improv concert on the french metro

can you imagine stepping on to a train for your boring commute, and experiencing this? how can you not do anything for the rest of the day, but smile after seeing this on your way to/from work?

logo (f)art

this is just a quick video of an experiment i have been working on. i am trying to create a fancy logo background for my clients, in order to make myself a little more valuable to them - and by offering a service that other technicians are not providing. here's to hoping i increase my worth. ps - notice that my name flashes lightly in the video

another dream

please keep in mind that this was all just a dream, so it makes the story a little more interesting, especially when you consider how much thought was happening while i was actually still asleep. i was in a hotel in africa, and i picked up a copy of wired magazine. just as i was starting to get bored by the articles, i turn to a story about a small town in bulgaria, which, as it happens, was written by my friend richard cherry. i get so excited by this, that i head down to a cafe, and try to write a quick note to him in my journal. the waiter comes up to me and speaks to me in a language i don't know, and i simply respond with "coffee, please". he seems impressed that i knew what he was saying, and says something else to me in his language and hurries off to get my order. i look down the street, and notice an open air market, with hundreds of people scurrying about getting on with their lives, and i decide that i should go check that out later, but i make the realisation that i should probably leave my wallet back at the hotel, because this looks like the kind of crowd that you can't trust. while continuing to sit there, ignoring the note i had started to write, it all of a sudden it occurs to me that there is a small dog peeing on the leg of my table, and the urine is then splashing on to my leg and shoe. i kick the dog away, and turn back to my note, which has now blown away, and i have no idea where it has gone. i decide that it was a silly idea to have been writing a note to richard in the first place, since i only have his email address, but also understand that writing things down while traveling is a much more romantic way of capturing my thoughts and stories. while scanning the ground surrounding me to try and see if i can recover my wind swept note, i see an old leather bound journal sitting about 3 or 4 meters away from me, and think that perhaps i might go and pick it up, and use that as my new journal. and i would make an honest effort to write more things down, and even try to doodle/sketch. and i think about how neglected my blog has been, and that perhaps i should contribute something to it soon, but i don't feel that i have anything worthwhile, or anything that people would be interested in reading. i realise that if i wrote more, i could be as good as richard some day. then again, maybe not.

Help The Police

this is far too hilarious! i find it is funnier the more that i watch it.

this girl i met

So i am at the bar one night, (Queen's stinkside), and i am just standing there ogling girls, (because i haven't worked up the courage to go talk to any of them), and this girl just randomly walks up to me and starts mocking the way i am chewing my gum. she goes so far as to suggest that i chew like some sort of ruminant. so i laugh, and ask her if she wants a piece, (intentional triple entendre), and she says yes. so off we go to my coat, i reach in to the pocket and get her a piece of gum, and we start chatting. we have a good time chatting with each other, and we are really hitting it off. it turns out her name is vicki, and she is a guard at a jail up in penetang, and she is there with a bunch of her guard buddies from work. i tell her that she is probably the prettiest guard on the planet, and she responds with "no, there a guards that are much prettier than her". i respond with "well if that is the case, then i need to get into much more trouble", or something similar. we go up on the dance floor, and have a few laughs. her guard-buddies are there too, (and let me tell you, that the other girls there LOOK like prison guards. big, beefy proto-lesbian prison guards). we have such a good time that at the end of the night, i ask for her phone number, and she gives it to me, just before heading off to the washroom. her friend kate comes up to me and says, "i really think you should give vicki a call", and then proceeds to give me vicki's phone number. so i look into my phone book, and they both match, so it looks like this girl is serious. i hang around with them while they are getting their coats on, and then we head outside so they can get a cab. we hang around for a few more minutes, and then it is time for them to go. quite spontaneously, vicki and i kiss each other quickly. and we part company. and i couldn't stop thinking about her. i call her a day later, (which i have just learned, is the protocol for future dates to be secured), and let her know that i had a good time, and i want to see her again, but that i will be out of town for a week, so i will call her again when i get back into town, and when i return, i do call her. i have really been looking forward to seeing her, because we really connected well that night. once again i get her answering machine, but i leave a message, and tell her that i am looking forward to hanging out with her again, and i leave my number. and i never hear from her. two or three weeks goes by, and i am wondering what happened to her. why didn't i hear from her? i know that i had the right number because not only did i get the same number twice from two different sources, but the answering machine said vicki on it. so what is up? should i call her? why didn't she return my calls. perhaps she has a boyfriend, and just happened to be feeling frisky that night. but at least she could have called and said that she wasn't interested in hanging out. then it dawns on me that i also have the phone number of her friend kate. so i decide to send kate a text message to see if she can offer me any insight for the situation. and this is how it all went down. ben : your friend vicki never called me back, which sucks, because i was really hoping to see her again! any idea why i never heard from her? kate : because you have a criminal record. ben : Haha! Whatever! kate : no really. you were a young offender. ben (kind of pissed off right now) : Wow. that is a shame that i am not allowed to be such a totally different person than when i was a kid. that kinda stings. kate : what is your middle name and D.O.B., so i can make sure she looked. maybe i can clear your name. ben : no, she is correct. i was a huge badass when i was younger. have been a good boy since i was 20. nevermind. thanks for your help kate! kate : sorry. that's the down side of the job. for what it's worth, we still think you are a nice guy. no hard feelings. ben : totally makes sense, but it totally sucks. i will start ball rolling on a pardon. perhaps i will call her then. thanks again! later. kate : good idea. once again sorry. ben : not your fault. hazard of the job. but thank you so much for shedding some light on the situation. very much appreciated! have a good night. kate : night. i really don't know what else to say about this subject, other than i can't ask the poor girl to jeopardize her career because of me, but what a load of horse shit. anyone care to offer their opinion on the subject? .