New Adventures

Well folks, the summer is beginning to fade off into the distance, and the cold is approaching. This last week has been an incredibly intense, scary week. To add on to all of it, my wife and son went to Ontario to visit our family out there. Seeing as how they are the ones that help me calm down, I've been losing my mind. I am glad however that they are able to go see our family there, I only wish I was able to join them.

So What has me so stressed? Well work for one, but what else is new. On top of that I am starting school again for the final time hopefully. Yes that's right. I am heading back to finish off my degree. I was on track a while back, but I took a break when we began to want a baby, and then life provided me tons of excuses to procrastinate. But recently, with the economic turmoil that has taken place, it really made me realize what a chance I've been taking, not finishing. What if I lost my job tomorrow, how would I effectively provide for my family. I'm not suggesting that getting a degree secures you a great job, but in a competitive market, it gives you a leg up on your competition. So I decided to get serious and get back into school to finish my degree. I am attending Devry in the Business Operations program. So far it's a little nuts trying to get back in the habit of studying and all. It'll be interesting too once Jody and Colton get back from their trip, to see how I juggle the schedule. I'm determined though to finish this thing off once and for all.

I also want to take this moment to recognize an adventure one of my best friends is about to take. My friend Paul, and his lovely wife Vanuza are anxiously awaiting the birth of their first baby. It's going to be a blast to see them go through all the rights of passage of parenthood. Congrats guys, let me know when she arrives!

Colton Update

My little man has reached yet another milestone in his life. Yesterday was his 17 month mark. I can't believe it. 17 months have just flown by. He amazes Jody and I every day with the new little tricks he learns, and the words he comes up with. So lately he has been enthralled with his Uncle Stephen and his video games. He'll sit there forever watching what his uncle does. One day we were sitting downstairs, when Colton walked over to the gamer chair. He sat in it just like his uncle, grabbed a controller, and turned the T.V. on. So we turned on the console and he just began playing it, just like he'd seen his uncle do. It blew me away, and it was hilarious to watch. So we grabbed the camera and shot this video. Enjoy!

Currently Colton and Mommy are in Toronto visiting mommy's family. I am missing them like crazy, which is a reason why I'm posting this. I feel how our family in Toronto feels, being far away from them. So I'll try to post more video's of the boy, for their benefit as well.

What's on my ipod this week.....

Today's entry won't be a long one, as there is not much more I can say about this band. All in all I have to say that The White Stripes have got to honestly be in my top 3 favorite bands of all time. The White Stripes are composed of only two people, Jack and Meg. now there has been some discrepancy as to the relationship of the two. Some say they are brother and sister, other reports have come out stating that they were formerly married, divorced, and still friends. The band members are each married now, but have never really come out publicly to clarify the speculation. However I'm digressing.

I love the White Stripes music like crazy. It has a lot of deep roots in the pure old school blues. I'm talking about the real dirty Mississippi type blues from the early part of the 20th century. It's almost hard to imagine that just a drummer and guitarist can effectively make albums, but it works. When you listen to the music you would almost think there was a full band. Jack White is known as one of the busiest people in music, he produces and plays in numerous other side projects along with other ventures. His creativity and skill with many instruments is what makes the White Stripes so great to listen to. If you really research them, you'll find that their music is very simple and organic. His guitar, equipment etc, are very inexpensive and basic, yet it's all about getting the maximum out of an instrument. A friend of mine alerted me to a documentary that is coming out featuring Jack White, Jimmy Page, and The Edge. It's called "It Might Get Loud". In it Jack White describes a lot of his sound. He's a bit eccentric, so I'm looking forward to it. Anyhow, check out The White Stripes, you can't go wrong.

What's on my ipod this week

On my ipod this week, well, I don't actually have Neil Diamond on my ipod at this moment, but I will after work. The reason why I'm featuring the "Jewish Elvis" is because of an incident that I had last weekend. My wife and I were heading out to the movies. We had just finished getting Colton ready for bed, and brought him downstairs to hand over to Grandma and Grandpa. As we walked into the living room everyone was hanging out watching Neil Diamond in concert, and of course it was just as he was beginning to sing "Sweet Caroline". At that moment almost everyone began to burst into chorus singing it. After that Jody and I left, but I began to think, Neil Diamond is the man, really. Want proof? That song "Sweet Caroline" alone is a classic at many, many sporting events. For instance, every eighth inning at NY Mets, Boston RedSox, and Washington Nationals games, they play this song. Its something to see, they put the words up on the big screen, and the whole crowd gets up out of their seats and starts singing. Much like we were at the house last weekend. Even Colton loved it. He apparently clapped and cheered along with the crowd on the T.V. after every song. So go out and download some Neil Diamond songs folks. Don't pretend like you're too cool for Neil, because really, you're not cool unless you listen to Neil.

* Feel free, all you Neil Diamond fans, to comment on your favorite song of his, or a memory you have attached to one of his songs.

That just... doesn't make sense.

We've all hear the statement that justice is blind, well is it? Really?

Do I have any NFL fans that read my blog? Then you may have an opinion on this.

For those of you who may not be familiar, I'll give you the stories. First off we have Plaxico Burress, the New York Giants Super bowl hero wide receiver. While at a night club last year, a gun he had stashed in the waistband of his sweatpants falls and as he tries to catch it, in his pants; goes off and hits him in the thigh. Fast forward a bit, the New York D.A. charges him with a serious possession crime, his lawyers and the D.A. go back and forth bargaining and finally out of fear that he would get locked up for longer, he pleads guilty to a lesser charge and is sentenced to 2 years in prison and 2 years probation.

Story number two involves all star receiver Donte Stallworth of the Cleavland Browns. A few months back Stallworth struck and killed a man who was crossing the street in the wee hours of the morning in Florida. The man was a 52 year old crane operator who was going to catch the bus to go home to his family after working the night shift. Stallworth was found to be operating his car under the influence, and was subsequently charged. After a few months of negotiating, Stallworh pleads out to a lesser charge, and is sentenced to 24 days in jail and 4000 hours of community service.

Did anybody catch that? Does it make sense to anyone? One man hurts himself by being stupid, and gets hit with 2 years in prison. The other takes the life of an innocent man, changes that mans family forever, all because he chose to drive drunk, and he get 3 weeks in a county lock up with 4000 community hours. Something just doesn't add up there. This is an example of how skewed the American justice system has become. Mind you Canada isn't much better with our hug-a-thug approach.

Now this article is not to say that I think Burress should have gotten off with nothing, although I think 2 years mandatory jail term is slightly harsh for stupidity. What he did was dangerous and he could have hurt someone, so yes I think a stint in the bunkhouse is warranted. My beef with all this is how Stallworth can carelessly take the life of an innocent hard working man, and get nothing more than a slap on the wrist. What kind of a message is being sent to the public? What about the young kids coming up who look up to these guys?

Just before I end, lets take it a step further. Because of this incident, Burress lost his big contract with the Giants. He'll be 34 when he's released, and it'll be tough for him to get another spot with an NFL team. Who wants a 34 year old wide receiver who's been out of the game for 2 years? An then there is his family who will be without their daddy and husband for 2 years. (He said that was his biggest motivation in taking the plea, he didn't want to face an even longer sentence away from his family)

In terms of Stallworth, he's 29 and just hitting his prime. He's only been suspended from the NFL for one year without pay, and his team is looking forward to getting him back next season. Where is his hard punishment?

So what do we get from all this? Justice really is blind, and a little stupid. And also, the NFL stands for National Felon League.

What's on my ipod this week.....

So this week I have decided to post what's on my ipod on Thursday. Why not Friday as I originally outlined? Because I feel like it. So without further delay here is my new recommendation.

White Rabbits are a little known Indy band based in New York, but originally from Columbia, Missouri. I doubt they'll stay little known for long, judging from the songs I've heard already. I haven't listened to the entire album yet, but so far I recommend a song called "Percussion Gun" to start you off. I really like the mix of instruments they have going on, and the vocals are interesting, though don't expect it to be perfect. I've listened to 4 songs off the album so far, and it convinced me I need to buy it, so I'll be shopping itunes later I'm sure, or hitting up HMV.

For any of you wondering what you can expect , I'll say, if you like Spoon, you'll enjoy White Rabbits. (Considering they had this album produced by the guitarist and lead singer from Spoon, Daniel Britt) A lot of their music is based around their percussion section which is composed of 2 members. It's really a unique and fresh sound in my opinion. So, go out and take a listen if you want to get pumped up for a jog, or just want a good energetic sound to pick you up. For any who might want a preview, go to this link
http://whiterabbitsmusic.com/videos/ and check out the video.

Our Mini Vacation

Last weekend I took A long weekend to be with my Family. My work has been really hectic lately, and I haven't had much time with Jody and Colton. So we broke it up a bit. All Friday was dedicated to Colton. We went out to the zoo for a family outing. We began by filling ourselves up at the cafe, where little Coley downed a massive hot dog and some fries. After finishing his juice box we headed out. We saw tons of really cool animals. Colton was especially impressed by the giraffe that was scratching his neck up side a tree.



We also saw a huge tiger pacing in its pen. Cole thought it was impressive.He really seemed to enjoy his time with mommy and daddy. Here is a shot of him with mommy at the Elephant pen...

And then one of the coolest moments was when the bull Elephant came walking right over to Colton and Jody, and began drinking from the water barrel, and blowing it out. Colton loved this. His little mouth dropped open and his eyes grew huge. When the elephant began to walk away, he went "whoooaa." All in all it was a pretty impressive day for the boy.

We took him home after and after a long nap, we had a good dinner and then relaxed and played before we had to take him to bed.

the next day was a day dedicated to Jody and myself. We gave Colton to Grandma and Grandpa for the day and headed out to Banff. the mountains were beautiful and the weather was awesome. When we arrived, we went to lunch. After lunch we walked up and down the boulevard going into all the little shops around. We ended up buying a little onesie for Colton that says "Bear Naked" with the picture of a bear on it. After that we got some gourmet fudge and then went to the natural hot springs for some relaxation. Finally as we were driving back to Calgary we took a detour to go to Elbow Falls. Its a cool little rec area, out in the foothills. Jody took a few hours there to take some photo's of the falls, and I sat back and enjoyed the scenery. If you'd like to see the photo's she took, you can check out her website www.jacphotography.ca, however I'm not sure if she's posted any yet. She's editing them a bit, but trust me; they look great.

So that was my little mini vacation. It was a good time, and too short as most vacations are.