Freestyle Haiku

It has occurred to me that i actually spend more time thinking about what to blog about than I do actually bloggin'. I've had several fantastic ideas come and go, lost somewhere in that void between drunkness or soberness, or morning and night. I had hoped that I would be a little more free and spontaneous when I started this, so in that spirit...

The time-honored house tradition of "yardwork sundays" was extended to include thursday, friday, saturday, and sunday this past week to prep the garage for a new roof and deck (there's a deck on the top of the two car attached garage) . Apparently the roofer miscalculated with his initial estimate... so, naturally, he has now doubled the original price... to try and save a few bucks, i'll be paying some bikers cash to refinish my garage roof, and taking out a line of credit so that i can put a new deck up there and actually pay for all the work... i'm sure theres no way this could end poorly for me...

At least I didnt have to pay Grant, Jaswal (or Sam) for their help...



I have yet to post about any of our fantastic achievements on yardwork sundays... we've gotten drunk raking out the dead grass this spring and caused an accident by waving at passing cars, we cleaned out 50 years of spruce needles from the giant tree in the front yard, built some planters, and have now stripped the tar, gravel and fibreboard off a flat-roofed garage... but many years from now, when reminiscing over the time that Grant and Jaswal lived upstairs, while i definitely wont forget the invaluable assistance they gave me with the yard, who could ever forget the image of three heterosexual men (allegedly) rollerblading together with a weiner dog. Yup, today marks the first (and possibly last) Rollerbladin' Tuesday.

Until a couple of years ago, I was happily unaware of the bad rap rollerblading had acquired. I enjoy rollerblading... its good excercise, and a nice change from jogging. Apparently though, at least according to some of the feedback shouted at me over the past few summers, its no longer considered the most heterosexual of activities... I find this strange, particularly due to its relation to hockey. I thought maybe i was misinformed at first, but several people have confirmed the public opinion for me now. i still rollerblade, im just unfortunately aware what at least a few of the people who see me rollerblading may or may not be thinking when they see me roll by.

This evening past, the dog guilted me into some recreation time, and feeling a little too lazy to go for a run, i figured she could tow me around on the blades... right as i was strappin' on the ol' boots, jaswal comes home and decides he wouldnt mind coming along... so jaswal goes for his blades, and who strolls up but old "Sags" Masson, who unbeknownst to anyone but the gods, had felt the urge to do a little bladin' for some time now himself. And so it was settled... the three of us would rollerblade through mill creek ravine, at a pace set by a small black weiner dog with bad front legs... the gayness of the situation was not lost on us by any means, but secure in our hetreosexuality, we plodded on.

If only we would have all worn speedos

As I have no photo of the event, I can only offer this photo in an attempt to illustrate the joy Rollerbladin' Tuesday has brought us.



Life ain't easy. There's alot of people I know going through some pretty heavy shit these days. People are losing family members, ending relationships, struggling with shitty jobs, and fighting to make ends meet. At the end of the day, we're all left trying to figure out how to make ourselves and the people close to us happy... and not many things are as hard to attain as genuine, prolonged happiness. Personally, I'm pretty fucken miserable and lonley, so i'm the last guy to offer any advice... And quite frankly, there are too many people out there who think they have good advice to offer, but i did actually hear some good advice today... do your best to enjoy the moment your living in, and maybe, just maybe, itll make it a little easier to start looking optimistically to the future, and/or accepting the past.

Well, i'm here to tell you that its pretty tough to worry about all the shitty things in your life while your coasting along behind a weiner dog on a pair of rollerblades...




(for the record, rasta isnt actually a weiner dog, but she looks like one)

Posted by Nickel at 10:59 PM | Permalink | Comments

Amen Brother.

I'll blog about money and happiness and fulfillment a little later. i do have a thing or two to say about that topic, but lets get to the really important stuff first, and thats a really cool band getting the fucken screws at the iTunes Music Store.

Note: I'm viewing the Canadian version of the iTunes Music Store.

I suppose the fact that you can now download Cub Country's latest album, Stay Poor. Stay Happy through the iTunes store is extremely positive, my only complaint is with the album review they chose to use their. I've only listened to the album once from start to finish so far, but its pretty much what i expected, and i like it alot. Anyone who enjoyed the first album, High Uinta High will also more than likely enjoy the new(er) album. Unfortunately, if you use the review currently provided by the iTunes Music Store to help you make the decision, you might not choose to give this album a chance.

I appreciate the criticisms provided by Ronnie D. Lankford Jr. of the All Music Guide. I'll even go so far as to say he makes some valid points. Some valid, yet critical points. Which is fine. But how often do you see the official, non-user album review commit over half the text to the more negative aspects of the album? Pick a band you hate and look them up on Amazon.com or iTunes and try to find a negative initial review.

So a really cool indie band, writing songs that actually have some artistic integrity, and say something and/or tell a story, gets a review that dissuades people from buying the album? Meanwhile, a piece of fucken horseshit band like Nickelback gets a series of album reviews that blows sunshine up their unoriginal collective ass.

So alright, some of the songs on Stay Poor. Stay Happy might seem a little long, and they might start to lose your attention if your not in the right mood, or not a fan of that particular type of song... but where the hell are the overwhelming number of valid criticisms one could provide regarding your more popular mainstream bands.

According the review over at the iTunes Music Store, Chad Kroeger fills that crappy "Photograph" song with "brooding nostalgia, and their most recent album "clinches Nickelback's claim to rock's top ranks".

Sweet jesus whats wrong with people?

I decided to go some through Nickelback lyrics before I wrote anything about them... they remind me of a kid in grade 9 english trying to come up with short lines that rhyme. It doesnt really bother me that people like the band, its that they have the nerve to defend the bands shortcomings... because compared to a band with well thought out, intelligent well arranged lyrics, Nickelback lyrics might as well be written by a string bean. And I'm not going to go to the trouble of actually listening to a Nickelback song, but im pretty sure from what i remember from the all too many times i've come across them on the radio, that they tend to steer away from making any songs that stray too far from the sound of any one of their other songs... So if songs over 5 minutes long can start to lose a listener's attention, im thinking so can an album full of songs that all essentially sound the same.

I could trash Nickelback for many many more pages, cause i just dont like them at all. I watched a documentary on them once. I already didnt care for them, but the documentary really intensified my passionate disdain for them. Then they fired Ryan Vikadel, who used to play with Corb Lund, and i hated them some more (although i'm happy i no longer have to split my allegiance, and i can dislike the band in its entirity), and rally, i didnt think that was possible... However, I'm really starting to get away from my point here.

Cub Country's Stay Poor. Stay Happy may not be for everyone, but it pains me to see a relatively unknown band I appreciate and enjoy get such a relatively crappy review, that the iTunes masses will happen upon, and possibly use to make a decision whether or not to buy the album. If anything, shouldnt our multimillionaire pop stars be held to a higher standard than a struggling independent band? It wouldnt be hard for me to put together a slightly more accurate (if a little more critical) review of Nickelback's last album... Ofcourse, I might have to listen to it, for which i would require some sort of payment.

As I attempt to conclude this blog entry, I'm not sure where I was initially going with this, or where I ended up? At the end of the day, perhaps I just wanted to document my feelings about Nickelback?

Let me summarize by saying that I like Cub Country... I wish more people would listen to them. I dont like Nickelback. I wish a lot less people would listen to them.

Stay Poor. Stay Happy is really good. I highly recommend downloading If We Should Fall, or Be Your Own Hitman, or at least listening to the tracks they offer for free on their website... And if you like what you hear, perhaps you can wonder over to the old iTunes Music Store and write a review.

Posted by Nickel at 9:44 PM | Permalink | Comments