668 aka neighbour of the beast

another bloody election...

2008-10-15T12:12:00.005-07:00

i'm trying to be positive....

some things i took comfort in from last night's election results.

1. no conservatives were elected in newfoundland and labrador. i did so love danny williams' abc (anything but conservative) campaign. the way things are going, i may have to move there.

2. the fact that cabinet member/ex- senator michael fortier was soundly defeated in his first election. perhaps steve will make him a senator again? because obviously the people are wrong. steve knows best.

3. justin trudeau winning. being a westerner, i am not overly fond of his father. but him, i like.

4. the fact that the conservatives did not win all of alberta's seats. yay edmonton-strathcona! whoo hoo!

5. the fact that the conservatives finished third in vancouver - kingsway. take that david emerson!

6. that my riding stayed ndp.

7. the conservatives did not get a majority.

however, mainly i am disappointed. and who is not voting? i don't understand. i would say that 90% of the people i know vote ( and i'm lowballing this). in fact i only know of one person that doesn't vote and i have trouble dealing with it. especially since it's a riding of one of top five canadian politicians i hate. yes, i do have a top five but that's another post.

rock the vote...

2008-10-13T18:32:00.003-07:00

i am obsessed with the election.

some random thoughts and links.

i'm disappointed by the lack of contact with any of the people running in my riding. i have received two flyers from the conservatives, one flyer from the ndp and a phone call from the liberals. that's it.

i'm shocked by the fact that according to some polls, the conservatives are in the lead in b.c. really?

i get the concept of vote swapping but my fear with that is, what if they pull another david emerson? and speaking of him, i am so mad that he is not running this election. be a man mr. emerson, face up to the voters and let them have a fair shot at you. and i do fear that it doesn't matter that he is not running. that steve harper will just give him a cabinet position without him being elected. it wouldn't be the first time.

sadly, i missed the wrecking ball event. it was packed, they turned people away and it rocked. of course, the best bit was the tory candidate lorne mayencourt turned up with 15 minutes left and wanted to participate. um, sorry no.

here is rick mercer's rant on voting. you can also view it on cbc.ca but i can't link directly to it. stupid website.

don't forget to vote people.

i am the girl of 100 lists...

2008-09-21T16:57:00.004-07:00

i have these lists of things i want to do. some of them are major things and others are minor things. one of the things on my list is to go and see a taping of the mercer report. i was planning on doing this maybe next year.

tickets for this season became available this week. it's supposed to be super hard to get tickets, so i put my name in. surprise! i got tickets. on halloween. kinda cool no? and there's a flight sale.

i can't decide on whether i should go or not. i probably shouldn't. but it would be kinda fun to spend halloween weekend in toronto. decisions decisions....

let's take the whole day off . .

2008-09-16T20:36:00.007-07:00

i got the day off today! of course, i still had to get up early but that's ok.

i am not alone anymore in my house. i'm a little disappointed. but i think i will get more time alone in october.

i went and saw 'burn after reading' this afternoon. i love afternoon movies. i also love eating popcorn at the movies. i like to get the kids combo. tiny popcorn, tiny drink and a kinder egg. this killed my brother. especially since the straw was about two times the size of the drink.

i enjoyed it, in the typical wtf mindset i have when watching a coen brothers film. i wouldn't call it their best movie (i have a rather soft spot for 'blood simple') but still entertaining. however, the biggest laugh of the day came from the sports talk show we listened to on the way in. the guy said his friend went on a first date and took her to see 'bound'. we couldnt' stop laughing all the way in.

i leave you with one of the many reasons i think sarah palin is evil. when she was mayor, her town starting charging rape victims for their own rape kits!

tomorrow, i'm back at work and i really need to get a new cell phone. i'm rather enjoying not having one. it's driving other people crazy but yesterday was the first time i really missed it. i had to walk up two flights of stairs to pick up my friend. i was tempted just to honk (heck, it's not my neighbours!) but i was good.

alone again, naturally...

2008-09-15T22:29:00.006-07:00

i'm trying to write more. it's hard. so i'll just be putting down random things for awhile.

i have been the only human in my house for the past few days. it's been very enjoyable. i never get lonely being alone in my house. and since having goober, i never really worry about being alone either. even if he is a big goof.

tonight, we went to stella's on the drive. i feel like i should like stella's more than i do. kinda the way i feel about broken social scene.

'the hour' opens tonight. i was talking to someone early who was excited by it. it fills me more with trepidation. last season they did manage to repair some of the damage caused by season three but who knows what they will do this year. plus if they don't change that damn theme song, i may go out of my mind.

i have been listening to a lot of xmas music in the past few days.

i interrupt this post to mention what a goof goober is. he is scratching himself but his tongue is flicking out in the same rhythm as his foot is moving.

i was at the library tonight, and this dad was letting his kid climb all over the security system. i wanted to say to him... look, if you want your kid to get injured that's fine. but do you know how expensive those systems are? i don't want my tax dollars going to pay for your stupidity.

i am trying to get out of working tomorrow. wish me luck.

the things we did last summer...

2008-09-14T14:16:00.004-07:00

i took the summer off. i didn't mean to, but it just happened.

so, in spirit of back to school, here is what i did on my summer vacation. at least what i can remember right now.

1. drove to fernie and back. ate the best sausage rolls i ever had in my life. played with dogs. went to a cool bar called a bar named sue. saw a baby moose.
2. went to calgary for the tattoo festival. watched the hells angels duke it out in a killer game of dodgeball. trekked out to torrington to see the gopher hole museum. got snowed on in the rockies.
3. in one week, my camera, cell phone and computer monitor died.
4. saw my first show at deer lake. it confirmed to me how much i dislike rosie o'donnell.
5. went to the pne. the crazy food this year was deep fried oreos.

i also decided to add two more shows into my tv viewing habits. durham county and the riches.

last night, i saw spiritualized at the commodore. instead of facing out into the audience, they acutally faced each other. which made it great for me because we were on the side that jason pierce faced. not a word was spoken. normally this would have annoyed me, but it just seemed right last night. and at the end, he clapped for us. i love that.

i lack words these days but hopefully this will change.

dig yourself... laz'rus dig yourself...

2008-06-17T20:01:00.005-07:00

i am currently living in chaos. the last few weeks have been insanely busy and stressful. not enough sleep, not enough proper food and not enough time to do anything. i woke up this morning and couldn't handle it. i called in sick (which i was) and attempted to put some order in my life.

while attempting to clean up the mail that has been stacking up, i found an official looking letter from the states. i couldn't figure out what it was. i opened it and found these...

(sorry, you will have to click on it, i can't figure out how to save it bigger)

in my chaotic life, i had totally forgot i had bought these.

i think i feel my life returning.

hell yeah, i remember aurora . . .

2008-05-11T14:18:00.003-07:00

here is the second of two posts i've been promising our favourite zombie. the sexy musician post is on it's way. it's turned out to be a much harder task than expected. however, i am enjoying doing the research. :)

now, as some of you may or may not know, the zombies are heading down to seattle and beyond to go see some band called radiohead. i have offered up my skills as tourist guide/travel agent. (ps.. invoice is in the mail. ha ha)

one of my key pieces of advice was this. no matter how cheap or how tempting, do not stay in any hotel/motel on aurora avenue. here is why.

a few years back, a friend and i drove down to california and back. let's call her... goth girl. i do this mainly to amuse myself, as this would annoy her to no end. however, you get the basic idea of how she is. on the way back, in some hippie town in oregon, we picked up a friend from england (let's call her english rose) and continued on our way back home, stopping in seattle for the night.

goth girl and i are dead broke. so we decide to stay in a cheap motel on aurora avenue. home to many cheap motels. we check in, the room is clean and everything is fine. but we have no beer and no food. so english rose and i head out for both, while goth girl stays in. about an hour later, we are back in the hotel room with pizza and beer. goth girl is sitting up on the bed, flicking thru a magazine. a few seconds pass until i realize that the room is filled with the couple next door having sex. loudly. goth girl, while still casually flicking thru the magazine, says.... "by the way, that's the second time they've done it. "

we eat and drink and eventually next door stops. we head to bed, goth girl and i sharing the double bed, english rose on the floor. oh wait, they've recovered next door. another round of shagging. we turn up the tv loud. the head of our bed starts hitting the wall due to the action next door. we flip to sleep at the foot of the bed. we finally drift off to sleep.

we wake up a short time later. the room is quiet. we turn off the tv. within 30 seconds, the sounds of sex start up once again. we turn the tv back on. we drift off again, me finally noticing that this is either a gay couple next door or the girl is really not having a good time. or perhaps she's mute.

i wake up sometime later and head to the bathroom. oh good, they are now having sex in there. at least it's quiet in our bedroom now.

the morning finally arrives. we pack up and head out. and then i remember, all i know about aurora avenue. hookers. rooms to rent by the hour. it all made sense. so i repeat, do not stay on aurora avenue in seattle.

photograph, all i've got is a photograph ...

2008-04-22T21:23:00.005-07:00

hello hello,

just a short little blurt just to prove i'm alive and well.

working on two posts for my favourite zombie.

saw american music club and the raconteurs (not together).

tried to quit my job twice. they refused to accept it. twice.

watching the tory scandals with glee.

decided to buy a digital slr camera... any tips?

i'll post this for all those people coming here for mr. stroumboulopoulos. canon does an celebrity photo exhibition every earth day. this year, not only is mr. stroumboulopoulos involved, but so is ronnie freakin' hawkins!

happy earth day.

hot time in the old town tonight...

2008-03-26T14:01:00.001-07:00

on good friday, goober and i decided to explore new westminster. new westminster was actually the first capital of b.c. and is one of the few areas of the lower mainland that not only has history but recognizes it. it's very heritage oriented.

first stop, fraser cemetery.

we visited raymond burr.

the first policeman in new westminster.

good ole gassy jack. gotta love the fact that gastown is named after a saloon owner. one of the interesting things about this grave, is that it was unmarked until the 100th anniversary of his death.

terry hughes. terry hughes has a park named after him in new west. he died saving some kids who fell into the fraser river. i tried to find out more about him but there isn't much out there.

after that, goober and i heading to columbia street to meet up with a friend for more exploring.

here is a view of the patullo bridge, which crosses the fraser and hook new west up with surrey. you can also see where the skytrain crosses as well.

on columbia street is the raymond burr theatre. i'm not sure if it still has events going on it.

columbia street used to be very scary in a main and hastings kinda of way. but now it's starting to get all gentrified. even the salvation army there is fancy now.

there used to be this cool ole cafe which i think was called the pacific cafe on columbia. they had individual jukeboxes at the tables. we used to go and eat grilled cheese sandwiches there. it's long gone of course.

possibly the ugliest dress i have ever seen.

off we headed to sapperton landing. it's a really nice walk along the fraser river.

goober not happy. he's anxious to get going! there is no time for reading signs. there are trees and bushes to be peed on.

he's wearing his halloween leash because a few days earlier, he decided to go for a run, thru the muddy hills of hume park, dragging his leash behind him. i have yet been able to get the leash clean enough for human touch.

along the pathway, there is all these awesome tiles with fish. loads of crazy fish, and wacky colours. here is just a small sampling.

we then went to visit terry hughes park.

time for a pit stop at dairy queen. did you know that hot fudge comes in plastic pouches? i would have thought bottles or cans for easy pouring but no. a big ole plastic bag that seemed to be incredibly awkward to work with.

next we headed to city hall. there is a really nice friendship garden there that was given to the city by their sister city in japan.

goober went mental in the park. we think it was the ducks. which he never cared about before. but he took off like a maniac and we had to go running after him. we spied him above the pond, eyeing the ducks and the water with a look that said, "look out below!" i have never yelled "no" so loud before. there was no way i wanted to drive home a wet, smelly algae covered dog. thank god, for once in his life, he listened to me and just took off again. we finally caught up with him and continued thru the garden. we even managed to cross the stone steps without anyone falling in.

i just like the way these stones around city hall looked.

all in all, it was a good day and we will need to go back and explore some more.

put me on the slug line...

2008-03-21T18:32:00.004-07:00

man, i have been so unmotivated lately. i'm not working currently and i feel like a bad cliche of an unemployed person. lounging around in my pj's until 4 in the afternoon. and i'm not even sure what i'm doing to fill my day. it's not like i'm sleeping until 4, i'm usually out of bed by 8 am at the latest. at least i'm not lying on the couch, watching tv. but i am starting to feel a bit more motivated. i actually made it out to dinner with friends last night and i spent today exploring today. i will post some pics later this weekend. i'm pooped and i think we are going to the movies tonight so i will have to make this one short.

1. everyday i love you less and less- kaiser chiefs
2. edge of seventeen - stevie nicks
3. breed (working mix) - nirvana
4. big pants dance - lee press-on and the nails (this song makes me laugh so much)
5. poison arrow - abc
6. in the colors - ben harper & the innocent criminals
7. lyla - oasis
8. tower of song - martha wainwright
9. welcome to the black parade - my chemical romance (ok, the reason i have this song is because it gets stuck in my brain and the only way to get it out is to play it.)
10. memphis tennessee - the animals

remember, according to christian tv, today is the day we celebrate the death of jesus.

have a good long weekend my canadian buddies and for my american ones, i can't believe it's not a holiday for you! i learned that fact the hard way by getting a parking ticket a few years back. i didn't put any money in the meter because i assumed good friday was a stat. i would have fought it, but it was only $3.50 so i was ok with paying it.

ring ring...

2008-03-16T17:33:00.005-07:00

my apologies for the delay in continuing the saga of the mysterious ring. it took me a long time to find something i could offer up as visual solution.

so, the answer is not in the ring itself, but that the ring is also owned by someone else.

here is your visual clue.

if you still need an answer, go here.

birthday boy...

2008-03-01T19:07:00.006-08:00

we interrupt the mysterious saga of the ring to bring you this....

a celebration of the wonder that is 'goober'.

happy birthday buddy! sorry, no snow today but i did try to fit in all of the stuff you like. you got pizza for breakfast!

you went for many walks and peed on many things.

you got to sleep in the sun in the car. and drink water from a cup. sorry no ice cubes today!

we didn't make it swimming but you did get to play in a stream.

and of course, there was ball.

um, no, not for you.

but i will let you pick out your dinner tonight. mmmm, new zealand summer. with real sausages.

he will also carry these to his blanket and unwrap them at christmas.

you didn't make out like you did at christmas. but you did get a big meaty bone.

i can't believe it's been eight years.

ps... stop hogging the bed. :)

she's a mystery girl ...

2008-02-29T09:17:00.005-08:00

so, here's a weird little tale. my brother comes home yesterday, says try this on and throws a big chunky silver ring at me. knocking me senseless. no, no, just kiddin'. :)

he hands me the ring and tells me to try it on. he bought it for himself and decided it wasn't really him and it was more me. (i am not sure what this says about us, that my brother is buying girl jewelry or that i am wearing mens). i try it on and it's a bit big but workable. and it looks pretty cool but there is something odd about it. i can't put my finger on it.

i try the ring on again a few hours later. i'm looking at it, thinking. what is with this ring? and then it hits me! jesus christ, i don't believe this!

but before we get to the exciting conclusion of the ring, a word from our sponsers... friday random top ten.

1. straighten up and fly right - nat king cole with the king cole trio
2. vixens in space - the dirtbombs
3. you are my sister- antony and the johnsons
4. take my money and run - cuff the duke
5. ballroom blitz- the sweet
6. henrietta- the fratellis
7. steal my sunshine - len (really? again? i swear i have more songs on my player)
8. nihilism- rancid
9. the times they are a-changin' - me first and the gimme gimmes
10. hanging on the telephone - blondie

here is a picture of the ring in question. i'm curious to see if anyone else will figure out what is up with it.

happy friday everyone!

cigarettes and alcohol...

2008-02-28T18:56:00.010-08:00

here are two quotes that i am currently enjoying.

"cigarettes may be bad for you, but so is getting hit by a bus" - michael flocker.

"why don't you go play in the food processor"- hobbes (to calvin, of course).

the first quote is enjoyed in a personal mantra sort of way. (i do not smoke by the way). the second is enjoyed purely as a potential insult to be hurled. plus i really admire bill watterson and the way he has retired and not been tempted to come back. or merchandise the crap out of his creations.

ps... 'goober' has this weird new habit of smelling my breath when he comes in from outside. umm, no, i haven't been eating peanut butter without you.

tick tick tick boom...

2008-02-24T20:58:00.001-08:00

i heart the hives. who knew?

mellowlee and i headed down to the commodore friday night to catch the hives/the donnas rockin' it out. sadly, no photo evidence as i neglected to check the battery on my camera before the show. :(

we got there nice and early ( a surprise to anyone that knows me) and managed to snag a table at the totally sold out show.

first up, the opening band. now, i'd like to offer a piece of advice to all opening bands. announce who you are! as much as possible! yes, granted they did say who they were in their very first sentence on stage. however, if you slur it into the next sentence, a lot of people won't catch who you are. and since you are the opening band, a lot of people are still arriving and wouldn't have heard it. if they liked you, they would have to try and find out who you were. never make people work to find out who you were. at the very least, one of the last things you should utter before leaving the stage is "thank you, we are "insert name of band here". if it wasn't for the donnas announcing you once and the hives announcing you a few times, i would have had no idea who you were and i actually thought, hey this band is ok, i wouldn't mind looking into them some more.

anyway, thanks to the hives (i'd forgotten by the time the donnas had left the stage), i found out the openers were vancouver's own "the hits". i enjoyed them as an opener, they fit the bill (garagey punk stuff) and i think i would like to check them out again. i really could have done without the 'jumpin' jack flash' cover tho. (shudder)

next up, the donnas. i haven't seen the donnas for a few years now. i used to go see them all the time. i enjoyed them as i always do. they are more polished than before, which is to be expected. and i would have like to have heard more older material but they still rocked. while watching them, a thought occured to me. when i was a wee lass, this was how i imagined being in a rock band would be. i can't imagine growing up and imagining that i'm hannah montana, rihanna or even avril lavigne. or god forbid, the pussycat dolls or fergie. are there girls that rock that are front and centre? if i was a young lass, who would i want to rock out like? i can think of tons of indie girls but off hand, i'm having trouble with the rocker chicks. but i digress.

the hives were up next. now, i like the hives. i mean, i bought the tickets (well, mellowlee did for me. because i got all mad at ticketmaster. grrrrr!). and i was excited to go. but man, was i blown away by them. they put on a show. maybe it's because i see so many indie bands, which i love. but some of them really need to work on their stage presence. good songs are good songs, but if i've paid the $$$ (which are getting even more insane. especially with ticketmaster. i've bought tickets where the fees were almost 50% of the ticket. and sadly, i am not exaggerating by that much).

but the hives were well worth the dosh. from the moment, they hit the stage, looking oh so su-ave, they were there to entertain. and howlin' pelle almqvist is an amazing front man. i totally get why spin put the hives in the top ten live acts to see and almqvist is in the top 50 of greatest frontmen. he danced, he strutted, he yakked it up. i expected him to jump into the crowd at any moment. (he did not). i see why some people call him a cross between iggy pop and mick jagger. i loved it when he said to someone in the audience something like "you want to give me that blue bracelet and i would love to wear it but i only wear black and white." i also love it when a band plays all their major hits before the encore. it makes it seem like a true encore. it's something i always say i would do if i was in a band.

the hives were loud, fast and tight. just like a rock n roll band should be. they, and especially almqvist, owned the stage friday night.

i heart the hives. and almqvist is my new rock n roll boyfriend.

xmas in february...

2008-02-22T15:32:00.002-08:00

i haven't posted a friday random top ten for ages. so here goes...

1. american psycho - treble charger
2. leave the pieces - the wreckers
3. let 'em go - pride tiger
4. steal my sunshine - len
5. memphis tennessee - the animals
6. your daddy don't know - toronto
7. who taught you to live like that?- sloan
8. a northwest passage - the (international) noise conspiracy
9. i saw mommy kissing santa claus - gilby clarke
10. one way ticket - the darkness

hmmm, not very impressed with this selection. and yes, i still have xmas songs on my player.

i'm off to the hives/the donnas tonight! whooo hoooo!

hiding all away...

2008-02-17T18:13:00.004-08:00

i have been away a long time. i didn't plan it, it just happened.

three things have kept me away.

1. i got sick. really sick. so sick, i demanded the doctor give me tests. which is so not me. i spent the whole weekend worrying and it turned out all i had was a virus. but a bad one. it's funny, once my tests came back negative, i got really, really, really sick. one night i woke up at midnight, and lay in bed for four hours shivering because i could not get warm. i could not make it out of bed to turn up the heat, get a blanket or put on more clothes. i seriously pondered sticking a note on goober's head and trying to get him to get help. sadly, i realized goober is no lassie.

2. super busy. both at my latest contract job and going to shows around town.

3. a very very bad online blogging experience. the reason my blog went private. i hated doing that but i could see no other option. i may or may not have to do this again. so, for all of my readers, please send me an email and i will officially invite you to read my blog. that way, you can always access it, no matter what is going on.

but i feel i am ready to return now. i've missed all of you.

donuts - i told you to get me donuts! ...

2007-12-17T20:58:00.001-08:00

ok, every year, all of us cousins get together and do a santa gift exchange. we all bring a wrapped gift and put it on the table. we draw cards and either the high card or low card gets to pick first. this usually sets off the first round of the debate on the official rules. the rules are extremely complicated, and get debated vigorously each year. the only rule that everyone always agrees on, and is strictly enforced is the opposable thumb rule. if your thumbs touch the gift, it's yours.

anyways, the exchange is one of those one where you can either pick a unwrapped gift or steal someone else's. and the gifts are usually alcohol based. this year, there were three shooter snakes and ladders in the exchange. very odd.

now, i don't like to give just alcohol. i like to go for some kind of twist. this year, i am pretty damn proud of my idea. i decided to give a bob and doug gift basket.

beer - check
bacon - check
toque - check
dvd - check

but how do i wrap it?

quick! pit stop at tim horton's. wrap everything in donut containers!

put big donut box on the top.

as gift is being opened, "these can't really be donuts?"

oh yes, my friends they are.

cue cousins falling on floor laughing.

christmas is going to the dogs...

2007-12-15T20:45:00.000-08:00

****update - i think i have solved the photo problem.*****

one of the things i like about the blogging world is that i'm constantly remembering things that i've forgotten.

like reading dale's post reminded me of a long conversation i had at work years ago. one of the nice things about working retail is you spend a lot more time talking to the people you work with. you really get to know them much more than in an office situation. dale reminded me of a long conversation i had once about how there needed to be more xylophones in rock music and that a tribute album really needed to be done. dale, i don't know what happened to my dream!

'goober' and my xmas ornaments are teaming up to kill me. here is my version of the events. just in case, something "happens" to me. last sunday, i am walking in my house. the path is clear. suddenly, 'goober' appears and pushes a box of ornaments in front of me. i trip. i am in pain. my ankle is killing me. i think nothing of it.

however, as the week progresses, my ankle still hurts. i take a look at it mid-week, and i can see it started to bruise. and on friday, it hurts so much, i decide to have a little soak in the bath and i see that my ankle is turning many colours. purple, brown, black, blue, yellow. bad 'goober! bad 'goober'!

today it seems to have stopped adding any additional colours. and the pain is beginning to subside.

i leave you with a series of photos. i think i will call it... 'goober' - a study in snow.

i'm drinkin' up christmas!...

2007-12-08T17:28:00.000-08:00

****updated - for some reason i forgot to title this post.. corrected!****

first off, before i forget, here is possibly my favourite ever web search referral to my blog.

"how do you get a chicken out of a bottle without breaking the bottle or killing the chicken"

i've had a bunch of bizarre celebrity encounters recently. here are some of the highlights.

1. a band member from a certain band that i have made no attempt at hiding my hatred for. now, granted, i do know this person, but i haven't talked to them for years.
2. a singer whose cd i mentioned in my blog.
3. an artist whose work i love.

i mention this not to brag, but just to try and explain how weird my headspace is these days. nothing is surprising me anymore.

i am so happy to have my car back and running, i wanted to hug it this morning. is that wrong? now i just have to figure out where i put the thingy for my tape deck so that i can run my mp3 player thru it.

our favourite bad tempered zombie listed a few of xmas traditions that her family partakes in. as always, i am stealing her idea and posted a few of my own.

1. the traditional xmas music gift. formerly a cassette, and now a cd. the making of which is best accompanied by shortbread, chocolate, eggnog, and baileys

2. christmas eve must be spent at the railway club. and without planning, i must see my christmas friends there. it's weird if i don't, and it's even weirder when i see them in summertime. we all get very confused.

3. now, some of you may know i collect christmas music, but when it comes to decorating the tree, i prefer to do that to the sex pistols and sometimes smokey robinson. this comes because as a teenager, i bought both these albums and played them for the first time while decorating the tree by myself.

4. these decorations are among the first to go up on my tree. jack and zero go up near the top of the tree. usually near marilyn. lock, shock and barrel must always be separated. they get up to no good if they aren't. ernie and bert however must be very close to each other. and usually near the back for privacy.

5. we always have lemon meringue pie for dessert.

hope everyone is having a great weekend. i know i am!

bass! how low can you go? ...

2007-12-07T19:08:00.000-08:00

today's random list is full of my fave countrified songs.

gift – sugar
bring the noise – the unholy trio (i can not get enough of this song). listen here.
poor little critter on the road – the knitters
count down our days – fembots
dick in dixie – hank III
everybody loves me but you – juliana hatfield
teach me to breathe – dave pirner
the good ones – the kills
take my money and run – cuff the duke
it begins – girls against boys

have a good weekend y'all!

another one rides the bus...

2007-12-06T18:23:00.000-08:00

i think december will be mainly a month of postings of random things. i will probably be working six days a week and some night shifts so i think that will work best.

first off, i found out what point 11 from my previous point meant. i called up my friend with low blood sugar and she said, what the girl meant was that people with low blood sugar get cold easily. there you go. you learn something new every day.

if i do change my blogger name to 'pancakes' then goober will become 'waffles'

and now random bus stories...

sometimes when i get on the bus, for fun i will sit next to the person who makes it most obvious that they do not want someone sitting next to them. is that mean?

on the skytrain the other day, a grumpy old man sat in front of me. he asked me if the umbrella next to him was mine and after i said no, he threw it. now maybe he meant to throw it down, but he ended up throwing it across and nearly hit the woman sitting there. he didn't even apologize, just kept grumbling to himself.

today, i got to see this totally old couple in their 70's, sitting on the bus, holding hands and flirting with each other.

while waiting for my bus, i watched this incredibly beautiful girl flirt with this totally nerdy geek. and she was really flirting big time. hair tossing, smiling, moving in close.

then when the bus did come, our bus driver harassed all of us about our transfers. look, i know this is a weird route, where the zones combine and you can actually go two zones on a one zone. but we didn't make the route! nor assign you to it! so deal. and don't try and make me pay extra you bastard!

yippee! it's friday tomorrow! and i got my car back today! whoooo hoooooo!

cold as ice...

2007-12-05T18:14:00.000-08:00

ok, confession time. i stopped watching 'the hour' two months ago. i always wondering what would make me stop watching it. i mean if brooke hogan didn't, what would? apparently the answer is three roman polanski jokes. i wasn't even sure i wanted to go to a taping. so how do i feel now? stay tuned.

but first...

randomness from two days of attending 'the hour' in vancouver.

1. yes, i went to the hour with mel. i don't know how this is possible but she is even nicer in person than online. sadly, i could not wear fancy boots. so i wore red and black starred creepers instead. also, when meeting someone for the first time, bring gifts. mel and i exchanged xmas cds. she also brought chocolate. there was no way i was not going to like her after that. (ps.. get a passport lady!)

2. i need to buy a clown mask. of course, it will have to live in the farthest corner of my basement.

3. the tim hortons on dunsmuir, near the railway club serves the coldest ice caps i have ever had. i felt like my whole esophagus was frozen. (i can not believe i spelled that right on the first try). oh, and cream cheese and ice caps are not a good taste sensation.

4. just when i think it is not possible to love rick mercer anymore, i learn something new and even better about him. and my heart grows like the grinch with more love for him.

5. i am a bigger techie geek than i thought i was. i spent most of the taping watching and listening to the production crew. on an additional note, i really miss using my slr. i feel like i've been cheating on it with my digital.

6. certain bc "stars" are even bigger assholes than i thought.

7. brett butt is really really funny.

8. i am obsessed with taking photos of pancakes.

9. certain people are freakishly smart. so much so i may have to change my blogger id. i am thinking of perhaps "pancakes".

10. do not listen to south park songs when listening to your ipod alone in crowded streets. because you will laugh out loud and everyone will know you are a freak

11. overheard in the lineup. "are you checking your coat?" "no, i have low blood sugar". what does this mean?

12. sweltering tv studio + downpouring rain + no umbrella + no hoodie = one potentially sick clown.

and now the answer... seeing the show live, especially on tuesday made me think i might just give it another shot and catch up on a few episodes that are on my pvr. especially because i think there's a steve earle interview in there somewhere.

happy hump day everyone!

you stupid girl...

2007-11-26T18:16:00.000-08:00

tip #97 - when working various shifts, make sure you check your schedule prior to going to bed. or else you end up getting up more than three hours early. and yet, still not make it in to work on time.

today, i also didn't tie up the dog securely when i let him out for his morning pee break. hence goober had a nice long free range run thru the neighbourhood. so long, i think it freaked him out. i came out and he was running like mad to get to me. which never happens.

tonight it is so cold and wet that goober is barking, demanding to be let in. he will have none of this!

today's musical obsession.. john hiatt.

mainly this song.

but this song does contain this line that i love " i'm yellin' at the kids in the back cuz they're bangin' like charlie watts"

here in my car ...

2007-11-25T11:48:00.000-08:00

before i go into my other stories, i just have to say.. i want a zenn car.

here's the piece rick mercer did on it.

went to seattle the other day. my car is still not working so got to be a passenger. i like being a passenger sometimes. i tried to act like greta garbo with my scarf at the gas station but i think the effect was ruined by the fact it was a black and white striped wooly scarf. plus i had forgotten my sunglasses.

since i was the passenger, i decided to walk to the peace arch while we were in the lineup for the border. every so often, there is talk about changing it and the outcry is always.. but the children donated their pennies for it!

this picture was actually hard to take because this alpha male was screaming at the car next to him. something about merging and one line. i was trying to not get him in the shot because i thought he might freak out on me next.

no shoes came home with me this time. season 5 of 24 did tho. along with these.

coming back, the wait was four hours to get back in canada. so we went for dinner, drove 1/2 hour to another border and we were home before we would have even gotten to the border at the other crossing. why do people wait in lineups that long?

i mentioned earlier that bahamian was my current fave word. i am totally obsessed with this bahamian singer/guitarist named joseph spence. he's like a drunken, demented blues/folk/calypsoian singer. and i mean that in a good way.

hear him laugh.

hear him sing.

have a good week everyone.

seven and seven is...

2007-11-22T18:42:00.000-08:00

i've been tagged again! bad tempered zombie demands to know 7 new things about me and after much thought, here goes.

1. i have met three out of the five members of bon jovi. one's an idiot, one's an asshole and one was awesome. and the winner is... mr. jon bon jovi! i joked with him. he was incredibly nice, very flirty and possibly more attractive in person than onscreen. even to one who is not attracted to that sort.

2. until about five years ago, i never cursed. now, i swear like a motherf*ckin' truck driver. oddly enough, this happened around the time i started to go to calgary. i'm not saying there's a connection but....

3. as a child, my parents very rarely took me to see kids movies. this led to a rather amusing moment in show and tell where i reviewed the james bond film my dad took me to. i'm not sure my grade two class grasped the complexity of my review. which mainly consisted of stories about violence and sexy women in bikinis. sadly, my review was cut short by my teacher.

4. i have a not so secret desire to throw a drink in someone's face. this comes from watching too many old movies. this isn't as easy to do as one would think. not only does the person have to deserve it, you have to be holding the right drink as well. beer is not appropriate. especially in a bottle or can. it's got to be a cocktail or highball. one day, one day.

5. if i am looking at cds in a store or library and find one misfiled, i can not leave it there. i either file it correctly or give it to a clerk. it drives me insane. and don't even get me started on going to someone's house and finding they file their cds haphazardly. alpha-chronologically people!

6. i hate raisins with a passion. on the other hand, i love anything grape flavoured.

7. i love jambalaya. not the food. the word. it is possibly my favourite word. although, i do currently enjoy the word bahamian.

ok so here are the rules:

link to your tagger and post the rules.
share 7 facts about yourself, some random and some weird.
tag 7 people at the end of the post and list their names.
let them know they were tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

i don't really have 7 people to tag so i have only tagged three. play if you like. no biggie if you don't. :)

evelyne
just a cool cat
chick

if you peel away the skin is there anybody there...

2007-11-20T17:20:00.000-08:00

i'm seriously thinking of 'outing' myself.

no, no. not in the sense you may be thinking of. the lovely mel has invited me to attend a taping of 'the hour' with her. and i am most tempted. and to be honest, a little nervous.

so many questions are running thru my mind. should i go? do i need to go in full clown makeup? and more importantly, what shoes do i wear?

ps.. i tried to change the time of this posting (just to make it current) and i got a big fat red error message....illegal post time. i'm such a bad ass. :)

well i drink gin monkey drink gin too ...

2007-11-18T14:48:00.000-08:00

i'm sorry but i can not stop laughing at the following.

troupes of monkeys are out of control in india's northeast, stealing mobile phones and breaking into homes to steal soft drinks from refrigerators, lawmakers in the region have complained.

"Monkeys are wreaking havoc in my constituency by taking away mobile phones, toothpastes, sipping coke after opening the refrigerators," Hiren Das told Assam state's assembly.

He said the primates were "even slapping women who try to chase them".

here's a link to the full story. i'm just sad the colbert report is off the air. i'd love to see what they'd do to this 'monkey on the lam' story.

******update*****

here's a better "monkey on the lam" video.

thank you, driver, for getting me here ...

2007-11-16T16:32:00.001-08:00

look at me, two posts in one day!

i think my bus driver today was a fake. he wasn't wearing a uniform, was wearing tear away pants and runners. his driving was erratic (although that may prove he was an actual bus driver!). he was letting people off randomly, even tho it was an express bus. and when we got to the skytrain station, he parked the bus and jumped off before all the passengers, and left the bus wide open.

wouldn't that be funny if he was a fake?

rock 'n' roll, hoochie koo...

2007-11-16T07:55:00.001-08:00

hmm, for two weeks in a row, my player is starting off fridays with l.a. hair bands. should i be embarrassed?

you're so vain – faster pussycat
let it roll - velvet revolver
15 step – radiohead
goodbye yellow brick road – elton john
feel good hit of the summer – queens of the stone age
rock this town – stray cats
dear lover – social distortion
the avalanche – sufjan stevens
hopeless case of a kid in denial – the hellacopters
an introduction - joel plaskett emergency

happy friday everyone! hopefully i will be able to get my car back on the road this weekend.

carefree highway...

2007-11-13T15:00:00.001-08:00

ok, i told allison i'd post by tuesday so here are goes.

why does our rental car have saskatchewan plates? oh well, let's pretend we are from ray-gin-a. because 668 is having trouble with the words sas-kat-chew-an and sask-a-toon on this trip.

not much to say about this is except that this is one big ass smokey the bear.

this is a place called the enchanted forest. it was closed for the season but we wanted to take some pictures so we pulled into the parking lot. as we pull in, this incredibly fierce dog rushes up to the car and we are trapped! eeekkkkk!

ok, what really happens is this huge german shepherd saunters over to our car at about .0005 mph and looks at us. i'm pretty sure he was mooching for either cookies or love. but we weren't taking in chances.
but we are trapped! visual proof! he eventually gives up and saunters back up to the house.

one of the outside buildings. but what's in the window?

eeeekkkk! clown!

ok, time for an educational stop. just like on the trips with our parents as kids. the site of the last spike in the cpr.

ok, it's not a proper road trip tale without some mention of food. i was fascinated by these beehive structures on our drive and one of them had been turned into a bar and grille called 'the burner". they do a breakfast buffet that was possibly the best road breakfast i've ever had. two big thumbs up on the french toast. they make it with cinnamon and it was so good i forgot to take a picture of it. and it was dirt cheap as well. plus they had pancakes, sausages, bacon, really really good ham, home fries and hash browns, scrambled eggs with actual veggies in them and fruit. and a selection of juices and tea. and did i mention it was cheap? plus we learned that these structures are for burning wood. so it was educational as well.

somewhere along the highway.

sadly another crazy tourist place that was closed. i've been here before and wanted to see the goats again. plus they had really good pie.

the outside gates.

after this, it was pretty much back home and all city driving.

the end. :)

fabulously lazy...

2007-11-09T20:41:00.000-08:00

i have no good reason for being away and yet i can barely work up enough brain power to post my random top ten today. i have given myself until tuesday (since it's a long weekend) to be lazy and then it's time to shape up!

here is my friday random top ten.

jamie’s cryin’ – van halen
centuries - stars of track and field
jump – van halen
dreaming – blondie
good morning starshine – serena ryder
dashboard – modest mouse
hit me! hit me! – mustard plug
intervention – arcade fire
come on – lucinda williams
let’s get it on – jack black

have a good long weekend everyone.

long live the weekend...

2007-10-26T07:56:00.000-07:00

yay it's friday! i'm so happy. hopefully the weather stays as gorgeous as it has been for most of the week. i love the fall.

here's my early morning friday random top ten.

1 a. m. - beautiful creatures
walking in the shade - the colorifics
human thing - the be good tanyas
what ever happened? – the strokes
turnin' on the screw - queens of the stone age
i am a rock – hated
line up – elastica
intro/bongo song (mr. flash remix) - flosstradamus/zongamin
new radio – bikini kill
grow up and blow away – metric

happy friday everyone and hope you all have great weekends. if the weather stays like this, i will be out enjoying it with the goobster.

grouches of the world unite...

2007-10-15T20:04:00.000-07:00

i was over at bad tempered zombie's site, and i can't believe i just found out that it was national grouch day!

so i have stolen her post idea and am posting some things that are currently making me grouchy.

1. the fact that the majority of people do not know how to drive in the rain in vancouver. slow down, leave extra space and use your lights. is that so hard? here are some more tips...

2. the fact that although i was actively recruited to apply for this job at work, they have decided to repost it to see who else it out there. and the fact that they didn't tell me until after the job was reposted.

3. roman polanski. jokes about roman polanski and young girls. praise about roman polanski. the fact that i had to take not one, but two books out of the library about roman polanski for a piece i'm writing.

and now, here's a classic from oscar the grouch.

sunny days...

2007-10-14T20:09:00.001-07:00

what a beautiful fall weekend we had. i spent it outdoors with 'goober' and trying to solve a storage problem in my bedroom. i think i have decided that the cure will be buying a cheap wardrobe.

here's my better late than never friday random top ten. again, it's very random.

woman – wolfmother
black betty - nick cave & the bad seeds
red flags and long nights – she wants revenge
the arctic circle – final fantasy
it's all a swindle – ute lemper
my blue manhattan – ryan adams
burnout – green day
give me flowers while i'm living – the knitters
edge of seventeen – stevie nicks
them bones – alice in chains

hope everyone had a good weekend!

it's supposed to rain tomorrow which leads me to the question of the day... why does nobody in vancouver know how to drive in the rain?

bad to the bone...

2007-10-09T19:37:00.000-07:00

i was going to post some gargoyles for allison but i thought instead i would post what i can only imagine 'goober' was thinking of all day.

1. when going for a walk, make sure you go so fast that your owner's arm nearly comes out of the socket. especially when owner is carrying a bag of poop.

2. alternatively, stop and start often so that your owner nearly slips and falls on the wet grass.

3. anything you find on the ground, make sure you put it in your mouth and pretend to chew on it. watch as owner works her way into a frenzy trying to get you to drop it. which you did about five feet back.

4. cry and insist on bringing a toy with you. then while walking, drop it and refuse to carry it.

5. look sad as owner drags you home. go make puppy dog eyes at her brother and get treats.

i got some dirty boots - yeah dirty boots...

2007-10-08T16:10:00.000-07:00

happy turkey day everyone. or tofurkey if that be your thing.

no turkey for me today. 'goober' seems to have eaten something that has disagreed with him and hence, instead of going to the relatives for dinner, i will be staying home. i am sure he is ok, but i'd rather stay home than clean up later.

saturday i braved the lineups at the border and went down to seattle. i bought way wicked boots! for twenty bucks! i bought some other stuff but really, i am most excited about my boots.

i've already worn them around the house and feel pretty damn good about them.

added bonus... i'm annoyed with a friend of mine, who's been pretty selfish and mean lately. the boy she thinks is cute, i am convinced has a shoe/boot fetish. she would not ever wear any shoe that would would fall into a girlie shoe category. if she continues to be mean and selfish, i may just have to wear these shoes out next time we are all together!

this is cool store i used to go to all the time, but i haven't been for a few years. it's called gargoyles statuary. and well, the name pretty much sums out what it sells. i bought a gargoyle that holds business cards. now i have to get me some business cards!

here's my thanksgiving random top ten. i haven't played for so long! very very random this week.

1. get back - veruca salt
2. by and by - paul robeson
3. movement revolution - cranston foundation
4. capricorn - the go
5. friends of p. [album version] - the rentals
6. letsgetabitarockin - the 101ers
7. this charming man (manchester) - the smiths
8. are you gonna be my girl? - jet
9. rowboat - johnny cash
10. september - earth, wind & fire

question.. are there thanksgiving songs?

bad reputation...

2007-10-02T19:34:00.000-07:00

as i sit and anxiously await the season opener of the mercer report, i will take a few moments to reflect on tonight's episode of 'the hour'.

first the good.

my girl, joan jett on the hour.

and now the bad.

am i the only one creeped out by the jokes about roman polanski? especially references about him and miley cyrus (aka 'hannah montana')? and does sly stallone really deserve to be tagged with polanski in a joke? am i really supposed to be laughing at this? and just because there's a "rant" about polanski afterward, does that make it ok?

and f.y.i. .. the correct phrase is joan jett is an inspiration, not was.

karma police...

2007-09-26T20:06:00.001-07:00

sometimes people get what they deserve.

i'm driving to work today. traffic is brutal. it's taking 15 minutes to go two blocks down lougheed. i'm sitting there, in that foul, impatient mood that one sometimes gets in traffic. a couple of assholes pass me by driving in the bus lane. the usual thought pops into my head. why isn't there a copper around when you want them? i crawl along a little more. and then joy, oh joy! the cops are out! and they have not one, not two, not three, but seven cars pulled over! and i can see them giving out tickets! and wait, is that a lexus i see there? :)

the rest of my commute is golden.

please teach me to breathe...

2007-09-19T21:15:00.000-07:00

well, i was finally able to get into a clinic last night. i've tried to go before but i haven't been able to get in before their quota was reached.

now, every few years or so i get a wicked cough that doesn't go away. i go to the clinic, i get a codeine cough syrup and bam, my cough is gone. end of story.

however, this trip was a little different. first off, i get this totally old school intimidating doctor. first thing he says to me is.. your breathing doesn't sound very good. umm, i had no idea my breathing was off. i wasn't really having any trouble with it. apart from the coughing. he has me blow into this tube and then says, that's not very good. he rapid fires a ton of questions at me, i don't feel he really makes sure i understand any of them, calls me an allergic person and keeps asking me questions about changes in my life that might cause allergies. are you sure there is nothing new? umm, yah, i am pretty sure i do not have a new pet or a new plant. i might not be that brilliant but i think i would remember if i brought home a new dog or fern.

i feel slightly better when he tells me i scored a 4.5 on the tube and i should be at 5. he says i didn't do that bad. thanks for freaking me out! considering i can't take that deep of a breath without going into a coughing spasm, i feel better. he hands me a prescription and sends me on my way. i can tell it's not codeine but apart from that, i know nothing. until my pharmacist calls me over and says, have you ever used this type of inhaler before? i'm like what? i've never used an inhaler before at all! she was all like really? i find the instructions complicated, and my dosage is so confusing, i have to write it on the calender.

question - why does it seem like every drug's possible side effects include what you are actually taking the drug for? apparently the drug i am on can cause coughing. how am i supposed to know the difference between the cough i have and a cough caused by the drug?

on the upside, i am coughing a little less today. of course, i am still think codeine would have done the trick as well. and at half the price.

where where the hell is bill?...

2007-09-12T21:29:00.000-07:00

a little camper van beethoven for you guys.

i am sorry i've been away and i'm sorry i will be away a little bit longer. i am trying to kick a nasty cold that is starting to develop into my usual smokers cough. lucky me, i get the cough even tho i don't smoke! i'm taking things easy and waiting until my doctor will give me codeine. mmmmmm... codeine.

my schedule at work has also changed and i'm doing more physical labour which is also contributing to my absence.

i will be back soon.

i will leave you with a question. i'm in the middle of a heated discussion with someone. and one of the points of discussion is this. do men find humour sexy in a woman? not do men find women with a sense of humour sexy, but is it a point that drives them wild?

just eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it . . .

2007-08-26T09:39:00.000-07:00

sorry folks, i've been busy. and sickly. and in a pissy mood these days. but i'm off to the pne today so hopefully that will cheer me up. can one be in a bad mood with mini doughnuts in one's hand?

here it is... friday random top ten.

on the verge – le tigre
i said stay – the neckers
intro/bongo song (mr. flash remix) - flosstradamus/zongamin
rockers to swallow – yeah yeah yeahs
yu're so vain – faster pussycat
hands tied – mobile
sisters of mercy – serena ryder
sleeping lessons – the shins
king of the mountain – kate bush
in the beginning – the stills

hope everyone had a good weekend.

ps... 200th post btw.

she's not a beauty and she don't wear fine clothes...

2007-08-21T22:07:00.000-07:00

i am totally obsessed with this song. have been since i was a little kid.

it's from an episode of the partridge family that just kills me. it's called 'soul club'. the partridge family visit the ghetto. guest starring lou gosset jr and richard pryor. plus boomer from battlestar galatica plays the leader of a black panther type organization. keith and richard pryor co-write a song ("kind of an afro thing").

here's the visual.

and here's your new music tuesday track

partridge family - bandala

slow down, you move too fast...

2007-08-17T18:17:00.000-07:00

for the past few days, every drive home i have seen fire trucks and ambulances. and massive car accidents. let's take it easy out there folks.

here it is, friday random top ten.

blue orchid – the white stripes
red flags and long nights – she wants revenge
in your honor – foo fighters
you are a runner and i am my father's son – wolf parade
the eraser – thom yorke
the light that guides you home – jim cuddy
down with safe – hot little rocket
rock 'n roll man – the neckers
charles in charge – smudge
stay with you – the goo goo dolls

have a good weekend folks. i'm a party queen this weekend so i won't be around much.

don't cause me pain...

2007-08-14T21:33:00.000-07:00

too exhausted for words tonight.

besides words can not express how much i love this song.

you don't have to prove
your manhood to me constantly
i know you're the man can't you see
i love you righteously

why you wanna dis me
after the way you been kissin' me
after those pretty things you say
and the love we made today

when you run your hand
all up and run it back down my leg
get excited and bite my neck
get me all worked up like that

think this through
i laid it down for you every time
respect me i give you what's mine
you're entirely way too fine

arms around my waist
you get a taste of how good this can be
be the man you ought to tenderly
stand up for me

flirt with me don't keep hurtin' me
don't cause me pain
be my lover don't play no game
just play me john coltrane

from world without tears...

lucinda williams - righteously

there's a fire...

2007-08-11T12:06:00.000-07:00

nothing much going on this week. i worked. i played with the dog. i attempted to sleep. oh, this morning i woke up and smelt smoke. i briefly considered panicking, but i was too exhausted. plus it smelt more like cooking than fire. i thought maybe it was coming from outdoors so i stuck my head out the window and yep, the smell was coming from outside. i guess someone was bbqing breakfast at 8 am.

a day late in posting, but not in playing. here's this week's friday random top ten.

family tree - loretta lynn
druganaut – black mountain
all the things you are - andy stochansky
there's a fire – longwave
island's gone bad – shapes and sizes
drain the blood – the distillers
out of luck – pointed sticks
all that matters – pointed sticks (weird, two pointed sticks songs in a row.)
square one – coldplay
who's joe? – new order

have a good weekend everyone. i might go to a hot rod show today but more likely, i will stay home, cleaning and organizing. i feel quite frazzled in my home lately.

rock rock till you drop...

2007-08-07T20:39:00.000-07:00

well, i did it! i finally saw the smokin' 45s. after two misses in calgary, i saw them last friday in vancouver at pat's pub.

vancouver's los caminos opened. they play instrumental surf rock. they were good, but not really my thing to see live.

while we were waiting, the singer from the smokin' 45s started handing out t-shirts. cool ones. well, to be honest, he started throwing out shirts. my friend and i each caught one. then we felt bad because we had to ask if we could exchange them. i mean, we were flattered he thought we were that tiny, but....

the smokin' 45s played an awesome set. rockabilly with the heavy emphasis on country. the singer is also the drummer and he plays right up front. and even tho his kit is tiny (can you even call it a kit?), it's not minimal at all.

i love a stand up bass, especially when the bass player does this! and check out those shoes!

we bought cds after the show. five bucks! how cool is that? and i loved the fact that when i was buying them, the singer introduced himself to me.

it's too bad there weren't more people at the show. but those of us that did show up, had a good time.

the last bad was six pack jacket. rockabilly with more of a punk edge.

my brain isn't really working that well today and i'm having trouble writing. let's just say i had a good time at the show, i loved the smokin' 45s, and if you like rockabilly you should buy the cd.
it was even worth some drunk skanky chick kickin' me in the stomach while she was trying to dance. and i'm totally glad i skipped out on a mini-reunion of sorts.

and here it is, your new music tuesday track.

smokin' 45s - small doses

have a good week everyone!

rock of ages...

2007-08-03T19:00:00.000-07:00

it's been a weird week. i'll share more on that later.

i was amused by seeing this guy walking towards skytrain in my hood caring a big fake boulder. i assume he was coming from the movie prop shop. and it looked like he was going to take the skytrain to wherever he was going. i mean, if he drove, wouldn't he have parked in the lot?

it's friday and it's time for random top ten.

stablemate - palace music
american life – madonna
girl’s club - bill janovitz
how deep is your love – take that (this is funny on so many levels. take that keeps popping up in conversations i have.)
forget my name – danko jones
story of my life – social distortion
wish the world away (original band demo) – american music club
cruel – calexico
juré craché – amnésie
7 months, 39 days - hank williams III

have a good weekend everyone! i am off to play a round of ball with the dog and then heading out to finally catch the smokin' 45s!

touch me i'm sick...

2007-07-31T20:28:00.000-07:00

really, that should be don't touch me. i've been sick since early saturday morning. or late friday night. whatever one wishes to call it. a touch of the stomach flu i believe. but enough about that.

i have declared tuesdays new music tuesdays. i am going to see if i can post one song from each album i own. this should take about five years. :)

i thought long and hard about what song should be the first one. this is a song i've been listening to a lot lately. and singing over and over again in the car. it's by one of my all time favourite artists, mr. johnny cash. among the many things i love about johnny cash, is the fact that once he records a song, it's his. i remember once driving home, listening to the local 'alternative' radio station and thinking, this song, it sounds so familiar yet different. i finally realized it was soundgarden's 'rusty cage'. which i now think of as a johnny cash song.

here he covers a steve earle song. an artist i've recently rediscovered thru my project of listening to every cd i own. i got into a heated discussion with a friend of mine about steve earle vs bruce springsteen. i said the problem for me was that i didn't believe when springsteen sings. but when steve earle sings about hard times, i know he's lived them.

here it is. the inaugural track in new music tuesdays. it's from the 'unearthed' box set.

johnny cash - devil's right hand.

my fave line is

"loads a mite slow and i soon found out
it can get you into trouble but it can't get you out"

(ps... i'm not sure how long i am going to leave these tracks up for. i'm thinking of deleting them in a week. so get 'em while they last!)

summertime, an' the livin' is easy ...

2007-07-27T07:24:00.000-07:00

gershwin lied.

summertime livin' is damn hard. i was checking my calendar this week and i am busy every weekend until september! birthdays, bbqs, picnics, gigs and trips are eating up my free time. where is the me time? and more importantly, when do i do laundry?

plus, there is the always the lawn.

i think 'goober' is sabotaging my lawn mower. i was mowing the lawn yesterday, and every time i came back outside, after taking a break, he suspiciously ran away from the general direction of the lawn mower.

i woke up this morning, and not only had 'goober' snuck up onto the bed last nite, he had maneuvered himself so that he had his head on the pillow next to me, he was stretched out and his paw was on the remote control. if he was snoring, he could have been a bad date. :)

time for friday random top ten.

fake friends - joan jett & the blackhearts
modern music – black mountain
thrills and sensations – the quakes
earth intruders – björk
e-pro – beck
hey, i'm gonna be your girl – the donnas
pop queen – ben lee
good times roll – the cars
beautiful ones – suede
gold digger (featuring jamie foxx) – kanye west

happy weekend everyone!

music, music, music...

2007-07-19T21:53:00.001-07:00

***EDITED POST***

one of the things i like to do when i travel, is buy cds from local bands. for me, it's way better than a t-shirt.

my first local purchase was the latest cd by the now defunct band, fake cops. it's called "thundertheft". their first ep also qualifies as one of my all time favourite cd titles... "absolutely your credit is excellent but in a certain way we also need cash" (you can download a track here). i bought that cd on another trip to calgary a few years back when i went into sloth and basically said, sell me some good local stuff. i was saddened to hear of their demise a few months back, and even considered coming out for the show at broken city. plus they were playing with the neckers who i've been wanted to catch for awhile (more on them down below). i don't really consider them punk rock but everyone else seems to so i guess maybe they are. anyways, i knew i wanted to buy this cd from the opening seconds of the cd. you can go to their myspace page and download a bunch of songs. including my favourite, the opener 'better call a priest'.

next up, was a trip to sloth and a purchase of the neckers first ep "a whole mess o' trouble" (you can download stuff here.) one of my many musical weaknesses is garage/punk so the neckers fit right in. apparently billy hopeless from the black halos have declared them his favourite calgary band. it's ok, but i prefer their next cd, their first full length much better. if you like this kinda of stuff, go to their site and download 'don't wanna worry' from that album. i need to see this band live!

one of the many things i love about sloth, is that every time i go there, i get a free cd. they always seem to have some label sampler and unlike the majority of samplers i have received in my lifetime, they are actually really good. the one i got this time was a vice recordings sampler. i haven't listened to it yet, but it looks good. bloc party and the boredoms are a couple of the bands on it. (ps i am listening to it now and i am totally digging it. you can learn about it here).

last of the local cds i bought was greg (name witheld) "passage". this one is in the singer/songwriter vein. it's a bit more rockin' than his first cd, but i have the same issue that i had with his first one. the vocals. i've seen him live and vocally, he's quite strong. but on cd, they come off really weak and tinny. i didn't really get the first cd until i saw him live and heard what the songs really sounded like. so, this only gets a so-so rating. "dissolve" would be my favourite song off the cd. you can listen to it on his myspace page if you are interested.

i also finally made it up to melodiya records. i've been meaning to check out them out for awhile now. it's a very cool little indie store. i was first introduced to them as a label. a label which they have recently re-activated for the vinyl version of chad vangaalen's skelliconnection.

we were walking near stampede and some stampede yahoos say to us... there's a hoedown going on. whatever. then we get to the station and oh, there is a hoedown going on! i don't know who they were or if they were a real band or what, but they were pretty cool to watch. especially from high up.

i did manage to catch a couple of bands this time out. as mentioned, we went to the castle pub. it was 'fuck the stampede' night. total hardcore night. we caught a band called 'epidemic' whose bass player totally fascinated me. he'd obviously trained on an upright bass or cello, because all of his finger and hand work was based on that. he even had the neck up a little. the next band was calledy 'dry fisted' . more hard core. here's the deal tho', the show cost us 8 bucks. for four bands. we only saw two, but that's four bucks per band. i felt that since neither band sucked, i got my money's worth. i also wanted to pick up a 'fuck the stampede' button but the kiosk people left super early. i can't understand why as it seemed like they had tons of stuff left over.

for the second stampede in a row, i tried to see the smokin' 45s. for the second year in a row, i failed. however, they are coming here in august and i will attempt to see them once again.

i wanted to go see this band called 'cowpuncher'. but my friend took me to the wildwood instead of the ironwood. totally different areas of town. so sadly i missed them as well.

next up, stampede!

the little old lady from pasadena...

2007-07-13T07:12:00.000-07:00

i saw the coolest thing yesterday. i was driving back from the garage, and i looked into my rearview mirrors and i saw what looked like a granny riding a motorcycle. which is pretty cool on it's own. however, she had a sidecar. wicked. but inside the sidecar... a big ole' dog. with goggles on. way too freakin' cool. and the dog looked like he was having the best time ever.

anyways, it's friday and it's random top ten time.

jolene – dolly parton
home for a rest – spirit of the west
i wanna jump your bones – launderettes
attack me – the parkades
just another day – serena ryder
colorful - rocco deluca & the burden
broken face – pixies
one way ticket – the darkness
spin the bottle (lp version) - the juliana hatfield three
rosalie come and go – ryan adams

happy friday the 13th everyone! whooo hoooo!

eat the rich...

2007-07-11T17:06:00.000-07:00

***EDITED POST****

i will return to my toronto adventure but i've decided to blog calgary first as there isn't as much to tell.

i'm going to attempt theme posts. let's start with food. did i mention i ate in calgary? here are some highlights.

first off, the airport. i nearly missed my flight. seriously. my luggage barely made it on. however, i was rewarded by cookies on the flight. let's see, no food all the way to toronto. on a five hour flight. cookies on a flight from abbotsford to calgary that's barely an hour long. yah, that makes sense. i did get row 13 again tho. not planned either. whoo hooo!

i left my jacket on the plane. i realized before i got off, so i stopped and had to wait until everyone got off. but i was reward by a sighting of nuns! whoo hoo again! remind me one day to tell you my pope/spanish nuns story.

first food event in calgary. a trip to inglewood (even tho i kept calling it kensington in error) and a visit to spolumbo's. mmmm, i had the spicy italian sausage.

in the plastic containers are limes that i had to go into boston pizza and ask them for. because the store we bought the beer in was sold out of limes.

we had to go back to the store to get a bottle opener. the opener we bought turned out to be a piece of crap plastic that opened four bottles before dying. it was also a wine opener but i can not believe that it would have even opened one bottle without breaking in half.

dinner that night was at the awesome drum and monkey. i have raved about their mac and cheese before. and it's just as good as before.

we had just sat down when this large party came in. i offered to move down to the next table and you would have thought i had offered to buy them a round of drinks the way they went on and on. really, it's no big deal. it's one table over.

later on, in the castle pub, i saw the best thing in the bathroom. sure, condoms are handy, but what about before that? what about getting to that stage? what happens when i want to make out?

oh, thank god, i can buy gum in the bathroom now! kissable breath for everyone!

the next day, we decided to hit the palomino club for lunch before stampede. now, i raved about this place as well. however, this time, it was so disappointing. i have been going on and on about this to my bbq "posse" back home and they can't wait to come out to taste it. i was already to text them when i got there about how good it was. but alas, they were not serving the full menu. only three items, and no choices in sides. just beans (blech!) and coleslaw (which was ok). and the service kinda sucked. plus they played friggin' john cougar! what happened to hank III and merle and johnny?

the idea behind going to lunch before stampede was so we wouldn't be that hungry. oh well, more room for bad food. first stop...

mmmmm, bannock. this picture is actually from last year because the stand was so packed, i couldn't even see the sign. i love bannock. my pne "posse" mourn the fact the bannock left the pne years ago and has never returned. i ordered two helpings in their honour. but i only ate one on the fairgrounds!

this is the most bizarre thing i saw. the picklestickle was odd, deep fried cheese cake was odd, but deep fried coke? i was too afraid to try it, and i couldn't see anyone else trying it either at this point. the girl making it was so not happy to be in the glass booth, being stared at constantly. here's a recipe for it.

a bucket of mini doughnuts?!

i also saw a woman eating a huge slab of fudge. like it was a sandwich. i almost threw up. but then again, i don't really like fudge.

we also ate some salt water taffy. chocolate got the thumbs down as it was not very chocolatey. my friend said the same for the vanilla. i gave a thumbs up on the butter rum. and my friend did the same for the mint.

we ended up driving around looking for a place to eat dinner. at ten to midnight. luckily it was stampede and everything was open still. we ended up at the 1410 which we thought was just going to be pub grub, but it was actually really good. i had a little bitty steak with awesome mashed potatoes. we are going to go back next time for brunch.

some of you may remember my quest for pancakes in calgary. so you can imagine my excitement on going to my first ever stampede breakfast.

oooooh, i'm so excited i could do a happy pancake dance right now. where is the breakfast? who is putting it on? what company is sponsoring my first ever stampede breakfast? and whose bright idea was it to break in the new bottle opener at two in the morning?

get out! they have free breakfasts at the funeral home?! how happy is my inner goth child now?!

mmmmmm... pancakes.

well, it's been a couple of hours since we ate. better get a little snack to keep us going. chocolate? ok. and what's this? oh, it's bernard callebaut. i choose two truffles, an expresso and a irish creme. oh yah, and a dark bar for later.

oh, is it lunch time already? time to hit the ship and anchor pub. and because one breakfast isn't enough for me, let's have breakfast again. but this time, on the patio. mmmmm, yummy toast.

i have no desire to discuss dinner that night. let's just say it was standard pub grub. but i did eat my second piece of bannock when i got back to my calgary abode.

for breakfast, i went to peter's drive-in. (if you go to their website, you can read what hugh jackman says about them). i choose the cheeseburger but no shake. i was saving room for a little treat.

i love drive-in's and diners. it makes me happy when i find one. i have to remember to find a good diner for my next trip to calgary.

wow, i heard the wages were high in calgary. here's the proof. this is better pay than a lot of skilled jobs out here.

off to kensington, and i had to treat myself at crave. my photo of my cupcake didn't turn out because i was so excited to eat it. i had the crave-o-licious which is chocolate cup cake with blue vanilla icing. perfection!

later on i saw this sign. now, i misread things a lot. i've decided it's because i'm a speed reader and my brain is faster than my eyes. or is it the other way around? anyways, i thought this sign said no potstickers. i nearly dropped my cupcake when i snorted with laughter.

well, that's the end of my food tour of calgary. join me next time for.... music.

i melt with you...

2007-07-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

good lord, i'm back from calgary and we are in the middle of a heat wave. if there is one thing (and we all know there is not just one thing) that i can not handle, it is heat.

i've missed all of you and thank you very much for all your messages.

calgary was fun but not fun. if toronto's theme was "fabulous getaway", calgary's would be "if it can go wrong, it did."

i ate (lord, did i eat!), bought a bunch of cds, ogled bmx bikers, petted many a cute pig and questioned why people think bandannas should be worn in public if you are not a dog,

i am very glad to be home. i am especially glad to see 'goober'. i seemed to especially miss him this trip.

if i don't melt in this heat, i will be back soon.

mr. cab driver...

2007-07-01T22:16:00.000-07:00

we pick up the story after the taping of 'the hour' (i'm going to come back to that)

here is a close up of the glen gould statue/bench outside the cbc.

i liked this statue as well. i'm not sure what it's supposed to be of. rabbits maybe? there were a whole bunch of them

i headed back to my friend's place. oh, i forgot to mention something. i have no keys to my friend's place. so i can't come and go as i please. which means i am forever rushing about with very little time to do anything at my friend's place. which leads us to the first catchphrase of the trip. it's something my brother once said to me. we were going to run some errand together and he expected me to be ready like that. he says to me.. i keep forgetting you're a girl. meaning i need at least five minutes to get ready before leaving the house. just because i look dressed, does not mean i am dressed. anyways, i had to say to my buddy "remember, i'm a girl". although he shouldn't have needed a hint because his dog went into my suitcase and proceeded to pull out and chew on my "feminine" products.

the next task at hand is to figure out where i can buy a nxne wristband. all i really wanted to know was if i could buy one at my first gig. but we had massive issues with the advertising, the website and even the people at the nxne headquarters. we went all the way down there, to find out no, we couldn't buy the wristband at the headquarters, only at the gigs. well, that was a big waste of time.

next we went to this bar/restaurant and met "l" there. our server reminded us of mariah carey and was called something like sweetie. it wasn't sweetie but i can't post what it was. i was warned about her breasts, but even with the warning, they were still a distraction. honestly, i do not know how straight men function in the world sometimes. even i had trouble ordering with her breasts in my face.

next, "l" and i ditch my t.o. buddy and hop into a cab. the driver is yakking away on his cell phone. i say "lee's palace's" and off he drives. i am thinking to myself, that he doesn't seem to be driving the right direction but maybe he knows a different route. a few minutes later, he gets off the phone and says, "where are you going". you idiot, you mean you've been driving us around and you don't even know where we are going? i say again "lee's palace" and he says, i don't know where that is. what do you mean, you don't know where lee's palace is? meanwhile, he keeps driving, with the meter running, as we are frantically trying to look up lee's palace in this mini guide we have. finally we give him an address and he acts like he vaguely knows where we are going.

we get up near the vague area of the club and traffic is pretty bad. we finally jump out and our cab driver has the nerve to try and keep our change! yah, no i don't think so. i make sure i take every penny that he is so unwilling to give to me.

anyways, we make our way down to lee's palace. the reason we are heading there is to see kathleen edwards. i love her. thanks to our idiot cab driver, we got there late. i don't know if she played my favourite song ('hockey skates').

the only half decent shot i got of kathleen edwards. the show was good, but the sound was bad. or at least it was near the bar which was as far as we could get in. all banter was lost to us.

i enjoyed the bartender at club as he told everyone to move out of the way when i went to order drinks.

we watched part of jim bryson's set. he's part of kathleen edwards' band. it was ok. not great, but ok.

we leave lee's palace and end up going to some bar for some girl talk. second phrase of the trip is coined. "suck it up". which is what you say when something doesn't work out. you had to pay for a cab? oh well, suck it up.
ooooh... pretty. ha ha.

'l' and i depart and head our separate ways. i head back to the bar where toronto buddy is dj'ing and proceed to amuse myself by annoying this guy at the bar who is talking to my friend. this guy so does not like me. i find this highly entertaining. he tried to play the " i know way more about music than you do' card with me. yah, i don't think so buddy.

we head home. day one is done.

oh canada...

2007-07-01T14:35:00.000-07:00

we interrupt the toronto saga for friday random top ten. my internet connection has sucked all week but it seems to be good today, so i'll try and finish up this weekend. i'm leaving saturday for calgary so i'd like to be finished by then. :)

i went all canadian this week in honour of canada day.

(manifest) – the weakerthans (winnipeg)
when the night feels my song – bedouin soundclash (kingston)
sir, you're not blowing – fake cops (calgary)
the future hangs –cuff the duke (oshawa)
hockey skates – kathleen edwards (ottawa)
tigers not daughters – controller.controller (toronto)
what do you want me to do? – pointed sticks (vancouver)
the constant lover – magneta lane (toronto)
marijuana motherfucker – d.o.a. (vancouver)
lost in the plot – the dears (montreal)

i wish sloan or something would have come up to represent the east coast.

happy canada day!

please allow me to introduce myself...

2007-06-24T18:20:00.000-07:00

this is lucifer. the plan was for him to be my stand in for photo ops in toronto. here he is hanging out on the plane.

a couple of shots of lucifer hanging out at the hockey hall of fame. i didn't go in because i went a few years ago.

time for a pit stop. here's a tip for you. looking for a bathroom? always hit the big hotels. not only do they have public bathrooms, they have clean public bathrooms.

i actually stayed at the royal york a few years ago. tip #2, do not go up random elevators at the royal york when drunk. you will end up lost in the hallways trying to find your room.

lucifer, being rather devil like, tried to convince me to eat the free desert that was part of some conference going on.

hanging out with glen gould at the cbc.

look, it's the tree from mr. dressup! i have to get a picture of lucifer with this!

i place lucifer gently on the ledge, and he falls! into the tree! because of course, i didn't think about the fact that inside the tree is where the puppeteer was so of course, there is not actual ledge to the tree house. it's all open.

i look at the back and the treehouse is sealed shut of course. there is a screen and i can see lucifer inside. trapped. forever. a permanent part of the cbc from now on.

the plan was to get a photo of lucifer on the set of 'the hour'. instead, i can only offer a photo of my pack of death mints on my seat at 'the hour'

if you ever visit the cbc museum, say hi to lucifer for me. he is missed already.

put on a little makeup, makeup...

2007-06-24T14:10:00.000-07:00

get some popcorn allison, time for the next installment in 668's faboulous toronto getaway.

my night (or early morning) ended with me demanding toast from my friend, me frantically making sure the vat19 made it safely, and being too tired to actually pull out the futon into a bed and just crashing. the not pulling out the futon lasted the entire trip.

the next day i am awoken in the manner that i will be awoken all trip. by a cat. luckily, she's very cute.

it's a gorgeous day in toronto. now, normally i would have walked queens street on my first day in toronto. and it was perfect weather for it. however, my friend "l" is coming in from montreal that afternoon. my friend ( i need to think of a good pseudonym for him. he deserves something better than an initial) redeems himself from the bus incident and says, why don't you meet her at the train station? it's right by the cbc. which is where i need to be later in the day. good thinking batman. it's "l"'s first time in toronto, so she really should visit queen street once. so i will save queens street until tomorrow.

i took the street car downtown and my driver was so freakin' scary. he was yelling at people and kicking them off the street car. i was so intimidated, i didn't even take my camera out. i just sat there, afraid to move.

so instead of walking queens street, i end up in eatons centre . (it's probably not called that any more. ) i went in originally because i thought there was a tourist centre there. i wanted a map to get to the 'walk of fame' . but the girl in me was happy to find a sephora (caution, extreme girlyness) in the mall. i got sucked in and had to buy this lipgloss in a ball.

i bought it totally because of the packaging. the colours are me colours but it's lip gloss in a ball! so bright and shiny.. how could i resist?

the service however, sucked. i asked the girl working there if she had had any feedback on this one product and the answer was an explanation of how it worked. yes, thank you, for explaining the obvious but have you tried it? has anyone told you if they like it? she just looked blankly at me and again told me how it worked and tried to sell me a more expensive version. yah, thanks i'll pass. she also said to me when i asked if there was a tester version of this lip balm that it was on sale. yes, thank you again, i can see the big sign, but do you have one that is open that i can smell it? she finally gets me one and tells me it is a good price because it is on sale. oh, how much is it regularly? it's on sale. yes, you have told me that but how much am i saving? it's on sale. ok, honey, don't strain your brain. you have obviously did not have to fill out a i.q. test for this job. i will stop asking you questions.

i finally made it outside and casually walked down to the train station. i stopped briefly to buy a bite to eat. i ended up in some burger joint, and by this point, i had lost all ability to order food. i am sure the staff thought i was a moron. it was like it was my first time in a restaurant. and i only ate about 1/4 of the burger.

this is taken inside the building where the hockey hall of fame is.

this is an art display by xavier veilhan in the same building for luminato
festival.

i decided to go to the cbc museum before meeting my friend. because of an incident i'll tell about in a later post, i didn't get much time to look at the museum.

when i was a kid, i loved 'the friendly giant'. and i was fascinated by the fact that jerome the giraffe could draw with his mouth. i used to stick felt pens in my mouth and try to write all the time. it was years before my brain put together the concept that because jerome was a puppet, a hand was actually drawing!

a few years ago, i spent a long time trying to visit his grave. sadly, i never found it.

who didn't want a tickle trunk as a kid? come to think of it, i still do.

next up, the train station to meet "l".

in the station, more luminato art. this is by max streicher.

the fact that i cut off the sign here amused me. i think of this as a zen place for trains.

next, back to the cbc to catch a taping of 'the hour'. but that's for another post.

stayin' alive, stayin' alive ...

2007-06-22T23:09:00.000-07:00

we now interrupt our story for friday random top ten. i haven't played in ages!

i did a theme this week to celebrate my return.

20th century fox fanfare – alfred newman
just like anyone – soul asylum
all of me – frank sinatra
four strong winds – johnny cash
i just want to be your everything – andy gibb
love me – elvis presley
babylon – new york dolls
i got stripes – johnny cash
stayin' alive – bee gees
jailhouse rock – elvis presley (with the jordanaires)

no random posts this week. next week, i am hoping to be back on top of things.

have a good weekend all. i have a funeral to go to tomorrow and then a birthday party. thank god, it's not the other way round.

hey mr pharmacist...

2007-06-18T20:27:00.000-07:00

hmmm, i'm not really sure how i feel about that last post. or why i went into all that. i must have been in one weird mood on the weekend.

anyways, back to my trip. my flight was book for wednesday after work. wednesday morning, i check in online and am happy to find out i've been assigned row 13! wooo hoooo! i like this on so many levels. especially since my friend 'l' (who flew to mtl a few weeks earlier) refused to sit in row 13. i figure, chances are good that no one will sit next to me.

"goober" knows something is up. (don't look at the mess behind him!)

at work, we are in full crisis mode and have been since the day before. my new boss keeps asking me if i have room in my suitcase. especially once she hears that there is a bottle of vat 19 rum in there as well.

now, i love flying. and i love the airport. however, what i do not like is getting to the airport. this is because once, a friend was late getting me to the airport and i missed my flight. and had to buy another ticket. ever since then, i am super nervous until i actually get there. once there, i am fine.

i park my car and go inside the park n fly office and to my disappointment, i can't check in my baggage there. the main reason i park there is because they have an airline counter there. i park my car, check in, check my baggage and i'm laughing. however, the counter shuts down at 2 now. damn you! i'm getting agitated. wait forever for the shuttle bus. finally shows up. there is a brief moment of panic as i think my flight is for 3.30 not 5.30. i finally get to the airport and check in. but no, relaxing for me this time.

now, i have to rush down to the clinic at the airport. you see, i was driving to work and realized i had forgotten to pack a cream i need for an allergic reaction i sometimes get. about ten minutes after i had realized, my ears started to itch. i think, it's just psychosomatic, don't think about it. about 1/2 way thru my day, i come to the sad realization that no, it's real. my ears are red and itchy. so now i'm at the airport clinic, hoping to get a prescription and hoping that the pharmacy can fill it before i have to board. alas, the doctors have been called out so no prescription for me. the nurse tells me to go to the pharmacy anyways. and i have to give a big shout out to mr pharmacist. he points me in the direction of another cream that works almost as good as my medication. yah! no more itchy ears!

but alas, now i have to hurry hurry hurry to my gate. and did you know that there are no free meals on planes anymore?! hello, it's five hours on a plane! the least you can do is give me a free cookie! and tim horton's shut down before i could get a sandwich prior to boarding. damn you! i need my ice cap! i have to buy junk food for the flight instead.

but finally, i am on my way!

the view from row 13! me and my fellow row mate mock all those who suffer from triskaidekaphobia .

ok, i do think these video on demand screens are pretty cool. i watched tv almost all the way to toronto. to my friend "t", yes you are right "how i met your mother" is pretty awesomely funny. i need to watch more. i also watched got to watch "the office". and you can use regular headphones.

they didn't really shut the curtain very well that separates first and second class. the only time i was jealous was when they were offered hot cookies and ice cream. nothing else looked that hot. plus there was this weird smell emanating from there for a good portion of the trip. the best i can do at a description was stale felt tips.

a question popped up while i was reading the onboard magazine... does anyone actually do those exercises listed in there on the plane?

i was so exhausted by the time i got to toronto, the fact that the automatic flusher on the toilets said sloan made me giggle so much i couldn't take a good photo.

ooohh, scary deserted airport.

it's one a.m. when i land and call my buddy. i announce i'm tired, cranky and hungry. he's thrilled. now, i have only give him one job due prior to me landing at the airport. i was planning on renting a car but nothing is open. he is always trying to get me to take transit to and from the airport. so his mission is to get me from the airport to his house by transit. or at least relatively close. i even send him the link to the actual schedule. does he accomplish this feat? no. what was i thinking? this is also the person that made me miss my flight. i catch a cab. i have arrived.

panic in the streets of london...

2007-06-16T16:15:00.000-07:00

ok, sometime later i will share stories about the people in the last post. but not right now. i feel the need to talk about something else. so i am going to start to blog about my trip.

so, as some of you may or may not know, i have been planning to go to toronto for a few months now. i've been to toronto many times, and love it. the city invigorates me. it reminds me a lot of london and one of my best buddies lives out there (more later on that). i was going out at least once a year. however, i have not been out to toronto for a few years now. this has less to do about money and more to do with something that happened the last time i was there.

the entire time i was in toronto, i suffered from massive panic attacks. one day i walked 8 hours straight because i couldn't stop moving. another time, i grilled my friend endlessly on his personal life (which is so something i do not do). and is so something he was not impressed with. at night, i would just lie in my bed shaking. but the worse one was the night we went to see this play "love and human remains". i won't go into details, i don't like to spoil anything but the part before intermission was really intense and it ends with a bam! (not literally) and i almost ran out of the theatre. it took ever ounce of my willpower not leave the theatre and come back for the second half. and then i was trying to hide during intermission but my friends found me and i had to make conversation and i felt like saying "i am on the verge of a nervous breakdown, could you please leave me alone." but if they had, i don't think i would have felt any better.

i bring this up mainly to try and give you a picture of my mind as i'm attempting to book my trip. the other issue i'm having is that this weekend is the weekend that my friend "l" is also in toronto. now, this could be fun, but the problem is that "l" knows how to push all my buttons. and not in a good way. and one of the things that does push my buttons is that sometimes i get the feeling that she always has to one up me. now, i don't really talk about my panic attacks. i've suffered them for awhile, sometimes they are bad, sometimes not. i don't really discuss them very much. but she always goes on and on about hers. and i don't remember her having any until i happened to mention that i had them in conjunction with my claustrophobia. i just find the whole thing bizarre.

i finally decide to bite the bullet and buy my ticket. is it a wise thing? well, we shall see.

if there's a heaven above...

2007-06-15T21:25:00.000-07:00

i'm sorry my dear readers that i haven't posted my stories yet. when i wrote my last entry, i really thought i'd been blogging like a little fiend for the next few days.

however, stuff happens. sometimes bad stuff happens.

in the past week, two people i know have died in two separate car accidents. in two different cities.

one was a really good friend of a friend. i'd only met him a couple of times but he was super funny. the other was someone i had worked with. not super close, but when you see someone practically every day for six years, you develop a relationship with them.

i'm ok. just taking a little break.

and hey, be careful out there.

back in black...

2007-06-12T20:55:00.000-07:00

i hit the sack... which is pretty much what i did yesterday and will do today.

i'm back from my glorious trip to toronto. and do i have stories! there were highs, there were lows, there were drunken brawls, celebrity sightings, stalkings, and much rock n roll.

details to follow my friends.

leaving on a jet plane...

2007-06-05T22:46:00.000-07:00

well, i'm catching a plane tomorrow after work and won't be back until next week.

i probably won't blog until i come back but i will be checking email.

my cbc connections came thru and i now able to see 'the hour' this week instead of the day i fly back. whooo hooo!

feel free to send me nxne recommendations!

take care y'all.

if a picture paints a thousand words...

2007-06-01T08:06:00.000-07:00

click to enlarge my friends, click to enlarge...

these are the people in my neighbourhood...

2007-05-27T19:32:00.000-07:00

toccata posted a story about her neighbourhood and asked for our stories.

here is my all time favourite neighbourhood story. it even tops the time when i was a kid and our next door neighbour was having an affair with a girl young enough to be his daughter. in the family trailer. which was parked in his family driveway.

this story is way better in person, because i get to do all kinds of voices and action moves.

this happened about a year ago. it was around 10.50 pm. i was in my computer room, watching season one of 24. i was watching the last five minutes of episode 23. for those that know 24, the last five minutes are always super tense. especially when it's the second to last episode of the season. i'm on edge, all tense and then i hear ... my screen door opening. and a bang on the front door. now, i live in an area where there aren't a lot of people walking around at almost 11 pm at night. even the dogs are asleep in my hood. and my brother left for work over an hour ago. and he works five minutes away. so even if he did have to come back for something. he would have already done so.

'goober' has already rushed to the door and is barking. i get up and go to the front door. next to the door, there is one of those frosted glass windows. so you can't really see anything in great detail. i look out it anyways and what i see is this huge man outside my door. i repeat, huge man. i do my best gruff voice.. "yah?" and this guy starts asking for someone. but i can't understand him. i keep asking him to repeat it but i still can't understand. and now i'm frustrated and forget that i'm trying to be tough and just shout out 'i have no idea what you want!" huge man yells out ' just open the fucking door!' and then proceeds to start kicking my door and shaking the door handle.

all time stops. i'm like.. what do i do? oh yah, call 9-11. crap, where's the phone? meanwhile, big scary huge man is still yelling ' open the fucking door!" and kicking the door. and rattling the doorknob. i finally find the phone, call 9-11 and i swear the woman said fire or ambulance. no police option. i reply, some guy is trying to break down my door and she says, oh police. and transfers me over.

now, i'm standing behind my door because apparently this is the only place i feel safe. at the time of this incident, we had no peep hole and no yale lock. just a little ole door knob lock. the woman on the phone is asking me all kinds of questions like... could it be your brother on the other side? um, no because if my brother yelled at me to open the fucking door, he knows that i would just leave thru the back door and let him fend for himself. could it be one of his friends? i doubt it, but i suppose anything is possible. can you describe him? i say he's big, and then he yells out, yah, i'm fucking big, open the fucking door. at this point, 'goober' just lays down and does nothing. um, thanks buddy. now, the lady on the phone is questioning why my dog is not barking. i don't know. do you want to speak to him yourself? she keeps going on...are you sure you don't know him? umm, yah, pretty sure. look lady, i know you are just doing your job, but i'm freakin' out here ok? she keeps asking what's that noise? um, that's the freak at my door trying to get in!

and then i hear some other guy come to my front door and say something. big scary man says you're fuckin' kiddin' me. and then i hear both of them leave. soon afterwards, the police finally show up. i got two squad cars and four officers. one of them knocks on the door and i open it. i tell him what happened. he tells me they've walked around my entire house and the area is clear. they ask about the truck in my neighbour's driveway. is it theirs? i don't know, they just moved here.

and then a thought that had passed thru my mind earlier, finally formulates in my mind. i suppose the guy could have looking for my new neighbours. the police tell me to go back into my house for now. eventually, they come back with the huge man. the man is in his early twenties and weighs around 300 lbs. he looks like a fuckin' footballer. he says, sorry, i went to the wrong fuckin' house. the cop says, hey, you've sworn enough for the evening. he hangs his head and says, sorry, i went to the wrong house.

the cop starts to berate him. next time, know where you are going. the numbers are on this house, there are huge and you gave this girl a fright. if you were at the door when i got here, i would have cold cocked you.

big scary man hangs head lower, and keeps muttering sorry. i thank him for coming over but tell him that's all i have to say to him right now.

i go back inside and pour myself some jack daniels.

the next day, my brother installed a yale lock and a peephole.

lite-brite, makin' things with light...

2007-05-26T09:38:00.000-07:00

welcome to random friday. i know it's saturday, but i got home late last night.

yesterday was apparently do not use your turn signal today. or at the very least, do not use your turn signal until you are at least halfway into my lane. um, buddy, at that point, i kinda figured out you were coming in.

i saw this sports car all macked out with rear spoilers etc. but it was pink! who buys a pink sports car?

my brother went away for a week and bought me nothing. the dog however, got a really expensive tie out stake for the yard, a postcard and some really expensive dog snacks. speaking of which, we have found out what he does when we are not home.

apparently "goober" has been running his own business. they are, of course, peanut butter flavoured.

this is the outside of this crazy ass mcdonald's i went to yesterday. the drive thru has two lanes! i didn't eat there, just went inside to use their facilities. inside, it looks more like a starbucks than a mcdonald's. fancy lighting and leather arm chairs. well, to be honest, they could be faux leather. people were sitting in them and i didn't think i should go up and ask if i could caress their chairs to find out. oh, and speaking of incorrect furniture moves ...

i found this on snopes, which is one of my favourite sites. you can read all about it here.

here is a sign i enjoy. these are posted in coquitlam parks.

i saw this in the latest starbucks ad. i really liked it. 'friends let you stay for the credits'.

here is my friday random top ten for this week.

blood on our hands – death from above 1979 (i love, love, love this song. especially right now. i was so happy when it started off the rotation)
nausea – beck (i remain conflicted about beck. and yes, it's that whole scientology thing)
how deep is your love – take that (hahahahaha, it's true. my guilty pleasure is boy bands from england. good times.)
drown –son volt
hallelujah – willie nelson
planet of sound (live) – pixies ( i heart pixies)
cold hard bitch [live] – jet. (interesting, two live songs in a row. i think my player is saying go see more concerts. i saw jet a few years ago in concert at the commodore. there was so many australians there, the joke was "who is working at whistler right now?"
flying high again – sloan ( i have a weird gay porn fetish thing with sloan.)
here i dreamt i was an architect – the decemberists (this is the first song i ever heard by them. i got it on this really cool portland sampler i bought in portland a few years ago from q is for choir, a communist record store)
passing afternoon – iron & wine

have a good weekend everyone!

devil doll devil doll...

2007-05-20T20:45:00.001-07:00

toccata posted this and i decided to play. my card was way too funny not to post.

You are The Devil

Materiality. Material Force. Material temptation; sometimes obsession

The Devil is often a great card for business success; hard work and ambition.

Perhaps the most misunderstood of all the major arcana, the Devil is not really "Satan" at all, but Pan the half-goat nature god and/or Dionysius. These are gods of pleasure and abandon, of wild behavior and unbridled desires. This is a card about ambitions; it is also synonymous with temptation and addiction. On the flip side, however, the card can be a warning to someone who is too restrained, someone who never allows themselves to get passionate or messy or wild - or ambitious. This, too, is a form of enslavement. As a person, the Devil can stand for a man of money or erotic power, aggressive, controlling, or just persuasive. This is not to say a bad man, but certainly a powerful man who is hard to resist. The important thing is to remember that any chain is freely worn. In most cases, you are enslaved only because you allow it.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

laying on the grass my heart it flares like fire...

2007-05-18T17:37:00.000-07:00

you know once you have a dog, the urge to lay on the grass diminishes. and i can't even imagine sitting up against a tree!

it's friday and my new tradition on friday is random postings.

'goober' woke me up at three a.m. the other night. he was howling. in his sleep! full on wolf mode. i felt bad waking him up, but it was three in the morning.

i dropped a friend off at the airport this week and afterwards, 'goober' and i went to an off-leash dog park. i, being me, thought as i was standing on extremely wet sand, why don't i kick the ball for my cute little poochie? i did not realize the stupidity of that idea until i was slipping and sliding on the wet sand, spectacularly landing on my ass, getting sand in my shorts. lucky for my pride, nobody but the dog saw. and he was too busy happily chasing the ball down the beach to even care about me.

when i was driving to pick up the above friend, i nearly got in a car accident with this stupid woman. she was trying to make a left hand turn onto a very busy street. i was in the lane closest to her and she entered my lane. without looking at the traffic. i'm honking frantically because i can't stop because i have traffic behind me. and she still won't look at me. i had enter the lane next to me, slightly cutting off the guy beside me or else i would have rammed into her. he started honking and i thought he was mad at me. but what he did was too funny. he slowed down (because he had no one behind him) and started yelling and giving the woman who was in my lane the finger. he knew i had no other choice but to do what i did.

some of you may remember my adventures in mowing the grass. last week or maybe the week before, i broke a piece off of my lawn mower. i have done this before. it's not very expensive. today i went online to make sure i knew what i was buying, and found out it is the mower fan i keep breaking. i went out and bought a new one. as i was replacing it (which i was very proud of the fact that i was doing it myself), being me, i didn't pay enough attention to the order of how the parts came off very well. i went back in and printed a diagram from the internet. lo and behold, i found out i put the machine together wrong last year. no wonder my lawn mower wasn't working all that great! among other things, i am pretty sure i had the blade upside down! it kicks ass now.

i also put together an ikea trunk this week. apparently, i think i am a handy person this week. i also gave myself a facial so i'm still semi-girly. :)

here is friday random top ten this week.

intro (back to basics) - christina aguilera (oh, so that's the way it's going to be this week)
on springfield mountain - tara maclean (what is this? what is this from? why do i have it? )
repo man – iggy pop (ok, better)
intro (light it up) - jazzalude I - new reality style – guru
want – the cure
dissident – pearl jam
stereotypes – blur
big dumb town - stan ridgway
li'l hilda – fuck
line up – elastica

have a good long weekend my fellow canadians. my yankee buddies are just going to have to wait another week. i think i may join you down in the states next weekend.

my heart is crammed in my cranium and it still knows how to pound...

2007-05-14T18:12:00.000-07:00

it occurred to me recently. what happened to frank black?

not the person. but the interview.

about six months ago, mr. stroumboulopoulos mentioned that he had done a frank black interview. he plugged it for a couple of weeks and then nada. and then i wrote an email to 'the hour' and i got a great email back from them. and i waited. and waited. until i finally forgot about it.

but recently, for some reason i remembered it recently. and i thought, damn them!

but i was lying on the couch sunday, cleaning out my pvr and i was like, i guess i should start watching some of these episodes of 'the hour' i have taped. because i've been taping, but i haven't felt the urge to watch any of them. i won't go into the whys as i am sure you all know by now how i feel.

but lo and behold, in last week's episodes, the frank black interview! and allison brachman had emailed me, just like she said. it's just that i don't go into that account as often as i apparently should.

here is the long awaited frank black interview. six months later, but still good.

and then, an interview with eddie izzard! i heart eddie izzard. a lot. he's hysterical. he has an accent. he wears make up. i so want him. :)

and because one eddie clip is not enough.(not my favourite outfit, but funny nonetheless)

what's up 'the hour'? are you wooing me?

jesus walks...

2007-05-11T21:00:00.000-07:00

so 'goober' and i have just come back from a little adventure.

we had just finished a rousing game of ball with mr. man. this of course, is not the toy's name, but the toy reminds me of those mr. men kid books. you be the judge.

'goober's' park toy currently is one without horns. he has one with horns, but we leave that at home. also, his park toy is missing one foot. a recent loss. courtesy of another dog's obsession.

anyways, we had just finished playing and went for a walk around the park. we discovered a cool looking trail. we started down it. this was a bad idea. we ended up at the creek with no way to cross it. or we could climb up a very steep hill. i chose to walk thru the water. i ended up with soggy boots and a long walk to the car. i have learnt my lesson. do not walk down strange trails in dog park!

well, at least it was pretty at the bottom!

here is friday random top ten for this week.

loco gringos like a party - the reverend horton heat
stablemate – palace music
intro – the offspring
uncertain smile (12" remix) – the the
ballroom blitz – the sweet
raw – the curse
on your wings – iron & wine
bad boyfriend – garbage
another night in – tindersticks
'b' side - the 'b' girls (i swear this song comes up all the time. i am getting quite sick of it)

have a good weekend everyone! i'm off to lie on the couch, dry my feet and catch up on a week's worth of the daily show.

floating by the open window...

2007-05-08T20:24:00.001-07:00

ok, i'll blog more later but i have to share this.

this is a partial view from the window in my new work space.

and not only do i have a huge window with a view, my window opens!
how cool is that?

ps.. sorry the picture doesn't do it justice. my flash kept going off for some unknown reason.

money money money...

2007-05-06T12:15:00.000-07:00

just back from the vet's. i am now $180 poorer.

'goober' has four different medications to take. joy, oh joy.

he is fine, the vet is just concerned about infections etc.

good thing i start my new job tomorrow. i doubt 'goober' has any money saved. :)

ps... will not be around for the strombo show tonight. i have a birthday dinner for five people to go to.

hit me with your best shot...

2007-05-05T18:28:00.000-07:00

the day in photos.

today, 'goober' and i went to the park. we don't normally go to this park as the hills are steep but we were in the neighbourhood, and today, well felt special. this park is nice because the trails are off leash all the time and there is a lot of trees so it never gets too hot. if you walk all the way to the bottom, you hit water, which 'goober' loves. we didn't go that far today.

'goober' still got to have some fun in other water. this is the same dog that refuses to go outside when it rains.

time for lunch! we went to the legion for bbq chicken. i have heard that women should wear vanilla scents to attract men. i think they are wrong. i think they should wear the scent of barbeque. maybe i'll make a perfume one day. eau de bbq. i stood in line behind three young hotties. wooo hooo!

this is behind the legion. i'd never seen these before.

scary sad story coming up! considered yourself warned!

a dog attacked 'goober' today in the park. i didn't think too much about as 'goober' seemed fine when it happened. and dogs will be dogs. however, once we got home, i noticed he had been bleeding.

scary close up. we are going to the vet's tomorrow. sadly, our regular vet doesn't work sundays. 'goober' loves him. our vet can do anything to him, and 'goober' just licks him.

'goober' seems to be ok. i've cleaned him up and he didn't seem to be in any pain. although he is extremely tired of me looking at his wound.

check-ch-check-check-check-ch-check it out ...

2007-05-05T10:10:00.000-07:00

oops, i played friday random top ten yesterday and forgot to post on my own site.

our science is tight – dillinger four
america is not the world – morrissey
i love rock n' roll - joan jett and the blackhearts
no more affairs – tindersticks
neighborhood #1 (tunnels) – arcade fire
witch doctor – lord high fixers
attack of the ghost riders - the raveonettes
hard as a rock – ac/dc
ch-check it out – beastie boys
freeway – chet baker

hope everyone's weekend is going just fine.

i'm a potato and i'm so hip...

2007-05-03T23:34:00.000-07:00

a selection of random thoughts...

i was in safeway today, buying treats for my brother as it's his birthday today. technically, they are not from me, they will be from 'goober'.

'goober' received this from my brother for his birthday. i felt it was only right for 'goober' to give him a present back.

when i finally picked out the right dessert, the bakery lady had trouble with one of the tarts, so she said, that's it. they are now 2 for one. too bad, these are not something i would eat.

i went to the "big" library the other day and i wanted to take a picture of the signs they had on all the stalls there. however, since there were people in the washroom, i had to control myself. the signs were pink with huge fonts and said.. do not stand on the toilets. this must be a big issue if they have signs on all the stalls. i had no idea people went to the library and stood on the toilets.

i went and saw a band play tonight. (i'll blog more later on that) i decided to treat myself. i love this place. i only ordered the small. the guy behind the counter was are you sure? and i'm like yah. i should have listened to him. i ate a good portion of the fries on the way home and did not have nearly enough to dip into the garlic mayo. oh, and he forgot to charge me. but i was good and let him know.

ok, i'm tired now. tomorrow you can all hear about how freaked out i am about my new job.

have a good friday everyone.

flip, flop and fly, i don't care when i die...

2007-04-28T12:40:00.000-07:00

ok, so i changed the lyrics a little. sue me. :)

so, i stupidly (ha ha) said i would play this game and be interviewed by barbara. my curiosity got the better of me. these were really hard. my brain hurts. where is my flip flop question?

1. If you were able to become a character in a novel or a film, who would you be?

i had a lot of trouble with this question. i couldn't think of anyone, so i started looking at my books and then it hit me. the reason this question is hard is because even as a kid, i never really wanted to be someone else. i would imagine myself in books and films, but very rarely as a character already in the book or film. i always imagined myself as an additional character. most of the females were always damsel in distress types and i never wanted that. although, as i was typing this, i finally figured who i would be. batman. because i want to kick butt, have cool toys, drive a fast car, be super rich and wear black. of course, i would have to be the gay batman but that's a whole different issue.

2. Do you choose sweet or salty snacks?

most people i know would say they know my answer right away. i have blogged about chocolate and my love of cake. i never put salt on my food. so, the answer has to be sweet snacks right? nope. the answer is salty snacks. i don't use salt because i am an addict. put a salt lick out, and i'm on it like a deer. i drink margaritas specifically for their salty rims. and it takes all of my willpower not to like the salt off the rim like an ice cream cone.

that said, i do like my sweets as well.

3. If you had the ability to learn the date and manner of your death, would you want to know?

no. although, if i did know the date of my death, i would be tempted to tell a bunch of people to fuck off. including an ex boss of mine. apart from all the obvious stuff i would do, what i'd actually like to do is clean all my crap up. so that no one would have to do it after i'm gone. (i have learnt this the hard way.)

4. If you were sent to colonize a distant planet, which five people would you bring with you to help with the task?

jesus christ, i don't know any people who would be good for this task! i am assume this is real people i know. and i would want them to have skills to do stuff. my friends so do not have these type of skills. and am i repopulating the planet? cuz that's a whole different skill issue. :) maybe i'm over thinking this. maybe it's just five people i will have to live with for the rest of my life. great. that's even more terrifying. three of my closest friends do not get along with each other very well and i'd rather not take those issues up into space. i have broken this down into five roles that i need to be fulfilled.

a. someone funny

b. a gal pal

c. a 'bed' buddy

d. someone who knows who to do stuff

e. someone musical.

5. Would you rather bungee-jump or give a speech to 5,000 people? great. the thought of both of these makes me want to throw up. i'd like to be able to bungee jump, but i'm guessing i would rather give the speech.

ok, here are the rules - you have to answer these questions on your blog and then invite others to be interviewed by posting something like the following:

Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me!"
I will respond by e-mailing you five questions. I get to pick them, and you have to answer them all.
You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

feeling hot hot hot ...

2007-04-27T12:53:00.000-07:00

in celebration of random friday, here is a posting full of random things.

either my allergies are killin' me, or i have a cold. i haven't quite figured it out yet.

i saw this on the daily show a couple of nights ago. presidents should not be allowed to boogie.

here is an interview from 'the hour' with my new crush, sam raimi. even if he is married with five kids . his wife is the daughter of lorne greene. which i find interesting as i am currently making my way thru battlestar galatica (the original). starring lorne greene and one of my childhood crushes, dirk benedict. sigh.

after i accepted my new job, i got an email for another job interview that pays a lot of money. a lot. i'm tempted to go and just see what's up. should i?

also, remember this job? the one where i had to do a personality test? they finally called me and offered it to me. my ego loved it, as the woman seemed quite disappointed when i had to turn it down.

here is my random top ten. it's totally random today.

live wire - mötley crüe
van lear rose – loretta lynn
block rockin' beats – the chemical brothers
ashes to ashes – steve earle
mis-shapes – pulp
the ring – sarah harmer
under the bridge - red hot chili peppers
easy goin sunday – the knitters
tra la la song [banana splits theme] – hanna-barbera (yay! bananas!)
gatekeeper – feist

ps... barbara - i haven't forgotten about the questions. i will try and post my answers this weekend.

have a great weekend everyone!

i'm on fire and now i think i’m ready to bust a move...

2007-04-24T10:18:00.000-07:00

woot! woot! woot.!

you can all uncross your fingers now.

thank you.

i have a lust for life...

2007-04-22T10:34:00.000-07:00

happy birthday iggy.

now, this is what i call a celebration .

and a blast from the past.

shake it iggy, shake it.

remain calm, do not panic ...

2007-04-20T20:21:00.000-07:00

ok, i was supposed to hear back about the job today. i heard nada. i resigned myself to the fact that i did not get it.

however, i got an email around dinner time saying that they hadn't forgotten me and they haven't made a decision yet and i will hear something next week. plus one of my references emailed me and said they contacted her.

ok, i know. i need to relax. but it's so hard.

moving on, it's friday and it's random top ten time. and i find number one quite appropriate today.

1. you are not your job - gas huffer
2. fashion bleeds - archers of loaf
3. angelene - pj harvey
4. you know you're right - nirvana
5. 3 small words - josie and the pussycats
6. dig me out - sleater-kinney
7. get ready for love - nick cave & the bad seeds
8. main title (xena: warrior princess) - joseph loduca
9. garlands - cocteau twins
10. highlights - backyard babies

have a good weekend everyone!

and from this moment on, i'll be crying, crying, crying, crying ...

2007-04-18T21:05:00.000-07:00

today sucked. big time.

for those of you who don't know, i've been short listed for the job i really want. i had to go and write a bunch of tests today. and they were so hard! really hard and complicated math questions that i had to answer without a calculator. i sucked! i choked! i wanted to throw up. (but didn't)

i am now going to crawl into my bed with my dog and a bottle of wine.

and mostly here's a toast, to you and me ...

2007-04-15T10:14:00.000-07:00

r.i.p. my friends, r.i.p.

don ho

(the only reason i wanted to go to hawaii)

june callwood.

i haven't had a chance to watch this yet, but here is her last interview. from 'the hour'.

kurt vonnegut, jr.

(who i discovered as a child due to ace frehley from kiss. )

for those that may have missed it, here is the daily show's tribute to kurt vonnegut. classic.

music makes the people come together...

2007-04-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

happy friday the thirteenth!

and to celebrate, it's the all live friday random top ten. this really hurt my brain as i've seen a lot of bands and i don't always remember i've seen them. sad i know.

1. deanna - nick cave & the bad seeds (i've actually seen them in three different countries. england at the reading festival, vancouver at the evil lollapalooza festival. i was so sick and miserable the entire time i was there. and then some moron throws a shoe at nick cave and he walks off, never to return to vancouver since. and seattle at least three times. )

2. sweater girl (first demo) – modernettes - (richards on richards, december last year. billed as the modernettes, but really only buck cherry. i almost took them off because of it, but i think i've seen them before that as well.)

3. under the bridge – red hot chili peppers (commodore ballroom. odd night. i saw crowded house at the orpheum the same night)

4. stereotypes – blur (reading festival, england)

5. wank – maow (gastown music hall, mint records showcase for music west. let me tell you, mint records puts on the best industry schmooze. )

6. sisters of mercy – serena ryder (media club)

7. uncertain smile (original version) – the the (commodore ballroom. i nearly got the crap beat out of me by some six foot four guy, who butt in front of me (who is so not six foot four) and then proceeded to yell and threaten me because i kept trying to get my place back so i could see something. in between threatening me, he attempted to pick up the guy i was with)

8. on the verge – le tigre (commodore ballroom.)

9. music – madonna (toronto. whatever the big concert place is there. i remember buying a poster for my friend 'e' and having to cart it back to vancouver.)

10. come home - james (reading festival, england)

please, please, please let me get what i want ...

2007-04-11T20:15:00.000-07:00

ok, i had a job interview today. and, i really, really, really want this one. more than any of the jobs i've applied to. except for this ultra cool job i applied to a year and a half ago. i don't even want to talk about that job right now.

the money is more than what i made at my last job (but, it will probably translate into about the same, because my transportation costs will go up). the benefits are awesome. vacation time is better than most places. i really like the area of vancouver it's in. it's good to drive to, and it's good for public transport as well. the building is cool and they have windows! lots of them! and, after the interview was finished, i wanted to hug my potential new boss. and i am not a hugger. she just seemed like one of the nicest people in the world. maybe i shouldn't be posting this. i'm probably cursing myself. but i have to let some of this out.

i do have a 1/2 woot on the job front. i did get the working at home job. it's only casual so i'm not making a whole lot of money. but it's better than nothing.

i also filled out an application to volunteer for something that could be fun. i'll update if they accept me.

you may not see me around much in the next little bit. i've got some casual work lined up which involves lots of computer use, so i'll be cutting back on some of the fun stuff for awhile. plus i am working on a post which is in a different vein for me. it involves a bunch of research and more brain power than usual.

i know i owe some of you emails and stuff. i'll try and catch up soon.

bela lugosi's dead...

2007-04-07T22:41:00.000-07:00

is it possible to die of a garlic overdose?

:)

i wanna die just like jesus christ...

2007-04-06T11:13:00.000-07:00

today feels weird. one, i didn't have to get up early. as some of you may know, i'm only working casually lately. but friday, i dedicate to job hunting. partly because most job applications have to be in either on a friday or monday. and partly because i have to get up early on fridays anyways, because it's garbage day. so it works out well. however, since this is good friday, no garbage day. i tried to sleep in but it didn't really work. i did lounge in bed for a bit watching 'cold case files' on a&e (remember when a&e, actually meant arts and entertainment?).

a couple of years back on good friday, i was watching 'green acres'. as one does on good friday. now tv, the religious tv station used to run two hours of 'family entertainment' from 4-6. leave it beaver, green acres and i can't remember what else. they had hosts who would always tie jesus into whatever the show was about.. ie if beaver had only accept the lord jesus christ, ward wouldn't have had to punish him. or something like that. anyways, 'green acres' ended and the two chicks that hosted came back. and i swear, one of them said. "it's good friday. it is the day we celebrate the death of jesus, " and then she paused. for a long time. finally she continued and went on about the resurrection of christ. i couldn't stop laughing. i couldn't stop thinking yay! jesus is dead! where is my party hat?

ok, allison, i'm at my computer, my stomach feels ok and i'm going to try the gum out now. wow, it smells like chocolate syrup. it really does. i've unwrapped the piece and it has that weird white powder on it like you find on the bubble gum that comes with hockey cards. or does all bubble gum have that? when i'm not working, i don't chew gum all that much but when i am, i chew it like a fiend. but never bubble gum. i like the intense flavours. oh, but i digress. i can't get over how much it smells like chocolate syrup. however, it does not taste like chocolate syrup. it tastes all powdery. oh, wait, that's the powder. hmmm, it doesn't have a huge intense kick of chocolate, but every so often, you get a taste of it. it does not however, taste evil and make me spit it out. i think it tastes more chocolaty the more you blow bubbles. and it's definitely more of a fake chocolate taste. i think i will bring this tomorrow and make my friend chew a piece. she will probably throw up. good times.

it's friday, time for random top ten. i'm curious about this week. i'm going on a little road trip tomorrow (destination unknown!) and as always, i'm in charge of the tunes. i was cleaning out the mp3 player yesterday in preparation and right now, i don't have a lot of songs on it.

as i prepare my player, i'm trying to remember a bunch of stuff. no kate bush. go easy on the rap. not too much new stuff. this is all for the co-pilot. for me, i have to remember, watch the lengths of the songs (eight minute songs tend to drive me crazy in a car). watch the feedback. not too much electronica. make sure some new stuff gets on.

so let's see what we have today.

1. morning glory - oasis
2. i'm your man - nick cave
3. gamila (the night is beautiful) - emad sayyeh
4. get in line - juliana hatfield
5. magic bus - the who
6. a song for the lovers - richard ashcroft
7. gong gong - sportsguitar
8. live forever - oasis
9. i'd do anything - simple plan
10. oh! chicago - yahoos

ps. i find the gum rather unfulfillingly. my stomach thinks it is getting chocolate but alas, nothing. now i am hungry. ok, i was hungry before, but now i'm really hungry.

talk about the passion...

2007-04-04T12:49:00.000-07:00

i saw this on dale's blog, and i couldn't wait to play myself.

put your itunes/winamp/wmp/whatever on shuffle.
* use the song title as the answer to the question.
* no cheating

1. how does the world see me? better together – jack johnson

2. will i have a happy life? beverly hills - weezer (am i coming into money? i'm not sure about beverly hills tho)

3. what do my friends really think of me? wonderful! wonderful! – johnny mathis (well, this is nice)

4. do people secretly lust after me? come home - james (hmm.. i think this means come home you are delusional)

5. how can i make myself happy? dont wanna worry – the neckers (good advice)

6. what should i do with my life? shuffle your feet – black rebel motorcycle club ( i was really hoping for some life advice here. i did not get it)

7. will i ever have children? don't study war no more – sonny & brownie

8. what is some good advice for me? celebrity skin - hole (i am to be a celebrity in la? oh, maybe shuffle my feet is code for i will be a famous dancer.)

9. how will i be remembered? coma girl - joe strummer & mescaleros (hahaha)

10. what is my signature dancing song? pay dirt – k.d. lang

11. what do i think my current theme song is? ass up – dc heads

12. what does everyone else think my current theme song is? ring sweet mercy – tricky woo

13. what song will play at my funeral? our faces split the coast in half – broken social scene (um, no. besides sounded like some kind of horrific accident, as previously mentioned, my funeral song is 'if i should fall from grace with god' by the almighty pogues.)

14. what type of women/men do i like? personality crisis – new york dolls (umm, great)

15. what is my day going to be like? feel good hit of the summer – queens of the stone age (oh, this is where the coma girl comes into)

16. will i ever have love again? new york, new york – ryan adams (i have to go to new york? oh wait, i'm a celebrity, so i guess that makes sense.)

17. what type of sex life do i have? rock 'n' roll star – oasis (yah, baby!)

18. what song would be the title of my own porno movie? spiro – useonceanddestroy (i don't think i want to know what this is about)

ps... gum has not been tested yet. soon my friends, soon.

does your chewing gum lose it's flavour on the bedpost overnight...

2007-04-02T22:41:00.000-07:00

i'll blog more about my day tomorrow, but i had to share this.

i bought the weirdest thing in america today.

it's chocolate bubble gum. i bought it because it was the more bizarre thing i'd seen in awhile. i wish i had more money because i would have bought it for all my friends. it actually has cocoa in it. do i try it? or is it for display purposes only?

i bought this same brand of gum for my friends at christmas. original flavour because the brand mascot killed me.

hope everyone's had a good start to their week.

green green grass of home...

2007-03-30T11:12:00.000-07:00

first off, for all my mercer buddies who do not or no longer watch 'the hour', you gotta check out this clip. i heart rick mercer!

steven wrigh t, a comedian i love, once said 'it's a small world, but i wouldn't want to paint it.' i'd like to change that today to 'it's a small world, but i wouldn't want to mow it.'

i got out the lawnmower for the first time this season yesterday. i'd like to state for the record, that i was the first person on my block to do so. this is quite the feat. i'm usually the last person to break down and pull it out. i'm also the first person to put it away.

the house where i live is built on a hill. therefore, the yard is divided into levels. which means i have five separate sections that have to be mowed. separately. three parts in the front, and two in the back. actually now that i think of it, there is one on each side. i've now lost count of how many sections. it's a lot.

my lawnmower isn't that old, but the wheels are kinda shaky. so it vibrates more than it should. plus i am not mowing on even ground. so by the time i stop, my whole body is kinda shaking. and no matter if the sun is out or not, i have to wear sunglasses. to protect my eyes somewhat from the effects of hay fever. plus you never know when a loose pebble is going to up and smack you in the face. it hasn't happened yet. but it could. and if you know me, it's only a matter of time before i have some kind of lawnmower accident. i should probably start wearing a helmet like rick mercer.

i usually let 'goober' sit outside while i am mowing the lawn. this has it's own hazards. i'm not sure what goes on in his mind, but once i start mowing the lawn, and he sees the grass disappearing, he then attempts to eat as much grass as possible, and growl at the big bad lawnmower when it gets to close.

when i finish, my body is all shaking, my muscles ache, my face is flushed, my chest hurts, my eyes are itchy and watery, my nose is stuffed up and my throat is sore. i'm usually sweaty and dirty and it takes me a day to recover. this probably has a lot to do with the fact that i forget to take anything for my hay fever.

i took this photo as my homage to toccata (who i hear is illin'. hope you feel better soon). she always has such great pictures of flowers on her blog. unlike mine. i tried to take a photo close up, but it so did not turn out. if you've followed the above, you will know this is so not my yard. i was at the library the other day and their gardens are full of daffodils. i ended up talking to this really funny older gent about gardening after this. which also reminded me of toccata.

anyways, it's friday so let's play random top ten.

1. devils haircut – beck (haircuts, grasscuts, same thing. ha ha)
2. underwhelmed – sloan
3. 'b' side - the 'b' girls
4. you look like a gorilla – the mopes (yay! bananas!)
5. everyday i love you less and less – kaiser chiefs
6. everybody loves me but you – juliana hatfield
7. stupid girls – pink
8. sweet dreams (are made of this) – eurythmics
9. gatekeeper – feist
10. left of the dial – the replacements

this week, i've seen 50% in concert. i'm aiming for a list that contains 100% bands i've seen in concert. maybe i'll work the list next week to contain only those that i've seen in concert. in fact, maybe i should do more theme random lists. i'll ponder that. oh wait, hopefully, i won't be able to post next week. because i'll be in snowy toronto! no ticket booked yet, no confirmed job offer yet. boo hoo poor me. but i've got everything else planned. place to stay, dog pimped out, tickets to 'the hour' booked.

oh no stay and irritate me...

2007-03-27T22:43:00.000-07:00

i was driving to my job interview yesterday, and i was thinking about the abc list. and i thought one of the questions was pet peeves. so i had a few in my mind, but then when i got home, i filled out the list and found out there was no listing for pet peeves. so i have decided to list a few of my current pet peeves, based on the past day or so. and really, i just wanted to bitch about #3.

1. women's clothing. specifically the fact that all my job interview clothes have no freakin' pockets. this drives me insane. where do i put my keys? especially since i normally have to stop somewhere on the way. my keys go into my bag and rattle around, driving me further to the edge of insanity. or else, they fall into the black hole that all my bags contain and i have to spend five minutes trying to find them.

2. a certain office supplier that does not take cash for photocopies. i either have to buy a photocopy card for a designated amount of photocopies which is way more than i need. or else i have to put it on a credit card. i do not wish to put 7 cents on my card. although i am tempted just because i know it costs you guys money.

3. personality assessment tests. although at the interview, the hr person was quite adamant that these are not tests. and it states quite clearly on the form, that this is not a test and there is no right or wrong answer. umm, do you judge me on this? do my answers determine whether or not i get the job? since i would hope the answer is yes (or else i am wasting my time doing it), then there are right and wrong answers and it is a test. i took one a couple of months ago that was over an hour long. by the end of it, i had no idea who i was anymore.

4. bark mulch. there is bark mulch in the dog park i go to. it is possible i am allergic to it. it is more probable that it just irritates me. it seems to be getting in my clothing (well, to be more accurate, underneath my clothing) and i'm getting all these slivers as well.

5. my internet connection. and the fact that it wouldn't stay connected for more than five minutes today until tonight. i had stuff to do! (see point #3). plus i was trying to chat with my friend 'm' who drives me insane by not having the internet at home. this would not bug me as much if she lived in the same freakin' city as me. since she does not, and i am on a no-budget lifestyle, i can only reach her for one hour a day, monday to friday.

however, i am feeling less grey this week. the weather's been good and i got a job lead on something i can do from home. fingers crossed!

getting to know all about you...

2007-03-26T17:16:00.000-07:00

i've been tagged! by allison! eeeek! (apparently, eeeek is my new favourite word)

A- Available or Single: this confuses me. what do married people put? (although i am not one). i guess single. available seems to have a bit of a desperate ring to it in my mind.

B- Best Friends: i have good friends. i'd rather not single anyone out in particular.

C- Cake or Pie: cake. but i do love pie.

D - Drink of Choice: depends on my mood. diet coke or an early grey tea is always nice. lately, been drinking a lot of jack daniels. and a nice microbrew beer is always fine.

E- Essential Item: i was tempted to put air. but that's because i'm a smart ass.
it was hard to choose between my mp3 player or my camera. the mp3 player won.

F- Favourite Colour: black. like my soul. or so i've been told. :)
for those of you who do not count black as a colour, you can throw in blue and purple. apparently i like the colours of bruises.

G- Gummi Bears or Worms: bears i guess. but if we are talking gummi anything, it's those little gummi cola bottles. i get a big kick out of them.

H- Hometown: is this where i was born? vancouver, bc.

I- Indulgence: since i am on a no-budget right now, baths. when i have money, it would be music and travel.

J- January or February - january. screw all you february lovers! my birthday's in january!

K- Kids - god no. although the joke between my friends is, if we want them, we will buy them. like we do everything else. :) i will buy two little mexican twin boys and rename them francis albert and dino paul (sorry toccata). although now i want another set of twins who will be called jingle and jangle. or maybe i will just rename frank and dean, jingle and jangle every december.

L- Life is incomplete without: laughter.

M- Marriage Date: no thank you.

N- Number of Siblings: one. an older brother.

O- Oranges or Apples: to eat as a fruit, apple. but in everything else, orange. i have issues with the white stuff on oranges. i need to know more about this orange peeler!

P- Phobias/Fears: i can not sleep with a closet door open. sometimes i even go around the whole house making sure they are closed. thank you stephen king.

Q- Favourite Quote: it changes all the time. currently it is

"it’s probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in."
- lyndon b johnson on j.edgar hoover

R- Reasons to smile: i don't think one needs a reason to smile.

S- Season: fall. it's usually warm still, sunny and i love the leaves.

T- Tag 3 People: i think everyone has played already.

U- Unknown Fact About Me: i have extremely thick ear lobes.

V- Vegetable You Hate: i was going to say beans,but i just learned that they are a fruit. and i don't think mushrooms are either. i can't really think of one i hate. i tend to dislike cooked vegetables. i prefer them raw. hmm, maybe peas or onions.

W- Worst Habit: i will give you two. an unusual grasp of the concept of time and i tend not to return phone messages.

X- X-rays You've Had: teeth.

Y- Your Favourite Foods: i like food. all kinds. let's start with west indian roti and curry. fresh bread. bbq'd anything. oh and cheese please!

Z- Zodiac: capricorn baby.

i'm an art lover...

2007-03-25T15:11:00.000-07:00

toccata and allison both posted art the other day. i hate to be left out so i decided to play too. and since i just finished reading a book on a certain artist, it seemed appropriate. (ps... yes, i know i haven't updated my current reading material on my sidebar, but that's because i am still reading that book. not because it is bad, but because i couldn't find it for months. i finally found it a couple of weeks ago. plus i'm one of those people who is always reading two or three books at once.)

although i took a lot of art classes in school, i didn't really have any kind of grasp of art history or art appreciation until i went to europe for the first time. it's amazing what actually seeing a piece of art can do to a person. it was there that i discovered one of my favourite artists.

i remember the first time i saw his work so clearly. we were in the kelvingrove museum in glasgow. i was kinda wandering around on my own. my friend 'r' had a more developed sense of art appreciation that i did at the time, so she tended to need more time than i did. in fact, it was because of her that we were going to so many museums. i remember looking down this long hallway and seeing this piece.
i was mesmerized. awestruck. i had never seen a piece of art that made me feel like that before. it wasn't just some pretty picture in a book. it suddenly occurred to me why people see art in person rather than in a book. the size, the colour, the details, none of that could translate into a tiny photgraph. the idea that someone had actually painted this sent my brain into overdrive. after staring at the piece for ages, i finally went closer to see what it was called and who had painted it. i learnt that it was called 'christ of saint john of the cross' and it was by salvador dali. i remember being totally confused. dali? isn't he that crazy spanish guy? he did this?

shortly afterwards, we went to the tate gallery in london. they too had dali on display. but totally different from the kelvingrove. pieces like "lobster telephone" and "the metamorphosis of narcissus". these were more traditional dali pieces but seeing all these pieces helped me realize that as an artist, one didn't have to choose to be a painter or a sculptor. one could paint, make three-d pieces, sculpt, whatever struck you. and you could explore everything you felt. you could do something semi-traditional and then turn around and do something bizarre. it just needed to move you.

rainy day people always seem to know when you're feeling blue...

2007-03-23T19:37:00.000-07:00

it's back to being ark weather here again. the dog is whiny as all hell, because he wants to go out and play. however, he won't go out in the rain.

the mood for the past few days is grey. well, i'm not sure that's a mood, but that's how i feel. my head hurts. i know it's stress. my motivation level is less than zero. i'm fighting with someone. it's not helping my head. which makes me feel less motivated. maybe it's not a good idea to have flannel sheets when one is feeling grey. it makes it even harder to crawl out of bed. and i'm not sure berlin cabaret music was the best choice to make musically today. at least it wasn't 'how soon is now' or 'love will tear us apart'. or god forbid, 'i see a darkness'. i'd still be in bed.

however, things are looking up. i finally heard back about the job. second interview next week. flights to toronto are still cheap. 'the hour' is sold out but i am hoping to figure something out about that. plus i really like my friday random top ten this week.

1. it's a hit – rilo kiley
2. electrik heat - the seekwill – k-os
3. monkey gone to heaven – pixies
4. london calling – the clash
5. vertigo - the libertines
6. safe from harm - massive attack
7. the avalanche – sufjan stevens
8. holiday in cambodia – dead kennedys
9. can't change me – chris cornell
10. feel alright – steve earle

this week i've only seen 3 artists (or 3 1/2 i guess) in concert.

have a good weekend everyone.

fish heads fish heads rolly polly fish heads...

2007-03-21T22:32:00.000-07:00

look at me, i'm posting daily this week!

i actually saw something cool on 'the hour' yesterday. at least i think it was yesterday. i pvr the show now so i get confused as to what day episodes actually run. anyway, i saw something cool, and it has inspired this post.

'the hour' ran an interview with rob stewart, the director of sharkwatch. (you can watch it here.) i mentioned during my strombo recap that alex said hated the guy's voice. and that i was inclined to agree. i haven't seen the movie yet, but i do think that the guy's voice would be annoying for a long period of time. but i am anxious to see it. the clips they showed were fascinating. and of course, it got me thinking about sharks.

when i was a wee lass, i loved going to the aquarium. i spent a lot of time at stanley park in the summertime but the aquarium was always a special treat. i loved all the marine life but the sharks fascinated me. and yet, i was always terrified going to see them. it wasn't the sharks so much that scared me. it was the fact that it was so dark in the area of the aquarium where the shark tank was. and there never seem to be any people around. on the ceiling of the aquarium hung these plastic models of various sea life. as a child, i had this irrational fear of them. especially the stingray. i have no idea why. it wasn't like they were very life like. and even as young as i was, i knew they weren't real. when i think back, i can remember standing in the aquarium, shaking inside, trying to work up the courage to go and see the sharks.

when i was a few years older, around nine years old, my family and i drove down to california. it was my second trip down there. as a kid, whenever we traveled, we ended up seeing a lot of movies. although, very rarely did i see any kid movies. my dad basically treated me as an adult when it came to movie choices. as a result, i saw a lot of mature movies at a young age. sometimes i understood them, sometimes i didn't. anyways, on this trip, i saw that 'jaws' was playing in a theatre (gotta love big cites with tons of rep theatres) and decided that i wanted to see it. so my dad took me. my mom was too chicken and my brother had already seen it, so they went elsewhere. i can remember sitting in the dark cinema, big container of popcorn in my lap. as the movie went on, and i got more and more scared, i remember lifting my feet off the floor and bringing them up so i was sitting cross legged in my chair. rationally, i knew nothing in the theatre was going to come up and grab them. but it made me feel better. my mom was so mad at my dad for taking me to the movie. my dad just shrugged his shoulders and said, she wanted to see it. my mom was convinced i would have nightmares. and she did have a right to be concerned as she and i were sharing a bed. and i did dream of sharks that night. but it wasn't scary 'jaws' sharks i dreamt about. it was funny jabberjaw type sharks i dreamt of. i still remember parts of that dream. it was about the shark trying to get onto the boat at the african safari ride at disneyland. i woke up because it was funny. not because it was scary. it wasn't until i woke up that i remembered how scary 'jaws' was, and then couldn't sleep. my mom yelled at my dad the next day. my dad had a sense of humour tho. the next day, he took us to the beach. i did not go in the water.

good day sunshine...

2007-03-20T21:29:00.000-07:00

today was a beautiful day. i celebrated by going to the dog park for two hours.

so, i had a job interview today and i think it went really well. my instincts say that the company and the people there are decent. i think i could enjoy working there.

my main concerns are

a. the pay. i have no idea what the pay is yet. i fear it is not much. this is not based on anything in particular. just my normal pessimistic nature.
b. benefits. i don't think it will come with any benefits (it's a contract type position)
c. having to start all over again once i finish the job.

if i get and take this job, i will celebrate by

1. buying a ticket to social distortion
2. reviewing my finances and checking to see if i can go to toronto for easter weekend. i have decided to plan as if i am going. i have already put in my request for tickets to 'the hour'. my buddy has been informed and has a futon ready for me. i have started to mentally pack shoes. :)

rub a dub dub, three men in a tub...

2007-03-19T23:52:00.000-07:00

here is the weekly strombo show recap.

this week it's live with mr. stroumboulopoulos and alex. still no bob. apparently he’s off on “assignment”.

now, at this point, the rest of the evening is spent losing the feed continually. so i only have random bits. so, if it seems like nothing really flows, that’s why. feel free to share anything i’ve missed.

alex went to canadian tire to buy a drill. mr. stroumboulopoulos seems overly fascinated by the drill information. what kind? cordless or non cordless? what will you be drilling? alex went for cordless, and it is just if he needs holes. screwing takes a lot out of him and he thought why not take advantage of the drill. mr. stroumboulopoulos had more to say about drilling but i lost the feed.

alex gives a big thumbs down to the two sctv opening theme music for the news for alex. he sings a version that he likes better.

at this point, there is weird echoing background noise on my feed. the only way i can describe it is it sounds like demonic frogs.

alex asks if this segment is working? are we ready to give it up? mr. stroumboulopoulos is not . mr. stroumboulopoulos mentions google and privacy. alex comes back with dude, you make it sound so boring. i don’t think it’s worth my time listening to you tell me the story. maybe it’s you, maybe it’s the story.

alex says something about finishing what you started. mr. stroumboulopoulos says dude, you don’t even let me finish one story.

‘waiting room’ – fugazi

mr. stroumboulopoulos goes off on the crtc.

alex agains asks if they want to kill the news bit. mr. stroumboulopoulos says no, it’s working for me. alex says you said i could choose the stories.

terri schiavo is brought up. alex then asks, how is it dying with dignity if you are on cnn 24 hours a day? (bravo alex) mr. stroumboulopoulos says this is the smartest thing alex has said all week.

alex wants to know what gi joe’s are fighting for. (i used my brother’s to fight for barbie.)

the feed comes back up as alex is saying “i didn’t really see you as a bath person.” mr. stroumboulopoulos says oh yah. i have a big four person bathtub ( i am so freakin’ jealous!) or so it says. i just don’t have the time. i live in downtown toronto and my water pressure isn’t good. it takes 45 minutes to fill up. alex says i don’t see you as a bath or shower person. maybe a washcloth at the sink. mr. stroumboulopoulos says what, like a hooker at harvey’s?

mr. stroumboulopoulos is talking about being out on st. patrick’s day. people kept coming up to him and he ended up having five or so pints of non –alcoholic beer at the table as people kept spilling their alcoholic beer into his non-alcoholic beer. (although this term non-alcoholic beer bothers me. unless i am mistaken, the correct term should be low alcohol beer. as there is still alcohol in it.)

mr. stroumboulopoulos begins a story by saying someone said the funniest thing to him ever on the weekend. some guy came up to him and said are you george stroumboulopoulos? the guy paused in disbelief. you eat pizza? alex is wondering, are you trying to get some feedback from me? it was fine, you talking and stuff but i didn’t really like what was coming out of your mouth. he doesn’t want to use the word boring, although he says it was. and then he chooses anti-climatic.

cindy, the woman who claims she has no accent calls in. she has called into to say she has not been kind (true). and has called to apologize. and then she does say she has an accent, and that she is from trinidad originally.

alex asks if he can do a shout out to claire. and then says all low, yo.

the simple life is brought up. mr. stroumboulopoulos watched part of it and thought, these girls are idiots. he knows they are playing a part and he feels that paris hilton is not that dumb. he has worked on enough reality shows to know that they are all b.s.

donnie comes on and they discuss the death of captain america. alex asks what superpower they would choose? donnie would be like the flash and be able to run real fast. mr. stroumboulopoulos would be like aquaman and breath underwater. hayley figures she must be invisible as alex ignored her. alex says it’s a stupid question. (even tho it is his question)

things they like. alex brings up free run eggs and how expensive they are. mr. stroumboulopoulos says quality costs. alex thinks it’s because they are rare. he thinks this is because in captivity, roosters don’t have to work that hard for sex. while free range roosters do, as the chickens are walking around, getting on with their lives. he thinks it is a good idea for chickens to go wild. mr. stroumboulopoulos agrees.

mr. stroumboulopoulos likes the shark documentary "sharkwater". alex hates the guy’s voice (i am inclined to agree on the little clip i heard). mr. stroumboulopoulos learned a lot from the film. there is a heated discussion when alex claims he didn’t.

alex doesn’t like the fact that mr. stroumboulopoulos has two ps3’s and alex has none. mr. stroumboulopoulos said that he paid for one. when alex questions what he is going to do with two, he says one upstairs for the bedroom, and the other downstairs. alex brings up being showered with gifts re: engagement. mr. stroumboulopoulos brings up that he has given alex a gift before, and he didn’t like it.

the end.

going to the chapel...

2007-03-18T15:08:00.001-07:00

this week's strombo show recap. the players... alex and mr. stroumboulopoulos.

mr. stroumboulopoulos has been over winter since november. it was apparently a really nice day in toronto. (vancouver however, was in build your ark type weather). he hopes that you did whatever you wanted to do today. stayed in bed if that’s what you wanted to.

mr. stroumboulopoulos has known alex for seven years. he has never seen him with a highlighter. alex is fiendishly highlighting. this is all for a new segment called news with alex liu. alex interjects that’s not what it’s called. it’s called news for alex liu. one is completely different from the other.

captain america’s death is brought up. then my feed crashes. when it comes back up, they are talking about public enemy and the show on friday night.

mr. stroumboulopoulos wishes his mom an upcoming happy birthday. osama bin laden’s birthday is brought up. alex asks if it is wrong to wish someone happy birthday if you don’t really care.

alex chokes on his apple juice. mr. stroumboulopoulos keeps reading news.

cpac is discussed. alex is not interested.

alex is a little sleepy today. he woke up about an hour ago as he accidentally fell asleep. mr. stroumboulopoulos says you are never going to get to sleep tonight. are you going to be bitchy tomorrow?

hayley (who mentions working for the cbc) is monitoring the myspace page.

mr. stroumboulopoulos comments on the liberals . ten years of big lies, wasted money and broken promises. canadians are passive.

there has been a strange light reported east of toronto. the possibility it being a ufo is brought up. mr. stroumboulopoulos and callers talk about it for 8 hours. alex complains after an hour. the rest of us take naps. this week in alex is on hold. mr. stroumboulopoulos asks if alex is ok talking about aliens. alex replies i don’t have much choice, it’s your show. mr. stroumboulopoulos talks about the light and aliens for another 8 hours. alex wants to know how much more of his life they are going to waste on this.

back to the news for alex. robert mugabe is discussed.

alex is not getting into this segment. it’s too serious. it’s supposed to be hilarious. it’s not working.

“sheela-na-gig” – pj harvey

mr. stroumboulopoulos lost his voice at the public enemy show. he wishes that his voice tonight was his voice.

the talk turns to alex’s wedding/fiancée. hearts were mentioned and mr. stroumboulopoulos wants skulls. alex says that’s because you are so hardcore. mr. stroumboulopoulos is happy because he likes alex’s fiancée. alex says as the guy you just stay away from all the wedding stuff. he has been allowed to take the lead on the honeymoon stuff. partially because his fiancé wants to throw him a bone, and also because he is very particular. he doesn’t want too hot and dry. nor does he want it too cold and wet. plus he has an allergy problem, so he wants to go where english is spoken so that he can deal with the food issue. he likes the idea of a resort. however, he has developed a bit of an allergy to the sun.

birds are discussed. alex wants to know what they contribute to society. and he doesn’t understand why people put them in cages. mr. stroumboulopoulos agrees with him on this point.

10.35 = comedy is richard jeni.

things they like.alex is reading a howard hughes biography. hayley enjoyed glow in the dark bowling.

ps... i hate blogger today. it keeps fucking up my font size. i have given up trying to fix it.

ya see, i'm irish, but i'm not a leprechaun...

2007-03-17T11:23:00.000-07:00

happy st. patrick's day everybody.

st. patrick used the shamrock in his sermons to demonstrate how the father, the son and the holy ghost could all exist as separate parts of the same being.

pouring a pint of guiness is an art. when i lived in amsterdam, the bartenders drew shamrocks in the foam. and that shamrock had to last to the end of drink. or else!

yes, i know they were formed in london. but as wikipedia says many prominent members are irish, either by birth or descent. plus how can you not love a band that originally called themselves "pogue mahone" aka "póg mo thóin" aka "kiss my arse"

apparently the ingredients for soda bread are taken very seriously. i just find it yummy. i first tried in on the streets of dublin.

btw....no eggs, no raisins, no whiskey.

march 17th is the supposed death date of st. patrick.

one of the legends about him, is he gave a sermon that drove all the snakes out of ireland. however, no snakes were ever native to ireland. some feel that snakes are a metaphor for the druids/pagans and the story is about religious conversion.