Dean's Blog

I like going to the movies.  For me, it is a favourable way to spend a few hours.  It’s usually a comfortable chair, a bag of popcorn, entertainment, and no need to talk to anyone.  However there are often things about the experience that tend dull the mood.  For instance, beyond the queue at the box office desk, there is the lines for the consession stands.  Now, for some reason, all the fast food joints have figured out that most of the time, if there is a person taking your order at the cash register, that someone else should be making the fries and filling the drinks.  Why do movie theatres not do this?  the same guy who takes my order has to go stand in line at the popcorn machine, and then he comes back to put my popcorn on the counter, then he fills my drink, then he puts that on the counter, followed by fetching my milk duds or whatever.  It seems to me that if they had a few runners who fill orders, that things would go faster.  You could place your order, and move to the next station to receive your order.   Oh well, perhaps my logic is flawed.

The other annoying thing is the people.  I love it when I get to sit in a nearly empty theatre.  There are no annoying teenage girls flapping their lips about "ohmigosh r u kidding me??" and "totally serious".  There are no stupid guys kicking seats, and no old hens clucking about their ovaries and the guy at the office who steals pens.  Usually, I am stuck in a fairly full theatre, which is full of these sorts of characters.  It’s worse when they can’t shut their traps during the film, and then have to repeat every line to each other because they were not paying attention.  I also enjoy it when people insist on flipping open their phones to check text messages or the time, or play dating simulators or whatever during the movie, illuminating the audience in a lovely blue glow.  Then there are those who can’t blow their nose and have to sniffle loudly and constantly for 2 hours.  Man, I really love those people, along with the candy bag rustlers and the empty beverage musical straws.

When I go the the movies, I am prepared.  My cell phone is left at home because there is no way in hell I am answering the phone while I am watching a movie.  I bring kleenex so that I don’t have to sniffle and snort snot through an entire movie, and a go to the bathroom 5 minutes before showtime in order to not have to get up in the middle of the movie. 

So, the next time your are at the theatre trying to evacuate the last molecule of soda from your empty beverage container, and making a terrible racket with your straw, if you hear the sound of cracking knuckles, pay it no mind, I’m sure checking the time on your cell phone and then whispering loudly to your friend will make it go away.

Well, the company Christmas party is over, which means that it’s time to post up a review of the restaurant we ate at last night. It was a newcomer to Calgary, Alloy Restaurant located at 220 42nd Av SE of all places. It’s been open for 6 weeks so far, and our party of 8 managed to have a great time. The location is a bit off of the beaten path, but it has fantastic parking, and the restaurant itself is very comfortable, other than a few awkwardly placed overhead lamps that might cause a few bumps on the head. The Menu is a fusion of traditional hearty fare such as lamb, duck and beef, with hints of Asian and Spanish flair to express a unique quality to the dishes. I had the Ahi tuna tartar with guacamole and wonton crisps that was really quite nice to set the tone, followed by seared duck with sweet potato gnocchi and a giant chocolate truffle with passionfruit sauce to end the meal. The dessert nearly killed me, but it was darn good. Best to share that one.

Good sized portions, and prices on par with other restaurants in Calgary offering fine dining without overt pretension.

I don’t download music from file sharing sites. The reason? Despite going against my rough moral fiber, the quality is terrible. Here is the beef.

The 128kbps Song you downloaded sounds fine on your crappy computer speakers, but slap on a set of studio quality headphones, or listen to the song on a good home stereo.. and something is lacking.

It’s the same reason that your favorite DVD has little digital artifacts that show up on your big screen TV.

Digital Compression generally reduces quality, and unless you have very good compression software, the results are less than desirable. I’ve purchased MP3’s from overseas record companies that have had terrible blips, pops, and skips in the audio, and I find that unacceptable. The fidelity of the sound on a high quality stereo system also speaks for itself.

Now I do have an iTunes account, and I find the 192kpbs ‘equivalent’ bitrate to work fine for casual listening, and allows me to purchase albums that I can’t find in stores. However, I much prefer the real thing.

But I don’t share songs online, and all my software is legitimate.

And I really doubt that if that woman who was charged $220000 pays up to the RIAA, that a single red cent will actually go to the artists in question.

Similar to how I really doubt that any of the levies in Canada go to the artists.

Actually this blog entry has nothing to do with sharks. I just thought it was a cool title I could rip off from a recent documentary.

Although as far as things that could still be working, I might be referencing my ancient computer, on which I do all of my freelance motion design and other things, as it is an ancient beastie. It is still working, but my is it slow compared to the workstation I have at.. work.

So, I’m in the market for an upgrade. Thinking about a custom Quad Core, with insane amounts of RAM. Also really interested in a few of the Nvidia Quadro FX cards, which are quite smashing. of course, there are Turn Key solutions, such as those from Boxx, which are great, or from Dell, which are sort of like those multi-packs of cold cereal. You know, there are 2 good kinds in the pack, and then all the rest are some iteration of bran flakes. That’s a Dell computer.

Tech aside, I’m feeling re-energized on the creative side, and getting back to finishing off projects that I had backing up. Of course, the paid ones get done first, one has to make a living, and save up money for a new computer.

Well, it looks like I no longer have to really worry about Calgary Transit, which is nice, as we purchased a new car, and now having 2 cars, can zip about burning up fossil fuels and avoiding the sounds of teenage girls, very late buses, and “Attention Calgary Transit customers, there will be a 20 minute delay on all lines heading in or out of the Downtown core, and your connections will not be compensated in any form.”

Anyhow, it’s funny that floor mats are considered an extra in cars these days.

Great Googly Moogly.

If you’re going to have a gigantic construction zone, with a 50 kph speed limit, and no actual construction going on for the past 2 months, remove the stupid speed limit!

We’re not all dumb, and we know that the sign that says ‘Construction Ahead’ actually means ‘Radar Trap’. It’s not like we can’t see you in your reflective vests, trying to hide the Tim Horton’s gut behind a signpost. It’s just there to increase frustration, cause accidents, and increase insurance rates, that is all it is. It’s not like there aren’t any gangs in the city to go and break up, or maybe that is a better job for the military. Just roll some tanks into some ganghouses, and see how they like that.

-Rant Mode Off-

Well, happy times on the homestead. This weekend I test drove a new Volkswagen Golf, which was nice, as it feels like a car that was engineered by engineers and assembled in an actual factory, rather than by a bunch of farmers in a clearing. However I think I’ll wait until the new Jetta Wagon TDI comes out, if I can wait that long that is. I also popped down to Totem and dropped 3 grand of building supplies. Deck and fence (and siding on the shed) here I come!

I only have to build 2 sides of fence, which is nice, although the existing side that neighbor-dude put up is going to fall down in two years, due to cheap untreated construction. When that happens, it will be my turn, and I can get rid of that stupid lattice. I’m all for 12 foot high walls with electrified barbed wire and angry bees, but unfortunately everyone wants wimpy lattice up top and bylaws that mandate a 6.5 foot high fence and no higher. Not much in the way of privacy in this city. Anyhow, I have two weeks to get the post holes and pilings dug, which is going to be mostly by hired machine. I dug the post holes for my mom’s huge back yard when I was a teenager. Still have nightmares about that.

I really like the Volkswagen, and would have loved to have taken a GTI for a spin around the block, but I’m looking for something practical.

So, yesterday I decided to take a quick trip to the vending machine for a beverage. Of course, there are no prices on the pop machines, but if you hit the button of your selection it will give you a price. So, I hit the button for a can of Diet Coke. It tells me $1.00. I insert $1.00, and hit the Diet Coke selection. It then tells me I need $1.10. So, I put in a dime, and hit the button. Then it tells me “Selection sold out.”

Frustrating, because that then meant I had to have a can of Diet Pepsi instead, and that machine wanted $1.25

So, the Canadian dollar is soaring high, around $0.94 U.S currently. However, the moronic prices of products doesn’t reflect this. For example, there is a bit of software that I’d like to buy. It costs $648.00 U.S or $980.00 CAN. Gee.. will I spend the $980.00 CAN or order it using the international store for $648.00 U.S which currently converts to $685.00 CAN. Get with the program people! This isn’t an isolated case.

Of course, everyone who bought their inventory (or manufactured something) still feels that it is worth what they paid for it last year or whatever, and that will never be reflected by, say, suddenly the price of cars coming down by 20%.

Of course, even cars 20% cheaper would still be a rip off. As for myself, I’m still going to go for the better deal at the international store.

so, this week whilst driving home from work I have come to realize that every route that I can reasonably take to travel home is either currently under construction, slated for construction, or heavily affected by nearby construction.

Guys? Hello? You’d think someone down at the dark arts planning department would have noticed that every east-west high volume corridor from Glenmore trail to McKnight Boulevard is racked up with construction. I mean, seriously, 16th avenue is just a big war zone. It doesn’t look like they’ve done anything there other than place concrete barriers all over the place Encana’s project is going to seriously mess with downtown, Memorial has that ridiculous lane reversal going on, which is completely useless and totally in the wrong section of roadway. Every other road is a traffic light-fest, with traffic lights seemingly programmed to cause accidents and wear on your brakes. The lights that are green for less than ten seconds are a part of the mass insanity coalition I am certain. And then there are the ‘interchanges’ designed by toddlers with shorts full of crap, such as the mess of any combination of Memorial - Crowchild - Bow Trail, and 16th - Shaganappi. The ban on new river crossings is also worth mentioning. It sucks!

So, I propose that they build some Los-Angeles style elevated freeways right over top of everything else, with no on or off ramps except at the ends. If you want to go downtown you take Memorial. If you want to get to Crowchild from Deerfoot, you take the elevated freeway, thusly avoiding all the traffic that is simply going downtown, without adding to the volume those that are going to, say Crowchild from Deerfoot, through downtown. The solution is indeed building upwards not outwards. For you Sim City fans, the +15 downtown is considered a proto-arcology, (Information on the Arcology here) so a full on system is the most obvious next step.

And as for the Transit Strike/Lockout situation.. How come the ridership never goes on strike due to poor service, conditions and crowding? Bah