Mike's Bloggity Blog

>OK so it’s finally Friday again which can only mean one single thing! FUNKY FRIDAY is back!!!

Today’s song is an oldey but a goldey. I think I was in Grade 10 when it came out and it’s freaking fun to grove to. Especially if you are working in a boring office or teach bratty kids. This song also gets props for having a freaking weird video!

Today’s song also has special meaning because my neighbor downstairs, Victoria, freaking loves thins song. And she was soooo happy on Thursday night when we got to go Sex and The City. Over the past couple of months she has become one of the most important people I have here in Calgary and I wanted to give a special shout out to her! She doesn’t even read this blog but none the less.

Here you go Victoria……

ps. Have a suggestion for next week’s Funky Friday? Send it my way!

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So on Thursday night I was lucky enough to go see one of the first screenings of Sex and The City. It wasn’t cause of the ol’ bloggity blog or even because sometimes weird things just happen to me. Nope, I bought tickets like everyone else. The weirdest part was that no one in the city seemed to know about the shows because all of Friday’s shows are sold out, but neither of Thursday’s 10pm were full. Oh well, maybe it’s because I play on the internet for than I sleep.

Anywhoo, so I’m not going to ruin it for you. I would never ever do that. I’m not in the business of spoilers, but I do occasionally open small street stands of warnings and I only have two.

To Boom or Not to Boom: Early on Thursday morning Perez Hilton mentioned on his blog about a huge issue with the movie. The issue is the boom mic (the mic that hangs above actors heads) was visible in the movie in a couple of shots. I paid no attention because Perez is crazy and it was probably just a bad reel. Well let me tell you my friends, the Boom mic should probably get 1st billing in Sex and The City because for more than 20 minutes you can see the microphone. You see it move side to side, you see it on the beach, in carrie’s apartment, you see it everywhere. It becomes down right irritating when it upstages the movie’s most important and climatic (hee hee) scene.

But obviously this isn’t supposed to be like that. The studio wouldn’t release the movie if it had this huge problem. My theory? SJP pissed someone off royaly and when all the movies were shipped out to the theatres the wrong one was sent. But for those 25 minutes the entire movie is off. The color, the close ups, the lighting. It was like the unedited version and not in the good way. I’m sure more details will come up in the next couple of days about what went wrong but be warned.

The SJP Factor: Look I know this movie is about the leading lady Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) but be warned this movie in particular is all about Carrie Bradshaw. And while I like my Carrie as much as the next SJP fan I found it almost silly how much of the movie is focused on her and her life. So I’m just warning you get ready for a whole lot of Carrie who at times kinda reminded me of Meredith Grey and not in a good way!

But that is all for now. Go see the movie. It is every fans dream. Is it an Oscar winner? No. Is it supposed to be? Nope? Do you see some breasts? Sure do.

So as I sit here in my kitchen writing my blog, I can’t help but wonder: Who is going to get fired for the Boom Mic incident?

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Don’t for the Season 4 finale of Lost airs Thursday night!  It’s two hours and from what I heard it’s going to be AMAZING!!!!  Don’t forget that because of that bitch Cat Deely LOST is probably airing earlier in your part of the country.  Here is Calgary it is on at 7pm on CTV.

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A couple of years ago a little book called He’s Just Not That Into You came out.  It was written by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo and it became an international sensation.  Oprah did a whole show about it, some guys in LA actually gave Behrendt his own short lived talk show, the book became a national best seller and I was left very confused.

>Also available on The National Post’s The Ampersand

Ever since Facebook entered the mainstream last year our lives have never been the same. Work productivity is down, vampire and zombie bites are way up, long lost friends have been discovered and embarrassing relationship ruining pictures have been tagged.

Needless to say we have put up with a lot. But this past Sunday Facebook and Post Secret took a step towards the giant poke that might end it all. The creators and administrators of the popular Post Secret community have decided to create a Fan Page on Facebook and share even more secrets by posting the postcards as images. The problem with this? Now thousands of people can leave their comments about the secrets for the entire world to see. And you don’t have to be a Degrassi fan to know how dangerous (and annoying) that can be.

It’s really a marriage that really makes no sense. Facebook is all about breaking down those walls we like to call “privacy”. Hours are wasted snooping through others people’s lives. We know about their trips, their friends, their favorite TV shows even though most of the time we don’t them. Post Secret on the other is all about your secret identity. Every Sunday morning, thousands of people go to the Post Secret website to laugh, cry, and gasp at the secrets of the brave strangers that submit the Post Cards that often reveal their deepest darkest secrets.

There is no doubt that Post Secret is a powerful forum for people to express themselves. However now that people’s secrets are exposed for anyone to comment on, I can’t help but feel that this changes the social experiment completely. Not to mention the fact that people’s Facebook comments are always annoying anyway. Did I really need to know that Justin Cole (Clemson network) hasn’t had sex in a year? I feel awkward knowing that Sarah Vosdale from Hartford is afraid to let people know the real her and that she hates the identity she does show. Am I supposed to care that Heather McKee Parker from St. Catherine/Niagra couldn’t laugh after her BF left her? Okay maybe I should, but I got enough problems on my own, I don’t need to start worrying about complete strangers.

The other problem with this Facebook Fan Page for Post Secret is that often the post cards have pictures of different people. By using Facebook and navigating the comments it doesn’t take Veronica Mars to figure out whose secret has just been spilt. Not to mention the embarrassment if the secret that everyone is now seeing was about you! Wouldn’t that be awkward to see your baby picture with the caption: “I switched them at birth. I wanted him to have blue eyes”. It would certainly make for an interesting Christmas dinner or one hell of a Facebook status “Michael is starting to realize it all makes sense!!”

I fully support the Post Secret Fan Page. I think it’s a social experiment that really can change lives or at the very least show teenagers that not being cool in high school is not the end of the world. I do however have a problem with how hard it is to control Facebook and how quickly comments, rumors, lies and jokes can get out of control. The internet is relentless but it’s usually anonymous, let’s just hope that the nation’s psychiatrists, therapists and guidance counselors are ready for the onslaught.

***On a completely unrelated and absolutely selfish note, don’t forget to join Mike’s Bloggity Blog Blob Fan Page!***

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It is easy to dismiss pretty much every horror movie as unexceptional.  Especially if Stephen King’s name is in front of the title.  But this weekend, while in the depths of my “all pajamas” weekend, I may have just found an exception to the rule.  I often don’t give movie reviews but ever since I saw this movie I haven’t been able to get it out of my head and I thought I should share.

>There are many things I am not proud of.  During the writers strike I actually followed One Tree Hill, I still hold out hope that someday I’ll wake up with a full head of hair and I’m still no further on Harry Potter 7 than I was the day after I bought it last July.  

>Also available on The Q

Living in Mission has always had it’s pros and cons. The pros list includes the cool old houses, the big trees, the awesome restaurants (late night pizza joints included), the proximity to 17th Ave and of course the Elbow River. The cons have always included the pricey rents, the variety of garbage that ends up on the lawn and the lack of Tim Hortons.

Then there is one thing that straddles both sides of the positive/negative fence: The Lilac Festival. Every year the one of Calgary’s most popular festivals descends upon our quiet neighborhood like Ralph Klein stumbling into on of your dinner parties. While the idea initially sounds fun, it quickly over stays it’s welcome.

This year’s Lilac Festival got off to a different start, rather a wet start. I can’t imagine how frustrating it must be for the organizers who spend all year planning such a huge event only to have it washed out by our 6th straight day of rain. I would put it right up there with losing your cell phone or having nothing to wear on a first date. But Calgarians are resilient and they still turned out on en masse for the festival with their children, dogs, strollers, balloons and lethally sharp umbrellas none the less!

The great thing about the festival is that is brings thousands of people to our neighborhood, which we all love to show off. Of course, it would be better if half of our businesses hadn’t been pushed out in the past couple of years (RIP CUP, With the Times, Urban Barn, Fabutan and Watch It). But there are still some real gems to be found. Businesses like Casablanca Video, Le Chien Chaud, Krickets and The Purple Perk are all apart of what makes Mission great.

The bad thing about the festival is also the reoccurring theme in most areas of Calgary. Space and parking. The small streets of Mission simply cannot handle the sheer capacity of cars that visit for the festival. This is mostly due to the fact that our public transit system rivals that only of small desert towns in Afghanistan. Because of this drivers are forced to park in front of fire hydrants, drive ways, my parking spot and sadly on the grass of schools on Cliff St. This is especially frustrating because the people that chose to park here for an hour or two chose also to not think about the long term damage that their trucks will have on the grass. Surely I’m not the only one that thinks we should always choose our limited green spaces over a quick parking spot. I mean does it really matter how good your parking spot is when you are about to walk around for two hours anyway? (You don’t want to get me started on double parkers)

Truth be told I’m disappointed. I’m disappointed for a festival that deserves so much more than a chilly and rainy Sunday. I’m sad for the people that weren’t around to remember last years amazing 130,000 person blowout. I’m concerned for the businesses along 4th St that have become dependant on the Lilac Festival sales. I’m hopeful that the organizers are secretly planning a sequel to a event that got the shit end of the stick. But mostly, I’m angry because there has been a minivan parked in my spot for the last three hours and I want to park my car already!

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A couple of weeks ago I was asked to try out a new toy that will soon be hitting the Canadian market. It’s called the Zune and whether they’ll say it officially or not it is definitely the strongest answer to the behemoth that is the Ipod.

Over the next couple of weeks I’m going to be turning my Ipod off and trying out the new Zune. It has some really cool features that I’m excited about! For one it has an FM transmitter which for some reason Ipod has never been interested in. But as a sometime fan of local radio I think this is a great feature.

The other cool component is the Wifi feature. That way if I have a really cool song that I think you should listen too, then I can’t send it to your Zune! There is also a really interesting sounding Zune Social Network in which all Zune owners can interactively trade music and the like. Like I said: cool.

But what is in it for you? Well how about a $500 amazon.ca gift certificate!?! Any time I chat about the Zune all you have to do is go to Chatthreads.com and enter the Conversation ID 102 986 0026 and you will be automatically entered in the weekly draw. And since only 200 of us have the Zunes in Canada I think those are pretty solid odds. Plus ChatThreads will donate up to $5 to charity which is a reason to check out the site anyway!

First impressions: You know how the new Ipod’s are the lightest things you’ve ever seen? Well no more. I honestly cannot believe how light the Zune is! I don’t even understand how it be so light weight. Like where are the wires? Does it even use wires? Remember rotary phones? Sorry, I got distracted.

I’m also a fan of the Premium Headphones. I haven’t had something that comfy in my ears since that time I wondered into the Comfy Things in Your Ear Convention…..which turned out to be more disturbing that anything.

I think I might even wear them when I’m not listening to music.

Also cool is that you can sync is with your PC wirelessly. Which means no more rummaging through all your wires just so you can upload new music. This is especially for gadget junkies like me!

Now go check out to Chatthreads and remember to put in he Conversation ID 102 986 0026. who knows maybe there will be a Zune in it for you!

ps: what do you think of my new sweater? You likey?

>So Friday is finally here and things are looking up! Cat Deely is back in my live. Grey’s Anatomy had a solid season finale full out makeout crying and I finally bought my tickets to Fredericton and Toronto for this summer! So what are we going to do to celebrate?

I’ve decided to start a new little tradition here on Mike’s Bloggity Blog Blob (no no no, not spellcheck! I gave up on that in February!) Friday’s will now be known as Funky Fridays (copywrite and/or name pending future suggestions). What exactly is Funky Friday? Well every week I’ll post a classic song from Youtube. When you watch this video you have to put all your troubles behind you. If you are in an office you have to turn the song up as loud as you think will keep you from getting fired and you just have to go nuts. Whether that is full out dancing (in my office they are known as Mike’s Friday Dance Parties) or just moving your butt around in your chair!

I’m mean sure we could all be sad about all the things going on in our lives. The stress! The stark poverty! The balding! The fact that the mailman left my EW magazine in the rain all day today! But that can all wait for monday because it’s the weekend and no one likes Mondays anyway!

Last week’s choice was a little controversial so I’m going with something this week that will hopefully keep death threats from curly haired blondes to a bare minimum!

Enjoy!

Bonus Funky Friday Scrubs Bonus!