Happy Holidays

If you get bored at the office, go check out this amusing site over at www.elfyourself.com. Happy Holidays and here's to a great 2007!

Sexually Aroused Sea Cows

This new website just shows why Leno should step aside (early) and let Conan speak to the late night masses. He adlibbed the website as a joke during a mascot skit and NBC was forced to actually buy the rights to the domain. So they just ran with it and now it's making the internet rounds as fans and James Lipton have joined in.

Tokyo Commute

Few shows on the CBC, besides HNIC and the RMR, are actually worthy. But in the summer I do tivo Zed. Here's an amusing clip that someone caught in a Tokyo subway:



It's about five minutes long and does build up nicely. Fans of Atom Films should definitely surf around to find some other great gems.

Gears of War Music

With the next-gen console battle finally beginning with the launch of the Wii and PS3, XBox 360 released their killer game, Gears of War, to coincide. With their massive PR ad campaign, I came across an interesting read of about the music used in the commercial which nicely juxtaposes it with the gore of the game.

Haven't come across any comments by the singer about his song being used, but he is actually pretty good for those that like the mellow folk kinda thing (a la David Gray, Jude, or Howie Day). Check out his performance on KCRW last month.

Edmonton Radio Station

Ya know we Calgarians always bash everything we can about that city north of us... But I do have to give them one thing... They have a better Alternative Rock radio station, Sonic 102.9 FM. For those fortunate enough not to live there, we can still check them out online at http://www.radiosonic.fm/. Check out a sample playlist:

3:04 PM - The Adventure by Angels And Airwaves
3:00 PM - Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) by Arcade Fire
2:56 PM - The Pot by Tool
2:52 PM - Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol
2:40 PM - Resurrection by Moist
2:36 PM - Martyr by Depeche Mode
2:32 PM - Pain by Three Days Grace
2:28 PM - The Red by Chevelle
2:24 PM - Today I Hate Everyone by Killjoys
2:20 PM - Perfect Situation by Weezer
2:16 PM - Call Me When You're Sober by Evanescence
2:08 PM - Natural One by Folk Implosion
2:04 PM - Use It by New Pornographers

Update: Our city may finally have a new worthy challenger in the new year... Join the XArmy and be there for the start of something that will hopefully be great.

Seinfeld & Soup

A buddy of mine heading over to NYC combined with the canteen at where I work that serves up a great Mulligatawny ("It's an Indian soup. It's simmered to perfection by one of the great soup artisans in the modern era.") on Thursdays has reminded me of the infamous Seinfeld episode (which is based on the proprietor of a real soup kitchen in NYC) and mentions the follow soups:

• turkey chili
• crab bisque
• mulligatawny
  
• jambalaya
• gazpacho
• wild mushroom
• Cold cucumber
• corn and crab chowder

PS. Lobster bisque is mentioned in another classic, the "Yada Yada" episode.

anti-motivational posters

For those that are familiar with despair.com's de-motivational(tm) posters, you can now try to make your own @ http://diy.despair.com/motivator.php.



Here's my pitiful attempt. Should have waited for something more inspirational to hit me... Wait... I think that could be turned into a demotivator :-p

2006 Fall TV Season

The first big TV night of the year is tomorrow according to tv.com's fall preview, so I'd thought I'd put up a list of shows that I'll be series-recording on my PVR along with my summer carry-overs, the Daily Show, the Colbert Report, and G4's AotS.

TUESDAY, SEPT. 5
Standoff (Fox)

SUNDAY, SEPT. 10
The Simpsons (Fox)
Family Guy (Fox)

THURSDAY, SEPT. 14
Survivor: Cook Islands (CBS)

SUNDAY, SEPT. 17
Studio 60 (NBC)

MONDAY, SEPT. 18
The Class (CBS)
How I Met Your Mother (CBS)

TUESDAY, SEPT. 19
Smith (CBS)

THURSDAY, SEPT. 21
My Name Is Earl (NBC)
The Office (NBC)
Grey's Anatomy (ABC)

MONDAY, SEPT. 25
Heroes (NBC)

SATURDAY, SEPT. 30
Saturday Night Live (NBC)

SUNDAY, OCT. 1
Everybody Hate's Chris (CW)

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 4
Lost (ABC)

MONDAY, OCT. 9
What About Brian (ABC)

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 11
30 Rock (NBC)

FRIDAY, OCT. 20
Las Vegas (NBC)

PS. I'm back in town after my trek to Tanzania. Looking forward to catching up on everything now. Later, O.

Travel Tunes

Going through my collection to make a playlist for my trip. Which ones should make the cut?

• Travellin' - Matt Mays & El Torpedo (Matt Mays & El Torpedo [2005])
• Again - Lenny Kravitz (Greatest Hits [2000])
• London Still - The Waifs (Up All Night [])
• Hey There Delilah - Plain White T's (Hey There Delilah EP [2006])
• Boston - Augustana (All The Stars And Boulevards [2005])
• All The Miles - Amy Millan (Honey From The Tombs [2006])
• Tourist - Athlete (Live Session iTunes Exclusive EP [2006])
• Maps (Live) - Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Turn Into EP [2006])
• Run - Snow Patrol
• The Adventure - Angels & Airwaves
• Hello I'm In Delaware - City and Colour (Sometimes [2005])
• Every F**king City - Paul Kelly (...Nothing but a Dream)
• Wish You Were Here - Macy Gray And Wyclef Jean-
• Takin' A Ride - The Replacements (Don't You Know Who I Think I Was?: The Best Of [2006])
• No Goodbyes - The Subways (Young For Eternity) 2005
• Leaving So Soon - Keane (Under The Iron Sea) 20006
• The Best Deceptions - Dashboard Confessional
• Back To Me - Kathleen Edwards
  
• See You Later - Soul Asylum
• Santa Monica - Theory Of A Deadman
• Leaving On A Jet Plane - Chantal Kreviazuk (Colour Moving and Still[1999] )
• Flying Home (Brenda's Song) - Chantal Kreviazuk (What If It All Means Something[2002])
• Train Under Water - Bright Eyes (I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning)
• Another Travelin' Song - Bright Eyes (I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning)
• Move Along - The All-American Rejects
• Top of the World - The All-American Rejects
• Blister in the Sun - Violent Femmes
• London Halflife - Metric (Static Anonymity EP)
• transatlanticism - Death Cab for Cutie
• Far Away - Martha Wainwright
• Love Will Keep Us Alive - The Eagles
  
• Home - Sarah Mclachlan
• It Can't Be Nashville Every Night - The Tragically Hip
• If New Orleans Is Beat - The Tragically Hip
• One Night In Copenhagen - The Tragically Hip
• Chagrin Falls - The Tragically Hip
• Escape Is At Hand For The Travellin' Man - The Tragically Hip
• Springtime in Vienna - The Tragically Hip
• Sherpa - The Tragically Hip
• London Calling - Clash
• Hotel California - The Eagles
• I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2
• All I Want Is You - U2
  
• Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf
• Gonna Be (500 Miles) - The Proclaimers
• Highway To Hell - AC/DC
• By The Time I Get To Phoenix - Glen Campbell
• Paradise City - Guns N' Roses
• On The Road Again - Willie Nelson
• Desperado - The Eagles
• Here without You - 3 Doors Down

Bus Pass & Taxes

From http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/whatsnew/items/transit-e.html:
The tax credit for public transit passes is a non-refundable tax credit for the cost of buying a monthly (or longer duration) pass for commuting on buses, streetcars, subways, commuter trains and local ferries.

From http://www.calgarytransit.com/taxcredit_monthly_passes.html:
Only monthly and yearly passes are eligible for the Federal tax credits. So tickets, day passes, premium fees and cash fares are not eligible for the credits.

Car Issues : -(

Well, I think my '97 is nearing EOL. Here's my log of the past few weeks:

6/15
9am - car dashboard lights up
12pm - AMA boost, go inside office to finish things up
1pm - go back to car, it has stopped running (with my keys locked inside)
3pm - AMA tow to dealership

6/16
9am - Alternator replaced
4:00 pm - pick up car & $700 bill (a few other minor things done too)
4:35 pm - stalls and loses power 5 minutes after I drive it off on the way home at a major intersection
5:30 pm - Called dealership back and they tell me to "keep driving it"!?! Also to keep the car running for 15 minutes and leaving it off for a few minutes. Lather... rinse... repeat...

6/17
10am - Followed up with dealership in the morning. Told to "keep driving it"!?! They say that maybe the "Error Idle Control" was not set properly... If this causes the car to stall in 5 minutes after taking it on the road, you'd think that this would be something that should be easily done.

6/23
Noticed that it now takes 2-3 times before it starts up... possibly the fuel filter going?

7/03
6pm - doesn't start at all now
10pm - boosted by AMA

7/04
10am - booked another appointment with dealership
7pm - car doesn't start, used final free AMA service call to boost, tech notices loose battery connection. Drove directly to dealership, "do no pass go" as AMA manager recommends.

7/05
1:30pm - car still getting looked at...
5pm - new car battery put in. Guess it was fine but died two weeks after the alternator was replaced. Another ~200 bucks put into the clunker.

7/15
9am - car keeps trying to turn over but doesn't start...
10am - car finally starts, so I just dropped it off at the dealership again for them to re-inspect

7/18
Dealership takes a look at it for two days but can't find anything wrong with it. They did lend me a rental, a 2-door pontiac pursuit, this time around tho.

7/19
9am - I go swap the rental back for my wheels.

7/31
The car has been fine since then, even took it up to Edmonton last weekend. Have used up all my AMA service calls and tow for the rest of the year though. Actually I do realize the car has been pretty good for me as it is a '97 but I haven't even put 120,000 km into it. I was planning on looking at a new set of wheels late in the Fall after my trip, but I was hoping to have this done on my terms.

cute dog screen savers

The one with the Pug is the best IMO... Very creepy on dual monitors... Great movie tie-in... Check out http://www2.warnerbros.com/mustlovedogs/downloads.html

Lack of Posts

Hey there, I haven't been posted here much at all as when I do have some time to blog, I've put it to my other blog that I've started up for my trip to Zanzibar. I have been on a karma roller coaster lately. I don't gloat, so you will just get to hear me whine about the lows. L8r, O

2006 NHL Playoffs

I was going to write my own spiel on the Oilers playoff run and how locals here can cheer for them, but I think this college paper article pretty much says it all.

PC Recycling

Yeah, I'm not talking about being politically correct, but through my many years of playing around with computers, I have ended up with a whole bunch of old parts. Our province has implemented a recyling program with one local company having a drive-thru to drop off your junk. So there's no reason to keep it down in the basement collecting an inch of dust or even worse just throwing it away. Hopefully, I'll get around to it this long weekend, happy easter everyone.

5/21 Update: It's more of a drop-off than drive-thru... Just three guys sitting around by 4 industrial-sized garbage bins that unloaded the 4 PC towers, 2 monitors, 1 scanner, and a box of parts from my car. The site's online map is kind of confusing, but there are signs posted once you get into the Currie Barracks.

Screensavers

I was looking for a totally psychedelic screensaver that I use to have on my workstation, but instead I came across a site that had it bundled along with a whole stack of cool ones.


Then go ahead and install this app that'll let you choose a bunch of these to run.

Update: Found another old-school one here.

April Fool's

Heh... today mark's the second anniversary of when I've started blogging. Haven't seen that many pranks being pulled with it falling on a Saturday. Thinkgeek.com had some amazing new products on sale like Wireless Extension Cords and for the old-school gamers a Grow Your Own 1up Mushroom Kit. The local paper had a good article on the mayor buying industrial-sized Lego blocks to make affordable housing units. Tomshardware.com announced that the next generation of wireless won't require antennas.


And finally Google, of course, gets in the action by putting a whole new spin on their "I'm Feeling Lucky" button by launching the Google Romance online dating website.

March Madness On Demand

March Madness is catching on... In Vegas, the first weekend where 48 games are played are now the second busiest weekend next to the Superbowl. This year, CBS & the NCAA began to stream the games in real-time via their MMOD website which broke online viewing records according to the G&M.

It took me an hour to get in on Thursday, even with my supposed VIP access, but I think once the network issues were sorted out, I was able to keep up with all the games. Video quality is decent using a ~360 kbit/s video feed, but there is a little bit of lag so I advised against checking the realtime scoreboard. I think CBS realized that a portion of their audience would be using MMOD from work, so they even built in a "Boss Button" that would hide the webcast and display what looks like an excel spreadsheet instead.

March Madness

Hi y'all, it's that time of year again... For the seventh running of my annual basketball pool, so check it out here.

From March 16th to April 3th, 65 U.S. Division I College Men's Basketball teams will get a 'Chance to Dance' in the NCAA Tournament. The teams are divided into four regions and are seeded from 1 to 16. This is a one-knockout tournament, so one loss and the team's season is done like dinner. It takes six straight wins to get the honour of cutting down the twine in Indianapolis and be crowned as tourney champs.

This contest is a bit different to other NCAA pools where you'd usually pick the winners of each game (aka bracket-based). Instead, you choose the ten teams that you will think will do the best in this year's tournament. Points are awarded for each of your teams depending on their seed and the number of games they win.

So pick your squads and follow how you do over the next three weekends! Entries are due this Thursday at 10am MT, so just go onto the website to submit your entry. There's no cost to enter and the winner gets bragging rights until next March. We had sixteen entries last year, so we're always looking for more. This year, I've updated the entry form, so it'll be easier to put in your picks and you'll get an email confirmation once your entry has been validated.

Trip Blog

My pal Kendra left our vball team this winter to go travel Asia with her boyfriend for half a year. They have captured their wonderful travels via their blog.

So go check it out if you have the travel bug itch (don't worry... I know a good cream that will take care of that :-p)

Video iPod Rumours

Based on Apple's recent patent filings, DailyTech has figured out what the next generation of iPods will look like. Out is the touch wheel, in is a bigger screen with a virtual wheel (like a PDA?). If they figure out how to keep it clean from finger prints and it has a good resolution for tv shows, I think I maybe getting another iPod when it comes out... of course I'm still waiting for a home-theatre capable Apple Mini.

Flames in Tough Division

Just noticed from looking at the NHL Standings, that the Flames are in the toughest division by far. The Northwest div has four teams (Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, & Colorado) with more than 60 points. No other division has more than two. It would be amazing if all five teams (including Minnesota) make it into the playoffs. Just shows how having eight divisional games has affected the standings. Don't get me wrong, Detroit, Carolina & Nashville are good teams, but their records are inflated due to them being in weak divisions.

Music Tips

Over the past several years, I must annually have listened to over 100 albums. While I do listen to the radio a lot, I do enjoy venturing outside of the mainstream as there is a lot of good (and bad) music that don't get any airplay. Here are some links to where I get some of my music 411 from:

Radio Station KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic hosted by Nic Hardcourt, who is one of the most influential DJ's in the industry. Back in 2000, he was the first to bring Coldplay over from the UK to North American shores. Great online prescence that includes archived in-studio performances and daily playlists.

MuchMusic's Wedge gets TIVO'ed on Friday nights as the indie show highlights bands and videos that deserve a listen.

Take the format of Maxim/FHM/Stuff and spin it with a music theme to get Blender magazine. A hip look at music which offers both paper-thin/popcorn and in-depth views of musicians of all genres and their work.

I also check in with my pals (both locally and internationally) to see what they're into. I'll usually give their recommendations a quick listen and come across some great stuff. Going to concerts and music fests are cool too. I am often surprised by the opening bands that I would have not heard of beforehand and will pick up their latest disc asap.

PS. Just picked up tix for upcoming Metric and Sarah Harmer shows.

Canada's New Man

Ok, so with our country's new Prime Minister represent my riding, I expect all the roads to be nicely paved and even more golf courses to pop up soon...


So when's the last time you shook your dad's hand? Well, here's a staged photo-op pic of Harper as he drops off his nine-year old son for school. Can anyone say awkward?

Web Economy Generator

If you need a subject title for your next meeting, check out Dack's Generator. We use it for our Friday afternoon meetings.

TV Upgrades

Wondering what to do with your Ralph Bucks? Well, if you're thinking on getting a new TV, here's a link to help comprehend the difference in comparing your old regular TV with the new widescreen ones.

I think all the stores are gonna sell out of iPods too once the cheques start coming out...

Skit's that "Double True!"

Outside of the brilliant Weekend Update, SNL has been pretty lacking. But this skit actually did make me laugh and is making the rounds now.

Update: Ok, you can even get t-shirts now here online and they've even posted the lyrics.

Update 2: I've updated the link to another site that now hosts the clip. However, the online store doesn't seem to be up anymore :-(