I was cleaning / USB-vacuuming up my keyboard the other day (you know, underneath the keys). C said it looked scuzzy, so I decided I should clean it out. It had been a while since I'd cleaned it, after all. Now, a keyboard that's in a house with a cat, and in front of a guy who sometimes snacks at the computer... you'd be surprised how much dirt and fuzz can accumulate. It's gross, but have a look:


Blech. Fuzzcrumbs. You may want to clean out your own keyboard.

Is this not the friggin' coolest surprise or what?


Paige finds the coolest stuff. Thanks, Paige! I love it.
I'm going to have to scan this & print it to go next to my autographed Rocket Richard photo.

Oddly enough, on a related Rocket Richard note, one of my students sold me a few raffle tickets on a PEI Rocket jersey a couple / few weeks ago. And, as you figured out ('cause you're smart like that... plus, you can see the pic down there, Captain Obvious), I won! Wohoo! The jersey's, like, $120 or something, and it's autographed by Lessard (their captain, and Senators draft choice) and Lafleur (Flyers pick? Handrahan, you'd know). It's my lucky week!



----------------
Now playing: Bob and Doug McKenzie - Twelve Days of Christmas
via FoxyTunes

A co-worker of mine told me something on Friday, and I can't, for the life of me, get it out of my head. I hope this helps.

She's from Newfoundland, and she said it's "the shortest Newfie conversation."

"Arn smarn?"
"Narn Smarn."

Translation:
"Herring this morning?"
"No herring this morning."

Arn smarn? Narn Smarn.

On a not-good note - and this might've been the thing I tried to remember last time (can't remember, of course) - a musical favourite and acquaintance of mine, Jeff Healey, is not doing so well these days. When Healey was quite young, he lost his vision/eyes to cancer. What he didn't know until very recently was that people with this type of cancer have a 50% chance that it'll reappear somewhere, sometime later in life. Apparently, he's had a couple of tumors removed from one leg, and is undergoing treatment on another before having it removed. Also, the cancer has appeared in his lungs and liver. It sure doesn't sound good, but he says he feels fine and all. He continues to work and be busy. Oh, and as I checked the link to make sure his writings were still there & current (and they are), I saw another noteworthy piece of info...

It may shock the majority of you to know that, during all I'm going through health wise, I'm being pursued for money by Tom Stephen, former drummer for the Healey band and former business partner in Forte records.
Despite the fact that I handled the pay-back of about a quarter of a million dollars in debts owed by Forte records upon their demise--something that has not been made absolutely official, as Mr. Stephen refuses to O.K. the paperwork to do so--Mr. Stephen feels that I owe him money for... well, being me, I guess. He seems to feel that his association with me means a lifetime of being taken care of financially by yours truly. He was just found guilty of insurance fraud here in Toronto.
He had claimed that he was physically unable to play the drums (a fact that most of us were a painfully aware of during his agonizing (to others) performing career).

He further went on to claim that he was physically unable to earn money at all. In short, these claims were thrown out of court, and he was ordered to pay back the insurance company the money he has thus far embezzled from them. It takes all kinds to make up this interesting world of ours, ladies and gentlemen. I wish I didn't have to have met some of the characters I have over the years.

Wow. Scuzzbag! I wonder if I should put a paper bag over his head in the Healey Band 8x10 on my wall... I'll do this for the moment, anyway.

Oh, 'tis the season for this and that, ain't it? Like procrastination! It's always the season for procrastination. At least in my world.

I finally got the Barber/Cousins/Smith Christmas CD I told you about a while ago. Last week, I went to get it at one of the two Lawton's in town. When I went in, I looked around & saw a couple of different CD displays, but didn't see the CD. I looked around the cash registers and saw nothing... except for a woman who had two of them on the counter, and a girl at the till on the phone.

"Excuse me, where did you find those?" I asked.
"These are the last two. I've been here to buy some three times already. They sold out in, like, two days. She's phoning downtown to see if there are any more," she replied.
"You gluttonous, music-hoarding bitch," I thought.

I hoped that she'd recognize my need, and in the spirit of the season let me have one of hers, but no such luck. I went downtown and they had none. I went home sans disque. This week, thankfully, Carolyn found & picked one up for me. In a Christmas-y nutmeggy nutshell, it's good! There's a few songs that are quite good, but the real gem (I think) is "It Snowed" by Meaghan Smith. I'd never heard of her before this CD, but now, I'm a potential fan.
____

As I was writing down notes about the time of first contact between Europeans and the First Nations peoples of Atlantic Canada, I corrected the book which said Europeans started arriving in the early 1500s. I mentioned how the Vikings landed in Newfoundland much earlier but never really spread. I wrote on the board that they arrived roughly 1000 A.D.

"What's the A.D. stand for?" asked one.
"Doesn't it mean 'after death'?" asked another.
"No," I said, "It stands for 'anno domini'," as I wrote it down on the board.
Another student asked, "Does that have anything to do with pizza?"

Now, there's not too many times when students will actually make me laugh, but I couldn't help myself on this one.

Laughing, I said, "Not unless Jesus is bringin' you your pepperoni... I bet he'd get it there in under 30 minutes, though, for sure." I then, of course, had to explain & write down what it really meant.

Hmm... I forgot what I was going to post about here today. I did have something interesting, I swear. Lemme go through recent stuff & see if it jogs my non-existent short-term memory.

• Signed up for the spring trip today. Since C goes for free, it's kind of like a 2-fer, thank God, 'cause it's expensive as fuck. High-priced, kind, too. Not some unclassy shag in an alleyesque space between two houses near the CN Pensioner's Club. The 12 days (a few of which are just getting to places) costs over $3900. I'm sure it'll be awesome and all... I just don't love the idea of basically wiping out most of our savings for this. I always feel better with some "safety" money on hand. Anyway, enough of that.
• Been looking at online shopping places. www.hammacher.com and www.gifts.com have some cool stuff. Depending on duty & taxes, we may get the device that converts slides and negatives into digital pics. I'd also like the vinyl & tape to mp3 converters, but, hey... I'm feeling poorer now, so no.
• Remembrance Day was nice in some ways yesterday. Went out to Cardigan, as is my custom. R. Day wouldn't be the same without hearing N. Ross do In Flanders Fields. I was just wishing someone was there to tape / videorecord him doing that. It was indoors (church was packed), and perfect. The man's 96 or 97 now. He won't be able to do it forever. A former classmate of mine, and current soldier, D. MacIntyre got up to speak. Pretty honest & moving. Nice one, Dan. After some lunch at home, we went to Claire's for grand uncle Mickey's R.D. party. Some music, a little food, and some rum, and all is well. R. Day wouldn't be the same without this, and getting to see Mickey. He looked well, which was good. RD is getting to be a bit more of a build-up for me every year, too. I just get all reminiscent and nostalgic and sappy and proud, thinking of my own grandpa, a vet of WW2, who passed away just over seven years ago.
  
• We had scads of snow on Saturday night, and it's flurried most of the day. It appears snowtime is upon us. The newly-created duck ponds across from our house are filling up nicely, though.
• Saw Drew on TPIRight for the first time today. He was good. It doesn't feel right, but he's OK. I think he'll grow into it
• Watched Hot Fuzz on Saturday night. Overall, a very good watch. The first 3/4 are good, and the last quarter is just freakin' awesome. Should you watch it? Yarp. Those of you who've seen it already will get this.
• I have a fair bit of schoolwork to do, which I haven't touched. I really don't want to go near it. Work on nights & weekends just seems wrong. There oughtta be a law or rule against it.
• We've been looking for a nativity scene / set. I've looked online and in town. No nice ones, for a good price, can be found.
• 4-day week this week. Next week, for me, is a 3-day one. Then, it's, what... 4 weeks 'til Christmas? Bitchin'.
• I want to play Super Mario Galaxy. Must... send... Wii... but cannot tear it away! I got 20 in the Wii "fitness" test today. It's the lowest age possible, so that was nice.
• Still have a slight lead in the hockey pool.
  

Hmm... it still hasn't come to me. If I think of the entertaining / interesting bit(s) later, I'll fill you in.

In the mood for some swingin' Christmas sounds? Head on over to Maple Music and get yourself the new holiday release by Colin James & his Little Big Band. It just got released Tuesday. Should be a good one. Oh, and if you act fast, the first 400 orders at MM get a signed copy, plus some chances at prizes.

On a totally unrelated note, a lot of you (considering you're here) would probably find this funny:

Sometimes you come across a song that is just so good, you play the Hell out of that one song, over and over again. On that New Pornographers CD I won last week, there exists such a song. The title track of the CD, "Challengers", is fantastic. Check it out. Oh, and, Rox... it's Neko that sings this one. ;)



Sing along!

Yes I know it was late
We were greeting the sun
Before long
And you live with someone
I live with somebody too
Leave it there
For safe keeping
One of the west village in plains
That was the custom
Come dawn

On the walls of the day
In the shade of the sun
We wrote down
Another vision of us
We were the challengers of
The unknown
"Be safe" you say
Whatever the mess you are you mind okay
That is the custom
On down

Na-na na-na na-na na-na na-na
Na-na na-na na-na na-na na-na...

Until I see you around
Until we clear the accounts
Leave it there
Leave it to us
We are the challengers of
The unknown

Oh-la, oh-la, oh-la, oh-la
Oh-la, oh-la, oh-la, oh-la

At home, in the evenings, I'm drinking a bit more beer than normal lately. Normal being hardly ever, any increase would be pretty much more than normal. No real (stress-related) reason, I just like it. You see, I had some beers saved up from my birthday as well as a recent trip C took to the mainland. I like getting different international beers and trying them out. Lately I've been testing everything from stuff with floaties at the bottom (so, technically, sinkies, I guess), stuff made in abbeys by monks / trappist beers, stuff in large bottles, cans, reds, pales, whatever. Tonight I'm drinking a beer that's been painted by Manet & Picasso, loved by Napolean, served on the Titanic, and taken on the Antarctic expedition by Sir Ernest Shakelton. Since it was first brewed in 1777, it's become, apparently, the UK's #1 beer export, selling in over 30 countries. It's Bass. And it's good. That is all. For (hic!) now.