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Review: George R. R. Martin’s – A Game of Thrones

I finally got around to reading this book through all the other literatures that I needed to read in this past semester.

A Game of Thrones is a fantasy novel based in the Seven Kingdoms…somewhere far off where the dragons have left the lands and the king rules all along with his trusty sidekicks across the realm.

Alas, not all is well and the King’s right hand man is dead. So the King’s ever faithful friend Eddard Stark comes in to help as well as secretly look into the rumours that this may have been a murder.

This book is excellent. EXCELLENT! It’s quite long, but never boring. The chapters focus in a few characters stories spread out across the land and how they intertwine with one another’s.

I enjoyed the freshness from other fantasy novels and the intricate story that was laid out. I quickly went out to buy the next book in the series and did not balk at the 1000 pages that are spread out before me to read. Chances are, the new school semester will put a hold on reading this for awhile.

I would recommend this both to fantasy novel aficiandos and also those who just enjoy a good read.

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Can This Boy Take on the Palmer Reunion?

Well, maybe not this super version of him, but I sure can now!

During the weekend, I brought up the point that I was scanning some photos from the last Palmer Reunion in 1988 and wondered why we haven’t had one since.

Mom mentioned that it’s pretty hard to organize…

After a few bottles of wine and moose meat, I declared that I would be up for the task along with anyone else who would join in this band of merry Palmers.

Dad and his cousin triumphantly declared their allegiance to our quest and we began to think of how to go about it.

In the end, I think it may be a lot of work, but worth it. Also, it’s probably a heck of a lot easier than organizing a wedding. Get 100 people into a room and have a party. What can be so hard about that?

Here’s how I see the plan unfolding:

  1. Determine who is interested.
  2. Determine where to have it.
  3. Book the place.
  4. Tell the people.
  5. Be there on specified date to attend family reunion.

Voila! Whoa, that’s quite the project plan!

So I’m sure in the next 1 1/2 years you will hear me talk about it in these cyber walls and I will be asking you for guidance all along the way. But with the power of Greyskull, we will have a Palmer reunion.

Onto Step 1: Who is interested? Must get contact names…

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You are My Sunshine Update

Well, I would say that the song is a relative success. We managed to get dad on the accordian for the first time and figured out what buttons he has to push. I believe it will be quite the event once we throw the fiddle and some percussion into the mix next Saturday night.

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Celeb Gossip: Eminem

Enimem files for divorce with his ex-wife yet again. After three months.

Is it just me or was he running out of the creative spark so he realized that he should get back together with his ex then he would have another album’s worth of material to write about?

Classic rock star method. Break your heart, have a solid album.

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Interview: R. MacDonald

I recently interviewed a co-op student here in the office about his life in race car driving which we then put up on the youth.gc.ca website.

Take a look here if you’re interested in how one gets into the sport of race car driving (and how they descend into a life in the Public Service!)

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Purchasing Used Albums = Taking Away From the Artist?

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m not really into the whole downloading of music illegally.

Of course, I do it from time to time…I won’t lie. But I will say that I probably download 5% of the music I have obtained in a year and the rest I purchase, to support the artist of course.

But what happens when I stumble upon a used CD store and pick up a few discs? Am I supporting the artist then?

I guess not. They’ve made their cash off of the sale at a major retailer. Someone has already paid their dues to the artist and now I am paying my dues to the used album dealer.

Should I feel bad about this? If I really feel strongly about the artist, but buy used CDs, why don’t I just go ahead and download the albums that I see in the used store? Like a bunch of Beatles albums…I haven’t bought a new one yet. I only scour used CD stores for them…so essentially I’m waiting to get a used album when I can just download it.

At the very least, I can attribute the hunt to it.

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Nacho Libre VS. Ricky Bobby

I don’t know who would win…they both look like killer flicks.

Will Ferrell’s new one -> http://sonypictures.com/movies/talladeganights/site/index.php

Jack Black’s new one -> http://www.nacholibre.com/

Pros for Ricky Bobby: It has Will Pharell.

Pros for Nacho Libre: It has Jack Black AND was made by the creator of Napolean Dynamite.

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Two Thumbs up To Toshiba!

http://www.toshiba.ca/web/link?id=2200

Toshiba’s TERRE program takes your old laptop (aka, the paperweight) and disposes of them properly (as in, they don’t throw it into a landfill where toxic chemicals can leak out) and in disposing of your laptop, they’ll give you a 128MB USB Stick free.

You have accomplished something that is not an easy feat Toshiba, you have impressed the Palmer.

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Recording Update

Mike and I hammered away on a track on Saturday morning. Landing in London is the name and 3 Doors Down is the game.

So far…so good? At this point, we’re messing around with the Fostex to figure out recording basics. We managed to record a rough cut of the rhythm and vocals…then I overdubbed some better vocals onto another track. Mike’s having a hard time with the lead so we’ll wait awhile on that one. He’s not used to playing the electric guitar so we decided to just jump back to recording the lead acoustically.

The interesting part of recording are the little things…like we now know you should count up your song…1,2,3,4. Because when it came time to overdub some leads, we didn’t know when the thing would start exactly. Alright, that’s a lie…we know EXACTLY when it will start because there’s a clock on the Fostex…but we were having a hard time watching the clock and trying to start at the exact time. Anyhow, we’ll know for next time…count it in! 1,2,3,4.

Which brings me to a point about recording…here I am thinking we have to be all professional and have our track start out perfect…who cares? Once we’re done the song, we just have to trim the countdown at the start!

I think a recording basics course would be helpful but at the same time, I’m sure whatever we find works…works.

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What the Heck?

It’s snowing here. I walk out of the bus 20 minutes ago into some rain and now I’m looking out the window and it’s snowing.