I was tagged by The Clam for this, so here we go …

1. Do you wear a name tag at work?

Generally, no. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever had a job that required a name tag. The closest I’ve come is wearing one at conferences.

2. What kind of car do you drive?

I don’t. I can’t see well enough to get a driver’s license. However, if I DID drive, I would drive either (1) a Mercedes (if money were no object) or (2) whatever I could afford that was in relatively good shape.

3. What do you order when you go to Taco Bell?

It varies somewhat, but it’s usually some combination of 7-layer burrito, burrito supreme, soft taco, bean burrito.

4. Have you ever had a garage sale?

No.

5. What colour is your iPod?

White.

6. What kind of dog do you have?

A very obnoxious pug/border terrier mix. Anyone want a dog?

7. What’s for dinner tonight?

I don’t know. Probably whatever seems like a good idea in a few hours.

8. What is the last alcoholic beverage you had?

I think it was a rye and ginger on Boxing Day.

9. Stupidest thing you ever did with your cell phone?

I don’t think I’ve ever done anything stupid with my phone.

10. Last time you were sick?

I had the beginnings of a cold this past weekend, but I seem to have evaded the worst of it.

11. How long is your hair?

Right now, about 1/4″. In a few hours, it’ll probably be a LOT shorter.

12. Are you happy right now?

More or less.

13. What did you say last?

Probably something in the ’shut up’ vein, directed at the dog.

14. Who came over last?

The Clam, this past weekend.

15. Do you drink beer?

Yes, and I enjoy it very much.

16. Have your brothers or sisters ever told you that you were adopted?

No, because I don’t have any brothers or sisters.

17. What is your favourite key chain on your keys?

I don’t have a key chain. My keys are attached to a very simple and functional key ring.

18. What did you get for graduation?

A diploma.

19. What’s in your pocket?

Nothing (can I make a joke about being happy to see you?)

20. Who introduced you to Dane Cook?

Who the f*** is Dane Cook?

21. Has someone ever made you a Build-A-Bear?

No, thankfully. I didn’t really like teddy bears when I was small, and I like them even less now (yes, I was born a curmudgeon).

22. What DVD is in your DVD player?

Disc 1, Season 3 of M*A*S*H.

23. What’s something fun you did today?

Drank coffee – one of life’s simple pleasures.

24. Who is/was the principal of your high school?

Sr. Anne Denomy.

25. Has your house ever been TP’d?

No.

26. What do you think of when you hear the word ‘meow’?

One of The Clam’s cats needs/wants something (usually food).

27. What are you listening to right now?

Some awful, unknown song on the radio and the dog whining in the background.

28. Drinking?

I have been known to ingest liquids on occasion. Right now, coffee.

29. What is your favourite aisle at Wal-Mart?

The checkout line with the fewest people in it.

30. When is your mom’s birthday?

In April.

31. When is your birthday?

In May.

32. What’s the area code for your cell phone?

519.

33. Where did you buy the shirt you’re wearing right now?

The Bay, I think.

34. Is there anything hanging from your rear view mirror?

See answer to question #2.

35. How many states in the US have you been to?

8, plus the airport in Atlanta.

36. What kind of milk do you drink?

Generally, 2%.

37. What are you going to do after this?

Upload it to my blog and inform the readers of The Clam’s blog to it’s existence.

38. Who was the last person you went shopping with?

The Clam.

39. What is your favourite fruit?

Probably apples. Maybe oranges. Sometimes bananas.

40. What about your favourite dessert?

I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, so I’m going to be weird and say something salty, like potato chips.

41. What is something you need to go shopping for?

A new iPod case because the dog chewed up my old one.

42. Do you have the same name as one of your relatives.

Maybe, but it certainly wasn’t on purpose.

43. What kind of car does one of your siblings drive?

See answer to question #16.

44. Do you like pickles?

Not usually.

45. Olives?

Yes.

46. What is your favourite kind of gum?

I don’t chew gum frequently, but when I do it’s usually something in the minty family.

47. What is your favourite kind of juice?

Orange, hands down.

48. Do you have any tan lines?

Yes, several.

49. What hospital were you born in?

Public General Hospital, Chatham, ON.

Those of you who know me well know that I have been waiting YEARS for this book. It’s on it’s way from Chapters as we speak

1) I was tagged by The Clam for this.

2) I was going to respond by posting a comment on her blog, but then decided that it’s a perfect way to re-activate my (very much ignored by me) blog.

3) I’m trying out Ecto (a Mac-based blogging tool), so if anything looks wonky it’s not my fault

Anyway, on with the list …

My five favourite movies on the list: Goodfellas, The Godfather, The Godfather, Part II, Unfrogiven, The Bridge On The River Kwai

Five movies on the list I didn’t like at all: 2001: A Space Odyssey, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, A Clockwork Orange, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Titanc

Five movies on the list I haven’t seen but want to: Lawrence of Arabia (I have seen the first 45 minutes or so), Raging Bull (I love so many other Scorsese films, but for some reason have never gotten around to watching this one), From Here to Eternity, Patton (much like ‘Lawrence of Arabia’, I’ve seen the beginning), 12 Angry Men

Five movies on the list I haven’t seen and have no interest in seeing: Singin’ In The Rain, Doctor Zhivago, A Streetcar Named Desire, Rebel Without A Cause, Wuthering Heights

My five favourite movies that aren’t on the list: Casino (it’s not quite up there with ‘Goodfellas’, but it’s a wonderful study about the ill-effects of uncontrolled greed), Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (hey, it’s no Casablanca, but I think it is by far the best of the 80s teen comedy genre), Alien, Jackie Brown, On Golden Pond (how is this NOT on the list?)

Max Roach Quartet, originally uploaded by jazzmiddelheim.

I’m sad.

Max Roach, one of the greatest (jazz) drummers of all time passed away yesterday. I’m trying to think of something profound to write, but all I can say is that I’m going to miss his playing.

Yes, I know I’ve been away for quite some time. I don’t know if I’m back for good or not, but I saw something and I felt like writing a short post about it. So there

A great many bands (we’re talking bands that play large theatres or arenas/stadiums, not bar bands) have ‘background music’ or ‘pre-show music’ playing (obviously) before they take the stage. Just to give the audience something to listen to before the big event starts. Rush (one of my favourite bands, as regular readers might know) has, for years, played a selection of music compiled by their drummer, Neil Peart. I don’t know how common it is for a member of the band to actually pick the pre-show music, but it’s damn cool and should happen more often.

Anyway, Rush.com just posted a list of all of the songs that have been in the pre-show rotation for the current tour. What surprised me somewhat was how many of the songs on the list are favourites of mine. I think I’m going to have to check out a few of the artists that I’m not aware of (Porcupine Tree & String Ensemble).

Here’s the list for anyone who’s interested (courtesy the Rush Is A Band blog)

Tommy Overture – The Who
Mojo Pin – Jeff Buckley
Trains – Porcupine Tree
Solsbury Hill – Peter Gabriel
All Along the Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix
In the Court of the Crimson King – King Crimson
Fear of a Blank Planet – Porcupine Tree
Welcome to the Machine – Pink Floyd
Eria Tarka – The Mars Volta
Roundabout – Yes
Looking for a Place to Happen – The Tragically Hip
Aqualung – Jethro Tull
Last Goodbye – Jeff Buckley
Baba O’Reilly – The Who
Comfortably Numb – Pink Floyd
2112 Overture – String Ensemble
The Temples of Syrinx – String Ensemble
I Know What I Like – Genesis
The Prophet – Yes
Grace – Jeff Buckley
18 People Live in Harmony – Dredg
Dazed and Confused – Led Zeppelin
Bobcaygeon – The Tragically Hip
21st Century Schizoid Man – King Crimson
Inertiatic E. S. P. – The Mars Volta
The Sound of Muzak – Porcupine Tree
Echo – Vertical Horizon
Fifty Mission Cap – The Tragically Hip
So Real – Jeff Buckley
Time – Pink Floyd
Good Days, Bad Days – Richard Butler
No Opportunity Necessary – Yes
Anesthetize – Porcupine Tree
Say Hello 2 Heaven – Temple of the Dog
Babe I’m Gonna Leave you – Led Zeppelin
Open Car – Porcupine Tree
Evenflow – Pearl Jam
Hells Bells – AC/DC
Crosstown Traffic – Jimi Hendrix
Kashmir – Led Zeppelin
Thick as a Brick – Jethro Tull
How Many More Times – Led Zeppelin
Us and Them – Pink Floyd

Question – do they play ALL of ‘Thick as a Brick’?

You Are 77% Tortured Genius

You are smart. Brilliant in fact. And while it’s a blessing, it’s also a curse. Your head is filled with everything – grand ideas, insufferable worries, and a good deal of angst.

Are You a Tortured Genius?

Thanks to The Clam for the link to the test

The Clam posted about a proposal in Michigan to purchase iPods for every elementary and high school student in the state. I don’t have anything new to add to her analysis of the situation ’cause she did such a good job of summing up what’s wrong with the proposal (massive budget deficit, iPods aren’t necessary to listen to podcasts [the motivation for the proposed purchase] and so on), but I would like to elaborate on what this says about kids today.

I was standing in line at the Tim Horton’s in my building yesterday morning and was privy to the most enthralling bit of conversation I’ve heard in some time. The two undergrads standing behind me in line were complaining about how one of their profs doesn’t have a course website. On it’s own, this is a valid complaint. It does make things easier for the students (e.g., being able to check the syllabus) and the prof (students can’t say, “I didn’t know when the assignment was due because I lost my syllabus.”).

However, things went from the reasonable to the absurd in about 0.25 seconds. One of the students then claimed that she doesn’t understand how the prof expects her to “remember that [the professor] said the assignment is due in 3 weeks because she [the student] doesn’t write things down”.  There was some further discussion about how, in filling out the course evaluation form, the student spent a great deal of time telling the prof that she should make use of all the technology available to her.

I’ve got some advice for the student about available technology – pen and paper, stupid.

I remember in elementary school (in the 1980s, mind you, not the 1920s), when we weren’t allowed to use calculators (not just on tests, in general). Now students are getting uppity because they might be expected to actually write something down? And it’s not just about wanting profs to put up websites, it’s about posting copies of PowerPoint slides (remind me to tell you all about some of the vitriol I’ve heard directed at profs who don’t use PowerPoint at all), having someplace to plug in your laptop in the lecture hall (just in case you’re battery isn’t fully charged),  not getting a good wireless signal in some corner of the building, and so on and so forth.I

I wonder if these students realize that, for hundreds of years, people (MANY people) actually made it through university without any of this technology. Sir Isaac Newton INVENTED calculus without the use of a calculator or the internet. Dr. Samuel Johnson wrote the first ()*$(*& dictionary without a word processor. Magellan made it all the way around the world without a GPS unit. You get the idea.

I hope this reliance on technology and enormous sense of entitlement isn’t representative of EVERY young person today. If it is, and those who’ll be leading the country in a few decades (when I’m still around) still carry those same attitudes, I’m going to buy a small plot of land in northern Ontario and form my own country.

[X] I have walked into a glass or screen door.

[ ] I have tripped on my shoelaces and fallen on my face.

[X] I have choked on my own spit.

[X] I’ve seen ‘The Matrix’ a bunch of times and still don’t get it.

[ ] I type only with my pointer fingers.

[X] I have accidentally caught something on fire.

[ ] I’ve told a cop to piss off and gotten screwed for it.

[ ] I attempted to sip out of a straw but it accidentally went into my nose rather than my mouth.

[X] Sometimes when I think of something funny I laugh out loud and people look at me weird.

[X] I’ve caught myself drooling.

[ ] I’ve accidentally caused an explosion.

[X] If someone says the word ‘fart’, I can’t help but laugh.

[ ] I’ve turned into a ‘do not enter’ one way road plenty of times.

[X] Sometimes I just stop thinking and zone out …

[ ] It is POSSIBLE to lick your own elbow.

[X] I just tried to lick my elbow.

[ ] People often shake their heads and walk away from me.

[ ] People often tell me to use my ‘inside voice’.

[ ] Gum has fallen out of my mouth while talking.

[X] I’ve used my fingers to do simple math.

[ ] I’ve jumped off a moving vehicle.

[ ] I ate a bug for $5 or less.

[X] I’m taking this test when I should be doing something more important.

[ ] I repost chain letters because I’m afraid of what they threaten will happen if I don’t,

[X] I’ve done something really stupid when I was drunk.

[ ] I’ve run into a golf cart tire when I was drunk.

[ ] I’ve searched all over the place for something and then realized it was in my hand the whole time.

[ ] I accidentally break a lot of things.

[ ] My friends know not to use big words around me.

[ ] My friends like me because I’m fun to laugh at.

[ ] I move my head to the side when I’m confused.

[X] Sometimes I start telling a story and then forget what I’m talking about.

[ ] I’ve fallen out of my chair before.

[ ] When I’m laying in bed I sometimes stare at the ceiling and try to find pictures and words in the texture.

Total score: 13 = 39% moron

Seeing as how this isn’t a true meme (at least it wasn’t labeled as such when I saw it), I’m not going to tag anyone. That being said, if you’d like to do it, feel free to post your results (or a link to them) in the comments section.