Afghanistan 2011

CityNews: All Three Cdn. Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan Identified

Our mission, originally slated to end next year, was extended after a vote in Parliament last March. We're now scheduled to remain in Afghanistan until 2011.

I wish someone would be able to explain to me how the Canadian parliament managed to pass a vote to remain in Afghanistan.This is going to likely end up in the history books as one of the worst planned wars ever in terms of not having a strategy or an exit program.

Storms of Summer

It's Been a Busy Beaver Summer

So i must apologize for the dismal showing in this blog. It's been one project on the heels of another, with nary a day of downtime (aside from the wee vacation in July. August's vacation is up in the air right now, and dependent on how quickly I can get my components of a certain project clean and beautiful and ordered. I've dubbed it Project Apocalypse. :-)If it doesn't get done, it could very well mark the end of the world as we know it.There *have* been some fun projects though - and much thanks to Frankie and Nick for that Montreal Insanity :-)Here's to a nice, quiet autumn.

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Tags: Ottawa, beavers, Frankie, Nck

Short Commute - Long Wait

I thought it would have been easy - flying into Ottawa last Monday, and then out again on Wednesday. It wasn’t until the landing at Toronto was aborted at the last minute (the flight before me had hit a bird on the runway), that I realized it was likely easier to drive to Ottawa than fly every week.

It’s going to be almost 4 hours either way - flying or driving, which is a bit of a pain in the butt. But at least having a car takes away the airport hurry up and wait feeling. Plus - I could be on conference calls for the whole drive ;-)


When the landing was aborted at the last minute, a wave of resignation washed over me - I was convinced that the next stop was going to be right into the CN tower. How’s that for optimism? ;-)


Technorati Tags: Ottawa, Air Canada, commuter pain

NIN - The Review

It was a dark and stormy night.....
Perfect for seeing The Nine Inch Nails in Toronto.
Folks of various ages and descriptions, in assorted shades of black, lined up hours before the concert for security checks.

We rolled in right after the opening act, but word was that they were above par, as far as opening acts go.

Trent played continuously, from 9 till almost 11 pm. No intermission, no mad dash for the t-shirt stands... In lieu of intermission, there were 3 instrumental pieces that managed to draw a ridiculously huge amount of fan appreciation, considering they were instrumentals. :-)

The light shows were un-believable, I'm still not sure my heart is beating to the correct rhythm yet.
Of course, there was the requisite mosh pit, and we watched fans on the ground surf their way to the stage, only to be dumped into the arms of waiting security - who swooshed them back to the back of the auditorium.

The included photo was from Trent's performance of *HURT*, and it was spellbinding. There was an equal amount of lighters raised in tribute as cell phones. The back-lighting of the cellphone has become the lighter of the 21st century. It was eerie. Despite the security checks, there were still a plethora of people who managed to sneak in cameras and video equipment. So much for body cavity checks. :-)

Head Like a Hole and Closer drew thunderous applause, but we were left wishing that more NIN staple songs made it to the playlist. Considering how much of an emphasis NIN and Trent Rezner put on new social media, Internet 2.0 and fan collaboration, it would have been interesting to see him involve the fans in the playlist a bit more. A collaborative concert would have been phenomenal.

One of the most curious points of note, NIN still plays to 20 somethings... The same way they did 20 years ago. We were expecting to see a mature audience, yet we were clearly the minority. Curious. All in all, it was an awesome event.