Thursday, May 30, 2013

Kamecamera wave!!

Remember back when I did a series of posts about free photo apps on my phone?  Probably not because I only did like three or four posts and then forgot about it.  It's not for the lack of apps because I have lots on my phone, in fact a couple have been on there for like a year, it's just hard to do them.  It's hard because I can't take pictures and be in them at the same time, that phone tripod just isn't cutting it.

I'm back on track for the time being with the Kame Camera photo app.  It's an app that lets you add Dragon Ball Z type effects to you photos like energy beams, auras and for some strange reason lightsabers.  I gave it a try with my old Daredevil figure.


It turned out okay, but the final image is too small, the picture above is the final full sized image.  It would be a lot nicer if it saved the completed image at a larger size.  The effects are okay, you can resize them, but you can't flip them.  I had to flip the original picture itself so when I added the energy beam Daredevil faced the same direction as the beam.  I'd like more effects too.

The Kame Camera app is fun, but somebody needs to make a picture with an energy beam firing from their butt.  I'll try to remember to do that.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Good Morning

This morning I had to work at 6am, so I left the house at 5:45am and I go out the door and when I went to walk down the walkway I noticed the rabbit is sitting right at the end looking all bug eyed and creepy.  I had my phone in my jacket pocket, so I grabbed a picture of him.


I fired off a couple warning shots and he ran away.  I walked out of our "yard" and was walking by the parking lot when a different rabbit went running out from Cody's car.  That one was a little jumpier (haha!) than the walkway rabbit.  I haven't seen a rabbit for a while and was starting to let my guard down.  This morning reminded me to be ever vigilant.

Monday, May 27, 2013

?


This CD I did buy AND actually listened to it.  It wasn't too difficult as it is just the single.  The single has the radio edit of "Are You Jimmy Ray?" plus five awful remixes.  It's true, you can't improve upon perfection.

I'm pretty sure if I remember correctly that Willie bought the Jimmy Ray album when everyone came to Calgary for Edgefest.  That was during Jimmy Ray's short lived one month of popularity following the release of his single.   His single faded pretty fast and then the world forgot all about him, another one hit wonder.  But he lives on in Willie's CD collection...

Saturday, May 25, 2013

LETSgoBang


I bought this CD and have never listened to it.  I guess you could call that making the best of a bad situation.

Friday, May 24, 2013

What lies within

I was rooting around down in the basement and found my old blue MEC backpack that I used to take hiking with me back when I used to actually go outside.  Now it doesn't do much except sit in the basement and collect dust.


It doesn't just collect dust, it also holds my crap.  But what kind of crap you ask?  I'm pretty sure you can see where the rest of this post is going.


Most of you have seen this pack before, but did you know it had those patches hiding under the red pouch?  I've got the cliche, yet absolutely crucial Canadian flag patch and another patch which most people won't even get it.  If you do, then you have damn fine taste and I tip my invisible hat to you.

Here is a fun fact about the red pouch.  MEC sold that pack in a couple different colours (red and blue!) and the pouch was the same colour as the pack itself.  My dad had bought a red one and I got a blue one, so I just switched the pouches on them.  I think it makes it looks better and it also helps distinguish itself the many other packs out there at the time.  This was back when my brother and sister still ski raced and my dad used his pack up working at ski races.  There were probably 3 or 4 guys who used that exact same pack.


The contents of the pack dumped all over the basement floor.


First up, a couple of old bags from the Gap.  I just like the Gap bags because they came with a drawstring at the top.


A dollar store disc shooter which works surprisingly well for something from the dollar store.


It's a bag of stuff inside a bag full of stuff!


The inside of that bag holds many magical items like a pair of disposable sunglasses, foam brick, cap guns, caps, plastic police badge, SAIT screwdriver, tin of pellets, a carabiner and a band-aid dispenser.


A band-aid dispenser from the El Centro Regional Medical Center in El Centro, California.  There is only one band-aid left in it, so I must've used it at some point.


Yet another bag of stuff inside the bag of stuff!


Three different packages of fake facial, plastic handcuffs, a lot of caps, ninja wristbands and a Bargain Shop bag full of darts, but no actual dart gun.  If you read my blog then you've seen some of that fake facial hair before.


These items weren't even stuffed inside a bag, but were just loose in the pack; some fake barf, a wrinkled clip-on tie and a bag with two bow ties and a pair of sunglasses.  I know you guys all recognize the tie as it was screen worn in Crapola Pictures' Badge of Betrayal.  I've had those sunglasses forever because I thought they looked like Roy Orbison shades which doesn't actually explain why I kept them for so long in the first place.


It's not an actual hockey mask, but a flimsy plastic Jason-esque hockey mask.   I'm not even sure why I own this.  I often ask myself that question.


This is an super old first aid that I had to put together as part of a Cubs project.


It currently isn't up to "code" or whatever.  It houses some incredibly old handi-wipes/wet-naps, some Blistex and some Anacin from back when it came in a metal tin.  This stuff is so old it would probably do a lot more harm than good if you tried using it.


My mom put some fabric tape with my name and phone number on the back of the plastic case.  That is good because if I ever got lost they could use it to identify my body.  Thanks mom!


I saved the best picture for last...GUNS.  These are awesome cap gun because they look real and aren't some stupid neon orange colour.  The Berretta is an old school Larami cap gun I've had since I was a kid, I got it from Toys and Wheels.  I also used to have an Uzi/Mac 10 Larami, but it got left outside and wrecked.  You can even remove the clip which houses spare strips of caps.  I like it because when I hold it, it makes me feel like a big man.

The two cap guns above it are a little newer and I got them from a toy store in Cranbrook that was downtown.  The store would also accept Canadian Tire money which how I payed both guns.  The store didn't last too long, it probably would've been a better idea had they only accepted real money.  But why two guns?  Because I got two hands!  Woo style!

Those guns are metal and pretty sweet.  I pulled out the red plug that was in the end of the barrel, so they would look more realistic.  This makes firing it cool because if it's dark there is actually a small muzzle flash.  Also, bits of the cap and stuff would fly out the barrel when fired.  Cody found this out the hard way when we were filming once as he got shot in the face almost point blank.  After several painful and grueling reconstructive surgeries you can hardly even tell now.

That is all the stuff from my old backpack.  Was it interesting?  Definitely not, but at least I got a blog post out of it.  At least it's better than a picture of a tape deck from the thrift store or picture of a dead worm.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Old school tech

I was checking out the thrift store today because I have to go every two or else.  Or else nothing, but I still like to go.  I saw an awesome looking very old school Pioneer cassette deck.  I thought Cam might like it.  Is he still a Pioneer fanboy?

Model CT-F8282

I like the design of this thing with the clear cassette window, all the knobs and buttons and the dB needles.  There isn't a pause button, but a pause switch.  You have to flip a switch to pause the tape, how cool is that.  It even has the on/off buttons for Dolby and CrO2.

I did a quick Google search and found that this model was from 1976-77 and retailed for $400.  Also, sounds like a lot people who have bought them find they don't work, but the thing is 36 years old.  Although, it just sounds like replacing the belts is all they need.  Still sounds like too work much for me.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Pizzart

After leaving work the other day I was hungry and wanted something to eat ASAP, so I just stopped by Little Seizures to grab a pizza.  I went in and ordered a Three Meat Treat because you need meat in your diet.  It has protein.

I'm waiting and I noticed behind the counter are a whole bunch (like a lot) of paintings lined up on display.  I thought it was a bit weird for paintings to be sitting right on the counter, but whatever.  I noticed on the other end of the counter was a sign saying the paintings were for sale and they weren't cheap either.  There were a few different sizes, but the larger sizes go for $90.  I can't really see too many people walking in for a $5 medium pepperoni and grabbing a $90 painting because it would look good in their reading room.

I'm assuming someone who works there is an aspiring artist who just makes pizza on the side.  Struggling artists and all that.  Maybe not though because if those were my paintings I wouldn't just be leaving them propped up on some counter is a greasy pizza place, they need to be displayed properly and taken care of.  Then again nothing says classy like buying art from Little Ceasars.

"That's a really nice painting."
"Thank you.  It's an original Leila, it's one of her early works."
"Wow!  Where did you get it?"
"Little Caesars."
"Oooookay."

Monday, May 20, 2013

Kookies

Today Cam sent me an e-mail!  You know that if ever Cam takes the time to send you an e-mail, it's going to be something big.  The last e-mail he sent me was when he told me him and Cara were getting married.  This one is waaaay better.

I guess Cam and Cara went down to good old US of A and went to someplace called Omak, WA.  Cam likens it to Yahk, BC except it has a Wal-Mart, Home Depot and some fast food places.  Since Omak has places people would actually want to stop at, it is absolutely NOTHING like Yahk!  Yahk hasn't been the same since they phased out the old "I've been to Yahk and back." slogan.  I don't know what crap they bought while they were down there (Yoohoo? Jeff Foxworthy beef jerky?) and it doesn't matter because they got Oreos and that is all the matters.


Cam got the Peanut Butter Oreos and Cara got the Mint Fudge Oreos.  I can vouch that the Mint Fudge Oreos are pretty good as I've eaten them before.  I've bought them a couple times from Liquidation World aka LW aka "tha LDub".  The ones from LW were leftovers from a Christmas promotion and I bought a couple boxes last time I was back in Cranbrook because they were like $1 a box because they expired in two weeks.  They are pretty much the same as the fudge mint cookies the Girl Guides sell in the fall time.

Cam told me about some other type of Oreo he saw called the triple chocolate Oreo which he called the Big Mac of Oreos.  And he didn't buy it!  Dude, why would you even tell me about something like that and not buy it!  I would like to try the Big Mac of Oreos, but I can't see myself eating an entire bag.  I think I'm only half way through my bag of Birthday Cake Oreos.  As I said the Mint Fudge Oreos are good, I can easily finish a bag of those, but how are the Peanut Butter Oreos Cam?

Kittenz

If you're looking for something to do on Victoria Day, then you can't wrong with some kittens.  I got two kitten cams, but only one is embedded.



I've posted this one before.  It's switched up kittens before, but here are the currents ones.  They are from different litters, so they are just all up there waiting to be adopted.

This is the Kitten Rescue Cam, but you'll actually have to go to the webpage to watch it.  It's got a mother cat and four kittens which are all pretty crazy.  They like to run around, fight and beat up inanimate objects.  They got it, soooo easy.  You can view webcams for dogs, fish, various birds, bears, pandas, plains bison(which sounds lame) and more.

Friday, May 17, 2013

False Advertising

Oh yeah cool, a giant Canadian chocolate bar.  Go Canada!

Wait...what?  Go Poland?

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Hardcore

I know you guys know that Sloan just released a brand new single, a hardcore single.  And I totally got one.

They went on sale at 12pm EST on April 30th, and luckily I didn't work that day so I was parked in front of the computer waiting to get mine.  I went on just after ten and picked up the package deal with 7" single, t-shirt and digital downloads.


The single cover bears a striking resemblance to Minor Threat's Salad Days EP cover.  Although, in the Minor Threat picture the one dude is sitting on a wooden Pepsi crate, while in the Sloan version Chris is sitting on a wooden Coca-Cola crate. 


The single is hand numbered and limited to only 500, but if you wanted one and didn't get one, too bad because they sold out pretty quick.  The A side, Jenny, is written by Chris and the B side, It's In You, It's In Me, is written by Patrick.  Both songs are good, but I think Jenny is the bettter "hardcore" song.  Patrick's song still sounds very Sloan-y, just a little rougher.  If you head over to Sloanmusic.com you can listen to both songs and decide for yourself.


They also made a limited edition t-shirt just for this package that has a collage of all the band members circa 1985.  I was wearing mine yesterday...cuz I'm hardcore.

The package also came with a digital download of the single plus an entire 12 song hardcore covers album.  Sloan covers songs from Angry Samoans, Minor Threat, Black Flag, 7 Seconds, Bad Religion, and more.  It's cool to hear them play something different, but I wonder how Jay felt about all this.  He doesn't seem the "hardcore" type, even though he sings on one of the covers.


I burned the single plus the covers album to a CD to put in my car, but I almost listened to the entire thing before I got to where I was going.  All 14 tracks add up for a run time of 22 minutes and 15 seconds.  Hooray for hardcore and punk music!

I thought it was cool of Sloan to do this hardcore single and throw in an album of covers as well.  I liked it, even if it doesn't sound like Sloan.  I wonder if they will be doing this again in other styles like country or rap?  Count me in for a rap single and covers album, but I'll pass on a country one.  I bet Jay would love to do a country single.

Monday, May 13, 2013

Watcha!

I talked to my mom tonight and she is back from Taiwan.  She had a good time, but is tired and looking forward to sleeping in her own bed for the first time in over three weeks.  She didn't do much sight seeing in Taiwan, mainly just hanging out with my uncle and doing boring stuff like taking the dog for a walk, going to the laundromat and running into scary big Wood spiders.

On the way back to Canada she spent four days in Hong Kong where she got to do some touristy sight seeing and buy me some movies.  She went to Macau for a day, visited Lantau Island, saw Victoria Peak, Temple Street, Victoria Harbour and Avenue of the Stars.

The Bruce Lee statue on Avenue of the Stars.

A shot overlooking Macau from the top of Macau Tower which is 333 meters tall.

I like the neon lights reflecting in the water of this shot.

A shot from the gondola to Victoria Peak.

My mom also e-mail me a picture from the Emperor Casino in Macau which is owned by Jackie Chan.  It is a picture of some ridiculous floor tiles that are made of glass (I think) with gold bars and diamonds embedded in them.  Cuz that's how Jackie Chan rolls.

A few years ago when my parents when on their trip to South America we got them a new fancy Fuji camera and while my mom took it with her on her trip, she didn't even turn it on once.  She just took all her pictures with her iPad mini.  Maybe I should've put Instagram on it for her before she left.  It is what all the hipsters are using.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

It's like I'm really there!

If you read my previous post about my cassette tape case I mentioned it would look great next my XBox, Blu-ray player and 3D LED Smart TV. So if you weren't paying attention that means I got a new TV.  I actually got it a while ago before I went on my last trip to Cranbrook.  I ended up getting a 47" LG LED 3D Smart TV from Future Shop.  And it's already out dated!!


I went to Future Shop with two models in mind, one from LG and one from Samsung.  Looking at the display models, I didn't see anything that set them apart, I thought they looked just "okay".  While I was walking around I saw another model of LG that looked real pretty, it was one of their higher end models.  The price was a lot more than I wanted to pay, but they were selling the floor model for about $1000 less than retail, so I decided to go for it.  Once I got home I looked my new TV up online and some of the reviews weren't too kind.  Still it looks a LOT nicer than my old TV, so I'm happy with it.

It's a smart TV, but so far I haven't even used any of those features.  It has some stuff preloaded on it like NetFlix and YouTube, but you can also download other apps on to it.  It is 3D too, so good thing when I upgraded my Blu-ray player a few months ago I got the 3D enabled one. The 3D is actually pretty good when watching a 3D Blu-ray, but the 3D conversion the TV does from 2D  to 3D is super weak.  I don't even bother using it.

Luckily, I happened to have a few 3D Blu-rays like Tron, Captain America, Dredd and Spy Kids.  Cody went out and bought Transformers: Dark of the Moon from Best Buy for $40 which is a lot of money for a Michael Bay movie.  I actually enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.  I have picked up a couple other 3D movies like the new conversion of Jurassic Park which turned out pretty nice.  Now I have to throw all my old Blu-rays in the trash and get 3D versions.  Oh well, it's only money.

 I guess you aren't supposed to use them as sunglasses.  But they look so cool!

My TV from LG uses passive 3D, where as Sony and Samsung use active 3D.  I'm not sure the difference, but two pairs of LG glasses cost $10 where one pair of active 3D glasses can cost $50.  I got eight pairs of glasses with my TV which is six pairs too many.  I need more friends.  Still the glasses seems flimsy and cheap and I'd like to get some better quality ones.  I don't really want to pay $150 for the Oakley glasses.


The TV also comes with a weird remote that is sort of like a Nintendo Wii remote.  You point it at the TV and select things with an onscreen cursor.  It also has a curved grip, so it fits in your hand nice, but then it doesn't sit on the coffee table very well.  It has toppled off a few times on me.

My old Toshiba TV was a 46", but my new LG is a 47", so it is bigger!  Not noticeably bigger, in fact it actually looks smaller.  This is probably because the bezel(?) on the Toshiba was a couple inches, but on the LG is a couple millimeters.  This is nice because it takes up less space and is a lot easier to move around and carry.

I just bought an open box 2012 TV that received a mediocre reception, so now the new 2013 TVs are here and my new TV is so last year.  Could I have gotten a better TV?  For sure!  Could I have gotten a better TV for what I paid for mine?  Maybe, I don't know.  As I said it looks better than my old TV, so I'm totally happy with it.  Hopefully, it will last until 4K TVs become affordable.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Party on!

And by "party" I mean, have a nap.

YEAAAHHH!! WOOOO!!  PARTEE!!

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Hair today...

I got my haircut the other day and as usual after a haircut now I notice a couple things, first is that short hair makes my fat head look even fatter(damn it!) and second is that I'm slowly running out of hair(nooooo!!!).  I'm not sure if I'm really running out of hair, but it's just moving from my head to somewhere else.


Once upon a time that scar used to be behind my hairline, but as time marched on, and my hairline marched off, it's made it's way to the front lines.  The scar is the result of an old Cub Camp war wound.  I was maybe 9 or 10 and while at a Cub Camp on Kootenay got wacked upside the melon with a stick while we were all running around going nuts.  At the time I just thought it hurt a bit and put my hand to my head.  When I pulled my hand away I saw that it was covered in blood,  I may have gotten a little more concerned about it.

It wasn't a big Cub thing, but a smaller deal just for our pack (or whatever they were called) at our leader's (or whatever he was called) personal cabin on Kootenay Lake which was just down the road from the Kootenay Bay ferry terminal.  Luckily for me, he was a doctor, so I got to lie down on the kitchen table and get my head stitched up.  After I got my stitches, we all went out down the road to have a look a bear that was out walking around.  What, no ice cream?

Too bad I have such a lame story to go along with my scar.  I also have a scar on my butt cheek that I got hopping a barbed wire fence, but no picture to go along with that one.  You're welcome.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Cool shirt?

I was buying groceries at Co-op and was checking out at the self scan, because there usually isn't a line up there and it's a lot faster than the regular tills.  I was scanning my stuff when the attendant starts talking to me and asking me about my t-shirt because she didn't get it.

Attendant: What is that pink thing on your shirt?  Is that a bat?
Me: It's Galactus
Attendant: What??
Me: It's Galactus, he's a Marvel comics character.  He eats planets.
Attendant: I thought it was a bat.
Me: It's not a bat.  Sorry.


A nice shot of the t-shirt graphic.  I actually bought this at the thrift store and it was like brand new, so it was a sweet find.  I have been asked more than once what it means though.

It's not a bat and it's not pink, it's purple!

Please don't talk me.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Organized Rhyme

I was at our local thrift store, Bibles For Mission, having a look around because, well that's what I do.  I was checking out the DVD/VHS/Cassette tape/LP area and I spotted an old cassette tape case still in the packing. 


It was priced right at $1.50 and I actually wanted one of these so I could put some of my story books on tape in it.  It's "The Organizer" from Hartzell and even made in Canada, so that is a plus.


Those are the selling points of the cassette case and what really sold me on Hartzell's case is that is it attractively designed to complement my stereo components.  It will really look great and blend in next to the XBox 360, 3D Blu-ray player and 3D LED Smart TV.


The cassettes look so plain in there without any sleeves, but at least you can see all the different colours.  Coloured cassette tapes are cooler than the plain old black ones, a lot of kids tapes were coloured red or white.  I'll have to look for a program that can make cassette tape covers to make it easier to identify them.  I think way back in the day we had MS Publisher and it had a thing to make cassette and CD sleeves which was good for making sleeves for mixes or stuff Cam copied for me.


As you can see in the picture above my cassette case came with the translucent grey cover, but the back of the packaging sleeve shows another version that is a sexy white with a sticker on the top mimicking wooden paneling.  Wood paneling = Classy.

Previously, I had all my story book on tape cassette just loose in a cherry box I got from the produce department at work.  I put some cassettes in "The Organizer" and then put that back in the cherry box.  The loose cassettes actually took up less room than putting them in the storage case.  but at least my valuable cassettes are now individually held in an attractive organizer.  I can sleep better at night knowing that.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

FCBD 2013 Update

I didn't go to FCBD this year, but I "reminded" my sister to takes Logan and Avery.  I tell her every year and every year she ignore me.  This year she actually took them down to Pages where they got two free comics each and cupcakes.  Wait...WHAT?!  Cupcakes?!  I didn't know there would be cupcakes!  Here in Calgary we get guys dressed up as Stormtroopers and stuff, but I'd rather have a cupcake.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

FCBD2013

This Saturday marks the first Saturday in May, so that must mean it is Free Comic Book Day!  I know I wrote about the Calgary Comic Expo that I didn't even go to after it was already over, so this time I'll quickly write about FCBD that I won't even go to before it happens.   It's like all backwards and stuff or whatever.


It's pretty simple, you just head on over to your local participating comic book shop and get a free comic.  There are several places here in town that are in on it because I looked them all up on the FCBD website.  In my past experience Another Dimension usually has the best FCBD festivities.   Yeah, it is crazy busy, and costumed nut jobs are everywhere, but you just have to deal with. 

I have to work in afternoon and while I could go out early and get some free comics, I'm just too damn lazy.  In my old age I have absolutely no patience for anything anymore.  I'm not sure why I'm even putting this up here because I know no one that reads this is going to go either.  Maybe one day when Eli gets older Mike will be cool for once and take him.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

R not! R2!

When I get bored I go browse the internet and when I get bored of browsing the internet it usually leads to me buying crap I totally don't need.  I was checking Hobby Link Japan where I bought Avery a "Power Rangers" figure for his birthday.  Of course, it's Shinken Red from Samurai Sentai Shinkenger and not an actual Power Rangers figure.  It's Japanese, so automatically it becomes cooler because it's a lot better than figures we get stuck with.  It's super poseable and comes with three different sets of hands which no doubt got lost five minutes after the package was opened.  Luckily, it was on sale from it's regular price of $32, but I had to order something else to make the shipping from Japan worthwhile.  But what??


How about a set of R2 magnets!  I love these guys and not just because they were also on sale.  They look pretty cool even though the red, green and yellow versions are just repaints of the original blue R2-D2.  At least they threw in a totally different looking black R2, he is so bad-ass.


They are from enksy and Kotobukiya, and Kotobukiya are the same guys who put out the Han Solo ice cube tray.  The magnets are pretty sturdy and solid and the little round magnet on the back is surprisingly strong.  It's too bad I already have way too much stuff on my fridge, so there isn't much room left.  I just put classic R2-D2 on there.  I will try to make a point to rotate R2s once in a while.


You've seen pictures of this fridge before, but I'm the first to admit that it's as obnoxious as hell.  That is of course the front view.  R2 is on there, so have a look.


This is the side view and what you see when you look through the window on our kitchen door.  I'm sure a few people have rung our doorbell and looked in through the window at our fridge and thought, "What the?  That fridge is hideous!"  If so, then mission accomplished on my part!


The little seen, therefore little decorated other side of the fridge.  If no one is going to see much of it, then I'm not going to put too many magnets on it.  There is a robot on it though, a non-Star Wars robot.

Another day, another post about stuff I have, but totally don't need.  It's pretty much business as usual around here then, here is to another 800 posts.