Today was a balmy 3 degrees celsius! It was a nice break after the -20's we've been having lately. That said, I've still managed to contract my annual cold...boourns.
Anyway, someone shared this with me, and I thought I'd share it with you. It's dedicated to Matt:
(for those that care, the guy drops a couple f-bombs in the middle - you've been warned)
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Finally
Ok, here we go....for those who don't know, here's what I'm up to these days:
I've found a job through another temp company, and have been doing work in the finance department for a big Canadian food supplier. It really is my ideal work for the moment, which is to say, maximum payment for minimal responsibility. The duties of my job pretty much consist of me sitting in front of a computer and punching numbers into an excel spreadsheet all day long. I have little interaction with others, and can listen to my MP3 player all day, enjoying music, podcasts, audio books or whatever tickles my fancy. It pays pretty well, and my supervisor(s) are really nice to boot. As I've said to folks before, if I had to do this for the rest of my life then I would probably rather kill myself as it is extremely monotonous work and really does very little to make the world a better place, however currently, as a means to greater ends it does the trick just fine. Yes, it takes up a lot of time, I have to get up early and I still come home tired after work, but it beats the coffee shop job, where I would be there til 9pm sometimes, sweaty from having to mop up, and run down from people complaining about too little or too much milk in their tea.
Hopefully this will see me through until the end of April, when I plan on attending Coachella. The big reason for the trip there is, of course, the Rage Against the Machine reunion. I absolutely love Rage and thought I would never get a chance to see them after they broke up in 2000. So far it is being billed as a 'one-off' performance by them, but I've read interviews with Tom Morello who says he hasn't "ruled out the possibility of future activities" for the band. So even though it's likely there will be more shows in the future, you never know. However, Rage isn't my only reason for going...the other two headliners (The Chili Peppers and Björk) are also performers whom I love but have never seen live. And that's in addition to the 100 or so other bands that will be there. There's a bunch in that list that I am big fans of as well, so combined with a trip to southern California at the end of April, it didn't seem like such a bad idea. To top it off, I found out a couple days ago that my buddy Ryan and his wife are planning on going too, so I'll have folks to camp out with! Score.
Well that's about it really. Sorry if I got your hopes up for something huge. I'm supposed to find out in May whether or not I got into the program at the University of Oslo, and so I should have a better idea of my next move after that. Until then, it's simply work followed by Coachella....
I've found a job through another temp company, and have been doing work in the finance department for a big Canadian food supplier. It really is my ideal work for the moment, which is to say, maximum payment for minimal responsibility. The duties of my job pretty much consist of me sitting in front of a computer and punching numbers into an excel spreadsheet all day long. I have little interaction with others, and can listen to my MP3 player all day, enjoying music, podcasts, audio books or whatever tickles my fancy. It pays pretty well, and my supervisor(s) are really nice to boot. As I've said to folks before, if I had to do this for the rest of my life then I would probably rather kill myself as it is extremely monotonous work and really does very little to make the world a better place, however currently, as a means to greater ends it does the trick just fine. Yes, it takes up a lot of time, I have to get up early and I still come home tired after work, but it beats the coffee shop job, where I would be there til 9pm sometimes, sweaty from having to mop up, and run down from people complaining about too little or too much milk in their tea.
Hopefully this will see me through until the end of April, when I plan on attending Coachella. The big reason for the trip there is, of course, the Rage Against the Machine reunion. I absolutely love Rage and thought I would never get a chance to see them after they broke up in 2000. So far it is being billed as a 'one-off' performance by them, but I've read interviews with Tom Morello who says he hasn't "ruled out the possibility of future activities" for the band. So even though it's likely there will be more shows in the future, you never know. However, Rage isn't my only reason for going...the other two headliners (The Chili Peppers and Björk) are also performers whom I love but have never seen live. And that's in addition to the 100 or so other bands that will be there. There's a bunch in that list that I am big fans of as well, so combined with a trip to southern California at the end of April, it didn't seem like such a bad idea. To top it off, I found out a couple days ago that my buddy Ryan and his wife are planning on going too, so I'll have folks to camp out with! Score.
Well that's about it really. Sorry if I got your hopes up for something huge. I'm supposed to find out in May whether or not I got into the program at the University of Oslo, and so I should have a better idea of my next move after that. Until then, it's simply work followed by Coachella....
Stalling
I do have a big update that I would like to share, but I keep putting it off with little bite-sized entries, like this one.
Anyhow, recently I've had friends in places like England and Texas who have experienced unusual amounts of snowfall. I recognize that for the part of the world which they are in, this is indeed an unexpected treat and should be celebrated. Nevertheless, it is always a bit funny to me to see people guffawing about snow, given forecasts for the place where I'm currently living -- like this one for tomorrow: (click the little picture for the big one)
That's right, the HIGH tomorrow is MINUS TWELVE. Which, when combined with the windchill factor, will feel like MINUS TWENTY-THREE! That is tomorrow's HIGH. The 15-20cm of snow will be added to what's already frozen on the ground.
And again, this isn't to say that I'm better or tougher or anything (certainly there are people who live in much more snow than I!) It just strikes me that what is novel for some is usual for others. Conversely, if I had to live with equatorial heat all the time, I would probably drown in my own perspiration.
Anyhow, recently I've had friends in places like England and Texas who have experienced unusual amounts of snowfall. I recognize that for the part of the world which they are in, this is indeed an unexpected treat and should be celebrated. Nevertheless, it is always a bit funny to me to see people guffawing about snow, given forecasts for the place where I'm currently living -- like this one for tomorrow: (click the little picture for the big one)
That's right, the HIGH tomorrow is MINUS TWELVE. Which, when combined with the windchill factor, will feel like MINUS TWENTY-THREE! That is tomorrow's HIGH. The 15-20cm of snow will be added to what's already frozen on the ground.
And again, this isn't to say that I'm better or tougher or anything (certainly there are people who live in much more snow than I!) It just strikes me that what is novel for some is usual for others. Conversely, if I had to live with equatorial heat all the time, I would probably drown in my own perspiration.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
A lot more to come soon
I promise I have a lot more to write about, and I will do it real soon, but first I wanted to share this story about an honest guy with a good sense of humour. The summary is, he found $10,000 beside a bank machine and handed it in, but my favourite quote is this:
"Although it was short-lived, Hawkins said he enjoyed his newfound fortune by pumping his money-filled fist into the air and yelling, "party time" as astonished cafeteria-goers looked on, mouths agape."
I hope I would have done the same.
"Although it was short-lived, Hawkins said he enjoyed his newfound fortune by pumping his money-filled fist into the air and yelling, "party time" as astonished cafeteria-goers looked on, mouths agape."
I hope I would have done the same.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Good work Jack!
Before I get to writing today, I need to give you a little context for the story:
For my UK/non-Canadian readers:
In Canada, we also have what are known as "The Big Five" banks...these are roughly equivalent to places like Barclay's, Lloyds, Natwest, etc. However, in Canada whenever you withdraw money from a cashpoint that doesn't belong to your bank, that bank charges you a service fee. Now I'm not talking about the little privately owned ones (although we have those too) but even the big ones from another bank - it's like getting charged if you had an account at Barclay's but took your money out from a Natwest-owned machine. The fee here is usually $1.50 or something close to that.
For my Canadian readers:
In the UK, as long as you withdraw your money from an ATM from one of the big banks, you don't get charged a service fee. They do have the little privately owned ones as well which DO charge a fee, but they're usually only found inside pubs and convenience stores.
So today I read a story on CBC about how the leader of the NDP (which is the Canadian equivalent of the Lib-Dems in the UK) is proposing that Canadian banks should stop charging fees when customers from other banks withdraw money from their ATMs.
Now, the banks make a couple of good points. In the article, they claim that would be like owners of a gym allowing members from another gym to use their equipment, and that banks in the UK make up the fees by charging more for other services, which may very well be true. But you know what? Combined, the big five made a PROFIT of over $18 BILLION in 2006 ALONE. I realize that they are trying to make a profit for their shareholders, but y'know what? Not all of us are shareholders, but we are all STAKEholders. I would also like to point out that the CEO of the bank I use, Royal Bank, was given a "bonus" of $1.8 million dollars in 2004. Yeah, I'm sure $1.50 to use another bank machine doesn't really bother him to much. Basically I wouldn't give two shits if each bank lost a billion dollars in profit so that the rest of us could have the convenience of taking money out for free. Wouldn't bother me a bit.
I'm glad that Jack and the NDP are still on the backs of big business, cuz frankly, they're ripping most of us off, and giving our money to a very select few.
For my UK/non-Canadian readers:
In Canada, we also have what are known as "The Big Five" banks...these are roughly equivalent to places like Barclay's, Lloyds, Natwest, etc. However, in Canada whenever you withdraw money from a cashpoint that doesn't belong to your bank, that bank charges you a service fee. Now I'm not talking about the little privately owned ones (although we have those too) but even the big ones from another bank - it's like getting charged if you had an account at Barclay's but took your money out from a Natwest-owned machine. The fee here is usually $1.50 or something close to that.
For my Canadian readers:
In the UK, as long as you withdraw your money from an ATM from one of the big banks, you don't get charged a service fee. They do have the little privately owned ones as well which DO charge a fee, but they're usually only found inside pubs and convenience stores.
So today I read a story on CBC about how the leader of the NDP (which is the Canadian equivalent of the Lib-Dems in the UK) is proposing that Canadian banks should stop charging fees when customers from other banks withdraw money from their ATMs.
Now, the banks make a couple of good points. In the article, they claim that would be like owners of a gym allowing members from another gym to use their equipment, and that banks in the UK make up the fees by charging more for other services, which may very well be true. But you know what? Combined, the big five made a PROFIT of over $18 BILLION in 2006 ALONE. I realize that they are trying to make a profit for their shareholders, but y'know what? Not all of us are shareholders, but we are all STAKEholders. I would also like to point out that the CEO of the bank I use, Royal Bank, was given a "bonus" of $1.8 million dollars in 2004. Yeah, I'm sure $1.50 to use another bank machine doesn't really bother him to much. Basically I wouldn't give two shits if each bank lost a billion dollars in profit so that the rest of us could have the convenience of taking money out for free. Wouldn't bother me a bit.
I'm glad that Jack and the NDP are still on the backs of big business, cuz frankly, they're ripping most of us off, and giving our money to a very select few.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Tsk, tsk
It is indeed likely that the BBC is a better authority on this than I am, however having finished and posted my application to the University of Oslo this past week, I was disappointed when this story about "Storms in Northern Europe" kept discussing the Netherlands and Germany.
Really? That's considered Northern Europe??
Really? That's considered Northern Europe??
Lack of Keyboard
Sorry for the slackness of blog posts lately, it's just that my computer doesn't currently have a keyboard. Well, one of them does, but it only works for 45 minutes at a time. It's a complicated situation. Anyway, I'm working on remedying it and I should be good to go again in the near future.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
That Day of the Week
I was sitting in the living room of our new apartment watching Elling, when my roommate, Matt, walked in. I hadn't seen him since last night because he went to visit his girlfriend.
He was carrying two plastic grocery bags and didn't even say hello...he just shouted "IT'S CHOCOLATE MILK DAY! IT'S ONLY A DOLLAR FOR A LITRE! I JUST GOT 4, WE NEED TO GET MORE!"
I concur. Perhaps we'll combine the effort with the beer run scheduled for later today.
He was carrying two plastic grocery bags and didn't even say hello...he just shouted "IT'S CHOCOLATE MILK DAY! IT'S ONLY A DOLLAR FOR A LITRE! I JUST GOT 4, WE NEED TO GET MORE!"
I concur. Perhaps we'll combine the effort with the beer run scheduled for later today.
Friday, January 05, 2007
Not Dead Yet
I'm still alive, just been busy moving and such...more soon.
In the meantime, while I generally don't like advertising, I find this commercial to be hilarious!
In the meantime, while I generally don't like advertising, I find this commercial to be hilarious!
Friday, December 22, 2006
Where the lowest price is the LAW!
Why does every Zellers smell EXACTLY the same? I swear, it's like they have the scent bottled and every night, before going home, the employees are required to spray a fresh batch.
I really can't think of any other department store that has its own unique scent...
Explanations, theories and hypothoses -- practical or otherwise -- are welcome.
I really can't think of any other department store that has its own unique scent...
Explanations, theories and hypothoses -- practical or otherwise -- are welcome.
Christmas Shopping
*deep breath in*
I am about to venture into the evil abyss of consumerism that is the local mall. I long for the day when I can dump this 'tradition' altogether, but for the time, it remains a necessary evil. Lately, I've been working on having a more generous attitude towards other people (even the moronic imbeciles, of which there are many) and trying to ward off my creeping cynicism and general antipathy - so, I have developed a little bit of a strategy to aid me in this descent to the underworld:
First of all, I'm going to take my MP3 player and listen to my own, chilled out soundtrack (so as to avoid the inevitable, incessant Christmas carols and general crowd noise). I also plan to walk deliberately slowly -- after all, I'm not actually in a rush, so there's no need to get caught up in the crowd. That's all I got really...walk slowly, listen to some good tunes, but hopefully it will help. Wish me luck!
*submerges self into holiday consumerism*
I am about to venture into the evil abyss of consumerism that is the local mall. I long for the day when I can dump this 'tradition' altogether, but for the time, it remains a necessary evil. Lately, I've been working on having a more generous attitude towards other people (even the moronic imbeciles, of which there are many) and trying to ward off my creeping cynicism and general antipathy - so, I have developed a little bit of a strategy to aid me in this descent to the underworld:
First of all, I'm going to take my MP3 player and listen to my own, chilled out soundtrack (so as to avoid the inevitable, incessant Christmas carols and general crowd noise). I also plan to walk deliberately slowly -- after all, I'm not actually in a rush, so there's no need to get caught up in the crowd. That's all I got really...walk slowly, listen to some good tunes, but hopefully it will help. Wish me luck!
*submerges self into holiday consumerism*
Monday, December 18, 2006
Eh?
Can someone explain this to me? I mean, I guess it has to be more complicated than pulling down the pants to check, but I just have no concept of what that is. What decides a gender, scientifically?
EDIT: Nevermind, I googled "gender test" and came across this. It's actually quite informative!
EDIT: Nevermind, I googled "gender test" and came across this. It's actually quite informative!
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Christmas Spectacular
Exactly one year ago today, I posted the audio from a Family Guy episode -- well, that was before youtube took off, so this year, you get the audio AND video. What can I say? I'm a generous guy...
Holiday Cheer
You all know I'm not a huge fan of Conservatives, but it's nice to see that even they have a good heart around Christmas time. Bravo!
Friday, December 08, 2006
Story comparison
Again, because I like this sort of thing, let's compare some stories in the media today:
I first noticed that the BBC had an article entitled "Ex-Iraq hostages forgive their captors" The first two paragraphs of the online article read:
Three peace campaigners who were taken hostage say they "unconditionally" forgive their Iraqi captors.
The article also quotes the men as requesting "all possible leniency" for their captors, and that they have "no desire for retribution." Finally, it ends with "A fourth captive, American Tom Fox, was found shot dead in Baghdad in March."
Now, the BBC is a state-owned corporation which is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world, and generally thought to be somewhat left-leaning. The BBC website also has links to articles from other news agencies on the same story. Let's compare to the one by Sky News (sister channel of Fox News in the US) which is owned by Rupert Murdoch and considered to be more right-leaning.
The first thing I would like to draw your attention to in
Now, I am a biased commentator, and make no claims to hide this fact. I strongly agree with the position of the captives, and I much prefer the BBC's style of reporting to Sky News. My argument -- which you are free to agree or disagree with -- is that by framing the event in the way that they have, Sky News is appealing to xenophobia within the UK, while at the same time arranging quotes in such a way that the position of the captives looks foolish. To be fair, this is never stated outright, and it could very well just be me projecting my own preconceptions onto the story. Let's take that closing line as an example though: "He faced criticism for his apparently dismissive attitude towards the troops who had risked their own lives to save him."
While there is nothing wrong with including criticism in a journalistic article, by ending with it, the critics are given the 'last word,' quite literally. Also, while there is nothing factually wrong with the statement about the troops risking their own lives, it plays into that "patriotic, you-must-support-the-troops" mentality. It suggests that he OUGHT to be thankful they risked their lives to save him. But then, why do you think he was dismissive (not even dismissive, apparently dismissive)? Perhaps because he was a PEACEMAKER whose goal in Iraq was to LESSEN violence. He was prepared to become a martyr for his cause. It's not surprising then, that he wasn't thrilled to be saved by people using guns.
Like I've said, these are just my opinions and you are free to disagree with them. In fact, I would love to hear comments from people who DO disagree.
Finally, the story in the Daily Mail (arguably the most right-wing paper/tabloid in the UK) doesn't even MENTION that the captives forgive their kidnappers. In fact, the story is titled "Kember in first reunion with fellow hostages" Not once does the article mention forgiveness, only that "they are understood to be very concerned the accused may face the death penalty for the kidnapping." In some ways this version of the story sits better with me than the Sky News one, because it doesn't come off as demonizing the subjects. On the other hand, it's even more frustrating because it ignores their message completely! They choose to simply not report forgiveness. Such dissent towards the modern implementation of the Military-Industrial Complex is effectively censored by this publication. Thankfully we live in a free society where we have access to other various versions of the same news.
I first noticed that the BBC had an article entitled "Ex-Iraq hostages forgive their captors" The first two paragraphs of the online article read:
Three peace campaigners who were taken hostage say they "unconditionally" forgive their Iraqi captors.
Briton Norman Kember and Canadians James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden said they opposed the death penalty for the hostage-takers.
The article also quotes the men as requesting "all possible leniency" for their captors, and that they have "no desire for retribution." Finally, it ends with "A fourth captive, American Tom Fox, was found shot dead in Baghdad in March."
Now, the BBC is a state-owned corporation which is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world, and generally thought to be somewhat left-leaning. The BBC website also has links to articles from other news agencies on the same story. Let's compare to the one by Sky News (sister channel of Fox News in the US) which is owned by Rupert Murdoch and considered to be more right-leaning.
The first thing I would like to draw your attention to in
Now, I am a biased commentator, and make no claims to hide this fact. I strongly agree with the position of the captives, and I much prefer the BBC's style of reporting to Sky News. My argument -- which you are free to agree or disagree with -- is that by framing the event in the way that they have, Sky News is appealing to xenophobia within the UK, while at the same time arranging quotes in such a way that the position of the captives looks foolish. To be fair, this is never stated outright, and it could very well just be me projecting my own preconceptions onto the story. Let's take that closing line as an example though: "He faced criticism for his apparently dismissive attitude towards the troops who had risked their own lives to save him."
While there is nothing wrong with including criticism in a journalistic article, by ending with it, the critics are given the 'last word,' quite literally. Also, while there is nothing factually wrong with the statement about the troops risking their own lives, it plays into that "patriotic, you-must-support-the-troops" mentality. It suggests that he OUGHT to be thankful they risked their lives to save him. But then, why do you think he was dismissive (not even dismissive, apparently dismissive)? Perhaps because he was a PEACEMAKER whose goal in Iraq was to LESSEN violence. He was prepared to become a martyr for his cause. It's not surprising then, that he wasn't thrilled to be saved by people using guns.
Like I've said, these are just my opinions and you are free to disagree with them. In fact, I would love to hear comments from people who DO disagree.
Finally, the story in the Daily Mail (arguably the most right-wing paper/tabloid in the UK) doesn't even MENTION that the captives forgive their kidnappers. In fact, the story is titled "Kember in first reunion with fellow hostages" Not once does the article mention forgiveness, only that "they are understood to be very concerned the accused may face the death penalty for the kidnapping." In some ways this version of the story sits better with me than the Sky News one, because it doesn't come off as demonizing the subjects. On the other hand, it's even more frustrating because it ignores their message completely! They choose to simply not report forgiveness. Such dissent towards the modern implementation of the Military-Industrial Complex is effectively censored by this publication. Thankfully we live in a free society where we have access to other various versions of the same news.
$1,000,000,000 For Peace
I'm not saying I am for or against this, but I certainly find it very interesting...
Take a few minutes and watch (or go here to see the original page)
Take a few minutes and watch (or go here to see the original page)
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Nuclear Suffering
I was very disappointed to hear about Tony Blair's plans to spend £20,000,000 on upgrading Britain's nuclear arsenal (despite cutting the stock by 20%). However I was somewhat buoyed by the Archbishop of Canterbury's response.
I have already shared my own responses to the Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima, however I would like to amend that I think that ANY leader making ANY decision regarding the funding or improvement of a nuclear program should be made to walk through said museum and consider the real, practical implications of not just using, but owning nuclear weapons. I understand the whole deterrence argument (which I'm not even sure I agree with), but in this specific case, Britain already has the deterrent -- Blair just wants to pump money into making sure they work properly in case Kim Jong-Il (or some other nutjob) goes off the deep-end. However, Kim Jong-Il has clearly proved that he doesn't care about his people, so he probably wouldn't care if a few hundred-thousand died a slow, painful death. Hell, it is likely that they already are at this very moment! In my mind it is so, SO hypocritical for developed nations to decry terrorism while simultaneously owning a weapon which kills civilians indiscriminantly. But enough preaching from me, the real purpose of this entry was to share pictures that I couldn't upload before.
Diorama of city immediately before bombing
I have already shared my own responses to the Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima, however I would like to amend that I think that ANY leader making ANY decision regarding the funding or improvement of a nuclear program should be made to walk through said museum and consider the real, practical implications of not just using, but owning nuclear weapons. I understand the whole deterrence argument (which I'm not even sure I agree with), but in this specific case, Britain already has the deterrent -- Blair just wants to pump money into making sure they work properly in case Kim Jong-Il (or some other nutjob) goes off the deep-end. However, Kim Jong-Il has clearly proved that he doesn't care about his people, so he probably wouldn't care if a few hundred-thousand died a slow, painful death. Hell, it is likely that they already are at this very moment! In my mind it is so, SO hypocritical for developed nations to decry terrorism while simultaneously owning a weapon which kills civilians indiscriminantly. But enough preaching from me, the real purpose of this entry was to share pictures that I couldn't upload before.
Diorama of city immediately before bombing
Diorama of city immediately after bombing
I just found out that you can take a virtual tour of the museum here. It doesn't have nearly the same impact as seeing it in person, but it'll give you an idea. Here are some of the more powerful images from their site:
Sculptures of children with melting skin
Actual uniform of a female student who lived for the rest of the day then died that evening
The steps of a bank where someone was sitting when the bomb exploded. All that's left is their shadow.
I am loathe to do this because I think some people might not watch, however I really believe these are important images to see....but anyway, the next slideshow contains really graphic pictures. Now that you've been warned, please don't take the easy way out.
That about says it all.
Sculptures of children with melting skin
Actual uniform of a female student who lived for the rest of the day then died that evening
The steps of a bank where someone was sitting when the bomb exploded. All that's left is their shadow.
I am loathe to do this because I think some people might not watch, however I really believe these are important images to see....but anyway, the next slideshow contains really graphic pictures. Now that you've been warned, please don't take the easy way out.
That about says it all.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Musical Origins
Left to my own devices, I always seem to put myself onto weird sleep patterns - hence why it is now 3am and I'm not feeling tired.
Anyway, I was laying in bed with the lights off, listening to some relaxing instrumentals by various Icelandic bands when it struck me what a disproportionate amount of Icelandic music I have on my MP3 player. Or at least, what I assumed was a disproportionate amount. So, not being able to sleep, I decided to go through my MP3 player and document where each band was from, and then compare the data. Before we get to that though, a little info about my (extremely simple) methods: I only counted each artist once, regardless of how many or few albums I had by them and I only included artists of whom I have full albums - mixed albums and singles weren't included (not that I have very many of those on there anyways). Also, in cases where the band was from various countries I referred to Wikipedia or just went with where ever they were most prominently based. Finally, I fancy myself to be pretty clever and know a whole lot of things, but it is quite possible that I simply assumed an artist or band to be from some place when in fact they are from another place entirely. Basically what I'm trying to say is that this data isn't very accurate and that I wouldn't draw any serious conclusions from it (plus I switch stuff up on there all the time, so this will be correct for, y'know, the next 12 hours or so). I'm not trying to 'prove' anything about my musical tastes either - in fact you'll see from the results that they are fairly homogenous. Pretty much I was just bored and trying to kill time in order to get to sleep.
Ok, so here are the numbers, in descending order:
American - 45
Canadian - 23
British - 23
Icelandic - 5
Swedish - 2
Australian - 2
Norwegian - 1
Irish - 1
Jamaican - 1
I did think it was kinda neat, however, that if you combine the brits and canadians, you eke the americans out by 1 ;)
You can probably guess the Irish and Jamaican bands, but anyone wanna take a stab at the Norwegian(s)?
Anyway, I was laying in bed with the lights off, listening to some relaxing instrumentals by various Icelandic bands when it struck me what a disproportionate amount of Icelandic music I have on my MP3 player. Or at least, what I assumed was a disproportionate amount. So, not being able to sleep, I decided to go through my MP3 player and document where each band was from, and then compare the data. Before we get to that though, a little info about my (extremely simple) methods: I only counted each artist once, regardless of how many or few albums I had by them and I only included artists of whom I have full albums - mixed albums and singles weren't included (not that I have very many of those on there anyways). Also, in cases where the band was from various countries I referred to Wikipedia or just went with where ever they were most prominently based. Finally, I fancy myself to be pretty clever and know a whole lot of things, but it is quite possible that I simply assumed an artist or band to be from some place when in fact they are from another place entirely. Basically what I'm trying to say is that this data isn't very accurate and that I wouldn't draw any serious conclusions from it (plus I switch stuff up on there all the time, so this will be correct for, y'know, the next 12 hours or so). I'm not trying to 'prove' anything about my musical tastes either - in fact you'll see from the results that they are fairly homogenous. Pretty much I was just bored and trying to kill time in order to get to sleep.
Ok, so here are the numbers, in descending order:
American - 45
Canadian - 23
British - 23
Icelandic - 5
Swedish - 2
Australian - 2
Norwegian - 1
Irish - 1
Jamaican - 1
I did think it was kinda neat, however, that if you combine the brits and canadians, you eke the americans out by 1 ;)
You can probably guess the Irish and Jamaican bands, but anyone wanna take a stab at the Norwegian(s)?
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Plans Pt. I
The first lines of "Arc of Time" by Bright Eyes go like this:
You can make a plan,
carve it into stone.
Like a feather falling,
it is still unknown.
In fact, you can listen to the first 30 seconds of the song here.
My plans aren't even carved into stone, and are still subject to many changes, but here is what I'm thinking for the near future:
First of all, I'm planning on moving to Waterloo and living with my buddy Matt and maybe 1 or 2 other guys in the New Year. Matt's still finishing up his degree there and I need my autonomy and own space back. Waterloo is still close enough that I'll be able to see all my other friends in the area pretty regularly. I plan on finding a job there and working to save up money until the fall whereby I'm thinking one of two things will happen.
1.) I'm going to apply for an M.Phil in Media Studies at the University of Oslo. Why Oslo?
a.) I like Scandinavia
b.) I like Scandinavian women
c.) Free tuition
Ok, the classes and program look really good as well, and seriously, I loved Scandinavia when Mark and I briefly traveled through a couple of summers ago, I'd love to do my Master's abroad, and it would be great to live in Europe again. I was also looking at a course at NYU, but it would require me doing the GRE, getting academic references, and all kinds of other junk. Plus, tuition for foreign students was like $10,000 US per year! I know that living in the capital of Norway wouldn't be cheap, but it can't be much worse than NYC -- actually, according to Wikipedia they're tied (as a side note, my last big trip took me through 5 of the top 6 most expensive cities in the world - I didn't make it to Seoul). But in Oslo I wouldn't have to pay any tuition - thank you Norwegian taxpayers for your liberalism and open-mindedness!
2.) If that falls through (ie, I'm not accepted) then I'm thinking of taking advantage of the Working Holiday program with Japan and going to live and work out there for a while.
I'd love to do both, really, and maybe I will, but one thing at a time. I know I could write a lot more about both of those topics, but I'll leave it there for now.
You can make a plan,
carve it into stone.
Like a feather falling,
it is still unknown.
In fact, you can listen to the first 30 seconds of the song here.
My plans aren't even carved into stone, and are still subject to many changes, but here is what I'm thinking for the near future:
First of all, I'm planning on moving to Waterloo and living with my buddy Matt and maybe 1 or 2 other guys in the New Year. Matt's still finishing up his degree there and I need my autonomy and own space back. Waterloo is still close enough that I'll be able to see all my other friends in the area pretty regularly. I plan on finding a job there and working to save up money until the fall whereby I'm thinking one of two things will happen.
1.) I'm going to apply for an M.Phil in Media Studies at the University of Oslo. Why Oslo?
a.) I like Scandinavia
b.) I like Scandinavian women
c.) Free tuition
Ok, the classes and program look really good as well, and seriously, I loved Scandinavia when Mark and I briefly traveled through a couple of summers ago, I'd love to do my Master's abroad, and it would be great to live in Europe again. I was also looking at a course at NYU, but it would require me doing the GRE, getting academic references, and all kinds of other junk. Plus, tuition for foreign students was like $10,000 US per year! I know that living in the capital of Norway wouldn't be cheap, but it can't be much worse than NYC -- actually, according to Wikipedia they're tied (as a side note, my last big trip took me through 5 of the top 6 most expensive cities in the world - I didn't make it to Seoul). But in Oslo I wouldn't have to pay any tuition - thank you Norwegian taxpayers for your liberalism and open-mindedness!
2.) If that falls through (ie, I'm not accepted) then I'm thinking of taking advantage of the Working Holiday program with Japan and going to live and work out there for a while.
I'd love to do both, really, and maybe I will, but one thing at a time. I know I could write a lot more about both of those topics, but I'll leave it there for now.
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