Wow! Two consecutive posts. Weird. Just wanted to point out, this is how I spend a good portion of my day:
1) Ripping music off YouTube (with that handy link I shared before): about an hour or so.
2) Looking a delicious food, wishing I had a kitchen/any cooking skills other than "boiling water," "making pasta," and "making the best grilled cheese you will ever taste," on foodgawker.com. : More time than I'd like to admit.
3) On a not interesting but related note, studying sociology in the library: four and a half hours.
I KNOW. The exciting life of me. While #2 does make me look like a huge fatty, I will gladly embrace the term if it means I can enjoy that website in peace. (Clearly, res food is getting to me)
See? Yum.
And Yummier.
On a less sad note, I added about 40 new songs to my iTunes today, yay! Here are a few I particularly enjoy:
Alright, so I'm a little late on this post (like, 2 months too late? Ah well.), but I just want to put it out there: Kanye West, despite sending out a constant vibe of douchey-ness, makes damn good music. His new (as of November) album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, is awesome. Seriously, if you haven't heard it yet, you're probably under an even bigger rock than I am.
Not only does this have a ridiculous number of famous musicians (my favorites: Bon Iver and Nicki Minaj. Yeah.) making appearances in various tracks, this is probably the best playlist for running, like, ever. Seriously. I don't ever like exercise, but running to this album is great. Read more about it, courtesy of my good friend Wikipedia, here. And for good measure, for those of you who want just the straight facts, here's the tracklist (in picture form, because the formatting is being stupid and dumb):
Wow.
Listen to that and tell me it's not awesome. I dare you.
Check out Nicki Minaj's verse on Monster here. I'm not fully on the "we love Nicki Minaj" wagon at all really, but yeah... she kills this verse.
And my favorite track from the album:
Lost in the World, Kanye West
[Insert mandatory Kanye discussion "Imma let you finish" joke here]
Hold on to your hats folks (Hehe, see what I did there? With the picture? No.. just me?.. okay..), because the Oscar nominations are out! The Oscars are always fun to watch, and this year shouldn't be anything less than awesome (hello, James Franco hosting? Yes please).
I'd just like to point out that The King's Speech swept. Twelve nominations? That's impressive, no matter how trivial you think the Oscar's are. 127 Hours, probably my favorite movie that I've seen in a while, also did pretty well, with six nominations. Other then that, I'm excited to see which movie wins Best Picture, because I've seen 6 of the 10 nominees, and was nothing less than impressed with each and every one of them. (I kinda hope that, while it probably won't win Best Picture, The Social Network wins something. It really good.)
Anyways, I'm not claiming to be an expert or anything on these kinds of award shows. I watch them for the entertainment value, and not much more. So on February 27th, I intend to be watching Anne Hathaway and James Franco host the 83rd Academy Awards, in the most superficial way I can manage. I'll probably be kept company by a few friends and a big ol' bowl of popcorn as well. It's going to be awesome.
My friend showed me this girl on YouTube, and I absolutely love her cover of Skinny Love by Bon Iver. Check it out:
P.S. If you really like movies, don't forget to check out my 'movies of 2011' page on the right!
Alright, so basically tonight we're one night away from a full moon and it's finally cleared up outside. Because I'm a big nerd, and I don't like doing homework, I walked down to Cadboro bay, fisheye and tripod in hand, and took a few long exposure shots. I've always liked doing long exposures (all but maybe one here are 30 second exposures)... especially if they work out. I'm pretty pleased with these ones tonight, which is good, because I just about froze my fingers off in the process. Some of them are a little messy, or the focus is a little off, but that's just me, unable to feel my fingers, sometimes forgetting exactly how wide the angle of my lens is, and my crooked tripod. Anyways, hope you enjoy at least a few of these! :)
Scariest. Octo-slide. Ever. EVER.
Hey it's me!
Lov..e?
Close-up of the tide
Low tide.
Keep in mind that all these pictures were taken at around 11:30 at night, and I am very tired writing this. Sorry about any non-nonsensical things written above :)
Now that you've enjoyed calming pictures (minus the scary slide), listen to this sweet sweet song and feel even better about life.
Blindsided, by Bon Iver
Then, check out another one of Bon-bon's (as my cousin and brother like to call him) song, one of my favorites: Skinny Love.
Here is a (very brief) clip of something I'm kind of working on on the the side. Yes, I know... Am I a productive student or what? I've done one stop motion before, for a school project, and I've always been a little fascinated with them. Despite the fact that they are pretty time-consuming, and a mistake or two can ruin an entire clip and send your patience/sanity spiraling into a deep dark hole of frustration and face-palming, they can be pretty fun to play with as well. The one I'm working on right now is for a song that runs for about 3 1/2 minutes, and I've finished about 38 seconds. The translates into roughly 3+ hours of (slightly sloppy) work. Fun, right?
Anyways, the one I'm doing now is done all on my Nikon D60, so it's not exactly ideal, and very rough, but it's working out alright so far. The one below was done entirely on my old point and shoot camera, which had a stop motion movie maker setting, which was extremely convenient, and looks a bit nicer.
Gone Going by Jack Johnson (stop motion)
Hopefully I'll finish this current one soonthis month eventually. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoyed this video, and the new semester isn't kicking your butt too hard already.
P.S. Don't forget to check out the movie page in the side bar (if you like movies and stuff), as I've seen a few more in the last week. :)
I forgot about this. I found this video way back in Septemberish and I love it. Make sure to put on the captions so that you can see what he's actually signing.
Admit it. Even if you hate Miley Cyrus, you enjoyed that video.
You know what's awkward?
Obviously posed family photos.
You know what's more awkward?
When no one is coordinated enough to pose for a photo where everyone is smiling, not blinking, and looking at the camera.
But you know what is almost guaranteed to make a photo really awkward and/or distractingly stupid looking?
When the photographer (or any one in the picture really) shouts out, seconds before the picture is about to be taken, "Alright let's have a serious one this time!"
Why is this bad? Because in any group over four or five people, you will end up, without fail, with something like this:
Do you see the problem? No? Look closer. No, not at the face hiding in the bottom left corner, but at the facial expressions. See, the term "serious," in regards to a photo, can be taken two different ways.
1) Serious, as in "seriously, let's make this a good one this time, you baboons." OR
2) Serious,as in "okay, everyone look serious/stern in this one. Then at least everyone will have matching expressions, and it might come off as funny."
(I'm not quite sure why people like to look serious (stern) in pictures, but then again, I don't know why people take bathroom mirror pictures either.)
As you can see in the above picture, "let's have a serious one this time!" will more often than not lead to a mixed set of facial expressions, with some people ending up looking like the grouch-pants of the group (even if they are not). (Yes, I just used the phrase grouchy-pants)
Anyways, for everyone's sake, if you are that (well-meaning) jerk yelling out instructions for the photos, take the extra few seconds to CLARIFY. Trust me, you'll be glad you did (That is, if you are looking for a perfectly synchronized, smiling photo where everyone looks genuinely happy to be there. If not, good on you, and ignore everything I've said. Seriously).
And now for some music!
The Gardener, by The Tallest Man on Earth
PS. Yes, that's a family photo. Isn't my family great?
After a long, long, journey that involved cars, sky trains, ferries, buses, and a very early start (not to mention a stupid amount of heavy lifting/lugging), I'm back in Victoria. It's kinda nice to be back, although I will miss some things about being home. (Hello, my mom makes the best food ever)
I couldn't have asked for a nicer last day in North Van though. First, after sleeping in, I went to Ambleside with a few friends. As you can see by this picture, it was nice and sunny and not even that cold, which was appreciated. It was nice to have one last day of goofing off with some friends, as all of us go to school in different cities all across BC/Canada. After, I have a soccer reunion with my old team (which, incidentally, happens to be made up of many awesome/beautiful people). Although our hour long practice made me feel horribly out of shape, it was fun to see everyone again and get a little exercise.
Anyways, welcome back to everyone who is back to school now, and good luck with the coming semester!
(My friend showed me this song a few days ago, and I think I like it. Apparently it's on the TV show Lie to Me.)
Hey! Check out the new page on the side bar (to the right), for a new little thing I added about movies! Basically, I'll be keeping track of any and all movies I see this year (or, at least, for the next few months). There are a few movies I want to see this year, including 127 Hours, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, The Green Hornet (because I love Seth Rogen), Scott Pilgrim vs The World (because I haven't seen it yet), and lots more I'm sure I've forgotten.
If you have any (any) suggestions for good movies, both new and old, comment below, it'd be appreciated.
Hope the first day of the new year has treated you well!
Man on the Moon Mashup, Kid Cudi and The Postal Service
