Quote of the week

"I feel that I have to put in my two weeks notice.."

Who said that little peice of wisdom?....ME! last Friday....

Eaten by a bear....

So this weekend I was invited by the boss to take part in a charity tournament for Ronald McDonald's House in Victoria. Now I haven't been to Victoria since the life-mate and I went to see The Hip and I miss the place a little, but the main reason I said yes was that we would be playing Bear Mountain.

For the golfers out there Bear Mountain is really one of the most spectacular courses in B.C. It is 7200 yards(6200 from the black tees which we played from) of Jack Nicklaus designed goodness, and at $130 bucks a round(cart included mind you) I can only play there if someone else is picking up the tab..HAHA

This was truly one of the great golfing experiences I have had to date. Eveb though I played badly, I would love to go back and play again....better win some money at poker... Check out some of the pics below, they really don't do the course justice....

Kinda of a shock...

I am a fan of the Dave Matthews Band. They were my introduction(Thanks to the HomeOffice and "The Howard") to the world of "Jam Bands" and have been one of my favorite bands for a long time. For those that may only know the newer stuff go to the back catalouge and check out "Under the table and Dreaming", "Crash", and the awsome "Befroe these crowded Streets". They have a great sound (especially on the early discs) that can best be described as a cross between rock and funk with a little Jazz thrown in. And on of the key components to that sound was saxophonist LeRoi Moore.

Unfortunalty LeRoi died today at the young age of 46 after complications from an atv accident. The music world has lost a great talent. Check out the clip below in honour of LeRoi...

Yeah!!!.. I can't Wait!....(he types sarcastically)

Well, after 4 very short years since the last big track meet they call The Summer Olympics they are back and officially open in Beijing.....can you feel the excitement...yeah that's what I thought.

I have stated openly before about my disdain for the Summer Olympics. I know the athletes are world class and worked their asses off to get there, but really compared to the Winter Games, they are just ...well....boring to watch(except Beach Volleyball). I can't get excited about rowing, or the 2000 miles marathon or some shit. I mean in the Winter games you could very possibly have some one die, there is an element of danger to it, and as we all know danger means excitement.The Winter Olympics has people running down mountains at 150 miles an hour on ski's, they have people going down an iced up track on a sled head first, what does the Summer games have?...discus.

Now don't get me wrong I hope my country does well and all but if you want me to watch spice it up a little. Sure you can still have the 200 meter breast stroke, but think of what it could be if you add say...sharks in the tank. Marathon runners?....chased by cheetahs, the floor exercises in gymnastics?...electrical current wired through out the floor, possibilities are endless. So for those of you that actually watch the Olympics hey have fun drink lots of coffee to stay awake. I'll be waiting over here watching paint dry......god I can't wait for Hockey Season...

I knew I would have a use for them eventually...

So as you may have been following here and on that other blog, I have been in fact going to the gym, and as of late running, on actual roads. But this is not about the progress in the weight loss area, the aching muscles, the early mornings that my body is so use to that I can't sleep past 7am anymore or even that one guy at the gym that works out in his jeans. No, this is about something a little more important than those things, this is about the one thing that gets me through those early mornings on the treadmill and through that last km of the evening run. This is about music damn it...


Yes, that's right folks,music. Now some might say that will power and determination are the corner stones to a successful work out. But no the real corner stone is the mix on the ipod(or ZUNE!) that gets you through damn it. Sure the thoughts of the coffee at the end of the workout is like the carrot dangling in front of the(still overwieght according to the BMI for his age and height) turtle, but really it's the music that gets you through.

So what prey tell goes into the "Gym Mix". Well let me say that the cd collection does not just include classic records,underground artists and Tragically Hip albums, no there was a time when I listened to ALOT of bands like Korn and ,as much as I hate to say hate it, limp Bizkit and those albums are still in the collection and all though I don't excatly listen to them much anymore, I still have an appreciation for them (well except the bizkit) and believe that every album has a place. And I have discovered that having someone swear at you in Chinese gets your still still-fat-in-the-eyes-of-the-medical-world ass moving in the morning.

I have always been of the opinion that "angry music" is not always the best thing in the morning,though someone I know from Port Alberni would disagree with me, but when facing extreme physical exertion before 7am in the morning, it works..

A sample of the gym mix

1.Blind - Korn
2.Killing in the name of..- Rage against The Machine
3.Deer Dance- System of a Down
4.Happiness is slavery- Nine Inch nails
5.Women- Wolf Mother
6.Testify- Rage Against The Machine
7.Freak On a Leash- Korn
8.Sabatoge- Beastie Boys
9.Wait and Bleed- Slipknot
10.Cochise- Audioslave

A heads up battle..

So the other day, thanks to the Hetero-life mate, I got in my hands on a ZUNE mp3 player. The supposed "ipod killer" from Microsoft. He had showed me his and I was slightly intrigued as I am a huge fan of my ipod nano, and wanted to see what some of the fuss was about.

A quick background, but Microsoft first started selling the Zune a couple of years ago but it has failed to over take the ipod or even challenge the ipod for sales and market share. Most of the complaints being about design flaws and usability in terms of the controls. Most people just stayed with the ipod as they improved a few things and became the VHS to the Zune's beta-max in term of popularity, and I admit I was one of those people. It was a big deal when I finally switched from the discman of yester-year to the wonderful world of ipod. I didn't think it could get any better. I took the ipod everywhere, shopping, the gym, trips,the coffee shop walking along the streets of Vancouver so that people wouldn't bug me for change. It was (except for the earphones)a music listening pleasure and why switch from perfection.

After playing with the Zune the last couple of days I am not totally convinced anymore that the ipod nanao(the one most people have) is the way to go anymore. In terms of playback both are great and have no real issues with the sound quality of either players, and that's the main thing. The music quality,no matter what player you are using, should be one of the most important things to look at. I dop like the click wheel of the ipod a little better than that of the Zune(zune pad). I however do like the menus on the ZUNE better. They just simply look better than on the ipod. I like that the ZUNE will automatically find all the album covers and put them on the screen as you play the music. It's one of those little things I can appreciate. I like that it syncs automatically when you plug it in.

The Ipod however has itunes at it's disposal. And I do like the ease of using itunes over the Zune software. I think itunes does a better job of making it easier to make playlists and sort through your music collection. The ZUNE also has a feature that I haven't had a chance to try yet and that is wireless syncing. It allows you to synce your ZUNE with another ZUNE wireless...kinda nifty for some one who like to push....I mean ..share music with others.

Do I have a favorite yet...no...they both are equally good, they do both the same things but the ZUNE is a little more visually appealing in terms of displays and menus. SO no...I haven't thrown the ipod away yet, I think it will always be the stand by and market leader, I do however plan on spending some quailty time with the ZUNE..you know just spending time as friends...nothing serious...get to know one another a little better...see where it goes..