Alberta Massage Therapy Supplies
Let them simplify your massage supply needs. daveb
Insert clever quip about ubiquity here. DirtyLab
A design studio dedicated to providing strategic and creative solutions for effective communication. James Murdoch Band
What else are you supposed to do when you grow up in Whitehorse, Yukon? Laughing Dog
dustin has more than an award winning smile, his photos have picked up awards across canada. P40 Communications
Creativity stimulates business. Business stimulates creativity. Paul Bellows
A songwriter and css guy from Edmonton, Alberta. Roth & Ramberg Photography
Work as hard as they can and have as much fun doing it. Shanti Yoga Studio
A calming and peaceful space to retreat to in the heart of downtown Edmonton. YellowPencil
They build websites that work in pretty much everything and for pretty much everyone.
"Brock was a joy to work with on Waynefest... when he wasn't in the beer tent." - Brad Stromberg, City of Edmonton
Dash'd and Compash'd · 12 May 08
I did it! I made a personal best. 1:55:36 for 21.1 km (8/14 in my division, 26/60 in my gender, and 49th overall). I had an awesome run and felt really good and strong at the end. I then ate my body weight in free brunch and went home for an afternoon of relaxing on the patio (and maybe a beer or two).
Thanks to all of you for your donations. I personally raised $800 for Compassion House and together I think I heard someone say that the run raised $16 000.00… so Woohoo! Those of you who didn’t get a chance to donate, I will be involving some sort of charity in every race that I can from now on, so just stay tuned – there will be other chances!
If you are interested in seeing more data about my run you can go to my Motionbased webpage. Or you can go to the Results Canada website to see all the runner’s times.
I am running in the “Second Cups’ – Dash’n For Compassion Half Marathon, 2008” on Saturday (May 10th) and I would love it if you took a minute to read up on this charity and, if you like what they do, say and offer, go ahead and sponsor me for this run. Whether I finish or not (I will finish) – they get the money so… absolutely no risk AND you get a tax receipt for your donation! WOO!
I played Glockenspiel at the Wendy McNeill show last night. It was a hoot! I have never played Glock before and gotta say – it is pretty fun! I had pretty easy and well written parts to play (only 5 or 6 notes in all) so that probably made it more fun and less stressful.
Wendy sure does put on a good show. She had the audience eating out of the palm of her accordion-ed hand. I love seeing performers like that. I find it very encouraging as both a musician and a music lover.
I have a show this Friday with a cover band Paul Bellows, James Murdoch, Terry Palmer and I threw together. It will be fun… it won’t be pretty but it will be fun. Then I have show at The Carrot Community Arts Coffeehouse (Edmonton AB). I hope to have a (small) handful of new material for that night, so make sure you bring your listening ears. Oh yeah, but no Glockenspiel. That was a one time thing. Only for Wendy do I play Glock.
I don’t even want to think about what this could mean. At least they could have said whether it was plumbing or electrical… that would take some of the “yuck” out of it.
Well, we ended the season last sunday with a perfect record… yeah, you guessed it: we lost every game.
We had a very good time, played at least 4 games penalty-free, and I think we all made some new, good friends. I know that all sounds nice and fun and rosy but I have to say that I do have some sour grapes to throw in there. I really wanted to win a game. I REALLY did. It would have felt so good. We did come close-ish too. 8-5 is close right?
I guess there is always next season. Sigh… I think we need a couple of ringers next year. Anyone know any great players who want the ego boost of being the best player on the team? If so, give him/her my number.
I was inclined to post this for my far-away friends who I think sometimes don’t believe me when I tell them about our extreme weather, but I think I am mostly inclined to post this as a reminder to myself that I want to leave this godforsaken part of the world someday.
As Gregg Oldring so eloquently just put it, during a parka-clad conversation about why anyone would live here: “Our ancestors were idiots”… so very true.
My friend Karen gave me a set of awesome tickets to an Oilers game last week – this is how I am repaying her… with my guitar, my MacBook and my pride. Thanks Karen!
Lyrics:
Saturday at home with nothing much to do
There’s a game on tonight but its only pay per view
Then the phone rings, I grab it and say “hello”
Karen can’t use her tickets, do I think I can go?!
Put your bum in the seat
and the bun around the meat
throw some popcorn in the air ‘n
be so happy you know Karen.
Closer to the bottom than the top
So close that you can see Mc T’s bald spot
You can feel the wind off that hard Souray shot
Next time I see Karen gonna tell her “Thanks a lot!”
Put my bum in the seat
and my beer between my feet
my arms are in the air ‘n
feel so happy I know Karen.
Roli makes the save and Horcoff takes it up
A blistering shot by Nilsson but someone mucks it up
Hemsky to Pisani but it bounces off his shin
Oh man, I can’t fricken believe that didn’t go freakin’ in!
Put our bums in the seats
the off-side whistle goes tweet
our middle finger’s in the air ‘n
be so happy we know Karen.
Put my bum in the seat
and my beer between my feet
my arms are in the air ‘n
throw some popcorn in the air ‘n
middle finger’s in the air ‘n
I’m so happy I know Karen… Douglas that is.
So, I did it. I caved. My inner geek got the best of me and I ordered an iPhone from the folks at www.iphonenow.ca on Dec 9th. On Dec 10th amended my order to include a one year warranty (which was super easy and the girl who was helping me was more than happy to give me a 50% discount on my warranty – for no particular reason).
As of this morning, according to their website, my order is “Pending Shipping”. The charge is still not showing up on my Visa, which is curious… but, other than being super slow and a little defensive when confronted about their timelines during an online service centre chat earlier today, it seems as though I might get an iPhone before or just after Christmas.
Dec 24, 2007 at 12:17 pm
On Dec 19th my order status switched from “Processing” to “Shipped” on one page and “Pending Shipment” on another page, (mind you, it only changed after I had a rather curt – on their end, not mine – conversation with a support staff member).
My credit card did finally get charged on Dec 17th, so I am really hoping my phone shows up soon.
On the plus side I did talk to Visa before I made the purchase and they said I am completely covered if this turns out to be a scam so… I guess I wait. I will not however bother to talk to their belligerent customer service ever again… which makes me wonder what good buying the warranty was.
Dec 27, 2007 at 1:17 am
No real big updates as of yet… except that I received an email from them telling me that my ordered has been shipped, and my order status on their webpage went from “Pending Shipment” to “Shipped” (in both places) at noon(ish) on Dec 24th. I don’t know if that is a good sign or not but I am choosing to take it as one. I ordered the 7 day ground shipping, so with any luck I will have my phone mid next week.
Dec 29, 2007 at 9:18 am
I just noticed that on the 25th my Visa account was credited with the exact amount I was charged by CIPCWORLDWIDEHOLDINGS on the 17th for the iPhone. Strange thing to happen when my phone is apparently already in the mail (since noon on the 24th). I am currently typing this with a Chat Window open waiting to ask a service rep what is going on…
Gave up on the chat window and called them on the phone. The cheery lady on the other end told me that my order had been shipped and returned. Hrm… she had nothing to offer after I told her that “I didn’t ever receive it so how could I have returned it?” The only thing she told me was that they have an arrangement with Canada Post to return the package if no one is present when the phone is delivered (not to take it to the nearest postal office for pick-up like every other package any Canadian has ever received). Now that is some arrangement! How convenient!
As a result of my girlfriend’s sidelong glances and not my own good sense, I have asked them to leave my account as it is and not to reship or process my order again.
Sigh… so much for my iPhone Guaranteed to work in Canada. I should register the domain name www.iphonenever.ca ‘cause that is me.
Jan 7th, 2007 at 9:45 am
Just a little update – for the fun of it I emailed the iphonenow folks on Friday just to see what I might find out:
Hello!
I am just checking on my order. When I go to: https://store.iphonenow.ca/orderdetails.asp
I see that my order has been shipped but I have still not received it.
Can you offer me any assistance in this matter?
Thanks!
— Brock
This is their response:
Dear Customer,
Thank you for contacting us.
Your order has ben cancelled due to security concerns.
Please join live chat and talk to an operator if you require further assistance.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions.
Sincerely,
Kelsey
Security concerns? But I was told on the phone a couple weeks ago that I had received the phone and returned it (or maybe I wasn’t around when it was delivered so Canada Post returned it on my behalf). Weird. I don’t know what these people are up to but they sure do suck at it.
New York City comprises five boroughs, each of which is coterminous with a county: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island. With over 8.2 million residents within an area of 830 km², New York City is the second most densely populated city in the United States… and that is where I will be for the next 11 days.
If I make it out alive, I will see you on December 1st at Heather Hutchison‘s cd release party.
I received this email from my buddy Geoff Berner yesterday and thought I needed to share it with the 3 of you who are still reading my blog from time to time.
I just came back from Alberta, Canada. They’re using 5 barrels of fresh water to get every barrel of oil out of the ground, but at 100 bucks a barrel, by God, they’re gonna get it. There’s money to be made, and jobs to be had, if you can find a place to live, which you can’t. Nowhere for the homeless to go, and winter’s coming on. Fun!
Meanwhile, because there’s so much demand and nowhere to live, there’s a huge labour shortage there. This means that nobody will come to fix your plumbing or electricity, because the tradespeople are all busy on the rigs.
This has led to the revival, in Alberta, of jokes about the unavailability of electricians, like the ones I first heard told about Eastern Europe before the fall of the Berlin Wall. I always loved those jokes about how the electrician never comes, and to think I’d hear them in 2007 in Canada, for entirely different reasons!
The best part is the fact that it’s probably the same East German electrician, now emigrated to Canada, who’s still not coming.
Good old Geoff. When he is not talking crazy, he only speaks the truth.
