16 November 06

Hey there, I'm back! Check out the new look! There are new photos and videos and... there will be entries. Oh yes... there will be entries. Anyhoo. I am not quite finished the new photos sections so stay tuned as they will be online VERY soon! There are a few new links. Check out Amy's brother Jordan's restaurant in Vancouver; Chill Winston, the funniest guy I know Lachlan's Blog, Ali's travel blog while she's in peru and Amy's sisters baby blog.


So what else can I tell ya. Well, for those who don't know. Mike, Kari Bree and I surprised Amy for her birthday and took her to Vegas! It was a great weeknd and fun was had by all. Good bye phone... I will miss you dearly. Check out the photos and video from the trip here. Amy was super surprised.... well, I would say dumbfounded actually. She cried, she was confused. It was great. So what happened in Vegas you ask. I think the most memorable was dropping my phone in the Bellagio lake, Kari's porn puking and Mike getting locked out of the hotel room for 5 hours. (We stayed at the Luxor) Oh... and who could forget the creepy backpack guy. So there we were, minding our own business visiting Old Vegas and Fremont Street taking pictures of the llights and Casino's when out of nowhere this homeless vietnam vet, Vegas took me for everything looking guy busted through our group yelling "WATCH OUT! HOMLESS BUM COMING THROUGH" and "F-ING TECHNOLOGY, BRAINWASHERS..." He continued to to yell as he passed. I never really thought anything of it because I was busy taking pictures but little did I know that the guy was running towards me dropping his backpack and yelling again. I had no idea until Bree said "um... guys... he's coming back" But... he stopped and decided that maybe there were too many people around. It was really scary and creepy. For the rest of the night I kept looking over my shoulder and it actually ruined the tour of Fremont Street. We only got to watch one show and it wasn't the best one they had to offer. We left because everyone (besides Kari) was creeped out. It even smelled like "old". it was musty and there was an odd smell of dust in the air. This is the Vegas that started it all. The place where people got whacked. It was cool and creepy at the same time. This was the last night we were there.

Going back to the 1st night we had a delay in Denver for what ended up being 6 hours. Whew... Actually it was fun. We hooked up with 2 pool buddies of Bree and Mikes (Bonnie & Julie) and sat in one of the airport bars and had some beers. It would have been better if they would put the hockey game on. We were playing Colorado and they wanted baseball. BASEBALL... are you kidding. The home team is playing and you don't even want to watch the game. LARGE SIGH... Americans. The coolest part of Denver for me was the sheer scale of the airport. I can't even describe it. Maybe the fact that you have to take a train from terminal to terminal is some indication of how large this place is. It's crazy how huge it was.

The 2nd day Amy, Kari (Bree and Mike were at a wedding) and I walked down one side of the strip and went into every hotel, ended up at the Fashion Show Mall then crossed the street and went into every hotel on the other side of the strip. We stopped at Paris and started to play some games. I lost $40 and Kari won $500. I know, I know... I'm a high roller. Meh... I'm not the gambling type and I was just having fun watching and drinking for free. Apparently even if your friends are playing... you get free drinks. This was great!!! "Keep playing Kari!"

3rd day we shopped and shopped and shopped and shopped ending up at a neat little place in Ceasar's Palace called La Salsa. We had a great bartender and what was supposed to be a short drink while waiting for the girls to finish up ended up being about 8 drinks. VIVA LAS VEGAS BABY! YEAH! We were all feeling it the next morning but it was worth it. When in Rome ha ha. I can't wait to go back. I think next time we go on a trip it will be somewhere new though. Like San Fransisco or Miami or New York.

Anyway...
Amy and I have become addicted to LOST. Well, we were addicted last season but even moreso now that we can't watch season 3 on DVD. For anyone out there who hasn't watched it, just ask and I'll lend you season one and two on DVD.

We've been trying to get into Prison Break but it's just not happening. We've rented 4 discs with 16 episodes and although it is interesting we just can't seem to feel for the characters. Maybe it's the main character. His acting is so flat. He never has more than 2 emotions. Emotion 1 = Straight faced serious guy. Emotion 2 = Straight faced, slight frown and pursed lips angry guy. The best acting on the show is by the main character's brother who is sentenced to death for a murder he didn't commit. Don't get me wrong, it's not great acting but at least there is some "feeling" there.

Anyhoo.... what else is going on... I have this overwhelming feeling that occurs daily. It's laziness I think. Or is it comfyness. I'm not sure. Maybe it's what they call the "winter blues" but lately all I have been wanting to do is just get cozy, lie on the couch and be comfy and lazy. It always happens at the same time every day. Around 3pm I look out the window and see the snow and imagine how comfy my bed would be right then. I am also leaving work at 5 or 515 daily which is highly different from last year. I know that in the next two months that work is going to be crazy busy leading up to Christmas and I know that I am going to need to put in extra effort. I am just hoping to get that energy back. It's a strange feeling for me. I'm usually quite active and happy to be working. Not that I am unhappy but most days I just can't wait to get home. Weird...

Alright, my life is not that exciting and I really don'y have that much more to say right now other than OILERS WON TONIGHT! 6 - 2 VS St. Lewis! Can't wait for Saturday's game VS Detroit.

Adios for tonight. I'm off to bed.
Goodnight.

22 November 06


So... a few nights ago for some reason we started talking about the good old days of video games. I have no idea who brought it up or what sparked the conversation but it got me thinking. So I remembered that in the move I packed the old Nintendo Entertainment System. I knew however that it had not worked since probably 1996. So I took a loving look in the box... took a step back in time and remembered the good times my NES had togther.

Then I started thinking even more about wanting to play games like Mike Tyson's punch out, Super Mario and Donkey Kong. I started thinking how games today may look great, have stereo sound and have all kinds of cool online features etc. BUT... they will never be the games of old. The games that started them all. Games back then were fun. Genuine fun. Do you see people waving their Playstation conrollers trying to jump higher or avoid a barrel heaved by Donky Kong. No way man...

Anyway, the point of my story is that after a walk down memory lane I went online and decided to download an emulator and some ROMS. Now for those who don't know what they are. Emulators basically simulate the old processor on your home computer and ROMS are like the cartidges you plugged into them. So that being said, I had no idea if there would even be Emulators for a Mac. Turns out there was! Not just emulators but hundreds of games as well. Who knew? This is the greatest discovery of the year! Seriously... we now have over 100 NES, SNES and N64 games on my iMac! We started playing them with the keyboard... using the arrows, shift and return as faux A & B buttons... it sucked. Play was hindered by the lack of a controller. Somehow through years and years of calused thumb navigation and button pressing my body did not like or adapt to the new way of playing the classics. So what do we do?

We go out and get a controller! Here Amy and I are, in futureshop... almost giddy over being able to relive the good ol' days of gaming. I mean... what is better than Super Mario? Sure, GTA is great but it will never beat being able to relive your childhood! Call us geeks... call us nerds. We don't care. We love our NES and we are going to get our callus' back!!!


"hehh... hehh... it's my turn to play. Come on! Let me play... heeh heh" (pushes glasses into nose)


So last night Amy and I made a gingerbread house. I wasn't too keen on the idea at first to make it last night because I had been working late, watched a hockey game and had not eaten yet. It was getting late and I was pretty tired. But... I knew it meant a lot to Amy so we decided to make it. It was really really fun. What a great way to kick off the holidays! Now, I am not really a sweets fan and I typically don't eat junk food like skittles and candies and jube jubes. But, this kit we bought had it all. Icing, jube jubes covered in sugar, candy berries, skittles, sweet tarsts and of course, ginger bread. I suggest everyone go out and get a kit like we did. All the pieces of the house are pre baked and cut out for you. The icing bag is easy to use and there is even a stand to place all of your pieces in. All you have to do is decorate the house however you want! It's really a lot of fun. Sweet fun! Of course you have to pick at the candies as you build. Thats part of the fun! It doesn't take long and it's cheap. Anyone with small kids... or even older ones will enjoy this holiday tradition! Check ou the pics of the house we built to the left.

Here's to the start of the Christmas season!

Next entry... the raising of our very first Christmas Tree! And maybe... just maybe... another image gallery.

OH... Wait... I almost forgot. On this blog there are links to videos of Vegas and U2 but as you may have noticed... they are not working. This is because I don't have enough storage space on my fee Shaw account. But... FEAR NOT dear blog fans. You are looking at the proud owner of www.destroythebox.ca! YEP! Thats right... a last the wait is almost over. Chris has purchased a domain and will be staking his internet territory very... very soon! So stay tuned design and blog fans!

Adios!
theCHRIS