going to the chapel...

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...

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.

outta this mess baby outta my head...

sorry nothing new to post. my life is about organizing and job hunting these days. and trying to figure out a way to get fifty bucks so i can go and see social distortion in concert. i'm going to try and post something this weekend. but being that tomorrow is my second favourite holiday, it may not happen.

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

1. death or glory – social distortion
2. the tra la la song (one banana, two banana) - liz phair w/material issue
3. 45 – elvis costello
4. ride – the vines
5. first train – blackfeather
6. a design for life – manic street preachers
7. the harder they come – waco brothers
8. everybody loves me but you – juliana hatfield
9. dig me out - sleater-kinney
10. some things never fall – the black halos

i've seen seven out of the ten bands listed here in concert. i'll let you figure out who i haven't seen.

have a good weekend everyone.

spam in the place where i live...

been super busy in the past week. i've been totally in the zone in regards to organizing and cleaning. i spent a week rearranging and doing a big clean in my bedroom, trying out my bed in three different positions, only to realize that the only position it really works in was where it was originally. oh well. it is also helping that my brother is out of town for over a week. i can do so much more when he's not around.

anyways, this post isn't about cleaning. it's about 'the hour'.

here are three things that are annoying me about 'the hour' currently. in reverse order.

3. the jokes. especially during the 'news' segment. i don't find them funny or amusing. i just find them very sad, tiring and trite. i can't remember the last time i actually laughed during 'the hour'.

2. the bios. i find the writing of them to be getting worse and worse. it's been bugging me for a long time. did you know gerry butler lived in canada for a few years? i didn't. perhaps that might have been interesting to add as a note to his bio. and if you are going to call kim campbell a role model (which i so have issues with), then when you run her bio, show me why. because you sure as hell didn't last nite. in fact, i was left with the exact opposite feeling after watching her bio.

1. but what really, really bugs me right now about "the hour" (and really, the reason for this post) is this...i got fucking spam from "the hour"!

maybe not in words...

sorry folks, been super busy this week. strombo show recap, well, i don't have it ready for posting. maybe later tonight. maybe not. :)

i will be around for the show this week.

dead, dead, dead, someday we'll all be dead...

random question: why do i only get asian spam?

now, i know it's friday and yes, i do have my random top ten to post. but first, i promised a post about my old boss.

now, let me make it clear. my ex-boss was awesome. her boss, was a complete idiot. plus she was one of those bosses that wanted to be friends, but assumed that you were always trying to get away with something. so as a boss, she really had no choice but to treat you like a child. on the other hand, she would always say why are you coming to me? i trust you. yah, she was a piece of work to work for. i figure it was time to share some stories about her. we will call her "w"

here are my top five "favourite" things she had to say on the topic of death, funerals and staff bereavement. in no particular order.

1. i used to work with a great gal named "s". she was 21 and had been with the company for a few years. she worked in customer service and sales so she knew everyone. and everyone liked her. she was a bubbly, funny young chick. i used to bring her gum from the states. she got a new job and tragically was killed in a car crash a couple of weeks later. her funeral was held on a work day. this caused "w" no end of grief. the fact that people actually wanted time off to go to a funeral?! "w" says, i don't even know why 668 wants to go to the funeral. i've never even seen them together. let's forget the fact that "s" and i had lunch once a week together. does that even matter? someone i worked with for a few years just died. can i not just want to pay respect to them? or maybe it's part of my grieving process?

2. an old family friend of my family died. this man had known me since before i was born. my parents knew him from their university days. this happened when i was covering my boss on her mat leave. i went to "w" to let her know that i might have to take an afternoon off to take my mother to the funeral. her first words to me "you have to take that as a vacation day. we don't pay for friends funerals. " umm, i so was not thinking of that. i was just trying to let you know ahead of time, that i might need a couple of hours off.

3. i worked with a girl named "b". her grandfather passed away. "w"... "i've never even heard "b" mention her grandfather before". well, yes. of course, if you don't mention something, it doesn't exist.

4. when my mother was dying, 'w' caught me in the bathroom. she loved to talk to you in the bathroom. drove us fuckin' nuts. she asked about my mother, and when i said the doctor said it was anytime now, 'w' said, oh well things will be better once she is dead.

5. this may be my favourite moment of all. "w" on the phone to head office. "i think we need to start asking for proof of death. these people (she loved using that term for staff. especially "her people". i'm sorry, when did slavery come back?) could start taking advantage of bereavement leave." yes, us staff are crazy like that. any excuse for a day off. our head office told her that they thought that was a little extreme. i told my boss, that if 'w' ever asked me for proof of death, i was going to take a photo of myself with the coffin.

let me state, these things were said out in the open. not in private. i will have to share some more classic stories later on.

here is my friday random top ten.

1. hope there's someone - antony and the johnsons
2. you're nobody 'til somebody loves you – dean martin
3. release me [live] - engelbert humperdinck
4. junkenstein – the wildhearts
5. secrets don't make friends – from first to last
6. hopeless case of a kid in denial – the hellacopters
7. hotel intro – moby
8. 3121 – prince
9. fetish - joan jett and the blackhearts
10. pillow queen – cub

sitting waiting wishing...

on tuesday, i spent five hours at the passport office. standing at the passport office. ok, 4 1/2 hours standing. the last 1/2 hour i got to sit.

here are some random passport tips.

1. make friends with the people next to you in line. especially if you are solo. you will need them to hold your place when you have to go to the bathroom. speaking of which, a large tim hortons ice cap is probably not a good idea to indulge in on the way there.

2. you may want to get the layout of the office before going. i went to richmond, which meant i had to wait for 4 1/2 hours outside. luckily, it was the one sunny day we had here. i imagine it would have sucked if it had been cold and wet.

3. bring tunes and a book. however, it is perhaps a good idea to watch the subject material carefully. i do not suggest this book. not because it isn't good. but because it is a book about bad dates, and you will inevitably want to burst out laughing. which may not help point #1.

a beverage and snacks help too. but then again, see point #1.

painkillers also help. 4 1/2 hours on a brick street can play havoc on your back.

4. the closer you get to the door, the worse your anxiety will be. the lineup was fine and jovial, until we got to the last stage. when we were about 15 people from the door, everyone started to get stressed out. we kept watching all the people going in. are they cutting in? what about them? why isn't anyone leaving? by the time we were in the office, we were basketcases. and we all just kept staring at the board, waiting for our numbers because they don't call them out. what if we miss our turn? if that happens, i think i will break down and cry right here in the office. and i'm thinking what if i've forgotten something? did i bring the right i.d?


5. i didn't do this, but filling out your paperwork online helps a little. although, this will not be apparent until you actually get into the office. you get served somewhat faster. but, not that much.

but everything is done. i've handed everything in, gave them a ton of money, and i should see my passport in four weeks. which i think is a shorter wait than a few weeks ago.

i was so happy to get into my car and drive home. i cranked up my mp3 player and played tunes that made me sing and dance.

here is the tuesday special bonus, semi-random, driving in rush hour home from the passport office editon top ten.

1. beverly hills - weezer
2. steady, as she goes - the raconteurs
3. i don't feel like dancin' - scissor sisters
4. who taught you to live like that? - sloan
5. ch-check it out - beastie boys
6. white riot - the clash
7. love in a trashcan - the raveonettes
8. rosalie come and go - ryan adams
9. we will rock you - queen
10. why do you love me - garbage

what i hated even more than the rush hour, was that i had to drive by my old work. which reminded me of my ex-boss's moronic supervisor. next post, i will share the top five insane things she said about death, funerals and staff bereavement.

these are a few of my favourite things...

things i am enjoying today.

1. cake
2. doo wop music


3. "jailhouse rock", the movie


that's all. back to cleaning!

strombo show alert! remember it's fancy shoe day this week.

paranoia, they destroy ya..

the above are lyrics from a kinks song. i always thought the lyrics were paranoia, will destroy ya. i'm a little dissapointed.

the reason i'm feeling a little paranoid is i just checked on my hit counter. i've had over 30 hits from china in the past hour. what's up with that?

anyways, time for friday random top ten

1. god made me - chantal kreviazuk ( haha, i was cleaning out my player last night and i looked at this and thought, do i want this? she irritates me. and then, i thought how often will this song come up?)
2. weather storm - craig armstrong
3. jimmy the exploder – the white stripes (the white stripes never come up enough on my player for my liking)
4. blue berets - stompin' tom
5. cum on feel the noize – oasis
6. extraordinary – liz phair
7. failure – king missile
8. introduction (part 2) – the delta 72
9. small town depression – the makers
10. love rush – 54-40

happy birthday to me...

ok, it's not my birthday. it's not even my 1/2 birthday. it's two months since my birthday. but since i wasn't posting much around that time, i figured i'd post something now. and really, it's my blog, my rules. :)

as mentioned before, i have issues with my birthday. so, how did i spend this year? sick, sick, sick in bed. i vaguely recall calling in sick, and then not much until five o'clock. all i managed to do on my birthday was drag my ass out of bed and pick up a birthday meal at white spot. plus cake of course.

so, instead, i offer up tales from last year's birthday celebration.

i spent the week in los angeles. i arrived the day before new years eve.


the first night i was there, i went to a re-gifting party. i had never heard of this before, but i will steal this idea one day. everyone brings a gift they got that they do not want. i, of course, did not have any gifts with me. so me and my friend 'k' who i was staying with, went to target and hit the clearance racks. we ended up with a couple of chocolate/food type gift baskets for super cheap.

i think there must have been over 40 people there. i say people, and yes, they were people but i was the only female there. and the only straight person there as well. it was the beginning of my big gay trip to l.a. some of the guys were not thrilled to have me there, but most of them were fine.

the gifts ranged from stuff that was really cool, to truly awful. there was a lot of gay porn. a lot. i don't think i've ever seen so much, not even in the stores! the picture shows a bagel keeper being held by the son of a singer from an 80's hair band. i received a elephant wine bottle holder. i would post a picture, but i am not sure where it is right now.

the next day was new year's eve. my friend had a "date" in the afternoon. he was rather concerned about me but i'm like.. umm, i'm a grown up. i can amuse myself for an afternoon. but what are you going to do? i said, drop me off in an area with shopping and movie theatres and i'll be fine. so off it was to burbank for a little shopping and a movie or two. i shopped a little, and then i was ready for the movies. i figure, hey, i'm in l.a., no problem. big problem. the only movies playing were bad remakes and sequels to movies i'd never seen (king kong, cheaper by the dozen 2, yours, mine and ours). or brokeback mountain. my friend "l" and i had made a vow to go see it together. i knew if i went to see it, she would tear a strip off me. on the other hand, i knew if i didn't see it, when i got back, she would be like, i couldn't wait for you. i choose not to go. finally, i ended up going to see 'the ringer'. i only went to see it because i kinda have a thing for johnny knoxville. i sat in the theatre, alone, cursing my friend. turns out the movie wasn't that bad. for some reason, i thought they made fun of the special olympics. turns out the special olympics made fun of johnny knoxville. however, he was so not crush worthy in that movie.

i got a big kick out of these huge holiday balls.

check out the sky in this picture and above. yes, this is sunny l.a.!

for new years, i joined my friend and his roommate in their traditional celebrations. watching the original 'poseidon adventure' and eating chinese food. i had so much fun. i did it this year as well. i added my own twist as well. but that's for another post. i didn't see the remake but the original is hilarious. especially while watching with a group of witty gay men. we loved the hot pants!

next day, i checked into a hotel. i had decided that i didn't want to wake up on my birthday on a pull out sofa. been there, done that. so i decided to splurge a little and spend a night in a hotel. i ended up staying at the roosevelt hotel on hollywood boulevard. i can highly recommend it. it wasn't outrageously expensive, yet you felt fancy. it's got a ton of history, marilyn monroe lived there, the oscars were held there etc. and it's pretty much right across from grauman's chinese theater. i felt very classy staying there.

the hotel. my room was a corner suite. the bedroom window was on this side.


when booking a fancy hotel, always give them a reason to upgrade you. since it was my birthday, they gave me a free upgrade to a suite! the suite was bigger than a west end apartment. this is just the front room.

my fancy bed. more on this later.




the view from my bedroom window. those dots? rain.

the pool. see how it looks like it's bubbling? that's caused by the wind and the rain.

i decided to splurge and have a drink in my hotel bar. the bar had this godiva chocolate liqueur that i wanted to try but it was locked up and nobody seemed to have the key. someone nearby wanted to have some wine and even that was locked up. i eventually got some lesser chocolate martini for $14 and retired to my room to enjoy the luxury.

i was excited to find out i had a cd player in my bedroom. i put some tunes on and was bopping around the room. see that fancy bed above? pretty fancy huh? well, the mattress is actually bigger than the frame. while i was dancing to this, i banged into the bed. i remember thinking right before the moment of impact, nice big soft mattress, this won't hurt. ha! underneath the bed is a solid wood frame. which my shin proceeded to meet at a high velocity. the pain, the pain! now, some people who do not know me very well, say to me.. oh, you must have been drunk. those that know me, know i must have been sober. i have excellent balance when i've been drinking. i am a clutz when i am sober.

i woke up the next morning. happy birthday to me. in pain. my shin was killing me. and it was turning some lovely colours. plus there was this really loud noise. i couldn't figure it out. it was so loud, i finally got out of bed and tried to figure out where it was coming from. it sounded like outside. it was raining so hard and so loud it woke me up. and i'm from vancouver! luckily, it didn't last very long.

i did manage to go swimming in the pool. it was raining and i think people thought i was nuts. here is the pool, the mural is done by david hockney.

i spent the day walking around hollywood. i also visited the erotic museum.

eeek! scientologists! i found this both scary and confusing.

my friend 'k' got off work, picked me up and went headed out to disneyland and the house of blues to see social distortion. i had an awesome time. except it took me all night to figure out how to get down to the floor. and by then, it was too late.

oh, what a feeling...

before i get into my post, i'd just like to state...it's freakin' snowing here. huge flakes.

ok, on with my post.

as some of you may or may not know, i am in the process of listening to every single one of my cds (in reverse chronological order, sorta). i'm living the year 1996 right now. on my recent solo drive down to the states, i decided to listen to a four cd box set of canadian music.

here is what i learnt.

1. four cds, 77 record company picked songs is too much can con to listen to in a row.
2. some songs get funnier as time goes by. loverboy never does.
3. i own 'new orleans is sinking' by the tragically hip and 'try' by blue rodeo. two songs that have been on my wish list for ages.

in the country...

i can’t remember the last time i posted a strombo recap. i think it was last year sometime. more than ever, this is my version of the events. :)

last week was live, and the holy trinity returned. minus the holy part.

mr. stroumboulopoulos said it was nice to be on the air and not wanting to barf. last week, he was suffering from strep throat. he had a 102 degree fever. when he was doing interviews, it was like he could see the words come out of their mouths and disappear. people were telling him how good he looked, all rosy cheeked. bob laughed because he thought mr. stroumboulopoulos looked so bad. mr. stroumboulopoulos was sleeping on his couch and liz from 'the hour' texted him, go to the effing doctor. he hadn’t eaten in a day and a half. he went to the doctor in toronto and was asked how long he had been feeling like this. he felt like he was melting, his throat was killing him. the doctor told him he should have come in earlier. guys are idiots. bob wants to know why guys can’t admit they are sick. mr. stroumboulopoulos thought he would just fight it out. he takes the medication and flies to england. his body knows when it is not on the air and can fall apart. the medication ends up working.

bob says that when the show is on the road, people are unhappy. everything is hard to do as everyone is not in the same place. bob and mr. stroumboulopoulos have had no conversation about england until the show. bob is part of the audience for this one.

the various myspace teams are mentioned. bob thinks the fact that his icon is fries with his team name spelt out in ketchup is effing fabulous. alex has posted the pictures of bob with his fries on his myspace account.

radio clash – the clash

country house – blur

damon albarn’s bad interview is mentioned. bob thinks country house sounds like a song from a broadway musical. mr. stroumboulopoulos hates broadway musicals. he doesn’t like the stupid dancing. bob thinks mr. stroumboulopoulos is an anglo snob, that everything english is good. mr. stroumboulopoulos wants to stick a pin in bob’s neck for not liking blur. mr. stroumboulopoulos has ripped into bob before for liking broadway shows. alex doesn’t mind them, there are some good songs. he thinks rent has a good song. mr. stroumboulopoulos says no. bob brings up “ol man river’. this is an agreed upon good song. alex says sure, bob is a boob, but he wants to bring it back to mr. stroumboulopoulos riding bob about his opinion. bob says mr. stroumboulopoulos berated him for about ten minutes. mr. stroumboulopoulos says it is because he cares about bob. alex wants to know how is it bad for bob? bob suggests mr. stroumboulopoulos is a hypocrite. alex declares it’s just music. mr. stroumboulopoulos concedes that he likes some musicials. like tommy.

they talk about amy winehouse. alex isn’t interested. bob says that’s tough but fair. (i love it when he says this). mr. stroumboulopoulos says that he likes a lot of artists but rarely is he really into someone. he is into amy winehouse. he was on the red carpet at the brits. lots of celebs. kelly osbourne, cool. amy basically arrived wearing a belt as a skirt. mr. stroumboulopoulos says he doesn’t do the typical red carpet talk ie. what are you wearing? bob says more like what she wasn’t wearing. mr. stroumboulopoulos says he was well aware of that. he asked her about her year and she said it was pretty cool and that she was able to play a lot of pool. mr. stroumboulopoulos says dude, i stopped. he had no idea. he looked into her eyes. the camera was on his face. he was like a deer in headlights. he was stunned. he loved her even more because of that. alex says that it sounds like someone who hasn’t any interest in talking to you. mr. stroumboulopoulos says no she’s nice.

the talk turns to taking muffins from strangers. alex says don’t take food from strangers. bob says twelve years ago when he and mr. stroumboulopoulos started, that’s how they ate. mr. stroumboulopoulos says that alex is paid good money so he doesn’t have to eat from strangers and he is welcome. alex says whatever. don’t eat food from strangers.

a discussion about bob having a shaved head. bob thinks that he would look awesome. alex described bob’s current look as take a football, put it on it’s side. two eyes, nose, dirt around the mouth. that’s bob’s head right now.

stuff – bob has a topic this week. he and his wife were thinking of going tobogganing and they start to wonder… is tobogganing insane? mr. stroumboulopoulos says yes. alex says no, everyone does it. it’s stupid to think that there is something wrong with it. shut up. bob brings up the fact that we have tried to make things as safe as possible. alex interjects, that’s not true. alex says it’s about having fun. mr. stroumboulopoulos says that an ambulance attendant told him that the number one calls they get are from adult tobogganers. you forget how fast you go. bob thinks you can’t do it if you are not sober. alex has a scar from tobogganing, he almost went blind. he went tobogganing right after as he is not a baby.

against me is played. one of mr. stroumboulopoulos’ favourite bands.

mr. stroumboulopoulos mentions he used to be bald. (haha.. so, not going there)

someone complains about snow pants. alex says that’s the best part! crazy carpets are mentioned by name. (which i think is different from tobogganing but i think they are saying it is the same.) alex says it’s a marketing ploy. they aren’t that crazy. bob (perhaps) says they should be mediocre carpets. .

richard krause (?) is on. a discussion of the oscars.

a caller calls in and mentions spraying silicion on truck inner tubes. mr. stroumboulopoulos calls it pimpin’ your tube. the caller also mentions britney spears shaving her head to match her crotch. bob admires the fact that he waiting 30 minutes to say that.

a caller calls in and says that he used to get strep throat all the time until he changed his diet. he gave up dairy. mr. stroumboulopoulos says he doesn’t drink milk, but does cheese on a cheeseburger count? god forbid, i will get it non-stop.

next question about stuff.. are bored people boring? bob says yes. alex isn’t a big fan of the question. he says that bob would be wrong. it’s a dumb question and isn’t it a song lyric? mr. stroumboulopoulos agrees with alex. we are overstimulated and it is good to be bored. bob says there is a difference between being at peace and bored.

this week in bob.

monday – bad. alex was really really busy because someone had this great idea, oooh, let’s go to london. it was hard, and not in a good way like a boiled egg. it wasn’t hard because alex can’t do his job. it was that someone decided to mess up his day.

tues/weds – skipped. same reason as monday. alex emphatically states that he was busy, he had work to do.

thurs – alex says he is glad you asked. george, you will be interested in this. he walked into the writers room. he uses air quotes around the writer’s room because they have their meeting in the kitchenette. he needed to microwave his lunch. he doesn't remember what he was having. they were having their meeting, however, from what he can tell, the meeting was about crossword puzzles. they were having a lengthy discussion on how to finish them, what their favourite clues were, etc. he was going out of his freakin’ mind and these effing guys are going on about crosswords? mr. stroumboulopoulos tells bob he has to wait until the end. alex figures there must be a good reason for this. bob wouldn’t do this to us.

friday – nothing happened.

it is assumed alex is finished. but he says wait, wait i have to finish.

sunday - alex didn’t think he would have anything but bob decided to open his mouth. i don’t believe in bosses. what the hell is that? like boring people? that’s just dumb, they exist.

bob’s rebuttal – when someone interrupts the meeting, the meeting stops. alex says that’s your fault for having it in the kitchen. bob’s favourite clue, four letters what is buried in the studio…(hee hee)

hüsker dü

someone sends a message, i would do anything for a moment of boredom. mr. stroumboulopoulos says he is with you there.

noel gallagher cancels, no explanation. next day, they get him. bryan ferry. you are kinda over, you should show up when you are booked. the driver they sent to pick him up calls and says i don’t think he’s coming. they call his manager. his manager says he is very sorry, he is violently ill. we’ve called the doctor. this is said with a pouncy british accent. mr. stroumboulopoulos calls him a jackass. and that it turned out to be a better show in the end. a discussion on doctor house calls and mr. stroumboulopoulos says he has had a doctor make a house call for him.

bob calls 24 a republican travesty. they talk about can you be funny if you are right wing? about how dennis miller lost his humour once he went right wing. they discuss how funny he used to be. mr. stroumboulopoulos calls him possibly the best anchor snl has ever had. bob is very conservative in his views, but funny is funny. jim richards sends in kathleen madigan as a funny right wing comic.

things they like.

when alex tries to get more time, mr. stroumboulopoulos tells him he had a week to come up with something he liked.

mr. stroumboulopoulos discuss english tv and how it is superior in the writing. how it is far and away better than anything else in the world. the production values are awful tho. canada looks like the superbowl compared to them. he likes nathan barley.

bob talks about how he is a technophobe luddite. he doesn’t get into technology, he doesn’t understand it. but bob is into blogging. he has been adding to 'the hour' blog. he loves blogging. he thought it was wanking, but the idea that you can share your thoughts with others. now, he doesn’t not write as much in his diary. alex says, you have a diary? are you a thirteen year old girl? it’s perfect that you have one. does it start with dear diary? bob says dear diary, you can’t believe how mean alex is.

mr. stroumboulopoulos suggests that the man in the yellow hat is a pedophile. or is into bestiality. bob says that’s pretty dark dude. mr. stroumboulopoulos suggests he used the monkey to lure kids.

bob suggests he might try out more technology and give updates on strombo.com. the weightlifter pants experiment is brought up.

bob also thinks 24 sucks this year. bob is down on tv. however, american idol is even better this year. mr. stroumboulopoulos says bob is out of his freakin’ mind.

alex rented extras and thought it was all right. he stoled the bionic bit from that (which would you choose bionic arm or leg? mr. stroumboulopoulos chose leg)

bob blogging is discussed more. alex says that people would like to know what is going on in bob’s head. bob loves the comments in blogging. alex says that bob is a pretty sensitive person, and is surprised. bob finds it fascinating. alex thinks it is because it is more attention being given to bob.

the fact that bindi irwin is booked for the hour is brought up. mr. stroumboulopoulos doesn’t feel comfortable booking her. (perhaps this should have been brought up before she was booked)

the end.

ps. i originally declared this sunday's broadcast to be fancy shoe day, in homage to bob. however, i will be attending a five year old's birthday party and will not be around for the show this week. fancy shoes next week!

i am counting on my pals to keep me updated .. (evelyne, toccata..)

take care y'all.

here i come to save the day...

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

1. rocket scientist – bob newhart
2. illustrated bible stories for children – the weakerthans
3. black eye – the grapes of wrath
4. space – mira
5. secrets don't make friends – from first to last
6. strangers – portishead
7. skunk - the jon spencer blues explosion
8. mighty mouse theme (here i come to save the day) – the sandpipers
9. and now for something completely similar – nofx
10. the yeah yeah yeah song – the flaming lips

to me this list says, my mp3 player was truly random today. and i listen to a lot of different music. or that i'm insane. :)

rubber ducky, you're the one...

i went to seattle yesterday to pick up a friend from the airport.

i left an hour late, and among other things, my travelling companion jammed out too late for me to find anyone else to go down with. i forgot my birth certificate and the alpha male teenager at the border was not pleased. i wanted to scream out, just send me home to get it. i don't care. just stop being such a bastard. but i didn't. he let me thru after telling me it was my final warning. i wanted to add and my first, but didn't. and then it was like we both of us decided we needed to end the conversation on a nice note. i mentioned something about different id nicely, and he jumped all over that (nicely), offering suggestions.

i only had a few hours to spend in the states. my first destination was archie mcphee .

(yes, that is a pink flamingo in the tree)


it's this awesome toy/novelty shop. it's in ballard, a cool little district of seattle. it was founded by scandanavian fisherman or something like that. they have this big fish festival every year. ballard has a lot of funky little shops and restaurants/bars. one of my favourites is hattie's hat. i like to eat breakfast there. even if it's four in the afternoon. :)

i was good this trip. i spent less than ten bucks. but i couldn't resist picking up ninja duck.

here he is at home with his new pal, hot rod duck.


then it was time to go to tacoma. i got stuck in massive traffic, meaning that i didn't have as much time as i thought i would. but i did pick up a pair of shoes (#44). now, i know i am supposed to be on a shoe ban, but when i said that, i did say that did not include a pair of heels. i don't have any shoes with heels, and i wanted one pair. Pair #44 were under $15 and have heels.

plus they will go so nice with my new tights with the red velvet skulls on them.















then it was off to the airport. but first, why don't we sit in traffic for awhile? that seems like fun. :(

finally get to the airport, over an hour late. pick up my friend and we are both hungry, but all i want to do is get out of seattle and all the traffic. we breeze thru seattle, no problem. we hit everett, and bam! the worst traffic yet. it doesn't clear up properly until marysville. which of course, means nothing to anyone unless they are familar with the i-5. but believe me, it was a long time.

we finally end up being able to stop for food somewhere near burlington. we went to bob's burgers & brews. i pass this restaurant chain all the time, but have never gone in before. the food was pretty good, but the portions were enormous. next time i go, i will split the meal with a friend. the prices are pretty cheap, considering the amount of food they give you. i was happy because the soup of the day was baked potato which i love. what did not make me happy is the fact we had to sit next to a table with two families. they thought it was perfectly acceptable to allow their children to run around, crawl on the floor, and generally yell a lot. i secretly hoped the waitress bump into them and spill something on them. alas, it was not to be. :)

these are pictures of the bridge that was behind bob's.

for i toss and turn i can't sleep at night ...

i kept waking up last night, and when i finally did get to sleep, my alarm sounded. stupid garbage day.

here is my friday random top ten.

1. tainted love – marilyn manson
2. helicopter - cliff martinez
3. are you gonna move it for me – the donnas
4. all this weight – sarah borges
5. park avenue - girls against boys
6. steady, as she goes – the raconteurs (weird, i was wikipediaing them as this song played)
7. we're all in love – new york dolls
8. start me up – rolling stones (i have stones songs? especially this one?)
9. failure - king missile
10. thaeter – marilyn manson (two marilyn songs? i don't even like them that much)

happy friday everyone.

somebody's watching you...

i found this post i wrote ages ago in my drafts. i thought it was kinda suitable for today being that it is the evil 'v' day.

i have a myspace dilemma. i may have created a situation where some guy on myspace thinks i'm some kind of potential stalker. or at the very least some kind of freak. maybe even a myspace whore. but all i really wanted to do was tell him that i liked his songs.

here is what happened. i got the link to a myspace page awhile back. it's a music account, not a personal account. i started listening to this guy's music, and i ended up listening to it a lot when i was job searching online. one night i was listening to it and i started to think, i wish i could just download these songs so i could listen to them on mp3 player. well, actually, first i wondered if this guy had a cd out, which turned out to be no so then i wanted to download the songs. anyways, i thought i would leave a comment on the guy's page and tell him that i enjoyed his work. if i am on myspace, and i like someone's work, i usually like to leave a comment so that other people can see it. i think that it helps the bands, having those comments public.

however, i couldn't comment so i ended up sending him an email. he emailed me back and it was then that i realized that when i had contacted him, i wasn't signed on to my 'real' account, but my blogging account. at first, i thought, no big deal. we communicated a bit, and he wanted to send me his mp3's but he started asking a lot of questions that i was unable to answer. i can't answer off my blogging account and i can't have him connect the dots back to my 'real' account. among other reasons, we don't have a lot of degrees of separation between us, and there are some potential 'issues' there.

i am pretty sure he thinks i'm some kind of freak. and i still don't have his mp3's.

three is a magic number...

i got this quiz/survey from both toccata and mellowlee. sometimes i do them, and sometimes i don't. so today, i decided to do it. of course, i got this ages ago. :)

the original number was four. as i have expressed before, i dislike the number four. so i have changed it to three. five was too much. :)

oh, and a side note about three. if you want to know if a number divides by three, you add up all the digits and if they divide by three, then the number divides by three. i learnt that when i was a little kid from marilu henner. and it has proven most useful in my life.

three jobs

1. busperson
2. chambermaid
3. record store clerk

three movies i would watch over and over: (just three?)

1. animal house
2. all about eve
3. high fidelity

added bonus question... three movies you can't pay me to watch again.

1. pretty woman
2. the shipping news
3. cocktail

three places i have been on vacation:

1. toronto
2. trinidad
3. corfu

three tv shows i love to watch:

1. 24
2. the mercer report
3. the daily show (sorry 'the hour', normally you would be here, but alas, i am not impressed lately)

three places i have lived:

1. vancouver, bc
2. jasper, ab
3. london, uk

three of my favourite drinks:

1. diet coke
2. beer
3. tea

three things i do just for me

1. nap
2. art
3. music

the earth says hello....

so, among many other things i did last sunday, i went to the media club to see serena ryder. ( or here.)

opening was joel kroeker . someone i've always meant to check out but haven't got around to it. i would put him in the singer/songwrite category, a little folk/country. it was enjoyable, and i would probably check him out some more. the one thing that we all decided was that he seemed really sincere on stage. sadly, i have nothing else to say about him. not because he wasn't good, but too much happened after his set.

ok, here's my small bitch about the show. because, really, what a blog entry be from me with out a bitch session. :) we were hanging out up front, and my new friend who we met in line goes to the bar to get a drink. now, we've been talking off and on during the set break and she even offered to get us beers as well. which we decline at this point. i mention this because to anyone around us, it looks like we are all together. anyways, she comes back and the girl that is behind us tries to refuse to let her back in. i had to tell the girl she was with us. and then she was all like, yah, but i'm short. well then, perhaps you should have gotten to the show earlier like we all did to get a good place up front. i'm sorry, i didn't realize being short allowed you to be rude and selfish. plus it's not like any of us are giants.

now, i'll be honest here. before the show, i wasn't all that familar with serena ryder's work. what i've heard, i really like. but i don't own any of her albums so i what i knew was kinda limited. besides wanting to go just to see her, we also went because it was cheap and it was at the media club. the media club is a great venue. the sound is always good and it is a very small club. i think the capacity is around 150.

i'm going to start off with ...the girl can sing! such a big voice out of such a wee lass. she started off solo, and acappella. she played a few songs solo, and then brought out her band. i really enjoyed how much fun they all seemed to be having and really seemed to enjoy playing together. serena ryder seemed not only happy to be performing for us, but genuinely appreciative of any audience acclaim.

now, because i didn't really know song names or even songs for that matter, the cover versions tend to stick out. i thought she did a great version of 'sisters of mercy'. and i loved 'good morning sunshine' as i have loved that song since i saw 'hair' the movie.

of the originals, the ones that i know the names of that stood out were 'my heart cries for you', 'out of the blue' and 'weak in the knees'. but the song that blew me away the most was called 'sing sing'. just her voice singing, her feet stomping and her hands clapping was so powerful.

she was incredibly charismatic. she told stories of playing the legion the other nite in tofino, and how 'drunken jeff' called her 'big ears'. another story was about how she had lost her voice, and was on the ferry. she wanted to get a coffee and was trying to write down her order. the waitress got impatient with her and left. a second waitress saw her with her notepad and chastised the first one with.. "she can't hear you! that's why she didn't answer you."

here she is covering 'morning dew'. she made us laugh because she said she couldn't sing, dance and play tambourine at the same time. she did just fine. :)

she totally blew me away. i will be going out and picking up her cds as soon as i can. and 'good morning sunshine' is my new song obsession.

i've been bad, i've been bad...

a little metric for you. :)

ok, i've been such a bad blogger lately but i am actually looking at ten days with nothing scheduled apart from spending one of them, hanging out at the passport office. i'm going to blog my little heart out. and more importantly, i'm going to try and catch up with all my blog reading.

here's friday random top. it's rockin' this week.


1. precious - the dalai lamas
2. pretty noose – soundgarden
3. stay with you – the goo goo dolls
4. well, well, well – the hives
5. broken face – pixies
6. reach for the sky – social distortion
7. know - system of a down
8. field trip - squirtgun
9. i don't love you – the dishrags
10. black [brendan o'brien remix] – pearl jam

its just a brief smile crossing your face...

here's my friday random top ten. played friday. posted saturday. :)

apparently my mp3 player thinks it is still december.

1. intro – gorillaz
2. power – aduck
3. ridin' on the eight ball – the scramblers
4. speed trials - elliott smith
5. blue christmas – ricky van shelton
6. bird in hand - dan macdonald/molly parker
7. welcome to the terrordome – public enemy
8. fashion bleeds - archers of loaf
9. the christmas song - the raveonettes
10. intro – outkast

i won't be around tomorrow for the strombo show (i will be at serena ryder), so please keep me posted on this "month" ( as barbara w put it) in bob. :)