Palmer's World

http://www.thestar.com/artsentertainment/article/207826

According to the news, CD sales have dropped in a year to year comparison from last year (Spring time).

Everyone is avoiding the REAL issue of why CD sales have dropped!

There wasn't great music released this spring! Plain and simple. I think I can say there I probably picked up under 6 new albums this spring. It has been a drought.

I have this theory that every 2 years you see a spike of CDs to buy, but I suppose that depends on what bands you listen to faithfully. For me, it averages out to every two years there is this onslaught of new music to buy, but then the next year, it's kind of dead. Makes sense considering we need to give our fave bands some time to record!

Anyhow, I think somebody should take a look at this aspect of the low CD sales this spring.

Here's to Matt as it is his birthday today.

I remember his birthdays of yesteryear - it marked the end of the school year at Algonquin and we always went on a good party - usually at the Cabin. Man, I miss that place. It's still there, but there are better bars out there nowadays, that's a fer sure.

I also remember a particular night where Matt was introduced to his then unknown but soon to be favourite drink - the Purple Haze. I have no idea what was in this thing but it left his lips purple which was a giant unattractive quality to the ladies but we never told him. Matt, I'm kidding, there was never any purple on your lips. That wasn't the unattractive quality.

Matt's the kind of the guy who you can't debate with because he stands his ground firm. However when he realizes that I am actually right (which is pretty well 99.9% of the time) his face makes the o-face and he just says "Oh." when he realizes once again, that I am right. Then he challenges me to a game of Street Fighter 2 where if I concentrate, I can beat him, but I must admit he has the slight advantage over me.

Anyhow, Matt, have a good birthday. I'll buy you a drink on Saturday night at Larisa's post-doc party.

Feel free to leave comments about Matt in the comment section on his birthday. If you're stumped, here are few things to get your mind jogging:
- Recall a time where Matt says "Hey, I can make better! (aka he wants to customize it to how HE likes to have it because he automatically assumes that if it's the best for him, then by jove, it's the best for everyone!). Bonus points goes to the ones that had a broken object after he 'made it better'.
- Talk about how his sole sustanance during his years at Bayshore were weiners on a piece of bread.
- Talk about how in the end, Matt is a swell guy and he knows we're just razzing him on his birthday.

Let's save my rant of service fees for tickets until another day shall we?

Let's talk about credit card numbers.

More specifically, the magical code on the back of the card known as the CARD VERIFICATION VALUE.

What is this number used for? Let's look into some history here for a moment. Time machine ahoy!

The second code, and the most cited, is CVV2 or CVC2. This CSC (also known as a CCID or Credit Card ID) is often asked for by merchants so that they can secure "card not present" transactions occurring over the Internet, by mail, fax or over the phone. In many countries in Western Europe, due to increased attempts at card fraud, it is now mandatory to provide this code when the cardholder is not present in person.

Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Card_Security_Code (otherwise known as the Encyclopedia Galactica)

Now, I don't know about you, but I swear everytime I have used my credit card over the phone or over the Internet, there is always the need to state this magical CVV2 number. They claim that this ensures that you have the card in your posession.

Hogwash. Let me ask you this…when you have to lend your credit card number out of to your wife for her to order some books on Amazon.com, what should you give her? You give her the 16 digit code and the expiry date.

You shouldn't also have to give her another 3 digit code since every website asks for it! It's just three more digits to write down/memorize/whatever. It is hogwash (I'm loving this word today) that by stating this magical 3-digit number will automatically mean that you have the card in your possession. Huh, sure wasn't the case when I borrowed Mom's credit card information to order some Eric Clapton tickets. I just grabbed everything I needed - the account number, the expiry date…oh and let's not forget the newfangled invention which is the CVV2 number.

Honestly, what are businesses thinking?

However, I must say something here in their defense.

"Online merchants who require the CVV2 in their transactions are forbidden[3] in the USA by Visa from storing the CVV2 once the individual transaction is authorised and completed. This way, if a database of transactions is compromised, the CVV2 is not included, and the stolen card numbers are less useful."

Hmm…that's an interesting concept. So are they saying if I choose to store my credit card information on a website (like Amazon.com), that everytime I go back, I have to at least type in the CVV2 number to confirm that I in fact would like to use my credit card information which is stored in their database? Interesting.

By the way, for those who are out there storing their information in someone's database, shame on you. Well…what I should say is that you must leave your doors unlocked during the day and night also. Actually, you have no need for locks in the first place if you leave your credit card information in supposed safe databases. All it takes is one goofball who wants revenge on some lousy job to steal a hard drive worth of information.

Someone had to bow out gracefully from the B.B. King concert. Anyone who wants to go with us - come along! $83 and I think the seats are primo (from what I can remember).

Can I just say that this is bigger than Pink Floyd reuniting?

http://music.yahoo.com/read/news/42926245

Sunday morning I had grand plans to wake up no matter what condition I was in and head out to see some long lost friends (aka people I haven't had the chance to see since school was up and running). Mike calls into my room and says Matt is on the phone (wait…wasn't he actually at my house last night?) and wants to know if I'm still going. After an affirmative, Mike tells me that they are meeting at the Lone Star in Barrhaven.

Hmm… that's strange. All week long, the meeting spot was Broadways. Ah well…maybe they couldn't get a reservation so they changed the place. No problem. I hop out of bed, have a shower and start surfing the net for Lone Star in Barrhaven.

Well, that's where I hit my snag. I couldn't find it anywhere! Perhaps it was new? Perhaps it was in another district instead of Barrhaven? I spent 30 minutes online trying to find this place. Finally, when frustration (and the clock) finally set in, I tried to track down someone's phone number which was a pain on its own. I guess I don't have my phone list up to date! I finally got in touch with Trish who could give me Matt's cellphone number.

"Hello, Matt, where the heck is Lone Star in Barrhaven?" - Me.
"What? We're at Broadways." - Matt.

Groan. All that time wasted.

I get in the car, drop Vero off and pick up Philipp and Carrie to head out to Barrhaven. Everyone is meeting at 11:30 and I think by this point it is already 11:50. No worries, we'll make it.

After meandering through Barrhaven (which I've never been to the downtown area before), we find the street where Broadways is supposedly located but realize that
A) There really aren't any visible addresses as it's just a bunch of mini-mall shopping block complexes
B) There are a lot of them.

We drive through the majority of them to see if we can find Broadways. We never saw a sign for it on the giant side on the side of the road (you know the signs I’m talking about) but we figured we may miss it so we drove through 10 blocks looking for it.

By 12:30 we gave up as we hit the last block and I noticed it was nothing but straight road from that point on heading west. We turned around and decided to go to Kelseys. But then Philipp sees Broadways! Argh. By this point we agree that we don't want to show up an hour later when people are ready to leave and make them feel like they will have to stay. So that's the story of Sunday Brunch for those wondering where I ended up.

The rest of the day was a beaut with a decent meal at Kelseys, a traipse around Westboro, and some supper over at Carrie's. I also got to chat it up with Alex and Holly who just got back from Jamaica which they said was fab. Pictures and stories were told and it was cool to hear how great it was as I am heading down south in January for Vero's sister's wedding.

1987 - the year Star Trek: The Next Generation premiered.

Whoa, I was just reading an interview with Patrick Stewart since it's the 20th anniversary of TNG. Has it really been that long? It's like it was yesterday that I come home from working at Wal-Mart on a Saturday night and catch the new Next Generation episode.

Next Generation and Enterprise were the only Star Trek series I ever watched completely. I tried to get into Deep Space Nine but it was pretty boring after the first three seasons so I gave up (only to find out it got amazing within the last seasons) and Kapuskasing never got Voyager aired. I stuck through with Enterprise but I must admit the season where all they did was hunt down the Xindhi was pretty darn boring after awhile. But I stuck through with it. Actually, the last time I went to see Joe, I caught up on some of the episodes I had missed as I never got around to downloading the series finale. It was decent.

Anyhow, here's a great interview with Patrick Stewart on how he became captain and how he enjoyed it.

Make it so.

Saturday Saturday Saturday! Man, we had a killer Saturday. First, let's jump back to Friday when Eric, Annie, Mike and I were playing Asshole all night long. It was awesome. Although they play it differently than I do so I was not impressed with some of their rules (what do you mean I can only play one card a round? If it comes to me and I have the higher card, I should be able to play it!).

Saturday got us up and rearing to go. We cracked the windows open, we let the sun shine in - we're talking sweet weather coming from the Gods saying "Eat, drink and be merry." Mike soon got discouraged from all these thoughts of cleaning the entire location of Casa Losier/Palmer and when he hit a roadblock with the garage, I took him out of that element and said "Let's take a breather. Let's not get into the garage today. It will be glorious, but today, there are other things to be enjoyed."

With that we headed to Value Village to scope out the jewelery section with Matt. We were headed out to Spring Bling - a yearly event put on by my friends Krista and Amy. Actually, it's usually called Spring Fling but they renamed this year and you had to bring some jewelery.

What started out as a simple jewelery excursion turned into a full-out Value Village trip. In the end, two of us bought suits and we all had golf clubs and I managed to pick up an Etch-a-Sketch. We headed home where I started to spray paint the golf club and Etch-A-Sketch in a gold paint to accentuate our 'bling'ness. The history of the word 'bling' is as follows:

"Bling-bling" (usually shortened to simply "bling") is a hip hop slang term which refers to elaborate jewelry and other accoutrements, and also to a lifestyle built around excess spending and ostentation.

The word "bling" was coined by the rap family Cash Money Millionaires in the late 1990s.[1] It was used on a song title by Cash Money artist Baby Gangsta and used in 1998 by fellow Cash Money Records artist Lil Wayne on the track "Millionaire Dream"- "I got ten around my neck, and baguettes on my wrist, Bling!"- from the Big Tymers album 'How Ya Luv That'. "Bling Bling," released in 1999 on B.G.'s album 'Chopper City in the Ghetto' also led to the rise of the term. In interviews, B.G. has stated that the term refers to the imaginary sound that light makes when it hits a diamond.

At the same time, the afternoon turned into a rip roaring good time as Joe showed up with Matt as he was taking his motorbike out for the first time this year. We popped a few beers, sat down and had a good time. I then went to pick up Philipp and Carrie from the bus station and grabbed some beer on the way back and all was good in the world. Trish and Vero then showed up and the pre-party was in full bling…I meant swing, ha ha, and we had this awesome meal of pasta salad, salad, chicken, potatoes and carrots. It came out to be an excellent meal. Thanks to Mike for picking up those sweet chicken breasts, and to the rest of those who brought something to munch on!

The only thing that sucked was when we tried to make my Etch-a-Sketch into a necklace, the drill hit the actual inside portion which holds the sand. Actually, I don't know what is inside it actually…some kind of silver substance. In the end, it turned out alright as we got some silicone and fixed it right up. But half the Etch-a-sketch didn't work any longer.

After dinner we realized it was getting pretty late so we started blinging ourselves up which was hilarity. We wanted to try out this new card game Philipp had picked up called Werewolf but we didn't have enough people so we just headed out to the party.

We were quite the motley crew showing up to this party. We got into the apartment lobby and I wondered if anyone would actually let us in as we were on camera and if anyone actually saw us, I'm sure they would say we looked like trouble. With our gold canes swinging, we crashed the party in full flair but to our dismay, the ratio of bling being worn at the party was a ratio of 5:1. As in, five people already at the party had the equivalent of one of our people. Doh! Maybe we overdid it! I was told Matt's facial expression was worth the admission alone as he had spent a bit of money on his costume (hello gold pocket watch!).

We continued to party and all was good in the world. Krista's famous nacho dip came out and there were some good drinks being concocted. We got to see MaryAnn one last time as she was moving back to Newfoundland (have fun there!). I had forgotten to bring my gift for her which really upset me (more so that I have to mail it now. As if!)

The rest of the night was a blur but the party was a good time and we headed home to take a breather.

Thanks to Krista and Amy for the great night, and to the others - no one can ever beat us in a bling contest. We were the greatest gang there ever was.

Flashback:

March sometime. It's the storm of the century. I forget to go to the dentist. I have five minutes to get there - there's no way. So I call and reschedule.

Fast forward last Thursday. The day of my final exam. Hmm…well I didn't realize that I had a dentist appointment on that date also. No worries. What's the worst that can happen when getting some tooth work done? A little freezing here and there, I'll be fine for the final exam.

I get to the dentist office, let them know I am there (fast fact - they don't know you by your face in the city within the first three years so I was sitting in the office for 20 minutes the last time before getting up to inform them and they thought I hadn't shown up.), and wait a bit and then they tell me that I have no appointment that day, but it's on May 7.

Well that's strange. I have no idea how that happened in my calendar. Oh well, not a big deal. I'll go and study for my exam.

Then I get a phone call the next day saying they have an opening and I can come in on Monday. Sweet!

Yesterday I head to the dentist, I’m waiting, waiting, WAITING. Finally 15 minutes pass and Diane the hygienist comes on out, talks the talk and I have a seat in her dental torture space (do they call it their office) and then she starts talking about cleaning for the day.

"Uh, I think I'm supposed to be here for some sort of work on my teeth." - Me
"Really? Hmm…your chart does indicate that you are supposed to have some work, but it was for March and I don't see another appointment booked."

Sure enough, somehow there was never an appointment booked and all along, I was heading in for a cleaning! Argh…I was upset. But there's nothing much I can do so I never take it out on people. Who knows how that happened? The Doctor came in and apologized and I said "No worries." in fear that once he got me under the knife he could have done whatever he pleased and I may have a smile like Ross Geller who had the glow in the dark teeth at one point. Mental note - never piss off anyone who could mess something up on your body and you go in there willingly.

So now I have to head back into the dentist AGAIN (three times in three weeks! Cripes!) so hopefully all will be good after that point on.

Palmer's Rant about Dentists: $150 for someone to take a tool which looks like a metal toothpick out and scrape your teeth doesn't sound worth it to me. I can scrape my own teeth I would think. What are people's thoughts? I can see if they put the polish on there - that's something I can't have handy at home. But a metal toothpick? That's all that happened yesterday.

Ah, the Spring. Where the birds are chirping (actually, they are chirping way too much. Time to see if there's a nest up in the eaves trough), the sun is shining (argh, my skin is on fire!!!) and the grass is growing (but still wet. Don’t step into it).

I also dig the Spring because of garage sales. More importantly, 'free' garage sales. My friend Mary had a dining room set that she wanted to get rid of so Mike, Eric and I headed over there on Friday night to pick it up. We had no idea what condition it was in, but I figured if I can help her by taking it off her hands, by Jove, I'll help her out.

I was pleasantly surprised with the dining room set and it now resides in my kitchen which is great as there were never any chairs there for people to park their ass onto. We even scored a ladder that Mary's husband Stuart (Stewart?) never used before! Bonus! We were eying up their table saw but he wouldn't budge on that item.

It's interesting to think about the history of furniture. Mary mentioned how that dining room set was home to many family dinners over the past 14 years. Think about that. Think about the conversations and the witness of children growing up. I know it may be a silly thing to say about a piece of furniture. I remember my parents gave me their old furniture from the house when I moved to Ottawa and unfortunately they were pretty much unusable after some more years. But I remember going to Duncan's place at Hallowe'een and finding one of those old chairs and just sitting in it and remembering old times that I've had in that chair. Many Christmases, birthday parties, just hanging out after school with my milk…actually, I just emailed Duncan to let him know that he should never throw that chair out and I'll come pick it up from his place one of these days.

Anyhow, I'm glad to have some old furniture that I can continue making memories with. Granted, it's a dining room table. All the memories will involve good food and burping.

Well, another year of constant schooling is done with. That's 2 out of 4, not too shabby.

Last night's exam was…interesting. I feel that the professor pulls questions out of thin air which are not based within the textbook or the lectures. So then I have to take wild guesses at the answers. I find her to be very unprofessional - as in she is telling everyone to shut up while the exam is occuring but then is passing out essays (by calling out people's names). Way to let people concentrate lady!

I am on Day One of Freedom and am pondering what to do with it. It looks like it's going to be a killer weekend coming so I will have time to finally clean my car after a winter of neglect. I also have to map out what the heck I want to do for summer holidays. I am toying around with the idea of doing some camping in the Adirondacks/Catskill and then heading into New York City to see the sights. But at the same time, I think it would be cool to go down to Gaspé for a bit to hang out with the folks. Haven't figured out if I will head home for summer this year. There is a wedding I could go to, and there's also Lumberjack Festival but I really didn't care for the festival last year so I don't know if my time could be spent elsewhere. Plans to plan, that's the rub of it. I have to submit my vacation want list by next week. Yikes!

I am also looking forward to catching up on some reading of things I LIKE, rather than school readings. I am nearly down Stompin' Tom's second autobiography and I am starting a book Krista lent me which is called The Rebel Sell which talks about how culture can't really be jammed because it just envelops the jam itself. For example, when a little revolution comes along (like punks for example), culture just wraps themselves around it and then it becomes a commodity (like how it's cool to be punk). I am interested to hit upon talks of the alternative scene and how Kurt Cobain couldn't handle the stress of it all - wanting to be anti-establishment when he eventually became the establishment. He was the figurehead of the alternative scene which is an oxymoron later on as it really wasn't an alternative scene, it was THE scene of the moment.

Also want to buckle down and get some songwriting done. I have bits and pieces of riffs, lyrics and song ideas floating in my head which I need to solidify into actual songs.

I also want to reconnect with friends - it's not like I've lost touch (well, not in my mind at least) but I don't get to see people all that much due to school.

All in all, I am looking forward to the next few months before school hits up again and I get sucked into its pit of doom. Until then, p-a-r-t-y time!

I was talking to Benoit yesterday who took a tumble off his bicycle and it reminded me of when I fell of my bike.

It was June 1991 - alternative music was on the cusp of breaking big (at least up in Northern Ontario). Everyone was into Guns N Roses (except for I, as I didn't really know much about music back then. All I know is that everyone was listening to Use Your Illusion. Actually, here's another memory - the first music video that really caught my interest was November Rain. I remember seeing it as Regan's place as his mom was watching it on TV.

One night I was over at Regan's place and we decided to bring some Super-Soaker water guns over to the park and just run around with them. I remember holding the gun with my right hand and trying to hold onto both of my handlebars.

Right near St. Pat's we were coming down a dip and I was behind Regan and realized I should slow down a tad. But with the gun in my right hand, I couldn't really get a grip on the handlebars to tap the back brakes so of course in my brilliance I tap the front one.

Well, that didn't work out too well. The bike went out of control - essentially it veered left into traffic and I veered right into the sidewalk. It was one of those raised sidewalks also. My face hit first from what I can remember. The water gun went flying. I sat there dumbfounded as Regan was yelling at some lady who had stopped her car to see if I was alright. He was yelling "He's alright, he's alright! Move along!" where I was thinking "Am I alright?"

That was the first time in my life where I didn't cry after getting hurt somehow. I was more concerned with that aspect of the event - "Hey, I didn't cry! What's up with this? I just did a faceplant into the sidewalk and now my face is hamburger meat, but heck, I must be a man now because I didn't cry!"

I didn't know what it looked like so we biked back to Regan's place. It must have been pretty bad as Regan's mom had this look of 'OH MY LORD, what happened to you?!"

We went into the bathroom and then I saw it - my face looked like Freddy Kruger. The right side of my face at least. The other one emerged unscathed. But it was pretty bad.

The next day was the last day of school - the end of elementary school and the beginning of high school. Yikes! We went to school and I remember Steve claiming (as a joke) that him and I got in a fight the night before and this is what had become of me.

I can't remember how long it took to fully heal (perhaps Mom or Dad could fill in this detail) but I remember that it left a scar above my lip (which you can still see today). I also remember it used to look like a giant pimple which was pretty gross and back when you're a teenager you take these things to heart in the context that:
a) Will I ever grow a decent moustache if there's a giant pimple in the way?
b) Will ladies find me attractive if they always have to take a look at a giant pimple?
c) Will the giant pimple grow into some monstrosity and take over my entire body? (Alright, maybe I'm pushing it.)

So...I don't know how long it took to remove this thing off of my face (but for some reason I think it may have been a few years later as I remember working at Woolco and after the surgery, I remember telling some guy that I had it removed and he said that he always thought it was some giant pimple!)

I also remember getting it removed as the Doctor kept harping on the point that trying to remove a scar doesn't guarantee that it will look any better. I stuck to my guns and went ahead with it. I don't know why, but as I recollect this memory I don't think Mom was too much in favour of the scar being removed. I suppose I will have to ask her about it.

That's the story of how I have a scar above my lip. I enjoy when I get these flashbacks and I document them for future readings. One day when I go senile, I can read back on these entries and say "Hey, I remember that!"

To learn an instrument, I think you really need to start young. If you're forty years old and pick up a guitar, I don't think you're gonna be able to play the B.B. King licks. You have to spend more time with that guitar than you do with your wife. That's why I'm by myself now. I had to come up with a divorce, because my wife would tell me, "You're putting too much time into the guitar and ain't givin' me none." And I said, "You go, I'm keepin' my guitar."

- Buddy Guy - Rolling Stone interview 2005

Well well, looks like I may be buying an all access pass to Bluesfest this year as the lineup is stellar. Let's take a gander at some of the neat bands coming our way that I'm interested in seeing:

Thursday, July 5 - Bob Dylan, City and Colour
Friday - George Thorogood and the Destroyers, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
Saturday - Nothing really of interest yet.
Sunday - The White Stripes, Hawksley Workman
Monday - Hedley, Jonny Lang
Tuesday - George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars (awww yeah!)
Wednesday - STEVE MILLER BAND!!!
Thursday - Blue Rodeo, Robert Cray Band (of Eric Clapton fame), Xavier Rudd
Friday - INXS, Metric
Saturday - Nothing much of interest.
Sunday, July 15 - Sam Roberts Band, Alexisonfire.

Honestly, you can't go wrong with a lineup like that. I am actually thinking it's better for my body to just take the entire week off of work to compensate for the beer drinking that will occur. We all know what happened last year after going for one night...I can only imagine an entire week!

I was talking to Troy last night after commending him on his stellar demos that he and his bass playing buddy Oram (assuming this is a last name...) recorded (which are amazing by the way. Their cover of Living on A Prayer is by far the best cover I've ever heard) (way too many parentheses scattered around)(this)(entry).

Anyhow, Troy was talking about how he loves Guitar World - the must have magazine for guitar players.

I've given up on magazines for the past few years as I really didn't feel they had much to offer that I couldn't get off the Internet. Sure, they are great for reading when you have a moment but if I'm looking for some hardcore information, it's usually out there somewhere in cyberspace.

However, he piqued my interest when he mentioned how this month's issue has a great write-up from the engineer of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Well, I can't really pass this up!

Until I get to the newsstand and I notice the price tag.

$10.

$10?! For a magazine? What the heck? Where I have been all these years? Do people actually pay this much for a magazine? Granted, this magazine had a swell CD along with it, but still!

I checked out the Guitar World website (Troy, this is some good info for you buddy) and they say a subscription is $40. That is awesome, yet utterly ridiculous.

I understand why they do this. Subscriptions are guaranteed sales. Newsstands are not. Numbers are the new king in the world. If I can tell my boss that we have 90 subscribers that guarantee some revenue, but only 50 newsstand issues that may get returned...well, the outlook is still good.

So there is the potential that they will get some unsold copies returned to them at the end of the month. So why not slash the price of the magazine for some guaranteed sales numbers so they look good?

I must admit that as a subscriber, you can't really complain. If I get this subscription, I'll be getting 12 mags and 12 CDs for $3.33 an issue as opposed to $10.

But what about the casual readers like me? Doesn't make much sense to me to go out and pick up an issue for $10. That's 3 issues in subscription land!

In the end, they achieve the result they wished for. I will go forth and order a subscription in hopes that if it processes fast enough, I will get the Sgt. Pepper's issue. It's a different world nowadays. When I was a kid, subscriptions would get processed 2 months later and then you would wonder if you would get the newest issue or the one from two months ago! I had a subscription to a Star Wars mag last year and I was afraid of missing an issue so I bought the 2 issues in the meantime, but they sent them to me! Argh, what a rip. So this time, I'll go ahead and order the subscription and not bother buying any off the newsstand. Worst case scenario, I'll just borrow Troy's issue one day while I'm visiting.

Memory: This brings up a memory of how...I think one of my grandmothers got me a subscription to Spider-Man. Coolness! Until I got them in the mail. Mail is NOT the way to get a comic. Not only was it bent, mutilated, etc., but inside the plastic bag when I opened it, the cover was off! What kind of collectible is this? I had to go out and buy the issues anyhow so I could have one in pristine condition. Not impressed. I can't remember if I wrote to Marvel Comics or not, but that was ridiculous. So Nanny, if you're reading this, the gift idea was great, but it really didn't work out.

iplaying: Everything Back But You (Avril Lavigne - The Best Damn Thing)

I've been in super study mode for the past week.

Although it really didn't work out for me on Monday night. I love my media ethics class. I really do. The professor is top notch also. Best professor I've ever had.

He hinted towards what he would be asking on the exam. I knew this and I still couldn't figure out a way to approach it.

After cramming, I sat myself down and lo and behold, it was what I expected - a single question dealing with what my opinion was and I needed to back up my opinion.

So far in my academic career, I have mastered the art of regurgitation - memorizing facts and spewing them back onto a piece of paper. No worries there. I can tell you what each Supreme Court case dealt with, what the verdict was, and the main issue to learn from it was.

But I haven't mastered the art of providing my opinion and backing it up. Lord knows I have an opinion on many issues…but I usually just throw out random tidbits to back up my arguments, not some full blown examples from six Supreme Court cases. Gak.

I froze. I felt sick. I think a tear dropped down my face. Alright, it wasn't that bad. (no really, it was!) I really didn't know how I was going to approach it. The fact of the matter was, I didn't know if I did have an opinion anyhow!

Krista mentioned how it's not about having an opinion - it's about finding the knowledge to back up either side of the argument. I will know for next time, that's for sure.

I wish I would have had a week to work on this exam - I could have put a lot more thought into it. But two hours was all that I had and I have a very bad feeling that the two tests that I aced in the class will be relied on heavily to bring my mark up from the bottomless pit which will be my mark on the exam.

I'm always interested in the markings of exams. I've had this feeling before back in college (but not this bad) and I think I did really bad on the exam and in the end I come out with a decent mark. How did that happen? Then I wonder if some Professors go easy on the whole group during exam time because they know they under pressure so they are easy on the marks. I need to find the inside scoop.

Anyhow, I have another exam on Thursday and then I'm a free man for 2 months until the school thing starts up again for me. I haven't been doing too well in this other class so I am cramming hard for the exam. I think I figured out where I went wrong in the last test so I know how to adjust my studying so I feel confident. Also, it's multiple choice. What's the beauty of multiple choice? At least you have an answer no matter what. The catch is, you may choose the wrong one. But it's way better than leaving a blank sheet.

Lot of talk going on today about the deaths at Virginia Tech.

Lot more talk on how safe our environment is. I was just watching a segment on the news where they were looking at U of Ottawa and Carleton U to determine how safe it is.

They spoke about how emergency procedures need to be relayed to students, perhaps in the first day of class. They also spoke of how safe the campus is, with security guards, cameras, etc.

The scary thing about all of this is that we live in a world where it's just not safe. It's a very sad, sad thing to say but I think it's true. I understand the reasons why there is always talk about security measures in place - it alleviates some fears that people have.

But let's be honest here. This is the reality here - if I'm in a classroom, there's no emergency plan that is going to prevent a gunman coming into a classroom (unless someone captures him beforehand). This is the same scenario for public spaces of any kinds - shopping malls, hockey arenas, etc. I always have this fear that I'm sitting in the middle of class and someone opens the door and pulls out a gun. I even go out of my way to sit away from the door because I figure that would make me less of a target. It's sad that I have to actually think about stuff like this when I enter a class at night at the University. But it's the reality that we live in. Sure, people may think I'm a little paranoid, but heck, I just have an overactive imagination every time I step into class.

My thoughts not only go out to those who were directly affected by these deaths, but also those around the world who are now indirectly affected and wonder about their own safety and the safety of their friends and family.

I'm also making it a point not to read anything about the killer in question. He doesn't deserve to be read about. I will be reading about the victims though. That's what people should be reading about if they are interested in what happened. No real need to know what type of gun the person was carrying or how he carried out the killings. Does it really matter?

What's the old adage? Hell in a hand basket...

update: Here's a great article written in the Ottawa Sun bringing out the points I agree with.
http://www.ottawasun.ca/Comment/Editorial/2007/04/18/4055820.html

Uh oh.

I like the first Avril album. I actually like the second one better. It was a solid album.

Eric shares my opinion but he had his doubts when he showed me the new single from the album.

Hmm...seems like the new single is tres pop-like and geared towards little girls.

Alright, hold off on picking up the album. No, wait! $9.99 on release day? Hmm...well, I did like her last album and I usually give artists a chance if their last album was decent. Let it be noted that the first to fall from this way of thinking were The Cranberries where their Bury The Hatchet was so horrific that I never picked up their next album. It wasn't until I was at a garage sale when I picked it up for $5 on a whim and realized it was actually a better album.

Anyhow, for $10, I wasn't going to pass it up.

But what's this? The first track is *censored*?! Argh, what have I wasted my money on? This is a teeny girl album to the up most caliber if they have to CENSOR some bad words. Sigh...ah well, you live, you learn. Thank the Lord for the Internet where I can just download the uncensored version.

I'm sure you'll hear me complain of how bad the album is when I actually get around to listening to it. Hopefully I am wrong and it is some decent work. But Nine Inch Nails is calling my name with their new release today of Year Zero.

iplaying: The Good Soldier - Nine Inch Nails (Year Zero)

Friday night brought me out of my hibernation from exam studying (read: exam procrastination) and brought me to the Theatre Prom! That's right, let's flash back a decade to my other prom where my date to be ditched me with a few days to spare. Boo hiss! Ah well, such is life and did it really matter? No, because last Friday night's prom was THE event to be at!

The prom was mod-themed so I had to scramble on Thursday night to forth and find some mod worthy clothing. I did some extensive research on the Internet (thank you Wikipedia!) as well as go through the thoughts of some friends. I decided to go as the classic mod style - the 60s shirt and tie combo with a touch of pizazzz with my hat from yesteryear.

I stumbled upon an Oxford cut shirt at the Gap of all places which had a picture in their window of exactly what I was looking to become. But when I went in there, they said they did not sell ties! What kind of false advertising is that?! If it's on a picture in your front window, you should be selling it fools!

Anyhow, the shirt was bought and I scoured the mall but no ties were to be found. I was on the hunt for an obscure tie - a black, skinny one. The next day I found it (along with another snazzy blue one…always needed a blue tie) at The Tie Rack.

Friday night arrives, I dress to the nines and head on out to pick up Vero. Good thing I brought a book as she ended up getting off of work a bit late. No worries though, we've got plenty of time to spare! Or do we? Hmm…the fact that they are serving supper starts to concern the both of us as we are heading there 1.5 hours after they opened the doors.

We head to the Capital Music Hall (home of many bands that we've seen) and head into this room which is straight out of the television shows/movies which involve proms! They had their light shows going around, they had a dark ambiance, they had tables full of people dressed up in all styles imaginable (I noticed that I could have dressed up psychedelic-like which would have been a good alternative!) but there was no punch bowl to spike. Wha??? What's going on here?!

We find our friends seated right in front of the stage (natch) and talk for a few moments before heading to the buffet table. Unfortunately, the supper bit the big one as the veggies were still hard. That's a good indication that if you take a chance on the chicken, you may be dancing the funky chicken later that night. After scarfing it down, they cleared the tables away to make way for the band.

I am pretty excited to have a band at the prom as 90% of the places you go to party nowadays have no live music. It's a thing of yesteryear. I think live music needs to make a comeback! I'm not talking about the live music that I tend to go to - some good rock concerts here and there. I'm talking about some live music that makes you want to dance! Where there is crowd interaction! Where the room moves with the music! There was this one couple who had some great swing dancing skills where I commented that there really isn't anywhere to show off these skills in this day in age. Maybe your own living room?

The band looked pretty good upon stepping onto the stage - they had a brass section and all the other goodies which make a good rocking band. They started off the night with Fleetwood Mac's Go Your Own Way which is now forever stuck in my head to the point where I learned it on guitar last night. They also stated "If you don't know this song, you don't deserve to be here!" after every second song as they pulling out the classic rock hits.

Hit after hit kept coming and the crowd was having a great time. Pulling out the dance moves of yesteryear, I was surprised that Vero and I did not have a dance-off again that night (as it is common when there is a giant space to pull out our killer moves.) I am looking forward to beating Vero at the dance-off the next time around as she creamed me at Jason's wedding last summer. However, my claim to fame is that I did the power slide across the dance floor and ended up burning a hole in my pants. No joke. They melted. It was pure rock running through my blood.

Unfortunately the band was only there for an hour and then a regular DJ came out (who was awesome by the way. He was having the time of his life up on stage.) and we danced the night away. It was bloody humid in that joint and soon the hat, tie and shirt became a disarray (as so often happens when one wears a tie and the beers are flowing) but in the end, the night was a stellar event.

To all of those who knock going to proms after your high school one, don't! There's not as much hype towards the event which allows you to have an all-around good time (other than the food. Blech). At least I ended off the night getting a slice from Johnny's Pizza. That is some good pizza if you've never had it. It's on Laurier. Check it out.

Well, as of 12:49PM today, I have failed the experiment as I had to eat a sandwich. Mmm...sandwiches.

Experiment: Over.
Status: Mmm...I am loving this ham sandwich. It's delish!

An interesting article...

http://www.productivity501.com/2007/04/17_things_you_s.html

iplaying: Who Are You, Defenders of the Universe? - The Dears (No Cities Left)

While munching on a burger and fries at McDonald's today at lunch, Krista was saying if a person cut out all carbohydrates from their life, then they could probably lose 5-10 in 2 weeks.

Wha??? I sat dumbfounded while munching on my ironically tinged burger while sitting speaking about health matters. Could this be true? How could that even be true? Just by switching some food up in your life, it can make you lose weight?

I decided to stand up to the challenge and proclaimed that I would put my body on the line to test this theory!

This isn't about a diet or anything...I don't really care if I put the weight back on. I'm just intrigued that the changing of what you eat could allow you to lose some weight.

Therefore, starting at 6:18 on Wednesday night (I started after McDonald's at lunch, but then I had leftover rice in the fridge that I figured I should finish off.), I am entering the carb-free zone and see if this actually works. I am marking my weight right now as 204 lbs with the caveat that just ate supper, so let's bring it down to an even 200lbs.

Let's see what this no-carb theory has to offer! I really doubt this will work, but heck, stranger things have happened.

My only dilemma is how to switch up my sacred breakfast and lunch items. I figured I will replace the morning granola bar with a yogurt and hopefully that will keep me going until the morning snack.

Lunch is a different beast altogether. There goes my legendary sandwich (eaten in my lunch since Kindergarten) and my granola bar. Krista told me her Mom used to make lettuce sandwiches which intrigued me. I think I will give it a try.

I will give you updates as to how this crazy adventure is going. Before anyone says it, yes, I know. Beer has carbohydrates also. I am switching back to the rye as of this moment. This brings back memories of college where one winter someone told me that beer really packs on the pounds and so I switched to rye and ginger but they said that the soft drinks don't help out too much. So then I started drinking rye and water. That's right - I went all out for the cause. It wasn't too bad to be honest.

For all those who are going to cry out "Stop! You can't do this to your body!!!", there are no worries. I don't have any plans to keep up with this no-carb test. Heck, Palmer cannot live without his sandwich!

Hey, while I'm at it, here's an update on the shoe front - I picked up two new pairs of shoes today on a whim. Since I'm jogging, I don't need shoes that fall apart (read below) and I didn't think the other shoes would be the best to run in.

Whenever I don't go swimming after work, I've gotten into the habit of jogging around the block. So far the pace takes me about 20 minutes and I'm ready to die.

I find the body is an interesting machine. While I can swim 90 lengths up and down a pool with no real problems, as soon as I hit the pavement to jog a little, it's like my body has taken a beating.

While I know this feeling will go away with time, it is interesting to note that the body somehow knows the difference. Perhaps my endurance is up, but the fact that swimming is a low-impact activity may have something to do with it. Maybe it's the fact that my body is crying out saying "Dude! You're killing me here!"

Anyhow, I think it's a nice balance for when I don't feel like swimming. I am trying to obtain balance in all healthy aspects of my life. I learned this concept from Philipp. He can party hard, eat hard, but at the same time knows how to get some exercise also. He commented on how North Americans seem to take things to the extreme (like diets and whatnot) as opposed to a balance. It's alright to have a beer or two, but don't forget to eat some fruit and veggies too.

So in the life of Palmer where I usually stick to one thing and one thing only, I am trying to get out of that habit. I don't have to swim every day, I'll go jogging or biking instead. I don't have to eat the same sandwich or apple every day. I'll give some variety in my life. It will be hard to accomplish, but heck, I'm up for the challenge.

I dig the look of Adidas Gazelle's so I was looking for them on Saturday. I am cheap as you all know so I was debating whether or not to spend $70 on a pair of sneakers.

After speaking with Krista, she got it in my head that they are probably worth it in the long run.

While jogging last night my sneaker was digging into my foot so I readjusted the tongue and it ripped right out of the shoe.

Huh. That's never happened to me before.

Is this is not a sign from above, I really don't know what is.

Just found out that someone has released a DVD of the Sam Roberts Band's performance at Bluesfest last year! Awesome! That was a memorable concert.

Ah...Bluesfest. Depending on the lineup this year, I may go for the all-access pass as someone pointed out that the money spent on the entire pass is still cheaper than what I forked out for one seat of Roger Waters. :-(

I think the 2007 lineup is set to be revealed sometime next week. I was talking to Laurie's (Lorry? Man, how do I spell that name?) husband a few weeks ago and he heard the Hip will be making an appearance.

http://www.nme.com/news/the-police/27621

Uncle Gary tipped me off on the Live Earth concert series taking place across the Globe this summer. Much like the Live8 concerts of...2 years ago now? Unsure of when that happened. Must be back in 2005.

I had heard rumours of the concert series happening but there were no real line-ups officially announced at the time.

Let me tell you of the greatest rumour to ever grace our ears.

The concept of Live Earth is to have music happening in every continent. "That's a swell idea." all of you are thinking...until you think of how many continents there are and then you say "Wait a second...Antarctica?!"

So back to the rumour I head on Chez 106 a few weeks back...there is rumour that a mighty band from yesteryear will reform and play in Antarctica.

That band's name is SPINAL TAP.

Oh my. Honestly, if this were to happen, this would be bigger than Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Who and The Smashing Pumpkins all taking the same stage, on my birthday, for my birthday and heck, while they are at it, I would be on stage with them.

We are talking Spinal Tap here...the Gods of rock, the band mightier than mortal men, the group who has their amplifier knobs go up to 11. They know how to rock.

Anyhow, I would seriously consider a trip to Antarctica to see these guys. ;-)

Back onto the Live Earth concert series - as always, a cool concept. I'm glad the Smashing Pumpkins will be playing. HEY, this might be the first chance we get to see them live on television since their comeback. Neat-o. Other than that, I don't think the concert will be close to Ottawa so it's kind of reach for this guy!

It wasn't mentioned on this site before (due to it being a surprise) but Mike and I had taken Thursday off to head on back up North for a visit. I had this grand aspiration of just hitting the road in the springtime after reading the Stompin' Tom biography and how he just traveled across Canada. I figured I needed some of that! Plus, my car needs a good cleaning and Dad's garage was calling its name.

Unfortunately, on the night of the Sam Roberts concert, I heard through the grapevine that there was a massive snowstorm heading towards Kapuskasing. What to do...what to do?

I hemmed, I hawed, I called Mike. He said that Eric had canceled his own plans to head up North. This solidified my plans and I decided to cancel the entire trip. There went my idea of traveling in the springtime. Perhaps next week!

I can't say I'm overly disappointed considering at last count, it had been snowing for 80 hours straight and they had more snow than they received all winter. I do feel bad for the folks as they were looking forward to a weekend where they could start some yard work, work outside, do SOMETHING other than sitting in the house watching it snow.

Hence, Easter weekend was a bust. I spent Thursday and Friday working on my essay. Overall, I think it is crap. I really don't enjoy the class I am in.

I also played around with GarageBand for an entire day and came up with some pretty nifty tunes. I am at a hard spot in terms of songwriting. I find some cool little chord progression but have a hard time to make it into a full out song - especially where the bridge is concerned. I will have to talk to Troy about the art of songwriting and how bridges usually work. I have heard from Mike's dad that they usually switch into a new key. Anyhow, I am pretty impressed with the results so far and the click track is my new friend in terms of playing 'in time'. Hello metronome!

I spent a lot of time over at Eric and Annie's where I learned to play Mille Bournes which is an awesome card game. We also played what is called The Dice Game. Coupled with a quick game of poker and euchre, I had my fill of gaming.

Saturday also held a sneaker shopping expedition to Bayshore Mall with Trish and Mike which turned into a zoo. I found the sneakers I was looking for (incidentally, the same sneakers that Krista picked up in New York - I think they are swell!) but decided not to pick them up right away. I am cheap. $70 for a pair of sneakers feels like a rip-off to me. Everyone reading is probably laughing right now but that's the way I feel.

I definitely decided against buying the sneakers this week as I picked up my guitar from Long & McQuade. (begin rant). I dropped the guitar off on March 12 in hopes to have it ready by March 23 (the day I was heading to Aunt Dinah's surprise birthday party in Ajax). They had told me that it would be ready in two weeks time. Unfortunately, it was cutting it short wanting it by March 23.

Not a big deal, I nabbed my old acoustic from Amelia and it played out well. So I phone Long & McQuade's yesterday and sure enough, my guitar is ready and has been ready since March 26, a mere two weeks ago. Come on! I was pretty miffed at the fact that no one gave me a phone call. I didn't even bother calling them earlier as I had already called on March 23 and they told me not to worry as someone would call me when it was ready. I was ready to call them, tell them to cancel the tune-up and I would bring it elsewhere.

Anyhow, the tune-up was complete and I picked it up and I suggested they get a better call-back policy. It plays nice (with others! Ha ha) but I must admit that I'm back on the electric for the past month and my songwriting bug has bit back ever since. Plus, it helps to know that Troy is one-up on me on the recording side of things so I must play catch-up! (end rant)

My only regret of the weekend was not attending Melissa and Mike's potluck as I had no idea if I would be done my essay or not and I didn't want to commit and then have to bail. Although, it was a potluck so I suppose that's the best event to bail if there ever was one!

This post is all over the place with random memories of the past five days. I must admit that this boy needed the time off. It's interesting to see what happens when you have more than two days off at a time. You start to find time to do the things you've wanted to do for awhile but never got around to them.

Hope everyone's holiday was a good one and there was not too much snow-removal involved!

Mike and I had high hopes for this flick, then we were let down by the reviews and got scared to watch it. Then the soundtrack came out and that was even worse. What were we to expect? After watching Beerfest, we figured it could do no wrong as we had some beer in us and were pumped to see Jack Black and Kyle Gass in action.

We were not disappointed. Overall, it was a decent flick. Was it the calibre of the HBO TV series? Meh. I thought the TV series was more funny. But the movie wasn't that bad at all if you enjoy the Tenacious D storyline. The deleted scenes were hilarious. I wish all DVDs had a feature which would allow you to incorporate the deleted scenes into the movie - hence making a Director's cut. I was thinking this while watching The Matrix Reloaded last night and hoping that the Enter The Matrix footage could be incorporated somehow. Sure, it may be choppy, but that's to be expected.

ACTUALLY, now I remember that the DVD version of Ray did this! It was a magnificent move.

Back to Tenacious D, it had some good cameos and all around good rocking soundtrack which I appreciate more after watching the film.

Blockbuster is my friend, especially when I can find previously viewed films for cheap! I picked up Beerfest on Saturday which I figured would be a sure thing because:

A) It's a movie by Broken Lizard.
B) It's involves the USA vs. Germany in a beer drinking competition.

You can't go wrong. I wasn't disappointed. Mike, Trish and I had a barrel of laughs at this absurd film. I wish Philipp were there so he would be yelling at all the depictions of the German culture. Let's just say that they MAY be inaccurate. The movie revolves around two guys bringing their grandfather's ashes to Germany and discover that he was the offspring of some major German family who owns the biggest brewery in all the land. But he stole the secret recipe to the world's best beer and fled to USA. They then discover that all countries are competing in Beerfest - an Olympian style match of beer drinking games and that USA is the only country banned from the games as…they suck at beer drinking. Ha ha! It was good times and the characters were hilarious and the story was great.

Highly recommended over a few beers.

It's Day 4 of my five days off of work (thanks to you Easter Bunny) and I finally got around to doing...a lot of stuff.

The most important is finally getting around to getting The Morning Show up and running on the Internet.

The files are all on Youtube now which is a pretty slick video sharing site. Yeah, the uploading took forever and as I write this, I have no idea if it will get all of the final episode as it was a HUGE season finale and it may be over the 10 minute mark that is allowed on the site.

People can view all 19 episodes (hey, where's the mysterious Episode #2 run off to? Let me refer to this episode as the Polkaroo.) by going to the top menu bar and clicking on the link which is labelled 'morning show'.

Sit back, enjoy, and have some laughs at the sheer absurdity which was The Morning Show.

Saturday morning I awake, come downstairs and Mike has this quiz I should try - Test the Nation. CBC has put out an IQ test to test the nation.

I received 106 where 100 is the average. Not too shabby.

I realize that I have a hard time with questions dealing with 'So and so is Bob's uncle's cousin's sister's brother. Who is he in relation to Ted?". I also have trouble with the "What is the next number in this series - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, ?" (alright, that's a really bad example.

Give it a try and see how you fare! List your score in the comment section!

http://www.cbc.ca/testthenation/

Thankfully my last Media Ethics class wasn't too long at all (although I was getting worried when they were going off on a tangent about the Internet as a public space. Yikes!) and I breezed out of the class around 8:30. PLENTY of time to get to the Civic Center for the show. I managed to score 27/30 on my last mid-term also. I love that class. Although, I think the exam may be killer. I must study a lot for that one.

Get to the Civic Center and they don't even ask me for a student ID. I figured as much. It's a free concert, what do the guards care?

Walked down to the floor (which took me awhile as I walked towards the exit accidentally, not the entrance) and settled in to catch the end of the Dears set. I don't know the Dears but I have heard good things. Feedback was good at the end so I figured I would check them out some other time.

Lo and behold I find Vero's friends in the crowd which was a welcome surprise as I wasn't with anyone at the concert. Chantal and Pascal and I had a great time waiting for Sam Roberts to hit the stage and when he did, the excitement was in the air. There was also a lot of marijuana. Leave it to a gathering of Ottawa U and Carleton U students for the Pandamonium event (I'm assuming this is a play on the fabled Panda Games of yesteryear) to make us have to sit in an arena full of smoke. I would like to jump ahead in the story and note how Sam Roberts was having a laugh when he caught a whiff of the smoke while playing Hard Road and he was laughing when he hit the line "...there must be something in the air, in the air.".

The band starts out with With a Bullet and it's goodness all around. I haven't seen these guys since Bluesfest last year so I am pumped. They are in full form. I can't get a good view of the entire stage so I focus on Sam and Dave for the most part.

The setlist is rockin and they hit a valley of songs for a bit until they rev it back up.

Highlight of the night is definitely Mind Flood where I realize that I am listening in stereo. Am I insane? Have I never experienced stereo sound at a concert before? I must have. But the crazy effect that Dave had going on this guitar was amazing as it panned from left to right. The people around me where just taking it all in - knowing that a good jam would be coming along. Then out of nowhere Sam starts strumming some chords in amongst the sonic chaos. Beautiful. The song did not disappoint (as it never does). I remember listening to bootlegs of Paranoia and remembering how great of a jam it was but compared to this, it's nothing.

The concert had all the goodness that the Sam Roberts Band can deliver. Clapping along to Brother Down, the crowd anthem likes of Where Have All The Good People Gone? - I always find myself jumping around when it builds up to the end part where they start singing "Come on! Come on! People come on!" I can never stop myself.

The tracks off of Chemical City are just as good. They had some good times during Bridge To Nowhere as someone's bra was thrown and hit Sam right in the face! I unfortunately missed it as I was looking elsewhere but Chantal told me it was hilarious.

Highlight of the night (other than Mind Flood) was seeing Magic on My Mind live (I love the rockingness of the live version compared to the recorded one) and they debuted a new song! The song is listed on the setlist (thanks for the help in getting the setlist Chantal! I'm telling you, women ALWAYS have an easier time getting a setlist from the stage crew compared to a man.) as Fixed To Ruin. It was definitely a catchy tune and had us clapping from the beginning to the end. I don't know how to describe it. Not a full out rocker but more of a Magic on My Mind/Beatles vibe to it. No doubt we'll hear more of it as the summer approaches and more concerts appear.

My only wish is that someone made a recording of the concert. Ottawa is not well known for the taper scene (unless I am oblivious to it) so I'm satisfied in just filing this one away in my memory. I can't express how much I enjoy a Sam Roberts Band concert. They know how to rock. That's why I love them.

Setlist:

• With A Bullet
• The Resistance
• The Bootleg Saint
  
• Hard Road
• Taj Mahal
  
• Dead End
• Bridge To Nowhere
  
• Brother Down
• An American Draft Dodger in Thunder Bay
  
• Where Have All The Good People Gone?
  
• Uprising Down Under
  
• Mind Flood

• Magic on My Mind
  
• The Gate
• Fixed To Ruin
  

Vero and I had some brilliant ideas for a film we want to make this summer concerning technology of the past decade and the demise of social capital as we know it.

It will revolve around how the 'virtual networks' that we have created are replacing our 'in-person networks' and in some extreme cases, have replaced them all together and there is no contact being made outside of the Internet.

An example of this would be how I maintain a blog, but never phone anyone who has a blog as I feel that reading their blog allows me to keep tabs on them.

Sounds…a bit silly doesn't it? But it happens (for me at least).

Anyhow, we have some good laughable ideas on how technology wreaks havoc on us, but of course we won't even list what's right about technology. That would just defeat our hilarious movie idea.

A lot of the ideas stemmed from this article from the Globe and Mail.

I'm excited at this prospect as our original film idea seemed a little grandiose for our first project together. This film can easily be a 20 minute length.

If there is one good thing that this blog has brought to my life, it's the fact that Kevin left a comment on the site that informed me that there was a free Sam Roberts Band concert in Ottawa tonight! Yeeeha!

So that's where I'll be heading tonight after my class. Too bad my class runs until at least 9PM. I'll probably miss some of the show...but I can't complain too much. Haven't seen these guys since Bluesfest last year, and it's FREE! They are also playing with Buck 65 and The Dears - both bands that I know about, but am not too familiar with their music.

I have a few extra tickets if anyone wants them but beware - supposedly they are checking for University of Ottawa/Carleton U IDs at the door (as it is for the university students). Otherwise the tix are $20 each. I wonder how much they would care to check IDs at a free concert anyhow?

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2007/04/03/3905095-sun.html

I just read this great article about how Elvis came to Ottawa for 2 concerts (in one day!) way back when. I never knew.

Highlights of the article:

• He played two shows on one day - 4:30 and 8:30, each being 30 minutes each. That's pretty amazing considering the norm nowadays which is 2 hours. I wonder if this was the norm for superstars or if it was just a special case? I know that the Beatles had the same sort of itinerary.
• The majority of the MPs in town bailed to see Elvis play. Excellent! Glad to see they have their priorities straight!
  

Carrie begged me to put this on my site.

Now, I will tell you something. I also navigated this Celebrity Look Alike site about a year ago and found the same results - that I look like Alicia Silverstone. Hence the reason I never put it up on my site.

But for Carrie and a good laugh, heck, why not?

http://www.emigroup.com/Press/2007/press18.htm

DRM (Digital Rights Management), the nasty, nasty technology which record-companies use to secure their music so you can't play it on any old MP3 player that you want (boo, hiss!) has taken a shot to the gut with EMI's decision to released DRM-free downloads.

Bravo EMI. I doubt you will be the last to go this route. I am proud of you.

The Junos were pretty slick this year. I skipped out watching them last year as I really didn't think anything good could come with Pamela Anderson hosting them this year.

Nelly Furtado did a good job last night. I think she was nervous half the time and it was amusing to see her switch from 'Hey, I won' to 'Alright, on with the show!'. Excellent performances all around, but I have to speak about this one dude who came out, and for the life of me I cannot find a picture or remember his name.

Sam Roberts hits the stage with some 12 year-old kid and talks about the musican.ca project which helps kids learn music. Then this 12 year-old rips into a cover of American Woman and blows us all away. Forget all the other performers, it was all about this kid. Imagine!

The other great performance was by Paul Watson whom I had never heard about before. The guitarist grabbed a balloon full of helium and let it out over the pickup of his guitar which had this crazy effect. I'm telling you, I love innovation in music. Imagine a balloon solo with 10 balloons!

All in all, not a bad show. Nelly Furtado blew away the competition. I missed the part where Bob Rock was inducted into the Hall of Fame for his excellent producing skills. Hey, wait a second?! He lives in Hawaii!

This brings up the main point that Stompin' Tom is hammering into my head with his second autobiography. He feels that the Junos should have two separate categories for the awards - one for the Canadians who choose to live in Canada, record in Canada and have their main base of operations in Canada, and the other category with the Canadians who don't fall into one of those categories (like…Bob Rock for instance. Last time I checked, Hawaii is not in Canada.).

While I can't say that it's a really bad move on his part to move to Hawaii for the rest of his life (heck, who wouldn't?), I have to gather my thoughts on Stompin' Tom's thoughts on the Junos and figure out if I agree with them or not.

To those involved in the spectacle which was Canadian Idol, give yourselves a hand.

But don't turn on your tv sets looking for the Palmer as the Canadian Idol gig was an elaborate hoax to ring in the new year (aka April 1). But what about the story of Tom Cochrane?

May someone pull a great gag on you today!