Still haven't found what you were looking for?

Here are some more search keywords for your amusement. Once again, comments in [italicized square brackets].

teampfeffer.com [Gaming community. Pretty high up in the Google results, too.]
europe 2006 todd contiki [Somebody's still looking for someone.]
daschund blogs [I assume this is in connection with the 'daschund roman candle' searches.]
\"hot koko\" swing [!]
circus swirl decals
\"this love is taking its toll\" [hehe! See "So who's the girl?" and "This love is taking its toll on me".]
stop smoking both nostrils unplugged [I'm the third Google result?!?]
pictures of Done up Altezzas [Done up or busted up?]
comical satire [When did I qualify as comical satire? When did I become third Google result for comical satire?]

Interesting searches. But what I'm surprised most about are the high results placements I have for these searches. I wonder if Blogger being part of the Google network has anything to do with it, or did I just become vaguely popular?

That is all.

*crackle*

Remind me not to wear fleece, especially new fleece, in the winter... for it turns me into a danger to myself, anyone near me, and unsuspecting electronics. Fleece + winter's dry air + me = Crackling Superball of Shocking Static Electrical Death™! For evidence, read my previous treatments: Karma? and Spectacular electronic death. No incident occurred today, but something rather ominous happened. Well, it would have been ominous if it wasn't so common... Anyway, I was taking off my fleece jacket (new one I got for Christmas) and all I heard was very loud crackling. All I felt was a large, powerful static field surrounding me. It's just a matter of time...

That is all.

Where the hell are all the normal jeans?

A few weeks ago, I was looking for some new jeans since my main pair had developed an extra orifice. Doing so has made me ask the question "where the hell are all the normal jeans?" I mean, seriously. The vast majority of the jeans I came across were just wrong in so many different ways. Let's mention a few examples of wrongness.

• Colour. By that, I'm talking about the various treatments, like stonewash or bleached or whatever. There were many samples that started off life as blue, then they were seemingly soaked in puke, then left to dry in the sun. That's not a pretty colour. Or the really dark blue with the ultra-faded slash/crease marks across it, making it look like you have a car grill on your thighs.
  
• *ahem* Embellishments. I almost want to say 'flair', a la Office Space. I'm talking about all the various decorations tacked (tacky) on, sewn on, embedded, or attached in some way. Some had various bits of fabric that were seemingly randomly stitched to the jeans. I couldn't figure out why, because they definitely didn't look good. There was one pair, I hope no straight man would wear, that had been decked out in rhinestones, as if it had been attacked by a horde of little girls armed with Bedazzlers! It was also rather deceiving because the front actually looked normal. You get lulled into a false sense of security, then BAM!, you're hit with a rhinestone forest on the ass.
• 'Distressed'. There's another trend that I just don't understand. The whole 'distressed' look, or the pre-ripped items. If I wanted old or damaged goods, I'd buy something new and WEAR IT! Or partially destroy it myself. Hell, I'm buying new jeans BECAUSE my old pair is ripped!! What's more stupid is that the distressed or damaged stuff often costs MORE. wtf? I'm paying more for something that has a shorter life...
  

That's only a few examples, but I'm too lazy to remember what the others were. After a lot of searching, I did manage to find some decent samples that were on sale (and in my size, but that's another story). Along the way, I ended up getting a bunch of shirts, too. One shirt in particular is a great piece of nostalgia; it's a tee with an equation on the front. The equation is (Mario) + (fire flower) = (fire Mario). Sweet. Now if only they had one with (Mario) + (Tanooki Suit) = (Tanooki/Racoon Mario).<sup>†

†</sup>See the wikipedia entry on Tanuki.

That is all.

Nothing, really.

Oh, Canada... (Our home and native land, eh.) We make some odd films. Once in awhile, you get an odd film that's also good. Or at least amusing. Or at least Canadian.

Recently I picked up Red Green's Duct Tape Forever for cheap. But that's beside the point. I was going to mention another Canadian film, Nothing. In one of those rare moments, I was in a video store and it looked interesting. I wasn't disappointed. Nothing is co-written and directed by Vincenzo Natali, who also co-wrote and directed Cube. It's about two friends for which everything in life is going wrong. One day, as it all comes crashing down on them, they wish it all away. The problem is, they get their wish. If you get a chance, go check it out.

That is all.

"No disassemble!"

My last post on search keywords seemed well-timed, in a way. I basically spent Saturday alternately curled up in the fetal position on the floor in front of my TV and in the washroom.^† Fun times. Later that day, I decided to drug myself. Once those kicked in, I felt fine for a few hours... then not so much.

Anyway, while I was getting to know my floor, a couple great movies came on TV. The first was Army of Darkness. Unfortunately, I spent half of that movie either curled up with my face buried in my knees, or in the washroom. The second movie worked out better, mostly since the drugs were working their magic. The second movie was Short Circuit! It'd been a long time since I'd seen that movie, and I had forgotten how funny it was. At least Saturday wasn't a total loss...

At least Saturday wasn't a total loss.^‡ I should say that the above started around noon. I had woken up early for other reasons and had gone out shopping, since I wasn't feeling terrible yet. I went out and bought Corner Gas Season 3 and Dilbert the Complete Series. If you didn't know, there was a Dilbert cartoon that aired in 1999-2000 that lasted for 30 episodes. Short-lived, but funny. And now I have them all for only $20.

^†(EDIT: Jan 23) Point of clarification. The phrase "alternately curled up in the fetal position on the floor in front of my TV and in the washroom" denotes two separate items. So "curled up in the fetal position on the floor in front of my TV" and "in the washroom" are separate. I would have been in worse shape if I had been "curled up in the fetal position on the floor of the washroom", as pointed out to me last night.

^‡Yes, this was on purpose.

That is all.

Did you find what you were looking for?

I haven't done much with my blog recently. Life was pretty busy, and yet there wasn't much that I felt was blog-worthy enough. As a side-effect, I haven't looked at the stats for awhile, either.

I was looking through my stats and the "Search keywords" was pretty amusing. You find some interesting searches... I get the standard ones, like people looking for my site or searches for the other kind of 'swirlie'. Then you get to the weirder ones that match some random word on the site. I've sorted the searches I've gotten into various categories. You'll find my comments in [italicized square brackets].

Site swirlies
swirlies blog
http://swinginswirlie.blogspot.com
the swirlies blogspot
msn swirlies
swinginswirlie msn spaces
www.swinginswirlie.blogspot.com

The 'other' swirlie
animated swirlies
swirlie pictures
pictures of swirlies
how to make swirlie
piss swirlie

Random swirlies
swirlie
swirlies
Swirlies
swirlie it\'s
Swirlie feel
blue swirlie
get swirlie
swirlies 2006
se and swirlies

Swirlie pictures
put swirlies on your picture
how to put swirlies on pictures
SWIRLIES FOR PICTURES

Car-related swirlies
what can i put on my windshield to make the rain disappear [wtf? How about windshield wipers?]
swirlies car

Racing swirlies
\"rally lights\"
pineapple express road rally hawaii
pineapple express road rally
Pineapple Express Road Rally

Dancing swirlies
belvedere broadcasters
\"51st Eight\"
frankie
PNWLHC 2006 seattle guy

Swirlies eating out
teppan restaurant sidney bc
moxies waitress
\"oh gelato-Victoria\"
\"Oh Gelato\" victoria

LEGO swirlies
\"life in plastic pants\"
\"plastic pants\" lego comic
audrey II lego [wth? How do you combine the plant from Little Shop with Lego?]

People-finder swirlies
\"mandi patrick\"
Todd Rocket Contiki tour manager
todd tour manager - contiki

Miscellaneous post-related swirlies
cross the river game
daschund roman candle video
roman candle daschund
ALIEN MESH POSER
dummy downhill mt washington, dragon
picture of predator capturing hummingbird

And my favourite swirlies...
\"Johnny 5 alive\" \"no disassemble\" movie quotes [hehe]
charleston giant lumberjack [Paul Bunyan?]
polyamourist [Oh how we love you, Sara!]
polyamourism [Twice!]


The "charleston giant lumberjack" made me do a double-take. All that dancing made me think of Charleston (the dance) first. It took a second to realize they were probably looking for Charleston (of South Carolina). Or maybe they really were looking for a giant lumberjack that does the Charleston? Granted Sara was a lumberjack (and she's OK) for Hallowe'en, and I assume she did Charleston at some point during the night, but she's far from 'giant'.

And going through the titles of those categories, I kept thinking of the Smurfs for some reason...

That is all.

Courtenay's Flying Circus

I'm surprised I forgot about this event. Holly's dad plays on circus stuff (think Cirque du Soleil, not Barnum and Bailey) with Flying Fox Productions; stuff like silks and aerial hoops. We got a chance to join him and play ourselves. Wow that stuff is fun (and tiring)! Climbing the silks is pretty straightforward. Doing funky things, on the other hand, is not so much. If you get a chance, do it!

And now some Harrison Hot Springs pictures...




That is all.

It's a new year; now what?

Has it been two weeks already since I last posted? *checks watch* Yep.

I got two Christmases this year, as I did an early one with my family and spent the regular one with Holly and her's. I've never had a real Christmas tree (it's fun to assemble things) before, but this year was different. We arrived at Holly's parents' place and went on a tree expedition the next morning. Not only did I get a real Christmas tree, I also got to lug a real Christmas tree. Carrying a 13 foot fir tree 100 feet to the truck and then into the house is not an easy task.

The next day, we hit Mt. Washington for some of that 280cm of base, 25cm of fresh powder, and (morning) sun. Let me tell you, it was good timing, because the next day was cold, dark, snowy, and windy. My car saw real snow for the first time. She handled it well. I didn't do anything stupid, but I did do a bit of playing in the parking lot later. The same can't be said about one Dodge RAM driver on the way up. His truck was rolled on its side, blocking half the road. The driver was fine; the truck not so much.

Christmas (I mean, Holly Birthmas Day) was great.

Boxing Day was spent travelling to Harrison Hot Springs. We caught a ride with Holly's friend that was heading back to work in Chilliwack. We were on schedule for the 3PM sailing, and all things looked good as the signboard read "Light Traffic", but we failed to realize that the people that run that signboard aren't the brightest people. "Light Traffic" is apparently two sailing waits. We got into Harrison a few hours later than originally planned, but that was fine.

Harrison Hot Springs was great. The weather was nice, if a little cold. I'll post some pictures later. The hiking trails are fun. The public pool was your standard pool, only fed and heated by the springs... after filtering to get the sulfur out. After all the filtering, it wasn't really anything special except that it was nicely warmed and it supposedly had a bunch of minerals suspended in the waters. The side-by-side couples massage was amazing! It was my first professional massage and omfg! Dinner afterwards was great. We stayed in a kottage nearby (just about everything is nearby) that had a great feel to it, complete with firestove, loft, and Christmas tree. I'd likely go again.

New Years Eve we drove back home and a couple hours later we hit Chris' New Years party. Fireworks and fire-breathing. Good stuff.

And back to work. This is already my second day. At least it's only a four day week and I don't have any real nighttime obligations yet.

That is all.