Heaven

Darryls wedding is coming up this weekend and I have the pleasure of handling the dj duties that night. Because I have a such a limited library to draw from Darryl has (bless his soul) encoded a massive portion of his, Owens, Deans and Kates cd collection. I am right now going through roughly 30 gigs worth of sweet, sweet music. I am so wired I couldn't possibly sleep if I wanted to. Thankfully I got plenty of shuteye after another terrible day at work and have lots and lots of coffee at my disposal.

Death Trance

Thanks to a coworker, make that two, I was in the worst possible mood yesterday. The kind of mood you just can't shake or get over, no matter how hard you try. Unless of course it involves alcohol and a good escapist movie.
My alcohol choice was weak, literally, a vodka chocolate concoction that contained a mere 5% of goodness.
The movie was infinitely better. Probably one of the coolest things Ive seen in ages to tell you the truth. Ive read the cover a couple of times at Blockbuster but every single time it was rented out. Yesterday was my lucky day. There is not an action movie hollywood has put out this year that is this cool. Its beyond words, really.
If you checked the link you'll see its a Japanese movie. It has an english version but the thought of it gives me shivers. Its classified as an adventure movie and I guess that would be the best way to describe it. At first you could mistake it for a typical fantasy. It has the mystical forest, the monks, rogues, martial arts and the flashy sword play. Then one of the characters pulls out a revolver (loaded with a billion shots of course). If that doesn't screw you up wait until another character rides in on a motorcycle. Seriously. Its sounds a little campy but its the kind of campiness (?) that makes the Kill Bill movies so cool.
Its been a while since Ive seen anything this entertaining. The unconventional ending is so perfect it almost makes me want to immediately start the movie again. If a Hollywood writer could come up with such an idea he wouldn't dare run with it.
Just see it. Ill pay for it if I have to.

Festival City

There is nothing I enjoy more about Edmonton than its status as festival city. Thursday I made the decision to completely ignore all responsibilities and just go out and have fun. The original plan was to go down to Whyte and check out the crowd at this years Fringe festival. I doubt there is another area in Edmonton that attracts a more vibrant and diverse group of people than Whyte. Having picked up a newspaper to enjoy with a coffee before I left I noticed another event taking place that same afternoon. An aboriginal arts fair taking place on Churchill Square. Having woken up much earlier than anticipated, despite the fun I had the previous evening, I decided I was going to make a whole day of my outing. The only factor to endanger this plan would haven been the weather but thankfully it could not have been more accomodating.
I forget the official name of the aboriginal arts fair deal mostly because its a brand new addition to the Edmonton scene. Because of this the event was rather small, but when I arrived there was a surprisingly decent turnout. The prerequisite teepee was there, placed in the center and surrounded by a handful of stalls selling native arts and crafts, clothing and jewelry. When I arrived there was even a dance circle going down complete with costumes and a drum circle. Tourists, office workers and bums alike took hands followed the leader and did their best to keep the rythym. It was quite the sight.
Though always changing, the Fringe remained the same. Ive never actually gone to see a play yet, but just to go down to Whyte and enjoy the festivities is good enough for me. The usual eccentrics were out in full force accompanied by every other walk of life with their yippy dogs in tow. The buskers busked, the hawkers hawked and the crowds ate mini donuts. As a friend received a foot massage at a reflexology booth I ventured off and ended up under a tent enjoying a non alcoholic margarita and a childrens play telling the story of Noahs Ark. The animals were played by the children in the crowd one by one the parents started getting reluctant roles too. Yet another sight I won't forget for a while.

Attack of the Techno Remix

I am very tempted to get this. Clearly it will be very cheesy and I probably won't be able to use it in my set but Im still very curious. To be honest I had the same feeling about a remix cd I recently purchased that features, of all things, ACDC's Thunderstruck. It ended up being very well done and is even a highlight of my set. Of six songs featured on that cd I can easily incorporate three. Ah, why not . . .

UPDATE: I lost it! There really is somebody out there crazier than I. Clearly this person also has more money to spend too.

Enter Sandman

Could it get better; After six consecutive days of complete insanity and very little sleep I have rightfully earned my three days off. My weekend, if you will. I was even allowed to leave work early due to too much staff and too little work. This would be the first such incident I've experienced since being hired I might add. Better yet I have accomplished so much in the last couple of days that I have few responsibilities left to worry about. The best part is that I finally recieved 13 cd's recently purchased on ebay. Therefore I will still be loosing sleep but this time in the good name of FAT BEATS.
What could be a better way of kicking it all off then with a movie and a friend. I went to see "The Illusionist" with Edward Norton and Jessica Beil. Not actually with them, sadly, they merely starred in it. Currently only one theatre in Edmonton carries it and, as I am told, only for a single week. Of course it was Jessica Beil that I went to see but as an added bonus the movie ended up being quite good. I thought it was a touch on the predictable side but it was very well done and a pleasure to watch.
Now, to those beats . . .