Weblog and Playground of Gord Fynes

A FEW WEEKS BACK I DECIDED that I’d had it with dealing with styling my hair. I have naturally thick and curly hair which is, despite what any woman says, a curse. I’ve grown it out a few times in my life and cannot be arsed with going through the in-between stage of short and long. I’ve kept it very short for the last few years, but always relied on gel to keep from looking like a ginger Q-Tip.

The wife bought me a set of clippers (at my asking) and now assists in maintaining a style so short that it isn’t really a style (which is the style nowadays). The first day landed some friendly jeers at a party. This past weekend the term “Gordski Beat” popped up in a goofy group discussion. Both the group and discussion were goofy. I’d been called “Bronski Beat” by a neighbourhood tool when I first shaved my head as a punk rocker at 16 and hung around and smoked cigarettes with the mohawk’d gang at the local McDonald’s. Anyways, upon the group explaining the video for “Smalltown Boy” to our friend Matt, who would’ve been too young to have seen/heard it on MuchMusic or any other video show back in the day, the teasing ended up being directed elsewhere. With a finger on his writing hand heavily bandaged due to a carpentry injury, Matt put pen to paper and created the masterpiece I give to you now.

_Matt from Toronto, age 26, wins a Sun toque!_

IT TURNS OUT THAT WE’VE NO LONGER a space between “Le” and “Badgerine” when it comes to semantics. There’s also a new and full track (2 meg.) for your listening pleasure.

Enjoy!

WHAT I’D LIKE TO KNOW is why wasn’t a story that will affect so many Canadians splashed across the front page with the other headlines? It wasn’t even on the front page of the business section. The article quotes NDP MP Brian Masse as saying “Canada’s complacency could now lead to privacy violations.” Does the media not play a part in disseminating such politically-charged information? Did anyone know this was happening? Did you know it was happening before reading this?

THERE’S THE OLD JOKE THAT UNIVERSITY is where you go to get an education; college is where you go to get a job. I think I heard that one from a fellow civil servant that went to the former. I went straight into the workforce from high school with the intent of saving up some money, taking some time off from academia and basically figure out just what the hell I wanted to be when I grew up.

Fifteen years later, I’m still a civil servant (hey, it’s a steady gig with benefits). I’m married with a child and a mortgage. I still have lofty aspirations of someday becoming a journalist, a music critic with a musician’s insight, or maybe even having a show on the CBC – radio, that is. Basically, I still don’t REALLY know what I want to be when I grow up. That is, now that I am grown up.

For about the last ten years, I’ve gone about educating myself in the areas that I’m passionate about. It just so happens, being a musician, that they happen to be in the arts. I read a fair amount and tend to investigate a lot of facets stemming from particular interests. Literature was something I always wished I had more knowledge and understanding of, as to broaden the artistic pallet. From that, I imagine I’d become a lot better when it comes to fashioning ideas and communicating them, both oral and written. Over the past three years I have been contributing music reviews to a fairly popular U.S. based web ‘zine that covers strictly independent music. My writing skills haven’t improved in the leaps and bounds one would have expected by now, but I’m working on it.

This past year, I watched my 60 year old mother, who had gone through U of T’s Pre-University program in the late 80s, collect her PhD in sociology. I tease her that most people her age are retiring while she’s now looking for a job. My wife went to OISE last year and added a teaching certificate to her B.A. Although I was only a witness to these accomplishments, I was inspired.

I made a last minute decision in late August to try getting in to the Academic Bridging program, seeing as that my institutional education had stopped at Grade 12.

As far as the whole university vs. college debate goes, I have a job that somehow become a career. I’d now like to have a post-secondary education to start filling in the cracks of the school of life.

My first night in MS4171 was my 15th anniversary as a civil servant. The same day, my three-and-a-half year old son started kindergarten. If there’s any symbolism there, I’ll hopefully have a better understanding of it by the end of this course. At the rate I’ve been going, my son and I just might graduate from U of T on the same day.

I’VE GOT A COUPLE OF REVIEWS happening this week of the somewhat recent release from the Two Lone Swordsmen and über-metal outfit The Fucking Am over at The Brain. Just so’s ya know.

Sorry to those unable to access this site earlier today. We’re here now, baby.

I’ve arrived late to the table on this one, but I’ve recently become quite smitten with Yo La Tengo’s Summer Sun and find myself hitting the back button for tracks five and six.

Literature and photography classes are happening in addition to the regular goings on. I still haven’t caught up on this past weekend’s lost sleep and can’t finish this post properly. To paraphrase a colleague, I’ll owe you a witticism.