There are some people who registered for my weblog whos user level I neglected to upgrade. That meant that even if you logged in you would still be unable to view private posts. I’ve fixed that now. If you didn’t have access before, you will be probably be able to see some new posts now. Enjoy!

EDIT: I’ve been getting a lot of spam bots leaving comments on my weblog lately, so I’m afraid I’m going to have to disable anonymous commenting. This shouldn’t be a terrible problem as most of you who comment seem to be registered anyways.

I like this new theme background. I might change my mind in the morning, but for right now I think I might like to keep it. I’ve had the other one for a long long time… What do YOU think?

PS. Martin: I like the borders being white. I think it makes it look like the boxes are sort of floating over the background.

Dys: Thanks. I get the comments in my inbox so that slipped by my notice. It’s now on “the list”. Which means, I’ll get to it, sometime.

I’ve been on vacation.. Log in for details.

A response to Martin’s comments on The hike.

It IS all about perception. Mine was an interesting one. Having not done any thing so physically exertive for such a sustained period of time since before I had to get my eyes fixed, there was a lot of stress on my heart and breathing. It caused my vision to go fuzzy and lose what little depth perception I had, my head to go a bit light and dizzy, and my muscles to feel suddenly week and unreliable. There were several instances while on the rocks where I came very close to losing my grip, footing, or balance, in many cases where doing so could quite potentially have led to my death, or at least a very serious injury. I experienced a lot of emotional stress from that. Indeed, there was talk of resting whenever I needed to, but my perception was that the two of you wanted to get there even faster than we were already going without frequent stops. Not your fault, it was my decision. I also felt like if I rested every time I felt the need we would never have gotten there, and I only wanted to be at our final destination so I could sit without the worry of holding things up.

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There’s 5 more panels. Click the picture to view them all!

SidCyder has identified the mystery girl from the WTF is this? contest, for which she will win a super fantastic prize, as soon as we think of something super and fantastic. I don’t actually know the girl in the picture, so I’m only assuming that SidCyder is correct. She seemed pretty confident in her answer. Thanks for playing everyone! We’ll make up a new contest real soon.

FYI: SidCyder has identified the girl as Terry MacLeod, formerly of Westhill Secondary School. If this isn’t her, and you have proof, let me know ASAP so we can revoke the prize.

I apoligize if I’ve not quite been myself the last while. After messing about with my head a good bit at Summerfolk, Morgan came by my house last tuesday, talked me into going out with her again, then left. She didn’t come back. The next time I saw her she was with Trevor, planning on moving to Missisauga at the end of the month. She was going to tell me. Eventually. It made me a bit angry. Homicidally so. After some thought I realize it’s for the best that she’s gone though. She was possibly the worst girlfriend ever. I just wish she could have been a bit more tactful in leaving. I’ll be fine eventually. In the meantime, please forgive me if I don’t seem quite stable. Thanks to everyone here who’s been very helpful. I do appreciate it a lot!

EDIT: OK.. so that wasn’t very nice. I know. I toned down what I was actually thinking though. It’s hard not to be bitter, though I’m sure going to try. It’s going to take a lot of time. I’ve never excercised so much love and patience and forgiveness, and to find out it was all for nothing in the end kind of sucks.

Our trip to Cypress Lake was an adventure indeed. Rather than take the path, James decided we should climb along the rocks at the beach to get to this one specific spot, which apparently was the best spot on earth. After narowlly avoiding death numerous times, and after several broken promisses of “I think it’s just around this next corner”, we finally arrived. Martin and James actually went in the water, but after watching them scream like little girls while trying to keep their balls out of the water, I decided I’d rather not join them.

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Today I’m going to Cypress Lake with James and Martin. I just found out about this ten minutes ago. I have twenty to get ready. Fortunately there’s not too much preparation to do in order to walk around in trees for hours. When we get back from that, some people I know are having a buck & doe. At a church. No booze… Weird! I’m not sure what they plan to do. If I had any money I’d probably get a bit tipsy before going, but I haven’t. This should be interesting.

Someone (or several people) talked (forced) me into playing a guitar at the end of the coffee house last night. It was interesting. The song was easy enough, but I’d slipped next door for a few drinks during the coffee house, and I hadn’t warmed up. Also it wasn’t my guitar. All in all, I don’t think I played terribly, but it just felt weird. Maybe next time I will bring my guitar and put on a show. Despite the constant reassurance of others that my skills on the instrument are fantastic (or at least not unpleasant to listen to) I still have great hesitation about playing in front of crowds. Put me in the background on bass, with someone else as the centre of attention, and I’m fine. But as soon as I think anyone is paying attention to just me, I feel intensley uncomfortable. I suspect I’ll never become a cocky rock star.

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This is where I’ll be tonight. Come on out and support your local musicians. I hear they’re quite good. I meant to post this earlier, but the girl I ran into at Summerfolk who was supposed to e-mail me the details apparently forgot to. So I stole them from The Middle of Nowhere.

Alright kiddies; I know you’ve been waiting for me to post this and make it official and I’m sorry for the long wait and the short notice but I had to clarify a lot of things first with a bunch of everyone.
So

When - August 23rd between 7-10 pm
Where - The Downtown Bookstore

I’ve already got like 6 people lined up to play but I would love to get a bunch more; so if you know anyone who can play at all get them there!!! Also; it’d be awesome to get a couple of people reading poetry or anything like that too!
Sooo; pleeeeeease anyone who’s interested in performing anything let me know either through a PM on here, through e-mail or by phoning me. The more people performing, the better!

Thank you in advance
Matt Jansen

I’ve decided to put up some of the guitar recording sessions I’ve done over the past few months. These are all original, raw, first take, unedited, improvisations. A few of them were created right as I recorded them. I’ve decided to let them out, mistakes and all. Eventually I’ll build on these ideas. For now, you can enjoy this part of my creative process. Please comment after you’ve listened!

(Right Click - Save Target As)

Drop D (5:31)

New Digital Delay Pedal Improv (13:54)

Open F (14:58)

Open G Blues Improv (5:35)

Zoom505 Improv (2:56)

I’m back from Summerfolk. I’ll write more about it later. It was terrific, as usual. Now I’m going to shower and sleep for the first time in a week.

If anyone would be interested in babysitting Devon’s (aka Snug Bunny) children on friday or saturday evening so that she can come party with us for a short bit, please contact me by phone ASAP! Her mother was going to help with the yung’uns, but has since decided that she doesn’t want to. Your help would be greatly appreciated, and possibly rewarded (we’ll have to negotiate that later).

Summerfolk begins tonight for us. The actual festival doesn’t start until friday evening, but we’re going to stake out our campsite. There will likely be a noticable lack of updates here for the next week. If you want to come visit us, we’ll be at the South end of the Kelso Beach Campground most times we’re not in the festival.

This time it’s a “Who the Fuck is This?” contest. I got The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test from the library, and on the way home an envelope of photos fell out. They all feature this girl, and SO, whoever can identify her will get a super special prize!

Robert and Co. are having a housewarming party to celebrate the arrival of his new housemates. Robert made another fantastic drawing, but someone forgot to deliver it twice. So, here are the details:

Robert’s Housewarming Party
Friday August 11, 2006 - 8:00pm
443 Alpha St.

Owen and I bought some bacon today. You know what that means, don’t you? We had to go on a trip! SO, we were given a quest by the Snuggle Bunny. We were to find a strawberry muffin, a plain donut, and one sour cream glazed timbit, and deliver them to her and her children. This proved to be more difficult than anticipated. After finally working up the motivation to go outside (with the help of some pleasantly coloured sunglasses), we made it as far the bank. Shortly thereafter, however, we were accosted by the Golden Sands Chinese restaurant, where we had to battle with “human beef” on the menu, and a waitress who didn’t speak English.

After that we ventured up the stairs to the Colluseum. We were dissapointed to discover that we weren’t actually at the top of the hill, which for some reason we thought we would be when we got to the end of the stairs. Next, 10th St. E. We thought it could be fun to play real-life Frogger, until we realized that losing meant we’d actually lose. Not a good option. We made it across though. A bit more trekking uphill finally led us to the elusive Tim Horton’s, where we actually managed to remember the list of things we were supposed to order, and make it out alive.

Some windy backroad wandering later, we reached a traffic light on 16th St. Thinking the light might never change, Owen was prepared to sacrifice his life in order to stop traffic, while I made it safely across with the donuts. Thankfully the light finally changed, and his life was spared. In a moment of irony, we waited for the advance green to finish and give us the go ahead to cross. When the little white man finally appeared, we proceeded across and were almost mowed down by a car turning left. Two more flights of stairs up and we were finally there!

So we managed to deliver the package to the Snug Bunny, who proceded to almost stab Owen in the heart with a knife. We were also terrorized by some very energetic and loud children there. We escaped her house and ran to the mall, where Owen was coerced into helping Michelle and her coworker move heavy things for free. After some time there, the urge for bacon became overwhelming, so we decided to head home. After getting slightly detoured in the field behind the mall, and racing the sun downtown, we made it home, and enjoyed a delicious pound of bacon. Ah bacon! What a teriffic food! We’ll have to have more sometime soon.

Here are some selections from safety instructions included with an airsoft gun dys4ik just bought. If you’ve got any good ones, scan them in and e-mail them to me, or bring them by my place.

(There’s a sexual inuendo in this one. See if you can spot it!)

I took this quiz on BBSpot.com. I hope this result isn’t accurate!

Which Programming Language are You?

EDIT: I don’t think I’m boring. I grew up with ADD. If I was talking too long, I’d be the first person to get bored!

Some random person added me to their MSN. This is how they started talking to me.

Ta7ya sorya ya7ya sa3ada: Hey
Calvin: HEY! Who is this?
Ta7ya sorya ya7ya sa3ada: Asl plz
Calvin: Who is this?
Ta7ya sorya ya7ya sa3ada: Asl plz
Calvin: Tell me who you are, and why you’re on my list, and I might tell you those things.
Ta7ya sorya ya7ya sa3ada: Hay be polit dont shout
Calvin: Umm, I wasn’t shouting. And I was being polite.
Calvin: THIS IS SHOUTING.
Calvin: And, demanding your asl plz without telling you who I am first would be impolite
Ta7ya sorya ya7ya sa3ada: Mm lets start ok

Call me before you decide to visit me. I’m grumpy.

If you’ve got stuff to pick up, call me and we’ll arange a time.

I’ll be back in the swing of things real soon!

So far my vacation in Toronto has involved a lot of travelling around on the TTC and walking places. It’s been adventurous. Last night Trevor, Jimmy, and I got drunk on the subway and tried to find Caribana. Unfortunately it was nearly midnight when we got downtown, and the party was long over. I did some other things, many of which involved drinking, but I can’t really remember. It’s been tiring. I can’t wait to get home! In other news my mission to get souvenirs was successful. I think Ill be back monday night around suppertime, but I’m taking the evening off to relax. if you want your stuff real bad call me and we’ll set up a meeting time, but I won’t be up for much social visiting.

Skewed is sitting on the couch beside me in his housecoat eating doritos. So hot…

This is my my niece. She’s six months old. She’s still got some growing up to do.

I’m getting on a bus in 5 hours and heading to Toronto. I’ll be back in Owen Sound Monday afternoon sometime. TV Night is off for Sunday, obviously. My phone bill last month was nearly $200, and I suspect that going to the city may be the prime cause of this, so unless you’re calling from Toronto, please only call me if it’s fairly important, and don’t be offended if I don’t talk very long. I hope you all have an exciting weekend!

If you want anything from Toronto, you must get ahold of me today or tomorrow. We’re leaveing at 6:30am friday morning! You don’t want to miss out!

Tomorrow (tuesday Aug. 1) Michelle and I are going to see Kevin Smith’s Clerks II at 7:15pm at the Owen Sound Galaxy Cinema. You’re welcome to join us if you’d like. We’ll probably be skipping across the street for some supper or coffee afterwards as well. Contact me if you’re coming.

UPDATE: We’re going to watch Clerks at my place tonight as a refresher before we see #2 tomorrow. It will be around 10pm. If you’re interested in coming give me a call or contact me via the Internet. BYOB/W! Talking during the movie will absolutely not be tolerated! (Bert, this includes you! )

IMPORTANT NOTE: We are going to the 7:15pm show instead of the 3:30pm show because it’s too damned hot out right now. And we’re probably going to McDonald’s beforehand.