Category Archives: Life’s little kicks in the face…

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Oh Montreal…

You slay me so, in so many ways but the real topper?

HABS fans.  They\’re fucking nuts!

I used to live adjacent to downtown and I was really, really close to the bell center.  So close that when this riot broke out I could hear it from my apartment.  It was total chaos.  I\’m all about standing up for causes that you believe in and protesting things that you feel are wrong with this world but Montreal would seem to top that.  At least in Canada.

I pay scant attention to politics, I respect the fact that French IS Quebec\’s official language and I also respect their right to hold onto their culture.  It would be no different if I was to move somewhere else.  Like Egypt, Sweden, Saudi Arabia and so on.  I\’m not ignorant like that.  Although the ignorance that runs rampant in this province in regards to separatism and the language laws ? Blows. My. Mind.  Clearly, we all can\’t just \’get along\’.  In any case, I love this city, I love living here and I love the life that I have here as well.  However, when Jason Rockman posted this on facebook I was floored:

\”OK, I love the French language, I am a die hard Montrealer and am engaged to a francophone…but this??? Seriously?? These protesters can blow me…\”

The Rockman of course is referring to this article and the Gazette did a lengthier article on this as well which was also posted on facebook with the caption:\’   Is language important, or should the Canadiens win at any cost? What do you think?\’

My thoughts on this?  I could care less about hockey period.  I don\’t care, I don\’t follow games and I refuse to jump on the Habs fan bandwagon just because I live here.  It\’s a game kids, or as my friend Ali said: \’It may only be a game to some, but to the rest of us it\’s like a religion on the weekends\’.  Fair enough, I have my share of things that I\’m passionate about too.  Not so passionate that I start riots and set things on fire, but still…

Here\’s the thing, after doing a quickie bit of research, left wing player Erik Cole of the Montreal Canadiens, is AMERICAN!  Well, well…  I\’m willing to bank on it that there\’s countless others who are either not from Canada, let alone from this province.  Yet you give a shit if their coach is English?  You have got to be kidding me!  Hands down, Montreal has a good team.  Even I, the non hockey follower knows that.  It\’s pretty hard to ignore when you live here.  However I\’m willing to bet that if Montreal takes home the cup this year or anytime soon, you\’re not going to give a flying fuck if the coach is English, French or Swedish for that matter now are you?

I\’m thinking likely not… 

Here\’s what a few people on facebook had to say about this:

Ken: Who gives a shit if the coach ONLY speaks English instead of joual? As long as they win, it doesn\’t matter, t\’se?

Theresa: wtf! What a bunch of crap. Who cares if he can\’t speak frnech, have you been to Montreal? EVERYONE can speak English there anyway. (OK I\’m going to interject and say almost everyone. Although most people can from my experience, even if it\’s just a little)

William: I think that the future of French in North America would not be questioned if we paid as much attention to school drop out rates or functional illiteracy as we do to this kind of symbolic nonsense.

Jennifer: right – we should keep turning away the BEST Doctors, Nurses, Teachers, etc…. because they can\’t speak french…. It boggles me why people accept it!

Derek: I read the Gazette and La Presse regularly. The blatant favortism of Francophones from La Presse, RDS, and the Quebec media in general is disgusting. I want a winning product that shows up to practice in Brossard and the Bell Centre for games. I don\’t care if the coach is a bilingual Francophone or a unilingual Anglophone. I care about winning. Perhaps this is why the Habs have not been relevant since Patrick Roy was our goalie. I can\’t speak for other Habs fans, but I do not ever want to see the faces of Mario Tremblay or Rejean Houle again.

Sandra: What ever happened to hiring the best person for the job? I am from Quebec, born and raised a francophone, and I don\’t agree with the crap about the Mighty French attitude…I wish after all these years they would finally join the rest of us and give up on a francophone only-is-the-only-way attitude…

Billy: England\’s national soccer team is coached by an Italian who speaks poor english… Do you see the English protesting at having their coach not speak English ? No.. only retards like Mario Beaulieu does….If i\’m the habs I tell all thse losers who are still mad at this to F#$@ off

Cheyenne: I don\’t hear them yelling \’go habs go\’ in french.

Franca: WTH. the sweet taste of victory is universal amd surely understood by all. Since when did jumping for joy from a well-deserved win say, \”oui, on gagne en francais qu\’en anglais?!\” What if the guy were anything other than Anglophone, then what? Leave language issues out of hockey, svp.

Brian: The man was put in the position to coach the team (in a championship, winning fashion – not for his speech or linguistic skills!) … if he was from a winning Russian, Swedish, or Czech team, and couldn\’t speak a word of English or French, but led the team to the Stanley Cup, would the \’critics\’ care?? No, of course not! Their complaints are purely anti-English, not about any abilities of the person. Disgusting, to say the least…

Matt: The political situation in Quebec is what has destroyed the Canadiens. You want a competitive team-not a political circus. Why is it when we have good English players they can\’t get out of town fast enough. I\’ve been a fan here in Wisconsin since the 1967 expansion but I don\’t think I will live to see that 25th Stanley Cup.

Lucette: There are more important issues in Quebec to take care of.Ils y\’a des choses au Québec à s\’occuper qui sont plus importantes.

Dafne: In the meantime in Qc… food depots can\’t be filled, unemployment rises, people with mental health issues has no treatment, there are no family doctors, the bridges are falling appart…should I continue??

And the list of comments goes on and on…  I personally think the whole nation could benefit from being bilingual in some fashion or another.  I understand the frustration, it\’s no different for me being someone who\’s first language is English and trying to communicate with someone who doesn\’t speak it all and vice versa.  It DOES go both ways.  I get that.  But it\’s been a political circus for far too long and dragging sports into this long debacle of non sense is really too much.

Even for me.  

 

In other news, I happened to stumble upon this.  Thought I would share.

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Please pass the eye bleach…

Before I totally ruin your day/appetite allow me to introduce you to the new man in my life  🙂  His name is Shamrock, he\’s pretty awesome & I only have him for a limited time.  This adorable bundle of cute was surrendered by his owner who moved to Singapore for 5 years and couldn\’t afford the 10 grand (yes, ten thousand dollars) to have him tag along.  After having Anna step in and save him literally hours from being gassed, he\’s a pretty happy boy:

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Handsome little man isn\’t he?  He smiles like that ALL the time.  I do adore him & he\’s cute/funny/sweet company but sadly I can\’t offer him the kind of home that he needs for the long term.  I KNOW this & I wish people would stop telling me that I should keep him when I know that I can\’t.  I do OK on my own, but I do enjoy my freedom and not only that his food/toys/vet bills are being either donated and/or paid for by someone else.  Unlike some people who adopt animals, I do have a realistic approach to this situation.  I do hope that he finds a good forever home soon, he deserves it!

In other news…

I cancelled my account on a certain site.  Clearly in a moment of what can only be described as sheer stupidity (one of which I have 0 recollection of) I apparently gave someone my e-mail address.  Well not the one I use on a day to day basis mind you.  The I might get back to you but likely not e-mail address.  You know the one where you just use your initals or some odd ball variation of your name.

 We all have one of those.    

So I rarely check this account and there is this e-mail from someone who said why did you cancel your account on (insert site name here)?  I thought to myself who the fuck are you?  I almost never use that e-mail anymore for anything and I know that I haven\’t given it out in a really long time because of it.  Furthermore, I don\’t date red heads.

EVER.

Yes I am a natural red head, however so is my father (ick) and I quite simply do not find it attractive in any way shape or form.  Redheaded woman are smoking hot, men yeahhhhhhh not so much…

Anyway back to the story at hand.  There\’s a file attachment.  No big deal, could be his face for all I know and I was thinking   hoping   praying to anyone who would listen that that\’s all it was.  Except I was wrong and I of course had to open the e-mail itself.  G-Mail of course provides you with a decent sized thumbnail of what that attachment is.

Behold:

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I threw up in my mouth a little.  I actually thought that I was going to vomit my dinner all over my desk in a projectile fashion.  So of course I had to share the horror.  Which garnered the following responses:

  • Me: OMFG I\’m going to vomit, so much for dinner. P: Don\’t eat & then inbox, sketchy scene Me:Clearly
  • J: What has been seen cannot be unseen. Me: No, no it can not.
  • A: Holy god! I need therapy and a hug now! I\’m in shock!  Me: Me too A, me too!
  • C:Okay, I\’ll bite. Send it this way. A: Oh gods no. Save yourself the torture! Me: Hold on C, I\’m blogging about it A: I\’m still crying about it.  (Who can blame her! So am I!)
  • The other J: (whom might I add claimed that he\’s seen some pretty sick shit before) proclaimed this: OK you got me, I literally just threw up in my mouth a little.

The worst part of all:

He e-mailed me again and asked me if I liked the picture and SENT IT TO ME AGAIN!  I am scarred for life now!  I am tempted to write him back and say: \”I\’m sorry, I can\’t tell you because after the last one that you sent me, I gouged out my eyes with a rusty nail and I have scheduled a lobotomy to forever block out this incident in all of it\’s entirety.

I just might.

*Here\’s some eye bleach* Hope you weren\’t eating when you seen that… 

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The train wreck that was The Tea Party…

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Now don\’t get me wrong, I love the tea party, been a fan of theirs for a while  since high school, back in the dark ages.  Not a die hard fan mind you but a fan none the less.  They\’re from Ontario and so am I.  I also love me some affordable concerts!  The one thing that I love about this city is that there\’s a mixed bag of venues from the huge ass Montreal hippodrome that U2 infused over 3 million cool one\’s into the now defunct site to host a huge ass concert (apparently it\’s due to be demolished soon after the show after being there for over a century) that I missed (which I\’ll get to in a moment) the bell center  which is the most common place for concerts or more intimate and affordable venues such as the Corona Theater (where I had the opportunity to see Finger 11 in January and it was AMAZING!) and Metropolis which I had never set foot into until Thursday night.

The Corona, much like Metropolis is a theater gem that you don\’t see anymore these days.  Both locations are historic and neither one of them are in the most sought after neighborhoods either.  However if  I had to choose what neighborhood I\’d rather be in any time of the day the red light district of Montreal ISN\’T It.  I love ghetto trash, I find this innate charm in those areas and maybe on a different day I would have been inspired.  Except I wasn\’t armed with my camera, capturing the real gritty ways of Montreal which is always interesting.   I was on a mission to pick up show tickets to see the tea party.  I was on the fence about going originally and should have trusted my instincts.  After checking out their set list and seeing quite a few of their songs that I loved and a mere $40.00/ticket I decided that since I couldn\’t go see U2 because that was sold out,  an event that I didn\’t realize had more tickets left, I would still get to see a band that I have had  some affection for.

I was tired and not really feeling up to it but determined to go thinking that once I got there I would have a good time.  Because that\’s usually the way.  I do however hate general admission concerts as a rule.  I\’ve been to three and I\’m pretty sure that Thursday\’s show was going to be my last.  Evidently I\’m too old, cranky and tired to go to a GA concert on a work night anymore lol.

Anyway moving along…      

Show starts at 8pm with The Reason opening.  I thought it started at 8:30 and ended up coming in just as they were finishing up their last song of the night so can\’t really comment on them.  Although I will say that from the little I did see, they seemed to really work the crowd and had a positive energy about them.  Then that\’s when the wait started.  The downfall to smaller stages is that you\’re not able to set up several groups at one time.  I get that.  However waiting almost a fucking hour  for TTP to arrive on stage after the reason\’s tear down and sound check was beyond ridiculous!  I should have carted my ass upstairs and grabbed a balcony seat, however for some reason I didn\’t.  The crowd was getting restless (with good reason) and my patience was running out and I was starting to get pissy.  I was already tired, it was almost 9:30 pm (you know an hour and a half after the show started) and my feet were killing me.  It\’s bad enough that I\’m on my feet all day at work, but at least there I\’m productive.  Yes I know I could have sat down, however I feared I would fall asleep from sheer boredom.  If anyone thinks this is impossible, trust me it\’s not.  I\’ve passed out in some pretty \’creative\’ places before.

I contemplated leaving before they even came on but that would have been a huge waste of money and time for nothing.  Turns out it was anyway but I digress.  So there they were, the tea party, on stage FINALLY.  The dissapointment was evident right from the start.  Mostly due to the sound guy!  The sound in there was shit.  I know it varies from place to place and where you\’re located and blah blah blah, however you would think that the technician would have a fucking clue!  It was ridiculously loud which is appropriate for a concert except that you could barely hear them over their instruments.  So between this static-y, white noise effect coming from God knows where and the douche bag who was whistling at a decibel that was  so shrill, I had to put my fingers in my ears (like one of my kids at work) to stop myself from punching him in the face my ear drums from taking a bigger beating then necessary, it was hardly enjoyable.  To top it all off, the guy in front of me was practically having an orgasm and was flinging his hair to and fro and sprayed his sweat on my face more then once and he was NO WHERE NEAR naked enough or hot enough to be doing so!

From a musical standpoint, they played well.  Although Jeff Martin, the ego-eccentric lead singer lacked passion and looked like he would rather be anywhere but there.  Not unlike myself!  I wasn\’t the only one who thought so either.  On the bands facebook page someone else had the balls to say exactly what I was feeling.  Interestingly enough, when I looked today, wouldn\’t you know it, any negative, less favorable comments about the concert Thursday night had been deleted.  Can\’t handle the truth boys?  The reviews that I had seen were a mixed bag ranging from sheer elation to absolute dissapointment.  Of course, anything that was less then someone gushing about how awesome they weren\’t were was removed.  I didn\’t have a bad time per say, although I have to say on a scale of one to ten I would have to give them a 3.  In fact, I didn\’t even stay to the end.  I was so UN-inspired, that I left early even knowing that two more of my favorite songs were about to be played.

As I said to a friend of mine, it\’s like going on a date with someone that\’s almost perfect in every way only to find out that he\’s really, really bad in bed.

If the opportunity ever came for me to see them again, I wouldn\’t bother.  That was 4 hours of my life and $40.00 I\’ll never get back again.  I don\’t totally regret it, I just wish that I had trusted my instincts and not went.  Because if I hadn\’t, then I would be at the U2 concert this afternoon.  However, I couldn\’t cough up the funds sadly since I have bills to pay.  Even though I have a feeling that $70.00 would have been MORE then worth it to see them play.  Unlike the tea party.  Although the live experience has tainted them for me on one level, I\’m not going to shun their studio recordings.  I\’m still a bit flabbergasted that there was so many people who were all OMFG this was better then meeting God in person!  Although, they do say that love is deaf, dumb and blind… Clearly these people are just that.

 Edit:

To the ass bag that commented that *I* didn\’t know how to use facebook: FUCK YOU.  The comments that weren\’t favorable WERE removed.  So get a fucking clue before you start shooting your mouth off about things that you clearly know nothing about.  Anyone who knows the tea party knows that Jeff Martin is horrendously egotistical.  Clearly your loyalty has made it UN-able for you to read.   

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Apartment hunting is le suck!

I\’ve searched high and low for the almost perfect apartment.  I\’m a little spoiled where i\’m at right now being so close to a metro which I obviously prefer however I am willing to make some minor sacrifices.  Such as taking the bus or not being 100% central within reason.  Bear in mind I don\’t have a car so these things are nice to have in a relatively convient area.  The first place I went and checked out was OK, however I felt it wasn\’t near anything.  Then today my geographically challenged ass found out different (DUH!) so hopefully it\’s not too late to apply and hopefully I can score a 4.5 (2 bdrm) since they\’re quite reasonable at $555.00/month.  I looked at the one bedroom which was decent and it\’s cheaper then here!

Anyway, I took an application and kept looking just the same.  Holy shit, the dissapointment was UN-real!  I like most people have a budget of course and for the sake of having an extra bedroom to use as a guest room/office I was more then willing to spend a little more money.  False advertising should not be allowed when it comes to trying to rent your space!  IE: it\’s on the corner of such and such (ideal street) and then you call them and find out it\’s in a totally different part of town!

Then I looked at a place that\’s relatively close to a metro which is ideal, until I actually seen the place!  Strangest layouts I have ever encountered!  I seen two, both were in the $600.00 price range and included nothing (appliances, heat/hot water/hydro) was to be paid by the tenant.  Which would have been kind of OK except that 1. I don\’t own any appliances and aren\’t in the market to purchase any either.

One place had a fuse box (WTF!?!) I\’ve heard those aren\’t allowed in apartments anymore due to being a fire hazard and the current tenant told me that his hydro bill was $150/month!  Holy shit!  I pay $45.00 all year round pretty much.  Granted I don\’t cook here much or have a washer/dryer but still… Not only that it was totally open.  There was a claim of a closed room but I don\’t recall seeing one (?) so it was totally open concept and the floor was really soft in some places, so that wasn\’t ideal either.  Not only that ALL the flooring was this old, gross vinyl tile (ICK!)

The second one was not bad, although a tad large for my tastes.  Perhaps if the layout was different I would like it more.  It was also on the top floor, needed some major work and included nothing and had washer dryer hook-ups which is great if you have the money to buy them.  Yeah you can buy them second hand but then those usually don\’t come delivered and don\’t have warranties which bothers me.  Not only that, my sisters dryer caught on fire and almost wiped out my entire family so not down with buying used appliances!  So that in turn would end up costing me a small fortune.  I don\’t mind painting, sprucing a place up a little but that would cost more then I have.

I seen another one the other day which I really liked except for the floors.  Again with the ugly tile and carpet throughout.  I HATE carpet!  It\’s usually utilitarian and ugly, it was poorly laid and harbors dust, dirt and other icky things which I don\’t care for.  It was also in the basement which is kind of meh.  That could be changed though, that wasn\’t too big of a deal to me.  So we met and I called him back to confirm the place, leave a deposit and what have you and he just called to say that the woman who\’s using it as a cheap crash pad is keeping it. It was also kind of pricey at $580/month which included nothing.  I would have dealt with it because I LOVE that part of town.  Alas it was not meant to be apparently!

So today I go and see a place and it\’s *almost* perfect.  I loved the layout, the location was great, it included everything including a gas stove (total win) and the fridge, had a balcony, lots of windows and storage.  I could totally overlook the pink tub, toilet and sink.  Also the shitty paint job since I have every intention of changing it up anyway.  The landlord himself however?

Total ass-hat douche bag.

He focused far too much on the fact that I wouldn\’t give him my SIN, actually in fact got rather whiny about it.  Said that major rental agencies would refuse to give you the apartment if you don\’t give them that information and so forth.

Bullshit.

According to the office of the privacy commission of Canada you have to give written consent in order to access that information.  You also have the right to file a complaint with them if your rights have been denied or you have been refused a service because you refuse to disclose that information.  He (Wally) tried to tell me that it was my right NOT to disclose such information, it raised a red flag.  WTF?!?  A person\’s SIN number is a nine digit number that pretty much discloses your entire life.  I am ONLY required to disclose this information to my employers and the government and that\’s it!  I know for a fact that you can do a credit check WITHOUT having that particular information.  He tried to tell me that hydro Quebec required it and I called him on his bullshit.  I didn\’t have to give them my SIN number in order to get an account with them.  Yes most places do require a piece of ID, however I am not comfortable handing out my personal information to some random dude!

Anyway needless to say he got really whiny and rather pain in the ass like over deferential things that Do. Not. Concern. Him. Period.  Overall, he acted like a greedy, petulant child and pretty much knew that he blew it.  Which likely pissed him off but I\’m not an idiot and I am a responsible adult and I\’m also willing to compromise here and there but there are some things I will not budge on, simple as that.

So I\’m resorting back to the place I first looked at in the hopes that I can nab a 4.5 instead of the 3.5 going to give them a call in the morning and see.  I thought it was in a different part of town, but after being out on the hunt today, it\’s actually not as bad as I thought.  So worth a shot just the same!  That place had pretty much everything that I wanted as well, so here\’s to hoping!