I told a friend via Skype I was going to sleep, but I'm still awake for some...wacky...reason!
I was on Twitter the other day, when I recalled how I used to follow someone back in the day. So I tried to access their tweet page, and Twitter said I was blocked. I don't recall doing anything creepy, although I was following someone I don't know really well, if at all. I can understand how you only want family and friends to read and follow your tweets, so blocking is a helpful tool. However, this is why I left Facebook because I was being blocked too much, not in a creepy way, but in an annoying, spammer way which is also creepy. o_O
I do wish that person well, and if they do manage to see this blog post I apologize for being a creep. If I was giving off creepy signals at that time, please know I didn't do it to cause harm. Now, if you all will excuse me, I need my Zeds (Yes, in Canada we call them Zeds, not Zees.)
BIG NEWS!
I received my invite to join Google+ (Well, I received my invite via Charles Trippy of CTFxC on his YouTube page), and now I google plus. It's the same as regular Google Profiles, but I can sync my YouTube, Twitter, Blogspot and email accounts into one application; I don't know what that will mean to me in the future, but I'm excited by the possibilities! You can also sync you Facebook page to Google+, so why not give it a try?
It is still in alpha phase, so once it goes BETA everything will be working. Speaking of BETA, a hearty congratulations to my friend Geoff, who recently returned from his honeymoon with his wife of...one month Kaitlyn! All the best to you two as you spend your lives together ^_^
Monday, September 19, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
I'm Not Nearly Dead...Wait, What?
The notice of them following appeared from out of the blue: Who would name their band "The Nearly Deads"? Clicking on their picture in the list of followers switches to the Twitter page of a female-fronted, alternative rock band not unlike Paramore, who are not unlike Blondie, who are not like Gladys Knight & the Pips (Where was I getting at? Oh yeah, The Nearly Deads!)
One would question why The Nearly Deads would follow a baseball-loving, fashionable-claiming twenty-nine year old writer from Toronto. One clue could be the act of following Paramore for more than four months without getting arrested (Oh yeah, follow on Twitter; that's what I meant o_O). It's possible they followed because they want something? The followers/following ratio is almost 1:1, and there is a TND benefit concert on September 17th in Nashville (More information available on their MySpace and Facebook pages, if you click on the links).
There are many likeable things about The Nearly Deads, yet its the music that tops the list. It was such a list topper there is one more album of of theirs sold off iTunes. Plus, the band is up and coming, so to be part of a small fan base of a grassroots band is the new trend. Needless to say, TND will perk up anyone's day, and hopefully will bring some life back into one's weary bones ^_^ (Get it? Because The Nearly Dead bring life...into...no? Oh, okay.)
No, I'm not getting kickbacks from The Nearly Deads for fire-selling their band. They don't need me to do that ^_^ (Ceiling cracks open, gold bouillon and ingots fall on Phil, golden crown falls on his head, jewel-encrusted scepter falls in his hands, and giant "Thank You Phil" banner falls and drapes over his shoulder.)
o_O If only I had enough money to get the ceiling fixed? Food or shelter; the debate rages on...!
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
There Is No Title
My friend Jeff posted his video on his Facebook page. I remembered him from the "Spartacus" miniseries, but to see him in 21st century street clothes was unfamiliar to me. I clicked on the link, and saw this movie (THIS ISN'T REALLY FOR KIDS. IT'S A SPOOF OF A SHOOT 'EM UP VIDEO GAME FROM THE PREVIOUS DECADE).
It was the first Freddie Wong video I ever watched, and although many more Freddiew movies hit YouTube since then, this one remains my favourite. So, when I discovered this morning that Andy Whitfield passed away, I was upset and contemplative as well. Among other things, I discovered he was born on what would eventually be my birthdate only eight years afterward (July 17th).
Since I began blogging on "The Franchise", the big split into many blogs two years ago, or when I harnessed the power of Twitter to get my musings global the subject of death is still an unspoken subject. Perhaps Brittani Louise Taylor came the closest when she spoke about her recently deceased father earlier this year, but no one talked about death occurring to someone in the YouTube or Twitter community. What would happen to the global community should someone we love, respect, or admire could no longer upload or tweet because their time had come? How would we remember them? How would we mourn? What would be their legacy?
I don't have an answer for those or any questions rising from this blog; I'm just putting it out there. I don't know what I would do should something happen to CTFxC, nevertheless those in the "culture of watching" should pause the video and think. While we watch their lives play out before us, what happens to the lives we live? Would anyone remember us? Would anyone mourn? What would be our legacy?
From what I read about Andy Whitfield, he lived a full life. He had a blast while he was on planet Earth, and he brought a youthful enthusiasm to each project he participated in; that is the same love and enthusiasm which flowed into the lives of his family and friends. Possibly the best way to remember him is to seize every moment, and make it count like Andy did while he was still with us. It may not involve guest starring in a Freddie Wong special, or battling insane blood-thirsty gladiators in a spectacle of Roman sport, but it will still count for something.
People may remember him as "Spartacus", but to those who knew him best he was always "Andy". His legacy of love and enthusiasm is yet to be buried. RIP Andy Whitfield 1974 - 2011
Since I began blogging on "The Franchise", the big split into many blogs two years ago, or when I harnessed the power of Twitter to get my musings global the subject of death is still an unspoken subject. Perhaps Brittani Louise Taylor came the closest when she spoke about her recently deceased father earlier this year, but no one talked about death occurring to someone in the YouTube or Twitter community. What would happen to the global community should someone we love, respect, or admire could no longer upload or tweet because their time had come? How would we remember them? How would we mourn? What would be their legacy?
I don't have an answer for those or any questions rising from this blog; I'm just putting it out there. I don't know what I would do should something happen to CTFxC, nevertheless those in the "culture of watching" should pause the video and think. While we watch their lives play out before us, what happens to the lives we live? Would anyone remember us? Would anyone mourn? What would be our legacy?
From what I read about Andy Whitfield, he lived a full life. He had a blast while he was on planet Earth, and he brought a youthful enthusiasm to each project he participated in; that is the same love and enthusiasm which flowed into the lives of his family and friends. Possibly the best way to remember him is to seize every moment, and make it count like Andy did while he was still with us. It may not involve guest starring in a Freddie Wong special, or battling insane blood-thirsty gladiators in a spectacle of Roman sport, but it will still count for something.
People may remember him as "Spartacus", but to those who knew him best he was always "Andy". His legacy of love and enthusiasm is yet to be buried. RIP Andy Whitfield 1974 - 2011
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Ten Years Ago
It was my first day of school at university ^_^ I went the day before for a couple of classes, however it was just to pick up the syllabus and discuss the marking scheme for the course. Tuesday was going to be my first REAL day of class. In preparation for the big day, I got up early and got ready. My bag was already full of books, pens, pencils, notebooks, calculators (Yes, I had two), and various material one needed to have a successful first day of university.
It was almost nine in the morning when the radio station played some forgettable Sheryl Crow song for the second time that day, when the song cut out. The radio announcer alerted that a plane flew into one of the buildings of the World Trade Center. Initially, I thought it was a Cessna plane. Cessna planes were always in the news at that time, and when they were in the news it was for silly things like that. I heard the announcer say "jumbo", but I was not listening. That would never happen...a jumbo jet into a building; that was silly...
Fifteen minutes later (?), they announced a second plane crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. At that moment, I realized something was wrong. I ran to the television, and turned the knob to see what was happening. I thought something was wrong with the screen, because there was a gaping hole right in the middle of the screen with smoke billowing from its center. I fixed my eyes, and discovered that was a building and not the television screen. I fixed my eyes again, and discovered I wasn't dreaming either.
Time stopped for about an hour as I watched the towers burn, mayhem ensuing on the streets, and the buildings collapsing in the streets of New York. Scenes like that were only in movies like Armageddon, I thought. Those things never happened in real life, but much to my surprise they did. Real life was coming at speeds I couldn't comprehend or control. I had enough when the top of the North Tower folded down, and sent the building plummeting to earth; I turned off the television, grabbed my things, and ran outside.
Above my head in the clear blue sky were planes of every sort flying towards the one airport in the area. It was almost as if everyone in the world shared the same shocking and bewildering dream, and were too frightened to do anything but accept what just occurred. The bus rides to school were silent save for the discussion and panic surrounding what will happen in the days and hours ahead. All I knew was the life I knew up to that moment was gone.
I can only look back to those days of the 1980s and 1990s as an age of innocence. Nothing back then mattered except having fun, and enjoying life as it came. Life didn't really come into focus, and 'believing in something', 'taking a stand', and 'courage' were only catch phrases to me. The problems of the world were not my concern, nor were they my problems. My innocence and childhood fantasies died on that day, and they would never return.
Every room with a television had channels and eyes fixed on the proceedings that day. I was in the North Building of the University of Toronto's Mississauga Campus with a handful of students watching Prime Minister Jean Chretien address the nation that afternoon, and no one in the three-hour English class that night wanted to talk books. I took the night time bus home and spotted the rest of the family huddled around the television watching in stony silence.
The world was never the same after that day; this is something children born after that day will never understand. I envy them, because they have the innocence, hopes, and dreams I once held up until September 10, 2001. Everything changed the following day, and reluctantly, so did I...
...Ten Years Ago
It was almost nine in the morning when the radio station played some forgettable Sheryl Crow song for the second time that day, when the song cut out. The radio announcer alerted that a plane flew into one of the buildings of the World Trade Center. Initially, I thought it was a Cessna plane. Cessna planes were always in the news at that time, and when they were in the news it was for silly things like that. I heard the announcer say "jumbo", but I was not listening. That would never happen...a jumbo jet into a building; that was silly...
Fifteen minutes later (?), they announced a second plane crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. At that moment, I realized something was wrong. I ran to the television, and turned the knob to see what was happening. I thought something was wrong with the screen, because there was a gaping hole right in the middle of the screen with smoke billowing from its center. I fixed my eyes, and discovered that was a building and not the television screen. I fixed my eyes again, and discovered I wasn't dreaming either.
Time stopped for about an hour as I watched the towers burn, mayhem ensuing on the streets, and the buildings collapsing in the streets of New York. Scenes like that were only in movies like Armageddon, I thought. Those things never happened in real life, but much to my surprise they did. Real life was coming at speeds I couldn't comprehend or control. I had enough when the top of the North Tower folded down, and sent the building plummeting to earth; I turned off the television, grabbed my things, and ran outside.
Above my head in the clear blue sky were planes of every sort flying towards the one airport in the area. It was almost as if everyone in the world shared the same shocking and bewildering dream, and were too frightened to do anything but accept what just occurred. The bus rides to school were silent save for the discussion and panic surrounding what will happen in the days and hours ahead. All I knew was the life I knew up to that moment was gone.
I can only look back to those days of the 1980s and 1990s as an age of innocence. Nothing back then mattered except having fun, and enjoying life as it came. Life didn't really come into focus, and 'believing in something', 'taking a stand', and 'courage' were only catch phrases to me. The problems of the world were not my concern, nor were they my problems. My innocence and childhood fantasies died on that day, and they would never return.
Every room with a television had channels and eyes fixed on the proceedings that day. I was in the North Building of the University of Toronto's Mississauga Campus with a handful of students watching Prime Minister Jean Chretien address the nation that afternoon, and no one in the three-hour English class that night wanted to talk books. I took the night time bus home and spotted the rest of the family huddled around the television watching in stony silence.
The world was never the same after that day; this is something children born after that day will never understand. I envy them, because they have the innocence, hopes, and dreams I once held up until September 10, 2001. Everything changed the following day, and reluctantly, so did I...
...Ten Years Ago
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Thanks for Topping the Thousand!
As of September 7, 2011, the "Just Phil" blog topped one thousand pageviews; this includes the purposeful and accidental visits to this blog since it started...way back when (start of the year?)
I want to thank each and every one of you for your tremendous support. I hope I can send a bigger THANK YOU should this blog reach two thousand ^_^ In the meantime, I began my foray into the world of video blogging by putting together this little number. Consider it a thank you gift to all of you for your ceaseless support over the past year.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Even in Mathematics, Tangents are Bad!
The Winds of Change
Maybe it's time to change my webpage...it's so...PINK!
As summer winds down, I discover lots of things were happening in my life. I travelling to various places in Ontario, and now that I'm twenty-nine I sense a move is imminent. I ran into a friend of mine at a Wal-Mart near my house (there are two near my house; they are spreading their big box super-center goodness like it's Soylent Green), and we spoke about this subject.
Wherever I move, I want to invest in the welfare of the town. Not only do I want a house there, but I also want a favourite restaurant, hot spot, Wal-Mart, church, etc. I know I will not dump my friends, because...they're my friends! I may need new ones in town so not to look like the Ice King, or the Creepy Dude with the Hat Collection.
While we are on the subject of change, I'm going to give YouTube another try and see how many people I can upset with my videos o_O I'm just kidding, I'm sure my account will be suspended by higher powers before I find out how upsetting my videos are.
Listening to Utopia right now...Todd Rundgren sounds good with his band, but I think I'm digging the sounds from bassist Kasim Sulton. He did backup vocals for Todd Rundgren's "Sometimes I Don't Know What to Feel", but he took over a couple songs I replay on my iPod like "The Martyr" and "The Angel".
EA Road Trip 11
Autumn is coming to Ontario; this is a perfect time to purchase a new camera, and take some pictures of the great outdoors. Once I get some time off, I will take a trip to a nearby park and take pictures of trees in their cacophony of colour. In the meantime, here is a nice picture of a college town underneath an autumn sunset.
I flirted with the idea of a road trip with friends to a small college town in the interior of New York or Pennsylvania last year. However, I soon dumped facebook, and the opportunity to chat up friends about that idea went down the tubes because there was no way I could contact them -_- #EPICFAIL. I will be back on facebook again (See my Hits & Errors blog to find reason why), and there may be a chance to get some people together and do that. However, I am aware car rental firms are asking consignees to agree on paper not to drive their cars over the border; a smart idea, given what happens to rental cars when driven out of province (They get smashed! I'm just kidding, but it's true). Driving to Unknown, Ontario isn't a bad idea either, and the autumn air may inspire to take photos ^_^ Sounds like fun! Let's do it! The 2011 PhilHollywood Road Trip is on. To Oshawa: AWAAAY!
Maybe it's time to change my webpage...it's so...PINK!
As summer winds down, I discover lots of things were happening in my life. I travelling to various places in Ontario, and now that I'm twenty-nine I sense a move is imminent. I ran into a friend of mine at a Wal-Mart near my house (there are two near my house; they are spreading their big box super-center goodness like it's Soylent Green), and we spoke about this subject.
Wherever I move, I want to invest in the welfare of the town. Not only do I want a house there, but I also want a favourite restaurant, hot spot, Wal-Mart, church, etc. I know I will not dump my friends, because...they're my friends! I may need new ones in town so not to look like the Ice King, or the Creepy Dude with the Hat Collection.
While we are on the subject of change, I'm going to give YouTube another try and see how many people I can upset with my videos o_O I'm just kidding, I'm sure my account will be suspended by higher powers before I find out how upsetting my videos are.
Listening to Utopia right now...Todd Rundgren sounds good with his band, but I think I'm digging the sounds from bassist Kasim Sulton. He did backup vocals for Todd Rundgren's "Sometimes I Don't Know What to Feel", but he took over a couple songs I replay on my iPod like "The Martyr" and "The Angel".
EA Road Trip 11
Autumn is coming to Ontario; this is a perfect time to purchase a new camera, and take some pictures of the great outdoors. Once I get some time off, I will take a trip to a nearby park and take pictures of trees in their cacophony of colour. In the meantime, here is a nice picture of a college town underneath an autumn sunset.
I flirted with the idea of a road trip with friends to a small college town in the interior of New York or Pennsylvania last year. However, I soon dumped facebook, and the opportunity to chat up friends about that idea went down the tubes because there was no way I could contact them -_- #EPICFAIL. I will be back on facebook again (See my Hits & Errors blog to find reason why), and there may be a chance to get some people together and do that. However, I am aware car rental firms are asking consignees to agree on paper not to drive their cars over the border; a smart idea, given what happens to rental cars when driven out of province (They get smashed! I'm just kidding, but it's true). Driving to Unknown, Ontario isn't a bad idea either, and the autumn air may inspire to take photos ^_^ Sounds like fun! Let's do it! The 2011 PhilHollywood Road Trip is on. To Oshawa: AWAAAY!
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Remembering Jack
I decided to post this after all the tributes and articles writing about the late great leader for the New Democratic Party Jack Layton, who passed away last week, were posted. As a moderate, who drifted between conservative and liberal agendas, I had difficulty supporting most, if not all, of the NDP platform in the numerous federal elections I participated in as a young Canadian voter. They were too extreme, or complex to work on the federal level, I thought. Provincially, maybe, but too broad and extreme to implement or sustain on the national front.
What I did find impressive was their leader, Jack Layton, was more than willing to put forth that agenda going door to door, getting involved in community happenings, and organizing the movement. Baby steps at first, but what struck out was the honest approach, and the ability to connect English and French under the same banner, and galvanize the support of, formerly disinterested, young voters. Jack understood the future of Canada was without a voice, and they would need to run the country sooner than anticipated, so he brought them onboard with a platform that appealled to those voters: Education initiatives, environmental issues, and a stronger presence in international affairs so Canadians would be relevant among the world leaders at the negotiating table. I wasn't a big fan of Jack Layton, but everything he did was for a cause he believed to be right, and for the country he loved.
Last week, a local newspaper printed a cartoon depicting the New Democratic Party as a falling aircraft without a pilot. The cartoon, without a doubt, was of poor taste and many in my hometown wrote letters denouncing it and demanding an apology. The reaction was so great the managing editor wrote in the following paper apologizing for the lack of judgment, and the newspaper printed (only) a couple of the angry letters from the townspeople. A new cartoon appeared alongside of a respectful portrait of the late Jack Layton, but I felt it was ill-timed as it belonged in the controversial paper that previous Wednesday.
I never saw anyone from outside Quebec galvanize so much support from the whole of the country as Jack Layton did. Yes, he was born in Montreal, but his political roots took him from the shady and questionable corridors of power in Toronto to the leadership of the official opposition in Ottawa. What is more remarkable is he did all this beating the Canadian duopoly of the Conservative and Liberal parties at their game: The FPP or First Past the Post electoral system. He did it with the character, determination, honesty, and pushed for the basic Canadian issues that Canadians could believe in and support.
No matter what party the next Jack Layton is from, but if I do see that next Jack Layton I hope I can live as long to see him do some wonderful things for Canada.
RIP Jack Layton 1950 - 2011
What I did find impressive was their leader, Jack Layton, was more than willing to put forth that agenda going door to door, getting involved in community happenings, and organizing the movement. Baby steps at first, but what struck out was the honest approach, and the ability to connect English and French under the same banner, and galvanize the support of, formerly disinterested, young voters. Jack understood the future of Canada was without a voice, and they would need to run the country sooner than anticipated, so he brought them onboard with a platform that appealled to those voters: Education initiatives, environmental issues, and a stronger presence in international affairs so Canadians would be relevant among the world leaders at the negotiating table. I wasn't a big fan of Jack Layton, but everything he did was for a cause he believed to be right, and for the country he loved.
Last week, a local newspaper printed a cartoon depicting the New Democratic Party as a falling aircraft without a pilot. The cartoon, without a doubt, was of poor taste and many in my hometown wrote letters denouncing it and demanding an apology. The reaction was so great the managing editor wrote in the following paper apologizing for the lack of judgment, and the newspaper printed (only) a couple of the angry letters from the townspeople. A new cartoon appeared alongside of a respectful portrait of the late Jack Layton, but I felt it was ill-timed as it belonged in the controversial paper that previous Wednesday.
I never saw anyone from outside Quebec galvanize so much support from the whole of the country as Jack Layton did. Yes, he was born in Montreal, but his political roots took him from the shady and questionable corridors of power in Toronto to the leadership of the official opposition in Ottawa. What is more remarkable is he did all this beating the Canadian duopoly of the Conservative and Liberal parties at their game: The FPP or First Past the Post electoral system. He did it with the character, determination, honesty, and pushed for the basic Canadian issues that Canadians could believe in and support.
No matter what party the next Jack Layton is from, but if I do see that next Jack Layton I hope I can live as long to see him do some wonderful things for Canada.
RIP Jack Layton 1950 - 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)