Sharing means caring

I've been meaning for awhile to toss out a a post sharing some neat-oh things I've discovered in both my travels here in the cyber world (is that the correct term?!) and the physical world. Well, today is that day! Partially because I'm trying to win a $50 gift card from Amazon via The Simple Dude, but mostly just because I like to share. If there's something being subjected to the Care Bears vis a vis my brothers taught me, it's sharing is caring. It also taught me that bears with rainbows, hearts and balloons on their bellies are just creepy.

Anyways... tossin' out a few faves!

Blog: Simple Dude in a Complex World

Happy Blog-O-Versary Simple Dude!

Happy Anniversary Simple Dude!  I am a proud Simpleton.   

Phew!  Got that out of the way! 

Seriously though, this is a great site if you're lookin' for a quick laugh or a unique take on the world.  In Simple Dude's words, "I am a 30-something city dwelling professional living in Minnesota.  Like most guys I like cars, sports and beer but I also like movies, TV, music, reading, writing and am a fan of pop culture.  Oh, and I have a shitload of opinions on all those things. "

I'm 30-something, and get Minnesoootan's as a lot of us Canucks do.  Cars? Check. Sports? Meh.  Beer?  Yuck.  Movies, TV, music, reading, writing?  Check. Opinions?  Yup.

We got a lot in common, Simple Dude and I. Check out his one-year-old blog for a fix of funny. 

Blog: Hyperbole and a Half

Yet even more funny to be found here, and some posts even feature dogs! YAY!

This blog features funny stories, hand-drawn (well, mouse-drawn) pictures, and DOGS! Did I mention there were posts about dogs?

A few notables:
Dogs don't understand basic concepts like moving
God of cake

Enjoy!

Website: I-Am-Bored

Where do you go when you're bored? Well, if you tell Google that you're bored, this is where it tells you to go! Full of games, interesting and odd news stories, videos, pictures... you name it, it's here. Be prepared to kill HOURS on this site, or be overloaded by the content. Either way, it's a cure for boredom! 

Farmer's Market: Southwest Edmonton Farmer's Market

Seriously, for all you southwest Edmontonian's, this market is the shiz. You can go on and on about your City Market downtown on 104th, and the Strathcona Farmer's Market, but if you want your staples, and don't want to have to deal with the hassle of pay-for-parking or transit and crowds, check it out.  Great veggies and fruit, both of the organic and non-variety, a few baked goods, a local farm operation for some protein, and the mini-donut-mobile. What more could one ask for?

In the same skein, I'd also like to toss out a suggestion to check out the Salisbury Farmer's Market in Sherwood Park, the Johnson Family Farm is there every week and feature farm fresh cottage cheese, cream, butter, buttermilk and assorted offerings like pork and chicken. No word of a lie, this stuff takes me back to my Ukrainian-Canadian roots childhood and is the real deal. 

Music: Goldfrapp

Now I realize that not everyone has the same taste in music as me (we can't all be perfect, after all) but I figured I'd pimp these guys a bit because they're relatively unknown, but have some seriously great tunes. If you're into a rock/electronic kinda vibe, go preview a few songs on iTunes or your other online music service. I suggest Strict Machine and Train, both conveniently off their Black Cherry album. You may remember the songs from a couple of Nintendo commercials a few years back.  You'll also likely recognize Ooh La La from the album Supernature from a recent Lincoln car commercial. It'll get your toes-tappin' and your legs-a-dancin'!

Movies: Super 8

Now I was going to write an entire post about this movie, but didn't get around to it so I'll toss in a quick review here.  In short? I LOVED THIS MOVIE!! First off, let me say this movie was NOT at all what I expected, and Spielberg and Abrams didn't disappoint. I went in expecting another Independence Day'ish, kick-some-bad-alien-butt kind of movie, and I got...

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!....................

ET!! How awesome is that?!  My only complaint is I wanted more development of the alien's story and character, but otherwise I left this movie feeling like a kid again. It restored my faith that Hollywood can make more than just another summer-blockbuster, chock-full-of-special-effects kind of movie.  Now there are people reading this that are going yeah, whatever, chickie-poo. But seriously, this movie took me back to the 80's, when cinema (or at least the kind of cinema I enjoy) was still good, and had interesting characters, and wasn't all about the special effects.

But that's just my opinion. I encourage you to check it out for youself.

Book: The Story of Stuff

Last pimp, I promise. In fact, I won't even write a lot about this book, I'll just leave it at "It's a great read!". For more, check out my Martha-Stewart-personalities review of it on my other blog, located here.   

The coffee-stain monster

As you may have surmised from a previous post recommending actions to do and not do at 4am, I am a shift worker.  Often-times on night shifts, my brain goes some pretty weird places, and during zombie-walks (walks in which one stumbles along in a (usually) vain attempt to wake oneself up) the office building that I work in can be a pretty creepy place.

 For a few weeks now, this lovely coffee stain has greeting me at the entrance to our work area, and ever since it appeared, I've been thinking this stain is really not what it seems.

 This, dear reader, is what you might see upon viewing it:


This, however, is what I see:

Yup, the night shift does some really strange things to one's brain.  Although I should add the caveat that I see this stain the same way during the day too. 

 What can I say?  Random...