an unclear portrayal.

foreign consonants, distant vowels.

noreply@blogger.com (Marzan) — Sat, 01 May 2010 07:38:00 +0000

What's good, stranger?

I have recently made a list of things that I should and have to do over the summer. With this post, I am going to mark my crossing off of entry number six.

"06. Finish the rest of Foreign Consonants, Distant Vowels"

Alright, what is "Foreign Consonants, Distant Vowels" you might ask. Well, it is a poem that I have been working on, on and off, for... a while now. Now, when I say poem, I mean "poem," not "piece of s--- thrown together because I was feeling depressed or angsty and wanted to vent through the written word because any other method would have been insufficient and unable to appropriately convey my unique, unrelatable experiences to an audience that doesn't really care." I like to think that I actually put a little thought into this and that I made a decent effort to communicate an idea of substance. I even thought about the craft of the poem. The second half of the poem morphs structurally in accordance with the shift in direction the poem takes in literal terms. Horray for... metapoetry? Is that even the right term for it? I'm sure there's a name for the specific literary technique... whatever, hopefully you'll be able to detect it.

(As a side note, the original subject matter of my poem was a little more towards the latter of the implications... An excerpt I cut out, since I thought it would be better to write on things I had actual knowledge/experience in:

"I soon understood that they spoke instead
in languages I could understand.
Footsteps obscured by the night hours,
I understood the shouts and the cries
I understood the sound of objects finding the floor
and the silence."

I felt like it was a good image, but no longer relevant to the interest of the poem. I've posted it here, though, because I just didn't want to relegate it to exist only in the dark recesses of my mind... I guess that might make me a bad poet, not being able to let go of unnecessary ideas, but then again, whoever said I was a poet?)

"Foreign Consonants, Distant Vowels" is, at its very basic, one facet of my experiences having a multicultural yet monolingual identity. I have grown up, and continue to live, in Western society. This is something for which I feel grateful and tremendously blessed. However, I would consider my ethnic background to be, for obvious reasons, non-Western, and for not-so-obvious reasons, extremely complex. Let me explain. (And you might want to grab a snack or something, because this is going to take a while.)

To the Western world, I am a person of Filipino background. This is simple enough. But to the Filipino community, I am not simply "Filipino." I am Ilocano. If I have lost you there, then let me explain that the Filipino people are comprised of somewhere up to 175 different ethnic or ethno-linguistic groups. This means that while Filipinos collectively own a shared identity because of historical circumstance and experience, we are all part of some smaller ethnic group, the great majority of which don't even understand each other half the time simply due to the vast diversity in cultural and linguistic situation (Of course the Tagalogs eventually won out due to very archaic politics, and so their language has become the de facto national language—and arguably lingua franca although English might fit this description more nicely—under the name of "Filipino." And this has led within the Filipino people to very interesting, fascinating dynamics politically, educationally, culturally, socially, etc. etc. etc. but that's another issue altogether from what I'm trying to get across, although I feel it does play into the complexity of Filipino national and, more relevantly, personal identity). So in a more deeper cultural sense, I belong to the third-largest ethno-linguistic group of the Philippines. In addition to being Ilocano, I am one-fourth Isinay, which to the general Filipino population would mean I am part Igorot. To clarify, the Isinay are a tribal group which fall under the collective banner of the Igorots, which is the general imposed name given to the mountainous tribes of the Cordillera region of northern Luzon (itself a major island region of the Philippines, for the uninitiated). The Igorots, most of whom would rather be called "Cordilleran" due to the term "Igorot" having negative connotations of backwardness and inferiority, are often seen by the majority of Filipinos in the same way many other tribal peoples of the country are seen, as backward and inferior. This also plays into the collective of Filipino dynamics.

Furthermore, to the collective Filipino community, I am an "amerikano" or perhaps to be more correct, I am a Canadian. And this would not be incorrect. Just as I am Filipino, I am also Canadian (You could also make the case that I am more Canadian than I am Filipino. I mean, how Filipino am I, really?). But, what does it mean to be Canadian? This is a question that my technical homeland has struggled with, I think, ever since it's birth as a nation. To not get into very deep issues concerning the formulation of Canadian identity, I will simply say this: The shared identity of Canadians is one which is fundamentally multicultural. Unlike the melting pot that is America, we are a mosaic, where each piece identifiably contributes to a larger picture. What does this mean for me? Well, it means that, being a Canadian of Filipino heritage, a Filipino-Canadian, I have my own unique contribution to make to Canada and its cultural makeup.

A small leap: If there is one thing I have learned about culture and language, it is that they are intimately woven into each other. Language is one of our main vehicles for cultural expression, and the loss of any single language from the face of the earth means the loss of all cultural ideas exclusively associated with it. Canada is unique in that we foster a society that encourages the preservation and interaction of the diversity of cultures, and therefore ideas, found within our borders. The Aga Khan has described our way of seeking unity in diversity as Canada's gift to the world. But in a society where having a distinct background means having the potential to contribute in a meaningful way through diversity, it becomes challenging to fulfill that potential when something as culturally essential as language suddenly becomes a non-factor. In more personal terms, this means my non-Canadian identity is necessarily lessened because of my inability to speak and comprehend most Tagalog and Ilocano, and to a lesser extent Isinay (although I do not nearly self-identify as being Isinay as much as I do with being Ilocano or Filipino). This in turn puts into question my place in Canadian society, which, unlike culturally homogeneous societies like, say, Japan or Korea, places value in diversity and how I can be a part of that. Perhaps the question I am trying to get at is: Would you not feel a bit unassured being unable to reconcile the fact that while you are not the prototypical "Canadian" you are also not the prototypical "non-Canadian" (which for me would be Filipino)? Would that not leave you in some unrealized state of cultural identity somewhere in between, like a ghost stuck between earth and the afterlife? Does that make sense?

Alright, so after that extremely extended essay on some of the complexities of Philippine and Canadian cultural identities—which if you read all the way through... then wow, you're a true champ is all I have to say—what does it mean, really, and what does it have to do with this inconsequential little poem I made? Well, to provide a tl;dr statement (*snicker*) to sum things up: My identity as a cultural being and the cultural lens through which I see the world is amazingly complex to the point where it can be almost overbearing and crisis-inducing at times, affecting the way I see myself and the way I interact with the world. And this poem is a manifestation of one way that I feel about one part of this confusing condition.

I dunno, whatever. Too much analysis. Anyways, here it finally is. For all the meaning I have invested in it, I hope it isn't horribly lame.

Foreign Consonants, Distant Vowels

My parents never gave me their tongue

I learned to grow up alongside
foreign consonants, distant vowels
ventured to pick up all the slight
subtle nuances of speech instead
pick up all the words left aside
on tables and floors, beside plastic toys
ate them up not knowing I might
be unfamiliar with their texture and taste

And so I use the English language

I write down and speak in its terms
reluctant syllables, scribbled text
disregard what reason or rhyme
might form in refinement instead
mumble rapidly as if in attempt
to spew out a word that would be at home
in a language familiar since birth,
reminiscent of a place somewhere else

spring awakening.

noreply@blogger.com (Marzan) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 20:18:00 +0000

What's good, stranger?

Last night, I realized that it has been almost exactly two years since I have been to New York, New York with my World Literature class. That trip was certainly one of the highlights of my final year in high school.

Overcast during our visit to Lady Liberty. Unfortunate!

Almost everything was amazing (which was the word that was often used to describe the experience). Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Broadway, Central Park, the Empire State Building, UN Headquarters, Chinatown, Rockefeller Center, Grand Central, Wall Street, the Bronx, the Guggenheim, MoMA, Ground Zero... I'm sure anyone would be excited to do all that. I feel so lucky to have gone, especially with friends.

Out of my whole time there, one of the things that has stayed with me most clearly is the musical some of us had watched on Broadway. Everyone had a choice to go to almost any show on Broadway that had been going on one evening, and a sizable group of us had chosen to go to see Wicked. For some reason or another, we weren't able to and so our teacher redirected us to see Spring Awakening.

Had she known the content of the show, she definitely would not have let us gone to see it. Fortunately enough, she didn't and we watched it in all of it's greatness. Being seriously one of the best teachers I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, she didn't mind too much after the fact. Anyhow, Spring Awakening is a rock musical about a group of teenagers in late-nineteenth century Germany in the midst of tumultuous sexual discovery, hence the title. We were all highly impressed, and most of us, including yours truly, bought the soundtrack right after the first act.

And so for the past few days, I have been listening to the soundtrack, reminiscing about New York and wishing I were there. I might have been able to travel, at least, out of country two years later. To Spain for an international dance competition, doing Filipino dance of course. But, school and expenses got in the way... Anyways, here are some of my favourite songs from the soundtrack.

Spring Awakening Soundtrack - All That's Known

Spring Awakening Soundtrack - Don't Do Sadness/Blue Wind

Spring Awakening Soundtrack - Left Behind

Spring Awakening Soundtrack - Those You've Known

a dream within a dream.

noreply@blogger.com (Marzan) — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 21:24:00 +0000

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow-
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand-
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep–while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?

- Edgar Allan Poe

giving up the gun.

noreply@blogger.com (Marzan) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 18:03:00 +0000

What's good, stranger?

Sometimes, I get a real good feeling when I am able to relate the music I listen to to what's going on in my life. Hell, I get it all the time and it gives me life. Music is an integral part of my identity, and I feel if you get to know my interests in music, then you will definitely get to know me better as a person. On that note, points to you if you're familiar with the title of today's post. If not, you will be by the end of this post.

But on to what I'd really like to talk about.

Today has special meaning for me. Today is about conviction. Today is about my beliefs. And today is about taking action.

As I type this, right now, one of two major events for me is actually just starting to unfold. If you've been keeping up, you know that the Canadian Red Cross takes up a major part of my life. And months past of preparation is finally leading to today. We've been preparing for an awareness campaign on three related issues under the umbrella of the Humanitarian Issues Program at the downtown office. These issues are child soldiers, human trafficking, and HIV, all in the context of humanitarian rights and issues. The awareness campaign is going to be at West Edmonton Mall, right in the walkway in front of Chinatown from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The working group I'm involved in is Even Wars Have Limits, which is the group focusing on child soldiers. I have heard some atrocious stories about child soldiers, more than I would have cared to know. And so I feel strongly that something should be done. You might ask, well why are you just telling people about it? Why not just GO and actually DO something to stop it? My answer to this question is, I am. I might not be doing something palpable or tangible, but then again how many people have the time and resources to do so? I cannot go and take a child soldier away from his or her circumstances. You, reading this right now, most likely can't either. So what can we do? We can start small. Take baby steps. Do what we can here at home, which is raising awareness. The more people know about something, the more likelihood that something can be done about it, will be done about it. And so this is why I give my time and effort to issues like this.

You acute readers might ask: Well, what are you doing blogging about it?! GET OUT THERE ALREADY!

Well, this is where today's second major event comes into play. I believe I mentioned once that I am in Filipino dance? Aha. Same months past of preparation have also culminated into today, for one other thing. Today is my very first performance with Karilagan Dance Society! (FUN FACT: Karilagan is Tagalog for "dazzling or radiant," like the sun) The theme of our show is Radiance of the South, referring to the Philippines' vibrant Muslim culture in our southern islands. The performance is going to be in the Fantasyland Hotel at West Ed from 5:00 PM to... well whenever it ends. It fits well with the Red Cross event, since they're both pretty much in the mall.

I have an entrance at the beginning of the actual show, to which I must quickly change into the right garb for a dance where I'm in the background with some of the other guys. We have to leave fast in the middle of that dance to change for a dance that has major props and costume, so we need to be on it, and I have to remember to run to the other side of the stage to make my entrance there. After that dance, I have a long respite before the final performance, where I play a major role... I'm the prince in the dance, who wields a shield and sword. This dance is called Singkil, there's a video of it in one of my earlier posts. Of course it's nothing as intense as that video, but it's still a test of skill, dexterity, and coordination. So I have some time to get prepared physically and psychologically for that.

We had a most hectic dress rehearsal yesterday evening, and while we went though it twice, there are still a lot of issues with transitions between dances... There's not a whole lot of time to change and get in place between them. So naturally, I'm deathly scared that things won't unfold properly.

This is why I'm taking this time for myself in the morning. I've been going through the procedure in my head for the past hour or so. I'm also trying to get into a more quiet, relaxed, composed mood. Stress is good in that it will force you to get things done, but you also need that peace to be there. Or else you're in danger of letting control slip from your fingers. You get nervous and you slip up.

More importantly though, is that I recognize that I am willing to do these things. The Red Cross event and the Karilagan show. They're both important to me, so I'm glad that I have been taking the time to reflect on them this morning and to prepare myself in taking these actions. Let me put this into perspective for you. Let's go back to what I first offered to you, stranger.

Take in this song, and listen to the lyrics.

Vampire Weekend - Giving Up The Gun

This has been one of my favourite songs for the past while, off of Vampire Weekend's second album Contra. When I first understood the lyrics, I took them to be about going back to simplicity, going back to your roots. Listen to the lyrics again if you don't believe me. It's a metaphor, yeah? With reference to the Tokugawa period of Japanese history. Giving up the gun for the sword, and the meaning behind that.

For me, this is what I am doing now in my life, where I stand right now. I am slowly going back to my old beliefs about humanity after a period of distrust and pessimism. After the things that have happened in the world lately, I can see there is hope. I am digging down to my roots after almost taking them for granted. I am exploring my own identity as a person, a cultural being, as a Filipino person. For these things I am immensely grateful.

So, today has great meaning for me... I'm giving up the gun.

good morning.

noreply@blogger.com (Marzan) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:59:00 +0000

What's good, stranger?

This bright morning is, that's what's good. And I've been enjoying every minute of it so far. Why is that? Because I am NOT a morning person. Mornings make me want to gouge my groggy, blurry eyes out. So naturally, this being the only morning EVER that I feel even somewhat awesome, I am trying to be happy about it. Let me try to explain.

I woke up around 5:45 AM (and cue the "WTF? Really?" reaction). This is disgustingly early, but is probably why I have this feeling of content right now. I usually wake up anywhere from 6:45 AM to 7:05 AM. And this is the apparent time frame in which my alarm went off this morning. But my alarm clock, for some reason was (still is) an hour early, although I wasn't quite aware of that yet. So I get into the shower, get ready for the day, check my laptop for the weather and anything important that I might have to remember for today. To my surprise, the bottom right-hand corner of my desktop had said that is was 6:21 AM and not 7:21 AM. I check if for some reason I've missed daylight savings time, but apparently that's not until the 14th. So with all this free time, I play The Great Escape by Patrick Watson and prepare an actual, proper breakfast for once (rice, bahahaha) while sunlight streams into the house. I was able to finish some schoolwork early, too. I feel so relaxed and calm. Admittedly, it feels something like what you'd imagine in a coffee or NeoCitran commercial or something, ahhaha. It's a perfect morning for me, which hardly ever happens. So I feel like I must record this somewhere before I leave for classes so that I know that such a thing exists. Ahh, I feel like today is going to be a really good day.

Patrick Watson - The Great Escape

Also: I haven't posted much of anything in the past week or so. Expect this to change! I plan on doing a series of posts presenting... well, you'll see. I'm sure there'll be some interesting stuff. Later!

french nursery rhymes. sort of.

noreply@blogger.com (Marzan) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 19:29:00 +0000

What's good, stranger?

QUESTION: How well do you know your nursery rhymes? Enough to know them in other languages? Hahah, here are some familiar nursery rhymes... in French. Good luck translating! Or maybe more appropriately: Bonne chance avec tes traductions!

1.
Et qui rit des curés d’Oc?
De Meuse raines, houp! de cloques.
De quelles loques ce turque coin.
Et ne d’anes ni rennes,
Ecuries des curés d’Oc.

2.
Un petit d'un petit
S'étonne aux Halles.
Un petit d'un petit
Ah! degrés te fallent.
Indolent qui ne sort cesse
Indolent qui ne se mène
Qu'importe un petit d'un petit
Tout Gai de Reguennes.

3.
Lit-elle messe, moffette
Satan ne te fête
Et digne somme coeurs et nouez.
À longue qu’aime est-ce pailles d’Eure
Et ne Satan bise ailleurs
Et ne fredonne messe
Moffette, ah, ouais!

4.
Pis-terre, pis-terre
Pomme qui n’y terre
Ah! de ouailles fenil coup ne qu’y perd
Il peut terrine et pomme qu’y n’échelle
En d’air équipe heure verrou elle.

5.
Lille beau pipe
Ocelot serre chypre
En douzaine aux verres tuf indemne
Livre de melons un dé huile qu’aux mômes
Eau à guigne d’air telle baie indemne.

6.
Papa, blague chipe
À vieux inouï houle
Y est-ce art? Y est-ce art? Trépas que se foulent
Aune format masure, en nouant format thème
En nouant fleur-de-lis de bois olives en délienne.

Crafty...

online distractions.

noreply@blogger.com (Marzan) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:43:00 +0000

What's good, stranger?

Long time no see.

RANDOM FACT: "Long time no see" is an English expression used when people haven't seen each other in a while. It has been in British usage since the early 1900s, deriving from Far East, specifically Chinese, pidgin, coming to the UK by way of the Merchant Service, reinforced by the Royal Navy. In Cantonese, the phrase 好耐冇見 (hou loi mou gin) can be translated literally as "long time, no see." The lexicographer Eric Partridge notes that it is akin to the phrases "no can do" and "chop chop".

Okay, thanks Wikipedia.

Yeah, I haven't been on this since more than half a month ago. Why? MIDTERMS. BLECHEURGHEEEHHHHHHHHH. Actually, it wasn't that bad. But I had to make a few sacrifices to keep up. Which kinda failed since I was prone to distractions online (more on this later, obviously). And then after midterms I was too lazy to get back into the habit of posting. Plus, I've been hella busy with Karilagan (more on Filipino dance in a later post). Now that it's reading week, I have time to post and relax and... read. I mean, "reading" week, right? Hahah, well among other things, anyway.

So, let's get to the topic at hand. Online distractions. Not so long ago, I used to spend a lot of time online. Like a lot. Fortunately, I don't spend as much time glued to a keyboard as I used to, but I still do waste some time browsing the interwebs. Or maybe I shouldn't say waste... I don't think that my time spent using the internet is totally invaluable. So then, what is my time on the internet spent most on? Take a few guesses. I'll wait.

Okay. There are a few things actually, and from any guesses made, hopefully I won't have to pull you out of the gutter...

Music. I actually spend most of my time listening to and looking for music. None of this peer-to-peer file sharing business. I usually have a bunch of tabs open at any one time in a window that are just music blogs or band websites or something of that sort. I download music from blogs that share mp3 files, so I guess it's not as bad as pirating or whatever, since music that artists don't want online is usually taken down. This really works for me, anyways, since I don't really keep track of mainstream music... I haven't listened to any hit music radio stations or watched MuchMusic/MTV in a while. And I'm quite fine with that. Once in a while, I'll take a listen to what my brother or sister has, or actually more like overhear, and sometimes I'll try to get it myself. Or I'll hear it in public or something. Otherwise, I'm good with looking for my own music online. I mean there's so much more to recorded music than whatever singles blare at you from the TV or radio on heavy rotation. Sure it might be good, but why limit yourself to only a fraction of the awesome music that's out there? And it's not like all the type of music I enjoy is thrown out there into the general public consciousness. Indie electronica playing on the Hot 107 station? Traditional Filipino music on MTV? Experimental folk getting decent public exposure? Hah, probably not. And so I search online. I'm always looking for music that is new to me. It feels weird when I stop for a while. It helps to broaden my musical horizons.

YouTube. YouTube is pretty awesome. For the most part, I use it to, yeah, look for music, since a lot of music is actually posted on YouTube. BUT, it's also pretty good just for amusing videos. I have an account on it, so I'll be posting some of my favourites here over the next while. To make up for my long absence! Because YouTube videos are always pretty much a good time when you have good ones to share. Here's one right now. Music and video... music video. It's actually sort of old now, I found it when it was hovering around half a million hits and it has over double that right now, but it's still good! I mean, when it's the best 25 mainstream hits of last year jam packed into four and a half minutes, how can it not be?

Wikipedia. I spend too much time on Wikipedia hopping from page to page learning about stuff that I probably will never need to know. Examples from my browsing history:

Do I really need to know that each day in the French Republican Calendar is associated with an animal, tool, plant, or mineral?

Is it really necessary to find out which cities are thinking of bidding for the 2020 Summer Olympics when it's ten years ahead?

Is it healthy to even read about all the enlarged international variants of the Big Mac?

Will I care in a week that six actors from Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility went on to role in a number of Harry Potter films?

Will knowing what asperity is ever get me laid or into a meaningful relationship or something?

Have I bettered myself by familiarizing myself with tessellated pavement?

Can I live not knowing that hand walking is an unusual form of human locomotion in which a person travels in a vertically inverted orientation with all body weight resting on the hands?

Why did I just read about the shocker? Holy crap, too much information.

I don't ever plan on entering professions where artificial gravity, carbon chauvinism, or hypothetical types of biochemistry will be important, so why did I just spend half an hour reading about them?

Why'd I look up profiles of a string of Korean celebrity suicides when I'm not even the slightest bit interested in East Asian pop culture?

The answers to these questions are mostly NO. Except for that one about handstands. Definite yes on that one. But for the most part I guess, the underlying thing is that stuff on Wikipedia is just interesting. And sometimes with seemingly unrestricted time to go through seemingly unrestricted knowledge and information, it's like what a huge playground is to a kid. Lots of exploring and you're all engaged in what you're doing, and before you know it you've lost track of time. Meh, whatever. I like Wikipedia, even if it gets kinda borderline wasteful. Besides, it helps with the next thing on the laundry list.

News and current events. I'm a news geek. It's pretty much the only thing I watch regularly on television. I had an extensive and balanced list of local and international online news sources kept in a folder on the bookmarks toolbar of my browser window, until it was swept away in a mass browser upgrade or something a while back. I still regularly check the current events section on Wikipedia, though, and then go from there. I also like to visit the CBC website. I like to read up on what's happening in the world, and the internet is a good way to keep informed about breaking events and ongoing developments.

Self-improvement. Yeah, I know, sounds kinda funny. But I really do spend a bunch of time trying to find out how I can improve the way in which I live or how I can do something better than I already can (or cannot). The internet is so good for that. Need to know how to cook something? How to study better? How to exercise right? Just google it and find some good sources. Then just implement what you learn. Simple, and it doesn't require too much effort or resources.

Well, so far the stuff I've listed can actually be argued as not really being distractions. But there seems to be one big thing missing, and it should be fairly obvious.

Facebook.

You could expand this to say social media and consumption, which would include things like Twitter and blogging. But I have a feeling that those last two don't come close to time spent on Facebook for most people. Unless you're a hardcore tweeter or blogger, then maybe you need to unjam your laptop/smartphone out from where the sun don't shine and actually interact with people face-to-face. ACTUALLY... the same can be said for Facebook, but it's not like you can be a hardcore Facebooker and be stigmatized for it like you could for being like a Twitter or blog fanboy. Eurgh. Or wait, unless you play Farmville 24/7 or something. OKAY, anyways, enough of nonsensical tangents, back to the point. I add consumption because that's basically what it is that we can spend so much time doing. We consume the media that is generated by our peers, to the point where we can become gluttons, and yes, I do believe that at some point you can get "obese" from too much consumption. Which is why on December 31, 2009, I deactivated my account and have now been Facebook-free for just over a month and a half. It's a bit ironic that I've pressured others to get on Facebook and now I've myself forced myself off of it, but I kind of understand now why someone would want to be off the site. I mean, I've really been able to balance things out with the rest of my life after cutting away useless, wasted hours on a day-to-day basis. And I've been able to devote time that would've been wasted to more useful and productive things.

I'm not saying that throwing the oppressive yoke that is Facebook off your shoulders will release you from some overbearing burden and that you'll immediately become a better person for it. I mean, doing this, I've realized that I've sort of cast myself into a form of social hermitage, since an online presence is increasingly contributing to and dictating normal, and even expected, ways of social interaction. And Facebook is very useful. Which is why I'm currently debating whether or not I should get back on it. It is after all reading week, so it's not like it will distract me much from anything important, as I have plenty of free time. And I feel now that I'd be able to avoid spending too much time on Facebook. On the other hand, I want to keep my New Year's resolution as long as I can—to stay off the site for as long as possible. I originally hoped that would be at least a month, so now that I've accomplished that, I don't feel so bad about going back... Oh well, I guess I'm going to reactivate within the next few days. At the very least, I can pretty much say that I'm not overly concerned or obsessed with Facebook. And that's pretty awesome. I deserve a cookie or something.

russian party games.

noreply@blogger.com (Marzan) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:47:00 +0000

What's good, stranger?

I was bored on the interwebs recently, and I decided to look up party games (woohoo) and one of the links I found directed me to an English-language, Russian page which listed numerous prospective party games organized in various categories. Most seemed pretty boring, but there were a few, uh, gems. Hahah. I present them to you verbatim, in unaltered copy-and-paste form. I guess this is the stuff you come up with when you've been exiled to Siberia and need something to do in your spare time when you're not being worked to death with your fellow comrades. Well actually, being exiled to Siberia was no laughing matter. But in any case, if all else fails, you could always pull out the vodka.

44. STREAMLET. ( For adults only.)
Put a long stripe of paper on the floor for "a streamlet". Ask ladies to walk along "the streamlet" with their legs apart: one leg is on the right side, another is on the left side of "the streamlet". After that ask the ladies to repeat it being blindfolded. All the ladies are in the neighboring room at the beginning. They are asked to go along "the streamlet" one by one. Having gone along "the streamlet" blindfolded, the lady takes a kerchief from her eyes and sees a gentleman lying on "the streamlet" with his face upwards. (The gentleman lies down on the paper "streamlet" after the lady's going along "the streamlet", but before she takes off the kerchief). The lady is confused. Then the following lady is asked to go along "the streamlet", then the third and the fourth… The game goes on in the presence of the Ladies who have already passed "the streamlet". They laugh at a joke. Everybody is having a good time.

56. MAKING ACQUAINTANCE. ( Icebreakers.)
The instructor says: "Dear guests! We set out. Take your seats. We start up an engine - everybody claps the hands. Come along! We are stamping our feet, we are gradually gathering speed - 50km/h, faster - 60km/h, faster - 80km/h, 100km/h, 120km/h. Turn to the left - shake hands with the person next to you on the left. Go along! Our speed is 150km/h. Now we turn to the right - shake hands with the person next to you on the right. We continue going. Now we are breaking. We are rubbing against the nose of a person next to.
We are breaking … breaking …
At last we arrived.
How did you like our trip?"

70. ENDLESS DANCE. ( While dancing. Icebreakers.)
All the players are dancing in pairs. The leader is in the center. He/she holds a stick in his/her hands. The leader throws the stick and all the dancers change their partners. The leader tries to take up somebody's place. The player who has no pair is a leader. He/she takes the stick and does the same as the previous leader.

72. PEOPLE DON'T DANCE WITH THE HAT ON. ( While dancing. Icebreakers.)
One of the participants is given a hat. As everyone is dancing, this participant comes to any of the pairs, puts the hat on the gentleman's head, saying "people don't dance with the hat on" and begins to dance with the partner of this gentleman. The gentleman with the hat on can come to any other pair and put the hat on the gentleman's head so as have a chance of dancing with his partner etc.

80. DO YOU LIKE GIRLS, BOYS? ( Joking.)
The leader and 5-15 girls make a line. At a distance of 1 meter behind them there are some boys. At the command all of them run. While running the leader asks: Do you like girls, boys? The boys must altogether answer "No". The leader asks the question for several times and all the times the boys answer - "No". At last the leader says: "Well, why do you run after girls, if you don't like them?"

84. THREE PHRASES. ( Joking.)
The leader declares that no one of the present people can repeat three short phrases after him/her. Of course, the present people don't agree with him/her. Then the leader pronounces the phrase c.f. "Today the weather is good." All the players confidently repeat it. After that the leader as though in confusion trying to find a phrase, pronounces the second phrase. It's again repeated by the players. Then the leader quickly and confidently pronounces: "Here you're wrong!" The players are in confusion. And the leader explains that the third phrase the players had to repeat was "Here you're wrong!"

91. SWEET TOOTH. ( Joking.)
This game is enjoyed by the grown-ups as well as by the children. On the table there are some plates with the little pies and cakes (it's desirable that they should be with chocolate and cream). Around the table there must be enough space for the participants to move. The number of the participants depends on the size of the table and the amount of sweet things. The number of plates is equal to the number of the participants. The participants have their hands tied together behind the backs. As the music plays the participants come to the nearest to them plate and start eating the cakes. As the hands are tied together it's very difficult to eat the cakes - they slide off the plates. That's why the instructor should let the participants know about all the details of the game beforehand. The first round finishes when one of the participants has eaten the whole piece of cake or a pie. The participant on whose plate there remains the largest piece of cake is out of the game. In the next round there are less by one participants. On the plates there are new pieces of cake or pies. They are larger than the pieces in the previous round. The game repeats anew. The game goes on until the participants refuse to eat sweet things (because they have eaten an enormous amount of them) or until there is only one participant in the game. He/she is the winner. He/she is given a ribbon with the inscription "Invincible glutton" and a sweet prize (a large cake). The matter is that the winner feels sick at seeing sweet things. The instructor may suggest playing one more round. But this suggestion usually causes impetuous protest of the participants. The more chocolate and cream is there on the cakes - the brighter is the game. The participants usually make themselves dirty with it. The game may be funnier if the participants are blindfolded, but have their hands free. After this game you may serve cakes and pies for other guests. The participants of this game don't want to eat sweet things. They want only to drink tea.

suzi q. smith.

noreply@blogger.com (Marzan) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:26:00 +0000

What's good, stranger?

An expansion to last day's post! Yes, I believe that is in order, as I really have no sort of supplementary addition to make in the comments. And anyhow the elaboration I'd like to make deserves much more than a simple comment. So here it is, I'd like to introduce you to Suzi Q. Smith.

Suzi Q. Smith is an extremely talented American spoken word artist. Spoken word is a very particular genre of poetry. Stereotypically, when spoken word comes up, one imagines performances in dimly lit coffee shops by overbearingly artsy poets, beret on head and bongos on hand. And lots of finger-snapping. None of that business with Suzi Q. though, who has personally changed my dimly lit perspective on spoken word. With the force of her voice, her pieces are very hard-hitting and leave much to think about. I first came across her work a few years ago on ccMixter and I remember it making a very lasting impression on me, so much so that I've considered going to any spoken word performance which may present itself to me (which actually hasn't happened yet, but yeah I'm still willing). Anyhow, here is a bunch of her work which I really enjoy.

Drove On By
This is the first of her work which really caught my attention. There is such a sense of urgency and a sense of unwavering conviction in her delivery that helps to paint a vivid account of what I'm pretty certain is, yes, manslaughter.

Heroes
Heroes is the poem which you have, hopefully, already seen. Seen, yeah, but not heard. And the words themselves simply read do not do justice to the actual words heard because in all actuality, spoken word is a performance art which is obviously meant to be heard. So take a listen, it's an insightful commentary on the consumption of societies, almost a warning. And with such a beautiful voice, how can we not listen? (Can you feel the subtle irony in that statement?)

The Gap Between My Teeth
This one in particular makes a great showing in what I would call artistic fluency. Suzi Q. makes great use of literary device in her telling of what I see as the other side of a story. Very articulate, very eloquent.

Lazarus
Now, this one you have to hear to get the full experience. Intense, intense, intense. It is literally breathtaking, by the end I get winded. It's about fighting, actually fighting, to make a relationship, a partnership work in the face of immense pressures. A lot of powerful lines in this one. One which sticks in my mind: "Those shackles and bars are designed for whole families."

The Weather Underground

Politically-charged dissent is what describes this piece. Really provocative. And keep in mind that this is during the Bush regime.

Kindred

And I end with Kindred. As she says in the beginning of the video, this piece is uplifting. It's, I think, very simple and clear and earnest in it's message. Lots of wisdom and truth in this one. Beautiful, brilliant.

heroes.

noreply@blogger.com (Marzan) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 07:45:00 +0000

we ask where all of our heroes have gone,
even as we pick their skin from our teeth.

we love them as our favourite foods,
consume them into extinction,
and wonder, while we rub our bellies,
why our table seems so bare.

we snort their guitar licks,
guzzle their voices,
chomp on their words
as if they are owed us.
poets light themselves on fire
because they can't help it and
we gather round to warm our hands
upon such a lovely glow.

we maim our leaders for their presumption to lead and
cry foul when we are lost.
we mourn our losses, yet
never consider them consequence to our own greedy violence.

we devour the fruit until the tree will bare no more
and feel betrayed once we've eaten it barren.

we have become vampires.
we have made ourselves cannibals,
quick to throw her in the pot
once she is no longer beautiful,
toss him in the fire
once we cease to find him useful,
still form our mouths around words like

"love"

simply regurgitating pieces of the spirits we have swallowed
in a desperate attempt to remember their taste.

i belch bitter eulogies in apology.
blood still fresh on my lips
"i'm sorry"
to all who died just trying to love us, we
snatched at your flesh while you still had breath,
gnawed your bones in search of redemption,
as if to touch the hem of your garment.

we worship and hate with equal fervor,
waving our knives and forks for the next big thing.

- Suzi Q. Smith

to take a turn or two.

noreply@blogger.com (Marzan) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 06:36:00 +0000

What's good, stranger?

I am going to just say it right now. I have been so sick for the past two days, it is disgusting. Coughing and wheezing and sneezing and that whole deal. Actually, I wish I was sneezing more. I've been stuck with this feeling for the whole day that I am on the verge of sneezing but I never do. My eyes get all watery and I position myself to get ready for it, but mostly it turns out that my nose is just kidding and for ten seconds I'm stuck with that ticklish feeling that happens right before you sneeze. It's hellish.

Well, in midst of all this, I was wondering how I could make my blog more interesting, content-wise. You see, I feel like I might've been going in the wrong direction with this. I want to do less "this is what I did today, listen up" and more "here are my experiences, I'd like to share them with you." Now, at first glance, it might look like the two are, for the most part, the same thing. But let's look closer. Read them again:

Column A: "This is what I did today, listen up."
Column B: "Here are my experiences, I'd like to share them with you."
(If you'd be so kind to let me use the metaphor.)

Column A is more of a chronicling of specific and personal events. It includes certain people, environments, contexts, background stuff, etc. Here, I would spew the things I've done fairly recently, perhaps in chronological order. I'd tell you about the funny person I saw at the LRT station, or the Japanese restaurant I ate at last Tuesday, or how I had a laughfest with some friends during some free time at the University regarding a certain inside joke, or how I went to class then to lunch then to more class then to a study room then to the mall then to a meeting and then home. Okay, cool. That's pretty interesting.

Column B, however, is more abstract, if you will. It would involve ideas, information, things I have come to learn, personal opinions, ongoing events, various media, etc. I'd talk about the fundamental principles of the Red Cross movement, funny things I've overheard on campus, interesting things about Edmonton that perhaps you didn't know, what I think about a movie I've watched which might delve into my thoughts on horror films, how I'm progressing in Filipino dance, or I might share a few songs/videos/poems that I like.

I guess the main thing I want to get at is that I'd like more to share things that are relatable and relevant and that are organized in a way that isn't cluttered or unconnected or like a laundry list of items to go through. Sure, I could tell you what happened in the Students' Union Building from about 5:10 PM to 6:45 PM and who I met and what I did, but you don't necessarily get the whole picture, details start to weigh down the post, and you may not necessarily find yourself engaged in the manner that I had been or find it worthwhile like I did, probably because you just weren't there to experience it. It's disconnecting in a way and so there's less motivation to read. Not to say that things like that can never be interesting (or that gunning for a more thoughts-based approach is the absolute best way to go), but then at times it may read like a personal diary, which I am not here for.

You could argue that the line between these two ways of addressing an online audience can be blurred, and you'd be absolutely correct, which is why it would be pointless to try and purge and filter all content to fit nicely under one category. That just won't happen. But my aim is to be able to find a good balance between the two so that my endeavours here aren't a total and failed waste of time. So then, what does this mean? It means taking (if you've been anticipating the phrase, here it is) a little from Column A, a little from Column B. A happy marriage, of sorts.

So there you have it, thoughts on how I should run this thing. Cross your fingers, let's hope you're not wasting your time. I know at least I'm not.

haiti earthquake.

noreply@blogger.com (Marzan) — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 06:47:00 +0000

What's good, stranger?

OKAY, so after that last and might I say somewhat disturbed post, I've done a bunch of thinking. I read over the post, actually laughed, and I've come to the conclusion that I am a madman. I guess you could say that something like that could come from a constant bottling up of... well I wouldn't go so far as to say trauma, but I guess something like frustrations and disappointments coming from experiences that are, on the whole, not too uncommon in modern society. Hm, well that wasn't at all wordy and ambiguous. But the point is, I'm never too sure how to go about releasing all this pressure that kind of builds up, you could say. Eh, life sucks sometimes, what can you do.

Anyhow, I've decided to do regular posts again. I think I'm going to go about it differently. I guess I was expecting too much out of having a blog and making too much of a deal out of it. And enough with all this weird and ambiguous life reflection stuff. I've always been a firm believer that people are human and that we all go through the range of emotions and experiences and that it should be totally fine and natural for people to show this. Honestly, I am actually put off by people who seem to always be happy and stuff like that. But there is a line between being a person who wears their heart on their sleeve and being a nut, and I'd like to opt for staying on team sanity.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way.

I'm sure most everyone who isn't hiding under rocks has heard about the earthquake in Haiti. Terrible. Up to 3 million affected in a nation of about 10 million. Demographically speaking, that would be proportional to all of Canada west of Ontario. But of course, that doesn't capture the devastation that's being wrought upon an already traumatized nation. Political instability, poverty, hurricanes are a few of the things which immediately come to mind with regards to Haiti's recent history. And now a major earthquake, it's horrible. The scenes on ground that I've seen are actually chilling. I can't even begin to imagine the immense impact that this new reality is going to have for a person living in Haiti. Any problems I may have really pale in comparison.

With that in mind, an opportunity for me to make some kind of a difference came through my connection to the Canadian Red Cross. This is one of the main things that Red Cross does, disaster management. As a Red Cross volunteer, I may be called to action, as it were, in times of disaster or emergency, such as the earthquake in Haiti. While it's not like I'll be going to the front lines or anything, a certain amount of coordination is required here at home so that we're able to do anything effective. So, today I went over to help with a financial appeal. To be specific, I went in to help directly take credit card donations for the Haiti Earthquake Fund (with reluctant capitalizations... not sure if that's an official appellation for what we're doing exactly) over the phone. It's amazing, the generosity of some people. One person who called in donated $500.00!

In general, with the global response to the earthquake, it's good to see that such a force for good is able to respond so quickly. And it's awesome to see that happen even right here, with so many people wanting to give of themselves whatever they can. It's inspiring, really. And so tomorrow I continue my own effort, however small it may be!

january 12, 2010.

noreply@blogger.com (Marzan) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 10:06:00 +0000

What's good, stranger?

Today was a long day. And correspondingly, the night is dragging on. I think I am slowly going mad from failed attempts at resolution. But as always, what else is there to do but keep going on? Fall down seven times, get up eight, look not where you fell, but where you slipped, etc. Intuitive. Mechanical.

And therein lies the rub?

But of course, change is slow, all change is not growth, if there is no change there is no progress, it is hard to observe something from the inside, tormented introspection, durm und strang, strive towards enlightenment, and other similar ideas.

Anyhow, it's been nearly four months since a real post from me on here. And months since I've bothered to even check up on this thing. Blame this post on almost two weeks without Facebook and, of course, other external factors. I don't even know why this post exists, I wonder if I'll delete it later for fear of looking stupid.

Signing off, hopefully to return eventually to blog and to sense.

the age of silence.

noreply@blogger.com (Marzan) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 05:16:00 +0000

The first language humans had was gestures. There was nothing primitive about this language that flowed from people's hands, nothing we say now that could not be said in the endless array of movements possible with the fine bones of the fingers and wrists. The gestures were complex and subtle, involving a delicacy of motion that has since been lost completely.

During the Age of Silence, people communicated more, not less. Basic survival demanded that the hands were almost never still, and so it was only during sleep (and sometimes even not then) that people were not saying something or other. No distinction was made between the gestures of language and the gestures of life. The labor of building a house, say, or preparing a meal was no less an expression than making the sign for I love you or I feel serious. When a hand was used to shield one's face when frightened by a loud noise something was being said, and when fingers were used to pick up what someone else had dropped something was being said; and even when the hands were at rest, that, too, was saying something. Naturally, there were misunderstandings. There were times when a finger might have been lifted to scratch a nose, and if casual eye contact was made with one's lover just then, the lover might accidentally take it to be the gesture, not at all dissimilar, for Now I realize I was wrong to love you. These mistakes were heartbreaking. And yet, because people knew how easily they could happen, because they didn't go around with the illusion that they understood perfectly the things other people said, they were used to interrupting each other to ask if they'd understood correctly. Sometimes these misunderstandings were even desirable, since they gave people a reason to say, Forgive me, I was only scratching my nose. Of course I know I've always been right to love you. Because of the frequency of these mistakes, over time the gesture for asking forgiveness evolved into the simplest form. Just to open your palm was to say: Forgive me.

Aside from one exception, almost no record exists of this first language. The exception, on which all knowledge of the subject is based, is a collection of seventy-nine fossil gestures, prints of human hands frozen in midsentence and housed in a small museum in Buenos Aires. One holds the gesture for After all these years, another for Was I wrong to love you? They were found in Morocco in 1903 by an Argentine doctor named Antonio Alberto de Biedma. He was hiking in the High Atlas Mountains when he discovered the cave where the seventy-nine gestures were pressed into the shale. He studied them for years without getting any closer to understanding, until one day, already suffering the fever of the dysentery that would kill him, he suddenly found himself able to decipher the meanings of the delicate motions of fists and fingers trapped in stone. Soon afterwards he was taken to a hospital in Fez, and as he lay dying his hands moved like birds forming a thousand gestures, dormant all those years.

If at large gatherings or parties, or around people with whom you feel distant, your hands sometimes hang awkwardly at the ends of your arms—if you find yourself at a loss for what to do with them, overcome with sadness that comes when you recognize the foreignness of your own body—it's because your hands remember a time when the division between mind and body, brain and heart, what's inside and what's outside, was so much less. It's not that we've forgotten the language of gestures entirely. The habit of moving our hands while we speak is left over from it. Clapping, pointing, giving the thumps-up: all artifacts of ancient gestures. Holding hands, for example, is a way to remember how it feels to say nothing together. And at night, when it's too dark to see, we find it necessary to gesture on each other's bodies to make ourselves understood.

- Nicole Krauss

the second coming.

noreply@blogger.com (Marzan) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:45:00 +0000

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

- William Butler Yeats

entrevista (interview).

noreply@blogger.com (Marzan) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 03:12:00 +0000

A câmara vídeo-pergunta
aos sábios, filósofos
cientistas mal-humorados:
qual é o sentido da vida?

O poeta arrisca um palpite:
os sentidos da vida são cinco.
Tato, olfato, visão
paladar e audição.

The videographer asks
scholars, professors
grumpy sages, sullen scientists:
Does life make sense at all?

Poets offer their answer and swear
it does make sense – not one, but five:

Taste, smell, sight
hearing and touch.

- Rita Espeschit

unwelcome presences.

noreply@blogger.com (Marzan) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 05:57:00 +0000

What's good, stranger?

Today, I watched the 2009 MTV VMAs...

Memorable/interesting moments:

Michael Jackson tribute!
Russell Brand's jab at the American health care system. Glad to see American media presenting a differing view other than the anti-public health care rhetoric that has been propagated lately. Of course, Russell Brand is British, but still...
Taylor Swift winning the award for Best Female Video and Kanye West interrupting her speech. Okay, wow. Real classy, Kanye. Apparently he was drinking on the red carpet beforehand, so that might've contributed to his unwelcome appearance. He issued an apology on his blog, but it doesn't seem very sincere. I actually agree that Beyoncé should've won the award, but that doesn't excuse Kanye's inappropriate behaviour. Kanye makes some really good music, but it'll be interesting to watch what will happen to his career after this little stunt...
The unconventional location of Taylor Swift's performance. Actually, kind of cheesy, but performing on the subway was an interesting idea. And she kept it together really well, seeing as she was bawwing her eyes out backstage after the shock of being told she didn't deserve her award in front of the whole world.
Intense performance by Lady Gaga. WTF. Where did all that blood come from? Good performance, but her theatricality throughout the MVAs was too much.
Russell Brand going on about drugging Megan Fox and fathering T.I.'s (I think it was T.I.) child. LOL.
Green Day pulling people on-stage during their performance.
Kanye West being booed every time his name was mentioned. P. Diddy: "What happened?"
Pink's singing/acrobatic performance. Wow, that woman is fit.
Beyoncé calling up Taylor Swift when she was announced winner of Video of the Year. Someone must've reeled in embarrassment at this moment... Good on Beyoncé, anyhow.
Jay-Z and Alicia Keys ending off the show with "Empire State of Mind." Makes me wanna go back to the Big Apple... which might actually not be such a far-fetched prospect in the near future... More on this some other time. But yeah, looks like Lil Mama wanted in on the action at the end of the song... Hahhaha.
"She's become an Eskimooo!" - Russell Brand on the last of Lady Gaga's weird outfit changes. Oh geeze, this guy makes me laugh.

Good job, MVAs. You've successfully distracted me from doing much more important university work. Looks like you've won... this time.

Yesterday, I watched The Uninvited... twice. I would've liked to have seen A Tale of Two Sisters beforehand, which is the Korean movie that The Uninvited is based off of. I have a feeling that A Tale of Two Sisters is probably better than The Uninvited, as is usually the case with American remakes of Asian horror films. But it's still a good movie, I think.

I also watched a movie the day before. Coraline. Which is a very good film, I have to say. Crazy animation. It's like a modern-day Brothers Grimm tale. I should go and read the novel.

Other things which happened the day before yesterday: went to All Happy Family Restaurant, went to the northside, rode almost the full length of the LRT from Belvedere to South Campus and was the only person in the cab at ten-something in the evening.

Speaking of the LRT, after being the only person in the cab, the train reached Stadium Station, right where the Edmonton Eskimos had a game at Commonwealth Stadium. The game had recently finished, so the empty cab filled up quickly. It was a huge change of atmosphere... the cab became very loud and began to smell of alcohol. There was this one guy who was drunk, I believe, and he was acting all crazy. He was pacing up and down the aisle and was lifting up the seat cushions and laying under them, curled up in a ball. A bunch of people started heckling him after he began to bother them, and they started chanting "LIAR, LIAR!" after he denied their accusations that he was both drunk and underage and wouldn't give them ID to disprove them. He got off at Corona Station and proceeded to lay down on the escalator handrail and travel up that way for a while. Then he got off, ran down the escalator, and started running after the train, waving at the conductor as we left. Hahah, wow. Interesting. So yeah, that was pretty much my day.

Oh, and there was the whole matter of, uh, my locker being broken into. Yeah, can't forget about that. Fortunately nothing was stolen... except for the lock. I reported it to the Chem storeroom and to Campus Security. I had to fill out a statement, and looking at my copy of it, it wasn't very coherent/grammatically sound.

"... no theft, but provided lock was stolen; nothing was seen to be tampered with
locker was found tampered with at around 1:00 PM..."

Nice going there, smart one. I actually felt kind of embarrassed when I first realized someone had broken into my locker... then it turned into something like distressed resentment. I couldn't pay much attention to my afternoon classes, which didn't help with the fact that I wasn't at my morning classes... But now, it's just something to keep in mind.

Okay, well it's all good now. But very soon, it's time to begin another week of university...

labour long.

noreply@blogger.com (Marzan) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 01:19:00 +0000

What's good, stranger?

Today, being Tuesday, I have only one class, until labs kick in next week. Nothing of much interest has happened. Went to first general meeting for U of A Model UN Club. Interesting, but not really my thing. Thanks for the pizza though UAMUN.

My long weekend was more eventful. For example, while riding the LRT on Friday, the train came to a stop in an unusually long amount of time and you could practically feel the operator tapping his(/her) foot on the breaks. (Assuming the trains actually use foot pedals.) I had gotten up, but after a while I just sat down again. People were visibly annoyed/pissed off. I kinda chuckled to myself, it was funny watching people getting all worked up about it. I mean, just stop and relax for a second! I'm sure people can fit that into their busy schedules, yeah? No use getting angry over something you have no control over. That should be especially true for something as practically inconsequential as a few seconds more on the train.

But uh... eventful, yeah? Hahahah.

Actually, larger things than that have happened for me this past weekend.

Sunday, it was my mother's goddaughter's child's fourth birthday. Not related by blood, but family all the same. That's what's interesting about Filipino social dynamics. Almost everyone you know on an informal basis is considered family. Even though, it still catches me off guard that little kids call me kuya (big brother) or uncle. It makes me feel so old and with undue responsibility... Anyways, it was a good time to spend with "extended" family. The only thing I felt uncomfortable with was having to sit through "Bible study" as it was called. As it were, the father of the birthday celebrant is Head Deacon of the local Iglesia ni Cristo, or the Church of Christ, based in the Philippines. Someone had just come from the Philippines, apparently, and as I understood it, he was being initiated into the Church. As well, they were (are still) mourning the recent death of their leader in the Philippines. The story of Iglesia ni Cristo is really interesting, actually, but that would be too long to put here. But yeah, as soon as we get there, their church's minister was preaching in a make-shift gathering area in the basement and my Roman Catholic family was motioned to sit in. The service (?) was held in very loud half-English, half-Tagalog, so there was a good portion of it that I didn't understand. But, long story (service?) short, this is what I got from what I could: In order to have salvation, one must have physical membership in the church, written in ministry records, as to become bound on Earth. Being bound on Earth, you become bound in Heaven, as having membership in the church will allow your name to be written in the Book of Life in heaven. When the Day of Judgement comes, God will open the Book of Life and all those not mentioned in the Book of Life will be cast into the Lake of Fire. Everyone, though, is given a chance to become a member of the INC. Those who reject it, however, will not be saved, as they are wicked. One thing I found striking was that what one believes in their heart is not of as crucial importance in attaining salvation as membership is.

While I understand that the belief of humanity is very diverse, I also respect that. The whole experience of being vehemently told that I will be cast into the Lake of Fire for not being in the Iglesia ni Cristo (I don't believe I will ever join that church) is not a very pleasant one. I didn't let that bother me too much, though. The main occasion for the day was being with family, with people and their company and not their religious beliefs, and that's what I focused on. That being said, it was a very good party.

On Saturday, I went to Whitecourt/Carson Lake/Carson Pegasus Provincial Park/whatever to fish. The day trip was pretty leisurely and relaxing. Caught some fish, which I haven't done in a long while. Went with the same family that we had gone to Sylvan Lake with again. It would be nice though to have the whole family to go... my brother often has work. But still, I am so thankful for these simple family trips we have.

Taking in the beauty of God's creation.

Friday, partially end of the week, partially start of the weekend, was pretty awesome. Started off the day at the University getting free pancake breakfast with a friend. FREE FOOD. I freaking love Week of Welcome, ahhaha. Anyways, fast forward to last lecture of the day, PMCOL 201. Lecture was spent learning about... the history of pharmacology. (Have I mentioned that lately I've been eying one of those Sigg aluminum water bottle?)(...)(Because lecture was so dry, yeah? I hope you caught that.) Things I learned about that day: magic plants of Australia (in a very serious (or oblivious) tone), opiate-addicted elephants, game over for Michael Jackson because he sought medication for insomnia from a cardiologist (who gave him diazepam, lorazepam, midazolam, lidocaine, and then for some reason propofol which kinda put the last nail in the coffin for poor MJ (oops)).

Anyhow, after that I went to a friend's penthouse in the southside. Wow, good times. I met some new people, got to cooking some pasta, set aside my irrational dislike for seafood by eating scallops. Hahah, yeahh...

There was this one moment, while we were eating. Everyone is talking about this program that they were all in (which I was not) and they start talking about this one girl, and how she had asked while she was with them if she could "fart freely." At that very moment, I was drinking water. Well, hearing that I half choked on the water, half spit it out. Luckily, I had covered my mouth and had to run to the washroom, trying not to laugh so that water didn't get everywhere. I was happy to know though that everyone else thought it was extremely funny... both the girl's comment and, uh, my reaction.

Good stuff, long weekends.

enter second year.

noreply@blogger.com (Marzan) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 05:49:00 +0000

What's good, stranger?

Today, I had lunch with my cousin at Room at the Top, or RATT, in Students' Union Building, and I saw the most bizarre thing that I have seen in a while. Being on the seventh and highest floor of SUB, RATT has good viewing range over campus, and sitting around the perimeter of the bar, you're able to see the roofs of lots of the surrounding buildings. Well, while eating I happened to notice on top of University Hall (at least I'm pretty sure it's University Hall) some scruffy looking guy sitting by a door that leads to that building's roof. He was eating something from a styrofoam container thing, and I didn't think much of it, so I kept on with what I was doing. But then after a few minutes, I noticed he got up and started walking around. While listening to my cousin talk, I glanced over and watched him, then all of a sudden and to my own shock, he started changing his clothing. Right freaking there. On the roof. I told my cousin and we had a good laugh at it. We suggested that it was some poor international student (he looked ethnic) that couldn't pay for rent or something. I guess it's more probable that the guy was a custodian or something, but I mean geeze, he could've changed INSIDE the building. Then he proceeded to walk around some more and then take a nap beside the open door. It was really odd.

Speaking of odd, there was also a huge pipe leak in the second floor of Chemistry by the lockers. It was a bit disturbing, seeing as, you know, it's in the CHEMISTRY building filled with hazardous chemicals and stuff. I hope that gets fixed up soon. It would kinda suck to slip and die from a combination of blunt head trauma and poisoning from who knows what is in that pipe, especially when you have a midterm or something to study for. (First midterm in less than a month. I feel like I should be... rejoicing in the streets or something.) In all seriousness, it was probably just water, but it's kind of embarrassing for the chemistry department to just let that happen. Or maybe they should let it keep leaking. That way the Faculty of Science will actually get some substantial funding in comparison to, I dunno, the overly-funded Engineering faculty.

Anyways, the last two days have been... the first two days of undergrad year two. I'm really looking forward to this year. I plan on getting more involved on campus and applying myself more... thoroughly... in academic terms. Here's a rundown.

Wednesday. PHYSL 210. Two term course, but doesn't seem so bad. Prof looks like she will be good, has an English accent. Six other professors will be teaching material in the course, too. Not really a first for me, I had a group of five teach my full-year English 113 course last year. It was a good experience, so I'm expecting it to be the same for this class. Final will only cover winter term material, so that's a plus. BIOL 207. Prof is funny, class size is large but not gigantic, iClicker will be used often. I think I'll enjoy his class. Went into the material right away, starting with a little review. BIOCH 200. So many people in this class. Prof, I thought, was from Atlantic Canada because of her accent, but after listening to her for a while I think she's Irish. Has a sense of humour about her. We have to play an online biochemistry game for review, thought that was pretty sweet. Was also glad to hear that the course will be more biology than chemistry. Not like it makes the course any more appealing, though. PMCOL 201. Took this one because it's only offered to second year students and I thought I could use it for science credit for when I get into the Immunology and Infection program. Material seems a bit dry, but it's a lot of basic memorization, so shouldn't be too bad. Prof isn't... as interesting as the others this term, and also a bit more, uh, academic? He made a comment about doing Twitter and SMSing... I was half-expecting him to call us youngins and chide us for drinking in the Beer Gardens. But he's okay. There are two other profs teaching the course though, so shouldn't be too bad.

Today. CHEM 263. Good old organic chemistry... Walking in, I thought I was a little late. Fortunately, I found a friend of mine and sat down beside him, then I noticed the professor. My first reaction: "Ohhh no, not him. I hope that I'm in the wrong class." And I was. Four months of not university has left me a bit rusty up there, and I learned that I was actually half an hour early for my chem class and was currently sitting in a first year biology lecture with a prof whose class I had already taken (and whom I felt could probably do better at, you know, teaching... really nice guy though). Right place, wrong time, but I didn't really care. When my actual class came around, I was pretty glad. Prof is funny and friendly and Lithuanian (which, hey, I thought was pretty interesting) and looks like he knows what he's doing. Started the material in this class too, but mostly review. I'm gonna have to catch up with everything I learned last year.

And in between all this includes volunteering at Clubs' Fair, getting a BSA card (discounts everywhere!), getting a bunch of free stuff, going to Joey Tomato's, seeing a whole lot of people and catching up, and soaking up the university atmosphere. In one of my conversations, actually, someone was telling me about how they found the whole university spirit thing to be really overbearing, or perhaps annoying is a more accurate word, and I guess I understand that. But there's something about being back at university, though, that gets me energized, I guess is the word, and it's impelling.

Well anyways, here's a video from one of my top bands. It's Metric's Sick Muse. I've been starting to listen to them repeatedly again. They make super good music, but I really just have to say it... I get the weirdest feeling that their music and their videos are very cleverly and slyly satirical and ironic in nature, almost demeaningly sarcastic and taunting to those who listen to them. At least with their last two albums. Maybe I'm just paranoid with this band, but I dunno. It's something I've noticed with this song and video, along with some others. The music's good though, I like it.

clubs' fair.

noreply@blogger.com (Marzan) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 05:58:00 +0000

What's good, stranger?

Today, I went out for dim sum with a bunch of friends that I haven't seen in months. REALLY GOOD. I need to do this more often.

I find that my mood has been so relaxed lately, and I've really been enjoying the company of others. Thing is, I'm sorta concerned about university work dispersing this disposition that I've settled into. But I see it as a test of patience and commitment, I guess, as a lot of important things are. And that's a good thing too, yeah?

Today and yesterday have revolved around one thing mainly, and that one thing would be repping the Red Cross on campus. Uh, sure. Let's go with that. The campus club has been busy with trying to get our club's name out there during Clubs' Fair, and so like a good portion of the University's 300 plus clubs, we had a table set up in the Butterdome, where all the new students had to get their OneCards. I was late both yesterday and today (slept in and dim sum are the respective causes) but it was all good. So far, we've gotten over 100 people signed up to our mailing list, and way more than that amount in pamphlets given out, which I believe is an improvement over last year. And Clubs' Fair is still going on tomorrow in the Quad, so that's where I'll be in between classes. We've been wondering though, how many of the people on the mailing list will actually go to the first general meeting on the 21st? Lots of people just sign up for a bunch of stuff and don't even go. Everyone does it. I did it last year. I did it this year. Well, actually not this year. Or at least not yet. I signed up with... Model UN, the Liberals, and the New Democrats. (I was accused of being a left-wing extremist upon revealing this to a friend... Socialism for everyone, I say! Haha.)(Ah, to be a university student, I am learning to appreciate it.) I don't expect much to come out of it, though. I might go anyways for free food? Let's see. I'm more interested in Safewalk and the Dance Club.

Oh. And Red Cross, I guess.

In related news, Red Cross continues its use of me in that I will be going to a meeting tomorrow after classes at Northern & Central Alberta RED CROSS HQ. Standard stuff. Top secret location and confidential proceedings, obviously. It's a global plan to take over the world, establishing the iconic red crosses, crescents, and diamonds around the world. Or, you know, not. You never know though... national slogan, after all, is "Across the street, across the world."

Other than seeing red for the last two days, other rather mundane things have happened. I got my locker on Monday. Unfortunately, there was still a bunch of stuff in it: a bunch of black mesh University bags, two unopened bottles of iced tea, and an organic chemistry vial. I brought all the stuff back to the Chemistry Storeroom, and after verifying that I had the correct locker (well yeah of course it's the right locker, I chose locker 229 with an intent) I was simply told that they must've missed my locker. Top notch, Chemistry. Top notch. I also found out that bussing between my house and campus will be much easier with a new route going from South Campus to... my house. Pretty sweet. On the LRT, I saw a first year wearing five-toed shoes. Like freaking gloves, pretty crazy. Picture or it didn't happen? (Yeah, I did it... you know what to do.)

And finally, everyone knows about the sadistically wonderful FML, yeah? Well, it has a snazzy counterpart in MLIA, or My Life Is Average. It's rather nice, with happy feelings all around. My favourites so far include:

Today I installed a program and it asked if I had read and agreed to the terms and conditions. I hadn't, but I clicked 'yes' anyway. The program didn't know I lied, and began to install. MLIA.

Today, I had to choose between a strawberry flavored Dum Dum and a mystery flavored Dum Dum. I decided to be adventurous and choose the mystery flavor; it was strawberry flavored. MLIA

I've never seen a moose... today was no exception. MLIA.

Today, I went to the store and bought some Land o Lakes cheese. On the label, it said 'LOL Cheese'. I laughed. MLIA

Today, no one wished me a happy birthday. I wasn't suprised, today isn't my birthday. MLIA.

Today at Walmart I was walking down the aisle with the bras and such. A little boy entered the aisle with his mother. He took one look and screamed "Ewwww!" then ran away, covering his ears. I'm still trying to figure out why he was covering his ears and not his eyes. MLIA

Today my husband and I pulled over at McDonalds after visiting a viking market. We were fully dressed up as vikings. The girl at the drive-through stared at us. I told her it is rude to stare at time-travellers. MLIA

Last night, I was really hot in bed, so I took one leg out of the covers. Then I got scared because it was too dark and my leg felt unprotected from somthing hiding under my bed. So I put it back under the blankets. MLIA

Today, I saw a commercial for the Snuggie. I thought it was stupid idea but I couldn't change the channel because I was under a blanket and I didn't want my arms to get cold. MLIA

Today at school I leaned back in my chair and it made a farting noise. I casually did it again so everybody would know it was the chair. MLIA

Today, while at the mall, I watched a kid switch the "Push" and "Pull" labels on the doors to the parking lot. Thinking it was a stupid prank, I continued shopping. Forty five minutes later, I pushed the pull door and walked face first into it. Touché, clever kid. MLIA

Today, I realized that the word OK is a sideways person. I totally forgot about what I was doing and proceeded to make a whole family of OK people on a word document by using different colors and font sizes. MLIA

Today, in Science class my teacher asked us what we thought of when we heard the word "evolution". I thought of Pokemon, but I didn't say anything. MLIA.

Today in maths class the answer I got to one of the questions was 123. The answer to the next question was 456. I was a lot more excited than I should have been. MLIA

Today I didn't know what to do on the computer, so I started to click and drag the mouse across the screen to make hilighted rectangles. It was amusing. MLIA

Today, I was walking around my neighborhood and I came across a pair of shorts. I didn't think anything of it until a few feet further down the road I found a sports bra, then a pair of underwear, then plastic gloves. I don't know what's been going on in my neighborhood, but I'm offended that I wasn't invited. MLIA

Today, I had a staring contest with my cat. I was about to blink so I turned my head and blinked and turned back so she wouldn't notice. When I turned my head back she hit me with her paw. I'm glad my cat knows cheating is unacceptable. MLIA

Today, I wanted to comment on a friend's status, but it was only a few seconds old and I didn't want to seem like a stalker. I waited a few minutes and then commented. MLIA

LOL and so on. Okay, my turn?

Today, I was putting out free candy for the Red Cross table to attract potential newcomers at my university's Clubs' Fair. As people were getting and enjoying their candies, I realize that I never had one. I frowned, looking at the candies. Then I grabbed a handful and stuffed them in my backpack. MLIA.

take flight.

noreply@blogger.com (Marzan) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 08:27:00 +0000

Previous

An Other Green World: Take Flight

good notes.

noreply@blogger.com (Marzan) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 08:21:00 +0000

What's good, stranger?

Today, my summer break has died. But I don't mind.

I've been feeling inspired for the past few days, but today especially (or yesterday if you want to be technical). And so the past few days, the end of summer for me in a practical sense, have been really good. Simple, maybe... but good. *HAPPYFACEEEE*

So let's go through my past few days.

Thursday 27. I went to the University again to try and tie up some loose ends or something. Met up with some friends at the bookstore in Student(')s(')(?) Union Building and found the textbooks that have been posted up on my beartracks account. But I didn't buy them. Screw that sh*t. I wasn't going to bother with carrying around three giant textbooks yet, so I decided to save that for later. (Actually it just so happens that I am sitting on a pile of last years' underused science textbooks. I am now finding so much use in them as a chair-like pile of objects, it's kind of relieving... And painfully ironic.)

Uhhh... Went to register my iClicker (I use "iClicker" but it's actually marketed as the "i>clicker" which is actually kind of stupid) for my BIOCH class. I would have done it at home if it weren't for the identification code being worn off due to my heavy use of the iClicker in my linguistics class last winter term. So I went to Medical Sciences building to get it confirmed at the biochemistry office. I had to wait for a while because an international student (read: fob) had issues with her schedule (she had to put off an English class until third year, incidentally), but I didn't really mind. Then, before leaving, I went to get my locker combination at the storeroom in Chemistry building. Unfortunately, they weren't open EVEN THOUGH their lunch break had been over for half an hour. Kind of a disappointment, but I'll just get my locker tomorrow (or today if you want to be technical).

HEY, if you've been paying attention or have cared to even keep up, you'd have known (er, correct tense?) that I've been looking forward to the fall term. To show what I can look forward to (haha, uhh sure), this is my fall schedule. Uhh... yay...(!(?))

Hahah, excuse the doodles, I was bored out of my mind. Well actually, I redid my schedule by hand on my laptop (er, using tablet) to exercise my newly found Inkscape skills, which I will be talking about later. So yeah, I'm making science this term. Biology, organic chemistry, biochemistry, physiology, and pharmacology. It's gonna be a... damn good term. A sea of science courses and not a single arts credit to be found. In winter fall, too. Guess I'm just gonna have to suck it up and work diligent. "No gallivanting," "maintain studies," and "make homeworks" as they would say in the mother country.

Ooooookay then. Anyways.

I also got my new backpack (black, Dakine) and went out for donair which I should probably do more often seeing as I now realize they are so good. Plus bubble tea from T&T Supermarket. END THURSDAY.

Friday 28. Nothing. That is all you need to know.

Saturday 29. Celebration of my cousin's birthday. And this means lots and lots of chomping on dim sum at Jumbo in the west side. SO GOOD. And more bubble tea. Consumption made my day that day. I also started on strip four of my comic. END SATURDAY.

Sunday 30. Sylvan Lake. Haven't been there in a while. The family used to go every summer, actually, but we stopped one year for some reason. And now we've returned (with another family, too). Weather was really nice. Got some studying for my Learner's done... I actually saw a billion Filipinos there, half of whom seemed to have the same fold-up Canada flag chair that my family had brought. So weird. Dad was mistaken for Manny Pacquiao, again. Walked around for a while. Saw some friends and hung out with them for a while. I ate something substantial... uh, every three hours or so? So I've had like five meals today... ALWAYS HUNGRY.

I mentioned that today (yesterday) was really inspiring. I found today (yesterday) was a space to just breathe and relax away from the usual and to slow things down a bit. I was sitting on the ledge that comes up to the beach and just sat there in the sun looking over the smaller kids that had come with us and I let my gaze wander. I looked over to the horizon and the boats and shoreline and trees across the lake, and I honestly thought it looked picturesque. It was inspiring because I was able to draw some creativity from that moment. So after spending a good nine or ten hours of solid leisure and recreation, I was able to draw from that inspiration and I am now finished comic strip number four (first one to be done completely in Inkscape, which I believe I now have a firm grasp on), and I got to work out some stuff on the piano that I've shelved until now. Original stuff, too. Not great or anything, but it's a step in the right direction, I think. I'll be posting it after this.

So yeah, I was a little sidetracked (true story on facebook: "I JUST WATCHED MMK. filipino dramas are so lame, but mmk gets me each time. and it's so crazy how every episode is based off a true story. my god, it makes being filipino so meaningful, not even joking.") so this post is a little late in coming. And a little too late at night... I start university life again tomorrow (today). I'm not required to be helping out with Red Cross club stuff until after noon, but I should probably start adjusting my sleep cycle which has been wracked by the summer months. Other than that, it's been clear skies ahead. And I expect it to stay like that for a while. (CHEEZY.)(...)(Whatevs.)

stuff will be going somewhere... in time. (uh, what?)

noreply@blogger.com (Marzan) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 05:49:00 +0000

What's good, stranger?

Today, I am feeling rather anxious. Perhaps it's because I haven't posted anything for about a week, making for a rather boring piece of the interwebs. But a more likely explanation is that the fall term is fast approaching and will be upon most of us university students in about the same amount of time. In a week, that is. I hope that wasn't too ambiguous. (Hmm... It probably was.)

Yes, you see it's got me all incoherent and ramble-y. Maybe it's not readily apparent in a blog post, but in person it's not too pretty (sorry, family). It's not because I am dreading all the assignments and the workload, though. On the contrary, it's because I want to just get started already. I'm feeling unproductive, what with my current state of unemployment, and having a creative roadblock of sorts with regards to my comic isn't doing much to alleviate the situation either. I'm hoping that returning to hit the books will get me going again, and that I'll be inspired by being back on campus.

Another thing I can't wait for is autumn. As much fun and relaxed that the summer months are, I'd have to say that fall is my favourite season. My friends every now and then like to point out how I wear too much in the summer and too little in the winter, as if I dressed like it was fall. I dunno, I guess I just like the weather. But that's still not for another month, about.

What have I been doing lately? On Sunday, I went out to support my relations at Balikbayan Project Runway. My brother and cousin have a clothing line going on with a friend (or two?) of theirs, and they were one of the many lines showcased at the fashion show to raise awareness and money for street children back in the mother country. Their clothing line is called Burglars Clothing and they've just released their Fall/Winter 2009 line. I'm pretty proud of their accomplishments, and they got a lot of deserved exposure at the show. Other than them, there was a lot of other talent there, and not just other designers. There were some really good singing performances, and also some dance crew and beatboxing battles. Overall, a really good night.

Friday was a pretty busy day. Around noon, I went to West Edmonton Mall to buy some stuff. Then I bussed over to the University to get a locker in the Chemistry building... I've managed to get locker 229, hahah, pretty happy about that. Then I made my way to a Red Cross Club meeting. I'll be going back to the University starting this Monday instead of Wednesday, to do some Red Cross stuff. Right after my meeting I LRT'd it straight downtown, with an expired transfer no less, to dinner with friends at Blue Plate Diner. Nice atmosphere, decent food, good company. I managed to scarf down appetizers, a bunch of drinks, and the equivalent of two main entrees. For the price of one! Thanks, friends. Then we went out for a walk and took some pictures. After that I think I'd like to get into amateur photography as a hobby. And that would call for a really nice camera, none of this compact digital camera business. I was thinking of working my way towards a Nikon D5000 or D3000. Not sure if that's too much for amateur photography, though. I'm gonna have to do some research on this one.

In the meantime, here's a pretty legitimate video I found on YouTube. An ambitious photography project, on many levels. I'd like to do some ambitious project like this one day. I've got some small ideas, but with how things are going, creatively, right now... that won't be for a while...

on an other green world.

noreply@blogger.com (Marzan) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:58:00 +0000

What's good, stranger?

Today, I am going to be finally posting up what I've done so far on my comic strip project. But first, a little background on the subject.

For the past year, the idea has been in my head that I should do a comic strip. To be honest, I'm not sure how or why it came to be. I've never actually done anything of the sort, a big artistic project like this. But I've always had an interest for webcomics. So while I try my hand at this, I believe that even though it may or may not be artistically incredible or very captivating or interesting content-wise, at the very least it will be an opportunity and a way for me to explore my creativity and develop artistic skills.

As of now, I have made three strips. I've decided that the form I will be using will be five panels, horizontally placed beside each other which I guess is pretty traditional for a comic strip. However, I'd like to explore different ways to work with this space. An example would be my use of the last four panels of A View From the Surface. For the most part, though, you'll be seeing the standard one-panel, one-scene view.

To create everything, I've been using mainly GIMP and then MS Paint for very basic functions. Strangely enough, though, I've also been using Microsoft OneNote to do drawings. I would have to say that the reason is that I'm more comfortable using it than I am using GIMP. I also am using a tablet PC, so that couldn't hurt hahah. The thing is, I'm not too satisfied with the quality I'm getting using a raster graphics program. So, I'm looking into using Inkscape, which is a vector graphics program. I actually used to have Inkscape earlier this year, and I had done a few panels of a random comic strip and was pretty impressed with the results... until it closed somehow and all my work had gone with it. Which is why you always save. Always. Sigh... Anyways, it will take me a while to (re)learn how to use another graphics editing program, but I think it will be worth it seeing as the quality of the graphics will be better than what I have now.

OKAY, so anyways here's what I've done so far. Click on the image to get a full view.

An Other Green World: Epigraph

An Other Green World: A View From the Surface

An Other Green World: Goodbye, New Hope

Decent, yeah? Well, that's all I'm doing before I fully switch over to Inkscape. As a beginner at this sort of thing, I would greatly appreciate any tactfully-worded and constructive criticism! I've left direction sort of open-ended. What I mean by that is I haven't fully thought out where I'm going with the plot of the comic. I'm pretty sure I want to have some sort of story line, but I'm still not too sure what I should do. I was thinking it would involve a journey of some sort. I was also thinking that the main character would be a university student, seeing as how I am one myself and I think I would be able to draw a plotline from something that I know well. Hm, what else... by the quote in Epilogue, it looks like the content will be deep. But I'm only tricking you. OH, and I would definitely like to include some humour. For sure.

So the basic premise of the story, then? Well, okay brace yourselves for it: A comic about... a small-town guy moving for university who wants to spread the faith and along the way learns a thing or two about the world. YES? NO? WEIRD? LULZ? Ahhh, well it's not set in stone or anything, I'm open to suggestions. For sure I'm having someone move for university, so I'll be focusing on that for the next few strips.

Anyhow, I'm excited for all the possibilities that making this comic will open up. Hopefully, it will be a good ride. :)

brock tyler.

noreply@blogger.com (Marzan) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 02:21:00 +0000

Balancing a homegrown-epic sound with intimate melodies and playful, carefully chosen words,
"Unclosing" proves itself an enjoyable and cohesive collection of well-written songs
that just might make you laugh, cry, remember, romanticize, contemplate,
jump for joy, dance on your car, say hello to a stranger,
stare into outer space, and pump your fists in the air while yelling "yessssssss!".

What's good, stranger?

Today, I'd like to introduce you to Brock Tyler.

Based here in Edmonton but having roots over in Winnipeg, Brock Tyler is an independent multi-instrumentalist songwriter who has produced some seriously good folk music. Citing broken bottles, leaving home, the night sky, and "a singularly peculiar word in a poem written by a communist" as a few of his inspirations, Brock Tyler has produced in his first and latest album—Unclosing—eleven very well-crafted songs. The lyrics, I must admit, are incredibly thoughtful and the album deserves merit based on that alone. But lyrics aside, the instrumentation is rich and diverse, making for excellent sounds. Personally, hand claps in songs really capture my attention, and there is a whole lot of that in Unclosing.

"Yessssssss!"

I actually came across Unclosing by chance when I was last at Café Dabar. The cover art caught my eye and after picking it up I decided to take a chance on it and I bought it. And I am extremely glad that I did.

Here are five of my favourite tracks on the album, along with some good excerpts of the lyrics. Unclosing is available on iTunes and Kerfmusic, and if you live here in Edmonton, at Café Dabar, Blackbyrd Myoozik, and Megatunes, all on Whyte.

Why am I so scared to be unclosed when I lay in the rays
In the sandbox exposed to an unpredictable star?

You know, like a playground game with a hollered name from afar
"Come out, come out, wherever you are"

Brock Tyler - Unclosing!

So I step outside into the night and bask in the darkness
The place where consciousness of self's erased,
Bad thoughts too
There is nothing left to say a half a day past noon,
Except "you're all I want" and "all I want is you"

Brock Tyler - Half A Day Past Noon

The dusk is her favourite time of day
With the colours of pink and orange
All swirled and swayed and unafraid
And as the earth turns routinely the sun and horizon
Play their hide and seek week after week
Like lovers that leak their secrets far away and underneath

Brock Tyler - A Happy Song Gone Wrong

I'm constantly guessing at your needs
But letter by letter I'm wrong, incomplete
Just draw lines for my arms so I can cover my face
Or at least give me legs and let me crawl away

Brock Tyler - Hangman

It's been a rendezvous of stranger sorts, a questioning of question marks
But two years speaks a lot to the resolution of broken hearts
And as the summer sets into the sea of autumn leaves and history,
You and me will carry on through river rides and firesides

And I'm all for you, honey
I need you to be for me too and believe we can do this
And you're not a fool, honey
But love needs you to be one for two
And I'll be one for you, honey

Brock Tyler - One For Two