New Year's Eve at Dickie's

Photo taken by Dickie

Once again, Dickie was gracious enough to host a New Year's Eve gathering at his place. Perry took care of arranging the food (again as well). He made salmon and arranged for some of his other friends to bring stuff too. Dickie's mom made her wonderful noodles that I like so much.

Now this gathering wasn't unlike ones we've had in the past. Perry brought his Rock Band game for the Xbox again. Even though I've sung many of the songs over and over again, I still enjoy it. And it's fun to try the drums which I think are the hardest "instrument" to play. I've only recently gotten used to them and in easy mode have started to score relatively well.

Perry also brought a DVD Cowboys and Aliens. It was a fun movie. Kind of silly, but nevertheless entertaining. What more could you expect from a movie with a name like that?

Close to midnight we switched over to Citytv to watch the countdown from Toronto City Hall. Nathan Philips Square was packed with people. They were lucky. The weather this year was actually quite nice. I believe it was near freezing (which is slightly warmer than normal). And there wasn't any precipitation of any kind. In previous (as well as subsequent) days we had a mix of snow and rain. So the people down there were blessed in that way.

Even though we didn't have as many people over as in previous years it was still nice to have a few friends to hang out with. It made ringing in the New Year a bit more special.

Happy New Year, everyone.

Academy Awards Night at Dickie's

Dickie, Steve, Glen, Monica, Cathy, Jason, Flora, Me, Perry

We went over to Dickie's house to watch the 83rd Academy Awards on Sunday evening. Perry and Dickie arranged everything. Dickie's mother made two trays of noodles and Perry brought meatballs, salad and fruits. The rest of us chipped in a few bucks to cover the costs.

I arrived at Dickie's place "fashionably late". I was sleepy in the afternoon and took a nap beforehand.

Upon arriving Perry had me fill out my picks for winners in the various nominated categories. I have to say there were quite a few movies I'd never even heard of. Not even that... I hadn't even seen any of the movies. To tell you the truth my interest in movies has waned over the years. I pretty much chose my winners according to reports I heard on the news from various critics. Either that or I made wild guesses.

Now, I have to confess, when the awards show came on I didn't actually watch it. To me they're rather boring. If it's not sports or news or the Discovery Channel, not much on TV interests me. Instead I played Rock Band by myself on the Xbox. Playing Rock Band by yourself isn't really "playing" Rock Banding either. It's basically Karaoke (which I happen to love).

It would have been nice if there were some new songs. But, the Beatles Rock Band always has good tunes. Rock Band II was getting a little stale by this point in time. I only sang a few songs from it. I believe I had as an enjoyable time as the others (or maybe more so).

As for the Oscar pool... Perry won it. Can you say, fix? ;-)

Dickie's Chinese New Year Party

Perry and Dickie organized a small gathering at Dickie's home for Chinese New Year last Saturday. Dickie's mom kindly made noodles for us. They were yummy. Everyone else brought snacks. Mostly junk food I'm afraid to say.

Perry brought his Rock Band game over for the Xb0x-360. He had Beatle's Rock Band as well as one of the original versions. I played it awhile ago at another gathering they had there. I have to say it's quite fun. Of course my favorite part is singing. It's similar to Karaoke. Playing the "guitar" is fun too. The "drums" are a bit hard though. It takes some coordination that's for sure.

There were other activities too. Some people played ping pong in the basement. Others just sat and chatted. Perry also rounded up a few people to play Scrabble with him too. It was an enjoyable way to spend a Saturday evening.