February 27th 2005 - It is debate season, and regionals are in less than a week. Ahh. What is your opinion on: "Be it resolved that American Unilateralism is the best answer for world order"? Oh well, lets hope I kill the competition with my mastery of debate (pun intended.)
I've got a new interview up with Matthew Barber. Never heard of him? Hear of him. Read the interview he's a really nice guy and is cool enough to talk to his fans. The Story of Your Life is his EP and it costs like $5 so you have no excuse to not take a listen.
I've got a new showdown contestant. Man I Used To Be by K-OS is going up against Nirvana after Smells Like Teen Spirit annihilated Sum 41. Like hip-hop? Like Canada? Maybe you should vote for K-OS. Like rock and roll? Vote for Nirvana. Its that simple, so vote.
| February 20th 2005 - Hey, I've decided something about this site. I'm going to have more fun with it. I will now find stupid new to write about and important news if I feel like it.
Did anyone watch the Simpsons today? They had this whole big thing that one of the characters on the show was going to become gay, and guess who it was? Marges sister. Lol how dissapointing was that. It should have been Flanders, lol that would be funny. What do you think?
Do you like yourself? Do you think you have a story to tell, or are an expert on a particular topic? Do you think you are important enough to be interviewed? Guess what, now you can! I'll interview anyone mildly interesting. If you think you've got what it takes, lets hear it! Afterwards I will be holding a contest where my MANY readers can vote for whos the most interesting interviewee (is that a word?) And the prize for the winner? Well you can't spell surprise without prize, and I have got something special valued at over $1.25 that could be yours.
By the way this is replacing the old contest, due to a lack of interest and the fact that I'm starting to like the showdowns name the contest is over. No shrine for you. But you can still win the new prize. Only the first 3 people to be interviewed can win so hurry.
| February 16th 2005 - Hey, all my wenches and wights (is that the male version of wench) I thought we could use a new sign in.
What should I write today? How about hockey. The season's gone. Its millionaires vs. billionaires, yet they all are so desparate to not lose any money, get over yourselves guys. You're making more money then the collective income of the Maritimes, each. So lets stop whining and play some hockey.
| February 10th 2005 - Hey, its been a while. I've been kind of busy with school lately, but I'm here today.
The Matthew Barber interview is done, I just need to get his permission to publish it before I put it on the internet, don't want to get sued. I'm pretty sure he'd agree, I did tell him it was for my website, but just in case. It's pretty cool, and it was awesome for me to talk to him after listening to his music so much. I think you guys'll like it.
Monday is Valentines day... and I have a band practise. But hopefully I can go on a date this weekend instead, just need to find someone crazy enough to go with me but I think I've found her. At least I hope I have.
We have a winner in a showdown. Pieces will hang on for another week. But can it beat Nirvana? Its got to stand up against one of the greatest rock songs of all time. Will the young beat the old? Will a poppy ballad by Sum 41 beat a song that changed rock and roll forever? Probably, but you decide. Vote!
| January 30th 2005 - Today the election was held in Iraq, and so far it appears to have been a success. Maybe I was wrong in my last entry, the US has done a lot of bad things to that country for a lot of bad reasons, but if this government succeeds maybe it'll all be worth it...
Today I saw Garden State. Everyone that hasn't seen it yet, go see it. You won't regret it. I swear the girl in that movie, if she wasn't a character I'd marry her tomorrow. Lol and not just because she's Natalie Portman, although that helps.
Tomorrow's the last day to vote in the showdown. From the looks of it Sum 41 might win but if you guys get out and vote that could easily change. Plus remember the contest to rename that darn thing. I hate to say but I still don't have a name. So keep them coming. I've gotten a few so far, but I'm sure you can beat those. Win that shrine. Trust me, your ego will thank me for it.
| January 28th 2005 - Hey, I've got something big coming in the interview section. Have you guys heard of Matthew Barber? Canadian rock singer? No? Well if you haven't you should, he's going to be huge one day, and if you have well I've got something exciting for you coming up. Interview + subtle hints about Matthew Barber =... I've got an interview with Matthew Barber. We've started talking back and forth over email, and soon I'll have something ready to publish. So that's going to be awesome, its pretty sweet talking to a singer you've listened to.
This Sunday, Iraq is going to have its first election since Saddam Hussein claimed power. However, this election may be not be as sucessful as American officials had hoped. Rebel groups are already threatening to attack polling stations, filling the hearts of voters with fear where they should be feeling hope. This is an election, a chance for all the citizens of a country to try to make their country better, yet there's little hope to be had. Voters are afraid they may have to choose between a vote and their lives, and the projected turnout may be very low. So is this the end of the War on Terror? Well technically it was over almost a year ago, but with the election the war will have done what the Americans claimed to have been trying to accomplish, free the Iraqi's. But what about the War on Terror? People are terrified to leave their homes, civilians and soldiers and dying every day, if this was a war against Saddam Hussein, I guess the US have been victorious, kind of, but a war against fear? Well... I guess Vietnam isn't the only war the US has lost anymore.
| January 25th 2005 - Wow, its been a few days since the last time. Whats new you guys? Are you supposed to talk to people when they read your blog? I dunno, sounds like a nice idea. I just thought I'd encourage all you readers to interact with the site. You guys can make this site better than it is by telling me what you think in comments, by signing the guestbook, getting involved in the showdown (by the way, Sum 41 and Silvertide are dead even with 4 votes each. If you don't know the songs you should really hear them, they both rock. So make your favorite win.) I'm trying to make the site more interactive, and I think if we all leave our little snide comments the site will be a lot more fun. Just in case people weren't sure I've got a fun lesson for everyone:
Comments 101 1) Read one of my thought provoking articles.
2) Click on the little link that says "934 comments"
3) Scroll to the bottom and fill in the blanks
4) Write in "Dead Chris, You are a sexy beast and I love you. (The afforementioned section can be altered if you are a man.) That article (rocks my world/sucks) you should (raise it up/burn it) for all to (worship/laugh at). This is my opinion on the issue: blah blah... GO FLAMES (just as soon as Gary Betman stops being dumb.)
5) Read others comments. This is your chance to voice your opinion. Fight the weirdo's who don't agree with you. Its your chance!!!
/Comments 101
So there you go. Go crazy people. Remember the contest! If you win I will make a shrine right here on this website listing all the reasons why you rock, there will be pictures involved, and a place for people to comment on how they love you, and oh so much more. So if you think you're clever enough go for it. All right that is all the plugging for the interactive parts of the site I should legally be allowed to do for one day.
So whats new in the world? You will have to find out tomorrow, I'm going to bed. (PS leave a comment :p)
| January 19th 2005 - Bush just had his inaugaration, and boy is the world in luck. In his second term Bush has promised to spread freedom across the world, AKA US installed governments protecting US economic interests. Potato, potato (that doesn't work nearly as well, when I'm writing it.) So who else can he free... Canada has oil... And people in jails! He can free them! Free the Canadians, the world will cry. And if he manages to take over the government while he's over here well good for him. You go George! Free the world! I hear your friends over in Saudi Arabia got a pretty tough government... the people don't have too many rights, but really who needs freedom of speech when you've got oil. Why don't you free them George? Why not? The trillion dollars the Saudi's have in your economy? That might be it. What would happen if you made them mad? A trillion dollars is an awful lot. They would destroy the economy wouldn't they? So just let that slide, let the Saudi's forbid peaceful protest and give their citizens the death penalty without a trial, let the Saudi government do what ever it wants (and really it already is,) and focus your resources on Canada. Save us George!
PS ... Sarcasm.
| January 18th 2005 - Hey guys, I'm holding the first ever Dead Fenix contest. I started up the Dead Fenix Showdown today (vote like crazy people every day) but it has one small problem. A really crappy name. So thats why I'm holding:
Chris Novak's: NAME THE SHOWDOWN Contest Come up with a better name for the showdown and if it's selected I will make you a shrine on this site. Like this one:
The shrine will be one page of solid worship, all for you. Who doesn't want that? If you think you've got the stuff to win this then lets hear your ideas. You can enter as many times as you like, and to enter your names just throw them in the guestbook, email them to me, or put them in a comment. I'll find them. So get crackin', the shrine could be all yours.
| January 17th 2005 - Its official. News and writing is way more popular than me whining about my life and bad movies. The new Dead Fenix has in two weeks doubled the number of hits I had before switching formats. Yes I used to use this site back in grade 8. It sucked. But hey now I'm a CBC news affiliate. Basically it means I have the ability to type and apply, and pass a rigorous screening process where they determine that I'm not a porn site (wait until they see these (.)(.) mwahahah. (They look like little breasts.)
| January 16th 2005 - Update - I found a way to install comments on the site. Now you can all post comments on any of my future blog entrys and everything in the writing section.
Hey homies. Tomorrow is my first final exam... *gulp* oh well it's just writing, theres nothing I can do to get ready.
I take back what I said yesterday about the flash movie. It was actually a powerpoint one, and I can't find a way to convert it to a form you can see on the internet. Plus geocities has a 5 mb upload limit so even if I could convert it, it wouldn't fit. However to make up for it, I'm looking for ways to make this site more interactive. Does anyone know how Xanga sites and the like let people add comments onto blogs? Can I do that on my site? That would be cool. Also does anyone know how css works? It sounds like it could save me some time, but all the tutorials I've looked at suck.
Today I went snowboarding. I love it, its the closest a man can get to flying (unless they mass-produce jetpacks sometime soon.)
There's a big fuss in the news right now about Prince Harry and his little swastika costume. For those of you trapped under boulders without any form of news source to waste front page space on this story I'll tell you what happened. Prince Harry, son of Prince Charles, who is the Queen's son went to a private party a few days ago dressed as a Nazi. Then someone took a picture, sent it to the press and now the whole world is going crazy. Personally I think they should bugger off and leave the poor kid alone. It may have been an innapropriate costume, but really (as stated in the Telegraph editorial) when a girl walks into a halloween party with horns and a pointed tail no one goes crazy and starts calling her a devil worshipper. I'm sure Harry doesn't sympathize with Hitler. If he were to start rounding up Jewish people into camps I might be concerned, but like it or not one day it will be acceptable to dress as Hitler for Halloween. Look at witches, once upon a time no one would have dressed as a witch, they were pagan freaks fit only for burning, if someone walked onto the streets in a pointed hat, hell they'd be burned too. Although I personally think those who persecuted witches should be remembered as the scary villains, but our culture has adopted the witch as a symbol of halloween and evil, but a completely exceptable costume. The same will most likely happen to the Nazi's. While their are a still a few neo-Nazi's scattered across the world their movement has all but died. Hitler was the greatest villain of the last century and few figures strike more fear in our hearts than he does. I'm sorry if I'm offending anyone but in todays world the swastika is just a relic to another time. Dressing as a Nazi does not show Prince Harry to be a Nazi, it shows something quite the opposite. We dress as monsters; so to take the image of Hitler is to show that you believe him to be a monster just like we all do. So please world, get over it.
| January 15th 2005 - It's Saturday! The perfect day to check out the writing section. That is the meat and potatoes of this website, the bread and butter, the roast beef and horseradish... what the *bleep* am I saying.
I've been bouncing around some new ideas for things to put on this site. First off, a new layout. I heard this one was a little hard on the eyes. I replaced it with soothing blue skys, but I do want something a little bit cooler. Next what do you think about a photo album? All the cool blogs have them... I need to take some photos. Third, a section of useless, yet interesting trivia. Sound good to anyone? Fourth, depending on how well the new polls are recieved a weekly battle of the songs where you guys can vote for your favorite song. Plus tons more writing, links and a flash movie featuring Godzilla vs. Pikachu. Like any of my ideas? Send me an email ([email protected]) or sound off in the guestbook.
January 14th 2005 - Have you ever been so cold that every time you inhale little snotsicles start dangling from your nose hairs? Or I could just ask if you've been to Calgary. Calgary may just be the coldest city west of the meridian, our only real competition is Inuvik, and really who lives there but a few polar bears and the odd misplaced penguin. This month may have been the coldest January we've ever seen. The driving wind seemed to blow straight through our walls, and more than a few Calgary families found themselves contemplating moving to Inuvik to find relief from the cold. However, the brave Calgarians turned a blind eye to the record-breaking cold, mostly because our eyelashes had frozen together.
The iPod is taking the world by storm, and everyone seems to have them... well I don't, but other people do. Its kind of like Digimon back in grade 4, except so much cooler. Could you imagine having you're entire mp3 collection in your pocket... and all your CD's... does any one have $400 they don't need?
January 13th 2005 - Ralph Klein has a plan. A third way of health care. Not like Canada's, not like the US's, but Alberta's own. Claiming he can reduce costs and give people better service our premier has given up on Ottawa's health-care reforms and is planning to go it alone. You have to ask why, just months after Canadians named Tommy Douglas (the father of universal healthcare in Canada) the greatest Canadian to ever live, he would introduce private health care. The votes show that healthcare is something all Canadians value, and although medicare is not without flaws, introducing a two-tiered healthcare system would clearly be against the ideal that competition proves we value above all others. What I, as a Canadian, love about our healthcare system is that the services all available to all Canadians equally. In our country the weight of your wallet didn't change the value of your life. Yet, Alberta plans on changing that. Soon the rich can skip to the front of the lines in new private clinics, while the rest of us we'll be forced to wait in lines that we may die in before being helped. Could higher prices not also bring higher quality service? Why pay for something you could get for free? The private clinics will know this and too make up for it, they will bring in better and better services to compete with free medicine. On one hand it is fair to say that if people can afford the best healthcare they should be able to recieve it, but if one day the poor are dying from lack of attainable treatment, while the rich buy their way to old age, then I hope to never see that day. You can't put a price on life, and I don't think anyone should put a price on healthcare.
January 11th 2005 - Hey y'all. No time for a real update, but I'm hoping it gets really cold. I really don't want school tomorrow, 3 tests in 4 periods. I'll go crazy. Of course if we don't go tomorrow imagine how bad thursday will be... oh well, short term satisfaction.
If anyone has a website do you want to trade links? I'll put a link to you if you link to me.
January 9th 2005 - The flu season has finally hit the Novak home except instead of puking my guts out I seem to have come down with OCD. So far today I must have washed my hands at least 10 times, I've taken vitamins, I've written blog entries (that's not really related.) I am not getting sick until exams are over.
There was an article in the Herald today about the future of the Bow River that I think you all should read. Calgary's main source of water may one day dissapear. The glaciers feeding the Bow have been shrinking and if the trends continue, scientists predict the Bow River may be reduced to little more than a trickle. Could you imagine you tap, once a source of water so abundant that you hardly ever thought where it came from, running dry? Calgary may be prospering right now, but you can't drink money. I'm sure some solution will be found, but if we don't have the river, water will no longer be cheap. Perhaps one day we'll all be forced to drink $3.50 bottles of Aquafina that cost more than pop, (I would talk about bottled water more but I'm short on time. In 3 words: don't buy it, use a fountain.) Water is a natural resource, and without it we will suffer. Think about it next time you take a shower.
January 5th 2005 - Here's a photo of the tsunami's in action. If the satellite photo's didn't make you want to take action, maybe seeing it up close will. There are ways to help everywhere you turn so please take part in at least one of them and remember until January 11th, the government will match your donation. So if you donate a loonie, you're really giving a twoonie :p.
I was doing some thinking yesterday, and could you imagine what the headlines would have been if a celebrity had been killed in the tsunami. For the sole reason of being famous, their death would overshadow all others. I'm not saying the media wouldn't report on the rest of the catastrophe but I can imagine a headline like this (remember this is written with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek):
Britney Spears Killed In Viscous Tsunami
Catastrophe Claims 150,000 Lives
The nation is mourning the loss of one its most sucessful recording artists. Yesterday morning Britney Spears was sunbathing while on an Indonesian vacation noticed the tide rapidly recede. She rushed out to see what was happening and within seconds she was struck by massive wall of water, and swept out to sea, never to return. Triggered by an earthquake deep under the Indian Ocean the tsunami's have already claimed the lives 150,000 people and that number may climb with the risk of disease as a constant threat with contaminated water, and dead bodies everywhere, (but who cares about that, for more see page A93, back to Britney.) Britney will be sorely missed, both for her music and her body. To read more about the life and legacy of Britney Spears see the special pullout section included in todays paper.
January 3rd 2005 - I just thought I'd tell you about some of the new things I've added to the site. I've put a link to my Launchcast radio station. If it works you guys and girls will all be able to groove to my music. Its an awesome website. They have an enormous catalog of albums that it has to choose from. You can create your own stations and by rating songs, artists, albums and genres that you like it will automatically pick out songs for you. So without actually scouting out bands yourself it will pick out new bands that you will probably like. It might sound confusing, but check it out, and check out my own station. I like it, maybe you will too.
Also I've added some new writing that I've done in the last year. Check out Atilla and Advancement... and if you really want you can read about Oppenheimer but thats not as exciting.
With that, Novak is logging off.
January 2nd 2005 - Hey. Woah, you wouldn't believe but I've actually gotten a hit every few days the entire year I didn't update. Awesome.
Well now that Dead Fenix is a real website, I guess I should write my first article on something real, the SE Asian tsunami crisis. The death toll has risen to 140,000. Its hard to believe water could cause so much destruction. I'm sure we've all seen the videos of those waves coming in, and really they dont' look that threatening, yet the relentless onslaught of water has destroyed so much. To get a better idea of what happened please look at some of the photos on this website. The site has before and after satellite photos from areas hit by the tsunami's and the results are shocking.
To all of you reading this, I beg of you to help these people. If not anything else at least whine at your parents to donate. Go to www.redcross.ca for more details on how to donate. Plus the government will match your donations, it doesn't have to be much, but we should all reach out to these people in their time of need. That's all for now, I have to get ready for school tomorrow, but look at those pictures, and think about what you can do. Even if you can't help you can at least show you care.
January 1st 2005 - Hey everyone (assuming anyone still reads this.) Its been a while. Dead Fenix... well it died. But its back, I'm still alive. Thats the handy thing about phoenixs, they rise back up from the ashes whenever you need them. I'm starting up this site again with a new spin. From now on Dead Fenix is going to be a portal into my head. My thoughts on the world, not just my life. Less movies, more music. Less weekends, more politics. Welcome to 2005 and welcome to the new Dead Fenix.
