I hate my immune system right now. I’ve had night sweats like you wouldn’t believe, my throat and ears are killing me. Been to the doctor twice. There’s nothing they can do. Sweet as chocolate.
Metallica was a class act. I was about 8 feet from one of the main microphones on the 360 degree stage. I caught one of James’ picks. They played for over two hours and were fantastic with the crowd. Although a bit lacking in visuals (they had a short lightshow at first, and a few flames coming out afterward), the music was effing amazing. Lars would get down to his knees and chat with the people on the floor while James would rile up the rest of the crowd. Kirk put in a couple of improvised solos. Top notch show.
Maybe it is this that created the contrast for my next concert: Marylin Manson. All I can say is “Ugh”.
Die Mannequin opened. They’re a fantastic punk/hard rock band. However, the lead singer was so stoned, that her normally pretty voice was absolutely wretched. She was hobbling on a broken foot, re-duct taping it between songs, which probably explains the need to kill the pain. Regardless, at the end of their set, she wouldn’t get off stage. She kept screaming into the mic, to the point where security had to drag her off stage, still clutching the mic that was then cut, to awaiting paramedics. Yowza.
Manson came on and was okay. But I think I was generally put off by then. His show seemed cheap and stupid. He would scream the occasionnal “Haaaaallifaaax!” and stick the mic into the crowd. His setlist was good. But you just knew that it was just another night at the grind for the (now slightly overweight) singer.
Last night was the last chapter of my live show saga of 2009: Comedian Louis C.K. at the Capitol Theatre. Both he and his opener (I forget who it was, and his name can’t be found anywhere) were hilarious. I love crude humor, and he delivers. Rants on life, sex, marriage and racial differences are the bread and butter of comedians; but Louis’ emphasis on today’s youth and society in general are very funny. I’ve seen a ton of his YouTube clips, and I did not hear a single recycled joke. Kudos to him!
Now I wonder if I’ll ever get over my ailments. Probably not. I think my girlfriend is going to leave my sick ass if I don’t get better within a couple of weeks. Echinecea, Vitamin C, shittons of water, fruit and veggies, check. I don’t believe in herbal medecine at all, but at this point, I’ll try anything. FML.
Tomorrow night, one of my dreams will come true…to see Metallica live.
I’m hopping on a train tonight, headed to Montreal. I’ll be meeting up with sis, and three other good friends for breakfast (or brunch, as I expect the train to be late). I head back on Monday evening, and should be home Tuesday afternoon, just in time to catch a class.
I can’t think of a better way to complete a recovery from nearly a week of battling the flu. What’s more; next Thursday Heidi and I are going to see The Jimmy Swift Band, Friday we’re going to Halifax to meet with friends we met in Cuba to catch some fantastic thai food and a Marilyn Manson concert, only to return home the next night to see Louis C.K. live at the Capitol Theatre.
I am incredibly fortunate to be able to do all this, but I worked hard all summer and didn’t make any of my usual expeditions away. More importantly, I consider this to be an appreciation of my health. Without which, none of these experiences would have any meaning.
I’m finally getting over this flu. Now I can concentrate on anything other than curling up in a ball in bed.
Funny story: Yesterday I learned how they take a culture to test for H1N1. They said a swab. I was well used to those and didnt mind. It makes me gag a little but meh…Then the nurse told me this one was going up my nostril.
I lied down. She stuck a massive q-tip up my nose. You could see it by looking in my mouth (coming out my nasal passage). I felt a burning sensation. When she took it out, I got up—cursed—then thankled her.
“Tu vas me haïr. Faut’q j’fasses l’autre”
“Tu fucking jokes”
This second one was longer, more flexible, and was destined to touch down my throat, via my nasal passage. It was glorious.
Now I’m happy to say I’m back in business, and I can start blogging politically again. Cheers!
Although I always manage to get good exercise, the fact that I spend a lot of time in front of my computer remains. I just ordered parts for a beast of a machine that I’ll hopefully have put together before university starts again. I’ve learned a lot from shopping for parts and reading forums, and although this is still a very expensive rig, I’m still saving a lot of money for having the same thing built by someone else. I ordered all my parts from www.ncix.com for two reasons; a) they are Canadian and b) (most importantly) they match any lower price from any competitor.
Mouse, Keyboard (French), Windows Vista (with free Win 7 upgrade), and a longer network cable because I could use it
After price matching, the parts came to $1,395. Add shipping, insurance and tax, and it jumps to $1,695. Why would I ever need such a computer for my usual computing tasks, especially when you can get something that does the job for $650?
First off, it never actually costs $650, because you need to add software, tax and shipping. Usually one would pay around $900 for a basic system. I’m a part-time gamer, and for once in my life, I’d like to have a great visual experience, along with spoiling myself for day-to-day performance. Second, seeing how technology is evolving, this is probably the last desktop I’ll ever buy for personal use. I have a feeling everything will be going mobile after this. Third, to have this same system built by Dell, I’m paying $4,050 and Alienware would have me to pay about $3,400 for something similar.
Trust me, this one will last me a very long time. I’m pumped!
I’m going to read, watch another game theory lecture, read some more, and shop for computer parts and hopefully order myself a beast of a PC. I should go for a jog too.
This is my first bold step: I will be stepping down from my current HVAC design job at the end of the week, and I will begin following some of the steps I think need to be successful at what I want to do. My first task; to virtually attend each of the 26 lectures of Introduction to Game Theory from Yale’s Open Courses.
In December I will finish university. Finally, I’ll get the piece of paper needed to get around in the job market. The pressure’s on—I will be making decisions within this time frame that will shape the rest of my life more than any other time. It almost feels like when I was graduating from high school; nervous, yet open to any possibility.
Thing is, I am convinced that my field of study is not the one in which I wish to pursue a career. I have far more interest in far more topics than engineering. I have learned more out of the classroom by reading, listening and discussing about everything from economics to biology to law. Man, I hate this feeling.
…but unfortunately, I have to talk about the weather for a moment: Wow! This weekend was so sunny and awesome! I spent it all at the beach watching the Atlantic beach volleyball championships. I tanned, I swam, I ran, I stayed offline. Now it’s Monday and it’s raining, so I cannot see how it could be more appropriate.
I’d like to harp once more on how little credit we give to animals, and their intelligence. A friend sent me a link on how birds from the same family as crows use tools when necessary (link contains some awesome footage). In this case, they mimicked Aesop’s fable of the crow dropping rocks in a pitcher to raise the water level so it can drink.
The video shows birds in a lab carefully inspecting test tubes with worms on the surface of water they cannot reach. Once rocks are introduced, they drop them in the water, to raise the level enough to eat the worm. What I found striking was the last video, where the birds could tell the difference between water and sawdust, and how they didn’t even bother dropping rocks on the sawdust.
near the end of the article, the authors also made a great point (emphasis added):
Although the study demonstrates the flexible nature of tool use in rooks, they are not believed to use tools in the wild.
“Wild tool use appears to be dependent on motivation,” Bird said. “Rooks do not use tools in the wild because they do not need to, not because they can’t. They have access to other food that can be acquired without using tools.”
As Bird noted, that fits nicely with Aesop’s maxim, demonstrated by the crow: “Necessity is the mother of invention.”
As per usual in these types of posts, I sign off with someone else’s thoughts, in this case, Einstein:
Our task must be to free ourselves…by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.
