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Showing posts from May, 2010

Sunday afternoon humor

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Let's hear it for global warming, everyone!

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Edmonton Journal tempts fate

OK, Edmonton Journal. Last straw. After the paper was AGAIN thrown on the steps today, this is the last warning: next time it happens, we're cancelling the paper. You're about to lose a customer, folks.

Where to watch UFC 114 in Edmonton and Calgary

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My regular post on where to find a bar to watch this weekend's UFC PPV.

The Caffeine Poster

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The Caffeine Poster Originally uploaded by rtkrum A handy little guide that will help you plan your day accordingly.

Do the Dew!

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Diet Mountain Dew isn't available in Canada. So when we're in the US, we like to pick some up, "some" in this instance being 19 dozen. That will probably last us more than a year.

Off for a few days

I'm gone for a few days, so The Newsroom will go quiet until the end of the week, unless I get the crazy urge to be posting stuff from the road.

Sunday afternoon humor

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New video - Fireflight - For Those Who Wait

Photo caption fail

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Twitter for iPhone is great, but ...

Twitter for iPhone has finally arrived, and while it's a very slick app, I don't think it's going to replace TweetDeck on my iPod Touch anytime soon. Which is a shame, in a sense, because I really, really like the iPhone Twitter app. But TweetDeck (and HootSuite, which is my desktop social media interface of choice) has spoiled my iPhone tweeting experience by giving me the ability to update and monitor Twitter and Facebook at the same time. The iPhone Twitter app doesn't, which means I have to load the Twitter app and check it separately from the Facebook app. Sure, I can update Facebook from the Twitter app with the #fb tag and the Selective Tweets app in Facebook itself, but TweetDeck makes that unnecessary. Yeah, yeah, that's one of those "first-world" complaints, but it's also the way I use Twitter and Facebook now. I'll leave the iPhone Twitter app on my iPod for now, but I suspect it's not going to get a lot of use.

Hi, I'd like to cancel my newspaper

You would think that a struggling newspaper industry would bend over backwards to make its dwindling customer base happy. But our Edmonton Journal carrier keeps throwing the newspaper on our steps rather than put it in the mailbox, despite my repeated complaints to the Journal's circulation department. I'm now threatening to cancel my paper.

Weirdest. Search. String. Ever.

The funny Google searches that lead to this blog just hit a new peak: " bret hart survivor samoa "

Survivor: Heroes vs Villains - Finale

So here's the deal. I had to do some work tonight (my boss is in China and I was providing support) and had to pick up one of my kids from swimming so I missed almost all of the finale ... which is fine as I find the finales overly long and boring. The final three was Russell, Parvati and Sandra. Sandra won. Ick. A lame finish to a very fun season.

Sunday afternoon humor

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Mike's Mini Music Review - Austins Bridge - Times Like These

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So I get this CD in the mail to review (seriously... I'm actually starting to get review copies of albums now) and I look at and think, "CHRISTIAN COUNTRY MUSIC!? WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THIS!?" See, I'm NOT a country music fan. I don't "get" country music - it's all twangy and, well, twangy ... with pickup trucks. And words that rhyme with Tennessee. Nonetheless, I put it on my iPod and started listening to it during one my bike rides to work. And ... and ... I can't believe I'm going to say this ... I like it. Now, I'd like it a whole lot more if the same songs on this album were done, by, say, Skillet or something. I'm still not big on the "twang" element. And words that rhyme with Tennessee. But, gosh darn it, the songs themselves are fantastic. But just don't tell me it's country, though, OK.

Six second MMA knockout

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains - Episode 13

The penultimate episode of the season saw the 482nd hidden immunity idol played this season. Ah, hidden immunity idol, how you wreck havoc on perfectly laid plans. Sandra saved herself tonight by playing the idol, and poor Rupert was sent home. In the meantime, Russell formed and broke alliances with almost literally every other player remaining. I'm starting to think this guy actually has some holes in his game. If he makes it to the finals, he's not going to win. Sunday night: The finale - 10 minutes of content stretched out over 3 hours.

Spock beams down to Alberta

My favorite video of the day.

NHL schedule includes Winnipeg

CBC News - Manitoba - NHL schedule includes Winnipeg The NHL schedule makers have created an itinerary for the 2010-11 season that includes a team based out of Winnipeg. The schedule is a contingency plan as the future of the Phoenix Coyotes remains undecided, according to numerous media sources, including CBC Sports national reporter Teddy Katz. I've really never put a lot of credence in the "Coyotes back to Winnipeg!" stories because I've always thought that it was more wishful thinking than anything else, but, geez, maybe there's something to it after all. WEDNESDAY MORNING EDIT : Er, nevermind .

Lesnar vs. Carwin poster

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New Downhere song! "You're Not Alone" hits the Net

My favorite band in the whole wild world, Downhere, has a new song out called "You're Not Alone." Naturally, I love it. A great upbeat song from the guys.

The Amazing Race - Season Finale

The teams started their final leg by flying from China to San Francisco, which, sadly, did not solve the model's language barrier with the cab drivers. Go figure. The LucasFilm virtual reality challenge was easily the coolest thing they've done on the show. And it was more entertaining than The Phantom Menace, particularly when the Cowboys started trolling Dan and Jordan. Dan and Jordan were smart enough to write down all the legs of the race in anticipation of the traditional memory challenge in the last  leg - and they rocked it for the $1 million win. (Well, at least they've paid attention to how the game is played.) The Cowboys finished second. Brent and Caite may still be looking for their bags at LucasFilm. (Nice to see Carol and Brandy are still bitter. CATFIGHT!)

Sunday afternoon humor

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Fantastic MMA submission

Are You Ready For Your Bacon Latte?

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Bacon donuts. Bacon and egg burgers. Bacon cooked in a machine gun. Have we left anything out that might make your breakfast extra-super-bacony? Of course: bacon-flavored coffee! Thanks to the syrup sprites at Torani, this frontier has at last been breached, and bacon lattes are just a stirrer away. The syrup is available through Torani's web site for $6.95 a bottle. According to Torani: 'Bacon enthusiasts will recognize the same savory, meaty flavor as authentic bacon in this salty, sweet syrup. Torani Bacon syrup adds savory bacon flavor to cocktails, lattes, sauces and more. Just add 1/2 - 1 oz. of syrup to a 6-8 oz. beverage, and enjoy this innovative new flavor from Torani.' Torani kindly supplies recipes for such classic beverages as the Bacon Alexander and the Bacon Bourbon Sour, the latter of which includes bacon syrup, lemon juice, bourbon, and a strip of real bacon as a garnish. Yum! Bacon Syrup [Torani via Gizmodo ]

Survivor Heroes vs. Villains - Episode 12

It was double go-home week tonight. Candice was the first one voted out, which was unsurprising, given what happened last week with her basically burning her candle from both ends. And then the game got really weird. What should have been a straightforward vote for Rupert in the second Tribal Council turned into Russell trying to split up Pavarti and Danielle. The clumsiness with which he did it almost backfired, but Danielle's emotional breakdown at Tribal Council likely sealed her fate, and she was voted out, much to the dismay of Pavarti. Next week: Hey, here's a new plotline we've never seen before - Russell's on the outs and may go home!

New The Letter Black - There'll Come A Day

One of my faves from the new album.

Where to watch UFC 113 in Edmonton and Calgary

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It's UFC PPV weekend again, so if you're interested in going to see this show at a bar, here's my usual link .

Mike's Music Review - The Letter Black - Hanging On By A Thread

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My favorite up-and-coming band, The Letter Black , has finally released their much-anticipated new album (OK, it's out tomorrow, but I'm listening to a stream of it tonight.) At any rate, the good news is that it is quite worth the wait. This is a terrific album, and barring any kind of creative disasters in their future, I can't see why The Letter Black shouldn't have a long and successful career in Christian music. The album kicks off with the rocker "Fire With Fire" which sees the chorus as the weakest part of an otherwise fine little up-tempo power chord blaster. " Best of Me " is a great poppy song of which I've sung great praises already. The fact that the same band can do songs this different in style on the same album is pretty amazing in itself. But The Letter Black pulls it off without sounding like it's selling out its hard-rock pedigree for something more commercially acceptable for radio. Other highlights: "There...

The Amazing Race - Episode 11

The penultimate episode of TAR saw the alleged detectives provide anyone who was ever convicted with their evidence grounds for appeal all the way to the US Supreme Court. Really, guys. Using binoculars to find a bridge? IN SHANGHAI? And then Louie, detective AND "mathematical genius" couldn't count statues (or read clues). Appeal, wrongly convicted Americans! Appeal now! Brent actually thought he was praising his girlfriend by saying Caite isn't as dumb as everyone says she is ... And then she proved him wrong by incorrectly counting statues too! Hahahahahaha! Of course, she got even by refusing to let Brent go pee for what seemed like 6 hours until his kidneys exploded. (Just kidding.) (Kinda.) In the end, Brent and Caite finished 1st. The Cowboys were second and Dan and Jordan were third. The detectives finished last and are finally done. Hopefully they've used their binoculars to find the airplane back to the US. Next week: Someone wins a million buck...

Sunday afternoon humor

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Headline writing is a lost art

Man threatens girls with machete in Lethbridge schoolyard Quick: Who had the machete - the man or the girls?

Petra is back! No, the other Petra!

Jesusfreakhideout.com Music News, May 2010: "CLASSIC PETRA" LINEUP ANNOUNCE TOUR AND NEW RECORDING The latest band to join the ranks of the re-united is the original line-up of the classic rock band, Petra ! That's right, before John Schlitt was the band's signature frontman, diehard fans will remember that Greg X. Volz was the band's original singer. Now, the rock band is back together again - Greg, Louie Weaver (Drums), John Lawry (Keys, Vocals), Bob Hartman (Guitar, Vocals), and Mark Kelly (Bass, Vocals)!  See http://www.classicpetra.com/ for more details. Having seen the John Schlitt Petra in concert 3 times, I'd love to see the original band perform.

Epcor threatens to disconnect my 12-year-old?

As alluded to on Twitter , we had a funny incident with Epcor yesterday. I got home from work and my 12-year-old daughter indicated she had a voicemail on her cellphone that she didn't understand. So I dialed it up and there was a message from a very stern-sounding lady at Epcor informing my daughter in so many words that her account was past-due and that a disconnection notice was being served on her services, and that if she had any questions to call Epcor, and she provided a phone number. Of course, 12-year-olds don't have power bills with big utility companies so this was obviously a misdial of some kind. But I figured that the poor folks who were about to be cut off should at least get the same fair warning my 12-year-old did, so I called the number provided by the stern-sounding lady and very politely and even jovially informed them that they had just left a puzzling voicemail on my 12-year-old's cellphone about disconnecting her and, of course, this must be a mist...