So, after much deliberation, I’ve decided that I’m going to pop my 3D film cherry on Tron: Legacy. This is kind of a big step for me, as in the past I’ve largely decried the growing trend towards throwing some extra effects into a movie and charging double the price. For me, a movie is at its best when it’s able to be enjoyed on a majority of technology; sure, it might be a little too much to ask to make sure that the latest HD films work on my crappy 12” CRT, but when I’m not getting the “full experience” on a TV that’s only maybe 5 years old? Gentlemen, we then have a problem.

But this is different. This, my friends, is Tron. This is the sequel to the film that made every nerd’s pants tight when it came out in 1982. This is what gave them (and by extension, us) fantasies about living in a video game.

People talk about James Cameron’s Avatar breaking new ground when it comes to visual effects, and for the most part, that’s true. However, you have to give props to animator-turned-director Steve Lisberger, who in 1976 viewed a revolutionary technology most of us now know simple as “Pong”. The medium of video games fascinated him, and he looked to introduce this world to a worldwide audience. Four years later in 1980, Lisberger and his animation studio decided to take this idea of a cgi-infused film to Disney, which in turn made Tron happen.

Alright, I can hear you people yelling back there: “Look how bad those graphics are!”

You have to keep in mind that this was the early 80′s; to put things in perspective, the Nintendo Entertainment System (you know, the one with Duck Hunt), didn’t come out until three years after Tron. What they were doing was blazing new trails in film making, and that’s the type of thing I like to see. Add in a great performance by Jeff Bridges (THE DUDE!), and you have a film that didn’t sacrifice plot and story in order to make a technological advance; Tron was not merely a tech demo.

Okay okay, maybe this has a little to do with some rose-tinted nostalgia goggles and my hatred of Avatar, but let’s tally up what’s exciting me about Legacy:

• Jeff fucking Bridges
• A soundtrack by French electronica gods Daft Punk
• Lightcycles and discs everywhere
• The chance that this isn’t just an attempt to one-up Avatar.

That last one is particularly important. Alright, we’ve seen what 3D can do, and to say that the techniques employed by the Cameron blockbuster will likely be around for years to come. However, I see Tron: Legacy as a proper throw-back to where CGI got its roots – a way of saying “this is where we came from, and it can still kick ass.”

You can check out the trailer for Legacy below, but I heavily encourage you to check out the 1080p Youtube video in all its glory. Hopefully, while the effects have been upgraded, the sense of wonder will stay the same. Here’s to the thought.

My favourite Youtube videos tend to be the spoofs that have so high production values and well, effort put into them that they can stand along as their own song. This video makes me proud to be a nerd and is more than a little inspiring. Viral or not, it’s pretty kickass.

Some wisdom from Jesse Brown at TVO; the problem is, how do we fix the issues with newspapers that he’s complaining about?

Mercury Thiocyanate decomposition… by flame! Otherwise known as “The Bog Monster Cometh.” Viewed surprisingly well to mellow techno.

I wonder if it would be possible to make some kind of fast-growing building out of that stuff. I mean, you see it enough in the cartoons; someone throws out a capsule, and something appears right out of thin air.

Wait, never mind; that’s mercury. It probably wouldn’t be too good for your health.

I’m sitting at my computer and it’s 6AM; normally I’d be expecting to go to work in an hour or so, but this is a special time of year. It’s Christmastime, and that means I’m at home for the break; it means no schoolwork, minimal responsibility and the opportunity to stay up way later than I ever thought practical. The annual Demers winter hibernation means I’m in bed by the not-so-wee hours of the morning and up in the late (late!) afternoon. What started as a later-than-usual bedtime has now compounded on itself, inevitably snowballing to the point where I stay up so late I’ll go to bed on time (wait a minute…).

So far I’ve gone a couple days without seeing legitimate sunlight, as the harsh Canadian winter days darken around 4PM. I’ve procrastinated finishing that last little bit of Christmas shopping, as all the stores close around 6PM; around that time I’m either getting out of the shower or having my breakfast/dinner.

Maybe I should start treating it like an experiment and see if I can go full nocturnal. You know, it could be something to talk about when I introduce myself to people: “Oh, you’ve vegetarian? I’m nocturnal, myself. It’s more of a life choice than anything…”

Most grocery stores are open 24 hours, the Internet never sleeps and most of the events I have going on with my friends occur during my “morning”. To them, I just happen to be a little bit more chipper than usual; I mean, how are they supposed to know that because I don’t have deadlines or class, I have no reason to wake up? While I’m out in the wee hours, there’s no cars on the highway and even lesser people on the streets; besides the gurgling of resident street people, there’s almost a serene quiet to the dirty city at night. For those scant few hours, a city so focused on production and moving forward slows down to a crawl; it’s both surreal and calming at the same time.

So far I haven’t managed to raise the ire of my family during my evening adventures, so I doubt it would be much of a problem to them. Except, you know, the fact I’m supposed to be visiting them while I’m home.

Perhaps tonight’s the night for a hard reset. I mean, it’s already 6:17AM (at the time of typing), so why not? Maybe I’ll be able to talk with my Mom and Grandma tomorrow and not seem like a drowsy zombie. Maybe I’ll be able to eat cereal at the time it’s supposed to be eaten!

Hell, maybe I’ll be able to enjoy a city I’m slowly realizing has much more potential than I once thought. Maybe if light catches those steel foundries at just the right angle, that fleeting feeling that I might want to move back here after I graduate will grow.

So maybe seeing the sun isn’t so bad after all. See you in the morning.

When you listen to a band for awhile you tend to take a few things away with you; whether it’s to buy their merchandise or to fuck the system that sells you it, hopefully you’re listening to the tunes close enough that you gleam some sort of message. It’s been years since I’ve started down my slippery path into the world of hip-hop, and I’d like to share with you (yes, you!) the life lessons that I’ve learned from rap’s first dynasty, the Wu-Tang Clan. By no means is this supposed to sound preachy; I’m just riffing on a thought process that I had.

Roll With a Clan

The reason I use the word “dynasty” is because the Clan is nine-strong; most rap groups tend to not grow that large, but somehow these guys made it work. This told me something about the people I choose to associate with: not only did it encourage me to keep a diverse group of friends, it told me that I needed to surround myself with people that could make my life work for me, not against me.

The members of the Wu-Tang Clan worked together as a unit to get where they needed to be, and to an extent, needed that diversity that each member brought to the table. I feel like each and every person in my close group of friends is someone I can trust to be there for me, support me in my decisions and perhaps most importantly, tell me I’m a dumb-ass if I’m making a stupid one.

Another facet of this was that the group wasn’t afraid to take hiatuses to pursue solo projects; understanding that trying to fit nine members equally on an album was difficult, unique contracts were drawn up that enabled each group member to be signed by other labels while still retaining their “group” affiliation on another. While essentially saying “Sorry man, I don’t like you hogging my spotlight”, group members welcomed their Clansmen (wow, feels a bit weird typing that) onto their records for guest spots. What I’ve gleamed from this is that even though friends have to go their own path from time to time, wealth is to be shared, support is to be given and that you should never forget where you came from.

Be Different. Be Yourself.

I would gladly challenge anyone to find a group with such diverse personalities that aren’t (or weren’t) ripping each other apart at the throats. I also challenge anyone to point me in the direction of a gangster rap group who could rap about Voltron and still sell millions of records. The reason I enjoy the Wu is becuase they’re simply different from anything else I’ve heard from the rap genre. While they still have influences stemming from the “gangster” genre of things, I was initially surprised to hear verses about Voltron, comics, video games and perhaps most frequently, kung fu movies. This struck me as a huge risk; instead of going what with what worked, the Wu-Tang Clan decided to stick with what they knew and what they enjoyed; this gave them an enormous amount of credibility to me.

What’s great about sheer number of rappers in the group is that everyone develops their personal favourites; while I’m not a big fan of the more “gangster” members (Raekwon, Ghostface), I can still find appreciation in the performers that resonate better with my personal style. I honestly think that’s part of the philosophy of the group; they aren’t asking you to like everything, but at least they’re offering a variety. For every reference to cocaine and bitches, there’s another verse that references a “moonshine drunken monk” or Ghostface’s weird affinity for Iron Man.

I could write an entire essay on the unique style and personality of the Ol’ Dirty Bastard, but I think I’ll just limit it to a paragraph under this heading: the man was a living testament towards going against the mold. Although he might have had his hiccups when it came to real life (including pulling a Kanye), ODB at least had the initiative to be himself. Or he was hopped up on drugs and drunk off his ass. You take your pick.

Cash Rules Everything Around Me

Moving out on my own has taught me that money is the single driving force behind many people’s lives, and that it’s a significant cause of stress to the people who have it as well as the those who don’t. The tenement of C.R.E.A.M has both given me a jaded perspective on life and something to strive for; I actually have a greater appreciation for the money I do make, and the work I do to earn it. While I wouldn’t classify myself as poor, I can honestly say I’m frugal; doing work to rectify that feels good for the specific purpose that I’ve earned it. It also makes it feel all the more better to be generous with my money – Christmas shopping tends to bring that out in me.

At the same time it’s hard not to be wary of what people around you are trying to take from you; I’m finding myself quickly jumping to the almighty question of “What’s the catch?”, even if it’s something a little more altruistic. This can be a good or a bad thing, depending on how you see it.

Ultimately the bottom line is that you have to work hard to be successful. While I can’t exactly condone the gangster lifestyle of drug trafficking (fictional or not), Wu clearly took initiative with their more legal pursuits; the sheer amount of product they put out at the height of their popularity was staggering, and even though they might not feature as prominent now, their branding power (and that recognizable “W”) still lingers. They’ve made quite a name for themselves, and probably a healthy sum of money as well.

“The game of chess is like a sword fight; you must think first before you move.”

“Chess is a way of being aggressive without being physical. You’re beating someone with your mind.” -RZA

I’ve never been much good at chess, but I’m learning. Severly impeding my progress is the inability to think far ahead into late game and the subsequent baiting of my opponents. While this seems like quite a major couple of flaws, the repeated thrashings at the hands of my friends and Dad have given me perspective, and have improved my game.

Chess is a great game because it teaches you to be both aggressive and humble. Simple to learn, yet hard to master, Chess is one of those games you can break out to kill a long lull of time while testing wits with those around you. Many a good conversation has sprung up from a game of chess, and it gives me a good chance to unwind and occupy myself with something a little bit more… medieval than my usual time-wasters. I don’t know, there’s something almost romantic about sitting down across from an opposing general and determining who will feel the sting of defeat while the other can bask in the glory of victory. Members of the Wu-Tang Clan are fanatical chess players, and I’d like to think that both keeps them sharp and calculating.  Enviable qualities.

Anyways, this wraps up this set of rules; who knows? Maybe I’ll be back with another few after I work my way through a couple of solo albums. Till then:

“How can hip-hop be dead when Wu-Tang is forever?” – RZA

You are now listening to the Tetris theme in your head.

Alright, so I wouldn’t say this Halloween was a complete and total drunkfest; along the way I learned a couple things about myself and basically Toronto in general.

1) Always make it yourself. I had been throwing around the Tetris block idea for a couple months, harkening back to my foray into Nerd Convention-ing for Fanexpo 09. However, this Halloween marked the perfect occasion to throw my love of sorting blocks into horizontal lines out into the world. Making the costume took 3 days, but was possibly one of the most rewarding builds I’ve ever taken part in. From discovering that I could use my deck floorboards as a cutting guide, to adding a final “I <3 TETRIS” sign onto the front flap (see below), nothing really went wrong (which was nice), and in the end it withstood the onslaught that was the Church Street street party.

2) People want to take your picture – let them. I had a lot of friends complaining about Church Street (Toronto’s resident gay village) denizens wanting to take their picture. The logic follows thus: if you’re dressed up, you want people to look at you. Indulge your inner attention whore and satisfy a fan. However, if they get creepy (like that one guy who fondled my.. er.. block), don’t hesitate to tell them to fuck off. You have that right.

3) Give things a chance. Coming from a self-proclaimed king of pessimism, I usually hate Halloween; this year, however, I decided to say “fuck it” and actually try something new. It worked out well, and I had a blast. I drank way too many beers and decided to mix it with gin. This did not end well. However, I achieved my goal, and found somewhere to fit in that night.

So last week I had H1N1. It was terrible, and that’s pretty much the last word on that I’ll say in this post. What’s interesting is what happened after. I go to a school where the journalism school is pretty prominent. We also have two campus newspapers and a student-run TV channel; two of these outlets havealready interviewed me because well, I was sick.

I’ve said the same things to both outlets and essentially I told them what they might not have wanted to hear: H1N1 is no big deal. That’s all well and dandy, but now that my friends want me to sit in front of their broadcast class cameras, I’m starting to get a bit frustrated.

A couple weeks ago I wrote an article for one of the campus papers (who coincidentally interviewed me yesterday) about how some H1N1 prevention methods are over the top.

Ironically, I then got H1N1.

I figure, hey, I want to write columns for a living, and this is the perfect opportunity to get my foot in the door! My editor contacts me and tells me to write a 250 word column about my time with the sickness. She ended the e-mail with the words “you are going to be a celebrity!”

This irked me a little bit.

I realized that I was becoming “famous” (and I used that in the loosest sense of the word) just because I was sick. I was “that guy with that disease”. I wasn’t getting a spot because my writing was good; I was getting it because I happened to have the flu for about a week, and the timing just happened to be within a pandemic. Great.

I’m very tempted to turn down the column position because frankly, if they publish the article that they interviewed me for yesterday (which they will), people will get sick of seeing my name attached to H1N1; I’m by no means a medical expert and I only know as much as I’ve read about.

While I’m typing this article I got a text message (update: and a Facebook message!) asking for another interview from one of my friends in class. I’m very tempted to just say “No, I’m tired of talking about it.”

Part of me doesn’t really feel right talking about myself this much; I don’t want people getting tired of me. As a guy who wants to write columns for a living, people not wanting to hear me talk is essentially the worst thing I could hope for.

A little gratuitous violence never hurt anyone.

Absolutely adorable video of a guy’s girlfriend playing Team Fortress 2 for the first time. It might be her accent, or the tendency to apologize for setting people on fire, but it’s kind of cool to hear what’s going through most people’s minds as they dive into a game head-first. Part 2′s after the break.