CD Review: Nicole Byblow Plays All the White Keys by Nicole Byblow
Nicole Byblow Plays All the White Keys by Nicole Byblow (Shiny Nickle Music 2011)
Manitoba born, British Columbia educated, and now calling Ontario home, Nicole Byblow brings a sound that all of Canada can love. The young singer/songwriter who is finding her footing in the national music scene has embarked on a tour to promote her latest CD, entitled “Nicole Byblow Plays All the White Keys.” She made a stop in Victoria where I saw her play and met with her to discuss music, school, life and even a little fashion. Nicole and her piano are packed and ready to go back east with a few more stops in the prairies before heading home.
Over the years, we have seen enough examples of “boys playing guitar”, and Nicole falls into the female opposition of “girls playing pianos” which seems to be a common theme in recent musical trends. Starting with Alicia Keys and Vanessa Carlton, this movement led the way for the likes of Sara Bareilles, Sarah Slean and more.
Slean is one of Byblow’s biggest influences for the career path she chose. The Canadian Juno-Nominated singer was one of the reasons Nicole started playing piano and writing songs when she was just 16. Luckily, Nicole was able to meet her other idol at the 2011 Juno Awards Dinner and Gala in Toronto in March of this year. The spontaneous introduction initiated by her sister and singer Matt Dusk left Byblow both wide-eyed and starstruck. It’s nice to know that even people who make CD’s and tour get a little speechless every once in a while.
When listening to Nicole’s music, you can immediately hear the impact of her influences in her vocal and piano stylings. Citing Ben Folds as one of her biggest inspirations, Nicole told me of how she spent many hours trying to learn his songs. When things weren’t going well, she would write to Ben via email. She assumed that her angry rants about the difficult of Folds’ songs went unheard, until she received a reply from an artist who has sold over 3 million records in his career spanning almost 2 decades. The two pianists continued emailing and eventually Nicole was invited to meet Ben at his show in Seattle. Fully expecting to be turned away at the door, Nicole was shocked when two tickets had been left under her name. The evening concluded with a conversation at the hotel bar where Folds was staying.
Now, I think this is enough background for you, what you’re really here for is to know what her CD is like and whether or not Nicole Byblow is worth a listen. But before I give you that answer, I’ll do my best to break it down for you.
Nicole Byblow Plays All the White Keys actually comes with one of the “Parental Advisory” stickers commonly found on albums from Eminem, NWA and 50 Cent. This is rather unexpected from the girl on the cover with a white background and staring at a red balloon. Nicole’s been described as “hyper-feminine” and “delicate” and for me; this is one of the first things that grabbed me about this music: Nicole’s unabashed attitude towards profanity is rather striking. When hearing her drop an “F Bomb” for the first time in a small coffee house on a rainy night in Victoria, I instantly looked up from whatever it was I was doing and started paying attention. Not many singer/pianists of this genre have the guts to swear on their records. You’ll never hear Sara Bareilles say “I don’t give a shit” about her former job in a hospital, but Nicole is unafraid to tell it as it is. She speaks the way in her songs the way she does in her normal life and that translates to her songs. She’s not trying to beat around the bush or use a clever metaphor to say she doesn’t care; she just doesn’t give a shit.
(Things That I Learned When I Worked in the Hospital)
My favourite track from the album is “Things I Learned When I Worked in the Hospital.” Starting with the toy piano, and the rolling drums chugging along, Nicole’s witty lyrics bring you a real insight to the life of a hospital. Lyrics like, “Patient confidentiality is of the utmost importance, but you’d be surprised how accessible that information is when you have to sweep the room it’s in”, are the kind of sarcastic backhanded lines that riddle this song. The chorus reminds us “who cares what we do in the mean time, it builds character doing the things we hate all our lives,” which, in out of context is rather quite depressing. But in the nature of the song, it’s understood that this is a sarcastic inflection of the songwriter and just an excuse for her to get through her shitty job. The bridge of this song builds follows the typical pattern of most pop songs, with one slight deviation. We have all come to expect the key change going into the last chorus of songs (think “You Raise Me Up”, “My Heart Will Go On”, etc.), and thankfully, Byblow doesn’t go this route with this song.
Once you get past the occasional expletive, the music itself is simplistic in its nature. All the songs only feature piano, drums and bass guitar, with the occasional splashes of violin and the toy piano from the CD cover. It’s Nicole’s song writing and melodies that stand out musically. Some of her lyrics are complex and compact, not unlike the rap counterparts who share her “Parental Advisory” sticker, which is juxtaposed by simple melodies and hooks that make the CD a treat to listen to. The track “February” has a particularly catchy “Ooh ah” section, that later features the range of Nicole’s vocal in the bridge.
Aside from the first single “They Didn’t Think So”, which Nicole describes as a song about what would happen if Jesus came and let every person on earth ask him a question about life, the lyrical content of the album is mostly what you would expect from the genre of girls playing piano. “A Song About A Lover” and “If I’m Lucky” may not have different thematic content, but are striking and beautiful in their own right. The production quality of the entire CD is superb. Ben Nixon, who was the bass player, recording engineer and co-producer of the album, did a fantastic job in a “garage turned studio” to produce The White Keys. I can only hear one minor slight throughout the whole album, but overall I have been impressed throughout.
You will be happy to know that Nicole does play in keys other than C major and A minor, utilizing more of the piano than the album title implies. I hate to use the buzz-word “up-and-coming” to describe Nicole and this album, as I think it gets thrown around too liberally these days, but I feel that you hipsters out there need to latch onto this girl so you can say that you liked her “before she was mainstream.” Byblow’s album is a melting pot of the fairy tale wonder of Cinderella, the epic storytelling of the Princess Bride, with just a sprinkle of Tarantino-esque profanity. If you love “girls with pianos” but are missing something with a little bit of an edge, Nicole Byblow Plays All the White Keys will be able to fill that void for you. No matter what kind of music you enjoy listening to, I would highly recommend this album for anyone (even if there is a Parental Advisory on it).
This is what Canadian music is all about and I look forward to everything else Nicole Byblow has to offer.
You can find Nicole at:
Children’s Day
I suppose I should update this with something. My brother has asked me to write more so he has something to read on the bus home. So while I sit with nothing to do waiting for my next class I guess I will write.
This is going to the be the typical “update-what-i-have-been-doing-because-i-don’t-write-often-enough.” I may try and do a few more posts later about more interesting stuff, so I just gotta get this out of the way.
Christmas came and went. Girlfriend and I stayed in Victoria and it was my first Christmas away from home. It was nice and quiet and we had the whole house to ourselves which was amazing. She got me a PS3 which is awesome and the best present ever, and I got her the entire series of the X Files. Something like 61 discs over 9 seasons. So we’ve been watching that, and I’ve been playing a lot of playstation.
Then I went home for a few days post christmas. I did the family thing and saw my friends. And I’ve realized I only do three things when I come home:
- Go take pictures
- Go to the mall
- Go to the bar
Each activity has a certain set of people who are associated with it. But really that’s all Calgary is anymore. Just a stop along the way in order to appease my parents.
Then I came home for a few days, had two days of school and left back for Alberta with Girlfriend. Her cousin was getting married so we attended the wedding. It was a good weekend on the whole, hanging out with her family and what have you, but the wedding itself was pretty boring. But we both did look really good! Pictures will follow shortly.
Now I’m back in school, 5 classes again. Had to quit work at the Gap because I couldn’t work it with my schedule this semester. I’d only be able to work weekends, and that just wouldn’t fly with homework. I’m still going to do the recording job so I will still have some income.
Other than that, I can’t think of anything else that interesting to talk about. So I shall sign off. Have a good one.
~ J
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Don’t Be That Guy
Everyone knows what I refer to when I say “That Guy”. You can spot him from a mile away – douchey, cocky, whatever other adjectives you want to include.
But what I’m going to talk about is a whole new breed of That Guy, and he pisses me off more than any other guy out there. He’s that guy on the bus who takes up more than one seat and knows he’s doing it. The usual acceptable standard is that you can take up two seats when the bus is less full. This generally leaves one seat between you and the person next to you, and in the unfortunate case that the bus gets more full, then you are willing to move and create a space for a person desperate for a seat.
But That Guy, will make it perfectly clear that he’s not moving for anyone. He’s claimed his two seats and he’s going to enjoy his space. Like today, there was a guy on the bus, reading the school newspaper, sitting in the MIDDLE OF TWO FUCKING SEATS, with his murse on the side of him. His legs crossed, perfectly content with what he was doing and totally unaware to his surroundings. He made no acknowledgment to the three guys standing in the doorway wondering if he was going to give up the seat next to him. The smug look on his face made me want to get up and make it awkward for him as I tried to sit in the spot next to him.
Really that’s the only solution to defeat That Guy on the Bus, is to force him to give up his seat. Then he will be miserable and you will gain the satisfaction of stopping a douche from ruining someone else’s day.
There’s a variation of That Guy – and I guess we can call it Those Girls, they generally sit at the back of the bus (here in Victoria, there are 5 seats at the back going perpendicular to the road, and then another 5 seats which are parallel to the road. (See Image below) In the picture if you turn seats 22 and 8 (on the left hand side of the picture) 90 degrees, you will get the layout of the buses here.
So moving on, Those Girls generally like to sit at the back, and have as much space to themselves, putting their feet up and such. I have been in a situation where 3 of these aforementioned girls were taking up a total of 7 seats. Which is only one above the given 2 seat per person, but it was their formation that made the entire back of the bus uncomfortable for any other riders. With a girl in each back corners and then one on one of the sides, it makes sitting somewhere in that region a death sentence.
I spend a lot of my time on buses and do my best to be as nice as possible to other people. But there’s always going to be That Guy somewhere. Maybe one day I’ll have to take some kind of action…
Cótes des Neiges (Snow Hill)
So school is in full swing again, and unfortunately this blog has taken a toll because of it. I have a few extra minutes tonight, so I feel like writing something. I’ve got a whole bunch of other random stuff and thoughts I’m gonna write down sometime, it’s just a matter of laziness.
The start of my third year has kind of come in as a whimper versus a bang. My schedule is very forgiving this semester, I only really have class on Monday and Thursday. Tuesdays has one class @ 7pm, and Fridays are off. So it’s pretty good. Again due to the program, I’m taking a mismash of courses, including the Art and Architecture of Ancient Greece. So hopefully things will be good as the year progresses.
Luckily, Girlfriend and I have still managed to maintain seeing each other fairly often. You’d think more often than we do, given we live in the same house. I am surprised how well the living situation is going. Being roommates is great, we usually have breakfast together and then do something in the night together, so it’s nice. The owners of the house are great and the cat loves me. Which is nice. Unfortunately my parents are under the assumption that Girlfriend and I share everything (food wise) and thus they have stopped pitching in for my food bill. I suppose this is fair, but hopefully when they come at the end of September, they will see how little we actually share, and have a change of heart. (Doubtful – but here’s to wishful thinking)
$500 Music Box
In other news, I’m spending too much money lately! I’m in the process of purchasing an Mbox Pro2 (pictured below) for $500. Which is a steal of a deal considering you generally pay $1200+ for it. It’s great because I can use it to record, I can plug in my other box into it, and I get access to the most used software in the business.
You see! Digidesign, the company who makes the Mbox, has also produced a program called ProTools which has become the industry standard. Well, Digi has also made it so that you can’t use ProTools unless you’re hooked up to an Mbox. So this is not cool. Thus I am buying one.
Secondly, I just bought VIP tickets to the Alexisonfire show that will be happening here in November. This means I get: a ticket &
- meet & greet
- tour poster
- exclusive laminate
- 7″ (DEMOS from OC/YC….super limited)
- early entry into venue
The guys I'll be meeting
Most importantly on this list is the meet & greet. Alexisonfire has grown to be one of my favourite bands, and having the opportunity to talk to them is going to be awesome. I’m already thinking up questions to ask and all this other loser stuff. Victoria is the first stop on the tour, so I’m gonna be one of the first people they meet! Aweeeesum.
In other nerdy music news involving me, there’s a guy coming to our school to talk to us about working in a well known studio. This guy has worked with K-Os, R.E.M., The Tragically Hip and Rise Against to name a few. These are a lot of big names, and a lot of bands that I listen to. I’m super pumped to talk to him and see what he says about the industry. So I’ve got another list of questions going for him too.
That kinda runs injunction with some other news of mine. I’ve taken over the Facebook group for my program, so I’m being a big n00b and posting all the time in the group to keep it relevant. 
Umm…other than that, I’m not really sure what else is going on with me. Trying my best to stay active. Girlfriend and I have started playing tennis, and I’ve joined a ball hockey team as well. So I’ve got lots on the go.
Oh! I suppose I can talk about what happened in the last bit of the summer. I’ve been working at the Gap most of the time, and still am continuing into the fall (5 classes, and 2 jobs – great). The Gap is great, and I love working there, right now it’s mostly weekends and Friday’s so the hours aren’t fantastic.
Also – this summer was probably the first summer where I actually read more than 2 books that weren’t comics. I read:
- The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time
- The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
- The Producer as the Composer by Virgil Moorefield
- Think of a Number by John Verdon
All of them were really good, but I have to pick two out of the mix. Think of a Number was fantastic, probably the best book I’ve read in a long time. It’s a great serial killer/mystery/crime/psychological/fuck-with-your-brain type of book. Which I really enjoy. So I’d definitely recommend that one. 
The second, The Producer as the Composer, I would recommend for anyone with any interest in music. It talks about the producers role in making music all the way from Motown to DJ’s of today. It was the first book that got me to listen to an entire Beatles album (Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band) and it made the music actually interesting to me. I went out and bought Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys, just so I could hear for myself what Brian Wilson did in terms of mixing and arrangements. So for me this book had a significant impact on my musical life and how I want to pursue my career.
I think that’s enough for tonight. Ima go to bed now. More specifically…girlfriend’s bed! 
If there’s any books you think I should be reading, please let me know!
Faust Arp
Why hello there internet land! Long time no speak.
I feel like I haven’t written a meaningful post in ages. Mostly because my life was rather dull. Let me just check and see where I last left off…Good grief. It was May 5th when I last wrote something that pertains closely to my life. So let’s see, I’ll try and begin from there.
School had ended, it was the best semester I had ever had. My jazz band mark sucked, so I appealed it and got a better one. I decided to go home to Calgary.
The Gap
Found work with the Gap, and eventually the City of Calgary. Applied to countless jobs. Had an interview to be an audio editor with CJSW, the University of Calgary radio station. Didn’t get it. Sad. Missed lover. Was missed by lover. Hated Calgary. Lots of friends who I thought were closer didn’t seem interested. Saw my good friends and that was good. Had fun. Went to a show. Saw my old band teacher (awkward). Went to Thunder Bay to see my grandparents. Drank rye and had es cargo with them. Hated life. Fought with Parents. Folded Jeans @ the Gap. Folded Shirts @ the Gap. Put up tents for the City. Folded more jeans. Put up more tents. Hated Calgary. Decided to move. Fought with Parents. Came to Victoria. Had to deal with psycho mother. Found a place. Living with lover. Happy.
That’s more or less the last two months of my life. In a nutshell. Calgary just doesn’t suit me that well. I dislike the lifestyle, and just the atmosphere of the city. It was good to see a couple of my close friends, but they’ll still be my friends no matter where I am so coming back to Victoria didn’t matter. I left playing on a ultimate frisbee team, which I’ll miss, but I’ll survive. It was good being active again. I just have to get out running. I finally finished my book (The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova) and it was good, the ending was a little unexpected. I’m going to start reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon which I mentioned in a previous post.
The last week has been hell though, but it’s looking up. I was here with my mom looking for a place to live. I used mainly Craigslist, Kijiji, and the UVic housing site to scope out places. It sucked trying to remember what each place offered and who lived there and stuff. I saw a lot of really shitty places where 9 other people lived and some with owners that wanted to be my parents. And I didn’t want that. I wanted to be independent in a nice household, with ceilings that weren’t so low that I hit my head.
I ended up finding a great little character home close to my lover. The owner is a 49 old mother of three who has a little shitzhu. The bathroom has been converted to a splash room, which as most of you don’t know, is a room where everything can get wet. The shower head hangs from the ceiling, which means I will have no problems washing my hair on the top of my large 6’4″ frame. And a vintage oven/stove. So I’m pretty stoked, I move in sometime this coming week.
My mother drove my absolutely crazy over this week. Hell, the entire time I was home, both my parents drove me crazy. I think my mom asked me 4 or 5 times if I was depressed. Had me rate my happiness levels from 1 – 10. Pestered me why I wasn’t eating a lot or why I didn’t go out or whatever. I just didn’t want to be around them. They continually asked me if my lover was the only reason why I wanted to move and they questioned her character which was insulting to me and her. When in Victoria, my mother was indecisive, emotional (she cried at least 10 times over the course of 3 days), and just overall really stupid. It doesn’t make sense to me that she would be this emotional over me moving. This has happened twice before when I’ve had school. You’d think she’d be used to it by now. And I’m not one who is emotional or shows very much emotion, so it’s hard for me to be sincere about it. Sigh, she’s gone now so I can relax and enjoy myself in Victoria.
Tokyo Police Club's new CD: "Champ"
But I have to find a job now. I’ve already applied at quite a few places and the Gap might hire me back as well. So things are looking up and I’m trying to stay busy, without spending a lot of money. That being said, I am going to the casino tonight. So shush. Maybe I’ll win $100 in blackjack or something. That’d be pretty awesome.
I’ve been listening to a lot of new music lately. The new Broken Social Scene CD = not good. The new New Pornographers CD = good. Citizen Cope = really good. New Deftones CD = really good. New Secret and Whisper = good. The new Tokyo Police Club CD = really good. Go check them out now!
Pixar's best new short: "Day and Night"
I saw Toy Story 3 yesterday! It was really good for a 3rd movie. Not sure if it’s good as a stand-alone film. But still really great. I loved the short Day and Night at the beginning. May be one of the best ever, behind the chess player of course. Pixar really knows how to get things done.
I’ll leave you with that short! Hopefully I can start posting more now that I feel up to it. Have a good one!
Oh, Canada. Study finds kids don’t know the words to the national anthem | Macleans.ca – Canada – wire – Features
Well this is gross. I wonder if I know the person/prof who did this study!
Oh, Canada. Study finds kids don’t know the words to the national anthem
May 12, 2010 – 15:56
The Canadian Press
VICTORIA – A new study says more than half of Canadian high school choir students are out of tune when it comes to the national anthem.
The University of Victoria study found that less half of the students surveyed knew the melody for “O Canada,” and only 67 per cent knew the lyrics.
Continued Below
//Music education professor Mary Kennedy says many students mangle the words, changing “thee” to “the,” swapping “thy” for “our,” and in some cases even paying homage to “our home and nature land” instead of “native land.”
Newfoundland high school choir students were the stars of the national study, while Quebec students hit a real sour note.
Kennedy says the study was undertaken prior to the Winter Olympics, where Canadian fans became known the world over for their spontaneous renditions of “O Canada,” but she notes nobody was checking for lyrical correctness or proper pitch.
The music professor says she would like schools to take more care in teaching students the national anthem.
Follow your heart…
This song came on my iTunes tonight. It really makes me want to drop everything here in Calgary and move back to Victoria.
You need not, to climb mountaintops
You need not, to cross the sea
You need not, to find a cure
for everything that makes you weak.
You need not to reach for the stars,
when life becomes so dark
and when the wind
does blow against the grain
you must follow your heart
you must follow your heart
when all your friends
have come and gone
the sun no longer shines
the happiness for which you long
is washed away, like an oceans tide
when all the hard times, outweigh the good
and all your words are misunderstood
when the day seems lost from the stars
you must follow your heart
you must follow your heart
If you feel, you paid the price
and your wounds should cease to heal
and everything you love in life,
spins like a winding wheel
if you should wake, to find you’re abandoned.
and the road you travel, leads to a dead end
when death creeps in, to play it’s part.
you must follow your heart
you must follow your heart
Prison Sweet Prison
Why do we come home for Christmas? And why do we get treated like we never left?
I hate coming home and feel like I still have to do all these chores and help around the house. I think my parents forget that this is my vacation too. Granted it’s not really that much that they’ve asked me to do. It’s just lame.
I don’t really want to go and help you move some table from your friends house so we can have 18 people over here for Christmas dinner. I want to sit on my ass and play MW2 so I can beat my roommate when I go home.
And yes, I do consider Victoria home to me. It’s where I live. This isn’t my home. It’s all changed so much since I left. My parents must have had a lot of money kicking around not having to feed my brother and I.
Surprisingly though, my friends haven’t changed. Most of them are the same people that were around in high school. Tomorrow should be interesting. This is when I am having this party that I ever so kindly offered to throw at my house. Oh boy. I am so excited…. It’s really too bad the internet can’t portray sarcasm that well.
Umm other than that. Nothing much to report or talk about. My life is pretty dull. I got a D in my linear algebra course, so that means I never have to write another math test ever again. Which is very very nice. Yay me.
Anywho, later days. I’m going to try and get some sleep. Big day tomorrow. Girlfriend gets in! Very excited to see her. Even if it has only been 3 days. But whatever, we’re kind of losers.
Lost for Words
Oh man, this blog has been a long time in the making.
My last few days here in Victoria have consisted mostly of this.
- Wake up, check email and blog and facebook
- Review a CD
- Watch Sportscentre
- Watch my roommate play Modern Warfare II
- Check email
- Watch roommate play Modern Warfare II
- Have Dinner
- Watch roommate play Modern Warfare II
- Stare at books and hope that I learn something from them
- Say to myself that I’ll study tomorrow
- Watch The Office/Secret Life of The American Teenager with Girlfriend
- Watch roommate play Modern Warfare II
- Sleep
I really haven’t done anything. Yesterday Girlfriend and I went to the mall and we she shopped for 5 1/2 hours. Which I think is the longest time I’ve ever spent in a mall. It was also the most exercise I’ve gotten in probably the last two months. So tired afterwards. It’s no help that I’ve been fighting off a cold, so today I was even more tired. It made studying almost impossible.
When I was in the mall yesterday, I heard a lot of music from a few years ago. Nelly Furtado, Backstreet Boys, etc. It made me think about the music I listened to growing up. This coupled by watching the most influential moments in music history on MuchMusic a few days ago added to my nostalgia. I was just thinking about how I’ve gotten to that point in my life where all the things I’ve grown up on are now gone from the mainstream lifestyle. The cartoons, the music, TV shows, the people, the hockey players. It’s weird to think that all the hockey players I grew up watching, and idolizing are almost all retired now.
This is the same with music. Bands like Blink 182 and Greenday don’t put out CD’s anymore. Sum 41 has a greatest hits CD out for crying out loud. They’ll be doing reunion tours sooner or later. The punk lifestyle has taken it’s toll on them and they have ceased to exist. Basically. Same with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake. The list goes on. The generation of music that we grew up is over. Now we’re into the age of autotune, Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift and the Jonas Brothers. Sigh I miss my old music.
Yesterday while watching mine and Girlfriend’s new favourite obsession; The Secret Life of the American Teenager (more on this later), I heard a song I hadn’t heard in ages. After struggling and finally watching the scene again and copying out the lyrics, I discovered it was a band that I listened to a long long time ago. Something like 6 years ago. When I was 13. (It was “Unforgettable Night” by And Then I Turned Seven, for those of you who are curious). It makes you think how much your musical tastes have expanded since then. I know mine definitely have. I’m slowly working my way through 8000+ songs on a mission to listen to them all.
While shopping, I saw the book “1000 Recordings to Listen to Before You Die”. And I want it. For Christmas. I want to start a new project. I want to listen to all of those recordings. Or something like that. There’s another book “1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die”. Maybe when I have more time, or when I get the book I’ll figure out what I want to do with it. Maybe I need to write my own “100 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die”. The sad part is I don’t think I’m old enough to be able to come up with 100. It’s most likely going to be a quest to locate a copy of each of those albums, and listen to it, if not own it. Maybe I’m just a dreamer.
Anywho. Secret Life Of The American Teenager. When Girlfriend and I were in Seattle earlier this year, we were in our hotel room watching TV and flipping through channels. We stumbled upon this gem. SLOTAT is about a 15 year old girl who is pregnant (this happens pre-episode 1) and how she grows up in high school with this baby. Well her baby’s father is banging just about every girl in school, and has one particular lover. Well the male half of a hardcore Christian couple wants to have sex, so he finds the baby’s fathers love, who does god knows what. So the female half starts hanging out with the baby’s father, while the baby’s mother gets her own boyfriend, who says he loves her and wants to marry her (after about 4 episodes) and she’s still trying to figure out how to tell her parents, who are splitting up because the baby’s mother’s father is cheating on his wife. We aren’t even half way through the 1st season! It’s so great! It’s like Jerry Springer, Degrassi and 7th Heaven all mixed into one. If you followed any of that and like any of the aforementioned shows, you should definitely give this one a try. So good.
Moving on. If you read this blog often, you’ll know I do CD reviews. I write them for my school newspaper and there was some day a few months ago where I saw someone reading one of my reviews as I walked by, and it made me think about how crazy a university is. (Also, sidenote, why is university the only word I can think of that starts with a vowel and isn’t preceded by “an”?) I was thinking that you walk around campus, and you sit in class and you don’t realize the people around you. Some could be doctors, professors, people who write in your school newspaper, athletes, who knows what! And we all have this level of anonymity because of just the sheer amount of people. I thought it was pretty cool. No one’s ever come up to me and said “Hey you’re the guy that writes those reviews in the Martlet right?” Maybe one day.
I think that’s enough for you guys to read tonight. Hopefully you enjoyed it. Feel free to leave me a comment about anything you read or for suggestions on my quest.
Music Challenge Pt. ?
So this is a local Victoria artist that I’ve met and done sound for a few times. I don’t think he knows who I am, but I really like his music, so I’m gonna post it. (I don’t sound creepy at all…)
And it’s great when you recognize all the places in the video. Pretty nifty.
Calgary – The Heart Of The New West
Or maybe the new slogan should be:
Everything’s bigger in Texas Calgary
It’s weird to say, but I think it’s true. Calgary has become like it’s oil counterpart of the south and has monster-sized everything. Being here is quite weird. Upon arriving into YYC, my mother and brother and I went to the new CrossIron Mills http://www.crossironmills.com/. The new supersized mall in Balzac (which is just outside of Calgary), it’s the same size as West Edmonton Mall, but all on one floor. It is quite the spectacle. And I think that it’s more or less just than than an actual mall. People are not going to go there to shop, you’re going there to gawk and stare at the ridiculous of the scale of this mall.
And it’s patrons. We ate lunch at a burger joint, South St. Burgers, which is basically like a Subway for burgers, but not as good. The burgers were nothing spectacular and I was expecting more. But I was not suprised to see a 12 year old who probably weighed as much as I do chowing down on a few burgers.
After burgers, my mother insisted we go to the Bass Store. Which is basically a hunter/hick/redneck’s wetdream. The first you have to do to enter this store is pass through a turnstile. A turnstile. Sorry, is this a theme park? Apparently it is. There was one of those electronic shooting ranges for kids, and all your Buck Hunter arcade games. Upon every wall, surface and floor of this store there was some kind of dead, stuffed animal. I swear that the wildlife population of Alberta has decreased by 30% to just fill this store with stuff. There’s moose, elk, a herd of reindeer, duck, geese, packs of wolves, bears. If it loves in the Canadian Wilderness, it’s in this store. It’s ridiculous, but apparently Calgary lives through the phrase – “bigger is better.” As clearly evident by this mall.
Anywho, after this mall, we came home. To a workzone. Our house is currently being renovated, we are getting our main floor repainted, hardwood floors, new kitchen, the words. And by we, I mean my parents. They are doing all said renovations. We are all currently cooking on a barbeque, microwave and toaster oven. We have our fridge in our garage and the kitchen table is down by our TV. Secluded to basically one floor as the basement is being used for storing all of the stuff from upstairs. Not exactly what I was looking forward to when I came home, but it will have to do.
Amongst all this chaos, my brother is moving up to Edmonton shortly, so this adds to the stress and a few fights have been caused by arguing over whats going where and who’s doing what. I, being probably the most laid-back member of the family, just get to sit back and stay out of everything here.
So this is day 2/3 away from my girlfriend in Victoria, and I can definitely tell it’s more wearing on her than me. Here I have a lot of my friends and I am going to be busy just about everyday I am here. And she’s feeling pretty lonely at home in Victoria. I’m not really sure what to do in my situation. It’s hard for me to just be like, “Yes Dear I won’t do this” and “Okay I miss you too” a lot of the time. And I really do miss her and care for her and love her, I just worry about her and whether I am the biggest thing in her life and if she can survive without me. I was in a situation before in my life where I felt like my girlfriend was dependant on me and NEEDED me to survive. I don’t feel that my girlfriend is this way, but I’m trying to be cautious that it doesn’t become like that. I know that she’s mature and can handle being by herself and that’s one of the things I like so much about her. I’m hoping she meets me at the airport and we can drive home together and pick up right where we left off.
Speaking of picking up where I left off. I think that’s a sign of a real and true friend. I feel that there are people here that I can hang out with, for the first time in four months, and it’s like I never left. We’re cracking jokes and being dicks to each other and all that, and it’s great. That’s one of the greatest things about coming back is bein able to hang out with these people just like you did before you left. But that’s not the case with everyone here. Apparently a lot of my friends don’t even talk to each other and they live here together, I’ve kept in better touch with some of them while I’ve been away. Maybe that’s because of force of being away and you HAVE to make an effort to talk to find out everything. At the bar on Thursday night, we were talking about our one friend in England right now, and how many postcards we had gotten from her. Everyone there had gotten about four or five. And I’ve gotten something like 10+. Maybe that’s just because of the bond I have with this person, or maybe it’s bad posting, or maybe it’s because I’ve made the effort to talk to her while she’s gone and I think I’ve tried to maintain the relationship we had before we left. She’s said that our bond has even gotten stronger, and I don’t think that’s a false statement. Which is good.
So after some much needed catching up time, it was party night! I got prepared by dressing up as a WWII Jew. Which is horribly offensive and such I understand, but it was a good costume and I don’t think I did anything to disgraceful, which was good. The party was great, combining my friends and my brothers friends in a few games of socialbles. Which is quite a feat considering I have never actually finished an entire game of socialbles ever. I was impressed that everyone got dressed up and glad that quite a few people came! I had a really good time and hope to catch up with a lot more people later.
So, here we are again. That glorious time of night that seems to reek havoc on my soul, oh 3:30 am, woe is me. My mother blames it on the coffee. I don’t know what it is that makes this time of night so odd to my system, but here I am again. I was up @ 3:30 my first night here and moments after I woke up, my girlfriend sent me a text asking if I was up, maybe subconciously we both wake up at that time to be with each other?
Anywho it is most definitely time for bed, I hope this entry suffices those who check this often. I may not get another chance to post until I’m up til 3:30 again. I don’t really like blogging around my family, in fear that they might see it and want to read it, and then find other blogs I have…
Later days,
- J
Akal Airporter
So this morning I had to take the shuttle from UVic to the airport in leui of my flight from Victoria to Calgary. Whilst on the shuttle I remembered a friend of mine, Paige, and the book she put out recalling her travels on the Calgary bus system. I used her format for this post.
6:40 -I got on the shuttle, the driver asked me how tall I am as I almost hit my head on the ceiling of the van.
6:42 – The one other passenger on the shuttle asks me if I am going to Vancouver. I tell him “No, Calgary.” Twice.
6:53 – We pick up a random lady with a large red classic suitcase with a black strap around it. She sits in the seat a row ahead of me on the opposite side of the aisle.
6:59 – When we’re downtown a call comes over the radio that the driver forgot a passenger at Unversity Heights. The drivers ETA is twelve minutes.
7:08 – I put on my sunglasses
7:11 – We pick up the fourth passenger. He has a guitar and it requires shuffling of other people’s luggage. The second passenger swipes a plastic bag full of his stuff to make room.
7:12 – The guitar guy sits two rows in front of me and puts on his black Ryder sunglasses. I contemplate human fluid dynamics.
7:20 – We pick up an asian woman who is a ’staff’ member at the Wesseley apartment complex.
7:23 – I put my ipod in – First song – “Check Yes Juliet” – We The Kings
7:29 - We stop in front of a Monk Office / Sears Flooring Centre. The driver turns the engine off.
7:34 – I am fairly sure the ‘staff’ girl behind me is trying to read over my shoulder
7:36 – I watch the driver start to take our luggage off the bus. We get out and stand on the corner and wait for a new shuttle. I notice we’re on the corner of Shamrock Street.
7:44 – A new shuttle comes and we slowly get on. I sit next to a girl who is the only one around my age. She has a silver ipod nano. The guy with a guitar gets his own row in the back so that his guitar is safe.
8:11 – I wake up and we arive at the airport
A Day In The Life…
Aloha Internet,
It has been quite some time since I have posted because I have been pretty friggen busy over the last three days! So I figured I’ll write a post early this morning and get it out of the way!
So on Friday my brother flew into Victoria and he’s spent the last two days here. He leaves tonight, so we’re going to try and cram as much as possible into today. On Friday it was our last party in our current residence, and it was SUPPOSE to be a costume party, but I guess no one had costumes, so I was the only one dressed up and looked pretty lame. So I quickly changed back to normal clothes and enjoyed myself. 2:30 am sleep on that night.
Saturday we were woken up early, 7:15 to be exact. By our other roommate. He was moving out. Very nosily. At 7:15 in the morning. After we had had a party. In other words, this guy is a douche bag. He was banging around in our hallway and running back and forth from his car. My other roommate and I were sitting in our living room, and watched him run by over and over again. We never heard him say good-bye or any of those general courtesys associated with living with someone for four months. But whatever. You know what this guy did that pissed me off most? He stole my fucking toilet paper. I had bought a 24 pack of NICE toilet paper, not the construction paper stuff that you get in rez, but nice stuff. And I had used about all of one or two rolls. And when I went to go get it. It was gone. The fucker stole so much of my shit and he’s just a fuckin douchebag. I’ve deleted him off facebook and don’t want to ever hear about him again.
After that, my brother and I went to the beach here, and then downtown and did a little shopping. I picked up a nifty track-jacket and then we went to the harbour and then home. Later we (being girlfriend, roommate and brother) went to see the new Quentin Tarantino film, “Inglorious Basterds”, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I might do a review of it later on here, but not yet. It was great movie, you definitely get what you pay for. I was laughing, cringing, and gripping the edge of my seat. This was the first movie in a long time that got me worked up over the ending. I highly recommend it. So after the movie, we all went to the keg for a fabulous prime rib dinner. Yum yum. And then after that, girlfriend and brother and I went to a bar downtown and had another drink. Then we went home and promptly passed out.
Sunday started early, I had to move all my stuff from cluster to my girlfriends which took a few hours. We definitely left that place in tatters, we hardly cleaned up. But frankly, I don’t give a damn. Haha woo go me for quoting Gone With The Wind. Once that was finished, the four of us headed down to watch the Victoria Seals play the Calgary Vipers in a baseball game. This was definitely the highlight of the day, if not the whole visit of my brother. We were the only 3 fans from Calgary cheering in a sea of 4 225 Seals fans (My roommate was a loyal BC/Victoria fan). It was really quite awesome. We got to the be the obnoxious fans who booed the home team and cheered when the away team got a home run. I think we got a little out of hand, apparently a little kid in front of us started crying, and then eventually they’re whole family moved. I feel kinda bad for ruining a family’s day out but on the the other hand, I was enjoying myself. Calgary ended up scoring 7 runs in one inning, and after that…we toned it down. The final score was 14-4. As much as I do enjoy being here, I have a little bit of Calgary pride in me.
After the game, brother and I went for another steak dinner, and then we ended up at the pool hall which I apparently take all my family when they come here. I took my parents and grandparents to the same place when they visited earlier this summer. So I guess pool is a family tradition I guess. Needless to say. I lost every game.
Anyways, that’s all for today.
Later Days,
- J
Home.
Ahoy!
I was thinking about home again today, and again how much Victoria has become mine. I have a place where I can go to get my hair cut and the stylist knows who am I and how I like my haircut (yes, for those perceptive folk, I did get my haircut today, maybe I’ll post a picture later), I can give directions, I can tell people which bus to take. I feel like I am now a citizen of Victoria and can call this place home. It’s a pretty weird feeling. After being here only one year and I feel like this. Calgary never seems the to change everytime I’m back. It’s always the same streets, the same route home from the airport, the same buildings, the same crappy architechural statues on the street corners. I still find things to explore and discover here in Victoria, and it’s awesome.
Today was mostly a chore day, getting a haircut, getting shoes for work, paying bills, etc etc. Tomorrow is laundry. I need something interesting to happen to me! I’m running out of things to say and things to talk about. I fired off an email to the Martlet to see if they still want my reviews, hopefully you read them, enjoyed them and went and listened to some of the music! I need to know if these reviews are valid or not. On that note, when I was reviewing Sora’s CD “Heartwood”, I noticed the picture on the back cover was quite familiar. I ended up finding her on Facebook, learning she was from Calgary, and that the picture was taken about a minute away from my house (in Stonehenge for those of you who know). So that was pretty nifty.
My roommate came home from New York/Toronto last night! It’s great having him around again, I was getting quite lonely and bored all by myself. Now I have someone to play video games with and converse with and go shopping with and not be all by myself in the computer labs all day.
And holy lame! I was just checking this computer to see if it had Photobooth, which is the program on Mac to take pictures using the webcam, and either this version doesn’t have it, or they got rid of it on these computers! How silly.
It’s only a few more days until my brother comes to visit. 4 to be exact. He’ll be here on Friday, when we have our final summer ending costume bananza! It shall be grand. I was planning on going as Bleeker from Juno, but I have yet to find a pair of shorts short enough and gold enough to be sufficent for that costume. I am excercising back up ideas. Do you have any? Leave a comment with a sweet costume idea
Later days,
- J
