Day: February 5, 2007

Saturday night brought me to Mike and Melissa’s place after a hard day of studying for Media Ethics. Ugh. I still don’t have Section 1 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms memorized yet.

We started out at Pho Maximum (or was it Maxim?) on Merivale. This was my first Pho experience which turned out to be a success! I enjoyed it thoroughly and it warmed my body while sitting across from the window. I had pleasant conversation with all and was happy to have spoken to Mark (Marc) in a sober fashion as the last time I had met him, was at my Christmas part. NOT a good time to have a conversation with me, unless you want to talk about what beer is better, or philosophical issues.

Heading over to Mike and Mel’s place, we munched on some good treats and settled into the living to play around with Joe’s electric guitar. I impressed myself with my rendition of Crazy Train which I only know the first few riffs for. Considering I am more of a rhythm man myself, I always am proud of anything I accomplish in the world of lead guitar.

Considering it was Melissa’s birthday, there was a questionnaire about her which only confirmed the fact that I really don’t know much about her! 😉 It was a neat idea and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I may borrow it for future events.

I played a little Dance Dance Revolution which I found very lame. Larisa pointed out that it gets better if I increase the difficulty level. I decided to not give it any further chance, as I realize that Guitar Hero 2 is so much better than dancing around the floor.

The moment of the night was when we pulled out Them Vs. Us (the board game my parents bought me for Christmas) and we had a full out battle of males vs. females. I think there were a good 30 of us competing which is insane considering everyone yells out answers within a time limit. Half the time people on the same team didn’t hear that someone on their team had yelled out the same answer a few times.

It was funny when someone commented “I can’t believe you played this game with your family!” due to the sheer R Rated cards that show up from time to time. They misunderstood that I had received it from my parents, not played it with them. 😉

In the end (does this even need to be said?), the males trounced the females once again which just goes to show .

All in all, a fun night! Kudos to Mike and Melissa, and seeing that TODAY is actually Melissa’s birthday, I send birthday wishes to you!

iplaying: Send It Up – Vertical Horizon (Everything You Want)

For awhile now, as I’ve been searching deal sites like redflagdeals.com or pricenetwork.com and they always advertise this NCIX.com website.

I decided to peruse their wares as I am in need of some blank DVDs and CDs.

Well, I was in for a pleasant surprise! I managed to score the following items:

• 50 CD-Rs for $5.99
• 100 DVD-Rs for $27
• 2 96 Disc Carrying Cases at $4 a pop.

Not too shabby at all. Perhaps there are better deals out there for the DVD-Rs that I would have found if I would have spent the time searching, but I figured the CDs and carrying cases were a steal of a deal and a quick look into other stores showed 100 DVD-Rs for $27 was a fair price.

Anyhow, I haven’t received them yet so I can’t comment on their prompt service, but I’m sure I will be checking out this store in the future if I need anything!

iplaying: You Say – Vertical Horizon (Everything You Want)

It’s coming from all sides…first Joe mentions Van Halen, then Chez106 speak about how it has hit RED ALERT status on their website which can only mean one thing.

Chances are, Van Halen are coming to Ottawa.

Beauty. Whoever is interested, let me know.

What’s my history with Van Halen? Well, to recap my history in the music scene, I wasn’t really into music until the mid-90s. 1996 to be exact. I remember it well. Someone had lent me the Aerosmith – Get a Grip album. What a beauty. What were these amazing sounds coming from the speakers? Guitar solos? Sweet Mother of Pearl!

Later on that year, I picked up the Van Halen – Balance album where I was introduced to Van Halen. A decent album, I didn’t know what to expect. Then the cream of the crop came to me in the form of Best of – Volume 1. I didn’t know what the hype was about. Some old singer of theirs…a Mr. David Lee Roth had come back to the fold and recorded two new songs for the album. What’s the big deal? He isn’t the current singer, Mr. Sammy Hagar.

After listening to Best Of album, I realized that there was a whole world of Van Halen out there to experience. The David Lee Roth era was more rock (it seemed to me) whereas the Hagar era was more toned down, more “Hey, I’m getting a little older, but I’m cool with it.” rock. At least, judging from the Best Of album. I can’t say I own many other Halen albums other than 1984 (the quintessential!).

So now Diamond David Lee Roth has returned to the fold for a tour and Ottawa is a rumoured date. Excellent. This is an experience that doesn’t come around too often.

I am laughing to myself right now thinking of Troy and him saying “What the heck?! My first album was 1984, and Ryan didn’t even get know the band until 1996?!”

update: Alright, I’ve been listening to Balance again and I take it back. Van Hagar rocks just as well as the Roth Era. They must have just picked out the slow tunes as singles.

iplaying: Poundcake – Van Halen (Best Of…Volume 1)