I really am a lucky guy

white portulaca edit .. is it art?

2010-12-01T16:51:00.001-05:00

white portulaca edit .. is it art?, originally uploaded by AC'63.

2010-10-10T16:48:00.000-04:00

I'm still alive but I'm over here ... Oreo Cookie Blues .... see ya

2009-12-21T11:15:00.003-05:00

The Globe and Mail Journalism Dream Contest

2009-11-06T13:51:00.000-05:00

The Globe and Mail Journalism Dream Contest

2008-12-19T10:10:00.001-05:00

2008-11-21T11:53:00.001-05:00

Okay .. sit down drink a "POP" (aka Beer) and watch this... Don Cherry with Rick Mercer .. pure Canadian humour.

2008-09-25T09:32:00.001-04:00

I don't want to get political, but we are about to have a election here in Canada. The conservatives are probably going to stay in power and Harper seems to be trying to make us into "Little America". The video above is a great response to his cuts in Cultural spending. Hopefully we can get the NDP and Liberals to form a coalition government to defeat Harper. (Do you think they are that smart?)

I support the funding of Canadian arts. Do you?

2008-08-13T15:27:00.001-04:00

What happened on Monday May 26th?

2008-05-26T10:59:00.004-04:00

White Hyacinth

I'm still alive but I'm over here ... Oreo Cookie Blues .... see ya

What happened on Thursday April 3rd?

2008-04-03T13:23:00.002-04:00

Aretha Franklin is canceled. Wife and I had tickets to go see her at Rama tonight. We get a call last night, letting us know that the "star" has canceled the show for personal reasons, but we will be reimbursed the purchase price of the tickets.

One of the women I worked with cracked a joke that there "Won't be any R-E-S-P-E-C-T for Aretha tonight"

Arrgh! and I was really looking forward to going.

What happened on Monday March 24th?

2008-03-24T10:16:00.005-04:00

Eldest turns 16 today, Wow! Hard to believe he is 16, I remember his birth like yesterday. He is a great kid, a bit touchy and can feel slighted very easily, but I think he is going to turn out to be a really great warm hearted guy. He is almost as tall as me now, long shaggy hair (we are forever getting notes telling us to have his hair cut for school), two earrings now (the third hole that he did himself tore apart!) and is just nice to be around. So happy 16th birthday Eldest, we may not always get along but I'm glad I'm your Dad.

I took him to see the Foo Fighters on Saturday, great concert .. read the reviews. I took a bunch of pictures with my cell phone. Not great but I will try to post some of them in the next few days.

2008-03-20T15:47:00.001-04:00

What happened on Wednesday March 19th?

2008-03-19T11:13:00.003-04:00

Today sucks, Wife told me this morning that a friends son was shot and killed last night. This is hard to process, he was 35, I've known him since he was 15. We only see him once a year but we are are very close to his father and step-mother. This type of crap has to end.

I also just found out that Arthur C. Clarke passed away last night. There is to much death right now.

Hopefully with spring better things will begin.

2008-03-06T15:17:00.002-05:00

ON HOLIDAY, SEE YOU IN A WEEK!

While I'm gone enjoy the music, The Diodes - Red Rubber Ball -:> (download mp3)

What happened on Monday March 3rd?

2008-03-03T09:10:00.007-05:00

Damn... this sucks .. you probably already heard... Jeff Healy .. a awesome jazz/blues/rock guitarist has passed away. Talk about someone who died before his time.

Howlin' Wolf - Wang Dang Doodle -> (download mp3)

Lonnie Mack with Stevie Ray Vaughn -> Oreo Cookie Blues (Download mp3)

Great news for me I got my Numark TT USB Turntable last night. Once we get back from vacation, I'm going to start digitizing albums.

What happened on Monday February 18th?

2008-02-18T23:56:00.006-05:00

Okay here I am Forty-five years old and happy (drugged but happy .. joking). Yesterday was my birthday, and I really don't feel a day over twenty-five.

Aren't we supposed to feel older and more mature as we grow up? I always thought I would, but every day I am surprised that I have 3 kids between 15 and 8. That I've been married to the same beautiful woman for 20 years. That I have been working for almost twenty three years (spread that over about 7 companies). Here I am supposedly getting old and I just don't feel that way. (hey the other night at TaiKwonDo I was doing ninja rolls and summersaults .. I paid for it the next day). So I guess what I saying is all that myth about adults getting older and wiser is just crap (shhh!!! don't let the secret out)

Here it is the first official Family Day in Ontario and I am at work. Or at least I am supposed to be working. What are you doing?

Here is a couple of original tracks and cover versions for you to listen to. Which version do you like better?

John Lee Hooker - Boom Boom Boom (download .mp3)
The Animals - Boom Boom Boom(live)(download .mp3)
Howlin' Wolf - Killing Floor (download .mp3)
Jimi Hendrix - Killing Floor(live Monterey Pop)(download .mp3)

If you like the music go out and buy some.

I just finished reading White Night by Jim Butcher. If you want a great read with a lot of adventure, humour and just all around fun, pick up any of Jim's Dresden file books. Now I read a fair bit, but lately I've been looking into what and how I read. School books and Non Fiction, I can't get into, in fact I can't pay attention to a single page long enough to get any information out of it. (though for some reason I can read biographies) I read what I call movie books. If I can get into a book deep enough I begin to see the action and characters as if they are on a screen and I'm watching a movie.
Anyway .. take some time a pick up a Dresden book, if you have read any before I would suggest #1 "Storm Front"

What happened on Monday February 11th?

2008-02-11T10:03:00.001-05:00

I haven't made a personal post in a fair while (I probably have lost most of my regular friends), mainly because I'm not willing to admit things to myself. Kind of a bold statement don't ya think!

What's going on is I have been suffering from depression for about the last 10 months or so. I hadn't done anything about it until recently because I felt I was being a wimp and just causing myself to be down. Due to how I've been handling the depression I've been flying off the handle quickly, yelling a lot, this has made me a real asshole to my family and just a jerk to live with. I finally felt I had to do something about it when I was getting suicidal thoughts. Not that I would ever do it, just that I would think how much better Wife and kids would be without me.

I went to the doctor a few weeks ago, he has put me on a antidepressant called Cipralex. I find the affects to be interesting. My emotions/reactions aren't as explosive .. I'm thinking before I get upset or worked up and I can make a more intelligent decision about what my reaction needs to be. For the most part it's kind of nice. There are down side's to this, I get a slight nausea feeling an hour or two after I take the pill. Late in the day around two or three pm I get incredibly tired and this may sound weird but I have to remind myself which part of my progressive lenses that I need to look out of. I've also come to realize that I handle my emotions differently then people around me.

We have been talking to a family councillor the last few months, on how to handle raising a teenager with ADD-I. Part of is that I have come to realise that I am also ADD (I have to get myself tested, but like I said other things have to come first -- BILLS!!!), and I don't know how to explain this but I get a rush from extreme emotions. These pills make me feel mostly dead emotionally (though it has been explained to me that I am feeling and thinking about things the way everyone else does - damn you guys are emotionally dead), things that would normally set me off in a emotional high I am now thinking about and realise that I don't have to overreact, where before I would have gone through the roof. I was or better put I do enjoy the extreme rush of the emotional reaction. Though I now realize that this is not good for me, my family and my married life.

I have had a couple of anxiety attacks since starting to take the pills, mainly while I'm out shopping with Wife, I think these originate when I'm conflicting between what she wants me to do and the fact that it goes against what I want. My only problem is that I get testy and snappy when this happens and I get upset at her. I don't want to do this, so I have to work on this. I know that I will need to talk to someone about this, I have plans to it's just right now I have to many other things that I need to get done.

Things are going well for Eldest, he is on a new ADD med and is succeeding at school. In fact today we have been informed that in two of the classes that he has been struggling in, he was able to get a 85% in the last two tests as opposed to 45% to 55% that he was getting. He is happy and says he likes the difference between (as he says) the focused world and the unfocused world.

Middle is being a thirteen year old, the attitude is incredible, but for the most part she is a wonderful human being who puts up with being a middle child trapped between a brother who is getting a ton of attention and a little sister who demands attention. Life can be unfair, but we are trying to be fair with her. She hates being a goalie, but she plays so well, its a shame but I think this year will be her last year in hockey.

Youngest is youngest, demanding attention, seeking confirmation that she is the centre of attention. She wants to be a famous singer when she grows up, but just try to get her to practice.

Well that is it from me, I've come clean with myself and now back to music and pictures of plants.

Enjoy Muddy Waters,download
Mannish Boy.mp3

What happened on Friday February 1st?

2008-02-01T13:37:00.000-05:00

17 days till I'm half way to 90, 14 days to the day of Love. Not a lot to post about, or anything that I'm willing to write about for now. Enjoy the music

From Rent, download the mp3 of " Seasons of Love" {Buy}

What happened on Friday January 25th?

2008-01-25T09:59:00.000-05:00

"Where's the mouse?", Rascal likes to attack the curser.

Feast One Hundred & Seventy Seven , for Friday, January 25th, 2008

Appetizer
How many times per day do you usually laugh?
Not sure right now, I guess a couple of times. I know today I've laughed at least 3 times so far. Maybe soon I will laugh more.

Soup
What do your sunglasses look like?
They are clipons that go onto my Progressive lenses, yea I'm getting old!

Salad
You win a free trip to anywhere on your continent, but you have to travel by train. Where do you go?
I want to go fishing on the very tip of the Baja Peninsula at Cabo San Lucas . I don't know if you can get there by train but I sure hope you can.

Main Course
Name one thing you consider a great quality about living in your town/city.
The people for the most part are still nice to each other.

Dessert
If the sky could be another color, what color do you think would look best?
A shade of pale green would be nice.

From Boing Boing Jan 21/08

2008-01-21T12:56:00.000-05:00

Canadian Privacy Commissioner rejects DRM: don't give spyware legal protection!

Posted by Cory Doctorow, January 20, 2008 10:04 PM permalink

Jennifer Stoddart, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, has published an open letter to Industry Minister Jim Prentice, who has been working behind the scenes to resurrect his disaster of a copyright bill, which will import the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act to Canada. The DMCA has been a total failure, resulting in nearly 30,000 lawsuits against music fans, massive anti-competitive effects, and despite all that, no discernable decrease in unauthorised copying.
At issue in Stoddart's letter is the idea of protecting "Digital Rights Management" anti-copying and use-control systems in law. These systems frequently spy on users and then "phone home" with detailed information about your activities. The Privacy Commissioner is understandably alarmed at the prospect of changing Canadian law to make it illegal to tamper with this spyware:
If DRM technologies only controlled copying and use of content, our Office would have few concerns. However, DRM technologies can also collect detailed personal information from users, who often do no more than access the content on a computer. This information is transmitted back to the copyright owner or content provider, without the consent or knowledge of the user. Although the means exist to circumvent these technologies and thus prevent the collection of this information, previous proposals to amend the Copyright Act contained anti-circumvention provisions.
Technologies that report back to a company about the use of a product reveal a great deal about an individual’s tastes and preferences. Indeed, such information can be extremely personal. Technologies that automatically collect personal information about individuals without their knowledge or consent violate the fair information principles that are central to PIPEDA and most other privacy legislation. That this occurs when individuals are engaged in a private activity in their homes or other places where they have a high expectation of privacy exacerbates the intrusiveness of the collection.

Link (via Ars Technica)

What happened on Tuesday January 1st?

2008-01-01T02:17:00.000-05:00

Welcome to 2008,

Happy New Year

... may it be the best for all of you and your loved ones. Keep well in the coming year and I wish you all that you can handle. Stay well!!

This is my neighbours house, they do it to raise money for sick kids hospital, can you believe we even have tour buses come to our street!

Hore Frost, on Boxing Day 2007 (that Dec 26th to you guys south of the border)

What happened on Saturday December 22nd?

2007-12-22T22:44:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to say we miss you Joe!

letsgetarocking - 101'ers [download]the mp3
White Riot Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros (with Mick Jones).[download]the mp3
1977 - the Clash [download] the mp3

(download and listen, if you like go buy the albums and support the artists.)

What happened on Thursday December 20th?

2007-12-20T13:41:00.000-05:00

Just in case I don't get to do a Xmas post. Merry Christmas.

I have done almost no shopping, I still need to find stuff for Wife. I was supposed to go out at lunch to get gift for Eldest .. argh!!! Youngests health card expired .. I had to go replace that! Eldest has drum lessons tonight. Then I get to go shopping.

Everyone is well, both Eldest and Youngest had recitals in the last two weeks. Both were scared but performed to their best. Eldest plays drums, so he played along to Another Brick in the Wall by Pink Floyd .. Youngest plays the piano, she played Cuckoo, and a Christmas song. Middle is going through a faze of not liking her parents right now, with ATTITUDE .. Argh, lord love a duck give me patience.

Have fun, enjoy the snow and the gifts.

What happened on Thursday December 13th?

2007-12-13T09:23:00.000-05:00

We forget how safe we are here in Canada .. 70 years ago today the Japanese took over Nanking.

Here we are entering the Christmas season, Canada is at war (though we don't really think about it unless you know someone who is or has served in Afghanistan). We are safe here, and have been safe for a very long time. We (not our government) have to be aware of history and current events so that we can make sound decisions about the future of our country and its interaction with the world.

What happened on Saturday December 8th?

2007-12-07T15:09:00.000-05:00

Ever since I began blogging I have done a December 8th post. Not because of Pearl Habour (though this is a event that changed the course of western democracy, allowing the creation of the super power to the south of Canada, but because of the death of a single man. Stupid right, how could one person (who is not a member of your family) be important enough to write about every year.

The morning of Dec 9th 1980 was a normal school day for me, I woke to the radio (Q107) and the announcer saying the John Lennon was dead, shot as he entered the building he lived in. Sounds odd, but the world stopped, and I walked around in a daze for the rest of the day. Here I was 17, and I was upset by the death of some guy I had never met. A great uncle had died that summer, I wasn't as upset about his death as I was by Lennon's. Why? I liked his music, I had grown up with it. Though we never had Beatles albums in my parents house (or at least until I had brougth home my copy of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band a few summers before), when a Beatles song came on the radio (which is always on) the volume would go up. Mom was only 26 when she had me, I always thought that she really wanted to be a Beatles fan, but would never admit it.

John Lennon was a really good musician, a great lyricst, a member of a band that changed . But why did it upset me. I think it was the realization that everything was not hunky dory, that you could go out your door and not return. That just because something beautiful existed didn't mean that it couldn't be destroied. That the dreams you have might not come true and you do have to except reality.

Anyway here are a couple of John Lennon songs for you to remember him by. As I said about Norvel, celebrate his life. Buy his albums, share his ideas and dreams. They just might make the world a better place.

*The Beatles - Help! - Help!.mp3
*John Lennon - John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band-Working Class Hero.mp3
*John Lennon - Live in New York City -Instant Karma.mp3

What happened on Thursday December 5th?

2007-12-05T08:45:00.000-05:00

December is beginning to be a very shitty month for me. My heroes are dying. On Saturday it will be 27 years since John Lennon was shot outside the Dakota in New York. It has been almost 5 years since Joe Strummer passed away from a heart attack.

Now, one of my favorite painters has died from Parkinson's Disease. Norvel Morriseau is dead. His work is vibrant, colourful and powerful. I felt the link to the earth in what he painted. He introduced the world to what is called the "Woodlands Style" of work. In my opinion, he tried to show people Canada as it is in our hearts not in our eyes. I was a "wannabe" because of his work. I wanted to be a artist, I tried my hand at paintings in the woodlands style, I loved how the work would flow from my hands, expressing my feelings without having to speak. I wanted to be a native Canadian. I wanted to study art because of Norvel. I want to thank him for over 30 years worth of dreams. I know his life wasn't easy, I know that he didn't make life easy for some of the people around him, but I hope they remember him for his love and not his mistakes. Take a few minutes to read about the life of Norvel, take a couple of hours to see his work. Go to a local gallery, here in the GTA you can head up to Klienburg to the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and spend a few hours viewing not only Norvel's work, but also the work of some other exceptional Canadian artists.

Enjoy his work, and celebrate a life.

What happened on Thursday November 30th?

2007-11-30T14:44:00.000-05:00

Youngest was born 8 years ago today. Every day has been a joy. Her fire and will drive us to distraction, but the love she gives is overwhelming. She is a Diva who is always on stage, always preforming...even when she does not have a audience.

Happy birthday little girl.

We have bought the kids concert tickets as a enticement to excel at school. Youngest and Middle have a chance to go to Avirl Lavigne in April, and Eldest might get to see The Foo Fighters in march.

Remember to go buy CD's or pay for your downloads.

Enjoy The Stranglers "European Female". Download the MP3

What happened on Thursday November 22nd?

2007-11-22T15:49:00.000-05:00

Navona Square Rome, Fountain of the Rivers by Bernini

Food Meme
From Electronic Cerebrectomy who got it from Byzantium's Shores,

1. How do you like your eggs?
Scrambled with Mozzarella Cheese and Sopressata

2. How do you take your coffee/tea?
Coffee half spoon sugar and small amount of 1% milk (enough to make it a burnt carmel colour), Tea should only be drunk straight, hot and strong. (not a strong as my mother likes it, after one of her cups of tea it feels like you scraped a layer of enamel off you teeth.

3. Favorite breakfast food?
Peanut Butter and Jam on fresh bread toasted, but normally I have yogurt and granola.

4. Peanut butter - smooth or crunchy?
For me smooth in the morning and crunchy at night. (addendum 11/23/07 4:30 PM --I have been asked to explain this one. I will only eat smooth peanut butter in the morning with my breakfast, and in the evening I like to have crunchy peanut butter with banana as a evening snack - or at least I used to before I started to watch my weight)

5. What kind of dressing on your salad?
Olive Oil and balsamic vinegar

6. Coke or Pepsi?
Neither, I have not had a pop in over 10 years.

7. You’re feeling lazy, what do you make?
Scarmbled eggs.

8. You’re feeling really lazy. What kind of pizza do you order?
Pepperoni and cheese from the local pizzeria .. but they also make the best baked panzarotto, and then I put homemade tomato sauce on it.

9. You feel like cooking. What do you make?
Roast beef, baked potatoes, beets and broccoli

10. Do any foods bring back good memories?
Panzarotti's (we used to eat them all the time in college watching hockey games and drinking beer), scotish short bread cookies (my grandmothers house at Christmas time), and

11. Do any foods bring back bad memories?
Cabbage, Brussel sprouts or shrimp .. don't stand within five feet of me. Yech!

12. Do any foods remind you of someone?
Dim Sum .. a girlfriend that I didn't want to lose.

13. Is there a food you refuse to eat?
Squid.

14. What was your favorite food as a child?
Christmas Pudding or Christmas/Fruit Cake .. I still love them .. or even Grilled Cheese sandwiches with ketchup.

15. Is there a food that you hated as a child but now like?
Mushrooms and Liver, As a kid I would not eat mushrooms if my life depended on it. years ago my future mother-in-law fried wild mushrooms up with garlic cloves, I have loved mushrooms ever since. (I still can't eat cream of mushroom soup though). As for liver, my mother would cook it until it was dead. One night out dinner with Wife, I felt like having something different and ordered Liver and Onions. It was awesome. I never knew liver could taste that good.

16. Is there a food that you liked as a child but now hate?No

17. Favorite fruit and vegetable:
Fruit: Pink Lady Apples, Vegetables: Boiled Beets

18. Favorite junk food:
Toasted Corn

19. Favorite between meal snack:
I really try to avoid this snacks and have fruit .. but I really like to have crackers and cheese.

20. Do you have any weird food habits?
I will only eat one thing off my plate at a time.

21. You’re on a diet. What food(s) do you fill up on?
Fruit (I'm trying write this and eat a grapefruit right now!)

22. You’re off your diet. Now what would you like?
BBQ Ribs

23. How spicy do you order Indian/Thai?
North American really hot .. but not Thai hot.

24. Can I get you a drink?
Water. If I'm not driving, maybe a beer.

25. Red wine or white?
Red.

26. Favorite dessert?
Apple Brown Betty .

What happened on Firday November 9th?

2007-11-09T14:42:00.000-05:00

Damn I am going to see this movie.

This is just about to much to watch .. watch it.

http://view.break.com/211329 - Watch more free videos

What happened on Wednesday October 31st?

2007-10-31T22:42:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween everyone. Enjoy the screaming goblins and ghosts. Try not to leer at and underaged vampiras. We had a lot of fun tonight, Middle disappeard, Eldest realized Halloween is just for kids and youngest had a great time with her mom. Would you believe people were taking pictures of my pumpkins, weird.

Three doors down (not the band) the had a haunted house, late teens/early twenty males scaring the life out of any teenage girl, was funny to watch these girls running down the street screaming.

Last night wife and I stayed up getting everything ready for All Hallow's Eve .. Wife doing youngests costume. She is going out as a Dark Fairy .. Wife did a incredible job on the costume, just her frustraion level maxed out with all of us. Middle is going out with her girl friends, she's 13 don't ya know and wants nothing to do with her old man, Eldest says he is going up to his cousins to go Trick or Treating .. I'm supposed to drive him (I don't know, don't you think 15 is to old to be going out?)

I've done up four pumpkins .. a dragon, a spider, a upside down bat and a traditional Jack O'Lantern .. carving pumpkins is my Halloween, this is what gets me excited about the day. I love to see the kids eyes when they see the pumpkins.

Any way, I've joined a group over at Facebook, 1,000,000 Strong For Rick Mercer, which made me think of Rick's outing with the Toronto Rock. Low and behold, someone has posted it on Facebook.
Enjoy!, this is classic Mercer.

What happened on Monday October 29th?

2007-10-29T14:33:00.000-04:00

Hallow-meme from Samurai Frog

1. What is your favorite work of horror fiction?
Not a big fan of horror (I’m just a big wuss, I get scared very easily) but I think the best I’ve ever read was Stephen King’s It

2. Who is your favorite monster?
The “Alien” from Ridely Scotts Alien series. I don’t think I have ever been able to watch one of these movies right through.

3. What horror movie gives you the most chills?
The Thing From Another World. Yes I am 44, but I have never watched this movie all the way through. I remember sitting in the family room on a Saturday afternoon watching this movie with my sisters. I hid behind the couch.

4. Freddy versus Jason?
Never seen them, never will. Well I did watch some of a Jason movie. Back before we we had even thought of getting married (23 years ago) we were at wifes girlfriends house watching a movie. I had turned around to talk to (future) Wife, turned back just as a fist went through a car movie. I did a one eighty and ened up with my head in wifes lap. I did not live that one down for a long time.

5. Ghosts or goblins?
Goblins, Ghosts I can handle they are insubstantial so they can do anything to you.

6. What is your scariest encounter with the paranormal?
Saw the black hearse being drawn by 8 black horses racing through the sky. (great grandmother told me that it meant someone had died.) I think I was drunk, so does it really count?

7. Do you believe in ghosts?
Yes, but how can they hurt you.

8. Favorite Halloween costume?
I guess I was about eight or so, I was a pirate. Mom did the charcoal beard, eye patch, and crape paper around the top of my rubber boots to make them look like pirate boots. I had just seen Captain Blood for the first time.

9. If you had an unlimited budget, what would your fantasy costume be for this Halloween?
One of the Cylons from the original Battlestar Galactica

10. When was the last time you went trick or treating?
I was ten, the first year we moved to Barrie. I went out a Columbo. People in the neighbourhood asked me why I was out for Halloween, “was I not to old?

11. What's your favorite Halloween candy?
Sponge Toffee .. one of my teachers in public school lived up the street from us. She gave this out ever year.

12. Tell us about a scary nightmare you had.
I remember having a flying dream once where I suddenly lost the power to fly and fell out of the sky.

13. What is your supernatural fear?
Have always had problems with werewolves, not sure why but I still get creeped out walking in the bush late at night.

14. What is your creepy-crawlie fear?
None .. okay maybe I have problems with seeing a mass of cockroaches .. but they just ugly.

15. Would you ever stay in a real haunted house overnight?
Yes, or what I always thought of a haunted house. My Great Grandmother had a bedroom that was always locked, I used to image that one of my mothers relatives was locked away in there, and would try and get out to kill us at night. This was a big old house that only my Grandmother and Great-Grandmother lived in. I found it dark and kind of smelly.

16. Are you a traditionalist (just a face) Jack O'Lantern carver, or do you get really creative with your pumpkins?
I do both, tell me what you think?

17. How much do you decorate your home for Halloween?
Wife likes to go nuts, so we have spider webs, spiders, bats, Halloween lights.. etc. Me I would be happy with just the pumpkins. I bought four today.

18. Do you think Halloween is too commercial these days? Do you miss classic Halloween costumes or traditions from your childhood?
Way to commercial, as a kid Halloween would always come about as kind of a surprise, you’d have a few days to get your costume together and that was it. Youngest has been talking about Halloween for a month now. I'm dating myself here but I can still remember getting homemade candy apples, fudge and sponge toffee. We've spent about $60 on candies (we bought the chocolates early on sale). We should be seeing about 150 kids tonight.

What happened on Sunday October 14th?

2007-10-14T22:24:00.000-04:00

Rome at night, yes that bus is really that small.

Arrrgh!!!! I am so sick.

I had a great time at Gogol Bordello. Awesome concert. I got there early, a bit to early 8pm. Got a great spot, right up to the front, only about 2 deep from the stage ... the opening act, Dub Trio, didn't come on til 9pm. Dub Trio is a pretty cool band, Bass Guitar Drums doing Art Rock/Metal/Punk/Dub .. really interesting but LOUD. You could feel the bass cords inside your body.

By the time Gogol Bordello came on I was soaked with sweat. My hair, shirt and pants were wet with sweat. I have not be crowded by people since I don't know when. The music was great, LOUD again (next time I will bring ear plugs) Then the mosh pit began right behind me. Started getting slamed from all sides, claustraphobia clicked in and I had to get out. Finally after wading through the pit, I got to the outside and was able to watch the concert in some peace. Occasionally getting you foot steped on, slammed by someone falling out of the pit. But hey I had a great time. Can't remember the songs, in fact the guy I was with said afterword that it was the best concert that he had ever been at where he could not understand a word being sung.

Anyway Gogol Bordello was great, but it made me so sick. I still haven't gotten over the cold. Had to take a day off of work on Thursday. Then I spent most of today in bed.

Enjoy a couple of cover versions:

Willie William-Armagideon Time (Download)
The Clash-Armagideon Time (Download)
The Who-Baba O'Riley (Download)
Waco- Baba O'Riley (Download)

What happened on Friday October 5th?

2007-10-05T09:23:00.000-04:00

Wow, I've got the greatest Wife in the world. Tuesday nights are swamped for us, we have swimming lessons for Youngest, then piano and drum lessons for her and Eldest (Eldest does the drum lesson). So from 6 pm to 8pm on that night we are on the go. Well, Wife is okay with me going out to see Gogol Bordello next Tuesday. I am so pumped, this is a great band that is hard to pigeon hole. They are from New York, play eastern European gypsy punk rock? Anyway I'm off to see them next Tuesday at the Kool Haus all because I have the sexist, hottest, coolest Wife alive.

I've got to say, Happy Birthday Dad (he's 75 today.)

We had some really interesting adventures while in Europe, we would head off as a group and do our own thing. When we in Monaco, one of the books Wife head said that we should see Menton, France. So off on the train we went to Menton. It was a very pretty city, but not really worth the time we lost in Monte Carlo. Any way, while walking and trying to find these very old churches that the guide book said we need to see we came across the most incredible set of stairs. (all we seemed to do on this cruise was stairs, would you believe I lost weight on a cruise!)

You start at this pretty little plaza, water fountain built into a wall, cafe to one side, pastry shop beside it and touristy stores beside them .. You begin climbing this set of stairs.

You take a jog to the left, then a turn to the right, another turn to the right, a left turn (these steps are really getting steep!)
You go through this very steep, dark, damp tunnel and come out in a sun lit church plaza

Another adventure from our Western Mediterranean cruise on the MSC Cruise Line.

Have fun listening to Gogol Bordello:
Marinella (download the mp3)
Supertheory of Supereverything (download the mp3)
Bordello Kind of Guy (download the mp3)

Remember go out and support a band, see the concert, buy the CD, get yourself a T-Shirt. They aren't doing it for free.

2007-10-01T15:09:00.000-04:00

I'm being watched. No really not just by the kittens. Mgmt is watching everything we do on the computers at work so we have to be careful.

I will try to post from home but we shall see.

What happened on Tuesday September 25th?

2007-09-25T09:15:00.000-04:00

I don't know about you, but it seems to me that to many talented people are dying latley. The Canadian art world has just lost Ken Danby. He passed away on sunday while on a canoe trip in Algonquin Park.

Danby was what is called a realist. He painted the world as he saw it, as you would capture it with a camera. His work included nature, animals and iconic Canadian scenes.

Danby was a artist known during his lifetime, he was able to make a living doing what he loved. I hope that he passed with as little pain as possible, doing something he has always enjoyed.

Portofino Harbour, Italy

2007-09-21T15:47:00.001-04:00

Portofino Harbour, Italy, originally uploaded by Andrew Crump.

When we were in Genoa, we went to the world famous Aquarium they have there. We did not take the excursion from the cruise line, because we wanted to walk around Genoa for a while, then went to the aquarium. Wow, it was worth it, I was happy.

Afterwards, Wife wanted to see Portofino, because she had heard so much about it. It's about a half hour from Genoa. I didn't thing we would be able to make it ( the cruise line only allowed one excursion a day), but Wife and the Father/Daughter team that we were with talked me into it. So we got on the train (4 euros each-return trip) and went to Santa Margherita Ligure where we caught a bus (1 euro each way) to Portofino. We spent about two hours walking around Portofino and then reversed the trip to Genoa and the ship. Made it back 15 minutes before it left the port.

What a great day, I would say one of the best of the trip. I definatly want to spend more time in Santa Margherita Ligure, what a beautiful town.

Map reading in Mdina, Malta

2007-09-21T15:31:00.001-04:00

Map reading in Mdina, Malta, originally uploaded by Andrew Crump.

Wife looking at a map in Mdina, Malta. This is a walled city going back to the early history of Malta. Its a very pretty town/fortress/city, worth the visit.

Oh yea, for you plumbers out there .. see the pipe on the wall to the right. That is the waste pipe for the building. They couldn't but it inside the solid stone wall.

By the way, any photos you see of wife are a series I call "photos postérieur", she just kept on moving and I could only get the shots from behind.

back alleyway in Menton France (4)

2007-09-21T15:25:00.001-04:00

back alleyway in Menton France (4), originally uploaded by Andrew Crump.

This is a back alleyway in Menton France. Menton is a small city to the east of Monaco, it has a beautiful stone beach, orange trees lining the roads and has the claim to the grave of the man who invented rugby.

Shopping in Monaco

2007-09-21T15:15:00.001-04:00

Shopping in Monte Carlo, Monaco, originally uploaded by Andrew Crump.

Wife shopping on the "Rock" in Monte Carlo. Very touristy things, nothing special.

The buses in Rabbat Malta

2007-09-21T14:55:00.001-04:00

Bus in Rabbat Malta (20), originally uploaded by Andrew Crump.

Beautiful country, Malta, I would go back in a minute! If you want sun, water, history .. go to Malta.

Deep in the heart of the Souk, Tunis

2007-09-21T14:46:00.001-04:00

Souk in Tunis, originally uploaded by Andrew Crump.

The Souk was a roofed over shoping district in Tunis. The men (all the sales people were men) stood at their shop doors and tried their best to get you in their doors. Some went as far to chase you down the walk way. A very big tourist trap. Not your kind of shopping Nic!

2007-09-17T15:05:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a sad day for WOT fans. James Oliver Rigney Jr AKA, Robert Jordan has passed away after a long illness at only 58 years old.

I have been reading WOT ever since Joe Mahoney came up to me in the old CBC tech lounge and said "Have to read this!" It was the first book of the Wheel Of Time, Eye of the World. I have been trapped since. Jordan created a world, with realistic characters that you wanted to find out more about. He left you wanting to know what happened next. Now I have trapped my Eldest into reading these great novels.

As far as I know he has not finished the series, so we may never know what happens to Rand Al'thor

What happened on Thursday September 13th?

2007-09-13T09:39:00.000-04:00

Well we are back. Had a great trip. Swamped with work, so once I get a chance to get my head above water I will give you a full review of the trip. For now, enjoy some photos.

The Lion of San Lorenzo, Genoa

A Blue fishing boat in the Monte Carlo harbour.

A sewer grate in Portofino, Italy.

Night effects walking along the Tiber in Rome

Trevi fountain, Rome. You would not belive the amount of graffiti in Rome, most of it in english, but what a wonderful city especially at night.

What happened on Wednesday August 31st?

2007-08-31T10:16:00.000-04:00

Dahlia

The following is pulled from "Marketnews Weekly Newsletter - Issue #353"

It's no secret that sales of CDs have been declining as the popularity in downloading digital tracks continues to explode. In an effort to make CD purchases more attractive, and in celebration of the 25th anniversary of this successor format to the cassette tape, HMV has decided to drop CD prices by as much as 33%, or $10 per disc! It's a bold move on the retailer's part, but it could very well trigger other retailers to follow suit, and help to reinvigorate the category. Check out this week's blog entries, which include further commentary on HMV's decision to offer lower-priced CDs.

As I was out shopping last night for pants for the cruise, I slipped into HMV. (I was hoping that I would find the new Bedouin Soundclash CD "Street Gospels" for $10 .. it was still $14.99. What they seemed to be doing in bundling the price, if you buy two CD's you would get them both for $20, as opposed to $14.99 each. Unfortunately Street Gospels wasn't bundled. I will wait impatiently.

I am gone for a week, we have to be at the airport by 4:30 and we have a 10hr flight to Rome. Sorry, but I am going change how I handle comments, but I will be back in a week to check out how everyone is. So, have a great first week back to school and I will post pictures when I get back.

Give a listen to the mucic posted in the previous post, and go out and buy some music.

What happened on Wednesday August 29th?

2007-08-29T14:10:00.000-04:00

Sunflower

It doesn't happen very often, but I think I just fell into some very good luck. If you remember, Wife and I were trying to figure out where we could go for our 20Th wedding anniversary. Well, the moons aligned, the stars are in the house of Aquarius, and I sat on a horseshoe.

A cruise that we were looking at a few months ago, but decided against because it would be to expensive (around $6000 for the two of us), has come through. We are going to go on a Western Mediterranean cruise for just over $3000 (taxes included).

Here's where we are going.

Saturday Rome, Italy 12:00 PM Overnight
Sunday Civitavecchia, Rome, Italy 8:00 PM
Monday Genoa, Italy 9:00 AM 5:00 PM
Tuesday Monte Carlo, Monaco 7:00 AM 2:00 PM
Wednesday Valencia, Spain 2:00 PM 10:00 PM
Thursday At Sea
Friday La Valetta, Malta 8:00 AM 1:00 PM
Saturday Tunis, Tunisia 8:00 AM 1:00 PM
Sunday Civitavecchia, Rome, Italy 8:00 AM Fly home

Oh I forgot to mention, we have a day and night in Rome with a tour included and an upgrade to a outside cabin from in interior cabin. I got a call yesterday from the travel agent asking if we were still interested as she had a great deal for me. We jumped on it. All this because we have to be on a plane a 7:40 pm August 31 2007. Yes indeed, in two days Wife and I fly out for a week of sun and touring.

This type of thing doesn't normally happen for me, so I'm waiting for the catch. So far none.

I'll post pictures when we get back. Oh by the way, I am the one who found the cruise... so I scored some real brownie points with Wife.

Download MP3 "One Week" Barenaked Ladies - Cause I'm gone for one week!
Download MP3 "Maybe Baby" Buddy Holly - Cause, maybe we just might get some time .. nudge nudge wink wink.
Download MP3 "Tishialuk Girls" (live) Great Big Sea - Cause I'm going on a great big sea.

Enjoy the downloads, they will be available for a short time. If someone wants them taken down, just leave a note. Go out and buy some CD's
AC

What happened on Wednesday August 22nd?

2007-08-22T15:57:00.000-04:00

Zantedeschia

20 years ago today I got married. I'm good with that.
Going out to dinner tonight.
No decision on where or when we are going on our trip yet, Wife has a spread sheet of about 100 places that we have to review. She is very good at research.

What happened on Tuesday August 21st?

2007-08-21T15:11:00.000-04:00

The last bottle.(Spidey - he climbs very well)

As I said in a earlier post, Eldest found 3-4 week old kittens. In these photos they were about 6 weeks old. (Now they are almost 8 weeks old) So we had to bottle feed them. This is a photo of wife giving Spidey the last bottle, they are now weened and growing. They were litter trained within a day. Wish babies had been this easy.

Shoe fetish.

For some reason Rascal (he is just trouble personified) has a shoe fetish. He loves to climb inside shoes and sandals. Can't figure this one out.

A cute story about Rascal. One day at the cottage (my mind was else where) I opened the sliding screen door. Rascal had climbe the screen, he somehow was pulled between the screen and glass and traped there. No sound, no crys, no damage. I had to take the sliding glass doors apart to get him out. They are now ready to go to a good home, we just have to find someone to take them.

You're Canada!

People make fun of you a lot, but they're stupid because you've
got a much better life than they do. In fact, they're probably just jealous.
You believe in crazy things like human rights and health care and not
dying in the streets, and you end up securing these rights for yourself and
others. If it weren't for your weird affection for ice hockey, you'd be
the perfect person.

Take the Country Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid

2007-08-21T13:19:00.000-04:00

Have to share this, found the link at Ghost of a Flea. Scotlands response to the the All Blacks "Haka"

The World Cup of Rugby starts in a few weeks. Canada is going to be there, We are in pool B with Australia, Wales, Fiji and Japan, the best of luck to the team. They have to face Wales on Sept 9th.

What happened on Friday August 17th?

2007-08-17T14:40:00.000-04:00

Nothing to post.

Got back from holidays on Sunday night. Did not want to get out of bed. Did not want to come to work on Monday. I want to go back on vacation.

We stayed at the cottage for the week. Watched for bears, I played water taxi (at least this year I only had to do it 4 times, instead of just about everyday last year), sat on the porch or dock and read (finished the Joe Strummer biography, really good read. Got the new Harry Potter done in two days, good read, nice conclusion to the story .. but how in the heck did Neville get the sword .. I thought the goblins had it?).

Next week is our 20th wedding anniversay, Wife and I want to go away for a week, but we can't decide. We almost booked a Western Med Cruise, but once you work out the price it was almost $7K (to rich for our blood). We thought about London for a week .. I even found a hotel/flight combo for just under $800, but Wife's London office told her that the weather sucks. Not sure what it's going to be but it will be last minute as always.

Eldest did okay in summer school, but has had a falling out with the guys on the street .. so he has not been out of the house since monday. At least he is taking care of the kittens. I need to post some pictures of them.

Middle just doesn't want to do anything, oh sorry, she is 13.. she wants to go to Yorkdale with a girl friends. On her own. Yorkdale is the size of a small city. My little girl shopping by herself. Over protective father time. Unfortunately, wife vetoed me. Thank god Middles friends couldn't go. Now I just have to wait for the next time that she asks.

Youngest is youngest. Wants to do everything and nothing. One minute she can take care of herself, the next she is a little girl that can't do anything with out the help of her daddy or mommy.

Talk to you later

What happened on Wednesday August 2nd?

2007-08-02T10:51:00.000-04:00

Eldest has found a couple of abandoned kittens in our neighbours backyard. We watched them for most of a day before we took them in. They couldn't be more then three weeks old at the time. They couldn't even walk. So eldest has been bottle feeding them. As you can see they are really growing.

I am off for another week, this time for a real holiday I hope. Off to the cottage where I get to see sunsets like this. (Middle took this shot with the digital camera her God-Mother gave her for her birthday)

So I say fair well for a week of well deserved rest. (or at least I think so)

What happened on Wednesday July 25th?

2007-07-25T11:25:00.000-04:00

Hydrangea

I was tagged with a meme from Paul's Blog. He was tagged by Heather, who was tagged by Ari, who was tagged by Chris, who was tagged by Jodi .. so this whole damn thing can be blamed on Jodi.
"This is the meme. Write about 5 or 10 (or so) songs that had an impact on your life, and tag five people to carry on."

So I need to come up with 5 to 10 songs that profoundly impacted my life. Wow! Okay so here we go.

1/ The first music that I really remember was by Glenn Miller. Dad is a child of the 40's (he was born in '32) and is a big "Big Band" fan, I remember these 78 (yes I meant a 78 rpm record) being played constantly when I was young. I wanted to know who this man was, why he made this music and why Dad loved it so much. Before the Internet all we had was "The Glenn Miller Story
So here is The Glenn Miller Orchestra with "It Must Be Jelly (cause jam don't shake like that)" (~~download MP3~~)

2/ Be Bop A Lula ( ~~download MP3~~ ) - Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps. It seems to me that I have always known this song, Mom and Dad were not fans of Rock'n Roll, but we were always allowed to watch the Ed Sullivan show and whatever guests he might have on. Though I don't remember this song from that show ( I did a Internet search and he was on in '57, I wasn't even a figment in my parents imagination yet.) So it had to be radio airplay or something that embedded this song in my mind. I remember being a little kid, probably around 7 years old, walking along the train tracks on my way to cubs, and singing this song. I only knew two lines "Be bop a lula she's my baby, be bop a lula I don't mean maybe", and I would repeat them constantly.

3/ Light My Fire (~~download MP3~~) - The Doors. We didn't get a lot of radio stations in central Ontario in the late sixties/early seventies. This song seemed to be on the air constantly. How did this impact me? Long hair and rock'n roll seemed so cool. I knew I wanted to be involved somehow, and I thought that being a radio DJ was the way. I would stand in the bathroom for hours perfecting my radio voice.

4/ Paradise by the Dashboard Light (~~download MP3~~) - Meat Loaf, Wow 1977 was a pretty important year. I was 14 years old, going into high school, got stoned for the first time that summer, got my first portable stereo (A blue eight track AM/FM stereo with split speakers), saw Star Wars and began to realize that information was cool, not the stuff they taught us at school but what I could learn on my own. So I read/watched as much as I could about the artists I listened to .. I became a music geek at high school.

5/ White Riot (~~download MP3~~) - The Clash. (another 1977 occurrence) I was over at a friends house getting stoned and he puts on "The Clash" .. this song hit me. Wow! people stood up for things, I didn't have to take the shit being handed out to me. (I was kind of complacent and easy going back then) I guess it was the first time that I realized that if you really wanted something you had to fight for it not just roll over and take what was being given.

6/ Ziggy Stardust (~~download MP3~~) - David Bowie. I was in my parents room watching a music documentary, sometime in the mid seventies, I remember it like it was yesterday. There was this whole part about David as Ziggy. Once again a wow experience. This was a rockstar, I had to learn more. I discovered the Velvet Underground, Andy Warhol and the incredible mixture of Art and Music.

7/ London Calling (~~download MP3~~) - The Clash, Cool For Cats (download) - Squeeze. The first two albums I bought for myself. I had a job, I had money and I didn't have to wait for my birthday or Christmas for a gift. I was independent.

8/ I Got My Mojo Working (~~download MP3~~) - Paul Butterfield Blues Band. This was on my set list for one of my first college radio shows. Once again a Wow!, I was listening to mostly punk and rock at this time. All of a sudden the Blues were there. I hit the library and learned at much as I could. Paul Butterfield lead me to B.B. King, BB King lead me to Muddy Waters, Muddy Waters lead me to Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Lemon Jefferson lead me to Leadbelly. A big door opened. Blues/Folk/Bluegrass/Country and Gospel all became real.

9/ Bohemian Rhapsody (~~download MP3~~) - Queen. The only reason why I went to see them in concert at the CNE grandstand. I had to see this song done live.

10/ Skin Deep (~~download MP3~~) - The Stranglers. I wanted to so badly go out with this certain girl that I knew in college, (long blond hair, great lips, beautiful eyes and a really good body) I talked her into going to the concert at the Masonic Temple with me. I was so caught up in the music and show that I never saw her make out and leave with the guy beside us, until his girlfriend told me we had been dumped. I realised at that point that for me women came second to music. (until I met Wife of course!)

I'm not big on tagging but for once I'm going to do it. So I would like to see some reponses from:

Hi-Watt-Cha Doing?
Nics Opinions
musings of middle age
CamelsbackandForth
Armagideon Time
The Vinyl Villain

Listening to "Story Of the Rockers" Gene Vincent.

By the way

All the mp3s posted on the site are there to encourage you to listen and then rush out and buy the songs direct from the artist, by mail order or from a decent record shop near your house. Any artist who doesn't want their works featured here only needs to get in touch and the mp3 will be removed at the earliest opportunity. In any event, all mp3s are posted for a limited time only.

What happened on Tuesday July 17th?

2007-07-17T09:25:00.000-04:00

Asian Lily

I hate decks ... I have gotten nothing done, my design has been for crap and now I am waiting to see what I can do next.

My design would work, but it is not up to code. If anything were to happen to the house becuase of the new deck, the insurance company would not cover it. This is not my house, it's my mother in laws, so I'm not only responsible to her but also my wife's two sisters. I can't just go and build a deck and be done with it. This sucks. I have to wait for a couple of calls before I can do anything.

How goes your week?

No music right now, because wife has put away my head phones and can't remember where it was that she put them!

What happened on Friday July 13th?

2007-07-13T11:57:00.001-04:00

Yellow Daisy

I'm off work for a week. Going to build/rebuild at deck at the house. It's needed to be done for the last two years but I just haven't taken the time. So this year I set aside a week. Post holes are dug, just have to get started. I'll try to take some pictures of the project to show you what I've done.

I've been trying to figure out what to post about today until I found that Toronto Mike did a post about "Bob Marley Steals From Banana Splitz". Thanks Mike.

How many of you remember the Banana Splits, this was a show done by Sid and Marty Kroftt. It was a variety show for kids, no skit was more than a few minutes and it would never bore a kid. It had a cliff hanger serial called Danger Island (until I found this link, I had always thought the guy was yelling "UH Oh, Tongo!"). I used to run around shouting UH Oh, Tongo! all the time at the fine old age of 6 and 7. I guess I thought was so cool! Don't know how we got this show in Bracebridge but we did. (we only had two TV channels back in those days {CKVR and CHEX})

Any way this led me to repost the Dickies version of The Banana Splits (The Tra La La Song).mp3, It was on "New Wave Archive" hope you go out and buy it.

Listening to Jackie is Punk - The Rammones.

What happened on Thursday July 12th?

2007-07-12T13:53:00.000-04:00

Zantedeschia

Larkspur

Sometimes posting pictures of flowers makes your day.

At TaiKwonDo last night I almost took out a 16 year old. We were doing a punching drill, the kid lowered the shield and I almost caught him in the throat, I pulled the punch just in time. Left a nasty red spot on him though.

Kids are well .. Eldest gets mid term marks for summer school .. hand peirced his ear himself last night, 3 times. To impress a girl. What a git. Middle is at her cousins for the week, so no fighting between the kids. Youngest is geting everything she wants.

How goes life with you?

By the way the music below is available for a short time so grab it while you can.

Listening to Laura - Scissor Sisters

What happened on Wednesday July 11th?

2007-07-11T10:07:00.000-04:00

It's a sad day .. a canadian Icon has passed away .. say good by to "Honest" Ed Mirvish ... he passed away this morning at a grand old age of 92.

When I first moved to Toronto, I used to buy all my clothes at the Bathurst store. Where else could you get jeans, socks, a couple of shirts and underwear for around $20. For a kid barely making $5 an hour at a radio station, it was a god send. You could spend hours walking through the store, just browsing. He had everything.

Then he went and brought theatre back to Toronto. Wife and I saw some great shows at his theatres. The Lion King, Cats Rent and so many more.

Thanks for the clothes and thanks for the shows.

From Rent One Song Glory.mp3

What happened on Tuesday July 10th?

2007-07-10T16:46:00.000-04:00

This is what I look like now,
This is what I want to look like in the future!

Have some fun, make a avatar at The Simpsons Movie

Listening to Amphetamine Annie - Canned Heat

What happened on Thursday July 5th?

2007-07-05T13:56:00.000-04:00

White Balloon Flower

Book Meme
Borrowed this from Paul over at Aurora Walking Vacation . Four things I love, my Family, Books, Music and Movies. So a meme to tell people what I like to read .. just up my alley.

1/ Recommend 3 books you believe everyone needs to read and say why people should read them.
Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien-in my eyes the greatest fantasy ever written. the creation of a world so intricate that you can become lost in information that is only slightly covered in the story. the creation of a world that you want to live in. oh to have a home in Dale!
To give you some back ground .. I was delayed in reading in school, I was marked as a slow learner and had to take special classes in math and english. They had also set me up in a special program that taught only phonics(try sounding out Colonel). This put me even further behind my classmates. So I read a lot to Tom Swift, the Hardy Boys and watched a lot of TV. Until I had a teacher that read us the Hobbit. I wanted to read the next book so badly. Dad brought me home a copy of Lord of the Rings, it took me six months to read it. Half way through grade 8 my teacher asked what book I was reading, I said Lord of the Rings, she told me to stop fibbing, and sent a letter home to my parents. My parents had to come to school, meet with the teacher and explain to her that I had read the book. After that I didn't have to spend my time with the slow learners anymore.

Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut
-as Paul says "For me this book was an epiphany of sorts. When I got to the end, I had to go back and read the entire thing over again with an entirely new kind of understanding."
my sister had to read this book for school, I guess I was 13, I picked it up and couldn't put it down. I think it was the second real book that I had ever read in my life. Now the sex scene on Tralfamadore was mainly what I remembered, but I opened my eyes from a little boy who played at war to a young man who hated the idea of men killing each other. When you read Billy's description of walking through the streets of Dresden after the fire bombing you can understand how this book came to be written, the ability to escape but also to retell a traumatic event.

The Masters of Rome Series - Colleen McCullough
read this series for the first time about 6 years ago. The first book "The First Man Of Rome" was written in 1990. But this was a series written by the lady who had written the Thorn Birds... I was to much of a he-man to read this stuff. Then one day at the book store I couldn't find anything to read and I picked up the first book. Now I can't put them down, I've re read them twice now. If your interested in history and how people lived ..read this series.

2/ Name three books you’ve never been able to finish and explain why.
Dhalgren - Samuel R. Delany, for some reason I just could not get interested in the story. I feel bad, but I was just not interested in reading it.
Sahara - Clive Cussler, I got bored.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick, I have a original copy, but I saw the movie first and have never been able to finish the book since.

3/ Name three books you want to read, but haven’t yet.
I would like to read Ann Rand, everyone seems to think highly of it but I just don't seem to find the time to pick it up.

4/ Are there any books that you’ve loved, but been disappointed by the film/TV adaptation?
Dune - Frank Herbert, the mini series was great but the movie with Sting was a piece of crap. Wife (pre marriage), her girlfriends and I went to see it. I came out of the theatre swearing and explaining why it was so bad. They thought it was stupid but well done. (non of them had ever read the books).
Shoeless Joe - W. P. Kinsella became Field of Dreams, good movie but a great book.

5/ Which books (apart from the Potter books) do you re-read the most?
The Lord of The Rings -14 times (between 1976 and now)
Slaughterhouse Five - 5 times (between 1976 and now)
Masters of Rome Series - 2 times (between 2001 and now)
WTO - I admit it, I read them because I want to know what happens. It doesn't mean I enjoy it though. (you have to re read the previous novels before you read the latest so you know what is happening)
The Hobbit - 7 times (between 1978 and now)
A Song of Ice and Fire - 4 times(between 1996 and now)
Catch-22 - every time I see the movie (between 1984 and now)
"do you want me to go on - way more than I can list"

6/ Which books do you remember most from your childhood?
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish - Dr Seus

7/ Are there any books that you are proud to say you have read?
every single one.

8/ Are there any books that you are ashamed to admit reading?
I can't remember the name of the book, but it was a by a well know sci-fi author, turned out to be a sci-fi occult soft-core porn novel .. that traveled very weakly from sex scene to sex scene. I admit that I didn't put it down, but I was and still am very sorry that I ever read it. (I think I still have it in the house)

9/ Are there any books that have had a big emotional impact on you? List 2.
Shoeless Joe - there are points where I cry, every time
Stand on Zanzibar - I discovered that other people think like I do. Not as a continues chain of events but a quick jump from here to there and back.

If you want to take this meme go ahead ... If you want to read anything I have suggested .. enjoy .. or if you can suggest a book, let me know. I'm always looking for something new.

Listening to Highway No. 61 Blues - Jack Kelly & His South Memphis Jug Band

What happened on Wednesday July 4th?

2007-07-04T13:47:00.000-04:00

White Straw Flower .. my new favourite

Had a great weekend up north. 4 days at the cottage, but damn it was cold. We had a north wind blowing in across the bay, so no swimming other than having to put the swim raft out. Eldest mostly stayed inside and pouted (he has to do 3 summer school classes - 2 in school, 1 online .. he didn't fail anything but for his school you have to have a minimum 65 for you classes to advance .. so he has to redo science. He was going to do careers and civics anyway.) Middle was middle .. all she is worried about is her 13th bday party on friday - Wife has arranged for a girls spa treatment at our house for middle and 7 of her friends. Youngest wanted to fish, hike, make a bow & arrow, build something and swim all at the same time, she goes a mile a minute. I'll lose weight just trying to keep up with her. I don't think wife went outside for more then 10 minutes because of the wind.
We had really good fireworks display on the beach this year. Wife and I went nuts, sister and brother-in-law went nuts .. so in total we had about fifty fireworks spread across the beach .. and set them off about 10:30 pm July 1st. Neighbours came out onto their docks and oohed and aahed. And not a single dud, wish I had taken some photos but its hard to do went your lighting off flashbangs. Hope you all had a great Canada Day weekend. Remember when we were only 100 years old?

The Straw Flower above has a very hard paper petal, it kind of neat with incredible colour that lasts

Did anyone download the song in the previous post? I'll be taking it down in a week so if you want it grab it now.

Happy bday to our neighbours to the south

Listening to Mustard Plug - Beer Song

What happened on Friday June 28th?

2007-06-28T11:50:00.000-04:00

Foxglove

Okay I have been tagged twice to do the "8 things meme" once by "Nic" and the other time by "Musings of middle age". I don't tag back, but if you want to do it go ahead.

1

I can be complusive about things. When I collect something, I want to have all of it. When I used to buy albums, I would buy every album a band had put out. I would do my best to get every back copy I could. I try to buy every book put out by a author I like (paperback - can't afford all those hardcovers). With gardening if I see a plant I want, I have to buy it. I can control it, but sometimes it's very hard.

2

I am the youngest of three, the only boy and even though I don't think I was spoiled, I really was .. damn I/am was a brat.

3

I can be really lazy, I don't like to work hard and it shows.

4

I buy lottery tickets, but have never won more that $10.00. It's called the "tax on the stupid", but I can dream.

5

Men do daydream about other things then sex .. or at least I do.

6

As of today I am 285 lbs, 3 weeks ago I was 295 lbs. I don't want to be a fatman.

7

At the end of July I get to go for my Purple Belt in Taikwondo.

8

I have everything I want and really don't need anymore .. I am very lucky.

I've been hitting the MP3 blogs pretty hard lately .. staying up to past 2am .. so I figured I should give back. Give a listen to the Dickies with their cover of The If you like the song, try to find it and buy it. These guys still get their royalty cheques.

Listening to Cheech & Chong "Pedro and the Man at the Drive-In" that I borrowed from BlankCrisis.com

What happened on Friday June 22nd?

2007-06-20T16:08:00.000-04:00

Clematis

I wrote the following at HI-WATT-cha doing.... She did a great post on Paul's birthday, and I wanted to share his iTunes commercial with her. This led me to comment on Starbucks selling and representing Paul on his latest CD. Her comment back to me was.

Hey AC!! OOOOooo thanks for the connect to the Paulie commercial...it may rock, but so do YOU, AC! Wow, a loaded question about the Starbucks...hmmmmm...not easy to answer especially today when they gave me a freebie...I'm so easily "bought off" LOL!!! The indie snob in me is so into my street cred companies (Drag City, SubPop, Carrot Top, Matador)that I would be hesitant to endorse the Starbucks thang, and yet I'm just happy that music continues to get out there no matter what the circumstance or environment. What do you think, AC? I would very much like to have yer thoughts too, oh and pretend at Starbucks that they made you the wrong drink...it will getcha a freebie too!! LOL!!!

Which caused me to respond with the following.

I like the idea of Starbucks getting into cd production, artist representation and sales. I think its a great way to get people to buy music. You buy a coffee, you see a CD, impulse buying. It's the best way to cash in on the sales cycle. Don't let the sucker think to much. Also the traditional record/cd companies have fucked up big time, all they are looking at is their bottom dollar. Something has to happen so that the artists keep making great music.

What they need to do is set up a wireless transmission system. you buy the music, it’s sent to your mp3 player and you have the music to play when you leave the store. Now all you have to do is get the music industry to agree, the artists to agree, the tech companies to agree on a file transmission format and everything else. I guess we will just keep buying the CD's at Starbucks or anywhere else.

The only thing I don't agree with is if there contract is exclusive and you can't buy the music anywhere else. I don't like monopolies.

I'm going to stop writing, You've given ma a great idea for a post .. you'll have to stop buy and read it in a few days

Which leads to this post, because I want to expand on the ideas that I've brought up.

Before the turn of the century music was presented live, then if you liked it you would go out, buy the sheet music and play it at home or at a social event. The artist wasn't important it was the writer/sheet music company that made the money.

Then came the gramophone, the sheet music was written, a performer was found, they recorded it, records were sold and distributed locally, not nationally or internationally (for the most part, unless you were a Caruso) On top of this the early record player/gramophone was expensive, not everyone could afford it. Then came Radio ... all of a sudden you didn't have to wait for Aunt Bessy to come over to the house and play for you or go and visit your cousin with the record player. You could turn on the radio and listen to the latest and greatest jazz/opera or popular music song that was playing at the time. Local and national music was suddenly being presented to people at a very limited expense. (I'm not sure about the US but in Canada in those days you were supposed to purchase a radio license to listen to the radio. (I have a old Marconi radio from the 1920's with the radio license) But, the sheet music companies and the musicians union hated this new fangled contraption because they felt it was taking work/money out of their pockets. So the sheet music/unions/record companies got together and put out rules on how music could be presented on radio. Once again this didn't last very long because it was cheaper to put a record on then to hire a band to come in and play. (If you weren't with the CBC you could even sell the airtime between the records and make money) Or you could pick up a signal from the states and simulcast or rebroadcast live music, radio drama's, new and information programming, at a very minimal cost to the radio station. Radio really grew and began to ignore the rules that the Sheet Music, Record/Distributors, Musicians Union, were trying to enforce. (Hey these guys were only trying to get paid .. sound familiar?).

Then came some very powerful forces, radio sponsorship of a program, national networks, and popular music. Jazz was no longer being played in the seedy dark night club by great black musicians. It was being brought to the general public by clean, nice looking white boys (sorry for being crude but its true) The big band cleaned up jazz for the general public. In the US and Canada (more so in the states, we were stuck with the CBC, but the signals drifted into Canada .. remember a electronic wave recognizes no border) national networks began to come together. So you could broadcast a show from New York that would cover the whole east coast, so why not bring in a band that could attract listeners, have it sponsored by a national company and make money. This attracted a incredible audience and as the 30's transitioned into the 40's and 50's this was how music was presented to the general public. A big band toured, had a sponsorship deal with a national network, did a friday/saturday night live concert, a had record deal with a national distributor and sold their records. But this didn't mean that the music/song wasn't played/recorded by a different band/artist across the world and that it wasn't sold on a different label on a regional basis. You have to remember that the artist really didn't matter at this time. A sheet music company was being paid, for the most part the songs weren't being written by the artists, they were buying or being given the music by the sheet music companies, who had a staff of writers who wrote the music. The bands arranger then took that sheet music, modified/arranged it for the band's/artist’s style.

At the same time as the growth of popular music strange things began to happen in, mostly in the states (home of popular music), small regional record companies/distrusters began to record local Folk/Country/cultural/racial groups .. they marketed this music on a very local basis, but a lot of these Artists did write their own music or take music from the cultural background that they represented. The Carter family, the early folk blues musicians and the early country and western artists. These musicians were never widely popular, the Carter family did end up with a national radio show, but the other never had more then a regional affect, but they did influence later musicians and their audience.

Look, I'm not writing anything that you can't find online or at a bookstore/library.. sorry about taking up so much time to get to the point. What I am trying to say is that at one time the sheet music industry tried to stop radio because they saw it as an attack on their profit. Then the record companies fought against the Artist/Performer, because they didn't think they could make money off a musician performing there own music. Then they fought against top 40 radio because not all the artists were represented, or they complained about race radio, album oriented rock radio and boring old AOR. The tried to prevent recordable cassettes because you could then copy and distribute music without paying for it or it destroyed the way the artist wanted his/her music presented. Then they fought against file sharing because of the same reasons. They have all forgotten the same small thing. A song is made popular not by a radio station/file sharing/, it’s made popular by a person who has the time and budget to buy the music and listen to that album or song.

In 2007 we have so many things that we can spend or time and money on. We want it instantly, music buyers can buy a video game for $60, go to the movies for $20, buy a book for $10, go to a concert for $100, go out clubbing for whatever the cost is now (I’m to old to remember clubbing).

The record companies / Artists need to figure a way to distribute their music in such a way that it makes it impulsive purchase. Most people don't go into a record store on impulse, they go to buy a CD. Starbucks is getting the idea, they have the CD's beside the cash register and people do buy it on impulse. Why not do this with other stores, buy a Big Mac and a CD, buy tank of gas and a CD. Or better yet, set up some way to transmit the song from a storage unit to a MP3 player so that you can buy the song on impulse. Set it up at a club or concert where the band is playing, at a festival or at the corner store. Someone has had to have thought of this already, the technology exists to make it work, they're probably just waiting for all this digital rights crap to disappear before they go ahead and do it.

My first love has always been music and sound. When I was a kid I had an old Grundig FM/AM/Shortwave radio (the only way you could tune in a signal was to open the back and turn the wheel by hand. Damn the tubes got hot). I would stay up late into the night listening to music from around the world (by the way this is around '73/'74). Now I can't play a instrument worth a damn (I'm finally willing to admit that I am to lazy to learn a instrument), but I wanted to be part of how sound is created. I first thought being a Radio announcer would be the greatest. Then after going to college for Radio I learned that with my monotone voice and dry sense of humor it would just not work for a rock jock. So I set my sights on being a Audio Engineer .. now I'm a software sales guy. But I still love music, we just have to get these idiots to realize, we will buy it they just have to make it available in the locations we are at... Starbucks is on the right track.

Listening to Ophelia by the Band

What happened on Thursday June 14th?

2007-06-14T09:03:00.001-04:00

Poppy Macro

Nic has a post about sleep. As I said to her, I've had a very hard time sleeping for a very long time. I used to do evenings and overnights at the Radio Sations I worked for. I learned to get a few hours during the day and that was it. It's been over ten years since I've worked in radio and I still have a hard time falling asleep early and by early I mean before 1 a.m. I usually get up at 6:30 a.m. feeling okay, but if I go to bed before midnight and sleep past 6:30 I wake up feel like crap. Well today I feel awesome. Last night I had TaiKwonDo (sparing night), sweated like a pig but came home feeling great. Before I went to bed at 12:30 (early for me) I did my 50 pushups and 50 leg raises and fell asleep like a rock. I woke up at 4 a.m., feel back asleep, and woke with the alarm at 6:20 a.m. Got up watered the gardens, made lunch, and was just smiling. I honestly feel great and haven't felt this good in a long time. Good Morning.

How have you been sleeping?

By the way, if your like me and love music. I have found that there is a large number of bloggers posting MP3s on their blogs. Now there is the whole thing of the artists right to be paid for what they create and the record companies right to be paid for what they produce. I don't want to get into that arguement right now. I just want to say I have found some great blogs to read with a fringe benefit. Check out the new blog roll in my side bar, "Music & MP3 Bloggers". Go through them give them a read and if your inclined, download something you like, but always remeber to support the artists by either going to their concerts or buying the tunes.
Last night at Press Random posted the orgionals for some of the songs that the Clash coverd. Go and check them out. And if you have iTunes, sign up for the Strange Reaction Podcast.

Junior Murvin - Police and Thieves
Equals - Police On My Back
Toots and the Maytals - Pressure Drop
Vince Taylor - Brand New Cadillac
Willie Williams - Armagideon Time

What is your opinion on downloading music?

Listening to: Supertramp, Dreamer Live at Queen Mary's College.

Dreamer, you know you are a dreamer
Well can you put your hands in your head, oh no!
I said dreamer, you're nothing but a dreamer
Well can you put your hands in your head, oh no!
I said "Far out, - What a day, a year, a laugh it is!"
You know, - Well you know you had it comin' to you,
Now there's not a lot I can do

Dreamer, you stupid little dreamer;
So now you put your head in your hands, oh no!
I said "Far out, - What a day, a year, a laugh it is!"
You know, - Well you know you had it comin' to you,
Now there's not a lot I can do.

Well work it out someday

If I could see something
You can see anything you want boy
If I could be someone-
You can be anyone, celebrate boy.
If I could do something-
Well you can do something,
If I could do anything-
Well can you do something out of this world?

Take a dream on a Sunday
Take a life, take a holiday
Take a lie, take a dreamer
dream, dream, dream, dream, dream along...

Dreamer, you know you are a dreamer
Well can you put your hands in your head, oh no!
I said dreamer, you're nothing but a dreamer
Well can you put your hands in your head, oh no!
OH NO!

What happened on Thursday June 7th?

2007-06-07T13:34:00.000-04:00

Weigela

Ready to scream when it comes to iTunes. Moved my music so Eldest could share it off the Windows Shared file .. Arrgh!!!, screwed my music, duplicated sometimes even triplicated files. My music folder went from 22Gb to over 50Gb. I spent over four days deleting folders, replacing music files that have been deleted, and just general clean up of iTunes. I love my iPod, but damn I am not a happy camper. All my Playlists were deleted. All my fault I know, because I didn't read the instructions, sometimes you just have to try to read the user manual before doing anything.

Enjoy the garden photos.

Poppy

Pink Gerber

The front garden

Listening to: Pamela Morgan and Anita Best "Suil A Gra".

What happened on Tuesday May 30th?

2007-05-30T13:04:00.001-04:00

Gerber Daisy

Okay I am a big wimp, a suck, a cry baby. I try to follow two rules in life ... Pay It Forward and TANSTAAFAL.

"What do you mean?" you say, well, Pay It Forward was not just a movie, it's an idea .. Do something good or receive a good deed and instead of expecting payment (cash, gift or even a thank you) ask for it to be payed forward. So the person you help, helps someone else. I know simple idea, hard to do.

As for TANSTAAFL, it stands for There Ain't No Thing As A Free Lunch Kind of harsh, but it true, nothing in this world is free, you have to work for everything you get. No one owes you anything, you have to work to recieve. When you receive something with what some people think of haveing no strings attached, to me means I have to work to pass the that reward on. I am responsible for the good deeds done for me or by me. So Pay It Forward and TANSTAAFL are ideas to live by.

What made me write about this philosphy is a new feature it the Toronto Star. Give it a read, I was on the verge of tears.
(what a wimp I am)

Listening to: Siouxsie And The Banshees, Playground Twist, off of Join Hands (1979)
Hanging...
Hanging from your daisy chains
Swinging in the trees
Running from your enemies
And falling on your knees
On your knees
Get down on your knees

Throw the dice
You three blind mice
Did you ever see
Such a thing in your life
You swallow the trail
But still arrive
Inside your entrails

Hanging...
Hanging out at party games
Dancing in the shadows
Up and down on the see-saw
Balancing the scales
You're drunk
Yet you're balancing the scales

Someone to blame
Someone to shame
Someone who you can claim
Go back to pass the parcel
And follow the leader

Hanging...
Hanging from your climbing frames
Swinging in the gallows
Laughing with your buddies
But you can drown when you're shallow
You can drown...

What happened on Tuesday May 29th?

2007-05-29T13:18:00.000-04:00

No posts today just photos. I am trying to write something on DRM, Music, file sharing and the record industry, but I just haven't taken the time to sit down and write .. so today you get pretty pictures from my garden.

The last tulip of the year is gone from the garden.

Close up of Bleeding Hearts

Orange and Yellow Gerber

Bleeding Hearts

Listening To: J. Geils Band, Musta Got Lost, With Intro, From: Blow Your Face Out, 1976

(Spoken)
Hold on this song has a little introduction to it
It's ain't supposed to be sad though you might feel it that way
It's a song about desperation,
Every now and then we do get desperate

This is a song about L-O-V-E,
and if you abuse it you're gonna lose it
and if you lose it you're gonna abuse and
if you abuse it you ain't gonna be able to choose it
cuz you ain't gonna have it further on down the line
things ain't gonna be so fine
you're gonna to be sitting there on your little machine
tryin' to look and keep it clean
You're going to be home playing bingo all night all alone
that's why your sittin there by the telephone
and you know that she ain't goin' to call you!

So you put on the TV and you're watchin' Johnny Carson
segwayin right into the Tomorrow show
but that don't got the go so you turn it off ya turn on the radio,
the radio don't seem to get the click so you say
"Hey Man, I can't lickety split"
You start to open up a little book
and there's somethin there you got to overlook
and you say "BABY, you know there's somethin on my mind!
"You say "Baby there's somethin' on my mind -
I know that you're home and I know you ain't all alone! "

So you start walking over to her house
and you get over to her house
and you walk over to her door
you start poundin on her door, you say
"Open up the door bitch!
This is wooba gooba with the green teeth, let me in!!"

Well, she opens up the door
and then you just kinda walk up to her and say
"Baby", you look up way up at her green mascara
and you say "Oh my darling,
you know her and me was at the party as friends
do not believe what they say
that's only gossip that they tellin ya
a wise cracker line!"
You say Darlin'!!!

Take your big curls and just squeeze them down Ratumba
What's the name of the chick with the long hair?
(Rapunzel!) ya say hey Rapunzel! heh heh heh
Hey Reputah! Reputa the Beautah!
Hey Reputa the Beautah flip me down your hair
and let me climb up to the ladder of your love!!
Because this is what woofa goofa's sayin to ya
"Love comes once and when it comes
you've got to grab it fast cuz sometimes the love
you grab ain't gonna last and
I believe I musta,
You know I think I musta,
You know baby I think I musta,
You know I think I musta,
I musta got lost!!!!!!!

1 2 3

(Sung)
Never thought about tomorrow
Seemed like a long time to come
How could I be so blind, baby
Not to see you were the one

I let ya slip on from me baby
I let you walk on by,
Shoulda loved, you had told me
I refused to love, I let it die

I musta got lost, musta got lost, I musta got lost
Somewhere down the line
Musta got lost, musta got lost
Give away the days you were mine

Don't know why I let you leave me
Honey, I don't know
Say its hard to see lovers comin' babe
Honey I've a way to see them go

Musta got lost, musta got lost, musta got lost
Somewhere down the line
Musta got lost, I got lost
Give away the days you were mine

Love can be a sweet thing
Girl I just don't understand
Made a game outta lovin' you
Now I hold the losin' hand

Oh, I musta got lost, musta got lost, musta got lost
Somewhere down the line
Musta got lost, I got lost, girl
Give away the days you were mine

I just don't understand it
I just don't understand it
I just don't understand it

And I musta got lost, musta got lost, musta got lost
Somewhere down the line, hey
Musta got lost, baby, I got lost girl
Give away them days you were mine

Musta got lost, I got lost, musta got lost
Somewhere down the line
Musta got lost, oh I got lost girl
Give away them days you were mine

C'mon
Oh, I got lost, babe, double-crossed
Your lovin, give it to me all night long

(Instrumental Break)

I said your love got me higher,
than I ever been lifted before

I said your love has got me higher,
than I ever been lifted before!!!

Somewhere!!!!!

Outbreaks of violence at Canadian schools

2007-05-25T09:46:00.000-04:00

Eldest skateboards with a couple of guys who go to CW Jefferys ... if you don't know what I'm talking about, a boy was murdered in the school on Wednesday. It's about a 20 minute walk from my house. This sucks.

Eldest is kind of freaked becuase this happened in his back yard. A couple of weeks ago he was put into situation where he had to fight back .. a grade 12 student decided for some reason that Eldest was a good target (Eldest is in grade 9) and started to push him around. eldest fought back and stood up for himself, but what could have happend?

We handled it through the school, but decided to report it to the police because the guy was 18. Nothing we could do because there was no serious injury to Eldest. The CW Jefferys killing sounds like the same thing, some kid tried to stand up for himself, but in this case the murderer was stupid. Now some family is without their son. As I said this sucks.

Outbreaks of violence at Canadian schools (CP) - A list of some major violent incidents at Canadian schools: May 23, 2007: Gunman shoots and kills 14-year-old student at C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute in Toronto. Sept. 13, 2006: Kimveer Gill, 25, opens fire at Dawson College in Montreal, killing one woman and injuring 20 people. April 20, 2000: Four students and one staff member wounded in knife attack at Cairine Wilson High School in Orleans, Ont. Occurs on first anniversary of Columbine massacre. April 28, 1999: 14-year-old boy shoots two students, one fatally, at W.R. Myers High School in Taber, Alta. Feb. 8, 1999: Man fires shot at Woodland Elementary School in Verdun, Que. No one injured. October 1997: 35-year-old man fatally shoots teacher at Montreal language school for immigrants. October 1994: Two guidance counsellors at Brockton High School in Toronto shot and wounded by student unhappy with grades. June 1993: Teen wounded outside Gladstone Secondary School in Vancouver in drive-by shooting. Aug. 24, 1992: Valery Fabrikant, professor at Concordia University in Montreal, goes on shooting rampage at school, killing four colleagues and wounding one. February 1990: Jilted teenager shoots and wounds estranged girlfriend at General Brock High School in Burlington, Ont. December 1989: Marc Lepine, 25, shoots dead 14 women at University of Montreal's Ecole polytechnique engineering school, then kills himself. October 1978: 17-year-old student shoots 16-year-old to death at Sturgeon Creek Regional Secondary School in Winnipeg. Oct. 27, 1975: Robert Poulin, an 18-year-old militia sharpshooter, shoots six people at Ottawa's Saint Pius X school and then kills himself. One wounded student dies just over a month later. Poulin had killed a girl at a youth home before he went to the school. May 1975: Michael Slobodian, 16, kills teacher and student and wounds 13 others at Centennial Secondary School in Brampton, Ont., before turning gun on himself. - Outbreaks of violence at U.S. and Canadian schools (CP) - A list of some major violent incidents at North American schools: May 23, 2007: Gunman shoots and kills 14-year-old student at C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute in Toronto. April 16, 2007: Deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history as gunman opens fire in a dorm and classroom at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Va. The toll is 33 dead, including the gunman, who committed suicide. Oct. 2, 2006: A 32-year-old gunman enters an Amish schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pa., and holds 10 girls hostage before shooting them. Five girls are killed, and five more wounded. The gunman also kills himself. Sept. 13, 2006: Kimveer Gill, 25, opens fire at Dawson College in Montreal, killing one woman and injuring 20 people. Aug. 30, 2006: 19-year-old man in Hillsborough, N.C., kills father, then opens fire at Orange High School, wounding two students before surrendering to police. March 14, 2006: 14-year-old boy in Reno, Nev., bring's father's revolver to Pine Middle School and wounds two classmates. Jan. 13, 2006: 15-year-old boy at Milwee Middle School in Longwood, Fla., holds class hostage at gunpoint before being fatally shot by police. It is later learned his weapon was a pellet gun. Nov. 8, 2005: Student at high school in Jacksboro, Tenn., shoots and kills assistant principal. Principal and another assistant principal wounded. March 21, 2005: 16-year-old boy in Red Lake, Minn., fatally shoots grandfather and grandfather's partner at home, then goes to Red Lake High School, where he kills five students, a teacher and a security guard before committing suicide. May 7, 2004: Two men, 18 and 24, shoot and wound four students at high school in Randallstown, Md. March 30, 2004: Student at Wallace High School in Gary, Ind., shot to death in school parking lot by classmate. Feb. 3, 2004: 14-year-old boy in Palmetto Bay, Fla., stabs and slits throat of 14-year-old classmate at Southwood Middle School. Feb. 2, 2004: 19-year-old man shoots to death 17-year-old boy at Ballou Senior High School in Washington, D.C. Sept. 24, 2003: 15-year-old boy shoots two classmates at Rocori High School in Cold Spring, Minn. One dies same day, other dies two weeks later. April 24, 2003: 14-year-old boy shoots principal to death in school cafeteria in Red Lion, Pa., before killing himself. March 5, 2001: 15-year-old freshman opens fire with .22-calibre pistol at Santana High School in Santee, Calif., killing two students and injuring 13 others. Jan. 10, 2001: 17-year-old gunman fires shots at Hueneme High School in Oxnard, Calif., before taking female student hostage. He is later shot and killed by police. May 26, 2000: 13-year-old honours student shoots and kills teacher on last day of classes in Lake Worth, Fla. April 20, 2000: Four students and one staff member wounded in knife attack at Cairine Wilson High School in Orleans, Ont. Occurs on first anniversary of Columbine massacre. Feb. 29, 2000: Six-year-old boy shoots six-year-old girl to death in Grade 1 classroom at Buell Elementary School in Mount Morris Township, Mich. Because of his age, boy is not charged. Dec. 6, 1999: 13-year-old student fires at least 15 shots at Fort Gibson Middle School in Fort Gibson, Okla., wounding four classmates. Nov. 19, 1999: 12-year-old boy shoots 13-year-old girl in head at school in Deming, N.M. Girl dies next day. May 20, 1999: 15-year-old boy opens fire at Heritage High School in Conyers, Ga., with .357-calibre Magnum and rifle, wounding six students. April 28, 1999: 14-year-old boy shoots two students, one fatally, at W.R. Myers High School in Taber, Alta. April 20, 1999: Two heavily armed teenagers rampage through Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., killing 12 students and one teacher before committing suicide. April 16, 1999: High school sophomore fires two shotgun blasts in school hallway in Notus, Idaho. No one injured. Feb. 8, 1999: Man fires shot at Woodland Elementary School in Verdun, Que. No one injured. May 21, 1998: 17-year-old boy kills parents, then goes to high school in Springfield, Ore., on shooting rampage, killing two teens and wounding more than 20 people. May 19, 1998: 18-year-old honours student opens fire at high school in Fayetteville, Tenn., killing classmate who was dating his ex-girlfriend. April 24, 1998: 15-year-old boy opens fire at eighth-grade dance in Edinboro, Pa., killing teacher. March 24, 1998: Four girls and teacher shot to death and 10 people wounded during false fire alarm at middle school in Jonesboro, Ark., when two boys, 11 and 13, open fire from woods. Dec. 1, 1997: Three students die and five wounded at Heath High School in West Paducah, Ky., after 14-year-old boy opens fire. October 1997: 35-year-old man fatally shoots teacher at Montreal language school for immigrants. Oct. 1, 1997: 16-year-old boy in Pearl, Miss., shoots two students to death and wounds seven others after stabbing his mother to death. Feb. 19, 1997: 16-year-old boy takes shotgun and bag of shells to school in Bethel, Alaska, killing principal and student and wounding two others. October 1994: Two guidance counsellors at Brockton High School in Toronto shot and wounded by student unhappy with grades. June 1993: Teen wounded outside Gladstone Secondary School in Vancouver in drive-by shooting. Aug. 24, 1992: Valery Fabrikant, professor at Concordia University in Montreal, goes on shooting rampage at school, killing four colleagues and wounding one. February 1990: Jilted teenager shoots and wounds estranged girlfriend at General Brock High School in Burlington, Ont. December 1989: Marc Lepine, 25, shoots dead 14 women at University of Montreal's Ecole polytechnique engineering school, then kills himself. October 1978: 17-year-old student shoots 16-year-old to death at Sturgeon Creek Regional Secondary School in Winnipeg. Oct. 27, 1975: Robert Poulin, an 18-year-old militia sharpshooter, shoots six people at Ottawa's Saint Pius X school and then kills himself. One wounded student dies just over a month later. Poulin had killed a girl at a youth home before he went to the school. May 1975: Michael Slobodian, 16, kills teacher and student and wounds 13 others at Centennial Secondary School in Brampton, Ont., before turning gun on himself.

What happened on Tuesday May 22nd?

2007-05-22T15:46:00.000-04:00

Okay, who watched the season finale of Heroes? Who is pissed off, I mean who's is pissed off that we have to wait for September or October to see what happens next. Sylar's escape at the end was bit contrived. We need another antagonist to hate and fear.

Did Peter die? Did Nathan die? Hold on wait a second, Peter has Claire's healing power. So if Nathan dropped Peter before Peter could explode would that mean both Peter and Nathan are still alive.

Why wouldn't Sylar try to explode instead of throwing Hiro across that Plaza. What did the greying of the eyes mean, was Sylar having a vision before he passed out. What was the vision. What in the heck is Hiro doing in Japan of the 1600's.

If you need your Heroes kick, head over to NBC's Heroes page, the have a really good online graphic novel to read. When going through the Heroes page, hit a few links they have put in a few surpires .. Yamagato Fellowship, maybe apply for a job at Primatech Paper. Or if your really in need of a Heroes fix log into 9th Wonders.

We'll we have to wait until August 28th to buy the season 1 DVD. To many questions, what a great cliff hanger.

Listening to The Clash, Time is Tight, Black Market Clash (It's a instrumental cover of the Booker T. Jones song.)

What happened on Wednesday May 16th?

2007-05-16T14:11:00.000-04:00

More Tulips, the storm last night destroyed them so no more tulip shots.

Aaahh!! I admit I am a weak man. HMV is having a special sale .. Buy one CD for $10 get one for free. When the girls and I were in buying CD's for mothers day I saw the CD's for sale in a rack. I took a quick look, mostly no name albums or artists, but I saw a bit of gold. I am a sucker for what I call delete bins.

So today I went back to HMV ... I am weak.

5 CD's.
Janis Joplin - I Got Dem Ol' Kosmic Blues Again Mama, Columbia Records -> $10.00
The Clash - Black Market Clash, Sony -> Free
Dave Brubeck's - Greatist Hits, Columbia Legacy -> $10.00
Cowboy Junkies - Platinum Gold Collection RCA/BMG Heritage -> Free

and then since I got such a good deal (I think I did)
Hostage Life - Walking Papers, Underground Operations -> $14.99

So five albums for $40.00, not so bad.

This delete bin thing goes way back into my past. When I first started working fulltime I was at a radio station that is now gone. I started there back in '85 as a overnight audio tech. A group of us from the station would get together every friday morning for pancakes at the Golden Griddle across from Maple Leaf Gardens. Once breakfast was finished we would hit the record stores on Yonge Street, the challenge was to buy as many records as you could with spending as little money as possible. I found and bought discs from the delete bins like The Who-Tommy for $4.99, the 1980 album Drastic Measures by Drastic Measures (this is the one with Teddy Bears Picnic on it, I think Nash the Slash had something to do with the arranging of that song), and Black Flag My War. Those were great days, I never had much money but I always seemed to have enough to spend it on records, comics and beer. Part of me misses those days.

To top this off I have found a couple of songs online that have made me very happy.
One Louder has posted multiple versions of one of my favorite songs .. Black Betty. Add to that I have finally found a copy of William Shatner covering Pulp's Common People

By the way great episode of Heroes on monday. The season ending is next Monday.

Listening to XTC, All Of You Pretty Girls, The Big Express 1984

Do something for me, boys
If I should die at sea, boys
Write a little note, boys
Set it off afloat, saying

Bless you, bless you, all of you pretty girls
Village and city girls by the quayside
Bless you, bless you, all of you pretty girls
Watching and waiting by the sea

Bless you, bless you, all of you pretty girls
Quiet or witty girls by the quayside
Bless you, bless you, all of you pretty girls
Watching and waiting by the sea

I think about your pale arms waving
When I see the caps upon the green
And the rocking roller-coaster ocean
Think about you every night when I'm fathoms asleep
And in my dreams
We are rocking in a similar motion

I think about the salt sea rolling
Down in pearly tears upon your cheeks
Just like the day the harbour pulled away
I think about your warm white sheets unfolding
The more I have to drink
The more that I can think to say

2007-05-14T12:32:00.001-04:00

White Tulip Macro

Meme found over at Nic's Opinions.

1. What is your occupation?
Inside software sales

2. What color are your socks right now?
White ankle high sports socks .. can’t go barefoot, they start to stink to much

3. What are you listening to right now?
Pay the Man, Offspring

4. What was the last thing that you ate?
Pink Lady apple .. so sweet and juicy

5. Can you drive a stick shift?
Yup, but haven’t for at least ten years, so I would probably strip the gears.

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Blue

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone?
A client, closed a sale

8. How old are you today?
44

9. Favorite drink:
Non alcoholic: water
alcoholic: Guinness

10. What is your favorite sport to watch?
Lacrosse

11. Have you ever dyed your hair?
Wife dyed my left eyebrow two years ago, it went from partially white to all white, never again. North American dyes have a chemical that can make vitilago worse.

12. Any piercings?
one in the left ear, have always wanted to get 3 more with each of the kids birth stones.

13. Pets?
two black cats, fish (we just cleaned the aquarium and bought new fish) and the $600 bunny who lives in the garage

14. Favorite food?
you mean I have to pick one

15. What was the last movie you watched?
sad but I can’t remember the name of the movie .. It was about a contract killing being grabed by a bunch of hitmen and women. Came out last year, I saw it in my hotel room while in Florida.

16. Favorite day of the year?
My birthday.

17. What do you do to vent anger?
You don’t want to be around, I install fear.

18. What was your favorite toy as a child?
Billy Blast Off .. dating myself here.

19. What is your favorite fall or spring?
Both ..

20. Hugs or kisses?
deep intimate kisses!

21. Cherries or Blueberry?
Cherries … Blueberries are a everyday food… Cherries are a treat!

22. Living arrangements?
Wife, 3 kids, mother in law, two cats, fish and a rabbit in the garage

23. When was the last time you cried?
Couple of months ago, wife and I were watching a movie.

24. What is on the floor of your closet?
I don’t have a closet .. I get a armour. Its full of boxes that we have no where to put.

25. What did you do last night?
cooked, cleaned up after dinner, loaded cd’s to iTunes, went to bed around 12:30 pm

26. Favorite smells?
Strawberries, watermelon, fresh apple pie. A woman in the mood.

27. Favorite dog breed?
Irish Wolfhound

28. Favorite day of the week?
Friday

29. How many states have you lived in?
Have only ever lived in Ontario

30. Favorite holiday?
Christmas

Listening to: Rancid: Old Friend, "And Out Come The Wolves (1995)"
From LyricWiki

Good morning heartache
You're like an old friend
Come and see me again

Look up you're in Cleveland again
A solid line that never ends
I got stories that you'll never believe
And I know it, I wear it, I wear it on my sleeve
There must be something about you that I liked
But right here in the rain, you know, it just don't seem right
I always go out, I never hide
But in Cleveland I should've stayed inside

Testify my love for you
And I know it runs deep through your body too
From the cold black top to the hot concrete
And the old tin van, it aint so sweet

Somewhere in America
Through the city at night
And you were far from home
But you knew it was gonna be alright

The unfortunate get prayed on by vultures' eyes
Eighty-six cents in these pockets of mine
You can take my money, you can take my time
But you can't take my heart, it's in the city behind

What happened on Sunday May 13th?

2007-05-13T23:00:00.000-04:00

Tulips in the garden

Ah, Mothers Day has gone off without a hitch, other than I am exhausted. Wife had a nice relaxing day, I worked, kids did sqwat ... I'm being unfair, they helped a bit. On saturday Middle, Youngest and I went shopping for MDay gifts. We found two nice sweaters and a white skirt at Sears and at H&M we found a really nice sun dress and a very colourful babydoll sun shirt. I have discovered the perfect way to shop for wife. See cloths, show it to the girls, girls go yes/no, look at price, hold on to it until we see something else, at the end ask the girls which ones to buy. Fool proof. In fact I was 5 for 5 on the cloths gifts this year. I'm ususally 2 for 5.

Had to hit HMV .. what is mothers day without giving the gift of music. (heck I even gave my mother music... Michael Buble and Dissy Gillespie.) Took the girls in .. I picked the music,(Middle is going on about how Mom won't like that), I trusted my instincts. INXS - The Greatist Hits from 1994 and the 2007 Grammy Nominees CD. Once again, I was 2 for 2. Last years cd's were questionable, but once she listened to them, I did okay.

So we gave the gifts to Wife in the morning, after letting her sleep in of course. We had a quiet day, the girls had swimming, Eldest had homework (we'll talk about this another time, he is grounded again) and I did laundry. Went to church and once we got home I began to prepare dinner. I made bbq chicken breast for the kids and I (Wife is a veggie), fried sweet potato and yukon gold potato chips, grilled veggies, and spanakopita. (It turned out great, Eldest tried some and even liked it, though said it could have used more Feta.)

As Wife went to bed tonight I got a kiss and a thank you. Good day had by all.

And now for a little story reinforcing why I always have to watch what I do so I don't slip into loserdom.

On thurday morning I was backing the crown vic out of the garage, more worried about the tune on the iPod than what I was doing and SMASH CRASH ... fuck...

I broke the f**ing drivers side mirror. What a tool.

Listening to Chan Chan Buena Vista Social Club

De Alto Cedro voy para Marcan'
Llego a Cueto voy para Mayar
El cari o que te tengo
No te lo puedo negar
Se me sale la babita
Yo no lo puedo evitar

Cuando Juanica y Chan Chan
En el mar cern an arena
Como sacud�a el 'jibe'
A Chan Chan le daba pena

Limpia el camino de paja
Que yo me quiero sentar
En aquel tronco que veo
Y as no puedo llegar

De Alto Cedro voy para Marcan'
Llego a Cueto voy para Mayar

What happened on Wednesday May 9th?

2007-05-09T10:10:00.000-04:00

Diving off the rocks, last summer

Sorry about not posting lately, but I really have not had anything to say. Kids are healthy, Wife is a workaholic, my sales are slow and we are already way under quota, but there is nothing I can do accept keep calling.

I've been really getting into finding more music for my IPod. I have to admit I am kind of collector. Music Slut, Perfumed Garden (great Peel sessions) and Something I Learned Today are really good for MP3's so that I can see if I like the music. Then of course I feel guilty and have to go out and buy a CD. Oh by the way, if your really into music and want to know the history behind it. Allan Cross at CFNY is finally podcasting the "On Going History of New Music" The music has been striped out but it's still well worth listening to.

Heroes is almost over, shame, it’s been great. The last two epis odes have kept me on the edge of my seat. Thank god we recently got digital TV, since Eldest has a lacrosse game every Monday, I thought I would miss Heroes, but luck has it that Global BC runs the show at 11pm Eastern. So I get my Heroes fix, with no withdrawal. Speaking to TV withdrawal, does anyone know if Rockstar is back on this summer, I can't find any mention of it. Wife, who is in advertising, says she hasn't seen it in any of the summer schedules. Sucks.

Was thinking this morning about making a dreary depressing post about not knowing where you are in your career. You know what I mean, mid 40's, no direction at the job, just making money and bidding time till your real life starts. (Kids, home, weekends, marriage). Then I realized why complain, someone is paying me to do something I do well so that I can do what I want. Kids, home, marriage etc... Work is not the be all and end all of us. We have to have another course planned out. I decided I work for money so that I can do the things I want. I don't work to self fulfill my personal needs to be a human. Now I just have to make myself get up off the couch and pick up a brush to paint, go to TaiKwonDo (I haven't gone since I got back from Florida, no excuse other than I'm a lazy shit), take the camera and snap some pictures, sketch, ride a bike, teach youngest to ride her bike, spend time with the kids, snuggle with Wife or spend a couple of hours gardening. I just have to realize that these are the things that make me happy.

Thanks for the comments guys .. keep them coming.
(by the way la bellina mammina the orchids are from Royal Pacific Resort Orlando Florida, the only time you see those here in Ontario is at a green house or as a house plant. They are very hard to grow as they don't like the extremes of temp that we have.) Thanks for the comment, I love to take photos of flowers.

I'm doing so bad in they hockey pool that I'm not even looking any more. Last time I looked I was 15th place.

Listening to The Band, Chest Fever, from "Music From Big Pink" (1968)

I know she's a tracker, any scarlet would back her
They say she's a chooser, but I just can't refuse her
She was just there, but then she can't be here no more
And as my mind unweaves, I feel the freeze down in my knees
But just before she leaves, she receives

She's been down in the dunes and she's dealt with the goons
Now she drinks from the bitter cup, I'm trying to get her to give it up
She was just here, I fear she can't be here no more
And as my mind unweaves, I feel the freeze down in my knees
But just before she leaves, she receives

It's long, long when she's gone, I get weary holding on
Now I'm coldly fading fast, I don't think I'm gonna last
Very much longer

"She's stoned" said the Swede, and the moon calf agreed
I'm like a viper in shock with my eyes in the clock
She was just there somewhere and here I am again
And as my mind unweaves, I feel the freeze down in my knees
But just before she leaves, she receives

(Lyric copied from LyricWiki)

What happened on Wednesday April 25th?

2007-04-25T15:45:00.000-04:00

Well I promised photos of my trip to Orlando. I had a great time, the conference was really good, and I got to meet a lot of clients and learned how they use our software.

I really wish I could say I spent every evening out partying, but by the end of the day and having dinner together as a group I only got out two evenings out of the six days that I was gone. Even though we stayed at Universal's Royal Pacific resort, I never once got to hit the rides. We were just way to busy. I never even got closer to the pool than this shot.

I got some great shots of the orchids and flowers that are everywhere at the hotel.

A group of us did walk around the Universal City Walk at one evening. Bought a margarita and took pictures, but nothing really turned out very well. Nothing that I really wanted to show off at least.

I was able to get a few artsy shots from around the resort.

What do you think?

On the last evening I got out to do some record shopping. (dated myself there .. I meant cd shopping) I picked up the new Avril Lavigne CD, "The Best Damn Thing" for Middle, Anti Flag's "For Blood and Empire" for Eldest. For myself I picked up Neil Young "Live at Massey Hall 1971" (on a side note, I found out the other night that my brother-in-law was at that concert - he remembers wine and weed), Led Zeppelin's "Early Days / Latter Days" ($14.99 US), a Son House CD and Arcade Fire's "Funeral". All in all not a bad hall for under seventy dollars US. I saved a few bucks, but I was surprised that there is not much difference in pricing on CD's

One thing I can say was that the food was awesome; this is a shot of desert from one of the evenings. It's a pear torte with crème fresh and blackberry sauce. We had everything from steak to pork loin, asparagus to salads with pistachio vinaigrette. One evening they served the most incredible dish, .polenta with gorgonzola cheese, awesome. It was better then the sea bass that it came with.

The only bad part of the week, was that even though I am a very intelligent man I screwed up and brought miss matching shoes.

At least I got a right foot and a left foot .. ahhh! I am always able to remind myself that I am a loser.

Take a look at the origional photo's at my flickr page. By the way I am now in 9th place in my hockey pool, I've updated the stats below.

What happened on Friday April 13th?

2007-04-13T09:09:00.001-04:00

After the first round of the office hockey pool I am in 9th place all with 59 points.

Positon.......Name........Team........ Total--gls--ast-- gwg-- win-- shu-- gp: Team Total:................52...... 16..... 25....... 7......... 4...... 0.....59
Forward: Daniel Briere, Sabers . . . . . . . 6. . . .1 . . 1. . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Forward: Chris Drury, Sabers. . . . . . . . 7. . . 4 . . 1. . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Forward: ~~Sidney Crosby, Penguins . . . .6. . . 4 . . 2. . .1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5~~
Forward: Dany Heatley, Senators . . . . .6 . . .2. . . .2 . . . . . .2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Forward: Teemu Selanne. Ducks . . . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Forward: Henrik Sedin, Canucks . . . . . 5. . . 2 . . . .2 . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . .. . .7
Forward: Daniel Sedin, Canucks . . . . . . 3 . . .1 . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Forward: Joe Thornton, Sharks . . . . . . .6 . . . . . . . .6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Defense: Scott Niedermayer, Ducks . . . 3 . . . . . . . .3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Defense: Brian Campbell, Sabers . . . . . 4 . . .2 . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Stanley Cup 2007 - Buffalo Sabers . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. . . . . . . 1

Listening to:
The Who - Mary-Anne with the Shaky Hands from "The Who Sell Out", 1967 Polydor Records

I danced with Linda
I danced with Jean
I danced with Cindy
Then I suddenly see

Mary-Anne with the shaky hands
What they've done to her man
Those shaky hands

Mary is so pretty
The prettiest in the land
Guys come from every city
Just to shake her shaky hands

Linda can cook
Jean reads books
Cindy can sew
But I'd rather know

Mary-Anne with the shaky hands
What they've done to her man
Those shaky hands

Mary-Anne with the shaky hands
What they've done to her man
Those shaky hands

Mary-Anne with the shaky hands
What they've done to her man
Those shaky hands

2007-04-12T09:35:00.000-04:00

I missed this yesterday .. Kurt Vonnegut has passed away. I was 13 when I first read "Slaughterhouse Five", 15 when I read "Welcome to the Monkey House", since then I have bought every book that he has written. His ideas and images have help me form a sound but quirky out look on life. I will miss him. If you want to read something, take a look at his last essays on American Politics.
GoodBye Kurt.

What happened on April 11th?

2007-04-11T11:17:00.000-04:00

First Crocus of Spring (what spring, most of them died from the cold.)

Okay .. we have been busy and I haven't posted. I've been trying to keep up with what is going on in the world (both blog and real .. or is it one in the same?) Anyway, things are going good for me, still haven't seen the payout for making quota .. hopefully they will have it by this weekend.
They had me learning some AutoCAD last week, so that I can sell and demo one of our products a lot better. Very interesting program, but wow it is a overwhelming. I have never seen a application with so many key commands.
I'm off to Orlando for a user conference next week, so I won't be able to post, but I hope to come back with some nice photos.

Middle and her team lost the Championship game, 4-1, the forwards just did not skate. Middle let in a really cheap goal to start and then was screened by either the other team or her own players on the other shots. Her team only had ten shots on net in the whole game. Shame, but she did have a great season. Now she is thinking of going out for competitive hockey. Tryouts start next week when I get back from Orlando.
Boy am I peeved at her .. I got home from work last night. She says to me "Dad, you know my history project is due tomorrow!" I respond with "So, are you done?" Her response "I've written it out, but I just have to type it out on the computer" By now a black cloud has formed over my head.
a) I was never told the due date of this project
b) she had all of monday to do this since she was off for Easter Monday
c) she never starts her projects early, no matter how many times we ask her to
d) I could have stayed home on Monday and checked her work (Monday night both wife and I went to Eldest lacrosse game)
e) I'm supposed to go to TaiKwonDo, but now can't because as a parent I am supposed to help my kids learn ... Arrrgh!!!!

So with my blood was boiling, because I know my daughter. Done does not mean done, I have about 3 hours work pulling information out of her to get her to write a good report. So off I go with Eldest to his drum lessons, asking Middle to begin typing out her report. I get to come home and work on a history report on Laura Secord until 10p.m.
Aargh!! I love my kids, but! sometimes it's just to much.

Entered the office Play Off pool. Last year I came in 2nd So here's my picks

Forward: Daniel Briere, Buffalo Sabers
Forward: Chris Drury, Buffalo Sabers
Forward: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
Forward: Dany Heatley, Ottawa Senators
Forward: Teemu Selanne. Anaheim Mighty(I hate this name)Ducks
Forward: Henrik Sedin, Vancouver Canucks
Forward: Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks
Forward: Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks
Defense: Scott Niedermayer, Anaheim Mighty(I hate this name)Ducks
Defense: Brian Campbell, Buffalo Sabers
Stanley Cup Champions --- Buffalo Sabers ..(hey a bracebridge boy played for them at one time)

I know, I know .. why I am I picking a non Canadian team to take the cup. Well, Ottawa always chokes, I just don't think Calgary can do it, and Vancouver can/will make it to the finals, but I don't think they can stop Buffalo. What other team in NHL at this time has three lines of power players. NON .. Buffalo has built themselves a Stanley Cup team and I really hope they can win. I put my money on it.

Listening to:

Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Alimony Blues (could not find these lyrics online, so I transcribed them from the mp3)

My baby left me sitting on a court room seat
My baby left me sitting on a court room seat

Now the judge says I got to pay her one hundred bucks a week

Judge oh Judge, why can’t your justice speak
Judge oh Judge, why can’t your justice speak

That woman got me on every dog gone thing I had with me

She sueing me for cruelty, ‘cause I hit her once or twice
One night I tried to choke her, she says I wasn’t nice
I use to love that woman, ‘til the strain was killing me
Now her lawyer is charging in-com-pat-i-bility

Well she won the case, Now she’s got a first degree

Now I’ve got the alimony blues, on the day she set me free.

What happened on March 30th?

2007-03-30T15:46:00.000-04:00

What a massive relief. I made yearly quota, I made monthly quota, but missed quarterly and new product quota. I won't get all my bonuses but I will get at least some. In just a week week I did 100K. What a relief, I've been pacing the floor and hounding a few outstanding sales today. It feels good to succeed .. now we just have to see what's up for next year.

Haven't been able to do any of the memes I enjoy, still have that outstanding one that Paul did, it just been work, kids activities and TaiKwonDo. So by early evening I just to tired to do anything online. I still have to read the first Chapter of Joe's Novel.. will try to do that tonight.

Tomorrow morning Middle plays in the championship game. She had a fantastic game last week, beating the first place team. Going from a 0-3 deficit to winning the game 4-3. Wife said Middle just about stood on her head during the game. She faced down 3 single man rushes and a penalty shot. I'm a we bit proud of her. She is talking about moving up out of house league to more competitive girls hockey.

Presently listening to:

Sugar Magnolia Greatful Dead

Sugar magnolia, blossoms blooming,
heads all empty and I don't care,
Saw my baby down by the river,
knew she'd have to come up soon for air.

Sweet blossom come on, under the willow,
we can have high times if you'll abide
We can discover the wonders of nature,
rolling in the rushes down by the riverside.

She's got everything delightful,
she's got everything I need,
Takes the wheel when I'm seeing double,
pays my ticket when I speed

She comes skimmin' through rays of violet,
she can wade in a drop of dew,
She don't come and I don't follow,
waits backstage while I sing to you.

Well, she can dance a Cajun rhythm,
jump like a willys in four wheel drive.
She's a summer love for spring, fall and winter.
She can make happy any man alive.

Sugar magnolia, ringing that bluebell,
caught up in sunlight, come on out singing
I'll walk you in the sunshine, come on honey,
come along with me.

She's got everything delightful,
she's got everything I need,
A breeze in the pines and the sun and bright moonlight,
lazing in the sunshine yes indeed.

Sometimes when the cuckoo's crying,
when the moon is half way down,
Sometimes when the night is dying,
I take me out and I wander around, I wander 'round.

Sunshine, daydream, walking in the tall trees,
going where the wind goes
Blooming like a red rose, breathing more freely,
Ride our singin', I'll walk you in the morning sunshine
Sunshine, daydream. Sunshine, daydream.
Walking in the sunshine.

What happened on March 23rd?

2007-03-23T14:02:00.001-04:00

I guess I should post more but it's the end of the year and I'm only at 68% of quota with only one week to go. I'll try to get a meme I grabbed off of Paul up tonight.

Eldest turns 15 tomorrow. Wow! He just keeps growing. He is totally into skate boarding, Bam Margera and Finnish Death Metal .. lord help me.

You Are Elmo

Sweet and innocent, you expect everyone to adore you. And they usually do!

You are usually feeling: Talkative. You've got tons of stories to tell. And when you aren't talking, you're laughing.

You are famous for: Being popular, though no one knows why. Middle aged women especially like you.

How you life your life: With an open heart. "Elmo loves you!"

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

Listening to:

Baby Stick Around, Look Sharp, Joe Jackson
Come on you people get your dancing shoes on
Reds and yellow and pinks and blues on
Too late, too late
To stay home and sit around

Purple leopard skin and see-through plastic
Whatever you want, but just make it drastic
Too late, too late To stay home and sit around

What you wanna bet
We ain't started yet
Baby stick around
Baby stick around

Pushin' and shovin' and sweat wet leather
Up and down we go chained together
Too late, too late
To stay home and sit around

Somebody tellin' me the latest scandals
Somebody steppin' on my plastic sandals
Too late, too late
To stay home and sit around

What you wanna bet
We ain't started yet
Baby stick around
Baby stick around

Too late, too late
To stay home and sit around

What you wanna bet
We ain't started yet
Baby stick around
Baby stick around

What happened on March 9th?

2007-03-09T14:59:00.000-05:00

On such a sunny day I had to share the storm we had last week.

Movie meme

1. Name a movie that you have seen more than 10 times. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a) one of my favourite movies b) Youngest loves this movie, when she was 4 years old we watched it together at least once a week.

2. Name a movie that you've seen multiple times in the theatre. Apocalypse Now, once as a make out date, the rest of the times stoned out of my head on LSD.

3. Name an actor that would make you more inclined to see a movie. Robin Williams - Since, "The World According to Garp" I have seen everything he has ever done.

4. Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a movie. Can't think of one.

5. Name a movie that you can and do quote from. "Ni Ni Ni"

6. Name a movie musical that you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Sound of Music

7. Name a movie that you have been known to sing along with. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Sound of Music

8. Name a movie that you would recommend everyone see. I agree with Paul "Memento". If you haven't seen it yet, watch it twice and you will love it.

9. Name a movie that you own. The Great Escape

10. Name an actor that launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops. Elvis Presley .. I'm not joking you have to see Kid Creole.

11. Have you ever seen a movie in a drive-in? If so, what? Tons of times .. the first movie I remember was Disney's "The Aristocats", The last one I saw was David Cronenberg's "Scanners"

12. Ever made out in a movie? Yea. At the drive in for Scanners, who said that station wagons were not make out cars.

13. Name a movie that you keep meaning to see but just haven’t yet gotten around to it. What About Bob with Bill Murray

14. Ever walked out of a movie? Bunch of times, started when I was a kid. I took some kids to the movies on my 6th birthday to see "The Time Machine", I got so scared that I walked out and wandered the streets for about twenty minutes. "Jaws", I went to see it with my sister, I left the theatre after the head fell out of the bottom of the boat. There have been multiple times because I am a big scardy cat. The only time I have walked out of a movie because it was bad was the "Talented Mr Ripley" - I walked around the theatre until it was finished, wife sat through the whole thing, I don't understand how she could.

15. Name a movie that made you cry in the theatre. Can't remember one, but I don't go to movies that have sob stories. I'm to much of a wuss!

16. Popcorn? Yea, whole large bag just for me, what you mean I'm supposed to share.. no way!

17. How often do you go to the movies (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)? Once every couple of years, hey you take a family of five to the movies and have them agree on a movie they want to see together. Its easier to stay at home.

18. What’s the last movie you saw in the theatre? Chronicles of Narnia

19. What’s your favourite/preferred genre of movie? Sci-Fi / Fantasy or Comedies

20. What’s the first movie you remember seeing in the theatre? The first movie I remember seeing (or really not seeing in full) was "The Time Machine"

21. What movie do you wish you had never seen? "The Talented Mr. Ripley" - damn I hate when I waste time with a movie like that

22. What is the weirdest movie you enjoyed? Plan 9 From Outer Space

23. What is the scariest movie you've seen? The Aliens series, I still have not seen all of the first movie.

24. What is the funniest movie you've seen? Good Morning Vietnam

via: Aurora Walking Vacation and Byzantium's Shores

Listening to
The Band Life is a Carnival

You can walk on the water, drown in the sand
You can fly off a mountaintop if anybody can
Run away, run away--it's the restless age
Look away, look away--you can turn the page

Hey, buddy, would you like to buy a watch real cheap
Here on the street
I got six on each arm and two more round my feet
Life is a carnival--believe it or not
Life is a carnival--two bits a shot

Saw a man with the jinx in the third degree
From trying to deal with people--people you can't see
Take away, take away, this house of mirrors
Give away, give away, all the souvenirs
We're all in the same boat ready to float off the edge of the world
The flat old world
The street is a sideshow from the peddler to the corner girl
Life is a carnival--it's in the book
Life is a carnival--take another look

Hey, buddy, would you like to buy a watch real cheap
Here on the street
I got six on each arm and two more round my feet
Life is a carnival--believe it or not
Life is a carnival--two bits a shot

2007-03-09T13:40:00.000-05:00

Meme - Music Of My Life

* Put your iTunes/Winamp/WMP on shuffle.
* Use the song title as the answer to the question.
* NO CHEATING

1. How does the world see me? Behind Blue Eyes .. The Who
2. Will I have a happy life? Saturday ... Go Betty Go
3. What do my friends really think of me? I am a Child ... Buffalo Springfield
4. Do people secretly lust after me? Slim's Blues .. John Lee Hooker
5. How can I make myself happy? Back Door Man .. Willie Dixon
6. What should I do with my life? Ain't To Proud to Beg ... The Temptations
7. Will I ever have children? Cat's in the Cradle .. Harry Chapin
8. What is some good advice for me? Experiment IV .. Kate Bush
9. How will I be remembered? You're So Fine ... Little Walter
10. What is my signature dancing song? Mailman ... Soundgarden
11. What do I think my current theme song is? Blister in the Sun .. Violent Femmes
12. What does everyone else think my current theme song is? War Pigs ... Black Sabbath
13. What song will play at my funeral? Kalifornia ... Fat Boy Slim
14. What type of women/men do I like? Copperhead Road ... Steve Earle
15. What is my day going to be like? Let it Rock ... The Animals
16. Will I ever have love again? Hold on to your money ... Howlin' Wolf
17. What type of sex life do I have? Rarefied ... Sam Roberts
18. What song would be the title of my own porno movie? Iron Lion Zion ... Bob Marley & the Wailers.

2007-03-09T12:14:00.000-05:00

Book Meme swiped from a long time ago from librarygrrrl.net

One book that changed your life? The Hobbit
One book you have read more than once? The Lord of the Rings - 13 times
One book you would want on a desert island? Book or Series .. Book -> Lord of the Rings, Series -> "A Song of Ice and Fire" George RR Martin
One book that made you laugh? The World According to Garp...John Irving
One book that made you cry? World According to Garp
One book you wish had never been written? Mein Kampf...Adolf Hitler (I'm not going to link to this crap!
One book you are currently reading? The First Man Of Rome...Colleen McCullough
One book you have been meaning to read? Absolute Honour...C.C. Humphreys

What happened on March 6th?

2007-03-06T16:00:00.001-05:00

I wasn't going to post today, only things I have to talk are last nights Heroes .. excellent as always, am really pissed of though, I have to wait till April for the next installment.

I got my blue belt on Thursday (boy did I screw up when I was doing my patterns. We did them facing in the opposite direction then we normally do them and I made a bunch of mistakes, got pissed at myself and said f**K out loud - 44 year old loser anyone).

Youngest got her orange belt on Friday, Eldest is back to his old tricks with school, he threw out a test he was supposed to bring home for us to sing, third time since xmas that he has done this, has been caught each time (he must think we are stupid), Middle won't draw anymore (at one time all she wanted to do was go to the High School for the Arts, now she won't even pick up a pencil).

Finally, this story caught my attention. What do you think, is this going to save lives or is it going to make us cannibals?

Listening to:
Everyday I have the Blues, B.B. King

Everyday, everyday I have the blues
Ooh everyday, everyday I have the blues
When you see me worryin' baby, yeah it's you I hate to lose

Whoa nobody loves me, nobody seems to care
Whoa nobody loves me, nobody seems to care
Well worries and trouble darling, babe you know I've had my share

-- solo --

Everyday, everyday, everyday, everyday
Everyday, everyday I have the blues
When you see me worryin' baby, yeah it's you I hate to lose

Whoa nobody loves me, nobody seems to care
Whoa nobody loves me, nobody seems to care
Well worries and trouble darling, babe you know I've had my share

What happened on February 27 th?

2007-02-27T14:36:00.000-05:00

Elephants at the Toronto Zoo

Okay time to rant again. I remember in 1989 the announcement of the ban on Ivory sales and the attempt to stop ivory poaching. It was a big media show, there was a huge bonfire where they burned tons of Ivory. The African Elephant population had been driven down from 1.3 million in 1979 to 625,000 in 1989. Over 200 elephants a day were being killed by hunters for only their Ivory with their bodies being left to rot. So countries that belonged to Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species agreed to put a stop to the worldwide trade in Ivory. Everything seemed to be getting better and the story went off the high profile radar... or the cause celebratie of the day.

Then I found today’s stories online.. From Australia, Canada, the US and the UK. Poaching of the African Elephant for its Ivory has risen to an unprecedented level since the 1989 ban. We are pushing a beautiful animal to extinction in the wild. I want to take a trip to Africa to see these creatures in the wild. I want my grandkids to know that these creatures are still walking the earth. Man has driven thousands of species to extinction over the last 40 years, my life time. This has to stop now. Stop hunting for pleasure, stop hunting for sport, and stop hunting for profit. Look I know how to hunt, I know how to shot, I choose not to because I have no need. If I needed to hunt for food for my family, believe me I would have no qualms. But hunting for profit is wrong. The problem is that if there is not a market then there is no need to hunt, but there is a black market and this species is being driven to extinction by our greed. 23,000 Elephants were killed in 2006... Did anyone here about the massacre at Zakouma National Park in Chad? I sure as hell didn't see any reports, because we all thought that everything was hunky dory we forgot about the problem, and now it is worse. We have to slow and stop the extinction of the African Elephant. This is the responsibility of everyone. Now we just have to figure out how we can help. One of the first steps that we can do is not buy Ivory when we go on holiday. We can boycott any store that is trying to sell Ivory (it's illegal to import ivory into Canada). We can raise awareness to this problem by talking about the poaching and making sure that the elephants don't become a cause celebre again

On a lighter note, Heroes was on last night on NBC and on Sunday on Global (the idiots put it up against the Oscars). I missed most of last weeks show (Stan Lee did a walk on as a bus driver, Eldest and I were going was that Stan Lee?, Wife is going who?, you had to be there).. I got to see Isaac try to shot Peter, but hit and kill Simone. And Mohinder is running around with Sylar (Sylar is pretending to be someone else). Sunday I got to see Bennet being shot by the Haitian .. wtf???? When I got home from TaiKwonDo last night I forgot to watch NBC at 9pm, Wife was watching Two and a Half Men. At 9:30 we remember Heroes is on .. so we missed a half hour .. which is a lot for this show .. Wow .. read the plot outline at Wikipedia. The only thing I can say is Wow!, this is the best show on TV .. Bennets bosses want Claire, they now control Matt Parkman and radio active man. The Haitian is an outlaw, Bennet lies to protect Claire and his position blaming the Haitian for hiding Claire.

Next weeks trailer was enough to make me watch, I'll miss TaiKwonDo if I have to .. Simone is seen standing with blood on her chest and she says something like "So are you going to kill me again", can Peter transfer his power?, is Simone a hero? Wow. I have to go online tonight and watch the show at the Global website.

What happened on February 20 th?

2007-02-20T14:14:00.000-05:00

My Kids

I just realised that I haven't talked about the kids in a while. They are all doing very well, other then growing up. As I mentioned in a email to a friend lately Eldest is turning 15 and is such a pain in the butt, Middle is turning 13 and is becoming a pain in the butt, and youngest just turned 7 is just to cute to be a pain in the butt.

Eldest is adjusting to grade 9, but any suggestions or help we might offer or want to offer is not right, because in his eyes we just don't understand him or his life. Crap, that the same shit I feed my parents. Is it just a cycle that God puts us through to punish us for our past indiscretions? No really, Eldest is doing well, what with the talks with the psychologist and the medication we have gotten him to focus on events around him. He is no longer a target for bullying, in fact some of his worst tormentors last year have become friends this year, because he is now able to not over react to situations. I'm very proud of him. I just have to get him to stop tormenting his sisters, trying to get a girl friend (I don't remember being this desperate), bugging me till I yell and being such a general pain in the butt for the fun of it.

Middle is as I said almost 13, !a young woman!, if you know what I mean. How many Dad's out there chat with their 13 year old daughter about her period. (creepy, but I'm doing it) The only thing I stress is the I will break the legs of any guy who touches her. (I try to leave it at that point, I want to say "when you don't want to be touched, but I just don't want her to be touched until she is 30) She talks to her mom about guys, not to me (which is a good thing). She is having a good year as a goalie, had a great game last week, stood on her head for her team. They won as a team, which was great. School wise has been a problem, she seems to miss a lot of what is being said to her, so her work and marks are suffering. She is making mistakes that should not be happening, so I am taking her to the doctor for a check-up this week.

Youngest is another thing altogether. She is the baby and can get away with anything, which pisses the other two off. She wants to do everything and be involved in everything. My mother calls her Ms. Diva, always the center of attention. She is going for her orange belt in a week. She does her pattern so well, that Sensei wants to get her into a advance class. But she is involved in so many other things she can only get to class once a week. Life with her will never be boring, I just dread her as a teenager.

For me life is good. Trying to control what I eat (ususally fail) but am going to TaiKwonDo at least 3 days a week. Putting on muscle mass but not losing weight. I have my blue belt test next week .. I have to know Saifa ... learning it slowly. Only so much you can teach a old horse. Wife is good, working to hard, trying to rest but never getting enough sleep because of her damn husband who snores (me). Trying out breath right strips right now .. other than this cold I have they seem to work.

We're a Happy Family, Rocket to Russia The Ramones , 1977 on Sire Records.

We're a happy family
We're a happy family
We're a happy family
Me mom and daddy
Sitting here in queens
Eating refried beans
We're in all magazines
Gulpin' down thorazines
We ain't got no friends
Our troubles never end
No christmas cards to send
Daddy likes men
Daddy's telling lies
Baby's eating flies
Mommy's on pills
Baby's got the chills
I'm friends with the president
I'm friends with the pope
We're all making a fortune
Selling daddy's dope

What happened on February 17 th?

2007-02-17T00:01:00.001-05:00

Georgian Bay Pine

Me, 44 years ago today. Crap I'm old but unchanged. Off this weekend to meet my new adopted neice. My sister, brother-in-law and the two girls have just flown in from Vancouver, and the whole family is getting together at my parents for a belated Christmas.

Otis Redding, (Sittin' on) The Dock of The Bay.
Released after he died by Volt Records January 1968, Produced by Steve Cropper

Sittin' in the morning sun,
I'll be sittin' when the evenin' come.
Watchin' the ships roll in,
Then I watch 'em roll away again.

Yeah, I'm sittin on the dock of the bay,
Watchin' the tide roll away.
Ooh, I'm just sittin' on the dock of the day,
Wastin' time.

I left my home in Georgia,
Headed for the Frisco bay.
I have nothin' to live for,
Look like nothin's gonna come my way.

So I'm just gonna sit on the dock of the bay,
Watchin' the tide roll away.
Ooh, I'm just sittin' on the dock of the day,
Wastin' time.

Looks like nothin's gonna change;
Everything still remains the same.
I can't do what ten people tell me to do,
So I guess I'll remain the same.

Sittin' here restin' my bones,
And this loneliness won't leave me alone.
Two housand miles I roam,
Just to make this dock my home.

Now I'm just gonna sit at the dock of the bay,
Watchin' the tide roll away.
Ooh, I'm just sittin' on the dock of the bay,
Wastin' time.

What happened on February 16 th?

2007-02-16T10:18:00.000-05:00

I was trying to get this all done up this morning but work got in the way.

Carpathian Bellflower

Al Gore, SOS, MSN & Live Earth annouce today Live Earth, for July 7th (Middles Bday) a concert for the enviroment? Cool .. its to be broadcast simultaniously from 7 continents with over 100 artists. The concerts will take place in Shanghai, Sydney, Johannesburg, London, someplace in Brazil, Japan and the U.S.(hey what about a Canadian site!)

Some of the Artists are
Pharrell
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Foo Fighters
Snoop Dogg
Lenny Kravitz
Bon Jovi
Paolo Nutini
Sheryl Crow
AFI
Melissa Etheridge
John Mayer
Damien Rice
Corrine Bailey Rae
Duran Duran
Bloc Party S
now Patrol
John Legend
Black Eyed Peas
Akon
Enrique Iglesias
Fall Out Boy
Mana
Keane
Kelly Clarkson
Korn
Faith Hill w/ Tim McGraw
Ray LaMontagne
Robin Thicke
Kenna

This seems to be with the same people who brought us Live 8 .. so maybe Michael Cole can get a Canadian venue added.

From Nic.. Sunday is the first day of Chinese New Year ... My sign is Rabbit. (what's your sign)

2007 is neither a lucky nor an unlucky year for Rabbits. This Year of the Pig is one of change. Whether the end results are positive or negative, they will each bring you to the next phase of your life.

Famous Rabbit:
David Beckham, Brad Pitt, Hilary Duff, Bertie Ahern, Drew Barrymore, Harry Belafonte, Ingrid Bergman, St Bernadette, Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, James Caan, Nicolas Cage, Thomas Carlyle, Lewis Carroll, Fidel Castro, John Cleese, Confucius, Marie Curie, Johnny Depp, Albert Einstein, George Eliot

Your reading:
2007 is the year of change for the Rabbit. 2007 is neither a lucky nor an unlucky year for Rabbits. This Year of the Pig is one of change. Whether the end results are positive or negative, they will each bring you to the next phase of your life.

'Star San Tai' and 'Star Jiang Xing' are the stars in your Central Palace (Central Constellation), and this will seemingly have Rabbits focus on certain needs for their relatives and community within this year. You will have the opportunity to deal with important matters or other topics, as well. In addition, you may decide to change your name to a prior one, or even one from your family's history.

Do not be disillusioned by your lack of accomplishment in 2007! The goal for you this year, Rabbit, is to focus on transformation. From the possibility of uprooting you and your family to a new location, to the possibility of a new career, change is in the air for you. You must allow yourself to recognize this so you are not frighted by how the year will reveal.

There will be no help from others this year; your energy will not allow that to happen, and this will affect many other things. From the way your tides of fortune flow; from your personal riches, to your relationships, and finally, to matters of health will all be of consequence. It is of importance that you become thrifty this year in all areas. This means you need to put aside some extra money, store a supply of provisions, and resist expending too much emotional energy. While it may be hard for you, Rabbit, you must limit how much you offer to others this year.

While this may dismay you, this year will teach you much, and will bring about a fresh drive to your life. In fact, you may even feel energized by it! 2007 is the impetus that will alter the years ahead, leading you to much luck, joy, and pleasure from 2008 and beyond.

What happened on January 31st?

2007-01-31T09:28:00.000-05:00

Guano Point, Grand Canyon West

This is our Prime Minister talking .. copied from the CBC news website.
"Kyoto is essentially a socialist scheme to suck money out of wealth-producing nations," Harper's letter reads.
Full text of leaked Harper letter, courtesy of the Liberal Party.
I want a world where our kids can live in .. this is crap .. I know everything comes down to money ($$$) this is why things get done and why the don't .. it's the cost to business and goverments that prevent agreements like Kyoto from going ahead. There are so many diverse arguements for Kyoto and against it, that I don't know which is right, but sticking our heads in the ground and not doing anything is even worse. Goverments and business have to get off their asses and effect a change.

I'm lonely and have no friends. WTF ... Copied from CTV News
Michael Keren, who has written "Blogosphere: The New Political Arena,'' suggests individuals who bare their souls in blogs are isolated and lonely, living in a virtual reality instead of forming real relationships or helping to change the world. "Bloggers think of themselves as rebels against mainstream society, but that rebellion is mostly confined to cyberspace, which makes blogging as melancholic and illusionary as Don Quixote tilting at windmills,'' the author says.
Hey, who am I to say he's wrong, but I do have friends. I really do! There is my invisible freind Tom, and the pink fuzzy bear Alex and that really nice guy down the street who wears a trench coat with rubber boots.

Other tidbits of news .. the Police will play the Grammy's .. okay cool the Police are back together, but do you really care about the Grammy's.

Lonely Is The Word, by Black Sabbath,
from the album Heaven and Hell (1980)

It's a long way to nowhere
And I'm leaving very soon
On the way we pass so close
To the back side of the moon
Hey join the traveler if you got nowhere to go
Hang your head and take my hand
It's the only road I know

Oh! Lonely is the word, yeah yeah yeah!

I've been higher than stardust
I've been seen upon the sun
I used to count in millions then
But now I only count in one
Come on, join the traveler
If you got nowhere to go
Hang your head and take my hand
It's the only road I know

Yeah, Lonely is the word
Got to be the saddest song I ever heard

Yeah, Lonely is the name

What happened on January 28th?

2007-01-28T22:35:00.001-05:00

I am:

Robert A. Heinlein

Beginning with technological action stories and progressing to epics with religious overtones, this take-no-prisoners writer racked up some huge sales numbers.

Which science fiction writer are you?

What happened on January 24th?

2007-01-24T11:31:00.000-05:00

I don't know about you but we live in the most incredible world .. and we are really fucking it up.

This is a video of a "Frilled Shark", they are a species of shark that is known to live in the deep ocean, 120 m to 1,400 m. It died a few hours after being caught in shallow water off the coast of Japan. Why was it out of its natural habitat? Tempature, lack of food, changing enviroment. We have to find out!

This image is of the Saiga Antelope from Asia EDGE in Britian has classified it as a species at risk. In twenty years we humans have taken the population from over a million to around 50,000, through poaching and over hunting.

In Canada, we have 68 species ranging from extinct to special concern, thats just in mammals, its 500 plus if you look at everything from birds plants and animals.

I'm not preaching. I'm not a saint when it comes to being green. I try my best, but we have to do more. This is just wrong.

Marvin Gaye = Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)

Woo ah, mercy mercy me
Ah things ain't what they used to be, no no
Where did all the blue skies go?
Poison is the wind that blows from the north and south and east
Woo mercy, mercy me, mercy father
Ah things ain't what they used to be, no no
Oil wasted on the ocean and upon our seas, fish full of mercury
Ah oh mercy, mercy me
Ah things ain't what they used to be, no no
Radiation under ground and in the sky
Animals and birds who live nearby are dying
Oh mercy, mercy me
Ah things ain't what they used to be
What about this overcrowded land
How much more abuse from man can she stand?
Oh, na na...
My sweet Lord... No
My Lord... My sweet Lord

What happened on January 15th?

2007-01-15T11:15:00.000-05:00

Borrowed this "Skiffy" (?) SciFi meme from Paul's blog who borrowed it from Jaquandor of Byzantium's Shores, who borrowed it from Sf Signal ...

1. Science fiction, fantasy, or horror? = Science Fiction and Fantasy .. am not a big horror fan. Stephen King's "It" and "The Stand" are as about as far as I go into horror. I did try to read HP Lovecraft once .. just did not get the "Cthulhu" things.

2. Hardback, trade paperback, or mass-market paperback? = I'd love hardcovers, but who can afford $40 plus .. give me a paperback any day.

3. Heinlein or Asimov? = I like them both, but give me Heinlein for adventure (turn off your brain space opera, that makes you wake up and realize there is a message). Azimov for making you think every time you read a word.

4. Amazon or brick-and-mortar? = Brick-and-mortar. I want to touch it before I buy it.

5. Barnes & Noble or Borders? =
Paul says, "[Jaquandor says: I suppose that Canadians answering this quiz should do Chapters or Indigo.]
Uh, Jaq, Chapters and Indigo are the same company. As is Coles. In fact, it's hard, in the great wilds of Suburbia to find any book stores that are not a part of the great evil book selling empire that is Chapters/Indigo".

There is a nice little SciFi store at the corner of Steeles and Dufferin, I try to get there once a month.

6. Hitchhiker or Discworld? = I've read them both, each has it own qualities .. Hitchhiker has become a classic series, everyone should read it all (5 or 6 books, I'm never sure) at least once. Discworld is hilarious, but I don't think I could read it everyday. Give me Garrett any day.

7. Bookmark or dog-ear? = Use a bookmark, a scrap of paper or don't touch my books.

8. Magazine: Asimov's Science Fiction or Fantasy & Science Fiction? = Neither, I know I could find young and upcoming authors by reading a mag, but I just don't like to.

9. Alphabetize by author, by title, or random? = Where ever they can be placed with out being damaged. I'm not that anal.

10. Keep, throw away, or sell? = Drives Wife nuts, but I have to keep them, if they are good I want to be able to reread them .. so they go onto shelves or into boxes. When I've sold them or put them away I've felt like a father abandoning his children.

11. Year's Best Science Fiction series (edited by Gardner Dozois) or Years Best SF series (edited by David G. Hartwell) = Neither ... I really don't like compilations. When I pick up a book it's got to have some meat to it.

12. Keep dust jacket or toss it? = Like I said I don't get hardcovers to often, but when I do I keep the dust jacket, the only thing is I put them away and don't find them for a year or two.

13. Read with dust jacket or remove it? = see above

14. Short story or novel? = Novel, read question #11

15. Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket? = Harry Potter, Middle has Lemony Snicket, Wife has read them, I had to read one to help her with a book report, I just can't get into them.

16. Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks? = only when the chapter ends! That would make reading a over powering "cliff hanger"

17. "It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time"? = Lame question, not worth answering. A scene starts, you read.

18. Buy or borrow? = I buy, my way of poping a cherry.

19. Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation, or browse? = I am a browser, it takes about a hour before I buy a book.

20. Lewis or Tolkien? = Both are geniuses

21. Hard SF or space opera? = Both, it depends on the mood.

22. Collection (short stories by the same author) or anthology (short stories by different authors)? = neither .. see question #14 and #11

23. Hugo or Nebula? = Can't be bothered.

24. Golden Age SF or New Wave SF? = Once again, depends on the mood.

25. Tidy ending or cliffhanger? = Both, just don't surprise me with a series, I will never read your book again, warn me on the cover.

26. Morning, afternoon, or nighttime reading? = Anytime I can, I'm also a bathroom reader, not many people borrow my books .. no stains though.

27. Stand alone or series? = Depends on the mood, but like I said in #25 warn me first.

28. Urban fantasy or high fantasy? = As long as it's good, who cares. Just don't try to give me sholk.

29. New or used? = I prefer new, but if it's a old print, I will grab it. I've got my original 1950 copy of Heinlein's "Farmer in the Sky" at a used book store .. never read it, but then again I've got 3 copies of the book.

30. Favorite book of which nobody else has heard? = Covenants - Lorna Freeman

31. Top X favorite genre books read last year? (Where X is 5 or less)

American Gods - Neil Gaiman
A Feast for Crows - George RR Martin
His Majesty's Dragon - Naomi Novik
Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow - David Gemmell
Dies a Fire: The Protector's War - SM Stirling

32. Top X favorite genre books of all time? (Where X is 5 or less)

The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
Slaughterhouse-five - Kurt Vonnegut
Time Enough for Love - Robert A Heinlein
Childhood's End - Arthur C Clarke

33. X favorite genre series? (Where X is 5 or less)

From the Files of Garrett, PI - Glen Cook
The Foundation Series - Isaac Asimov
Dune - Frank Herbert
Ringworld - Larry Niven
Dresden - Jim Butcher

34. Top X favorite genre short stories? (Where X is 5 or less)

"Nine Billion Names of God" - Arthur C. Clarke

"That's it, folks! Tag yourself if you like the skiffy, move along if you don't." -Jaq

Moxy Fruvos - My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors

(Dave)Well you should see my story reading baby, you should hear the things that she says,
She says "Hon, drop dead, I'd rather go to bed with Gabriel Garcia Marquez."

(Mike in funny voice)Uhh-huh!

(Dave)Cuddle up with William S. Burrows, leave on the light for Bell Hooks,
I've been flirtin' with Pierre Burton 'cause he's so smart in his books

(All)I like to go out dancing,
My baby loves a bunch of authors
My heart's so broke and bleedin'
(Dave)Baby's just sitting there
(Murray)doing some reading

(Dave)So I started watching some TV, played my new cd player too,
She said: "Turn it off or I'll call the cops and I'll throw the book at you."
All this arguing made me get dizzy, called my doctor to come have a look
I said: "Doctor hurry!" He said:
(Murray)"Don't worry, I'll be over when I finish my book"

(All)I like to go out dancing,
My baby loves a bunch of authors
We've been livin in hovels
(Dave)Spendin' all our money on
(Murray)brand new novels

(Dave)So I got myself on a streetcar and it drove right into someone,
You know the driver said:

(Jian in grizzly voice) "I was lookin' straight ahead!"

(Dave)But he was reading the Toronto Sun

(Jian) "So?"

(Dave)So my honey and me go to a counsellor to help figure out what we need
She said: "We'll get your love growing,

(Mike, in funny Dr. Ruth voice) but before we get going, here's some books I'd like you to read."

(All)I like to go out dancing,
My baby loves a bunch of authors
Lately we've had some fricton
(Dave)
'Cause my baby's hooked on
(Murray) short works of fiction

(Dave)So we split and went to a party, some friends my girl said she knew
But what a sight 'cause it's authors night and the place looks like a who's who

(Dave)Now I'm pounding the ouzo

(rest)with Mario Puzo

(Dave)Who's a funny fella?

(rest)W.P. Kinsella

(Dave)Who brought the cat?

(rest)Would Margeret Atwood?

(Dave)Who needs a shave?

(rest)He's Robertson Davies!

(Dave)Ondaatje started a food fight, salmon mousse all over the scene

(All)Spilled some dressing on Doris Lessing, these writer types are a scream!

(All)I like to go out dancing,
My baby loves a bunch of authors
We'll be together for ages
(Dave)
Eatin' and Sleepin' and
(Jian in grizzly voice)
Eatin' and Sleepin' and
(Mike in funny Dr. Ruth voice)
Eating und Sleeping und
(Murray)
Turnin' pages.

(All)Yeah!

From the Liner:(Mike-vocals; Murray-vocals, bass, spring muffler; Jean-vocals, sheet metal, snare; Dave-lead vocal, guitar)

What happened on January 12th?

2007-01-12T13:35:00.000-05:00

I'm sick, I laughed at this .. Banned Xbox 360 Ad

deleted because it was a pain in the butt

Funny Video Clips

FOLSOM PRISON BLUES
(J.R. Cash)
JOHNNY CASH (Sun 232, 1956)

I hear that train a-commin', it's rollin' around the bend
And I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when
I'm stuck in Folsom prison and time keeps draggin' on
But that train keeps a-rollin' on down to San Antone
When I was just a baby, my mama told me, son
Always be a good boy, don't ever play with guns
But I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die
When I hear that whistle blowin', I hang my head and cry

I bet there's rich folks eatin' in a fancy dining car
They're probably drinking coffee and smoking big cigars
But I know I had it coming, I know I can't be free
But those people keep a-movin' and that's what tortures me

Well if that freed me from this prison
and that railroad train was mine
I bet I'd move it on a little farther down the line
Far from Folsom prison, that's where I want to stay
And I'd let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away

What happened on January 10th?

2007-01-10T14:18:00.000-05:00

I just found out from Paul that the second week of January is National De-Lurking Week.
So, if you are a regular reader of AC&43, introduce yourself. If you think you can't comment because you are not an Blogger member, think again. It's free, it will only take up a few minutes of your life. I made myself a AOL account.
So hey please take a moment and say hello.

The picture was stolen from Paul who borrowed it from Paper Napkin. There also seems to be several different versions available at this link.

Back in December I missed the fall ending episode "Fallout" for Heroes because we went to the Who concert .. Wife and I got to see it the other night. Wow, what a ending. I can't wait until "Godsend" airs the 22nd.

Do any of you remember delete bins at record stores. Well I have found them again, not a a used record store but at the SuperCentre grocery chain. Last night I got 5 CD's for less the $30.

The Tragically Hip - Live Between Us
The Who - The Who Sings My Generation
Django Reinhardt - I Got Rhythm
Various Blues Artists - It's All About the Blues (Disc 1)
The Clash - London Calling

I've always loved delete bins...now I just have to learn to restrain my impulse to buy.

Jimmy Jazz - The Clash(Strummer/Jones)

The police walked in for Jimmy Jazz
I said, he ain't here, but he sure went past
Oh, you're looking for Jimmy Jazz

Sattamassagana for Jimmy Dread
Cut off his ears and chop off his head
Police came looking for Jimmy Jazz

So if you're gonna take a message 'cross this town
Maybe put it down somewhere over the other side
See it gets to Jimmy Jazz

Don't you bother me, not anymore
I can't take this tale, oh, no more
It's all around, Jimmy Jazz

J-a-zee zee J-a-zed zed
J-a-zed zed Jimmy Jazz
And then it sucks, he said, suck that!
So go look all around, you can try your luck, brother
And see what you found
But I guarantee that it ain't your day
Chop! Chop!

What happened on January 5th?

2007-01-05T11:17:00.000-05:00

Close up on a Larkspur

I'm in heaven ... I am now a proud owner of a 80 gig IPod. Why should you care, you really shouldn't, this toy is just another tool to separate the user from society, but damn do I love it.
I've got about half my CD's loaded (2200 songs), I'm thinking (been doing this for a while but just to lazy) of digitizing my record collection .. I've got about 1000 LP's that I've been collecting since I was 15 [sad aren't I]. Wife gave me the IPod for Christmas, she surprised the heck out of me, I got a shoe box and inside was a pair of ugly hiking boots (I then realize that they are my sons), inside of them I find the Ipod, I haven't felt this good at Christmas since I was a little kid. I do love her so.

Now I'm pretty boring and laid back, small thing make me happy. Last night as I was loading songs I found another joy of having a IPod, Podcasting. I found that the CBC is podcasting some of my favorite shows. I listened to Rick MacInnes-Rae on Dispatches and I sync'd DNTO season ender with Sook-yin Lee interviewing Johnny Rotten and Adrienne Clarkson and listened to it on the way to work. I love radio, but I don't get to listen to interview shows or radio documentaries. I'm either always busy when the show is broadcast or I'm in the Van with the kids and wife and they all hate the CBC, so I never get to listen in, as I said I'm in Heaven. They seem to edit for the cast, I would rather have the raw streamed show, but oh well, I live with what I can get. Now all we have to do is get them to podcast some of the great radio Plays that they do.

I also downloaded "Minnie the Moocher" a old cartoon from Fleischer Studios. Staring Betty Boop and the Cab Calloway Orchestra. I saw this cartoon years ago (I originally wanted to go into animation - heck I used to dream in cartoons), and fell in love with the music of Cab Calloway, it was great to discover this again. As I keep saying I'm in Heaven.

"Cheek to Cheek" by Irving Berlin

Heaven... I'm in heaven,
And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak.
And I seem to find the happiness I seek,
When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek.
Heaven... I'm in heaven,
And the cares that hung around me through the week,
Seem to vanish like a gambler's lucky streak,
When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek.

Oh, I love to climb a mountain,
And to reach the highest peak.
But it doesn't thrill me half as much
As dancing cheek to cheek.

Oh, I love to go out fishing
In a river or a creek.
But I don't enjoy it half as much
As dancing cheek to cheek.

Dance with me! I want my arms about you.
The charms about you
Will carry me through to...

Heaven... I'm in heaven,
And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak.
And I seem to find the happiness I seek,
When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek.

What happened on December 29th?

2006-12-29T09:15:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year - Welcome to 2007

My Neighbours House on Christmas Eve 2006

Not much else to say, all the best in the New Year to you and your family! Off at noon today and have a lot of work to get done. See you in 2007!

What happened on December 22nd?

2006-12-22T09:15:00.000-05:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Not going to write a lot, just want to wish anyone who hits this page a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Winter Solstice, or any winter festival that you might celebrate.

Special holiday wishes to Paul, Running 42K, Emma, Joe, whoever is always stopping by from San Leandro,California (who are you? leave a note sometime)and Reston, Virginia (again ..who are you? leave a note sometime)and finally anyone from the UK who is looking for info on Bedouin SoundClash (the song is titled ... "When The Night Feels My Song".)

Little Drummer Boy: Lyrics

Come they told me, pa rum pum pum pum
A new born King to see, pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring, pa rum pum pum pum
To lay before the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

So to honor Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
When we come.

Little Baby, pa rum pum pum pum
I am a poor boy too, pa rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring, pa rum pum pum pum
That's fit to give the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

Shall I play for you, pa rum pum pum pum,
On my drum?

Mary nodded, pa rum pum pum pum
The ox and lamb kept time, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my drum for Him, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my best for Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

Then He smiled at me, pa rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum.

The words and music to the Christmas song Little Drummer Boy was composed by Katherine K. Davis, Henry Onorati and Harry Simeone in 1958. The lyrics of Little Drummer Boy consist of no less than 21 rum pum pum pum' - a major part of the song and therefore presenting an apparently easy task for the lyricist! However, Little Drummer Boy has been a huge hit for several artists. The most notable rendition was created by the most unlikely combination of Bing Crosby and David Bowie. This version of Little Drummer Boy was a massive hit for the artists and was in fact Bing Crosby's most successful recording since the legendary White Christmas.

What happened on December 15th?

2006-12-15T13:35:00.000-05:00

I don't rant very often, but today just seems to be the day that I need to let go on a wide range of subjects.

1) Justice Cohan has decided (she can because she is the administrator) to ban a Christmas Tree from the front lobby of the Jarvis Street Courthouse.
Hey I know sometimes Christmas can be a over powering season for people of other faiths. Yes we are celebrating a religious event, yes it gets shoved down their throats with Christmas TV shows (my favourite it still "White Christmas" with Bing Crosby), with stores decked out with Christmas decorations, Christmas music and Christmas Trees everywhere you turn . Yes it is overpowering, but this is a country where over 70% of the population is Christian. That means that over 50% of the work population at that courthouse or going to that Courthouse is going to be celebrating Christmas. Why shouldn't we celebrate a important event, hell most people don't even go to church on Christmas Eve. So you can't even call it a religious holiday, it more about the emotional symbol then religion, people are just nicer at Christmas.
Look I don't complain about the Hanukkah menorah at Downsview Park, I don't complain about one of my neighbours putting up lights for Diwali. Everyone has a right to celebrate a festival that is important to them. On the 27th we are going to a Christmas dinner party hosted by a Jewish couple the attendees are Muslim/Catholic couple, a Catholic/Anglican couple and us Catholic/Presbyterian(Anglican/agnostic - ME!). Everyone at this time of year needs to celebrate a Festival of Lights.

2) Another creature has possibly disappeared forever. The Yangtze River Dolphin has been pronounced extinct. They think there may be a few left but not enough for a sustainable population. This is just sad.

3) Some asshole finally admits to killing a baby he was babysitting, 10 years after he did it. Get this he being charged as minor because he committed the crime when he was a juvenile. WTF? Sentencing is to be some time in the early spring, does this mean the guy will only get a few years in jail for murder? What is wrong with our justice system when a murder or rapist only serves a couple of years. This wrong. I don't agree with the death penalty, but I do agree with harsh punishment for crimes. I lean to the left in my politics, but I think our country has gone to far in prisoner rights.

4) Why are we still in Afghanistan .. do they as a people really want us there. 44 Canadians have died there, just don't let their deaths be in vain!

5) Some idiot is killing prostitutes in Ipswich, England .. It's great that the community and the police force are moving so quickly on this .. Here in Canada the RCMP got Pickton, but what is happening with the multiple murders in Edmonton?.

On a happier note, Hockey Canada has released the name of this years World Junior team .. great Christmas hockey.

I just want it to snow.

White Christmas - Irving Berlin 1942

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten
and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow.
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white.
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white.

What happened on December 8th?

2006-12-08T10:50:00.000-05:00

This is the start of one of the best seasons of the year. Christmas. I know, I know, not all of you celebrate this holiday, but for me it's a time of happiness, great memories and a time when my kids eyes shine. Let's avoid the religious celebration, the crass commercialism and let's just work with the idea of what this time is supposed to represent. Rememberance, Peace on earth and good will to men.

But when you think about it, this season contains some of the worst tragedies that affect all of us. Maybe not directly, but we are continuously reminded of them.

1) The bombing of Pearl Harbour, Dec. 7/41
2) the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Nov. 22/63
3) the murder of John Lennon Dec, 8/81
4) Ecole Polytechnic Massacre, Dec. 6/89
5) the Indian Ocean earthquake and resulting Tsunami Dec. 26/04

Why am I pointing these out, instead of starting to celebrate. Well, I think these events need to be remembered so that the people who suffered won't be forgotten. When I was scanning the Wiki list of disasters, I saw events where thousands of people died. Is it right that these people are written off and forgotten, I don't feel that they should be. I think this time of year is the most important time to remember them, this is when we should think of the simple lines of "but for (insert god, fate, karma, etc) grace that could be me and mine" Be thankful for what you get.

Lyrics for: Starting Over By: John Lennon

Our life together
Is so precious together,
We have grown
We have grown

Although our love
Is still special,
Let's take our chance
And fly away
Somewhere alone

It's been so long
Since we took the time,
No one's to blame
I know time flies
So quickly
But when
I see you
Darling
It's like we both are
Falling in love again

It'll be just like
Starting over
Starting over

Everyday
We used to make it love
Why can't we be
Making love nice and easy

It's time to spread
Our wings and fly
Don't let another
Day go by
My love

It'll be just like
Starting over
Starting over

Why don't we
Take off alone,
Take a trip somewhere
Far, far away

We'll be together
On our own again
Like we used to
In the early days

Well
Well
Well
Darling

It's been so long
Since we took the time,
No one's to blame
I know time flies
So quikly
But when
I see you
Darling
It's like we both are
Falling in love again

It'll be just like
Starting over
Starting over,

Everyday
We used to make it love
Why can't we be
Making love nice and easy

It's time to spread
Our wings and fly
Don't let another
Day go by
My love

It'll be just like
Starting over
Starting over

Our life together
Is so precious together,
We have grown
We have grown
Although our love
Is still special,
Let's take our chance
And fly away
Somewhere
Alone.

What happened on December 5th?

2006-12-05T12:56:00.000-05:00

African Violet Macro

I saw a Guitar God last night .. no Heroes update and I forgot to set the VCR to record it .. but it was worth it .. Wife, Eldest and I saw The Who last night at the ACC.

Wow!!! .. can Pete Townshend still play guitar, the guy was incredible (what's even more surprising as he is 61 not that I'm a agist) and Roger Daltrey has the most incredible voice. For a guy who claimed to be sick at the start of the show he belted/screamed/sang like a twenty year old not a 62 year old. Eldest thought he was trying to be like the screamo bands that he likes, it was kind of cool to tell him that Daltry has always sounded like this. I wish I had photos to share but I'm just to honest that I wouldn't bring my camera with me, but man were the cell phones clicking away last night so there has to be some online at Flickr.

Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders opened for them last night .. they were awesome .. and she is still so hot (Wife can't understand why, but she just is). Eldest really liked them, the thing that bugs me is that in the car everytime a song by the Pretenders comes on he complains (at least now he won't), he also asked me how old they were, had to tell him that Chrissie was older then his mom and me. Eldest (he takes drums lessons and plays percussion in the school band) really got into seeing live drummers and since we were about a 100 feet and to the right of the stage, you really got to see the drummers play. Great seats.

The Who covered over forty years of music, the opening three songs were all pre 1969. They played most of the songs from the new album "Endless Wire" (they covered the mini opera that Townshend had written for this album) (by the way, I really like the album, I was kind of pissed during this part of the show because you could hear a number of assholes calling out for older songs.). I think Townshend can still write a awesome song, take a listen sometime to "A Man in a Purple Dress". They then covered a lot of older material form the 70's and 80's, at the end they did a encore of a melody of songs from Tommy and ended with a soft piece from the new album.

The audience was a mix bag .. I would say at least half were over 50 .. you saw whole families (like us).. when the Who did "Baba O'Riley", all I could think of was "Geriatric Wasteland" I swear there were 80 year old guys rocking out. Great concert and well worth every cent. Though I didn't buy any of the $40 tee shirts.

Baba O'Riley by The Who
Out here in the fields, I fight for my meals
I get my back into my livin'
I don't need to fight to prove I'm right
I don't need to be forgiven
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

Don't cry, don't raise your eye
It's only teenage wasteland...yeah...

Sally take my hand, we'll travel south cross land
Put out the fire, and don't look past my shoulder
The exodus is here, the happy ones are near
Let's get together, before we get much older

Teenage wasteland
It's only teenage wasteland
Teenage wasteland
Oh, yeah
Teenage wasteland
They're all wasted!

My only complaint with the concert was the drunks, there has to be a way to control the drinking at concerts. "Back in our day" you had to sneak you bozze in so you just brought pot. There was a group in the same row as us, ejected even before the Pretenders came on stage, for drunkenness. Here they were clean cut business looking types and they could barely walk. I had to switch seats with Eldest because he was getting uncomfortable sitting beside the guy beside him. The man was probably on his 10th beer before he stopped drinking. I would rather sit beside someone smoking pot than a drunk.

***Addendum Wedneday December 6/06***
Other Toronto Bloggers who attended the Who Concert on the fourth.

Ianism .... CherrySuede .... Behind Brown Eyes .... Lannio's World online

What happened on December 1st?

2006-12-01T11:14:00.000-05:00

I have a question for you.

I know that a wide range of people have hit this site, I get about 30 visiters a day. Everyone of you pass through very quickly, but I want you to take the time to answer one question for me.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?

Some of you might be doing exactly what you always thought you would (your grown up), some of you are learning you new trade and trying to decide if this is what you want to do (your still young), some of you might hate your jobs (your still a grown up), and some of you might be just like me and coasting from day to day (we haven't grown up yet).

I'm 43 now (44 in 3 mths). I know I will still have to be working well into my sixties (Youngest will have only just graduated from University when I turn sixty.) and I know I don't want to be doing what I do right now. Can you see yourself doing phone sales at sixty, lord help me.

So what do I want to do when I grow up? I don't know yet.

What are your plans?

The Who, with Eddie Cochran's "Summer Time Blues"

What happened on November 27th?

2006-11-28T09:34:00.000-05:00

Heroes update, Episode: Six Months Ago. Arrgh! .. Love it, hate it, you can't leave it alone. Back to the basement last night for me, wife didn't want to watch the show. It was a okay episode, it gave a lot better back history on the characters, how Sylar was created, how the Petrelli family started crumbling, and how the Bennets handled the introduction of powers, but it still left a lot of unanswered questions.

A) Hiro had six extra months to work on his powers (he went back in time to save Charlie) why hasn't his control of the powers improved? When he stopped time on the subway to pass the warning onto Peter, he seemed to have control of his powers, why could he not control his time/location destination after six months, I presume he had a lot of practice. I understand that you can not change the past, what has happened needs to happen or otherwise you change yourself. Its that old sci-fi theory of a person becoming their own parent. (sideline .. this reminds me of a story where a woman who grew up in an orphange becomes pregnant by a casual encounter, has the baby puts it in an orphanage, gets a sex change, the "new" man is recruited by a time traveling organization, has a casual encounter with a woman in the past, making her pregnant, there by becoming his own mother and father. I can't remember who wrote the short story, but it was pretty good.) Anyway back to Hiro, lets just say I was disappointed.

B) Sylar, why did they have to make him such a wimp, that really disappointed me. I had thought he would be a more powerful character, a redneck, someone who looked like a hero or a criminal. He just came across as a weak pathetic person. His power is really cool, the ability to see how something (a clock/human) was damaged and to fix it. I was right that he steals others power, he looked into the the sub character with Telekinesis, killed him with the quartz and then I presume by looking at the dead guys brain Sylar then can alter his own brain to incorporate that flaw/mutation/power into his own brain .. there by gaining the power to move things...very kewl. I understand the he needed to be a flawed character, with visions of grandeur, wanting to be superior to everyone else, I just wish they hadn't taken the easy path of creating his past history.

C) Eden, the Haitian and Mr. Bennet. Very cool power for Eden, that is going to be a really good story line in the future. Why does the Haitian seem to have multiple powers, he can dampen the power of the Hero he is close to (i.e., Eden trying to use her power on Bennet) but he is also able to erase the memory/personality of people (i.e. Matt and the football player that tried to rape Claire.) I need a better past history on him. No more information on Mr. Bennet's organization, though not smart on Chandra Sureshs part to give him and Sylar access to the map of Heroes. Can't wait for more info on Mr. Bennets secret organization, he seems to have a lot of power and money behind him. What's up? We will just have to watch more shows to find out. It looks like next weeks episode is the last one before the Christmas break, you'll have to let me know what happened as I am off to the Who that night.

Louie Louie the Kingsmen recorded in 1963, written by Richard Berry in 1955.

Louie louie, oh baby, I gotta go.
Yi-yi-yi-yi-yi
Louie louie, oh baby, I gotta go.

A fine girl, who waited for me.
I catch a ship across the sea.
I sailed the ship all alone.
I wondered when Im gonna make it home.

Louie louie, oh baby, I gotta go.
Yi-yi-yi-yi-yi
Louie louie, oh baby, I gotta go.

Three nights and days I sailed the sea.
I think of the girl constantly.
On the ship, I dream she there.
I smell the rose thats in her hair.

Louie louie, oh baby, I gotta go.
Yi-yi-yi-yi-yi
Louie louie, oh baby, I gotta go.

I see jamaican moon above.
See the girl Im thinking of.
I take her in my arms and then
Say Ill never leave again.

Louie louie, oh baby, I gotta go.
Yi-yi-yi-yi-yi
Louie louie, oh baby, I gotta go.

Oh, I gotta go now.
Uh-huh I gotta go.

What happened on November 24th?

2006-11-24T09:44:00.001-05:00

Wild Rose Crop

Meme day, I haven't done one in a long time .. enjoy.

I haven't done this one yet, but Joe and Kimberly at Word @ Large Blog created probably the first CBC meme on "My Top Ten Most Influential People Who Never Lived". I will probably try it at some point in time, but right now I'm trying to whittle the list down to ten.

I came across this one completly by accident liked it so I grabbed from The Internet is Garbage

Open iTunes/iPod or Windows Media Player to answer the following.
Go to your library. Answer the followling questions:

How many songs: 2179

Sort by song title:
First song:: #1 Zero - AudioSlave - Out of Exile
Last song:: Zombie - The Cranberries - Stars: The Best of 1992-2002 [Bonus Disc] Disc 1

Sort by time:
Shortest: Closing: I Can't Turn You Loose - The Blues Brothers - The Definitive Collection - (0:45)
Longest:Somthing in the Way - Nirvana - Nevermind (20:35) (has a 10 min bed of silence)

Sort by album:
First song: Beach Baby - Tony Burrows - 20 Best of 70s Rock 'N' Roll
Last Song: Vagabond - Wolfmother - Wolfmother

Five most played songs:
So Much Trouble in the World - Bob Marley; The Wailers - Gold Disc 2 - 10 plays
I Can't Stand It - Velvet Underground - Gold Disc 2 - 8 plays
Going Down Slow- Howling Wolf - The Hits - 8 plays
Blues On My Mind - Dinah Washington - Shouting the Blues - 7 plays
Clint Eastwood - Gorillaz - Big Shiny Tunes 6 - 7 plays

First song that comes up on "shuffle" play:
Spoonman - Soundgarden - Superunknown

Number of items that come up when searching for:
"sex": 5
"death": 3
"love": 88
"you": 245
"me": 2110
"cry": 5

Borrowed from Paul:

You paid attention during 74% of high school!

68-84% Pretty good, you know that there are libraries and newspapers, and you remember what you've read. You were a child that wasn't left behind!

Do you deserve your high school diploma?
Create a Quiz

The sad part is that I could have done a lot better if I had paid attention in school!

Lyrics for "Spill The Wine" by War

I was once out strolling one very hot summer's day
When I thought I'd lay myself down to rest
In a big field of tall grass
I laid there in the sun and felt it carressing my face
As I fell asleep and dreamed
I dreamed I was in a hollywood movie
And that I was the star of the movie
This really blew my mind
The fact that me an overfed long haired leaping gnome
Should be the star of a hollywood movie, hmmm
But there I was
I was taken to a place
The hall of the mountain kings
I stood high by the mountain tops
Naked to the world
In front of
Every kind of girl
There was long one's, tall ones, short ones, brown ones,
Black ones, round ones, big ones, crazy ones
Out of the middle, came a lady
She whispered in my ear
Something crazy
She said,

Chorus x4
Spill the wine dig that girl

I thought to myself, what could that mean
Am I going crazy, or is this just a dream
Now wait a minute
I know I'm lying in a field of grass somewhere
So it's all in my head
And then I heard her say one more time

Chorus x4
Spill the wine dig that girl

I could feel hot flames of fire roaring at my back
As she disappeared, but soon she returned
In her hand was a bottle of wine
In the other a glass
She poured some of the wine from the bottle into the glass
And raised it to her lips
And just before she drank it, she said

take the wine dig that girl
spill the wine, dig that girl
spill the wine, dig that girl
spill the wine, dig that girl
take that girl, yeah!
It's on girl, all you gotta do is spill that wine
spill that wine, let me feel, let me feel hot, yeah! yeah!
spill the wine, spill the wine, spill the wine, spill the wine,
spill the wine, spill the wine, spill the wine,
dig that girl!

Cashbox # 1 song for the week ending November 22 1979 "Babe" - Styx

What happened on November 23rd?

2006-11-23T11:45:00.000-05:00

Needles/Droplets

( origional )

Hey you guys in the UK, thanks hitting my page, wish you would stick around and read a bit but I know you looking for information on Bedouin SoundClash. In the last two weeks I have been hit by numerous UK searches for "When The Night Feels My Song" by Bedouin SoundClash. Now none of you seem to know the name of the song but you're searching for a portion of the lyrics. Well I've posted the lyrics again for you. I've also grabbed copies of a youtube videos for you to take a look at.

Bedouin SoundClash is a great band based out of Kingston Ontario Canada. The first time I heard/saw the video was on Bravo (a cable channel here in Canada), then over the next few months it was in constant rotation on CFNY, and I bought the CD. If you really like their music take a listen to "Murder on the Midnight Wire" off the same CD. I hope you enjoy listening to them as much as I do.

Artist: Bedouin Soundclash
Album: Sounding A Mosaic
Year: 2004
Title: When The Night Feels My Song

I'm on the rocky road
Heading down off the mountain slope
And as my steps echo echo,
louder than before
Another day is done,
say goodbye to the setting sun
See what i found,
Turn back to the ground
Just like before

And Hey hey hey hey hey hey
Hey beautiful day, hey beautiful day
Hey hey hey hey
Hey beautiful day, hey beautiful day
When the night feels my song
I'll be home, I'll be home

Into the undergrowth,
Twist and turn on a lonely road
In the twighlight
the day turns to night
And i'm alone

And when the light has let
I'm not sure of my every step
Follow the wind that pushes me west
Back to my bed

And Hey hey hey hey hey hey
Hey beautiful day, hey beautiful day
Hey hey hey hey
Hey beautiful day, hey beautiful day

When the night feels my song
I'll be home, I'll be home
When the night feels my song
I'll be home, I'll be home
When the night feels my song
I'll be home, I'll be home