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Over Anything Weblog: March 2006 Archives

March 30, 2006

I Don't Need Another Thrill

So one of my favourite bands are Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers, half of which were formerly known as The Refreshments. You know them from Banditos - "give your ID card to the border guard, now your alias says you're Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the United Federation of Planets" - a hit song back in those 1990s. The last time they'd hit Toronto was 1998, and considering I'd already looked into seeing them in Mexico and Cleveland this year, I figured it'd be crazy not to catch a rare appearance in Toronto on Tuesday. Unfortunately my fellow Peacemaker-loving friends couldn't go, so I actually went by myself.

That's right. The guy who can't even go to a restaurant alone actually attended a concert alone.

Fortunately Peacemakers fans are a bit of a family, so making some new friends didn't take long, and I ended up spending some time with a couple guys from Brockville who'd taken the four-hour trek across the 401, and were taking the same trek back after the show.

Long story short, the show was amazing - these guys put on a set. Great music, lots of booze to go around, tequila shots being taken from centre stage. All around it was good times. I, as I tend to be at concerts, was somewhat rowdy. After the show, on the way back to the car, I passed the tour bus where my new Brockville friends were waiting for the band. At that point the bassist - Nick Scropos - came down a side alley from the back and recognized me from the show (I told you I was rowdy), shook my hand, and we had a chat. He was followed by drummer PH Naffah and the lead, Roger Clyne. A bunch of us hung out a bit, had a brief chat, and then it was off home. Pics below:

Posted by Rick Jessup at 10:02 AM | Comments (3)

March 29, 2006

Mile High And Risin'

I'm soaked with sweat, I've almost lost my voice, and I'm tired.

What a night.

Posted by Rick Jessup at 01:50 AM | Comments (0)

March 21, 2006

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

The last few days have been very “interesting” for me. As I was coming home from work Sunday evening I was struck head on by an on coming car while crossing a one lane bridge just outside of Guelph. Now you may ask yourself how something like this happens? Basically I had entered the small wood bridge at which point the other car decided that it was a 2-lane bridge (I’m not sure how) and continued to head straight for me. I slammed on my brakes, but the bridge was a little icy, so all I could do was watch as I crashed right into the other car.

So I spent all day Monday and most of this morning talking with my insurance company, the wreckers, and starting the process of looking for a new car (mine is a total write-off). I’m hoping for good news from the insurance that it’s going to be considered the other drives fault. No charges were laid against him, but it was clearly his fault as I entered the bridge first and went the whole distance of it before hitting the other car.

Here are some pics of what’s left of my car. It doesn’t look too bad, but apparently it would be about $10,000 to have it fixed.

Image 1
Image 2
Image 3

Oh and I can’t remember what its like to get hit with an air bag. It all happened way too fast.

Posted by Mark Maranzan at 11:29 AM | Comments (0)

March 20, 2006

Big Brown Baby Seal Eyes

There's been this problem plaguing me for the last week, and nobody can answer it. First, some background.

Paul McCartney and his wife have taken it upon themselves to come to our fine country (Canada, for you search engine folk) and protest "the seal hunt". By seal hunt they mean they find baby seals and club them to death to use various and sundry parts of said clubbed seal for various and sundry things. This practice upsets the McCartney clan and they're hear to tell us that it's wrong.

First, I'm not sure where I stand on this. Killing seals should really be no different than killing any other animal, save for the fact that a seal is "cuter" than a cow or a pig, animals whose slaughter is perfectly acceptable, perhaps even to the McCartney clan. As they say, there's room on earth for all of God's creatures - right next to the mashed potatoes. However, I'm escaping my question.

Why do they club them? Every other animal gets shot. Cows. Pigs. Old dogs. Cats, if we're lucky (har!). But not seals. No, seals get clubbed. It's the only animal I'm aware of that the acceptable practice of slaughter is to sneak up on it and beat it about the head with a stick. Why? I really want to know.

Note: Apparently the reason may be they don't want gunshot holes in the pelt. Because clearly the average hunter can't aim.

Today's Random Links
Even the baby seals want the McCartney clan to go home!
"I'm too young to die..": The Baby Seal Clubbing Game
The Objective Presentation of Baby Seal Clubbing
Buy this PETA-angering t-shirt today!
Why people club seals - one answer

Posted by Rick Jessup at 01:46 PM | Comments (3)

March 18, 2006

Survivorman

When I did that fishing trip in the middle of nowhere last spring the men were discussing a show called Survivorman. I've since caught it a couple times, but I suppose only over the last week have I become completely addicted. They've done only 10 episodes, although the Official Les Stroud site indicates OLN is on board for a second season and he's negotiating with the American network to make it all happen.

For those who haven't caught it yet it's basically one man stranded in a survival situation for seven days, at which point he's rescued. The first 10-episode season featured the Canadian Boreal Forest, Arizona Desert, Costa Rica, Georgian Swamp, Canadian Arctic, Mountain, Canyonlands, Plane Crash, and Lost at Sea. The 10th episode was a behind-the-scenes one looking at how he does the filming and such when he's alone.

I think part of the fascination is my newfound desire to be an "outdoors" guy, something which unfortunately is more difficult than it sounds to begin. Of all my friends and family the only ones who seem truly into the outdoors are typically too busy with work to pick up and hike into the woods. Perhaps one day. Although I do have a MEC membership now, so maybe I'll just start gearing up and camping in the yard.

Posted by Rick Jessup at 10:21 AM | Comments (2)

March 17, 2006

Erin Go Braugh!

Good Day: It's St Patrick's Day!
Better Day: I bought Guinness!
Best Day: I got ID'd buying the Guinness!

Drink beer and bust crap up - you're allowed!

Today's Random Links
The only allowable drink on this fine day
The true meaning of St Pat's
Find your perfect woman
Guinness is good for you

Posted by Rick Jessup at 04:31 PM | Comments (1)

March 16, 2006

TWLOP 06

It's a bit late since games start in two hours, but The World's Largest Office Pool is back up and running. Go ahead and get those brackets in.

TWLOP March Madness Brackets Challenge

Last year usernames should work.

Also in:

Yahoo! Sports Tournament Pick'em
Group: overanything
Password: moocow

Sportsnet Net Madness '06
Group: overanything
Password: moocow

Posted by Rick Jessup at 10:17 AM | Comments (0)

March 13, 2006

Photoblog: Firing Maple Syrup






This picture was taken into the wood oven used in the second last step of creating maple syrup. I headed up to the farm to visit my wife last night where she's been enjoying the opportunity to create maple syrup again. It was my first time participating, and I got to do a lot of "firing", ie. throwing wood in. Of course, if any of you are looking for pure syrup, you know where to find me.

Posted by Rick Jessup at 10:17 PM | Comments (1)

Street Fighting Man

Good times this weekend. Kip, Paul, and Mark all came over for a weekend of guitar playing. It was quite the spread - two Garrison AG-300CE acoustics, a Takamine EG540C acoustic, a Fender Strat, a Squire, and my Washburn. They were swapped back and forth, and although none of us are superstars, I think we all had a good time anyways. Unfortunately my skill and guts tend to increase with beer consumption, which brings me into why I wasn't so good on Saturday night.

I had to hold off on harmful food and drink - and get some sleep - as I was running the 7th Annual Achilles St Patrick's Day 5k with Clive and Soheil. I've dedicated myself to training the last few weeks, working my time down, building my stamina, and according to Mrs Jessup, building some muscle mass. I couldn't have hoped for more than what I did, that's for sure:

JESSUP, Rick - 24:56.3 - 139/455 Men - 39/141 Men 30-39

It was my dream to finish on or around 25 minutes, as 25:50 was my best practice time, but as I thought the competitive nature of a race brought that extra minute out. Coming in under 5:00 pace/km was great. That's 2.5 minutes off last year's time (27:29, 229/477 Men, 90/179 Men 30-39), and a full five minutes off my first 5k a couple years ago (30:34, 47/54 Men, 3/3 Men 20-29). Congrats also go to Clive, who bested his pre-race goal of 21 minutes (20:11.1, 51/455 Men, 13/141 Men 30-39), and Soheil who suffered through an ongoing heel injury to finish strong (28:08.3, 224/455 Men, 51/100 Men 40-49). Full results here.

Anyone want to head downtown for a Guinness on St Pat's this Friday?

Today's Random Links
The effects of cannabis on a web-based lifestyle (Thanks, Rob)
Chuck Norris reads his own facts
Secrets of the 12 'Idol' Finalists

Posted by Rick Jessup at 11:22 AM | Comments (0)

March 10, 2006

Psychodrama City

Sorry about the trade deadline thing - to be honest I had simply not seen it coming. By the time I understood the trade deadline was Thursday I couldn't free myself up to be here for the day. I missed doing it, though.. this would be the first year I wasn't scooping both TSN and Sportsnet. :)

Leafs fans - are there any left? - must be livid. Yesterday was the day to trade Bryan McCabe, before somebody overpays for him as a free agent and the entire league realizes he can't play defensively and only scores on the power play. This lame-duck management team just finds new ways to screw things up every year. McCabe has inexplicably found popularity in the league, and there certainly would have been demand. Heck, Washington got a first rounder and a prospect for a defenseman who was less in demand AND who'd demanded a trade. We could have got at least that for McCabe.

It is my belief that the Leafs should keep Steen as a prospect; Sundin, because he's older and you won't get much for him anyways; Tucker, because what we could get back wouldn't be as valuable as what he offers, even if he's not a star; and Kaberle, because he's a legitimately good blueliner. Just about everything else that wasn't nailed down should have been moved yesterday, stock up on good kids and picks, and start the process of creating a young, quick team. The only real issue is that you can't trust this management team not to screw it up along the way. My favourite comment of the day was a caller to the FAN 590 stating that we should do as I've said and "draft an Ovechkin", to which it was noted that "the issue is the Leafs consistently make the wrong decision. The Leafs wouldn't have drafted Ovechkin, they would have found someone worse to pick ahead of him." Preach on, brother.

Posted by Rick Jessup at 10:32 AM | Comments (1)

March 06, 2006

Oscar Night

So how many of you stayed up all night to get your fill of stars and starlets? I for one have never been a big fan of the Oscars, but I know that I am one of the few out that that doesn’t really care what happens in Hollywood 24/7. I did however take a few moments this morning to look through both the list of winners (none of which I gave much pause to) and the gallery from the red carpet.

That’s about all the time that I’m willing to give to the Oscars, but for those of you that didn’t watch it all, but want to know who took home the hardware, I have taken the liberty of posting up the link. I’m sure Rick would have done if he wasn’t off on some wild goose chase (I'm probably going to pay for that comment).

Posted by Mark Maranzan at 11:04 AM | Comments (0)

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