LOVE - Halloween 

A great excuse to get blackout in a ridiculous outfit. Heres some fitting music for the weekend.

Dead Man's Bones - My Body's a Zombie for You

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The North American Hallowe'en Prevention Initiative Inc. - Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?

(Best Halloween Song of All Time)

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Band Of Horses - Is There A Ghost?

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Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (Teenagers Remix)

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HATE - Anyone going out as a vampire because of Twilight

(bahahahaha)

LOVE - Sam's Town

While studying for mid terms and what not, I usually rely on shuffle to dust off some tracks in the library that haven't been played in a while. I happened to come across the Killer's album Sam's Town and was once again reminded how great an album it really is, front to back. Panned by critics, the album seemed to be written off as a classic sophomore effort from the band. All I know is that it was the soundtrack of nearly every lunchtime excursion back in grade twelve, I've heard "When You Were Young" about a million times in Rock Band, and its all still awesome. This entire post was inspired by the alternate Sam's Town version off of the bands third album Sawdust, which after many listens this week is slowly creeping into "one of the best songs in my library" status. Heres that song, and some of the classics

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HATE - Lack of Water Fountains

I was in line at Tim Horton's today on campus, browsing through the Gazette, and happened upon an article raising concern over the lack of water fountains these days, and I have to say I agree. If there were a better designed fountain though, more of a tap. I understand there are sinks on campus, but the stigma attached to "tap water" is probably too much for most people to deal with. If it were all metal and sanitary looking, like most water fountains are, and were able to fill re-usable containers quickly, I'm thinking it would be a pretty solid call. I'm just so damn thirsty.

images - art.com/merch.com

LOVE - These Songs 

Tilly and the Wall - A Perfect Fit

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Brad Sucks - Making Me Nervous

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Matt & Kim - Turn The Boat Around

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Jaydiohead - Change Order

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HATE - How Emily Haines Is Not My Wife

Metric concert in London last night was unreal.

Love - La Roux - Bulletproof 

One of the most remixed songs as of late, La Roux's Bulletproof on its own is a good song. The English duo of Elly Jackson and Ben Langmaid have put together a sound that has really capitalized on the electropop/synthpop movement, headed by a talented front-woman (ala The Gossip, The Noisettes, Lykki Li, Little Boots etc.) But while the original "Bulletproof" is good, I feel what other people have done with it have definitely taken it from good to great. That being said, there's like a million, and some are better than others, so here's the original and some of the remixes I've had on repeat.

La Roux - Bulletproof

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La Roux - Bulletproof - (Y A L L Remix)

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La Roux x The Killers - Smile Like You're Bulletproof Remix

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HATE - Rogers Customer Service 

I'm sure everyone has a horror story about dealing with Rogers in one way or another, I know I have more than a few. I feel like every time I call them with a question about my cellphone, I'm talking to one of those people in Men In Black, the ones that aliens have chosen on live in. Just no grasp of reality, basic conversation skills, or able to help the customer in any way. Useless. I've been told to "foster more comments on posts", so feel free to express rage against Rogers or horror stories in the "comments".

Pics from Drukendata.com, Kevinrestivo.com

LOVE - THIS

as seen here

HATE - How Much Groceries Cost 

$104 dollars worth of frozen pizza products and meat. Come on.

LOVE - These Songs

Heres the list of songs that are on heavy rotation this week.
Thanks to those that influenced.

Soulwax - Krack

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Fever Ray - If I Had A Heart

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Matthew Good - 21st Century Living

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Frightened Rabbit - The Modern Leper

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Notorious B.I.G. x Miley Cyrus - Party and Bullshit (In the USA)

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HATE - Midterms
Yeah, midterms deserve at least two days of Hate in a row. Also, why do we have classes during midterms, but not finals. Come onnn. (yes I know, still slacking on posts)

LOVE - Emily Haines

Metric is coming to London on the 23rd and to those lucky enough to have tickets to the sold out show, I'm sure it's going to be a rockin good time. It also seems like as good a time as any to showcase the lead singer Emily Haines, one of the most talented female vocalists Canada has to offer. I've been a fan of Metric for a long time, along with Emily's solo work, Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton. Some considered Metrics most recent effort "Fantasies" to be a bit too commercial, straying from the indie roots they grew in Toronto, but while I admit it was a different sound, I think it worked for the band. It also garnered the band a much broader audience, and it's always nice to see Canadians doing well. In an interesting collaboration, Haines has teamed up with DJ Tiesto for his new album Kaleidoscope, released on October 6th. I'm not usually a fan of the sprawling Tiesto eurostyle tracks, but Haines' voice is just way too good not to listen to. Heres a smorgasbord of some of her best, including the new Tiesto.


Metric - Wet Blanket - Old World Underground

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Metric - Grow Up and Blow Away - Grow Up and Blow Away 

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Metric - Monster Hospital - Mstrkrft Remix 

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Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton - The Lottery - Knives Don't Have Your Back

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Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton - Doctor Blind - Knives Don't Have Your Back

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Tiesto ft. Emily Haines - Knock You Out - Kaleidoscope

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HATE - Midterms 

I know I've been slacking pretty hard on posting, but everyone's in the same boat in terms of being swamped with work, so I figure lurking this blog isn't the top of everyones priorities. But yeah, once midterms are done, back to posting regularly. Good luck surviving erryone.

LOVE - Great Snowboard Music 

Seeing as its October 15th, it only makes sense for it to start snowing in the city of London. Everything is just always better here, its science. Can't argue science. In honor of the first snowfall, a selection of great songs that I originally found featured in 3 of my favourite snowboard movies.  (expect a HATE post on the snow in the near future)

Video Gangs 

Billy Idol - (Do Not) Stand In The Shadows - Joni Malmi 

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Depeche Mode - Photographic - Credits 

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Fischerspooner - Emerge - Eddie Wall

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Junior Senior - Move Your Feet -  Lauri Heiksari

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Lost In Transition

(amazing intro)

Air - Alone in Kyoto - Dave Downing

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Muse - Hysteria - Eero Ettala

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Sparta - Air - Jeremy Jones 

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Afterlame

Felix Da Housecat - Ready 2 Wear

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Teddybears - Yours To Keep

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HATE - This Genius

Everyone and their facebook status has been talking about the beatdown police served to the 22 year old 4th Year Western student yesterday. I'm not here to get on my soapbox and rant and rave about this and that like many in the Youtube comments have done. The main problem I have is with the conference that happened earlier today, specifically, tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum on the microphones. For Elgin Austen, the head of the Campus Police to sit there and say that he saw "nothing out of order" and that “Our officers did what they needed to do to ensure that he and others around him were safe" is embarrassing. I fully understand that being a police officer is a very dangerous job, and that certain policies and safeguards are in place to keep them safe while keeping the public safe. But seriously, come on Elgin, there is a difference between enforcing policy and hiding behind it. 

Sidenote: wow is the London Free Press website is a disaster to navigate.

LOVE - OUTFOXED 
 (This is a response I have to do for my class and post on my blog, pay no attention)

“Fair and balanced”. This was the journalistic promise made by Rupert Murdoch and his Fox News Network when it was released to the public airwaves on October 7^th 1996. Today, the Fox News Corporation and its staff could not have drifted farther from their promise. As outlined in Robert Greenwald’s documentary “Outfoxed”, a meticulously researched and precise account of how over the last thirteen years, Rupert Murdoch has transformed Fox News from a non-partisan news outlet, to an arm of the Republican party; a tool used to further the movements, causes, and ideas of the politicians that Murdoch and his associates choose to support. We have learned that effective journalism is built upon a foundation of certain fundamental rules and traditions. Consider the Six Canons of Journalism; Responsibility, Freedom of the Press, Independence, Truth and Accuracy, Impartiality and Fair Play. Greenwald provides multiple examples of how Fox News and its reporters have violated each one of these components, and not in a discrete way. One of the most poignant examples of this slanted “journalism” is Fox’s coverage of the United States’ 43^rd president, George W. Bush. With other networks like CNN providing at least an attempt at showcasing both sides of the 2000 and 2004 elections, Fox refused to waver. Reporting and investigation was heavily conservative biased, facts were skewed and distorted, beliefs were attacked, and anyone with a dissenting voice was silenced. I have known for some time that Fox news is not the most reliable source for non-biased news, but I never knew quite the extent to which they flaunt their views, and I emphasize flaunt. Most telling was Sean Hannity’s quote “soon to be president George Bush..” stated on air, well before the election was over. It seems as though they make no attempt to hide their tactics. Fox News does what Fox News wants, and if you don't like it, you can change the channel.

HATE  - Having to Post My Responses In My Blog 

LOVE - The Big Pink 

I found a track by the band in the summer (Dominos), and although I liked it, I never really followed up further. After lurking at what the authors of one of my favourite music blogs were listening to (Tympanogram), I decided I would delve into the entire album, and I was thoroughly impressed. Big Pink is a duo comprised of Robbie Furse and Milo Cordell, two life-long friends from London, England. They started making music together in 2007 and have since garnered much praise. If your wondering about the name, its taken from the The Band's first album of the same name (another fantastic band). The band has a real interesting sound, incorporating classic rock riffs with spacey synths and epic bass lines, at times sounding something like M83, others almost like Oasis. Here are some of my favourites so far. 


The Big Pink - Dominos

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The Big Pink - Golden Pendulum

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The Big Pink - Too Young To Love

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The Big Pink - At War With The Sun

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HATE - The London Garbage Schedule

I realize that not everyone that reads this blog is from London, and that many of the "hates" so far have been London related, but trust me, this one must be told. For those who don't know, the the London garbage schedule (decent band name?) runs on a weekly cycle. If last week the garbage was picked up on monday, this week it's picked up on tuesday. It constantly changes each week. On top of this, the city is divided into regions, that all have a different day during the single week, so even if you see garbage out on your way to campus, it doesn't necessarily mean its also garbage day for you. Now I'm not going to go so far as to say the city is trying to trick myself and my roommates, but with exams, boozing, etc. what night we have to put the garbage out isn't exactly on the top of our minds. And I do mean night, you cant put the garbage out before 6pm, as one week we tried to be real proactive and toss out the garbage before we headed to campus. Big mistake as our landlord pointed out, fines, etc. With 6 guys, the garbage piles up, and missing that crucial night of pick-up leads to one smelly nightmare. I can't off of the top of my head think of why this system is in place, but I''m sure there's some purpose other than to make our lives miserable. If its because the city is too big to have all of the garbage picked up in one day, just have each region of the city have a specific day of the week that doesnt change. Just sayin'

(Full Disclosure: I have a 300 word minimum to meet every week for class. Buried in assignments, I spaced on posting, sorry for the rant)

LOVE - Thanksgiving

I was thinking that, outside of the facts that you get to eat tonnes of amazing food and that fall is a really awesome season, its pretty cool the lengths that people I know go to see their families on Thanksgiving. I know people going to Arizona, coming back from B.C., all for the weekend, to get together with the fam. I took a quick browse through the library for songs mentioning "thanks" to help you keep thanksgiven'r. Have a great weekend errybody.

Sloan - I Wanna Thank You

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Coconut Records - The Thanks I Get

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Third Eye Blind - Thanks A Lot

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Boys Night Out - Hey, Thanks

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ps. for those of you who don't know where the picture is from, consult one of the funniest comedy skits of all time

Hate - People Who Don't Say 'Thank You'

Relates to the post about people who don't hold open the door for others, but I wanted something that tied into the holiday. People should just say thanks more often in my opinion. One instance I can think of that most people overlook is when a friend gives you a ride somewhere. A lot of people take a friend with a car for granted. Just consider a quick thanks once the trips over, it can mean more than you think.

LOVE - These Songs

So I'm finding that I have a lot of songs that I've been listening to lately that I would like to put on the blog, but don't really necessitate an entire Love for each specific song. As a result, I'm going to have a "These Songs" post every once and a while, I'll try for at least once a week. I'm also experimenting with the best way to post the songs themselves on the blog. Box.net seems pretty good for downloading, and zshare seems decent for streaming for now. Lemme know if you have any ideas. Also, a number of these songs have been suggestions from friends, so i'll assume you know who you are, and thanks. Now that that is out of the way, In no particular order...

Los Campesinos - The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future

Great song from a band that I've heard about everywhere but never really delved into. Currently researching, might pop up in later days on the blog.

Florence and The Machine - You Got The Love (The Xx Remix)

I have already written about The Xx here, but I also love Florence and The Machine. The combination of the two is just fantastic. Might have to review their album Lungs at a later date

Mumford and Sons - Little Lion Man

They were number one on hypemachine for a while, figured I'd give it a listen and was pleasantly surprised with an acoustic gem almost reminiscent of Flogging Molly. Theres also the fact that I'm a pretty big fan of swearing in the chorus of an acoustic track.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - Home

An unlikely song to spark a late night table dance party, but thats exactly how I came across this song. The girl/boy chitter chatter is reminds me a lot of Jack and Meg White in one of my favourite White Stripes Songs

The White Stripes - It's True That We Love One Another

HATE - When People Don't Hold Doors Open for People Behind Them

Just a common courtesy that I think everyone should adopt. I always make a point of saying thanks to people that do it for me, and most people say thanks when I return the favor. There's no real reason not too, spread the love.

LOVE - Thumbsucker

This movie occupied one of those "too much of a good thing" spaces in my life for a while after doing an english project on both the book and the film. I don't know of a faster way to lose interest in something you love than to have it for homework. This being said, I pulled the DVD out the other week and the feelings of disdain have left. Released in 2005, Thumbsucker is the coming-of-age story of Justin Cobb. Justin wrestles with his dysfunctional family, school, girls, drugs, pretty much what you would expect out of the typical teenage dealing with the world movie. But I put this film in a different category, simply because of how differently it deals with the classic issues, along with the casting of Keanu Reeves and Vince Vaughn, both in roles you would never really expect. The music is also very well put together, performed primarily by The Polyphonic Spree. It also has one of my favourite ending scenes of all time, but I won't ruin that for ya. Heres a trailer and some music from the film.

The Polyphonic Spree - Hold Me Now

Elliot Smith - Let's Get Lost

Elliot Smith - Thirteen

HATE - Netbooks

I am writing this sitting in a lecture, currently behind someone using an "Eee PC". I just don't understand what the point of buying such a tiny computer is. I understand they are much cheaper than "normal" laptops, and I figure people like the fact they are easy to carry around, but I really cannot see how the benefits outweigh the shortcomings. You can barely see anything on the screen. Being a student, my computer functions as not only a note-taking device, but my television, dvd player, tool for work, communication device. I just cant see a netbook meeting any of these requirements. I could be way off, maybe they're awesome and I'm just missing out, but for now, they still look like toys.

PS. I'm sitting in my Pop Culture English class. We are arguing whether or not video-games make people violent. I have had this argument 10+ times in various classes since I have been at this school. Give it a rest and actually teach something relevant. Madden isn't making kids go out and play football, Mario hasn't made everyone plumbers.

LOVE

HATE

Love - Zimtstern Snowboard Apparel

I'll admit, I don't know much about this up and coming label, but I have a feeling many of us will soon. Based in Germany, Zimtstern has set out to create a fashion forward collection while still implementing the highest standards of snowboard technology. They recently won Breakthrough Brand of the Year at the SOURCE European Snowboarding Industry forum and the novel way the approach marketing their brand is already making waves in the industry. Their site showcases their products as well as a ton of wallpapers, info on their team, and a blog of their own. This brings me to the entire reason I know of them in the first place. A friend linked me to the most recent ad for their new collection and its mind-blowing to say the least. I wont embed the video here because seeing it HD as big as possible is the only real way to the work justice. Heres the link and be sure the check the making of after. I have immense respect for the guys, choosing to make the concept work in reality as opposed to using CGI to put the entire thing together.

Hate - Goofy Snowboard Collaborations

686 has made a name for themselves in the last couple years for branching out to other companies in their industry, and beyond, to collaborate in their annual collections. I respected their efforts with Dragon and New Era to name a couple, but New Balance? Nikes making a effort of their own, and I'll reserve judgement till I get a better look at what they have to offer. I respected their foray into skateboarding, until I saw their movie Debacle. The trailers looked amazing, shot all in HD, lots of great skating and smashing stuff. Until I got to the end of the movie and it was revealed that all the fights they got into in the video and all the windows they smashed were fake. Everything was acted. The skating and quality was great, but it felt like such a cop out, I guess its a trade off when dealing with such a huge company. They have the budget to film the highest quality and attract some of the best skaters, but it can't be completely true. A move that I didn't hope Nike would pull, but did, sticking themselves out for more criticism than they already face entering such a hostile market. But New Balance? Come on guys.