On The Post: 2010

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Try Something New

Since I disappeared for such a while I thought I would provide two interesting films.

A short music video filmed in 7-D, which I'm a little confused about. It's promoting a dance troupe, who if the amount of costume changes say anything, are very good. The main difference that I notice is that everything is slightly slower. Nevertheless it's visually stimulating and overall pleasant to watch:

The Satin Dollz in "Whatever Lola Wants" from Dan Blank on Vimeo.

And this one is good to drive home the fact that in this world we really aren't all that different. I have a small problem with it, I feel like it treats everyone as if they are completely unintelligent. Or maybe I just have too much optimism for this world... It still drives home my post-it of today.

Think About It from Wait A Minute on Vimeo.

xOK

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Love Dreams

So beautiful: Stowaway by Gianna Lauren

The following pictures are from the visually beautiful blog: Liebemarlene Vintage.

Check it out, there are a lot more pictures at the source. I feel this blog perfectly conveys the dream-like quality that some people are just able to create around themselves.

xOK

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Stick Out!

Would we all just sing if the world stopped? I Want the World to Stop by Belle and Sebastian

I concentrate on those on the fringes of society. Why do I want to talk with someone who fits perfectly into every situation, one who knows how to behave? Where is the fun in that? Life is boring without those that don't bother with uniformity. I know those who conform are needed and I've had plenty of pleasant conversations with many... but there is a spark that they lack. I don't really know what it is but there is something missing.

Maybe it has to do with the path we chose to follow each minute. Though this maybe grandoise, every decision we make continues us down a path or twists us to another.
Maybe towards a path where you just wander for a year, or where you sit and just breathe in nature.

I think I would love to just sit and read books for a whole year, no computer, no tv, nothing but books. The path that isn't just the one where you go to school, get a job, get married and live content... It may work for some but not for me I think. I want to wander a bit after school... maybe nowhere concrete but just somewhere.

xOK

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Break Free From Fear

Trippy Canadiana : Sun by Caribou

Most of us are ruled by fear. We fear the unknown, we fear change, we fear zombies (seriously they are scary). We conduct our lives based on this fear, we try to not cause turmoil in our lives and just live.
I remember once reading an author's interesting theory: that if you accept the pain you feel while the pain is being inflicted it won't hurt as much as if you resist. Could it be the same thing with fear? If you accept what you are scared of is there a chance of you countering it?

I'm breaking free from fear by posting this fuzzy picture.

Last time I went to my parent's place I picked up one of my notebooks from high school. This one was full of poems... And as I looked through them, well there are actually no words to describe the atrocities that I've written.
This time I'm breaking free from my fear of my teen writing by providing you an example of my poetry.... oh dear:

Twinkling high in the dark, black never ending sky
They shimmer and shine to no end
Many call them balls of gas
But I know better
Stars are really alive
They dance and smile down at us
Their huge sleeves blow around them
As they grow older they get bigger
With long golden beards and a big fat belly
They twinkly even more
We name them and never forget them
Until they die
Exploding and scattering their remains
So that a new life can be born
And we can name them again

I hoping the music distracted you enough.

What fear do you want to break away from?

xOK

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Take Action

With the days getting colder, the heat being on at my place it's time for another Canadian band! Down a Hole by In Antartica

Perhaps everything terrible is in its deepest being something helpless that wants help from us - Rainer Maire Riike

Today, do something! be more than a simple spectator. Sympathize with those that you previously would have no sympathy for. Maybe they are having a tough day. Why should you be the one who also comes off as cold or rude? So what if you are just reacting instinctively against the rudeness? Don't let that win. Don't react but simply be.

xOK

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Thirst for Any Knowledge

It's important to always be learning. To always be searching for something new. Each week I go to trivia at the Royal Oak (a pub in Ottawa whose food I am slowly becoming sick of...) There I've learned how to open my brain to more knowledge. At the first round we were awful, not being able to recall anything. Now we have quick knowledge, available at the ready. I feel like I've opened up new parts of my brain.

So read National Geographic, the news, anything really. Educate yourself about something!
I give you this knowledge: Kim Jong-nam is the eldest son of Kim Jong-il (the North Korean dictator). Once he attempted to smuggle himself into Japan with a fake Japanese passport in an effort to get to Tokyo Disneyland.

Knowledge doesn't always have to be something that is in the news. It can be as simple as matching clothing. I think it's just important to always want more.
And finally a fun short video. Maybe this is the knowledge you are thirsting for?

One Night Stand from Jack Tew on Vimeo.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

In Between Dreams

To start it all off: A super catchy song by Graffiti6: Stare Into the Sun! I've attached the video simply for curiosities sake. It is just me or is he completely not singing the lyrics? It is very much a dream sequence music video.

A portion of Poe's poem "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?

When awake I feel like I am only waiting for the next time to sleep and to dream. I place great worth on my dreams. Sometimes I wake up with such a satisfied feeling after having a particularly pleasing dream or even disturbing. Dreams are where my mind ranges free. I feel that when people reveal their dreams to me they reveal their personality. There are some people I know who only tell me boring dreams. They are obviously very well cemented into the present. I like to float everywhere.

xOK

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

The Aspect of a Star

Why fear the night when the night brings such calm? Protection.

And link to this amazing photographer: http://plainjoephotoblog.com/lighting/from-darkness-to-the-light/

xOK

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Are you happy?

I know it has been said that once you ask if you are happy the opposite becomes true. But why? What if I'm asking to simply remind myself that I am happy? Maybe my happiness is so full that I can't control it at all. The littlest things bring me joy: the rich fall colours, ice cream, the smell of a new book.
Today I bought a book and just let myself breathe in the scent of it. It was a joyous moment. At that point I knew happiness shouldn't be grandiose gestures, but simple everyday moments.
So never, ever think asking yourself something is the true indication of the opposite. Believe in what you believe or just let yourself go.

And since I am on the theme of books. A video I found about an art-project book.

Book from bethan mure on Vimeo.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Find it

Stop asking yourself where is it?

Instead simply:

An amazing video about someone who was lost....

MOMENTOS from Nuno Rocha on Vimeo.

Have a great day!
xOK

Monday, September 27, 2010

Is Philosophy Dead?

The Moon Asked the Crow by Cocorosie:

This all began with a conversation I overheard on the bus. A guy was telling his friend about his search for a philosophy book. He walked into the book store with full intentions of purchasing this obviously enlightening book, only to find that there was no section on philosophy. On the bus he asks his friend, "Dude does this mean philosophy is dead?" Unfortunately I had to get off at that point. I should have stayed on and listened to the rest of it. I'm so curious as to what these two guys could have come up with.

Instead it got me thinking... Is everything continuing in a perpetual cycle? Is it possible to come up with a new theory?

Philosophy used to be about pushing the limits of thought. In our time science seems to have replaced that. What has philosophy become in the modern age?

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Please be careful with the edges of the world

A breezy cover for a chilly day: Fools Rush In by She and Him:

The world is round, but the edges they are so delicate. So very very delicate.
We aren't gentle. We tug and pull. We are impatient. We look up, we look away. We try to see anything else but what is there. Take heed for caution is necessary. Caution in a world where a click leads to a virus, destroying everything you have toiled for, where people seem to have no intentions except greed.

Yet, there is always hope. People and the world are so much less than we wish and at the same time so much more.

Embrace in the so much more.

xOK

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Can you bind the hearts of people together?

Some great Canadian music: Your Hands (Together) by the New Pornographers:

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

First off, those teach English overseas posters are everywhere. I think I need to go to one of the seminars one day.

People are so distant with each other. I want to bind people together, to make those who would never have become friends, be friends. It can also go on a bigger scheme of things. If we could bind hearts together, could we bind minds? Could we create peace?
To proceed into shallower areas: this era of ipods and online dating has ruined true connections. True connections that would have started with one look. Now this look is almost impossible, simply because at least one of the two will have headphones in their ears. Or if a conversation does start one person will look to their cell phone. I am incredibly irritated by people who check their texts in mid-conversation with me. Do you really think that text is something life changing? Obviously life changing texts happen... But not often. Maybe one day when someone checks their phone in mid-conversation with me I'll just walk away. I mean isn't that the equivalent?
Don't get me wrong: technology is great. The lack of connection isn't. It makes me fear for the future. Instead of going to the bar to meet someone, will future generations text random numbers instead?

On a happier note:
SO MUCH FUN: If you live in Ottawa (or will be in the area on Saturday) I have a recommendation for you: DVAS is playing at Zaphods. Zaphods is always a good time. And DVAS is a great band. Right now I'm listening to them and dancing away (yes in my chair, don't underestimate my skills). I've attached a link, so discover them!
DVAS: Society

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

xOK

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Take the Time

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Everyday we are rushing everywhere. But I promise you if you just stop for a moment, only one moment.
That moment will be one of the best ones that you'll have.
So take the time to tie your shoes slowly, to stare at posters, to enjoy the deliciousness of telling a small lie, to just stop and breathe.

"My gripe is not with Lovers of the Truth but with truth itself. What succour, what consolation is there in truth, compared to a story? What good is truth, at midnight, in the dark, when the wind is roaring like the bear in the chimney? What you need are the plump comforts of a story. The soothing, rocking safety of a lie" -- Diane Setterfield, The Thirteenth Tale

x OK

Monday, September 13, 2010

Be Proud

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

I am proud. Proud of my dry, cracked and hard heels. Most women shave the rough skin, creating an aura of softness. Yet, it is completely false. Their heels are only temporarily "fixed".

My heels, though prove that I've traveled, prove I've done something in my life.

They clip, prod, pick and worry over their heels. I worry about the hot cement being painful or if there is glass.
What are you proud of?

x OK

Sunday, September 5, 2010