The Battle of Paris...

Paris 029, originally uploaded by impactmatt.

.... you i wont do what you tell me!!! .... you I wont do what you tell me!!!

If you like Rage or know the song, you know what word I am leaving out. Sometimes I sing the unedited version in the car when I am fending off erratic drivers and my own road rage!

So yeah... we went to Paris because my wife wanted to go to the RATM concert. We went for a total of four days. Now before you think we are loaded with cash, we are most definitely not... by North American standards anyways. We do not walk around with money bags with dollar signs on them, but we do live comfortably when I think about those who do not have. Please remember that I work for Air Canada (and with current cutbacks, who knows how long that will last!!!) and flying cheaply is a huge perk of the job.

So we get to Paris, with carryon's and Fenix in tow and we take public transport to get to our hotel. Paris is a beautiful city and I will not go into describing all the old buildings and all the monuments but focus on a couple of things that stood out to me.

- Cafe's
I had a great time sitting at cafe's. It is the ultimate Parisian thing to do. You have your cafe au lait and a croissant, take out a loan to pay for it, and just people watch. All the chairs that our outside face out into the street. You are not supposed to have deep conversations with the people you are with but watch the world go by and enjoy it! We had one bad experience at a late night cafe coming back from the eiffel tower. Paris does have a reputation of being snobby and providing poor customer service. We walked up and sat down and made our order. It was about a quarter past midnight so my wife was not interested in alcohol and caffeine and ordered "un the glace." The waiter looks at her and in a snooty accent asks "Hiced Tea?????" I am fairly certain that we were speaking French and why he replied in English is beyond me. We confirmed her order and that his mastery of the English language in the area of beverages was solid. I then ordered a moccachino. Now I thought this was a fairly common coffee beverage. He looked at me as if I was crazy. He had no clue what that was. He was insulted that I asked him. I explained that it was a mix of a cafe moccha and a cappucino. No dice... this was beyond him. So I ordered a cappucino which I thought he understood.

We waited about 45 minutes... people next to us were served, people came and went, our waiter had many long conversations with his coworkers, and also seemed to take his coffee break(which ironically seemed to be a moccachino). So we left. Just so weird...

Seeing that this has gone on for a bit and I am sure that you are tuning out I will just skip right to the concert.

The buildup was amazing. We got there ridiculously early and I am fairly certain that we beat all 100,000+ concert goers. So we sat in this enormous park waiting for the show to start. Baby Fenix was by far the youngest Rage fan in attendance... and at 3 months we werent surprised. We had agreed that I would stay with him a long ways away from the main area and Clo would try and work her way up close. She ended up heading toward the mosh pit not realizing what was awaiting her. I hung back and when the music started my three month old's eyes bugged out of his head. He couldn't figure out what was happening! He had a little smile on his face though. I think he recognized the music as we had been playing a lot of rage leading up to our departure. He and I eventually left after a few songs due to the fact that i couldn't see anything being so far back and Fenix had had his fill. It was all right though because on the 20 minute walk back to the metro we pretty much heard the rest of the set and beat the traffic.

So yeah... a quick couple of stories about our trip. Stay tuned for next time when we discuss hurricane Ike!

where is the creativity?

Paris 062, originally uploaded by impactmatt.

Where have I been???? All my subscribers and loyal readers, I apologize... to both of you! How could you have lived without this blog?

Just kidding!!!

I am sure that you have survived well without me! Although I do notice that during the summer blogging does take a significant nose-dive. Regardless I am back and I am going to try and keep this thing up-to-date and interesting.

So where have I been? All over the place... I have had the chance to travel to Vancouver, Victoria, Chilliwack, Paris, London (Ontario), Cayo Coco, and back to London (Ontario). I have had the opportunity to travel with my family (including my little Fenix... now 4 months old) to all parts of the world and experience things like the beauty of a BC Ferry ride, a Rage Against the Machine concert with 100,000 other people, and a hurricane in a tropical paradise!

It has been exciting to say the least! So if you are interested in all these adventures tune in tomorrow when we will start with Rage Against the Machine in Paris!... or I may become impatient and write today! Who knows!!!!

So in closing, here is a little quote that I read in a book: "God is a comedian with an audience that is afraid to laugh!

Here comes the "Man in Black"

I am currently getting a new tattoo added to my body. I went three weeks ago to get the outline done. Its fairly large, complicated, and my tattoo artist is a perfectionist. Just for the outline it took 9hrs... straight... no breaks... at all. So I was in a twisted contorted position for that whole time. So I have nothing to do but focus on the needle drilling my skin. The radio was on to CHOM 97.7 Classic Rock... and I think I listened to every single classic rock song ever created.

But the tattoo was far from done and I had to return three weeks later to see if we could get it finished up. NO chance there! I spent another 10hrs in contorted positions. Cirque de Soleil has nothing on me! We did take a break though... but you know what we did on our break? My tattoo artist worked on another older tattoo I have that needed retouching! He is very good at his job. This time we listened to CD's and one of them was a Johnny Cash greatest hits kind of thing. I really like his work. I like his story telling style and his attention to those we would most likely want to skip over.

The song "Man in Black" is not just a song but it is a statement of faith, a mission, and a life philosophy. I enjoy hearing something deeper in music that a catchy beat and people going on talking about their bitches and hoes... I heard this song yesterday and I am dressed in black today to remind myself of how much hearing Johnny Cash at 10pm at night in a tattoo parlour meant to me. (lyrics below)

"Man In Black"

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,

Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.

Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,

Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,

I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,

But is there because he's a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,

Or listened to the words that Jesus said,

About the road to happiness through love and charity,

Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,

In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,

But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,

Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,

For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,

I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,

Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,

Believen' that the Lord was on their side,

I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,

Believen' that we all were on their side.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,

And things need changin' everywhere you go,

But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,

You'll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,

And tell the world that everything's OK,

But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,

'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.

HOT SHOTS part deux!!!

Ok... I was watching a movie this morning and I am embarrassed to say that it was Hot Shots Part Deux. Its one of those movies where the humour is completely assinine but yet it is pretty funny.

It does happen to include one of my favorite scenes ever. Just follow the youtube link below. Its really the last 5 seconds of the clip that I enjoy. I am sure it has been done in other movies, but man was it funny in this movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMAcM9_02qA

I wont spoil the actual scene by commenting on it, so check it out for yourself! Short post... another one to come!

poor poetry perfromance

Just thought i would put up a poem that I had created a while back. I haven't looked at it in a while and it may be garbage, but I am feeling guilty that I have no posted anything recently to the blog...

enjoy?

(Don't try and actually read it like a iambic pentameter kind of poem... the rythm changes and the goal was more of a spoken word kind of piece, with fluctuations and creative pauses! Ha!)


You got the church richly carpeted in His favour
The cross up front showing that He is your saviour
Your Bibles are leather bound, big, embossed in gold
You don't think for yourselves but do as you're told
The Sunday doors spring open to welcome you in
And you guard your weekly heart from others getting in
There'll be no more tears and His arms are open wide
Greetings with puckered holy kisses, but thats only once you're inside.

So God's gotta love you, you live and worship in His home
But only once a week and then you return to your own
He pours out His blessings oh-so abundantly
But one thing's for sure, your God don't love me.

I know that He don't love me because of all the walls you've built
The distance and division destroys, like I deserve the hurting guilt
I know that He don't love me cause the life you've built is so good
And you look down down on mine cause you think you should
I know that he don't love me because you're in and I'm the other
Your Christian country club fraternity won't accept me as a brother.

Should it matter if I'm different, poor, gay or muslim
If I'm shy, unattractive, freaky, or foreign
We've all somehow fallen short and I'd think I'm preaching to the choir
But based upon the way you act that would make me a liar.


"God bless you brother" and "Hallelujah" is the talk you talk
You definitely speak well of your spiritual walk
You see the great unseen and raise heavenward hands
But won't look me in the eyes and grab mine to help me stand
Do unto others as THEY are your brother and sister
But between the well dressed suit and the single mother... you missed her
You're in your caves, your boxes, your bubble
You see anything or anyone on the outside as definite trouble

We are the naked, the poor, the oppressed, the weak
Aren't we the ones you should want to help, the ones you seek
Why am I alone with you and feeling so
So where is the love, the agape, the philio

I know the He don't love me because of the look in your eye
Cause somehow I don't measure up no matter what I try
I know that He don't love me cause I got no jacket of my own
While you're wearing two sweaters in your heated mansion home
I know that He don't love me cause you're in and I'm the other
Your Christian country-club-fraternity won't take me as a brother

God bless the..... the fat and ugly people?

I was walking through a very touristy part of town the other day and I was eavesdropping on tourists' conversations. I don't know if I am a compulsive eavesdropper (i don't think I am, at least that is what my therapist tells me) but I do enjoy knowing what is going on in other people's lives even though I don't have a clue who they are and I know full well that I will never see them again! A very good friend of mine just got a sweet appartment because of his eavesdropping skills.

Anyhow... so there was this older American couple from the south walking through my fair city and commenting on everything they saw and were experiencing. I could hear things like:

"I didn't think everything in Quebec (their pronunciation was something more like Kweee-bek) would be so French. Why don't they just learn English like the rest of the world."

"Bonn-jur. Je am Americain." (no kidding... if it wasn't your accent, your t-shirt proudly displaying the red, white, and blue would have given it away.)

These are not the average tourists and I do not want to put anyone of them down. This couple was very exceptional... and hilarious!!! So... at this point they started picking on the people, but not really. It was more like a pity-party for unfortunate souls.

"He is so overweight... God bless him."

"She is so homely-looking, bless her soul."

"God bless him... he stinks like something fierce!"

Its as if these were like angels on vacation going around visiting beautiful places and blessing those who were unfortunate. If that is the case, I am amazed at the way the Lord works!!!

However, it is more likely it is just a couple of well intentioned people who are very happy about who they are and need to remind themselves of this fact by picking on others.

Just thought I would share...

Werewolf beer...

I love Quebec. I love beer. I love Quebec beer. Its all so simple. However, this past weekend my love has been called into question. I was helping a friend move, because the week before and the week after July 1st everyone is moving (see last blog in June for more details.) So anyhow, as custom dictates the movee will reward the mover with beer and food. In this case, there was no normal beer at the store and so we got beer from a small micro-brewery in Quebec City. The beer itself was all right, but the labeling and packaging left much to be desired. It is a horrible idea, but I have to admit drinking werewolf beer is pretty damn funny!

Anyhow, Grimousse is a play on words from the company name Grimoire... (the beer is a red beer so in french it would be a "rousse" and there is foam in the beer and in french that is called "mousse.") Why they chose a werewolf for a label, I have no clue. Absolutely none! This company has other "different" types of names for their beers. For example: L'Armure (which is armour), Ivrest (Everest), Hawaienne (with a bikinied girl on the label), and La Noire Soeur (the Black Nun... which is a play on words in french... the phoenetic sound of Noir Soeur means darkness). So basically we have these trippy beer names. And I am OK with people getting creative with the names. However this beer takes the extra step to add on some weird poem/prose on the label. The french is just as bad as the english translation... have a look:

"Damned to wander in obscurity

Such is his fate for being different

No one could see what is.

Day and night, he prowls; a shadow.

His look dazes those he encounters.

But do not fear, for he can be tamed.

Indulge him and you will see the truth.

When you are ready to whisper his name,

You will be different from the others,

For the legend will be eternal.

His aroma will be unique.

His silhouette will be fearsome for others."

What kind of acid was this guy on? Its a beer people!!! Its a beer with a werewolf on the label!!!! What name am I whispering? What aroma am I sniffing? What are the marketing guys sniffing? What am I indulging to learn the truth? Indulging in too much of the product before it leaves the warehouse most likely.

Anyhow... I found this really funny and bizarre at the same time!