Friday, March 31, 2006

Friday Feast Mar. 31,2006

I didn't manage to get away from work early on Tuesday, and I was feeling terrible by the time I finally got home. I think I had a fever because I was very cold even though the house was very warm. I bundled up in bed with my book and stayed there. I didn't go to work Wednesday and remained in bed with my book, although the fever was gone. I felt a lot better and actually found myself sitting on the deck in the afternoon enjoying the fresh air. I was back to work Thursday and now I'm feeling back to my regular self. I'm still stuffed up and my throats a little tender, but the cold sore is mostly gone and I can swallow again. (keep it clean you know what I'm talking about you dirty little minds) In case you were wondering I finished the book... it was very good. Maybe not as good as some of it predicessors in the series, but the story was good and well thought out. I didn't feel the kind of love or hate for the characters that I have in Jack Whyte's other novels and that is where I felt it was disapointing, but overall as an end to the series I felt it wrapped thing up nicely.
Now the Feast

Friday Feast Mar. 31, 2006

Appetizer
Name 3 things that you think are strange.
People, People, People. I could build a list that would go on and on and on.

Soup
What was the last ceremony you attended?
Jim & Carl's wedding last year.

Salad
What is one lesson you have learned in the past year?
I learned a lot of really great pointers for protecting your Identity and Credit rating. Thankfully I didn't learn them the hard way.

Main Course
Tell us about one of your childhood memories.
I remember when I was Eight years old, just before Christmas not long after my brother, Lorne, was born, and someone had a video camera and was taping a christmas message to send to my Great-Grandma on Vancouver Island. What I remember most about the moment was how excited I was about my new baby Brother. He was, after all, my very first sibling. I now have three. Aside from Lorne, there is my sister Amanda and my youngest brother Garrett. My Brothers are my Dad's sons, and my Sister is my Mom's Daughter.

Dessert
If you could extend any of the four seasons to be twice as long as normal, which season would you want to lengthen?
Duh... Summer. If we could make the New Brunswick Summer twice as long, then it would finally be same as the rest of the Country.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

AAARRRRGH!

My head is stufffy, my throat is sore, and top it all off...I've got a cold Sore on my lip. I feel icky.
We were suposed to meet Bertis and the Bonds this evening for "Bowling The Sequel" but I'm going to have to take a pass, since I don't know whether or not I will actually make it all the way through the work day. I wouldn't even have come in at all had I not already arranged to go to a client's business and take pictures for his television ad. He had to round up people to pose etc etc etc so I couldn't just cancell on him last minute. I will do my best to breathe on no one and touch nothing while I'm there. I could barely swallow yesterday, my throat was so sore, and I just got an e-mail from Helen that she is also having difficulty swallowing... so I guess we're all out for the time being.
Yesterday I had my car in for it's annual maintenance. I had a problem with the switch for the heating fan that had to be fixed and aside from that it was just change the oil, plugs, filters etc.... still it took a chunk out of my bank account (but worth it in the end to spot potential problems down the road and fix them before they become major repairs). I went to pick the car up around 3 and didn't bother returning to work, just headed straight home. I was starting to feel the raw throat coming on around then. I hopped in bed and snuggled up with my book, which is probably how I will spend the last part of today as well.

Monday, March 27, 2006

Nice Weekend.

We had a fairly busy weekend. Friday we left work early for a drink at O'Learys, then went home for dinner. (no chicken as I had intended but there was broccoli and carrots)
Saturday was spent cleaning out the Spare room that we use as an office. That is the place where things go until a suitable home can be found for them, and it has become quite a mess since we've been renovating. We finally got around to unpacking and sorting through all the boxes in there and throwing out all the crap. We actually discovered a carpet under all the crap. Now there is a big pile of stuff to go to the curb downstairs. We also put the rest of our bedroom back together although we haven't done the mouldings yet. All the clothes from the closet got sorted before they went back in and several things didn't get booked for return engagements. After that was accomplished, we made an optomistic move, and put the patio furniture back on the deck... here's hoping. Saturday Evening Bertis and the Bonds came over for pizza and a "Little Britain" marathon. We got through Four episodes and then put the second disk in and watched all the Vikky Pollard Sketches and Davith sketches.
Sunday was catch up on the laundry day. I can't wait for the weather to be nice enough to start putting the clothes out on the line again. Not only is it energy efficient it's better for the fabric and it just makes everything smell fresh. I usually dry everything on the line except towels.. they get too stiff and scratchy on the line so they go in the dryer. Other than laundry I spent the majority of Saunday with my nose my book. It was nice to just kick back and get lost in the story.

Friday, March 24, 2006

Friday Feast Mar. 24, 2006

Appetizer
How would you describe your personal comfort zone?
I'm very comfortable with myself and my environment both working and home. I sometimes get down over the effects of Graft vs Host disease on my appearance, but for the most part am pretty confident and happy.

Soup
What is your favorite tree?
I don't have a favorite tree... I love all kinds of trees, as anyone whose ever been to my house will atest. My favorite of the many trees I have inside my home is my Cocoa Tree (mostly because of the Challenge it presented in aclimating it to a dryer climate and having it flourish), but I really don't have a "Favorite tree"

Salad
List 3 foods you'd like to include in your dinner plans for tonight.
Brocolli, Chicken, Carrots

Main Course
What is the best advice you've ever been given, but didn't heed?
I can't really think of anything. I've always trusted my instinct and am usually very good at recognising good advice.

Dessert
On a scale of 1-10 (10 being highest), how much attention do you feel comfortable receiving from others?
That's tricky.... on a one on one personal kind of scale I'm about a 6. If it's an impersonal setting where I'm on stage 13.. pour it on baby!!!!

Thursday, March 23, 2006

HMS Pinafore

Went to HMS Pinafore with Bertis Last night.... Loved it. I wasn't familiar with the show before hand, so it was refreshing and new to me. The singing was excellent. The young Tenor was absolutely incredible. He had a very high, very hard part and made it sound effortless. The set was fairly simple and no big deal really, but when you have a bunch of men wandering around in little white sailor suits, whose looking at the set? I did notice that the mark from "Sight Unseen's" revolving set could still be seen quite clearly in places on the stage though.

Now that life has settled down to it's normal frantic pace I have been able to start into "The Eagle" by Jack Whyte, the final novel in his Historical fiction version of the Arthurian legend. I've had it for a couple weeks, but haven't had time to sit down and enjoy it. If you're not familiar with his novels but are a fan of Historic novels, or a fan of King Arthur you should read them. They are a look at Britain at the fall of the Roman Empire and try to explain the circumstances and possibility of King Arthur and Camolot without all the magic and fantasy. You almost feel like it could really have happened.

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Not Quite Recovered

It was a very busy weekend and I'm not all the way recovered yet. Friday was Saint Patrick's Day, but I was busy with sound for Sight Unseen. The show finished and I was out of the theatre by about 10:30, but was pretty wiped and didn't want to deal with lines, cover charges, and people who had been drinking since noon... so I just went home. The Uptown was a zoo of people when I headed out, so I was kind of glad to avoid it.
Saturday was the matinee show, followed by the final evening performance. Both went very well. There wasn't a large Matinee crowd, but the evening crowd was the largest of the run. I very nearly had a flawless run, right up until near the end of the final show when I miscued a Sound Effect and accidentally started the Kettle whistle when it should have been the tape rewind sound. I caught it right away and jumped to the right sound but it was too late by then. Oh well, if you don't screw up at least once what are people going to razz you about at the cast party? We broke down the set in what seemed record time for such an intricate thing, and the party started somewhere between 11:30 and Midnight. It was a fairly quiet party as far as SJTC cast parties go, but it was a really good time. Dre Loaded some really nice music onto her ipod and it played in the boackground all evening... it was there but not overpowering so we all had an oportunity to talk without having to raise our voices which was refreshing. It wrapped up a little after 3am. Darrell spent Saturday morning finishing his install of the dog door and met me at the party around twelve thirty. Elton and Tiff now have their own access to the back deck. He put it right through the wall and out to the deck. This spring/summer we are hoping to get in some fill and level out the back more, then fence off an area and build stairs down off the deck into it, so the dogs will have their own yard and they can come and go as they please.
Sunday we had so much catching up to do around the house I couldn't get out to help with the load in... sorry guys. We moved more stuff back into the bedroom, even though we haven't put up the moulding yet. We priced Maple and it runs about 3 dollars a foot, so we are thinking maybe we'll just buy some nice pine and stain it instead. Three dollars a foot for moulding isn't really in the budget. We eventually want all the moulding to be nice wood as well as all the interior doors and trim. We got a new Barbeque since our old one has pretty much had the biscuit, and found a really great sale on a Router table that included a plunge router. We already have a router (on semi-permanent loan from Connell) but it's nice to have two, that way you can use one freehand and leave the other as part of the table.
Monday was back to the grind. I believe I'm finished with Universal's project though I haven't heard for sure yet, there's always a chance they could require a sudden change to it. I was in super store after work and checked my blood pressure on their machine. I know those machine aren't super accurate but they're usually pretty close. Everything was good, so it looks like giving up the coffee is working out. It's the cyclosporin that is articifially raising my blood pressure so until I am finally off it, I can live without coffee. I don't really miss it and I've been discovering all kinds of exotic flavours of herbal tea. I haven't picked a favourite yet, but so far peppermint and Honey Lemon are fairly high on the list.
Today looks like it's going to be a fairly easy going day, so we may even slip out early. Tomorrow night I have plans to go to the theatre with Bertis and see HMS Pinafore... that should be a really fun show. I hope there's a musical coming to the SJTC line up soon..... wink, wink, nudge, nudge, hint hint hint. Something with more than three characters, and some nice big production numbers.

Friday, March 17, 2006

Friday March 17, 2006

Opening Night for Sight unseen was last night and the crowd really seemed to enjoy themselves. The show went really well, with one tiny delay at the beginning over a pieve of paper that somehow ended up on the top step of stage right. Other than that it was pretty smooth. The cast brought really strong performances to the stage and really sold the show. There was only about half a house downstairs and I don't know how many people were in the balcony, since I was at the sound board all night and can't see the balcony from there. There was a post show reception at D'Amico's which was propapble the best post show reception I've been to yet. Complimentary drinks and lots of food. There was deep fried battered fish, brushetta, pita pizzas, and the piece de resistance... Deep fried Macaroni and Cheese. Yes that's right deep Fried Mac and Cheese.... it was like bite sized grilled cheese sandwiches, tasty very tasty.
Tonight we will be competing with Saint Patrick's day (which isn't the big deal on the west coast that it is here), so here's keeping our fingers crossed that we have a good crowd.

Now to the Feast.....

FRIDAY FEAST MARCH 17
Appetizer
What job would you definitely not want to have?
Dishwasher... there's not enough money in the world to make me wash dishes for a living.

Soup
Oprah calls and wants you to appear on her show. What would that day's show be about?
It could be any number of things, but would probably be about cancer survivors or something sappy like that... it's what works for Oprah..... I'd rather do Ellen.

Salad
Name 3 vegetables that you eat on a regular basis.
Baby Carrots (I bring them to work everyday and eat them like chips), Brocolli, Turnip... in the late summer early fall we feast alot on corn.

Main Course
If you were commissioned to rename your hometown, what would you call it?
I like the name it already has. Williams Lake, BC... why fix something that ain't broke?

Dessert
If you had a personal assistant, what kind of tasks would you have them to do?
I'm too much of a control freak to trust my personal errands to another person, so a personal assistant would be completely useless to me, in fact it would probably stress me out in stead of making life easier. What I really need is a maid. We are both slobs, niether one of us likes doing dishes so they pile up beside the sink until there aren't any dishes left before they get done.

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Opening Night

Last night was Student dress rehearsal for Sight Unseen and it went very well. There wasn't a large crowd, I think my last count was 47, but they all seemed to really enjoy the show. It is a really good script with lots of things going on both in and out of the dialog. There's a lot of really good subtext and it takes some time to really digest everything that happens. On the outside it seems like a very simple play, but you find all kinds of layers as it progresses. I hope there is a good crowd for opening night, people will not be disapointed.
I'm in the final stages of my project for Universal Truck and Trailer. It looks like there is light at the end of the tunnel. This is the first time I've really been worried about whether or not I could finish something on time. I didn't realize it was as tight a turn around as it was when I said yes to doing sound for Sight Unseen, otherwise I never would have agreed. Usually when it's something this big I like to be able to stay late if I get on a roll, but that's impossible if you have to be somewhere else in the evening. Thankfully I didn't have alot of Rogers work this week so I was able to devote my time completely to building the 3d model of Universal.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Cue 2 Q last night

Three very busy days and very late nights makes Blaine a cranky cranky boy. I slept in this morning even though I really couldn't afford the time, but I couldn't afford not to either. I was way to tired after the past few days. Cue to Cue went all the way until midnight. I'm sure my mind didn't settle and let me get to sleep until at least one. What made it most tiring was there wasn't a lot for me to do during the course of the evening so it was a lot of sitting around waiting. That is more tiring to me than working on three things at once for twice the amount of time.
I am up against a time crunch for a 3d rendering of a redesigned building, and am no where near my comfy place with it yet, and I still have to mix some "soft Jazz" house music for the show.
Hopefully everything at tonights rehearsal goes well, and we get out of there at a decent hour. That said... back to work.

PS ...Put down your bloody cell phone and drive your fucking car... yes I'm talking to you! You are barely competent behind the wheel with both hands on it.

Monday, March 13, 2006

It's Done

Well not completely done, but done enough for the moment. I got the ceiling painted on Thursday. Friday Darrell got the floors evened up. We decided we should even them up instead making a divided so we would know what was involved, since chances are that seam runs the entire length of the house, and we don't want any surprised when we do the living room, dining room, and hallway. Saturday I got the walls painted fairly early in the day, and they were dry enough by 6:30 PM so we started laying down the new floor. Once you get the hang of it, laminate floor is really pretty easy to install. Keep in mind Easy is a relative term. Getting down on your hands and knees hunched over installing floor isn't easy on your knees or your back. The next day I hurt in places I forgot I had, because I don't normally move my muscles that way, but we got the floor all done and the room basically put back together and by 2 am we were sleeping in our own bed again. It was hell trying to sleep in the spare room all week, going from a king sized simmons bowling ball matress with cushion top back to our old Queen sized matress we got on sale at Leons was not fun, there was, understandabley, a lot of motivation to stay up as long as it took to finish the room.
Sunday I was up fairly early and into town for Sight Unseen rehearsals. I think it's going to be a very good show from what I've seen so far. There isn't a lot for me to do soundwise thankfully because it's going to be really hellish week for me at work with a huge project due by Friday. After the rearsal I popped into the theatre to help Chad with the set painting. There wasn't much we could do as they were still setting it up, so we helped unload the reheasal space and then came back to paint. We got quite a bit done, but Chad still has lots to do so any eager beavers who can work a paint brush or a sponge really should get in there and help him out tonight. Unfortunatly I can't since tonight is Cue to cue and I will be on the sound board all night.

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Carpet is gone

There is no paint on the ceiling yet, but the room is cleared, the carpet is gone, the walls are washed & Crackfilled. Today we will disconnect the ceiling fan and paint the ceiling. We discovered a bit of anasty surprise when we got the carpet up. Our place is a Prestige Home so it is built in two halves and then trucked onto the site, and right in the closet doorway is where the floors are joined together and they are not even. Luckily we have a simple solution. We will lay the laminate flooring in the bedroom as well as laying it in the closet, but in the doorway we will buy a nice piece of maple and build a spanner. Simple fix for the bedroom, but when it finally comes time to do the living room etc it is going to be a problem. Luckily we started with this small job and are leaving the bigger one until sometime later. When we get to it we will be prepared.

I have to have my rear brakes done on my car. The disk on the drivers side is soudning pretty warped. Hopefully we will be able to get to that this weekend as well because I will need my car all next week. As it turns out I will be filling in as the sound guy for Sight Unseen. Peter Jones was originally going to do it, but some last minute scheduling conflicts at work have conspired to make him unavailable. Thankfuilly he has already done all the prep work and all I have to do is push buttons. I'm sure it will go smoothly.

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

The Bedroom

We didn't get nearly as far on our bedroom reno last night as we had hoped. By the time we got home, had dinner and cleaned up the kitchen, it was already 8 O'clock, but we managed to clear out the closet, the plants and most of the furniture. We are hoping to get away early today so we can get everything else out, rip up the carpet & mud the various nail holes in the walls. If all goes according to plan today, I should be able to get the ceiling painted while Darrell takes the staples out of the floor and cleans it up. I may play hooky from work tomorrow to finish the painting, so we can get teh underlay down on Friday and dedicate the entire weekend to putting down the flooring and putting everything back. We won't be putting the trim back on, it's that cheap ugly white pressboard crap. We are actually going to go buy some nice maple and make our own. The flooring is Maple, and the walls will be Sage.. so it should look really nice and bright when it's all done.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Big Job Ahead

We had a great weekend. Saturday we started out at the Home Depot for a Laminate Flooring seminar, then headed down to Harbour Station and Met up with Bertis at the Home Show. This years Home Show wasn't really all that great to tell the truth. There were lots and lots of Doors and Windows displayed, but very little else, and with the Absense of Sears there was almost nothing in the way of home decor items. We got sucked into the Super Shamoise display and ended up buying some, but othere than that just wandered around and looked. Then we headed back to the office to collect the dogs and head up to Bertis' place for dinner. Brian and Helen were alreadythere when we arrived.
Bertis made Spagetti with a realy awsome meat sauce. We forgot to bring our Ramoli game so we improvised a board on an old pizza box and played for a few hours, then had some icecream sundays. It was a really good night. I had a lot of fun. Darrell ened up being the big winner in Ramoli although we only played for fun, not actual money.
Sunday we went into town and bought ten boxes of laminate flooring from Home Hardware as well as five gallons of paint. We will be spending every spare moment this week, ripping apart our bedroom, painting, and laying the new floor. I can't wait to get going on it. I love doing home renos. I really love painting a room, it's one of my favorite home decorating chores. It makes it look fresh and clean and new.. and it's not bad excercise.

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Time for a new post

I guess I have been neglecting my poor little blog this week. Mostly because the February slow down has started to turn around and I am busy again.
Quick Update:

Didn't get a part in Moon Children or Crucible... To tell the truth I'm not surprised or disapointed, I didn't really think I was suited to any of the parts to begin with.
Saturday we went out to the 3Mile for Sarah's 20th birthday. How to make yourself feel old......Actually it wasn't so bad. Fairly early in the night the music on both sides was actually quite good, then it began to degrade to a throb, and eventually we opted to head over to where the pool tables are on the quiet side.
Sunday... quiet, slightly hung over.
Monday & Tuesday... work etc.
Last night went out for dinner at Romanos on the west side with Bertis, Brian & Helen (saying Bertis and the Bonds sounds a lot like a 50's group). The food was really good and the portions were really big. After dinner we hit Bowlarama for a couple hours of bowling. That was a lot of fun, and hopefully we do it again very soon.
Today is shaping up to be moderately busy.