Obsessions

My shot at $10,000

2011-03-19T15:56:00.000-07:00

I did something a little foolish on Friday. It's a bit crazy but well worth it for the payout.

Larry & Willy, two local radio personalities, are holding a contest. Individuals bought near life-size cutouts of the guys, were handed a list of tasks each of which has a points value and on April 30th, whoever has the most points takes home $10,000. It's a nice chunk of change and that was enough encouragement to get me to drop some of my hard earned Jack points for a one in 50 chance at the money. Loads more details on the contest on the official website.

So for the next month, you're going to be seeing a lot of pictures and probably hearing a lot of crazy stories about how various photographs were taken. Here's one of my fave so far. Task #29 was to take a photo at a restaurant or bar. We went to White Spot for lunch and told our waitress what was going on since we walked in with the cutout. She told the Assistant manager who came over with two of the kitchen staff and posed for a photo with Larry & Willy. Thank you soooooo much guys! That was awesome!!

To see all of the entries, check out the Facebook page.

Oh yeah. And you have a chance of winning too! If you spot one of the cutouts, snap a photo and upload it to the FB page and you have a chance to win $100. Good luck to all!!

Civil Twilight @ The Media Club

2011-03-14T10:18:00.002-07:00

It’s been a while since we’ve seen a show quite as outstanding as the Saturday we spent at The Media Club but the evening didn’t start out quite as well as it ended. We arrived for the 8PM doors at 8:10 and the line-up of people was starting to get a little long. We didn’t worry about it too much since our last trip to the venue also had us standing outside for almost 20 minutes but when, at 8:45PM we were still standing out in the cold while the bands sound checked, I, and the other folks in line were getting impatient. And then, for no particular reason, a huge group of people came from behind us to create a second line out front. It was a disaster because no one knew what that second line was for and the entire thing ended with a huge clump of bodies at the front and a door man who didn’t seem to care that half of the line had jumped the queue.

Once inside and after a drink, we settled in for the first band of the night, a local act called Run the Red Light. They were high energy, their tunes were catchy and they got the crowd going. I was so impressed, I picked up one of their download cards and by Sunday afternoon, I’d purchased their EP and had a few more listens. They have a bit of a Brit rock sound which I've been really digging lately. I’ll be keeping an eye out for these guys playing around town – would love to see them again.

We took a little break between bands and headed outside for some air where we bumped into a guy whose name we never got and whose website I can’t find. That said, he kept insisting that if we took nothing else from the conversation, we should take note of another local up and coming act called Data Romance. I haven’t listened yet but considering he seemed to know what the heck he was talking about (and he certainly has good taste considering the show we were at), they’re worth at least a listen.

UK group A Silent Film took to the stage next and they too belted out some pretty amazing tunes. So impressed was I that I picked up their debut album “The City that Sleeps.” It is solid from beginning to end and I’m particularly fond of “Driven by their Beating Hearts;” it’s a stellar single.

Unfortunately, I was so far back I could barely see the band never mind take a photo. I hope these guys roll through town again. I’d happily see them headlining.

Now onto the main act. We saw South African band Civil Twilight opening for Anberlin last year (mind you, I remember having seen them but I couldn’t figure out what band they’d opened for). For whatever reason, I hadn’t listened to any of their stuff but I was more than happy to hang out with Special K and an evening of live music and good god I’m thrilled I did.

Much to the dismay of a few ladies, I snuck us in right in front of the stage – there was no way I was going to stand in the back again when there was room up front. I don’t think they were particularly happy by my boldness but seriously, if you don’t want anyone to stand in front of you, don’t leave a space. I can see why they were a little miffed; lead singer Steven McKellar is pretty easy on the eyes though I was a bit irritated by their ogling - control yourselves ladies. We're not 12.

They put on a really fantastic show though guitarist Andrew McKellar spent most of his time looking at his board rather than at the crowd. He did look over at his brother a few times and the two shared more than a few smiles. I'd venture to say they were having a pretty good time.

It could well be nerves – the stage at The Media Club is pretty low and the crowd is *right there* but it didn’t stop the band from performing an impressive set. I loved their cover of Massive Attack’s “Teardrop” (which is available on iTunes as a single). At this rate, I'm pretty sure the next time we see them will be at the Commodore. They're a solid act and I can't imagine them rolling into such a small venue on their next trip through town and I have no doubt there will be a next trip.

It was a fantastic night and I can’t remember the last time I liked all three bands so much. Seeing any one of them on a given night would be great but seeing all three on the same bill was down right spectacular.

I managed to snap some decent photos (considering the crummy camera and limited lighting). As per usual, they're all up on Flickr.

Jeff Martin 777 @ The Media Club

2011-03-04T13:06:00.000-08:00

I first caught wind of Canadian rockers The Tea Party sometime in the mid nineties when I saw a video for "The River" on Much Music which, at that point, was still playing music; what a novel idea eh?

My first thought was that Martin was the reincarnation of Jim Morrison: same raw sex appeal, simiar 70s rock vibe and an amazing voice. It would be a few years before the release of "Edges of Twilight," still my favourite Tea Party album, but it would be years before I finally had a chance to see the band live just before their break up in 2005 when they played two acoustic shows in Vancouver.

It's been years since I heard anything else about the band and whenever they crept up on my playlist, I found myself delving back into the music and it still rocks solid. So when picking up tickets to Civil Twilight we noticed that Jeffwas coming into town, Kathy and I dediced we had to go.

The show didn't start off too well. To begin with, they kept us waiting outside the venue well past 8PM. The firts band, a local act called Angel Down, took the stage at about 8:45PM. I really didn't care for their heavy sound and I don't see them as "melodic hard rock" but to each their own. Let's just say it's was a looooooooong 30 minute set.

The second band, a Toronto act named Flowerchild were much, much better and did a fairly good job of getting the crowd, by this point much of it talking loudly and clearly bored, back on track. I really dug their mix of blues, jazz and rock. Definitely worth a bit of a closer listen.

Martin and his band came on at 11 and they rocked the house for nearly two hours. The band kicked off with a couple of tunes from Martin's new album, "The Ground Cries Out," which Martin went on to inform us, had sold out across Canada upon release on Wednesday (but I got me a copy. Boo yah!). He then kicked off into some old stuff and a couple of cover tunes including renditions of NIN's "Hurt" and Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart." They also dipped into some old school Tea Party tunes which really got the crowd going.

My photographer had shaky hands :)
These guys are true classic rockers. The music is timeless, as good rock music should be - I'm still a bit surprised at the fact that the band never did particularly well int he US - and they play a mean set. I was particularly impressed by their continuous play from song to song. I can't remember the last time I saw a band do that - it seems something very old school.

It was a fantastic show. I wish I'd thought about it and picked up tickets to tonight's show as well.

Looking forward to seeing Martin and the band again when they come rolling through town next time. Hopefully it won't be another six year wait. As for those going to tonight's show, I'M JEALOUS. And be prepared for a rockin' good time.

I said party dammit!

2011-02-25T15:08:00.000-08:00

So you'll never guess what happened. I was out and about today and wondered into a high-security truck which was carrying a list with all of Sunday Night's Oscar winners. Your guess as to what they were doing in Vancouver is as good as mine but I went ahead and copied all the right answers. Here they are:

That story is as likely as a Psychic pulling the answers out of the ether but whatever. Truth is, I'll be around regardless of where you are. If you're in Vancouver, I'm hosting a party, complete with prizes, at La Fontana (Big Kudos to John for allowing us to use his space). 'Cuz I know you wanna hang out with the cool people, details on the party here. But you can only come if you're cool. Like, ULTRA COOL.

If you're not in Vancouver or prefer to watch the show in your pajamas with a cutout of Robert Pattinson as your special guest for the night, you can tune into our Oscar Chat at Row Three. It'll kick off on Sunday at 4:30PM and you can join that without having to remove yourself from Rob's strong cardboard hold.

And I promise not to leave you all for such an extended period of time ever again. Or at least until next time.

Music on the N8

2011-01-18T11:29:00.000-08:00

I love the fact that most of the new devices have enough onboard memory that I'm able to use one device for everything. I love having music at my fingertips and the N8 is an easy one to load. I'm not a big fan of the Nokia desktop software and am not even sure it'll run on a Mac but transfering music proved to be pretty easy. I connected the phone to the computer as a harddrive (you have to select a the USB setting: Settings --> Connectivity --> USB --> Mass Storage) and simply dragged the music over into the "Sounds" folder. One thing I noticed is that not all of the CD covers moved as well which may have something to do with my specific settings rather than the phone. I found them later in the photos file of the phone.

The built-in music player is easy to use and navigate with options to organize by song, album, artist or genre. There's no horizontal mode for the player but it does have a similar album cover scroll option which the Apple devices uses. It's not the prettiest layout but it's functional.

I do like the album view which gives you both the album cover and the list of songs contained in the album.

The desktop is also quite handy and gives quick access to the music library which I like.

One feature that I absolutely love is the Playlists wich features one of the best things I've seen recently: a "Recently Added" playlist which is automatically updated when you add new music. This is a feature I loved on the Zune which I miss dearly on the iPhone and which makes an appearance here.

With all the good stuff the music player has going for it, it's lacking a few features which I can't live without. The first is real-time scrobbling. This feature is also not available on the iPhone directly but I found a few apps that did the trick. Searching through the vault of Symbian apps hasn't uncovered an app with similar capabilities. There also isn't an option to create playlists on the go which is something I miss dearly from the N900.

Though it doesn't wow, music on the N8 is functional and easy to use. Just wish it had a few additional bells and whistles to make it a show stopper.

Must Have Apps on the Nokia N8

2011-01-13T11:56:00.000-08:00

Though my initial impressions of the Nokia N8 weren't all glowing, the phone did have a few cool features but after a bit of digging and some time cruising through the app store, the N8 is slowly transforming into a great phone.

Since my first brush with the Ovi Store, Nokia's version of the App Store, there have been a great many improvements notably the addition of thousands of new apps that allow you to do pretty much anything.

I rarely use my phone for talk and use text messaging and social media for communication with a few other tools to keep in touch with those around me. The phone's built in text messaging and conversations applications are already quite good but for those who prefer something else, there are other options including WhatsApp. It's worth noting that WhatsApp is free in the Ovi Store but costs in the Apple Store (I think I paid $1.99 for it).

One thing that's a must download is SWYPE, a new way of typing by swiping your finger over the tochscreen keypad rather than hunting and pecking for it. I was a little skeptical about this when I first saw a video of it in action last year but after two days of usage I swear by it. Can't wait until it makes its way to the iPhone.

I'm Twitter obsessed and though the N8 comes pre-loaded with a social networks widget, I found it slow and hard to use. Searching around and testing a number of other free apps, I have settled on the fact that Gravity is still the best twitter app for Symbian. It's expensive at $9.99 but if you tweet as much as I do, it's well worth the cost. I'd purchased it for my N95 and have downloaded a 10 day trial version for the N8 which is as user friendly and sleek as I remember it.

The last much have app for video and photo lovers is Pixelpipe. I have friends who swear by Shozu but I could never really get it to work on the N95 and at $4 in the Ovi store, it's not really worth it for my 10 day trial of the N8. Pixelpipe on the other hand is completely free and as a bonus, there are a number of plugins that allow you to, in one step, upload photos and videos to all sorts of different social media accounts. I've been using it for all of my Flickr uploads and it works like a hotdamn. VERY awesome. It's not particularly difficult to set-up and I already had an account that I use with my iPhone so I just had to login but if you're looking for a step by step on the setup, aymontano has an outstanding step-by-step install and steup on the Nokia Forums.

Some other apps I've been using include Opera Mobile which has an interface I'm familiar with having used it on a number of my devices and works great here (the built in browser is OK but nothing to write home about), Foursquare for checking into various locations, and for all of my screen capturing, of which I've been doing a lot, I downloaded ScreenSnap. A note on this is that you can assign a hotbutton for taking a screenshot but since the N8 only has a few buttons, this isn't particularly helpful. There is, however, a delay which is great because you can set it, navigate to what you want and it takes a photo. A 10 second delay seems to work for me.

Up next will be some thoughts on the maps and navigations feature, the music and photo/video taking and editing. Stay tuned!

Lots more screen caps in my Flickr Set.

N8, An Introduction

2011-01-12T10:13:00.000-08:00

The good folks at WOMWorld contacted me just before Christmas offering a trial of the shiny and new Nokia N8, a phone that isn't exactly a toe-to-toe competitor with the iPhone4 (I think the N900 was supposed to play in that sandbox) but which offers one super spiffy feature for photo lovers: a 12MP built-in-camera. The phone does feature a few other notable specifications including microSD slot allowing for 32GB of additional storage (the phone is shipped with 16GB on board storage), universal miniUSB charging/transfer which is much handier than Apple's proprietary charger/transfer cable and perhaps the mother of coolest overkill specs: HDMI output for photos and video (which is captured at 720P quality).

I had to wait a few weeks to request the trial phone as a few months back I quietly purchased an iPhone4 which uses a micro-sim whereas the Nokia (and a number of other phones) uses a regular sim. I ordered my adapter from Micro-Sim Adapter in the UK. It was cheap, quick and highly recommended around the web. I've now installed my microsim into the N8 with the adapter and it works perfectly.

I had some immediate reactions to the N8 and they weren't all as positive as I hoped for.

The good:

- The N8 is comparable in size to the iPhone 4 but much lighter.

- Responsive screen.
- Destop widgets.

- 12MP camera which takes great photos (even though they don't look like much when you take them!)

- MicroSD expansion slot for additional memory.
- Updated Ovi Store with many more appliactions than I remember from my N95 days.
- Customizable destop widgets (there's negative here and that is that the widgets are locked so unlike the N900 that allowed you to place your widgets and applications anywhere, you're limited in your customization options).

The bad:

- Running Symbian ^3 for Nokia which isn't such a bad thing but which feels old after playing with the N900 for so long and after getting used to the iPhone OS which is its own beast. Apparently, this is the last NSeries phote to be shipped with Symbian which will be replaced by MeeGo which is very exciting.
- Battery life isn't great - full disclosure: this is an issue with all smartphones and not limited to the Nokia but it's still a negative.
- Set-up of Wifi/Rogers Network data switching at home was a disaster (took three hours to figure out).
- Keyboard is tight and hard to type on in landscape mode.
- No full keyboard in portait mode - you just get the old numeric/text phone keyboard.

- Navigating between opened apps is easy but getting to that screen is clumsy.

I wasn't particularly impressed by the phone right out of the box but after installing a few must-have apps (a post on those coming up later), I'm starting to love this phone. Stay tuned for more updates in the coming days.

As per usual, I have also started a Flickr Set with lots of images and screencaps of the N8 in action.

Don't cry for me baby

2011-01-08T01:29:00.000-08:00

At least I think that's what some men are saying because you see, one of the big piece of news floating around earlier this week is a new study outlining that women's tears contain a chemical that has adverse effects on men: it turns them off.

Yup, it's true, apparently our tears are more advanced than men's. I overheard some discussion that this could be a step in the evolutionary ladder and that the tears are a way for women to combat aggression in men. It's definitely an interesting concept.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T09:23:00.001-08:00

I'm a little ashamed to admit it but my holiday is never complete until I've played Boney M's "Christmas Album" from cover to cover.

Hope everyone is having a safe and happy holiday with friends and family!

The Rush

2010-12-23T12:06:00.000-08:00

Late in the evening last night, in a moment of delirium likely brought on by a combination of cold medicine and nail polish fumes, I agreed to make the trip to Metrotown with my little sister for some late night Christmas shopping.

It's the first time I've ever partaken in the tradition (for some) of late night shopping and I was expecting huge crowds and big lines. The mall was busy but nothing like I expected. It wasn't even Sunday shopping busy - it was more like Monday evening busy (I should know - I've spent quite a few Monday evenings walking though the mall on my way to the movies). I was done my shopping, just needed a few tins for Christmas goodies but sis hadn't even started. The power shopper in us, likely inherited from our mother, kicked in and we completed in record time. We arrived on site at 9:30 and by 10:45 we were on the bus heading home. Not too shabby!

The only thing left is to wrap!

Road to recovery

2010-11-04T12:16:00.000-07:00

My bounce back from VIFF seems to get longer and longer with each passing year. Granted, there was a lot going on post-festival so it wasn't because I was tired or anything, just the way the cookie crumbled. If anything, every festival year seems to get easier and easier which is a great thing. That said, it doesn't mean I'm immune to illness and last week I caught the stomach flu.

It's an ugly little bugger, one that hung around longer than the pharmacist suggested, even though I followed all of the "rules" for getting better faster. I was so ill I stayed home on Monday and in almost a week, I haven't had more than chicken soup to eat. I did chance it on Tuesday with a slice of plain pizza and last night at Dale's I *really* pushed the envelope with a doughnut (it was heavenly and delicious). Definitely on the road to recovery but I'm excited to have some real food.

Other than that, it's been a quiet few weeks. Busy with work, busy with movies (I've pretty much given up on catching up)... just plain busy.

Internationally Renowned

2010-10-25T10:53:00.000-07:00

My name at least. A UK friend sent over this image over the weekend. I'd seen my name in big letters before, usually near the water, but this is the first time I've seen it used for a restaurant. Made me smile.

KFF

2010-10-22T16:05:00.000-07:00

In search of the perfect headphones

2010-10-21T09:59:00.000-07:00

As someone who commutes on public transit (lots) and is often out and about on the streets of the City, I find being plugged into music a huge salvation from nagging chatter, particularly from folks on the SkyTrain and/or bus who seem to think they're riding transit alone. I don't really want to hear about your great hookup last night. Yuk.

Over two years ago, I picked up a set of Panasonic headphones at, of all places, Walmart, which I absolutely loved. They looked great (a wicked retro sort of look), fit fantastic and sounded good too but after two years of nearly daily wear, they needed to be replaced. They still work great but the leather (likely synthetic) on the ear cups started to peel away so that every time I put them on, I was left with an ear full of black bits.

A few weeks ago, I purchased a set of Roxy headphones on sale and what a mistake that was. They're cute but too small and sit on my ears rather than hugging them which makes wearing them for extended periods of time really uncomfortable and to boot, I had forgotten what a pain it was to have cables coming out of both sides of you headphones, I felt like I was choking. I hated them so much, I put them aside and started using my ear buds which also have great sound but which I don't like wearing for more than a few days at a time.

Walking to the Skytrain on Tuesday after a great hot dog stop at Dougie Dog (Go there. It's awesome), I spotted something in the window of Urban Outfitters that looked remarkably like the headphones I so love. So after much searching and wishing I could find a pair of replacement headphones, my dream came true. I popped into the shop last night and picked up a pair of Panasonic RP HTX7-K1, simply put, the best headphone I've ever had.

There was a bit of a markup on these now nearly 3 year old headphones but when you find something you love as much as I loved my headphones, you're willing to pay a little bit extra. I am very, very happy with my purchase. While at Urban Outfitters, I discovered something else, they have a cool assortment of electronics, mostly imported cameras, a few of which I wouldn't mind getting my hands on. They have a great selection on their website and a smaller selection at their shop. I'm particularly interested in the Diana Dreamer and the Instax (which is like a Polaroid - prints credit card size pictures) is awesome! Definitely going to have to check these out in more detail.

Hello World!

2010-10-19T13:37:00.000-07:00

It feels like an eternity since I've thought of anything beyond sleeping, eating and watching movies. VIFF was a whirlwind that continues to plague me. I still have a few films to watch and a few reviews to write but for the most part, the festival is finished and I've started my two week detox. No movie meetups for a while though that doesn't mean I'm not watching stuff - there's so much to catch up on I'm not even sure where to start. Likely with the oldest on the shelf. That's as good a place as any.

I'm hopeful things really get back into some sort of norm in the coming days but until then, I'm keeping my head down, catching up on sleep and generally just taking it easy, getting rid of zombie Marina who crept in to take my regular place for two weeks and who has slowly been receding into the background.

Birthday Wishes

2010-09-29T08:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I celebrated 31 years of living on this earth. 31 years of family, friends, adventure, travel, new languages, news jobs, films, music... 31 year of life.

The last few years, getting older has simply meant adding a number to my age. That extra number doesn't actually affect my day to day, what I do or what I want to do, other than to remind me that there's still much I want to achieve before the lights go down (which I hope won't happen for a long, long time).

Thank you to everyone who sent me good wishes - you all made my day that much more memorable though I take joy from seeing you all regularly. Talking, eating, drinking and laughing. That's what's really important and I thank you all for sharing that with me every single day.

KFF

2010-09-24T09:29:00.002-07:00

30 Seconds to Mars @ The Queen Elizabeth Theatre

2010-09-23T13:20:00.000-07:00

Special K: Wanna see Jordan Catalano?
Me: Wha?????
Special K: Jared Leto. You know, the hot dude from MSCL? He's coming to town with his band.
Me: You don't have to tell me twice. Never heard their stuff. I'll check them out but yeah, I wanna see JORDAN!!!
Conversation not factual.

That's sort of how we ended up at the 30 Seconds to Mars. Special K said Jordan Catalano and I was all over that like a dirty shirt. Seriously, how could I pass this up?

We had dinner prior to the show at Jimmys. Not our first choice but Library Square was packed (hockey game) and I'd been to Jimmys before. After a nice dinner full of me bitching, we headed over to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre (another not so great venue for rock music) with plenty of time to check out the opening act.

From what Special K tells me, Neon Trees have a single which is on radio rotation but since the radio and I don't mix, I'd never heard of these guys. They were already a step ahead when their drummer Elaine Bradley came out. Female drummer: thumbs up from me. They've got an interesting pop/electro sound which I didn't mind and their lead vocalist Tyler Glenn certainly is an interesting character. Their second to last song was one I really enjoyed though I'm having a hard time tracking it down. If anyone can help, here's a portion that was recorded at a show earlier this year. And no, it's not called "Hole in My Heart" (at least from what I can find...unless it's a cover).

After a very long set-up, the house lights went down and the crowd surged forth (forget the fact that there are seats bolted to the floor) to get a glimpse of 30 Seconds to Mars. I've been listening to a fair bit of the band the last few days and have come to love their most recent album "This Is War" (particularly this track) but I wasn't really prepared and completely unsure of what to expect. Would they be any good? Are they one of these bands that sounds great in studio but suck live? I had nothing to worry about because the band blew the roof off the Queen E.

Leto came on stage sporting sunglasses white jacket and fingerless gloves (Diva! Or maybe channelling MJ?). From the get go the crowd was pretty energetic but not enough for Leto who also happens to be an excellent showman. Partway though the show (through a song actually) the lights sort of came up and he basically coaxed the crowd to move closer and put some energy into it. His commentary was amusing and effective and when the band resumed, the crowd was even more alive.

Partway through the show, as if to prove that he can and does indeed sing, Leto came on stage alone with an acoustic guitar and played three songs, two of which were selected by the audience. Yes, the guy can sing.

Soon after this, Leto really got into the action, jumping off the stage and making his way through the adoring crowd. Like we didn't already know it, yes, he's very handsome. I should know, he was mere feet from me. It was super exciting and I'm over it now (not).

The band finished the show with "Kings and Queens" for which they selected audience members to join the band on stage. It was pretty awesome.

I was more than impressed by the band. There was a real sense of family in the audience and though it was a big weird hearing Leto constantly say "true believers" (too reminiscent of a cult for my liking), it's not often you get that sort of feeling from an audience as diverse as this one. There was a father and his young son sitting next to me and even dad got into the action partway through the show. It was infectious.

Adding to the feeling of "family," you should check out the official tour flickr group where fans can upload their pictures from the shows. There are some much better shots in that pool (though I've yet to see any Vancouver photos). They also encourage their fans to send them video of their performances (you can do so here).

Even though it was a short show (about 90 minutes), it was a darn good one. I'll definitely be taking these guys in again though I hope next time they perform somewhere else (the Commodore or Venue would be great!).

Sweet Thing @ The Vogue

2010-09-20T10:56:00.000-07:00

It's official. I'm a big Sweet Thing fan. Like BIG. How do I know? 1) This is the second time (the first time was at the Media Club in June) I've seen the band in one year and 2) this concert marked only the second time in my life that I purchased tickets to see an opening band (the first time was NIN and David Bowie in 1995 which doesn't really count 'cause NIN was as much the headliner as Bowie was). In reality, the title of this post should be "Justin Nozuka & Guests at The Vogue" but I knew (and continue to know) little about Justin Nozuka aside from the fact that he's Canadian and that I've seen him talk in the pre-show tape at the movie theatres. Yeah, well versed.

We hit Cafe Crepe for a pre-show dinner (yummy panini with crispy fries and a cold beer after a long day at the office) before heading to the show. Now, The Vogue isn't necessarily a bad venue but it is a bad venue for live music. I may be old and it may be uncomfortable to stand for long periods of time but at shows, when you're moving around, it's not so bad. But when you have a band as high energy as Sweet Thing, it's strange being glued to your seat.

The band took the stage at 7:30 sharp and played a rocking 30 minute set. As good as the first time we saw them but this is definitely not the venue for them. I'm not much of a radio listener so other than the web sensations, I have no idea what's popular but I have heard Sweet Thing on CBC and if the fan reception at this show was any indication, they'll be making a pretty big splash on the music front in the coming months. I only hope they headline their next Vancouver stop and that the show is at a better venue.

They finished with one of my favourite tunes off of their debut album which is out now (more details on that here) "Change of Seasons." Sounded pretty much like this:

After a short stage clearing, Justin Nozuka and his band came on to the glee of the adoring fans (lots of girls for Mr. Nozuka). After one song, I mentioned to Special K that I thought his music was "music to make love to" but really, that's not the best explanation. It's a mix of country, blues, afro/jamaican beats that are just a little too mellow for me. There was one tune which was heavy on the instrumentation that we both really enjoyed but after 5 songs, we called it a day and left partway through the set. We came for what we wanted to see. No use in sitting through a show neither of us was enjoying. It's not a case of a bad performance as he's certainly a talented individual with a great voice; just a case of "not my cup of tea."

One thing worth mentioning is that Special K noted that in some parts, Justin was reminiscent of blues rocker(s) Kenny Wayne Shepperd. She's absolutely right and if he had stayed with that sort of style, I would have made it through the show. If you don't remember him, check out this wicked live rendition "Blue on Black" which should shake up your memory.

Overall, a fun night, even if we didn't get a "full" show.

Move done. Time to relax.

2010-09-10T23:27:00.000-07:00

It's been so long, I'd almost forgotten how to update my blog. Seriously.

We moved two weeks ago. Actually, it felt like we were moving for three weeks before and one week after (which, in fact, we were as we had possession of the rental property early and were able to start moving boxed in right away and afterwards...there's the cleanup). Thanks to some fantastic friends who came out to help (I don't we could have done it without Khaled and Kathy), we managed to get it all done. By the time we returned the truck, the garage was full of stuff and the front yard too, covered with blue tarps to protect it from the rain. The place looked like a trailer park for the first week we lived here.

The weekend after the move hubby, mom and I spent 5 hours taking everything out of the garage and re-organizing it to make more room. The day of the move we were in such a hurry we pretty much just dumped everything in and you couldn't walk in there. After hours of work on Saturday, the garage was so organized you could almost park a second car in there.

We had hired movers to move some of my parents large furniture and in the process, they dropped the top of the dining room table down the stairs, breaking the table and damaging the entry.

Not exactly but just as bad.

It's been nearly three weeks and we're still waiting for the insurance company to send a carpenter out to fix the entryway. Thankfully, the new owners have been very understanding and we haven't had any problems. I just hope that it gets sorted out soon - one less thing to worry about.

In eight months, we'll be doing it all over again.

Other than the move, not much going on. We've had a few stumbling stones adjusting to the new place but nothing too serious. I'll share some of the nightmare stories next week.

KFF

2010-08-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

KFF

2010-08-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

More Langley Adventure

2010-08-17T12:15:00.002-07:00

While out in Langley on Saturday, we decided to give something else a shot. A few years ago we were out there with our coupon book trying to find Choo Choo’s Restaurant which is, apparently, famous for their home made burgers and fries. We failed miserably on our first attempt and the coupon expired before we had a chance to use it but the restaurant was listed in our Entertainment book again this year and since we were already out there and looking for a place to eat, we thought we’d give the search a second try.

After consulting a Google map, we finally found the restaurant along a strip in Langley city which is lined with a great assortment of nifty shops. Before exploring, we had a nice lunch at Choo Choo’s, a place very reminiscent of the Old Spaghetti Factory but with a better selection of food.

A nice homey feel, the place was still quiet when we sat down for an early lunch but started to pick-up just as we were leaving. The food was delicious though hubby found his yummy looking burger a little on the greasy side one thing we did agree on was that their home made fries are super tasty.

Mushroom burger with homemade patty and fries.

Two piece cod fish and chips.
While walking back to the car we popped into Krazy Bob’s Music Emporium. Mostly it was me saying “OMG we have to go in here! Check out the cool records in the window!” This is no preparation for what was awaiting us inside.

Wall to wall crates of records. All of them for sale. Krazy Bob was super nice, and encouraged me to guy a record player to which I smiled and looked at hubby as he’s the one holding me back on that purchase. We wondered around ooing and awing the various bins, hubby constantly saying that he remembered this or that record. It was pretty awesome.

A tiny taste.
Basically, it was a super wicked Saturday in Langley. Our next day-long exploration trip is going to be Fort Langley. It's been years since I've been there. Hopefully the weather holds up until after the move and we can head out there during the September long weekend!

The best place on earth

2010-08-16T11:58:00.001-07:00

Months ago, Dale shared with me the awesomeness of Toy Traders. He loved the place so much, and for good reason too, that he posted this awesome entry on his trip out there, complete with jaw dropping images.

I'd been meaning check it out for months but hadn't had a chance to go out there with hubby but Saturday, we decided to take a trip out to RC Pitstop who moved to a bigger, better spot a few years ago and have grown their shop quite dramatically from years ago when we met the then new owners as they started their business. There was supposed to be some racing going on in the parking lot of the shop and indeed, there was a bit of activity but since we were already out there, I convinced hubby to make a pit stop at Toy Traders and wow, are we ever happy we did.

Yes, Dale's pictures are awesome but you seriously can't begin to grasp the greatness of this shop until you're actually inside and wondering around constantly picking your jaw up off the floor.

Though it looks pretty inconspicuous from the outside, housed inside of this plain whitewash is a greatness of epic proportions. Huge dioramas of Star Wars, GI Joe and Transformers are only the beginning with a shop wall to wall full of both kids toys (new and used) and collectibles the likes of which you'll only ever see at collectors shows. Yes, this is the coolest collectors corner in the Lower Mainland. It is truly bad ass.

Here are a few images that I snapped under the radar (don't arrest me please!).

Thanks to Dale I also know that they take Canadian Tire Money. Only adds to the awesomeness.

If you're interested (and you should be) in checking out the goodness for yourself, you can do so at:

Toy Traders
#150 – 19888 Langley Bypass [Google Map]
Langley, BC V3A 4Y1
Phone: 604-532-9516

And if you still want more, Snow Troopers have some more great pictures.

KFF

2010-08-13T10:27:00.000-07:00

Mission Accomplished

2010-08-09T08:56:00.000-07:00

We are no longer homeless. After a Saturday of returned phone calls, appointments and driving around the Burnaby/New Westminster area looking at houses, we finally found a property everyone's happy with. It's a bit on the small side but an open design which we love (side note: lots of the older houses in the area are large in square footage but the rooms are small. Lots of small little rooms that our furniture won't fit into). A rancher in Burnaby, walking distance to Skytrain, a huge two car garage for storage and, as hubby kindly pointed out, with a gas station a few doors down that hosts a Tim Hortons. Yes, definitely a bonus for me.

The funny part is, the owner is Portuguese. Do I know how to pick them or what? My dad was wearing one of his Ronaldo shirts when we looked at the house and the owner asked him if he was Portuguese and tada, that's what good things are made of. They talked business. I didn't have to get involved. Everyone's happy.

We're all going to be living as one big happy family with as little privacy as you could expect from 5 people in 1,300 sq. ft. but it could be worse and frankly, who cares? In 12 months we'll be moving into our dream house!

Now to start packing...

Unhappy Pet

2010-08-06T11:21:00.000-07:00

It's true. Denali isn't a happy boy right now. We took him to the vet on Tuesday to get fixed and they've given him the biggest cone known to man. Seriously, the thing is massive.

The poor guy is so traumatized by it. He keeps walking into walls, doors and it even gets caught on the ground when he's wearing it. It doesn't help that the pain medication the vet gave us makes him really drowsy (his eyes glaze over a little when we give it to him before bed) which only causes him more trouble. What he doesn't realize is that he's lucky someone's home all the time to watch him so he doesn't have to wear the bloody thing more often. Still, he's so sad when he's wearing it. He mopes, he cries, he shifts constantly because it's uncomfortable for him to sleep with it.

This is the poor sweetie with his cone on before bed the other night:

Doesn't he just look so sad? I feel for him. I really do. Thankfully he only has to wear it for 10 days (or nights as is the case).

T-8 days.

KFF

2010-08-06T10:26:00.000-07:00

Homeless

2010-08-05T12:03:00.000-07:00

Not exactly. At least not yet. But almost. Let me explain.

Shortly after my sister came home, mom and dad started talking about looking for a bigger place. Now, this isn't the first time they talked about it (it's come up a few times over the years) so we didn't pay too much attention but when they called the real estate agent, we knew they were serious. We expected it would take a few months for the house to sell but against all odds and to our good fortune, the house sold in two weeks for the asking price.

Now here's where things get tricky and where that good fortune may be considered bad luck. The folks that bought the house recently sold their home too and they have to be out for September 2nd which means their possession date on the new house (our house) is September 2nd. Which, in turn, means that we have to be out by September 2nd. And we have no place to go. And a dog. Yikes!

Mom and dad have decided to build so they've been looking at properties in the neighbourhood and have even found a couple of potential lots. The problem is that we need a house to rent, that allows dogs, for the year it will take to build our new dream home.

The search is driving me crazy.

It's only been 3 days.

Homelessness looms and though I realize we still have 3 weeks to find something, I (and my mom) won't be able to sleep until it's done and we've signed papers. I hope one of these places pans out - the lack of sleep is starting to get to me.

And don't even get me started on the packing.

KFF

2010-07-30T10:25:00.000-07:00

Worldwide Photowalk 2010

2010-07-28T12:37:00.000-07:00

Unbeknownst to me when I originally signed up, last Saturday was Worldwide Photowalk day. What's that? What's a photowalk? It's when you go out with the specific intention of taking pictures. Something which is a whole lot more fun when you can share it with a group of people (even if you don't talk to them for most of the time because you're too busy taking pictures).

Special K had sent me the info and I signed up, hardly paying any attention as to what website I was joining - knowing only that I had to register for this particular walk before it filled up. It was only later that I realized that this was a worldwide event with walk occurring all over the planet!

Our walk started at Vancouver Photo Workshops, which then led over to Mount Pleasant and eventually, Olympic Village.

A few of us got separated from the majority of the group as there was too much to see and shoot along the walk, so we finished up on our own and headed home at a relatively early time. I took somewhere in the range of 300+ but after weeding through, I came down to a total of 170. It's still a whole lot of pictures and I'm sure I could probably weed the batch down further but frankly, I was just happy to be our with my camera, shooting and trying to figure out how all of my controls work (yeah, still learning). For the most part, I think it went quite well.

A few of my favourite pictures are peppered through this post but many more available, as usual, on Flickr.

KFF

2010-07-23T10:24:00.000-07:00

It's ALIVE!

2010-07-20T23:53:00.000-07:00

Plants and I? We don't have a good relationship. I blame it on not being home enough but it's not like they're pets. You don't have to walk them or pet them but you do need to feed them and I just forget. I once killed a cactus because of over watering (though really, I didn't kill it - it just never bloomed). There's definitely a green thumb in my family (have you seen my mother's roses?) but it wasn't passed down to me.

Imagine my great surprise when, a few weeks ago, one of my orchids which I assumed had run the course of its short blooming life for a while, started to grow a new arm loaded with blooms. And I don't mean one or two flowers but 7. Seven blooms. My god was this really my plant? I wasn't sure they were going to open but I've been diligent, paying a little extra attention to my baby, moving it when the sun is directly shinning on it, basically treating it like it's the last living plant in my home (which, for the record, it's not) and if you know anything about orchids, you know they're notoriously fussy plants.

Last week, some of the blooms started to open and yesterday, I thought it wise to take a few photos just to help me remember this occasion. The occasion in which I did not only not kill the plant but in which it actually bloomed.

Beauty ain't she?

Distraction

2010-07-19T23:12:00.000-07:00

Click for, you know, extra large.

KFF

2010-07-16T10:23:00.000-07:00

Run William Wallace! Run!

2010-07-15T10:19:00.000-07:00

I had never heard of Perth, Ontario until earlier this week when, during a lively discussion (is there any other type?) at our Monthly Vancouver Bookcrossing meeting one of the ladies mentioned a kilt run. Kilt run? I had to check this out.

To celebrate their namesake, the city of Perth hosts an annual 5 mile run. But this isn’t your regular type of run. Oh no. You see in Perth, to participate in the run, you have to wear a kilt. Their goal is to set the world record for most runners wearing a kilt. This year's Perth’s World Record Kilt Run took place on June 26th and saw 1,210 runners turn up in kilts, a count which I’m assuming has been submitted to Guinness.

If you’re trying to imagine what 1,200 runners in kilts looks like, you don’t have to stretch your imagination too far. Pictures from the event are up and available for viewing at Zoom Photo.

Old Spice takes over the internet. Or is that THE WORLD?

2010-07-13T16:33:00.000-07:00

You know what? The people at Old Spice need to win an award. Or a bunch of awards because I have never, in my years on the internet, seen anything quite as brilliant as this (and I’ve seen some brilliant things from the sidelines).

I talked about Old Spice in the past when Bruce Campbell appeared in a couple of ads (not to mention NPH and this guy) that were brilliantly awesome. That sort of put my grandfather’s scent on the map for me as something that was picking up steam after years of being relegated to the top shelf of my favourite grocery store.

Then a few months ago a few new ads appeared featuring the very handsome Isaiah Mustafa. They were funny, memorable and marked the brand as having completely re-invented themselves. With a flurry of new scents and a hip new spokesperson who also happened to be catering to the female demographic (who often purchases deodorant and body wash for their boyfriends/husbands - there's a reason hubby wears Old Spice...), the brand was back and kicking.

And then today, they outdid themselves. The Old Spice twitter feed (@oldspice) is a flurry with personalized YouTube videos featuring the sexy man himself spewing words of awesomeness. Want to make your brand THE talk of the internet? This is definitely the way to go about it.

They videos are hysterical and I’ve spent the better part of the last hour lost in words and images of a shirtless Isaiah. Life could be a lot worse.

Mashable has a great overview of the campaign well worth a read but You're better off just heading over to YouTube and taking in the awesomeness for yourself. There isn't a bad one in the bunch so just take your pick.

See you in two days.

PS. The whistle? AWESOME.

Great coincidences

2010-07-13T10:56:00.002-07:00

A little background before we get started. My parents love to read. My mom can read in English though she’s slow and prefers Portuguese while my dad reads almost no English and primarily just reads in Portuguese. When I told them that the central branch of the Vancouver Public Library had a good sized section of books in Portuguese, my parents latched on and for the last few years, my dad has been making trips to the library every few weeks to pick up books.

Now, something about my parents. They’ll read nearly anything but they have a preference for mysteries and romances, and though we have, over the years, read some of the same books, this is the first time this has ever happened.

This past weekend I was in my parent’s kitchen getting some stuff out of the fridge for Dan’s surprise birthday BBQ (which, by the way, was a complete success) when I spotted a book on the counter. I’m nosey, so I checked to see what it was and was struck by the title. A second later (or however long it took me to translate the title in my head), I realized that we were reading the same book.

The book in question: Kazuo Ishiguro’s “Never Let Me Go.” I picked this off my shelf the other day since I wanted to read it in preparation for the upcoming film (the trailer for which looks fantastic) while dad picked it up hoping for a good romance.

I’m only partway through but he’s finished the book and in discussing it after dinner, he mentioned that he didn’t care for it because it was a bit too slow burn for him. I’m only 70 pages in and so far loving it, but I’m excited to finish so dad and I can have a little chat about it.

Just another reason why I love my parents. No surprise that I’m such a bookworm myself, it’s in the genes!

That's my book on top and my parent's library book underneath.

Tool @ Rogers Arena

2010-07-12T16:40:00.000-07:00

The energy around ~~GM Place~~ Rogers Arena (now aptly nick named “The Cell”) was palpable on Friday night. Even across the street at The Atlantic Trap where we had a pre-show dinner and drink, the majority of the crowd was headed to the concert. No, we didn’t talk to everyone but judging from the excessive black outfits in the insane heat and the oodles of Tool and A Perfect Circle tees (among an assortment of other metal insignias), it’s safe to assume that a big chunk of the patrons were heading to the show after dinner.

We headed over sometime around 7:45, hoping to catch some of the opening act, a new LA act called Rajas, but when we made our way over to the arena, the lines indicated that we weren’t going to make it. We finally ended up at one of the gates (not our gate but thanks to the security lady who suggested we avoid it as it’s the busiest and the line insane).

The line was moving at a good pace until near the door when, for the security check, they separated men and women. No problem since the women’s line was much shorter. Except there was a problem: they only had one guard for the ladies line (and some of these girls were carrying a lot of stuff) and to make matters worse, the occasional guy who refused to leave their girlfriend (insecure much?) also merged in making the much shorter line move that much slower.

We finally made it inside and into our seats just before nine but we needn’t have worried because Tool didn’t actually take the stage until approximately 9:15PM.

It was a bit weird being in an arena filled with so many men and the energy emanating from the crowd was infectious. It wasn’t angry but there was an edge to it, an edge I attribute to the immense amounts of testosterone floating in the air. It even infected me as is clear from this tweet:

Yeah, that wasn't *really* me.

Wasting no time, the band kicked into a wicked set of tunes with Maynard Keenan in the background on a platform near the back of the stage near the drum set. It was an interesting placement, almost as if he was afraid of the crowd, but regardless of the fans being able to see him (for all we know it could have been some random dude and Keenan could have been hiding back stage the entire time), the band put on a fantastic show including some trippy visuals and a pretty awesome laser show.

At one point, Kennan made some reference of everything going upwards which gave me the sense that they may have had some technical difficulties pre-show (which would also explain the delay) but everything went off without a hitch.

After nearly an hour of play, the band took a short break while roadies set up a second drum kit on stage, this one belonging to the Rajas’ drummer (nameless as the band’s website doesn’t have a line-up listed) who had a sort of “drum off” with Danny Carey which was absolutely the highlight of the show. Truly spectacular.

Some of the best moments of the show came from the male bonding going on around us. Prior to the band taking the stage there were a group of guys sitting a few rows back constantly yelling “TOOL!!!!” and once the band took the stage, the bonding seemed to get more intimate. At one point, a trio of guys a few rows down linked arms and swayed side to side, something more akin to a Carly Simon concert than Tool but eh, whatever floats your boat man. If it takes a little ganja and some wicked guitar to get you all friendly with your boys, who am I to argue?

I was a tidbit disappointed that the band played for under two hours but it was a very good show and when you’re Tool, you can do whatever the hell you want. And yeah, I’d definitely see them again.

KFF

2010-07-09T10:23:00.002-07:00

Econoline Crush @ Venue

2010-07-07T10:34:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago while heading home after a show at the Commodore, I spotted a poster advertising Vancouver band Econoline Crush playing at Venue. That right there was enough of a draw but the $9.93 price tag sealed the deal.

We arrived at the Venue a little late and missed part of the first half of the opening act which was, all things considered, a god sent. Can’t even tell you what they were called but boy, they were not very good. The lead singer was drowned by the instruments and frankly, that’s probably not a bad thing since it didn’t really sound like he was doing much beyond yelling into the microphone.

Up next was another local act, Like a Storm. Now these guys looked like rock-stars and compared to their garage-band-we-had-too-much-to-drink predecessors, they looked like a real band.

They started off their set well bringing out a didjeridu but as soon as the guitars and singing started, it all went downhill. More incorrect levels and a bit of awkward stage presence (there were a lot of horns going up throughout the show), the band managed to exude energy – it was too bad the music just wasn’t up to par. I’m not sure what the problem was that night but the band must have been off because cruising their YouTube Channel and website, it’s clear the guys have talent (did I already mention that they’re exceptionally good looking? Yeah, that’ll help sell albums). I’ll check out their album and give them another shot.

Here's a taste of their sound. From their recently released record "The End of the Beginning," this is their first single "Chemical Infatuation"

After a very long break between sets, Econoline Crush took the stage and our first thought was… what on earth happened to Trevor Hurst? Plastic surgery much? The band had been way under my radar since the late 90s though they seem to have been releasing new material for years but the sound and energy just isn’t there anymore (or was missing this particular night).

I first saw EC at a side stage during an open door show in the mid 90s and they rocked it, drawing in a crowd from across the field to check out the action. Though the songs are the same, the band seems to have lost some of its edge and quite frankly, it’s a little scary looking at Trevor who looks younger now than he did 15 years ago. This is what it must feel like when my dad goes to see bands he remembers from his youth: they’re almost the same but not really.

We left early (like 5 songs in), partly due to the transit situation and partly due to the laughably bad show (not to mention the fact that they only played two songs from their first two albums - my faves - and a bunch of stuff I didn't recognize from their later years). If nothing else, it was entertaining to see Trevor run around the stage offering himself to the fans as some sort of rock god. I’m thinking some of the problems from the night may stem from the bad audio set-up but I’m not sure I’d want to see EC live again. I’m quite happy re-living the memories via CD thanks.

I had a better camera this time and even some help from Special K who took a few shots but Trevor was running around the stage so much all of the pictures of him are blurry. The trend continues.

Big Day

2010-06-29T10:31:00.000-07:00

It's a very big day. In approximately 30 minutes Portugal will be taking on Spain at the World Cup for advancement into the final 8. It's going to be a tough game (Spain are European Champions) but we're up to the challenge - I hope.

Later tonight is the other big even. "Eclipse" is finally opening. Yes, Special K and I have tickets to the 12:01AM screening tomorrow morning and I'm beyond excited. It hasn't started to settle in yet but it will when the clock turns over to 2PM and I only have a few hours left in the day. I hope it's not crazy insane but who am I kidding? It's going to be a gong show and I'm going to take in every second of it.

Don't expect a review any time soon. By the time I get home tomorrow morning it'll be near 3AM and then an early wake up call at 6:15. Making things a little more difficult, I can't go home tomorrow night right after work because we've got tickets to see Econoline Crush at the Venue. I'm really looking forward to the show as I'm a fan of the band and I don't think they've performed in years but man, it's going to be a long day. Good thing I have Thursday to recuperate!

KFF

2010-06-25T13:38:00.000-07:00

Proper Introductions

2010-06-23T09:14:00.000-07:00

Out of the blue I start talking about this puppy and people are like "What Puppy?"

My sister has a puppy. He's 9 months old and his name is Denali (yes, like the fully loaded Chevy truck). He was adopted from a breeder on the island when he was just a few days old and he's been part of the family ever since. Now that Sis is home, the puppy is home with her and in a matter of a few short days, he's become part of our family too.

He's very friendly but big and loves to dig. He also loves snotty tissue which is gross but also sort of cute.

Denali and with grandma (His grandma. My mom.)

He really wants that rag she's holding. He also loves rags and socks.

Soooo tired!

The Fall

2010-06-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I figured I'd do my part and take Denali out for his morning walk. Mom decided to come along since she's been taking him for his walks and she figured that for my first time, I should get a few pointers from her. I was more than happy to have her come along.

We were at the park, heading down the hill to a leash free area when I took a misstep and stumble, falling on my knees and then on my side. Denali stopped, came over to lick me, making sure I was OK and then I had to pass the reins to mom because my ankle was sprained. I sat for a few minutes before we headed back but sitting made it hurt more than standing and the walk home was largely pain free. I iced it a bit when I got home and a little more before heading to bed but man, it's still swollen to twice it's size. It fit in my shoe this morning but I'm hobbling along feeling the pain more than I did yesterday.

More than anything, I feel like a bit of an idiot. Can't even take the dog for a walk without injuring myself. *sigh*

KFF

2010-06-18T11:14:00.000-07:00

Who said celebrities don't ride the subway? Another reason to love Keanu: The Everyman who takes the train like the rest of us.

Remembering

2010-06-17T15:34:00.000-07:00

I'll miss your friendship, your jokes that aren't always funny, you're insane love for the Raiders and most of all, your million watt smile that lit up any room and made me smile. I will always remember and treasure these good times.

So it ends

2010-06-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

Turns out I did not only not blog, I didn't even tweet during our four day adventure to Las Vegas. It has hot, we walked a lot, gambled a little, shopped a bit and came back utterly exhausted. I haven't had a chance to really take it the trip but when I do, hopefully in the next few days, I'll post some more.

For now, we have a bit of mourning to do. The family decided not to tell me to avoid ruining my holiday but my brother in law passed away on Thursday afternoon. I've come home to a sister so riddled with grief she's almost comatose. My parents aren't taking it that much better though they're functioning so at least that's something. I'm at work, mostly because there's nothing more to do at home. Sis has a friend staying with us who is doing a great job helping her with the day to day stuff but I feel a bit numb. I'm just not sure what to do, if anything, for her.

At this point I'm tired and a bit depressed. This isn't exactly how I expected to start the week after a holiday but at least we're here.

KFF

2010-06-11T13:38:00.000-07:00

Vegas Bound

2010-06-09T10:44:00.000-07:00

It's so close I can almost taste it. Less than 6 hours left in the work day, a podcast to record and post and a few hours of rest before we board a plane headed for the City of Sin and lights. Vegas, I'm coming for you and I'm prepared.

Passport, camera(s), money, clothes. Check, check, check, check. I've also added US roaming to my cell package. I'm more than ready.

The plan: don't really have one other than lots of walking, lots of pictures, a bit of video, food, drinks, a show and probably less than a few hours of sleep; I'm ready for it all.

Stay tuned for a few trip updates next week (if not sooner!)

My thoughts exactly

2010-06-08T09:10:00.000-07:00

I'm not a huge fan of "The Simpsons" but I've watched more than my share of episodes over the years. Two things related to the show are currently tickling my fancy.

The first is this clip from the new Nike commercial (made for the upcoming World Cup and called "Write the Future" - if you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend you check it out) which makes me smile every time I see it which, right now, is quite a bit since I've set it up as the video that comes on when I turn on my phone. Always good to start the day with a smile:

The other is something I found just today, a website dedicated to the messages Bart writes on the board during the opening credits of the show. It's called Bart's Blackboard and they have screen shots of that scene going all the way back to Season 1. It's fun to click through though this one, from a recent episode, pretty much reiterates my feelings on the "Lost" finale.

KFF

2010-06-04T13:37:00.000-07:00

CBC Radio 3: An essential for music lovers

2010-06-02T13:54:00.000-07:00

You out there. Sitting quietly in the back taking in all of the action. Yes, you. I know you love music. You live and breathe new music and are always on the look out for great new talent. I'm going to share a find with you. Something you're going to want to bookmark and visit often.

I haven’t really followed new music in a decade but with the internet and social media sites like Last.fm, it’s easy to discover new stuff. But you want more and I’m more than thrilled to provide you with more.

In the early 90s, Canadian music was a bit of a disaster. We had Celine Dion and Bryan Adams and little else. Or so the general public thought. Radio and music television had to fill quotas of Canadian artists and the pickings were slim. And then something happened. I don’t know what it was or why but somewhere between the time when I first started watching Much Music and my graduation from high school at the end of the decade, Canadian music was everywhere and it was good. Really, really good.

Since Much Music stopped playing music and turned into MTV Lite, I didn’t know where to go for new Canadian tunes. We started listening to CBC Radio 2 at the office which cracked open the gates for me, introducing me to new talents like Wintersleep and The Great Lake Swimmers, but I wanted more and doing a bit of research last week, I stumbled on what is likely the best depository of Canadian music around.

CBC Radio 3’s website is, by far, one of my best finds of the last few months. The social media site works in conjunction with the station’s Sirius radio channel (83 on your satellite radio provider – now programmed in spot #6 of our car stereo) and the wide assortment of podcasts that provide hot new Canadian talent to your digital music player of choice.

The site is sleek, easy to use and features free streaming music from thousands of Canadian musicians. You don’t have to be a musician to join and it’s completely free. The benefits of signing up for an account are extensive; you can become a fan of a band and receive notifications of upcoming shows, news and releases and you can also add songs to play lists that you can customize. If you’re not into signing up, the site is still awesome, allowing you to stream music from artists and even being able to tune into a “station” which plays artists with a similar sound.

I’ve been playing around with the site for nearly a week and am consistently impressed by it. If you’re a fan of music, this is definitely something to check out.

Portuguese Heritage Month Kicks Off In Style!

2010-06-01T23:21:00.001-07:00

June is Portuguese Heritage Month in Vancouver and the festivities started today with a kick-off party at Vancouver's J Lounge. With Mariza singing in the background (don't get too excited, it was a DVD), free Portuguese wine, bolinhos de bacalhau and a few other goodies (no more mouth watering details, promise), the event started with an introduction by Terry Costa, Consultant to Government of Portugal in Canada (Arts & Culture Commission).

The event unfolded quickly, avoiding the pitfalls of long, boring, drawn out affairs and included short but memorable speeches from the Consul General of Portugal, Dr. Carlos Amaro, the Consul General of Brazil and City of Vancouver Councillor Raymond Louie who was representing the City and seemed genuinely thrilled to be there addressing the crowd.

The event wrapped with a little traditional music (rancho baby!) care of the Grupo Folclorico Ilha Verde who performed a couple of traditional ditties. I caught a few on video including this one which was my favorite of the bunch:

If you're interested, a few more videos here and here.

The month is full of special events celebrating Portuguese culture. The entire schedule of events is available at http://www.portuguesemonth.com/. If you attend an even and happen to be on Twitter, I urge you to use the non-official (aka Decreed by Marina, Of No Particular Importance) #yvrphm.

I'm hoping to make it out to a few events. You can keep track of all the happenings via pictures in my newly created Portuguese Heritage Month Set.

See you around town!

Sweet Thing @ The Media Club

2010-06-01T11:34:00.001-07:00

Saturday was, by far, one of the best shows I’ve ever been to and I like to think I’ve seen some great shows. There wasn’t one bad performance to be had and the energy at the Media Club was through the roof.

The night started early with local artist Bradley taking the stage with his interesting mix of synth sounds and guitar. It’s hard for any artist to take the stage but I presume it’s particularly difficult for one dude with a guitar and a computer but he rocked the house with his low-fi sounds which had me reminiscing about the old days of Trent Reznor. The sounds are very, very different but I picture a lone guy with his notebook and computer in both instances. His album, “MountainTigerWolf,” features a few tracks that are much more melodic. I’m looking forward to seeing him play around town again.

I was having issues with my phone and didn’t manage to take any good pictures or video but I found this live rendition of “Your Money” online. Check it:

Shortly after Bradley, Run GMC took to the stage, filling the tiny stage with bodies. Now this… this was a total surprise. These boys belted out an awesome set of country rock/bluegrass tunes that had the place popping. They’re apparently quite the fixture around town and you’d better believe I’ll be checking them out again soon. Seriously awesome. Here they are playing “Midnight Train” on Urban Rush:

Last but not least, Sweet Thing invaded the stage. The Toronto outfit is on a Canadian tour and they’re more than worth your hard earned money. Their tunes are infectious, their pop rock sound is destined for big, big things. The band has enough stage presence to fill a venue two or three times the size of The Media Club and lead singer Owen Carrier exudes energy to match Mick Jagger. Their first full length album is due for release in August but you can download the first single, a catchy tune titled “Dance Mother,” for free from their website.

Keep your eyes open for these guys coming back across the Great White North later this year. In the meantime, check out my favourite track, “Change of Seasons”:

All in all, a stellar night of great Canadian music!

Repeat

2010-06-01T11:21:00.000-07:00

Initial reaction to Nokia's PR1.2 software upgrade

2010-05-31T09:25:00.001-07:00

Ah, the mythical PR 1.2. N900 owners have been waiting for the official release of this software update for so long that some of us had given up any hope that it would actually see the light of day but last week, Nokia released the update which cleaned up a few things and was, overall, supposed to make my N900 that much better.

Having spent 2 hours on Friday night installing the new update, the update itself only takes about 20 minutes but I had to do a back-up first – just in case, I must admit I wish I had waited. The new update does include a few new features and widgets that are pretty cool (including an email widget which I was excited to check out) but the drawbacks are so many I’m pining for a return to the previous version of the software.

Here’s what I’ve noticed in the two days since I’ve installed PR1.2:

Battery life is even worse than before. Admittedly I installed a few widgets that live-update and likely eat a lot of battery. I turned them all off yesterday after my battery drained in 4 hours on Saturday and though it’s better, the battery performance is still worse than it was before. Good thing I have a spare I’m now carrying around for emergencies.
The Application Manager is gone to shit. It takes forever to load and I’m having issues uninstalling and installing new software. The uninstall feature doesn’t seem to be working at all (it won’t load any of the programs I have installed instead saying “no programs installed”) and the install feature is hit and miss sometimes loading but mostly just freezing while trying to load the download menu (I’m having Windows Vista flashbacks), forcing me to close program. Also a bummer: the search for applications feature has also disappeared, a disappointment since I use that all the time.
The scrolling speed does seem to be improved but the applications seem to be taking longer to load.
New night mode video feature is cool but I haven’t had too much of a chance to use it. Looking forward to the opportunity soon.
New layout of onscreen keyboard is sweet.
Media player is not working well. Actually, it’s being a pain in the ass. I transfer my music onto my phone in mass media storage mode which loads my N900 has a hard drive and allows me to dump my music directly into the Sounds folder. When I open the media player, it adds the new songs to the media library. That’s not happening right now. I added 100+ new songs last night which still aren’t appearing in the media library. They play when I force them to (going through the file manager and finding the song) but they’re not loading in. If that’s not bad enough, sometimes when I start the application and try to browse through the artist list, the list comes up empty. It’s frustrating as heck, especially since I’m constantly listening to music.

As it stands, the update has so far been more trouble than it’s really worth. I’m going to do a little digging to see if I can solve some of these issues but if I’m still having trouble by the weekend, be assured that I will be looking for a how to on rolling back to the previous version.

UPDATE: After a bit of online poking around, discovered that folks were having issues with certain themes and PR1.2. I reverted back to one of the pre-installed Nokia themes and voila - seems that most of my complaints are mute (except that the application installer is still slow as hell).

Broken Bells @ The Commodore

2010-05-31T08:52:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, my radio station of choice CBC Radio 2, debuted a song by the newly formed Broken Bells. The first single off of their debut album, a catchy tune called “The High Road,” was the lead into a great album which I’ve been listening quite a bit lately.

A few short days after first hearing the song, I spotted a concert listing for the band’s tour which brought them to Vancouver last week.

We waited patiently in line at 8PM, finally making inside shortly after that only to wait around for 90 minutes before the opening band hit the stage. The Morning Benders, an outfit out of California, got a few people up and moving around but from the volume of the chatter from the crowd, I’d venture to say that they’re indie pop sounds weren’t working for everyone. I loved their opening track, an instrumental which had great depth, but didn’t care for their California sound. Special K noted that some of their tracks started well and then sort of fell apart and other didn’t star off so well and then got better. Overall, they were OK but nothing to write home about (though I’ve searched high and low for that opening track and have discovered one a second track I really dig off of their new album “Big Echo.”

After much tuning and my impatience at having to wait so bloody long for the band to get on with the show, Broken Bells took the stage and started a great set. They played everything off of their debut album and mixed in a couple of covers (most notably Joan Jett’s “Crimson and Clover” which had the crowd swaying as if Kumbaya was blaring from the speakers). The appreciative crowd seemed to know one or two songs but went nuts when “The High Road” came on.

Overall, they played everything they had and still only managed a set which ran a little over an hour. It would have been nice to hear more, even if it was just more covers, but I’ll take what I can get and though I was frustrated at how late the band went on stage, I thoroughly enjoyed their performance. I’d definitely see Broken Bells again – hopefully when they have more material to play.

And just a taste, here’s my favourite song from the album, a little track called "Mongrel Heart":

KFF

2010-05-28T13:36:00.000-07:00

Levi's Pioneer Sessions

2010-05-28T09:02:00.000-07:00

Advertisements as art. It doesn't happen too often but there is a trend and Levi's is right up at the top of the pile. Their "Pioneers" campaign caught my eye last September, and though the ads stuck around for a few weeks, they seem to have disappeared off the map and then Levi's goes and re-ignites it with the Levi's Pioneer Sessions.

The clothing manufacturer brought in some super talented artists to record some covers and they're giving the music away. For free. Yup you read right. Free. And they're not slumming it either. This isn't a list of a bunch of unknown artists but rather a collection of some greats including Nas, The Shins, The Killers and The Swell Season. They seem to be releasing a new song every week and the slow roll out is bound to rub a few the wrong way but it's free music so I'm sure you can handle it. You can download the goodness Levi's Pioneer Sessions.

Henry Rollins @ The Centre

2010-05-27T15:03:00.000-07:00

Misconceptions. That was one of the many things I thought about after seeing Henry Rollins at The Centre on Tuesday night. I know a few things about Rollins. I know he’s a musician, a writer, an occasional actor and an angry man. I thought I had it figured out and really, I sort of blame myself for my own misconceptions walking into Rollins’ current spoken word tour. My knowledge is limited to a few movies, a book (though I realize he’s written many the only one I’ve read is See a Grown Man Cry, Now Watch Him Die which I read in high school) and this angry song:

I wasn’t particularly surprised to find that Rollins is charismatic. He took the stage right at 8PM and started with a story, one of many, about an artist friend of his who is addicted to drugs. From there he waxed poetic on everything from politics to travel and even masturbation (in not so many words). He was funny, insightful and endlessly entertaining. He talked non-stop for two hours and forty five minutes, not stopping once to even take a drink of water.

Rollins is a man with many things to say and his performance was more of an intimate chat. His charisma draws you in and almost immediately, he turned the huge auditorium into an small room as if he was talking to a couple of close friends rather than a few hundred people. There aren’t a lot of people in the word that can manage that feat but Rollins does so quickly; it’s natural, second nature and it makes you want to pay that much more attention.

I laughed so hard my side hurt. I shook my head in disgust at some of his poignant observations and I walked away mesmerized that the man I once though of as “the angry man” appears to be a genuinely kind individual with a keen eye and keener mind. I was impressed and urge you, if Rollins is stopping near you, do yourself a favour and go. You’ll be glad you did.

And as is becoming tradition, here's a blurry picture of Henry Rollins on stage. At some point, I will figure out how to take a good picture without the flash on my cellphone camera going off.

Portuguese Language Acknowledged in BC

2010-05-27T08:50:00.001-07:00

Photo by Daeveb on Flickr.
This is so awesome, I'm not even sure where to start. On the eve of Portuguese Heritage Month which kicks off in June, I get word from the fabulous Terry Costa (Terry really is fabulous - the man is a machine and I love him for all of his hard work) that Portuguese is now a recognized language in BC meaning that students can take Portuguese classes (if offered I guess) towards their high school graduation. Here's the official press release:

This week, on a visit to British Columbia, Portugal’s Secretary of State for Communities, Dr. Antonio Braga, received a two-part gift from Hon. Ben Stewart, Minister Responsible for Multiculturalism. First, the Province of British Columbia acknowledgement of the Portuguese participation in the region since 1850s with a proclamation for Portuguese Heritage Month (June 2010) and the most important words that Portuguese-language begins to be recognized, as of August 2010, as an elective language towards credits for high-school diplomas.

This news gives Terry Costa, Canada’s Consultant to Portugal (Language, Education and Culture Commission) great pride. “As a Canadian of Portuguese roots, I am ecstatic with this great news,” says Costa “finally my ancestors language is being acknowledge by my province as an important part of our culture.” Costa who founded Portuguese Heritage Month in 2004 adds that the news arriving a few days before the launch of the 2010 festivities, especially at a time of lack of funding and support, give that extra incentive towards the celebrations and notes that he hopes to see an increase in enrolment in Portuguese-language studies, “now that students can work towards elective credits to complete their high-school diploma”. Also, as the VP for the Portuguese-Canadian National Congress, Costa acknowledges that it is time for the language and culture to join the ranks of other languages like German and Spanish that have been granted these opportunities many years ago.

Portuguese speakers worldwide are estimated well over 210 million. Portuguese language is the 6th most spoken in the planet, 3rd on the internet. Eight countries have Portuguese as the official language: Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guine-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal (including the autonomous regions of Azores and Madeira Islands), S. Tome & Principe and Timor; as well, due to historic ties, various regions of the world including Macau (China) and Goa/Damao (India) celebrate their Portuguese influences. The Portuguese language crosses all continents and its emigrants and descendants can be found in British Columbia since 1850s. An estimated 50,000 B.C. residents hail from a Portuguese region or are descendants of the Portuguese.

This is so exciting! It's wonderful to see my heritage honoured this way - can't wait to break out all the red and green for both Portuguese Heritage Month and World Cup!

KFF

2010-05-21T13:27:00.000-07:00

Kate Morton Lands on My Map

2010-05-20T15:40:00.000-07:00

That's not to say I'll actually read her new novel, "The Distant Hours" (Amazon lists it with a release date of October 15th) but I am impressed with yes, another book trailer.

Don't be thinking that I purposefully seek these out... they simply come across my desk and I take a look at the ones that might be interesting and this one is certainly one of the best. I can't say it gives much of the story but it's gorgeously stop-motion animated by Andersen M Studio of London. I've included a synopsis of Morton's new novel after the video.

Edie Burchill and her mother have never been close, but when a long lost letter arrives one Sunday afternoon with the return address of Millderhurst Castle, Kent, printed on its envelope, Edie begins to suspect that her mother’s emotional distance masks an old secret.

Evacuated from London as a thirteen year old girl, Edie’s mother is chosen by the mysterious Juniper Blythe, and taken to live at Millderhurst Castle with the Blythe family: Juniper, her twin sisters and their father, Raymond. In the grand and glorious Millderhurst Castle, a new world opens up for Edie’s mother. She discovers the joys of books and fantasy and writing, but also, ultimately, the dangers.

Fifty years later, as Edie chases the answers to her mother’s riddle, she, too, is drawn to Millderhurst Castle and the eccentric Sisters Blythe. Old ladies now, the three still live together, the twins nursing Juniper, whose abandonment by her fiancé in 1941 plunged her into madness.

Inside the decaying castle, Edie begins to unravel her mother’s past. But there are other secrets hidden in the stones of Millderhurst Castle, and Edie is about to learn more than she expected. The truth of what happened in the distant hours has been waiting a long time for someone to find it . . .

Vampire Ponies? OMG

2010-05-18T16:32:00.000-07:00

Let me begin by saying that the artist behind these drawings is much more talented that I'll ever be when it comes to drawing and I hate poking fun at the art because it's actually quite good but the context in which it's used is too amusing not to share.

It's "Twilight." With ponies. I kid you not. I wish I could say this was a spoof but I think it was made with great intentions. It just happens to be insanely hilarious.

KFF

2010-05-14T13:26:00.000-07:00

Cater to Your Audience

2010-05-13T16:27:00.001-07:00

Here's something interesting. I've talked about book trailers in the past. Since I spotted my first one in 2008, the development in these trailers hasn't moved much. They're still a bit cheesy and they do little for me in terms of getting me interested in a book or series but today I read some news that may mark the beginning of a new life for book trailers.

Yesterday, Shelf Life posted a an interview with "Vampire Academy" author Richelle Mead. "Spirit Bound," the fifth book in the series, goes on sale next Tuesday, May 18th and it's one I've been anticipating. The publishers will be premiering the book trailer for the new novel tonight during the season finale of "The Vampire Diaries" and it will also be attached to Summit's upcoming "Twilight Saga: Eclipse."

The trailer isn't awesome but it's one of the better ones I've seen but Penguin, the publisher, gets thumbs up for promoting directly to their audience: fans of other vampire fiction. That I've seen, this will also be one of the first book trailers I've ever seen on TV or at the movies. It's a trend I wouldn't mind seeing more of.

Wonder how many people will see this tonight or in the coming days and wonder when the new show starts? My one complaint: these people look NOTHING like I pictured the characters. Go figure.

You can watch the trailer here.

What's wrong with this image?

2010-05-11T12:05:00.000-07:00

There is something off about this image though granted, you'd have to be familiar with both worlds to know what it is. Any guesses? I'm sure I can dig up a cool prize...

Origins

2010-05-10T09:08:00.001-07:00

Fact: you’re likely to see Marina come up often in signage but you’re not all that likely to meet someone actually named Marina. There are some of us, but not nearly as many as, let’s say, Bella.

I once asked my Mom where the name came from and she didn’t have an answer beyond “I just liked it.” I’m thinking she may have seen it when she came to Canada for a few months as a teen, saw it and it stuck with her.

Over the years I’ve heard that it’s Russian and know that it means “from the sea” (or something like it) but the other day I learned something else about my name: I share it with a beer. Yes. Beer.

"Marina the Portuguese Beer. Dark or light, drink a flavorful beer... Marina! Fresh and cold! Generous and strong! Marina Beer, the Portuguese Beer!"
One or our subs came through the office recently and was telling a story of when he was young and living in Portugal, when people asked him where he was going he often said “To see my girlfriend Marina” meaning, he was going to go drinking. I thought he was kidding but after a little searching I discovered that there was once a beer called Marina.

Marina is was produced in the Algarve region of the country from 1969 to 1982 when the company that made it decided to abandon local brands (with it went another beer, this one made in Santarém, called Clok). In 2005 the beer was re-introduced for sale in Portugal exclusively through “Continente” and “Modelo” supermarkets. The price: 1,5€ for a six pack (about $11).

I will get my hands on a bottle of this stuff (though a six pack would be better).

Dead in the water. A run in with GPRS

2010-05-07T13:39:00.000-07:00

It sounds really complicated and it can be but this is exactly the kind of thing that can cause non-techie people like me to run the other way. Here’s how I came to discover just what GPRS is.

Earlier this week, my mobile internet stopped working. At first, I thought it was a problem with my Rogers service and thought I’d give it a few hours to sort itself out but when I checked on it a few hours later, still no internet. I rebooted, I took out the battery and still no go. I uninstalled a couple of wifi applications that I wasn’t using thinking that perhaps something I installed messed something else up causing the trouble but still nothing. At this point, I started to worry that something inside my N900 had called it quits - not good. Thankfully, I ruled out that option by connecting to Wifi at a local Starbucks. The problem was something else.

I came home and started looking around for a possible problem. What I discovered was that my Rogers Internet connection worked through GPRS. My first thought? What the hell is that? In layman’s terms, GPRS is a service that allows data to be transferred over a voice network allowing me, the user, to access the internet over my cell phone connection. Not so complicated after all!

After a little digging, I discovered that my GPRS service had lost all its settings. I don’t know how it happened or why but after a little searching, I managed to track down the settings which I then punched into my phone and voila! Mobile internet works again!

To save you the trouble of looking around for those settings, the GPRS settings for Rogers are:

username: wapuser1
password: wap
address: internet.com

If you’re with Fido, similar information can be found here. One of the things I’ve discovered in my years of using online tech tutorials is that the steps aren’t always the same for everyone, even if the person who wrote them has the apparent same setup. I’m not sure if those Fido settings are completely accurate as I haven’t tested them but I can vouch for the Rogers settings – worked like charm!

So remember, if your mobile internet stops working, it’s not the end of the world. Probably just a minor glitch in the system!

KFF

2010-05-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

Plan of Attack

2010-05-07T08:58:00.000-07:00

Northern Voice 2010 kicks off today. Last year I made the trip up to UBC for both days of the conference but this year's date change has made it difficult to take Friday's off so I'm skipping today's adventures and will, instead, watch the twitter stream from afar.

The conference has become a great place to meet bloggers and get some great tips and ideas for the year while also giving me the opportunity to see people that I generally don't see throughout the year (namely local bloggers and social media types). I usually over pack for the day carrying a backpack with more stuff than I really need but this year, I'm going to try the conference on a much lighter note while also putting my N900 to the test. The plan: to pack only the phone, extra batteries, a charger (just in case), my Kodak pocket cam and perhaps, if the weather holds up, my DSLR. Hopefully that'll mean a variety of coverage including more video, perhaps a little live streaming (which I've only attempted twice before) audio and pictures. We'll see how the experiment goes.

If you're looking for full coverage, I advise you stay tuned to Twitter (hash tag #nv10), flickr (images tagged nv10 & northernvoice) and for more in-depth updates like live blogs, I suggest checking out Miss 604.

The New Thing: Sexting

2010-05-06T10:32:00.000-07:00

WARNING: Smutty talk ahead.

Seriously? Like there aren't enough things to think about during sex? I can just see it now:

"OMG - stop thrusting! I need to decipher what Amy's text is about!!"

According to this story at Mashable, that's a possibility.

I'm having a hard time getting my head around this. Has sex turned into something so disposable that even considering texting while doing it is acceptable? Mind you, what no one mentions is what number of those sexters got a second night out of the deal. I can tell you this much: if you pulled out your phone during a make-out session, you'd be going home pretty quick never mind when the action gets hotter than a little petting. If you can't concentrate on your partner for long enough to do the deed, you probably shouldn't be doing it to begin with.

If you're one of these sexters, I suggest you may want to stock up on batteries and/or kleenex 'cause you're going to need them.

On a vaguely related note, there's a new dating website on the horizon. I know - not another one right? This one's different thought. I promise. Cupidtino's angle? A dating service for Apple Fanboys and Fangirls. I wish I was kidding but you can't make this stuff up. Geekologie sums it up nicely.

Mobile Geeks Meetup @ Storeyum

2010-05-05T12:39:00.004-07:00

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of partaking in the first of what I hope will be more Mobile Geeks Meetup.

The event was organised by Tom who you may recall hooked me up with an N900 a few weeks ago. I wasn’t sure what to expect, especially since I’m more of a geeky phone user rather than a developer but I went, thinking I might learn something new and go figure, I did.

The night started with a presentation from Samir, a Nokia expert (I think – it was so loud I missed his formal introduction) who started off by wowing the crowd with the N900 and its various features. From the built in social networking aspects (like integrated uploading to services like Flickr and Facebook) to multitasking and the awesome browser which plays in-browser flash (meaning you don’t need to open a new application to watch YouTube videos and the like). It seemed a few folks in the crowd were pretty familiar with the device even if they hadn’t actually seen one (though I did get a couple of over the shoulder looks while I was tweeting away before the meeting started – mind you, with the new red protective case, it’s hard to tell what phone it is).

Samir then continued with an overview of MeeGo, the recently announced new platform Nokia is helping to develop. My non-geeky understanding of things is that MeeGo is a sort of cross device open source OS which will allow users to run the same system on all of their devices from their cell phones to their connected TVs. What that means is that rather than running one set of applications on your phone or pocket pc, your netbook, laptop and whatever else you might use on a regular basis – you’ll be able to run the same applications on all devices. The bonus for developers? One set of APIs with only minor user experience changes for each device.

From here the discussion moved into some “above-Marina’s-head” talk about development, DRM and cross platform integration (there was some muffled chat about Android application on MeeGo devices).

One of the major highlights of the night was news of the first MeeGo device to be released later this year. I’m excited to see what that new device and what MeeGo has to offer. It may mean another upgrade next year but from my limited reading so far, it looks like there will be a MeeGo install available for the N900 later this year. We’ll have to wait and see what it offers over the current OS and what sort of applications I have to choose from.

Tom also had some cool toys on display including a couple of E72s and the two Booklet 3G mini laptops which are really spiffy. I’d love to play with one of those for a few days. If all the new info wasn’t enough, I also walked away with a bit of swag – a great new bag and one of the coolest USB sticks I’ve ever seen.

Thanks again to Tom for organising and for extending the invite my way. I’m looking forward to the next one!

PNR vs. UF

2010-05-03T11:05:00.000-07:00

Now here's a battle I didn't even know existed, never mind the fact that it appears to have been raging for some time. The question at hand: PNR (ParaNormal Romance) vs. UF (Urban Fantasy).

From Paranormal Romance Writers website which tracks new books in PNR.
My reading has always been quite mixed and I've never paid too much attention to where the material comes from (if you're familiar with any of my reading choices you'll note an disproportionately high amount of teen fiction in the mix) though I've always leaned towards fantasy. UF and PNR have been around for some time but I only came across the distinctions a few months ago when someone else was discussing Stephenie Meyer's series and though I didn't pay too much attention, I did start looking for websites that cover these two genres specifically, in hopes of uncovering another great series.

While browsing through discussions on Good Reads yesterday I came across "Popular PR You Hate," a discussion that quickly broke down into the difference between PNR and UF and though it eventually recuperated, this digression caught my attention. Frankly, I don't really see what the need for a distinction is but it obviously matters to someone. Does it?

Here's the difference between the two, just so we're clear on what we're dealing with here:

According to the Romance Writers of America, the main plot of a romance novel must revolve around the two people as they develop romantic love for each other and work to build a relationship together. Both the conflict and the climax of the novel should be directly related to that core theme of developing a romantic relationship, although the novel can also contain subplots that do not specifically relate to the main characters' romantic love. Furthermore, a romance novel must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending."

As opposed to:

Urban fantasy is a subset of contemporary fantasy, consisting of magical novels and stories set in contemporary, real-world, urban settings--as opposed to 'traditional' fantasy set in wholly imaginary landscapes. The urban fantasy protagonist faces extraordinary circumstances as plots unfold in either open (where magic or paranormal events are commonly accepted to exist) or closed (where magical powers or creatures are concealed) worlds. A romantic subplot may or may not exist within the context of the story.

Reading those two, I can't help but think that the difference is not apples to oranges but more like Fuji apples to Golden Delicious. Seriously.

From All Things Urban Fantasy website which reviews may
of the new books in UF. I love this site.
And then I followed through and found a great post at Dirty Sexy Books which outlines books that blur the lines between the two. It's highly entertaining reading which elaborates on the distinction but I'm still not sure it really matters either way. This brings me to my final, still unanswered question: does it really matter? Are readers that choosy that they'll only read material from one given classification? I don't doubt that there are some people out int he world that are that choosy but when you walk into a bookstore, it's not as though they have these sub categories and you're usually relegated to the Fantasy section. It seems to me this is a bit of a mute issue but I'm curious if anyone else out there vehemantly disagrees?

Adventures in West Vancouver

2010-04-27T09:31:00.000-07:00

Saturday was going to be a busy day with a few Before Dawn events scheduled at La Fontana. I was looking to spending a few hours with John and Val but alas, that wasn't meant to be. Grandma had been with my parents for the week and mom and dad had dinner plans. Usually, grandma stays home (she's more than capable of looking after herself) but she's also leaving for Portugal in a few weeks and this would be the last weekend she spent with us. My mom didn't want her to stay home alone so Friday night she asked if I could stay home with her. A wrench for sure but how do you say no to mom and grandma? I couldn't so I decided instead that flaking on prior commitments was the easier way out (lame but what can I say).

Hubby wanted to head out in the morning so we bundled up grandma and too a drive to Horseshoe Bay where we parked, had a leisurely brunch at Trolls and then a nice walk around the water, watching the ferries come in and out of the terminal.

After the walk, we got back into the car and rather than heading home, we convinced grandma that ice cream would be a great idea so we drove over to Deep Cove (can you believe I'd never been there?) for dessert. The streets around the main strip were clogged with cars but a lucky turn of events landed us a great parking spot. We heard some music from a nearby park and ventured to check it out to stumbled on a Dragon Boat event that was going on (thanks to Special K for clarifying what exactly we'd stumbled on).

We watched for a few minutes before moving on to check out the area. I spotted this beautiful water feature which I've named "The Lovers." I didn't think to look for the actual name though if someone knows what it is, please let me know. All I know is that I love this feature a great deal - there's something almost magical about it.

We stopped by La Fontana before heading home to drop off the film and as much as I insisted that grandma come in for coffee, tea or hot chocolate, I couldn't manage to talk her into it and so hubby stayed in the car while I popped in to say hello, mumble a lame ass apology before rushing out. We then headed home for an afternoon of R & R which included dinner and a couple of football games since it was the only thing playing on Portuguese TV and she has little patience for anything in English.

It was a fun filled day and I'm happy to have spent it with grandma. She's usually the stay at home type so I'm happy we managed to get her out for a few hours to see some stuff she hand't seen before. I also hope to see her again before she goes otherwise, it'll be September before we get a peek at her silver hair again. She wouldn't let me take pictures (something about her hair - she's worse than I am when it comes to that), but here she is, watching TV a few months back:

She's as sweet as she looks.

Band of Skulls @ Venue

2010-04-26T16:45:00.000-07:00

A concert on a Sunday night? Might as well say I was out on a school night but alas, that's the way it goes. It's also one of the perks of being an "adult" - one bad night out a little extra late and guess what? I didn't explode or turn into a pumpkin (though I did find it a little more difficult to get out of bed this morning). There was good reason for it though. A few weeks ago I discovered that Band of Skulls was coming into town but the Saturday show sold out in the blink of an eye. Thankfully, Special K wielded her magical ticket aquiring abilities and we scored tickets to the second show which was added for Sunday night.

We started off with dinner at the Lennox Pub (the food was great) before heading to Venue, a place which is quickly becoming a great spot for seeing up-and-coming bands. The night started off with a great set from California band Saint Motel whose pop/punk tunes had me up and moving. Their set was accompanied by a video (which the band created themselves) of Vancouver "stuff" including Fin, Canucks footage, an assortment of trippy sci-fi classic movies ("Barbarella" and "Logan's Run") followed up by porn-footage which had been doodled to cover up any of the bits folks might find offensive. It was immensely amusing (mostly because everyone knew exactly what was going on) and a nice touch though really unnecessary as the guys really rocked it. I'm looking forward to checking out more of their stuff.

A Montreal group called Silver Starling took to the stage next and frankly, they may as well have had some dude pumping music from the DJ booth. It's not that they were bad but their sound really wasn't working for me and certainly didn't fit either the opening act or Band of Skulls.

Shortly after 9, the head liners took the stage and rocked out some seriously great tunes. The first time I checked out a picture of the band I remember thinking that they looked like Southern rockers and I knew little about them other than to know that they met in College. I was a little surprised when singer/guitarist Russell Marsden opened his mouth and a string of barely recognizable English, complete with an accent marking him as clearly from "across the pond", came streaming out. Shocker - another awesome Brit band. And I can't go without mentioning bassist Emma Richardson who commands the stage. That girl's got serious "don't mess with me 'cause I can kick your ass" vibes. I dig.

It was an awesome show and I'd most definitely see these guys again. And if you're curious as to what you missed, here's just a taste (they closed with this tune):

Rocking my world this morning

2010-04-23T10:51:00.000-07:00

June 30th can't come soon enough.

New Best Thing: Drunk History

2010-04-22T09:31:00.000-07:00

It all started with an email.

Fellow movie writer Kurt sent around an email last week with a link to a You Tube video with the subject line "The Electric Jesus! Tesla is my Main Man!" Being a Tesla fan but not having the time to watch the video, I set it aside for when I had a little extra time which happened to be last nigh. All I can say is, you've got to see this for yourself. It's called "Drunk History: Nikola Tesla" and it stars Crispin Glover as Edison and Crispin Glover as Edison. I could do without the clips of the drunk guy (warning: there's vulgarity and a moment when he pukes on camera (at 5:02 for 2 or 3 seconds) but otherwise, this is sheer genius.

A little digging has uncovered a whole series of these videos featuring a whole bunch of other comedic stars including Jack Black and Danny McBride. You can check out all of the videos on their You Tube Channel.

Christmas in April

2010-04-21T11:10:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, either before or during a recording of Before the Dawn, Shannon and I were talking about crafting and we chatted for a few minutes about knitting. I mentioned how once, a few years ago, a local knitter and our fearless Browncoat leader had taught me enough knitting that I managed to make myself a Jayne's hat. Project complete, I quickly forgot everything I'd learned and never went back to knitting. In our discussion, I mentioned that I'd seen a pattern for Rosalie's scarf, one that she wears the first time we see her in Twilight. I'd even gone as far as to speak to Serena about another knitting lesson to make myself the scarf but that never materialized further than an idea (and a quick chat with Serena at one of Browncoat hosted events).

Months passed, I forgot about the scarf and then yesterday, I got a package in the mail from Shannon. Excited, I ripped it open to find this inside:

Needless to say, I don't simply like it. I love it. For a moment, I pined for cold weather so that I could wear it but alas, though it's raining today, the weather in Vancouver has taken a turn for the mild and it's much to warm for a scarf but I did put it on for a few joyous minutes.

I was trying very hard not to grin like an idiot when I snapped that picture. It didn't really work out but you can see my excitement at the gift. It's was like Christmas in April! I'm sure hubby thought I was crazy, prancing around the house wearing a scarf. I don't care what the weather is like in June, I'm wearing this to the premiere of "Eclipse"!

Needless to say, thank you Shannon!

My Ears Are Ringing (Almost)

2010-04-16T14:53:00.000-07:00

More like they would be if Seattle fans weren't so quick at snapping up tickets to a super secret show of the newly reformed Soundgarden. Special K tried, she tried hard to get tickets to the show tonight at the Showbox but it just wasn't meant to be. I look forward to the next opportunity for a last minute run across the border to see a band - I'm sure it'll come up (good thing I already have my passport!).

On a sadder and only vaguely related note (as in it's music related), I just found out that Pete Steele, the lead singer of Type O Negative has died. I first found the band in the mid 90's when they did a great cover of Neil Young's "Cinnamon Girl" for, if I'm not mistaken, one of the "I Know What You Did Last Summer" flicks (if I'm not mistaken, I think one of those soundtracks also featured Kula Shaker's "Tattva" - or maybe it was "Hush"... I can't recall exactly). I later saw them live at the PNE Forum and they put on a great show. I've been meaning to see if they were coming back to town any time in the future since I seem to have re-discovered the joy of live music, but alas, that's not going to happen now.

One of my favourite albums that, as I type this I recall I haven't listened to in some time, is "October Rust" so in memory of Pete, I'll be giving that a listen tonight and in meantime, I give you one of my fave tunes off said album (though they're all great):

KFF

2010-04-16T11:27:00.000-07:00

I missed my weekly entry last week so today we get a bonus image.

Finally!

2010-04-15T10:36:00.002-07:00

Borders New Moon DVD
Originally uploaded by themarina

I thought it was lost. Wouldn't you if you ordered something which was shipped the day before it was released and had been in the mail for three weeks? Yes, that's how long it took this sucker to get from whatever Borders warehouse it was shipped from to my front door, regular parcel mail. I know what you're thinking: why would you even *bother* ordering from the US if you can buy the same exact DVD around the corner? 'Cause it's not the same exact DVD - the cover of this one matches my copy of "Twilight".

I haven't had a chance to check out the extended scenes yet (been too busy to track them down on You Tube and quite frankly, I'd rather see them from the comfort of my couch with crisp, clear images) but I will get to it on Saturday, just in time to record one of our upcoming Before the Dawn podcasts.

Classical Music for Those that Don't Know Any Better - Vol. 1

2010-04-13T10:51:00.000-07:00

I'm positive that I'd probably been introduced, in passing at least, to classical music in my youth but my first experience with truly hearing and taking in the classics was in a Comparative Civilizations class in high school. Mr. Meyerhoff was a lover of the arts: music, art, film (I still see him at the Vancouver International Film Festival every year) and it was he that really introduced me to classical music. I went from hearing it in passing to actively searching it out.

I don't play an instrument and wouldn't even consider myself a connoisseur of the music but I do know what I like and having recently taken in more than a passing amount of the classicals, I thought it might be fun to share some of my favourites. For the next few weeks I'll occasionally share one of my favourite tunes starting today.

The first entry into my "Classical Music for Those that Don't Know Any Better" series features the second movement from Franz Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 94. Be sure to listen before moving on because I sort of spoil it after the video.

This is one of those works where you can never really re-live what it was like the first time you heart it. I remember jumping a few feet out of my chair the first time I heard it and though I still love the movement, particularly the flourishing middle portion where I can't help but conduct my own invisible orchestra, I love the expectation of the surprise; it's the anticipation that I love most. Surprise Symphony is an accurate description.

Busy Weekend = A Still Sick Me

2010-04-12T18:20:00.001-07:00

It looked like I was finally getting over this flu (the mucus monster) but a day out on the town sort of killed my recuperation to the point that I skipped out on an event that was scheduled for Sunday.

Sadly, even the day of rest wasn't enough to completely kill this thing and I'm still suffering theough the occasional coughing fit and a runny nose that has alredy caused me to go through two boxes of kleenex. This is going to go away soon right?

I should probably have gone home tonight to sleep but instead, I'm sitting at Starbucks waiting for two members of the Movie Group who, in all likeliness, won't even show up. The one positive: if "In Search od Beethoven" is anywhere near as good as "In Search of Mozart," it will be a great night.

2010-04-07T22:55:00.000-07:00

If you thought our fascination with "retro" was limited to music, leggings, leg warmers, boots and neon, I have something very special to share with you.

While at Costco earlier this week, hubby spotted something odd on the shelf. He told me about it when I got home, I gave him a hard time for not snapping a picture and while out and about today, he popped into the shop again and this time remembered to snap this picture:

Yes, for $30 you too can flash back to the late 70s/early 80s and enjoy a few games on your very own Atari 2600 and 7800. The console plugs into your tv, doesn't require any cartridges and comes pre-bundled with a few classics including "Centipede," "Missile Command" and "Asteroids." Loads more info on the system and what's included on the wiki.

I can just see parents bringing this home and showing their "Halo"-addicted kids these games. Wish I could see the looks on their faces!

Drowning in Tissue

2010-04-07T10:09:00.000-07:00

What I'm really drowning in is mucous but that's well, not the best way to get people to read on. Yes, I'm sick (insert whimpering sound here).

It started Sunday when I woke up with a sore throat but after an afternoon of food coma (complete with nap time), I finally headed to bed only to hear the alarm go off on Monday morning and be incapable of getting out of bed. Seriously, I was so sore, I couldn't even roll myself from the bed and the mere thought of walking from the bedroom down the hall to the kitchen to get my phone was making me ill. Thankfully, hubby came to the rescue and he had his phone handy so at 6:30AM, I called the boss lady to inform her that I was too sick to come in.

I was in bed until 2PM when I finally got up and mobile enough to shower, eat and take drugs, a regiment that has continued for nearly two days (though I did come into work yesterday feeling much better). Still feeling sick and the recycled air is doing a job on my nose but I'm definitely doing better than I was Monday. Hope I make it through the day since I've got a big night ahead.

And BTW on a completely unrelated note (other than the fact that it would probably make me feel better to see it crisp and clear on my TV), I'm cursing Borders. My "New Moon" DVD *still* hasn't arrived.

KFF

2010-04-02T21:33:00.000-07:00

Just because it's Good Friday doesn't mean we can skip KFF. On the contrary, it's all the more reason to celebrate the greatness of Keanu.

Everyone's done Japanese commercials. Even our belove Keanu. This still is from a Suntory commercial he did in the 90s.

Happy easter everyone!

White & Nerdy. Who? Moi?

2010-04-01T12:08:00.000-07:00

OK. Maybe.

I'm not a huge Weird Al fan but when Miss604 mentioned that Al's "White & Nerdy" had just come up in shuffle, I thought I'd check out the tune. I don't find it particularly hysterical though it is fairly amusing. Most of the references are a little boring but I love the bit at the 2:30 mark. I giggled uncontrollably at seeing that.

So here's your pseudo Friday snicker:

Coincidences run amuck. Marina freaks.

2010-03-30T14:49:00.000-07:00

Coincidences. Usually they're just that: unexplainable chance connections. But when things happen so close together, I can't help but wonder if something more isn't at play. Take for example this strange set of events that unfolded not five minutes ago.

I was making my way through my RSS reader. It's always the same order: real life friends, online friends, technology, writers. I was reading news on Stephenie Meyer's website about her new novella titled "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner" (I won't bore you with the details but you can read them here if you're interested) when, two paragraphs into the story I hear Tom Allen, the host of CBC Radio 2's Shift, the station that is always playing at the office, bring up news of the new book. The same book I'm reading about. Coincidental timing indeed but nothing particularly weird. Until I scrolled down the page on Meyer's site to the cover of the new book. Check it out:

Well, if you're at all familiar with one of my side projects, Before the Dawn: A Twilight Podcast, you may recognize that hourglass concept. If not, here's our logo:

Admittedly there isn't anything particularly weird about these two things happening but something about the fact that they occurred so close together have me a bit on edge. What's next I wonder?

Sunday of Rest

2010-03-29T14:48:00.000-07:00

On the heels of my recent post about scheduling, I found myself with a relatively free weekend. Aside from some work to be done on Saturday (Dale and Colleen popped in for some recording and we had dinner with my cousin), I spent a blissful Sunday resting.

The wind woke me up at 8AM and rather than staying in bed unable to sleep, tossing and turning, I got up and curled up on the couch to finish my book. I should have used the time to watch some of those movies I’m behind on but I really didn’t feel like turning on the TV and a few hours later, I had finished my book, spent some time watching hubby sleep followed by a trip to do some grocery shopping and then dinner with the family including sis who came in from Langley.

I also watched a good chunk of TV but nothing I should have been watching. Instead, I took in some Andy Samberg in “Hot Rod” (a guilty pleasure of mine), a bit of “Seven” and we even squeezed “Silence of the Lambs” in there. Hope the long weekend allows more time for catching up. That stack of DVDs is getting a little precarious.

All in all, a blissfully quiet weekend with little running around.

And just for fun, from the excellent 80s heavy "Hot Rod" soundtrack:

Browncoats. We're so much awesomer

2010-03-29T08:48:00.000-07:00

Ok. That may not be true but according to this chart, we're definitely the least wacky of the bunch. What surprises me most is that "Lost" is crammed in here. Wonder how hipsters feel to be in a category along with the rest of us sci-fi geeks?

Via Sci-fi Wire, I share with you the geek matrix. And it's pretty bloody accurate.

I fit into more than one of these categories. Should I be scared or proud of my geekdom? I'm definitely proud.

To Live and Die by GCal

2010-03-26T15:50:00.001-07:00

I never thought it would happen but here we go. I, Marina, have a problem. I live by my calendar.

It's true.

When I was in highschool, I went through these phases of what I'd do when I grew up. In one such fantasy (something I now realize was more of a narrowly avoided nightmare or sorts) I'd be a busy body running from meeting to meeting, checking my calendar and carrying a briefcase. For a time when I got my first job working in an office, I even played out that dream a little by buying an expensive Kenneth Cole lap top bag which I filled with all sorts of useless bits. When I started figuring out what I needed to carry with me the bag started to get heavy and I switched to a back pack. The problem here is that I started filling that to the point of ridiculousness. I'm digressing already - we're talking about calendars.

For many a year I tracked appointments on sticky notes stuck to the inside of my wallet but when a year into my love affair with my N95, I figured out how to sync my GCal with the on board calendar, my life changed. I started scheduling everything. And now, my calendar looks like this:

I'm sure you've noticed the calendar in the sidebar (or maybe you haven't, I don't know for sure) but it's only when I flip over to schedule something new that I notice all the black. Those are all appointments and mind you, it's not like I'm running to a due-or-die million dollar meetings but they appointments I need to keep.

Never thought "I'll need to check my schedule" would be a part of my vocabulary without being facetious but here am I, scheduling appointments three weeks in advance. Can you imagine what my wallet would look like if I was still using the sticky note method? Yeah, I'd rather not think about it either.

KFF

2010-03-26T12:49:00.000-07:00

80's Tee

2010-03-26T11:12:00.001-07:00

80's Tee
Originally uploaded by themarina

In celebration of "The Breakfast Club" playing tonight at the Empire Granville 7 as part of their monthly Empire Fan Favourites (track them on Twitter or Facebook yo!), I thought I'd wear my swanky new tee which hubby suggested I pick up when we did some shopping a few weeks ago. It totally screams me!

If I had hairspray at home, I probably would have done my bangs up as well. Why the hell not?!? The only thing I don't have: pink/blue/green eyeshadow for the ultimate make-over.

Another reason to love Japan

2010-03-24T14:35:00.000-07:00

Since it doesn't look like H.R. Giger's "Dune" designs will ever see the light of day (I find it increasingly difficult to believe the new version of "Dune" in the works will be any good and even bother going down the "dark" road), I find it endlessly amusing that the Japanese jumped on this bandwagon decades ago.

Via a new discovery (a great little site called Pink Tentacle), I give you a Pioneer ad from 1985 featuring the aforementioned creature.

Yup, I love Japan.

The Tudors Returns!

2010-03-23T10:18:00.002-07:00

It's coming back. Quicker than I could have imagined! Sometimes, living under a rock has its advantages (like not worrying about when one of your favorite shows is returning). The show in question this time around: "The Tudors."

I know Colleen isn't a fan because the history, costumes etc aren't particularly accurate but I can't help it: I love the soap opera. The romances gone wrong, the affairs, Charles Brandon, Trevor Morris' brilliant score, the set design and costuming - it's all my cup of tea and I inhale it like it's on the brink of extinction which, strictly speaking, it is.

The fourth and final season of the show hits the airwaves on April 11th and I'm a bit saddened by the whole thing. I was hoping for a longer running show and the first few seasons set it up as a season per wife. Since he had six of them, I assumed we'd get six seasons of awesome but that's not to be and this will be the last we see of Henry VIII, at least for now.

Just saw the new preview/behind the scenes promotional video for the last episodes and am impressed (as usual). Looks like more action, more sex, a new queen (or two) and lots of Charles Brandon who, if you haven't figured it out yet, is none other than the superbly handsome and talented Henry Cavill.

Did I really just post back to back pictures of the smoking hot Cavill? Why yes I did! Hope Keanu and RPattz don't get jealous (not to mention hubby).

Where was I again? Those images keep distracting me.... oh yea, "The Tudors." Here's the preview video Cavill for Season Cavill 4. Mark your Cavill calendars for April 11th!

KFF

2010-03-19T13:12:00.000-07:00

Today we take a trip in the way back machine...

Hidden Genius?

2010-03-16T10:35:00.000-07:00

For some time now I've been on the fence about Lady Gaga. At first she seemed an interesting character, a passing fad on the brink of becoming old before ever really taking off but a whack of hit singles later, she's hard to miss. She's in your face, unapologetic and a force to be reckoned with and though she's no Madonna (yet), she's on the brink of being the Material Girl's unofficial protégé (she's doing a better job of Britney what's her face).

The more I see of this girl the more I think she's a brighter cookie than anyone could ever have guessed. This image she's created has been years in the making and her constant WTF outfits are only the surface - she reminds me of a strange mix of Marilyn Manson and Madonna. How messed up is that?

I read a recent edition of The Hater which spurred me on to track down the video for "Telephone" co-written and directed by Jonas Åkerlund (best known for his films "Spun" and "Horsemen") and it is a work of shocking proportions bordering on genius. I haven't quite made up my mind how I feel about it but it's definitely worthy of consideration as one of the most subversive music videos ever made.

Thoughts?

Music on the N900

2010-03-15T09:40:00.005-07:00

One of the reasons I was looking for a phone with copious amounts of mass memory was for music. I have a 16GB iPod Touch I bought last year which I use for music (and very little else). When purchased, I thought I'd make use of the apps and I have downloaded and even purchased a number of apps but I find I mostly use it for music. The hitch is that when I'm plugged in, which is pretty much at all times when someone's not with me and I'm in travel (at least 3 hours a day) I can't hear my phone right. The N95 does have a built in music player but with only 8GB internal memory and no expansion slot, it's simply not big enough for my daily use (don't laugh). That said, I have occasionally used it and it does work great.

One of the things I had to get working on the N900 was the music player but there were a few glitches. We have an exterior hardrive connected to our network via our router with 100+ GB of music. In a desperate attempt to get things to work, I installed the OVI Music Player but the problem here is that it was taking for-ever to populate the library. The other problem: Windows 7 wasn't detecting the device as mass storage which meant that some of the other music management software out there didn't detect it as a drive for me to drop music in. I tried Double Twist, Songbird and my trusty J. River Media Jukebox (which, if you haven't checked out you really should - it's a powerful app and completely free) before finally giving up for the day.

I did some more research and reading and thought I was ready for action when something in Windows 7 clicked and when I plugged the phone in as a mass storage device on Friday, Windows actually detected it and let me transfer music over. I created a file in the main directory called Music and started transferring files over. I'd read somewhere that the internal software on the N900 wouldn't read folders but after a few tests, I discovered that that's not true and indeed, the software does actually read through folders though take note, it only organizes by meta data so make sure your music is properly tagged.

I found that for the media player to find the music in the new folder I created, I first had to use the phone's file system to navigate to my newly created "Music" folder and picked a song to pay. The media player then detected the rest of the music and I haven't had to navigate there again - the library automatically detects newly added music.

This is the sleek media player window that comes up when you launch the application:

It's very sleek.

This is a shot of the music library. I think it automatically detects images as album covers but I haven't figured out that bit yet - yes, I'm a little anal about my album covers.

I think there may be other viewing options available (like a list view) but I haven't checked those out yet). There's also the option to create playlists on the go and add music to a "now playing" sort of queue, something which I loved on the Zune but which the iTouch is lacking.

This is the "Now Playing" screen:

If you're multitasking or simply want quickly restart your music (if, for example, you paused it or it was paused by an incoming answered call or something), you can do so from the desktop. I have a little widget sitting on the left hand side of my first desktop:

Other great bonuses is internet radio and I think the phone also has a built in FM transmitter that I have yet to explore.

The other major hurdle to jump was music tracking. I live by Last.fm and had to figure out how to get it to work (hence why I was so eager to use either Songbird or Media Jukebox, both of which have scrobblers) but the N900 has one better: instant scrobbling. Let me explain.

A scrobbler is a little program that runs with your software (there are a bunch of versions for various mp3 players and desktop applications including one for iTunes though lately I'be been having quite a bit of trouble with the iTunes plugin). A wonderful developer by the name of Claudio Saavedra went ahead and built a Last.fm scrobbler. Once installed it's activated from the phone's "Settings" menu. You add your username and password and voila! You're set to go! The scrobbler uses the internet connection to automatically update your Last.fm account in real time. It's a sweet sweet set-up!