revival of a career on canadian idol

has anyone noticed the contestants on canadian idol these past 2 years? ok, probably not because no one watches that show. well, i honestly haven't followed it as much as i used to (i was a big kalan porter and jacob hoggard supporter two years ago), but i watched it the other day out of boredom, there's nothing else on in the summer. so there's a contestant on there named rob james. anyone remember that group mcmaster & james? well it's the same james. and i'm almost positive that the mcmaster portion of this band writes songs for canadian idol winners. and last year, one of the moffats was on the show.

shouldn't there be a clause in the show that if you've already released an album and have had a recording contract, you're disqualified? especially in the moffats' case, they toured the world. at least mcmaster & james only had minor success in canada, a one-hit wonder at best.

is shania twain going to enter next year? she hasn't done anything in awhile.

what has music come to? i'm not dogging canadian idol at all because i enjoy these contest shows (so you think you can dance is a great show), but there's gotta be a line somewhere when they start recycling has-been musicians.

concert count

#14: Broken Social Scene, Feist, Bloc Party and others (24-June-06) - Olympic Island

this was an all day outdoor music festival, and from what i gather, something broken social scene has organized for the past 3 years on centre island. i was pretty excited just to go hang outside and listen to music. we missed most of the random bands at the beginning (a DJ and a band named raising the fawn), caught a guy named j mascis, then feist, bloc party and broken social scene.

i thought feist was great, she had the flu, but still sounded amazing. she tried to get the crowd to sing with her, but it was a pretty weak effort. there was a bit of clapping in unison too, but if you have read my previous post on music notes, you'd know if i partook in the clapping or not.

we were basically lining up for food the whole time bloc party were performing, but they sounded good. i have their CD, but just haven't really gotten into their music, so i didn't really care that we were waiting for food while they were on stage.

and broken social scene were cool too. they're one of those bands where they get lots of good press and lots of people like them, but they're always one of those bands on my "to check out" list, but haven't gotten around to doing so yet. i bought one of their t-shirts though at the merch tent. i feel like such a poser because it's not like i'm a big fan, i just liked the shirt. oh well.

i think i saw k-os in the pizza pizza line too. or at least it was someone who looked him. he asked the guy two spots in front of him to buy him pizza so he didn't have to wait in line. if it was k-os, that's very rockstar of him to bud in line like that.

all in all, great day, great show. my best friends at the show: water and sunscreen.

not your average parade

went to the pride parade with a friend and her boyfriend. it was interesting, but bloody hot outside, so we couldn't stay for the whole thing.

there were random topless women and a naked man too. my question: is public nudity not against the law if it's in the pride parade? i guess so because there were cops in the parade too, they weren't arresting anyone.

this parade isn't really about the elaborate floats, so after awhile, it's kind of boring to watch, for me at least. so we went to eat instead. there were tonnes of people out though, and a few major streets were closed down for it. even the mayor was marching down with a water gun. awesome.

just another day at work

today at lunch, a few friends and i went down to the store to watch a fashion show.

a men's underwear fashion show.

it's pride week, so the fashion show had drag queens and the hot models in skimpy underwear. i was a little embarrassed watching such a fashion show, but it was still fun. last year, when i was working in the store, i got to help out on the two fashion shows we had for pride week, which was even more fun. i got to be a dresser, which meant i handed the model the clothes to change into while he takes off the clothes he was wearing. pretty much the only time in my life i'll be telling a model to take off their clothes.

the pride parade is this sunday and i might go and check it out with some friends.

i heard on the radio or on tv that the government (conservative, mind you) is starting a marketing campaign to attract homosexuals to come and vacation in canada. turns out the average gay person will spend $5000/week while on vacation, whereas the average straight person only spends $1500/week. how they collect this information, who knows.

every week should be pride week if there's going to be underwear fashion shows all the time.

sad and angry

ok, so the oilers lost. no one even talk about it. i don't want to hear anything. they played a decent game, but just not getting the luck like the hurricanes.

they lost, i'm over it.

what got me so angry was at the sports bar we were watching the game in, there were these group of university punks by us who were just being obnoxious. they were calling us bandwagoners, even though 9 out of the approximately 20 people we were there with were from edmonton and have been watching the oilers play all season, if not for years. most of us were wearing jerseys, shirts, had flags and our mini stanley cup on the table. they would purposely cheer for the hurricanes, and started chanting "let's go leafs." they were saying shit like "you see that jersey on the wall (a leafs one), that's a real team." yeah if you call a "real team" a bunch of overpaid crybabies who didn't even make the playoffs.

if they were real carolina fans, that would be fine. but they were purposely there to be annoying. i know they were doing it just to get a rise out of people, and i did yell at them and give them dirty looks, even though i shouldn't have given them the satisfaction of showing my anger. such losers.

i wanted to either punch them in the face, or kick them in the balls. or mix it up a little, punch one, kick another. i've never felt so much hatred for any one or group of people before.

and when we were leaving, there were some other oilers fans on the streets waving this huge flag and chanting "let's go oilers." then these other group of losers decides to yell out "you lost." why is there no support in this city for anything other than toronto?!?!? i effen hate toronto for this exact reason.

i wish i was quicker with the comebacks and could yell something witty back at these loudmouths, but i was so angry i couldn't even think properly.

the losers went to mcmaster. that's not even a real university. when you graduate and get a job at starbucks, i'll be sure to throw my change in the tip jar. loser.

concert count

#13: Arctic Monkeys (17-June-06) - Kool Haus

i love brit bands, so naturally, i like the arctic monkeys. and the one thing i really like about them, is that you can tell they're british. some musicians/bands lose their accent when they sing, but not the arctic monkeys.

the show was pretty good. but i was a little distracted b/c i was missing game 6 of the stanley cup finals for it. i had faith the oilers could pull through and i'd get to watch a game 7 though. i got my friend to text me the score throughout the game.

the openers were a band called we are scientists. we got there halfway through their set, and i've read about them. they sounded pretty good, but i wasn't really paying much attention.

this was an all ages show, and there were quite a few kids there. and by kids, i mean pre-teens and teens. there were this group of girls by us, probably around 12-14 years old, accompanied by their mom, who would randomly start dancing. talk about embarrassing.

the coolest part though was at one point, a bunch of people starting chanting "let's go oilers let's go." it wasn't loud, but i heard it. brought a smile to my face.

at the end of the show, the guitarist did something very rockstar - he smashed his guitar on the stage. and there was no encore, they finished their set, music came on, and the roadies started taking down the equipment. the club probably needed to get these kids out and start selling alcohol. i'm totally fine with the no encore, why not play all the songs instead of making everyone wait a few minutes, knowing full well they haven't played their latest single yet and will be right back on stage? i understand where the concept of the encore started, but instead of being something spontaneous, now it's all planned out.

my shopping philosophies

some random philosophies i live by while shopping. i have developed these through years of research and practice.

1. always buy things on sale (i may on the rare occasion buy regular price, but only if i really love the item and think it'll sell out fast).

2. if something fits well, is a good deal, and i really love it, i will buy it in multiple colours. i can probably coordinate a few outfits with the same items, just in different colours.

3. you can never have enough black pants. they go with everything (except brown and navy).

4. you can never have enough shoes. ever.

5. sometimes it's necessary to go on scouting missions at the mall. usually this is done at the beginning of the season, and you may not have any intention to buy anything, but you might want to check out what's in and keep a mental note of stores to go back to in a few weeks to see if it's on sale yet.

6. CDs are like food, a basic necessity. i never think twice about buying them.

7. develop acceptable price ranges you are willing to pay at specific stores, so then you can determine if things are actually a good deal and worth the purchase. for example, i might be willing to pay $50 for a skirt at banana republic b/c i know the product is good quality, will last me a long time, and their price points are usually higher than that. but if i saw the same skirt at H&M, i would not buy it for $50 b/c of opposite to the reasons i'd buy it at banana for.

8. always keep your receipts for the possibility of a price adjustment.

i think that's about it.

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EDIT - i thought of another one:

9. be cautious about jumping on the fad bandwagon. it'll go out as fast as it became a fad. no one wants a closet full of boho skirts when the next new thing is a pencil skirt.

i think i'm going to cry

roloson is out.

think good thoughts.

go oilers go.

please pledge

i've registered for the hbc run for canada and will be doing the 10 km run on july 1st. kinda crazy, but i'm looking forward to it. so what i ask of you, any of you reading this, if you feel so inclined, make a pledge. it's easy, you just do it online, i don't even have to hassle you in person for money! i've sent out email invites for pledges, but thought i'd blog about it in case i missed anybody.

go to: https://secure.hbcrunforcanada.ca/eventmodule.aspx?lng=en&did=1&eid=2&pg=donation_step0

select the option: Pledge a participant - search by first and last name.

type in my first and last name and fill out the rest of the information. anything you decide to pledge would be greatly appreciated. for anyone who knows me, i'm a lazy person who doesn't work out, so doing this 10km run could be the dumbest choice i've ever made, but it could be fun too. i have no real time goal i want to achieve, i just want to finish the run in one piece.

ed and rose - it is your job to tell mom, dad, and grandma and teach them how to pledge me online. thanks.

wish me luck!