I can't believe it, but I am the proud owner of a game console! Picked up a Wii yesterday. Sarah and I started jonesin' for it a couple days ago, then in one of the best impulse buys of my life we drove to a Best Buy and picked it up. Now we are gunnin' for a Wii Fit!
Dubwii!
Star Wars Trumpet Routine
Labels: MoviesI know this is somewhat sacrilegious, but I thought it was worth the post, if only to cringe at enormity of its uncomfortablenesseseses.
Bullfrog Power & Gord Downie


If I already haven't mentioned it - you should consider switching to Bullfrog Renewable Power. It is simple to switch and it guarentees that the electricity powering your house is coming from renewalble sources. As more consumers switch, more power from windmills and solar will be added to the grid. No nukes and dirty coal!
Check it out and switch here: Bullfrog Power
Last week Sarah and I attended the 2nd annual Bullfrog Bash. It was a charming evening of beer, snacks and chatting about renewable energy. Evan Solomon hosted and near the end of the event he introduced a special musical guest - Gord Downie. Gord sung four solo acoustic songs - 2 songs, which I didn't recognize, I can only assume are works in progress for another Downie or Hip album. He then filled the room with an amazing version of 'Pretend' followed by a mind blowing moment - standing 10 feet from Gord Downie watching him belt out a passionate version of 'Ahead by a Century'. His commentary was amazing and poetic. I am amazed to think that I saw Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip 17 years ago in a field in Carliyse, Ontario thinking it couldn't get any better than this, then last week it did.
This is England - wicked film!
Labels: Movie ReviewHi, howdy, hey
Yo.
Feels like its been ages since I last posted, and the Moon Tower is now 4 years old! I've been busy working on some cabinetry for the upcoming bathroom reno, and some new forays into confectionary world that I'll tell you about at a later date.
On tops o' dat, seen some good flicks and such lately. Here's a quick list of stuff enjoyed:
- Robot Chicken
- Knocked Up
- Hot Fuzz
- Air Guitar Nation
Check you later!
Great Movies
Labels: Movie ReviewCulture
Big Week...
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.
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
Labels: MusicWell, 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
Labels: AnnouncementsI 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
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.
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
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
Labels: Movie ReviewI 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
Labels: AnnouncementsGreetings 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
Artwork
Labels: ArtSnow Day!
Labels: GeneralWell, 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!
Labels: Movie ReviewChildren of Men
Labels: Movie ReviewWe've been Google-fied
Labels: AnnouncementsSo 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
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.
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
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!
Dear Santa, Part Deux
Dear Santa...
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.)
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
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.
- 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.
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
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.
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
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