Newsboys - Live

newsboys LIVE trailer from Inpop Records on Vimeo.

Despite the fact it's 27 C outside, I want Starbucks new hot chocolate!

Starbucks newest item is hot, chocolaty

The new hot chocolate is different in that it's more chocolaty, and less based on milk, than the original, which will still be sold. The new blend contains four types of West African cocoa.

Canada's "Do Not Call List"

The CRTC's "Do Not Call List" registration form can be found here.

As of 6:40 this morning, my attempt to register my home phone number resulted in a "This service is not available. Please try again later" message. Guess their servers are being slammed right now.

Dean Jenkinson - Comedy Now

My brother's episode is up on the Comedy Network website.

Sunday afternoon humor

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This is what my brother Dean gets for moving to Halifax!

Hurricane Kyle targets US-Canada borderline

Canada posted a hurricane watch and tropical storm warnings in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick provinces, and a hurricane watch was also in effect along the coast of the northeastern US state of Maine.

Well, I'm sure he'll find some way to get some laughs out of it.

Meanwhile, I'll just enjoy living in a landlocked province utterly devoid of humidity.

Lesnar-Couture rumors appear to be untrue

Lesnar-Couture rumors appear to be untrue

Posted using ShareThis

There were a lot of panicked people in the MMA world yesterday as rumors were floated by a usually reliable poster on the Internet that Brock Lesnar was injured in training and his Nov. 15 Las Vegas match with Randy Couture would be canceled.

... Back When It Was A Swedish Colony

...Back When It Was a Swedish Colony
Actor #1: I can't believe that Barack Obama is getting away with running for president! I thought you had to be born in the United States.
Actor #2: He was born in the United States.
Actor #1: Nooooo! He was born in Hawaii!

Equity Audition Center
New York City, New York
via Overheard in the Office, Sep 25, 2008

Tolls taken off Coquihalla

Tolls taken off Coquihalla

Posted using ShareThis

My trips to Tacoma just became $20 cheaper.

The disappearance of Colbycosh.com from the search engine is just a coincidence

Colby Cosh reviews Google Chrome.

Christianity Today gives Ending is Beginning 5 stars

See? I told you Downhere's new album is good!

Their best album so far? In many ways, yes, though each Downhere album has had its share of pop/rock highpoints. At the very least, Ending Is Beginning further cements the band's place in Christian music for their artful expressions of our faith. Downhere has hit their stride with this album, and assuming that their following continues to grow, it appears that we can expect continued excellence from them for years to come.

Mike's Music Review - Downhere - Ending is Beginning

OK, I promised a review of the album tonight, and circumstances have conspired to make it shorter than I wanted it to be. No song-by-song review. Just some overall thoughts.

It's a fantastic album - sonically and lyrically. I think my favorite song at this point is Don't Miss Now, which has a great piano hook and some stunning harmonies, and actually reminded me of a post-Peter Cetera Chicago song at times.

One thing I noticed listening to it going to work this morning is how some of the songs on Ending is Beginning would have not sounded at all out of place on a Starfield album. (That's a compliment, by the way - to both bands.)

Finally, Chris Sligh has some very kind words about Ending is Beginning. I think, "You must, must, must check out this album" pretty much sums it up.

Coming tonight

A review of Downhere's Ending is Beginning.

Music currently on order

Tomorrow is the release of Downhere's new album, Ending is Beginning. I'll be getting that one off iTunes before I head into work tomorrow.

I also have three other albums headed my way in the mail: Skillet's Comatose Come Alive CD/DVD; Newsboys Live: Houston We Are Go CD/DVD; and Toby Mac's Alive and Transported CD/DVD combo.

Hey, I'm a sucker for live concert albums. Plus, I need some concerts to watch on the iPod while we do our long drives to visit family.

Sunday afternoon humor

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The Research Behind Exercise Music - Men's Health

The Research Behind Exercise Music - Men's Health

Whistle While You Work Out

Do your treadmill sessions drone on like C-Span? Instead, think MTV and crank up some tunes. A new study from Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia confirmed that listening to your favorite music will help you push harder in your workouts. Men who listened to music while going hard on an exercise bike for 10 minutes pedaled 11 percent farther than those who listened to silence or static for the same amount of time.

Click the link above to read the rest.

The Photocopier Picked My Pocket

10AM The Photocopier Picked My Pocket
Session leader: Now at this point, if you've been convicted guilty of a felony crime, I'll have to ask you to leave.
(one woman starts to walk out of crowded auditorium, abruptly stops halfway)
Woman: Oh, wait! What is counterfeiting?
Session leader: Mam, were you guilty?
Woman: Yes. Oh, wait. No. The trial's still going on.

Mebane, North Carolina
via Overheard in the Office, Sep 18, 2008

I'm a twit ... I mean, I'm on Twitter

As if succumbing to the Empire of Facebook wasn't bad enough, I'm now on Twitter. And I really don't know why. As far as I can tell, Twitter is like the Facebook status update and ... er, it's like the Facebook status update. But apparently Twitter is very important, as it's all the rage in social media circles. So, I'm on Twitter. Prepare to be bored silly by my lack of updates, which are now in the sidebar of my blog.

(What's really scary is that I have FOUR PEOPLE following my tweets, and I've updated three times since signing up a month ago.)

Downhere - The Real Jesus - Live

One of the hidden gems from Downhere's last album, Wide Eyed and Mystified.

UFC Widget

I love UFC. But scroll through the schedule for October. Too many shows!

Bonus Friday night humor!

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I am a man of my word

I promised (threatened, surely - ed.) Sandy Fleischer that I'd mention him on my blog just so he would get a Google Alert.

Yes, it's a gigantic in-joke, and no one will get it except him.

Everyone else can carry on their business.

(And, Sandy, great job today. I really enjoyed the seminar. Thanks!)

The Ultimate Fighter returns

The new season of The Ultimate Fighter kicks off tonight. Unfortunately, I won't be around to watch it due to another commitment, but I'll DVR it and watch it eventually. My thoughts on the first show (if any) will be posted at a later date. I will say going into it that I don't have high hopes for this season, and I think that the TUF format has run its course.

There's also an Ultimate Fight Night show before the new TUF, of which I know almost nothing except that it's on. I don't expect it to do a very good rating.

Not to Mention Spidy-Sense

Not to Mention Spidey-Sense
Woman #1: So, how are you holding up?
Woman #2: You know, doing the best I can, using the five senses.
Woman #1: There's six senses.
Woman #2: No there's five: walking, talking, breathing, reading and writing.
Woman #1: What about seeing?
Woman #2: Well yeah, there's also fire, wood, air, and water; but I don't know why they don't count those.

--B68 Bus
via Overheard in New York, Sep 16, 2008

Return to running

Having abandoned my Learn to Run class due to injuries, I've been back at the gym doing the Learn to Run intervals on the treadmill. (Although I did a weird half-run on Saturday outside with my wife - I walked a good chunk of the way, and then sprinted to catch up to her as she ran, and then after doing that for a while, just ran along side her for the last couple of intervals, all while not hurting myself.)

The treadmill running has been going quite well. I can pretty consistently do at least one more set than what the Learn to Run manual asks for, and keep up a pretty good average pace of 4.4 or 4.5 mph over the course of the walking/running intervals.

Last night I did the four sets of four minutes running and one minute walking, plus an extra four minute run just for fun. In total, it was about 2.25 miles in 30 minutes and a few seconds.

I'll be back at it tonight. Next week's intervals move up to three sets of five minutes, plus a two-minute run (for a total of 17 minutes of running, which is one minute more than the four sets of four). I'll tackle that on Thursday night.

In the meantime, a couple of weekends of dining out (a date with my wife, and then a wedding) have played havoc with my weight loss. But I'm still consistently in the 178 lbs. range, which is better than the 180 to 183 lbs. range I'd been stuck in for most of the summer. My short-term goal is 175 lbs., and then on to 170 lbs., a weight I have not broken the south side of since I've been married.

A rave review of Downhere's Ending is Beginning

The album isn't out for another week, but we already have our first rave review of Downhere's latest, Ending is Beginning.

Based on the two songs I've heard in full from the album, and the 30-second snippets now available on iTunes, there's nothing in this review with which I disagree. This is going to be a great record!

Too late update: My review of the album is here.

SiteMeter: We're sorry!

The ongoing saga of today's unbelievably botched SiteMeter upgrade continues with the company's apology to its rapidly dwindling customer base.

The apology is classic:

Based on some performance issues we were experiencing along with feedback from the community it appears we have pushed our new site live prematurely.

That's certainly understating the reaction from bloggers.

Meet the new SiteMeter. Same as the old SiteMeter.

So much for the heavily touted upgrade today. Look what's posted now.

Good Afternoon,

We have received and heard your feedback concerning the latest changes to the website. We will implementing a rollback to the website immediately. We will also be responding to each of your support requests as soon as possible. If you have any questions please let us know.

Sincerely,

SiteMeter Support Team

After doing some checking on the Internet, the outrage over the upgrade is everywhere.

Sunday afternoon humour

more animals

In case the champion forgets that wrestling is fake...

Picture courtesy DaveMillicanBelts.com

Relient K song for Trading Spaces

I am watching TLC tonight, and they've been showing promos for the new season of Trading Spaces.

The song used in the promo was Relient K's The Best Thing.

Very cool!

Today's Mike Jenkinson guest appearance

I pop up this morning on the Toronto Sun Family Blog.

Meanwhile, back at the gym ...

Having basically given up on running outdoors, I went back to the gym tonight and proceeded to run 2.25 miles in 30 minutes. That encompassed the five sets of "walk one minute, run 3 minutes" that the Learn to Run class is doing, plus one set of running 4 minutes, and a final set of running 6 minutes.

Running Night (Final part)

Well, after injuring myself AGAIN last night doing the running clinic, I think I'm done. It's no longer fun. I ran on the treadmill at the gym for 12 years without ever once hurting myself, so I think I'm going to drop out of the class and just go back to the gym. I'm brutally disappointed, but my body just can't handle running outside.

My brother Dean on Comedy Now this week

Dean Jenkinson – Comedy Now!
CTV September 13th 2008 10 P.M.
The Comedy Network September 14th 2008 10 P.M.
30 and 60 minutes respectively
Stand-up comedy fans have a choice on the weekend of September 13th 2008. They can watch the half hour version of Dean Jenkinson ‘s Comedy Now! performance on CTV at 10 on Saturday or they can watch the hour long version on The Comedy Network at 10 on Sunday. Go for the hour: more Dean Jenkinson is a good thing even if he closes with funny songs

Canadian comic Dean Jenkinson is a low key kind of guy and this makes for a conversational, story telling style that works for him and the audience. Being from Winnipeg, he is the only comic I know who has ‘peg material that doesn't put the place down although Manitoba kind of gets it in the end.

Sunday afternoon humour

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Rashad Evans granted title shot after knocking out Chuck Liddell

That's the sound of a $6 million buyrate getting flushed down the toilet.

Poor Chuck. He's gone from the UFC's poster boy to Jobber to the Stars.

When Art History Majors Enter the Workforce

When Art-History Majors Enter the Workforce
Teller #1: How am I over my cash limit? I just transferred you $30,000!
Teller #2: Did you put the transfer through right?
Teller #1: Yeah! I had $60,000. How am I still over my limit of $20,000?
Teller #2: You had $60,000.
Teller #1: Yes.
Teller #2: And you transferred me $30,000.
Teller #1: Uh huh.
Teller #2: What does that leave you with?
Teller #1: Oooooh...

Buffalo, New York

Overheard by: They handle your money, people!
via Overheard in the Office, Sep 5, 2008

Casting Crowns - The Altar and the Door Live CD/DVD

I've said it before but it bears repeating: Casting Crowns should only put out live albums.

The Altar and the Door Live CD/DVD is so much better than the studio version, it's almost mindboggling. This is a band that has so much fun and brings so much passion to its music that it just can't be captured in a studio session. As a result, their live albums just buzz with excitement, and their song arrangements are far more energetic and inventive than the studio versions.

If you haven't bought The Altar and the Door and you like Casting Crowns, just go straight to the live version. It does not have every song from the studio release, but it hits the highlights of the studio album. Not to mention, there's an absolutely haunting version of Love Them Like Jesus (originally from the Lifesong album) that will bring tears to your eyes.

Downhere - Ending is Beginning - September 23

Just doing my bit ...

Where to watch UFC shows in Edmonton

Due to the number of Google searches leading to this site that ask a variation of the title question, I provide as a public service this link.

Running Night (Part 7 of a continuing series)

After taking a couple of nights off from running due to my shin splint, I resumed running tonight. Slowly. Very slowly. I was passed by snails at one point. But at least I got through 30 minutes without major pain (or minor pain, come to think of it). I did all my running on grass, which seemed to help.

Monday we move up to 5 sets of walking for 1 minute and running for 3 minutes. It will be interesting to see how my injured left leg holds up. Oh well, I know the number for 911...

Today's Dilbert cartoon

This spoke to me for some reason. I can't possibly figure out why. Can you?

WPT Canada?

When did this happen?


EDIT: More details here.

Running Night (Part 6 of a continuing series)

Well, I managed to give myself a shin splint last night, which I'm not terribly happy about because now I have to take some time off to heal.

See ... this is why I run on a treadmill. I don't hurt myself on that. Concrete is a different story entirely.

In a world of movie trailers

The death of voiceover guy Don LaFontaine reminded me of this hysterically funny movie trailer ... which was NOT voiced by Don LaFontaine, but is nevertheless still one of the greatest pieces of comedy I've ever seen.

Running Night (Part 5 of a continuing series)

Despite (or maybe, because) the fact it's a long weekend, I have to say I am not looking forward to doing the running clinic tonight. Part of it, I'm sure, is that our trip to the Lacombe Corn Maze resulted in a lot of walking, and tired me out. The fact that I utterly hated yesterday's run doesn't help, either. We're moving up to the "walk 1 minute, run 2 minute" intervals tonight, and while I can normally do that without any problem, I struggled mightily yesterday to do six sets of those in the coldest weather I've ever run in.

So my strategy tonight is "survive."

Lacombe corn maze

In our continued quest to distract our children from the fact they go back to school tomorrow, we drove out to the Lacombe Corn Maze today. It was quite fun. The maze was unbelievably difficult but we still managed to find our way out ... although after eating through the 1,437th ear of corn, we were hoping for a helicopter rescue.

Between the racing pigs, the go-karts, the rubber duck races, the climbing goats, the corn box (think sand box, but with corn), all of the animal feeding, and the apple cannon, we managed to fill 3 solid hours there.