So Far I Have…

  • been pooped on by a grackle.
  • dropped my digital camera from a height of four feet onto concrete (it still works, honey!).
  • been hugged a lot
  • “enjoyed” a $14 margarita. (OK, it was US$8.25 but at $1.60 for each US dollar, you do the math)
  • brushed my teeth with hot water too many times.
  • laughed hysterically at dancing kittens.
  • seen more Apple laptops in one place than I’ve probably ever sold in my life.
  • met or been reacquainted with some of the smartest, funniest, and warmest people on the web. These people are, in the parlance of Cory Doctorow, my “tribe.”

I come home tomorrow.

Greetings From The Hampton Inn

Well, here I am, settled in to my hotel room and blogging already. I just wanted to note how much nicer my hotel is than last year, and apparently it’s about the same price! The Hampton Inn and Suites just opened recently and it’s only about two blocks from the Convention Center, where all the SxSW stuff is going on.

The weather is gorgeous, sunny, maybe about 70°F. I forgot sunscreen and just had to go out and get some. Tonight is Break Bread With Brad, one of my favourite events. It’s a perfect icebreaker and a chance to catch up with old friends and make new ones.

I spent last night with the amazing Browns. They manage to juggle two energetic boys, a crazy dog, and a cat, and still make room for little old me.

Gotta go now. I’m being IM’ed!

Off To Texas!

Well, I’ll be away for the next week in (hopefully) sunny Austin, for South By Southwest. I’m hoping to be able to blog a little bit from there, but I can’t make any promises. When I come back, I’ll be sure to post a nice wrapup with some photos.

Over the past 24 hours or so, we got about ten more inches of snow. So this trip couldn’t come at a better time.

Tonight, Brooke and I went to the Raptors game. They lost to Houston 97-95, and a few thousand of Toronto’s large Chinese community were in attendance to cheer on rookie sensation Yao Ming. Also spotted: Canada’s (probable) next Prime Minister, Paul Martin, sitting courtside.

More Moozeek

A couple of more links for the music fans:

As well, I’ve been using Sam Ley‘s excellent iScrobbler plugin for iTunes for a while now. Unfortunately, the Audioscrobbler site itself has been down for several days with more database woes, I assume. When it comes back up, check out iScrobbler!

As the result of a sales contest at work, I won an iPod a while back. On Friday, I finally received it, and have been deliriously happy ever since. I have almost 2500 songs packed onto the little thing, and am doubly happy I received it in time for my annual trek to SxSW. Speaking of which, if you are going, and have any last minute requests for Canadian candy or maple syrup or Rheostatics or Sloan CDs or mukluks or what-have-you, now is the time to let me know…

Mod Pop Punk

The Mod Pop Punk Archives is a nice site documenting the late 70s music scene, and includes a large selection of MP3s from some mostly-forgotten bands. It’s a nice way to immerse yourself in another time. I felt like I was 14 again, that’s for sure.

The reason I’m linking it is that, in compiling my annual Compilation Champs CD for South by Southwest, it came to my attention that a whopping 40% of the music on it was made in the 1970s. I suppose that’s because the 1970s were when I was discovering music in the first place. The first LP I ever purchased was Led Zeppelin’s first album, from Halliday’s TV shop at the Parkway Plaza. My ten-year old impression was that the band could play, but man that singer had a crappy voice. But most of the music that means the most to me was released between 1976 and 1981. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that those years correspond to the years between 11 and 16 for me. Does this hold true for the rest of you as well?