Day: September 19, 2008

Matt: “Nine Inch Nails hasn’t had a good album since Pretty Hate Machine.”

I thought this meant he thought the music was crap after Pretty Hate Machine but this wasn’t the case at all.  He just wanted to note that all albums have become progressively worse, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t like the music.  He just thinks it’s not as good as the first.

He then pointed out some interesting comparisons to other bands where he thought their best album was their first.

Pearl Jam – I concede on that one.  How can a band still be so kick ass but in the end, are still best known for their first album (that, and being the best live touring band since Led Zeppelin)

The Cranberries – That’s an interesting one.  I personally think their second and third albums were better than the first, but it’s all the same piece of pie really and I’ll give that to him.

Counting Crows – You know, Matt is onto something here folks.  Counting Crows first album definitely was their #1 album, even though I prefer Recovering the Satellites more, you can’t deny that August and Everything After was their quintessential album.

Stone Temple Pilots – I can’t really comment on this band.

Matt brought up some interesting points and I’m wondering why there were quite a few bands back in the 90s that just couldn’t capture the magic that was their first album?  Was it because they had their entire lives to hone their craft and record it for their first album, and then they have 2 years to record and release their next one?  It’s an interesting point that Matt brings up and is one that I need to think about.  I totally agree with him that there are quite a few bands out there whose first album is the best one.  Isn’t that a bad thing as musicians?  Shouldn’t these bands be achieving better?  Or…is it the fact that they are better albums but popularity wise, they just don’t cut it?  Now that I think of it, No Code (Pearl Jam’s fourth album) is actually my favourite, but I can see why Ten is their best one.  It’s just so…amazing on so many levels.  But No Code speaks to me and me alone, whereas Ten had the mass appeal to it coupled with kickass songs that no one can deny.

As for Nine Inch Nails…tis a shame that he has the opposite viewpoint than me as I think The Fragile was his best work, then Downward Spiral and then Pretty Hate Machine.

Either way, we’re going to Nine Inch Nails in November!  Awww yeah!

I am currently looking at changing my gym membership from the Goodlife Fitness club to the City of Ottawa fitness membership.

In all things in life, one must be true to thyself.  And if thyself is me, you should realize that you haven’t gone to the gym all summer long because you’ve been cycling or doing other activities outdoors.  Case in point, find a membership which offers you something less than a year ‘locked in’.

The City of Ottawa seems to be a prime candidate on that front…they offer daily, monthly, 3 month, 6 month, 1 year memberships!  Beauty!  That’s what I’m talking about.

I’m going to chew over the numbers first, but I think the best approach is to get a six month Class B membership (which allows you to go to the gym vs. the gym and everything else in the complex such as a pool and squash courts) and pay the extra daily fee if I so ever choose to go swimming/play squash.  I think I would save money in this manner in the following ways:

• Six month membership would be ideal.  No worries about wasting money in the summertime.  Let’s take a Class B membership at 121.50 for six months.  If I wanted to extend that to another 3 months, that would be an additional 65.50…total of 187 which is still underneath the 220.50 for an entire year.  Judging from previous Palmer patterns, I wouldn’t even set foot inside the gym from June-August so it looks like this option might be the way to go.
• The difference between a six month Class A and Class B membership is 65.75.  I can’t seem to find a listing of how much it would cost to go use the pool or play squash for a day…it looks like a daily usage fee is $7.50.  So that would mean that in six months, if I chose the Class B option, I could go eight times in the six months before it’s worth it to spend the money on a Class A membership.  This is a tough call.  Eight times in six months doesn’t seem like a whole lot.  That’s once a month with two spares.  If I ended up liking squash, I would probably want to play a lot.  I think the best route in this case is to try out Class B and if I approach the eight times in six months, I’ll see if I can upgrade to a Class A.  Will I lose money?  Maybe.  But I’ve lost a lot more on a lot less over my lifetime.  This is peanuts.  But, it’s something to think about.
• I also may be able to get the student membership considering I am a student of University of Ottawa.  I’ll have to call and see what the scoop on that front is.

All in all, the City of Ottawa looks like the way to go.  I know in Orleans specifically, there are two rec centers with pools and one with a squash court.  Much better than driving across town to Pinecrest to play a game of squash!  Not that I minded that one time Maren gave us amazing lessons in playing it, but I wouldn’t want to make it a habit a few times a week of driving 40+kms to play squash.  Maybe if I cycled there though…