What is On Jeffs' Mind

The past few weeks have started to get cold here in Northern Alberta, the weather has been hovering around the 0 mark. Last week there was a bit of wind, which is never really fun. We have had a bit of snow, but really a dusting and it has not stayed around very long. I prepared a few weeks ago by getting snow tires for our Mazda 3,  but haven’t gotten to test them out yet. I guess I should be enjoying this rather nice fall, as I am pretty sure once the snow comes, it will be staying around for good, and by the time Mid January, I will be wishing for the temperatures we are having right now.

Tao tao and I travelled to Calgary over the weekend. On Friday night, there was a Surprise birthday party for my Uncle. He is turning 70 in December, but they wanted to have it early as to surprise him. From the look of it, he was very surprised. There was a lot of people at the reception, probably around 200, and plenty of food to eat as well. I suspect if I get to 70, they would have a tough time finding 20 people who want to come to mine, so it is a realy testament to how many people my Uncle has encountered in his life, and the positive impact he has had on them.

On Saturday, Tao tao and I went for Dim Sum with Jason at the Silver Dragon Dim Sum restaurant in Calgary. It was pretty good, and always nice to try different Dim Sum restaurants, as they always have something a little different. We had a few different variations on siu mai, which is alright as that is always a favorite of mine. We had a good visit, and caught up on things, and talked a bit about our next podcast for champodcast. Jason and I are both down about IndyCar, and the whole merge from earlier in the year, we both have the same mindset, that maybe we don’t care about the series anymore, as it seems stagnant.

After Dim Sum, we walked around Calgary’s China town for a little bit, as Tao tao wanted to buy some things from the Chinese Bakery, Unfortunately, it looked like the bakery she wanted to go to had shut down. Jason left to head to work for a few hours, and Tao tao and I headed over the the Pacific Place mall, so she could get some DVD’s. It is Chinese Mall, and Tao tao always likes to go when she is in Calgary. I find it tough mall to get to, as it is always very busy around there, and always takes time to get out of the parking lot after. After she was finished shopping, we headed back home to St. Albert. Tao tao wanted to practice driving on the Highway, so once we go to Red Deer, she took over. The drive home was a lot nicer then going, as less traffic. When we went down on Friday night, it was bumper to bumper the whole way down. It was not much fun, as either you are trying not to run into people driving under the speed limit, or you are trying to keep out of the was of people going over it by a lot.

Earlier in the week, I got a new Christmas CD from my Friend Rick. He had recorded a Star Trek Themed Christmas CD, and did a great job of it. He has a great talent and a creative mind, and penned some awesone lyrics. Probably what impresses me the most, is the Star Trek detail he put into the CD, Rick knows Star Trek very well, and the lyrics he has written show it. This is a really fun CD to listen to, and I am looking forward to making fun Christmas mix on my iPod, with my other favorite Christmas CD’s such as Christmas in the Stars and the Twisted Sister Christmas CD. To check out Ricks Christmas cd, go here.

Two more weeks until my December Holiday, I am looking forward a lot to it, as I really need a break to sort of recharge, and find the fun in life gain.

Last Friday Paul and I went to see Iron Maiden, and I was blown away. It had been many years since the last time I had saw them, but I think this was the best I had ever seen them. Rexall place was jammed with fans of all ages, and you could feel a real buzz in the air.  When we first got to Rexall Place, I wanted to get a tour shirt, we had to wait about 40 minutes, as it was lined up for tour merchandise. Steve Harris daughter opened the show, her music was alright, and she had a lot of energy, but everyone was there to see Maiden. I was so pumped when Maiden hit the stage finally, they started off with Aces High and then Into 2 Minutes to midnight. I really like Powerslave, so happy to hear those songs again. They played classic after classic, and they had a lot. Like some concerts where people duck out for beer or a smoke or bathroom when a slow number comes up, or something new, no chances here. The guy beside me left for a bit, but at the wrong time, as the highlight of the night for me was Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner. It is a long song, and it was the first time I ever heard it live. The production values for this concert were top rate, with a beautifully designed stage, and some great banners in the back. Near the end of the Show Eddie made his appearance, first a large one from behind the stage during the song Iron Maiden, then later wandering onto the stage during the encore for The Clairvoyant. This was strictly classics this time around, so none of the new stuff, I would have liked to hear Paschendale, but that is so very minor really as every song they played was solid and a classic. This was one of the best concerts if not best concert I have ever gone to. Up the Irons.

Not much happening lately for me. On Wednesday, Paul and I went to see rush at Rexall Place. It was a pretty good concert, really long, and there were a lot of songs that I did not really recognize, such as some of their newer songs. I was happy that they played Subdivisions, as that is my favorite Rush song.

Today I had the exciting day of cleaning my house, as it had gotten quite dirty. A few weeks back I had bought a new vacuum cleaner, and I could really tell a difference over the old one. I filled up the canister a few times with a lots of dirt I got off the floor. Wow, I must be getting old, or boring if my blog has come to me talking about a Vacuum cleaner.

Will try and post every few days some shorter Blogs like this, but still write some longer ones as well

On Sunday night, my brother Paul and I went to see Van Halen. This was my first concert in well over 10 years, the last band I had seen, was Van Halen, with Sammy Hagar. I was excited to go as I had never seen Van Halen with David Lee Roth. I must say that this concert was awesome, and all the songs were real Vintage Van Halen, nothing past the 1984 album. For the most part, I knew all the songs, though a few that I could not pick up on. I had listened to them a lot growing up, though a few I had not heard in probably over 15 years as I only had the records on Tape. To hear a song like Somebody get me a doctor or Mean Streets really brings back some memories. Van Halen seemed to be really on it, they played well together, and had a lot of energy for such an old band. Eddies son Wolfgang did a great job as well. I am happy that I went to the concert, had a great time, and really got into singing along to all the classic songs they had, and they played a lot.