Stereos?

Alright, we don't have cable, not because we're elitist, but because we're cheap. Yep. But while staying in Whistler (ahhh) this past summer, Chris and myself watched TV. Alot of downtime TV watching. Cake Boss and Joes vs. Pros were the favorites. While flipping through, we watched MuchMusic, and this AWFUL band was on, Stereos. They were covered in cheesy tattoos, Basketball Jerseys, and all the vocals were Auto Tune. Have you heard these guys? This has to be the shittest Canadian music, since, well, Edwin, Tea Party, Matthew Good Band and Moist. Actually, I think the shittiness is worse than that, more on the Celine Dion level of having to apologize to those outside Canada.

Anyways, this isn't new, but Jack White seems to always be relevant. Whether it was pretending to be his ex-wife's brother, working with Loretta Lynn, or marrying a supermodel on the banks of the amazon, he's always doing something pretty cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7QSkI6My1g

Garlic Festival

Well, I guess it was about 6 weeks ago now (blogs are great for procrastination), but this kid, WAS.AWESOME. Seriously, if I were 15 instead of pushing 30, I would totally want to be friends with this gem (at my current age, I think it would be not only creepy and weird, but illegal). The green hair and the 'I know Jack Schitt' shirt -which had the whole 'Jack Schitt' story on the back - this kid is going to really blossom when he gets into college. We all know that guy, the funniest guy on the Rez floor. Jesus, I bet this kid can't wait to leave for the big city, but soon little caterpillar, you'll be a hilarious beer bonging toga wearing RA.

40 Reasons Not to Have Kids

My friend Jenn lent me this book which was recently translated into English and published over in the North American market. The author, Corinne Maier wrote the 2004 book Bonjour paresse (Hello Laziness) - which pretty much calls bullshit on corporate mission statements and the thought there are thousands of Dilbert's punching away at keyboards, being productive (most liekly they're Wiki-ing obscure movies and facts). "40 Reasons..." makes perfectly good sense, (Maier is a mother of 2 and when interviewed on Q said her kids were too busy with Harry Potter books to bother reading her's), ever been to a house with kids and the parents are alternating telling you how awesome the experience of parenthood is while yelling at the kids trying to set the cat on fire? Jesus Christ, children are vicious! Recess? Brutal. Getting picked (or not) for teams? Coming down with measles and mumps? Maybe my childhood was shittier than yours, but kids are entertaining little beings, but they're also vindictive ("You're going to get a time out if you keep punching your sister! I mean it!"), manipulative, and downright nasty at times. I guess this book won't sway people out of their breeding (or not) program, but it's refreshing to actually hear things that most parents won't say out of fear of being branded "selfish" or "terrible". Also Corrine Maier is hilarious and bitter, if you get to read or hear an interview with her it's always entertaining!

Dutch Ovens

I guess I should know they actually exist, but it's still wicked funny:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_oven

Dr. Doom

Permabear - I get told I'm a pessimist, or gloomy gus, esp. during the boom with the home buying craze....seriously, a celebrity steps out without underwear and BAM! on PerezHilton within seconds (camera phones - like that Streets song). So seriously, was it that much of a surprise? All I heard was mumbling of India and China....
Here's a profile of Dr. Doom aka Dr. Nouriel Roubini
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/magazine/17pessimist-t.html

I'm going with 'skeptical realist', but it means that since I predicted the economic meltdown, I'm always right in my house. Swish....!

haven't written for a looong time

Watching APEGBC's Ethics DVD. It's actually pretty interesting stuff, but I was thinking back to an article from 2004, post-Enron. Maybe it was MacLean's. But the point was that for most of the populuation ethics are a grey area. 20% of the population will do the right thing ALL of the time. That's the 20% we all hope are our police, teachers, doctors, political leaders, and the people that date our kids are. 20% of the population will do what suits them best - ie: the "off moral compass", the Gordon Gekko's, Bernie Madoff's of the world. And the remainder, 60% of the population is morally flexible, and hence this is how the Enron/current world economic situation has evolved.

A good example would be the "cash back" example that I'm sure we have all been in. Picture this; early morning at a busy coffee shop and the cashier/barista is overwhelmed (I've been on both sides of the counter and can whip up a great espresso). You order your Mocha Choco Latte with extra foam, and it comes to $5.35. You hand over a $5 bill and a $1 coin (okay, loonie), but instead of $0.65 back, the frazzled server gives you $5.65 back. What do you do?
a). Promptly tell her/him you have received too much change and hand over the $5?
b). Stash the $5 and hurry off, stoked to have gotten the little windfall at 6:45am on a Tuesday.
c). Mumble thanks and in your mind promise a good tip next morning. After all, the coffee shop won't miss it. And aren't they a giant corporation?

The first 2 answers are fairly obvious as to what category the answerer falls into, but the third is the grey zone, the "Well, just this one time" mentality, and while it's definitely a grey area (it's only $5 afterall), when things compound 3.6 billion times, opps.

Well, 1 blog follower, Chris, Kyuss and myself are off to Kamloops to ride epic singletrack and hang out with Matty D. Sickter!

Dan Deacon's album 'Crystal Cat' was left in the truck a few months back while visiting our friend Matty D in Kamloops. Wham City is his favorite song, and here he's translated the garden gnome lyrics so everyone can sing along at a house party. Yeah Matty!