Saturday, March 31, 2007

the hilarity of sneezes

that time i was on coach's corner

On March 17th, 2007, while the Toronto Maple Leafs were playing the Montreal Canadiens, I appeared on Coach's Corner with Don Cherry. Okay....well not exactly. A little while back at our office we gathered in red serge and took a photo to send to the troops in Afghanistan. Someone involved knows Don I believe, and arranged to have the photo shown on the program, along with a plug for the "O" Division Slain Peace Officers Fund. Thanks Don.

Original

Coach's Corner

Saturday, March 24, 2007

obsolete

You know things are bad when even the robots are being replaced.

Friday, March 23, 2007

24 16 things wrong with 24

1. No one ever goes to the bathroom.
2. Jack is able to style his hair and give himself a shave in under 5 minutes, going from caveman to GQ model. With a pair of scissors.
3. No one ever has to charge their cell phone.
4. A taser won't knock the target unconscious.
5. In any given episode, Chloe covers up for someone.
6. Every season, someone inside CTU is a mole/traitor. Perhaps during the slow periods, when not in crisis mode, they should look at revamping their background checks.
7. You can get from any point in Los Angeles to another in less time than it takes for a commercial break.
8. In any given episode, Chloe circumvents protocols to help Jack. Why does she still have a job?
9. Jack Lite a.k.a. Ricky Schroeder
10. Twenty four things are a lot of things.
11. No one ever laughs.
12. Jack's brother and father involved in the conspiracy? Days of Our Lives called. They want their script back.
13. No one ever eats. Or drinks. Unless it's an overwrought story arc involving Miles O'Brien.
14. O'Brien? Really?
15. What have the terrorists got against Los Angeles?
16. Conveniently, the terrorists limit their activity to one 24 hour period.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

more tim than al

It's a little after 6 a.m.

I've been up since 5, getting ready for work, as is my usual routine. What isn't usual is I had to go to the basement to do my shave and other business as yesterday I ripped apart our main floor bathroom in preparation for a tile contractor coming in today to lay some flooring. As I'm in the basement bathroom doing my thing, all of a sudden I hear:

Drip...........drip..........drip.

I glance up towards one corner and see that the paint is bubbling and peeling. Freakin' water is leaking from upstairs.

Going to check, I realize that the shut off valve for the toilet that I took out yesterday only works about 99%, allowing 1% of water to bubble out the top and drip down to the floor. Apparently it was sufficient to cause enough damage to make me want to gouge my eyes out with a jagged piece of glass. Additionally, I can't quite figure out how to stop that 1% other than shutting water off to the house.

Why me?

Update: The tile guys didn't show up today as they ran behind with another project. Tam had a plumber come in to fix the valve to the tune of 100 bones. Awesome.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Thursday, March 08, 2007

mystique

As a new father, I've come to realize that a baby is a very expressive creature. A widening of the eyes, reddening of the face, the curling of the lip....all these things can have a profound effect on the child's appearance. I've found a webpage that helps to illustrate this seemingly chameleon-like ability in action.

Click, and be amazed.

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

yes, i like the "funny books"

I mentioned in a post yesterday that over the weekend I "got my geek on" and picked up a comic book. The comic in question is The Dark Tower #1, based on Stephen King's series of the same name. It wasn't the comic I had gone in looking for, but when I spotted it on the shelf it caught my eye. I had read at least the first book of the series back in high school (back when Stephen King counted among the authors I read), and recall enjoying it, though for some reason lost interest as the story progressed.

Comics are near and dear to my heart, as I credit them with igniting my passion for reading. It started with Archie Comics and Superman digests, progressed to the Franklin W. Dixon Hardy Boys books, and then other comics such as Spider-man, Captain America and the X-Men. Over the years my tastes have changed (refined) a bit and I lean more towards titles and graphic novels such as Grey, Grendel, and The Hedge Knight.

But I still love comics. I think it would be great to still be able to collect, but financially it's just not feasible. One of those things I've just had to give up as a grown up, I suppose. That being said, I still pick up the odd issue for old times sake, but therefore am a bit more picky about what I choose.

The first installment of The Dark Tower was very good. The art is striking (I think it uses only a four-colour scheme....with very earthy tones), and the story of course is one I had enjoyed back when I read the novel. I'd certainly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the genre.

red coats and yellow ribbons

Support Our Troops

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

cordially, future dwight

Wouldn't it be cool if you could send yourself a message from the future?

I haven't heard of any way to do that yet, but I have found a way to contact my future self from the present. Check it out.

the weekend that almost wasn't

So this weekend was supposed to be chock full of familial visitation, but circumstances dictated otherwise.

My sister, brother-in-law and nephew were supposed to come by on Saturday but the boys were coming out of illness and my sister was starting into it, so they opted not to make the 2 hour journey and stay home to recouperate. I'm sure Serious Gord was keeping their hands full anyway. So instead we went into town and ran a few errands. A few staple items were picked up at Wal*Mart, and I picked up some guitar strings and a comic book ('cause once in a while you gotta get your geek on...)

Sunday was supposed to see Alex's Grandpa and Granny come by after their fun-filled weekend in Toronto, but they were serving as airport shuttle for their friends so ended up staying an extra night. Subsequently Sunday became a day for groceries and housecleaning. Yeah.....we got down with our bad selves.

Monday morning I got up early to head in and get some blood work done (after a 12 hour fast...yay). I got there at 7:05 a.m......and was about 20th in line. Awesome. It was also kind of stormy with blowing snow and such, so travel was rather treacherous with white-outs in places. Grandpa and Granny showed up in the early afternoon, and apparently just in time to miss this catastrophe on the highway. They got to spend some quality time with the little one, and I got a few guitar lessons from pops. I also managed to throw out my back while carting some firewood from outside into the basement. Sweet.

And now it's Monday afternoon. Grandpa and Granny have departed for home. Mom and Alex are laying on the couch snoring while I plunk around in cyberspace.

i think i can

So Shane "Rock It" Nickerson has laid down the gauntlet. I have decided to take up the challenge and attempt to blog more for the next thirty days.

Caveat: I may be away a few days on work related endeavours, so posting during these times may be impossible.

Begin.