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“I haven’t gone to bed at 6AM since college!” – Mike

The Christmas party was a resounding success once again.  Lots of prep work takes over our lives the week before, but it pays off.

I even managed to stay relatively sober to witness the fruits of our labour!

We’re really liking the new house (is it new after 1.5 years?) for hosting Christmas parties.  You have the kitchen/living room combo upstairs where the action is, the basement for the calmer party watching the hockey game and the garage to keep the beer cold.  Coupled with some Christmas tunes playing in the background, a table full of amazing treats brought from everyone (thanks to everyone who brought treats.  You are amazing.), and a leg lamp in the window.

Some of you readers may not have been to a Palmer/Cantin/Losier Christmas party so here’s the basic lay of the land:

7PM – Start time!
8PM – Trying to find room for everyone’s beer.
9PM – Trying to find room for everyone’s boots.
10PM – Christmas Trivia!
12AM – Ugly Sweater Winner – Steve and Isabelle took the prize this year!  Well done!
12 – 1AM – Gift Exchange

Christmas trivia is a big hit.  It consists of guys vs. girls trivia with the winning team taking home bragging rights and the trivia cup for the entire year.  This year I think everyone can agree that the questions were a little too hard.  In the end, out of 12 questions, I believe the guys got five right and the girls got one right.  Krista made a good suggestion that for the harder questions, we should offer up multiple choice.  I agree.  It’s hard to gauge how hard to make the questions each year.  Some may think that the questions should be easy…but with 25 people on each team, you have to think that there are 25 brains that may have a nugget of knowledge that will correctly answer the question.  You have to make the questions hard.  In the end, I am proud of the guys pulling through and answering five questions correctly!

Lately we have been coupling the question period with a few challenges.  This year I must admit that I had a lot of fun creating the two of them.

Christmas Carol Snippet Trivia: Armed with a CD of 13 songs in 10 seconds snippets, I played the CD for everyone and the teams had to guess a) the Artist singing the song and b) the song name.  One point for each correct answer with a total of 26 possible points.  I had put some easy ones (Elvis – Blue Christmas) to obscure (Rob Thomas – A New York Christmas) and for the most part, ensured that at the very least, you could have an easy time identifying the artist or song title, but not the other.  For example, Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins has a very distinctive voice, but it’s hard to know that the song he sings is called ‘Christmastime’.  In the end, the guys squeaked by with 17 possible answers compared to the ladies 15!  Well done guys!  Special thanks to Trish, Benoit and Aaron who were good sports about being omitted from the challenge since I took a bunch of carols from Trish’s Christmas compilation!

Angry Birds: Everyone was looking forward to some turkey bowling (as per last year) but alas, there was no snow in the driveway, and besides, I don’t like to bring back a challenge for sheer popularity…it’s our mission to make an even greater challenge!  Earlier in the week someone at the lunch table at work stumbled upon a grand idea…create a real-life Angry Birds with a flying turkey!  The wheels starting churning and Vero and Mike got together to figure out how we would make this happen.

Vero had a great idea that we could use the hammock stand as a launching structure for the slingshot.  We then coupled a couple of tie-downs along with an inner tube for bike tire.  Mike found an old washing detergent jug that we cut up so it could act as the part where you place the turkey inside.  Let’s be honest, there were a few concessions we had to make from the get-go.  One being that it would never hold a full-sized turkey.  So we settled on a small chicken.

We started the slingshot off with a baseball and gave it a tug.  Unfortunately it just didn’t have enough force and the ball would dribble out a few feet.  I was not impressed.  However we then realized that we just needed more elasticity so we tied a few bungee cords to the pail and that definitely gave the slingshot it’s much needed power!  The baseball was definitely launching it a good ten feet, but still without some much needed force to take down an entire target.

We decided to call it a night and sleep on it.  Something would trigger in our brains.

In the end, nothing really popped into our brains so we spent the next evening making the contraption quite solid and less prone to error.  We didn’t want something shooting and taking someone’s eye out like Ralphie in the Christmas Story!  I was warning people at the party that we made our challenge quite safe but we would need some safety goggles.  I got some interesting looks when I said that!

We brought the slingshot into the backyard and set up some empty boxes about 10 feet away.  It was hard to settle on a structure that we liked so we decided to leave that choice to the night of the party.  We had some floodlights and track lighting in the backyard and away we went in testing it.  A few tries had the ball sailing into the trees (which Mike had a fun time fishing out!) but then we connected with the boxes.  BLAMMO!  Good solid hit and we had big smiles on our faces.  This was going to work.

In the end, I would like to think that everyone had a great time with the Angry Birds game.  Each box that hit the ground was worth one point.  In the end, the girls ended up with 32 points and the guys had something like 24 points.  We had the choice of a baseball or a turkey fillet!  Mern tried the turkey fillet and actually made it work to the cheers of the crowds!  I’m also happy that we had the campfire going to keep the masses warm while they waited to play.

In a skewed move on my part, I had allowed the trivia cup to be won by the team who had the biggest cummulative score (trivia points + challenges).  This was an oversight on my part because in the end, we awarded the cup to the ladies but really, the guys had kicked their asses in the majority of the entire trivia cup challenge from their sheer awesome brain power.  Interestingly enough, the trivia cup actually went missing by the time of awarding the prizes and to this day, I still believe that divine intervention made the cup disappear as it knew that the scoring was flawed and the guys should have won.  I’m sticking with that theory!

The rest of the night brought the gift exchange were there were tons of great gifts this year…heck, Andre even got a griddle!  Vero and I walked out with some excellent wooden coasters (that mysteriously look like pork chops).

The party was still going strong for quite awhile and in the end, it was Mike and I left on the couch watching National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation with a beer in our hand.  I knew it was time to go to bed when I heard snoring next to me and there was Mike with beer in hand fast asleep.  The clock said 5:30 when I hit the sack and Mike said he managed to wake up, finish his beer and hit the hay around 6AM.  Excellent party indeed!

Thanks to everyone who showed up to the party and helped out.  We always appreciate seeing everyone before everyone hightails it out to their respective Christmas events, and it’s amazing how many people come together and help out in any way they can.

Notes for future:
– Ensure more multiple choice
– Ensure scoring doesn’t allow one challenge to win the entire game!
– Food turnout was great.  Continue to ask a few select people to bring in larger items (jambalaya, wings, chili, etc.)
– Apple cider was a big hit this year.  Didn’t get around to Gluhwein.  If we need to make it, do it before the trivia challenge.
– Stereo upstairs worked great.  Used small speakers.
– Need to decorate a little downstairs.
– Campfire was great but unsure if it will work in the future if there is snow.
– Don’t forget to tell people there are lawn chairs!  Had forgotten some that were set out near the garden so no one knew of them.
– Don’t forget the eggnog for Duncan in the fridge next year!

UPDATE:
Totally forgot the best part of the Christmas party. Rachel brought out the saxaphone during Angry Birds and played some Careless Whisper. Inspiration from this comes from this amazing video:

Originally I was going to write a review of the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson.  But in the end, I can sum it up by saying it was an amazing read and if you have ANY interest in how one man changed so many technological aspects of our lives as we know it, then it’s an insightful read.

But let me get to another point altogether that I spoke about with Sue the other night.

I read this book on the iPad.  That’s right…I took the plunge.  I actually have the physical copy sitting on my favourite reading spot in the house, but I believe I only read the introduction of the book and that’s about it.  That was on a Saturday.

What to do on the Monday morning when I’m leaving for work?  I looked at this weighty tome and thought “Wow.  I do NOT need to be carrying that onto the bus every day for the next few months.”  What options are available to me?

Benoit had emailed me a digital copy of the book and I thought “There’s something sweet about reading a book about Steve Jobs on the very device of his that I love (the iPad).”

So I started my foray into e-reading.  I had dabbled a little in the past.  Comic books mostly…a Sherlock Holmes chapter here and there…I was familiar with some functionality.

But this was 1000 pages of intense reading…on the bus each day for a good solid 30 minutes each way.

And in the end…it wasn’t that bad at all.

Yes, I had cringed at the thought of reading a book on a technological device.  What about the feel of a book in my hand?  What about reading outside?  Would that be a pain in the ass?  What about bookmarks?  Who wants bookmarks to become obsolete! 

Here’s some points of discovery on my part:

Convenience: This is a no brainer.  Did I want to lug a brick around every day with me for a few months, or did I want something a little more convenient?  I already carry my iPad everywhere I go.  Placing a book within it’s memory banks only takes up virtual space, not space in my man purse.

Reading Outside: I would be so engrossed in my book that I would read it from the bus station to my car.  I had to crank up the brightness on the screen (I tend to have it very low to conserve battery power) but in the end, it was good to read.  However, I wonder how it would be on a sunny day on the patio.  Something tells me that the glare from the screen would get on my nerves.  This is definitely one reason that people opt for either a regular book, or an e-ink reader such as the Kindle.  But in the end, it really didn’t do harm to me as I read most of the book on the bus.

Dictionary: The most amazing feature (yet so simple!) while reading the book was the ability to click on a word and look it up in a dictionary!  There were a few words that I had to use this feature on and I thought of how much simpler this would make my life if I could read a French book and have the French dictionary hooked up to it.  I shall have to give it a try to see if it can work that way.

Adding Notes: I don’t know about you, but when I was younger and in school, I hated the thought of running a highlighter through my books, or writing notes.  I did NOT want to harm the pages.  But in the virtual world, not a problem for me!  So if I saw a passage I found interesting, I highlighted it with my finger and added a little note.  What’s neat is that the Table of Content has a neat feature that not only allows you to skip through chapters, but also look at all your notes or bookmarks that you’ve placed in the book.

In the end, I did not mind my experience with the iPad one bit.  It really did not bother me.  So what does this mean for the future?  Unsure.  I have a hard time believing that I would simply purchase an e-book.  How could I lend that out to people?  What would I do with my awesome bookshelves if there were no books on them?  I think what books should do is offer up a free digital copy with the purchase of a hard copy.  Comic books are starting to roll this feature out and I think it’s fantastic.  I can read my book, put it into the box and if I am too lazy to pull it out of the box, I can just go read the e-version.

So if you have thought about reading a book on an iPad, I say go for it and see if you like it or not!  Don’t just stick to one chapter…read an entire book!  Report back!

Let’s chat a little about Movember, shall we?

So far, the PaLoLa Brewmeisters (pictured above) have obtained $2,071 collectively.  That is a great, great achievement, but it’s shy of our goal of $2,500 for the entire team.

We’re in our final week which means that our ‘staches are in full force at this point (well, for most of us!).  There have been some great events on my side of the world:

– The Mo’Sistas from work put on a bake sale for Movember.  I believe the final tally is around the $80 mark.  Thanks Mo’Sistas!

– The PaLoLa Brewmeisters held a fundraising party last Saturday (where the above picture was taken after a few beers consumed).  It was a good turnout and we made a chunk of change.  I personally had a great time making the ‘Famous Moustaches from History’ pictures that were around the house…pictures of Burt Reynolds, Ned Flanders and Tom Selleck were strewn about the house.

– This coming Saturday will be a fundraising concert at Aunt Dinah’s.  Sorry – Invite only!  But it should be a grand old time.

So with this being the final week, if you haven’t done so already and are planning to do so, please donate some hard-earned cash to the Movember campaign!  Let’s make this a year to remember!  I’m a little shy of my $1,000 donation goal so let’s make the final push!

Thanks to everyone!

For those of you who don’t know, I’m a bit of a geek.

Now the world will know how geeky I am.  Benoit and I have started to assemble a full-on Stormtrooper outfit.  Hopefully I’ll find a mannequin to put it onto and have in my basement.  Perhaps it will hold my remote controls.  Perhaps it will hang out and have a beer with me.  Perhaps you’ll see him in the hot tub.

Either way, I was quite excited when the Stormtrooper helmets came in.  I think it is great, hilarious, and all around a good time to own.  Next up…our actual armour is coming in next week!

That’s right, it’s Movember again and you know what that means! Women will swoon when they see upper lips standing up for a great cause across the Earth!

I, along with my fellow comrades in PaLoLa Brewmeisters http://www.movember.com/m/596270 will do our best to make sure men and women know about the Movember mo’vement, and hopefully help contribute to prostate cancer research.

All I ask for is a bit of your time (from time to time) to read my e-mails about the subject, and perhaps donate a few dollars towards my two goals: 1) To raise money towards prostate cancer research and promoting men’s health in general and 2) Beating Mike Losier’s goal of $1,062 last year! I am proud of what Mike accomplished last year, but I take it as a personal challenge!

If you want to donate to myself:
http://ca.movember.com/mospace/596270

or I think there is an option to Donate to Team somewhere and I highly encourage you to do so if you can’t choose who you want to donate to!  It all helps out the worthy cause!

If you donate to the Movember cause, I will also reveal to you the meaning behind the name Palola. Granted, some of you may already know this.

Finally, PaLoLa Brewmeister’s will be hosting a Movember themed Party near the end of the month and have brewed up a batch of beer specifically for the occasion available to anyone who contributes.  Stay tuned for updates and details.

Thanks for your support in this worthwhile cause!

Women in the streets are crying and now you know the reason why.

Vero and I are getting married.

No woman can resist a Palmer.

You ever have that moment during sleep that you can’t REALLY sleep because you’re afraid of missing your alarm clock?  That’s what happened to Vero and I on the train.  The train was stopping in Munich.  We had to get off at Ulm which was two hours before Munich.  I had visions of no wake-up call coming, no alarm clock going off…and us missing our stopover.

Interestingly enough, my iPad alarm did go off and I thought to myself “Very strange…where is our wake-up call?!”.  Not impressed!  Imagine if we didn’t set the alarm as a backup!  We got ready to hop off the train in 30 minutes and then the attendant noticed us up and about and let us know that they were delayed and that’s why they never bothered waking us up.  Doh!

Well alright, we sat around, had some breakfast that they provided (which was basically some bread and more bread from what I can remember).  The time approached and we finally brought our bags to the door ready to hop off.  I figured with so many travellers anxious to get to Munchen, they would just slow the train down so we could jump off!  But that was not the case.

However, as soon as we walk down the train platform a bit, we notice two other travellers trying to get out of another car and it’s just not happening!  They are frantically trying to open the door, and I try and open it from the outside, but to no avail.  Vero and I looked in shock as the train started to roll away and there were two guys just looking at us with horror that they could not get off at their stop!  Here’s to hoping they found their way back to Ulm!

It was quite early in the morning…6ish from what I can remember and we were already a good 50 minutes later than expected.  Poor Philipp was probably wondering where we were.  I saw his familiar walk down the platform and do not remember what I cried out, but I’m sure it was a brotherly call to arms (or beers)!  It was great seeing Philipp again…we hadn’t seen him since we were in Brazil together.  Latest update on Philipp is that he obtained employment with a company back in Germany and has moved to Ulm.  Erica has also moved to Germany where she will take classes to improve her German language and then she is completing some studies in Munich (I believe…details are a little fuzzy now.)

We threw our bags into Philipp’s rental car (hurray) and toured around the streets of Ulm and caught up while fighting off some sleep.  We arrived to his new apartment and found Erica excited to see us (as well as in some clothes that she had been wearing for a few days as her luggage had UNFORTUNATELY not made it from Brazil.  Pretty shocking considering she had packed her entire belongings.) and a nice breakfast set before us.

Let me tell you something I love about Germany…they share a love of the things I love…which is basically meat and beer.  Sure enough, spread out before us was an assortment of pastries and meat.  While I had already eaten some breakfast on the train, I could not pass up this treat!  I basically gained 17 lbs. by the time I left Germany.  I’m sure of it.  I think I had to pay for a larger seat on the plane.

Philipp’s apartment was fantastic.  It was like I saw a transformation from Philipp the student I have known all my life, to Philipp the professional.  His apartment was out of this world….leather couches, flat screen TV, hard wood furniture…all from Ebay!  Philipp has opened up my eyes to the powers of Ebay.  I never knew you could find amazing furniture on Ebay!  I had a great ongoing joke with him pointing out stuff and asking if it was from Ebay (like his mustard or whatnot).  Either way, it was like I was meeting a new man.

Speaking of this new man, he unfortunately had to run off to work for an important meeting with some clients.  I had originally set myself up with a movie to watch (Philipp and I share love for the same types of films) but in the end, I decided to get some shut-eye before he got home again.

The blinds in his apartment are yet another piece of German engineering that has probably been around for 100 years, but was the first time I had ever seen something like it.  Essentially, the blinds are built into the building, and you pull a cord on the inside and it descends a set of steel shutters.  When they get to the bottom, it is complete, complete darkness.  Even in the middle of the day!  Why do they not have this in Canada?!  Incredible.  I have a video of this somewhere.  It was better than the radio-controlled clock I found in 2005!

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More to come later.