Priceless!

This is too funny:

Reunited with an old friend

The above CD and DVD arrived in the mail this past week and so I was reunited with an old friend. I have had this on vinyl for a number of years (it was released in the mid-80s), but nearly all my vinyl is thousands of miles away in Orkney at my folks’ house, so not so easy to access these days. For whatever reason it was only released on CD just over a year ago. I was finally able to get my hands on a copy, so I am well pleased.

If you’re a fan of the diversity that is David Byrne, or like small wind ensembles mixed with spoken word, then this CD is for you. If not, then you should try to check it out anyway. Who knows, you may enjoy it!

The following is probably my favourite track. The other tracks are available at YouTube as well. Enjoy:

A few (dis)connected thoughts

“What is the difference between Tradition and Traditionalism? Tradition is the living faith of the dead. Traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.” (Jaroslav Pelikan from The Vindication of Tradition)

“…the truth will set you free.”  (Jesus in John 8:32)

I just spent over an hour composing and sending an e-mail of ‘truth’ to someone higher up ‘the system’ than me. I felt relief as I openly shared in this way. There was freedom in sharing like this. I never quoted Pelikan in the e-mail, but I did touch upon what he says in this quote. I’m not sure where the e-mail will go, but I just wrote what I felt needed to be written and left it at that. Maybe it’s something I should do more often, who knows.

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A month of not eating meat and it’s almost like it’s all I ever did. I’ve lost weight, I feel fitter, and talk of juicy steaks no longer induces mouth-watering.

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If you haven’t listened to No Line on the Horizon yet, then why not? I can’t stop listening to Unknown Caller. It’s definitely the best track on the album, maybe even one of their best songs ever. Listen to the last couple of minutes – just awesome!

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This Sunday will not, after all, be our last gathering in our present location. By mutual consent, Easter Sunday (12 April) will be instead. Not sure when our first gathering will be in the new place. The work is a little behind, but it will be ready well ahead of the grand opening on 23 May.

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Looking forward to seeing Monsters vs Aliens with the family on the weekend. Looks like it’ll be lots of fun.

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(P.S. Don’t look for any hidden meaning in the inclusion of the demotivational poster at the top. It’s just the one that made me laugh the most today)

Membership has its benefits

I took out a subscription at U2.com last year with some money I got for my birthday. As well as an exclusive t-shirt and double live CD, this membership gave me access to the first round of the pre-sale for any of the concerts on the forthcoming U2 tour. So, at 10.05am this morning I was able to complete the purchase of 4 tickets for September 16 at the Rogers Centre, which is great because the general sale doesn’t start until next Monday. So, membership can sometimes have benefits! Looks like it’ll be a great show. Hope they play ‘Unknown Caller’.

Cameron is a little sad and disappointed that he can’t go, but I promised I’ll take him when he’s older. He really want to go to an As I Lay Dying show sometime, too, although their upcoming tour doesn’t work out for us at all. He did tell me that when he puts his band together they’ll tour every year. I asked him if he would need me to play bass guitar for him, but he declined, telling me that I’d be too old by then and that he doesn’t want any grandpas in his band. Oh well.

One week already

Butternut squash

It’s been over a week now since I stopped eating meat. So far so good. As I mentioned somewhere else, it started as something for Lent, but I am now resolved to it being permanent. I’ve lost a few pounds and I’m discovering food that I never knew I liked before. The above picture was tonight’s supper and, in spite of appearances, was quite delicious. It came straight from the pages of ‘Vegetarian Cooking for Dummies’.

Probably the only reason I didn’t do this sooner was procrastination or motivation. The reasons I am going down this particular path are mainly health and ethics. I feel healthier already and have been making sure that I’m not missing out on any nutrition or vitamins, and so on, that are necessary. I’ve researched the whole thing and come up with something that works for me. As for the ethics, I just don’t trust the whole food industry thing any more. This is something for everyone to come to their own conclusion on and I’m not going to get preachy about my ethical reasons for giving up meat, as well as cutting out as much processed food from my diet as I can. At this point I am still eating dairy products and eggs, but trying to make as much ethical choices as I can there.

I know it’s been only a week so far, but I don’t regret things as they have gone up to now. I don’t expect everyone to understand, but then I don’t understand everyone else, either. E-mail me if you are interested in any of my recipes, or send me some of yours if you have any good ones!

Magnificent

Well, today was the day I finally got to download ‘No Line on the Horizon’ the latest offering from U2. There’s certainly been lots of hype leading up to this release, and on the whole it does live up to that hype. After all it is their first full studio offering in over 4 years, so there’s been a long wait. My favourites so far are ‘Magnificent’, ‘Moment of Surrender’ and ‘White as Snow’. It’s hard to pick out a weak track, so I won’t.

Next Monday the tour dates will be announced. I had to go to Auburn Hills to see the Vertigo tour, as I missed out on getting tickets to any of the Toronto dates. This time I should be okay, because as a subscriber to U2.com I’ll get a heads up and chance for pre-order. I’ve only missed one tour since the Joshua Tree and I have no intention of missing out on the forthcoming one.