Right Music Wrongs
Note: All opinion. Not facts. So chill.
I don't believe Vanilla Ice has anything to apologize for here. This song is classic and popularized hip-hop. What the people did after is not his fault. There has been much worse music atrocities. DeAndre "Souljah Boy" Ramone Way is a great example. Listen to the rest of his songs. "Donk", "Bird Walk", and whatever - they all sound the same.
Rightmusicwrongs.org is noble but I don't think this generation can ever be rid of the formula, the plastic, and the commercialization. There will always be someone who listens to music that everyone else listens to without deriving their own personal enjoyment from the song.
Yes, "quality over quanitity" but more importantly, "to each their own".
And this song below makes me laugh uncontrollably but if I actually attempted to derive musical enjoyment from this song, my ears would bleed. A song about fast food restaurants. Really!? 
Song of the Week #29: Death Cab for Cutie – I Will Possess Your Heart
Well... I guess it's time for an update for the Song of the Week. It's been a while since I've looked up on Death Cab for Cutie and when I heard "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" on a certain TV show last week (also the same as the episode title) I came across this 8 and a half-minute long song called "I Will Possess Your Heart", on Death Cab's 2008 album Narrow Stairs.
At first, I thought this song related back to a time I felt strongly about a girl (many stories of this occurring I will surely tell one day). And even now, it sort of reminds me of how I feel about another girl (but that is a whole other story that is ongoing and full of inner conflict).
There are two interpretations of this song prevailing in the web:
The first one is a dark interpretation. The song is really about the stalker's mind and he will go at whatever length to get her without regard to the her feelings. The song begins with a noble idea of wooing her but it gets darker as it grows into an obsession. The repetition at the end really symbolizes the obsession.
The second interpretation is brighter. The song could be about a guy liking a girl but keeps getting rejected. He passes by her house and hopes for the "mirrored perspective" of them being together. He knows that if given the chance to spend time with her, she will fall in love and for that reason, he does not give up so easily.
Anyway, here are the lyrics. I personally feel the first interpretation the more I listen to this song. But eh, you be the judge.
Lyrics:
How I wish you could see the potential
The potential of you and me
It's like a book elegantly bound
But in a language you can't read just yet
You got to spend some time, love
You got to spend some time with me
And I know that you'll find love
I will possess your heart
You got to spend some time, love
You got to spend some time with me
And I know that you'll find love
I will possess your heart
There are days when outside your window
I see my reflection as I slowly pass
And I long for this mirrored perspective
When we'll be lovers, lovers at last
You got to spend some time, love
You got to spend some time with me
And I know that you'll find love
I will possess your heart
You got to spend some time, love
You got to spend some time with me
And I know that you'll find love
I will possess your heart
I will possess your heart
I will possess your heart
You reject my advances and desperate pleas
I won't let you let me down so easily
So easily
You got to spend some time, love
You got to spend some time with me
And I know that you'll find love
I will possess your heart
You got to spend some time, love
You got to spend some time with me
And I know that you'll find love
I will possess your heart
You got to spend some time, love
You got to spend some time with me
And I know that you'll find love
I will possess your heart
I will possess your heart
I will possess your heart
I got Twitter. So now I can update what I am doing on Facebook and here at the same time no matter where I am - I can even do it from my cell phone. I don't know how popular this thing will get but a lot of celebrities do use it. It hasn't really caught on in my circle of friends.
Though if Twitter IPO-ed, it does not seem like a bad investment. It might have the same success as Google. Or get bought up by it.
twitter.com/theandrewchow
Yes, "the"andrewchow. 'Cause many variants of andrewchow were taken but more so because I am the Andrew Chow. Kthxbye.
Upgrading to WordPress 2.7.1
Today, I'm in the process of manually upgrading WordPress to 2.7.1 so you may see some anomalies. But at least this will be the last manual update I will have to do.
I hope all the plug-ins and themes I've set up remain intact.
Disruption of Peace
Here's a journal entry for someone who's been yammering me to write one. I'm not in the mood to write one but maybe doing this will make me feel better.
The past two weeks have been so stressful yet coming out of it alive and well is such a relief. The two biggest things that got me through it is coffee and music. It wasn't even that heavy of a workload but I guess I was going through a readjustment period of some sort. It took me a while to settle back down into a state of inner peace - my mind was all over the place.
There are so many push factors here and so many pull factors out there that I'm began to think my place does not lie here in Canada. Maybe that is true. And then I thought about so many other things from why I lost touch in the past to philosophical mumbo-jumbo about how interconnected everyone really is. But then I realized I wasn't focusing on what really mattered: the now, which consisted of exams, readings, essays, and assignments. Focusing on that really minimized the chaos.
Ever since my time in New Orleans, I've been more open to meeting new people and interested in hearing their stories. And I'm getting better at remembering names and faces - but I'm still pretty bad at it. I suppose my time in the Big Easy has restored my faith in humanity and the capacity for good. However, at times, I may have been too imposing or nosy or getting in someone's personal space. For that, I am sorry and I'll try to back off when I feel the sense I'm stepping on toes. And if I don't, that's when I learn the hard way, which is okay as long as I learn (and I hope it's forgivable).
I've grown reluctant to answer questions regarding my future plans because it always carries with it a negative label that will define who I am in their eyes. Understand that it's "go hard or go home" for me at this point in life. This is my second and last chance. There is no such thing as working "too hard" when it decides the rest of my life and the lives I'll be responsible for. I'm done screwing things up for the sake of finding approval, support, or belonging. I lose these things anyway if I don't man up and take responsibility for myself.
Sorry, I'm just getting tired of the prejudgment and shallowness. Definitely not everyone's been like this but I've bumped into quite a few that are just so blatant. Anyway, I probably need some time at the gym to restore my brain chemistry to an even more peaceful state. I spent about $400 repurchasing my gym gear after the University lost it all. (It's a long story. But in the end, I'm being reimbursed for everything.) Endorphins, Run Lola Run soundtrack, and runner's high, here I come!
Everyday I wake up,
I choose Love
I choose Light
And I try, it's too easy just to fall apart
Totally diggin' this song. Thanks for sending it to me. The Submarines ftw! Anyway, better go to sleep now or soonish cause "nothing good ever happens after 2AM."
Weekend
I saw Watchmen. I give it a 4 out of 5. Yes, I'm switching to a 5-point system because I agree that it makes it more clear cut than a 10-point system.
From this weekend in Toronto, I met some new people and coincidentally bumped into some familiar faces in a place I hardly ever eat at. Last time I was there had something to do with smearing $5 or $20 bill in sauce and paying the bill that way cause the food and service was that bad. But that was way back in high school when you're "allowed" such immaturity. And this time, the food and service wasn't so bad.
Anyway, on to babies. Why? Well, the next paragraph explains why. If I were to sit next to one a few years ago, I'd probably think nothing of it. Sure they are cute and that's about it.
Now, sitting next to one at a dinner table, watching it play with food and what not, thoughts and images of raising my own, what I'll teach him/her, and what I'll pass on to the next generation come up. Silly, no? This would not have come up a few years back. It's way too soon I remind myself. It's way too soon for that clock to start ticking.
Besides, there's a level of awesomeness I must achieve first so he or she can share in that awesomeness and truthfully say, "My dad is awesome."
Cause mine hasn't been. Oh snap. Let's not go there.
Centenarian
Just wanted to say congratulations to my great-grandmother on achieving 100 years of age. That's an astounding amount of history to experience. Hope some of those longevity traits made its way to me.
Song of the Week #28: Ne-Yo – Mad
This is another one of the songs that I frequently heard during my time in the Big Easy. The video for this is sad I hear.
Lyrics:
Oooo oooo oooo
Oooo oooo ummm
She's staring at me, I'm sitting wondering what she's thinking
Ummm Nobody's talking, cause' talking just turns into screaming (Oooo)
And now yes I'm yelling over her, she yelling over me,
all that that means is neither of us are listening,
and what's even worse, that we don't even remember why we're fighting
So both of us are mad for nothing, (fighting for)
nothing, (crying for)
nothing, (oohh)
When we won't let it go for nothing, (come back for)
nothing,
it should be nothing
to a love like what we got oh baby
I know some times it's gonna rain,
But baby can we make up now
cause' I can't sleep through the pain (can't sleep through the pain)
girl I don't want to go to bed, mad at you
and I don't want you to go to bed, mad at me
no I don't want to go to bed mad at you
and I don't want you to go to bed, mad at me (oh noo)
Umm
and it gets me upset girl when you're constantly accusing
(asking questions like you already know)
hey we're fighting this war when both of us are losing
(this ain't the way that love is supposed to go, whatever happened to working it out?)
We fall into this place where you ain't backing down, and I ain't backing down,
so what the hell do we do now?
So both of us are mad for nothing, (fighting for)
nothing, (crying for)
nothing... (oohh)
When we won't let it go for nothing,
nothing,
it should be nothing
to a love like what we got oh baby
I know some times it's gonna rain,
But baby can we make up now
cause' I can't sleep through the pain (can't sleep through the pain)
girl I don't want to go to bed mad at you
and I don't want you to go to bed, mad at me
no I don't want to go to bed mad at you
and I don't want you to go to bed, mad at me (oh noo)
Oh baby this love ain't gone be perfect, (perfect perfect oh no)
And just how good it's gonna be
We can fuss and we can fight long as everything is alright between us before we go to sleep...
Baby we're gonna be...
Yah.... Baby....
ohhhh....ohhhh
I know some times it's gonna rain,
But baby can we make up now
cause' I can't sleep through the pain (can't sleep through the pain)
girl I don't want to go to bed mad at you
and I don't want you to go to bed, mad at me
no I don't want to go to bed mad at you
and I don't want you to go to bed, mad at me (oh noo, nooo, noo)
One Last Exam
Let me write one last piece of awesomeness tomorrow night and I'll be back to updating the site.