Thursday, October 13, 2016

Munizo, Tailoring Clothes & GSD

Weekly Update 2016-41: Finally seeing my favourite street band Munizo inside a building as opposed to on the corner of Bloor and Christie, wondering why expensive clothing is always accompanied by little baggies of extra buttons, and finding the motivation to Get Shit Done.

Music: Munizo
Every once in a while, I emerge from the Christie Station subway and hear the sweet, sweet sound of Japanese prog rock. How can that be, you may ask. On the odd occasion, a lovely three-piece called Munizo is playing on my corner. Two guitars and a full drum kit, operated by three very energetic young dudes from Japan. I have since learned that these guys have been travelling all over the world, but are currently settled in Toronto playing lots of shows. I didn't think anyone else knew about them since they're pretty niche, until my friend invited me to see them play at the Horseshoe. I wondered internally what exactly a venue show could offer me that the corner of Christie and Bloor could not, but I was happy to pay $7 to support them since I love their sound.

The show was insane! There was a crazy mosh pit (which I stayed safely away from), and I was happy to see that the band has such a strong following here. Check them out below! Excuse my shaky hand, such is the way I enjoy concerts. No time to stand still for less shaky footage.


Accomplishment:
Prepare yourself, for I have done a lot this week.

I've been feeling a little unmotivated over the last little while, or perhaps that I didn't really have a direction. I have all these ideas for projects swirling around in my head, and I thought it would be good to finally take some action on these things. So. I made this insane document that outlines all of the things I've got on the go. I'm setting rewards for myself after each block of stuff is finished, and tracking my progress instead of what I usually do (delete things as they get finished). Seeing my progress will hopefully motivate me to do more!

As you may have seen in that document, I spent last weekend turning the hackathon-winning app I made into a finished portfolio piece. 21 Days is now a fully-fledged piece, complete with process, challenges and results from the survey we conducted at the beginning of the project. And yes, it took the whole weekend because, among other challenges, I had to remember how to get the localhost running on my newly formatted computer. But I did it!


The Brazilian drumming workshops of the beginning of the year have started again, and I worked up the courage to ask my instructor to let me try a new drum. I had been playing a surdo, but dreamed of the dexterity and solos of the repique. The drum is definitely harder to play, but I was awarded the most esteemed prize at the end of the two-hour lesson: a compliment. Seriously, my instructor never gives me compliments. It was so nice, it even made up for the horrific blisters on my hands...which I hope will heal into callouses by next Sunday.

The left-most drum is a surdo (or at least it looks a lot like one) and the silver one in the middle is a repique. Note the difference between the mallet of the surdo and the stick of the repique. The sticks are very different to hold in one's hand, which is probably the reason for my mangled hands.

Another first this weekend: I took my bike on the subway for the first time! The Bloor line was under construction over most of where I needed to go, so I biked over to the Yonge line to take it up to Davisville, and then biked over to Mount Pleasant cemetery for a spooky historical tombstone tour. Combined with other activities, I biked a total of 24km this weekend, and went running twice!

I also reposted a lot of the clothing that has been collecting dust at the bottom of the Bunz feed. Hoping to rid myself of the growing pile of crap in a dark corner of my apartment. Gimme them tokens!

And if that all wasn't enough, I finally, finally, finally got my G license on Tuesday. I had to go all the way to Orangeville to get it, and by god I had to merge around a truck on a sharp curve in the road, but I wasn't leaving that one-horse town without my license.

I'd like to say that's enough for a week, but I've still got more to do...

Goal:
I still have a few items on the list before my first self-awarded reward, so I'm going to try to get through that list this weekend. I also need to prepare for Munich (next week)! I need to figure out:
  • one planned activity per free day (no more - I don't want to pack too much in)
  • how I am getting to/from my Airbnb from the airport
  • if I need data on my phone and how I will go about that
I am actually leaning toward not getting data on my phone. I need to double check that the Airbnb provides Wifi, and if so, I venture to say that I may not need it at all. Other than monetary benefit, being forced to unstick myself from my phone may add to the experience of the trip and give me an extra dose of satisfaction/whimsy in going where my feet take me and leaving things to a bit of chance. Plus, it'll force me to talk to some people and possibly make some friends!

A photo of Tegernsee. How cute is this!

Random Thought:
Have you ever noticed that some high end clothing comes with a little plastic baggie of an extra button or some matching thread? I have always found this extremely curious. First of all, what sort of person would hang onto these things, complete with a little label to remember which baggie is for what item of clothing (I used to do this until I realized it was maniacal bordering on just plain crazy)? Second of all, I never see this sort of thing done with cheaper-quality clothing, the likes of which are much more prone to ripping or losing a button. Wouldn't expensive clothing be less apt to rip (as well as its owner be more careful when wearing/caring for the item) and therefore not need the extra tailoring accoutrements?

Inspiration: Myself
Well, this is pretty egotistical of myself, but I really feel more motivated to GSD (get shit done). It can be hard (especially for me) to recognize hard work along the path to achieving one's goals, but I think I am on the right track now and haven't really felt this way in a while. Sometimes it's nice to inspire oneself. Hopefully I can use this post as a way to keep the feeling going as I continue down that mammoth list of personal projects.

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