Hah bumhug!

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

It’s a grey, grey day. I’m wondering now whether having such a clear and panoramic view of the world outside is going to adversely affect my mood on days like this? I may be a scrooge for realsies by Christmas.

.:.

Last night’s Canadiens game was a beaut. Watched it on fast forward last night after Nellie went to bed. Montreal scoring 13 goals in two games? That’s five games’ worth at their usual scoring rate. Anyway, they’re back at it tonight against Pittsburgh. I shall watch it while I blast away at this paper (which is progressing quite nicely, thank you very much).

.:.

Still with hockey, if you want to live, do not play against the Philadelphia Flyers. For the third time this year a Flyer has nearly killed someone.

Boston Bruins centre Patrice Bergeron was taken off the ice on a stretcher Saturday after a scary hit from behind by Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Randy Jones.

Bergeron was chasing after a loose puck in the Flyers zone late in the first period when Jones closed in on him and drove his head into the boards with his forearm.

The 22-year-old crumpled to the ice and lay on his back motionless while the Bruins went after Jones, 26. Medical personnel cut away Bergeron’s jersey and shoulder pads as they worked on him, placing his neck in a brace. They placed him on a board and then onto a stretcher, his legs taped together and his arms folded across his chest. There was little sign of movement. The game was delayed some 15 minutes as he was treated.

I don’t know what you’re coaching down there in Philly, but jeezus…let’s take it easy with the attempted homicide, shall we?

.:.

Here’s a whole bucket of dumb for you:

  • This Florida mother mutilated her daughter’s genitals so that she wouldn’t enjoy sex…and was acquitted of the charges brought against her.
  • FEMA staged a fake news conference about the California wildfires. The White House needs to form a disaster management firm to fix all the stupid things FEMA does. I suggest the name metaFEMA.
  • Britney Spears’ mother is writing a book about motherhood. It’d better be called, “I’m sorry y’all, I blew that one.”

.:.

OK, back to work.

[tags]toronto weather, canadiens, hurricanes, penguins, philadelphia flyers, patrice bergeron, florida mother genitals, fema news conference, britney spears[/tags]

Another lost weekend

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

That was a pretty cool work thing I attended yesterday and today. Got to put faces to names, laugh my fool ass off and even get a little inspired. Hopefully that enthusiasm carries over into the weekend so I can get this infernal paper finished off.

I’m off to locate some dinner with Nellie. We’re both pretty wiped so it won’t be much of a night…or much of a weekend, obviously. Argghhhhjjgorijeg.

I know, I know…suck it up, princess.

Hey…300 days left!!

[tags]mba[/tags]

Hey, "fucdown" works too

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I’m copying this from my brother (who, in turn, got it from Scienceblogs). The idea is to find five Google searches that return your blog as the first hit. It didn’t take me long at all to come up with these:

  1. girlfriend du jour
  2. skirl tiff
  3. fieramosca toronto orecchiette
  4. nellie lake oesa
  5. coniption fit tim adam

That last one might be cheating because ‘conniption’ is purposely misspelled both on my blog and in the search, but I didn’t see no rulebook.

[tags]fucdown, girlfriend du jour, skirl, tiff, fieramosca[/tags]

"Giuseppe!"

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

That was how my barber answered the phone today, as if he were four years old and his best friend had just run into his yard. He might just be the happiest guy I know. Here’s the typical conversation when I sit down in the chair:

Ralph: “So, how’s it going?”

Dan: “Pretty good, Ralph. How’re you doing?”

Ralph: “Ay, life is beautiful, my friend. As long as we’re here and we’re healthy, what else can you ask? #3 on top and #2 on the sides, right?”

Whether it’s Ralph or his buddy Nick who cuts my hair, I’ve never left there without a smile on my face. It’s a big reason I keep going back, really. It’s not like it takes a lot of hard-to-find expertise to cut my hair.

.:.

It’s a sad state of affairs when gay Dumbledore and a fainting Marie Osmond occupy the top of the news pile. One gets the feeling that if the Californian wildfires weren’t so ferocious we’d be discussing proper dancing hydration or wizard-cruising. For fuck’s sake, people, one of them’s fictional and the other might as well be.

.:.

The Dooney’s Cafe website has a great review of Naomi Klein’s new book The Shock Doctrine. I’m not making much headway on the book; I keep getting distracted by MBAishness.

[tags]barbers, dumbledore, marie osmond, california wildfires, naomi klein, the shock doctrine, dooney’s[/tags]

MARS! I mean…BELL!!

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I installed Flock over the weekend, and so far I’m liking it. I had a quick look at earlier versions and didn’t think much of it, but this release candidate for v1.0 is pretty good. The integration with Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube (among others) is great. The biggest downside so far is that I miss all the Firefox extensions…AdBlock, better downloaders, etc. Hopefully someone develops more extensions for Flock soon; I’d like to keep using it.

.:.

There’s a giant billboard that I see every day on my walk home. It’s an advertisement for a book. The title is “Think Big and Kick Ass.” The author is one Donald Trump, but his name is displayed simply as “Trump.” Sorry…”TRUMP.” The cover picture is TRUMP yelling at somebody, or something. Presumably he was in mid ass-kick when the picture was taken. Perhaps he was kicking the photographers ass. Perhaps TRUMP was thinking big, and devising a plot to kick the ass of every photographer in the world.

Anyway, all I can think every day as I pass this billboard is that an obnoxious muppet with all the money in the world is still just an obnoxious muppet. Sorry…MUPPET.

.:.

Just when I thought I was out they pull me back in. I’d all but given up on Heroes; lo and behold they bring in my girlfriend du jour, Kristen Bell. So much for not watching.

[tags]flock, donald trump, think big, kick ass, heroes, kristen bell, girlfriend du jour[/tags]

I'm not sure I even care to be that disinterested right now, to be honest

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Despite my recent inability to spend more than an hour doing school work, I have decided that today will be the ne plus ultra of schoolwork days. The ne plus ultra, I tell you. I am well-rested (I slept until 11 yesterday and 9 today), well-fed (just got back from breakfast at Over Easy), well-stocked (did grocery shopping after breakfast) and well-prepared (have two computers at the ready). I have no excuse not to get a lot done today except for sheer, unadulterated disinterest.

Don’t put it past me.

.:.

I know this headline shouldn’t make me laugh — it’s really quite tragic — but I couldn’t help myself. From the Globe and Mail:

Indian Official Dies In Wild Monkey Attack

If you’re gonna go, go while defending yourself from an army of wild monkeys.

.:.

  • Original weight: 233
  • Weight last week: 223
  • Weight this week: 222

Looks like I managed to correct last week’s blip.

[tags]mba, over easy, wild monkey attack, fatblogging[/tags]

"I can't think of one reason big enough for him to lie about that's small enough to matter."

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

We went to see Gone, Baby, Gone (imdb | rotten tomatoes) last night. It was really good. I would’ve been surprised by how good it was if I hadn’t heard all the great reviews first. I’d add my voice to the choir of people saying Ben Affleck makes a better director than actor, and his brother’s turning some heads as well. I’m always been a fan of Casey Affleck, but with lead roles in this movie and The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, and indie cred from films like Gerry and Lonesome Jim, I think he’s one good role away from becoming very big.

.:.

Drowning people will often flail their arms wildly in a desperate attempt to stay afloat. Just ask SOCAN.

.:.

Not that I’m complaining, but the Toronto weather’s been crazy warm for late October. We went for a walk today and it felt like a spring stroll. Sunny and 17 degrees…it’s supposed to be 22, 23 and 18 for the next three days. Guess I’d better enjoy it while I can…apres (ce) mois, le deluge.

[tags]gone baby gone, ben affleck, casey affleck, socan, music download tariff, toronto weather[/tags]

Scotchgard the credit card

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I live in constant hope that Les Savy Fav will record another song as good as “Tragic Monsters” but so far it hasn’t happened. However, their latest release Let’s Stay Friends (pitchfork | metacritic) is pretty good.

If you like yourself some heavy-ish indie rock, check it out. And for the love of the Fiery Furnaces (who sing along on one track) go download “Tragic Monsters” with all possible speed.

[tags]les savy fav[/tags]

ReTwitterated

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I think that if I were to win the lottery I’d still want to work. I’d go crazy if I didn’t. I mean, I’d take a few months off and do whatever, but I’d take a nice relaxing job. Probably part-time. Maybe at a book store, a small classic one like Nicholas Hoare where the floors squeak.

What would your lottery job be? Would you have one at all?

.:.

Speaking of books, a new one called The Top 100 Canadian Albums lists…well, I’m pretty sure you don’t need my help here. The Toronto Star lists the first twenty, and I don’t have much to argue with. It’s pretty hard to dispute Neil Young‘s Harvest at #1, and they include some albums — Music From Big Pink, Fully Completely, Funeral, Moving Pictures, Whale Music — that, while less obvious, are completely deserving of inclusion. Even Bryan Adams wasn’t completely horrid back then.

.:.

The old commerce building at Dalhousie, where I spent four years of my life, is being demolished. Sitting in the dank basement case rooms, walking up the rickety stairs, dashing through the waterfall that fell through the seam between the buildings when it rained, rolling across the uneven computer lab floor…ah, what fun. Cough, cough…

.:.

7 months ago I mocked people who used Twitter, having tried it and not thought much of it. Today I fired it up again, as much as an outlet as anything else. If anyone’s on (other than those of you I’m already following) let me know. I’m LtDan.

Most of my readership is now scratching their head, wondering what unholy nerdquest I’m on about now…

[tags]lottery job, nicholas hoare, top canadian albums, neil young, dalhousie university, twitter[/tags]