HOCKEY!

stuff

So my son Daxton Drake Reid was born on April 15, 2008, at 9:12 PM. He's pretty cool.
Here is a link to some pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/rev.colreid/DaxtonDrakeReid
I don't want to be one of those gushy new parents that can't stop talking about their kid... but I will say that while many people claim their kid is the cutest baby in the world, they are all wrong because mine actually is the cutest baby in the whole world.

Anyway, I came here to talk about the new Donnas album, titled "Bitchin'". I have been listening to it lately, and while it doesn't quite reach the glorious heights of some past efforts such as, oh, "Skintight" or "Spend the Night" (OK, let's just go ahead and say it: all their albums except for the self-titled one and "Gold Medal" rock like crazy.... sit down and listen to "American Teenage Rock 'N' Roll Machine" and tell me you don't grin during the while thing) I am finding that I am really enjoying it quite a bit. The urge to try to "be serious" was expunged with the "Gold Medal" album and "Bitchin'" has the girls back to doing what they do best: turning cock rock on its head and having fun. Where "Spend the Night" explored cock rock of the late seventies, "Bitchin'" does the same with the same genre in the mid-eighties. I have read a lot of reviews that point out the obvious references to Motley Crue (um, the album cover is basically a purple version of "Too Fast for Love"), Def Leppard, and Joan Jett, but they all miss what I feel is the strongest similarity of them all: this album sounds like Judas Priest's "Turbo" album with less synth noises. And there is nothing wrong with this. The polish, the cheese, and the unapologetic straight-up dumb fun of "Turbo" suits the Donnas well. The lyrics aren't as entertaining as they were on earlier albums, but the songs are incredibly catchy and are full of musical
allusions to familiar songs, artists, and sounds of the mid-eighties ("Wasted", for example, has some distinct Billy Idol/Steve Stevens sounds in it). The only oddball track in the formula is the opener - the title track that opens feeling like "War Pigs" with some kind of back masking in it before pounding into something from "Love Gun" and then exploding into an all-too-short ball of ass-kicking fury. Anyway, if you like fun, dumb rock music, then I recommend this. I am finding this album incredibly addictive.

I just lost the game.

....and now so did you.
http://www.losethegame.com/

totally hilarious

Just click the link and get ready to laugh.

http://www.ricflairfinance.com/

The continued devolution of American Democracy

I'm not American, but I keep a watchful eye on American political happenings because (1) they're next-door, (2) they sure do like telling other countries what to do, and (3) just because it's darn interesting. I saw this article today and feel compelled to comment. There is a proposal to divvy up California's electoral votes in future presidential elections by giving two electoral votes to the winner, and assigning the remainder by who won the most districts. The Democrats are fighting this because it would lose them around 20 electoral votes in a playing field that has all but 2 other states assigning ALL electoral votes to the winner. Now, let me say, I'm all for preventing the Republicans from stealing a third election in a row, but I feel that the idea on the table does have some merit -- IF the playing field is leveled, and EVERY STATE has to do the same thing. Then, all of a sudden, if you want to vote Green in a state where the vote is close, you don't waste your vote anymore, and you also don't help the Republicans win a close race. Or let's say you happen to be a Republican in California, or a Democrat in Texas.... wouldn't you feel more compelled to vote if you and your neighbours might actually conjure up one electoral vote? Isn't that better than feeling like "my vote is useless, so why bother?" If all states divided their electoral votes in some way, either by geography, or (my preferred idea) in proportion to the actual popular vote, wouldn't that generate more voter turn-out and be a better democratic model? The candidate with the most votes overall might even ACTUALLY WIN! Holy cow, what a concept. But since this will never happen, obviously the proposal on the table in California must die before another election is stolen.
Side note here: Given events that have taken place over the past several years, it has become increasingly clear that America needs a non-partisan body / committee in charge of electoral rules. It has been shown that those in power will mess with the rules, wherever possible, to keep themselves in power. What's scarier though is that they keep getting away with it.

a post

Hi!
I've been crazy busy.
I've been working extra hours at work lately but I think that will be over soon.
So, right now I'm updating the world's least updated blog.
Blog blog blog.

I saw the White Stripes in Saskatoon on Canada Day. That was all kinds of awesome. It blows me away that something so raw, random, and real is so popular. I mean Jack White plays a completely random keyboard solo and the whole building goes berserk. I have never seen a more imperfect performance get such a great reception. It almost gives me hope for the world.

I think it's time to buy a bocce ball set. Megs and I played that game at the lake and it was fun. She suggested that we should get some outdoor games and use them as a way to make ourselves go outside to the park and be active. Great idea.
Hey, I've got golf clubs, and an idea: who wants to meet me downtown outside my building and start eighteen holes of downtown urban golf? I remember some sketch comedy show (possibly 4 on the Floor?) had a segment about that, and the juvenile mischief-monger in me has always found the idea appealing.

Cool people don't need medicine

Have you ever noticed that in TV and movies, all the nerds always have asthma puffers? OK, fine, people are jerks and do actually ridicule others for stupid reasons. But the real kicker is this: in the movies, when the nerd is the protagonist, and at some point in the story they somehow become cool, all of a sudden they don't need their puffer anymore. Wow, becoming cool cures asthma!!

Bleorg

If there's one thing I can't stand, it's watching my favourite hockey team lose to a goalie. Losing when you're outclassed is one thing, but losing because you can't get a lucky bounce like the other guys is just entirely frustrating. Oh well. Go Senators.

Coming Soon: LIVE CELEBRITY SUICIDES on Pay-Per-View TV!!!

Hi. I haven't posted anything in a very long time. The internet seems to have continued its existence quite nicely without my wise words for quite some time now, so obviously few cared (or noticed) that I wasn't saying anything. And likely, even fewer will notice or care that I have triumphantly returned.
The thing that has me posting today is this: everywhere you go right now, you see pictures of Britney Spears' shaved head. Or articles about where Anna Nicole Smith is going to be buried this week. Or live footage of Lindsey Lohan and Paris Hilton getting drunk and/or drugged-up and screaming at each other.
A little while ago I saw footage of the night that Britney shaved her head. It was a continuous clip of something like 5 minutes, as the paparazzi literally followed her from place to place, waiting for her to react to them and say something as they followed her car to the place that she got the job done. At various points she yelled curse words at them and gave them the finger, until the journey culminated at the hair salon, where she rushed in and proceeded with the head-shaving, yelling to the cameras something along the lines of "this is because of you!"
Now, the reason I bring up this subject for discussion has little to do with Britney herself. The reason is this: as I was watching this whole thing go down, it became very clear to me that there are cameras following this person literally wherever she goes. I asked, why are the cameras there? More importantly, am I the only one wondering why the cameras are there? As entertaining as the descent of a former bubblegum-pop diva is, underneath all this nonsense is a human being, constantly harassed by idiots with cameras waiting for her to do something shocking or remotely amusing. Am I alone in finding this just a little offensive?
It has occurred to me that since those like Britney are constantly being followed by cameras,
not only are we able to watch these people literally disintegrate before our eyes, but as consumers of this we are actually responsible for their disintegration as well. One day one of these young girls is going to kill herself, and we are going to be able to actually watch it happen on national TV. And by continuing to watch the drama unfold on ET, or Star TV, or in Us Magazine, we are actually causing this whole mess to happen.
Who will be first, Lindsay or Paris or Britney? I bet someone is running a pool on it right now.

Message of the Day for Oct 31, 2006

The brain is a wonderful organ; it starts working the moment you get up
in the morning, and does not stop until you get to school.