Rock and Rule!

Does anyone remember this?



It's a Canadian animated film from 1983 called 'Rock and Rule.' I saw it when I as a kid and, for some reason, it's stayed with me ever since; although I did not see it again until recently. The story takes place in a post apocalyptic world populated by mutant rats and dogs. Mok (the shadowy figure in the above clip) is an aging, emaciated rock legend, akin to Keith Richards or Iggy Pop, who is trying to summon a demon during a concert to kill his fans, as revenge for his poor record sales. Angel, the blonde rat -woman in the clip, has the voice Mok needs to complete the ritual, hence the flashing ring.
Despite the fact that it was a canadian animated film, such musicians as Lou Reed, Iggy Pop (ironically), Cheap Trick and Earth, Wind and Fire contributed original songs. In fact, that's Debbie Harry, of Blondie, singing in the clip.
It's a very strange movie, and the dialogue seems as if it was written in a foreign language and then translated, though I know that's not the case. I'm not sure if I can recommend it to anyone who has not had the song featured in the clip playing in their head for fifteen fucking years, as I have.
Oh, in case you were wondering, in the clip the taciturn fellow with the red hair storms off because he's upset at Angel's insistence on playing her song. By the end, after Mok summons his demon, the only way to send the demon back is for them to sing the song together:



Proving once again, the fifth element is love.

Goofy Fails to Quit Smoking

I assure you, this is completely real; I remember seeing this when I was a kid. It was part of a series of Disney cartoons where Goofy attempts to deal(frequently unsuccessfully) with the pressures of modern life; there is another film where he tries to lose weight, and another where he tries to tolerate his obnoxious child. It's actually a pretty accurate depiction of smoking, if I may say.

THE WORLD OF TOMORROW ROW row ro...

I knew someone would jump on this technology when the tradeshow demos started circulating on youtube about a year ago. I just fucking wish it wasn't microsoft!

(make sure to check out the 3 video demos under experience.

I give you, Microsoft Surface.

I'm addicted to you tube

First the Starcraft 2 Trailer, you can even find gameplay videos on youtube. It looks so sweet!!


Next up John Rambo, yes they made a 4th Rambo. This doesn't really get good until midway!!


Now here's a new show on FOX. The Sarah Conner Chronicles. Hasta la vista, Baby!


Sweet the latest Transformers trailer!

New Movie Trailer

Latest and greatest!

Well I was excited to go the clinic today because I was having my cast removed. Now cutting off the cast and taking off the bandages went slowly but smoothly. It required soaking the bandages where the blood dried the gauze to the skin and some slow peeling.
Now part 1 of 2 of the suckyness, yes I just made up a word to describe it, when you have a skin graft they take just the top layer of skin from the donor site and in this case it was my left thigh. For the recovery process they have this saran wrap like material that is sticky on one side, and yes the sticky side goes toward the skin. Where ever they took the skin it doesn't stick because the blood and discharge keep it wet, everywhere else it's stuck and no soaking will help because it's plastic. The nurse was awesome and has a ton experience at taking this stuff off thereby has many methods at removing it.
Method 1, pull quick like a band aid, now this saran wrap is big and went from above my knee to under my hip, why she started with the area next to my boys I don't know. The first jerk and a sting that rang through every part of my body was enough to ask for a different approach.
Method 2, pull more slowly and at an angle perpendicular from the skin. All I can say about this method is that it felt like she was taking another layer of skin to do another skin graft. Strike two.
Method 3, pull slowly at an angle almost parallel to the skin. Ahh, granted this was the slowest way off doing it but was the most bearable and didn't have me twitching every two seconds. Great my thigh is completely exposed and it was quickly redressed with Mepilex Ag. This stuff is not supposed to stick... as much!
Back to the hands. To keep the skin stretched over graft site the have to secure it to the surrounding healthy skin. On the right thumb they used dissolving sutures which you might be able to see in the photos. On the left had the graft site was maybe like ten times bigger, my doctor was pretty funny and she joked that she didn't want to do a bunch of sutures and decided on using staples. When I first saw all the staples all I could think was "I have a franken-hand." Now comes part 2, if you look at the picture of my left hand you will see a couple of the staples that fell out and how the are shaped, now imagine those digging into your skin. The tool that they use to remove the staples look like a pair of nail clippers, and the way they work is that one part goes under the staple but on top the skin. The second part of the tool comes down on top of the staple, bending it in half, it looked like a metal bird of prey releasing its talons out of a fresh carcass. Needless to say this was very uncomfortable, especially on the back of the hand and on the inside of the wrist. After all of that my hands were redressed, this time in a manner that I can actually hold stuff. The physiotherapist gave some new exercises and the doc set me up with a follow up next week!

Left Thigh
Right Thumb
Left Hand

Just to remind y'all...

...I will be in town on Sunday Sunday Sunday. I get in around midnight-ish, and I'm sorry about that as I know a lot of you wanted to greet me at the airport with roses and signs and such ("Nick we (heart) you!" "Nick U R dreamy!"
But, Monday onwards I will be at your disposal, so dispose away, and I assure you it will not affect my disposition (cle-ver!).
Bit of a piss-off that I missed Marco's wedding, and now that I'm coming back he's suddenly leaving on his honeymoon. Pretty passive aggressive, Marco.
Oh, and that Matt and Amanda are coming to Winnipeg the day after I leave. Yeah, fuck you guys, too. Didn't wanna see you anyway. I like your house.
Incidentally, if by any chance there's a thunderstorm on Saturday night, and any of you find yourselves in conversation with a stranger, I want you to pause, look gravely at the encroaching storm clouds and say: "Mother of God, Nick's coming..."
See you next week.

Ronnie 8 hours after surgery.

I'M IN FUCKING LOVE!

sorry Jackie.

The Saga Continues

The past couple of weeks have been pretty frustrating for me, but today was just an added kick in nuts when I'm already rolling on the ground screaming "I give!"

I had a doctors appointment scheduled this morning at 8:30 and Shereen and I woke up nice and early to get ready. After we were all dressed and ready to go, Shereen went to go get her purse but couldn't find it. I then went to my hat and noticed that my wallet was missing, great! We looked around and all the windows and doors were locked except for one, where I noticed scuff marks underneath, and in the garden was one of our 35mm cameras. That's when we noticed my camera bag missing. So what appears to have happened is that someone sneaked in through the window after everyone was asleep, yes everyone was home and sound asleep, rummaged through only the living room and jetted. I called the burn clinic where I was supposed be in the next 15 minutes to let them know that I was going to be late, when we heard a knock at the door. It was Erin from upstairs, and she had Shereens purse with her, apparently it was left on their doorstep. Shereen went through her bag and the only things missing was her Ipod and a shitload of quarters she had from doing laundry the other night, her wallet was still in there so she doesn't have to replace any ID. Erin filed a police report for us. Off to the burn clinic.

Shereen and I arrived at the clinic at about 9:30, not to bad only an hour late, but they knew. So a nurse sat us down in one of the rooms and said that she'll be back to take the dressings off and let the doctor know we there. By the time she came back I had more than half the wrappings off, they've been itching like a meth head for the past week. The nurse cut the rest off. After a few minutes of waiting Dr. Boyle came in along with the plastic surgeon, two younger ladies that were either interns or clerks, I don't remember, and a medical person from the military. I love an audience. So they looked over my hands, compared them to the pics from last week and decided on surgery. The nurse came back after and redressed my hands, followed by the plastic surgeon who explained the skin graft procedure. They plan on being able to find time early next week to do the surgery. I will get one days notice and will not be allowed to eat after midnight, otherwise I might turn into a gremlin!

We came back home, and I decided not to go into work for the afternoon because I now need to replace my ID. I grabbed my passport and birth certificate and Shereen, Rocel, and I headed downtown. Shereen had an exam to write so she went off to school. First Rocel and I went to the DMV to get my drivers license replace, I gave them my ID and they asked me a few questions, one being "Do you remember the colour of the shirt you were wearing in your picture?" Next we went to the bank and I got my new debit card and canceled my old one. Now I just need to call Manitoba Health to get my card replaced. The most expensive thing in my wallet was my bus pass.

Fast forward a 40 min bus ride and we're back home now. The phone rings, it's the plastic surgeon from the hospital. They were able to find time for me tomorrow to do my surgery. I thought I was going to have a few days to prepare myself before going under the knife, now I have like a few hours.

Here's more pictures
Left Hand
Right Thumb

Cab rides back and forth from the hospital: $100
Stolen bus pass, SLR camera, Ipod nano: $69, $400, 2500 airmiles
Hands that smell like a wet dog's ass for 3 weeks: Priceless

So how was everyone else's past three weeks?

I'm going away

Colleen and I are off on our for real Honeymoon. We are heading to Europe for 30 days. May 6 to June 4. So unfortunately I won't be are for Matt and Amanda's visit, but the cottage in June sounds excellent. We are doing a two week Contiki bus tour that will take us around western Europe followed by two weeks on our own visiting friends and family.

It should be quite the adventure and I will be very very poor by the time it is through. Now that I'm signed in to this blog, I will try to update it while across the pond.

Hope to see everyone once I get back.

Update

So I went back to burn clinic again today, it's still undetermined whether or not I'll need any skin grafting. I'll have to wait again until next week. Also I booked my vacation time for June 15th-25th, I thought you may need another soldier to invade Winnipeg beach. Well here are some more pics from today and some hilarious videos I saw.

Left Hand
Right Thumb