Pi in the Sky

Daniel Tammet is a British man. A brilliant British man.

Possibly the highest functioning autistic savant ever known, Daniel (known in the UK as Brainman) can perform astonishing calculations in his head and says that numbers form visual landscapes full of colour and texture, making some more attractive than others.

289 is very ugly.

333 is quite beautiful.

But for Daniel, the most beautiful number is the universe is Pi....π....

On March 14, 2004, Daniel astounded the world when he recited Pi to 22 514 decimal places with no mistakes in 5 hours and 9 minutes. He had it memorized. He still remembers it. Most of us get to 3.14159 and say "blah blah blah".

"It literally took me a few weeks to learn the number, and that was backwards as well as forwards."

Daniel also speaks 9 languages...well, 10 actually, if you count Mӓnti, a language he has created and has been speaking since he was a child.

He was put to the test when researchers challenged him to learn Icelandic in 7 days. He did it. After one week, Daniel appeared on Icelandic television and was interviewed.

He is a truly fascinating individual.

Just because...

I am posting the following pictures just because I like them. They may not be the best band pics, but for whatever reason, I happen to like them a lot.

Some are slightly out of focus. some are REALLY out of focus and some are happy accidents....little oopsies that I couldn't have achieved if I tried my darnedest to get 'em. Some of them you have seen before, some you haven't.

And I chatted with the House of Blues dude at the Hip show and he told me that as long as I don't put the Crue pics on t-shirts, mugs and stuff, I can do whatever the hell I want with them.

Fuckin' eh!

Ready for some Motley Crue?


...definitely an unplanned shot...the strobe light just happened to work in my favour...Mr. Nikki Sixx right at the beginning of the show...



...every photographer prays for a photo-op like this one...I nearly shit when he pointed at me...I blew him a kiss for it...he winked...my husband was proud of me for flirting with Nikki Sixx...



...Vince Neil...you can barely tell who it is but this shot really appeals to me...maybe it's the motion captured...I think it illustrates the energy of the show...



...two and a half members of Motley Crue...you can see a tiny bit of Mick Mars...how does Nikki get his hair to do that?...

And now for some Tragically Hip...





...a terrible shot but I LOVE it...not sure why...






...I think this one is my favourite out of all the Hip pics...the glare off my lens - sorry, Curt's lens - adds to the intensity of the moment...I need to use this one for a poster or something...

How Fitting

So, what did Miss Donna do on the eve of her second-last day of work for Rentcash Inc?

She watched the movie "Office Space."

And it made her feel a whole hell of a lot better about her decision to quit and not really have much lined up to take its place.

What?!

Donna quit her job?

Yes she did. She quit because she was tired of the corporate bullshit and the lack of comformity and the shitty pay and the disappointment and the sheer evilness of the payday loan industry the horrible "must walk on eggshells" feeling that permiated every waking moment there and the fact that she felt like throwing up every morning before she went to work.

Oh yea. Let's not forget the really, really stinky clients. I mean, we would have to Febreeze the entire office after some of these people left. So stinky that you could taste the odour.

That's fucking stinky.

So, she is virtually jobless now...well, as of 6:00pm Tuesday January 23, 2007. She has a part-time gig lined up but it's gonna be pretty freakin' tight in the 'ol Slackhopper household for the next bit.

Job Fair, here she comes!

When it comes down to it, all you really need to be happy is a red Swingline stapler.

The History of a Camera, Part II

Now that the craziness and sickness of the holiday season is behind me, I have found the time to publish the second installment of the History of My Camera. Here are the next 10 pics...


...the Sheriff from White Cowbell Oklahoma when they played at Foggy Notions...super fun show and I can't wait for their return...



...the Cousin Who Hath No Name, also from WCO @ Foggys...



...the singer of Paper Moon at their Downbeat gig...AWESOME band...



...a weird metal thingy behind the shed at Carrie's camp...having my camera set to a completely inappropriate exposure resulted in a neat photograph...



...I like lamps...and plants...



...another killer band, From Chimpan-A to Chimpan-Z as they rocked the DBL...



...from my first official band photo shoot...not the best of the bunch, but it was a really fun day...



...Bubba of WCO as they performed as Blue Velvet Kentucky at the DBL...



...another of my favourite Canadian indie bands, The Wheat Monkeys...terrible shot...



...a band who is currently making pretty big waves, the Tokyo Police Club...I have heard them played on Indie 103.1 out of L.A. and they recently got a couple of mentions in Rolling Stone...they're amazing...