Collective who?

For those that still care, Collective Soul just released their new album "Afterwards" yesterday. I'm not ashamed... I like it...

Going nuts...

I know I should be excited. I know that I have achieved a milestone and will take on a new adventure. I know that in a weeks time, my life is about to change. I thought taking a week off work will let me focus, relax and properly say my goodbyes. But so far, it has driven me even more crazy than before. Rather than being happy I'm worried sick. Worried about the Hong Kong temprature, my preparation, my lack of excitement, my scar that I gotten from surgery, my intentions and my confidence. This is the time I should be celebrating, but yet I've become a madman, cacooned inside a house and developing thoughts that end with bad conclusions.

I need to be occupied, to be kept busy so none of these thoughts creep into my head. I feel as if I should always be doing something productive, otherwise I'll be wasting my week. I don't know if living alone is such a good idea anymore...

Post 9/11 John Stewart Speech

A riveting speech from John Stewart. I've been looking for this video for ages and it has lived up to all expectations. What he does so well is interpret the spirit of what happens after tragedy

TDS - Jon Stewart's Post-9/11 Speech

I'm leaving, on a jetplane...

I think the trick to leaving the company is to:
1. Move to a far away city that nobody knows alot about
2. Join a profession that is perceived to be cooler than the current one

Say I become an actor/model in Dubai, I would wish this person all the best. Like, "oh, your chances of making it are slim, but it will definitely be exciting, in wherever you're going".

I feel like me being honest with co-workers is appropriate. People will also be pleasantly kind to you for the sake of avoiding work. I did more explaining about my future to others than working. Not once this week had I had to pay for lunch. I was taken out from one event to another for 4 days straight. As long as they had me, it was an excuse to have extended lunches and really let their guards down as to discussing what their ambitions really are.

It's weird because I want to leave on good terms, and for me to respond to "are you excited?" is a tricky one. If I said "yes", than that means I'll be telling my co-workers to fuck off. If I said "no", than I usually get "well what's wrong with you?". Typically, I would say no for the sake of not offending anyone, but I'm honestly feeling melancholy about the whole situation. It probably just hasn't sunken in yet.

So yeah, tomorrow is my last day and oddly enough, I will miss a few people. Gord Smith, who epitomizes the aging hipster will definitely be one of them. How often can you find a person who played drums for 25 years (at some of the finest jazz clubs mind you), with a Master's degree, a PHD wife and a vested hobbyist in philosophy in a Marketing Research company? I often take finding these people for granted as I hear friends talk about their own corporate jail with not a person in sight that can share the importance of culture/arts/politics.

Now I can only hope that the trade-off I have made will be worthwhile...

Fuck Richmond Hill

I just got a parking ticket today. In front of my own goddamn house! As if traffic will be SO busy in the suburbs, the municipality had to hand me a ticket as a warning. They're basically telling me "leave this fucking town, because the laws we have in place makes no goddamn sense". I really hated this shit town but this puts it over the top. If there was any consolation though, my neighbour got a ticket as well...

Speaking of Michel Gondry...

Top three music videos of all time:
3. Pearl Jam - Do the Evolution
2. Blur - Coffee and TV
1. Star Guitar - The Chemical Brothers

Don't believe me? See for yourself:

Chemical Brothers - Star Guitar
Uploaded by sneaky

Another reason to buy Kanye's new record

Alright, so he's conceded, cocky, and a label whore, but you can't deny that his music is good. And so is his taste in art. For his album cover, Kanye teamed up with what NYTimes tout as the Warhol of Japan: Takashi Murakami.

Seriously, he is not limited by the confines of his own culture, Kanye actually tries to expand his taste globally. I also realized that "Heard'em Say" was directed by Michel Gondry. I know... SO cool.

Work Conversations - Selfish

J - “If homeless people gave receipts, I would donate more”

So long Toronto

Well it's official. I agreed, and I am going. I can't wait to work for long hours, bask in smoggy skies, breath the humid air and listen to bad music.

Seriously, there is no doubt this is going to be exciting!

Buy Kanye's New Record

I know. What? Purchase something you can easily download? Well according to this, 50 Cent is so confident that he will outsell Mr. West that if he loses..... Fiddy Cent will no longer put out any more solo albums! How great is that for society. Kids will no longer idolize money, hate gays, wear oversized clothing, and best of all, listen to bad music. For the greater good people. For the greater good.

Work Conversations - Virginia Tech

J - “It’s better to go crazy and shoot people, than to hold someone for ransom. You’re less selfish”

I know what your interests are

I figured it out. Interests are not based on the idea of personal preference. That in fact comes after what is even more important: economics. We like things based on the principal of supply and demand. I have already learned that as humans, we are happier if things are exclusively yours. It is already scientifically proven that people would rather earn less if everyone else earned even less. So, to like something would mean for it to not be attained by the populace.

However, there is a guideline involved. Yes, jealously is a necessity, but it needs to come from the right people. I can have the entire Kenny Rogers collection, but what good is it if the people who really want it, I don't really care about?

Exhibit A. I think baseball is boring. It is in fact a game and not a sport. But the reason why I go to these games is because we are in an exciting division. Toronto has access to catch Boston or New York games for only $2. I'm certain that fans of either team are incredibly jealous that we have the privilege to catch their team without fighting for overpriced scalped tickets due to a sold out game. Seeing how I am obsessed with New York culture, I guess I can grow to like baseball.

Am I close? Otherwise, please prove me wrong.

Testing my patience

I am currently writing my third test for Nielsen. So not only did I go though 4 interviews in which 2 of them occurred at 5:00 in the morning (to account for 5 pm Hong Kong time), I now must write a bloody test. Seriously, not cool. They've got me jumping through hoops like some circus dog.

Writing this test does feel like high school again. Well, just calculus class, because this is typically how I approach all my quantitative problems:

1. Sit down with paper, calculator and pencil
2. Attempt work
3. Get frustrated
4. Swear profusely at myself
5. Watch television to take a break
6. Repeat step one.

If lucky, I actually finish a question before my third television break.

Work Conversations - Bomb Shelter

J - “Never let somebody smarter than you into the bomb shelter”

Closing time

Does this happen to you? When you purchase expensive items only to realize that your happiness is temporary? That whatever you can do by monetary means can only last you at most, 2 days worth of happiness. I bought new glasses today. Fancy ones (I think), but even after the purchase, I felt sad knowing that I will soon try to find faults in it, and look for new ones. It's human nature I guess. Marketing has a term for it: Post Purchase Remorse. The bigger ticket the item, the more remorse...

These headphones I will receive in the mail will probably be the same. I will shout with glee when it arrives. I will play the hell out of it. I will discover a newer, better sounding headphone and get depressed again. It's a vicious cycle I tell you.