StEC's Review

New Pics of Me!

2009-07-15T20:23:00.001-04:00

So yeah I got a 30 Seconds to Mars jacket/sweater and it prompted me to take some new pics so here ya go....

Niagara Falls In Motion

2009-07-15T20:16:00.000-04:00

AMAZING!!! This video is incredible, yes I may be a bit biased because it’s my hometown of Niagara Falls featured in the video but seriously this city is amazing and so much fun, never a dull moment here and the time lapsed video certainly does my city justice! Kudos to Matthew Wartman for creating the vid! :)

Niagara Falls in Motion from Matthew Wartman on Vimeo.

Stop The Traffik!

2009-05-08T21:09:00.000-04:00

Stop The Traffik

“The greatest and most shameful regrets of history is always about the truth we failed to tell.”
—Haugen 2005

TRAFFICKING IS…
to be deceived or taken against your will, bought, sold and transported into slavery for sexual exploitation, sweat shops, child brides, circuses, sacrificial worship, forced begging, sale of human organs, farm labour, domestic servitude.
TRAFFICKING IS…
where family members and friends deceive parents to release their children or sell them for as little as $20 each, selling them on to local gangmasters or serious organised international trafficking rings.
TRAFFICKING IS…
growing. 2–4 MILLION men, women and children are trafficked across borders and within their own country every year. More than one person is trafficked across borders EVERY MINUTE, which is equivalent to five jumbo jets every day. a trade that earns twice as much worldwide revenue as Coca Cola.
TRAFFICKING IS…
where victims usually suffer repeated physical abuse, fear, torture and threats to families to break their spirits and turn them into saleable commodities. a person can be sold and trafficked many times.

stopthetraffik.org

How to Fight! Hahaha

2009-04-26T17:55:00.004-04:00

*Click the READMORE button to see the video*

The best HOW TO FIGHT video you will ever watch!

Hehehe, that little girl is so cute!

Swine Flu Close to a Pandemic

2009-04-26T15:03:00.005-04:00

Swine Flu seems to be spreading fast across the world but the only good news if you can call it is the strain spreading across the US & Canada and just about all other nations so far seems to be fairly mild whereas the serious deadly strain seems to be locked into Mexico for some reason and the WHO is trying to figure out why that is!? It can only be considered a pandemic though if the deadly strain in Mexico makes the jump to other nations and so far we been lucky that has not happened but my heart certainly goes out to those people & their families in Mexico.

Here is a map courtesy of Google that is updated in real-time as cases are considered possible or confirmed so you can track the outbreak!

View H1N1 Swine Flu in a larger map

Links on the matter....

Health Zone Canada
CBC
CTV
CNN
FOX News
BBC
CDC

So are you concerned this will turn into a pandemic or do you believe this will just blow over? Personally I think this one will eventually fizzle out and we don't have much to worry about so long as the exact strain in Mexico city does not make the jump or further mutate with another virus that either strengthens it's attack on the immune system or makes it much easier to spread or worse yet a combination of the two! Scientists and history proves we are certainly overdue for a pandemic but I just don't think this is it.

My First Attempt @ Tilt Shift Photos!

2009-04-21T21:46:00.000-04:00

Tilt Shift photography is essentially faking a real scene to look like miniatures... think a model railroad train set and you get the idea! It's best done from high ground or from rooftops and having original photos with vibrant colours or simply cranking up the saturation. In my case I didn't really have any pics from high ground so I had to use what I had already on my computer for now. However now that I know about this technique and think it's so freaking cool you better bet I will be up in all the towers & high rise hotels in Niagara Falls now taking pics to use for this art form

Tell me what ya think and man I can't wait to get up top of the new Hilton Tower I work at and the Skylon for this!!! :)

NASCAR / IRL Coming to Niagara!?

2009-04-08T08:31:00.001-04:00

It turns out that the proposed speedway complex for Fort Erie has a star name attached to it... Jeff Gordon. I love NASCAR but to be honest I can't stand the guy I'm a Matt Kenseth fan all the way but the Gordon names carries a lot of clout and means that this proposal is serious.

So far we know that it is a $200-million+, 65,000-seat international motor speedway on 600 acres of land. The team is spearheaded by multi-NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon, flanked by Paxton Waters Architecture, Derek Daly Design, and Philips Engineering, and supported by a host of local and international strategic partners. The main investor is Bayt Al Mal Investment Co which is from the United Arab Emirates. The speedway complex will be along the QEW, between Gilmore Road and Bowen Road in Fort Erie. Bayt Al Mal has done numerous environmental, planning and engineering studies to support its application and has invested several million dollars. The proposal is working its way through the Town of Fort Erie's planning department.

"Mohammad described as the Canadian Motor Speedway, will benefit from its unique location -just six kilometres from the Canadian/ U. S. border and relatively easy access from many urban centers. Being only 10 minutes from world-famous Niagara Falls, Mohammad said the speedway would become North America's motorsport entertainment destination." "He said the facility is set to open for racing in the summer of 2011 and has already sparked the interest of major race-sanctioning organizations that are keen to capitalize on the Canadian and eastern U. S. fan base. The property will be developed in a way that would allow for additional uses and venues."

FANTASTIC RIGHT!? Well if you are a racing fan and live in the Niagara area or close to Niagara it gets even better!!! This is not the only proposed track there is not even just a second track but THREE TRACKS in total proposed all very serious proposals!

The next track which we only learned of just last week is an IRL motor speedway proposed for Niagara Falls again along the QEW on a 93- hectare parcel of land on Sodom Road. A group of "Ontario investors" want to build a 5.6- kilometre road course on land bounded by Bossert Road, Sodom Road and the QEW that could be available for IRL racing. IRL stands for Indy Racing League, an American-based open-wheel racing series, which includes the popular Indianapolis 500.

Then we have the 3rd proposal which is also set to be within the Fort Erie boundaries but little is known about it as the investment group & city hall want to remain quiet about it for now. SOURCE

I have always said Niagara is very supportive of racing with our three current tracks Humberstone Speedway (dirt racing), Merrittville Speedway (dirt racing), the Welland Motorcycle Raceway plus in Cayuga Ontario which is about 30mins from Niagara Falls we have an official CASCAR speedway (paved racing). Plus just over the US/Canada border about 15-20mins from Niagara Falls is Ransomville Speedway (dirt racing)... we love our racing here! Niagara is centered between 60% of the US/Canada population and would make for a perfect world class racing destination. We're already a world class golfing destination, wine destination & tourist destination so why not!?

Sony PSP-2

2009-04-07T21:58:00.001-04:00

So some unauthorized concept art has surfaced of what the new PSP 2 will look like and I must say if the final product looks anything like the concept art many people will be creaming their pants because it is the SEX of handheld gaming!!!! :)

It will reportedly have a touch sensitive screen like the iPod touch and finally have a dual thumbstick which has been the most requested feature since the PSP launched. As you can see the controls are hidden behind the sliding screen which is very cool.

To read more check out this Gamespot article.

Creepy but Cool Art!

2009-04-06T14:47:00.001-04:00

Some cool but very creepy art I have found around the net! I seem to have a fascination with bloody or full out gory art, I don't know why it's just cool.... maybe I watched the Saw movies too many times lol!

Blue October - Approaching Normal (Review)

2009-04-05T17:57:00.001-04:00

Blue October have once again unleashed an epic emotional powerhouse package of tunes that is nothing short of brilliant! Their new cd Approaching Normal is exactly what you expect from this fantastic band but with a couple welcomed surprises thrown in!

Band: Blue October
Album: Approaching Normal
Year: 2009 (In Stores Now)
Genre: Alternative Rock/Emo/Indie
Rating:

You would think that because Justin Furstenfeld is now a proud father he may have lightened up a bit but man can he still explode with gut wrenching passion which is evident in the very powerful opening track "Weight of the World". It's slow build up sets a mood then out of nowhere Furstenfeld & the guitars explode with passion & distortion and you can't help but smile because this is what Blue October does best!

Their first single from the new album is "Dirt Room" which was an excellent choice and though it's not as deep vocally as "Weight of the World" it holds as much weight lyrically as it's wrought with emotion. At track 5 is "My Never" which is a nice change of pace as it's slow, heart tugging & beautiful both lyrically & vocally, you are given a chance to hear Furstenfeld really sing with out his usually deep raspy bellowing he is famous for!

"Blue Does" is another song that is worthy of mentioning because it's written about his new daughter named "Blue" and it gives you a chance to see a window of happiness and peace that Furstenfeld has experienced which is a massive change from the anger & chaos usually brewing in his head that ends up as the lyrics for his dark songs. It's a stunningly beautiful song in fact I would go as far to say it's the most beautiful song he has ever written! You even get a chance to hear Blue at the end of the song and I'm sure it will put a smile on you're face!

If there is one standout track on the album that I never expected to hear it has to be "Jump Rope", this is totally opposite of what you expect to hear from Blue October because it's fun, happy, positive, danceable & very youthful even with children chanting along and it works beautifully so much so that it's probably my favourite song on the album!

The rest of the songs on Approaching Normal are all excellent and round out an amazing album filled with both very emotional lows and happy positive highs and I am happy to point out there is zero filler tossed in just to fill out an album, every track more than holds it's own! Some people say Justin Furstenfeld is too whiny COUGH *Rolling Stone's pathetic review* COUGH but in my eyes or I should say ears he is one of the most honest & powerful song writers & vocalists in the industry today and he proves it once again on this incredible album and the band as always is just incredible especially the amazing violins from Ryan Delahoussaye!

Official Site - http://www.blueoctoberfan.com/

Track List

Weight of the World
Say It
Dirt Room
Been Down
My Never
Should Be Loved
Kangaroo Cry
Picking Up Pieces
Jump Rope
Blue Skies
Blue Does
The End

Near Perfection - 9 out of 10

Hottie of the Day - Zac Efron Filthy Dirty

2009-04-05T16:42:00.000-04:00

Ohhhh boy Zac even when you're filthy dirty all covered in mud you're still incredibly HOT!!! Seriously Zac has become one of the hottest guys in Hollywood all buff & sexy and those bedroom eyes omg lol! I have to issue a formal complaint though why is it the girl is naked in the last picture and not Zac, NOT FAIR!?!? (:oP

New Look / New Job!

2009-04-05T05:15:00.002-04:00

Well I seriously need to get back into the swing of things when it comes to my blogging, I been neglecting my poor blog for the last couple weeks not because I wanted it too it's just that life is very complicated right now and I'm trying to sort my head out. But to help get things kick started again I felt a new look for my blog was in order and I must say I am pretty impressed with what I have done with it!

This Tuesday I start my new job at the incredible new & very tall Hilton here in Niagara Falls which I am both excited and nervous about but all in all it should be the job that I can retire from because there are so many opportunities for advancement and I very much look forward to learning & growing within the company!

Expect to hear lots about this new mega hotel and expect lots of pics as well as time goes on! I know it's going to be exciting to work there and it will be a big help to get Kris & I out this financial funk we been stuck in for too long plus the health & dental benefits will be a big plus! As for my last job... I left Harvey's on very good terms and I will greatly miss working there but at least I have all my friends from there on my Facebook so I am still able to keep in touch with everyone!

Now as for the new look of the blog please tell me whatcha think, leave me a comment!? :)

New Ginch Gonch Undies!

2009-03-28T22:48:00.004-04:00

So yeah I been wanting to get a pair of Ginch Gonch underwear for a while but they are so hard to find around here but I got lucky at the local Winners store just when I was about to give up when I found the one & only pair sanwiched between some Calvin's on a rack and it was PINK which is just what I wanted lol! I want to get more pairs though with different patterns & colours because they are so fun, cute, sexy & just plain awesome! As you can see my pair is pink with cute little monkeys on it lol...

Be Back Soon!

2009-03-27T14:47:00.000-04:00

Hey I'm still alive just been superduper busy and a side project of mine has been taking up what little free time I have but I will be back blogging early next week and I do have a few album reviews I need to get finished and posted!

Oh and I must mention today is incredible outside it so feels like a true beautiful spring day... you only need a t-shirt on I love it, so the following picture fits the weather, enjoy! :)

Super Cute Panda Bears!

2009-03-23T18:27:00.005-04:00

These panda pics are so damn cute I just have to share them!

Fox News Mocks Canada's Soldiers and Military

2009-03-23T12:58:00.002-04:00

This is just appalling distasteful ignorance at it's worst! Coming from the right wing news channel Fox News I come to expect a certain level of ignorance but this is just fucking ridiculous! I hope Greg Gutfeld host of Red Eye get's the axe and some other heads role and that the record will be set straight! Canadians have been fighting & leading the war in Afghanistan longer than any other country and we have sacrificed many great men & women who have fought so hard and given their lives in the process and those fallen Canadian soldiers do not deserve this kind of disgusting ignorant coverage!

Some Canadian news links on this issue...

CTV News
Toronto Star
CBC

Audi Shark - WOW!!!

2009-03-18T23:54:00.001-04:00

OMFG never in my life have I drooled so much over a car like I have for this pure floating sex of a hover car called the Shark from the Audi car company!!!! I mean it's even cooler than anything I have seen in Star Wars and that is a pretty damn hard thing to achieve! My guess is the car uses some sort of magnetic repulsion system sort of like some monorails use meaning roads would have to be lined with powerful magnets but I could be totally wrong... hard facts on this concept car are hard to come by at the moment.

The Audi Shark is a futuristic flying concept vehicle with a streamlined design inspired by motorcycles and airplanes. It was designed by Kazim Doku and won the Desire Competition by Domus Academy.

Photo's Courtesy of the New Camera!

2009-03-17T22:20:00.005-04:00

So I want to share some pics taken with the new camera I mentioned in my last blog entry including some macro shots and a panorama shot which is such a cool feature...

Still just learning the camera so I consider these just test shots for now but plenty more to come especially as the weather gets nicer!

Guitar Hero World Tour & Camera......

2009-03-14T00:57:00.001-04:00

So me & my sweety Kris bought Guitar Hero World Tour yesterday and I been rocking out ever since.... total lack of sleep here and I anticipate it will be this way for at least the next week or two so most of my free time will be dedicated to getting my rock on hence the lack of blog entries during this time but I will pop in to make the odd entry. I'm sure the novelty will eventually wear off and I will be back in full blogging form once again but for now I have to fulfill a new addiction lol. So far the game is freaking sweet but I am sure most of you already know this!

We also bought a new digital camera a Fujifilm Finepix S1000fd to be exact along with an 8gig SDHC card! It's a 10mega pixel with 12x optical zoom and a crap load of features so on top of the new game I have to learn this camera then teach what I learned to Kris so he can use it also. So even more of what little free time I have is devoted to something other than blogging at the moment lol. I am so excited to get back into photography and when Spring & Summer rolls around expect tons of blog entries showing off my hobby because I live in the best tourist city in all of Canada so I will have tons to shoot & share!

Acres Of Lions - Working (Album Review)

2009-03-10T22:03:00.003-04:00

A very impressive & talented new Canadian band, "Acres Of Lions" debut cd "Working" is worthy of any music lovers attention!

Band: Acres Of Lions
Album: Working
Year: 2009 (In Stores Now)
Genre: Alternative Rock/Pop Punk/Emo/Indie
Rating:

Talk about an exciting new home grown band hailing from Victoria, British Columbia... Acres Of Lions are a real joy to listen to! The band sounds like a seasoned rock band that has been putting out albums for many years but this is only their debut cd and it's a very solid well put together first outing that should garner the band some instant fame at home and hopefully abroad as well. Acres Of Lions are yet another example of the awesome musical talent just oozing from this great country!

The band which is currently on a cross Canada tour formed in 2006 and the members consist of Jeff K - Vocals, Guitar / Tyson Yerex - Guitar, Keys, Vocals / Dan Ball - Bass, Vocals & Lewis Carter - Drums. They are signed to Cordova Bay Records.

After my first listen to "Working" I knew I just listened to a Juno winning piece of work (for those that are not Canadian a "Juno" is the Canadian equivalent to a "Grammy"). The cd opens up with the song "Entertainment" and rightfully so because from the start of the cd to end there is no doubt in my mind that you will be thoroughly entertained with the fun and energetic pop rock sound that the band has mastered! Other standout tracks on the album are "Dance Sequence" which is a high energy arena/club anthem of sorts. "Working" the title track which is a lyrically powerful track that has special meaning to the band because it's about working hard to get somewhere in life and that's just what this band has done. "This Was Not My Best Day Ever" is a beautiful song that I can certainly relate to and I'm sure many others will as well and finally "Let's Get Sentimental" is probably my favourite song on the cd to just rock out too! There honestly is not a single weak song on the cd and the rest of the songs are all fantastic and help round out a truly kickass debut that is worth your hard earned dollars or at least worth checking out, I can't wait to hear more from this band!

Now I will just keep my fingers crossed that they play a gig in Niagara Falls, ON sometime so I can see them live *wink wink if the band reads this*!!! :)

Official Site: http://www.acresoflions.com/
Official MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/acresoflions

Track List:

Entertainment
Let's Get Sentimental
Coronado's Dead
Closer
Dance Sequence
Working
Fine Examples
December
Knowing Your Own End
This Was Not My Best Day Ever

Very Solid - 8 out of 10

Sony's New Stupid Piece of Shit!

2009-03-10T16:42:00.004-04:00

OMG this is just too freaking hilarious!

Dick's Forecast!

2009-03-10T16:23:00.000-04:00

And now let's go to Dick with his big weather story! :)

My LastFM Overall Band/Artist Plays

2009-03-10T13:58:00.000-04:00

My top 50 most played artists/bands on LastFM as of March 10, 2009. Keep in mind this is not my Top 50 Artists list as some of these bands get very little plays now while many new bands are quickly climbing my charts so this list may look drastically different in a couple months. Now for anyone who actually takes the time to look through my chart you will undoubtedly see I have a very wide & ecclectic taste in music even more so if you look at my entire top 500 artists list HERE which is major hodgepodge of everything, just the way I like my music! :)

Rank - Name - Plays

1 - 30 Seconds to Mars - 7,621
2 - The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - 2,811
3 - Marianas Trench - 2,745
4 - James Blunt - 2,480
5 - Breaking Benjamin - 2,217
6 - The Click Five - 1,843
7 - Kill Hannah - 1,716
8 - Madonna - 1,617
9 - Shiny Toy Guns - 1,585
10 - Kings of Leon - 1,515
11 - The Classic Crime - 1,480
12 - Blue October - 1,435
13 - Tokio Hotel - 1,358
14 - My Chemical Romance - 1,281
15 - Starsailor - 1,211
16 - Boys Like Girls - 1,197
17 - Dashboard Confessional - 1,113
18 - Good Charlotte - 1,104
19 - Collective Soul - 1,095
20 - Hellogoodbye - 1,093
21 - Linkin Park - 1,089
22 - Rihanna - 1,030
23 - Avril Lavigne - 1,027
24 - A.D.D - 990
25 - The All-American Rejects - 966
26 - Cinema Bizarre - 935
27 - Senses Fail - 921
28 - The Beatles - 905
29 - Mika - 885
30 - Family Force 5 - 884
31 - Young Love - 868
32 - Hedley - 855
33 - The Academy Is... - 851
34 - The Killers - 843
35 - Taking Back Sunday - 824
36 - Angels & Airwaves - 815
37 - Mobile - 809
38 - OneRepublic - 802
39 - KoRn - 775
40 - The Ataris - 757
41 - Chiodos - 754
42 - Social Code - 749
43 - Metro Station - 739
44 - Tickle Me Pink - 735
45 - Nelly Furtado - 717
46 - Neil Diamond - 708
47 - Jimmy Eat World - 694
48 - Sarah McLachlan - 665
49 - Alanis Morissette - 653
50 - Staind - 625

Over the Food Poisoning!

2009-03-07T10:42:00.000-05:00

Yay I am finally 100% over the food poisoning and I feel great! Finally had a good nights sleep and I'm all rested up & ready for work. I'm also ready to get cracking on those blog entries I been wanting to do when I get back from work, sheeesh I am so far behind now. I'm also so freaking excited to get my hands on the new Blue October & Cinema Bizarre cd's so I can post the reviews but those ones won't happen for a little bit yet because I can't get my hands on the albums just yet but I am so excited for them! By the way thank you to everyone who made nice comments about me being sick and to everyone else that has left comments on my blog no matter what the entry was for! :)

Picture Time.... I finally got the camera out of my desk drawer and decided to take a few pics of me since it's been a few months here is one of the shots (more on my Facebook).

Food Poisoning

2009-03-05T08:30:00.001-05:00

So I had a few cd reviews I had planned to be posted here the last couple days but somehow and somewhere I picked up food poisoning that kept me in the bed and on the toilet and away from the computer or anything else for that matter.....IT SUCKED, YUCK! Feeling better now just in time for me to get back to work so my reviews will have to wait until Sunday night probably unless I can squeeze one in maybe Saturday night. Piss me right off... my 3 days off work were a total bust!

Alex McKee - Hottie of the Day!

2009-03-03T09:41:00.007-05:00

Hottie of the Day....

Alex Mckee is nothing short of an Emo God and an all around HOTTIE! He has incredible eyes, amazing bone lines in his beautiful face, a sleek & lean physique, soft gorgeous lips and man does he know fashion and hair styles! To see more of Alex's official work check out his deviant art page "Muchlikefalling"!

My Custom Blog Template Fooked Up! :(

2009-03-02T19:54:00.000-05:00

Kinda bummed right now.....

So in order to get some new features to work on my blog like the new "Star Rating System" and the new "Reactions" system as well as the new "Search" feature I had to revert my template widgets to default and when I did that it totally messed up my awesome template I had which was a bummer but at the same time that template did have some flaws so for now I am on a default template provided by blogger and yes I know it's very bright lol but it will have to do for now until I find the perfect custom template for my blog.

Camera on a Sushi Conveyor!

2009-03-02T15:38:00.005-05:00

Ever wonder what it's like to go for a ride on one of them sushi conveyors?
Ever wonder what the kitchen was like in a big sushi restaurant?
Ever wonder how people would react to see a camera randomly show up in their face as they eat?

That has to be the cleanest most sanitary kitchen I have ever seen even the staff take extreme precautions... if only our restaurants here in North America were this clean!

Prop 8 - The Musical

2009-02-28T20:48:00.003-05:00

I have posted this to my Facebook before but it's so worth everyone's attention what better place to post it than right here in my new blog! Though this has a very serious underlying message about gay rights the way they deliver this message is simply hilarious and pure comedy brilliance!

"Prop 8 - The Musical" starring Jack Black, John C. Reilly, and many more... from Jack Black

The Midway State - Holes - Review

2009-02-27T09:47:00.007-05:00

The Midway State is yet another truly fantastic Canadian band garnering tons of attention of late with their first full length album "Holes" and their debut single "Change For You".

Band: The Midway State
Album: Holes
Year: 2008
Genre: Alternative/Piano Rock/Indie
Rating:

Just got this cd and after the first listen I was hooked and after repeated listens it just gets better! I love the musical talent flowing out Canada lately and this Toronto band is a perfect example of why! Holes is a fantastic album from beginning to end, it has such a fresh sound that starts with the piano and unique soulful vocals from lead singer Nathan Ferraro and then layered with excellent song writing and backup from the rest of the band creates a very fresh & unqiue sound they can call all their own.

The music is very easy to listen to, personally I find it very relaxing but also with it's powerful moments that remind you they can rock out too! Without a doubt this is the type of album that both young & old alike would enjoy which is a rarity and no simple feat to pull off, not sure if this was ever the bands intention but they managed to do it. I honestly can not pick a favourite song or a few standout tracks from this cd because they are all on equal footing and are all worthy of your ears attention! I suspect that we will be seeing & hearing a lot more of this band in the future and I look very forward to it!

Official Site: http://www.themidwaystate.com/

Track List:

Never Again
Change for You
Nobody Understands
I Can't Stop Waking Up to You
Unaware
Fireflies
Holes
Hold My Head Up
Fire Keeps on Burning
I Know
Where Did We Go
No Crying

Near Perfection - 9 out of 10

PayPal Email - Phishing Scam

2009-02-27T08:21:00.006-05:00

So this morning I got an email purportedly from PayPal with the title.. "-731253 Important Information about your Paypal Account" from "paypal-security6484@update-info343.com". Needless to say I was instantly suspicious and already convinced myself that this is a phishing scam but I continued to read the email anyway. The following is the email in it's entirety....

Due to the reasons listed below your Paypal account has been limited; Paypal is constantly working to ensure security with all Paypal accounts in our system. We have recently reviewed and for the reasons listed below it is necessary for you to confirm your account. We are sorry for the inconvenience but this is to insure the safety of Paypal customers and workers alike. Please confirm your account with the supplied link below to "continue use with your paypal account.

http://theepicone.net/paypal_update.html

-----------------------------------------

Why is my account access limited?
Your account access has been limited for the following reason(s):

* Unusual account activity has made it necessary to limit account access
Until additional verification information can be collected.

(Your case ID for this reason is PP-003-303-124.)
-----------------------------------------

Thanks,
Paypal Staff
Paypal.com

Now first off for those that do not know what "Phishing" is I give you the explanation from wikipedia...

"In the field of computer security, phishing is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. Communications purporting to be from popular social web sites (YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, Windows Live Messenger), auction sites (eBay), online banks (Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Chase), online payment processors (PayPal), or IT Administrators (Yahoo, ISPs, corporate) are commonly used to lure the unsuspecting. Phishing is typically carried out by e-mail or instant messaging,^[1] and it often directs users to enter details at a fake website whose look and feel are almost identical to the legitimate one. Even when using server authentication, it may require skill to detect that the website is fake."

Some common sense things to look for or do when you get emails like this...

Paypal or banks (and even sites like Facebook & Myspace) never send you emails where you need to click and confirm info. When you log into your paypal or bank account (or even Facebook) and something needs updating only then you will see an alert that something needs your attention right within your secure account also when it comes to banks they may mail you or call you and ask that you go in the bank in person to update something.
Look at the link this email wants you to click it goes to a site that is not even Paypal, often this is a dead giveaway with any type of phishing scam taking you to a site that is clearly not the site in question or sometimes it's a little tricky and looks close but always pay careful attention.
Pay attention to where the email is originating from sometimes you will see a sign that things are not right and a little suspicious.
If you are ever in doubt email the company or website administrator or call the company in question directly and ask if they sent you this email before you take any action with it.
GOOGLE IS YOUR FRIEND, if you ever get an email that asks you for personal info that needs updating or to reactivate an account.... always copy & paste the email title & or some of the email contents into Google and you will get all kinds of info if it's a scam because hundreds or thousands of others are getting the same phishing scam email as well and are discussing it. Also many security websites post about all such scams to alert the general public so always search Google for emails like this.
Use Firefox 3 or later because of excellent built in phishing and malware protection features but keep in mind they are not foolproof and rely on the input and reporting from people like you & me who take internet security serious and want to protect others. See Firefox's description here about these security features. Actually if you have Firefox 3 or later and tried accessing the scam link in the email above you will be blocked from accessing the site because it's already flagged as a forgery, I LOVE FIREFOX!!!
Always be extremely cautious and always treat such emails as scams first until proven otherwise.

The following are some links to other sites reporting this and or similar Paypal scams....

http://www.millersmiles.co.uk/search/PayPal
http://www.scambusters.org/paypalscam.html
http://www.pinoymoneytalk.com/2008/05/13/limited-paypal-account-fake-email/

I hope this blog entry has helped at least one person and made everyone else who reads it more aware of such scams! :)

Marianas Trench - Masterpiece Theatre - Review

2009-02-26T11:25:00.010-05:00

FINALLY.... the day is here when I get my paws on the long awaited much anticipated follow up to Marianas Trench awesome debut cd "Fix Me" and this cd in no way disappoints in fact it builds on their previous work and brings the band to all new heights!

Band: Marianas Trench
Album: Masterpiece Theatre
Year: 2009
Genre: Emo/Pop Punk
Rating:

I have always been a massive fan of these Canadian guys, their music is both powerful in lyrics and fun to listen to. One look at my LastFM page and you will see just how big a fan of them I am lol!

Masterpiece Theatre is the record that should break them out of Canada's clutches and put them on the world stage where they belong because the rest of the world needs to hear and love this band, I am after all willing to share them! They take some chances on this cd in the form of experimentation with what worked on their debut but it works brilliantly from the opening song that fits the theme of the cd and sets the mood for the rest of the tracks, to the truly beautiful song "Beside You" which almost has an African feel to it, to the barbershop acappella stylings of the dramatic "Masterpiece Theatre II" to a fantastic duet with Kate Voegele on "Good To You" to the very powerful & emotional song "Lover Dearest" right down to the long 6+ minute but super fun and experimental closing song! They retain their new generation emo and pop punk stylings of their original sound but also layer it with fantastic harmonies, a new found maturity in both their writing and sound and with lots more instruments for a perfect package.

I have to admit that when I first saw the video for "Cross My Heart" on Much Music and even though I liked the song it had a real sugar coated pop feel to it and I was worried that the entire cd would be like that, but it's just an example of their experimentation on this cd and how they really mixed things up! All 12 tracks on this cd are perfect, I may seem a bit biased because of my built in love for this band previous to this CD but trust me I review everything with a fresh clear unbiased mind to give an honest opinion & review as I have done in this case. This cd is a must own for any previous & existing fans of Marianas Trench and will be a must own for many new fans of emo/pop punk bands... this cd is an honest work of musical art!

Official Site: http://www.marianastrench.net/

Track List:

Masterpiece Theatre I
All To Myself
Cross My Heart
Beside You
Acadia
Masterpiece Theatre II
Sing Sing
Good To You (Feat. Kate Voegele)
Celebrity Status
Perfect
Lover Dearest
Masterpiece Theatre III

PERFECT - 10 out of 10

MASSIVE SNAKE!!!

2009-02-25T23:28:00.006-05:00

*WARNING* This video will almost certainly make you jump out of your chair & or shit your pants haha...

...it is probably the biggest snake on earth, also the fastest and scariest lol! (:oP

Review Tomb Raider - Underworld

2009-02-25T20:59:00.006-05:00

Tomb Raider Underworld is a stunningly impressive looking & epic game but not without it's nagging problems!

The Good Stuff

Incredible visuals & lifelike environments, challenging puzzles, nice variety of levels and the sheer size of them, fantastic sound & epic soundtrack.

The Bad Stuff

Camera problems plague the game, not much has changed from Lara's last couple outings, Lara does not always do what you want her to do maybe due to sensitive controls.

The Review

(For this review I am only referring to the Xbox360 version) This game is hands down one of the most visually stunning looking games on the 360 with it's lifelike environments from incredible lush jungles, creepy caves & ruins to truly amazing underwater environments... this game brings environments that you play in to an all new level of realism! On top of the awesome visuals you get equally impressive sound effects and music that perfectly compliment the onscreen action and environments!

This game feels epic and it actually is because no other Tomb Raider game before has given you such large levels to explore and simply admire and with Lara's new moves you have more freedom to explore the grand levels. Lara can now free-climb, balance along beams, and climb down thanks to her rappel line. You will need to use her new abilities in order to find all the secrets and gain achievements.

One gripe with the new moves and massive levels is not everything is explorable and it sometimes is frustrating because what looks like something you can climb is not always climbable you have to look for very subtle visual cues in order to advance through levels but after a level or two you eyes will eventually be trained to pick up on those subtle visual cues. You also have a cool PDA which you will have to rely on for some helpful hints to progress in the game and it also acts as your map and sonar device for caves and underwater levels.

You won't encounter too many enemies in this game as the game seems to be more focused on exploring and puzzles and because of the sheer size of the environments the puzzels can take up lots of time to complete. The biggest enemy in this game though is the environment meshed with the sometimes downright nasty camera control but more on that later. As for actual enemies though the ones you do encounter are for the most part pretty dumb, the AI in this game is not that intelligent. You have a basic arsenal of weapons from Lara's trusty pistols which you can now dual wield to shoot multiple targets at the same time to a shotgun, a harpoon, a couple different automatic weapons and a special weapon Thor's Hammer which is very powerful and fun to use. For the most part you will be using your dual pistols on your first play through. You do encounter some very impressive boss's that are very challenging because you will sometimes need to use the environments to defeat them rather than your weapons which adds some nice variety and the levels themselves are boss battles with epic moving set pieces that you need to traverse and survive.

As for the nasty camera control I mentioned it seems to be the norm for Tomb Raider games and you would think that they would have been able to solve the problem by now but sometimes in this game it seems worse than ever which is a real shame because sometimes it ruins the moment or becomes insanely frustrating and you end up falling to your death and having to redo some sections over & over. Another gripe I have is the controls because Lara sometimes jumps in the wrong direction often to her death or swings when you don't want her to which is due to the sensitivity of the directional stick I believe. I have also encountered some annoying glitches where all of a sudden Lara will disappear into a wall and she becomes stuck or falls to her invisible death lol... thankfully these glitches do not happen that often.

For the price of the game though I really would of loved to have seen the upcoming downloadable levels included in the game or available for free download because even though the levels were huge the game is still beatable in a couple days which makes it feel a bit unfinished, rushed and nothing more than a cash grab on the part of Eidos & Crystal Dynamics.

Camera control problems and some small annoyances aside this game is still worth purchasing if your a fan of Lara Crofts adventures because it really is a breathtaking, fun & challenging game especially if you have a high definition TV and loud home theater system to compliment the onscreen action.

StEC's Score - 7 out of 10!

Cinema Bizarre!

2009-02-24T12:57:00.010-05:00

After just one listen of "Final Attraction" the 2007 Cinema Bizarre cd I was instantly hooked on their electrogoth sound and they quickly became one of my most listened to bands but when I saw what they looked like my jaw hit the floor..... total fucking hotties!!! These German boys are drop dead gorgeous and on the cutting edge of fashion all their own almost an anime, goth, visual kei, emo mashup of sorts that works brilliantly to suit their awesome sound!

Their new cd "We Are All Toyz" is due to be released sometime next month "March" 2009 and I CAN NOT WAIT! :)

My Top 50 CD's of 2008!

2009-02-23T21:39:00.007-05:00

Here are my top 50 CD's of 2008 in a countdown order....

50 - 3OH!3 - Want
49 - Fireflight - Unbreakable
48 - Griffin House - Flying Upside Down
47 - Does It Offend You, Yeah? - You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into
46 - Apocalyptica - Worlds Collide
45 - David Usher - Wake Up And Say Goodbye
44 - Kanye West - 808s and Heartbreak
43 - Lights - Lights
42 - Alanis Morissette - Flavors Of Entanglement
41 - Guillemots - Red
40 - The All-American Rejects - When The World Comes Down
39 - PlayRadioPlay! - Texas
38 - Racoon - Before You Leave
37 - Disturbed - Indestructible
36 - Jesse McCartney - Departure
35 - Elliot Minor - Elliot Minor
34 - Simple Plan - Simple Plan
33 - Tokyo Police Club - Elephant Shell
32 - The Medic Droid - Whats Your Medium
31 - Fall Out Boy - Folie A Deux
30 - The Vines - Melodia
29 - Neil Diamond - Home Before Dark
28 - Secondhand Serenade - A Twist In My Story
27 - Robyn - Robyn
26 - The Maine - Can't Stop, Won't Stop
25 - David Cook - David Cook
24 - The Offspring - Rise And Fall, Rage And Grace
23 - Pink - Funhouse
22 - Madonna - Hard Candy
21 - Coldplay - Viva la Vida or Death and All
20 - Hawthorne Heights - Fragile Future
19 - Feeder - Silent Cry
18 - Disco Ensemble - Magic Recoveries
17 - Duffy - Rockferry
16 - Innerpartysystem - Innerpartysystem
15 - O.A.R. - All Sides
14 - Rise Against - Appeal To Reason
13 - Katy Perry - One Of The Boys
12 - The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing
11 - Shiny Toy Guns - Season Of Poison
10 - Rihanna - Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded
9 - Akon - Freedom
8 - Beyoncé - I Am... Sasha Fierce
7 - Judas Priest - Nostradamus
6 - In This Moment - The Dream

The Top 5...

5 - Thriving Ivory - Thriving Ivory

4 - Kings of Leon - Only By The Night

3 - James Blunt - All The Lost Souls

2 - Tickle Me Pink - Madeline

and the best cd of 2008....

1 - The Classic Crime - The Silver Cord

Also my top 5 Soundtracks/Compilations for 2008

5 - Juno Awards 2008
4 - Nightmare Revisited
3 - Goa Trance Vol. 8
2 - Warped Tour 2008 Compilation
1 - Twilight Soundtrack

Tickle Me Pink - "Typical"

2009-02-23T17:21:00.003-05:00

Tickle Me Pink is currently one of my favourite bands, I highly recommend their cd "Madeline"!

Monday's Hottie - Jared Leto

2009-02-23T15:29:00.009-05:00

Jared Leto is hands down one of the most hottest & talented people on this planet! Not only is he a fantastic actor but he is an even better singer in my most favourite band in the entire world 30 Seconds to Mars so all this talent plus incredible looks and a hot body makes him #1 in my books! :)

Album Review: Blue October - Foiled

2009-02-23T12:26:00.008-05:00

In order to kill some time until the highly anticipated release of Blue Octobers new cd titled "Approaching Normal" is released on March 24 2009 I figured now would be a great time to whip out an old review I have done for their last cd "Foiled" which I originally did on my old Multiply site.

Band: Blue October
Album: Foiled
Year: 2006
Genre: Alternative Rock/Emo
Rating:

Foiled is the single best CD of 2006 so far in my opinion! It will also be damned hard to beat for CD of the year just because it's so damned amazing! Everything about this CD is perfect from the lyrics to the music and how the band just jives with one another in perfect harmony. They have been around for a while and they keep building on their talent and learn from what little mistakes they have made so far in their career. I usually like to compare a band I review to another that you may know better but in this case I'm actually at a loss of who I can compare Blue October to and I take that as a good thing because these amazing talented band of guys are in a league of their own when it comes to music!

Every song on this CD is perfect or near perfect from the lyrics to the music and how it's all put together! Now most of you will know the song "Hate Me" their first single from the CD that has been getting a lot of air & video play and it rightfully should being a great & powerful song but there are other songs just as good if not better like the very powerful song "Let It Go" and the moving song "Congratulations (featuring Imogen Heap)" to the very fun song "Overweight" and singable song "Into The Ocean". This is the perfect package and no one will go wrong going out to buy this CD!

Official Site - http://www.blueoctoberfan.com/

Standout Tracks

You Make Me Smile
She's My Ride Home
Into The Ocean
Hate Me
Let It Go
Congratulations (featuring Imogen Heap)
Overweight
X-Amount Of Words
Sound Of Pulling Heaven Down

Decent Tracks

What If We Could
Drilled A Wire Through My Cheek
Everlasting Friend
18th Floor Balcony

PERFECT - 5 out of 5

Roll Up The Rim Day!

2009-02-23T11:57:00.005-05:00

Today is the official start to a great Canadian tradition "Roll Up The Rim" at Tim Hortons both Kris (my boyfriend) and I have our coffee in hand but have not rolled the rim yet because he just got in the door with coffee... lets hope we win a car or $10,000 or even a laptop which would be sweet so I can do my blogging in bed! Now to celebrate this great day I have to share a couple pictures of my roll up the rim cup that I hope will be a winner lol! :)

Sunday's Hottie

2009-02-22T22:38:00.007-05:00

This is more of a test post to see how the image uploading system works on here but nevertheless it is Sunday and Zac Efron is a freaking HOTTIE indeed lol!

First Entry

2009-02-22T19:53:00.001-05:00

Well here I am.... on yet another cyberspace adventure. Over the years I have tried countless social networks and blog sites (some still around and others long gone) and even ran my very own highly successful online community called StecNet for over 4 years until it was time to hang up my owner/administrator hat and move on. But other than my Facebook account and my "adult" version of my Multiply site I don't really participate in any other sites anymore at least not like I used to, hell I used to be a hardcore addict.... I was a posting machine on tons of forums, sites & social networks that was until I had a cyber-overdose of sorts lol then I went cold turkey for quite sometime but I'm starting to get that itch again and I been wanting to try something new, so again I say "here I am"!

This time I thought why not create a simple blog where I can simply post reviews of my favoutite cd's, movies, games and share some pictures of my very own photography which is a hobby of mine plus also share pics of lots of HOTTIES from my travels from across from the net.... I am gay afterall and hotties are a very big interest of mine lol. So this is what blogs are for afterall right, to share anything of interest to the blogger and hope that someone out there also shares the same interest even if it's just one person at least my blog will have a purpose.

So I will try to do my best to do daily updates since I have so much stuff to post and always talk or rant about I'm sure I will even have times where I will have multiple daily updates... so I will end my first entry here with a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my very own StEC's Review and now I have to go mess with the settings and do some custimization to get ready for the real meat & potatoes of this blog. :)