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Mike just made me realize the amazing weekend which is shaping up.

Tonight – We just scored ourselves some tickets to see My Chemical Romance. While I thought their last tour was ‘so-so’, I wasn’t planning to go to this tour in support of their album The Black Parade, until I started reading the rave reviews of the show. I felt like I would be missing out on an event. Plus, I REALLY love their new album. Definitely in my Top 5 of last year. So after some hassle, we managed to get some General Admission tickets for tonight. I really hate sitting down at a concert so I’m glad we snagged these. Mike, Krista and I shall be enjoying the show. Rise Against and Muse are opening for them.

Friday – If I can manage it, I will ask for the day off to relax before the big weekend in Montreal! Friday night, Mike and I (along with Carrie possibly) will head out to Montreal to enjoy some time with Philipp. Who knows what the night will provide! We’ll pick him up from his soccer game and then all will be good in the world.

Saturday – When Saturday night hits, Mike and I will be heading out to see The Arcade Fire! I am pretty excited to see them in their own proper concert setting. I’ve only seen them open up for U2 a few years ago and their performance was high-octane.

Sunday – Sunday night brings ANOTHER legend into our midst as we’ll head out to see B.B. King at the National Arts Centre! Holy Mackerel! We are getting bombarded with great music this weekend! Spring is in the air my friends! I am excited to see B.B. King as it may very well be one of the last times to do so!

I hope that everyone’s weekend will be stellar!

I’m starting to get the craving which occurs when a new Pumpkins album is upon us. I start to pull out the old bootlegs and start listening to every nuance. I yank out old B-sides and just hit the RANDOM button. I scour the Internet for any little piece of information.

The time is close…May 22 will be their first tour date in Paris. I predict a bootleg of the show the next day. I’m also predicting a ‘greatest hits’ heavy set list with a few new tracks from their upcoming album Zeitgeist. It only makes sense – the band has been away for seven years…think about Metallica when they came back for their St. Anger tour. 90% of the show was old stuff. However, those were festival dates – which the Pumpkins are doing all summer long.

I think playing your hits at a Festival when you’re on your reunion tour is the way to win over the people who pay big money to see you. If you just went out and played all-new material, there would be disappointment from the masses who don’t know much about you. However, if you’re a fanatic like myself, no worries. We crave new material.

Our good friend Mike is our guest blogger today as I felt he had some interesting things to say about the insurance company he is with for his truck.

From the Autograph Website:

Have you ever felt that your insurance company lumps you in with every other driver on the road, regardless of how you drive? Wouldn’t it be nice if more responsible driving habits could be reflected in the cost of your auto insurance?

Autograph will enable eligible program participants to accurately track their driving behaviours using a data-gathering device that plugs into the diagnostic port typically found under the steering column of most cars made since 1996. Then, they simply drive the car. The device records data on factors statistically proven to impact risk, including how much, how fast and when a car is driven.

You policy is renewed every 6 months at which time you can optionally upload your driving data to claim your discount. The insurance company (Aviva) will e-mail you a few weeks before you are due to renew your insurance to let you know to upload your driving data. You can choose not to share your information and get no discount but even if you see that you have bad driving habits you still get a minimum 5% discount just for sharing your data.

I just uploaded my information a few weeks ago and earned myself a 28% discount on my insurance for the next 6 months. Score!

Mike
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Editor’s Note – I must admit this seems like a win-win scenario. Now instead of paying $79.33/month, Mike is paying $65.80/month for the next 6 months (until they recalculate what he should be paying). Note that there is a clause that the fees will never go above the $79.33/month. So if you are a speed demon, they can’t screw you over.

Now, Mike and I were talking about it last night and thought the only downfall would be if they are using this information to screw you over in the long run – like if you had to actually file a claim under your insurance and they say “Hmm…looks like you speed all the time! No dice my friend.” This could very well be the case as the driver is willingly providing them information.

Let’s also note that Mike doesn’t necessarily follow the posted speed limit, so it’s not like he got the discount by driving the posted speed limit all the time. Also, this isn’t all about speed limits, they take a look at what hours you are driving (are you driving to and from work every day, or just using the vehicle for leisure?).

All in all, I think the system is pretty cool if you know you aren’t a speed demon all the time. But I would be wary if you are as I would put some good money on the fact that they would use this information against if you had to file a claim. Otherwise, it’s pretty swell.

I sauntered over to Subway for lunch today and perused the selection. Hey, looks like the wraps are the same price as the 6″ subs! Nice! So I promptly order my wrap and all is good in the world.

Until I get to the cash.

Cashiers: Alright, that’s $5.92.
Me: Doesn’t it say $4.29 on the sign?
Cashiers (yes there are two of them in Quebec): No, that’s only for the six inch sub.
Me (while pointing at the sign): But the sign says “Six Inch or Wrap” for $4.29
Cashiers (looking dead ahead at me all the time and not even bothering to look at the sign): No, it’s more expensive.
Me (then realizing this may be a language barrier issue): (in French)No, but look at the sign. It says “Six Inch OR Wrap”. Listen, I don’t really care if I have to pay an extra dollar but the sign says otherwise.
Cashiers (never acknowledging the sign): The wrap is more expensive.

This leads me to believe that the people who work at the Subway in Hull are actually robots who cannot process anything past taking our cash and giving us back change! They couldn’t even tilt their heads to look at the sign. It was quite unbelievable. At one point I wanted to ask the woman next to me if I’m reading the sign wrong but I decided to pay the extra buck and hightail it outside into the beautiful, beautiful weather.

http://www.mcfly2015.com/

Definitely one of the funnier petitions I’ve seen in awhile. A petition for the Marty McFly (of Back To The Future) sneakers from his visit to the future. Hilarious.

Let’s talk a little about the future for a moment. I must say, in the year 2007, I’m kind of disappointed with the technological advancements of late. Sure, we have the cellular phone. But where is the crazy stove where you pop a small packet inside and then in 3 seconds a pizza emerges? Or the flying skateboard? OR FLYING CARS?!

Sure, the flying cars were pushing it (imagine the traffic problems!), but we need more future items NOW! If anything, we are stuck in the past. Heck, my hairstyle is stuck in the past. Time for a haircut.

A little bird told me that it’s Trish’s birthday today. What the heck is up with all these birthdays around the same time? Holy mackerel.

While we celebrated her birthday in style at the H&C on Friday night, I’m extending a St-Hubert meal her way on her birthday. Redeemable at any time, but give me a heads up for when you wish to go for it Trish!

What can I say about Trish other than the fact that I miss my work buddy. You know those people at work who goes to every break/lunch/whatever with you during the day and you laugh at the minutiae which is your daily life? I still remember the laugh we had when we were looking at some OC Transpo signs that had penguins on it and she said something about their tails between their legs in which I pointed out that it didn’t look like it was a tail hanging between their legs. Oh, the laughs we had that day on the bus!

Trish is the woman of style, pizazz and flair. Plus it doesn’t hurt that she is attractive. No one wants ugly friends.

She is known to rock and aspires to become one of the rocker girls that history will remember, but she doesn’t really know how to play a guitar, let alone hold one. Trish, we recommend another sport – like knitting.

Always one with an opinion but also with a kind ear for when Palmer wants to rant, she is what you call a good friend. I feel ashamed for how long I have made her wait to install her CD burner. I am clearly not as good of a friend as Trish is.

Let us not forget that Trish claims to be a feminist and has a legion of ‘menions’ at her beck and call. Actually, let’s point out that she coined the term ‘menion’. Trademark that one.

On your birthday, Trish, we salute you. You are a honey-of-an-o.

I don’t know where you all were this weekend, but I was in paradise. That’s right, Ottawa had the most beautiful weather. Saturday had a little chill in the air but Sunday was that weather which you dream of devising an evil contraption that will harness the controls of the weather so you can this one perfect day all year long except for Christmas because we all love snow on Christmas Day because we all know that’s what Jesus had in Bethlehem. Snow. Let’s take a look on the map for a second. Hmm…Bethlehem…wow. Nowhere near the North at all. Hey, where did the snow come into the picture then?

Saturday morning I arose from my slumber as I drove Vero to her class. This is her final class FOREVER. It’s only three full weekends. While that sucks, let’s keep in mind that instead of going to 16 weeks of class, you only have to go to six days of class. She’ll be done in a few weeks.

Feeling a bit rough, I get home and decide I should not head back to bed. I watch some shows that I haven’t’ seen in awhile and when Mike and Danny get home (from dropping Carol off in Cornwall) we cook up some lunch and head downtown to grab some LPs. Mike and Danny scored on that front but I didn’t see any albums I was interested in picking up. I’m trying to find Paul McCartney & Wings album ‘Band on The Run’. I’m starting to pick up classic albums that should be in all collections.

We then headed to Le Baron for a GPS battery and then Danny finds my voice recorder that I’ve lost since Christmas! I am ecstatic! It was lodged under the seat! Vero is not going to kill me anymore (as she had bought it for me). After doing a happy dance, we headed home, took a much deserved nap, headed to Montana’s for some ribs and wings and then finished off the night by watching the Senators win big and then popped in our favourite film – Dazed and Confused.

After Danny left on Sunday morning, Mike and I hit our productive stride. I gave the inside and outside of my car a much needed cleaning. I even shampooed the carpets inside. It was more to get rid of the salt which it had a hard time with. Does anyone have the much needed solution to getting road salt out of a carpet? I thought a shampoo would do the car good as there was this awful smell in the car in the past year and we couldn’t figure out what it is. I assumed someone through a tuna pita under the seat but I didn’t see any.

We then took a crack at cleaning the garage which is always…fun? Mike has come up with some good ideas for the garage so one of these days we will tackle putting some shelving inside. In the end, the garage really only took us a good hour of clean-up. We made a trip to the beer store with our bottles; including wine bottles now that they take them back. I had grand aspirations for making my own wine again so I was holding onto the bottles. But after 2 years I realize they were just taking up space.

We then headed over to Eric and Annie’s to borrow his grass seeder as there is a strip of dead grass along my driveway which is ugly. I haven’t seeded/fertilized before so I figured I should start one day. Turns out that I had enough for the back lawn also so I mowed both lawns and spread the seed. We’ll see if it sprouts anything.

Considering Vero has some ham and water in her fridge we brought her some St-Hubert last night and enjoyed her balcony view (her new apartment is awesome!) and then headed to see Spider-Man 3 but it was 7:55 with a movie starting at 8PM. We had to get a refund on our tix as there just wasn’t anymore seating.

I think it’s a shame that today is a beautiful day and we are stuck inside work all day. Perhaps I should join construction?

There are times in one’s life when you go out with some friends, you either have a great night, or one of those nights which make your brain collapse in the sheer awesomeness which was that night. Friday night was no exception.

Sena and I left work to pick up a few gifts and then head to Trish’s. While we waited….and waited…and waited…we had a few beer and watched some TV. Then we got going out to the homestead where I was expecting some dinner ready for us as the crew had the entire day off while we had to work all day.

True to form, the crew at home were lazy all day and had nothing ready for us, so I had to haul out the meat to BBQ. I am making the situation sound worse than it is – I was fine with cooking up some sausages for all!

Fast fact: I did not know that it’s smarter to boil your sausages before throwing on the BBQ. Who else does that? I especially like how both Mike and Danny were giving each other the eye when I threw them on raw but they said nothing. Ya goofs, if you know I should boil them, you should tell me! 😉

Carol ended up cooking the sausages as the rest of us were in the middle of a mean game of washers. In the end, it took Sena and I awhile but we finally caught up and beat Mike and Danny as they had started to go back down in points (which happens if you bust at the end).

After a few drinks and a few laughs, we then headed downtown for the celebration of Trish and Carol’s birthday. What better place to end up, but the Heart and Crown. We were very excited as we had discovered that Shaydid was playing and it wasn’t until Trish pointed out that this was the same band we saw on Canada Day weekend who rocked our socks off! Let it be known that Trish was also trying to pick up the drummer last Canada Day weekend.

Us (to the lead singer): Hey, my friend thinks your drummer is hot.
Lead Singer: I do too! That’s why I married him! (while flashing the ring)

Woops! Sorry Trish. Didn’t see that happening! Ha ha.

We arrived just in time to grab Duncan off of the patio and we headed into the back area where the main act was coming on. We had an excellent vantage point and the night started off great when I was downstairs getting some beer and heard some sweet, sweet Pink Floyd playing. I thought it was through the radio, but no! It was the band! I raced upstairs and had forgotten that they have this amazing guitarist (who last time had a sweet, sweet moustache). This guy could shred.

The night starts up in fine fashion and all is good in the world.

Highlights of the Night:

– Alright, here’s where I throw a little back story. Years ago, Carrie, myself and others frequented the H&C a lot more than we do nowadays. During that time we noticed an old man who always was at the bar. He wasn’t a leery old man, he was a good time and we had a few pictures taken with him. We never knew the story behind him. Old-timers like that always have a great story attached to them.

Months after that moment, Carrie and I were searching through old pictures and had a good laugh when we realized that this old man had appeared in other pictures we had from before that moment! He’s been there forever! A permanent fixture one might say! From that point on, any night that we found this gentleman in the bar upped the greatness of the night.

This night was to be no exception. Sure enough, out of nowhere, the man shows up and I proclaim “This will be the best night ever!”. At this point, Carol and Danny realize that they did not go wrong in coming to Ottawa for Carol’s birthday. I’m sure they had their doubts…I mean, who wants to leave a slew of your friends back home for your birthday to come party with a bunch of people that you don’t really know? But this was not the case – this was the beginning of a grand night.

In the end, we found out quite a bit about this gentleman. His name is Roy and he was celebrating his 80th birthday! He also mentioned that his birthday was last weekend but he was still partying. I want to be this guy when I get to be 80!

– Here’s where the other highlight of the night occurs. At this point I need to get to a phone to call Carrie to tell her that the old man from the photographs is here at the bar and that she needs to get down here pronto. I ask Duncan for his phone to call Carrie. As soon as I mention her name she emerges from the crowd! At that point I whispered “I need to call Elizabeth Hurley.” but she didn’t appear so I thought I should get back to reality. Coincidences like these are not to be ignored – there was a reason she was at this spot at this time and it was to have a great night! She had a good laugh when she saw Roy dancing away in a t-shirt that said ‘LURE’ on it. Classic. CLASSIC!

– Let’s talk a little about the band Shaydid. I love this band. Honestly, I can now put them above Fortune’s Hand at this moment in time. Hey, we all know I love FH, but ever since their guitarist left, I don’t know…maybe the last time I saw them I was turned off by the entire crowd being followers of the new guitarist who were shouting his name during THE ENTIRE NIGHT. While I suppose that is cool in a way, it did get annoying after 30 minutes. So back to Shaydid, they have it all. An amazing guitarist, KEYBOARDS (a must for any classic rock band!) and let’s be honest, the singer is quite amazing. When they started Fleetwood Mac’s You Can Go Your Own Way I lost it as this has become a new/old favourite of mine. I love this tune. As Krista points out, it’s an excellent driving tune.

Shaydid never put on a bad show and I am looking forward to this Canada Day weekend when they return. I highly recommend that everyone mark their calendars now to see this band in action. They are over the top.

– Let’s not forget to talk about my new hat and how everyone was making a grab for it. Yikes! It was funny at first, but sometimes you have that fear that someone will not be a gentleman and leave the bar with it. I think I need to attach a chain to it.

I’m sure the others can add some memories in the comments section. All in all, I was once again impressed with the Heart and Crown. We ended the night by picking up a schwarma, checking out Vero’s new pad and heading home.

Last night after Vero got off of work we headed to her new pad to unpack some things.

First stop was her new roommate Mel’s place as she had the two keys to the new place. She will be moving her stuff this coming Saturday.

We get to the place and Vero inserts the key and tries to turn the lock but nothing is moving. Then she realizes that she can’t get the key out.

I try to attempt to jostle it from its place but this thing is wedged in there tight! It can only turn so much and it doesn’t even have one ounce of wiggle room when trying to pull it out. Clearly we are victim to a Wal-Mart key cutting experience. 😉

While I try and pull out my superhuman strength to remove this key, Vero goes downstairs to the superintendent and he grabs some tools and tries to remove it himself but it isn’t working.

Then, out of nowhere a police officer pulls up!

Officer: “Uh, what’s going on here?”
Vero: “Our key is stuck in the lock.”
Officer: “Do you live here?”
Vero: “Yes, we just rented the place this week.”
Officer: “Oh thank God, I thought this was a Break and Enter!”

Here I am with this giant smile on my face of the sheer hilariousness of this situation. The police officer had to call off her backup also. After taking some information down she was gracious enough to find some locksmith phone numbers and give them a call but she said they either were on the other line or busy.

At this point, I would like to thank the Ottawa Police for the kind service they provided in our predicament. When I think of police, I suppose I think of ‘movie’ police and how they are only interested in crimes, but she was kind enough to not leave us high and dry. Kudos to you.

So after she leaves, I head down to the bowling lane to use the pay phone. This is where my night hit an all-time peak.

Now, if you don’t know who Salad Fingers is, it’s this very insane character found in some animation clips on the Internet. It’s not for the weak of heart but if you’re interested, Google and watch some Salad Fingers episodes. I personally find him hilarious.

So I walk in the bowling lane and use the phone but to no avail so I grab some change from the cashier. On my way to the cashier’s desk I see these two teenage girls. One is walking, talking and just acting weird and the other is filming her with her digital camera. I then realize that she is imitating Salad Fingers! Awesome!

On my way back from the cashier’s desk they are eyeing me up and acting like Salad Fingers while taping it and they just want to see my reaction (which, if no one would know what the heck she is doing, they would probably think she was disturbed.).

Me: “Wow, cool. Salad Fingers!”
Them (mouths gaped open in shock/awe): “YOU KNOW SALAD FINGERS?!”
Me: “Yes, of course. Who doesn’t?”

I then walk away and let them revel in the fact that they aren’t the coolest cats on Earth. I am.

Locksmiths don’t pan out (where’s the 24 hour locksmith when you need him?) so Vero breaks the key so no one could get into the place (I say potentially considering we couldn’t even get into it) and we head home.

While I know Vero was disappointed in the night as she had high hopes for unpacking, I must admit that I thought the night was hilarious and you have to enjoy these random nights when they come your way. Especially when someone is doing an impression of Salad Fingers.