Confessions of a Teenage Insomniac

Some people are gifted. They can get up from whatever they're doing and decide; "O.K., time for me to go to sleep." I am not that lucky.

I usually end up staying on my computer, procrastinating, until late at night. By the time I get into my bed, before sleeping I usually read a book or magazine for a few minutes (sometimes even hours) before I am ready for bed. Ironically, when it comes to sleeping, I become a perfectionist. My door must be closed. My closet must be fully shut, as should my window shade be lest a ray of sunshine wake me up. At that point if I'm lucky, I can fall asleep. So I guess I'm not much of an insomniac, just a lazy sleep-perfectionist who likes to stay up late.

Why am I telling you this? I have absolutely no idea. Mainly because I don't really want to go to bed yet and can't think of anything else to do, but also because I am fulfilling my obligation.

When I started this blog I committed to giving my readers (however scarce they may be,) daily posts ranging no every possible topic. Hence the name, The Blender. Unfortunately my laziness started becoming a factor and I stopped writing posts. It's not like it was a bad news week, far from it.

There was the whole Elliot Spitzer scandal, March Madness, and more, yet I still couldn't muster up a simple post. And that's why you have me writing now, almost 3:30 in the morning, when there is nothing I would rather do but sleep. Yet I am still here, fulfilling my duties.

I guess I should stick to the "Confessions" theme and find something to confess. Hm. Well I can honestly say that I...um...see usually I can find something to say right about here. I have a very open mind and if you know me well enough I am likely to divulge almost any secret I might have. Maybe sometimes even if you don't know me. I also like to call myself a good writer, one who can think of any topic at random and write on it, yet here I am, awake past 3am with not a trace of alcohol, drugs, or caffeine in my system, and I can't find anything to write.

I understand the few of you who check my blog might have missed me while I wasn't writing. I don't want to let you down again, so I'm going to try and keep this going now, and actually update this blog frequently, or at the very least, daily. Please tell your friends about it, the more readers the better, and feel free to put any comments at all on any individual posts.

Actually, I'm gonna take this opportunity to re-introduce this blog. For those of you who don't already know, "The Blender" started off as a sports blog/column in the Dawson newspaper The Plant. I would usually write about whatever was going on in the sports world, often all in one post. Hence the name. A little while ago I kept the blender theme but changed the topics a bit.

My posts now talk about whatever is going on in the world in general. Or at least my world. So far most of my posts have been about the 2008 Election, mainly the Democratic race. If you aren't at all interested in it, don't be afraid, because I often talk about music, sports, movies, and anything really. Also, whatever album I decide to listen to while I write my blog I put as the "Album of the Day" in the right sidebar. There's also a delegate tally and a presidential poll there.

Anyways that's all for now. Sorry for the infrequent posting, I'll try to keep doing it more often.

The Greatest Show You're NOT Watching

I had to finally tell someone that I am in love with the show Las Vegas, and who better but my loyal readers? Anyways, I know the show got canceled a few weeks ago, but when I discovered every episode was being shown in syndication (every day at 6 on Mystery TV,) I decided I HAD to start TIVOing it. So I did, and about 11 episodes in I was hooked. I'm not gonna explain the show for you newbies, you can check out the show's wikipedia entry for that. For those of you who do watch the show, there's a few things I'd like to say, (keep in mind I've only seen the first 11 episodes, plus a few random ones.)

For one thing how can a show like this get away with such a ridiculously good-looking cast? It's not even fair! All kidding aside, I haven't seen a cast this good since The O.C. went off the air. Now I know the chauvinistic side of me is showing, but you have to admit a good-looking cast (being comfortable with my sexuality I can say the men are fairly decent looking as well,) can really keep you into a show.

That's not all that's kept me into the show by the way. The chemistry between the cast is amazing, especially between Danny (Josh Duhamel,) and Ed (James Caan). Danny plays Ed’s protégé, and they both work together in security at the fictional Montecito Resort and Casino. The interaction between the cast, the changing plots of every episode, and the allure of Las Vegas, should keep all viewers very satisfied.

That’s enough praise for my favorite syndicated show. (Can Heroes and The Office come back already please?) Onto the Album of the day, On & On, by Jack Johnson. The Hawaiian-born singer’s soft rock is very pleasing on the ears, and always puts you in a great mood. On & On is no exception.

By the way, I apologize for the fact this blog sounds more like me talking then writing, but my head is killing me and this is the best I could muster. Hope you enjoyed it anyways.

Anyways that’s all for today, and don’t forget to check back tomorrow.

This Really Was a Lazy Sunday

Shit. Another whole day wasted. It could've been that I woke up at 1, only to realize it was 2 (daylight savings time.) Or it could've been that the entire city was covered with a layer of snow, making me WAY too lazy to do anything productive. And so came a day full of playing video games.

Onto the Album of the Day, Outlandos d'Amour. My favorite album from my second favorite artist, it's stocked with very catchy, very listenable tracks. The first three are three of the greatest songs that start an album, (Next to You, So Lonely, and Roxanne.) There are fa few other great songs on the album, so if you don't own it already, download or buy it ASAP.

Now back to the blog. Tuesday's Mississippi primary is coming up, and although only 33 delegates are up for grabs, it's pretty much all there is to keep us entertained till Pennsylvania's April 22nd primary. It looks like if nothing resolved regarding Michigan and Florida, neither candidate may be able to achieve the required 2,025 delgates.

For those of you who don't know, Michigan and Florida tried to attract some more attention my moving ahead their primaries, staging them before the date they were allowed to. This proved completely useless, because it did more harm by good, and all delegates won in those states were ruled ineligible. Now there's a lot of controversy over this, and some are even suggesting a mail-in ballot.

The Habs also played today, and I'm sad to say I predicted they would lose, and they did, 3-1 to the Anaheim Ducks. If you check out Habs Express, you'll see on the right side bar that myself, and the lucky coin I flip before each Habs game, are both 6-0 over the last 6 games. My fellow writers of Habs express refuse to go against their home team, unrealistically predicting a Habs victory every game. That is why they are 4-2 and I am in first. We are a good team, but you can't expect us to win EVERY game.

Anyways I should go start winding down, because based on the weather outside it looks like it'll take me 3 hours to get to school. Good night, to keep checking back often, and don't forget to comment.

Good Night.

I'm Scared My House is Going to Blow Away

There's over a foot of snow on the ground, ice everywhere, and the wind is blowing at upwards of 30 mph. Hell and everything else on this planet has frozen over. Apparently the Toronto Maple Leafs have just won the Stanley Cup.

In other hockey news, my boy Jaroslav Halak got his first start of the season tonight, making 35 saves in a 5-2 Habs victory. I don't expect this to derail the Carey Price bandwagon, but expect Boom-Shack-Halak to get a few more starts as the Habs try to make their way to the Stanley Cup Finals.

The wind outside is really starting to pick up. As the title suggests, it seems like the windows of my bedroom (which I am facing right now,) will eventually shatter and blow away along with the rest of my house, all the way to Oz.

So being very cool, I spent my day at Concordia at a Workshop in Sports Journalism and Broadcasting. It actually wasn't that bad, aside from the 9-5 schedule that made it feel like a school day. In seriousness though, I met a lot of cool people, and some of what they said was actually very interesting. A lot of it was about the globalization of baseball, but there was some other stuff about careers in Sports Journalism, which is something I am very interested in.

The funny thing is they actually spoke about the great importance in blogs, and how they and online journalism in general is where we're headed. So I guess starting this blog was a good deal after all.

Onto the album of the day, it's a self titled album by a band called "Barlow." (The album is also called Barlow for those who couldn't catch on.) Anyways it has 11 extremely catchy tracks, but when I tried searching them on the internet, it was nearly impossible to find anything. If you know anythgin about them please get back to me. Thanks.

Kanye, Be Quiet...I Want to Sleep

It's only a quarter to one and my eyes are already closing. Granted, it was a long day and a long week, and I did spend about three hours at a very long, very boring dinner. Regardless, this blog is a commitment and since I stick to my commitments, (I hate all of you, stop laughing...) this post will be written.

I just coughed up a lung. I'm exhausted, but the dulcid tones of Kanye West's Late Registration (today's Album of the Day) are keeping me awake. The 2005 album is actually pretty good, and the fact that I used to play it constantly back in '05 whenever I played Roller Coaster Tycoon gives me a certain feeling of nostalgia.

The day in general was pretty boring...not just for me, but for the rest of the world. The next relevant Presidential Primary (Pennsylvania,) isn't for another three weeks, so we that are following the Democratic race have to claw our fingernails and wait. In sports, the only relevant thing going on for three weeks is hockey, and even that doesn't provide the constant daily interest that Football and Baseball do.

So hopefully tomorrow will be more interesting, the Habs play an afternoon game in L.A, but I'll be missing most of it for the "5th annual Rogers Sportsnet Sports Journalism Workshop" at Concordia. So good-bye for now, and remember, keep checking up on me.

Can't Baseball Season Just Start Already?

Just under 24 days and 13 hours remain until Detroit Tigers Opening Day 2008, and I'm getting restless.

Sure there's hockey, which is the greatest sport of all time, but the prospect of a new MLB season is keeping me on the edge of my chair, especially this year. I've always been a fan of the underdogs (see: my support of the Houston Texans and Charlotte Bobcats,) but I was never quite able to become a huge baseball fan. Why, you may ask? Because my two favorite players, pitcher Dontrelle Willis and third baseman Miguel Cabrera, played for the most evil owner in the history of sports, yes, even more evil than Steinbrenner).

I couldn't allow myself to become a fan of a team (the Marlins) that was owned by Jeffrey Loria, so I casually followed them as I followed the careers of Miguel and Dontrelle. Once talk that Miguel was getting traded surfaced, I was ecstatic, and pleaded that he would go to any team other then the Yankees, so I can finally have a team to actually support. It turns out he did, and my favorite pitcher was coming along for the ride.

Now don't discount my newfound fanmanship (that's not a word,) and call me a badnwagon fan, because I'm not. I was never a real fan of the Fish, and I only followed them to keep on eye and Miguel and Dontrelle (and later shortstop Hanley Ramirez [before he was good,]) because I fell in love with them after seeing them play in a game in 2005.

So as I claw at my keyboard having only the Habs to distract me from my boredom of the sports world, I can only hope that the next 24 days will go as quickly as possible for me.

Oh, and only 181 days till the NFL is back. :)

Obama...Good for Jews?

As a Jew who has mostly Jewish friends, what Obama will do for Israel is a topic of great concern during conversations about the election. Some of my friends are deciding to root for Clinton or McCain on the sole fact that "Obama won't be good for Israel." Now that is wrong on two levels, 1) We are Canadian and thus have no right to vote anyways, and 2) The idea that Obama will be terrible for Israel is horrendously stupid.

Below is an excerpt from an article written by a man named Adam LeBor. Please check out the rest of the article here.

Barack Obama Is Good For The Jews
(an excerpt from an Adam LeBor article)

"Behind the scenes, Obama has for years worked with Jewish philanthropists, such as Robert Schrayer in Chicago and Alan Solomont in Boston, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reporter Ron Kampeas. He is also on good terms with two of the top Jewish lobbyists in Washington: Rabbi David Saperstein of the Reform movement and Nathan Diament of the Orthodox Union.

Obama told the JTA in 2004: "Some of my earliest and most ardent supporters came from the Jewish community in Chicago." Three years later he said: "My support within in the Jewish community has been much more significant than my support within the Muslim community. I welcome and seek the support of the Muslim and Arab communities."

And here is the crux of the matter: Obama's ties with the Jewish community and his Muslim heritage can be two pillars of a much needed bridge: between Jews and Muslims, not just in the United States, but globally. Imagine how an African-American president with a Muslim name would help demolish stereotypes across the Arab and Muslim world."

- Adam Lebor

Barack Obama is Distracting Me From Studying

As I sit at my desk trying to find a balance between Research Methods and Microeconomics, both the sound of The Beatles' Revolver and the constant refreshing of CNN's website are proving to be very distracting.

Granted, Revolver is arguably the greatest album of all time. Track-to-track, there is not one second where I am bored in the slightest. The same cannot be said for some of their earlier albums, laden with cutesy covers of annoying 60's songs. It's not all bad though, Revolver is just amazing.

Now the Fab Four are not the only people distracting me right now. Today is "Critical Tuesday," and even though I am Canadian and have absolutely no say in the election, the primaries in Rhode Island, Vermont, Texas, and Ohio are both very interesting and very distracting. John McCain has essentially locked up the GOP nomination, but what's really keeping me distracted is the race for delegates in Ohio and Texas for the Democrats.

Now for those of you who don't know me personally, I am a big Obama supporter. I know you might want to know why, but I'm gonna leave all that for a later post. The point is the race is very tight in Texas and Ohio, and the constant refreshing of CNN.com is keeping me very busy, yet I still decide to write this.

Now this was just sort of an introductory post, just to tell you what's on my mind right now (Yellow Submarine is so catchy,) but hopefully I'll be updating this blog daily, so keep checking back for more of my musings. Future posts will tell you more about myself, because in this one you didn't really get to know me. So if you like what you read, and want to hear more, keep coming back.