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Off-Topic: The Toronto Raptors Clinch Their First Playoff Spot Since 2008

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Last night’s game against the Boston Celtics was a nail-biter. With their playoff hopes in the balance, the Toronto Raptors were down four with only a few minutes to go. As a long-time fan, the memories of them choking in the clutch over the course of the last six years made it hard for me to think that we could pull this off, but this year’s Raptors squad isn’t the one that wallowed at the bottom of the NBA. As they’ve done all year, they gave it their all to squeak out a tough win to secure their first playoff berth since 2008.

There was a lot riding on this game, but not really. With over 10 games to go in the season and the Raptors’ magic number down to just 1, clinching a spot in the playoffs was basically inevitable at this point. But for a franchise whose history is largely defined by mediocrity (or worse), the fact that the team got to this point in the first place is remarkable.

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Starting From the Comic Book Bottom

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Comic books have influenced my life for as long as I can remember through movies, cartoons, video games, toys and more. However, up until recently, I’ve never actually read a legitimate comic book in earnest. For most of my life, I perceived the act of reading comic books as something that was too nerdy for me. By the time I warmed up to the idea, I had no idea where to start. With almost 100 years worth of DC and Marvel content out there, picking a logical starting point proved difficult.

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Off-Topic: Time Capsule Blog Idea

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Many years ago, while looking at my blog’s publishing options, thought it’d be a cool idea to start a blog and write posts that wouldn’t get published until 100 years from now. I’d write about my life and the happenings of the early 2000s and beyond, and when the 2100s hits, this random time capsule blog will start publishing posts out of the blue, detailing life as it were 100 years ago. There something romantic to the idea that I love. However, the idea is heavily dependent on these blogging mechanisms of today still working a century from now. Say what you will about the major blogging players today, but who the heck knows what will exist tomorrow? Oh well, one can dream.

Off-Topic: The Next Classic Christmas Song

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There are no shortage of classic Christmas songs in the hypothetical Great Christmas Songbook. From more religious fare such as Silent Night, to child-friendly favourites like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, to more contemporary tunes like Last Christmas by Wham, there’s seemingly an endless stream of hot holiday jams. However, it’s been a long time since a new Christmas song has reached classic status. If my calculations are correct, the last song to hit classic status is All I Want For Christmas is You by Mariah Carey circa 1994. Why hasn’t any Christmas song reached that plateau since?

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Off-Topic: Toronto To Host The 2016 NBA All-Star Game

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Even before the Toronto Raptors became a thing, I dreamed for a day when the NBA All-Star game would be hosted in my neck of the woods. As a child, I loved watching the NBA’s finest duke it out in a once-a-year dream match. More importantly, I’ve been obsessed with the NBA dunk contest ever since Harold Minor blew my mind with the legendary between-the-legs dunk. Sure, the contest has been more terrible than not in the last decade or so, though it’s monumental enough of an event for me that I haven’t missed watching one live on television since.

With the news of Toronto getting the 2016 all-star game as a means of celebrating the franchise’s 20th anniversary, my childhood dream has come true.

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Off-Topic: Tangential Ranting From A Reformed Sneaker Fiend

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stack 001While I have owned hundreds of video games in my lifetime, I’ve never considered myself a collector of video games. To me, having a collection of games was merely a side effect of playing a lot of games. Also, I almost never buy games just for the sake of having them, as I generally have a plan to play everything I own eventually. To me, my one true collection was/is my sneaker stash.

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Off-Topic: Royals By Lorde and the Rare Phenomenon of Genre-Neutral Hit Music

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I’ll never forget the moment when I first heard Royals by Lorde. Steff and I were in the car. As I tend to do, I flip between radio stations playing all different types of music. Stopping on our local alternative rock station, I was caught off-guard by the sounds of Lorde’s harmony over 808 drums. “Why is this station playing this song?” I asked. “No idea,” Steff replied.

Since then, it’s not just our alternative station playing it. Come to our neck of the woods and you can find Royals on our urban station, pop stations, rock stations and even our adult contemporary station. She’s managed to create what I call a ‘genre-neutral hit’.

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Off-Topic: Creative Bankruptcy

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Screen shot 2013-04-15 at 7.29.45 PM

There was a period in my life when drawing was a passion of mine. Armed with a piece of paper and a pencil, I would spend hours drawing assorted pieces. Then one day, I stopped. At a certain point, I could no longer find it in me to just let the pencil go where it needed to. Instead of a blank canvas being an opportunity to explore, it became an insurmountable obstacle. I haven’t drawn anything in earnest since.

There was also a period in my life where making hip-hop beats was a passion of mine. If you’ve ever listened to The Recurring Bosscast, then you’ve heard a few of the 100+ beats I created during my run. Though the process was never easy – especially since I was never formally trained in music – I honed my craft to the point where I was really proud of the jams I created. But just like my penchant for drawing, my ability to just go with it disappeared. Instead, I’d sit in front of FL Studio, making a lot of noise, while not piecing anything together to form a composition. I haven’t created any new music in years.

What happened?

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Off-Topic: From C to Shining C

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As I continue down the path of guitar proficiency, I still reflect heavily on that one fateful day over 20 years ago when my dad tried to teach me how to play. He sat me down with his full-sized acoustic, and asked me to play a C chord until I got a feel for it. On that day, I never did get that feel. Instead, I felt the pain of the strings slicing through my fingers, the pain of my hands contorting in an awkward manner, and the pain of my childhood dreams being crushed by the presumed reality that I’d never be good enough. Until Steff gave me the Rocksmith guitar bundle last year as a Christmas present, I hadn’t picked up a guitar in earnest since.

In the last few months, I’ve overcome the once insurmountable psychological hump I created for myself back then and am enjoying the instrument with the limited skills I currently have. I definitely see myself continuing to work at it from this day forward. However, I can’t help but think about how I could have grasped the concept of guitar playing back then had certain things been handled differently.

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Pick-Up Post: Fan Expo 2013 Edition

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Fan Expo Swag Full

Every year, Fan Expo is especially harsh on my wallet. I rarely get access to much in the way of nerdy stuff to buy, let alone everything I could ever want in one place. This year proved extra fruitful, as I bought or got pretty much everything on my wish list and then some. In case you’re interested, here’s what I got!

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