My Fake Plastic Earth

CRAZY BUSY!!!

2009-01-12T08:00:00.002-05:00

Just a Short Posting

We are now well in to 2009, and I couldn't be busier. I was planning on doing more of a retrospective, but so far there is no time. I do still plan on the "A Look at '08" blog, which will include "movie", "music", and "the books I read" lists.

For now, I will leave you by saying that this is shaping up to be an exciting year career wise, and I can not get enough of Guitar Hero: World Tour!

Until next week...

2009 - The Return of the Blog!!!

2009-01-01T21:50:00.006-05:00

Retrospective - New York State of Blog

Okay, I'll start by admitting that my blog updates have been about as reliable as the stock market recently. One of my resolutions this year is to start blogging on a more regular basis. I do miss it, and the comments. This time around I don't want to rely on cheap YouTube videos just to make a post. If I see something that I like, I will pass it along. But I don't want to blog unless I actually have something to say. Whether it is an opinion on something in the world (controversial or not), or just a quick "what's new" or "state of the union" type of posting.

So I guess the best way to start this year's blogging is to look back on some highlights of 2008. Here we go...

NYC

Last May Andrea and I went back to New York for our yearly vacation. This trip had us taking a TV bus tour, eating at the elegant Tavern on the Green, touring NBC, wandering around the financial district (before all hell broke loose!), Battery Park, and much more! Here are some pics of fun.

This was the sculpture in the World Trade Center. Now it sits in Battery Park.

The Friends building!

Serpico's apartment! The only honest cop in New York. Awesome!

The New York Public Library

The Fat Black Pussycat. This is where Bob Dylan used to try out new stuff in the early years. Now it's a Mexican restaurant which serves some of the best Margaritas!

F.A.O. Schwarz was the toy store made popular by the movie Big. Off topic - I was offered a Rolex out of a guy's coat pocket in front of this store. Awesome!

Fantastic Lego sculptures! I'm so nerdy!

I'll be honest here. I felt a little like Waylen Smithers when I took this one!

This week on Law & Order!

Well it looks like I was the only one who knew where the markets were going! Everyone else was posing at the unfunny end of the bull.

It was like Grand Central Station in there!

The Drake Hotel and Strawberry Fields. That Imagine photo is probably the best photo I will ever take!

Break dancers in Central Park.

Eating at Tavern on the Green. I think I was sitting beside the window Rick Moranis was banging on in Ghostbusters! Luckily no demonic dogs ate me during my visit.

The show that night was Patti Labelle, Chaka Khan, & Gladys Knight (no Pips though), and was being hosted by Bill Clinton. Suffice it to say, I couldn't get tickets!

The bathroom in Tiffany's. Probably wouldn't want to eat breakfast in there! The stalls had dead bolt locks and real doors! Not just the run of the mill steel doors in this place. Also look at all the marble! This place was so high end, they have a guy to spin the revolving door for you! Now that's customer service.

9/11 is a lie!!! I found this just 10 minutes away from Ground Zero.

This is what's left of CBGB's. Once the punk mecca of the world, now just another medium for a snooty designer to pimp his wears. At least John Varvatos left all the graffiti, and still sold albums (and I'm talkin' real vinyl here), but his clothes were quite unreasonably prices. For shame...

At least Joey Ramone Place still stands.

Story Corps is a company that allows everyday people to tell there stories and then streams them online. It's actuall quite remarkable. Click here to visit the web site.

Well, that about wrapps up my New York adventure. I will be posting a few more retrospectives, and then start reporting on the coming year.

I hope everybody had a great holiday season, and all the best in 2009.

Not Good in the Dark

2008-02-24T09:34:00.008-05:00

Well back to back weeks of new posts. I must be motivated or something!

Not too much new this week. Scott and I went to see Hayden on Tuesday. As usual he was awesome! I'm not too fond of some of his fans though. Just because he kept some of the audience banter in on his live album doesn't give every jack-ass the right to start making off-the-cuff remarks in between (and sometimes during) songs. Especially at a Hayden show! I quote the band Sloan: "It's not the band I hate, it's their fans..." For those that don't know who Hayden is I found a couple of videos on Youtube that I am going to post below.

The Daily Pics

I did start doing my little photography project this week. I didn't take a photo everyday, but I came close! I have realized that my camera is terrible in the dark. Oh well. Until I get a new one I'll just have to stick to daytime shots.

HAYDEN

This photo is from the Hayden show. Now I didn't take a picture of Hayden (because that would just make sense!), but this is the opening act. She calls herself Jaymay and she was pretty good. Kind of like a female version of Hayden! Scott summed her up pretty well with "She's not offensive..." Anyway, because of the camera's poor quality in dark places and loud beeping when a picture is taken (it was a quiet show), I decided not to take any pics while Hayden played.

Lunar Eclipse

Alright, I thought that when I pointed the lens at the only source of light in the sky it would capture something! Well I stand corrected! This is a picture of last Wednesday's lunar eclipse. The moon is actually a beautiful red, but my camera just wouldn't pick that up. You are able to see a small spec of red just off-center in the picture. It's kind of like a "Where's Waldo" game you can play with this one.

Miso

I'll be honest, this looked cuter in real life!

I Am 'Effing Tired of Winter!!!

Sure it looks nice, but give me a break! I am so sick of shoveling. I remember when I was happy to have a two car driveway, now I just want to shoot myself!

One Order of Sick Day, Coming Up!

How cheap (and brave) does one have to be to catch the end of day sale at a Sushi place?!! In fact, I'm not too sure if I would trust a Sushi kiosk at the Oshawa Centre when it was fresh!

Closing

Before I go I just want to say kudos to Dalton McGuinty. I usually wouldn't, but I am happy to hear that he is planning to do the very controversial act of removing the Lord's Prayer from the Ontario Parliament. I know many people disagree with this action, but I think it is time we all look beyond ourselves and realize that we are living in a very diverse society. Many people with many beliefs live in our communities, and it is wrong for the government to choose only one belief system. I fully support the separation of church and state, and I think that this is definitely a step in the right direction.

Enjoy your week everybody!

Happy New Year!?!

2008-02-17T11:12:00.007-05:00

*** Warning - The spell check wasn't working so please disregard any spelling errors ***

So we are all "balls deep" into 2008 by now I'm sure. So maybe the Happy New Years is a little out of place at this point, but none the less, this is my first post in '08 so I think it fits. Deal with it!

To recap 2007:
- I flew a plane
-I went to New York and rode the Subway
- I pretended to make a jumping catch against the left-field wall at Yankee Stadium!
- I saw a the Leafs kill Ottawa in Ottawa!
- I flew in a F-18 flight simulator
- Andrea and I bought new wedding rings (Awwwwe)
- I fell in love with musicals (especially good tap sequences!) when I saw the Drowsy Chaparone
- I won a weight loss competition at work by losing 18lbs in a month!
- I witnesses my beloved Jays get slaugtered by the Bosox twice!
- I saw Roger Waters perform Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety
and much, much more!!!

I did all of those things and sitll couldn't find anything interesting enough to write about every week! Perhaps it's more of a question of motivation. Either way, I think I have come up with a great solution!

The other day my Mother-in-law told me about a friend of her's that takes at least 1 photgraph every day and saves them in a box. I thought that would be perfect for my blog. I see many interesting things each day that I can take a picture of! So that's what I am starting right now. No longer should you be stuck with some mildly amusing video from youtube (although I will still be putting some of them on). This is going to be kind of like a pictorial diary! I'm very excited.

So here it goes...

The Daily Pics!

I tried this pic with the flash on and off. The one with the flash off is a little shaky, and looking at them now, I really should have taken this one in the day time. We just recieved about 3 feet of snow and this sign is showing +130. I thought it was funny.

This is the neigbourhood outside of Andrea's branch. It looks great in the winter. I would love to live down in the Beaches someday.

I didn't actually take this picture. I only started the project a couple of days ago, sso I added this one in because I really like abacusses.

I took the concept of this photo from my friend Doug's Facebook picture. I held the camera to my chest and this is what I got. I'm happy that I can still see my feet, but the disappearance of my legs is a little startling. I think the screaming face on my shirt really says it all!

This video was made completely from the last State of the Union. Fantastic!

Andrea and I have bcome big fans of The Moldy Peaches as of late. After seeing the movie Juno we haven't really been listening to anything else. Enjoy!

So until next time...

Has it really been this long?!

2007-12-22T09:43:00.001-05:00

I guess it has been this long! I'm sure many of you are now tires of that irritating guy crying over Britney Spears. Well here is another video that my friend Doug sent to me:

I guess I really haven't been in much of a writing mood lately. To be honest, I still don't feel like writing. Hence all the videos!

I did recently go to a F18-Hornet simulator though. It was pretty good too! The graphics weren't as good as I had hoped, and the unit didn't move, but it was still a lot of fun. The controls were set up like the actual fighter jets and my friends and I spent an hour dogfighting with each other. I love those heat seeking missiles! They just make life easier than having to actually aim!

I'm going to wrap things up here. I'm hoping to update before the new year for a recap of 2007. Until then, I hope everybody has a safe and Merry Christmas.

Here's another video. Sure at parts it looks like a low budget high school drama project, but the point being made is awesome! It really make me question the evolution of the "American Dream." Especially from the point of view of young women!

Leave Britney Alone!!!!

2007-09-23T14:15:00.000-04:00

Nothing new to report, but I have been laughing about this video for the last couple of days. There is swearing so no kids please. Enjoy!

(BTW: If you are reading this through FaceBook, you will have to go to my blog (the link is under "Information") to see the video.)

Dark Side, Fad Web-Site, Wings, and A Pound of Flesh!

2007-09-02T11:03:00.000-04:00

Finally an update! It seems that I am starting most of my blog postings with that sentence. I guess I am not as dedicated a blogger as I had hoped to be. Oh well. I'm going to stop feeling pressure to update. The blog is kind of like a journal to me. I'll get to it when I can and set no more limits.

ROGER WATERS

I was luck enough to catch the last Roger Waters show of his North American tour here in Toronto. It was really cool. He played the Dark Side of the Moon album in its entirety! He also played other great Pink Floyd songs that I never thought that I would hear live. Song like Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun, and Sheep. The performance was phenomenal and the stage show was fantastic. It was the first time I had ever seen anti-Bush graffiti spray painted on the ass of a giant remote controlled inflatable pig! Good stuff!

My friend Scott, who accompanied me to the concert (Andrea was teasing me about it being a date!) brought along his new iPhone. That thing is so cool! It is definitely living up to all the hype. If you have the means, I recommend you picking one up.

Facebook

As of late I have been on Facebook more and more. This may be part of the reason that I haven't been updating the blog as much. If you aren't already a member I recommend joining. It's a relatively easy way to stay in touch and share photos with friends and family.

Flying

Since starting the blog I had realized what a boring life I actually lead. I keep busy, but truly with things that are not worth writing about. I know the people really don't care that I have learned about how the Canadian tax code treats losses to a capital gains account! So I am trying to be more proactive with actually living life. One of my dreams has been to go up in one of those little Cessna planes that we see flying around. I don't know why, but I had always wondered what it would be like. Well on August 20th I realized that dream in a big way! Not only did I go up in one, but the pilot let me fly the thing for 5 to 10 minutes! It was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. It also terrified me to my very soul! It was a windy day and those small planes feel every little bump there is. The controls were very sensitive and I had to keep compensating for the wind blowing us around.

The plane had been built in 1967 and inside it had the same smell as the inside of an old car on a hot day. The seats were really close together, and it was almost impossible to get in or out of it easily. I got to wear one of the headsets and heard the pilot speaking to the tower. We started down the runway and the speed seemed a little slow. It was a lot like when you are speeding up on an on-ramp for a highway. I guess I am used to the high speeds of large jets on take-off.

Well next thing I know we are off the ground. The plane starts rocking back and forth in the winds, and I start thinking about the barf-bag in the glove box. We reach about 2500 ft when he gives me the controls. I am instructed to climb to 3000 ft and then level off. He tells me to keep the horizon level with the dashboard for the climb. When we reach 3000 ft he tells me to lower the nose until I get "4-fingers" of horizon above the dashboard. 4 fingers! Was he ordering a Scotch?! Isn't there a more technical way to do this?!

Once we were leveled I was free to turn left or right and go where I wanted. We are now over Port Perry and lake Scugog. The winds are flowing under the plane giving it a floating feeling, a lot like a boat on water. Up and down, up and down. It took me a while to not overcompensate for it. The controls are very sensitive. I give the controls back to the professional and he now wants to know if I want to see him do some maneuvers! We have been in the air now for about 20 minutes and I am starting feels a little uneasy about things, so I decline. We head back to Oshawa Airport and it seems like we are coming in on an angle. The pilot is speaking to the tower so I can not ask any questions. I have to have faith that this guy knows what he is doing, a and is happy enough with his life that he doesn't want to kill himself and take me with him. We land safely.

We pull back to the hanger, and I take a few minutes struggling to get out of the tight seat. Once I am out the pilot grabs the plane by the propeller and pushes into a parking spot like ti only weighed 10 lbs. I guess there really isn't much to them.
Stratford

Last weekend we made our annual trip to Startford, Ontario. This year we saw Merchant of Venice. It was an unusual performance that seemed to be both modern and traditional translations of the play. There was fast beat dance music and a combinations of old and new style costumes. The strangest part was the casting of Graham Greene as Shylock! He did a great job, and in the end I understood why he was cast for the role. The story has Christians thinking of Jews as a lower form of life and trying to convert them to Christianity much like the pilgrims did with the native Canadians and Americans many years ago.

Well that's about all that is new. Andrea and I are both doing well. We are trying to plan another trip to New York. We want to drive down this time. Probably in early October. Central Park in the fall will be nice. Until next time!

Good Bye Old Friend

2007-07-09T16:37:00.000-04:00

I remember the first time I laid my eyes on it. What an embarrassment! I was only 18 years old and a cool car was all that mattered. This was definitely not a cool car. It was a 1991 Pontiac Firefly. Not even a Sprint! They had to get the Pontiac knock-off model. Sure the manual said both names (Sprint and Firefly), but at least the name Sprint would have been cooler than Firefly. How was I supposed to know what longevity this automobile had? Never mind all the great and sometimes life changing experiences I would have in it!

The Firefly didn't really have any kind of impact on my life until I was 19. I didn't get my license until then, so all it was to me was an eyesore whenever I walked up my driveway. Then in March of 1994 I began my quest to get my license. It was a race against time for me. Graduated licensing was beginning that July and I really didn't want to go through that long and more expensive process. I had been practicing in the Firefly before I had actual lessons. My mom was riding shotgun, and I was just hoping to not see any of my friends!

My in-class lessons went well. I was the only 19 year old student in the class, so I was the only student going to the bar across the street at lunch! My practical lessons were in my instructor's car and my friend Mike offered his car for my test. I hated the Firefly so much that I accepted Mike's offer. He loaned me his large L.T.D. and I effectively failed the test when I cut somebody off while pulling out of the Ministry parking lot! I also had difficulty parallel parking, and turning back into the Ministry parking lot. Suffice to say, I was not used to such a large vehicle!

So I booked my second test for October. I had to go under graduated licencing, and this time I drove the Firefly. It was one of the hottest days of the year on that October day. The Firefly did not have air-conditioning, and the person giving me the test easily weighed 350 lbs! So me, a large sweaty man, and a small (and extremely slow) Firefly went on my second test. This time I passed. I knew the car well, and if there is one thing that the Firefly was good for it was parking. I mean with a car that size I could pull it in to the most unbelievable spots!

My mother was very understanding of my car situation and allowed me to use the Firefly to get to work and back. At the time I was taking a year off of school (that's another story all together!) and was working for a temp service. That means that one day I could be working 10 minutes away, the next I would be working 50 km away. I drove that little car until I finally landed a job at a company called Escalator Handrail. Soon after the Handrail job began I purchased my first car. It was big, fast, and loud. Everything a 20 man could want in a car. It was a 1973 Cutlass Supreme. I bought it February, after many $ in repairs I finally gave up on the "Gutless" and traded it in for a 1986 Lincoln Mark VI. It had every option available, and while going through the hunt for my Lincoln I fell for a girl named Andrea.

I now had a cool car and a woman that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Anybody who knew Andrea and I back in those days however, know that it took quite some time for us to get together. Andrea and I became good friends. Her little Hyundai was giving her problems, so I would often drive her to work and pick her up after. We really became close during those commutes. It is a practice that I still enjoy doing up to this day. Although we seldom have the schedule that will allow it.

It wasn't until February 9, 1997 that Andrea and I got our acts together and took our relationship to the next level. It was on a cold and snowy March night of that same year that the Lincoln failed me. Andrea and I were leaving a little bar that we used to frequent. As we pulled out of the parking lot Andrea said "It's strange that nothing really happens when I'm around. I mean you all have these neat stories, but I'm never there to experience things when they happen." Not sooner did she get that out did smoke start puring out of my dashboard! So back to the Firefly I go!

It took some months before I could find a replacement for the Lincoln. That meant that for those few months I was relying on the Firefly for transportation. It was in the Firefly that I asked Andrea to "go steady" with me. I remember it clearly. We were in Whitby on Hwy. 2 on our way home from wing night ( every Wednesday night the guys from work would go out for cheap wings and beer) and I built up the courage to ask on of the most hokey questions to confirm our commitment to each other! After Andrea said "yes" we joked about other hokey ways I could have asked. I think she won with "Will you wear my pin?" How 50's! Soon after however I bought a Pontiac Grand AM, and the Firefly and I went on another hiatus.

It was November 16, 1997 when I proposed to Andrea. I matched it with my car payment so I wouldn't forget the various anniversaries that went with being engaged. You know 1 month, 6 month, and so on. With the proposal Andrea and I both knew it was time to buy a house. So in November 1998 we moved into our first house. 159 Delaney Drive, Ajax, Ontario. It was a small 1050 sq. ft. two story in a neighbourhood where all the houses looked exactly the same, but to us it was home. In October 1999 we got married and things were going well.

It was also soon after this when Andrea moved from working at her branch, to working at the tele-banking call center. This meant her schedule had to change, and we could no longer get by with just one car. So my mom gave us the Firefly as a very generous gift of sorts. She wasn't using it anymore and it was just sitting in her garage. So began my ownership of the Firefly.

In June 2000 I got a part-time job with Canada Post. I was working straight midnights and was looking for a way out of the handrail racket. It was okay because I was told that after 4 months I would be working 40 hour weeks and wouldn't need my night job anymore. It was great, I could finish my route in 6 hours (if I was well rested) and still got paid for 8 hours. After my route was finished I could either go home, or take on another route for extra money. However, when starting at Canada Post you are a supply letter carrier. Whenever somebody is sick or on holidays, you come in to complete their route. Basically you are on call. At a moment's notice you are delivering in Oshawa, or Ajax, or Aurora. The Firefly was more than up for the task. With ample room in the back for my mail, and reliability that most cars strive for; the Firefly allowed me to successfully work both jobs for 6 months. After the 6th month it was becoming more clear to me that I wasn't going to be getting steady work from Canada Post for a long time to come, and working 16 hour days was really starting to burn me out. So in December 2000 I terminated Canada Post as my employer.

Things stayed pretty much the same over the next many years. We moved away from Ajax in 2001, and moved into our house in Brooklin. In 2001 we also traded in the Grand AM for a 2000 Neon. I started working towards my accounting education in 2002 and used the Firefly to get to classes and exams. In 2005 we sold the house in Brooklin, and in May 2006 we moved into our current address here in Whitby. The Firefly, looking worse for wear every year, maintained it's solid performance. It would start on the hottest or coldest of days with minimal hesitation. The only time that it wouldn't start was when the battery died. You really can't hold the car responsible for it's battery. I began learning to fix it myself. There is a surprising amount of room under that hood. At work it became a joke when something stopped working on the car. The door handles started sticking, the window washer wouldn't work, the key broke off in the ignition, the buttons to turn on the lights and wipers kept popping out, the glass holders broke, the rear hatch wouldn't support it's own weight, and so many more. But it kept starting every day. I could always rely on that car to get me to my destination, whether it was 10 minutes or 50 km away the Firefly always made it.

So it is my sad duty to let you all know that on Wednesday, July 4, 2007 I said goodbye to my little white car. All that remain are a few pictures and millions of memories. Thank you Firefly. You were always there for me. I guess it's kind of like my Giving Tree! Only I didn't chop my car.

The Firefly in now in the possession of Jason and Wendy Stevens. Jason is going to fix it up and maybe give it to somebody in his family. It it is too expense to certify he said he want to transform it into a small el-camino. He'll call it a Sprint-eno, but only because it was hard to work Firefly into the el-camino name.

Some funny things about owning a crappy little white car:

- when people are asking you for money on your way out of a parking lot and you say you have none, they believe you!

- it was funny when I tried fixing the wiper button with crazy glue and ended up gluing the switch into the "on" position. I had to drive around on a sunny 30 C day with my wipers on!

- driving people home from work and seeing their frightened faces as I pull on to the highway

- when somebody broke into it and stole nothing! That one kind of hurt my ego. At least steal something so that I can feel like I have something worth stealing.

- I didn't change the tires until about 3 months before getting rid of the car.

- I fish-tailed the car while turning into a mall parking lot with 6 full-size men crammed in the car. The road wasn't even wet.

- I was somehow able to make the tires squeak sometimes if I hit the gas hard enough

- it used to shake when it wen over 100 km/hr

- it took 20 seconds to reach 80 km/hr

- it lasted longer than 4 of my (and Andrea's) cars, a few of my parent's, 2 houses, and many marriages.

Goodbye old friend. I will miss you.

Killer Music!

2007-07-08T09:23:00.000-04:00

Here are some cool music bits that I have come across lately.

This is some guy named Jake Shimabukuro playing a fantastic version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps on the Ukulele:

The White Stripes have been playing a lot of unannounced shows in cool venues during their Canadian tour lately. This is the best video of any of the shows that I have found yet. The are playing an acoustic set on a city bus in Winnipeg! The people watching tend to be pretty loud and somebody covers the lens for a bit, but it really isn't too bad of a video.

Here is a band call Easy Star All Stars. They have two albums out. One is a reggae version of Darkside of the Moon, and the other is a reggae version of Radiohead's OK Computer. It is actually really good! This is from their live performances.

This is their version of Paranoid Android dubbed over the original Radiohead video. Pretty cool!

Well I could have posted more, but I think that this is enough for one day. I hope you enjoyed the music. Check back again soon. I will be updating more often now.

BIG CAUSE CONCERTS DO NOT WORK

2007-07-07T10:36:00.000-04:00

I DO BELIEVE...

Okay, I want to start this by saying that I do believe in the majority of the causes that these huge cause concerts promote. I mean who doesn't want peace, freedom for Tibet, Africa fed, or climate stability? But the simple truth is that the world is still at war, Tibet is not free, and Africa has actually become worse!

The Live Earth Hypocrisy

Now today we have Live Earth. Multiple rock concerts uniting to spread knowledge to the word about what we can do to conserve energy. Does anybody know how much energy is needed to hold these concerts? The lighting, the amps, the satellite feeds, the 2 billion TV sets being used to watch this spectacle are actually hurting the very cause that they are promoting! Using mass amounts of hydro to spread the message of conserving energy just doesn't make sense to me.

Rock N' Roll Will Not Save The World

As a music lover I hate this fact, as a human I am forced to accept it. The only thing that can solve the problems created by people are the people themselves. Currently most of the problems are being created by the 1st world nations. If we really want to change the world, we must look within ourselves. How many of us are willing to go into work on Monday and quit because we know that our companies are part of the problem by polluting the environment, exploiting cheap labour, or inventing / producing harmful products? How many of us protest or write to our governments and demand change after becoming aware of various problems? How many of us are willing to stop using our air conditioners, and cars, or really do any of the other actions that will help? Not too many of us, including myself. We all have bills to pay, or don't know who to contact in our governments, or want to risk going to jail for protesting, or we don't want to walk, or be uncomfortably warm. Until we are willing to sacrifice ourselves, or take a stand then nothing will ever change. And that is the real problem. Until we change ourselves we will never be in the position to change the world.

Now I don't want you to think that I am standing on a soapbox pointing my finger at you. I am guilty of being part of the problem as much as anybody. I will pay $45 to play golf, $36 for a case of beer, or pay $12 to see a movie. Yet I don't sponsor a child, or take 10 minutes to send an e-mail to my local government representative. All I am trying to say is that these big concerts do not work, and anybody who truly wants to instigate change will have to find a different medium.

NYC - part 2

2007-06-11T13:27:00.000-04:00

Day 3

On the third day we start by visiting Ground Zero. This was a surprisingly emotional trip for me. I really didn't expect to feel saddened by this experience, but viewing the photos, looking at the destruction, and having some guy playing Amazing Grace on the flute was almost enough for me to shed a tear.

After some emotional reflection the guys and gals decided it was time to go our separate ways. The ladies went shopping for purses and shoes... while the guys went to Yankee Stadium! For $15 we were able to take a tour of the entire stadium. We even went on the field and sat in the dugout! It was awesome.

Here is a shot of the new Yankee Stadium, and pictures of the neighbourhood around the ballpark.

After our separate adventures everybody met up back at the hotel to swap stories for some much needed rest. I, however, was still full of energy. I used this time to run back to Central Park and find the Dakota and Strawberry Fields.

While at Strawberry Fields I noticed an unusual state of peace. It may be the first time in my life that I felt a "vibe" or some kind of spiritual awareness. It was as silent as a library. People were speaking only at a whisper while they placed their symbols of homage on the stone surface. It seemed that the sounds of honking horns and hustle and bustle were somehow being blocked from this little slice of park. I decided to sit on a park bench for a while. A man soon sat next to me and continued to play the most beautiful acoustic versions of Hey Jude and All You Need is Love. The 10 minutes that I spent in that small space of New York are 10 minutes that I will remember for the rest of my life.

I rushed back to the hotel, only stopping for a hot dog on the street. We all made plans to go for dinner and then take a trip to the Empire State Building. I didn't have a strap for my camera so the only good picture of the Empire State Building is this one of the lobby.

Day 4

The fourth day was our last day. Our flight left at 8pm and we wanted to get to Newark Airport at about 5:30 or 6. Are schedule for the day was tight. We started out by getting a bite to eat at some diner. It ended up being the best breakfast we had the entire visit. From there we went straight to the Circle Line boat tour. Which took us past Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, as well as under the Brooklyn Bridge and gave us a great view of Manhattan.

After the tour ended we took a taxi straight to the United Nations. It was really neat sitting in the General Assembly hall listening to the representatives discuss the AIDS crisis. These are a few of the pictures that I was allowed to take.

So that was our trip to New York. There are still many stories to tell. To see more photos sign up to FaceBook and look me up. It's easy, fun and free!

One final story. We flew back into Toronto on Victoria Day. It was a very special gift to witness the fireworks of the city while landing. We could see both Ashridges Bay and Canada's Wonderland at the same time! I was most amazed by how many people in the city actually celebrate!

N.Y.C.

2007-05-27T17:03:00.000-04:00

It has been a while since the last update I know. I haven't even been that busy either. I have no excuse. Anyway here is the blog about my recent trip to New York. I can't believe that I have been home for a week already.

Day 1

Our flight left YYX at 8:10am, so that meant a 5am wake-up time and then the mad rush to Pearson. The flight lasted a little more than an hour but was very turbulent due to some storm cells in the New York area.

We landed at LaGuardia in Queens. I immediately thought of Good Fellas! We waited patiently in line for our baggage and then again for a cab. For those of you who have not been to NYC I will just fore warn you that the taxi rides are about the most terrifying experiences that you will ever have.

We checked in to our hotel, the Holiday Inn on west 57th between 9th and 10th. It was only a few blocks from Central Park and Times Square. Great location to say the least.

First destination on our list was to get lunch. We took the 5 or 10 minute walk to Times Square and found a corner booth at Bubba/Gump's Shrimp House. We had a terrific view of Times Square. At this time I would like to add that I had left my camera at the hotel, so unfortunately I have no pics of Day 1.

After lunch we walked up to the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art). This is when I was really regretting leaving my camera behind. We spent the entire afternoon looking at fine art work. There were Picasso's, Dali's, Monet's and sculptures by Rodin just to name a few. It was absolutely breathtaking (is that one word or two?) to be standing only inches away from Starry Night. I will truly not forget that for the rest of my life. Other highlights were the enormous Water Lillies by Monet and the room full of Jackson Pollack paintings. Here are some photos I have from their web-site:

After many hours of culture the clan had decided it was time for a nap and then dinner. We found a nice little Italian place called Franks. The food there was much better than at Bubba/Gump's.

Day 2

I remembered my camera! The agenda for Day 2 was to walk up to the Museum of Natural History and then through Central Park to the Guggenheim. I was hoping to see the Dakota on our walk but I went past it without even noticing. Here are some photos of Day 2.

The Museum of Natural History:

Central Park:

The Guggenheim:

This is all of the bloggin' time that I have right now. I will continue with days 3 and 4 next time.

Until then...

It's Been A While!

2007-04-08T00:07:00.000-04:00

Stuff That's New

1) Bought a new car! This is great, we really needed it. We bought a 2005 Toyota Matrix. It's blue and only has a few options. Hopefully it will be good to us.

2) Retired the Firefly. After years of great service the Firefly has officially been reitred! It outlasted 4 cars, 2 houses, and many of my friends marriges. I got my licence and fell in love with my wife in that car. Many memories that won't soon be forgotten. I am planning a homage blog when I finally get rid of it. For now it sleeps peacfully in my garage.

3) Booked a trip to New York. We wil be visiting the great city of New York during the May 2-4 long weekend. Some of the things that I want to do are: see a Yankee's game, visit the Statue of Liberty, go up the Empire States Building, walk through central park, get mugged, see a Broadway play, eat at Famous Ray's Pizza, spot a celebrety and not make a big deal out of it, yell at somebody from an appartment window, call somebody a name like "Jablone", ride the subway, see the museum (one of them anyway), visit The Met, tell someone to "Forget about it", join a gang, eat at the Carnagie Deli, play a fixed game of Three-Card Monte, and get flipped off. I only have a few days, but I think I'll fit it all in!

4) Found an Ipod Nano. I waited around for the rightful owner, but they never came. I guess that's why they're not allowed to have nice things!

Stuff That's Not New

1) I shaved my head.

2) I fed the cats.

3) I enjoy music.

Well that's about it. What a rip I know. It's been well over a month and this is all you get. Not even a lousy picture! I'm afraid you will just have to admit that you are reading a blog by somebody who is actually this boring! Until next time...

P.S. I lost my watch so if any of you find it please let me know. Thanks.

Sports Entry (sorry non-hockey fans)

2007-03-15T08:16:00.000-04:00

I don't usually like to post controversial opinions on my blog because I feel as though I am preaching instead of sharing information, things I find interesting, or what's new in my life. However, this is just sports. There is no real controversy in sports as far as I am concerned, because it is just a form of entertainment. Therefore I don't mind throwing my two-cents in to the pot of this pseudo-controversy. Enjoy!

Sad State of NHL Violence

I don't remember the last time we went through a hockey season without some kind of violent controversy in the NHL that ended with much debate in the media about if the punishment fit the crime. The truth of the matter is that the punishment is not fitting the crime. When the punishment fits the crime it will deter others from committing the same unlawful acts. Instead, we find players intentionally trying to hurt other players and claiming it is part of the game.

Now I understand that there is a violent aspect to hockey. In fact, I think it would be a mistake to take the hitting and fighting out of the game. What I don't like is how we are now seeing players using their sticks as weapons, or coaches putting out entire lines of goons for revenge(Buffalo I'm looking at you!) with the intent on hurting players on the opposing team!

The three big incidents that automatically come to mind are,
1) McSorley hitting Brashear over the head with his stick from behind,
2) Bertuzzi punching Moore in the back of the head (more on this one later), and
3) Simon slashing Hollweg across the face.

McSorely was suspended 23 games, Bertuzzi 20 games, and Simon for a minimum of 25 games.

There are many others with similar suspensions, such as Brad May, Dale Hunter, and Gordie (good hockey name) Dwyer just to name a few. This is obviously a problem that is not going away with the current punishments.

My Idea!
I have an idea that might start to deter these emotional acts of violence. It involves looking at intent and punishing the whole team.

Intent: Intent is a huge factor in these situations as far as I am concerned. Here are a couple of examples:

Simon hitting Hollweg with his stick:
I don't believe that it could be argue that Simon did not intend to hurt Hollweg more than he actually did. He took his stick and swung it like a bat into the face of an opposing player. By luck he only hit Hollweg's chin and damage was kept to a minimum.

Bertuzzi punching Moore in the back of the head:
As cowardly as it was for Bertuzzi to sucker-punch Moore from behind, it is without a doubt in my mind that he did not intend to break Moore's neck. Moore knew that Bertuzzi was trying to fight him. Bertuzzi was tugging in Moore's jersey and yelling at him. Trying to goad him into battle. Moore, having already fought earlier in the game, decide to ignore Bertuzzi. Not wanting to be ignored Bertuzzi decided to take it to the next level by throwing a punch. There is no way Moore could ignore that, and then would have to fight. Unfortunately Moore fell to the ice and broke his neck somehow. Whether it was the punch, the fall, or every player on the ice piling on top of him, the bottom line is that Moore's neck broke because of Bertuzzi's actions and therefore punishable.

Now if we look at the intention of these two players it seems almost criminal to me that they received similar punishments. Now, I'm not saying that Bertuzzi shouldn't be punished for his actions just because he didn't mean to hurt Moore, I'm saying that there should be degrees of of punishment. Kind of like the difference between manslaughter and murder.

Punishing The Whole Team: For most penalties in hockey the entire team suffers. Should somebody throw an elbow, they sit in the box for 2 to 5 minutes. The team then has to play short handed for the duration of the penalty and work extra hard to prevent the other team from scoring. With this system we have the team suffering for individual offences. This gives us incidents known as "stupid penalties", and if you take a stupid penalty the whole team could be angry with you. This is a great deterrent.

My idea is that for every game that a player is suspended for a violent act with the intent or cause of severe injury, then their team should start each period of the suspension games with a 5 minute major penalty. So if it is a 5 game suspension the team will start every period for all of those 5 games short handed for 5 minutes. Just watch how fast players get their emotions under control if a rule like that ever came in to the game. I'd bet that using an excuse like "he didn't know what he was doing because he had a concussion" wouldn't apply any longer.

This way you punish the individual player with the suspension (lost money) and the whole team gets punished with the penalty every period! Now you could argue that missing the player for the suspension term also punishes the team. But let's be honest, most of the players that get these types of suspensions are goons who really wouldn't be missed that much. For example, the Islanders are probably not going to miss Simon all that much. He only had 27 points this season. Hardly a finesse player!

To Recap
In conclusion, I feel that the NHL is not doing enough to deter the extreme violence that is becoming more prevalent in the game today. I feel that they need to start looking at the intention of the offence and decide on what the punishment should be based on their conclusions. If a suspension is issued for a violent act, then the entire team should be suffering more by having to play short handed for the first 5 minutes of every period of the duration of the suspension. It is my opinion that these actions will truly stop these stupid acts of violence from occurring as often.

Postsecret.Blogspot.Com

2007-03-10T13:02:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week I was reading the newspaper in the lunchroom at my work, and I stumbled upon an article about a blog created by a guy named Frank Warren. He claimed that it was a community art project that took people's secrets and anonymously posted them on the web. It began in November 2004 when Mr. Warren handed out 3000 self addressed stamped envelopes to people with the instruction of writing a secret on a postcard or picture and sending it to him in the mail. Less than three years later he has received more than 20000 secrets and is able to update his blog every Sunday with new entries.

After viewing the blog myself I had a rush of conflicting emotions. I was saddened, terrified, comforted, and humoured all at once. Some made me laugh, while others made me want to cry. To me, this is everything that good art should do to a person. I have questioned myself, and I have questioned society. I have also related to some of what I saw on a very personal level. I believe this to be the first real piece of art from the digital revolution. Frank Warren has shown me how much potential that blogging has, and in my personal opinion his web site should be on display in an art gallery. I have posted some of the examples from his project below. If you want to see this for yourself just click here.

For more information here is a video from ABC news that really show what this site is about as explained by Frank Warren. There may be some advertisements before it begins so be patient.

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=2778232

N'Sync

2007-03-03T09:58:00.000-05:00

News
Not too much new to report in my neck of the woods. Recently I have made plans to go to a Jay's game. Looks like it will be May 8 against the Bosox. Should be a good time. I was also trying to pick up some tickets to the Grey Cup, but I have a problem with paying more than $50 for ant CFL game!

School
I had a couple of exams last week. Looks like I tanked one and aced one. I'll have to study harder on the Taxation course. I find it really interesting, but also very challenging.

Health
Recently I've been trying to get back to my Mesomorph status. I need to start getting more exercise. I have been eating much better lately. I get 5 to 8 servings of fruits and veggies, and have been drinking lots of water. I figure a 30lbs loss is sufficient.

Fun
I'm sure most of you have heard of Darkside of the Rainbow. The DVD of the Wizard of Oz and Darkside of the Moon synced up. I have found some other great Pink Floyd sync ups on youtube. This one is my favorite. It had to be broken up into 3 parts because the segment is quite long. It is using the song Echoes as the soundtrack to the ending sequences of 2001: A Space Odyssey. I'm not sure if it's a sync or not, but it does work well! Enjoy.

Behind Enemy Lines

2007-02-05T15:57:00.000-05:00

February 3rd, 2007

Uncle D. and I began our journey at 11:00am E.S.T. The destination: the home of the dreaded Ottawa Senators. We were on a pilgrimage to witness a battle between one of the best hockey rivalries of our time. The Toronto Maple Leafs vs. the Ottawa Senators. The Leaf Nation was going to assault the Senator's Army that night, and we had front row (level 300) seats!

With haste and determination Uncle D. drove our chariot to the other side in great time. Just over 4 hours from door-to-hell (aka. Kanata ON.). Our first line of business was to scope out the arena. The first rule of war is to know your enemy, Uncle D. and I were just doing our research.

After many hours in the car we decided to check in to our hotel room for some much needed rest. We were two weary travelers trying to conserve our energy so that we could properly support our beloved Maple Leafs. However Ottawa was about to delver the first blow. Our room was not ready yet! They tried putting us in a non-smoking room with only one bed, and then shipped us in to an unwanted smoking room. The only problem was that it would take about half an hour before that room was ready. That was when we realized that this was probably a Senators fan trying to mess with our game. We rolled with the punches like the cool cats we are and decided to wait for the smoking room. This only gave us time to do more research.

We used our time wisely. We found a faster route to the arena, and found a few places to eat. We knew that it would be hard for us to get re-fueled in enemy territory, so we gave ourselves options.

We got back to the hotel and checked in to our room. This gave us a few hours to recharge our batteries. We watched most of the Edmonton game and put our beer on ice. The beers were going to be for either cheers or tears so we had to make sure that they would be cold.

The time had come to decide on a place to eat. Our first choice was Marshy's, a bar owned by Brad Marsh and located right in Scotia Bank Place. This would have been perfect but we were shut down by the powers that be. It was probably another Ottawa ploy to keep us down! We were smart though, and we had done our homework about our various options. One by one we were declined sustenance. Kelsey's, Boston Pizza, and Jack Astors all demanded at least a 30 to 45 minute wait. Eventually we ended up a Swiss Chalet. Not fancy, but it is good hardy food to give us the energy to cheer!

Game Time

After finishing our delicious meal Uncle D. and I made our way to the arena. Dressed in our beloved blue and white we were prepared to give morale support to our troops while they did battle on enemy ice. Our seats were perfect. Just to the side of where Raycroft would play for the first and third periods. Quickly we realized we were not alone. About a quarter of the fans at the game were Leaf fans. This was going to be GREAT!

First Period

The first period was a deadlock. Both teams had great chances and both goalies had to make great saves. The Leaf fans were effectively drowning out all Ottawa fans. GO LEAFS GO! GO LEAFS GO! Our energy was running high to say the least.

The between period game had two contestants. Their goal was to be the first to guess a player from the Ottawa team as one letter from the player's name appeared on the score board every couple of seconds. In true champion style the contestant in the Leaf's jersey beat the Ottawa fan in naming the player. Score one for Leaf fans!

Second Period

With all the Leaf fans still making noise, the beloved blue and white struck first blood. O'Neil went to the net on a decent passing play and was able to bank one in to the net. The place went wild! Toronto fans giving high fives, and hugging while the Sens fans had to sit there quietly and take it! 10 minutes later and the Maple Leafs were dominating. It looked as though we had a power play, but we didn't. The Leafs were making perfect passes, and taking plenty of shots. Then Mats Sundin showed patience and was able to get the Ottawa goalie out of position enough to score our second goal! It appeared as though the Leaf team was beginning to justify the arrogance of us Leaf fans.

Third Period

The third period has been tough on the Leafs all year. If games were only two periods long, we'd be in first place! The Ottawa fans knew it. I started getting heckled from the guy beside me. "This is our period boys, prepare to choke!" I ignored the taunts, but then the unthinkable happened. The dreaded Alfredson scored. Why did it have to be Alfredson, I would have preferred if the Leafs scored on themselves! That's the way the cookie crumbles though. About 20 seconds later another goal for Ottawa, but this goal was strange. Something appeared to be wrong. After some arguing and debate on the ice the officials thought it would be best to check the instant replay. Luckily the verdict was no goal! The Leaf fans cheered, but they knew that the wind was coming out of the sails fast. With about 10 minutes left in the game Ottawa got a goal to tie the game at 2. We just had to keep the puck out of our net for a few more minutes and we would at least get a point out of this. My Ottawa supporting neighbour was now becoming more vocal. I had to admit that things did not look so good, and explained that it wasn't easy being a Leaf fan, but faith gets us through the hard times. I felt a sigh of relief when I heard the horn ending the period. We were off to overtime!

Fourth Period

It appears that somebody has lit a fire under the asses of both teams! Speed was high and both teams were pushing for the win. Pucks were shot and saves were made at both ends. It was exciting hockey indeed! After the short overtime period we still had no victor in the match. We were heading for a shoot-out.

The Shoot-Out

I will admit that I was nervous going in to the shoot-out. Raycroft has been weak in this area all year long, and I had already cheered too much to handle a loss. This is how it played out:

ANTROPOV - Miss (I couldn't believe they put Antropov out there)
VERMETTE - Goal (Through the 5-hole of Raycroft. The chips were now officially down!)

SUNDIN - Goal (This was a do or die goal. A save or miss would have lost the game)
COMRIE - Save (The crowd went wild!)

KABERLE - Save (Kaberle, what the hell was he doing out there?!)
FISHER - Miss (He had beat Raycroft, but missed the net. Big sigh!)

PONIKAROVSKY - Save (Good save!)
HEATLEY - Save (UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!)

POHL - Goal (We went crazy)
SPEZZA - Save (WE DID IT, WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!)

The Aftermath

We triumphantly left the arena with our heads held high. Our efforts had been rewarded with a dramatic win! We felt like we had done our part to shake up the Ottawa fans. Through out the day we were driving erratically, speaking out of turn, and peeing on the toilet seats! It was time to go back to the room and enjoy some celebratory beverages. And that's exactly what we did.

The Video Evidence

Rain in Late January

2007-01-31T16:16:00.000-05:00

It Rained down on my mother and I last Sunday afternoon as we took in one of the best cover bands that I have ever seen in my life! Being a Beatles fan since probably birth I would have to say that I was skeptical about this performance. After the first song I was hooked! These guys really did their home work. Every note was perfect and all manerisms were completely accurate. As a whole I rank this show 4 out of 5. However, in a tribute band individual performance is key. For that reason I will review each of the four members (there was a fifth who played keyboard, but he didn't have a charater to portray).

Paul: Played perfectly by Joey Curatolo. When more make-up and costume was used, Joey even looked a lot like Paul. His voice was spot on, and to be honest, he stole the show. His rendition of Yesterday was beautiful and if you shut your eyes you would swear the Paul himself was in the room. Even using Pauls wittiness fun banter in between songs was done vvery well.

5 out of 5

Ringo: Although he didn't look very much like Ringo, Ralph Castelli performed perfectly on the drums, but was most impressive when he sung. He sounded almost exactly like Ringo when he performed A Little Help From My Friends. He didn't really talk much (if at all) but he did carry his weight (sorry about that one) through-out the show.

4 out of 5

John: With short hair Steve Landes looked more like John Sebastian, and more like a young Ozzy Osbourne when he had lo hair. His singing was very close to John's, but he tended to sing through his nose too much. At one point he sounded more like Greg Keelor from Blue Rodeo than John Lennon. All of that aside Steve did a great job. His antics and bantor in between songs where very much like Lennon's and he played his instruments very well.

3.5 out of 5

George: Played by Joe Bithon I found the George character to be my least favorite. He didn't look or sound like George, and his guitar wasn't loud enough on While My Guitar Gently Weeps. While My Guitar... also seemed to be at a very slow tempo. Kind of like playing the album at a slower RPM. George didn't seem to do much, but he played his guitar very well.

3 out of 5

Overall the show was great. My favorite part was when they played most of side 2 of Abbey Road. Golden Slumbers right through to The End. Fantastic! I wasn't expecting it, but they even performed an encore. Starting with Let It Be, then Imagine, and then capping the show off with a great sing-a-long rendition of Hey Jude. A good time was truely had by all.

And in the end...

Finally Updated!

2007-01-25T20:00:00.000-05:00

Not too much new with me lately. I have started my new courses (Taxation, Purchasing & Supply Management, and AccPac) and have been pretty swamped with homework. I should have my accounting diploma in August and a general business diploma in December. I'm in the home stretch now.

I haven't been writing lately because I haven't been doing anything. I really don't like writing about my opinions on things as much as I do writing about experiences that I have. So getting in the mood to write is more difficult when I am not doing anything very interesting.

Logical Endings to Movies

Seeing that I have nothing to write about, I will share with you all what I feel to be logical endings to a couple of popular movies.

The Terminator
In this movie I have always wondered why Sarah Conner didn't just hop on a plane and fly to Laos, or Nepal. It would have taken the robot forever to figure that one out! By the time the robot did figure it out it would be way too late and the resistance would have already been well on its way. Would have made for a much shorter movie though.

Back to the Future
I think once Marty realized that he was stuck in 1955 with little to no chance of ever getting back to 1985, he should have murdered Doc Brown. Then the time machine would never have been invented and Marty wouldn't have been sent back and the Doc wouldn't have been murdered! Problem solved in less than half an hour of film. It probably wouldn't have received the same popularity though.

My Hero of the Week

I want to add in a continuing section of my blog where I write about someone who I consider a hero and why. Kind of like a fifth grade English assignment!

Wesley Autrey
This is the 50 year old construction worker that save a teenager who fell on the tracks at a New York subway station after the teen had a seizure.
While waiting for a train with his two daughters, Wesley saw a man "in medical distress" fall on to the tracks as the train was approaching. In a split second he asked a woman to hold his daughters hands and then proceeded to jump on to the tracks and roll the fallen passenger to safety in between the tracks. The train rolled right over top of them with only inches to spare. A true act of heroism! The part that I find truly amazing is that after the incident, Mr. Autrey refused medical attention and still went to work that same day! This is one dedicated guy, and is my first hero of the week.

Game show Clip of the Week

This is from an English game show called Distraction. In this clip contestants get shot by paint balls for every question they get wrong. However, as you will see, even when they win it seems the challenge of taking home the prize is still quite difficult. I warn you that there is swearing and the clip is about 9 minutes long. I feel it is well worth the time invested though!

Unnecessary Censorship

This is a classic bit by late show host Jimmy Kimmel. It never fails to make me laugh! It's about 4 minutes long and contains implied offensive material.

Back to Life, Back to Reality

2007-01-08T16:24:00.000-05:00

Holiday Is Officially Over

Today is a sad day, as it marks the end of my 2 week vacation from my life as a handrailer. In celebration of this monumental day my body has decided to contract a nasty head cold. Bad day indeed. So far 2007 has been pretty good to me. Only being a week old this isn't saying much I know, but damn, I have to be loving this weather. I have also found time to put in some much needed maintenance on both cars. For those of you who care, the Firefly is still up and running. This car is awesome! It has been there fot me to get my lisence, it has transported me to work and back for many years, it has outlasted 2 houses (and countless marrigages!), and it still starts every morning without fail. It owes me nothing!

2007 Resolutions

I really don't have any resoulutions this year. It's not that I don't need to improve on anything, it's just that I don't care enough to write them down. So, in liue of my own resoulutions I will give you the resoulutions of Dwight Schrute (left):

Dwight Schrute’s New Years Resolution ‘07

I, Dwight Schrute, resolve, in the year 2007, to display more wisdom and benelovence to my inferiors.

It is said, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Well I say, keep everyone as close as possible to you because you don’t know who is your friend or your enemy. Keep the people below you even closer if that’s possible. Even if they have to be inside you.

Remember: they work for you. They must respect you. If you can fool them into thinking that you really care, you can get them to do anything for you. Even kill if necessary.

Now I’m not saying I want Ryan or Kevin to kill a competitor or Andy or anything, but it would be nice to know that they would if I asked them to.

What are your new years resolutions. You can reply by clicking on something below.

That is all.

Dwight K. Schrute

Miso

Over the last couple of months, Andrea and I have noticed some similarities between our cat Miso, and Stewie Griffin from Family Guy. It appears that Miso wants us out of the way. She wakes me evey morning by using my shins as scrating posts. Then, as I walk down the stairs to feed her, she tries to trip me. Andrea gets the same treatment, maybe even worse. Last week Miso clawed Andrea's face while they were playing, and then later that night, whlie Andrea was sleeping, Miso scratched Andrea's eye lid!

This little kitten also managed to strip our christmas tree in about an hour. Not just the bulbs either. She managed to climb to the top and throw the angel to the floor and actually started to remove branches!

These unprovoked attacks have led Andrea and I to belive that Miso is either the devil incarnate, or she is plotting world domination. Either way, I advise you all to beware!

So This Is What Happened To Mickey Rooney!

The Holidays

2006-12-27T18:35:00.000-05:00

From Twisted Sisters new Christmas CD:

A Christmas Joke:

Three men died on Christmas Eve and were met by Saint Peter at the pearly gates.

"In honor of this holy season" Saint Peter said, "You must each possess something that symbolizes Christmas to get into heaven."

The first man fumbled through his pockets and pulled out a lighter. He flicked it on. "It represents a candle", he said. "You may pass through the pearly gates" Saint Peter said.

The second man reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. He shook them and said, "They're bells." Saint Peter said "You may pass through the pearly gates".

The third man started searching desperately through his pockets and finally pulled out a pair of women's panties. St. Peter looked at the man with a raised eyebrow and asked, "And just what do those symbolize?" The man replied, "These are Carols."

Ha, Ha, Ha!

Christmas Math (I got this through e-mail):

There are approximately 2 billion children (persons under 18) in the world. However, since Santa does not visit children of Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Jehovah's Witnesses, orBuddhistt religions, this reduces the workload on Christmas night to 15% of the total, or 378 million (according to the Population Reference Bureau). At an average (census) rate of 3.5 children per household, that comes to 108 million homes, presuming that there is at least one good child in each.

Santa has about 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west (which seems logical). This works out to 967.7 visits per second. This is to say that for each Christian household with at least one good child, Santa has around 1/1000th of a second to park the sleigh, jump out, go down the chimney, fill the stockings, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left for him, get back up the chimney, jump in the sleigh, and move on to the next house. (That's why it's really pointless to stay up and wait for him.)

Assuming that each of these 108 million stops is evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course, we know to be false, but will accept for the purposes of our calculations), we are now talking about 0.78 miles per household; a total trip of 75.5 million miles, not counting bathroom breaks. This means that Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second, 3000 times the speed of sound. For the purposes of comparison, the fastest man-made vehicle, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a pokey 75.4 miles per second, and a conventional reindeer can run (at best) 15 miles per hour.

The payload of the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child has nothing more than a medium-sized Lego set (two pounds), the sleigh is carrying over 500 thousand tons, not counting Santa himself. On land, a conventional reindeer can pull nothing more than 300 pounds. Even granted that flying reindeer could pull ten times the normal amount, the job can't be done with eight or nine of them; Santa would need 360,000 of them. This increases the payload, not counting the sleigh itself, another 54,000 tons, or roughly seven times the weight of thElizabethlizibeth (the ship, not the monarch).

600,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance; this would heat up the reindeer in the same fashion as a spacecraft re-entering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer would absorb 14.3 quintillion joules of energy per second each. In short, they would burst into flames almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them and causing deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire reindeer team would be vaporized within 4.2 thousandths of a second, or right about the time Santa reaches the fifth house on his trip. Not that it matters, however, since Santa, as a result of accelerating from a dead stop to 650 miles per second in .001 seconds, would be subjected to centrifugal forces of 17,500 G's. A 250 pound Santa (which seem ludicrously slim) would be pinned to the back of the sleigh by 4,315,015 pound of force, instantly crushing his bones and organs and reducing him to a quivering blob of pink goo.

Therefore, if Santa did exist, he's dead now.

Merry Christmas

RIP To The Godfather

Tis The Season...

2006-12-08T20:01:00.000-05:00

I wasn't sure which of these two images best described what the holiday season has become so I posted them both. I think they are both genius in their simplicity. Perhaps the one on the right is more true than the one on the left, but they are both pretty good.

Not too much new with me personally, but I have a couple of rants to go on. I also found a pretty funny video that combines Star Trek and Nine Inch Nails. It is offensive in language, so be sure that there is not any impressionable youth in the room when you play it.

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

First off I would like to personally thank the world for not subjecting me to the debate on whether it should be the Holiday Tree or the Christmas Tree. 8 days in and I haven't heard a thing. Perhaps we have all finally gotten over it.

I recently listened to the song We Wish You A Merry Christmas and was really taken back by the attitude that this prick had. I'll start from the beginning:

We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Ok, we're off to a good start. Well wishing, good manners, very nice.

Good tidings we bring to you and your kin;
Good tidings for Christmas and a Happy New Year.
WOW! Adding in my kin. This guy is all class!

Oh, bring us a figgy pudding;
Oh, bring us a figgy pudding;
Sure, I want to be a good host. No problem.
Oh, bring us a figgy pudding and a cup of good cheer
Alright, now he's taking liberties by expecting booze. I'll offer you what I have and I ask you to please be courteous.

We won't go until we get some;
We won't go until we get some;
We won't go until we get some, so bring some out here
Alright, Jackass! You went too far. I appreciate the well wishes, but now you are just being rude. Don't make me call the authorities, or force me to remove you physically. Is this really the type of neighborhood that I live in! GOD!

We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Too little, too late. Just get out!

John Lennon

Well today's the anniversary of John Lennon's death. Sales of Catcher in the Rye have never been better! Just kidding, it was a terrible loss. However, I feel his legend is probably far from the truth as far as the way he was as a person. Now from this point on I am probably not going to be winning many friends, but here it goes. This guy sang about no possessions but owned a Rolls Royce and lived in the entire top floor of the Dakota. In fact his first (and most talented) son has been left out of the fortune that John acquired. This does not sound like a man who held the courage of his convictions. I could go on, but not today.

Enough negative. This man is responsible for some of the best music that came out of the last century. Perhaps of all time. The loss of a man like this knows no bounds. Everybody should listen to Elton John's "Empty Garden" this weekend and reflect.

The Videos

2 videos for you guys. The Star Trek one contains foul language and shows Spock trying to violate Kirk. I thought it was funny.

The second one is another claymation video about the Adams Family. Enjoy.

That's all for today. Next time I'll try to be a little more cheery.

Later

One Boring Week!

2006-11-28T13:18:00.000-05:00

Well, as you can tell by the title, not too much has happened in the last week. I am in the middle of some tests so I have been keeping busy with studying. Andrea worked last Saturday and I awaited the arrival of our new armoire. It looks great by the way! Miso went in to be spayed on Monday, so she is on the mend now. That's about it for me.

Star Wars

Just because I'm boring doesn't mean that the blog has to be! Enjoy.

The Mayor of the Sunset Strip

2006-11-20T09:06:00.000-05:00

Movie Reviews

The Mayor of the Sunset Strip
Rating: 4/5

Would you rather be extremely rich, or extremely famous? I'm sure we have all been posed with this question at one time or another. The documentary "The Mayor of the Sunset Strip" is a bout a man who has chosen the latter.

Meet Rodney Bingenheimer. Who? Don't feel bad, I didn't know who this guy was either. Rodney is the man behind the scenes. He has brought almost every modern rock icon to the mainstream. In his words "I am the designated driver between the famous, and the not so famous." This man introduced America to David Bowie, The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, Blondie, Oasis, Coldplay, and Nirvana to name just a few. He is personally credited for creating the LA scene in the 60's and 70's. He had befriended the likes of The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Beachboys, Sonny and Cher, and The Doors when he was just a teenager.

The Mayor of the Sunset Strip attempts to tell the story of the now older man who has been through every bit of the dirty rock n' roll world and has come out of it with his innocence still in tact. From living on the streets, to starting a club, to becoming a writer, to being the biggest DJ in K-ROQ history, Rodney has done it all.

The film spends a lot of time showing the seedy underworld of modern music and some of the unsavoury characters that lie within. Plenty of time was spent with Rodeny's "friend" and record producer Kim Fowley to illustrate this point. It is my personal opinion that this man deserves to be in jail. It frightens me that people like this exist!

We also see the people who genuinly seem to be appreciative of what Rodney has done for them and appear to be his friends. This is a very small circle however. Even some of these people come off as using Rodney for their own personal gain.

At the end of the day, we see this person who is surrounded by so many glamorous people go home alone to a crappy appartment. The only thing Rodey really has to show for his life is the impressive memorbilia that he has collected and hung on his walls.

Although the fim has been shot and edited in a way to portray this man in whatever the director's vision may have been, I feel that it is landing pretty close to the mark. Rodney Bingenheimer's sensitive and loving personality had shone through any filmmaking tricks that are being done, and I really got a sense of who this man is and was. This is a man who did not dedicate his life to a career for money, but instead for love. This move is a good counterpoint to the axiom "Find a job that you love and you will be happy."

We are left with the King of K-ROQ being bumped to the worst time slot on radio (sunday nights 12am to 3am), then being rejected by the woman he loves, and visiting his father who has hung pictures in house of everbody but his own son.

Truly a sad look at a man who deserved so much more.

She's Got Your Eyes

2006-11-17T18:00:00.000-05:00

Hello all. Not too much to report this week. I had my good friend JW over last Saturday, and had a blast. Nursed a hangover on Sunday, and most of Monday. I find that nothing humbles you more than a really bad hangover. And was this one ever bad! Other than that, it was pretty much business as usual around here. Enough about me though, I have some rants and grievances to get off my chest.

Chain E-Mails
I know this is something that we can all relate with, and before I go on about this I want to say that I don't think they are all bad. In fact I enjoy quite a few of the funnier ones. It is the e-mails that are just selling superiority, or pretend to be quoting some celebrity (usually a comedian) that really grind my gears! So every time I receive a bad chain e-mail I am going to post it here along with my opinions on what is being said. Here is this week's chain e-mail (my comments are in italic):

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.
I'm not too sure what the author is trying to say here. Do they think women should still drink and smoke during pregnancy, or are they bragging that their mother did? Either way it's stupid!

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
As far as I know people still take aspirin, eat blue cheese dressing, and tuna from a can. Sure some of the people have health issues that may prevent it, but all of these products are still around for a reason. I also believe that people got tested for diabetes, it's just more widespread now. Probably from poor diet and not enough exercise, but that's a problem that we all have to deal with ourselves.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.
Wow! Is the author complaining that people are trying to avoid SIDs! Also, lead-based paint is a known hazard and I don't think parents of past generations would have used it if they had known the potential health problems is could cause.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.
Personally, I think childproof medicine bottles, doors, and cabinets are good ideas. I also think that wearing a helmet while bike riding is just good sense. And implying that hitchhiking is safe is just insanity!

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.
And when people got into car accidents their children were either badly injured or killed. Thrown around like projectiles until they smashed through the window and landed in the way of oncoming traffic! Why on earth would anybody not want these added safety features after thinking about what could happen without them?

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.
Even though I did this as a kid myself, it's probably not a good idea to continue this practice!

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.
We can still drink from the garden hose! All you need to do is buy a garden hose and attach it to a tap. Water bottles are more convenient though!

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.
Did anyone actually think that they would die from sharing a pop with a friend?

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because. WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!
I still eat cupcakes sometimes! There is nothing wrong with the foods mentioned here, just as longs as they are in moderation. Maybe that's the problem with most people these day (not just kids). A LACK OF SELF CONTROL! Limit yourself to only one cupcake instead of 5 or 6, and everything will be fine. I am going to field the playing outside point in the next part.

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the street lights came on.
Well thre is more of a fear that some person will try to attack or harm our children in some way if we let them out of our sight for too long. There is also a problem with the attitudes in neighborhoods these days. Most cities and towns have passed by-laws banning things like road hockey (and I live in Canada!), and parents are too afraid to let the kids go to the park, or pond, or field by themselves, and are either too busy or lazy to take them themselves. Also kids are being scheduled to death these days. What with things like gym-boree, and play-dates, and the like. I can drone on about this (yes, even longer than I already have), but I feel that I have made my point.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.
Actually, I agree with this one! Although I do understand that a cell phone is good for safety reasons.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
I never in my life have built a go-cart, but I am confident in thinking that I would solve the brakes problem after running into the bushes only once!

We did not have Play stations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms...... WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
But it was the people of these generations that invented these great toys! Why now are they complaining?

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
How the hell do you sue a tree?! We have become a more litigious society though, and the people of these generations are 100% at fault for it! We are the governments and lawyers. Sad but true.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
Just for the record, I never willingly ate worms or mud, although we all still have there freedom to do so if we want to.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
This point is probably hard to sell to someone who lost an eye in a BB gun mishap. Perhaps the world would be a better place today if the parents of yesteryear didn't give us guns to play with like toys.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!
I'm pretty sure people still do this.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!
Rep teams still have tryouts. Those who don't make the team can play in house league. I believe that everybody has a right to play organized sports regardless of their skill-set.

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
I don't think the people in our jails would be a good influence on our children. Best to keep them out if you can. Still though discipline will be needed. Parents, THIS IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY, not the justice systems.

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!
There were also great risk-takers, problem solvers, and inventors before these generations. Just look at Thomas Edison!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!
Inventions like video games, surround sound, DVD's, CD's, Mp3s , and all the others ones that the author complained about!

If YOU are one of them . . CONGRATULATIONS! (like being born during a specific period is something to be proud of!)
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good
We did vote them in.

And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were.
But mostly stupid form the sounds of it.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?
Nope, my parents told me that was dangerous.

Conclusion
E-mails like that one are just trying to make you feel superior. How can we say which way is better if we didn't experience both ways of growing up? Perhaps is is more accurate to say that we grew up in different times, with different activities. And most importantly, we enjoyed it! Perhaps judging today's children for the way they are growing up is wrong. Perhaps we should be looking at the people who are raising the children in an environment that produced these results and notice that they come from the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, and 70's. Perhaps these generations made better children than parents. Or maybe, everything is fine. Just different.