Beer Goggles

Everytime I bring my camera with me for any kind of drinking, I always think I've taken more pictures, and better pictures than I really have. At the time with the eyes a bit glazed over, and the small LCD screen for review on my camera, everything looks nice and in focus.

Then I get the camera home, hook it up to the cable, fight with the software to download it (FYI I've never had anything but trouble with the software for Canon products, definitely going to remember that the next time I go camera shopping), and browse through and get maybe 1 or 2 shots from an evening that both turned out, and had any kind of significance.

Last night was no different, making a liar out of me when I said there'd be pictures to come. All in all though, its not the worst kind of beer goggle experience possible. Glass half empty, glass half full thinking. The glass is fully empty now though.

Oh Three Hundred

Well, its almost 3am here. Tonight was a wedding party party for one of my buddies' wedding. That means, meet all the bridesmaids and groomsmen slightly more formally than just meeting them while you're a couple pitchers into an evening. Instead, you make an effort to stay sober until whoever s expected to show, shows.

Infact, tonight, it was fully my intention to have a brew or too and drive on home. But, as is often the case in the presence of friends who's main goal in life is to twist your arm, 1 or 2 beers turned into 1 or 2 pints, turned into 4 pints, some more beers and then hitting some mixed drinks.

By now I'm obviously aware of the 'beer before liquor' adage, but I think there's some clause for when the two are mixed with homemade meatballs and all the veggies you can eat.

So instead of driving home, and crashing and catching up on some sleep, here I sit on a comp that's not mine, with a split keyboard, a mouse that doesn't left-click properly, and has no sound at 3am, debating whether to stay awake, sober up and sleep in my own warm bed, or crash and drag my sorry ass home in the morning.

Tonight I was made blatantly aware of just how fast my guitar playing abilities fall off while drinking. Obviously I knew the decline to some extent before, but when it comes to the point where I can't even play power chord Green Day songs properly at the request of a girl, no matter who she is, then I have clearly lost even the most mundane and simple tasks available to me. I'm a sucker for imported beer and peer pressure, what can I say?

Cheers to beers of Eastern Europe, and a bed to sleep in...pictures of stupor to follow...

Heimlich Anyone?

Despite our 'locks' for medals being huge flops this Olympics, some surprises have still gotten us to the highest winter games total ever. The hockey team simply suffered from too much pressure, and too much of a Maple Leafs presence, but next time around we won't have to worry about Pat Quinn being the man behind the bench. I don't think Gretzky will be GM either, instead taking a position behind the bench for the 2010 games in Vancouver.

I don't think we iced the best possible squad, but with injuries and contractual obligations, no team really did. At least I have heard no reports of any of Team Canada taking anything but the high road unlike Mike Modano. No excuses, we just didn't bring it, but you can be guaranteed on home soil in 2010 there'll be nothing less than gold awarded to the boys in red and white (and black) in GM Place.

I don't know if Jeremy Wotherspoon will still be skating by then, but maybe he too can do something about not choking the next time around. All in all though, I can't be disappointed. Looking at the top 5 countries in the medal standings right now, in order: Germany, USA, Russia, Austria, Canada, we are second only to Austria in medals per person in the total population. And lets face it, when you grow up in a small country that is entirely mountainous, you live on downhill skis, so you're gonna win all those events. We've done alright, as we did in the last summer games, with the population pool we have to draw our talent from. If you've got something to say to the contrary you can take off...

Head Hung in Shame

I'm sure you all know why I would be locked in shame this evening, but I can't bring myself to speak of it...except to say three words: Canada, upset,.....

curling.

Okay so two things, but the other one is still too sore to really discuss. Today in general has been frustrating between mail that fails to arrive, poor performances on ice, and the neverending issues with computers, particularly those that arise when trying to switch to a new operating system. I'll spend some time looking at it tomorrow in a more relaxed frame of mind, but if not, I will once again revert to being a mindless whore of the Micro$oft influence.

That's all I've got for now without resorting to excessive use of the words fuck, ass, fuckass and bitch.

Look into the Void

Well, I'm a bit bored, and aggravated and disappointed with Team Canada's performance in men's hockey in the past 48 hours. However, instead of going off and making comments about Pat Quinn and Bryan McCabe and showers and soap, that I really wouldn't regret later, I decided to try out this Johari window business from Nick's blog. Mostly jokes, but take a run at me!

Or you could cop out and just check the results here, but then I might start a violent protest outside your house, so choose wisely.

...Lets Play Ball

My tickets for the Blue Jays regular season opener came in the mail today, and I've got to admit I'm pretty excited about the upcoming season. The moves that they made in the offseason this year should give them a realistic shot at making the playoffs this year over one or both of Boston and New York. Assuming that John Gibbons can get them all to mesh together like the hardworking kind of team they were last year, it should be an exciting late August through September. There are no really big egos on the team, and none of the guys they brought in are known for having egos bigger than their responsibility to the team either, so there should be no issue.

I didn't make it to a single game last year, and for that I was really disappointed in myself and my own committment to the team, my ego just got too big. Rather, my wallet shrunk too small, but this year I plan to make up for it by going to at least three games with the other two most likely candidates so far being the Vernon Wells and Cito Gaston bobblehead days. With all the money they put forward to sign these guys, they're gonna need all the fan support, that is asses in seats (but you'll only need the edge?), that they can get this season. I would like to think they're out of the financial trouble that Montreal went in to and lead to their departure, but if we flop over the next few years with these big contracts, you can be sure the fan support will dwindle and there will be some concerns about baseball staying in Canada.

Now, I would be lying if I were to say my motives lie only in the support of my team. The only time I really go to Toronto anymore is for the Jays games, not the trips to the ROM or CN Tower as a kid, or the occasional concert that I used to have money for. Since I didn't go to a game last summer, it has been nearly 2 years since I showed my face downtown, and towards the end of last summer, that lead to a major bout of Street Meat Withdrawal Syndrome or SMWS.

Sure I spend many evenings in the summer barbecuing some great processed meat, and some great natural cuts as well. And there's always a vendor or two along my path to and from the university. But nothing can compare with the juicy perfection of a big city street meat vendor, they are simply untouchable. Last summer I didn't get even a nibble of the greatness, and so, along with showing my support for the Blue Jays, I'll be working on fulfilling a two-year quota of delicious tube-steaks. O.K. Blue Jays!

VD

Yes, its that day of the year. Best described by Sandy Cohen as "a vacuous, commercially driven, shell of a holiday", its the day where the attached get all gushy and engorged with chocolate and flowers, while the single remain indifferent to the profits of Hallmark, La Senza and Victoria's Secret.

With all that out of the way, I will be spending the evening with my loved one.

She's always there to give me her love, assuming I have the money to pay for her, but without having to go downtown, and only rarely talks back to me. I don't have to buy her chocolate, infact, she doesn't agree well with chocolate at all. And I'm free from buying flowers, or lingerie.

She doesn't mind if I look at others of her kind in a desirous fashion, and doesn't harass me about it in the morning unless I've run off to Bombay with a few Crowns and my on and off (mostly off) buddies Jose and the Captain. In short, we have a great symbiotic relationship, so this night I'll show her some love, and she will me.

Someone's Gotta Case of The Mondays

I'm feeling particularly lazy this morning, so I'm gonna use this post to whip my ass into gear. In a quick addition to the title, that 'no talent assclown' Michael Bolton is apparently a half decent golfer. Watching Mike Weir choke it up in the final round yesterday, they cut to some of the amateur players, and there was Michael Bolton and his PGA partner tied for the lead in the teamplay aside portion of the tourney.

Anyways, on to the fleshy part of this post, but not really, since I'm just gonna throw some good posts your way and divert attention from mine for the day. First off, Ciavarro's take on the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics.

Next up, Matt Good gets the award for funniest post about Dick Cheney's recent itchy trigger finger. He also took the time to answer a number of fan questions in a podcast last week. Of course he hasn't shyed away from the normal commentary either, but I thought I'd keep it light around here.

Last, Tony too decided to take some reader questions (including some of my own) and answer them post style. His solution to world hunger is so obvious that I don't know how it hasn't been put in action yet, but I'm sure some of my friends would love to help set it in motion.

And now its time to go make the most difficult decision of the day, french toast crunch, or apple cinnamon oatmeal.

Barrel Jumping

Everything looks set for my summer employment, the job was offered to me, and now it just has to be processed through the system on monday. The job is going to be good for me on a number of levels, not the least of which is a nice bump in pay from what I'd been earning my past few work terms. I'll also be inheriting a minivan, mostly for use at work, but for whatever I want so long as I find a way to afford to keep it on the road after 4 months of using it to travel to, between and across field sites. I could get into all the intrinsic benefits and how it will be great experience, but I used all that kiss-ass stuff up in the interview, and no-one cares about that anyways.

ManU is up 3-0 over Portsmouth; Ronaldo after sucking it up for a while there has scored 4 goals in 2 weeks, and so is the hottest player in the Premiership right now.
Canada just won its first medal of the Winter Games; a gold courtesy of Jennifer Heil in women's moguls. It should be the first of many more to come, including victories in both men's and women's puck. The women's team is always a force, and on the men's side, players like Burnaby Joe and Martin Brodeur are heating up just in time to get it on like donkey kong...you know if DK strapped on a pair of skates. Does anyone know if anyone actually participates in barrel jumping as a winter event anymore?

UPDATE: Apparently they do, but not so much as a competitive thing.

Long jumping on ice skates appears to have been an informal sport in the 19th century among the Dutch. It may have grown out of obstacle races, in which speed skaters had to jump over fences, walls, and man-made barriers.

Never have I been more proud of my Dutch heritage...or the Canadian one that keeps things rolling...

Occasional competitions are still held in the Province of Quebec, most notably as part of the Quebec and Montreal winter carnivals, and barrel jumping exhibitions are sometimes included in ice shows. But the sport is definitely on the decline.

So, who wants to help me save a sport?

Why Don't You Get a Haircut, and Get a Real Job

Alright Mr. Thorogood, and your Destroyers, I listened to your generous advice. At least, I think I did. The interviewer was doing his best to tell me as much without outright saying so because of the rules involved and blah blah blah. The co-op system through school is confusing as hell, and a pain in the ass to work with, but from what I can tell, I find out on the 13th whether I'm employed for the summer term. The 13th which clearly must have some special importance among the superstitious and pagans and whatnot...it is after all....a Monday? No-one likes Mondays.

Going into the interview I had some good word put in for me by a former employee who I now owe at least one pint of some good imported beer of his choice, but I think it was all the hair that did it for me...

8-Ball Corner Tocchet

The fact that the NHL is now getting all concerned over this alleged gambling ring is to me ridiculous. First off, the New Jersey police already stated that there was no betting on hockey by the NHLers involved, no Pete Rose's here. That said, is gambling really going to steal your baby or kill your grandmother? MAYBE if you're an addict who doesn't know their limits, but the same can be said of alcohol, or thrill-seeking, but come on...some gambling on a sport outside your own trade and so not fixable in any way should not be a cause for concern to anyone.

The first argument against this will probably be the massive amounts of money likely involved, but I'm sure the people involved had the massive amounts to spend anyways and didn't see it as any kind of loss, but merely a small thrill and added excitement to some sports. Let it go. Even the least sports inclined of us throw money in the occasional March Madness or NHL Playoff pool, there are far worse things going on, even within North America, than to worry about something petty like this.

Onward and Upward

Well, just as I was ready to give up on the co-op process, an interview for a job I applied to showed up on the online system yesterday. If all goes well tomorrow I may secure a way out of this bums life for the 4 summer months leading into my final year. With that in mind, I decided it was probably a good time to clean myself up some, good impressions and all that. Went out and got myself the cheapest haircut I could get without doing it myself again, and a brand new pair of khakis from a discount rack. I'll only likely wear the things once or twice, so why invest? And if I don't get the job, they'll be in a Goodwill bin in no-time cause they will have ruined my lifetime streak of getting every job I ever interviewed for.

I probably just screwed myself saying that...oh well, my hair was starting to get a bit annoying anyways, I just hope it doesn't take as bloody long to find out if I got the job as it did for me to find out if I got an interview so I can explore some alternatives.

Tonight marks Antonio Davis' return to the Raptors line-up. He left under less than impressive circumstances, but he seems like a class guy and hopefully the fans at the ACC tonight take it easy on the guy and realize he's here to finish out his career hard, while adding some much needed size down low. Maybe they'll even make a pretend run at the last playoff spot yet this season, gotta love the eastern conference and their collective heaping pile of suck...

Cathode Ray Tube of the Damned

The other day I mentioned in a drunk mumbling kinda way that my tube monitor was dying. In more detail, it was still displaying picture properly, but the onscreen menu they build into all monitors now (as opposed to the dials and knobs you got on the sweet old school ones)was screwed up, and I could not adjust brightness, contrast, colour, etc. So, I went through a 2 hour ordeal of disconnecting the cables from both my monitors, and rearranging my desk, and then switching the monitors, losing a bunch of shelf space in the process. The end result that my primary monitor became my nice crisp, clear LCD monitor, leaving the tube as the secondary so that when it finally fried i'd still have a working main screen.

Now, all along I've known that the LCD was a much nicer display, but the problem was the deskspace involved with the new set-up. But I didn't realize how much nicer it is for reading long text documents from the screen.

Surfing blogs, reading the news, and now reading the coursenotes for my boring first-year philosophy arts elective; all much better on the LCD, but I'm still not sure I like the clutter everywhere now as I have organizational issues in my room to begin with.

Fast forward to this morning. The dying tube monitor is working perfectly normally again and is just sitting there taunting me like it never happened, "whattsa matter crazy man, you losing your mind?! i was working all along. you need to ease up on the drinking." I've been having some of those vivid, semi-realistic dreams again lately too, which adds to the confusion in an already poor memory lately. Where was I going with this post anyways?

Sexual Harassment and You

My buddy Steve came across this this morning on the new buzznet video sharing beta. From experience, don't drink coffee while watching...

That is all.

"God is Great"....

...so why don't we go torch an embassy in his, her or its name?

Angry protesters attacked the Norwegian mission after storming the Danish site amid chants of "God is great". - from BBC

Now I can understand being raised with certain beliefs, and taking offense when a joke is made of them, particularly in today's world climate, but is mob mentality really the way to go? Another of my major problems with major religions is how readily through time people are willing to become militant over the religion because of differences in belief, apparently in direct contradiction of the teachings of peace and understanding that seem to be central to all of them, just told through other parables, experiences, and books.

Hopefully they find some way to quell that situation with the comic soon. I believe in free expression and don't think the comic should be banned, however I do think that some better discretion could be used. At the same time, at some point true religious leaders should feel a greater obligation to emphasize passivity and calculating thought as opposed to destruction and violent hordes. The best religious figures through time have done so.

FireBeer

Well its been a few days. Nothing spectacular to report except that I have set up a streaming radio server, but since I have a dynamic IP address, and a limited transfer rate itsreally only good for sharing a song or two with someone, or streaming to someone who wants to request music...

my tube monitor is dying, but I don't have the money to buy a new one just yet, hopefully the taxman is good to me.

and tonight i've been drinking firebeer after the bar, aka, Fireball and Root Beer...delicious shit. The same night I discovered that though,my buddies and I also tried mixing fireball with iced tea. Do you all know the Michaels Craft Store chain? It tasted like the odour of that store...definitely not a winning flavour. Yes odour and flavour with a 'u'...I'm buzzin, so fuck you yankees! especially the ones that got all pissed off about me titling a post 'suburb of buffalo'...don't take shit so seriously...

UPDATE: almost forgot, the calendar in the bathroom at the bar i was at tonight proclaimed that a band called 'The Glory Holes' will be playing on Saturday; how classy is that?