Rhonda's Meme

Ok, had actually said to myself that I need to do less of these, but this was actually a pretty good one, so I decided to go for it.

1. Have you ever had stitches? -I had 5 stitches after being hit in the head by a baseball bat in Grade 5. The poor girl who did it I think was forever guilty about it, and I feel bad about that because I've never felt she was responsible. I've long placed blame on the supervising teacher who kept telling me to get closer and closer to the plate when I was playing catcher. After the doctor put the stitches in, he wrapped my head with gauze straight around so it made my hair stick up. My dad kept calling me Bart Simpson and offered to cut little ridges in the top so I'd be cool at school. My dad is a loser.

2. Favorite non-musical sound? -Soda in a cup, pee on a toilet bowl, baby giggles, baby breathing, baby cooing, Rhonda bobbing her finger up and down on Kayah's lips while she's crying (it makes a bad thing hilarious), the sound of a guitar string breaking, particularily on an acoustic guitar, the sound of my mom's old vegetable peeler peeing veggies, it had this loose handle and made a weird sound, meat cooking on a grill, woodlands... birds in particular.

3. Future career? - I want to get the label going. I'd like to tend a large piece of land someday, but I'm not sure if I'm in for the whole full fledged "farming" thing. Still working on that one.

4. Guiltiest pleasure? - My goodness if I told you it wouldn't be that guilty. Be assured they exist, they are indeed guilty and someday, I might write a book about them.

5. Favorite child hood memory? - Quite a few, I was a pretty lucky kid. Visiting my aunts and uncles in Slave Lake AB, getting my first guitar, Andrew being born (a BROTHER!), meeting the REAL santa, going to Gopherville, Going camping in Manitoba with the Lopinskis, summer camp in Kenosee, basically every single jam with Dulcet, building and award-winning sand-castle with Courtney and Michelle, fishing with Dad, building models with Dad, getting my room in the basement. Lots of good stuff.

6. Favorite thing from my child hood I want my kids to experience? - Gopherville, but I hear its gone. Going to camp, Coming home from camp. Having a paperroute. Being a big brother (sorry kids, guess I'll keep that one)...

7. A "must-do" on the "to-do" list? - Get to work on the house. Our limited incomes at the moment is precluding anything but the most basic home re-pairs and changes, but I'd really like to get a few coats of paint on the walls and cupboards, some new floors in the kitchen, entrancesn and bathroom and get the counter-tops re-done. The outside of the house needs a coat of paint too and the back awning is gonna cave in the next couple years if I don't repair it soon.

8. What are you giving up right now due to the failing economy? - Not much. What limits I have are imposed because of Rhonda being off work, not the economy. In fact with gas prices down I think about driving around more... but I don't do it because that would be wrong and kill baby seals. The only thing the failing economy has done is make me more worried for no real reason.

I'd like to introduce you to someone.

This blog has made many a mention of my loveable beagle Bootsy, but little mention has been made of our other loveable family member, Shadow!



Now Shadow and I didn't start off well together. Rhonda had gotten him shortly after we started going out, and he and I have been fighting for Rhonda's love ever since. In fact when we first found out Rhonda was pregnant, I refused to take credit for the child until I had seen the ultrasound and saw that the baby didn't have a fluffy tail or one white paw.

But we've grown to be fast friends. And how could we not. Shadow first and foremost is incredibly smart. He can always figure out any new game instantly, always knows when something is amiss and has been like a second father to the baby... gentle, patient and firm. I'm gald to have him in the house in this neighborhood. He's small but he'll sound the alarm if something is happening and if we did have an intruder, I know he'd give his life to save the family. It wouldn't surely stop him, but I know his vigilance would give us a fighting chance.

Top Ten things to know about Shadow -
10 - He's a pimp - always kind to the ladies, always a gentleman
9 - He's a genuine horn dog - I blame Rhonda for never getting him fixed.
8 - The leash is a formality - He'll rarely wander out of earshot.
7 - He's great with kids - even when the baby pulls his hair, he rarely has more than a growl or a gentle grab to move her hand.
6 - He's smart as hell - learned to play frisbee on the first toss, my family still talks about it
5 - I'm still not sure he isn't Kayah's biological father - only the paternity test will tell for sure!
4 - He has one white paw - but rarely do I make reference to the similarity to Michael Jackson - he's not a freak!
3 - Nickname - Mr. Shadowski
2 - He's the real Nightwatchman Mr Morello
1 - He's probably one of the best dogs I've come across.

So do yourself a favour, get to know Shadow!

Canadian Car Chase

Yep, we've all seen it... probably getting tired of it, but hey I'd like to look back on this blog in 10 years and remember this commercial.

Classic.

Tetanus

So I got a tetanus shot this weekend. Was helping my dad put in some new windows in Swift Current this weekend and while throwing out the old ones at the land-fill, put a shingle nail in my foot. Hurt like a damn bastard. Decided to head to the hospital and get a shot just in case.

Gotta say, 2 days later, the shot is worse than the wound. But now I'm covered for a decade, so next time I need a shot the baby will be in Grade 5 and Tai will be off to college... so I'll have bigger things to worry about.

Had a good time in Swift Current. It was the first time I've had a girl over night at my parents house... and this time I brought 3! Grandma and Grandpa had some fun with their recently accquired granddaughters and Tai is learning the fine art of subtly coercing her Grandparents (replaceing "Can I have Dairy Queen" with "Boy an ice cream would be good on a day like this")

Back to work today. I need to get my record label making money, I don't know how to keep myself sane working on buildings for the next 29 years to retirement.

Blog Quebecquois

Figure if I'm gonna run for the Bloc next election, I better start recognizing that "La Belle Province" exists. Bonjour!

Been a fine week off. Decided to move a dozen large sidewalk blocks by myself today. My body is pissed about that one. But we shall survive.\

Election party was fun. Superstore chips, CBC-TV, MSN Chat and root beer. It numbed the pain of another Tory government. Looks like I'd better hurry on getting government funding for my label. Yikes.

I got a free copy of Bram Stokers "Dracula" sitting here for the first person who can line me up $15,000 in a legal manner. My label needs some funding.

Election Day MSN Party

Well folks, once again, my sister, wife and I will be hosting an election night MSN party. We've got people in PEI and Saskatchewan so far, and everyone is invited to put in their 2 cents and join the party. If you're not on my MSN yet, my address is fluffnews at hotmail.

We just get together and get a good view of the whole country, with people watching (hopefully) all the major networks and giving updates as we go.

Remember to bring your ID and get out there and vote so we have something to follow tonight!!!!

No Stephen! It's my ice cream!

Ah photo manipulation. Our poor politicians.

Voting Strategically 2

Well apparently Elizabeth May is encouraging strategic voting in close races. Wish I knew if my riding was one of the about 60 that she feels we need to vote this way in. Maybe such information will float up in the next couple days.

But then, this is in contrast to her advice only days ago. Now I'm not saying I'm gonna follow her lead explicitly, frankly I still question her skills as a politician.

So the debate rages on.

Think I'll run for the BQ next election. Present! pour la Quebec!

Pondering Strategic Voting

Well only a few days to the election. And all of a sudden I'm in a dilemma.

It's no secret that I would very literally take an axe to the head than cast a vote for this Conservative party. Even if I did consider myself a small "C" conservative, the party that we've had running the country has been deceitful, dishonest and just plain bad. From ignoring obvious issues to making a big deal and doing nothing, they've just fucked the dog for the past 2 years. Blame the Liberals if you want, but they've stayed home for the past 2 years, so find another whipping boy there guys.

Coming up to the election its becoming very clear that the election is going to be a very close one, with an almost certain minority. One of the seats that the Tories could potentially lose is the riding I'll be voting in. Word is that NDP Janice Bernier could potentially un-seat incumbent Andrew Scheer... but it could be close.

Now I've already made it pretty clear that I want to vote Green in this election, but a vote for the NDP could go a long way to shifting the balance of power. I'm not saying that my vote is going to make the difference between Prime Minister Harper or Prime Minister Dion, but the fact is, it could help. I have zero problem voting NDP, I've voted NDP provincially several times and I think once maybe twice federally. They're my third pick after the Greens and the Bloc Quebecquois.

At least I've got another handfull of days to decide, keep my eyes on the headlines and if I make my decision in the voting booth, well that's my choice to make.

God bless democracy.

Chant Down Babylon

We had an unusual visitor here this week. Rhonda has a little home business creating and maintaining dreadlocks. It puts a few extra bucks in the coffers every few months and we get to meet some new people. She had a new client come by, a self-proclaimed Rastaman. Not a terribly unusual thing considering Rasta and dreadlocks are pretty much synonymous, but the first person we've had by that I could say was a real Rasta.

We discussed the basis of rasta on the Bible, Hallie Selassie I and many other aspects of the religion. One of the aspects I wish I had spoken to him more about was the concept of rejecting Babylon. In Rasta it is beleived that by rejecting modern society (Babylon) and the temptations that come with it, one can reach Zion, their promised land. While to some this likely seems pretty extreme, this gentleman lived in what I understood to be very modest lodgings, working a farm and following the teachings of Jah.

The concept of rejecting many of the things that we have in our world has been a tempting concept for me of late. Call it what you want, the concept resides in many religions - leaving worldly posessions in order to become closer to a higher power. Considering the difficulties and stresses that modern society has, the idea isn't such a bad one.

It is a dream of mine to eventually have a place where I have some seclusion and a simplicity to my life. I'm sure I won't reach this goal until retirement, but I'm preparing now, saving, planning, dreaming. I'm thinking maybe a tree farm or an orchard somewhere, reading, walking, enjoying the world.

Hey a guy can dream can't he?

Google Chromium

Been using the brand-spankin' new Google Chromium this week.  Read an article online then one in Wired and decided it couldn't hurt to try it out.  

First impression is how damn CLEAN it is.  Then once you start using it more, it gets smaller.  It's really a new way of surfing, familliar, yet different.  Once you do a little research on how to use it, it becomes very interesting indeed.  

The software is really new, so there are a few features that have yet to be seen, no extensions yet, but if I understand some of the new structures they've put into the software, I think that extensions are going to be a bit different, so a new standard for extensions and perhaps even plugins will be created.  

The most intriguing part of all this is the fact that it's Open Source.  There is a relatively easy to read comic about the software availiable online.  It gets kinda technical at the end and to be sure I understood about 13% of it, but if I got my head around this right, they've created and built some pretty impressive new ideas into the realm of the browser and left it all open and free for all to use.  They simply want to advance the path of browsers in order to advance the internet.  Pretty profound, but then when your business is dependent on the size and use of the internet, the best thing you can do is give people the tools to do it for you for free.

Of course this leaves us in a world potentially saturated with Google.  Seriously, I see it in my life already.  It's totally integrated.  I can query Google from my cell phone, I get my schedule from Google Calendars in my e-mail and as a text message on my phone.  This blog is linked to my Google account, as is my YouTube account.  Even before Chrome, my browser had several Google-based plugins, and Firefox is synonimous with Google.  My homepage is my iGoogle page, I use the search engine for 60% of my searches, I plan trips on Google Maps, have photos on Picassa, and 80% of my office application work is done in Google Documents.  I also use at least a half dozen more Google Apps on a daily basis, it's even connected to several peices of software that I use.

We're on the fringe of the cloud folks, and it's name is Google.