John just sent this article my way…
“Reel Big Fish have announced a tour, but have only revealed that their tourmates rhyme with “Shmess than Shmake.” Some astute readers have noted that this probably – but not definitely – refers to Less Than Jake. Other contenders include, Stress Span Snake, or perhaps Mess Man Make. Dates for the upcoming tour are expected shortly.” [punknews.org]
Back in 1998 I was a huge fan of two bands a) Matthew Good Band b) Less Than Jake. I must admit this isn’t my first website as I had a fan site (as was the style at the time) for the latter.
The site for Less Than Jake featured discography, a sample mp3, and photos from their concerts in Vancouver, which I attended. Complete with scrolling marquee headers (as was the style at the time) the url was something extremely long like ‘members.home.com/ beckbeck9/index.html’. I created it using Netscape when we had this ‘new’ technology called cable internet offered by Rogers. It was pretty fun to create and maintain but when I moved out at 19, and Rogers Wave changed to Rogers @ Home and then Shaw, everything was lost. I continued to follow the band although the most recent album of their that I own is Anthem, so I’m a little behind and out of touch. Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
I’ve watched more sports on TV in the last year that I have ever before. It helps when you are the co-host of a hockey podcast, but I’ve been watching Canucks games my entire life. The difference this year is that I’m watching more football than I ever thought possible, that’s what I get for marrying an American.
One tradition before most sporting competitions is to sing the national anthem. Of course, if the teams are from different countries, both anthems will be sung as in the NHL. As a result, I now find myself walking around the house singing the Star Spangled Banner [wiki].
Now, it’s not that I’m a patriot (or even American), the song just gets stuck in my head. I’m still not sure if John knows all the words to O, Canada! [wiki] but as soon as he does master it, I’ll be teaching him the French version. Discovering that I knew all the words to the American anthem prompted him to fill me in on the history of the tune, which in turn prompted me to look up the origins of Canada’s song.
“The Star-Spangled Banner†is the national anthem of the United States of America, with lyrics written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key. Key, a 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, wrote them as a poem after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland, by British ships in Chesapeake Bay during the War of 1812. [wiki]
“O Canada” is the national anthem of Canada. Calixa Lavallée composed the music in 1880 as a patriotic song for that year’s St. Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony. The first lyrics that were composed for the song were written in French by Sir Adolphe Basile Routhier in 1880 for the same ceremony. An English translation did not appear until 1906… [wiki]
Both anthems have several versions and verses [gov], and both are to the tune of drinking songs from the UK. Whether it’s asking for God to keep our land or describing the bombs bursting in air, both are criticized for their un-PC-ness as well.
Regardless, it still gives me chills when O! Canada is sung during the NHL playoffs and the person singing moves their microphone away to hold it up and capture the song flowing from the mouths and hearts of the spectators. It also reminds me of elementary school, when we would sing half the anthem in English then half in French. That was around the same time we had a Principal who would walk around with an acoustic guitar during assemblies. The anthem was usually followed by the entire student body being lead in singing “One Tin Soldier” [wiki] or “What Shall We do With a Drunken Sailor” [wiki].
History always fascinates me and when my little search for information pertains to something that conjures up so many memories and emotions (no matter how silly), it’s always worth the trip down memory lane via a blog post. I just hope John doesn’t feel disrespected when I sing his nation’s anthem while cooking breakfast in my pajamas… in a funny voice… really off-key.
Dine Out Vancouver is in full swing again this year and throughout the Lower Mainland people are exploring restaurant menus and getting great deals.
Vancouver’s most anticipated food and wine event is back! Offering an extended 17 delicious days and 156 leading Vancouver restaurants, Dine Out Vancouver 2007 is bigger and better than ever!
From January 19 to February 4, enjoy delectable three-course prix fixe menus at one of Vancouver’s hottest restaurants for $15, $25 or $351 per person, complemented by quality BC VQA wine pairing suggestions [TourismVancouver]
It sounds like a deliciously good time but it just so happens to coincide with Vancouver Coastal Health’s annual restaurant inspections and a healthy number of establishments in the area have been shut down [VCH].
14 eateries in Vancouver, Richmond, and the North Shore were closed because of rodent infestations. Other infractions include unsanitary conditions, poor food handling, and at one sushi restaurant, a sewage back-up.
[CKNW]
Anywhere from Sushi bars to Subway chains have been reprimanded and shut down for unsanitary and unclean environments, although a handful have reopened within days of the closures. You can view the full report online [PDF] to see what was closed, when, and why. You may also want to cross reference it with any dining locations you were considering in the near future.
I’m not sure when it exactly it happened but our company cut off permissions for MSN and all other chat clients a couple weeks ago. Since then, we’ve all been logging into IM via web based messengers. AIM Express, Web Messenger and the most annoying of all, e-Buddy. I tried getting Gaim or Trillian but still no dice so it was time to find a web-based program that could a) work b) not be annoying with ads and pop ups. What I came across was Meebo.
Meebo is an in-browser instant messaging program, like AIM Express, which supports multiple IM services, including Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, AIM, ICQ, and Jabber. Meebo makes instant messaging services more accessible to users who are unable or unwilling to download the appropriate software.[wiki]
You can log into any of your chat clients and either keep the main contact window and chat windows within one browser window or pop them out. Only issue with that is pop up blockers will have to be modified. You can also add widgets and there’s a blog feature, which I have not yet explored.
Overall it’s pretty darn cute, yes… I said it was cute. Smooth colours, very “Web 2.0” looking. It’s been a great workaround all morning so we’ll see how it fares the rest of the day, it could be a solution to the office chat crisis.
Fellow Crazy Canuck, JJ and I were talking about our hometown prior to the start of recording an episode of the podcast the other night. He mentioned his high school reunion, we giggled reminiscing about P.M.S. and s-l-a-y-o-R. Those familiar with school district 36 will know what we’re talking about.
The topic originated from a discussion about music played at certain clubs, which we don’t really patronize anymore but just the thought brings memories of more innocent days flooding back. Those songs that you’ve heard over the last decade while sharing pitchers, doing shots and getting your shoes all sticky on the disgusting dance floors of certain establishments. You know all the words, of course, you’ve heard the songs enough times and so has everyone else, and they make that quite evident by singing along at the top of their lungs. Because of these guilty pleasures, (come on, you know you sing along too) and the memories conjured just thinking about this post, I put together a little list. You don’t have to have feathered hair, wear tapered jeans or popeye pants to appreciate the pure cheese that follows:
Surrey Top Ten:
Pour Some Sugar On Me
Thunderstruck
Living On A Prayer
Sweet Home Alabama
Sweet Child Of Mine
Hurts So Good
Jessie’s Girl
Mony Mony
Sweet Caroline
Okay so there’s only 9, but I’ll leave number 10 up to you. These are the top songs you’ll hear when you head out on the town, mid-week (because hey, Wednesdays are wing nights) or on the weekends. People young and old sing along, and it’s either because a) you remember the songs and had the album when it came out, hung posters of the band on your wall and air guitared b) you remember going to these pubs and clubs and hearing these songs, over so many years, it reflects back on all those good times – and bad c) it’s just hilarious.
To add your pick for number 10 (Scorpion, Whitesnake, Vanilla Ice…oh boy!) feel free to comment or use the contact form. Thanks for letting me use ‘Surrey Top Ten’JJ!
