Finally! We can now find out the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow.
Now if only we could definatively answer what my favourite colour is, we'd be set!
Thursday, January 15, 2004
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
I love it but I hate it!
What's with Bush today?
He's suddenly decided to do something I applaud and am happy about, but I am having a really hard time being enthusiastic given that it IS Bush implementing it.
He's going back to the moon. And using it as a launchpad to Mars. Which is great.
But it's Bush.
But it's a moonbase and a manned mission to Mars and a mandate and real funding for NASA.
But it's Bush...
ARG!
Of course, I could probably think of a dozen conspiracy theories about him using a moonbase as an orbital weapon platform or something, but I'm content to be idealistic this time and be happy that at least now someone is willing to have a plan for NASA and space in general. Of course, he might just be using this as a campaign thing to try to recreate the JFK moon mission phenomenon.
Ah well. Let's just sit back and watch :)
He's suddenly decided to do something I applaud and am happy about, but I am having a really hard time being enthusiastic given that it IS Bush implementing it.
He's going back to the moon. And using it as a launchpad to Mars. Which is great.
But it's Bush.
But it's a moonbase and a manned mission to Mars and a mandate and real funding for NASA.
But it's Bush...
ARG!
Of course, I could probably think of a dozen conspiracy theories about him using a moonbase as an orbital weapon platform or something, but I'm content to be idealistic this time and be happy that at least now someone is willing to have a plan for NASA and space in general. Of course, he might just be using this as a campaign thing to try to recreate the JFK moon mission phenomenon.
Ah well. Let's just sit back and watch :)
Maybe I should be a detective...
Well, my great sojourn to the Doctor is complete. It turns out I've got a flat foot. Not flat feet, just a flat foot. I went out and picked up some arch supports and will see if that helps out.
Of course, this morning when I got up my foot barely hurt at all. Go figure, the day I have a doctor's appointment about something that's been bothering me for the last month and a half and it pretty much goes away... Sigh.
Of course, this morning when I got up my foot barely hurt at all. Go figure, the day I have a doctor's appointment about something that's been bothering me for the last month and a half and it pretty much goes away... Sigh.
Shooosh!
Anyone want to buy some ski boots? I have my old pair just gathering dust and I wouldn't mind clearing them out.
They're rear-loading Nordicas, about size 10-11ish. They're in good shape, concidering their age. I still like them, but they're too small. My new boots are very comfortable (and the right size).
If anyone wants them, let me know or I'll be forced to sell them on E-bay :P
They're rear-loading Nordicas, about size 10-11ish. They're in good shape, concidering their age. I still like them, but they're too small. My new boots are very comfortable (and the right size).
If anyone wants them, let me know or I'll be forced to sell them on E-bay :P
I'm scared and afraid!
Well, I've finally made my appointment to see my new doctor regarding this crazy foot of mine. I'm going in today (wednesday) at 11:10am. Eek! I haven't been to a doctor (for myself) in about 4 years or so. I have been to the hospital once or twice, but I figure if it's not worth going to Emerg for, then why bother? :)
Hopefully my wait in the doctor's office tomorrow will be slightly less than my last visit to the ER which took about 7 hours...
Hopefully my wait in the doctor's office tomorrow will be slightly less than my last visit to the ER which took about 7 hours...
CBC Nerd
Tod Maffin has a new blog site, /Nerd, that lets you read his Radio One technology bits before they air. I was a regular chat-room guy back on the TodRadio site when that show ran a few summers ago and even got on the radio (well, my comments did) a few times.
There's a story on his site detailing his woes with Bell Expressvu. I do like Bell, if only because however bad they are, the alternatives are even worse. However, my experience with them is limited to phone and internet service. Given my recent experience in the BellWorld store and some fun I had back when I joined the trial for the High Speed Ultra service, I'm not surprised with the horror story of the Expressvu install.
Heck, when I was setting up that WAN a little while back, I went into the BellWorld store looking for a wireless adapter. "Oh, we don't carry all the computer parts. We just have a few things." This is the same store that sold the lady I was doing the setup for her wireless router. Sheesh. If you're going to sell one part of the WAN, you really should have the receivers in stock too. Oh well.
There's a story on his site detailing his woes with Bell Expressvu. I do like Bell, if only because however bad they are, the alternatives are even worse. However, my experience with them is limited to phone and internet service. Given my recent experience in the BellWorld store and some fun I had back when I joined the trial for the High Speed Ultra service, I'm not surprised with the horror story of the Expressvu install.
Heck, when I was setting up that WAN a little while back, I went into the BellWorld store looking for a wireless adapter. "Oh, we don't carry all the computer parts. We just have a few things." This is the same store that sold the lady I was doing the setup for her wireless router. Sheesh. If you're going to sell one part of the WAN, you really should have the receivers in stock too. Oh well.
Monday, January 12, 2004
Move On
Check out this site, Moveon.org, for some neat news from the hippie leftie radical nuts in the States.
I really like the Bushin30seconds sub-site. They put out a contest to make an ad about Bush (not a nice one, of course) and the winner gets aired during the State of the Union address. They showed a few of the finalists on the news and they're, for the most part, pretty slick and good, in a 'the-Republicans-are-evil' kind of way.
Hey, with the Canadian political scene pretty dry at the moment, I have to get riled up about something. About the worst I have to worry about from Martin this week is that he'll eat too many tacos in Mexico.
I really like the Bushin30seconds sub-site. They put out a contest to make an ad about Bush (not a nice one, of course) and the winner gets aired during the State of the Union address. They showed a few of the finalists on the news and they're, for the most part, pretty slick and good, in a 'the-Republicans-are-evil' kind of way.
Hey, with the Canadian political scene pretty dry at the moment, I have to get riled up about something. About the worst I have to worry about from Martin this week is that he'll eat too many tacos in Mexico.
Cheap Stuff
I went out to the mall today and found some great deals.
First was the second Buffy the Vampire Slayer game, Chaos Bleeds. I got it used for the Xbox for only $24.99, which meant I had to pay a grand total of $3.50 since I had a $25 gift card.
Then I got Buck 65's CD, Talkin' Honky Blues for $12.99! Woo! It's pretty good, so far. I popped it in the van at work and the guys loved Wicked And Wierd. They were boo-boppin' around in the van as we listened to it :)
First was the second Buffy the Vampire Slayer game, Chaos Bleeds. I got it used for the Xbox for only $24.99, which meant I had to pay a grand total of $3.50 since I had a $25 gift card.
Then I got Buck 65's CD, Talkin' Honky Blues for $12.99! Woo! It's pretty good, so far. I popped it in the van at work and the guys loved Wicked And Wierd. They were boo-boppin' around in the van as we listened to it :)
Gotta love Mondays
This was the second week in a row where I've had to go in and work the morning shift at work. The nice thing about this is that day shifts are really slooooow and I can get lots of paperwork done. The even better part is that both mondays I've been able to go down to the ski hill and get in a couple hours of runs right after work. Gotta love that.
I decided to come home early from the hill tonight when I almost sat on a little kid on a snowboard when I was getting on the chairlift. I blame him as he didn't get on the chair properly and somehow ended up on the exact opposite side of the chair from where he was supposed to be, but he was a boarder so I guess that there's not much hope for him :)
I decided to come home early from the hill tonight when I almost sat on a little kid on a snowboard when I was getting on the chairlift. I blame him as he didn't get on the chair properly and somehow ended up on the exact opposite side of the chair from where he was supposed to be, but he was a boarder so I guess that there's not much hope for him :)
CBC on Monday
Well, the new shows on CBC TV are starting up.
I liked Rick Mercer's Monday Report. It's essentially Rick Mercer doing The Daily Show once a week. But it was funny and it had a lot of good biting social commentary.
I liked it so much that for the first time in almost 10 years of net surfing, Userfriendly.org is no longer my homepage. I've now made the Monday Report site my homepage. Eek!
The Newsroom was The Newsroom. I like the show in a kind of weird sense. If I don't watch it, I really like it, but it can be tough to sit through an episode. It's wierd that way.
I'd better go downstairs now and watch This Is Wonderland. It's supposed to be pretty good too. I'll let you know!
I liked Rick Mercer's Monday Report. It's essentially Rick Mercer doing The Daily Show once a week. But it was funny and it had a lot of good biting social commentary.
I liked it so much that for the first time in almost 10 years of net surfing, Userfriendly.org is no longer my homepage. I've now made the Monday Report site my homepage. Eek!
The Newsroom was The Newsroom. I like the show in a kind of weird sense. If I don't watch it, I really like it, but it can be tough to sit through an episode. It's wierd that way.
I'd better go downstairs now and watch This Is Wonderland. It's supposed to be pretty good too. I'll let you know!
Sunday, January 11, 2004
Am not!!
Congratulations! You're Gandalf!
Which Lord of the Rings character and personality problem are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Friday, January 09, 2004
Bash
Today's Bash.org quote was brought to you by 3, 9 and the letter Q.
Lost in Translation
I just finished watching Lost In Translation. Now my new goal is to find out how much it would cost to go to Tokyo and just hang out for 2 weeks. I absolutely loved LiT.
As per the discussion that emerged from my Last Samurai entry, Lost in Translation is probably as in-your-face as you can get for a Westerner plopped into Japan and left to fend for his or herself. I'd also recommend Enlightenment Guaranteed, but it's a very VERY dry movie as opposed to Lost in Translation which is pretty fun to watch.
I also found out that in Tokyo, you don't call 911 in a fire. You call 119! Thank the wierd alien dude over at the Tokyo Fire Department website for that tidbit.
"That's 119, not 911 if you light yourself on fire and find out it's not much fun!"
Sgt. Extinguisher wants YOU to fill out the required paperwork before you can put out the fire.
As per the discussion that emerged from my Last Samurai entry, Lost in Translation is probably as in-your-face as you can get for a Westerner plopped into Japan and left to fend for his or herself. I'd also recommend Enlightenment Guaranteed, but it's a very VERY dry movie as opposed to Lost in Translation which is pretty fun to watch.
I also found out that in Tokyo, you don't call 911 in a fire. You call 119! Thank the wierd alien dude over at the Tokyo Fire Department website for that tidbit.
Sgt. Extinguisher wants YOU to fill out the required paperwork before you can put out the fire.
Baby, it's cold outside...
It's -31 C with the windchill today. Yeesh! Good thing I'm planning on staying put on the couch in my PJ's for the whole day.
Thankfully I've finished watching Season 5 of Buffy so I'm going to just hunker down with a big cuppa hot chocolate and play Gladius all day.
Nothing like a frigid January Friday to make videogames seem even better than usual :)
Thankfully I've finished watching Season 5 of Buffy so I'm going to just hunker down with a big cuppa hot chocolate and play Gladius all day.
Nothing like a frigid January Friday to make videogames seem even better than usual :)
Mars Rover Review
Fargo over at Gamespy did a pretty funny 'review' of the Mars rover, Spirit. It only got two stars out of five though, mostly for the lack of multiplayer. It did get high marks for not crashing into a crater though.
Thursday, January 08, 2004
Tell us something we didn't know
Here's a newsflash: There's no Iraq - al-Qaida link. Well, not aside from the link to that news story itself. Not only that, but the head of the new weapons inspection team is going to quit too.
It is kind of sad that news like this that was pretty self-evident, oh, a year ago, is now being officially sanctioned after the fact. At least I can take solace in the fact that it wasn't my government doing all the misleading.
Ah, it's fun being a snide outsider :)
It is kind of sad that news like this that was pretty self-evident, oh, a year ago, is now being officially sanctioned after the fact. At least I can take solace in the fact that it wasn't my government doing all the misleading.
Ah, it's fun being a snide outsider :)
Stupid Buffy
I hate it when I start watching these season box sets. I just started watching Buffy Season 5 last Friday and I'm only 3 episodes away from finishing it (for a grand total of 22 episodes).
Normally it would be ok for me to be glued to the TV this late except that I have to go to the dentist in about 6 hours. Then I have to work until 11pm.
Bleh.
Normally it would be ok for me to be glued to the TV this late except that I have to go to the dentist in about 6 hours. Then I have to work until 11pm.
Bleh.
Wednesday, January 07, 2004
It's like 50 Cent only with the exchange rate...
CBC has also been playing 'Wicked & Weird by Buck 65 the last few days. I guess it's been around for a while but I only just heard it this week.
I love the lyrics to this song. While the Hey Ya song is just goofy fun, this one is just funny and goofy.
Yeah yeah... I know that didn't make any sense. My wording skills are not goodly enough nows. Must play Fatal Frame 2.
I love the lyrics to this song. While the Hey Ya song is just goofy fun, this one is just funny and goofy.
Yeah yeah... I know that didn't make any sense. My wording skills are not goodly enough nows. Must play Fatal Frame 2.
I warned him...
It was funny. I lent the Firefly DVD set to my brother on Monday. He watched it in two days and called me tonight to say, "WHY DID THEY CANCEL FIREFLY!? Now I understand what you've been ranting about the last year or so."
Chores
It's sad. Ever since I got my MP3 player I've been doing more chores and work since I get to listen to music now and dance around.
Live in Acton
Speaking of pretty good music, of which my previous post will either convince you I know or don't, Linkin Park's "Live In Texas" CD rocks. If you like Linkin Park, I'd highly recommend you give this disc a listen. It's essentially a 'best-of' mix from their previous two albums but they do a good job of getting the crowd involved.
I like Linkin Park.
I like Linkin Park.
What's cooler than being cool? ICE COLD!
Last weekend I had Jessica Simpson's ear-worm of a song, In This Skin, or whatever it's called, stuck in my head for about 2-3 days. I don't listen to commercial radio so I have no idea if this song is new or not, but I was watching Oprah earlier in the week and heard the song.
The chorus, "Nothing but a T-shirt on", was running on a loop in my head for much longer than should be permitted by the Geneva Convention...
Mercifully, I have CBC to thank for putting Outkast's song, "Hey Ya!" in my head. It's almost as much as an ear-worm as the Jessicca Simpson song is, but it's actually good. I like the video for it too.
I have it on my MP3 player on repeat now.
The chorus, "Nothing but a T-shirt on", was running on a loop in my head for much longer than should be permitted by the Geneva Convention...
Mercifully, I have CBC to thank for putting Outkast's song, "Hey Ya!" in my head. It's almost as much as an ear-worm as the Jessicca Simpson song is, but it's actually good. I like the video for it too.
I have it on my MP3 player on repeat now.
Headlines from the year 2035
Julie sent me these today. I got a kick out of them and so should you. If you don't, let me know and I'll just kick you instead.
---
Ozone created by electric cars now killing millions in the seventh largest country in the world, California.
White minorities still trying to have English recognized as California's third language.
Spotted Owl plague threatens northwestern United States crops & livestock.
Baby conceived naturally -- Scientists stumped.
Authentic year 2000 "Florida chad" sells at Sotheby's for $4.6 million.
Last remaining Fundamentalist Muslim dies in the American Territory of the Middle East (formerly known as Iran, Afghanistan, Syria and Lebanon.)
Iraq still closed off; physicists estimate it will take at least ten more years before radioactivity decreases to safe levels.
Castro finally dies at age 112; Cuban cigars can now be imported legally, but Pres. Chelsea Clinton has banned all smoking.
George Z. Bush says he will run for President in 2036.
Postal Service raises price of first class stamp to $17.89 and reduces mail delivery to Wednesday only.
35 year study: diet and exercise is the key to weight loss.
Massachusetts executes last remaining conservative.
Supreme Court rules punishment of criminals violates their civil rights.
Upcoming NFL draft likely to focus on use of mutants.
Average height of NBA players now nine feet, seven inches.
Microsoft announces it has perfected its newest version of Windows so it crashes BEFORE installation is completed.
New federal law requires that all nail clippers, screwdrivers, fly swatters and rolled up newspapers must be registered by January 2036.
Congress authorizes direct deposit of illegal political contributions to campaign accounts.
Capitol Hill intern indicted for refusing to have sex with congressman.
---
Ozone created by electric cars now killing millions in the seventh largest country in the world, California.
White minorities still trying to have English recognized as California's third language.
Spotted Owl plague threatens northwestern United States crops & livestock.
Baby conceived naturally -- Scientists stumped.
Authentic year 2000 "Florida chad" sells at Sotheby's for $4.6 million.
Last remaining Fundamentalist Muslim dies in the American Territory of the Middle East (formerly known as Iran, Afghanistan, Syria and Lebanon.)
Iraq still closed off; physicists estimate it will take at least ten more years before radioactivity decreases to safe levels.
Castro finally dies at age 112; Cuban cigars can now be imported legally, but Pres. Chelsea Clinton has banned all smoking.
George Z. Bush says he will run for President in 2036.
Postal Service raises price of first class stamp to $17.89 and reduces mail delivery to Wednesday only.
35 year study: diet and exercise is the key to weight loss.
Massachusetts executes last remaining conservative.
Supreme Court rules punishment of criminals violates their civil rights.
Upcoming NFL draft likely to focus on use of mutants.
Average height of NBA players now nine feet, seven inches.
Microsoft announces it has perfected its newest version of Windows so it crashes BEFORE installation is completed.
New federal law requires that all nail clippers, screwdrivers, fly swatters and rolled up newspapers must be registered by January 2036.
Congress authorizes direct deposit of illegal political contributions to campaign accounts.
Capitol Hill intern indicted for refusing to have sex with congressman.
It's either withdrawal or I'm having a seizure...
I've now gone two days with nary a game played the whole time. I blame the surfeit of books from the library that I'm trying to plow through, the Buffy Season 5 DVD's and the skiing.
I will have to rectify this gaming deficit by getting up early tomorrow morning and carving a swath through the gladiatorial arenas of Gladius.
Ah... it's nice to be geek.
I think my shaking might just be from the fact that it's negative thirty up here on the Escarpment. Brr....
I will have to rectify this gaming deficit by getting up early tomorrow morning and carving a swath through the gladiatorial arenas of Gladius.
Ah... it's nice to be geek.
I think my shaking might just be from the fact that it's negative thirty up here on the Escarpment. Brr....
Tuesday, January 06, 2004
Damned Boarders...
My brother Dave & I hit the slopes last night for a few hours. It was a lot of fun going night skiing. I haven't had the chance to do that in ages.
The snow was pretty good. They did have snowmakers going, but we had received a goodly dump of snow during the night before and most of the day so that made for very nice ski conditions.
Except for the boarders. It was like every half hour or so the mountain would just spontaneously vomit 30 more kids on snowboards who had nothing better to do than fall down at the bottom of the exit from the chairlift. Stupid boarders...
We had fun on one hill though. Neither us were wearing our goggles to start since there wasn't any wind and it was at night. We went down the one hill and immediately realized our mistake. There were three snowmakers going full tilt on that hill. We'd go through one, have our eyes scrubbed raw from the ice particles and by the time you got your eyes cleared from the first blast you were going into the second one, and so forth.
So we have now dubbed that hill The Retina Blaster. It's like sandpaper for the eyes. Thankfully I did have my goggles with me and I put them on and wore them for the rest of the night. Dave, unfortunately, didn't have any goggles with him, so I just made sure we kept going down that run for the majority of the night. I think he was legally blind by the end of the evening :)
I also got a chance to try out my new MP3 player in a real-world environment and I must say I was very happy with it. No more listening to whatever crappy music is blaring out of the speakers at the chalet. Nope. I can listen to my own crappy music wherever I want to now!
I'm really sore today though. I didn't feel achey at all till about 11pm last night, but now I can barely walk. Crazy muscles, needing exercise and what not.
The snow was pretty good. They did have snowmakers going, but we had received a goodly dump of snow during the night before and most of the day so that made for very nice ski conditions.
Except for the boarders. It was like every half hour or so the mountain would just spontaneously vomit 30 more kids on snowboards who had nothing better to do than fall down at the bottom of the exit from the chairlift. Stupid boarders...
We had fun on one hill though. Neither us were wearing our goggles to start since there wasn't any wind and it was at night. We went down the one hill and immediately realized our mistake. There were three snowmakers going full tilt on that hill. We'd go through one, have our eyes scrubbed raw from the ice particles and by the time you got your eyes cleared from the first blast you were going into the second one, and so forth.
So we have now dubbed that hill The Retina Blaster. It's like sandpaper for the eyes. Thankfully I did have my goggles with me and I put them on and wore them for the rest of the night. Dave, unfortunately, didn't have any goggles with him, so I just made sure we kept going down that run for the majority of the night. I think he was legally blind by the end of the evening :)
I also got a chance to try out my new MP3 player in a real-world environment and I must say I was very happy with it. No more listening to whatever crappy music is blaring out of the speakers at the chalet. Nope. I can listen to my own crappy music wherever I want to now!
I'm really sore today though. I didn't feel achey at all till about 11pm last night, but now I can barely walk. Crazy muscles, needing exercise and what not.
Sunday, January 04, 2004
Want to see something cool?
Check out this site and download or watch the entire sequence (the 18 meg file). I saw a documentary about how the guy who did this video did it all by himself. It's pretty impressive.
It seems that NASA finally figured out how to land on Mars. I wonder what happened to Beagle 2...
It seems that NASA finally figured out how to land on Mars. I wonder what happened to Beagle 2...
Saturday, January 03, 2004
Hyperbole is out of control!!!
We had a nice day out today. We went into Brampton and spent all of our gift certificates that we got for Christmas and then went to the Keg for a nice post-Anniversary meal. I had a yummy filet mignon with a bleu cheese and roasted garlic coating. Mmmm....
We learned that one does not go to Future Shop on the last day of their Boxing Week sale. It was a rather picked over store that we visited. Luckily, they had ONE copy of the game I was picking up.
I got Fatal Frame 2. I like the warning on the back:
WARNING!
DO NOT PLAY THIS ALONE!!!
It's supposed to be the SCARIEST GAME EVER so I warned Julie that if I come up to bed and am shaking like a wee babe, it's just the game.
We also went and had the pleasure of shopping at Indigo.
*shudder*
It scares me that there are stores that make Chapters seem like a haven for bibliophiles. The scary thing is that they're both owned by the same people! I guess we can thank them for having 3 tellers working to service a line-up that must have folded in on itself several times before reaching the doors to the store. We had about 20-30 minutes to kill before the Keg opened and the lovely people at Indigo helped us kill those pesky minutes dead.
Oh, and then we came home and just finished watching the always excellent movie, Bend It Like Beckham. Did you know that Gobi means cauliflower? I wonder if the Gobi desert is where they grow cauliflower. If so, someone should start planting trees there so we can wipe out that insidious plant. I hate cauliflower.
Now I have to go and read all the books I got from the library and from the bookstore. Sigh.
We learned that one does not go to Future Shop on the last day of their Boxing Week sale. It was a rather picked over store that we visited. Luckily, they had ONE copy of the game I was picking up.
I got Fatal Frame 2. I like the warning on the back:
DO NOT PLAY THIS ALONE!!!
It's supposed to be the SCARIEST GAME EVER so I warned Julie that if I come up to bed and am shaking like a wee babe, it's just the game.
We also went and had the pleasure of shopping at Indigo.
*shudder*
It scares me that there are stores that make Chapters seem like a haven for bibliophiles. The scary thing is that they're both owned by the same people! I guess we can thank them for having 3 tellers working to service a line-up that must have folded in on itself several times before reaching the doors to the store. We had about 20-30 minutes to kill before the Keg opened and the lovely people at Indigo helped us kill those pesky minutes dead.
Oh, and then we came home and just finished watching the always excellent movie, Bend It Like Beckham. Did you know that Gobi means cauliflower? I wonder if the Gobi desert is where they grow cauliflower. If so, someone should start planting trees there so we can wipe out that insidious plant. I hate cauliflower.
Now I have to go and read all the books I got from the library and from the bookstore. Sigh.
Friday, January 02, 2004
Five WONDERFUL years...
Today is Julie & my 5th anniversary! Woo! 5 years and we've got a house and a kid on the way. Not too shabby for a couple of youngin's like ourselves.
Unfortunately, the weather isn't cooperating. I was hoping that we'd have another 6 feet of snow today like we did on our wedding day, but it looks like it's rain all weekend, which of course means that there will be no skiing for Brocky for the next couple days. Oh well.
Unfortunately, the weather isn't cooperating. I was hoping that we'd have another 6 feet of snow today like we did on our wedding day, but it looks like it's rain all weekend, which of course means that there will be no skiing for Brocky for the next couple days. Oh well.
Thursday, January 01, 2004
Murder most foul!
According to CKCO news, Acton was quite the den of scum and villiany last night.
"Police are investigating a murder in Acton.
A 15 year old boy was fatally shot in the chest by another teen."
*Update*
Turns out that the person who shot the boy was a 17 year old guy from Brampton. There were a couple kids outside passing around a gun and the 17 year old put a bullet in the chamber and shot the Acton kid in the chest.
Just goes to show that you can't trust those Bramptonians, no siree.
"Police are investigating a murder in Acton.
A 15 year old boy was fatally shot in the chest by another teen."
*Update*
Turns out that the person who shot the boy was a 17 year old guy from Brampton. There were a couple kids outside passing around a gun and the 17 year old put a bullet in the chamber and shot the Acton kid in the chest.
Just goes to show that you can't trust those Bramptonians, no siree.
My foot STILL hates me...
Hmm... According to my post of December 9th, my foot was annoying me then.
It's still pretty sore and it's been pushing at least a month since it started hurting so I'm going to go see the doctor next week and get a new foot.
Then, so long as snow falls, I can go skiing!
It's still pretty sore and it's been pushing at least a month since it started hurting so I'm going to go see the doctor next week and get a new foot.
Then, so long as snow falls, I can go skiing!
Firefly rocks.
Well, once the champagne stopped flowing here at the Wager residence last night, James & I settled in for a 4+ hour Firefly marathon to usher in the new year properly. Julie, of course, had been snoring since about 9:30 and that meant the TV was our's!
After watching through the entire series in almost one sitting, I am still miffed that it got cancelled. I was mad when it was cancelled while I was watching it every week and I'm still mad.
Supposedly there is a movie in the works, though I haven't heard if it's actually going to be made or is still in that murky limbo movies get to before they're born. James mentioned that they might bring the series back too, but I have no idea if that's true or just wishful thinking.
If you haven't seen it, go rent the DVD's and see some of the best, most innovative and well-written sci-fi to come down the pipe in years.
After watching through the entire series in almost one sitting, I am still miffed that it got cancelled. I was mad when it was cancelled while I was watching it every week and I'm still mad.
Supposedly there is a movie in the works, though I haven't heard if it's actually going to be made or is still in that murky limbo movies get to before they're born. James mentioned that they might bring the series back too, but I have no idea if that's true or just wishful thinking.
If you haven't seen it, go rent the DVD's and see some of the best, most innovative and well-written sci-fi to come down the pipe in years.
Happy 2004!
Happy New Year everyone!
Unfortunately, the big ball in Times Square didn't snap off and go rolling through the crowd, just like it fails to do EVERY year. One of these days I'm just going to give up and stop watching the New York telecast...
Unfortunately, the big ball in Times Square didn't snap off and go rolling through the crowd, just like it fails to do EVERY year. One of these days I'm just going to give up and stop watching the New York telecast...
Wednesday, December 31, 2003
Lee Lives!
I had an interesting meeting last night that I thought the CH crew would get a kick out of.
I was shopping for groceries at the Price Chopper around the corner from the group home with one of the guys. We were getting stuff in the frozen food aisle when an older gentleman came by and asked me if I was with Christian Horizons. I told him I was and he said that his son had been the camp director several years back.
It turns out the man I was talking to is Lee Mitchell's dad! I chatted with him for a couple minutes and we went on our merry way, but I thought it was really neat to bump into my first 'boss' at CH's dad.
I was shopping for groceries at the Price Chopper around the corner from the group home with one of the guys. We were getting stuff in the frozen food aisle when an older gentleman came by and asked me if I was with Christian Horizons. I told him I was and he said that his son had been the camp director several years back.
It turns out the man I was talking to is Lee Mitchell's dad! I chatted with him for a couple minutes and we went on our merry way, but I thought it was really neat to bump into my first 'boss' at CH's dad.
Weapons of Mass Prediction
I found this forum thread over at Infidel Guy talking about how the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are now targetting almanacs and maps as tools in possible terrorist plots.
Talk about a vague threat. Of course, I was thinking of the Farmer's Almanac, but I figure they're talking more about travel almanacs. What a way to try to whip up paranoia and fear over the holiday season :P
Talk about a vague threat. Of course, I was thinking of the Farmer's Almanac, but I figure they're talking more about travel almanacs. What a way to try to whip up paranoia and fear over the holiday season :P
Happy New Year's Eve!
I'm off work again until Monday, so I'm going to kick back and relax for the next couple days. I would like to go skiing today, but unless there is a LOT of snow dumped on us overnight, I won't be going.
There's a 20 cm base right now at Glen Eden but it's sheer ice. Bleh. NOT the way I want to start my skiing for the season. Hopefully we'll get some snow and I'll get at least one run in before I go back to work on Monday.
For tasty treats tonight I'm hoping to get my hands on a package of Jane's Snake Bites. They're little white meat chicken nuggets but the breading on them is crazy spicy. I had a couple of them at work and they were soooo good.
There's a 20 cm base right now at Glen Eden but it's sheer ice. Bleh. NOT the way I want to start my skiing for the season. Hopefully we'll get some snow and I'll get at least one run in before I go back to work on Monday.
For tasty treats tonight I'm hoping to get my hands on a package of Jane's Snake Bites. They're little white meat chicken nuggets but the breading on them is crazy spicy. I had a couple of them at work and they were soooo good.
Tuesday, December 30, 2003
Bob the Samurai rocks!
I got to see The Last Samurai tonight.
Holy snooglies. It is an amazing movie. If you only get to see two movies this Christmas/New Year's time, Return of the King and Last Samurai are the ones to see. I'd say that they're equally good, though the focus is vastly different.
RotK is Tolkein fantasy on the big-screen at it's finest. The Last Samurai is more of an internal struggle of a disillusioned man coming to grips with his past and finding his sense of honour and duty again. Cruise and Ken Watanabe both were excellent in their roles and the supporting cast of Japanese actors were great, though Billy Connolly's character was in the movie for far too short a time.
The Last Samurai has a lot of very impressive battles, but there is also a lot of downtime. I didn't find the movie dragging at all though. All of the quiet bits were there for a reason and were as powerful as the epic battles. The Last Samurai also serves as an excellent primer on Japanese culture as Tom Cruise's character has to deal with a lot of culture shock, which is handled very well.
There's also a character named Taka, which I thought James would get a kick out of.
And The Last Samurai has a sweet ninja attack. So does Return of the King, but Sam as a ninja isn't as believable as the black-clad dealers of death in Samurai.
Gotta Love That Armour
That's Cruise and Watanabe.
Holy snooglies. It is an amazing movie. If you only get to see two movies this Christmas/New Year's time, Return of the King and Last Samurai are the ones to see. I'd say that they're equally good, though the focus is vastly different.
RotK is Tolkein fantasy on the big-screen at it's finest. The Last Samurai is more of an internal struggle of a disillusioned man coming to grips with his past and finding his sense of honour and duty again. Cruise and Ken Watanabe both were excellent in their roles and the supporting cast of Japanese actors were great, though Billy Connolly's character was in the movie for far too short a time.
The Last Samurai has a lot of very impressive battles, but there is also a lot of downtime. I didn't find the movie dragging at all though. All of the quiet bits were there for a reason and were as powerful as the epic battles. The Last Samurai also serves as an excellent primer on Japanese culture as Tom Cruise's character has to deal with a lot of culture shock, which is handled very well.
There's also a character named Taka, which I thought James would get a kick out of.
And The Last Samurai has a sweet ninja attack. So does Return of the King, but Sam as a ninja isn't as believable as the black-clad dealers of death in Samurai.
That's Cruise and Watanabe.
Monday, December 29, 2003
I'm not as damned as Liam is...
The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Third Level of Hell!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:
Take the Dante's Divine Comedy Inferno Test
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:
| Level | Score |
|---|---|
| Purgatory (Repenting Believers) | Moderate |
| Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers) | Very Low |
| Level 2 (Lustful) | Moderate |
| Level 3 (Gluttonous) | High |
| Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious) | Very Low |
| Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy) | High |
| Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics) | Very Low |
| Level 7 (Violent) | Moderate |
| Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers) | High |
| Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous) | Moderate |
Take the Dante's Divine Comedy Inferno Test
What a crappy present...
Did you get a CD for Christmas this year? Go to What A Crappy Present. It's a pretty fun site about why CD's don't make good presents any more and it's also an anti-major label site. Gotta love those!
Where is everyone?
Yeesh. You guys need to lay off the eggnog and gingerbread and waddle back over to your keyboards. Update those blogs, me hearties!
Speaking of eggnog, we got some eggnog yesterday what was rather... thick. When you can time how long it takes the eggnog to pour from the carton to your glass using a minute hand, there's something definately off about it. No, I didn't drink any of it. We took it back. And here I thought I had a new pet.
Speaking of eggnog, we got some eggnog yesterday what was rather... thick. When you can time how long it takes the eggnog to pour from the carton to your glass using a minute hand, there's something definately off about it. No, I didn't drink any of it. We took it back. And here I thought I had a new pet.
Plants are nifty
Of course, I am thankful for my library as I've been able to read 3 really neat books this year by David Bodanis. I read The Secret House and E=MC^2: A Biography earlier in the year. I just finished reading the excellent book, The Secret Garden, today. I loved all of them.
Bodanis is able to tell a very interesting story about the day in the life of a house or garden and all of the intricate, microscopic activities going on every day right before our eyes. And he's got a ficticious couple that lives in the house and garden in both of the Secret books who are really funny to follow through the day as they disturb everything around them. Go read these books!
Bodanis is able to tell a very interesting story about the day in the life of a house or garden and all of the intricate, microscopic activities going on every day right before our eyes. And he's got a ficticious couple that lives in the house and garden in both of the Secret books who are really funny to follow through the day as they disturb everything around them. Go read these books!
Libraries: Taking a page out of the Chapters manual
I don't know what it is about my library. I guess it's just that it's a small rural library as opposed to the Mississauga or Brampton systems. However, it is annoying when they start acting like the local Chapters store.
Why am I hitting so below the belt? Well, I did work for Chapters Inc. for a year or two so I know what it's like. The reason I'm comparing them to that most heinous of book chains is that my beloved Acton library has followed the Chapters book series rule.
The Chapters book series rule, in case you haven't had the pleasure of reading a series that isn't Tolkein or Robert Jordan, is the rule where you are required to have the 3rd and 5th book in a series, but none other. All of the other books are either only available online or not available at all.
I'm currently reading through the New Jedi Order series of Star Wars books. Really cool series. However, it's 19 books long. My library has about 11 of the books. And for some reason, for the parts of the series that are two or three part arcs, NONE of them have the first book of the arc. It's really weird and annoying.
So I've decided that I'm going to fill in the blanks. I went out today and picked up the next two missing books using my gift certificate that I got for Chapters and when I finish these books I'm going to donate them to the Acton library. I don't have too many books to buy, thankfully, and then others won't have to miss out on a cool series.
Why am I hitting so below the belt? Well, I did work for Chapters Inc. for a year or two so I know what it's like. The reason I'm comparing them to that most heinous of book chains is that my beloved Acton library has followed the Chapters book series rule.
The Chapters book series rule, in case you haven't had the pleasure of reading a series that isn't Tolkein or Robert Jordan, is the rule where you are required to have the 3rd and 5th book in a series, but none other. All of the other books are either only available online or not available at all.
I'm currently reading through the New Jedi Order series of Star Wars books. Really cool series. However, it's 19 books long. My library has about 11 of the books. And for some reason, for the parts of the series that are two or three part arcs, NONE of them have the first book of the arc. It's really weird and annoying.
So I've decided that I'm going to fill in the blanks. I went out today and picked up the next two missing books using my gift certificate that I got for Chapters and when I finish these books I'm going to donate them to the Acton library. I don't have too many books to buy, thankfully, and then others won't have to miss out on a cool series.
Dishes
I just finished doing the dishes and it was scarily fun. Why? My MP3 player, that's why.
I just had the tunes going while washing the dishes and it was... gasp... fun. I hope this isn't the start of a trend. Chores made enjoyable by music. NOOOO!!
I was doing the dishes because Julie broke a glass while washing the dishes when I was at work today. She ended up slicing a big chunk out of her thumb in the process. I was dialing up coverage for the rest of my shift so I could take her to the hospital to have it properly dressed.
Thankfully, by the time I'd gone through my entire relief list (with only a lot of answering machines for my trouble), she called back to say that the bleeding had stopped and she wasn't feeling as woozy as before. I guess it was a pretty deep cut (she was asleep when I got home) but not so deep as to require stitches.
Ah well. Everyone's ok now so I'm happy :)
I just had the tunes going while washing the dishes and it was... gasp... fun. I hope this isn't the start of a trend. Chores made enjoyable by music. NOOOO!!
I was doing the dishes because Julie broke a glass while washing the dishes when I was at work today. She ended up slicing a big chunk out of her thumb in the process. I was dialing up coverage for the rest of my shift so I could take her to the hospital to have it properly dressed.
Thankfully, by the time I'd gone through my entire relief list (with only a lot of answering machines for my trouble), she called back to say that the bleeding had stopped and she wasn't feeling as woozy as before. I guess it was a pretty deep cut (she was asleep when I got home) but not so deep as to require stitches.
Ah well. Everyone's ok now so I'm happy :)
Sunday, December 28, 2003
Audiophiles Assemble!
Ok. I need your help, you geeky tech types out there. This means you, Luke.
I just set up my new surround system and while it is already a vast improvement over my rinky-dink 2-speaker stereo, I have a couple questions.
Mainly this. I currently have the set up like so: Game systems, etc. connected to my multi-selector unit. Selector connected to the TV. TV audio connected to the receiver. Receiver connected to the speakers. Sound waves connected to my ears.
Now, is this an OK set up? Unfortunately the DVD player/receiver doesn't have a video-in component, so I can't just plug the selector into it. I was thinking that I could have the selector video plugged into the TV and plug the audio into the DVD/receiver directly. This would just mean that watching TV or VCR stuff wouldn't use the receiver, but then maybe the sound would be better. I don't know. I'm just guessing.
If my current set-up is ok, that's fine with me. The nice thing is that the TV shows will benefit from the receiver and speakers. If I can get better sound on the stuff plugged into the selector but lose the TV, I'm willing to settle on that. I really want to have good sound for my games and DVD's moreso than the TV proper.
BG&E sounded nice with the surround sound. I'd like to try out something on the X-Box as it has true 5.1 sound. Mmm...
I also need to tweak the settings on the receiver too, but I have to go out later today and pick up some batteries for the remote. I know the system isn't anything special, but for the price it's nice.
I just set up my new surround system and while it is already a vast improvement over my rinky-dink 2-speaker stereo, I have a couple questions.
Mainly this. I currently have the set up like so: Game systems, etc. connected to my multi-selector unit. Selector connected to the TV. TV audio connected to the receiver. Receiver connected to the speakers. Sound waves connected to my ears.
Now, is this an OK set up? Unfortunately the DVD player/receiver doesn't have a video-in component, so I can't just plug the selector into it. I was thinking that I could have the selector video plugged into the TV and plug the audio into the DVD/receiver directly. This would just mean that watching TV or VCR stuff wouldn't use the receiver, but then maybe the sound would be better. I don't know. I'm just guessing.
If my current set-up is ok, that's fine with me. The nice thing is that the TV shows will benefit from the receiver and speakers. If I can get better sound on the stuff plugged into the selector but lose the TV, I'm willing to settle on that. I really want to have good sound for my games and DVD's moreso than the TV proper.
BG&E sounded nice with the surround sound. I'd like to try out something on the X-Box as it has true 5.1 sound. Mmm...
I also need to tweak the settings on the receiver too, but I have to go out later today and pick up some batteries for the remote. I know the system isn't anything special, but for the price it's nice.
I hate cliffhangers...
And I'm not talking about the movie.
I just finished Beyond Good & Evil. Amazing game. Great story, etc. etc.
What sucks is that they end it, at the very end of the credits, with a short scene that sets up a sequel perfectly. The reason it sucks is that I have no idea if or when a sequel will be forthcoming! ARG!
But the game itself does a great job of wrapping up the story told in the game while leaving you wanting more. At least, leaving ME wanting more. I loved the world and the characters and it would be really neat to venture out beyond Hyllis to see what else the BG&E universe holds.
Go play it. It's on all the systems and PC.
I just finished Beyond Good & Evil. Amazing game. Great story, etc. etc.
What sucks is that they end it, at the very end of the credits, with a short scene that sets up a sequel perfectly. The reason it sucks is that I have no idea if or when a sequel will be forthcoming! ARG!
But the game itself does a great job of wrapping up the story told in the game while leaving you wanting more. At least, leaving ME wanting more. I loved the world and the characters and it would be really neat to venture out beyond Hyllis to see what else the BG&E universe holds.
Go play it. It's on all the systems and PC.
Saturday, December 27, 2003
The Uber-Professional?
Check out this news...
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Portman Agrees To 'Leon' Sequel
Movie beauty Natalie Portman is keen to reprise her debut film role in a sequel to cult favorite Leon. The actress, 22, first came to international recognition in her acclaimed performance as an assassin's 11-year-old pal in the 1994 film, which starred Jean Reno in the lead role. And now Natalie has confirmed the long-awaited sequel is ready to roll, and she can't wait to be involved - despite needing a break following years working on the Star Wars trilogy. She says, "The script's really great, and worth delaying a vacation for."
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I just wonder who they'll have to replace Jean Reno. I guess that since Natalie's character in the first one was learning how to be an assassin, the sequel would follow her as she becomes a pro or something.
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Portman Agrees To 'Leon' Sequel
Movie beauty Natalie Portman is keen to reprise her debut film role in a sequel to cult favorite Leon. The actress, 22, first came to international recognition in her acclaimed performance as an assassin's 11-year-old pal in the 1994 film, which starred Jean Reno in the lead role. And now Natalie has confirmed the long-awaited sequel is ready to roll, and she can't wait to be involved - despite needing a break following years working on the Star Wars trilogy. She says, "The script's really great, and worth delaying a vacation for."
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I just wonder who they'll have to replace Jean Reno. I guess that since Natalie's character in the first one was learning how to be an assassin, the sequel would follow her as she becomes a pro or something.
Friday, December 26, 2003
5.1 Ahoy!
Well, I have finally joined the throngs of Boxing Day shoppers. Tim (bro-in-law) and I went over to Future Shop at 6:30am to line up around the corner of the building. At 7am, they opened the door and the crowd surged forward, bearing us to our prospective purchases.
I was one of the lucky ones who got the $129.99 Home Theatre system. Only 10 per store! I also picked up Finding Nemo, Pirates of the Carribean and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle on DVD too.
All said and done, we were in and out in 11 minutes once the doors opened. Woot! I just need to go home and set up my new 5.1 system! Now I've got ANOTHER DVD player though...yeesh. I have about 6 now.
I was one of the lucky ones who got the $129.99 Home Theatre system. Only 10 per store! I also picked up Finding Nemo, Pirates of the Carribean and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle on DVD too.
All said and done, we were in and out in 11 minutes once the doors opened. Woot! I just need to go home and set up my new 5.1 system! Now I've got ANOTHER DVD player though...yeesh. I have about 6 now.
Thursday, December 25, 2003
Mmm... MP3's...
I had a great Christmas. We had lots of fun at each family's respective Christmas celebration today, and I also had a pretty good haul :)
Well, to top it off, I got the MP3 player I'd asked for. Woohoo! I just got access to a computer now so I'm trying out listening to a good mix of songs on it. 128 MB is pretty decent for what I want it for. It also has a nice necklace headphone set that will be great for going skiing. And the sound quality is great. I love the headphones :)
I also got a neat decorative pot for burning fire in our backyard come summer time. What else? My ski pass, some sweaters, some crazy socks (one pair with lots of watermelons on them) and a good assortment of gift certificates.
I'm going to bed soon as my brother-in-law and I are getting up at 6am to go to the 7am sale at Future Shop. I've got my eyes on a home theatre system for $129.99... I hope I can get it! If not, I'll just get a couple DVD's or something.
I hope everyone else had a great Christmas. I'm going to go listen to my songs some more now :)
I just need to get home now so I can access my 3 gigs of MP3's on my home system :P
Well, to top it off, I got the MP3 player I'd asked for. Woohoo! I just got access to a computer now so I'm trying out listening to a good mix of songs on it. 128 MB is pretty decent for what I want it for. It also has a nice necklace headphone set that will be great for going skiing. And the sound quality is great. I love the headphones :)
I also got a neat decorative pot for burning fire in our backyard come summer time. What else? My ski pass, some sweaters, some crazy socks (one pair with lots of watermelons on them) and a good assortment of gift certificates.
I'm going to bed soon as my brother-in-law and I are getting up at 6am to go to the 7am sale at Future Shop. I've got my eyes on a home theatre system for $129.99... I hope I can get it! If not, I'll just get a couple DVD's or something.
I hope everyone else had a great Christmas. I'm going to go listen to my songs some more now :)
I just need to get home now so I can access my 3 gigs of MP3's on my home system :P
I love NORAD
I put the link in the last post, but I just love the fact that NORAD puts out the Santa tracking info. The little movies are cute, with CF-18's flanking Santa as he arrives in Eastern Canada and when he flies over Cheyenne Mountain (NORAD HQ) in Colorado.
Merry Christmas One and All
Hey everybody.
Merry Christmas!
I hope you all have a great time and don't eat too much turkey.
I've had a busy last couple days here in Sarnia. I finally got over my cold (yay) and cooked up some Dim Sum for appetizers at my parents' place for dinner on Christmas Eve.
We went out for the evening carol sing and service at my parents' church too. It's... interesting. They've made all the songs politcally correct, so they're "Good Christians, All Rejoice" instead of "Good Christian Men Rejoice" and so forth. Some of them are just changed enough that you know something is odd, but are not sure what. Others are just dumb.
But what can you do?
Anyway, I'm off to bed now. Gotta get to bed before Santa comes. He was in Peru last I checked... I better not stay up any later!
Merry Christmas!
I hope you all have a great time and don't eat too much turkey.
I've had a busy last couple days here in Sarnia. I finally got over my cold (yay) and cooked up some Dim Sum for appetizers at my parents' place for dinner on Christmas Eve.
We went out for the evening carol sing and service at my parents' church too. It's... interesting. They've made all the songs politcally correct, so they're "Good Christians, All Rejoice" instead of "Good Christian Men Rejoice" and so forth. Some of them are just changed enough that you know something is odd, but are not sure what. Others are just dumb.
But what can you do?
Anyway, I'm off to bed now. Gotta get to bed before Santa comes. He was in Peru last I checked... I better not stay up any later!
Monday, December 22, 2003
Home for Christmas!
We're heading to Sarnia today for about a week (back on Saturday). We got the last of our Christmas shopping done this morning after Julie's appointment w/ the doctor.
Speaking of which, we got to hear the baby's heartbeat today. I was trying to get the doctor to ensure me that there was just one heartbeat, since we have had a rash of twins in this area over the last few years, but she couldn't guarantee it.
But it was neat to hear the heartbeat of Spig Baby.
Speaking of which, we got to hear the baby's heartbeat today. I was trying to get the doctor to ensure me that there was just one heartbeat, since we have had a rash of twins in this area over the last few years, but she couldn't guarantee it.
But it was neat to hear the heartbeat of Spig Baby.
Celtic Christmas
We had a great service at church today. Our old music leader, Jamie McKay, came back from P.E.I. with some of his fiddle buddies and they put on the annual Celtic Christmas service. Nothing like having a VERY good fiddler and guitarist singing Great Big Sea songs in church :)
I miss having Jamie as our worship leader. We went from a really good rock/folk style of music to lounge lizard shmaltz. Sigh. It was especially apparent today with him back and leading the music again.
Oh well. At least the sermons are still up to spec.
I miss having Jamie as our worship leader. We went from a really good rock/folk style of music to lounge lizard shmaltz. Sigh. It was especially apparent today with him back and leading the music again.
Oh well. At least the sermons are still up to spec.
Just play NOLF 1 & 2 instead...
I just finished Contract J.A.C.K., the standalone expansion for No One Lives Forever 2. It was fun but very short (I beat it in about 4-5 hours).
The biggest problem is that it's nothing at all like either NOLF games. It's more like Serious Sam, to be exact. I ended up just setting the game on God mode and chewing through the endless waves of enemies. It had its funny moments and if you liked the NOLF universe, it does set up some of the events of NOLF 2.
I'd rather just play the stealthy, funny originals though. If I want to blow up hordes of clone enemies, I'll play Doom or Serious Sam.
The biggest problem is that it's nothing at all like either NOLF games. It's more like Serious Sam, to be exact. I ended up just setting the game on God mode and chewing through the endless waves of enemies. It had its funny moments and if you liked the NOLF universe, it does set up some of the events of NOLF 2.
I'd rather just play the stealthy, funny originals though. If I want to blow up hordes of clone enemies, I'll play Doom or Serious Sam.
Sunday, December 21, 2003
Return of the Blown Speaker
James & I went to see RotK again yesterday in Georgetown. It was as good as the first time, but unfortunately they'd blown one of their fancy new DTS speakers so every so often there would be the sound like someone was crumpling paper REALLY LOUDLY.
I felt bad for the theatre owner. He gets a new system just for that movie and by Thursday he'd blown his woofer. Sigh.
The movie was only $4.25 though, so it wasn't worth going and complaining about... at least not more than once :)
I felt bad for the theatre owner. He gets a new system just for that movie and by Thursday he'd blown his woofer. Sigh.
The movie was only $4.25 though, so it wasn't worth going and complaining about... at least not more than once :)
Friday, December 19, 2003
Top 11 Ways Peter Jackson Ruined The Return Of The King
This was over on Blogspot. I liked it so much I cut and pasted it here to save you from all that strenuous clicking.
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11. At the end Gandalf seen stroking the ring in black robes saying, "My preciousss." Setting up Lord of the Rings: Part IV.
10. Legolas and Aragorn competing to see who can toss Gimli over the Crack of Doom.
9. Immortals sailing off to the west to the tune of Styx's "Come Sail Away."
8. Gollum swallowing ring, they have to wait a few days for it to come out.
7. Gandalf talks orcs into union labor strike against Sauron, there is no huge battle scene.
6. Citizens of Gondor overthrowing Aragorn's monarchy and install a representative democracy.
5. Side plot involving disgruntled rock bands whose Monsters of Pelennor concert gets interrupted by giant battle.
4. Scouring of the shire replaced with massive hobbit rave-orgy.
3. Gollum biting off Frodo's hand then revealing he is Frodo's father.
2. Revealing that hobbits are short because of a genetic defect caused by toxic runoff from Rivendell.
1. Sam holding up 9.5 after Gollum dives into Crack of Doom. Exchanging high 4s with Frodo.
---
11. At the end Gandalf seen stroking the ring in black robes saying, "My preciousss." Setting up Lord of the Rings: Part IV.
10. Legolas and Aragorn competing to see who can toss Gimli over the Crack of Doom.
9. Immortals sailing off to the west to the tune of Styx's "Come Sail Away."
8. Gollum swallowing ring, they have to wait a few days for it to come out.
7. Gandalf talks orcs into union labor strike against Sauron, there is no huge battle scene.
6. Citizens of Gondor overthrowing Aragorn's monarchy and install a representative democracy.
5. Side plot involving disgruntled rock bands whose Monsters of Pelennor concert gets interrupted by giant battle.
4. Scouring of the shire replaced with massive hobbit rave-orgy.
3. Gollum biting off Frodo's hand then revealing he is Frodo's father.
2. Revealing that hobbits are short because of a genetic defect caused by toxic runoff from Rivendell.
1. Sam holding up 9.5 after Gollum dives into Crack of Doom. Exchanging high 4s with Frodo.
Like playing a game with your Mom watching
Just in time for Christmas, it's NEED FOR SPEED: Back Seat Driver!
I can't wait to try this one out.
I can't wait to try this one out.
Ludwig the Egg Fan Club
Does anyone else besides myself and James remember Ludwig The Egg? He was one of those wierd British cartoons that used to be shown on TVO back in the 70's and early 80's.
Ludwig, Will O' The Wisp and Dr. Snuggles... Those were the days...
I wish I could find stuff about any of those shows. They were all so crazily imaginative. So much better than the pandering or mechandise driven cartoons for kids these days.
Ludwig, Will O' The Wisp and Dr. Snuggles... Those were the days...
I wish I could find stuff about any of those shows. They were all so crazily imaginative. So much better than the pandering or mechandise driven cartoons for kids these days.
Thursday, December 18, 2003
LOTR meets Santa
Thanks to Bash.org for this quote.
"In LotR all the elves sailed to the "undying lands" to the west. Continental drift caused those lands to move further north and eventually they were left to spend eternity making toys for their new red-suited overlord."
"In LotR all the elves sailed to the "undying lands" to the west. Continental drift caused those lands to move further north and eventually they were left to spend eternity making toys for their new red-suited overlord."
Fear The Titles
Yup. I figured out how to turn on titles on Blogger now. Frightening thing that. At least they're not the monstrous size they were when I was fiddling with them earlier!
Wednesday, December 17, 2003
Sam the Ninja
They need to make a game based on Samwise Gamgee.
Silent Sam: Hobbit Ninja
Watch Return of the King and you'll know what I'm talking about :)
Though I have already played the new Return of the King game and there was a glitch where no matter what character you selected you were always Sam. It was like he was the pivotal force in every battle...
Silent Sam: Hobbit Ninja
Watch Return of the King and you'll know what I'm talking about :)
Though I have already played the new Return of the King game and there was a glitch where no matter what character you selected you were always Sam. It was like he was the pivotal force in every battle...
Return of the King
Just got home from Return of the King.
HOLY CRAP! Absolutely phenomenal movie. Best movie I've seen this year and probably one of the best I've seen, ever. I loved it (if you couldn't tell).
They even had an intermission! I left after the credits had started rolling and I was the last person in the theatre. I didn't want to make the old man running the place have to stay an extra 10 minutes or so just for me. It still clocked in at around 3 1/2 hours with the 10 minute intermission and plenty of credits to go. But it was the fastest 3 1/2 hours I've ever watched a movie for.
The only problem I had was aimed at the audience. I went to see the movie in Georgetown and there were probably about 20-30 people there, so it was nice and not crazy crowded or noisy.
The problem was that of all the seats in the entire, mostly empty theatre, King and Queen Let's-Narrate-The-Movie chose to sit RIGHT BEHIND ME! "Why are their feet furry? What's that ring for? Is that Gollum? I think he's schitzo." ARG!!!
At least they shut up before I had to turn around and stuff things down their throats.
The teenagers a couple rows behind me were great though. They kept hollering and gasping and just appreciating the battles but only when it was appropriate. Someone gets squished, they would go "Cool!" but then they'd be quiet again. That's acceptable theatre noise. Narration and post-lobotomy questions aren't.
Here are a couple points regarding the flick. If you don't want anything spoiled, well... THE BOOKS HAVE BEEN OUT FOR 50 YEARS!!! IT'S YOU'RE OWN FAULT IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THEM YET!!!
That said, here we go:
1) The Battle of Pellanor Field and Minas Tirith: Absolutely amazing. This makes up the bulk of the movie. Of the 3 1/2 hour run time, I'd say 2 1/2 hours are devoted to this and the siege. Sure, they show some other stuff, but it's all about the battle. The trailer and commercials don't do this justice. It essentially makes the battle for Helm's Deep in The Two Towers look like a fight on the playground.
2) Earplugs: Bring a pair or at least cover your ears for the entrance of the Witch King. Especially if you have an aversion to high pitched noises.
3) No scouring of the Shire: This isn't too bad as I heard they cut it since it would have really dragged the movie out even longer and it wasn't that exciting. That is the one part of the book I'd never read so I didn't mind that they cut it. I now have a reason to go and re-read the series now though :)
4) Oliphants: They're just cool. Keep an eye out for all of the anti-personel weaponry they have tacked onto them. There are a lot of things that aren't immediately obvious but they're pretty cool.
5) Nazghul: They implode well.
6) Gollum doesn't combust as well as he should: 'Nuff said.
and lastly
7) Michael J. Fox: He's got a pretty cool cameo. Keep an eye out for him!
Well, I'm off to bed. It's already pushing 4:30am... yeesh. I better get some sleep!
HOLY CRAP! Absolutely phenomenal movie. Best movie I've seen this year and probably one of the best I've seen, ever. I loved it (if you couldn't tell).
They even had an intermission! I left after the credits had started rolling and I was the last person in the theatre. I didn't want to make the old man running the place have to stay an extra 10 minutes or so just for me. It still clocked in at around 3 1/2 hours with the 10 minute intermission and plenty of credits to go. But it was the fastest 3 1/2 hours I've ever watched a movie for.
The only problem I had was aimed at the audience. I went to see the movie in Georgetown and there were probably about 20-30 people there, so it was nice and not crazy crowded or noisy.
The problem was that of all the seats in the entire, mostly empty theatre, King and Queen Let's-Narrate-The-Movie chose to sit RIGHT BEHIND ME! "Why are their feet furry? What's that ring for? Is that Gollum? I think he's schitzo." ARG!!!
At least they shut up before I had to turn around and stuff things down their throats.
The teenagers a couple rows behind me were great though. They kept hollering and gasping and just appreciating the battles but only when it was appropriate. Someone gets squished, they would go "Cool!" but then they'd be quiet again. That's acceptable theatre noise. Narration and post-lobotomy questions aren't.
Here are a couple points regarding the flick. If you don't want anything spoiled, well... THE BOOKS HAVE BEEN OUT FOR 50 YEARS!!! IT'S YOU'RE OWN FAULT IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THEM YET!!!
That said, here we go:
1) The Battle of Pellanor Field and Minas Tirith: Absolutely amazing. This makes up the bulk of the movie. Of the 3 1/2 hour run time, I'd say 2 1/2 hours are devoted to this and the siege. Sure, they show some other stuff, but it's all about the battle. The trailer and commercials don't do this justice. It essentially makes the battle for Helm's Deep in The Two Towers look like a fight on the playground.
2) Earplugs: Bring a pair or at least cover your ears for the entrance of the Witch King. Especially if you have an aversion to high pitched noises.
3) No scouring of the Shire: This isn't too bad as I heard they cut it since it would have really dragged the movie out even longer and it wasn't that exciting. That is the one part of the book I'd never read so I didn't mind that they cut it. I now have a reason to go and re-read the series now though :)
4) Oliphants: They're just cool. Keep an eye out for all of the anti-personel weaponry they have tacked onto them. There are a lot of things that aren't immediately obvious but they're pretty cool.
5) Nazghul: They implode well.
6) Gollum doesn't combust as well as he should: 'Nuff said.
and lastly
7) Michael J. Fox: He's got a pretty cool cameo. Keep an eye out for him!
Well, I'm off to bed. It's already pushing 4:30am... yeesh. I better get some sleep!
Monday, December 15, 2003
Woo! I found a place that is showing Return of the King at midnight and a) isn't sold out and b) isn't in downtown Toronto. I'll be among a select few gracing the seats at the Georgetown 3 Cinemas tomorrow night at midnight.
I like seeing movies at midnight with only a couple people there rather than the screaming hordes that will be at the average multiplex. Sure, the screens about the size of my TV, but still...
I like seeing movies at midnight with only a couple people there rather than the screaming hordes that will be at the average multiplex. Sure, the screens about the size of my TV, but still...
I fired up Deus Ex 2, but I think I need a new system to run it... either that, or a patch. I tried turning everything down and it still crawled on my PC. Oh well.
Maybe I'll get the Xbox version in a while if I can't get the PC version to play properly, though I'll see if there's a patch for the PC version first (and if it does make any difference).
I guess I'll just go and try to finish Beyond Good & Evil instead.
Maybe I'll get the Xbox version in a while if I can't get the PC version to play properly, though I'll see if there's a patch for the PC version first (and if it does make any difference).
I guess I'll just go and try to finish Beyond Good & Evil instead.
Woohoo! I just beat Deus Ex. It's been almost 4 years since I started playing it the first time, but I beat it!
I like how there are 3 different endings but they're based on how you finish off the final level of the game. That way I was able to see all 3 of them quickly rather than having to backtrack or replay the whole game. It's better than some games where the choices you make at the beginning of the game determine the ending you'll get.
Very cool game though. Now I can crack open the sequel and see how it plays.
I like how there are 3 different endings but they're based on how you finish off the final level of the game. That way I was able to see all 3 of them quickly rather than having to backtrack or replay the whole game. It's better than some games where the choices you make at the beginning of the game determine the ending you'll get.
Very cool game though. Now I can crack open the sequel and see how it plays.
Sunday, December 14, 2003
AHHH!!! I could have gone skiing today and I didn't even know it. Ah well. At least now I know that I CAN go skiing.
Warren Miller's Film Crew Setting Up To Document Brock's First Day Of Skiing For The Season
NEWS FLASH!
A Nightmare Before Christmas game is being made! It's got a new story set in the same world as the movie, but a year later! And to top it off, they're getting the artistic director from the film to help with the game!
Woohoo!
Jack Skellington says that's A-OK!
A Nightmare Before Christmas game is being made! It's got a new story set in the same world as the movie, but a year later! And to top it off, they're getting the artistic director from the film to help with the game!
Woohoo!
Friday, December 12, 2003
I've received a few questions regarding how to sell your soul to the Survey People of Jupiter.
Here's how to get started. Go to the Ipsos-Reid site and sign up for surveys.
I can only let you in on the most basic of secrets at the beginning.
Prove your worth and I may share the diciplines necessary to attain coupons!
(Sorry, I've been playing too much Deus Ex lately. Illuminatti make you go crazy...)
Here's how to get started. Go to the Ipsos-Reid site and sign up for surveys.
I can only let you in on the most basic of secrets at the beginning.
Prove your worth and I may share the diciplines necessary to attain coupons!
(Sorry, I've been playing too much Deus Ex lately. Illuminatti make you go crazy...)
Have you been reading the latest storyline over at Player Vs. Player? I love it. I can't wait to see if Kurtz actually does make a ruleset for playing Gamers: The Game (The Game About Gamers). I'd love to try it out.
I have now added coffee mugs to my list of things I hate. I pulled one out of the cupboard at work today and had cold coffee splash all over me. Someone put a full cup of coffee in the cupboard earlier in the day and I ended up being the recipient of the contents in the evening... sigh.
At least now I can suck on my shirt if I start feeling drowsy.
At least now I can suck on my shirt if I start feeling drowsy.
Thursday, December 11, 2003
Yet another very good editorial about videogames and the violence therein. The neat thing about this one is that it's written by a gamer who actually particpates in the annual Video Game Report Card that a bunch of senators in the States put together every year.
Wednesday, December 10, 2003
Yesterday and today were also good days for my DVD collection. I got the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Vol. 1 set, Buffy Season 5 and Firefly: The Complete Series. Yay. Now my Amazon pre-order list is empty save for some Buffy and Angel sets not out till May and February, respectively.
I like being on these survey lists. They're fun. I have homework for the one I'm doing now. I have to go 'shopping' at Canadian Tire and pick out some houseware and submit a little write-up on the ones I pick later this week. If I do that, I get a $25 gift certificate for Canadian Tire.
Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.
Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.
Tuesday, December 09, 2003
Monday, December 08, 2003
I was sad to hear about the Uptown Theatre collapsing today. The Uptown was probably my favourite movie theatre in downtown Toronto.
I didn't realize it was going to be demolished anyway (the last time I had heard anything about it was last year or early this year when they were still fighting to keep it standing). The Uptown was where I was first exposed to the wonders of wierd French cinema during repeated midnight showings of City of Lost Children. Sigh.
It seems they've had one fatality and while they had thought that there was still someone under the rubble earlier in the evening, they seem to have called off the search.
Just goes to show that you shouldn't knock down classy old buildings to put up crappy condos. See my rant about subdivisions for a taste of my rant about demolishing classy old buildings :)
I didn't realize it was going to be demolished anyway (the last time I had heard anything about it was last year or early this year when they were still fighting to keep it standing). The Uptown was where I was first exposed to the wonders of wierd French cinema during repeated midnight showings of City of Lost Children. Sigh.
It seems they've had one fatality and while they had thought that there was still someone under the rubble earlier in the evening, they seem to have called off the search.
Just goes to show that you shouldn't knock down classy old buildings to put up crappy condos. See my rant about subdivisions for a taste of my rant about demolishing classy old buildings :)
I've been spending a bunch of time playing Beyond Good & Evil. Excellent game. I mean, it actually has supplanted Final Fantasy X-2 in my PS2 since I got it the other day (and if you know how much of a Final Fantasy nut I am, that's saying something). BG&E is probably one of the best games I've played in some time. Of course, I picked it up for the PS2 and I think a day after I got it they released the Xbox & Cube versions (supposedly the Cube is the best of the 3).
But it's a gorgeous game on the PS2 and I haven't noticed anything horrible, graphic wise. The game itself is stunning.
I also have been working my way through the original Deus Ex again, since I never did finish it and with the sequel having just been released, I want to see how the first game turns out. It's still just as great as it was a couple years ago when it came out.
But it's a gorgeous game on the PS2 and I haven't noticed anything horrible, graphic wise. The game itself is stunning.
I also have been working my way through the original Deus Ex again, since I never did finish it and with the sequel having just been released, I want to see how the first game turns out. It's still just as great as it was a couple years ago when it came out.
A couple things I want to post about that I meant to post about last week.
First up: The Spike VGA's.
The 1st Annual Spike Video Game Awards were held on Thursday last week and it was interesting. On the one hand, they did a lot of stuff wrong. On the flip side, they did present games in such a way that someone who doesn't game all day could watch the award show and not be bored (at least not any more than any other award show.)
The Good
There were some pretty funny bits where they took game footage and reworked it and dubbed over to make it funny. The induction of the Dot from Pong into the Hall of Fame was funny too. And most of the awards were awarded to games that were deserving.
The Bad
The show was definately skewed to the LCD (Lowest Common Denominator) and was proud of it. The Gamespy article about the awards compares them to the MTV Movie Awards as opposed to the Oscars, which is spot on.
They had porn stars giving out awards, wrestlers having a match in the middle of the awards ceremony and other wierdness. Thankfully I was watching it on the VCR so I could just fast forward past most of the crap performances and non-game related drivel.
The Ugly
Where the VGA's really got off track was with the categories and winners of same. Soul Calibur 2 won for Most Addictive game, but not best Fighting Game. Who won that? WWE Smackdown. Sure, it's a fighting game by a really large stretch of the definition of what a fighting game is, but there's no way it's a superior fighting game than SC2.
Another example of odd categories and winners was with the Best Game Based On A Movie and the Best Fantasy Game. For the Movie category, they gave the award to Enter The Matrix. EtM was fun and filled out a lot of side-story stuff with relation to Reloaded and Revolutions, but as a game it was unpolished, ugly and felt like an unfinished game, even though it did have 4 years for development. Knights of the Old Republic or Return Of The King are both far superior games.
And Knights of the Old Republic won the best Fantasy Game, which was cool, but I still think it should have won best movie game. Ah well.
And probably the worst thing was that they gave out the Game of the Year award (Madden 2004) before the ceremony even started. They just had a montage of all the games up for nomination and then, before David Spade was introduced or the VGA's were even declared as starting, they say, "GAME OF THE YEAR! MADDEN 2004!"
It'd be like revealing the Best Picture Oscar during the red carpet show. Instead of the GOTY, they spent the rest of the show hyping the "Most Anticipated" game. (It was Halo 2. Yippee.)
The Wrapup
In the end, I didn't mind watching the VGA's, especially due to the fast forward button on my VCR remote. I appreciate that they're making an effort to give games the recognition they deserve, given that more money was spent on games last year than movies. I just hope they get their butts in gear and at least make the categories and winners actually make sense. For serious game awards, I'll go by the online rankings and yearly GOTY awards on Gamespy and Gamespot and Electric Playground.
First up: The Spike VGA's.
The 1st Annual Spike Video Game Awards were held on Thursday last week and it was interesting. On the one hand, they did a lot of stuff wrong. On the flip side, they did present games in such a way that someone who doesn't game all day could watch the award show and not be bored (at least not any more than any other award show.)
The Good
There were some pretty funny bits where they took game footage and reworked it and dubbed over to make it funny. The induction of the Dot from Pong into the Hall of Fame was funny too. And most of the awards were awarded to games that were deserving.
The Bad
The show was definately skewed to the LCD (Lowest Common Denominator) and was proud of it. The Gamespy article about the awards compares them to the MTV Movie Awards as opposed to the Oscars, which is spot on.
They had porn stars giving out awards, wrestlers having a match in the middle of the awards ceremony and other wierdness. Thankfully I was watching it on the VCR so I could just fast forward past most of the crap performances and non-game related drivel.
The Ugly
Where the VGA's really got off track was with the categories and winners of same. Soul Calibur 2 won for Most Addictive game, but not best Fighting Game. Who won that? WWE Smackdown. Sure, it's a fighting game by a really large stretch of the definition of what a fighting game is, but there's no way it's a superior fighting game than SC2.
Another example of odd categories and winners was with the Best Game Based On A Movie and the Best Fantasy Game. For the Movie category, they gave the award to Enter The Matrix. EtM was fun and filled out a lot of side-story stuff with relation to Reloaded and Revolutions, but as a game it was unpolished, ugly and felt like an unfinished game, even though it did have 4 years for development. Knights of the Old Republic or Return Of The King are both far superior games.
And Knights of the Old Republic won the best Fantasy Game, which was cool, but I still think it should have won best movie game. Ah well.
And probably the worst thing was that they gave out the Game of the Year award (Madden 2004) before the ceremony even started. They just had a montage of all the games up for nomination and then, before David Spade was introduced or the VGA's were even declared as starting, they say, "GAME OF THE YEAR! MADDEN 2004!"
It'd be like revealing the Best Picture Oscar during the red carpet show. Instead of the GOTY, they spent the rest of the show hyping the "Most Anticipated" game. (It was Halo 2. Yippee.)
The Wrapup
In the end, I didn't mind watching the VGA's, especially due to the fast forward button on my VCR remote. I appreciate that they're making an effort to give games the recognition they deserve, given that more money was spent on games last year than movies. I just hope they get their butts in gear and at least make the categories and winners actually make sense. For serious game awards, I'll go by the online rankings and yearly GOTY awards on Gamespy and Gamespot and Electric Playground.
Sunday, December 07, 2003
Oh man. I just watched the first episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. SO funny. I guess ATHF has been out in the states for the last few years but since Teletoon only likes to show reruns of CRAP, I haven't had a chance to see ATHF till now. Oh well. It definately lives up to the hype.
Saturday, December 06, 2003
We just got back from visiting Luke, Anne and the unnamed baby which was named but that we didn't know was named before we went up to visit them.
Her name is Maya Elizabeth. I call her DJ Stinkypants.
She's so cute. Here's a shot of Julie having fun teaching her how to scratch some mad rhymez on the turntablez.
I was teaching her how to rock out and salute. She seemed to have already mastered the art of yawning and sleeping.
Her name is Maya Elizabeth. I call her DJ Stinkypants.
She's so cute. Here's a shot of Julie having fun teaching her how to scratch some mad rhymez on the turntablez.
I was teaching her how to rock out and salute. She seemed to have already mastered the art of yawning and sleeping.
Thursday, December 04, 2003
Just finished watching SWAT. It wasn't bad. A better than average action movie with a really neat car/plane chase near the end.
Colin Farrell was good, as always. I think he needs to do something other than the plethora of action movies he's been in though. He needs some meaty roles like Ed Norton in American History X or Brad Pitt in Fight Club. Stuff like that. The fluffy action is fine, but he's got the chops to do more.
He was pretty good in Tigerland, but the movie itself was pretty boring.
Colin Farrell was good, as always. I think he needs to do something other than the plethora of action movies he's been in though. He needs some meaty roles like Ed Norton in American History X or Brad Pitt in Fight Club. Stuff like that. The fluffy action is fine, but he's got the chops to do more.
He was pretty good in Tigerland, but the movie itself was pretty boring.
Wednesday, December 03, 2003
I don't know what was happening today on the roads, but I think everyone took their stupid pills simultaneously.
Not only were people driving erratically all around the greater Mississauga/Brampton/Halton Hills area, but the pedestrians were acting dumb too! Not once, but twice I was at an intersection when the light turned green for me and THEN the pedestrians crossing against the light decided to start.
I was so ready to kill this one old couple. The light turns green for me. They start walking across. Everyone at the front of the line lurches forward and then slams on the brakes when they realize this couple isn't stopping and is going to keep on walking across the road. Then they have the nerve to give the drivers a dirty look.
And it was just a really long day. I couldn't fall asleep till around 2am and was woken up by Julie at 6:30ish. I then had to drive into Mississauga and sit around the dealership while my car was rebuilt. I found out I had to get new brakes too so the total cost of my oil change (usually $70) ended up running $778... but my car purrs and is in very good shape for the winter, so it's not THAT bad.
I was there from 8-11:30am, then after that we had the staff Christmas party at Tuckers Marketplace, so that was yummy. Mmm... unlimited steaks.
Then I had to drive back to work, which took almost an hour and a half due to the aforementioned crazy traffic.
I was about ready to sleep at 8:30 tonight... zzzz...
But like I said before, I'm off till Monday so I'm going to sleep in tomorrow and stay as far away from cars and roads as possible.
Not only were people driving erratically all around the greater Mississauga/Brampton/Halton Hills area, but the pedestrians were acting dumb too! Not once, but twice I was at an intersection when the light turned green for me and THEN the pedestrians crossing against the light decided to start.
I was so ready to kill this one old couple. The light turns green for me. They start walking across. Everyone at the front of the line lurches forward and then slams on the brakes when they realize this couple isn't stopping and is going to keep on walking across the road. Then they have the nerve to give the drivers a dirty look.
And it was just a really long day. I couldn't fall asleep till around 2am and was woken up by Julie at 6:30ish. I then had to drive into Mississauga and sit around the dealership while my car was rebuilt. I found out I had to get new brakes too so the total cost of my oil change (usually $70) ended up running $778... but my car purrs and is in very good shape for the winter, so it's not THAT bad.
I was there from 8-11:30am, then after that we had the staff Christmas party at Tuckers Marketplace, so that was yummy. Mmm... unlimited steaks.
Then I had to drive back to work, which took almost an hour and a half due to the aforementioned crazy traffic.
I was about ready to sleep at 8:30 tonight... zzzz...
But like I said before, I'm off till Monday so I'm going to sleep in tomorrow and stay as far away from cars and roads as possible.
Tuesday, December 02, 2003
Oh, I forgot to mention that I have to get to Mississauga tomorrow morning at 8am to get my 50K oil change and maintenance done on my Saturn.
Why is this newsworthy?
It's going to cost $375.00
Yup. That decimal point is after the 5.
Yeesh. Granted, from the list of stuff they said they'd have to do it's almost like they're rebuilding the car, but still...
At least I'll have a couple hours to play Mario & Luigi and read my book. And then it's off to Tucker's Marketplace for our staff Christmas party... mmm... unlimited steak...
Why is this newsworthy?
It's going to cost $375.00
Yup. That decimal point is after the 5.
Yeesh. Granted, from the list of stuff they said they'd have to do it's almost like they're rebuilding the car, but still...
At least I'll have a couple hours to play Mario & Luigi and read my book. And then it's off to Tucker's Marketplace for our staff Christmas party... mmm... unlimited steak...
Did anyone else check out that new Line Of Fire show that premiered tonight? I taped it, but what little I did see of it looked promising. I like that they show the fight between the mob and the FBI without really taking sides, per se.
And they use the AMAZING SPLIT SCREEN TECHNOLOGY honed to perfection on the exquisite 24. Speaking of 24, tonight's episode was pretty sweet. I was not as incredibly impressed with this season so far as opposed to last year's 24, which was amazing. This episode was really the turnaround one where things are picking up.
And they use the AMAZING SPLIT SCREEN TECHNOLOGY honed to perfection on the exquisite 24. Speaking of 24, tonight's episode was pretty sweet. I was not as incredibly impressed with this season so far as opposed to last year's 24, which was amazing. This episode was really the turnaround one where things are picking up.
Hee hee. I saw this link over at Ctrl-Alt-Del and had to post it here.
"The Xbox Deflects Real Bullets."
Yup.
"The Xbox Deflects Real Bullets."
Yup.
Monday, December 01, 2003
Oh, I saw a cool FFX-2 commercial on TV tonight. It's been interesting seeing more and more game commercials on TV these days. All of the 3 main systems have commercials for their first party games and there have been a bunch of FFX-2 and XIII commercials on lately too. Maybe they're only advertising games with roman numerals in the title...
It's interesting living in Acton and working in Brampton at this time of year. In Brampton, there was just a little bit of snow on the ground and some blowing around. The closer I got to Acton and the higher up the escarpment I went, the snowier it got. I could barely get into the drive through at the McDonald's in Acton and when I opened my window to order I think I got half a snowbank in my lap. It took me about an hour to get home from work, but that was ok as there was an interesting program on Ideas.
By the way, the NEW chicken McNuggets they keep advertising aren't anything special. I think that the chicken is more flakier and real and less cubey than they used to be and there might be some kind of seasoning in the batter, but otherwise they tasted pretty similar to the way they usually taste.
By the way, the NEW chicken McNuggets they keep advertising aren't anything special. I think that the chicken is more flakier and real and less cubey than they used to be and there might be some kind of seasoning in the batter, but otherwise they tasted pretty similar to the way they usually taste.
I was watching Jamie's Kitchen on The Food Network tonight. It was fascinating. We don't get Food Network here in Acton (for some reason unknown to me) and so this was my first time watching this show. I think it was also the final episode in the series.
The gist of it is that Jamie Oliver aka The Naked Chef has invested about 2 million pounds into starting a restaurant. The catch? He's staffing it with underpriveledged kids from London's poor areas. He teaches them to cook and run a kitchen and become chefs. These aren't McDonald's short order cooks. They're supposed to be chefs at the end of the show. And his restaurant is supposed to actually be popular.
If tonight's was the last episode, then it ends with the opening night of the restaurant and the food critics giving it a once over. On New Year's Day, they're doing a marathon of it. They're also showing two new episodes a year after the initial ones which will show how the restaurant has fared and if Jamie is bankrupt or not.
This is one of the few times I actually want to be able to go to work on New Year's Day! ARG! Stupid Cogeco cable...
The gist of it is that Jamie Oliver aka The Naked Chef has invested about 2 million pounds into starting a restaurant. The catch? He's staffing it with underpriveledged kids from London's poor areas. He teaches them to cook and run a kitchen and become chefs. These aren't McDonald's short order cooks. They're supposed to be chefs at the end of the show. And his restaurant is supposed to actually be popular.
If tonight's was the last episode, then it ends with the opening night of the restaurant and the food critics giving it a once over. On New Year's Day, they're doing a marathon of it. They're also showing two new episodes a year after the initial ones which will show how the restaurant has fared and if Jamie is bankrupt or not.
This is one of the few times I actually want to be able to go to work on New Year's Day! ARG! Stupid Cogeco cable...
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