Wednesday, April 16, 2008

A Friendship For The Ages

Lately i've been thinking about someone who rarely crosses my mind anymore. An old friend, that i've unfortunately lost touch with. It's sad, because the friendship that we had shaped me to become the person you have all come to know, so it was difficult to realise that I could no longer turn to this person in my times of need.


Let me begin from the top....a few weeks before my 10th birthday, my family informed us that we would be going skiing with the family of one of my mothers co-workers. They had been planning this out for a while now, and to my dismay I had to be social, because the other family had a son my age. The real kicker for me, was that this trip was happening on my birthday so again, another reason for me to not like this kid, or his family. A week prior to the trip the other family came over for coffee and dessert, which served as a chance for the kids to fraternize and get to know one another. If I remember correctly, my first impression of Nick Jeffrey was that he was an annonying little brat, who was completely oblivious to video games, cartoons, and all the fun things a 1o year old enjoyed. I made the most of the night and figured this kid to be decent enough to play with on the trip. One week later we shipped off to the Jeffrey's cabin and began our weekend long adventure. To me, it wasn't all that fun, but then again, when have I ever been known to have fun at any social event.


Alright, lets skip ahead a few months. So finally Nick got a gameboy and the very first pokemon game, Pokemon Blue. Being the kid he was, he'd never as much as touched a gameboy muchless played a video game. So he should he call to ask how to get past all the dangers of the pokemon world...Me. At age 10 I prided myself in being better than others so whenever I got the oppurtunity to show off I took it. We began conversing over the phone, me explaining what a pokemon was, and how to play, and him gasping in excitement. Not to say I didn't enjoy showing him up, but it got pretty annonying after a while. Skip ahead another month or so. Me and Nick had scarcely seen one another, and in the times we did hang out, I pretty much bored him to death by not wanting to do anything that involved physical activity. Oddly enough, I began to trust Nick a bit more, and eventually we began chilling almost every weekend. A few years down the road, probably at age 12 0r 13, Nick had a problem with his heart. He needed surgery to correct it, and when i found out i was pretty upset. The operation was a success but it changed Nick into a completely different person. It was like a complete 360 for the guy. Now instead of me being the leader in our duo, Nick began to take charge. He began losing weight, and playing waterpolo, which I eventually got drafted into as well. It was weird seeing him like this because I was so used to having the old Nick. Then again, the new Nick was just the kind of kid I needed to hang around with.

Nick became one of the most popular guys at his high school and pretty much knew any and everyone in all the grades. Of course I was intrigued in hearing about his tales of how was getting invited to all these different social events and how he made out with this girl in this grade. Usually those thoughts didn't cross my mind, but when Nick talked about them, it was like nothing else seemed to matter. Of course out of the two of us, Nick was the one who began going out on dates with some of the most attractive girls i've ever met, so my jealousy levels were at their max. It was odd, because despite the fact that he had all these new found friends, he still managed to call me up at least twice a week just to chat. Even the popular guys need their advice and I was happy enough to give it.


It's been almost half a year since I last saw Nick, and i'm saddened that our friendship came to such an abrubt halt, but at least I know he's doing good. My mom occassionally talks to his mom, so i'll usually be able to find out how he's doing. I've been thinking about him a lot lately so that's why I choose to write about our friendship. Everything we did is only a memory now, and here I thought i'd had the best man for my wedding already. It's weird thinking about the friends that we once had. It's even weirder since next year i'm starting the friend making process all over again, since i'll only have one friend at BT and that will only help me so much. Until next time..which will be soon, I promise!



J-moose

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Oh Music Lovers

I'M BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Serisouly though, I apologize for the 2 week hiatus. I've had some things come up, and on top of that no inspiration. But with all this music making its way to the world, I figured it was time to get a new blog going. Let me begin by saying that i'm pretty sure this summer is going to be big music wise.

For starters you have Weezer!! Yes the loveable dorks make their triumphant return after much speculation that they were done after Make Believe (2006 album). They've been updating their site as frequently as possible with how the recording is going, what producer their using and so fourth and so on. Here's the scoop:

Album Title: Weezer. The third self titled album from these guys, but as weezer fans know, the album will have a background colour to it, and from whats being said, it'll be red. So Technically it will actually be called the red album.

First Single: Pork and Beans...Even I think they've gone a little loopy with the title for this one. Then again, the last album with a colour name, eg the blue and green albums, were pretty good, so who I am to judge without hearing it. An official release date for the song is currently unknown.

My View: All they really had to do for this one is make it better than Make Believe. If they did that, then I believe weezer fans everywhere will rejoice.

And of course, another album that many rock fans will rejoice over is the new one from The Offspring. Yes, the guys who brough you the classics such as, Self Esteem, Pretty Fly (For a White Guy), Hit that, and many others will return this summer with a new album.

First single: Apparently it's going to be called Hammerhead. The guys have played it at a few shows so fans have of course uploaded video feed to youtube for our viewing/listening pleasure. From what i've seen from most fans reaction, it's a step back into the original offspring sound, so hopefully it'll be good. Then again, the quality on these videos isn't that great, nor is the audio, so it's still up in the air at this point. As for an album name, there isn't one at this point, so again, it'll probably be announced in the near future.

For those of you who can bask in Jack White's musical greatness, then your in for a treat. Actually, the treat has been served in a fine packaging called Consolers of The Lonely. Yup, you guessed it, The Raconteurs return with their second studio album. I've gotta hand it to them, they know how to make a entrance. After a year of Jack doing his thing with The White Stripes, the band decided to record the new album. Now, in Jack Whites mind, recording should only take up two weeks of ones time, and writing shouldn't take that much longer. So keeping with tradition, the album was written and recorded in February and was finished only 3 weeks before it's release date. Here's the fun part....the guys did no promotion with this album what so ever. The album was announced on the 18th of march, and released a week after. My hat is off to you Jack White, not only do you continue to make kick ass music, but you've got a damn fine way of doing it.

First Single: Salute Your Salution. Well it's exactly what we've come to expect from Jack. It's a fairly fast paced song, with a catchy beat. Always a plus when it's catchy.

Finally, it's time for some Canadians!!!! So I said it before but i'll say it again, TOKYO POLICE CLUB!!!! Ok so if you remember a few blogs back I mentioned that their new single hadn't come out yet. Well it's now out there in all it's glory, and i'm thoroughly pumped for it. If you don't remember from before it's called Tessellate and it's from their first album, Elephant Shell due out at the end of the month.

Thats everything musical i'm digging at the moment, but always the side panel for anything else i'm liking. I'll post another blog soon, I promise.

J-moose

Monday, March 24, 2008

I Really Need To Make More Friends

....i'm in tears right now because I missed this on saturday.

"On a typical Saturday Night at the Air Canada Centre you'd find roughly 18,000 people wearing Leafs jerseys and chanting "Go Leafs Go!" but this past Saturday was slightly different. The Foo Fighters made their way into town to a sold out crowd of 20,000 plus and instead of seeing Leafs merchandise you saw Foo Fighters T-shirts and chants of "Foos Foos Foos".
Opening for the Foo Fighters were Against Me!. Having listened to their recent album New Wave for a couple of months, I was excited to see how they were live. Normally an opening band won't fill up the seats, but these guys had a huge following and filled up more than what I expected. They played for a good 45 minutes to an hour. They played a number of tracks from New Wave including Stop!, New Wave, Thrash Unreal, Borne On The FM Waves and more! Overall I thought they played a good show.
While waiting for the Foos to come on stage I noticed a long catwalk that connected the main stage to an unknown circular area. We all had no idea what that was for until later on in the show. Once the Foos hit the stage everyone and I mean everyone was standing! They opened the show with Let It Die from their latest album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. Then they followed it up with their smash The Pretender. Then Dave Grohl asked the crowd if they have been to a Foo Fighters concert, and a loud roar responded. Then he asked the crowd if this was their first Foo Fighters concert and another loud roar responded. Dave decided that the crowd was split 50-50 of newcomers and old-timers. He then assured us that this was going to be a special show. What was going to make this show special? Well for one the Toronto show has been the biggest the Foo Fighters have played in Canada, that they had some special guests, they were going to play some old shit, some new shit and some acoustic shit! From then on I knew it was going to be a great show!
They followed up Dave's speech with hit after hit including 'Times Like These, Break Out, This is A Call, Stacked Actors, Breakout, and Cheer Up Boys'. I guess Dave was right by playing older, heavier, foo fighters tracks.
After that set of tracks Dave, Nate, and Chris walked off stage leaving Taylor Hawkins to do his drum solo. After a couple of minutes of his drum solo Taylor introduces special guests of the night - Rush! RUSH! Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee of Rush joined Taylor Hawkins on stage and jammed to Rush's hit YYZ. Once they fished jamming Dave comes on stage and yells 'RUSH! RUSH!' Mr. Grohl indeed came through with his promise of the show being a special one, and he wasn't done either!
As the crowd was going nuts because Rush were on stage I noticed that they started to uncover the circular area at the end of the catwalk. Still not know what it was the band started walking down the catwalk. As they are walking a second, smaller, stage emerges from the rafters! It's time for the Foos to play some acoustic shit!
They kicked off the acoustic set with Skin And Bones followed by Marigold. During the acoustic set Dave introduced everyone on stage and gave solo's to violinist Jessie Green and to percussionist Drew Hester who ended up performing a triangle solo! Then came My Hero. I am positive that every single body in that place was singing this song. It came to a point where Dave Grohl didn't have to sing, he encouraged all to sing and the crowd ended up taking over the vocals for the song. It was great! After that sing-a-long I knew that this was the best show I've been to and they were only half way through their entire set! Then came Taylor's turn to take lead vocals on Cold Day In The Sun, followed by But, Honestly and closing the acoustic set with Everlong. Another song that Mr. Grohl really didn't have to sing. He went to each of the mics on the second stage and sang to each side of the crowd! This guy knows how to work a crowd! Towards the end of the song it went from acoustic to electric and Dave ran along the catwalk and jumped back onto the main stage and rocked out to finish off the track!
Asking the crowd if they were done they ripped into Monkey Wrench followed by All My Life to finish up the concert. During the encore break the screens showed the band backstage with the set list, focused in on Dave putting yup a finger to indicate a single song encore. The crowd got loud when he put up two fingers and the crowd went crazy when Taylor stepped in the put up all ten fingers. Storming onto the stage to perform their encore Dave Grohl told us a story about his first trip in Toronto when he got to play drums for Iggy Pop as a 19 year old. Finishing off his story they started the encore with the 1996 hit Big Me followed by Long Road To Ruin and 'Best Of You' which were both huge singalongs!
If you were at the show, let me know what you thought of it.
Full Setlist:Let It Die

The Pretender
Times Like These
Breakout
Learn To Fly
Cheer Up Boys
This Is A Call
Stacked Actors
YYZ (f. Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson of Rush)
Skin And Bones
Marigold
My Hero
Cold Day In The Sun
But, Honestly
Everlong
Monkey Wrench
All My Life
Encore:Big Me

Long Road To Ruin
Best Of You"

Courtesy of www.muchmusic.com

The Eyes Have It

You guys ever have those days when you feel like nothing is going your way? Well for me those days turned into a week, and that week has thankfully ended. It seemed like one tragic defeat after another. I got really bad on some assignments, and by bad I don't mean 60/70 I mean bad. On top of that, I just wasn't digging my appearance, I mean I know i'm never going to be buff or jock like, but last week just seemed to show off my gut more than usual. Lastly, I was supposed to go to a concert Saturday night, which I had been pumped for, for a while. And, low and behold, that didn't happen either, and now i'm stuck $120 in debt and two tickets sitting on my dresser with no place to go. Aside from that, I had this strange but interesting thought come into my brain on friday night. I was suprised that I thought about it when I did, mainly because I should have been occupied with the life stories of Rich Plante and Uncle Bobby, two guest speakers at my youth group. Not to say that I didn't take their stories to heart because they definitely had an effect on me, but this thought kept occupying my mind.

When you look at somone what is the first thing that runs through your mind? Usually, I wonder what is going through their mind. When I see their face, I can tell if somethings troubling them, or their happy and so fourth and so on. There's a whole list emotions that I can usually pick up on. For example, when I see Kristina's face I can see the joy that she's about to bring where ever she is. On friday night that kind of changed for me. I was listening to these two men talk about their lives without God and how when they finally found him it was the greatest moment in their lives. In detail I heard about their trials and tribulations from their childhood ranging to their early 40's. When your hear those kinds of stories, your mind immeadiately thinks back to all the moments in your life where you've made a bad choice or done something you've regretted for years. As I listened my eyes drifted up into our youth pastor, Jay's. For a quick second I was in direct line with his eyes, and thats when it hit me. What do people see when they look at me? And for that matter do I look the same to everyone or I am viewed differently by everyone that I know?

It was weird thinking about it, and for a while my mind just kind of drifted off questioning what people see when they look at me? When I got home that night, I looked at myself in my bathroom mirror and I didn't really see anything new. Same 6 foot 5 J-moose, with acne on his face. Still I wondered what others see. Fast forward to work the next day. I was a little bit of a rush to get my returns done and start cleaning my department, since it looked as if a bomb had gone off in it. I was speeding down the action alley towards the bikes when I passed fellow blogger and friend, Klla. Usually we don't have a chance to exchange pleasantries since she's rushing towards the front to get to a register and i'm usually running around with Barbies in my hand, but 9 times out of ten we usually exchange a smile, which is just as good as a hello in my books. Anyways, we passed by one another and managed to see into her eyes for a brief moment, and again my mind immeadiately thought about the image portrayed to her when she looks at me. It's weird to think about that, mainly because she doesn't see me as often as everyone else I know, and usually the only chance we get to talk is over msn. You don't have to tell me Klla, it doesn't really matter, it's just the thought that intrigues me. But again, what goes on in someone else's eyes? Look at school life for example, you've got over a thousand kids cramped into one building, and each one of them has their own view on what that school looks like, and what each student looks like. It's hard not to think about how people see me, since everyone at BT has seen my face on the morning announcements, but do I look like that guy with acne making his nose look bloodshot red and a 6 foor 5 misfit, or am I just a voice without a face?

Whatever the case may be, I know when I look into a mirror I see a boy desperate to find his place in life. God knows where i'm headed, but unfortunately me and God have yet to get to know one another, and it's truly unfortunate. Jay Brock told me he didn't find God till he was 17. I'm 18 and I haven't found God, but I know in his eyes, i'm constantly changing, and thus a true image can never be revealed. Maybe one day i'll be able to see what exactly changed, but for now i'll keep questioning.

J-moose

Monday, March 17, 2008

She's Looking For Some Courage. She Feels Faithless, She Feels Earthless

Now before we begin, i'd like to let you guys know that i'm having the worst week possible so far and i'm kind of losing faith in my intelligence.

Today I was sitting in my philosophy class and a song started playing in my head. A song about a girl (most songs are), but to me this song is more than that. It's not a love song, but a description of this girl and what she questions, the struggles she goes through. For me, it was the only thing that kept me from wanting to cry. I don't know why, but even as I write this, I find myself gradually slipping into despair. When I hear this song, a different set of lyrics play through my mind, and instead of a young girl it's about a boy. If this sounds anything like the song about the girl, I apologize Raine Maida.

--

Every morning is a new day, a new fight, a new struggle, a new light. He wakes up to the same song, day after day, those same words etched into his brain. The mirror in his bedroom likes to play tricks on his mind, supplying false images of what he should be. Muscular ain't worth it, being a dreamer just don't cut it, those 5 minutes of shame when he sees himself, get harder everyday. He cries out to sky, expecting answers from above, but God won't listen, he's got to do this on his own.

--

In his mind he's the epitomy of failiure, friendless, souless, selfless, and scared. But his minds a cruel tool, makes him believe what he really shouldn't. Everyday a new friend prayers for his happiness and hopes to God he knows it. Those lonely hours he spends walking the town searching for his purpose questioning life, love and what he can't understand.

--

And hope is what he really needs. Some hope to help him breath. He's grasping for the surface...But the suface just ain't worth it, let me be gone, let me go.

--

A reminder that I always write my best when I feel like crap. This is a key example of that.

J-moose