Me Talk Latin One Day – The Education

Lat⋅in –noun
[lat-n]
1. an Italic language spoken in ancient Rome, fixed in the 2nd or 1st century b.c., and established as the official language of the Roman Empire.
As mentioned in my review of David Sedaris's book of memoirs, Me Talk Pretty One Day, I feel inadequate about being a unilingual person in a bilingual city.

My hope was to brush up on my French skills, but I began to realize something - it’s difficult to understand verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections in another language when, quite frankly, you don’t really have a grasp of what they are all about in your own language.

So rather than go back to grade one and start English all over again, I decided I would take a different approach. I figured that since many languages have Latin roots, that maybe if I learned Latin first it would not only help me to understand English better, but any other Latin based language I choose to learn there after, such as French and Spanish.

That is the plan anyway.

Today was my first day at the local University learning Classical Latin basic grammar and vocabulary skills and I can already tell I am in for a rough ride.

Wish me luck – or as the Romans may have said ‘votum mihi fortuna’.



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Coming Through Slaughter – The Novel

jazz –noun
[jaz]
1. music originating in New Orleans around the beginning of the 20th century and subsequently developing through various increasingly complex styles, generally marked by intricate, propulsive rhythms, polyphonic ensemble playing, improvisatory, virtuosic solos, melodic freedom, and a harmonic idiom ranging from simple diatonicism through chromaticism to atonality.
I recently finished Coming Through Slaughter by Canadian author Michael Ondaatje. At only 156 pages it was a bit of a tough read. The novel is a fictional story about a real life New Orleans jazz musician named Buddy Bolden. Set in 1907 the book is written like jazz is played – all over the place – so at times it was a bit hard to follow. Overall I found it a thoroughly enjoyable read and would recommend it to anyone, and if you are a fan of jazz music, all the better.

Next on the list is Barney's Version by Mordecai Richler.



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Play and Win On A Rainy Saturday Afternoon

game –noun
[geym]
1. a competitive activity involving skill, chance, or endurance on the part of two or more persons who play according to a set of rules, usually for their own amusement or for that of spectators
It’s a rainy Saturday afternoon here in Capital City, staying inside mourning the loss of Summer I’m beginning to feel a little bit bored and a little bit anxious with my financial situation. As you may know, when boredom and anxiety hits I turn to the internet to find some distractions.

Today I stumbled across a site called SkillAddiction.com. This site hosts free online games that you can Play and Win prizes ranging from as little as $5 to upwards of $1,000. The games vary from strategy, action and arcade games to puzzles and card games. If you become a member you can join up to 5 different types of tournaments, including head to head, group tournaments, and progressive jackpot tournaments. The site may be relatively new but they already boast thousands of members and over 50,000 tournaments running daily. With over $10,000 already won by players this could be a fun way to try to pay down my enormous debt.

The only shortcoming I have found with the site so far is the time it takes to actually register. After stumbling across SkillAddiction.com I excitedly sign-up for an account, after close to 30 minutes was still waiting for my verification email. Although it does take some time, it is well worth the wait, so try to be patient, you will thank me for it.

If you end signing up for an account leave your user name in the comments section and I’ll challenge you one of these days. I have to warn you, I got some skills.




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The Folly With Facebook

ad⋅dic⋅tion –noun
[uh-dik-shuhn]
1. the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma
Other than the most notable problems, those concerning privacy issues especially in Canada, Facebook has become to be known as the root of all evil. There are stories of people being fired, not landing a job, students getting expelled from school, and relationships ending in ruin all because of Facebook.

Before social networking websites the only times these things could happen is if someone close to you, whether it be your co-workers, your references, your teachers of your friends and family dropped the ball and put your character in a bad light. Now anyone can tag you in an embarrassing photo, video or note for the world to see.

Granted there are steps you can take to protect yourself, and many of the potential problems can be avoided if you use social networking responsibly. However this is a relatively new technology and the problems have never had to be dealt with before. Many people will require some education on how to responsibly use social networking. Especially the younger people, it’s scary for me to think that they will be the first generation where their entire life is documented digitally, never to be permanently erased.

Thankfully for myself, my highschool years are comprised of a few memories in people’s heads and a couple of pictures, most of which have been lost or destroyed.

For my own experience with Facebook I found it had become an obsession. Working from home, alone, I have been cut off from any type of social interaction. Facebook filled that void. But when my habit became checking the News Page every 20 minutes I knew I was addicted. I kicked the habit cold turkey in the winter of 2008. And like any addiction I actually went through withdrawal.

After a few months of being Facebook free I went back to that monkey and placed him on my back. It’s been 2 months now, sensibly using. I think this time I might have it beat.

Hmm, I wonder if anyone has written anything new on my Wall…

For more reading on the Folly of Facebook check out the top 10 reasons why Facebook is Evil.



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The Trouble With Twitter

lone⋅ly –adjective
[lohn-lee]
1. affected with, characterized by, or causing a depressing feeling of being alone; lonesome.

I was encouraged by my boss to open a Twitter account last year. If you don’t know what Twitter is let me explain.

Twitter is essentially a micro-blogging social network that allows you to post updates of only 140 characters. My boss thought by having a Twitter account it would help with marketing for our clients. Potential partners would easily be able to confirm I am a real person and not some link spammer from India.

Being a regular user of Facebook, Twitter was easy to get the hang of. Essentially your ‘tweets’ are the same as your Facebook status updates.

However the major difference I found between Facebook and Twitter is this – on Facebook my contacts are actual people I know, friends, old highschool pals, acquaintances and even previous one-night stands. On Twitter however my contacts are complete strangers, excluding of course the few people I actually know, like MwiStar from The African Accent.

At first I would update my Twitter account with all the nonsense stuff I was doing in the day along with posting links to some of my marketing contacts. That was until I watched this episode of SuperNews!Now I just can’t do it anymore. I feel ridiculous, and have to laugh at some of my contacts personal updates. I keep thinking ‘None of you have any friends!’.



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The Problem With Plenty Of Fish

damaged goods –noun
[dam-ij-d goo-ds]
1. a person who is impaired, corrupted, or defiled

A few months ago at a dinner party the topic of Internet dating came up, specifically two sites Plenty of Fish, a free dating site apparently run by one guy out of his Vancouver apartment, and a paid site called eHarmony.ca, developed by Dr. Neil Clark Warren. Two of my friends were trying out both of the sites, without any success. The complaint with eHarmoy.ca, besides the monthly fee, was the amount of time it took to actually get a chance to speak with someone. With Plenty of Fish, although it was free, the quality of potential mates was not really there. Although these two friends were not happy with the results, they kept their accounts going for well over 2 months.

I have always been a big proponent against Internet dating. When asked why, my only real argument was that it was too easy. Finding someone should not be like going through a catalogue and ordering merchandise. There is no thrill, no butterflies, and no spark. These were just assumptions on my part, so ever being curious and constantly Chasing Distractions, I decided to test out the world of online dating.

Being in the perpetual state of 'brokeness' I opted for the free dating site and created a profile on Plenty of Fish. Within the first few days I noticed something wrong with the potential mates on the site. No one seemed to respond to any of my emails. After changing tactics and slimming down my original contact I started to receive responses. After building what I assumed was an appropriate time on back and forth communication I attempted to plan ‘dates’, a time a place to meet someone for a drink or a coffee. It was at this point where everyone backed off. Excuses were made, or strange requests such as they would only agree to a date if I could lend them money first.
It may be hard to get the sense of someones personality through email and instant messages, but one thing that does stick out is when people are not right in some way. Now I know at this point if you have been reading my blog that last statement is ‘like the pot calling the kettle black’, but it is true. In my opinion, Plenty of Fish seems to deal in damaged goods.
Or it could just be that I am the one that is damaged goods... nah, that can't be right.
Maybe I should finally take down this ‘motivational' poster my ex-girlfriend gave me:




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The 7-Minute Morning Workout

ex⋅er⋅cise  –noun
[ek-ser-sahyz]
1. bodily or mental exertion, esp. for the sake of training or improvement of health

A friend of mine shared this 7-minute workout with me the other day. It may not seem like a big deal, 7-minutes is not a long time, but after three days of doing this I can already feel it. And let me tell you these 7-minutes are hard, really hard.



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The Twelve Days Of Bluesfest

per⋅fect at⋅tend⋅ance –noun
[per-fekt uh-ten-duhns]
1. the act of attending an event without missing a day
The Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest was twelve days long this year, and being a trooper I managed to go every single day, no matter how much it hurt me. I would love to do a review of every single show I saw, but after seeing over 80 artists I think this post would take me forever. So this is going to be less of a review and more of a list of bands I saw. Please feel free to read them in the tune of ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’:

On the first day of Bluesfest I went to go see:
Amanda Rheaume, Van der Graaf Generator, Amos the Transparent, Monkey Junk, The Black Keys, Sergent Garcia

On the second day of Bluesfest I went to go see:
Brothers Chaffey, Holy Fuck, Iron & Wine, Metric, Oumou Sangare, Ben Harper, The Road Hammers, Elliot Brood

On the third day of Bluesfest I went to go see:
The Stills, Okkervil River, Sam Roberts, Jackson Browne, The Dodos, Steve Earle, DeVotchka, King Sunny Ade & His African Beats, Arrested Development, Peter Voith Trio

On the fourth day of Bluesfest I went to go see:
Jill Barber, Hey Rosetta!, John Vanderslice, Rachael Yamagata, Punch Brothers, Curumin, Matisyahu, FEMI KUTI, Jesse Cook

On the fifth day of Bluesfest I went to go see:
Girl Talk, Land of Talk, King Khan & BBQ Show, Jenn Grant, Neko Case, Thunderheeist, Joe Cokcer, Mother Mother, Kid Koala

After my fifth day of Bluesfest Grant Lawrence of CBC Radio3, who had found me on Facebook to ask if I would do a live fan review of the festival, tracked me down. Hungover, and maybe even still a little drunk I agreed. If you ended up missing my live radio debut you can still give a listen to it. Look for the entry that says 'Live on CBC Radio 3: All Request with Wintersleep!' and hit the Play button for Ottawa Blues Fest Fan Review (Crozon Ottawa)

On the sixth day of Bluesfest I went to go see:
Gym Class Heroes, Stone Temple Pilots, Basia Bulat, Great Lake Swimmers

On the seventh day of Bluesfest I went to go see:
The Zombies, Ice Cube, The Yardbirds, Xavier Rudd, Toots & the Maytals

On the eighth day of Bluesfest I went to go see:
The Arkells, Silent Disco, The National, KISS, Beast, Skydiggers, K'NAAN

On the ninth day of Bluesfest I went to go see:
Shout Out Out Out, Busta Rhymes, Mick Taylor, Les Claypool

On the tenth day of Bluesfest I went to go see:
Cake, Blue Rodeo, Paolo Nutini, Dave Mason, Clem Snide

On the eleventh day of Bluesfest I went to go see:
Poorfolk, Woodhands, Otis Taylor, Ludacris, Drive-By Truckers, Black Mountain, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Low Anthem, Louisiana Red, Rhythm Council, David Lindley, The Deep Dark Woods, That 1 Guy

On the twelfth day of Bluesfest I went to go see:
Deer Tick, Handsome Furs, C.R. Avery with the Sojourne's, The Dead Weather, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs

I ended up winning the Perfect Attendance Award. I think it was the first time ever in my life that I have had perfect attendance. My Mom would be so proud.



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Free 411 From Google

in⋅for⋅ma⋅tion –noun 
[in-fer-mey-shuhn]
1. knowledge communicated or received concerning a particular fact or circumstance
1-800-GOOG-411
(1-800-466-4411)

Google has recently launched a new 411 service. The best part is it is free, and you know how I like free stuff. Check out this video for a little more information. I’ve already programmed the number into my cell phone... that should save me a couple bucks a month. Thanks Google!





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United (Airlines) Breaks Guitars

jus⋅tice  –noun
[juhs-tis]
1. the quality of being just; righteousness, equitableness, or moral rightness

While waiting on the tarmac in a United Airlines jet, Halifax musician, Dave Carroll looked out the window and to his horror saw the baggage handlers actually throwing his guitar around. Upon arriving in the city, where he was to perform, he found that the thrown guitar was actually broken.

After months of frustration trying to get compensation from United Airlines he eventually got a final "No!" Being a singer-songwriter, Dave Carroll did what he does best - he wrote a song and made a video.

I wonder how long United Airlines will hold out before they compensate him. My guess is by the end of the week Dave will be in possession of a new guitar and maybe even some travel vouchers.



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