This post is in place of what would have been “This is not the July weather I ordered (showers).”
Instead, Happy Canada Day! I should look so good at 143.
This post is in place of what would have been “This is not the July weather I ordered (showers).”
Instead, Happy Canada Day! I should look so good at 143.
I’ve made a few updates to ye olde Photo Galleries, adding several to the School Photos section (not sure why some of the photos aren’t linking to each other, still sorting that out). I still marvel over what I thought was pretty stylin’ hair back in junior high and high school. In my defense, I can claim to have never worn bell bottom jeans. I think. I’ve also added some photos that were taken yesterday (June 29) by Denis in a gallery cleverly called June 29, 2010. The outdoor shots were taken in Nelson Park, safely away from the ‘all dogs poop here’ area.
The contrast between me in June 2010 and July 2008 (not quite a month after I totally changed my diet) is interesting, to say the least. Not only did I lose about 40 pounds, I also shed my full beard, got rid of my big-ass glasses and generally became a lot healthier.
July 2008:
[singlepic id=32 w=320 h=240 float=]June 2010:
[singlepic id=81 w=320 h=240 float=]Really, is there any other explanation? This post is in reference to the new Apple iPhone 4:
I’ll be heading to the Stonestown Apple Store around 3AM (did not pre-order, as I had plans to exchange my < month old 3GS at AT&T until they decided not to have any, the bastards). iPadding the wait like Woolen Horde.
Someone who already had a less-than-a-month-old iPhone 3GS (latest model) stood in line at three in the morning to get an iPhone 4 (new model) and killed the time waiting for the store to open by playing with the last Apple gadget (iPad) he also waited in line for. It’s like a Syfy movie about mind control devices except it’s actually happening.
People are weird.
As you may have cleverly guessed my real name is not Creole Ned, though I have been known to answer to Ned in person. I like having this one layer of separation online, where my real identity is not exactly hidden (it’s listed in the About section here) but not front and center, either. This is not to say that I write through a persona — Creole Ned is simply the online ID I use.
From time to time I have thought about going with a domain that uses my real name but it turns out they’re all taken. My last name is very common — James — and the first name (Stan) is not uncommon enough to not be hooked up with James online. I took a little stroll on the web and discovered that stanjames.com is, of all things, a gambling site. That’s kind of depressing (and it’s the reason I’m not providing a direct link to it). I don’t think I’ve ever gambled, apart from an occasional lottery ticket, which I view as more of a charitable donation than anything (I am always reminded of the old Lotto 6/49 slogan from back in the 90s. It was “Hey, you never know!” The long-defunct Doppler Superstore had a sign out front and after they became an authorized lotto dealer, they had the slogan up for awhile, except they got it slightly wrong. It read “Hey, you’ll never know!” It’s probably the best case of accidental truth in advertising I’ve seen). stanjames.net, stanjames.org and stanjames.info all redirect to stanjames.com. Man, that guy was thorough. stanjames.ca is also taken but in this case it’s “under construction”. I can only dream in anticipation over what wonders will be revealed there.
It turns out that most variations on stanleyjames are still available but I never use my full name, though if I did it might cut down on the whole “Stan the Man” thing or the “No, my name is not Dan” thing (I once had a roommate named Dan and occasionally carried on longish phone calls with people who actually wanted to talk to him and not me). I could also try a variation like stanwjames which is available (trivia: all three of my names can be re-arranged and still work; the middle name is William) but again, I just don’t have a compelling need to switch over.
So creolened.com it shall be for now and the undermined future. Go me!
UPDATE: It turns out this “Stan James” fellow is simply a composite name for a well-known UK bookmaker (Wikipedia link) and when I did a Google search of my name, the bookmaker monopolizes nearly all of the first 20 pages of results. I show up once on page 14 due to my Facebook account. I guess this is good if someone decides to “google” me before hiring me for some sort of job. Unless they think I’m a UK bookmaker and have a thing against them, of course.
Last night I had a dream. No, not a vision for a better future where all people are truly equal regardless of color or orientation or anything. Just the regular kin of dream you have at night when your subconscious is doing its daily housecleaning. I knew it was a dream because the day was sunny and warm. On this sunny and warm day Pearl Jam was playing a concert in a park somewhere. I have the first three Peal Jam albums, which I rate roughly as Love It (Ten), Like It (Vs) and Listen to Songs From It When They Come Up On My iPod’s 2200+ Song Playlist (Vitalogy). This is to say that I like Pearl Jam so my brain wasn’t actively trying to punish me by having them put on a show for me. I believe this may have been an acoustic show of some kind because I do not recall the wailing of electric guitars. Eddie was a bit soft and flabby. The crowd seemed very sparse, so maybe it was a secret rehearsal or something.
The weirder part is that I was onstage and it was clear that Eddie and I were a couple. I was also a musician of some sort or at least someone had handed me a mike. At one point I made a comment to the crowd as an aside, pointing out how I loved it when Bob Dylan did this certain song. Because Bob Dylan was also there (to the left of Eddie and me). The show was interrupted at one point when a softball came bouncing in near the stage. A couple of apologetic ball players came by and took it away. The concert continued, with Eddie being just a generally nice guy and kind of smitten with me. This was definitely not the lean, growling “Jeremy” era Vedder.
It was a pleasant little dream and I thank my subconscious for not hooking me up with someone dead like Kurt Cobain, which would have been all kinds of creepy.
Today is the first day of summer. It’s around 17ºC and cloudy. Better than rain, so I rate Mother Nature 6/10 today.
Yesterday I was at a WESA softball game. Unlike most spring days, it was actually sunny and warm. Prior to game start I was offered some sunscreen. For some reason I was convinced I was impervious to the sun and declined the offer.
This is the result:
Yes, I am dumb but perhaps a smidgen more humble today than I was yesterday. I will now look for “Sunburning for Dummies” on Amazon.
How not to demolish a building in Vancouver: hire the guys doing the bang-up job seen in the videos below. CBC news story on the ‘dumbolition’ here.
Video number 1 or “Sorry, didn’t see that car!”
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKIZk4qAqKU&
Video number 2 or “That lamp post was probably old, anyway.”
In this thread on Quarter to Three Tom Chick asks for random questions for a gaming podcast he does. A question is asked during the podcast and the first person to correctly answer wins a game of some sort. It seems this week he was drawing a blank, hence the seeking of suggestions. I am compelled to answer some of the random questions being proposed, specifically the ones in posts by Wade42 and Jason Cross.
Random Answers to Random Questions, Part 1
Do you sing when you’re alone (in the shower/in the car/etc)?
Yes. Many years ago I shared an apartment that had hardwood floors and pretty good acoustics. My roommate once came home early and heard me singing from outside the apartment door. He said I sounded pretty good!
What’s the state of your sock drawer?
Remarkably organized, right down to color and size (the ankle socks I wear with shorts on one side, the longer socks on the other).
What did your parents do for a living, and does it at all relate to what you do for a living?
My dad was a logger and owned his own logging truck until he retired early. My mom was a housewife and had her hands full raising five kids. The closest I have come to logging is chopping wood for a fireplace. I’ve pretty much been my own housewife, though.
What time do you generally go to bed/wake up?
These days I am usually to bed between 11 p.m. and midnight. Getting up depends on where/if I’m working but generally between 7 and 8 a.m. I don’t sleep in on weekends.
What is the last new food you tried?
I can’t remember this one. I don’t shy away from trying most new foods but it’s been awhile since I had something truly new and different.
Boxers or briefs? (Wait, do we really want to know?)
Boxers, but the modern kind!
What was the last live music performance you attended?
Not counting something outdoors and free, probably a Morrissey show back around 1998. Yeah, it’s been awhile.
Who is the most famous person you’ve ever met?
I once served coffee to David Duchovny.
What would you like them to print on your tombstone?
“This wasn’t the kind of immortality I wanted.”
Which is your favorite Muppet, and why? (Don’t even PRETEND that there isn’t at least one Muppet you like.)
Rowlf the Dog. Easygoing, friendly, plays the piano, doesn’t pee on the rug. What more could you want?
What is your favorite alcoholic beverage?
I don’t drink much. When I do, it’s usually an apple cider and I’m not hung up on the brand. After two my face is numb and I’m done, anyway.
If you could make yourself a little more attractive or a little smarter, which would you choose?
A little more attractive. I think I’m smart enough to get by but I’m just vain enough to want to look a little better. Smaller ears or better hair, please!
What is your worst bad habit?
Procrastination.
What is the oldest thing in your wallet/purse, besides a birth certificate or social security card?
Everything in my wallet is no more than a few years old. I recently cleaned it out, so all the old junk got tossed.
Does your phone number spell something? If so, what?
My phone number does not spell anything except gibberish.
What was your first computer?
An Atari 400 with 16k ram, purchased in 1982.
Who is your favorite relative (besides wife/children/parents)?
I don’t have ‘favorite’ relatives. They’re all pretty decent, for the most part.
When you’re hanging out at home, do you prefer it to be dimly lit or brightly lit? Why?
Watching a movie or TV, dimly lit. At the computer, eating/cooking or reading, brightly lit. For movies and TV, the picture is more vivid and immersive if the room is dark. For the rest, bright light just helps to see things or reduce eyestrain (in the case of the computer).
What is “God” to you?
An abstract concept.
Are you going to eat that?
I already did. Sorry!
I really like non-sweetened cereals now. To keep my sugar intake low I look for cereal with no sugar. This eliminates nearly everything you’ll find on the shelves of most grocery stores, but there are a few brands out there, most of them of the puffed wheat variety (you know, the cereal that came in those gigantic plastic bags you could stuff the pet dog into). The one I prefer most is Grape-Nuts. I quite like its crunchy texture and nutty flavor — and I mean nutty in the sense of “it tastes like nuts” rather than “the flavor is clinically insane”. I have an occasional bowl with unsweetened soy milk when I get that breakfast cereal craving. The fact that it satisfies me, that I actually look forward to the bowl is somewhat remarkable considering I grew up on Cap’n Crunch (the shredder of mouths), Count Chocula and Lucky Charms (I always saved the marshmallows for last, so I’d have a bowl half-filled with pastel-colored milk and spongy yet still strangely kind of crunchy marshmallow bits at the end).
Kids really are amazing. How did I eat all that crap and not balloon up to 300 pounds? Oh yeah, metabolism, that thing that left me in a huff around the time I turned 20.
As someone who has lived his whole life in the southwest corner of BC, I am used to rain and I really don’t mind it.
Come June, one expects mild to warm temperatures, more sun, some clouds and occasional showers. So far we have been seeing mostly the latter. If I was still running the Locarno concession I’d be in full panic mode now.
Dear Mother Nature: cut it out! Make with the sun. (Please!)
Recently I recounted how I had dreamed that I was thrust back into working at the Locarno Beach concession, something I last did 12 years ago. My brain or more specifically, the subconscious part of it, has apparently decided to use sleep time to revisit all of my previous jobs in chronological order.
Last night I found my dream-self back at the store I used to work at. At one point I asked about the schedule, to which the assistant manager of the computer department gave a coy, non-commital answer I did not care for. I had visions of barely getting enough hours to make ends meet. And Ramen noodles. I suddenly found myself outside, in a gravel parking lot, looking toward the ocean, except blocking the view was the Locarno Beach concession, with the stand opened up facing toward the road and not the beach as one would expect. It was clear that I was still working there, too. The joy of 11 hour days covered in grease and the happiness of working a low-paying retail job, together at last!
I woke up shortly afterward. If things keep on track my next dream job will take me back to my days of telephone technical support. I can’t wait!*
* yes, in fact, I can wait. More to the point, I would like sexy dreams of daring adventure and not the dregs of my past jobs. Dear Brain, please comply. Thanks.