I Like Jam On My Toast

Just a quick update to let those who care know I'm still alive.
I'm working an eight day streak right now because I requested some time off to go to the Pearl Jam concert in Vancouver with the Hetro Life Partner. It should be an awesome concert, and I'm really itchin' to get out of town.
To keep those who read the site occupied, and to give myself something else to write about when I get back, I ask you one question:

• Tell me your top ten movies that you just love to watch over and over.

There was a list on the forums the other day and I posted a couple but I figure Ten is a nice round number and I'll let you know mine when I get back.

And no, porn does not count, so I'll have to re-think my personal top 5

Anonymity is Like a Warm Blanket

You know,I find the internet to be a fascinating place.
The types of interactions you see online are sometimes so unreal or surreal that I sometimes wonder how people cannot think before they type, or is civility just a retarded gene in the pool of life.
I was reading a forum that I frequent quite often( Not Porn!) and people were posting about movies that they liked and thought should be listed as "essentials". Now I know that movies, like music and books, are very subjective. One mans trash is really another man's treasure. But some of these people just reamed each other out over the slightest comment or opinion that was posted.
Now you and I both know that in real life, if you overheard someone say that their favorite movie was Herbie: Reloaded, you would never jump in their face and tell them that they are lower on the evolutionary chain than soap scum.
But on "teh Internet" it's okay. In fact some people seem to pride themselves on it.
The fact that someone is possibly thousands of miles away from you and unable to tell where you are or really, who you are, seems to offer people more courage than a bottle of the hard stuff. And the fact that you do not have to physically back your thoughts up seems to be a great comfort to some of these people. In the real world, I mean the really real world,( Joe I know you'll get that reference) if you were that rude you would get your ass handed to you by any number of people. And you just wouldn't do it.
And it's not only in forums and chat rooms either. How many times have you opened up your real life mailbox to shouts of "Make your Penis Bigger!" or "Watch German Girls Play in a Pool of Shit!" (What, you mean nobody else gets those e-mails?....Oops.) If someone was stuffing things like that in your mailbox, you'd be on the lookout for them. Either to tell them to stop or else get some more information.
It's partially because of all this that I avoid certain aspects of the internet. I really like the thought of online gaming, but don't want to put up with all the jerks out there. I know that there are good people and not everyone's an ass, but why should I be forced to wade through the shit to find the few nuggets of gold?

Why is being civil so hard for some people? Can't you just state your point and leave it at that? I get really frustrated sometimes with some of that stuff. I know in the grand scheme of things it's quite a small pet peeve, but as this method of communication becomes more commonplace, it's going to be as important as the spoken word is.

That's My 2 Cents, and I know I'm not the only one.

Garbage In, Garbage Out.

At work lately we have recently gone through a bit of staff turnover. Some of it is to be expected, as some of the younger help who have worked for us in high school get ready to go to college, but some of it is longer term employees who are moving on to other things.
It's been amazing to watch and see how different people work out their remaining time.

"People will leave their work the way they approach it."

Bish had this in his blog (one of many blogs he has,) and I found it interesting to see the dynamic played out in the workplace. I'll give you my examples.

We have two high school students who are leaving, both girls.(Not that it matters.)

One of them has been working as hard as ever right up to her last day. She's positive, energetic and has said repeatedly how much she's going to miss everyone when she is gone.

The other one has been dragging her ass around the store, saying how she can't wait for her shift to be over and for her time here to be done.

We also had two longer term employees leave.

One of them was very straightforward and had said at the beginning of his employment with us, that if he ever got a chance to work in his chosen field,(musician) he'd be leaving. Well he lucked out and got a chance to tour with a band, so off he goes. Worked his time, was very respectful and appreciative of the training we gave him.

The other one was a real long term employee who did not even tell us that she was planning on leaving, went out, got another job while on her holidays with us, and put in her notice. Now there's nothing really wrong with that, except it's the way we were told about her notice. She had told everyone in the department she is in what was going on and asked them to keep it quiet. Why? Why not be honest and grown up about the whole thing? To top it off, she's been really slacking her last two weeks. We would probably just not schedule her, but we still need the body in that department to cover holidays and such.

Why can't most people just be like the first girl and the guy and work out their time and leave on a positive note? Why would you take the chance of possibly jeopardizing any future reference you may get, as well as effecting whatever relationship you had with your co-workers?

I don't work at a horrible place, in fact the owners treat the staff very well, with respect, and are extremely friendly and open to talk to. It's just unbelievable how people will work out their time with the company.

When I left my last job I left on very good terms with practically everybody. I still pop by from time to time, as the sidekick still works there, and have been told by my old bosses that they miss the effort and talent I brought to the team. Yay Me!

It's an interesting theory that Bish had and seeing it played out on this screen I call real life is quite amusing. I know that some of you out there must have some entertaining stories from when you or someone you know left a job, let's hear it!

Music is Memory

I've been making a CD to introduce the Hetro-Life Partner to the great 80's music that he sadly missed out on. You know what I'm talking about. When big hair ruled the earth and Grunge was like the dirt between hippies toes. Call it rock, glam, hair metal, whatever, it's the music I grew up on and just making the CD has brought back a lot of memories for me.

I find that music has that ability. I know that a good song can affect how you are feeling now, but I find, for me, that music's most powerful effect on me is the way it dregs up memories of the past, be they fair or foul. People, Places, Events - all of these are in some way "bookmarked" in my brain according to the music (or individual songs) I was listening to at the time.

Examples:

1. Tesla: I first heard this band when my friend loaned me the tape and said that they were really good. Believe it or not, I stuck this tape in my walkman while I was mowing the parent's lawn as part of my weekly chores, so now anytime I hear any of the songs from Mechanical Resonance I remember mowing that lawn. And I haven't lived there for over 12 years.
2. Blackfish: A southern rock band you have never heard of.
3. Juliet: Another band you've never heard of. First listened to on a Vancouver concert trip with Mooley, Jeeves, Zoffman, and Thompson. Reminds me of drunk driving on the Second Narrows bridge on the way to the concert, and scaring people in other cars with our rockin' out headbanging ways.
4. Danger Danger: I have a feeling you think I'm just making up band names, but trust me, they were,(and I believe still are,) a real band. Anything of theirs reminds me of one past girlfriend just because She hated them so much. That's right. She didn't like the music, the lyrics, even the way the band looked. So I listened to them as much as possible. That's how I roll. Passive-aggressive macho shtick is what I'm all about baby.
5. White Lion: Lots of people memories tied to this one, and all from different times in my life. The first teen breakup song, Wait. The trying to express my love thru song song, You're all I need. And to top it all off, My wedding song, Death do us Part. This band seemed to have it all, except they didn't last.

I know I've listed mostly 80's tunes and bands, but there's way more out there that I could list. As I said, to me music is memory. What music gets your memory going?

With Good Behavior, I'd Be Out By Now

Depending if I was in Texas or not. Yes today is my nine year anniversary. I should be collecting money from all the people who said it wouldn't last.
I'll admit, I haven't always been the greatest husband in the world, but there are a shitload out there worse than me. It has had its ups and downs but overall, how can I complain? (Don't worry, you'll still hear me complain from time to time.)
I think that living with anybody, day in and day out for 9+ years deserves a medal on both sides, be it man, woman or sheep.
For more on my thoughts on marriage, stay tuned to this sunny little blog. I'm sure to have some insights from time to time. ( Ya Think?)

Just 'cause there's a Goalie in the Net...

If you look over at that location thing on the side of the page, you can tell that I'm in Canada.
I was born here, and as such I have the natural Canadian love of Hockey. Played it when I was younger, watch it on TV, and follow it it the papers.
Now I was as pissed off as anyone when the NHL lockout occurred, and I was actually kinda impartial when it ended. I want to see a good product, not some rich crybabys pussyfooting around the ice.
My biggest pet peeve with hockey before the lockout was parity. There were some teams that could be accused of trying to buy the Stanley Cup, and I'm sure that you could point to one or two of the previous teams that have won it as an example. But the fact was that there were some teams who had outrageous payrolls and were full of superstars, and teams that were doomed to failure the moment the season started.
I think that's over now.
After witnessing the trades and dealings in the NHL over the last couple of days, it seems to me, ( as cheesy as it is to say,) that there is now some balance in the force. There are a lot of great players on almost every team now, and the owner with the deepest pockets is not going to be the one who wins. (please don't point out the New York Rangers to me, I believe they are the exception to the rule.) It brings it down to smart fiscal management, as well as having programs that will develop from within, as you will not be able to buy your way out of mistakes anymore.
This change , as well as some of the proposed rule changes to improve the flow of play, have me more excited about Hockey than I have been in years. I really hope the on-ice product will be equal to the excitement that's happening behind the scenes right now.

Can't wait for the season to start.

Chillin' @ the Sidekick Lounge

It's not smoky, dim, or dingy like you would expect. The lighting's ok, kinda subdued, and the overall ambiance is, unfortunately, similar to that of the Mickey Mouse club. No booze, just milk or seltzer, and the talent on stage is limited to card tricks and slight-of hand.
The big boys get strippers and hard liquor, but because most of us are either wards of the state or really smart animals, it's a toss up between Nickelodeon or Animal Planet on the big screen TV.

There are some perks to being one of us, but it's way overshadowed by the negatives. You hope to one day step into the limelight, taking over from your mentor when they're too old or injured to do the job, but before then it's years of short pants & names ending with "boy" or "lad". (The pants really chafe, and asking for a wardrobe update is like squeezing blood from a stone. It's always "Need more jet fuel for the rocket boosters" or "Can't do it now, I have to be seen in public to maintain my secret identity." ) What do you expect? They're not the one freezing their ass off in the middle of winter tailing some low-life thug to the super-villains hideout.

And after being "captured" for the ten-thousandth time, dangled over a pit of "whatever's-on sale-at-the-mutant-pet-store," and freeing myself while they nab the bad guy. ( Using the catch-phrases I made up! Lazy bastard.) What do I get? A pat on the back from a fat, smelly police commissioner, being told I was "lucky" to have the "caped crusader" around, and because of my "impulsiveness" I'm doing codpiece scrubbing duty while the butler's on vacation.

So I'm here. Stuck between a dog in a mask and a midget wearing a tutu. No point in talking to the girls in here. Ever since they found out I've been living with a guy who's old enough to be my father, But isn't actually my father, they all figure I'm either gay or confused, and like I said before, the costume doesn't help. Listen, the cape is short so that I don't trip while I'm running, not so you can see my ass. Can't a hetro man wear a short cape? Besides, with the way some of those girls can throw cars and the like around, I'm afraid to check out their undercarriage if you know what I mean. I'm not saying pre-op or post-op, but some of those virtuous maidens seem to have some large Adams apples.

Well it's almost time to go. You-know-who is probably three sheets to the wind right now, and he'll make me carry his tubby ass into the mansion. (Again) He'll cry about the pressures of being a hero while I pull off his boots and wipe the vomit from his cowl. I hope he got some while he's in the champagne room, otherwise it's clutch-and grab all the way home.

See you later, I'll be in next week to pay my tab.