Wednesday 8 June 2011

Haunted By Hamburgers

I got home from work late tonight, and found some leftovers I could munch on, seeing how I missed dinner

What did my mom and sister have for supper tonight?
Sliders.

I'm not even kidding.  I am haunted by hamburgers.  I don't get it


Some people deal with demons, ghosts, spirits with unfinished business...

I have to deal with itty bitty gourmet hamburgers.

I ate two today.  Maybe they'll leave me alone now. 


Things are looking brighter for Boston today! 4 - 0! Shutout! Go Bruins! Halfway there.  We've got a 2 - 2 series, folks.  We're going to (at least) 6 games.  Luongo had a bad game.  The first two goals he definitely should've had, and one of the last ones he half knocked in.  He got the hook.  Sorry Lu.

My boss said an actual playoff beard might help...

It's not as much that I'm a Boston fan...
I just cant stand the Vancouver Canucks (a point I've emphasized before)

We always turn on the games at work.  I get paid to watch playoff hockey! Doesn't get much better than that.


Okay, subject change.
Does anyone else think this commercial is as awesome as I think it is?



I don't even think I've ever drank a Heineken beer... but I do love the ad

Oh YouTube... where would the universe be without you?




I shouldn't watch food shows late at night.  They make me hungry.  Holy crap, this guy just deep fried a Mars bar.  Mind. Blown.

Okay, okay, okay, back to something relevant
Song of the day... song of the day... hrmmm... what should we hear today.... uhhh....
*opens iTunes frantically*

The weather in my part of this world is supposed to start brightening up... so how about a cheery, sunny tune by Michael Franti and Spearhead?  This is The Sound of Sunshine off the album... The Sound of Sunshine...

:)



Hopefully I'll see that big shiny ball of astronomical beauty tomorrow... I'm tired of these dark damp clouds!
I hope that you all are doing well, wherever you are.

This is parachutefan, signing off

Tuesday 7 June 2011

Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon

You know when you learn a new word or concept and it suddenly starts popping up everywhere?
That's happened to me for about 3 weeks now

The word: Sliders. 

Yeah, those little mini gourmet hamburgers.  It took me forever to figure out what the heck a slider was... and now I hear about them everywhere!  In my world, they didn't even exist a month ago.

Tada, the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon everyone.


Mmmmmm...
I just figured I'd share

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Holy hannah, I feel like I live in Vancouver.

It's nutso! 

Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, RAIN



It's nice, to a certain extent

The beautiful smell of the rain on a hot sidewalk
The quiet sssshhhh-ing as I fall asleep with the window open
How green it makes everything
It cleans everything off, it freshens up the air

After a thunderstorm is one of the best times.  The sky is blue, the sun comes out and the air is amazing.
If the sun does come out

Not a fan of these.


Here at home, it's been preeeetty rainy!  The sun has been blocked behind grey clouds, completely obscured for days.  It gets me down actually.  Just depressed.  I think I might be solar powered...

These seem strapped to my back

The sun is amazing, like... it's a giant ball of flaming gases 150 million kilometers (93 million miles for you imperial people).  It takes 8 minutes for the light to just GET here, and it powers our entire planet.  Everything we use here was somehow connected to the sun (not to sure about the rock and metal bit, I'll get back to you on that one).

Booyah

Still, probs wont be seeing any of the big bright guy until Friday.  Sadface :( My friend last week went riding her horse through lakes.... er... i mean... puddles.... anyway, she had to dry off her horse with a hair dryer afterwards! Muddy muddy muddy!

I waded through an autowrecker (also known as the auto graveyard) to see if I could find a new light for my car.  No such luck yet! It seems that once a car finally gets to rest in pieces in a muddy field far in the south of the city, the lights are yanked from the sockets rather quickly.  Well, you need a light.  That's the thing.  God, I'm just waiting to get busted for driving around with the broken light.  At least the turn signal still works!  There's hope still!

Hrmmm... so even though it's all glum where I'm from (accidental rhyming :P ) I think today needs a bit more of a cheery tune...
Seabear is a, ahem, 'an Icelandic indie-folk band from Reykjavik, Iceland' (Wikipedia, I love you).  They've got some sweet tracks, really laid back.  Personally, I absolutely love them.  Today's Song Of The Day is called Libraries and it's off their 2007 album The Ghost That Carried Us Away. Give it a listen!



Neato fact: Their name 'Seabear' comes from the latin name for polar bear, which is Ursus Maritimus (literally translating to 'bear of the sea'.  Go figure)


DID YOU WATCH THE GAME TONIGHT?!  I missed part of it, but wow, what a game.  That's the thing about the canucks.  If they are going to have a bad game, it's going to be a really bad game... which I love. Heck, the final score was 8 - 1 for Boston! The best bit: Ryan Kesler scored the winning goal.  Yes.  On himself.  Go Bruins!




My thoughts go out to Nathan Horton tonight, who took a quite a late hit from Vancouver's Aaron Rome early in the first period.  He was carried off the ice in a stretcher and his injuries are currently undisclosed but he didn't look good! Rome also received a five minute major penalty and a game misconduct.  Personally, he should be suspended for that kind of hit.  But I'll let you decide for yourself

Best wishes, Nathan Horton.  We hope to see you back on the ice soon.

This is ParachuteFan, signing off.

Friday 3 June 2011

Mayday, Mayday (From June 2nd)

 Due to technological difficulties with a shoddy internet connection... this is actually YESTERDAYS post. 
The day seemed to take a nose dive.

It started off with a small blinking light in the cockpit that I tried to skirt around, and then my engine seemed to explode, I lost control, my aircraft ignited engulfing me in smoke and I was forced to eject from the dying day and drift slowly into the safety of my bed.  Wow.

So what actually happened was that I was awoken only to find my car is gonna cost me about 700 to fix.  New light, and a fender.  Oh joys.  And then I found out my hours for next week are cut back to only 11.  I usually work close to 25ish.  What a great bit of news after the car estimate.  Then cashing out went really badly (I am the worlds... slowest... cashier...).  And then I got assigned to the rez building I didn't really want to live in, which is a quad set up.  I won't know my roommates.  And I'll have to live with 3 of them all year  Good heavens, that makes me super nervous.  What if they all know each other and I don't fit in?  What if they are super weirdo's? What if we all fight?

Let's not get catty, now.



The what if's can kill us all.  

Thankfully, a good friend of mine pulled me out of my mopey mood just now.  If I don't become BFFs with these girls, it's not the colossal end of the world.  I've still got the rest of my uni friends, and I'll be out partying and studying with my crew from last year.  It's gonna be okay.  Either way.

DEEP BREATHS

I tend to panic and overthink and overanalyze.  My head seems to just tie up all of my thoughts in knots until I'm like 'well, no getting out of this.  Obviously life threatening'.

Phew.  Thank heavens we all have friends who know us so well


THE FRAY PICTURE

I almost forgot.  Yes, this is a snapshot of the seats we had snagged for their amazing performance on Tuesday night.

:D


So cool, I`m listening to them as we speak... err... make that 'as I type'

I'm trying to figure out a really good Fray song to make as the Song of the Day... 
Syndicate is a good one of their latest album 'The Fray'.  No clue why the 2nd album is the self titled them.  Next time I meet them I'll ask :)



That's a good one by them foooorrrr sure.  I feel like this was a very mood swingy post... me sounding all teen angsty.  Whoops.  Well, thats out of the system, and now hopefully tomorrow will go much better! 

'The sun will come out... tomorrow... bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there'll be suuuuunnn...'

God, I can't even remember what that's from.
What's a bottom dollar anyway?

*pretentious cough while readjusting monocle* 'Bet your bottom dollar means to bet your very last coin'.  Oh.  It's an American saying.  I guess I'd better scrap my British monocle then. 


This is ParachuteFan, signing off.

Well, this is parachutefan now writing on a word document, seeing as my internet just crashed.  Convenient!  Obviously, my computer is saying ‘hey you, it’s time for bed :)’ and well, I’m gonna listen and just post this tomorrow once I find the pictures again.  Goodnight!

Thursday 2 June 2011

Encore

The Fray made us work for it.

I got to see The Fray last night.  Wow.  My friend called me while I was still away for school about 2 months ago saying she had tickets, and was wondering if I wanted to go see The Fray.  I know The Fray, and they are pretty good... so I said sure

4th row seats.  Wow, you're pretty much in the spit zone!

They put on an amazing show.  So good live.  They've got some amazing music and sounded fantastic live.  That's how you know if a band is really good.  They really did blow me away.  I'd see them again in a heartbeat.  I was sad when it ended!  Worse part of a concert is when it's over.  I love live music.  I've actually been lucky and live in a Canadian city that's big enough to host some major names like Keith Urban and Coldplay.

Keith Urban x 2
Death Cab For Cutie
Neil Young
The Killers
Parachute
Kelly Clarkson
Coldplay
Faber Drive
OneRepublic
Hedley
The Fray
Michael Buble

I feel like I'm forgetting someone... nope... think thats everyone

And I love the encore.  It's crazy, the anticipation.  They always say they are leaving, wave and thank you for coming to the show and everyone starts screaming.  You clap, and yell and cheer and shout and wait wait wait.  It's dark, you can feel your hands slowly numbing and your throat begins to hurt.  And the band STILL isn't back.  You begin to worry that the people around you are giving up.  Don't give up, they'll be back.  They have to be.  It's not over until the lights come on.  But still.  Then finally, just as that tiny doubt was beginning to grow, you glimpse the band members coming back.  And they crowd goes wild.  Even in the little concert hall that I saw The Fray in went nuts.  And they didn't just do one song, nope.  They came back for four.  Wonderful.



That was the closest I've ever been to a band at a concert (I'll have a picture of my seat later, right now the camera cord is conveniently MIA) .  Like, you almost felt awkward because they might look at you, and you'd feel bad for staring.  But having a concert in a small little hall like that made it feel so much more personal than a usual huge amphitheater or arena. (I didn't know that amphitheater was spelled with a ph.  Go figure.  Amphitheater)

Beautiful.  I can't wait for a new album for them.  Apparently they are in the studio right now, but took a break to tour with U2!

Haven't blogged in a while.  I feel like nothing terribly exciting has happened in my life that's worth sharing with the world

'Hey everyone, I slept in today and went to work.  Then came home and ate a cookie.  The End'  Holy hannah, waste of time.

Music is a big thing though, and May was a good month for music.  Parachute, Lady Gaga (Okay, I've got to admit I'm actually quite nervous to listen to her album.  Let's be serious, it's Lady Gaga we're talking about) and Death Cab for Cutie all released albums.  I highly recommend Codes And Keys by Death Cab.  It's the only thing I've been listening to since I got it yesterday (well, besides The Fray, I got their newest album too).  And I got to check out a fantastic concert!

I guess I'll have to write about mostly music.


That has to be my favourite track off the new album.  But what I've noticed about music, is you listen to it once, and there's a few songs that really hit you the first time you hear them, but later on the other songs grow on you.  Maybe it's the lyrics, or they are a softer song you can just sink into.  They develop their own memories, meanings.

Wow, trying to sound mystical about music, and just coming off cheesy.  My apologies.

Awww

Okay, back to my actual life, I slept in later today than I ever have in my life and it's throwing me off.  After the concert I just crashed at my friends place.  I hadn't really hung out with her since I got back so we stayed up til almost 3 just chatting and catching up.  We then set up camp in the basement.  Which is very very very dark

We woke up at 2:30 Man, did that screw up my day.  What meal do you eat when you get up that late?  Breakfast? Lunch? We had Kraft Dinner.  I only had 2.5 hours before I had to go work! Nutso.  Never again.  Don't get me wrong.  I love catching a decent amount of zzzz's a night, but I'm not one to really sleep in.  11:30 is perfect for me.  You still have the day!

God, I feel like I'm gonna be up all night or something.  My friend Julie also showed me some really good comedians... Michael McIntyre elaborates on the fact of staying up til 3 am...


He is brilliant!

Hey, you.  Yes you, my 10 readers (I hope you know I love you all), how does a Song Of The Day sound? (Or song of the week/month, judging by my posting history)

'Nucks are in the Stanley Cup final.  Lord, prepare us all for the wrath of Vancouver.  Psycho-man Raffi Torres (wow, I'm mean to the nucks players!) scored the game winner with 19 seconds left in the game, breaking the bagel - bagel tie that had been haunting the rink all night. 
 
It's the eyes.  I swear.
He just gives me the heebie-jeebies.  (No clue where that term comes from, the English language amazes me at times).

Eeeesh.  Yikes *shivers and pulls covers up to the chin*

Yes, so I will be valiantly cheering for Boston now, not really because I like them but more because I can't stand Vancouver.  It took one person to make playoffs personal for me, and unfortunately, I don't let go easily.  Go figure.

Well at least it wasn't Alex Burrows this time.  He managed to break my little Blackhawks heart. 

So yep, that is my ParachuteFan update for the day/week.  Welcome June! Not much else happened that is really worth noting except a rather unfortunate night out that ended with me having a very personal encounter with a flight of hardwood stairs

No, I don't want to talk about it.  My elbow is still recovering.

Writing makes me feel better, I can just let things flow.

Huh, now that I've been up for the grand total of 11 hours, I think I'm gonna head to bed.

(Pssst.... Song of the Post would be Doors Unlocked And Open which is linked above, check it out! Go Death Cab!)

Love love love
This is ParachuteFan, signing off.

Wednesday 18 May 2011

Ryan Moosler?

I got the CD! Trekked out to the mall today to find that hmv had only one copy of the Parachute cd left.  Finally.  Yeah it was a really exciting trip to the mall.  I bought a cd, a movie (27 Dresses and The Devil Wears Prada.  Both for 10 bucks.  Score) and two ice capps (one for my sister who was home sick for the day... they weren't BOTH for me).  Yay! I'm loving the new album though, i listened to it on the car trip home.  It made waiting for a train not that bad.  I rolled down the windows, and enjoyed the sunshine for a few minutes with some good tunes and a half melted frozen coffee beverage. Mmmmmm.

 
Awesome.

Don't you hate when you miss 11:11 by a minute? You look and the clock says 11:09.  Okay, cool.  We might catch it.  And then you look again and it says 11:12.  I'm not super superstitious (well that's fun to say) but it's fun to randomly wish because it's a certain time of day.  But if you work on the 24hr clock (not really sure who does unless it's in the military) then 11:11pm actually becomes 23:11.  Not so lucky it seems.  So if you enjoy eating dinner at 1800 and don't bother with the am and pm notation, try wishing at 22:22.  (Or 10:22 pm).  Hell, I think it might work.

My dog is dreaming.  To the point where he's whining and growling in his sleep.  And yipping.  Oh this is too funny.  You catch them rabbits.  Get em.

Soooo, the Vancouver/San Jose game was a gong show.  Oh wow.
Vancouver won.  7 - 3.  Come the third period they were just racking up the score.  Poor Antti Niemi.  He's a good goalie, helped the hawks to their Stanley Cup last year.  But the Sharks just started to lose it by the end of the game. Ben Eager especially.  He took 4 penalties, including 1 major... I think.  Don't hold me to that.  Yelling, trying to start fights.  Also a former hawk.  But he sort of single handedly started the Sharks downhill in that game.  It was hard to watch near the end.

And I am not a Ryan Kesler fan.  He doesn't suck.  No... he's actually really good.  But still, I am a bitter Chicago fan, and cannot root for them nucks in any way.
My sister made an interesting point... Ryan Kesler... looks a bit like a moose.  You know how some people look like their dogs, and other people have a haircut that makes them resemble Mufassa?  Yeah well, something about Kesler makes him rather... moose-ish.

Maybe you don't see it.  But my sister and I agreed, and so did some other people. It's the nose.  Gotta be the schnozz.  And the playoff beard.

Sorry Kesler, but it could be worse.  At least 'moose' popped into my sisters head, and not 'naked mole rat' or something.


Now the dog woke up.  In a hurry.  The rabbits must've turned on him or something.  Bad dream.  So now he's all curled up beside me on the couch.  Just don't tell my mom, he's not supposed to be on the furniture...

Have you seen Orlando Blooms new commercial? Swoon.  He's married to Miranda Kerr who happens to be a Victoria's Secret Angel.  Their children will be beautiful.  But back to this Hugo Boss commercial. Mmm.




 Falling asleep to Parachute tonight.  May is the month of new albums! Lady Gaga next week! And Death Cab on the 31st!
This is parachutefan, signing off.

Wait no, I'm back again.  I posted, and then hit the 'next blog' button, just to see what a few other people were blogging about.  One person blog was about how important God was in their life and how they are volunteering everywhere.  Another person was talking about helping out an animal shelter and homeless dogs.

What do I blog about? How the nose of Vancouver player Ryan Kesler resembles that of a moose.  Wow.  It's good to know I'm contributing to society!  Sheesh

Hey, if you get the chance, check out Cinema Club, a highly entertaining blog dedicated to reviewing a variety of movies.  Might I mention that there's a Sexy Saturday feature?  Yes.  Don't miss it! Check out my bestie's blog at Cinema Club.

Okay, NOW I'm going to bed!

Tuesday 17 May 2011

The Way It Was

So, I'm sure my one reader is actually wondering why I go by ParachuteFan.  It has nothing to do with actual parachutes.  I mean, sure, I am a fan of parachutes.  They're great if you happen to find yourself outside an aircraft at cruising altitude.  But i prefer to stay inside during my flight.  Seatbealt fastened, tray table and seat back in the upright position.
Okay maybe not THAT picky during flying, but I always feel bad reclining my seat! What if I'm cramping in on the space of the person behind me? Eesh maybe its just me...

Anyways, I must confess I've never participated in a parachuting activity.  Parachute is actually the name of a band I absolutely love.  I have a very varied taste in music, and I found out about these guys when they opened for Kelly Clarkson (stop laughing, all of you) back in November 2009.  Such a good band (might I mention that they all happen to be quite good looking as well? Mmmm hmmmm).  So, I am embarrassed to admit, I developed a squealy, giggly fangirl crush on the band and their music.






Yup, there they all are.  Johnny, Alex, Will, Kit and Nate. Woot. Good guys, great music! So when I had to come up for a username for some raaandom website (probably StumbleUpon, I waste alot of time there) it popped into my head.  It has a nice ring. It's short.  It's simple. So I ran with it.

Anyway, their newest album, The Way It Was, was released today! Congrats, guys!

I worked a 8 hour shift today, and afterwards rushed to my local Walmart to see if I could snag a copy of the cd.  I know that cds really aren't big anymore, but for certain bands it's great to have a copy.  Same goes for my Death Cab For Cutie and Coldplay albums (if you can check out either of these bands live, I HIGHLY recommend it.  They both put on amazing shows, absolutely fantastic to see in concert).

Walmart didn't have any copies.  Neither did Future Shop.  Looks like we're making an HMV trek tomorrow afternoon.  And I was so stoked. *grumpy four-year-old pout* Oh well, tomorrow my car may be graced once again by the beautiful symphony that is Parachute.

Okay that was cheesy. Not gonna lie.

So they are my namesake, and they sing songs about love and relationships that make you go 'awww' and wish you were dating the drummer.  Well, that's what happens to me anyways :)

Tampa Bay and Boston played today! Eastern Conference final going on right now in playoffs.  Wish I caught the full game.  Boston won, 6 - 5.  I'm rooting for them :P

Vancouver game tomorrow. Go San Jose Sharks! At this point in playoffs, I'm cheering for anybody BUT Vancouver.  I lived in BC for the entire first round when my team was beat in OT of game 7.  Canucks fans are VERY vocal when you wear a Chicago jersey in public.  I've never been chirped so bad in my life!  Did anyone see Jonathan Toews goal to tie it up though? 1:26 left in the 3rd period. Shorthanded.

It is why I love him.  <3


 This is parachutefan (and i guess chicagoblawkhawksfan) signing off.