My brother is getting married!
Now last I remembered… there was talk of it being on the beach in Mexico?
Archive for the ‘life or something like it’ Category
weddings
Posted in life or something like it, tagged Caitlin, CJ, Mexico, Wedding on July 30, 2009| Leave a Comment »
So I always get nostalgic with that song
Posted in life or something like it, WWJD?, tagged Americans, bible, Big Wreck, CBC, Christianity, Coquitlam, finances, heat, Money, Proverbs, Scooters, sleep, sun, That Song, The National, tips on July 29, 2009| 6 Comments »
“The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.” – Proverbs 22:7
***
Whoa, I watching the National last night when they did a segment on biblical scripture being used for financial planning. Who could think I’d get inspiration from not only the Christian Church but also Americans for financial reform?
***
Its bloody hot out! Its all anyone talks about on their twitter feeds, or facebook or on the radio.
Whenever it gets this hot out, I always remember listening to Big Wreck’s “That Song” as a seventeen or eighteen-year-old kid. It was insanely hot that summer and the family stereo was in the living room of my parent’s place in Coquitlam, the hottest room of the house. I put the song on repeat and just lay on the floor jamming it out.
Now to this day, the song reminds me of summer… but the lazy, hazy late afternoon summer days. Hanging out at home, bored and waiting for something to happen, which is basically the best times as a teenager.
This hot weather reminds me how much I truly enjoy my scooter. It is just plain fun tooling around on that thing in the summer time.
The one issue we’re having at the Casa La CorJ is sleep (oh and lack of sex, Coral won’t let me touch her in this heat!).
I read about some neat innovations and I think I want to MacGyver something up tonight.
One method calls for filling a pan or bucket with ice, then placing the bucket in front of the fan, like a poor man’s air conditioner… and if there is one thing I am, its a poor man!
The article had more than a couple tips so I am sure I’ll find something that works.
Go with yourself.
serfs and ewoks
Posted in ...this is your father speaking, life or something like it, tagged 16 and Pregnant, Children, Elaine Lui, ewoks, Lainey Gossip, MacLeans, parenting, serfs on July 27, 2009| 1 Comment »
“I know what’s going on here Amanda. You’re racist to ewoks! And I’m an ewok.” – some dude high on mushrooms
***
“The serf worked harder than the others, and was the worst fed and paid (…)” – Wikipedia entry on Serfdom
***
Coral and I were in Vancouver this past weekend to attend my cousin Monica’s wedding. It was a great party held way up high on Grouse Mountain.
After the reception, it was time to hop on the boat and return to Victoria for another week of work and life. I wanted to grab a magazine to read to while away the time and a MacLean’s magazine caught my eye.
“A new manifesto argues that parenting is bad for your career, your marriage, your bank book, and your love life.”
That’s all MacLeans could come up with? Shit man, the list is a lot longer than that. Coral said I shouldn’t bother getting the magazine because we already have a child so what’s the point. But I figured it would be full of all sorts of research explaining exactly how bad kids are for society… then with some clever reverse engineering I could at least be aware or best case, combat the “effects” of being a parent.
Turns out there was little of that in the article. The piece was basically a wah-wah-wah from couples trying to justify why they don’t want kids. The poster child for a child free world was introduced as Elaine Lui, aka Laineygossip aka that chick from eTalk Daily. Her argument is; “my life is so fabulous, why would I muck it up with kids?”
I hear ya sista, hope Johnny Handsome in the picture wraps it up each and every time. She says on her blog:
I was interviewed for the piece because, as you know, my womb is frozen like Nicole Kidman’s forehead. By choice. And it’s the choice that’s the crux of it. Because while I applaud and admire you for making the choice to have babies, the same respect is not afforded those who choose not to, and oftentimes they’re made to feel that somehow their lives and their experiences are not as valued or as meaningful as motherhood.
uh, what respect? You should be respected because you chose a life of spontaneous vacations and an overflowing bank account? Don’t worry about it so much. Raising kids is hard, week long all-inclusives in Mexico are awesome… settle down. If you feel like breeders (or minivans as she refers to, I guess people like me… even though I rock a Jeep but whatever, stereotypes are fun, I get it) are giving you a hard time, don’t worry about it. You have perky tits and no crayon marks all over your couch. Her best point is, its the year 2009 and women are free to do whatever they like and society shouldn’t judge. I’d argue, um we’re not. The childless (or child free as they’d liked to be called) make the best aunts and uncles!
From there the article quotes a variety of satirists and PHDers trying to explain why they are happy without kids and debunks the myths that they’ll be unhappy in old age or lonely.
Nothing too new is explained in the article. Kids are expensive and you’ll have a harder time fucking around. For that sacrifice, you can look forward to one day having your kids grow up and disappoint you. (you mean its possible that Madelyn will not live up to my expectation of being a doctor on a spaceship?).
Kids are a lot of work and anyone with one would tell you that… so what does MacLean’s add to the discussion? Well I found a couple points that made me go hmmm.
Number One
The higher a woman’s education the less likely she is to have children. Uh oh, the best women out there are not procreating… Looks like we have a few more seasons of MTV’s “16 and Pregnant” to look forward. Oi that sucks. Your local family doctor is not making any more families, but the Duggers can’t be stopped.
Number Two
Many parents use having kids as an excuse to give up on their own lives and dreams.
whoa…
MacLean’s had no “facts” to back that up, but the line made me pause to ponder. An interesting thought to dwell on and think about. Having kids will sap your money and ladies… its gunna kick your body’s ass to birth a living mammal creature… that we know and can manage, but trying to keep the fire alive and burning AND raise up a productive future tax payer is the real challenge. Can the two be reconciled? I guess I’ll let you know when I write my memoirs as an old man.
I’ll say this, babies are cute as hell and (generally) smell great.
Go with yourself.
East
Posted in life or something like it, tagged Edmonton on July 15, 2009| 1 Comment »
Off to the City of Champions.
Talk at you next week. Thank you for reading my blog.
Go with yourself.
Your Audience is Out There, Eat Their Brains!
Posted in life or something like it, neat-O gang, radio, tagged advertising, Comics, Dead Eyes Open, Grapic Novel, Low Powered, LPFM, Marketing, Matt Shepherd, radio, Zombie on July 13, 2009| Leave a Comment »
I’ve always had the idea or the dream to start my own radio station. You know, be the creator, not the labour. The barriers to fire up your very own flamethrower are significant if your name is not Ted Rogers but I don’t think it is impossible.
I have a couple theories on how I’d do it on a small scale that could/should earn me a living while providing a unique radio experience for whoever is in range to tune in.
Last night I was up late researching some technologies to launch my station and also reading about the riveting world of radio advertising.
While researching how much radio costs, and why it is effective… I somehow spun off topic into the world of Zombie comic publishing.
Turned out to be an inspiring read from a man that created a comic that is a little avant garde by even Zombie comic readers standards.
He posted on a forum looking for advise on how to market his quirky comic. His elevator pitch was brutal so it is hard for me to explain what his comic is about (which maybe is step one for the man), but the advise from the community was/is great.
Low-Cost Marketing Ideas for an Off-Beat Graphic Novel
The authors name is Matt Shepherd and his day job is as an advertising copy writer, nice. By night, he makes comics.
His Zombie comic is Dead Eyes Open and from what I can gather, its a Zombie comic about a man who is a rational father, but also a member of the undead! ahhhhhh!
Matt, being the artist has created a world, found a publisher, published his book, was not happy with its sales, took matters into his own hands and went vigilante marketer.
He now posts his comic for free on the above Dead Eyes Open link for you to read with artists commentary and of course… a link to buy it, if you like Matt’s comic.
What I liked about reading all the ideas on marketing and reading Matt’s story is the possibility. Matt had a unique idea, was passionate about it, and did it. He found an audience for his very bizarrely special story. There is an audience out there for every story.
Go with yourself.
Look Ma! I is in the paper
Posted in life or something like it, tagged Coral, Jeremy Baker, Madelyn, Mike Devlin, Newspaper, The Zone @ 91-3, Times-Colonist on July 8, 2009| 5 Comments »
Victoria’s modern rock radio station,
The Zone’s afternoon drive host Jeremy Baker
Photograph by: Bruce Stotesbury, Times Colonist
Plugged in to the music
Disc Jockey, blogger and podcaster Jeremy Baker
keeps finger on pulse of local rock scene
By Mike Devlin,
TimesColonist.com
July 8, 2009
Jeremy Baker has listened to more music, written more words, and digested more news by mid-afternoon than your average music fan does in a day, myself included.
For that, I hate his bloody overachieving guts.
Baker, 29, hosts the afternoon drive show (3-7 p.m.) on the Zone, the city’s modern rock station. His irreverent on-air chatter is only part of the package: Within the span of any given week, Baker also writes five blogs, DJ’s for at least one club, and creates Capital Rock City, a half-hour podcast spotlighting local music.
“You have friends who start doing something then stop, because they don’t get the payoff. That’s backwards,” Baker says. “You’ve got to keep going.”
Every conversation I’ve ever had with Baker reveals a new nugget of impossibly hilarious information, from his affinity for scooters to his love of barbecue. He eats a lot of sandwiches, walks to work most days, and goes into the record books as the only guy in the radio business who actually pays for music.
And when he signs off on a blog post, he writes “Go with yourself,” which I believe is a reference to an obscure Fiona Apple quote. Baker is geeky enough to be cool.
At his core, however, he’s simply a music fan looking for way to make his passion pay the bills. Baker would love to whittle his duties down to one gig, thus allowing for more time with his fiancée, Coral, and their 16- month-old daughter, Madelyn. But the funds for the pair’s upcoming wedding, slated for Oct. 11 at the Flamingo hotel in Las Vegas, have to come out of someone’s pocket.
“I would love to get paid and not work. Write a book, then collect some money, hang out with my family somewhere sunny and call it a life. But I’ve got a mortgage and I have to eat. To do that, you’ve go to be out there.”
I’m calling his bluff. When there wasn’t a mortgage to meet and bills to pay, and Baker was living in his parents’ basement, gigging with some buddies in a weekend warrior punk band, the dude was still non-stop.
He ran for mayor of Coquitlam at 18, while still a student at Coquitlam’s Centennial high school. That would strike nearly everyone as unusual, but Baker shrugs it off. “Young people run all the time. It’s when they win that it’s special.”
He doesn’t recall his platform, but he remembers the number of people who supported him.
“I got 404 votes,” he said, laughing at his shortcomings. “That was good for fourth, which was last place.”
Baker scaled back his aspirations and ran for Coquitlam city council the following year. He fared considerably better, placing 17th out of 30 candidates, but his dreams were dashed. He rejoined politics last year, running as a candidate for Esquimalt Council. This time, the results were less than favourable. He came dead last.
Baker said he might try politics again later in life, but only if he can dedicate 110 per cent of himself to the task. Then again, maybe not. “I keep losing, so maybe that means something.”
The radio business is a better bet. He’s a colourful, quirky on-air personality, prone to esoteric between-song breaks and revealing personal anecdotes. In short, the kind of radio jock which is in short supply these days.
“Seventy-six per cent of my job is spent keeping up with Jeremy’s antics,” says Sara Parker, Baker’s boss at the Zone. “But his Kermit the Frog laugh makes it all worth it.”
The broadcast bug bit Baker early. The summer after high school, while at a house party, he had the idea of hosting a campus radio show. Soon after, the Morning After Show on the University of British Columbia’s station, CiTR, was born. He later received a diploma in Broadcast and Media Communications from the British Columbia Institute of Technology, which he parlayed into a gig at the Zone in 2003.
Luck played a part in Baker’s hiring — he arrived for his college practicum on the day the station’s morning show host quit — but Zone management is extremely happy with his ratings. They should be: Baker has literally grown up on-air in Victoria, both as a professional and person.
“I was lot more of a hipster when I first moved to Victoria. Now, spending $100 bucks on beer just because doesn’t really fly anymore.”
Next time you see Baker at a gig, buy him a frosty beverage. He deserves it.
Mike Devlin email: mdevlin@tc.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist
http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Plugged+music/1770050/story.html
another meme
Posted in life or something like it, tagged meme on July 4, 2009| 1 Comment »
Coral has her girlfriends over and they are working on wedding invites. Madelyn is sleeping. I have a beer going on and a Lou Reed record fired up. I should be learning about photoshop, or learning about steak, or maybe take Mads to the pool, or get started on dinner… but beer, Lou Reed and sure, a blog sound like fun.
1. What is your current obsession?
hmm, lately I have been thinking about grilling and food.
2. What is your weirdest obsession?
medieval history? Canadian World War One history? Is that weird, not to me.
3. Recall a fond childhood memory?
Not a childhood memory but I thought about it today. A bunch of years ago my friend Bob came to visit me after I first moved to Victoria and we rented scooters and tooled around Victoria like tourists do. We ended up at Maude Hunters for some pints. The weather today is similar to that day and I went for a ride on my scooter to the library and thought about that time.
4. What’s for dinner?
I am going to grill up some Blue Cheese Burgers, corn on the cob and I think Caitlin brought a salad.
5. What would you eat for your last meal?
I really like good buffets. Like the buffet at a Mexican resort of Vegas or the John B on a Sunday morning. Lame, maybe but I am the one condemned to die, so indulge me please.
6. What’s the last thing you bought?
Does late fees at the library count? a lotto tickets. Our numbers today are 02, 10, 11, 24, 31, 49. Wish us luck!
7. What are you listening to right now?
Lou Reed’s “Transformer.” Lou Reed is turning into my weekend music.
8. What do you think of the person who tagged you?
I wasn’t “tagged.” I read this questionnaire on Huckdoll’s blog. I like her because she is sweet and writes about the strange and wonderful things that go on in her world.
9. If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished, anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Coral and I drove around Cordova Bay the other day and there were some very gorgeous couple acre properties on the ocean there, so maybe there?
I could get used to Hawaii but the isolation might kill me in the long run.
I have always loved the desert, so Vegas.
10. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Greenland. I’d run around asking all the natives where they keep the penguins?
11. Which language do you want to learn?
woman
12. What’s your favourite quote (for now)?
right at this second:
‘You are not a person in a situation. You are it. You are the situation.’
ha, I stole it from an article on sex from the Times Colonist. Now how fucked up is that?
13. What is your favourite colour?
blue
14. What is your favourite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?
I like my National T-Shirt
15. What is your dream job?
I guess I’m living it. Time for a new one.
16. What’s your favourite magazine?
I am not a big magazine reader, but I enjoy Rolling Stone or National Geographic.
17. If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on?
I better give it to Coral to get that hair cut she wants so badly. Or a Victoria Seals baseball jersey.
18. Describe your personal style?
dork.
19. What are you going to do after this?
Start on those burgers
20. What are your favourite films?
Last of the Mohicans!
21. What’s your favourite fruit?
lately I’ve been all about apples.
22. What inspires you?
all sorts of things. That’s kind of a boring answer but its true. I’ll find inspiration in the weirdest places.
Listening to music late late late at night is a good time to think or when I go for a walk.
23. Your favourite books?
The Grapes of Wrath
these old fantasy novels I read as a kid.
Marching to Armageddon (a book about the Canada during world war one).
24. Do you collect anything?
not so much. Hats? Music? I wouldn’t say I collect them, I just have them and I like them.
25. Any advice that’s come from bitter experience?
Never get a credit card ever for any reason, ever.
26. What makes you follow a blog?
If I learn something from ity, or its entertaining.
meme
Posted in life or something like it, tagged Coral, Huckdoll, meme on July 3, 2009| 2 Comments »
Coral and I were talking about the word meme the other day. We had finished reading Huckdoll’s blog where she posted a meme and I said, “What’s up with Mommy bloggers writing autobiographies and calling them meme’s?”
Coral said, “first off its not pronounced Me! Me! its pronounced meem, like cream.
And I think it comes from a sociology thing, but has since been co-opted by the internet to mean those little questionnaire things that spread around the internet.”
It was a pretty good read so I will do one now, but I think I will fill out about Coral and see if I can get anything right.
1. What is Coral’s current obsession?
Coral is the kind of person that finds something she likes or is interested in, then dives in full force. Right now I don’t think there is any one thing I’d classify as Coral-Level-Obsessed. I’d say she is in between obsessions.
2. What is her weirdest obsession?
Willie Pickton. Fucking weird. Love you.
3. Recall a fond childhood memory?
Coral always talks about the old house they lived in in Airdrie, Alberta and she talks about the time her and Alyx ran away form home. They made it as far as the corner store across the field which I guess as little kids, was pretty darn far. Then they got hungry and the jig was up! Time to go home.
4. What’s for dinner?
That is far to far into the future. My Coral can leave a comment and let me know! She has the day off today with Mads so maybe they can put their heads together and think of something.
5. What would she eat for her last meal?
I am not too sure what Coral’s fave restaurant of all time is… but since we’ve been together it always makes her happy when we hit Mo:le so I’d say Mo:le and it would have to have something to do with pesto potatoes.
6. What’s the last thing she bought?
Boring, diapers and food for yesterday’s dinner.
7. What is Coral listening to right now?
She is sleeping, but her alarm is set to the Ocean? WTF? The drive into work she jams out Kid Carson. The last music she downloaded was from Frankie Valli and some Madcon (cuz he samples Franki Vallie). She says summer is a top 40 time for her.
8. What does she think of the person who tagged you?
She wasn’t tagged. But I stole this meme from Huchdoll and I think Coral likes her as she reads her blog pretty regular like. She introduced me to Huck’s blog… Coral had an obsession with Mommy Blogs and was reading tons and as she put some together and read and read, she found a few girls were based outta Coquitlam and had a similar age to me and the next thing you know, the Highschool Year Books were on the floor as she tried to detective all the characters.
9. If she could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished, anywhere in the world, where would it be?
On the ocean in Oak Bay. Coral also likes Los Angelas so on the ocean there… and she’d handle a vacation home in Vegas too I think.
Her jet setting lifestyle might also include a flat in London.
10. If Coral could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would she go?
The future on Saturday after 6PM so she could see what the lottery numbers are.
11. Which language does Coral want to learn?
English better, she wants to be an editor.
12. What’s her favourite quote (for now)?
Coral isn’t really one to share quote she has collected with me, but one she wrote down is: “Life is just a chance to grow a soul.”
13. What is her favourite colour?
Oh I should know this…. hmmm… purple?
14. What is her favourite piece of clothing in her own wardrobe?
Coral hates most her clothes. Pajama pants? The striped ones she is wearing right now.
15. What is Coral’s dream job?
a writer.
16. What’s Coral’s favourite magazine?
I don’t know if she has A favourite. She’ll read the gossips but she’ll also jam out a National Geographic. I also catch her reading interior design magazines and once she even jammed out Wired.
17. If she had $100 now, what would she spend it on?
A haircut. or paper for wedding invitations or likely she’d try and do both and make the $100 go as far is it can.
18. Describe her personal style?
She is pretty casual in appearance but her new glasses make her rock that hot librarian thing pretty hard.
19. What is she going to do after this?
Set her daughter up with an RESP then maybe she’ll go to the mall and pick our camera up form the camera fixer shop.
20. What are her favourite films?
Fern Gully!
(but she said, “hey that’s not my favourite, favourite movie! The Little Mermaid”)
21. What’s her favourite fruit?
Strawberries and Blueberries.
22. What inspires Coral?
She might have a different answer but what I notice drives Coral to action is her friends and some bloggers.
23. Her favourite books?
Coral reads a TON. I don’t what her favourite one book is… but she has shelves of them here at home and borrows tons from friends.
24. Does she collect anything?
Books.
25. Any advice that’s come from bitter experience?
hmmm, that is a hard one for me to answer for Coral. Don’t use your credit card too much. ha.
26. What makes her follow a blog?
She likes people that tell good stories, strong writing style and people that update frequently.
OK… maybe Coral will comment to see how well I did.
sovereignty
Posted in being cheap, life or something like it, neat-O gang, tagged Books, Chris Anderson, East of Eden, Free, Hugh MacLeod, Ignore Everybody, John Steinbeck on June 24, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Finally finished John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. Only took me forever to get through it!
Now I am rocking Hugh MacLeod’s Ignore Everybody. This book is a pretty easy read and I’ll finish it tonight. So many great one liners and quotes and general inspiration!
“The sovereignty you have over your work will inspire far more people than the actual content ever will.”
I am hoping that Chris Anderson picks me, picks me! picks me! to get a copy of his new book… Free.
I loved the Long Tail and still check his blog on a regular basis. He is doing a contest where you send him an email and maybe he sends you a book for… get this… FREE!
“When scarce resources become abundant, smart people treat them differently, exploiting them rather than conserving them. It feels wrong, but done right it can change the world.”
Lots of great ideas in Hugh’s book, that when added to some principles from other books I’ve read, help me chill out a bit. Make me happy. Enjoy the ride more.
Chris talks about giving shit away for free, and then somehow making money… SWA? His blog posts have always been convincing for me. I work in radio and my product gets “given” away and somehow the paycheck doesn’t bounce twice a month so there must be something to it.
Go with yourself.
Its 4, 3, 2, 1
Posted in history 101, life or something like it, tagged Canada, dreams, Karate, Kung-Fu, MMA, Passchendaele, passport, Paul Gross, Pierre Berton, Social Insurance Number, UFC, Vimy, World War One on June 22, 2009| 5 Comments »
I feel great so far. I woke up and slayed so many dragons last week that looking ahead, I have so few things to get up to.
I suppose I should get Mads a SIN and get started on her RESP and get the ball rolling on a little baby passport, pay this month’s bills and lay some money down on the credit card.
I need to move forward with my self taught graphic design and student loan stuff.
And somewhere amongst all that, sign up for MMA fighting, Kung-Fu or something physical… I checked out a bunch of MMA studios and they are all really expensive and full of… well… not my kind of people to put it politely. Might have to try a more traditional martial art. My friends all laugh at me when I say I want to rock the octagon… but maybe that will be my armour? While my opponent is laughing himself out of position I will kung-fu chop him down to the ground.
My buddy Paul was the only guy who didn’t laugh. He said I should take something basic like Kung-Fu or even Karate. Apparently some Karate master ripped it at UFC 100 this past weekend?
On Father’s Day, I bought myself a present… the movie Passchendaele.
Most of the movie is a little slow, the dialogue is weak, the whole premise is almost silly, but then near the end, the third battle of Ypres lights up, the movie is worth the price of admission. When I watch the film, I generally jam out the opening village battle sequence, then fast forward to the end.
I had this crazy dream Friday night (likely Red Bull fueled) where I was in World War One. I was in the trench with some dude who wasn’t a very good shot. We’re all huddled around and the Germans attack. As I am sitting there dropping German after German, the man huddled in the trench is called, “Jeremy…. Jeremy…” I keep snapping back at him… “just stay down or shoot, I don’t care!”
Turns out it was Coral trying to wake me up to get ready for the ferry!
The dream stayed in my brain all weekend, so when we go back from Coquitlam, I found a previously viewed copy of Passchendaele at Blockbuster. score.
After the film, I dusted off my copy of Pierre Berton’s “Vimy.” I am pretty down with my Canadian History circa WWI, but I thought I’d revisit it while I wait for my next book to show up in the mail.
This blog isn’t really about anything, just wanted to write the week out and then get to it.
Go with yourself.
The Morning After 