The Weird North Strong and Free

We live in a big country with not a whole lot of people living in it. There are only three major cities in this country, Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, and the Canadian music scene tends to gravitate toward those areas. But there are tons of interesting musicians and artists in smaller cities and towns that are normally forgotten. That’s where Weird Canada steps in.

Weird Canada mission statement says that they exist “to encourage, connect, and document creative expression across Canada.” They give profiles of new and unknown artists all around the country, always in English and French. They are proud of the vast geographic distribution of the artists on their site; they even have a clickable map of Canada where you can browse artists by province.

Part of that is likely because of their home base in Waterloo, far enough from Toronto that they aren’t always surrounded by that scene. They can pay attention to things going on all around the country. There are no limitations on genre or style at all. Everything from bedroom pop to harsh noise can be heard on the site. For artists that have very little money for promotion, and have very few or no supporters in their hometown, it’s a lifeline to the underground Canadian music scene that doesn’t exist anywhere else.

There is a beautiful visual presentation of the artwork of the album in question, and sometimes the artist, along with a couple of their songs in an embedded media player. There is a distinct style to the summaries of the artists, the writing is very unique, using weird punctuation quirks and esoteric language to make their point. It’s a great format for just exploring the vast music collection on the site.

Check out Weird Canada, and see what strange and interesting music you can turn up!

Hi, I’m on TV?

So this Friday the class is going into the television studios to dabble in the audio/visual arts and it got me thinking of the couple of times I’ve been on TV, and I thought I would share with you those times. Let me start here:

In the 10th grade, myself and three other buddies started a semi-crappy high school punk rock band called This is Not a Drill. We played our first show to mainly our parents at a tiny upstairs bar in some irrelevant spot in Ajax and then played several more shows and wrote some tunes. It was a good time. After about a year of playing we decided to apply for some Battle of the Bands-type reality series on Global. We went, played two fairly lame songs and then didn’t make it to the next round. Oh well boo hoo I still had fun and we met some cool dudes there. The show was called Can Your School Rock, and really wanted to emphasize the school part for some reason. Anyways, here’s a picture.

This was fun and all. WE kinda wouldn’t have minded being on television again. That happened, but because my class is in the TV studios again next week, that is when you’ll get to hear the rest of the defining moments of television history, starring me.

Expectations

The Raptors are winning the NBA championship THIS YEAR!

Ok, maybe I’m jumping the gun. After all we are just 1-1 through two preseason games. But things look great!

Right now everything I previously said looks pretty damn relevant. Seriously, all hail Jared Launchbury the NBA Guru.

Ok, once again maybe a little ahead of myself.

Lou Williams! Skip to my freakin Lou! This guy is exactly what the Raptors needed coming off the bench. He is an absolute blur with the basketball. He is one of the fastest Raptors I’ve seen suit up since T.J Ford ran the point. He offers a change of pace that we simply didn’t have last year. The guy can score, simple as that. Team him up with Greivis Vasquez coming off the bench and you have a frustrating combo that teams need to game-plan for. You couldn’t say that about anybody coming off our bench last year. It’s pretty exciting stuff. It’s a good safety net to have. Say Derozan, Ross, and Lowry aren’t having a good game, Vasquez and Williams offer some serious scoring punch that could keep us in a game that we would’ve been out of last season. If Lou can stay healthy, I don’t see why he can’t average 10 points a game at least.

Lou Williams hopes to provide scoring off the bench

James Johnson is a ball of energy. A wrecking ball of Miley Cyrus proportions if you will. I knew this guy was going to be a good defender, but I didn’t expect this through 2 preseason games. He disrupts everything on the defensive end. Steals, blocks, tipped passes, it’s really a wonder to watch. Plus he is a big boy. We can put him on Lebron James and I’d feel ok about it. A hell of a lot better than if Amir Johnson is covering him. The only negative I can say if offensively. Sometimes Mr. Johnson has too much energy on that end of the floor. On the defensive end it’s great. Offensively, it can be downright chaotic. Johnson needs to settle down a bit. Hopefully coach Dwayne Casey will give him some serious guidelines on what not to do on offense. In general, he is a great pick up that offers a unique skill set but also adds to an already deep roster.

The Raptors season could not get underway any sooner. All signs point to an improved team over last years squad that won 48 games and an Atlantic division title. Demar Derozan looks bigger and I could see him building on his all-star campaign last season. Jonas Valanciunas and Terrence Ross enter a crucial third season that will need to see them both take the next step. Valanciunas especially will need to be more involved in the offence if the team wants to make a serious improvement. He can be a beast in the east at the center position. Finally, Kyle Lowry looks great coming off easily the best season of his career. An improved mid range jump shot will allow him to attack inside and out while also opening up passing lanes for him to dish the rock to open teammates. Plus he clearly hasn’t lost his competitive mentality, as he was arguing about calls roughly 30 seconds into the preseason. Gotta love the Bulldog of Bay Street.

Will the Raptors win the championship? Probably not.

Do the Raptors have a shot? Most definitely

Kyle Lowry circus shot vs. Sacramento

What do you think? Tweet me @RadioJaredL

Weekend At Bunsie’s

As students we all have different opinions on almost everything, but if there’s something we can collectively agree is that we don’t like 8 am. I know that right now in my life, I’m doing nothing exciting at 8am. How does one, especially a student, find the motivation to get up for this retched hour? Well, you don’t. You just get up and go do what you got to do. No thought process, just go. Its definitely not easy though. I am not a coffee drinker, I don’t have any morning stretches or regiments that I can do, I just roll out of bed and do the necessary things like: put pants on, brush my teeth and I’m out the door. You want to know what the worst day of the week is as an adult? Saturday. Yeah, I know it’s the weekend and that should be treated like the greatest thing in the world. Not in my world. Saturday becomes just another day that I have to wake up early and go do something. Now, keep in mind I’m always on my way to something that I love doing. During the week, I’m doing radio and my part time job on the weekend is BLESSED. It’s just having to move so early in the morning. As a kid, I used to love the mornings. Nothing beats, waking up in my Batman underwear, which I still have, eating my favorite cereal in the morning and lounging around. On my days off that’s exactly what I do. I should start a petition to remove Saturday and Sunday from the week. That’s probably the best idea I’ve ever had. I think I’ll get started tomorrow. I’ll go around my school and get signatures. Genius! On second thought I’d rather get some sleep.

Leafs drop Season opener to Habs 4-3.

The Leafs opened their much anticipated season at home to their biggest rival, the Canadiens. The Leafs have not lost a season opener to the Montreal Canadiens in four years and the streak ended last night.

Max Pacioretty of the Habs scored on the teams first shot of the game just five minutes in. It looked like it was going to be a long night for Jonathan Bernier and the buds but Bernier battled back nicely, making 28 saves on 32 shots, while Carey Price had 24 saves on 27 shots.

Nazem Kadri, Tyler Bozak (PowerPlay) and Morgan Reilly all scored in the leafs loss while Subban’s goal and two by Plekanec was enough to hold off the leafs late.

You can see highlights here!

Last season the Leafs were a team that that couldn’t go a game without being outshot and were constantly running around in their own zone and at times, looking like a minor hockey team. I don’t want to say that won’t be the case this season, but they showed signs of promise in the season opener. Tension was high, Adrenaline was even higher and the atmosphere was great, so the Leafs could have just been feeding off the crowd and energy. However, I am under the impression that even if they DO NOT improve to the point of being an elite team, which in all likely hood isn’t going to happen, they should be a little bit more competitive this year with four lines that have skill and more defensive minded players who like to hit.

What are the Leafs capable of this season? At best, they are going to be battling for a playoff spot, at best. that doesn’t mean they won’t get in. If Jonathan Bernier (Goaltender) stays healthy for the entire season, the #Leafs chances increase more.

The top line has to be the top line and Dion Phanuef HAS to pick up his game, if he has to compete with the oppositions teams top line every night, we could be in for a long season leaf fans. Improvement is a must. Silver lining? Roman Polak was brought into town to be physical and had to play against and he showed just that in the first game.

#Leafs #TMLTalk #LeafsNation #Habs #NHL #HockeyIsBack #GoLeafsGo #MontrealCanadiens

What is love? Baby don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me, no more.

Love is such a strong word. Why does it get thrown around more than a baseball on a Saturday afternoon? We’ve all been there. We’ve all seen or heard a couple use the “L” word way too soon in their relationship. You ever hear those people who say “I love you” like a week after being together? Absolutely ridiculous. No, you don’t love each other. You practically just met. Why is it that people are so quick to throw around that love word?

Love is a very unique feeling. It takes a lot to love someone. Love, in my opinion, is the feeling you have when you can’t stop thinking about this person, 25 hours a day. It’s the feeling you get in your stomach everytime you hear his/her voice or see his/her face. It’s knowing that you would do literally anything for this person, and would go a million miles out of their way just to make them happy. Overall, it’s a feeling that’s pretty indescribable. I think a lot of people confuse “strong feelings” and “care a lot” with love. You may care a lot about the person you’re seeing, you may have incredibly strong feelings toward this person, but to say you love them, is a stretch, especially if you’ve been together for less than 6 months. You really have to know somebody in order to love them, and I don’t think 6 months is nearly enough to really get to know someone, in and out. It bothers me when I see new couples who say “I love you babe” every 5 minutes. Do you REALLY love them? Hmmmm, I highly doubt it. I just wish people would think twice about dropping the L word like it’s nothing. I think that is why the divorce rate is so high quite frankly. People jump into relationships too quickly, they advance it further than it is, they don’t let it marinate and carry momentum, they drop the L bomb too soon, they get hitched WAY too soon and before you know it, you’re married to someone who you THOUGHT you knew and loved. There are so many divorces because there are too many people out there who jump into marriage too soon. If more people took a step back, truly assessed their relationship with their partner and took it nice and slow, there will be less divorces and more happy couples, I guarantee it.

In closing, all I gotta say is, if you’re in a relationship, PLEASE, think about it hard before you decide to drop the L word on your partner, because it’s a word that gets thrown around way too often and is often unwarranted. What do you think? Are you guilty of saying “I love you” too soon in  relationship? If not, do you agree with me in that it gets said too often?

 

By: Andrew Gunn

WHAT A FINE LIFE WE ARE LIVING.

Said The Whale is a Vancouver-based indie rock band. They are also one of the first bands I fell in love with.

The Juno-award winning five-piece consist of dual songwriters Tyler Bancroft and Ben Worcester, drummer Spencer Schoening, keyboardist Jaycelyn Brown and bassist Nathan Shaw. It’s hard to describe their music because they are not a band prone to sticking to one sound. But at the core of it all, I would say their music has a lot of heart, with a big focus on great song writing, strong hooks and beautiful harmonies. It’s music that you can smile too, cry too and most of all sing along too.

STW have a couple great full-length albums and a few different EP’s, but my all time favourite from them is their sophomore LP, “Islands Disappear.” It’s an album that was written while they were touring across Canada and it sure sounds that way when you listen to it. It’s an album I love listening to in the morning, when I’m at a cottage, or when I’m taking a long scenic drive. This album puts out a great vibe and it really means a lot to me.

I’ve seen this band play live many times and I’m always blown away by how great they are. They put on a really fun show. They sound so tight live and their three-part harmonies are truly remarkable. Next time they play in your area, you have to go see them. You won’t be disappointed. Their popularity has grown exponentially over the years and they’ve gone from playing small clubs to playing much larger-sized venues. I couldn’t be more proud of them because they are such nice, hardworking people and they deserve all the attention they are getting.

It’s been fun watching them grow and progress as band. I’ll always be a little biased and love their older music way more, but the stuff they are putting out now is fantastic. They may not be the band I love most right now or are making the type of music I’m most interested in at the moment, but they will always mean a lot to me. Now, when I put on one of their records or catch one of their shows, I’m reminded to why I started loving this band so many years ago. It’s like catching up with an old friend and even though so much has changed, the relationship you share hasn’t. That’s nostalgia at its finest.

Check out their music here.

–@GRIZZLYZACH

Stay Single My Friends…

Philys Og here and i’ve been single for roughly….4 months now (19 years) unless you count that awkward grade 6 boyfriend who I dated for 2 weeks then its been 7 years. And I know what you’re thinking, “Philys Og! How on earth is a beautiful, talented, smart, funny creature like yourself single?!? And how can I get up on that?!” First of all, i’d say calm the crap down with all that thirsty-ness and take a cold shower. But also being single is fantastic! (I also found out like 2 days ago that it’s not a choice or something and that i’m gonna die alone, but whatever.) When you’re single you can pretty much do what the heck you wanna do, you’re like a single mom out on a girls night. And its not just me who agrees with this theory Cosmo says so too.

     Cosmopolitan.com composed a list of the 12 Best Things About Not Dating, and I couuldnt agree more with this list. In no particular order i’ll say the ones that really resonating well with me. At number 6 they say you can do anything you want when you’re single. This statement cannot be more true. How many of you wanted to make big huge plans but have to check with your friends significant other if it’s okay for them to go. Or even you yourself have to ask to go out? Since when did your girl/boyfriend become your parent and you’re in the 3rd grade? When you’re single the question of “Can I go out to that cool new club?” Becomes “Which dress shows off my “assets” more without getting arrested?…Again.”  Another reason why being single is the tits is you can eat whatever the hell you want and be as disgusting as you want. You can literally eat ice cream out of the jar with your hands, like you can do that.

  So before you say, “But Philys you’re soooooooo damn cute pllleeaaassseee let me take you out on a date!! PLEASE!!” First of all, i’m guessing that cold shower didn’t work for you cause you still be acting all thirsty and second of all, nah i’m good I like loving me and not caring about anyone else unless they buy me things. (okay, that sounded bad but i’m single so it’s all gravy). Theres so many more reasons why you should love being single so check out the full list below and i’d check back with me next week cause I change my mind more than a kid at a candy store.

-Philys Og

http://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/advice/a31902/the-best-things-about-not-dating/?click=_hpTrnsprtr_17

We’re not too far gone.

“Is this what you want? What all of you want? I fought him before, and after, we took in his old friends, and they became leaders of what we have here. Put down your weapons, walk through those gates, and you’re one of us. We let go of all of it, and nobody dies. Everyone is alive right now. Everyone who made it this far, we’ve all done worse kinds of things just to stay alive – but we can still come back. We’re not too far gone.” – Rick Grimes

Above is a quote, from the most memorable episode of one the shows I binge’d and became emotionally attached to. The relevancy you ask? In 3 days… It comes back. What comes back? AMC’s The Walking Dead.

I can safely say, I am excited as ALL hell! Partially because not only is one of my favourite shows returning to air (finally) but because the last season left so many unanswered questions that it will be amazing to catch up! It feels likes the characters and I have been separated for so long, aha. Seriously though, it will be great to get back into watching it – along with the all famous “The Talking Dead” afterwards. (obsessive, I know).

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→ → → *DISCLAIMER: the next part of this post contains spoiler alerts!* ←←←

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I have decided that in honour of this miraculous event happening this Sunday (I will provide you with…

The Top 5 Reasons You DON’T Want To Miss Season 5 (part one)

1. BETH. Last time we saw her, she was abducted by god-knows-who at the house where she was with Daryl, well to be exact she was in the back of a car… either way the, the question stilll persists and no one knows WHO or WHAT took her – which is eerie considering the rumours about Terminus… She does return however, well… You’ll at least get to see where she is / who she is with.
2. TYREESE, CAROL AND JUDITH. The last time we saw them, it was after Carol shot Lizzie because she was going insane, and they fled the safety of their little cottage in what we hope was to try to reconnect with the others in Terminus.
   Also, although this question WAS answered people still wonder, Is baby Judith alive and with them?! See, they are a mystery because after the whole episode they had, they sort of disappeared into the world of the insane and the world of missing characters. However, they must return, because the main cast is locked up in a truck.
3. BOB AND SASHA. They were last seen when Maggie had left them to go find Glenn.  The worst part is, it was such an abrupt way to leave them off, no one knows if it was a way of killing them off or simply just AMC putting a hold on the characters like they did with Tyreese, Carol and Judith. All we know, is they ARE alive.
4. THE HUNTERS? Most people who are caught up, have caught on that Terminus is NOT a safe place and that they ARE cannibals, gross right?! HOWEVER, in accordance to the comics they bypassed an entire “species” of creature that could be found at a church.. So was that WHO took Beth?!  We don’t know, we just know that beside the walkers and the new-found cannibals, there is someone / something else taking and killing humans.
5. IF NOT TERMINUS, WHERE? It is safe to say that Terminus is not safe and we know thanks to the trailer (darn spoilers, eh?) that they DO in fact get out of Terminus… but WHERE do they go?! Do they even know?! Will they meet up with Abe again? Will they go to Washington?! Are they just going to stick it out? No one knows, that that’s what drives me insane, WILL THEY EVER BE SAFE?!
   

ADVENTURE TIME FOREVER

 

The show that’s way too funny to be a children’s show.

Hey, it’s me again.

Oh man, so I guess you’re back to hear some more stuff about me…why? I’m not that interesting…well yeah I guess I am.

Well I guess i’ll start by talking about whats been going on these pasts few weeks. As I mentioned in my last blog, I have started my second year of my Radio Broadcasting course, and that I recently started doing on air shifts. Well besides that, I have been running around all of Toronto getting interviews from On Air Personal and Program Director for my seminar assignment, on the topic of AM Radio.

First, I head down to the NewsTalk 1010 station Downtown to interview John Moore from the Moore in the Morning Show. I also got to sit in on the last hour of his morning show, and ran into Brett Dalton from Agents of Shield without even knowing it was him (“he’s famous?”). John Moore is a super nice guy to meet and hang out with, and he has an amazing radio voice, plus he give me some really good insight for AM Radio.

Later on I visited Humble and Fred at their own Sirius XM Station to interview them about AM Radio, except with a little twist…They wanted me to interview them…live on their radio show. I couldn’t believe it, I was actually gonna be a guest on a radio show, what an amazing opportunity. I got meet Christine Magee, the President of Sleep Country(I know, you know the catchy jingle) and Meredith Shaw(Country Singer and Boom 97.3 Announcer)

To add more to the Humble and Fred…I recently heard that the Humble and Fred show was looking for new interns…and since I haven’t started my intern hours for school, I thought, this is the perfect opportunity for me and after sending an email to the shows producer(Who is a Humber Alumni) I have an Interview for the internship this friday. Wish me Luck.

…and just for the fun of it, Here’s a song I’ve really been diggin’ lately.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P77GfpzqDvQ

Five Reasons To Be Excited For Films in 2014

My favourite season of the entire year is upon us: Oscar Season. It’s the time of the year when the best movies come out and when I can sit on my hands in anticipation over how excited I am for those movies to come out. Now recently, I was privileged enough to see the best film of the year so far. It was Gone Girl and I was moved, disturbed, and captivated at how brilliantly executed the adaptation of the Gillian Flynn novel was. Now as good as Gone Girl was, I’m certain there are still better films to come, so without further ado, I present to you the five films I am most anticipating for the rest of 2014.

#5. The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies

Now I saw the last two Hobbit movies on the same night I watched the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy for the first time (I know, blasphemy). One of the most inspired pieces of casting in film history was putting Benedict Cumberbatch’s magnificent voice into the terrifying dragon known as Smaug. The way he left us at the end of Desolation of Smaug was the best hook you could use to pull people into the seats to watch Battle of the Five Armies and I’m sure I’ll be sitting in the theatres like so many of you just to see how this epic trilogy concludes.

#4. Foxcatcher

Steve Carell is so much more than a funnyman. Don’t get me wrong, Anchorman and the TV show The Office are two prime examples of his comedic wit. But ever since seeing him do drama in The Way Way Back, I’ve wondered if he can do it again. Now that he’s taking on the true life role of schizophrenic millionaire John du Pont in Bennett Miller’s Cannes Film Festival hit, I can’t help but wonder just how evil he has become.

#3. Interstellar

The Dark Knight trilogy is now a distant memory for Christopher Nolan. Well done and congratulations on a solid set of films. Now he has this mysterious film about a group of astronauts who leave Earth to search for a more inhabitable environment after most of their current planet is dying. With a cast of gigantic star power, led by no other than our latest Best Actor winner Matthew McConaughey, Mr. Nolan sure has my sense of curiousity tingling.

#2. Big Hero Six

I’m a sucker for the animated. When I first saw the trailer for this movie about a big bouncy inflatable robot, I was laughing to the point of tears. This is a film I get more and more excited for every time I see a poster, a commercial, even the title has me squealing like a schoolgirl. Disney for me cannot do wrong and I’m severely hoping this will be no exception.

#1. The Imitation Game

The ingredients are all there. World War II drama, check. Biopic, check. Brilliant man shamed for being different, big check. This movie about mathematician Alan Turing breaking the Nazi Enigma during the war and then being condemned for being a homosexual captured the Grolsch Audience Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival and since then has been riding a steamroller of popularity. Many are already calling it Best Picture material, but only time will tell if they’re right. I personally cannot wait. Mr. Cumberbatch, wow me.

Nora Young Lecture Blog

Now…even though, we were able to attend the Nora Young Lecture and stay for the entire hour and hear some questions being asked to her about the lecture, which she was gladly able to answer…I have to admit, I still have no clue who is she, what she does, and what the lecture was completely about.

That’s not to say that I wasn’t paying attention, a few key moments/points did stick out to me during the lecture, and I actually wouldn’t mind learning more about these certain points.

One of the main take-aways from this lecture that really hit me, was the Revolutionary Nature of Cell Phones. Nora Young explained how 86% of the worlds population, being 6 billion people, have access to a cell phone, where as 64% of the worlds population, being 4.5 billion people only have proper access to a toilet. Huh!? What!? How is that even possible, and not only that, that’s just terrible. A lot of people I know might disagree with me but, If I was given the choice of either having access to a cell phone or having access to a toilet, I have definitely have to choose the toilet.

Another take away that really struck me, and actually creeped me out a bit, was that people can now have the ability to take a photo of a crowd of thousands, and zoom in, and zoom in, and zoom in enough until the picture becomes a group of 5 or 6 people, and that the picture is so crystal clear, you could easily make out the fine details of everyones face. And if that wasn’t weird enough, now there’s a website that takes the big crowd photos, zooms them in, and people can have the ability to tag themselves in the photo for their Facebook profile…If thats not creepy to a lot of people…then I don’t know what is.

I will post the video of the lecture here…You can find the take-aways mention @27:00 and @32:00. Take a look for yourself and make your own assumptions about the Nora Young Lecture and what she’s trying to teach, and what you can learn from this.

http://mediaservices.humber.ca/streamingmedia/department/las/event/2014/pls/2014-10-02-pls-young.php