Blog renewed!

After three years of not keeping any kind of blog, I’ve decided to it’s time to start again. A couple of months ago I discovered that my earliest attempt at keeping a blog had been archived by the Internet Archive and was amazed to discover that it really brought back memories. When I  read long forgotten entries I could remember the day I wrote them and how I felt when I wrote them.  The process of writing and thinking about events and experiences seems to have as much if not more power to evoke memories than photographs, at least for me.

Over the past week or so I’ve imported entries from two blogs I kept between 2003 and 2006. The entries from 2003-2004 are my earliest efforts at keeping a blog using a geeky blogging platform called Nanoblogger. There were no comments on this particular blog since I was experimenting and the platform was still too primitive at that time. The entries from 2005-2006 were kept at livejournal.com and were initially more about the death of one of my best friends who died tragically in late 2004. Those entries probably kept me sane through a very difficult period in my life.

So these blogs are now consolidated here. The earlier blog can be found on the Internet Archive while the livejournal blog is still up but will remain an artifact.

The hope of course is that I’ll keep this up, not just once a month or once a year, but at least once a week. It’s not like I haven’t experimented or tried to keep blogs in other places. The problem was finding a blogging platform I can live with. Since I’ve had to set up wordpress blogs for organizations on the web server I manage, I’ve had to delve into the intricacies of the platform and think it might just be the best out there.

Over the course of the next few weeks, I’ll highlight what I think are some of the best entries in the bunch, as well as start writing new entries. The categories I’ve initially setup should give you an idea of what to expect.

 

World Cup 2006

So it’s been a while since I’ve written anything here and I can’t say I’ve got a good reason…..but the World Cup season is upon is here in the Plateau and Mile-End districts, and it’s as good a time for me to start writing about something. So here it goes…

For the 12 years I lived on the Main just below Rachel, I managed to experience 3 World Cups and always loved that I lived in Montreal’s soccer central. There’s just nothing like a World Cup tournament in this part of the city. There’s every nationality under the sun which means it’s always fun to watch a match. This tournament marks the first time I’ll be spending my time in the Mile-End instead of the lower Plateau, and things are off to a great start. The Germany v. Costa Rica match is the best opening match I’ve ever seen, even surpassing the Scotland v. Brazil match of 1998.

This edition’s HQ will be Cafe Olympico on St. Viateur. They’ve got a great setup for smokers and non-smokers alike, with a completely covered terasse area and a decent T.V. Inside, they’ve added a projection screen to their already substantial collection of TVs. So I’m set up! I can enjoy the best coffee in town with a smoke while watching the world’s greatest sporting spectacle.

 

Memories

I’ve just tagged all my entries concerning Alex and the Nils as memorable entries so that they can all be found easily for anyone who is interested. The archive I had of all the posts on the Montrealshows board has been unavailable for some time now but will be up again soon. Same with some of the photos. The server I archived them to has been down and I don’t know if it’s ever going to be up again.

 

First Anniversary – Alex Soria Dec 8, 1965 – Dec 13, 2004

Just after I posted I got some great news from Caroline Evans of the McGill Daily – Jack Rabid has posted Scratches and Needles (an article she originally wrote for a magazine that will remain nameless) on the The Big Takeover website.

Really nice to see this up and on the Internet. Thanks to Jack for putting it up there with his comments, and to Caroline for having the inspiration to do it.

Later…..

 

First Anniversary – Alex Soria Dec 8, 1965 – Dec 13, 2004

I just don’t know what to write about this……it’s been a year since Alex took his own life and I’m at a loss for words. We all miss him and all of us wish we could have done something to prevent what happened, but that’s a fool’s game. There’s nothing any of us could have done short of being there to stop it when it was about to happen.

I guess a few of us will be at Barfly this evening.

Really, I just don’t know what to write. For once, I’m at a loss.

 

Bad Religion last night

I was settling in to a good night of telly – watching “Invasion” (which is really quite good) and then getting set for “Lost” – when I got a call from my good pal Rick. He was at the Barfly and was supposed to be going to the Bad Religion show with Carlos, but Carlos bailed so he asked me to come along. “Get down here! I’ll get the cab and buy you some beers”. How could I refuse? Quality time with Rick and a chance to see a band I loved when I was an 17 year old suburban kid. I hardly know what Bad Religion have been up to since, but I figured what the hell. Jack Rabid still likes them, and if they’re still good enough for him they should be good enough for me.

The Metropolis was completely sold out, filled with 2200 francophone teenagers and CEGEP aged kids who were very pumped for Bad Religion. If someone had told me 20 years ago that Bad Religion would be this big in Montreal I would never have believed them. But big they are.

I didn’t know any of the material, but it was a blast anyway. This crowd knew all the words to all the songs and belted out the choruses so well that singer Greg Graffin was moved enough to say “You guys have the best voices we’ve ever heard from an audience yet!” I wouldn’t doubt it. Rick and I were blown away by this passionate crowd. I’d say when it comes to passion, it’s hard to beat the young fans of Bad Religion, Social Distortion, and Megadeth. All of these bands bring young francophones out in droves, singing the songs en masse and on key. Bad Religion let it be known how much they appreciated this audience throughout the set and there’s no doubt in my mind their Montreal fans will be tough to top. It was love-in between the band and the crowd.

Glad I got the call and got off my ass for this show!

 

The Official 9/11 Story – The Biggest Lie

I’d direct anyone who is interested in knowing what did and didn’t happen on 9-11 to 9-11 Research. I found this site last year and it remains the most thorough, dispassionate analysis of 9-11 on the ‘Net, covering what is known and what isn’t in great detail. You can only draw one conclusion after reading through the material on this site, but that can take some time.

It might be easier to read Muslims Suspend Laws of Physics, and if you really want to get it right, Muslims Suspend Laws of Physics Part II. If you care to read these articles and still think what every good American and Canadian thinks, then, well…..I don’t know.

But if you don’t care to read the above article, I’d understand. I know from experience that at times, ignorance really is bliss. Sometimes it’s just better to be ignorant about certain things, especially when you can’t really do anything about them.

But you have to admire physics professor Steven E. Jones of that bastion of American Radicalism, Brigham Young University. He has decided to do something about it. He has presented a paper entitled Why Indeed did the WTC Buildings Collapse? that will be published in a peer reviewed scientific journal early next year. The paper is rather long, but a could good summing up can be found here..

9-11 was surreal in more ways than I realized.

 

Idiocy

I had a rather amusing incident take place about 10 minutes ago at the corner of St. Urbain and St. Viateur. When I see drivers blatantly going through red lights on busy streets, I tend to show my displeasure. Sometimes I’ll swear, other times I’ll give them the one-finger salute. Either way, it’s just a way for me to say “You’re an idiot.”

It amazes me how many jock knuckleheads actually respond to this sort of infantile provocation. So today, I gave this idiot running a red light on St. Viateur the finger, and suddenly he forgot he was in a rush, stopped his car hard and fast with an awful screech, and gets out of the car. I just ignore him – I can smell these knuckleheads a mile away after living through many weekends of their ilk on my old street, and know it’s better not to bother. He gets out of the car and approaches me very aggressively, and asks what has to be the number one jock knucklehead question: “You got a PROBLEM?”. So I tell him he went through a red light. “Is that my PROBLEM, or you’re PROBLEM?”, as he actually pushes me with both his hands. Strangely, I wasn’t the least bit afraid, yet I knew that pushing back or even arguing with this guy was a complete waste of time and energy and probably hazardous to my health. So I just told him that it was my problem and had done with it. “Good, next time shut your mouth.” Brilliant! I told him I hadn’t said a word, that he was the guy who opened his mouth.

And that was that.

I couldn’t helpt but smile as I walked over to get my laundry…..how is it jocks can get so upset when someone gives them the finger and they’re clearly in the wrong? If I were fishing for jock knuckleheads and wanted a bait, I’d say just stand at any corner, wait for one of them to go through a red light as they invariably do, and get them with the one-finger salut. Usually works for me.

 

Idle…

Just saw Shattered Glass last night and loved it. That this “journalist”, working for one of the most prestigious American political magazines, could have written completely fabricated stories and subverted the ‘fact-checking’ process is astounding. It’s a huge inditement of the state of American journalism that this could happen at all and for that long.

An interesting aspect of the story is how some of Glass’ colleagues, even when faced with the facts, refused to believe that he could do such a thing. Talk about denial.

It’s pet theme of mine these days – how easy it is dupe people into believing things even when they are faced with the facts of a given situation. Since 9/11/2001, it’s been happening on a huge scale.

 

In Ottawa Tomorrow?

I might be in Ottawa tomorrow to see Tricky Woo and Starvin’ Hungry at the Dominion Tavern, depending on whether or not I can meet up with someone to kill a few hours with during the day. If I go, I’ll be rolling in for about 1:30-2:00.

Still can’t believe I’ve yet to see Tricky Woo. Ever.