my name is john
these are my words.
Still alive…
Mar 7th
…just haven’t had time to blog!
Here’s something to tide you over until I figure out what I want to write.
+J
Dispatches from the Road : Live from New York – Day 1
Sep 27th
The phrase “larger than life” is cliche. But it is also an apt description for New York City. (I prefer “Toronto on steroids” as a description, but the first one works just as well.)
I arrived in Manhattan on Friday night at about a quarter to seven after a week of sessions at the National Association of Broadcasters conference in Philadelphia (another amazing city, but that’s for a later blog post.)
After getting off the train (yes, I traveled like the locals… using commuter rail) I proceeded to look confused and started to make my way back up toward the surface. As I emerged from Penn Station, I looked up and realized I had seen this sight many times before, notably most recently in the teenage awww-fest “Nick and Norah’s Infinte Playlist.” If you are exposed to pop culture of any significance, you’ll find yourself flowing between the sensation of “giddy” to “familiar” on a trip to NYC.
I marched down the street as if I knew where I was going… en route to my hotel, Hotel Metro.
This is a great little gem in a fantastic location. Just east of 6th Avenue and Broadway on West 35th Street, Hotel Metro is an elegant and rather inexpensive option for travelers who don’t plan on spending much time in their hotel room, but want something a little more than budget when they are there. In many ways, it is quite similar to the incredible Hotel Victoria in Toronto, which also features smaller but nicely appointed rooms, complete with a marble bathroom, freshly laid carpet, and a nice, big TV. (My rate was around USD$200 a night… a steal in midtown.)
After checking in and dropping my bags, it was time to explore! And explore I did.
Like a fly gravitating toward a porch light, I too found myself compelled to see the spectacle that is Times Square at night. Times Square is everything you expect it to be… big, bright, flashy, noisy, crowded, and striking. In a way, it’s a great commentary on the state media and marketing in our modern age — when every sign is flashing brightly and trying to get your attention, nothing is striking or particularily stands out. There are duelling Jumbotrons competing for your attention, chasing lights which attempt to chase you through the doors of the businesses they are erected for, and loud, carnival barker-like individuals who want you to choose them if you choose to part with your money.
But for as loud as Times Square is, it is fantastic. An absolute treat.
After exploring Time Square, I made the treck two blocks east to 6th Avenue and quite possibly the most famous address in New York City — 30 Rock.
While 30 Rock is well known for being home to NBC, it is also home to a jaw-dropping view of the city at its Top of the Rock observation deck. For $20, you get a ride up to the 67th floor, where you can mount two additional escalators to go as high as 69 stories above the big apple. The view is spectacular. NYC looks like it stretches for miles, and miles, and miles (and it does.) Very impressive!
After spending about an hour up in the air, I rode back down to the ground level, and went off to find food. But before I did, I decided to stroll down the West 49th Street side of 30 Rock… to find a lineup of people stretching nearly a block waiting to get standby tickets for Saturday’s dress rehearsal and live performance of the season premiere of Saturday Night Live. (More on this line in my Day 2 posting!) Needless to say, there were some real troopers who REALLY wanted to see Studio 8H in person.
I made my way back to the hotel and ended up grabbing a hamburger on the way back to the hotel (as most of the restaurants near the hotel had closed up shop for the night.)
It hadn’t been even 24 hours in NYC when I made the decision… I will be coming back. It’s not a question of if… but rather – when.
Five Things I Learned in Las Vegas
Sep 5th
1. Sometimes, you see things you just can’t explain. Like furries dancing on a stripper pole at JET Nightclub.
(JET, by the way, was an incredible night out. So good that I’m almost certain I can never go to a nightclub back home and have a good time… ever… again. It’s also very cool that for about $100, you can play like a VIP for one night. Very cool.)
2. Driving in Las Vegas is not a good idea. Driving the Las Vegas Strip at night is an even worse idea. Cutting off a city bus driver? An epic bad move.
We were watching with our mouths agape as the angry white haired man driving us down the strip got out of the bus, and started to berate the people in the stretch limo/utility van in front of us. He really needs to stop eating Corn Flakes after peeps pee in them…
3. The Fremont Street Experience is just that… an experience.
This woman must REALLY be a KISS fan. She rocked out for the entire 10 minutes that the KISS light show was going on above head. Fremont Street is a sad reminder of the cheap, tacky and gritty days of Las Vegas’ history… but the lights are still cool!
4. Every casino has a theme.
Clearly the Excalibur’s is slutty dancers and dirty carpets. Seriously, though, we had much fun at Excalibur. Dick’s Last Resort is a fun dining experience, the steakhouse was cheap and casual, and in general it has an animal house feeling to it. We still preferred our time at our own hotel – the MGM Grand. IT was fantastic!
5. The city never sleeps.
We walked home from JET on Monday night at 4am… and we weren’t the only ones out and about. Granted… it was much less busy than I had pictured, but it is indeed possible to party all day and all night in Las Vegas.
A great holiday! It’s not a question of ‘if’ we’re going back… it’s ‘when’.
BONUS – #6… You can get anything in Vegas.
Boom, bust and echoes
Jun 20th
If you’re fascinated by modern ruins like I am, then you’ll want to pick up this month’s Canadian Geographic magazine for a piece on the community of Uranium City, Saskatchewan.
In 1982, the mine at Uranium City closed down and the community of 8000+ saw its population rapidly decline. Today, the town is a shell of its former self.
Photojournalist Daniel Hayduk prepared the piece for the magazine and has additional coverage on his website. It is a great read with stunning images. There is also a companion video Daniel prepared, which is over on Youtube.
Why the iPhone 3GS is not a must-buy
Jun 8th
Apple launched the 2009 edition of the Worldwide Developers Conference with two big announcements – a launch date for the much-anticipated iPhone 3.0 operating system, and the new iPhone 3GS hardware. While the new OS is a must-have for any iPhone owner, the 3GS is more like a hardware version of a .1 release and not a must-buy.
The new 3GS is promised to have improved performance that will outpace the processing power of current-release iPhones, but the tangible hardware-exclusives are not worth the unsubsidized price-point current 3G owners will have to shell out.
3GS owners will have a built-in compass (ummm…), built-in video recording, editing and upload (something that admittedly has me drooling, but is also a first-gen release), and a new 3MP camera (again… for serious pics, I’m using my REAL digital camera and not a phone). That leaves improved performance of apps like Safari, Mail, etc. as selling points, and THAT is not enough to make me want to upgrade.
Come OS3.0 day, iPhone 3G owners will effectively end up with brand new phones – complete with landscape keyboard in key apps, push notifications, tethering, MMS, new APIs which will equal hot new apps, and more. For a guy like me who tweets, checks Facebook, ends the occasional e-mail and surfs the web a bit, OS3.0 will be all the upgrade I need… for now.
So – how long should one wait to upgrade hardware? I don’t know about you, but I’m waiting until:
- video editing gets a solid point revision
- I can’t run 3rd party killer apps on the 3G hardware
- iChat and iSight come to the iPhone
- a major OS overhaul which requires new hardware
- my current phone breaks (knock on wood, this won’t happen in the next 25 months)
In short – to all my iPhone 3G friends… wait! 3GS may be faster and have a couple of new bells and whistles… but I don’t believe it is necessary to change hardware just yet!
Sent from my iPhone 3G. 
+J
5 months, 40 pounds
May 9th
Before :
Back in the day (late November 2008) :
235 pounds
38″ waist on jeans
L-XL T-Shirts
L Dress Shirts
After:
Today’s numbers (May 9, 2009) :
- 194 pounds
- 33-34″ waist on jeans
- M-L T-Shirts
- M Dress shirts
Goal :
- 185 pounds
- 32-33″ waist on jeans
- M T-Shirts
- M Dress Shirts
A standoff in the neighbourhood
Apr 12th
The police presence – while noticable – isn’t attracting attention from area residents. But six police cars and an ambulance dotting a block in the quiet neighbourhood of Lakeview is an unusual sight.
Inside a duplex is a man police say won’t come out. Police tell CKOM News he’s the ex-husband of a woman living at the residence. Police allege he assaulted her before they were called to the scene. The woman and her three children escaped from the duplex, and the man now remains inside.
As the standoff continues, residents stroll by and children play in the street – seemingly unaware of what is happening.
Five things I don’t eat anymore (and five things I do)
Mar 29th
This morning is a bit of a happy one for me. It’s the first time in 3-4 years that I’ve stepped on a scale to see the number 200 show up. Pretty cool – considering that at the end of November I was weighing in at 235.
(In other by-the-numbers news, my jean size has dropped from 38 to 34 in that same period of time… and I’m now buying medium t-shirts for the first time since I was 14.)
People have been asking me about what I’ve been doing to drop weight… and to quote a colleague of mine who has also dropped a lot of weight recently, “it’s 90% what you put in your mouth.” Granted – I’ve been on a pretty regimented gym routine – but I attribute a lot of the shrinking to changing my eating habits.
But the weight loss does come at the expense of my palate and some favourite things I used to chow down on that I don’t anymore. So… here it is. The list of five things I don’t eat anymore (but kinda miss)…
1. KFC Gravy
The Colonel had a secret recipe not only for great chicken, but also for a killer gravy. And killer indeed. An individual serving clocks in at 100 calories (63 of those from fat), 7g of fat, and 750mg of sodium. Yikes! Still… I kinda miss it…
2. McDonald’s anything…
Back in January, I had a craving for McDonald’s that I had to satisfy. So, on my way home from work I picked up a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Medium Fries, and a Diet Coke. After not having eaten McD’s for some time, it was the most vile thing I had eaten in a long time. Simply put… every time I get a craving for something from the golden arches, I think of that experience back in Janaury (and how ill I felt afterward), and I remember why I don’t eat there anymore.
3. Starbucks Sweets…
Mmmm… Venti Coffee Frappuccino… Venti Non-Fat Caramel Macchiato… Apple Fritters… They all taste so good. And are soooo sugar filled. I’ve nuked them all from my Starbucks routine. Today, I’m a Venti Americano guy, and if I’m craving something sweet, I’ll reach for a Tall Black Tea Shaken Lemonade (and that is a rare treat.)
4. Chocolate (kind of)
I shouldn’t say I’ve eliminated chocolate completely from my life. It’s the one thing I simply can’t nuke. But I’ve changed how I consume it. I might go for a single Mars bar per week. Or a handful of M&Ms from the quarter vending machine in the kitchen at work. But I don’t keep it in the house. And usually if I’m reaching for a chocolate bar, it’s a comfort thing — so it’s a good chance to check up on my “how am I feeling” factor…
5. Cookies
Again, I’ll never turn down the rare offer of a cookie from a friend (thanks to JGL producer Tammy on Thursday for bringing in some fab oatmeal-raisin cookies from Tastebuds), but I don’t actively seek out cookies anymore. Chewy chocolate chip have always been the go-to thing for me… and buying a bag of them would usually end up seeing them devoured in a single night.
So, while I’ve excised five things I loved from my diet, there are five things I do eat with some routine or regularity…
1. Almonds
These are the ultimate go-to snack at work for me. I keep a bag on my desk, and when I get the munchies I grab about half-a-handful. They are protein and fiber-rich, and are good for keeping me from wanting to snack.
2. Chicken
I love chicken. I always have. At home, I usually prepare it as a stirfry. I often pick a lot of prepared-lunches with it in (ie: SmartOnes Chicken Parmesan, Lean Cuisine Chicken Carbonara). I’m a huge fan of using chicken as much as possible…
3. Hamburgers
Yes. Hamburgers. This is the once a week treat that I can totally justify. The patties I buy are the Safeway Eating Right Extra Lean Steakhouse burgers. They are low in sodium… and taste awesome. They let me get away feeling I’m still eating a hamburger without all the crap found in fast food ones…
4. Apples
An apple a day keeps the doctor away, right? They’re one of the few sources of sugar I take in on a daily basis. Juicy and tasty and good-for-you.
5. Rice
I can’t remember the last time I cooked a potato. But I really love using rice if I need a starch with a meal. It really adapts well to many different flavours, and is easy to cook.
So there you have it… not a food diary per se, but a tiny glimpse in to what I’m eating (and what I’m not).