Arcade Fire II

I kind of dropped off on the subject of the Arcade Fire's third album The Suburbs. I did this because I think it completely deserves its own blog. Although it wasn't my favourite Arcade Fire album, it really was their breakout. They won Album of the Year at the Grammy's, won the Polaris Prize, and Spike Jonze made a short film called Scenes From the Suburbs, using music from the album. It is a beautifully crafted album, with some darker tunes as well as more upbeat songs. The album really showed Win Butler's impressive craftsmanship as a songwriter, with some of the most creative and beautiful lyrics backed by classic pop-rock melodies behind it, all backed by the Arcade Fire's bread and butter, a full orchestra. The album made them one of the best acts in the world. This album told a story of kids growing in the suburbs, a changing time, when tensions are high. "You never trust a millionaire, quoting the sermon on the mound, I used to think I was not like them but I'm beginning to have my doubts, my doubts about it." This line is one of my favourite from the album, reminding me of the line from Bruce Springsteen's Atlantic City "Everything dies, baby that's a fact, but maybe everything that dies one day comes back." Both lines are just so simple but also whimsical. The album is fabulous, and I'm excited for many more to come.

Arcade Fire

The Arcade Fire are undoubtedly one of the best bands in North America right now. It took a while for them to get their, but after three of the best albums I may have ever heard, they are right there, playing sold out shows around the world. Their debut album Funeral was critically acclaimed, but record sales were low. They had a fairly popular single "Rebellion (Lies)" that got some air time on Much Music, but other than on alternative radio stations not a whole lot of attention was brought too it. It was a masterpiece from beginning to end, one of the most complete albums I've ever listened too. Three years later Neon Bible was released, and was one of the most anticipated albums of 2007. It lived up too the hype, some saying it wasn't as good as Funeral, but others saying otherwise. It was a much darker album, one that seemed to have much more heart and showing the more intense side of Win Butlers song writing. No Cars Go was their biggest single off of that album, which was the most popish of any song on the album. It is personally my favourite Arcade Fire album. The songs are beautifully written, meaningful, and the organs are a beautiful addition to the already multi-faceted Arcade Fire lineup. Intervention, another single off of that album has some lyrics that really capture the essence of the album, such as "Don't wanna fight, don't wanna die, just wanna see you cry."

Who Do You Turn Too?

Watching the Jerry Sandusky trial closely since it came out in the news, and I've been simply appalled by what he was doing. There is so much trust within any coaching staff anywhere, and the fact that he inappropriately misused that trust by taking advantage of children. Sports coaches are people you look up too, and for me they have always been the ones I can talk too if theres something on my mind. Playing basketball in Waterloo I spent about 4 hours a week with my teams coach, and there was definitely a bond that formed throughout the season, and I still talk to him today about anything. I bet Sandusky had that relationship with many of his players seeing as they spent many more hours together, and there was probably a lot of trust put in him. He led them in victory, and he led them in defeat, and that bond was probably very tight between his players and him. He saw that, and took advantage of them not only physically but also mentally. It must have been very damaging for those kids, something I certainly not relate too anything Sandusky did to his players, but it must be shattering for them. Who would they trust after that? Anyone of authority would turn into monsters. I wouldn't be able to go to anyone but my parents with anything after that, it would just be too hard to trust someone not family anymore. Sandusky not only killed his future, he may have also killed that of the young adults he abused.

Disney Daze

Tonight at dinner my mom said the commonly used phrase "that's so weird" and my little cousin immediately asked her "You know that show as well?" and something clicked, the names of disney shows are all designed carefully so they come up in casual conversation. They are made so the names can get out there to anyone who happens to say something like "That's So Random" and instantly a kid will ask another kid "you watch that show too?" If they do, then Disney has already won, and if they haven't ever watched it, they probably soon will, and again, Disney won. I never really thought about it like that before, but tonight it just clicked. Disney are the experts in subliminal messaging, wether it be advertising, or simply aging your kids, they know what they are doing. On saturday mornings, when tons of kids are watching Disney Channel, the shows get more adult as it gets later in the morning, so the older kids are waking up later, and are still able to watch the shows they want on the channel they have grown up with. Disney has designed everything to make lifelong fans out of anyone. They have intricate layers of story within every show and movie so that while younger kids can follow with the simple plot lines, the older kids can pick up on deeper themes and character flaws, all subliminally of course. Everyone watching doesn't know they are doing this, but they are, and Disney are dining out on it, continuing to make millions of dollars off of kids who should be long done watching cartoons.

Right Wing, Wrong Way

In Toronto this weekend we were standing in Yonge/Dundas Square and a middle eastern man was preaching from the Koran and claiming that people are gay because they were all "touched by their uncles as children." He was standing alone, speaking into a microphone, and as much as I didn't agree with his message, the dude had balls. NXNE music festival was going on 25 yards away from him, where their were thousands of people that most definitely didn't agree with his message, but he still stood up their and preached. I believe everyone has a right to speech and their opinion as long as those opinions aren't attacking others. There were a few times people approached him and questioned what he was doing, and one person even went as far as to knock down his speaker. I thought it was horrible what he was saying about the gay community, and yes, I did give him the finger as I walked away, but I also did respect him for speaking up in front of such an obviously left-wing crowd. I wondered if he knew there was no way he was going to change any minds, but obviously he was so passionate about it, he probably didn’t care. I stood there for about 10 minutes listening to him speak, and the only person that showed any sign of support was a man in his early 60’s, well dressed, and with a much younger woman on his arm, and that made me curious if the younger woman agreed with him. Hate towards the LGBT community has been steadily going down as the years go by, because it’s a new generation that is much more forward thinking and accepting. The baby-boomers are on their way out, and so are their ways of thinking. It’s now the left-wing youth that are on the rise in Canada, a welcome change in my opinion. 

Do You Even Go Here?

Yesterday I was traveling all over Toronto, and not once was I able to get a student discount. They would only accept Toronto area student cards. I think that even though it is TTC, student cards from anywhere should be accepted for a discounted ticket. We're all students just the same, and I know a dollar isn't too much of a deal, but it’s just the idea of it that bugs me. Student rates are a great thing, and I would support any business that developed a student rate system, as long as it was inclusive. None of this “you’re not from here so you must pay full price” stuff; there’s no point. It should be you have the system or you don’t, it can’t just go halfway. Taking the Greyhound bus home we were able to use student cards and get a discount rate, and the man didn’t check our student cards too carefully, because he sees three young boys wanting to get home and assumes we are students. Public transit is such a great thing that everyone should use more often, but I don’t think people should be deterred from using it just because they aren’t students in the GTA. 

Just yesterday I was watching TSN and they were doing a segment on a 14 year old who has qualified for the US Open this weekend. I was blown away that a kid younger than me had qualified, not only because of skill, but as well because of mental capabilities. Golf is one of the most mental sports in the world, and you need to be able to brush off any type of negative action and forget about it in an instant, and I was sceptical this kid was able to do that. Playing on one of the biggest stages in golf, in one of the toughest tournaments of the year is quite a spot to make a PGA debut. Starting kids off too early and training them too hard at young ages often is terrible for the athlete later on in their career. Muscles and bones aren't full developed yet, so any injuries he sustains now will be detrimental to his health later on in life. At 14 he still has a lot of playing years in front of him, and some of those years should be spent perfecting his game. At 14, I can't believe that he and his coaches believe that he's got a perfect game, something you need to even think about competing against the worlds best. There are guys like Tom Watson still playing and even competing at age 50, and he has been perfecting his swing for years and years, a 14 should not be on the same playing level already. There is so much pressure put on kids to succeed in sports these days that many have already have had major injuries to things like knees and ankles, keys to any sport. Young bodies just aren't built yet for major sport designed for men, it puts too much strain on the body, and this young athlete is going to have to deal with that. If his playing career starts now, he will not be golfing past age 30, there will just be too much strain on the body. Tiger Woods found that, starting early, and now he is struggling to make cuts, because his body just isn't able to play like he wants it too anymore. I'm of the opinion that it doesn't matter how old you are, it's the amount of activity you do that wears out the body. If you're 14 years old playing golf out there, having to drive the ball 300+ yards to be able to compete, you will be rapidly aging your body, and it won't hold up into his 40's. He may have to face serious consequences into his senior years when his body just shuts down, due to the strain it's been under for so many years. The smart thing to do if I were this kids coach would be let him play in this tournament, show him he isn't ready for this, and then let him practice, work hard, and then enter the PGA again when his body has fully developed and he can actually compete with the best players in the world.