Bitter-sweet Love
No no, not the kind of love you're thinkin' about. This love is for weather; namely the weather we had today: Thunderstorms.
Just before I left for work at around 1:30pm the sky became black and ominous with the sun shining in the opposite sky. I loved it! I think it was the first real thunderstorm I'd seen this summer. The only thing is, as I was eating, I realised if I didn't hurry up I'd be walking in that awe-inspiring feat of nature. Not good.
Sure enough I took my sweet time and as I got my shoes on to leave, it started pouring.
I don't own an umbrella. Should I? Perhaps. Will I get one? Maybe when the mood strikes me.
So as usual I walk outside protected by nothing, just listening to my music as I walk the 10 minute walk to the bus stop. During my walk the smell of the rain is so amazing, but I'm completely drenched and that's not. I hurry from one tree to the next to get that momentary relief from the downpour, but I have to keep moving or else I'll miss my bus, so I continue along.
When I finally get to the bus shelter I'm completely drenched. I didn't really care too much though. The entire way to work the rain let up. But after I got off the second bus to walk up to work, it started again.
Convenient, no?
It wasn't raining much, just a patter here and there, but it was windy and the lightning was in full force. I walked somewhat nonchalantly to work because it was so nice to be in. I was already soaked from before so why would I rush it?
So that's my bitter-sweet love of summer thunderstorms in a nutshell.
Peace.
My memories flow with music
Tonight while at work in the old candy factory I was rockin out to music that only exists in my head, as we're not allowed to bring our mp3 players (or archaic cd players) into the plant with us. It seems while I'm not listening to my player, I constantly hear some song in my head. I think it's a symptom of having listened to music everyday constantly for as long as I can remember (about 8 years).
Anyway, I was listening to imaginary songs, and as one imaginary track progressed into the next I got the feeling of sadness. The song (irrelevant), invoked memories on me that I'd experienced in the past, but were brought out again as clear as daylight. It's not that the memory was necessarily sad, but that the time can't be captured again or the original feeling the song brought upon me can't be felt again, which in itself is saddening.
I have quite a large collection of music and I try my best to listen to as much as I can. However, those albums that bring back memories (good or bad) are the best ones I think I have. Even if I don't enjoy the group or artist anymore, I can still listen to their album and feel the memories flooding back to me as if it were yesterday.
Tonight I was also thinking about Ashanti's first album and how I enjoyed it in high school; immediately the feeling of driving to school and listening to my cd player plugged into my car came flooding back to me. Or how the American Idiot album by Green Day represents the second half of my first year of college because I listened to it every day on the way in. Both of these artists I don't really care for too much anymore, but I can listen to those albums and feel happy at the same time.
While I may not hold on to any type of music or artist for a very long time I find their songs or albums forever captivating if they stick to me like that, and that is why I love music so much and I don't know where I'd be without it.
Peace.
Quite the cunundrum
After reading another post about this very similar topic I was reminded of a video that was shown to me for kicks a while back. It's too hilarious to neglect now:
Moving on to the quarter finals
Alright so after the first elimination round of the world cup I find myself with a 4-3 record with my predictions. Not great. Not bad though.
With my incorrect guesses, I'm going to redo the next round to show which country is facing the other and I predict will win:
Germany vs. Argentina - Argentina
England vs. Portugal - England
Italy vs. Ukraine - Italy
Brazil vs. France - Brazil
With the exception of the Italy vs. Ukraine matchup, they all look to be quite the entertaining game to watch.
Germany and Argentina by far looks to be the greatest game in my opinion.
England will have an advantage with so many Portuguese players out with suspensions and possible injuries. However, that being said, they shouldn't get too cocky and start thinking the game is in the bag. There's a lot of history between these two teams, with the last big win from Portugal coming at the Euro Cup.
Italy vs. Ukraine - Italy can hold them off no problem with their defensive game. Likely will be a low scoring affair.
Brazil vs. France - I really didn't expect France to make it this far, but since either they or Spain would've been facing Brazil, it didn't matter. With the way Brazil is playing now they should have little trouble defeating this French squad. Ronaldo, extra pounds and all, is playing quite well and should add to his record holding goals for tally.
So sleepy
Ahhhh...
Tonight I just got back from a day at Wonderland. I'm kinda pooped from allergy pills I popped so I don't know how long this'll take or how well you'd be able to understand it.
So it all began on Saturday after a long-ass day of shopping to get my nephew (25th) things for his birthday and giving my Dad a barbeque (everyone chipped in) for HIS birthday (23rd). At night I went out to watch The Omen and it was alright I guess; nothing terribly special.
After the movie I slepte over at Alex's place but I ended up getting like 3 hours tops of sleep. We just chilled and had a modest 6 beers between us. I was drunk, but not to the point of being stupid. So yeah we just watched TV mostly.
This morning our friend Kashaf came and pickedus up and we headed to the park (not before a Timmy's run and the damn lady ruining my bagel order). It was a great day overall. We got to go on the large majority of rides worth going on and the weather made it totally worthwhile. The best part of the day was in the water park area and actually swimming for the first time in around 2 years or so.
After I got home I found out England beat Sweden 1-0 on a goal from David Beckham (left, below). I had just bought an England car flag as well so I was happy! And I wish I caught the Portugal vs. Netherlands game because it looked like a battle.
Amateur "football" predictions Part 1
The round of 16 begins on Saturday the 24th of June and here are my predictions for who will advance (and who they'll be facing if they do):
Germany vs. Sweden - Germany
Argentina vs. Mexico - Argentina
England vs. Ecuador - England
Portugal vs. Netherlands - Netherlands
Italy vs. Australia - Italy
Switzerland vs. Ukraine - Switzerland
Brazil vs. Ghana - Brazil (unfortunately)
Spain vs. France - Spain
Tentative round of 8 matchups (and my 'for the hell of it' predictions):
Germany vs. Argentina - Argentina
Italy vs. Switzerland - Italy
England vs. Netherlands - England
Brazil vs. Spain - Brazil
Extremely tentative round of 4 matchups (and my predictions again):
Argentina vs. England - Argentina
Italy vs. Brazil - Brazil
Crazy out of this world predictions for the finals:
Argentina vs. Brazil - Argentina
Okay now that I've pulled those predictions out of my ass let's focus on the first ones because they're the most important. I'll give actual predictions as the rounds progress :)
Peace.
Samurai Champloo
Fresh from watching the 26th and final episode of the anime series, Samurai Champloo I must say I'm quite sad to see it go.
The story follows 3 characters, Fuu, Mugen and Jin on their search for the "samurai that smells like sunflowers". The era of Japan where the story is set isn't quite defined, as it leaps back and forth, but it ranges during the middle-ages for arguments sake.
Throughout the journey to find this samurai, who Fuu, the young 15-year old girl must meet, there isn't a great deal that is done in search of this man. The characters go through many encounters with many different situations, mostly revolving around them looking for money to pay for lodgings or food to eat. This being said, I found the storyline lacking, but at the same time I kept watching to find out what happened next.
The further into the saga, the reasoning behind why Fuu must confront this samurai becomes clear. We also get to know the backgrounds of the rogue samurai that she is traveling with as her "bodyguards". I won't go into detail for those who haven't watched (but by some freaky twist of fate stumble on this post and get hooked!) because I don't want to ruin the buildup the creators try to achieve by revealing tidbits in nearly every episode.
One of the strong points of the show, I believe was the quality of the animation. I was amazed at how the characters moved when they were fighting, how it looked so realistic, yet not at all at the same time. The expressions on their faces, for the most part, was completely refreshing from most of the anime I've had the opportunity to see.
In the end I was happy with the show. I don't believe it could've gone on to another storyline and it ended well, but I'd still like to know what's going to happen next (again i dont want to reveal too much about the ending).
Peace.
Moving on!
I'll be the first to admit the last game was not England's best when they played Trinidad & Tobago on Thursday afternoon.
The game saw the return of the team's new superstar Wayne Rooney to the lineup; however, it wasn't until the 58th minute that we had the opportunity to see him in action for the first time since breaking a bone in his foot over 6 weeks ago.
Up until his return though, the play was lackluster at best and it appeared that England was facing a team far better than the ones chosen with the worst odds to win the title. There were many missed opportunities from the team which had glorious chances throughout the game. Frank Lampard had 7 shots on goal and nearly all of them were high even with him just outside the T&T keeper's zone.
It wasn't until the 6-foot 7-inch Peter Crouch scored on a header off a glorious pass from David Beckham in the 83rd minute that the team showed any sign of life. They also added a goal from Steven Gerrard in the 90th minute to seal the deal.
England moves on now to likely face Germany. They'll have to make a major overhaul in the way they go about playing their game and the return of Rooney will surely give them that required boost of energy they so sorely need.
Congrats boys, play better please.
Peace.
Son of a....
I'm home now and the sun is still out. This is weird.
Aside from that the reason why I'm home is because I hurt my back at work tonight. I couldn't stand staying there any longer, no matter how I tried to suck it up and work through it.
I was loading the machine with jawbreakers and each tray they're in are about 30lbs with about maybe 30 trays per skid. So yeah I went to reach for one tray to pull it over to me so I could lift it up and dump it and as soon as I got hold of the thing I felt my back go. I tried loading a couple more and could handle it for a bit, but after organizing another skid for dumping I told them I had to get someone else to do it for me.
I told our packaging lead hand guy that I couldn't do the job because of my back so I went to a lighter working job. At about 5pm I went to my supervisor and told him I had to go home at 7pm. I figured that was a good enough time to see if the pain would go away. It didn't. Even my light job was difficult to perform.
I was sent to relieve people for break in another section; a job I normally do. After about 15 minutes of this job I got ahold of my supervisor again and told him I couldn't even do that one. So I ended up leaving at around 6pm.
It hurts to do absoutely everything. It took forever to change into comfortable house clothes and even take out my contacts. I'm lying down right now and will have an evening of sports and reading to keep me entertained.
I probably won't go in tomorrow either as I doubt this will get better by then.
Alright that's enough for tonight.
Peace.
Smile
Here's Lily Allen in her first ever TV performance in Britain's Top of the Pops (TOTP). She sounds nervous quite a bit but atleast she can hold a tune compared to some artists.
My tickets are here!
Today in the mail I received the 311 tickets for their August show when they come to Toronto! I came downstairs and saw this evelope from New York. I figure Hmm.. I don't know anyone from New York so I open the envelope and started getting nervous for some messed up reason. Then when I figured out what it was I got all happy because I didn't expect them to come til maybe the beginning of August.
Here they are!
Oh what a day...
My saturday started relatively early for the first time in quite a while. I planned to get up at 8:30am to watch the England vs. Paraguay match but I ended up sleeping through the first 29 minutes of it. I missed the only goal but it was an entertaining game for the most part; even if the refs blew a tonne of calls.
So a little after the game finished I headed out, as planned, to go spend some money. I went and bought my Lacoste polo shirt that I've been wanting for well over a month now, for whatever reason I don't know. Either way, I was excited I got the purchase out of the way and it felt good to buy it. Here's what it looks like (not mine, just the same colour):
So yeah, over $100 later I looked to buy some sunglasses. I decided to look at the Raybans but the ones I liked didn't suit me at all so I had to move on. I wanted to get a pair of Puma sunglasses but I couldn't find them anywhere, even online they're sold out. I was going to call it a day but then I figured I'd head down to the Eaton Centre and see what it had to offer. A tonne of walking later, I found nothing that interested me. I did see Raybans I liked but they were about $240 and I don't feel like spending THAT much on sunglasses; atleast not yet.
Today I also bought Garden State. Now I can add another video out of my top 10 that I own.
Annnd I bought two books tonight as well:
Hopefully I'll read these two within the coming decade. I've been so horrible with my reading.
That's enough for today. Now I must finish watching this riveting game between Edmonton and Carolina.
Peace.
Hey!! Long time no see!
You know what really grinds my gears? Pointless conversations.
I was thinking tonight about conversations that go a little something like this (of course there are variances, but this will be the example):
*Walking down the street you see a person you know but don't really hang out with*
Person: "Hey!! Long-time no see! How are things?"
Okay, this is where they begin.
First off, you know that likely both people taking part in this conversation aren't likely to be riveted by what the other person has to say. It's a social faux pas, if you will, if you don't partake in this trivial encounter because otherwise you would be considered a "rude person" and that other person would not want to talk to you again in the future.
Another thing with these inpromptu (most of the time) conversations is you are usually in a hurry or have to be somewhere and you don't really have the time to chat with anyone. It's also deemed rude if you tell the person you're in a hurry because they would assume you're giving them the brush off, and as I mentioned, that's a no-no.
Weddings, funerals or any gathering where there are people that you don't often see are a collective breeding ground for these conversations. People absolutely MUST go up to others and say hello and "catch up" on things.
All of my sentiments are echoed by an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm where the main character Larry David (also his real name, if you know the show you won't be confused, if you don't I'm sorry, I cant help you.) passes an acquaintence on the street and doesn't really partake in that stop-and-chat convo and they go on a story line about how it's not an acceptable way to act. I wish I could find the episode in question so I can give a better synopsis. I haven't seen it in years.
So yeah... that's what grinds my gears.
Peace.
Pure Randomness...
This (and it's necessities) will likely be my "He's wasting his money on stupid things again" purchase of the summer:
Yes, the Nintendo DS Lite .. along with one or (eventually) more of the following:"
or just about any other mario game out ther for the handheld. I enjoy them all immensley. The DS lite will allow me to enjoy those games on a handheld instead of on the damned SNES or NES. Now I can take it with me on boring trips or to work and school if I so chose to.
Alright, I hope to post something coherent on the weekend when my brain begins to function again.
Peace.
Darien Lake trip in motion!!
Tonight during a night out to celebrate my friend Alex's birthday and consequential graduation from school (although he still has another year at a different college to do) we got plans moving forward for our trip to
Darien Lake.
So four of us plan on heading down to the New York State amusement park/camp site in July from the 21st to the 23rd. We plan on staying in one of their RVs with A/C and microwave and a stove. So we aren't really 'roughing it' at all but it's more hardcore than staying in the hotel.
We'll be leaving on Friday afternoon, as my friend Kashaf (who's driving) has to work half a day. So we'll get there in the evening and hopefully enjoy the park for a lil bit. I enjoy the park a lot but I'm going for the fun times at the camp and whatnot. We'd end up returning on the Sunday; be home in the evening I presume. I also will convince them to do some outlet shopping on the way back. A must for traveling over the border in my opinion.
It'll be sweet going down this time since the last time was when I couldn't drink =P After the park closes at night it'll be amazing to just sit in front of the fire and have a few beers and enjoy the weather.
This time though we're bringing a shitload of water so as to not have to drink the putrid stuff they provide. Last time it was soo gross I could barely stomach it.
Hells yeah. I can't wait!!
I need an escape from the ordinary
After some detailed chatting tonight I've come to the conclusion that once school is over I'm definitely going to experience life a little more. I don't know if it will be detrimental to my career and future or extremely beneficial, I just know it needs to be done.
While I love my city and will probably end up back here when it's all said and done, I need to expand my horizons a little more by going places outside of my little (and I mean little) bubble. Whether it be experiencing my country a little more, or traveling to Europe, Asia or Australia, I just want to experience, period.
I want to experience my family's past in England and the Caribbean; I want to experience the history of Europe and also it's music scene. I would like to visit the modern yet historic Japan. I want to go to my (mostly) lifelong getaway destination of Australia.
It all seems so enchanting to me right now and I feel the definite pull to do it. I just hope it's one of those things that I can pull off and make happen and not let slip by the wayside just for any little thing.
Man the things I gotta write at 3:30am astonish me sometimes.
Peace.
