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Movember 2012

For some of you, you’re thinking “THIS guy again?”

For others, you’re thinking “Good on you brother!”

For me, I’m thinking “Dang, it’s cold outside today! I need something to warm my upper lip!”

That is how moustaches across the world will be started today (except in Brazil where it’s probably freaking hot outside.)

This year, I along with my teammates in PaLoGa Brewmeisters (somehow we lost the La, but we gained a Ga!) will be doing our best to make sure men and women know about the Movember mo’vement and hopefully contribute to prostate cancer research.

If you’re reading this and thinking “Dang, I want to join up!” You are more than welcome to join the PaLoGa Brewmeisters team this year!

If you wish to donate to me this year, click on the following link:

http://mobro.co/ryanpalmer

If you wish to donate to the team as a whole, click on this link:

http://ca.movember.com/team/720853

If you wish to receive awesome updates throughout the month of November…well, you’re going to receive them whether you like them or not!

Cheers!

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Concert Reviews

Review: The Smashing Pumpkins – Bell Center – Montreal, QC

Smashing Pumpkins*pictures from various users on Flickr.  I couldn’t find a great Ocenia tour shot from Montreal so I used this one instead.
Etienne and I hit the open road for Montreal late Sunday afternoon to go see the highly anticipated Pumpkins show in support of their new album Oceania.

Faithful readers know that I am a huge Pumpkins fan.  I also really love their new Oceania album.  It’s their best since Mellon Collie.  It’s amazing.  I’m really happy that this was the follow-up to Zeitgeist because it reaffirms the fact that they are still the band we know and love.

We pulled into Montreal with some time to kill so we went to this nice Irish pub around the Bell Center (which was an oven inside).  I had this weird sense of Déjà vu with Etienne while we were munching on some fish and chips.  Ever get that feeling?  It was coming in full force that night!

We managed to miss the first act, but no matter, we headed down to the main floor area and settled in around the sound booth area.  Luckily for us, the arena was in a half arena set up so the stage was at half ice.  There was an enormous orb above the stage which would be used to project 3d image mapping and was designed by the same guy who designed the Roger Waters Wall tour.  We even noticed a Dark Side of the Moon vinyl sitting in front of one of the computer stations!

8:30 and it’s go time.  I’m pumped.  I know this is going to be a great show.  This is also Etienne’s first Pumpkins show and I know it won’t disappoint.

The sound was great, the images were amazing, everything was firing on all cylinders.  They opened up with Quasar off their new album and played the entire album in one fell swoop.  It’s great to hear it in a live setting to see the different nuances they put into it.  There are a lot of highlights just from this album…I really enjoyed Violet Rays, My Love is Winter and Oceania.  Plus, it was great to see that the Chimaera kicked things off into high gear like it was 1993 all over again.  The crowd was loving it.

Billy Corgan of TSP
The rest of the night was spent living a dream of seeing the Pumpkins in full form again.  They started off with a really great cover of Space Oddity and then ripped into X.Y.U.  I never thought I would ever see this gem again in my life!  I really enjoy how the Pumpkins have been reissuing their old albums as they tend to play the hits from the old albums depending on the next one coming out.  Incidentally, Mellon Collie is the next one up so there was a ton of Mellon Collie songs being played this night…XYU, Tonight, Tonight, Bullet, Zero…good times were had by all!

The encore punch of Ava Adore, Cherub Rock and Zero blew everyone away and the crowd was clamouring for more!  The band mentioned that this was one of the best crowds they had seen…at least in Canada (must have been a snide remark at Toronto the week before!)

The Pumpkins are back!  2.5 hours of their Oceania tour is definitely a ‘must-see’.  I haven’t seen a better tour since the Mellon Collie tour, and that was with Kevin up in the nosebleed sections back at the Maple Leaf Gardens – September 14, 1996.

Etienne and I had a great time and we had a good laugh driving back through the sketchy area of Montreal on the way back home.  Thank you road construction!  We were back on track eventually and drove home in awe of what we just witnessed.

Setlist (from spfc.org)

Encore:

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Babysitting Mackenzie

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of babysitting two year old Mackenzie, the daughter of Emilie and Ryan. Emilie was in town to help out with Vero’s cousin Melissa’s bachelorette party so it was up to me to keep an eye on Mac.

First order of business, dump out the hot tub water! The ladies were excited to have a hot tub that night, and I filled it with well water the week before, only to discover that a rusty looking film coated the entire hot tub after a few days! I tried to remove it with chemicals, but to no avail so it was time to get the water out, scrub it down and hopefully have a tub of hot water ready for the evening’s activities! Luckily it all worked out. Future Note: Don’t use the well water to fill the hot tub!

Second order of business, take care of Mac. Luckily for me, as soon as Mackenzie woke up from her nap (which Emilie said she woke up early from), she was crying her head off. Bonus! It’s like I won the lottery! No matter, this did not bother me. I know kids cry. I also had a hunch that this would be my life for the rest of the Saturday considering kids like their Moms and Dads rather than handsome strangers.

First order of business, get the kid back under control! I thought maybe taking a time-out of all the hustle and bustle was in order so we went down to the piano and I started practicing my scales and Crocodile Rock (yes, I’m learning this great song on piano!). Mac seemed to quiet down with the sounds of the piano and we played a duet once in awhile which sounded like someone sat on the keys. Fun times! She then chilled out in her playpen for a bit while I practiced the intro part of C.Rock.

Afterwards, it was snack time! Grapes, granola bars and crackers were the order of business! I find children fascinating. I have no idea what they are thinking. It frustrates me to no end! I want to know “Do you want to eat this? What do you want to do?” I feel that it’s a guessing game.

Pass the grapes? No.
Pass the crackers? No.
Pass the granola bar. Bingo.

As she eats the granola bar, I’m wondering if the kid is going to choke at one point (I wonder if Emilie is reading this right now in horror) and then I decided that maybe it’s best to just give her a piece at a time instead of allowing her to shove it all in whenever she feels like.

Then all of a sudden, crackers are her new best friend! Forget about granola, goldfish crackers are the new thing on the block!

After sitting there for quite a bit of time, I think she gave up so it was time to hit the road on this beautiful fall day.

First up: Get the stroller in action! I couldn’t figure out how to lock it in place so it kept collapsing in on itself. I thought maybe if Mac sat in it, it would work itself out, but it just looked like the stroller swallowed her whole. That wasn’t going to work. I finally found the lock and we were in business! And that business was heading to the park!

The stroller is interesting in that I could already see that I would hate using this stroller every day. My feet kept walking into the back wheels and I had to hunch down to grab the handles. So I guess when it’s time to go stroller shopping, it’s all about the test drive. But in borrowing one for the day, it’s not a big deal.

When arriving at the park, I saw a swing. No, I’m not dumb enough to throw a 2 year old onto the big kid swing. I found the one that they can sit comfortably in. I did read the warning label and figured she was old enough. Unfortunately, I think she didn’t know how high the thing was and started to cry, so that was the end of that. I did manage to snap a photo of her before the tears started falling.

A quick stop at the community mailbox and we were back home playing in the leaves! Throwing leaves in the air, rolling in the leaves, making a fort..it was all good fun…for me! Mac just sat there wondering what the heck I was doing. I realized maybe it was time to go inside.

The rest of the afternoon was spent playing piano, drums and guitar to see which she would prefer. I don’t think she’s into the drums considering the sticks kept going for my face.

Unfortunately for us, fun time was over when the girls came back and Mom came down and visited while I was showing her how to dance to some Cat Stevens. After that point, Mackenzie had a keen sense that her mom was upstairs for the rest of the night. The evening was spent crying for Mom and crawling over to the door going upstairs. No matter! I can fend against cries of children! I tried everything in my power, but nothing would stop her.

In the end, it was 8:30 and it was time for bed and she conked out. Emilie said she was probably just super tired from new surroundings, all the attention, trip in the car from Barrie.

All in all, a fun time had with the Mac and me! I must admit that it’s frustrating when you don’t know what the heck a kid wants. I can only assume that as a parent, you just figure these things out as you go along, but man, it must be frustrating when you first start out!

Would I do it again? Of course! Kids are cool.

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Concert Reviews

Review: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band – Scotiabank Place

Bruce earned the name Boss after his show in Ottawa on Friday night!  He showed us all how it’s done.

The evening started out sampling some fine beers over at Andre and Karilee’s place along with some excellent dinner.  Trish showed up after work and we hit the road around 6:30, thinking we would avoid all the traffic.

While it was a little busy on the Queensway, it was nothing compared to the time spent at the exit of the highway to the venue where we spent a solid hour inching 5 kilometers.  Horrible traffic!  Andre was losing it!  Turns out that the show was sold out with 19,000 people so I can understand the delays!

We managed to arrive before the show started and made it to the floor which was more packed than I have ever witnessed.  We ended up back near the sound booth which was fine by us.  We settled in but ended up in some high traffic areas (especially when they managed to put a barrier up near us which diverted traffic) which resulted in Andre and Karilee headed back and Trish and I heading forward until we found a spot near some Born in the USA-era teenagers…sleeveless jean jackets (from the LCBO!) and red bandanas abound!  Amazing!

Preface: I don’t know much Springsteen.  I have listened to his first five albums in preparation for the concert but I’m definitely not a connoisseur.  While that may bother some people, I am not bothered by hearing some excellent tunes being played by a solid band.

The show started out with the house lights on (I’m always a fave of that move) and it didn’t let up for the rest of the night.

 

  1. The Promised Land
  2. The Ties That Bind
  3. No Surrender – Andre got his wish and heard his favourite song.
  4. Hungry Heart – So let’s put this in perspective.  Bruce Springsteen is the same age as my Dad.  He proceeds to go crowd-surfing while singing Hungry Heart.  This guy is amazing!
  5. We Take Care Of Our Own
  6. Wrecking Ball
  7. Death To My Hometown
  8. My City Of Ruins
  9. Spirit In The Night
  10. E Street Shuffle
  11. Jack Of All Trades
  12. Prove It All Night (1978 intro)
  13. Candy’s Room
  14. Darlington County
  15. Shackled and Drawn
  16. Waiting on a Sunny Day – I’m not sure if this is a classic move on their part, but they brought up two kids on stage who sang along with the chorus.  It was awesome.  I also loved how one kid hogged the mic from his little brother!  Ha ha.  At one point, Bruce whispers into the kids ear and then the kid yells out “Come on E Street Band!  Is that all you got?!” (or something to that effect!).
  17. Drive All Night
  18. The Rising
  19. Badlands
  20. Thunder Road

Encore:

  1. Queen of the Supermakert – A request from the crowd from a girl who works at Sobey’s.
  2. We Are Alive
  3. Born To Run
  4. Glory Days
  5. Dancing In The Dark
  6. Tenth Avenue Freeze-out – With a nice homage to Clarence at the end which drew cheers from the crowd forever.

 

A three hour show ending with these solid four tunes was amazing and the crowd was loving it.  The band has some hardcore fans who knew every word to every song and I was loving every moment of it.  I can see why he has such an amazing fanbase…they take requests, they interact with the audience a lot, they change up the setlist every night.

A killer show put on by the Boss and the E Street Band.  If you want to see a great show, it’s due time you check this talented band out!

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Good Tunes

I’m sitting at the Royal Oak waiting for Mike and Vero and I’ve heard No Sugar Tonight and Go Your Own Way played so far. Is my alter ego behind the playlist? What’s next? Pumpkins?

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King’s Quest Find on Kijiji

As you may or may not know, I am a big fan of the old Sierra computer games, King’s Quest, Police Quest, <insert name> Quest.  They were great games to grow up with.  Many a day were spent on the Tandy 1000 trying to figure out how to beat King’s Quest.

Years ago, I lost my copy of the King’s Quest Collection.  I still remember picking that up on a trip to Toronto when I was a kid and showing up at Nanny Ruth’s place with it, just marvelling at the packaging and the user manuals because I had to wait a few weeks until getting home to actually use it!

Always on the lookout, I wasn’t prepared to pay $80 on Ebay for it, but lo and behold, Kijiji was my friend in the past few weeks and I managed to find a copy for $10 in Peterborough!  Luckily, Krista’s parents live there so within 12 hours that as well as the Space Quest collection were mine for $20.  They are in excellent condition and I’m pumped!

Alas, I didn’t have much luck on the Kings Quest 3 front.  I found a listing in London so I had Troy pick it up for me for $8.  In the end, it came in a box with all the manuals, but the slipcover was missing.  The guy did throw in the disks for KQ4 for free so I can’t complain for $8.

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Thanksgiving in London

Not sure if this will be the start of a great tradition, but so far I am enjoying it.  This year, Vero and I decided to go visit Connie and Troy in London for a few reasons.

1 – They are great company.

2 – Turkey would be served.

3 – They have really great kitchen mats to sink your feet into.

4 – Get some recording done in the Red Room.

5 – It was due time to see them!!!

The trip down on Saturday morning was uneventful and we were glad we weren’t going Eastbound on the 401 because I swear there must have been an accident that held up traffic for 100kms!

We pulled into London and caught up on what we’ve been up to for a bit until Troy and I snuck off into the Red Room (aka his recording studio) so we would exchange movies/tv shows/music.  We then jammed on a few new tunes that he’s been working on…a lot of Dave Matthews tunes that came off great on the first try and we even threw in Superstition there for good measure.

That night, we had a lovely feast of spaghetti and wine.  J. Loch reigns supreme!!!  We also checked out C-Diddy’s rise to air guitar fame in the film ‘Air Guitar Nation’.  It is an excellent film to kick back and have a few laughs.  Not as awesome as Animal House or Guy Terrifico though!  Seek those films out!!!

The next morning we headed down to The Early Bird which was basically my idea of awesome.  They had concert posters and music memorabilia all over the place.  The portions were large and scrumptious and the staff were amazing (and doubled at the bar next door during the evenings).  I had a great smoked meat sandwich while the others munched on a variety of items that filled us up to the point of thinking “We have to eat turkey later today?!”

When we got home, I showed the song I wrote for Vero to Troy and Connie and applause was heard down the street.  I’m glad that everyone approves, but I’m super glad that Vero approves of the song.  Connie had some reservations about me singing about Vero having a head like a mule, but that’s a minor point!

Troy and I ended up recording an acoustic version of the song and he laid down some amazing harmonies over top my vocals.  I’m really impressed with how it came out and Troy added a lot of little things that made the song stand out.

After the greatest turkey dinner I have ever eaten (stufffffinngggg), we settled down to relax and digest this great bird in our stomachs.  I believe the stuffing it was made the meal and I still can’t believe that Troy hates stuffing.

During the day, we ended up watching the documentary of Lemmy Killmeister as well as a documentary on Tom Petty which were both pretty great.  The Tom Petty one was 4 hours long so we didn’t end up watching even half of it before we passed out!

All in all, it was a trip which Vero and I love…relaxing with good company and good food.  Plus getting a little recording in never hurts!

Special thanks to Connie and Troy for the excellent hospitality, the gifts on our bed, and overall, a great experience.

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Beaus Oktoberfest 2012

oktoberfest

Beaus Oktoberfest 2012 was the highlight of my autumn. The weather was gorgeous for the first time ever which made the beers flow. Too bad they flowed a little too much for me and I left the grounds a broken man! But no worries, the road leading up to it was fantastic.

First stop was the brewery so I could pile the trunk full of beer. I got a few jugs of the Nightmarzen (my fave seasonal choice) as well as a sixer of select Wild Oats. I especially enjoyed the artwork of Dark Helmut so I decided to pick up a poster as well! Let us not forget the Oktoberfest mug. It was ceramic this year (not unlike last year). I have to say, I really enjoy my glass mug from two years ago more than the ceramic ones.

Guillaume, Andreane, Vero and I donned our Oktoberfest hats and entered the fairgrounds. We stumbled into Maren, Allan-Paul, Whitney and Christian whom we chatted with for a few minutes before heading off to get some beer tokens and check out the keg toss. The keg toss is always a fan-favourite activity to watch as they have both women/men divisions in the distance and vertical distance challenge!

Mike and Rachel showed up later in the afternoon as well as Krista, Jill, Ryan and Julie. There were tons of people I saw throughout the day, including Martin and Vero who turned out to be the stars of the event!

There were people getting their head shaved for cancer. Martin decided to trade in his Tarzan locks for a Professor Xavier look. I went up on stage with him to hold/feed him beer while he got his head shaved off. Kudos to Martin for doing this! I believe we raised $300 from the crowd to go through with it. Then, when it was all done, they asked for other volunteers and his girlfriend Vero jumped up on stage and said she would do it! Incredible! In the end, I believe we got $200 for her hair and they both can keep each other warm during the winter months. Two large thumbs up for the both of them.

The night descended into an evening of beer and more beer and before you knew it, I was back home after my lovely wife dragged my ass out of there. Mental note for next year: These are not 5% beers you are drinking!

Best Oktoberfest yet. For those of you who have not been yet, what are you waiting for?

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Lynn’s 60th Birthday

Vero and I headed out to Perth, ON after work on Friday to celebrate Uncle Lynn and Greg and Aunt Mariette’s birthdays. Mental note for the future: It does not make much sense to try and get across the city during rush hour on a Friday. Vero and I ended up arriving an hour later than expected!

Other than the fact that Uncle Greg and Aunt Mariette didn’t show up until the day after, we had a lovely time over at Lynn and Sue’s place. It was a smorgasbord of food, nothing too formal about it…which is exactly how it should be when visiting friends and family! We met a few people we had not met before and at one point in the night I was described as being quite similar to Uncle Greg. I took that as a compliment (but I would never let him know that).

After a few munchies (and some amazing boneless chicken wings that Uncle Johnny brought), Lynn and I started a fire and it was a perfect night with the moon and the fire out to celebrate sixty years on this Earth.

SUPER THANKS to Uncle Greg and Aunt Mariette for the wedding gift in the form of a Patterson-made rocking chair! It literally rocks! Ha ha. It’s a really great gift that we already have fallen in love with. I can’t get Vero out of it! Coupled with the amazing blanket that Lynn and Sue made us, I see no reason to leave this one spot in our living room for the rest of our lives.

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Apple TV Thoughts

There have been rumours of Apple creating a high definition TV in the future.

Sure, it’s possible, but how are they going to make it DIFFERENT?

I think I stumbled onto a theory yesterday when I was interacting with my iTunes library via my iPad last night.

The iPad has a REMOTE application which allows you to see exactly what you see on your itunes library. So instead of taking my keyboard and mouse (caveat: my computer is hooked up to my television), I can grab my iPad, click on the REMOTE app and I see my iTunes library. I can control things like changing the song, putting up neat graphics on my tv screen, etc. The interface is super simple and it’s just so much easier using your finger on a screen than using a mouse. It’s intuitive.

Then it got me thinking about the Apple TV. What if Apple is going to release a TV with the iPad as a remote? You could either use your existing one, or perhaps for another $200 you could purchase the TV with the kickass remote control unit? Or maybe they will even go crazier and say “Buy the Apple TV and we throw in an iPad for free to use.” This could be possible considering the iPad mini concept starting to gain traction. Imagine a little iPad for you to use as a remote control? The possibilities are endless.

This would be television as we know it on its head. No longer would we be limited to rudimentary controls on the remote control to handle complex navigation (everyone remember setting a timer on a vcr? Imagine that as an application built into your iPad? I guess it would be similar to PVR right now.)