Bring It On

On Friday, Boston and Tampa Bay are going to play game 7, to determine who will go on to play the Canucks in the STANLEY CUP FREAKIN' FINALS. I actually like both teams, and don't really have a preference on who wins (although it would be nice to see Ohlund in Vancouver again). All I can say is...

BRING IT ON

Little Lion Kids

So, today has been a particularly "blah" day. I'm not working today, but it's really dreary out, and it's come to the point where, if people don't show up randomly at my house (yes, it's a common occurrence), I only sometimes make the effort to engage in some sort of social activity.

Okay, I exaggerate, but today is just one of those days where I'm restless and don't know what to do with myself. At one point, I found myself messing around with the Virtual DJ app on my computer. It's a bit of a finicky app, and a mild annoyance to save anything you might make, but it's fun to play around with. Mostly, I amuse myself by changing the pitch of songs (you can make "Party In The USA" sound like a slow acoustic cover, sung by a man. It's surprisingly nice.) However, at one point in my amateur goofing around (most of which involves my clicking random buttons and sliding different sliders. It's not a very precise job I do), I combined "Little Lion Man" by Mumford & Sons and "Kids" by MGMT. These are two of my favorite songs, and I was pleasantly surprised by the result. I threw it onto iMovie and added a pretty picture so I could share it.

Keep in mind that I literally just overlapped these songs and slightly tweaked a few very small things (pitch, etc), and it's the definition of an amateur job. It is not perfect. And maybe it's just the fact that I made it, and I love random mash-ups, but I like how it sounds. Check it out:



Hope you enjoyed it!

Shake Weight

Recently, due to circumstances I won't reveal (okay, I will; my friend had never seen these commercials before! I had to share), I was watching the Shake Weight commercial. It's always good for a laugh, but then I saw that there was a men specific ad for the Shake Weight (the difference? It's bigger and longer...) Check it out:

Original (for women):


Shake Weight for men:



Trying my best not to sound like a pretentious, fresh-from-first-year-university kid with three sociology classes under my belt, the difference between these ads interested me. I'm trying to think how my sister, who majored/minored in Creative Writing and Women's Studies (see: opinionated, and knows how to express it) might analyze these ads. Unfortunately, I'm not nearly as word-savvy, nor do I quite know the proper terminology to judge these commercials (first year sociology tried it's best, but I'm not quite ready for this).

But, in basic English, I found it interesting how the different companies use such blatantly different advertising points to sell the exact same product. I guess everyone is like "well obviously I'm aware the advertisers work different angles for different demographics, but that's obvious." However, seeing them right next to each other makes it seem almost ridiculously in-your-face. You Boy. You like boobs. Cars good! You Girl. You Passive. Take care of skin. Soft skin make you pretty! Ya know?

These aren't the best examples (it's surprisingly hard to find the commercials you actually want to see, in English, on YouTube), but the different approaches to sell essentially the same product to the different genders is interesting:
L'Oreal Anti-Fatigue Moisturizer Ad (for men) vs Neutrogena Energy Renewal Creme (for women)
AND 
Garnier Anti-Dark-Circle Eye Roller (for women) vs L'Oreal Hydra Energetic Eye Roll-On (for men) (sorry, I couldn't find an English version. But you get the idea) 

And finally, because it's probably the most obvious comparison out there...
Axe Shower Gel (for men) vs Dove Body Wash (for women) 

Just a thought. Think about it!

Rad Bromance, Canucks Edition

GAME 5 GAME 5 GAME 5 GAME 5!!
Tonight, the Canucks have the chance to beat San Jose and make it to the STANLEY CUP FINALS. Seventeen years ago, to the day, they won game 5 against Toronto to get into the finals. I don't wanna jinx it, but go Canucks go!

How can you not love these guys??

My god, I love this city.

Born This Way

Good.

Better.

Lady Gaga's new CD, Born This Way, was released yesterday. I know I already talked about some of the songs a few posts back, but now ALL the songs are out. And I've listened to them all.

Here is my very brief review:

Born This Way, while very different from Gaga's The Fame Monster, is impressive. It has a more complex, less mainstream, feel than The Fame Monster. It's less easy to sing along to, and I got a bit of a self-absorbed vibe. BUT, that being said, it is still a very very good CD. Just about every track had me dancing at least from the head up (I think there are maybe 1 or 2 I didn't particularly take to, but I won't disclose which ones. I don't want to negatively bias your first listen). While I don't think Born This Way will be as widely praised as The Fame Monster, I think, musically, it's just as good, if not better. As well, there's no doubt Judas, Born This Way, and maybe even The Edge of Glory will rank up there in the charts with Pokerface, Bad Romance, etc. 

I'm no expert, just a Gaga fan, but that's what I think. I give it 4 big fat stars out of 5. Maybe 4.5, depending on what song I'm listening to (for example, if I'm listening to Edge of Glory, all of a sudden EVERYTHING SHE DOES IS AWSOME.)

                                                               My top 4 songs from the CD:

                                                               1) The Edge of Glory

                                                               2) Hair

                                                               3) Born This Way

                                                               4) Highway Unicorn (Road to Love)

Almost, but not quite "favourite" worthy: Government Hooker and You and I.

                                      AND WATCH THIS VIDEO, IT MAKES ME HAPPY.

NOT GOOD.

Somewhere Only We Know

My current favorite song (or at least one of them):


AND it's in the new Winnie the Pooh trailer! (The original version)


This song is so cute.

On making pasta

Next up, a sloppily drawn representation of the most disappointing way to begin your lunch (alternately, what happens when I make pasta/how to avoid it):

Step 1) Decide on pasta as a suitable lunch for the day. This is never a bad choice. Pasta is delicious and will make people like you. I recommend Annie's pasta (preferably the one in the purple box).

Step 2) Boil water, put pasta in water, wait for pasta to cook. Try not to make a mess. It's not that hard.

Step 3) Next, prepare to make the sauce. Pasta without sauce is like Charlie Sheen without the drugs. It might be good, but nobody knows, or really wants to find out.

Step 4) Annie's pasta has about the simplest sauce ever. There are 3 ingredients, one of which is included in the box. The other two are definitely in your fridge. GO FORTH AND MAKE THAT SAUCE.

Step 5) And this, young pasta makers, is where it goes wrong. TOO MUCH MILK.

Step 6) LUNCH IS RUINED. You suddenly find yourself ingesting a milky, cheese colored ocean, complete with little pasta boats and a buttery iceberg. Really, all that's missing are the little people clinging to their pasta arks, praying for someone to save them from this milky flood.

And that, my friends, is how I end up ruining my delicious Annie's pasta. Repeatedly.


It's all in the milk.

Sliding Kittens

It's kittens. Sliding down a slide. How do you not like this?


Also, my friends/brother and I have been playing a lot of Mario Kart lately..... (Double Dash? Oh yeah.)

Old Man Eating A Peach

Finally, with the unexpected arrival of the year's first sunburn, it appears that May-tober is finally over! The weather's been lovely, and I've spent hours just sitting in the sun (with sunscreen, of course), soaking it in. At last, I'm really excited for summer.

Unrelated, I found this photo on my computer today. It was taken on Hornby Island last summer. It's cropped from a bigger picture, but I like it because I caught this guy in an almost perfect pose, completely by accident.

Creepy? No...

Bon Bon

As per request (yeah, I get requests and stuff, how legit am I?)  (The request was from my sister. But still...)

MOVING ON: So exciting, Bon Iver's new song!



Never fails. He's a talented one.

Edge of Glory

There's been a lot of hype about Lady Gaga's new album Born This Way, and the title track, as well her other single "Judas," have been getting a lot of attention, especially with the revealing of the respctive music videos (and, as always, they were very impressive). You can see the videos for Born This Way and Judas here and here. But I was shown another one of her tracks from Born This Way just a few days ago. I hadn't even heard of it before, but after giving it a listen, I have to say it's my favorite of Gaga's newest songs. Check it out, and just try to tell me you were bobbing along:
The Edge of Glory


It's got a different sound than most of her stuff. The horns(?) at around the 3:00 mark are sweet.

Time-lapse

WOW. Vancouver is awesome.



I'm a sucker for time lapses.

I like.

This makes me happy:

I think everyone could use this kind of confidence. Not in a cocky way, just in a "appreciating that I'm awesome" kind of way. So remember: being awesome can be pretty much the same as being happy.

Cat.

Yup, it's come to this. I am now going to complete my transition into lonely-internet-cat-blogger. That's right; I'm about to blog about my cat. Haters gunna hate, I'll do what I want. Also, as mentioned before, I have no life.

This is my cat. Her name is Molly.

I got her when I was 3 or 4.

I'm pretty sure I was pretty excited to get a cat.
And yes, I had some crazy hair as a child.

She's got them crazy eyes.

She's getting old now and, just like some humans, she's gone a bit senile. She's got the wisdom of a day old banana and an even worse memory. Also, she spends about 90% of the time in the bathroom. Not the cat bathroom/litterbox. The people's bathroom. She's more or less a permanent fixture in there. In fact, I'm pretty sure this is how she sees it:

Now this wouldn't be a problem, except... when I try to get out of the shower.

...BAM!

VAMPIRE CAT.

While cat tummy is softer and probably more absorbent than bath mat, I'm not going to be the first to test it. And that, my friends, is why having a senile cat can sometimes suck. THE END.

(Also, I'm aware of the overall suckiness of this post. My bad. The next one will be better, I swear!)

Marcel The Shell With Shoes On

I'm baaaaack. Contrary to popular opinion (or at least I like to pretend), I have not disappeared off the face of the Earth, or been kidnapped by pirates. No, I am just lazy, and that is the only excuse for my lack of posting. Hopefully, this adorably odd YouTube video will make up for it:


"And I'm like, compared to what?!"


Doesn't that make you feel better? There is no way you didn't laugh a little, or at least smile.

Anyways, I'll post something better soon.

...Maybe.

...My life is pretty full of nothing right now.

Buy you a drank

Yeah, I pretty much love any acoustic cover of any song. This one is especially good. I feel like I may have already blogged about it, but I can't really be bothered to check. So here goes:



Thank. You. YouTube.

...Also I'm watching part of Red Dragon right now and it is creepy and Ralph Fiennes is most definitely evil. Or at least awesome at pretending to be.

Vote!

Tomorrow is election day! I'm on my friend's laptop and it is not a mac and therefore I am now beyond my patience/competence. So to keep it simple and quote my facebook status:

"Not voting because you don't feel like you're educated? You're not the only one. Try starting here and work from there. You don't need to know everything to vote; you just need to care!"

Tomorrow, May 2nd, exercise your democratic right and VOTE!

You can also check out these sites:
http://www.projectdemocracy.ca/  (strategic voting against Harper, if that's your thing)
http://www.votecompass.ca/ (see where your views line up)
http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=faq&document=faqvoting&lang=e (voting FAQ's)


Hopefully I'll add to this post later. My bad for leaving it so late!
(PS share this with your friends and spread the vote!)

Also, for anyone who reads this, I would love to hear people's arguements for why you should vote. (Like, if someone told you they weren't voting, what would you say/would you say anything to try to convince them?) Comment below, I'm interested!

Patrón on ice

I LOVE. SRSLY.


Anya Marina: Whatever You Like (Acoustic cover)