Losers and Winners

OK, this post is a 2-parter. Or at least it's 2 messages on a common theme...

Managed to watch the Oscars last night, but had to go to another room for the last 30 minutes or so. My son was climbing all over me (& screaming for fun) and with my sore neck and bad arm, I just could cope anymore. Had the stereo volume higher than normal and closed captioning on and still couldn't hear/see what was going on.

Like I said, I haven't seen any of the best picture nominees and I only saw a smattering of other nominated films in the other categories. Managed to see all the animated features, though...

Now, I gushed on here before about Jennifer Garner (*sigh*) and I was struck last night at how similar Hilary Swank and Jennifer Garner look. At the same time, however, when she gave her acceptance speech, all I could think was that she seemed moments away from beating someone up. Kinda reminded me of some of the girls on the wrestling team in high school. Spooky.

Yeah, I feel sorry for Martin Scorsese, but I heard that he lamented at an after-party that he "got the message." If he goes back to New York, the movies will improve and screw the Oscars.

But this weekend had more losers than just the Oscars... (nice segue, eh?)

I've been a big fan of the local college women's basketball team for a few years now and they lost their final game of the season this weekend. Now, when you're a 17-0 team, losing hurts. It hurts even more when you lose to a team who was 11-6. And it hurts even more again when it snaps a 75-game undefeated streak in their league. But the most painful of all? A player in her final year and in her final game had known only one loss in league play in her entire college career and for her final regular season game, they pull up 11 points short. THAT is what I feel bad about. It was her second game of her career that they lost and it took 4 more years for the next loss.

But they're onto the finals now and hopefully they'll finally get the national gold they've deserved for years. Last year, they were a dislocated ankle and a concussion away....

Throw Away Your Television

It's Oscar night, so the TV viewing selection is easily made. I still don't believe it'll be over by 8:30pm, though. Three hours? Get serious!!

I'm sure there's people out there who could really care less about the Oscars (and I'm almost tempted as I haven't seen any of the Best Picture nominees), so I'm not sure what TV programmers for other stations were thinking.

Being the Devil's advocate, I'm guessing that they're spending the least amount of money on their Sunday night budget by showing either old reruns or really crappy movies.

Case in point: If I weren't to watch the Academy Awards tonight, I could watch a rerun of 'Extreme Makeover - Home Edition' which I've already seen twice. I could tune in a movie. My choices are: 'Collateral Damage,' 'Waterworld,' or 'Ghost Dad.' The frist 2 are running on several channels tonight.

I think production companies actually pay TV stations to run movies like that! Good lord, that's a crappy selection!!

So, Oscars it is!

Stiff-Necked Fools

oowwwwwwww.....

My son, in desperate need of at least another hour of sleep yesterday morning opted for my chest as the most comfortable spot in the house. My wife was scheduled to teachon Saturday, so it was my turn to get up extra early to take care of him.

But it was 6am and absolutely no logical reason to be awake. So, out to the couch we went so I could be comfortable as well and an hour later, after much wiggling by the boy, we got up and started breakfast for the family.

Except my neck was stiffer than... well, something really, really stiff!! It feels like I have whiplash even today.

As it turned out, my wife was off by a week and doesn't start until next Saturday, so I didn't really need to be sleeping on the couch with my son.

I took some muscle relaxants last night before bed (I was warned that they knock you on your ass, so I waited --and suffered-- until the kids were in bed before I took the 2 pills). The pills did a marvelous job --on my knees. I stumbled around for a while before deciding since I couldn't get to sleep that I might as well lay on the couch (with my neck in a much better position) and watch 'The Terror of Mechagodzilla.'

I was up until 4am...

A Few Minutes on Friday

Yeah, yeah. 9pm on a Friday and I'm posting on my Blog.

Hello? Married with 2 kids = NO LIFE whatsoever.

Deal with it. I can't.

I was feeling a little apologetic earlier because I haven't been posting as often as I'd like (daily) until I noticed that I've actually posted 26 times this month and since it's only the 25th, that means someone owes me a posting.

[yeah, right]

I Can't Hear My Parents Call

My mother's been in and out of the hospital over the past few weeks thanks to problems from laser eye surgery. She's torn the retina like 3 times now and there's a new surgical procedure for each subsequent injury.

"She'd called one day this week after she'd come home from the hospital as she'd heard from my sister about my arm. "How you doing, Mr. Clumsy?" She says. "This coming from the woman who can't blink without having to go the hospital?" I replied. Loving relationship, really.

Well, the bad news is she has to rest 18 hours a day to keep the gas bubble in her eye on the proper side. She hates it and apparently her eye itches like crazy (I suggested putting a cone around her head, but my father didn't want to get that close to her). But she's stuck like this for at least another 3 weeks, eating into the time they were finally going to finish their "1-month bathroom renovation" in my basement that they started back in 2002. If they were a friggin' contractor I would've fired them by now. Oog.

NOW my father has a couple of requests for me --yet again eating into the bathroom renovation time. First, he wants me to travel up to their place to take care of my Mom while he comes down here to attend a bunch of Masonic business meetings. He doesn't quite 'get' that I don't really feel like spending Easter weekend alone with my Mom while MY FAMILY celebrates Easter without me. Besides, can he NOT see that family should be a priority to him too? Yeah, he was a Big Muck-A-Muck (not an official Masonic term --I looked it up. Neither is Grand Poo-Bah, by the way, that was only on Flintstones) a few years ago, but family comes first. And hewojnders why I abandoned all that crap 10 years ago... Oh, the second thing he wanted to ask me about? Money. Yep, ask the unemployed son about a loan --not the daughter and her husband who are suddenly making $75K+ a year.

They're killing me.

Apparently, a few years back they cashed in some life insurance policy they'd set up (probably more of our inheritance --I know I'm going to get stuck with a procelain turtle collection!!) to go on a trip to Australia (funny. When I don't have money for something, it doesn't happen...) and the federal government's found out about his "capital gains" and now wants a piece of the action. Oh, and the interest for not getting action a few years back of course. Not that all the B.S. shares they had in Nortel would counteract the 'gains' when they'd bought the shares for $60 each and sold them for $10 each... The only way to get the government to pay attention is to send the paperwork in, but that's how my father thinks. He just wants to pay them and get them out of his life.

Government out of your life.... Good luck Dad!!

Gotta stop answering that damn phone.

Rapper's Delight

Okay, I don't know how this happened, but am I annoyed or what?!?!

I have 'Rapper's Delight' by The Sugar Hill Gang stuck in my head.

Even worse, the only copy of the song I have is 14 minutes and 36 seconds long.

I think I'm going to use it as a punishment song...

If I could just stop bouncing to the music.

Canadian Rose

Oh hello!

I'm not sure what made me think of it during the last post, but I'm suddenly inclined to share a post about the hottest Canadian women (you've probably never heard of).

Now, it could be done fairly easily --the part about no one hearing about them-- as I could grab a few from my high school yearbook and think of that woman in the mall the other day whose dress left basically nothing to theimagination (*sigh*)...

But, no, I'm actually taking 'celebrities,' people in the news, on the news, and making news. And they're hot.

1. Belinda Stronach

I mean, really, what more do I need to say? Here's a snippet from her website:
"She is a member of the Dean’s Council at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and the Dean’s Advisory Council at the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. In 2003, Belinda received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the Michael G. DeGroote Schoolof Business, McMaster University.

In 2001, the National Post identified Belinda as the most powerful businesswoman in Canada; and, in the same year, the World Economic Forum named her a “Global Leader of Tomorrow.” In 2002, she was ranked #2 by Fortune magazine in its list of the world’s most powerful women in business, and named one of Canada’s “Top 40 Under 40,” an annual awards competition that honours the country’s top business innovators less than 40 years of age. In April 2004, Time Magazine ranked Belinda as one of the world’s 100 mostinfluential people. "

2. Kelley Law

No one in my office will forget the winter of 2002 when we had a TV set up to broadcast the Winter Olympics all day every day. That year, we were all introduced to curling champion Kelley Law --a local girl. During one lunch break, as about 2 dozen of us sat back and watched her rink compete against, oh I don't know, Norway(?), I thought out loud (as I had a tendency to do) "What could be better than a good looking woman on her knees screaming 'Hard! Hard!'?" No one will ever forgive me either...

3. Dagmar Midcap

Dagmar's on a reality series now, but beforehand she was a newscaster and reviewed new vehicles. I love that smile!!

4. Tamara Taggart

Yet another local newscaster/meterologist. Again, great smile and helps make the sunny days sunnier. She once did a spot for the summer fair known as the Pacific National Exhibition (or 'PNE' to the locals) and stood by a donkey. As she spoke, someone walked by and said 'Nice ass.' It's true too.

5. Fiona Forbes

(Fiona's in the middle, with Kevin Smith on the left and co-host Michael Eckford on the right). Fiona is a co-host of the Vancouver-made show 'Urban Rush' which, surprisingly, is listed on imdb.com. Fiona's the intelligent half of the party (and Kevin Smith in the picture should be known by all). On a side note, regular 'movie guy' on Urban Rush has bugged me for years because he looks like what Mike Myers would look like if he had stark white hair. For YEARS this bugged me. And it was only a few weeks ago I learned that the Movie Guy's name is... Paul Myers. Coincidence? I am such an idiot.

6. Myriam Bedard

Another Canadian Olympian, I first noticed her back in Barcelona (I think... crap! Can't remember where she won gold!!) and she had an amazing smile (there's that smile thing again!) as she listened to 'O Canada' at the medal ceremony. La belle fille!!

7. Susie Wall

The pictures are getting more difficult to find, but that's kind of the point. Obscure to the world, but I'm paying attention! Susie's the 'Glam Girl' in the Vancouver Province newspaper and I know already a date would never work between the two of us as I'd never be well-dressed enough... (what with the Hawaiian shirt in February and all)

8. Erin Cebula

On the left... ;-)

Erin is a former co-host of Urban Rush and now has her own show called 'In Your Shoes' where she does someone else's job for a day. She's smart, sexy and has a mouth on her that surprised the crap out of me the first time I heard it. It worked though...

So, 8 women you've probably never seen before, but I can't get enough of 'em.

Sigh.

What Bothers Me Most

Dreama recently posted her biggest pet peeves and as I was commenting on hers, I realized it gave me something to write about, so here goes:

On Driving:

1. The only thing worse than someone doing 45 in a 90 zone (apologies to American readers, these will be be kilometers, not miles) is that the same driver usually does 80+ once you hit a 60 (or less) zone.
2. How 'bout the ones who drive really slowly and then breeze right by the stop sign? They had like 10 extra minutes to see it, but still missed it!!
3. People who don't use their headlights in covered areas like underground parking lots and tunnels. I once backed into a black car in an underground parking lot. No lights...
4. Women drivers in trucks and vans. Apologies to those of you who think I'm being sexist, but 4.5 of 6 car accidents and over a dozen close calls have been women driving trucks or vans. Yes, my wife gets mad at me when the truck in front of us crawls through an intersection on a green light (and living in a hilly region, they somehow never accelerate coming up to that hill) and I yell "C'mon lady!!" The problem is, I haven't been wrong about the gender of the driver yet...
5. People who veer left to turn right and people who veer right to turn left.
6. In the town from Hell where I used to work. No one there seems to know how to drive and the city planners have never helped. At one of the busiest intersections in town (and on my old commute to work), instead of making a right-turn only lane they expanded to road to have 3 lanes with about 20 feet of a right-turn only lane branching off. Now people use the right lane to go straight (presumably to get on the freeway which is another 4 lights away) and no one uses the middle lane. This means that every 4th car has to wait at least one light before they can make an easy right turn. It's faster to swing through the strip mall parking lot on that corner than wait who-knows-how long to make that turn. ALSO, another road was widened to 4-lanes and they waited a few days before painting the lines. I was run off the road by an oncoming car who was 4 feet from the right shoulder --2 LANES FURTHER THAN HE SHOULD BE!!!

On Everything Else:

1. This one guy, a husband of one of my wife's friends, who has the uncanny ability to annoy me. I once sat on a committee with this guy and he droned on and on one night building up to his point on an issue. When he finally got to the point (about 40 minutes later) he said, "we can do 3 things: 1 - Do nothing... 2 - ... I forgot what the other 2 were. Sorry." (If I'd've killed it would've been justified). He also phones during the last 15 minutes of Survivor (not like anything happens during the last 15 minutes, right?) to ask me a bunch of questions. They don't have cable (they don't want their kids to see anything negative on TV), so he thought it was a good time to call and ask for my help in setting up his new DVD player.
2. 15 minutes after everyone else has started dinner, I finally get a chance to sit down to eat. As soon as I'm seated, either my son starts screaming about wanting down, or someone else needs to get something and since I haven't started eating yet (!!) I might as well get it, right?
3. My daughter's favorite spot to stop and think about something is directly between someone's line of vision and the TV. A couple of inches in any direction wouldn't block it.
4. My mother, who calls 8 days after the last I called to say she hasn't heard from me in weeks.
5. My sister, who hates it if I call our Mom first on holidays. She's the older sibling, so she should be the first caller, but I'm not waiting until after 5pm on Christmas Day!!
6. Smokers. There's nothing wrong with the occasional cigar, but smokers stink, they're dirty (just look at all the cigarette butts on the sidewalk) and they're ignorant of what they're doing to themselves and others. I knew one guy who got mad at the world when he found out he was terminal with lung cancer --he wouldn't do that to himself so it HAD to be someone else's fault since he refused to even try and quit. My old boss, Big Mama, was a smoker and one time she went cold turkey for about 6 weeks. We had a shouting match in the hallway one day and as she walked away fuming about something, I yelled "go have a smoke! At least you were somewhat likeable then!" All of a sudden, from behind me I heard "Amen." It was one of the administrators...
7. People who have the bass on full in their car stereo. Why?
8. People who think accountability stops at them. I'm thinking about my old office again....
9. Those who don't think appreciating the work and efforts of others is important. Again, thinking of the old office where my boss (From Hell!) would get mad whenever I could get an interdepartmental assignment done quickly when everyone else in our department would drag on and on. I'm a firm believer in "back-scratching" and it has helped out in numerous situations. But where has it gotten me, you ask? Good point. Making the boss jealous doesn't help much... :-)

Okay, I'm sure there are many many others, but I've got another post to do still...

Bend or Break

Last Wednesday night we were at a friends' place for a pizza dinner. In this ever-shrinking world we live in, we were having dinner with a group that included the guy who used to deliver pizza to me at the office, which is a bit of a commute from where we live. Needless to say, besides this guy and his wife, I was the only other one at dinner who'd eaten this pizza before. It's great pizza, but I was afraid I'd "talked it up" too much and if it wasn't very good, then I'd look like an idiot.

Well, fortunately I didn't look like an idiot for the pizza --it was great, but when we sat down to the table, I sure did.

Being brought up knowing that elbows do NOT belong on the dinner table, I rested my forearms on the table edge as I sat down. I immediately shot my right arm back as it felt like someone had either just shot me or stuck a knife in me!! My arm hurt so much and as I lifted it away it started pinching like crazy. So, off to the doctor's office the next day only to discover that 2 incidences in the past few months have resulted in --most likely as the x-rays aren't back yet-- a hairline fracture in my forearm. I can still use my arm, but any pressure on the one side just kills. And yesterday it didn't help when I raked my arm across the shoulder belt mounting on my son's carseat. I nearly fainted.

Fortunatey, I'm a lefty, so it hasn't kept me from not doing my normal routines...

Brothers and Sisters

I never wrote a real Valentine's Day entry.

I had my reasons. Two of them, actually.

See, my daughter had gotten sick over the weekend and my son has had a nasty cold for a few days longer. But it was my daughter who took it up a notch and got the ear, throat and eye infection. She has a tendency to wipe her nose then use the same Kleenex on her eyes.

So her eyes were oozing 'stuff' too.

But it's like both kids delved into sibling rivalry the entire time they're both sick. I'm not sure who leaked the most.. "liquid" but we've gone through about 6 boxes of Kleenex this week. BOXES!!!!

Will the rivalry never end?

Mujer Latina

So, got a flurry of IM messages from Latina Lady today. It's been a while since we've talked since she left work (she was one of 'My Kids' at the old office) long before I did.

She'd remembered some items I'd been looking for and she'd come across them (at an auction or something) and had bought them for me. So, off I went to her place.

Now, I'm not a total idiot (although sometimes it's nice to fall into that stage), but I do recall that LL exudes (please note, when reading that, pronounce it: exuuuuuuuudes. Thanks) sexuality something fierce.

Side note: Anyone else think that's a good name for a song? 'Sexuality Something Fierce.' I like it.

Anyway, she does. She exudes it. Exuuuuuuuudes it. And here I am on my way to her place.

So, here's some signs upon arriving:

1. She answers the door wearing a very revealing low-cut strapless red dress.
2. Hair and makeup are done.
3. She nearly falls out of the dress as she makes us drinks.

I paid for the stuff. Gave her a hug. Had my drink and left after we had a nice chat.

I feel like an idiot, but at least I didn'r act like one (but I said that sometimes it feels so good!)

Greed Hate Envy

So, who is to blame for the cancellation of the 2004-05 NHL season?

There are 3 parties which people could say are involved in this situation:

1. The League and its' owners.
2. The players
3. The fans

Now, I know most people would question any blame put on the fans, but I'll get to it later.

The owners have been in a position for years to curtail salaries and make the league more profitable. At the same time, they needed to put pressure on the league commissioner to ensure that the NHL was marketed properly in the U.S. --which it hasn't been since network televised games have dropped virtually each season since the mid-1990s. Instead, they encouraged rule changes that made the game boring and unwatchable. They expanded the league into regions where ice is non-existent outdoors. And they thought it would work. Then, they go overboard in spending. Signing players to huge contracts. 15 years ago, the salaries were small, players like Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Patrick Roy could expect to bring in a million dollars or so. And that (in the case of Gretzky and Lemieux) meant they were socring 150+ points a season. A few years back 30-point players were getting $3 million a season.

And how is that the fault of the players? The owners decided to sign players at such high rates. Picture yourself in a similar situation: You're working to the best of your ability and suddenly your boss is recommending a 30% raise in your salary. And it's not just you, it's all the other hard workers in your office. Suddenly, they hire someone new and see the average salary and know they have to pay a comparable salary. 3 years later, everyone starts getting 30-40% raises. Again. Even though the cost of your products has also increased exponentially, customers are still buying it regularly. And then, a few years later, the boss realizes that they're paying too much. But how to convince you and all your co-workers that a pay cut is necessary?

Now, the fans have been paying increased prices for tickets. No, not everyone has been paying that price, but even if just a few people buy single game tickets, then there's obviously still demand for the game. The Vancouver Canucks sold out 40+ games last season. And tickets max out above $100 per seat. Where's the protest to increasing cost to see a game?

So, who is to blame for it? The players for accepting what the owners are offering to pay? The owners for paying too much, charging too much, and then asking for a return to something cheaper to make more money? (and then, the audacity to offer a 5% rebate to season ticket holders for next year. 5%? Yay.....)

It's the fans.

The fans haven't protested what the league has done these past few years. The fans haven't boycotted, the fans haven't complained properly. The fans have come out in droves to watch the game. But now is the chance for fans to sit back and realize the problem they've had with the game. When the NHL starts up again, stay away.

Just stay away.

Good Ol Hockey Game

So, the NHL has become the first professional sports league to ever cancel an entire season.

Stupid.

It was 10 years ago when the NHL last had a lockout. I remember it well because I worked in a sportcard shop at the time and I remember how slow business had gotten, especially over a dreadful Christmas seaosn where people just no longer cared about spending money on anything hockey-related.

I was a marketing genius when I worked there. I kept a whiteboard with the rookie scoring leaders listed and had a display case with their various cards for sale. Whenever there was a player who had a great game, then people could come in and find their cards on display the very next day. People would psned the extra money --even 25 or 50 cents-- just to have a card of another "hockey hero."

The day after the lockout was over, I was laid off because business had dropped too much and even though it was recovery time, it never recovered enough to make up for the 3 months lost.

10 years later we lost an entire season and this should do the entire league in. Say goodbye to the 87-year history of the NHL. It's time for a different league to start up.

Gretzky needs to come back to Canada and start a new team in Alberta. The Courtnall brothers (both former Vancouver Canucks) could easily start one up in Vancouver. Don Cherry, Bobby Orr and others could easily start a team in the Toronto area. Mario Lemieux could take his multi-millions and build a franchise in Quebec. By Fall, we could have a 6-team league running in Canada and who's to stop some of the better American markets from joining in? Messier & Leetch in New York? Yzerman and friends in Detroit? Chicago? Buffalo? Seattle? Winnipeg even?

I think it's time something started from scratch and let the NHL die.

Politics of Love

I finally had a moment to watch Rick Mercer's Monday Report today. Not bad, considering it's Wednesday. It's a great show, but I usually don't get to watch it because (what are the odds of this happening?) there's an even better Canadian show on at the same time on Mondays: Corner Gas.

And, with a special Extreme Makeover Home Edition broadcast Monday night, I had both VCRs running to tape shows at 8.

So why not tape Monday Report every Monday? Well this week was a special Valentine's episode with political hottie Belinda Stronach. I've included the link to her website because there's a pic of her with Rick Mercer skating around on the Ottawa River. She's wearing a jersey that half one team and half another and, as Mercer states, she's "in for a long career in politics."

She's so hot! I've included links to the various shows and the Monday Report one actually has the video of Rick & Belinda's "date." I'm so jealous.

I Was a High School Psychopath

Nabbed from Dreama, who nabbed it from another blog...

YOUR SENIOR YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL

[What year was it?]
1991
[What were your three favorite bands?]
Genesis, Tom Cochrane & Red Rider, Beatles.
[What was your favorite outfit?]
my school jacket, some beach-style cotton t-shirt, and Levi's blue jeans.
[What was up with your hair?]
1991? It was a sweet mullet. My hair was about halfway down my back and about 2 inches long on top.
[Who were your best friends?]
Mike, Lee, & Dave. I haven't spoken to Mike and Lee since about 2001 (reunion).
[What did you do after school?]
cruising, McDonald's, weekends were for partying.
[Did you take the bus?]
My backyard was next to the school grounds, so... no. My sister insisted she had to drive to school though. That's what all the cool kids did.
[Who did you have a crush on?]
In 1991? It wasn't Tania anymore... Teresa maybe?
[Did you fight with your parents?]
Constantly. Dad & I were at each other and Mom was going through menopause...
[Who did you have a CELEBRITY crush on?]
Either Kim Basinger or Vanna White (I have my reasons!!)
[Did you smoke cigarettes?]
Occasional cigar. Never got into cigarettes and have had maybe 2 dozen in my entire life.
[Did you lug all of your books around in your backpack all day because you were too nervous to find your locker?]
my locker was 'hangout central' for my friends. It was wide enough to hold a dartboard and we'd made a 'volleyball net' out of masking tape. Oh, and Dave fit nicely in it too.
[Did you have a 'clique'?]
Actually, there wasn't much of an 'in crowd' at our school as we'd all been involved in a major tragedy at school and bonded like family by senior year. Our high school had grades 8 through 12 in the one building, so were together all those years.
[Did you have "The Max" like Zach, Kelly, and Slater?]
We hung out a lot at the 'Daily Scoop' which was an ice cream bar. It shut down in 1992, but I still have an ice cream scoop I stole from 'em.
[Admit it, were you popular?]
not really. I got along with everyone and I hit a high at Halloween when I came as an accident victim. My favorite teacher thought I was actually injured.
[Who did you want to be just like?]
my idol
[What did you want to be when you grew up?]
an artist of some type
[Where did you think you'd be at the age you are now?]
Involved either in the entertainment industry or as a professional artist/animator. Haven't done either, of course.

Friend With Weed

Okay, read this story first.

So, a 6-year old girl gives a friend a 'gift' in a baggie and the teacher mistakes it for marijuana and has the girl in detention for 2 days for making a lookalike drug.

Actually, what she made was a realistic bag of "rocks, clover, and dirt."

Hopefully, this girl has learned a valuable lesson here:

People, no matter what they may do in life, are idiots.

Clap Back

Although it's originally from Feb 3, I had to share this quote because if you know anything about Bill Frist, then this'll make you laugh:

"Safe Clapping. Because palm-on-palm clapping can give you AIDs."
~Jon Stewart

Be Mine, Be My Valentine

So I bought myself a Valentine's gift this year.

It's not like last year --My Year-- when everything was selfish and if I wanted anything, then I had to get it myself. Nope, I just picked up this gift and said "thanks, babe!" to my wife.

Actually, I guess it was kinda selfish 'cuz there's no way she'd pick it up on her own.

Anyway, nothing really exciting, but I bought a copy of 'Spider-Man 2' on DVD for under $10 and told her it was her Valentine's gift to me (that way she couldn't get made at me, right?).

I did the post-it note heart thing all over the house and she's found about half of them so far. I have other hidden in goofy-ass spots so it could be months before she finds all of them. By which time she'll be completely pissed with me for doing it. Enh, when I'm dead maybe she'll feel differently if she suddenly finds another heart with some lame ass comment on something she did that made me her more.

Where's the guy who wrote this blog last year? Gone. For good, I hope.

OK, time for a rant that doesn't really have anything to do with Valentine's Day but a 'current event' of sorts.

The Grammys were on last night and my wife kept trying to sneak the remote to watch a bit of it. I'm not sure what's happened to me, but I didn't seem to know any (any) of the songs nominated, so had very little interest in watching. And she was pretty annoyed too because everytime she did manage to get it on the show (we were watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition instead), she found a really bad performance of a song. I caught one and had no idea who was singing, but the song was slow and horrible, so I quickly grabbed the remote back to find something decent to watch instead. Next time, some bald woman was singing and we both kinda just stared at her head for a bit before we finally flipped back to a better show again. UPDATE: Okay, I feel bad now knowing that it was Melissa Etheridge, who's fighting breast cancer on stage . I really didn't recognize her nor recall hearing about her cancer. I'm feeling bad, so I might just make donation for the karma.

Finally, we caught the 'Across the Universe' bit. One question? Doesn't Alicia Keys sing? She totally muddled her way through her part of the song and seemed to be about one line behind the rest of the music. Horrible. Killed the song for me too as it's always been one of my fave Beatles tunes.

Which brings me to my point. The way Alicia Keys felt she had to hit several notes for each word in the lyrics is the way American Idol seems to want their "idol" to sing.

Why?

Why do people have to idolize someone who can't sing 'Happy Birthday' in less than, say, a year? What's the point? I've caught a few minutes of some episodes of 'Idol' and can't figure out why these people haven't clued in to the music played in the background doesn't match what they're trying to sing.

Just sing the damn song the way it was written. Makes up happy, dammit!!

A Moment to Myself

Thanks to Jules for the idea...

1. What time did you get up this morning? Wife woke me up at 8:47.
2. Diamonds or pearls? Pearls look better --especially if that's all she's wearing.
3. What was the last film that you saw at the cinema? I think it was 'Hero.'
4. What is your favorite t.v. show? Huff
5. What did you have for breakfast? A bowl of Bran Flakes
6. What foods do you dislike? My mother's spaghetti
7. What is your favorite cuisine? Chinese
8. What are your favorite potato chips? Baked Lays
9. What is your favorite c.d. at the moment? A mix of my own
10.What is your favorite sandwich? meatball sandwich... mmm, good.
11.What characteristics do you despise? Smugness; anyone who values
their opinion without giving others a thought.
12. Favorite item of clothing? I have a black t-shirt that fits nicely.
13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation where would you go?
Mediterranean somewhere. As long as its warm and close to the beach.
14. What color is your bathroom? "my" bathroom is light blue and white.
The main bathroom is beige and --actually, just beige.
15. Favorite brand of clothing? Fruit of the Loom (I'm a guy, like I know brands!!)
16. Favorite time of day? 10pm - 2am --only time I can really get my work done
17. What was your most memorable birthday? 21 - spent it in London, drunk for a week.
18. Where were you born? British Columbia, Canada
19. Favorite sport to watch? Hockey, into college basketball too, but that was mainly because of work last year.
20. Who do you least expect to do this? My wife
21. Who do you expect to do this first? Dreama
22. What fabric detergent do you use? For what?
23. Coke or Pepsi? Coke
24. Are you a morning person or a night owl? Night Owl. What's a morning again?
25. What is your shoe size? 10.
26. Do you have any pets? 2 cats and 2 fish (they're outdoor fish though)
27. Any new and exciting news? My almost old flame is getting married this spring... uh, my son's latest word is 'goldfish.'
28. What did you want to be when you were little? A politician (and then my innocence was gone --so I was ready to be one too!)
29. What should you be doing today? something my wife approves of.
30. Birthday and Sign? 7/28 - Leo

When She Loved Me

Today was an email barrage day. I got emails from old co-workers and friends from work and it was great being able to read all of them and keep my distance.

I even got one from Sex Caffeine.

I stated in a post back in June (My Sit-Com: June 1, 2004) that when it seemed that the time was right for me to try a little something... "extra-marital" with her that I was suddenly introduced to her new boyfriend. Which, needless to say, both surprised the crap out of me and also gave me the pause I needed to see my big mistake.

Phew.

Today's email was the engagement announcement.

I feel good about it. 2 years ago? Devastated.

No Survivors

Over a bowl of cereal this morning for breakfast, I'm reading the box for the Survivor contest. Basically, if the number printed inside the box is displayed during the broadcast of the show (starting tonight, February 10!) you win a trip to one of the previous Survivor locales and spend a few days there with some of the castmates.

Yay. Knowing my luck I'd get stuck with "Rob and Ambuh."

Regardless, I had a meeting tonight, so I decided to tape it and watch it when I got home. The meeting wrapped up around 9:30, so I decided to waste time so I wouldn't come home in time to see who was voted off in the first episode.

HAD Survivor actually started tonight as the contest claims...

How bad is that, eh?

Chocolate Covered Secrets

Just perused the trailer for Tim Burton's new film 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.' I see Johnny Depp on the website and I think of only one thing:

Malcolm McDowell in 'A Clockwork Orange.'

This version's going to be just as freaky as the original...

Theatre of Horrors

So, the latest Amazing Race series is finished now and sadly the most deserving couple didn't win. Kris & Jon, despite always playing fairly and looking at everything thrown their way in a positive manner, lost by minutes --minutes!!-- in the final episode. Why? Well, the American Airlines guy told them their flight was the earliest one leaving for Chicago even though it wasn't. Is the competition between United and AA that harsh that the potential of 2 people taking a different flight was worth lying to them? And then to get caught by that train in Chicago. I almost died.

And of course they're still nice people and congratulate the winning team, Freddy & 'The Ugly American' Kendra. (for those not following along, Kendra huffed about the uncleanliness of Africa and how she "can't believe people still keep breeding" there. See? Ugly.)

Anyway, disappointing ending, but at least there's another Amazing Race in just a few shortsweeks, right????

New places, new adventures, new challenges, new people...

What? Rob & Amber?

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can someone please tell these 2 their 15 minutes were up like 3 years ago already?????

And I was so looking forward to the next series!!!

Life As Expected

I actually felt a lot better by Sunday morning and had decided earlier that my wife & I were going out for the day on Sunday. Her parents could look after the kids while she and I were out and about. I was hoping to get to a convention down in Seattle and promised my wife shopping and at least lunch (if not dinner as well) if we went down for the day.

On a good day, Seattle is 3 hours' away so I wanted to be on the road by 9am. It was more like 9:30 and I felt the entire morning as though we weren't going to make it.

It was a little cloudy when we left, but by the time we'd crossed into the U.S., we were met by snow. Which got worse and worse as we headed toward the mountain pass on the route to Seattle.

We didn't go.

The snow was horrible and apparently the area received 10 inches over the weekend. I, being ignorant of horrible weather since it had been fine at home all weekend, was wearing a windbreaker and my wife did think I was crazy for thinking in February the weather was warm enough for that.

So, not really disappointed despite not getting to something I had been looking forward to seeing.

Go figure...

Oh yes, feeling much better now too.

Sick of Being Sick

So on Wednesday afternoon, my son starts feeding me crackers and since it seemed so cute, I went with it.

After he stuffed a 4th one in my mouth, I grabbed the next one as he put it to my lips to discover that it was slimy. Covered in drool and most likely "son of snot."

In my mouth, people!

Needless to say, I've been spending my time these past --what? four days??-- either sleeping in bed or sleeping in front of the TV.

I'm getting sick of the DVDs we have. I need something new to watch...

Back to sleep I go (so leave me alone, okay?)

This Kiss

I'm bored, so deal with it:

You have an entrancing kiss~ the kind that leaves
your partner bedazzled and maybe even feeling
he/she is dreaming. Quite effective; the kiss
that never lessens and always blows your
partner away like the first time.


What kind of kiss are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Knights of the Round Table

You are Sir Bedevere! Wise and creative, you are
able to counsel others as well as come up with
some really ingenious plans of attack...sort
of.


Which Monty Python & the Holy Grail Character are you REALLY?
brought to you by Quizilla

Older Than My Years

Oooohhhhhhh crap.

You Are 34 Years Old

34 Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Block Dog

You'd think I'd have something to write about --it was a fairly busy week, but it's just there's no real motivation to write.

Here goes, well nothing, really:

1. Missed the first 15 minutes of Amazing Race last night because both kids suddenly needed food. Constantly. Then my daughter asks me "Are you going to watch Amazing Race?" I almost lost it.
2. Brother-in-law living in U.S. came up with his wife this week. They rented a Porsche Boxster just to show off that they have money.
3. His wife is a major, major hottie. The 4 of us decided on Chinese food for dinner and she & I went down to pick it up.
   
4. I got to drive the Boxster (so sweet!) and when we pulled up to the restaurant, my best friend from junior high was waiting outside the neighboring shop (a ballet school where his daughter was practising). Haven't seen him since our reunion in 2001, so he was looking a little more than shocked to see me with Ultra-Hottie in the Boxster. :-)
5. My old boss (the last boss, not the one From Hell) called me Saturday afternoon. He and his wife couldn't make the Tsunami Benefit Concert in Vancouver, so off we went instead. FREE TICKETS --sweet!! Concert was unbelievably good and Robin Williams appearing was a nice surprise too. I had no idea before that night that Jim Creeggan played bass on Sarah McLachlan's 'Angel.'
   
6. Such a beautiful song, but ranks about #5 on my list of 'all-time fave Sarah McLachlan songs.' 'Ice Cream' is the #1.
7. Barenaked Ladies were as cool as ever. Still think their best concert was in 2002 at the Salt Lake City Olympics.
8. I got what has to be the nicest feedback comment ever on eBay the other day.
   
9. Haven't felt that good since a college professor compared my term project to an amalgamation of Nick Bantock and Annie Liebowitz.
10. Good lord, that was 11 years ago...
11. Last night's dream was finally NOT about my old workplace. Instead, I dreamt that I helped Paris Hilton search for her lost dog. Oh, and I accidently killed her goldfish. I think I shook the bag too much when I found the fish in an icy stream. That girl's gotta keep a better handle on her pets...
12. I have a very old Yahoo Group that I started back in 1999 for my old business. It became very specialized, focusing on one thing and still has nearly 250 members today. I just banned 2 people for being annoying (one was sending all this political crapola and the other replied to every message with a 'vacation/out of office' notice. Gonzo.
13. Still doing my other writing. Laid out a bad-ass interrogation scene... loved it.

OK, can't think of anything else right now.