Oh, Just My favourite 10 Music Videos

Oh hai!

I would like to share with you my top 10 favourite videos of all time.

10. Moist – Underground – play -
One of the most underrated bands in Canada. David Usher’s overdone and tiresome solo work has left Moist in the dust. However, this being their last video ever made also happened to be their best. Such a cool idea for a video about a second dimension colliding with ours. Well deserving of a spot on my list.

9. Modest Mouse – King Rat – play -
Brilliantly animated video, also a spectacular song by the band. Heath Ledger directed half the video before his untimely death. The bizarre images mixed in with Issac Brock’s bizarre voice works perfectly.

8. Matthew Good – Weapon – play -
Probably Mr. Good’s best video to date. The video points out not only music video cliches, but also points us the audience and media’s ignorance when it comes to hard working behind the scenes crew that make music videos even possible, and at times, worth viewing. Weapon is a full of dark humour and just a brilliantly shot satirical video.

7. The Roots – What They Do – play -
Another parody-esque video. The Roots have always been a step above their genre when it comes to talent and most importantly knowledge of it. They point out annoying and overrused hip hop cliches which to mine and many others’ opinion, is massacring the genre.

6. Wolf Parade – I’ll Believe In Anything – play -
A very bizarre idea for a video but overwhelmingly hilarious. Shot beautifully in what seems to be circa 18th century, the video pokes fun at male dominance in what seems to be such an elegant era. Not a bad video for an indie band out of Montreal.

5. Doves – Kingdom Of Rust – play -
At first glance at the video, this just seemed like a guy being kind of down about something. The video kind of just takes you along for a ride (literally), but the final reveal in the climax makes this video amazing and very emotional; like the song itself.

4. Kasabian – Empire – play -
Like Wolf Parade’s video, another beautifully shot War-themed video. Displays the grittiness and cruelty of 19th century fighting. Some spectacular and breathtaking shots in this. Intense and just seems to stick into your head for while after watching it.

3. Mew – Introducing Palace Players – play -
Directed by an excellent photographer/videographer Martin De Thurah, this one of the most beautifully-shot videos I have ever seen. Such a complex and interesting idea shot so simply. It’s so fun to watch even though there are no people in it, mainly just objects. The video, like the song flows so nicely.

2. Sigur Ros – Untitled #1 (Vaka) – play -
One of those really sad videos about what could happen in a post Nuclear world. Probably one of the most memorable videos as well. If this doesn’t make you feel a bit sad at the end, then you probably have no soul.

1. Radiohead – Street Spirit (Fade Out) – play -
The video is almost 15 years old and it still holds up as my favourite of all time. Cool camera techniques mixed with a simple black and white theme is perfect for the quiet brooding tone of the song.

Thanks to Everyone

Who helped out and attended my Mom’s suprise 50th birthday party. I’ve never seen her so happy and appreciated.

Hipsters

A friend of mine had a Facebook status that read “Hippies are short for hypocrites”. Now, I know I have some apparent hipster traits myself, but I am beginning to get extremely annoyed with hipsters/scenesters around this city. Mainly because of the following hipster/scenester traits:

Transportation
You’re not a hipster unless you have the following means of transportation. One, being the old, creaky, one-working-gear-often-sky-blue-in-colour bicycle they bought from a garage sale. Of course, to symbolize the ‘cherry on top’ we couldn’t forget the basket on the front…because how else would they carry their expensive organic vegetables and green tea? Second, being the over-twenty year old Toyota hatchback equipped with atheism-based bumper stickers, and of course an acoustic guitar case taking up most of the back seat. So you care about the state of the Earth eh hipster? Why you driving a car over twenty years old then? E-tested?

Hipster Fashion
I want to gouge out my eyes when a see a wall of hipsters walking towards me. Often sporting the ‘I don’t care look’, hipsters enjoy dressing in an effortless and purposely ironic style. Let me elaborate. The 80’s was an awful decade for fashion with an array of mismatched clothing and haircuts. To rebel against the current system, a hipster would adopt a horrible 80’s trend and incorporate it in their daily routine. One example are the Tom Cruise ‘Risky Business’ sunglasses (boxy, square shaped glasses). I don’t care what anyone says, those glasses look ridiculous on anyone. Add in some trucker hats; geez, nothing more ironic than a hipster sporting trucker-gear (see, truckers are often good ol’ boys, sometimes racist…I can see the Hitler mustache being the next ironic fashion quip in the future hipster world). Also, I can’t leave out their asymmetrical hairdos.

The mustache has returned, for those who don’t have one or a beard, aren’t considered true hipsters…similar to an apparent Doors fan who has to think about who played bass guitar in the band. In the end, this effortless style they are trying to display, ends up being more elaborate and noticeable than any normal person. I thought Hipsterism came from within? Not from the exterior. Shame on you hipster.

Photography
Hipsters enjoy taking pictures. Which is totally cool with me – I love photography. To poke fun at myself too, they often have blogs where they take pictures that take up most of their posts. Pictures of organic foods, deserts, and the most of the time self portraits of them not smiling nor looking at the camera…as if to say ‘THIS is how I look all the time, someone just happened to take a picture of me deep in thought…THIS is how thoughtful and unique I am’. Give me a break.

Douglas Copeland
Get over it hipsters, he’s a shitty writer.

High Fidelity Obsession
High Fidelity was a decent MOVIE. It’s not a way of life. I’ve met many a-hipsters in my day who quote the movie over and over, bark out their “Top 5’s”, and organize their vinyl record collections similar to how John Cusak did. PLEASE watch a different, less pretentious movie. I know working in a record store with Jack Black seems appealing, but imagine a world full of hipsters running music stores…you wouldn’t be able to buy anything without the fear of being labeled as a mainstream music listener.

Which brings me to my next point, do hipsters realize how much they are mainstreaming indie music? Just to eventually hate it for that reason? Do they realize that now being part of the hipster movement is now the mainstream? Just try walking down Kensington Market and trying to find someone who is NOT a hipster!

To conclude, I don’t hate all hipsters. I have friends who would be considered hipsters. This is more aimed towards the ones that tend to act like fundamentalist Christians who barked out their beliefs and opinions on people.

I’m sure he is playing a Nick Drake song

---

Song of the Day: King Rat – Modest Mouse

Ha

You guys crack me up.

Seems as though I’m not the only one skeptical about Megan Fox’s real gender.

---

Song of the Day: Where Did All The Love Go – Kasabian

My Irrational Phobia (Con’t)

As I mentioned before, I have this irrational phobia of stick insects; mainly preying mantises. If I see one, be it in person, picture, cartoon, etc., I panic. They seriously are the scariest looking things to me. I am 100% terrified of them.

Recently I’ve been having strange dreams about them. Like in real life, I panic in the dream but also try to overcome my fear – and I never succeed. The dream last night was about a giant one, about 12 feet tall I’d say that also talked (I think I was thinking about David Hyde Pierce voicing a stick insect in A Bug’s Life). The mantis had a British accent and was very charming and well liked by everyone…except for me who had problems looking it in the eyes.

I guess my question is, does anyone else have any unexplained phobias of a particular insect?

I even had the shivers drawing this…so fucking sad

---

Song of the Day: One Wing – Wilco

O Hai!

So I am all moved in, painted, bought furniture. For the first time in a while, I am quite proud and happy with my living situation (wow, that sounded like voice-over dialogue from a coming of age movie). In addition, rarest of rare, I am having a Tim Horton’s coffee that tastes somewhat satisfactory. A huge change from tasting like ass to a something equivalent to a warm hug in the morning…it’s like my coffee was one of those 16 year old punk chicks that swanned into a skanky club chick by the time she turns 21.

Enough about my coffee, I am at work right now and Carl isn’t in. So I am preparing for a slow day. On the side I am making a plan to reverse my bank account from overdraft to some sort of surplus. I will be comfortable by the new year if I stick to this plan. Wish me luck. Back to my apartment. I enjoy being back in The Village. However, it’s a lot louder than I remembered. I live right at Jarvis & Maitland; Jarvis happens to be one of the busiest streets in Toronto. So I hear a lot of vvrrrooooommmsss and beeeeeps. and even a woooooooooow!! here and there. I find the sound a bit comforting strangely enough.

I am seeing my little girl this weekend. I am so very excited. She’s almost 3 now and is more entertaining and sweet every time I see her. Now I can talk to her, tell her stories, reason with her, and she understands. It’s really cool. I’ve naturally adapted into a father; being able to discipline her, comfort her when she’s upset, play with her, make her smile, has all worked out so swimmingly. She literally hugs my leg and takes me by the hand everywhere. She’s a beautiful little peanut and I love her so very much.

For those of you who haven’t seen my apartment or pictures of June lately, here are a few:

---

Song of the Day: Games For Days – Julian Plenti

Awesome Band

I was recommended to me a band called Shearwater. I think they’re great.

Especially this song, check it out.

Prokudin-Gorskii’s Colour Photos of Russia, 1907-1915

I was a tad blown away when I saw this link. There are 28 pictures taken approximately 100 years ago in Russia…that look like they were taken today. Exactly how they put colour into them and made them appear so crisp I don’t know, but if you’re huge photography fan you need to see this:

Submissions

I get a lot of atrocious submissions at work. For those of you who don’t understand the literary agency process, someone with a script can send us a 1-page synopsis for us to review it. If we like it, then we contact them and have them send along the full script. If we enjoy THAT, we either decided to represent them, or help their script get picked up by various production companies and so on.

I received a submission today and almost died with laughter. Keep in mind that this guy IS serious…click to see it, I’ve circled the area that makes the story absolutely ridiculous: