Juggling Mike

Unlike some other portions of the world, where it is hot all year long and you can unicycle all the time (you know who you are), Canada goes through a proper climate cycle and switches from hot to cold whether you like it or not. It seems like our summer lasted only a couple of days, and now even autumn is on its way out. We got our first snow this week, and although it was only 1cm high, it was enough of a taste of what is sure to come. You see, winter loves us.. LOVES US. There can simply not be enough snow on the ground. Nature tries to pile that shit as high as it can, and while some people adore it, I’m not a big fan of “la merde blanche”. Sorry about the crapologies regarding the snow, I just don’t like it that much.

It felt like I did not take advantage of summer this year. Sure, there was Ride the Lobster, but that felt more like spring, and there was that fishing weekend I went afterward which was very relaxing. (Except the part where we hit the moose) Besides that, I did not do much! As for autumn, it feels like I didn’t do anything at all. Usually, I will go nature walking/hiking, but most weekends this year were wet and soggy and not at a comfortable temperature. The weekends that were nice, I already had plans, mostly of which took place indoors.

Which brings us to winter that is nearly upon us. Since I did nothing outside these last months, I want to redeem myself in the icy cold of the upcoming season. I pledge to try to learn how to skate (yes, I know, it is sad that I cannot skate yet) and maybe go try snowboarding. I want to snowshoe more often and breathe in the crisp fresh air. I still am not a fan of winter, but I have no choice but to live through it and take it like a proper Quebecois.

Homework Assignment:
What are you looking forward to doing in winter?
Any fun activities you can recommend?
Post in the comments below!

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I went to see a circus show last night at the Tohu, one of the many circus friendly locations we have in this area. This was the third show by the “Les 7 doigts de la main” troupe. I had never seen any of their prior shows, so I had no clue what to expect, but they had been getting great reviews from the newspapers.

The show is called “La Vie” (”Life” in french) and revolves around how you should appreciate your life, for when you die, it is over. The stage and the audience are essentially in purgatory and every person is there to witness their sins. One member of the troupe plays the host, and others are essentially people who have died and have to face their death. Depending on how they died, their portion of the show reflects on how they try to coup with their loss. Naturally, how they react all have to do with the many arts of the circus and it was great fun. There were many aerial acts, hand to hand, dance, and some more traditional juggling, such as diabolo, cane manipulation and flair! Unfortunately, there was no act involving ball or club juggling, but everything else more than made up for it. The diabolo act in particular was incredible. I have embedded a very similar diabolo act by the same two guys from another show they’ve done.

While it is all good and fun to have some good circus acts in a show, you need good characters and acting to really grab your audience, and they did a great job at this. The main host (played by the bigger guy in the video) did a great job entertaining the audience, while the other diaboloist could have been considered as the jack-of-all-trades character and clown. He played the role of a new member in purgatory and didn’t know how to get around, so he was quite funny. One memorable character was the contortionist who was a crazy girl who tried to escape from the insane asylum. She was a lot of fun and was always in character which was great. She also had an aerial act on the long “curtain ribbon” (not sure the exact name of that) which was meant to expose how she died. As the host put it “She had enough material to escape from the third story window, but unfortunately, she lived on the eighth floor.” One character is actually the troupe’s DJ and he has his own act in the set as well. Overall, every character was great and the numbers were all well mixed together.

The schedule is almost over, but some supplementary shows have been added in November. If you want to see a great circus act, (and it does not cost very much either!) go see “La Vie” at the Tohu. You will not regret it. I had a lot of fun and I will be recommending it to everybody I know. You can buy your tickets here as well as see a promo video of the show in action. It is funny, sexy, imaginative, and totally worth it. GO SEE THIS SHOW!

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A Greenpeace video to highlight the importance of saving our trees.
Could also be considered as tree porn.
The question remains.. did you get wood?
I crack myself up.. (sorry)

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I found this clip for Benny Benassi’s song “Satisfaction”. I was used to another one with contained bikini clad girls messing around with various power tools (the jiggle! so much jiggling!), but I find this one so much superior. Sure it has no cleavage or jiggly flesh, but the first time I saw it, I was creeped out. It felt like I was watching the birth of four happy zombies. Naturally, zombies > jiggly flesh.. unless of course you have hot zombie ladies! At a carwash! With a vocoder!! Damn! Maybe there could be a zombie carwash with a vocoder after the break? Only the brave should venture…

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Overshadowed by the United States elections, Canada is also currently going through a re-election. I’m not very fond of election time since it seems like the only thing we hear are the leaders bitching about how much the other parties failed. Naturally, they all harp on the current governing prime minister, Stehen Harper, but they also all seem to hate each other. Our neighbourhoods are covered by various posters and billboards by the various groups proclaiming that they are the better choice. I don’t even want to start imagining how much money was spent on marketing.

Anyways, with every serious event that occurs, there will be people making fun of them. I found this little video (it is in french) about the leaders and I found it pretty amusing. It didn’t change my vote, but was fun to watch. It only includes the four major leaders, since I guess the Green Party (the fifth “official” party) isn’t big enough yet, but still…

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The original clip for “Take on me” by A-Ha was something quite impressive to watch, especially considering it came from the 80’s. Using rotoscoping (one of my favourite animation techniques), and some other animation tricks, it really looked like a comic book coming alive. This parody keeps the video intact, but changes the lyrics to be as literal as possible.

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Here’s my opinion of the iPhone after a couple of weeks.
iPhone is AWESOME. I absolutely love it. iTunes is PURE CRAP. I can’t stand the software. Only reason I am using it is because I need it to sync my iPhone.

One of my favourite aspects of the iPhone are the applications. You can download (some free, some for a cost) applications easily and use them immediately. A lot of the programs are crap, but there are some real gems among there. I just want to list a couple of my favourites, and if you have any you recommend, please list them in the comments.

Flixster Movies (FREE)
This lets you search for theaters close to your GPS location and then lists all the movies and show times. Most movies also have a trailer associated to them which lets you preview the movie in full screen.

Facebook (FREE)
This is the popular app that lets you view facebook in a way meant for the iPhone. You can do everything you would normally do on the site, but at a much faster speed.

Tap Tap Revenge (FREE)
The game that is being promoted by Apple for the new iPod Touch, but well deserved. It is similar to guitar hero, without the strumming, but can get fast paced and is a lot of fun.

Labyrinth LE (FREE)
This is the “demo” version of the paying version, but it is a great game to show your friends how sensitive the accelerometer is in the device.

Texas Hold Em ($4.99)
A really awesome game. Well worth the 5 dollars.

Solebon ($0.99)
This is a strong selection of solitaire games. There is nothing fancy, but it works. Usually the game is 10$, which in my opinion is too much, but it is currently on special at 1$ for about a week, and it is well worth it at that price.

Galcon Lite (FREE)
I am hooked on this game. It is a rather simple strategy game where you have to conquer planets and destroy your opponent. I am still enjoying the “demo” version, but I am much inclined on purchasing the full version if the price is right. Check out the website and try it on your computer. It is awesome. UPDATE: I found out that the full version is currently on special at 4.99 so I purchased it. Full version has online multiplayer, new modes and sounds. For 5$, it is well worth it.

Stanza (FREE)
This is simply an eBook reader, but it is very well done. It lets you download many books for free (all the old classics, like Sherlock Holmes, Treasure Island, Animal Farm, etc). I already have a small collection on my phone and I am currently reading Alice in Wonderland on the bus. It will not replace a real paper book, but it does a good job and is free!

If you have any apps you love, please include them in the comments section! Thanks!

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