The Morning News - The Non-Expert: Not Fade Away: "The Baby Boomers were fond of their vinyl soul LP’s, sure, but those of us born since The Graduate – and who now swoon over the films of Wes Anderson – have a different relationship to music than our parents, or even our older brothers and sisters. For us, music is omnipresent. A wall-to-wall soundtrack. We listened to it when we did our homework, or washed the dishes, or worked in the yard. We had so many discs under the passenger seats of our cars, they had to move the CD player to the trunk. Sony developed the Walkman for us, then the Discman, but still it wasn’t good enough so Apple gave us the iPod. Now we take on the RIAA because music is like water to us – we bathe in it, cocoon in it – and the music industry, right or wrong, wants to keep its hand on the spigot. Record companies employed the fade-out to convince us the music is always on, and now they’re pissed off because we no longer think that’s a metaphor."

I've been thinking lately that I would like to start taking more pictures using slide film. For those not in the know, there is a difference between regular film and slide film in the way that it is processed. You can't get regular pictures from slide, just plain old slides. You know, the ones that you put in the 'carousel' and display on the sheet hanging from the wall. You need an old school projector which my uncle and my dad both have.

So here is my thinking with regard to this. Often, people joke about having to sit through the long, boring slide show by the family member who just visited Puerto Rico and wants to share all his or her stories. That's an old fashioned thing though that never happens anymore. I experienced this a bit when I was younger but was brought back to the thought a few month ago when I stopped by my uncle's to go through my grandpa's slides. He had about 20 or 30 trays of slides from their trips to England, eastern Canada and other places. It was great to see them and brought back good memories of my grandpa and family. I would like to revisit the concept of the slide show. Inviting friends over to see pictures and share stories about them. Of course, it can be done now with a digital camera, computer and projector, but that just doesn't seem right. So, I will begin to shoot some film and when I get enough interesting pictures, I will have a slide show. We'll see how it all goes. If you have any ideas about possible themes for a particular show, then just let me know.

I should mention also that the trip to Chicago was great. It was just the right amount of seeing new sights, concert going, bumming around the house with friends watching tv and meeting new people. There was too much driving that part is true, but it just made the adventure more exciting, or more boring depending on how you look at it. Customs officers on both sides of the border considered us to be sketchy characters that needed to be searched and questioned. We didn't have any problem with that though because we had nothing to hide. The atmosphere while waiting to be searched and questioned was casual and joking. That made the experience more fun for us because we weren't stressing or upset that we were wasting time that should be spend driving. Once again, the Canadian customs officers were much more polite than their American counterparts. I don't mean to imply anything about American culture in that, I'm just stating my impression of the situation. Oh, and in Weyburn, a kid at the gas station asked us if we were a band. I guess that by looking at the four of us it wouldn't be too bad of a guess but he obviously didn't see the car we were driving. There would never be room for gear in a Saturn.

The next time we hit the road, it will probably be to Vancouver for a weekend. We'll keep an eye out for good bands playing out there that would be worth driving out for. At a paltry 11 hours each way, it should be nothing for us. We also have a few friends out there that would let us stay over so that would make it all easier as well.

Two good things have happened to me so far today.

Number 1. I was talking with Shawn from crusade this morning, having a good conversation about what God is teaching me and what our role as Christians should be in society. It was great but somewhere near the end of it all, something he said (I couldn't for the life of me remember what exactly) spoke deeply to me. God convicted me right there that I need to pay for some software that I got for free. I have known it was what I should do for a while but haven't got around to getting a real version of Office. So, after our talk I went right over to the U of C computer store to price out the software. I knew it cost about $350 dollars so the whole way over there I was praying about and thinking about how much money I have. I decided that I really could cut it financially, but would probably have to watch the spending the rest of the semester. It could be done though and so by the time I reached the store I was prepared to spend the money. I figured after being convicted so strongly about it I couldn't really afford not to either. My walk with God and my ability to listen to his promptings could be jeopardized by it. So I asked if they had any copies of it and they said that I could get a cheap license for it if I wanted. That meant that instead of paying $350 and getting a box with manuals, I could get just the CD and a few restrictions like not being able to upgrade for only $120. Good deal that I jumped on immediately. I was so happy that I followed through on that and it ended up being easier than I thought it would. Whoooo hoooo.

Number 2. Yesterday? or maybe last week, I was waiting at the bus stop in the morning to go to school when a girl drove by in her beat up Mazda. As she drove by, she looked over at me and smiled. It wasn't just a passing glance either, it was as if to say "I see you standing there and would like to say hello because I think I would like to get to know you". She seemed pretty cool, pretty punk rock and just plain pretty so I was fairly impressed. Well, this morning I was standing at the same place again waiting for the bus to school and she drove by again. This time she saw me standing there, recognized me and waved. She actually smiled and waved at me! Amazing! Who does that? Needless to say, I managed to return her wave with one of my own before she drove on. It was just such a good experience, that small gesture, that I think I need to do the same with others as well. You know, tell them that I like the band that is on their shirt, or tell them they have great shoes, or other such things that would make a person feel good about themselves and that they are not alone in their sense of style or belonging. Maybe some new friendships will come out of it all as well.

Just a quick note here about a couple of things.

First, a couple of weeks ago I lost the only key I have for my motorbike. I haven't ridden it since which is a crying shame because the weather has been great the last week or so and I should be riding it now before our eight months of winter. It will be expensive for me to get a new key made.

Second, I am getting almost every card in my wallet replaced, or so it seems. I got a new student id card a couple weeks ago with a nice, new picture of me. Also, I recently received a new Visa and bank card. My old bank card was 9 years old so it was time for a new one. I was having trouble getting cash out of some cash machines with it because the magnetic stripe was wearing out. The other card I am getting replaced is my drivers license. I was scolded by a cop about having my old, yet still permanent, address on it instead of my current one. So, with a new picture and at $20 cost to me, a new card is now in the mail.

Third, Alexisonfire was amazing. Billy Talent was fun. Death From Above was intense. Spitalfield was early. MTV Breakout is really annoying. It was the loudest show this month, the youngest crowd and the most energetic also. Parents wandered around the ballroom looking for their kids before the show was over. They didn't find them and were forced to wait at the bottom of the stairs for them to come when it was all finally done. Embarassing to be a teenager. "Tonight's a school night so I'll come pick you up at ten. I'll meet you right here where I'm dropping you off. Don't be late." I felt so old. We all did. We would have fit in better on the other side of the fence in the beer garden.