tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90984330712432901282024-03-12T18:57:11.779-06:00is this life?This is a blog that I created in 2007 about the world with all of its wonders and atrocities.file13http://www.blogger.com/profile/04254858915038434461noreply@blogger.comBlogger137125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9098433071243290128.post-68838112522113465952021-02-08T21:24:00.003-07:002021-02-08T21:24:44.304-07:0013-12-20. days go by(e).We're here 347 days into the year. This also happens to be 274 days of being a parent alongside my wife. Therefore it's been 272 days since coronavirus really started making some debilitating steam here in Alberta. The 1st 3 of the 274 days were a manner of turning off from the outside world while we nervously awaited our bundle of joy to join us on this place called earth, and carefully driving file13http://www.blogger.com/profile/04254858915038434461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9098433071243290128.post-30654021978339018052020-12-12T14:46:00.000-07:002020-12-12T14:46:03.965-07:002020 Blog Post #3. 2020 Blog Post #3.
With great sadness, we announce that Norman (Norm) Hale passed away peacefully in his home Monday morning surrounded by family. To Norman, family was more than blood relatives, as he spent 30 years working as a foster parent with his wife of 48 years, Marlene. Together Norman and his wife provided a loving and welcoming home to all who entered it.Norman made countless file13http://www.blogger.com/profile/04254858915038434461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9098433071243290128.post-8590944730932240452020-08-15T22:36:00.005-06:002020-08-15T23:02:07.788-06:00What A Time To Be Alive.I lost my the first draft attempt at writing this blog post close to 4 months ago. I won't blame that on the coronavirus, or anything at all, but rather I'll stick to being gracious for the time that I've had to digest the world we are living in today. It amounts to a little more than appreciating the fact that my family is happy and healthy and relatively self-sufficient in this time of file13http://www.blogger.com/profile/04254858915038434461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9098433071243290128.post-32224109827063286502020-01-03T16:42:00.001-07:002020-01-05T16:33:00.922-07:00What Was 20192019 was a lot of things. It was learning that an uncle like a father likely has esophageal cancer, it was learning that a friend from junior high school took his own life, it was learning that the most passionate friend from engineers without borders succumb to brain cancer.
It was spending my 6th Christmas with my wife. It was getting not 1 new car but 2! It was traveling to Arizona and file13http://www.blogger.com/profile/04254858915038434461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9098433071243290128.post-48273569247818283822019-12-17T09:12:00.002-07:002019-12-29T11:26:17.207-07:00Guilty of Being White, Sentenced to Work on Enjoying the Best Life I Can (in a Pretty Messed Up World)What a clumsy blog post title. I must be out of practice.
So I am bringing a child into this world. Well, technically my wife is, but I am a part of that happening, and will be a large part of the time (25-55 years) that follows. Honestly, I am a very very excited man, who is joining his wife for her first scan tomorrow.
This is all happening to 2 young, white, professional Canadians in afile13http://www.blogger.com/profile/04254858915038434461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9098433071243290128.post-51692944118365708442019-01-28T08:34:00.000-07:002019-01-28T18:37:16.516-07:00One Post A Year, OK?
2018 had a post. Good job. Now it's 2019. So I better make another post. About 2018. ...But there's just so many other things I ought to be doing rather than blogging! Life always gets busy. I know there's ways of freeing up more time -- only if I ever used that will power to commit to it. Accomplish more. New Year's Resolutions, yes, and just all the other day-to-day crap that would file13http://www.blogger.com/profile/04254858915038434461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9098433071243290128.post-73341954704113661472018-01-09T00:11:00.001-07:002018-01-09T16:07:33.548-07:00A Top 10 List cuz 5's are for Fighting.
This was going to be a Top 5 List only but after just having watched a preview of an upcoming Letterman special on Netflix, I was inspired to add the 2nd half of it, just like all those Late Show Top 10 Lists we all grew to love so much.
I breezed over a handful of solid releases from 2017 in the previous post, which more or less re-emphasized everybody else's favourite releases of the year. file13http://www.blogger.com/profile/04254858915038434461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9098433071243290128.post-66930926955220000002017-12-17T09:53:00.005-07:002017-12-22T08:00:40.409-07:002017 Was A Joyous Year, Too
Wow I reviewed my blog and indeed 1 year ago, I posted about how 2016 was reckoned by many to be The Worst Year Ever Or Whatever. Nothing's changed. 2017, I admit, was a doozie - BUT - sometimes I feel it's just the nature of human beings (or media?) to identify with the shittiest of things in order to boost their outlooks of their own personal lives. Yes. Trump became presidentfile13http://www.blogger.com/profile/04254858915038434461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9098433071243290128.post-41986853026474692962017-12-17T08:04:00.002-07:002017-12-17T08:04:21.679-07:00Phase III Begins (AKA my Wedding post)MY STORY CONTINUES...
When I look at my life, it is easy for me to split it up into phases. The first: Years 1 thru 18. A generally genuinely healthy childhood filled with hockey and cartoons and mickey mouse and school. The 2nd phase includes my young "adult" life: learning how to drink beer, getting through the distressing implications of failing university exams, figuring out how to talk to file13http://www.blogger.com/profile/04254858915038434461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9098433071243290128.post-49635446118723732882017-09-04T18:57:00.002-06:002017-09-22T22:03:08.259-06:00Remembering RockFest
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Well in that case, it’s good that I didn’t spend my stag weekend in Vegas! No, I didn’t bring Syphllis home, not Mono, or not even a hangover. But rather, I did bring home some epic memories from my trip to Quebec late last month with 2 of the best friends a guy could ask for! And thanks to the onset of Instagram, a lot of public record has been file13http://www.blogger.com/profile/04254858915038434461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9098433071243290128.post-73682635715066221722017-04-09T09:06:00.000-06:002017-04-09T09:08:36.682-06:00Dear Peter Mansbridge:
Today we celebrate The Dominion of Canada going to WAR 100 years ago. Canada was 1 of over 20 countries that participated in the Great War and were pretty small-beans, as remembered by the History of the World anyways. According to Wikipedia:
"A smaller part of the Arras offensive, the capture of Vimy Ridge by the Canadian Corps, became highly significant to that country: the idea thatfile13http://www.blogger.com/profile/04254858915038434461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9098433071243290128.post-75038041071362297692017-03-25T22:53:00.001-06:002017-03-25T22:53:56.032-06:00Bringing Back The Blog, Eh?!December 27th I published a blog in which I talked about bringing back the blog.Since then, I have published two: One, a list of 30 albums with a brief commentary and the second, a list of 15 bands that I don't listen to with an even briefer explanation for each. I conclude with how despite my non-interest in Pennywise that I would go to Punk Rock Bowling for my stag and enjoy them anyways.I file13http://www.blogger.com/profile/04254858915038434461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9098433071243290128.post-2845838042857642992017-01-03T22:04:00.003-07:002017-01-03T22:45:59.255-07:00My Favourite Bands Are BoringI am not necessarily going into this blogging thing totally half-hearted second time round. And I am starting to generate a few more ideas about things that I could rant about here.
But.
Right now the pressing things on my mind include all the big music lists that people post (probably too much about) and that has inspired me to continue my OWN list of a different variety!
It's not to say file13http://www.blogger.com/profile/04254858915038434461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9098433071243290128.post-82215187236942758542016-12-28T18:37:00.002-07:002016-12-31T07:51:24.916-07:00Your Favourite Band Sucks
Blog resurgence Post #2. A lot of people have been posting their favourite albums from 2016 this entire month. Though a lot of these lists come from people that only listen to 1-to-3 styles of music, I find value in them anyways. Few break that mold and list bands outside the punk / skatepunk / melodic hardcore / hardcore genres. Really, it's a damn' shame I haven't listened to more of file13http://www.blogger.com/profile/04254858915038434461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9098433071243290128.post-59611461864519150152016-12-27T23:33:00.002-07:002016-12-28T01:03:31.170-07:002016: #worstyearever or whateverFuck it, I'm re-starting my blog. And heaven knows how long it will last for this time. Before taking a year and a half off, I published 137 blogs over a period of 7 or so years and started writing a handful more.
My decision to start blogging again came out of many things. One being my fiancé, who has been encouraging me to start writing again. Another is my motivation from all file13http://www.blogger.com/profile/04254858915038434461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9098433071243290128.post-25068219108480372412014-07-08T14:42:00.001-06:002014-07-09T09:53:03.485-06:00Festival Fantasy
The year was 2014. A resurgence of bands of this calibre and style from both 20 and 30 years ago had never been been anticipated as Punk Rock was deemed to be all but dead. But these bands were not only back now, they were thriving. Hell, they were throbbing! And they were all coming to a quaint, quiet Quebec community on the summer solstice - ready to rrrrrock! Initially, I file13http://www.blogger.com/profile/04254858915038434461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9098433071243290128.post-77515055514242224612014-06-28T16:17:00.001-06:002014-07-08T18:17:20.052-06:00Traveling Alone?15 years I lived my life with a Mom and a Grandma. 15 more years I lived it with a Mom. I wasn't quite 30 actually, when my Mom passed away from cancer this past February. The 6 months prior to that were real hard. The 6 weeks - say last Christmas season - was also pretty tough, sad. The last 6 days, I didn't leave the house once. 6 days after my Mom died, I had to just "get away" from all of it,file13http://www.blogger.com/profile/04254858915038434461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9098433071243290128.post-61304236562362592372013-11-26T02:37:00.001-07:002014-07-08T18:20:16.172-06:00Embracing My Values
One of the good things about getting old is learning what in this world you really, really don't like. Or at the very least, we learn better what limits we find tolerable according to each of our own personalities; as well as to what extent we perceive to be unacceptable behaviour in others. I couldn't believe how rude the 20 year old girl was towards the person working the till file13http://www.blogger.com/profile/04254858915038434461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9098433071243290128.post-69059205578007069042013-10-25T00:56:00.003-06:002013-11-04T23:09:57.130-07:00You'll Be My Friend Til' The End, Right?
Chapter 37.
5 years ago I started compiling a list of the people I admire. No, not people like Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Stephen Lewis, or even Oprah. It was a list of REAL people like co-workers, classmates, friends, and even some teachers I've had over the years. It was a list of people that I had the privilege of getting to know a little bit more file13http://www.blogger.com/profile/04254858915038434461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9098433071243290128.post-59067671419956580612013-04-21T01:13:00.002-06:002014-07-08T18:21:06.764-06:00You sound like a broken record.
Over the past few weeks, the online community has become inundated with posts and shares and invites from musicians and bands to attend today's International Record Store Day... "Come out and buy your rare, unique, hard-to-find vinyl & support your local independent record shop while your at it!" The idea has it's merits: get consumers to spend on what many often view as a dying industry. file13http://www.blogger.com/profile/04254858915038434461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9098433071243290128.post-62694244594707206692013-01-26T03:23:00.001-07:002014-07-08T18:21:55.705-06:00Too Late, No Friends
Do you want to be my friend? I swear I will be a good friend. I will return texts right away, I will let you know when your favourite gin goes on sale, I will pick up your mail when you are on vacation, I will not sleep with your wife when you are working on the road, I will send you the latest new music you know I know you want to hear, I will ask you your thoughts on war and peace. I will file13http://www.blogger.com/profile/04254858915038434461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9098433071243290128.post-86759708566562105912012-11-17T01:15:00.003-07:002013-11-04T22:19:42.095-07:00Leave it alone.<!--[if gte mso 9]>
Normal
0
false
false
false
EN-US
X-NONE
X-NONE
<![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]>
file13http://www.blogger.com/profile/04254858915038434461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9098433071243290128.post-7277324285275279322012-09-24T13:05:00.001-06:002012-10-06T00:04:14.458-06:00Dad's Bad News
A while back I wrote about the necessity of extremism in today's world despite the endless common sense arguments about it. Everything in moderation especially moderation, right?
I have also written about temperance, self control, and patience and how these are characteristics that do not exist any more.
Well this is a quick blog about these 2 key concepts and how they tie together on file13http://www.blogger.com/profile/04254858915038434461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9098433071243290128.post-18908185968833019362012-08-11T01:23:00.001-06:002013-01-13T00:34:41.176-07:00Professional Punkers, you say...
I think in life I try to seek too many meanings in things. I tend to interpret the most obvious things that do not require any form of interpretation whatsoever. Double-meanings. Hidden messages. The idiocy and brilliance of oxy-morons. I try to turn black white and stone to dust. I also have a bad habit of hearing what I want to hear rather than what the file13http://www.blogger.com/profile/04254858915038434461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9098433071243290128.post-4528056528707791052012-08-07T23:52:00.000-06:002013-11-04T22:19:42.080-07:00Family Matters
Family Matters could be in the running for one of the Top 10 sit-coms of the late 80s and early 90s: better than Who's the Boss but not quite as good as Fresh Prince. This show has probably ended up consuming at least a good 150 hours of my life. Maybe 300. But you know what? I'm not a worse person because of it. Sit-coms in general, are a mindless escape from the file13http://www.blogger.com/profile/04254858915038434461noreply@blogger.com0