Rocky Horror Picture Show (Halloween Style)

So yesterday (yeah, yesterday was a busy day), I made my way at 11pm to the Rocky Horror Picture Show, at the Plaza in Kensington. This was a special Halloween showing, so instead of the usual burlesque show (a very PG-13 burlesque show) at the beginning there were costume contests! That means all of the Frank, Rocky, Riff-Raff, Magenta, Columbia, Eddy, Dr. Scott, Criminologist would come to the stage in pairs (ex. Frank, Rocky) and they would pick the best three out of all of them, and judge the winner on the amount of cheers. I was Columbia-in-pyjamas, a.k.a Mickey (or Minnie in my case) Mouse Columbia, a.k.a Columbia and Magenta in the bedroom Columbia. So I thought it would be okay if I came up with all the Columbias and Eddies. There were only three Eddies and three Columbias there, so they went straight to the cheering contest. When it was our turn, I was up against blue jacket Columbia (who had previously came up thinking she was Magenta) and green face Columbia (why did she paint her face green?). And yay! Minnie Mouse Columbia got the most cheers! I was probably the youngest winner of costume prizes, but oh well. So, because I won the best Columbia, I got a fabulous prize like everyone else. Most of them were gifts from the sponsers, some stores in Kensington that have makeup, clothes etc. I got a fake, pink, but very realistic looking severed hand. And a cool Halloween poster. Yay.

After, the show was the same as usual, with the fun and vulgar backlines, and rice raining down on all of us. I got pelted with rice, hit with toast, I had toilet paper to the head and a card landed in my lap, etc., etc. And I did the time warp on stage twice. Great fun as always and this time I wasn't a virgin (hope anyone didn't interpret that as something else).

Pictures

Here are some pictures from the Career Show, of George Stroumboulopoulos' presentation.

George and I, after the presentation.

Strombo, during the presentation.

Strombo in Calgary!

So today, as many of y'all know, I was at the Calgary Career Fair explaining to people how to become a roughneck etc...

But that's not it!
There's a twist!
Our friend George Stroumboulopoulos was giving a speech on this very day! At that very career fair. Now, I've seen George a couple times before, it's always a pleasure to hear him speak, and say hi. I was at the Career Fair around 10:30, to help my parents. I hung around, tried to help some people, checked out my camera, realized it had no batteries. No batteries! And there wasn't a AA in the entire place. So we took the c-train downtown, where there's plenty of convenience stores. East downtown Calgary is unfortunatly a place where a lot of poverty occurs, and unfortunatly somewhere far away from a reflection on the rearview mirror of an expensive Corvette belonging to someone very wealthy. This economic inequality disturbs me, especially since a lot of people aren't aware situations like this are going on. Maybe it's hypocritical, but I'm certainly not a bazillionare and I do care and I want people to care. Calgary is a very polarized city right now, what's happening to the happy middle?

So I got my batteries, and we headed back on the c-train (though we caught the wrong train so we had to go back downtown). When we were finally back at the show, I was able to catch the entire career-fashion show thing... not my type of affair, but I got excellent seats for George. So George comes on, being friendly with everyone etc., etc... And he does his talky thing about himself, which is always interesting to me. Then people asked the questions. I've seen him speak 3 times (including the Hour), and this time was the one that I could really relate to (maybe because it was a career show, and people asked questions about kids). He was funny too, and it was interesting to hear his opinions on the media around the world, especially from an insider. Kinda like a show George said he watched... Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Kay, never watched it. Partly cause I had a bad experience with Matthew Perry, hey I'll tell you about that one time. One thing unique to hearing George speak, is that you get his true opinions, which makes listening to him very real, it also seems like he's really comfortable talking to us, but he's not bullshiting anyone or wanting to impress anyone. I asked if George, Jian and Rick hang out, have bridge nights on Wednesdays etc... I always have very random questions for people. Soon the presentations were over, and people were lined up.

I'm a pretty outgoing person, I enjoy talking to people and I like hearing from people. But I really appreciate how George spent all the time after the show, talking to each person who wanted to be talked to, letting him know that he cared. For a kid like me, (and I know there were others out there) it's so cool to get a chance to have a discussion with someone you look up to, and someone so down to earth. I chatted with George for a bit, introduced him to my twin, got a picture, got him to sign my postcard. Like I've said before blahblahblah, he was nice, real, friendly, etc., etc..

I let him know that my parents had a booth at the career show, and after he dropped by to say hi to us, which was really nice. George met my mum, and talked to us a bit, I told him I was really happy that he mentioned Martha Wainwright when he was talking about Canadian music, and we chatted about Wainwrights and the Leonard Cohen movie. I think my mum was trying to recruit him to talk about rig technicians on the Hour, heehee. I told him about my dad (who wasn't there right then), and how he was the one who inspired me to love music. Then my dad comes up and shakes his and and asks him if he wanted to be a roughneck. I'm not sure George was to keen on being a roughneck, but we talked more about music and politics (two things that interest both me and my dad). George looked at my iPod, I was listening to "Eli the Barrow Boy" (yay, Decemberists!) and checked out my bling case. Yah, it's a bling case. I talked a bit about the blogs, and asked if he reads them or not, etc. It was cool to talk to him, especially cause my whole family got a chance to meet him.

The thing about George, is that after a while it just felt like I was talking to a person who interested me, someone who had views on things that engaged me. Which is exactly who George is. I forgot that he really was someone in the public eye, until he said something like "yeah, that Beck interview was the best I've had with him". George is great at interacting with the people. It's probably the most important thing for someone in the media today to do.

ps. Rocky Horror tonight! I'm digging all of my Rocky Horror stuff out of the bag I got at the "Time Warp, Music Store and More" in Moose Jaw. To bad it shut down on my way back from Ontario. And... yet again, I'm Columbia-in-pyjamas.

Career Fair

Yesterday I took the c-train to the Calgary Career Fair, where my mum was managing a booth. It's at the Round-up centre so I didn't have to walk far at all, this also means it's a huugee deal. There are a multitude of different booths, some with candy, some with popcorn. We had starburst and skittles. By the time I had arrived at 4:30pm my mum had been there since 10, with hardly a break. So I let her walk a round while I managed the booth. I wasn't the best at explaining people the trade. But that's okay.

Today I'm leaving soon for the Career Fair, to help my mum out again. But this time, there is a treat. At 1:00, there will be a presentation by George Stroumboulopoulos. I've seen him 2 times before, and I'm excited to catch him. If anybody else is coming round, let me know and maybe I can say hi.

I hate technology.

My grade 4 teacher used to say that alll the time, when we went into the little computer lab in the library and the kids couldn't work "Kidz Pix" or the computers didn't start up. My grade 4 self always wondered why she bothered with computers if she hated them that much. Did she really need them? So now that my 14 year old self has an iPod, lots of homework, blogs, etc... I can kinda understand why she bothered with something she hated so much. I hate computers. Especially mine. Don't get toshiba laptops. They are evil. First, my computer start short-circuiting or something, and zapping itself into shutdown. Then the button broke. Then the fan broke, so it overheats all the time. Usually when I'm uploading music. Like the new Decemberists cd. That my dad and I roamed this fair city (not really, we went to Megatunes) to get. And my new Beck cd. But I kinda figure that I've already had my fun with the Beck cd, because I spent about an hour putting those cute stickers on it, it looks very nice. Anyways. I've started up my computer about 10 times, and I'm only finished with "O Valencia!".

Somebody up there must really dislike me.

Hair!

Here's my unnaturally red hair. And also... a sneak peak of the room.

You notice the red walls at the bottom of the door, and my red record player.

More coming soon...

In French Class (Nikki Is Rad)

I'm typing this in french class, I probably should be shutting my computer down soon, or taking notes in french on soccer...

Today's been pretty good. I got a new hair dryer, as opposed to my mum's 30year old one. My hair is showing significant improvement. I also finished presenting my monologue in Performing Arts, from the beginning of a book called "A Complicated Kindness". I don't like how people refuse to give you a comment that doesn't have something negative in it. It always needs to include something negative. I swear, I didn't hear one purely positive comment from anyone's monologue. People said I was grumbly, and strung my sentences together too much. And that there wasn't enough action. Well. Next time I'll try to include more action into a monologue where the person is explaining how they feel, and no, not about fighter jets or ninjas. And my performing arts teacher doesn't really understand 14yearolds yet. Our previous teacher, who was great, is on maternity leave so we get someone who hasn't taught drama to kids older than 7... no offense. And he doesn't really know how to discipline us either. You know, those teachers who are really strict but never seem to have a handle on class? Why, you ask me? Probably because they've treated the students with no respect, and they don't get any respect back. Oh well, I hope he'll learn, as most new teachers do.

PS. The most cool girl in my French class told me to write that as a title. =)
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(This wasn't written in French class)
I just dyed my hair, reaally red. So red it looks unnatural. Although, it doesn't look bad, because it isn't faded or inconsistent. It'll be fun for a couple weeks before it fades to orange. I promise (kinda promise), to post pictures of the new hair, and perhaps even my room, if blogger would be cooperative. I still haven't completly got the finishing touches on the room though...

And, I'm swamped by Humanities homework. We're supposed to make a web that defines a Utopia, with a number of different ideas... sounds easy enough. Unfortunatly, I can't get a grasp on it, and I've been procrastinating until today (it's due tomorrow). Hopefully I can get some creative inspiration, if anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear 'em (Okay... so I probably shouldn't be using my blog for homework purposes, that would make it horribly boring). Then there's the math... I hate geometry. I know the ideas, but somehow I always make one simple mistake, or round my way into a wrong answer. Enough of school, it's so boring.

I hope everyone is having a nice Tuesday. Not my favourite day of the week, but it has to happen some time.

Utopia = No long term Humanities assignments

So we have a huge longterm assignment in Humanities about Utopias. I swear we spend half a year on the damn things, which I don't think could even exist. I don't think that studying Utopias is a bad thing, there are lots of great books you can read, lots of interesting theories. But for the whole month, till December! Arrr. So we had an hour long discussion in class about Utopias. I think I contribute too much... We had to choose from a society built on control of peoples choice, or complete freedom to make your own choices. I chose the freedom, most people did. It's interesting how all the people in our class prefer anarchy over totalitarianism. I don't think that either could work without becoming a dystopia. Utopias, pah. I like our world, it's interesting. What would your perfect world be? Or are you happy now? Do you think finishing a whole bunch related of webs and essays over 9 weeks is fun? That's one thing I'm certainly not certain about.

And in other news (probably not Utopia related), Season 3 of the Hour. Watched it on the main network at 11. Different set, a little shinier, scribbly black-and-white format (looks pretty cool), same George (I'm pretty sure). It was entertaining as always. Interesting guests, some Belinda (she sounded more articulate than I thought, sorry Belinda), umm that guy who directs Monty Python and weird crime scene guy who talks about getting saved from wolf-death. My mum had to look away during the crime scene thing. Me, I love bloody intestines and rotting corpses. Just kidding! Speaking of the Hour, I would like to make a comment about the website. I really like the writing of the person who writes on the pictures. It is rad. I hope it's not a font, I'd like to meet the person who does it. I wish I could write like that, on a computer. Good for you, writing-manorwoman!

That's some cool writing.

This Is Belinda Stronach Doing An Interview.

Now tonight I will watch Rick Mercer dive naked into chilly lakes with a Liberal Leadership hopeful.

I swear Pete Townshend smiled at me

Like 5 times!!
Well, I thought he did, but I'm sure everyone else in the first 5 rows did too. Seriously though, he was 30 feet away from me. That's the distance from me to... the staircase or something. We were in fourth row, far right. In Pete's corner of the stage. I've never been that close to a musician, in my life. The whole annoying Saddledome thing was lost to us. Nobody was frisking, we walked straight in. It didn't even smell that bad. I got in before everyone else in our group and went to check the seats. I couldn't believe it, after the floor I just kept walking and walking... until I hit the fourth row. All my other 'dome dates I have been about a bazillion times farther than I was now. So everyone got seated, and the first band played their set. They were called Inward Eye, from Winnipeg, I liked them. You could tell they really wanted to put on a good show, for the sake of opening with the Who. At intermission I went up to get myself some merchandise. I never buy into merchandise, ever, the lines are horribly long, the people don't understand you, the "womens" shirts barely have sleeves and the mens shirt are huge. Did I mention it's usually unreasonably expensive? But, we figured we'd do it this time, they had some nice shirts and I was really excited. I went up and managed to scrounge a medium men's ringer t-shirt. So it was kinda big. Oh well, it's a nice looking shirt and it'll remind me of this concert. As soon as my shirt was bought, the Who decided it would be right to start playing. So I kinda ran back down to the floor. When I got to my seat I realized that I was staring at Pete Townshend, and he was pretty damn close. Okay. So he wasn't like the Pete Townshend of his youth, but he is a living legend. Pete seemed to be the more talkative of the two, recalling the gigs in Calgary of the sixties, before getting into another one of the songs. They played 12 new songs, a lot. Something that wasn't particularly great for me, but I don't blame them for wanting something new after ages of the same stuff. I could see Roger Daltrey, a bit farther down the stage, but I was closest to Pete, watching him still rock at guitar through a couple of chubby drunk guys.

Best old song: My Generation (Okay, so the "I hope I die before I get old" is a bit hypocritical, but they didn't sound that old to me) and Won't Get Fooled Again (A lot of Roger Daltrey screaming, great guitar and peace signs) were great, but in the end, the best for me was "Baba O' Riley". That keyboard intro, and anticipation of the Daltrey's first loud vocals, plus when Pete steps up to the mic with "Don't cry, don't raise your eye, it's only teeenage wastelaand", did it for me.

Best new song: I wasn't crazy about all the new songs, but the one that stood out most for me was "Man In A Purple Dress". I'm assuming this one was about the pope.

Best old person moment: When Roger tells the annoying pot smokers around us, that he'd love to smoke with them, but he's allergic to pot. So please get stoned outside and then come back in. The guys behind us smoking pot yelled something like "HEY I'LL HAVE A SMOKE WITH YA" or something moronic like that, but put the weed away.

Best not old person moment: Pete and Rogers still kinda rebellious antics. Pete does his windmill thing, quite a bit and jumps up and down. Roger swings the mic. Pete chucks his guitar in the corner when it displeases him. He didn't smash it, but chucking was good enough.

Coolest audience appreciation: Before the encore, we start to hear a low murmer of "Who, who, who, who" in the stands, until it gets louder and louder. It was a really weird noise. I also really liked looking up at the stands during "Behind Blue Eyes" and seeing all the pretty lighters, that looked like stars.

Cutest Daltrey and Townshend moment: When they hugged an old man hug at the end. Pete with his acoustic guitar, and Daltrey with a cup of tea. Awwww.

Favourite band member: Ringo's look-alike moppy haired son, Zak Starkey proved himself a Who-worthy replacement for Keith Moon. Bassist Pino Paladino was great, he looks like my English teacher.

Song everyone in our group wish they'd played: Substitute was on my mum's mind, maybe cause we were listening to it in the car on the way there. But I love the lyrics "I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth". I also missed Kids Are Alright.

Best time when I thought Pete was smiling at me: There was one time he was playing the guitar and singing, and I swear he looked directly at me so I smiled at him, and he was smiling too. Okay, so maybe he wasn't smiling back. But still! Who couldn't resist to smile at a scruffy-haired fourteen year old with a black London Calling t-shirt. I'm pretty sure he smiled at me some other times too... and once I gave him a thumbs-up, after he said something, and I'm sure he smiled at me then. =).

Overall: Even if they're old, they still put on a great show. It was awesome seeing them so close, and this was a fun experience.

New Who

I say "New Who", because of the lack of similarity two mild-mannered fella's in their 60's have with the loudest pop band in the world. Datedness aside, I'm still really looking forward to having a fourth row glimpse at the Two Who's. Saddledomeness aside, I'm betting on a fun time. I've never been closer to the stage than like... a step below the nosebleeds and I'm hoping the experience will be different. Maybe more old people and less pot-smoking beer-drinking mid-20's guys. Oh I hope.

Wish me luck.

I'm pretty convinced

My mum brought me this photocopied section of the Calgary "Career Show" brochure home. This is enough to pretty much convince me Strombo will be at the show. It's very odd that they didn't put this on their website...

Anyways. I haven't posted in a while, sorry. I have no excuses. Yesterday my mum and I went to the film fest (with the tickets she won off CBC). Volver was sold out, so we went to a comedy/shorts thing, which was pretty funny.

My Meeting With Tommy Chong - Reasons Not To Smoke That Much Marijuana

So today I was dragged down to the bookstore on behalf of my twin brother, by James' two friends. I don't usually have to be dragged to the bookstore, and they probably aren't used to dragging people. This was because Tommy Chong (of the infamous stoner duo Cheech and Chong) was doing a signing. Right now, Cheech is singing for the amazing reality TV singing spinoff, Celebrity Duets. This features some D-listers, and washed-up celebs trying to sing with desperate for money credible legends like Smokey Robinson, and crappy popsters, like that female country singer I can't remember the name of. And there's Little Richard too!!! Chong is signing his autobiography at independent bookstores in Calgary. That, kids is why you base your career around being young and smoking pot. You will be sure to go far.

So James' friend bought the 30$ book, probably'll help the old guy with his retirement. We walked up the stares, and the excitement brewed as we saw a pleasant looking old man with a slow voice, who could be anyones grandpa. Now we get in the two person line, and wait to get Chong to sign the book. Behind us are these punks who smell like pot and have dreads and leather jackets. We look like a couple of nervous teenagers. So Chong signs the book, he's very nice to us teenagers, asks us our names and is good when James' friend asks him to sign it for all of us. He can't spell the last three letters of my name, and he doesn't understand when I say I'm there on behalf of my brother cause he's at drumming. Oh well. He was very sweet though, and he didn't snipe at us like some adults do. I came out of the book store grinning, washed up celebrity encounters put a smile on my face. Hey, but I gotta give the man credit. He's not on a crappy D-list show, and he wrote a book about prison after spending years smoking pot. I'd rather him be my grandpa then a 65-year old version of one of those punks behind us.

What a couple of QT's.

Everybody Knows

Okay, I'm not sure what Everybody Knows, but I'm listening to this specific song right now (at least the Rufus Wainwright cover) and I figured it might be a good title, because I quite enjoy titles and I can't think of anything else to write as a title. I suppose this song is kinda relevant. This song has I kind of rich get richer, poor get poorer feel to it. Which fits appropriately with my topic of Starbucks. It's not about how I never go to Starbucks because I think it's immoral (that's a dead lie) or how a love Starbucks, think it's great and go there every day (not a huge lie, but it's definitely untrue). If you hate the fact I go to Starbucks sometimes once a week, just don't read this.

Anyways, I sometimes I go to Starbucks once a week, sometimes more, sometimes less. Point is, I go to the exact same Starbucks and I'm pretty familiar with the Barista's. One of them has blonde hair, one played the Smiths for me once, and there's one with short hair and stubble and a round face. So my mom was there the other day, and Mr. Shorthair starts talking to her, something like this.

B: So is your daughter back to school?
M: Uh..yeah?
B: What grade is she?
M: She's in grade 9.
B: Oh really, I thought she was in grade 10 or 11, she's so mature.
M: Nope, grade 9.
B: So, what does she like to do?
M: She loves music, she likes art and current events and stuff
(Where my mum tries to tell Barista-man about Sounds Like Canada or at least Jian Ghomeshi, obr something about me being interviewed on CBC)
B: Wow, sounds really cool.
M: Thanks for the tall decaf.

I actually didn't remember which Barista this was until I went today on a quest with my friend, to find the Barista who knows me. And he was there! Yay. I remember him now. Come to think of it, he's the one I thought was gay. Anyways. He's always been really nice, I don't know how he connected me to my mum. He was sweeping up some spilt cheerios, when I asked him if we could sit on the chairs. So Barista man's like:

B: Yep, they're all yours!
H: Oh, thanks.
B: Yah, I wanna put a sign on the door that says "no kids under 5".
H: Haha, yeah, did little kids make the mess?
B: Yes, they had cheerios.
H: Oh. I didn't know they had cheerios at Starbucks!
B: No they don't, they brought 'em.

Yay! I accomplished the mission of meeting the barista who I didn't think I knew but who talked to my mum. Now if only I could finish up my Humanities and Math homework. Is anyone really good at factoring special quadratics?

And here is my song, the campy, quirky Rufus Wainwright version of Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows". You'll probably love it or hate, or it might just make you dizzy.

P.S. I only have the URL cause I'm ignorant at posting sound clips from Bolt. Click if you want to:
http://www.bolt.com/hilarym/audio/2279373

If This Is FO-SHO I'm Really Excited...

So my mum is going to a career fair, for her work. This is from October 27-28. She just phoned me about this, and said that her brochure advertised one of the main presenters as being a Mr. George Stroumboulopoulos, someone you are all probably very familiar with. I'm hoping she read this right... and maybe Strombo's coming to Calgary... if it's true I doubt he'd bring the Hour with him... Cause it's on a Saturday. My mum read me the brochure on the phone, it sounded like he was going to be at the career fair. I'm not getting all riled up, cause this could be a misread, I mean it doesn't say anything about it on the career show site (http://www.thecareershow.ca). But if it's true, it would be very awesome. I get free tickets cause my mum's there too. I definitely can't confirm this, can anyone else?

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Update:

The 2006 Seminars list is coming soon, so my mum's brochure could be hot off the press, or it could be something for insiders. I'm not sure, but there still is hope.

+

=

?

I can write some mediocre propaganda

*pssst* this isn't actually my opinion, sorry to disappoint everyone. I did write it though.

The Canadian military entered Afghanistan to assist the efforts of those rebuilding the country, after the destructive reign of the Taliban. Canada is playing a major part in Afghanistan by collecting and decommissioning thousands of heavy weapons, as well as millions of land mines, helping Afghanistan become a safer place for its people.

Our troops have bravely taken a role in Kandahar, and they are are helping to make the southern countryside more controlled and less violent and dangerous. Before the international forces came to these areas, the land and the people were torn by violence and abuse.

The Canadian troops in Afghanistan are working hard to make the country more safe for the people. If international forces were not in Afghanistan, war could very quickly break out. We are already seeing signs of freedom, women attending school, people voting for a leader. The part Canada has taken in the war is helping Afghanistan along on the road to reconstruction. This is important to Canadians as global citizens, and it is very important to the many innocent people living in Afghanistan.

If Canadian troops continue what they are doing in Afghanistan, continue saving lives and fighting against those who want to destroy the lives of innocent people, Afghanistan will continue to get closer on the road to safety and reconstruction. We need to keep up the support for our troops, both from the people of Canada and the government of Canada.

Yeah, whatever Hilary.

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PS. Final Fantasy (aka Owen Pallet, aka that major cutie gay boy who plays the violin or fiddle or whatever the damn thing is called) just won the Polaris prize. Who woulda thought. Maybe I should have gone to the concert after all. And... Billy Bragg sold out before I could bother my dad to get us tickets. Errr. That's the worst type of procrastination.

Don't you just want to give him a hug!!???

My room = Sooooo being painted right now

I've been wanting to get my yellow-cream/excess dirt coloured walls painted for a while now, and it is finally happening! I moved out of my room, and my laptop is currently residing on the dinner table. So I might not be on as much. But, the room is gonna be bright red, with a high-gloss grey in my nook, and maybe one wall that is mottled red and other colours. I came in this afternoon, and it was pink. Thankfully, this was just the primer. But I didn't mind the pink that much. I'm really excited about the painting though, and possible redecorating too!! That's one of the more girly things about me.

In other news, school is as busy as ever. It's weird, but one of my favourite classes right now (besides Humanities) is math. I think it's because we have a good teacher, but it's actually kinda fun solving all the cute little problems. I've never had that much fun in Polynomials! I'm having some trouble and procrastinating a bit in Humanities though. We're doing a lot of stuff that interests me. But a lot that doesn't. Of course, I'll have my work finished up and stuff by Monday... but still. In Science, I switched back into Science 9, because I'd rather focus on my other subjects and not have to do a whole bunch of extra work in science, which isn't my fav. My science 9 teacher is pretty awesome though. He wears glasses and plaid shirts, but he also really likes punk rock... We had him last year too, although this year he's claiming to make us work harder. So far it's been pretty easy though. Last night was "meet the teachers". I love these things, cause I can guide my parents around and see what teachers think of me, and check if they are fake in front of my parents. First we came to my humanities teacher, who my parents really like. He seems not to really mind the fact I raise my hand a lot. Then we saw my science teacher, but my brother's science teacher was in the same room, so I came in and talked to him while my parents were talking to my brother's teacher. Problem is, when they were finished with James' teacher they didn't have a lot to talk about with my science teacher, cause I already talked to him. After that we saw my math teacher, my parents were nervous about me going into the room because my brother's math teacher (who I had last year) was in there too. They didn't want her to know I was his sister, in fear of soiling his reputation. I still went in and talked to my math teacher, who my parents have met before. I think I tired them out in the end though. Oh well, I still love "meet the teachers".

Tomorrow I'm going to the Chili Pepper's concert with a friend. I'm looking forward to it, though I feel like a bit of a concert poser, for not having any of their CD's. Oh well, it'll still be fun.

Leonard Cohen and Church

Err!! I've tried to do this for the tenth time today before my stupid computer overheats and zaps away.

Yesterday my mum and I had a lovely night out (the last night before my brother came back), Indian + movie. We went to a really good east Indian place by the theatre. First we shared a coconut calamari that was realllly good, I was embarrassingly trying to pick up the rest of the sauce with my fork when the waiter came. Then I had coconut curry with prawns for an entree. The sauce was basically the same as the calamari which was really cool with me. We also had a side of garlic naan... mmmm. Anyways, really good meal, not too big which is sometimes a problem I have at some restaurants when the food is in outrageously large quantities. After we walked down the block to the movie at 6:40.

We saw Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man or I'm Your Man: Leonard Cohen or whatever. The movie was a bit of a tribute to Leonard Cohen, with different artists performing his songs, flashbacks to his life and an interview with the Man himself. This film got pretty good reviews, it was kinda trashed by the Globe and Mail, which I thought was a bit unfair. I really enjoyed the performances by the different artists, although I'm a little biased because I was not unfamiliar with the cast. That would be Wainwright/McGarrigle clan, Beth Orton, Antony Hegarty etc... I thought for the most part the performances were really refreshing. I really liked Martha Wainwright's rendition of "The Traitor", Nick Cave's "I'm Your Man", Rufus and "Chelsea Hotel No. 2", Anthony's "If It Be Your Will", Beth Orton and "Sisters Of Mercy", most of the performances actually. Really the most engaging points where when Leonard Cohen talked about his life and his songs, between the performances. He said the performances "brought his songs to life", which is so true because Leonard Cohen song's aren't living, but immortal and spiritual. The only part I kinda hated was when Bono talked. Because he sounded silly with his sunglasses and pretentiousness and stuff... not very Leonard Cohen at all.

Speaking of spiritual, this morning I attended church for the first time since... probably when I was five and went to church once with my granny. We walked to the nice old inner-city United Church, and despite the fact it was an inner-city United Church and the pastor was like 30 and there was a little gay rainbow on the sign I still came in there a little cautious. Turns out it was really interesting, not at all "hell-fire and brimstoney" but very tolerant and cool. The two main subjects I recall were wine and casinos. The reverend talked about visiting the Naramada vineyards this summer (which my parents visited and loved last summer), and specifically the story behind one of the labels "Blasted Church". I won't go into the story because it's 10:00 and I've already typed too much. But he said thought he would really like this to be a "Blasted Church", because of a couple reasons, all very interesting and relevant. Then he talked about how Bishop Henry's (outspoken and very annoying, intolerant Calgary religious leader, in my opinion) thing on banning casinos from fundraising, and how it was the only thing he'd ever agreed with Bishop Henry on. My mum was at a casino for an organization she works with on Friday night. She really hated it, the smoke and the sad people, but it did help the organization. The reverend was talking about how wealthy people will go to a casino to get 50 dollars off for their kids hockey even though their rich and they wear their worst clothes because of the smoke, and make comments about the less-fortunate people at the tables. I agree with him about that being really wasteful, and I think it's stupid that their work is definitely not benefiting the poor people who are gambling. This is a really two-sided issue though, because casinos are something that really helps out schools. Personally I think the government should be helping out Alberta schools more, but that's okay. It was a really interesting service, and I'm glad that there are some sensible, tolerant religious people in the world. It made me change my mind a bit about organized religion.

The Falling Man

I remember September 11th, as a nine-year old waking up in the morning, hearing about a tragedy in the United States. It was a tragedy amongst other things in the world, heartbreaking because it was an act caused by humans. After I first heard about the planes and the people, I would hear much more at school. I remember a fuzzy school TV turned to the news, my teacher writing “Palestinians” and “Terrorists” on the board, as possible causes of this horrible occurrence. She told us how she remembered what she was wearing the day Kennedy was shot, and to this day I recall wearing light flower-embroidered jeans and a white jacket. I recall this so vividly because to my nine-year old self it seemed so close to me, the buildings and the people in a city not completely different from my city. The days that past we saw the pictures of the firefighters and the rubble, we heard the explanation, that as a young child I only somewhat understood. Slowly the event faded to the back of my young mind. There were other tragedies, other social issues, some close and some far, some that were immense and almost intangible, some that seemed closer but still very large.

Every year in September we remember 9/11, it was something that brought death closer to us. But for a long while I have only briefly thought of that day, as the memory of it becomes a discussion for the media. In school this morning, my English teacher showed us a cream-coloured paper with a painting on it that his young son had drawn on September 11th five years ago. It had three different symbols, one big picture, or whatever someone might have seen it as. We saw a simple blue and black plane, broken and jagged with a yellow flame on the wing and a red cockpit. I might be describing this so harshly, because I’m aware of the context, but this was a serious airplane. The next one was just a person, alone in the middle of the page. With a circle head and an oval body with long legs and no arms. Standing between the two cold structures. Beside the person to the right was a big blue building, with a black, yellow and red explosion of heat below it. The top of the building had a streak of red, vertical toward the bottom.

We were told to talk about these pictures until we finally ran out of words. I contributed to the conversation, sometimes I think I raise my hand too much in class and this particularly made me want to talk. I thought the plane looked “harsh and fast” by the colours and the way it was painted. People commented that it looked “broken” and they mentioned the burning wing. We heard that the person was “hollow”, how they might be facing the fire, how they had no arms, I thought the person looked very alone in the middle of this painting. After this we talked about the building. Some mentioned the black shape surrounded by red and black could be an explosion. There was fire, and the building also looked “broken”. I thought the building looked a bit like it was bleeding, and the warm colours of the explosion really contrasted with the blue in the building. This made me think more about 9/11, and for the first time in 5 years I really thought a lot about the tragedy that happened when I was just nine years old.
Tonight on TV I watched a documentary on CBC’s “The Passionate Eye”, a program I’m not unfamiliar with. The feature documentary was called “The Falling Man” and it was about the people who jumped from the building, particularly a man caught in a graceful position, with his head to earth in what appears to be a serene moment during this plunge. This documentary told a story that we haven’t often heard, the one of the jumpers. This picture captured not only the chaos and intensity of the moment but the serenity in someone’s last seconds on earth. The falling man represents to us someone struck by tragedy, just a simple person who felt the pressure to jump for freedom from the smoke and hopelessness of the building. He is just one of the many people who perished in the towers but he is the face of all those who died. Staring at death and making the final decision, and trying to escape from the heat of the building to freedom. Now that I’ve heard about this, I think back to that person in the middle of the painting. It doesn’t have a race or religion; it isn’t a man or a woman. It is someone who is affected by a tragedy, who feels heartbreak; it could be anyone on earth. Horrible things happen, and all of us could be affected. The falling man and the person in the picture share common positions; they are both in the middle of everything. They are both connected to that tragedy, and represent something to us, something that is definitely human.

Tomorrow Morning I Will Wake Up At 7:30

Because, tomorrow morning is the start of a new school year. I probably won't wake up at 7:30 though, more like 7:50. I'm not exactly an early riser. And I'm not as excited about school as I was last year, there are certain aspects that are very positive for me and there are parts that aren't. But that's life. I know the first week will be a lot of fun, it usually is. The excitement will die down, and I'll get into my regular routine of procrastination and uhh... homework too. They don't go hand in hand well, but I manage to make it work. Nahh... I don't procrastinate too much, or at least I don't want to.

This year's pretty important for me, even though I have no clue about my future. Which gets me talking about careers and stuff, and how people change their career's and the future is (definitely) unwritten (the poster on my wall says this). When I was five I wanted to be a veteranarian. But now I'm not to keen on science, and I think I'm allergic to cats. Grade 3 it was the Prime Minister of Canada. I think I've read the news enough to know that that's a shitty job. Grade 6 it was a lawyer (I don't know what I was thinking). Currently, I enjoy reading, writing and learning about things. I'm interested in music and entertainment, politics and the world. I'm not too shabby at English, and I'm interested in Social. I like writing, creative writing and telling stories. Research projects are interesting, but I need to learn how to take notes and reference better. I somewhat enjoy math, although I'd never think of it as a career. I'm not too good at science, though some of it's interesting. I'm pretty creative, and I'm not bad at art. I like performing arts, although I'm not brilliant at it. I like talking to people, meeting people and people. I'm pretty opinionated which can be good and bad. I love to read. I'm not sure what that could lead to, but it doesn't matter because I'm not old enough to care that much.

In other news, we went to BC this weekend which was plenty fun. Spent a lot of time walking, lounging, swimming, talking and messing up my hair to look like Ryan Adams' (you know, really messy and a couple inches above shoulder length). Thought of a really cool idea on the way there. If I have nothing to do during the school year, I could start up another blog with video and audio stuff. Basically I would pick a topic every 2 weeks or something that has to do with current events or everyday life and put together a video or audio clip about the topic. I could interview people in this little city who somewhat have a connection to this topic, or ask people on the street. I could research it up and add my own commentary. I would need some more equipment, but I think it might be really fun. But it depends on the amount of time I have and if I can get the equipment and a lot of things.

ohh.. plus++++

Things that scare me: Metal music, breaking expensive things, death
People who make me laugh: Morrissey, my brother, Barry Manilow, Sabrina Jalees
Things I hate the most: Intolerance, horrible music, brussel sprouts
Things I don't understand: Intolerance, the stock market, Stephen Harper's wife
Things I'm doing right now: Looking at a screen, listening to the clothes dryer, breathing
Things I want to do before I die: Have a successful career, move somewhere else, go to university, travel somewhere very different
Things I can do: Talk, write, curl my tongue, ski
Ways to describe my personality: Outgoing, silly, inquisitive, a little cynical
Things I can't do: Watch TV for more than 2 hours, not finish something, sing Rufus Wainwright while playing guitar, sleep in the car
Things I think you should listen to: People who care, music you like, The Clash
Things you should never listen to: Judgmental people, nails on a chalkboard, Mel Gibson
Things I'd like to do: Find a new band to like, Learn both english and french, get good grades
Favourite foods: Indian food (curries and Shrimp Korma), fetuccini alfredo, seafood, chocolate
Beverages I drink regularly: Chai tea, water, orange juice, milk
Shows I watched as a kid: Sesame Street, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Arthur

But I still am a kid.
=)

You Guys Probably Won't Be Seeing Me Post Anymore About Ulysses (And That's A Good Thing)

So guess what!
Last night I finished Ulysses!
It's finished!
My task is completed!

I kinda feel guilty for reading it this fast, but hey, I had a lot of spare time. Anyways, right now I'm too tired of that damn book to write more than a paragraph about it, so maybe I'll analyze it in a couple years. I thought it was interesting though, certainly not like anything I've read before. It's definitely something that I can think about after I've read it.

*Warning, this paragraph contains opinions. If you don't agree with me, let me know, but don't expect me to change my opinion.
I've heard of people that believe because I'm 14 I shouldn't be reading a book like Ulysses. I assume, because of the sexual content. I certainly did not skip the "mature" parts of the book, and I honestly don't think I've been harmed in doing so. How do their parents expect teens to learn about sexuality, if they don't talk to them about it. I don't think that ignorance will help with anything. I'm not suggesting that little kids should be reading Ulysses, if you're not mature enough to understand the book, you probably aren't mature enough to read the sexual parts. I think people should use their best judgment when dealing with this. Is it really fair to wait until your kid gets pregnant, or impregnates someone else to teach them what birth control is. Anyways, that issue is a lot more complicated. But my point is exposure to some things like Ulysses won't harm someone like me, who wants to learn, and who might not benefit from ignorance. But really, it's not just black and white.

Anyways.
Enough errpinions. I strongly suggest checking out the opener of SLC on Thursday. Cause it might even feature your favourite 14 year old Ulysses reader. I don't guarantee it, but you never know.

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Update: They didn't play any of moi today (I probably sound pitifully along with Peter Mansbridge, Anne Maria Tremonti, Paul Henderson and Jian's Dad) but they might have something on Friday. Again, I don't guarantee it...