Contests: The Canadian Warped tickets contest is over!

And the winners are...

Toronto - Ben Wong
Montreal - Marie-Christine Genero

You two are the proud receipients of an Epitaph Canada prize package, as well as two tickets to your date of Warped. Congratulations! And please, let it be known that this was very difficult to judge [especially for Montreal] - many entries tugged at my heart strings or had me in tears of laughter. To see the winning entries, click READ MORE.

And don't worry, there's gonna be another contest coming your way in a mere 24 hours, so don't go spitting out that bad taste in your mouth just yet.

Ben Wong - Toronto

Two steps you should usually avoid when writing a solid piece.

Never begin your writing your piece with an opening word for emphasis. Never revolve your piece the personal journey you have spent learning what something is.

Lack of adherence to such reccomendations may just turn you into another young, dismissable, wannaba journalist taking community college courses from Professor Roosfus, winner of the Oregon Gifted Writer's Alumni Association of West Brigate.

Punk rock.

I am living a beautiful life. Not that it qualifies as a map for anyone else, but there is an aspect of it I am very proud about. I have discovered this aspect one way, though undoubtedly millions have done so on their own terms. Individuality. We all, whether we are too humble or not to admit it, usually pride ourselves in one way or the other. This is not necessarily a conscious thought, but all I know is with myself, I am glad to be who I am. And that is exactly what I mean. When I look through my eyes, these are my eyes. What I see, what I feel, what touches me… You get what I am saying?

Of course I am not better than anyone else. But we only have one self, one life, and this is mine. I am happy how it turned out, to be simple. I really dislike such thoughts, but once in a while I wonder what is it like to be someone else.

"Why is he doing that?"
"How could she do that?"

We cannot answer these questions, yet often in our day to day situations we will ask ourselves similar inquiries. What answer could we have expected? In truth, nothing. We will attempt to relate, however we will probably fail. You can always create a situation to justify an action, but you can't always accept it. So we don't. I have no idea why she or he did that. I am not him. I am myself. And the actions I make, I do not always like. In the course of my day I will usually mentally kick myself many times for what I do. But what matters is what you are at the end of the day. And I am proud of what I am. I really cannot tell you what that is (or who I am), because all I know is what I know. I cannot truly differentiate myself from any other individual because all I know is myself. Now, I really do not want this to turn into a failing philosophy 101 term paper. But I am not attempting to be profound or abstract, this is just what I feel.

Punk rock.

My life is not punk rock. However, a great part of what I am, as far as I can tell, shares this feeling, this energy. Share is the word I use, because the readers of this piece most likely also feel this force. Therefore punk rock cannot be my life, but it is something that connects with me. Unexplainable. It does not happen to everyone, and it does not make you greater than anyone either. It's just something that many of us can feel, and at the end of the day, I am happy. I am glad I feel this, this uncontrollable energy that gives me the greatest joys from 3 chords or snotty vocals. Punk rock does not give me my individuality. What we are cannot be changed. Except punk rock helps me, just a bit, define myself. Not capture or corner, but it helps me belong somewhere. We all have individualities. With punk rock, the individualiy I posess - it is not entirely alone.

When I first went to the Warped Tour, years ago, I felt something I have never felt before. First, I was innocent. I did not know about the trends or the cliches in punk rock. All I knew was that this was something beautiful - punk rock that is. As I spent the day in the sun at the park, for the first time in my life, I felt the connection and the belonging that I speak of now. I really felt like I belonged somewhere. Of course, I was younger, with my baggy Operation Ivy t-shirt and cargo shorts, but what I felt was real. Nothing has taken that feeling from me to this today, but rather such an energy only grows everytime I hit the Play button.

"I put that record on just to make a sound
The rhythm hit got my movement off the ground
The soundtrack of what I want to be!"

Punk rock is real to me, because it helps me realize I am really part of something beautiful. Life.

So of course, I would love to spend another day in the park. As bitter and jaded people may or may not become, you can always just hold your neck back and smell the air. Amonst the cigarette smoke and all of those other smells, you will find the fresh air. And doesn't that make you feel alive? Oh yes, especially when you know you are sharing it with a 1000 of your closest friends who have seen life just a bit like you.

Plus, I am dirt poor this year and could not find 20 dollars for the life of me.

Thank you very much; I know it has been a while since you have opened this letter.

Marie-Christine Genero - Montreal

let me tell you a story that happened a year ago.
so first off, i had to ask a day off to go to the warped tour. being the 6th day off i was asking for a show, my boss was kinda pissed, but after a little arguing, let me have the day. so here comes warped tour, and i get up super early, pick up my friends and drive to parc des iles. i ended up having a major sunburn and when i was on my way to my car, i realized i had a hole in my pocket. so yeah, i lost my car keys. so i ended up calling my parents, they had to drive up in montreal simply to give me the double(and it was like 11pm they were sleeping), so they were pissed too. a friend of mine ended up puking in my car because of the heat and a few days later, my car's transmission broke. 1500$ of repair.

why this whole story to win the tickets? because i feel the warped hates me and only wants bad luck, for that reason i am afraid of spending 40 bucks to go(cause im still paying off my parents who lent me money for the transmission) so , that's my warped tour adventure!

hope you enjoyed/laughed at me

ps. another reason why i should win this is because im a frenchie
haha just kidding.