CCT355


 * Vince Gao,** (born **Gao Yue**, 高越; 2 January 1989) is a Chinese-Canadian student of Mass Communication and Popular Media at the [|University of Toronto Mississauga] under the institute of Communication, Culture, Information, Technology ([|iCCIT]).

He is known for his eccentric behaviours and tendency to procrastinate. In some online circles he is known as **battlepope1989**.

1 Early Life 2 Formative Years 3 Advent of the Internet 4 Amidst the Uncertainty 5 References 6 External Links ||
 * **Contents**

Early Life
Gao immigrated to Canada with his parents in 1999, when he was 10 years old. At the time, he spoke virtually no English. In recent interviews Gao credited watching cartoons and kids shows as a main resource for learning English. One particular show of note is the wildly popular children's show at the time: [|Pokémon].

Below is the Pokemon opening credits from mainland China, and the English version:

The heavily distorted, wah-wah pedal driven guitar solo in the Chinese version invokes a sense foreboding, reflecting the zeitgeist of its time. In other words, it is roughly about seven times more epic than the English version, and the English version is fairly epic already.

Formative Years
As Gao grew, so did his taste in music, bands like Metallica and Iron Maiden were influencial during his formative years. In this next clip, Jason Newstead of Metallica trolls James Hetfield during a performance of 'Seek and Destroy':

As a teenager, he spent a lot of time watching and rewatching these video footages of rock concerts... wondering why he wasn't there for them. Indeed, it is perhaps because he wasn't around for these events that made them even more special. Events most Canadian teenagers take for granted and dismiss as 'stuff my parents liked' were subjects of awe and wonder to Gao. As his fascination with Canadian culture grew, so did his curiosity for his own background; it wasn't long before Gao stumbled upon the video of [|Mayday's] performance above, the Taiwanese rockband delivered a performance just as magnificent as its western counterparts. He realized it wasn't just the culture or because he missed out, it's the atmosphere they are able to create that made them so fascinating.

With this new knowledge, he went about his business, growing up as a cute immigrant kid in Canada... and for a time, it was good.

Advent of the Internet
Then, it all changed... when the internet invaded Vince's conciousness. Content became sensational rather than insightful; meanings were given rather than derived; though the mind is constantly stimulated, there is little intellectual advancement. The media became very noisy.

Amidst the Uncertainty
Some sense of direction was found. In September 2009, Gao enrolled in CCIT at the University of Toronto Mississauga. Perhaps there he will find some answers to his questions. Some answers, however, only begs more questions.