Oh yeah...

I am back in Calgary.  I could've stayed one more day and gone to the hockey game, but I wanted to come back, so I could have a day back home to "kick it" before going back to work.  I had seven days off from work and now that I'm back, I'm working seven days in a row.  That sucks because I'm lazy!  So lazy in fact that I was originally going to write this back on Tuesday.  I ended up playing video games and watching TV until late, so didn't get around to it.  Despite having the next day off I didn't do it then either and last night I was playing BC2 again, so didn't have time.  Tonight I'm finally getting around to it, but now I forget most of what I was going to write about.

On Monday I was driving through downtown Cranbrook with my mom and we saw the transvestite crossing the street.  He/she either has a bad wig or horrible hair, but was decked out in a pink hoodie and a mini skirt.  The we were stopped at a light which turned green, but I couldn't actually go because some crazy bearded dude who was muttering to himself while eating an ice cream cone just walks across the street in front of me.  Then I turn to my mom and say, "No wonder downtown is so empty, all these weirdos scare everyone away."  It's a circus!  Well, at least they can't say Cranbrook doesn't have character.  Or characters.

I also ate at Cranbrook Sushi with my parents.  They were going to go to Sakura, but we ate there once and I wanted to try this place.  It was okay, but they get bonus points for having actual Japanese people working there and the waitress gets double(X2!) bonus points for wear a mini skirt.   I could tell she was Japanese by her teeth.  Yeah, that sounds weird, but makes perfect sense to me.  Then she said something in Japanese to one of the sushi guys and I was like "Knew it!"  Anyway, the sushi was good, but I didn't like their nigri, the rice wasn't packed very well and just fell apart when you picked it up.  They also put the sushi on HUGE plates.  We had a plate of rolls and a plate of nigri and it took up half the table.  They also had tilapia sushi and I think that's the first place I ever seen make tilapia sushi.   Did you know they have tilapia at the zoo in the hippopotamus enclosure to eat the poo in the water?  I also noticed the guys making the sushi were snacking on a package of PC chocolate chip cookies.  Damn guys, at least pay another buck for a decent name brand!  Negative points!

My dad cleaned up part of the basement at the house and took an old metal shelving unit up to Paul's workshop by the barn.  It was full of stuff and even had a bunch of crap piled on top of it.  We cleared all the crap off so we could carry it outside, but there was one that wasn't coming off no matter what.  A bottle of glue had spilled on the top and there was no way that thing was coming off.

My mom wiped out the inside, but the top is still super dusty.  The dust is probably glued down too.  That's my excuse for not doing it.  That's my excuse for not doing most things.

Out and about

I know I said I didn't like the fair, but I ended up going on Friday afternoon.  My dad guilted me into it a bit because he was taking Avery and Logan and needed some back up.  It was a bit cold, so at least it wasn't that busy.  I actually went on the train ride with Avery.  I thought I was going to have get off because the guy was trying to start it and it wouldn't move and then he was pushing on the train car that I was sitting in.  He must've known what he was doing because then it started moving.

I played the fishing game and the dart/ballon game with Avery.  I'm so rad I got two ballons with one dart.  Avery picked the snake, but I wanted the chipmunk.  But the best part of the fair were the mini donuts, $5 for 15 or $6 for 20.  We just got 15 and a handful of napkins because Avery required one napkin per donut.  Kids are too messy.

I guess the night before somebody burned down a row of five port-a-potties.  Four were completed gone with the fifth one on the end half melted.  The weird thing is that they burned down completely to the base, but a couple rolls of toilet paper survived!  The ends were a bit blackened, but surprisingly untouched considering.  Good for nuthin' Cranbrook delinquents, that's why you can't have nice things.

Today I went over to Willie's and we checked out the usual sights.  Although we did go up to Kimberly for a quick look around.  The whole town was pretty empty and sad looking.  We went to Togs and Toys and they had some $1 VHS tapes and I got two Power Ranger videos and Willie got a Edmonton Oilers video that was still sealed.  At the Hospital Aux I got a CBC t-shirt which I actually already have, but the one I have is all shrunk from repeated washings.  We were going to go the little used bookstore with the weird lady that works there, but we couldn't find it.  We couldn't find it as in the building is completely gone!  We headed back Cranbrook and then saw half of Kimberly down at the skatepark.

Back in Cranbrook we went to a couple other places, but didn't find anything too exciting.  Willie got a glass at Twice Is Nice and I got a can of Crunk! at Giant Tiger.  I had drop Willie off at home at 4 pm because he had to get started on Shilo's birthday dinner.   I'm sure it turned out fine.

Here is Willie celebrating his find from Togs and Toys.  He insisted on putting on his toque so he would look good.

Pictures of pictures

Whenever I come home I usually end up going through some of the many boxes of stuff I still have in my parent's basement.  I was going through a box that had sports card albums and photo albums in it.  For some reason I have a lot of baseball cards, but don't worry I'm getting rid of those.  The photo albums had a few good pictures in them, so I thought I share a couple on here.  I wasn't about to take the photo albums back to Calgary just to scan the pictures, so I just took some pictures of them.  Hence, pictures of pictures.

Old school mountain biking at the dust bowls on my Schwinn.  In the full size picture you can see I'm making a weird face.

What a bunch of goofballs.

Bunch of goofballs part 2, but at least I didn't have a mullet.

Cam in foreground and Willie in the background.  

Mike goes airborne!

Big Blue!

Nobody told Jeff that snowboards were for snow!

Mike on the trail up to Fisher Peak.  I believe he is wearing the same red hoodie as Cam is in the picture above.  Hand me downs!!

Milestone

Made it to Cranbrook yesterday with almost no incidents.  The first that happened is that my odometer hit 150,000 kms on the way home.  It happened just after Nanton.

The picture isn't the best, but I'm surprised it turned out as good as it did because I was trying to drive at the time as well take the picture and I couldn't actually see what the odometer was because the camera was in the way.  Good thing it worked though because it's like I was going to get another chance.

Second thing, as I was leaving Fernie I noticed this Buick pulling up behind and the driver had his arm out the window with his hand resting on the roof.  I was thinking it not quite that warm to be doing that, but whatever.  I checked my mirror and the guy raised his hand like he was waving or something then he had his windshield wiper blades going.  I was thinking, "Is he trying to get my attention or something?"  I just kept going and then saw him waving again.  What the hell?!  Who is this weirdo?  This kept going until the ski hill turn off, but he kept following me until he turned off at the turn down to the US border.  I watched it and it looked he turned and turned again like he was turning around to go back to Fernie.  What?  I wasn't sure if he was trying to get my attention because if he was he wasn't trying very hard, but why drive out there and then turn around and go back to Fernie?  Weird.

So I made it back to Cranbrook and well it is still there.  The dirty fair is in town and setting up beside the Rec Plex.

I was never really into going to those things even as a kid.  I went with my parents and grandparents a few times, but even back I knew they were kind of sketchy.  I don't think I went back to one since I was 12.

I woke up this morning to find it snowed!  All I brought home was a hoodie because I thought that winter was finally finished.  My dad was going to take my winter tires off, but I maybe should wait until next time I'm back.

Easter

This just in, I will be going back to Cranbrook this Thursday for Easter to hunt for spring spheres.  Cam and Mike I'm not sure if you guys are going to back or not because it's not much of a holiday, but if you are let me know.   Over and out.

RSD 2011

It is official, I hate Record Store Day.  I had heard of Record Store Day before, but never actually went to one.  After checking out the website and seeing some releases I liked I decided to go in hopes of getting something cool.  So today I went and those hopes were quickly crushed amid a horde of douchebag hipsters buying Sufjan Stevens and the like. 

I went to the Inner Sleeve in Marda Loop first.  They opened at 10am and I showed up around 10:15am only to find I had to wait in line to get in.  Did I mention it was snowing?  While I was waiting (in the cold and snow) some guy came out and was talking to another dude in line and he said he came 5 minutes early and there was already a huge line.  Eventually I got in, but that didn't help me much as the place was friggin' packed.  So yeah, I did not get a single thing I had wanted, but I saw some guy walking around with the Daft Punk Tron single and the guy in front of in the check out line (yes, there was a huge line just to pay) had the RHCP/Ramones split.  The thing that pisses me off is that the guy got inside like five minutes before I did. 

I didn't get any of the RSD releases I wanted, but I waited in line, so I felt like I had to get something.  All other vinyl/CD's were 25% so I got a used copy of The Ramones - It's Alive double LP from 1978.  I had been eying it for a while, but it was too expensive, so the 25% off made it a little more bearable.  I already listened to it!

You notice I also got a Jesus Lizard 7" which is a RSD 2011 reissue.  Soon as I saw I just grabbed it even though I figured it was just a special re-pressing.  It wasn't until I got home that I noticed that was missing the Nirvana half!  I guess if I had taken the time to read the cover I wouldn't seen that it lacked the Nirvana half. Even the record has the Jesus Lizard Puss on side A while side B is completely blank.  Again, it was so busy in there I just grabbed it and jumped in line to pay.  Dammit!!

I probably could've found a couple more records I liked in the other sections, but it was so damn busy in there it was impossible to look through anything.  I had also planned on getting this cool E.T. picture disc because of the 25% off, but completely forgot.

Even though I spent five minutes actually looking at records and the rest of my time I spent waiting in line to get inside or waiting in line to pay I made it out at 10:55am.  Phoenix/Melodyia opens at 11am, so went over there to have a look.  I had to park at the end of the block and walk up the alley.  The back of the store was packed with cars, but when I went inside the comic side was completely empty.  I went over to the music side and it went from empty to ridiculous.  There must've been 50 people crammed into the one side, so there was no way I could even move let alone get in there and look.  I basically walked in and saw how stupid it was and then walked out.

So yeah, my first ever Record Store Day totally sucked.  I hate it.  I didn't get anything I had planned on getting.  I will not be going back next year.  Another thing that pisses me off is that if you head over to eBay you can see people already selling records they bought at RSD!   The Daft Punk and Nirvana ones are going to be going for a lot.  Most are auctions, but there are a couple "Buy It Now" ones for Daft Punk and $50 seems to be the cheapest. 

Art

Hmmmm...

AWWWWE-SOMMME!!!

1234!!!

With spring already here (not really) and summer approaching (I hope) I went out and bought a new pair of shoes.  If you remember way back on my other blog I posted a picture of my Johnny Ramones Vans and I'm keeping the legacy alive with a brand new pair of Ramones Converse.

Converse did a few different styles of Ramones shoes with a few different hi-tops, but I went with the low tops.  The hi-tops aren't very flashy.  The black ones are just black with a Ramones logo in place of the Converse logo.  I liked the low tops because they're still black, but covered in mini Ramones logos.

I ordered these online from a place in Victoria called Baggins Shoes.  I had been debating about whether or not I should get these for a while, but I was looking at their website last week and they currently have a deal where it's free shipping to anywhere in Canada and they ship fast too.  My shoes shipped on Friday and were on my doorstep on Monday.   I think Cam needs a pair of Converse Metallica Ride the Lighting shoes or possibly Jimi Hendrix Electric Ladyland.

Still in the rock n' roll spirit this Saturday is Record Store Day around the world.  It is supposed to celebrate indie record stores with special releases on vinyl and CD.  Participating stores will have have limited runs from all types of artists.  I've never actually gone to a Record Store Day just because I've never really known about it and thought it was just for music snobs.  I browsed some of the titles available this year and will try to pick up at least one title if I can.

There are actually a lot more titles available for Record Store Day than I thought.  The ones on my watch list would a Daft Punk Tron LP.  You don't even need to listen it because it just looks so awesome.  It's coloured to look like a light disc and looks super sweet.  Next we have the Nirvana Hormoaning LP out and it's the first time it's been officially available in North America.  Another one is a split 7" with the Ramones doing Havana Affair and the Red Hot Chili Peppers covering the same song.  There is also supposed to be a Beastie Boys 7" of their new single, but on the Record Store Day website it says it won't be available in the US in time.  Hopefully this is only in the US and Canada gets these!  Check out the website for a full list of available titles.

Here in Calgary we have not one, but five stores taking part in Record Store Day.  My plan is to first hit up the Inner Sleeve and if that doesn't go so well I'll check out Melodiya Records.  I have a feeling that the Inner Sleeve will be super busy, but I will try anyway.  If those two don't pan out then I will just go home and cry.  Cam and Mike don't feel left out!  Cam you can check out Underground Music and Mike can go to Spinners Sound Centre, but Willie can sit at home.  No Pearl Jam for you!

Beastie Boys related!  As I said the Beastie Boys have their new single out these Saturday, but you can hear it now over on their website and I gotta say it's pretty cool.  There is also a trailer for a music video that has the future Beastie Boys played by Will Ferrell, Jack Black and John C. Reilly meeting younger versions of themselves played by Danny McBride, Elijah Wood and Seth Rogen.  That sounds so stupid it might be awesome.  Apparently there will be a 30 minute version of the video! Ch-check it out!

Pet Peeve

Don't you hate it when you make Jell-O and your fridge is too cold and you end with ice on it?

Cereal

I got my free Kellogg's Fibre Plus cereal in the mail today, so I put it in the cereal box cupboard beside my Kashi cereal sample.  They are friends.

Drift

I like to play to video games, but unfortunately I'm not that good at them.   I'm even worse at racing/driving games because the only button I know how to use is the gas.  The only racing series I've been acceptable at was the Ridge Racer series and I'm talking the old school games like Rage Racer and R4.  I tried playing Project Gotham 4 last week and I gave up after a couple races, it was abysmal.  I swear I'd brake before the corners and turn, but the damn car would just go straight and smash into the wall.  Turn damn it!  I need something a little less simulation and little more arcadey.

I wasn't too sure what to expect when I picked this up today.  I popped it to give a try and make sure it works and on the first corner I was drifting, it was sweet.  I still sucked and by the time I finished the stage I had smashed out all the windows on my car and broke my front bumper off when I hit a fence post, but I finished.  I did a stage in Japan on pavement and an off-road stage in Australia.  On the dirt track in Australia you are obviously going to drift more, but I was sliding all over the place, I didn't even need to brake.  You're not in control until you're out of control!  I think that was from a movie.

I only got the game disc, no manual or sleeve, but it was $2.99 so no big deal.  Luckily, it is backwards compatible with the XBox 360 and so is Colin McRae Rally 05, so I'll keep my eyes peeled.  Willie is all jealous now.

Unappreciated

I received a small box in the mail today and it addressed from Loblaw Companies aka The Superstore.  I wondering what junk they were sending me and slipped off the outside cover.

In appreciation?  This must be mix up...

 Wow, has it been ten years already?!  That is so depressing I'm going to throw myself into traffic.

 Sorry, I'm not going to wear it.  I wonder how much I could get for it on eBay?

 

 At least they packaged the pin up a nice fold out box with my letter and certificate of recognition inside.  I would've preferred the $1 instead.

Ten years of back breaking servitude at Superstore doesn't just get you a pin and a certificate, you'll also get your anniversary hire date off with full pay every year.  You know the only reason I started working at SS was because I didn't have a job (obviously!) and need money for Kiki's birthday.  At the time I thought I probably won't even make to one year.  Ten years later I still there working part time and all I get is a pin.  It sucks, but I'm too stupid to do anything else.  Remember kids to stay in school and make something of yourself!  Here's to another ten!! 

HACKED!!

Go read this: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/us-banks-companies-issue-warning-email-hack-20110404-074704-927.html

Did you read it?  I got an e-mail from Best Buy today saying Epsilon had informed them that my name and e-mail address had been "exposed".  Now I can look forward to getting a bunch of spam.

I originally switched to Gmail because my Hotmail was getting a ton of junk mail all the time.  Now I can't even log into Hotmail because whenever I try it's always locked out because someone is trying to hack it.  I've heard from a couple people at work that they are having the same problem with Hotmail accounts getting hacked.  I can't even reset my password because Microsoft can't verify the account, which I've had since 1996 or so, is mine.  This blows because it's also on a Live account and has my XBox account hooked up to it as well.  I wish I could just delete the entire account.

Stupid snow

Cody is officially on vacation and was planning to drive back to BC today.  Unfortunately, the weather and the heavy snowfall warning of 10 - 20 cm put a stop to that.  This morning there was a fresh blanket of snow on the ground and it is still snowing now.  Sucks for Cody, but what about me?  I had a full day planned of watching my back catalog of DVDs starting with Street Fighter staring Van Damme.

On a related side note here, I just watched the new Tekken movie a few weeks ago.  It was "okay".  Not available in North America yet, but some reason out on DVD in Romania.  Why do they get all the good stuff?  Anyway, my biggest peeve is that they have established characters that they can't even get right.  Marshall Law was always one of my favs, but all they did was cast some Asian guy for a throw away fight.  If he doesn't look like Law or better yet fight like Law then what is the point?  At least they got Christies's ass cleavage right.

Looks like he's having fun right?

Piss jug update

This morning I dropped off my pee jug at the lab on the way to work.  It was 6:45am and the place was already full of people.  I walked in with my pee jug in a white bag that they give you and it felt like everyone in the waiting room was staring at me.  I'm sure they were all thinking "Why is that bag so big and what the hell is in  it?  What a freak!"  IT'S PEE OKAY, NOW QUIT STARING AT ME!!  I just dropped it in the drop off container and left fast, so all those suckers can sit in the waiting room next to my jug of pee.  Enjoy chumps!

I wasn't even close to filling it, I didn't even get it half full.  I'm not sure if that's good or not.  I skipped out on breakfast, so I had nothing to eat or drink.  Here's hoping I don't have to do it again anytime soon or ever again.

Just under 1.5L