The Brave One

I just finished watching this movie. It was a good drama. Slightly slow moving in places but well worth a watch if you haven't already seen it. I found this one scene in the movie to be extremely powerful and very well done by Jodie. It always amazes me how a good movie can touch places in my mind that I thought lay dormant. How a sound or something in a script can surge deep within my soul and captivate me for that brief moment in time. Dramatic? Yes. But that's how it affected me tonight.

Firefox Add-ons

Zotero :: Firefox Add-ons

I installed this add-on for my Firefox web browser which allows me to blog right off a website I'm currently viewing. All I do is right click on the website and choose ScribeFire. A little text and tool box comes up for me to type, edit and add things before posting to my blog. Setting up where it was going to be published was also very easy. Below is a screen shot of what the tool looks like. I'm pretty sure I will use this tool extensively as long as this test post comes out in the end alright. *s*

Update: It posted successfully with no issues. I highly recommend this plugin if you blog at all.

Colour Me Green

We are in midstream of painting our condo before all the new furniture arrives. What a complete disaster painting walls can do to a small space. We have things semi tidied up for now. We still have a lot of painting to do but we are going to wait till more of our older furniture is out of the way. We've been doing it in stages so it makes for slow progress but all in all it's not too bad. So ya, sunglasses required when you come for a visit! We absolutely love it although I'm sure many will not. *s*

Poll Results Are In

The question was "How many Wii Games do you Own?"
Only 5 people voted and here are the results.

1-5	1 (20%)
6-10	2 (40%)
11 or more	2 (40%)
I don't own a Wii you idiot!	0 (0%)

As of today Red and I have 23 Wii games and 7 Virtual games. Yes, a tad bit addicted. *s*

Note: New poll question on the right side of this blog. Survey Says!!!

Safari

I downloaded and installed Safari for Windows this morning.  That's Apple's web browser.  I just found out that it was available for XP and Vista so I thought I would give it a try.  I am currently running Mozilla Firefox and have steadily been impressed with it's plugin's and performance.  So, off to Safari.  The install was painless but because it was a new browser it took me some time to get things the way I like them.  I did notice a bit of an increase in speed.  It loaded the majority of the web pages quite quickly.  It is a simple looking web browser but I'm sure you can install themes to make it as pretty as you like.  It comes with an array of built in bookmarks which I found handy.  I don't know if Safari will end up being my default web browser but it's nice to have some different choices other than the notorious Internet Explorer.  Now, if I can just wean Red away from IE.  She's not one for change.  *s*  

Love In An Elevator

Ok, so we all know there's porn on the Internet...but porn in the elevator? Red and I got into our elevator today at our condo and there it was...a DVD in all it's glory. As we stepped in I noticed it fall out of the little panel door that holds the stop button for the elevator. Of course we were more than surprised and had a good laugh. Now, what to do with it??? It's naughty little self is currently in the trunk of our car. We'll probably give it to one of our friends as a joke. It will be even funnier if they read this post. To whoever put that DVD in the elevator. My guess is you were done with it and couldn't bare throwing it away. So instead you put it in a public place where even a child could have seen it. Next time do us all a favor and just burn the sucker.

Fun at Work?

Either these chairs are multiplying themselves or we have a desk chair hoarder amongst us!

Don't Forget Your Keys!

So I was going to leave work early this afternoon. I packed up my Laptop, said goodbye to everybody and was out the door. It was than that I realized I didn't have my house keys. They are quietly hanging by the door in the condo. *sigh* So, back into work I trudge. So much for leaving early. I might as well stay here now. Plus, of all days Red is working some overtime and is going to be home later than usual. Dang it! I'm trying to figure out where things went wrong in the "Karma World". Did I cut someone off in traffic? Did I sound condescending on the last escalation I took? I guess I will never truly know. Only thing certain is I won't be in my condo anytime soon.

Pool Party!

You would think I had the greatest job in the world these past few days or so. *s* Today I was invited by Dan to go play pool with his team. We went to Suzy Cue's and I played 5 games with my partner Jason K. We ended up with a record of 3 wins and 2 losses so I can't complain. It was fun and it definitely passed the time quite nicely. Red and I used to play a fair bit back in my drinking days. It seems like a lifetime ago that I was betting behind her back so she wouldn't choke. You see, if there was ever money on the line she would always scratch on the eight ball or something along those lines. She was always the better shot out of the two of us. Now, I'd have to say we're fairly even. Well, that's what I'm going to stick with anyway. *shrug*

Timing is Everything

Do you believe in fate? I do. I was at work today and at lunchtime I went over to Dan's (Previous manager of mine) desk to see if he wanted to go down to the cafeteria and have lunch with me. He wasn't around so I made my way down there myself. Nothing caught my eye on the menu so I was going to make my way back up to my desk. I ended up going up a different route, one that I rarely take as it's out of the way. Who do I see as I swing the door open. Dan. He's about to leave the building. There he was smiling and telling me he was also looking for me as he was meeting Kelly for lunch off site. Kelly was also a manager of mine whom I hadn't seen in quite some time. What a fantastic lunch. We ended up at some Indian Grill restaurant where the food and company was just what the doctor ordered. Thanks guys. You made my heart smile today. *s*

Games Room

What's better than going to work? Going to work and getting to play games! Today I played a bit of Rock Band on Xbox and also Super Smash Bros. on the Wii. This week they have a games room set up. What you don't see in this picture is the 40 or so computers hooked up together playing Starcraft and I believe Quake. Although I'm not entirely sure about those two, as I don't play either of those types of games too often. I played one song on the drums and didn't do too terribly bad but I definitely do better on the guitar. Must be all those endless hours of practice in Guitar Hero. I cannot wait to play Rock Band in the comfort of my own living room. I don't need to break any one's eardrums while singing or failing miserably while playing the drums. Who knows what a little practice will do though. Only time will tell.

Rock Band Wii Release!

This just in! Release date will be June 22nd for Rock Band! I'm actually surprised it's this soon. I was thinking more on the lines of the end of the summer. Now, there is one wii small problem. Trying to get a hold of one! With the Nintendo Wii console still hard to come by these days I cannot imagine anything will be different for this game. I guess time will tell. Oh I guess there is one other small problem. Where does one store all these Wii accessories???

You Tube

Make sure when you're punching this website in you are using the .com and not something else by mistake. Any guesses as to what you may get? Why porn of course. What else would utilize such an honest typo? How many other popular sites can you find with such coincidences? Ah the Internet. Never a dull moment.

Hockey = Hoarse

Red and I went to the Oilers afternoon game. Wow, what an awesome game to be at. Seemed like a playoff game, the place was electric. I thought we may lose it after the game was tied by Colorado after coming back from a 3 goad deficit. Somehow we managed to come out of it with a win. The crowd was sure on Ryan Smyth though. Every time he touched the puck you could here a ton of boo's being shouted out. On the other hand though, Dwayne was getting full support of the crowd today. Every time he made a decent play people continued it with a cheer of "Roly Roly Roly". This all started with him having a pushing match with Ryan after a whistle. Red and I both have very sore throats from cheering through the whole game. My voice is now 3 levels lower than usual. *s*

The Oilers are 3 points out of a playoff spot with six games to go now. We have another game with Colorado (whom we're chasing) so it should be a very interesting finish to the season. I didn't expect them to make the playoffs this year. I actually said that in October but it sure is nice to be able to give the fans something to get excited about. It's been one of those disappointing years for us again.

Lunch Is On The House!

Ah, the best things in life are always free don't ya think?

Red met me for lunch today because along with the majority of Canadians she has Good Friday off. We made our way over to Montana's (great ribs) and ordered off their lunch menu. We both had ribs and rice. Anyway, it was supposed to be ready in 15 minutes or less or else it was free. It didn't hit the table till 20+ minutes. Plus they paid for our drinks as well. Thanks Montana's! I wasn't even late getting back to work.

Bobby Orr

Today is Bobby Orr's 60th Birthday. He was born in Parry Sound, Ontario. He was signed by The Bruins when he was 12 years old if you can believe that. Played with the Oshawa Generals in the Junior League when he was 14. Due to NHL rules he had to stay in this league until he was 18. Bobby played for The Boston Bruins until he was traded to The Chicago Blackhawks in 1976 where he only played 26 games over three seasons due to injuries.

The only players in league history scoring more points per game than Orr are Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Gordie Howe and Mike Bossy.

Records:

• Most points in one NHL season by a defenseman (139; 1970-71).
• Most assists in one NHL season by a defenseman (102; 1970-71).
• Highest plus/minus in one NHL season (+124; 1970-71).
• Tied for most assists in one NHL game by a defenseman (6; tied with Babe Pratt, Pat Stapleton, Ron Stackhouse, Paul Coffey and Gary Suter).
• Held record for most assists in one NHL season from 1971 to 1981 (102; broken by Wayne Gretzky and also bettered by Mario Lemieux), this is still a record for a defenseman.
• Held record for most goals in one NHL season by a defenseman from 1971 to 1986 (37 in 1971, broke own record in 1975 with 46; broken in 1986 by Paul Coffey with 48).

This Blog post is for Red. She's a huge fan! *s*

Guitar Hero for Nintendo DS?

Yep! I guess when you've got a hit of a game you put it on every platform available. Too funny. I don't have a DS but I've been wanting one for awhile. Will this push me to buy one? Probably not but it would be fun to try it out at some point. Who knows if sales will really go through the roof this summer with this title...but don't be surprised if you're standing at the bus stop next to a kid rockin' it out!

Check out the video on this page.

Thumbdrive Encryption

I guess it's time we all got serious and actually encrypted our data. Almost everyone has a thumbdrive these days, myself included. Although mine is relatively small in today's standards. 512mb's still gives me plenty of space for things I want to have handy. Check out this video from CNET as it shows a couple programs that will do this. I downloaded the free personal version of Remora USB Disk Guard key and used it on a file that wasn't really important just in case things went haywire. It installed easily and when I clicked on the exe on the USB drive it went on the toolbar on my computer. Click on THAT little icon and you can encrypt an entire folder or just one file. You won't be able to view the file until you decompress it. This little program worked slick for me and I will continue to use it. I only went with the 128 encryption but if you feel that your data is as important for security as the army than go for the 256 encryption. You just never know who wants to get their hands on your Nanna's Artery Blocking Lasagna recipe!

Super Mario Galaxy Review

Two words for this game. SUPER FUN!!! This is a must buy for your Wii collection. Nintendo has not disappointed with it's continuation on a long gaming tradition. Bringing in elements and characters from past world's and adding a twist here and there. I find the controls, the wiimote and nunchuk to be fairly easy to use. So far so good anyway. The game movement is quite unique. You can easily be upside down or sideways at any given moment and that really adds to the game's overall feel. I tend to get sea sick from games like this so I can't play it for long periods of time. For the majority of the people out there, motion sickness will not be a problem. I am still in the first galaxy but have managed to unlock a few more worlds. I'm definitely far enough into the game to realize this is another gem. Pick one up. You're going to have a hard time putting this one down.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This picture is of the Chicago River. Each year for St. Patrick's Day they add dye to the water the day before. I learned that they actually use orange dye as it mixes with the natural colour in the water to make it a nice fluorescent green. It lasts for a day. Now, that would be a sight to see! I guess if you forgot to wear green that day you could avoid some "pinches" by jumping in the water.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Review

So Red and I played this game for about an hour this morning. We're still getting used to the controls but it's definitely fun. We've decided to just use the Wii Remote (sideways) and not the Nunchuk. Nintendo gives you many choices for controllers. The classic controller and the Gamecube controller work as well. For now we'll stick with the Remote as it seems to work alright for us. We were playing in the Solo section playing Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary. Even though it's the Solo section it allows you to play two player cooperative which is nice. Basically we're beating up bad guys left and right and clearing stages as we go. We are in Easy Mode as we're not real gamers. It takes a bit to get a hang on the buttons and stuff. Well, for me anyway! I am very impressed with the graphics in this game considering it's maximum output is only 480p. It really looks great on our 40" LCD.

There are many games and many different ways to play this Nintendo title and I highly recommend it. It's definitely a must buy for your Wii collection.

Note: I did not experience any issues on my Wii with this game as I mentioned in a previous post. Hope you don't either!

Toys at Work

I took a few shots of some of the toys that people have at their desks today. Let me just say, this is a very small sample. I work with some of the geekiest people I know and I count myself as one! That huge Nerf gun is located in my aisle. I've definitely been nailed a couple of times.

Pay it Forward

I have to share an experience I had this morning. As I drove through the darkened icy streets on my way to work I was somewhat jealous of all the missing traffic. I knew everyone was at home still curled up in a warm bed. I pulled up to the drive thru at Tim Horton's before heading into work. I'll have an extra large coffee, triple cream and a blueberry muffin please. I waited patiently behind a mini van. They seemed to be taking a little longer than usual but I wasn't worried. I had allotted myself plenty of time. As I pulled up to the window the lady handed me my stuff and she had the hugest grin on her face. She said, everything is paid for. The woman ahead of you paid for it all. This is the first time something like this has happened to me. I think I was somewhat in shock. I said "Really? Thanked her and drove off. I cannot describe well in words what I felt. I was smiling...inside and out. My body felt a warmness rush through it. It was an incredible feeling and a tear formed in the corner of my eye.

To whom ever was in front of me. Thank you for your small gesture of goodness. You have touched my heart and I will indeed pass this feeling along. Everyone needs to experience this! Check out the Pay it Forward Movement website.

Arctic Monkeys - 505

This is my favorite song right now. I like how it picks up at around the 2:30 mark. I think there's something mysteriously dark in his voice and I find the song extremely intoxicating.

10,000 BC

So today I got the pleasure of going to a movie during work hours and getting paid for it...they also paid for the movie! I had to buy my own goodies, one bag of chocolate M&M's and a bottle of water. So that only came to 15 bucks. Just kidding. So ya, the movie. All I can say is this one is only worth watching if you can rent the DVD on a two for one night. *s* Trust me. Here are a few things I did happen to learn though.

-People with blue eyes have much power. Be very careful.

-If you pack lightly and keep walking for a week you’ll experience a fantastic vacation. You’ll be able to snowboard, hike through a tropical rain forest and sip Chi Chi’s in the sand.

-Wooley Mammoth’s are extremely handy to have around for any demolition work you may have. You might want to price one out on Ebay for your next project.

Mail Call

Guitar Hero III Replacement Disc

On my Jan. 18, 2008 blog post I talked about pre-registering for the replacement disc of Guitar Hero's mono sound problem. Well I just got my claim form in the mail today with a pre-paid envelope to send my CD in. In return they will send me back an updated game CD that will let me enjoy the game with full audio output. That's right, we'll be able to blast the neighbors but good now! So that's the good news. The bad news is that you will be without your sweet game for 3-4 weeks! I won't be without mine as we had purchased a second guitar and of course it was bundled with a game. So while one is getting updated we can play with the one we still have. One saving grace for having spent a wad of cash. So if you're interested in updating your game, get on it. You have till August 31, 2008.

Smash Bros. May Not Play On All Wii's

This caught my attention when I read it at PC World today. I double checked it on Nintendo's website and indeed it's in their support pages.

Here is an excerpt from Nintendo: "Super Smash Bros. Brawl utilizes a double-layer disc which has a large memory capacity. A very small percentage of Wii consoles may have trouble consistently reading data off this large capacity disc if there is some contamination on the lens of the disc drive. Nintendo has specialized cleaning equipment that can resolve this problem. (Please do NOT attempt to clean the lens yourself, as you may damage the system.)"

Basically you will have reading errors that will cause the game not to work. It's a pity really. This is one of the hottest and most anticipated game currently being released by Nintendo. I myself wasn't rushing out to get one but I know many people that were. Hopefully they won't be affected.

Google Search Bar

If you have the Google search in your toolbar you'll notice if you hit the drop down bar all of the things you have tried to search. Mine had hundreds and it's very obvious that I'm completely obsessed with Nintendo Wii. Of course, one look at my Blog posts would validate that assumption also. Here are a few that caught my eye as odd or funny. What kinds of things have you been searching out???

Nemesis (Who was I plotting to kill?)
Winnebago (My retirement plan perhaps)
Wow your friends with these tricks (I still don't know any)
Wow your friends with these projects (My wii remote controlling my WMP possibly)
Strange Ebay items (Fun to look at but they'll commit you if you buy anything)
Strange news (This stuff fascinates me)
Edmonton Christian School (Not a clue. Someone must have borrowed my computer)
Batter blaster (I really need to patent something)
Water baby extraordinaire (Um, was I looking for floating devices?)
Whole watermelon (What other kind is there?)
Brrr (I was cold that day)
Killing turtles in Tanaris (?)
Porridge (Ah, the cereal of the century. Never gets old)
Exploding head (Not to be confused with exploding foot)
Donald Trump tip (Apparently I have some money I'd like to invest)
Going ape (Good thing these search entries only show up once)
Smell clipart (Scratch n' Sniff desktop icons?)
Beaver buzz (A new Canadian tradition)

Another Lazy Day In The Neighborhood

I love Sundays. For no other reason than a good excuse not to leave your dwelling. So, I didn't leave my dwelling. I can't say the day was a complete waste of time because we did manage to get the condo cleaned. As for getting any laundry done though...well that's another story.

I did however manage to break many an imaginary guitar strings playing Guitar Hero today. It had been awhile since my last gig. Perhaps tomorrow I shall do an encore in Sydney!

Tonight we finally watched a Blu-Ray movie in our newly acquired Samsung disc player. A true theatre like experience in our own living room. Ok, so it is only a 40" LCD but it still looks and SOUNDS great through the added Bose system. Tan and Suz lent us the first movie in The Pirates of the Caribbean series. We have the next two on DVD and we'll be giving them a watch in the not so distant future.

I hope everyone had a nice lazy Sunday. One can never get enough of them. *s*

The Spiderwick Chronicles

We went to the show tonight and saw The Spiderwick Chronicles. Basically it's a kid's show rated PG. It's along the same lines of Narnia and the Harry Potter series. Fantasy based. I quite liked it and it had me snickering in a few places and I even noticed myself grinning as the kids went for a ride on a flying Griffon. I thought some of the scenes had some great special effects and I'm glad I viewed this one on the big screen. If you enjoyed the other shows you'll enjoy this one for sure. Brrrp. Oh excuse me...just a little inside humor. *s*

Play Internet Games On Your Wii

If you've got a Nintendo Wii and the Internet Channel on there than you have to head on over to www.wiicade.com to play some free little flash games. I have to admit, for the most part these are small simple games but I have definitely wasted some serious time here! They just added a new game called Deal or no Deal...yes it's the game show. I keep taking the deal at around the 200 thousand dollar offer. I just can't seem to wrap my head around risking all that money even though it's just for fun. Call me crazy.

Check it out. The best things in life are always Frii.

Blog Name

People sometimes ask me...are your cats really blind? The simple answer is no. I just liked the sound of it like the old nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice".

The main blog picture is our 3 beloved kitties but one is no longer with us. The oldest Juda on the right, passed away almost two years ago (hard to believe it's been that long already). He was an old fart of 19 years and we adopted him when his owners were going to put him down. They couldn't find a home for his 11 year old stature as people wanted younger kittens. So we took the old man in and we thoroughly enjoyed him. Jasper the middle cat is 17 years old and still extremely active. He's getting cataracts though and his hearing is not so good. It makes getting his attention extremely difficult at times!!! We got him at Red's brother's farm way back when. He was a runt and his eyes were infected so we took him in. Little bugger drives us crazy each day with his little rituals but we love him to death. Squeegy on the left of the picture is the youngest at 11 years. She was a street cat that found her way into our heated garage in Camrose in the dead cold of winter. I was going to feed her and keep her warm till it got a little nicer out. Of course, she stayed and is one of the most adorable and photogenic cats I have ever encountered in my life (and trust me I've been around a few...I've had cats around me since childhood).

So there you have it. The cats are not "actually" blind although they do run into things from time to time. *s*

Ellen DeGeneres Discusses The Recent Tragic Death

Thank you Ellen. For bringing this type of thing into the living rooms of so many people. I am gay and as I sit here and type my thoughts are scrambled. I know this stuff happens every day on small and large scales all over the world but I still have a hard time to truly understand that someone would KILL ME for just being gay. That would be like someone killing anyone...well, for simply "breathing". I am not a radical lesbian but I do not hide who I am either. I allow people to know all of me because otherwise the hundreds of thousands who outed themselves in much tougher times would have done so for nothing. I can be open today because of it and for that I am extremely and eternally grateful. Our planet is much smaller than it ever was before. Now more than ever we need to love and understand each other instead of having a mentality of shoot first and ask questions later. May you rest in peace Larry.

Ender's Game

I finished reading this book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you were a fan of Dune I think you'll be a fan of Ender's Game. Actually, if you enjoy Sci-Fi's at all, you'll find it a good read. Good and Evil at it's best. Ying and Yang...you gotta have one for the other to exist. The survival of the human race solely resting upon the manipulative training of one young boy. Of course! Would you have thought any differently? When all is said and done, even our enemies can display compassion. After reading this book one must ask the question, "If we are truly to know ourselves completely do we also need to know our enemies completely"? And does knowing them completely mean we must love them? I say Yes. With a capitol WHY.

Ender's Game was written by Orson Scott Card.

Pan's Labyrinth

I just finished watching this movie and was quite pleasantly surprised. I thought it was very well done. An adult fairy tale to be sure...this is not one for the kidlets. It's a dark movie and I'm not just talking about the cinema's lighting. Some very unexpected violence that I thought added to it's allure. This is a Spanish film with subtitles but well worth a watch in my opinion. Pick up something different at the video store instead of your average Hollywood film. Pick up Pan's Labyrinth.

Moving Day!

I am completely wiped. I helped friends move into their brand new home today. Thank goodness they had lots of people to help as it turned out to be a bigger job than I first anticipated. Overall everything went very well. The only real issue was taking the 24 foot U-Haul back to the shop. There was an Edmonton Oilers game and we got stuck in some major traffic. Oh what fun. Now I am home and I'm probably not very long from bed. I would love to go hop in the hot tub but I just don't have the damn energy to go. How sad is that? Here's to J and Rhonda...may you enjoy many...MANY years in your new beautiful home!

Rock Band

It's official. Rock Band is a blast to play! We played it on the Xbox tonight and although I pretty much suck I still had fun. I find the guitar easier to play than Guitar Hero for the Wii. I didn't fair to well with the drums. I couldn't seem to get the timing down. I'm sure I also broke some ear drums as I belted out a few tunes...sorry gang...but I was loving every minute of it! We also downloaded some other songs (for a price) and what a pleasant surprise it was to be able to have some control over the songs you pick! Truly, this is one fantastic game and a great one for parties. I'll be counting down the long days until it is finally available on the Wii.