What does this win mean to the team?

I've moved

2011-01-16T12:14:00.000-05:00

New posts at http://www.alexkinsella.com

Target - BULLSEYE!!

2010-05-24T09:13:00.002-04:00

While we were stuck with incredibly boring TD Canada Trust/LOST commercials, our friends in the States got these three awesome Target/LOST spots.

Gigantor

2010-04-29T17:45:00.001-04:00

WES 2010 Welcome Reception
Originally uploaded by Official BlackBerry Images

It's always been a dream of mine to create a five foot tall working BlackBerry Bold 9700.

Tweet and Response

2009-09-23T22:43:00.001-04:00

America's Next Short Model?

2009-09-09T20:00:00.003-04:00

Fall is officially here. How do I know? Because it's time for America's Next Top Model! But wait - something is amis in the land of fierceness.....Tyra has only allowed short future models to enter the competition. What the deuce?

Does it lessen my heterosexuality if my night includes watching ANTM and then Glee? Maybe I don't want anyone to answer that. ANYWAY. I have to watch this season of ANTM because in the preview, one girl said "...I was born with a bloody eye. My nickname growing up was 'bloody eyeball'..."

That's not a nickname - it is an acurate description of you. You have a bloody eyeball. If you had one ear and they called you "Picasso" then that would be a nickname. There's a girl on crutches. If they call here "gimpy", then once again - valid nickname.

I've had multiple nicknames throughout the years. Some I've not minded...others i've fucking detested. It all started with my parents who insisted on calling my brother and I by our middle names. I was always "Scotty" and never "Alex"....until I got to university when I gave up trying to explain that to people.

When I worked at Comcast Cable, my boss called me "Coleslaw" because of my pronounciation of my last name. The "e" is silent, it's not my fault.

In university, it was "Al", "Big Al", and then there was "Klex". My roommate liked to switch the first letters of your first and last names. I was "Klex Ainsella"....and "Klex" just stuck. For many, many, many, many years.

But after university, the nicknames dropped off (thank goodness) and it's just been plain old awesome Alex for a while now. There's one guy at work who calls me "Alex Trebek" but it hasn't caught on. Still, it's better than "Bloody Eyeball".

Air Canada BlackBerry web signal takes flight!

2009-09-07T12:53:00.001-04:00

Air Canada BlackBerry web signal takes flight!

Posted using ShareThis

BlackBerry App World Launch - More Countries!

2009-09-07T12:44:00.001-04:00

BlackBerry App World Launch - More Countries!

Posted using ShareThis

BlackBerry App World 1.1 - New Features, More Countries

2009-07-31T16:35:00.001-04:00

BlackBerry App World 1.1 - New Features, More Countries

Posted using ShareThis

Hot and Cold

2009-03-18T09:12:00.001-04:00

Spank my ass and call me Charlie

2009-01-12T14:53:00.002-05:00

Holy cow. Nicole has reappeared in the blogsosphere. Maybe I'm jumping the gun - she hasn't posted. Yet.

Robots are evil.

2009-01-09T04:37:00.000-05:00

As many of you know, I live live my life in constant fear.

Bird Flu? No.

Terrorists? No.

BackStreet Boys reunion tour? No.

I live in fear of robots, evil robots. I know that many of you were swayed by WALL*E. But don't let them fool you - all robots of evil and they want to take old people's medicine.

The good folks at Gizmodo report this morning that the Japanese have the most robots of any nation on Earth. I have no scratched Japan off the list of countries I would like to visit.

Spring Cleaning Delayed

2008-06-27T04:59:00.001-04:00

I decided that now would be a good a time as ever to clean out my desk drawers at work. I've just moved desks and we have these rolling mini filing cabinets. For backstory purposes - when I was a consultant, I had a folder for each client. In that folder I would a Google map from the airport to customer site, a copy of the contract, notes, and then all receipts for when I was on site. Hotels, airfare, rental cars, restaurants, Starbucks, etc...

It has been almost three years since I was a full time consultant, so today is the day that I finally broke down and started to go through the folders and throw stuff out.

Not a good idea - because now I know how many times in a 3 year period that I went to -

Chilis
Starbucks (so many venti cafe mochas....)
Outback
Chipotle
Harveys in Mississippi (delicious sweet tea)
Sophie's Thai Kitchen in Davis, CA

The list goes on and on and on and on....you get the picture. In honour of desk cleaning day - here are the top 5 coolest receipts I found -

LCBO #417 (Waterloo, ON) - Jan 4 2004. Bought a bottle of wine, two Singhas, two Kingfishers, and two Baltikas.
Sophie's Thai Kitchen (Davis, CA) - Nov 30, 2004. Had a Singha and a massaman chicken curry.
Do-Drop-Inn (Hatrona, PA) - Feb 4, 2004. Seriously - the Do Drop Inn. Awesome!!!
Tiki Lounge (Pittsuburgh, PA) - Feb 3, 2004 - I remember going there with Jason S from Lancaster. Good times.
Primanti Brothers (The Strip - Pittsburgh, PA) - Feb 3, 2004. This is where we ended up. They are famous for this sandwich which consists of grilled meat, a vinegar-based cole slaw, tomato slices, and French fries between two pieces of Italian bread (thanks Wikipedia for the reminder).

Well, that is it for late spring cleaning. Have a great weekend.

Giving product management a bad name

2008-06-19T01:12:00.000-04:00

I am a product manager.

This is an example of when product managers make bad decisions.

Don't parents spend hours teaching their kids not to eat LEGO bricks? How on Earth could this get past consumer safety?

Did you know?

2008-06-12T07:12:00.000-04:00

Did you know that the future of the European Union is being decided today in Ireland?

Well, if you were reading CNN.com - you wouldn't for sure. You would know that Hulk Hogan's ex-wife is dating a teen. Also - one of the star's of "Grey's Anatomy" doesn't want to be considered for an Emmy because she thinks the show wasn't that good this past season.

Awesome headlines. If you went over to the Irish Independent's website, you could read about today's vote on the Lisbon Referendum. Ireland is the last EU member state to decide on the treaty, and the only one to have a public vote on signing the treaty. If the referendum passes, it will create a strong, federal EU body - and it has the potential to reshape Europe in ways never before possible.

Of course this isn't as important as Hulk Hogan or the fact that $188,000 was thrown in the trash by mistake.

Boycott is over

2008-06-11T06:11:00.001-04:00

Costco has decided not to appeal their case against the three-tier distribution system in Washington state (thanks BrewBlog).

What does this mean for you? Nothing.

What does this mean for me? It ends my single person boycott of Costco. Who says one man can't make a difference? I'm like the Michael Knight of defending the three-tier distribution model.

For more info on the three-tier distribution model, check out this wikipedia entry.

Why pride is a sin.

2008-06-06T04:45:00.000-04:00

From - CNN.com....

Stephanie Torgerson, 32, of Pataskala, Ohio, said she simply can't put her three boys in her husband's Mazda 626. The 1-year-old needs a car seat, the 5-year-old needs a booster chair and she doesn't feel comfortable wedging her 8-year-old between the two. Sure, she could probably get better mileage in a minivan, but she doesn't like the stigma.

"I don't want to be labeled as a soccer mom," she said.

That is a great lesson you are teaching your kids. Better to spend extra money on gas and use up a valuable resource than to be labeled "soccer mom".

Great job lady.

Got away from the eyes a bit

2008-04-23T20:53:00.004-04:00

A creative writing teacher in high school once told me to carry a little notebook around so that I wouldn't forget ideas I came up with. That was great advice then, and great advice now - but of course I still forget the notebook. I've actually purchased probably over a hundred little notebooks over the years, losing them at random locations.

I remembered today that I need a new little notebook because I came up with an idea on the way to boxing, forgot it on the way home, and only (and luckily) remembered it now.

So, on to the point of this entry....

I went to an arts high school (like Fame, but without lunchtime dancing) and studied video production and writing. While I enjoyed both, video production always was my favourite. The program I was in was comprehensive, so I had to be dragged out of the editing bay every so often to attend other classes. Writing is fun - but to be honest, I'm an emotional coward and I find my writing to be missing something. You're probably wondering why I waited until three years into writing this blog, that now I admit this - but hey, I'm not perfect - I just want to be loved. ANYWAYS - I tried my hand at different types of writing - short stories, play writing, poetry (not a lot), etc... Play writing was something I had never thought of doing - but I ended up being apparently good at it. Enough that I received straight superiors at the 1993 Florida District X Thespian Festival. Straight fucking superiors man! The next spring I went to the state festival and only got straight excellents, which was bullshit.

The only reason I'm bringing this up because I've spent a couple hours a day over the last week writing an installation manual and a user's guide for a new product we have coming out at work. Not glamourous work by any stretch of the imagination. I keep thinking to mysefl "Fuck - I gotg straight superiors at the District X Thespian Festival" and here I am writing a bloody instruction manual. Damnit."

Anyway - I won't be on the NY Times Bestseller's List with these manuals, but at least I'm technically published. Hooray!

This is where the BlackBerry 9000 series comes from. Probably.

2008-04-20T15:50:00.006-04:00

My BlackBerry Curve is making out with an iPhone.

Even though we're in the 21st century, this kind of inter-manufacturer relationship can still make people stop and stare - and then puke. Seriously devices, get a room - and yes, I know my kitchen technically is a room - that's not the point. No one wants to see you doing what you're doing. Also, even though you both have 2 mega pixel cameras, that does not mean you need to take photos of your private time activities and post them directly to Facebook. I wish I had of bought a skin for my Curve now, because lord knows where that iPhone has been. Maybe there's some Purel lying around somewhere.

How long do you batteries last for anyways? "That's what she said!".

STOP THAT!!

I don't care, BlackBerry Curve, if you do have the Facebook application loaded - no one (other than maybe some deranged Apple/RIM fanboys) want to see you necking. You both disgust me. Have you no shame? And iPhone - stop playing tracks off your "In The Mood" playlist. You are ruining Michael Buble for me.

This is Sports Center

2008-04-18T05:35:00.000-04:00

For your Friday viewing pleasure, this is SPORTS CENTER!

Having Arrived

2008-04-16T21:38:00.004-04:00

I have arrived. Today, as I pulled into my driveway, my status as homeowner transcended from "I have a house where I've only hung four photos" to "Homeowner who orders giant bag of soil". Yes, I have a giant bag of soil in my driveway - courtesy of the fine folks at Greenhorizons. Just as a side note - their website is http://www.justsodit.com/. How awesome is that?

Anyway - now that I have a giant bag of soil, my neighbours know that I'm serious about putting some flowers in the flower beds. I might even buy some grass seed. Who knows? Maybe I'm planning on growing corn. I've always wanted to brew my own beer, so I could grow my own hops (where does one acquire hop seeds) and then brew some cerveza mas fina in my garage.

The sky's the limit when you have a giant bag of soil.

I cannot contain my excitement over this. My wife doesn't understand - to her it is just a bag of soil. To me, it is a statement. What that statement is, well, I have no idea.

It is so heavy, I cannot pull it from its current resting place in front of the garage. Thank goodness the garage is so full of shit that I'd never have a hoping chance in hell of actually getting a car in there. Yet another side note, I left three bags of leaves and two bags of grass clippings in the garage over the winter and the squirrels of the Squirrel Empire decided to eat or steal the bags. Now there are just three mounds of leaves and two mounds of grass clippings. I'm wondering how long I can get away without actually re-bagging them? Is there a by-law for this?

Wait, I'm losing focus - I need to get back to the giant bag of soil. Looking at the bag of soil, I can kind of understand what the monkeys in "2001 - A Space Odyssey" felt like when the monolith first appeared. They turned bones into tools and I'm going to turn that giant bag of soil into some flowers, corn, tomatos, jalapeno peppers, and a pumpkin. Watch out farmers of Ontario - there's a new kid in town.

I hope my Dell XPS 420 doesn't try to push my out an airlock.

...By The Pale Moon Light

2008-04-10T05:27:00.003-04:00

A new post on Brew Blog is saying that our friends at Molson Coors are planning on releasing a new member to their "Blue Moon" line - a pale ale named appropriately enought - "Pale Moon". If you look at the label, you'll see that like it's big brother, Pale Moon is brewed in Toronto, Canada - about a 50 minute drive up the 401 from where I live.

Blue Moon, as I've ranted before, is only available in the states. In Canda, Rickards (which is part of Moslon Coors) sells a brew named "Rickards White" - which is identical in every flavour and colour to blue moon - even down to the fact you serve it with an orange slice.

I did write an angry (but sometimes comedic) letter to Molson asking why we couldn't get Blue Moon here. Maybe Rickards White was their answer to it. Now with Pale Moon - I'm starting to wonder if this renamed brand synergy is heading the opposite way. Rickards has other brews here - including Rickards Pale. Only a taste test will prove it - but I'm willing to bet that they're pretty similar.

I'm not complaining - I've got my Belgium style wheat beer and the States will get what is an amazingly good pale ale - all sides win! Still - why can't we get "Winter Moon" here?

Breakfast was the never the same

2008-03-27T05:26:00.000-04:00

Rest in peace Herb Peterson.

You made our breakfasts better and our hangovers less severe.

Another Concrete Turtle Accident

2008-03-25T21:09:00.002-04:00

I have to admit something. Even though I make frequent references to having "stream of consciousness" episodes like those in James Joyce's "Ulysses", I've never actually read the book. I barely got through the first paragraph of it's wikipedia entry. This makes me a horrible person on multiple levels - first and foremost that it makes me a literary poser.

That being said - I had the most wicked stream of consciousness conversation today. The topic started with the weather and meandered through fixing the bathroom door at work, why a co-worker has so many Polish chocolates, how and when our company recognizes revenue on software sales, the series finale of Jericho, broken XBOX 360s, how awesome Resident Evil 4 on the Wii is, and finally to how many grams are in a pound.

How many grams are in a pound? Well, according to Google it is 453.59237, which is 15.9 oz if you're counting. One of my fellow Americans in Canada was wondering because he was having difficulty ordering deli meat and cheese. Seriously.

My spiritual advisor Michal taught me the easiest way for us backwards imperial measurment using Americans to understand the metric system - just thing of it in terms of things you know - NEVER try to convert them. For example, instead of trying to figure out was 15C converts to - just go outside when it is 15C and then that is what it feels like. Keep doing that and you'll quickly understand the difference between 20C and 30C and that -15C is fucking freezing.

The same goes for cold cuts. I went to the deli and ordered 500 grams of rare roast beef and bought eight whole wheat buns. I proceeded to make sandwiches for lunch and then figured out that a whole wheat bun requires 100 grams of deli meat to make a decent sandwich. This conclusion was reached because I had three whole wheat buns left. A regular loaf of bread requires 50 grams of deli meat - so now, depending on my bakery purchase, I know how many grams of deli meat to purchase. Problem solved - I'm now a proud metric system user. Hooooray Canada once again!

Can anyone believe Penn got voted off "Dancing With The Stars"? Poor professional dancer Kim is never going to win the trophy.

Links of interest

James Franco and Mila Kunis perform a scene from "The Hills".
Speaking of stream of consciousness - strange "LOST" recaps.
LOLCATS + Politics = Pundit Kitchen.
I've got 5 on it.

Better late than never

2008-03-21T17:14:00.001-04:00

Picture 382
Originally uploaded by bmsox622

Bryan finally decided to post pictures from LAST year's Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest. The pictures are from the night we went to the Concordia Club.

Can I borrow your pen?

2008-03-20T01:50:00.000-04:00

Do the test

2008-03-17T06:42:00.001-04:00

My friend Heather forwarded this - do the test.

I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Nebraska

2008-03-14T18:07:00.003-04:00

My brother sent me a link to "Stuff White People Like". Don't let the name freak you out - it is a satirical blog poking fun at mainstream (white) culture. Sadly, I know a lot of people many of the entries could apply to - myself included. For instance -

Shorts (I love wearing shorts)
Threatening To Move To Canada (although I moved for work, so it doesn't apply to me)
Mos Def (He was the best thing in Hitchhiker's Guide...)
The Sunday New York Times (although for $7 a piece, Maureen Dowd should hand deliver the bloody thing to me)
David Sedaris (I have all his books)
Microbreweries (I'm a whore for micro brews)

I kind of hate myself a little after reading some of these. Oh well. I was able to cheer up when I took a stroll through this Flickr set of tacos. There are two things in the world that can completely turn my frown upside down - puppies and tacos.

I don't like that blue dude.

2008-02-10T19:44:00.000-05:00

Having been raised in the economic powerhouse that is the U.S., I was always of the opinion that people are more happy when they have more things to choose from. Take a walk down any isle in your local supermarket and you can find more than fifty different types of cereals. Personally, if it is not Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch or some type of bran flake (hooray regularity), then I'm not interested - this is off topic though.

What I've come to believe, and what many researchers have written lately, is that choice doesn't always equal happiness. It took my almost a week to pick out my new Dell XPS 420 - and I wasn't happy doing it. Too many choices. It makes you appreciate Apple's product line up - three laptop models, two desktop models - done. I'm not considering the accessory and add-on product market - that is rat king of over thinking what you need to make your iPod listening experience better. Shit, I have three pairs of headsets for my iPod now. That could qualify me as a major asshole - if it wasn't for the fact I really like myself. Good Alex. (pets self on back)

I'm not some Communist (shhhh) who thinks everyone should wear size 9 shoes. My point is that with all this choice comes the tedium of picking something, the post cognitivie dissonance of regretting that choice and then tons and tons of waste created by the design, production, transportation and sale of the products that in the end, you probably didn't need in the first place. My advertising professor in college said "...advertising is the art of convincing you to buy something you don't want and can't afford in order to impress someone you don't care about." Apple - Do I really need to buy my wife a pink iPod nano? The answer is no - mainly because she hates pink. I don't believe in not purchasing anything - there's wackos out there who buy used underware at thrift stores to prove how anti-consumerist they are. That is nuts. We need consumerism - it is the backbone of our economy. I'm just living by buying what I need (oooooh 52" plasma) and what I can afford (oooooh need to save for vacation and not buy aforementioned television).

Review - Bud Light Chelada
Speaking of choices - this morning, I shared a can of Anheuser-Busch's "Chelada" beverage with my buddy Hranka. This 24 ounce can contains a mixture of Bud Light, Clamato (the core ingrediant in the national drink of Canada - the Caeser), salt and lime. Apparently, this is a popular beverage mixture in Mexico. I've never been to Mexico - so I can't verify this. It's popular enough in Florida to get shelf space in the Publix near my parent's house, so I decided to bring a can back to Waterloo for a taste test. Now to be fair, I've only recently started drinking caesers and Clamato, to say the least, is an aquired taste. This being said - the Bud Light Chelada is not as bad as you think it would be. The first taste is Clamato and Bud Light - with a Seven-Up, fizzy after taste. I would drink it again if offered, but for now I'll stick the straight up normal caeser.

I'm sure it happens to everyone

2008-02-04T19:49:00.000-05:00

"What does this win mean...." has become my primary creative outlet over the last year. Even though I grew up surrounded by artists and creative people, I would never call myself an artist - unless I wanted to be pretentious - which can be more often than not. Still, as most humas do, I feel an urge to express my inner thoughts and feelings in a medium other than Microsoft PowerPoint.

Unfortunately, I've always felt that my entries here were shallow and pedestrian. Today, that point was confirmed by some Slovenian girl named Tina Puksic who described my blog as follows -

"This one is totally pop, mainstream, part of the herd….but he manages to be very interesting at times.

The silver lining to this is that my blog was listed as one of her "Favorite Expat Blogs". I did like the part about "...manages to be very interesting at times..." also. This is the kind of feedback I've been yearning for. The typical feedback I've been getting (all from my mom and the odd co-worked) has been that they really like my blog.

I appreciate it, but really - what is it that makes "you" like it? It can't be the multiple posts on how some cereals here are different. Most of the readers (that I know about) comment that they like to see how an American views life in Canada. I've never really made a decision on if that was the main topic for this thing. KatieAlender.com covers sewing and writing, ChrisDiclerico.com covered life as a web designer in Dubai. What does "What Does This Win Mean...." cover?

The other day, my mom asked me where "What Does This Win Mean..." come from? It is a sound clip that Neil Rogers plays on his WQAM show in Miami of a Hank Goldberg and Bryan Cox interview. There's special meaning in the clip for me is Bryan Cox's reply to Hank's question - "What does this win mean to the team?". Cox responds "..it means we can take our heads out of our asses and start playing football the way we're capable of playing..." This isn't a football, or even a sports reference for me. This is an affirmation that if we all could take our collective heads out of our collective asses (myself included) that we could accomplish anything.

Did P. Diddy Buy All the Cristal in Arizona?

2008-01-31T19:03:00.000-05:00

[Picture a training montage]

My mom is in training for a Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training event at the San Diego Marathon this June. The goal is to raise money for research to fight leukemia and other blood cancers. My dad is has gone two rounds with non-hodgkind lymphoma. For those who know my dad, if he's going to let anything kill him - it wouldn't be cancer. More than likely it will involve some sort of Marxist revolution. Who knows? Anyway - for more information (and hopefully you'd like to make a donation), please check out the event page.

Tried a tactic that never worked

2008-01-30T05:39:00.000-05:00

I'm not a basketball fan. Never have been. Maybe it is because I can't dribble and I'm bitter about it. Who knows? I'm not a psychologist. I'm not Dr. Phil. The part about basketball that I really don't like is that the playoffs seem to take about eight months to complete. That is way longer than any process to decided the two finalists should take. This is very similar to the presidential primaries. Holy shit, will November ever get here quick enough.

Yesterday was Florida's primaries. I voted. I voted absentee a couple weeks ago - it was just a oddity that I was actually in Florida for the election. I'm technically a Floridian still - at least for voting purposes. To be even more specific, I'm a absentee resident of Palm Beach County (hooray hanging chads) - so that groups me in with the worst voters in the United States. So I absentee voted for Obama. Hillary won. It doesn't count anyways because Florida jumped the primary line and the national party won't count the delegate's votes. It is stupid. Stupid, stupid, fucking stupid. I could have changed parties and voted for McCain, at least my vote would have counted.

Anyway. Here's a video of a ghost -

Tagged!

2008-01-29T23:11:00.000-05:00

From my author friend Katie.....

1) Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?  "How Stella Got Her Grove Back" - mainly because I know a girl who wrote her thesis on it and she divorced a friend of mine after six weeks of marriage. I'm Irish - we wrote the book on grudges.

2) If you could bring three characters to life for a social event (afternoon tea, a night of clubbing, perhaps a world cruise), who would they be and what would the event be?  Ok - here are the three characters I'd bring to life for a night of wings and beer at Morty's Pub in Waterloo: Hermonine Granger from "Harry Potter", Jose Arcadio from "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and Raskolnikov from "Crime and Punishment". I think Arcadio would stick us with the bill.

3) (Borrowing shamelessly from the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde): you are told you can’t die until you read the most boring novel on the planet. While this immortality is great for awhile, eventually you realise it’s past time to die. Which book would you expect to get you a nice grave? Any book by Pat Buchanan.

4) Come on, we’ve all been there. Which book have you pretended, or at least hinted, that you’ve read, when in fact you’ve been nowhere near it?  Ayn Rand's 'The Fountainhead'. I've been after trying to finish it since 1992.

5) You’re interviewing for the post of Official Book Advisor to some VIP (who’s not a big reader). What’s the first book you’d recommend and why? (If you feel like you’d have to know the person, go ahead and personalise the VIP).  I would recommend reading "Chuck Klosterman IV". It is all about being (or knowing who is) advanced.

6) A good fairy comes and grants you one wish: you will have perfect reading comprehension in the foreign language of your choice. Which language do you go with?  I agree with Katie - Latin all the way.

7) A mischievous fairy comes and says that you must choose one book that you will reread once a year for the rest of your life (you can read other books as well). Which book would you pick?  The Phantom Toll Booth. That book still freaks me out.

8) I know that the book blogging community, and its various challenges, have pushed my reading borders. What’s one bookish thing you ‘discovered’ from book blogging (maybe a new genre, or author, or new appreciation for cover art-anything)?   I discovered the awesome writing power of Katie Schmidt. Althought I already knew she was awesome and I have letters written by her that I'm waiting to sell on Ebay once her book hits the top of the NY Times best sellers list.

9) That good fairy is back for one final visit. Now, she’s granting you your dream library! Describe it. I'd like a library with one of those ladders that has wheels and you can move it along the shelves to find that one specific volume that solves a crime.

As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly

2008-01-22T06:33:00.000-05:00

I'm starting to mess around with Visual Studio 2008 Express and the .NET Framework 3.5 at home. Really, I should kick my own ass for saying that's what I do at home. Geek. Geek. Anyway - Microsoft gives you an option of downloading an ISO image and burning a DVD of all the installers - and I've got a working DVD writer now, so I figured it was time to head on down to FutureShop and buy some blank DVDs.

For those of you in the lower 48, FutureShop is a Canadian electronics store chain - similar to BestBuy. BestBuy actually owns FutureShop - so their sales are always the same and there's really not much competition going on. There are no Circuit Citys (Cities?) here - just "The Source by Circuit City" - which used to be Radio Shacks.

So I'm there at FutureShop, looking at blank DVD-R's. I see a 25 pack of Memorex DVDs for $21.99. Two rows down - there is a 50 pack of the same Memorex DVDs for $19.99. 25 more DVDs for $2 less. I am bad at math, but I know something isn't adding up here. At the same time, a FutureShop associate was stocking some nearby shelves. I got her attention and asked about the difference in price and if there was something different between the DVDs that couldn't be seen with the naked eye.

"No, they're the same - that's just the sale price on the 50 pack." she responded.

I was still confused. "I'm not trying to start trouble or anything, but wouldn't it make sense to put the 25 pack on sale also. Who is going to buy the 25 packs if they cost more than the 50 packs?"

Now she was confused. "Well," as she thought for a couple minutes ", this is just the way they do it - it's the sale price. It's a good deal."

Yes, it is a good deal - and like anyone who passed college algebra (after three tries), I bought the 50 pack. Still - I'd like to know why. It doesn't make sense to me and it's been three days and I still can't get the thought out of my head.

Off to hopefully cleanse the thought from my psyche - for now, here is - Where are they now - stars of WKRP.

Something else, also terrible

2008-01-21T18:13:00.000-05:00

New footage of the Cloverfield monster!

I don't care what Bryan says - "One Crazy Summer" is far superior to "Better Off Dead".

Hell, I like you.

2008-01-17T20:15:00.000-05:00

It has been almost two weeks since I started using my new Dell with Microsoft Vista Premium. In the two weeks, I have had four system halts (for lack of a better explanation - the system just stopped working) and two blue screens of death. Now, to be fair - I've been trying to do a large amount of different tasks at once. I've had Media Center open, I've been importing a clip from a VCR and I've tried playing around with the Windows SideShow LCD on the case all at the same time - and well, I recommend not doing that.

Tonight, at the request of Quack, Pat, and Lenker - I learned how to import video into this thing. The first clip is a "bump" ad we made for Fazoli's. They really didn't like it and we lost their advertising contract after we aired this.

The second clip is the opening to "17 News" - the once a week news magazine we produced in college. Well, I produced it. Pat hosted it. Lenker and Quack prank called the studio.

I'll work on finding some more classic clips. There's a tape of that preacher here too. If only I had the tape of the homecoming parade or the dating show.

The XPS itself is a great machine - but I can't help feeling that it is crippled by Vista. The overhead involved with the Aero interface and the constant "System Needs Your Attention" messages really seem to bog down the overall flow of what should be an amazingly powerful beast of a machine.

I was tempted to downgrade to XP. The disc is sitting right behind me on the bookshelf between "Naked" by David Sedaris and a copy of "The Wedding MC Guide" that we never gave to the MC of our wedding.

I'm not going to do it. I'm going to stick with Vista and ride this thing out. Why? Maybe I'm into some form of Microsoft S&M? All I need to remember is - the safe word is "XP".

[Update] - Completely forgot that today is my fourth year anniversary of moving to Canada. Happy anniversary to me!

F**king Vista Isn't That Bad

2008-01-08T20:52:00.000-05:00

I'm a computer geek. People know this. What people might not know is that I'm also a raving luddite. This is the reason that I've eeked along with my Dell Dimension 4100 for the last seven years.

Unfortunately it recently stopped turning on, so I was forced to go to Dell and buy a new computer. "Forced" might be a strong word. We use Dell at work and their products have always been good to me, even when I have spilled a beer on them or dropped them. That being said, I decided to purchase a Dell XPS 420, which so far is an amazing (yet soul-less) machine.

Unfortunately, it came preinstalled with Windows Vista.

But why should that be unfortunate? Sure, I've only been using Vista for a day and half, but it really isn't that bad. I'm typing this, watching "Family Guy" on TV Tropolis using Windows Media Centre (I'm in Canada, it is 'Centre' here) and copying a shit load of photos from a portable drive. I think Adobe Photoshop Elements is running too.

Yes. It is running. I better go catch it.

So back to this Vista bashing. I might eat my words, but I want to give it a chance. I've read a lot on the interweb about it, and I've yet to find a positive review of it - other than from Microsoft. Maybe it will suck and I'll just load Windows XP. Then I'll have to load drivers and I'll be in this cold office all weekend instead of cleaning out the garage. Hmmmmm.....maybe this is a good weekend to load Windows XP after all.

Your mom goes to college

2008-01-04T21:25:00.000-05:00

I like seeing people get upset at technology - mainly because I'm a wanna-be luddite.

Go David Lynch!

"..this table is made of formica..." I still have no fucking idea what happened in Fire Walk With Me.

All good things...

2007-10-24T21:13:00.000-04:00

The title of the last episode of "Star Trek : The Next Generation" always reminds me that all good things come to an end...and so this Friday brings and end to my working relationship with Moli-Moli. He is leaving Big Sticky and heading out to make his fortune on the open sea. The open sea being a local internet startup. While it's sad that he's leaving - everyone at the Sticky is excited for his new adventure (and some are jealous).

If you're in the greater Waterloo area this Friday - come out and join a shit load of us at Ethel's for some beers (and Jager).

Good luck Moli-Moli!

I know, I saw the footage.

2007-10-17T19:49:00.000-04:00

My backyard may be a hideout for a chupacabra. I've come to this conclusion based on two weird events that have happened recently.

Two weeks ago, I walked out to my car and found the back passenger door open. "Great," I thought to myself - someone has broken in and stolen, uh, well my spare change and some burned CD's that only have two or three songs on them because I'm too lazy to burn a complete CD. This is where we get to weird event #1 - nothing was missing. Nothing at all. Usually, if someone (or something) breaks into a car, you'd figure they'd take something. Hell, there was about $10 bucks in change (Canadian dollars are coins), so you'd figure it'd be a pretty good haul. This struck me as strange - but I thanked my good luck at the fact that no windows were broken and nothing was taken and so I went on about my business.

This past weekend, the wife, my buddy B.M., and myself spent the day recovering from Oktoberfest at Concordia Club here in Kitchener. Once I was finally able to get off the couch, I decided to go outside and bring in the empty bottles from the deck. Everything appeared normal - that is until I looked at the grill. Someone - or something - had taken all the parts out of the grill and put them in order, on top of each other - directly in front of the grill. It was as if someone (or something, sorry that is getting old) wanted to make an alter or sacrifical shrine to, well - I don't know. What makes it stranger is that there was a cooler for of beer next to it - untouched!

You might be wondering why I would jump to the conclusion that a chupacabra did these two things. I like to follow the Sherlock Holmes methodology of deduction. First, get rid of everything it couldn't be - then, what ever is left, no matter how insane, is the answer. So - it couldn't have been kids or the meth clinic people. It wasn't the squirrels - they have no aboseable thumbs. It can be only one thing - El Chupacabra!!

Thank goodness we have no goats.

Board the windows, try to hide.

2007-10-16T21:37:00.000-04:00

I've become a fan of the CW show "Gossip Girl". Take a moment to let that settle in.

Ok, back? Good. You're probably scratching your head, wondering "Why? What would drive him to watch 'Gossip Girl'? Could it be that he really never got over the cancellation of 'The O.C.'?" To be honest - I haven't thought about "The O.C." in a while, but thanks for bringing that up. I'm not entirely sure why I find this show intriguing - especially since the Nielsen voting American public has launched the show to 94th place out of 102 shows. There is absolutely nothing in the show that I can relate to. For instance, I have none of the following qualities or traits -

I am not from New York City's upper west side.
My family is not old money.

At no point have I attended a private school or attempted to gain entrance to an ivy league university.

I do not live in a hotel.

A mysterious girl does not live blog about me.

Live blog? Mysterious girl? The odd part about this show is the voice over by the titular "Gossip Girl", who is never revealed on screen. Who is? What is her motivation? Does she get a lot of money from those Google AdSense ads when NYC's finest click to get the latest dirt on their friends?

Now, you'll slap me - but I believe this the an attempt to create a "LOST"-esque mystery. While I've not read the books that "Gossip Girl" is based on, I've thought about this mystery enough to come up with my own theories. My first theory is that Gossip Girl is actually in the future, and she's pre-dating her blog entries. Why? In order to warn the spoiled students at the Constance Billard and St. Jude's School for Boys of their dangerous ways. Don't buy that? Second theory - Gossip Girl is the Interweb after it attains sentience. New York City has hundreds of CCTV cameras for post security (or spying, depending on your interpretation), it could be conceivable that the Gossip Girl/Interweb can control them all to spy on rich teens. Why? In order to find suitable hosts for the nanities it has developed to make an army of attractive cyborgs. Think about it - pre-ivy league elite - get to them when they're young and then the Gossip Girl/Interweb can take over the world.

Call me crazy.

That was rhetorical.

My friend Randy Smith took a photo of a police car that crashed into the liquor store near where I used to live. I added LOLCAT tags to it.

Where did you say you found that case?

2007-10-01T17:49:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday, while hundreds of Canadians were taking advantage of the strong Canadian dollar, I was standing in the immigration line at Fort Erie completing my final steps of getting my Canadian permanent resident status. That is why there is a beaver holding a Canadian flag to the right. Just in case you were in wondering.

The whole process of "landing" is really quite easy. I drove up to the main gate and handed over my passport and immigration visa. The border agent, who looked young enough to be working a part time job at Jacob, was amazed that an American had a Canadian immigration visa in his passport. She filled out a form, handed it over to me, and directed us over to the immigration office.

The line was short and I only had to wait about two minutes before a just as youthful looking agent took my forms and began the process. Fifteen minutes later everything was completed and I was off. Seriously. That was it. Having never really immigrated before (save for that whole moving from Ireland thing), I was expecting a delousing and maybe even someone respelling or shortening my last name.

Now, I just have two more years before I can apply for citizenship - and then I can run for parliment and become prime minister and then you will pay, oh yes, you will pay. So vote for Kinsella!

Thanks.

So I guess I'm out of the book club

2007-09-26T18:20:00.001-04:00

There is a trip to Buffalo in my future. On Monday, a FedEx envelope arrived from the consulate in Detroit. In this FedEx envelope was my passport with a shiny new immigrant visa. With this visa, I can drive across the border to the U.S., have lunch at Chilis (there are no Chilis in Canada) and then drive back into Canada and officially immigrate into Canada.

This part of the immigration process blows my mind a little bit. I'm already living in Canada. I have a job, a house, and three empty cases of beer in the back of my truck. Yet even with all this - I still need to leave the country and immigrate back in. Not that I'm complaining - I love the chance to go to Buffalo and go to the Walden Galleria and spend an hour convincing myself why I really wouldn't save any money by buying a new iPod in the U.S. vs. buying one in Canada. Though with the weak U.S. dollar, my agrument might not hold any weight now.

Anyway - it's almost October and I'm getting excited for Oktoberfest. Sure, sure - Canadian Thanksgiving is next week too - but what is more important? Seriosuly. You need to get your priorities straight.

I'd do anything for a klondike

2007-09-22T19:22:00.001-04:00

P1000731
Originally uploaded by alexkinsella64

Rough month, rough month. It is nearly October already and I have barely had a chance to get used to September. The leaves are changing colour (and starting to fill my backyard). I'll say this - a wet suit is not that flattering. Just so everyone knows, the wet suit was already ripped when I put it on. My massive ab muscles did not rip it.

Anyway - today, I bought my first pair of new eye glasses in almost a decade. My current pair are scratched, dented, bent, and well - no where near the prescription I need to be able to safely operate a motor vehicle. The nice people at Iris helped me pick out a decently fashionable pair - I'll post a pick when they are done. Wow. How freaking needy is that - I'll post a pic of my new eye glasses? Weak sauce man, weak sauce.

Ok - I'm going back to watching the MTV Music Video Awards Celebrity Remix on Much Music.

Word Is Bond.

Point Break

2007-09-17T11:33:00.000-04:00

I don't love Patrick Swayze movies as much as my brother does. That would be impossible. That being said, if I could live out any Patrick Swayze movie - it would be a three way tie between "Red Dawn", "Road House", and "Point Break". The Soviets aren't invading any time soon, so no "Red Dawn". While Jeff Healy (the blind guitarist) has a club in Toronto, I doubt it is the "Double Deuce" - so that's out. That just leaves "Point Break" - which, as you will see in the video below - is now crossed off my list.

"If you want the ultimate, you've got to be willing to pay the ultimate price. It's not tragic to die doing what you love." - Point Break

Big thanks to the staff and pro Flowriders at the Wave House in San Diego for giving us all one hell of a good time!!

Now that's what you call emo

2007-09-04T20:38:00.001-04:00

P1010458
Originally uploaded by alexkinsella64

We ventured back up to Penetanguishene for another awesome weekend on our friend Colin's sail boat. Last summer, we weren't able to make if out of the marina - but this past long weekend we got a chance to sail up Georgian Bay and spend a couple days enjoying the great weather.

There was of course some drinking, a lot of random discussions about politics and emo music, and a lesson in what not to do with a flare gun. Due to a court order, I can't discuss much of the details - here are some photos for now.

Enjoy

Passport please

2007-08-07T19:12:00.000-04:00

In scenes reminiscent of waiting for college acceptance letters, I have been checking the mail box every freaking day for a thick envelope from Immigration Canada. As many of you know (or don't know), I am in the process of applying for permanent resident status here in Canada. Today, after a little more than a year and a half, I finally got a letter saying my application had been approved and that my passport is needed so they can attach the immigration visa.

A year and a half might seem like a long time, but it falls within the 30% range according to the CIC website. Pretty good as far as I am concerned. I always remind myself that while, yes, it is a long time - imagine the wait for someone emigrating from a country you really want to get away from. Somewhere were the morning question isn't "Tim Hortons" or "Starbucks" - but which 20 mile trek has a better chance of leading to clean water. That is a little melodramatic, but sadly, it is a fact of life for millions.

I'm an immigrant twice over now, but each time it has been from one industrialized, English speaking country to another. Also, I'm not emigrating for political, religious, or some type of life saving reason. I'm doing it because I really love living in Canada. There are so many resasons besides hockey, beer, and words spelled the proper British way (even though the British own all the houses...that's another story).

I love being shocked by schools having photos of the Queen rather than the President. I love ketchup potato chips. I love pronouncing "Weber" as "Weeber". I love listening to jokes about Newfoundlanders and getting the punchlines (but I don't laugh, because that would be mean). I love hearing "Welcome home" when I pass through customs at the airport. There are a thousand of these, and even now, I'm starting to sound cheesy - so enough of this. I'm just happy and that's that.

As is customary among the ex-pat bloggers - here is a timeline of my application process.

August 25, 2005 - application submitted
October 2005 - corrected applications resubmitted
December 20, 2005 - application accepted in Buffalo
December 19, 2006 - application transferred to Detroit (Rock City)
May 2007 - request for medical exam
July 2007 - request for additional documents (I got married, they needed proof)
July 25, 2007 - medical results received in Detroit
August 7, 2007 - request for passport

...to be continued (and thanks CIC!!!)

first the fat boys break up

2007-08-03T01:33:00.000-04:00

glassware_argus
Originally uploaded by alexkinsella64

My buddy Dan Mickelson from Wisconsin just told me that the Argus in Madison is closing down and is supposedly becoming some kind of high end night club. Sad panda man, sad panda. For those who haven't been to Madison (and if not, what the hell is wrong with you?) - the Argus was one of the older pubs around. I didn't even go to university in Madison - but I did make my way around the pubs and bars there when I got the chance.

I've always felt bad about permanently borrowing glasses from places - but with the Argus closing, I feel great about it. Until someone drunkenly drops it - I will have a piece of history.

I'm not recommending going out and taking glasses - that is wrong. Do not look at this gallery of photos.

plan this

2007-08-02T04:25:00.000-04:00

Best line from a blog post detailing wedding planning tips that I've ever read -

"There's no reason to bother meeting with more and more vendors if you've found someone whose work you like and whose price fits your budget. Is it possible that someone getting married across town from us is going to have better flowers? Maybe, but our guests won't know, so we don't care. (Besides, does such a thing as "better flowers" even exist? Oh, you know what? Fuck you.) "

I totally agree with what this guy is saying. During our wedding planning, we really didn't get stressed out until the day before - and there were only two things that stressed us out. For Laurie - it was not being able to print the seating cards because the printer wasn't working. No big deal - we used a different printer. For me, it was not being able to tie my tie correctly. I wasn't trying to be a perfectionist or anything - it was just damn hot in my house (no A/C) and I was sweating. So I asked my dad to tie my tie for me. Problem solved.

Planning for us was easy. We looked at one venue - liked it, signed up. Flowers - we got them at Sobeys - saved a fortune, looked great. Our friend Sharon had a live band at her wedding. They were awesome, so we signed them up - a little more than a DJ would cost, but much more fun. As for the insanely expensive cake - we went with a girl just starting out. Cake was awesome (cake taste testing was the single greatest night of my life). Just go with your cut (and your wallet) and remember that it is supposed to be a party.

For anyone getting married - please read that article, take it to heart, and relax and enjoy throwing an awesome party. That's what the day is for and don't let anyone tell you any differently - unless they are paying for it, then they can say whatever the fuck they want to.

Also - go with open bar, you will never regret it - although some of your guests might. Them, and whoever has to clean up after them. I won't mention names, but you know who you are.

Po ta toe

2007-08-01T08:26:00.001-04:00

Picture 021
Originally uploaded by bmsox622

Since it is the 1st today, I’ve decided that now is a good time to track my expenses for a month and then come up with some kind of budget. Budget? Yes – seriously. I feel that I’m old enough now to start being responsible when it comes to discretionary spending. That is the word for today by the way – discretionary. Try to use it in a sentence today if you can. Anyway – I’m thinking about this budget as I drink my $2 coffee from Starbucks, and it occurs to me that I have to write down that I spent $2 on a coffee from Starbucks today in my budget. Seeing that expense marked down makes me reconsider my two to three time a week habit. Maybe I should just suck it up and drink the coffee from the machine upstairs. Hey – the coffee is free. Sure the milk is the kind that can sit unopened in a cupboard for four months, but hey – free is free, eh?

In non-budget related news – I was reading the awesome blog “The Consumerist” yesterday and they had this article about Burger King coming out with ketchup flavoured potato chips. Instantly, there were 15 or so comments from other readers pointing out that Canada has had ketchup flavoured chips for decades. Yet another shining example of how Americans know absolutely zilch about their neighbour to the north. Sure, it is just ketchup chips – but that is just the tip of the ice berg my friends. Ice bergs are ketchup flavoured here too.

The fan is not oscilating

2007-07-29T22:41:00.001-04:00

My brother John has posted three new entries over at his blog about life in Mongolia. Judging by

DSCF4214
Originally uploaded by Khansella

his posts, life in Mongolia seems to revolve around wearing a funny outfit, going to modern looking night clubs, and then inexplicably going tubing down a river the next day. I admit - I am jealous of his lifestyle. I am, however, quite angry with two things. First, he is by far a better writer than I am. Better than I will ever be. Second, the only "style" that I could call my own was my awesome ability to take drunken self portraits. Now, my brother has chosen to start doing these and I am left with nothing. That was my thing man - my thing! What now? Thanks. Merry Christmas to you too.

Anyway - I learned something tonight. Do not eat Taco Bell before playing hockey. You will feel sick the entire time (hello heartburn) and your burps will smell freaking terrible.

I spent the weekend reading Harry Potter books. I'm not really a huge Potter fan (I prefer the spirited adventures of The Baby Sitter's Club - but that's neither here nor there. I want to read The Deathly Hollows, but my wife says I should read the other books first. This is what happens when you get married, your wife makes you read the first books in the series before trying to read the last one. In two days, I managed to complete "The Prisoner of Azkaban" and get half way through "The Goblet of Fire". One thing I noticed - the "Goblet of Fire" book has way more in it then the movie had. Hopefully I can finish it this week and get on to the "The Order of the Phoenix", which probably has nothing to do with going to see a Cardinals game.

Focus. FOCUS.

2007-07-25T04:00:00.000-04:00

Wayne and Ann, my new Aunt and Uncle In-Laws, bought us this awesome video camera as a wedding present. It is the Panasonic SDR-SD10 - and the two best things about it are that it is water resistent and drop proof - two features I wish my digital camera had before it was dropped. Damnit. Anyway - here is the first video I made with it. I haven't shot or edited anything since 1998, so excuse the camera work and sloppy editing.

If the player doesn't work, try this link to see the video.

I wonder if they have pudding?

2007-07-23T05:31:00.000-04:00

As tradition dictates, we received an awesome Cuisinart coffee maker as a wedding present. Previous to the Cuisinart, we had a Wal-Mart no name coffee maker. It worked well, until the coffee pot was knocked out of the coffee maker and onto someone's head (who will remain nameless) and then onto the floor. Upon meeting the floor, the coffee pot was seperated into a thousand pieces. Some of these pieces continue to make their presence known by imbeding themselves in my foot on a, thankfully, not too regular basis.

Anyway - last night I decideded that it was time to try and replicate the "Foldger's" commericals and find out if the best part of waking up was really Foldger's in my cup. Sadly, I had bought Maxwell House coffee instead of Foldger's - so my house is now a Maxwell house. I followed the instructions and set the Cuisinart's auto-on function to start brewing coffee and precisily 6:31 am. I always set my alarms for odd numbers - never 7:00 am, always 7:01 am. There is no logical reason for this.

I wake up this morning, have a quick shower, get dressed, and then walk down the stairs. As I get to the kitchen - the inviting smell of freshly brewed coffee greets me. I quickly grabbed the paper from the front porch and then proceed to pour myself a cup.

Mmmmmmmmmm.....coffee. While it is was no coffee house coffee, it was still decently delicious. I read the paper, drank my coffee and then took off for work.

Around ten minutes into my fifteen minute drive, I started to get heartburn. "Heartburn? How can I get heartburn from coffee. That only happens when I don't eat..." BREAKFAST. In all the excitement over making coffee, I had completely forgotten to eat breakfast.

Holy shit, that is the lamest story ever. EVER. I am wired now though.

Where do I start with this ignorant cow?

2007-07-05T06:00:00.000-04:00

A few months ago, I walked into a Starbucks and ordered a venti, extra hot, non-fat, no-whip cafe mocha. I then walked out of the Starbucks and kicked my own ass.

I'm mentioning this today because I was a Starbucks this morning (just ordering a coffee, I swear). There was a hipster in front of me with his girlfriend (or his beard, I couldn't tell) and he was trying to order for her, but her order was such a conveluted mind fuck of an order, that he just gave up and let her order for herself. There drink total came to over $10.00 for two drinks. What the hell did they order? All I could make out from his stutterings were the words "venti", "iced", and "extra shot"....so who knows. Since I don't really give a shit anyways, I didn't bother to stay around and find out what they ordered.

What I'd love to do is order a "ghetto latte". This is when you order, say a tall Americano in a venti cup, add milk from the condiment bar, and then ask the barista to microwave it for you which becomes (wait for it, wait for it) - a venti latte. How awesome (and cheap ass) is that? Some people object to it - read this Starbucks gossip page for the heartbreaking debate.

What do you think? (I think I wish I had some Baileys to put in my coffee.)

Brand New Stuff

2007-07-02T22:14:00.000-04:00

Mitch Hedberg once said "I have so much tarter, I don't have to dip my fish sticks in shit". The only reason I bring that up is because 102.1 "The Edge" has played that same clip twice now during their "Mitch Hedberg Moment". There are so many other good moments to play, I'm not sure why they keep playing that one. Also, Hedberg has been dead for two years now, so why start plugging his material now?

Anyway, speaking of good moments, you might have read in "US Weekly", "In Touch", "Life and Style" or "People" that I got married last month. I try to keep my personal life out of the tabloids, but those son'bitches just don't quit. Fucking telephoto lens. Speaking of camera (what is with the segues), there are some links at the bottom of this post to some photo galleries of the event of the year.

I really need to drop some names of people who made the wedding rock -

My parents and Laurie's parents for all their help, patience, laughter, hard work, and generous financial contributions.

The entire bridal party who took care of an awesome pub crawl, bacherlorette party, and wedding day drink fetching.

Bardia Bina for planning an awesome bachelor party in Toronto!

Greg A. for throwing an equally fantastic night in Waterloo!!

Jenn Haus for baking the most awesome wedding cake ever. Banana and chocolate icing is the best combo ever!

Sandy MacDonald and his band for rocking the hell out of Grey Silo.

Emily Dempster and the other two musicians whose names escape me at the moment. If it wasn't for the fact that I have no tear ducts (or emotions), your music could make me cry.

Doris and the entire Bingemans and Grey Silo staff for making the night fly by without one problem. It has been a month and people are still talking about the meal. You all out did yourselves 1000 times over.

The cart girls at Grey Silo for convincing my Canadian hating friend John that Canada has something to offer besides nationalized health care and ketchup chips.

Everyone is came in from out of town/province/state/country to party with us.

My brother for finally turning the "how are you successful" question into something funny for his toast.

Bryan for telling me I never had a shot. Also, for almost getting taken down by a 50 year old. Good times, good times. :) Finally, for putting up with my nonsense - especially the 8:45pm camera shopping trip so I'd finally shut up.

Keith from Energy Limo for giving us an awesome price for the Coors Light limo. Yes, I said Coors Light limo. Nothing screams class like having the Coors Light limo at your wedding.
Dean and Erin of Calvin Photography for capturing an astonishing number of great photographs.
Don Perron for marrying us.
Laurie's mom, my mom, Aunt Ann and Uncle Wayne for decorating the Timber Room - amazing job!
Michelle for somehow getting into every single photo that night.
Everyone for coming out and celebrating with us!
Laurie for marrying me (cheesy, but true)!!

...and now for some photo galleries...

Khansella's gallery
My photos
Bryan's gallery

23

2007-05-09T07:43:00.000-04:00

In all my years, I've only owned three pets - a hamster named Penfold, a cat named Snowball (which, yes, I know is really, really, really cliche), and a beagle named Snickers. Forgetting the cat and hamster, I've always thought that I was a 100% "dog person". I thought this until I came across the website - I Can Has Cheezburger.

Cat people are weird - and that weirdness is perfectly illustrated on this website. People upload "cat macros" or "lolcats with macros for your convenience" to the site to share with other cat lovers. The whole idea is to put poorly constructed sentences, sometimes Engrish sounding phrases on phot0s of cute cats. There is also a thread of walruses looking for their buckets - I'm not really sure about how that fits in with this whole internet phenomenon, and I really don't want to question it.

I've decided that if I did get a cat, I want one that looks like the one above. Every time I see that photo, I can't help but feel better about the world. That doesn't say much about my mental state, but hey - what can you do, eh?

Last night, we booked our honeymoon to fabulous Las Vegas! I know that most people probably wouldn't pick Vegas for a honeymoon spot - but we've already been to The Royal Decameron in Panama this year, which was technically "honeymoon-ish". WestJet has awesome packages on right now - we're going to stay at the MGM Grand and see a Cirqe de Soli show gamble away the kid's college funds. That means I can bet a total of, let me check the account, ah - we can gamble with about $3.50.

Fifty One

2007-04-11T06:45:00.000-04:00

The biggest event of spring in Canada has to be Tim Horton's Coffee's "Roll Up The Rim To Win" contest. After you finish your cup of coffee (and I stress "after" - I've learned that from experience) you can "roll up the rim" to see if you've won a prize. The top prizes are pretty damn good; Toyota Camrys, 42" plasma televisions, iPod nanos....The regular prizes are free coffees or donuts. Now I've won about four free coffees this year so far - which is the worst I've done in the four years I've lived in Canada. Four coffees? What the hell? I drink two to three of these damn things each day and I've only won four coffees?? If it wasn't for the fact that I'm hopelessly addicted to coffee, I would have quit playing a long time ago. Still - when the contest is over, I'm going to try and quit and see how long I can make it.

I wonder if anyone's made a pot of coffee yet this morning?

Y2K7

2007-03-11T09:15:00.000-04:00

The Dell Dimension 4100 is the best computer ever. Woke up this morning and the time was already set right. Oh yeah. Eat that Dell PowerEdge 9820.

Being that it is a dictionary

2007-02-08T17:14:00.001-05:00

06800006
Originally uploaded by alexkinsella64.

There's an updated gallery of Heather and Ken's wedding photos from Panama. I'm prone to go a little overboard with the photo taking - especially after I've had a couple drinks. Combine a 1 gigabyte SD card, my Panasonic FX03, and an endless supply of pina coladas, banana daiquiris, and a concoction called a "Tropical Decameron" - I ended up with over 400 shots. I've trimmed the gallery down to 169 of the better (and less incriminating) shots from the week. There's also a small gallery from our time at the adult only pool, Palo Alto, with the swim up bar, or as it is affectionately known - The Adult Pool. We brought one water-proof disposable camera with us, but we ended up clicking it out in one day. Thankfully, we had an extra, regular disposable camera - that for some reason was wrapped in a package that looked like denim. Seriously. I'm still not sure why they did that. Anyway, I found that any camera can be brought in the pool as long as you keep it above your head.

Every time we'd go to the Adult Pool and order a drink - the bartender would double the order. If you asked for two daiquiris, he'd respond "..no. Quatro." Four beers was always "...no. Ocho cervezas." Needless to say, he was our favourite bartender.

Here's a brief breakdown of the entire trip. I cannot stress enough how awesome the Royal Decameron Beach Resort is. If you're looking for a vacation idea, then for the love of whatever supernatural being you believe in, take a look at this place.

Monday
Flew to Panama. Landed on the wrong runway. Our plane clipped the tail of a parked cargo plane. Pilot got out, looked at the other plane - got back into the cockpit and taxied away. We tried to get him to at least leave his number on a piece of paper under the cargo plane's windshield wiper. Luggage claim was nuts - most of our bags were randomly placed in two large piles that were on opposite sides of the conveyor belt. Finally found bags, got resort info and made our way to a couple of buses. Cold Panamanian beer was waiting for us. Two hour bus ride to the resort - stopped at a cool restaurant for more beer ($1 Coronas) and some local grub. Arrived at resort - check in process was extremely quick. They also served tropical punch with rum during the process, which helps. Dropped off our carry on bag at the room - very spacious. Met up with the rest of the group for dinner at the buffet restaurant "Pacifico". Forget what we had, but we never had a bad meal at any place there - so we'll just go with that for the rest of the review. After dinner, went to the first bar on the beach. Someone suggested sambuca shots to honour our surviving a plane crash (see above). Somehow made it back to the room. Some people ended up taking a head dive into bushes on the way home - so the bar ended up with the nickname "Header's". We ended up there every night for the rest of the trip.

Tuesday
Got up early and went to orientation. Learned that we should not use our beach towels to reserve chairs on the beach. Later, read some of the book I bought in the airport - "A Year In The Merde" by Stephen Clarke. It's a good read. Put on a generous supply of SP30 and headed to the beach. Had a couple pineapple daiquiris. Booked an excursion to a house boat on Gatun Lake for Wednesday. Went back to the pool. Had a couple beers. Went to dinner at the buffet "Atlantis". Ended up at "Header's" again.

Wednesday
Woke up early for the excursion. Two hour bus ride. Stopped at a Super Xtra grocery store to get bananas for the monkeys we'd be seeing. Met with our captain, a guy from Texas who spoke Spanish really well. Took a ride in a cool speed boat through Gatun Lake. Made some pit stops to feed bananas to monkeys. They were the same breed of monkeys from "Outbreak". Didn't let that freak me out, but we didn't feed the monkeys either. Had an awesome lunch on the house boat. Took a canoe to a waterfall. Another two hour ride back to the resort. Met up for dinner. Had a couple drinks at "Header's".

Thursday
Josh wore the shortest shorts he could find. Went to play golf with Paul, Steve, Josh and Dean. The golf course almost didn't let Josh play - was able to convince them otherwise. I shot about 10 over par. 10 over par on EACH HOLE. Went back to the resort. Changed for the wedding on the water front. Wedding ceremony was awesome (we also learned about Panamanian laws...long story). Reception was outside next to a pool. Fantastic food and drink. Danced a little. People jumped in the pool. Took a fierce photo. Danced some more. Ended up at "Header's".

Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Spent each day either at the pool or on the beach. Played giant chess with Sandra and Troy's kids. Didn't learn my lesson two times at the Adult Pool. There were some stitches involved once. Went to Manuel Noriega's bombed out house on the beach. Jumped in the pool myself one night. Went to a little restaurant off the resort called Pipa's. Had a three lobster tails, jumbo shrimp and rice for $25 dollars. Also - beers were only $1. Generally enjoyed myself too much.

As I said before - Panama is an awesome country, and you should go. When it comes to writing travel reviews, I just get to the point I guess.

Viva Panama!

I generally encourage belligerence

2007-01-30T11:47:00.000-05:00

We just got in last night from Panama....here are some photos, but I have way more than these.

Vamos a Panamá

2007-01-21T16:06:00.000-05:00

Si, es verdada. In a little less than twenty four hours, we'll be on our way to sunny Panama City for Heather and Ken's wedding. Just to be clear, we're talking about Panama City, Panama - not Panama City, Florida. Also - I am singing the Van Halen song constantly, thanks for asking. I'm not even the biggest Van Halen fan - so this is kind of weird. I feel like listening to Guns-n-Roses "Appetite for Destruction" just to clear my head.

To be honest, I have no what idea what Panama is like. I've been reading wikipedia articles on the nation - and it seems like we're all missing out on a damn cool place to go. I hear people talk about Costa Rica all the time - it's where Heather and Ken originally looked at - but the prices there are nuts. I'll be taking a ridiculously large amount of photographs over the next couple days, check back for a link to Flickr later.

I've got to get my gear packed (must remember underwear). Have a great week.

Aren't much better, but better

2007-01-10T08:55:00.000-05:00

Politics as usual? Well, in the U.S., sure - but as newbie in Canada I'm constantly amazed at the differences between our politicians. One example from tonight was newly elected Liberal party leader Stephan Dion's appearance on "The Rick Mercer Report". At one point in his life, Dion was a Quebec seperatist, he even ran for office for the seperatist party. Now he's a federalist - and Mercer asked what changed this. Dion told a story how he went door to door campaigning, and at one house - the man of the house invited him in. The man's wife poured them some rum and cokes, and they spent the night talking politics. After three hours, Dion left and "....I was a federalist and I never drank rum and coke again."

Personally, I love the fact that politicians here have the freedom to tell a story like that. In the States, he'd be labled a "flip-flopper" or something else idiotic. People can change their views over time and aren't pigeon-holded into one set of beliefs for the rest of their careers. I'm trying to find a clip of the interview to post.

Anyway. Today marks my seven year anniversary of working for the same company. I believe this officially qualifies me as having a career - which is amazing because I am a software development team lead, while my university degree is a B.S. (ironic, isn't it) in Russian and Eastern European Studies. Anyway - happy anniversary to me, great job man, great job.

How many fillet o'fishes did you eat

2007-01-02T07:42:00.001-05:00

P1000299
Originally uploaded by alexkinsella64.

The holiday season has come and gone. We've escaped with our lives and house intact, save for some minor liver damage and a broken shower curtain rod. Our second annual New Years Eve Eve party was a rocking time (in my humble opinion). In an odd way, I'm glad people don't RSVP to it, because then we have surprise guests. Here's a link to the photos from New Years Eve Eve and News Years Eve at Lara's house.

Happy New Year!!!!

Law of Attraction

2006-12-27T11:08:00.000-05:00

For those who don't know, I'm applying for permanent resident status in Canada. That's like a green card. Anyway, my application has been transfered from the Buffalo consulate to the Detroit consulate - which means something, I'm just not sure what. Either way, I'm happy that something is happening and it is a nice post-Christmas surprise.

This is just the first step on my journey to be Prime Minister of Canada. Canada is great, because unlike some other country I will not mention, naturalized citizens can hold the top federal government job. You know who you are, country with the seal with an eagle holding an olive branch and arrows.

Schwarzenegger for President!

Soylent green is made out of people.

2006-12-27T08:32:00.000-05:00

Who wants chestnuts roasting on an open fire when you can have cold Coronas in front of an open fire instead?

I wonder if there's an alternate universe where a second ice age has already happened and Mexico's average winter high is 4° C. Would the houses in Mexico (now the world's superpower because of it's lack of glaciers) have fire places? Do houses in Mexico have fire places now?

Why am I even thinking about this question? Because it's the week between Christmas and New Year's Day and this is the time of year when I ponder these types of questions. As Casey Kasem would have said (not really) "Boy, is this fucking ponderous man...ponderous, fucking ponderous."

I'm not sure where I get these ideas from. I once read an article in Rolling Stone, or maybe the fucking Internet, about a pick-up artist. The pick-up artist claimed he could use the power of suggestion and subliminal tricks to get women. One of these tricks was to say the following during a conversation;

"My best ideas comes from below me."

Now I'm not sure what that even means or where you could fit that into a conversation, but all the same - it is pretty funny. Funny like this joke I heard this weekend;

"If big breasted women work at Hooters, where do one-legged women work? IHOP!!"

Now that is funny. Funny like this picture of a hamster holding an automatic rifle I found on the awesome sports site - Kissing Suzy Kolber. KSK won best sports blog from the Bloggies, which is like the Oscars of blogs, which pretty much means what you think it means. All the same, congrats to them - and their blog does rock.

Continuing on the sports theme, I went to my first - and because of ticket prices - potentially last Toronto Maple Leafs game at the Air Canada Centre last night.

The Leafs prevailed over the Wild 4-3, and I even was able to witness my first penalty shot. Well, not my shot - it was some dude named John Pohl, who just happens to be from Minnesota. I've always wondered if it feels weird to score against the team from your own state? Probably not considering how much they get paid. Minnesota is a cool state too - mainly because they elected Jesse Ventura governor. I like California for a similar reason.

The four day Christmas/Boxing Day weekend is over - and it ended way to fast. I'm not sure if it just that I'm older and time passes quicker or what, but damn - I feel like I didn't even have one day off. This week I only have two days of work, and then it's cleaning time in preparation for New Year's Eve Eve. It already feels like it's Wednesday.

Shit. It is Wednesday. Ok, I'm off to clean. Have a great week.

It is not snowing

2006-12-21T22:18:00.001-05:00

Seriously. There is not one flake out there. It's like nature is using "Head & Shoulders" out there. I took the trash and recycling (Yeah Earth!) out in flip flops and a t-shirt. Could this be global warming? Well, if you live in Denver, probably not. It's just an unseasonably warm winter here in Waterloo and it looks to be a "green" Christmas. I guess it would be a "green" Christmas if you recycled gifts from last year. That's probably not what Al Gore had in mind.

Speaking of Al Gore, we rented "An Inconvient Truth" the other night. I'm not sure if it was the bottle of wine of Al Gore's monotone voice, but I fell asleep within fifteen minutes. All I could hear was "Lock Box, Lock Box, Lock Box..." and then I just dozed off. I woke up during the credits, and I felt guilty. Why? Because it's a documentary about how the Earth's fragile environment is more than likely going to be way worse than it is now in forty years and I went to sleep.

Does that make me a bad environmentalist? I don't think so. Here's why:

1) I recycle
2) We sometimes carpool
3) I don't use hair spray
4) I don't work for Big Oil
5) I've never clubbed a baby seal

That last one is more of an animal rights thing, but I just want it to be clear - I have never clubbed a baby seal, nor any other animal. The closest thing to animal cruelty in my past helping this guy in university feed mice to a snake. I still feel bad about that.

Anyway - Merry Christmas. I have no idea what this has to do with Christmas, but it's the thought that counts.

You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here

2006-12-11T14:40:00.000-05:00

My friend (and soon to be first time published author) Katie has a blog on the topics of writing and her dog named after the Winston Zeddemore character from "Ghostbusters".

That last part about the dog's name may not be true, but I like to think it is. The dog may be named after Sir Winston Churchill. However, seeing that neither Katie nor her husband are British (as far as I know), I don't see why they would do that. I could just ask her. I think Winston is a good dog name because dogs shouldn't have people names. What if you wanted to name your baby "Francis" or something, and then your neighbour names their dog "Francis". You can't use that name now, because what if your baby and their dog get out at the same time and start running/crawling down the street. Which one will answer? They'll both be confused. It's messed. Anyway, check out her blog whenever you get a chance.

The photo to the right is from the evite to this year's New Years Eve Eve party which will be held on, of all nights, December 30th. Leave a comment if you'd like an evite. Who doesn't love evites?

This will be year two, which I think qualifies NYEE (as the cool kids call it) an official annual tradition. We picked December 30th for three reasons;

1) Abundance of available cabs
2) A plethora of babysitters
3) New Years Eve Eve is no where near the psychological and emotional let-down, skull fuck that New Years Eve tends to be.

You may say, "Wow man, that's harsh". Harsh? Yes. True? Yes. Seriously. I'm not even going to count the New Years Eves from 1976 through 1990 as I was only 0 through 14 at the time and who can have a good time on New Years at that age? Well, there was this one year when my brother and I watched comedy specials on HBO, and we were able to hear the comedians tell jokes with curse words and it was fantastic. To this day, just shout "look at my wingspan, I can destroy you all" or "Trevor, Trevor, take us with you - we're all Christians" to my brother and he will piss himself.

Anyway - so 1990 through 2003. They were all crap. There was one time where my family went to see "The Amazing Jonathan" at the Comedy Corner, that was cool - but other than that - garbage. Then in 2004 - I had my best New Years ever in Cleggen on the west coast of Ireland. We spent the night at a pub called Olivers - ringing in the New Year in the middle of nowhere. It was also the night of the following phone call, which took place at 12:10am Ireland time;

Alex: "Hi."
Marian: "Hey Alex, where are you?"
Alex: "I'm in the future."
Marian: "Ooo, what's the future like?"
Alex: "It's all pastels and jet packs."

That was a good time. But really, save for those few good times - the rest of the nights are spent with people you'd probably want to avoid any other night. You get drunk and make resolutions you won't keep, and then you wake up around noon and not one thing in your life is different. Wow, that is harsh. I need to go have some eggnog.

That's why I like the 30th. I'm a "nothing risked, nothing gained" kind of guy - and that's what makes the 30th awesome. You're taking a risk by going to a party on the 30th and, well, hmmm.....ok, you're right - there is no risk there. But, it is still a good party, so whatever.

If you can't make New Years Eve Eve in Waterloo, you should throw your own.

That's all.

Snowballs

2006-12-07T08:08:00.000-05:00

I got an email yesterday from a co-worker asking me if I wanted to go get a coffee.

Of course I want coffee....so I was told to go out the side door and meet the co-worker there.

As I'm writing back, I see five of the other guys I work with leave the office. I think nothing of this.

I go outside and see the co-worker who sent the email.

Then I see the other five co-workers, plus another 10 people from the office - all running towards me with snowballs in their hands. It was an ambush - and my first snowball fight. I need to work on my aim for next time.

Want to be disturbed for the day....go over to Chowdaheads and watch his Christmas clip of the day.

It's the first of the month, grab your cheques

2006-12-01T08:04:00.000-05:00

Here is the audio clip where I got the name of this blog from. I find this clip to be inspiring and uplifting and I hope that by listening to it, you will find it easier to tackle life's daily hiccups.

Now i'll give you a moment to go throw up. That is the cheesiest thing i've ever written. Thank god the clip has nothing cheese ingredients.

I've got to go to work now and solve the world's direct store delivery issues. Happy December....New Year's Eve Eve in 29 days.

Isn't that the game old ladies play?

2006-11-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

Jetsetters Lounge
Originally uploaded by alexkinsella64.

We just got back from Jetsetters Lounge in Lake Worth where I stuffed myself with 24 oz mai tais and Jamaican jerk pork. Mai tais? Hell yell mai tais - they remind me of Hawai'i and luaus and for $7 a drink with a take home tiki mug....well, you can't go wrong.

My parents have been hitting up this joint since for a couple months now, and after their glowing reviews, I had to make it a pit stop on my stomach filling tour of my old stomping grounds. Lake Worth is definitely the Snow White to the wicked sister that is West Palm - if you're planning on ever being in the area, check out all downtown Lake Worth has to offer - it is a much better scene than West Palm. Sure, i'm selling out my former home town, but what they charge an arm and a leg for parking - so tough.

Anyway, back to Jetsetters. The theme is tiki meets James Bond meets 60s/70s post modernism....and with that, i've done this place no justice at all. Entree and app options are from all over the globe. Portions are huge and the service is rocking. It was, honestly, one of the best dining out experiences i've had in a long, long, long, long time. As mentioned before, I had the Jamaican jerk pork. My mom had the same, my dad had the Pollo Barcelona and Laurie had the Bayou Bowl gumbo. For apps, we tried the Cuban Cigars - basically they are Cuban spiced pork egg rolls. I'd recommend any of these items. They were out of the African Peanut Soup - which sucks because this is only the second restaurant i've seen this item at - and it's one of my all time favourite soups.

This is my first review - so work with me here on this...

Jetsetters Lounge
8 3/4 on a scale of 10 (1 being a bowl of shit, 10 being that scene from "Defending Your Life" where you can eat everything you want and not gain any weight and everything tastes great.

Shorten your punches

2006-11-26T12:30:00.001-05:00

Blue Moon
Originally uploaded by alexkinsella64.

This Thanksgiving, i'm down in West Palm Beach with Laurie and my parents. I've eaten too much left over turkey and chicken curry today and now I feel like I should go for a run or something, but that won't happen. It's a holiday weekend - a little indulgence doesn't hurt. Anyway - speaking of indulgence - I put down a 12 pack of Blue Moon last night. I only bring this up, because I noticed something on the bottle that angered me. As some are aware, Blue Moon is one of my favourite beers. Sadly, the LCBO and The Beer Store don't carry it - and that means the only way for me to get some is to drive to Buffalo and spend 48 hours there so that I can meet Customs Canada requirements for bringing alcohol into Canada. I don't have a problem with this - it just would be easier if I could get some down the street. Where is all this going? Well - look at the bottle, it is brewed in Toronto! Yes. The same Toronto that is a 45 minute drive east from my house. This makes me mad at Molson Coors - for I am in West Palm and can easily get a 12 pack of beer that is brewed 45 minutes from my house in Waterloo - but I can't get that same exact 12 pack of beer in the brand new LCBO that is a 10 minute WALK from my house in Waterloo. What is going on here Molson Coors. They will be getting a letter from me next week - and while I feel the need to lash out, I will manage to contain my anger and write professionally. Maybe my pleas will fall on deaf ears. Maybe I will touch them deeply with my witty prose (what witty prose? hopefully nothing like this crap). I'll keep everyone updated on my progress with this.

We love to fly and it shows

2006-11-15T08:18:00.000-05:00

In what I can say is the strangest bit of airline news in a while; US Airways has made a shock bid to buy my beloved Delta Airlines. According to this post from Ben Mutzabaugh over at USA Today, the offer was a total surprise to Delta, and it's actually a good offer - like 25% over the current trading price of Delta's unsecured credit claims - or something like that. I have no idea what they're talking about in the financial part of this - all I wonder is what happens to my frequent flyer miles? Good news - they want to fly under the name Delta - so I don't need to get new luggage tags or replace my "I (Heart) Delta) t-shirt that I wear all the time.

Good joke, eh?

2006-11-14T21:27:00.000-05:00

We're going to see a taping of the Rick Mercer Report at the CBC in Toronto this Friday. Rick Mercer is the Jon Stewart of Canada, or if I was to say that as a Canadian; "Jon Stewart is the Rick Mercer of the States". The Mercer Report website has clips from each show - go check them out and post a comment if you need me to explain what the hell he's talking about (or aboot).

I offer this service because, even though the U.S. and Canada share the largest unsecured border in the world, there are so many pop culture and political references that our two great nations don't share. For example, on tonight's episode of "This Hour Has 22 Minutes", there was a clip of Alberta's (that's a province) outgoing prime minister (governor) Ralph Klein made a joke at some roast or something - and he said "...Belinda Stronach doesn't have a conservative bone in her body...well maybe one (audience laughter)....speaking of Peter McKay...". Now most of you will have no idea what the hell that means or why it's funny. Well, it is probably not funny.

Anyway - Belinda Stronach is a member of parliment here in Canada. She was once a member of the conservative party - but switched parties and joined the liberal party a couple years ago. She happened to be dating another member of parliment at that time, and I guess the story is she dumped him and the conservative party at the same time. Now, if you don't know that back story - well, the comment isn't funny.

But that's why i'm excited. Not because Raplh Klein says outrageous stuff - but because I understand Canadian political humor. I know the backstories and history and I can watch shows like the Mercer Report and This Hour Has 22 Minutes and actually get what they're talking about. I'm also excited because I got the joke tonight about how Justin Trudeau will host any event Ben Mulrooney won't host. It's funny, eh?

Loco Moco

2006-11-07T13:35:00.000-05:00

In a continuation of fine culinary tradition, Maziere has made it to Maui and got himself a helping of loco moco. I also like how Vern and Maziere managed to turn their glasses to show the Coca-Cola logo. Awesome product placement. Very awesome product placement.

Sure, it's unhealthy - but it is delicious! Not fergalicious, just regular delicious. Has anyone noticed that "Fergalicious" is a complete rip-off of JJ Fad's "Supersonic"?

Lara and I are going to spend Friday drinking and scanning in Polaroids. Polaroids? Yes. My mom got me a Polaroid camera a couple years ago. I just bring it to parties and leave it on a table with some packs of film and let people take photos. I have about 300 hundred shots from the last five years. They're from all kinds of parties, from house warmings to wakes and everything in between.

Here's a scanned Polaroid from a couple weeks ago. It almost looks 1970's.

See, totally 1970's. That is Lara's brother Pablo from Ottawa. He is a ladies man.

Anyway - more to come over on the Flickr.

DNA

2006-11-07T08:18:00.000-05:00

My brother looks my uncle Raymond. I wonder if i'll end up looking like Santa Claus. Wait, Santa Claus isn't Irish - he's Dutch or something.

Stay out of the penalty box

2006-11-06T20:56:00.000-05:00

I love fajitas. Canada is not know for their fajitas (or anything else tex-mex for that matter). Thankfully, neccessity is the mother of invention and i've become quite the amature tex-mex chef. Tex-mex and Cuban....although my Cuban cuisine is made up of chicken with black beans and yellow rice. Let's get back to tex-mex.

We made fajitas for Lara tonight - and damn, where they ever good. I'm sitting here watching "HEROS" and basking in a post fajita and couple glasses of wine afterglow. Ah, good old fajita and wine induced afterglow.

One thing that's always freaking me about Canadian television is how they show U.S. shows on Global and CH (networks here) - but they don't show U.S. commericals. So during the SuperBowl - no good commercials, just the boring game. The good thing is, they seem to show most of the shows at different times than U.S. networks, so if you miss a show - you can always catch it later. Then again, there's not a hell of a lot out there to watch.

So i'm watching "HEROS" and it's a damn good show - although I secretly wish it would only last a year. For example, I really like LOST - but this season is kind of wack. Maybe it will be like that one season of "The Sopranos" were no one died until the very end when Tony killed Joey Pants after Joey set a stable fire that killed Tony's horse.

Anyway - back to "HEROS".

It's the best ever

2006-11-06T08:10:00.000-05:00

Here's a tip. Skip the risotto. I'm not saying that has anything to do with the fact that the tip of my knuckle is missing and the cheese grater is in the sink. There two have nothing to do with each other.....just look over there for a minute.

Ok. All better. So, how was your weekend? Me? How nice of you for asking. Friday night, we held a charity poker tournament to raise money for a friend of our's sister who has to travel for medical treatment. It's a horrible story - the kind of situation that makes you feel like shit for being angry at your mom for when there wasn't any milk that one Tuesday, sixteen years ago, when you wanted a bowl of cookie crisp, really, really, really bad.

We raised over $1400.00 - which is not bad for one night of poker. If you're saying prayers at any point during the day, drop a line for Catherina. Nicole, saying a prayer during confession for what you did this weekend counts, just thought you'd like to know.

Last night was hockey school - where I was finally able to skate backwards. After last Sunday's tap dancing fiasco - where I have to say, I really did look like Savion Glover on speed, I made a pledge to myself to watch all the hockey I could and see how they moved their feet to achieve this "backwards" momentum thing. Turns out, you gotta stay on your toes. So last night, Matt the coach runs us through this exercise of going forward to the blue line, then turning around and go backwards, and then at the next blue line, go forwards again - and I was able to do it. Three people came up to me and said how much better i've gotten since the first night. This is good and bad. Good because i'm improving, and that was the whole plan. It's bad because they noticed how bad I was when I started.

Don't Vote

2006-10-26T07:53:00.000-04:00

The AARP (American Association of Retired People) has this ad campaign on promoting "Don't Vote..........(long pause)...until you know the issues". Personally, I think it's a great slogan - though it seems that the only issues the AARP care about are social security and medicare drug coverage. I was raised in an environment that had no love for the age of retirement. My parents get angry at restaurant staff who try to give them a senior's discount. They like to pay full price for their entrees and don't try to talk them out of it. If you ever want to have the crap kicked out of you, just mention "early bird discount" to my dad.

I'm not even voting in this election.

(Silence from the audience)

Yeah, yeah - I know. "How can you not vote? Don't you care about democracy?" I do care about democracy, I just forgot to email in to get my absentee ballot. So i'm shit out of luck. Still, it feels weird voting for elections in a country I don't live in. I'm even in the district where Mark Foley was a congressman. Also, contray to reports, did not molest me at Ultima Fitness in downtown West Palm. I'd vote here in Waterloo if I had the vote, but I don't - yet. Don't worry, i'll be sure to get my absentee ballot for the next presidential election. Who i'll vote for? I'm writing in Arnold. Hasta la vista.

Soured your sheeps milk

2006-10-24T21:25:00.000-04:00

The trailer for season six of 24 dropped today - i'm probably the 1,000,000,000,000th person to post a link. That's the power of the internet - inundating you with the same twenty of so links every day. I have to say, as much as I love 24 - i'm not sure how I feel about the season coming up. From what I can tell, some terrorists are making threats and the only way they'll stop is if they get to kill Jack Bauer. For some reason, the Chinese buy into this and send Jack back to the states (he was on a slow boat to Bejing at the end of last season). I think Jack mentions sacrificing himself at least three times in the promo. Isn't that what he does every season? He is the ultimate team player. If he worked in an office, he'd be the guy who'd always make sure the water bottle was changed. He would fill the paper towel dispenser with towels when it was empty. Sure, in the fictional world of 24 - Jack takes a beating at the hands of a random bad guy every season. Jack in the office world would replace the toner in the copier - and check that the letter paper tray was full.

Everyone who's ever worked in an office can relate to being under appreciated at some time in their career. It sucks - but most of the time, it's just one person in the office who doesn't get what you do, and well - you really don't care anyways. Jack goes through this on a much larger scale. His coworkers have occasionally shot at him, gave him up to the bad guys, and hit him up for a coffee when they were short on change. Yes, the world of CTU is just like your office, except they have video phones. Video phones are creepy anyways - and they always seem to have their cameras pointing up your nose. In retrospect, your office is probably better.

On a completely different note - i'm excited because I got rid of my phone and DSL service and went with Rogers Home Phone and cable internet. It's much faster and cheaper and in only a way i'd appreciate, the cable modem is way cooler looking than the DSL modem. Geek. Geek.

Dinner at Loblaws

2006-10-23T08:03:00.000-04:00

We saw "The Killers" perform on Friday night at The Kool Haus in Toronto. The only place to eat near the Kool Haus is a Loblaws supermarket. Fancy dinner and a show! Ok - on to the concert. First - awesome performance. The band sounded better live than on CD - which is damn impressive. I honestly hadn't listened to their new album "Sam's Town" too many times - but hearing it live made me run home and throw it on. Their set consisted of two new songs, then two old songs, and so on. They didn't play "Andy, you're a star" which is my favourite song of theirs - but hey, what can you do? When they played "Mr. Brightside", I felt like I was in an episode of "The O.C." - which was scary because I kept thinking Micha Barton was lurking around the stage. Chills.

Last night was the third night of hockey school. The coach says I finally got the crossovers down - which is great news because I thought I was still screwing that up. I fell down a lot - which is good - because if i'm falling, that means i'm trying really hard.

Falling down = trying hard? Go figure.

Rules

2006-10-20T08:29:00.000-04:00

I've learned two things from Patrick Swayze. First and foremost, i've learned how to defend your town from Soviet backed South American communists who invade Texas. Second, i've learned the rules to life (From "Roadhouse" of course). These rules are:

All you have to do is follow three simple rules. One, never underestimate your opponent. Expect the unexpected. Two, take it outside. Never start anything inside the bar unless it's absolutely necessary. And three, be nice.

Tonight we're going to see "The Killers" at the Kool Haus in Toronto! I'll post more about that tomorrow. For now - it's off to a hard days work. Keep on truckin'.

Smack that

2006-10-16T12:09:00.000-04:00

If hockey is Canada, then i'm the recently added province of Nunavut. I'm two weeks into the developmental hockey program at RIM Park. This is the first year they're doing this program - the idea was to have an introductory hockey program for people who aren't at the skill level to join a regular league (this describes me perfectly). The program is great and suprisingly, I'm actually able to keep up with what's going on. It's full gear on ice too - so I finally get to wear my Hartford Whaler socks. No one can stop the Whale.

In other hockey related news - my company had it's annual Thanksgiving food donation road hockey tournament over the last two weeks. Thanksgiving is in October here. Anyway - you bring in $20 bucks worth of food in order to play. It's five on five in the parking lot. This year, we had three teams. I was on the same R&D team from last year (because we rock). We don't rock enough to win though - but we did get to the final game, so that's something to be proud of. At least, that's something my mom would say. That's me in the green hoodie. It was fucking cold out there. It actually started snowing as soon as we got outside. Snowing on October 12th - hopefully this means it will be a good winter and i'll have enough snow to build that half pipe in my backyard.

The last two weeks also had the amazingly fantastic Kitchener Waterloo Oktoberfest. Now, I didn't win the Molson Oktoberfest VIP contest this year - which was probably a good thing because the second time is never as good as the first. This year, we went to Ruedsheimer Haus at the Waterloo Rec Centre. It's typically the university crowd joint - but there were people of all ages there - good times. It also helped that we know all the security people - they're all from the same dojo where Lara goes. Knowing security is a damn good thing.

But getting back to not winning the same contest again this year. I'm happy I didn't becuase spontaneity is extremely important - and winning the contest again and then going to all the halls wouldn't have been the same as the first year. This is different than overhyping something. For instance, we're having a New Year's Eve Eve party again this year - and i'm not hyping it up - because I want it to be a good time. That party was spontaneous - it was planned and just ended up being a fun night. The impromptu after party that was thrown after the work Christmas party was spontaneous - therefore, if we plan one this year - it won't be as good. That sucks, because it was a good party. We'll just wait and see.

I have no illusions about me being Wayne Gretzky

2006-10-02T07:58:00.000-04:00

Here is a short list of things I learned about myself when it comes my knowledge of hockey fundamentals. It also more than likely describes my ability to the aforementioned fundamentals.

While skating forward is easy enough, skating backwards is not.
I'm no so good at doing cross-overs while walking sideways.
The secret behind the two feet stop eludes me.
The secret behind the one foot stop eludes me.
I can stop fine if I just skate into one of the boards.
Dropping your gloves and pulling another players jersey over their head at a hockey fundamentals class is not acceptable behaviour.

All in all, it was awesome to finally get out on the ice. There are two weeks before the next class, and I know what I have to work on (see list above)....so I have my work cut out for me. Good news - we're getting jerseys, and jerseys count as swag - and I live for swag. Until next time sports fans.

That's not logic, it's paranoia

2006-10-01T15:36:00.000-04:00

I've lived in Canada for almost three years and to this day, I still don't completely grasp how the health care system works. From what I understand, there was national health care across the country. It turns out that each province (provinces are like states for those unaware) runs their own health care system. Here in the #1 province Ontario, the health care system is called the Ontario Health Insurance Plan. On the streets, the cool kids call it OHIP. Anyway - something like 70% of our taxes in Ontario go to funding the health care system. This includes everything from local hospitals to paying family physicians.

I'm bringing this up because we had a mini-crisis here yesterday. The local hospital (and my front yardneighbor), Grand River Hospital announced that they would be temporarily closing their emergency room due to a lack of staff. The closing had been planned for a while, but just announced yesterday - and it seemed to take the Ontario health ministry by surprise - so much so, that they came in and have appointed some type of overseer to run the hospital and deal with the staff shortage.

Now, I'll be honest - I have no idea what any of this means. I could barely understand the West Palm Beach hospital system - and they had their own problems. A few years back, a private company bought both local hospitals and started closing programs in each of them...which sucked because of course the quality of care went down. The problem here was that - if Grand River did shut their emergency room, the other local hospital (the not uniquely named) St. Mary's Hospital's E.R. would have to take in the patients who usually would go to Grand River. That would put an added stress on that E.R. and then, well, all hell would probably brake loose. If Dr. Venkman was here, he'd probably start shouting about "dogs and cats living together" - that level of mass hysteria.

Just to be clear, I'm not bringing this up because I think the health care system in the States is better. You can't compare them - they are two entirely different systems - and they both suffer from bureaucracy and lack of funding in certain areas. There have been emergency rooms in the states that had to close due to lack of staff and/or funding too.

Now thankfully, the emergency room at Grand River won't be closing down. The local TV news thinks that this will bring attention to the health care issues in Ontario - just in time for elections

Just as in the states, the issue of health care coverage and funding is continuing to be a career ending political issue. Hopefully leaders on each side of the border can look at each system and see what things work and what things don't - and use that knowledge to build better systems - rather than using the other system as a political red herring. Like Communism.

Long Walk

2006-09-21T20:43:00.000-04:00

While I was doing laundry, I missed the season 3 start of "The Office" on NBC. I'm not really upset by this, because I've decided to give up television. Again.

Television is my "cigarettes". I've given it up before. Sometimes for months at a time.....but then i'll have a couple drinks with friends, and before you know it - i'm watching "Friends" on TBS and drooling as I wait for reruns of "The Family Guy" to come on. Then it turns out that it's not "Family Guy" night, it's "Everybody Loves Ramond" night - and well, I just never liked Raymond that much.

Now i've given up television again - but there's a problem. "LOST" starts in two weeks. I'll say to myself "It's ok Alex - just one show won't hurt. You deserve it - you've had a hard day at the office developing mobile applications for the direct store delivery market..."

You get the point....it will just sneak up on me like a tiger. Rarrrrr. Khansella is pissing himself laughing at that right now.

So i'm checking out iTunes, looking for some good songs, and somehow I end up browsing through someone's playlist of freestyle classics. Freestyle is a musical genre that developed out of Miami in the early 80's and still is on the radio is most major markets - including Toronto. Two odd stories - I actually saw TKA live in a club in Fort Lauderdale once....but I have no idea what songs are theirs.

The better story is this....

I was in Bozeman, Montana on a gig a couple years back. The customer was an Anheuser-Busch and Miller distributor. Now this is strange, because typically, AB distributors only distribute AB products. Sometimes they'll distribute partner brands, or in the old days Corona or Heineken - but never products of another big 3 brewer. So the gig is going well, and on the last days of live training, the drivers invite me out to a the Crystal Bar for some well deserved after work beverages.

We're on the rooftop patio and the drivers in the AB uniforms are drinking Miller Lite and the drivers in the Miller uniforms are drinking Bud Light. In my business, you drink what the customer makes - so in this situation, I was already confused. Confused, and scared because I had no idea what to order - I never want to offend anyone. I settled on switching between the two, and the night went a lot smoother after that.

Eventually, the patio became more and more crowded as the kids from Montana State came trickling in. A group sat at the table next to (more like on) us, and we struck up a conversation. There were two girls, both brunettes, and four or five guys. I asked one girl her name....

"Lisa..." she answered. One of the drivers asked the other girl her name and girl #2 also answered "...my name is Lisa too."

Now here is where I thought I was witty....

(to the group of guys at their table) "...and who are you, the Cult Jam and Full Force?"

Silence.

Apparently, they had never heard of the 1980's latin freestyle group "Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam". They hadn't even heard of Full Force, who stared in a couple films with Kid N'Play for crying out loud. Who hasn't seen "House Party" at least once?

A dance was $5 dollars, a beer was $7

2006-09-15T01:10:00.000-04:00

I've been in Toronto all week at a conference....and tonight was the end of conference party at The Guvernment House featuring a performance by Rick Springfield.

I don't know what else to write about that. Here are some photos of the evening that hopefully are worth a thousand words.

Livy, Allison, and Krissy were nice enough to let me crash at their apartment for the week - and in return, Livy came along to see Rick Springfield. Yes, seriously - Rick Springfield. He smashed a guitar on stage. Just look at the photos.

Hurry up and wait

2006-09-12T07:22:00.000-04:00

Got to Toronto.

Had drinks at the Royal York. No celebrity sightings.

Walked around Queen Street West. No celebrity sightings.

Had dinner at Xacutti. No celebrity sightings. Delicious food. Let's just call it even so far.

My Blackberry has died and i've forgotten my charger so i'm trying to download the Blackberry desktop software so I can use my laptop to charge it. Of course that would require getting my laptop on the internet, which isn't going so well. Now i'm running around trying to get the software downloaded on someone else's PC and then use my digital camera to move the file over. I'm like McGyver, but without explosions or suspense or a mullet.

It's raining outside, which is weak, because I have to walk ten blocks to the Royal York and I have no umbrella. Hopefully it'll let up. Anyway - off to charge the Berry.

Bad Ideas

2006-09-11T07:29:00.000-04:00

I like to believe you can learn a lesson everyday. Yesterday, I learned that putting a block of knives on the bottom shelf of a kitchen island is not a good idea when there are three children under the age of 3 running around your kitchen. Thankfully, a smart parent pointed that out to me and I quickly moved the block of knives up to the top of the island.

Lesson learned.

We hosted the Fighting Pints year end BBQ at our house - damn good turnout if I do say so myself....and thankfully most of the food was eaten. There was a considerably large surplus left over from our team fees, so we were able to buy enough food to feed a small militia. I also managed not to burn anything (a lesson learned from New Year's Eve Eve) and no one left with any injuries - all in all, a successful BBQ - Fighting Pints style.

Ohhhh.

Spankings

2006-09-10T09:11:00.000-04:00

I'm not the biggest sports fan on Earth - not by a long shot. I'm not the biggest sports player either, but I do like college football - mainly because I was brainwashed into liking it during the four years I spent at Florida State.

With that being said, let's review where my three favourite teams stand after yesterday.

Florida State vs. Troy - FSU comes back and wins 24 to 17. Not bad, not bad - and two wins makes a winning streak, so we're off to a good season so far.

Arizona State vs. LSU - The Sun Devils lost 45 - 3. That looks like a Cardinals score.

Wisconsin vs. Western Illinois - The Badgers win, 34 - 10. I wish the Badgers played Syracuse (the nearest university to me), so I could go watch a game. I also wish they would bring some brats and cheese curds with them.

OK, enough of my excellent, in-depth sports reporting.

Today is the Fighting Pints BBQ. I have to mow the lawn, but I have absolutely no motivation to do it. It's 9:30 on a Sunday morning. I'm not even sure why I'm up this early. This is insanity.

I've found that as the weather gets colder, I start going to bed earlier and getting up earlier. This past week, I've been getting to work at 7am. It's nice to be there when it's quiet and get some work done, but all the same - I'd rather sleep in a little later. I wonder if my body thinks it needs to hibernate at night, but then in the morning - it realizes that it's not a bear, it's a human and humans don't hibernate - so it wakes itself up. That is kind of existential, isn't it?

Happy 27th Birthday to my brother Khansella too!!! He has birthday picks posted at his site.

I've got my eye on you

2006-09-08T16:48:00.000-04:00

All I have to say is "..You get to keep the sheets as souvenir..."

...and they said the American entrepreneurial spirit was dead.

I keep on having these dreams where i'm either on an airplane or in an airport and i'm going somewhere. Where I'm going, that I have no idea. Also, I continually think in the dream that i'm late. This is really fucked, because according to Moli Moli, you have no sense of time or numbers when dreaming. Apparently, if you can put yourself into a lucid dream state and try to do algebra, well - then you'd be screwed, because nothing would add up.

So i'm travelling, and worrying, and that's pretty much the entire dream. I'm not sure what that means. I'd like to imagine that it means my diet is lacking in tacos - but that's not it. I wish, but that's not it.

It's go time. See you Monday.

Last cereal post for a while

2006-09-07T16:06:00.000-04:00

Ok, this is it - Cereal Mashup. I'm done with cereal writing for a while, as is the guy who posts to Cereal Mashup. He also has another site, The Impulsive Buy, which is a damn good read.

I'll leave you with this....

What the What the Lady Like?

2006-09-06T21:19:00.000-04:00

It is September. This is cliche, but damn - where did the summer go? It seems like it was just yesterday when we were getting back from Boston (where I didn't fall asleep driving the entire trip) and getting ready for the May 2-4. The May 2-4 is Queen Victoria day. There's a giant statue of her in Victoria Park (go figure), and it really gives me the creeps. That and the fact that you'd probably get mugged walking through that park at night.

That's neither here nor there.....we're in September. The wedding season is over, once a month three day weekends (thank you Canadian Federal Government) are over, hell - the leaves are already changing colour!

What could cheer us up? I know. How about a nice bowl of "Chocolatey Peanut Butter Cruch"? Yes children, you heard correctly. Those barn-raisers over at Quaker Oats have messed with the ultimate peanut butter cereal (Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch, for those of you who are uninitiated) by adding chocolate flavour to the mix. What's the verdict? It's very reminiscent of "Coco Puffs" - but much thicker and it doesn't turn your milk into witch piss chocolate milk. Sure, sure - there are cereal purists out there who say that Michael Jackson-esque chocolate milk is the best part. Well, they're entitled to their opinons - even if they're wrong. Someone very near to my heart once said to a girl during an argument, "...I have to respect your right to have opinons, I don't have to respect the opinions themselves - especially since they're stupid..."

This past weekend, we went to Ethel's on King where I noticed this sign advertising a "5 for $15" special on Coronitas. Coronitas are the little 8oz Coronas. Many people ask me why anyone would want a small beer like that. One word - golfers. The beers stay cold long enough for the golfer to consume them. You can get 8oz cans of Budweiser and Michelob too. A couple guys from one distributor in Wisconsin took me to a bar where they had a "7 for $7" special on Coronitas - which even a calculator user like myself can see is a much better deal. That's taxes for you. Anyway - what interested me about the sign was that it was not a Coronita sign, but a Corona sign with the letters "ita" written in blue been. Also, someone had changed the price to $14 dollars for 5 Coronitas - i'm not sure if that was some form of graffiti or an actual price markdown. Usually, the same four brands go on sale at the beer store. It rotates between Coors, Canadian, Bud/Bud Light, and Alexander Keith's (Happy 211th Birthday!)

This weekend, we're watching all of "LOST" season 2. Every episode, back to back, in order to get ready for the season 3 premiere in October. Some would call that obsessive, but I just love a good mystery - televised or in a book (preferably in a book) - and "LOST" fills the void until my next shipment from Amazon.ca gets here.

I know it is not a mystery book by any stretch, but my copy of "Chuck Klosterman IV : A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas" gets here next week. Every book so far has been a day read at best - I can't put them down. Come on UPS, get your ass in gear.

Billy, get out!

2006-08-28T12:22:00.000-04:00

Here's another example of why Florida is the worst state in the Union - Katherine Harris. I'm sure she's a very nice person, but how can an elected legislator say something like "If you're not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin..."?

Seriously, that's the exact quote given to the Florida Baptist Witness, the weekly journal of the Florida Baptist State Convention. This woman led the effort to end the 2000 recap, she has accepted illegal campaign contributions from defense contractors, and on top of that - her own party has come out and declared that she can't win the upcoming election.

Then again, this is Florida - and you really can't expect that much. Once again, Florida - great place to visit, would never want to live there. Again.

What's Your Beer Personality?

2006-08-23T16:10:00.000-04:00

Somehow, i'm Samuel Adams

You're fairly easy to please when it comes to beer - as long as it's not too cheap.
You tend to change favorite beers frequently, and you're the type most likely to take a "beers of the world" tour.
When you get drunk, you're fearless. You lose all your inhibitions.
You're just as likely to party with a group of strangers as you are to wake up in a very foreign place.

What's Your Beer Personality?

Short order cook

2006-08-20T17:25:00.000-04:00

I'm back from a week's vacation in Pointe Clark, Ontario where we spent the week doing nothing but reading books and drinking wine - and I would go back in a second. I don't think there is such a thing as a bad vacation. Maybe if you got that bug on a cruise ship that makes you shit yourself, that would be a bad vacation - but then again - the cruise line would either refund your money or give you a voucher for another crusie (a bacteria free cruise hopefully), and in the end - it would work out in your favour. Hell, you'd probably loose a couple pounds too - so where do you go wrong?

Let me get back to the topic. I read the LOST tie-in book "Bad Twin" and Augusten Burroughs '"Dry" - a memoir about going through rehab (which is always odd to read as you down a margarita). "Bad Twin" was actually really good for what it was. I wasn't expecting much - but it delivered suspense and gave some clues to LOST - awesome, because I'm a LOST fanatic.

"Dry" is another great book by Augusten Burroughs - the authoer of "Running With Scissors". The guys has had a seriously fucked up life, and of course that makes for interesting reading. In this memoir, he recounts his days working at a New York ad agency and being forced into rehab by his work partner. Unlike A&E's "Intervention", which really just go for shock value of the intervention - this book really shows what's going on in his mind as the weeks of rehab go by and he begins to change his lifestyle in order to keep sober. Totally great read - go pick it up.

Heat

2006-08-02T07:57:00.000-04:00

I was driving to work and I noticed that gas at Petro Canada was $1.10 a liter. That's about $4.18 a gallon. Seriously. If you live in America, you're probably thinking "My god - that's freaking expensive for a gallon of gas..." and, well - it is freaking expensive for a gallon of gas. What's worse is that it's even more freaking expensive for a liter of gas than we're used to. When I moved to Waterloo a little over two years ago - a liter of gas was $0.74. Two years and a $0.40 increase - not the worst on Earth, but still.

When interviewed, Oil company execs will say the price of gas is going up simply due to an increase in demand and not enough increase in production. The blame on the lack of production is often attributed to environmentalists - who work to block the construction of new oil refineries and drilling in the environmentally sensitive areas like the Gulf of Mexico.

It sounds like it makes sense - but then there is some bullshitting going on here. Please explain to me how demand can rise so much in 12 hours that last night gas was $1.02 a liter and now is $1.10 a liter. In the last three months, gas prices have gone up and down quicker than a manic depressive with an endless supply of coke and valium. $0.98 in the morning and then $1.07 at lunch - in the same day?

It's such a futile thing to complain about. Even now, when I see a liter for $1.02 - I think to myself what a great deal that is. In three months, $1.02 has become the new "cheap gas" - while in Decemeber, $0.95 was the "cheap gas". In all likely hood - $1.10 will be my new marker for when to fill up the tank. Or maybe i'll start riding my bike and see if that helps bring demand down.

*************
Update - gas is now $1.14 a liter.

I've got five on it

2006-07-17T17:26:00.000-04:00

You've got to go to over to CNN.com and check out the clip of the "candid, open, uncensored" conversation between Bush and Blair at the G8 summit. For those of you who live under a rock or have a strict IT policy, Bush and Blair were having what they thought was a private conversation... cameras were rolling, but the mics were supposed to be off. In the conversation, Bush says "...See the irony is what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit and it's over." I've put the word shit in a font face because shit is such a bad word. Bad, awful.

Come on, he's the leader of the free world (and a former baseball team owner) - do people honestly think that he never uses "colorful" language when speaking to other world leaders? I can't stand the coverage of this because it reminds me how damn puritanical the U.S. still is. I wish he had have dropped "the f-bomb" during the conversation - now that would have been awesome. Even better would have been if he paraphrased Samuel L. Jackson's line from "Snakes on a Plane" and said "...what they need to do is get mother fucking Hezbollah out of mother fucking Lebanon....". Now that would have been awesome. It would be more awesome if Samuel L. Jackson was president.

It reminds me - although how I don't know - of a conversation I had once in Fort Myers. I was having dinner with Quack and Pat - they were still in grad school at Florida Golf Coast University, and I had come over for some reason. It was probably to go to the Fort Myers Ale House for chicken wings and five for $5 Bud Lights. Oh how I miss five for $5. We're having dinner and we're talking about work, and one thing leads to another and we start discussing the advantages and disadvantages of FedEx vs. UPS. Seriously. About ten minutes into this conversation, Pat breaks in and remarks - "You know what the problem is - we used to talk about fucking, and now we're talking about FedEx..." It was a sobering moment - although once again, i'm not sure why. It could have been because it was one of the first moments that I realized we were all really out of university and working in the real world. But that is garbage - it was funny and memorable because both subjects of that sentence start with the letter F - and that is just funny. It wouldn't have been nearly as funny as if he had of used UPS or DHL. That just goes to show you, throwing in a curse word every now and then can be funny.

Shit.

Typical

2006-07-14T08:58:00.000-04:00

DSCF0823
Originally uploaded by johnkin79.

My brother is a Peace Corps volunteer in Mongolia. Everytime I call him, he's in a bar or a club or at a party. Ritchie has an amazing knack for finding a party to go to - it's an amazing gift - and I'm truly jealous of it. Not that i'm a party slouch or something - I do have low grade narcolepsy, but i'm still a partier. He just puts me to shame.

I could shame him now by telling the story of how an Indian dinner didn't agree with him and we had to miss a frosh-week party in Madison, but that would just be mean.

Here's a link to his Flickr page.

**Update**

I'm on the phone with my brother right now. He's at a store buying beer, and then going over to a friend's apartment for a party. I'm really the pot calling the kettle black when I make comments about his partying habits. But who are you to judge me?!?!?

Do you know the meaning of the word foreboding?

2006-07-13T16:21:00.000-04:00

Immigration Threat

2006-07-10T08:14:00.000-04:00

DMick sent this over -

My 3rd Canada Day

2006-07-04T17:17:00.000-04:00

Canada Day 2006 028
Originally uploaded by alexkinsella64.

Technically, this is only my second Canada Day. I was in Maui on Canada Day 2004. I only mention that I was in Maui - well, because it's Hawai'i and i'm obsessed with Hawai'i. That's not the point, the point is - Canada Day is not just one day - it's an entire weekend - or as they call it here in Canada, a long weekend. While my fellow Americans had to go to work on Monday - my fellow Canadians enjoyed it off relaxing at their cottages or doing yard work.....and Canada Day was July 1st - a Saturday. How is this possible you ask? Well, in Canada, they are so efficient that they always take a Monday off for national holidays - and if the holiday doesn't fall on a Monday, they just pick the closest calendar Monday and take it off.

It's fantastic. So here are some shots from the weekend - check 'em out.