Dave Nicholson: December 2016

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Song I Like From Every Year I Have Lived

The Mamas & The Papas - Monday Monday (1966)
The Doors - Light My Fire (1967)
The Beatles - Hey Jude (1968)
The Beatles - Come Together (1969)
Mungo Jerry - In The Summertime (1970)
Janis Joplin - Me and Bobby McGee (1971)
Neil Diamond - Song Sung Blue(1972)
Roberta Flack - Killing Me Softly (1973)
Paper Lace - Billy don't be a Hero (1974)
Eagles - Lying Eyes (1975)
Dorothy Moor - Misty Blue (1976)
Steve Miller Band - Jet Airliner (1977)
Nick Gilder - Hot Child In The City (1978)
Commodores - Sail On (1979)
Queen - Another One Bites the Dust (1980)
Billy Squier - The Stroke (1981)
Steve miller Band - Abracadabra (1982)
David Bowie - China Girl (1983)
Prince - When Doves Cry (1984)
DeBarge - Rhythm Of The Night (1985)
Bon Jovi - You Give Love A Bad Name (1986)
George Michael - I Want Your Sex (1987)
The Escape Club - Wild Wild West (1988)
Madonna - Like A Prayer (1989)
Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U (1990)
R.E.M. - Losing My Religion (1991)
Def Leppard - Let's Get Rocked (1992)
Aerosmith - Livin' On The Edge (1993)
Tim Mcgraw - Indian Outlaw (1994)
Adina Howard - Freak Like Me (1995)
The Prodigy - Firestarter (1996)
The Chemical Brothers - Block Rockin' Beats (1997)
Bananarama - Cruel Summer (1998)
Rage Against The Machine - Guerrilla Radio (1999)
Lady Gaga - Bad Romance (2000)
System Of A Down - Chop Suey! (2001)
Alanis Morissette - Hands Clean (2002)
Madonna - American Life (2003)
Modest Mouse - Ocean Breathes Salty (2004)
Eminem - When I'm Gone (2005)
Incubus - Anna Molly (2006)
Shop Boyz - Party Like A Rock Star (2007)
The Raconteurs - Salute Your Solution (2008)
Boys Like Girls - Love Drunk (2009)
Adele - Rolling in the Deep (2010)
Bruno Mars - It Will Rain (2011)
Skrillex - First Of The Year (Equinox) (2012)
Darius Rucker - Wagon Wheel (2013)
David Guetta - Lovers On The Sun (2014)
Five Finger Death Punch - Wash It All Away (2015)
Anthrax - Blood Eagle Wings (2016)

Monday, December 26, 2016

My Movie Ratings Dec 26, 2016

Christmas Day Playlist 2016

1 Johnny Cash - Hurt
2 Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
3 Pink Floyd - Hey You
4 Steve Earle - Copperhead Road
5 Gordon Lightfoot - Sundown
6 The Hollies - Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)
7 Slade - Cum On Feel The Noize
8 Slade - Merry Xmas Everybody
9 Queen - Thank God It's Christmas
10 John Lennon - Happy Christmas
11 Neil Young - Heart of Gold
12 The Animals - The House of the Rising Sun
13 Mamas & The Papas - California Dreamin'
14 Bob Seger- Turn the Page
15 Rob Zombie - Dragula
16 White Zombie - More Human Than Human
17 Disturbed - The Sound Of Silence
18 Blue Oyster Cult: Veteran of the Psychic Wars
19 Iron Maiden - The Evil That Men Do
20 Iron Maiden - 2 Minutes To Midnight

Sunday, December 25, 2016

Sarcastic Rant On Why I Think 70% Of People Are Stupid

So honestly, how in the HELL does an app make an light brighter? All you have to do is think a little to realise this is a scam. Look at the screen cam of the video - like BULLSHIT you are going to get the massive bright light out of your phone by installing a shady app that will more than likely infect your phone. And that this absolute LIE is on the Google Play Store tells me Google is not really looking to see what is on there. Here is the deal, the Android OS already has a flashlight on it. You just have to look for it sometimes. Most of the time it's in the quick options in the pull down menu. So you don't need to install one. If you honestly think you are going to get a spot light like light out of your phone you are more than likely the kind of person they are looking for to INFECT. There have been several articles about this and other apps like it saying they are spyware or an out and our virus. Yet people on mass still install them. Just like "Makeup Mirror". This is 100% of no use at best and dangerous to install at worst. Just turn on the dang camera and use the selfie cam. But NOOOO people install an app for it. Sigh. It's like people want to be infected with stuff. Not to mention all the click traps and fake giveaways people keep sharing on Facebook. Sigh. Lets see, how can we infect a lot of people? I know lets tell them we will give them a $2,500 gift card for clicking a short link. Sigh... Literally the same group of people share 4 or 5 of these scams a day. Almost everyone shares some click trap with all kinds of shady ads on it to infect your phone. People really have no clue how easy it actually is to infect a phone. And if you install it and then give it permissions blindly, you are just a fool. Hell there was this adblocker that asked for root access - that is always a good idea don't you think? Sigh... I don't get it. People are told over and over and over that this stuff is dangerous and do it anyway. It's like driving at night in the fog with your lights off. But I guess that might be fun too... Sigh... Not to mention the mountain of fake "life hacks" out there that people have tried, like screwing drywall screws into their tires... The internet seems to be at least 70% oblivious people who blindly follow any crazy ass instruction out there and believe the most outlandish fake news stories. I am NOT even going to get started with the "truthers". That is a level of crazy I just can't deal with right now...

A Happy Life After All

So even though I can't afford to be fancy or to give people what I would like to give them. Even though I live with chronic pain and blinding panic attacks. Even if my heart does not work right. Even if I have no family left to be with, I am still a happy person. I have so much more than most people in this world of ours. I am free to express myself and to be who I was born to be. I don't have to hide that I am bisexual or fluid gender. I am not living in a hell of war or poverty. Sure I have a lot less than most people in Canada, but I have what I need and more. The most of it is, I have friends who care and are there for me no matter what happens. I have people I can talk to not matter what time of day or night it is. I have the medication I need to extend my life and give me a better life. Most of all I have the joy of seeing the beauty in many things most people pass by every day. This alone makes me a happy person. I also know that if I really need something people will come to my aid and help me get it. Yes I have wants as we all do. But all my needs are met. Life is good and I have left an impression in many minds and hearts that will last long after I am gone. I will be fondly remembered and this is all anyone can ask for. So today I rejoice for all I have. Thank you world and thank you people for being so kind to me. Hugs, Love and Peace to you all.

Christmas Cards and Dinner

Strange thing is people I know personally do NOT give out Christmas cards. These are all from YouTubers that I know. I can't generally afford to send out cards in December so I tend to send out post cards in January. See Jan. is GST month and that means I get over $100 in sales tax rebates and I can afford to send out the postcards.

As for dinner - I had cabbage rolls, ham and a bean salad kind of thing. I over cooked the veggies for the salad, but it's OK. I had the feeling I should check on the cabbage rolls and I was right. The directions said to cook them for 80 minutes and 50 minutes in they where more than done. If I had them in for 40 they would have been perfect. So so much for listening to the box. The had I sliced and tossed in the slow cooker on high for 3 hours with 2 cans of stewed tomatoes on them. It all came out good. It was not the best ever but of well. Now that I have a small stove, cooking big meals takes planning.

I'm Not The Target Market But I Love It

This is not only a well animated cartoon, the dialog is awesome. There is a lot of meaning and a strong message to the episodes as well. Not only ones of racism and so on, but ones about society in general. It is witty and fun while expressing serious ideas. And yes Bob, I know this post will traumatise you...

So If I Go To The ER You Toss Out My Clothing?

So believe it or not, this is not legal. Abandoned items must be held for 90 days according to Saskatchewan regulations and well laws. This is in the Laundry Room BTW. So here is the situation: you go to do the washing at 7pm and they find you on the floor at 8pm and you spend the next two days in the hospital. You get back to find out that most of your clothing has been thrown out. Well not you can't afford to replace it and the provincial government will give you $270 for clothing that you then have to pay back $55 a month until it's payed off. How much clothing can you get for that? Not all that much. Not even a weeks worth of clothing. Hell it's $50 for 3 pare of undies for me. $60 for one pare of pants and so on. Say you are NOT on SAID and you are getting money from the Feds instead as you are over 65. Well now you DON'T get any advances for clothing and you are 100% screwed now. So not only is it against the regulations and laws to do what the sign says they will do, it's completely un-ethical. So if I start having a heart attack, I will try to get my still wet clothing back to the apartment before I call 911 - after all I can't afford to replace them or to take anyone to court over it.

Christmas Eve Dinner

Christmas Eve dinner was a Free Pizza. I kept the Coke for today (Christmas day). Free is always good. And well today I am oinking of junk food and coffee. Later it will be ham and cabbage rolls and coke. After that more junk food and lots of movies. But now, it's nap time. I'ma tired...

I been Bit

Was washing my hands and thought, "what is that"? So I got out the phone and took a macro shot. Well it's a spider bite. It does not really show up here, but there is a dark circle around the bite. So it could have been worse. Not really many venomous spiders up here, but sand spiders can mess you up a good one. One time I git hit be a few of them little things. I was doing a photo shoot in a swamp aria and they got under my shirt and I had 5 bites. They had painful red marks the size of a dinner place (5 inches across). They where painful for about a week. But this is nothing like that at all, thank God.

My Week in Photos

Better View Out The Window

Well most of the places I lived I had a wall to look at out the window. One place it was a field full of junked cars... But here I get to see the sunset and enjoy the hell out of it. Much better than this looking at a wall crap.

Dead Skin

This looks terrible. It's dead skin from the back of my right leg on the toilet seat. It's the only spot on my body that does this fast enough to leave a mark. I can't remember what the doctor called it, but it's kind of annoying because I have to forever be cleaning off the seat. I keep a scrubby sponge handy just for the task...

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Chicken With Spicy Cream Sauce

This is very simple. Place a small boneless, skinless chicken breast in the slow cooker. Cover with a can of stewed tomatoes. Cook on high for 3 1/2 hours. Ad in the veggies of your choice (thaw them out first) and cook for 20 more minutes. Use a strainer spoon go get it all out and separate the chicken from the veggies and tomatoes. The sauce is just reduced heavy cream with a splash of hot sauce and a pinch of Italian herbs. In this case the herbs have been crushed to the point of almost being powder. Cover the chicken and serve. You might want to hit the veggies with the herbs as well.

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Song Playlist Dec 20, 2016

1 Ram Jam - Black Betty (1977)
2 Norman Greenbaum - Spirit In The Sky (1969)
3 Lou Reed - Walk On The Wild Side (1972)
4 Velvet Underground - Venus in Furs (1967)
5 Joan Jett - Crimson and Clover (1981)
6 Slade - Cum on feel the noize (1985)
7 Deep Purple - Smoke On The Water (1972)
8 Uriah Heep - Lady In Black (1971)
9 Nazareth - Love Hurts (1975)
10 Red Rider - Lunatic Fringe (1981)
11 Blue Oyster Cult - (Don't Fear) The Reaper (1976)
12 Steve Earle - Copperhead Road (1988)
13 Billy Squier - Lonely Is the Night (1981)
14 The Guess Who - No Sugar Tonight (1970)
15 Monster Magnet - Space Lord (1990)
16 Free - All Right Now (1970)
17 Stealers Wheel - Stuck In The Middle With You (1972) {I got an ear for this song}
18 Supermax - Lovemachine (1977)
19 Rod Stewart - Sailing (1975)
20 Boney M - Daddy Cool (1976)
21 Kaoma - Lambada (1989)
22 Barry Manilow - Copacabana (1978)
23 Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive (1977)
24 Danzig - Mother (1988)
25 Accept - Balls to the Wall (1983)
26 Quiet Riot - Bang Your Head (Metal Health) (1983)

3 Original Coloring Pages To Try

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Playing With The Camera

These are the same item being photographed. The camera did not move at all and was set on the tripod zoomed it with manual focus. It is in fact the coffee that was in my cup a while ago. The first shot is focused so that the reflection of the blinds is shown. The second shot is focused so that the caffeine oil on the coffee is showing. You can't generally get this to happen in Auto mode. So the ability to focus manually is a good thing. Being that this is NOT a DSLR camera and the lens can only be operated with buttons on the camera - it's a bit harder to do, bit it is possible. A DSLR is way more easy to do with with once you get used to handling them. I took a 2 hour free class at the Library to learn how to use my camera. This was part of it. There are all kinds of tutorials to be watched on YouTube for almost any camera worth learning to use as well. General classes in how to take photos and so on are of great use to anyone who wants to get better shots. Most people don't really think about it when they take the shot - so learning how to balance it and so on helps. But that being said, I have taken a lot of quick out the window shots from a moving truck that came out very well. So you just never know. BTW one of the best photographers I personally know has never taken one class in his life.

Frost And Deicing

When I took this photo it was -33c. So I kind of wonder how there was frost on anything. You see you need it to be moist in the air for that and frost tends to happen near the freezing point. Well it's way too cold to be that humid out there. But here is how it happens... It's the same as frost on the windows of the car in the morning when it's freaking cold out. The car heats up when you use it and when the sun shins on it all day and the snow melts from that. This causes a bit of moisture to hang onto the paint. So when it cools off after you park it the frost comes up from that moisture you did not even see when you parked it.

What I really hated in my older cars (mostly happened with Fords) is when the inside of the window frosted up. This was from the moisture in your breath mostly. See some of the newer cars have air filters that will actually take the moisture out of the air. This is a good thing and prevents the inside frost from happening. After all nothing sucks worse when it's -35c and you need to scrape the inside of the window then the dash gets wet when the car heats up...

It looks all kinds of trailer trash, but if you put a blanket over the windshield then close it in the doors, the window often does not frost up. There are also sprays you can get to prevent the window from frosting up - but most of them don't work well and you are spending good money there to save not so much work.

One time I read a FB post that said to put gliserin on the window. Well that would make it harder to see out the window proper like. Sigh. But there was also the recommendation from the same person to spray 1 part vinegar to 2 parts water on the windows to de-ice them. Well kiss your paint goodbye if you are stupid enough to do this. Sigh.

The thing is, the stuff that prevents icing tends to be a bit expensive and so on. But it's a good idea to keep a squirt bottle of deicer in the car in case the locks to your house freeze up (it happens). It might not help and you might still be stuck in the cold calling for a pro to help - but it may help and get you inside quicker.

It's Very Dry In Here

Well this is my skin from my arm. It's dry as hell and so is the rest of me. My lips are toast. I need to find something to put on the lips for sure, as they are starting to crack. I have literally never been in a place that is as dry as this building. I love living here, but wow it's drying me out.

Humidifiers that would do the job for such a big space are over $200 so that is not actually an option. The biggest worry for me with it being this dry is static. When I get out of bed or out of my chair I often have a lot of static built up. I have to go and touch the light switch screws to ground myself before I go and play with the computer or plug something in to charge, or I might mess them up.

The good thing seems to be that walking around on the carpet does not seem to cause any problems with static at all. But man I am dry. I have been putting lotion on my arms and hands and so on, but I have nothing for my lips and the rest of me is dry and well - who has enough money to moisturise their entire body every day. I do use soap in the shower and hand soap that helps but still I seem to dry out by the end of the day.

I often get itchy from the fibro and this dry skin is doing a number in that department as well. So I am itchy twice as often. Sigh. Oh well winter will be over sooner or later. Oh wait, it's still a long time to spring.

I Love My Android Box

I freaking love my Android box. That it with the yellow cable sticking out of it. The other thing is a 6 port charger that I use 3 ports of. I don't tend to need more than that as I only ever have 3 things charging at once. It's a smart charger BTW and if the device has smart charge it will charge it nice and fast.

Any way the Android Box has Kodi and eliminates me need for Cable. It is a search engine type of application looks for streams for Video, Music and Photos. I prefer the Exodus plugin for Movies and TV shows. There is an option to show the most popular TV shows or Movies. This is great as all the shows I tend to like to watch are in there. Just click on them and it brings up a list of seasons and episodes. When you find the episode you want, it will then show a long list of streaming services that have the show embedded on them. It shows if they are 1080p, HD (720p) or SD quality. You select the one you want and watch the show. Some of them want you to "pair the device" but I don't think that is a great idea and just select another stream.

The same goes for movies, even very new movies are on there. Ones that have not even made it to the premium TV channels yet. Just select like you do the TV show and watch it.

In some countries this is no longer a legal practice, but in Canada and the USA it is. The crime here is on the person who uploaded the content, not you for watching it.

It also came with a client called ShowBox that is a torrent client. You search for a title and then select from a list and it will download it to the boxes memory. This on the other hand is not all that legal to do.

There is also a Netflix client on the box. I watch a lot of Netflix as the quality is better than the bootleg movies and so on - so I find it worth the $10 a month they charge. But most of the Netflix originals can also be found on Kodi.

You can also use it to play games and so on. The box has 2 USB ports and you can connect up a controller to it. I have a remote with a touch pad and full keyboard on it right now. This saves a lot of effort.

The only thing I don't really like is that the Netflix client is a bit hard to scroll sideways threw the lists. It can often be frustrating and the remote that came with it is kind of hard to use. But I think it is well worth the money I payed for it. If you are willing to pay a bit more than I did you can get a box that has more memory and a remote that is a lot more functional than this one.

You might want to clean it up before you let the kids use it though, as they tend to have adult search plugins installed most of the time. So just uninstall them and let the kids watch their shows under your supervision only.

One other thing I don't like is, I have tried at least 10 calendars and can't find one that works to my satisfaction on the box. For some reason not one of them lets me change the month or year. I am sure I am just not looking at the right ones and well, why do you need one on there anyway? But I would like to have it on there. I also installed Google Maps on there - but I am strange LOL. I can pin places and so on and then they show up on the phone or tablet as well.

They also tend to let you cast from your phone to the box in the case of things like YouTube and what not. You can also get any steaming service that is available as an Android app.

I find it much better an option that a Chrome cast or the like. They do way more. They also allow you to stream from out cloud or from a USB stick or USB HD or in the case of mine, a micro-SD Card.

Happy watching everyone.

The Art Of The Profile Pic

A profile pic can be a fun expression of who you are. The top one is for the AxeMoose Channel and the bottom one is for TheBrokenMoose Channel. Simple Instagram filters used to do them. BTW that would be Pusheen growing out of my head...

You really don't need to get all fancy to make something a bit creative. You also don't need to spend a fortune on a good camera and some software to play with.

Friday, December 16, 2016

Faster Internet Is Online

My new modem is here, but I had to call them up to get it working. No such luck that I could just plug it in and have it do it's thing. Nope it had to be activated or whatever. The guy was mumbling so I did not really hear what the heck he had to say. But he got it going for me and this is the speeds I got on the PC. On the phone I tested at 123 down and 16 up. Not like I will need the extra speed on the phone LOL. Wi-Fi is always a bit slower than wired after all.

I also used the cable that came with it to hard wire in the Android Box. This way I don't have to worry about it flipping out from "interference" or what ever. Not to mention the fact I kept having to reconnect. This way the connection is always just there. As well I can be downloading a 2GB packet at the same time I am watching a movie and there will be no worries. Hell with this speed you could be streaming in 5 rooms and still have a nice fast download time.

I do have to LOL at the fact that the standard speed check sight http://www.speedtest.net/ does NOT let you test unless you turn off the adblocker. Not to mention the manage to splash 5 adverts in your face. I'll be using Shaw's Speed Test from now on. It seems to play out exactly the same averages that the other one does and does not splash me in the face...

It's Too Cold To Bring The Dog For Coffee

It's freaking cold. Right now it's -24c with a windcill of -33. Expected low is -43. So I guess the warm days are over for a while.

Don't you love how big this hood is? Was not expecting it to be so big actually.

It's getting cold enough that people will be leaving the cars and trucks running when they go inside some place for coffee or to eat. The lucks ones have a car with the warming option that will run it for a while then shot off. Strangely enough only one person I have known personally has had such a car.

I was a bit dismayed to see a dog in the car in the parking lot today. Yes it's running but what if it stops running and you don't notice it. It's not like you will even know. Next thing you know that poor little fellow is toast. Just leave it at home. If he is bad when you leave him, put him in a kennel for the time your gone out. But people don't really think about these things I guess.