Summer 2014: Festivals, DJs, Best Friends, and Memories To Last a Lifetime

For those who know me, I’m a die-hard fan of everything electronic dance music. ‘Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat’ is pretty much my life motto. So what I wanted to do was share my best summer so far in picture form. Its only fitting since this weather sucks and I’m dying for festival season to return once again.

We begin first off with celebrating my 19th birthday over at my new favourite club besides Guv (#RIP *sadface*), The Hoxton. The crew and I went to check out a DJ we’ve been dying to see for a long time, Julian Jordan. Ironically he’s our age as well and to see him live was really a treat. Being right up front and centre in the first row (as seen below) to experience the madness happen while dancing my ass off will be a memory I’ll never forget.

Move forward just a couple weeks later to Canada Day long weekend. The biggest dance music festival in all of Canada is upon us, and the crew is back in full force for Digital Dreams. Two days of great music, partying, and more memories. My favourite moment of that entire weekend had to have been Dash Berlin‘s epic set. Words can not even begin to describe what I felt for those 90 minutes. It was magical, amazing, and one hell of an emotional rollercoaster. Especially when the downpour of heavy rain came down upon us all, we still danced and went even harder. To experience that moment of euphoria was truly a blessing because I may never get a similar moment like that ever.

And I just have to share this next picture of the MASSIVE and epic mainstage from Digital Dreams. You had to see this in person to understand its sheer size. Its the biggest outdoor stage in Canada, and it looked absolutely amazing. Just look at it and the 80,000+ people in awe of it raving together as one.

Fast forward to the next holiday long weekend, all the way in the beginning of August. And of course, there’s another festival for that. We set our sights on Veld Music Festival over at Downsview Park. It was yet another weekend of madness, one which ended in us getting superbly hammered, partying nonstop for 48 hours straight (literally), and in me needing a new phone thanks to the rain damaging it entirely. This is just one of very few photos I was able to recover, probably the best one in all honesty.

Of course, we had to have this summer go out with one last bang. So why not head down to Cabana Pool Bar right on Polson Pier for some good music, good vibes, beautiful girls in bikinis, and day drinking. Of course, it was another long weekend but the last one of the summer. From day till night we partied on and had another great time that we would never forget. Plus the sunset by the pier was absolutely beautiful that night, as you’ll see below.

It was quite the summer indeed, one that will go down in my life as one of the best. It was all thanks to the festivals, the DJs, my crew of best friends, and all these glorious memories that I’ll cherish for the rest of my life, wherever it may lead me.

Keep it PLUR and spread the love – yours truly,

Christian Caputo

 

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Everybodys got a Story: Todd Shapiro

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to sit down and interview one of Sirius XMs finest and of course hard working radio personalities…Todd Shapiro.

Todd and I had a quick talk while I was working on the Humble and Fred show, and asked him if I could interview him, for a segment I like to call: Everybodys got a Story.

Todd agreed to the interview, but only if we could conduct the interview…Live on his on Sirius XM radio show. How awesome is that? I was super excited, and in was, for a fact, a huge opportunity for me, that I could not say no to.

So, I hope you enjoy my quick but insightful interview with Todd Shapiro on Everybodys got a Story.

THE Q&A SHOW PRESENTS: EVERYBODY’S GOT A STORY

Evan McCarroll is a long-time friend of mine. We went to high school together, we got kicked out of high school together, we got in trouble together, we triumphed together and we began college together. He has been a large part of my life for many years. When Evan told me his secret, I was hurt at first that he didn’t feel safe enough to have told me sooner. After some time and thought, I realized how selfish that emotion was of me. How could I be mad, when he had been trying to live with such a big secret for so long.

This is Evan’s story…..

https://soundcloud.com/amanda-santos-86/amandasantos-tom-egas

‘Tis the season to be Jolly…

So here’s the deal…

There’s only 8 more days left in the semester, and things are actually looking up in means of school. Everyone is pretty much kicking ass when it comes to assignments/exams and then that’s when you realize there’s only 21 more days until Christmas. I’m sure by now most people have their Christmas tree up, the smell of fresh pine is in the air(unless you have a fake tree from Walmart like me, that’s fine too) and have all sorts of Christmas decorations hanging around the house, and you just know for a fact that once that long and very well deserved Christmas break is over, and you go back to school or work, people might not recognize you(unfortunately) due to all the weight you’re probably going to gain from all of the delicious chocolate, turkey, stuffing, garlic bread, cake, not to mention the candy candies and whatever Santa left for you in your stocking…I could go on forever.

Good thing that “New Years Resolution” always comes in handy….I am right…huh…oh wait…thats just a figure of speech…right?

But of course, just because it’s Christmas and you are on your Christmas break, doesn’t mean it’s all about you. You always have to be thinking about your family, friends, and loved ones.

But it’s also time to think about the ones, who are less unfortunate then you. Everyone loves Christmas, and everyone deserves to have a happy holidays and a happy news years(even if you are a filthy animal).

So in saying that, I encourage anyone and everyone who reads this blog post, or who as ever read a blog post to be generous this year and to take a step back from reality and realize that there are millions of people each year who don’t get to experience a Christmas like other people do. If you don’t feel like having bad karma for the rest of the year, might I suggest you head out to your local Toy Drive and donate, or you can visit CP24 CHUM Christmas Wish and donate online.

Merry Christmas, ya little jerks.

-Scotty Shade.

You Have A Horrible Name!

 

It’s time for a name change.

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Why could the label that your parents put on you be so bad? There’s only one reason why your name could be so important this time of year…CHRISTMAS!

He’s making a list and checking it twice, and he’s going to find out who’s naughty or nice…

– actually he already has –

Santa has already made a list of the top 3 Naughty names of 2014 and yours might be on it! So if you really wanted that xbox 1, ps4 or new car…you’re going to have to email the big fat man with the white long beard yourself. Hey, I can talk bad about him, I’M ON THE LIST!

Without further adew, here are the Top 3 naughtiest names of 2014:

3. Will & Olivia

2. Cameron & Bethany

1. Joey & Ella

Is your Ex’s name up there? Is YOUR name up there? if so, join the club! and to make things even worse, mine is number one! Like c’mon Santa, cut me some slack! I only swore like no more than 2,000 times this year and I only lied like 8 times…okay thats a lie, it was like 20 times…BUT STILL! I deserve that ps4! I almost gave that homeless person $1 but then I remebered I was hungry so I bought chips, it’s the thought that counts right?!

Meh you know what, I’m not going to beg. I’ll be happy with my lump of coal. My heater is broken anyways so I need something to warm my house.

But for you! if your name is on this list, how are you going to prove to this fat guy – who can barely fit in chimneys and tight red pants – that you’re nice? Luckily for you, you’re motivated and don’t give up easily like I just did. You have 1 month to show you’re worthy to be switched over. My advice, buy a lot of milk and cookies.

But, my advice on staying on the naughty list? Don’t change your name, buy Santa veggies, a treadmill and a scale and you’ll be just fine!

Let me know what your ideas are for getting on the nice list -> @JoeyCast93

In the meantime, I’ll be enjoying my lump of coal and eating like a King on Christmas.

 Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

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HEAR THIS OR DIE: NEGATIVE QUALITIES BY SINGLE MOTHERS

Single Mothers are a four-piece punk band from London, Ontario. The band formed in 2008, but their first record only came out this past October. Why did it take so long? Lead singer, Drew Thompson quit the band in 2011 to prospect for gold in Swastika, Ontario. Apparently his fellow miners would smoke crack often before work. Absolutely crazy. After three years, he came back to civilization, reunite the band, and record an album.

Negative Qualities is Single Mother’s debut record and it packs one hell of a punch. Blazing through 10 in-your-face punk songs in 26 minutes. Their sound is very abrasive, almost off-putting at a first listen. The lead singer screams very wordy lyrics in your face backed up by loud distorted guitars and thundering drums. I liked this record when I first gave it a listen, but didn’t love it. This is the type of album you have to play a few times to appreciate it. And that’s what happened to me. Before I knew it, I found myself returning to this album more frequently, loving it more with each listen. It’s cold and angry and I find it to be a perfect pairing for the cold weather.

The lyrics are the huge standout for me on this record. A lot of other punk bands often tend to bury the lyrics under the instruments, but here it’s the total opposite. The lyrics sit clearly on top of the instrumentals, tons of breathing room to let them get the attention they deserve. The lyrics are very wordy and the delivery of them also makes them stand out that much more. Drew Thompson is a great observer and it makes for great song topics. The lyrical topics vary from annoying bar conversations to blacking out in basements. The instruments are great and shouldn’t be forgotten. They have a good sense of dynamics, getting quiet and almost atmospheric at times and then exploding with raw energy at the right moments. Really makes for an exciting listen.

Overral, I think this is a killer debut record and the album art is equally as killer. Negative Qualities is definitely going to frequent my turntable for the next few cold months. Highlights include: Marbles, Half-Lit (which has an awesome music video), and Money. I give it an 8 out 10.

Go pick up a copy at your local record store.

Listen to the lead single, Marbles below. The song feels like one giant middle finger. It RULES.

The picture at the top was taken by me. I love taking photos and you can see more of them (if you want) here.

A FEW OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS

 

You’re about to love your iPhone even more.

How bout them snow tires.

Hey, it’s me, Scotty Shade, and I’m back on the blogs…but don’t get too excited, because, there’s 3 weeks of school left, which means theres gonna be a S**t ton of homework/assignments to do, so I will have no time to blog after this, and when it’s the christmas break, I’m probably gonna forget all about this…sorry.

But anyway, over the past few months, I noticed that, here in Canada, we don’t actually have the regular 4 seasons, everyone believes we have, oh no no no, it’s not the simple, spring, summer, fall and winter…it’s more Rain, summer, a bit chilly, Halloween, and Winter. Way to go climate change, you really messed that up.

As some as you may have noticed, just this week, the GTA experienced it’s first snowfall of the Fall..I mean winter, and it’s occurred to me that a lot of drivers don’t get that driving fast in snow, causes car accidents…go figure. It was reported to that where 248 car accidents over a 6 hour period…that’s 41 an hour… I get that we just got over summer, but, did all these people really forget about snow, and how cars aren’t the best at controlling themselves in the wet snow….C’mon man.

Get some snow tires on your car. Yes they can be a tad bit expensive, but it’s a hell of a lot better, then destroying your car sliding/drifting into another car/curb/wall, as well as putting your life and others lives in danger. Winter sucks, but hello…It’s Canada, it’s going to happen, whether you like it or not.

So in the end, just remember to drive safe, be aware, and arrive alive.

– Scotty Shade.

P.S. Check out this cute little panda at the Toronto Zoo, rolling around and enjoying the first snow fall of the year.

Who knew Pandas love snow?

Chris Caputo’s Top 5 EDM Tracks – Week of Nov 10th 2014

Chris Caputo gives you 5 brand new EDM tracks that you NEED to listen to on repeat non-stop. Fresh newly squeezed picks from the Canadian Pete Tong himself for you to enjoy and get up and dance to. Hope you enjoy, would love to hear some feedback from you (especially on my dance moves which you see plenty of in the video! :D)

 

 

Knife Party’s ‘Abandon Ship’ in full: https://soundcloud.com/knifepartyinc/…
Buy all the tracks mentioned on the Top 5 on Beatport:
http://www.beatport.com/release/punk/…
http://www.beatport.com/release/napol…
http://www.beatport.com/release/karam…
http://www.beatport.com/release/wait-…

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What happened that fateful knight?

 

This week on Behind the Mic. Scotty Shade reveals what happened that fateful Knight, when a fellow classmate; Jared Knight Fudge decided to leave his career in the radio business, and disappeared without a trace.

Scotty Shade gets up close and personal, with the story of JKF and talks to his fellow classmates and Radio Humber Broadcasters, to get their reaction and thoughts on finding out, why and what happened to Jared. It’s a story unlike any, anyone has ever heard of before. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll even question; “What’s really going on here” and to answer that question…I have no clue. Behind the Mic – The Jared Knight Fudge Story.

Radio Humber, and students of the Radio Broadcasting Class want to thank Jared for the time he spent with the class and the work he has done on Radio Humber. So long Jared and Good Luck =)

Everything EDM – Preview #2

Another quick preview of my new podcast idea Everything EDM, will be posting much more little short previews of what you can expect when I finally get this podcast up and running off the ground, hopefully soon but no date has been set yet. In this short bit, we talk about the new Axwell & Ingrosso track that was just premiered on BBC Radio 1. Two thirds of the Swedish House Mafia are keeping the sound of progressive house alive and are set to drop an album in 2015. Some insight & opinions on the track and what we the fans can expect from the Swedish DJ duo. Hope you enjoy, let me know what you guys think. Would love to hear your thoughts and opinions, any comment is helpful to make this better.

Follow Axwell & Ingrosso:

Soundcloud @axwellingrosso
Twitter @axwell @ingrosso
facebook.com/axwellingrosso
Instagram @axwell @ingrosso

Follow ME!!:

facebook.com/ccaputo95
Twitter @CCaputo212
Instagram @chriscaputzz

CRAZY F#%$ING NEWS

CRAZY STORIES YOU WON’T BELIEVE ARE TRUE

Quin and Amanda Santos present: CRAZY NEWS. We tell you about the most absurd and ridiculous stories that we can find and yes they are all real.

So many crazies out there, so little time to talk about them all.

We pick our favourite most outrageous weird news and then give you OUR take on them.

THIS WEEK:

A MAN’S RECTAL EXAM GONE WRONG, AN APP THAT LETS YOU KNOW IF YOUR FRIEND NEEDS HELP,

AND A CALENDAR OF CASKETS THAT HAS… NAKED WOMEN?   

https://soundcloud.com/quinsantosrbd/crazynews-nov5-2014

#ThoughtsOfCaputo Episode 1 – Basic White Girls

Another new semi-revolutionary podcast idea from yours truly once again. Unleashing my inner sarcastic personality in this one, minus any swearing and curse words. It’s totally better and not as dumb as that Perspectives podcast from last week (ain’t nobody got time for big black schlongs) #shotsfired (*air raid sirens*)! In this, I discuss the dumbest trends and topics and make them look even dumber than they already are. This week its all about the epidemic sweeping North America; no it’s not Ebola – its Basic White Girls (O EM GEE!). Starbucks, Zac Efron, Man Crush Monday, Kreyshawn and pointless Instagram posts! OH MY!!! Hope you enjoy, and aren’t super offended (you might but who knows, gotta save my keester somehow).

https://soundcloud.com/ccaputoradiohumber/thoughtsofcaputo-episode-1-basic-white-girls

Yin and Yang – Music Focus

96.9 Radio Humber Music Focus is a podcast that focuses just on two songs. The hosts, Jared Knight-Fudge and Tylor Brewster, each bring a Canadian song and the pair discuss their opinions of the music. Of course, other topics are bound to come up in conversation.

This week we have a band that makes cohesive, rollicking rock music, and a band that makes distant, foreboding electronic music. Tylor has brought in “Can’t Stop Laughing” by Nova Scotia’s The Trews, and Jared has brought in “Violent Youth” by Toronto’s Crystal Castles. In addition to the music, Tylor and Jared talk about Howie Mandel, thieves of studio equipment, and folk music on the radio.

Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments!

One message can make a difference.

Okay so I’m back again with another quick little blog, but today is going to be different.

Usually I talk about stuff that I have been up to, but now, I’m focusing on what’s happening in other peoples lives.

I never would have realized that one simple little message could make a huge difference to someone else. I can understand what it’s like for someone dealing with depression because I have definitely been there before, but I never thought that sending a commenting on an anonymous post would generate a reply to my comment, that would make a difference to myself and someone else’s life.

Here’s my blog podcast to explain exactly what I’m talking about

https://soundcloud.com/scottyshade/blog-podcast

and just remember, there’s always going to be someone there to help you through tough times.

Don’t Give Up, Stay Strong and always Stay Gold.

-Scotty Shade.

Everything EDM Podcast – Christian Caputo

Here’s a little preview of a podcast concept I’ve always had in mind and finally got around to doing, thanks to this podcast assignment. This is Everything EDM, a music/talk show/discussion hybrid where we discuss everything you need to know about whats going on in the dance music scene. Plus we play some some of the newest and hottest tracks out there in between rants and discussions. I would love to hear what you think of this, with enough positive reception I might actually make this a weekly thing and get some candid interviews and guests on here as well in future editions. Listen, love, and enjoy!

 

Anyway..

So…as I left off in my last blog post…I mentioned that I had an interviewing coming up for an internship on the Humble and Fred show. Well, last friday morning, I drove down to the studio and when I arrived, I didn’t realized I was going to be interviewed until after the show had finished, hmm, so I got to enjoy another live show, of Humble and Fred, and I also got to meet their special guest, Faisal Butt, who was the winner of the Sirius XM top comic.

Anyway..after the show wrapped, the producer and I sat down and had a nice little chat about what I’m learning in school, and how’s everybody at Humber(everybody’s great, obviously) and we started talking about what I would be learning working at the show…

So in all basically-tiveness…I am now the new intern at Humble and Fred. I will be working in the studio mondays and friday with Humble and Fred themselves and the producers, this is an amazing opportunity for me and I couldn’t be happier, and I am really excited to start working and get some great experience working for the show.

Now although I’m happy about the internship, I don’t know what it is, but lately i’ve been feeling kind of down and stressed and gloomy. For some reason, I have been so tired and un-energetic, maybe it’s cause I was really stressing over the huge seminar assignment we had to do, everyone being sick, the weather, among other things. It really sucks too, because I want to go to school and learn a lot about the business I’m apart of, but on the other hand, I just wanna stay in bed all day and not be bothered by anything.

Hopefully I’ll start feeling better soon, being sick sucks.

peace.

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!

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

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

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

The Flash, Arrow, Supernatural, The Walking Dead: That’s Right, IT’S TV SEASON!

IT’S TV SEASON

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Well, it’s October again which means just two things for me. 1. HALLOWEEN IS COMING and 2. IT’S TV SEASON! October is my favourite time of year when it comes to TV, all of the good shows come back to TV and of course my favourite SUPERNATURAL is back for another round. Rumour has it that the boys have signed on for another two seasons, which means this season just might not be the last for Supernatural lovers. Supernatural is NOT my only favourite, The Flash will be airing its pilot episode tonight too! Then there’s Arrow which is AMAZING and The Walking Dead which is a guilty pleasure of mine. Why you might ask? well I’ll get to that later, keep reading!

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TONIGHT IS THE NIGHT – SUPERNATURAL IS BACK!

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I’m so excited for the roller coaster that will be Season 10 of Supernatural. My favourite actor (Jensen Ackles) who is also my favourite character in the show (Dean Winchester) is now ***SPOILER ALERT*** a full fledged demon. But he’s not just any kind of demon… Dean bares the mark of cain… so what’s that mean? Basically the mark of cain is a mark that was given to Cain, brother of abel, and it has super demon power to it. — that was a horrible explanation… you should probably just watch Supernatural and see for yourself why I am overly excited and pumped to sit at my TV and watch several hours of TV Gold for the next few months.

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THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE? … THE FLASH

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So.. I have a confession to make…. A friend of mine notified me that there might just be a copy of the pilot episode of The Flash online – available to download… so… yea… I downloaded it…. yepp.. instant regret. I watched it a few months ago and have had to wait until TODAY for The Flash to actually start.. and technically since I’ve already seen this episode.. I made the wait even LONGER!!!… although I do regret not waiting.. it was also really worth watching because it was AMAZING.. The Flash is on par with Arrow which is also an awesome show that comes back to TV tomorrow! But first.. If you don’t know who the Flash is.. Here’s a breakdown of Barry Allen, a.k.a. The Flash.

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ARROW (THE COOLER BATMAN… HAHA. JUST KIDDING)

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SOOOOOOOOOOO excited for this season of Arrow. I’ve been waiting since forever to see Felicity Smoak and Oliver Queen get together. THIS SEASON WILL BE EPIC. Yea… I said that.  What better way to prepare for the new season of Arrow than to watch Supernatural and The Flash the day before.

TV SEASON IS HERE – I keep saying it but hey.. I’m excited… don’t judge me.

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THE WALKING DEAD

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ALL YOU DEAD HEADS MUST BE STOKED FOR THIS NEW SEASON.

I know I am.. Now.. I mentioned earlier that The Walking Dead is a guilty pleasure of mine.. “WHYYYYY???” Some of you are probably screaming. Believe me, it has nothing to do with being embarrassed to say I like the show because that is definitely not the case. The reason it is my guilty pleasure is because I hate, hate, hate zombies. It has to be the most ridiculous concept for me. How can someone believe that a virus like that can spread and no one would be able to stop it or deal with it or cure it. It just seems illogical to me, especially with all of the weapons and technology along with the advancements in science that we continue to make daily. Now.. that being said, The Walking Dead is different… It’s not so much about the story of the zombies as it is about the people and how they survive the trials and tribulations of living in a post-apocalyptic society. Which to me, is awesome.

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WHAT ELSE IS THERE?

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So, obviously I have a bunch of TV shows on my plate as is.. however, I’m always welcome to adding a few more to my favourites list. What TV shows are you looking forward to this TV season? or maybe to you TV season is in January. I wanna know what YOUR favourite shows are! Who knows, I might just like it too!

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– Amanda

Spotify Launches In Canada

After many years of waiting, Spotify has launched in Canada this week. Spotify is the most popular music streaming service in North America, with 40 million active subscribers – 10 million of them being paid subscribers – and a catalogue of over 20 million songs. The company has been trying to make its way into Canada since 2009, but music licensing and securing rights held them back from doing so for five years.

Users can pay for a Spotify Premium membership, which gives them features like ad-free music listening, offline listening, and downloading songs for later playback. A free membership is available as well, but comes with four minutes of ads every hour of listening. Spotify’s marketing director Andres Sehr hopes that every one in four Canadians will pay the $9.99 monthly fee for a Premium subscription to the service.

I’ve actually been using Spotify for the past couple weeks, since I got a code to get early access to it (thanks TD Music!). Its an absolutely amazing streaming service and it works flawlessly. I’ve been finding all sorts of classic tunes I used to play nonstop and some golden gems I never found until now. The one feature that I really like about it is the playlists feature. You can make your own playlist(s) with an unlimited amount of songs, name it something, and post it for others to follow. You can constantly update it with more songs and it will notify all your followers that you’ve done so. You can even share it on social media

Whats even better about the service is that just about almost every artist and record label have their own accounts and playlists on Spotify. You can follow them for any new music they upload and their playlists are constantly being updated every week with new tunes. For example, famous DJ Hardwell has his own playlist called ‘Hardwell On Air Radio’ where its updated every Friday with music that he plays on his radio show/podcast ‘Hardwell On Air.’

I highly recommend everyone to give Spotify a chance, even if its for a day or two. A superb music streaming service that will totally make you change the way you consume your daily dose of music. It’s free, there’s no reason not too.

So basically…

So basically this past summer was kind of a wild ride for me.

It definitely had it’s ups and it’s downs. I might get the downs out the way, to be able to save the best for last.

The summer started off kind of rocky for me. As some/maybe all of you know, I’m really into skateboarding, so as soon as school let out at the end of april, I was really excited to get right back into skateboarding for the summer and learn some new stuff. I found out that a few old friends of mine had actually started a skateboarding-based company and that they were wanting to get a few photos and videos to make an intro video. Well this is where its gets rocky…One of the guys from the company and I wanted to try and get a cool action shot on this quarter-pipe that reaches 12 feet high, the plan was to just get the back truck of my skateboard to tap the copping of the quarter-pipe and then roll back down. It worked out a few times, but then I wanted to get one more photo…one more…damn. On my “one more attempt” for some reason I went too far over the copping and ended falling about 8 feet straight down to my knee…I guess it’s hard to tell the extant of the damage at first but the next day, I couldn’t do a single thing, couldn’t walk, sleep, sit, anything. Turns out, I pulled two muscles and bruised a couple or tendons and ligaments…I was out of skateboarding for a month…Great way to start the summer.

Throughout the rest of the Summer, it was a bumpy one. I bought myself a car, and drove my family to Niagara Falls for a weekend, only to return to learning that a close friend of mine had died, and I was really sad about it because I wasn’t able to attend the funeral. And now that I think about it, this wasn’t a very great summer for when it came to deaths. I was absolutely heartbroken after learning about Robin Williams passing, followed by the death of legendary skateboarder, Jay Adams. But thats life, and life goes on.

Now the summer is over and I am back in school, starting my second year as a Radio Broadcasting student. The on air shifts haven’t been bad so far, prep for a hosting shift is probably the most difficult thing out of the whole scenario. It’s fun and exciting knowing that you are really on air, on a radio station where people are hearing you. Hopefully we’ll soon be learning how to make proper demos for ourselves, that way I can start sending those out asap, in hopes of actually having a job as soon as we graduate.

Well I guess that’s it for now. I should probably be getting to bed, seeing as how I have an 8am class tomorrow.

This Is Scotty Shade, Signing Off.

THE DIRTY NIL: CANADA’S ROCK AND ROLL SAVIOURS

The Dirty Nil play rock and roll.

Loud, distorted, and out-of-control rock and roll. They make music for your record players, music for your house parties, music to drink beers to. They make music you want to fight to, scream to and sing a long to. If you’ve never heard of them make it your mission of the day to change that.

The three-piece band hails from Hamilton, Ontario. The band consists of Luke Bentham (guitar/vocals), Dave Nardi (bass/vocals), and Kyle Fisher (drums). They play like mad men, like they have a fever they are trying to sweat out. They only have a few 7-inches and a 10- inch EP, but all of it is musical gold. The recordings are great, but nothing can compare to seeing them live.

Their live performance is an unhinged, destructive force. I’ve never seen a band like them. A band that comes on stage and always gives it all they got every night, with huge grins on their faces too. It’s amazing to see three guys come together to make something vital, meaningful, and insanely loud. If you’ve never seen them play. Go. Revel in the din of loud fuzzed-out guitars, pounding drums, and howling vocals. If you don’t leave with a smile, covered in sweat or blood, you weren’t trying hard enough.

I loved this band the moment I heard them. They will always remind me of now. When I look back on my life years from now, they’ll be the band that defined my early 20’s. I relate a lot to the music. It’s the perfect balance of rabid punk, feral garage rock, and uneasy pop hooks. It’s music I think more people should hear.

The Dirty Nil play rock and roll – cause they couldn’t do a damn thing else if they tried.

Check out these essential tracks: Little Metal Baby Fist, F*ckin’ Up Young, Wrestle Yü To Hüsker Dü

–@GRIZZLYZACH