Tag: Comedy

Anti-Anxiety

Back in June, I was in a position that I was struggling with motivation to do anything. There was constant nervousness about falling and not able to get up on my own and I was doing very little. After talking with my doctor, based on online research, I read that it was a common side-effect of Gabapentin. A common reoccurring solution was to also take a mild dose of Sertraline. Once I started taking the Sertraline, things improved a lot. I started doing more and focusing on my exercises. I also stopped crying myself to sleep every night. Now fast forward to early this year, I was taken off the Gabapentin. It was causing weight gain and as I learned, most of the remaining pain was a side-effect of it. Which left me with just the Sertraline. As I soul searched it really wasn’t making me feel any less lonely, or even helping with dating. In fact, it made me less motivated to go out and meet people. I went to a dance for a friend, but couldn’t bring myself to go in. My friend was having a special night and the Arcade Bar, and I struggled with motivations to…

StartUp Weekend Saint John

StartUp Weekend Saint John

As most of you know I have volunteered at ROGERS tv for going on 19 years. Bi-weekly there is a talk show that I work on called What Matters most. A few weeks ago the had someone on as a guest from the Momentum Group to talk about a then-upcoming event for a Startup Weekend. Long story short that episode didn’t make it to air and was instead put on YouTube. Therefore you can watch the following 13-minute interview to get the idea of what it is about. Or not… I guess I can tell you what it is about. The premise is that you pay money for a ticket and choose if you are a Developer (can code), Designer (can design stuff), or Other (smart person, marketing person, money person, et cetera). Then on Friday you show up raid the buffet spread, socialize, network, and assess the competition. Then you get to listen to speeches, “The is is how the weekend is going to go down”, “we love business”, “entrepreneurs are awesome”, “there are so many services you have never probably heard of that you are going to get a taste of”, “your community needs you”, and lastly “who…

My First Heckler

I love comedy and always have. Robin Williams and George Carlin are amongst my favourites. Over the past few years starting with the summer of trying things I have started going to see stand-up comedy shows. Not to say I no longer love improv comedy, but there is just so much more stand-up lately in these parts. One of the recurring shows is the No Jokes Barred put on monthly by Jon Forward at the R Bar. What I love about this show are the new performers. Back when I was rehearsing on A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Ken Bolton, he kept encouraging me to try stand-up. I never did however mainly due to my anxiety. However, this past June, Ken was going to be leaving town, and after the No Jokes Barred show, there was an open mic for the third anniversary post-show. I was considering doing it and was trying to think up some good material all day before the show. All of which I ran out of time to perfect and only used a bit as a preamble to my 2013 Amsterdam Trip story. (Which you will not find on this blog) All during the show I…

Photo a Month from 2014

Photo a Month from 2014

Today I looked through MyFitnessPal and determined that my weight loss goals did not happen as I started the year as 134.7kg and ended it at 133.3kg although I have gotten smaller in all the other measurements. So I then I turned to my iPhoto to remember what I did this past year, and I have picked out the best one for each month. January Over the holidays there was a lot of freezing rain and my driveway had very thick unbreakable ice. My thought was if I could get down to the asphalt it would allow me to get rid of more of the ice as it would melt in the sunlight. However, it resulted in charred remains on top of the ice, as the dried out wreath burned very quickly. February Since it was very cold and lots of ice, what else do you do but escape to where it is warmer. One of my goals of 2014 was to add as many countries to my list as possible. Another goal was that I would not go to Europe again until I reached 115kg (which is still the goal) as motivation to actually lose weight. Therefore very last moment I…

Fundy Fringe Festival Memory

Fundy Fringe Festival Memory

This year I had the privilege of volunteering at the Fundy Fringe Festival for mine and its second year. I only managed to see 9 of the 15 performances but was very impressed with the variety and quality of the performances. The experience was incredible not only to meet the other performers and volunteer but the general community that supported the artists. On the last day of the festival, there was one experience that really stood out. I went to the Queen’s Square Market to get my Sunday morning croissant with chocolate gnash from Le Boulangerie Français prior to my final shift. There was this elderly woman sitting by herself on the bench and asked me what I thought of different shows. It turned out that this woman was visiting the city specifically for the festival and has lived in Vancouver before no living outside Toronto. She was not a big fan of the comedy shows and was looking for something darker.  After suggesting William Ellis’ Dirty Work she said that was exactly the type of show she was looking for. We then continued to chat for a good 20 minutes about her travels and the various theatre she has seen over her…

Google Translate Songs

I found this video on YouTube today it is a parody of “Call Me Maybe” with bad but not terrible lyrics. Then from there, I found a Fresh Prince version that went through all 64 Google Translate options, and back to English. I then thought about what would it look like if Farewell to Nova Scotia lyrics were translated to all 64 languages and this was the result. Chorus:Vita Nova Beach.A bronze tart Residues.Be careful, because the salt.Or hate it? evening prayerSufficient trees and birds.but theBut I do not do it for more information. Chorus There is no need for me to go abroad.This was intention to friend.appropriateChildren / workout. Chorus Note that the drums.Lord of the universe.If Scotland can Hey, Michael.to Chorus sheInterior dimensions.However I know.Black holes and valleys from other women. Chorus x2 As you can see it is quite humorous. Now I can’t perform well enough to make my own video, but if someone does let me know and I’ll link to it.

That’s My Boy

This weekend I went to see the new Adam Sandler movie, “That’s My Boy”. I really laughed in this one even though the theatre was empty on Saturday afternoon. This is the first Sandler movie in a while that actually has a great story as well as being funny. This is one of the must sees this Spring/Summer season. On Tuesday I am going to go to see Rock of Ages.

Golden Globes 2011 Predictions

Edit: Bold predictions were correct. 8 of 25 (32%) Best Motion Picture – Drama The King’s Speech Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama Colin Firth – The King’s Speech Best Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical Tied: Alice in Wonderland or The Kids Are All Right Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical Emma Stone – Easy A Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical Jake Gyllenhaal – Love And Other Drugs Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture Amy Adams – The Fighter Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture Michael Douglas – Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps Best Animated Feature Film Toy Story 3 Best Foreign Language Film I Am Love (Italy) Best Director – Motion Picture David O. Russell – The Fighter Best Screenplay – Motion Picture Stuart Blumberg, Lisa Cholodenko – The Kids Are All Right Best Original Score – Motion Picture Danny Elfman – Alice in Wonderland Best Original Song –…

The Romantic Comedy (err Tragedy)

First off, a detailed post about my trip to Toronto is coming soon. Including the stuff I learned and would like to add about WordCamp Toronto. In addition, I am sorting through the 400 pictures I took over the weekend for a SnapShots album. I wanted to talk about movies. I have seen several lately although I am way behind this time last year. I have seen a lot of romantic movies and romantic comedies lately. However, it seems that the romantic movie industry seems to be making traditional tragedies lately. They are not happily ever after anymore. Even the Miley Cyrus hit “Last Song” falls into this category, a funeral, seriously. The little weak happy tag ending does not make it better it starts badly in Act One, gets better in act two, then ends badly. That sir is definitely a tragedy in the dramatic sense. But this a huge trend this year. Valentines Day, When in Rome, Dear John, Chloë, and many others are the same. Is there no hope anymore?

2010 Golden Globe Award Predictions

Once again as the award season approaches here are my predictions for the 2010 Golden Globe Awards tonight. Best Motion Picture – Drama Up In The Air Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama Morgan Freeman – Invictus Best Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical Julie & Julia Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical Sandra Bullock – The Proposal Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical Daniel Day-Lewis – Nine Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture Anna Kendrick – Up In The Air Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture Matt Damon – Invictus Best Animated Feature Film Fantastic Mr. Fox Best Foreign Language Film The Maid (La Nana) (Chile) Best Director – Motion Picture Jason Reitman – Up In The Air Best Screenplay – Motion Picture Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner – Up In The Air Best Original Score – Motion Picture Karen O and Carter Burwell – Where The Wild Things Are…

WordCamp Montreal and Other Things Montréal

WordCamp Montreal and Other Things Montréal

Getting here to Montreal, I had decided to get the bus. (Orleans Express/Acadian Lines) Thus it presents this opportunity to write this long detailed encounter as I have the remainder of the 13 hour bus trip to finish. After arriving here in Montreal I took a nice stroll down Ste-Catherine to the train station. It was on this trip through the eerily quite streets of the jazz festival site that I ran across the first image. Although to is common to think of those in the financial services industry as “wanks” someone thought it would be a great idea to draw one on the two sided of the corner of the building. After the fist day of sessions at word camp there was this crazy man that started yelling at me in french, I think he though I took a picture or something. The funny part that is so not like me is the fact that I started yelling back at him in English and he did not seem to understand me at all. That make id kind of funny then he ran off and I went off to catch the subway to the hotel. The subway in Montreal seemed…

Australia

What is there to say about the movie Australia. This movie is definitely on the calibre of movie with Casablanca. This movie has aspects of almost every gents of movie it’s a comedy, drama, romance, war, western, nature, coming of age, family, real-life type movie. Even more remarkable than the fantastic acting in the moving is the calm heart-pounding score that carries you seamlessly through the story. This movie is written in the three-act style but all three acts have their own three acts it is truly a must-see. CEFM Rating: 5/5

Outsourced Breast Men Bolt Twilight Four Christmases

Breast Men R Dull but based on real life events, with a porno-elements in a tasteful manner. CEFM.ca Rating: 3/5 Outsourced PG-13 This movie is a hoot and very ironic of you have ever worked for an outsourced company or are an outsourcer. But is the story of people understanding other unfamiliar cultures to help find themselves. CEFM.ca Rating: 4/5 Bolt PG Worth seeing in Real 3D. This is one of the first movies in 3D that I was not pissed off. Usually, 3D movie does things to show off the 3D that takes away from the storytelling. But not Bolt, Bolt uses it to tell a story of a dog who it lost both literally and metaphorically who struggle to find his way home (and himself). Meanwhile the cat is also learning its true nature without being boring. A good movie for the whole family. CEFM.ca Rating: 3.5/5 Twilight PG-13 This is not the type of movie I typically go to, but I really loved this movie. I especially liked the way the movie tied itself together so well. Also, the fact of the way she trusted them despite the fact of him being a monster. I really love…