Younger Alex:

• If I sleep now, the 12 hours until Christmas will go by incredibly quickly…
• I get to open a present at midnight?! #loophole
• Dad’s present: bottle of wine. Mom’s present: gloves of scarf.
• Snow!!!
• Turkey!!!
• Frank Sinatra sounds amazing. Definitely a Christmas dinner staple.
• I wonder what my friends got for Christmas?

Older Alex:

• Why does EVERYONE have to do their shopping so last minute?! THOSE assholes! (at a mall on the 23rd of December)
• I have 4 hours to get presents. 7Eleven is still open…
• Can I legally declare bankruptcy from Christmas?
• How many people will be mad if they all receive toothbrushes?
• How much money does Michael Bublé make off his Christmas album? Is there a remote island somewhere that doesn’t have it running on repeat that I can travel to? Probably not. Did Bieber and Mariah ever hook up? Probably? Wasn’t he 15 when they made that song?
• Christmas dinner. Food looks good… but open bar…
• I miss my parents.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

This question was always a bit of a funny to me, even as a child. I expected 90% of the Canadian male workforce to consist solely of Firemen and Policemen, and that didn’t really make sense to me. Where were the kids who always knew they wanted to become professional wrestlers or porn stars? What was interesting to me was that I could basically say whatever I wanted and potentially make it happen. As a child, you don’t understand concepts such as timing, markets, socio-economic status, glass-ceilings, peer pressure, conspicuous trappings, or unemployment. Everything is possible. As an adult, you’re burdened by a seemingly impossible number of reasons as to why you can never accomplish anything.

“What / where do you want to be — NOW?” is the real question. Strapped for cash but want to take a trip to Africa? Start putting money in a savings account and just go as soon as possible. Crowdsource that! Technology bitches! Don’t like your job and want to switch fields? Start chatting with friends and your network to see what else you could be doing in your spare time. Get a passion project going. Instead we shrug things off and file it to the back of our minds, down a beer (or twelve) and come back to the same feeling week after week. If this feels any more than hypothtical, it’s because it happens to everyone, including me. Be responsible, but for the love of Pete Campbell from Madmen, do not become complacent.

I write this because of a recent reminder of our humanity: one day, you could be enjoying a nice flight back from Amsterdam and the next moment, some airline might decide it’s better to save some money on gas to fly through a war zone, while another group of assholes might decide it’s a good idea to shoot surface-to-air missiles at your plane for reasons that have nothing to do with you.

Life is short! Live damn it!

If you’ve been searching around on The Internetz lately, the reaction to the release of a second posthumous album with songs from Michael Jackson, “Xscape,” has been palpable. It’s almost certain that most of these songs would never have seen the light of day had MJ still been alive; the album is actually an amalgamation of B-sides, instrumentals and vocal clips stretching all the way back to 1979(!). While the “Frankenstein-ing” of Jackson’s music and emotional content is not the subject of this article, it’s definitely something that should be touched upon.

A good way to look at the treatment of this album is in comparison to the first posthumous album done for Jackson, “Michael.” While we could dive into a discussion of whether or not “Xscape” was done with due respect to Jackson’s legacy, “Michael” definitely doesn’t deserve the same discussion. One listen and it’s obvious the album was quickly slapped together and put out to capitalize on the King of Pop’s death. Even more concerning are the questionable (see: fake) vocals on several tracks from “Michael.” Ryan Tedder and several other producers who worked on the album defend that it is Jackson’s voice, however, one quick listen to “Breaking News” or “Keep Your Head Up” and it’s clear that whether it’s Michael or not singing, the vocals were not fit for an album, especially an MJ release. “Xscape” seems like an honest attempt to bring some of Michael’s best “outtakes” back for the listener to enjoy. To be fair, Jackson’s “outtakes” could be career makers for many other artists.

The best way to enjoy this album is to buy the Deluxe version of the release, which includes the original tracks as originally intended. It’s a great way to see what Timberland, Reid, Darkchild, and other producers brought to the table on the album.

In terms of production quality, there’s not much to complain about. It’s incredible to think that with a some talented polish, tracks spanning across forty years (1970s to the 90s) of Jackson’s career can sound completely relevant, cohesive, and fresh today. The sound seems to strive for the “Dangerous” or “HIStory” era of Jackson, but done in a more contemporary light. Standout tracks include, “Love Never Felt So Good”, “Chicago,” “Loving You,” “Slave to the Rhythm,” and the title track, “Xscape.” Certain songs sound - dare I say - improved, such as “Slave to the Rhythm,” where Jackson’s vocal snaps and dance-vibe song qualities are enhanced and given a beautiful compressed, pop sheen. Some tracks sound like they could’ve been completely left alone upon listening to their original counterparts, such as “Loving You,” however, it is quite clear why they reworked it — the “1987" feel of the original track lacks cohesiveness with the feel developed for the Xscape album. Most of the time both the updated and original version sound great. You’ll probably listen to both depending on how upbeat or nostalgic you’re feeling.

The album is definitely worth at least a listen if you’re a fan of pop music or Michael Jackson. We can’t bring Michael back from the dead, but with Xscape, I’m not that upset that they tried.