The Hilton Chronicle

The hours are ticking down to the end of "Mad Christmas Shopping Rush 2003" and as the malls will most likely be a zoo and the roads equally insane, I suppose I should head out a little earlier for my trek to work tonight. Having to work evenings Christmas eve and Christmas day has kind of taken the edge off the spirit for us in the HH this year, but them's the breaks, I guess. We'll have a wee bit of time tomorrow morning before Angie heads off to work and then after a quick Christmas dinner Chris and I have to head to work. Dianne's been spending the last couple of days doing some baking and getting the house in order for the festivities.
Sandi has been sporting the chipmunk look since Monday when she had her wisdom teeth pulled. Things seem to be going good so far for her with not too much pain.
From everyone here at the Chronicle, Merry Christmas to all and all the best for the New Year!

Posted 2:44 PM by Jeff

Monday, December 22, 2003

Bursting With Anticipation

Well the Return of the King is out and from what I have heard it is blowing the sox off all who see it. The reviews I have read have been spectacular and the only down point is the fact that after this there is no more. The story is told and once you have seen the last movie where everyone shakes hands and goes home you get an empty sadness inside much like you do at the conclusion of reading the book (which I experince every time I read it). Dianne and I are planning to try to get to the show sometime in eary January. I am trying not to hear any spoilers so I am avoiding people who are discussing the film, a difficult trick as it is all the buzz at work. I think Santa is bringing us the DVD of The Two Towers so we will want to re-watch the first two before seeing the grand finale.
Its the last week before Christmas and we are just on our way out the door to do some last minute gift buying. It always seems like there is just one more thing to get no matter how much stuff you buy.
I saw an interesting interview on 60 Minutes last night of the two men who were permitted to interview Saddam Hussien in his holding tank. The American ambassador was a little lacklustre, but the Iraqi guy was great as he described his meeting with Hussein in great detail. You have to remember that this guy was sent to prison by Hussein so I guess he was a little bitter. Putting it mildly, he had some rather rough things to say to his former adversary. An interesting point brought out was that on one wall of the cell were pictures of all the captured and killed commanders under Hussein's command including his two dead sons. On the opposite wall was a portrait of who else?... George W. Bush. Eerie!!

Posted 9:58 AM by Jeff

Thursday, December 18, 2003

Christmas Newsletter

After sending out several Christmas cards I realized that a lot of people who didn't get cards would not have recieved the 2003 Christmas Chronicle newsletter so I have posted a copy of it to the left. And in true DVD style this version has "bonus features". Clicking on some links takes you to the picture galleries to which the text refers.

Posted 4:19 PM by Jeff

Sunday, December 14, 2003

Merry Christmas America

I have been busy doing a little shopping for Christmas and getting ready for some musical gigs at church next week, so have been a little retiscent at posting anything.
The big news, of course, is the fact that Saddam Hussein has been tracked down to a little rat hole under a farm house somewhere out in the boonies of Iraq. Quite a change from his palaces and gold plated toilet seats to which he had become accustomed. It's hard to know whether he still has any control over the rebel troops and if his capture will end the attacks against the American troops, but it has certainly made Christmas seem a little brighter for the people of the world, especially one American named George Bush. Now if they could only find that other weasel Osama Bin Laden, remember him?

Posted 5:42 PM by Jeff

Monday, December 08, 2003

Looks Like A Job For Captain Photoshop

I have been waiting for the fall out to end over the controversial "crashing" of the official Heritage Classic team picture by the cast member of This Hour Has 22 Minutes. I thought it was quite amusing although a few others didn't. Like the organizing comittee. I quite expected to see a slew of mock pictures, either on the web or in print, with the "offending" person Photoshopped out and perhaps someone more "respectable" in his place, say Jean Cretien? Or how about Pete Pocklington, or Mayor Bill "Waffle" Smith. However I havn't seen any and I couldn't even find a decent copy of the original to try it myself to give you an example.

Posted 12:02 PM by Jeff

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Well, the Christmas cards are all done and we are about to drop them in the mail box so that is one thing out of the way. And we are just about done with wrapping and mailing of the out of town gifts. This afternoon we are supposed to be picking up a tree and by the looks of it this may be the last year we get an actual real tree. The prices have gone up dramatically in recent years and the place I usually get ours, Save-on Foods, not only has raised their price but have such a terrible selection. Plus the fact that we have to drag it home somehow, and in the process get the trunk full of needles. Then we have to wrestle it into the house and get it to stand at attention properly. Then for the next three weeks we have to cater to it's every whim, feeding it water when required, picking up the endless piles of needles that accumulate on the rug. Then when it's all over we have to manhandle it out the door again where it will sit dejected on the lawn until the truck comes to pick it up. I'm into Christmas spirit as much as the next guy but I'm sick of this. I'm strongly thinking that after Christmas when all the sales are on we will start looking around for a real good artificial tree and have done with it. After all, the kids are not small anymore and for the most part no one is around for Christmas, either working or off somewhere. So it will be much easier and a lot less stressfull, not to mention easier on the wallet, to just go into the storage room and drag out the "fake" tree every year.
And speaking of Christmas spirit, Dianne and I had a treat last night. We went to see the "Singing Christmas Tree" at Central Tabernacle and it was great. We both really enjoyed it. Following that we drove through the Christmas "Brighnights" display in Hawrelak Park and by the time we got home we were both feeling quite "Christmasy" so we started wrapping presents. Aint holidays fun?

Posted 11:42 AM by Jeff

Wednesday, December 03, 2003

Resistance Is Futile

I just heard yesterday that not only Microsoft Windows (The OS we love to hate, or hate to love?) has more security holes than an Edmonton road in the spring, but Mac OS 10 has a security hole and rock solid Linux Debian has security holes. No word yet on whether patches will be available for all these but I'm sure at least Microsoft will have a weekly swag of them to download.
I've had the Christmas lights up for some time now but seeing as it is now December I guess I should plug them in, if I can remember how to program the timer.
The Christmas edition of the Chronicle will be rolling off the presses any day now and I will be spending some time licking envelopes for the cards that I hope to get out by the end of the week. Gives me something to do on a long midnight shift.

Posted 10:59 PM by Jeff

Monday, December 01, 2003

The Globe and Mail

Well, December is upon us and whether we are ready for it or not, Christmas is just around the corner and with all the rushing around and last minute shopping and high anxiety that entails it is always good to stop for a moment and contemplate the true meaning of the season: The release of Lord Of the Rings Part III! But seriously, this is the time of the year when consumerism switches into high gear and more stress is generated over what to buy than at any other time. It is therefore very unnerving to see this story about the plans of one company that happens to be the parent company of the one I work for that wants to exploit the guilt of parents by targeting their kids to influence them on the purchase of big ticket items. Called "kidfluence", the idea is to run advertising during kids programming for items the parents should be buying, hoping the kids who see the adds will harass the parents into getting the latest SUV, stereo equipment and the like. It's a very twisted concept that these big corporations have no qualms about exploiting. It's bad enough that kids are bombarded with ads for things that they want but it's getting really sick when advertisers have to target people through their children. It makes parenting in the new millennium that much more difficult.

Posted 7:30 PM by Jeff

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