2005-01-23 - 23:53

I got lost out in the snow

Lots on the go lately. Work continues its solid but reasonable pace. I have to try to push through a couple of semi-annoying pieces of code this week; but things are moving along well, in general.

Last weekend, I fixed up a couple of longstanding issues around the house. Firstly, I got some new glass-doored shelves, which turned into a combination board game repository/liquor cabinet/place with a light for my now-shiny crystal. As usual, anything that serves the noble goal of de-cluttering gets my seal of approval.

(Did I ever mention that my favourite part of Broken Summers is when Rollins describes his home as "dust free, double wrapped in plastic, alphabetical order"? Well . . . maybe second favourite, actually. It's hard to top his description of Yo La Tengo as "sacks of oatmeal in T-shirts.")

The other fix-up was replacing the kitchen faucet. That job had been on the hit list for a while, since the old faucet had been quite loose since I moved in. Eventually, something went on sale cheap enough to break my procrastination; and I even lucked into some free assistance, since Nick had popped over to swap a hard drive in my gateway (which is actually his machine but functions as a shared server).

I think that if I replace the kitchen light and the dining room drapes, the only other plan I'll have for the near future is sprucing up the spare bedroom. I only have the energy to paint one room a year, so that'll have to be the lucky target for '05.

The highlights of this weekend were a pair of concerts. Friday was the Joel Plaskett Experience with Cuff the Duke at Capital Music Hall. I really enjoyed Cuff again, although I'd say that they got a better crowd reaction when they played with Hayden. Once again, they came across more rocking than they do on their first album; and I really enjoyed the set-closing number, featuring some bowed guitar work.

Plaskett delivered a fun performance. Overall, I'd say that I enjoyed this concert a little more than his last visit to Ottawa. Although I assume that the extreme cold kept down the walk-up crowd, the move to a larger venue paid off with an energetic audience. Of course, Plaskett is a strong frontman; and everything from the halfway point of the set onwards was golden.

Yesterday was our latest trip to Montreal, this time for Bright Eyes. Although Laurie definitely led the push for this concert, I enjoyed myself. I recognized no more than half of the songs; but Conor Oberst and his band were in fine form throughout. I thought that the newer songs sounded best, with the frantic, encore-closing "Road to Joy" being especially inspired.

Although the continued cold kept me from wanting to do much in Montreal, I did do enough running around in Ottawa today to pick up a new camera. I finally retired the old beast that I bought before my Banff trip in 2000, moving up to a Canon PowerShot S70. I'm pretty confident that this one will serve me well. I guess that the Winterlude ice sculptures will be the first real test.

Maybe I'll even stop being lazy with my other site and I'll actually start posting pictures again.

J.