Sometimes people confuse talent with potential. Potential is aptitude not yet realized, but talent is an expression which is right in front of us. Yes, talent can be reigned in, developed, focused, nurtured, etc. But the real question of the day is, can we recognize talent when it does something a little bit left of…
I watched American Beauty this past week, and it made me cry dear readers. It wasn’t something I was expecting, but I suspect the movie just opened me up to the experience of addressing some hard feelings I had about love, loss and hate. If you’ve seen the movie, I think you’ll know what I’m…
Common to absurdist thought are elements of satire, agnosticism, and nihilism. The art form rose up in the late nineteenth century, with philosopher types like Franz Kafka, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Kurt Vonnegut leading the way. Now if you are looking for some more memorable and mainstream examples of absurdist thought via film, then I’ll happily include some….
There is this fantastic track by NOFX called Mattersville. That they are in my top five punk bands of all time should have no bearing on this. Now you should know, when this song was first released in the early oughts, it made me nostalgic for my youth while I was still in my formative…
I kind of hated dating when I was a younger buck. Mostly because of all the hormones, the uncertainty of identity, and dealing with the scores of other impressionable youth who were in the same boat as I. It was messy and unclear, but giving myself and others roles made it easier to navigate, and…
We’ve witnessed lots of absenteeism in music over the years, but my all-time favourite probably came from Guns ‘n Roses and their lack of interest in seeing Chinese Democracy arrive in a timely manner, at all. So I skipped out on it, I mean fuck’em right? Well not so, well, not entirely. Chinese Democracy didn’t…
Mashups can be fun, if you take the right mix of levity and appreciation for each facet, then you can make it work in your favour. Whether it is a song, a movie, a comic book, a video game, it doesn’t matter, as long you know your source material and come at it with fun,…
I don’t like the police, but I do like The Police. A British new wave reggae rock band that were fairly active between the mid 70s to mid 80s. I blame it on the way that our traffic laws are set up in Canada. Actually I have no reason to hate the police. I just wanted…
She’s not your typical girlfriend. Recognize those lyrics dear readers? It’s from a Simple Plan song called My Alien. It’s probably one of my favourite tracks on that album. Incidentally, I was listening to their breakout album No Pads, No Helmets… Just Balls, right before I started today’s film review. And conveniently enough this song…
I’m happy to be hardcore, when the occasion calls for it. If I’m being perfectly honest, I don’t think it calls for it that often though. It’s difficult to get into that state of mind when you realize that like anything in life, you have to make a commitment and experience all the nuances of the…