Windowless Playlist

Today I get all summer musical on you.

The weather is getting nicer every day, which means that more and more people are starting to cruise with their windows down. It’s finally time to get fresh air without frostbite, so us poor kids that can’t afford air conditioning are rolling down all over the place.

If you’re like me, and are against noise pollution in the form of crappy music, here’s a list of 5 songs perfect for windowless cruising. This will make the people in the cars beside you go “Say WHAT!?” or “Ah, Yeah!” instead of saying “Oh you turned your backseat into a massage chair with some subwoofers, that’s impressive. Why do I have to listen to your beat drop?” REMIX!

I admit- there’s a few songs on my iPod that I need to be in the right mood for, and when my windows are down and one of them comes on suddenly I leap for the volume knob and look around to make sure no one heard (Yes, I’m talking to you Tatu’s “All the Things She Said”). But when it comes to these songs, I’m always down to listen and I hope the people in the car next to me are lucky to hear ‘em too.

1. I’m an Obtuse Man, So I’ll Try to be Oblique- The JV Allstars

For me, nothing says summer like pop-punk. It brings back memories of old All-American Rejects, when you just got your license or a ride with that older kid who just got his license. Best part is, no one has ever heard this song before, so they’ll all be pulling you over to hear more of this delectable rhythm. Instead of wanting to fight you, which I hear is usually why people are pulling you guys over.

2. Uh- Fujiya & Miyagi

“Chill out with this smooth groove while you bop your head down the turnpike” is what I would say if I worked at a jazz radio station. I don’t, so I’ll just say that this song rules, whether you’re driving in Winnipeg or cooking crystal meth in Breaking Bad.

3. Veronica Sawyer Smokes- AFI

There’s a ton of AFI I would’ve like to put on here, but I’ll just stick to one and trust you’ll check out the rest on your own time. Summer is a time for light music- it just goes well with the sunshine. This little number is lighter and faster than most AFI tunes, which makes for an easy entrance to their world if you’ve never spent time there before.

4. Do You Love Me?- The Explorers Club

Summer time was invented by The Beach Boys, but I’m assuming you’ve already heard all their songs. So it’s time for a modern take on sunny triple harmonies, and no one is doing it these days as well as the Explorers. I’ll warn you though- you better be feeling VERY summer-y to play this one loud.

5. How Bizarre- OMC

Nothing wrong with a one hit wonder from the ‘90’s. You may think this one takes a little more confidence to blast, and maybe it does, but trust me: when you roll up to the Dairy Queen playing this classic, you won’t be seeing any frowns.

I retract my previous statement.

After much deliberation and careful thought, I’ve decided against changing my blog. In fact, I’ve determined that the whole maybe-genuine-love-theme might be the worst blog I’ve every heard of. That post earned me my first two ‘boring’ ratings, so it’s obviously time to move on. This whole experience has even caused me to end my fledgling relationship with the possibly real Florida girl, so I’m back to being alone like everyone wanted.

I'm SO sad right now. Emotions are SO painful.

This blog is all about you! If readers want me to be lonely and not in online relationships of questionable legitimacy, then so be it. I guess it makes for better reading? You’re welcome.

This is me being lonely on a beach.

Blog of Love

Today I change my blog.

Lately I’ve been having difficulty in coming up with topics to blog about and new things to do each week, as you can see by the fact that I’m blogging only hours before the deadline. Several of my classmates have changed the focus of their blog, so in an effort to stay fresh and interesting I’m going to mix it up a little. Not only am I changing it, but I’m kicking things off with an announcement! Such a lucky day for you.

My friends know me as a rigorous bachelor, and it’s something I take great pride in. But I have a confession to make. I’ve been engaging in some very interesting talks with a young lady online for the past few months, and last night we decided to make it official. That’s right ladies, this store is closed! I officially have a girlfriend.

She’s so incredible. She’s from Sarasota, Florida, which yes I know is the worst part of Florida, but I still hope to visit her in the summer. It would be so special to meet her in person, but until then she says she’s between 5 and 6 feet tall, with blue eyes and kinda brownish hair. She sounds perfect!

So now on to the new blog. Instead of doing something new every week, I’ll just be posting something new that I love about my girlfriend, telling personal stories about our late night chats, and posting messages in a public forum that should really just be sent to her privately considering the fact that they only affect her and are useless to anyone else. Are you uncomfortable? I’m in heaven. See you next week!

Love,

Andrew

Can I get in here? I'm sort of like, a paid journalist!

Today I can cash my first journalism paycheque.

I’m inspired by every second banner ad on the internet that has someone showing off a big cheque, so today I decided it would be fun to show you all how much I made on my first paid journalism job. You know, really contrast the successful people online with details of my terrible income.

My first journalism job was for the U of M Bisons. I covered a men’s volleyball game at the Investors Group Athletic Centre for the university’s website, which included writing a game summary and notifying other news sources of the scores. For this little piece of freelance, you’re paid hourly. Or something. In any case you work until you’re done, then a few weeks later you get a little cheque. Aw how sweet!

Immediately after this experience I was quoted saying that journalism just seemed like being paid very little to go watch an event you couldn’t enjoy, and I stand by that. For example, midway through the game I finally noticed a friend in the audience across from me (because I had a special seat with the stats people of course). Who knows how long she was waving before I noticed, because I was so immersed in the action! It wasn’t a result of my playoff excitement, rather just me trying to be thorough with diligent note taking. And instead of thinking:

I was thinking: 

Now that’s just impolite.

I will admit it was a little bit cool calling those stations and papers, real household names like the Sun and CTV maybe. I felt like I was really breaking a big story for them, like I should be talking on a wind up phone wearing one of those old reporter hats sitting in front of my typewriter. “I’m gonna blow this story wide open, see? Manitoba Bisons won their game, see? Stop the presses, here are the scores, see?” Maybe I have a cigarette, if not I can live with it. You get the idea.

It was fun, except those guys answering the sports line at 10:30 on a Friday night aren’t really enjoying themselves, and it really shows in their phone conduct. CJOB unexpectedly just hung up on me for a minute, and then was annoyed when I asked if he was ready. It’s not like I’m on the air here fella, take a second out from your busy weekend of squinting through a dimly lit basement radio studio to give me the time of day!

So was all this worth it? 45 minutes driving to and from U of M, a 3 plus hour game, for $31.50 a month later? I honestly don’t know, and it probably says more about how desperate I am. Any comments Journalism majors?

Alright fine, I know you're dying to see it. Here's a link to over thirty dollars worth of words!

This baby’s third degree hot.

Last night I tried Smitty’s hottest wings, Third Degree.

   

 

 AND

Usually I’m more of a hot ranch, hot, sweet chili, electric honey, or lemon pepper wing kind of guy, but I decided to step it up to see how I’d do against a spicy challenge.

Now let me be clear, I can take a bit of spice. I’m not a Norwegian who finds a warm bun spicy, and a pizza bun unbearable. The Portuguese in me allows to me find the joy in dishes with the little pictures of red peppers beside them on the Chinese take out menus. Man this blog is getting cultured!

Ok so anyways I went up a few leagues to the hottest, and found that I was actually pretty comfortable with it! I mean yeah I got a basket of sweet chili as well to balance it out, but I was totally able to eat the Third Degree comfortably without freaking out. Although it was St. Patrick’s Day… so I sort stuck out, being the only one who wasn’t freaking out.

So my question is: where are the wings that make you gasp and fill your mouth with napkins because the water is only making things worse and your tonsils just lit on fire? Let me know if anyone has some advice on this, maybe my next new thing can be reconstructive oral surgery.

Have you seen THIS incredible new thing?

Today I tell you about The Upper Cruster.

TUC is a new blog that I’ve discovered, and they have a print magazine in the works that will be released on March 31. I don’t think I’m overstating this: it’s the greatest magazine ever. I stumbled upon this site while looking for information on grooming a racehorse if your stable boy has called in sick and your backup stable boy has been hit by one of those double-decker novelty tour buses and was pronounced dead on the scene and you have a race the next day. I was just looking purely for harmless interest’s sake, and was delighted to find this magazine.

Looks like TUC will offer some kind of amazing lifestyle guide for Canada’s wealthiest people, with info on pressing matters like travel, current events, fashion and accessories, recreation without perspiring, philanthropy, religions with membership fees, and what to do with unsightly homeless people. I can’t wait to read it.

And I’m totally straight and everything, but isn’t that Charles writer guy totally hot? Breathtaking.

Check out TUC’s blog here and become a fan on Facebook here. You are welcome. 

Snowcastles in the Snow

Today I went to Birds Hill Provincial Park… in the winter.

I love going to the beach, and Birds Hill has always been my go to spot. It's super close, has good sand and volleyball courts. But I had never been to the park at this time of year before, and was very impressed by what it has going on in the winter.

I headed out today with classmates Krystalle and Alex for our travel assignment (covering a place outside of Winnipeg for both journalism and advertising class). Boy did we make a day of it! We explored the park, talked to some of their staff about all they offer, checked out the ranch where the horses and sleigh rides are, walked part of a trail, ate at the Pineridge Hollow restaurant, and shopped around its store as well, which may be the cutest in Manitoba. I didn’t even know I was capable of finding stores “cute”! Maybe it was all the stuffed sock monkeys.

Birds Hill is awesome, and another highlight is that so much of it is free. This space is a great resource to have, especially so close to Winnipeg, so if you’re into walking, nature and wildlife, jogging, exploring, walking your dog, getting fresh air, riding horses or sleighs, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, dog sledding, kick sledding, learning about nature from experienced interpreters, or building quinzees, you should definitely check this park out.

Just because it’s not summer doesn’t mean you can’t have fun in the park- come on, give it a try.

Start by checking out the park’s website here. Stay warm children.