Season 3...I need my fix

Since we finished season 2 of 24, I'm on the hunt for season 3. We can't afford to go buy the whole frickin series (those DVDs are expensive), so I'm looking for a cheap one or to borrow one...HELP!

No country for weak asses

I just finished reading No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. It was an excellent book; the best I've read in a while. That's not saying much because I haven't read much lately. I haven't seen the Cohen brothers movie yet, but I'm curious to see how they incorporate the Sheriff's narrative into the movie. I can't imagine that they didn't include this somehow since it's a large component of the book.

If you haven't read the book and you want to, stop reading here...I haven't seen the movie, so I'm not sure if anything below will ruin the ending...

The entire time I was reading I had a sneaking suspicion of who was going to bite the dust as soon as they were introduced. Even knowing that, I was holding out some hope that McCarthy's welder was going to make it out somehow. I know that Chigurh is one bad mo-fo. Psychopathic killer is a good description. I'm struggling with the common theme that ties the sheriff's narrative and the game of finder's keepers - wait no, finder's going to die - together throughout the entire book. Maybe there isn't a common theme, but why include the narrative? Chigurh and Llewelyn provide one hell of a story on their own. Jamie's reading it now...we'll wait and see what the English teacher has to say about that one.

I have seen some clips from the movie - the scene with the coin toss and the explosion at the pharmacy. Just seeing those clips and reading the book tell me that the Cohens seem to have captured the emotionless killer that is Chigurh. Hopefully the rest of the movie won't disappoint.

No pow here

I started back to taekwondo a couple of weeks ago. I knew it would be different going back, but I didn't think I would be moving this slow. It feels like my body is moving in super slo-mo like in the Matrix movies, but the rest of the world is in super fast-mo. My balance is off too. It's not nearly as good as it used to be. Last night I'm doing 540 hook kicks and nearly falling over. Not a great thing if you're in a fight and you land off balance giving your opponent a clear open shot as you try to get your bearings.

A couple of months of classes twice a week ought to get me back to where I was. It's going to take some time to get me back to my powin' them outta here shape. I ought to have enough time to get in great shape with a killer roundhouse, 360 roundhouse combo and then go on our Portage in the Sportage '08. I'll have to bring my kicking pad with me and try to keep in shape while we're gone. So, if you see a woman in a park or a hotel parking lot or somewhere similar kicking the crap out of kicking pad or just having a fight with no one somewhere between Nova Scotia and Ontario and Oklahoma and Louisiana and Florida, don't be alarmed.

Old men rock

Last night we saw Blue Rodeo at the Metro Centre. We've seen them before in Halifax, and I've decided they are my favorite Canadian band of all time. For the Americans reading, Blue Rodeo is a mix of rock and country and blues and folk and everything in between. There are harmonicas, slide, acoustic and electric guitars, piano, organs, horns, mandolins and anything else they can get their hands on.

Jim Cuddy & Greg Keelor have been playing together since the early 80s, and it shows. The two play off each other so well that you can tell over 20 years of playing gigs and likely late night drunk jam sessions allow each of them to complement each other in a way that bands with a mere 5-10 years together couldn't accomplish.

I think I like the band so much because both guys sing lead vocals, and each have very different vocal styles. It makes for 20 years of songs that have a familiar Blue Rodeo sound but with very different voices - literally and figuratively. It makes for songs that feel like a new, fashionable style from your old stand-by favorite black pants.

So, I'm sitting at the concert watching the band and watching Jamie thinking, "This is awesome; I'd love to go for drinks after the show. Wait, we have a baby and a babysitter...can't do that. I hope Navarre can appreciate Blue Rodeo. Jim & Greg will probably be dead by the time she can go and really enjoy one of their shows."

Then I thought about how I hated my parents' music when I was a kid. It was mostly country, of which I still hate a lot. But there are some gems in there that I wish I could have appreciated earlier in my life. Sorry Dad it took me so long to hear what I was missing.

Eastcoming

I want to give a big CONGRATS to the Addisons. They've got a homecoming coming up. Jay got a job at UNB Fredericton, and Jamie and I couldn't be more excited. 4 hours is a hell of a lot closer than Cali. So, here's to Jay for working his ass off to land such a great job, and here's to Ange for all of her behind the scenes work that make it possible.

Jack, Navarre and the new baby A are going get in so much trouble together...he he he