Odeon | New Years Eve House Party

Odeon and Scratch are putting on a New Years Eve party at the Odeon. It will be similar to Scratch's party last year featuring multiple acts and games like beer pong.

English Premier League | Best Goals of December (2012)

Here is 12 minutes of great goals including RVP's Manchester Derby win, Cameron Jerome's fire cracker of a volley against Southampton and Theo Walcott's brilliant little goal at the end of the month.



Yours Truly

Happy New Years!

Christmas is a busy time of year, enjoying the holidays and spending time with friends and families. Fortunately, after the break the blog will be back in action. We would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and appreciate the support. You can catch all of us at multiple places around the city such as Amigo's, Spadina Freehouse, Hollows or the Odeon. If you know of a happening place, let us know with a comment below. Enjoy your evening and stay tuned for another year.

Cheers

Pirate Fridays | Douglar

The local Pirate Fridays has just leaked a song from their upcoming album. A 10 song track list will be fully released on January 4, 2013 at Vangeli's. The video is incredibly trippy, so don't focus too hard.



Yours Truly

Up In Coming

Well I hope all your guys and gals' holidays are coming along swimmingly. Just a handful of up and coming posts, I just completed all six Halo games, so I'll be writing a review of Halo 4 soon.

Also me and JJ went and saw Django Unchained, which just might be my movie of the year.

Keep it locked. We haven't forgot about you.

I hope you had a Merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year.

Photos: Close Talker

This weekend some of my good friends reunited to play an awesome show at Vangelis Tavern on Broadway as the band Close Talker.  Instead of me trying to describe who they are, I will steal directly from their website:

THE ALTERNATIVE INDIE ROCKERS, CLOSE TALKER, ARE THE NEWEST MUSICAL HYPE HAILING FROM THE PRAIRIES, PROUD TO BE REPRESENTING THE UNIQUE STYLINGS OF SASKATOON'S MUSIC SCENE. WHILE ONLY BEING TOGETHER FOR A HANDFUL OF MONTHS AS A GROUP, THE BAND HAS ACTUALLY BEEN IN THE MAKING FOR SEVERAL YEARS WITH THE INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS HAVING COLLABORATED IN DIFFERING CAPACITIES AND CONFIGURATIONS UNTIL FINALLY COMING TOGETHER AS CLOSE TALKER. EXTREMELY RAW, NATURAL TALENT, PAIRED WITH UNMATCHED PASSION AND UNENDING DETERMINATION, HAS BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR MATURE SONG WRITING BEYOND ANY OF THEIR YEARS. ALL OF THE WRITING IS A COLLABORATION OF EACH MEMBER, AND THE RESULT OF TALENT AND CLOSE FRIENDSHIPS. THEIR PROFICIENT AND SUBSTANTIAL LYRIC WRITING IS EXPRESSED THROUGH SMOOTH AND SOULFUL LEAD VOCALS BACKED BY IMPECCABLE HARMONIES AND UNRESTRAINED GANG VOCALS. LED BY DEMANDING, YET INTRICATE GUITAR PARTS, WITH THE RHYTHM SECTION BEING HELD DOWN BY CALCULATED BASS LINES, AND TASTEFUL PERCUSSION, CLOSE TALKER'S MUSIC IS CHALK FULL OF DEEP GROOVES, MEMORABLY DYNAMIC TEMPOS AND ARRANGEMENTS, AND UNIQUELY CREATIVE HOOKS THAT WILL HAUNT YOU FOR WEEKS. 

WILL QUIRING - VOCALS, GUITAR

MATTHEW KOPPERUD - GUITAR, KEYS, VOCALS

CHRIS MORIEN - DRUMS, VOCALS

JEREMY OLSON - BASS

If you are ever in the neighbourhood when they are playing, check them out!

E

Holiday Gift Guide

Christmas is near and because the world did not end, you may now have realized that you need to buy some last minute gifts (like Brennan). I thought I would comprise a small list to help you spark some ideas.

1. David's Tea Gift Certificate:

As you know, the weather sucks and its difficult to get your day going when you're tired and unmotivated. A gift like this allows you to purchase daily morning teas or even leaves so that you can make it at home. This place has been hyped up by a lot of my friends and after having it a couple of times I know why. These can be purchased at the Lawson Heights and Midtown Plaza locations.

2. Edgewater Spa Gift Certificate:

This idea was chosen for women because of the offerings but it doesn't mean that it will fail as a men's gift. Manicures, pedicures, massages, you name it, they got it. Edgewater is located on Broadway Avenue right by the bridge.

3. Dinner:

My favourite gift to receive and a good one to give is to take the gift receiver for a meal. It's tangible, with its intangible benefits. Spending time with someone and conversing over a good meal in my opinion is a great time. Some options could be The Keg, The Granary and Otowa for an intimate social experience. For a group of people, Earls, Keo's and Sushiro are great options.

4. Touch Screen Gloves:

Now that many people own smart phones and tablets, these gloves can be really handy. These are made by many different outerwear companies such as The North Face and Burton. They can be used as a liner underneath your winter gloves or on their own. The gloves can be used for driving and even look good with a suit. These gloves can be found at majority of outerwear stores.

Yours Truly

Just a Taste: The Underground Cafe

The Underground Cafe is located on 20th Street just a block west of The Roxy Theatre.  I've wanted to visit there for quite a while but since they are closed on Mondays, my success has been limited until today.  The Underground is a deceivingly large coffee shop with lots of seating and great coffee and teas.  I didn't try any of their lunch options but they offer paninis and soups as well as a selection of desserts.  If you're looking for a place to study for those last few finals, stop by The Underground for a delicious hot drink in a great atmosphere.

Connected to the cafe is Beaumont Records; two businesses sharing the same space.  They have a very interesting selection of old and new artists from a variety of genres.  CD's, cassettes, and t-shirts are all for sale but the appeal of Beaumont is the many racks of vinyl.  I personally don't have a record player anymore but after seeing this selection, I wish I did!  Definitely worth a visit.

E

Air Jordan IV | Thunder

It has been confirmed that these are coming to Canada. If we are lucky enough to see them in Saskatoon, Foot Locker and Momentum will have them on December 22, 2012. These were originally produced back in 2006, making them nearly impossible to purchase (unless you have over $1000 to splurge).

Yours Truly

Movies: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

I'd just like to point that I'm not crazy about the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but I did thoroughly enjoy the movies. Well from what I remember at least, it’s been a while. So after the nine year wait (nine years already? Man…) The Hobbit finally graced its presence on the screen, and in select theaters, in 48 frames per second.

All movies up until The Hobbit were shot between 25 - 30 frames per second. With 48 FPS, it allows for a more fluid look of the film, almost lifelike, which takes a lot of getting used to. With the added clarity, at some points in the movie you can tell that the actors are on a set rather than a scene in a movie which kinda takes away from the feel of the movie. But with that all being said, you can still go see The Hobbit in regular 24 FPS in other theaters, which I might actually do.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey tells the story of Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf the Grey and a band 13 Dwarves (Nori, Ori, Dori, Fili, Kili, Oin, Gloin, Bombur, Bofur, Bifur, Balin, Dwalin and their leader Thorin) who take on the quest of reclaiming the Dwarven land: The Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug.

Initially the movie was to be only two parts, but a few months before the release of the movie Peter Jackson had announced that it would be three films. I can’t say whether or not this is the best of ideas since The Hobbit is only one book compared to the LOTR trilogy.

But I think the whole reasoning behind this was the added back story of who's doing what at any given time and/or the development of the characters in this film. From what I was told, the dwarves were seen more as one entity rather than 13 separate dwarves.

I wasn't a big fan of the 48 fps, it seemed distracting and like I had mentioned before, it added another level of clarity in which you can tell when they were on a set and when they were on some landscape which kind of takes away from the film’s feel. But that being said, I somewhat got used to it, so visually, the movie was beautiful. It is exactly what you would expect of a Peter Jackson film.

The Hobbit is definitely a lot easier to follow than LOTR seeing as there aren't as many characters you gotta keep track of. LOTR, I got confused pretty easy. I should just rewatch those damn movies.

Some scenes in the movie seemed unnecessarily drawn out, like when Bilbo meets Gollum for the first time. But maybe it was necessary? I never read the books so I can’t say for sure. I'm just a guy who goes and sees movies.



Seeing as An Unexpected Journey was the first of three movies, this film was a good stepping stone to what we can expect in the next two. This movie introduced such characters as Smaug and the Necromancer, a man who can conjure the dead, both of which are played by Benedict Cumberbatch, you might know him from the UK TV show Sherlock or the bad guy in the new Star Trek movie, Star Trek into Darkness.

So should you go see it? Definitely, if you’ve seen all the LOTR films, you may as well keep the ball rolling. But if you do go see it, do yourself a favour and just watch it in regular 24 FPS. 48 FPS is pretty distracting.

Case and Point
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is: experimental.

Jimmy Fallon, Mariah Carey & The Roots | All I Want for Christmas is You

If you are anything like me, you must have Christmas music CD's in your vehicle and are finally embracing the holiday spirit. And if you aren't, well this could be your start.



Yours Truly

Champions League 2012/13 | Group Stage Moments

Here is a collection of Sky Sports' best group stage moments of this years Champions League tournament. It is the most exciting club football/soccer tournament in the world and even though Chelsea has been eliminated, I am excited for the playoff stages. Who do you think will win it all this year?



Yours Truly

Trailer: Pacific Rim

So, this is like, the movie I am waiting for now.

Nike Sportswear | Solarsoft Moccasin Premium

Here is a new colour way of the NSW Solarsoft Moccasin that is coming in Spring 2013. It has the inspiration of a moccasin with the feel of a runner. I love the idea that Nike can transfer its innovations in footwear technology to other departments within the brand. Hopefully I can land myself a pair of these.

Yours Truly

50 Cups of Christmas | 2012

Christmas after Christmas (well this may be the last one, considering the end of the world), Saskatoon's own 50 Cups of Coffee never fails to throw a good party. For $10 you can grab a ticket at either Momentum and are also expected to bring a non-perishable food item to the event.

RSVP on Facebook

Yours Truly

Ninetimes Presents Pretty Sweet

Photo Friday: Life Isn't Black and White... But My Photos Are

After you go say hi to Brandon Svarc at Luna and Hill on Friday, swing by the east side to check out some of my favourite black and white photos at Moka Coffee Bar.  For this one night only, all artwork will be available for purchase for $100!  A nice framed black and white photo might be a great Christmas present or something... just saying.

Come for the photos but stay for the great music!  Derek Funk, Karla Neufeld (no relation...) and Brent Letkeman have recently started a new band--the third for Derek and Karla together.  They sound great and I'm pumped that they will be playing their first gig here.  Also, my main man Geoff of Gunner and Smith will be wrapping up the evening with a solo set.

This won't be a formal event by any means but come grab a coffee and enjoy a relaxed evening.

Hope to see you there!

E

Naked and Famous: Brandon Svarc at Luna and Hill

The poster pretty much says it all but I speak for many denim heads in Saskatoon when I say that this is going to be a good time.  Brandon Svarc is a designer and owner of arguably the best denim brand coming out of Canada, Naked and Famous.  The Montreal based company specializes in Japanese selvedge denim in a variety of styles and some outrageous special editions like glow in the dark and scratch and sniff jeans.  Come on out to say hi to a guy making some noise for Canada in the fashion world and to support a local shop who just celebrated their first birthday.

E

F*ckin' Problems - A$AP Rocky Ft. Drake, Kendrick Lamar & 2 Chainz

NSFW

Air Jordan XI | Playoffs

This sneaker is known as the Playoffs and as the Bred. Jordan has been crazy with their releases and the next year will be the exact same. The Breds is another successful attempt of making sneaker heads spend money and fight for shoes. I can already say it's a success based on the long awaited hype and quality of these photos. These are expected to release on December 21, 2012. You will be able to purchase them at Footlocker and Momentum.

Yours Truly