As of today at lunch I had purchased jerseys for 4 of the 6 Canadian NHL teams. As for the other two, I have no intention of ever purchasing those, as its my position both teams can be disbanded, sold for scrap, and the proceeds spent on a cup of coffee.

Just a thought but could we maybe retire Bob Cole and Harry Neale for two people that don't sound like they're calling the game from the geriatric ward of Our Lady of Tender Mercies Hospital?

Blog Question Of The Day:

I've been doing a lot of surfing (shopping) on the internet today, as I've done virtually nothing besides sit at the computer. One thing I have not been able to decide is, if I were to buy a baseball jersey, what team should I support?

Blog Question Of The Day:

Can someone please explain to me why we're still watching the Toronto Maple Leafs on the venerable, Saturday's Hockey Night In Canada, when the Leafs are the second WORST team in the damn league!?!?!

Blog Question Of The Day:

Why is it that I've never gone for a ride on an elephant?

Blog Link Of The Day:

This is freakin' hilarious!!!

F|_|cking Matt Damon

Blog Question Of The Day:

Would a pressure washer be good at removing soap scum in the bathroom?

Is there anything more white than driving around with a Ski-doo in the back of your pick-up truck?

Blog Question Of The Day:

Why does my cat watch me shovel snow?

Blog Question Of The Day:

Why are Government of Canada envelopes printed upside-down?

Do you know what really grinds my gears?

People that do something patently stupid, just because they're too lazy to walk 50 feet.

I'm leaving hockey this afternoon. Its a rink with two sheets of ice, and its not 4:30 in the afternoon so the action is beginning to heat up. The parking lot is starting to fill with cars. But its not full. Maximum density has not been reached. If you just drive to the end of the parking lot, there are lots of spots.

So what does this arrogant bitch in a champagne colored mini-van do? She turns off the street and immediately turns left and parks on the grass. On the grass!

You'd never do that in the spring or summer, when the grass is green and people are obviously tending to it. So why is it allowable in the god damn winter!?! Just because its covered in ice and snow does not mean you can park there! Grow a god damn brain!

P.S. VIP parking for concerts at Credit Union Centre is still gay.

This is just about the coolest thing that ever happened!

We had a mini-blizzard today. It was no terror or anything. Starting sometime overnight we had snow and a howling wind. It rose to a crescendo about 10:00 or 11:00 this morning. When I went for lunch at noon it was going pretty good. I've seen worse but it was a pretty good snowstorm.

Funny thing about going for lunch. When I came back I saw the funniest thing. There were two cop cars and a tow truck on Idylwyld heading south. This was approximately at Wheatheart. There, buried deep in the ditch was a Hummer H3. I guess they can't go through everything.

Back to the story.

I came home tonight at 9:30. I was kinda dreading it because there was a lot of snow on the road and frankly, I was fearing a big set of snow drifts in my driveway. But it was clean! Completely free! At first I thought maybe the wind has been such that it blew clean. But that was not the truth. Someone with a snow blower had seen fit to blow out my driveway. The whole thing. I am shocked, amazed, and quite humbled. I don't know why anyone would would do that for me.

But there it is, plain as anything. My driveway is clear and I don't have an hour's shovelling to do tomorrow. So, if whoever blew out my driveway is reading this, I bid you a hearty THANK YOU! I definitely appreciate it.

Do you know what really grinds my gears?

Wal-Mart

I had to go there today. I'm doing an experiment. I'm going to try watching a movie on my PlayStation Portable. To the best of my knowledge there are only two places to buy PSP movies in a store. You can go to Wal-Mart or Future Shop. You can go to Future Shop but the selection is abysmal and they want $25 for just about everything. Pardon me for being cheap but I don't want to spend $25 on a movie that will only work on my PlayStation Portable. So I went to Wal-Mart. They have quite a few movies actually (I've checked before) and they cost about half of what you'd pay at Future Shop. Plus I could pick up some groceries and that would be my only shopping trip.

So I go to Wal-Mart this morning. I wanted to go before lunch so the teeming hordes would not yet be roused. I was only partially successful. The place was still busy but thankfully I didn't have to stumble over shopping carts.

So what's the deal with the greeters at Wal-Mart? First of all, what's the point? Besides pissing me off, what do these people accomplish? I get the purpose of the guy at the exit door. You gotta stop shoplifting. And with the semi-destitute people that seem to love Wal-Mart, it seems like a valid concern. But what's that guy at the entrance doing? I could have punched the guy they had there today. I have to cut him a little slack because I think he was actually semi-retarded. But could he possibly greet me without screaming? He just barking at everyone coming in the door and it was really irritating. Part of his training should have been volume control.

But that's not what pisses me off. I pick up my UMD movie and head to the food section for my breakfast groceries. Suddenly there is this wailing! Its obviously a child but the volume was unbelievable! You'd think they'd been hit by a sniper attack. Seriously, this was death rattling. They damn kid just howls, and howls and howls. It was the type of scream that you only seem to get when anal sex goes bad. This was brutal.

I'm already losing my patience with this as I walk to the check-out counter. I'm half a store away. Its only when I get to the front tills that I discover the source of this howling. Half a store away! This little piss-ant brat is just screaming bloody murder and its permeating the whole store. At full volume! And these fucking idiot parents are just letting the kid scream. And scream, and scream, and scream. I wanted to commit murder again. Surely I'd be doing this kid a favor if I put two in the temple of this ignorant mother and her half-wit husband. And the real kick in the balls to this is, they didn't even look like your typical, ignorant welfare miscreants. It looked like a middle-class family.

Sometimes I think that murder is justified.

I apologize but there was supposed to be a picture here. Yeah, right here where all this boring text is. I burning my lip on super-heated cheese from the Crustini I had at lunch. It hurt quite a bit and after about 10 minutes I actually blistered my lip. That's what I was going to take a picture of, because I know you all need to be grossed out from time to time.

However, as it turns out there will be no picture because it burne enough that I kept nibbling on it to the point where I had no blister left when I got home tonight.

So there's no picture. Just this overly graphic description of the wound I inflicted upon myself.

I have a question.

Why is it that no one has invented an actual cure for headaches? I mean, come on! These things have plagued man for as long as we've been able to express that we're in pain. I think even the monkeys were getting headaches. I mean, have you ever watched them? They jump around and scream a lot. That seems like a headache sufferer to me.

This is why we hate the medical profession so much. (Or maybe its why I hate them so much) I have a problem and they do nothing for me. I get a headache and they sell me some pills. I take the pills and my headache doesn't go away. Why kind of a rip-off is this!?!

Probably the worst part about it is, we actually put up with this. Medicine fails us and we just go, oh well, and put up with it. It seems amazing that we've had 'modern' medicine for a hundred years or more, and they can't invent a way to eliminate a headache.

It just goes to show where the priorities are. They can invent a pill that'll give you a boner, but no one can cure my damn headache!

And this post goes out to all you dumb-ass companies that want me to fill in my postal code, or somehow otherwise identify my region when I go to your site to check prices.

STOP IT!!!!

When I look up something on the internet, I'm doing a quick search to find out how much something costs. The likelihood is, I"m eventually going to go to the store and pick it up. Truthfully, its more like catalog shopping. I want an idea of the price before I pursue the project further.

So I don't appreciate it when I gotta fill in details to look something up. If you're enough of a bunch of smucks that you have region specific pricing, then this is a wake-up call to knock that crap off. We all deserve the same low prices. And the number should be readily available, with about three (maybe) clicks on the ol' Firefox browser.

Listen to my words, for they be the voice of the consumer.

It is now time for our yearly game,

How Much Is In the Cookie Jar?




Submit your guesses for a chance to win the money!

Honestly, I shouldn't have to blog about this so often. The rules and guidelines for doing it properly are not that hard to follow. Everyone is supposed to become at least passingly familiar with the process before they are issued a license.

Why can't people park between the lines? When did this become a difficult task?

I'm at Future Shop this morning. Future Shop has cleaned out their parking lot very well, and the lines are easy to see. Nevertheless, in a full lot, some asshole has parked right across a line, insted of between them. And at an angle no less! So this wastes a spot, at a store that can ill afford to have a wasted space. I actually stopped today. I actually stopped and considered kicking the mini van. Realistically, the only thing stopping me was that I wasn't wearing steel toed boots. Had I had steel toes, I think that mini van would have a dent right now.

Then I get to Safeway and all bloody hell has broken loose. The lot has not been cleaned well, so you have to use your discretion to establish where to park. Of course, discretion for the 2000 cars in the lot seemed to mean, park wherever you please. How can you be that dumb? I parked near the end of the row, becuase it was kinda full and I had no patience for driving around looking for a spot that was marginally better. When I come out, more people have parked around me, and its an absolute cluster-bomb. Some guy in a white 1972 Chevy pick-up basically laid it wherever he pleased, turning the row into a serpentine disaster that was next to impossible to get out of. Plus there was Captain Fantastic on my right who'd inexplicably taken the challen of parking as close to me as possible, without removing his mirrors.

Speaking of captains of idiocy, there was the retard in the VW at Future Shop that tried to take my parking spot before I was even out of it. What grade of elementary school do you have to flunk out of to pull a stunt like that? I'm backing out, and this retard is diving into the open space. Nevermind that, at the current time, there was no one else around. So he gets halfway in and now I'm pinned because I needed that space to re-orient and drive away. So I'm cursing him for being a dick and just a hairs-breadth away from getting out to pummel him when he rolls back. I think better of my violence and just drive away.

I am now going to relax and try to forget that the world is full of idiots. If you need me, I'm on the couch.

Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant.

. . .

And I laughed my balls off!!!

Blog Poll Of The Day:

Should I buy a speaker package for my laptop?

I am making a new rule.

This rule applies to the office. Specifically, this rule applies to children in the office.

In general I have no specific opinion on children in the workplace. If they don't bother me, I don't bother them. However, there needs to be a rule about these sort of things. And I'm going to write that rule.

"If your child is not old enough the understand the phrase 'shut the hell up' and actually follow the directive, then they are not old enough to be in the office."

Please follow this rule from now on.

Blog Question Of The Day:

The mohawk picture on Facebook was a good joke but it seems to me it has lingered just a bit long. However, I find myself with a bit of a dilemma. I have nothing to replace it that is:

a) a picture of me
b) current

Does anyone have a picture that fits the criteria, that I could use?

Can I get a ruling on something?

Shouldn't we have the right, and maybe even the responsibility, to use a rocket launcher on people that drive slow for completely inexplicable reasons? I'm driving down the street lately and I keep getting stuck behind these people driving unbelievably slow. Its just retarded.

The speed limit on the road is 60 km/h. This is a well travelled road and not a residential or side street. The person I get stuck behind is doing 30 km/h. Maybe. There's nothing wrong with the road. Its in excellent winter driving conditions. This idiot goes half the speed limit.

Shouldn't I be blowing this moron away? Doesn't behaviour like that warrant a rocket to the rear end? Or, am I completely off base on this?

I have a word of advice to all of those people in the world who try to be the funny customer. If you want to be the 'funny' customer can you please take a moment and think to yourself, am I really funny? If funny doesn't come naturally to you, or you have to force a joke to be funny, then do us both a favor and just order your drink, pay, and walk away.

There's nothing more tragic than some idiot thinking he's funny, when he's not, and we both have to stand there and pretend like something lame was worth even a half-smile.

If you seriously, and for true, believe that someone should be executed for the name of a teddy bear . . . then you really need to go commit the same sentence to yourself, because your not dealing with reality.

Things That Piss Me Off:

It just drives me to distraction the way some people operate a motor vehicle. You get behind them on the freeway and you'd swear they'd never drove a car before that. Then you scream and vibrate in your chair at their extreme stupidity.

I get into a pile of cars at a stop light tonight. The light goes green and we take off. This idiot ahead of me pulls up at 60 km/h on the damn freeway, slowing down all traffic behind them. And no one will pass this idiot! They all pace with him, like this moron is aware of something they don't know. This whole caravan of cars creeps down the freeway at 60 km/h become one idiot doesn't know how to drive.

Finally someone gets brave and passes the asshat. Then another passes, and another. Finally I get a chance to drive past this idiot and I take the accelerator to the floor and pass the jack-ass.

Just one more reason to throw a little chlorine in the gene pool. Geesh.

It is now Wednesday and I've shoveled for the third time. Knock it off already!!!

Today is November 26th. I have already had enough of winter.

Its not even December yet and I've already had enough of snow.

In the more abstract sense I don't really have anything against snow. It serves a useful purpose and when things are blanketed in white, it can look every peaceful. The problem however, is that the stupid crap has to be shovelled.

Okay, I learned my lesson. You can't just, not shovel it, because that creates even more trouble than getting out there and doing it. Its just that, there are times, when you REALLY don't feel like shovelling snow.

Today was one of those days. There wasn't that much snow. It wasn't going to take that long to do. But I had to give myself a very long and considered pep talk before I could force myself to do it. My legs were not up for shovelling snow this afternoon.

But its done and I actually feel better for it. However, if all the snow were to now melt, it would not hurt my feelings in the slightest.

Okay, now I hurt.

In the span of 26 hours between Friday and Saturday I have completed the following:

Played hockey with my co-workers from Delco. We played full ice but we did have two spares per team so it wasn't as bad as it could be. However, I must have tied my skates wrong because my calves locked up and I had shooting pains from my feet to my back.

I went to CUC and worked a Blades game. That was fairly uneventful but my legs didn't stretch out much while working at the bar.

Played a very heated soccer game on Friday night. Half our team was drunk and both teams were pushy so it got a little rough. We managed a tie, which felt like a victory but it was tough going with bad legs.

Played the second soccer game of the tournament on Saturday at noon. Physically I felt like I was in better shape. I ran my ASS off which was doubly frustrating because it was completely in vain. Everyone that was drunk on Friday night was hung-over today and we didn't fair well. The game was disappointing with a 0-4 loss.

Our second of our soccer games today was at 5:30. The body started out alright but at the end I had had enough. To our credit we won the game 3-2 but I'm done. I was mentally disappointed to not make the playoffs but my body will be glad to not play soccer tomorrow.

Oh yeah, don't forget,

GO RIDERS!!!

Blog Question Of The Day:

Should I buy a Q-Ray bracelet?

Who is more attractive, me or William Fontaine De La Tour D’auterive?

It is finally good to be GREEN!!!

After watching the first half of the Eastern semi-final between Toronto and Winnipeg, I think it is clear that Troy Westwood is on something.

For the record, I wasn't ready for snow yet.

Can someone PLEASE explain to me how a movie that is supposed to be in theatres (according to everything I can find on the internet) is NOT available in any theatre I can look up on the very same internet?

Do you think NPC's (non player characters) in WoW (World of Warcraft) get sad when you kill them?

If you are driving a freshly washed, brilliantly shiny, YELLOW Monte Carlo, then I suggest you don't park illegally in the handicap spot outside of Safeway.

I think I'm done with Safeway.

I wanted to negotiate the relatively simple task of buying soap tonight. I started at London Drugs. I don't fault them at all. They had lots of soap and it was relatively easy to find. I went there first because I wanted to see how much this fancy, oatmeal soap was. I've used this oatmeal soap in hotels before and thought it was great. I found out that you could buy this Aveeno stuff and it had oatmeal in it. I thought I might buy some.

Not at $4.99 per BAR!

So I went to Safeway. I had to go there anyway, I decided, because I wanted to buy some spring rolls for supper. In hindsight I should have blown off the spring rolls, bought my soap at London Drugs, and called it a night. But I didn't and that was to my detriment.

How the hell can you not have bar soap? I mean honestly!! They had a VERY small selection of bar soap available. There were a few bulk packs of Ivory and again of Dove. That's it. No Irish Spring, no Lever 2000, just this pathetic little display of a couple of packages of this Dove and Ivory. I was looking for Zest, because I've decided that's 'my' brand, and I'm sticking with it whether I'm bored with the fragrances or not. (coming to that decision is a long story I won't bore you with)

So I walk up and down all the aisles in the general soap area and there's no bar soap. This is just retarded. A major grocery store and you can't even buy regular bath soap? I think that's insane. So I think I'm done with Safeway. I will give them another shot after the renovations are done but if the same lack of service and retarded prices continue, I'm going somewhere else. You can't reward incompetence.

Blog (Important) Question Of The Day:

Should I donate to the 'One Laptop Per Child' program and get a cheap, if minimalist, laptop that I could play with and use as a toy?



http://www.laptopgiving.org

Based on the photographs from her latest misadventure, it appears Britney Spears has the same cell phone as me.

I'm nominating Hayden Panettiere for hottest woman on the planet. Who's with me?

Have you ever been drinking a can of Coke, and stopped to realize that it was impossible to look inside the can, because it was dark and the liquid wasn't clear? Then you got to thinking that maybe, somewhere below the murky depths of the Coke there was a dead body, that you wouldn't discover until you'd finished the whole thing?

That's what I was thinking about this afternoon while having a Coke that honestly, I stopped enjoying about half way through.

Blog Question Of The Day:

Which would be the least desirable job:

a) fast food restaurant
b) cashier at Dollarama

For those of you that had been lamenting their absence, my blog archives are back.

Blog Complaint Of The Day:

There should be more solo quests available to Level 55-60 players in World of Warcraft

Things That Don't Make Sense:

Having full sized shopping carts in the Dollarama.

I hate 'high art' music videos.

Reason #37 Why I Hate Vista:

Its so stupid. I have a half a dozen programs that are using my external hard drive as their default destination to save. However, when I try to use Vista to save an image file to the external hard drive, it says I don't have permission.

I understand that you want the operating system to be more secure. But don't make it secure to the point of insanity. Using a dialog box to save a file to location that has not been tagged as vulnerable, should NOT raise security warnings.

COME ON!!!

YAY Red Sox!!!

If you are a professional football team.

And your opposition leaves half their starters at home.

And they basically tank the game.

And you still find a way to lose to them.

Then you do not deserve to make the playoffs.

Congratulations Edmonton! You suck!

Go Red Sox!!!

Blog Song Of The Day:

Age of Daze - Afflicted

Am I alone in seeing something dirty in the combination 'Beef & Veg'?

Blog Song Of The Day:

Five Finger Death Punch - The Bleeding

Do you know what pisses me off? There's this intersection near my house. There's lights on it and its a crossing of two important streets. Not 'major' in the grand scheme of the city, but large enough that there's always cars on them. Anyway, the street going north is 4 lanes on the south side of the intersection, and for all intents and purposes, two lanes on the north side. So inevitably, these ass clowns have to be in the outside lane because someone might be turning left from the inside one.

Tonight we had the king of the ass clown academy. And the really damn sad thing is, this guy is NOT the first person I've seen do this. There's a person turning left in the left lane, so Captain Calamity jumps into the right lane so he doesn't have to stop. But the guy turning left is able to turn left right away, so I barely have to slow down going through the intersection.

Major Nitwit of course, just HAS to be first through the intersection so he speeds up. Then, he immediately jumps back into the left lane and hits the brake. This moron now wants to turn left himself into a residential side street! What an arrogant prick! He's too important to wait behind someone turning left, but not above cutting me off so he can do the same thing.

I swear, we ought to be issued weapons on our vehicles.

Have you ever noticed there are more Ramirez's in baseball than there are Smiths?

I listened to Tool all day. I've downloaded all of the Tool albums that I could find, and even some stuff that's not official release material. Having spent a 10 hour day listening to Tool I can pass the following judgment.

Tool is good.

Thank you and good night.

The Red Sox suck.

If you're having Vector as a meal replacement, doesn't that make Vector a meal?

Does anyone out there know how to get into contact with Alyssa Milano? I'd like to sit down and talk to her about becoming my new girlfriend.

Check out my new hairdo!!

Some things I've been thinking about tonight:

Where does someone buy a simple, basic, shirt (T shirt material) that has long sleeves?

Why can't people use their signal lights? Its like they've all forgotten that every vehicle is equipped with two, a left and a right.

What store would I most easily find an Elmo doll?

This is freaking me out:

Right or Left?

Can someone please talk to the Blades management? This is getting stupid.

We had another holiday edition of a Blades home game. As has been the truth for every one that preceded it, the game bombed. On the scoreboard it worked out fine, as the Blades came away with the win. I would suggest however, that playing on Thanksgiving had little to no effect on that.

Meanwhile, the game was played in front of an empty arena. No one attends a holiday hockey game. I presume that the logic behind it is, everyone has the day off so they'll probably come out to the Blades game for something to do! Ummm, no. That doesn't happen. People stay home on a holiday, and eat big meals with their family, or spend time enjoying an extra day off. They don't go to the rink for a hockey game.

This error is compounded by the fact that Saskatchewan's team, the Roughriders, were playing a pivotal football on this particular afternoon. Obviously the Blades couldn't know the Riders would be on the verge of a home playoff game on October 8, but it doesn't negate the fact that they knew, or should have known, there would be CFL football competing for people's attention on a holiday Thanksgiving Monday. Scheduling a rather meaningless WHL regular season game is likely to lose the battle for interest.

But they persist and we'll do more holiday hockey games. Each one will suck, from a fan participation perspective. Large sums of money will be wasted on staffing to service a crowd that just never shows up. I wish the people in charge would learn from their folly and speak up when they're listed for an afternoon tilt on a holiday weekend. It would do everyone a service if these games were moved to Tuesday evening.

Things That Piss Me Off:

That people still make websites that are biased in favor of Internet Explorer.

Its official. I hate Vista with the full power of my being.

Blog Question Of The Day:

Why am I so cheap?

Blog Song Of The Day:

Disturbed - Ten Thousand Fists

Why the hell do so many celebrities release perfumes? I heard about a Mariah Carey, a Britney Spears and a Paris Hilton fragrance launch in today's batch of spam. Who's buying this crap? Does having a celebrity attached to whatever snot-based perfume is spawned really make it sell? I can't believe we'd all be so gullible as to purchase stuff based on such ridiculous criteria.

And, given that Paris Hilton and Britney Spears have revealed themselves as complete ass clowns, how could their endorsement serve to sell any product?

Update:

I have found a solution to the damnable problem of being shipped burning software with my new computer that wasn't compatible with the operating system of my new computer? (Windows Vista)

I found a program called InfraRecorder that appears to do everything I need. So if you're in the market for a new burning program, give this one a try. It seems like its worth it.

Note to Self: Prepare a solid, pro-active plan for next year's abundant crop of fruit from your fruit trees.

I picked 20 gallons of pears off my lawn tonight.

I hate when the Eskimos win.

I ESPECIALLY hate it when they win big.

I've watched the Britney Spears performance at vary sites since she made the appearance. It seems to be universally panned and I wanted to know why. Okay, let's be honest. Everyone hated it and thought it was an embarassment beyond words. Is this true?

Did she look horrible? No, on that count I think people are being overly harsh. Is this 18 year old Britney? Not even close. Britney Spears when she first appeared was a specimen the likes of which doesn't come around very often. And its still not going to be there at 25 years of age. Factor in that she had two children in rapid succession and anyone that believed that Britney would look as stunning as she did at 18 was in very a really big letdown.

Did she look good? I don't know. Maybe I'm not being critical enough. I thought she looked pretty tasty. Which should be prefaced with the comment that my usual preference is for very small, very petite girls. So conceding that Britney looked appealing is a compromising of my usual standards. Really, I think people should it slight that she wasn't in perfect shape. If she has the time I would guess that she'll eventually achieve that goal. The first step is motivation.

But what about the performance? Wasn't that just a train wreck of a stage show?

I keep watching it, hoping to catch signs that I might have missed the last review. I keep studying the details and I am repeatedly underwhelmed. While Britney's physique was unimpressive it was not repellent. The dance number itself was pretty close to being complete excrement.

First of all, I really don't believe she even knew where she was supposed to go on the stage. Whenever you caught her eyes on stage it appeared she was searching out her next spot to him. That seems like a sore lack of practice. The dancer's around her seemed on their game, but Britney wasn't really dancing with them. She seemed to be walking through the whole routine. Taking step to step as she hit pre-defined spots on the stage. She had no energy, and no fire, and appeared to be just going through the motions.

Honestly, as it watched it this last time I had the impression I was watching a dress rehearsal. What Britney was wearing was piss poor for her big comeback, and seemed more like something she'd just throw on that was kinda sparkly as they worked out the details of the routine. Plus she made only a passing attempt at hitting her vocal mark for the clearly dubbed in vocals. The whole performance had the polish of what you'd expect for a dress rehearsal of about two weeks ago. But by now it should have been a lot more polished.

I'm not yet ready to write Britney Spears off as a failed celebrity. Frankly, she carries too much curiousity for her not to get another shot, and then another, until finally hitting the mark and becomes a feel-good story again. But frankly, someone needs the smack the girl in the head, and tell her what to do. History over the past 3 or 4 years has displayed that she has NO ability to manage her own life. Britney needs to make the one decision that is most important in her life, and that's to hire someone else to think for her. There's too much at stack to leave the decisions in her un-talented hands.

The video for Green Day's 'Working Class Hero' sucks.

I have a question.

I've been following this Vanessa Hudgens incident on the internet, because its come up on the social news sites that I read on a regular basis. For those that don't know, she's one of the stars of the Disney series 'High School Musical'.

Apparently she let someone, presumably a boyfriend, take an innocent picture of her before she got dressed. So she was completely nude when the photo was taken. It was not posed, or staged, and is clearly not a photo designed to promote a sexual or salacious agenda.

So why is this such a big bloody deal? She's a pretty girl, over 18, and the image is clearly not intended for publication. No attempt was made to make it look 'pretty' even though as a pretty girl it ends up being that way anyway. But why the huge drama?

It should not be the assumption that any image of a woman with no clothes on is instantly scandalous. Why does a celebrity have to be held to a higher standard? This picture is not such a big deal and she shouldn't be scandalized about it.

I've really had enough of people getting picked up in front of the grocery store.

What is with the arrogance of that? You can't walk your narrow, ugly ass a few steps across a parking lot to your car? You have to plug up the whole damn aisleway in front of the mall.

This just drives me nuts. They're doing construction in the Safeway at my local mall. Thus there is a lot of construction signs around, fences up and general confusion and mayhem. Plus, its a perfectly acceptable night and while a little cool, nothing that would prevent a lazy nitwit from walking across the parking lot.

But here's the asshole, waiting with her half filled shopping cart, for a pick up. Why!?! And here they come, in a big ol' Buick. And what's this? Stopping to pick up the arrogant bastard are we? And look, it creates a six car log-jam behind this pair of assholes who have to screw over the whole world because of their laziness.

Blog Joke Of The Day:

Two fish swim into a concrete wall.

The one turns to the other and says, "Dam!"

Things That Piss Me Off:

The phrase 'we are currently experiencing a higher than normal call volume"

No you're not. Why not just come clean and admit, we're too cheap to hire enough operators.

Upon further reflection, perhaps 'Snakes On A Plane' was not the best choice to watch on TV before going to bed.

You know, some people are just assholes.

I was at Midtown Plaza today. If you'll see yesterday's post you'll discover that I have learned that you can buy a U of S Huskie football jersey. I didn't have $100 cash on me at the game yesterday so I thought I'd try the Huskie store in the mall.

They didn't have any. But I digress . . .

I'm parked underground and I'm trying to get out. The underground parking at Midtown is a bit of a pain but I get turned around and head towards the exit. To do so I have to drive past the underground entrance into the mall. Thus begins our problem.

Some idiot woman is crossing in front of me to go into the mall. She has, in tow, her two daughters. If I were guessing I'd say they were 8 and 12. This is important because this retarded woman appeared to be chastising the two girls. I have NO idea why because the two girls appeared to be behaving admirably for having such a heinous bitch for a mother.

But I digress . . .

It is a relatively easy task to enter a mall. You cross the aisle-way left for cars to drive into and out of the mall, and then you enter through the doors. You don't even have to turn a knob because they have automatic doors. Seems simple.

This jackass couldn't complete the task.

So intent was she on castigating her children for some percieved and I would suggest spurious reason that the relatively simple task of walking in a straight line was beyond her. I don't know if she didn't notice me basically parked there, or didn't care, because she stepped right out in front of my truck. Because I'm not a complete asshole, I chose not to run her down. That may have been a mistake. So she walks out right in front of me BUT does not continue straight ahead to get out of my way. She kind of meanders around directly in front of me, while applying un-due pressure to the neck of her 12 year old daughter. Then, when it looks like she will finally get out of my way, she yanks the girls neck and pulls the whole troupe back, square in front of me again.

I seriously considered giving her the horn. It was that, or get out and beat the piss out of her. Either way it was probably better than she deserved. However, I did nothing, except write this blog post, and forever cast her into my group of inveterate assholes.

I did something unique this evening. I went to a U of S Huskies football game!

Things have changed a lot since I went to university. The stadium is at least 10X better than what it was when I was at the U of S. Its actually a nice place to go now. It looks inviting. Plus, with the big parkade as you walk in, the place looks like it knows what its doing. I have new respect for the program.

The game was great. The Huskies creamed the Golden Bears and its always fun to watch a game where your team dominates from front to back. We were in the east stands so the sun was in our eyes for the first half an hour of the game but that was only a minor inconvenience.

The experience was not without some disappointments however. First of all, and I can't overlook this, who was the idiot at Shaw Cable that was in charge of placing the scissor lift for the camera in the south end zone? That was beyond stupid. It was right in front of the scoreboard! How could you think that was a good idea!?!

They now sell Huskie football jerseys. That is a very welcome update. However, I have a problem. How can you charge $100 for an item and then only accept cash? Who walks around with $100 in their pocket!?!

College football referees suck. It was brutal. They couldn't get anything right. They must have called 40 penalties, and some of them were plain retarded. Among the biggest mistakes I noticed were:

- they couldn't remember where the guy landed and they changed the spot of the ball by three yards about three times before finally setting it down
- called the U of A offside when the Huskie quarterback pulled out from center without the ball

And finally, the public address announcer was a bit of a tool. He wasn't on his game either. On two occasions he called it a first down when it clearly wasn't. I think he needs more practice.

Despite the problems I had a good time. If you get a chance, go check out a game at Griffiths Stadium. Its worth the trip.

Blog Question Of The Day:

I went for my daily bike ride today. I finally remembered everything. I had my sweater. I got my stop watch out. Everything was going to be perfect.

I rode out from my house, past the wastewater treatment plant, along the Meewasin Trail to the park house at the end of Whiteswan. It was a fairly uneventful drive. There were only a handful of people out on the trail. I can't decide if it was the time of day or the general lack of warmth that kept the population down.

I was about halfway back when I noticed that the back end of my bike didn't feel right. It was like I was dragging along. I stopped and checked. My bike tire was going flat. This really sucked because it was still a long way from home. I started walking and the bike got even more odd in sensation. The tire was completely flat.

So I had a 30 minute (or so) walk home to consider my options. Its getting late in the season now. Is it work it to fix my bike tire or should I leave it for the spring?

Blog Song Of The Day:

Nickelback - Rockstar

NOTE:
Today's BSOTD was not chosen because its a great song. Actually, its kind of a mediocre song. You'll like it, but it'll get old really quickly. Today's BSOTD was chosen because it has an interesting video. Not interesting as in, really well produced and artistic. Interesting because it'll make you watch it more than once.

Its fascinating, in a way that it a little on the indulgent side. They had a whole bunch of people sing then song, and then its patched together as a series of very quick clips. The result is, a rapidly changing montage of different people going across the screen. That, alone, would not make it interesting. What makes it interesting is, about half the people are celebrities, and half are not. So you're constantly checking out, is this someone I should know? And if you have time to determine, yes this is a personality, then you have to, in the span of about a second and a half, figure out who it is. Its a very intriguing puzzle.

So there, go download the video and play the game I was playing today. Its fun in a way you're kind of embarassed to admit.

Blog Question Of The Day:

How GOD DAMN hard is it to make someone serve the whole of a measly 96 hour jail sentence!?!

Okay, we've got to talk about something. This kind of ridiculous behaviour has gone on for too long and we really need to put a stop to it.

Bike Idiots. Get off the road.

I get it. You think you're hip, and cool and all ecological because you're riding your high class bicycle to work. We're monsters because we motor along in our SUVs, sucking down precious gasoline and sucking down greasy McDonald's food while you peddle for your health. I get it. I totally do.

But here's something you need to understand. And I'll say it loud so you don't misunderstand. YOU ARE NOT A VEHICLE!!!

Get off the road you idiot! Fine, if you wanna ride on the street when you're in a residential section of the city I have no problem with it. In fact, its probably courteous because you won't get in the way of any pedestrians. But when you take your peddle-pushing ass out onto a major arterial roadway during rush-hour, I get my panties in a bunch. Get off the road you moron!

I'm trying to get to work on time in the morning and some jack-ass on his expensive mountain bike is riding right up the center of the lane on 51st Street. You jack-ass! Nor can I go around him, because like I said its rush-hour, so the street is jammed (as far as that goes in Saskatoon). Neither can the six cars behind me, for the exact same reason. So we're all brought to a snail's crawl because Captain Fantastic is going to save the world, one bike ride at a time.

Idiot.

Things That Piss Me Off:

I hate when I'm drinking from a frosty mug, and the cup gets just a little bit of frost on the bottom. It doesn't do anything to the drink, but its just clingy enough than when you set in on a terrycloth towel (designed to soak up the condensation) it grabs the cup every time you go to pick it up.

Blog Observation Of the Day:

They play entirely too much hip-hop/rap on PunchMuch. That, alone, I wouldn't mind so much, except the stuff getting votes is really awful.

Can someone explain this to me? Because I swear to Christ I need to understand this because it irritates me so much.

How is it that a woman can take her family to the air show. Its rained all night; the grounds are a wet, muddy disaster. Not to mention it's cool with a wind that can cut through you. The woman does the sensible thing and makes sure her young daughter is wearing good, sturdy shoes. Something comfortable, and warm, that will not result in sore, or wet feet after tromping around for hours in the mush that is the Saskatoon airport.

BUT, on her own feet, she wears a pair of what appears to be three year old, beat to hell, plastic corkboard, god damn FLIP FLOPS!!!!

Ahhh! Nothing like an air show to refresh your loathing for humanity!

Okay, I know what I want.

They played 'Can't Hardly Wait' on MuchMusic. I had to watch it because frankly, its one of the best movies ever. But I digress.

At the end of the movie, Amanda rushes to the train station to see Preston before he gets on the train to go to a workshop with Kurt Vonnegut. (Kurt Vonnegut!?!) But I digress.

They say their thing. Amanda has read the letter and Preston has finally gotten to speak his mind about the girl he wants. But he's leaving, and its awkward. She walks away and he steps to leave. Then he stops, thinks about it and runs for her.

Preston jumps in front of her, and tells Amanda he can catch a later train.

That's it, right there! The smile on Jennifer Love Hewitt's face when he says that. That, right there, is the moment I want. When someone smiles brightly enough to light up a room, just because I'll stay. That's the moment I want.

Things That Piss Me Off:

Do you know what pisses me off? What really gets me wound up to the point where I can’t even think straight I’m so agitated?

Microsoft Word

This piece of crap drives me to distraction. It wants so much to help me out with every single action I want to complete and yet at every turn it completely screws things up and does nothing right. For a program that tries so hard you’d think they’d get at least SOMETHING right.

I have two Word documents. They are proposals. One is an old one, and one is a new one. The new one is being created by changing another, different proposal that was about reverse osmosis. The new one is going to be about ultra-filtration. So I want to copy text from a really old proposal we did about ultra-filtration, into this new one.

I copy text FROM a Word document, into another Word document. Seems easy, right? Just Ctrl-C in one document and Ctrl-V into the second one. It should be identical, because it’s just one document to another. BUT NOOOOO!!!! Word, in its infinite %&$#ing wisdom decides that I couldn’t possibly want the same tabs and indentations that I had originally. Even though, the tabs and indentations of the document I am pasting INTO are exactly the same as the one I’m pasting FROM. Same to same, that makes no sense. So it pastes the selected text with no indentation, and tabbing that has its first one at the center of the page.

AARRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!

Why!?! Why is it so stupid? They say that insanity is repeating the same action, again and again, expecting a different result. Then I guess Word has made me insane. I get mad and I just keep deleting and retrying, over and over again. Somehow, in my fit of anger and rage I believe that somehow a wire has been crossed and Word couldn’t possibly be making this mistake on purpose. If I just try it again it will do what all logic and reason says that it should.

BUT NOOOOO!!!! At every turn it defies me, until I’m a screaming and ranting maniac in my office. I tear at my hair and look for something to pummel. This aggravates and annoys me to such an extent that I’m apoplectic. I need a cathartic release I am so enraged. So I write you an email, in hopes that I can calm down to a point of ration that makes it possible to work on this proposal more.

If you need me, I’ll be installing OpenOffice.

I am more convinced than ever that the entire voting population of the United States of America needs to watch the movie 'V for Vendetta'

Blog Song Of The Day:

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - You Guardian Angel

Blog Question Of The Day:

Honestly, I know its a good song, and I like it too but, haven't we had enough of Rihanna and her Umbrella?

Have you ever watched a movie with Scarlett Johansson? I'm watching 'The Black Dahlia' and I'm noticing something that seems reflective of all of her movies. They photograph this girl in such a way that you get so wrapped up in how she looks that you really seem to forget that she's supposed to be playing a character. Thus you end up with this odd sensation of liking Scarlett Johansson but really having no recollection of what she contributed to the story.

I need someone to explain something to me. I've recently come upon some news and frankly it troubles me. Its the type of preposterous thing that seems to defy logic.

It has come to my attention, from an informed source, that the midway show for the Saskatoon Exhibition is being provided, in large part, by West Coast Amusements. You might be asking yourself, so? Let's put this in the proper context.

Saskatoon is a city of a quarter million people. Not on par with the New York's and Chicago's of the world but within the context of Canada, we're starting to get up there. We are in excess of the population of Regina, which also gets their amusement services provided from the same company. A few years ago a strategic decision was made to move the Saskatoon Ex to August so that we could get on the 'A' circuit, and have the good rides, and premium amusement services.

Everyone who's anyone gets their amusement services from a company called North American Midway. Getting a North American Midway show is to be on the premium circuit. Edmonton's fair has North American Midway. Regina's show is with North American Midway. The Toronto fair is a huge deal for North American Midway. Obviously Saskatoon wants to be at that tier.

My sources have discovered that North American Midway has sub-contracted the amusement services for the Saskatoon Ex to West Coast Amusements. We get our show from West Coast, with a few morsels thrown our way just to call it a North American show. In my opinion, and granted I'm nothing but a Joe Average, but this just seems wrong.

West Coast Amusements is the company that comes to the city and does a mini- midway in the mall parking lot. West Coast Amusements does the show in places like Estevan, Melfort, Nipawin or Yorkton. That's what you have to compare it to. Regina gets the 'A' circuit. Saskatoon gets the Yorkton circuit. Who in the HELL thinks that's justice.

My sources have inquired with the powers that be, to get a reason for this apparent travesty of justice. What follows is a snippet of their correspondence:

"We have to travel 1732 miles to Toronto after Saskatoon and open on Friday - therefore we have to present rides that move fast. Saskatoon is just in the wrong time period."

Oh nice. That's how important we are to you. Thanks for the contract to provide amusement services at your fair Saskatoon. We'll take your money but we're sending our good equipment to Toronto, completely bypassing you. Too bad, so sad, get used to West Coast Amusements.

I feel like organizing a boycott or something. Thus just seems wrong. We move our fair to August to fit into the 'A' circuit schedule, and we're repaid for our efforts with the same crap-ass show that we were trying to get away from in the first place. Is this what Saskatoon must come to accept? We're a permanent stop on the Yorkton circuit?

Comments, as always, are welcomed. Frankly I don't know what to think so anyone that can provide clarity, I would appreciate it.

--- Dedicated to Kevin Hills ---

I just witnessed a historic event. I was watching live when Barry Bonds hit his 756 career home run.

When he hit it, there was no doubt. I don't think anyone doubted it, the second it left his bat. You could just tell that one was gone.

Bonds knew it. He dropped his bat, raised his arms, and that was the record. As much as we may not like Barry Bonds, as much as we may think he cheated, there was no mistaking the magic of that moment.

For the record . . .

Arm/shoulder tattoos on a woman just looks awful.