Sony’s New Stupid Box Thing
Warning: The following contains coarse language. Mainly F-words. So NSFW. Viewer discretion is advised.
And don't be drinking something while watching this. I learned the hard way. Haha. 
Clearly, I have been procrastinating instead of studying for exams.
Time vampire. Hahaha.
Being a techno-nerd myself, I do agree Sony's devices are less user-friendly than the competitors at times yet the rich people are still quick to jump on their latest and greatest things.
I can't wait to get the upgraded 800GB version!
This Made My Day
I found out about these from the BestofYoutube video podcast.
Validation (16 minutes)
And if you have time,
Rent-A-Person (13 minutes)
This is some quality writing and directing. Nice intersection of plots.
I hope it makes your day as well. Because - remember - "you are awesome".
Song of the Week #27: T.I. feat. Justin Timberlake – Dead and Gone
EDIT: Fixed the little problem with the song. Case-sensitivity ftl.
I have so much to write but upcoming exams and other errands are keeping me busy. I'll just say that I saw beauty in the most devastated of lands. I saw resilience of the human spirit in the face of great hardship. And I saw genuine kindness in what I once thought was the most unlikely of places.
The world has a lot going wrong but there is also a lot we are doing to make it right. And I want to see all the awesomeness with my own eyes.
A lot of who I was died in the past few months and I'd say that's a good thing. So I felt this song best describes my past week.
Plus, it was played like a bajillion times in the many car rides.
Lyrics:
Ay, lemme kick it to you right quick man
Not on some gangsta shit man on some real shit
Anybody who been through the same thing
I'm sure you feel the same way
Oh hey, I've been travelin' on this road too long
Just tryin' to find my way back home
But the old me's dead and gone
Dead and gone
And oh hey, I've been travelin' on this road too long
Just tryin' to find my way back home
But the old me's dead and gone
Dead and gone, dead and
Ever had one of them days wish you would have stayed home
Run into a group of niggas who gettin' their hate on
You walk by, they get wrong, you reply then shit get blown
Way out of proportion way past discussion
Just you against them, pick one then rush them
Figure you get jumped here that's next
They don't wanna stop there now they bustin'
Now you gushin', ambulance rushin'
You to the hospital with a bad concussion
Plus you hit four times but it hit yo spine
Paralyzed waist down and ya wheelchair bound
Never mind that now you lucky to be alive
Just thinkin' it all started fussin' wit three guys
Nigga pride in the way but your pride is the way you can fuck
Around get shot down any day
Niggas die everyday, all little bullshit
Dope money, dice games, ordinary hood shit
Could this be cuz of hip-hop music
Or did the ones with the good sense not use it?
Usually niggas don't know what to do when they back against the wall
So they just start shootin'
For red or for blue or for blow I guess
From Bankhead at the old projects
No more stress, now I'm straight
Now I get it, now I take time to think
Before I make mistakes just for my family stake
That part of me left yesterday
The heart of me is strong today
No regrets I'm blessed to say the old me dead and gone away
Oh hey, I've been travelin' on this road too long
Just tryin' to find my way back home
But the old me's dead and gone
Dead and gone
And oh hey, I've been travelin' on this road too long
Just tryin' to find my way back home
But the old me's dead and gone
Dead and gone, dead and
I ain't neva been scared, I live through tragic
Situations could been dead lookin' back at it
Most of that shit didn't even have to happen
But you don't think about it when you out there trappin'
In the apartments hangin', smokin' and rappin'
Niggas start shit next thing we know we cappin'
Get locked up then didn't even get mad
Now I think about that what a life I had
Most of that shit look back just laugh
Some shit still look back get sad
Thinkin' my home boy still be around
Had I not hit the nigga in the mouth that time
I won that fight I lost that war
I could still see my nigga walkin' out that door
Who would of thought I'd never see Philant no more
Got enough dead homies I don't want no more
Cuz a nigga his jump cost me more
I'd a took that ass whoopin' out for sure
Now think before I risk my life
Take them chances to get my stripes
A nigga put his hands on me alright
Otherwise stand there talk shit all night
Cuz I hit you and you sue me
I shoot you get locked up poor me
No more stress now I'm straight
Now I get it now I take time to think
Before I make mistake just for my family stake
That part of me left yesterday
The heart of me is strong today
No regrets I'm blessed to say the old me dead and gone away
Oh hey, I've been travelin' on this road too long
Just tryin' to find my way back home
But the old me's dead and gone
Dead and gone
And oh hey, I've been travelin' on this road too long
Just tryin' to find my way back home
But the old me's dead and gone
Dead and gone
I turn my head to the east, I don't see nobody by my side
I turn my head to the west, still nobody in sight
So I turn my head to the north, swallow that pill that they call pride
That old me's dead and gone but the new me will be alright
I turn my head to the east, I don't see nobody by my side
I turn my head to the west, still nobody in sight
So I turn my head to the north, swallow that pill that they call pride
That old me's dead and gone but the new me will be alright, 'cause
Oh hey, I've been travelin' on this road too long
Just tryin' to find my way back home
But the old me's dead and gone
Dead and gone
And oh hey, I've been travelin' on this road too long
Just tryin' to find my way back home
But the old me's dead and gone
Dead and gone, dead and
Pacific Mall Murder
Now this one hits close to home as this is one of the places I frequently shop at. The shooting occurred at around 8:45pm last night and if I wasn't at New Orleans, there would have been a decent chance I'm in the mall for some bubble tea or shopping at Canada Computers for my reading week.
Suspect is still at large and armed. Be safe folks.
Source: Toronto Sun, Toronto Star, CTV
Coincidences
Just wanted to say that it was awesome seeing Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (highlight to read) being diagnosed on this week's episode of House. It was the topic of my research thesis last year and with the episode being about coincidences, I thought I'd share that coincidence.
There have been so many coincidences in the past few months for me that it's getting harder and harder to rationalize them all and to think whether those rationalizations are even plausible.
Coming back from New Orleans, which was the best week I have ever had in my entire life, a lot of me has changed. The people I've met, the things I've seen, and the lessons I've learned are all things I will take with me for the rest of my life and shape who I become. And yes, there were a lot of coincidences too.
"It's not your intelligence. It's your determination."
-Nathaniel Jones, Bywater Church of Christ, New Orleans
The resolve for my pursuit of "awesomeness" is forever strengthened by the memories forged in this week. Little by little I hope I become the person I've always wanted to become and finally set my mind free from the past. There are people who have left me, there are people who still stand by me, and there are people I have yet to meet. I'm okay with that and it's time I let go and see where life takes me.
I've got a lot of pictures chronicling the entire week from the moment I left Nat Sci to the moment I came back to Nat Sci. There's a long story to tell and I'm in the process of writing it all up, collecting the pictures, and putting most of them up. Stay tuned to the site updates page, this journal page, and the gallery.
"Coincidences are God's way of remaining anonymous."
-Albert Einstein
No Update this Week…
...on account of being all the way in New Orleans. I had an awesome time tonight and will post LOTS of pictures and stories when I get back - though I have about 4 mid-terms waiting for me when I get back. I'll be fine though.
I'm alive and well. I'm leeching free Wi-Fi off someone in this quiet suburban neighbourhood. But I have to wake up in a few hours so I'll be going to bed.
I'll end with this:
2 Corinthians 5:7 - "We walk by faith, not by sight."
Tomorrow
I think this song sums up what I'm feeling for tomorrow. The adventurer in me awakens! It's going to be legendary! Haha.
The Phon Coast - Hitoshi Sakimoto
I'm not superstitious but I am flying on Friday the 13th. Let's hope the pilots don't have that on their minds.
I would write something romantic for the 14th, but I don't think I'll get the chance to do so. I'll just say that I probably learned how to cook by then, that we save each others lives in Left 4 Dead (or whatever is popular at the time), and/or some Rock Band, and/or see a mindless action movie, and/or laser tag. And it will be as awesome as any other day.
For now, don't get all caught up in the future or past. I will be missing SAD and there's nothing sad about it (c wut I did thar?). And that is a good thing.
Hope I don't catch VD on VD down there either. (I'm kidding. Relax.)
Yeah, puns are full of /facepalm... and /fail... ...but also /fistpumps.
Google Latitude
If your phone has GPS, you can sign up on Google Latitude. Launched on February 4th, Latitude allows you to see where your friends are as well as broadcast your own location! Embrace the stalker in you! Hahaha!
Ok, in all seriousness, this is a cool feature for those friends that are SUPER close to each other for those frequent meet-ups. And it helps if you lose your phone or it gets stolen.
But if you don't want your fiance to know that you are "buying groceries" at a strip club, don't sign up. Simple as that.
I just hope that in the future, phones that have GPS (and believe me, most of them will) won't be secretly giving our location to Big Brother.
Source: CTV News
Source: Google Latitude
Song of the Week #26: ATB – Feel Alive (Duende Remix)
I've started getting back into electronic music lately. It's the genre that got me into the world of music and it's the genre from which I branched out. It's what I filled into my Minidiscs (remember those?). And now, it's my workout music and it's the music that best represents my mood at the moment.
Cheesy as it sounds, I have been feeling more alive than I've ever been lately. Jumping out of a plane back then was only a quick fix. A longer lasting fix was all cognitive - possibly a non-pharmaceutical cognitive way to right a brain chemical imbalance.
Anyway, here are the lyrics to the song - though the version playing above is a remix'd version for the clubs. This is perfect for the beginning of summer.
---
ATB - Feel Alive
You`ve killed my days, my innermost
State of mind, so don`t stay close
I am back through all the highs and lows
No more belief in chemicals
So pack your things, you`d better go
There`ll be no regrets, so little do you know
I feel, I feel so alive
Meet me at the station, or maybe in another life
I feel, I feel so alive
There`ll be no more drifting back and forth in time
Another day, another life
To feed with all that I call mine
Is what it takes, so I go out tonight
Shining lights of crossing cars
An open sky, a million stars
They open up my eyes and this is just because
I feel, I feel so alive
Meet me at the station, or maybe in another life
I feel, I feel so alive
There`ll be no more drifting back and forth in time
I`ll take it slow
I feel so alive
I`ll turn back time
Another day, another life
To feed with all that I call mine
Is what it takes, so I go out tonight
I feel, I feel so alive
There`ll be no more drifting
I feel, I feel so alive
Meet me at the station, or maybe in another life
I feel, I feel so alive
There`ll be no more drifting back and forth in tïme
I feel
---
"You've killed my days, my innermost state of mind" - The darkness that engulfed everything I saw.
"I am back through all the highs and lows." - It's been a long rollercoaster ride.
"No more belief in chemicals" - Drugs were never the answer for me.
"Meet me at the station, or maybe in another life" - Timing is everything. I firmly believe that. Just being part of my life - no matter how little - is enough to keep me going.
"There'll be no more drifting back and forth in time." - My mind will no longer wander too long. Right now is what matters.
Day of Giving Pictures
I posted some pictures of the Rotary Day of Giving. I wrote an entry detailing the day in the journal.
Oh yeah, I put pictures up a long while ago of the December 17th, 2008 Raptors game against Mavericks. I meant to write an update post for that too but Raptors sucked that day and they suck now. The seats were 100-level.
