Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Brihan and his Youtube: Soreal Cru
I cut the cable and sold my tv a while ago so a lot of you know that I don't know what's going on in the television world anymore.
Didn't care so much for television, I think the only things I've missed out on are CBC content - news, documentaries and The Hour.
But this week was huge, not only did Glee come back to the air (I'm a gleek...but I'll save that for another post) but if I don't find someone with a tv - I'm gonna miss this all-star special on ABDC!
I've been waiting for this to happen since season 3 ended - then the show wasn't so good...not worth the time to look for generous people on certain sites to watch season 4 and 5.
Quest Crew and Jabbawockeez will be amazing to see how they stack up against each other on the abdc stage, but it's going to be a shame that stand-outs like Kaba Modern and Soreal Cru won't be there.
Lately, I've been watching a lot of Soreal and if you check out their youtube channel, I always felt like, 'Whoa! Why didn't I see THIS when they were on ABDC?'
I ain't no professional dancer or anything, but it's hard not to highlight the similarities between Soreal Cru and Kaba Modern. Both crews are really precise and detailed with their movements. But stylistically, there's a huge difference in their dancing. I think a lot of it can be attributed to where these two crews come from and the music that they use is evidence of that. Soreal Cru is from Houston and (not to generalize people from the South) but they've got more love for the slower, smoother hip-hop/r&b music. Those songs mixed with an array of heavy bass, 808 tick-tackin' hip-hop beats, the music they use represents where they come from a lot - and that's awesome. The dancing they produce is sexier without having to be raunchy or half-naked. It actually takes a lot of skill to keep up with the choreography they produce.
But other than looking at the group as a whole, check out some of the members on their own - particularly Andrew Baterina, Brian Puspos and Jackie Lautchang - search 'em up and you'll find a lot of choreographed pieces that they teach in workshops and whatnot.
Here are some of their choreographed pieces that I like (almost all the videos here are from their channel Soreal Cru TV):
BRIAN PUSPOS
JACKIE LAUTCHANG
ANDREW BATERINA
Didn't care so much for television, I think the only things I've missed out on are CBC content - news, documentaries and The Hour.
But this week was huge, not only did Glee come back to the air (I'm a gleek...but I'll save that for another post) but if I don't find someone with a tv - I'm gonna miss this all-star special on ABDC!
I've been waiting for this to happen since season 3 ended - then the show wasn't so good...not worth the time to look for generous people on certain sites to watch season 4 and 5.
Quest Crew and Jabbawockeez will be amazing to see how they stack up against each other on the abdc stage, but it's going to be a shame that stand-outs like Kaba Modern and Soreal Cru won't be there.
Lately, I've been watching a lot of Soreal and if you check out their youtube channel, I always felt like, 'Whoa! Why didn't I see THIS when they were on ABDC?'
I ain't no professional dancer or anything, but it's hard not to highlight the similarities between Soreal Cru and Kaba Modern. Both crews are really precise and detailed with their movements. But stylistically, there's a huge difference in their dancing. I think a lot of it can be attributed to where these two crews come from and the music that they use is evidence of that. Soreal Cru is from Houston and (not to generalize people from the South) but they've got more love for the slower, smoother hip-hop/r&b music. Those songs mixed with an array of heavy bass, 808 tick-tackin' hip-hop beats, the music they use represents where they come from a lot - and that's awesome. The dancing they produce is sexier without having to be raunchy or half-naked. It actually takes a lot of skill to keep up with the choreography they produce.
But other than looking at the group as a whole, check out some of the members on their own - particularly Andrew Baterina, Brian Puspos and Jackie Lautchang - search 'em up and you'll find a lot of choreographed pieces that they teach in workshops and whatnot.
Here are some of their choreographed pieces that I like (almost all the videos here are from their channel Soreal Cru TV):
BRIAN PUSPOS
JACKIE LAUTCHANG
ANDREW BATERINA
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Brihan with TheSixtyOne
Allow me to share some of the musicians/songs that I've loved since I discovered The Sixty One.
If you don't know what this site is, it's like myspace but with more adventure and discovery because you get to stumble on some great music. Check it out, my favourite thing to do is to surf through the moods that generate playlists based on the mood you selected - I usually go with mellow and party.
Passion Pit is pretty popular right now. They've got a great single out right now, Sleepyhead, and I first heard it because I saw a really great choreography done for it by Andrew Baterina (Soreal), Pacman (Sytycd/Marvelous Motion) and Jordan Kolar.
I'm the kinda guy who watches a great piece for a song and then falls in love with it - this is a good example of that.
BEARBOT is another favourite of mine. She's a New York DJ that does a lot of mash-ups and electronic beats. She mixes a lot of mainstream rap vocals on top of artists like MGMT, Daft Punk, and a lot of other samples that I can't really name, etc.
A lot of her mixes have been pretty consistent and I haven't found myself skipping through too many of her tracks - there's maybe one or two that irk me a bit, but I'd say let all the songs play out while you're doing your computer bidness. Either way, I'll list off the ones I'd recommend (and they're free tracks so go DL them) - Mixtape - Your Friends- Wow - Technocrips - Poloroid - Danger Girl
I'm the kinda guy who watches a great piece for a song and then falls in love with it - this is a good example of that.
A lot of her mixes have been pretty consistent and I haven't found myself skipping through too many of her tracks - there's maybe one or two that irk me a bit, but I'd say let all the songs play out while you're doing your computer bidness. Either way, I'll list off the ones I'd recommend (and they're free tracks so go DL them) - Mixtape - Your Friends- Wow - Technocrips - Poloroid - Danger Girl
Hey there Obidiah Parker, if you ever read this, I just want you to know that you make great covers - especially this Hey Ya cover. Great voice, and really great sound and style change for such a fun song that I haven't heard in a long long time.
Acoustic guitar and a nice upbeat folksy rhythm for that drive out to California that we gotta take some time in our lives (you know who you are mr. kimchix and friends)
Ady Smith - Just Dance This is my favourite remix of the song right now - it's free, go check it out here.
That's it for now, stay tuned for more. For now, you can check out my sixtyone page and see what I've been listening to. Go to History or see what I saved on my playlists.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Global News: Part Deux
My second week was focused on camera work.
I was shadowing cameramen as they went out with their reporters.
Went out on a lot of H1N1 stories haha - mostly with Darryl K. from News Hour.
Not much to say, it was fun - a lot of watching and observing but yes..fun.
I got to shoot some b-roll, which made it in to two news reports.
DK's coverage of Toronto's budget committee meeting on Tuesday:
(Close-up of a hand holding a pie chart) + (A man and woman looking stressed in front of a pie chart)
= Maybe three seconds of footage?
Politi's H1N1 piece that ran Friday
= Five-second zoom out of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.
And about an hour of learning how to use this thing:
"Whoa, old-school stuff."
That's what most of the editors said when they saw me use this thing.
It's known as tape-to-tape editing. Linear editing I think.
This one camera guy really encouraged me to learn this in and out. He says it's still being used in some trucks and at other stations.
"If you learn how to edit on this thing, then you'll really know how to edit," he said.
I'm gonna take another crack at it this week and maybe I'll get the hang of it.
I was shadowing cameramen as they went out with their reporters.
Went out on a lot of H1N1 stories haha - mostly with Darryl K. from News Hour.
Not much to say, it was fun - a lot of watching and observing but yes..fun.
I got to shoot some b-roll, which made it in to two news reports.
DK's coverage of Toronto's budget committee meeting on Tuesday:
(Close-up of a hand holding a pie chart) + (A man and woman looking stressed in front of a pie chart)
= Maybe three seconds of footage?
Politi's H1N1 piece that ran Friday
= Five-second zoom out of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.
And about an hour of learning how to use this thing:
"Whoa, old-school stuff."
That's what most of the editors said when they saw me use this thing.
It's known as tape-to-tape editing. Linear editing I think.
This one camera guy really encouraged me to learn this in and out. He says it's still being used in some trucks and at other stations.
"If you learn how to edit on this thing, then you'll really know how to edit," he said.
I'm gonna take another crack at it this week and maybe I'll get the hang of it.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
My first few days at Global News
Even though today's only the forth day of my internship here, I feel like a lot of this experience has been nothing but surprises.
I'm doing a tech internship here with Global News.
For six weeks I have a different responsibilites and experiences each week.
They got me starting out indoors working with tapes and feeds. Day one I've been uploading footage from tapes as they come in and once in a while patching daily footage from Queens Park to the station.
Nothing exciting, it's pretty relaxing and the studio is really an awesome site to see.
It's a huge open space with red pillars that look like T's.
HDTV's everywhere. In the actual newsroom where I'm at, I've counted like...10 of them, but there's still the Global News and ET control rooms too.
Anyways, TANGENT!
Here's how I feel.
HUMBLED!! I used to think I was pretty hot stuff, being all fancy with my NewsEdit expertise at Ryerson, but man these guys are using a crazy arsenal of different software and technologies just to get their news shows up and running.
Last night, about 30 minutes before Global Toronto went to air, I sat in with an editor and a reporter while they put together their package.
Wow! Reporter had a script ready, and recorded in about 2 minutes for a 1:30 minute piece.
Sub-clipped footage, knew exactly which shots to use, matching pictures to script, boom boom boom. They were done in like 20 minutes tops.
At school, putting together something like that would take me an hour at the least.
I shouldn't have expected anything less from them I guess cuz these are pros, they've been doing it for years now. It's like a machine, just going with the motions.
But yeah, for those who are reading this, I'll fill you guys in on more when I'm out and about. Next week I'm going out - on the field. I'll be with a camera guy and just helping them out I guess.
Brian out.
I'm doing a tech internship here with Global News.
For six weeks I have a different responsibilites and experiences each week.
They got me starting out indoors working with tapes and feeds. Day one I've been uploading footage from tapes as they come in and once in a while patching daily footage from Queens Park to the station.
Nothing exciting, it's pretty relaxing and the studio is really an awesome site to see.
It's a huge open space with red pillars that look like T's.
HDTV's everywhere. In the actual newsroom where I'm at, I've counted like...10 of them, but there's still the Global News and ET control rooms too.
Anyways, TANGENT!
Here's how I feel.
HUMBLED!! I used to think I was pretty hot stuff, being all fancy with my NewsEdit expertise at Ryerson, but man these guys are using a crazy arsenal of different software and technologies just to get their news shows up and running.
Last night, about 30 minutes before Global Toronto went to air, I sat in with an editor and a reporter while they put together their package.
Wow! Reporter had a script ready, and recorded in about 2 minutes for a 1:30 minute piece.
Sub-clipped footage, knew exactly which shots to use, matching pictures to script, boom boom boom. They were done in like 20 minutes tops.
At school, putting together something like that would take me an hour at the least.
I shouldn't have expected anything less from them I guess cuz these are pros, they've been doing it for years now. It's like a machine, just going with the motions.
But yeah, for those who are reading this, I'll fill you guys in on more when I'm out and about. Next week I'm going out - on the field. I'll be with a camera guy and just helping them out I guess.
Brian out.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Tough Love
I love my parents for being so observant and critical.
But I hate it too because I realize how much of my life I need to change.
My dad visited this reading week and, generally, he had a good impression of me until this weekend when I crashed at a friends place downtown and didn't wake up to see him out.
I had a million missed calls from him because I was playing dodgeball at church and as soon as I got home I called my dad. Good one, Brian.
That's usually how a big intervention-like discussion starts. I mess up and then he tells me about all of the ways I'm not going to succeed in life...unless I change my lifestyle, of course.
Everything from school, church, my social life, EVERYTHING! Both of my parents usually try to give me space to live out my life until they see me mess up waaay too many times to not say anything.
I know I sound like I'm complaining but it's good for me when they come down on me like that. I don't have too many people who rebuke me or call me out on the stupid stuff I do. But all this time, I thought I was doing pretty well for myself in the growing-up part of my life. I'm making better money, I have good friends, and I'm getting by with school.
But I should be doing more with my time. As my dad was saying, I should be doing more full time things and less part time things. Full time meaning, getting my priorities straight, getting my school stuff together and just focusing on that. Everything else coming second.
I'm still not sure how to feel about that but I know for sure, I could be doing more. And I should be.
Why do I always feel like I'm 16 years old? Why can't I just be 21 and feel like I'm 21?
Back to my essay.
Gnite.
But I hate it too because I realize how much of my life I need to change.
My dad visited this reading week and, generally, he had a good impression of me until this weekend when I crashed at a friends place downtown and didn't wake up to see him out.
I had a million missed calls from him because I was playing dodgeball at church and as soon as I got home I called my dad. Good one, Brian.
That's usually how a big intervention-like discussion starts. I mess up and then he tells me about all of the ways I'm not going to succeed in life...unless I change my lifestyle, of course.
Everything from school, church, my social life, EVERYTHING! Both of my parents usually try to give me space to live out my life until they see me mess up waaay too many times to not say anything.
I know I sound like I'm complaining but it's good for me when they come down on me like that. I don't have too many people who rebuke me or call me out on the stupid stuff I do. But all this time, I thought I was doing pretty well for myself in the growing-up part of my life. I'm making better money, I have good friends, and I'm getting by with school.
But I should be doing more with my time. As my dad was saying, I should be doing more full time things and less part time things. Full time meaning, getting my priorities straight, getting my school stuff together and just focusing on that. Everything else coming second.
I'm still not sure how to feel about that but I know for sure, I could be doing more. And I should be.
Why do I always feel like I'm 16 years old? Why can't I just be 21 and feel like I'm 21?
Back to my essay.
Gnite.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
In need of a shoe rack...
It doesn't look like a lot, but my place isn't big enough for all of these shoes.
I can't open my door properly unless I put em away in to that little rack.
The top shelf is for my essentials - running shoes, dress shoes and timbs for those snowy days in canadia. The rest is all just for looks. It needs to stop.
It would be really ideal if there was just one more shelf that I could stack there on top. But I think i'll have to settle on getting a new shoe rack all together - a really tall shoe rack.
Anyone have any suggestions? Post your links, I'd really appreciate seeing some cool shoe racks.
(I said racks a lot didn't I....)
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