My List of Goals

I’ve been looking at my list of goals. I’ve haven’t gotten much done on there lately.

I’m thinking of bringing a bunch of DVDs to a used CD/DVD store. There’s a DejaVu across the street from work. Probably tomorrow at lunch. I don’t really care if I get decent coin for them either. I just really want to get rid of them. Make some shelf space. Yesterday, I sold a bunch of video games. I had a bunch of games I’m never gonna play. This way, I got rid of them and got a game I will play. Or at least, I hope I will play. Rainbow Six Vegas 2 only has to be as playable as the first for me to like it.

If you’ve been following this blog lately, Bob doesn’t seem to want a ladyfriend. That goal is just going to get increasingly harder as time goes by.

The weather was great this weekend. I really should have taken that toy helicopter for a spin. Maybe one night this week if the weather holds up.

Next weekend, there is a wedding I’m going to. Before I leave for the wedding, I’m going to have some quick photos taken of me. I’m still not content with the last photo I’ve got of me all decked out and done up to the nines.

That vacation is not going to happen this year. Too many things have come up. It’s been too busy at work and with my brother’s wedding later this year, my vacation fund is being turned into a get-a-really-nice-suit-to-wear-to-my-brother’s-wedding fund.

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There’s a new post in the Life with Carmine blog. There, you can read all about the best vagina I’ve ever eaten.

Insomnia Blogging: Another Carmine Story

I haven’t been keeping up with updating the Life with Carmine blog. Carmine’s adventures often happen in the summer when he’s out working in the yard, digging ponds and tending to the fish and whatnot. But something happened yesterday that, I think, is worth telling.

Yesterday, I received a phone call from one of Carmine’s neighbours. It seemed that Carmine had left a window open all day and the wind (which was really strong yesterday) had knocked something over, creating a loud bang sound. Carmine’s neighbour was calling around to make sure that Carmine knew his window was open. You never know, could be a burgler or something. Carmine’s neighbour was concerned.

What’s makes this story funny to me was the fact that the neighbour actually said the following: “I can’t see Carmine as the sort of person who would leave a window open all day long while at work.”

Carmine is the sort of person who would leave a window open, doors unlocked, lights on, water running and commit pretty much every sort of absent minded mistake imaginable.

At least once a year, Carmine will refill the pond in his backyard with water. Usually just a topoff if there has been a week or more without any rain. Carmine regularly checks the water level each morning before leaving for work. On average, once a year, Carmine will put the lawn hose in the pond, turn on the faucet, forget the water is on and leave for work. When Carmine’s wife returns home after work, she would often take a look at the backyard (at this point, a rice field) and turn off the water.

I distinctly remember one time, Carmine left town (and the country) for a business trip. Forgetting to turn on the alarm system is no big deal for him. Forgetting to lock the door isn’t a big deal either. He lives in a pretty safe neighbourhood. But he forget to actually close the front door. His wife returned home from work the day he left to find the front door swinging in the wind. How does one forget to close the front door of the house?

So I laughed very, very hard when Carmine’s neighbour said “I can’t see Carmine as the sort of person who would leave a window open all day long while at work.”

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In other news, I again, had little sleep last night. Okay, that’s not exactly news, or even new. Instead of watching late night/early morning television, I went abloggin’. I read a blog by a certain Rawbean. A post that made no sense to me what-so-ever. I made some incoherent comment and left the site all-together.

Now, in the light of day, I’ve returned to the site and still the post makes no sense to me. And yesterday, that certain blogger left a comment on my blog that made no sense.

What I’d like, is to have some people read Rawbean’s blog and tell me which of the following is true, because I am really, really confused here. Is Rawbean: a) drunk blogging; b) just gone completely batty; c) pulling some April Fool’s gag where she is trying to make people think she’s batty; or d) operating at a higher plain.

Thank you very much, good night and God speed.

Remembering Music

When I wore a younger man’s shoes (when I was a kid) I listened to some pretty rocking music. My brother introduced me to Deep Purple and Rush and many other acts that absolutely rocked. As I grew older, I listened to that music a little less. It got to the point where I was going through my iTunes library and I realized I hadn’t ripped a bunch of stuff that had been such a huge part of my life in the early nineties. There was no Deep Purple on my computer. 30 gigabytes of music and yet, no Deep Purple. I walked over to my CD collection, grabbed my Deep Purple best of package and transfered it to my hard drive and iPod.

For the past couple of months, I’ve been listening to a lot of that Deep Purple stuff I listened to when I was a teen. Today, I have much more appreciation for the music. I’ve also expanded my depth of catalog for Deep Purple. I’ve added a bunch of album tracks and I’ve been able to hear many other aspects to their sound. I am being blown away by Deep Purple’s performances on songs like Burn and Space Truckin’ and Bloodsucker and Child in Time.

Today’s discussions of hard rock British bands of the seventies usually starts and stops on two bands: Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Taking nothing away from those two bands, it goes without saying that they are immeasurably great. But my generation has been referring to Deep Purple as “They’re the band that did Smoke on the Water, right?” For some reason, one that I can’t quite understand, Deep Purple has not translated well for the current generation. Maybe my generation has simply not heard DP.

When I worked at the record store, the only people who ever asked about Deep Purple records were older guys. No young people ever came in to pick up a copy of Machine Head. They sure bought a bunch of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath discs, but no Deep Purple.

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Sometimes I wonder, what bands and artists today will be the legends we won’t just remember tomorrow, but our children and our children’s children will still be listening to and respecting? Acts including The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix are still being listened to by the younger generations even though there no longer is any music from those acts today to speak of. Who from today will really be remembered in the same vein as The Beatles? Is Radiohead really the heir apparent? Does Coldplay’s catalog have the ability to age well? Will the White Stripes ever be more than a gimmick? Do any hip hop acts really have any sort of staying power? Is Tupac the next Jimi?

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There’s a new Life with Carmine post for those of you who care.

Week Recap and Weekend Forecast

Last week I wrote about this guy who put a fake bomb in a museum and called it art. The people who operate the museum shut down the museum and the street around the building as a procaution. This guy was shocked that people took his art as a serious bomb threat. The debate over this incident has revolved around the issue of this act being art and therefore he should not be punished for causing a panic.

My opinion, okay, so what if it’s art; its still causing a panic therefore this guy should be charged with mischief and arrested and tried accordingly.

As for me this week, I had to shovel the driveway with my sore back. The large amount of snow on Tuesday morning reaggravated the sore back and had me laid up for a whole day. Other than that its been a long week with little to do. This has just seemed like a week that won’t end. I found out yesterday that I’ve got to work half a day Saturday. Yeah!

Bob floated the idea of going to Denny’s this weekend. I am totally looking forward to that. You see, I love a place with an all-day breakfast (which I’ve heard is Denny’s speciality) and I’ve never been to Denny’s.

Last Friday, me, Juicette and Janet were discussing breakfast foods, especially pancakes. I’ve been jonesing for pancakes ever since. So I am very looking forward to having some yummy, yummy pancakes.

On Sunday, my family is going out to meet the family of my brother’s fiancee. This will be the official first meeting of the families. Both me and my mother have met the soon-to-be inlaws. But my father has not. That worries me a bit. My father can be a lot to take in. He is certainly an odd creature. He’s my father and I love him. But I understand that he can rub people the wrong way. I am hoping that he can be respectful and humble when meeting these people. Its just that humble is the last word I’d ever use to describe my father. He’s flamboyant and loud. This is just the anxiety I’m going through. I can’t even imagine what my brother must be going through right now.

Recently, I have been asked by a fellow blogger to write about farting. I think she was joking. I hope she was joking. Who wants to read about what I have to think about farting? If you don’t want to read my thoughts on farting, skip the following paragraph.

I don’t see what the big deal is. Sure they can smell. But we all do it. Wouldn’t life be easier if we didn’t have to blame it on the dog. Yeah I farted. Whatcha gonna do ’bout it? Its offputting and certainly something you shouldn’t do around people you’re still trying to impress, but they’re funny. Especially those long sqeaky ones that don’t actually smell. At that point, its just a funny sound. I also think that putting up with somebody else’s fart is sign of true love. If your partner lets one rip without trying to hide it or cover it up, it means your partner loves you. And if you just let it go without raising a stink (complaing or bitching about it, I couldn’t avoid the pun), then you truly love that person and are willing to accept the fact that your partner is a human being.

Okay, I’m done writing about farting for this post.

Another fellow blogger wrote that I should post some photos of myself that can be seen on my Facebook profile. I don’t quite understand why. I mean sure I’m a very handsome guy. But she can see them through Facebook. Why should I put them on here too? If she needs to get a gander, she can click her way into Facebook and take a good look. I don’t blame her for wanting to take a look. She’s a woman, she has needs. Its just a shame the camera person had a shaky hand and couldn’t get the lighting right. I look great but the photos aren’t perfect. Shame.

More Carmine

Another post has been published in the Life with Carmine blog. It involves Carmine being completely oblivious to the world around him.

Carmine Vs. The Birds

Carmine’s on vacation right now. A much deserved vacation. Just his trip to the airport was stressful enough.

Before making the journey down the 407, we stopped at a Tim Hortons for a little snack. This Timmys is in a standalone building with a Wendys. The drive-thru was too confusing for Carmine and we had to circle the building a couple of times. I had originally thought he turned into the parking lot because he was on the phone and didn’t want to drive on the highway and talk on the cellphone at the same time. Turns out the guy was just lost. When I realized this I told him to follow the pickup truck. It was obviously going right for the Timmys drive-thru.

Eventually I got my coffee and Carmine got his sandwich. Not wanting to make a mess of himself before an eight hour flight, he decided to park the car and eat outside. (Then why even bother going through the drive-thru?) He took half his sandwich and opened the trunk of the car. He had to do that last minute triple checking of his baggage to make sure he had his passport and ticket. Usual stuff.

Carmine lifts his head, screams “Get away you stupid bird!” and starts running at this seagull.

I had no idea what had just happened. Maybe a bird crapped on his car. At the other end of the parking lot, I saw this bird with half a sandwich in its mouth.

“That stupid bird took my sandwich!”

Carmine had left the other half of his sandwich on the hood of the car and a bird had swooped down to eat it.

The bird didn’t take the chicken breast that was in the sandwich though, just the bread, bacon and lettuce. I guess birds don’t eat other species of bird. Interesting…

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Did you ever wonder what the kid would be like if Wendy and Tim Horton were to have a baby? That would be one big, ornery ginger kid, with pigtails.

Recommended Listening: And Your Bird Can Sing by The Beatles.

Fixin’ An iPod

Carmine came up to me today, “Hacum my iPod don’t work. Fix my iPod.”

I tried all the usual things, I recharged it as his problem is often a drained battery. I tried resetting it. I docked it into my machine. Nothing worked.

I smacked the iPod down onto the table then as I began to rain blows down upon the iPod, it kicked over and reset. Now it works. I don’t understand it but it worked.

Next time your iPod breaks, try to break it and all will be well.