I just finished watching the original 1962 version of The Manchurian Candidate. It is amazing! I was actually very impressed with a lot of the little filmmaking touches that they'd incorporated, given that it is a 42 year old film.
I'd be kind of interested to see the new remake, but I don't know how they'll pull it off. The original has all of the McCarthyist rhetoric and Cold War tension... I don't know how that'll work in the remake.
*shrug*
The DVD is also gorgeous, inasmuch as the crispness of the visuals and the quality of the audio. Go rent it!
Oh, and did I mention that Angela "Murder She Wrote" Lansbury is absolutely perfect as the villian in the original? She's just pure evil!
Saturday, July 31, 2004
Friday, July 30, 2004
VG Cats
I added a new webcomic to the sidebar there: The inestimable VG Cats. I haven't been to VGC in a while, but it is a gorgeous comic and usually pretty funny, at least if you get the videogame in-jokes :)
Hmm... I hadn't checked out Copper either, but I guess I will have to add it to my side-bar too... I have been reading Spells & Whistles for a bit as well, but hadn't quite made it one for the Sidebar... I think I was trying to keep it for myself :)
Hmm... I hadn't checked out Copper either, but I guess I will have to add it to my side-bar too... I have been reading Spells & Whistles for a bit as well, but hadn't quite made it one for the Sidebar... I think I was trying to keep it for myself :)
The Village
Tony & I went out to see The Village today. Tony's not a big horror movie fan and while I tried to get Julie to come, she only likes cheesy horror movies that are funny, not ones that are truly scary.
I have to say that The Village was a lot different than I expected. It was very good, and there were probably 3-4 twists to the plot throughout that I didn't expect, as opposed to Shamyalan's usual 1 big twist, but they were all unexpected and made perfect sense when you think back on the movie afterwards.
It wasn't as scary as I expected it to be, although there were a few startles. I'd probably characterize it as a character drama with a creepy monster subplot more than a scary horror movie. It's like Signs that way. Signs was a character drama that focused on faith and how one loses or keeps the faith more than it was an alien invasion movie. The Village was along the same lines.
Go see it though. You'll enjoy it if you liked The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable or Signs.
I have to say that The Village was a lot different than I expected. It was very good, and there were probably 3-4 twists to the plot throughout that I didn't expect, as opposed to Shamyalan's usual 1 big twist, but they were all unexpected and made perfect sense when you think back on the movie afterwards.
It wasn't as scary as I expected it to be, although there were a few startles. I'd probably characterize it as a character drama with a creepy monster subplot more than a scary horror movie. It's like Signs that way. Signs was a character drama that focused on faith and how one loses or keeps the faith more than it was an alien invasion movie. The Village was along the same lines.
Go see it though. You'll enjoy it if you liked The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable or Signs.
Thursday, July 29, 2004
Midnight Run
Well, we're going to Sarnia tonight, only we're leaving by midnight instead of having to deal with the morning traffic and weekenders on Friday. Plus I need to deliver the Spiglet to my mom's work before noon on Friday so she can show him off, so I'd rather get a bit of sleep in and not rush in the morning instead.
Yeah, that made sense...
Anyway, I'll be posting on the weekend should anything crazy arise. My big plans are to watch my classic 1962 'The Manchurian Candidate' DVD and play some Tales of Symphonia and maybe see The Village with Tony. I know Julie has a baby shower to go to on Saturday.
That's about it. Have a great weekend all!
Yeah, that made sense...
Anyway, I'll be posting on the weekend should anything crazy arise. My big plans are to watch my classic 1962 'The Manchurian Candidate' DVD and play some Tales of Symphonia and maybe see The Village with Tony. I know Julie has a baby shower to go to on Saturday.
That's about it. Have a great weekend all!
Here Sithy Sithy Sith
Mmm...
KOTOR 2 trailer...
Download now...
It's not actually THAT cool a trailer, but it does hint at some story points, which is cool.
I am going to have to work through KOTOR 1 as a dark Jedi and see how the game plays out when you're evil. I think I'm one of the few people who actually plays through these open-ended games as the good guy first, THEN goes bad... Go figure.
GUBOO!!!
KOTOR 2 trailer...
Download now...
It's not actually THAT cool a trailer, but it does hint at some story points, which is cool.
I am going to have to work through KOTOR 1 as a dark Jedi and see how the game plays out when you're evil. I think I'm one of the few people who actually plays through these open-ended games as the good guy first, THEN goes bad... Go figure.
GUBOO!!!
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Abba Babba Boo
Today we went on our big summer day trip at work. What did we do?
We took a limosine down to see Mamma Mia! It was great! I was especially happy because I was able to actually go on the limo trip this year.
The guys loved the show itself and the limo ride and dinner. They're all pretty big Abba fans so it was not too difficult to pick a show for them to go to this year.
The only snag was when we got to the theatre itself. We knew we had balcony seats but figured that it wouldn't be too bad. Once we got there we were informed that no, those weren't balcony seats... they were UPPER balcony seats.
So we went up to scope out the seats and that was when I realized we might have a problem with our more vertiginous fellas. Not only were the upper balcony seats rather high, they were also on such a steep angle that you pretty much required a sherpa to get you to your seat. I was expecting to see a base camp halfway down to our seats and a few mountain goats grazing on the way. Oh, and did I mention that the seats were second row from the front? Sigh...
We got most of the guys settled into their seats but had to do something about, oh, let's call him Mr. Jork. We talked with the staff at the theatre and unfortunately the show was sold out, but there was no way we were going to get him down to those seats. Not to fear. There was a monitor he could watch the show on in the second floor bar. Ok... So he did that for the first half of the first act with the other staff.
Then as I was watching the show with the other guys, I noticed Mr. Jork and the other staff appear, and in the box seats no less! All fears that Mr. Jork was scared of even being on the main balcony level were dispelled when I looked over at the end of the dance number that he came into the box at and saw him clapping and generally looking really happy.
He stayed there for the rest of the show, looking right pleased with himself and afterwards he just wouldn't stop talking about how he got to sit in the Queen's seat! He loved it, as did the other guys.
I just have to say that the staff at the Royal Alexandria theatre were stupendous and really helped us out. They could have been twits and just told us that we had to deal with the seats we'd payed for, but not only did they find us a spot for Mr. Jork at the last minute and with a sold out house, it was a box seat with an even better view than the balcony we were on!
As for the show, if you don't like Abba, I wouldn't recommend going. Otherwise, it's pretty funny and the songs are fun to clap along to. It was a little different than I expected it to be but it was still very enjoyable!
We took a limosine down to see Mamma Mia! It was great! I was especially happy because I was able to actually go on the limo trip this year.
The guys loved the show itself and the limo ride and dinner. They're all pretty big Abba fans so it was not too difficult to pick a show for them to go to this year.
The only snag was when we got to the theatre itself. We knew we had balcony seats but figured that it wouldn't be too bad. Once we got there we were informed that no, those weren't balcony seats... they were UPPER balcony seats.
So we went up to scope out the seats and that was when I realized we might have a problem with our more vertiginous fellas. Not only were the upper balcony seats rather high, they were also on such a steep angle that you pretty much required a sherpa to get you to your seat. I was expecting to see a base camp halfway down to our seats and a few mountain goats grazing on the way. Oh, and did I mention that the seats were second row from the front? Sigh...
We got most of the guys settled into their seats but had to do something about, oh, let's call him Mr. Jork. We talked with the staff at the theatre and unfortunately the show was sold out, but there was no way we were going to get him down to those seats. Not to fear. There was a monitor he could watch the show on in the second floor bar. Ok... So he did that for the first half of the first act with the other staff.
Then as I was watching the show with the other guys, I noticed Mr. Jork and the other staff appear, and in the box seats no less! All fears that Mr. Jork was scared of even being on the main balcony level were dispelled when I looked over at the end of the dance number that he came into the box at and saw him clapping and generally looking really happy.
He stayed there for the rest of the show, looking right pleased with himself and afterwards he just wouldn't stop talking about how he got to sit in the Queen's seat! He loved it, as did the other guys.
I just have to say that the staff at the Royal Alexandria theatre were stupendous and really helped us out. They could have been twits and just told us that we had to deal with the seats we'd payed for, but not only did they find us a spot for Mr. Jork at the last minute and with a sold out house, it was a box seat with an even better view than the balcony we were on!
As for the show, if you don't like Abba, I wouldn't recommend going. Otherwise, it's pretty funny and the songs are fun to clap along to. It was a little different than I expected it to be but it was still very enjoyable!
Garrett's First Word
Woot!
Garrett's not even 5 weeks old and he just said his first word.
"Guboo"
I have no idea what it means, but it sure wasn't a cry!
Garrett's not even 5 weeks old and he just said his first word.
"Guboo"
I have no idea what it means, but it sure wasn't a cry!
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Don't DVD & Drive
This takes the cake. This idiot is being charged with second-degree murder because he was watching a DVD on a dashboard mounted DVD player WHILE HE WAS DRIVING!
Well, that's not why he's being charged with murder...
It's the two people he crashed into and killed WHILE driving and watching Road Trip, of all movies... That's getting him charged with murder rather than just dangerous driving.
Sigh. Idiots, all of 'em!
Well, that's not why he's being charged with murder...
It's the two people he crashed into and killed WHILE driving and watching Road Trip, of all movies... That's getting him charged with murder rather than just dangerous driving.
Sigh. Idiots, all of 'em!
Google be dead
Did anyone else notice that Google was down yesterday? It was even on the hourly CBC news around 3pm. Crazy. What kind of world lets Google go down, even for a couple hours?
And while I couldn't find a link back to that story, I did find one about how much the Google shares are going to be worth. Hmm...
And while I couldn't find a link back to that story, I did find one about how much the Google shares are going to be worth. Hmm...
Talisman Online
This is kind of cool. They're making a computer version of the old fantasy boardgame Talisman. I remember playing this WAAAAAAY back when I was a kid. Heck, it's what got me interested in D&D back in the day.
I haven't tried any of the files to see if it works that well or anything, but it is a fan-supported effort, so I'm not expecting Doom 3 or anything.
I haven't tried any of the files to see if it works that well or anything, but it is a fan-supported effort, so I'm not expecting Doom 3 or anything.
Sunday, July 25, 2004
Smile!
Whaddya know! Garrett can actually smile and look happy! Frightening! I have yet to get him to smile like this... Only the magic of grandparents or mommies seems to work at this stage.
I did give him a bath tonight and he was having fun kicking his legs in the water. Didn't fuss at all. I guess there's hope for me yet.
I did give him a bath tonight and he was having fun kicking his legs in the water. Didn't fuss at all. I guess there's hope for me yet.
Saturday, July 24, 2004
Good Ol' Terra Firma
Well, today I did something that I've managed to avoid doing ever since I came back to the GTA.
I went to work.
:)
Actually, I did go to work, but therein lies the crux of the matter. For today was the day that I finally went up the CN Tower.
I went out with the brave Sir Eddy on a one-on-one day trip today. He really wanted to go downtown and visit Casa Loma and the CN Tower, so that's what we did. It was a beautiful day for trundling around downtown too. We were downtown earlier in the week with the guys for a harbour cruise and it was so smoggy and hot that you could barely see the CN Tower from Queen's Quay. Today it was so clear and sunny that you could probably have seen my house from the top of the tower.
Now, I've managed to avoid going up the CN Tower since I returned to the GTA to go to school in the mid 1990's. Sure, I did a lot of the arcadey stuff at the bottom of the tower, but there was just no way you'd get me up that thing. Nu-uh!
Well, now that I have done it, I have to say that it wasn't THAT bad. Thankfully both on the elevator ride up and down we were the first two people in the car which meant that I could hug the back wall of the car for the whole trip up. I think that I was more or less used to it on the way down though as I wasn't as nervous.
For me the worst part was when I stepped off the elevator at the top. I'm not sure if it was the slight sway of the tower in the wind or if it was just that my knees were all wobbly from the ride up, but I felt like I had just stepped off a boat that had been on high seas. I almost staggered around for a while before I found the inner paths that didn't have a sky view and that let me get my bearings again and after that I was leaning up against the glass, taking pictures galore.
Heck, we even walked all the way around the open observation deck!
I didn't see the glass floor though. I'm not bemoaning that fact. It's just that there were about a zillion people waiting in line for the down elevator and nobody was directing traffic, so wherever the glass floor was, I never ended up seeing it. Oh well.
I wouldn't mind going up the tower, but I think I'd like to go in winter and in the evening. That would be neat.
I was also really impressed with Casa Loma. I'd never managed to get to visit it in all my time puttering around downtown and it was pretty neat. Gorgeous architecture, that's for sure.
Anyway, I'm tired and my feet are sore. I just got home from work and I got there at 9am, so I'm beat. Time to go put my feet up and snooze.
I went to work.
:)
Actually, I did go to work, but therein lies the crux of the matter. For today was the day that I finally went up the CN Tower.
I went out with the brave Sir Eddy on a one-on-one day trip today. He really wanted to go downtown and visit Casa Loma and the CN Tower, so that's what we did. It was a beautiful day for trundling around downtown too. We were downtown earlier in the week with the guys for a harbour cruise and it was so smoggy and hot that you could barely see the CN Tower from Queen's Quay. Today it was so clear and sunny that you could probably have seen my house from the top of the tower.
Now, I've managed to avoid going up the CN Tower since I returned to the GTA to go to school in the mid 1990's. Sure, I did a lot of the arcadey stuff at the bottom of the tower, but there was just no way you'd get me up that thing. Nu-uh!
Well, now that I have done it, I have to say that it wasn't THAT bad. Thankfully both on the elevator ride up and down we were the first two people in the car which meant that I could hug the back wall of the car for the whole trip up. I think that I was more or less used to it on the way down though as I wasn't as nervous.
For me the worst part was when I stepped off the elevator at the top. I'm not sure if it was the slight sway of the tower in the wind or if it was just that my knees were all wobbly from the ride up, but I felt like I had just stepped off a boat that had been on high seas. I almost staggered around for a while before I found the inner paths that didn't have a sky view and that let me get my bearings again and after that I was leaning up against the glass, taking pictures galore.
Heck, we even walked all the way around the open observation deck!
I didn't see the glass floor though. I'm not bemoaning that fact. It's just that there were about a zillion people waiting in line for the down elevator and nobody was directing traffic, so wherever the glass floor was, I never ended up seeing it. Oh well.
I wouldn't mind going up the tower, but I think I'd like to go in winter and in the evening. That would be neat.
I was also really impressed with Casa Loma. I'd never managed to get to visit it in all my time puttering around downtown and it was pretty neat. Gorgeous architecture, that's for sure.
Anyway, I'm tired and my feet are sore. I just got home from work and I got there at 9am, so I'm beat. Time to go put my feet up and snooze.
Friday, July 23, 2004
I'm down here!
That's weird. I miss the stretchy borders of the robot template. Oh well. Oh coding gods, I beseech thee. Tell me how to make it so that I can make stretchy borders that will accomodate the CTRL-ALT-DEL comic at full size!
In IE at least, if not other browsers.
In IE at least, if not other browsers.
Me? Robot?
I went out with the guys tonight to see I, Robot.
I have to say that I actually really enjoyed the movie. I originally had no urge to see it whatsoever when I learned that it was going to be an action movie starring Will Smith. Then I saw a trailer or two and it looked intriguing to say the least.
The fact that I haven't read a single webcomic or posting on the net saying that it is utter dreck (unlike, oh, Catwoman), piqued my curiousity as well.
Well, now that I've seen it, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Sure, Asimov is spinning in his grave so fast that you could hook him up to a turbine and run a large city, but as a kick-ass action movie, it worked!
There are a few pretty nifty set pieces, namely the car vs. trucks sequence, the final battle and the demolition bot. Plus the design on the robots was really neat. They were very human-looking, yet also very robotic at the same time. Check out the cool site they have where you can 'order' your own NS-5.
Here's a closer look at one of the robots head on.
Of course they glow a handy red when they turn evil. That's always nice.
Sure, I, Robot has a lot of silly action movie logic gaps and plot holes, but overall the movie holds up for the two hours it runs and there's lots of big explosions and cool effects to keep you from thinking :)
Also, Sonny, the central robot of the movie, is amazing. Very well played for a character that looks exactly the same as the 1000's of other robots running around in the movie.
I have to say that I actually really enjoyed the movie. I originally had no urge to see it whatsoever when I learned that it was going to be an action movie starring Will Smith. Then I saw a trailer or two and it looked intriguing to say the least.
The fact that I haven't read a single webcomic or posting on the net saying that it is utter dreck (unlike, oh, Catwoman), piqued my curiousity as well.
Well, now that I've seen it, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Sure, Asimov is spinning in his grave so fast that you could hook him up to a turbine and run a large city, but as a kick-ass action movie, it worked!
There are a few pretty nifty set pieces, namely the car vs. trucks sequence, the final battle and the demolition bot. Plus the design on the robots was really neat. They were very human-looking, yet also very robotic at the same time. Check out the cool site they have where you can 'order' your own NS-5.
Here's a closer look at one of the robots head on.
Of course they glow a handy red when they turn evil. That's always nice.
Sure, I, Robot has a lot of silly action movie logic gaps and plot holes, but overall the movie holds up for the two hours it runs and there's lots of big explosions and cool effects to keep you from thinking :)
Also, Sonny, the central robot of the movie, is amazing. Very well played for a character that looks exactly the same as the 1000's of other robots running around in the movie.
Thursday, July 22, 2004
I'm attacking the darkness!
We were coming back from Garrett's appointment today and on CBC they had a little segment on the 3oth anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons this year. They actually had a pretty good little conversation about D&D itself, RPG's in general and how not everyone is a huge geek who plays it... and even if they were, geek is chic now :)
Just so long as you're not THIS geeky.
Just so long as you're not THIS geeky.
Give me megs, lots of megs, and a binary sky above...
Does anyone know where I can plop a 17 meg .avi file and let other people see it? I've got a cool video for In The End by Linkin Park that my friend Deepblu made a couple years back and I want to stick it up on the web, but I don't have enough room for it on the Sympatico server.
Anyone?
Anyone?
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Uh oh. An Anime post
I have been watching Key: The Metal Idol in the evenings and it's starting to get really good. It's a somewhat slow anime to start, but by episode 5-6ish, there are enough weird things going on to make you really want to see what is going to happen next and episode 7 is very cool.
The animation isn't quite up to the standards of Last Exile, but Key was made back in early 90's, so it doesn't have all of the digital effects and clean-up like modern anime tends to have. That said, it's still pretty good and the characters are all really neat.
One thing I was really surprised about was the amount of gore, but it's not really gratuitous. When things get bloody, it's for a good reason. No Fist of the North Star exploding heads here.
It's also a pretty scathing commentary on J-Pop idol singers and the culture around them. I find this interesting as we are starting to get things like the J-pop Idol culture here in North America with the various American & Canadian Idol shows and the late, great boy band phase of the late 90's.
The animation isn't quite up to the standards of Last Exile, but Key was made back in early 90's, so it doesn't have all of the digital effects and clean-up like modern anime tends to have. That said, it's still pretty good and the characters are all really neat.
One thing I was really surprised about was the amount of gore, but it's not really gratuitous. When things get bloody, it's for a good reason. No Fist of the North Star exploding heads here.
It's also a pretty scathing commentary on J-Pop idol singers and the culture around them. I find this interesting as we are starting to get things like the J-pop Idol culture here in North America with the various American & Canadian Idol shows and the late, great boy band phase of the late 90's.
Move along, there's nothing to see here...
I noticed that I haven't really updated in the last couple days...
There really hasn't been THAT much going on around here. We were/are worried that Garrett might be a wee bit colicy, but since yesterday afternoon he has been pretty well behaved, so it might have just been a few days of bad gas or a growth spurt or his tail falling off... not sure which.
Otherwise, nothing much exciting is going on. I went on a Toronto Harbour Cruise today with the guys at work and it was fun. Trying to get out of Toronto from Queen's Quay at 4pm on a Wednesday wasn't fun.
Yup.
There really hasn't been THAT much going on around here. We were/are worried that Garrett might be a wee bit colicy, but since yesterday afternoon he has been pretty well behaved, so it might have just been a few days of bad gas or a growth spurt or his tail falling off... not sure which.
Otherwise, nothing much exciting is going on. I went on a Toronto Harbour Cruise today with the guys at work and it was fun. Trying to get out of Toronto from Queen's Quay at 4pm on a Wednesday wasn't fun.
Yup.
Monday, July 19, 2004
Sunday, July 18, 2004
Saturday, July 17, 2004
Ta Da!!!
Well, due to several complaints I received about how the black on red template was hard to read, I decided to revamp Ye Olde Blog yet again.
Whaddya think?
Whaddya think?
Key
I picked up an anime series called Key: The Metal Idol the other day too. The complete series was on 3 DVD's and they were each $8, which was a steal. So I paid for them and got home and checked on Amazon just to see how much they'd go for there.
$48 each!!!!
I knew I was getting a great deal, but I paid less than half the cost of one DVD for the whole set. Woo! And also on the DVD front, I noticed that Future Shop has all their first season DVD's on sale super cheap. I'm getting the first season of 24 sent to me for $27. That's even less than the $30 I paid for season 2 of 24. I'm glad I didn't get season 1 at the usual $70 price now!
Speaking of great deals, I was garage sailing today (yeah, I know I spelled it sail, not sale... saling/saleing isn't even a verb, so I can make up my own gibberish, thank you very much)
Anyway, where was I... I was garage sailing today and managed to haggle a guy into giving me a fully functional espresso/cappucino maker for $3.48. Woo! It works great and even steams milk.
Just give me a holler if you need me to find any good deals for you. I should go into the personal shopper business.
$48 each!!!!
I knew I was getting a great deal, but I paid less than half the cost of one DVD for the whole set. Woo! And also on the DVD front, I noticed that Future Shop has all their first season DVD's on sale super cheap. I'm getting the first season of 24 sent to me for $27. That's even less than the $30 I paid for season 2 of 24. I'm glad I didn't get season 1 at the usual $70 price now!
Speaking of great deals, I was garage sailing today (yeah, I know I spelled it sail, not sale... saling/saleing isn't even a verb, so I can make up my own gibberish, thank you very much)
Anyway, where was I... I was garage sailing today and managed to haggle a guy into giving me a fully functional espresso/cappucino maker for $3.48. Woo! It works great and even steams milk.
Just give me a holler if you need me to find any good deals for you. I should go into the personal shopper business.
Tales of the Shopaholic
I am busy playing Tales of Symphonia on the Cube. MAN, it's great. The graphics are gorgeous. Of course, I'm partial to cel-shading so unlike the people who run screaming at the mere mention of anything not dripping blood, I actually enjoy the look of the game.
The voice acting is actually pretty decent. It's not going to win awards, but so far every voice has fit the character. It's pretty funny too. If you look at the list of voice actors, you've got Liquid Snake himself playing one of the main characters, plus Jennifer Hale, who has been in about every great game with voice acting since the mid-90's.
The hoops I had to jump through to get it though are worthy of an adventure game themselves...
I had originally ordered it on Amazon.ca.. then I figured that since I had some time before work, I'd just go to EB and pick up a copy and not have to wait for the usual glacial speed that Amazon ships games at. So I go to EB, and they tell me that they only had enough to fill their pre-orders.
I go to another EB across town and they say that they have a copy, but when they check, it turns out it got sold the night before. I did get a promo art book though, and for free at that, so I was happy. I checked ANOTHER EB and they thought they had an extra one, and yet again my hopes were dashed.
It turns out that for some reason or another the original shipment to all the stores in Canada were very small and pretty much every EB got enough for their pre-orders. Amazon had it slated to ship in 3-5 weeks and Future Shop didn't have it in stock anywhere.
So I gave up... Later on I went to Wal Mart and I figure I'll just take a peek in their electronics section. Lo and behold, there is not one, not two, but 5 copies of Tales of Symphonia there for the taking! So I almost physically haul the dim-witted shop boy over by the scruff of his hoodie and get him to open the cabinet.
WAL MART!!
I'm glad though. It's just the RPG goodness I've been looking for, and thankfully Garrett has been ultra sleepy today and Julie just napped so I played Tales all day :)
The voice acting is actually pretty decent. It's not going to win awards, but so far every voice has fit the character. It's pretty funny too. If you look at the list of voice actors, you've got Liquid Snake himself playing one of the main characters, plus Jennifer Hale, who has been in about every great game with voice acting since the mid-90's.
The hoops I had to jump through to get it though are worthy of an adventure game themselves...
I had originally ordered it on Amazon.ca.. then I figured that since I had some time before work, I'd just go to EB and pick up a copy and not have to wait for the usual glacial speed that Amazon ships games at. So I go to EB, and they tell me that they only had enough to fill their pre-orders.
I go to another EB across town and they say that they have a copy, but when they check, it turns out it got sold the night before. I did get a promo art book though, and for free at that, so I was happy. I checked ANOTHER EB and they thought they had an extra one, and yet again my hopes were dashed.
It turns out that for some reason or another the original shipment to all the stores in Canada were very small and pretty much every EB got enough for their pre-orders. Amazon had it slated to ship in 3-5 weeks and Future Shop didn't have it in stock anywhere.
So I gave up... Later on I went to Wal Mart and I figure I'll just take a peek in their electronics section. Lo and behold, there is not one, not two, but 5 copies of Tales of Symphonia there for the taking! So I almost physically haul the dim-witted shop boy over by the scruff of his hoodie and get him to open the cabinet.
WAL MART!!
I'm glad though. It's just the RPG goodness I've been looking for, and thankfully Garrett has been ultra sleepy today and Julie just napped so I played Tales all day :)
Friday, July 16, 2004
CHINESE FOOD!
I found a NEW all-time favourite restaurant today. There's a Chinese buffet near work that opened in the last few months and I'd never gone there till today.
Oh my god... It is phenomenal. It's probably everything you could want in a Chinese buffet. Not only do you have the usual chicken balls, fried rice and won-ton soup that you find at any 'Chinese' buffet, you also have a whole steam rack of various dim sum delectables, at least 5 different types of soup AND a sushi bar!
And it's all-you-can-eat for $9.50!!
I must have eaten a whole steam tray worth of shrimp dumplings today, which would have probably cost me $15-20 just for that at the usual Dim Sum place that I go to with James.
If you're ever in Brampton, go to the Great Wall Of China buffet in the Rona plaza at the corner of Highway 10 & Bovaird. You won't go wrong!
Oh, I didn't mention that it's been decorated with traditional Chinese outfits in glass cases and is just very classy. Granted, if I'm looking for somewhere with a very relaxed atmosphere, my recommendation is still Yo-Yo in Georgetown, but otherwise, goooo Great Wall of China!
Oh my god... It is phenomenal. It's probably everything you could want in a Chinese buffet. Not only do you have the usual chicken balls, fried rice and won-ton soup that you find at any 'Chinese' buffet, you also have a whole steam rack of various dim sum delectables, at least 5 different types of soup AND a sushi bar!
And it's all-you-can-eat for $9.50!!
I must have eaten a whole steam tray worth of shrimp dumplings today, which would have probably cost me $15-20 just for that at the usual Dim Sum place that I go to with James.
If you're ever in Brampton, go to the Great Wall Of China buffet in the Rona plaza at the corner of Highway 10 & Bovaird. You won't go wrong!
Oh, I didn't mention that it's been decorated with traditional Chinese outfits in glass cases and is just very classy. Granted, if I'm looking for somewhere with a very relaxed atmosphere, my recommendation is still Yo-Yo in Georgetown, but otherwise, goooo Great Wall of China!
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
I'm not dead yet!
Hey all.
I just realized that I haven't posted anything since, oh, Saturday!
It has been a crazy bit here at Chez Wager. I already blabbed on about last Friday's interminable wedding ceremonies, which I now blame for tiring out both Julie & I AND Garrett.
Julie's parents were down on the weekend (Thursday-Saturday at least). We spent most of Saturday doing repairs around the house and installing the air conditioner, which was great since the summer heat finally hit this week.
I also worked on the weekend, so that kept me busy.
What else... oh, Garrett has decided that sleep is for chumps, and he doesn't want his parents to be chumps, no way, Jose! Thankfully the last couple nights haven't been so bad, but from Friday to Monday he pretty much just stayed up screaming his head off all night long. No wonder he sleeps all day... he needs to rest up for the next night!!
Julie & I did go out to see Spiderman 2 (Sorry Doug & Jenn, I used my free passes) yesterday at the Stars & Strollers showing in Brampton. I really like the movie, Garrett slept through it and Julie almost slept through it too, but that's pretty much par for the course.
I was starting to think that there was a conspiracy afoot to keep me from seeing the movie though since when we got there, the lady at the door was totally unaware that they were supposed to be showing the movie at 10am, even though the website stated they were as of yesterday morning. Thankfully there were enough of us disgruntled parents there, babies in tow, to 'convince' them that it would be in their best interests to let us see our movie.
Afterwards, Julie & I went to this 'Calling New Parents' group in Acton. It was pretty good. I was having fun watching the big fat babies bounce their heads off the floor, cry for a few seconds, laugh and then do it all over again. Some of those babies are FAT! I guess it keeps them protected from all the bouncing off the floor though...
THen I worked, came home and slept (I think... I don't really remember things anymore these days) and this morning I watched Timeline which seemed to bore Garrett enough that he fell asleep again. I don't think he liked that thunderstorm last night much either...
Woah, this is a LONG post. I'll shut up now, since I have to head off to work in a wee bit.
I just realized that I haven't posted anything since, oh, Saturday!
It has been a crazy bit here at Chez Wager. I already blabbed on about last Friday's interminable wedding ceremonies, which I now blame for tiring out both Julie & I AND Garrett.
Julie's parents were down on the weekend (Thursday-Saturday at least). We spent most of Saturday doing repairs around the house and installing the air conditioner, which was great since the summer heat finally hit this week.
I also worked on the weekend, so that kept me busy.
What else... oh, Garrett has decided that sleep is for chumps, and he doesn't want his parents to be chumps, no way, Jose! Thankfully the last couple nights haven't been so bad, but from Friday to Monday he pretty much just stayed up screaming his head off all night long. No wonder he sleeps all day... he needs to rest up for the next night!!
Julie & I did go out to see Spiderman 2 (Sorry Doug & Jenn, I used my free passes) yesterday at the Stars & Strollers showing in Brampton. I really like the movie, Garrett slept through it and Julie almost slept through it too, but that's pretty much par for the course.
I was starting to think that there was a conspiracy afoot to keep me from seeing the movie though since when we got there, the lady at the door was totally unaware that they were supposed to be showing the movie at 10am, even though the website stated they were as of yesterday morning. Thankfully there were enough of us disgruntled parents there, babies in tow, to 'convince' them that it would be in their best interests to let us see our movie.
Afterwards, Julie & I went to this 'Calling New Parents' group in Acton. It was pretty good. I was having fun watching the big fat babies bounce their heads off the floor, cry for a few seconds, laugh and then do it all over again. Some of those babies are FAT! I guess it keeps them protected from all the bouncing off the floor though...
THen I worked, came home and slept (I think... I don't really remember things anymore these days) and this morning I watched Timeline which seemed to bore Garrett enough that he fell asleep again. I don't think he liked that thunderstorm last night much either...
Woah, this is a LONG post. I'll shut up now, since I have to head off to work in a wee bit.
Saturday, July 10, 2004
Alien Bunny
They've got some new Bunny re-enactments over at Angry Alien Productions.
It seems they've added a remake of Alien to the mix, as well as Titanic. Good fun, good fun.
It seems they've added a remake of Alien to the mix, as well as Titanic. Good fun, good fun.
Friday, July 09, 2004
The Profiler
Hey! I just found out I have a Blogger profile. Whaddya think of THAT!? I added it as a perma-link on the sidebar too.
I never realized the sheer volume of posts I've put on the site in the last 2 1/2 years. Eep!
I should channel this writing urge towards, oh, a book or research paper or Christmas list or something useful...
I never realized the sheer volume of posts I've put on the site in the last 2 1/2 years. Eep!
I should channel this writing urge towards, oh, a book or research paper or Christmas list or something useful...
Weddings shouldn't take all day...
We had a VERY LONG DAY today.
Julie's cousin Jason was getting married today and his fiancée/wife Vicky is Cambodian. Soooo... they had two ceremonies today. They had the traditional Cambodian wedding ceremony at 10am and then the white dress, Anglo-Saxon/Christian wedding ceremony in the afternoon at 4pm...
I will say that the Cambodian ceremony was really neat and they had lots of great food. It lasted about 2 1/2 hours though, but that involved 3 separate ceremonies, some VERY sparkly clothes and some hair-cutting. Of course, we missed large chunks of each part of the ceremony because Garrett was either hungry, tired or fussy.
After the morning ceremony, we went to Ikea and got a neat moon lamp for Garrett's nursery, some glasses and yet another DVD rack for me (though I think this is the last, if only because I have no room to put another rack up after this).
The white dress ceremony was nice and short but the reception was looooong... not to mention both Julie & I were exhausted. The food was excellent though and had we not been out since 9am, we probably would have stayed longer, but we did stay till the dance started. Thankfully the whole day was down at the Burlington Convention Center, which was VERY spiffy.
I think that that'll be the last full-day wedding we go to for some time... at least with Garrett in tow...
Julie's cousin Jason was getting married today and his fiancée/wife Vicky is Cambodian. Soooo... they had two ceremonies today. They had the traditional Cambodian wedding ceremony at 10am and then the white dress, Anglo-Saxon/Christian wedding ceremony in the afternoon at 4pm...
I will say that the Cambodian ceremony was really neat and they had lots of great food. It lasted about 2 1/2 hours though, but that involved 3 separate ceremonies, some VERY sparkly clothes and some hair-cutting. Of course, we missed large chunks of each part of the ceremony because Garrett was either hungry, tired or fussy.
After the morning ceremony, we went to Ikea and got a neat moon lamp for Garrett's nursery, some glasses and yet another DVD rack for me (though I think this is the last, if only because I have no room to put another rack up after this).
The white dress ceremony was nice and short but the reception was looooong... not to mention both Julie & I were exhausted. The food was excellent though and had we not been out since 9am, we probably would have stayed longer, but we did stay till the dance started. Thankfully the whole day was down at the Burlington Convention Center, which was VERY spiffy.
I think that that'll be the last full-day wedding we go to for some time... at least with Garrett in tow...
MORE blogs
Man, it looks like my whole family has decided to start blogging this week.
Grant, Suzie & Mason have a blog now. Sheesh!
For those of you who don't know them, Grant's my little brother and is in the Army, well, Navy, well... The Canadian Armed Forces...
Don't even get me started trying to explain his situation. It's too complicated...
Suzie is his wife and Mason is their son, who also was the first Wager grandson and the proud owner of the Wager (or is that Swanson) butt-chin.
Grant, Suzie & Mason have a blog now. Sheesh!
For those of you who don't know them, Grant's my little brother and is in the Army, well, Navy, well... The Canadian Armed Forces...
Don't even get me started trying to explain his situation. It's too complicated...
Suzie is his wife and Mason is their son, who also was the first Wager grandson and the proud owner of the Wager (or is that Swanson) butt-chin.
Thursday, July 08, 2004
Nipple Confusion
I think that's my favourite baby-related phrase.
Nipple confusion.
Speaking of which, last night I was looking after Garrett for a while so Julie could get a few hours sleep before, oh, 5am. He was doing ok, but then he started to really fuss, so I was sort of holding him up and talking to him and just generally bouncing him around to see if I could get him to burp or something.
He was about 3 inches from my face when he suddenly put both hands on my cheeks and whammed his face down, right on my nose. Then he started sucking on my nose with what can only be termed as gusto.
I think he may have been hungry... I have to say that the sensation of a toothless baby sucking on one's nose is rather odd. It did quiet him down for a bit though, so I let him suck till he realized it wasn't a nipple. Oh well.
Nipple confusion.
Speaking of which, last night I was looking after Garrett for a while so Julie could get a few hours sleep before, oh, 5am. He was doing ok, but then he started to really fuss, so I was sort of holding him up and talking to him and just generally bouncing him around to see if I could get him to burp or something.
He was about 3 inches from my face when he suddenly put both hands on my cheeks and whammed his face down, right on my nose. Then he started sucking on my nose with what can only be termed as gusto.
I think he may have been hungry... I have to say that the sensation of a toothless baby sucking on one's nose is rather odd. It did quiet him down for a bit though, so I let him suck till he realized it wasn't a nipple. Oh well.
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
Dodgeball!
We went out with the guys at work yesterday to see Spiderman 2 but we were no match for the insanity that is Tuesday nights at the cheapest movie theatre in town in the summer.
Sadly, Spiderman 2 was sold out, but the guys picked Dodgeball to go see. We went in not expecting much, but holy cow, it was a funny movie. The guys were laughing their heads off at the silly slapstick dodgeball antics and I was having fun catching a lot of the really quick in-jokes (like the treasure chest at the end with Deus Ex Machina stamped on the side.)
Oscar-winning, the film is not. However, if you like really, really stupid movies like Dumb & Dumber or Zoolander, this'll be right up your alley. I did find the first 20-30 minutes kind of dull, but once they got into the dodgeball, it just rocked.
And the whole wrench scene was hilarious. Ah...
I still want to see Spiderman 2 though... Sigh...
Sadly, Spiderman 2 was sold out, but the guys picked Dodgeball to go see. We went in not expecting much, but holy cow, it was a funny movie. The guys were laughing their heads off at the silly slapstick dodgeball antics and I was having fun catching a lot of the really quick in-jokes (like the treasure chest at the end with Deus Ex Machina stamped on the side.)
Oscar-winning, the film is not. However, if you like really, really stupid movies like Dumb & Dumber or Zoolander, this'll be right up your alley. I did find the first 20-30 minutes kind of dull, but once they got into the dodgeball, it just rocked.
And the whole wrench scene was hilarious. Ah...
I still want to see Spiderman 2 though... Sigh...
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
Monday, July 05, 2004
Visitors a-plenty!
My parents came down yesterday to visit for a couple hours and see their grandson. The nice surprise was that they brought my good buddy Tony with them! That was cool.
He's the first of my friends from Sarnia to get out here to see Garrett, but Nancy is coming today.
Today I go back to work. Sigh. On the one hand, I'm kind of itching to go back, and I never thought I'd say that. On the other hand, I kind of wish I could take a few more days off, but I only have 3 days of vacation left. Since Julie seems to be doing OK right now (and Garrett isn't being TOO fussy) I may as well save those days for a later time when they might be needed.
I tell ya... that week or so since Garrett was born sure whizzed by fast!
He's the first of my friends from Sarnia to get out here to see Garrett, but Nancy is coming today.
Today I go back to work. Sigh. On the one hand, I'm kind of itching to go back, and I never thought I'd say that. On the other hand, I kind of wish I could take a few more days off, but I only have 3 days of vacation left. Since Julie seems to be doing OK right now (and Garrett isn't being TOO fussy) I may as well save those days for a later time when they might be needed.
I tell ya... that week or so since Garrett was born sure whizzed by fast!
The Joys of Frolf
If you're looking for a fun game that is more surreal than Incredible Crisis but not as insane to play, I highly recommend Ribbit King. It's a frolf sim.
What's frolf? Well... it's a kind of wierd mix between golf and croquet, only instead of hitting balls into a hole, you use a hammer and launch frogs around this really wierd course, getting points as the eat flies, swim across rivers and so forth before jumping in the hole.
It's a lot of fun though, because the frogs have a mind of their own and can be bouncing from bonus to bonus for a few minutes rather unexpectedly.
Dave came over yesterday and we had fun playing a round or two. And did I mention that Ribbit King is only $26? Gotta love that.
Oh, and Grand Theft Spider, aka the Spiderman 2 game, rocks!
What's frolf? Well... it's a kind of wierd mix between golf and croquet, only instead of hitting balls into a hole, you use a hammer and launch frogs around this really wierd course, getting points as the eat flies, swim across rivers and so forth before jumping in the hole.
It's a lot of fun though, because the frogs have a mind of their own and can be bouncing from bonus to bonus for a few minutes rather unexpectedly.
Dave came over yesterday and we had fun playing a round or two. And did I mention that Ribbit King is only $26? Gotta love that.
Oh, and Grand Theft Spider, aka the Spiderman 2 game, rocks!
Sunday, July 04, 2004
Pictures a-comin'
Don't worry. I've got more pictures coming, but I think I'll wait till tomorrow to put them up. We also got our pictures back from Fortino's yesterday (Friday) and they're quite nice. I'll see if I can scan them or take a picture of the pictures so everyone can see Garrett at 6 days :)
New Jedi Earwig
Well, I finished the final book of the New Jedi Order series just after midnight tonight.
It was an excellent conclusion to an excellent series. I have to say that it was a very DIFFERENT ending to the series than I'd expected, but it was good nonetheless. The nice thing about finishing this series is that I can finally start reading the rest of my books without being drawn back into Star Wars for several books at a time.
Next book on my list: The Sparrow (aka Jesuits in Space)!
Speaking of alien invaders, we're being overrun with earwigs. Sometime midweek they started crawling out of everywhere and I've been finding them inside the house, crawling on me, crawling all over the doors outside... in short, it's an attack by ugly bugs.
I know there was a big earwig population boom a few years back, so this may just be a cyclical thing. I hope that it's like our ant problem where they seemed to be everywhere in the house for about 2-3 weeks and then now we see just one or two a week if we're lucky.
I did have a gross encounter with an earwig tonight though. I was eating some chips & dip while reading and as I went to reach for the next chip in my bowl, out crawls an earwig. Suffice it to say, I crushed him but good. Then I ate the rest of the chips.
I just wish I knew whether the earwig was in the chip bag or the bowl or if it was just passing through when I spotted him... oh well.
It was an excellent conclusion to an excellent series. I have to say that it was a very DIFFERENT ending to the series than I'd expected, but it was good nonetheless. The nice thing about finishing this series is that I can finally start reading the rest of my books without being drawn back into Star Wars for several books at a time.
Next book on my list: The Sparrow (aka Jesuits in Space)!
Speaking of alien invaders, we're being overrun with earwigs. Sometime midweek they started crawling out of everywhere and I've been finding them inside the house, crawling on me, crawling all over the doors outside... in short, it's an attack by ugly bugs.
I know there was a big earwig population boom a few years back, so this may just be a cyclical thing. I hope that it's like our ant problem where they seemed to be everywhere in the house for about 2-3 weeks and then now we see just one or two a week if we're lucky.
I did have a gross encounter with an earwig tonight though. I was eating some chips & dip while reading and as I went to reach for the next chip in my bowl, out crawls an earwig. Suffice it to say, I crushed him but good. Then I ate the rest of the chips.
I just wish I knew whether the earwig was in the chip bag or the bowl or if it was just passing through when I spotted him... oh well.
Friday, July 02, 2004
Does whatever a spider can..
I picked up the DELUXE EDITION of Spiderman on DVD today. It comes with two tickets to see Spiderman 2, so if we can find someone to look after Garrett for a couple hours Julie & I might go see it... otherwise I might have to go find someone else to see it with me.
Hmm... if you think about it, given the ~$13-14 per ticket cost of going to see Spiderman 2 in theatres, I essentially got the DVD for free, so long as I actually use the passes.
Hmm... if you think about it, given the ~$13-14 per ticket cost of going to see Spiderman 2 in theatres, I essentially got the DVD for free, so long as I actually use the passes.
Thursday, July 01, 2004
Happy Canada Day!
I hope everyone had a good day off, unless you had to work, in which case I hope you got stat pay.
We had a good day today. Julie has finally started to catch up on her sleep, which is good. Garrett has been rather well behaved and even sat in his little aquarium chair for a while this afternoon, snoozing away as it vibrated on his bum. I wish I had a chair like that...
We're hoping that we'll be able to go out to the fireworks tonight, but we'll see. It's been a wierd day, with sun, then clouds, then both, then the big heat wave that seems to have blown in this afternoon... *shrug* If we're lucky, we'll get to see the fireworks, but if not, we'll get to have a quiet night at home. Either way we'll win :)
We had a good day today. Julie has finally started to catch up on her sleep, which is good. Garrett has been rather well behaved and even sat in his little aquarium chair for a while this afternoon, snoozing away as it vibrated on his bum. I wish I had a chair like that...
We're hoping that we'll be able to go out to the fireworks tonight, but we'll see. It's been a wierd day, with sun, then clouds, then both, then the big heat wave that seems to have blown in this afternoon... *shrug* If we're lucky, we'll get to see the fireworks, but if not, we'll get to have a quiet night at home. Either way we'll win :)
Joys of Boys
I just remembered another thing that Garrett did yesterday.
While I was changing him, he managed to pee IN HIS OWN EAR....
Gotta love that. Thankfully he hasn't sprayed me yet, but I know my time will come...
While I was changing him, he managed to pee IN HIS OWN EAR....
Gotta love that. Thankfully he hasn't sprayed me yet, but I know my time will come...
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