Almost...

It is almost time to take off for the holidays... I can't wait... I think I will be off for 12 days in total, and only 4 of those are actual vacation days. Pretty sweet...

So, I guess a nice holiday wish is in order? Maybe we could all wish for something good and it might happen? Let's think about it really hard and maybe after Christmas it will have happened and we will all feel really good. Until then I guess we should all just hang out with our families, maybe our friends, our pets, a rock, who knows...

If Ricky has taught us anything, besides the fact that God and Santa are not the same guy, it's that Christmas is about hanging out with your family. Who can argue with that?

Peace.

Where can I get one of those...

Maybe Santa will bring me one... Or maybe a thoughtful friend or relative. It would be such a great gift, especially when it is cold out.

What I am talking about is one of those permits that allows you to park your car right up in front of a store or building. Right in front of the door! Imagine the convenience. Who cares about all of those other losers that don't have one of these special permits. They can try to find a way around you to get into the place.

It also allows you to stop right in the middle of the parking lot and chat with people who are also not lucky enough to have one of these wonderful passes. Again, who cares about the people who are trying to get around you and park in an actual designated spot like a sucker.

The best time to use the special permit is between 8:00 and 8:30 and the best place to use it is the busiest coffee shop in town. Just imagine how many new friends I will make when I get my special permit. Everyone will want to say something to me, just like the lucky SOB who had one this morning. In fact, there were two. I wanted to ask them both where they got them but they were really in a hurry, and you know how rude it is to slow down these important people.

Anyway, if I am not lucky enough to get the magical parking/stopping pass this year that's ok, it would almost be too much, I mean, am I really worthy?

More Thievery...

Nothing original to see here...

But, this is so funny, and true...

The Perfect Gift?

Ok, I ripped this off from ESPN.com's Page 2. If they ask me to remove it I will, but somehow I don't think anyone from ESPN will be reading my blog anytime soon...

The Race Requires...

some brains (I guess) and a lot of luck, but it looks like class is not important. I thought the race was really good last night, all of the teams seemed genuinely touched when they visited the Slave House. Obviously this affected Gus the most, but even Jonathan seemed to understand that this was an important moment and it deserved their respect.

When Don and Mary Jean needed money they couldn't bring themselves to ask the poor people around them to sacrifice a few dollars and the rest of the teams stepped up and did show class, I was impressed.

But then Kendra opened her mouth... twice, and then Jonathan went back to being his usual overbearing self. The end of the show was actually embarrassing, as far as I am concerned. First he cries and whines... "I can't do it Victoria..." and then when she is trying to lug 2 backpacks he goes off on her. Did anyone else see Jonathan actually push Victoria? I was hoping that Bolo was gonna show up just then and suplex him. Actually I would have preferred it if Lori had shown up and straightened him out, that would be good TV.

I guess it would be nice to win the game, a million dollars would be nice, too, but a guy that "drives a Ferrari" doesn't need it that bad, or maybe he does, who knows... And I was not happy to see Freddy and Kendra win the stage. Freddy is ok, I guess, but Kendra has no clue, imo, and her comments really rubbed me the wrong way. So I am officially cheering for Kris and Jon, they actually seem to like each other and they get along... what a concept...

Online Shopping Woes...

Well, I don't like to rant on here too much, it is not very productive... but anyway, here I go... (actually this topic has come up a few times before, but today's experience forced me to bring it up yet again...)

I am doing pretty good this year when it comes to my Christmas shopping. I have a few things left to get but all in all I am very happy. So this morning I was searching around for a few things online and I was happy to find some great gifts that were right in my price range. So I go through the whole process of filling in the forms to set up an account, and then I get to the final page and I see that it is going to cost $21 to ship the item to my house. The item in question costs all of $16.99. Well, needless to say I closed out of that one. Another online sale lost at the checkout page. I really don't understand the value of online shopping when retailers charge so much for shipping.

So then I go to another website and find the same item for the same price. There is a possibility of free shipping depending on a few things, blah blah blah... Anyway, I just want to find out how much they will charge to ship so I go through the entire process and fill in all the forms, etc... and once I get to the last page it decides to tell me that they will not ship this particular item to my location.... thanks for coming out... see ya later.

Strike 2 for the online shopping today. What gets me is that I am computer literate and I use the internet for just about everything. I usually understand things the first time. I enjoy it and I want to buy things online... No lines or hustle and bustle for me... But why does this type of thing have to happen so often? Imagine if this was your first online shopping experience... Would you even bother to ever try it again? I doubt it...

The beautiful lull, the dangerous tug...

We get to feel small from high up above.

The concert Friday night was excellent. What a show. The Tragically Hip have got to be one of the hardest working bands around these days. Gord Downie was covered in sweat by the third song and there was no letting up, even through the second encore. We were hoping for a third, but I guess that is a little too much to ask.


It is hard to pick out a highlight of the show, I was dissapointed because one or two of my favourite songs were not played, but I was also happy to hear a couple that were a bit unexpected, like Gift Shop. I think the Tragically Hip have the best songs that contain what I like to call non-lyrics. Like in Gift Shop and Grace Too, you just get to make some sort of noises in your throat and you are singing along...

I am making a solemn oath that I will learn to play Little Bones on the guitar before I die. (well, maybe not the solo, but the intro anyway)

It Can't Be Nashville Every Night...

But tonight it is, here in Saint John... We are really looking forward to seeing The Tragically Hip again, it will no doubt be a great concert. I have been looking over their setlists from this tour and I am really happy with what I have seen. They will play a lot of their new stuff that I don't know as well, but they will also play a lot of their more well known songs.
So here is my setlist, in my opinion this would be a perfect Hip concert:

1. Music @ Work (the perfect opening song, imho, especially for a Friday night concert)
2. Vaccination Scar (they will open with this)
3. Grace Too (this will be second, a great song)
4. 38 Years Old (I think it would be an awesome followup to Grace, really mix things up)
5. Silver Jet
6. Ahead By a Century
7. Fully Completely
8. Scared (a little break after some rockin songs)
9. Fireworks (get it going again)
10. 100th Meridian (where the Great Plains begin)
11. It Can't Be Nashville Every Night
12. The Darkest One (I love this song, the video is excellent)
13. Wheat Kings (I know, three slow songs? But Wheat Kings is great)
14. Gus: The Polar Bear from Central Park (a cool tune)
15. Small Town Bringdown (from their first album, a great song but they won't play it)
16. Twist My Arm (I love the guitar in this one, but they won't play it)
17. Locked in The Trunck of a Car (Let Me Out!)
18. Bobcaygeon (sort of slow, but it will get us primed up for the big finale)

That would be awesome, now for the encore:

1. Little Bones (Baby Eat This Chicken Slow!)
2. Blow at High Dough (they usually end the show with this one)
3. Courage
4. Another Midnight (my favourite Hip song, I really hope they play this one)

And that is a wrap. That my friends, is a great concert. Either way it will be great, I will have to check on my list tomorrow to see how close I am. I do know that they won't play three or four of these but thats ok, plus, 22 songs is a lot to ask for but it is a wish list after all...

And the river don't sleep
When the water runs cold
And the calendar burns
As the story unfolds
And the valley spans miles
When the mountain stands high
Can't they let us run wild
For another midnight