Some Kind of Monster or Parents Gone!

Last night I checked out "Some Kind of Monster" with Rob and Kostas.  It was a decent little documentary although not nearly as interesting as "Brother's Keeper" (another film by the directors).  It made me WANT to like St. Anger despite its lack of being good...  Maybe I'll give the album another chance...   The movie however, needed more Dave Mustaine and Jason Newstead.  Their stories were super interesting and only briefly touched upon...  Lars also came out looking kinda like a prick while James looked and sounded a lot like my old boss from EB.  Kirk could easily be mistaken for a flamo (not that there's anything wrong with that) and that psychiatrist dude was so deluded about his place with the band that it was funny.  He seemed genuinely hurt when they told him that they were letting him go...  same when they didn't use his lyrics...  
My parents have gone to Saskatoon for a few days, so I am having a small gathering here.  Emailing me is the way to go, as I don't want a ton of people here (or a duplication of the infamous Stobart house trashing).  Back to lounging around and playing Vice City!

Bourne Supremacy or VACATION!

Not a whole hell of a lot has gone down over the past few days.  I hung out with Jay, Rob, Matt, Kostas, Ryan, Andrew, Tina.  I saw "The Bourne Supremacy" and played some Vice City.  Bourne was solid all around... not spectacular, but not even close to bad.  The perfect definition of 3 stars, maybe even 3.5.  I had some fast food for the first time in a long time (I don't include Subway as Fast Food).  KFC/Taco Bell....   yuck....  no need for that again, although the Big Crunch was tasty, KFC is also almost single handedly responsible for the factory farming of chickens.  Well, them and the insane amount of people there are... 
I was reading in the paper about how Bluefin Tuna are so near extinction from over-fishing that a SINGLE fish goes for 150, 000$ on the open market.  Also how the mafia are getting involved in dealing.  Unless some serious laws are enforced, the thing will be extinct in 10-20 years.  The problem is that a single fish lives for over 30 years, and therefore breeds a lot...   when you catch one early in life, it eliminates so much breeding potential.  The problem seems to stem from the Japanese and their love of Bluefin Tuna sushi, but also from the anemic law enforcement of fishing quotas by EVERYONE.
This week is my official paid vacation week!  I get two now with Greyhound and took one for July and one for December.  This is the first job I've had that didn't just pay a vacation portion on each paycheck...   It's nice to have paid time off!  Time to relax and do shit all for once!  That, and catch up on all my games/movies/cd's that have been backing up lately.  Hurrah!

2 More Fringe Shows or Centennial Pool

So I checked out some Fringe shows over the past few days; One Man Lord of the Rings, Jem Rolls and Curse of the Trickster.  All 3 were pretty good, although I wouldn't have given 5 stars to OMLOTR or COTT.  They were both good stuff, but not "perfect" plays, which is what 5 stars insinuates.  I found, in OMLOTR's case, that some of it was really pandering and lame, almost derp like while COTT stole some routines from Seinfeld (that no one seemed to notice).  COTT also did some fairly middle of the road stand up material, only occasionally veering into brilliance... although I will give him the fact that many of the things he said are things I talk about with my friends.  While I might sound a little negative, I still recommend those two shows.  Jem Rolls, on the other hand was totally out there.  Performance poetry that I don't really know how to describe.  All I can say is that it was crazy and worth seeing...  the venue (The Winnipeg Press Club) is small and cramped so I'd get there early.
I went with Ryan to the Centennial Pool to work out and swim today and it was pretty alright.  I did some exercises that I'd never done before and found them useful.  I also "perfected" my somersaulting off of a diving board...   Oh yeah... I really suck at holding my breath under water...  I need to work on that.
Making covers for DVD's is fun.

The Bike Path or Chappelle's Show

So I've been biking a little the past couple of days.  Of the two bikes that we have in the house right now, I managed to take the need parts to form one working one.  The other one's chain is all fucked up and had to donate its tire caps.  The good one is my old yellow mountain bike that I got in junior high.  Still works!  Anyway, the path that I've been biking is the one down near Wilkes called, I believe, Marj Edey park.  I followed it all the way to the end, which takes you to the perimeter highway, and it took about 1/2 hour.  It was super nice and fairly peaceful, as it is surrounded by bush and fields.  If only there was some more nature there...  I mean I saw a rabbit and birds, but it would've been cool to see something else...  there's a fox living in the field near the warehouse that I work at, so why not in the big freakin forest by my house...   ???
I just finished watching season 1 of Chappelle's Show and had a few laughs.  On the whole, the show was pretty good but tended to be a little "black comedy" centric.  Not that there's anything wrong with that, as it was written, acted by, and geared to the african americans.  It was, at times, like a whole show of that old Simpsons bit where the comedian was talking about how white and black people drive.  Pointing out how square we are and how hip they are...  That is funny for a while, but tends to get old...  Other times though, the show bordered on freakin' brilliant.  All in all it's worthwhile to see if you enjoy sketch comedy.
Ryan rented WWE RAW 2 for the Xbox so we played that a bit over the past few days.  I kinda like it although no wrestling game has ever topped WWF No Mercy for the N64 for gameplay.  This one has amazing graphics, great modes, and the ability to have 6 guys in the ring at once.  Too long have wrestling games been stuck in 4 guy mode...  I'd like to see one that could have 8 wrestlers, a ref, and 4 managers all going at once...  Then you could do 8 man tags or the old style survivor series.  That and you could bring back managers... something today's wrestling lacks. 
Stobart gave me copies of the photos from RAW, which turned out awesome and the photos from the Fire Rum evening which border on embarrassing...  I'll print out the best ones the next time I'm at Shoppers I guess and anyone who wants to see them can.  Oh yeah, there's a video he got of me doing the Curly, you know spinning on the ground yelling "whoooop whooop whooop whoopp."  Ouch....   There's also one of Ryan dancing and trying to sing along to "Informer" by Snow... funny shit.

The Week in Review or Vice City

Not a whole hell of a lot to report this week, as I spent a bunch of time playing Vice City for the Xbox and making some DVD's of old 80's cartoons.  Checked out the Winnipeg premiere of the Steve Breadstone show at the Fringe.  A little more ad-libbing then Montreal but still a solid show all around.  The review seem to all say that the group has a great deal of potential, so I hope they stick with it. 
Oh yeah... while going to the show, I had to pick up Ashley on the way...  during the car ride she made a comment that I was unsure of how to take.  While perhaps my imagination (perhaps and probably) there seems to be some tension between us (not the bad kind either).  While making idle chit chat she blurted out that it was all we could do because we were each afraid of starting up a real conversation with the other...  was that supposed to imply something?  I mean I know that I think she is hot and interesting but also unavailable and that tempers how I act around her a touch, but as far as I could tell that was only one way... then again, she has been known to tell me that I smell good, have cool hair, etc...   I never took those at more than face value and am pretty sure that I shouldn't but still... that remark in the car WAS weird...   But I don't really know her well enough to jump to any types of conclusions, so I'll just chalk it up to me being too analytical.
I've been eating protein bars lately.  I hope to make myself a touch bigger...   Not that it matters in the end, but still... it'd be nice to weigh more that 155 for once.
I've been reading "The Prophet's Way" by Thomm Hartman and I must say that it is very intriguing.  The ideas that I am accruing from it and "Conversations with God" meshed with my own views on spirituality are taking me in interesting places that I will talk about at a time other than 3 am... 

Sunburnt or Was I out there THAT Long?

Ok so now it turns out that I am surburnt... I guess using the tanning lotion was a stupid idea... My back is pretty red, as is the underside of my arms... They both hurt... I've been rubbing on some Solarcane to allieviate the burning, but it's not enough!!! Grant me relief! Seriously, it hurts to lie down.... It also hurts to flex, which I am want to do right now...????..... Oh well... hopefully it'll be better in a couple of days... Lesson learned!
Oh yeah, on Friday, we managed to finish the cruz of our work early so Dee and I went to a gym and worked out for an hour while waiting for the next segment of our job to begin... Having no water there, I was super dehydrated... (The stairmaster thingy rules...SO much better than a bike)... ANYway, I had a protein bar after the work out and I think that it did some good. I felt pretty good and I think that I might start the intake of extra protein to benefit more from the working out that I do... just a thought...

Fire Rum or The Sun Tanning Experience

Alright, so last night I was at Ryan's for a small gathering consisting of Andrew, Tina, some girl whose name escapes me, and myself. Stobart had picked up some Fire Rum, ie) 75% alcohol... Needless to say, without trying or wanting to we were all a touch drunk... Playing a drinking game, pissing around with a digital camera, playing xbox... all take on a different tone while under the influence... Having to work this morning I left the place with Andrew perched over the toilet, Tina and the other girl passed out, and Ryan cleaning up spilled drinks... Stumbling home I had a sleep with an insanely vivid dream of a girl trying to teach me to be a better kisser and continuously taking the practice further... That and people having a party in a gym... It was so crazy vivid that when I woke up, it didn't seem like I was in the real world... it was a super strange feeling of entering something that wasn't real from something that was. Being jolted out of it by my alarm, I was super out of it for the morning... I didn't really click into place until about 11am ish... Totally weird morning.
I also decided to try to darken up the old skin a little by sun tanning. Usually, when I do that I use sun screen, but today I tried some tanning lotion of my mom's. I think that it seemed to do the trick as my body is a few shades darker... although my back got burned a little... Oh yeah, there was nothing to do at work today so I sat outside and read while listening to the Soul Shack on 92.9. I really like 60's and 70's soul, funk and R&B. (which is what the soul shack plays...)
Dave left for Anchorage, Alaska yesterday and I wasn't able to get in touch with him before departing. He wanted me to go to Folk Fest on friday but I couldn't get off work... I really wanted to go because Anna was going to be there and it would've been a good time/place to connect.
This post is a little disjointed I know... Wednesday at work was killer... as the busyness quotient was cranked to the max... Our air conditioning at home broke so the house is a fucking furnace right now... 30 degrees outside, so no relief in sight!
Toodles!

Smackdown or Go Jets Go!

So last night was WWE Smackdown at the Winnipeg Arena and it was an all around good show. It started at 7:30 as opposed to 6:45 for RAW and ended at the same time (10:15ish). It seemed to be a much quicker evening overall and no one was really as burned out at the end as at RAW. The roster on Smackdown isn't as impressive so the crowd wasn't as loud... that and there aren't any major Canadians. There was a title switch, which was cool. Kidman and Paul London beat the Dudley Boyz for the tag titles, which prompted the crowd to go mildly crazy. When there was no Undertaker however, the mob was pissed. Chants of "Bullshit" rang throughout the arena. The 2 loudest pops of the evening were for John Cena (who I think sucks) and Funaki! Seriously, Funaki had an insane pop and people chanting his name! Is this some bizarro universe? I guess the highlight of the night was the "Go Jets Go" chant that just would not die. It went on forever! It just goes to show you that Winnipeggers will never forget.
I also finally got my record player fixed today. Unfortunately it was pricey to do so. After everything that was done, I was 150$ poorer... if the damn thing wasn't such a good model I wouldn't of bothered. Oh well, now I can listen to all my classic LP's! Like The Gremlins Story, Return of the Jedi, and Sesame Street Christmas! Whooo Hoooo!
I was called into work today and it was a killer. Working downtown is MUCH harder than the Warehouse, as there is, you know, ACTUAL work to do other than sitting on your ass. I was sweating like a pig and am super tired right now... Mark kept calling me Shaggy because of my hair and unshaven chin... I couldn't do a good "zoinks"... I think I am going to go play some Vice City now... or maybe just sit and not move... so tired....

Monday Night RAW or Flair Flop... LIVE!

So last night was the live tv taping of WWE Monday Night RAW in Winnipeg. Ryan, Andrew, Tina and I all attended the festivities. Overall it was a great show! The crowd was insanely hot and I got to see Ric Flair. Our seats were pretty good; facing the camera and in the 26th row. We had a perfect vantage point for both the entrance ramp and the ring. While I forgot my camera, luckily Andrew brought his and took a bunch of photos. Hopefully the ones with Ric Flair turn out. The crowd was constantly cheering Jericho for almost the entire night. During matches that weren't involving him, during commercial breaks, etc. There were some "Go Jets Go" chants as well as some "Let's go Bombers" ones. I would have to say that the most impressive chant came during his match with Randy Orton. A five minute sustained "Let's Go Jericho" CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP chant that was the highlight of the evening. I mean EVERYONE was involved. It was crazy loud. Then I check the tape of the show from TSN and that part was during a COMMERCIAL. They missed an arena full of 12 thousand people cheering the top of their lungs and clapping like their was no tomorrow. Stupid! In the end, I had a kick ass time. Seeing the famous Flair flop live was killer. Everyone whoo'd for that! He totally did a longer one than usual, making it even funnier. Seeing the famous Flair strut, seeing Kane's pyro, and seeing Jericho and Orton tear it up for 20 minutes all added up to an evening worthy of the 55$ price tag. Now let's hope Smackdown tonight can come close to that.

A Wrestling Double Whammy or Ric Flair!!!!!!!!

So the past few days have seen the following for me... work, video games, Spiderman 2, and the baking of a cake!
Friday night I ended up going to Matt's with Ryan, Rob, Andrew, Tina, Jon and Kostas to play some Halo over an xbox lan. While I was severely sick of the practice while in the employ of EB, I'll be damned if it wasn't fun now. It took a while to get back in the groove, but I did alright in the end.
After work Saturday, I went to Dave's with Graham (in from CGY...I love saying cuggy whenever I think of that abbreviation.... don't ask me why... I don't know) and Terena. Dave and Graham were doing mushrooms, so Terena and I baked a cake. It was great! Some sort of a banana cake with chocolate icing. We couldn't agree on how to decorate it so we cut the thing in half. My half was punctuated by a large peanut butter checkmark that Graham thought resembled a streak mark. Terena put all the peanut butter under the icing on hers. I think mine was cooler. Dave and Graham became incredibly amused with his old toy trains and his sandbox table and played in them for quite a while. Not that Terena and I didn't also play in the sandbox table.
Sunday night I saw Spider-man 2 with Andrew and Sam (his gf). Man, she is a whiner... complaining all the time and generally being a huge bring-down. One thing is for sure... I wouldn't stand that. I mean, she was getting mad at him for not buying her popcorn after he had already paid for the movie. I happen to know that he pretty much pays for everything by the way... She wouldn't let up on the subject, just totally getting pissy at him about it... he seemed to laugh it off, so I'm not sure what was going on there... Either way, not my issue to deal with!
Tonight and tomorrow are the nights that the WWE comes to town for dual TV tapings. RAW and Smackdown. While not being a fan anymore, or having any idea of the storylines, I am still going for the experience. I've only been to one TV taping before and that was an ECW one in 1999. It was totally fun, so I'm hoping for something somewhat similar. It'll be so good to finally see Ric Flair live and in person. He's been my favorite wrestler for so long... He'll probably retire soon enough, so if I don't hurry, he'll be gone. I'd really like to meet him, but that might be kinda hard... Either way, he rules.
Some ebay purchases have arrived over the past couple of days... a Bob Newhart LP, a Sam Kinison LP, a Steve Martin LP, and a Sam Kinison VHS tape and book. Now if only my record player was fixed....

Fahrenheit 9/11 or Canada Day

As an addition to the last post, Monday night I went to the Drive In with Dave to see a double bill of "Dodgeball" and "The Day After Tomorrow." The former was much funnier than I anticipated while the latter was much shittier than I anticipated. I can't understand why people still both see and let Roland Emmerich make movies. His only talent is with special effects... everything else, from character, dialogue, plot, etc are terrible. Whose bright idea was it to have the COLD chase people down a hallway, or who thought that someone could snowshoe from Washington D.C. to New York in ONE DAY. What the hell were they thinking????? Ugh, pure and utter crap fest, saved only MARGINALLY by impressive disaster scenes.
I finally got in to see Fahrenheit 9/11 last night, as the previous attempt was shut out due to a sell-out. Jay and I checked it out at Grant Park. We decided to get there really early to guarantee tickets and were smart to do so, as it sold out again. To kill the time before the show, we checked out some of the mall. I said hello to some former co-workers at Zellers, including a cute girl who I never could figure out, and a tubby dude who had a full beard at 16. It was interesting to see people who hated the job when I was there, still working there 2 full years later. It was also nice to see that I am still a legend there. My slacking exploits are still talked about! Including the time I went to my car and slept during a shift! Those were the days!
Anyway... as per the movie.. It was an amazing experience. Both funny and moving while still being informative and intelligent. Most of the data presented I already knew from various readings, but it was all presented concisely and powerfully. I hope that all Americans can see the film in order to be able to see through the smokescreen of their own media and see Bush and his war for what he truly is. Seeing the images of Iraq made me even more thankful that Chretien said no to it. Canada has no place in such a situation. We are a peacekeeping nation, not an occupying invasion force led by corporate interests and lies. The film also made me even more grateful that Canada does not have a draft (which is most likely on the way in the U.S.) and that we are respected around the world. The fact that we don't have such a fear-mongering media, and that we are not the target of terrorists was also something reinforced by the film. Overall, it just made me even more grateful for this great country I live in and the ideals and standards it was built on. The perfect sentiment for today, which just happens to be Canada Day! Canada, I love ya baby!