UltraJulia

Tonight I experienced an almost unprecedented thing: technical support that was helpful.

I know.

Shocking! As I’m playing around with a few of my domains this week, I decided to give another new webhost a try. Yea, I know you’re asking yourself why I’d put myself thru that torture again, given how I was burned the last time I tried someone new. But I figured I’d give it a shot. I decided to check out a web host that a big shot blogger uses (that doesn’t cost a million dollars), and see if it was better than my current one.

And wow, what a difference! My main issue with the other host was simply that it seemed to take a while for my sites to load. By “a while”, I mean about 5 seconds or so, which I know doesn’t seem like a long time, but when they used to load in a *snap*, 5 seconds is a long time. The provider had recently moved data centres too, to one that had more space, and while I can’t say that I started to notice this delay before the move, I definitely noticed it after.

So I’m typing up this post on the new host (tee hee, that rhymes!), and things already seem better. I spent about 20 minutes using the new host’s online chat system with tech support, to fix one last little fiddly thing, and VOILA! it’s fixed. The dude was very helpful and knowledgeable, and more importantly,

He fixed my problem.

It’s actually a new setting in WordPress that I had forgotten about, so now that I know, I’ll be able to check that when I move the rest of my domains over. You can bet that I will definitely be doing that soon, for sure.

For now though I will bask in the glory of being a satisfied customer, and I’ll go enjoy some NHL playoff hockey.

A number of years ago I remember reading that laughing is actually a good workout for you. It exercises your abs, as well as being a good cardio workout (don’t ask me how many calories it burns, though.) A study from Vanderbilt University showed that laughing also increased the number of calories you burn in general by about 20%. So that means you should laugh all the time! Your life will be 20% better.

It’s also a good thing for someone like me who typically feels pretty lazy during the winter time. In the summer I don’t mind getting out for a walk, playing a good game of tennis, or even going for a jog. But in the winter? Forget it. I am usually curled up on the couch watching one of my tv shows or a movie, or at the computer typing up blog posts (okay, maybe not those, since my posting schedule is so infrequent, but you know what I mean.)

So in mid-November I stumbled up on a show on Radio-Canada called Les Enfants de la Télé. I discovered it after watching Tout Le Monde en Parle, which is another R-C show I watch to practice my French. Living in Toronto it’s sometimes hard to find ways to practice, so I tend to watch shows on R-C. I love these two shows in particular as it’s also a great way to learn more about Quebec.

Anyways, EDLT is the Québécois version of a French show that invites celebrities to come talk about their careers on television. Sounds pretty boring, but of course you know they dig up embarrassing clips of them in hideous outfits from 1972, or dancing when they have no reason dancing (Ricardo Larrivée, I’m looking at you), or wonderful “serious” news shows from 1954. They do a great job of having a diverse group of celebrities on the show, typically a “young” star, a “medium-aged” one, and an “older” one. (I use those terms very loosely, but if you watch the show, you’ll know what I mean.) Picture one of the Glee kids, Anderson Cooper, and William Shatner. That kind of thing.

It’s hosted by Véronique Cloutier, who I’ve had a bit of a girl-crush on since her days on MusiquePlus, and she does a great job of introducing the clips and getting the celebrity to talk a bit more about it. Antoine Bertrand is her sidekick; I didn’t know him before this show, but he’s quite funny. He’s a comedian that’s starting to make a name for himself in Quebec, and he’s a great complement to Véro on this show. They’re constantly making each other laugh, and playing tricks on the guests. What’s funnier (at least to me) is that I actually miss half the jokes because they’re talking too fast! So just think, if I think the show’s hilarious, imagine the Québécois watching!

Another interesting thing about the show is that Véro tweets while the show airs, so it’s fun to read as I watch. Though I admit that I sometimes miss things on the tv because I’m reading her tweets, and since I often have to concentrate a little harder when watching shows in French because I am a bit out of practice, I should probably stop multi-tasking there. But I do like the immediacy and uncensored-ness of celebrities tweeting in general, even if leads them to say the “wrong” thing. (If you know anything about Véro, you know that she’s already known for sometimes putting her foot in her mouth, so she’s not scared of a little thing like Twitter.)

Watching either EDLT or TLMEP is good for me in general as it allows me to practice with some français thta’s a little more up-scale than hockey commentary. <wink> Don’t get me wrong, I do love to watch my beloved Habs on RDS, but it’s sometimes nice to watch something with a more refined vocabulary. I love the fact that I find EDLT utterly hilarious each week. Most of the time I have no idea who the guests are, but can equate them to English equivalents (either Canadian, American, or British), so the situations are funny. It’s a wonderful window onto Québécois culture, so if you speak French at all, I highly recommend it…actually, I recommend either show, as they’re both good. (EDLT is done for the season, but TLMEP is still on, Sunday nights at 8pm, if you’re interested.)

Here’s a list of the celebrities that appeared on the show that you’d probably recognize:

• Roch Voisine
• Mitsou
• a bunch of the kids from Watatatow (a teen show that used to be on in the 90′s) that I used to watch for my high school French class
• Remy Girard (a great Québécois actor from The Barbarian Invasions and other movies)

If you pay any attention to Québécois movies, tv, books, etc. you’d recognize a lot of the people who show up; I often didn’t know their names, but recognized their faces or voices. I’m not sure if this show would work in English Canada or even the US though, as I think it is uniquely french (either Mainland or Québécois). Of course I’d watch one if they did it, but I just don’t know if it would last more than a few episodes.

I end this post with one of the clips that made me laugh the hardest this year (and apparently is the most requested clip of the year, according to Véro on tonight’s clip show): Antoine ripping his pants! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cONyQrNtnY

Bonsoir à tous!

As I mentioned last week, I was travelling to Pittsburgh to see the Penguins play my Habs. J & I drove threw some crazy snow/slush/rain to get there on Friday, which thankfully didn’t delay us too much. Our hotel was right downtown, and we went for some dinner at a sports pub nearby. Our waiter was a very young-looking dude who was also a hockey fan. He was quite impressed that not only did we drive 4.5 hours from Toronto to watch a hockey game, but that we actually knew the game too.

Tyler (our waiter) did get us a little concerned about the price of scalpers tickets for the game the next day, saying that they typically go for 3 times face value. Now, the prices are already much cheaper than here in Toronto, but still three times is three times, you know? I joked with J that depending on the price, she might be on her own to watch the game live, as I was going to catch it in a sports pub nearby. LOL.

Saturday morning was also the annual Pittsburgh St. Patrick’s Day parade, which apparently is the second largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in North America behind New York (for shame Boston! sez J.) We caught the tail end of it as we walked to the Strip district in search of some brunch. We actually found the same little diner, Pamela’s, that we had gone to on our last trip to Pittsburgh. (Although last time I was the only one who managed to eat any food, with J enjoying a few bites of toast, and J2 we left in the car as she was too weak to even get out of the car.) We dubbed it our Redemption Brunch. Pamela’s is a cute little diner with pretty good eats (I had the Morning After–2 eggs, bacon and pancakes…awesome), so I recommend you go if you’re ever in Pittsburgh.

Oh! And I almost forgot, we actually saw Puxatawney Phil in the parade too, which was kind of exciting. On Groundhog Day we always hear from Wiarton Willie and Puxatwney Phil, so to see him there was kinda cool. He had his own bus and everything (probably with entourage inside too.) LOL

And then we were off to the game. Actually, we were off on the search for tickets. We stopped at the first scalper we saw, and he showed us the tickets he had and asked for $150. I was surprised when I saw what section they were in (right behind the Penguins goal -the one they attack twice), and in row N. That meant that we were pretty close, and he hadn’t even doubled the face value of the ticket price. I originally had told J that I didn’t want to spend $150, but when I saw these tickets, I thought it was worth it. J was surprised that I was all set to buy these ones, but of course since she really wanted to go, she wasn’t going to complain too much.

What was funnier was that the scalper was even surprised that he had sold the tickets for that price, as he said he had been thinking of asking for $200 when he saw us walking up to him, but when I asked him his price, he said $150. Guess he liked our pretty faces.

So off we were to see the Penguins play the Habs.

First stop was the Pens Store inside the Consol Energy Center (which is right across the street from the old Igloo, Mellon Arena). It was a mad house in there, a mad house! I browsed for a bit with J, but then left to wait for her outside the store as it was really crowded. I was pleased to see a lot of Habs fans in attendance, which I knew there would be, but still, it was fun to see.

Next stop was to see if our scalped tickets were real (there’s always that possibility, though given the fact that scalping is legal in Pennsylvania, I figured we were probably fine.) Sure enough, we were.

Consol Energy Center is a great place to see a game, if you ever get a chance. It’s got good sightlines from everywhere, really good food and drinks available, as well as great atmosphere. Given that we were behind the Penguins attacking goal, that meant I was in the minority, for sure. There were only about 5 of us Hab fans in that end, which was hilarious. The rest of the fans were at the other end, which was okay.

The game started, and BAM, Pleckanec scores for Montreal only 46 seconds into the game. Boo yah. J wasn’t too impressed, but it was only one goal, and it was still early in the game, so she wasn’t worried. The rest of the game passed without incident, including no penalties. The second period starts, and BAM, 24 seconds into the period, Travis Moen scores for Montreal. J was now getting a little concerned, as that’s not cool. Her team wasn’t playing too well, and things didn’t look too good for them. Another 5 minutes passed, and BAM, my boy Mike Cammalleri scores! 3-0 for Montreal and there was still about half of the game left to play. You haven’t heard 19,000 people be so quiet in your life.

So while the outcome of the game wasn’t to J’s liking, I certainly had fun. Don’t believe me? See this picture from the highlights of the game (taken from the tv, so forgive the quality):

See? We WERE that close to the ice.

2011 appears to be the Year of Travelling for me. Not only are my sister and I planning a trip to Italy some time in the fall, but I’m also going to be doing a bunch of long weekend trips too. You know the ones where you take a Friday or half a Friday off from work, pack up the car and drive somewhere? I love those. They are always so much fun.

First up is a trip to Pittsburgh with my friend J. She is currently obsessed with Sidney Crosby, scorer of the Golden Goal for Canada at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games, and current captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Pittsburgh is about 4-5 hours away from Toronto by car, and we’ve gone there before, to see the Jays play the Pirates a couple of summers ago. It’s a cute little town, something I wasn’t expecting, so J thought it might be fun to head down there to see her boy play live. Of course driving 5 hours by yourself isn’t fun, so she asked me if I wanted to come along. Normally it doesn’t take much to get me to go see a hockey game live, however since it’s still March, and there’s potential for crappy, snowy weather, I don’t always like to venture that far away from home, you know? But J is a smart woman, and she knew precisely how to get me to agree to the trip.

Well, they’re playing the Montreal Canadiens in a matinee game, do you want to go?

She’s an evil, EVIL friend I tell you….evil!

Needless to say, next weekend we’re taking a half day on Friday and making the trek to Pittsburgh. Her boy isn’t playing because he’s still out with a concussion, but it should still be a good time. Montreal fans travel well, plus Pittsburgh is a good hockey city, so it should be fun to go.

Later on in the summer there’s Bayfest in Sarnia, which is always a good time. They still haven’t announced who will be headlining the rock weekend (they do a rock and a country weekend), so I’m still waiting, but regardless, I’ll be heading down for an extra long weekend around then to visit friends and almost-family. Good times.

And of course there’s our trip to Italy in the fall. By then it will have been 3 and a half years since we’ve been back to visit, and let me tell you, it’s high-time. I cannot wait to go. My cousin Guglielmo keeps apologizing that he doesn’t take us to do “cool” things anymore because he’s got three little ones under the age of 10 at home, which is funny. I keep having to remind him that aside from visiting with family, I’m mainly there to eat, so we don’t really need to go anywhere special to do that. A nice pizza al prosciutto from L’Ancora Pizzeria, a pasta al forno from zia MariaRosa, a paniscia from zia Lelia, pasticcini from the good pastry shop whose name escapes me, and a nice glass of red from Barolo. That’s all I need in my vacation.

I’m a thief. I was looking to change the theme on my blog, and saw that my friend Nick Reynoldson was using a cool one from the ninjas at Woo Themes, and I decided to use the same one. So there you are.