you contract it the day you accept all you see is a mirror and a mirror is all it can be. a reflection of something we're missing.

As some of you may have noticed, I have updated my profile photo. The style is highly influenced by Matthew Woodson’s works. (see post below)
By the way, can anyone guess where the background is from? Hint: it is taken from an album cover of one of my favorite songwriters.

Blogger only allows me to upload a small version up, click here to see the original size.

i've got desperate desires and unadmirable plans

i almost died reading this on the brandnew streetteam page:

Presale Tickets for 6 Brand New shows will be available tomorrow March 31!

6.29 House of Blues, Lake Buena Vista, FL
7.11 The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA
7.12 Roseland, Portland, OR
7.13 Showbox, Seattle, WA
************7.22 Kool Haus, Toronto ON************
7.27 Webster Hall, New York, NY

Click here for tickets. http://brandnew.ducatking.com/

i'm so buying tickets (probably 2) to that show!!!!!!!!!! so, if you want to see one of the most amazing band live, let me know before tomorrow and i'll order more tickets.

new featured artist

At last I have finished my opera and Mozart essays!!! So now, I can finally work on this long overdue post! I came across Matthew Woodson’s crazily amazing site about a month ago. Woodson is a 22 year old graduate of the Art Institute of Chicago. He does many beautiful, lifelike illustrations of mostly human, some animals, insects, and landscapes. All of his works are hand drawn in ink and than colored in Photoshop. (that’s very similar to my process too!) What caught my attention was the way Woodson presents body language in his drawings. His characters are so lifelike: their body gestures, facial expressions, and the way they interact with other characters are unbelievably natural; thus creating real emotions... yet, they embed these cartoon-ish characteristics in them. This is kind of difficult to explain, please check out examples of Woodson’s work here and maybe you’ll get what I am trying to say.

ps, I’m currently working on new art for this blog, so look for new changes in the near future! here's a little preview. enjoy!

i've won hundreds at the track, but i'm not betting on the afterlife

here you go Millie, Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins on David Letterman!! Enjoy!

taking a break and updating this blog pt. II

In the past week, there are three songs that I have played over and over again; all of them by Bright Eyes. The first song is “June On The West Coast”, a song about a shy individual who longs for the attention and love of another. The second song is “First Day of My Life”. It is an absolutely beautiful love song between two people. I like this song because it can be applied to any types of relationships! That is, relationships which only involve two people (homosexual or heterosexual), but not open or polyamorous relationships. Plus, the video for the track is probably one of my favorite music videos of all time… it fits the song perfectly! The final song is “A Perfect Sonnet”: the ultimate anti-love song. Here, Oberst expresses his hatred for all the cute little couples in the world by drowning them in the ocean or throwing them into fire. All of the songs mentioned above feature some of the greatest lyrics by Conor Oberst, give them a try!

June On The West Coast
First Day of My Life and watch the video here (i also have the video in high-quality quicktime format, email me if you want a copy)
A Perfect Sonnet

Perhaps the reason why I have been playing these songs nonstop is because for the first time in my life, I long for love: to love and to be loved. I guess I want all the wonderful little things that movies and books and songs promised, but at the same time, I am afraid of the suffering, pain, and sadness that love might ultimately entails.

buy Bright Eyes releases here

taking a break and updating this blog

So, I’ve been locked up in my computer room for the entire day today trying to get my opera essay done. As soon as that’s done, I have to start my symphony essay; they are both due on Thursday! I actually contained myself from signing onto msn, stopped watching Howl’s Moving Castle, and only looked at porn once! Right now, I am taking a break so I can post four songs from the Final Fantasy Young Canadian Mothers 7". I received my copy of the 7” a few weeks ago (despite the fact that I preordered the goddamn thing in the middle of December 2005!) Anyways, the thing features a fine remix of “This is the Dream of Win & Regine”, now entitled “This Is The Dream Of Emma & Cam”, a new arrangement of “The Sea” (I prefer the original way more), a new song “Spell For A Weak Heart”... well, not really new for those who’ve been attending Final Fantasy shows, and lastly, the lovely cover of Joanna Newsom’s “Peach, Plum, Pear”. Enjoy!

This Is The Dream Of Emma & Cam
The Sea (Tenderizer)
Spell For A Weak Heart
Peach Plum Pear
***file has expired, reload upon request

buy the 7 inch here. you can also purchase a copy from Rotate This and Soundscapes in Toronto.

insert something clever here

This is probably going to be another long rant, so, beware, stop reading now, you’ve been warned. Ok, too late, now you are forced to read the rest of this long and probably boring post. First, someone told me today (Millie) that my blog has became a music blog and that all I post are music stuffs... well, fuck you, I don’t see you doing anything with your blog! (just kidding Millie, I love you)

I.
I saw a movie today at Carlton called Rhinoceros Eyes starring Michael Pitt. I highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Donnie Darko. Chep (Michael Pitt) is this semi-weird/idiot-ish/schizophrenic kid who works and lives among a 50 pound cherry, outrageous costumes, ugly toys, and endless junks located in a rusty props shop. One day, he encounters an art director (Paige Turco) who’s filming a movie and needed some really hard to find props. Immediately, Chep is drawn to her and will do anything to get her the props. Thus starts Chep’s wide and bizarre props hunting journey. The movie deals with hallucinations, fantasies, and alter ego... and it also features some really cool and freaky stop-motion animations! The entire cast is wonderful, with exceptional performances by Michael Pitt (as always), Paige Turco (the art director lady) and this girl who plays the ticket booth person (I don’t know her name, and I’m too lazy to look it up). To top it all, it was filmed in Toronto. I hope I didn’t give anything too important away. What do you think Millie? Do I need to edit out anything?

II.
Downloading doesn't hurt the music industry! Read the Canadian Record Industry Association study here.

III.
First disappointment of 2006: From First to Last’s Heroine. This was one of the albums I have been anticipating for a while. FFTL’s last effort Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has A Body Count was on my top 10 in 2004; as a result, there is no doubt that I was excited to hear new materials from them. I’ve probably listened to the disc about four or five times now; overall, it is mediocre: a couple of decent tracks, but no real highlights, at all! Very disappointing!! Speaking of anticipations, one of my most anticipated albums for 2006 is brand new Brand New. I have been listening to their new demos nonstop for a few months now. I am blown away by what the boys have created so far!

IV.
High-quality releases so far: Jenny Lewis: Rabbit Furcoat, Test Icicles: For Screening Purposes Only (incredibly amazing record), and Anti-Flag: For Blood And Empire
3 in 3 months... not bad at all!

V.
The weather's been marvelous this week. Did I just use the word marvelous to describe the weather... damn, that's gay!

VI.
There are so many hypocrites out there!!!

VII.
Nuit Blanche: an all-night celebration of contemporary art taking place on the evening of September 30th until the morning of October 1st. For that one night, hundreds of museums, galleries and other facilities across Toronto will open their doors to present free art programs to residents. I am so there!

VIII.
Thursday has a new single out “Counting 5-4-3-2-1”. You can download it here. ***file has expired, reload upon request This is what Geoff from Thursday has to say about the track:
"The song is about a friend of mine that died while we were in high school. He was my partner in French class and we had a few things in common. Aside from being terrible at French and loving the same girl two seats ahead of us, we both hated living in a small suburban neighborhood where everyone dressed the same, looked the same and liked the same types of food. Both of us would talk for hours about where we were going to go when we got out of school and went off on our own. Unfortunately, he was hit by a train that runs behind the bleachers on the football field. When I finally finished school and moved away from that town, all I could think of was the fact that he would never have the chance to leave. Now, years later, I think of how many of my friends have been swallowed up by places that they'll never leave and it keeps me determined to follow my heart. I hope if any of you ever get the chance to leave a place that you can't stand, you play this song as you drive away. That would do my heart some good."

Umm... I think that’s all the randomness I can provide for now... I was going to include a new featured artist, but I guess I’ll wait and put that in a new post.

when you're sleeping with someone who doesn't get you, you're gonna hate yourself in the morning

Jenny Lewis is performing on David Letterman tonight!!! There is no way I'm going to miss her this time! Thanks to YouTube, her performance on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson is up online... YouTube is the new VCR!!!!!

everybody's got somebody to lean on, put your body next to mine, and dream on

As many of you know, I went to the Jenny Lewis concert last Thursday. I did managed to seek my camera in. However, by the time I got into the venue, the place was already packed and I did not feel like pushing my way to the front. As a result, I did not take any pictures… well, I tried to, but they all ended up looking extremely blurry. The concert itself was great! Although I think Millie liked it 10000000x more than I did. (Millie has become a lesbian during the concert as she is now in love with Jenny Lewis!) I thought Jenny was amazing - her voice was spectacular live! She also brought along with her the Watson Twins, which were so goddamn cute!!!! They coordinated every move, even when they reach for their water bottles, they were always synchronized! My only complaint is that she didn’t perform “Handle with Care”.

I have been listening to lots of Canadian music this past week, mostly Final Fantasy and Feist and oh, I finally started listening to the new BBS album!

Feist - Nothin' in This World Can Stop me Worrying 'Bout That Girl (live Kinks cover)
i love the ending of this one!!

Broken Social Scene - Almost Crimes (Acoustic)
Broken Social Scene - 7/4 (Shoreline) video feat. Feist!

***Lastly, there is now a link at the side for upcoming concerts (under 'notable posts')... I’ll be updating it periodically, so make sure you check it out and tell me if you want to go to any with me!

Threadless $10 Sale!!!

Holy Shit! Threadless is having a quicky sale! Just 48 hours to fulfill your $10 tee shirt needs. Damn, the last time they had a sale like this, I bought like three fucking shirts... I'm going to be so broke!!! If you are going to buy something, make sure you use the links from this blog as it will give me streetteam points... and I will love you forever and possibly sleep with you!

***be patient, the site is extremely slow right now due to heavy traffic!