Favorite Song This Minute...

I love this time of year. I love the decorations and the crowded malls and smells of fresh baked goodies everywhere I go. I love buying presents and watching the classic Christmas movies and getting together with old friends and family. I even love the ridiculously cold weather!

But maybe my favorite thing about the Christmas is the music. Why is it that Christmas has spawned countless songs and carols that are updated and remastered every year while I can count on one hand the number of songs written for other holidays? I think it's because deep down everybody loves the feeling you get when you hear one of those timeless classics. Every year I put on one of my Christmas mix CD's while I put up the Christmas Tree and the decorations, and let the memories of Christmases long long ago come flooding back.

This year, with the stresses that come with growing up and getting older mixed in with the typical holiday hustle, those warm feelings of community and family were never more welcomed. I've never been very good at choosing my favorite Christmas song (much like picking a favorite movie) but the song that has hit another level with me this year has to be "2000 Miles" by Coldplay. Kinda makes me want to curl up under a blanket by the fire with someone special.

In case I don't get the chance to say it before the big day,

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I hate big life decisions!

Why do they have to be so hard? Take one of my current problems for instance:

I need a new cell phone plan, but the company I'm currently with (Rogers) doesn't seem to want to let me out of my existing plan a mere two months early so I can switch to a better one. So of course this angers me and makes me think about straying to a rival company (Telus perhaps), but they don't offer the phone I want. (iPhone) But they DO offer special bundle pricing if I package a cellphone plan with their internet plan (which I also need to buy soon). Oh ok, well then maybe I can compare this NEW price with Rogers' package deals...oh no wait, they don't have an internet service! >:(

Sometimes I think it would be easier to just move to an island somewhere and forget all these stresses...

-20 degrees? Really?

Is that any sort of "Welcome Home" after a week spent in the 30 degree sun-soaked Caribbean? I don't think so! Oh, and the foot of snow everywhere was a nice touch.

Actually I should be in a much worse mood, but I did the one thing today that no amount of cold and snow can ruin - I set up my brand new Christmas tree at the condo! It's starting to actually look like a home over there instead of just a jobsite. Hopefully I can be fully in there this week.

So anyways, back to the vacation. It was sort of last minute, and was definitely a far cry from the 'typical' holiday I take with the family but it was certainly much-needed. Of course my Dad never seems to be able to just do nothing on these relaxing trips, so we spent 3 of our 7 days sight-seeing the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza, Coba and Tulum. This is something that I've wanted to do for a long time now however, so I didn't complain too much. (Not like the entire wasted morning spent at a time-share meeting on our third day there, but that's another matter...)

All I can say is, Wow. I was thoroughly impressed with Chichen Itza, mainly because the tourguide we were booked with was Mayan AND he studied the city and Mayan culture in college. There were some points during his tour that he was actually on the verge of breaking down while trying to share a little bit of his culture with us. You could tell how much it meant to him that us 'Northerners' spent our hardearned money to come to his country to learn about his people - sometimes you just get lucky and meet the perfect person in the perfect place I suppose.

I'll post a link to my photos as soon as I get them uploaded but don't hold your breath...between getting ready for Christmas and still uploading my last New York photos (go Yankees!) it could be a little while! :/

Viva La Vida!

I'm off to Mexico tomorrow morning for a week! I'll be at the Grand Sirenis south of Playa del Carmen in the Mayan Riviera, come and visit me!

I forgot to mention...

I saw the Yankees win the World Series!!!

Codename's Consumer Criticisms

Okay I figure it's about time for another one of these. I've taken a little while getting around to posting this critique because I really wanted to be sure my recommendation would be both fair and influence -free. With that in mind, I present my views on Starbucks' new Via instant coffee:


Available in two flavours, Columbian (Medium) & Italian Roast (Extra Bold), this instant coffee comes in convenient little packages that you can take with you anywhere. When these first came out I was skeptical that any crystalized coffee could taste even remotely close to it's freshly ground cousin. After performing the taste test in multiple locations around the city, I came to the conclusion that not only do these little packets taste good, they taste exactly the same as the freshly brewed drip! The only way I could tell them apart was by physically looking at the two cups of competing coffee. (The fresh ground was poured out of the machine and therefore had little bubbles on the surface)

Impressed? Absolutely. Now normally I'm a Cappuchino or Latte kinda guy, but with the despicable quality of coffee available here at work I have started stocking my drawer full of these convenient little life-savers. No longer will I have to suffer the horrible bean-breath and the inevitable stomach pains that come along with the still overpriced "50 cents a cup" canteen brew. Another Starbucks miracle? I think so!

(PS - That last statement may have a touch of prejudice to it :P)

My Favorite Song This Minute...

The Decemberists - The Crane Wife 1 & 2. It's an oldie, but I just can't seem to stop listening to it. (Or any of the other songs on the CD for that matter!)

I'm Pretty Famous Now

Just got back from the Oilers game here in Boston (we couldn't even score a goal but I'll talk about that later) and saw this photo of Chuck and I not only on the Oilers website, but on NHL.com as well! If only we could get some goals for looking good! :P

David Letterman Loves Me

So today at work, Mr. David Letterman himself called me up and said how he heard I was going to be in town again next week, and wanted to know if I wanted a couple of tickets to his show on Wednesday. Since the two of us go way back (I've been fortunate enough to see his show every other time I've visited the city) I told him I'd love to catch up.

Well needless to say he was excited at the prospect of another great Dave-Ryan hangout (which normally includes a slice at Ray's and a trip down to Chinatown to haggle on some knockoff sunglasses). He told me about all the new stuff he had collected to test out in our annual "Will-It-Float" mega game at the reservoir in Central Park, and I snuck in a mention about the new monologue jokes I was bringing him. I was pretty pumped too, until I realized that creepy Paul Shaffer might try to tag along again...

(Editor's note: the majority of this Blog was made up to add excitement to my story; I AM going to the Late Show again though!)

Get out of my way, Schmohawk!

As anyone who really knows me knows, I'm a huge Seinfeld fan. Of course that means that I also love Curb Your Enthusiasm, and so when I finally got the chance to catch up on the new season last night, I was in heaven. Three new episodes, with the promise that the entire Seinfeld cast was coming back to reunite? WOW. But even I got a bit confused in how things all played out.

Why was I so confused? Well maybe it was because I was watching the real life Larry David playing the character of Larry David pitching a story idea for a fake Seinfeld reunion TV show (which of course is based on the real Seinfeld show that the real Larry David once pitched) to the character of Jason Alexander, played by the real Jason Alexander who of course played the Seinfeld-version of George Costanza who was based on the real Larry David in the first place.

Mind. Blown.

And that's not even getting into the story details regarding the character of George fighting to get his fictional ex-wife back as a cover for the character of Larry David getting HIS fake ex-wife back on the show...which is a storyline that is based on the real Larry David's divorce.

Still, it was an amazing episode if you can put all of that aside and just enjoy it for what it is: a great parody on the reasons why "these reunion shows never work out." I can't wait to see happens next! That Meg Ryan better not ruin everything... >:(