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Concert Reviews

Review: Metallica at the Air Canada Center

Metallica-ACC2009-11My cousin Troy writes in with a review of  what seems to be an excellent Metallica show in Toronto!  I am looking forward to the Ottawa show next week (although I have misplaced my tickets!)

What a show!!! Cousin Rick and I arrived downtown with enough time to spare to grab a quick submarine sandwich in Union Station . We then got in the “Metallica Clubbers” line outside the Air Canada Centre which allowed us to enter the venue 30 minutes prior to the rest of the fans being admitted (Membership has it’s privileges being a member of the Metallica Fan Club!). Rick said he felt like we were VIP’s as we were escorted through a fancy area where we could partake of some beverages then out on to the floor. We were mighty thirsty, but we thought better of guzzling beer as we knew we would be standing for a long time to secure our spots for the duration of the show. Going to the bathroom would have resulted in us losing our spots, so it was out of the question. In hindsight it was the right choice as we were standing there for over six hours.
The stage set up for the gig, known as “In The Round” was a large oval stage located in the centre of the arena as opposed to being on an end. Fans are able to encircle the stage from all sides, while the band members constantly move around to interact with the fans. Once out on the floor we managed to get a spot dead centre pretty much right on the rail. There was only one person in front of us. Rick and I couldn’t believe how close we were to the stage, literally an arms length away. This was shaping up to be one hell of a musical experience! It was quite odd to be down “on the ice” of the ACC with most of the arena empty of people. Looking around from ice level you really get a feel for how big the ACC really is. Soon enough, the rest of the crazy concert goers started to pour in, and you could feel a sense of anticipation and excitement in the air.

Opening the show was a band called Volbeat from Denmark. I have never had the chance to listen to any of their material, but their music sounded pretty good. Apparently it was their first night on the tour, so I’m sure they were quite excited and nervous to be there. The crowd response was fairly luke warm….the arena was only half full at that time and most of the concert goers weren’t really into them. It must be tough opening for Metallica. I don’t have anything bad to say about Volbeat, but then again they didn’t really excite me.

Metallica-ACC2009-06Next up…….metal juggernauts Lamb of God. I was expecting the energy to be ramped up once they took the stage and I wasn’t disappointed. The guttural vocals of the lead singer, matched with the fury of the dual guitar attack and the thundering bass and drums whipped some fans into a fury. The difference was like night and day between Volbeat and Lamb of God. Though I did notice that some fans were still fairly reserved. It didn’t take long for a mosh pit to start to the left side of Rick. I didn’t notice it was occurring until Rick was shoved into me. When I turned my head to look there was a mass of approximately 20 or so people slamming into each other with fists, elbows and bodies. The look on Rick’s face was priceless as I believe he thought he was in for some punishment. He asked me if I “had his back” and I said I would step in if needed. I did move my large carcass in their direction with the expectation of keeping them at bay, and managed to shove a few guys away before they moved on to another area of the floor. All in all Lamb of God delivered their brutal form of metal to the delight of many fans, and in the process raised the energy level up for Metallica to take the stage.

Some observations that may interest only me:

  • An unusual amount of towels and bottles of water brought out by the roadies and distributed at various spots of the stage prior to Lamb of God performing. My initial thought was either they are really thirsty, or we are going to get wet. It turns out the singer has a habit of dumping bottles of water on his head then flailing his great mane of hair around causing water to spray in every direction.
  • Security guy standing with his back to the stage between us and the stage getting soaked with water by Lamb of God singer as he whipped his head around. The security guy didn’t look impressed. I believe the singer was doing it on purpose. He would pour a bottle of water over his head, walk right up to the edge directly behind the security guy then let loose. Poor bastard must have endured the shower at least 6 or more different times.
  • Interesting interaction between lead guitarist Mark Morton and his guitar tech who was standing to my right in the gap between stage and fans. After every song the guitar tech would hold up a bottle of water in one hand and a red plastic cup filled with what I believe to be beer in the other. Mark Morton would walk over and 9 times out of ten take a pull off of the red cup.
  • During a guitar solo, Mark Morton having a conversation with his guitar tech that looked like it was entertaining as they were both talking and laughing. Two things that strike me odd about this is: a) Mark was performing the intricate solo while looking at his guitar tech, not the guitar. b) How the hell could they hear each other? I was less then four feet away and the music was bloody loud. I could barely hear Rick standing right next to me.
  • Rick commenting that the bass player looks like Papa Smurf……..he actually does!
  • Guitarist Mark Morton making fun of a girl who was paying no attention to the band or their music. Obviously the poor girl was brought to the show by her boyfriend and she clearly wasn’t enjoying it (kind of reminds me of taking Connie to see Rush – bad idea). Mark finally got her attention and pretended he was yawning. He walked to the edge of the stage where she was and mouthed/yelled out “it’s alright, we only have two more songs left before we’re done”. It was pretty funny….and she was embarrassed.
  • Rick snagging a drum stick from the Lamb of God drummer as it was thrown into the crowd. I have no idea how he did it as there must have been 20 or so hands all trying to do the same thing.
  • Young guy to my right, with wonder in his eyes saying “Dude…that’s awesome! You guys deserve that drum stick as you’re the only ones rockin’ out to the music.” Priceless.
  • A strong scent of marijuana wafting around us. We couldn’t figure out where it was coming from but it sure was strong and we were having a hard time breathing at times. A short time later Rick discovered a couple of young guys standing directly behind me were the culprits. They were using me as a shield from the security people by bending down behind me to spark ’em up. No wonder Rick and I were getting smoked out.
  • Lamb of God singer encouraging people to get mosh pits going and body surf…only those that did were physically removed and tossed out by security. I guess for some fans it’s worth it to miss the headling act for some casual violence.

Metallica-ACC2009-02Finally, the headliner Metallica……the band we were all there to see. The house lights darkened, and the instrumental Ecstasy of Gold that Metallica has opened every show with for over two decades began to ring out. The fans erupted with an ear shattering cheer. When Metallica took the stage I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I had been following this band religiously since 1983, when as a young teenager I obtained a copy of a tape through a friend. I have seen Metallica live eight or nine times and by far this was the best. Being that close made the interaction with the band simply incredible. Rick was floored by the energy the band was putting out, and the fans were sending it right back at the band. It’s really hard to put it all into words, it must be experienced. The fans were incredibly loud from the get go…so much so that James Hetfield stopped singing and was shaking his head in disbelief at how loud the crowd was after the second song. Throughout the show he kept making comments about the decibel level of the crowd. James Hetfield – singer/writer/rhythm guitarist extraordinaire was in prime form. His vocals never sounded better. Lars Ulrich on drums appeared to be having a great time. Interacting with the fans every chance he could get. Lead guitarist Kirk Hammett had many moments to shine as he shredded his way through his guitar solos while smiling the whole time. Robert Trujillo on bass crept around the stage and was an anchor of the rhythm section. It was apparent the guys were having a good time. They could all be seen grinning from ear to ear, especially when the crowd took over the vocals that were loud enough to shake the walls of the ACC. All of the band members made a point to move around to each area of the stage, but Rick and I both agreed they tended to spend a lot of time right in front of us. I was fortunate enough to lock eyes with each member of the band on many occasions and got a response from each one when I would express my excitement. The band played a fairly tight set…..there were a couple of times when they got off tempo, but they recovered quickly with no dip in enthusiasm by the crowd. The set list was pretty good that included six songs off of the new Death Magnetic album. With a catalogue of music as large as theirs, they can’t obviously play everyone’s favorite songs.

Set list:

That Was Just Your Life
The End Of The Line
Ride The Lightning
The Memory Remains
Fade To Black
Broken, Beat And Scarred
Cyanide
Sad But True
One
All Nightmare Long
The Day That Never Comes
Master Of Puppets
Fight Fire With Fire
Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman
– – – – – – – –
Stone Cold Crazy
Whiplash
Seek and Destroy

Metallica-ACC2009-25Some observations that may interest only me:

  • The wives and kids of the band members being escorted past us to find a seat within the barricade just prior to the lights going down.
  • One of the Metallica kids wearing pink headphone/ear protection gear wandering on to the stage just before the show was supposed to start, and gently being coaxed off of it.
  • James Hetfield has enormous stage presence.
  • During the song The Memory Remains, the crowd continued to sing long after the band stopped playing. The band members looked at each other and shook their heads in disbelief at the duration and how loud the crowd was.
  • The heat from the flames was intense when the pyro for the song One went off.
  • Lars Ulrich came right over to us a number of times and one time made like a fountain as he sprayed my hand with some juice he was drinking from a cup. Sticky for the rest of the night.
  • Robert Trujillo posing for a picture I was taking with my cell phone while still trying to thrash away to a song.
  • There are some great custom paint jobs on Kirk Hammetts guitars. I could see all of the detail clearly.
  • Great to see all of the guys playing their respective instruments. As a fellow musician I could finally see how they actually play those tunes, and see if I have been doing it right all these years.
  • I was lucky enough to grab one of the large black Metallica beach balls that dropped from the ceiling at the end of the concert. A number of people tried to grab it from me but I somehow laid the Vulcan Death Grip on it and wasn’t letting go of it to save my life (thank god for strong guitar player fingers). I held on to it with one hand and fought off any challengers with the other.
  • Rick and I also managed to get a guitar pick each from Metallica. One side shows a graphic of a monster, the other has “Metallica Sux ’09 Canada” printed on it.
  • All in all Metallica put on one hell of a show. We had a great time other than I partially dislocated my right shoulder at the end of the show by reaching down to grab a guitar pick. I believe I hyper extended it. After almost passing out from the pain, I popped it back in and with Rick’s help was back to good in no time. Shoulder is a bit sore now, but I’m no worse for wear. By the end of the concert we were “Broken, Beat, & Scarred” to quote a Metallica song title. Dehydrated, worn out, and sore from six plus hours of standing and rocking out.

We finished off the night by hitting the pub for a few beers and some grub.
What a night!!!

All photos were taken from http://www.rebelreviewer.com/metallica.htm without any permission. If you are the owner and want them removed, by all means, get in touch with me!

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The Truth About Dinosaurs

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I had a good chuckle at this image. Thanks for Ferda for pointing it out!

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Review: Saw VI

sawVIYesterday after work, Eric, Michael, Juan and I went to see Saw VI at the World Exchange Plaza. A new found combo deal had me smiling…a student combo for $10 which included admission to the film as well as some popcorn and a drink. Sweet!

Before I review Saw VI, I should review Saw V which Vero and I watched last week. By the way, it’s quite handy to watch a film like Saw right before watching the next part as the story is quite complex.

Ahem. My review of Saw V:

It sucked!

Yes, it was the first time the Saw films really let me down in terms of everything that is good with the series. The traps were lame, the chase after the killer was lame…everything was lame.

I went into Saw VI with sub-par hopes. It wasn’t doing that well in general box office ratings (which don’t really tell much considering I don’t believe the Saw series ever does that well) but I must admit there was a glimmer of hope when Mitchell had mentioned that he read somewhere that it was the best one since the first film. That’s a high claim!

We settled into our seats and got ready for the ride. The verdict?

Success! What a great Saw film! It is definitely high up there on my list. Being the sixth in the series, it seems to tie up a lot of loose ends and paves the way for some very big changes in the future of the series. They had brilliant traps, brilliant people in the traps and I enjoyed the suspense of having the killer being hunted down.

Two thumbs up for the latest Saw installment! If you are a fan of the series, this is a faithful chapter.

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Weekend Items!

Item! Japanese Village on Laurier is a pretty cool place. You sit in a group around this giant grill and someone comes out and cooks your food for you. It is quite cool to see your food being prepared for you. Plus, you get more of a thrill out of it than going to Subway! We went for Mel’s birthday and it looked like she was having a great time. Heck, everyone was having a great time…even I was even though a cold had taken my body hostage.

Item! Hallowe’en movies are out in full force and it’s a great time to be alive. Or, at the very least, in the vicinity of so much suspense. I have picked up some decent films in the past week and I must say…they make the grade! First up is The Hills Have Eyes by Wes Craven. It was a great flick even though the thought of a dog being one of the heroes is a little far fetched, but at the same time, I cheered each time the dog would attack the enemy. I enjoyed this film so much that once I realized that the remake was made by Alexandre Aja (the creator of one of the greatest horror films of my generation…Hautes Tensions), I picked it up as well and watched it on Saturday night. It stays pretty faithful to the original but then they introduce an entirely new third act which takes place in a village. Which was great in my opinion. This is what a remake should be. The same, but different in some aspects to give some new breath to the franchise. I was disappointed that they didn’t have the crazy cut to the credits like the original. For those in the know, you know what I’m talking about. I have heard there are sequels to both the original and the remake but I heard the original sequel was so bad that Wes Craven disowned it. I almost need to see this just for that fact!

Item! Value Village is the place to go for cheap CDs. I picked up two Big Sugar albums at $3 a piece. I also realized that Gordie Johnson’s new band Grady seems to take songs from the Big Sugar catalogue and put them out in their own style. Interesting!

Item! I Wanna Hold Your Hand is an excellent, excellent Beatles related flick from 1978. Robert Zemeckis’s first directorial debut (Back to the Future baby! Forrest Gump! Roger Rabbit!) captured what is known as Beatlemania, where he pits a group of teenagers trying to get into the Ed Sullivan show when the Beatles roll into town. One of the funniest parts is the fact that it takes them 7 hours to get from New Jersey to New York City due to a wrong turn. What a great explanation of how it could turn from night to day! It’s a funny film and I enjoyed how he cleverly has the Beatles show up in a few scenes, without actually being there themselves.

Item! Vero and I went to Costco on Sunday to try out our new membership card. We went in there with our thinking caps on as we want to figure out if we really are saving money by buying bulk items. Coupled with a few coupons, we must admit that on name-brand merchandise, we came out on top for a few things. However, there are a few things that we checked out that didn’t really save money at all.

– Chicken – 13.9/kg at Costco, 11.5/kg at the Loblaw’s Superstore. Granted, the chicken may have been on special whereas the Costco price may be what it is usually.
– Salmon – 18.9/kg at Costco, 12.5/kg at the Loblaw’s Superstore. That seemed to be quite the difference!
– Paper Towels – This was an interesting one. There was a package of Bounty paper towels (12 rolls of 134 sheets) that came out to something like $16.75 after applying the coupon. However, right next to the Bounty was some generic brand (Cascades?) which was $16.34 regular price and it had 12 rolls of 178 sheets. Riddle me this…is it just me or are advertisers genius considering the Bounty was flying off the shelves while lonely old Cascades paper towel was just sitting there? Granted, Bounty *is* the quicker picker upper, n’est-ce pas? I’m sure I’ll be cursing the Cascades paper towel when I spill something? All sarcasm aside, I’m glad we were the smart shopper that day!
– Laundry Detergent – Here’s a crazy idea…why don’t we jack the price up on some Tide laundry detergent to $24.99 for 110 loads, while Gain laundry detergent sells for $14.99 for 110 loads? I definitely want to hear from those who can tell what the difference is!

All in all, we did manage to get some great deals on other things…granola bars, air fresheners…and we do feel that in a year, we will end up saving enough money to cover the membership. But unfortunately, not everything is cheaper like we had hoped, so that we can avoid going to multiple places when picking up things we need.

We are curious to hear from others who frequent Costco! This is our first time going there on a regular basis so we’re not sure what to expect. We heard the food is excellent…but is it so much better to pay a little more for it?

Item! Windows 7 seems to be out and about. I had a lead on a student discount that I could get and I passed it to Eric as I’m pretty sure his computer can handle that amazingness, while mine cannot. Speaking of my old computer that Vero inherited, it’s back in the house and for a few months the power supply needed replacing. On a whim, I tried to turn it on yesterday and sure enough, it worked! So now I’m dealing with the insanity which is the actual operating system. It does not want to co-operate with me…not sure what’s wrong with it…programs take forever to load, windows don’t want to open. I am in the process of backing up every little piece of data from it (hey, did you know that USB 1.0 is slower than my network connection?) and once done that, I’ll format the sucker and put WinXP onto it again. That computer has held up over the long haul. I didn’t have problems with the OS for quite a few years. If I feel the need to put Windows 7 onto it, I’ll investigate that option in the future, but I doubt it has enough power to handle it. Windows XP does the trick for playing my old Sierra games. Has anyone tried out Win7 yet? It sounds pretty amazing compared to Vista.

Item! Has anyone got a Star Trek communicator/phaser I can borrow for Friday? Also, if anyone is interested, a gang of us are heading to the Mayfair Theater for 7PM on Saturday to go to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Let me know.

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Excellent Photo – Moby Dick

MobyDickI find this photo of Moby Dick to be quite hilarious. I want to make a t-shirt out of this.

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Concert Reviews

Review: Silversun Pickups at Civic Center

silversunpickupsLast Wednesday, Mike and I went to see Silversun Pickups, Cage the Elephant and An Horse at the Civic Center. Unbeknownst to us, this was a non-beer event which made it quite lackluster once we arrived after a chilling 45 minute walk to discover there just wasn’t much to drink. Also, it was held in the Exhibition Hall and not the regular hockey arena. Strange! It felt like a school cafeteria.

We caught the last half of An Horse, a duo from Australia who were alright. We then met up with another Mike and his girlfriend Vero and we chatted for awhile until Cage the Elephant came on. Now, the only thing that I know about this band is their hit single ‘Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked’ which is quite the fun tune to play on the guitar. So my expectations were wide open…and they blew me away! Their single does not accurately portray what this band is…I would like to say that there quite a lot of energy on the stage tonight. The singer’s spastic movements on and off stage (quite a few times he jumped off the stage and at the end he did a nice stomach first crowd surf) were the highlight of the next hour. The set list was energetic and good rock and roll. They reminded me a little of Billy Talent for their sheer onslaught of force. We were all quite impressed by their live show.

The highlight of the night (and for me, perhaps the highlight of the past year in concerts) was the Silversun Pickups. Out of LA, two albums and one EP into their career, they are regarded as the next Smashing Pumpkins. Their use of wicked effects pedals earns them that moniker. Heck, they even have Nikki Monninger on bass guitar just like the Pumpkins usually have a woman up there. I loved their Carnavas album and I REALLY love their latest disc Swoon. It’s quite amazing. I haven’t taken it out of the car for the past few months.

That being said, as soon as they took the stage, I knew we were in for a treat when they opened up with my favourite track from the new album -> Growing Old is Getting Old. A moody, somber atmospheric piece that starts out with a good bass line and explodes near the end with everything the band has to offer.

What I really loved about the band in a live setting were the little things that were different…of particular note was the drummer who was not sitting directly facing the lead singer position, but off center facing the bass player’s corner of the stage. Perhaps this was to show off his Dave Grohl like head banging while playing the drums. Heck, he even had this high-hat which was literally seven feet tall…so while the rest of his drum set is at a normal height, he would have to reach and hit the high-hat which was quite entertaining.

Nikki on the bass seemed to have a great time. She would do little hops and had a smile a mile wide the entire concert. Brian Aubert was the main man, handling both guitar and vocal duties. I was quite surprised to see that only one man was responsible for the sonic assault of screaming guitars for the next two hours. I expected them to have another guitarist for their live set. However, it probably helps that they have someone on keyboards dealing with the addition of some atmospheric sounds.

What can I say about this band other than the fact that it felt like a buzz saw was going through me at certain times. They brought the energy to an all-time high and I was impressed with the Ottawa crowd this time around (whereas they usually disappoint me. Perhaps the secret is in the youth.). Heck, a mosh pit even started during Panic Switch.

I can’t really put into words what I felt this night of seeing them…I was very inspired by their live show and I haven’t been this inspired in a LONG time. The last time I was this inspired was probably at the last Pumpkins concert I saw. The light show, the thunder of the drums, the soaring guitar work…everything rolled into an amazing package and I was blown away by them. If you want to see an amazing show, please, please, please do the band and yourself a favour…

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Review: Inglourious Basterds

inglorious-basterds-1-477x699Vero and I went to see Tarantino’s latest epic, Inglourious Basterds at the World Exchange last Tuesday.  At 4:30.  Which was amazing.  I was surprised that Vero beat me there considering she had to drive all the way from work.  But we saunter in at 4:25, pay $5 each to see a film and have the theater (practically) to ourselves.  Why doesn’t everyone do this?  4:30 is where it’s at!  You get out in time to go home and have some dinner.

Minor gripe concerning general common sense of ‘combo’ buying.  We order a small popcorn and a soft drink.  It comes out to $10.15.  I then notice that Combo #1 has the same thing we ordered, but with a chocolate bar for $9.99.  I ask if we can get that instead.  Sure enough, we get it, and the total comes out to $6. Must be some stellar deal they have on Tuesdays.  So, is this a case of the kid behind the counter just not wanting to point out that we fell for the oldest trick in the book….don’t order items separately?  Does this happen everywhere?  I have a sneaking suspicion that if you order a burger and drink at McDonald’s, it’s the same freaking price if you get the fries in the combo.

Anyhow, Inglorious Basterds deals with the Nazis in WWII times (wait, are the Nazis prevalent in any other time?) and follows various story lines that converge in the final act.  Of particular hilarity is the group of Inglorious Basterds…a group of Jews who go into the war a-fighting and ready to kick some Nazi ass!  Led by Brad Pitt (who is by far the most hilarious character of the entire film), they go ahead and scalp as many Nazis as they can.  Throughout the film, you are introduced to other factions such as a girl whose family was killed by the Nazis, but escapes to France, as well as Hitler himself in some hilarious scenes.

All in all, Tarantino does what does best.  Crafts some great characters and puts them into situations that don’t need to be action packed to be interesting.  It’s all about the dialogue.  Two thumbs up for the film.

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Entourage Turkey Weekend

Friday Evening – Headed to The French Quarter for some after work drinks with some after work colleagues. Good times for a few beer along with a send-off to an excellent Director. Conversation primarily focused on our resident Brit’s inability to properly identify the newest James Bond in our Trivia challenge at work. It’s Daniel Craig, not David Craig!!!

When I got home I was excited to see the new Trews Acoustic DVD had arrived but no impressed that after three weeks of waiting, the new Pearl Jam album had arrived but via FedEx so they didn’t actually leave it at my doorstep. Doh!

I did end up watching The Wrestler which was an excellent flick starring Mickey Rourke. It was an interesting story concerning the life of the once popular wrestler and what happens after he’s been in the business for twenty-plus years and how the gig if finally getting to him…both physically and mentally. Two thumbs up for this film.

Afterward I popped in The Trews Acoustic DVD. I had problems from the get-go with the 5.1 Surround Sound option not working at all, and at the end of one song there was a horrible popping noise coming from the speakers for ten seconds. I have written the band asking if there is an issue with the DVDs. I sure hope not as the last thing any band wants is to have to pay some overhead of replacing some faulty DVDs. So far it’s interesting though…they intersperse interviews and backstage footage in between songs. I feel like enjoy a concert DVD like that. It reminds me of the Smashing Pumpkins Vieuphoria film.

Saturday morning I awoke around 6AM to head out to Trish’s where I met up with her along with Karilee and Caroline to head towards Waterloo, New York in search of good shopping deals. The last time I went I did not end up with many good deals at all but I have since realized that if you don’t find anything that isn’t at least 20% off, then you aren’t getting that much of a deal considering you are paying the 5% NY State Tax as well as an additional 13% duty fee (hence 18%). But I seized the day and scoured the stores for some great deals. I managed to find a pair of shorts for $4 at the Gap. Heck, even if I use them once, they are well worth it. Got some great sweaters and pants from Banana Republic (where Trish and Caroline tried to get me to buy a hat which turned out to be quite lopsided!) and the rest of the day was spent enjoying the sunny day. The others in the crew found a few deals which makes it a decent trip. The highlight purchase had to be Trish’s new winter coat which has what can only be described as nipple pockets. There are two pockets right near the nipples and they are lined with fur. I’m thinking they are meant to warm the hands of a suitor and we couldn’t really figure out another scenario where these pockets (without zippers!) would come in handy.

We stopped by Target, Borders and Applebee’s in Watertown on our way back and we were back in Ottawa by 11. For some reason, I was wired and decided to stay up to start watching the TV Show Entourage. I had seen a few episodes before, but never sat down with complete seasons. 4AM rolls around and I have watched the entire first season.

The next morning I awake to a phone call around 10:30am from Simon wondering if I want to come to Thanksgiving dinner that night. Thanks for the invite Simon and Emily! Much appreciated. I chatted for a bit in a groggy haze and realized that I should carpe diem and do something. Heck, why not watch some more Entourage? Ten more episodes logged in throughout the day on Sunday. I must admit that by the time Joelle and James picked me up to go to Mike and Melissa’s Thanksgiving dinner, I was getting a little stir crazy from watching Entourage for the past 12 hours and was glad.

Dinner at Mike and Melissa’s was a blast. I brought out the homemade pickles, moose pepperettes and a loaf of homemade bread. Having Vero in the house is quite handy when you have to scour the cupboards to bring something to a Thanksgiving potluck! I enjoyed a nice bottle of Misterio Malbec wine…Katie got me interested in the Malbec wine a few years back. Misterio got the two thumbs up from this wine guy. The food itself was mint…we got all the turkey we wanted, GREAT GREAT turkey…so moist…amazing stuffing. All in all the dinner was great…some good conversation as well. I’m glad that everyone was thankful for something around the table.

We chatted for awhile and then Mike and Mel set up the projector to watch Coraline which is an excellent animated flick about a girl named Coraline who finds a door in her house that brings her to another world which seems to have ‘better’ things from her life. Better parents, better friends, better food. The tag line is ‘careful what you wish for’! A cute film. We thought it was by Tim Burton but it is not. It’s a film by Henry Selick.

We did try the 3D glasses out but they didn’t really work. Do 3D glasses work on a projected image? I would like to think so considering they work in the movie theaters?

Monday I awoke to a phone call from Vero asking to be picked up (she was at a cottage in Saint Adele all weekend long, which turned out to be the best event of the year) so I watched a few more episodes of Entourage, finished off the second season and headed out to Saint Isidore to pick her and Chantal up. It was a nice day for a drive. We toured around Navan on our way back and found these amazing houses that had WAY too many leaves on their yard for my liking! We shall have to see what the houses are worth out there. I would say half a million at least for that particular area.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing…I had a great nap in the late afternoon and Vero then made some excellent hot chicken sandwiches for dinner. Yummers!

Some exciting news to share…Vero and I are going to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil over the Christmas holiday! Our plan is to return up to Northern Ontario for a few days, drive back down and fly out on the 28th of December and come back the 9th of January. Turns out that Philipp is starting a work term down there so we figured it would be a good time to go as well. There is also another couple from France coming and perhaps our friend Chris who will tag along. Supposedly New Year’s Eve is quite the party down there where millions of people line up on the beach all dressed in white, put candles out to sea and then all jump into the water! The thought of millions of people jumping into the water at the same time kind of frightens me (read: drown?) but I’m sure it will be fine. This is the second Intercontinental trip I’ve been on (EuroTrip 2005 baby!) and I must admit I felt the same way as before…not excited, but scared a little. I think I have a fear of entering into situations where I can’t talk my way out of! Vero will start researching great things for us to do which will probably pique my interest a little!

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Catchup

drobo_thumbScrew it.  Let’s try something new.  I have had no ambition whatsoever in updating this blog and I think it has to do with my love of writing every detail, as well as dividing each thought into separate entries.  I was reading Warren Ellis’ blog the other day and I enjoyed how he made a post a day with a bunch of thoughts.  Let’s try that for awhile.

Drobo – So far, so good.  I had a scare the other day when I popped another 1TB drive into it and it was having some problems.  No matter what the box says, don’t believe it when it says it’ll be a backup for your beloved pictures.  For all you know, something can fry it one day.  So keep triplicates of those things, will ya?  Anyhow, it’s a fun toy to have but it’s getting to the point of ridiculousness where I have more stuff on it than I’ve even watched.

Uncle Greg – Uncle Greg was in town last week so Vero and I went downtown to visit him.  We ended up at Darcy McGee’s (a favourite watering hole during Winterlude!) where they were serving Oktoberfest sized Hacker Pshcorr!  We chatted mainly about Uncle Greg’s new job…he is a house inspector as well as a certified energy auditor.  He is doing quite well and is so busy that he even comes up to Ottawa quite a bit to do audits.  I’m glad that he is having a great time with this and he deserves to work in something where his knowledge can be of some use!

Speaking about Vero, she has moved in to the household as of last Tuesday.  She was staying here before that on and off, but Tuesday was the day that Mike and I packed the large items into the truck and hauled it out to the trendy village.  Lucky for us, the thunderstorms that were happening all day long stopped while we put the first load in.  We had to stop for a Louis’ Pizza break on the second load as it was raining too hard.  So far, so good.  I enjoy having Vero around every day and it’s been rumoured that she has packed me a lunch or two!  While I do miss the camaraderie of Mike and I, I also know that he has a sweet pad near my work that I can drop in at a moment’s notice.

slash_book_cover Slash’s Autobiography: This book was very interesting if you are fan at all of Guns N Roses.  There were so many details that I was not aware of and it was interesting to read about the genesis of the band, as well as his views as to why the band no longer functioned.  In a nutshell, one of the major reasons GNR had Slash leave was because he thought it wasn’t fair to the fans to come out onto stage around midnight if they were scheduled to play at 9-10PM.  I totally agree!  There were other issues, but that one one of them.  Much debauchery (not as much as Motley Crue) but an entertaining read.

was superman a spy_350x527Was Superman A Spy? by Brian Cronin was an excellent, excellent read.  It compiles a lot of information from his Comic Book Urban Legend column (which is a weekly must-read) but it does so in an excellent narrative form.  The book is divided into different sections…DC Comics, Marvel Comics and a bunch of other smaller ones.  I skipped to the Marvel one as I’m more of a Marvel fan, but when I returned to the DC section, I found it just as interesting.  This is a great purchase for any comic book fan out there even if they don’t care for Superman!  Two thumbs up and I will definitely purchase a future edition of this book if there ever is one.

brocode The Bro Code by Barney Stinson is a quick read…I read it in two bus trips (there and back).  It consists of rules that bros should follow each day of their life and is quite hilarious if you are a fan of the show How I Met Your Mother (which I would argue is just as good as Friends was.).  Heck, even if you have never watched the show, I’m sure you would have a few laughs at this book.  Recommended if you want a laugh of a read…but it’s quite short.

one_weekOne Week was an excellent Canadian film.  It stars some people’s favourite Dawson’s Creek character (heck, he deserves to be known for his excellent role in Fringe instead!) Joshua Jackson as a man who doesn’t have much time to live so he hops on a motorcycle and heads across Canada.  There are some excellent landmarks along the way like the Big Nickel (heavy metal!) and some excellent cameos by some Canadian celebrities (Gord Downie, Joel Plaskett, etc.).  This is a must see for anyone who has just wanted to hit the open road of Canada and experience it for what it is.  I think Shannon would enjoy this film.  It’s quite somber at moments, but what do you expect from a man thinking of his life while driving across the open terrain of Canada?  Two thumbs up.

Well I suppose that’s enough for now.  I’m sitting here somehow listening to the new Backstreet Boys album that I bought for Vero today.  Somehow she managed to sneak off upstairs to do something while I’m stuck listening to this drivel.  Bah!  There’s so much better music out there to listen to (although why do I feel the need to dance right now?  Curse you Backstreet Boys!)

This weekend is looking pretty good so far.  I don’t know what I’ll do on Friday, but Saturday I am lined up to go to Syracuse with Trish, Caroline and potentially Karilee.  Then on Sunday I have some decisions to make…I can either go to Mike and Melissa’s place for a turkey dinner, or accompany Mike’s family to a family dinner as well.  Unsure of what I will do at this point.  I will think about it more tomorrow.

Time to watch the end of Flashforward Episode 2.  Excellent series by the way.  I found out that one of the writers from Spider-Man is writing for it.  Is it just me or are people realizing that comic book writers are amazing and are now using them a lot for TV shows?

Quote of the Day – Vero (after I asked if she wanted to hear the BSB album again as it was over): “I would but I love you too much to do that to you.”

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Connecting DSL Line

I scored some sweet items in the mail last night…a plethora of new music…new albums from Breaking Benjamin, Alice in Chains (nice!), Three Days Grace and Vertical Horizon. Let’s not forget the bootleg of the Toronto show put on by (best band ever?) Pearl Jam! Also, a nice collection of the first six issues of The Incredible Hulk! I have never read them before so it’s quite interesting to see how the Hulk came to be. Did you know that in the first issue, he was grey, but in subsequent issues he was made green because of problems with the printing press back in the 1960s?

Other than that, Vero made some great hamburger steak which I devoured and then I tackled a job that any drop-out of the Electronics Engineering program should be able to handle…telephone wiring! The scoop is that we ordered Acanac DSL Internet to replace the Rogers Internet we currently have (cheaper and no download/upload caps). However, the signal was never getting through. I called and asked for a technician but they never came so I decided to take a look at the wiring myself after Mike tipped me off that he remember that the Bell phone line was snipped by the Rogers technician many years ago.

Lo and behold, that was exactly the problem so I consulted the Internet on telephone wiring and spent the next few hours debugging the situation. This is where I may need your help.

In the end, I got the DSL line working. I also got the Rogers Home Phone line working. This is great! It all works from the terminal downstairs. However, when I go upstairs to the other phone jacks, the DSL line is not there…it’s the telephone line.

I have a feeling that I need a POTS splitter…one that splits the signal so that you can either have DATA or the PHONE. Any thoughts on this?