Return of the goat

That was one mothertrucker of a flu that took me out this week. I was sleeping for most of 4 or 5 days, this is my first day back at work and I still feel ill. Nothing to do to fight the flu other than sleep and drink liquids. I don't think my body reacts well to good health: two weeks of a new nutritional overhaul and fitness plan, and my confused body ("Bloods flowing? WTF?!") gets floored by flu.

Since I wasn't at work all week, I didn't bother shaving, so hence the return of the goatee, without the public, scraggly in-between grow stage (guys know what I mean).

Opinions on facial hair (women's I mean, because what do I care what the guys think?) tend to be generally favourable, as long as one tends to keep the hair trimmed and neat. Some women just don't like facial hair on a guy, period. Some mention it must be an indication of bachelorhood, which I am counting as a pro, even if it was a backhanded compliment. One woman once said a goatee was an indication that a guy hadn't been laid in a while. Not sure where she drew that conclusion from, and Edward Norton and Tom Selleck would disagree. But in the end, sometimes it just suits some guys (me) better than others (you).

Odds and sods:

• in trying to buy tickets online for the Arcade Fire show at Massey Hall in Toronto, I learned not to hit "Refresh" on six windows at once, because Ticketmaster will block you for a few crucial minutes, which made all the difference for a pair of shows that sold out in 15 minutes or less. I tried a couple times to get a pair, only to get "No results" over and over. Fortunately I ditched the "Get 2 tickets and find someone to go with" plan in favour of "Screw it, get 1 ticket and at least see the show" option in the nick of time. I got my single for Wednesday, May 16th, 1st balcony, pretty much centre. Massey has good sightlines IIRC, so I should be set. And if another show is added, I'll get a pair for that.

• speaking of good shows and Arcade Fire , here's a great pairing: this weekend's Saturday Night Live is hosted by Rainn Wilson, aka Dwight K Schrute of The Office,and Arcade Fire are the musical guest. Goes together like gin and homemade brownies I tells ya'.

• The Impulsive Buy review of Betty Crocker Hot Fudge Brownie Warm Delights was enough of a treat to keep me going back to the blog for more funny reviews of products that typically are found just in the States. Something about the writing amuses me...

Much like Trivial Pursuit, Connect Four, expressing myself emotionally with women, double dutch, shuffleboard, getting girlfriends to not break up with me using pathetic amounts of begging, and getting change back after sticking a twenty dollar bill under a stripper’s thong, baking is something I’m not very successful at…especially brownies.
No review yet for the fabled Chocolate Chip Pancakes & Sausage on a Stick, as seen and ridiculed on The Daily Show, but I'm sure it's coming.
• The first huge torrent of MP3s for SXSW Showcasing Bands (739 songs, 3.1 GB) from the SXSW festival is up on their site. It's a collection of songs from artists playing at the festival, and makes a great random sampler. Play it on shuffle for a few days or weeks, delete the stuff that you don't like (nobody likes 100% of it, that's just not possible) and highlight and follow-up with the songs you dig. It's a great tool for finding new music and bands before they breakout and you hear their songs on the inevitable car or iPod commercial. It covers so many different genres.

I have a full weekend of Auto Show, going bowling with friends for the first time in years, and an Oscar Party, so I'll try to catch up later.