Arcade Fire (SPECTACULAR Show)

Okay, I walked away from the Arcade Fire concert last night awestruck. Their sound is unbelievably energetic and full... so full, but in such a good, good way. This concert was definitely one of the BEST concerts that I have ever been to, and I've been to a lot of GOOD concerts! I was on the floor, four rows of people from the stage and it was a BLAST! I loved every minute of their 100 minute set. I could go on with more comments of praise, but I'd rather show you bits and pieces of my experience. Here ya go:

p.s. Colexico's (the opening band) Spanish sound and trumpets (as seen above) were AMAZING!

Arcade Fire (Pre-Show)

Tonight I am going to see the one and only ARCADE FIRE! I am not an avid listener, but I am a big fan because I know they are extremely talented and they're music is very unique. I just acquired their new album The Suburbs (thanks Cam) and it is fantastic. I cannot wait for tonight, it's gonna be GOOD!

You have to check out this truly stunning video:



Click here for more intimate music video magic from La Blogotheque on Vimeo; or takeawayshows.com!!

SonyEricsson - Product Testing Insitute

THESE ARE HILARIOUS! Thank you Davide for leading me to these videos! I laughed so hard and am currently laughing right now. Wow, these are priceless:













LOVE IT!

The iPhone 4...

This changes everything. Again. Apparently.

Well, I think it's time that I review my new phone, from my new phone! I'm having trouble trying to figure out how to post this normally, but I've figured that this thing can't fully function as my computer... just yet! I can't seem to post video or photos from the phone on to this post, but whatever, I may decide to put some visuals up after this whole write UP.

Alright, first I'll cover some of the "issues" that have been swirling around every social circle since this phone's release, the one problem I had with the software, and one thing Apple should just drop. So here we go:
1) The infamous signal drop. If you hold it like a "regular" mobile device it'll drop your call. I'm sorry, but I don't bury my phone in the palm of my hand like I'm ready to toss a grenade! I never had any problems with the signal dropping in the whole month that I had my phone without a case. But I'm grateful for the "issue", because I got a free case out of it and now my phone has some protection (even though it doesn't look as sexy now)! I'm Mennonite, I love free stuff.
2) I for sure knew that I had picture/video messaging with my student plan, but every picture I sent (even though it said it did) never got to the recipient! This isn't an essential feature, but it is fun to use sometimes and I AM paying for it. I finally called tech support and apparently I never had an account on the server. It's suppose to make one for me after I send my first pic/vid, but that never happened. Anyways, the guy on the other end who had a severe cold got it working for me and that was that! Good job Rogers.
3) I can't run Adobe Flash videos or other Adobe based widgets on the iPhone. Check that; NO ONE CAN! This is because Apple has some block on Adobe, presumably due to having their own multimedia platform of QuickTime. Pretty stupid, but I can live without.

Now for the pros! I won't go into too much detail because there's so much you can do (and also because I can't type as fast on this iPhone keyboard)!! But now I will share what I've enjoyed the most about this phone thus far. Here we GO:
>1) Hmmm what should I start with? Well, the main new thing for Apple's new baby is that it features FaceTime. Another camera, this time planted on the face of the phone!! NO WAY! ... I love to hype things up. It is pretty neat, though it does only really work with a WiFi connection. Apparently it is a free call when you do use it though, so long distance charges do not apply. Thanks Monica for that pleasant piece of info! Nice rice. The only downside is that I can't use it while on Skype.
2) The 5 mega pixel camera! You might say, "That's not that impressive for a camera," but we're talking about a PHONE here! It's pretty spectacular; the quality of shots that I'm able to take is quite decent. You can zoom and focus with the tap of your finger; oh, and the flash from the built in LED light is unbelievably bright. It also shoots pretty decent HD video as well. I don't have iMovie right now though, so I won't be collaborating much footage at this time; but once I do... look OUT! Also, the FaceTime camera is also available for pictures and video, though it doesn't have the same quality.
3) Typing. I'm considering this a pro due to the sole fact that it is indeed super intelligent. I don't need to be precise and it knows what I want to type! It's super forgiving and is super convenient.
4) Copy and Paste! It's as simple as that. So convenient, I love it.
5) Multitasking. Wow, this is one of the best new features of the new software. Double clicking the home button brings up your recently visited apps! This means you will never forget what you were just doing when some notification visual/sound distracts you, resulting in you following suit in checking it out! Also, if you slide left initially on the home multitask bar, the iPod button and controls come up as well as a lock screen button. It's insanely useful.
6) My music. I needed a new iPod/music player (to be fair) anyways, and the iPhone gives me that and more. It's amazing how I can make any playlist I want on my phone too. Oh, and Genius playlists are actually genius.
7) Pseudo hands free calling in my car. Let me explain... Because I hook up my phone to my tape adapter via the headphones jack, I am able to hear voicecalls through my car's speaker system!! The iPhone mic has a pretty strong pick-up, so I am able to hold my phone out of sight while talking into it! Brilliant. Why didn't you think of that?! Voice control is the key factor and helps a lot with calling and changing music.
8) Scratch proof screen. Wonderful, especially for a clean/take care of things freak like me! Not to mention it's the highest-resolution screen ever for a phone.

Honourable mentions include: Organization with folders, home screen web clip bookmarking, online image saving, various sharing options, social networking, sports news, and the ability to play Settlers of Catan... ON MY PHONE! Yes, there's an app for that.

There are many more things that I'm missing, but I'll just conclude and summarize by saying that this phone is UNREAL! Yes, I am addicted and I may need help.

Decent.

A TOON Town Wedding (part two)

After three and a half weeks of high anticipation!! ...I'm just kidding. It did take me a while to mash this up, but now it's DONE! When you notice that the video is 11:22 mins long, don't let that frighten you. Make some popcorn and get comfortable, maybe grab some company and enjoy! Without further adieu...

A TOON Town Wedding (part two) from MannyG on Vimeo.

Music:

Taio Cruz - Dynamite

The Middle East - Blood

Usher - OMG

Some New Mewzik

What if music was spelled that way? Just a thought. It's weird/fascinating when you over think certain words.

Over the summer I have acquired a ridiculous amount of new music, ranging from chill folk to electronic pop to jazzy rap to how-do-you-describe-that?! Band of Horses' Infinite Arms, Dan Black's UN, and Vampire Weekend's Contra & Vampire Weekend, have been at the forefront recently. A strange mix, I know, but I love having a wide spread taste of music (except for country, though I know Band of Horses borders that line in some songs)!

I made it my mission last night to learn "Evening Kitchen" by Band of Horses on guitar. I love the harmonies and relaxing measures of this tune; genius:

Band Of Horses - Evening Kitchen by musicmule

I actually don't have any of this next group's albums, but I've loved their sound ever since I heard a song on a certain video game... *cough* FIFA *cough*! Röyksopp is a Norwegian band who has the definition of "chill" down to a tee. Especially in their up and coming album Senior, which is all instrumental! I love it, check it out below:



And if all that wasn't enough, check out this little mixtape that my boy Torq Campbell (from Stars) whipped up:

audio player

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Hey Summer, Where'd Ya Go?!

Where has this summer gone to? MAN! It is now time for another school year to consume me. Ah yes, I'm kind of glad it has finally come though! I find that I have more time throughout the school year than I do in the summer to just hang out and relax. I don't know why I always think it's the other way around. Maybe it's the weather.

Anyhow, my fall is actually going to be full of soccer trips, practices, and weekend games. We have finished Prov soccer training camp and I'm excited to be in good form, but the fatigue from this change of routine has now caught up with me! Today we ran our 5km run; my time was 19mins 04 secs which is not bad for having no preparation and is a much better time than my first run last year. We also ran multiple distance sprints which included 8 sets of 20 yards, 6 of 40, 4 of 60, and 2 of 80. Yep, my legs are exhausted. It'll feel good though when I'm not sucking wind in a game! And our first game is this Friday at 3pm against NCCAA division rival: North Central University from Minneapolis. Can't wait. Come out to Prov if you can!

Oh, and my family is back from CHINA! Their Monday lasted 37 hours! Talk about exhaustion. I'm pumped to have them back, our house has been empty for the last three weeks. My brother was famous out there, everyone wanted their picture with him and asked for his autograph when my family visited a Beijing high school and the Great Wall! I guess being tall, blond, and blue eyed automatically makes you a rarity in those parts. Welcome home, Hollywood.

~~~

Here's a life lesson from Ol' Uncle Ray that I never released...

Life Lesson: Sometimes it's not the years... it's the mileage.

I'm not sure if this applies to anything I've just said, but I'm definitely feeling the meaning of these words right now.

p.s. My school schedule is lookin' decent. No morning classes! Maybe I'll designate most of that time as blogging time... to get long overdue projects DONE.

Ciao for now!

Conaw

First of all, I am back from my weekend long canoe trip, alive and well! It was a blast; hopefully I'll tell you more about it on here soon. I took a couple vids of our rock obstacle voyage getting to the launch point and put them up on my Twitter. So if you don't read or care about my tweets, you're missin' out on really, really interesting stuff (they are to me at least...)! Okay, if you don't want the hassle of leaving my blog, I'll just post the vids later when I talk more about the canoe trip, alright?! Geezaloo (as Glen would say)!

Secondly, BIG NEWS! I am officially registered at Prov for one more term! Muahahaha, I cannot wait to play soccer again with the boys! Gonna be GOOD. Also, we're gonna be lookin' sleek this season because of these two words: New Kits! Yep, I told you we're gonna look good; you didn't believe me, but now you know (Brule's Rules... best compilation video EVER)! Anyways, training camp is this weekend and I sure hope I can keep up with the lads who have been training all summer... Meh, I'll get into tip top shape sooner or later!

Thirdly and finally (getting to the title of this post...), Conan O'Brien has announced the name of his new show! It's going to air on TBS (which I don't think anyone has anymore... but whatevs, I'll watch it online) November 8th and I can't wait! I love this tweet of his: "I announced the name of my show today right here: http://bit.ly/cc3jhU (Spoiler alert: The words "Tonight" and "Show" aren't in it.)" Here is the announcement:



p.s. I'm editing part 2 of A Toon Town Wedding... hopefully I can get it up tomorrow before I head out to Prov for training camp!