GO PROGRESS CHROME

My Top Christmas Albums

2011-11-18T17:45:00.001-06:00

I've got a top 5 list for Christmas albums. Here we go...

Number 5 is a Tie: Handel's Messiah & Grechaninov's Passion Week

Beautiful music from start to finish

So these two are much different than the remaining 4. I like a lot of different kinds of music and these are two pieces which I really find put me in the Christmas mood, plus they mean a lot. Passion Week is a piece I discovered thanks to the brilliant staff at HMV's Toronto flagship store on Yonge Street. It was 2009 and Sandra and I went downtown to shop and have a fun day. This was my main requirement, that we stopped at HMV so I could browse. I took two escalators to get into their classical department, which is cool because its own little enclosed space. Anyhow, as soon as I walked in Passion Week had sex with my ears and it was awesome. So I bought it and the rest is history.

Headed to Ontario for a performance once again this year.

The Messiah is something that is important to me for a couple different reasons. First off, it's something I've seen with my Grandfather consistently for about 8 years running now and I love it every time. Second, in my opinion, it is the greatest piece of music ever composed. If you've never listened to it straight through, I highly recommend it. I'm not a super religious person, but this music inspires me. Even if I don't necessarily subscribe to everything it is about from a religious perspective, it's like, the fact that all this music about such an important subject was in someone's head is pretty amazing.

Number 4: Raffi's Christmas Album
So for those that don't know him, Raffi is a Canadian children's artist. He has many, many albums out there and in more recent years has become an environmental activist. Raffi is the ultimate nice guy, plus he is a great folk singer. Again, fond childhood memories really move this one up the list from the deluge of Christmas themed albums out there. This one is timeless though. Ever have smells, sights, or sounds that just evoke a flood of memories? The songs on this album definitely do this for me. Tree decorating, opening gifts, waiting while Mom prepared the turkey, getting our skates laced up....lots of warm winter memories. Anyhow, my favorite track on this one would be Douglas Mountain for sure.

Boney M never sang a word. They totally lip synced.

Number 3: Christmas with Boney M
Ok, so I love Boney M. Always have. In fact, I'd say they're a group that is pretty difficult to not like. I mean check out that album cover? That is pretty shibby right there. This is another album that I remember fondly from my childhood. My favorite track on this album is definitely the instrumental one called Winter Fairy-tale. Also, I remember my Mom singing along to some of the tracks while we decorated the house. For this reason, this album has to make it into the top Christmas albums for me.

Number 2: Christmas with James Last

Anyone with a jacket like that is ok in my books

I'd say that most people my age probably have never heard of James Last. I certainly hadn't until I inherited this Christmas album from my Grandfather about 5 years ago. This was when I first bought my Sony turn table. At that time I was like over dosing on records and my Grandparents had tons of them....many obscure but equally cool records. So James Last is from Germany and was very popular in the 70's as an orchestra leader and master of dance music. He has several Christmas albums, but this particular one is off the charts awesome. It's one of the most, sort of, psychedelic Christmas albums I've ever heard. Very relaxing, very mellow with lots of different sounds to it. I would say there are only one or two tunes in it that you'd recognize as tried and true Christmas carols. I recommend Happy Christmas Everywhere and Sleigh Ride to Christmas Market. The other thing I'd say really makes this a good Christmas album is that all the tracks flow together, so you truly listen to this one all at one....well until you have to turn the record over.

My all time favorite

Number 1: John Denver The Muppets: A Christmas Together
This is one of those albums that I have on CD for in the car as well as on a 33" for listening at home on a cold night. I love John Denver. I think he was a really inspiring person and had a beautiful voice. I have a number of his albums which I listen to pretty frequently. I don't really consider him a pure country artist, as a folk singer. He was an awesome song writer. Anyhow, with respect to this particular album my favourite tracks are Christmas Eve: 1913, The Peace Carol and Alfie the Christmas Tree. Not only is this an album that I fondly remember from Christmas' when I was young, but my Grandfather and I have performed several of these songs together, which meant a lot to me. For all these reasons this is a stand out, #1 on my list.

Iceland

2011-09-26T14:41:00.001-05:00

In just another week I will be in Iceland. You read that correctly. Iceland.

Sandra, Kenny, Kathy & I are headed to the geological wonderland which is Iceland. I've been answering tons of questions about the "whys, hows & whens" of this trip to friends and family alike. My Grandfather asked me just yesterday "why Iceland". I'll get to my answer in a minute.

Now if we were headed to England I could talk about heritage, history; if we were headed to Florida maybe the sun & Disney. But really, Iceland - what comes to your mind? My guess is probably not too much. And I guess that is part of the wonder of it. The unknown. The unique nature of being able to say "Yeah, I've been to Iceland"

Kenny, Kathy, Sandra and I are great friends and all of us love to travel. We've been looking to do something big together for awhile now. In fact, we've been through a couple different iterations of this trip. At one time it was going to be Greece, at another we were talking about England. Finally, we landed on Iceland and have had a lot of fun planning this whole thing out.

The group will meet at Minneapolis airport this coming Friday Sept 30th and then board an Icelandair flight to Reykjavik. Once we arrive we will be met by our guide who will take us to our hotel for the night. The following day we will pick up an SUV and then will proceed to spend the remainder of the trip driving the ring road around Iceland. We'll pretty much see everything there is to see in Iceland - or at least a very good portion.

I can't wait to post pictures and of course my beloved videos of this trip. And the answer to my Grandfather's question: "wait till you see the pictures, then you'll understand"

Venture More: Adventure recap of months past

2011-09-26T14:40:00.000-05:00

Venture More: Adventure recap of months past: The past few months have been a scramble against time to get as much outdoor activity in before the summer heat would melt my ambition. I ...

Wow 2 Years Flies By

2011-09-11T16:33:00.002-05:00

This is a long overdue post. I haven't blogged in over two years and I've had plenty to say it's just that life is really hectic and for me this is one of the first things to fall off the list of things I NEED to do.

My wife and I are now living in the United States. I got a really great opportunity with my company to move to Bentonville, Arkansas and join our Walmart US sales team. In my field of work, working on the Walmart team was like being in the Navy Seals. I was pretty proud and happy to be given the chance. The challenge proved just that, a challenge. Many long hours & weeks - but a lot of great highs.

Now to complicate matters further, during the period from when I found out I was moving to the time we moved (Sep 2010) - Sandra and I also had our wedding date - July 17th 2010. That was a toughie, planning a wedding isn't easy. But we managed and had an absolutely wonderful day that neither of us will ever forget.

We moved down in September of 2010 and bought a beautiful little home in Bella Vista which is 10 minutes by car north of Bentonville. Our new home was only about 5 years old and in a forest. It was truly peaceful living out there. My wife spent a good couple months settling into her Arkansas life, organizing and decorating our home. She then got to finding work. This proved pretty difficult for her but eventually she landed at Dillard's - working retail. I don't know that she was ever to happy with this, considering she has a university degree and a college diploma in Speech Therapy. Anyhow, we were happy....

Then January 2011 rolled around and a new opportunity was presented to me. This time, the job was in Madison Wisconsin. As fun as Arkansas was, I jumped at the opportunity after talking it over with Sandra. And so a little under 6 months after moving to Arkansas, we were on the road again for our new home in Madison.

We moved in to a rental home in Madison in April 2011 and I must say we love it here. Madison is the seat of the state government as well as the University of Wisconsin. The area has tons of things to do and is a very active community, which Sandra and I love because we need to be active to stay healthy.

Well that is the Coles Notes of the last two years. I'll make the same promise that all Bloggers make and rarely keep and that is that I will try my best to keep up with this.

Conversation Terminated.

Snow Birds Flying South

2009-06-14T16:27:00.003-05:00

You know, most people don't really care all that much about the existance of the RCAF Snowbirds. It's clear based on the support they have received over the past 10 years from the public.

Having a professional aereal acrobatics team costs millions (approximately $10 million in 2008) and given their association with the military (in a very passive society) its not surprising they're falling on hard times.

Everyone knows about the issues that the Snowbirds have had over the last few years. Maintenance issues, pilot deaths (7 since 1972) - and last but not least: the fact that they are flying aircraft that are well over 40 years old!

Personally, I love the idea of showing off our best pilots to the world. The Snowbirds attend international airshows and perform cutting edge manuoevrs - pretty cool stuff. They represent Canada on the world stage and I think that is important. Obviously I'm in the minority as the organization is in significant decline. We should reinvest in the organization to provide new equipment and use this squadron to show off our talent worldwide.

Conversation terminated.

Canada's Airline Crunch

2009-06-12T11:37:00.003-05:00

Couldn't Canada benefit from opening up our airline industry to International competition? I, for one, think it would be to the net benefit of consumers.

Here's a classic example: I travel for business purposes about 8 or 9 times per year. Most frequently I am heading to Madison, Wisconsin - a State Capital - but not serviced directly by more than 7 or 8 U.S. airports. Getting there from an Ontario airport is impossible unless you connect. The best options for me would be either Toronto-Pearson or Buffalo-Niagara. Being a Canadian, I would likely prefer to fly from Pearson - but it simply costs too much.

For a 3 day trip to Madison I'd be paying around $450 for the flight, plus $85 for parking at Pearson. The same trip from Buffalo would cost me approximately $300 for the flight & $40 for the parking (we're talking CAD in both cases). Given that there is no noticeable service difference between the two airports and that Toronto has four or five times the air traffic as Buffalo - the choice is obvious.

Enter the idea of de-regulation. Currently in Canada, domestic passenger services are limited to only "domestic firms" (e.g. Westjet, Canjet, AirTransat, Air Canada). If you want to travel to a Canadian destination you can either connect via an International flight (which usually doesn't make a lot of sense) or use a Canadian airline. The trouble is, we have an Oligopoly in the Canadian airline business and even the discount airline isn't much of a discount. In some cases, the price is more! So that pretty well sucks for the average joe. By opening up the routes to other providers, I'm certain that overall, prices would begin to decline. Not only that, but there would be more choice for consumers - especially those who travel to the US frequently. They'd be able to use their airline rewards more effectively or at least earn more of them.

I'm tired of getting the shaft on our domestic services and I'm tired of bailing out Air Canada. Someone should be able to make this work.

Conversation terminated.

Wedding Plans 1

2009-06-03T14:10:00.003-05:00

Sandra and I are working away at planning our wedding and things are moving along ok thus far. We're both quite similar in how we see this thing going off - classy without being flamboyant.

There have been a couple issues thus far - mainly "who is paying for it??". All my life I'd heard of the girl's family paying for the wedding, but that just doesn't happen anymore for the vast majority of couples *d'oh!*. More couples split the costs between the two sets of parents and themselves and this is essentially what we are hoping to do. There have been some difficulties on Sandra's side of the family, as her parents are no longer together - but they have both pledged their support, so thats good news.

We are looking at three different possibilities for the reception, but we will have the service at Fairview United Church. This is the church I have always gone to and Sandra is not affiliated with any particular religious organization, so that was an easy decision. The three places we are looking at are the Brantford Golf & Country Club, the Hungarian Cultural Hall and Rossini Lodge (the Italian club in Brantford). All of these are located within the city of Brantford so its a good middle ground for most of our friends and family.

We're also starting to kick around Honeymoon destinations. Again, we are both on the same page - we want something a little different than the Carribean or Mexico - but balance that with cost. We're looking at Spain, Greece, Hawaii, St. Maarten, St. Lucia & maybe a cruise option or two. We recently went on a cruise and enjoyed it, but learned alot about what we really like & don't like about cruising - so we'd be looking for certain things in any potential cruise.

So thats about it on wedding plans for now - more later...

Conversation terminated.

Shave Your Expenses

2009-05-28T09:03:00.007-05:00

Being that I am a relatively new home owner and am experiencing the world of new home-related expenses, I have found myself looking at my overall monthly expenditures closely. One of the places that I spend money is on razor blades. Here's what it looks like:

PRODUCT I USED TO USE:

Gillette Mach 3 Turbo

Close shave

Pivoting head

3 Blades

Moisturizing strip

Easy to get replacement blades (Zellers, Walmart*, Shoppers Drug Mart etc)

I use 1 blade per week and I buy the 8 pack of blades (from WM where possible as its the cheapest). The cost of the replacement blades is $26.80 (including taxes) or $3.35 per blade.

$3.35 x 52 weeks in a year = $174.50 annual cost of blades

PRODUCT I AM NOW USING:

Schick Quatro Titanium

Close shave

Pivoting head (but not as much as Mach 3 Turbo)

4 blades

Moisturizing strip

Fairly easy to get replacement blades

Cost of replacements blades is less - $20.00 (taxes incl) or $2.50 per blade.

$2.50 x 52 weeks in a year = $130.00 annual cost

TOTAL SAVINGS $44.50

Now that's a drop in the bucket, but if I did this with 10 things I buy, wow thats like $400 a year.

Conversation terminated.

Greengineering

2009-05-24T19:55:00.002-05:00

Grocery Chains starting to charge for plastic bags has nothing at all to do with being environmentally conscious and everything to do with creating yet another profit center. There is no way that it costs them 5 cents per bag, not even 4 cents. More like 1 or 2 cents per bag. Remember when they talked about the millions and millions of bags in landfills? Well guess what? That means $15,000 to $20,000 in their pockets that they didn't have before. In the grand scheme of things...a drop in the bucket - but its the principle of the thing, isn't it?

I have to step back and applaud them for successfully fooling the general public into this elabourate rouse. I feel that overall people have positive feelings towards the Grocery chains for stepping up and doing this.

And! While I've stepped back I have to say there are two types of grocery customers - those that re-used their plastic grocery bags and those that are morons and actually chose to throw their grocery bags in the garbage instead of the recycling box. This only created statistics for the "tree-huggers" to use against the larger majority. Great work.

Conversation terminated.

Hatin' on the Situation

2009-05-22T16:46:00.006-05:00

I've been venting via Twitter/Facebook for some time about my problems with the current situation the auto makers have gotten themselves into. I'm going to offer my opinion...

For as long as I can remember, the big three (General Motors, Ford & Chrysler) have been making cars that people simply didn't want. Additionally, many of their cars were plagued by design flaws, leading to multi-million dollar recalls, low customer satisfaction & poor resale value. To me, it was like they were not listening to the final consumers; they weren't paying attention to their business. This is the biggest mistake you can make.

Meanwhile in the marketplace, Toyota & Honda were slowly perfecting the entry-level sedan, the mid-size sedan and to a lesser extent, the mini-van. Improvements in fuel economy, safety and efficiencies in their supply chain (as well as assembly) delivered a vehicle under $20,000 people sought out and even repeat purchased (became loyal to). This wasn't the 60's & 70's anymore - the Japanese meant business.

Enter the Union. Over 60 or 70 years the Union has, in my opinion, gone from an essential organization to a white elephant. About as useless as tits on a bull. In my opinion the reason Unions were created was to protect the workers from unfare labour practices imposed on them by private business owners. Fine. I have no desire to see people live below the poverty line, be forced to work 80 hours a week or in conditions that are just plain unsafe. The problem is that the harsh conditions that existed in the early 20th century do not exist anymore. Now we're more worried about papercuts than we are about someone being sent into a mine with high explosives. From my limited experience in the work place I've found that there is considerable infrastructure to support a safe work environment. Additionally there are minimum wage standards that are well established. Government regulation and watchdog groups, in a way, force private organizations to be, overall, fair.

Unions have gone too far with their mandate - and of course they would. I mean, why would they stop? If I was a Union member I'd be all for the continuing fight for more - just like many people in our society. The accumulation of wealth is pretty much a primal drive for the vast majority. Right or wrong, it is what our civilization was built on. The simple fact is that a person building a car does not deserve to be paid what they are currently.

It is a combination of poor strategy and management by the automakers senior managers as well as greed on the part of the Unions (inflating the standard costs of the product) that have culminated in the near failure of the North American automotive industry. Rightly so. Those responsible can only look within to understand.

Conversation terminated.

Music Saves Me Twice

2009-05-21T09:40:00.007-05:00

Jason Lytle has finally released his debut solo album called "Yours Truly, the Commuter". (Link will take you to the video for the single I Am Lost). I'm glad he did - if you're a fan of his style and sound, you'll probably like this album overall. Though it doesn't contain any one song I can yet point to as being my absolutely favourite above the others, all of them are decent.

I'd have to say that despite the above, I feel Lytle's creative genius was back in the early 2000's or late 90's. Albums like The Sophtware Slump and Under the Western Freeway were amazing. I remember the first time that I stumbled on this band - it was 2001, I was in second year business school at Brock University. More importantly, I was reveling in having my PC hooked up to high speed cable internet for the first time. I remember my room (it was myself and my buddy Robin in the two basement rooms - then Mike, Aaron & Nick were in the upper bedrooms) it was pretty nice and I had this long fold out table I was using as my desk. I think back then I was using Napster, or maybe it was Kazaa - anyhow I think at the time I was looking up the Crystal Method and stumbled on "The Crystal Lake" by Grandaddy. I thought it sounded interesting, so I clicked on it (hey what was the worry, I had high speed, it wouldn't take long). At first listen I quite liked the song - so I searched for more songs by the band. (my roommates later cursed me for playing the song so much - Robin particularly hated the constant piano scales in the background a la Final Fantasy theme). The second song I downloaded was "Hewlett's Daughter". Again, good song. The third song I downloaded was called "She-Deleter". Now this was a toughie. I recall thinking, nope, I don't think so, these guys are a little too out there for me. Over time this changed and I became a big fan of this genre of electronic, sub-pop, prog-rock, alternative, ambient mixture - called Grandaddy.

I've found that my thirst for new music is never saturated - but lately I've been having trouble finding new bands or music that really speak to me personally as I had several years ago. The great thing is that there is new stuff coming out all the time, the key is finding it. Oh and finding the time to find it.

Conversation terminated.

Stores and Shopping

2008-01-09T09:20:00.000-06:00

I really hate the following retail stores:

1) Stars Mens Wear / TipTop / Moores - why? Because they buy trashy crap from some factory in China and spin it off in their own "private labels" stripping the product down to deliver a retail price and a big margin for their chain. Sure they offer a few SKU's of name-brand stuff, but for the most part you are getting what you pay for and end up looking like shit.

2) Sears - why? Because this is the epitomy of a "dead department store". Seriously, either The Bay or Sears are going down. It's just a matter of time. When was the last time you saw Sears open a new store or do a major renovation? You probably haven't because they aren't investing there. They are still gauking at the fact that there has been a major consumer behavior shift and they're still trying to figure out a way to connect with consumers.

3) Price Chopper / Food Basics - why? Because I'm buying food here and that doesn't give you an excuse to have messy, dirty, disgusting stores. Yeah I get that the prices are A LITTLE BIT less than the average grocery store, but not enough to make me want to deal with the folks that shop there religiously. Plus, I get tired of seeing the really weird brands from like Eastern Europe or Asia. CCCP Approved!

4) A&F / Hollister et al. - why? Because of the bimbo at the front of the store greeting me. The first 10 seconds after entering a store need to be uninterupted (at least for me). I don't want to talk I want to get grounded and move to where I want to be. I don't want someone being "Hey guys! Our hoodies are 10% off when you spend $300 or more, mmm k?"

Alright so there is the short list. Yes, there are others I despise, but these are the ones that really really make me almost upset to set foot in.

Conversation Terminated.

CA-NA-DA

2007-06-24T16:39:00.000-05:00

I'm pretty excited about Canada Day. My parents throw a big "do" out at their place in the country. This is our 4th or 5th year doing it - I bring the fireworks. It's great.

2006-10-28T16:54:00.000-05:00

The Dears - Whites Only Party

Another...

2006-10-28T16:52:00.000-05:00

The Dears - Ticket To Immortality

I guess I can't post these in the same post.

New Digs

2006-10-23T16:37:00.000-05:00

Our company has moved to our new offices. They are just outside of Brantford and are amazing. It's a really new building. We are sitting in $1,000 chairs. Weird huh?

The coolest part I found out this morning. Apparently there is this system in the building called "white noise". It's a audio system that helps filter out background noise. It's especially useful in places where there are a lot of cubicles as opposed to closed offices. It sounds just like an HVAC system, so you don't really notice it so much - but it really does work quite well.

Anyhoo the other great thing about the building is that they have a cafeteria that provides breakfast and lunch and the food is dynamite. Hooray!

Conversation Terminated.

2006-10-20T17:29:00.000-05:00

Real Final Fantasy

This is too funny

2006-10-20T17:22:00.000-05:00

Boney M. - Rasputin (1978)

Boney M rocks my world - and on a consistant basis. I share my favourite of songs.

I loved their Christmas album too - I have such fond memories of them.

Side, Side, Everywhere a Side

2006-10-19T17:00:00.000-05:00

I was out in Vancouver about 3 weeks ago for work and I got into a dinner conversation about how North America sort of, worked out, on a nations level.

It seems true that the people on the West Coast seem to think East vs West rather than North vs South - so it begs the question:

What would it be like if USA and Canada were on two sides of North America - rather than top an bottom?

Can you imagine it? You'd have all climate zones in both countries.

Now, I ask you Interweb people - which side would you prefer. The warm breezes of California and wonderful skiing in Colorado and British Columbia?

Or would you prefer Maritime lobster, summers by the great lakes and Quebecers?

Aaaaaaaaaand discuss....

Conversation Terminated.

Brantford Woot Woot

2006-10-09T12:53:00.000-05:00

TV Tropolis is having a Survivor: Burma marathon on today. I applaud them for their choice.

So no blogging from ol'Dano here in awhile. Sorry for that. It tends to happen.

Today I'd like to talk about a program I am starting called "Be a Brantford Ambassador". This is all about the promotion of the greatest town in Canada. Brantford, Ontario.

First change I would like to see is a reversal of all named places. Instead of Toronto, Ontario, Canada - I want the addition of "Brantford" to all of these things.

Ottawa, Brantford, Ontario, Canada - and so forth.

Now Brantford is really a lot of better than most places in Canada.

For example:

1) we're better than Toronto because we have Dairy Delite

2) we're better than Trois Rivieres - because we don't have to deal with a lot of Francophones

3) we're better than Smith Falls because we have Feraro Roche

4) we're better than Sault Ste Marie because our name is shorter

The list is really endless. I challenge all and singular to find a town better than Brantford. Its simply not possible.

Be a Brantford Ambassador. Spread the news.

Conversation Terminated.

Wok at this Blog Post

2006-07-09T08:06:00.000-05:00

Who DOESN'T remember Wok with Yan, starring Stephen Yan - the adorable Cantonese chef.

Even though I was out till 2am last night, I happened to be up early this morning because I couldn't sleep and I decided to channel surf. I came across a wonderful episode in which Yan was vacationing in Florida at the Disney resort. After this little vignette on the vacation it was wok time! Yes!

Today's recipe: Lobster with aparagus. Delish? Today's apron: "Wok Around the Clock"

Here is a list of other memorable aprons:

Wok & Roll
Wok-ey Night in Canada
Danger, Men at Wok
Wok the Heck?
You are Wok you Eat
Wok Goes up Must Come Down
All Wokked Up
Watch for Falling Woks
Wok Up a Sweat
Wok on the Wild Side
The Days of Wok and Roses
New Kid on the Wok
Over Wok, Under Paid
Wok's New Pussycat?
Wok Before You Run
Wok on the Wild Side

Yan should have a star on the Scarborough Walk of Fame or whatever its called. He also should be heralded as a Canadian to really make it in the US and Internationally.

Good on you Yan! Wok your own way!

Conversation Terminated.

Bolten Go Home

2006-07-04T19:37:00.000-05:00

My God!

I thought we had been saved from Michael Bolten. But alas. No. This is not the case.

Now he is moving into yet another phase in his prolonged career. The "I'm going to try and be a crooner" stage. This is where instead of more of his terribly bad original music, he chooses to destroy old favourites.

Gar!

Conversation Terminated.

a mare usque a mare

2006-07-03T19:51:00.000-05:00

Another birthday for Canada. 139 years. Wow.

My family, once again, hosted an amazing Canada Day party.

Planning began only about a month before and this year we had over 40 people. Friends, family, games (including "Pin the Tail on the Beaver"), fireworks and of course plenty to eat.

Sam and I worked out a good plan for our fireworks show this year and we received many compliments about the quality of our show. We basically organized the fireworks a little more than we have in previous years and it worked out really well. We had about $300 in fireworks.

My Grandfather and my Uncle Boots played some familiar tunes and all and all it was an amazing day.

Can't wait for next year!

Conversation Terminated.

Caveat emptor

2006-06-19T17:36:00.000-05:00

I'm updating this post because there are a couple other thoughts I have about this general subject.

Price match guarantees are a "get out of jail free card" for retailers. How is this a benefit to the consumer unless you want to put in that much work? Shouldn't it be the retailer going and watching their competition? No, they have turned this into a "you do the work" concept. They know you're lazy so they know that ultimately they'll win. Major CPG companies feed this by providing unique SKUs to only one retailer. Sales people sell these as "exclusives" to the retailer and the retailer sells them at "compare and save" pricing. Yeah right - try and compare. The internet has made things easier, but be careful it's easy to make a mistake, or not compare apples to apples. I still have plenty of people telling me about the great deal they scored - and I'm thinking "no, not quite"

All retailers are not created equal. There are a couple of fundamentals of which the most important is the retailer's cost of doing business. Walmart leads here - they can put Tide on the shelf for less than anyone else and the price they buy it from P&G is only one of those components. Walmart's invoice price on Tide isn't THAT much lower than that of Zeller's or Loblaw's - its the fact that Walmart controls internal costs, be it labor, efficient trucks, efficient operations etc. Look at what they're doing under the guise of sustainability. It's great work and they have correctly determined that by reducing waste and making packaging smaller they can help the environment and save money. Few retailers are as advanced as Walmart. Period. I've seen this first hand.

A couple other tips:

Kirkland Signature is the best store brand available. Costco goes to great length to make them exactly equal to national brands. Buy these, you'll save money.
Duracell, Energizer & Rayovac all last the same. Watch store brand performance. (shameless, but honest plug)

More than One?

2006-06-13T18:47:00.000-05:00

I decided to google my own name and see what I can come up with.

Apparently and surprisingly - there IS another Dan Parker out there. He is a big Chicago Cubs fan and his friends call him "D-Piddy". Drole.

Then of course we have goalie of the Vermont Men's Lacrosse team Dan Parker. According to Steve Beville "Dan will add depth to the team". Also, in 2006 "Dan did not see action". Boy do I know what thats like.

Good old Interweb.

Conversation Terminated.

You've got the Power

2006-06-07T19:35:00.000-05:00

I decided that I should watch Transformers: The Movie. I haven't seen it in over 10 years and it was time to revisit it.

Boy, cartoons like Transformers are simply not made anymore. Unbelieveable.

Classic rivalries / battles between two huge factions: the autobots and the decepticons.

I looked up the voice of Starscream and Cobra Commander (GI Joe). Surprisingly, he is dead. But what a voice - talk about unique. His name is Chris Latta. Voila a picture:

I recall the Transformers movie as being a little darker than the original cartoon, but its interesting to surf the net on the origins of Unicron (the evil, gigantic planet-robot). Anyhoo - the other awesome thing about this movie. The music. Oh yeah, some classic 80's ballads.

Conversation Terminated

Say What You Mean

2006-05-31T17:17:00.000-05:00

Some British journalists have gotten together and published a book featuring notable, quotable quips from Prince Philip. Apparently Phil is quite the character.

Some of his comments, over the years, have included:

To a British student in China: "If you stay here much longer, you will go home with slitty eyes."
To a British student in Papua New Guinea: "You managed not to get eaten then?"
To a British tourist in Hungary: "You can't have been here that long — you haven't got a pot belly."
To a Scottish driving instructor: "How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?"
To Australian Aborigines: "Do you still throw spears at each other?"

Hilarious I say. Good on you Prince Philip for speaking your mind. One of the editors of the book said that Philip is a "national treasure". Boy is he ever.

Conversation Terminated.

MuchNews Makes Dan Upset

2006-05-23T11:33:00.000-05:00

So I just watched MuchNews and I have many things bothering me:

1. Bono. No one cares what you're about. Get your cell phone and call someone who really gives a shit about Africa.

2. Scarborough "Walk of Fame" - you know what it should be walk of infamy. Maestro doesn't need a star, he needs a mug shot.

3. Christina Aguilera: you keep talking about the abuse you "witnessed" as a child. Maybe it will salvage your dwindling career. PS does witnessing abuse justify you being a skank? Probably not.

Conversation Terminated.

A History of Violence

2006-05-22T15:35:00.000-05:00

I'm tired with the Native blockade near Caledonia, Ontario.

Crush the protestors.

Use police force to remove them.

It's in our blood to beat on the Natives. I mean as the t-shirt hell t-shirt says "should have fought harder wussies"

Darwinism at its best is and should be taking place.

Bury These Cars

2006-05-16T06:28:00.000-05:00

I'd like to list the top cars that people have that they think are cool, but are absolutely, positively not cool....at all.

1) Dodge / Chrysler Neon: one of the worst cars designed, both visually and mechanically. People like to lower these (more so), tint the windows, do jobs on the lights/brakelights and add in large soup cans on the exhaust/muffler. Wow. Too bad its a $10,000 garbage car with no engine and its ugly as all hell. Die.

2) VW Rabbit: Yes I saw one of these on the highways - it proceeded to cut me off and then spew diesel fumes into my car cabin. Yuck.

3) 3) Chevrolet Cavalier or Pontiac Sunfire: "Hi this is the only car I can afford and I'm gay, Also I enjoy pimping out an entry level piece of crap....doesn't that make it cooler?" The answer is no. Enough said.

4) Ford Probe: this is not a sports car!!! It is a crappy ass rounded piece of crap...crappy ass.

5) Mazda Miata: "Hi I'm a dude driving a sports car that was designed for women"

List Over.

Conversation Terminated.

Teen Pregnancy is Rising, not Declining

2006-05-15T06:31:00.000-05:00

So I'm sitting watching television, as I normally do before work, this morning and I saw quite an interesting commercial for a product called "Tricyclen lo"

This is a birth control pill - I don't know if its different than the other Tricyclen - but yeah.

So here's all these girls kinda dancing around and having fun and stuff and the narrator is like "you're special, do whatever you want to do, there is nothing that can stop you - be your own girl etc etc"

I love how drug companies get away with this kind of stuff. The commercial is running on MuchMusic and their audience has declined in age by about 3 or 4 years anyhow. Their target is like 13 to 17 year olds. 13 to 17!!!!

Tricyclen's message: "You're awesome...now go out there and get your sex on. Oh, and PS, take this so you don't get pregnant while you're out there fucking guys."

I'm disappointed that this is out there, but it is kind of amusing.

I am more disappointed in MuchMusic. What happened to this organization? I mean part of this is me getting older, but at the same time - the videos they play and the way they go about things (how their VJ's are told to act) just seem so lame. Its so kiddish. Like its designed for someone with ADD - there's so much movement and just caffiene induced frenzy. Nutz.

Conversation Terminated.

Matt Pond Covers NMH???

2006-05-04T06:31:00.000-05:00

So last night I'm watching episode 4 of the O.C. and what comes on in the background?

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - yet it wasn't Jeff Mangum singing - it was Matt Pond.

I was quite surprised as I'd never heard of any covers of NMH songs. Matt Pond didn't decimate the song - but it certainly isn't anything like the NMH version. I googled this and it looks like most of NMH fans were really disappointed with it.

Still, it was a pretty cool moment to realise what the song was and hear it.

Conversation Terminated.

Neutral Milk Hotel Check Them Out

2006-05-02T17:32:00.000-05:00

I love Neutral Milk Hotel....

A lot of people are going "huh?"

They're an amazing band - then brainchild of Jeff Mangum.

They released two albums and several other works (there are a lot of bootlegs and stuff on ebay). Jeff took a trip to Amsterdam and that trip was in large part an inspiration for NMH's second album "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea". The album has several songs on it, in which Jeff references his thoughts about visiting Anne Frank's home and learning about her life and story.

Jeff has a different way of singing. He changes his tone and pitch ad hoc and to some I would think it might sound like pure garbage. But...I kind of like it.

The band even has a trumpet, which anyone who knows me, knows that I would like.

My most recent acquisition is an NMH recording of their concert in SanFrancisco is 1998 I believe. Weirdest thing about the band is that after their second album they essentially disbanded - even though they were growing in popularity. Jeff went off to appear at several solo appearances as well he would spontaneously pop in on other concerts. He's quite aloof now and most fans have given up hope on an NMH reunion.

Recommended song titles:

A Baby for Pree
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Holland 1945

It's too bad really. Too bad.

Conversation Terminated.

Marriottawa

2006-04-26T18:54:00.000-05:00

So I'm headed to Ottawa this weekend. A nice little mini-vacation courtesy of the company.

I've got to do a lot of work while I'm there, but I should be able to find some time to see a couple sites. I'm staying in an awesome hotel too - the downtown Marriott - facing the parliament buildings. Other great thing: Allison is coming with me!

We're leaving on Friday and coming back Sunday afternoon.

Booyah!

Conversation Terminated.

New V-Dubya Commercials

2006-04-24T06:38:00.000-05:00

The new VW commercials are awesome.

Althought somewhat strange on first viewing, I have grown to enjoy them. I like the extreme "German" stereotype used in these. In fact the dude even says "Representin' Deutchland".

Hilarious.

Conversation Terminated.

Camporama 2007

2006-04-18T21:08:00.000-05:00

So planning for Camporama 2007 is well underway. We have a site picked out and are confirming the guest list.

The breweries have been notified and are scheduling production accordingly.

Conversation Terminated.

Bee Bee F U

2006-04-09T16:39:00.000-05:00

Decided to purchase a Barbeque this weekend - even though I live in an apartment and we're technically not supposed to have BBQ's on our balconies. Whatever.

I'm not really a "work with your hands", "handy", "useful" person - so it took me a little while to assembly the unit. I got a great deal on the barbeque though - $90 bucks at Crappy Tire.

Anyhoo - there it is....the "Master Chef" - tonight I'm making chicken grills. They should be scrumptious.

Yay!

Conversation Terminated.

Comedown

2006-04-01T21:31:00.000-06:00

It's weird when you find yourself in situations.

If you're in a situation and you don't know the outcome - is that good or bad?

Situations can cause stress.

I don't want to come back down from this cloud.

I want to marry Gwen Stefani - or do I? No I think I don't. Celebrity does not always equal good.

All this time.

conversation terminated.

Fate Sealed

2006-03-28T18:12:00.000-06:00

The seal hunt is on, in Canada.

So this is the prey. Is this really a hunt? Is any actual hunting involved?

I doubt this.

I'm wondering why we can't invent something to replace what we use these Harp Seals for. Like what could we possibly need these animals for? I'm not soft hearted - but good God - these things shouldn't really need to be killed.

If we're controlling a population or doing something to try and help...thats one thing...but a blatant kill seems somewhat odd.

We invented many chemicals, fabrics and so forth - couldn't we replace whatever it is that we need these animals for and let bygones be bygones?

Probably not. Prepare yourselves Seals.

Conversation Terminated.

Cellino Takes One For The Team

2005-10-26T18:52:00.000-05:00

Cellino and Barnes is no more. I'm sure you'll all recall - if you've ever been to Buffalo or watched WUTV or any other Buffalo TV feed - this personal injury law firm. Essentially a bunch of lawyers doing ambulance chasing. I mean these guys were on at almost every commercial break. It's crazy.

The Man: Steve Barnes

Anyways, I'm watching the Buffalo vs Washington hockey game and all of a sudden here is the familiar Steve Barnes talking about "The Barnes Firm". I'm like "What the fuck, where's your big eye browed buddy?" Did these two have a falling out? Did Barnes buy out Cellino? Who knows! Check out some other internet civilians thoughts.

So it turns out that Cellino got into some trouble and can't have his name on any billboards, letterhead etc etc....so they're fucked? I wonder if he'll ever return?

Conversation Terminated.

Halloween Yay

2005-10-20T17:11:00.000-05:00

So I'm quite pumped because James has decided that he and Corina will host a Halloween party at their apartment. This is an excellent turn of events. For a couple weeks now Allison has been pressing me for Halloween plans. We really enjoy the day and want to get dressed up.

Last year, as you'll recall I went as "Evil Dictator" - which many really decided meant Hitler. I can't blame them, since I did sport an armband. However, the costume was awesome. This year I have no idea what I feel like - though I liked the Napoleon costume I saw last year. I think I will just rent something....it's easier and fun.

Conversation Terminated.

Clutch to the Rescue

2005-10-13T17:15:00.000-05:00

Driving standard is not as easy as I thought it would be. I'm getting better, but I still stall from time to time. Hills are a bitch too - because of the inevitable roll back. I'm soon going to be in love with the clutch...in fact the boys at work have started calling me "Clutch". Great.

Here's my new car by the way:

Honda really went all out in their redesign of the Civic. My friend jamEs has a dislike for Civics, due to their gross popularity, I think. There is a Civic nation out there. I'm part of it...horrah.

The 2006 Civic DXG has power windows which rules. The 2003, the car I used to have, did not have this feature and it made it annoying for the driver at the drive thru's.

Conversation Terminated.

Marilyn or Maryland?

2005-10-11T17:14:00.000-05:00

Well, well, well,

Back from Maryland safely. Allison and I had a great time hanging out with our friends Dan and Sam. They actually live in Bethesda....I wasn't sure cause they never mentioned the city they live in. We went into Washington, DC on Sat, but it rained and so we just did a couple museums and then the drinking began. On Sunday we went to Baltimore and saw Camden Yard as well as an uber huge parade. I couldn't believe how long it was, for Columbus day....

I see that my Sabres are now 4 and 1 on the season and everything is looking well. It's a long season though. We do have a number of players who are showing much promise, like Vanek, Miller and Gaustad. I decided to order NHL Centre Ice. It was 180 bones for the entire season, broadcasting 1001 games. Thats sweet and I figured it would be worth it, considering I wouldn't get to watch the sabres otherwise.

Sorry about my blogging funk there....I'll have more opinions later.

Conversation Terminated.

Live Fast

2005-09-26T16:34:00.000-05:00

Corporate life seems to be going well for me. I spent about 3 weeks constantly worrying and nervous about how people were interpreting the job I was doing. Luckily things seems to have taken a turn and I'm making much more progress and impressing those around me. I can't explain how much I am enjoying this new job. I really like what I am doing and what I have been exposed to, or will be exposed to. It's terrific experience and I know now that I have made the right decision.

Last week was extremely busy, but exciting. The week started on Sunday - working the Home Hardware Fall Market (trade show). This is more of a selling event where dealers are placing orders for product. After the day, the company took us to dinner at the Keg. I had the prime rib - righteous!

On monday I finished up my shifts at the show and on tuesday was back in the office. But this was not long lived as Thursday was the Canadian Tire Products Parade (trade show) in Toronto at the National Trade Centre. That building was amazing! The day was terrific and it was fun to walk through all the vendors. At the end of the day Thursday the company took us to the corporate box at the Air Canada Centre for an exhibition game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens. It was total sweetness - a great meal and nice ambiance for the game. A first for me!

My brother Rob called me Friday and told me he had secured tickets for the Sabres versus the Leafs on Tuesday of next week - so things just kept looking up.

Friday was my birthday and after work I met Allison at her friend Jenn's place in Etobicoke. We hung out for awhile, I opened my gift from Al and then we went to a cool Irish pub for dinner. James called and thought some shenanigans were in order for Saturday night so we made plans.

Saturday turned out to be a great day - it included cleaning my fish tank, shopping, cleaning my apartment and then having friends over for drinks, vids and then bowling.

Sunday included lunch at Allison's parents, babysitting Spikerdoo and then a movie to top it off.

Conversation Terminated.

Weights and Plates

2005-09-21T06:29:00.000-05:00

I imagine that there are several million cars in Ontario. Each year those cars with a licence plate (95% of those aforementioned) have to pay 75 bucks to get a new square inch sticker. 150 million dollars per year - just from licencing.

What a week this has been - Home Hardware's fall market on Sun and Mon and now I have Canadian Tire on Thurs and Friday. This means 3 of 5 days out of the office - so Tues and Wed have been very busy, running around trying to get things done.

Some sweet news: the company has a box at the ACC and we might be going for a game tomorrow night. That'd be awesome - its like free booze and food and stuff during the game. Yee-haw.

Why does NBC have to call their reality show about weight loss "THE BIGGEST LOSER". To me that seems condecending and kinda jerky. I'm not sure if its actually the attention though - I think it really has more to do with the lack of brains of the people in creative at broadcasting and production companies. They'll take any pilot.

Conversation Terminated.

The Future is X Rated

2005-09-14T19:20:00.000-05:00

The best thing about the movie Vanilla Sky is Sigur Ros' music at the end.

I bought some new blue neon tetras for my aquarium. They are small, but swim a lot and look cool. I haven't named them, as I can't tell them apart.

So my Mom ran a half marathon last weekend and came it 4th in her age group. Yeah, she's 58. How does that work? I hope I live that long - but anymore you just never know. I recall that lady, Dr. Jacqueline Perry....she just got killed by a black bear up in northern Ontario, during a camping trip. Well she came in at one time, to the Avenue Medical Centre looking for space to practice. Now we didn't end up getting her, but she went to Cambridge. Then a year or so later - she's dead. Wow. What a coincidence. You just never know what might happen.

Conversation Terminated.

Ticket Please

2005-09-09T19:19:00.000-05:00

So let me inform you of upcoming movies which I am very excited to watch.

Narnia - what a great book series this was and the trailer looks amazing.
Corpse Bride - another Tim Burton inspired classic - well honestly and in keeping with my previous post about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, this will be a crap shoot. Might be good or might fuckin' suck.
Flightplan - look, it has Jodie Foster in it, but its about planes and it comes out on my birthday - its a fair trade

And thats that - thought you should know.

Conversation Terminated.

Funniest Star Wars Character?

2005-09-09T06:38:00.000-05:00

Funniest Star Wars character?

Pilot Jek Porkins. The guy is fat and just happens to be named Porkins.

Contrary to popular belief - he can't hold it.

Whats yours?

Conversation Terminated.

I Cast Thee Out!

2005-09-08T06:21:00.000-05:00

Macy Gray was on Larry King Live last night. How did this woman become famous. She's retarded and she cannot sing. She sounds like a friggin' scare-crow. Ugh.

Conversation Terminated.

It's a Celebration Bitches

2005-09-05T10:48:00.000-05:00

If you only get married once (well this really doesn't seem to be the norm anymore) but IF that were true - then lets commit to doing it well.

Have a good, hot meal for your friends
Have an open bar
Have wonderful music
Create a relationship between your families - make sure they enjoy each other's company
Be happy to get married
Enjoy yourself - but don't be overly late - 15 to 20 minutes max
Make sure that the Preacher knows what he is doing
If you're going to do your own vows - don't be an idiot. You are not a poet - so don't! You'll just end up looking dumb
Go on a honeymoon
Make sure the MC is a good public speaker - make sure they are witty and know you and your wife/husband well
If you're doing speeches - 10 minute maximum - no inside jokes that no one gets
Get a good DJ - not someone who takes requests then plays them 30 minutes later

Now that we have the ground rules set - please implement them.

Conversation Terminated.

Water, Water Everywhere...

2005-09-03T13:40:00.000-05:00

In another campaign of reckless money spending I decided to purchase an aquarium. I've never really kept fish, cept when I was really young - I had a fish bowl and two small goldfish. One was called "Smiley" and the other "Friendly". Yes - I was very creative back then.

I went to the Petsmart in Ancaster with Allison and we picked out a 20 Gallon kit - which includes a heater, filter, top cover and light. We brought it home with some gravel and plastic plants and the like - then set it up.

Much to my chagrin we had to wait 7 days while the water cycles in the tank. So, for the next couple of days we went to various pet stores looking for fish we'd like to keep and at other products and crap. Then we also used the internet to check out more about the different species. We bought this liquid stuff that accelerates the biological process and by Tuesday of last week, we were ready for fish.

I am happy to have 5 new friends in the tank. They are:

Caleb and Nero the Bala Sharks

Sandford the Red Tailed Shark

Dojo the Dojo Loach

Midas the Leopard Cory

And thats that - Conversation Terminated.

Self Embellishment

2005-08-20T12:19:00.000-05:00

Sometimes people like to make things seem greater than they are. As Cake says: "The more you try to qualify, the more it all will pass you by. Some people like to make life, a little tougher than it is."

Here is a prime example:

DAN: "So are you going to college or university or something?"
PERSON: "Yeah, I'm majoring in kinesiology."
TRANSLATION: "I am going to be a gym teacher or a physiotherapist or working at McDonald's"

Here's a second example, for those of you who didn't like the first:

DAN: "So what do you want to do?"
PERSON: "Well right now I'm majoring in Eastern European History and Native Studies"
TRANSLATION: "I desparately want to be a teacher or to work at McDonald's"

Has the government prepared for the mass exodus of teacher's that we're going to be having? Teacher's have had this really great ride going for about 10 years and now everyone has figured out the game. The gig is up. Everyone wants to be a teacher because everyone wants that cush job. The one where you get summer's "off", where you have a giant pension and where the pay is decent. I swear when I was in university I'd say 50% of the student population was aiming for teacher's college. How can we possibly need that many teacher's?

The fact of the matter is that there simply won't be enough teaching jobs and so we'll have all these people out there working crap jobs with university degrees'. It's brutal.

Concern for them terminated.

Conversation also Terminated.

4 Things in My Brain

2005-08-17T16:21:00.000-05:00

So Allison and I are flying down to Maryland to visit friends. I love travel. Its highly enjoyable, so I'm glad I'm going to get the chance to fly around this country of ours with my new job.

Whats the deal with the CBC. They just can't get any lamer. There are two things the CBC does well - news and the Olympics. Otherwise, they suck...royal. We're so lame up here with our pathetic attempts at trying to produce good television and catering to about 63 different minorities and trying to not offend ANYONE. Boring. Translation, boring television.

So I've discovered that I have been enjoying this band called The Dears lately. They are swell - I kinda like that black dudes voice.

One last thing: the Wikipedia is the best website ever. So much information in one spot. Wow. Or Wowsers as Inspector Gadjet might say.

At Go Progress Chrome the only thing that is constant, is change.

Conversation Terminated.

I Wouldn't Swop The Pain

2005-08-13T10:07:00.000-05:00

Well I am sitting here listening to a group called Bell X1 - they're pretty cool.

Anyways, last night we had an impromptu night of drinking which ended in karaoke. The place is normally packed, but last night it was dead and the dude who is normally a total pud about playing a few karaoke songs then a few videos WASN'T THERE!!!

This meant that is 1.5 hours I got up to sing 4 times. I did "Take Me Out" by Franz Ferdinand; "The Scientist" by Coldplay; "Love Song" covered by 311 and "Ocean Breathes Salty" by Modest Mouse. Yup - this guy's song book is killah!

My new cell phone has arrived and I'm about to take it off the charger and start playing with it. It's a Motorola V551 - it had colour TFT screen and a camera in it...sweetness...

Ok so I better get on that Chuck,

Conversation Terminated.

Keep'er Real

2005-08-09T20:39:00.000-05:00

Reality television can teach us so much about what people are like, about human nature. Take this season of Big Brother - "Big Brother 6: The Summer of Surprises"

Basically we see a classic leader and a bunch of followers. The followers are morons and completely fall apart when their leader is absent. This season the morons are:

Ivette <--Maggie

April-->

As you can see, they are all clearly retarded. Don't you agree? jamEs back me up on this!

Anyways just like in real life you have more followers than leaders and basically the followers become extremely annoying immediately following the departure of the leader. They can't do anything themselves and they just talk but nothing intelligent comes out....

Conversation Terminated.

We Were Hunting Rabbits

2005-08-06T13:26:00.000-05:00

Ah yes, the good times are killing me. Hooray! I have a new job. Yes, thats right the one I blogged about a couple weeks ago, at Nu-Gro. I'm very excited and start August 22nd.

In other news - the Canada-Denmark standoff continues. Denmark, not wanting to look like it has small testicles, is sending a warship to Hans Island to replace their flag their (apparently the last one "blew down"). This is crazy. We should dispatch a frigate to the area and block them from arriving.

I'm getting sick of the lack of balls people have. No one stands up for issues any more. No one says - I've thought about this, I feel I'm right and thats that. Why can't we demand that they return to Denmark. We BELEIVE that Hans Island is ours. We need to defend our beliefs - or else be stripped of them.

In the case of this particular issue - I am confident that we could win any kind of military contest with Denmark. Why then, are we not being a bit tougher on this issue. I'm not saying lets not talk about it - but why do we allow pot shots at our countries pride and sovreignty. Sure Denmark could be thinking the same thing and if they are and they wish it to become an arguement then they can face the consequences, as Canadians should be prepared to do.

Conversation Terminated.

I Eat Danishes for Breakfast

2005-07-27T17:02:00.001-05:00

I have learned through Google that Danish warships and troops have visited Hans Island in 2002 and 2003. In fact one of the ships was specially designed to handle possible ice in the channels surrounding the island.

This is inexcusable. How can we go on allowing this. Check it out - look at this map. Denmark has no business in Greenland or Hans Island. We should remove their authority in what is clearly our sphere of influence. Trust me, they will be powerless to stop us. Allies-shmallies!

Conversation Terminated.

The Legend Continues

2005-07-26T16:30:00.000-05:00

Denmark has sent a letter of protest to the Canadian government over its recent actions in regards to the Hans Island. Could we really be headed towards a conflict over this issue? I think we can and should enforce our sovereignty over this passel of land.

Here's what our Defence Minister has to say about it:

"Our view is that it's part of Canada and we continue to be there, to go there, the Danes go there as well and we are making sure that the Danes know that this is part of the Canadian territory," Graham said after he had safely returned from his excursion." - Bill Graham

He is bang on. Why are the Danes even still involved in Greenland? It's absurd. They should allow Canada to administer that land. In fact, I imagine there is a significant Inuit population in Greenland - wouldn't those people rather be united with their Nunavutian brethren? Let's unite them, for them.

Canada should immediately establish a regular military presence in the Nares strait. I suggest sending in a Destroyer, one of our newly operational submarines and paratroopers.

War!

Conversation Terminated.

Canada vs. Denmark

2005-07-25T16:18:00.000-05:00

I would like to talk a little bit about a brewing International conflict - heating up our Arctic.

Check it out - its called Hans Island and is sandwiched between Greenland (Denmark) and Canada's Ellesmere Island. Our defence Minister, Bill Graham recently visited the small island - which Canada has always considered our property.

Well, well, well - the Danes think differently. They feel it is their property - in fact their Minister of Greenland Affairs (yes thats an actual position in their government) went to the island, planted the Danish flag and buried a bottle of Danish Brandy and a card saying "Welcome to the Danish island"

I think Canada should immediately invade and claim Greenland. It really completes two objectives. One it tightens our grip on the territories immediately north of our mainland and second it would make us the largest nation on the planet.

Think we could take'em? I mean talk about the greatest matchup of all time. It'd be like in boxing when the Mexican guy fights the black guy. A real grudge match. Let's see how it looks on paper:

CANADA

Total Air Force, Navy and Army: 59,000 men (7 million men fit for military service)

Defence Budget: US $9.8 billion

Number of Battle Tanks: 114

Best Asset: 120 CF-18 Hornet Fighter Jets

DENMARK

Total Air Force, Navy and Army: 22,000 men (1.3 million men fit for military service)

Defence Budget: US $2.8 billion

Number of Battle Tanks: 238

Best Asset: 62 F-16 Falcon Fighter Jets

As you can see, we will crush them. And how dare Denmark challenge our authority this far from their homeland. It's insulting. We have to seek greater control on the arctic portions of our country. Shit, send the Natives to fight for it...they're experience with.....oh wait...that didn't work out so well.

Conversation Terminated.

You Are Washed Up

2005-07-22T15:21:00.000-05:00

Why is Leeza Gibbons doing television commercials for radio stations in Toronto and why are we listening to her?

This is an age old question. I saw a commercial yesterday and it just jumped out at me - why the hell would anyone listen or care to what Leeza has to say - about any subject. Weird.

Conversation Terminated.

I, Danbot

2005-07-19T19:41:00.000-05:00

Things are progressing well on my job hunt. I came through the forest and into a clearing. I discovered the reclusive Nu-Gro Corporation.

Yeah, they're huge-a-mongous! But they make consumer and professional horticultural and pest control products....yuk! But they have brands like:

But what-eves homies! They are also gi-normous.

I have an interview tomorrow for a sort of in between position in their sales/marketing department. The best thing about the position is that it will be a great set up job for my eventual move into a marketing management position....but I have nothing yet, so wish me luck.

Conversation Terminated.

A Chocolate Factory Producing Weirdness

2005-07-17T11:43:00.000-05:00

The following is my review of the Tim Burton film: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

I was remarking with Big Sammy D, this morning, that Tim Burton's films are always hit or miss. In other words, you go in not knowing whether you will love or hate. You go in with guarded expectations.

As with most of Burton's films the colours are amazing. There is always a, sort of, mellow, drab look. Another important characteristic of his films are the quasi-worlds that they are set in. I mean, take a look at the guy (left) and you'll get it. See? Told you so.

Now, if you've read much of Roald Dahl - you'll understand that he teaches important lessons for children, in all of his books. My favourite being Danny Champion of the World....

In the case of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory there are four character traits that are the undoing of the children who win the golden tickets. In the end it is the child with the greater character that is the recipient of the woundrous prize. The four traits are all things your parents told you not to do or told you to do:

Share
Don't be a television freak - don't watch too much - it rots your brain
Glutony
Sportsmanship

There are three things that I liked about Tim Burton's adaptation - the music was good, he had frequent direct quotes from Dahl's original work and the factory / city in the movie were excellent.

The worst part of the movie is Johnny Depp's take on Wonka. I just didn't buy it as what Wonka is really like. Depp mentioned in an interview that he was mixing in a little Michael Jackson and it showed. I think Willy Wonka is borderline insane / genious. He's entrepreneurial, well dressed and philosophical. He has a higher purpose with the contest that he puts on.

"We have so much time and so little to do. Strike that, reverse it."

- Willy Wonka, from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Indeed, there is something hidden about Wonka that Burton attempts to portray. In fact, he adds a bit to the story by delving into Wonka's past. This was entirely invented by Burton. He shows Wonka living with a single parent, father, who is ironically a dentist. At several points in the movie Wonka seems troubled by his past family life and by even saying the word "parents".

Overall I give this movie 5 out of 10. Wonka's character is so important in this story and I just felt that Depp's portrayal, although a worthy effort, just didn't do it for me.

"And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it."

- Willy Wonka, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Conversation Terminated.

The State of Genessee

2005-07-16T13:13:00.000-05:00

Who doesn't love karaoke? The answer is no one.

Last night was a blast - starting with the pre-drink session around 7PM. Man we slummed it up real good last night - it was all cheap ass beer, such as Yankee Jim's Genuine Draft, Genessee among others. We decided we'd walk over to Frankie's (a local watering hole) at about 10PM and took a roadie along for the ride. Awesome.

There was me, Allison, my buddy Scott, Sammy D and Allison's friend Jessica. When we got to Frankie's James, Corina and Devon were waiting patiently. Score times 8.

We immediately took control of the karaoke - however it seemed a bit slow as the KJ there is a moron. He has no idea what songs he has and his books are very disorganized. But! His song list is the biggest I've seen....so it kinda balances out.

I did "No Surprises" by Radiohead - but it sounded shitty cause it was almost like it was in a completely different octave than my voice and even though I tried to adjust it was nothing doing. Damn....I really like that song, but it just wasn't happening.

We all got thoroughly drunk, but I backed off towards the end of the night because I knew I was at the break point. You know that point where you're switching from enjoying the drink to just drinking for no reason and the point where tomorrow is getting worse and worse due to feeling like ass. Yeah...that point.

Anyways - today I'm heading over to my Grandparent's place for a swim and some tomfoolery with Allison and then we will grab some dinner and go to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This sounds like an amazing movie - I love Tim Burton and Danny Elfman.

Conversation Terminated.

Jackpot

2005-07-13T16:35:00.000-05:00

So I finally received a call from a company http://www.etimemachine.com

It's a management information software company in Richmond Hill. Hmm...interesting. There website is nothing special, so I'm wondering where this might lead. I'd like to get an interview first....

Conversation Terminated.

I Don't Know

2005-07-08T17:49:00.000-05:00

I had a really great idea for a Blog post and now I can't remember. Damn it beer! Oh how can I ever stay mad at you.

This is in the inaugural post for the new location of Progress Chrome. The webblog at 50% off.

Thank you to its designer - Slideaway Media.

Conversation Terminated.

Walking For Life

2005-06-26T16:07:00.000-05:00

So I did the relay for life last friday. This is where you stay up all night walking around a track. It was actually a lot harder than I thought it would be.

The team I was on were all friends of Allison's. Her cousin Ian died from Cancer a year ago and so this was their 2nd relay for life. They do a Kiss theme for their team because Kiss was Ian's favourite band. We all painted our faces and some of the other guys had big black wigs. While we marched around the track we had a boom box playing memorable Kiss tunes. It was sweet - so sweet in fact that we won best original team the following morning at the closing ceremonies. Our prize, you ask? A $400 gift basket from Revlon. Wow! Great! Wait a sec, not great at all, but hey, its for charity.

We went to the event in Mississauga, which was nice, because it had much more support. Harvey's was there until 11PM and Tim Horton's coffee was served all night - as well as a full breakfast in the morning - from Golden Griddle.

I took a couple Red Bull energy drinks - cause I'd never tried them before - and yeah they sucked ass. The taste is disgusting. It's like this mix between cough syrup and potent cherry.

The following morning I was so wiped, but Allison and I managed to drive home and I basically collapsed and went to sleep.

Yep. X Says it All....

Conversation Terminated.

No Fat Chics

2005-06-19T16:10:00.000-05:00

Carnie's - oh are there any other people like them? Throwing balls at you, heckling you as you walk down the Midway. Refreshing.

Campbell Amusements set up a small (and as we would find out, pathetic) little midway at the Lynden Park Mall. We decided to check it out on Friday evening. Sam and Allison went with me and as we walked through it, I was disappointed to find out that nothing had changed with their pricing patterns. It was going to be $4 bucks a person to ride the god damned ferris wheel. We all gave that a thumbs down and went out to the bar instead. Much bett-ah!

Conversation Terminated.

Let Me Go Home

2005-06-13T16:13:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow - outside consultants will arrive at my place of employ to assess the administrative structure. This should prove interesting. I was preparing my job description for the consultant and putting my thoughts together as to how the clinic might proceed.

I'm excited.

Conversation Terminated.

Where's Your Head At?

2005-06-11T16:10:00.000-05:00

The up's and down's of my job search are un-ending. I found this awesome position for an associate brand manager at SCJ - and I have lots of connections with that company and my family. But alas, when I talked to my big whig uncle - he said "don't get your hopes up".

Gawd!

It seems like so many marketing positions require you to have a sales background. I hate the idea of sales and think I would be bad at that kinda job. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I need to change my headspace.

Conversation Terminated.

Smallest Fangs My Ass

2005-06-08T16:13:00.000-05:00

Camporama is back on. It is going to be killer - seeing as we have eliminated the worst part about Camporama 2004 - the portage.

So coming up this July 29 to Aug 1 - a variety of hoodlums shall decend on The Massasauga and ravage its....bounty. We shall canoe, fish, eat drink and be merry. And perhaps along the way we shall fight a rattlesnake or two.

Sam will be coming as usual, to be our wilderness guide. He will be paddling, cutting, fishing, cleaning, cooking etc etc.

A bunch of my friends from USA are coming up - notably Dan and Sam from Maryland and Kenny from Alabama (the dirty south) and Corinne from Pennsylvania.

Conversation Terminated.