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6/11/2012

Life: The Paradox of Our Time

This was posted by someone on facebook and it's been through the internet ages for some time now but it's definitely something we need to think about. It's all true and as much as you want to deny it, we all need to take a step back and breathe. Remember that we only get one chance to get this right and then...what? The afterlife is a mystery, nobody really truly knows what's next and as much as it scares me (and probably scares MANY others), it's inevitable. It's going to happen. Read this, pass it on, and remember what you really need to do.




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The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness. 

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. 

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things. 

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less. 

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorces, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete... 

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side. 

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember, to say, ' I love you ' to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you. 
Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER: 

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. 



- George Carlin

6/04/2012

Toronto Eaton Centre Shooting and Luka Rocco Magnotta

You'd think Canada making international headlines would be something amazing to talk about at the dinner table. Except this time it's less amazing and more horrifying news. Canada is known to be a pretty safe and friendly country to live in but with two events this past week spotlighted in newscasts all over the country and the world, it's hard to see such a great country.

Photo from The Toronto Star. L: Justin Lin, R: Luka Rocco Magnotta
At first it was just a gruesome discovery. If anybody's thoughts were similar to mine they'd think it was just a sick prank to throw off the Conservative Government. I mean, there are plenty of people who aren't exactly fans of Mr. Harper or his government. Instead it turned into an international manhunt to find one Luka Rocco Magnotta. A wannabe porn star and  former Toronto resident, became the lead suspect in a gruesome murder investigation. Turns out there are/were six body parts in total sent through Canada Post to various people all over the country. Police then discovered the torso of Justin Lin shoved into a suitcase and left on the side of the road. What's worse is there were notes with the parcels that claimed that he would kill again.

While it's not 100 per cent that Magnotta is even the right person that Canadian law enforcement is looking for, Magnotta became even more suspicions when he fled the country. Many countries all over the world and Interpol were on the lookout for this crazed man in hopes he was found sooner rather than later. Luckily with the help of loyal citizens, Magnotta was captured in Germany today. I'm sure the process of getting him back on Canadian soil to proceed with proper prosecution measures will be long and grueling but it's a huge relief to know that he's no longer out in the public where, if he had chosen to do so, could have killed again.

I won't post any of the grotesque details that all media outlets have been doing; I'm sure you've already gotten the point. It's scary to wonder what could possibly cause somebody to do something to another human being. Sure there are murders out there, they happen on a semi-regular basis, but ones of this nature are rare and disturbing.



The second headline that made international news was a gunman opening fire in a busy food court in the Eaton Centre in Toronto this past Saturday evening. Without warning a man pulled out a gun killing one man, and wounding seven others before running off. It's bad enough to hear that a shooting in such a great city has occurred but for it to happen in such a public place where both Torontonians AND tourists like to visit on a regular basis, it's just insane. I myself was there in that exact area not even two months ago. This just proves that it can happen ANYWHERE.
Photo from The Toronto Star taken by a bystander

Four of the victims were lucky to have minor wounds and were let go from the hospital. One 23-year-old man, who got shot in the neck still remains in critical condition, while a 13-year-old boy visiting Toronto with his family, is listed as in fair condition.

It turns out that the alleged shooter Christopher Husbands, turned himself into police in the early hours of the morning today. Whether it was guilt for what he had done or pressure from people around him, I'm glad he made the decision to turn himself over.


And these are only Canadian headlines. I realize that stuff like this makes headlines all the time, but because it's so close to home and the fact that it not exactly a "normal" headline, may be the reason why it's so nerve-wracking. There seems to be a string of violent attacks all over North America lately and it's kind of bone-chilling. It's almost as if there's been one to many episodes of Criminal Minds - except it's real. For example the man who was shot dead by police after found eating another mans face off. Or another man who sliced open his gut and threw his intestines at police officials. A new drug called "Bath Salts" is to blame, but it's still such a bizarre occurrence that it has got everybody talking! Anybody ready for a Zombie Apocalypse?

Lots of writing today, I'm sorry. I hope you took the time to read all this and if you have any comments feel free to share your thoughts and opinions!

- Taryn

*all facts and photos were grabbed from The Toronto Star and CBC. Everything else is just my opinon!

6/01/2012

MMVA 2012: Performers



Muchmusic has finally released this year's list of performers (or some of them anyways) so I am here to give you a quick update as to who you can expect to see on this year's stage!

So as we all know Katy Perry and LMFAO will be co-hosting this giant downtown party as well as performing their latest hits on stage!

Recently added to the performance roster includes the likes of Nelly Furtado, up-and-comer Carly Rae Jepsen, Marianas Trench, and the one and only Justin Bieber!!

When I covered the MMVAs in 2010, Marianas Trench AND Justin Bieber were both present and they've both become bigger than they ever have before! With MT performing from their November 2011 release and Justin promoting his newest album (set to be released the Tuesday after his MMVA performance), it seems like all you listeners/watchers/concert goers are all in for a genuine treat!

Nelly Furtado has been off the charts for awhile but she's recently released a new song "Big Hoops" and her new album titled "Spirits Indestructible" will be out sometime soon.

5/17/2012

MMVA 2012: Update!



I swear...it seems that every year the Muchmusic Video Awards get bigger and bigger drawing in some of the best local and international talent out there in our wonderful world! On top of Katy Perry, they've also just announced that LMFAO will be in town to perform AND Co-host the show!

Just recently the 2012 nominees have been announced, and I don't know about you, but I'm EXCITED!! For one the top three bands (Marianas Trench with seven nods, Hedley with five nods and Down with Webster with four) on my playlist right now are the top three bands who lead this year's nominees! And secondly, who can say no to a great Sunday night of music?!

Anyways, here are this year's nominees. Be sure you get your vote on so your favourite artist can win!

Video of the year:
- Carly Rae Jepsen with Call me Maybe
- Down with Webster with She's Dope
- Drake with Headlines
- Hedley (ft. P. Reign) with Invincible
- Marianas Trench with Fallout

Intl Video of the year - Artist:
- Beyonce with Run the World
- Christ Brown (ft. Justin Bieber) with Next 2 You
- David Guetta (ft. Nicki Minaj) with Turn me On
- Flo Rida with Good Feeling
- Katy Perry with Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)
- Kelly Clarkson with Stronger
- Lady Gaga with Marry the Night
- Nicki Minaj with Starships
- Pitbull (ft. Neyo, Afrojack and Nayer) with Give me Everything
- Rihanna (ft. Calvin Harris) with We Found Love

Intl Video of the year - Group:
- Bad Meets Evil (ft. Bruno Mars) with Lighters
- Cobra Starship (ft. Sabi) with You Make me Feel
- Coldplay with Paradise
- Foster the People with Houdini
- Gym Class Heroes (ft. Adam Levine) with Stereo Hearts
- LMFAO with Sexy and I Know it
- Maroon Five (ft. Christina Aguilera) with Moves like Jagger
- One Direction with One Thing
- Selena Gomez with Love You Like a Love Song
- The Wanted with Glad you Came

Intl Video of the year - Canadian:
- Avril Lavigne with Smile
- Drake (ft. Rihanna) with Take Care
- Justin Bieber with Boyfriend
- Nickelback with When we Stand Together
- Simple Plan with Astronaut

Pop Video of the year:
- Anjulie with Brand New Chick
- Carly Rae Jepsen with Call Me Maybe
- Hedley (ft. P. Reign) with Invincible
- Marianas Trench with Haven't Had Enough
- Victoria Duffield with Shut Up and Dance


Post-Production of the year:
-  Down with Webster with Big Wheels
- Marianas Trench with Fallout
- Shaun Boothe with Let Me Go
- The New Cities with Heatwave
-These Kids Wear Crowns with I Wanna Dance with Somebody

Cinematography of the year:
- City and Colour with Fragile Bird
- Hedley (ft. P. Reign) with Invincible
- Kreesha Turner  with Rock Paper Scissors
- Marianas Trench with Fallout
- Shawn Desman with Moneyshot/Something Stupid


Director of the year:
- Aleesia (ft. Big Sean) with Kiss it Bye Bye (Randall Thorne)
- Danny Fernandes (ft. Josh Ramsay and Belly) with Hit me Up (Marc Andre Debruyne)
- Down with Webster with Royalty (Chris Wong)
- Marianas Trench with Haven't Had Enough (Kyle Davison)
- Nelly Furtado with Big Hoops (X)

MuchLoud Rock Video of the year:
- Arkells with Michigan Left
- F**ked Up with Queen of Hearts
- Sam Roberts Band with I Feel You
- The Sheepdogs with I Don't Know
- Theory of a Deadman with Chick Came Back

MuchVibe Hip-hop Video of the year:
- A-Game with Cool Boyz
- Classified (ft. Kayo and Jim Cuddy) with The Hangover
- Drake (ft. Lil Wayne and Tyga) with The Motto
- Harvey Stripes (ft. Lloyd) with Come On
- K'naan (ft. Nelly Furtado) with Is Anybody Out There?

MuchFact Indie Video of the year:
- Arcade Fire with Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
- City and Colour with Fragile Bird
- Danny Fernandes (ft. Josh Ramsay and Belly) with Hit me Up
- Down with Webster with She's Dope
- Lights with Banner

UR Fave Video (VOTE for your fave!!):
- Carly Rae Jepsen with Call me Maybe
- Drake with Headlines
- Hedley (ft. P. Reign) with Invincible)
- Marianas Trench with Fallout
- Simple Plan (ft. Sean Paul) with Summer Paradise

UR Fave Artist (VOTE for your fave!!):
- Drake
- Justin Bieber
- Carly Rae Jepsen
- Marianas Trench
- Hedley

UR Intl Fave Artist (VOTE for your fave!!):
- Katy Perry
- LMFAO
- One Direction
- Rihanna
- Adele


Keep reading for more updates!!

Taryn

*Photo is a screen capture from the MMVA website. I do not take any ownership over the photo.

5/08/2012

Equal Love, Equal Rights - Pass it On

Sometimes it's just by chance you come across something that utterly moves you. Sometimes it's posted on social networking sites and sometimes it's a personal experience.

Social networking is an amazing tool when it comes to getting the word out to a large amount of people in a short amount of time. It's amazing at how fast people come together when they feel passionate about a topic or outraged at an outcome.

I am a supporter in all equality, in all aspects of life. As a woman I'm instantly "downgraded" because of my sexual organs. Indian people are instantly "downgraded" because of where they came from. Gay people are instantly "downgraded" because they prefer the opposite sex. In a world that constantly promotes equality and love, you still see cases where there wasn't ENOUGH equality and there wasn't ENOUGH love. Bullies of all ages are more prominent than ever and while people are vowing to take a stand, you still see people of all ages suffering the consequences.

I came across this video created by Shane on facebook today. It was only posted yesterday but it's gotten more than 50,000 views and it keeps growing. While his video is only 10 minutes long, it breaks my heart to the core. It saddens me that while Shane's family was estatic that Shane had found the love of his life, Tom wasn't so lucky. It saddens me that in a world with SO much diversity and colour that his family would rather beat up on him than accept him for his true self. They couldn't take the time to see that Tom was HAPPY.

What's even worse is while Shane was grieving, he was kept from Tom's funeral, was banished from knowing anything of Tom's death, and was pretty much just erased.

So if you support #EqualLoveEqualRights then watch this and pass it on. Even if it's just to five people. Those five people will hopefully show it to five more. A little goes a long way in the world of the internet and hopefully one of these days something positive will come out of this.


5/01/2012

2012 MuchMusic Video Awards



It's official! Much has finally started to release details of the 2012 MMVAs and it definitely started on a high note!

They just announced recently (a few days ago give or take) that one of this year's performers will be the one and only Katy Perry!

Katy performed back on the MMVAs in 2010 so it'll be interesting to see how she amps up this year for her hundred (if not thousands? - can we be realistic?) of fans who will attend this years events!

Stay tuned for more info as more exciting news gets released!

- T

(photo taken from MuchMusic's facebook page!)

4/24/2012

Time to get Creative: Tin Can Storage

Okay so one of my promises this year was to add a variety of different posts onto my site instead of just keeping it strictly music/movie related. While the majority of my posts will still be mainly in the entertainment category I wanted to add things that are related to another passion of mine: Crafting.

Yes it sounds absolutely nerdy, and I 100 per cent agree - but I don't care. I've always been creative, writing, making homemade things etc, and as I get older, I'm always trying to find new and creative ways to either create storage, decorations, or gifts that are unique and special to whoever you decide to give it to.

I've made a lot of things in the past including scrapbooks, handmade cards, photo frames, and yes, even hand-knitted stuffed animals!

So my vow is to post things that I find and have created personally so I can tell you what to do and so you can enjoy it and share with others as well!

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Have any of you heard of Pinterest.com? I'm slightly (and by slightly I mean HIGHLY) addicted to that website and have recently found TONS of neat and unique crafty ideas that will have anybody going, "I can do that!" And you can. Each project that I have done range from easy to complex and depending on how you're abilities are, most are rather easy if you take time and patience!

These Tin Can Storage Containers are definitely VERY easy to create!

Photo is courtesy of Taryn McElheran
All you need:
- Various sizes of tin cans (pre-washed and dried of course)
- Glue (I just used regular every day white school glue)
- Scrapbook paper (pick randomly or choose a colour palette that will go together and/or with your home)
- Any decorations you want to use (i.e. ribbon, stickers, jewels etc)

So all you have to do is measure out the size of the tin can and cut the paper down to size. Be careful of using the wider, shorter cans because they're a little harder to cover fully. Most cans can be covered fully by the 12x12 scrapbook paper so all you need to measure really is the height.

Next use use the white glue and run it down length-wise. Use your finger (or sponge or whatever) to spread it out a bit so it doesn't make the paper soggy). Then put your edge of paper down the tin can and then wrap! Add a bit of glue the same way so the paper holds. Keep your fingers pressed against it for a little while so the glue can set!

It's that simple!! The picture I have is the colour palette I chose. My room is gold so I chose a black and white theme throughout my room and the cans reflect that! Decorate how you want and let your imagination soar!