Brandon's Blog

I thought this was fitting,

Wow.

I honestly can't say, I didn't expect it at all..the Leafs are actually making changes!  First they fire their head coach.  Then they sign the 5th overall draft pick who is widely believed to the be the best up and coming defensemen in the NHL.  Then they permit Sundin to speak with Montreal and the New York Rangers.  THEN, they release Andrew Raycroft and Kyle Wellwood, NOW..they've bought out Darcy Tucker's remaining contract!  Un-freaking-believable!  It looks like the Maple Leafs as you know them are changing.   Can you imagine?  Can you imagine if they make the playoffs?!  I don't know if I can handle that!

Either Darcy Tucker is surprised or shocked?



Either way, its the end of an era.  I'm slowly waiting to see what else they'll do.  The Leafs need to make the playoffs..that should be their only long term goal at the moment.

So, I saw Hulk last night.

I enjoyed it.  HOWEVER, I don't think it was amazing or anything.  I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much if they didn't start integrating all of the Marvel movies together.  I loved the Tony Stark cameo and the constant references to Stark Industries.  I also missed the Captain America references.  I also really enjoyed how it spent a good deal of time setting up the 2nd movie.

I loved how it wasn't an origin story but I already knew that it wasn't going into it.  Bruce Banner on the run from the US government, living in South America gave it a better feel.  I still haven't seen the 2003 version but I assume its bad.  Which is unfair of me to say and totally ignorant.  Whatever.  I've heard so many bad things anyway.

So, once again..just like with Batman Begins..I've judged a movie in complete error.  I should've given it a chance before I said that I wouldn't like it..or letting myself go into it with a preconceived view.  Now that that's over with..I can concentrate on the next big superhero movie..and what's easily my most anticipated movie of the year..The Dark Knight.

if you comment on this, i'll pick 7 random interests from your profile, and demand you explain them.

The Syl gave me: coffee, dq blizzards, madamne brown, sin city, the danger zone, trx, vanilla sky.

Coffee:   Coffee is fantastic.  All forms of it.  About a year ago, when I started working at The Co-operators, we had adjusters in from Edmonton.  One of them offered me a coffee and I said, "Nah, that's okay..I already had one cup this morning."  To which she replied, "You work in the insurance industry and you only drink one coffee a day?!"  Well, since then, that's changed..in fact, I've mostly upgraded to Starbucks Skinny Vanilla Latte's..  They're fantastic.

DQ Blizzards:  Blizzards are fantastic.  Ash and I are both on diets and rapidly losing weight..however, we still splurge and get Blizzards once a week.  DQ is the king..or "queen" of ice cream treats..and they also treat you right!  McFlurry is a poor man's version, its usually nowhere near as satisfying.  I will say one thing, I do miss participating in the annual miracle treat day Blizzard splurge..

Madame Brown:  Madame Brown are a band that I've only seen live once I think..but is fronted by one of my favorite people in the world, Mark Crowe.  He's more than likely the funniest person I've ever met.   They are probably one of the only local bands that I would really recommend to anyone and are a great live show.

Sin City:  One of the best and most faithful comic book movies ever made, it was a blast to watch.  I went to see it twice when it was in theatres, which I rarely do for any movie.  I know they're making a second movie, and it should be fantastic.   Its also one of the only movies which I actually prefer on DVD rather than theatrical.  I enjoy it more split into seperate movies rather than the one long cut.

The Danger Zone:  Not quite Improv U, but the next best thing.  If the members of Improv U couldn't get a long, then its good to see a "rival" group form and give us twice the entertainment.

TRX:  This is my website, well..not really mine, but I contribute to it.  Its been up and running for about 4 years now..which is pretty impressive, I don't think anyone expected it to last this long.  If it wasn't for regular contributers Mark, Alex, Gary and Matty..it probably wouldn't have much going for it.  I'm pretty sure it doesn't have a huge audience, but its something enjoyable to do in my spare time.

Vanilla Sky:  Screw the Tom Cruise haters!  Tom Cruise is still a good actor and out of all of his movies, I consider this to be my personal favorite.  Yes, its a remake of a spanish film - which I've never seen - but that really doesn't matter, I'm sure I won't enjoy it nearly as much.  Its visually compelling and the storyline is interesting and timeless.  I'm not really sure what you would classify it as..drama? thriller? fantasy?  Meh, its all of the above.  Always armed with an excellent soundtrack, the director Cameron Crowe did his most under-rated and under-appreciated work in this film.  Other than Gary, I don't think anyone enjoys it nearly as much as I do.

The Moolatte was a great choice at first but I suffered a massive brain freeze.  Which got me wondering, what the hell is brain freeze?  Why does consuming a large amount of a cold beverage (or solid beverage; ice cream) cause this pain?  I looked it up on wikipedia (the source of information for everything in the world) and the actual technical term for it is called "sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia".   So I can understand why it was renamed "brain freeze".  Wikipedia actually didn't give me any information as to why it occurs so I typed it into google and got this response:

"The reaction is (obviously) triggered by the cold ice cream or beverage; coming into contact with the roof of the mouth. It triggers nerves that give the brain the impression of a very cold environment. To heat up the brain again, blood vessels start to swell, which causes the headache-like pain for approximately 30 seconds."

So, there you have it, you have to wonder no longer.

I'm just about to leave the house now..we have to head out and get some groceries and make a pit stop at EB Games to check on Wii Fit.  Man, I want that game!

Now that we've reached the post-postmodern era, presumably there's nobody left who needs liberating from the strictures of conventional fiction. So apart from its narrative high jinks, what does House of Leaves have to offer? According to Johnny Truant, the tattoo-shop apprentice who discovers Zampanò's work, once you read The Navidson Record,

For some reason, you will no longer be the person you believed you once were. You'll detect slow and subtle shifts going on all around you, more importantly shifts in you. Worse, you'll realize it's always been shifting, like a shimmer of sorts, a vast shimmer, only dark like a room. But you won't understand why or how.

Despite his flaws, Truant is an appealingly earnest amateur editor--finding translators, tracking down sources, pointing out incongruities. Danielewski takes an academic's--or ex-academic's--glee in footnotes (the similarity to David Foster Wallace is almost too obvious to mention), as well as other bogus ivory-tower trappings such as interviews with celebrity scholars like Camille Paglia and Harold Bloom. And he stuffs highbrow and pop-culture references (and parodies) into the novel with the enthusiasm of an anarchist filling a pipe bomb with bits of junk metal. House of Leaves may not be the prettiest or most coherent collection, but if you're trying to blow stuff up, who cares? --John Ponyicsanyi 

Only Revolutions

The second novel from cult author Danielewski (House of Leaves, 2000) consists of the dual free-verse narratives of 16-year-old Hailey and Sam, which are meant to be read in tandem; eight pages of Hailey's story are to be read first, then the volume needs to be flipped upside down and read in reverse for Sam's story, until the two narratives meet in the middle. With a Jack Kerouac-like reverence for the open road and a Dr. Seuss-like feel for wordplay, Danielewski tells an epic love story as the two teens travel across time, from the Civil War to the year 2063, in vehicles ranging from a Model T to a Mustang. Though outside forces threaten to undermine them, the two remain forever 16 and madly in love. Danielewski may free his young lovers from narrative constraints, but his readers are not so lucky--many will find the neck-craning and book-turning to be too interactive for their taste. Still, this creative paean to the velocity of young lovers and the vibrancy of American culture is sure to wow the experimental-fiction camp. 

Both sound awesome..I can't wait to get into them.

I have been pretty slack with updating the whole journal but not a lot has been happening.  However, I have a pretty busy month coming up.

Friday Ash decided that her and I should join a gym, an idea that we'd been kicking around for a while but are just now getting around to starting up..which is great.  We went up to the local YMCA on Saturday to have a look around and check out the facilities and to just ask a few general questions about what we'd be getting ourselves into.  The two girls at the front desk gave us surveys to fill out with a buncha questions related to whether or not we're on medications or if we have any heart conditions.  We finish those up and she tells us that a personal trainer of some sort with get in contact with us Monday about what it is we're going to be doing..which isn't too bad.  We heard some conflicting prices on what we'll be charged for the whole thing but its looking like somewhere around $92.50 (for the both of us) a month as well as $20 something for the personal trainer a session.  The whole experience starts on April 1st.  The reason we're waiting a bit is due to the fact that this is a pretty busy month and with our eventual trip to Edmonton Easter weekend..we'd miss a good string of days in the gym while we're gone.

On Wednesday we've got tickets to the Old Timer's Hockey Challenge!  I'm pretty excited as 3 former Toronto Maple Leafs are on the roster (Dave Ellet, Lanny McDonald and..yep, Wendell Clark!).  Should be a blast.  I haven't been to an Old Timer's Hockey game in over ten years (I"m guessing) and I actually know some of these guys now as some stopped playing during the time when I was just becoming a hockey fan.  I'll make sure to bust out my vintage jersey.

So, I guess thats the updates I've got for now.  A few random notes:

I've been reading "My Boring Ass Life: The Uncomfortably Candid Diary of Kevin Smith" and its been pretty entertaining.  Most of his entries started off very similar and each day blended together..but after the first 30 pages or so, I kinda got used to it and its becoming a pretty easy read.  I'm a pretty big Kevin Smith fan and aside from "An Evening with Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder" I'm a pretty big fan of anything he does (and yes, I also download his weekly podcasts, which are on hold as of now seeing as his filming his new movie).

I've started listening to Band of Horses, who are just stellar.  Their new single "Is there a Ghost?" is just brilliant.  I think there is about ten words in the entire song but its just so over-the-top catchy that its insane.  I can partly thank Sean as well as Sirus radio for getting me into them.

No Country for Old Men is out on Tuesday and I'm beyond excited to watch it.  I'm thinking its going to put me into a ridiculous Cohen Brother's kick as I've only seen 2 of their movies (Ladykillers and The Man Who Wasn't There).  I really need to see Fargo.

This weekend, Horton Hears a Who opens up and I've got some high hopes.  The last two Dr. Suess adaptations where pretty sad but where this one is animated (CGI no less), I've got a little more faith in it.

James gave me the epic year of 1986.

I'd like to write a lot but due to the total randomness of year-picking, I was only 2 years old!

I don't really remember anything from when I was that young other than that I lived in Whitney Pier and chilled out a lot.  I didn't have to go to school, I didn't have to work and I didn't have to worry about anything other than getting fed and I assume, being able to watch Sesame Street.

Man, you have a sweet life when you're 2 years old!  I totally support the George Constanza theory of reverse aging.

So, its Valentine's Day.

We're attempting to go out for food tonight but that may be impossible.  Just like our other plans to go see the new Ryan Reynolds/Abigail Breslon (sp?) movie: "Definitely Maybe"...however, the theatre here is so small, and lacking in the "day-before" purchase of tickets, that it will most likely be impossible to do.  Therefore, we're going to wait until the weekend.

For Valentine's Day, I recieved the best gift ever.  A brand-new 2007/2008 Toronto Maple Leafs RBK Edge Jersey.  I am very pleased with my new aquisition.  I love that I have a fiancee that buys me things I REALLY want but in the end, do not need whatsoever.  :)



Also, on an unrelated note, I've discovered the existence of http://www.brandonsears.com  Apparently this guy is working in the financial industry and is using my email as his own personal email address.  I own brandonsears@hotmail.com dammit!  No one else does!