friends + design + inspiration

soooo... you like stuff?

2006-08-31T17:16:00.000-04:00

So I haven't updated this thing since I left Tokyo. BUt what can I say...? Toronto can only be so exciting right?

Well... with school starting again soon I am trying to pack in whatever is left in summer into one last weekend before pandora's box is litterely ripped open. I am going camping with my parents and their friends and this time Rhi, nolan, sue, and I will be sharing a camping site together. It should be nice since it won't be too crowded like it normally is.

Other than camping I might be going hiking up north once again, ohhh... and the film festival is approaching soon. I got tickets and now I am just picking my films.

Soooo... you guys like stuff?

final day: the end of an era

2006-08-09T12:28:00.000-04:00

The day has arrived. The day I leave Tokyo Japan. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever done in my life. It very much is a life changing experience. Returning to Toronto is exciting because I get to see all my friends again. But leaving Tokyo, is very sad. I am leaving a lot of new friends behind, and saying goodbye was very difficult.

I will miss living in Tokyo. No words can describe how I personally have felt being here for three months. I will miss it. I really will.

Goodbye Tokyo, Toronto I am coming home.

Peace.

ugh

2006-08-04T11:20:00.000-04:00

uh

so first i have to leave Japan which sucked.

now i find out DFA 1979 broke up.

kill me. This is my last blog post EVER. ITs all yours now MArek.

~R

Bye

2006-08-02T13:09:00.000-04:00

Today is the worst day ever.

But, we are all really grateful to have been here and to have had some amazing experiences. I can only speak for myself, but I will miss people, and places, and everything that Tokyo has taught me....and I am certain we will be back sooner than later.

Goodbye Tokyo.

See you soon Toronto.

~rhi

Fireworks

2006-07-29T22:23:00.000-04:00

Hey

kristin came and we are all a happy family now.

been busy

here's some pics from Fireworks in Asakusa last night.

lots of ppl, sweat, one panic attack and all in all a great time. Excuse our greasy faces and enjoy the pics of the drunken business man.

Cheers

M R and K

Here comes the sun

2006-07-26T21:58:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we had our very first blue skied sunny day. Very rare here...like oranges :P

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO...us :P

2006-07-24T20:57:00.000-04:00

Day whatever Kyoto (Irasshaimase!!!...IRASSHAIMASE!!!)

2006-07-23T21:00:00.000-04:00

Hello

So this weekend Mark and I took off to Kyoto on the Shinkansen (bullet train). We went from our home at Shinagawa station, to Tokyo station where we boarded the train for the 3 hour journey. The train travels at approx 300km per hour, and the G force is so strong you can feel it in your stomach. So we got to Kyoto and checked into the New Miyako hotel in the Kyoto station area. We didn't do too much the first day, but Saturday morning we woke up early and headed out on a city bus in the heat to Mt Diamonji, to the Ginkakuji temple and Gion Shrine. The weather was SO hot and humid but on saturday, for the first time since i've been here, we got SUN which was a nice change.

Anyway on sunday we checked out of our hotel around 10:30a, went for breakfast at a very nice bakery called Vie De France, and then went into the city by subway to visit Nijo Castle, which is a UNESCO world heritage site. We walked around the house, grounds and huge gardens, and then went back to Kyoto station to board the shinkansen to come home. We got home around 5pm, we changed and freshened up and then went for dinner at my favourite restaurant here in Tokyo which ironically serves chinese food. We had fried noodles with vegetables and Lettuce/Egg fried rice. SO GOOD.

Today is our SIX YEAR anniversary :) Tonight we're going to go for Ramen in Roppongi, and then to the Red Room in Shibuya..MArk says its really nice. I am excited. There is a man cutting down a tree in front of our balcony. It is driving me CRAZY.

Anyway we had a great weekend...and we're having a great time in general....to be honest we really dont want to leave...ever.

Interesting Things:

1. EVERY sales clerk in EVERY store in Japan is constantly yelling IRASSHAIMASE!! which means Welcome. It is the most annoying thing EVER but quite hilarious.

2. A Cantaloupe costs $6 A can of tuna costs $3

3. Kyoto station is like a city, it houses everything you could possibly EVER need...its huge.

Enjoy the pics.

R

Day 06 ~ Shinjuku and a large bowl of noodles

2006-07-19T20:04:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I met Mark at work in roppongi where we went for dinner. I felt like udon, so he took me to a very nice restaurant with very fresh noodles. THough the portion size of the meal was perfect, the vessel in which my noodles were contained is a whole other story. It was bloody ridiculous.

SO then we headed over to Shinjuku where we walked around the red light district, and then went to a bar on a street which can only be described as bizarre. It is this tiny alley way underneatth the train tracks, with bars that look like they dont even exist. They are so discreet and small but very cool.

Anyway lots to do today,we have to do laundry, then i have to go to Shibuya to find some bloody shoes, then pack and then tomorrow off for the weekend to Kyoto and Osaka by bullet train...300km per hour baby. LOVE IT.

Talk to ya'll soon.

~R and M

Day 05 ~ Shibuya (Kono hen ni Makudonarudo ga arimasu ka?)

2006-07-18T21:57:00.000-04:00

Hey

Ok so as I mentioned yesterday, I didn't bring any shoes that are suitable for wearinng in a three day torrential downpour, so activity has been slightly limited. I spent yesterday morning chatting with all of you lovely people on msn, and then cleaning the bathroom. What a life.

Hwoever, in the evening, Mark and I headed to Shibuya, which it seems is the McDonalds capital of Tokyo which begs the question, why the hell would anyone want to eat McDonalds here when the resto f the food selection is among the best I have ever seen?

BEats the hell out of me. Anyway aside from McDonalds spotting, we went to try to find me some shoes. There is so much selection and they're all so cheap, but i couldn't find ones I was willing to buy and then destroy in the rain so i guess i have to keep looking. We then had dinner at a thai restaurant (after walking around in the rain for an hour trying to figure out what to eat) went for tea at the famous starbucks at Shibuya crossing, did some groceries and came home around 1am.

Interesting things:

1. At Shibuya crossing, traffic in all directions is stopped so pedestrians can walk...and the pedestrians at any given time can number in the hundreds.

2. This morning I saw a guy riding a bike whilst holding an umbrella. Man I can't even ride a bike.

3. I ate shrimp. Yes, yes I did. Only two mind you but hey...first time in 12 years. It was good but I refuse to make it habit.

4. MArk is totally incapable of waking up on time. I fear this is something I am going to have to live with for the rest of my life.

Enjoy the pics.

Love

~Rhi

Days 01 to 04 ~ Rhianna

2006-07-17T21:03:00.000-04:00

Hello Kiddies

SO bascially after the worst 14 hour flight of my life, I arrived in Tokyo at 3pm Saturday afternoon. I then took a 2 hour coach bus ride to a local hotel in Shinagawa, where Mark was supposed to meet me. However, due to a communication breakdown, He wasn't there...so I spent my first 20 mins or so in Tokyo freaking out!

Anyway he came and we walked home in a heat I can only describe as absolutely fucking stiflingly horrible. It is indescribable. The humidity chokes you...and not even 2 mins after you leave the house you're dripping in sweat and you look like total shit. it's insane.

Anyway Day 1: Roppongi and Shinagawa

Came home to a very very small apartment with a single bed. Mark and I havent slept in a single bed in over a year so it was an interesting adjustment to say the least!

Dropped off my shit...sat down for a couple minutes, changed and then off to Roppongi where we ate amazing cold soba noodles and vegetable tempura. THen Mark took me to Mori tower, which has an observatory on its 52nd floor with a panoramic view of the city. It was amazing, but the view was limited because the humidity was so thick. Since we hadnt seen eachother in two months,there was a lot of catching up to do, so we ended up heading to TGI Fridays (LOL) where we drank dark beer and talked until 3:30am.

Day 2: Harajuku, OmoteSando and Yokohama

Woke up late. Went to Harajuku/Omote Sando with MArk and KAori and did some serious shopping. I really enjoyed that part of the city and I ended up finding some nice stuff. Then lunch in Harajuku (we ate Tendon...rice with tempura over it with a sweet sauce) and then the three of us headed out of the city, to Yokohama for a fireworks festival where I was introduced to some of Mark's co workers. Fireworks were amazing...like nothing i've ever seen before. After fireworks we went to Kirin Beer Hall where Mark and I ate spicy vegetable curry with the largest Naan bread I have evr seen. Headed home early because we were hot and exhausted...on the most crowded subway train i have ever experienced. totally cool.

Day 3: Ginza

Mark and I decided that we really needed some new bedding, so we headed to Ginza to a store called Mujji, similar to Ikea. We bought some pillows, a blanket and some wine glasses. Ginza is a very very beautiful area of Tokyo, reminiscent of Europe. We shopped, I bought one top, we looked around and walked in and out of stores in the rain. It was fun. We then had dinner at a tiny noodle shop on a tiny street, where we ate Miso Ramen and drank cold nama biru (draft beer :P)MArk then took me to a 300 Yen bar...where everything costs 300 Yen or $3 CAD. Though it was empty, it was neat to see.

Day 4: I dunno

Its been POURING rain for thr past 36 hours or so...and stupid me I didn't bring any good shoes...so I'm not sure what I can do until MArk comes home later this afternoon. In the evening we will go to Shibuya for dinner and drinks. Can't wait.

Interesting Things:

1. Every store has this little umbrella cover machine, where you stick your umbrella in and it wraps it in plastic so you don't drip all over everything...very smart!

2. Subway and train stations are SO CLEAN...makes toronto look like calcutta

3. There is a temple down from our house where seven (?) samurais are burried...they commited a mass suicide.

4. The crows here are the size of dogs. They eat baby cats. When they caw, it sounds like a human being. scary.

Anyway we hope yu guys are all good.

See you soon!

love Rhi and Marek.

Day 56 to 65: Still a bit to do

2006-07-15T03:05:00.000-04:00

Hey Hey! So I got time for another post. Not to much time to talk, but the highlights this time around were lots of club shows, and lots of late nights. I can't deal with the trains ending so bloody early. So I basically walk the 1 hour journey home if I decided to miss the train, or stay up all night and drink and eat, and catch the first train at 5am. What fun! I was up all night yesterday. I have the pics from last nights show too! There the dark ones with the bright screen in the back. It was a very sweet basement club/lounge, the sound quality was amazing, too bad clubs like club 102, and mod, can't have such good sound systems.

Anyway, I also am going this weekend to Yokohama for the fireworks festival and next weekend Rhi and I are going to Kyoto on the bullet train! SO much fun!

Hope you are all well, love you all.

day 27 - 55: What a bloody gap

2006-07-06T12:39:00.000-04:00

SOooooo sorry for not posting sooner. Believe me when I say that I've been meaning to. I've been working a lot and my weekends are the only time I have for myself. So I just want to say that I appreaciate people asking me how i've been and that people are interested in seeing more pictures :)

It's 1:30am here and because of my slow connection I can't post too many pictures. So here is a set in no particulr order of what I've been doing these last few weeks. I don't have much time to explain but one of the highlights is going on a work field trip about 3 hours North East of Tokyo to a farm amusement ranch called Green Bokujo. It was really fun, and afterwards we went to an Onsen (bathhouse) to relax and have a bath.

HOpe you are all having fun where ever you are.

Language Exchange

2006-06-18T22:11:00.000-04:00

Soooo... I have a ton of pictures to show but no time to post them. So I figured a quick little update would be at least something.

So basically I am learning Japanese as much as I can since I got to Japan. I am teaching myself Hiragana, and doing language exchange with other native Japanese people. I've had three lessons in total and picked up a lot. I hope to meet people for language exchange more often but right now its only once a week.

I don't know why, but learning another language is so much fun, especially when the culture uses a completely different character set than ours.

When I get back to TO, I plan to take Japanese language classes, which I've been meaning to for some time now, but I think I want to approach it from a serious point of view, and because I want to learn something other than "design".

Anyway, that's all I have to say for now.

Ja ne! <---- Guess what this means in Japanese?!?!

day 19 - 26 : The trip continues

2006-06-10T01:14:00.000-04:00

After a long week of stuff, I finally found time to post once more.

I'll try to keep this short.

First things first, we went to a gallery opening for Toshiko's art work. She is a close friend of Shane so that is how I know her now. Her art is very interesting and almost child like. Here are pics from the opening night. btw, this bar/gallery space is pretty sweet. And they have DJ's!

Last weekend we went rice planting. It was probably the highlight of my trip so far. The farm is about an hour or so outside of Tokyo and the drive was amazing. So much nature around there. Once we got there it took us just under two hours to plant two small fields of rice, and the rest of the day we had lots of food and drinks. I don't think I'll ever have another chance to plant rice, let alone to do it in Japan. So it was one of those things I'll never forget. :)

Also last weekend I went alone to Ginza to see some architure. I went to the Tokyo International Forum. All I can say is WOW! It's amazing. The pictures dont' even do justice to the real thing.

I couldn't get enough pictures for the "what's weird to us, is normal to them" images. But I got one! It is very common to see businessmen drunk and passed out in various locations, even at subway tracks! I walked by about 20 people since I got here is I figured I'd take at least one pic. Lucky too, when I walked by this guy, he had a hentai magazine right in front of him. Enjoy!

Day 16 - 18 Cats and Buildings

2006-06-03T03:27:00.000-04:00

Sooo... first things first. I am going to spice things up a little and have a weekly weird things posting :) Basically the concept is I am going to take pictures of weird and bizzare things that are normal in Japanese culture but... a little weird to everyone else (no judging). So look out for it soon. Now on to the post...

Recently a mother cat gave birth to some little little baby catso in the alley of our building. Apparently she abandond them but we got reports that she came back and now they are one big happy family. In total there are three babies, here's two of them :P

After work I decided to walk the distance to Shibuya from Roppongi, which was a nice 30min walk nonstop. Its nice to get a sense of how far apart each district is in Tokyo and also which direction is which. So basically these pictures are when I finally arrived at Shibuya once again. This is Shibuya station where the subway and JR lines meet. Just to give you a sense of how large this station is, it's about the size of Union Station and they only have subway and JR here!! And there is one this size for each district!

Finally I left Shibuya and went for a drink with a few people inluding Shane from work, and during our heated discussion about fitting sofa's through door frames, I snapped this picture. lol... Ok.. that's it for now. I am off to Ginza once more to go see some architecture and if time permits, maybe the Imperial Palace :P bye bye!

Day 11 - 15 MISC stuff!

2006-05-30T11:31:00.000-04:00

Hello once again!

So this time I went to a show on Saturday night in Aoyama and what fun it was. The music was very unique. It went from lounge, to break beats, to experimental, to guitar, and then back to break beats all night till about 4:30am. At that point I started to head to the subway to wait for the first train back home.

Sunday night I went to the Sakura House Party in Ginza, which was only for people who are renting rooms from Sakura House. It was fun as well, drinks and food were free between 5-8pm, after which the drinks were only 300 yen anyway. I met a range of people, and here are two of them doing the happy jazz hands dance. The dude on the right is from Mississauga, and he works at Sunrise Records at Erin Mills. What are the chances!

Here is a pic of Ginza!

After work I went to Shibuya to walk around and grab some food. Here are three pics from the crossing. It's really big!

And after I left Shibuya on the JR, I got to Shinagawa and on my way home I took these pics. Man I love night pics. They look so nice.

Day 5 - 10: Yeah I know... long time no post.

2006-05-26T00:43:00.000-04:00

Can you blame me? I've never worked this much in my life. We finally completed our project today. Within the last 8 days (since day one) I've been working 10-13 hour days including the weekend. So if you do the math... that's between 80 - 104 hour.

So now you know why I haven't posted anything in days. But I have been taking pictures :) and here they are...

These first pics are once again from Roppongi. The spider is located right next to Mori Tower and it's big!

During work on Sunday we quickly went for a walk around Harajuku and Omote Santo. This is where a lot of youth hangout. Harajuku is also famous for its street culture, where teens dress up in doll costumes and act like they're 12 years old. It's amusing and worth the watch. I'll probably visit this area a few times while I am here.

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And last but not least, this is Shibuya. I know the pictures suck because we didn't spend too much time here. Again we are working 13 hour days... remember?

Again, this is a place I have means to return to... several times if possible. They have shoes and clothes for cheap there. Oh yeah!!

Last but not least. With all this rain, we might as well share it. Here's a picture during a very intense thunder storm. scarrryy!

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Day 5 - 8

2006-05-23T22:14:00.000-04:00

Sorry for not posting anything recently. Work is really busy right now and I don't get home till about 1AM everynight. I have photos that I took the last few days so I'll try to post them within the next day or so.

Also, I haven't seen the sun all this week. Right now it's rainy season so it rains almost everyday. I'm glad I went walking around Roppongi that day it was sunny, so hopefully this weekend will be promising.

Speaking of this weekend. I am going to some local shows to check out the local talent. Should be good. Oh and on Sunday I am going to the Sakura House party, which is a party for all the people renting guest rooms from Sakura House. Free drinks! I'm there.

Day 04 Roppongi and Roppongi Hills

2006-05-20T22:32:00.000-04:00

First sunny day! So I decided to go walk around Roppongi before work and have lunch. I am sooo glad I did because it's such a nice feeling to finally go and see what everything looks like. I had lunch at a Italian style resturant/Cafe where I had a light plate of pasta and a Lemon Iced Tea. So here are some more pictures!

These are from around my building. I didn't notice before but there is a grave yard right next to my place, spooky.

These pictures are from Roppongi.

This is Mori tower, part of Roppongi Hills. We were suppose to go to Shibuya that night but decided to go up to the observatory instead, so I have some pics here too!

And this is Tokyo Tower in the distance, another good place to see the city during the day or night.

One thing unique to Tokyo is the amount of vending machines. You can buy almost anything from vending machines. ohh.. and it's not like our crappy vending machines back home, these are far more advanced then anything I have ever seen. The machines themselves are a sight to see. Ohh.. and smokes here cost $2.80. And I am suppose to quit smoke?

And these are pics from Roppongi Hills and from the top of Mori tower at night. The view is one of the best in the world. The observatory is a full 360, and the city stretches out forever, you cannot see the end of the city from here. Lights stretch all the way to the end of the horizon. WOW!

In the distance this is either Shinjuku, or Shibuya. I forgot which one was which because they look similar from up here :P

day 3 + some pics

2006-05-19T13:13:00.000-04:00

Today started with an instant cup of coffee. I haven't had coffee for over 5 days till today so it was pretty exciting. The milk was easy to find in the convenience store, but the sugar wasn't. I had a chance to practice my Japanese so when I brought what I thought was sugar to the counter I asked, "What is this" in Japanese and the dude said something that sounded like Salt, so I waved and said no and right away he ran to get me a pack of sugar. People here are really nice.

So after I had a coffee I left for work, the following “day” pics are from my street. I love how the streets are sooo tight, and quite. There are more then enough people going to work around here that the mornings are a little bit busier.

Today I worked about 12 and a half hours because we have a tight deadline coming up and because there is so much work... you guessed it... Saturday and Sunday this weekend are work days for us. We did decide though that we would at least go catch a movie afterwards or go walk around Shibuya at night, but at this point everything is undecided.

Here are two shaky pictures I took on my way out of the office at 11pm. After I took these pics, I saw a few business men standing around their drunken friend all passed out on the side of the road. It was very bizarre but entertaining at the same time. They kept trying to wake him up, but all he was doing was kissing the ground... passionately.

Ohh... and I got lost on the subway again. What fun!

I'm in Tokyo!

2006-05-18T12:08:00.000-04:00

So I finally made it here. I haven't been able to post because of the jet lag, and the fact that the pictures I took look crappy due to the weather and technical problems I had with the camera, but there is still much to say!

So first things first... the flight was crappy. I thought it would be ok, but after 4 hours of watching the Japanese dubbed version of King Kong two times, it kinda hits yeah! Oh and it doesn't make it any better to find out about 2 hours before I land that there was a language button on the remote to turn on the English audio. I know… I’m an idiot.

So after I get to Narita in Tokyo it took me over an hour in customs because the line was soo long. And then afterwards I nearly had a heart attack because my luggage never came up in the pick up area. It wasn't until I tried to talk with the kind Japanese dude that is holding up a sign to indicate which flight the baggage is from that I should go talk with "baggage information". I wish I took a picture because that booth is about the size of a car but the sign above it, is a huge banner with a question mark on it that is hanging from the ceiling, no joke it's about the size of the airport itself. As after I spoke with someone at information, it turns out that all "heavy” baggage is put in a special place, so I eventually found it.

After I bought a ticket to ANA Hotel in Roppongi where I was to meet someone from the office, I tried to find a payphone to call him and let him know I landed, which was an adventure on its own.

The bus ride from Narita to the hotel was about an hour and a half, and this is where I started taking pictures, but didn't realize that my camera was screwing up, so I decided not to post them, trust me they look really bad. But the ride was amazing, there is soooo much vegetation I cannot express it. There were bamboo forests on the way, little farm fields, tunnels, bridges, most of the scenery reminded me of scenes from Hero and House of Flying Daggers. Once we got into Tokyo it was one of the best moments because we took a tunnel for about 3 minutes so before we got into the tunnel there weren't that many buildings, but as soon as we got out, it was like a slap in the face, the buildings were HUGE! And sooo many too. All you can see is buildings to the horizon.

Once we got to the hotel, I met up with the guy from the office, and we took a cab to Sakura House where I had to sign the lease to my apartment and pick up keys. Oh... and the office is right in Shinjuku so I got to experience one of the busiest districts in Tokyo. If only my camera wasn't acting like a piece of crap, I would have had an amazing pic to should you all.

I promise to post good pics soon. To keep things short, we both got lost on the subway for a little while, trying to find the right subway line to my apartment, and afterwards we went to the office for a quick tour and afterwards we went for some food. I had tempura, noodles, and a beer, and afterwards I went home.

Just to point out the highlight of today (day 2) I had lunch at a convenience store, think it's weird? Perhaps, but they have a seating area in the back where more then enough people were enjoying pre-packaged meals.

So that's it for now! Stay tuned because it should be fun and interesting.

Chuck Norris is back?!?!

2006-01-30T08:53:00.000-05:00

What happened? All of a sudden Chuck Norris shows up in everyones conversations, on TV, and on the radio. Did Delta Force the directors cut come out or something? It is amazing how exciting this all is. These last few weeks I had a fair share of laughs with friends over Walker jokes. Even Conan O'Brian couldn't hold himself back, he has a Walker lever! And I quote, "I don't control what comes through the Walker Pipeline... I just pull the lever".

So why is everyone so obsessed with Walker? I mean, I'll admit, I've been cracking jokes for about two weeks now, and I just can't stop. Is it the cheesy acting, or perhaps the 90's style mustache that walker promoted? Perhaps we'll never know.

So... who's got some good Walker jokes?

So... this is 2006

2006-01-04T23:16:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since I posted anything, but I guess that is because nothing too interesting has happened in my life. Good thing is I survived New Years, not that it was anything extreme, just sat around my house with ten of my close friends.

So basically school started once again today and that means that summer break is only 15 weeks away... I know I am already counting, that is my biggest motivator right there. I can't wait for hot summer days, t-shirts, cold beers, and sun glasses. Oh yeahhh!

I hope everyone is doing well, it was great seeing most of you over the break and I hope to see you all again soon, which will be sooner then later anyway. :)

2005-12-18T14:05:00.000-05:00

The website has been updated to version 5.01!

Some new work has been added, including links, and a new splash page.

Need a little colour?

2005-12-05T13:59:00.000-05:00

Carole Guevin from netdiver.net just posted a link to a great online resource that us not so colour savvy designers could use. It is an online colour scheme tool that allows the user to pick a single colour and automatically see the contrast, monotone, triad, tetrad, and analogic variations. It also shows you the on the fly changes you make, which makes it even more addictive. Try it out, it's lots of fun!

Depeche Mode rocked the ACC!!!

2005-12-03T01:40:00.000-05:00

Well... I must say I am still wired after coming home from seeing Depeche Mode in concert for the second time. I am also happy that I still find things interesting enough to post on my blog, which also makes me wonder if people even read my posting?!?

The concert was amazing, and in comparison to the last time I saw them in 2001, they were both better and not as good, if that makes any sense. Basically I found their overall performance weak this time around, but I had a lot more fun. More people were dancing this time around and there was more energy in the crowd around us then the previous concert, which does help to really get into the music. Frankly it is hard to get into a musical rhytham when no one around you is dancing, which wasn't a problem at all this time around.

They played a lot of new stuff from the new album and I was thrilled that they did because I really like it. They also played the regular songs such as Enjoy the Silence, Policy of Truth, and various other singles.

Overall, I must say seeing them the second time around wasn't as exciting as the first time, and this is not to say that I didn't have a great time, I really did. However, there was something extra missing from Thursday's show. I don't know what it was, but I won't think about it too much because I still had a blast, and this concert still is on my top ten list of best concerts OVER!

Depeche Mode this Thursday!

2005-11-29T11:26:00.000-05:00

Depeche Mode is this Thursday @ ACC (Air Canada Center) in Toronto. I can't wait! We are sitting in row 27, even closer then last time when we saw them in 2001. What more can I say... it's Depeche Mode, the show will be one of the best. I hope they break up the set as they did last time, 1/3 Old, 1/3 New and 1/3 rare. And with their new album, "Playing the Angel" I like a lot of the stuff on there so hearing it will be exciting.

Stay tuned for a review Friday.

Fall term almost over!

2005-11-28T09:41:00.000-05:00

That's right! It's that time of the year, when everyone gets even less sleep then they already do to finish projects due the next morning, only to get to class and find out the project was extended.

I pulled the first all nighter for this semester, which isn't anything to be proud of, but none the less something to write about. This is the second all nighter I pulled in my life and I expect at the most one more during winter 2006 semester. It is amazing how much work you can do when under pressure.

So far I am on day two of the final stretch for final assignments and papers that are due this week. I am so tired right now I am having trouble keeping my eyes straight and typing the correct letters. ( don't mind the spelling errors) I can't wait to get home and go to sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a early day with my paper for Contemporary Problems in Design class on the top list of priorities.

Anywho... if anyone reading this is in the same hole, good luck, and to everyone else complaining how they are bored at home, be productive or something!

Threadless $10 T-shirt Sale

2005-11-20T17:34:00.000-05:00

I am new to threadless.com but I found this online t-shirt community just in time to take advantage of their t-shirt sale this year. Threadless is basically a online t-shirt community where designers can submit t-shirt designs for scoring and win prizes, plus get their t-shirts printed and distributed on threadless.com. I am still new to it all so I am learning more about them as I write this, but I might as well give a heads up to everyone regarding their sale. You can buy t-shirts for $10 each! And boy do they have really unique designs. Check it them out!

Threadless.com

NIN Toronto Nov 11 2005 @ ACC (Air Canada Center) Review

2005-11-11T01:48:00.000-05:00

What can I say? Put three of the best bands on the planet in one room and you are bound to have the experience of a lifetime.

The evening started with DFA (death from above 1979) playing a solid 30 minute set. Lots of creative noise and rhythmic beats. The biggest disappointment on the other hand was the set up for their set, it was horrible, and their sound was faded out and was not loud enough. This is typical treatment opening bands get, but give me a break, the sound techs that night could not have set something up that was at least half descent? This is Toronto, DFA lives here as both of them said on stage, "we're from down the street". Any DFA fan who has seen them in small venues will tell you that they can rock the shit, and their ACC performance was good, but the sound did not carry well because of the sound setup.

Queens of the Stone Age was a concert on its own, they played for roughly an hour. Their sound was thick, and rich with melodies and punch. Their performance was everything I was expecting.

NIN, how can I sum up their performance? Let us see... The Perfect Drug. No, they did not play it. Those three words do perfectly define what we all experienced this evening, and please take note of the word, "perfect". NIN set was perfectly executed, the sound was perfect and tight just like on the CD but with a very expensive sound system, the use of lighting was perfect and the colours, Trents voice was perfect in every way, hitting the highs and lows of the dynamic range of songs NIN embodies. I cannot stress the word "perfect" enough to describe NIN performance. We had a chance to see them back in the spring at the Kool House and the energy at that concert was no where close to the mega tonic catastrophic shockwave that was felt the second time around.

This is one of those concerts people will talk about for a long, long time. For those of you who were not at the concert or have not seen them on their tour, you missed a damn good show.

NIN + Queens + DFA 1979 this Thursday!

2005-11-08T10:50:00.000-05:00

I just can't keep it in. I am so excited about the NIN concert this Thursday at the ACC (Air Canada Center). Not only do we get to see NIN but also headlining are Queens of the Stoneage, and opening is Death From Above 1979, which is an awesome local Toronto 2 piece.

The show starts at 6:55pm with DFA, and then at around 8pm Queens go on stage. At 4pm Queens are going to be interviewed on Edge 102.1 (Toronto Radio station), and at around 6pm DFA will also be interviewed. The cool people at 102.1 are working on getting NIN in for an interview as well, and from what they been saying so far, Trent wants to arrange something so most likely it will happen.

As amazing everything sounds, the seats that we have are nowhere close to amazing, in fact they are worse then the bathroom seat. We are from what I understand, 6 rows in from the very top upper, upper bowl, and way in the back corner. So not only will we be clinging to the ceiling like bats praying on innocent victims, we'll get to inhale all that healthy smoking that will have nowhere to go, yummy!

Overall I shouldn't complain, I still have tickets to a concert that sold out in less then 4min I heard. So boo ya!!

I'll post a review Thursday night. Stay tuned!

Wire Hang Redux

2005-11-05T03:01:00.000-05:00

New high score! 22051 points, beat that!

I found this javaScript based game. It is very basic, but highly addictive. If you need something to kill time while in lecture or on the bus, grab a copy of this game from their site. And yes it is available for both PC and MAC. Let me know if you can beat a score of 17000 points. Oh, these games bring back memories.

ps. Did I mention it is free?!?!?!

http://www.ewtoo.org/~matt/wirehang/

Yay, to new BLOG site!

2005-10-24T19:17:00.000-04:00

Since the world is changing and I am falling behind in doing so myself, I decided to start a blog. Points for me! Bookmark this page or perhaps link to my blog if you are into design, music, films, animation, anime, green tea, sushi, cat cuddling, and anything else that is interesting in it's own way.