Explorer

This list of How To Be An Explorer Of The World is a great reminder of things to pay attention to when traveling or when checking out a new place.

I think I especially like:

4. Alter your course often.

and

7. Notice patterns. Make connections.

I’d like to think we subconsciously did some of these when in England.

Filed under: Lists , explorer, list, Travel

Things that should not be the title of a Disney movie

Disney sucks and here’s why.

Die Hard 5: Death 2 Pinochio.

The man who slowly, painfully murdered Bambi’s mother.

Stephen and the opium farm: A story of why hard drugs are bad.

Caution! Contents Smoking Hot!

The fundamentals of economics.

The disease that killed everyone.

When good princesses go bad.

The screwed-over orphan girl.

Cinderella V.

(With thanks to the Splat crew!)

Filed under: Lists , disney, list

A few links from the last week

Rockers share their first crushes. Oddly, I like the one by Rosie Thomas. (via 17 Dots)

Stovetop Espresso Makers. I’ve never even seen one of these, but after trying to use a roommate’s espresso maker, I want to get one and start every day with espresso.

Google Latitude is released. How does this make you feel? Uncomfortable? (via O’Reilly Radar)

Dan Funderburgh makes amazing wallpaper. Not quite like my Grandma’s. Reminds me of my favourite desktop wallpaper. (via Club Mumble)

WWII images hauntingly mashed up with current photographs. (via Super Collosal)

Three musicians appreciated in year’s past that have appeared recently in random places:

1. Starflyer 59 (via The National Post)
2. Matt Wignall (via The Barstool Romantic)
3. Bob Nanna (via Rubin Recommends)

T-Rex sexualizes literary techniques.

Keep an eye on my Delicious list of bookmarks for more.

Filed under: Lists , Links, list

Music Top 10 in 2008 (Part 2)

Here’s #6 through 10 of the top 10 artists that I listened to in 2008. Have a listen to the tracks I’ve posted here if you haven’t heard of some of these. Click here for the first half of the list.

1. Steve Reich – A modern composer, whose piece, Music for 18 Musicians, as performed by the Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble, was discovered and appreciated this year. I heard a part of the piece first on CJSW, after learning a bit of Steve Reich from the book, The Rest is Noise (An excellent read and great resource on composers in the 20th century). When I stumbled onto this recording on eMusic, I downloaded it immediately.
2. Matmos – I’ve mentioned Matmos in a previous post, but this was also a good discovery this year. A new album, Supreme Balloon, came out this year.
3. Stars of the Lid – A two-piece who make music described as ambient, minimalist and classical. And Their Refinement of the Decline came out in 2007 and spent a lot of time in my headphones this last year.
4. Fleet Foxes – If you ignore the rest of this list, this is the one band you should embrace, taking their songs everywhere with you this winter. They are well loved by some, and rightfully so.Also, the melody from Oliver James, from the same album, will haunt you.
5. Dodos – This one squeaked on the list, but deserves to be here. Visiter was a solid album that was a good summer listen. I was also impressed by them when they played at Sled Island.

Filed under: Lists, Music , 2008, Music, top10

Music Top 10 in 2008 (Part 1)

The last couple years I’ve been keeping track of the music I listen to using Last.fm. Here’s the top 10 artists that I listened to in 2008. Have a listen to the tracks I’ve posted here if you haven’t heard of some of these.

1. Destroyer – This was in heavy rotation earlier in the year after the latest album came out, Trouble in Dreams. My listening wasn’t exclusive to this album though as This Night probably got more plays through the year.
2. His Name Is Alive – Newly discovered this year and have really enjoyed, especially Sweet Earth Flower, a collection of live and studio tracks put together in tribute to jazz saxophonist, Marion Brown.
3. Damien Jurado – I’ve kept track of him since immersing myself in his first full length, Waters Ave S., back around 1999. His new album, Caught in the Trees, has been excellent and one of my most listened albums in the last half of the year. He’s been blogging and taking pictures too.
4. Boards of Canada – It’s been a couple years since they’ve had anything new out, but they’re still in regular rotation for me.

   Listen to Dayvan Cowboy from the album, The Campfire Headphase. The video for this one is also spectacular.

5. Mogwai – Another well loved band that has been in regular rotation through the years. They had a new album come out this year and I was privileged to see them play at the Sled Island Festival.

   Listen to Thank You Space Expert from their new album, The Hawk is Howling.

Filed under: Lists, Music , 2008, Music, top10

Movies in 2008

So this last year I’ve been keeping track of the movies I’ve been watching. They’re a mix between those playing in the theatres, those I’ve received in the mail from Zip and those I’ve seen with friends. I don’t count films that I’ve caught a small piece of on TV, so these are all ones I’ve seen start to finish. Of the 73 on the list, 12 I’d seen at least once before this year.

Here’s a legend:
* Enjoyed
** Recommended

Filed under: Lists, Movies , Lists, Movies, Year in Review

2007 Year in Review

I’m not even going to make a comment about this being better late than never, though it’s true.

Here’s a few highlights from last year.

In February we sent the cats packing.

I took photos of plastic bags caught in trees for a presentation at church for easter

After looking around for a while and keeping an ear out, I bought a Wii

Trevor and I celebrated our birthdays with friends. It was the most successful birthday bash we’ve ever thrown for ourselves.

I started listening to the This American Life podcast and contemplated what it means to tell a good story.

We had a couple more great seasons of recreational basketball. We also played slow-pitch this summer and I finally finished the Ken Burns Baseball documentary.

I cracked down on people calling me John. The effects of this one are still ongoing as people, to this day, catch themselves and apologize for not calling me Jonathan. It’s a hard habit to break.

Davidsons, our accountability group at church continued into it’s second year.

I tried driving my car in a way that would improve my fuel efficiency. Not hypermiler territory, but still an improvement.

I made a list of 25 things I wanted to do during the summer and graded my progress. I was satisfied with the results.

All of us in Barrytown had a great time in Montana camping and visiting friends over the Canada Day long weekend. We decided we would spend every Canada Day outside of the country.

I spent a great week in St. Louis with the teens from my church for Nazarene Youth Conference.

In September I road the length of the C-Train system here in Calgary and wrote about what I saw and thought about during the 3 hour trip.

Also in September, I started dating Leanne.

At the end of November, The Baumer and I headed down to Portland and Montana for the weekend to visit with friends.

In December, my Grandma on my Dad’s side passed away peacefully. The memorial and family time was a great catch up with people and a nice celebration of her life.

I didn’t travel that much this year, but the cities and towns I visited and stayed in during 2007 were:

1. Calgary, AB
2. Lolo, MT (actually, we camped down the road from here)
3. St. Louis, MO
4. Radium, BC
5. Edmonton, AB
6. Olds, AB
7. Florence, MT
8. Portland, OR
9. Didsbury, AB

According to Last.fm my most listened to artists in 2007 were:

1. Destroyer
2. Boards of Canada
3. Mogwai
4. The Knife
5. Frog Eyes
6. Sunset Rubdown
7. Blonde Redhead
8. Radiohead
9. Beirut
10. Interpol

Filed under: Lists

Rushmore

MR. FISCHER You’re like one of those clipper ship captains. You’re married to the sea.

MAX Yes, that’s true.

(pause)

But I’ve been out to sea for a long time.

It’s been a good summer. Some things to look forward to here soon:

• Comments on the upcoming Wes Anderson movie, The Darjeeling Limited
• Latest foreign movies to come in the mail from Zip
• Upcoming transition from the summer tunes to the fall playlist
• What I’ve been reading
• Recap of the summer goals status
• New online version of ffwd

Filed under: Lists, Movies

In the last fortnight

• Arrived home from St. Louis with all pieces intact.
• Slowly tried to catch up on sleep.
• Played first slowpitch games. (Included outfield catches, smooth pitches, rain and lightning and one homerun hit)
• Helped take photos at a friend’s wedding.
• Golfed 9 holes at Harvest Hills with family.
• Golfed 18 holes at Wolf Creek with my brother and friends. (Included sunburn, mild sunstroke, vomiting and sleep)
• Ate out with friends and tried lobster for the first time.
• Went out of town (to Didsbury) for an evening to visit with friends from out of town. (from Michigan and Mexico)

Filed under: Lists

#19 – Visit every outdoor pool in the city

I’ve created a Google Map with all the locations of the outdoor pools in Calgary. Check it out. I’ll be posting some details on this map about my experiences at each of the pools as I visit them this summer.

Filed under: Lists , maps