i'm safe in sound

Record shopping in Toronto

2009-10-06T23:49:00.002-04:00

Twenty-four

2009-06-29T23:16:00.003-04:00

Over the weekend, I celebrated my 24^th birthday in the city with my friends and I must say I had a great time. Unfortunately, the next day (my actual birthday) was spent making two separate trips to the airport as the boys were departing for Vegas and Shannon to Portugal. How I wish I could join either vacation...

On my way home, I caught this guy crossing the street:

Thanks to everyone I saw this weekend. I had a blast. Best bday card ever, btw.

The First of Many Trophies

2009-06-19T19:11:00.002-04:00

Toronto FC

D-Day

2009-06-10T19:55:00.002-04:00

The 65^th anniversary of the Invasion of Normandy passed just a few days ago. Back in 2006, I had the opportunity to travel to the north of France and finally see the beaches that the allied forces had stormed on the morning of June 6, 1944. It felt surreal walking along that coastline. My trip to the American cemetery was not to be as it was closed for the day. Nevertheless, here are some pictures I shot at the Omaha and Sword beaches, where the American and British soldiers invaded, respectively.

Justice United FC

2009-05-15T23:30:00.001-04:00

Season two starts next week.

Vamos Barcelona!

2009-05-06T19:52:00.001-04:00

Goodbye Chelski.

Goodbye Drogba.

The Departed

2009-04-23T23:37:00.002-04:00

Is it over already?

2009-04-10T20:40:00.001-04:00

Toronto Print

2009-04-10T20:32:00.003-04:00

Here's a link to a story about a Toronto printing studio.

4 Colours vs. 6 Colours

2009-04-06T23:13:00.008-04:00

Last week, I went to Heidelberg in Mississauga to print a test-form for a research project my group was conducting. We wanted to see how the addition of two colours to the CMYK process would affect the colour gamut as compared to the traditional 4-colour CMYK process.
Here's how our day went:

Heidelberg Speedmaster XL105 10-Color Press.

Here's Benny overseeing the plate-making process.

In goes the plate.

Pantone 347 C Green

Pantone 185 C Red

Black

Cyan

Magenta

Yellow

White

Here's Benny overseeing the printing process.

Here are the plates after the press-run.

Here's Benny posing with a fresh press-sheet.

Measuring the color bars

Our project was a big deal.

Okay bye!

April

2009-04-01T22:35:00.002-04:00

Today, my dad decided to join 2009 as he replaced the computer he's been using since 1997.

Only time will tell how many years he'll be using this one for.

The Damned United

2009-03-25T23:20:00.001-04:00

Sunday Car Wash

2009-03-23T00:07:00.004-04:00

All clean.

Hang in there, you're doing fine.

2009-03-22T23:58:00.004-04:00

Last week...

2009-03-18T11:43:00.008-04:00

...started off like this against Madrid:

It ended like this against United:

The day after, I saw some vandalism in a parking lot:

Okay, love you, goodbye!

The Insider

2009-03-01T23:43:00.003-05:00

I spent my Sunday afternoon watching The Insider for the fourth or fifth time, and I still love this movie. If you've never heard of it, it's about a scientist (Russell Crowe) who blows the whistle on a tobacco company he used to work for. With the help of a CBS producer (Al Pacino), he testifies in court and is interviewed on 60 Minutes about the enhancement of nicotine in cigarettes by tobacco companies. The story gets interesting when his and his families lives are threatened, his wife leaves him, he loses his job, is forced to sell his house, and becomes the target of a smear campaign by a large corporation.
Here's one of my favourite scenes:

Do you know what else rules?
Winter ends in less than 20 days.

Champions League 02.24/02.25

2009-02-25T19:42:00.002-05:00

Yossi!

Henry!

Reading Week 2

2009-02-18T17:21:00.004-05:00

About two weeks ago, the third year GCM class put on a Colloquium night. It was a nice event that drew around 150 students, faculty, and industry reps. One of the keynote speakers made a video a couple years ago in an attempt to promote his company as well as the printing industry. Check it out if you want a better understanding of what I study in school. I contributed some of my creativity and poor acting to a video sketch that was shown after the intermission. We received some great feedback, and as a result, we were invited to attend the Environmental Printing Awards last Thursday at the Eglinton Grand.

As a requirement for graduation, I have to complete a 400+ hour internship over the summer. Given the current state of the economy, I haven't been too optimistic about finding a good internship, but Thursday night gave me some hope. I had the chance to speak to a few "industry" people, and I feel more reassured about the interviews I need to attend in March. Hopefully, things work out.

Please hire this upstanding, young gentleman:

Reading Week

2009-02-16T19:11:00.007-05:00

I posted the same picture this time last year, and still feel the same way about how ridiculous this day is. Nonetheless, I did hang out with the family today; my brother and I helped my dad with a small home-reno project at my neighbours place.

Yesterday, I managed to catch the Milan derby at Mike's with Justin, and what a game it was. Although AC conceded two miserable goals and ultimately lost the game, I really thought they looked the better of the two sides. As mentioned before, I think it's great that Mr. Beckham is in Milan, and now it makes perfect sense for him to stay there. Thanks for giving North America a shot, though.

A few weeks back, I made my way to the ACC right after lecture for the Dwayne Derosario press conference. If you don't know who DeRo is, he is a fantastic Canadian soccer player hailing from Scarborough. Toronto FC just acquired him from Houston, and I got to meet him at the signing session. Since my brother reminded me of this just a few hours before, I had nothing for him to sign 'cept for a blank piece of paper made out to my brother.

^Visible in the second picture is a bruise under my left eye from the night before when Vik punched me in the face with a microphone during the Trapped Under Ice set. Pat managed to capture that moment about a second before it occured:

So angry.

p.s.

Forgot to mention how nice Valentines Day was.

Rise Above

2009-02-08T03:33:00.003-05:00

School Days

2009-02-03T00:10:00.001-05:00

Torres double. Farewell, Keane.

Liverpool's Number 9

2009-01-25T20:44:00.001-05:00

Let The Right One In

2009-01-16T19:12:00.000-05:00

No need for the American remake, this'll do.

Breaking News!

2009-01-15T19:54:00.001-05:00

"Fuck... Al Qaeda is training birds now"
-b9board

Missed Chances

2009-01-10T17:05:00.002-05:00

Stoke City, you've gotta be kidding me.

Beckham in Milan

2009-01-08T18:38:00.003-05:00

David Beckham is set to make this Serie A debut for AC Milan against AS Roma this Sunday. I'm actually pretty excited about this. Although he says he's coming back to LA in March, I think it'll be up in the air when that time comes. Seriously, why would he want to return to such a piece of shit league when he could be playing with a team that is STACKED with superstars? If he's successful in Milan, and for some reason decides to return, the MLS should consider itself extremely lucky to have him. Yeah, yeah... they shelled out big bucks for him, but really, do you think he cares about the money at this point in his career? Whatever he decides, I'm backing it.

The Wrestler

2009-01-08T17:59:00.005-05:00

I caught this one with Mike and Justin at the Cumberland Theater last night. Surprisingly, the idea of using wrestling as the main character's profession was not the turn-off I thought it would have been. My favourite scene was the one where Randy is starting his first deli shift at the grocery store he works at. His walk from the employee change-room, down the stairs, through the back, and into the deli counter is amusing and epic at the same time. I'm not sure how I felt about the ending, but I think I know what the writers were intending for the audience to think.

Three things:
This was probably the best movie I've seen this year, Mickey Rourke will win an Oscar, and Marisa Tomei is still in top form.

Go see.

Gran Torino

2009-01-05T02:17:00.003-05:00

Alright, so let's just say this should have been on the list in my previous entry. Clint Eastwood plays a tough-as-fuck old Korean war veteran in this flick. He uses a lot of racial slurs, stomps the shit out of street-toughs, and drinks more PBR than any hipster-douche could handle. Go see this.

Next up, The Wrestler, Frost/Nixon, & Let The Right One In.

Year End List

2009-01-02T17:02:00.007-05:00

Here's a list of records, movies, and shows that stood out for me in 2008. I'll probably have to add to the list once I watch Gran Torino, Frost/Nixon, and Let The Right One In. I also missed some shows that I heard were really great. Namely the Ceremony/Trapped Under Ice show that I missed because I was getting x-rays of my ankle at the hospital, as well the Iron Age set because I arrived too late. Hopefully next year's list is a little longer.

Records
Fucked Up - The Chemistry of Common Life
Vivian Girls - s/t
Young Widows - Old Wounds
No Age - Nouns
Trapped Under Ice - Stay Cold
M83 - Saturdays = Youth
Walls - s/t
Crystal Stilts - Alight of Night
Omegas - demo

Films
Batman: The Dark Knight
Zack and Miri Make A Porno
Rachel Getting Married
Milk
Burn After Reading
Pineapple Express

Shows
My Bloody Valentine at The Kool Haus
Urban Blight at Stuck In The City Christmas
Cursed in Etobicoke
Vivian Girls at Fucked Up Halloween
Dean Dirg at Sneaks
Young Widows at Sneaks

Oh yeah, Happy 2009.

-alex

Stevie G

2008-12-28T19:52:00.001-05:00

Still on top.

Christmas wishlist.

2008-12-21T13:56:00.005-05:00

I recently stumbled upon this book at Magic Pony. Although I couldn't justify the $95 price tag at the time, it still seems like a book worth buying. From the pages I flipped through, it was definitely a great read.

Check out an excerpt:

Nuclear Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility, Cherenkov Radiation
Hanford Site, U.S. Department of Energy, Southeastern Washington State

Submerged in a pool of water at Hanford Site are 1,936 stainless-steel nuclear-waste capsules containing cesium and strontium. Combined, they contain over 120 million curies of radioactivity. It is estimated to be the most curies under one roof in the United States. The blue glow is created by the Cherenkov Effect. which describes the electromagnetic radiation emitted when a charged particle, giving off energy, moves faster than light through a transparent medium. The temperatures of the capsules are as high as 330 degrees Fahrenheit. The pool of water serves as a shield against radiation; a human standing one foot from an unshielded capsule would receive a lethal dose of radiation in less than 10 seconds. Hanford is among the most contaminated sites in the United States.

Pink Panther

2008-12-17T19:19:00.001-05:00

Canadian Politics

2008-12-04T03:25:00.002-05:00

Today might be the day that the Canadian people will have a good idea of what direction our country will be going in. This political crisis has really got me engaged and every day this week reads like a novel full of suspense where you just can't wait to flip to the next chapter.

Personally, this feels like it might turn into a very divisive issue among Canadians, and one where opinions are changing daily due to the continuous developments in this storyline. I've been reading editorials in the National Post, The Globe and Mail, and the Toronto Star, as well as tuning in to Mike Duffy's coverage on CTV, Question Period on CBC Newsworld, and even the talk-shows on CFRB 1010. One thing is certain: Canadians are really interested in this attempt at the Opposition's coup d'etat.

So where does this leave me?

I'd like to think that I'm looking at this in the long-run. The Liberals may end up paying the biggest price simply because they have partnered up with the Bloc Quebecois; a party whose main goal is to separate from Canada. I understand that the Opposition is exercising their rights of our constitution, but holding hands with the BQ makes me really uncomfortable. Seems like we'll just have to wait and see what historic decision Governor General Michaelle Jean makes.

cool guy alert

2008-11-26T18:21:00.004-05:00

Hey, did you go to Print World 2008?

Skateboarding in California

2008-11-09T21:38:00.001-05:00

unreal.

Everything's amazing, nobody's happy

2008-10-21T20:51:00.007-04:00

WHATS UP.
When I got off the bus going home this evening, it was snowing. what the fuck. Did we completely skip a season this year or what? A few days ago, I overheard some dude at work talking about a possible snowfall before Halloween in Barrie. "LOL" I remarked in my head, but I guess we got hit before they did. This time last year, I remember riding my bike to school. The following photo was taken about 3 weeks ago:

RIP SUMMER/AUTUMN 2008.

Onto other things,
School is pretty time-consuming this semester, but all is well so far. Apart from a second Notice of Academic Misconduct letter I received for a group report (for an act of plagiarism that I had no part in nor will I be penalised for), shit has been going smoothly.

Over the weekend, I went to Wonderland with a group of twenty. We spent about four hours there, and in that time, an hour was wasted lining up and going through a shitty haunted house, the other three were spent hitting the 'coasters. Behemoth was conquered twice and it was well worth waiting an hour for both times. I couldn't even breathe on the first drop. It definitely exceeded expectations:

Halloween is next weekend and I haven't decided what I'll be dressed as nor where I'll be going. I know of a few parties, but I want to hit up the Fucked Up Halloween shows so I can mosh to Iron Age, and pick up rare FU records. At the beginning of the month, I acquired some old FU records I've been looking to get for a while, as well as some new ones.

I'll leave you with a video of Louis CK on the Conan O'Brien show...

YNWA

2008-10-21T20:41:00.002-04:00

"To support Manchester United is too easy. It's convenience supporting. It makes life too easy. There is no challenge. It is a cowardly form of escapism, a sell-out to the forces of evil. To support them is heroism in a can." - Paul Morley

Win when it counts.

2008-09-22T21:05:00.009-04:00

As mentioned in one of my earlier posts back in the Spring, I put together a men's outdoor soccer team for the summer season, but it was not as easy as I thought it would be. Around the time the first deposit was due in March, I only had 9 guys aboard for the team. If you're not familiar with soccer rules, a soccer team consists of 11 players plus a maximum of 7 substitutes.

Our first game was on May 25^th, and the seven or so weeks leading up to it were quite hectic and exciting; hectic in the sense that I was trying to add 6-7 players to the squad, and exciting because everyone involved at that point was really into it. I purchased around 19 brand-new Umbro jerseys from a store at a price of $40 a pop, but they weren't ready until our second game.

In short, we had a difficult season. We lost more than we won, some of our players had hectic personal schedules which meant we played most of our games short-handed, and a few picked up significant injuries, myself included; I was in a cast and crutches for 3 weeks nursing a severely sprained ankle. However poorly we played, we weren't the worst, and we managed to qualify for the playoffs.

On Sunday, a semi-final match, we were drawn against the best team in our division whom we had lost to three times during the regular season. We ended up winning 2-1 in a very nerve-wracking game. In two weeks time, we'll be playing in the final at 9pm under floodlights. Friends and family will be in attendance, and it should be an all-around excited game to watch.

Justice United FC
2008

Champions League 2008/2009

2008-08-29T17:18:00.004-04:00

Group A: Chelsea, AS Roma, Bordeaux, Cluj.
Group B: Inter Milan, Werder Bremen, Panathinaikos, Famagusta.
Group C: FC Barcelona, Sporting Lisbon, Basel, Shakhtar Donetsk.
Group D: Liverpool, PSV Eindhoven, Marseille, Atlético de Madrid.
Group E: Manchester United, Celtic, Villareal, Aalborg.
Group F: Lyon, Bayern Munich, Steaua Bucureşti, Fiorentina.
Group G: Arsenal, Porto, Fenerbache, Dynamo Kiev.
Group H: Real Madrid, Juventus, Zenit St. Petersburg, Borisov.

Looks like Groups A, D, & H will be the most interesting. Group E sees Celtic go up against Manchester United again.
Let's hope for some more magic.

I've got soul...

2008-08-27T13:02:00.002-04:00

getting back on track

2008-08-25T18:56:00.004-04:00

The only real thing I'm pretty stoked about in September is My Bloody Valentine playing in Toronto. I recently picked up the Loveless book that 33^1/3 series put out, and I only really began to appreciate the significance of MBV after reading it. I keep hearing that they have the loudest live show of any band, and that they supply their audience with ear-plugs especially for their mind-numbing wall of sound interlude during You Made Me Realise. I doubt it'll disappoint.

My blog on the other hand has been pretty disappointing. It's been a few months since I've updated this page, and what's pathetic is the only reason I created this blog was to document my summer activities. Unfortunately, Jack broke my camera, and I really didn't give a fuck about making posts without photos. So until that gets fixed, I won't be making many posts, but return shortly!

Blue Jays

2008-05-11T02:30:00.005-04:00

Checked out the ball game on Tuesday night with some friends. The BJ'^s were hosting the Tampa Bay Rays and unfortunately lost by a score of 5-4. The section we sat in heckled the fuck out of right-outfielder Gabriel Gross.

Our original plan of getting tickets for the 'all-you-can-eat section' didn't work out, but it didn't stop us from devouring overpriced food:

After feasting on SkyDome garbage, the boys were happy:

Colin later met up with us after finishing his shift working the stands selling beer. He promised to bring some cute girls over to our section, but didn't come through on it. On the way home, Justin threw a deserved fist at Colin:

I still don't know how to properly eat sunflower seeds.

Futbol

2008-05-05T20:26:00.005-04:00

Liverpool was knocked out of the semi-finals of the Champions League by Chelsea. The first leg was really disappointing what with John Arne Riise letting in an own-goal in the 95^th minute. The second leg saw both teams take the game into extra time where Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba put Chelsea up by two goals, before Ryan Babel put a screamer of a goal in the back of the net as consolation. Now it's Man Utd. and Chelsea in the final. Fuck, who cares.

Onto really cool shit, here's the new Nike Football commercial directed by Guy Ritchie. My guess is that the mystery player is Robin Van Persie:

Lastly, over the past 6 weeks, I've been putting together a mens soccer team for the summer. Justice United FC will take to the field on May 25^th. Updates may follow.

Mail

2008-04-17T12:47:00.011-04:00

This is a letter I received from TD Bank the other day:

Thanks for the card, Meryl. I did have a terrific day and your support for my exams really helped. Really though, I actually resent this because I don't like when bank-tellers try to act friendly and ask semi-personal questions each time I come in for a visit. My business with you is just that, business... nothing more. So Meryl, thanks, but no thanks.

Here's a letter I did not need to receive during exam time:

I found out about this the day before my statistics exam. Trying to learn standard deviation and UCL & LCL calculations became next to impossible with this letter looming over me. Fortunately, after my group members and I explained ourselves, the matter was resolved and we were off the hook.

Exams have been written, and the school year has come to an end for another four months. Party.

Cursed

2008-03-19T22:22:00.003-04:00

Cursed just released their full-length entitled Three, and in support of the new album, the band has a string of weekend tour dates across Ontario and Quebec. Well, one of the first shows happened to be in Etobicoke this past Sunday, and since it was only a 15-minute drive from my house, I figured what better way to spend my Sunday night than getting my ears blown out.

I partially screwed up the directions to the Brickyard BBQ, but managed to arrive about ten-minutes prior to their set. The last time I had seen Cursed was at Sneaky Dee's in May immediately following a show Fever Out! had played on the same night opening up for Modern Life Is War, among others. Of the ten or so times I've seen them, the set back in the Spring of last year was the best one, so I had my standards set pretty high going in on Sunday night.

They definitely brought the noise, intensity, and excitement to a city that rarely sees these types of shows. Highlights from the set included 1974, Promised Land, Intro/Fatalist, a cover of "Hawaii" by Kittens, and lastly a new song entitled Friends In The Music Business which featured two bass guitars. I luckily found a good spot to the side of the stage, so the amps weren't pointed at me and my ears went home unscathed.
7/10

I may check them out again this Saturday night at Lee's Palace with Career Suicide and Living Darkness, but my family would prefer if I stayed around the house during the Easter weekend. We'll see about that.

p.s.
Good riddance, Winter 2008.

match day #9

2008-03-18T15:08:00.004-04:00

Inter Bo is no longer in last place!

Both Shooters and Inter Bo went into this match with 8 straight losses. I'm sure they thought they could put that streak to an end with this match-up, but so did we.

After conceding a goal in the first minute of the match, we knew our opponents wouldn't be too easy to beat, so we definitely had to step up our game. Both Marc and I had several scoring chances that were almost all interrupted by their grey-haired goalkeeper. However, this came to an end about midway through the match, when a long, soft cross from Marc was placed infront of the 'keeper, and I volleyed the ball into the back of the net. A few minutes later, Brent fed me a long through-ball down the wing, I crossed it to the center where Marc brought the ball up a few feet before passing it right back in a simple one-two fashion for me to tip into the net.

Things were going great, and we tried to maintain our lead, but in the last few minutes, Shooters had taken advantage of a defensive confusion on our part, and slipped it passed Mike.

2-2 is how the game ended, and I think our opponents were happier with the result. Well, except for one player whom Brent had called a "trashmouth" during the game due to her profane language. LOL. She was pissed about that and continued to be a piece of shit until the end of the game; constantly complaining, and even grabbing our players in battles for the ball. Due to her poor attitude, Shooters were awarded less spirit points, and Inter Bo leap-frogged them in the standings!

Tonight we are due to play a rematch of our first game against Ten Bees. We lost the first-leg by a score of 5-3, so we are definitely looking for some vengeance tonight, as well as attempting a push for the 8th and final playoff spot. My prediction: 3-1 for Inter Bo.

Veronika Maria

2008-03-13T03:52:00.005-04:00

My friends Bart and Dominika tied the knot in April of last year. I was really happy when they asked me to be a groomsman in their wedding, and ever since it's been a pleasure seeing them start a new chapter in their lives together.

Fast-forward 10 months, they are now the proud parents of Veronika Maria.

I dropped by their house this evening to meet their newborn. I'm really impressed by how quickly they've come to this point in their lives, considering they're pretty much as old as me. When I arrived, Bart told the baby that "Uncle Alex" is here to visit. Although I'm not related to either Bart or Dom, for some reason, close friends of Polish families are considered Aunts and Uncles by the children.

Here's "Wujek Alek":

Hanging out with Father Bartek:

match day #8

2008-03-13T03:34:00.004-04:00

Inter Bo De FC suffered a major set-back last week. Natalia, who had played a flawless defensive game for us in our 7th match, seriously injured her ankle and had emailed the team the night before our game against McLovin to inform us that she was out for the rest of the season. This left us with two girls for a crucial match. We were all expecting our first victory, but it was not to be. McLovin beat us by a score of 1-0. Some of us were disappointed, and some were angry. I was a bit of both, However, I learned my lesson, and I think my teammates did too.

march + match day #7

2008-03-01T13:30:00.004-05:00

Good-bye, Dwight.

Hello Jim!

Welcome to March 2008.
9 days until Daylight Savings.
20 days until Spring.
97 days until EURO 2008.

February was a lousy month, good thing it's the shortest, too.
I finally received a few things in the mail which I purchased 4-5 months ago:

I've been reading an article or two of the Town of Hardcore book everyday, but I'd really like to read more of it, if time permitted. It's been a busy and sleepless week so far, and next week will be even busier as I have a monster-exam and an equally monstrous report of the same course to be written by the end of the week. I just gave the Pissed Jeans Shallow LP a spin. I wished it arrived a few months before cuz I kinda don't care to listen to it anymore.

TD bank now offers free student accounts, so yesterday, a bank guy offered to set-up a long-overdue savings account for me. Now I just need some real income. LOL.

Onto Inter Bo De FC,

We started this game on the right foot, and we dominated possession for the entire first half. In the first five minutes, I almost sank a header that Justin had crossed in from a corner-kick. We held them to scoreless game, but alas, our lack of fitness showed, and Los Ninos took full advantage. They beat us by a score of 3-0. Everyone was really disappointed with the result, and we couldn't believe that our flow completely fell apart.

Here's a short video Justin recorded:

Next week we meet McLovin, whom I already swore that we would not lose to at the beginning of our season, just because of the name. Well, their record hasn't been the greatest, so maybe it'll finally be our time to shine.
Prediction: Inter Bo De 3-2 McLovin

And lastly, to the remaining 3 weeks of Winter:

Fuck You.

match day #6

2008-02-26T19:31:00.004-05:00

I'm a little late on this entry, but I wanted to get it in before our next game this evening. We went into our sixth match with really high spirits, and although both Justin & Brent were unable to make it, I got my brother Martin to fill-in. It was nice to see five girls come out for this game, too! Anyway, despite losing 2-1, it was our closest and most intense match to date. Bush League didn't go easy on us, as they had a few really skilled players, but everyone was focused and our defense was working very well. My brother had the first real chance of the game on a breakaway, but his shot went wide. About half-way through, Martin and I were making a run up the pitch. I got within feet of the net before crossing it to Martin. I thought his tap-in would've been a sure goal, however, the 'keeper somehow managed to stop it.

At this point, I was getting a little frustrated, so I decided to take a chance. I rushed a defender from the center of the pitch, thinking that I might be able to take the ball with a sudden attack. It worked, and the next thing I knew I was running full-speed with the ball towards the net trying to out-pace the defender chasing me. The 'keeper came off his mark, but I easily got around him, and tapped it in with the side of my foot. We were back in the game. For the final ten minutes of the match, we were pressing really hard.
Marc had a lot of free-kicks which were excellent. Each ball was landing right in the box, however, I couldn't get to them before the defenders. On the last kick of the game, Marc had yet again lobbed the ball right infront of the net. I noticed the 'keeper and a defender were going for it, but I couldn't refrain. I got my head to the ball, but it went over the crossbar, and with that, the game had come to an end.

We're playing Los Ninos, the highest-ranked team, tonight.
Pics and a review to follow.
My prediction: 2-2.

Happy Family Day!

2008-02-18T17:11:00.002-05:00

Champions League + Into The Wild

2008-02-17T03:53:00.018-05:00

It's back!

Here are my picks:

Schalke - Porto
Roma - Real Madrid
Olympiacos - Chelsea
Liverpool - Internazionale
Celtic - Barcelona
Lyon - Man. United
Fenerbahçe - Sevilla
Arsenal - Milan
(Winners in bold. Ties in italic.)

In other news, this weekend I streamed the movie Into The Wild on the internet. This Sean Penn directed film follows the story of a guy in his early twenties who has just graduated from an American college at the top of his class. He goes against his parent's wishes of continuing his education at Harvard, donates his entire savings, consisting of $24,000, to charity, and runs away on a two-year adventure across America with the ultimate goal of making it to Alaska. Without giving away too much of the plot, Alexander Supertramp, played by Emile Hirsch(whom I thought was a dork in his other movies), lives on his own in the wild in an abandoned city bus by a cliffside. The film jumps back-and-forth from his current life in Alaska to the chronological journey that led him there.

I started hearing that Eddie Vedder song on the radio back in the summer, and since I hate Pearl Jam, I didn't think too much of his solo tune; that is until I saw this movie. Vedder contributed a few of his originals to the soundtrack, and I thought that these were a great addition to the feel of this character's one-man adventure.

Overall, I thought this was one of the better films I saw in the last year. There were parts where I thought that if I were placed in some of the situations that this character was in, I'd probably be dead. It wasn't until the end of the movie that I found out that this was all based on a true story. I'm not sure how I'd fare if I was to live out in the wild all on my own. Also, Vince Vaughn plays a criminal wheat-farmer. Go see this.
8/10

match day #5

2008-02-13T18:28:00.010-05:00

Toronto got hit hard by another snowstorm yesterday. I was originally on my way home with my neighbour who picked me up by Ryerson at 4pm. It took us an hour and a half to get from Dundas & Jarvis to Front & Spadina. Since I had a soccer game at Varsity stadium that evening at 8:30pm, I was debating whether or not to go home or stay in the city. After a few phone calls, I arranged that Mike & Justin pick up my soccer equipment from my house and I went to Jack & Marc's house from there.

I spent the whole day worrying that I lost my iPod Mini at school because I had done a lot of walking around campus. Bummer. I happened to catch a good portion of a documentary entitled King of Kong in Marc's room while he did an intense workout. From what I watched, this movie was excellent.

Anyway, Mike & Justin arrived to the game with time to spare after an hour and forty-five minute drive to Yorkdale. Our whole team was present, but we knew we were probably going to lose this game, so we didn't play too seriously. The game ended 8-2 for Orange County; a little worse than my 4:0 prediction. Marc and I scored the two goals for our side, but we both failed to capitalize on at least a dozen great chances. This team was beatable, but their passing was superb.

I'm not sure what to think of the match against Bush League next week, but I hope Inter Bo De takes it seriously. After the match, Justin, Mike, and I had to race home while the rest of the team went out for beers. Hopefully we can do this next week over pizza!

Anyway, I've decided to start reading Brave New World again. I want to finish it during my reading week. I've got an HTML-based midterm tomorrow morning, so I should be studying that instead of typing this up, but oh well!

Winter has been quite harsh this season, but it always makes for cool photos. Here are some from last night and this morning:

When I returned home, my iPod was on my desk!

:)

Colloquium + God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater

2008-02-08T00:53:00.001-05:00

Last night, I braved through the snowstorm to get to Colloquium 2008, an event hosted by the GCM department at Ryerson. I also attended this because I would automatically receive a 5% bonus mark on my next instrumentation report in my quality control class.

I dressed semi-formally and arrived a few minutes late. The night had three guest speakers from the printing and packaging industry. The constant theme in their speeches revolved around the introduction of environmental sustainability within the industry. I was quite suprised to learn that Wal-Mart is on a leading initiative that will be demanding their suppliers to cut-down on packaging and their overall environmental footprint. I think it's great that this company is going in this direction, but I still refuse to buy anything from their stores.

I spent my entire afternoon being a dental patient for a friend that is in a dental hygiene program. This involved 5 hours of TTC travel, most notably taking the subway from the most western station on the map, Kipling, all the way to the most eastern one, McCowan. In that travel time, I had the chance to finally finish a book a friend recommended that I've been reading off & on for the past few weeks. I had read Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions and Cat's Cradle back in high school, but the only thing I recall from those is the character by the name of Kilgore Trout. Yet again, he made an appearance in God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. I was a little disappointed with the ending but I really enjoyed the altruistic traits that Eliot Rosewater possessed and the author's description of the "American Dream". Overall, this gets a 7/10 rating.

I've got a few other books lined up, all of which I had already began to read last Fall, but stopped doing so for stupid reasons. Brave New World, 1984, and The Grapes of Wrath are the next three titles on my list, but which should I choose first?

match day #4

2008-02-07T22:02:00.001-05:00

We went into this match thinking we had a good shot at winning. Everyone showed up on time, and we all convened a few minutes before game time to discuss playing-formations and general concerns everyone had. We started off the match playing really defensively. Still feeling the burn from last weeks game, I had pulled back from my assigned midfield position, and played center-defense for the first 15-20 minutes. FORZA was pummeling us with their attack. Inter Bo De showed great alertness, sound communication on & off the field, and finally began to work as a team. All of this prevented FORZA from scoring.

About halfway through the match, their team became too comfortable playing in our half of the field, and although we had a few offensive drives up to that point, it was on a fast counter-attack where Inter Bo De caught FORZA off guard. On a long-pass from Vanessa, Marc ran the ball up the pitch along the right-side, and with a quick pass to me, I put it right through the 'keepers legs, and our team celebrated. Scoring that goal felt great, and it was because we had worked really hard to get to this point over the past four weeks.

But was this scoreline meant to be? FORZA continued to be persistent with their attack, and had answered back a few minutes later. Two goals that were scored had been on account of a moment of defensive confusion on our part. A very lucky third goal, trickled its way through the hands of our 'keeper, Mike.

Nearing the end of the match, we received a free-kick from well out of the nets reach. Marc took the kick and had directed it to my position where I was waiting to head it in. However, their 'keeper ran out to catch it with his gloves, and in doing so, fumbled it and the ball went in the net. Again, we celebrated but it was to be cut short when the other team claimed that a goal cannot be scored off an indirect free-kick. It was too bad that the league had to introduce this new rule. I can see why it was introduced, but under these circumstances, that rule should not apply. And so, the score at the end of the match stood at 3-1.

Despite the loss, we were all quite happy with our performance. The quote of the night belonged to Drew. Early on in the game, Justin was (accidentally or purposely) pushed over by another player. When the play ended, Drew called out the thug in question and said "hey man, we're not looking for a fight, okay!". The accused was dumbfounded and started to argue with him, but I applaud Drew's decision to say what was said. I think a DON'T FUCK WITH US attitude is slowly being adopted by our teammates. LOL!

Next week, we are due to play against Orange County, who have been near perfect this season, and have a lot of goals-for, and very few against. I suspect our entire team will be playing defense, because we don't wanna see a landslide scoreline!

p.s.
I forgot my camera this week. Sorry!
I'll leave you with a highlights video from the Holland-Croatia friendly from Wednesday. Fast-forward to 2:26. The entire Dutch team is in the net. Absolutely BANANAS!

p.p.s
Polska beat the Czech Republic 2-0! BORUC!

weekend review

2008-02-04T21:41:00.000-05:00

I'll start with the Superbowl.
My brother, Justin, Andrew, and I caught the game at Mike's house. This was the first season I actually took a mild interest in the NFL. One reason was because my brother was pretty much glued to the TV every Sunday during the past few months, which in turn sparked a hint of curiosity in me while I'd be getting frustrated trying to stream other football matches on the internets. The second reason was the exciting record that the New England Patriots were chasing. The game ended with the underdog NY Giants pulling a phenomenal drive in the final two minutes and taking the trophy. Everyone in the room was overjoyed but me. I'm not sure why I felt this way, but I almost felt as if the Patriots were destined to finish with a perfect season. I mean who really gives a shit about the Giants winning a superbowl when the Patriots were on the verge of football/sport GREATNESS...

The Weakerthans played a FREE concert at City Hall on Saturday night. I had never seen them before, and since I discovered them in the summer of 2006, they've been getting a lot of play on my iPod since. Reunion Tour was my favourite release of 2007, so I was pretty stoked about this. Nathan Philips Square was lit up by burning kerosene torches and flower-pots all night long, and a fairly large crowd gathered for the concert. To tell you the truth, I was suprised the City actually got a good band to place this event instead of a band like NIckelback or Simple Plan. Anyway, John K. Samson and co. took the stage at 9pm just as some dork was announcing them. The guy asked the crowd twice if they were ready to rock, both times reading the question off a cue card. wow. The sound was kinda shitty during the first few songs but gradually became better. They played five tunes off their new album, five off Reconstruction Site, and a few from Left and Leaving. They did a three song encore that begun with One Great City and ended with Manifest in which the band got people in the crowd to sing the trumpet part at the end. That ruled. But I missed SICK OF IT ALL.

A snowstorm hit the city on Friday morning. I woke up at 6am, caught the Viva at 6:45, and got to school at 8:40 so that I could finish up a report and go to my 12pm class. Ryerson sent out an email at 11:21am announcing that the school was closing at noon. Thanks for the notice, Devryerson. The good thing about the storm was that I got to go tobogganing at Boyd Park late at night. It wasn't too cold, and the snow was fresh. I only went down the hill about three times and had enough.
Here are some 3.2-second exposures I took:

match day #3

2008-02-04T01:38:00.001-05:00

6-0. Time for a wake-up call!
Although we were down a player for the first twenty minutes, I think if we stuck to our original plan of playing in a defensive formation (mentioned in my previous entry), the first three goals that were scored within five minutes of the start of the match would not have gone in. Andrea had the best chance at scoring on Tuesday night, but her shot that bounced off both posts could not find it's way in. FC Tuesday Wednesday played a great passing game and fully deserved that scoreline after the way our side had played.
Our next match is against FORZA, and I'm hoping we can prepare a good strategy before game time.

match day #2

2008-01-23T00:24:00.001-05:00

Yet again, I wrongly predicted the outcome of our second match. We lost by a score of 2-0. I went home that night kinda bummed out by it, too. The dome at Varsity Stadium was really cold, and the turf was wet. I remember being able to see my breath while playing. Not only were there football grid-iron lines painted on the field, but the boundaries were confusing, and there were obstacles placed all across the one side of the field.

The team, I thought, played really well, especially defensively, and we kept their goalkeeper really busy throughout the match. For some reason, Marc requested that match was played 7-on-7 instead of the usual 6-on-6 formation. I didn't really think too much of this change at first, but nearing the end of the match, when Eckler Xtreme began playing defensively, our pressing offense became really ineffective.

We conceded both goals off of corner kicks, which could have been easily prevented. I was actually really unimpressed by my own performance, as I felt that during a good portion of the match, I was pretty much useless as a forward. A midfield position might have changed our game drastically, but I realized this too late.

Nearing the end of the match, a defensive player from Eckler Xtreme and I were fighting for the ball in their end. The ball went out of bounds, and he claimed that I had kicked it out. I couldn't tell who it went off of, so I kept quiet and waited for another player to weigh in. Eventually, one of his teammates made the call that it went off of him, and I quickly took the freekick. He was pretty upset with this decision, and I guess he felt he needed to do something about this. On the very next play, I believe it was Marc who took a free-kick into the box where I was waiting trying to head it in. As I advanced forward when the ball was kicked, the same player decided to shove and elbow me in the back. The play stopped, and I yelled something to the degree of "what the fuck are you pushing me for?". Long story short, he started acting like a douche-bag and I pushed him out of my way. His whole team rushed the field and made a big scene. A few employees of the Varsity Stadium, along with a security guard walked on the field as this unnecessary show began to unfold. I had already been walking away, and the rest of my teammates remained perfectly calm; very much the opposite of Eckler Xtreme who were incensed that I dared stand up to one of their thug-players. The match ended two-minutes later, and both teams shook hands. Maybe I was wrong to push that dickhead, but as some of my teammates already know, I won't let other teams push us around.

Our next game is against FC Tuesday Wednesday which has won both of their matches. I think this will be a tough match, considering this team plays in league games two days of the week. Our goal for this game is to play in a very defensive formation, and maybe squeeze in a goal or two on a lucky break. Pizza night may be a long-ways away... :(

match day #1

2008-01-17T20:08:00.001-05:00

No pizza this week; we lost our first game by a score of 5 - 3 to Tuesday Turf Soccer Tm 10B. However, we are all pretty confident with our new team, and I really think we can overcome our winless streak next week. We played at an old airplane hangar converted into an indoor sports facility. The field we played on had a backdrop of soccer legends such as Pele and Maradona painted on the wall. I wish I hadn't forgotten my camera, but I'll be sure to bring it next week. Anyway, the game went pretty well, despite the scoreline. We missed atleast five great chances of scoring, and the three goals we did score were really nice to say the least. Goals were scored by Marc, Vanessa, and myself. Great saves were made by our stationary goalkeeper, Mike.
Everyone's looking forward to next week, and I hate making cocky predictions in situations like these, but I have a good feeling I'll be reporting back with a victory.... I wonder what that feels like. Get ready for another loss, Eckler Xtreme.

what's up, 2008?

2008-01-15T00:46:00.001-05:00

it's been just over three months since i sprained my right-ankle playing soccer at trinity-bellwoods park, and last night was my first time playing soccer since. serge of the sargento brothers organized a big match-up at toronto fc's bmo field. yeah, it was pretty exciting getting to play there. i mean, that's where david beckham practiced over the summer. the turf was suprisingly very similar to real grass. perhaps a tad softer, too. anyway, it was great to get out and play after a few cold months of staying indoors. about halfway through the game, took a shot from a breakaway, and stubbed my foot on the grass. my ankle hurts when i turn or twist it in a certain position, but it wasn't swollen. hopefully its just a minor bruise.

mike felt too nervous about playing, so he sat on the side throughout the game.

in action.

in other soccer related news, INTER BO DE FC begins their 2008 campaign later this evening at the downsview hangar indoor turf field. i've been looking forward to this for quite some time. this years squad has had some minor changes, but team morale & confidence is definitely higher than it was last summer, where we went winless throughout the season. we put up a hell of a fight for most of those meetings, however. captain milewski has promised his team slices of pizza from massimo's should we win our first game. i hope we don't dissappoint.

with our soccer season starting this evening, i will no longer neglect this blogspot, as you, the reader, can expect weekly updates and reviews of each IBDFC match.
in regards to other happenings in my life, i will leave you only with a list of records that were released in 2007 that i really enjoyed. enjoy!

weakerthans - reunion tour
feist - the reminder
jay reatard - blood visions
lifetime - s/t
ceremony - scared people 7"
the national - boxer
new lows - demo
pissed jeans - hope for men
86 mentality - final exit 7"
dustheads - tall tales I & II 7"
the darjeeling limited soundtrack

p.s.
did anyone lose their pen?

first snowfall

2007-12-02T16:48:00.001-05:00

Okay, so the first major snowfall of the year happened overnight, and I guess as much as I've been dreading the arrival of winter recently, waking up this morning and opening my front door to find everything covered in white was quite welcoming. Although my cat was begging me to let it outside this morning, it changed its mind quickly when I opened the door and a gust of snow blew in it's face. I actually woke up at two different points in the morning today. The first was at 6am to catch the UEFA Euro 2008 draw on TSN. I'd say Poland has a fair group to tackle this summer, beginning with their first match against Germany, followed by host team Austria, and ending it (and hopefully beating) Croatia. It will be a fun month of June, that's for sure. Anyway, right after the draw, I went right to bed, and I woke up to do some intense snow-shovelling outside.

I caught the flick Reign Over Me on Friday night with Shannon and Mike. As a side-note, Shannon woke me from my nap at 9:30pm so I could watch it with her. Mike happened to be taking a nap too, and was forced to come out. As soon as we got to Shannon's house, she passed out on the couch and we were left puzzled as to why we actually left our respective naps. We ended up watching the whole movie while she slept. GOOD ONE, SHANNON!

I've got one more assignment left to complete before I begin exams. It's due tomorrow at noon. I've been really procrastinating on this one, especially since I finished all my other finals with time to spare last week. I need a coffee.

Music I've been listening to as of late:

The Smiths - Singles
Coke Bust - both seven inches
The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour
Nas - Illmatic

intro

2007-10-17T20:39:00.000-04:00

I hope this page will be a little more worthwhile than the LJ page I once had a few years ago but abandoned due to my lack of updates. I figured having my own blog was long overdue, since it would've been nice to post about all the adventures I went on over the summer.

Check back soon.