If anyone is interested in attending the following shows, please let me know, not via comments please.
Arcade Fire – Montreal –
05/12 Montreal, Quebec – Arena Maurice Richard (On-Sale 3/2)
05/13 Montreal, Quebec – Arena Maurice Richard (On-Sale 3/2)
Unknown Ticket Price.
I would be going on the May 12 concert as I have a BB King concert to go to the next day.
Roger Waters – Ottawa
June 4 – Tickets are expected to go on sale March 5. Could be earlier.
Like I said, let me know if you want in.
After speaking to my mother, and consulting my handy dandy copy of Wealthy Barber (Uhmm….Maren? I still have your copy if you’re looking for it…) I’ve realized that there are WAY too many options to what I should be doing with my money.
Do you all feel this way, particularly around the crunch time which is RSP season? Or as I like to call it…the ARRRRR(matey)SP season?
Here’s a simple dilemma – Do I take my refund of…let’s say $1,000 and pay off some debt that is accumulating interest, or do I maximize my RRSP contributions by borrowing $1,500 and slapping it all into an RRSP so then I get no cash in hand, but a whole lot in the RRSP.
The Wealthy Barber looks at how it’s smarter to put money into an RRSP NOW rather than later as cumulative interest is your friend. If I wait a year, I’ve probably wasted tons of money. So there’s the pro on that scale. The message: Put into an RRSP now!
However, you have to admit that the more immediate urgency of paying off immediate debt looks pretty tempting also. The message: Get rid of that crawling interest! Live a debt free (well, almost debt free for those who are paying friendship tax to my parents for allowing me to be your friend) life!
Let’s also swing over to another thought process which I never really took much interest in until yesterday while talking to Mom – paying down the principle (principal?) on your mortgage.
If you have mortgage, you have to admit that it’s probably the largest pot of money you ever will borrow and the interest is sky-high when you think about it. The rates are not, but the interest you are paying is. Uh, when I say the interest rate is not high, I am talking to the people outside of the early 80s.
So, common sense would dictate that if you have a chance to put money down on your principle, you should! Everyone’s mortgage is different – mine indicates that I am allowed to put money down on the principle as long as it doesn’t break 20% annually. I don’t think there is any fear in reaching 20% of my mortgage anytime soon!
It would be interesting to try and figure out which is better:
A) Putting ‘x’ amount of dollars into an RRSP with…let’s say 10% interest.
Or
B) Putting the same ‘x amount of dollars onto the principle of your mortgage which is at 4%.
Man, I need a financial guru to crunch those numbers. Off the top of my head, I would assume it’s better to put the cash into the RRSP because it has the higher interest. But it doesn’t take into account the sheer vastness of interest being generated by the interest.
So, the question I pose to all of you is this – what’s your favourite money saving tip that you adhere to? I am going to bank my bet on RSPs as they are shoved down our throat every year. That’s not a bad thing, but has anyone favoured alternative methods to saving, like paying down your mortgage? Is it the better route?
Let’s talk about the almighty dollar here.
By the way, the new Nine Inch Nails DVD – Beside You In Time is out today. Pick it up. Matt and I went to see the With Teeth tour a few years back in Montreal and it blew my mind. Literally. I have a bump now in behind my head.
Here’s to my main man, Jack Nicholson, who last night was sporting a shaved head at the Oscars. Man, I hope that is for an upcoming role because it didn’t suit him too much. I just like seeing Jack at the Oscars as he is basically synonymous with them.
The reason I’m bringing up the Oscars right now is because I’m waiting for the results of Louise’s Oscar pool. Last year, I surprisingly won the pool so I’m hoping my 10/24 wins will fetch me the prize again this year. However, I didn’t put much thought into it so I wonder if I could have done better. For example, I picked Borat as the best adapted screenplay. Well, that was dumb. Was it because I had some hope that Sascha Baron Cohen would randomly appear accepting an Oscar? Definitely. 😉
All in all, I banked on Pan’s Labyrinth even before seeing it. Then Vero and I saw it last week and I had some doubts as to it winning a slew of Oscar’s. In the end, it did nab quite a few.
So who knows if I will win the pool this year…10/24 seems like a bad score, but when you’re playing against others, it may very well be the highest one.
*update* Wow, I forgot to mention Martin Scorsece’s win! How could I forget? In fact, how could it have taken this many years for Scorsece to win an Oscar? For those of you not in the know, let’s take a look at some of his finer films (in my opinion):
Bravo Mr. Scorsece.
On separate occasions, both Maren and Sara indicated that I would love this film called Pan’s Labyrinth. I decided to approach it like I did The Blair Witch Project – know nothing about the film upon entering the theater and hopefully be blown away by its sheer awesomeness.
Little did Vero or I know, it was a Spanish film with subtitles! That threw me for a loop. I really didn’t know anything about this film! The film is by Director Guillermo del Toro.
Taken from Wikipedia:
The story cuts to post-Civil War Spain in 1944, after Francisco Franco has come into power. Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), a young girl often absorbed in fairy tales, travels with her pregnant mother Carmen (Ariadna Gil) to meet Captain Vidal (Sergi López), Ofelia’s new stepfather. Vidal is a brutal fascist devotee stationed at a countryside mill, where he has been assigned to seek out and eliminate a rogue Republican militia.
So the film revolves around this story of how Captain Vidal is trying to deal with the guerrilla warriors. This, on its own, is a decent story, but nothing earth-shattering about it.
What REALLY sets the film above the bar is how they incorporate a second storyline where Ofelia meets a fairy which leads her through a labyrinth to meet a faun. For those who are not in the fantasy knowledge realm, a faun is a half man, half goat creature.
In meeting this faun, he reveals that Ofelia is actually a reincarnated Princess and she must complete three tasks to allow her to open the portal back to the underworld where her father, the King, is waiting for her after all this time.
The imagery from her little quests around the area blew me away. I am attaching a picture of one of the creatures, the Pale Man, who has his eyes in his hands. This moment in the movie was creepy, fantastical and just jaw-dropping. It actually reminded me of the colours and elements used in films like The Cell, or the imagery used in Titus. Titus, man, that is a great film. Watch it, it’s the darkest Shakespeare there ever was.
I have read that Pan’s Labyrinth has received worldwide recognition, and even the movie review website Rotten Tomatoes has a 96% rating for it.
While I did enjoy the movie, I did feel that I would rather have seen a lot more fantasy elements to it. Vero noted that the fantasy elements, although they are probably the coolest scenes we have seen, only accounted for 1/4 of the film. So most of the time I was just waiting for another fantasy scene to come into the film.
I am unsure if I fell victim to ‘the hype’ as we all do when people proclaim ‘best movie ever!!!’ as I tend to do. It somehow increases expectations. I can’t say that this film blew me away…but I think if the entire film was just the fantasy sequences, then most definitely.
You know what? I think I have to see it again. I did enjoy the war story that went along with it. Captain Vidal was a fearsome man and the violence was pretty crazy in some scenes so it really made you hate the man. They did a good job portraying him as a man to be feared.
All in all, I would say that the fantasy scenes were worth the price of admission alone. Guillermo del Toro is able to create a fantastical realm which I would hope we see more of in the future.
Last night Mike and I watched an excellent flick called Suicide Kings. An older movie (if 1997 can be considered old) which stars Christopher Walken, Denis Leary, and that dude from Six Feet Under. The crazy brother guy. You know who I’m talking about.
Anyhow, the story revolves around Christopher Walken being a retired mobster (shocking, I know) and four guys kidnap him so they can use him to foot the bill for a ransom of $2 million bones to get back a sister. But then they also have Denis Leary (who is Christopher Walken’s driver) hunting down his chief which is hilarious on its own. I love Denis Leary. It makes me miss his old cop show.
Anyhow, the movie was amusing seeing that Christopher Walken is always a good time. Here he is acting calm while being kidnapped and trying to reason with these four guys. There are some classic funny moments in the film (the Fish Boots) and overall, I would recommend this film to anyone who enjoys an easy going flick.
iplaying: Under My Senses – Matt Mays …When The Angels Make Contact
On Sunday amongst our adventures, we ended up at a Fitness Equipment clearance sale where I wanted to see if I could find a sit-up bench…you know, the ones that inclines?
I saw one on sale from 89.99 to 69.99. I thought that this is a little steep considering it is just a board on an incline. Heck, I could probably fashion one myself!
However, when we hit up Wal-Mart for frames, Mike found the EXACT SAME MODEL for $40! I couldn’t believe my luck!
I also couldn’t believe the incredible markup in the Fitness Equipment store of the same exact item. Is this what businesses do? Just go down to Wal-Mart and buy some wares and sell it to us for a higher price?
If anything, I would have thought the Fitness Equipment store would have had better merchandise compared to Wal-Mart.
Anyhow, I am the proud new owner of a sit-up bench. Vero and I assembled it last night and if what we went through is any indication of how life will be when we are old and gray assembling items, I think I’ll have to let her assemble them herself. 😉
We then trekked down to the Canal which was packed. Adrianna and I walked along while the others skated and then we ended up detouring to the Beavertail Hut as there was a mighty wind picking up (probably Carrie!)
If no one ever had a Beavertail before, it’s a delicious pastry with some cinammon on it. Mmm boy. After having our tasty treat, I noticed they were selling back bacon on a bun! Too bad I was already full. Perhaps next week I shall try this Canadian (or so I must assume) delicassie.
A funny moment was when we saw a kid with pink skates, pink mittens and a pink hat.
Adrianna: “Boy, I feel bad for that boy. I can’t believe his parents dress him in that!”
Me: “Either that’s an unfortunately dressed boy, or a really ugly girl.”
Considering it was getting windy and Adrianna and I could only get so much fun from walking down a skating rink while kids zipped by us, we decided to turn around and head to the Winterlude hang-out – Darcy McGee’s! We sat down at the bar and revelled in the warmth and beer taps around us as Adrianna recounted tales of the time where she was a bartender in London England. She was saying how some people were stuck up enough to refuse their pint of Erdinger Ale if she didn’t have an empty Edinger glass! There were only 3 existing in the pub at the time so there many people disappointed some nights. To me, a glass is a glass. Adrianna agrees.
After swindling a table out from underneath an older couple, we settled down and had a bite to eat…I must say the fish and chips were scrumptious, however I felt very ill around 10PM that night and I am not sure if it could have been from the fish. Good thing I decided not to go out to the H&C that night!
The rest of the weekend had me spending time with Mike’s parents and traipsing around town looking for frames for the Star Wars posters Vero bought me for Christmas. Michael’s had this excellent 40% off sale so I picked up a few there and also talked to the gentleman about framing my Pearl Jam tour poster in ultra-violet ray resistant glass as they had a 50% off sale on custom framing. Vero and I went back the next day to place the order. All I have to say about custom framing is that I don’t think I’ll do it ever again as it is very costly. I am justifying the purchase as I paid good money for the poster on eBay and my parents graciously passed some cash over for my birthday to get it framed.
Mike’s parents also let me partake in some pasta making! That was very interesting. They had the pasta already prepared and I helped Bruce put it through the pasta rolling device which basically rolls the pasta into lasagna-size slices. At this point, you can opt to put it through a shredder which will make fettucine or spaghetti sized morsels. Very interesting to do! I am excited to hear how their pasta adventures go as they get into the different types of pasta they can make such as spinach pasta or perhaps a BBQ flavoured pasta? (I threw that one in there myself!)
Read this. Please do. It is a gem of an article. Click here.
ARE YOU FREAKIN’ KIDDING ME?! This is the most insane piece of garbage article I have ever read in my life. Comparing Daylight Savings Time to the Y2K Bug?
Oh, memories of Y2K…where airplanes would fall out of the sky and robots would take over the world. But that’s nothing compared to programming your VCR to tape Grey’s Anatomy and (gasp) IT DOESN’T TAPE! ARGH!!! WHY HAS THE WORLD FORSAKEN ME?!
Here’s my favourite quote of the article:
“If you have bought a device that is not real-time connected to a centralized system, then you have to change it manually for sure,” said Mehadi Sayed, manager for information technology training at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology.
Thank you Mr. Sayed. Tell me, did you gain that amazing insight from a higher education? Good thing he told me. I’ve been wondering why the heck my wristwatch was always an hour behind. Now I realize that it’s not connected to a centralized system! THAT’S NEWS TO ME! What are we living in…the dark ages?! If anything, wristwatch makers should include this in the manual. How was I supposed to know I can manually change it?
On a related note, may I just point out that Germany is way ahead of the times and they have radio-controlled clocks. That’s right, there is a frequency which broadcasts the time and if the time suddenly changes, radio-controlled clocks across the country change accordingly. If anything, this was THE life-defining experience I had in Europe. It wasn’t the Eiffel Tower that got me hooked, it was the technology Germany had. Carrie and Philipp are laughing uncontrolably right now as they love the fact that I was so amazed with this technology.
Let’s read the title of the article for a minute: “Gadget lovers face worst crisis since Y2K”
Well, that’s not true at all. The worst crisis since Y2K is the fact that as soon as you buy a piece of technology, it is obsolete. What we need to have are more items that are programmable through EEPROM (hello Algonquin College education!). Most upgrades to a model of technology are simple ones that can be patched electronically. Take my DVD player for example. The good old RV-32 from Panasonic couldn’t read a lot of burnt discs. Well, I just went out and bought the RV-33, there would be no problem, would there? Of course not! But I did a little research and found a disc I could burn that would update the firmware (read: the software on the inside) which would allow for the discs to be read. Lo and behold, I did the deed and it worked ever since. That’s how technology needs to work people. Granted, this won’t happen on some technology, but I bet it would on most.
Anyhow, when I first clicked on this article I was thinking “Whoa, what the heck is going to happen? Y2K was huge.” Then I realized that I’m going to have to change my clock.
To news reporters everywhere, a word of advice. Stop this crap. I feel like this is something I would have read off The Onion.
‘Nuff Said.
Dear Vero,
I dig ya babe.
The Palmer