Monday, February 27, 2006

It's been seven years since I last watched the brilliant film eXistenZ. I just viewed it for the second time, and I have got to say that it still blows me away in the same sense that it did the first time. If you've seen the Matrix, you've seen something very similar to eXistenZ. Both are about existentialism, and force you to question the reality around you.

But I would say the similarities end there. I find the Matrix to be far more linear (which I am suggesting is a bad thing in this case) and definite in terms of what it suggests, and is considerably weaker as a consequence. By the end of the third film, it is no longer a series of movies making us question existence, but rather a sci-fi flick where our invented machines have fed us a false reality. Don't get me wrong, I love the premise of the Matrix films (though you probably all know I disliked both the second and third films a lot...), but after the first film I found the story laid out in front of us, and it was merely the retelling of something. At the end of the third one I wasn't wondering about myself or what I had just been shown, so much as thinking "I guess that's the end."

eXistenZ is an entirely different beast. The beginning, middle, and end of the film make you wonder what is real. The ending especially blows my mind, and without spoiling it, I'll just say that I ended the film both times wondering more and more about what makes reality tangible. Being a person who plays increasingly realistic (visually that is) video games, I can very easily relate to the premise of the film - which revolves around a virtual reality gaming system.

When you finish watching eXistenZ you think "Is that the end? Is there an end? Is there a beginning?" And it leaves you with more questions along that line of reasoning. The production quality is admittedly much poorer than in the Matrix, and character development is largely lacking. But at the same time, this all plays into the idea of a game-world...one that is close to real but not quite real, so I think the low production really lends itself to supporting the premises of the film. The battle of predetermination or self-consciously guiding our lives especially shines through in this regard.

So go rent it or download it or whatever, it's such an awesome film and you're missing out if you haven't seen it.

posted by Not Indie Enough 5:04 PM  2 comments

Thursday, February 23, 2006

 

Here is further proof. See all those pretty colours? That is precipitation. Did Nav Canada's aviation forecasts predict it though? No. None of it. They suggested it might "rain" a bit Toronto. Seems to me the entire southwest of Ontario is being smothered by some suspiciously cold and white looking rain to me. 

posted by Not Indie Enough 4:03 PM  2 comments

That's it. It's final. I hate Canadian weather. I HATE IT!!! I wanna move to a freaking tropical paradise with a constant temperature of 20 degrees where it never rains and has ANY bad weather. I have praised winter for my entire life. I hate the heat, truly I do. But I HATE fucking snow. I hate high winds. I hate low clouds. I hate rain, sleet, ice pellets, hail, tornados, floods...EVERYTHING that prevents me from flying.

Why am I bitter today? Because my original flight got cancelled because of low cloud. No big deal. But then there was hope - the sky was totally blue, and had no clouds marring its beautiful hue. And then it gave me a big FUCK YOU...

I show up to do my pre-test flight. I get in the plane with my flight instructor, clouds had started moving in but the reports were saying it wasn't too low, so hey we were fine. And the wind was picking up a lot too but that didn't matter, I can handle a bit of turbulence. No....no neither of those things were the problem.

The problem was that when I took off...I looked to where I was going. Let me actually draw for you what I saw:













See that above? That's what I saw. Screw a polar bear with its eyes closed in a snowstorm. It was more like "This is a picture of a snow flake in amongst a billion trillion trillion other snowflakes."

I logged 0.3 hours in the plane. I took off, turned round, and landed.

Fuck you winter.

posted by Not Indie Enough 3:49 PM  2 comments

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

What a bittersweet day for Canada. Two golds, two silvers, arguably our best day in the olympics thus far, and we are now fourth place with 18 medals - our best ever finish already, and if we get a few more we will in fact be ahead of the United States. That is a spectacular achievement...

Which helps to balance the awful...awful loss we have just endured to the Ruskies. 2-0...I dare say it SHOULD have been freaking 1-1 at the worst...that referee can shove it where the sun don't shine. We HAD a freaking goal. What the hell kind of crap was this no video-replay B.S??? In my mind the whistle was NOT blown before the goal went in.

BAH.

But it's okay...eighteen medals, five gold, eight silver, five bronze is something to be DAMNED proud of. The Russians can shove their hockey win up their arses cuz we have more medals - and they get to play the Finns now, who will (with any luck) obliterate them...

But I'm not bitter.

posted by Not Indie Enough 5:15 PM  1 comments

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

hahaha, so they HAVE come out with a 24 movie!. haha I am deadly serious! It's got Kiefer as Jack Bauer (or a character essentially identical to him) and everything!

posted by Not Indie Enough 5:48 PM  1 comments

Monday, February 20, 2006

It's funny where you find yourself sometimes. I rather not go into all the details of today, but I found myself at 2 rub n' tugs, 10 garages, a steel drum (like musical steel drum) manufacturer's, a hypnosis office, and a McDonald's. Sounds fun enough, but I was rather bitter about today. I have a pounding headache from all the paint fumes and my clothes reek of incense and gasoline. All I can do is vent.

PS. I was not a customer at any of the places above... except McDonald's. It was Big Xtra day. You can't make this shit up.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRACE!

posted by Steven 8:35 PM  0 comments

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Oh MY. I just watched The Family Guy on Global. Episode 416 - Jungle Love. I had seen the ENDING of the episode before but I unfortunately missed how it was that they ended up in a jungle being chased by South American tribe ala Indiana Jones.

The beginning, damn near made me piss my pants. Chris was starting high school and was a freshman, and as such he was gonna get a whoopin! My first thought was "haha it's like Dazed and Confused." And lo and behold - they started playing none other than Alice Cooper's No More Mister Nice-Guy and you see Benny O'Donnell, Randal Floyd, and Melvin Spivey sitting there laughing at Adam west paddling Chris. I was laughing out VERY loud.

Then later you see Stewie talk about his agent, and it cuts to a scene of him as a pseudo Dorothy Michaels a.k.a Michael Dorsey a.k.a Dustin Hoffman. Again, nearly pissing myself laughing, and again, very out loud.

So why am I bringing this up? Ladies and gents - what do we think? Is Family Guy funnier than the Simpsons? I used to be a staunch supporter that the Simpson's can never really be toppled from their position as the funniest sit-com (animated or live action) on television but these days I just sit there laughing out loud to Family Guy thinking "This is so much better." So let's hear other's opinions!

posted by Not Indie Enough 10:27 PM  4 comments

Ugh. I just watched the Canada-Finland men's hockey game. I just don't get why we couldn't score. I never claim to be an expert on hockey but it just seems to me that after that first period the Canadians absolutely dominated the game. Granted in the last five minutes or so of play they really lost steam - but in the second period and beginning of the third period they were absolutely on fire. I will grant you that the Finnish defense played very tight and any opportunity that the Canadians gave them was taken, but offensively the Canadians just destroyed the Finn's effort. That blasted Niittymaki just somehow managed to stop everything, or we had bad luck - a pass from Thornton to Bertuzzi right in front of a wide open goal in particular was a really good chance but Bertuzzi barely missed the pass. Ugh.

On the bright side - MANY congratulations to Pierre Leuders and Lascelles Brown for their silver in men's two-man bobsled, and Cindy Klassen for her silver in the women's 1000m speed skating finals. And finally...TOMORROW ladies and gentlemen - switch your televisions to CBC at 2:30pm EST for the women's finals between Canada and Sweden. Let's hope for another Gold!

posted by Not Indie Enough 5:12 PM  3 comments

Thursday, February 16, 2006

5:45am - Wake up
7:00am - Board southbound train at Finch station
7:30am - Arrive at work and process morning purchase orders
11:30am - Sign-out, board northbound train to Yonge/Bloor
12:00pm - Lunch with mom on the PATH
1:30pm - Westbound to Inslington
2:00pm - Medium double double at Islington & Advance rd.
3:15pm - Interview with Chris and Diane (15 minutes ahead of schedule)
4:00pm - Shake hands, eastbound to Yonge
5:00pm - Meet and vent to Velle
5:30pm - Call back from Diane requesting 2nd interview
6:00pm - Dinner with Velle at Spring Rolls
8:??pm - Meet Cy for drinks
9:55pm - Northbound. Say goodbye to Cy at Eglington station.
10:05pm - Northbound. Hug Velle goodbye at Sheppard-Yonge station.
11:00pm - Get home.
11:27pm - Blog, brush teeth, and pass out.

posted by Steven 11:27 PM  0 comments

ah, i just love this story. specifically check out Harper's comment, and the offical comment from the Prime Minister's Office: "I don't think members of the former Liberal government are in any position to be preaching about respect for voters." that's just gold. i mean, didn't the tories campaign against exactly this sort of thing? wasn't this the wave of criticisim they rode into office? hahah. fuck i love double standards. and Gilles Duceppe kills it with his comments. after this, and those debates back in january he definitely gets the award for funniest politician.

here's hoping that none of you reading this voted for the conservatives thinking they represent the moral high ground in this country.

posted by theonlybradever 3:12 PM  1 comments

Well, the Ford has been through even more hell today. I was on my way to class when Ashwin called me from the flying club telling me that class was cancelled. Oh well I thought, and turned the car around. So I was on my way back when wait! What's this? My passenger side wheels dont have ANY traction! And wait what's this! The car is drifting off the road! Oh GOODY its gone onto the shoulder...Oh GOODY its gone off the shoulder and down the 45 degree embankment into four feet of snow!!

So then I waited. I had my cell phone, called for a tow truck. I was standing outside in freezing rain. My car was getting iced by the minute, as was I.

I have to admit though, I was kind of happy to live in Canada at that moment. I swear, every third car stopped and asked if I needed help. It was pretty incredible. After a while I couldn't stop laughing when people would pull over. It was incredible. Sometimes a line of cars would come by, and the first person would pull over and ask, then the third or fourth person, and then the last person. Was pretty cool. But yah...even cops came by, asked if I was okay. Then the tow truck finally came...he had to call the cops to stop traffic...then I caused a traffic jam...that lasted a good five minutes, people must have been none too impressed. But yah...what a shitty morning. $80 for doing absolutely nothing but driving down the street and turning around...On the bright side the car doesnt seem to be damaged in any way, so I didn't need a tow anywhere else.

On the real bright side, about 30-40ft down from me were trees that my car would have smashed into. And about 50ft behind me was a big sexy metal fence that would have had a good go at ruining the front of my car...soooo I can't complain too much.

Though the feeling in my hands still hasn't really come back yet. And I was even wearing gloves.

posted by Not Indie Enough 9:38 AM  1 comments

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

FINALLY someone actually has the presence of mind to raise legitimate discussion over the whole anti-Islam cartoon disaster. I feel this is an accurate analysis of the situation that has unfortunately been ignored by the majority of the world's population. it's a shame more people can't be this level headed.

posted by theonlybradever 6:15 PM  2 comments

Oh my. My poor poor ears have been deprived for many moons now...but at last HE HAS RETURNED!!! I just downloaded the Gate, Sam Robert's new single...it rocks. A toe-tapping song with a relentless rhythm that just builds the song up to a rambling finale. God I remember why I love his music so much now.

posted by Not Indie Enough 5:02 PM  0 comments

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

i think something strange is happening in this world. this morning i got up early to cover andy's 9-5 shift at Galaxy since he's off playing in Columbia, and i'm reading through the morning news, and i gasp as i realize i completely agree with an article published by The Sun. I'm comforted by the fact that the winnipeg version seems to have people on the payroll that aren't idiots.

this article echoes the comments i've been making the last few days. i've never been a SUPER patriotic rah rah go Canada type of person, but honestly, how can anyone that has any love for this country sleep at night when they're doggedly harrassing one of this countries greatest icons? the man has done NOTHING wrong. as he said, "there is no story about me here." someone needs to slap all these idiot journalists. THEY are a disgrace to this country. This modern day cruxifiction is shameful. have they suddenly forgotten that not only his mother but also his grandmother have just recently passed away? i mean, hell, he's leading our men's hockey team in the olympics RIGHT NOW, isn't that enough pressure to place on him? are these same journalists going to blame it on him if the team doesn't win gold because they think he's distracted? it's the FUCKING MEDIA that's doing the distracting you idiots! just let the guy get back to work in peace.

posted by theonlybradever 9:34 AM  2 comments

Monday, February 13, 2006

Happy Valentine's Day ;)

posted by Steven 11:06 PM  2 comments

Well much to my dismay (which is a bit paradoxical...) it turns out that my next flight with my flight instructor is my pre-flight test. Meaning the flight following that will be my flight test. I say much to my dismay because suddenly I am scrambling to go over hundreds of little pieces of information to ensure that when I am asked the multitude of ridiculous questions by my flight test examiner I am not caught off guard.

The flight test examiner is in his every right to ask me essentially ANYTHING. An example would be - what is the tire pressure in a Cessna 172? How often does an aircraft have to be re-weighed to ensure airworthiness? Name the four sections of the technical log. How often and by whom must the Emergency Locator Transmitter be certified? Is an entry required in the Journey Logbook?

He could point to one of the like six antennas on the aircraft and ask me what that one antenna is in fact for.

And I have to know all this. Nevermind the fact that I then have my actual flying skills evaluated. That bit won't be a walk in the park either, as some of the things we are required to do involve putting the aircraft into rather unnatural situations - ie. spiral dive, stall, climbing banking stall....the list goes on.

So please...pray for Mojo...er...I mean...ME.

posted by Not Indie Enough 8:57 PM  6 comments

AHAHAH!!! Oh my GOD I want one of THESE!!! Holy crap best toy EVER...

posted by Not Indie Enough 1:13 PM  2 comments

so there's been some interestingly funny news this morning relating to gun violence. first, as noted by paul, good ol' cheney proving that momments like those found in the film wedding crashers aren't entirely fictional.

second, some girl didn't notice she'd been shot while dancing, the the lesson here is that sometimes, gun violence can be funny. i guess.

posted by theonlybradever 10:51 AM  3 comments

Sunday, February 12, 2006

I genuinely hope that the gun in the photo in this article is the gun that Dick Cheney actually shot his lawyer buddy with "accidentally" (I put that in parentheses because honestly...he shot a lawyer...I don't care if its accidental or not, it's funny) whilst hunting.

I'd love to believe this will somehow have an effect on American gun control policy. But it won't. Still though, it's funny. Shame Cheney didn't shoot himself in the foot (literally though).

posted by Not Indie Enough 10:37 PM  1 comments

Saturday, February 11, 2006

So we should have made mention of this earlier - but in any case as I'm sure most of you know, the 20th Olympic Winter games have begun in Torino, Italy! And low and behold, on the first day of the competition, our own Jennifer Heil has won women's mogul GOLD!! That's Canada's first medal of these olympics, also Jennifer's first medal, and I believe it's also our first Gold in women's moguls, if not first medal in women's moguls period. So MANY congratulations to her, and I'd say this is a fantastic start for the Canadian team, and I am willing to bet it will raise spirits in a BIG way and help lead us to our best ever Olympics!

posted by Not Indie Enough 2:29 PM  2 comments

Friday, February 10, 2006

FINALLY!!!! the game i've always wanted!!! this combines two of my all time passions! it's gonna be sweet!

posted by theonlybradever 4:44 PM  0 comments

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Happy Birthday mom, Happy Birthday andy.

posted by Steven 5:40 AM  0 comments

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

...and it begins. i have to wonder what all those self-righteous conservatives are thinking now. so much for keeping promises. and how long has harper been in office? yeah, one day. i have to wonder if this is a new record.

posted by theonlybradever 8:43 PM  2 comments

Friday, February 03, 2006

haha, apparently, people in the United States, are considered responsible enough to turn the things down before their ears start bleeding, whereas in france, they are not. i mean, honestly, suing someone for this, is like complaining that staring at the sun is making you blind. it's your own damn fault idiots!

posted by theonlybradever 1:29 PM  0 comments

                                   

Wow. Anyone else remember this little baby right here? I just saw Traffic on IFC. Why is this important? Because of the soundtrack. I bought the soundtrack on the second day of university. So many memories come back...haha and I felt it appropriate to put up an entertaining photo to help balance out the sappiness of the post. Beastor the Sandwich. That sucker was crazy delicious.

It's been well over four years since we made that sandwich. How have we all changed? Do we still crave the fantastic mix of three meats and two cheeses? It's hard to say really, though I imagine yes, yes we do still crave that mix...so...in fact..maybe we haven't changed at all. But many other things have changed. Are our livers still strong? Does Hendrix have many gigabytes of porn as he once had on the Beast? Alas, I fear the answer to both those questions is a resounding no.

I'll miss those days.

Actually who am I kidding? I have money now. And I don't live in a pigsty. But I will miss all the cheers and beers. *sniffle*....I really miss Beers. Damned good guy he was....(best name EVAR!)

At this point I'm just coming up with funny things to link to. Penis! 

posted by Not Indie Enough 12:48 AM  3 comments