Palmer's World

http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,2044599,00.html

A fairly interesting article about technology and music. I was intrigued by Peter Gabriel's 'Filter' technology.

Also, Trent Reznor has hit the nail on the head.

iplaying: Every Inambition - The Trews - House of Ill Fame

Last night Krista and I watched Talladega Nights which was a barrel of laughs. This is part 2 of Will Ferrell's (or Will Pharell for those of you in the know) 'American Man' trilogy which started with Anchorman and which will (perhaps) end with him being an astronaut - the American dream.

So Will Ferrell is Ricky Bobby, a NASCAR driver whose slogan is "If you ain't first, you're last!". He is the king of the castle in the world of NASCAR until something happens and then he is afraid to drive again. So then the rest of the movie is based on his attempts to rise again to stardom.

Hilarious performances by Sasha Baren Cohen (of Borat fame) as Jean Girard - the Formula One racer coming over to claim Ricky Bobby's title. I think Sascha Baren Cohen is the most hilarious comedian on Earth at the moment and everytime he spoke I just cracked up.

Hilarity ensues throughout the entire movie in the level of absurdness. If you enjoy any other Will Ferrell movies, you will (of course) love this one as it just pushes the limits. I am also looking forward to his new movie (out today?) entitled Blades of Glory where he is a figure skater alongside Napolean Dynamite. That's a killer combo right there.

Two thumbs up for the film if you enjoy the absurd comedies that are all over the place now.

iplaying: Ishmael & Maggie - The Trews - Den of Thieves

I think the most interesting part of this story is what his son was disappointed in!

Click here.

I caught the tail end (Har Har! Aww man, that is a good joke after reading this article!) of this newsbite on Chez106 the other morning and thought they were talking about a pub in Ottawa, but lo and behold, the news is from Scotland!

Anyhow, read and enjoy the article about a man who is banned from his favourite pub for breaking wind.

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54888

This man is definitely my hero.

What awaited me at home when I arrived a few nights ago? My free Tim Horton's Cup!

There was a plain white envelope with no return label! The nerve! Imagine if it got lost in the mail, there would be a potential winning cup floating out there forever!

With baited breath (and Mike's camera capturing the event) I slowly opened the envelope to find a small folded Tim Horton's cup awaiting me. Mike and I both agreed that I would probably (at the very least) win a free coffee.

As I prepared my fingers for the eventual task of rolling the rim, I thought of grand prizes coming my way and how the system would have been obliterated if that was the case. IMAGINE the outrage from the populace if someone getting a cup through the mail one a grand prize!

Unfortunately the cup was not a big winner…not even a small one. I did not win a thing. This surprised the both of us but then put back the thoughts that perhaps:

- this is truly a random system
- they don't grant winning cups to people who mail in for a free cup.

Perhaps everyone should mail in asking for a free cup to determine whether or not it is possible to win SOMETHING from a free cup! Join in my cause!

iplaying: Snow (Hey Oh) - Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium

Friday night brought Vero and I to two plays in which her friends were appearing in.

The first was at the University of Ottawa campus and was entitled L'affaire de la rue de Lourcine. I was delighted to see Martin and Mario stumble into the waiting area dressed up in vintage outfits while drinking a 'supposed' bottle of wine. I even had the honour of having Mario lean up against me in his drunken stupor.

The was a preamble to the actual play as the two men end up waking up inside the house after a night on the town and they can't remember what actually happened that night. Hilarity to the nth degree ensues as it is discovered that someone was killed the night before and they are trying to piece together the events of the night before in a comical fashion.

I also like how I didn't know Martin and Mario were actually in the play when they came in through the door drunk and I thought they were just goofing around. Vero had a good laugh at that as she knew it was part of the show.

This was probably the best play I have seen so far as it had me in stitches. They spoke in an over-the-top fashion and their mannerisms were very exaggerated. Much like how I sound when I speak French. ;-)

Two thumbs up for this play. Special mention goes to Veronique (the other one) for her hard work on the play! It was fantastic!

We then headed over to the Bronson Center to catch another play where our good friend Chantelle (or is that Chantal) was appearing. I had not even known that she acted so was excited to see her.

This was my first time at the Bronson Center and I wondered what type of venue it would be considering I've heard a few bands had played there before. Turned out to be an auditorium style venue so I thought it would be strange to have bands play there. It's like I was back in high school.

The play was called All That I Am and was a focus on five different women throughout the ages, with a focus on religious figures (such as the wife of Simon Peter, which Chantal played). Being that it was a religious sort of event, I am making the assumption that the audience was mainly from the church that the actresses were from. Let me also point out that the crowd under 65 were severely outnumbered by the old-timers.

Chantal came out and did a wonderful monologue and it was quite funny. Then it skipped over to the next woman who was performing her monologue (the play was entirely monologues) and it kind of dragged on and before you knew it, Palmer had decided to take a little nap.

When she left the stage I figured I would see what the next woman had to say but this was an even worse experience as she had no microphone so we could barely hear her. Instead of straining my ears the whole time I decided this would be an opportune time to catch a few more Zs. I don't think Vero minded too much considering it wasn't our friend's part which I was napping through!

The last two women provided an entertaining monologue which kept my interest and then Chantal came back out to wrap things up. All in all, Chantal's part was worth the admission, plus the final two ladies. What do I know though? Everyone seemed to enjoy the entire thing, so I am blaming it on my nap.

iplaying: Bleeding Words - Mobile (Tomorrow Starts Today)

On Saturday, a new clothing item entered my life in the form of a fedora. I thought this snazzy hat should come with a name. Meet Dora the Fedora.

On Saturday, considering Vero and I had some time to kill before heading over to Aunt Dinah's surprise birthday party, we kept driving towards the Yorkdale Mall.

Now, I'm not from around the big city of Toronto so I wasn't really expecting a zoo which was the parking lot around 2PM on a Saturday. However, after a relaxing drive from Ottawa, I wasn't too stressed in finding a parking spot and managed to acquire one in 20 minutes.

My goals of the trip to the mall were simple:

• Visit the Apple Store.
• Buy a laptop bag.

I wanted a laptop bag that would be small enough to fit inside my backpack. Why do I want a laptop bag if I have a laptop? Well, for one...I don't want thing getting scratched up inside my backpack. Who knows what lurks inside there! I think I have something growing inside one of the pockets actually. Plus, simply purchasing a laptop bag would not be sufficient for my needs as I am a scholar with many books, as well as my lunch and swimming gear.

The Apple Store was quite a zoo also. Literally hundreds of people sat there playing with the laptops and accessories. It was a pretty neat setup I must admit. You should check it out. Everything is out in the open to try out - even headphones.

I scoped a laptop bag which seemed to fit my needs but I then thought I should buy a new backpack (as mine has seen better days and I've had it since college. I think 10 years is enough time to retire Ole Faithful.) We headed over to Bentley Bags where I picked out a snazzy pack and got to the cash to discover it was 50% off! BONUS! You know me, I am...frugal? Is that the word? Either way, paying $12 for a backpack is my kind of deal. They made my day.

I headed back to the Apple Store, picked up the laptop bag and we were on our way out when Vero wanted to stop into the Aldo Accessory store.

Lo and behold, the hat had a heavenly glow emitting from it and something in my mind said "It will be mine. Oh yes...it will be mine." I tried the hat on, all the ladies in the room turned their heads, and then I decided to buy it.

I dig the hat. I've been looking for a fedora for awhile and couldn't find one I really liked. I'll have to get used to wearing it for awhile. The logistics of wearing a hat in the year 2007 is a difficult one when you are also semi-concerned about how your hair shouldn't look like bedhead when you arrive to work.

Now I am wondering the proper etiquette for wearing a fedora. The fedora exudes more of a spirit than a regular ball cap would. Here are some questions for the masses (perhaps those that were around when fedoras were in style could help me out here):

Nowadays, hats seem to be a fairly significant accessory in the clothing you wear. One cannot wear the fedora within the sphere of a workplace (well, at least MY workplace), but what about social events? Is it proper to keep your fedora on when you are having tea over at your Grandmother's house? What about a party? I could see that going over well...but overall, is the general rule of thumb that you shouldn't be wearing a hat indoors, plain and simple? What are the old vs. the new rules when it comes to the fedora (or hats in general for that matter?)

I'm not only wearing it for the coolness of old factor, but I want to bring back the qualities of old also. This is part of my constant effort to be a gentleman.

Vero has scored an amazing job opportunity with Production Charbonneau this coming year when Vero is wrapping up her school.

Production Charbonneau is filming a new television series which will probably be released sometime in mid 2008. But they are going ahead and filming a season's worth of material this year.

She will be the assistant stage producer (did I get the name right?) and she will be responsible for not only the in-behind things that occur during production, but more importantly, responsible for the stage direction of the extras on the set! Now, I don't know about you, but sometimes I've wondered how the extras on the set are instructed to move, to listen to their iPod, to walk a certain way, to eat some food, etc. Well, this is how! Vero will be letting them know what they expect in a certain scene and ensure that they aren't goofing around when the camera starts rolling and they are secretly waving to the camera to their mom (as you all know I would do!)

The production company even rented a house which they will use while ripping out key walls to put video cameras into. That is pretty cool. I must admit that the only knowledge I have of the inner workings of television shows and movies are what I see on the special features disc of a DVD. So I have an idea of what she will be up to, but my knowledge is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what she will be responsible for.

So the filming runs from April - June, then the show filming will take a break until October-December. Personally, I think that is an awesome job considering I would love to be getting out of school, work for three months and then get three months off to decompress from the whirlwind which was school! I remember that this happened to me (not by choice) when I graduated and didn't find a job until October. I don't know what my parents were thinking at the time (what the heck, ya bum, go get a job!) but everything worked out fine and in hindsight, I had one of the greatest summers I have ever known.

All in all, I know Vero is destined for great things. I'm pretty sure not many of her school colleagues have received this opportunity to work on such a large scale production (there are 40 people on the team!) and she has earned it with her hard work ethic over the years. Am I allowed to say break a leg to someone who is behind the scenes or is this bad luck?

We all know it's been my secret desire to one day be on television. Faithful readers, this is my way in! (Meanwhile, Vero is shaking her head saying "Noooo!")

I'm pretty sure I aced my mid-term last night in my Media Ethics class. Man, I love that class. Reading Supreme Court cases and having someone explain them to me is actually very entertaining.

At this point in my life, I am coming to the close of my required courses for the Communications field and have a bunch of electives to choose. While I would like to think that I will be a cool guy behind the camera in some studio one day, I think that perhaps it is best to broaden my knowledge set to what I am currently in - the Government.

So with that, I am looking at branching out my knowledge set by taking some sociology courses as the Government policy makers require that in your brain to 'successfully' work in that field. While I do not know if I will want to be a policy maker in the future, I don't want to have a closed door. Heck, that's why I went back to school in the first place; to leave the doors wide open! Everyone knows I am the cats meow, but I didn't want some piece of paper declaring I am unfit to proceed higher in this organization. Albeit, I have a giant ego so that's always a clincher.

Now onto some fun news...while my potential trip to Europe is being put on the back burner for this year (but Vero is still going ahead...JEALOUS!), we will both be headed to the Dominican Republic next January for her sister's wedding! I am excited for this trip as I have never been anywhere down south and I always said I would wait for an opportunity like this to come along to make my trek. I am unsure if I will truly enjoy a paradise of sand and water compared to the wonders of traveling to Europe, but who knows? This is why I am going! I want to see if I enjoy this kind of thing!

My only beef is the fact that they need deposit next week for a trip that is happening next year. Boo!

In a grand stroke of awesome news, Evil Dead - The Musical is coming to Toronto!

http://www.evildeadthemusical.com/index.htm

Honestly...first the Smashing Pumpkins are coming to Toronto and now this? WOOT!

The brain works in mysterious ways. It is also faster than a speeding bullet.

Yesterday when I walked in the lobby of Vero's residence (sadly, I won't be seeing that place much longer, the summer term is arriving soon!) I sniffed a heavenly scent of the gravy which you put on your hot chicken sandwiches.

Mmm boy! This automatically placed the following trail of thoughts into my head:

"Boy, I wish I could have a hot chicken sandwich right about now."
"Hmm...I wonder if Vero would be making a hot chicken sandwich right now?"
"I don't think she's made one before for me so I would be satisfied with a poutine instead as she has made those before."
"Wait, I think I had a hot chicken sandwich at her grandmother's place in Saint-Jacques-des-Leeds."
"I really love that place. It was a beautiful town in Quebec with mountains all around. I really think it was the cats meow."
"You know, I should buy a house and retire there. Hmm...maybe I could buy a house now and have her cousins rent out the place."

All these thoughts triggered into my brain in the span of 100 meters from the lobby to Vero's door. It is amazing how many random thoughts you may have in a short time period. I wish there was a device (like in the sci-fi movies) that may record the images you see in your brain and track how fast they move.

Lo and behold I walk into Vero's place and find a HOT CHICKEN SANDWICH BEING MADE! This blew my mind. Then I rambled off what I was just thinking about to Vero and was telling her how (even though highly improbable) the smell of the gravy has traveled all the way through the residence to the lobby and that's how I was thinking of the hot chicken sandwich.

So then I got to thinking about premonitions and if somehow they can trigger your nose also and then whatever you are thinking about...you actually think you smell it! I must admit it was a surreal thought but in all honesty, it's the more likely one as Vero's residence is pretty vast and it's really hard to believe that 100 meters and three doors later, the smell of hot chicken gravy was wafting through the halls. Unless her fan was directly linked to the air supply in the lobby somehow - much like how Carrie's old place had a fan that connected the bathroom to the kitchen. That was lovely.

So that's that. I had a lovely supper as it always is. I was laughing with Vero at the fact that I hate peas, but you gotta have them with a hot chicken sandwich. It is sacrilege not to!

Well, I bit the bullet on Saturday and headed down to the St. Laurent Centre (yes, that's right, it's St. Patty's Day and I didn't head to a bar) for…you guessed it.

The Canadian Idol competition.

Alright, now, I haven't really spoken about it here before but the idea was planted in my head by some British woman who kept calling me to convince me to go to the auditions. She said that she had contacted all my friends and they agreed.

At first, I thought 'Hogwash!' but it was too late. The idea was planted that, the Palmer, might actually be decent in the singing category.

So I headed down to the mall with nothing more than my iPod, my guitar, my study notes (mid-term on Wednesday coming up!) and some lemon water for my voice. Hey, I'm no professional here but I read lemon water does the trick. This actually makes sense as I don't really sing that well after drinking beer all day, but throw a rye and ginger into the mix and WHAMMO, I am the next Alice Cooper.

The line-up was HUGE and I was not too impressed. Many times I thought that I should just bow out so I can go home and enjoy the day. Also, they don't allow old-timers like me after this year, so this was the last year I could potentially go to it.

Time passes by and I gaze at the number of teeny-boppers and they are practicing like mad and I'm thinking "Holy crap, some of these girls sound awful, but some of them have the sweet angel's voice." This reminded me of Vero's cousin back at Christmas who was going to try out for Canadian Idol this year. I wonder if she was trying out in Ottawa?

I had arrived there around 8am (opening time) and was allowed in around 11:15. Alright, it's showtime! I summoned the Gods of Rock to help me out and I went into a room and there was a table with 5 people around it. I don't really watch these Idol shows but I don't think there are usually 5 judges. Anyhow, they just asked me a few questions like where I was from and what I do nowadays and what kind of music do I play.

So then they say they have something different happening and are wondering if I would mind singing along with someone. You can't say no at a point like this and so they bring out TOM COCHRANE! Awesomeness! That was totally random! So he turns out to be a decent guy and just wants to sing along to a tune so I tell him the only tune of his that I can play on guitar is Life is a Highway (natch) and I didn't bother telling him that I don't really know any of his other songs. That would just insult the guy. I would like to think that they brought him out considering I was probably one of the few older gents there with a guitar in hand.

I have no idea why Tom Cochrane was there to begin with. They were filming it so I'm assuming the audition tapes make it onto the show? Does anyone out there actually watch the show? It was pretty amazing to sing along with Tom on his song and then he asked if I had any songs so instead of playing the regularly scheduled Mr. Jones, I decided, heck, this is a moment of a lifetime on its own, why not pull out a Palmer original in the form of my biography of Stompin' Tom? So I explain to him that I had been reading Stompin' Tom's biography and was inspired to write this song that kinda sounds like a Stompin' Tom tune in its own right. So I pull out The Stomper, play it for everyone and I don't know if he was just being nice but he said he thought it was pretty good.

I thanked everyone for the opportunity, shook hands with Mr. Cochrane again and headed home. Flippin' unbelievable! Pretty awesome day I must say. I don't even care if I make it onto the show as I have never watched it. Playing with an awesome musician is good enough!

Here is a guest review by my friend Sena.

-----------------
Sunday afternoon movies are highly under-rated. You can be entertained, toddle home for dinner, and generally take it easy and get to bed at a descent hour – even with the impending doom of Daylight Savings time. Such was the scene for my viewing of The Lives of Others last Sunday.

The Lives of Others takes place in Communist East Germany, where the Stasi (the secret police), are out in full force. The movie follows the lives of an artist, his girlfriend and various other characters that get caught up the Stasi scene of paranoia.

Nobody ever thinks they’d ever snitch on someone, but the change of heart and who betrays who winds up to be surprising. Many characters seem to be walking a tight-rope of “truth”. One wrong move and they’ll wind up in a prison, where it’s not the violence that does people in, but the psychological torture designed to do things like damage an artist enough so that they will never paint or write again.

On an interesting note, Ulrich Muhe, who plays the central Stasi agent actually grew up and started his acting career in East Germany. He found out after the Berlin wall fell that the Stasi had a file on him and his (now ex-) wife and other theatre actors were spying on him.

There are few movies that I would see more than once. This is one of those foreign films, like Amélie, that crosses the ocean from Europe for all audiences to enjoy. I give it 4.5 stars out of 5.

People, don’t be like Sophia and miss this film ‘cause you have to do your laundry instead. I forego-ed doing laundry last weekend in order to see this film and have never been happier. But I guess this depends on how many pairs of clean underwear you have in the rotation – it’s a personal choice.

Palmer's Comments: An excellent review which urges me to go see this film! I echo Sena's sentiments about doing laundry when you can go watch a movie. There is no excuse for doing laundry ESPECIALLY if your laundry machines reside at your place of residence. If it's the laundromat, that's a different story. That's a valid excuse.

Also, if you do not have a blog (or have one and it sucks), feel free to pass on any worthwhile wisdom that you would like me to post on my blog.

Hmmm...before I start on my post, how many people have joined the new web revolution called Facebook?

Last night I dropped off the guitar at Long & McQuade. We'll have to see the results to see if it's worth spending $90 on.

Mike brought up a good point that you have to have a pretty nice (read: expensive) guitar to justify a $90 tune up. One would think you wouldn't spend that on your $300 guitar. However, I must admit that the old Yamaha has a special place in my heart so maybe it will be the next guitar to get set up.

Today's topic of conversation revolves around music. Fancy that.

What I would like to discuss are the differences between music releases in the 60s-70s and nowadays. Yes, I am purposely leaving out the 80s.

I am going through the Top 500 Rock Songs of all time and clearly, the majority of them stem from the late 60s - 70s period. I come across many songs by many of the same artists (like Zeppelin, Floyd, etc.) but I noticed a common trend.

Their albums pretty well came out one year after the other. It wasn't uncommon to see an album come out in '70, '71, '72. Whereas nowadays, I think the norm is every 2 years, give a few extra if you're an old band who just want to tour every five years (or don't have enough creative juices).

So, the question is, did they really release a heck of a lot more music for the masses back in the day?

Let's take a look at the elements of a classic rock album vs. a new album. Mainly - track numbers.

It was very common to see around 8 tracks back in the day on an album, whereas I would think it's common to see an average of 14 songs nowadays. That's nearly double, but not quite.

For my thesis here, I will use Led Zeppelin as my classic rock example, and Our Lady Peace as my 90's example. I will also use a five year span to develop the procedure which will demonstrate the song writing ability of these two bands.

Led Zeppelin I (1969) - 9 songs
Led Zeppelin II (1969 - note that these two albums were released in the SAME year!) - 9 songs
Led Zeppelin III (1970) - 10 songs
Led Zeppelin IV (1971) - 8 songs
House of the Holy (1973) - 8 songs
Total - 44 songs

Naveed (1994) - 11 songs
Clumsy (1997) - 11 songs
Happiness is Not A Fish You Can Catch (1999) - 11 songs
Total - 33 songs

Now, of course, my formula could be off severely. If you take the Smashing Pumpkins against Led Zeppelin, then we are looking at a total of 51 songs being released on albums during a five year period. That's pretty impressive. Heck, that's why I like them. Plus, can we say that Led Zeppelin may have been abnormal in that they could create a heck of a lot of songs compared to other bands at the time? Unsure.

On average, if I did a more thorough analysis we would find that there are more songs released by a band in the past than in the present.

Then we get into the whole debate about 'quality vs. quantity'. I have heard the argument that back in the day, people just released whatever they came up with and some of it was lackluster (aka, not single worthy). So there's a an argument that you can spend 2 years now and ween through the crap that you would release on album.

However, I disagree with this standpoint as there is still crap coming out on albums, so why don't you just release everything you enjoy recording at the moment, and if 2 weeks down the line you hate it, so be it. At least you tried. Something tells me this is the point where I will hear from people who just enjoy the singles anyhow and prefer grabbing their favourite tracks off an album instead of listening to the album as a whole.

What am I getting at with my commentary? I want more music from my current artists. An album every year I say! Especially now with the Internet, there's no reason to wait around until you have 12 songs available. Re-enter the land of singles and then release a few compilation albums every few years.

So my question to all of you is this - do you feel that there was a lot more music being produced in the past? How do you feel about waiting an average of 2 years to hear a new album (which, could be crap)?

This leads into my review of the new Finger Eleven album - Them Vs. You Vs. Me. While it has some alright tunes, it is a different direction. Think 'One Thing' but multiply it by 12 and you have their new album. What the heck lads? Disappointment ensues for this gent who has been waiting for a rocking album.

Plus, your album is 30 minutes long. Two years of waiting should at least produce 45 minutes of music.

Well, I believe it has finally hit that point in my life where it's time to get my guitar 'set-up'.

There seems to be a buzzing sound while playing the Epiphone acoustic (of Troy fame) and it is probably due to myself upgrading from custom lite strings to medium gauge. I have never got my guitars set-up, where they check the intonation and Lord knows what else, but have heard that you should get this done every once in awhile.

It is around $50-$60 so clearly I wouldn't even think of getting this done regularly…but considering there's a problem, it's a must.

But you know never know…after I get it done, I may be so impressed with the work that I'll decide to get one guitar set-up each year. A small expense out of the life of a guitar.

I should actually get my Yamaha acoustic set up as it's been nearly 10 years since I've had that beast and nothing has been done to it. However, I must admit that I have never played it since I bought the Epi off of Troy and it's currently in the hands of others who wish to learn guitar.

This morning I was driving to work listening to The Bear's Brain Buster challenge (a trivia challenge by the local radio station). Now, some questions are hard, but some are super easy.

The Bear: "How many syllables in the word 'basketball'?
(silence)
The Bear: "Uhh…Debby? Are you still there?"
Debby: "Yes…uh….seven?"
The Bear: "Wrong."

Ok, so here I am thinking that radio stations should have automatic ejection questions where if you get a certain question (like the one above) wrong, then you automatically lose. Or, at the very least, become the next contestant on 'Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader?"

So the rest of the weekend was a beaut also as I crashed at Carrie's pad and managed to snag Alex's empty bed for the night. It was flippin' sweet. His duvet is amazing.

Me: "Man, this thing is amazing!"
Sven: "Yeah but it hurts your back after awhile."
Carrie/Me: "Huh? The duvet hurts your back?"
Sven: "Oh! I thought you were talking about the mattress which is soft!"

After a swell breakfast and a viewing of FUBAR, I popped a Tylenol and headed home for a shower and then headed back out to Vero's place to go to a hockey game with her family.

Her dad had just picked up this swell GPS unit so we punched in the address for the Hull Arena and off we went. I was very impressed by the GPS technology, especially since it talks to you. I had seen this 2 years ago in Germany but had heard through the grapevine that it had entered the North American shores.

The game was a decent one. I must admit that I was a little tired, but no worries. A little popcorn and some good times kept me awake. After the game we grabbed some pizza and hung out for a bit and then I retired home for the night. Hitting the sack around 10:00 (not forgetting to bump the time up by an hour) I slumbered until I could hear the snow melting the next morning.

Sunday was one of those perfect days where you realize that the winter is coming to an end. +8 degrees, snow is melting, the roads are filthy, but heck, you feel good. I headed over to Eric's to see his parents and we just sat outside all day with a beer in our hands. Even if the wind cut through you like a knife through margarine, there was still the hot sun to keep us going.

I played a bit of Path of Neo which is the Matrix video game where you control Neo through the entire series. Cool! He picked it up for $10. I will have to try it out someday soon.

Also had some excellent meatloaf by Annie and then headed home where I hung up my new Sam Roberts poster/concert ticket/photo/setlist craft/frame/picture that I assembled and played some guitar.

All in all, a supoib weekend was had. I like weekends where I don't have to think about school or work or anything at all!

Eric and I have this ambitious idea of doing one thing around the house each year. So we're going to check out Home Depot and see what courses they have to offer on the weekends.

Ideally I would like to prepare the house for eventual sale (like 5 years down the road, if not longer) so I figure I would start out with laying some ceramic tile in the kitchen. Perhaps the bathroom? Either way, we should go get the skills to do so first and then we can tackle the job.

Friday night brought some fun with friends as Philipp came into town with Sven and two new faces - Morat and Karine (sp?) from Germany and Brazil respectively. The night started off great with me heading home, having a good meal, watching some James Bond and then heading out to Vero's place to drop off an air mattress and visit her family as they were in town for the weekend.

After a quick chat, I picked up Trish and we headed over to Carrie's place for a few brewskis. I knew we were in for a good night considering the moment I stepped in the door, Philipp requested that I tell my famous "I can't speak German" story which took place on the beaches of Hamburg in which I proclaimed "I can't speak German." to a fellow at the bar. Anyhow, if you don't know the story, remind me to tell you in person. It's much more animated.

I met Morat and Karine who were lovely people and after gabbing for a bit and checking out the status of Alex and Holly's game of Settlers of Cataan, we headed out to the legendary Heart and Crown. After waiting a good 20 minutes in line, we entered a semi-packed bar - always a laugh when the bars have a lineup for a half-packed place. Guys, you are the Heart and Crown. You don't have to try and look popular, you ARE popular!

Unfortunately, the band in the back were not the rocking style which we were hoping for and the crowd wasn't really hopping. We then decided to head out to the front part; even though it's smaller, there was a better band and we managed to get a table.

Highlights from this portion of the night:
- Sven trying to pick up the coat check girl. He even gives her a tip since she is complaining its cold downstairs.
- A random guy talking about spilling his beer and I mention he's drinking a KilKenny which then prompted him to say "I cannot complain about my spilled beer when I am in the presence of a beer guru."

At one point, Karine said she wanted to dance so I say we should go up to the front. She doesn't follow along so I stand there admiring the band for a bit and then I notice a few girls dancing right next to me. Then one of them hip-checks me and I glance over and think "Hmm…alright, she wants me to dance." So I keep my eyes forward towards the band and just start dancing and all that is going through my mind is "Well, how do I tell this girl that I have a girlfriend and if she's interested in me (well, let's be honest here, I am a Palmer) that it's no dice for her." So I'm contemplating how to approach this and I finally turn to her to tell her about Vero and then lo and behold, it was Karine all that time! Ha ha, we had a good laugh. Afterwards I told her what I was thinking and she laughed as she thought I just really didn't want to dance as I wasn't even looking at her! Ah, good times.

All in all, it wasn't the most amazing time I've had at the Heart and Crown, but the bar is what you make of it with friends so we all had a good time. I must admit I found something 'off' about the beer, did anyone else? It wasn't sitting well in the stomach.

After the Heart and Crown, Morat, Carrie and Karine hop into a cab as they do not want to go to the Schwarma Nazi for a bite to eat. Sven, Philipp and I are standing there waiting for a taxi when I say the legendary words of the night ""Do you guys want some food or do you guys want some fun"?"

This brought us in the taxi and on our way into Gatineau where the clubs are open for an extra hour of fun. This increased our party level to the nth degree as any spontaneous activity usually does!

Highlights from this portion of the night:
- Sven trying to pick up the coat check girl. He says "Bon soir" to her at the end of the night thinking that will seal the deal. Yes Sven, saying "Good Night" to anyone entices them to say "Hey, wait a second, here's my phone number!"
- Myself proclaiming "We're going to the best club in Ottawa!" where Sven and Philipp burst into laughter considering we were in a taxi heading towards Gatineau.
- Some girl sitting next to us who had this incredulous look on her face anytime Sven and Philipp started speaking German to each other.
- The same girl doing some crazy antics near the end of the night.

After we were done in Gatineau, we headed outside where a cop car was waiting in which someone proclaimed "Palmer, that's not the cab!". Good thing I didn't hop into that car!

We then headed to our favourite schwarma house in town - Marroush, Home of the Schwarma Nazi (much like the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld). I could write a book on the adventures we have had at Marroush, but will save them for another time.

So we stroll into Marroush around 3:30 in the morning and there aren't that many people there (understandably) but there is the Schwarma Nazi dancing around the place like a madman and schmoozing with the ladies in the establishment. He was definitely high on something and we just decided to head to the counter and order our meal. Then the Schwarma Nazi has a moment of clarity, looks at me and says "I recognize you."

Now, I can honestly say that I've been to Marroush quite a few times, but I wouldn't say it's enough to be recognized. I would say I've only been there three times in the past year. So this was a surprise and all of us were impressed.

But then he mentions he has a picture of me. Lo and behold, he pulls out a stack of photographs of various patrons of his establishment over the years (including some risqué female shots…I'm telling you, this man is a dirty old man) and in the middle of the stack is a photo of myself, Larisa and Alex from 5 years ago when we went to the Schwarma Nazi after a Hallowe'een party!

Well we laughed! We couldn't believe that out of nowhere, he pulls out a photo from 5 years ago! It was incredible!

In all honesty, I knew what he was going to pull out but didn't tell the guys at the time so it could create a great moment. It turns out that 5 years ago, Alex and I went into Marroush about a month after the Hallowe'en party and the same exact thing happened and he gave us the picture. So this time around, it was the double of the same picture. I was still surprised that he had a copy of the picture however. I think I am going to return the one he gave us on Saturday morning so he has a permanent record of me being there.

As we ate our schwarma outside, there was this guy who was very stoned who comes up to us and says:

"Hey guys, do you have a cigarette?"
"No, sorry. We don't smoke."
"Well, how about 2 bucks?" - Where we are thinking that this guy is crazy.
Philipp says "Well, no we don't have 2 bucks but I'll give you a bite of my schwarma!"
"Wow, really? Thanks, this is great! (chomp, chomp). Alright, well I have to get going and find my identical twin brother."
Three minutes later he turns around and heads towards us.
"Hey guys, do you have a cigarette?"
"No, sorry."
"2 Bucks?"
Then we start laughing as this MUST be his identical twin brother! We ignore him and he trails off into the night.

Then we arrive home and head to the basement so we don't wake up anyone and have a nightcap.

At the end of the night Philipp proclaims "Top 3, this night is definitely in the Top 3."

I couldn't agree more.

I checked out The Black Donnellys last night after hearing some hype and not to mention the debacle with the Arcade Fire refusing to have Rebellion (Lies) appear in the final minutes of the show. I figured I should see what this show is about.

Well, I wasn't disappointed. I enjoy a good mob story and this has its roots in it - the Irish vs. the Italians. Now THAT'S a story.

The show follows the four Donnelly brothers and how they all differ from one another but are brothers nonetheless and stick together no matter what. You find out that Jimmy gets into trouble all the time whereas Tommy is the good brother - the one who is going to university. Then the other two brothers are there and...well I don't know what they do yet. They are supporting characters so far.

So they are the Irish side of the equation. But then you have the Italian side of the neighbourhood who (of course) don't really care for the Irish ruling part of the neighbourhood so there's always people going back and forth trying to keep the peace.

Anyhow, something goes wrong with the peace and basically…well, hey you can watch it for yourself.

This was an excellent pilot episode. It gives a taste of all the characters so you automatically know who you are interested in the most and it sets up the story for the remainder of the season (if not the series). Much like how the first episode of Voyager has them being whisked off away from home and they have to spend the whole series trying to find a way back.

For those of you who watched the show (no, I won't spoil anything here) but the Arcade Fire's song was to happen where Snow Patrol's Eyes Open occurs at the end of the show. Supposedly you can go on Youtube and watch the Arcade Fire version. I hear it flows better. I enjoy Eyes Open as a song but can see why Rebellion would have been a better fit.

Anyhow, that's that. Catch this show. Heck, even my Dad had heard about it and asked if I had watched it. Clearly this is an indication that it's getting some street cred.

Hey, while we're at it, why don't I run down my list of shows I'm watching right now and see if you agree with what's going on? I was talking about this very topic with the boys and girls at lunch.

- Heroes: Pretty well my fave show of the year. Awesome plot of course and hey, it involves superheroes. You can't go wrong. It isn't slowing down.
- Prison Break: I still enjoy the show even though it's taken a 180 degree spin from the original premise of the show (aka breaking out of a prison). I still enjoy the story though. Reminds me of a high scale version of The Fugitive.
- Lost: I must admit that the third season is starting off VERY SLOW. However, now that it's back on the air for a straight run I think it will be a killer season. I personally enjoyed Season 2 more than Season 1 as it opened up the story quite a bit. I can only imagine this will happen in Season 3. Prediction: Lost will end by Season 4. They don't want to pull another Alias.
- Smallville: Honestly, this show just keeps giving. Season 5 was kind of a letdown, but Season 6 is killer. They introduced the Green Arrow who could stand on his own as a series (at one point I thought I WAS watching the Green Arrow show) and have some good developments with Lex Luthor. This is the year of Lex and we'll see him shine as the bad-guy he is supposed to be.
- Greys Anatomy: I still enjoy the show and cannot complain about too much. It isn't overly amazing to me, but it isn't overly bad either. I enjoy watching it. That's what counts.

I don't drink coffee. So I don't really partake in the Roll up The Rim contest, although I think it is pretty swell when my co-workers win a donut.

I started thinking about the whole process and would be interested in knowing the formula which occurs for the contest. Help me out with some facts people.

Some random thoughts concerning the RUTR process:
- I'm assuming if they have 'x' number of winning cups, then the manufacturing plant just creates them in a batch. "Alright boys, let's now print the 10,000 iPod Nano cup run." Then they have a stack of winning cups.

But what happens after that? Is it a random sort order, or is there a formula as to how many prizes a province should get? "Alright, Yukon gets two iPod nanos, BC gets 9,998!"

Or is it split up evenly? Or (heaven forbid) there is actually a larger formula than that which incorporates past winning provinces and decides to shift the winners to another province. That would be an interesting formula to see. So if Ontario was the big winner last year, then chances are, it isn't happening this year.

Then one has to think if they release all the winning cups into circulation within Week #1. Or do they release only 20% so people get interested in the contest and then they ramp up the winners by the end of the contest.

What we need here is an interview with a Tim Horton's representative.

Huzzah! (thanks for the great expression Trish!) I just booked an appointment with the doctor out in Orleans.

While this may not be a big deal to some of you folks out there, it is to me as I have yet to acquire a doctor in Ottawa and I feel that it's time that I buckle down and get whatever tests a doctor feels I need at this point in my life.

After the fiasco which was 'I was too healthy' to have a doctor, I had given up hope for some time. I think I was kick-started back into action when Mindy passed away from cancer and thought I should get a check-up once in awhile. On the plus side, it also doesn't hurt that this will get Vero's nagging to stop. ;-P

Anyhow, I called and they booked me in for May 31. I must admit that this sounds a little extreme but perhaps that is the world we live in nowadays. Perhaps it's only for new patients also. Either way, I feel fine now so there is no rush on my end to actually meet the doctor.

I had a laugh when the receptionist was indicating how the first meeting is just to get your history and whatnot which set the alarm bells off and I asked if there was a chance that the doctor would deny me for being too healthy (as the previous one did). We had a good laugh at this comment but I didn't want to be leaving work for another mess-up of a doctor appointment.

So, faithful readers, what should one look for in their first appointment? I am not going for anything specific so I'm assuming that I would want to set out that I want to have a family doctor so I get can get annual checkups as well as to acquire one in case I one day wish to start a family (well after 15 years from now, that's a fer sure).

Any other thoughts as to what I should be asking the doctor? Should I be looking for references or anything? I'm pretty easy-going as long as he isn't Doctor Nick.

Let's backtrack. The Arcade Fire's Funeral album is amazing.

Let's get back to the present. Neon Bible is the Arcade Fire's second full-length release and the world is anticipating what they have to offer. The Arcade Fire has shot to super-stardom and we're proud to say they are from Montreal.

I have given the album a few quick listens and am impressed with the album, but must admit that it doesn't have nearly as many tracks that are dedicated to the frantic change in tempo of songs that Funeral had. This was one of the things I fell in love with. Am I disappointed? Heck no. I've only given it a few listens and am not denouncing it. I think a few more close listens will let me know if this album is worthy of the Arcade Fire monicker. Does that sentence even make sense? They made the album, it's their music, so I suppose it IS worthy!

I enjoy the direction they took with recording some old church organs and going to Budapest for cheap labour orchestras and choirs. I'll have to remember that when I want some on my album. Budapest - the cheap route for good music.

Of more interest is the production stories surrounding an album, like how Neon Bible was recorded out of a church that the Arcade Fire purchased and made their home for a year. They constructed bedrooms, had a cook and lived in Nowheresville, Quebec for a year to record the album. Everything (except for one track) was recorded on old-school analog tapes. A rare feat in these times where digital is the way to go.

All in all, it's a decent album so far and I am excited to see them live in Montreal with Mike.

I've also realized that it's kind of silly to write a review of an album before really getting a good listen to it. ;-)

As per Ferda's everlasting information on being a smart shopper, I heard through the grapevine that the frames I purchased at Michael's a few weeks back were on sale for $15. With my receipts in hand I managed to score $20 back from my purchases! Can't go wrong!

At the same time I picked up my Pearl Jam poster which I had custom framed. I must admit it looks pretty slick. I spent last night hanging up the majority of my art prints all over the house but have yet to find an ultimate spot for this poster. It isn't a large picture so it is kind of waste if I put it on a large wall. I think Vero will have to help us out on this decision.

Today marks an excellent music day as there are new releases from the Arcade Fire, Finger Eleven AND a Megadeth DVD - all for $9.99. I find it intriguing that a lot of music DVDs nowadays are so cheap, whereas a 2 hour film with a bonus disc of commentaries go for $30 usually (unless it's on extreme sale).

While I can see paying $10 for a movie, I can't see paying an extra $10-$20 for the bonus disc that comes with it. Just doesn't make sense. Rarely do I buy DVDs when they come out - I wait until I find a previously viewed copy somewhere. An exception could be made in cases such as the Casino Royale DVD coming out next week. Can't go wrong with grabbing a new Bond DVD. But the others? Meh. Wait it out, get the disc elsewhere.

One of the cooler events of the weekend occurred when Eric and I brought his two nephews - Alex and Mathieu, out to Ray's Reptile Farm. Eric had been to it before but I had not so I figured it was a good time to go and check it out.

Note: I haven't been hanging around kids all that much in the last few years but I just realized how they are in the car. Feelings of car-sickness, 'are we there yet?' and wanting to go for some fast food was the entire ride. Mom and Dad, I'm sorry for my youth. ;-)

All kidding aside, they weren't bad at all, and were cool to hang around with.

When we get to the reptile farm, Eric graciously pays my way in and we check out the wares. I must admit it was pretty cool considering I haven't seen 75% of these animals in real life before. They had giant turtles, snakes, tarantulas (!!!), crocs and alligators. Very cool! So after meandering around for 20 minutes, you are asked to go back to this room where they have a presentation and someone brings out actual reptiles for us to hold.

The first such creature was some flying squirrel that just wouldn’t stay still so she had to bring it back into its cage. Nothing exciting there.

Then she brought out this rose coloured tarantula. Eric was the only one who held the spider in his hand as both his nephews and I were deathly afraid of tarantulas. I had more reason to be afraid after something spooked the spider and it enabled its defense mechanism on the handler. Supposedly it shot out hairs from its body all over the womans arms and neck and then she was itching profusely. Not a deadly touch, but an annoying one, nonetheless.

Then she brought out this huge snake that wrapped around her body. The kids gathered round and held the snake up - I would say it was at least 3 meters long. I felt it's skin. Pretty rough actually. Never touched snake skin before.

Oh yeah, I can't forget the giant turtle they brought out. He started walking towards the exit and Eric yelled out "Quick, he's getting away!" We all had a great laugh at that.

There was a break of 15 minutes so we meandered around the souvenir shop where we heard someone ask if they had seen (mumble mumble, couldn’t catch the name of the species) because one had escaped. Eric and I just looked at each other and wondered what adventure we were getting ourselves into. Visions of one of the nephews wrestling a crocodile came to mind.

When we returned to the presentation, they had a feeding demonstration. They had some toads eat cockroaches which was neat in the fact that they told us how toads don't have throats so when something is in its mouth, they use their eyes to push the food down into their stomach. Coolness!

Then there were snakes eating mice. Nothing exciting there.

Then he brought us to the Nile Crocodile where he fed some rats to them. Overall, I was semi-impressed as he jumped in the air for one of them, but the handler mentioned that they are usually more hungry than this and are just getting used to the new cage. He also mentioned how the Nile Crocodile (or perhaps all crocs?) are the only reptile who actively pursue mammals. So if you were going for a swim at the same time every morning, it would be smart enough to detect the pattern and attack you one morning. Insane! He also mentioned how alligators don't attack humans. There have been 18 reported cases of injuries in the past 65 years and they usually deal with people who are making movements above the water so the alligator thinks "Hey, what's that?", takes a chomp out of the arm and then realizes it's nothing it's interested in. Granted, it still sucks for the guy who lost an arm but it's good to know that alligators are our friends (generally).

All in all, I was impressed with the reptile farm and would recommend it to anyone who wants an fun activity to do during a morning/afternoon. Eric said the last time they went, the giant python ate a whole (dead) chicken. Now THAT would have been cool.

Two very enthusiastic thumbs up for Ray's Reptile Farm.

Before I start this, I suppose I should tell Mom that when she called last night and I said I did nothing all weekend, it must have slipped my mind that I had a packed weekend except for Sunday. So when Sunday night came around and I was talking to her, I was zonked from being inside and cleaning all day long that I could not recollect anything of importance that happened in the past weekend. Sorry Mom!

But there were good times to be had on both Friday and Saturday. After work on Friday we headed out to Darcy McGee's for an after-work pint which turned into a taster platter from Ireland. Awww yeah. I highly recommend buying it wherever you can. It's good to get a taste of different beers.

Once I hit home around 8PM, I entered just in time to catch Babel on the television, which Mike and Carolyn had rented. Bonus!

All in all, the movie entertained me but I wouldn't say it was mind-blowingly amazing. I enjoyed the storyline, the characters, the character development and how they tied together in the end. I definitely recommend the movie to everyone but I just can't see why it was nominated for many Oscar's. Big celeb Brad Pitt makes an appearance in the film which I hope for his sake that his white hair on the sides isn't his real hair. Man, that dude looked old!

I've noticed that lately in films the big thing is having parties walking around the film and then the audience finds out how they are all connected at the end. This drives the audience wild! "…and then you find out that the post woman was really married to the eccentric millionaire who lost his stuffed bear when he was 7 and it ended up in Antarctica where Tito digs it up while fishing out ice for Apu!" WOW! I must admit that I am also amused when I see a movie that has connected characters in it (but don't meet within the screen-time) but it makes me wonder what the big fascination with the six degrees of separation is all about.

So…two thumbs up. Check out the film. Supposedly it is part of a loose trilogy of movies where other characters show up in other films. I'll be checking out the others also.

Advice of the Day: Make sure you know when Daylight Savings Time is because some mornings you will wake up with a fright thinking "Did I forget about Daylight Savings Time?!"

I'm not one for the new fangled TV game shows but when I stumbled upon this gem, I figured I should tune in. I told myself "Self, no matter how bad it is, keep watching so you can give a good review to your faithful readers."

After trying to change the channel 32 times, I managed to watch the entire episode and have to say that I cringed. I CRINGED. It is an awful, awful show for the sheer dumbness which was Latisha.

My favourite question that she got wrong is the following:

Question: What country has the longest border ajoining to the USA?

Latisha: OH Man, this is a tough one. Hmm, well, argh…hmmm…well there are two countries, Mexico and Canada. I'm thinking Canada, no wait…Mexico because I keep hearing about the border all the time. Yeah, that's a good call…Mexico must have the longest border. Final Answer.

FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY IN THIS LAND, HOW CAN THERE BE PEOPLE THIS DUMB?

Anyhow, I think I'm a little dumber after watching the show. Don't waste your time. REALLY. This is a Public Service Announcement for your Health.

I had what some may refer to as a perfect day yesterday. It started off right with a bagel run with Krista in the morning. She then passed me her 90s mix compilation CD which was an excellent mix as it pulled #1 hits from Billboard. Niiice.

Then I get back upstairs to find out that the document I've been working on for the past 2 years has been approved! Bonus! I am pretty stoked. With this document being approved, it paves the way for future endeavors which I got a surprising lead on yesterday after lunch. Stay tuned to hear where Palmer may end up soon!

Then, what does Vero have cooking for supper? Steak! Awwww yeah! You can't go wrong.

Then I get 76% on my mid-term from Media Ethics. While there are a few points that I would care to argue about, I can't deny that 76% is an alright mark by my standards.

Really, nothing went wrong yesterday. Which leads me to believe that today will be hell. ;-)