Kev

…one more game, and gopher‘s boys will kick off March Madness as the number one seed. A win tomorrow will give them an undefeated regular season, as well as a probable unanimous #1 seed in the tournament.

No team has has finished the season undefeated and won the NCAA tournament since the 1976 Indiana squad. Here’s hoping the Illini break that streak this year (and I don’t care what the bookies say, UNC aint gonna make it).

Go Illini!

…

Update: In a textbook definition of the word “choke” as it applies to blowing a game, the Illini failed to score a single point in the last 3:23 of the second half and lost 65-64 to Ohio State. They’ll still be seeded number one, but Dee Brown was clearly thrown off his game by the crowd, and it makes you worry a little bit about how he’ll perform when the pressure is really on during single elimination play.

Words can’t express how much I’ve missed you every single day over the past eleven years.

Love, always. (you taught me that 😉 )

A nice little bit on some of the absurdity that can come with copyrights, and extensions that the idiots who pass laws down South keep popping in.

Unhappy Birthday to everyone. 🙂

I’m guessing the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is pulling out all the stops in retaining its customers after proving how competent they are. I dropped my CIBC Aeroplan card three or four months ago because, at the time, I wasn’t doing enough travelling/spending to make it worthwhile. I keep getting statements because up until yesterday I owed them three cents.

That’s a story in itself, I’ll just leave it with the fact that I called their toll-free line and spent 5 minutes waiting to hear that yes, they did want their three cents from me. Fair enough, that’s what online banking is for, and it’s not up to me to tell them that a three cent writeoff would have been a couple orders of magnitude cheaper.

Tucked in with my last statement there was a bill insert. Bill inserts are those pieces of paper stuffed in with your bill that you almost never read. Companies know this, which is why they put any fee increases, bad mojo they’re about to pull, or anything that may piss you off in there. The statement was entitled “Take control of interest charges on your CIBC VISA card.”

Essentially, CIBC visa cards are no longer offering a grace period on interest for new purchases if you carry a balance. It used to be that you got a few weeks interest free, but no longer, unless you have a balance-free account from the month before. Starting April 1st, if you carry any balance from the previous month, you will automatically be charged interest immediately on new purchases. The only way the grace period kicks in is if you had a zero balance account from the month before. Because of this, you must maintain a zero balance account month-to-month in order to take adantage of any grace period.

It’s not a huge amount extra for the individual, but it’s just a cash grab for CIBC. Aggregate the few bucks per account that does carry a balance, and it’s some significant cash. Somebody realised that this was a wonderful way to increase revenues without having to provide any benefit to the customer, and away they went.

In the same flier, they push their pre-authorised payment service so you can always pay the full amount month-to-month and not have to worry about it. I was about to renew the Aerogold card, as I’m travelling more and could use it for hotels and meals and such. With this little change, which is clearly just a money grab, I will not be renewing. I do see their point of view, and to a degree would probably agree with them, but I know they’re not doing it to improve service or the customer experience, so fuck ’em.

If you live in Quebec, this change doesn’t apply, probably because there’s still a regulation prohibiting it.

Asshats.

So after reading grrl‘s latest challenge, I got to wondering how many covers of (what I believe to be) the song in question there were. I used my favourite resource, and discovered the artist’s website actually tracks who’s covered what songs commercially. The answer to my question stunned me: ninety-two. Then I thought about it, and it is a damn good song. I’d like to hear Matchbox 20’s version, but am not willing to buy a DVD just to listen to the cover.

That’s a lot of covers, and those are the ones she knows about. There’s some interesting bits in there, and a lot of the covers are notations on bands who performed her stuff in concerts. The one I think I’d like to hear is A New Found Glory’s cover of “The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough” (seriously).

Now, if I could only get my head around the logo game.

What are your top five cds of all time? I’m really curious.

I get this question a lot, and have always meant to have a short history on the subject. Here it is:

A long, long time ago, on a university campus not so far from here, a small incubator company was born. Its founders had convinced the federal government that they should try this cool new thing called the interweeb to connect schools (and their students and faculty) together. The project was called Schoolnet, and what started as a contract to architect how Schoolnet would be constructed turned into several projects and a start-up called Ingenia Communications.

Read more

Ok, seriously. What’s with all these references to getting old from the pups? Did people take a creaky pill this weekend, or is it just because it’s the end of February and we’re all about ready for a spring rejuvenation?

I wasn’t feeling old today (still don’t, but I’m wavering).

Today was one of those cold and snowy days where I couldn’t shake the cold, so I’m finishing the eve with a wee dram of an Aberlour 15 year-old (whisky) with a Sherry Wood finish. It’s a good way to finish the evening on a warm note.

And yes, I know whisky can be an old man’s drink. Shaddup.

If coop is old, what does that make me? I’m curious in that “oh look, a cement truck” kind of way. I’d say axe is not allowed to answer, but he wouldn’t listen, and where would be the fun in not getting smacked down after leaving the door wide open?

Saturday night coop and Kristina had their annual tobogganning party at the Bruce Pit in Nepean. I actually managed to go down the hill a number of times, usually with little control, but a much higher success rate than a previous attempt.

There were a variety of plastic and metal conveyances to send us merrily down the hill, and I think we all managed to get snow in places you wouldn’t expect to get it. After a couple of face-first runs where I learned not to use my knees or rib cage as a shock absorber, I managed to have a number of successful runs. I think I was still running up the hill at the end, but really can’t recall. It was a good time, and the only damage I did was aggravating a separated shoulder from Phauleeg.

Following the sledding, we headed back to kris & coop’s to enjoy some tasty beverages (Absolut Raspberri, tonic, and frozen raspberries is recommended), a bite to eat, and some gorgeous pictures from Bora Bora. Oh, and there may have been a good conversation or two in there, too.

A very nice way to spend a Saturday evening. Thanks, guys!

There are some fun people who post, and who use deadsquid to host their stuff. I’ve thrown up an aggregator page that includes recent posts from everyone here. To have a peek, follow this link. It’s not pretty, but with luck that’ll change a little later.