Dads Mad Pad

Culture

Had brunch in this groovy little place last weekend called Grapefruit Moon - they were spinning some fantastic roots rock reggae. Ends up it was all one band - Culture. I am going to find this album "Two Sevens Clash". One Love.

Big Week...

Big week ahead...Ill call you guys next Weekend, once im IN the new place...

C.

1100 Dalhousie Drive
London, ON
N6K 1M7
519-601-3570

Listened to it yet ???

Tell me what you think when you listen to it. I like it ALOT. No big surprise, very solid.

Waters

...might have well been Pink Floyd. Roger Waters and crew put on an absolutely epic two and half hour rock show last night at Darien Lake. Complete with floating Pigs, astronauts and some of the best concert visuals I have ever seen, the concert was entirely immersing. Well worth the travel time and expense. I would do it again.

Highlights included...obviously the entire Dark Side of the Moon, Mother, Shine on You Crazy Diamond Pt.1, Wish You Were Here, Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2 and the closer of Comfortably Numb.

Michael Franti & Cat Empire

Caught the Michael Franti & Spearhead show on Wednesday. Great show! Lots of energy both on stage and in the crowd. Awesome Sublime cover and amazing medley of songs from Sesame Street.

The opening act was a jam band from Australia called Cat Empire - definitely worth a listen!

Woods - hope you had fun at the Roger Waters' DSOM show.

Early Review

...as mentioned on the weekend, I have an excellent recording of Ben's August 28th new album "Lifeline". Sounds excellent. Echoes of Cat Stevens, with a little Stevie Wonder and hints of Neil Young. Ill post somewhere this week for your listening pleasure.
C.

Weekend is coming!

col-war
Originally uploaded by Slippy McGavin

Look at that photo. 12 years ago, fellas!

Acura for Sale

Just when you thought the posting frenzy was over, here's one more! For the low low price of $29,900, you can be the proud owner of a beautiful 2005 Acura TL. I don't have to tell you about all of the fantastic features of this vehicle, as I know you are all such fans of this stunning example of engineering prowess.

Priced to move!

Provincial Politics

Ok. Its been a while since I've really posted on the MoonTower, and I rarely go beyond things that make me laugh or items I find interesting, but we've recently begun to receive the Globe and Mail, and I've been reading more than just comic books. So here are my thoughts on the recent actions of our provincial government and the layers upon layers of rhetoric that are served up daily.

While it may be old news already, Premier McGuinty offered up $17.5B on June 15th for the GTA corridor (Toronto to Hamilton), which was 2/3 of the total amount promised, with the expectation that the federal government would chip in the other 1/3. The problem is that this offer of funds by the provincial government is CONDITIONAL - if the federal government decides not to chip in their 1/3, the provincial government does not have to put out a penny. And it is more than likely that the feds will say no, since they were not consulted in the original decision. So this is an obvious empty promise that the provincial government can blame on the feds when the money doesn't arrive.

The other one that irks me is the latest news that McGuinty is promising to close coal plants by 2014. First of all, didn't he promise to close them already by 2007 when he was elected in 2003? And 2014 is a long way off. Even if the Liberals get voted back into government in October, that mandate will only last until 2011, so these long-term promises are quite disconcerting. Even the climate plan laid out is suspect with its dates ranging out to 2050. Unfortunately, this is a problem with our system, in that elections and "changes of the guard" often result in new priorities, mostly more short-term "buzz of the day" issues, or more debate on same-sex marriages. Yeah, like that's our biggest issue.

And don't even get me started on health care, education, or the Provincial Offences Act. The Harris government put us into such a hole as to make the 407ETR deal look like roses compared to the other blunders.

Young @ Heart #2

Well, hopefully you checked out the other video first, but here's another from my newest favourite band!!!


I Wanna Be Sedated - The Ramones

Young at Heart Choir

Hey,

Check out this video, but you may not want to do it at work, since it will probably make you cry. Seriously.


Fix You - Coldplay

Tick Inspection Warning

I hate it when people forward bogus warnings, and I have even done it myself a couple times unintentionally... but this one is real, and it's important. So please send this warning to everyone on your e-mail list.

If someone comes to your front door saying they are checking for ticks due to the warm weather and asks you to take your clothes off and dance around with your arms up, DO NOT DO IT!! THIS IS A SCAM!! They only want to see you naked.

I wish I'd gotten this yesterday. I feel so stupid.

A Swarm of Angels - the trailer

Click To Play

I have been involved in this experimental project for a while now. I joined in the first hundred people, now we are reaching 1000! Here is the goal:

We are gathering 50,000 people in a giant new media experiment to be part of an exclusive community which funds and helps make this film. We want people to freely download, share and remix the feature film and all original media made for this project and have embraced the flexible digital-age copyright of Creative Commons toward this end.

So far the community has developed script outlines, numerous reference pieces, a few posters and this trailer. The next phase of development will freeze membership and allow the community to focus.

More here: A Swarm of Angels: Remixing Cinema

Listen to Music Loud.

Gents - I could not abandon the Moontower. Despite the addictive qualities of Facebook, it's not nearly as COOL as the Moontower. Just wanted to CHECK-IN. My new reality in London continues to unfold. I am now looking to buy a condo or townhouse...shooting for August 1st. More details to follow.

We still have to get together in London/Komoka this summer.

C.

Ben on the power of the sweatband

Ben on The Hour (with Strombo)

Michael Franti Show

Just picked up a couple tickets to go to the Michael Franti & Spearhead show! Wed July 11 at the Kool Haus. Could be a cool night, although a Wednesday, if you guys wanna come down, there are still tickets at Ticketmaster.

And here is a little something interesting - Michael Franti interviewing Jack Johnson

Um, huh?

This is too whacked to even describe. Play on, friends.

Game

NERDZ.

Whats the word(s) nerd(s)? Are you guys making the trek to London in May or what ??? Talk to me here, don't make me go against my vice principals and rain a shit storm down on both of you !!!
Git r done !

I'm Baaaaack.

Thanks for letting me back into the club guys. Despite my recent in-activity, I was jonesing to get my access back ! No big news from London-town these days.
B, as I am sure can appreciate, I am HIGHLY addicted to Guitar Hero. SOOOOO much fun. I suck at it, but does it ever feel good to rock it out !!! I should be posting some pics of me in action soon.

What you guys sayin for a possible London gathering the first weekend of May ? May 4-6 ? Lets do it !!!

300 & Fast Food Nation

Now that I am back from my trip, I am back in the sweetspot of my couch watching DVDs! But last night I saw '300' on the big screen. Amazing visuals. Enough blood splatter for a lifetime! Another reco is for 'Fast Food Nation' from Linklater! Sobering.

I missed Toronto

Check out this video that was posted on the excellent T.O. blog - The Torontoist.

The Dangers of Bilingualism

A word to the wise - NSFW!

Back Home Again

We made it home safe and sound! We had a whirlwind of an experience!

I posted a couple of sketches from Amsterdam here.

Greetings from Amsterdam!

Ahhhhhhh - That's betta!

Had a great St. Patty's Day wandering the streets of Delhi. Had dinner in the Muslim area at a great BBQ place which is several generations old. Strangely, Sarah and I had eaten there before!

Happy belated b-day Woods!

Already looking forward to getting together for a celebration!

Birthday Boyz

Yo. That time of year again, when Wooderson and Dubby add another year to their lives. Happy birthday, fellas! Woods, the ides, and Dubs, the irish.

And yes, that is birthday cake and sausages.

Greetings from India II

Sarah and I have made it all the way to the south west coast of India to the
coastal city of Calicut. We spent some time inland in the city of
Mysore.

In Calicut, we stayed in an amazing hotel called the Beach Hotel overlooking the sea. The establishment has been in operation since 1890! Our room has 30' ceilings,
hardwood floor, stained glassed windows and our own covered veranda where we
ate breakfast this morning.

Last night we slept on a houseboat crawling the backwaters of Kerela eating crab brought to us by local fishermen right from the traps!

We are hoping to hook up with one of Prashant's friend in a few days in the
hills and stay near the coffee plantations.

Greetings from India!

Arrived in India a few days ago...

Had a great visit in Varnasi on the bank on the Ganges with Prashant. Very strange and interesting place. Suffered a bout of the "Delhi Belly". Spent much of today watching movies in our hotel room. We are now in the south in Bangalore. We are off to Mysore tomorrow.

Check ya later.

Off to India

We're off to India tomorrow. I'll catch up with you fellas in a few weeks. Looking forward to a spring time get together!

Artwork

What do you think of the painting here? It is by an artist by the name of Connie Geerts, who resides in Calgary, Alberta.

New Sketchbook

I am posting sketches from my new sketchbook.

Check it!

Snow Day!

Well, Burlington got a dump o' snow yesterday and today. Still coming, in fact. So the Slippy family is having a snow day! With school cancelled all-round, we're spending the day shoveling, watching episodes of Scooby-Doo, and eating Valentine's Day chocolate.

Happy Valentine's Day, by the way! Let the lovin' flow.

Another must see - Farce of the Penguins!

Caught this one last night. Fun-eeee! We laughed and laughed. But a word to the wise - in the extra features Bob Saget warns viewers that this movie is designed to be watched in an altered state!

Oh did I mention that Sammy J is the narrator! No mother-f*#ckin' snakes on this mother f#*ckin plane!

Children of Men

OMG! I saw Children of Men last night. Stellar! I enjoyed this movie from the first moment until the stark end credits. This film visualizes a dystopic future with such realism it gives me the willies! I am not even going to talk about Michael Cain's performance until you see it!

We've been Google-fied

So I converted the blog over to Google. You have to have a gmail account, but that is free and easy enough to obtain. Other than that and a few interface changes, there aren't many differences. You can now "label" posts, which I suspect categorizes them.

So now that we have moved over the admin side of it, do you think its time for a face lift?

Elk Lake Serenade

This is another great find that I picked up on a whim from the library.

Hayden! Remember him. I saw him at the Grad Lounge in Middlesex College waaaay back! Well now I can stop playing his latest record - Elk Lake Sernade. Really mellow, but with some stunning moments.

New "Google" Version of Blogger

I know Slip brought this up before, but I am beginning to notice the old squeeze. I just had to sign up for a universal Yahoo account to continue to access my Flickr account without interuption. I am assuming we will see the same notice in a few months from Blogger, that if we don't switch, then too bad - no access for you.

Thoughts?

Oh. My. God.

Alright, this website is probably not new to you, but I just checked out some vids here, and nearly peed my pants. Really.

Adult Swim.

For Dubby

Dude. Thought you would get a kick outta these...

Slip goes High Def

Well, after numerous battles with Bell ExpressVu, it came down to my contract anniversary date for them to put up. Yes, the only time they were willing to negotiate was when I called on the exact date that my contract with them expired, and I told them to cancel the contract. Once it was out there, Bell decided to deal.

So, the Slip family will be watching true HDTV on Thursday evening, or maybe just recording it to the 2-tuner PVR that is coming, too. I'll never miss an episode of Oprah or Dr. Phil again. What's that, Rachel Ray? You'd like me to watch you too? Sure thing, sweetie. I might even make room for some, "As the World Turns".

PS. I hope you know I was joking in the above paragraph. Dr. Phil will never see airtime on the PVR while I draw breath.

Walk Alone vs. Upside Down

Ok. Take a listen to Jack Johnson's Walk Alone, and then listen to Upside Down from the Curious George soundtrack.

So? Which do you like better?

Guy Flicks

Watched a couple of true guy flicks lately. The first, recommended by my local movie store clerk, was "Running Scared". Not bad, a few plot holes that can be forgiven for the action. But even better is the film, "Crank". Check it before you wreck it.

Frets on Fire

Well, you weren't too sure what this whole, "Guitar Hero" thing was all about, so here is a clone game that plays similarly. Imagine this game with a whole lot more graphics, and recognizable songs, and a plastic axe to wail on!

There are OSX and Windows versions at this link:

http://louhi.kempele.fi/~skyostil/uv/fretsonfire/

Cure for Nightmares: Guitar Hero II

Oh man. I am SOO going to be rockin' out in March 2007 when this bad boy game comes to the XBox360!

I AM IRONMAN! Seriously, yo. I've played this (with my little guy) in the store on a PS2, and it was whack!

Enough smacktalk. Can't wait for this game to land - it is a "must have" for me!

Update: Sample tracks include:

• "Woman" - Wolfmother
• "War Pigs" - Black Sabbath
• "Sweet Child O' Mine" - Guns N' Roses
• "Killing in the Name" - Rage Against the Machine
• "You Really Got Me" - Van Halen
• "YYZ" - Rush
• "Free Bird" - Lynyrd Skynyrd
• "Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo" - Rick Derringer

Nightmares...

After my second straight night of Nightmares...I am going to take a night off Gears of War tommorow night...

Happy New Year!

Hope you guys had a great holiday season!
I am hoping to try and get back to some sort of normalicy when it comes to my diet. Kind of feel like this guy here!

PS This is the work of artist Ron Mueck. His show is coming to The National Gallery in Ottawa this spring! Can't wait!

Dear Santa, Part Deux

Since Dubby threw down his #1 item on the Christmas Wish-list, I thought I would put out my ask, in case Santa has me on the "nice" list...

Mmmm. El Camino. See you in the driveway.

Dear Santa...

Since Aaron got his car before Christmas, I thought it only fair to ask for my present early too! Please have one of these bad boys dropped off at my place this weekend. Thanks Santa, you're a sport!

Early Christmas Present...(for Aaron!)

Alright Alright Alright...Christmas comes early for Aaron - Found a near-mint '72 Olds Cutlass in his driveway today.

Well... not really, but it made for good seasonal story-telling.

This is a picture of his new car. Sweet ride! Sounds awesome. Glenn and I are going to pay him a lump-sum to cover fuel for driving us around all summer. EVERYONE gets their own ashtray, and the back 1/2 windows roll down.....

Wooderson felt QUITE comfortable in the back seat...

(Yes...Christa knows about this car...and has condoned its purchase based on the near-immediate removal of the "other" green car. Oh...young love.)

Merry Xmas Moontower!

Here's wishing you guys a Merry Xmas and all the best in 2007!

Long live the Moontower!

Gettin' There

Ok. After a few "IKEA moments", the space is coming together. Here's an in-progress shot of how it its taking shape. To the left of the pic, is 3 bookcases that wrap around the corner towards the entrance to the room. They NEED to be secured to the wall soon, or else they'll topple.

By the way, that is 24" of glory there, with the MoonTower loaded...

The Christmas that Almost Wasn't

Feast yer eyeballs on this piece. You may never think of Rudolph the same way again... or Santa.

Caption Contest

Give this photo a caption and win a kielbasa sandwich!

Check out the source of the photos: Click Here

Updated Navigation/Links

Alright, alright, alright. The links are clean and tidy.

Hertiage Premium Lager

I picked up a 6 of Heritage Premium Lager based soley on the design of the label and the fact that it is bottled in a stubby. But unlike some of the other beers re-issued in the stubby, this is a very, very good lager. A great beer to pull out over the holidays as the design is great, it is in a stubby and it's brewed in the big O!

Cheers!

New Blogger Version?

I keep getting bombarded with these notifications to switch our blog over to the new version of blogger. Looks like it is tied in with Google, and you need a Google account to access it. I think I've got one, but do the rest of you?

Do we want to switch?

Reno nearing completion

Wow. I haven't posted to the MoonTower in a while, and now I am flooding it with schtuff. Have been so heads-down in work and the home reno stuff, I have barely had enough time to check my blogs!

The renos are (finally) nearing completion. Tiling is in, and the carpet gets laid (ha ha) on Tuesday in the family room and home office. We had to do a major purge of our collective office stuff over the last week, and we ripped out the trim, painted and installed new trim on the weekend to get ready for the carpet. Once that is in, the Christmas tree should go up, and the holidays can begin (sort of).

Thursday, our new IKEA home office shows up between 1-6pm. Armed with only a screwdriver, an allen wrench, and bad Swedish instructions, I hope to have that installed by Friday. And some time this week, 2 of the pictured club chairs are arriving. These will be the first major furniture purchase for us, beyond the entertainment unit and the HDTV, so its pretty exciting.

We decided to push to get the whole friggin' floor done before the end of the year, and we are going to be close. Its been a lot of effort over the last few months - hard to believe it started with ripping out that old fireplace back in June. Once everything is in, I'll take some panoramic shots and post them.

That's what's been up at my house.

MacBook Pro Update: 3 months later

Well, its been over 3 months since my MacBook Pro entered my life. Do I think I made the right decision? Fo' sho. Here's what I like:

• Beautiful screen. Bright, wide, 1440x900 resolution. And mine is the non-glossy version.
• General build quality. You just feel that it is well-made, from the keyboard to the chassis, everything is solid.
• Design. This thing was designed to be used. Everything is in the right place, and you get the impression that Apple took the time to figure out how best to construct a usable machine. Even the glowing keys and the logo on the lid are nice touches. It's just damn sexy.
• Size and weight. This thing is thin and light. Easy to pick up, fits nicely in my case.
• Interface. Ok, this was probably the biggest thing to learn, although OSX makes it pretty easy. Everything is intuitive, from the common menu bar at the top, to the consistent look and feel of pretty much every element, regardless of application. Exposé? Hit F11 and all windows appear on the screen - select the window to make it active. Dashboard? Hit F12 and a bunch of widgets (that are actually useful) are there at your disposal.
• Quicksilver. I've been using an app called, "Quicksilver" more and more, and have been able to take a good chunk of the icons off of my dock. With QS, to launch an app, all I do is hit ctrl+space, type in a few letters of the app, and hit enter. Want to send an e-mail? Ctrl+space, start typing the contact's name, tab to the actions, and hit enter. Mail pops open a new message with the contact already there. URLs work almost the same. Its worth getting use to this app - I probably only know about 10% of how to use it.
  
• Stability. This thing almost never crashes. On the odd occasion where an application craps out (usually an MS Office app), its easy to relaunch the app, and I don't think I have ever lost any work.
• Compatibility. The only peripheral that I haven't been able to use has been an old HP Laserjet 1100 that was connected to a Windows machine on my home network. It doesn't have Mac drivers. I was still able to reach it and print, it just didn't come out right. What has worked? Other printers, cameras, external HDDs, LCD projectors, secondary monitors, external speakers, network linking to Windows PCs, SMB (samba) access to file servers at my client location, etc. Compatibility was an issue I thought would be much bigger for me coming from a Windows world, but it turns out that wasn't much of an issue at all.

Ok, so that was a pretty long list of good stuff. So, what don't I like?

• MS Office for Mac. I am going to throw this one down first to get it out of the way. The MS Office that is built for the Mac is pretty and has some nice functionality, but it is slow. It slows down a 2.16GHz (with 2GB RAM) MacBook Pro. In Entourage (the Outlook substitute), switching between the mail view and the calendar view can take 3+ seconds. Contrast that with Mail and iCal, with zero delay. PowerPoint is a bit of a disappointment as well. The delay between slide switching can be 1+ seconds, which may not sound like much, but is a major annoyance. As well, the outline view only shows text instead of thumbnails of the slides, which is how it works in the XP version. Considering I use this app the most, I have been pretty disappointed. As for Excel, I am used to hitting F2 to edit a formula, and it also highlights cells used in that formula. It doesn't work in the Mac version. Major pain in ass. The other BIG issue? I have had numerous problems with Windows users accessing my office files created on the Mac. I don't understand why there should be compatibility issues considering the software is made by the same company, and it should have been a major drive in the development phase... Conspiracy theories start to open up in my head at this point, so I'll leave it at that. Soooooo, all this being said, I downloaded a copy of OpenOffice, the open source office substitute, and found it to be quite a decent substitute. I am probably going to have to consider a tool such as CrossOver (if they can get it working consistently) in the future so that I can maintain compatibility.
• No right mouse button. The context-sensitive menu that I used regularly on the PC is still available on the Mac, it just takes more work. You have to hold down the ctrl button when you click for it to simulate the right mouse button. I understand the Mac philosophy around simplicity, but this is one area where an extra button would make a big difference. That being said, I have easily plugged in my regular USB mouse and it works seamlessly, with a right mouse button (and a scroll wheel and two more buttons...). I like mouse buttons.
• Shortcut keys. The Mac seems to be built around shortcut keys, and I haven't picked them up as quickly as I did with Windows. Maybe because some of the symbols (are they Klingon or hieroglyphics?) they use for shortcuts aren't even on my keyboard (e.g. ⎋ or ⌥). I still don't even remember which is ctrl and which is option (or alt). At least this one, "⌘", is on my keyboard. Its probably just going to take some more time to get used to.
• Hidden files. Whenever I connect to a Windows drive, Mac seems to add some funky folders and files that are hidden to the Windows file structure. Stuff like, ".trashes". Weird.
• App installation and removal. When you add a Mac app, it usually gets dropped into your Applications folder, but often adds files to other folders. There is rarely an "uninstall" feature, so to remove an app, you often have to go on a hunt to find other files. They often end up in subfolders of the "Library" folder, but I have found that I often have to do a Spotlight search, and even at that, will only find files by keyword. You can buy apps that help uninstall apps, but that seems a little superfluous.

That's probably enough reading material for y'all for now. Conclusion? Mac good.

Splurge

Well, with all the renos that we are doing at home, we decided to extend it into the home office. Hence, a trip to IKEA is pending for tomorrow. As well, we decided to purge one PC, and will now be down to 2 desktops and 3 laptops. 1 desktop for the little guy, 1 desktop and 2 laptops for my bizness, and 1 laptop for the Mrs. That being said, we are ditching the ol' 19" Dell CRT BEAST of a monitor, in favour of a 24" LCD... I am so geeking out on this - I can't friggin' wait to hook the MacBook up to this bad boy. It's also got plenty of video inputs, so it will now become the screen for my old Xbox, the main desktop, and a laptop. Maybe even TV if I can convince my wife that we need a Slingbox. And best of all, my bizness pays for it!

Got to see the G.O.A.T!

On Saturday, (with a big thanks to Christa!), we went to see the Amp'd Mobile Supercross at the Skydome! Through the blue haze of exhaust fumes we witnessed the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time) Ricky Carmichael race for the last time in Toronto. It was a truly wicked race, crashes, neck and neck battles and a miraculous come-from-behind for second place for the G.O.A.T.

It was also cool to see the program designed by Christa and the team at Racer X Canada Magazine!

Ali G and West Staines Massiv

It is been pretty quiet here at the Moontower, but I thought this was worth a post...

We all know Borat, but Sasha Baron Cohen is best know for his character Ali G. Back in 2002, there was a feature film released called "Ali G Indahouse". On a reco from our movie store clerks we rented the DVD this weekend.

Ali G is from Staines and this film's plot is all about how Ali G foils a plot to bulldoze a community centre in his home town of Staines. In the opening of the film they show landmarks of Staines including a pub called The Swan Hotel, which is the pub where we worked during our travels to England! It was so cool to see the pub in such and unexpected context!

A couple of other notable films we saw over the weekend: "Clerks 2" and "Art School Confidential". Both worth a view.

Da moontowa is da wickedest, aright!

Xbox Live!

Now that Slippy and Wooderson have joined the online world of the XbOX360, I thought I would post a view of our gamertags...

New Addition to the House

Yeah, not that kind of addition...

Friday night, my foray into HDTV began. I am now the proud owner of 37" of LCD goodness. It was T-I-G-H-T fitting it in that cabinet, but I did it. 1/8" clearance on each side! That's also an XBOX360 on the right... I must say, my eyes are happy. The room is almost finished reno mode - just carpeting and tiling to go!

Now I just have to deal with Brotha Bell to upgrade to HD. Not looking forward to dealing with those knobs.

Troops

I laugh my ass off every time I watch this!

Kid Beyond

Ok. If this guy ever comes to Toronto, I want to see that show. Find a video of this guy - its pretty amazing.

Check it.

Amos Lee

I am going to throw out a reco for singer/songwriter Amos Lee. I grabbed his debut, self-titled album from the library on a lark, because I liked his name. Solid album.

Weeds

After seeing such a glowing endorsement a few weeks ago by Wooderson, the Mrs. and I rented season 1 for a viewing.  What a great show!  The characters are deep, and the stories are not a glorification of ganga distribution, but rather paint a picture of the trials and tribulations of trying to maintain a lifestyle in an upscale suburbia.

While we don't have Showcase (yet), I look forward to season 2.  

Little Superstar

Had to throw this bad boy up here. I wish I had those moves...

Shout-out

Well, I upgraded the Mac with another 1GB of RAM as per many suggestions, and the damn thing got even faster. I also threw on a trial version of Parallels, and can now run XP in 1440x900 rez. Lovely.

I have also been pretty impressed by the apps available for Mac, and often the free nature of these programs. While not free, I found this pretty sweet blogging tool called, ecto.

Anyways, hope all is well out there. Check you later.
________________________
Listening to Rhythm & Blues Alibi (acoustic) from the album "Liquid Skin" by Gomez

Technorati Tags: Apple, MacBook Pro

361

It's funny the relevance and memory that a simple number can bring...

Tigga & Togga now on TV!

Fathers of the world rejoice! Tigga & Togga is now airing on TV! For all the details click here: Tigga & Togga

A long time ago...in a Galaxy far far away...

...do you guys remember....in the NOT too distant past...certain Fall-weekend gatherings that involved only the male gender of the spieces gathering for hours of debauchasizing and such ???

If you dont...TRY HARDER !!!!

I got an MSN last night from one Mr. Anthony Whalen...deep in the midst of sleepless nights and potty training lessons for his young daughter...REACHING out to me in an attempt to initiate a "GUYZ-WEEKEND" this fall. "GREAT IDEA !!!" I said...and here I am...pushing the proverbial ball in an attempt to get 'er started.

Understanding we've all grown older...wiser...and FATTER, with committments ever increasing and for some the constant draw of the family....what do you think ??? Can it be done ??? You KNOW you dont have to ask me twice ! Id be glad to champion this fine cause, because given the time that has lapsed since our last "real" guyz-weekend this would almost serve as a reunion of sorts ???

I put the idea out there to you fine gentlemen. I refuse to let this die. No discussions as far as timing and locale have taken place at this point. I know those will most likely big the biggest sticking points, but I would add we've done it before - read whirlwind trip to Montreal for a 2-day weekend...and we can do it again...sure we are all older...wiser...fatter and more committed, but I think we need to have a kick at the can !!!


Join me...and together...we can....we can do it !!!

Wooderson.

Banner Week For Failing Technology!

Last night she went gentley to sleep, battery completely depleted and never woke up. The officials said that the logic board failed and that it would be too costly to repair an obsolete machine. I bid a fond farewell to my G3 iBook (dual USB). You served me well over the last 5 years. iBook is survived by 5GB iPod (with moving scroll wheel).

On the other side, I just picked up my 250GB replacement LaCie F.A. Porche Firewire drive and then promptly went to the computer ghetto at Spadina & College and scored a 250GB Iomega USB 2.0 drive for all my back-up needs. I have learned my lesson. I plan to keep the USB drive off-site. I currently have 580GB of external drive space!

Not sure what the deceased iBook means in terms on future computer aquistions, but I will keep you posted. For now, long live the G4 14" iBook!

Well, that didn't take long

Well, it didn't take more than 3 days for my MacBook Pro to require repairs. Yes, its true. Apparently, you can't stick 2 DVDs in the SuperDrive at a time, and I guess my 3-year-old son didn't read that part of the MANUAL before he jammed 2 DVDs in there when it was in sleep mode. The eject button makes some great sounds, but nothing comes out.

So... tomorrow I have to take it to my authorized Apple store in town. Hopefully they can fix it. At least I'll know which one is mine - its the one with the PEN MARKS on the top that don't seem to want to come off. They match the PEN MARKS scribbled on the screen of our 19" LCD monitor.

Needless to say, the little guy's office accessibility has been suspended. And to be totally honest, that wasn't even the worst thing that happened today. It was truly a banner day. Some days life just shits all over the place and forgets to clean up.

Newz

Woah...You guys are posting machines ! I have a couple of excuses for my lack of Moontower activity...

1) XBox360. Need I say more? Its awesome, and I am not even playing it in HD yet ! Despite my best efforts Pam wants to keep the HD tv upstairs! Oh well, even with the setup downstairs, its awesome. I bought NHL2k7 on Friday, and it blows me away ! I will embark on my first dynasty tonight !!!

2) I am not sure if both of you know this...as a done deal. This is my last week at Anixter. Just wasnt for me. I know I didnt put a lot of time in here, but I could tell. It wasnt the right job for me. Hard to explain, but I couldnt see myself here a year..3 years...5 years down the road ?!? That said...Protek who had kept a close eye on me in my 3 month absence, is taking me back with MORE than open arms. I am thrilled to be going back...of course for more $$$ and an increase in responsibility, something that was sorely missing there before. I am at Anixter until Thursday...taking Friday off, and then Im back at Protek on Monday morning, in the capacity of Service Co-Ordinator.


Thats all I got for now....chat soon.

MacBook Pro First Impressions

Well, its 7:30am on Saturday morning and my son refused to sleep in, so while he's enjoying his morning apple juice, I thought I would post my first impressions of my new acquisition.

First of all, I ordered this thing on Wednesday night around 9pm, and it showed up Friday at 3pm. Admittedly, I paid an extra $23 for expedited shipping, but I did not expect to receive it within 2 business days. It came in a slick black box, all wrapped up nicely in styrofoam for protection.

I got the machine out of the box, and plugged it in for a charge, but the battery was already full. I started it up, and the Mac began asking me some simple questions (e.g. region, language), and promptly found my wireless network and connected. I was beginning to get impressed, but I felt like it was saying to me, "dude, don't worry - this is the easy stuff". After registering my account with Mac and denying a few things like setting up a .Mac account, I was at the desktop. Immediately, a window popped up with software updates, 12 in total, so I let it do its thing while I started making dinner.



Everything updated just fine, so after the little monkey was put to bed, I got down to really checking it out. First of all, the finish is amazing. Brushed aluminum, translucent apple logo inset in lid, gently backlit keys. Then you look at the screen. This thing is breathtaking. Its HUGE compared to the screens I've been using in the past, its bright, crisp, and just a pleasure to gaze at. The laptop is light - less than 6 pounds - but it feels big. Fold it up, though, and it seems fairly compact. Probably because it is very thin, even though the footprint isn't so small. When this thing is plugged in, it runs hot. I don't mean warm, I mean HOT. Those online reviews were not lying. I do find that when just on batteries, it is considerably cooler, though.

I feel like I might be rambling a bit, but I am just throwing down things as they come to me. The backgrounds that come with the machine are a nice touch, and convey the quality of the screen nicely. I started checking out system preferences and some applications. Browser worked nicely, and did many of the applications. They all seem pretty basic, but I'll have to spend some more time with them to understand if I will use them. I found that most things were self-explanatory, but at times, I was left wondering how to do certain functions I would previously had done by clicking on the right mouse button.

One of the first things I did was to connect to the network, and grab an MP3 off of our desktop (Windows) computer. Found the machine just fine, got to my music, and selected, "By My Side". iTunes launched, and sweet music began to play. The sound was crisp, albeit a little tinny, but that might mean it needs a bit of adjustment. I checked out the trial versions of a few programs (MS Office for Mac, Keynote, Pages), then thought I would get down to business and try out WinXP. I decided to try Parallels, and downloaded the trial version.

I started a virtual machine and threw in my XP disk, but after considerable time, I realized it just wasn't installing. It "hung" while trying to "detect and install devices", so that didn't work. It may be because I used my OEM disk from my Dell, so I am going to have to try another version.

So, all round, my first impressions are about 90% positive. Can't wait to get more into this machine - still getting use to some of the OSX stuff!

Fun (not really) with Camera-phone

Here's what I am doing right now. Siebel Analytics demo. But I am still checking the Moon Tower!

Interesting Weekend - UPDATED

See post below.

A Stern Warning - BACK UP YER FILES!

I just got news from LaCie that my 160GB drive decided to kick the bucket today. It had been making some odd noises yesterday, but I didn't think too much of it and now I have lost almost my entire digital music collection, some of my digital photos, and some of my key work files.

I was lucky to have backed up my current project last night before setting an animation render which was the last thing that poor drive would ever do.

Back up yer files!

On a posting tear

I've picked up the bug for posting again. Figured I'd play with my camera-phone as well and start adding images to my posts. This is a picture of my workspace right now, and yes, those are MegaBlocks. Why? While I would like to say that I am "building a robot out of a garbage can", the blocks are for a training exercise. My client likes the warm and fuzzy approach. That laptop there will be joined next week by a new MacBook Pro. Did I mention that I went Apple last night?

Notice I got a shot of the MoonTower in there? So... what's your desk looking like today?

Slippy switches teams!

I know what you are thinking: "How could he do it? He has such a nice wife and child!", but it is true - I have gone to the Mac side. Yes, that's right. No more PC for Slippy. He will now be the proud owner and user of a MacBook Pro 15" marvel of technology.

But he won't stray too far from Microsoft, or even Windows, yet. He'll still dual boot, and even use Parallels and XP to get at the MS Office. And he'll give Bill Gates even more money in the months ahead when he drops $500 CAD on an XBox360. But he will show off his shiny new silver surfer. Oh yes.

Tips ARE Sexy!

At a burrito place near where I work (Yonge & Sheppard)...

I guess just putting the label,"TIPS" in the jar just wasn't bringing in the coins.

NHL (the video game)

Its that time again... and by the sounds of it, Woods beat us all to the next generation of gaming platforms. Am very excited to hear your first impressions! That being said, which hockey game are you gonna pick up, EA NHL '07 or NHL2K7?


P.S. Isn't that freaky realistic? My first glance, I thought it was a photo...

Interesting Weekend

It was a weekend of contrasts. It started with me going to the Lincoln County Fair to gather footage for a short film I am developing. Talking to farmers, horse exibitors, carnies and craft people. It was good fun.

In a 180 degree turn, last night I went to the after-party of the showing of the film Shortbus at the Toronto Film Fest. It is the latest offering from actor/director John Cameron Mitchel who is the man behind Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Quite a night put on by the Queer Lounge at The Phoenix. We held up the bar like a couple of kids at a highschool dance as Posey Parker and Jennifer Coolidge cut a rug on the dance floor. We also rubbed elbows with Moses Znaimer and Scotty Speedman at the bar (yes, Slip I did say hi for you).

UPDATE: After watching some entertainment news programs on television today, I realize that since Slip mentioned his connection to Scott Speedman until today, I have had him mixed up with Shawn Ashmore of X-Men fame. It was indeed Mister Ashmore at the party, not Mister Speedman. My apologies to all, especially our anonymous commentor (it was nice to have you around).

Other Stuff

Well, what a banner blogging day or two. Its been a while since I've thrown down 3 posts in a row, but what the hell. I found a new blog that I am in love with. It probably won't surprise you considering my other faves, but this one speaks to me, and the emptiness that is my wallet.

Uncrate - The Buyer's Guide for Men

Yeah, that's right. Its got stuff for men. Real men. Men who like a little hair spray mixed in with their BMW X5s. A bit o' cufflinks, salad bowls, hand grenade oil lamps and HDTVs. 'Nuff said.

So my daily reading now consists of my Yahoo! home page, the Moon Tower, Engadget, Joystiq, Uncrate, and Boing Boing. Of course, I try and sprinkle in a dash or two of productive work here and there, but who's got time when the internets are so darn interesting?

Beyond that, the little guy had his first day at Montessori school yesterday, and we are pleased to announce that he was allowed to return today.

Sudan man forced to 'marry' goat

BBC NEWS | Africa | Sudan man forced to 'marry' goat.

Tough weekend for that dude.

Gold, I tell ya!

I keep forgetting about this, but its time I resurrected it. Here's the teaser.

Tease me.

You wanna buy a t-shirt?

PSST. I hear that guy started designing shirts. You can buy 'em here.

Thanks.

The man is amazing. I BELIEVE IN A BETTER WAY ! What energy. Amen Omen. Ground on Down. Faded. Glory and Consequence. Another Lonely Day. Burn One Down. Sexual Healing. Waiting. Kisses. Diamonds.
Ben, Juan, Michael, Jason, Leon, Oliver. Thanks.
There is A BETTER WAY.
- Wooderson72 (CAN) 9.3.2006 @ 18:44:06