The 30th Yesterday I was reading a magazine while sitting in the dentist's office and came across an article about NASA's Deep Impact mission. I had heard on the news a while back that they had launched the mission but I don't remember hearing anything about it being successful. I had no idea that they had hit the comet Tempel 1 back in July. So I checked out NASA's site and there's a ton of cool stuff on there about the mission. I just find it so strange to be able to see images and videos so detailed of something so far away. The photo shown here was taken about 1 minute after the impactor struck Tempel 1 and was obliterated. I think this photo looks amazing but the videos are even better. Check out the videos of the approach to the comet (movie 1 and movie 2) and of the impact itself (movie 1 and movie 2). The 26th Today was Melissa's last day here before she left for school in Ottawa so we decided a bunch of stuff should be done. I went to Rainbow Valley with her, Mark and Shawn. This would be the last time ever that I get to go because they're closing the place forever which really, really sucks. Such a classic place, I'll be sad to see it go. I brought my video camera and taped as much of it as I could. It was a really good day for it too and, even though I'm 27, I still had a lot of fun. I want to buy The Witch's Cave for the backyard. After that we came back in town and hung out at Mark's and had a BBQ until it got dark and cool outside. Then we were off to see some bands at the Close to the Coast showcase at Baba's in Charlottetown. As expected, it was hot and packed with people up there. Baba's has to be the worst venue for bands. I like the place a lot but not to go see anyone play music. The only band I really wanted to see was In-Flight Safety but by the time they got up to play it was so crammed with people that Shawn and I hung out outside until the end of the show. There was this awesome "Turner & Hooch" dog sitting in a car outside when we got out there and, it's sad to say this, but that was probably my highlight of going to Charlottetown. It certainly wasn't the Chinese food we had afterwards… The 21st Nathan was supposed to open for Theresa Sokyrka tonight at The Jubilee but her flight was delayed and so they cancelled the show. Kind of sucked but at least they'll be back next week. The promoter didn't want to make that announcement very badly on stage. I'm pretty sure I just would have done it over the P.A. system to avoid the whole audience in front of me grumbling and complaining. Afterwards, we hung out here with Nathan, Brad and Keith and his dog Lacho (I think). He's staying in the front porch while they crash here before heading out for N.S. Lacho's this huge St. Bernard/Akita mix and is the nicest dog ever. He's a really good-looking dog who gets this big, goofy grin when you scratch his giant noggin. Hobbes freaked when the dog squeezed through the porch door into the house. I feel bad for the kitty but he seems fine as long as the dog is out of sight and locked away from him. I just hope he doesn't piss everywhere to mark his territory or something when the dog leaves. The 20th A bunch of us went to Charlottetown tonight to see Winter Equinox play and it was a pretty good show. It was interesting to see them switching instruments so much and working with their electronic gear in some weird ways. The bass player switched to guitar at one point while he kept the bass line going on a delay pedal and then, I think, decided to play a fucked up guitar part and used a GameBoy…somehow. I'm not sure exactly what the hell was going on but it was fun to watch and listen. I really like their album and they did a good job playing their new stuff on stage. They were super friendly too and seemed to be having a good time even though it was a tiny gig with only a couple dozen people. Hopefully I'll get to see them play again if they ever hit the island. The 15th We got the tracks for The Neil Forbes album pretty much ready to go and the track list set. Hopefully we'll be able to send it off to be mastered tomorrow and then get moving on the manufacturing. The work's not done yet…for me anyway. We'll have a site up and running too. Probably not a whole lot to it but for now you can check out the two songs we posted. Melissa took me to the bakery today and I got a chicken wrap. They're un-fucking-believably good, huge and cheap. If I lived closer I'd walk there for lunch every day but then I would also get really fat because they have cherry cheesecake and bags of cookies and sweets there too. Thankfully, I went for a bike ride again with Kira and George tonight. I can really stand the exercise. It's so good to get out when it's nice like this too. I usually only go out biking for a half an hour by myself but when you're with other people it's so much better. I think we were out for over an hour and not one knife fight in behind the mall or anywhere. The 14th Last night, I finished a little movie I shot with Nathan and Dave about 2 years ago or something stupid like that. I don't know why I left it for so long. I wanted to try adding some effects and stuff but I've known that I wasn't going to be adding them for a while now. So it just sat there but at least now it's done. We spent all day and evening mixing The Neil Forbes tunes and I'm pretty happy with what we've got for a CD. Hopefully we can get it mastered and into production really soon. If that's going to happen though, I had better get the artwork done. Tonight was a nice night so I went out for a bike ride. I needed it after sitting inside all day while we mixed and ate cranberry banana loaf. I biked along the waterfront and saw some kitties on the rocks by the curling club. They wouldn't come near me at all but one didn't run away. So I sat on a rock and watched a cat stare at me while a bat zipped back and forth over the water catching bugs. At the other end at Green Shore, I sat on a bench and watched a heron walking back and forth in the water. I should probably enjoy these nice, quiet summer nights while we still have some left to enjoy. The 11th On the way back from Charlottetown the other day, Melissa, Nathan and I went to the Lotus Garden in Kensington. I had the spicy chicken in peanut sauce and dang it was good stuff. I think I'm going to have to start cooking with that at home because it's too good not to be cooking with. That and butter chicken sauce, which is pretty close to the best thing in the world. Even the frozen butter chicken dinners from Superstore are awesome but the real thing I had at Churchill's blows it out of the water. I think some night I'm going to cook up a ton of butter chicken and rice and eat until I'm sick. The 8th After a previous horribly failed attempt, today I passed my driving test and am now a licensed driver. No people were harmed and no vehicles were damaged in the process. Now I can't wait to get out on the roads with white-knuckled freedom and graciously hand out fistfuls of cash for car insurance. Let's see how many years being a driver and subsequent road rage will take off of my lifespan. In other news, I flew a kite for the first time tonight. I went to the ball park with Kira and George and flew an alien kite for a bit while the brief gusts of wind lasted. It was pretty fun and I have no clue why it's taken this long to actually try it. We went for a bike ride all over town after that—just because. George has this strange, old 3-wheeled bike too that pivots on turns. At one point he, as expected, did something foolish and completely wiped out. Thankfully the bike wasn't harmed...I don't think he was either. The 6th Eutuxos (or whatever the hell their name is) played again tonight at The Shipyard Market. It was another good show but the sound wasn't anywhere near as good as when they played at The Jubilee. They did a great job with all of the songs again and you can't end a show better than with Achilles Last Stand. The 1st August is here already...sigh.