2010 In Review

I figured I had better get a December post in before the entire month was written off.  The wife and I have not had a whole lot of free time now that we are a family of three; though, as we move into 2011, I'm hoping to find time to post regularly again.

Anyway.

2010 was an excellent year.  Early on, I was still living and working in Vancouver (oh, how I miss Vancouver).  On February 12th, after a period of steadily increasing rage, following a change in management (this happens often), I stopped working for my then employer and embarked upon a 30-day retirement trial period.  This was doubly interesting, as Michelle had accepted a job in Alberta back in December of 2009, and we were living apart while I lazed around and negotiated terms on a new job in Alberta.

So, with a one-last-chance-for-bachelorhood opportunity staring me in the face, I spent more than four weeks sleeping in until the late afternoon, playing video games, watching television, and consuming copious amounts of beer and pizza with friends.  It was the most amazing time in my entire life.  In the words of Peter Gibbons from Office Space, "I did nothing.  I did absolutely nothing, and it was everything that I thought it could be." 

Another noteworthy event that occurred during this period was the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, which I simultaneously viewed on television and lived vicariously through Jason, who came down in February to attend a bunch of events, whilst enjoying the free accommodations at my place.

My main memory of the Olympics is having never seen so many people in one place at once.  It was utterly impossible to get downtown from the North Shore, where I lived, or anywhere else for that matter.  The SeaBus was lined up all the way to the mid-Lonsdale area, and it took me 3 separate attempts to get downtown on the one day I tried.  On my third, and only successful attempt, I took the usual bus I previously would have ridden to work, which was packed to the brim with society.  The bus driver bluntly declared over the intercom that the only way the bus would continue to move is if every person at every stop was able to successfully board.  I have never seen -- felt is more accurate, given proximity -- so many people on a bus in my life, and I have a picture somewhere of this, though I can't be bothered to find it right now.  I remember conducting a headcount and stopping around 90.

Sometime before March 13th, Michelle came back down to Vancouver, and we packed up and embarked on a trip to Airdrie, Alberta, near Calgary, where I had taken a new job.  My retirement ended and work began again on March 15, 2010.

Most of the remainder of the year was an uneventful blur of Michelle's progressing pregnancy, work, and, of course, trips to Wal-Mart, with the exception of an awesome long-weekend insanity trip to Osoyoos in May (with Jason, Erik, and Karyn), a trip to California (with Jason) to ride every rollercoaster at Knott's and Six Flags Magic Mountain in August, and a trip to the Big Island of Hawaii with Michelle in September.

I don't feel much like elaborating on these trips right now, except for mentioning the part where the 5 of us rented a 21-foot jet boat in Osoyoos and took turns submerging ourselves in the barely thawed lake water.  While my reaction to the freezing abyss was loud and profane (as expected), the best one occurred when Erik jumped in.  There was a brief moment of silence as his head disappeared beneath the surface, and then returned with a face consistent with the color of Papa Smurf.  He declared that the water was "COLD".

Finally, on December 2, 2010, after 2 solid days of hospital trips and labor (for Michelle), our son was finally born.  Cedric Leonidas.  For a long time I thought about writing the events of this in detail, as it was quite the adventure, but I'm pretty lazy and there is pizza nearby with my name on it.

As I slide my chair out to enjoy said pizza, I was just thinking to myself that if Vancouver wasn't horrendously overpriced and filled with idiots (the friends I have there are excepted, of course), I'd probably still be living there.  However, I traded a city of 2.5 million idiots for one with just one million, and a significant reduction in cost of living.

What does 2011 hold in store?  I don't want to make any announcements just yet, but a further reduction in idiot population is in store, along with another decrease in cost of living.

Good News, Bad News, and the End of the Year

Today I bring a couple of stories that are a bit late in coming, but I feel worth mentioning.

I'll start with the bad news.  This is one that has been all over the local news in Edmonton but is just so shockingly terrible, it has to be mentioned yet again.  According to the latest edition of the Alberta diagnostic code, homosexuality is listed as a "mental disorder" alongside pedophilia and bestiality.  The code is used by doctors to classify illnesses (both physical and mental) for billing to the province of Alberta.  The "homosexuality code" has been used to "treat" patients over 1700 times between 1995 and 2004 (according to the Edmonton Journal).

Alberta health minister Gene Zwozdesky has pledged that the code will be immediately reviewed and that “It is simply an incorrect and unacceptable classification and I've ordered it to be removed immediately.”  The American Psychiatric Association made the same change in 1973 followed by the Canadian Psychiatric Association in 1982.

So, really, they're only a few decades too late...

But, onto some good news and a (seemingly) rare good travel story.  For those who would be travelling with presents over the holidays, both the TSA and CATSA (Canadian Air Transport Security Authority) asked that presents not be wrapped to allow for easier inspection.  It kind of sucks, but I can understand it.  But last week, Jaunted reported that a few airports in the USA were offering gift wrapping services inside security.  To top this off, most of them were either completely free or free with a charitable donation.

I think it's nice to finally see a good air travel-related story and a good way to end 2010.

And to summarize, I don't mean to speak too much for my co-contributers to the Deli, but it's been a big year for all of us. You can definitely expect more of the same for 2011.  I know Terry will be back to ranting about...whatever it is he is most angry about at the time very soon.  I'm sure parenthood will provide many more...sources of material.  Erik will still randomly show up and write several pages on...something.  And I'll be here to find random crap and complain about travelling.


So from all three of us, Merry Christmas, Happy Festivus, Happy New Year, etc.

Erik's Favorite Albums of 2010

It's no secret I have a lot of music; I figured I'd make up a list of the favourites I picked up in 2010; not all of them are 2010 albums but phttbhtt.

In no particular order:

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

Arcade Fire's Funeral is one of my all-time favourite albums and I was worried - after Neon Bible being good (but not great) that The Suburbs would be part of a continuing slide from greatness for the huge band. Fortunately, I was wrong.

The Suburbs is a story about urban life and decay, fleshed out through lyrics, musical talent, and big sound. I'm a sucker for strings in a band, and Arcade Fire's got them in spades. It took a few listens, but I think The Suburbs is now my top Arcade Fire album.

If you haven't seen it yet, fire up a copy of Google Chrome and visit The Wilderness Downtown, the "music video" for "We Used To Wait". It's a showcase for what HTML5 can do for the interactivity of the web and it really sets the mood for the song.

The thing that really pisses me off the most about Arcade Fire is that Edmonton never seems to be on the list of stops for their Canadian tours before they bugger off to Europe for dates in countries I've never heard of.

Bedouin Soundclash - Light the Horizon

I almost bought this album about six times, from the day it came out and over the following weeks. I finally just picked the damn thing up and I've been wondering since what my problem was.

It's Bedouin Soundclash's best work to date. The whole disc is catchy enough to sing along to - it may not be "pure" reggae and sound like Bob Marley, but I think that this is what the modern evolution of the genre ought to sound like.

As a side note, Jay Malinowski (the lead singer) released an album of his own, Bright Lights & Bruises. I haven't heard the whole thing, but the single "There's a Light" may as well have been on Light the Horizon.

Stars - The Five Ghosts

So, I saw Stars live twice in 2010 - first, on my birthday (May) in the small, sweaty venue that is The Starlite Room. I had never heard (or even heard of) The Five Ghosts and was surprised to find out that the concert was actually a release party for the disc - they played through most of the album in order and only then did they get to their older songs.

Five Ghosts is part hopeless romantic, part frantic dance party, and part bone-chilling ghost story, and yet somehow it all works together. A review of the album on iTunes comments that Stars may be losing some of their charm by "moving to" an electronic sound, but I'd argue that they're just returning to their roots - their 2001 Nightsongs is very much electronic, but the new songs feel more filled-in and complete than their earlier electronic sounds.

Oh, and speaking of older songs and hopeless romantics: I have no idea how I'd never heard "The Aspidistra Flies" from the 2001 Comeback EP. Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan's call-and-answer vocals are heart-wrenching in person... and she's just so damned cute.

I liked Five Ghosts enough that I saw Stars again at the Winspear Centre on Halloween. Edmontonians: if one of your favourite bands has a show at the Winspear, just go. Don't think about it. The acoustic engineering of the place is friggin' magic. Nothing like ghost stories on Halloween either - and for me there was no creepy girl hitting on me and my girlfriend like at Starlite!

(I think she was just trying to steal my wallet.)

Hawksley Workman - Meat and Milk

Speaking of performances at the Winspear Centre... I've seen Hawksley Workman there twice and I would go again in a heartbeat. His personality, stories, and just pure variety of styles mean each live show is interesting and can sound totally different from the last (and what's on the studio recordings). Wigs, piano, overdriven zany guitar solos, ballads with touching lyrics, prison-escapee style overalls, toy drum kits... he's got it all.

I'm not going to say either Meat or Milk were earth-shattering albums, but both contain solid tracks for Workman fans and candidates for pop radio singles. Next time though? Please don't release the whole album in the USA and then trickle it out to Canada one single at a time via digital download services. Fans start to get agitated!

I'd like to compliment the guy for being able to remember all the words - and get them out without passing out from lack of oxygen - to the song "We'll Make Time (Even When There Ain't No Time)".

John K. Samson - City Route 85 EP

Technically I bought this on the very last day of 2009, but I saw John K. Samson live at the Haven Social Club in early 2010. The club was crammed full and I was sitting maybe ten feet from John, the lead singer of the Weakerthans (he really is 98% of that band). By candlelight he sang material from old Weakerthans songs to tracks from his new City EP.

You'd figure another song about how terrible Winnipeg is would start to get a bit old, but the songwriting in "Heart of the Continent" is brilliant (like every other song of his). Hearing the stories behind the songs just solidified John K. Samson/The Weakerthans position as one of my all-time favorite artists.

There were a few letdowns in 2010 too; Forgiveness Rock Record from Broken Social Scene had a heck of a lot of hype but I'm afraid it just didn't do anything for me. There were a couple good tracks, but overall... meh. Jason Collett released Rat a Tat Tatt / To Wit To Woo; I couldn't get into that one either, even after a few listens. Year of the Black Rainbow by Coheed and Cambria tried to be harder and grittier than previous Coheed albums. Unfortunately, it just alienated me as a fan of their established prog style... I'm not looking for a thrashy noise-fest but that's what Year felt like to me.

Anyway, I'm sure there will be plenty of new music for 2011 to add to my ever-growing collection. (Hooray!) So far, the biggest learning experience here is that I'm really terrible at writing about music... but I shall try again anyway. See you guys later.

Temporary Delay

Just a note that I will be away from posting for a bit until our new family addition is settled.