"And so it came to pass, that after what seemed like an eternity, he returned, with new stories to tell, new things to complain about, and the desire to not be shown up by his colleagues (whom were much better at updating their respective blogs). And it was good. Well, it was satisfactory."
- The Book of Dsar, 29:42
*Blows some dust of the keyboard*
*Ahem* What's that? "Where have you been?" Why right here of course! Haven't you been keeping up to date? Did you miss the riveting saga that was my attempt at getting back in to University? The heartache that ensued after I failed miserably at wooing a tea shop barista? The triumph of my promotion? Geeze, guess those weren't enough to hold your attention!
Oh....I didn't mention those? Ah, well then....no time like the present!
Greetings, fellow Internet users, it has once again been a while, has it not? Maybe this could be my gimmick, just vanish at random for a few...several months, and then see who notices I come back first. In fact, I believe I shall do that right now! Whomever contacts me first about this post, whether with joyous rapture at the return of the blog, or with bile at it's disappearance, shall receive a beverage of their choice, free of charge, be that a coffee, Slushy, martini, whatever they so desire. But you're not here for free drinks, well, you weren't here for that, you may keep coming back in the hopes of free drinks from now on though. No, I should think that you were driven by the desire, however minute, to find out about the goings-on of my life! Am I correct? No? Well then you're disqualified from the drink contest Steve.
How long HAS it been anyway...my Yogg, nearly a year? No...really? Holy smokes. Well that sounds like an excuse to drag out my life for a few posts to me!
The next thing I would have reported on, had I not been the lazy mook that I am, would have been Anime North. For those of you who don't know, Anime North is an annual anime (whoa, surprise eh?) convention held in Toronto, just a few blocks from scenic Pearson International Airport. A few of my friends and I went, clad in costumes we made ourselves, and had an absolutely splendid time.
I really don't know where to start with explaining the event, but I suppose the costumes are a good a point as any. It's a long-standing tradition to go to anime cons dressed up as your favourite characters, in fact, the vast majority of con goers do dress up. I'm not quite prepared to release pictures of them to the Internet, but they're up in great abundance on my Facebook page, and if you'd like to see, just ask and I'll gladly walk you through them. For any curious and Google images savvy people, we went as the main cast of Ouran High School Host Club (I was one of the twins), and as an assortment of Bleach characters (I was Aizen). They all turned out amazingly, major props go out to Ang for being the brutal taskmistress that she is.
Oh, also, the best thing about costumes, aside from helping you to fit in better than street clothes would, is that you become a celebrity for the duration of the con. I kid you not when I say we had a hard time moving about from Azumanga to Mazinger Z without being stopped every five feet with photo requests. And of course, once enough people stop you at any given point, the crowd you create reaches a sort of critical mass, and then you are just stuck there forever as more and more people get sucked in to the gravitational pull of the fans.
The next big thing to mention is the dealers room. Which, to simplify, is huuuuuuuuge room the size of the 400 flea market, that is packed with booths selling DVDs, model kits, plushies, replica weaponry, and all manner of video game and anime related goodness (I found a bunch of X-Files trading cars, $1 a pack!). And when I say packed, I mean literally every square foot is occupied by something. It was sensory overload, and it was awesome.
For time and space reasons, I won't ramble on about anything else. Suffice to say there were panels, well, a few, screenings, the hotel was average, the weather was a tad hot, and I can't wait to do it all again in a few months!
Well! That should do it for now, I'll get back to you all with part le deux sooner rather than in a year, and until next time...
Douglas Gohl Piper, not actually buried in a box for the past year, just in his room
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Rebirth....again....
*static*
"Hello?"
*taptaptap*
Ahem. Yeah, it's back. That's right folks, after a month (has it been a month? I think it has...) S&R is back in business! Again! (Isn't the excitement exponential?)
What happened? I hate you. I just wanted to get your hopes up and dash them to get some jollies. That's right, I'm a hope crusher! Take that Steve.
Kay, not really. long story short, I think I broke Blogger. I found myself unable to publish and posts or even to save any drafts. But, lo and behold, it works! Who knows why, but we're back in business.
Speaking of business (segue +1) I'd like to continue where I left off on my list of top five YouTube videos. I had a hard time picking just five for my list; such a hard time in fact that I've decided to post videos more frequently. Now, this will most likely either occur either as an introduction or closing to all my blog posts, or perhaps as it's own separate entity. What say you? Should I consolidate the two? Or maybe have an actual schedule eg. YouTube Tuesdays? Food for thought.
As some of you may know, this is the day of the week I'm assigned cooking duty (+1). Now before you go making some sarcastic remarks about my lack of culinary skill, I feel I must warn you that I can make bread from scratch.
But Doug, what does that have to do with YouTube? Well, aside from being a nice segue (+1) the video is about cooking for others. I would like to dedicate today's pick to my parents, who put up with my cooking no matter how successful or disastrous it turns out each week. And so it is my pleasure to introduce you all, perhaps for the first time, to Good Neighbor, a sketch troop based out of LA.
This is another video I've always loved, and I would give nigh anything to actually pull this on someone as a prank (if I ever do I promise I'll record it and post it up here).
Peace and Love,
Douglas "Not actually the humanoid typhoon" Piper
P.S. I don't hate you Steve, I'm just jealous your posts are bigger than mine. I'm just compensating for my size.
"Hello?"
*taptaptap*
Ahem. Yeah, it's back. That's right folks, after a month (has it been a month? I think it has...) S&R is back in business! Again! (Isn't the excitement exponential?)
What happened? I hate you. I just wanted to get your hopes up and dash them to get some jollies. That's right, I'm a hope crusher! Take that Steve.
Kay, not really. long story short, I think I broke Blogger. I found myself unable to publish and posts or even to save any drafts. But, lo and behold, it works! Who knows why, but we're back in business.
Speaking of business (segue +1) I'd like to continue where I left off on my list of top five YouTube videos. I had a hard time picking just five for my list; such a hard time in fact that I've decided to post videos more frequently. Now, this will most likely either occur either as an introduction or closing to all my blog posts, or perhaps as it's own separate entity. What say you? Should I consolidate the two? Or maybe have an actual schedule eg. YouTube Tuesdays? Food for thought.
As some of you may know, this is the day of the week I'm assigned cooking duty (+1). Now before you go making some sarcastic remarks about my lack of culinary skill, I feel I must warn you that I can make bread from scratch.
But Doug, what does that have to do with YouTube? Well, aside from being a nice segue (+1) the video is about cooking for others. I would like to dedicate today's pick to my parents, who put up with my cooking no matter how successful or disastrous it turns out each week. And so it is my pleasure to introduce you all, perhaps for the first time, to Good Neighbor, a sketch troop based out of LA.
This is another video I've always loved, and I would give nigh anything to actually pull this on someone as a prank (if I ever do I promise I'll record it and post it up here).
Peace and Love,
Douglas "Not actually the humanoid typhoon" Piper
P.S. I don't hate you Steve, I'm just jealous your posts are bigger than mine. I'm just compensating for my size.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
DT5MSVYT - ACT II
Alrighty, day two, same as the first, a little bit more complex and kind of tricky to explain.
For today's pick I present you with a music video. Ah, but this is no normal music video. This one has been specifically designed for viewing on YouTube. First off: the band. Electric Eel Shock is...well, unique. Hailing from Tokyo, Japan, the three member garage band formed in 1990. Since then they've created their own unique take on rock music, influenced by a variety of western musicians. With a singer / lead guitarist who is an avid fisherman and a drummer who plays using four (4) drumsticks, EES is a sight to behold.
Sadly I must send you lovely people away for a bit to watch this one. For the life of me I can't figure out how to get the four videos to appear here side-by-side as they need to be. Head over to their website to check it out. There you'll find instructions on how to view the video, and a link to all four of the screen in one at the bottom if you're having trouble.
Props go to Mr. Steve for introducing me to these guys.
For today's pick I present you with a music video. Ah, but this is no normal music video. This one has been specifically designed for viewing on YouTube. First off: the band. Electric Eel Shock is...well, unique. Hailing from Tokyo, Japan, the three member garage band formed in 1990. Since then they've created their own unique take on rock music, influenced by a variety of western musicians. With a singer / lead guitarist who is an avid fisherman and a drummer who plays using four (4) drumsticks, EES is a sight to behold.
Sadly I must send you lovely people away for a bit to watch this one. For the life of me I can't figure out how to get the four videos to appear here side-by-side as they need to be. Head over to their website to check it out. There you'll find instructions on how to view the video, and a link to all four of the screen in one at the bottom if you're having trouble.
Props go to Mr. Steve for introducing me to these guys.
Monday, January 25, 2010
DT5MSVYT - Part the First
Salutations Internet. So here we are, day one of the list, or rather, The List. I suppose I could jerk you around and build up suspense, but it's Monday, no need to add more stress hey? So enough of my yakking, let's boogie.
Video Numero Uno
This first pick was actually the simplest for me to make. Tony vs. Paul is a video that has been one of my favourites since I joined YouTube way back whenever that was, and to this day it remains one of the first videos I show off whenever I find myself comparing my taste with someone else. Made by Paul B. Cummings in 2006, Tony vs. Paul is an incredible display of what can be achieved using little more than your imagination, stop motion, and a loooooot of free time (two months so according to the video's FAQ, available on YouTube if you're curious).
I've always been impressed by people who are dedicated enough to their craft to produce a quality piece of stop motion. There's just something about it, the combination of erratic movements and impossible actions I suppose, that really brings out a sense of wonder in me.
Hopefully that brought a little joy to your Monday. See you tomorrow!
Douglas Gohl Piper; wishes he was special (you're so very special)
Video Numero Uno
This first pick was actually the simplest for me to make. Tony vs. Paul is a video that has been one of my favourites since I joined YouTube way back whenever that was, and to this day it remains one of the first videos I show off whenever I find myself comparing my taste with someone else. Made by Paul B. Cummings in 2006, Tony vs. Paul is an incredible display of what can be achieved using little more than your imagination, stop motion, and a loooooot of free time (two months so according to the video's FAQ, available on YouTube if you're curious).
I've always been impressed by people who are dedicated enough to their craft to produce a quality piece of stop motion. There's just something about it, the combination of erratic movements and impossible actions I suppose, that really brings out a sense of wonder in me.
Hopefully that brought a little joy to your Monday. See you tomorrow!
Douglas Gohl Piper; wishes he was special (you're so very special)
Sunday, January 24, 2010
*Ahem*
Music, please.
Good evening ladies and gents; it's good to be back! As you no doubt noticed S&R took a bit of a vacation for the past few months. Now, I can't promise this will be the rebirth of Rabbits, but I'd like to believe it may be.
First order of business! Now that I'm no longer living the exciting life of a Katimaviktim my life is less newsworthy. However, for those interested I still plan to chronicle my life here. Chances are there will be fewer posts about my life, and more posts about random stuff (reviews, editorials).
Huh...alright, I guess I don't have a second order of business. But what I do have is a theme week! Huttah! Starting on Monday I'll be doing a post each day, part of a little segment I like to call Doug's Top 5 Must-See videos on YouTube (or DT5MSVY). I could easily fill the week with some of the most famous videos out there (Evolution of Dance, Where the Hell is Matt?, David After Dentist) but I'd rather spotlight some videos that may be unknown to you. Whether the videos be from little-known filmmakers, or things you wouldn't normally think to look for. I don't expect you to like all of them, or most of them (hopefully you'll like some of them though haha) but I encourage you to give them all a watch. At the very least you may learn a bit more about me from my taste in videos.
Who knows? Maybe I'll start featuring a video and introductory music for each post from now on. For now though, just sit tight and enjoy the upcoming week.
So until tomorrow, stay classy, Internet
-Doug
Music, please.
Good evening ladies and gents; it's good to be back! As you no doubt noticed S&R took a bit of a vacation for the past few months. Now, I can't promise this will be the rebirth of Rabbits, but I'd like to believe it may be.
First order of business! Now that I'm no longer living the exciting life of a Katimaviktim my life is less newsworthy. However, for those interested I still plan to chronicle my life here. Chances are there will be fewer posts about my life, and more posts about random stuff (reviews, editorials).
Huh...alright, I guess I don't have a second order of business. But what I do have is a theme week! Huttah! Starting on Monday I'll be doing a post each day, part of a little segment I like to call Doug's Top 5 Must-See videos on YouTube (or DT5MSVY). I could easily fill the week with some of the most famous videos out there (Evolution of Dance, Where the Hell is Matt?, David After Dentist) but I'd rather spotlight some videos that may be unknown to you. Whether the videos be from little-known filmmakers, or things you wouldn't normally think to look for. I don't expect you to like all of them, or most of them (hopefully you'll like some of them though haha) but I encourage you to give them all a watch. At the very least you may learn a bit more about me from my taste in videos.
Who knows? Maybe I'll start featuring a video and introductory music for each post from now on. For now though, just sit tight and enjoy the upcoming week.
So until tomorrow, stay classy, Internet
-Doug
Friday, November 27, 2009
Prologue // Act II - The Hunt
Good evening gentle readers. I come to you tonight despite feeling under the weather (I barely slept at all last night and as a result I crashed around 11 today and slept for...a while). Now that I'm back to living at home with my parents I've got a few things I need to work on. First and foremost I need to get in contact with my university to see about getting back into my program; they're quick on the email response, I should be set up with some distance education courses by Monday. According to the registrar I need to get two distance ed credits with high grades along with some other paperwork before I can resume my program.
Secondly, and just as urgent, is securing a job. I've spoken to my previous employer (a thrift store chain) and they said they'd be glad to have me back, but I'd like to see if I can't get anything better paying. I was getting 38 hours a week at my previous job, but if I can find one with similar hours and better pay, hey, why sell myself short!
That folks, is what we call straight and to the pointless
Douglas Gohl Piper, may be a zombie
(He's in your heeaaaad, in your heaaaaaaaaad)
Secondly, and just as urgent, is securing a job. I've spoken to my previous employer (a thrift store chain) and they said they'd be glad to have me back, but I'd like to see if I can't get anything better paying. I was getting 38 hours a week at my previous job, but if I can find one with similar hours and better pay, hey, why sell myself short!
That folks, is what we call straight and to the pointless
Douglas Gohl Piper, may be a zombie
(He's in your heeaaaad, in your heaaaaaaaaad)
Epilogue
Hey folks. This post is going to be a bit more somber than my usual schvike, but please bear with me. As most of you have noticed I haven't updated S&R in quite some time. Last you heard I had just started my week as a house manager, and that was nearly a month ago. What happened? You guys have been loyal readers and you all deserve an answer. To make a long story short I decided to drop out of Katimavik.
Katimavik is a lot more complex that I may have made it seem. For the months leading up to my departure I always answered queries about the program buy stating that it was "a youth volunteer program where you get to travel Canada (for free) and do cool projects for communities, all whilst living with a group of like-minded individuals". To say that that is untrue would be a lie; to say that it's an understatement is the truth. I could go into depth about my reasons for leaving, I have two three-page reports I did on the program I could post, but I'm not going to. First and foremost they are personal; anybody in the program considering dropping out needs to have their own reasons for doing so, not mine, but more importantly that would be boring!.
It was important for me that my decision to stay or go be based on rational thought, not rash emotion. I base plenty of my decisions on spur-of-the-moment feelings but never when that call could have sever consequences. This is why I decided to do my reports. After my week as house manager I sat down and started work on my first one. It detailed by goals in life, why I wanted to do Katimavik, the pros and cons to both life in the program and life at home, and more than a fair bit of my personal thoughts on each point. "Two weeks", I told myself "I'll give myself two more weeks to think things over" (I had been having doubts about the program for two weeks prior to the first report). Obviously when it came to my second report I weighed my thoughts and decided to ask for my plane ticket.
I really could go on for pages about the reasons my decision, but to be blunt I don't want to. My reasons were sound, I'm back home already, and thankfully everybody seems to accept my decision, and more importantly to respect it. Plus, even if I did elaborate, Katimavik is an amazingly efficient organization. They may hunt me down or unleash Zombie Jacques Hebert.
What does this mean for the future of this blog? I'd very much like to continue writing it. I enjoy writing, it's a fantastic creative outlet for me, it lets me see my thoughts in concrete form (which is invaluable as my thoughts are rarely concrete for more than a few seconds), and according to some of you I'm not too shabby of a writer. Thank you all who have given me praise, either through the comments or to my parents, I really appreciate it. It's great to know that I'm entertaining some of you. I may not be the next Poe or King, and heck you may have all stopped reading, but thank you if you are. I plan to continue to chronicle my life here in this blog and I would love your comments, thoughts, or constructive criticism on my writing style. Was yesterday boring to read about? Do I use too many commas? Do I forget to use "too" instead of "to"?
Thank you all for reading. Remember, no matter how dull your life may be, no one will know that unless you brag about it! Mundane lives are meant to be chronicled, and as your host here I plan to do just that.
(witty sign-off under construction)
Douglas Gohl Piper, ex-Katimaviktim
Katimavik is a lot more complex that I may have made it seem. For the months leading up to my departure I always answered queries about the program buy stating that it was "a youth volunteer program where you get to travel Canada (for free) and do cool projects for communities, all whilst living with a group of like-minded individuals". To say that that is untrue would be a lie; to say that it's an understatement is the truth. I could go into depth about my reasons for leaving, I have two three-page reports I did on the program I could post, but I'm not going to. First and foremost they are personal; anybody in the program considering dropping out needs to have their own reasons for doing so, not mine, but more importantly that would be boring!.
It was important for me that my decision to stay or go be based on rational thought, not rash emotion. I base plenty of my decisions on spur-of-the-moment feelings but never when that call could have sever consequences. This is why I decided to do my reports. After my week as house manager I sat down and started work on my first one. It detailed by goals in life, why I wanted to do Katimavik, the pros and cons to both life in the program and life at home, and more than a fair bit of my personal thoughts on each point. "Two weeks", I told myself "I'll give myself two more weeks to think things over" (I had been having doubts about the program for two weeks prior to the first report). Obviously when it came to my second report I weighed my thoughts and decided to ask for my plane ticket.
I really could go on for pages about the reasons my decision, but to be blunt I don't want to. My reasons were sound, I'm back home already, and thankfully everybody seems to accept my decision, and more importantly to respect it. Plus, even if I did elaborate, Katimavik is an amazingly efficient organization. They may hunt me down or unleash Zombie Jacques Hebert.
What does this mean for the future of this blog? I'd very much like to continue writing it. I enjoy writing, it's a fantastic creative outlet for me, it lets me see my thoughts in concrete form (which is invaluable as my thoughts are rarely concrete for more than a few seconds), and according to some of you I'm not too shabby of a writer. Thank you all who have given me praise, either through the comments or to my parents, I really appreciate it. It's great to know that I'm entertaining some of you. I may not be the next Poe or King, and heck you may have all stopped reading, but thank you if you are. I plan to continue to chronicle my life here in this blog and I would love your comments, thoughts, or constructive criticism on my writing style. Was yesterday boring to read about? Do I use too many commas? Do I forget to use "too" instead of "to"?
Thank you all for reading. Remember, no matter how dull your life may be, no one will know that unless you brag about it! Mundane lives are meant to be chronicled, and as your host here I plan to do just that.
(witty sign-off under construction)
Douglas Gohl Piper, ex-Katimaviktim
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
