By: John Mendoza
My name is John Mendoza and welcome back to “What I’m Diggin.” This series will feature posts by our contributors, guest bloggers, and musicians. It’s finally 2019 and a lot of new changes in my life have already begun to take root. Here is what I’m digging this week:
1.) Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse
Spider-Man is one of the most well-known superheroes in the world, and this movie is all about a crossover between different “Spiderpeople” around the multiverse. The movie was a joy to watch overall and had an amazing visual comic book aesthetic that sets it apart from other animated films out there. It’s probably my favourite Spider-Man movie (and favourite pieces of “Spider-media”) out there.
2. Bathroom Serenade
This video was first posted by a bunch of high school students way back in October 2008 — meaning the video has already experienced its ten year anniversary! There’s something about their minor mistakes in their performance, their 2000s fashion and the acoustics of a high school bathroom that sells it as a total nostalgia trip. Also, that one guy in the blue shirt forgot to wash his hands and that pisses me off way too much.
3. Isak Hedtjärn — Jazz Whistle
At first, you might think that whistling is just something you learn in elementary school. It’s easy to do but not a log of people would say that they’ve “mastered” whistling. As a jazz clarinetist/saxophonist, Isak Hedtjärn is used to having great breath control and a strong embouchure. Transferring those skills over to whistling, Hedtjärn has made a name for himself as a jazz whistler.
4. Meditation and asoftmurmur.com
After a long semester of work and school last year, I found it hard to take some time to reflect on life. The winter break has helped me find some inner peace and mentally prepare myself for 2019. Specifically, I love using asoftmurmur.com. With the website, I can choose different sounds like rain or singing bowls or I can play them all at the same time.
5. Super Smash Bros Ultimate
As a long-term Smash Bros. fan, I finally managed to scrounge up enough money to buy myself a brand new Nintendo Switch and a copy of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Last semester, I didn’t have a lot of time to destress. Now that I have this new game (along with an empty bank account), I can now play this 70+ character fighting game to my heart’s content.
6. Apricity by Harrison
Toronto native and musician Harrison released his second album “Apricity” last year and it’s one of my favourite albums leading into 2019. It’s a sensual, contemplative electronic album that incorporates elements of dream pop, electro-funk and ambient music. My favourite pick on the album is Better ft. Daniela Andrade.