Filed under: the ussh. | Tags: 2009, Auld Lang Syne, Break, Holidays, Life, New Year's Eve, Paolo Nutini, Winter
These past few days have been super chill. All I’ve done is lounge about in sweat pants and watch sci-fi movies or listen to music. Awesome. It’s too cold outside to even bother going out. New Years Eve is tomorrow night and I’m super excited. It’s still my favourite night of the year.
I don’t know. It all just happened when one of his songs came on in my car. I was by myself and pretty floored by the melody and simplicity of it. Then I found the entire album and heard Solamia Somalia (Woah, I actually first typed “Solamia”). Man, why didn’t I know about him sooner? Weak.
Just to be an ass, I’m going to say he’s way better than k-os.
Filed under: Interesting | Tags: Charity, Christmas, Fashion, Gift, GUCCI, Holidays, Ideas, Life, Michael Roberts, Philanthropy, Presents, Shopping, UNICEF Canada
I’ve just started to consider what I will buy for people this Christmas. I’m one of those last minute types of people anyway. In my work for UNICEF Canada, I’ve had the pleasure of marketing GUCCI’s partnership with UNICEF this holiday season.
GUCCI has designed a series of products, available at all Canadian locations, of which 25% of the proceeds will go to help less fortunate children around the world. They’re also championing the book, Snowman in Africa by Michael Roberts. The illustrations in the book are great, and I love the irony of the plot. 100% of the book’s profits will go directly to UNICEF and aid them in doing their work.
If you’re someone who wants to find the perfect gift and do something great for those less fortunate, you can take a look at some of UNICEF Canada’s other charitable gift ideas at www.shopunicef.ca. There are a whole range of ethically, environmentally and socially conscious gifts available.
Filed under: the ussh. | Tags: Birthday, Chicane, Dance, Life, Music, Stoned in Love, Tom Jones, Video
Three years old today! Crazy. This rounds out my entire blogging adventure at, like, almost eight years.
There are some awesome changes being rolled out in the next week or so. I’m re-working how this space can work better for me, as well as define new roles for interaction and engagement. Fun stuff–at least in my head it is.
On that note, listen to this song. It’s been stuck in my head for the better part of the month, and I just can’t help how awesome Tom Jones is in the chorus.
Filed under: the ussh. | Tags: Community, Culture, Documentary, Film, Indian, Life, Movie, Pakistan, South Asian
Ali Jafri is a guy I met back when I was lending whatever arm or leg I could for Ed the Sock and his show. Every now and then Ali will leave me some random tidbit from Youtube, or if I’m lucky, he’ll run into me waiting for the streetcar and offer me a ride to the subway.
He’s just finished his first short documentary, and to be honest, I’m really proud. Double Lives: Lost in Transition focuses on the secrecy and taboo subject of the double life within South Asian communities. It’s about people who are caught between cultures and deals with the lingering question of identity. It’s something I’ve dealt with in my life, and still do. You can view both parts below:
Filed under: the ussh. | Tags: Advice, Eckhart Tolle, Life, self-help, The Now
I don’t edit this content. If Sagar can’t speak english, that’s his problem.
What if I were to tell you that there is a voice inside your head that never shuts up and pretends to you be you, but isn’t actually you? You would probably think I’m crazy.
A few months ago I started reading the works of Eckhart Tolle. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Tolle, he is a spiritual teacher who preaches that most human beings spend their entire life imprisoned within the confines of their own thoughts. As such, he argues that the only thing necessary in order for one to achieve spiritual enlightenment is to transcend thought.
I know, easier said than done.
Can you recall a time when you were staring at something beautiful, a sunset on a lake perhaps, and for a brief second, there was a certain unique stillness, an unmistakeable inner peace within you? That was you living in the moment. Of course it didn’t last, and you likely weren’t consciously aware of what happened. In reality, that was actually you escaping your mind.
Life tends to pass us by while we’re busy thinking about how not to allow life to pass us by. So here is a new spiritual practice for you: don’t take your thoughts too seriously. Accept the moment, as it is, right now. When you accept it, no matter how imperfect it may seem, all the inner conflict within you disappears, you will find yourself at peace.
Thoughts are very powerful, they lead to emotions, and emotions lead to reactions. Reactions lead to conflicts. That’s why there is so much conflict amongst human beings.
Everyone is familiar with the Buddhist saying: No self, no problems. Buddhists believe that all pain is creating as result of desire. What they mean when they refer to “self” is your mind made image of you, something that is conditioned by the past, and never satisfied, at least not for long. In actuality, that is not you. “You” are something much deeper. “You” are an energy that is one with this world and the truth of the matter is no thing or person in this world can affect “you.” When you think something has, it has really affected your “self” — your mind made image.
Your life is always right now. When you think of the past, you can only remember it now. What you remember is an event that happened in the now, and you remember it right now. When the future arrives, it will arrive as the now. There never was and never will be a time when your life is not right now. So why not embrace it? Make friends with the moment, and then see what happens.
For the longest time in my life I used to externalize my own happiness. I would depend on other people, objects, or places to make me happy. The problem with that way of living is those things cannot give you true joy. Yes, they can make you “happy”, but there is a fundamental difference between being happy and true joy. Happiness does not last for long. When something makes you happy, it will do so for a brief period of time, and you will then start looking for something or someone else to replicate that effect.
Once you begin to realize that no object or person in this world can provide you with lasting fulfillment, everything changes. You will still meet and interact with people but are able to accept them as the passing and imperfect creatures they are, there is a sense of joy deep down which always remains unaffected by what happens around you.
Do you find yourself worried a lot, or anxious about the future? You’re likely creating situations in your head, which is leading to anxiety. The truth is you cannot deal with those situations, because they do not exist. They are figments of your imagination. You can only deal with the present moment, and that’s all you’ll ever have to deal with.
So what’s left when we’re not wound up in our thoughts, worrying about the past or being anxious about the future? Stillness, inner peace, joy.
Some years ago I was speaking to Matthew Good about young kids trying to “make it” in the music business when he remarked to me: “If it’s not enough for someone to play music in their bedroom by themselves, it will never be enough.” I never quite understood what he meant by that. Looking back on that conversation now, he couldn’t have more correct. Ultimately, everything we do in life should be about the journey, not the destination.
Carpe diem, they say.
Filed under: Humour, Interesting | Tags: Culture, Health, Laughter, Life, people, Sagar Speaks, self-help, Wellness
My friend and co-worker Sagar is really into social dynamics lately. Last night, after working some hard overtime, we walked to the subway together. On our walk he started talking about why we laugh. I said he should write something about it and put it on my blog. He did.
I was walking home yesterday with Kavi and began ranting to him, as I usually do, about a seemingly mundane topic that I recently took an interest in: laughter. Kavi mentioned that he was intrigued by the arbitrary subjects I go on about and suggested I write an entry on his blog about my findings, so here we are.
Laughter. Everybody laughs. Truly a fascinating thing when you think about it. It is recognized by all cultures and backgrounds, all over the world. I can laugh with someone from half way across the globe, and despite not speaking a word of the same language, we would both understand each other. It is one of the few universally recognized elements of human language.
Maybe I should back up a bit. What got me on this whole laughter bit in the first place? Last week when I was walking, I came up to a stop light and noticed a homeless fellow singing to himself in a rather amusing way. As I looked over my shoulder, I noticed there was a cute girl standing next to me who happened to notice this guy as well, so we exchanged looks and began laughing. I started chatting to her and we ended up having a twenty minute conversation.
I know what you’re thinking: Nice story, but what does it have to do with anything? Well, as I reflected on that interaction later on, I realized how extremely powerful laughter is. I’ve always had an interest in social dynamics, but it was both bizarre and intriguing to me that two strangers on the street can share a laugh about such a trivial thing and mutually understand it as way of saying “Hi, I’d like to bond with you socially.”
As you may know, laughter is not done consciously. It is not thought, it is not planned. Our brain decides to do it for is. Like most people, before I did any research on the matter, I always attributed laughter to funny things. Jokes, comedians, and the like. Perhaps the most interesting thing I discovered was this: most laughter is not in response to something that’s funny.
Since I read that, I began observing the people around me and those I interact with regularly. Guess what? It’s true. People laugh for all kind of reasons – rarely does it have to do with something funny. Some people laugh as a way of breaking tension. Some people laugh to seek approval. Some laugh as a means of compensating for insecurity, and some people laugh for no reason at all. Despite the myriad of reasons that people laugh, I think it’s generally accepted as a way of conveying good vibrations.
Have you ever found yourself laughing with a group of people, but not sure why? It’s human instinct to laugh when others around us are laughing. Laughter is like social glue. That’s why you would sooner talk to yourself than laugh with yourself. A psychological study shows that people watching television shows that contain sound clips of laughter are more inclined to think of those shows as being funny, as well as to laugh along with them.
I’m not really sure where I’m going with this, and given my short attention span I’ll probably be ranting about something like missile silos next week, but for now what I can suggest is: maybe all the world needs is a little more laughter. Try it, you might agree.
Filed under: the ussh. | Tags: Answer, Life, Nuit Blanche, Question, Wednesday Plans, Weekend, Work, Working Week
So Monday is now Complain Mondays and Tuesdays have become Random Tuesdays. Over a couple of drinks last night after work, which were totally random, Josh and I decided that Wednesday should be dubbed Wednesday Plans: The day people start to decide what’s going to happen from Thursday to Sunday.
Thursday is usually Beers & Cheers followed by debauchery in my calendar.
Fridays, I think that’s a stay in with sweat pants night.
Saturday is Nuit Blanche.
And Sunday is a write off.
What are your plans for the rest of the week?
Filed under: Interesting | Tags: Alcohol, Cocktails, Drinks, LCBO, Life, Nightlife, Parties, Strongbow, toronto, Wine
Always do sober what you said you’d do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut. – Ernest Hemingway
There’s something I tend to forget. But this isn’t about my partying shenanigans, it’s about the drink! Nothing like a good drink to end your day or start your night.
People like having a favourite a drink—a signature beverage that each person enjoys and champions as the greatest thing ever. It’s their mark. You can learn a lot about a person from the drink that they associate themselves with.
I drink a lot of wine and I have a favourite wine, but my all time favourite drink has always been a gin and seven. Recentley I’ve shifted to an alternative from beer. I hate how it gets me bloated so a friend from work suggested this: a pint of Strongbow filled to the brim with ice. It’s an acquired taste, but it doesn’t get you bloated and burpy. Unfortunately it’s not a tactic that avoids a gruesome hangover.
The best part that comes with having a favourite drink is hearing the story of why someone chose it. Maybe it was a life defining moment or a tragic tale of romance lost—it’s all interesting.
I was at a house party in high school and a friend of mine asked me if I’d ever had a gin and seven. I said no. He said I was stupid and didn’t know what I was missing out on. I said that I didn’t care. I watched him pour out a generous glass of gin and then a weak amount of 7UP. I watched as the bubbles climbed to the top and as he squirted a carefully sliced lime in the drink. That was it. Purely accidental, and though not crazy, it was how it happened.
What’s your favourite drink?
Filed under: the ussh. | Tags: Blogs, Can't get you out of my head, Kylie Minogue, Life, Music, Single Serving, Songs that Stick, Tumblr, Web 2.0
Having a tune stuck in your head can be an amusing distraction or the most annoying thing ever. Sometimes you just zone out and hum away—repeating lines in a song that you remembered or heard. Other times you’re just plain frustrated that someone, somehow has managed to torture you with a tune that just won’t go away.
That’s what Songs That Stick is all about. Adding to the slew of single serving blogs that Elena and I publish, we’ve added another Tumblr destination for you to either hate or love. Our goal is to post every song that takes hostage of our minds in attempt to annoy you even further, or make you a fan of something you may not have heard before.
I’ve found that the song leaves my head once I post it to the site. I can listen to it once in its entirety and then move on. Enjoy.
