:: theMediaman journal ::

:: Thursday, December 18, 2003 ::

Busy last few days. Yeah, busy. That's why I haven't written since last week.

Anyway, Friday was the David Usher concert. Even though Simone and I went, we left before the former Moist front-man got on stage ("Moist" is the name of the band, not an adjective). We were there for the perfomance by "The Salads". They're a local Ska band with an on-stage gimmick. Normally I don't like either of those elements in my music, but The Salads really make listening to music fun.

Worst thing about the show - the sound system. They must have had it configured for the following opener, Pilate, and of course, David Usher - both of which are far more mellow than the insane activity of The Salads. The sound was maxing out, flattening the loudest (best, and most common) parts of their music. Additionally, Simone and I both walked away with fucked up eardrums. I could barely hear out of my left ear throughout Saturday.

Unfortunately, most of the people in the Kool Haus were there for mellow, woe-is-me-rock. The enthusiastic fans were scattered around the floor. If there were more than five together, a mosh pit might have started, but it would have received many dirty looks from the room's Status Quo.

Monday night was the Livewire Christmas party. Unfortunately, we had less than two week's notice and I already had tickets to Billy Talent. I wanted to spend at least a little time with my co-workers, so Simone and I joined them for the cocktails & socializing before dinner. When everyone sat down, then we picked up and took off for the concert. We missed the opening bands, but they didn't look too interesting anyway. There's some group we missed named "Yellowcard" who look like they're shaping up to be the "Next Big Canadian Rock Band". Seems like we're getting one of those every month since Sum 41 hit the Big Time.

Okay. No David Usher fans here. When Billy Talent hit the stage, Simone and I were about two-third's of the way to the back of the crowd but the moshing was all the way back to us and further. By the end of the concert we were right in the thick of the pit with only a few human bodies between us and the stage.

My toes hurt. It was still worth it. Sounds like they're going back into the studio, so we may see another CD from them as early as next Summer. More likely - as with any band as marketable as they are - it'll be released in time for next Christmas' rush.

Speaking of which, there's only two more days until I'm out of here for two full weeks. Combining my remaining vacation days, and Livewire's annual "let'em off for a week during Christmas", I'm gonna get a lot of nothin' done! Ahhhh...... God Bless'em.

Of course I have most of the key Christmas gifts bought, but there's still a few I'm missing. Only one is a mystery as to what I'm going to get - so I have to figure that out. Everything else is targetted buys... in and out of the store as quick as possible, at least for this time of the year. I'll probably hit the malls first thing Saturday or Monday morning. It'll be busy, I know, but I'm only there for a few minutes, right?.....

... right?....

....maybe I should take a sleeping bag. Next week at the malls is going to be Hell.

:: Stephen 1:31 PM [+] ::

...

Upon indirect request, too sexy!

:: Stephen 2:14 PM [+] ::

...

After an intentional typo last week, Simone called me on naming the third movie "Lord of the Rings: Return of the Jedi". Before any parallels were drawn between the two films, I commented that my perspective was different from most.

Me:Purposeful typo, yes. But the parallels are there. And since I've never read the LotR books, "Return of the King" is following "Return of the Jedi" by 20 years from my perspective.

Simone: True....but The LotR trilogy was written before George Lucas was born.

Me: *ahem*... correction:

Before George Lucas there was nothing.

"On the second day, God created George Lucas. And He saw that Jaws was good."

You remember the five books of Moses, don't you? Georgisis, Levide-lucas, THXodus, Episodes and Duetorunforever.

After that, the conversation pretty much degraded into euphemisms involving the "Big Bang" theory, hobbits, and sex. 'nuff said.

...........

This was a much tamer weekend than the last. Finally, on Sunday morning I managed to sleep in. And without the hyperactive kids and psychotic mother above me, I had virtual silence all morning! IT WAS SO WONDERFUL!

When I stopped by my old place (it's officially called 'My Old Place' now) I wasn't in the house 15 seconds before I was reminded why I moved out. Those kids sounded like they were smashing bowling balls on the floor (aka. my ceiling) for the first ten minutes that I was there. Anyway, hopefully that's the last time I even have to write about that family.

While Simone used my apartment as a santuary in which to do her homework, I started unpacking the important stuff (aka. the TVs, VCRs and computer parts) and set them up. Around 3:00 we went to the Canadian Tire so I could spend >$400 on my car. Adding that to the $86 I spent on my 22 month old RCA television, I blew about five Bordens on stuff I already own.

However, I can now drive in my car without holding my breath (especially when cornering). I also now know to stay away from RCA electronics for a while. Unfortunately a lesson I had to learn The Hard Way.

:: Stephen 12:36 PM [+] ::

...

Only a few short entries today... mostly stuff I've written in emails, but are interesting enough to share with the world.

While Canadians seem to be somewhat apathetic about Politics, they take their hockey VERY seriously.

There's a big uproar around Shaun Majumder (the New Guy on This Hour Has 22 Minutes). It would seem that he slipped in to the group photo after the Old Timers' NHL Game, wearing the 22 Minutes jersey.

The funniest thing about the whole event was how truly pissed off some people are about this! Doug Goss, the event's chairman, said "There's times for laughs and stuff, but there's also time for some serious stuff". It's a G-A-M-E! Take it easy!

Even Cretien warmed up to the crew of 22 Minutes by the third season, and that human-touch probably only served to help in the last two elections.

As much as loving hockey, it's an essential part of being Canadian to laugh at ourselves. Hey! Goss! Have a Molson Canadian, turn on the CBC and relax!

.........

Last night I got the cable hookup, including a digital terminal and cable Internet. The cable guy said that there's a switch box right outside the house, so it's a short run from it to my bedroom (probably less than 100'). On some bandwidth tests I ran last night, I was pulling up to 2.8 Mbps!

Syl asked me if I had thought about grey-market satellite - mostly for TechTV and the Anime Network. I didn't even consider it. The hardware costs are almost the same as getting regular cable after you take into account all the replaced cards from zapping. And there's not a whole lot on TV until they get past this Reality TV phase... I really fucking hate Reality TV shows, and that's the only programming on anymore. Even CityTV, who used to show movies all the time... so even if there was nothing on, then you could still watch a "Great Movie"... show crappy Reality TV shows now. Some of the worst ones too!

No, we've got digital cable on the living room TV, and three more regular cable drops in the two bedrooms and the kitchen. I'd rather get more TVs than more channels with nothing on.

Finally... a Boredom Ensues link:
http://www.hoogerbrugge.com/

:: Stephen 12:31 PM [+] ::

...

As I was taking 75 minutes to drive the 15-minute commute to work this morning (I could have walked faster), I heard an ad for a new Netscape service. Yeah... remember Netscape?

Apparently not content to provide almost capable browsers, they're now entering the arena of almost capable high-speed Internet for under $20 a month.

While dragged in at first by the lofty promises, I slowly became more and more disenchanted.

First problem, I was reminded of the last "Portal-turned-ISP", which crapped out when The Bubble burst. Free is an okay price when you don't know if the company venture will go under any time, but $18.95 per month is too much to lose.

Second problem, the front page was designed by some PhotoSchlock designer, then posted live. There's only one hot-spot on the entire graphic - and it's not even interactive! All these segmented tables, but only one active part. This doesn't look very professional, even for Netscape. After looking at the HTML code, I found the author's name - Marian Quaye - but couldn't Google more information beyond some Carleton student.

Third problem, the 'technology' is nothing more than a file compressor on either end of the phoneline. All data is compressed by the ISP before it's sent to you, then decompressed on-the-fly by your computer.

Third problem Part A: Only small HTML files will be compressed. Graphics, MP3's, streaming video, and all the stuff that actually makes the Internet fun will not be compressed. It even says so on the site. Graphics and videos also contribute to about 70-90% of your downloading. So your connection is really only "5x faster" for 10-30% of your surfing. Mathematically, this makes your surfing about 2x faster in the Real World.

Third problem Part B: Real-time compression is very processor intensive. Even thought the system requirements are really low, if you try running real-time compression in addition to the overhead of a cheap, 56K Winmodem, you better have a fast Pentium II or III.

Fourth and final problem - but it's a REALLY serious one. The "Netscape Online Account Registration" page (which may you have to get to by selecting any province & city) IS NOT ENCRYPTED!!! The page asks for your credit card number, but there is NO encryption on the page - which means that ANYONE can see your all your personal information when you hit Submit.

Has Netscape become so lame that they've got an Intern running this system, or is it some sort of West African Money Scam type thing, and it's just someone POSING as Netscape.

Well, whatever it is, it is genuine. There's a link to it from the Netscape.ca home page.

Frankly, I'm so astonished at the mismanagement of this mini-site, that I don't even have a clever quip to add on. All I can say is that I don't feel as sorry for Netscape, as I do for all the people who will have great expectations when they sign up, be disappointed when their system can only download twice as fast, crashes periodically because of all the extra processing overhead, and have to cancel their credit cards when someone steals their identity.

Finally... what the $&^% is that person doing in the middle of the page?!? Looks like they're falling fast and hard. Perhaps an inside-joke at Netscape HQ for the status of the company?

:: Stephen 1:36 PM [+] ::

...

Many of you have already heard my plight about this weekend, so I won't talk about having to get up at 6 AM the last three mornings, nor will I discuss the sofa-bed, many dressers and countless boxes I had to move up (or down) dozens of steps. I also won't waste time or space in my blogger writing about how I moved most of Paul's stuff this weekend, nor will I mention how I moved ALL of John & Seiko's stuff from the UHaul into the house.

I won't write about how I was almost crushed by a falling 27" TV when I opened the UHaul truck, nor the dorky UHaul graphic that was on the side of this particular truck.

And don't worry about me talking about the muscles in my legs that I probably haven't used in months, but just went through a hell of a workout. Because I won't.

I'm also not going to comment on how I still have to pack up and move most of my own stuff, and will probably do so this Wednesday. I don't want to be so egomanaical that I only talk about me...

...why don't you talk about me for a while?

:: Stephen 12:20 PM [+] ::

...