Sports And The Male Psyche

I don't consider myself a big sports fan by any stretch of the imagination. I don't have a head full of team rosters and stats and would label myself as a casual sports enthusiast. I only primarily watch basketball and sporadically follow the local teams. However, the reason why I decided to write about sports is because I wanted to talk about the hardest of the hardcore.
The sporting arena is generally dominated by males. We follow sports like a pack of wolves, hunting down the games, desperately gnawing on every last morsel of sports trivia. There's an innate, inherent and dare I suggest illogical draw of sports that comes from the very depths of our loins. The hardcore sports lovers indulge themselves in trade rumors like they are losing family members, recite box scores like anthems, and stay so loyal to team colors they could pass for a power ranger. We see sports lovers running up and down streets and honking their horns but when you think about it, it's all very silly behaviour.
Why should you care about your local sports team anyways? For one thing, you shouldn't have to blindly accept a sports team just because you are coincidently geographically located within their region of representation. Secondly, celebrating your team's achievements is utterly pointless because of the following reasons:
-you have provided absolutely nothing to their success (aside from financial aid from purchasing the sports merch)
-their success will not improve your quality of life in any shape or form
-your local sports team isn't even a representation of your local sports talent, it's a strategic amalgamation of often international talent that incidentally wears uniforms with your respective city on it
Of course, I only direct these statements towards sports fanatics because sports do have their place in the world. It's the on-going The Young And The Restless soap opera for males. The sports universe has it's own legion of heroes and villains. It's full of drama, blood, sweat, tears, winners, losers and cheaters. It makes for great water cooler talk and we still follow it even if other people say it's just the same repackaged shit everyday. Everything is good in moderation I suppose.

Today's track:
Hey Willpower - Hundredaire

It's YouTube Time

Who is Sungha Jung? This guy kid.

There may have been a time in your life when you thought picking up guitar would be a good idea. Here's a reason to put it down.

Pet Peeves Of The New Millennia

I would say I have a lot of pet peeves. I get annoyed by a variety of things but recently I've developed a single severe and intense hatred for people with Bluetooth headsets.
Technology is a wonderful thing and the functionality behind Bluetooth is pretty rad but I feel like it's my duty to remind the world that it is indeed possible to have too much of a good thing. Going wireless and hands-free is awesome and everybody wants in on the action but really, all I see are rat-bastard douchebags abusing the technology. I mean, I'm not saying you can't use your Bluetooth. I'm just saying use it when the technology is applicable, otherwise you just come off as an attention whoring piece of shit fucktard whom everyone can identify by the blinking light on the side your head. Who the fuck are you to walk around with a hands-free and still NOT be doing anything that requires two hands? Maybe I should just punch you in the face if you want to exercise the practicality of having a headset.
Here are some general rules of thumb that everybody should follow: If you're not - in the act of driving, some big shot executive juggling phone calls and paperwork, playing video games, a double amputee - then fucking use your free limb to just pick the phone up to your ear and talk like a regular person! Fuck you Bluetooth toting tech-illiterate assfags that walk with some irrational sense of nobility and distinction because you're able to take calls on your ear. I don't need to be subjected to your now unhindered and completely unimportant conversations that are projected into every space you walk into.
If you acquired a headset because you are insecure about your image then let me make one thing clear to you: it doesn't make you cool. In fact, not only is it uncool, it commands that I actively hate you. The technology is there to facilitate the use of your hands, not so you can talk on the phone and gesture like the people on the other end can see you. You look like a ridiculous donkey assclown.
This is now chain mail. Please forward this to 5 other people or you will die a horrible death. Thank you.

Todays track:
Surkin - White Knight Two

The man purse is coming...

There are a couple of fashion trends that are starting to show more and more. A curious trend I would credit Korea with is the popularization of the man-purse. Living in a multicultural community like Toronto, I'm sure many of us have witnessed it first-hand. Sometimes it's a plain ol' "average" joe asian holding some monstrosity of a sac or sometimes it's a totally androgynous look (see below photos for reference).

Why I find this amusing sometimes is because me and Yoomi like to play "who's bag is that?" when we see these couples. I know sometimes I go out with her and I'm the one that ends up holding the purse. Hopefully, it would be dead obvious who's purse it belonged to when I'm carrying it around with her. But I'm not so certain who's bag is who's when I see other Korean couples in the same predicament, and it's definitely a man-purse when they both are carrying bags.


What the real question here is: "What does a man need a bag for in the first place?"
We all understand why women need bags; they need stuff, they need lots of stuff. What does an average woman have in their purse? An inexplicably large wallet, cell phone, pens, papers, feminine hygiene products, war paint, random objects they can't live without.
But how can a guy justify carrying a bag around? I can't think of anything I need to bring around with me that wouldn't fit in my jeans. Seriously, unless you're a shoplifter or something, why?
Furthermore, if any guy is going to accessorize with a bag type object, it should be done right. Here are some suitable alternatives that do no render your masculinity suspect:
a briefcase, duffel bag, messenger bags.
That's all I can think of for now but is plenty sufficient.

Today's track
Positive K - I Gotta Man

Spring is here!

Spring in Toronto is amusing. I've been here all my life and I still can't get used to the weather. But what's interesting about the weather is that there isn't much mild weather during spring and fall. I feel like winter passes and we go straight into the heat of summer.
Anyways, my post isn't just about the weather in general but the peculiarities it induces. If you were inside people-watching out the window during spring you would have no clue how the weather was outside. It's funny to see the odd mish-mash of people and the contrast of wardrobes. You got people who are weather appropriate, people who are still wearing their winter coats, and then these people who can't wait to bust out their summer tanks and flip-flops when it's 5 degrees outside.

Well, that's it for now.
This is how we chill from '93 till...

Today's track
Souls of Mischief - 93 to infinity

It's 10 O'clock, Do You Know Where Is Your Soul Mate Is?

I don't get hung up on the idea of having or searching for a soul mate. One of the problems with this term regards the word 'soul' itself because its definition is not constant from person to person and I'm skeptical of its existence in the first place (but I'll save that for another day). The second problem I have is that the term soul mate is synonymous with finding the one and only. The romantic in me is affectionate towards the idea of finding the one person whom could receive and reciprocate my love. However, the realist in me finds this logic rather weak.

To literally believe that there is just one person on the planet to which you are truly compatible is deflating if you think about it. There are billions upon billions of people on this planet. If you're searching for 'the one' your chances are slim to none. Even if you're with somebody right now, the chances of them being 'the one' is just as terrible. Realistically, your chances of finding a soul mate are far, far worse than winning the lottery grand prize (which for 6/49 is about 1 in 14 million). If anything, you could win the lotto multiple times before you find your soul mate.

So now that I squashed your hopes and dreams of ever finding your soul mate, what is the point of all this? Like I said, I don't get hung up on the idea of being assigned a person to be with by the mysterious forces of fate and serendipity. Instead, I find deeper meaning in a relationship that isn't bound by singular pretense. Knowing this, there are many things to be optimistic about.

Firstly, chances are that there are plenty of people on this planet that are compatible with you. Applying game theory, you find that any two people could end up together given the right circumstances. So in fact, your chances at love isn't quite as dim as first imagined. Now that we are aware that there are a multitude of potential partners available to us, it makes what we got that much more significant. It's not about being stuck with 'the one' anymore. It's about commitment. It's about binding emotions rather than the obligatory binding of 'souls'.

My idea of what a 'soul mate' is, is about sharing a tried and true love. A love that is free to leave but instead stays to endure the hardships. The 'one' for you is the is the first and last 'one' who can stay with what you got.

Today's track
Sandrine - Sea Of Love

Who Is The Pope?

The current Pope is Pope Benedict XVI. Apparently, he is a pretty big deal.

The Pope tours around the world spreading his 'holiness' and always draws in huge crowds as the faithful flock from far and wide to see him. But who is the Pope really? Well, as far as the Roman Catholic Church is concerned, he's the representative of Jesus Christ himself. And how do you earn such a commanding title? Basically after the old Pope croaks, some old people get together and put it to a vote. I'm sure somewhere in the election process they all stand side by side and somehow quantify each other's holiness with a special scientific tool known as a holimeter which detects human auras and accurately measures the size of their halos.

Why is their hierarchy in religion? The Pope is bullshit. If I decide to fully subscribe myself to religion, what makes you closer to Jesus than anyone else? Faith should be absolute. Either you're in or you're out. Besides, I thought Jesus loves us all the same. Why do any of us have to listen to some old dust bag with a big hat wheeze on about the Bible when it has no more meaning than when it comes from the lips of that crazy homeless guy you see downtown? In today's society, the Pope should be obsolete. But why does he exist?

Religion and politics go hand in hand. The history of Religion goes back to the day of less civilized times of King and Emperor ruling. The insatiable human need to feed our own egos by creating a meaningful place in this universe meant well for the creation and advancement of religion. Dictators soon realized the power religion could hold over the population. The Bible was devised and revised to keep the herd in check. Even today the Bible is quoted to push political agendas. Modern day controversial issues (such as abortion, stem cell research and gay marriage) involving ethics and human rights are being dealt with using the text from times when public executions were a family affair. As inspirational as the Bible may be, it has long past it's expiry date. It is a work of fiction and nothing else.

The Pope is nothing but a product of propaganda for the proliferation of propaganda.

Off topic but should be noted: There's a Darwin exhibit currently running at the ROM until August. I want to go to the ROM this year. I still haven't had a chance to see the Crystal part of it. I know people are divided between abhorring it adoring it but I still think it's cool -- at least for now until the novelty of it wears thin. Meh, maybe I'll have a stronger opinion about it when I see the inside of it.
Darwin for president!

Today's track
The Foals - Hummer