list–noun
[list]
1. a series of names or other items written or printed together in a meaningful grouping or sequence
If you remember a previous post about my favourite resource for live music in Ottawa, then you may be as sad as I was to find out that Stillepost.ca has been shutdown.
For weeks I was at a loss as to where to find a good listing of local live music. I would search all the popular venue's websites each and every weekend looking to see what was happening in Capital City. It became tedious, and I thought 'Hey, if now one else is going to compile all these listings then I guess the task is up to me.'
If you like live music and find the resource useful, please share My Ottawa Show Listings with all your friends. Also, if anyone would like to help keep the site up-to-date I could really use the help.
Sure there were a few lows along the way, but the highs have definitely outweighed any lows that I have encountered. I've become a better and stronger person and will be able to tackle any challenges that present themselves in 2011 with confidence and clarity.
I hope you all have a wonderful New Year's Eve and are happy and content with the outcome of 2010. Just remember, things are never as bad as they seem. Patience and persistence will see you through any challenge.
For myself the New Year will be a year of some pretty big changes and as apprehensive as I may be I'm still excited to see where this new adventure will take me.
MIA-noun
[ěm'ī-ā']
1. A member of the armed services who is reported missing following a combat mission and whose status as to injury, capture, or death is unknown
So I've been away for some time, neglecting this poor blog, for that I do apologize to both you Dear Reader and to you poor blog.
So lets play some catch up shall we?
Around mid April I was given notice that my contract would be ending on May 31st, it's been two whole weeks now that I've been underemployed, and a whole month since I have gotten a pay cheque. For a guy that unfortunately lives hand to mouth, this friends is not a good situation to be in. On the plus side I have managed to get a couple of writing jobs and am still slowly working on my Freelance Writer website.
On May 1st I headed back to Golden BC for a few weeks to visit with the most amazing girl. It was a bittersweet visit however, as I do not think I will ever get a chance to see her again.
After that I came back to Capital City for a week, then headed off to the Muskoka's to hang out at a cottage and clear my mind. I did some visiting back in Hometown and returned once again to Capital City. In my downtime, while looking for some means of gainful employment I put together a little blog network, which I have called My Big List Of Blogs. I'm not sure what I am going to do with it, but hopefully I'll get a little traffic and gain some much needed income with this pet project of mine.
So where does Chasing Distractions go from here?
I should be putting my efforts into finding some work, getting my life back together, but my ever-muddled mind still has the urge to chase distractions. Lately I've been focusing that energy on entering contests, you all know how I love winning stuff. Yesterday I won a ride in the Bluesfest limo, got treated to a Subway lunch and was handed 4 day passes for the festival. Today I put my efforts into winning some NXNE passes, but sadly I didn't win. But never fear Dear Reader, this story does have a happy ending, fellow CBC Radio3 blogger MoniSki graciously offered me one of her own NXNE passes. How awesome is that?
On Thursday morning I plan on taking what little funds I have, jumping into my Granpa mobile and heading down to the Big Smoke for one last weekend of music and excitement. Maybe I'll even run into The Details again.
Oh speaking of The Details, in an old post I mentioned testing out recording audio with my digital handheld recorder, it worked and the quality was much better. So I'll leave you with a video from that show back in March.
con⋅test–noun
[kon-test]
1. a competition between rivals, as for a prize
Well not really from Chasing Distractions, but in my effort to get myself to the Olympic Games (as a volunteer), I decided to enter some contests. Being the nice guy that I am I thought I would share them with you too.
The following companies are giving away a free trip to the 2010 Olympic Games:
game–noun
[geym]
1. a competitive activity involving skill, chance, or endurance on the part of two or more persons who play according to a set of rules, usually for their own amusement or for that of spectators It’s a rainy Saturday afternoon here in Capital City, staying inside mourning the loss of Summer I’m beginning to feel a little bit bored and a little bit anxious with my financial situation. As you may know, when boredom and anxiety hits I turn to the internet to find some distractions.
Today I stumbled across a site called SkillAddiction.com. This site hosts free online games that you can Play and Win prizes ranging from as little as $5 to upwards of $1,000. The games vary from strategy, action and arcade games to puzzles and card games. If you become a member you can join up to 5 different types of tournaments, including head to head, group tournaments, and progressive jackpot tournaments. The site may be relatively new but they already boast thousands of members and over 50,000 tournaments running daily. With over $10,000 already won by players this could be a fun way to try to pay down my enormous debt.
The only shortcoming I have found with the site so far is the time it takes to actually register. After stumbling across SkillAddiction.com I excitedly sign-up for an account, after close to 30 minutes was still waiting for my verification email. Although it does take some time, it is well worth the wait, so try to be patient, you will thank me for it.
If you end signing up for an account leave your user name in the comments section and I’ll challenge you one of these days. I have to warn you, I got some skills.
Phog Lounge, Windsor, Ontario Saturday, July 11th, 2009
Many local Windsor Bands will be performing during the Free All Day Event (charges for the VIP section). CBC Radio 3 will be there for a live broadcast of headliner Holy Fuck.
I wish I could make it down to Windsor for this concert, but I already have passes for Bluefest here in Capital City. For all those that are going to attend, enjoy!
o⋅ver⋅stim⋅u⋅late–verb [oh-ver-stim-yuh-leyt] 1. to stimulate to an excessive degree 2. to expose to excessive stimulation I don’t know if anyone else experiences the same phenomena, but whenever I am in a new place for the first time I find it hard to take in my surroundings. It seems my vision can only concentrate on one particular thing at a time. I have a centre focal point and everything surrounding is shrouded in a mist. It is as if my brain cannot comprehend this new environment and goes into overload. The side effect usually is that when I return to a place it seems much smaller than I originally thought.
Last night I attended a concert as part of BC Scene here in Capital City. I ‘won’ two tickets from my favourite radio station CBC Radio3, and although my attention was focused on both Dan Mangan and Danny Michel who are amazing artists, I had to blink away the mist that kept crowding my vision. Regardless of my encroaching mist problem the concert, held at the First Baptist Church, was simply amazing, hard bench pews and all.
If you would like to listen to the concert, which was recorded live, it should be available at CBC’s Concert on Demand. You can also see some live videos and read a better review of the concert from Emily Chen.
con·test-noun [kŏn'těst'] 1. A struggle for superiority or victory between rivals It started a month ago with a list of 114 nominated venues from coast to coast. Then the Top 50 were announced, then the Top 20. A week ago, it was the Top 10... and today the Grand Prize winner of the CBC Radio3 Searchlight Best Live Music Club in Canada was announced.
Congrats to the Phog Lounge located in Windsor, Ontario!
As the Grand Prize winner the Phog Lounge will receive:
It started a month ago with a list of 114 nominated venues from coast to coast. Then the Top 50 were announced, then the Top 20. A week ago, it was the Top 10... and today the Grand Prize winner of the