The Truth

My #1 Girl

2006-09-17T17:42:00.000-04:00

Let me start by saying the last couple weeks have been absolutely amazing. I can't remember the last time if been this happy. I met the most wonderful girl ever. We get along so well, it's almost too good to be true. But, if that were true, it wouldn't be happening. Her name is Ashley and she is my #1 girl. I couldn't imagine a more perfect girlfriend. I can here some of you saying, Jason this emotional? No way! It's true folks, this girl is bringing out the best in me. There's just something about her that makes me want to see her as much as I possibly can.

We first met Friday, September 1 @ Greenfield's Pub on Greenbank. It was supposed to be just me and Adam playing pool, drinking beer and discussing future business plans. Then this girl walked in, recognizing Adam. Adam had bet me earlier on that he would probably run in to someone he knew. I didn't deny it, and wasn't surprised when it happened. The girl who walked in was Ashley. She joined us for some pool. That's where the fun began. Adam and I were being our usual selves, providing comical relief at every opportunity. We then had to switch pool tables because the one we were using had two duplicate balls. So we went to the one near the wall. Lola had just shown up so there was now 4 of us. We began playing 2 on 2 pool, myself & Ashley against Adam & Lola. That's when the magic happened. I find it inexplicable, whether it was the beer or something in the air. Something just clicked. It felt right. From that point on we were inseparable. After the bar closed @ 2am, we all went to Timmy's and spent another few hours chatting and such. I then drove Lola and Adam home. That left myself and Ashley. We got back to her place around 5:15am. We had a good night kiss (awwww!). I got home around 5:30 wondering if what had just happened actually happened. Turns out, it did.

Two nights later on the Sunday, we had a dinner date at Kelsey's. Ashley ordered the lemon pepper salmon & I ordered the fish n' chips. We then had wildberry cheesecake for dessert, which we shared. We talked about what we do, where we came from, likes, dislikes & other various stuff. We both admitted we had some butterflies but those quickly dissipated as the night went on. Lots of smiles and laughs throughout the night. Another fantastic night.

Since then we've been practically inseparable. A couple more movie nights, dinner dates and home crashes. This weekend was utterly awesome. We saw The Covenant on Friday night. The movies was pretty good. A little less than what I expected in terms of intensity, but still good nonetheless. We then went back to her place where we passed out around 4 o'clock and by the then I was too tired to go home. We went out for breakfast at Broadway's the next morning. The waitress was a bitch but whatever, the food was good. BLT and home fries for the lady & ham, bacon & sausage w/ home fries for myself. I then had to go home because she had some stuff to do. I came and picked her up again and we came back to my place where she met my father (already met my mother), and my friends Candice & Amanda. We played some football in the backyard, watched half a movie and then took off the Richmond Fair for a few hours. We hung out and talked and then the Ambush dance started. I didn't take part in the fast dancing but there was one slow dance. The slow dance was great, holding the girl close. We then came back to the home, finished the movie and crashed on the bed for the night. We woke up around 11. Had some OJ and hung out on the patio. Had some Shepherd's Pie for lunch and chilled for little bit before I had to drive her home so she could take care of some errands. All in all, probably one of the best weekends of my life. I couldn't have done it without you Ashley. YOU ROCK MY WORLD!

Ottawa Lynx vs. Syracuse Skychiefs

2006-08-26T22:04:00.000-04:00

I normally don't write about baseball games, but since I went to one tonight I felt compelled. Myself, Cousy & Hernandez ventured to a Lynx game tonight, and it was quite a spectacular show. On the strength of a Napoleon Calzado grand slam and a masterful pitching performance by Hayden Penn, the Ottawa Lynx convincingly defeated the Syracuse Skychiefs 9-0 in front of a crowd of 3637 fans.

The Lynx could not muster any offense until the 5th inning when both Todd Donovan & Ed Rogers provided RBI singles. The 6th saw a Calzado grand slam on the first pitch of the count after the bases were loaded by a hit batsman, a single & a walk. The 8th saw continued domination provided by an Eli Whiteside 3 run homer over the left field wall.

The Lynx got to 9 games over .500 @ 72-63 with the season slowly winding down, while Syracuse dropped to 60-75. Casey Janssen, a Toronto Blue Jays prospect had a no-hitter through 3 innings when all hell broke loose. The 9th inning saw some comical mocking of Skychiefs' Kevin Barker during and after his at-bat. Barker had a good laugh.

Below, I have provided a box score to highlight the events of the game. Enjoy!

SYRACUSE SKYCHIEFS					OTTAWA LYNX
NAME	AB	R	H	RBI	NAME	AB	R	H	RBI
Lydon	4	0	3	0	Rogers	4	0	0	1
Figueroa	4	0	0	0	Garabito	4	0	0	0
Barker	3	0	1	0	Clark	2	1	1	0
Mottola	4	0	0	0	Bowers	1	0	0	0
Lind	4	0	1	0	Terrero	3	2	1	0
Adams	4	0	0	0	Tracy	3	1	0	0
Cosby	3	0	0	0	Calzado	4	2	2	4
Santos	3	0	0	0	Majewski	3	2	1	0
Mahoney	3	0	0	0	Whiteside	3	1	1	3
					Donovan	4	0	1	1
TOTAL	32	0	5	0	TOTAL	31	9	7	9
TEAM LOB - Syracuse 6, Ottawa 3 ; 3B - Lydon (11) ; HR - Calzado (3), Whiteside (10) ; E - Garabito (15) ; HBP - Clark, Whiteside

PITCHING
SYRACUSE						OTTAWA
NAME	IP	ER	H	BB	K	NAME	IP	ER	H	BB	K
Janssen (L, 1-5)	5.0	4	5	0	2	Penn (W, 7-4)	8.0	0	5	0	10
Howard	2.0	2	1	1	1	Garcia	1.0	0	0	1	1
Houston	1.0	3	1	2	0
TOTAL	8.0	9	7	3	3	TOTAL	9.0	0	5	1	11

Syracuse	0	0	0	/	0	0	0	/	0	0	0
Ottawa	0	0	0	/	0	2	4	/	0	3	X

Camping Weekend

2006-08-01T18:03:00.000-04:00

Needless to say, but I'll say it anyways, camping was awesome.

There were 6 people. When we got there, we actually met up with 3 other buds, which was fantastic. So we set everything up and had some beers around the fire. The night brought all 9 players to the poker table to test skills. In the end, I was beaten by Hernandez, KK vs KQ and only 1 Q came on the river so I lost. But it was very fun nonetheless. Some people kept making noise and we kept telling them to keep it down but that didn't work. Yearney had a brain fart and decided to set the table on fire several times, wasting valuable bug spray. Probably from being drunk and high. Don't get me wrong, I love getting drunk, and I was. I also wanted to take on a personal test and not go to sleep. I succeeded by listening to music in the car and playing Sudoku. That was the first night.

Saturday started off as napping day and not doing too much. The plan was to head to the beach. But we had to wait for Chuck and Cousy to come back from the beer run before we could. So they got back and we headed to the beach. Having realized that I forgot my swimming towel, I used my shirt for the day as a towel to lie on and try to work on my tan. Got a little bit, but not too much. There was a cool breeze and about 15 minutes of light rain. Cousy once again looked like a drifting iceberg, which was kind of funny to see once it was just him and Kyle in the river. Then some of us walked home from the beach a little bit later and got greeted by some heavy rain for a little bit. Soup, crackers and KD were the supper choices. That was swell. Then there was a session of guessing national capitals which was interesting, as well as some Guinness World Records trivia. The night went on, and we were all drinking and playing euchre. Chuck and I dominate the euchre. It's true. We're awesome. Dustin and Kyle beat Joepardy. Joepardy was slacking in the cards this weekend. Midnight was nearing and we realized we were all out of beer. So I went to bed after being up for 37 hours, a personal record. I was out like a light. Kyle started making some strange sexual noises in his tent and that's the last thing I remember.

Sunday came around, and Cousy and I seemed to be only ones who wanted to be awake before noon. We eventually got everything packed and left the site at about 1:15. Stopped off at the store for slushies and it the road. We then took a pit stop at a restaurant plaza about 45 km down the road. I had an angus burger, Chuck had a triple stacker and I can't remember what the other lads had, except that Cousy didn't have anything. So we left we got back into town. Dropped Dustin off at his place. Cous and I then brought the beer empties back to the beer store and then I chilled at his placei for a few minutes before heading home.

Another fantastic year to say the least. Thanks a bunch lads!

Update

2006-07-09T11:30:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the lengthy intermission between posts, been pretty busy lately. I completed my first full week as a Business Office Agent for Bell Sympatico. I took a little over 200 calls, the majority of the people were nice, some were upset, one was in tears, and one sounded eerily similar to Darth Vader. I felt extremely compelled to say "Thank you for calling Bell, may the force be with you!" but I don't think that would have gone over well.

Canada Day was nothing overly special for me. I was basically recovering from the night before when, needless to say, I was hammered. Hammered is the perfect word. It felt like someone hit me in the head with a hammer. Anyways, my family celebrated my birthday that day. 2 gift cards from Future Shop, a Family Guy DVD set and some new clothes were what was gifted to me. So, my brother and I spent the rest of the day watching the Family Guy DVD set. I put the two future shop gift cards towards a new subwoofer for my room. This thing is so freaking powerful, you have to be here to believe it! The walls literally shake with the bass. It is so freakin' awesome! I shake as well. But that may be voluntary.

I also picked up 4 DVDs, but only paid for 2 as my Dad bought the other two. Two stupidly funny movies in Grandma's Boy & Date Movie, one mature comedy in Meet The Fockers, & one serious one in Two For The Money. The only one I haven't watched so far is TFTM. But I can't wait. High stakes gambling at its best. I picked up a stress ball as well. Every call centre agent should have one. Some callers are assholes. This stress ball will help.

Played in an online PokerStars.net tourney this week. I won my first such tourney where there were 45 participants. Heads-up play lasted a while, but in the end I was 2:1 chip leader and went all-in with whatever hand I had. Can't remember exactly what it was. All I know is I ended up with a straight and my opponent didn't. Yay for me! I won a free tourney! Woohoo!

That's about it for now. I'm keeping up with the ridiculous amount of free agent signings that are going on in the NHL. My team has lost 3 players, 2 to free agency (Mowers, Shanahan) & 1 to retirement (Yzerman). We may be signing Ed Belfour (likely for only one year) but I'm not overly excited about that. CIAO FOLKS!

Birthday Celebration Week

2006-06-25T01:35:00.000-04:00

This week is officially BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION WEEK. There are 3 people turning 22 this week. Mr. Joe Cousineau on Monday, Mr. Sandy Vance on Thursday & myself also on Thursday. To celebrate, there will be a potentially large party taking place Friday night. I can't wait! I'm looking forward to it already. 6 days and counting. Awyeaahhhh!

This week also will likely see me finish training and start taking calls on the floor. What will my first call be like? Nobody knows. I'm hoping it's easy. Probably not though. My trainer doesn't seem to think I'll have too many problems, which is a good sign. I'm still a little bit weary. But I guess that's to be expected.

Anyways, folks, I'm out. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

DrinksMixer & DrinkStreet

2006-06-20T17:40:00.000-04:00

Hi folks! I found 2 great drinking sites: DrinksMixer & DrinkStreet, both with a wide variety of hardcore drinks. DrinksMixer has a larger list and even has a Drinking Games section which is pretty awesome. It has recipes for nearly 2000 different shots, over 11000 cocktails, 250 different beer mixtures and a whole shit load of other drinks worth checking out. DrinkStreet features numerous recipes for shots, flaming drinks, classic drinks & many other crazy concoctions. Both sites are well worth the viewing time. Of all of these drinks, the most recent one that I've endured is a Prairie Fire, which contains 1 oz of Tequila & a dash of tobasco, coming in at a decent 38% alcohol rate. This one was a doozy. As a recall, it was the one that forced me home that fateful evening & caused me to, well let's just say, lose a pound. Anyways, enjoy!

A great week!

2006-06-17T14:55:00.000-04:00

My brother graduated from CU this week as a Bachelor of Industrial Design, with distinction. His father and sister showed up and that was fantastic and I could tell he was happy. It was a great day. I've included a picture of the group, aside from Candice who was gracious enough to take the picture. From left to right, Myself, My Aunt Cathy, Mom, Dad, Rob, Crystal (his sister), Bob (his father). Don't we all look fantastic? Damn, we're a good looking group. And, of course, it seems like I'm towering over everybody. Must be my healthy genes. Genes that might cause me to start balding within the next 2 years, the same age my dad and his dad started. Eek! But bald men are sexy now. And once I am bald, I'll be irresistible. You know it. I know it. Let's just admit it. Anyways, it was a fantastic day all around. We got home mid-afternoon and my brother opened some gifts. A gold bracelet, picture album, $220 in cash and the thing my Aunt got him that I can't remember, Dagnabbit! Then there was a barbecue with burgs and dogs. Brother left around 8ish. There was this party he was supposed to go to and tell this hot Israeli girl from his program I say "Hey, what's up ;)", but he decided not to since he claimed he was tired. Liar! But he did look pretty tired. All in all, a fantastic day! Way to go bro! Rock on! You're awesome!

I finished my first week of training and I guess you could say I'm a little anxious to actually get started taking calls and having people blame me for their problems. But I will get to work with some friends and some people I've recently met and had a chance to become acquainted with, such as Maria, Marie, Mike (people with M first names, geez!), um Kelly, Sean, another girl who sits beside Mike, and some other people from my training class. So, aside from the job itself, the atmosphere should be awesome. I can't wait, but on the flipside, I can. Mainly because I have to. And I have to work my birthday (29th). But I will hopefully be getting plastered the next night since a kegger might be going down. Can't wait for that either!

For the girls out there, I am single. I'm not as weird as you think I am, hehe. I don't smell (most of the time!). I don't have cooties, so you can touch me and you won't get sick. Snatch me up before it's too late! I do have my eyes on someone, but unfortunately she has a boyfriend so it really doesn't mean anything. My eyes should probably be on someone else then. Dah well. As is life. It seems every girl I know has a boyfriend. It's not fair, damnit! Anyways, I'm out for now. There's a pending thunderstorm and I'm getting prepped for tonight's SC Final Game 6. Go Oilers Go! Pictured is me and my brother. Peace!

Random quotes

2006-06-11T00:27:00.000-04:00

Here are some quotes on random subjects. Enjoy!.....

"Think about a woman. Doesn't know you're thinking about her. Doesn't care you're thinking about her. Makes you think about her even more." - Martin Sage & Sybil Adelman, Northern Exposure, The Bumpy Road To Love, 1991

"Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value." - Albert Einstein

"Change is inevitable. Struggle is an option." - Unknown

"Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives." - William Dement

"Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose." - Helen Keller

"Everyone has the obligation to ponder well his own specific traits of character. He must also regulate them adequately and not wonder whether someone else's traits might suit him better. The more definitely his own a man's character is, the better it fits him." - Cicero

"Life ought to be a struggle of desire toward adventures whose nobility will fertilize the soul." - Rebecca West

"When I think of talking, it is of course with a woman. For talking at its best being an inspiration, it wants a corresponding divine quality of receptiveness, and where will you find this but in a woman?" - Oliver Wendell Holmes

"If there are no stupid questions, then what kind of questions do stupid people ask? Do they get smart just in time to ask questions?" - Scott Adams

"If an idea's worth having once, it's worth having twice." - Tom Stoppard

Georges Laraque vs. Andrew Ladd

2006-06-09T18:18:00.000-04:00

This could be a fight by the end of the series, but I'm not talking about a fight. Anyone who's been keeping up with Stanley Cup Finals knows what I'm talking about. Andrew Ladd's alleged crashing of Dwayne Roloson & George Laraque's questionable hit on Ladd in Game 2.

I hear people say that Ladd was driving the net. Perhaps, but if you watch the play carefully, it is very clear that Ladd was turning away from Roloson. At worst, he would have caught Rollie's left pad and spun him a little bit. People seem to be blind to the fact that Marc-Andre Bergeron shoved Ladd into Roloson, causing his series-ending injury. This is obvious. Oiler fans are great hockey fans, but seriously, show some intelligence. Ladd did not deliberately run Roloson. He did not skate into him. Some of you are probably so engulfed in the possibility of the Oilers winning the Cup that you fail to see plays for what they are. Just before Bergeron hit Ladd, Ladd had turned to his right. This tells me that he knew where he was and didn't want to run the goalie. Bergeron didn't want Ladd making his way in front and pulling a move to get a goal. His first instinct was to shove him. It turns out, it wasn't the greatest decision Bergeron ever made. Bottom line, it's his fault.

Now, on to Laraque. If this was the regular season, he would have been suspended. No question. Cross check to the head of Ladd. Ladd's lucky his neck wasn't broken. Laraque knew what he did. You could tell. 'Cane players came after him and he didn't do or say anything. My feeling, he should have been suspended. I don't care what time of year it is. It's not like he has a shit load of ice time anyways. 5-6 minutes a game. What the league did is inadvertently send out the message that, regardless of the severity of the hit, unless it causes serious injury, the perpetrator will not be suspended. Look, we all know what Laraque was doing. He knew it was Ladd. Ladd's back was already turned. Laraque knows you can't hit from behind. But he did it anyways. Teach him a lesson. Suspend him.

Bottom line, Ladd was turning & Bergeron shoved him into Roloson, causing Roloson's injury. Laraque hit Ladd from behind, perhaps for retributory reasons. Assuming so, Laraque isn't intelligent. He knows he shouldn't have done it. Ladd has nothing to feel bad about.

That's my 2 cents on the situation. Nevertheless, it's still Go Oilers Go!

Barry Bonds

2006-06-09T13:47:00.000-04:00

Such a controversial character. Let me express some thought on the character.

He holds the home run record of 73 in one year. Many feel it was steroid induced. Maybe it was. Let's take a look at some other stats from the year. 177 walks. 129 runs. 411 total bases. OK. 93 strikeouts. 330 outs. Yikes! Did we forget this. He struck out 93 times & grounded out or flied out almost 240 times. Many people would have you believe he's invincible. Nobody is invincible. Not even Mr. Bonds. He didn't hit a home run every time he hit the ball. If that was the case, he would have had more than 150 home runs that year.

This year we have Albert Pujols. He was on the same pace this year as Bonds was in 2001, before he got injured of course. Then people started to question whether or not he was using steroids. I almost started laughing. As soon as anyone from now on starts hitting homers at a torrid pace, we will automatically start to question, and in some cases assume, that steroids is a factor.

People seem to forget things. For example, not everyone who weighs as much as Bonds will hit the same way. Some people weighed more than Bonds and still hit home runs. Some people weighed less than Bonds and still hit home runs. Let's not forget also that a hitter still has to hit the ball. His career average, including this year, is .299. Not even close to being the best hitter of all time. 67 points less in fact. If you eliminate the year 2001, the most he hit in one year is 49. He's scored 129 runs on 4 occasions. 3 of them within the last six years. The other time? 1993. When he hit 46 home runs and still induced nearly a walk per game. In fact, before 2001, he had 120+ runs 4 times, never hitting more than 46 homers and never inducing less than 126 walks. Funny, huh? You'd think with all the walks and homers, his average would be much higher. Not the case. Guess he's not a great hitter, just a great home run hitter. So what? Let it be.

Anyone know who was the first to say he still has to hit the ball? Ironically enough, Albert Pujols. Let's also not forget he was always surrounded by baseball greats. His father Bobby was a great player. His godfather Willie hit 600+ home runs. You take Bobby and Willie, and you have a boy named Barry surrounded by 992 career home runs. So, maybe Barry wanted to be like them. He is in many ways. Black. All-Star. Power. Speed. Great Players. Can you blame him for being the way he portrays himself? The constant media badgering. They don't always ask him the right questions. So he gets pissed off. We all get pissed off. So what?

In conclusion, Barry may have used steroids. Steroids don't help you hit any better. The fact that he was feared by a lot of pitchers doesn't make him a better hitter. Theoretically, anybody has the potential to hit 70+ home runs regardless of body structure (within reason of course). He just happened to do it in a time where steroid use in baseball was a dominant issue. Steroids didn't make his batting average any better. It's not like he batted .500 any given year. His higher batting averages over the early 2000s were the direct result of so many walks being issued, likely resulting from pitchers' fear. Let's remember some things. Aside from 2001, he has never hit 50+ home runs. He has recorded 120+ runs 7 times, 4 of them pre-steroid issue. He recorded 120+ walks 10 times, 6 of them pre-steroid issue. Bottom line folks, HE STILL HAS TO HIT THE BALL! The bat didn't get any bigger, did it?

Summer Daze

2006-06-09T01:29:00.000-04:00

Yes, folks! Summer is almost officially here. That being said, let me describe what I feel summer is about:

Work. We need money, so we work. Whatever it may be. Whether it be part-time or full-time, our summer days need something constructive.
Beer. Duh! Once we have some money, we have some beer.
Parties. Once we have money & beer, we have parties.
Memories. Once we have money, beer & parties, we have memories.
Friends. With whom else can we enjoy money, beer, parties & memories?

That's summer folks. Within all the above, we enjoy the sunshine, the barbecues, the driving, the girls in bikinis. Awwwyeahh!

With summer, we invite some summer tunes such as:

Fresh Prince & Jazzy Jeff's "Summertime"
LL Cool J's "Loungin"
Foghat's "Slow Ride"
Blackstreet's "No Diggity"

...and many others!

Plus, my favourite local band, WBPE will have some spots this summer that I will undoubtedly check out. I mean come on, they're awesome. Check out their website. You shan't be disappointed.

Girls! Summer outfits. Doesn't get any better! Summer is the time where the possibility lies to find that better half have you not already done so. But don't settle for just anyone. Make sure he or she is special. Personnally, I like girls in red. I like girls in red dresses. Girls in red hair? Meh. I could go either way. I like girls in red bikinis. I like girls in red shirts. Basically, I like girls. Girls like me. I know it. I am enticing. I cause tingles. I rock their socks. Girls like me even more when they're drinking beer. Hmm, that reminds me, I should buy some beer. But seriously though, I am a gentleman (so I've been told). I have someone in mind that I like. Unfortunately, she has a boyfriend. So, for the time being, I guess I'll have to find somebody else. C'mon girls, I am available! ;)

All that being said, I leave you with some hilarious T-shirt slogans provided by T-Shirt Hell:

"Barry Takes It In The Ass"
"If A Fat Girl Falls In The Woods, Do The Trees Laugh?"
"I Support Single Moms"
"I Know Violence Isn't The Answer, I Got It Wrong On Purpose"
"Abracadabra!...Fuck, You're Still Ugly"

Cya!