I hab a code...

I am sick. Sinus congestion of some sort. That and a headache and dizziness.

Of course, I went to work today. Didn't feel up to it, but there it is.

On a break, I decided I needed some Kleenex to combat the runny nose problem. So I went to Zellers.

It took me a while to find the Kleenex section, but I found it. An entire wall full.

Kleenex thrre-ply, Kleenex Ultra, Puffs with Aloe, family packs, small packs. Everything! Except for one.

I headed over to the pharmacy desk.

"Excuse me," I said. "do you carry Kleenex with Menthol?"

The pharmacist replied, "What?"

"Kleenex with Menthol. Do you carry it?"

"I don't know. Let's look."

After searching with no avail, she asked me, "Are you sure it's available?"

"I bought some from Shoppers Drug Mart last year."

"Are you sure that wasn't in the States?"

I thought, Lady, unless Bonnie Doon is in the US, or unless Shoppers Drug Mart is an American company (It's not.), I'm pretty sure I wasn't hallucinating about Menthol Kleenex.

Hell, if i was ranting that much about it last year, I'm sure it's around.

But I left with some Puffs Ultra, because I really needed something to stop the mucus.

Tomorrow, I try the London Drugs...

Spider-Man 2 has single-handedly ruined comic book movies for me

But first, let me tell you why I really need to document my dreams right after I have them:

I had this dream on Saturday morning, but when I woke up, I really had to rush to get to work. As such, I did jot notes on my screen, in order to preserve it so I could write about it when I got home. (How many personal pronouns are in that paragraph? Jeez, talk about me much, me?)

I now remember bits and pieces, but I can't make a coherent narrative out of it. Here, verbatim, are my notes:

Dream:

*My birthday.

*Backyard from home, but owned by a different landlord.

*I rented out top floor of house. *Spatial probs.

*Skydivers chose backyard to land.

*Friend came over for huge party.

*Hot foreign girl (Heidi Klum type).

*Girls went to shower, I waited for Heidi.

*Four studs came out of boiler room, chased them off.

*Tables, sleeping in backyard.

Yup. Not really a cohesive story out of those notes.

* * *

I'm currently talking with my brother online. The family came to Alberta over the weekend for my cousin's wedding reception. (They had the wedding itself in the tropics a few months back..)

I, unfortunately, was managing the store in my boss' absence this weekend. I wasn't able to make it down.

My brother's and my conversation five minutes ago:

ME: "How was the weekend?"

BRADE: "Pretty good."

ME: "Anything noteworthy?"

BRADE: "Uh, we had roast pig."

ME: "'How was our cousin's wedding celebration?' 'There was pork.'"

BRADE: "I don't know..."

We then go into way more detail about the WWE show in Regina yesterday.

Good to know my brother and I have our priorities straight.

* * *

So D! and I saw Spider-Man 2, during one of the only times I wasn't at the store this weekend. (Crazy aside: As manager from July 1-4, I was not 'not in the store' at any point the store was open. As long as the mall was running, I was working. Scary.)

So D! and I saw Spider-Man 2. I was looking forward to it.

Spider-Man was on my top five super hero movies. Most likely Number 2, easily. (#1? Disney's The Rocketeer, rounding out the top five: The Mask, X-Men 2, The Hulk)

However, there were some problems with it. I liked Willem Dafoe, but wasn't a fan of the Green Goblin. Norman was fine, Goblin was too static. Stupid mask.

The CGI was pretty staticy, in the fact you could tell it was generated. When Peter pulls of the mask in the frist one, you can tell it went from CG to live-action.

Niggling points like that.

I was really looking forward to Spider-Man 2.

You've got Alfred Molina playing Dr. Octopus, and they decided to use actual mechanical arms, instead of CGI (leading to one of the coolest teaser posters I have ever seen - seriously, if anyone wants a present idea for some holiday or just because I'm me, I'd really like a Doc Ock movie poster).

They brought in the writers from Smallville, as well as Michael Chabon, the writer of Wonder Boys and The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.

Everything was building to a damn good movie.

So, after watching the movie, I've got one statement to make:

Spider-Man 2 has forever ruined my memories.

When I look back on the first movie, which is, like I said, my second favourite superhero movie, and see how flawed it is, compared to its sequel, what the hell am I supposed to think?

When it was all done and over with, D! and I sat in our seats, staring at the blank screen, gapemouthed.

I just muttered, "Holy fuck."

I have never, NEVER! wanted to go to a movie directly afte seeing it like I did on Saturday.

Finally, I can understand how people can go back and see a movie (Lord of the Rings, Star Wars) in the theatre five, six times at least.

The movie kicked my ass six ways to Sunday. There were few things wrong with it. It transcended the comic movie genre, and I'm afraid there's not many other films that can compare to this one.

Sorry, Rocketeer. You're down to number two.

Needless to say, I'll be going back and definitely buying the DVD once it comes out...

GO SEE THE FREAKIN' MOVIE!

The results are in...

It's a Liberal minority government.

I've been doing some research tonight about what the new face of Canadian politics is going to look like.

The Liberals won 135 seats, which is 44% of the House of Commons.

The Conservatives didn't get the seats they needed, taking only 99 ridings (32%).

The Bloc Quebecois didn't sweep Quebec, but did gain seats. They've got 18% of the House (54 seats).

Jack Layton doubled his popular vote and his seat count, getting 19 seats and 15.7% of the votes.

With all this talk of a minority government, PM Paul Martin (PM PM? Whoa.) might think about forming a coalition with another party.

The Liberals wouldn't group up with the Bloc, since that would alienate every non-Quebecer.

IF they had an understanding with the New Democrats, which is conceivable, they'd get 154 seats between the two parties.

Um, hold up a sec... There's 308 seats. EXACTLY 50 per cent! So there's no way any NDP/Lib coalition would be able to hammer things through.

It'd always be a stalemate if all the others voted against the coalition.

There's one independent sitting in the House. Chuck Cadman, of Surrey, B.C. But he's a former Reformer. He'd be PRETTY right-wing to be sitting amongst the centrist Libs and the left-wing Deeps.

They'd have to offer him some major bonuses if they want him on their side...

Could make for an interesting government. I wonder if they'll stay around longer than Joe Clark in 1978. He only lasted seven months before the rest of Parliament defeated a legislation the Tories tried to pass through, and made the government collapse due to a vote of non-confidence.

* * *

I voted NDP this year, but it didn't help too much. Rahim Jaffer won my riding again, making it his third term in office.

The NDP got a pretty good chunk of the votes, however. Malcolm Azania garnered 24% of the votes. Third to Jaffer (39%) and Debby Carlson, the Liberal candidate (29%).

I didn't vote in the last election due to only being an Alberta citizen for two months at that point. I didn't know the issues or the platforms real well, so I abstained from voting.

Back in 1997, I voted for Palliser (Moose Jaw/Regina)'s Reform candidate, as she was the only person who was actually from Moose Jaw.

As it was, I wasn't too disappointed, becuase NDP Dick Proctor was voted in instead.

Not so this time. He lost the riding today by a measly 124 votes to the Conservative candidate.

* * *

Okay, time for bed. Too much analysis makes Jago sleepy.

Vote!

So for some reason, I was at my parents' house. I guess I lived there with Dev and Axler, since we were all there.

I was in the kitchen, and I hear Dev come in shouting something.

I go into the living room, and Dev is telling me about his new job as a courier.

"They give me a snack allowance! I spent $100 on this!"

He reveals a tub of McDonalds Chocolate Chip Cookies, of which he has eaten quite a lot.

Apparently, he had been eating these cookies for a while, because his goatee seemed a lot fuller by the amount of chocolate he's inadvertantly smeared on it.

I die laughing, and take him to a bathroom mirror.

And that's when I woke up.

Sorry, no time for a big post now. I'm needing to get ready for work.

Odd Transformations 12: Dream Dev Is An Idiot

So for some reason, I was at my parents' house. I guess I lived there with Dev and Axler, since we were all there.

I was in the kitchen, and I hear Dev come in shouting something.

I go into the living room, and Dev is telling me about his new job as a courier.

"They give me a snack allowance! I spent $100 on this!"

He reveals a tub of McDonalds Chocolate Chip Cookies, of which he has eaten quite a lot.

Apparently, he had been eating these cookies for a while, because his goatee seemed a lot fuller by the amount of chocolate he's inadvertantly smeared on it.

I die laughing, and take him to a bathroom mirror.

And that's when I woke up.

Sorry, no time for a big post now. I'm needing to get ready for work.

An open letter to my boss

This is what I just wrote to my boss, who, because I was late today, sent me home from work:

Deryk,

I've had a lot of time to think about what happened on the bus going back today.

First of all, I'm sorry. I should have checked the time sheet, and I should have checked the schedule. At the very least, I should have called.

Secondly, I'd like to tell you a story.

Before I worked for RadioShack, I was working at a newspaper in Redwater. It was probably one of my lower career points, and it was certainly one of my lowest mental states.

The reason for this was I had absolutely no contact with my editor. I'd go out, write up my stories, make them ready for print, and then leave. There was NO communication between us.

Now, you'd think, "That's strange. You'd think at a paper there should be some form of communication going on." It was pretty ironic, but also very depressing.

One day at the paper, I came in for find that all my stories that I worked on the days before had huge flags on them. Something was wrong with these stories, and my editor had only decided to call me on them the day they were going to press.

I'd flip through the articles, with this overwhelming sense of horror. I couldn't fix these stories, since it was a Saturday, and none of the sources I was talking to would be in the office at all.

When I tried to talk to my manager about this, he yelled at me, saying he had nothing for articles, and what the hell was he going to do? All because of his "fucking reporter."

I quit three days later.

Now, Deryk, I'm not saying I'm quitting this job. Quite the opposite. I'm going to make sure I'm there on time tomorrow, bus schedules be damned.

My point is this: I'm not getting any communication from you. And I'm getting very depressed because every time I screw up, you're there being disappointed with me.

And sometimes, I have no clue why.

Now, ERO is a great tool for keeping track of stuff, but honestly, I won't get anything out of it if you don't talk to me. If you just decide to send me messages that might not get checked pronto, I will miss things.

Looking over my messages, I see no mention of a meeting scheduled for 9 am. Yes, the work schedule said to be there at that time, and it was my fauly for not picking up on it.

However, I'm thinking of the past month's Saturday shifts I worked.

Three weeks ago, I showed up at 9 am. And nobody was there. You didn't show up until 9:30.

Two weeks ago, I showed up at 9:30, because you said there wouldn't be a meeting. I got there and nobody was in the store. You showed up ten minutes later with your coffee.

Last week, I had the day off. No problems.

If you had just said when I was leaving yesterday, "Hey, Kyle! Don't forget! Big meeting at 9 tomorrow," I would have said, "Cool. See you then!"

Deryk, I'm just asking, I'm PLEADING: Please, just talk to me. Tell me of important things.

If you're there tomorrow morning, I'll see you at 10 am. If not, have a good day off.

K.

* * *

What the hell has happened to the Corrs?

When did they say, "Let's give up all originality, and just become a Fleetwood Mac tribute band?"

I seem to have missed the memo.

For the record, covering one song by a band is fine. Covering two songs by the same band, okay, you'd best better stop there...

How many Fleetwood songs have they done, now? Four, seventeen?

Please, I'm begging you, Corrs, just sing your own songs! They're good enough!

* * *

Congratulations to Astro on a kickass concert last night. It's been a while since I've heard vocal jazz, and that was certainly a good concert to see. Barber, Dev, and a few other friends went to see it.

I know I enjoyed myself enough, even though my choir's version of Birdland is the one I'll always remember, so therefore, it was better.

And, man, those choirs are pretty tight!

* * *

There, Frenchman! You happy now?

Odd Transformations 11

So all this Buffy watching I'm doing lately certainly has added up to a weird dream this morning.

I was hanging out with K-Dell, who had recently gone to a small town called Rattlesnake for a gig, along with some other friends.

They went for a weekend, playing at some club in this town. K-Dell was telling me all about the time he had.

Apparently, Seth Green (Oz) and Nicolas Brendan (Xander) were both part of the band.

Now I'm not sure if they were in the roles of the actors themselves in my dream, or playing their Buffy counterparts. It might have been the show band Dingos Ate My Baby, with some of my friends thrown in for good measure, or the two actors might have joined a band featuring my friends.

In any case, they had taped the concert, so I was watching it, marveling over the fact that I didn't know Nicolas could sing so well.

The really weird thing was the repertoire they were singing: Show tunes and vocal jazz were in the mix. I can't remember if they were singing them as a rock band, or if they were doing them straight, but I do remember hearing "Good Ol' Reliable Nathan" from Guys and Dolls, and "South of the Border," a vocal jazz song I did back in high school.

And this bar in Rattlesnake, which looked more like my camp's rec hall, with long tables and a few couches, didn't really have much of a crowd, other than some friends hanging around on the couches along with the band.

A very low-key affair.

* * *

So I've been turning on the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the store, and it's always the Calgary games I'm tuning in to.

The funniest thing about the playoffs is the player named Jordan Leopold.

Every time I hear his name being announced, I automatically think of that Bugs Bunny cartoon featuring the opera singer that Bugs conducts.

Because Bugs plays the part of the conductor Leopold, who's announced by the mutterings of the orchestra who's shocked to see him.

"Leopold! Leopold? Leopold! Leopold!"

* * *

Whatever happened to Dayna Manning?

About five years ago, she was everywhere, with her Canadian debut album, featuring the song "Half the Man."

Now? Disappeared, I guess. Either that, or playing a lot of low key events.

I was listening to "Half the Man" on the Starchoice feed at work, and just went, "Yeah, I remember this song. I like this song."

So where has she gone?