Christmas tour (fixed)

On Saturday night, accompanied by my girlfriend, the lovely Quartz, I made my way to the NAC to see the Vinyl Cafe live.

Stuart McLean was awesome. The stories were awesome. The little live radio drama was awesome. The whole night was awesome.

Danny Michel was amazing.

We had great fun.

If you have the chance to see a Vinyl Cafe show, please go. The youngest person there was four and the oldest was ninety-four, so however old you are, you won't feel out of place.

Boarding

Oh, and another thing. The lady who called "all aboard" about six times before the departure of the train to Toronto at the Montréal station was far too unenthousiastic to my taste. "All aboard" should be called with gusto. It should be "ALL ABOARD!". Had I been due on that train, I would have seriously reconsidered my trip. Well, not really, but still.

Buses, trains and automobiles

I find myself apologizing once again to you, dear surfers for my infrequent posts. These are busy times and I don't find myself in front of a screen very often.

But on this glorious afternoon, time I have.

I find myself in New-Brunswick once again, for the fourth time this year. Fifth if you take into account that I left from my last Christmas trip after New Year's. This time, I did not come by car because driving for 11 hou rs straight in weather that always gets stormy when I need to such a trip just isn't as fun as it used to be.

This year, I took the bus to the train station and I took the train, or the train station as a cute little four year old kept calling it, to New-Brunswick. Assuming that you're able to sleep in a seat that is definitely not designed for that purpose, the train is a great alternative to taking the plane. You roll at night so you don't lose any daytime, and it's much cheaper.

Upon arriving here, my mom picked me up and I started the car leg of my journey. It lasted five minutes and was uneventful.

So there you have it friends. Buses, trains and automobiles. A trip that started at 1:50 yesterday afternoon and ended at 9:30 this morning.

Stay tuned for a report on the Ottawa stop of the Vinyl Cafe Christmas's tour. If you didn't see it, start regretting it now, it'll save you some time.

Happy holidays everyone.

Regulars

I realize that I have been a poor host; that you come to this page hoping to laugh a little, learn a little, or just to kill time, and that I have provided you with little means to do that lately. But do not despair. I can assure you that my head is full of crazy thoughts just waiting for a spot on this page. I just have to sort them all out and find a good way to introduce them.

I like this. Writing for everyone and no one. Think carefully about what I'm going to write next. You may know me. To this day only a couple of people know that I'm the author of this page, and I intend to keep it that way. So I could very well be one of your friends, one of your colleagues, one of your circus-mates. Isn't it exciting?

Pencils and erasers

We've all used them,

Pencils.

Some of us use them everyday, some of us use them on occasion, some of us haven't held one in our hands since finishing (or dropping out) of high school. After all, pens are much cooler than pencils.

Today I realized something very important, maybe. The makers of those generic yellow pencils with the little pink erasers are jokers. Really they are. They make fine pencils, pencils you could write all day with provided you have a pencil sharpener handy. But ever try to use the other end of it; the little pink nub that's supposed to make your mistakes dissapear? Of course you have; we all have. And surely most of us have regretted it.

Lets face it people, the pink erasers that come attached to the end of wooden pencils are practically useless. I don't say completely only because they do allow you to smudge your writings beyond recognition, which could be considered as erasing. But nobody wants smudges.

My question is why?

Why do pink erasers never work properly?
Why do manufacturers put them on the end of their pencils anyways?
I just thought of this, but why, if the pink erasers are made to erase use with a particular type of pencil or a particular type of paper, is that not clearly indicated on their packaging?

Because most of us will never stop trying out the little pink erasers when a trusty white one isn't available, which happens more often then you'd think, pencil manufacturers are jokers. They might also be the devil, but that's debatable.

Take care.

R.

Lions and Christmas trees

The first of December might not be an official date of any sort, but for many people around the world, it marks the official start of the Holidays. I say official because in Consumerland, which we all live in, the holiday season seems to begin when Halloween ends. On December first, people can finally let loose and do what they've been wanting to do for about two weeks: put up the Christmas tree.

I myself have never had a Christmas tree. It always seems unnecessary as I live alone, don't spend a lot of time at home and usually spend Christmas week at my folks' place. I do love Christmas though and always relish the sight of a decorated house.

This year, things went a little differently and I got to open the holiday season with my girlfriend by putting up her Christmas tree. It had been about six years since I'd last participated in such a ritual and I loved every moment of it.

Saturday night, I watched the tree glow and shine of its many lights and ornaments. I watched it as it glowed. I watched it as it shone. I watched it as it jingled a little. I watched it as it jingled a little more. I stopped watching it and went to remove from under the tree the cat which was causing the jingling.

Christmas time for pet owners is like war. Pets try to play with the giant pet toy which their owners have set up for them and owners look for ways to keep their pets out of their biggest Christmas decoration other than hiring a border guard.

If you have a lion, good luck...