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  • The Hobbit – Coming to Theatres!

    Nice!

    Read here.

    Not only is the Hobbit going to eventually be produced, but the one and only Peter Jackson will be executive producing it!

    I must admit that I am stoked as I was afraid of someone else touching the masterpiece of Middle-Earth.

    What’s interesting to hear about is a potential sequel to the Hobbit. Now, I don’t know much about Tolkien’s writings but I do know that there are a slew of works that were released that are random backstories from the universe that never saw a proper release while he was alive. So maybe there is a form of sequel that came out awhile ago in one of those books? I have read The Silmarillion (which was amazing once you really got into it) but that was based in the past. So if anyone has any info as to what the story of the sequel could be, that would be swell.

  • 12 Days of Christmas: Day 8

    Here’s a survey by our very own Dish! I lend a hand once in awhile on her site as my alter-ego Doctor Robert. Trish definitely has the holiday spirit in her at all times of the year (not unlike our friend Katie whose survey I just received and it’s fab!) and she has warm fuzzy red socks to lend out at any time (as seen in the photo of me in the Christmas Rocks photo shoot.). If you ask nicely, Trish may be able to hook you up with her Christmas Rocks album for the holidays.

    Without further wait…

    What is your favourite thing about Christmas?
    Well Palmer, as you know, I do love cheesy Christmas music. A few of my very favourites include “Ay Ay Ay, It’s Christmas” by Ricky Martin, “Mele Kalikimaka” by Bing Crosby, “Last Christmas” by Wham and, of course, “What Can You Get a Wookiee for Christmas (When He Already Owns a Comb)” by the Intergalactic Droid Choir.

    Also, Christmas would not be Christmas if I didn’t get to harass my older sister by hiding “festivities” (i.e. really tacky fake glow-in-the-dark icicles) around her room.

    What’s your least favourite thing about Christmas?
    The irate shoppers who cut you off in the parking lot of the mall, push you out of their way in the stores when you are trying to look at things and even rip items from your hands because they have no taste themselves and need to rely on perfect strangers to pick out gifts for their loved ones.

    What’s better? The Christmas Story or National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation? Why?
    National Lampoon’s definitely has a place in my heart. You really just can’t beat the Griswold family’s Christmas lights or the toboggan scene. I also enjoy the look on the grandfather’s face when he yells “Squirrel!” and the line “We’re at the threshold of hell!” used when everything about Christmas has gone horribly awry.

    What’s your favourite drink during the holiday season?
    Slushy punch because it is fruity and delicious, and it contains the equivalent of my body weight in sugar (recipe available upon request).

    What should Vero get Palmer for Christmas?
    A Red Hots 2 Minute Hot Dog Cooker (http://evilsmurfette.blogspot.com/2007/09/every-so-often-someone-gives-gift-so.html) so he will stop borrowing mine already! (And some warm cozy socks for the same reason.)

  • 12 Days of Christmas: Day 7

    Mike’s sister writes in her Christmas survey but adds some amazing photos. Not only is she showing off the best Christmas sweater at the Christmas Party of ’06, but she found two reindeer at the Kapuskasing Festival of Lights who were in an interesting position.

    What is your favorite thing about Christmas?
    Being surrounded by friends and family

    What’s your least favorite thing about Christmas?
    How hectic it is trying to cram a years worth of family dinners and
    catching up with old friends into one week

    What’s better? The Christmas Story or National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation? Why?
    National Lampoon’s even though I find it incredibly frustrating to
    watch, the poor guy can’t catch a break

    What’s your favorite drink during the holiday season?
    Mimosa’s (Cheap Champagne and OJ) on Christmas morning

    What should Vero get Palmer for Christmas?
    I have to agree with Nanny on this one, after all wasn’t Palmer the one preaching anti consumerism and marketing ploys…

    [Palmer’s Note: I kind of feel bad on this one as Sam was up shopping for stuff for her wedding a few months ago and I went on some tirade (tyrade?) about how weddings are full of marketing ploys and then I felt bad afterwards. Sorry Samantha!]

  • Trendsetter – Tacky Christmas Sweaters

    Who knew I started a trend 3 years ago?

    Read here.

    More updates to come soon enough…Christmas party when some people can send me some photos, neighbour’s house burning (!!!), a gas leak, an exam, and fun times were had all weekend long.

    I’ll leave you in suspense.

  • Christmas Party 2007

    After the insanity which was Saturday afternoon, I cooked some supper and headed out to my Critical Thinking exam.

    At first, I was pretty freaked out by the questions as I really didn’t know the answers. It got better as I went along as I had been focusing my studying on the later half of the class, not the stuff from the beginning. In the end, I think I did alright and I’m pretty happy about that as the exam is worth 60% of the course. Yikes!

    After I left the exam, I made my way to the car and froze myself as it was pretty flippin’ cold. I couldn’t understand the weather reports indicating we were going to have the storm of the decade coming our way. I figured it would be another case of when Ottawa ends up being in a no-snow bubble. I went to Krista’s to pick her up and then we headed to the bowling lane where Vero was having her Christmas party for the production she was working on for the past year. It was fun as they had a video of bloopers made up and they also got a cool sweatshirt made up (I’m jealous!).

    We then headed to the house around 10PM where the party was in full force! I had enough time to walk into the house and Joelle and James wanted to give me a gift. They ended up getting me a Game of Kapuskasing! It’s like Monopoly but has listings of businesses around Kapuskasing! They had got Mike and I each one so we didn’t fight over it. This was a very thoughtful gift! I did guess it however as Joelle had mentioned seeing it in the past. You know what I’ve realized? When someone says “I bet you can’t guess what it is!”, just don’t bother guessing because if you do guess and you get it right, you end up disappointing the person. 😉

    I then headed back out the door to pick up Rob as Janice was out of commission for the night. We then headed into the party where it was in full force with people playing Guitar Hero and munching on some treats brought by all. Thanks to all who brought some treats!

    All in all, the night was great once again. While there is planning involved with the Christmas party, I just enjoy the fact that we can see friends and family before heading our respective ways for Christmas. It’s a cozy environment where people can chat, laugh and insult each other (like Duncan being my ugly twin brother!). It never seems to end in terms of fun. People didn’t leave the place until 3-4AM! This did not help me in the fact that I woke up around 9:30AM and could not get back to sleep!

    The trivia challenge was once again a success. We mixed it up this year and had some drawing competitions, name that tune and random trivia. I found that the questions were easier this year but I was trying to balance from the harder questions of yesteryear. Also, there were a lot of trivia questions to pull from the hat and I guess it was just luck of the draw that brought out the easier ones. Mental note for next year – Format worked well, maybe switch it up again? Questions need to be a little harder. Not much combat between teams. We need more yelling!

    In the end the women won the trivia challenge by a slim margin! They earned their right to taunt us and hold the Trivia Challenge Cup up high!

    After pouring out some apple cider, we then started with the gift exchange which was great as always. There’s something about stealing someone else’s gift that brings out the feelings you have on Christmas morning when your sister gets something you want. 😉 James and Ferda brought THE MOST AMAZING GIFT EVER in the form of a C-3P0 ceramic head which held M&Ms. I was in awe. Benoit was also. Heck, all the guys in the room were in awe. In the end, my best friend of 2007 (Mike G) gave me the C-3P0 head at the end of the gift exchange. Please note he is now my best friend. We also noted that it resembled the little statue in Raiders of the Lost Ark and proceeded to take great photos replaying the scene where Indiana Jones makes a grab for the statue. Clearly, there was no drinking involved at this point.

    The rest of the night blurred by. I popped in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation to play in the background while others played a board game called Pop5? We sat around, chatted, munched and had some good times.

    Thanks to all who came out this year and we’re sorry for those who didn’t get the opportunity to come out do to the weather or other reasons!

    Highlights:
    – The #1 with a bullet highlight of the year was when Carleigh fell down the stairs. Don’t worry, she’s alright…just a little sore. After speaking to different people, we have the ultimate version of the story printed here for reading pleasure.

    Carleigh tells Marc (Mark?) that she is going to the washroom. Flashback about three other times where Carleigh asked Trish where the washroom was and she said “The door on the left.”. Carleigh then goes into the door on the right, closes the door and then the house shakes as we realize that she has fallen down the basement stairs! Marc dashed for the door and we rushed down the stairs to find Carleigh laughing at her misfortune. A collective gasp was let out by all as who knows what can happen when you fall down the stairs (let alone the harsh basement stairs which do not have any carpet!). Turns out that for some reason she thought that she was in the washroom and went down a few steps to the toilet. Hey, we’re not going to question what was going through her head at the time, we are just glad that she was alright. We kept an eye on her all night though in case there was a concussion. We definitely had a good laugh at this when we knew she was alright.
    – Trish’s Christmas Rocks album was awarded to Krista who definitely had the tackiest, God awful Christmas sweater there ever was. We should have an All-Star competition one year against all the previous winners. Oh yes, the Trish’s Christmas Rocks compilation is amazing in its production – the song choices (Spinal Tap AND The Smashing Pumpkins?!), the artwork (thanks to Benoit for production design!) and all around good nature from Trish while she posed with a Santa Claus hat and a guitar. That reminds me that she sent the photos of the photo shoot and I had a good laugh. Must post those up soon.

    Notes for Palmer (to read next year)
    – Label the two doors on the main level – Washroom and Basement. Although, will this really solve the problem? Maybe there should be a sobriety test going on to enter the washroom?
    – Get some hot appetizers going like you did the first year (sausage rolls, meatballs, etc.). Maybe have a midnight hot meal kind of thing? May be hard to implement. Think about this more next year.
    – Get a group picture! You forgot this year! There was a group photo of the women winning the trivia cup but that’s it! You have nothing to say everyone was there! Or maybe you do. Mental Note: Get photos from everyone.
    – We went through half a jug of apple cider. Don’t buy more than one jug next year.
    – You had enough alcohol. Rye was still left over. Rum, not so much.
    – Maybe some eggnog next year?
    – Gift exchange did not any alcohol which was welcome by all, I think. It made for more interesting gifts.

  • Firefighters in the Neighbourhood

    Friday and Saturday afternoon were spent studying for the Critical Thinking Exam. I came home on Friday night to find the place all decorated for the Christmas party as Vero is a sweetheart and took time out of her busy day to come by and do so. Mike was also an amazing help for the Christmas party as he cleaned the entire house. Heck, at one point I saw the fridge pulled out and he was mopping the floor! Ladies, I can arrange to supply you with a phone number for the man who can clean like no other.

    I also picked up some graphic novels on Friday night that Paul and I had ordered. I am pretty excited to read Watchmen as I have never heard anything bad about it. Paul got the lion’s share of graphic novels and I am happy to see that Carrie can get them to him at Christmas time for some reading next to the fire (or the furnace…)

    Around 3PM on Saturday, I had hit the wall in terms of studying. I was studied out! So I helped clean a bit with Mike and then we headed out to pick up some things.

    When we were leaving the house, our new neighbour Tasha was at the door. Turns out that the house next to her (as in, two houses from me) was thought to be on fire! She had called 911 and so we went over. There was the dog barking and the alarm going off but I really couldn’t see much smoke. Then the firetrucks appeared. After explaining how the smoke alarm was going off they broke the window next to the front door and opened the door. We grabbed the dog and put it over at our place.

    Considering there wasn’t any smoke coming out, I just thought it was a false alarm but then you hear people yelling “Get the pumps going!” and “Bring the hose in!”. Then we are anxiously watching the scene and someone busts the upstairs bedroom windows out and the smoke escaping is BLACK. It was incredible (in a bad way of course. I’m using the word incredible for the actual smoke coming out as there was a lot of it!).

    A lot of commotion was going on – neighbours coming over, 5 fire trucks all around us, police everywhere. We went to and from our house where the new neighbours were inside. A police officer asked who lived in the building and no one knew her last name. After finding out from calling the old neighbours, I spoke with the police officer for awhile. At that moment I realized that it’s a strange world we live in when we really don’t know much about some of our neighbours. Sure, I know their first names, but that is about it. Mike suggested giving out emergency phone numbers and we will definitely do that before leaving on holidays this winter. It’s one thing to have Eric and Annie go and check out our place once in awhile, but they would never know if the house went up in flames until they went over.

    In the end, it was discovered that a candle in the upstairs bathroom was the culprit. We were also lucky as the firefighters said to Tasha that if they didn’t call when they did, it probably would have spread to their own house (and who knows who else’s? We are so close together…). As far as we can tell, the entire upstairs is gutted. The woman who lived at the residence did eventually come home and was understandably upset. Dad pointed out that the worst thing that can probably happen to you emotionally is a fire (other than a death or something like that).

    It is a shame that something like this has happened…especially in the middle of winter and right before Christmas. Luckily she has some family and friends to help her through this rough time.

    Here’s some thoughts going through my head that I’d like to pass onto you…

    • Emergencies are something you should be prepared for. Think about that.
    • Give your neighbours some emergency numbers if you are going out of town, or even if you are still in town.
    • Take a look at your insurance. Make sure you have adequate insurance to cover everything you want covered.
    • ESPECIALLY during this holiday season, take care in not leaving Christmas lights around the house when you leave. Sure, they look nice when you come home, but you never know what can happen.

    iplaying: Warm and Sunny Days – The Dears (No Cities Left)

  • 12 Days of Christmas: Day 6

    Nanny Ruth is so special to me that I couldn’t pick just ONE photo of her so I took them all! Here’s what her thoughts are about Christmas…

    What is your favourite thing about Christmas?
    My favorite part of Christmas is listening to the Christmas songs and carols (that is
    now) Years ago it was seeing the children open their gifts.

    What’s your least favourite thing about Christmas?
    My least favorite thing is listening to Tom complain about it!!! (that’s now) Years ago I
    had no least favorite as I loved it from beginning to end.

    What’s better? The Christmas Story film or National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation film? Why?
    I never saw the Christmas Story film, and did find the Lampoon one rather ridiculous but
    my favorite is Rudolph.

    What’s your favourite drink during the holiday season?
    My faovrite drink of all time is MILK no matter what time of year it is !

    What should Vero get Palmer for Christmas? Vero should get Palmer what ever her little heart desires !! and Palmer should be very thankful he got anything.

  • Hail To The King Baby…

    Evil Dead: The Musical returns to Toronto!

    Click here for details.

    I am already heading down to Toronto for a Matchbox Twenty concert on Friday, February 22, so we can go on the 23rd. Either let myself or Carrie know if you’re interested!

  • Review: Show – A Night In the Life of Matchbox Twenty

    Another concert DVD I sat down lately was the excellent capture of Matchbox Twenty’s tour to support their album “More Than You Think You Are”. This was their tour before taking a hiatus while members shifted and Rob Thomas released a mediocre solo album.

    I had also seen bits and pieces of this DVD but never caught it all in one shot. It captured everything I love about MB20. Kyle Cook (thanks for the edit Eric!) is amazing on guitar. Rob Thomas is killer on vocals. The production of the show is alright. You can see them take bits and pieces from various other icons like U2 or the Rolling Stones but really…who can be original anymore?

    I actually enjoyed the documentary even more which followed the band on the entire tour and highlighted behind-the-scenes happenings which showed what the crew did. I had never seen a documentary focussed so much on the crew and the production of the show. The closest thing I’ve experienced in this vein is the U2: Show book which is a must-have for anyone who wants to get into producing any sort of stage show. So it was interesting to see them discussing lighting and whether or not they should throw the house lights on during the last song. It’s also interesting to see that pretty well all of the rock shows you see are scripted to a certain point and that if you go see one show, chances are you may see them comment in the same fashion night after night, or have the same funny moments happening.

    Palmer Interruption: I have spent a long time going to rock shows and I’ve realized what makes one band stand out over another in terms of repeated viewings on the same tour. It’s all about changing the show. The first time I realized that I was seeing the same show was when I saw Evanescence in Montreal in the winter, and then the following spring they ended up coming to Ottawa and I saw them there also. I realized it was the EXACT SAME SHOW. Even down to the comments about the tour or the city they were in. Sure, every showman has their classic comments like “You’re the best show of the tour!” which is always a questionable comment but it irks me when you see the same exact motions being followed…it’s like they’ve become their own cliché.

    So when you see Led Zeppelin, or Pearl Jam, or the Smashing Pumpkins (to some extent), you see they have re-playability value on their tours because they are always somewhat different. Jimmy Page has stated that he has never played the solo to Stairway to Heaven the same on any date. Eddie Vedder has a commentary on today’s issues, today’s feeling at the concert…it isn’t scripted. Heck, he even does research into the city they are coming into and makes comments about them (like sports teams and such). The Smashing Pumpkins pretty well have the same show going on musically, but their commentary is always different or they switch up their setlist from time to time. I think it would get pretty boring to follow a band who has such a scripted show. Although U2 is probably the exception to this rule as they have such an energy that you get a high off of being there. But they themselves switched up their ZooTV show every night in small ways so every night could be a little different.

    When someone asks me why I have so many Pearl Jam or Pumpkins bootlegs, this is the reason. They have re-playability power. If they had the same show each night of the tour, I would just get the best sounding bootleg from the tour and listen to that one and I essentially have heard the entire tour. But that’s not the case (which is definitely apparent with Pearl Jam officially releasing every bootleg of their tour and they sell like pancakes. Why does the term ‘hotcakes’ sound so much better when a hotcake is just a pancake?). End Palmer Interruption.

    So the DVD was excellent and it got me excited to see the band in the spring in Toronto. I would recommend picking this DVD up for any fan. Heck, I think I got it for $8 at Music World a few years ago so it was well worth it.

    iplaying: Razor – Foo Fighters (In Your Honour)

  • Review: Foo Fighters – Skin and Bones

    I believe I got this concert DVD last year for Christmas. I did have it on a few times but had never had the chance to watch it fully even though Eric had recommended it many times.

    The Skin and Bones DVD follows the Foo Fighters on their afoostic tour where they toned down the rock and upped the acoustic quotient. I was familiar of Foo Fighters only through their radio singles and took a chance on picking up their In Your Honour double disc, solely for the fact that one disc was all acoustic and I thought that was neat. Quickly, Foo Fighters has been introduced into my main musical repertoire, with picking up their new album (which is killer…it may win the 2007 best in my opinion) as well as their remastered album The Colour and the Shape.

    The DVD is great. It has a great selection of tunes, whether they are originally acoustic tunes, or acoustified rock songs. You also get some good stories behind some of the songs, especially Friend of a Friend which is a tip of the hat to the other members of Nirvana for all you Nirvana fans out there. The story about this song was probably my favourite on the DVD. I also enjoyed when Dave Grohl introduces all the members and asks the percussionist to show him every instrument in his arsenal.

    The DVD made me feel like I was there enjoying a relaxing evening with the Foo Fighters. If you are a fan of their high octane performances, you still won’t be disappointed with the toned down acoustic set.

    iplaying: On The Mend – Foo Fighters (In Your Honour)