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And speaking of traditions, and food, the two things that we do 'round here 'round now are tourtiere, which is the Quebecois pork pie, usually on the 24th, and mushroom risotto on the 25th, because this is my wife's favourite.
This year I also did a salad with beets and blue cheese. The wine (barely visible in the obligatory shot) was a Paul Jaboulet Les Terrases 06. This was followed by La Frenz's Montage 05.
And you must pronounce it "ri-SAW-to", like Gordon Ramsay. You must.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Okay, enough with the formalities. Holidays are for two things: ... oh, you thought I was going to say family, right? Ha. Well, actually, no. Maybe immediate family, like your spouse and your kid(s). I can give you that.
And hey, don't get me wrong, I don't mind family time at all. I actually like my in-laws. And, after 30-odd years, my own family isn't so bad either. I mean, I've finally gotten used to them. Sort of. But c'mon, let's be honest: what do you want to do with your days off? Yeah, I thought so.
You want quality time with your favourite person, who is you. Or possibly your spouse. Or your kids. Or Jack Daniels. Well, whoever it is, gather them around and pass some quality time together with movies. And what is better than Xmas for seasonal-themed movies?
Now, before we begin, let's just say no to "It's A Wonderful Life." Say What-Ever to "Miracle on 34th Street." And, do you seriously still like watching that weird stop-motion show with Rudolf and that suspect little elf with the oral fixation? Because dude, you're 30-something. WTF. C'mon!
No, there are two essential Xmas movies. These must be watched at some point during the holiday season. There is no excuse not to do so. If you don't, then your name is Ebenezer "Prince of Darkness" Grinch. (And you know what, that might be your name if you're watching that Rudolf special while simultaneously reading this.)
1. Scrooged, starring Bill Murray
Before Lost In Translation, Bill Murray did so have a dramatic career. And in my opinion, it started with Scrooged. His take on the Dickens "classic" (or so I hear), and it's a gooder. Funny, touching, great cast, it's got all you need for Xmas. Well, no explosions or gunplay, but almost everything. And when he has his epiphany at the end, I swear (and don't go telling anyone this, I'll deny it plus I'll beat you silly afterwards), every time it almost, almost, brings out a tear. Every time. Put a little love in your heart, y'all!
2. Die Hard, starring Bruce Willis.
This truly does have everything you need for Xmas, including Alan Rickman doing a turn as a wicked German terrorist (or "exceptional thief"). No tears, per se, oh unless you count the rendition of Let It Snow over the closing credits.
Dang, just a sec, there's something in my eye...
Oh yeah, the other thing is drinking.
Wait, three things: the other other thing is eating to excess.
Yup. Wouldn't be Xmas without.
Oh, the weather outside is frightful...
Prepare yourself. This will never happen again at any point in time, ever. Unless, possibly, you happen to have access to 1000 monkeys to let loose on 1000 WinXP machines.Okay, take a look on your left. The other day, I won 3 spider solitaires in a row! WTF, right? Crazy crazy stuff!Oh, and my 14 month old daughter used the potty for the first time the other day.But check it out, 3 wins in a row!
I just came up with a new word, "polygamize". A friend (Lee, Get In blog linked on the left) was just talking about a list of things that indicate when someone has Given Up. Wait, here:
Fashion Choices that say "I've Given Up"
- Sweat pants in public
- Flip flops in public
- Cutting your own hair
- Outwear that looks like it's made from a down comforter
- Going commando cause you've run out of clean underwear.
- Giant nose hairs
- Crusty pants
I replied that where he saw sadness, I saw Opportunity. As in, if I ever find a girl who covers points 1 and 5, I'm gonna polygamize her.
See, you thought I was going to say points 5 and 7, but that just ain't right.
Is it?
So there is this story circulating on Yahoo! about Tina Fey's husband talking about My AUW's scar on her left cheek. First off, dude, why are you talking about it? Listen: not that she needs to be, but she may be self-conscious about it, you know? And since she never talks about it, perhaps you shouldn't either.
Well, whatever. Tina, my AU love, if anything it adds cuteness to someone who is already a 10.
So the other night, we played with a cellist. Or more accurately, Erik and I jammed with a cellist, another singer, and yet another person. It kind of came about quickly, over drinks of course. Friday night we were out with a friend of mine (Kristina, singer, amongst other musical talents) and her sister who was visiting from Seattle, and sister's roommate. And to this moment I'm not totally sure how it came about, but Kristina claims that she was pushing Erik into jamming, because she knew I wanted to so bad. So he said sure. Which is all I heard, and all I needed to hear. I was on the phone immediately, booked the next night at 8 o'clock. Erik put out calls, messages, to the other guys. (No luck either way.)
Well the night progressed, and again I'm not totally sure how this happened, but the girls all got invited out to jam as well. Because Sis brought her cello as well as her banjo to Vancouver, I think is why.
Anyway, so the end verdict - it was fun. But it was Weird. While it was cool to be able to work on interactions between myself and Erik so well because we could really hear each other, it also illustrated how important - or certainly, how thoroughly integrated - all the other instruments are. The other guitar adds a real layer, and the bass - well, I just plain got lost a Lot that night, and I think it was the lack of Jason's bass. Whereas the drums provide the structure to the group, and the guitars fill the sound, the bass really is the glue that brings it all together.
But the cello, such a trip. There were times where it was so clear, and it was amazingly cool to hear. It just changed everything, and in a good way. My conclusion was: sometime, I need to hear the cello AND the bass together. Chris Walken wants more cowbell, I'd like to hear more strings.
And we didn't even break out the banjo!
With lines like this, quotes that are so versatile as to be usable in everyday - anyday - speech, how can you deny that 30 Rock is the funniest show on TV right now?
Which leads me to the inevitable Top 5 Sitcoms of all time. And that's a hard one. That's a thinker. Let's give it a shot, though, shall we? (And I'm restricting myself to American sit-coms here.) Okay...
5. Three's Company
I dunno, I want to put something sentimental in here. And no I haven't watched Three's Company for about ... I dunno, 20 years? So I'm sure that if I watched it now, it'd be completely stupid. But I did watch it with my Dad a lot (yeah, we watched weird TV together - considering I was less than 10. Three's Company for father son comedy, Dukes of Hazzard for the father and son drama). Sanford and Son or The Jeffersons might also make the list, and while both are funnier and smarter than Three's Company, it's a nostalgia thing.
4. Arrested Development
Tragedy. You burned too bright AD. The characters - the cast really, was an incredible ensemble. And can you pick your favourite? I've tried, but the short answer is no. However, is there one image that cracks you up no matter what? The answer is yes: Tobias in his cut off jean shorts. This show deserves a Top 3, and I'm sure it would have made it had it not been prematurely cancelled. Now having said that, I heard a rumour that they are Definitely making an AD movie. Franklin sure F'ing hopes so.
3. Cheers
I used to try to argue that this was the best sit-com of all time, but it just ain't true. It is, however, One of the best. The glory years were of course the Diane / Woody years. I mean, Rebecca was... okay; the Coach irritating more than anything. But even so, overall it was pretty hilarious. Dan Hedaya's career was built on Nick Tortelli. And Woody's song to Kelly. Oh, the one where Markie Post plays Diane's old roommate! "DINNER TIME!" Ha ha ha, yeah...
2. The Simpsons
They went through a fairly tough period there (the season of the Cape Fear episode, I mean, that was pretty painful during), but in retrospect even those episodes are pretty funny. But yeah at least one line in any given episode can send me into hysterics. Linguo. Mojo the helper monkey (Pray. For. Mo. Jo.). Any Halloween epsiode (exception: The Raven). Come on, Burns and Smithers?
1. Seinfeld
Truly, it had it all: hilarious, timeless (possibly Still the funniest show on TV, right?), progressive, controversial. It had the characters, including surely the best bit or side characters of all time (and that's another list, Top 5 Seinfeld Bit Characters: quickly, Babu Batt, Soup Nazi, J Peterman, Darren the Temp for Kramerica, Bookman the library cop). The writing. Again, Top 5 Seinfeld Episodes... well I dunno, but again quickly, the Contest (of course), Kramerica, the backwards one where they all go to India... man that one is hard. Even ones like Babu's first episode where he opens his restaurant and Elaine does the IQ test for George, or of course the Soup Nazi. Oh, the one where Molly Shannon doesn't swing her arms when she walks and Kramer wins a Tony (and has to fire Raquel Welch)! Aw you know, so many good ones, too hard, a topic for another day.
There are honourable mentions of course: Friends (yeah, I know, but it's true), Futurama. Wait, did you just say Everybody Loves Raymond? Sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave.
But currently, 30 Rock is kicking ass all over the place. Besides the delicate genius that is Tina Fey, I mean, Alex Baldwin may just be the greatest actor of his generation. Versatility. And Tracy Morgan - if you only know him through SNL, you don't really know him. Come on, he's funny ridiculous in a way that Jim Carey just plain wishes he was.
This year, I have to admit, I'm also addicted to the Big Bang Theory - and Gary Unmarried is pretty funny too.
You know something is truly funny if you are laughing at Season One episodes.
Alright, so I watch a lot of TV. Well, good thing I'm on the internet right now instead.
So has everyone got tinnitus, or is it just me?
And it's not actually an intermittent ringing noise like a phone, it's high pitched and continuous. When it's on. Sometimes it goes away. Those are good times.
Anywho.
I'm just so happy it's back! And between my AUW Tina's appearances on SNL and the guest stars that they have lined up for this season, I remain quite hopeful that this show will not suffer the same fate as Arrested Development (too good for this TV world).
Plus, man alive, it's time to get on the F-Train.
Almost. Almost. Spent the day traveling around the Nanaimo area for work, and at lunch I was so close to trying a Quizno's flatbread pizza. But I didn't.
I guess History will have to wait for another day.
So I'm watching the start of the Seahawks / Eagles game, and the fans in Seattle are just getting soaked. And I'm sitting here, looking out the window at partly cloudy (ie partly sunny) skies and thinking, yeah, it does rain more there! The Emerald City is inferior! Vancouver 1, Seattle 0.
20 minutes later, it is Pouring rain here. The proverbial cats and dogs - and relatedly, what exactly is the etymology of that phrase? Actually before you comment, save yourself a few keystrokes, 'cause I honestly don't care.
Oh btw, nice run by K-Rob. Pretty impressive. The Eagles tackling, not so much.
I apologize, person who is reading this, I forgot to tell you that I finally got the band back together last week! Yes, success.
It was Fun. Jason, Erik and I met last Friday at 7 and ran through some songs. Several songs. A (very) few sounded good, though rust was quite apparent throughout. Then Dan showed up at 9 and we played for another couple hours. Same deal. It became a case of not being too critical of the songs as wholes, (and man that sure looks like "whores"), but to find good parts in each of the songs. And ironically, I think we played the endings of a few songs quite well. Ironic because we usually have no idea how to end songs, and then proceed to butcher the bloody hell out of them until they just die unhappily.
Erik and I both were having some trouble with a few songs. You know what, if you don't play for months then trying to remember lyrics and chord progressions (or in his case, drum lines and progressions) during the actual song - well, it's harder than you might think. But we muddled through.
We did a lot of old songs - the theme of the evening was Nostalgia: Let Me Dial You Back To... 1996, 1994, 2003 etc. I think the best songs of the evening were Radiohead covers. Airbag (we played twice), Creep, National Anthem all went well. We managed to absolutely massacre Karma Police, though, unfortunately. Oh well, sorry lads. Next time, yeah?
Still, a Lot of fun. And now I'm trying to get another time commitment out of the boys. So... see you in 6 months I guess.
Well dang, I hope not.
Seriously, what is it about this "holiday" anyway? For a lot of people, it just never gets old. Which is totally fine, I mean, why not. And I suppose I can see why: when you're little, it's fun to get dressed up. And it's fun to get free candy. Then a little later on, especially if you're a boy, it's fun to indulge your inner pyromaniac. Light shit on fire and whatnot. Later still, it's fun to go to parties and get drunk. And get dressed up again. Circle of life, or circle of the undead maybe. Whatever floats your boat.
It's a warzone outside of our house. Non-stop bright flashes and explosions ranging from continuous crackling to plain huge BOOMs. I just saw someone shoot off a flare, and that was cool - in a non-boat-safe kind of way. Watching it fall back to Earth, burning and leaving a smokey com-trail. I feel strangely inspired.
Anyway, main thing is be safe, kids. And if you have to check out that weird noise in the basement, for God's sake, don't go alone!
So a friend of a friend just won a brand new made in the USA Stratocaster. And he doesn't even play the guitar.
Not that I would trade mine for his, although his is worth considerably more money. Mine was made in Japan. In the early '80s, Fender opened it's first factory in Japan. The story goes, the Fender execs toured the plant after it opened in 1983 and when they saw the precision that the Japanese were getting on their instruments, the Americans wept.
I don't know if it's true or not, but I do love my guitar. I love two inanimate objects, and the Fender is one. It's not an original 1983, but according to the serial number (starts with A), it was made in '84 or '85. And everyone who has played it is amazed at how easy it is to play. The neck is quite skinny, for one, and the action is perfect (for me, anyway).
Now if he'd have won a Gibson SG or Les Paul, there would be a fair amount of cash money on the table right now.
So while I was driving yesterday, I was talking on my cell phone. Which is something that I really don't believe in, and in fact I swear a lot at people who I see doing this. Anyway, I stopped at a red light. Out of the corner of my eye, the perpendicular green light turned yellow, and I went.
YIKES!
1. I am so incredibly lucky that no one was running said yellow.
2. DO NOT TALK AND DRIVE, PEOPLE!
That is all.
Or, you know, my alternate universe wife.
Either one.
Seriously.Man alive.
I just did my good deed for the year: I saved a ladybug from drowning in a bowl of tobacco soup. Sadly, his/her life partner had already expired. And actually, it wasn't a bowl so much as a bundt pan, the sort that sits atop the garbage cans outside of my office. Who knows how long s/he had been swimming there, but by the time I spotted him/her, his/her legs were moving pretty slowly. As an aside, I may have to go out and buy a patch to stick on the little dude, s/he's probably freaking right the F out just about now.
To begin, there is no good reason that I started thinking about this. This was a somewhat random thought that popped into my head as we were on the shuttle bus leaving the conference. And if you've just read the post about Avec, then I sincerely apologize (for both you reading that, and then you reading this immediately following). But.Here is yet another reason to be thankful to be a guy: in the great world of very personal grooming, women have too many choices. There is the all natural (or, as one of the guys who I golf with once a year calls it, The Unfinished Basement). Which, sometimes, grows out to such a point that it can only be tamed by panties (as one girlfriend calls it, The Tuck). Then there are all these fancy cuts and styles that women can get - landing strip, triangle or other geometric shape, some ornate pattern or logo (the Playboy bunny seems popular online), or yes even The Brazillian. I'm sure there are plenty of others; I'll do more research later.So how does one choose?On the flip side, here are the options presented to a guy:1. Do nothing. This is a guy specialty.2. Do everything. This is not actually a real option, not even if your name is Dirk Diggler or Buck Naked.3. Do some sort of neatening, like you might do once a year to that barely visible hedge in your yard. Sort of like the pubic equivalent to the bowl cut.Actually, that's two too many options too. Hm.
Well, anyway, carry on with your internet surfing.
If you ever get a chance, go eat at Avec. It's at 615 Rudolph (or is it Randolph?) in The Loop. The little sister restaurant of Blackbird.
Furthermore, if they have the pappardelle with chicken liver sausage and cream sauce on the menu, order it tout de suite. Then eat the whole thing. That is the pinnacle of comfort food right there. Best pasta dish I've eaten all year. Fact.
They had a bunch of other stuff that looked damn good. For example, my neighbors got some bacon wrapped meat balls in a red pepper sauce. Oh man, the smell.
My starter was the beet salad with fennel, chives (though my other neighborgs got parsley for some reason) and a little chili oil. Not bad, though it needed some acid - lemon, I mean, not F'ing LSD you dirty hippie. My dessert was house made milk chocolate gelato with a shot of espresso poured over top and some pistachio biscuits. Now that was a damn good dessert. Not overly sweet, not really remotely sweet, just a really nice finish to the meal.
Cool room too.
Just go already.
1. I've just seen a whole bunch of people wearing Mickey Mouse hats. Some of these people may have been in their teens, maybe upper teens, some upper teens' parents, some upper teens' grandparents. I'm not sure what happened, or what still happens in that nurturing environment, but I don't like it.Although, if they weren't Disney-based, if they were some other ridiculous hats - say, cowboy hats, or perhaps balloon animal hats - then I might actually applaud those folks. Yeah. I'd be envious, even. 'Cause you know what, life without the ability to feel humiliation must be damn nice.2. I then saw some dude in a wheelchair. He was propelling himself forward with his feet. See, in contrast to the Mouse family, this guy's life must just be F'ing awful. What kind of life are you living if your hero is George Costanza? Careful dude, Mr Tomasulo is going to fire your ass from Play Now if he sees you!3. If you can believe it, I then saw some dude wearing a blue wife beater that was being pulled everywhich way by his numerous carry-on bags thus exposing at least one nipple, cargo shorts, berkenstocks, and a hat that surely used to belong to the late Steve Irwin. Crikey, Outback Jack, here's hoping there'll be no snakes on your plane!4. O'Hare Airport is a F'ing freak show.-----Things I always forget:1. American Coke tastes terrible. It's grody. First of all, it's way too sweet. If I wanted way too sweet, I would have bought F'ing Pepsi (and, relatedly, I wonder what American Pepsi tastes like. My teeth!, they're melting at the thought). Secondly, it's really flat. Guess what, like my pop fizzy. If I wanted to skip the carbonation, I'd be drinking a F'ing coffee.2. You never get full from eating salad, you just get tired of eating salad. I got an American portion of "Chinois chicken salad" from Wolfgang Puck's ORD outlet. Mm yummy. I guess it was Chinois because they used sauce arachide. Otherwise it sure looked like a regular cabbage based slaw with some chicken mixed in, to me. Oh wait, they also threw in some deep fried wonton skin wafers. Sorry, I apologize Wolfgang, you're right. Totally F'ing Chinois.Anyway, that wasn't what I wanted to mention. The salad, despite the name (which was frankly a complete exercise in humiliation for me to order; the only thing missing was Mickey Mouse ears on my head) was okay - I mean I'm pretty sure it was the pick of the menu. I've had Mr Puck's famous pizza before, and it appeals about as much as Mr McCain's. But it was Huge. It was a F'ing dinner plate (plastic, natch) piled high with a good 1.5 lbs of that crazy ass Chinois Slaw. And yeah, I ate the whole thing. At the 75% mark I was about to give up, because it was just too much salad. But I continued so as not to waste it. And now I feel gross. Like, grody. So then the question is, how do you feel grody after eating a (supposedly) light and refreshing salad?Maybe those weren't just wonton skins, maybe they were actually slices of low grade lardo deep fried in lower grade lardo. Or biodiesel. Gah.-----Things I'm always pleasantly reminded of:1. People here are really friendly. They say that Canadians are really friendly, but I've never really understood that one. Canadians can be friendly, but not all are (Hello!). Americans are damn friendly to strangers.2. American TV kicks ass. It's their true contribution to The World of Art.Oh, hey, I watched ESPN HD - a lot. Wow, that is cool. I need to waste more of my disposable income to get that shit into my house. Every Sunday, having clear crisp NFL games beamed directly into my eyes surely would be worth some dollars. Right?-----The last word on traveling:
Man alive, I become a grumpy asshole when I'm stuck in airports.
-----
Actual last words, spoken later from my own living room:
It is always good to come home.
Speaking of dating engineers, I must make a confession. And this is Not to be interpreted by any means as a Bad Thing (attention everyone at home).
But, I honestly thought that I would run into one of my exes here (water treatment engineer, who went to school at Northwestern - although she's originally from Florida - but I thought perhaps she might combine a work trip with a social visit; And whose company had a booth (sort of) at this conference). Furthermore, I was kind of hoping that I would. Not because I am pining for her, or want to restart anything - Not At All. Again, attention should be paid to the last 3 words. Honestly, it's because I am curious as to what happened to her. And because I am hoping that she is doing well.
Well, think what you will. But it's not bad. Not At All. Just curious.
Come on, you're not curious about any of your exes?
Yeah, that's what I thought.
So I'm at WEFtec (the Water Environment Federation conference), which this year is taking place in Chicago. And man alive, it is huge. It's crazy. This conference is an industry in and of itself. The cash that is spent here, I will go out on a limb and say, is a lot. Hell, maybe even A Lot. McCormick Place, the conference center itself, is huge; it's got to be the biggest building I've ever been inside. Then the flights for people to get here. Then the exhibitors, whatever they pay just for the privilege of exhibiting their stuff here. Then the sponsors. Then the food (crazy markups, $2.75 for a can of pop and $3.25 for a bottle of friggin water - at a water conference, yes, I see the irony (do they?)). Then the maintenance and clean up crew. Then et ceteras. Nuts.It's interesting, though, to see something like this happening.This morning I spent 3+ hours wandering, and I probably saw about 25% or less of the actual exhibitors' floor. There are three separate areas, A B and C, and each is the size of, I dunno, at least 4 football fields. Walking around. Carrying this damn laptop, which I should have realized can't pick up free wifi (though I could enjoy the internet for $9.95/day).But it is good to be here, for sure. And I'm grateful to my boss for sending me. There are some interesting booths, products, technology, ideas to be seen. Now is it economically worth it? Well, that depends on what comes out of this - whether we find a product that improves our own product or our efficiency, or we find a product developer that we can work with to establish a mutually beneficial relationship. Or I make a contact that leads to a project. Or, on some off chance, I personally become $X thousand smarter in the next 2 days. The last one is, of course, a long shot. But I believe one of those things will happen, so probably yes.-----The food. I already mentioned the markup on soft drinks. For lunch I had a "spicy chicken sandwich". It was a small chicken breast, marinated and slow cooked until tender, served on a squishy white bun with some condiments (I chose pickled jalapenos and some sort of indistinguishable brown sauce) and a pile of kettle chips, for $12.50 plus tax. Paper plates of course. Eaten while sitting on a park bench that's been bolted to a concrete floor indoors (think Home Depot). It was okay. It was about $4 okay. (I did have a pleasant conversation with some R&D dude from Boulder Colorado, so that's cool.)I could have had something else - a slice of cheese OR sausage pizza, maybe, for $5 - which would have been $0.50 bad. Or a Chicago dog, which looked okay (price unknown), but I wasn't so sure about all those raw onions mixing with business, you know? To offset the nasal discomfort of that, I'd have to have been Even More Smarter.So, not unlike at home, I have mostly been living off coffee. In this case, Starbucks. A tall house blend, which at home would be... $1.75 CDN or so? is $2.20 US here. And the line is always like 15 minutes long. Man alive.-----Here's an interesting thing, though. Background: in the engineering world, about... 8%? of the population is female. I don't know the actual number. UBC grad classes in the mid 90's were setting records at 20%, but remember this must be offset by all previous grad classes from the past 30+ years, many of which were 0%. Anyway, attendees to this conference are more than 10% women. Maybe 15%. And, using Seinfeld's law of datable people in the world, which if you don't know is 5%, that means that if you are a heterosexual male, then 0.75% of the people here should be datable women. But it's actually, I dunno, about 2% give or take.How to explain this statistical anomaly? Well, the main thing I would guess is that people like sending attractive women to man their exhibit booths. Also, many of the people here aren't engineers. By extension, therefore, not all of these women are engineers.Things I will say to prevent hate comments:1. I have dated and/or been interested in and/or generally known plenty of female engineers in my life. Why This statistical anomaly? 1a. I am in the profession, and therefore have been exposed to many female engineers. That sounds lewd when read aloud, but I'm sure you get my gist. 1b. I am married to a Forester. Which, although heated enemies on campus, is pretty damn similar to being an Engineer. It's a bunch of applied science; people, we are all the same. 1c. Seinfeld's law does not necessarily apply to engineering (or forestry for that matter). I think this can be explained by the partially conflicting principle that geeky girls are kind of hot. Yeah, it's true.
I guess that's all I have. Therefore, the defence rests.
-----
(Later, as the conference is winding down.)
I just drank a beer in less than 3 minutes. Literally. I know it was American beer, but dang I was thirsty.
Here's one awesome thing about conferences: starting at about 12:01 pm, some exhibitors start to set up bars at their booths. And while I only had one beer (I choose to be Respectable), it Was free. Nice. But yeah, it lived one short life. Goodbye, free beer, see you in a couple hours.
Of course this list was going to be organic. Matt Tong, of Bloc Party, deserves to be on it too.
That is all.
Today we had a "little" first birthday party for the golden piglet. And by little, I mean 10 little kids, all 3 and under. Man alive, that is the definition of exhausting. But it was fun for them, I think, so all good.Tonight I've been making soup (mushroom) and doing general prep for Thanksgiving dinner for the in-laws tomorrow. Which is another form of tiring, but at the same time, pretty fun. Yeah, it's true - cooking is, I find, a form of therapy: a place to get lost in creativity, planning, execution, and a goodly amount of ad libbing.All night, I've had stuck in my head the Foo's. Specifically, perhaps because it's such a stormy night, "Up In Arms". You know... "The rain is here / and you, my dear / are still my friend. It's true / the two of us / are back as one again." Etc. What a great song. One I want to cover, with the boys.Also, I was listening to the new Weezer album earlier, while cleaning up after the party. Track 10, "The Angel and The One." I didn't know Rivers had it in him.Also, "Pig."
Later, I will brush my teeth and go to bed.
Is anyone actually reading this?
More reminders of the 1990's, this time The Colour and The Shape. I like the Foo's, I mean, Dave Grohl is one talented dude. You can really see his influence in Nirvana's songwriting, even though Kurt is credited as having written most of their stuff.But they (FF) never really put together a whole, great album. Except for that one.The Colour and The Shape is, in my mind, an essential album. It was written as a concept to "document" the rise and fall of a relationship - and its recording, sadly, coincided with the end of Dave's own relationship at the time. Unfortunately, perhaps, sad relationship times make for the best songs. And this album has a lot of great songs, really well written, covering a pretty good range (as far as rock & roll is concerned). And, it showcases Dave's talents - as a drummer, guitarist, singer, and songwriter.In fact, even though he is a guitarist first, I think Dave Grohl is one of the greatest drummers of all time.Top 5 Drummers of All Time:5. Taylor Hawkins, Foo Fighters4. Dave Grohl, Nirvana / Foo Fighters3. Matt Cameron, Soundgarden / Pearl Jam (though mostly for his Soundgarden work)2. John Bonham, Led Zeppelin1. Keith Moon, The WhoYeah the list is organic, but 1-3 are pretty steady in my mind. And I do think that Dave belongs in the top 5. The reason why I list Taylor Hawkins in there, too, is because not only does he play all the parts that Dave originally recorded for TC&TS, but his subsequent work with the band is also Super impressive. And damn it, I can't help but be in awe of anyone who can sing and play drums with that kind of energy, with those massive fills.Oh, and don't bother commenting about any drummer from Yes or Rush or something else equally lame. And don't bother telling me that Phil Collins and Don Henley sing and drum too. Yeah, I like "Boys of Summer" as much as the next kid who lived through 1984. But are you really going to claim that they are in the same league? No. So that's that.
Updating the iPod recently, I rediscovered Soul Coughing. In about 97-98, I went through a phase of listening to these guys All The Time. Actually saw them play Bumbershoot in Seattle in 1997, went down with a few friends (two friends and one crazy chick, if you must know; and no, I did not bring the crazy chick (thanks Bob)) and had such a great time. And their show was insane, a solid hour (or so?) of mad beats, lights and fog, and dancing fun.We stayed at my friend James' place, he and his girlfriend were out of town. The crazy chick, let's call her Brenda, was an F'ing nightmare to live with, even for two nights. She used all of the toilet paper, like four rolls at least, dealing with her makeup. She broke their Bodum. I don't remember what else, but I do remember we had to go shopping at JC Penny afterwards to re-stock their house.For some reason, Bob still ended up dating her. Well, I know the reason, but to this day I question that judgement.After the Soul Coughing show, we were exhausted and still somewhat hazy from all the action - and we ended up running into an old Acquaintance of mine (let's call her Susan). Awkwardness ensued. I can't even remember who she was there with, but I don't think I said a word for the entire four (?) minute interaction; I just kind of deflected uncomfortable silence while trying to will a getaway. I was uninterested and certainly beyond able to deal with the situation. Thank you Mental Fugue, you once again saved me at the end of that night.I look at these friends of mine now. We are still friends. We have, between Ardel, Bob and myself, five kids. (I am not counting Brenda, because I of course have no idea what happened to her.) My daughter is about to turn One, and the day after, Ardel (who just had her second son, see live blogging of birth link below) celebrates her birthday.Life is funny.Happy birthday to all you early October babies!
So today I went out and got myself a recording interface and Cubase. FUN.
Well, after all the downloading and installing of the correct drivers (WinXP SP3!!!), the set-up, figuring out the Cubase security key, et cetera... FUN.
So. Without further adieu, here is Frying Pan, originally written by Victoria Williams. This would be Take 2 of the evening, seeing as how Take 1 did not actually record (Cubase: it takes a second, but then you get it). Here's the deal: I know I sound like a bedwetter, I know my chords aren't as strong as they should be, I know I'm rusty, I know I know I know, folks. So, comments are off. But, I put this out there just because 1. it's kind of fun, and 2. there might be some people Out There who actually want to hear it. Yeah, there's no accounting for taste!
Now. More importantly. Go buy the real thing.
Can the Rock Band drums be plugged straight into the computer and recognized as a MIDI device? If you have Abelton / Pro Tools / Whatever, can it?
I need a means by which to play drums.
Help me, internet people, you are my only hope.
I'm alive! I am sore, and tired, but still alive. Hockey was fun, except for the fact that I sucked bad. And I seriously need to get into some resemblance of shape. If I could see "in shape" on the horizon, that would be a fan-F'in-tastic start.
It didn't really hit me until later - we had a little gathering at our place yesterday afternoon, and sometime after 6:00 it just hit me like a tonne of bricks. I went from feeling good to feeling completely exhausted. And, here's the world's worst kept secret: I then snuck off for a little nap.
Well, no one seemed to mind - I mean, the party went on just fine. So all good.
But seriously, my hips and groin are feeling very tender! Nurse!
Well, how would you like a unique experience? A friend is currently giving birth in Seattle. Like RIGHT F'ING NOW. Husband is blogging it. And, I am about to link to said blog. A blog within a blog!http://wheresfredat.blogspot.com/Seriously, though, Ardelly and Fred, Rocco and imminent sibling; love, best wishes, and (whatever my) prayers (are worth) to y'all!
So I have recently found out that, as of Sunday, I will be playing hockey again. I took last season off, because half of our team the previous season was from Abbotsford, and they decided to move from Planet Ice Coquitlam (which was far enough), and instead just play in Abbotsford (which was just TOO FAR AWAY).Then last spring, I played 2-3 pickup games and realized how much I missed it. The exercise, for sure, and the game - but you know what, half the fun is hanging out afterwards in the dressing room having a beer with the guys.So, I am going back. Starting Sunday. I am in very bad shape. It's been a busy summer, one fairly devoid of actual physical activity.So fair warning to my teammates, game starts at 9:45 AM - if you are sitting next to me on the bench at, oh, say 9:47, just be aware that vomiting may occur.Game on!
Just a quickie: cruising on the TV last night, found Empire, right at the part where they were about to encase Han Solo in carbonite.Leah: I love you!Solo: I know.Ha ha, is Han Solo the coolest MF in the universe at that point? F, yes.(And I understand that this last sentence makes me the uncoolest, but such is the life I lead.)That is all.
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby illustrates, with almost alarming clarity, the inner workings of the young adult male mind. Well okay, so perhaps I can't speak for everyone, but certainly it illustrates the inner workings of my mind. And the illustration is graphic. Like anatomy textbook graphic. Without getting too deep into the What Have I Done versus What Have I Not Done, as compared to the protagonist, Rob, I can say that the former is surely a longer list than the latter.Regardless, I mention the book only to pay tribute it, because I've been trying to work out my Top 5 Dream Jobs for the past 10 or so years, since I read Rob's list. And wouldn't you know it, they are remarkably similar.Rob's Top 5 Dream Jobs1. New Musical Express journalist, 1976-19792. Producer, Atlantic Records, 1964-19713. Musician (Any kind except for rap or classical)4. Film director (any kind except for German or silent)5. ArchitectMy Top 5 Dream Jobs (all present time)1. Producer, own labelYup, this tops even Musician. Because producers not only have staying power, but can potentially to work with a lot of different bands in a lot of different genres. Or, stick with one band and be the guy behind the scenes working the real magic. George Martin is of course the ultimate example of this. The thing is, you know what, I don't need or even want fame; fortune works just fine for me.2. Musician, i.e. taking The Supergroup That Never Gigs proNo explaination required, I don't think. It would be really great to be able to write and perform music for a living. I'm frankly not that interested in doing stadium shows, or touring for 3 years without end until I am ready to kill 3 of my best friends. But, I would love to be able to make a (decent) living from just playing and writing music. Awesomeness is what that would be. AWESOMENESS.3. Owner / cook at a dinerI really like to cook. I probably opposite of hate to cook. The technical side is totally intriguing to me (edible science geekery); knife skills to searing to stocks sauces etc etc. And I totally enjoy the planning aspect of it. And composing a menu. And wine pairing. And and and. However, I am pretty sure I could not cut it night after night on a line. And frankly the pay would suck ass. Enter dream job scenario 3, whereby I win the lottery and/or become independently wealthy, and spend a fraction of said windfall on a small diner type of space. Nothing too fancy; breakfast and lunch, good coffee, rotate soups, daily / weekly specials, etc. Milkshakes! Just a low(er) stress environment in which to cook professionally. (And yeah I realize it's the independently wealthy qualifier that kind of makes it.)4. Comic or graphic novel artistYeah, I know. Well I really love to draw, I mean when I was younger I REALLY loved to draw. Kids would go to soccer camp or hockey camp or whatever, and I was sent - with a smile on my face - to art camp. Loved it. (Incidental note: nowadays, the camps that kids are offered are F'ing insane. This past summer a friend of mine's kid went to (amongst other things) fencing camp and film camp! In a week they made their own movie! I was very envious! Exclamation point!) All through my teenage years I drew all the time. My favourite subject in school was art. If you ever want to check my high school notes, hell even my university notes, most of the margins and/or back pages and/or random pages that should have contained actual scholastic notes, are filled with sketches of cars, guns, bloody deaths, me in some morose and overly dramatic lovesick situation involving a short white girl... Yeah, good times.5. EngineerSo, Rob had "Architect" - which he was not. I have "Engineer", which I am. And hey, I don't necessarily love coming to work every day, but neither do I hate it, having to grit my teeth to endure each and every day. Pay's decent. Get to boss people around a little. I feel very in control of my professional life. So yeah, it can be #5.Honourable mention. Professional golferOkay, so here's the thing. Two things, actually. 1. I really enjoy playing golf. 2. I suck at playing golf. Thus this is relegated to HM. Well I guess this is all make-believe anyway, so maybe it should have been #5. Well anyway, I would love to be on the PGA tour. I would be very happy to be ranked 100 in the world, making a living - a damn good living - just playing golf. The endless touring again would probably wear you down, but man... still a pretty sweet gig. Golf = best dollar to potential injury ratio in pro sports. Fact.
Crown Royal + Canada Dry ginger ale + lime(and no that is not my hand)Sure you can argue - and it would be hard to dispute say a glass of Chateau Margaux (the only one I've had was an 85 Chateau Rauzan-Segla, and it was Pretty Damn Awesome). And yes, circumstance always plays a role - for example, fishing in the bay off Puerto Vallarta on gorgeous day in 2006, and all we had on hand was Tecate i.e. the wateriest beer in all of Mexico (think of a glass that recently had beer in it, that someone proceeded to fill with water and then hand it to you). Friend goes and catches an 80 lb sailfish. Well that was Pretty Damn Good too.But no one, certainly no one sane, can argue that it is not the best highball ever. So many good times with a Crown & ginger in my hand. Dan and I, 30th birthday at the Frog & Firkin, double highballs on special. One day after work at my old job, just hanging out and getting to know all sorts of people I'd only really seen in the workplace. And second most recently, listening to Frank Black at the Media Club.Seriously, best. drink. ever.
Not the Disney version - I just watched my High School Musical on TV. It's called "The Blues Brothers." Now, it wasn't released in my high school years, exactly, but it did play a pivotal role in my musical upbringing (awakening?) in the late '80s.
Just look at the lineup:
James Brown
John Lee Hooker
Aretha Franklin
Ray Charles
Cab Calloway
Not to mention Steve Cropper, Donald Duck Dunn, Matt Guitar Murphy... When the backing band has more (musical) star power than the frontmen, that is pretty impressive.
Anyway, watching it reminded me to thank the following people for my own musical development:
My parents - for making me take piano when I was a kid. Man, I hated it. I really really did. It was the endless practicing! But, they also allowed me to quit when I did (Royal Conservatory Grade 4) - and, didn't really discourage me when I went out and bought my first guitar and amp.
* Nostalgic note 1: it was only last year, some 20 or so years later, roughly, that I spoke again to our old neighbors the Wards. And they informed me of the entire neighborhood's annoyance when I cranked up Clapton or Hendrix or whatever and tried to play along. Apparently it was very loud. And, heartbreaking to hear now, not very good. The only redeeming thing, they said, was that it annoyed our neighbors to the back of our house (where my room faced) the most. And everyone hated them. So they poured another scotch, shut the windows, and cut me some slack.
James Morley - who, besides sharing a love for the Blues Brothers a little later on, originalyl introduced me to AC/DC. Yes I know, AC/DC. But they were ultimately a Gateway for Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, the Who, hell even the Beatles. Oh, and The Clash. Thanks James for The Clash.
** Nostalgic note 2: When we were 19, James and I rented a 4-track and recorded an album. 70+ minutes - a real LP! Both of us only really played guitar (and pretty poorly at that), so we had to learn all the other instruments. Still have that (somewhat embarrassing, but still very Awesome) CD. Beans & Rice, Out of the Cupboard. (And if you can name the song reference there, you win the privilege of never hearing our album!) Seriously though, one of the best summers ever.
Stewart Butterfield - who ultimately convinced me, the completely delusional me, that Zeppelin was in fact a better band than AC/DC. Yeah, Stu, you were right.
Shingo Takada - who taught me how to play the blues, for real. Guitar master, that guy. He used to keep this broken neck from a beer bottle that he used as a slide. Cut his hand up something fierce, but man it sounded sweet!
Dan Stringer, Jason Hunt and Erik Campbell - guitar, bass and drums of The Supergroup That Never Gigs. It is they who try to drown out my recently-pubescent-boy vocals and tolerate my occasional guitar wanking. Solid solid guys.
There are others, of course. But these people represent real Milestones. So, much love y'all.
So I am in a band. (And I'm not giving you the name, since 1. we have not produced any records and thus the name is yet unprotected, and b. the name is so awesome that surely, without a doubt, it will be stolen. But just to give you a hint: several years ago, the band's other guitarist and my old roommate Dan and I were watching Xena: Warrior Princess, possibly in some state of disrepair, and the whole name unfolded like a rare, beautiful, hot, womanly orchid.)
We never actually gig, we only really jam. And we've been jamming off and on for, I dunno, 15 years maybe? (So screw you, Phish! Bunch of dirty hippies.) Anyway, we last jammed many many months ago. Circumstances - kids, work, everyone got busy and/or complacent. But as far as I know, even though our bassist just had a son less than a month ago, and even though our drummer appears to be on a self-imposed hiatus, we have not broken up. At least no one sent me that email.Now, every time I see a show, pretty much every time, it makes me want to play. Here's the thing: in the past few weeks, I have seen Frank Black (Media Club, 6-Aug-08, solo show i.e. no backing band, kicked ass) and Radiohead (Thunderbird Stadium, 19-Aug-08, gigantic downpour all night, kicked ass) and am burning with the fever to play again.
And I shouldn't say that we just jam, because we also write. And I have so much to say, I really do!I have approached said bandmates - but honestly, there is no point right now. Jason the Bassist just had a kid! So how do I proceed? People, what should I do??Having no outlet for my stream of consciousness genius sucks. And so I impose on you My Blog. Seriously, if you want less painful blogs on the internet, convince my friends to get back into the music. Their email addresses are as follows...
You know, people used to say that Generation X, my generation, was a little narcissistic. Hey, People, guess what: we ain’t got nothing on these 21st century kids! Myspace, Facebook, Blogger. A BLOG? A MF BLOG?? What makes you think that anyone else wants to read your stupid BLOG??
Today:
I ate toast. I thought about eggs, but then I thought about angina. Whoa is me!
I brushed my teeth. I noticed that my gums are receding. I’m only 17!
Etc.
Anyway.
So then, having said that, in the spirit of Hypocrisy (i.e. that which makes living a principled life so bearable), and bearing in mind that it has caused 3 weeks of internal strife (note lag between this post and previous) I am going to start blogging. Let’s see how long this lasts.
A friend of mine told me that this would go over like a lead balloon.
And speaking of traditions, and food, the two things that we do 'round here 'round now are tourtiere, which is the Quebecois pork pie, usually on the 24th, and mushroom risotto on the 25th, because this is my wife's favourite.
1. Scrooged, starring Bill Murray
2. Die Hard, starring Bruce Willis.
Seriously, what is it about this "holiday" anyway? For a lot of people, it just never gets old. Which is totally fine, I mean, why not. And I suppose I can see why: when you're little, it's fun to get dressed up. And it's fun to get free candy. Then a little later on, especially if you're a boy, it's fun to indulge your inner pyromaniac. Light shit on fire and whatnot. Later still, it's fun to go to parties and get drunk. And get dressed up again. Circle of life, or circle of the undead maybe. Whatever floats your boat.
So a friend of a friend just won a brand new made in the USA Stratocaster. And he doesn't even play the guitar.
More reminders of the 1990's, this time The Colour and The Shape. I like the Foo's, I mean, Dave Grohl is one talented dude. You can really see his influence in Nirvana's songwriting, even though Kurt is credited as having written most of their stuff.
