http://albumoftheday.com/facebook/
I found this through George Strombonopolous’s site about privacy concerns with FaceBook.
It was interesting but I must admit I think they are digging deeper than I would care (or probably any other FaceBooker would care). Heck, GMail and Blogger probably have ties like this to the companies they speak about.
iplaying: Morning Bell – Radiohead (Kid A)
photo courtesy of the Ottawa Sun
“I’m kind of disappointed that I can’t smell any dope being smoked.” – says Michael (the man who doesn’t smoke any dope.)
Tickets: Extremely pricey. Up in the $150+tax range.
The scene: Roger Waters (bass player and lyricist for Pink Floyd) at the ScotiaBank Place in Ottawa.
We hemmed and hawed at buying these expensive tickets but in the end we figured that the odds of us seeing Pink Floyd ever are slim, so we may as well get to see the next best thing – Roger Waters on tour with the Dark Side of the Moon.
We made it there with no real hassles (like brakes failing on the car!) but we made a detour to Vero’s place as we had forgotten our camera. Upon getting there I discovered she had no batteries! Argh. So we hopped back in the car because time was ticking.
We had some supreme seats. Nine rows from the stage. Can’t go wrong.
When we got to the floor we were blown away by the giant props on stage – a giant radio, a bottle of whisky…this was an excellent concert already! When we walked closer we realized that they weren’t props! It was part of a giant LED screen behind the stage. The LED screen came to life and had some cigarette smoke billowing through it and a hand popped into the picture and changed the radio dial to a better song. After listening to some good tunes, some ABBA came on and you see the hand quickly change the station. It was awesome.
Then it starts! They started with In The Flesh which was amazing. Man, I would love to see him play the entire Wall album, but whatever. It’s all good. He is in good shape for a man of 60+ years and his voice is amazing also. He can really hit the notes still. Very cool.
The visuals were equally amazing. The screen had some amazing psychadelic visuals happening all the time. Some good pyrotechnics also.
You know, I’m realizing that I can’t adequately describe the experience with meer words. It was the emotions that were importantit in hearing these songs. Songs I never thought I would hear live (other than a cover band). Shine On You Crazy Diamond was an amazing tribute to Syd Barett. The video changing the radio dial to tune into Wish You Were Here was called by Mike way before it happened. It was sweet. He played some solo stuff that I wasn’t familiar with but it was still so, so good.
He introduced a new song called Leaving Beirut which also had a comic running in the background depicting the inspiration for the song – when he was stuck in Lebanon and a family brought him in for the night. Such charity.
They also brought out a remote controlled inflated astronaut and the giant pig (if you do not know about the flying pig and Pink Floyd, go check out Wikipedia) which was hilarious. Everyone in the joint was having an amazing time! Each time I looked at Mike, he was just in awe.
During the intermission I was dismayed when I realized I had lost my concert ticket! While this would have posed an extreme problem if I left the floor (!!!), I would more disappointed when I realized I had lost a memento (we all know I like to keep my concert souvenirs!). Turns out that my new jacket has a hole in the inside pocket which I had not noticed. I walked back and found it next to the boards along the ice. NICE! The fates were aligned.
We got back to our seats for the most amazing 45 minutes ever. The entire Dark Side of the Moon played in one shot. BEAUTIFUL! The backup singers were amazing on the songs as well as everyone else. If you closed your eyes you would have sworn you heard the album playing. But you had to keep your eyes open for the amazing visuals. They even had a giant prism above our heads which had a rainbow lazer show coming out from one side and the focussed beam on the other. I think we would have had a better view of it if we were in the stands, but in no way am I complaining about being in the ninth row!
The crowd tore the place down during the encore break and they treated us to the classic Floyd tunes we all love including Another Brick In The Wall and the mind-blowing Comforably Numb. Egads!
All in all, it was money well spent. It was amazing to see Roger Waters strutting around the stage having a grand old time. He still has quite the voice in him and I have a feeling we’ll be seeing him around for the next decade (when Pink Floyd reunite!)
Set One
In the Flesh
Mother
Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts II – V) (abridged)
Have a Cigar
Wish You Were Here
Southampton Dock
The Fletcher Memorial Home
Perfect Sense, Parts 1 and 2
Leaving Beirut
Sheep
Set Two, (The Dark Side of the Moon)
Speak to Me
Breathe
On the Run
Time
Breathe (Reprise)
The Great Gig in the Sky
Money
Us and Them
Any Colour You Like
Brain Damage
Eclipse
Encore
The Happiest Days of Our Lives
Another Brick in the Wall, Part II
Vera
Bring the Boys Back Home
Comfortably Numb
Allllright! Check it out! There may be a Thundercats movie in the works!
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=20834
iplaying: Fly – Super Ray (Big Shiny Tunes 2)
On Friday after visiting the Doctor, I headed out to the Annual Gaspé Golf Tournament.
Stop. Rewind. What’s this?
My entire family stem from the grand city of Gaspé down on the coast of Quebec. Because so many have left the metropolis years ago, someone had a brilliant idea of having an annual golf tourney so that people can see one another again.
I went to this tourney last year as quite a few of my own relatives went and it is a nice spot to see them all at once. My parents had never gone to one but they ended up going this year and I believe they had a smashing good time seeing people they haven’t seen in upwards of twenty years.
Now, this year was the beginning of what Uncle Greg referred to as ‘the sophomore blues’. I didn’t understand what he meant until the end of the tournament. Let’s just say I could NOT get it through my head what was going wrong with my golf game. On Friday when I showed up, Uncle Johnny, Lynn and Greg and I headed to the golf course to play a quick game of 9 holes. I can’t say I was doing all that well but the great things about these guys are that they are super patient. I figured that my game would get better by the next day (the day of the actual tournament) but it wasn’t until the 17th hole where I realized that I was standing too far away from the ball and I believe that’s what was affecting my game so badly. I think there are a few things I want to change before heading out there next year:
Anyhow, all griping aside about how much I was frustrated with how I was playing, the weekend of golf turned out to be amazing. The weather was great on Friday and Saturday looked like it would be a bust but it got pretty hot for the better part of the day and we finished our game as soon as the rain started coming down (which is definitely different than what happened last year! http://palmer.grumpster.com/2006/06/weekend-in-golf.html)
I ended up hitting another person’s ball (who wasn’t even on our team) so that didn’t go over too well. Oh well, I learned the hard way that I should always know what ball I’m playing.
I am anxious to head out again to play a round of golf and hope to do so before next year. I should see how much a set of golf clubs cost.
Other than the golf tournament, good times were had. As soon as I arrived at the hotel I saw Aunt Mariette, Nanny and Mom and they were jumping up and down and screaming “We’re going to Costco! We’re going to Costco!” I thought this was extremely strange (but not so strange for someone like Mom who just doesn’t have a Costco around her!) but then Uncle Greg jumped in on the fun. Later on I mentioned how strange I thought it was that they were all excited to be going to Costco but it turns out that they were screaming “We’re going to Alaska!”. Yes, that’s right, the Patterson Clan is heading North on a cruise next year. I haven’t decided if I will go along but I definitely will head out to British Columbia when my parents hook down to see Uncle Brent after the cruise.
I enjoyed hanging out with my family and watching the hockey game and ordering a few pizzas undercover of other Gaspesians with the nose for pizza. Here’s where I throw out a public apology to Uncle Greg for ordering not one, but TWO meat lover pizzas last year when I had forgotten that he does not eat meat. Woops! He let me hear about it this year!
The higher powers must have been with us this weekend as none of us were feeling rough in the morning (well maybe Uncle Greg, but just for a bit) and there was plenty to laugh at. Especially the squirrel which had swallowed a golf ball!
On Sunday, Mom, Dad and I headed to the flea market outside of Morrisburg and I picked up a CD and then we parted ways and I cruised on home enjoying the back roads all the way to Orleans. It’s nice to just get on the road and drive sometimes. I then went over to Eric’s and helped him set up his new pool which by my estimates should be full by next week.
iplaying: Make This Go On Forever – Snow Patrol (Eyes Open)
I found this excellent website that incorporates Google Maps into a distance calculator for us jogger types (am I even remotely allowed to lump myself into this category? Shouldn’t there be a minimum 6 month wait time until I’m in the club?)
After reading Matt’s comment on the last post I realized I never told you about my car getting broken into.
Last Thursday night I grabbed my car like any other day from work and noticed my ashtray lid was open and closed it thinking nothing of it.
Friday morning I go outside and find a nice dent in my car door. Some moron must have ran into with a bike or something. Also, my trunk was open mysteriously so I chalked (sp?) that up to me pulling the latch the night before and forgetting about it.
On our way to Toronto last weekend, we were in Kingston and I was searching for my iTrip (iPod accessory). I could not find this thing and I knew it was in the car! Then I looked in the ashtray and realized that all my spare change was gone.
Then it dawned on me.
My car must have been broken into!
It wasn’t apparent at first because nothing else was stolen. There were CDs in the sunvisor and a cellphone in the middle console. One would think some of these things would be stolen.
Then a few days later Krista’s Dad tells her that he hopes my ownership papers weren’t stolen also. I never thought about that and sure enough, they are nowhere to be found (but they left the insurance papers – a sure sign that I will be a victim of identity theft for the next fifty years as the Ottawa Police told me when I phoned them up!)
So there you have it. I suppose I’m one of the lucky ones in that nothing of real substantial value was nabbed although I’m hoping the theft of the ownership papers won’t come to haunt me in the future.
iplaying: Gossamer – The Smashing Pumpkins (2007-05-28 – Landgraaf, Pinkpop Festival)
Here’s some handy advice to those who don’t want to be a victim of fraud.
Don’t leave your vehicle ownership papers in some easy to find place within your vehicle.
If so, thieves may steal it and use the information within it to do Lord knows what.
The Ottawa Police were mentioning how they could potentially use the information to get credit cards/bank account information in your name or Lord knows what else.
At first, I thought about carrying it in my wallet (which is a fine idea) but I’ve moved onto the more inventive solutions – I’ll hide it with my car jack in the trunk! No thief will think of checking there (unless they are reading this right now!).
I recommend that if you do keep your ownership paper in an easy to find place within your vehicle, do yourself a favour and hide it somewhere a little harder for anyone to discover!
iplaying: Pretty Pretty Star – Billy Corgan (The Future Embrace)