Last updated: July 23/2012

unsung.net is designed and maintained by dag a.k.a. obz, obzidian... I get called a lot of other things too... especially by friends, family and spouse. I'm a proud Canadian! (Ethnic background is Ukrainian-Polish). I grew up in lovely St.Catharines, Ontario, Canada. I'm currently residing in Bolton, Ontario with my wife bdot who I've been married to for 249 days and 8 hour(s). It is a beautiful area close to lots of hiking, biking and green space.

'Hard work never killed anybody, but why take a chance?'
-Edgar Bergen
Most of us have to work to make ends meet. I'm no exception. I think I'd be an awesome millionaire BTW, but alas, I'm not. So off to work I go. I've been involved in geeky stuff all of my career. I've bounced around various jobs including: IT support, Web development, Video Game development (PSP/DS/Mobile), Multimedia Developer and similar jobs. ATM I'm in Web/Multimedia development. I enjoy it.

'Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before.'
-Mae West
What do I do for fun? I did mention I'm a geek right? I enjoy playing around with this website and PHP, mysql, gaming on my PC and XBOX360. I'm a big music fan. My grandmother was a very talented pianist, I think my love of music came from from her. God bless her soul. Computers and music. Hey. I enjoy being a Geek. Oh yeah, and watching the Sabres. Let's go BUFF! A! LO! I also like watching any sport in which Canada competes internationally, even if we suck.

'If music be the food of love, play on.'
-William Shakespeare
In many ways I find music is the food of life. Music is capable of creating various emotions. Joy. Happiness. Sadness. Anger. etc. I enjoy various genres of music. Including (but never limited to) : rock, post-rock, punk, metal, progressive metal, metal, doom, even a little black metal, ska, jazz, classical, alternative, industrial, EBM. As I'm always trying to hear new music the easiest way to see what I'm listening to is to check out my Blip.fm account, Bandcamp account or my Soundcloud account. A bunch of albums I have found to be influencial. My favourite musical instruments are : Drums, Cello, Bass and Piano. I'm currently learning to play the drums. I own a Yamaha DTXPress 4 kit, which is a load of fun to hammer on.

'A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.'
-Emo Philips
I'm a big gamer. Both (PC) and console (360). I enjoy shooters and RPGs primarily. Some of my favourite titles are : Ice Wind Dale (PC), Baldur's Gate I & II (PC), Ultima I,II,III. IV,V & Underworld (PC), Bard's Tale (PC), Diablo (PC), Diablo II (PC), Warcraft (although I'm likely going to give it up soon as I'm not playing it) (PC), Starcraft (PC), Age of Empires II (PC), Doom (PC), Quake (PC), Dragon Age (PC), Dragon Age II (PC), Witcher (PC), Witcher 2 (PC), Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (PC), Dark Souls (360), Borderlands (360), Fallout series (PC), Torchlight (PC)....I found Diablo 3 (PC) disappointing but maybe not as bad as gamers on metacritic did.

'I prefer the company of peasants because they have not been educated sufficiently to reason incorrectly.'
-Michel de Montaigne
I earned my B.A. from Brock University many years ago. I've also graduated as a Sheridan Scholar from Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario from the Interactive Multimedia program. I self teach myself most of the apps and code I use to web develop.

'A man travels the world in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.'
-George Edward Moore
I enjoy travelling a lot. I'm proud to say I have visited both coasts of Canada. I drove out West several years ago and worked in Field B.C. for a summer. It was awesome! I HIGHLY recommend everyone visit the Rockies and the whole southern B.C/ Alberta area. I also have been to Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec, Nova Scotia. Canadians should be proud of the beautiful country we have. In 2007 I went to Ireland for two weeks. It was amazing. I'm eager to see more of Canada, parts of the U.S. and the rest of the world. I'm doing a shit job so far... but here are 1000 places I'd like to visit.

'I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat.'
-Edgar Allan Poe
I'm a cat person. I have two. Remi & Zappy (Zoie).. I had another cat with my 'ex.' named Doolittle. She kept him then gave him away. *eyeroll* ... Anyway... Bdot is a dog person. Bdot is trying to turn me (kicking and screaming) into a dog person as well. This is going well since we got a rather remarkable dog, a lovely Hungarian Pointer (Vizsla) named Tanga. She is a great Velcro dog. Aroo. I might not be a dog lover, but it is impossible not to love Tanga.

'What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.'
-William Shakespeare
What is with the name obz? Well, it has evolved. Originally it was obsidian which is a dark glass-like rock formed when lava meets water, it is full of impurities and was used by ancient people as a cutting tool, for weapons, and for ceremonial purposes. It is an interesting mineral and I thought it fit. Being black helped too. I like black. Black goes. I found using obsidian as a nick sucked however. It is rather popular and always taken on message boards or for registering anywhere online. I wanted to avoid be commonplace, so I played with the letters. There is a "Z" in my last name so obSidian became obZidian (which i still use sometimes), obZidian was ultimately shortened to obz. Easy breezy.

• Loves : (lo♥e) My immediate family, My spouse, my cats, my dog.
• Food : Bacon, spaghetti, lasagna, pizza, thai food, darker beers, amber beers, chocolate, whipped cream, ice cream, Coke. Tea (specifically : Tetley 'Warmth', Most Black teas) Yes I have a sweet tooth or teeth or whole mouth.
• Music : Especially Industrial, EBM, Rock, Post-Rock and Classical. To get a good idea what I'm listening to check out blip.fm. My DJ name is 'obz'. Favourite instruments are Drums, percussion, guitar, bass and cello. Beethoven gets a special mention since he is the Master.
• Bands : A bands I think are noteworthy : A Place To Bury Strangers, Amanda Palmer, And So I Watch You From Afar, Blood Red Shoes, the clash, Dead Kennedys, Faith no more, Gifts From Enola, iron maiden, Killing Joke, lush, mogwai, pixies, the police, rush, russian circles, sleater-kinney, The Soft Moon, Alien Vampires, HoCiCo, ministry, skinny Puppy and Velvet Acid Christ.
• Gaming : Computer gaming (especially RPGs) on PC and XBox 360.
• Chocolate bars : Oh Henry, Coffee Crisp, Mr.Big or Skor. Yes it deserves its own bullet. :P
• Travel : Although I've only flown to Halifax, Nova Scotia and Ireland.
• TV Series : Band of Brothers, Pacific, Sopranos, Battlestar Galatica, Dead Like Me, American Horror Story, Walking Dead, Spartacus and Rome.
• Anime: Japanimation, Anime, Manga. In particular : Black Lagoon, Cowboy Bebop, Darker than Black - Kuro no Keiyakusha, Death Note, Elfen Lied, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, Kenpuu Denki Berserk, Kousetsu Hyaku Monogatari, Mononoke Hime, Monster, Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan - Tsuiokuhen and Samurai Champloo.
• Movies : In particular documentaries, horror and science fiction films. I love to watch foreign films... subtitled NOT dubbed. Monty Python's Holy Grail.
• Miscellaneous : cats , poetry, art (especially when I can buy Canadian), hiking (especially the Bruce Trail, HVHT, Palgrave Forest), silence, cooking (especially if I have time), photography, Salvador Dali (I think he is brilliant), computers (I own several, all of which I built myself - well not the laptop :P), my Asus Transformer Prime tablet, geeky stuff (I don't mind being called a geek), Fall and Winter, Thunderstorms, lightning, extreme weather, astronomy, snow, the sound of falling rain if I'm *inside*, Brunettes, Canada, the Buffalo Sabres, hockey, ball hockey, the Olympics, gargoyles, gardening, the macabre and the dark side of humanity, boxers not briefs, Ubuntu and Linux, the night, the Moon, staying up well after I should be sleeping (I'm a major Night Owl), Japanese cars (I've owned a Toyota and a Subaru), chess (even though I'm not very good at it), pool, scrabble (and versions online such as Wordscrapper, WordFeud and Words with Friends), history, historical documentaries, advanced green lights, Wired magazine, Fridays, World Cup Soccer, TFC (Toronto Football Club), massages from RMTs, Jeporady, typography, information (via Google/Wikipedia) and Vincent Price's voice.

• Food : By some people's standards I'm a picky eater. Hmmpt. Fresh tomatoes, mushrooms, wine (which really sucks) and everything in the gourd family.
• Miscellaneous : Other people's dogs, most pop music, driving over certain types of bridges, Summer (especially if it is stupid hot), rain, getting caught in the rain, religion and all the chaos it brings to the world, the film E.T., having to 'tuck-in' my shirts (due to being forced to during High School), roller coasters, most Microsoft OS (although Windows 7 is good), (most) police officers and border guards, arrogant/hateful/ and/or ignorant people, a lot of American politics and American foreign policy try walking softer when you carry your very proud big stick perhaps?, remembering people's names, North American cars and North American car/truck advertising, re-doing things - such as blog entries, Mondays, and bumper to bumper traffic. I have to deal with a lot of my dislikes, which I also dislike.

I'll keep adding to these lists as likes and dislikes occur to me. Fare thee well!

If you have any questions send me a comment.