Last weekend I dropped my cellphone in a hot tub. The incident could have been part of a much better story but unfortunately the circumstances were not all that sordid. I quickly found out that cell phones don't swim and mine drowned. I dried it out asap and managed to get it turned back on but it lost all functionality beyond taking incoming calls and sounding like I was talking from a tunnel.
So after a few day deliberating on what to go to next I have taken the plunge and bought a Blackberry. The plan I have includes free long distance to my most called numbers so it will actually end up saving me money (so the sales pitch went, I will believe it when I see it). It is quite a little device and I still really have no idea about it's actual capabilities. If I'm true to form I should have it fully figured out shortly before I take it for a swim of it's own.
I also look forward to calling Rogers to tell them I can't work my Blueberry!
As winter-weatherbeaten Maritimers we get smug when looking at images of American cities being paralyzed by 2 inches of snow on the ground. We scoff at the the recent news footage of London's big city gears grinding to a halt after 15cm fell there last month. After we scoff we wonder what it would take to bring us to our knees.
Well wonder no more. We were hit with a weather bomb this morning that totalled 48cm and the city was at a stand still. The city police and RCMP actually told people to stay off the roads. I heeded their advice and the 5' snowdrift in my frontyard ensured it. It actually snowed all morning and afternoon and just stopped this evening. This should be fun to clean up.
Canadian Obama-Rama reached its zenith yesterday with Mr. Obama's first trip to Canada. In honour of our close ties he made us his first official destination, which is, you know, pretty sweet.
He was met at the airport by throngs of adoring fans. He was in the country for about 6 hours and met with Stephen Harper and the leader of the opposition. He also made a couple of impromptu stops where he charmed the daylights out of anyone he came across. He is still saying all the right things and making all the right moves (unless you are an elected Republican in the US) but I nevertheless thought of this song as one lady indicated she would not be washing her hand after he touched it:
A researcher from Princeton University has found that when shown images of bikini-clad women men's brains show the most activity in the region of the brain associated with tools and tool use. Moreover they showed little activity in the region of the brain associated with long walks on the beach, chick flicks, and wedding plans.
This correlates with some research I have done on my own over the years. On countless occasions I have seen girls look at me with eyes that said, quite clearly, "Look at that tool". Now that is equality!
The remake of Friday the 13th comes out tonight amid much fanfare. It has been remade by the same folks that successfully remade The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The trailer looks scary enough for me but then again I probably haven't watched a horror movie since I got conned into watching the aformention Chainsaw remake with a promise of Jessica Biel's boobs. They were not shown.
The original Friday the 13th was probably where I first got roped into the horror genre. It was the first movie in which I can remember a sex scene. Add to that the fact that it legitimately scared the hell out of me, and I consider it to be a very underrated horror movie. The cliches of the later movies should not take away from the originals.
The title of this post is also one of those forgotten jems from a much underrated band and it's my pick for flashback Friday.
Today is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin. He is undoubtedly one of the most important scientists in history, not to mention one of the most controversial men in history. This is of course because he borrowed much of his groudbreaking theory from an earlier work by Alfred Russel Wallace. Kidding! Darwin's theory, borrowed as it may have been, was the seminal evolutionary work and, obviously, blew up alot of religious doctrine and started a fight that is still being waged today. This week, however, he got a nice posthumous birthday present when a spokesman for The Vatican declared some level of Church support for Darwin. The article is worth a read.
Today is also the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abe Lincoln. That was one hell of a day. Interestingly Google's homepage celebrated Darwin's birthday and not Lincoln's (could have been a .ca thing though). I would guess its because Darwin has cool awards named after him.
Most everyone has probably heard about the flap over a Belleisle elementary school principal who "banned" the daily singing of O Canada at his school. When I heard the initial reports I thought he was a fool and agreed with Rex Murphy that the word inclusive has been turned upside down. A little further investigation, thanks, sadly, to the fact that the principal in questioned has been demonized and threatened, we see that this was terribly overblown.
The "banning" actually took effect a year and half ago and was not actually a banning at all. As opposed to daily, it was to be played, and sung, monthly at school assemblies. The flap was raised by a concerned parent who lost a nephew in Afghanistan. She may have had her heart in the right place but she also states that we are losing all of our traditions "like the pledge of allegiance". We don't have a pledge of allegiance...but I digress. The firestorm she started got picked up by the media and kicked up by blowhards in Ottawa looking to use somebody to grandstand while the kids at that school lost someone who seemed a capable, caring principal.
I urge you to check out the interview from the CBC here. It should be noted that I LOVE our anthem and think the proudest moment of my life was getting to sing it while wearing a Canadian jersey with my teamates. It does not come close, though, to representing my patriotism.
Today is the big man's birthday. He got a bit of an early birthday present on Saturday when his Leafs beat my Habs on Saturday night. He got a much better early birthday present when his lovely lady friend arrived on Friday for a visit. I hope she likes the cold! Or at least I hope she can stand the cold...keep her warm dad.
Where did the Ghosts go? Where did the good Habs go? Where did my head go? These are all questions I am asking today after the debacle that was last night's game. A 5-2 loss to the lowly Leafs. Shiiiiiiiit. I should have guessed it; I invested to much emotionally in this pilgrimage. The only ghost that showed up last night was the ghost of Daryl Sitler in the body of Jason Blake. Laraque did lay the smackdown on Brad May though, so that was something.
The atmosphere itself was electric and our seats, although not close to the ice, were great and did have beer service. The concourse on our level was also pretty posh so we felt, however briefly, like high rollers. I did however find myself wondering what it would be like sitting up top in the nosebleeds because up there they have (seemingly) hot french girls dressed in tight white Habs jerseys pumping the crowd. I would say that is worth a cheaper ticket but that an argument for another time.
The anthem was surreal and it was great to hear Montreal belting out O Canada in both languages. Lots of Leafs fans in the crowd joining in. They were pretty happy pretty quickly too. The Habs got outplayed badly and 5-2 was an accurate reflection of the game. Luckily there are lots of places in Montreal to find solace.
We are set to hit the road now and kind of wishing the we were flying back as well. The drive will give us a chance to see some familiar sights on the way home though.
Another big night in MTL last night. Wheat and I got up yesterday and checked out Old Montreal for petit dejeuners. We bypassed Cora's and found a more authentic feeling spot. I must have still been under the influence because I ordered a jalepeno omelette that did wonders for my guts for the rest of the day. TMI? Whatever....I spent the rest of the day relaxing in bed before making a trip back to Crescent st. for happy hour. We then went back to the hotel to meet up with Doherty who was arriving just in time to jumpstart our worn out selves. We managed to get out of the hotel again and found some more fun....in Montreal, imagine.
Today is starting slow and we need to find Habs tickets!
Well we made it. Back in Sin City, PQ. Frankly its been too long. We arrived yesterday and got the business portion of the trip out of the way. I'm not sure I can handle 3 two more nights of fun like last night but I am certainly willing to give it a go.
Groundhog Day! My favourite non-holiday holiday. Almost purely because of Bill Murray and this movie.
I also enjoy it because it is one of the most contrived events of any year. Don't get me wrong, I love the tradition of it, but, come on, regardless of whether or not the Shubenacadie Sam or Wiarton Willie see their shadows we are in for 6 more weeks of winter. We're in (East of the Coast Mountains) Canada, its February 2nd, there is no way in hell we aren't getting 6 more weeks of winter. How could anyone even argue that they have ever been right. Environment Canada agrees.
Luckily, as I said the other day, we keep busy in winter. Today, for example, I will be heading to my Grand-father Desmond Pacey's memeorial lecture at UNB. It's a history prof talking about a book he's written on another history prof. If nothing else it will a good place to have a nap and dream about a dream about a dream about waking up in a dream. Follow me? Me neither...
Last weekend I dropped my cellphone in a hot tub. The incident could have been part of a much better story but unfortunately the circumstances were not all that sordid. I quickly found out that cell phones don't swim and mine drowned. I dried it out asap and managed to get it turned back on but it lost all functionality beyond taking incoming calls and sounding like I was talking from a tunnel. 
