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at least our bad times were ours...

Dec. 22, 2006 - Friday

--- my heart above my head ---

So it's my last night in London. ... At least for a few months, anyway. ... The week has been filled with lots of packing, organizing a place to stay when I get back to Toronto, last minute Christmas shopping, re-packing, cleaning, (unecessary) binge drinking, and a lot of thinking...

Usually at the end of the year my life for the past 12 months kind of flashes before me. ... This past year has been fantastic. I think of how spoiled I was with the great apartment and amazing benefits while working here. I think of the friends I've made and how I'll know them for the rest of my life. I think of the many places I've travelled to in Europe and beyond. Paris! Berlin! Manchester! Barcelona! Leipzig! Brussels! Rome! Stockholm! Edinburgh! Torino! Munich! Cyprus! Amsterdam! Istanbul! ... I think of the times I've had at all the great London hotspots. All the concerts I've taken in. All the dodgy East London bits. All the markets and pubs and museums and clubs and festivals and fancy restaurants. It all comes in a rush of good memories and good people and good food and good times. ... Gooood times ...

I never thought a city could mean so much. "Location location location", so they say. ... And I didn't realize it until I experienced London. ... Home is where the heart is... and no place is anyplace unless you've got your friends there. ... But London... London! ... The mob, the fog, the dirt, the rain, the black cabs, the kebabs, the cobblestone, the Thames, the life, the heartbeat, the cops with the funny-looking hats. ...

I'm a gushy, drunken, emotional sponge right now ... and tonight I soak it all in for what it was: One of the best years of my life. ... In two hours I hop into a cab that starts me on my trip back to Canada. I can't wait to be home... and I can't wait to come back to this mess of a city that I've fallen in love with, face over feet. (Err head over heels ... whatever.)

phew.... babbling...

MC and HNY, everyone. I'll see you in 2007...

Dec. 09, 2006 - Saturday

--- Fruit fly ---

Dec. 05, 2006 - Tuesday

--- Geordi ---

Alright, so the music video review wasn't a hit... I get it. ... Maybe this'll be better...

Dec. 03, 2006 - Sunday

--- My first music review ---

Foul mood persists... Search continues... Nothing changes...

But a bright spot was discovering this site: cokemachineglow

Now I don't know if this is a cool indie music website... or a non-cool, trying-to-be-indie website... or a once cool indie site that's on the inevitable indie-cred landslide website... ... Regardless, the first couple reviews I read off this site made me laugh so hard that I spilled corn flakes and milk all over my crotch... They were still crunchy!

So anyway... I somehow felt inspired to write my very first music review, just for shits and giggles. But instead, I'm going to write a music VIDEO review cause I just saw the video for the Rapture's "Whoo! Alright Yeah... Uh Huh". ... I'm no journalist... but I guess that means I could still work for pitchforkmedia... or CNN... anyway...

The Rapture - Whoo! Alright Yeah... Uh Huh
Rating: 8.7 dancing ninjas out of a possible 10 dancing ninjas

"People don't dance no more
They just stand there like this:
They cross their arms and stare you down
and drink and moan and dissss..."

Amen... They ushered in the era of indie-dance rock. They made it okay to feel like you were at a club when you were really at a concert. They probably take a lot of ecstacy. The Rapture are cool and the above words could possibly be my favourite blurb of lyrics in all of 2006. But accompanying these words is also one of my favourite videos for 2006. From the very getgo this video had me. The cartoons embedded in real-life... the old-school-without-being-uncool 70s look of the filming... the car driving scenes... the keg party and the ridiculous swimming pool? All gold. But wait a minute! This video also makes use of breakdancing...

Now we all know that breakdancing in the video died out 5 years ago with shameful pieces of steaming crap like Britney Spears' "Crazy" and J.Lo's "If you had my love" (I personally don't have it, J.Lo, but that's okay with me). Even some of Missy's videos with breakdancing are just getting tiring. So when the Rapture boys put together a video with breakin', I wasn't sure how to feel. However, it didn't take long for me to find some sort of biased justification... I don't think you can compare the Rapture to J.Lo and Britney. The Rapture are cool, so it makes it okay to have shameless breakdancing in their video. Even if they put the dancing in without trying to be ironic. It's still cool. I think about this way: Comparing the Rapture's use of breakdancing to J.Lo's would be like comparing an old white guy doing an Elvis impersonation to an old Chinese lady doing HER best Elvis impersonation. Both are bad, but one of em is actually really awesome.

So there you have it... the Rapture are like old Chinese women doing Elvis impersonations. Just watch the video. If you don't like it, then I'll forgive you as long as you leave a comment... I need love.