canada, and am now overseas in ye olde Scotland. A lot of people don't have the opportunity to do this.

Also, unlike many others, I don't seem to have a problem with saying goodbye and leaving comfortable situations. My life is in constant flux with friends coming and going (or else, with ME coming and going), and that keeps things interesting.

But that's enough of a rant for one day. I think the root of the problem is that as a water-person, I am just missing the ocean. I can see it from my window in the distance, but have yet to sink my feet into it.

Soon love, soon. And then all shall be well.

darksuckers...

Now, to explain the truth about light and dark: the darksuckers theory.

The basic premise is that what we think are light-emitting sources (lightbulbs, candles, the sun) are actually darksuckers. They do not emit light, but rather suck dark.

Darksuckers will not work indefinitely - they all have their own life-time. Once a darksucker has sucked up too much dark, it is basically ineffective. Hence why lightbulbs have a black film on them when they've stopped working: they've built up too much dark inside. For candles, the wick is where the dark collects, hence why it turns black. And what about the sun, the most powerful darksucker in existence, you may ask? What do you think sun spots are?? Yes, a build-up of dark.

The sun will eventually suck up so much dark from the expansive universe that the dark will collapse the darksucker in a black hole (i.e., condensed darkness).

More proof? Well, dark is heavier than light. Why do you think that the bottom of the ocean/lake/water source is darker than the top? The darkness is sinking to the bottom, whereas light (light, is "light," obviously) floats to the surface.

So, now you know. Another flawless theory.

"we don't tolerate stupidity"

So I woke up this morning and read this on Yahoo! news:

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/04102006/344/teens-smoke-small-babies.html

If you're going to be so careless with an innocent life growing inside you, then you are obviously not prepared to be giving birth and raising a child.

I have often mentioned to people that a license should be implemented in order to have children (kind of like a marriage license). This would prevent people who should not be having children from having children. Obviously it's not as easy as this - there's the whole human rights issues, morals, etc.etc...but still! People should not be stupid enough to think that they can smoke during pregnancy in the hopes that it will make the birth easier!

Please, can we infect children with tar/nicotine/formaldehyde/arsenic/butane before they're even born!?

Next thing you know there'll be people genetically altering fetuses to create uber-babies..... oh wait....

song of the day...

"The Seer's Tower" - Sufjan Stevens

For those of you not familiar with Sufjan Stevens, I would place him in the neo-folk genre of the male singer/songwriters. He's an American multi-instrumentalist and singer who is hoping to write an album dedicated to each of the 50 states in the US.

So far he's done two.

At least he's only 31; but still, if he can only pull off one a year, I hope the last few states aren't some sort of geriatric easy-listening fluff.

Anyways, "The Seer's Tower" is from the Illinoise album. This song, no matter what I'm doing at the time, always stops me dead when I hear it. It's so simple yet so effective.

Just voice, some keyboards/synths, a piano, tambourine. But if you want to talk about hearing the grain of the voice, this song is a prime example. Not only can you hear the grain, but you can practically feel him playing the piano. Breathtaking.

The highlight for me is the third verse where the mood intensifies, but the piano decides to back off and place the emphasis more off-the-beat, delaying the downbeat, and trying to cut through the tension while simultaneously creating more.

Listen to this song. This is not a just a suggestion.

music thoughts...

"Music is what feelings sounds like."

I don't know where I originally heard this from, but issues surrounding this quote have come up a lot in my readings the past two days.

Music makes us feel. We listen to music to enhance or alter our current feelings, moods, etc. That is the point of popular music: to portray "universal" emotions for audience members to self-identify with. We are no more looking for music that we think is "good" than we are looking for music which will make us feel how we want to feel.

But, the problem also arises that people feel differently: hence differences in taste. Our feelings our sociologically based, defined through our lives (or habitus). And, as a reflection of our feelings, our musical tates are also sociologically based. To one person, punk music may make them feel energized and alive, but to others, the same music can make someone feel angered and irritated. All genres and styles will be felt differently by different people. The need then arises to find people who feel, listen to music, similarly to us.

It could be argued that we choose our friends less by musical style, but by the base level of`a similar ability to feel.

so now you know...

Warning: the following post will open your minds to new and exciting possibilities within the realms of cryptozoology and crop circle theory.

The breakthrough...

Sasquatch made the crop circles.

It makes so much sense! Working at night under a shroud of darkness; invisible to the naked eye because of their telepathic-hypnotic abilities. But the clincher...light orbs surrounding the crop circles.



A little while ago I watched a special on crop circles on TLC. I felt compelled to watch this episode (perhaps because the Sasquatch wanted me to find the missing link and proclaim it to the world) and was struck by the appearance of light orbs at crop circle sites. I immediately thought of the light orbs as discussed by Alan Berry. The Sasquatch were there - invisible!



Flawless!

au revoir...

So long Canada!

damn that invisibility...

Perhaps the Sasquatch is closer than previously thought. Why travel all the way to the Skookumchuk rapids to see them, when their tracks are perfectly visible in downtown Gibsons!?

Here, in Molly's Lane, we see tracks leading all through the alley.





Now, these erratic steps lead me to believe that the Sasquatch could quite possibly be drunk.

Also of interest - this store was found in Victoria:



While I did not see any Sasquatch trading goods, I presume they were, once again, invisibly to mine eyes.

bears!

In Victoria (and Vancouver) scattered around the city are various bears, which are painted by local artists. For what? I don't know. Tourist trap, most likely.

So, being from a tourist town myself, I take great pleasure in being an annoying tourist when I visit other tourist towns. Which led to taking photos of all the bears and having people give me strange looks. Excellent.

While I wasn't ambitious enough to find ALL the bears, here's a smattering of them:










I like to call them the "word!" bears because they all look like they're holding up their paws to say "word up, homebear."

We also managed to find a "fudge bear":


I imagine it would be quite difficult to get fudge from inside a bear.

and the search continues...

Here on the Sunshine Coast, we are "lucky" enough to live near a great natural wonder known as the Skookumchuk rapids. Basically, ocean water from the inlet meets ocean water from the ocean, and, seeing as they are at different levels, at certain parts in the day, this makes for some spectacular wave-watching.

On August 9th, 11:04 am, because of the full moon, the viewing was particularly spectacular. See photo below:



But this is all besides the point!!!

On the way to the viewpoints, I saw THIS:



Now, I did not see the Sasquatch (he was probably using his telepathic-hypnotic abilities to remain invisible), but I found this a strange location to live. The Skookumchuk is full of tourists all day - but perhaps this one in particular has a great desire to make contact. Hmm, perhaps I shall return to this location (when alone as to not suffer much ridicule) to investigate further....

will we ever learn?

Night-vision? Telepathic-hypnosis? Aliens? Underground dwellers???!!

Are these really descriptions of the Sasquatch?

According to B. Ann Slate and Alan Berry, in their book entitled "Bigfoot," these are all possibilities (leaning towards the edge of factual).

This book started off ok with some interesting stories of Bigfoot encounters, but quickly took a turn towards the bazaar.

The authors, through eyewitness accounts, lead the readers to believe first of all, that the Sasquatch can see in the dark. Fine, I can accept that..I mean, so can cats.

But then, why is it that tracks mysteriously stop, or people hear noises without seeing the sources?? Well, because of the telepathic-hypnotic powers of the Sasquatch which allow it to block our senses making the Sasquatch invisible. Witnesses have reported seeing light flashes when Sasquatch were in the vicinity - which later have been justified as signals that their senses were being played with. A side effect of hypnosis.

Why do we not see the Sasquatch anytime we venture into their territory? Because they live underground, of course! Machinery sounds coming from the deep earth have been caught on tape, leading people to believe that the Sasquatch lives underground, apparently with a lot of sophisticated machines.

Could they be aliens?? Yes! In Pennsylvania, there have been reports of UFO activity, followed closely be Sasquatch sightings. Many footprints only have three toes.

What do they want with us? While some believe that the Sasquatch is an extraterrestrial being, others believe that they are natural, terrestrial phenomena. Either in the form of pure Sasquatch species, or a lost tribe of Natives who learned to develop telepathic-hypnotic abilities. Either way, one young man had a chance encounter in which he actually communicated with them (this encounter was revealed to him through a later hypnosis session). The following is a portion of the transcipt from his hypnosis session to reveal repressed memories. Eerie.

(Jim - the young man. Donna - the hypnotherapist)

Jim: He called me...with his mind
Donna: Why?
Jim: To..help him get out
Donna: Why does he need to get out?
Jim: (He looks extremely sad, as if about to cry) The hunters...people keep him in
...
Jim: They're saying to tell people...tell people they were here first!
Donna: They were here before we were?
Jim: Yes!
Donna: What else?
Jim: They said we're ruining their planet

Those last words are strong ones indeed. Whether or not one believes in the Sasquatch and its origin stories, we are ruining the planet. This message is more true now than it was when the Sasquatch spoke it in 1975.

oh, really?

One day I was downstairs and happened upon a few boxes of books. Interestingly, I found two (yes, two!) books on the topic of the Sasquatch.

I decided to read the one that is obviously aimed at a young-reader audience first. And boy, was it ever painful to read! Not subject wise, for the Sasquatch remains an enigma and a source of inquisitiveness, but the way in which the book was written, and the monotony of it was indeed painful.

The book: "Bigfoot: All over the country" by Marian T. Place

Basically, Marion just recounted story after story of Bigfoot sightings, and even some hoaxes. There was no new news on the Bigfoot, or what it could be, but just a book of sightings. Perhaps this book was aimed more at those who don't already believe.

This next book seems a lot more interesting - but I shant divulge too much here until I've completed it. But so far, there's a theory that Bigfoots have mystical powers and can see in the dark. Intriguing!

On another note - Lance Bass is gay!



Is this really news? Haven't we been saying this since NSync first came out?? (ha ha, no pun intended). But all humour aside, so what? I think he should've come out right away, it could have opened up a whole new demographic for the band, increased their profits twicefold!

In fact, my idea for a new supergroup would be the "Sexually Tolerant Spice People." You'd have a gay man, a lesbian woman, a bisexual, a straight person, and maybe even a tranny! Through the power of catchy pop tunes, young tweens everywhere will learn about tolerance and acceptance! Sweet action, yo!


(With photos like these...who would've seen it coming?)

sea cavalcade extraordinaire...

Each year, during a weekend in July, Gibsons has Sea Cavalcade. The two most exciting parts of Sea Cav (as the locals call it), are the fireworks Friday night and the parade Saturday morning. Sadly, the fireworks kinda sucked this year - and as an added bonus they debuted playing music like the Symphony of Fire. Their selections included the song from the People's commercial, and Carmina Burrana. Odd, very odd. The evening went from wanting a diamond to examining my life prior to impending doom.

The parade was interesting, as always. For some reasons pirates always seem to dominate the theme of the weekend - even though this year it had the unfortunate title of "Fanta-sea." Either way, I shall not bore you with countless photos of pirates, and young girls dressed up as mermaids, but instead, I present:

The Oddities of the Sea Cav Parade:

A sweet BC ferries float, accompanied by John on his strange golf-equipped Segway.



Yeah, I'd be scared, too, if sheep were driving:



A little hometown-pride for the Canadian idol:



A whole hord of accordion players! Which definitely beats out Sechelt parade's lone accordionist:



And now for the strangest of the strange:

There was this:



This:



Oh boy:



Hot damn:



And, saving the best for last! Crabs!

THE LIST pt. I

Okay, so this summer I've been back working in the kitchen of the golf course. This being my fourth season there, and not liking coooking in the first place, it has not been fun.

Needless to say, I've been entertaining myself by mentally making a list of all the stupid things people do. Perhaps in order to unleash them on some other poor, unsuspecting service worker in the future to provide me with years of enjoyment.

And now, in ongoing segments, I shall unveil THE LIST!

This first one is my absolute favourite - it always makes my day just that extra bit special, and almost makes ten-hour shifts worthwhile.

(Note: most of these apply to a restaurant that does not offer table service)

1. At a restaurant where the menu is posted somewhere near where you order: stare at the menu intently for about ten minutes. Proceed to order something that does not appear on the menu in the slightest. For example, at a burger/sandwich joint, ask for a steak, medium rare, with fries and gravy (we do not offer gravy).

2. Dress as a hippy: bring a small child and your dirty husband. Don't actually golf at the golf course, but place child on ordering counter where its feet get all over where food should go. Proceed to inquire/demand why there is no kids menu without thinking about the fact that it's a golf and country club and that children under the age of five do not tend to golf.

3. Bring whole freakin' family without golfing up for a monday afternoon lunch. Insist on table service. When cooks do not acknowledge your existence, wave a $100 dollar bill at food manager and ask again. Because pulling out your wad of cash in front of everyone the first time is not enough, pull it out again, make a big deal about pulling out another $100 bill, and remark "if that first one doesn't cover it all." After your lunch, and paying your $100 tab, leave a $5 tip.

On the subject of tipping...

4. If you're old, never tip. Or make a big deal about giving up a quarter.

5. After your server has kindly offered to package up all your beer cans in bags with ice - complimentary - do not tip.

6. At a place without table service, when you can see that the cook/server is tired, and perhaps is just starting her ninth hour without a break, get her attention when she's delivering someone else's food, and ask her to bring you a menu. Because you're "too tired to walk."

oh canada...(five days late)

The streets were lined with people adorned in red and white, carrying tiny little flags...



Presenting: highlights from the Canada Day Parade in downtown Sechelt:

It all kicked off with ye olde mounted police:



And a bunch of the "usuals" - accordion players, shriners in little cars, square dancers and Smokey the Bear (only YOU can prevent forest fires)









But there were some others that are distinctly BC - someone representing the 420 Hemp Shop driving solo in a motorized scooter throwing out bags of hemp hearts, and some hippies doing what hippies do best:





And then, under the uncatagorizable was...well....this...