Watching, reading and listening updates

I've seen some very good movies of late at home: Into the Wild, Iron Man and Awake. There should be something there for everyone, well maybe not my kids or my wife !

• Awake - Great thriller, but it was over a bit too quickly (how often do you say that?). As someone else had reviewed - a little Hitchcock like. Synopsis doesn't really tell the whole story. 4/5.
• Iron Man - Lots of fun, especially with Downey Jr. hamming it up. Robot cool. Interesting BD live quizzes and bonus features on BD too ! 4/5.
• Into the Wild - Great movie mixing good pacing, fantastic acting, beautiful cinematography and thought provoking storytelling. 4/5.

I'm not a big reader, but the one I'm enjoying at the moment is Lovely Bones. It's a bit of a chic lit book, but I really like the premise of the story. I just found out that the movie version is in post-production for release in 2009.

There are a few new angles on music I've been thinking about. Maybe it's my middle age, but the gentle sounds of Daniel Lanois, Beth Rowley, and Neil Diamond are getting more attention, especially in quieter times (and I seem to need more of those these days). I've been listening a little to CBC Radio 2 in the morning. And even enjoying the odd country track, like Dolly Parton's Jolene.









Still on the music thing, and back to my normal channel, the new Kaiser Chiefs is really catchy, looking forward to seeing them next week !

And finishing up with some TV. Apart from my faves like Top Gear (old episodes), House and Entourage, I just watched the premiere of another quirky HBO show last night called Summer Heights High. The Australian show stars and is written, and produced by the very talented Chris Lilley. Immediately funny and it brings back that familiar awkward feeling from The Office.

Americans deserve some good news

Over the last 8 years, they have been poked fun for electing one of the worst presidents of all time. Americans need a break and to gain some international respect.

Of course the big news is that America has elected its first black president. But I think there are other aspects that are important. Barack Hussein Obama II - there's a lot in that name. For one, I'm not sure if how many (if any) past presidents were first generation Americans (With Obama's father being Kenyan) . Someone asked me the other day if I thought America was ready for a black president. I said yes and my hopes are with many Americans in Obama and his chance to make a difference.

Just looking at some of the international reaction to the news was amazing this morning. It's like the world is sharing in America's joy. It seems ok today to love America and Americans for finally electing someone the world can respect. As one late night host said recently, there's probably some concern that the expectations are unrealistic. I hope we can view his progress with a healthy reality check and recognize the small changes moving forward.

But the sober thought is that he is only one man and the health and fate of America are controlled by many politicians, let's hope that many of them are drinking the Obama Kool-Aid, but some will not share in the enthusiasm for change.

I've heard some secondhand negative comments on Obama from Canadians re: the best president for Canada. I'm waiting on the full report from my west coast political consultant.

Apart from strong republicans, the only other sad folks are probably the comedy writers. The last 8 years have been pretty comical if you have a taste for that kind of humour.

Congratulations America, I'm happy for you guys.

Do you care who wins ?

It's Saturday morning and I'm just having breakfast and watching a little footy. Arsenal aren't on until later, so I'm not glued, but immediately was interested in the game being shown because it was 0-0 between two middle-of-the-pack teams in the second half. So I'm watching enjoying the ebb and flow that the game is renowned for. And I'm enjoying the attacks by both teams. I don't really have a preference on who wins this one, so I can simply enjoy the game.

I've always questioned a business friend of mine who is a big sports fan but doesn't support our local teams. It seems he really doesn't have many favourites at all in sport. I always feel that people like him and people who are more casual observers miss a large element of a sport if it doesn't matter to you who wins. That whole history of the team, the local and international passions and emotions, the heightened drama of local derbys, etc - they miss out.

However, there's the rub. If you commit yourself to a favourite, a local team, your home country, a team you follow closely and really want to succeed, then you're inevitably left disappointed on many days when they fail (just ask an England football fan). Perhaps this is why so many sports fans follow the big sports teams. They lower their risk of occasional disappointment, but still share in the highs. As an dded bonus, they're probably save a lot more money not wanting to buy the latest jersey for the favourite team too !

So what's best ? Loyally follow your favourite local team through thick and thin or simply enjoy the sport as a non-partisan observer. Do you hate that sinking feeling of watching your team lose a heartbreaker ? I'm not saying you switch off completely from a great sport, but you can perhaps enjoy that sport more if you have less invested. You can enjoy the sport for what it is, a competition of teams that can both offer great skill, passion, class and determination. You can share in the joy of their victories and empathize a little when they fall short of their goals. You get it all. The only difference perhaps is the degree of emotions you exposure yourself to. The thrill of victory or the agony of defeat.

Everton just scored. Great goal. It won't shape my mood for the rest of the day, but I'm glad I saw it live !

[I wrote the title of this blog after I wrote the content. I was struggling a little with an appropriate title, but thought this one was ok. However, it maybe broadens the topic beyond sport. After all, a rational person shouldn't really care about such non-important things as sport. But how about political races ? For the non-US readers - do you care who wins the US Presidential Election ? If it wasn't for the fact that the fate of the world was going to be put in the hands of a new player, it would be a pretty entertaining game, no ? More thoughts for a later post].

My Favourite Videos of 2008

A few weeks ago, I blogged about the bands I would love to see. One of those bands was The Killers. Ten days ago, I commented on my frustration at not being able to get tickets to see them play at Massey Hall in November. As an update to that, I found out this week that they will be coming back in January to play the Air Canada Centre. Massey Hall would have been a great venue, but I am now in possession of general admission floor tickets to Air Canada Centre!! So I am pretty excited. I have never been on the floor for a general admission show at ACC (I have for seated concerts). Looking forward to it.

In the weeks to come, I will be starting to look at the songs I loved in 2008. In the past, I have given a CD to friends of my top 20 songs. Since I have been blogging about the songs I have been loving (and have a list on the right), it seems a bit redundant. So I have decided to look at different categories, like best single, best album, best lyrics, best live act, etc.

I will start by sharing some of my favourite videos. I don't watch many videos, so feel free to add your favourite to my list of candidates. Official nominees will be announced in a few weeks.

The first one is by a band called Skint & Demoralised. I have been loving them for a few months now, but their music is not officially released on this side of the Atlantic yet. Here's the video released this week for their upcoming first single (being released in the UK in November).



He came up with the idea and it's his friend's first professional production. I love the angles, the lighting and the mystery of the paper. Part of me would love to know what was written on it, but I know that it's so much better for it to remain a mystery. Only a couple of the meetings were staged, but the best reactions were genuine. Love it. Since I first heard this song, I had such a vivid image in my mind of the song. It's interesting to see a different perspective (it's interesting to see a video of a song you have loved for a while as opposed to hearing a song the first time with the video).

Here's a video that is beautiful, breathtaking and heartbreaking (the album was released in 2007, but the video in 2008). James Blunt's Carry You Home. Again, this gives a completely different meaning to the song for me:



Here's the video for possibly my favourite song of 2008...Viva La Vida by Coldplay. Love the lighting, the colours and the fact that it's just the band and the song. I think this song is complete enough without a lot of stuff to distract from it.



Just to show that I'm not only showing artists I love, here's Madonna's 4 minutes...great dancing, great effects, great video:



A beautiful video for Adele's Chasing Pavement. Great song...Beautiful scene...love the shadows.



The Kooks' Always Where I Need to Be...fun and as a Canadian loves scenes of bands playing when they're cold...great jacket!!



Oasis - The Shock of the Lightning...very artistic...very busy...takes lots of viewings to catch everything...Beatles-like if I imagined the Beatles making a modern video.



Proof that I'm getting old. I have been reading about the Ting Tings for months and haven't been able to appreciate the music. Click here for the video (viewed over 6 million times - they have disabled embedding so I can't embed it into my blog)...cool video, but I can't get into the music.


I Will Possess Your Heart by Death Cab For Cutie
I confess, I haven't watched the whole thing yet, but I will - it's over 8 minutes long but the cinematography is gorgeous.




I will end with The Killers' new video, Human. Most of The Killers' videos for Human were disabled. This one has a Maroon 5 video tagged at the end, it's a great video but not sure if it's from 2008 or 2007. I'll look into it before I announce my nominees.





What's your favourite video of 2008?

Fighting procrastination - one slow step at a time

Here's one approach to chipping away at your procrastination problem. Make a commitment to do something. But that's it, nothing more. Because that would mean actually doing something. But by making a commitment to do it, you've convinced yourself you're tackling a long overdo problem and maybe you even have a plan. But don't go crazy, don't announce that plan yet, why ? Because people expect dates with a plan. And dates bring pressure and new expectations. With a commitment, you have the immediate joy of taking a positive step in the right direction, you can freely talk all about the decision you've finally made and cleverly rid yourself of the burden of inaction and indecision. However, you've made sure that you really don't have to do anything, yet. Brilliant.

Top 10 reasons you should let people know it's your birthday

10. People like wishing other people Happy Birthday.
9. Remembering your roots.
8. A good reason to check Facebook.
7. You get to spoil yourself a little.
6. An opportunity to reflect on life and share quotes like "I used to dread getting older because I thought I would not be able to do all the things I wanted to do. But now that I am older, I find that I don't want to do them anyway" (Lady Astor).
5. A chance to get lucky.
4. A good excuse for the bosses in your life when you have a long lunch, don't return the email as quickly as normal or forget something.
3. A pleasant reminder of one of the most important things in life - that you have friends and there are people that care about you.
2. Extra hugs and attention from your kids.
1. An excuse to get together with ya mates and do boy stuff.

Relax, it's not you

Do you ever get a little hurt when someone you're close to says something that you think is a personal stab. They say something or say it in a way that you feel is reserved for you ? That line or saying that just pushes your buttons and may cause the regrettable, reflexive I-wish-I-could-take-that-back response. These types of sentence structures or wordage are prefixes that grind on you and can formulate repeated annoyances, personal stress fractures or worse, life long grudges.

Well relax, it's not you. They speak that way and say those things to other people too. It's such a relief when you overhear them say those words to another person. You immediately go hey, whew, or what ? It's not just me that they say that too ! It's not personal. It's just their phrasing or words they commonly use when they're trying to make a point or in an argument.

This just happened a few minutes ago. I love it.

It's official - I'm past it

Today, I had the luxury of a little time to wander around one of my favourite streets in Toronto, doing some window shopping and seeing if anything caught my eye as an early birthday gift for myself. Queen Street West has always been tops in my personal tour guide of Toronto, both for street cred casual entertainment and fashion. I walked into a lot of shops and I even tried a few things on, but I couldn't pull the trigger on any of the clothes I was seeing. The items I my wish list don't seem to exist today, well, at least not in the cool shops. I think I used to be quite modern in my attire and kept up with most fashions and maybe even led the pack within my small social circles. However since spending a few years now in my forties, I think I have to admit I'm passed it in terms of hip male fashion. I can pull off the sporty-guy look, the dinner party guy and of course the business and formal stuff, but I don't think I have it when it comes to today's street fashion. Sadly, I ended up the walk at a department store picking up a new scarf and hat and some much needed, shirts for work. Sad. But on the way back to the office, I did stop at the gaming event tent to hang with the kids and check out the new PS3 games - groovy man.

Observations from the foodcourt

My orange juice - "Great New Taste" - its just orange juice folks, what could possibly be new about it ?

Communication breakdown - next-in-line dude trying to order his lunch from very thick-accented East Indian Tim Horton's server - lots of uhs, whats and looks of complete nonrecognition to questions about toastedness and payment options. I actually laughed out loud.

Still s lot of backward looking walkers - motto bellagrosso.

The story of me and the man who may not vote tonight

I was just walking to the polling station to vote for the local candidate in tonight's federal election. I noticed an old man across the street that was walking very slowly aided by an empty push-along shopping cart. He was slowing even more as he approached the big hill before the polling station. I continued my hasty walk, but then thought I'd see if I could perhaps return home and get the car and drive us both to our destination. So I asked him if I could help. He surprised me by saying he was trying to get home and was a little lost. He said he'd already voted and he was looking for #73 of the same street where I live at #74. But I didn't recognize him. He told me his name was William and the name of the lady he lives with. I ask him a few times if he's sure it's #73. He thinks so, but I can tell he's a little confused so we look through his wallet. Luckily I found a cheque with the address #37. So I offer to drive him home. I run back to the house, get the car and was relieved to see he hadn't disappeared on my return. I take him home and he tells me a little more about himself and he offers me his last $5 for the ride. I refuse and escort him up the walk to his home (he also asked if I liked rye or whiskey - I said we might have a drink together one day). A lady then greets us and says "you've found the wanderer have you?". Then she goes on to say they've been messed around with elections Canada and had gone to the wrong polling station. She seemed more upset by elections Canada then her missing partner. I offer to drive William back, but he refuses saying "he's had enough for the night". Apparently a car was on it's way to drive him to the correct polling station but who knows whether William will vote tonight.

Political debates

I watched the Canadian leaders debate last night rather than the comedy show of the vice-presidential candidate debate in the US.

I'm far from an expert on Canadian politics, economics is not my forte, and a don't have a great memory for past political history. I guess that makes me a dangerous voter. However I did my citizen duty and paid attention to the 2 hour debate last night. But as a Canadian, I think my viewpoint and comments are valid.

The unfortunate thing is that rather than a true debate on national topics, political debates typically turn to attacking the current prime minister. That was very evident last night and definitely skews the debate.

I think the moderator and organizers did a great job focusing on the topics that concern Canadians the most: the economy, crime, the environment, healthcare, Afghanistan, the arts, priorities and trust.

So, breaking all the rules of safe topics in polite conversation, I'll try and summarize my thoughts on the party leaders:

Elizabeth May, Green Party - smart, funny, well articulated. Appearing to side a little to the right, but not holding back from vicious attacks on Harper. A pleasant surprise showing that the Greens have a much broader platform than just the environment. A little green, but I like her.

Gilles Duceppe, Bloc Quebecois - well spoken, knowledgeable, but a little wacky. Obviously his Quebec only focus taints his arguments, and referring to good news from Quebec is ok, but he's not the premier of Quebec. A little radical, but I like the guy.

Jack Layton, New Democratic Party - a angry man and not very classy. Doing a good job buddying up to the common man (and woman) and especially, the blue collar worker. I could see his point and who he's speaking for, but I just don't like his constant confrontational approach and his lack of respect for his political competitors. I don't like him, sorry.

Stephane Dion, Liberal - a frustrated professor type who can't communicate his thoughts very well or perhaps his plans are so muddled he's confused himself. There may be some very good things he's saying, but I have a real challenge understanding him. Yes, he English is very poor, but it's more than that, his delivery is very confusing. Maybe it's me, but I find his arguments are all over the map, appearing incomplete, and inconsistent. Sorry, but I don't think this guy could lead and organize a dinner party, never mind a country. I'm very disappointed the Liberals couldn't find a better leader to represent their ideas and pose a better opposition to the PC's.

Stephen Harper, Progressive Conservative - calm, confident and smart. I got a little uncomfortable that he was telling us about lots of good things he's doing as prime minister today, but I didn't have a clear understanding of how well these programs have worked as opposed to his failures, and how bad our economy really is (my bad). Obviously, personal finances are suffering greatly today, but I'm thinking that a large part of that is to do with US investments. I don't think it's easy to separate the Canadian economy from the US. I may be a little unpopular by this view, but I don't think the economy is that bad here in Canada. What I do find is that we have some clear issues with the environment, crime and healthcare. In most of these other topics, Harper's comments on his plans and past decisions, seemed to make sense to me. I'm not pleased with his lack of commitment to the environment, and I still don't completely trust him (but I don't think I can trust any of the other candidates with running the country for the first time, in these difficult times). I think he's still the best choice for prime minister.

Listening to the news this morning, I wondering if I saw a different show, so I may not be speaking on behalf of most Canadians. But are my views similar to my readers ?

Mass transit can cause massive problems

I walked home with thousands of people last night.

A very busy section of the subway was shut down during the evening rush hour yesterday. It turns out electrical cables fell on the tracks near Eglinton station (my closest station). The trains were turning back at Bloor and Lawrence about 6 kms apart. Faced with a few of these situations in the past, I typically resort to walking. So I walked 4kms home with thousands of other people shoulder to shoulder on the street and surrounded by jammed roads and the overcrowded stand-in shuttle buses. It took me about an hour. A lady here at the office waited patiently for a shuttle bus and got home in 3 hours.

I contemplated my thoughts on the walk:

• A little irony here - this happens a day after the announcement of the massive regional transportation plan.
• I noticed that many people didn't seem to be used to walking. Perhaps the daily routine was a short shuffle to the bus stop and and a transfer to the subway, but a good healthy city walk was foreign to them. Walking etiquette and pace was inconsistent and of course footwear was an issue. I was hoping I wouldn't witness a heart attack. Surprisingly, I only saw a few smokers (or are smokers more likely to drive?) and every other person was telling the tale via their cell phone.
  
• The bars were doing a cracking business.
  
• I imagine that people driving their cars around the suburbs listening to this news on the radio, or even sitting in their cars along Yonge street were thinking - these people are crazy, why take the subway if you have a choice to take your car ? It just gives public transit a very bad image, especially in times when we're trying to promote it's environmental benefits.
• A lot of people don't know their city very well and rarely take a look around or get above ground for a peek. Some people were unclear of what the major streets were, how far they were walking and a few weren't even clear on the direction they should be walking. There was lots of people looking in shop and restaurant windows, obviously clueless to the wonderful shopping and dining you can find thru midtown Toronto.
  
• Canadians are often described as a tolerant bunch and I could say that that was evident last night. There wasn't a lot of yelling or complaining, just an acceptance that things don't always go to plan and you just get on with it.
  
• I was glad I'd decided to leave my laptop and (heavy) external drive at the office - it made the carry home a little more bearable.

When mass transit hits a serious snag like yesterday, it produces a massive problem for tens of thousands of people. I hope the TTC (disappointing there's no formal apology on their front page) and the regional public transportation authorities truly understand that the service they provide to the public is essential for the health of a modern thinking, metropolitan city.

Investing in your passions

Who needs or deserves your money more - Purnomo the meatball vendor in Indonesia or Sexy Marvin, the indy rock band from Mexico ?

I'm not a great economist, money manager, investor, cash flow maximizer or accountant, so digest this post with a generous sprinkling of salt.

I've recently heard of two financial products that allow you to invest your money in some new ways. These new financial products touch on two interesting facets of everyday life, but are on opposite ends of the responsibility spectrum. Charity and music.

My cousin, and like-minded music fan, pointed me to a financial "product" a few weeks ago called Bandstocks. The idea is that you make small (or large) investments in an unsigned musical talent. It could be considered an easy way to truly put your money where your mouth is with respect to "good" music. If you really think band XYZ is going to be the next big thing, then invest your money. It doesn't have to be much, but it can pay dividends, long term returns and provide non-financial benefits as well.

My wife told me about an interesting concept tonight about investing in individual businesses in developing countries. The investment is made easy by kiva.org and was mentioned in Bill Clinton's book Giving.

I simply like the idea that you're not just donating your money to a charity or a hard up musician. Instead, your making a conscious decision to say, I believe in something strongly enough and something that I'm passionate about, and I believe it will be a success. But rather investing in Apple or pork bellies that you may not really care too much about, you can perhaps say to yourself...great, if my bet works out, everyone's a winner, but if not, I've made a pseudo donation (I'm not certain if these investments are also tax deductible) and given someone else in the world a chance to make it. Or you could simply cozy up to the karma gods and embrace a no-strings-attached, pay it forward doctrine (but that's a whole other topic).

Investing in your passions

Who needs or deserves your money more - Purnomo the meatball vendor in Indonesia or Sexy Marvin, the indy rock band from Mexico ?

I'm not a great economist, money manager, investor, cash flow maximizer or accountant, so digest this post with a generous sprinkling of salt.

I've recently heard of two financial products that allow you to invest your money in some new ways. These new financial products touch on two interesting facets of everyday life, but are on opposite ends of the responsibility spectrum. Charity and music.

My cousin, and like-minded music fan, pointed me to a financial "product" a few weeks ago called Bandstocks. The idea is that you make small (or large) investments in an unsigned musical talent. It could be considered an easy way to truly put your money where your mouth is with respect to "good" music. If you really think band XYZ is going to be the next big thing, then invest your money. It doesn't have to be much, but it can pay dividends, long term returns and provide non-financial benefits as well.

My wife told me about an interesting concept tonight about investing in individual businesses in developing countries. The investment is made easy by kiva.org and was mentioned in Bill Clinton's book Giving.

I simply like the idea that you're not just donating your money to a charity or a hard up musician. Instead, your making a conscious decision to say, I believe in something strongly enough and something that I'm passionate about, and I believe it will be a success. But rather investing in Apple or pork bellies that you may not really care too much about, you can perhaps say to yourself...great, if my bet works out, everyone's a winner, but if not, I've made a pseudo donation (I'm not certain if these investments are also tax deductible) and given someone else in the world a chance to make it. Or you could simply cozy up to the karma gods and embrace a no-strings-attached, pay it forward doctrine (but that's a whole other topic).

Almost Genius

I've been experimenting a little with iTunes' 8 new feature Genius. Specifically the Genius playlist feature that creates a playlist in your music collection based on one seed track. I don't think the smarts have been revealed yet, but the gist is that it's matching based on the complete iTunes library, mixed with ratings and playlists from other listeners and then comparing with your tracks and preferences. I did one with Viva la Vida and got quite a predictable but refreshing auto playlist of more unusual tracks from bands like Spoon and Radiohead. The one I'm listening to now was based on a Life Stories from Just Jack and it's picked up tracks from Babyshambles & Cat Power - interesting, but also mixed in Jamie Lidell (odd).

The one thing that made me a little uncomfortable was that you to share your library with Apple when you switch on Genius. As I said in Mark Evans' blog:

I’m just beginning to play with Genius, but I definitely have some reservations about sharing my library, especially since many of my downloads are from gray area sources and they “kindly” embed an MP3 tag showing the source that I’m now sharing. In the big picture, I’m pretty comfortable with the big boys keeping my info private, but the dark side possibilities are there !

What I actually did was clear the references to legalsounds and allofmp3 from the comment meta data tags before switching on Genius.

So, Genius isn't really a genius, but it does make some interesting choices and, if nothing else, provides a new way to automatically create pseudo random, but focused playlists. And I'm amazed how fast it works. I like it.

Almost Genius

I've been experimenting a little with iTunes' 8 new feature Genius. Specifically the Genius playlist feature that creates a playlist in your music collection based on one seed track. I don't think the smarts have been revealed yet, but the gist is that it's matching based on the complete iTunes library, mixed with ratings and playlists from other listeners and then comparing with your tracks and preferences. I did one with Viva la Vida and got quite a predictable but refreshing auto playlist of more unusual tracks from bands like Spoon and Radiohead. The one I'm listening to now was based on a Life Stories from Just Jack and it's picked up tracks from Babyshambles & Cat Power - interesting, but also mixed in Jamie Lidell (odd).

The one thing that made me a little uncomfortable was that you to share your library with Apple when you switch on Genius. As I said in Mark Evans' blog:

I’m just beginning to play with Genius, but I definitely have some reservations about sharing my library, especially since many of my downloads are from gray area sources and they “kindly” embed an MP3 tag showing the source that I’m now sharing. In the big picture, I’m pretty comfortable with the big boys keeping my info private, but the dark side possibilities are there !

What I actually did was clear the references to legalsounds and allofmp3 from the comment meta data tags before switching on Genius.

So, Genius isn't really a genius, but it does make some interesting choices and, if nothing else, provides a new way to automatically create pseudo random, but focused playlists. And I'm amazed how fast it works. I like it.

Toronto violence - good intentions overshadowed by news of school shooting

On my morning subway ride, I read a positive story on page 3 of Metro - Officers hit schools to bond with teens. In all the negativity and doom and gloom reporting of today's urban violence, I was pleased to the city doing something progressive and proactive and it appeared the reception from the community was very positive.

Now just about 6 hours later, I see the headlines - Boy, 17, in critical condition after Toronto high school shooting. These schools are just 7 kms apart.

Let's not give up on trying to make this city safer.

Photo Blog #4: Hot Wheels

I love getting a nice result from an impromptu photograph. Remnants of hurricane Ike beginning tonight and I was sitting on the porch with the family and snapped a few pics. Great porch lights and dark spray from the street (actually the wind just picked up for a sec and sprayed by laptop keyboard and screen). Wondering what made the wheels red ? No it wasn't a Photoshop trick !

Superlative soccer

Absolutely amazing. I'm just watching the Manchester City vs Chelsea game and I was once again reminded how huge football is in the world. The estimated viewing audience for this game is 800 million people (just a little less than 1 in 8 people in the world). And it's not a particularly important game but there is a lot of off field drama and anticipation for this match. With the mid week takeover of Manchester City by UAE gazillionaires, these two teams are the now the richest football teams in the world (and perhaps in all of sport), and today was the debut of super signing (32M pounds) Robinho, the most expensive player ever to play in England. Robinho didn't disappoint with a goal off a free kick in the 13th minute. Score 1:1 at the half. 2nd half just started, gotta go.

But seriously

There are a lot of serious things in the world that I could write about (and I do occasionally).  Yesterday's anniversary of 9/11.  Afghanistan. Canadian and US political elections.  Financial investments and the economy. How many spaces follow a period ? Cyber security and identity theft. My children's education. 3rd world hunger.  

Instead I write about other things. Music. Movies and TV. Sports. Technology and photography.

What does this say about me ? A guy with his head in the sand, simply looking for entertainment ? I don't recall the exact words that I used as the original blog header, but I don't really think I made any promises about setting the world right. I don't really think that my friends enjoy spending time with me because of my political views or my expertise on internet security. I do question my priorities sometimes, but then again, this forum is mostly a personal outlet. Occasionally a news event or serious topic does become front and centre in my life and I want to say something about it.  But often, like today, I'm enjoying sharing some thoughts of good times, when I last had a good laugh with friends, looking forward to a nice dinner and a bottle of wine with the wife tonight, getting a hug from my kids, watching some footy tomorrow morning, finding the right music at the right time, talking photography with my daughter, playing PS3 with my son, planning the next visit with family and friends.  That's what my life is all about.

There are two sayings that perhaps explain why my life is still not in perfect balance:

Life's too short...[verb]...[serious and sensible thing]

When all is said and done, what will I remember most of my life and how will people remember me ?

Television

With a new season of television shows upon us, I thought it would be a good time for a few lists. But before diving into the itemizing and annotating my favourites, perhaps I'll take time to reflect on the medium.

When I was growing up, after kids TV (Tiswas, Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlett), it seemed that my regular TV viewing was variety shows (It's a knockout, Top of the Pops) of some kind, which still haven't gone away and to some degree are ancestors to today's reality shows.

For me, there is a fine balance between the strict serial drama and the casual evening sitcom or the event driven drama. With the strict serial drama (e.g. Lost) the viewer is almost forced to watch every single episode and will be lost if the first or last episodes are missed. With the sitcom (e.g Seinfeld) or event drama (e.g. House) , no worries, jump right in and enjoy the show (although some characters and relationships develop over the season).

Current:

House - a good use for the term becrutchedy, new season starting next week.
Entourage - fun guy stuff, fanastic soundtrack, new season started this week
Top Gear - fab cars, funny hosts, years behind but still loving it

Memorable older TV shows:

The Sopranos - T was arguably one of the most complex TV characers of all time
Dead Like Me - very clever premise and story lines
The Office (UK version) - can you say awkward
Twin Peaks - super serial silliness, great mystery but went very weird in the end
The Young Ones - Brit lad humour that still pops up when some of me mates get together

Blackadder - linguistic comedy at it's best, Shakespeare would have loved it

Seinfeld - the best American TV comedy of all time, a ife time of plots and quotes

Notables:

Durham County - briliant Canadian and local drama
Dexter - redefining protagonist, Michael C. Hall creates lots of polite after dinner conversation
Six Feet Under - making death entertaining, Michael C, Hall again

Break-Fix

There is a service within the computer hardware business called break-fix. This service is for business customers who want computer hardware support - when their computer "breaks", a technician is dispatched to the customer site to fix the problem.

I have a new definition of break-fix.

break-fix, noun. /breɪk/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[breyk-/fɪks/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciationfiks] The lengthy event when a 43 year old bald English-Canadian man attempts to repair something broken in his house. The repair results in greater damage and inconvenience than the original problem. Results typically comprise of one of more of the following: healthy doses of profanity, unplanned expenses, injured body parts, sweat, a foul mood, multiple visits to the hardware store and sometime a resolution to the problem - the fix.

My kitchen faucet hasn't been right for a long time, first it was the handle mechanism that was loosening and not holding it's position correctly. Then it was a leak that was getting annoying worse. All of the faucets in the house are Moen, I've always liked their styling and have taken advantage of the their fantastic service of the years. If you have a problem with one of their products you can call customer service, explain the problem and they will ship you the replacement parts (free of charge). My only complaint may be that the instructions for repair could be written better. That being said, I'm a loyal customer to the brand. So, I finally get around to calling them with these latest problems, they diagnose the problem well - a broken handle inner piece and the cartridge. The parts were a little slow arriving, but it is a free service ! Then the parts sit for quite a few weeks before I tackle the job a few weekends ago, what better day to do some home repairs - Labour Day.

First job, get access to the problem parts, easier said than done. Faucets are designed to look sleek and shiny, the last thing you want is a visible screw. So from past experience, I knew there had to be a clever way to remove the faucet. So I loosened the lower handle surrounding collar, to see what that would do, no go. Then I looked under the sink to see how the faucet was attached, checked a few screws and pipes and with some dismay, saw that the eventual removal of the faucet was going to be a bitch. I checked the instructions. So with my single handle faucet, Moen cleverly hide a small access screw behind a small logo plate (always wondered why that thing comes off so easy). I know what you're thinking, don't forget to turn the water off mate. Done that, although under the sink isn't the most accessible work area in the world and the valves were quite tricky to close. I already noticed that my early figgling may have loosened a few pipe joints as I saw a few small drips (argh - memories of the upstairs bathroom break-fix may years ago begin to creep into short term RAM).

So, the small screw. Yes I found it, and yes, Moen was kind enough to provide the correct sized allen key. Excellent. This faucet is about 10 years old. So you can image the screw was pretty tight. So tight I had to lever it with some pliers - BIG MISTAKE. I thought I was making progress but then it really loosened and I lost a grip on the head of the screw and it disappeared. I took me quite a long time to figure out that the screw head had fallen into the handle base and the screw had sheared off - F#$^. But I persisted, and naively thought maybe I could still remove the handle and salvage the situation. So, with an arsenal of tools and some idiotic ideas of remedy, I set to removing the handle. A drill is put to use and surprisingly seems to making some progress (the goal is to break down the screw to the point of it loosening its bind on the situation). More drilling, mixed with some heavy handed yanking and rotating and finally voila - I've got a shiny handle loose in my hand.

Now, back to the original mission, I'm trying to replace a metal component in the handle with a new one, although I can't really tell where the break is because I've destroyed its connection to the base. Anyhoo, I set to separating the components. This was the real tough part as the sheared off screw was holding it's place very firm. More drilling and the introduction of a hammer. And finally I separate the (really) damaged component and was left with this...


and then I could see that my skilled attack had done a fine job of enlarging the hole in the soft cast-metal handle molding (enough to create some concern that I'd damaged the handle beyond repair but funnily enough, not enough to get that pesky screw out). More vice grips, drilling and yanking and I finally get the old screw out. I do a quick test of the new part and the new screw and it seems to be ok. Amazing, I catch a glimpse at the light at the end of tunnel.

Part 2, I focus my attention on the base and the cartridge. This looks tricky. The leak seems to have rusted the large fastening rings (I knew I should have fixed this as soon as the leak started). So I try to loosen the rings for a while with various vice grips and wrenches but no go. Note that all the while the leak under the sink has been growing, so I make the executive decision - I'm going to throw in the towel and buy a new faucet. A quick check online and a very quick trip to Canadian Tire and I'm home with a new faucet.

Part 3 - removing the old faucet. As mentioned earlier, I knew the removal wasn't going to be easy. There was a centre bolt anchoring the faucet to the counter. Underneath the sink there was a 1 14" nut tightly in place and it was recessed and behind pipes and the underbelly of the sink. On the trip to Canadian Tire I tried to find an appropriate tool to extend by reach into the tight area and took a gamble on a deep socket. Of course it wasn't the right size so I struggled with traditional wrenches and finally got the nut removed. It was only when I unpacked the new faucet I found a handy-dandy long pipe tool to remove nuts of this size - thanks Moen #&$^.

The end - so the new faucet went in quite easily and the pipe connections were good and tight and we were back to normal. Only about 6 hours later.

The motto of the story: assess the situation very carefully before proceeding with a fix. How much work is it going to take to fix it - double that, multiply the risk factor and trade that off against a new replacement or calling a professional.

For me, anything to do with water is always a problem and a big worry, incl. plumbling, ice damming, gutter overflows, basement leaks and leaking bathtubs. I just hate that sound of water dripping or a surprise wet foot step.

Last weekend, I found no humour whatsoever in this story and in fact was going to post a blog called "there is nothing funny about this story". However, a week to reflect, has softened my attitude a little and allowed me to write this story with a small smile on a my face.

Outdated technolgy in months, not years

We know technology is moving very fast these days. I spend a lot of money on technology and pride myself on staying pretty current, but come on, give me a break.

• iPod Nano. I purchased the first gen Nano quite a few years ago and I think the 2nd gen was only released last year. Now the 3rd gen Nano has just been released and it's back to it's skinny shape again. Shake shuffle feature is pretty cool as well as new Genius song matching! They must be selling a ton of these babies to release new versions so quickly in a rainbow of colours. PJMixer argh score: 3.
  
• iTunes. iTunes updates are pretty frequent and sure enough there is a new version 8 available with the Genius feature that aligns nicely with the new Nano release. PJMixer argh score: 1 - no big woop, zero cost software.
• The camera. This one really doesn't count as the Nikon D80 was about 3 years old and announcements for the D90 were still only fan rumours when I bought the D80 in the summer. So a few weeks ago the D90 was released. It has the live view LCD that I had been waiting for but also is the first DSLR with video recording capabilities. I'm not sure if I'd be able to splurge the extra dough and I am very happy with the D80, so the PJMixer argh score is 7.
• Photoshop Elements. A software purchase is pretty rare for me, but with the new camera I was really looking for the best photo editing and management features available at the consumer level, and Photoshop from Adobe is the hands-down best product in the market today. I just bought version 6 about a month ago, and just saw that version 7 has been released. I guess I didn't do the research too well on that one. Luckily there's not a huge difference as the upgrade is costly, plus the hardcopy manuals and books (which I just bought 2 of) are not yet available for version 7. PJMixer argh score: 6.
• Picasa. I've been using the free photo software from Google for a while and I've been very impressed by it (and I'd recommend it to any digital photographer who doesn't need all the bells and whistles of Photoshop). There is a version 3 beta now available that ups some of its editing features and adds lots of sharing features. PJMixer argh score: 1 - no big woop, zero cost software.
• I guess I can't finish this post without including the computer. Our primary desktop PC is almost 5 years old. It was pretty good machine in it's day but now it pitifully out of date. 2.8GHz Pentium 4 with a whopping 512GB of RAM, 120GB of disk and a downgraded video card. Support cost: 5 PJMixer hours per month.
  

Luckily Sony aren't dropping rumour bombs of Playstation 4 yet and they're not saying my Bravia LCD is passe (phew, but I wonder what they did with all the extra money I gave them 18 months ago). I rarely use VHS tapes and wired PC to stereo connections are just fine for me. My Blackberry Pearl is a workhorse of convenient technology and I can still buy gasoline for my Mazda 6 Wagon. The new cordless phones were a no brainer and the two tube TVs left in the house are getting a little nervous. Ironically, the one item that I really want an upgrade for, and one that I rent so it should be zero cost, is my Rogers PVR. That new PVR extension from Bell looks better every week, if only that 200 year old oak wasn't blocking SW satellite angles !

Today's fashion faux-pas

On the walk from the subway - two great examples of fashion faux-pas.

Number 1. We all know that you shouldn't really wear sport socks with dress pants (stop laffin' Pete, trousers then). And white sport socks score very high on the international faux-pas scoring charts. But today was a first. No, they weren't white. They were ankle socks. I wear ankle socks for golf and ultimate sometimes, but the guy I saw walking up the stairs from the subway had a pair of black logo ankle socks and dress pants. Leg hair was clearly visible. Lovely.

Number 2. The picture tells K words. I have no idea what this dude was thinking. Short shorts and baggy bunched up cream coloured, wool-like socks (almost like Flashdance leg warmers) with dark dress shoes. I was mesmerized, I followed him for a few blocks trying to get the best possible shot with my crappy Blackberry camera.

Don't Look Back in Anger

Perhaps appropriate words to summarize Sunday night's Oasis concert at the Virgin Festival.

The Manchester lads lived up to the hype - perhaps the best modern rock anthem band of all time. I don't recall a concert (yes, even Coldplay) where everyone was singing along with the multitude of big hits. I wasn't at the front, but close enough to be jammed in and swaying and high clapping along with thousands of other fans. I admit I was much older than the average and at times I felt it, but the songs seemed to unite the whole crowd and we were all in it together.

I did get close to enjoy the big Brits Stereophonics and Paul Weller and along with some independents they definitely added to the great festival atmosphere, but I was there to see Oasis. The only small disappointment was not getting to see Moby's DJ set in the lineup tent. Although I wouldn't call myself a huge Oasis fan, but I do love some of their hard rocking tracks and ballads, plus I'd heard they were great live.

As I've already mentioned here in the fine print and on Facebook, the night wasn't without some drama. A guy managed to get on stage and push Noel down which of course caused all kinds of panic and confusion. You could sense that half of the audience immediately had the feeling of being cheated, expecting the moody lads to chuck it in. But the relative good mood witnessed earlier in the set won out and the lads returned to the stage 5 mins later to finish off, albeit an abbreviated set. My feelings could have been a lot different if they hadn't returned. They won a lot of points in my book.

So the real highlights were Liam's famous stage stances, the compliment of Noel's ballads, psychedelic video backdrops, Cigarettes and Alcohol being dedicated to all of us from England and everyone singing along to almost all the songs. The loudest singalong was probably my highlight, although Liam was offstage as his brother sung Don't Look Back in Anger.

The night was clear, but mud was underfoot, the sweet smell of marijuana was in the air, the bodies were moving and the sound quality was spot on.

A very memorable rock show.

Don't Look Back in Anger

Perhaps appropriate words to summarize Sunday night's Oasis concert at the Virgin Festival.

The Manchester lads lived up to the hype - perhaps the best modern rock anthem band of all time. I don't recall a concert (yes, even Coldplay) where everyone was singing along with the multitude of big hits. I wasn't at the front, but close enough to be jammed in and swaying and high clapping along with thousands of other fans. I admit I was much older than the average and at times I felt it, but the songs seemed to unite the whole crowd and we were all in it together.

I did get close to enjoy the big Brits Stereophonics and Paul Weller and along with some independents they definitely added to the great festival atmosphere, but I was there to see Oasis. The only small disappointment was not getting to see Moby's DJ set in the lineup tent. Although I wouldn't call myself a huge Oasis fan, but I do love some of their hard rocking tracks and ballads, plus I'd heard they were great live.

As I've already mentioned here in the fine print and on Facebook, the night wasn't without some drama. A guy managed to get on stage and push Noel down which of course caused all kinds of panic and confusion. You could sense that half of the audience immediately had the feeling of being cheated, expecting the moody lads to chuck it in. But the relative good mood witnessed earlier in the set won out and the lads returned to the stage 5 mins later to finish off, albeit an abbreviated set. My feelings could have been a lot different if they hadn't returned. They won a lot of points in my book.

So the real highlights were Liam's famous stage stances, the compliment of Noel's ballads, psychedelic video backdrops, Cigarettes and Alcohol being dedicated to all of us from England and everyone singing along to almost all the songs. The loudest singalong was probably my highlight, although Liam was offstage as his brother sung Don't Look Back in Anger.

The night was clear, but mud was underfoot, the sweet smell of marijuana was in the air, the bodies were moving and the sound quality was spot on.

A very memorable rock show.

Live blog - Oasis concert

Monday morning update-I did try to live blog the set list from the Oasis show last night (see below), but I was off the mark a little. But I'll leave below just for the fun of it.

Rock 'N' Roll Star'
'Lyla'
'The Shock Of The Lightning'
'Cigarettes And Alcohol'
'The Meaning Of Soul'
'To Be Where There's Life'
'The Masterplan'
'Songbird'
'Slide Away'
'Morning Glory' (This is the song during which Noel got pushed, so it ended early)

Original:
R and r star
Layla
New 1
Cig and alc
?
?
Acquisess/master plan (noel)
She not anyone ?
Slide away
Liam just got tackled...

Live blog - Oasis concert

Monday morning update-I did try to live blog the set list from the Oasis show last night (see below), but I was off the mark a little. But I'll leave below just for the fun of it.

Rock 'N' Roll Star'
'Lyla'
'The Shock Of The Lightning'
'Cigarettes And Alcohol'
'The Meaning Of Soul'
'To Be Where There's Life'
'The Masterplan'
'Songbird'
'Slide Away'
'Morning Glory' (This is the song during which Noel got pushed, so it ended early)

Original:
R and r star
Layla
New 1
Cig and alc
?
?
Acquisess/master plan (noel)
She not anyone ?
Slide away
Liam just got tackled...

Live blog - Oasis concert part 2

Monday morning update-I did try to live blog the set list from the Oasis show last night (see below), but I was off the mark a little. But I'll leave below just for the fun of it.

'The Importance of Being Idle'
'Wonderwall'
'Supersonic'
'Don't Look Back In Anger'
'Falling Down'
'I Am The Walrus'

Original:
A few minutes later...
Noel track 2 - I don't mind, give me a minute
Wonderwall
Supersonic
Don't look back in anger (noel and everyone)
All I ever know ? /falling over (noel)
I am the walrus

We're done.

Live blog - Oasis concert part 2

Monday morning update-I did try to live blog the set list from the Oasis show last night (see below), but I was off the mark a little. But I'll leave below just for the fun of it.

'The Importance of Being Idle'
'Wonderwall'
'Supersonic'
'Don't Look Back In Anger'
'Falling Down'
'I Am The Walrus'

Original:
A few minutes later...
Noel track 2 - I don't mind, give me a minute
Wonderwall
Supersonic
Don't look back in anger (noel and everyone)
All I ever know ? /falling over (noel)
I am the walrus

We're done.

Duped by Google

I have to admit I was a little sleepy last night…I got word of the Google Chrome last night, downloaded it immediately and installed it, but wondered why Firefox was releasing a new browser with only a few new mods. It works well out-of-the-box and the new tab function is nice. I only realized this morning that I had installed a browser from Google, not Firefox (when I read Mark Evans blog). I got duped. I’m not certain what this says about me, the internet or the exploitation of subconscious marketing by Google.

Fancy meeting you here

I love it. I played ultimate last night against some familiar faces. Heading down in the elevator from my office just now and the door opens on a lower floor and who should walk in - a guy I was playing against last night. I've "known" him for years and knew his name but never said more than foul or nice game in the past.

Testerday, I also found out that a friend who also works in my office building who I know from my kids school - his daughter is now in my daughter's class.

It'll be nice to have some new people to invite for downtown lunches or beers.

Sometimes this metropolis really does feel like a small town.