Jon Lajoie Interview SOON!

There was a schedule change that will push back the Jon Lajoie interview for a couple days. In the meantime, check out Jon Lajoie's YouTube channel where he has been posting funny videos and extras from his FX show, The League

http://www.youtube.com/user/jonlajoie?blend=1&ob=4

Jon lajoie Interview TODAY!

Today I will be interviewing Jon Lajoie for the second time. I'll be asking him about his experience filming The League, a comedy on the FX channel. Here's a sneak peak at just how funny the show is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuVsLR_2GX0

If you missed my interview with Jon Lajoie last fall, check it out here:

http://rodneymann.blogspot.com/2009/09/jon-lajoie-interview-uncensored.html

Holy No Update

So I apologize for the major lapse in updates. Although I know it only hurts me. I'm sure, like most of you, school has all but crushed your dreams of being a professional (or at least amateur) blogger come exam time.

I have been busy working on some great essays though that I feel are good enough to feature on the website. If you read them, then sweet, welcome to the circle of the informed. If you don't, then sweet. Now when you come to my mocktail parties on Thursday afternoons, you won't know a thing we're talking about.

Here's a quick bio on Naomi and the book.

Naomi Klien NO LOGO

Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist, syndicated columnist and author of the New York Times and #1 international bestseller.

Her first book No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies was also an international bestseller, translated into over 28 languages with more than a million copies in print.




Here is my essay on the last half decade of advertising techniques

NO LOGO by Naomi Klein was an eye opening reading. The reading was essentially a timeline of the past 30 years in advertising, and the course it took to go from an athoritarian roll to one that embraced distinct cultures in order to stay alive, the only way they could compete with the competing generic goods they succeeded not too long ago.

The amounts shown spent on advertising alone (although it was a figure from 1998) was astonishing, but expected. Reading this made me do some research about the current spending going on for advertising taking into consideration the age-long battle that has already been occuring between branding conglomorates to garner brand loyatly. The number as of the Klein reading was $196 Billion per annum, but an estimated value from 2008 shows figures closer to $450 Billion spent annually on promoting consumption. I found these numbers to be an amazing waste of resources at a time in our existence when resources are becoming more and more scarce. The irony that all of these companies are promoting consumption and with it, self-indulgence, often times ending in terrible amounts of debt, are in fact, themselves, wading in debt.

The realization that these levels of spending was happening every year on advertising alone made me really question the oversight in company expenditures. While I’m sure it’s approved within the company, the fact that it’s aloud to happen while owing so much money to creditors is really unnerving.

An interesting part of the article was when Klein mentioned the change of the placement of brand logos. Once reserved for the inside of clothing on tags, logos like Tommy Hilfigers infamous line design were all over the place. I think back to middle school and all of the kids walking around with Nike swooshes and FUBU plastered across their chests looking like walking billboards, and can’t help but remember the clicks associated with who wore certain types of clothing. They were interchangeable, the person and the clothes. I couldn’t help but be warded off by those massive logos. I didn’t have a reason for opposing it at the time aside from knowing that that little eagle on a shirt, unnecessarily cost an extra $45, and that did not seem worth it at all.

But I suppose the companies had done their homework. They knew what would sell. Finding a market and culture and attach yourself to it. Brands were connecting with their customers on a completely personal level, in contrast to the older style of advertising that used to preach products to you. Customers responded wallets ajar and the advertising technique continued to flourish to the point that the product became the show even more than the supporting artists or athletes.

“Culture Spending” continued to grow, with some brands going as far as to reach into dozens of niche markets trying to spread its name, and recognition. One of the companies mentioned was Virgin. Virgin is a company that builds its empire based on it’s percieved reputation. The conglomerate run by Richard Branson owns a range of ventures from it’s well-known cellphone service to a stem cell holding company. The name is not limited to any one market or product, but instead puts its name on anything and brings with it a well-backed investment and acquisition.

The article’s exploration of child slavery by Nike was shallow at best, but was at least acknowledged. Something I would like to see included in this type of article would be at least a half-hearted portion dedicated to companies that cut costs by exploiting labour laws and human rights. It is a heavy subject and something that deserves its own article, but it would have been good to have incorporated.

It explored the interdependence of celebrities and the brands they are affiliated with. This reading introduced me to synergy and forced me to research it to find out what it was. What I found is a very difficult concept to explain, and one that is circumstantial. What I gather is that by assembling a variety of backings, be them different companies that combine to make your empire, or different sponsors that an athlete uses to brand themselves. It can be an association that lets both sides prosper, but it is a relationship that must remain on good terms or at least not end badly in public in order to withhold the integrity of the parties involved.

The NO LOGO reading effectively chronicled the world of advertising and branding over the past 30 years and had some interesting points. The sheer expenditures from corporations to promote brand loyalty is just mind-blowing and caught my attention. The fact that all of this seems to work is interesting enough without taking into consideration the money going into getting it right. The embracing of the individual is moving product steadily despite unprecedented amounts of collective debt, and does not look like it’s letting up any time soon.



If you thought this essay was thought-provoking, or at the very least, somewhat entertaining - Please forward this to people you think would enjoy a read like this! Thanks.

ATTN: Mac Users

Part of my work at UNB is to record something called Mac Therapy. Now don't be fooled by the name, we don't break down into tears about how our Macs have changed our lives. It's actually a one hour, informal gathering given to inform, support and educate Mac users about their Macintosh computers and the software they use.

The meetings take place every second Friday in Marshal D'Avray Hall, room 237, in the CPIT computer lab. Topics vary from new and useful software to the latest hardware and OS updates.

The meetings are taped and put online every time we meet, and you can even find archived sessions online at http://www.unb.ca/mac. So if you miss a class, or are in another province, check this link out and see what you can find!

The fine camera work, and snazzy transitions are all done my yours truly, so sit back, flip open your MacBook Pro and enjoy. This week's topic is GroupWise, which is a browser supported calendaring/collaboration software that is widely used by UNB clients.

Past subjects include Apple Script coding (which is the easiest code I've ever seen), an introduction to the new Snow Leopard OS, Mac accessibility features, and much more. Check out the website and see for yourself!

Word of Mouth

There has been a lot of talk lately on the CRTC hearings about TV taxes coming out of tax-payers pockets that are being improperly spent. The tax dollars are supposed to go to stations to help fund Canadian content on cable TV. However, over the decades we've been flooded with American programming. Now Canada is speaking up. We want to have more Canadian content on our cable TV - especially if we're footing the bill for the privilege . Click here to find out how!

- Or check out http://www.stopthetvtax.ca/

Here's another sweet compilation skate video I stumbled across on YouTube

Pink Panther Video

Here's an old video of a rail that was at the park this summer!





Here's another video from Powell and Peralta, Josh Hawkins part in FUN!

YouTube is just great!

So, I came across a video on YouTube of a local kid skateboarding around Fredericton. I'm posting the video underneath, but what is interesting with this video is that the woman in the purple coat watching him is actually my mother! I've never seen anyone I knew in the background of a YouTube video before without having some sort of relationship with the filmer, poster, or subjects, so I thought this was pretty cool!

Oromocto Skate Park Commercials - Commercial One

I've decided it's time to chronicle all of the videos made at the skate park this summer.

These videos were put together with tons of help from a lot of the kids at the park, but some names that come to mind, and many thanks to them;

Mat Hinchey
Mat Dana
Kyle Albright
Tj Leighton, and so many more..

Here's Commercial One from the Oromocto Skate Park from Summer, 2009.

No Holds Barred 8 - A Shawn Graham Affair

Is the NB Power deal with Hydro Quebec following the same trend as Swine Flu, or worse, Bird flu? All this talk about the proposed deal has struggled hard and successfully to get air time during the swine break out. But just how much is this coverage helping the situation?

The initial explanation of the deal from Shawn Graham caught a lot of people off guard since it seemed to come out so abruptly. The surprise got everyone talking, but it seemed what Graham said was enough to please most; No NB Power debt, price cuts for residents and industry, Point Lepreau’s massive bill won’t come out of tax-payers’ pockets - Does it get any better?

Well actually, it gets worse. The details released by the Liberal government don’t truly explain the entire situation. After being read in its entirety by opposition leader, David Alward, and New Brunswick Auditor General Mike Ferguson, among others, it was found that Shawn Graham pulled the information from the deal that showed the deal as a golden ticket to New Brunswickers, and left out just a few (several) minor (major) details...

While the Liberals were up front about the closure of the Dalhousie plant in northern New Brunswick that will see this already crippled town put on life support, Graham forgot to explain that the fine print about the rates for residential customers over the next 5 years, failing to inform New Brunswickers that the price will stay the same if and only if New Brunswicks population does not grow, or if Hydro Quebec feels it necessary to upgrade existing facilities. This one’s a big one because if price rates for industry go down and we see companies coming to New Brunswick, then the population is going to grow, and presumably, so will our rates. Secondly, if Hydro Quebec is in this deal to provide power to the energy hungry United States, then our facilities, including the Point Lepreau station which doesn’t work, and has no promise from NB Power to be completed, won’t be enough, and facilities will have to be built, or upgraded to meet the demand. All at a cost to us New Brunswickers.

This may seem like a rant about the NB Power deal, and it is, but we can’t overlook the secrecy and obvious connections that exist in this deal. Hydro-Quebec was the only player in this deal, a deal that came out just months before a planned meeting for Atlantic Premieres to come together to discuss how to share power among the struggling provinces. Let’s put it this way, New Brunswickers were left in the dark during the entirety of these talks, Hydro-Quebec and Irving Ltd seem to have laid out everything they wanted to have happen, and the deal reflects their desires. Would you sell your house after only talking to one person? Probably not, unless you live in Dalhousie, where you’d be lucky to sell it anyway. Especially now.
I leave you with some promises made on the campaign trail from Liberal leader Shawn Graham. See for yourself if he is keeping his promises.


"Establish New Brunswick as the region’s energy hub, a leader in energy efficiency and a world-class producer of goods and services for the global energy sector."
"Ensure that public engagement is meaningful, effective, collaborative and sustainable so that citizens can be active participants in governance."

Form an Energy Team to develop an investment strategy that will position New Brunswick as the energy powerhouse for the 21st century.
– (This team must have been Irving and Hydro-Quebec.)

“New Brunswickers must be active participants in the self-sufficiency process.To ensure the success of the efforts that will follow this transformative change, government’s relations with citizens will be transformed. Our objective is to engage New Brunswickers in a long-term dialogue that will make them active participants in working toward self-sufficiency. Through the work of its advisor on public engagement.”

From Shawn Grahams: "Our Action Plan to be Self-Sufficient in New Brunswick"

Behance Network - My Portfolio

I came across this website called the Behance Network. It's one of a couple of design websites that Behance runs. The Behance Network is basically a network of artists putting their recent work online into portfolios and having it critiqued and commented on by their peers.

Think DeviantArt only easier to customize.

I've got a lot of my completed work on there and it just keeps growing. It's a lot easier to look through projects than a blog, so I've decided to put a link to it under the Friends tab so you can take a look at it any time!

So yeah, check it out:



Tomorrow! NO HOLDS BARRED 8 will be released! Stay tuned!

Book Release!

Long time no post, I know. I have been pretty side tracked of late.

Last night I was in Saint John for William Forrestall's exhibit opening at the New Brunswick Museum, where a book I designed for the show was released. It weighs in around 137 pages, and has essays, interviews, paintings, and sketches by and about the artist, William. Here's a full Cover shot.



You can pick a copy up at the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John, or contact me about getting one if you can't make it there!

PANO-RAMA Time!

Hello all. I have been very sick with a terrible head cold for the past week. I have been spending most of my time laying in bed and the rest complaining.

As a result, I have not been updating, and for that, I apologize. Here are some PANOs I shot to make up for it:

UNB Indoor Soccer Field, Winter 2008



Paint Room in memorial Hall, UNB, 2008



Dingey Entrance to the Indoor Soccer Field, Winter 2008



CPIT Mac Lab (Where I work)



I'll upload the interactive mov files when I get a chance. Stay tuned for some outdoor Panos and maybe even some from this fall with the lovely colors.

Hincher on MySpace / My Rap Debut

Hey everyone. Something a lot of people would never guess about me is that I really enjoy song writing. I've been singing in a metal band for about two years now, it's been on and off, but things are looking up for it.

However, my buddy Mat Hinchey has been rapping for almost 4 years, and is finally coming into his own. He's been kind enough to trust my inexperienced self on his latest track "Keep Spittin' It" -- Check it out:
myspace.com/Hincher

It was a good time, but I've got a lot of respect for rappers being able to sound legit when they record, it's a whole different ball game from freestyling over some kids beatboxing.

Make sure to take some time and listen through the rest of his tracks, I have to say "Who Can You Trust" and "We in the 4 O's" have been in my head for a couple days now!

Summer '09 Footage ONLINE!

Hey everyone. Here's a little treat!

I figured why hord all of this footage of everyone when I'm sure they'd love to have it to make their own videos!

I've taken the time to seperate everyone's footage from every movie this summer -- So if you had any footage from any video this summer -- It's online.

There is even some clips that haven't been featured in a video (and will more than likely pop up in the Extras video), so enjoy!

Here we go (In alphabetical order):

-- Ali Sedaghat
-- Anthony MacDonald
-- Derek Carrier
-- Hal London
-- Josh Palmer
-- Justin Martin
-- Mat Dana
-- Mat Hinchey
-- Mat Martin
-- Pat Savageau
-- Ronnie Battist
-- Steele London
-- TJ Leighton


Now I'm going to be straight up with everyone and say I didn't look through all of this footage before uploading it. If the title of the clip had your name in it, it went in your folder. Sorry if there are any clips that aren't of you in your folder

If for some reason you can't play the clips, you may just need to download the codec for your computer so it can recognize the file type. I suggest the K-Lite codec pack, which you can download here.

Still to come: Austin Murray, Brandon Meehan, Kyle Albright, Moses, BK, and Dylan Riley

The Year Ender Extras

There's tons of footage I have left over from The Year Ender -- It was pretty hard to keep it down to a run time of 8 minutes...

There are some funny clips, some hard falls, and a tape that hasn't been transferred yet, so if you were wondering "Where was my inward heel?" -- It's probably on that tape. And Kyle or myself will transfer it over asap.

Also, to everyone who had footage in the video, I will be uploading everyone's footage to the internet so you can download it! Talk about easy!

That said. Here's a little taste:

Surgery 88

Thanks for everyone's support on the Year Ender. Kyle Albright and I got the chance to show it off to Oromocto Town Counsel last night to give them some insight to what goes on at the park, and they all enjoyed it very much.

For anyone looking for a nice podcast to listen to, you should hop on over to my buddy Eric Hill's Surgery Radio page. He just released his newest Podcast "Surgery 88"

Here's a link:

You can check out the Surgery Radio blog for past podcasts and other fun stuff by clicking below or on my Friends list;

Surgery Radio

The Year Ender: A Summer in Review

The long anticipated Oromocto Skate Park Year Ender video is finally completed after over 70 hours of taping, transfer, and editing.

Without further ado, here it is:




Check out WhoIsFreddy.ca
and Kyle Albright's blog.
They've been kind enough to toss this video up. Take some time to check these guys' sites out. Feel free to spend hours surfing.

Many thanks.

Ball Maze

Here's a Ball Maze I made for a final project in my Maya class:

$1 Million a day

New Brunswick’s Finance Minister Greg Byrne came out last week with news that the projected debt for the province could be higher than the $740 Million already projected for 2009-2010. For those of you who have been reading the news, the past month has just been terrible for the provincial Liberals. There has been increasing pressure from official opposition party leader, David Alward of the Conservative Party along with a series of blunders on loan guarantees from the province to failing interests.

The Point Lepreau reactor has been getting a lot of coverage lately, because of the delays that have recently been announced, bumping the completion date for the project into February, at a cost of $1 Million a day to replace what could have been processed at the plant. Finally, there was an announcement last week explaining that because of the costs arising from the refurbishment delays, there will be a 2% hike in billing, placing the burden on to citizens of New Brunswick to pay for a private industry fail.

Moncton has been having issues with completion dates as well, while the town has been busy signing Russian superstar hockey players, and spending millions to bring CFL games to town, a move that Shawn Graham claims will more than break even, they have also been caught in the spending game when they approved the building of multi-million dollar conidium’s close to Royal Oaks Golf course and now the province is on the hook for $4.8 Million that Moncton has only paid a fraction back of.

All of this, accompanied by Bell-Aliant closing 11 call centers in the province, and the LNG disputes going on in Saint John, where New Brunswick trades workers are protesting Albertan trades people getting jobs the New Brunswickers are completely competent to do themselves, in an ironic twist of the early 2000’s that had thousands of New Brunswickers heading westward for work has conservative leader David Alward speaking up.

Alward has been more and more vocal of late and has been making some big promises. I don’t want to make it seem like it’s a two party contest, but I haven’t heard boo from other parties on any of these hot topics. What I do know is this; with Shawn Graham adding almost $2 Billion to the New Brunswick deficit on his path to bringing New Brunswick to self-sufficiency, it’s not going to take much more than a couple open ended promises to beat him.

Phamily Photos are Phun!

So the long weekend was like three years ago but I hope everyone enjoyed their extra day off. I have been pretty swamped with homework and actual work so I haven't been able to update for my vast amounts of readers (Thanks Mom! -- Wait does she even have the Internet?) -- Moving on, this next week will be one filled with tons of working pieces getting completed, so there should be an onslaught of finished products.

It's also going to be an interesting week in politics with the Loony almost at par with the US Greenback, the Cons flirting with 40% approval rates, and much more. So for those of you who follow my column in The Aquinian and saw that I didn't have a column this week, I apologize, but I will have one next week touching on everything I mentioned and taking a look at what a stronger dollar means for Canadians, especially New Brunswickans.

In the meantime, my first ever book that I designed is going to print tomorrow morning! It's an art gallery book made for the New Brunswick Museum for Fredericton's William Forrestall's art show.

Here's a glance at it:

Oromocto Skate Park's Year Ender

I've been lucky to work at a skate park in Oromocto for the past couple summers. Strangely enough, this past sumer was the first time I got to making videos.

I've been working through the miles of tape filled with footy and putting together The Year Ender: A Summer in Review. It should be done in the next two weeks. I'll be posting the a little teaser for it soon! Here's a taste:

    

A Sunday Push

I recently finished a school project that required me to make a moving multimedia piece based on my influences from a piece of Jazz music and a painting.

The painting I chose was Marcel Duchamp's Nude Descending Staircase No. 2. The painting is a cubist/futurist piece of a woman descending a staircase and essentially houses multiple frames on one canvas. As you can tell, it's a rather monochromatic piece, so I decided to make my piece as colorful as possible.

The Jazz piece I used was performed by Eric Lewis at TEDTalks in March, 2009 and can be viewed here. His originality during his cover of Going Under - Evenescance was unique to say the least, but perked my interest in his choice of music to play at such a presigious event as TEDTalks. After finding out about his past, combined with the story I got from his performance, I decided to make a care-free skateboard video.

Here it is:



Thanks to Kyle Albright for helping out. You can check out Kyles blog at http://timetoburnagain.blogspot.com

We, the Interviewed

I recently had the chance to sit down with Jai Sadler and Andy Stevens from We, The Undersigned to talk about their new full length album coming out, Bleed the Constants, put out by East Coast record label, Diminished 5th Records.

Check the interview out and find out about the band's early days in Sussex, NB, their thoughts on calling the East Coast home, and where they're headed in November.




The CD release party for Bleed the Constants is Monday, October 12th, at the Capital in Fredericton, NB alongside Endast, Ninja Spy, and What's He Building in There? - The show starts at 9 pm. It's $7 at the door, or $15 for entrance and a copy of the CD.

They've got the entire Bleed the Constants CD up now on their MySpace, so check them out and pre-order their CD online! -- http://myspace.com/wtu

The album will be available in every CD store across Canada and Europe, as well as iTunes, CDBaby, and every other popular music-buying website.

Pre-Order NOW!

Stimulate This

While I know this isn't my opinion promised in my No Holds Barred column about the stimulus report announced by Harper in Saint John earlier this week, but this is also very important.

This is Jeremy McLaughlin playing his very catchy tune called Meth AM in a bee carcass infested basement. Try your best to not hit replay at the end.. You won't be able to.

Oh, and the stimulus announcement had the spin I assumed they would put on it, and the Liberals acted the way I assumed they would, and the NDP are still voting to support the Cons so that money can get to people on EI.

A Rainy State of Mind

If you haven't heard of A Textbook Tragedy yet, you may have been subject to a terrible hazing from someone who doesn't want you to enjoy life.

I'm fairly late on name-dropping this album, but their new 5 track EP, Rain City State of Mind has recently been released and has been receiving great feedback.

I haven't been able to stop listening to it, so you know it's good.

They have their single from the album, White Lightning on their Myspace, among other great hits so make sure to check them out! - http://myspace.com/ATextbookTragedy

Forget the Intro

I should have known that I would jump right into this whole blog world without properly introducing myself. Maybe I assumed that a Jon Lajoie interview would essentially do it for me.

 I am a pretty busy student, who attends the University of New Brunswick. I'm in my 4th and final year of a Multimedia degree. I've been involved in a couple of things around campus, but for the most part I've just been working away on class projects while working away at numerous part-time jobs to make ends meet.

 I've been designing for just over a year now and I have been lucky to work with some great people already. This blog, just like the little blurb under the title says, is going to include a lot of different things including some of my design work and other projects I end up enjoying.

Over the past couple of years my interest in politics has grown tremendously. I don't know if it's the deliberate waste of tax-payer's money or the outright lying going down during election time, but politics have been on my mind more and more often. As a result, I've been writing a column for St Thomas University's student newspaper, The Aquinian, to try and take the spin out of federal and provincial politics.

You can check out my last two week's articles underneath this post!

No Holds Barred Week 3

A week has come and gone, and despite all of huff and puff going down in Ottawa, we’re not going to have an election.

Just in case you spent your student loan on a vacation to the Bahamas while prices were cheap and have missed the past week in Canada, the Conservative Government put forward a ways and means motion to overhaul the existing Employment Insurance program in place, extending much needed support to people who have lost their jobs during the recession.

The controversy surrounding this motion has come primarily from the Liberals who have decided that after supporting the Conservatives on every motion put forth in Parliament over the past 27 votes, they no longer have faith in the ruling party. A move which would have sent Canadians to the polls for the second time in as many years, had it not been for the NDP and the Blod Quebecois.

This is an interesting play by Michael Ignatieff and the Liberal party, considering the timing and status of our economy. On one hand it seems as if he is taking a stand to try and distance himself from Stephen Harper and the Conservatives, where, under Ignatieff’s leadership, the Liberals have been painted as sharing the same republican-type values.

On the other hand, it also seems like an underhanded attempt to foil the reputation of the NDP and Bloc, all while trying to show people that the Liberals are the only “true” opposition party.

Where the Liberals are lucky is fan-base (It sounds funny because if that were true, they would have won in the previous election,) but having their leader make the case that they have had enough of the current regime, really gets the gossip wheel turning and gets Candians talking. By Ignatieff saying that the Liberals would not support any motion coming from the Conservatives it's going to put a lot of weight on the NDP and Bloc Quebecois to keep making compromises to stop Canadians from facing another election. Over time, after more and more motions are backed and passed thanks to support from the NDP and Bloc, the roles will reverse, and the two parties will start to look like they are in bed with the Conservatives, instead of the Liberals.

That’s Iggy playing the game like the intellectual he is. He knows that after some time, something’s going to have to give, and an election will happen. By that time, the general public will be (presumably) be tired of the Conservatives and assume that the NDP aren’t as socialist as they first thought, handing their vote over to the Liberals.

Considering reforming EI has been something the NDP have been fighting for a long time now, since before the recession began. The Conservatives knew they had to appeal to the leftists in order to avoid an election that would have undoubtedly decided another minority government, whether it be Liberal or Conservative, and would have just pissed Canadians off.

It’s an interesting time in Canadian politics, one that is seemingly moving more and more towards a coalition-type existence, where everybody gets a chance to bring something to the table. Whether it keeps happening or not remains to be seen, but I hope it does for everyone’s sake.

In other exciting news, while in a press conference on his visit to the White House, Stephen Harper was questioned about Canadian health care and whether he had any words to say to the American public. And in true Harper style, he made the comment that universal health care in the US was “…an international issue” and he would not be commenting on it. Missing the perfect opportunity to back Barrack Obama in public, and help him out to try and win over the American population on this, such a controversial issue down there. – It should be noted that one of Harper’s former jobs before becoming Prime Minister was to lobby against universal health care in Canada.

No Holds Barred Week 2

What makes a good government? Is it the party? Is it the policies? Or is it the leader?

A lot of emphasis is put into the selection of a proper leader. They need to be presentable and educated at the very least, but what is really necessary in a good leader, is someone who sounds honest, someone the average Canadian can relate to and find hope for the future from.

With all of the talk about a looming election sparked by the Liberals and party leader Michael Ignatieff, accompanied by low voter turn-out in almost every election Canada has had in my lifetime, some understanding of why and what your voting for is long overdue.

Let’s take a simplified look at how parliament works; An election is held across the entire country. People vote for who represents their immediate area’s best interests. The votes are tallied and whichever party wins the most seats across the country is the “ruling” party of Canada.

This is where it gets a little confusing, so minimize facebook and turn down your iPod.

There are two different types of elected governments, there are majority and minority governments. They are just as they sound. A minority is a party that got the most seats countrywide, but was not able to achieve the 40% of seats needed to achieve a majority.

Think of it like this: Two friends want to see A Walk to Remember, but you want to watch Remember the Titans again. Two vs One, you lose. With a majority, you’re the two, and when you’re the majority in government, what you say, (usually) goes.

When you end up with a minority government like our fine country has, things get a lot more complicated, all of a sudden you have more people wanting different movies, but you only have enough money for one. You end up compromising with your friends and you say something like “If we get this movie, I get more popcorn”. Your friends say fine and you all end up crying in the end anyway.

Parliament is like that. Full of compromise. The old you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours is most prevalent in Parliament then anywhere in the world. Smaller partys sometimes decide to support motions they don’t necessarily agree with, in exchange for a motion more representative of their party’s beliefs to be passed.

Right now, the Conservative party has decided they want to put forth reforms for Employment Insurance eligibility. They stand up in Parliament and present their motion, but because the conservatives currently have around 35% of the seats, it’s up to Canada’s other three parties to decide whether or not they want to support their motion, giving it the necessary amount of votes to pass and go into legislation.

Voting on motions is always fun. It is a way for the non-ruling parties to push their weight around. Smaller parties like the NDP and the Bloc don’t have as much weight to throw as the Liberals because of the amount of seats they control, but collectively, they can all vote against a Conservative motion and make sure it doesn’t go into legislation.

Where minority governments get even more fun is where a Vote of No-Confidence comes into play. Which is where we are now. The Liberals can, and plan to put forth a motion of No Confidence against the current administration and force an election this fall, something the failed Coalition government attempt earlier this year.

If the Liberals are actually telling the truth, Canada will be headed for it’s 6^th election this decade, a very rare occurrence in developed countries. With the current state of our economy, accompanied by the results of numerous polls (Maybe aside from the Liberal’s website polls), One has to wonder if now is a good time for an election.

If it does happen though, I’m afraid to see how much money will go into campaigning and advertising alone. Considering Iggy is a threat to Harper (more so than Dion was), the TV and paper advertisements are going to be unreal, both in airtime and cost, considering expenses from last years attack ads on Dion were in the millions! Call me old-fashioned, but I thought conserving meant saving.

So when we go to the polls this fall (or whenever), just remember, a leader is someone you can trust to give it to you straight. Someone who you can listen to and know isn’t just filling you full of bullshit. Remember that when someone tells you there will be no deficit in two years.

Like always, feedback and comments are greatly appreciated, you can reach me at a0m1s@unb.ca any time.

Jon Lajoie Interview (Uncensored)

If you haven't heard of Jon Lajoie, chances are you've been living the past two years without the internet or eyes. Born in Montreal, Quebec, Lajoie has enjoyed internet fame like no other. He has received numerous Youtube awards including #1 Most Subscribed Comedian (All-Time), and #1 Most Viewed (All-Time), just to name a few for his quirky songs that leave you laughing days later. From love-ballad style songs about stoned shenanigans, to satirically genius songs about women showing their goods, Lajoie has released hit after hit and garnered well over a million hits on almost all of his videos, in some cases even reaching the 30 million view plateau rarely achieved by the best of ring-tone rappers.

Fresh off the release of his debut album "You Want Some of This?" Lajoie was set to embark on a Cross-Canada tour that saw him launch from Fredericton, New Brunswick and continue out west. However, his tour was postponed after he was approached to star on the new FX series The League. And while he's excited to get to the East Coast, who can say no to a TV series headed by the Executive Producer of Curb Your Enthusiasm? No one. That's who.

Rodney: How long have you been involved in comedy?

Jon Lajoie: Not very long, about two and half years. Around July 2007. I didn't really know I wanted to get into comedy. I had taken an Acting and Theatre course earlier and I started trying to write sketch comedy, but it was hard as shit.

Rodney: Being from Montreal, did you feel the Internet was the only way to get noticed and build an English fan-base?

Jon: It wasn't that I was trying to build an English audience, it wasn't thought out. I just decided to buy a camera and I would just tape these sketches and send them out to friends. They liked it and everything, but then I started getting emails from Texas and people were saying you know "Jon, I like your stuff", and I just kept going.

Rodney: Do you think without the Internet and Youtube you could have achieved the same success?

Jon: No not at all, it wouldn't have happened. You know, when I was a kid I never had dreams of LA and being an actor. If it wasn't for the internet I'd probably be in my basement sitting on a stack of scripts trying to apply for little grants to put something on CBC.. That or be into porn or hard drugs. Or both.

Rodney: You've won many Youtube awards including Most viewed Comedian in Canada, as well as Most Subscribed all-time, just to name a few. Where do you get your influence from? Do you write the songs first, or do you come up with characters and write the song based around them?

Jon: I always wrote the song first. I would write the song, get in front of the camera and think, ok now I have to do a dance or something. Like in Everyday Normal Guy, I just wrote a song like a normal person would in the vein of like Wu-Tang Clan or Mob Deep then I got in front of the camera and just made it up. Like in the case of Show Me Your Genitals, I went out and bought that T-shirt, hat and shorts an hour before we shot the video. Then I thought to myself, I need to do some sort of a dance here. So I just fucked around and figured out that dance and it turned out well.

Rodney: Your sketches are both funny and relevant. Do you get positive feedback from them compared to your songs?

Jon: Depends, the internet people really like comedic songs and stuff. People like some of the commercials I've made and the sketches I have up, but some of those sketches are so old it's really just up there for people to watch. I have a bunch of sketch stuff I've got saved for the future when I've got time to pull it out. I love writing sketches, but on the internet I don't really have stuff that's 100% done, like when I started out I was really just fucking around to see what people would say.

Rodney: Your cross-Canada tour, "Jon Lajoie: Live as Fuck" was postponed due to your recent success in finding a role on the upcoming FX series "The League", but does your live act include sketches as well as songs?

Jon: What I do, is I try to mix it up, I have a few videos that I shot specifically for the live show. I play the songs that people know and do some of the sketches. I try to keep at least half of the live show to things that people have never heard, or seen on the Internet. I find that would be a little boring, because it's a lot more funny to see me do it in the context of a video, rather than me standing on a stage a lot of the time. I try to put together some new songs and some stand up. I do some new skits and bits and keep it fresh. There are no new characters, but for the most part, no one has really seen me crack a joke, so there's a lot of me up there too so that's different for people to see.

Rodney: On the topic of "The League", how did that all unfold? Did they come to you? Or did you go down there and demand a TV show?

Jon: This was actually really cool. I actually went down there, I heard a bunch of people down there were fans of mine. There was management and agents and stuff, I also met with Jeff Schaffer, who is the Executive Producer for Curb Your Enthusiasm and he said he was thinking about putting together this new show about fantasy football and a bunch of guys and he came to me and said "I have a character I wrote and he's really based on you, and we'd like to see you on the show". I kind of lucked out.

Rodney: Is it based on you, or a character you made?

Jon: It's actually based on me, the dude's like a stoner weirdo who plays guitar and performs at old folks homes and bars. So I get to do a lot of stuff that I do already, but on a show with a bunch of funny dudes, so it should be really good. We already shot the pilot, we're going to start shooting the show in a couple weeks. I get to do a lot of stuff that I'm known for which is great.

Rodney: Is this the first TV show you were on?

Jon: No, I was on a TV show back in Montreal but nothing that anyone outside of Quebec could have seen because it was a French language TV show, kind of like a soap opera.

Rodney: I presume they paid you with liquor and weed?

Jon: Yeah, basically, it was pretty low budget, they actually paid me in prostitutes, very low end prostitutes, I think we got like four prostitutes a month or something like that.

Rodney: Can you explain your role in "The League" Are you writing? Or are you strictly acting?

Jon: It's great because it's semi-improvised. We don't get a script, it's kind of like "Curb Your Enthusiasm" in that sense. We get an idea of what's going on in the scene and I get to bring my own ideas to the table. Whether they take them or not, I'm not in charge of that. So far, when we shot the pilot they were really open to that, I wrote a song for it that will be in it. They kept a lot of the stuff that I did in it, so I don't get a writer's credit, but I get to put what I think is funny in the mix and take it from there.

Rodney: Will the pilot be available online? Or will it be airing on FX?

Jon: It's actually going to be on FX this fall, it will be starting late October or early November.

Rodney: You just released your first album "You Want Some of This?" Did that help at all in getting you this role?

Jon: No, I really just wanted to have something my fans to have with my songs on it. I never planned on releasing an album when I started all of this but then after 15 songs and 15 videos I figured I'd go remix it and re-master it in the studio so that when people ask me "Hey! Where can I get all your songs?" I can point them in this direction to get it. Before the album, my songs were all over the place on mp3 download sites, which was fine, but people couldn't get everything at once.

Rodney: It makes a good gift for your grandmother too.

Jon: Yeah, I think she'd really appreciate the 2 Girls One Cup song.

Rodney: How has the feedback been for the album?

Jon: It's been good, I released it myself on my record label called Normal Guy Productions which is basically my bedroom. We put it out on iTunes, we didn't have any money to advertise or promote, but it's selling well, and consistently. It's not beating Justin Timberlake, but it's doing really decent for putting it out ourselves.

Rodney: I saw you just released the new "Radio Friendly Song" on Youtube. Will you be releasing new material while you're working on The League?

Jon: Oh yeah. I'm never going to stop putting new stuff on the internet, because regardless of what I'm doing, the internet is the place where I can be uncensored and unfiltered. It's really me coming up with everything, I'm in control and I edit them and shoot them and record the songs. I'll never let go of the internet.

Rodney: You've been featured on FunnyOrDie.com - Do you foresee any future projects with any of them?

Jon: I've sat down with a few of those guys and we like each other's work. There's nothing specific in the works. I've worked with them, and they tell me they like working with me. We don't have anything planned right now, but we'll see.

Rodney: You may have been asked this before, but have you ever watched the sun go down, perhaps even while the World was spinning 'round?

Jon: I've actually never been asked that.. Yeah I get pretty deep and I think about the universe and how I'm connected to it.. Then I eat a lot of chips and fall asleep naked.

Rodney: Which leads me to the question on everybody's mind. How high were you when you when you wrote "High As Fuck"?

Jon: It's going to be disappointing! I actually wasn't high. I was just recalling all of the times that I was high. Because I'm not a social smoker. I'm the kind of guy that, when I'm walking my dog, it's all good, but just the idea of going into a store to get something and face another human being always freaks me out. When I'm high I can't write anything, I just sit and watch The Incredible Hulk and eat peanut butter on toast with a bit of honey on it. I'm not productive when I'm stoned.

Rodney: So that's your go-to munch?

Jon: Man! When you get high, put some peanut butter on toast and put some honey on it and when you're eating it you'll think "I can't believe they don't serve this in restaurants! It's so good!"

Rodney: Your tour kicks off on the East Coast in December, how pumped are you?

Jon: I can't wait. I can't wait to get back in Canada. I love my Canadian fans. Every time I get back into Canada, the support I get is wicked. I haven't been on the East Coast yet. I've been trying to get out there for the longest time, so it will be sweet to get out there and party with some Maritimers. You guys party hard out there. If for whatever reason I have to postpone my tour again, just know shits going really well for me.

You can pick up Jon Lajoie's debut album "You Want Some of This?" on iTunes and check him out at www.jonlajoie.com or www.youtube.com/jonlajoie and enjoy hours of uninterrupted hilarity. Make sure you tune in to check out The League on FX this fall!