Deep Thoughts

I think we all have little things we do when we are feeling a bit down in the dumps or bummed. I myself love to dance wildly like this special move I adopted called the RG Makelove or when I really need a pick me up I will do the running man. Its glorious. But what has been helping me most lately when I feel a little blue is to follow the lead of one Will Ferrell and wax poetic with a few lyrics from the Starland Vocal Band.

Gonna find my baby, gonna hold her tight
Gonna grab some afternoon delight
My motto's always been 'when it's right, it's right'
Why wait until the middle of a cold dark night?
When everything's a little clearer in the light of day
And we know the night is always gonna be there any way

Sky rockets in flight. Afternoon delight. Afternoon delight.

Wow the lyrics of this song are so powerful and it is definitely one I need to sing in public one of these days. Think of the great moments in television and cinematic history where this song has made an appearance. Anchorman, Arrested Development and the Simpsons are just some of the fine programs that have taken a chance on a little diddy that allowed the Starland Vocal Band to get their own summer replacement variety show in 1977. Late Show host David Letterman was even a writer on the show. It just reminds me of the power of a one hit wonder. If these guys were around today they would probably have had a 10 year run with their show. Luckily for us their one song success and brief variety program were short lived.

Wait a minute. Who I am I to judge this band. They got a hit that lives strong to today so I say well done and thanks for all the memories.

Another song that I can't help belt out once an awhile just for fun is the Public Enemy classic

'Bring Da Noize'

I am hoping to learn guitar so I can perform an acoustic version of it or maybe I will just take it and make it into a lounge number.

Bass! How low can you go?
Death row what a brother knows
Once again back is the incredible
The rhyme animal
The incredible D. Public Enemy number one
Five O said "Freeze!" and I got numb
Can't I tell 'em that I really never had a gun?
But it's the wax that the Terminator X spun
Now they got me in a cell 'cause my records they sell
'Cause a brother like me said "Well
Farrakhan's a prophet and I think you ought to listen to
What he can say to you, what you ought to do"
Follow for now, power to the people say,
"Make a miracle. D, pump the lyrical"
Black is back, all in, we're gonna win
Check it out, yeah y'all, here we go again

Chorus: Turn it up! Bring tha noize!

I don't know why, but sometimes at work I will just start singing it. It reminds me of a simpler time when I was still in high school and life was less complicated or it just has a great message or I just love the bass. My mind has no focus. I like that about me.

Anyway the reason I started this post was to tell you about my beard. It was the fall of 2003 and I had just shaved off my handle bar moustache so that I would not ruin the pictures for Paul's wedding. I am a caring sort. Anyway on with the show this it. So check it, I had always let my beard grow to a point where it really got annoying and then I would shave the whole thing off. This would change in late 2003 when I decide to buy a pair of clippers. This allowed me to trim the damn thing whenever it got to that itchy unbearable stage. So other than one week in the past 3 years I have been with beard. I really do love my beard. He and I have had a lot of memories together. Will I shave it off and go without again? I don't know. I'm just too darn attractive with it. Well come you have all seen the pictures.

Anyway thanks for hanging out for this long diatribe. I want to give a shout out to my homies and shorties. Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.

A superbowl homeboy from the O-town

Yes so it wasn't all weddings and dancing and drinking for your's truly during the trip to the National Capital Region. I actually ran into some of the other people I left behind when I took off from my former home.

You can see some of them in this photo. They are so innocent looking aren't they, well let me tell you, you can forget all that. Bad seeds every last one of them. Wouldn't trust them any further than I could throw them.

The one on the left is the real troublemaker, but I leave that story for another day. Anyway I did see the 6 people you see above along with a few other all-stars, Nic and his sweetheart, DC and his crazy family along with my personal favourite Chuck Man Jack. Oh don't forget about that crazy French man who always reminds me to be out there sowing my oats or something like that. I in turn helped him reno a bathroom. Whoo wee!! That was the highlight of the trip. Hopefully next time I'm in Ottawa he'll have another project for me. They're quite a bunch let me tell you.

Of course my search for Danny G was fruitless, I can never get a hold of that guy, its as if he is avoiding me. What is he afraid of, is it the money he owes me or does he know that I found out about his fear of cardigan sweaters? I don't know.

So the trip to Ottawa allowed me to spend some quality time with Mo and her kid. It made me realize that I deep down I don't hate children, I actually enjoy hanging out with them and discussing world events. Its a blast. Will I make a good father? Some say yes, others may not be so sure. As long as any children I have turn out to be jerks than I will consider their upbringing a success.

Now to something important. What's the deal with Pluto being demoted. That's an outrage that is. We are always talking about equality and then scientists go and pull something like this. Ridiculous.

Anyway that's my time, now enjoy the musical stylings of Baby TV.

HERE WE ARE -- THE B.I.C.

From the O-town

Hey hey, its about time I wrote something on this blog. What the heck is wrong with me. I guess its just that I am recovering from my fun adventures in the Nation's capital. I was in Ottawa to attend the wedding of one of my oldest and dearest friends, the one the only Jimmy James.

I've known James since I sat next to him in Mr. Vescio's Grade 9 geography class at the ole St. Ignatius High in the wonderful tree-lined municipality of Thunder Bay. Those were good times. The world was changing, what with the fall of the Berlin Wall and communism getting its rightful kick in the can. My earliest impressions of James was his quality of character and his tremendous verbosity. That boy would say words I didn't even knew existed, me being a simple boy from Finnish Irish stock. He was a good chap and my best memories from high school include him and my other brother in Christ, the man not the myth Paul Q or Squirrel as he was known by then. It was not until Grade 12 that our bonding as friends would really take hold. It was that year that we all played on the only decent football team that St. Ignatius ever put together during our time there. Of course the following year we played on possibly the worst football team the school ever had to offer, but it was all in good fun. I wouldn't trade those memories for anything.

But it was those football practices and the fact that Paul lived on his own and had a place for us to hang without any adult supervision that gave us the time and space to develop some of the strongest friendships I will ever have. Despite that lack of supervision the three us were very well-behaved and spent a lot of time high on life :) I guess we had what any teenager wants, FREEDOM, and we didn't abuse the privilege.

When high school came to a close I would abandon these two as I took off to Ottawa to attend Carleton U and they stayed in T-Bay to go to Lakehead. That time apart may have ended a lot of friendships, but it is a testament to how strong our bond is that despite my absence whenever I did see these two it was just like old times and eventually all three of us would meet up again. Paul was the first to join me in O-town and James was there shortly after. What's up with that. We could not be apart I guess. Anyway some things are just meant to be.
Of course I decided that I must test the bounds of our friendship and pick up and leave these two behind once again. If you follow this blog at all you know I have moved on to Calgary. Will they follow me here? Only time will tell.

As those two settle down with their new lives, both of them married and Paul now the proud father of a beautiful baby girl, I have to admit that I am very proud to have these two guys as my friends. Paul made a great speech during James' wedding reception and pretty much summed up what I was feeling about James and Paul and the friendship we have.
We are very different people and it may seem odd sometimes, even to ourselves, that we have remained so close over the years. I know I have had many a stupid argument over the years with James, remember Friday the 13th, and I have picked on Paul a lot, who could forget the mullet, but it was always in good fun.

I guess my point is that you guys rock and I look up to and admire you both. Congratulations to you James and Nesrine, may you have a lifetime of joy and happiness together.
As for you Paul, keep on doing what you're doing. You take care of that family of yours and be the best father you can.

My words of encouragement. Anyway I guess I have rambled long enough.
In closing I just want to say that I miss you guys and I look forward to seeing you soon. The unholy triumvirate that is the BIC will unite again.

Well that's it for now. Coming up next I go looking for Danny G, share memories of bathroom renovations, contemplate my qualifications as a father and try to figure out how they could demote Pluto.

Check y'all later and Peace Out

Day 7 and 8

So I have been lazy about the updating of my adventures and I hope y'all can accept my deepest apologies.

So to update everyone, me and my parents spent the 7 and 8th day of their visit going to and hanging out at the West Edmonton Mall. Yes the world's biggest mall and family fun zone.

I did not hang out in any of the fun centres, but I did see every inch of retail space that place can offer. Too much.

As for Edmonton I did not see much, but its no Calgary. What can I say I have bought into the hype.

So if you want to know more about West Edmonton Mall take a trip on this link and you'll learn so much more.

So that's it, the end of my parents visit. The left early Day 9. It was a really good time and I really liked having them visit. We took lots of pictures and have many memories.

Well what the heck do I do now. I must find some new and even more exciting adventures. It could be my upcoming trip back to the O-town for mon ami's wedding. Will Jimmy James make it through the ceremony without fainting or falling down. It could be exciting and I can't wait.

Alright so lets all have a good time and get down!

Check y'all later. Out

Day 5

Let there be mountains !

So on the fifth day of my parents visit to Calgary we went off to check out a little piece of God's country know as Lake Louise. It is quite amazing, the colour of the water, the rocky mountains and the chance you may be eaten by a grizzly bear.

I had never been to Lake Louise in the summer, only the winter, so this was the first time I had ever seen the actual water in person and it was truly amazing. The mountains that surround the lake are pretty breathtaking themselves, but it was the colour of the water that I could not get over, that teal hue, I guess you would call it that, is so weird. I could imagine swimming in it would be like swimming in a big bowl of green skim milk. The colour is so vibrant that I couldn't actually believe that it was water, I had this urge to try and walk across it, but my senses got the better of me.

Once we checked out the lake we went o a little chair lift ride to get a better view of the Rocky Mountains.

I don't know what it is, but I just love the rocky mountain way, couldn't get much higher.

I don't know what I can say about this view other than you have to check it out for yourself to get the full appreciation. I hope that some of my fellow travelers will join me out here in Alberta one day so I can share these amazing vistas with them.

As for the bears, we didn't have a run in with one, which is a little disappointing, but that was probably for the best.

So it was a pretty cool time in Lake Louise, but I think this vacation is starting to wear my parents out.

Day 6 was pretty much a break in the excitement for the C-town 3, but that was only so we would be ready to conquer the great monstrosity of merchandising that is the West Edmonton Mall.

Stay tuned loyal travelers.

Day 4

Much to my surprise my parents were not even getting on my nerves yet after 4 days of the visit. I think thats some kind of record. They're great people, they really are and I love them to pieces, but they are also my parents so they cramp my style sometime. I kid of course, but only cause they may read this.

Anyway so Day 4 saw me and my ma check out the zoo while my dad went golfing.

The zoo is cool to me. I think I should have pursued a career in zoology. It would be fun. I could hang out with the gorillas or monkeys or the bears or the lions or etc all day long. I just love watching the way these creatures act.

However since this was my Ma's only chance to see the zoo we tried to see everything. So we did. We started out by checking out the hippos they were just eating and weren't swimming so I didn't get to see them in the water, but i did get to see the fish that 'clean up' after them. There were so many of these fish. It was pretty cool how they all gathered by the glass.

There were some other amazing animals like the giraffes, zebras and lions. But it was early in the day and they all seemed to be more interested in resting than entertaining. The bastards! Don't they know we came for a show, well their lucky I love all creatures.

I don't hold a grudge against them. They have a right to rest

So a little later on we went to the rainforst exhibit and that's where we got to check out the monkeys and all sorts of primates. The gorillas were there. I think I will go back and watch them again, them and the spider monkeys. Even though the gorrilas were not doing much they were still real interesting to me. I think its the fact they could kick my a**. What would that be like to be beat up by a gorilla. The spider monkeys were so active that it was really fun watching them swing around and goof off, oh what a life.

I could go on and on about all the animals, but I loved so much at that zoo that I would almost have to say I'm a zoo geek. The elephants didn't do much because they are getting a new enclosure built at the zoo. The flamingos were pretty neat and so colourful eh. The red panda was reall awesome, but I'm so incompetent that I never had my camera ready when he was looking my way, What a maroon.

Anyway all in all the zoo rocked and anyone visiting Calgary should check it out.

Well I'll leave it there for now, but tune in soon as the Beaderded Backpacker and his honoured guests head off to the rockies one more time to check out Lake Louise.

Later

Day 3 of the Visit

So why I was hard at work, (for some reason I can't stop laughing when I say that) my folks decided to take a ride to Drumheller to check out some golf and the Royal Tyrrell Museum.

They suck, but they did bring me back a T-shirt and a golf towel though.

I think they said they had fun.

Day Two of the Visit

So it took me awhile to actually remember happened on day two of my parents visit, but now I recall. My dad was wrapped up watching the final round of the British Open while my mom and I went to get a better view of Calgary from the Calgary Tower

There were some strange and unusual creatures at the Tower as we entered. An oversized beaver posing as a mountie, a moose dressed as a hockey player and a Tyrannosaurus Rex, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!
Luckily these natives were friendly and allowed me to have my picture taken with them.

Also there was a wooden Indian, he didn't say much, but he was a friendly cat nonetheless. So we went all the way up to the observation deck where we got some shots of the city and took in the amazing view.

Of course I took the opportunity to stand on the glass floor and look at potential doom, my ma was not so brave. The Tower is a nice place to visit. We had fun.

Coming up next, the parents take off to Drumheller to see the dinosaurs without the Backpacker, what bums. Perhaps they will still have some stories to tell

Later