Today is the first day of Canada's Do Not Call List. I tried several times during lunch hour to register and each time I was told "The service is not available. Please try again later." Frankly, I am not surprised. I am sure like many other Canadians, the amount of "Spam" calls is out of control. Everyday, I come home to at least 2-3 calls on my answering machine. And not normal human calls. They are automated and unsolicited 5 minute messages selling/offering products, that I have no need or want for. It drives me batty. I can't wait to register my phone number. Even though the list excludes several groups including political parties and newspapers, the majority of my calls are not from them. Most of the calls I get are from "questionable" companies who somehow thought I would care to do a survey or buy some useless product or service from them. Once I register, I will make sure after 30 days notice period, I am vigilant in reporting violations. In case you are interested in more about the "do not call" list in Canada, here are the basics:

Your registration is valid for a three (3) year period and becomes effective thirty-one (31) days after you register. You will not be notified when your three (3) year registration period expires. If you want your registration to continue without interruption, you should re-register your number(s) before the registration period expires.

Registering on the National DNCL will not eliminate all telemarketing calls as there are some exemptions, including calls for or on behalf of:

• Canadian registered charities;
• Organizations that you have done business with in the past eighteen (18) months, or to whom you have made an inquiry in the past six (6) months;
• Political parties, candidates, and associations of members of a political party;
• Persons collecting information for a survey of members of the public;
• Newspapers of general circulation for the purpose of soliciting subscriptions;
• Persons or entities to whom you have provided express consent to be called; or
• Calls to businesses.

You may further reduce unwanted telemarketing calls by directly and expressly making a request to any of the above organizations (except for market research firms that collect information for a survey) to place your number(s) on their specific do not call list.

If you rceive a call from a group not listed above, 31 days after reigstering, you can file a complaint here.

***Update***
I am now on the do-not call list!

Been a sad time for me right now. My dog of 12 years just passed. RIP Peaches. Hope you are having fun up there in the sky. We miss you...

I am sad to report, I was not able to get any tickets. Oh well. The TV it is I guess

Yesterday I was trying to buy Habs Tickets for the 2008-09 season. The site was down. Now I have to wait for Wednesday. I hope I get the games I want...

As I covered his departure, from Montreal, I thought I should tell (remind) you the news: Terry DiMonte will be back on air daily with a new noontime show on Montreal's Q92, starting September 8. It will be a broadcast from Calgary.

Sorry I haven't written in a while. I was trying to eek out the last few days of summer. The reality of it being over has just hit me too hard to be in a mood to write, but I will soon again.

La Verita caught my eye the second I saw it appear, but tonight was the first time I had the delight to enjoy the treats within. It can be found in the old space once occupied by Java U in the Marche De L'Ouest parking lot, parallel to Madisons NYC. I had the pleasure to dine on the terrace, which was spacious and well designed. It had the art of class and casual just right. The music was loud enough to enjoy, but soft enough to hear others speak. The menu, which I had never seen outside the restaurant was still hidden until I sat. To be honest, this was the one reason I had never been to La Verita. I had no idea what they had to eat, and a search for a website found me hopeless. Finally, the curiosity got me, so I took the plunge for a meal, and learnt the secrets within. As they say at La Verita: "The Truth is out". The reason for a lack of menu, is the Chef, in his genius is using the freshest ingredients from the market, and changing the menu often. The deserts are to die for and homemade. No frozen, defrosted, or Costco packaged delight here--90% are made in-house according to our knowledgeable, friendly and good humored waiter. The main meals themselves were reasonably priced from 22-55 dollars. Appetizers were generous in size and fresh as one could imagine making at home. The Calamari was out of this world, as was the Buffalo cheese and tomato's. The main courses, covered from chicken, to veal, to lamb. Each in our party had there meal to the required tenderness and cooked to perfection. The meals came in fair portions for the money, and on plates lovely decorated with care. This is definitely a place to try out, to impress a business associate, to take a loved one, or celebrate a joyous occasion. Now the truth is out, and I hope everyone knows about one of the best restaurants in the West Island you've yet to dine at. Here is the information to contact the restaurant and make your reservation tonight:


La Verita
11680 Boul. de Salaberry, D.D.O, H9B 2R8
Telephone 514 684 4999


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It's done! Howard Stern's revolution can now continue. XM and Sirius have FINALLY been approved for merger by the FCC: "The commission gave its final nod to the merger late Friday in a 3-2 vote, following an agreement by the companies to voluntarily pay a combined $19.7 million in fines for prior FCC violations.... which included signal interference complaints and concerns that some receivers and signal towers didn't comply with federal guidelines...Under the terms of the deal, the companies agreed not to raise prices for the next three years and will set aside 8% of their content for educational and minority-focused programming. They'll also offer an à la carte option, allowing subscribers to pick and choose only the channels they prefer to receive." There is also an unwritten unofficial reason which is the fear of Howard Stern. It obvious there was some hope to delay this merger as long as possible. In many ways, the merger had to be approved now, being one of the longest merger cases in history. While there have been claims this will create a monopoly, the truth is satellite radio is just another form of entertainment fighting for users ears and dollars. There is competition from terrestrial radio, from iPod's, DVD's and more. But the wait is finally over for more than 18 million (and more to come now as the uncertainty is over)XM and Sirius subscribers! There are two groups of subscribers who will be really excited by this news. People who love Howard Stern and Sports fanatics. The hope now is people who love sports can now hear all four major sports on one service, and those that choose XM for certain channels, can also now get the Howard Stern Show. There is no word yet from XM Canada or Sirius Canada on what this means for consumers. Going by what was previously posted, it looks like this decision will not impact Canadian users. In Canada, XM and Sirius are separate entities as noted on the XM Canada website: "There will be no change in the service we deliver to our Canadian subscribers. This U.S. development has no immediate implications for Canadian subscribers. XM Canada is an independent Canadian-owned company that holds the exclusive license to provide XM Satellite Radio services in Canada. We remain committed to providing our subscribers with the finest digital audio entertainment and information services in the country.....The stated intent of our XM U.S. partner and Sirius is to maintain two separate satellite delivery systems. This will ensure that your XM radio will continue to operate as it does today for the foreseeable future. There will be no disruption or change to the availability of your XM service as we continue to deliver the best in commercial-free music, comedy, talk, news, and sports including coverage of the NHL, and exclusive coverage of MLB (Major League Baseball) and the PGA (Professional Golf Association). " So Canadian users will just have to wait patiently to see if anything develops., but it look as though the status quo is all Satellite Radio listeners in Canada can look forward to. Oh well...Nothing new about that I guess...

I am blown away I missed it so far,but I'm not sure if you did too. But just in case, let me tell you it's a fact! On October 23, 2008, the Smurfs officially become 50 years old. Wow! All the events are happening in Europe and you can check out the Official Smurf website for all the Smurfy events. To celebrate the Smurfs 50th, I offer a Smurf Name generator so you can get your own Smurf name. As well, I have also created a first of a kind English to Smurf Translator, so you can learn to speak Smurf yourself! I hope everyone enjoys this! For me, the Smurfs were part of my childhood. They came to North-America in the early 80's with Hanna & Barbera and became one of my favorite Saturday morning cartoons. For those that want to learn more, you can read here some Smurfs Facts!

Last night was a night to remember. Me and over 200,000 people sang and rocked with Sir Paul McCartney in Quebec City last night. It was the best concert event I have ever been to. In all honesty, I don't expect anything to top it in my lifetime. Sir Paul was on last night, and the vibe was beautiful. The fireworks were amazing. And the music....wow! Sir Paul McCartney has one heck of a catalogue to choose from. And believe it or not, I actually had some good seats, well good enough that my camera could get some good pics at least. So below I offer you a thumbnail of some of the shots from last night. It was something I'll never forget. Thank you Sir Paul for a wonderful night!

Here is the full set list from the concert last night.

Jet
Drive My Car
Only Mama Knows
All My Loving
Flaming Pie
Got To Get You Into My Life
Let Me Roll It
C Moon
My Love
Let Em In
Fine Line
The Long And Winding Road
Dance Tonight
Blackbird
Calico Skies
Follow The Sun
Michelle
Mrs Vanderbilt
Eleanor Rigby
Something
A Day In A Life / Give Peace a Chance
Good Day Sunshine
Too Many People / Bathroom Window
Penny Lane
Band On The Run
Birthday
Back In The USSR
I Got A Feeling
Live And Let Die
Let It Be
Hey Jude
Lady Madonna
Get Back
I Saw Her Standing There
Yesterday
Sgt. Peppers

The numbers are in for June and the news is great for Google. Almost 70% of US searches start at Google according to Hitwise. Now before I go further, I should say I am a user of Google and their products. I am a big fan. I am not a hater. However, I am afraid. How can one search engine have so much power? It's nerve racking to think, now more than ever, if you are not in Google, you don't exist. Look, the truth is, Google does a good job at search, better than anyone else in the mainstream. But not having another close competitor, make me uneasy. At the rate things are going, Google will be the only game in town in 5 years. I'm not asking for another choice, but I am also wondering if another choice could even compete. What do you think? Who do you use for search? Are you like most and stick to Google, then Yahoo and then MSN?

In Montreal, the drivers are crazy. I don't need to tell you that. They have no respect for signs or light. More specifically, a red light is solely a suggestion. On more than a dozen occasions this year, I have seen someone blow threw a relight. And today was not exception. A woman in a nice champagne Lexus in a construction zone, blew threw an obvious red light. This was not a yellow light. There was plenty of time to stop. The light had turned red, she stopped, looked to see the light on the other side of the intersection had not turned green and she went threw. I sat amazed again that no cop was present, or so I thought. To my delight, the response of "Where's a cop when you need one" was met with a flashing cop car pursuing the lady in her Lexus. As I sat in traffic, I saw the woman in her late 40's with Gucci sunglasses and her young daughter, in a private school outfit, sit trying to explain. The cop waived them off and handed them a ticket. A smile came to my face. It was nice also a reminder to be careful on the roads, not only for your own sake and those around you, but because it will be one hell of a ticket you really don't want to pay...

It took a good week of sweating and hard work, and I'm still reeling from the effects, but I am free from Yahoo Geocities. Actually, in many ways I have only myself to blame. When the Internet was just starting I got the domain that had my name: adrianspeyer.com. Call it vanity, call it a concern another Adrian Speyer would come by and take the name, call it fear of credit card fraud in the early days of the net. Yahoo and their subsidiary Geocities to host my website. Yahoo was (and still is) a household name. In 2004, it seemed like the safe bet as as a host. The main registrar used by Yahoo is MelbourneIT, which at the time had a high reputation as being a big player in the marketplace. So off I went to the wonderful world of creating my website and none the wiser. I had tolerated quite a bit from Yahoo over the years. It was not easy to use their file manager and it had major compatibility issues with my preferred browser Mozilla Firefox. Nevertheless I persisted. I was happy and fat (read lazy) paying my 8.95 a month for hosting. I might as well have been burning my money for what I was getting. I debated moving my domain in the past, but I was always scared about the whole process. How did it work? Would it be complex? Could I lose my domain name? I mean the whole idea of transfer and "unlocking" your domain made me sweat. And it really shouldn't have, but it did. Also I had to also undo the private registration and expose my home address and telephone number to everyone on the Internet. This is a defect in how they handle private registrations. They assign you a proxy (i.e. dummy) email address that is not linked to your account. In order to accept a transfer request you need to expose yourself to the world. So basically, the selling point that made private registration so appealing was now biting me in the ass. I just didn't realize that although my account was connected internally at Yahoo it wasn't externally like Godaddy has it done. In short, Yahoo, like many other companies, sold fear very well.

Then came all the news of Yahoo's instability over there future. Right, wrong or indifferent, reading all the news about how Yahoo was headed for a buy out or a restructuring made me even more nervous. It was final push I needed to jump ship. And so on July 4th, I made the decision to gain my Independence from Yahoo. I read up all over the Internet on how one needs to go about a domain transfer. Thank God for Google, I found some super resources, like this

Sorry for any mess, we're moving right now to new servers over at adrianspeyer.com. Thanks for your patience.... I hope to be back by the weekend...lots of stuff to move!

****
Domain Transfer is a bitch...more details to follow....

So it's probably not news to you by now that one of the grand masters of observational comedy has passed. Nevertheless, I must say say my piece about the ol' man of comedy. George Carlin always spoke the truth from his heart, and he always provided me a good laugh especially when I needed one. George Carlin was a comedy genius, and his was a timeless humor, which will be oft quoted, but never duplicated. Below is one of my favorite routines- and it's not a joke. It was how how George Carlin got the truth out. That's why he was one of my hero's. RIP George.

Maybe it's just me, but I just hate the Firefox 3's new "Awesome Bar". I don't want an auto-suggest. I want to have the freedom to type in the address as I see fit. I have favorites for a reason and i will use them if I need to. Also I don't care for everyone else that uses this computer to know where I have been. Other than that, Firefox 3 seems to be better than the previous version. Much faster, and less prone to crashing as I am working on it. So if you're like me, and would like to disable the "awesome toolbar",( which has no option in option to disable--shame on you Firefox), you will need to follow the below steps:

1. In the Location bar, type about:config, and press EnterReturn.
   • The about:config "This might void your warranty!" warning page may appear. Click I'll be careful, I promise!, to continue to the about:config page.
2. Search for the preference browser.urlbar.maxRichResults.
3. Double-click the browser.urlbar.maxRichResults preference and enter a value of -1.
4. From the menu at the top of the Firefox windowbar, select FileFirefox and then select the ExitQuit FirefoxQuit menu item.
5. Start Firefox again.

And that's all you need to do! Happy surfing :)

It's been a crazy week. Hillary Rodham Clinton finally realized that the math did add up to her winning, HNIC loses it's theme song used for forty years, 940 AM in Montreal is heading to an all music format and the apartment I live in has been sold AGAIN, to another company.

What a funny first paragraph, from international, to national, to local, to really local news.

Some thoughts on each:
I never though Hillary Clinton had a chance. Her normal speaking voice is fine, but when she yells or raised her voice, my skin crawled. I am happy Obama won, because I like his inspiring speeches. I am just not sure the silent majority in the US is ready for him. I am not sure Clinton will be the VP either. She probably has a deal behind the scenes for a cabinet position as Secretary of State, or something else. Obama needs a southerner to help him win.

HNIC theme. It's the theme for hockey. No matter what anyone says it's as Canadian now as maple syrup and canoes. But it will live on. I don't see it fading to black so soon. Especially with a Prime-Minister who is such a huge hockey fan. I won't die because it's not longer on the broadcast of HNIC, though. Like most Montrealers, I long ago switched to RDS to actually watch something other than maple leaf games.

The change of format at 940 AM from NEWS to Music is crazy. It's the AM band. Is there any music on the AM band? The quality of sound will kill the ability for anyone to listen at any length beyond 10 minutes. To bad 18 people have to lose their job in an experiment already tried (and failed) several times in this city. And besides with CD's, MP3's, Satellite Radio and more, why listen to the AM band? What would be a cool idea would be a festival station. A station that people could tune into that is related to whatever events are going on in the city. Beer Fest, Grand Prix, Jazz fest, Comedy fest, there would be plenty of things to keep people listening.

My apartment has been sold. New owners seem nice. We'll see what happens tough....

It's been a rough week. Kasey our cat had to go in to get spaded. Since the operation this past Thursday, she has had bad diarrhea and has now developed a hernia. Normally this would be the gist of the post. But the reality this week also saw a development I thought I would never have to report. On the same day Kasey went under the knife, I was taking my father to the hospital for a scheduled quadruple bypass. My father is a lucky one. He did not ignore the pains in his chest, or the tingling in his arm, the way his father had. he went and got tested. Sure enough they found enough blockages to make it serious. On Wednesday of last week they told him they would call him in during the next three weeks for surgery. It turned out it only took 24 hours after someone else's surgery was canceled due to them mistakenly popping Plavex (a blood thinner). I got the call mid-afternoon on Thursday at work.

"Hi Adrian, it's your father. I need you to come get me after work and take me to the hospital."
"Oh. Is it another test?"
"No, I am going in for the surgery. They just called me. See you at 6 PM. Please don't be late."

Trying to remain composed at work, I closed out the day as quickly as possible and drove my dad to the hospital. I stayed with him until I could stay no longer. Friday was the fateful day for surgery. His sister Simone was to fly in that morning and my sister was ensuring she got there to be with him as well. Knowing he was in good hands, and feeling helpless, I went to work Friday. I did not have the ability to sit in a hospital counting minutes until surgery started. It had been scheduled for 7:45 am, but it was pushed out to noon due to an emergency case. At 12:10 on Friday my father was cut open, and Dr. Ma skilfully healed my father. When I arrived after work, my father was just out of surgery. He was groggy, sleepy and totally out of it, but I knew he knew I was there. I left him after spending a couple of minutes by his side. I knew he needed his rest and didn't want to take away from the healing powers of the body. I returned to the hospital early yesterday, as I have every day this long weekend in Canada. He will be coming home this Friday (I hope) to begin his full recovery back to his normal self. Already he was joking, asking about the family, and enjoying Jello, mashed potatoes and turkey. It's been a tough week, but I thank God for my family and people like O and her family. I cannot imagine what would have happened had this been a couple years ago without them. I also hope you understand if I don't write for the next little while. But I'll try my best to keep you up to date.

I have been all over the USA. Literally. From LA, to Irvine, to San Diego, to Detroit, to Dallas, To Houston, to Phoenix, to Charlotte, to Atlanta, to Cleveland and to Chicago--and that was only the past 8 weeks. I am having trouble keeping up with time zones, as much as I am having trouble staying clear where I need to be next. I have been traveling a lot (such an understatement isn't it?) for work, and I feel guilty I have not written in a while. But alas, I now have some spare time to tell you all about it! I have seen some marvelous airports and hotels, but I have missed being home. Although to be honest home still feels like a hotel, as I have only really been here 2 full weeks since we moved in. I am taking a break from travels for a while to be close to home for family reasons. Nothing serious right now, but home is where I need to be--in case it develops into something more. But let's not dwell on that. Let's say hello to my new kitten, courtesy of the lovely O who rescued it from starvation and abandonment. A surprise upon the return of my last trip, Kasey is now enjoying the good life. Sure Kasey likes to sleep a lot, but then what cat doesn't? The newest addition to our family is a welcome one, and the love it gives is amazing. The friendliest cat you'd ever meet. I'm glad we were able to give it a good nice stable home. Speaking of which, its time to go feed her, she's meowing for some food. Speak with you soon, and be well...

So I am finally moved into my new digs. A whole lot of boxes are around me, and a good portion of my old life is either in a box, a bag or by the curb. It's also a new experience to live with someone, especially after almost ten years in the wilderness. Things like keeping the toilet seat down are things I need to learn to do. It's a strange new adventure, but it's definitely worth it. I have reached a peak of happiness with another human being I thought would never be possible again. Thank God for she who loves me. She is an angel who has blessed my life.

I almost cannot concentrate enough to write this. The pain is so great I am finding it hard to focus, but I will try my best. I had a friend of mine called Jenni Marshall. She lived in San Diego. We used to talk endlessly back in the day. Her and I worked for the same company. Once she came to town for training, and we spent the night, laughing, sipping wine, and just getting to know one another as good friends do. Nothing ever romantic ever occurred, she was someone special to me. I even got some drawings from her daughter Ashley. Then one day the company laid her off. Times were tough around 2002/03 in the industry, and I feared for my friend, especially as a single mother. She was tough though and always optimistic. She could always smile in any adversity and soon she found work at one of our competitors. And she was doing really well. Long after she stopped working for the company we would email and she would always email me and ask when I would come out to San Diego. I always said I would one day. But I always had some excuse. Usually about being too busy or not enough money. Soon the emails became less and less, and we spoke almost no more. Of course, we still communicated once in awhile through mutual friends, but by early 2005, we had lost touch. Our last email was mine telling her about a great girl I just met (who is now soon to be my wife) and asking her about how she was. She was doing okay, and things were really going well for her. Her last line in that last email was “P.S. When you comin to SD?????” It was so typical of Jenni, and was how she ended most of her emails to me. And it was so typical of me to say I was too busy or it was too expensive.

Anyway, fast forwarding to 2008, I am now traveling for work. Actually, I travel a lot. And I was finally making it out to San Diego. I was excited to finally see the city Jenni had sent all those postcards about. I was actually going to see what it was all about. Then the thought crossed my mind it would be cool to see Jenni. As I began to finalize my itinerary for my trip I spoke with Sonia, in the San Diego office. Sonia and Jenni were friends. If anyone had her latest contact details that I knew, it would be her. She also knew I knew Jenni from back in the day. As I asked about Jenni, Sonia went silent.

“ Didn’t you hear? Didn’t anyone tell you?”
“No, what?” I asked, really surprised by the comment, wondering if Jenni had come back to the company
“Jenni’s dead…” Sonia said drifting off
“What? Oh My God” It hit me like a punch in the stomach. I began to tear up as Sonia told me the story. Poor Jenni, at the age of 34, had died from complications while giving birth to her baby daughter just 5 weeks earlier. I couldn’t really take it all in. It was like I just saw her yesterday. I sadden by the news, and could not concentrate for the rest of the day. When I got off the phone, I looked it up and there it was in the obituaries online: “JENNIFER ELIZABETH MARSHALL May 10, 1973-Jan. 5, 2008: Jennifer Elizabeth Marshall, 34, of Chula Vista died Saturday…..”

I printed a copy of it and posted it on my cubicle wall. It’s a reminder about why you need to make the most out of every day and never make excuses. It sounds simple enough, but it’s easy to get caught up in things and forget to take the necessary time. I thank her for one last lesson and the reminder to practice it ever day. And as much as time has passed, I know Jenni will be up there smiling when I finally get to San Diego. I just wish I had made it sooner. Rest in peace. I’ll miss you.

So the rumours are true! I'm moving. I know hard to believe huh? After 10 years in one place, I'm moving on up to a new, larger place. And not only that, I'm moving sooner than I thought. Hence the free offer of furniture! See the offer at Craigslist! Maybe if don't need a sofa bed or a cabinet you can tell a friend who might!

The writers strike is still on as it can be seen in the news if you search. It's actually on the last page of the paper with so many other things right now pushing it from our daily consciousness. I mean Britney Spears takes up at least two pages of coverage, add in some Political primary news, and CNN (and most news outlets) haven't said much about the writers strike in recent weeks. Personally I am tried of it all. I hope they finally get a fair deal and soon. Not because I care if the Oscars happen or not, or if I am stuck watching reruns, but there are the "little" people behind the scenes who are really suffering. The effect will no doubt have an effect on the Canadian film industry, but it's upsetting to know that families are going without because of a couple bucks per DVD. It's time to stop insanity and get a deal done soon....

I guess it's not news by now, but Heath Ledger has been found dead at 28 in an apartment in Soho, NY. It's a pity. Hopefully his soul is now at rest. A little tribute, the video below from a movie where most American's discovered him: "10 things I hate about you". You will be missed Heath. God speed.


Another great tribute

It's hard not to smile for a NY Giants fan to not smile at the news: "Tom Brady may have an actual reason to be on the injury report for Super Bowl XLII. Tom Brady's right foot was under wraps yesterday in New York, but he promises he'll be in full uniform for the Super Bowl. Tom Brady's right foot was under wraps yesterday in New York, but he promises he'll be in full uniform for the Super Bowl. The quarterback, who has played in 126 straight games despite being a staple of the injury ledger because of his right shoulder, was photographed in New York City yesterday with what appeared to be a walking boot on his right foot." See the video here