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Showing posts from 2008

Mike's Mini Movie Review - BOLT!

My older daughter and I went on a Daddy-Daughter Date today, and saw BOLT! It was very fun. The hamster - Rhino - stole the film. The throwaway scene with him riding on top of the kayak had tears streaming down my face. I would fully endorse Rhino getting his own sequel film.

I do not (heart) this

I was at a major grocery retailer yesterday - five days after Christmas - and the Valentine's Day candies were already out.

Back home

So we're back from our week-long excursion to Manitoba for Christmas with my wife's family and then my family. Good times were had by all, although we're all coming back a little under the weather. Good thing I have most of the rest of the week off. I got to see the UFC show on Saturday at my brother and sister-in-law's condo (complete with 42-inch widescreen TV). Very good show with both title matches having surprise endings with new champions. However, it sets up Brock vs. Mir II later this year, so it's all good.

The Christmas Story

Back when I worked for the Edmonton Sun, I had a tradition of reprinting the Christmas story in my column on the Monday before Christmas. It always got a lot of appreciative response from readers. So I thought I should start doing that here as well every Christmas. So, today, a tradition returns! And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; be

Coming tomorrow

A tradition returns.

Bonus Tuesday afternoon humor

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Sunday afternoon humor

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On vacation

Leaving on Christmas vacation today. But don't despair. Due to the miracle of scheduled posts, The Newsroom will remain (a little) active for the next two weeks.

Snow in Las Vegas

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What are the odds?

Bonus Thursday humor!

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Whiteheart - Over Me

And a total blast from the past. I put this CD in a few weeks ago and realized again how good it was. Casting Crowns or someone should do some White Heart covers.

Petra - God Gave Rock and Roll To You

As a point of comparison to the Bride version (below). I think I prefer Bride's actually. The harder rock version works better.

Bonus Wednesday night humor!

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Sun Media cuts today?

Toronto Sun Family: 1971 - 2008: TorSun cuts? Could (today) be Black Tuesday for the Toronto Sun? Tipsters say an undisclosed number of employees who arrive at work Tuesday will leave as the latest victims of Quebecor's hatchet. "It ain't over," one Sun vet said of the cutbacks that have ravaged the Toronto Sun since Quebecor bought Sun Media in 1999. "No one knows who yet, but it is supposed to be big," said another newsroom staffer. Another TSF tipster said staff could be cut by 10%. UPDATE: Unfortunately, this story is entirely true. . Sun Media Announces Workforce Reductions Last update: 10:45 a.m. EST Dec. 16, 2008 TORONTO, ONTARIO, Dec 16, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- As a result of the fundamental transformation under way in the newspaper industry in recent years and the accelerated deterioration of economic activity affecting its print media revenue sources, Sun Media Corporation, Canada's largest publisher of newspapers, has announced that i

Bride - God Gave Rock N Roll to You

I remember Petra doing this ages ago. This version is pretty cool.

I'm pretty sure I made more money last weekend ...

Misfires: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr. Face Bomb-Making Charges For 'Delgo' Delgo's $916,000 gross is the lowest ever by a film that opened on more than 2,000 screens — 2,160 to be exact. Its $424 per-theater average means that some showings of the animated sci-fi fantasy in more competitive markets likely played to audiences of fewer than five people at a time. Update: It's worse than expected !

Sunday afternoon humour

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History of the UFC title belts

Courtesy BeltFanDan, AKA PawNtheSandman.

UFC 94 poster

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Oh yes ...

TNA replica belts on sale now

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Ordering information is here . TNA has a picture of the replica belt here .

Watch for my upcoming Star Wars DVD sale on Ebay

Maybe it's because I'm 40 ... or maybe it's the fact that Spike TV has the rights to all the Star Wars movies and replays them constantly ... but I came to the realization recently while watching Attack of the Clones for the 483rd time that the Star Wars prequels are absolute dreck, and should never have been made. Even Revenge of the Sith . Embarrasingly bad. The original trilogy is fine. Indeed, the first Star Wars movie is still a classic, and I will love it forever.

Sunday afternoon humour

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Downhere - How Many Kings

An appropriate song for the Christmas season.

TNA replica belts on sale soon

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TNA Wrestling has announced that they will soon be selling replicas of the TNA World title belt. Word from someone who knows is the replicas are going to be of high quality. More details and pictures as they become available. Next week, TNA Wrestling will be offering incredible replicas of the TNA World Heavyweight Championship for sale at ShopTNA.com, the official online merchandise store of TNA! TNA will take delivery of an extremely limited amount of the replica championships, which will go on sale immediately at ShopTNA.com in time for Christmas delivery. Talk about an awesome holiday gift for your favorite TNA Wrestling fan! The replica titles are made to the same size and specifications as the real TNA World Heavyweight Championship, fitting up to a 46 inch waist and weighing nearly 5 pounds! These limited-edition titles are an amazing reproduction of the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, currently held by "The Icon" Sting.

Christmas at Ground Zero

Because not every great Christmas song is a classic hymn.

How easy is it to get a job in Australia?

Sorry, but I've been too dumbfounded by what's been going on in Ottawa to post. And I'd tell you what I think of it all, but I don't like to use such vile language on my blog. I have standards, you know.

November: New Best. Month. Ever.

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So ... a 10-fold increase in my traffic year-over-year makes me pretty happy. Not bad for my little humble corner of the Internet. Click graphic for larger image.

Sunday afternoon humor

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Return of the Invasion of Hungarian Partridges

A whole whack of Hungarian Partridges showed up in our backyard this morning.

My brother Dean on stage at the Gemini Awards

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Other interesting people born Nov. 29

1972 - Minoru Tanaka , Japanese pro-wrestler 1967 - John Layfield , American professional wrestler 1955 - Howie Mandel , Canadian comedian 1949 - Jerry Lawler , American wrestler

BIGGEST RICK ROLL EVER

Awesome.

Surely a sign of the Apocalypse

The Google search string, "what's cool on the interweb" resulted in a hit on this site.

YouTube goes widescreen!

YouTube Embraces Widescreen Paves the Way for Hollywood Features - Webmonkey As we pointed out last week, YouTube is now offering HD quality video on select movies. But one of the hallmarks of HD video is the widescreen aspect ratio (16:9 rather than 4:3) and now the YouTube site has been updated so that all video is now displayed in a new widescreen player. As the YouTube blog notes, this means that the vast majority of videos on the site — which were uploaded as 4:3 — are now displayed with black bars on the sides (the empty space not used by 4:3 videos). Two things: 1) Now, all I need is a free video editor that will actually let me edit the widescreen video that my digicam will let me shoot ... except I don't shoot in widescreen because I can't edit it. 2) This puts YouTube ahead of the WWE in terms of providing me with easily-accessible widescreen content. Not that I'm bitter.

... not the worst Canadian marketing slogan I've heard ...

Ad: Canadia-- Come for the Chicken, Stay for the Toilets! Swedish tourist: We came here for the chicken, but will remember it for the toilets. Swiss Chalet Toronto Canadia Overheard by: Glad I didn't go downstairs... via Overheard Everywhere , Nov 25, 2008

Do not call list

So ... has anyone noticed a drop in telemarketing calls since the federal do not call registry came into effect? Me, neither.

Sunday afternoon humour

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Go to church

Attending religious services ‘cuts death risk by almost 20 percent’ - Health – Lifestyle – MSN India Attending religious services ‘cuts death risk by almost 20 percent’ Attending religious services can reduce mortality risk by approximately 20 percent, a new study from Yeshiva University has revealed. The research team led by Eliezer Schnall, Ph.D., clinical assistant professor of psychology at Yeshiva College of Yeshiva University analysed the religious practices of 92,395 women aged 50 to79, participating in the Women Health Initiative. After examining the prospective association of religious affiliation, religious service attendance, and strength and comfort derived from religion with subsequent cardiovascular events and overall rates of mortality, the researchers found that those attending religious services showed a 20 pct decrease in death risk.

UFC champ Anderson Silva denied entrance into Canada

UFC champ Anderson Silva denied entrance into Canada UFC champ Anderson Silva denied entrance into Canada Kenny Florian attends autograph session in Kamloops; Silva turned away at border Catherine Litt, Kamloops Daily News Published: Friday, November 21, 2008 KAMLOOPS - Last summer, it was a troupe of dancers from Papua New Guinea who were turned away by Canadian border agents. Now it's a mixed martial arts fighter from Brazil. A planned visit to Kamloops by UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva was abruptly halted Friday when Canada Border Services denied the athlete entrance into Canada.

WWE: What is so hard about 16x9 DVDs?

I don't understand this. The WWE has been broadcasting their events in high definition for nearly a year now. But their DVDs are still formatted in the standard 4x3 aspect ratio. I bought the No Mercy DVD this month, and was quite disappointed to learn that it was not presented in 16x9 widescreen. And this isn't like the weird Wrestlemania DVD issue, either, with the DVD deciding (depending on your TV) whether to show the event in widescreen or not. (See this post and comments.) As far as I can determine, No Mercy has no widescreen option. It's formatted in 4x3. But it's framed in 16x9. Which makes for some very poor viewing of some of the action when both wrestlers disappear off the screen because they're in the portion of the 16x9 framing that gets chopped to make it 4x3. This is ridiculous. Every Hollywood movie I own on DVD is in widescreen. Even UFC has put out regular DVDs formatted in widescreen. So, WWE, what's your excuse? EDIT 11:27 a.m.: O

Hey, don't I have a blog?

Sorry for the dearth of posting this week. It was a very busy week at work, and I didn't have a lot of time to be trolling the Internet looking for fun things upon which to comment.

30 Mars Phoenix Discoveries NASA Will Never Show the World

Mars Phoenix: 30 Mars Phoenix Discoveries NASA Will Never Show the World Click the link. Funny awaits.

Using Your Lightsaber Around the Home

HowStuffWorks "Using Your Lightsaber Around the Home" Using Your Lightsaber Around the Home Although a lightsaber is typically used as a defensive weapon by Jedi knights, the availability of lightsabers on consumer sites such as eBay is growing. It is a sad fact of life, but if a Jedi knight falls on hard times, his lightsaber is one source of quick cash. He can always build another one. If you are lucky enough to acquire a lightsaber, you are probably purchasing it for personal defense purposes. A lightsaber completely blows away a can of pepper spray as a deterrent in muggings or robberies. However, many new owners are pleasantly surprised by the many domestic uses of a lightsaber around the home or office. Let's examine a few of the more common applications here, and then you can use your imagination to come up with others.

Sunday afternoon humor

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The era of Brock!

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BROCK WINS! BROCK WINS! BROCK WINS!

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Ric Flair coming to Edmonton

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Apparently, Ric Flair is coming to Edmonton in February. Ticket information is here . I have to admit, I found out about this reading the stats for my blog, which contained a number of search strings looking for info on Ric Flair coming to Edmonton. And judging from the ticket prices, I'm not likely to be going.

Where to watch UFC 91 in Edmonton or Calgary

It's time for my regular public service announcement on where to watch UFC fights in Edmonton, Calgary or elsewhere in Alberta. All that info can be found at this link right here .

UFC 91: Couture versus Lesnar!

The big fight is this Saturday, and here's my entirely unscientific look at why (insert fighter's name here) will win. Randy will beat Brock because: He's Randy Freaking Couture. He always finds a way to win. He's way more skilled and talented in the Octagon than Brock. Did I mention he's Randy Couture? Brock will beat Randy because: Have you seen this man? No, seriously. Did you see him destroy Heath Herring? He's HUGE and POWERFUL and will rip Randy's arms off his body and beat him into submission WITH IS OWN ARMS. As far as my own personal prediction, I'm sitting entirely on the fence on this one. I can see Brock bull rush Randy, clock him, take him down and pummel him. I can also see Randy keep his distance, run Brock ragged for five rounds and win a decision.

Lest we forget

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Sunday afternoon humor

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Playing hockey tonight - Minnesota and Vanouver

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Yes, Vanouver . Site of the 2010 Winter Olympis .

Mike's Music Review: Skillet - Comatose Comes Alive

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This finally arrived in my mailbox today after a too-long wait to get it over the border. Fortunately, it was absolutely worth the wait: a total of 21 tracks (including 6 downloadable) on the CD, and a live concert DVD with its own bonus features, and it cost me less than $20. (See? That's how you sell people on actually buying music: Give them lots of stuff for a decent price. On a per-song cost, this album is absolutely cheap.) Comatose is a great rock album, and the live version is just as good. Gotta love any band that uses orchestral strings to back up crunchy alternative/arena rock. I got through most of the DVD tonight, and I'm listening to the album on my iPod as I type this, and this is going to be one of those albums that I play over and over and over again until the CD melts in my car stereo. And right now, I'm enjoying the heck out of the multi-vocal "Yours to Hold" which features pretty much everyone in the band taking turns on the song, including th

U.S. military can regrow human limbs, organs

Umm ... HOLY CRAP! U.S. military can regrow human limbs, organs U.S. military can regrow human limbs, organs 'Nanoscaffolding' has succesfully regrown fingertips and organs on test subjects Vito Pilieci, Canwest News Service Published: Friday, November 07, 2008 OTTAWA - American military researchers say they have unlocked the secret to regrowing limbs and recreating organs in humans who have sustained major injuries. Using "nanoscaffolding," the researchers have regrown a man's fingertip and the internal organs of several test subjects.

If you smell ... what Barack ... is cooking!

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IMG_5607.JPG Originally uploaded by ae!

Darth Toaster

Darth Toaster: May The (Break) Fast Be With You | Gadget Lab from Wired.com The Darth Vader Toaster is pretty bogus: any real Jedi would just slice his loaf with a Light Saber and it would fall ready-toasted, needing only a quick slathering of butter and jam (blueberry for the good guys and red, red, raspberry for those on the Dark Side). But until the Light Saber becomes a common part of the culinary toolkit (a true multi-tasker, we might add) then we'll have to settle for this junky plastic toaster, the result of pouring black beads into the mold-maker instead of the usual white. It's exactly the same as a normal thrift-store toaster, only it has the addition of a Darth Vader shaped element which appears to char the Dark Lord's visage into your breakfast bread. And we mean char -- in the picture the center section looks almost inedible.

Why do companies do this?

I'm trying to buy a new watch. I found a really sweet titanium-carbide gold watch from A Certain Watch Company. So I start researching the best price for it. I find it at an online store for $215. But they don't ship that brand of watch to Canada. I call my local jewelery store. They can't get it for me because A Certain Watch Company doesn't sell that model in Canada. I find another online store, and, yup, they won't sell it to me because A Certain Watch Company doesn't authorize American watch models to be sold outside the US. And, of course, A Certain Watch Company's Canadian website doesn't have the particular model I want. I could, however, get someone in the US to buy it for me and mail it to me, but I can't actually BUY it from Canada. So ... I want to give A Certain Watch Company money and they won't let me. Dumb.

Welsh Road Sign Features Email Auto-Reply

Welsh Road Sign Features Email Auto-Reply Instead of Correct Translation | Gadget Lab from Wired.com What happens when people place too much trust in technology? Sometimes, the result is dangerous (sheep-like belief in GPS, for example). Other times, the layers of hilarity are startling. Take this story, a tale of bureaucracy and institutionalized ignorance from Wales.

Sunday afternoon humor

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October: Best. Month. Ever.

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Your humble servant's blog had its best month ever in October, smashing my previous hits and page view records, on the strength of approximately 10 billion hits related to Kimbo Slice and Ken Shamrock. Nonetheless, I'm not complaining. (Interesting that Site Meter credited me with 2,787 hits in October, and 4,059 page views, while SiteCounter gave me 3,167 hits in October, and 4,417 page views. No wonder I like SiteCounter better ...) What's nice, too, is that by being on Blogger and having my pages getting properly indexed (thanks in part to Google Analytics), I'm now getting a fair number of hits based on archived content, as well as being in the top 2 or 3 search results on some fairly unique and niche search strings (like "Relient K Trading Spaces").

Starfield sweeps Covenant Awards

GOSPEL MUSIC ASSOCIATION CANADA - News CALGARY, AB ─ It was a Starfield sweep at the 30th Annual Covenant Awards on Friday, October 24. Duplicating what fellow British Columbian Brian Doerksen accomplished only last year, Starfield won all six categories in which the band was nominated.

Relient K - The Best Thing

Otherwise known as "That song used to advertise Trading Spaces on TLC."

Stryper - Always There For You

I can't believe this song is 20 years old. I still remember driving my Hyundai Pony down to the University of North Dakota to see them in concert. s

Turn your iPod into an e-reader

Last night, I discovered the "Notes" feature on my 4th generation iPod Nano, which effectively lets me turn it into an e-reader. With the help of this website (or this one , which does the same thing), you can turn pretty much any text file into a series of notes files that can be put on your iPod, complete with hyperlinks from one file to the next. It's very cool.

Newsboys - I Am Free

Hmmm ... watching this older clip ... the Houston We Are Go CD may have been less "live" than advertised ...

New Pepsi logo

Pepsi's New Logo: What Went Into the Update - Advertising Age - News I'm still partial to the 1971 logo myself.

Skillet - Rebirthing

Love this song.

Mmm ... Yogurt Pepsi ...

Pepsi: Move To Japan So You Can Drink Yogurt Pepsi Japan is a unique country with an adventurous palate, the perfect place to try out new Pepsi Yogurt flavor, aka "Pepsi White." Reader Danny who sent this in says, "The flavor was quite sweet, and closer to that of 7-UP with some slightly milky tones (not really yogurt, just milk). Overall it was good, if odd." In this concoction, it would appear culinary scientists have discovered found the absolute gastronomical inverse of Crystal Clear Pepsi. Congratulations, Science. Click the link for a photo of Pepsi White.

Sunday afternoon humor

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BarlowGirl - Never Alone

Michael W. Smith - A New Hallelujah music video

New ECW belt available for pre-order

The new ECW belt is available for pre-order from WrestlingSuperstore.com. It should be available in January. The new Divas belt won't be shipping until March of next year.

Strikeforce draws 1.1 million viewers

"Strikeforce on NBC" draws record 1.1 million viewers | MMAjunkie.com This past Saturday's airing of "Strikeforce on NBC" topped out with more than 1.1 million viewers, the California-based organization today announced. In other words ... a mixed martial arts group that only hardcore fans know about, that airs in most markets in the middle of the night, now has almost as many viewers as TNA Impact, which airs on prime time. Yeah, TNA sucks.

Where to watch UFC in Edmonton

I normally don't post this until Saturday, but my site stats are showing the search strings appearing much earlier than normal, so what the heck. Here's my semi-regular public service posting on where to watch UFC pay-per-views in Edmonton . I have to say, if the number of search strings looking for info on UFC 90 is indication of overall interest in Anderson Silva versus Patrick Cote, this PPV may do surprisingly good numbers.

New TNA Legends belt

It's an amazing work of art. I don't like the red leather, and the design seems to be derived from the IWGP title. And it has aspects of the UFC and WEC designs as well. EDIT: TNA has pictures here , here , here , here , here , and here . SECOND EDIT: And the pictures are up on DMB.com .

Two NHL teams in Toronto?

No, really, that's the rumour . Why not? If any city deserved to have two terrible hockey teams that never win the Stanley Cup, it's Toronto.

Elite XC is dead

Yup . UFC is basically the only MMA game in town now. Bye, Kimbo. Now if only Dana White would open a women's division, Gina Carano could get a job ...

Sunday afternoon humor

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How did Michael Bisping win that fight?

Apparently, backpedaling and getting hit amounts to a win in UFC these days ...

The UFC October continues

UFC has a three-hour free show on Spike TV tonight, headlined by Michael Bisping vs. Chris Leben. The show is from the UK, so Bisping is going to be a huge crowd favorite ... which makes me want to see Leben upset him and cut a big heel promo afterwards.

Bonus Friday night humour!

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Weird Al: Forefather of the YouTube Spoof

Weird Al: Forefather of the YouTube Spoof Posted using ShareThis

It's election day

Vote early, vote often.

Couture vs. Lesnar

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Oh yes.

Inside Chrome: The Secret Project to Crush IE and Remake the Web

Inside Chrome: The Secret Project to Crush IE and Remake the Web Posted using ShareThis

Sunday afternoon humor

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Volleyball and nuclear weapons: A day in Red Deer

We spent the day in Red Deer yesterday watching my nephew's Christian college team play in a volleyball tournament. It was very interesting at times watching a bunch of Christian colleges play volleyball - no swearing, no taunting, and at one point, the opposing team's coach informed the referee/judge that a ball the ref had called in was, in fact, out, and that cost his team a point. Honesty. Gotta love it. There was a bit of sporting culture shock when the tourney started. I was unaware that they had tweaked the rules of volleyball so that there is a point awarded off every serve, and not just for the team serving. That makes the games go a lot faster. But the big news - at least to me - was that one of those "Welcome to Red Deer" type signs on Gaetz Avenue proclaimed that Red Deer is a nuclear-weapons free zone. It's good to know that when the bombs start to fly that Red Deer can hold its head high and say, "No thank you!" before being vaporized into

October: All UFC, All The Time

There's another UFC pay-per-view rerun on Spike TV tonight. This is the one with George St. Pierre's title defence against Jon Fitch (Spoiler: GSP won). But more importantly, it featured Brock Lesnar beating the holy you-know-what out of Heath Herring. (Spoiler: Duh.) Definitely worth putting on the DVR and burning to DVD.

New iPod owner!

As of this afternoon, I'm the proud owner of a new 16 gig iPod Nano. It is very small. But it holds more stuff than the hard drive of my first desktop computer.

Google search string weirdness

This afternoon, someone from WWE.com (that would be, World Wrestling Entertainment) Googled "wwe divas belt replica" and landed on this humble web page. Now, I'm just thinking ... wouldn't someone who works for WWE know how to buy a replica of their own title belts?

Newsboys - Houston We Are Go - CD/DVD Review

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I have to admit ... I've been hot and cold on the Newsboys. Way back when, I liked their connection to Steve Taylor and their goofy, humorous songs, and thought they were funny and thought provoking. Then I kind of lost touch with them and what I did hear from them was more worship-oriented music, which was fine for what it was, but there are a billion bands that do worship music and it didn't exactly gravitate me towards their CDs. Then I heard the live version of "I Am Free." That song single-handedly got me back into listening to the Newsboys. I'm not a rabid fan (they'd be no higher than my fourth or fifth favorite band right now), but I've got enough of an appreciation of their music to spend a few bucks on the new Houston We Are Go live CD/DVD. Well, that and my general love for live albums. I'm still watching the DVD (literally, as I type this), and I've listened to most of the CD. It's really good. Nothing surprising. The Newsboys have

Free BarlowGirl Christmas song download

Right click here for a free version of What Child is This from the band's new Christmas CD.

Sunday afternoon humor

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EliteXC on CBS thoughts

Well, that was a thumbs down show if I've ever seen one. We all got to see an MMA promotion die on live TV, and it wasn't pretty (even if it was pretty funny). Between the technical glitches, the WALKING~! and the brutal main event that utterly exposed Kimbo Slice as a goof, it was not EliteXC's best moment. It may have been their last moment. When you think back on pivotal moments in mixed martial arts, remember Ken Shamrock's eyebrow laceration. It killed an entire promotion. On the plus side, last night's show was good for my hit count, generating nearly 600 hits in the afternoon and evening.

Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock cancelled?

There's word going around the MMA world right now that due to a cut suffered by Ken Shamrock, his fight with Kimbo Slice tonight is off. Well, bye EliteXC. Nice knowing you. UPDATE 5:59 p.m.: The fight is OFF. The commission doctor has ruled Ken unable to compete due to a cut over an eye. No replacement has been named yet. UPDATE 6:18 p.m. The latest from Dave Meltzer's play-by-play on figurefouronline.com Nothing has been said to the live crowd about the main event. This has changed six times in the last several hours, but as of this moment, the scheduled main event is not happening. Frank Shamrock is still at the announcers desk and at this moment is getting ready for a stand-up but as of 15 minutes ago was awaiting word if the commission would allow him to do the main event or if Slice would accept him as a new opponent. Petruzelli's match with Aaron LaRosa hasn't happened yet because Petruzelli is also a possible opponent for Slice. UPDATE 6:31 p.m. Apparently,

Saturday Night Fights ... and more fights

It's all fights all night long tonight with Elite XC's third (final?) CBS prime-time special featuring Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock in what may be a 9-second destruction of poor Ken. And UFC is countering on Spike TV by showing the recent Rampage Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin title fight PPV that sent poor Quinton for a time out . Fortunately, staggered feeds and digital cable means I get to DVR both of them and don't have to choose one or the other. And I have to say, I'm loving the fact that UFC is giving me all these PPV shows for free. It's saving me a bundle of money, and I can burn them to DVD before deleting them, saving me having to purchase the DVD as well.

I'm not complaining about the new Facebook, but ...

Within a day or so of Facebook permanently updating everyone to the "new Facebook," a friend of mine changed her status update to bemoan all of the people bemoaning the new Facebook. She said that complaining about the new Facebook was such a "first world" complaint. In other words, only people like us in North America, full of affluence and without any real worries in life, could be bothered by a different interface on a piece of free software we are using. Fair point. However, my issue with the redesign is not a complaint per se about how it looks, but how it functions - or doesn't function. Since the switchover, I have found Facebook to be very buggy in all sorts of ways. The news feeds are often 18 hours behind, or are weird mixed bag of brand-new updates plus stuff that is three days old. It doesn't update my Google Reader feed automatically anymore, forcing me to manually import stuff every once in a while. Stuff like that. And there seems to b

Downhere - My Last Amen

From the new album, Ending is Beginning.

Newsboys - Live

newsboys LIVE trailer from Inpop Records on Vimeo .

Despite the fact it's 27 C outside, I want Starbucks new hot chocolate!

Starbucks newest item is hot, chocolaty The new hot chocolate is different in that it's more chocolaty, and less based on milk, than the original, which will still be sold. The new blend contains four types of West African cocoa.

Canada's "Do Not Call List"

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The CRTC's "Do Not Call List" registration form can be found here . As of 6:40 this morning, my attempt to register my home phone number resulted in a "This service is not available. Please try again later" message. Guess their servers are being slammed right now.

Dean Jenkinson - Comedy Now

My brother's episode is up on the Comedy Network website .

Sunday afternoon humor

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This is what my brother Dean gets for moving to Halifax!

Hurricane Kyle targets US-Canada borderline Canada posted a hurricane watch and tropical storm warnings in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick provinces, and a hurricane watch was also in effect along the coast of the northeastern US state of Maine. Well, I'm sure he'll find some way to get some laughs out of it. Meanwhile, I'll just enjoy living in a landlocked province utterly devoid of humidity.

Lesnar-Couture rumors appear to be untrue

Lesnar-Couture rumors appear to be untrue Posted using ShareThis There were a lot of panicked people in the MMA world yesterday as rumors were floated by a usually reliable poster on the Internet that Brock Lesnar was injured in training and his Nov. 15 Las Vegas match with Randy Couture would be canceled.

... Back When It Was A Swedish Colony

...Back When It Was a Swedish Colony Actor #1: I can't believe that Barack Obama is getting away with running for president! I thought you had to be born in the United States. Actor #2: He was born in the United States. Actor #1: Nooooo! He was born in Hawaii! Equity Audition Center New York City, New York via Overheard in the Office , Sep 25, 2008

Tolls taken off Coquihalla

Tolls taken off Coquihalla Posted using ShareThis My trips to Tacoma just became $20 cheaper.

The disappearance of Colbycosh.com from the search engine is just a coincidence

Colby Cosh reviews Google Chrome.

Christianity Today gives Ending is Beginning 5 stars

See? I told you Downhere's new album is good! Their best album so far? In many ways, yes, though each Downhere album has had its share of pop/rock highpoints. At the very least, Ending Is Beginning further cements the band's place in Christian music for their artful expressions of our faith. Downhere has hit their stride with this album, and assuming that their following continues to grow, it appears that we can expect continued excellence from them for years to come.

Mike's Music Review - Downhere - Ending is Beginning

OK, I promised a review of the album tonight, and circumstances have conspired to make it shorter than I wanted it to be. No song-by-song review. Just some overall thoughts. It's a fantastic album - sonically and lyrically. I think my favorite song at this point is Don't Miss Now , which has a great piano hook and some stunning harmonies, and actually reminded me of a post-Peter Cetera Chicago song at times. One thing I noticed listening to it going to work this morning is how some of the songs on Ending is Beginning would have not sounded at all out of place on a Starfield album. (That's a compliment, by the way - to both bands.) Finally, Chris Sligh has some very kind words about Ending is Beginning . I think, "You must, must, must check out this album" pretty much sums it up.

Coming tonight

A review of Downhere's Ending is Beginning .

Music currently on order

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Tomorrow is the release of Downhere's new album, Ending is Beginning . I'll be getting that one off iTunes before I head into work tomorrow. I also have three other albums headed my way in the mail: Skillet's Comatose Come Alive CD/DVD ; Newsboys Live: Houston We Are Go CD/DVD ; and Toby Mac's Alive and Transported CD/DVD combo . Hey, I'm a sucker for live concert albums. Plus, I need some concerts to watch on the iPod while we do our long drives to visit family.

Sunday afternoon humor

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The Research Behind Exercise Music - Men's Health

The Research Behind Exercise Music - Men's Health Whistle While You Work Out Do your treadmill sessions drone on like C-Span? Instead, think MTV and crank up some tunes. A new study from Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia confirmed that listening to your favorite music will help you push harder in your workouts. Men who listened to music while going hard on an exercise bike for 10 minutes pedaled 11 percent farther than those who listened to silence or static for the same amount of time. Click the link above to read the rest.

The Photocopier Picked My Pocket

10AM The Photocopier Picked My Pocket Session leader: Now at this point, if you've been convicted guilty of a felony crime, I'll have to ask you to leave. (one woman starts to walk out of crowded auditorium, abruptly stops halfway) Woman: Oh, wait! What is counterfeiting? Session leader: Mam, were you guilty? Woman: Yes. Oh, wait. No. The trial's still going on. Mebane, North Carolina via Overheard in the Office , Sep 18, 2008

I'm a twit ... I mean, I'm on Twitter

As if succumbing to the Empire of Facebook wasn't bad enough, I'm now on Twitter. And I really don't know why. As far as I can tell, Twitter is like the Facebook status update and ... er, it's like the Facebook status update. But apparently Twitter is very important, as it's all the rage in social media circles. So, I'm on Twitter. Prepare to be bored silly by my lack of updates, which are now in the sidebar of my blog. (What's really scary is that I have FOUR PEOPLE following my tweets, and I've updated three times since signing up a month ago.)

Downhere - The Real Jesus - Live

One of the hidden gems from Downhere's last album, Wide Eyed and Mystified .

UFC Widget

I love UFC. But scroll through the schedule for October. Too many shows!

Bonus Friday night humor!

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I am a man of my word

I promised (threatened, surely - ed.) Sandy Fleischer that I'd mention him on my blog just so he would get a Google Alert. Yes, it's a gigantic in-joke, and no one will get it except him. Everyone else can carry on their business. (And, Sandy, great job today. I really enjoyed the seminar. Thanks!)

The Ultimate Fighter returns

The new season of The Ultimate Fighter kicks off tonight. Unfortunately, I won't be around to watch it due to another commitment, but I'll DVR it and watch it eventually. My thoughts on the first show (if any) will be posted at a later date. I will say going into it that I don't have high hopes for this season, and I think that the TUF format has run its course. There's also an Ultimate Fight Night show before the new TUF, of which I know almost nothing except that it's on. I don't expect it to do a very good rating.

Not to Mention Spidy-Sense

Not to Mention Spidey-Sense Woman #1: So, how are you holding up? Woman #2: You know, doing the best I can, using the five senses. Woman #1: There's six senses. Woman #2: No there's five: walking, talking, breathing, reading and writing. Woman #1: What about seeing? Woman #2: Well yeah, there's also fire, wood, air, and water; but I don't know why they don't count those. --B68 Bus via Overheard in New York , Sep 16, 2008

Return to running

Having abandoned my Learn to Run class due to injuries , I've been back at the gym doing the Learn to Run intervals on the treadmill. (Although I did a weird half-run on Saturday outside with my wife - I walked a good chunk of the way, and then sprinted to catch up to her as she ran, and then after doing that for a while, just ran along side her for the last couple of intervals, all while not hurting myself.) The treadmill running has been going quite well. I can pretty consistently do at least one more set than what the Learn to Run manual asks for, and keep up a pretty good average pace of 4.4 or 4.5 mph over the course of the walking/running intervals. Last night I did the four sets of four minutes running and one minute walking, plus an extra four minute run just for fun. In total, it was about 2.25 miles in 30 minutes and a few seconds. I'll be back at it tonight. Next week's intervals move up to three sets of five minutes, plus a two-minute run (for a total of 17 minu

A rave review of Downhere's Ending is Beginning

The album isn't out for another week, but we already have our first rave review of Downhere's latest, Ending is Beginning . Based on the two songs I've heard in full from the album, and the 30-second snippets now available on iTunes, there's nothing in this review with which I disagree. This is going to be a great record! Too late update: My review of the album is here .

SiteMeter: We're sorry!

The ongoing saga of today's unbelievably botched SiteMeter upgrade continues with the company's apology to its rapidly dwindling customer base . The apology is classic: Based on some performance issues we were experiencing along with feedback from the community it appears we have pushed our new site live prematurely. That's certainly understating the reaction from bloggers .

Meet the new SiteMeter. Same as the old SiteMeter.

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So much for the heavily touted upgrade today. Look what's posted now . Good Afternoon, We have received and heard your feedback concerning the latest changes to the website. We will implementing a rollback to the website immediately. We will also be responding to each of your support requests as soon as possible. If you have any questions please let us know. Sincerely, SiteMeter Support Team After doing some checking on the Internet, the outrage over the upgrade is everywhere .

Sunday afternoon humour

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In case the champion forgets that wrestling is fake...

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Picture courtesy DaveMillicanBelts.com

Relient K song for Trading Spaces

I am watching TLC tonight, and they've been showing promos for the new season of Trading Spaces . The song used in the promo was Relient K's The Best Thing . Very cool!

Today's Mike Jenkinson guest appearance

I pop up this morning on the Toronto Sun Family Blog .

Meanwhile, back at the gym ...

Having basically given up on running outdoors, I went back to the gym tonight and proceeded to run 2.25 miles in 30 minutes. That encompassed the five sets of "walk one minute, run 3 minutes" that the Learn to Run class is doing, plus one set of running 4 minutes, and a final set of running 6 minutes.

Running Night (Final part)

Well, after injuring myself AGAIN last night doing the running clinic, I think I'm done. It's no longer fun. I ran on the treadmill at the gym for 12 years without ever once hurting myself, so I think I'm going to drop out of the class and just go back to the gym. I'm brutally disappointed, but my body just can't handle running outside.

My brother Dean on Comedy Now this week

Dean Jenkinson – Comedy Now! CTV September 13th 2008 10 P.M. The Comedy Network September 14th 2008 10 P.M. 30 and 60 minutes respectively Stand-up comedy fans have a choice on the weekend of September 13th 2008. They can watch the half hour version of Dean Jenkinson ‘s Comedy Now! performance on CTV at 10 on Saturday or they can watch the hour long version on The Comedy Network at 10 on Sunday. Go for the hour: more Dean Jenkinson is a good thing even if he closes with funny songs Canadian comic Dean Jenkinson is a low key kind of guy and this makes for a conversational, story telling style that works for him and the audience. Being from Winnipeg, he is the only comic I know who has ‘peg material that doesn't put the place down although Manitoba kind of gets it in the end.

Sunday afternoon humour

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Rashad Evans granted title shot after knocking out Chuck Liddell

That's the sound of a $6 million buyrate getting flushed down the toilet. Poor Chuck. He's gone from the UFC's poster boy to Jobber to the Stars.

When Art History Majors Enter the Workforce

When Art-History Majors Enter the Workforce Teller #1: How am I over my cash limit? I just transferred you $30,000! Teller #2: Did you put the transfer through right? Teller #1: Yeah! I had $60,000. How am I still over my limit of $20,000? Teller #2: You had $60,000. Teller #1: Yes. Teller #2: And you transferred me $30,000. Teller #1: Uh huh. Teller #2: What does that leave you with? Teller #1: Oooooh... Buffalo, New York Overheard by: They handle your money, people! via Overheard in the Office , Sep 5, 2008

Casting Crowns - The Altar and the Door Live CD/DVD

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I've said it before but it bears repeating: Casting Crowns should only put out live albums. The Altar and the Door Live CD/DVD is so much better than the studio version, it's almost mindboggling. This is a band that has so much fun and brings so much passion to its music that it just can't be captured in a studio session. As a result, their live albums just buzz with excitement, and their song arrangements are far more energetic and inventive than the studio versions. If you haven't bought The Altar and the Door and you like Casting Crowns, just go straight to the live version. It does not have every song from the studio release, but it hits the highlights of the studio album. Not to mention, there's an absolutely haunting version of Love Them Like Jesus (originally from the Lifesong album) that will bring tears to your eyes.

Downhere - Ending is Beginning - September 23

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Just doing my bit ...

Where to watch UFC shows in Edmonton

Due to the number of Google searches leading to this site that ask a variation of the title question, I provide as a public service this link .

Running Night (Part 7 of a continuing series)

After taking a couple of nights off from running due to my shin splint, I resumed running tonight. Slowly. Very slowly. I was passed by snails at one point. But at least I got through 30 minutes without major pain (or minor pain, come to think of it). I did all my running on grass, which seemed to help. Monday we move up to 5 sets of walking for 1 minute and running for 3 minutes. It will be interesting to see how my injured left leg holds up. Oh well, I know the number for 911...

Today's Dilbert cartoon

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This spoke to me for some reason. I can't possibly figure out why. Can you?

WPT Canada?

When did this happen? EDIT: More details here .

Running Night (Part 6 of a continuing series)

Well, I managed to give myself a shin splint last night, which I'm not terribly happy about because now I have to take some time off to heal. See ... this is why I run on a treadmill. I don't hurt myself on that. Concrete is a different story entirely.

In a world of movie trailers

The death of voiceover guy Don LaFontaine reminded me of this hysterically funny movie trailer ... which was NOT voiced by Don LaFontaine, but is nevertheless still one of the greatest pieces of comedy I've ever seen.

Running Night (Part 5 of a continuing series)

Despite (or maybe, because) the fact it's a long weekend, I have to say I am not looking forward to doing the running clinic tonight. Part of it, I'm sure, is that our trip to the Lacombe Corn Maze resulted in a lot of walking, and tired me out. The fact that I utterly hated yesterday's run doesn't help, either. We're moving up to the "walk 1 minute, run 2 minute" intervals tonight, and while I can normally do that without any problem, I struggled mightily yesterday to do six sets of those in the coldest weather I've ever run in. So my strategy tonight is "survive."

Lacombe corn maze

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In our continued quest to distract our children from the fact they go back to school tomorrow, we drove out to the Lacombe Corn Maze today. It was quite fun. The maze was unbelievably difficult but we still managed to find our way out ... although after eating through the 1,437th ear of corn, we were hoping for a helicopter rescue. Between the racing pigs, the go-karts, the rubber duck races, the climbing goats, the corn box (think sand box, but with corn), all of the animal feeding, and the apple cannon, we managed to fill 3 solid hours there.

Take me out to the ballgame!

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My wife and I took the kids to see the Edmonton Cracker-Cats today, a team that is so minor league, I'm pretty sure that one of the bat-boys hit a three-run double at one point during the game. OK, that's not fair to the Cracker-Cats, who are actually a pretty darn good baseball team. They are in first place in the entire (Fill in the name of the minor league you've never heard of here) League, and are heading to the playoffs for the first time in the team's history (which, and don't quote me on this, began at least before yesterday). And all 273 people in the stands today were thrilled by the 10-4 drubbing of Calgary today (largely due to that one bat boy). At any rate, we figured that a Cracker-Cats game would be fun, so we bought some cheap tickets with the idea of moving to better seats once the game started. And that plan worked - way better than I thought it would. Just as the game started, a promotions girl approached us and asked if we would agree to be the

Sunday afternoon humour

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Nick Bockwinkel vs. Ric Flair

I've been looking for a video of this match for years. This is the only meeting between these two men in the ring. It was for Flair's NWA title, and it took place in Winnipeg on a Pro Wrestling USA card (a joint promotion of the AWA and NWA during the time they were trying to stave off the WWF expansion). I was fortunate enough to be in the audience that night for this match, which ended in a double count-out at about 25 minutes. The YouTube clip isn't the entire match, but it's all that's around.

Randy vs. Brock?

So the big rumour in the MMA world these days is that Randy Couture will end his legal battle with UFC, return to Zuffa-land and battle Brock Lesnar at the November PPV. Randy vs. Brock would be a money fight. I would love to see Brock win, but after just 3 professional fights, that's not happening.

Bret Hart book commentary

Anonymous writes (butchery of the English language left intact): f you don't agree with the way Bret sees things, that is a commentary the man, not the book. The greatness of the book is that it is uncompromising in telling what the view of the world was from Bret's eyes. The book is an AUTOBIOGRAPHY - not a definative historical account, and it should be viewed as such. I don't disagree that autobiographies are inherently subjective. But to try to draw some artificial line between "the man" and "the book" is slightly ridiculous. I mean, "the man" wrote "the book." And "the book" is about "the man" who wrote it. Yes, the greatness of the book was the hard-hitting and uncompromising way in which Bret tells his story. The failing of the book, however, is what I noted in my original commentary on it . Bret is quick to point out the failings of others, but in the process he makes himself look foolish and immature by r

A shout out to my brother Dean

He was nominated for a Gemini Awared for his work on This Hour Has 22 Minutes . List of all nominees here . Dean's official nomination notice is here . Best Writing in a Comedy or Variety Program or Series Brooks Gray, Andy King, Leo Scherman, Morgan Waters - Cock'd Gunns - Ready, Aim, Fire Graeme Manson - Rent-A-Goalie - Everybody's A Fag Paul Mather, Irwin Barker, Greg Eckler, Chris Finn, Rick Mercer, Tim Steeves - Rick Mercer Report - Episode 8 Adam Reid, Max Reid - Billable Hours - One Hit Wonder Jennifer Whalen, Andrew Bush, Gavin Crawford, Mark Critch, Nathan Fielder, Geri Hall, Albert Howell, Dean Jenkinson, Tim McAuliffe, Gary Pearson, Kyle Tingley - This Hour Has 22 Minutes - Episode 3

Running Night (Part 4 of a continuing series)

Week 2 of our running class went fine last night. It was 20 degrees and threatening to rain, which was a decidedly different night than our first week, when it was 35 degrees and threatening to incinerate us into ash on the sidewalk. Our class has moved up from 2 minutes of walking and 1 minute of running to 1 minute walking, 1 minute running. Last night we covered just under 2 miles, and the group kept up a pretty good pace. The next practice run is tomorrow (Wednesday) and we should be able to make it (assuming I don't get stuck at work until 6 p.m. like last week) for that. We're taking tonight off to recoup from a Saturday-Sunday-Monday running stint. I weighed in this morning at 178.8 lbs. Considering I was 183 lbs a couple of weeks ago, I'm pretty pleased. I still want to break south of 170 lbs. That would be a huge accomplishment for me.

Overheard Everywhere

Obviously Not Student #1: I have to go to class. Student #2: Which one? Student #1: Quantum physics. Student #2: Is that where you go back in time to set right what once went wrong? Overheard by: Sydney via Overheard Everywhere , Aug 25, 2008

Running Night (Part 3 of a continuing series)

Week two of our Learn to Run class goes tonight. So far, it's been hugely successful: I clocked 25.7 miles last week in 7 hours and 50 minutes of walking and running, and managed to drop about 2.5 lbs. in the process. I'm now slightly below 180 lbs., which is a good start. In total, my wife and I went out running five times this past week, including Monday night's class. Tonight, we're doing one minute of walking and one minute of running, at 10 reps.

Downhere - A Better Way

One of the greatest songs ever written, in my humble opinion.

Free Starbucks Coffee Recipe E-book

Free Starbucks Coffee Recipe E-Book Details in the link. Hat tip: Coffeefair.com

Sunday afternoon humour

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Downhere - The More

Yeah, I've basically turned the blog into a music video reposting service. Consider it a respite between the Learn to Run updates. And the studio version ...

I have found something more delicious than chocolate peanut butter

Chocolate cream cheese. Oh yes.

This pretty much sums up my feelings about leaving newspapers

Fading to Black: 'Thank God I got out' Only I didn't get out to write a book.

Lincoln Brewster - Everlasting God

Stellar Kart - Me and Jesus

The cornucopia of Christian music videos continues. I love this song, but the album version is much better.

Downhere - Here I Am

My current favourite song.

Dude! That's so meta! Part 2

I was checking my site stats today and found that the Google search string "Google search strings" led to my site.

Windows Vista: Over One Third of Vista Machines Have Been Downgraded to XP

Windows Vista: Over One Third of Vista Machines Have Been Downgraded to XP Posted using ShareThis This is why I'm keeping my current laptop as long as possible.

Running Night (Part 2 of a continuing series)

We're back from our first Learn to Run class, which took place in 35 degree heat and resulted in several of our new classmates spontaneously combusting into ash on the sidewalk. Which reminds me: Could someone please explain to me the concept of women running outside in 35 degree heat in full makeup? In all seriousness, though, the first class went very well. It's a good group of people, and I look forward to the practice session on Wednesday night.

Running Night (Part 1 of a continuing series)

My wife and I start our Learn to Run course tonight. It's a 10-week course, and the goal is to be able to run 20 minutes when you're done. Personally, I hope to lose some weight (my metabolism appears to have shut down entirely of late) and improve my distance running. Updates over the course of the 10 weeks.

More free stuff from Downhere

The Christian band Downhere released their 2006 album Wide Eyed and Mystified entirely free on the Internet a while back. Anyone who took advantage of it got quite the deal, because the album is very good. The band now has a free song, My Last Amen, off their forthcoming album Ending is Beginning available for download here , and the new single, Here I Am, streaming off their website . If these two songs are any indication, the new album is going to be great.

Sunday afternoon humour

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I'm back!

I'm back from my work-related road trip, which included a great helicopter tour on Thursday. Definitely one of the highlights of my entire life. Regular updates to resume in the coming week.

Away (again) for a few days

Just a short note to let my two regular readers know that I'm away on a work-related road trip until the end of the week. The itinerary is pretty packed, so there will be no posting between now and the weekend.

Gud leminayd!

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