What is Ti Jian?

Today I reveal Ti Jian to the world.

Lately I've really been getting into this Chinese activity, and the people who play it down at The Bank have been nice enough to let a white beginner into their games. (If you don't know what The Bank is, find out here.) I'm also the only player under the age of 50, but like I said, they're hospitable.

Be sure to watch this sports promo I made in honour of Ti Jian. I narrated it as well, so hopefully you can really get a feel for my excitement. A quick side note on pronunciation: it looks like "tee jee-ann," but the Northeast accent has a habit of adding a pirate-y "ARRRR" sound on to words that end in -ian. So up here they say "tee jearr". I don't know why. But now you can sound real Northeastern.

I'm going to keep practicing my game, and hopefully one day I can be as good as the upper echelon of Ti Jian players: 60 year old women. Those girls can kick it! Enjoy.

Sexy Sumos and Electric Six

Today I found about Electric Six.

Thanks to their soundtracking of a hilarious Subaru commercial that Mike Tanasychuk was kind enough to show in ad class, I’ve finally been exposed to Electric Six’s music. Am I the only one who hasn’t heard of this band?
Here's the ad with Electric Six's song Danger! High Voltage:

Although I can't condone the level that frontman Dick Valentine brings the lyrics to, there's just as many amazing lines and humourously simple rhymes. (Who says only Backstreet Boys can sing "Backstreet's back all right"? They probably don't own the rights to it...)

As both punk/alternative rock and electronic pop are my favourite genres, it’s incredible for me to hear this band that blends the two so well. Valentine comes across a lot of the time as a brash degenerate who makes no apologies, while the upbeat music makes his antics seem suitable for children. They’re not.

Check out one of my new favourites, Synthesizer.