Recent @Iamknaan tweets got me thinkin'...

On twitter I am following @Iamknaan. This, of course, is the spectacular K'naan (Fongolia over on Fong Songs recently wrote a post about his awesome performance during the Olympics), currently mostly known for his song Wavin' Flag, but I'm sure he is soon to be known for his incredible musical gift and honest, soul-touching, though-provoking lyrics. Recently K'naan retweeted a comment by a fan that got me thinking. The comment read: " Africans in the media: stop being "conveniently African" to further your career in the western world. Quit fronting for your nation. " K'naan retorted by saying that these people are the worst kind of racists and was quite offended by the fan's comments.

A list of things I've won in contests

4G 20GB iPod
From a ridiculous and addictive Pepsi/Apple promo in 2004 where they gave away an iPod every hour for two months. Basically your chances hinged on how many people entered in any given hour so in theory your probabilities increased during the midnight hours, though I think I ultimately won in the 6-7pm slot. You were supposed to collect entry pins from Pepsi products, but there was a no purchase necessary survey you could fill out to get free pins. As Pepsi realized how easily people could collect free pins, the survey got longer and more convoluted as the contest went on (also to prevent robot entries). In the really early goings of the contest before the general public was aware, resourceful RFDers (members of the Red Flag Deals community) were winning multiple iPods since there was no limit on prizes to individuals.

Oilers' Problems: Scouting or player development?

I'm sure this has been talked about elsewhere, but I'd like to put it in a nice succinct form for all to gawk at in wonder. I've been thinking lately about the patheticness of the Oilers and why through so many years of failure the Oilers have still not managed to put together a good team through the draft. At first I thought it was just poor drafting. Looking at the Oilers drafting history leaves a lot to be desired. I've listed below the Oilers first draft pick of every season since 1993 and one other player who was available at the time.

Blizzards!

Earlier tonight, The 654 went out to DQ for some cheap blizzards (second blizzard for 25 cents!). Well, at least three-fourths of The 654. Once again, loner roomie declined to partake in group bonding field trips. He has also not accepted our warm invitation to blog on The 654, so we will continue to speak of him disparagingly until further notice.

To take maximum advantage of the Blizzard deal, we were forced to split two blizzards between three of us.

Vancouver Taxis... ARGH!

Sorry, but here is a little rant! Vancouverites in general are terrible, terrible drivers!! But the worst are taxi drivers! Traffic laws don't even seem like guidelines to them. It is a total disregard for human safety. Examples from the last 48 hours alone:

1. Taxi stops short on one of the busiest streets, at the busiest times of day in downtown Vancouver causing all cars behind him/her to stop short and almost rear end each other...to let it's passenger out and work out payment.

2. Taxi cuts off other driver, then drives below speed limit in front of him towards the green traffic light and after the light turns yellow slams on the accelerator and goes through a stale yellow light leaving the car he/she cut off behind.

3. Taxi drives without slowing down to a red light then quickly turns right with out stopping or signaling and cuts of pedestrians in cross walk and oncoming cars.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! I BET IF THEY HIT SOMEONE THEY WOULD JUST KEEP DRIVING!!

Edmonton Oilers: The new Mickey Mouse Organisation

Wayne Gretzky's second most famous quote from his days on the ice was when he referred to the New Jersey Devils as a "Mickey Mouse Organization" after the Oilers pummelled the Devils 13-4 in a game during the 1983-84 season. (Note: I consider his best quote to be "I told Mess I wouldn't do this." while crying during the press conference after being sold out of Edmonton) Oh, how the times have changed. Fear not New Jersey Devils, nobody can say that you are a Mickey Mouse organization any longer. The Devils have built up a strong franchise in New Jersey, taking home the Stanley Cup 3 times since 1995 (1995, 2000, 2003) and continuing to put together strong teams in front of future Hall of Famer Marty Brodeur.

654 Field Trip: Forensic Pathology Workshop at the Vancouver Police Museum

On Tuesday, 3/4ths of the 654 crew went to visit the Vancouver Police Museum after hours for a special forensics workshop. The other 1/4 was too squeamish and doesn't like hanging out with us anyway. I learned about the VPM a few weeks ago from the local blog Vancouver is Awesome, which posted about newly created workshops for adults that include Forensic Pathology (the one we went to), Blood Spatter (for fans of Dexter), and Ballistics. I'm always on the lookout for local attractions and events a little off the beaten path since you can only visit Stanley Park and Science World so many times.

Turtle's tank.

Soooo after pressure from two other members of this blog to post soon, paired with many non inspiring topic recommendations (cats, police museum, etc). I have decided to talk about something that I am an expert at and happens every month here at 654. That something happens to be… CLEANING TURTLES TANK. I feel this is a relevant topic to understand how much work is involved in owning a turtle, and also to educate potential friends that may need to clean turtle’s tank at a future time if Mr Pinto and I are on an extended vacation.

SO……………………………HOW TO CLEAN TURTLES TANK

Eats: Belgian Fries

Where: 1803 Commercial Dr, Vancouver, BC V5N 4A6 map
Type: Burger joint
Belgian Fries website

Belgian Fries is a cool burger & poutine joint on Commercial Drive in Vancouver. The other day the crew from The 654 happened across it on our way back from the "2010 Record and CD Convention". As it happens, I am a poutine lover and right on the restaurant sign read a good omen "CBC Montreal: The Best Poutine in B.C."! Inside, it's set up kind of like a 50's style burger place. The giant menu board shows the wide range of poutine choices including the one I chose which not only had the usual gravy and cheese curds, but added some bacon, mushrooms and red onions!

Now normally I base the quality of a poutine on the squeakiness of the cheese. The cheese curds at Belgian Fries were fairly squeaky, not the best, but pretty authentic so I was satisfied in that respect. The portions were pretty generous too. We got a medium to share between two people and barely finished it. I'd say a medium poutine is almost enough for a meal for any medium-sized, non-starving individual. Which brings up the only negative point I have about the place and that's the cost. Although making a meal out of a poutine seems to be the cheap man's meal, it's actually going to cost you a meal's worth of dollars. Now (for full disclosure) this may only be a personal opinion as I have been known to be quite cheap. So take it as you will. I think the poutines ranged in price from about $5.50 to $13 for a medium.

Overall, I think Belgian Fries is an awesome place to grab some grub and a bevvie. I can definitely say that I will be back. It's the perfect place to go for lunch on a nice summer day. Sit out on the patio and grab some rays, check out the eclectic folk that The Drive brings out and have one tasty lunch!

Verdict: Eats!!

Mowed Grass

2nd post, huzzah! Spent a headache-inducing amount of time making that snazzy graphic of The 654 and its patented tire swing appear where we wanted it to. Then after a bunch of resizing up and down, we finally got what we wanted... except the top of the grass got cut off. Thus, mowed grass.

In other news, I accidently typed in "th65" in the address bar and ended up at http://th65.com/blog, which eerily enough looks like what our collective blog might actually be like with content. Cat stories and travel photos.

The basis of the beginning

The 654 is no longer just the name for the roof over our heads. Once only the nickname for our rented house, The 654 is now the name of our newest project: this blog. We here at The 654 have no real focus for the blog. It just happened upon us one evening. While playing board games one night in the upper residences of The 654, a collective notion came upon us all that we needed to let out our innermost feelings. Well, not quite innermost. Rather, let's just say that our unvoiced thoughts needed a public, everlasting home; our own digital imprint.

There are no clear plans or directions for this project. Heck, we don't even know how long this will last or if anybody other than ourselves will even read it. As such, there's no way for us to tell you what to expect from the three founding contributors to this blog. Maybe some talk of cats from ponytails? Maybe a little discussion on the NHL's Edmonton Oilers from baleener? Or perhaps some musical anecdotes from the popular Fongolia of Fong Songs?

Whatever should become of this project, we can say one thing for sure: here lies the basis for its beginning. So let it begin!