Category: Uncategorized

http://www.jasonmulgrew.com/content/blog_archive.php?bid=506
(warning, not for the faint of heart)

Excellent find by Krista!

I’m pretty pissed at myself because I forgot to get Coldplay tix on Saturday. I found out the hard way.

Checking phone msgs…
Benoit: “Hey Ryan! I read on your blog that you’re going to get tix to Coldplay! Give me a call. I want in.”
Ryan (looking at his watch and realizing it’s 8 hours after they went on sale): “SONOFA!”

So, needless to say, even with them opening up ANOTHER date in Toronto due to the impressive ticket sales, I got nothing. This is the second time on the Twisted Logic tour that I missed out.

Woe is really me. Sure, I see a lot of other bands, but I was REALLY wanting to see Coldplay.

Went to Cora’s with Maren, Christina and Jeff who just got back from Europe. Envy! Cora’s is good, but for a guy who doesn’t really care for breakfast, it irks me to pay a lot for something I really don’t care about. Give the man a sandwich any day!

Spent the afternoon hanging up my Christmas lights outside as well as going shopping with Shannon. He did well, but I only managed to pick up something for my sister. All in good time. I’m all about Amazon.ca this year. I think I’ve put in four orders to them so far. As long as you are over $39, it’s all good (aka free shipping). I think I’ve got Mom hooked on it. I’m glad, because living in the North offers little selection.

Can I just note that my new vice in life is Hot Apple Cider? YUM!

I must say that my Christmas lights look pretty sharp. I didn’t know how they would turn out, but I can’t complain. Although I swear some of them are blue. An odd colour. I am trying to figure out when to unplug them…should I leave them on all night long or should I unplug them before going to bed? Economically, before bed sounds about right. PLUS, everyone is asleep during the night, so who cares if they are on?

Heads up: If anyone knows how to print off panoramic shots…you know, the ones you stitch together…I want to print one off but am unsure of how that works in the land of printing out digital photos.

Did I mention I’m going to see U2 with Joelle this Friday. Awwww yeah.

There are times in life where you realize you should bring a camera with you at all times. Saturday was one of those times.

Saturday morning – Went out with Shannon to his property where he placed a few trailers together along with a sun deck. Pretty sweet location if you ask me. Out in the middle of Quebec wilderness along with his own private lake. Divine.

The reason for going up was to go to the other side of the lake and pick up the canoe which was stuck over there. Sadly enough, when we got there, we discovered the canoe had blown into the bay/swampy area.

We’re men, so as all men think, we won’t just leave until Spring. We examine the lake and realize there is at an inch of ice formed, so we decide to brave it across. Worst case scenario – fall into about three feet of freezing water.

Being the gallant fellow that Shannon is, he volunteers to go across the ice while I get to hold the rope on the shore. We decide to go to the other side of the lake where there is more swamp (aka, more tufts of grass poking out of the ice which will be nice to step on). We tie the rope to the ladder he will use to distribute the weight across the ice.

Off he goes. I pack my items into my jacket in case I have to make a split second dive into the water to save him. At least I can throw my jacket to the shore with my wallet.

Not suprisingly, Shannon has no problems whatsoever getting to the canoe. At one point he was on his own since the rope was too short to go to the middle of the lake.

I trekked to the other side, grabbed the ladder which he flung across the ice and watched as he canoed across the ice back home.

Men at work.

Went to Peggy’s for a good club sandwich, and caught the ferry across to Ottawa. Excellent! I’ve never been on the ferry here so I was excited. I must appear funny to Shannon as he has probably done this trek a billion times, but to me, being on the water is enthralling.

Saw a dozen wild turkey run across the road as we drove to Constance Bay. Met up with Maureen and her father as we checked out a hall and church for Shannon and Maureen’s wedding. It was a decent location. It’s interesting to see all the thoughts that go into a wedding and how much prep time is needed.

Went back into Ottawa and watched the hockey game with Shannon and Maureen and headed home.

All in all, a most EXCELLENT day. Too bad I didn’t have my camera! We could have made a mini-movie out of the stunts we pulled that day.

http://rochman.blogspot.com/
Check out Matt’s blog for a recap of Friday night’s poker game. I was impressed with how well I played. However, it’s all about the cards you are dealt and Dave dealt really shitty once it came down to Shannon and I.

Also went to the 67’s game Friday night which was fun. Beer and peanuts are the way to go at a hockey game. ACTUALLY, let’s talk about peanuts for a moment. They are the ultimate snack. It takes you effort to eat them, so you don’t eat much. It strengthens your thumb muscles. It helps you drink less beer at a hockey game (ideal for the guys who drive there).

Two (well used) thumbs up.

http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/2005/11/20/1315314-ap.htm

Interesting article on John Lennon.

Yesterday was an awful day for weather…I was stuck in both snow, freezing rain and rain at various times yesterday. It felt good to get home at night and do the running man in my bed.

Woke up in a nice toasty house. That’s what life is all about. Waking up with some socks on your feet because it was freaking cold and then getting up to warm heat waves hitting your body.

Going to see Aerosmith and Lenny Kravitz tonight which should be great! Also, I picked up the U2 tix the other day, and even though they are the worst seats in the world (aka nosebleed section), I cannot knock free tix. Actually, Joelle and I are thinking of going to a scalper and upgrading to floor tix. Heck, why not?

Random things that are keeping me having an excellent day so far:
– James creating a survey on Holly-isms
– Getting paid
– Reading my Dune book
– Thinking about Christmas holidays coming up
– Not looking at my credit card statement

I like to think it’s the little things in life that make me happy. ACTUALLY, this brings up an excellent lecture I was at last night on Advertising.

Supposedly, a survey was made on what people cherish most (aka material items vs. immaterial items) and of course, the immaterial items won out (aka, love, companionship, healthy lifestyle, good friends, yada yada yada) but then it goes to talk about how there are so many advertisements out there than ever before and how this has become a very material world.

My favourite part of the night was when they were talking about DeBeers and how they started the slogan for diamonds – “Diamonds are Forever.”. Well, during the 30s, people were selling off their diamonds for cash so they had to think of a way for that not to happen anymore. So they started the Diamonds are Forever campaign. Essentially, never sell your diamonds because you can pass them on to family members. Hence, they can sell a whole lot more original stock since no one resells them.

This was an interesting point brought up because a) No one in the class could admit that they would ever part with their diamonds and b) It shows how advertising has influenced us.

In reality, diamonds are just another material possession. I buy a car for $25K and then I try and sell it years later. Why? Why not keep it? Cars are forever? Alright, bad example, cars break down.

What about all the junk which is in your house right now, but at the moment, you just HAD to have it? It was interesting for the teacher to imply that diamonds are just another material object that people implant thoughts into your brain about.

One woman even said that for her, diamonds represent a good, solid, healthy relationship between your partner. Well, the diamond companies really did their work on that one! (at this point in my rant, I’m not knocking anyone who have bought diamond rings for their loved ones for a marriage. Heck, I’ll be doing it also.) Shouldn’t our emotions and actions show that we have a good, solid, healthy relationship and not a rock? I guess a diamond is to represent this bond between two people.

That’s great and all, but what if I chose to get my wife a necklace, or a colour bracelet (like everyone has nowadays) to show my love for her, and she wore it until the day she died? Is there anything wrong with that? Sure there is…people would look at us like we were freaks!

Why?

Because advertising tells us so.

I find the lecture on advertising an interesting one because a) I think a LOT of us realize what advertising does (or attempts to do) to us and b) There is no B.

Go here.

Boom.

There’s goes the profits you money-mongers.

Verdict: Tenant in the right, Landlord in the wrong.

Result: $120 to replace groceries, $30 for beer.

What the heck am I talking about?

In short, a week after I moved out of Beverley House, the landlord phoned Carrie to see if it’s alright to come and clean up the kitchen. No problem!

Problem is that Carrie came home to find all the contents of the cupboards in a box, as well as all food from the fridge thrown into garbage bags. We’re talking condiments, frozen food (gone bad by this point of course), recently cooked stuff, juice, you name it, it was there.

So of course retaliation is in order but it turns out that the landlord doesn’t think he did anything wrong since he had to make the place presentable for potential tenants. I suppose he forgot that we are doing him a favour by letting him into the place before we move out, and…oh yes, the most important thing: Carrie is still living there, hence she needs food to survive.

Anyhow, the landlord didn’t budge so we went to the Housing Tribunal this morning where we got some free legal advice from an Ottawa U student (awesome! Thanks Mark!) as well as went to a mediator instead of having to go in front of the court. The landlord wouldn’t budge while talking with the mediator, but after she spoke to him alone, we came back in and he offered to pay $150 which we gladly accepted.

Lesson #1 Learned: Did you know that legal advice is free in a lot of places? Bring it to the University’s if you need to! They handle tenant cases a lot of the time.

In the end, justice prevailed. We are happy with the result, although are still baffled as to how someone could manage to believe they have the right to do something like that to us. All along, we were just trying to be nice and let them work on the house before we left.

Lesson #2 Learned: When it comes to landlords and tenants, sometimes it doesn’t pay to be nice.

Someone just called me Scrooge because I did not wish to partake in:

a) Helping out at a soup kitchen
b) Going carolling

before/during/after a Christmas party I’m holding.

Their reason for calling me Scrooge was this: “Because you don’t want to do a charity thing…”

I know this person does not have ill intentions at saying this, but at the same time, I have to wonder, does everyone automatically feel this way when you approach them with a charitable idea and you kindly refuse because you either

a) Have other plans
b) Do your own charity thing throughout the Holidays

Just because someone says they are not interested in helping out does not mean that they don’t want to do charity things.

Now I’m in a position where I feel like a Scrooge, but at the same time, I don’t feel like I have to rhyme off every good thing I do for charity just to prove a point.

Lesson Learned: Don’t call anyone Scrooge (unless their name is actually Scrooge. Or if they blatantly tell you that they abhor charity work and do not believe in helping others. That’s just plain mean. They really ARE Scrooge!)