Palmer's World

What the heck is sticking out of Duncan's head?!

I triple dog dare you to come rob my bedrom.

Read this.

radioplaying: Fly Away - Lenny Kravitz

This will be an ongoing project to find all the cool Internet features on Chuck Norris.

Here is a list of things indicating Chuck Norris' abilities. Be warned that there is some vulgar language.

1. If you ask Chuck Norris what time it is, he always says, "Two seconds till." After you ask, "Two seconds to what?" he roundhouse kicks you in the face.
2. Macgyver can build an airplane out of gum and paper clips, but Chuck Norris can kill him and take it.
3. Chuck Norris once roundhouse kicked someone so hard that his foot broke the speed of light, went back in time, and killed Amelia Earhart while she was flying over the Pacific Ocean.
4. Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.
5. Filming on location for Walker: Texas Ranger, Chuck Norris brought a tillborn baby lamb back to life by giving it a prolonged beard rub. Shortly after the farm animal sprang back to life and a crowd had gathered, Chuck Norris roundhouse kicked the animal, breaking its neck, to remind the crew once more that the good Chuck giveth, and the good Chuck, he taketh away.
6. Chuck Norris lost his virginity before his dad did.
7. There are no disabled people in the world. Only those people who have felt the wrath of Chuck Norris.
8. Since 1940, the year Chuck Norris was born, roundhouse kick related deaths have increased 13,000 percent.
9. Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC, claiming Law and Order are trademarked names for his left and right legs.
10. There is no chin behind Chuck Norris' beard. There is only another fist.
11. There are two kinds of people in this world: people who suck, and Chuck Norris.
12. Chuck Norris spends his Saturdays climbing mountains and meditating in peaceful solitude. Sundays are for oral sex, KFC and Tequila.
13. Chuck Norris always has sex on the first date. Always. The only time he didn't was in 1941, otherwise known as the beginning of the Holocaust.
14. Chuck Norris can enter up, up, down, down, left, right, left,right,B, A, Select, Start using only his erection.
15. Crop circles are Chuck Norris's way of telling the world that sometimes corn needs to lie the fuck down.
16. There is no theory of evolution, just a list of creatures Chuck Norris allows to live.
17. When Chuck Norris goes to donate blood, he declines the syringe,and instead requests a hand gun and a bucket.
18. Chuck Norris once walked down the street with a massive erection. There were no survivors.
19. In an average living room there are 1,242 objects Chuck Norris could use to kill you, including the room itself.
20. Chuck Norris has two speeds: walk and kill.
21. Chuck Norris is the only man to ever defeat a brick wall in a game of tennis.
22. When Chuck Norris was born, the nurse said, "Holy crap! That's Chuck Norris!" Then she had had sex with him. At that point, she was the third girl he had slept with.
23. Chuck Norris can set ants on fire with a magnifying glass. At night.
24. It takes Chuck Norris 20 minutes to watch 60 Minutes.
25. Chuck Norris is not lactose intolerant, he just refuses to put up with lactose's shit.
26. Chuck Norris can divide by zero.
27. When Chuck Norris does a pushup, he isn't lifting himself up,he's pushing the Earth down.
28. Chuck Norris' tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried.
29. Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.
30. Chuck Norris built a time machine and went back in time to stop the JFK assassination. As Oswald shot, Chuck met all three bullets with his beard, deflecting them. JFK's head exploded out of sheer amazement.
31. Chuck Norris sold his soul to the devil for his rugged good looks and unparalleled martial arts ability. Shortly after the transaction was finalized, Chuck roundhouse kicked the devil in the face and took his soul back. The devil, who appreciates irony, couldn't stay mad and admitted he should have seen it coming. They now play poker every second Wednesday of the month.
32. A blind man once stepped on Chuck Norris' shoe. Chuck replied, "Don't you know who I am? I'm Chuck Norris!" The mere mention of his name cured this man blindness. Sadly the first, last, and only thing this man ever saw, was a fatal roundhouse delivered by Chuck Norris.
33. When an episode of Walker Texas Ranger was aired in France, the French surrendered to Chuck Norris just to be on the safe side.
34. The chief export of Chuck Norris is pain.
35. The grass is always greener on the other side, unless Chuck Norris has been there. In that case the grass is most likely soaked in blood and tears.
36. Chuck Norris's girlfriend once asked him how much wood a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood. He then shouted, "HOW DARE YOU RHYME IN THE PRESENCE OF CHUCK NORRIS!" and ripped out her throat. Holding his girlfriend's bloody throat in his hand he bellowed, "Don't fuck with Chuck!" Two years and five months later he realized the irony of this statement and laughed so hard that anyone within a hundred mile radius of the blast went deaf.
37. If you can see Chuck Norris, he can see you. If you can't see Chuck Norris you may be only seconds away from death.
38. Chuck Norris was the fourth Wiseman. He brought baby Jesus the gift of "beard". Jesus wore it proudly to his dying day. The other Wisemen, jealous of Jesus' obvious gift favoritism, used their combined influence to have Chuck omitted from the Bible. Shortly after all three died of roundhouse kick related deaths.
39. To prove it isn't that big of a deal to beat cancer. Chuck Norris smoked 15 cartons of cigarettes a day for 2 years and aquired 7 different kinds of cancer only to rid them from his body by flexing for 30 minutes.
40. Chuck Norris once ate three 72 oz. steaks in one hour. He spent the first 45 minutes having sex with his waitress.
41. Chuck Norris is 1/8th Cherokee. This has nothing to do with ancestry, the man ate a fucking Indian.
42. Rather than being birthed like a normal child, Chuck Norris instead decided to punch his way out of his mother's womb. Shortly thereafter he grew a beard.
43. Chuck Norris is not hung like a horse... horses are hung like Chuck Norris
44. Chuck Norris can make a woman climax by simply pointing at her and saying "booya".
45. After much debate, President Truman decided to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima rather than the alternative of sending Chuck Norris. His reasoning? It was more "humane".
46. The quickest way to a man's heart is with Chuck Norris's fist.
47. It was once believed that Chuck Norris actually lost a fight to a pirate, but that is a lie, created by Chuck Norris himself to lure more pirates to him. Pirates never were very smart.
48. When Chuck Norris sends in his taxes, he sends blank forms and includes only a picture of himself, crouched and ready to attack. Chuck Norris has not had to pay taxes ever.
49. When Chuck Norris's wife burned the turkey one Thanksgiving, Chuck said, "Don't worry about it honey," and went into his backyard. He came back five minutes later with a live turkey, ate it whole, and when he threw it up a few seconds later it was fully cooked and came with cranberry sauce. When his wife asked him how he had done it, he gave her a roundhouse kick to the face and said, "Never question Chuck Norris."
50. Chuck Norris found out about Conan O'Brien's lever that shows clips from "Walker: Texas Ranger" and is working on a way to make it show clips of Norris having sex with Conan's wife.
51. Chuck Norris appeared in the "Street Fighter II" video game, but was removed by Beta Testers because every button caused him to do a roundhouse kick. When asked bout this "glitch," Norris replied, "That's no glitch."
52. Someone once tried to tell Chuck Norris that roundhouse kicks aren't the best way to kick someone. This has been recorded by historians as the worst mistake anyone has ever made.
53. Chuck Norris owns the greatest Poker Face of all-time. It helped him win the 1983 World Series of Poker despite him holding just a Joker, a Get out of Jail Free Monopoloy card, a 2 of clubs, 7 of spades and a green #4 card from the game UNO.

I would also like to point out a great video I found the other night...
Why Chuck Norris is Such as Badass

iplaying: Into the Sun - Lifehouse - Lifehouse. What can I say? I'm giving Lifehouse another chance at life with their third album which I previously thought was awful.

TV shows on DVD are the devil.

You can get so addicted to watching a show without commercials at any time you wish.

The curse is that you may end up spending a few hours each night trying to watch a few more episodes. Or just take a 5 episode marathon on a Sunday evening trying to complete the season.

Word to the wise...if you can get the next Season of a show, do so right before you watch the season finale...because you know those bastards will have a cliffhanger and then you'll be just ranting on your blog about how you should have grabbed the second season from Eric.

(very minor spoilers here...I wouldn't even consider them spoilers but you know how I hate to accidentally read a spoiler. Like when I accidentally read that someone died on Lost) Anyhow...Smallville. I enjoyed the first season. I didn't know what to expect since my only intro to Superman was the Lois and Clark TV series and recently, the Superman movies. I thoroughly enjoyed the first season as it introduces Clark Kent in a manner which you've never seen him - confused, and not in control of his powers. Heck, he doesn't even know some of his powers that he will end up getting. I also like the constant funny references to the Superman legacy such as Clark saying he never was one to dress in a uniform and save the world. If you only knew...

I really like how Lex Luthor (hey, did anyone know that Lex is short form for Alexander? I just found that out.) is friends with Clark Kent and you can see that it will be very interesting when they end the series to show how they become enemies. Or maybe that happens in Season Two?

I highly recommend the series even to non-Superman lovers. It's a great show, great cast, good plots (although I was getting tired of the X-Files type oddities showing up every episode) and I cannot wait to grab Season Two off of Eric. That will keep me busy during the holidays.

iplaying: You and Me - Lifehouse - Lifehouse

This is what happens when you get dumped on with a ton of snow.

This photo was taken down the street from where I work in Hull.

I just finished The Battle of Corrin last night after going on a reading blitz since the book was engaging near the end.

The Battle of Corrin is the final book in the Legends of Dune trilogy.

I shall first speak about the trilogy, then I shall talk about the Dune series as a whole.

Legends of Dune span over a few hundred years which was an interesting concept because they use the characters from who are young (20s) in The Butlerian Jihad (Book One) and then they skip to the age of sixty in The Machine Crusade (Book Two) and then throw everything away and jump a good sixty years in The Battle of Corrin (Book Three). They can manage to do this because a lot of the characters are either robots or people with life-extension treatments. Personally, I liked the first two books the most because they revolved around the same main characters, but then since so much time has passed by the third book, not many familiar faces are around. It was as interesting concept to show that this war that they are fighting against the machines doesn't just take a few years of a lifetime.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Legends of Dune trilogy as it showed the origins of MANY concepts in Dune such as where the Mentats came from, where the Bene Gesserit were formed, and more importantly, how they fold space. Many questions which were just not questioned in the original Dune series. I felt the characters were dynamic and even though there were probably 15 main chracters in the entire trilogy, they flow from one chapter to the next very well. These books were written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. I cannot speak about Mr. Herbert, but I have enjoyed Kevin J. Anderson's work on the Star Wars novels and they keep me captivated.

As for the Dune series on a whole, I have finally completed reading them. For a rundown of the series along with ROUGH release dates...can't seem to find any on the Net:

Legends of Dune (2000)
The Butlerian Jihad
The Machine Crusade
The Battle of Corrin

Prelude to Dune (late 90s)
House Atreides
House Harkonnen
House Corrino

Dune (1965 onward to 1984 when Frank Herbert died)
Dune Messiah
Children of Dune
God Emperor of Dune
Heretics of Dune
Chapterhouse: Dune

Essentially, Frank Herbert made the Dune universe and with six Dune novels but then died before completing the final seventh novel. Talk about a cliffhanger. He builds up so many plot points that just never get resolved.

In comes Brian Herbert (his son) who finds outlines of Dune 7 years later as well as backstories for much of the fabled Butlerian Jihad and other characters. He teams up with Kevin J. Anderson to pull off an Episode I like movement and creates not only a prequel to the series, but a prequel-prequel which takes place thousands of years before the series.

In doing so, they have commented that elements from these prequels will lead into Dune 7 (which has now become two separate novels which are being written right now) which I find interesting because there are certain elements which were never mentioned in the series by Frank Herbert that I can see being re-introduced in Dune 7.

It's been a long ride reading all 12 Dune novels but I must say that the Dune universe rivals the Star Wars universe. In fact, I am going to go out on a limb and say that I enjoy the Dune universe more, just for it's high end science fiction. I'm not knocking Star Wars...I'm just saying I really like the original concepts found in the Dune universe. I just went on the website and noticed the Dune series is considered the science fiction equivalent of Lord of the Rings. Whoa, that's a high claim, but totally justified.

Heck, while I'm on a roll, let's talk about the movies. I was introduced to Dune by renting the movie from...1984 I believe? This movie sucked big time. It was awful. However, it did have Captain Picard and Sting. You cannot go wrong there.

Anyhow, the redeeming factor in the Dune media series was a great mini-series back a few years ago, which followed with Children of Dune mini-series (a combination of Dune Messiah and Children of Dune). I thoroughly enjoyed the Dune mini-series...Children of Dune...not so much. I encourage everyone to watch the Dune mini-series - it's only six hours long.

I look forward to Dune 7.

I have heard that a slew of people are starting to receive my Christmas card so I thought I would throw up an introduction message to my blog in case this is the first time for some people.

• There are blog (aka web log) entries updated periodically. There is no structure to them other than the fact that I like to keep a blog for a keepsake (aka, go back through the years to see what I have accomplished) but at the same time, see what I was thinking at the time. This stems from my trip to Europe where I found it interesting to document what I was thinking, what I was listening to at the time, what type of beer I was drinking...
• Every blog entries allows comments so you're more than welcome to leave/read one.
• On the right hand side, you will find a variety of links - to my photo gallery hosted at flickr.com, friend's blog sites, my webcam based Morning Show episodes (still being updated), random links to oddities, as well as archives of all the posts I have written.

Voila!

iplaying: Rebellion (Lies) by The Arcade Fire - Funeral

So here is Eric and I carrying out the Christmas tree to my house. I would like to point out that for the first half of the trip I was wondering if Eric was doing alright in the back, but it turns out that I was doing 99% of the worload whereas Eric was holding the stump.

More pictures in the photo gallery!

Hey, I actually agree with this legislation which will prevent dropouts of high school to get a driver's license.

Read article here.

Last night, I was talking with Vero about famous couples and I mentioned Han Solo and Chewbacca. She replied "Which ones are they?"

Sigh...

So...let's talk about Christmas parties.

My office Christmas party usually is during the day, involves a lunch, some games here and there, and some door prizes.

I read an article (here)the other day talking about how parties have swayed from drunken debauchery where you kiss at least three colleagues and then look ashamed the next day at work to the politically correct office parties.

I must admit that the old Christmas parties seem like a lot more fun. I went to a wedding back in the summer and met quite a few people from work whom I don't see outside of this environment...and it was fun! I saw the husbands they talk about, saw them pound back a few drinks and get on the dance floor. That's what it's all about people...party down.

In a jumpback to the old days, a few of us at work have decided to have our own party at Baton Rouge on Thursday night.

Wow. That graphic didn't really come out big at all.

Anyhow, I'm tired of the Internet being 99% non-Canadian so I'd like to share a great Canadian site with you.

Redflagdeals.com tallies all the great deals that are going on across Canada...gift certificates, special in-store offers, you name it, they have it! Heck, even in the forums they go ape over when the new Canadian Tire flyer comes out (as we all do!)

Anyhow, if you are ever thinking of purchasing anything ANYWHERE, check out this site first.

I am finally done mailing my Christmas cards. I'm sure there will be a few stragglers I forgot (like Kevin last year who I insulted by actually asking for his mailing address but never sending him a card! Woops!) but that's why I have extra cards.

This year, I went on a more personal angle than usual which I personally think is hilarious and falls in line with the Palmer you all know and love.

I just had a brainwave when James and Ferda said they woudln't make it to the Christmas party. With everything else on my mind, I didn't realize they were going to Cuba the same time of my party. Dang, oh well. Something tells me they'll have quite the time there and don't need eggnog.

HEY! Speaking of my party, I would like to put on record that Vero and I may have picked up the best cheesy holiday sweaters there ever were at Value Village yesterday. I thought I had a winner until I stumbled upon goodness in the wool form. I cannot wait to post a picture.

iplaying: Where Is Everybody? Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile

Yesterday, I went out to buy some Christmas party items along with hauling Vero and Eric out to pick up a Christmas tree up the road.

Let me tell you something...in the city, you don't get the Charlie Brown Christmas trees that you find in the woods. These are full fledged genetically produced perfecto Christmas trees. I was thinking "I don't deserve this as my first tree!". Anyhow, after some clever engineering, the tree was up with some great lights. I am in the total Christmas zone now.

Dad mentioned that I should water the hell out of this thing and he wasn't kidding. I put some water in last night, and when I woke up, there was not a drop left in it. The good thing is that the tree is starting to smell like one. Maybe it needs water to have the pine smell.

For the rest of the week - mail out more Christmas cards, pick up Christmas party necessities, and pick up Maureen at 7:30 on Saturday morning. I better remember that little ditty.

I don't know about you guys, but I am the king of procrastination when it comes to studying for an exam. I feel guilty when I tell people that I can't go out and do anything since I'm studying because I feel that I don't really get much done. However, it's worked for me in the past...oh...15 years of my life so I guess I am doing the right thing.

Let me tell you of my productive day due to studying for an exam at 7 that night. Let's start on Friday night.

• Have some dinner. Start reading some course notes.
• Watch an episode of Smallville. By the way, Smallville rules. I was watching the Superman movies just to start me off in the Supescape, but now I'm a full fledged member. I'll be honest, I'm a sucker for those high school drama type shows. Hello Dawson's Creek!
• Checked out some more notes. Realized I'm a little sleepy. Will only take a 15 minute nap on my oh-so comfortable couch.
  
• Wake up to Joe and Lucas calling. Realize I should study some more. That works for another 20 minutes. Watch another episode of Smallville.
  
• Decide to go to bed since a good early morning start should prepare me.
• Read Dune: The Battle of Corrin for an hour.
• Go.To.Sleep.(Again)
• Get up, eat an apple. Go on the computer.
  
• Decide to sit down and study some more.
• Pop in some Zeppelin in the new stereo and play around with the different sound settings.
• Call Eric to ask him about some of the different settings and how Pro Logic disseminates the sound from a CD into the rear channels.
• Go to Amanda's to drop off paint supplies. Go to Eric's to drop off a vaccuum.
• Get home, eat some lasagna, watch a bit of Smallville.
• Study for another half hour. Periodically go to check if I should upload some more pictures to Flickr.
• Study some more. Studying involves me looking at key messages and checking out the practice tests online.
• Realize that the Christmas party is coming up soon so think about some good tunes that we may play.
• Haul out the guitar and play some good tunes that flow together.
• Realize it's time to make a freakin' setlist after all these years that will work well in a crowd
• 1 1/2 hours later, I'm done choosing the songs for the setlist, but maybe I should think about the order.
• Realize I should really get back to studying. Sit back down to the stereo and study for a 1/2 hour.
• Eat some supper.
• Go to Vero's and then go to my exam. I love this girl. She's great.
  
• I am pretty sure I passed the exam. Don't know if I got over 80% but I think I did pretty good. One more exam to go on the 19th. It's an essay writing class so no real studying to prepare.
  
• Came home, bought some frames at Wal-Mart (may I point out that during the Holiday rush, the hours to go to Wal-Mart are after 9:00 since they are open until 11:00. There was no one there).
• Hung up some more concert reviews.
• Watched another episode of Smallville.
• Am killing time until Flickr is done another upload.

There you have it. A day in the life of Palmer when he is studying for an exam. Pretty productive if you ask me. If it were just a normal day, it would have consisted of the following:

• Wake up.
• Watch Smallville.
• Go to bed.

iplaying: Mina Loy (M.O.H.) - Billy Corgan - The Future Embrace

Lucy introduced me to the writings (ramblings) of Herbert Kornfeld a few years ago and I thought we had lost him...not a new posting since 2004, but lo and behold, he is back, along with free access once again! (The Onion was pay per view for awhile...)

Click here for Herbert's Ramblings.

A biography of Herbert:
Herbert Kornfeld writes about workplace issues for The Onion. He works as the Accounts Receivable Supervisor at Midstate Office Supply, the state's oldest wholesaler and retailer of office supplies and business machines.

Note: I would highly recommend reading the entries from Day 1 onward. His entries follow a storyline of sorts. So just navigate backwards in time and start there.

Can I just say that the ramblings of Herbert closely mimic the ramblings of our very own James in his accounting department? I remembered Herbert as soon as I read a few of James' entries. His blog is here.

update: Oh, this is mint. They made a website for Midstate Office Supplies.

Query:

I have a cell phone. I'm now going to get a landline. I'm thinking of getting a smaller cell phone package.

Should I:
- stick with Bell Mobility since I already have a phone and have fulfilled my contract.
- get a new phone which means I would have to sign a 2-3 year deal depending on where I go and get good perks.

For example, if I sign up for three years with a new phone number at Bell - I get a new phone, and a portable DVD player. However, my number would change.

Also, if I go to Future Shop, I get a new phone, and a $100 gift card but my number changes.

So...in my eyes, I'm thinking signing up for a contract isn't that big of a deal to me. I think for the rest of my days I will have a cell phone. And from what I know, the contract doesn't lock you into that plan, it just means you can't go to another supplier. So if I stuck it out with Bell for the rest of my life, what's the big deal of signing up for a contract?

I need some advice on this. Has anyone been royally screwed when it comes to contracts? I have not. I never had the desire to switch phone companies. Well, except for the fact that it's freakin' expensive, but I'm sure I could just change to another plan

iplaying: Yo Mama by BC-5

Continuing on from Benoit's entry on how he was introduced to video games, let me tell you my story:

I recall playing a Colecovision in Gaspe and didn't really understand what was going on. Then I moved up towards Atari over at the Suddard's where I am going to be honest here...I thought it sucked. What was with that lousy joystick?

Alright...here's where we step it up a notch for the best 10 years of my life. I don't know how I afforded it, but I remember that I ordered a Nintendo Enterntainment System from Nanny down in Florida. Supposedly the games were cheaper down there but I have to wonder now...anyhow I got home one day from school and Mom said Dad needed help downstairs with something and I thought that was strange since he was usually at work by this time. Then she said he needed help playing Police Quest (which will be explained later in my post of how I loved computer games). I went downstairs and lo and behold, there was Dad hooking up the Nintendo. Whoa. What a feeling. You know how you can't remember half the stuff you've done in your life, but there are certain moments where you can recall them like they happened yesterday? This is one of those moments. Dad went to work and I played Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt all night and woke up early the next morning to play it again.

Nintendo became my life. That's right...I was a video game geek. Lucky for me, I meet Marc who lived a few doors down who shared my passion. I can still remember the countless hours we spent playing Dragon Warrior just to build up enough experience to progress into dangerous territory with harder enemies. Man, RPGs were not made well back then. Now they are built so you don't have to really build up experience...you just keep playing the game. Actually, this brings up a good rant as to how experience points are not really needed anymore in video games.

Then came the time where the Super NES came out and I needed it. However, my parents didn't see the sense of having two video game systems (Heaven forbid!) and to get a Super NES, I had to sell my NES and all its games. It was a sad moment in my life, but on the horizon I could see the new Zelda game inserted into the Super NES console (BTW, probably my favourite video game. Perhaps I should sit down and make a top 10 list).

Over the years, I became lest enthused with Super NES and moved towards computer games - mostly the Sierra Quest series - King's, Police, Space, Leisure Suit Larry...you name it, I played it. I loved those games. I'll go more into computer games in another post.

When I moved to college, I played video games here and there but never really felt the itch to sit down for hours anymore in front of the television set. I am disappointed with how I turned from the uber-geek of video games to someone who isn't even interested in them anymore.

Last year I thought that I was becoming bored with the monotony of going to work and coming home, that I may want to try a new video game console since Carrie and I used to play quite a few video games all the time. Carrie and Philipp bought a Gamecube which we played religiously for awhile and I ended up getting an XBox last Christmas.

However, I'll be honest with you, I probably played it 10 times.

Gone are the days where I was interested in video games. I don't know why I am this way. It saddens me actually that I am this way. How could something that was such a part of my life, just wither and die?

So there you have it..my video game history! I suggest you go see Benoit's entry since he has a very keen interest in the video game industry and it was an entertaining read. I also encourage you to write about your first forray into it!

iplaying: Release - Live in Kingston 2005-07-15 - The Tea Party

What can I say today on the anniversary of John Lennon's death? Not a whole lot. I will admit that I've just started to engross myself in the ways of the Beatles in the past year so am only now seeing the tremendous impact that it must have had on people when he was killed.

What can I say about about John Lennon? I can say that he writes some pretty kickass tunes. I can say that what I know about him, he pushed the envelope of peace. What could he have accomplished in the past 25 years? Probably a LOT. More than you and I could do. Celebrities seem to have more power than us...

I hope that I continue my journey in listening to the Beatles and the works of John Lennon to truly appreciate what he has given us. Happiness is not a warm gun...

iplaying: You've Got To Hide Your Love Away - The Beatles

Alllright! Going to see Live and Nickelback on February 18, 2006. Thank you presale!

Who am I more anxious for? Man...Live puts on a wicked show...but so does Nickelback.

Plus, if the theory of Live pans out, the next album will be amazing. I have this theory where each alternating album sucks. So they in line for a comeback.

I have grand ideas to make a giant blog with my journal entries for Europe, but in the meantime, here it is in Word document form.

Many of you have already read this, but this is for archival purposes.

Called Bell Mobility....automated messages scrolling by the soundscapes.

What's this? All the operators are currently busy? Surprise, surprise.

What's surprising is that I can opt to have THEM call me back when they are available. All it took was me to input my number, hit the pound key, speak my name and hang up.

Granted, this is one minute ago. Who knows if they will ever call back...

iplaying: (some song that I cannot really identify because Benoit did not label the song titles) by Keane. Keane is pretty good actually. I'm digging it.

You can't beat Beer O'Clock.

February 18, 2006. I swear they came around this same date two years ago. Three years ago? I've lost track.

Excellent show. This is rock.

And their new album may be my fave of them.

MASSIVE UPDATE!!! LIVE IS TOURING WITH NICKELBACK! WHOA!

Whoever is interested in going, let me know. I'm ordering tix on Saturday.

iplaying: Radio Song by JET

Worst.movie.ever.

Tada! Seeing that I would only be teasing you with the potentially non-working Episode #2, I thought I would be nice enough to post the next episode of the escapades of Bob and Jethro.

Download here.
Original Airdate: November 14, 2001
(13.9 MB AVI File)

A story about Episode #2 of the Morning Show.

Being new to the webcam technology, we decided to videotape Episode #2 into an executable file in case people didn't have any .avi file playback software installed.

So...it worked. A little. Actually, it was pretty horrible. Really small. Remember that this was also filmed back in 2001. I believe it was on a WIN2000 machine. So along comes Windows XP and I've never been able play Episode #2 ever again.

I am posting Episode #2 here, but for the life of me, I cannot watch it anymore. If anyone out there can, let me know! Perhaps we can figure out a way to transfer it to a common video format.

A synopsis for the people who can't see it: Bob and Jethro talk about milking a moose.

Download here.
Original Airdate: November 13, 2001
(2.72 MB, Logitech e-mail video player format - probably won't work for you. Move onto Episode #3!)

So...was over at Eric's on Friday night (which was excellent...had some great dinner prepared by Annie, had a few beers, power went out, jammed in front of the fireplace for three hours...essentially, an excellent night) and he lent me the first season of Smallville and I mentioned that I had never seen the Superman movies.

Yes, yes - I have never seen the Superman movies. I don't know why...I just haven't.

Anyhow, other than hearing that they are very cheesy, I must admit that I enjoy the first two. Duncan was talking about how they are essentially one giant movie split into two parts. I liked how they show the wit of Lex Luthor (aka, having Superman save the day in two places at the same time...how can he do that?!) and having Supes kick some Kryptonian ass in the form of Zod and his cronies. Two thumbs up for the movies...I will check out Part 3 and 4 this week, however Eric really warns me that Part 3 is pretty lame.

Then I'll check out Smallville which I'm pretty excited for. I remember watching Lois and Clark when I was younger and it was great. The chronology may be screwed up between all the TV series and the movies, but who cares? Heck, chronology is always messed up in the comics.

Yay! Row 22 - Floor for the Coldplay concert on St. Patty's Day. Can I be any more happy?!

I had a meeting this morning so couldn't personally try and get tix, but when I got back to my office I discovered a string of emails stating that no one could get tix. NOOOO!

Turns out that they were playing a cruel joke on me and let me know the moment before I was going to order a single ticket in the 300 Level.

Excellent. Awesome. I'm stoked.

nowabouttobeplayingintheboxo'music: (insert any freakin' song) by Coldplay

Here's a great pic taken by Benoit's camera phone of Joelle and I at the U2 concert!

Yesterday, I spent the entire day baking 60 loaves of bread for some fundraising activities at work.

Spencer and myself showed up at John's place at 8:00 sharp to begin the day with no expectations other than John telling us we will work like dogs.

John used to own his bakery and now has his own stone stove in his backyard. We spent the morning learning how to mix the ingredients of bread, the science of it all...kneading the bread, letting it rise, cutting, weighing and then finally placing it into this giant brick oven (aka the haven of heat).

This was a great learning opportunity for me as I had no idea how much work was put into actually baking something. I am a simple man with simple needs. No way would I ever have to make 60 loaves of bread for myself.

We had a great day and even though my feet were sore after standing for 7 hours (felt like I was back at Wal-Mart!), I was impressed with our work accomplished and thought that this may be the greatest thing I've done all year.

I encourage everyone to take a workshop in baking bread. It's interesting and you'll never go buy another loaf of that sliced stuff in the stores. Bah!

I would like to point out how much of a difference a handlebar moustache makes to a man.

I thought Tyler Connolly was a freakin' old man when they hit the scene years ago...now he looks like a kid without his el moustachio.

Night started with Mike over at Vero's having a few beer while we debated what the heck my references are supposed to look like in my essay. Stupid references.

Went over to the Capital Music Hall where Hurst hasn't started up yet. Too bad they were sold out of Theory autographed pics...I would have snatched that up quickly.

Had a few beer during Hurst's set...Trevor Hurst is the frontman of this band and was the singer from Econoline Crush from years back. The set was intermixed with their own tunes as well as catering to the Crush fans. Excellent! Very impressed with them. Picked up their EP for $5 and got it autographed by the band at the end of the night.

After their set, I realized that the beer must be interacting with the Advil Cold & Sinus that I was taking since I felt like I was in some dream state while chatting with Mike.

Highlights of the night with Theory:

• Only a billion picks were sacrificed at this concert
• Excellent setlist
• Band has come very far as a touring machine ever since we saw them at Barrymore's awhile ago. It was a pre-Gasoline release so we got to catch the new rocking tunes the first time out. Here's where I go on a rant about how the true fans show up at the beginnings of the band touring...but as soon as they release a few hit singles (read: Santa Monica), the crowd increases twofold with the fans of the radio singles. Is this a bad thing? Heck, the band has to get their fans from somewhere. But I find it awkward to see a band at this stage since the crowd doesn't seem to know how to interact at a rock show. "Am I supposed to give the devil sign now? What about jumping up and down? Am I bothering the person next to me? Oh no...I look like a goof when I do that. I'll just stand still." Let me the bearer of good news...go nuts at a rock show if you feel like it. If you don't, then don't. There's nothing wrong with that either. But don't hold back. The band wants to see some spirit in you. They want to know their music as a whole makes you move and not just their one hit single.
• Waiting near the stage at the end of the night and nabbing the setlist. Saweet!

All in all, I love this band, I think Gasoline is my favourite album of 2005. It may show up on my top 10 list this year at the top.