It's not over yet!

The last week has been very busy. Runnin' around doing all the Christmas stuff and what not. I haven't shaved since Boxing Day. I got a real Ipod! Now I can look like all the cool kids.
Mom and Al flew back to Vancouver this morning. I hope they have a good flight.
The only dishes that aren't done are this morning's breakfast dishes. Oh, that makes me feel good. But then I look at the mountain of laundry and......
You can tell how hard I am working on that as I sit here blogging.
Guitar Hero: World Tour is out on PS2. 189 at walmart for the full kit. Oh, how tempting.
I got a sweet deal on some winter hikers last night. Regular 150, on clearance for 30!!! and they fit!!!
Amelia had me up at 315 last night. I put her back down at 4. Stared into the darkness til 430ish, on the computer til about 520, stared at the darkness til about 6 and finally fell back to sleep. Just one of those nights when the brain won't shut up.

Should make for an interesting day.

Taking down all the Christmas deco tomorrow. And hopefully getting the rest of the house back in order too.

Happy New Year!

Snow

I like snow. I really do. I like it better when it doesn't fall on my sidewalk or driveway. After I shovelled last night after supper, I sat in an Adirondack chair on the back desk and just sat. I listened to the wind. I watched the branches sway in the breeze. There is just something just so relaxing about snow. I was reminded of a line from the Neil Gaiman book, The Graveyeard Book, "a silence like falling snow" ( that might not be exactly the quote but I borrowed the book from the library so I can't refer back to it just now). I love that line. Luckily, I have a neighbour with a snowblower and he does, like, the whole block. I try to get my own done on my own anyway because I am not going to rely on someone else to do something I am fully capable of doing myself. Besides there are others in the 'hood that shouldn't be doing it for themselves, so I would rather he help them.
Out of Friday-Saturday-Sunday, there was only one day that I had to work and that was the only day that it didn't snow like crazy. On the other 2 days, I stayed home and missed a concert that I REALLY wanted to go to but it wasn't worth the risk, and the Hinch Family Christmas was rescheduled. So two things I wanted to do were affected and the one thing I didn't want to do (work) was not. Figures.
I don't have to work anymore this year. But, the kids are not going to the sitters for the rest of the year either. So that is like work. haha but I don't get paid. Well, I kinda do. Since I don't have to pay the sitter, it's more money in my pocket.
I really need to shave.
I really need to wrap the presents for Becky.
Amelia is destroying the tree. Again.

This is what I think about at 330am

I'm not anti-social really. It's close, but not really ANTI-social. I'm not
against being social. I just avoid it. At least in public. At home, shit,
I'll talk for hours with friends and stuff. But in public, I avoid people
like the plague. I just don't like talking to be people I don't know. And
often I don't want to talk to people I do know. For example: I use the
drive-thru, not for convenience, but so that I don't have to talk to anyone
in line. In a store, I will search for something for a half hour before I
ask for help. Or just give up. If I see someone I know in a store, I will
avoid them. Except for close friends. I avoid taking my kids to the park
because I don't want to talk to other parents.
I am sure there is a word for how I am but I don't know it.

By and large, people are stupid.

I judge people alot but I don't give a rat's ass what people think about
me.

F*ckin' baseball players. Honesly, C.C., what the HELL are you going to do
with $20+ million PER YEAR? It would take me 400 years at my current pay to
make $20 million.400 years!!!Let's see, 162 games a season, pitch in (for
ths sake of the math) one out of every 5 games, so roughly 32 games. That's
about $625,000 per game. Per game. That's over 12 years of my salary.
Nobody is worth that much money. nobody. anywhere. for anything. And there
is no loyalty left in the game at all. It's all about money. No "I believe
in this team and I think we can build a contender." no no no! It's who's is
gonna give me the most money? That's why I hate the Yankees. With the money
they spend, they should win the World Series, hands down, every year. But
do they, no. All they do is drive up the price of mediocre players and put
elite players out of the reach of many teams. The Yankees pay a luxury tax
higher than the entire payroll of some teams! and does the luxury tax
really help the other teams? No. The shitty teams are still the shitty
teams. The exception would be Tampa Bay but they will never be able to
afford all that talent in few years. (a la Florida Marlins). But I still
love baseball!!!

My feet hurt, I think I pulled a muscle in my calf,my shoulders, knees,
elbows and back hurt. My eyelids hurt. My lips are chapped. My ears need to
be flushed. I didn't shower today. I need to brush my teeth. My hands are
dry and always dirty. I need to shave. This is a long post. Listen to me
whine!! LOL
If you haven't stopped reading this post by now, too bad, because I am done
writing it.

In the news!

London, New York-

Earlier today, Hands Christian Sanderson was caught "pleasuring himself" in
the window of his high rise hotel room. When asked to comment on his lewd
behaviour, Sanderson replied that it was merely "research for his next
book" and "no man is an island". While that may be true, Mr. Sanderson, not
all books need illustrations.

Upstate New York-

Researchers at Durvalley University at Hampton have concluded a multi-year
study in which they have discovered that people who are restricted to a
total of 4 hours sleep in a 24 hour period may experience periods of
drowsiness and a lack of energy or focus. This latest revelation comes
right on the heels of the University's last study linking excessive food
consumption and weight gain. School officials are hoping that these studies
will help put Durvalley on the university map and teens at the local high
schools have taken up the mantra "Who needs MIT? We have DUH!!"

NHL All-Star Voting!!

I don't know why it's in French. It is supposed to be English. Just VOTE FOR BLACKHAWKS!!!!

20 minute tick-tock

i just took at sip of water.
I burped.
Twice. Second one was better.
My nose was irritated, so I itched it.
I am chewing gum.
I gave someone a thumbs-up.
10 minutes left.
Scratched the other side of my nose.
then both together, kinda. hard to explain.
Adjusted my glasses.
Tugged at my earlobe a few times.
Scratched my wrist.
Licked my lips.
Chugged some water.
Rubbed my upperlip and stroked my beard.
Resisted the urge to scratch the end of my nose.
Scratched my leg a couple times.
ah, 19 minutes is good enough.
bye.

Aw man!!

I thought my throat was sore because the air was dry. But now I am not so
sure. I have a headache now too. And, it wouldn't make sense for a "dry air
sore throat" to be accompanied by a phlegm-y cough. Of course, I left my
Advil and my Cepacol in my other backpack. Which is at home. I won't be
home for another 3.5 hours. Just pretend like you feel sorry for me?
Thanks.

I can't wait to get new work boots. I really hate the ones I have.

I wanted to get up around 1 and piss around on the internet for before I
got Grace off the bus this afternoon, but I think I will sleep right til 3.
I am so bloody tired.

"How can I be lost, when I've got nowhere to goooooooo? Search for seas of
gold, How come it's got so coooold? How can I be lost, in these memories I
relive? How can I blame you, when it's me I can't forgiiiiiiiiiiiiive?"
-Metallica

Napanee Santa Claus Parade of Lights

Apparently the parade was good. I wouldn't know because I wasn't there.
Becky was very emotional because Grace was so excited and it was snowing
and it was beautiful. But that is just what she told me, cuz I wasn't
there. I heard it, and saw some lights down Belleville Road way, as I was
leaving for work. I wish I had been there to see Grace. She told Becky she
could feel Christmas in her belly. What a sweet kid!
Christmas is going to be so exciting this year! But not without a few
"sharing discussions"!!!!

NEW BLOG

For all my metalhead readers (and new potential readers) I have started my new blog.

KINGDOM OF NOISE!!!

www.kingdomofnoise.blogspot.com

Not much there yet. But there will be.

The Grace Dilemna

We're really struggling with behaviour issues with Grace. We're running out
of ideas. Positive discipline doesn't work and neither does timeouts or
taking away priveledges. Punishment is lost on her. It has no effect. She
does feel remorse because she apologizes genuinely. But most of the time
it's only if she has done something by accident. For example, if she knocks
Amelia over by accident she apologizes profusely and is almost in tears if
Amelia doesn't calm down. But if Amelia has something Grace wants, she'll
push her down and snatch it without batting an eyelash. The snatching thing
has not extended to daycare and possibly school too.
She doesn't listen to anyone. Not me, not Becky, not her teacher, not
anyone. Trying to get her to do anything not of her own initiative is like
pulling teeth. Counting to three usually works but I have to do it for
everything. (Grace-Anne , you need to get out of the tub..1. Grace-anne you
need to get out of the tub...2) Her hearing is fine, we've had it tested.
And through our own observation we know she can hear just fine, she just
chooses not to.
At school, she had become "that kid". No one wants to sit near her, or play
with her because she doesn't play nice or sit still or listen to the
teacher or leave other kids alone or do her work or follow intructions etc
etc. AHHHHH!!! It is just frustrating knowing that there is a good kid in
there somewhere. Good Grace is in there somewhere, I know she is, but how
do we get her out?!
Attention is a big thing with her. In two ways. 1) she craves it. No matter
how much we give, she always wants more. Especially from me. 2) She has no
attention span. She can't sit and do anything for more than 5 minutes. She
says she is full after taking 2 bites. Meanwhile she whined for 20 minutes
that she was so hungry. Why? She's bored with it. No matter what we eat,
she takes a few bites. "I'm full!" Bullshit. We can usually get her to eat
a sufficient amount but it's a long painstaking process that only fouls our
mood. We have to play endless games to trick her into eating more or (much
to my shagrin) feed it to her. I hate having to do that but she has to eat,
right? yes, she does have to eat then. If we just let her go without
eating. otherwise she is keeps getting up saying she is hungry and then she
doesn't get enough sleep which makes the next day very rough indeed.
She is defiantly independant. Like if you try to help her with her boots or
coat, "NO! I can do it!!" And it's not like we are trying to rush her or
anything. Just trying to help! And if she does let you put her boots on
it's just because she is being lazy. I know this because it is accompanied
by " You do it".
She has great attention when it comes to TV. But that is not attention,
that's zoning out. All in favour of a total TV ban? "AYE!!" We need to make
TV a serious treat. She needs to EARN it.
What really frustrates me is her complete lack of focus. examples: "Grace,
I am going to go your water, I'd like you to have your jammies on when I
get back" and return to her jumping on her bed or something. No focus, no
respect. I have to tell her 15 times to get on the toilet, to brush her
teeth, to put her coat away. everything and anything. i just don't know
what to do.
With her lack of focus and zero attention span it makes me think ADD. No
hyper activity though. I don't want to give her drugs though. I am at a
loss. If we can't turn her behaviour around me may have to pull her out of
school. it's not fair to the teacher, or the other kids. But I don't want
to do that either. I just want to scream sometimes. Scream at myself
because I feel like I am failing as a parent. I've tried to hard to be a
good Dad and it's not working. At all. Not in my eyes anyway. I dunno.
I have a couple theories. Like things she doesn't express that don't allow
her to focus or remain clearheaded. 1) headaches. we've had her eyes tested
and she is a bit farsighted but she has another appointment to dilate her
eyes so they can get an accurate prescription. Maybe the eye strain is
giving her headaches so she can't think straight and she isn't or can't
express it. 2) conspitation. She is far from regular. She has had bowel
issues for years. Maybe the whole pooping thing causes enough anxiety that
is always on here mind and she loses track of what she is doing? YOU try
giving her a suppository! or forcing down Colase. I dare ya. Been down that
road.
Grace has told Becky before that her head was all jumbly. Maybe that means
something.
Any advice is greatly appreciated but please keep in mind that physical
discipline is NOT an option.

What a day!

I woke up on the wrong side today. Right from the get-go I have been crabby. (hold on, need to add Gojira to my winamp. ahhh there we go) I was not very nice to Grace this morning and I think that messed up her day. She wouldn't follow instructions at school today and actually refused to so some things and got timeouts. Very distressing. She is having some issues right now with authority, telling the truth, and defiance. We have some stuff to try.

I bought some Hemp Beer today. Made by Cool Beer Brewery in Toronto. It doesn't taste bad at all. Or like marijuana. And it's HEMP not marijuana so I am not getting high on it. lol. They use hemp instead of barley. German hops. Good stuff. At the LCBO. It's a red lager in case you want to know.

I made pancakes from scratch tonight. cornmeal pancakes with butternut squash to be exact. From some cookbook. God damn tasty, I'll tell ya that!!! Whole wheat flour too. Oh yum!! I have tons left over. Breakfast!!

I didn't end of watchin either movie from my last post. I watched Some Kind of Monster. The Metallica documentary. Loved it. I love metal docs. I might start watching Black Metal: A documentary tonight. That or Get Thrashed.

88 Minutes

Becky and I watched the movie 88 Minutes the other night. Very good movie.
Al Pacino and lots of suspense, keep you guessing, all that good stuff. One
major flaw: Leelee Sobieski.
She sucks.
Like she's really bad at acting. I'm serious. I don't how she lands roles!
(I have some ideas....) She's not even hot! (She REALLY reminds me of my
sister, so that makes it kinda a creepy)?
So basically, yeah, Leelee Sobieski is a terrible actress.

While she is a better actor, I find Kirsten Dunst nauseating. It's her
teeth. They are all messed up. I don't know how to spell the sound I just
made.

Who else sucks? Martin Lawrence. I can't stand that guy.

Should I watch Star Wars: The Clone Wars or Pineapple Express tonight? I
can't decide.

To-do list for the next week or so

Just in case I lose my list....

Measure living rooms and get numbers to Dave
Call Purolator to arrange a pickup
Mail books back
Help TL with internet
Get the scooter inside
Strip down the van for parts
Scrap van
Make dentist appt.
Make appt with eye doctor
Make appt with Dr. Kenny for orthotics prescription
Give myself a haircut
Give the backrooms a good tidy up/organize/pitch shit out
Call StarChoice to activate second receiver
Burn movies off the MyBook
Download missed Heroes episodes
Download missed Clone Wars episodes
Make wedges for doorways
Lobby solar system to slow the rotation of the earth so there is more
daytime to get everything done and more nighttime to sleep, without
altering the gravitational pull.

You used a paint scraper to clean out your eavesthroughs??

yes. yes I did.
I needed to get in done yesterday and it was all frozen in there.
So, I hacked at it for a bit until I was able to pull a chunk of ice-leaves
out. Then it was simply a matter of sliding the scraper under the ice and
popping a chunk up. It worked pretty good! My hands didn't get cold because
they didn't get wet.
I also got all my brush broken up and piled for the town to take away
(which they did).
Now, there is still alot of leaves in the flower beds but I am going to
leave (no pun intented) them til Spring. Little compost and insulation.
My grass could actually stand to be cut. I could do it just to use up the
gas still in the lawnmower. But it's November and below zero, so maybe I'll
pass.

So I'm 30 now.

I turned 30 years old on Saturday. No big deal, it's just 30. Maybe it is a
big deal. 30 years is a long time!! that's like half a lifetime!! But by
the time I am 60, technology will have advances to a point where, if they
can't cure it, they can at least put my brain into like a machine that I
can manipulate with my thoughts. Frank Herbert called them cymeks. They
could live forever and for a time, they ruled the galaxy. Until they were
overthrown by thinking machines. But I digress.
I got a new shirt from Becky and the girls, and I had pizza for supper.
Chad and Kelly came over and we watched a dumb, pointless yet funny movie
(Smiley Face).
The real fun was a few weeks ago at my surprise party. Did I blog about
that?
I think I did.
Enough of that crap, now to the raunchy sex!! Oh wait, that's my other
blog. JUST KIDDING!!!! haha not really. check it out at
www.theadventuresoflittlematty.com
You clicked on it, didn't you! Perverts!! Just kidding, perverts.

you know, every time I blog I get that Bonnie Raite (that doesn' look right
but you know who it is) song "Let's give 'em something to talk about" in my
head. But instead it's "Let's think of something to blog about". Try it,
it's fun.

Becky picked me up a sleeping mask a few weeks ago. Man, do I ever sleep
good with that on. Like a log! Best $3 we ever spent!

Well, I'm out of ideas at the moment.
Bye!,

Sorry it's been so long

Sorry it's been so long since last I blogged, loyal readers!!
It's not really that nothing has happened, but rather, that alot has
happened!! Life happened.
Amelia's vocab is exploding. My fave new word is poop. hahahaha
" I poop?"
I was driving with Amelia in the car the other day listening to Cavalera
Conspiracy and I can see her banging her fist and nodding her head in the
back. Awesome! She does let out the occasional "rah, rah rah!!" too which
is really cool. I'll warp her mind yet. Grace was the same way at that age
but now "Daddy's music is scary". Meh.

I did a bunch of leaf raking this week. I don't have much yard but I
managed to get 16 leaf bags full so far. Probably another 2 in the gardens
around the driveway. Monday? Tuesday?

I still need to sell my van. Scrap yard will ony give me $125. sucks ASS!!
the tires are worth more than that. I hope the only dude left interested
comes to get it soon. I'll relist it on Kijiji tomorrow.

The time has come for me to get musical. I forsee some time ahead where I
may be able to plug in the amp and give'r. I need to find some scream time
too. I am way out of practice and that's not good. Conditioning is key.

I got a Blackhawks toque in my case of beer. Good times.

I'll be 30 years old in about 40 minutes. I will start the celebration by
eating some leftovers.

I hope I have time to clean out the car tomorrow. That would make me happy.
and then wash the car and the van. That would make me happy too. Like a
good washing. i really want to wipe down inside the doors of the car. not
the door itself but where the door overlaps the body. It's all dusty and
dirty and I want to clean it. Maybe when I stop for dogfood in the morning
I can get some sponges or something to wash the car. cleaning clothes or
some special thinger. one sponge is not enough. whatever. As long as it
gets cleaned out and shop-vacced it will be a happy birthday.

later dudes!

That was a little close

There was a vicious little storm Sunday night. It didn't last long but it
caused enough damage in that short time.
Around 8:30pm, watching the tv, whatever normal night. I could tell it was
windy out but I wasn't concerned. This isn't hurricane area or anything.
Now, I can't remember exactly if I was already standing or if i jumped up
when I heard the crack. I went to the window to see what the hell was going
on and I look out and see a tree (well most of it) fall into the street.
The top of said giant branch lands in my front yard! Inches from the
porch!! I didn't know at the time what tree it came from.
I went to the door and looked out to see debris flying down the street.
Leaves, branches, everything. Horizontal.
We quickly turned off and unplugged the tv and computers. Then we grabbed
the camera and video camera. Pictures are on my Facebook and I haven't
ripped the video off the disc yet.
It ended up being 3 big branches off the tree across the street. Most of it
went down the street blocking driveways and taking out power and one came
across towards our house. Branches actually made it over the fence into our
side yard. Branches were stuck in the power lines and all over the street.
The police came and blocked the street off until they got the power lines
fixed away and the town showed up to get rid of the branches. They cut the
bog logs up a bit and used a loader to make piles on the neighbour's lawn.
They came back in the morning to chip up all the brush and take away the
logs.
They came back today and took the whole tree down. I got video of that too.
It's through the screen door because I was stuck behind the new couch which
was wedged in the door frame to the living room.

Overall, it was pretty exciting. About as exciting as our 'hood gets.
Needless to say, the people who JUST bought the house across the street
(haven't moved in yet) came over in the morning to find most of their tree
in piles on the yard.

Because I am bored

A single bead of sweat rolled across his temple as he say huddled in the
darkness. His nerves were getting the best of him, for there was no reason
to sweat in the cold dampness. He took little solice in the fact that since
he was still shivering, hypothermia hadn't set in. Yet.
He knew it was only a matter of time before he would have to move. If they
didn't find him, he'd soon succumb to the cold or starve. Cautiously, he
stood. His ears perked up,scanning for any sounds that his movement has
been detectd. But all he could hear was the beating of his own heart and
the distance echo of water dripping into a pool. Not even the scurrying of
rats to tell him he wasn't alone. Maybe they had fled too. To somewhere
deeper. Somewhere safer.
He weighed his options. Back the way he came,in hopes they had moved on?
Too risky. He had heard the screams and had no intentions of joining that
chorus. With only one choice left, he slowly and silently moved further
into the tunnel.

Correction Notice

I believe I made an error when explaining the name choice for my new (as
yet un-started) metal blog, Kingdom of Noise.
I had said that I took it from a short story by Neil Gaiman (incredible
author, check him out). I read the story again and it didn't see that
phrase anywhere.
I thunk.
The day before I read that particular story, or possibly even the same day,
I finished reading The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. Both stories are
based in Hell (The Kingdom of Noise. screams of agony torn from the souls
of sinners (country and rap artists))
You can see where I got confused. Pretty easy for me.

Fun with words

Butterface: a word used to describe a woman with an attractive body but a
not so attractive face. i.e. Everything looks good, but 'er face!
(I don't use this term, just for the record)

Generock: a combination of "generic" and "rock". Used to describe a
multitude of generic rock bands I have a hard time differentiating. Most
notably Nickleback, Theory of a Deadman and Seether.

Instru-metal: a sub-genre of metal music. Instrumental metal. Sadly, this
sub-genre is falling into a state similar to generock. It's getting harder
and harder to tell the difference between bands. If you are interested,
check out Pelican or Ottawa's Electro Quarterstaff.

Bored: my usual state during working hours. outside of breaks.

And now, because I have nothing better to do, I will attempt to remember
all the different ways I can, of referring to the act of pooping.
WARNING: this is kinda gross.
Go poo(p)
Take a shit
Take a dump
Number 2
void my bowels
pinch a loaf
drop a deuce
pop a squat
drop the kids off at the pool

TV Shopping

I'm going TV shopping Wednesday. THanks to the generous donations of my
family and friends on my birthday I don't have to buy a cheap one!
I'm pretty sure I want a 42" but I will settle for a 37".
The debate is LCD vs. Plasma.
Plasma gets me a better picture and better viewing angle, but does it last
as long?
I know when they first came out it was said that they only lasted like 5
years. But I saw a flyer that listed the life at 60,000hrs/35 years. At an
average of 6hrs a day, that's over 27 years. So even at an average of 12
hrs a day (so help me if we watch that much tv) that's over 13 years. If a
TV lasts that long, great!!
So basically I just have to confirm that a plasma will last oh, at least 10
years, and I'm good. AND that the price isn't out of this world. We saw
some at Walmart that were not bad price-wise.
Just gotta keep the kiddies' hands away from it either way!!!

Ya got me!!

So Becky threw me a surprise 30th birthday party on Saturday night. And
what a surprise it was! I had no clue. I knew she was up to something but I
didn't know it was a party and I didn't think it would be this early if it
was!
Much of my family was there and most of my best friends were there.
my cake looked just like one of my Guitar Hero guitars.
Becky put alot of planning into it and she did a great job.
She had many co-conspirators!!
I had a great time chatting with friends, stuffing face and staying up til
430 playing Guitar Hero, Rock Band and Sing Star.
I only had 7 beer. I know, that's gotta be a new record for me. But I guess
it's a testament to the fact that I am getting old. I sure can't party like
I used. My liver says thanks.

Again, I had a great time, I was totally shocked, and I hope I can do it
again in another 30 years. Thanks to everyone who came and BOOOOO!!!! to
everyone who didn't. Just kidding, I understand.

Chicago Blackhawks - News: Blackhawks Announce Head Coaching Change - 10/16/2008

Chicago Blackhawks - News: Blackhawks Announce Head Coaching Change - 10/16/2008

I did NOT see this coming!!! I hope it works out! Good luck Denis!!

It's your lucky day, kids!

I am yet again bored out of my GD mind, so we are going to play another rousing game of "Whatever the hell pops in my head!"

Ready? GO!

Mike shaved off his beard last week. It looks funny. 5:07

"Hello, Operator?" "yes" "Can you put me through to Someone Who Cares?" "i'm sorry, sir, i can't" "Why not" " there is no such person. The only one I have by that surname is a Nobody"

I haven't heard the Scars On Broadway album yet. I heard it sucks.

I still have paint on my cuticle from Wednesday. I have washed my hands literally dozens of times, but still it remains. 5:17

One day last week I decided to check out a band called Rammer (from Toronto). Monday I listed to one of their albums. Tuesday I listen to it again. Thursday, again. It's really good! Friday, "what!? They broke up!! SHIT!" Maybe I should have checked them out earlier.

HAHAA The guys in The Red Chord called Five Finger Death Punch, Five Finger Fruit Punch on the Rockstar Mayhem Tour. That's brilliant!!

I bet you Duseldorf Hammerstein could play a mean fiddle if he were a real person.5:32

Brad Pitt's character in 12 Monkeys gives the best middle finger.

My belly sticks out further than my pectoral muscles. damn! my ass stinks.5:45

6:22 yup mind pretty much blank

In maybe 15 minutes or so, I will shower, brush my teeth and maybe shave.

Well! THat's it for this morning losers and germs! return next time when you might actually read something interesting!!

Kyuss in the Hall of Fame!!!!

Decibel Magazine has FINALLY inducted the Kyuss album Kyuss into it's Hall of Fame. While it's a self-titled album, it's more affectionately known as Welcome To Sky Valley or just Sky Valley. You see, there is a sign on the album cover that reads Welcome to Sky Valley.

This album is one of my ALL TIME faves. It's creditted with starting the whole "stoner-rock" genre. Holy hell, it's a great album. They put out 4 albums. Wretch, Blues For The Red Sun, Kyuss and The Circus Leaves Town. All awesome. This album featured and all-star lineup for sure. Vocals: John Garcia (Hermano, ex-Unida) Guitar: (yes, there was only 1) Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age, ex-Eagles of Death Metal, mastermind behind the multi-album series The Desert Sessions) Bass: Scott Reeder (ex-The Obsessed, having a brain-fart on all the other bands he's been a part of. Legendary bass player) Drums: Brant Bjork (no relation) (Brany Bjork and The Bros, ex-Fu Manchu, another brain-fart)

Scott and Brant might have been in Unida and/or Slo Burn as well.

This album changed my life. I mean it. I asked my buddy Spencer if he could recommend anything similar to Clutch by Clutch. And Welcome to Sky Valley is what he told me. Instantly hooked. It tripped off a whole obsession with that vein of music. I could sit here and go into detail about the whole album but frankly, just to get it. Download or buy, you WON'T be disappointed. It's an album best listened to by itself. not while you read the paper, or drive to the store, or have a conversation. Just listen to it. In fact, I believe on the back cover it stated Listen Without Distraction.

It pulls you in and doesn't let go. It takes you away with it. It's an album that you don't need to be stoned to listen to (although that is a good way to listen to it) but rather it's an album that will make you feeled stoned just hearing it. It affects you.

Just go listen to it and gimme a holler back and I can tell you what else to blow your mind with.

When was the last time I listened to this? Shit, too long! Guess what I am doing tomorrow (well, later today)!!

New metal blog coming soon

I will be starting a new blog soon. I will still have this one. I'll just
have 2.
It will be about Metal. Not iron, aluminum or bronze, but the musical
genre.
Music in general sometimes but mostly extreme music. Not the kind of stuff
my parents approve of. Or can believe I listen to. (I'll be 30 in a few
weeks, so won't need their approval anymore. hahah)

I'll be writing album reviews, live show reviews, interesting news I steal
from other websites, what I'm listening to, and just really anything I feel
like talking about that relates to music in some way.

As long as the name hasn't been taken, it's gonna be called Kingdom of
Noise. I got the name from a line in a short story written by Neil Gaiman.

I hope to start it this week. Probably by copying some entries from this
blog over to it.

Stay tuned.

Just making a list for myself

Things to reasearch:

Fall lawn prep for wicked grass in spring.
dehumidifiers
geothermal energy
solar panels
windmills
diesel-fryer oil conversion
places in town to get the dog bathed
the psychopath Cradel of Filth wrote their new album about
how to use Guitar Pro 5 and Ableton Live
M1 License
local bylaws about front yard gardens.

That should keep me busy for a while..

Bored = me right now

It's 4:20!!!!
right now. but by the time i am done typing the entry, it won't be.
I am REALLY bored right now.
so for the next 40 minutes i am just going to type what ever i am thinking.
most of it without capital letters. that key is messed.

i just farted. I farted because I ate a bag ofpopcorn earlier. the spacebar
is messed too. i always fart after popcorn. not popcorn farts though. just
as wet as other farts.

(told ya, WHATEVER I am thinking)

don't drink McDonald's coffee. I did about 9 hours ago and I still have
abitof a pain in my chest. i know it was the coffee. don't question me.

I have slept a total of 5, maybe 5.5-6 hours since Thursday morning around
8. so that's....5 out of the last 44.5 hours. You can just hazard a guess
as to the bloodshottedness (new word, I made it up) of my eyes.

At the end of the articel I read about the new Burst album, Lazarus Bird,
the guitarist states that he wished people would listen to it with out any
preconceptions. I did and I love it. Sometimes the vocals sound like Rob
Fusco from Most Precious Blood, but that's cool because Rob Fusco kicks
ass.
The last Burst album came out in 2005 and I have probably listened to about
1000 different albums since then so while I know i enjoyed the last Burst
album I can't remember it enough to make a valid comparison between the
two.
4:41

I have No Sugar Tonight by The Guess Who stuck in my head.

Better than Underneath Your Clothes by Shakira from earlier. Ah CRAP, what
have I done! Think metal thoughts. think metal thoughts. Peel the flesh
from your bones! Break your skull upon the stones!! ok, we're back.

Chicago lost 4-2 by the way. There goes the undefeated season!!

1 hour from now I will be enjoying pizza pockets.
4:47

I bet my feet smell right now.

Why do they call the NPD The Nippers?

It's peanut butter jelly time! peanut butter jelly time! peanut butter
jelly. peanut butter jelly. peanut butter jelly with a baseball bat.

ok, i'm done. 4:57

The Road to the Cup starts tonight For the Blackhawks

The Road to Lord Stanley's Cup starts tonight in NY for the Chicago Blackhawks. By the this point, I am sure the game is over but I don't know what happened yet.
The Blackhawks have made quite a few changes from last season. Most notably bringing in goaltender Cristobel Huet and defensemen Brian Campbell.
Gone are such names as Jason Williams and Robert Lang.
Chicago has one of the (if not, the) youngest teams in the league. The youth movement in Chicago has reinvigorated hockey fans in the Windy City. Season ticket sales boomed this year. Also, Chicago is hosting this year's Winter Classic against the rival Detroit Red Wings at Wrigley Field.
This year's team is lead by Captain Jonathan Toews who competed against teammate Patrick Kane for rookie of the year. Kane brought home the Calder Trophy but had Toews not missed some time due to injury, he may have won instead. Chicago announced that winger Patrick Sharp and D-man Duncan Keith will be the assistant captains for the Blackhawks.
Chicago should make a serious push for the postseason due to the improved situation in net, a bolstered defence and powerplay and the continued development of their young forwards.

As of this morning, the Blackhawks website had their depth chart as follows: (if i remember correctly. and nevermind the spelling)

Forwards:

Andrew Ladd-Jonathan Toews-Martin Havlat

Dustin Byfuglien-Patrick Sharp-Patrick Kane

Kris Versteeg-David Bolland-Jack Skille

Adam Burish-Ben Eager-Craig Adams

Defence:

Duncan Keith-Brain Campbell

Brent Seabrook-Brent Sopel

Matt Walker-James Wisnewski

Jordan Hendry-Niklas Hjarmellson (way wrong spelling)

( I have a feeling the D is wrong but I am too tired to think)

Goaltenders:

Cristobel Huet-Nikolai Khabiblin

 

 

 

 

My New Favourite Word (at least today)

Asshat.

Use it in a sentence: "what the hell did you do that for, asshat!!"

hee hee hee

Former NHL goalie recovering after shooting

MINDEN, Nev. (AP)—Clint Malarchuk, the former NHL goalie best known for having his jugular vein slashed by a skate in a 1989 game with Buffalo, is recovering after accidentally shooting himself in the chin with a rifle.

Wife Christy told sheriff’s deputies that the .22-caliber rifle discharged after her husband placed the butt on the ground between his legs. He had been shooting rabbits.

The 47-year-old former player, now a goalie coach with the Columbus Blue Jackets, was flown by helicopter to a Reno hospital for treatment Tuesday.

“Our concern is with Clint and his well being,” the Blue Jackets said Thursday. “We are optimistic that he will have a full recovery very soon.”

Ok, Clint. You, uh, almost died playing hockey. Do you really think GUNS are a good idea? Where is your sense of self-preservation?

Get well soon. and stick to something else, whatever is not life endangering.

Chaaaa......ya know what?!

This year I have already actually purchased more CDs than I have in probably 4 or 5 years.

A whopping 5.

Inflikted by Cavalera Conspiracy

Death is This Communion by High On Fire

Both versions of Conquer by Soulfly

and Death Magnetic by Metallica

It's quite amazing considering that I bought my first cd (Pantera's Far Beyond Driven) in 1995 ( I had cassettes before that) and by 2002-2003 I had aquired over 600. Plus, at least a hundred that I sold to used cd stores. so that's over 700 in 7-8 years. That's almost 100 per year!! Wow, I like music.

Why don't I buy that many cds anymore?

a) Money. I don't have that kind of money anymore. I didn't then either but anyone with a Student ID card can get as many credit cards as they want. I am still paying for them.

b) Mp3. I can just download any music I want! I wouldn't be buying it anyway (see a)) so why should I be denied the pleasure of hearing it? I would say I download an average 1 full album every day. If I didn't I would never have heard many of the bands I go and see in concert. So I am supporting the artists by going to the concerts and maybe buying a shirt or a button or a sticker. Maybe even the album if they impress me enough live. You can't download a t-shirt.

I'll leave you with a couple albums that bored me this weekend.

Intronaut - Prehistoricisms: Not bad really but I think I expected too much. Not as heavy as Void or Challenger. I think I'd have to be in a real jazzy post-metalcore mood (read: stoned) to really get into this one. In 3 attempts I haven't been able to listen to the whole thing yet.

Dragonforce - Ultra Beatdown: Yup, you can play really fast. Yup, you are influenced by and are featured in video games. But when it gets right down to it, Dragonforce is just a power-metal band writing pop-metal songs at speed-metal speeds for kids with ADHD and Carpel Tunnel Syndrome.

PRETTY MUCH THE BEST THING EVER

PRETTY MUCH THE BEST THING EVER

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Here's a question for ya!

You're all familiar with the toungue twister:
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, how many pickled peppers
did Peter Piper pick?

i'm not so much concerned with the amount of pickeled peppers but rather
how they got pickled BEFORE they were picked!!

On that note, why have rubber baby buggy bumpers? Hows about we don't bump
the buggy against anything. I'd much rather that.

The weekend that was (I know it's Wednesday)

Friday I went with Uncle Steve to put tires on his car, then Amelia and I
went shopping. Walmart: Death Magnetic (review posted later), Metallica,
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix DVD, and some cdrs.
XS-Cargo: new hair clippers. That store has no carts. Why not? So I had to
put Amelia down and let her run around the store. She was laughing to beat
all hell and the empolyees were laughing at her too.
I was going to go the golf liquidators at the Cat 4-pad, but....
Saturday Dad and I went to the 10th Annual United Way Warehouse Sale in
Belleville. There was some pretty sweet deals. The wait was so long to pick
up our order that we left without getting it. But I did get some stuff at
the Wilson Sports cash and carry tent. I got 2 hats for $2 each, a lefty
ball glove for Grace (smallest one they had, still way too big)$7, and a
putter, a sand wedge and a driver for $10 each.
SUnday we went to the farm and then went and got Grace a new bedding set.
comforter, 2 sets of sheets, shams, 2 valances, and 2 decorative pillows
and a bed skirt all together.
Sunday night we watched The Happening. Weird.

Things I Have Realized Today

Today I Realized:

That I am out of shampoo. (For all that hair I have)
Why I stopped using bar soap. (I'm hairy)
My reflection in the mirror wearing a sweater and boxers looks funny.
My reflection in the mirror makes me look really buff. (Then I put my glasses back on)

And everyone with kids is tired. Almost, I never see Gerry saying he is tired. Jenn must take of all that.

Son of a BITCH!!

How do the Eagles manage to score 37 points and still not win? Oh right,
they were playing the Cowboys.
Shittay!!

What's with the socks??

I'm gonna get a little personal here.
If I am wearing pants, I like my socks pulled up high. And I like them to
stay there.
But if I am wearing shorts, I hate socks. I like them as low as possible.
And if it wasn't for smelly feet, I wouldn't wear socks with shorts at all.

With that being said, why is it that so many people (at least at work)
insist on pulling their socks up to the highest possible altitude when
wearing shorts?? I don't get it! Are your legs cold? That doesn't make
sense. If it was cold you wouldn't be wearing shorts! Do they think it
looks good? I hope not! Is it a generational thing?
Ya know, if you don't like the feeling of your socks bunched up at your
ankle, they do make short socks. I have several pair myself.
I don't know why it bothers me so much when I see people with their socks
hiked up. But it does. God forbid (awesome band, new album early next year)
they should get a tan!! white below the knee!! There would be this band of
tan from the bottom of their shorts to like halfway up the lower leg ( or
higher). Insult: Hey did you sign up for Brown-knees again this year?

Whatever, just me being me again. Judging others. No offense to any high
rise sock wearing people. haha

Why J.P. Ricciardi should be fired

I'm basically only going to base this on the 2008 season because my memory
is crap. And really, there are enough examples in this one year.

Not hiring Cito back early enough. John Gibbons was just as his name
indicates, a gibbon. A trained monkey could have done better.

I will admit the Rolen trade was good but bringing in Eckstein was stupid
when you have John McDonald and Marco Scutaro.

Trading away Reed Johnson. Dumbest idea ever. Okay, maybe not ever, but it
was pretty dumb. They could have platooned Johnson with Lind and had a very
strong Left Field, but instead they had a crazy concoction of Matt Stairs,
Brad Wilkerson and Kevin Mench with the eventual winner, OH!! Adam Lind!!

Seriously mishandled the Frank Thomas thing. yeah, let's piss off our
leading RBI producer from last year. great idea!

Why did he trade Matt Stairs away?
Oh look at that, Eckstein is gone. What a waste of money.

and that is just this year. I know I missed something here too.

Do you think Burnett would stick around if the club was better managed at
the GM level and up? Or will the late season turn around be enough to keep
him in Toronto?

Personnel in who didn't make a lick of difference : Eckstein, Mench,
Wilkerson.
Personnel out that could have made a difference: Johnson, Thomas, Stairs.
Personnel from within the organization who did make a difference, once they
were given a chance: McDonald, Inglett, Lind, Purcey.

just get rid of Ricciardi!! Could you imagine if they had brought Cito back
before the season started?? it would have been a whole different ball
game!! (pun intended)

Well, that occupied my mind for about 45 minutes or so. That was the whole
point!!

Words Amelia Can Say

Amelia is about 17 months old and I think her vocabulary is pretty good.
Here is what I can remember, in some case I will write what she says
followed by what she is trying to say:

mine
no
dad
mum
hi
hello
bye
okay (but sometimes it's sounds like oooooooooo.....KAY)
hat
kikki (kitty, she gets it sometimes)
yay-a (Leia),
puppy (with panting)
uh-oh
nigh nigh (night night)
tyler
pitty (pretty)

I know there is more but I can't think right now....

Thank you
Yummmmm
High five
Ta-da
Whas dat
Grampa
Grayy (Grace) Thanks Hun

I'm an Uncle again!!

My brother-in-law and his wife had their baby this week....2.5weeks early....a Boy....Zekariah James....Zeke was 6 lbs 2oz and only 15inches...I guess he is just a wee little one...I can't wait to see him when we are all well. I guess all their kids wanted a girl. The girls wanted another girl to play with and Aaron wanted to be the only boy. Oh well!!! I think Zeke is an awesome name. So that means on Becky's side there is 3 boys now to the 5 girls. So IF, IF, IF Becky and I decide have another one LATER LATER LATER, it could push the ration to a healthy 4/5, or the girls could double up on the boys. BIG IF AND BIG LATER. On my side, it's all girls. I'm cool with that. They are all healthy and you can't ask for more than that!!

Amelia's Been Sick

We have had the sickies invade our house...it hasn't been good. Amelia has been back and forth to the hospital and doctors...they thought she had meningitis! She couldn't move her head..it was so scary. She had been battling a fever for a week at that point but we figured it was teething. She came back negative for meningitis but positive for a UTI with white and red blood cells in her urine. He thought it was strep as well so off we went on antibiotics with a follow up on Monday. She was up ALL weekend....no sleeping for anyone. She had her Doctor appointment and he said she has an ear infection as well. So off we went with a follow up on the 15th. She screamed and screamed and I called Wednesday to the pharmacy to see if she was having a reaction as she seemed to be in so much pain! They said to call the doc...we got in right away and he said her ear was in fact worse. And that sometimes the pain in the middle ear can be so intense so he gave her codeine syrup....she has been sleeping great!!!!!! So she is on the mend and I am sure that Monday will bring great results.
Both Becky and I ended up with bad colds because we are so rundown. When I dont' work, I stayed up, when I had to work Becky got up with her. She would get up at the same time everynight (1130ish) and be up til 3 or 4. Once we got the codeine, and the cold meds (ya ya I know)into her the other night, she slept for 7 solid hours. However, it was on my chest, on the couch. But at least she slept! Last night i gave her all her medicine before I put her to bed about 745 and she laid right down and slept til about 9 this morning!! Oh, WOW!! Thank you!!
Here's hoping the infections are clearing up and she isn't in any more pain. Poor girl. I especially hope the sleeping keeps up because I am going in on nights and can't spell Becky off at all!
Wish us luck.

Grace's First Day of School

First of all, Becky emailed this to a friend and I just changed the I's to She's and stuff like that. She's a better writer than me and I didn't want to type that much today anyway. But I did add some details. Besides, I have a couple other posts for today so I'll be typing plenty. Here goes:

Becky had sensed Grace was nervous so before she went to bed she made an affirmation board for her with her magnetic affirmation kit. It said "Grace is...." and she listed everything she could fit. Sure enough at 7am she was crying at the door saying she didn't want to go to school. She said she already liked the friends she had and that she would miss Fiona. Peanut thought that she couldn't keep the friends she already has! So once she explained that things weren't going to change with her friends she already has and that she could still see Fiona she was fine.
She ate a good breakfast. We all walked her to the bus stop where there was other kids waiting. 2 of them were fellow Hinches. Different family. They are both in her class. Poor teacher. I think there was 6 kids all together including Grace. When the bus was coming up the street she was so excited. She was spinning around yelling "bus-y, bus-y!!" She hopped on the bus no problem, turned and said "Bye!" and found one the few seats left on the bus. It went really smooth! Then we hopped in the car to follow her as we promised we would. We were there when she got off the bus and Becky helped her in the classroom. She did GREAT. She went right over to the carpet and settled in...waved BYE MOM...we had forgotten her shoes so we went to get them and came back and she was sitting so nicely on the carpet beside a little boy who was doing everything he could to bother her...and she was looking the other way ignoring him. This was the exact thing that she was worried about...so I was really glad to see her doing what I suggested and ignoring him. So Becky helped her get her shoes on and on her way out the door there is a wee boy crying...the teacher said maybe if he joined his friends that he would feel better and Becky looks over and Grace's hand is up..."Yes Grace"...."I cried in my bed this morning".....Becky ran out crying herself...sweet girl was trying to make him feel better!!!!!!!!! We were so proud of her. We then took Amelia to her first day of daycare alone. They both did wonderful.
Becky had to take Amelia to the doctor (you'll hear all about that in a different post) at the same time Grace was to get off the bus so she missed that part. I took the dog up the street to get her. As I was waiting for the bus to come I was talking to this little girl that was also waiting (I don't know if she lived there or that was her sitter's) but she was talking about her old dog and how it used to bite. It bit her and scratched her and nipped when she went close to it's food. I said how that was terrible and she said that her parents took it to the wild cuz sometimes doggies just need their freedom (she didn't say freedom but that's what she wanted to say. it was free-something). Could you imagine if I was such an ass that I told her that her parents probably had it put down? haha. I am not that kind of person. Anyway, Grace was the last one off her bus and she didn't even notice me standing there. There was about 10 kids either waiting or getting off the bus, but I was way taller than any of them. She said she had a good day and she met a new friend named Samantha. That's the only one she could remember. Becky took a picture of them sitting in circle and Grace pointed Samantha out.
This morning Grace was very excited to go back to school but unfortunately, she doesn't go this Friday. She was upset but got over it quickly once we explained that she will be going on Monday. I am very happy that she is excited to go. My little girl is growing up!!!
I guess I ended up typing more than I thought. It's okay. I don't have CTS yet!

LIve Review: Terror/The Warriors and guests

What to do on Labour day? How about a hardcore show? Let's see, Terror, The Warriors, Death Before Dishonor, CDC and Trapped Under Ice? HELL YEAH!!
I had been amped for this show since it was announced and theses hardcore dudes from across the U.S. of Obama did not disappoint.
I missed Trapped Under Ice completely and showed up sometime during CDC's set. Just after the apparent human pyramid on stage. Damn! (It's ok, they did it again during Terror's set)
CDC laid down some pretty solid tunes. Dual vocals between the vocalist and guitar. Not all the time though so it wasn't shitty. I wasn't familiar with CDC going into the night so I can't really comment on the quality of their setlist in comparison to their catalogue.
Next up was Death Before Dishonor. Boston hardcore. oh yeah. At this point, I was still sitting at the back tables, takin it all in. Chatting with Marc and the security guy. I was coiling like a spring, cocked like the hammer of a gun. Waiting to unleash self inflicted bodily punishment. And DBD was good at pumpin' out the vibe I was looking for to get amped up and jump into the fray. The thing with hardcore is, as long as it's done right, by competent musicians, it's good. I didn't really find anything overly special with DBD but they were great in the support slot. No bad haircuts, n o girls pants. No whining. REAL harcore dancing.
I know I had heard The Warriors before. I downloaded an album of theirs a couple years ago. So, I knew to expect a certain level of quality. I got it. I am not the kind of guy that knows all the words and wants to sing along. I want to get into it with my body. Headbanging, throwin' fists, stompin the ground. So the fact that I didn't know any of their songs well didn't really hinder the fact that I had a wicked time during their set. I was in a fair amount of pain at point. My neck didn't really hurt yet but I got a couple flying feet to the back and my knees were all banged up from smashing up against the stage. The Warriors played a very entertaining set. I was really able to get into the music and enjoy myself. Again, not overly familiar with their recorded works to make a valid comparison but they impressed me enough to consider checking more of their stuff out.
Terror. LAHC. These guys now how to do it right. The new album is pretty incredible and so was their set. As what happens when I have an extended "stoner-rock" listening session, I was not in a normal state of mind by this point. I was part of the music, part of the atmosphere. I realized that the next day I was gonna be some kinda sore. It made me really wonder about friends of mine that go to shows ALL the time and don't just stand there. How long did it take to get used to it? Or do they just hurt all the time? I have tried to stretch before shows and it doesn't work. Terror came out with guns blazing and never let up the whole time. The crowd (by which I mean the other bands, less than a dozen of us, and the rest of the people just standing there) was really into it. Maybe they felt the way I did. There was a chick beside me that was REALLY into it. screaming and everything. Like the Beatles. Terror hit hard, and I hit harder. Man, I was throwin' myself around, bangin' like there was no tomorrow. I got a few more elbows, feet, body checks. at one point my glasses got knocked by a flying foot (leg? I dunno) but they didn't fall off. I had to bend them back into shape but it was all good.
I guess I didn't give much of a review of the actual performances,did I?
I don't care!! All you need to know is, if you like hardcore, or heavy music in general, you missed a hell of a show. I didn't know anyone there so I know you missed it. I hadn't had that much fun at a show in forever. (Biohazard? '02?) I had lots of fun at IHS shows (RIP: I Hate Sally) but only during their sets. I had a fun during all the sets this time. I was sweaty, sore and weak in the knees at the end of the night. Too tired to scream along with my tunes on the way home. Too tired to even play air guitar on the steering wheel. Yesterday I hurt all day. and all night. (work) and today is not much better. my back not so much but my neck is still killing me. Is this what whiplash feels like?
Great show. Great time. Totally worth the pain. Probably the best show I will go to this year.

Busy today/tonight

We are taking the girls to the plant picnic today. They should have alot of fun. At least Grace. It's gonna be a hot one though. Better make sure they have sunblock on. It's over at 6 but I doubt we'll make it that long.
Sometime after that, I'll be going to see Terror/The Warriors/Death Before Dishonor/CDC/Trapped Under Ice at Time to Laugh in Kingston. It's gonna be a wicked show. I have no doubt someone will have a broken nose by the end of the night. Hardcore man. Plenty of moshing. Maybe a circle pit or two. I'll have a sore neck, sore back (from elbows) and a distinct ringing in my ears.
It's gonna be awesome.
I'll post a review tomorrow maybe.

Poor Becky

My wife was supposed to be accompanying a friend and her family to Florida for a week in November. Her friend's daughter is terminally ill and the Make a Wish Foundation was sending them to Disneyland. They were allowed to choose a friend to come with them to help out with the kids and the dog. They picked Becky! What an honor!! Right?
Well, Make a Wish vetoed their pick. It seems that eventhough they talk to eachother almost everyday (online) and are really great friends, Becky hasn't spent enough "face time" with the whole family. So they said Becky can't go. She was so excited to go.
Why let the family choose who they want to bring if you are just going to shoot them down? How in hell would Make a Wish know what kind of relationship they have? All Becky and Sam talk about is kids, parenting etc. We bought cloth diapers from her (home made), got lots of advice on all kinds of things, gave lots of advice to them, etc. We have the same ideals with regards to how we raise our kids.
I just don't see how Make a Wish can judge that Becky would not be a good fit to go with them based on total face-time. It's not like there has been NO face-time, apparently just not enough.
My mom lives in Vancouver and I only see her every few months, so does that mean she couldn't come with me to Florida?? I haven't seen the Keeches in a couple years, so I couldn't go on a trip with them? It just doesn't make any sense!
I am sure they have their reason, I mean, they do this all the time, but I just don't like it when judgements are made by outside parties that don't know the real score.

I just hope the Knapps have a wonderful time at Disney with whomever they are "allowed" to bring. It should be a wonderful family trip!!!

Somebody shoot me

I had the worst night last night. I got home from ball, fine. Heard a big accident when I was letting the dog out. Still don't know what happened. Lots of sirens though. Whatever. chatted with Becky for a bit. great. Then:
11pm Amelia starts crying. It get intense so I go get her, Bring her down and give her a bottle.
1145pm She's ready for bed again so I take her up and she lays right down.
1230am Crying again. I let it go for a bit but it's not getting better. I bring her back down.
1245-215am numerous failed attempts to put her back to bed. I'd get her asleep in my arms or in the rocker and when I try to lay her down again she just wails. Even tylenol didn't help. I thought it was her teeth.
215-3am I listen to her cry.
3am I finally go get her again, give her another bottle and she falls asleep on my chest. Whatever, I fall asleep too.
7-8am She is still sleeping but is moving around a bit and every time she does, I wake up.
8am Up for good.

We went over to Jess's for pancakes this morning then I dropped Grace off at Fiona's for a birthday party. I have to go back and get her in like 20 minutes so I have to wait til I get back to lay Amelia down. I really really hope I can get Grace to have a nap too. Maybe all the crying kept her up enough that she'll be tired and I can get some rest. I got most of the laundry put away so other than dishes (after supper) and some tidying up, I am good to go. I am so going to bed early tonight. After I give myself a haircut (bye Faux-hawk!), shower and shave. Becky will have to wake me up when she gets home. IF I am asleep that is. Dollars to doughnuts I won't be asleep when she gets home, for whatever reason.
Wish me luck!

Baseball vs. Hockey (and the LPGA crap)

I have a really hard deciding whether I prefer baseball or hockey.
There is nothing sweeter than a homerun swing.
Hockey is Canada's game.
I am good at baseball (most of the time)
I can play hockey.
I love the anticipation and payoff of baseball.
Hockey is fast and exciting.
I love the Blue Jays and Indians, and they both suck.
I love the Blackhawks and they suck. (for now)
So, really I can't decide.
I'll give them a tie because they are played in different seasons.
Football gets second. (NFL and CFL)
Football gets third. (MLS)
and I couldn't care less about basketball. Honestly, I don't give a shit.

And what's with this shit about the LPGA suspending golfers who don't speak English??
What the fuck!!!???? How racist is THAT!??!?!?!?
Yet another reason why I enjoy playing golf but I hate the golf world. Stuck up assholes.
One day (after I win the lottery) I am going to open Matt's Rebel Golf Club.
NO dress code. Beer stands on every hole. Mulligans granted when jackass blows an airhorn at you. Ya know, make it fun!
Anyway, I better go to bed. Becky isn't home which mean I have to get up with the girls no matter what. But Becks is enjoying a well deserved break. Love you hunny!

Poop Flinging Baby and a Blog-worthy Sandwich

I'll start with the sandwich. That way you can stop, make one, eat it and then come back to read the rest. Possibly the best sandwich I have ever made. Here goes: Bacon, scrambled eggs (cooked in the bacon grease), and a cheese slice on buttered brown toast. Oh. Hell. Yeah.

Now for the poop flinging baby. When I heard Amelia playing in her crib I thought I would just leave her be because she wasn't fussing. At one point, I thought, "hmmm, what if she got her diaper off?" (I didn't know what Becky had put her to bed in) A little while later she started crying and I went in to get her. Lo and behold, the diaper is on the floor, Amelia is only wearing a shirt and there is poo all over the place. She's sitting it, it's smeared on the sheets. There is even some on her blanket box. Which is not in a position to catch a roll out. It was tossed over the end of the crib!
Why I thought that might be the case before I even went in there is beyond me but it happened nonetheless. The really weird thing is that the first thought that popped into my head upon discovering the scene was the cover of Green Day's Dookie album and the monkey with the poop in his hand and the thought bubble saying "Throw?"

Have a nice sandwich!

My favourite place in the world. (other than my house)

Becky and I went to Chad and Kelly's cottage this weekend. (well, Kelly's step-mom's cottage) We left the girls with Gramma and Grandpa and enjoyed an adult weekend.
Friday night we boated over and unpacked. Then just sat around, played Wii Sports, drank adult beverages, and ate lots of junk. (we were VERY hungry, wink)
Saturday Chad and I went fishing in the morning and didn't catch anything. Got a few hits but Chad tells me that the fish in that lake are hard to get out.
In the afternoon, Becky, Kelly and I got pulled around in the big tube. Becky got dumped. She is in some kinda achy state. I am too really but mine is from holding on for dear life and not getting dumped. Oh, they tried. Did they ever try!! At one point, the tube was right out of the water, vertical. My head pointing to shore. Somehow, it righted itself and I stayed on. Woo Hoo!!! They whole time we could hear the dogs on shore barking and howling at us. hahah
We came back and ate lunch out in the lake on the big 4-person floater. Then more fishing.
Chad and I fished while Becky and Kelly floated behind us on the tube. No fish caught.
For supper, we had giant steaks. I mean giant. The smallest one was about 20 oz. Damn they were good. That's all I had to eat. No salad, no bread, nothing. Just meat!!!!!
That night we played more Wii, watched a movie, drank and ate more junk.
We came home this afternoon tired, sore, missing our girls but very grateful for a weekend at My Favourite Place in the World. The cottage.
We will be going back in Sept with the girls. Maybe not with the dog. Leia was GREAT this weekend. She hung around the cottage all weekend. We even left her alone, outside for over an hour when we went fishing/floating Saturday night and she was right there waiting for us when we got back. Taking her AND the girls might be too much. At least for sleeping. Not to mention room in the car.
Maybe I can catch a fish next time. Gotta put that license to use!!

Back up!! Back up!!!!!!

Thurday night Becky and I were going to pick the girls up at her parents we had a little incident with a transport. We were travelling south on Centre st. and were stopped at the Bridge St. intersection waiting to turn left. Mr. Transport was going east on Bridge turning left onto centre. (You can see where this is going, right?) As he is turning the corner, we both say out loud, "is he going to make it?" Answer: NO! Back up Back up!!!! Becky backs up quickly, not even checking to see if the was anything behind us. She stops. MORE MORE!!!! So she fires it back out of trailer range.
Now, most (competent) truckers would know whether or not they would be able to make a corner like that. In which case they would pause and tell the tiny little car they are about to crush, to move back. Not this guy!! Looked right at us and kept on going. What the hell was he doing that deep in town anyway?? Idiot.
So, we didn't get crushed by a transport but it was a bit scary. I don't know what the hell we would have done if we couldn't back up fast enough? Shit!

Me got burned

I got a wee bit of a sunburn today. but only on my neck, ears, face and lips. Ya know, the parts exposed to the sun. I KNEW I would too. I did! I chose not to put sunscreen on. Why,I dunno.
I was out playing baseball all day. I should have put some on.

We played 3 games in the Goodyear/United Way Tourney today and won the B Champs. It was a good day. We had fun.
It wasn't really stinkin hot today, which tricks you into thinking you aren't getting sunburned.
I used Garry's Demarini F3 and I liked it. I hit like shit but it wasn't the bat. I still want to get one of those bats. And I will sometime. It's way better than that crap ass Worth Insanity bat I bought last year! Ting!!

I watched Hellboy 2 after the baseball. Not too bad.

Now my hammy is tightening up. Great. Aaaah, it's worth it! I love baseball!

Swimming Lessons are done!

Grace and Amelia have finished their swimming lessons for this year.
Amelia graduated from Starfish and Grace graduated from Salamander.
They both did great.
Grace can swim from one end of the pool to the other with only one water wing on or the "turtle shell" on. She had made great progress this summer.
Amelia can swim about 2-3 metres with water wings on. Not bad for only being 16 months old. Maybe in 2024 she can win Canada some medals!!!
I am very proud of both my girls.

Hinch/Lynch Family Reunion

We had a big Hinch/Lynch Family reunion yesterday. It was great. I think the count came in at 118 people but I know ALOT of people couldn't make it. ALOT. I have the family histories so I could count up the living people and have at total for the family. I will. Later.

We had mass at 1130 lead by my dad's cousin Msnr. Joe Lynch. The Kennellys and Murphys sang the hymns accompanied by Michelle on the keys, Liam and Calum on guitar.

Chocolate on Your Face Photography was there to take family photos, as well as large group shots. I think she was the best photographer I have ever seen. And sexy too.

There was a big potluck with way too much dessert. Sack races, 3-legged races (Grace did very well with here stuffed unicorn, but I think it was more 4 legged), board races ( I think that is what they are called) and a tug of war. My side won the tug of war obviously.

I have some nice little talks with a couple cousins that I don't see very much. So that was good. The girls really enjoyed themselves. At the end of the day, we were all very tired indeed.

Let's do it again next year!!!

Live review: Jucifer

I saw Jucifer in Kingston on Monday (AUg 4) and the Time to Laugh Club. I wasn't sure what to expect going in. I was quite familiar with their music but had never seem them live. I didn't know if they had any touring musicians or if it was just Amber and Edgar.
I was just Amber and Edgar but that was all that was necessary.
First, they had this MASSIVE wall of amps. Almost identical to the big one their video for Pontius of Palia (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-AFuyIbS6g). They didn't play that song.
Unless you are a total nimrod, you can figure that stack was LOUD. And how.
I don't think I have EVER been to a show that loud. I saw Morbid Angel/Static-X/Pantera/Slayer once and that was nothin. I had this weird waffling sensation in my ears after the show. Like the echo of a stream cascading over rocks. Fuckin' weird.
I could break down the song list but honestly, most of the time I didn't know the name of the song. I don't really remember that shit. What I can say is they mostly played the heavier side of their catalogue for the better part of an hour. From grindy to deathy to flat out noise.
The emo crowd cleared out pretty quick once they started playing (support provided by FBTMOF).
Amber comes on to a darkened stage and, from what I could tell, sprayed Pam on her strings. I think. Then proceeds to make love to her guitar. You can't tell me she doesn't get the jollies from the heavy low end tone and that oversized stack of amps. Edgar makes his way onstage after a few minutes and wham!!! They takes off and we are all blinded by the numerous worklamps scattered around the stage and on top of the amps. The retinal scarring only last a few moments so no permanent damage was done.
I have been to a fair bit of shows and I would have to say Jucifer put on one of the best I have ever seen. Amber Valentine is second to none as a frontwoman. She brings a very confident stage presence. Her range as a vocalist is just amazing and the way she plays the guitar like it's a partner......It certainly commands attention. The only thing is, Edgar Livengood commands just as much attention. I never seen a drummer play with such conviction. Each time he pounds something it's like his life depends on it. Like a man posessed. Coon-skin cap in tow, he goes from the sludge timing to flat out grind drumming in a heartbeat. He looks like a demon hell bent on destruction for the low to mid-tempo stuff and when it gets really fast his face morphs into a state of ecstacy. I was tempted to check under his stool for someone on their knees.
Maybe it was just because I was so close to the stage, but when Amber sang her softer stuff, I couldn't really hear her. That's really my only complaint other than the drunk ass that kept hitting Edgars drums with his hands. After he knocked one of the sticks out of his hand someone must have said something to him because he basically stopped moving. I was seconds away from showing him the floor.
If you ever get the chance to check Jucifer out live, don't miss it. You will leave changed.

N.B. Don't (!) forget your earplugs. It hurt.

Heavy Metal in Baghdad

I watched this documentary movie today and let me tell you, it's an eye-opener. It chronicles the Iraqi heavy metal band Acrassicauda and their struggle to be a heavy metal band in war-torn Baghdad, express themselves and flat out survive.
It really shows how oppressed the Iraqi people are since America moved in to liberate them. Kind of ironic.
I highly highly highly recommend checking this movie out. Even if you aren't a fan of heavy metal, you should still watch it based on how it shows how real people have to deal with all the crap going on in Iraq.
If you want to watch it and can't find it online (isohunt.com) I can get it to you somehow.

Keep on headbangin' in the free world.

PS: The guy who made this is Canadian, so that's awesome. And no, it's not Sam Dunn. World Metal isn't out yet. I don't think. The guy is Eddy Moretti. Genius.

Assistance svp??

I gotta figure out why the line breaks get all messed up when I email my
posts in. It's annoying.

Maybe I'm just getting old

We took the girls to the 177th Annual Napanee Agricultural Fair on Monday.
177 years, that's pretty cool. That's since like 1831. I am glad we didn't
have to pay 10 bucks each to get in. Partly because we were only there for
like and hour and a half but mostly because I don't do rides. I used to be
all about the rides but now I can't even handle a swing for more than 5
minutes. Grace loves rides but she can't go on all of them and it's
expensive!! She went on 2 rides and it cost us $7.50. If we were going to
make a day of it, we would have got a bracelet. I love you see her happy so
it's worth the money.
Grace entered 2 flower arrangments in the children's division and placed
1st in one and 3rd in the other, netting her $6.75 in prize money!! Woo
hoo!
I was way more interested in the non-midway stuff. The arts and crafts, the
baking, the animals and all that. The poultry was pretty cool. Grace had a
nice conversation with a goose. I was fascinated with how the judge for one
of the 4-H Dairy competitions was able to determine which cow was better
than the others. They all looked good to me!
I would like to have seen the heavy horse pull, the tractor pull and the
demo derby too but I had to work and stuff.
So maybe I am just getting old but not being interested in rides and being
interested in chickens is definitely a sign of something. Next year I might
even submit some entries into the food comps. some salsa, or spaghetti
sauce or maybe a pie! okay, maybe not a pie.

I still don't get "emo"

I went to see Jucifer last night. This band called Fear Before The March Of Flames played before them. I guess they would be considered "screamo". But all the kids that were there to see them were your emo kids.
Swooped haircuts on the guys.
Straight billed ballcaps.
GIRLS PANTS!! cutoff just below the knee or rolled up. Huh?
They are all about 100 lbs regardless of height.
The dumbest "dancing" I have EVER seen. It makes Elaine from Seinfeld look like Fred Astaire.

I have tried to think of what those same kids would be when I was that age. The best I can reckon would be goth? Isn't that what the misunderstood youth of the mid-90's were? Listening to Marilyn Manson and the like.
Can we go back to that? fishnet sleeves and black nail polish (80's-eye makeup, 90's nail polish, 00's girls pants)

I just know that in like 5 years they are going to look back and themselves and laugh/cry at how ridiculous they look.
I will admit that I look back at my late teens-early 20's and laugh. I had the very very baggy pants, backwards ballcap, or spiked hair. Total Fred Durst impersonator except it wasn't a Yankees hat. I hate the Yankees.

I just wish that when I went to a show I didn't have to worry about some kids spazzing out and hitting me with dancemoves. That there would be people honest-to-goodness headbanging, some horns being thrown.

The Terror/Warriors/Death Before Dishonor show on Labour Day should be better. Real hardcore.

I mean, Come ON, people!!

I've been buzzing my hair for about a year. Not thatlong really, but being
the dynamic person that I am, I decided to change it up. I thought, hey,
what the hell? Faux-hawk!!
I started it about a month ago and last week it was good enought to
actually wear it, like without hat.And I have gotten(almost) nothing but
grief about it for 8 days. and I wore a hat for 3 of those.
At first Becky was like "what did you do that for? Whatever, it's your
hair." But now she says she likes it. Sarah (our hairdresser friend)
cleaned it up for me and she said it looked good. Lianne at work, was like
"yeah, right on, awesome!"
Other than that. grief. Most of it is playful grief. Most of it. I've
gotten:
"Did you have to go to the reserve to get that?"
"Have a special on haircuts on the reserve, did they?"
"Spend some time on the reserve this weekend?"
" But you're not an Indian?" (nb shit, but I was never Roman either and I
had a caesar cut)
"You lose a fight with the lawnmower?" yes, yes I did.Idiot.
"Let me guess, 3000 Miles to Graceland?" I don't even know what that means.
Most of it has not been verbal. Lots of staring, snickering, weird looks, I
am sure some laughing behind my back, you know, various looks that say
"weirdo, punk, or loser" basically.
There was even a plant tour yesterday (bigwigs stopping at MY machine to
watch me build. luck of the draw) and I was told to keep my hat on because
of the mohawk. Dare I say, fuck you? I did keep it on only because I didn't
have any gel or anything in my locker.

It's just a haircut people!!!!

I don't judge the guy with the wannabe skullet, or the guy with the
flat-top, or the rest of the morons that have had the same haircut since
1983.
So what if I have a "mohawk". It's not a mohawk, it's a faux-hawk, I didn't
go down to the skin. I am trying to express a little bit of individuality.
Is that so bad?
I had consider just shaving it off. But now I want to keep it just because
I know people think it's weird or something.
Down with the system!! F the people!! FTW!!!! lol

Well, It's Thursday

Nothing really special about a Thursday.
I'm listening to Hemlock.
I'm gonna go clean out the car and wash it in a few minutes.
Sweatin' my nards off.
Canadian Club is better than Alberta Premium.
The liquor store now has Sam Adams Boston Lager. Pricey but awesome.
I didn't get any because I am cheap. I will next week when I get paid.
and That mini-keg of Heineken.
I'm gonna go now.

Stay thirsty my friends.

Did we get thru?....debatable.

Friday night Dad and I went over to talk to my brother (B). It was very
tense at the beginning with B being very stand-offish, defensive, swearing,
cutting us off before we could finish. After about 5 minutes of it, Dad
says "If you aren't going to listen to anything we have to say, I might as
well save my breath and go home." To which B replies, "Fine then, go." Dad
throws up his arms in desperation but refuses to let B off that easy. We
had a lengthy discussion about B's various issues. From his inability to
maintain employment, to his anger management, self-esteem and depression
issues, to his inability to accept apologies and let things go etc. It may
seem like he has alot of issues, but he does. And I thought that we had
driven to point home that he needs to seek help to get his life on track.
That in order for him to get started he needs to get his head straight. He
still wouldn't look us in the eye when we were talking about him but we
seemed to come up with a short term plan. I thought it was
Mission:Accomplished. Now I am not so sure.
He made another one of his patented type-without-thinking comments on
Facebook and instead of realizing what he said was wrong, and deleting it,
he lies about apologizing. That, and some disturbing comments he made to my
sister the next day aswell. Maybe we did waste our time Friday night?! It's
high time he realized that actions have consequences and that you can only
say sorry so many times before it loses all meaning.

Anxious

I am pretty anxious for the couple days off I have this weekend. Not
exactly sure what the plan is for tomorrow but I know it involves going to
Kingston (where I can pick up my JUCIFER TICKET!!!!) I might try to slip
over and see Mom depending on the schedule.
Saturday is the big Carefoot Family and Friends Golf Tourney and BBQ. I am
pretty excited about it. I am confident in my golf game going into it and
the fact that it is a scramble makes it even better. I don't have to rely
on my putts! I have to work the next day which means I have to stay
relatively sober (especially since I will be driving home). It should be a
good time. Just keep Rob and his Zambuca and Jager away from me!! We don't
want a repeat of last year. (I'm not gonna go into that right now)
I just hope the rain holds off. The POP went from 90% last night to 40%
this morning, so it's looking good.
I have to stop on my way home to pick some stuff up so I might look for a
snazzy (read: ugly as sin) new golf shirt. Maybe a hat too. Like an
old-timey golf hat. hehe or maybe just the hat!!!

laters

I'm gonna be an overprotective dad

Seriously. I already am!
Grace is 4 and I don't let her get her own snacks from the cupboard. We keep the snacks in the upper cupboards (for obvious reasons) so naturally, she uses a chair to get up high enough. I am always so worried that she is going to fall eventhough I have total faith in the stability of the chair and Grace's ability to stand on said chair. I am just worried.
Sometimes, I have good reason to be concerned. The other day, she was trying to get a dress down off the hanger in her closet. She had pushed her chair over, put the stool from her princess vanity on the seat of the chair and climbed up on that. When I found her, she had one hand on the dress, one hand on the door jamb, and her tippy-toes on the stool. She had to lean forward as well, so her center of gravity wasn't over her feet. I just about had a heart attack.
So there's that.
I don't like when she is out of my site outside. She insists on take the long way around the house. On the sidewalk and not thru the side yard. And I get nervous when is out in the yard my herself. It's fenced in. She can't get out. She knows about strangers, I leave the windows open so I can hear her, and I put the dog out too. The dog would go ape-shit if ANYONE approached the fence. I check on her regularly and all that. I get over it and let her have that little bit of independence. I am learning.

All in all, that's not so bad. It's reasonable. BUT, what is unreasonable, is the fact that I can't ever see myself letting her ride her bike to the corner store, walk down the street to a friend's, etc. Basically, I can't see myself letting her be alone off our property. It's something I am going to have to get over, I know. But I'm not ready yet.

Don't even get me started with dating. It ain't gonna happen. ever. Yup, I'm gonna be one of those dads. Arms crossed, lookin' down my nose, "What's your name? Who are your parents? What kind of music do you listen to? Who's your favorite? Do you like sports? Do you Play sports? You're not a LEAFS fan are ya?" Yes I am , Mr.Hinch. "WRONG ANSWER!! Get out of my house."

I can't wait. That part is gonna be so much fun. HAHAHAHAHAHAAH

 

Freekin Rain

I am supposed to have a ball game tonight but it looks like it will be
rained out. It's supposed to be a storm "this evening" according to the
weather network. I love to play baseball and I get really bummed when it's
rained out. Although, it would give me time to help Becky nurse her toe
back to health. I somehow managed to move my leg this morning, bending
Becky's toenail back and, I believe, breaking the nail. She was in a fair
bit of pain. Ouch!!!
I still don't want it to rain.

The Eye

So I just saw The Eye. Freaky shit.
Becky went to the movies with her sister and saw Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D. She said it was awesome and is insisting I go see it.

The girls spent the day with Gramma and Grampa today. Sounds like they had a good time.
I hope I can ride my bike to work tomorrow.
Slow day.

AH not bad

So I haven't picked up the car yet, but it's only just over $300. Not bad.
Uncle Steve is bringing over the bunk bed later. And I still have to go visit Mom.
No time. ugh.
Gotta go feed the children.

Bored

So hopefully the brake job on the car tomorrow (today) doesn't cost much. I
have to take the girls to swimming lessons and get some sleep on both sides
of that. I am probably gonna be cranky. I have been for the last few days
anyway! Gonna try and see mom tomorrow. Haven't seen her yet.

I won $10 on a lotto ticket Friday night. I am probably just gonna turn it
into more lotto tix and hope for the $2.5 million. That's my plan.

I watched Heavy Metal Parking Lot yesterday. Interesting enough. For 1986.
The only reason I downloaded it was because I read there was a 20 year old
guy making out with a 13 year old girl (possibly cousins). I had to see
that.
Next up is a 2007 metal documentary called Heavy Metal in Baghdad.

Weird dream

I had this dream that we were at like a vacation/camping place and my sister (in the dream) left the site while the rest of us were not around. When she left, there was snow on the ground but sometime between then and when we got back there was no snow. When we noticed she was missing me and someone else split up to circle the lake to find her. I spotted smoke signals and figured it was here. So I ran around the lake and ended up in a city and lost site of the signals. I got jumped by some thugs and totally kicked their ass.
I found my sister in like beach type area. This couple said to some back to their place to rest and eat and whatever. Then they never let us leave. We were trapped there for years. I gained their trust and they let me carry Tom Green back to his house after a party they threw. I tried to escape but was caught.
My next thought was to take pictures of the stars and mail them to my family and try to send a secret message telling them to use the stars as a map to find us. I don't know why I was able to send mail but I think they went through it first to make sure I wasn't trying to tell anyone where we were.
Then I was awoken because it was time to get up. Super weird dream. I have no idea what kind of interpretation you could figure for that!

Cycling vs. Screaming

I love cycling to work. Other than having to leave a bit earlier, the major
downfall is that I can't scream. Technically, I could scream, but a guy on
a bike screamin is just kinda weird. I wouldn't say I am more hostile when
I bike. Instead of "getting it out" by screamin along to my music when I
drive, I "get it out" in the act of cycling. Pumping my legs, breathing
hard and pushing myself to go a little bit faster. Although, I do miss
screaming as much I used to. Oh, well. I'll just have to find other times
to scream.

That guy scares me

There is a guy at work that scares me. He has a killer's eyes. Like he has the capacity to kill. And maybe has before. He looks like he would do it with his bare hands. Or beating with a blunt object, laughing the whole time. If he did use a gun, he would stare you right in the eyes and shoot ya right between them. He's probably a really nice guy, but he scares me anyway.

I could live on things that begin with the letter P

For years, I have said that I could eat and drink solely things that begin with P. Because I am bored and need something to occupy myself with, I am going to type out some examples.
Please bear in mind (is that the right spelling of bear in this case??) that the rules are VERY loose.

Breakfast:
Peanut butter on toast
Poppyseed bagel with anything on it.
(I am sure there is a cereal that starts with P, I am just drawing a blank)
Pulp-free orange juice
Pizza
peameal bacon

Lunch:
Peanut butter and jam sandwich
Pepperoni and cheese sandwich
Pizza
Pepsi
Perogies
Pitas

Supper:
Pizza
Popcorn chicken
Peaches & cream corn
Peas
Pasta with meat or cream sauce
Peppers, sweet or hot
Potatoes
Pork

Beverages & Misc:

Pilsners, Pale Ales and Porters
Partly skimmed milk
Pabst Blue Ribbon
Pepsi
Pepsi and Rye
Pure Spring Water
Popcorn
Peanuts
Pickles

Potato chips

Pie

I think you get the Point. Maybe I should market the P Diet. There are enough idiots out there who would buy into any crazy misguided diet scheme that I could make some serious money!!

 

Good day/Bad day

Here's why today was a good day:
I changed the air filter in the car
I installed the roll-up BBQ cover (which was assembled upside down by the
manufacturer).
My pet waste composting operation seems to be going well.
and I was able to bike in to work tonight.

Here's why it was a bad day:
I wasn't able to talk to Becky on break because there is not reception at
the campground.
The earwigs are terrible!!
They moved Gramma McC to the ICU today. Just to better monitor her I guess.
Her sister's funeral was today so she was obviously a little upset. I went
to visit her yesterday and she seemed in good spirits. Although, she did go
on again about being "no good to anybody". Jeepers.
I am feeling really guilty about not visiting her more. Especially given
the current situation. I think part of the reason I don't visit more is
because I feel I have to bring the girls too and there is very little for
them to do in Gramma's apartment. I need to just get into a routine of
every X-day, go see Gramma. Whether it's just me, or all 4 of us, just go
see her.
I am going to print a pic of the girls or the family and take it up to
Gramma Wednesday. I might even see if we can Grace to draw up a get well
soon card.

I have to get over to see Mom Wednesday or Thursday too. She'll be at the
hospital alot but we'll work something out.

Totally worth the traffic stoppage

Ok, so we're on our way back from Watertown on our way to Barry's 30th and we get stopped on the 401. It's way backed up. Accident. Turn off the car, walk around stoppage.
Roughly 2 minutes before traffic gets moving again, the lady in the minivan in front of us gets out and dumps a Tupperware of PEE at the side of the road!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA
It was made so much funnier when traffic started going so soon after!!
Ah classic.

Oh and then when we started moving the car beside us wouldn't start!!! hahahahahahah
I could see in the rearview that they were pushing it over to the gravel.
Not funny, but I'm a jerk so yes, it is funny!!!!!

Goin' shoppin'

After I get a couple hours sleep this morning, Becky and I are going shopping in Watertown.
I am hittin' up Hot Topic. I'll be looking for the most underground t-shirt they have. the least likely to be from Hot Topic. maybe a DVD and/or that ski mask with the skull print on it that I saw on the website. It'll be MY first time in a Hot Topic so we'll see what happens.
It will also be my first time in Steve & Barry's. Pick myself up some Starbury's, maybe another pair of shoes and shirt. Becky has assured my I could go nuts in this store.
when we get back it's likely straight to Barry's 30th b-day party. So, no hat all day. unless I have a chance to buzz before we leave.
To keep the mohawk, or not to keep the mohawk??

the new BBQ works great. and the new porch swing is great too. Now if only we could get rid of the skitters.

Later!

Aaaahhhhh

Until my repaired/replaced monitor comes back, a friend has loaned me a monitor so my computer is complete again.
Thank goodness.
I was going crazy. I am not that addicted to it but there was somethings I need to keep an eye on everyday and it was all saved on my computer.
excellent!!
THanks Pete!

Computer broken

something is wrong with it so I don't know how good i will be at updating my blog. like I am any good at that anyway.
hahah

Canada Day!!

Happy 141st Birthday Canada!!

Were going to some big sale at Kiddie Kobbler today. I know, why are they open on Canada day??
Then going to the big parade in Bath and after that who knows. Probably a nap for Amelia and maybe Grace too.
Might go out to the SPC for all the festivities there. Fireworks at dusk.

I got all the crap cleaned out of the eaves yesterday. There was trees growing in them. When it rained the other day the water had no place to go and just spilled over the top. It didn't take that long but it was messy and it smelled. Becky cut some trees out of the garden. Black walnuts. We had one growing out of the side of one of our maples. There is still a walnut in the garden but it's all intertwined with a bush. I might get it out today. We did most of that work after the girls were in bed and we couldn't see that tree by the end!

Oh, I am gonna blog this just to have a record: I cut the grass Wednesday or Thursday June 25 or 26th. I can't remember but we'll see how long it is until I have to cut it again. We need more rain.

My Soulfly CD is scratched.

I don't know how it happened, but I am not happy about it.
Probably around track 6 or 7 it starts skipping.
It's the debut self-titled album. I gave my brother a copy when I bought
the digipack version with the cd of remixes. So now I don't have a fallback
copy. I'm gonna have to go buy another one.

Speaking of Soulfly, or Max Cavalera more specifically, I have decided that
(eventually) and am going to get Sepultura, Nailbomb and Cavalera
Conspiracy tattoos to go with my Soulfly tattoo. I think it'll look pretty
awesome. The Nailbomb one will hurt like hell because it'll be on the
inside of my lower leg. It might not hurt that much but more than the
Soulfly, Sep and CC ones.

Ya know who else annoys the crap out of me?

Mikael Akerfelt (however you spell it) from Opeth/Bloodbath.

At least in a live setting.

I saw Opeth at SOTU a few years ago and his stage banter really bothered me. It seemed like he was talking just to hear his own voice. It was like "shut up already and play another song."

Now I have been listening to The Wacken Carnage, Bloodbath's new live CD, and it has the same annoying stage banter between every song.  Like "How many of you have our record, Resurrecting the Eviscerated?" or some other album title spat out from the Random Death Metal Album Title Generator. EVeryone yells YEAH!! and then he goes on more. Enough already. It's just a good thing that the banter is at the end of the track so as soon as I hear him start talking I just skip to the next tune.

 

Reggie and The Full Effect

Don't really care for their music, but that's an awesome band name.

I suck

So everyone else on my crew started their holidays (plant shutdown) at 730 last night.
Not me!!
I decided to work overtime tonight and I have to work a shift trade Saturday night.
I am going golfing this afternoon with the in-laws and then dinner at the course and then to work. I am gonna be TIRED.
Gotta get out with Dad next week too. More practice for the Green Jacket Tourney July 12.
Sunday I can start my holidays. I have lots of work to get done around the house. There is plants growing in the eavestroughs. I gotta get on that.
Next Friday I will be cleaning out the two backrooms AND the basement in an attempt to rid ourselves of useless junk. Plus, we hope to make enough money from the yardsale on the Saturday to buy a new BBQ.
I would like to find myself some skids and make a base for the shed too.
I could work 12 hours a day at home and still not have everything done the way I want.
That's life!

Why I don't like Kevin J Anderson

or at least his writing style.

HE WASTES PAPER BY TELLING ME SHIT I ALREADY KNOW!!

Every Dune book I have read the that he co-wrote with Brian Herbert is annoying in the fact that they have like little "re-caps" both from previous books and from earlier in the book. I thought it might just be Brian Herbert but then I read a KJA Star Wars novel again and noticed the "recaps".
Why? Do you really think someone reading Hunters of Dune chose that as they're first Dune novel to read? And even if they did for some reason, the little recaps don't tell enough of the story that you could have skipped the first 6 books and still be even close to understanding the back story.
But, eventhough it is super annoying, I still read the books because it's Dune.

You should see the other guy

I look like I got in a fight. I got hit by a baseball right in the eye Sunday night. It's not like a huge shiner, but it's bruised and my glasses broke the skin. Freak thing, not intentional, not even trying to make a play. Someone was just throwing in a ball that had gone foul and I caught it. In the face. I bent my glasses back in to shape and made a couple nice catches. It was time to get new glasses anyway, and now that Becky has a job (YAY!) we may be able to afford to wait the 2-3 weeks for the benefit check to come back.
I was going to ride my bike to work today but when I went to check the weather it was raining a bit. Crap.

Listening to: Heart vs. Spine by The Devil and the Sea

Mytrle Beach Trip overview

Alright, this is gonna be tricky.
We left early Friday morning. 530ish. Stopped to gas up and get some coffee and timbits.
Amelia pooped so bad just before the border, we had to throw her jammies out.
Drive was good. We all hit the border at the same time but almost immediately after that we got separated. That happened all week.
The mountains were great.
Amelia had runny poops all the way down. One time, she was just wearing a diaper shirt and it leaked out all over her legs and the car seat (luckily we had a liner on it) and she proceeded to play with it. Yuck. It was everywhere.
We stopped for lunch at TGI Fridays in Wilkes-Barre, PA. Our GPS only has major US roads on it so we had a heck of a time finding it. We also found out that most of Scranton is not mapped on our GPS either.
Hit rush hour traffic in the Washington area. (the poop playing was in that area) 2 hours of crawl.
Stayed over in Midlothian, VA.
Hit the road again on Saturday.
Programmed the GPS for MYRTLE Beach not NORTH Myrtle Beach (same addresses in both areas and we end up at the wrong one) and end up getting there hours after everyone else. We would have been later anyway (more stops) but that little error cost us about and hour and a half.
No matter, all the grocery shopping was done by the time we got there!!
So we hung out the rest of Saturday at the beach and at the beach house. Played a little pool and watched the hockey game.
Sunday we relaxed some more. Bit of shopping but mostly beach, pool and hot tub.
Monday, I picked shells before golf at Eagle Nest. That afternoon we went shopping. more beach, pool and hot tub.
Tuesday, golf at Meadowlands. More shopping. Dinner at Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede!! Like Medieval Times but a Civil War theme.

Wednesday, golf at Brunswick Plantation. Afternoon at Ripley's Aquarium and dinner at Captain George's Seafood Buffet. I tried some seafood. Didn't fall in love with it. I did love the clam chowder though!
Thursday, golf at Possum Trot. Afternoon at the Nascar Speedpark. Go-kart fun! Grace loved it! Then Becky and went to dinner alone at Ruby Tuesday's. then to a great book store.
Friday the women went to a big plantation and left all the kids with the men. We did okay. Went to the beach and then hung out at the pool for the day. We had to make a beer run in the afternoon. hahah Papa John's Pizza for supper.

Out the door and on the road for 7 Saturday morning. Krispy Kremes for breakfast! We took a longer route and west on I-64 across Virginia and that was a great drive. it added at least an hour to the drive but it was worth it. The Appalachians were incredible to drive through. Too bad I was the only one awake. then through West Virginia, Maryland, PA into New York and home.
No problems at the border. Thank god.

Overall, great trip. The girls had their moments, but it was tired and hungry and bored (the driving and shopping) stuff.
Would totally do it again.