Categories
It Happened to Me Toronto (a.k.a. Accordion City)

Rock4theKids: “Rock Band” for a Good Cause, Tuesday April 7th

Rock4theKidsIf you like playing Rock Band and supporting good causes, you’re going to love Rock4theKids, the Rock Band competition taking place on Tuesday night whose proceeds are going to “Sick Kids”, a.k.a. the Hospital for Sick Children.

At Rock4theKids, 15 teams – or more accurately, bands – of all skill levels will compete by playing Rock Band or Rock Band 2. They’ll be judged not only by the machine on their score and playing skills, but also by human judges on their onstage presence, costume and attitude. The judges announced so far are:

Rock4theKids takes place on Tuesday, April 7th at 7:30 p.m. at the Revival Club (783 College Street, at Shaw). This is a 19+ venue; it’s a licensed establishment, so you’ve got to be of legal drinking age to get in. If you’ve always wanted to rock out in front of an audience but don’t play any instruments, this is your chance! I want to see the club packed so that the event is a spectacular rockstravangaza and so that lots of money goes to the Foundation for the Hospital for Sick Children. It’s a great idea for a great cause that promises to be a great night out.

If you want to register your band to compete in Rock4theKids, here’s the signup form. Hurry – the event’s this Tuesday!

Categories
It Happened to Me

I’ve Been Insanely Busy…

Woman at desk buried under a large pile of paperwork

…what with some 15-hour days during Microsoft’s EnergizeIT cross-Canada tour, which is why the posting has been light lately. Regular posts will resume soon!

Categories
Uncategorized

Attention, Fans of Metal and “Saved By the Bell”…

…this picture is right up your alley!

"Slater" logo: the "Slayer" logo featuring "Slater" from "Saved By the Bell"

Categories
It Happened to Me Work

The Main Reason I’m Re-Learning How to Develop on Microsoft Tech…

…is that I’m hoping to master this:

Inspirational poster parody featuring one squirrel killing another with Force lightning: "And now young Jedi, you will die."

Categories
Uncategorized

Sorry, No Toronto Coffee and Code This Friday

This article originally appeared in the Coffee and Code blog.

Woman at desk overwhelmed by a pile of paper

I am swamped (and in one case, double-booked) with meetings either online or out at Microsoft’s Mississauga offices all day Friday, March 27th, so I’m sorry to report that I won’t be able to hold a Toronto Coffee and Code this week.

Watch this space; Coffee and Code will return next week!

Categories
It Happened to Me Work

The Temptation to Loaf

This article originally appeared in Global Nerdy.

There’s a small TV set in my home office that I sometime turn on – usually to one of the cable news channels — as “background noise”, which I sometimes find helpful when I’m trying to get work done.

Today, I’m on the road in London, Ontario with Microsoft’s EnergizeIT tour. I’m hanging out in the hotel room with my coworker Rodney with the TV on as background noise and here’s what’s on right now:

Photo of "lower third" of the Maury Povich show: "I had a threesome...who's my baby's father?"

When I tell people that I often work from my home office, they ask if I ever get the temptation to plunk myself in front of the TV instead of getting work done. The answer is no, and part of the reason is that there’s nothing but this junk on during the day.

Categories
Music

Queen’s Opening Acts

Queen, live in 1984

For no reasons other than I love the band and my stumbling across this list, here are the names of the bands who’ve opened for Queen:

  • After The Fire
  • Airrace
  • Al Stewart
  • The Alarm
  • Alvin Lee & Ten Years After
  • Ambach Circus
  • Andy Fairweather-Low
  • Angel Child (Änglabarn)
  • April Wine
  • Argent
  • The B-52s
  • The Bangles
  • Belouis Some
  • Big Country
  • Billy Squier
  • The Blasters
  • Bloodrock
  • Bob Seger & Silver Bullet Band
  • Bow Wow Wow
  • Brownsville Station
  • Bullitt
  • Cate Brothers
  • Cheap Trick
  • Chris Rea
  • Cold Chisel
  • The Commodores
  • Craaft
  • Dakota
  • Eduardo Dusek
  • Erasmo Carlos
  • The Exploited
  • Foghat
  • Fountainhead
  • Frankie Miller’s Full House
  • Fruupp
  • Full Frontal Nudity
  • Gary Moore
  • General Public
  • The Go-Go’s
  • Head East
  • Heart
  • Hustler
  • INXS
  • Iron Maiden
  • Joan Jett And The BlackHearts
  • Kansas
  • Kayak
  • Kid Abelha and Os Aboboras Selvagens
  • Kiki Dee
  • Lancelot
  • Level 42
  • Lucifer
  • Lulu Santos
  • Lynyrd Skynyrd
  • Mahagony Rush
  • Manfred Mann
  • Marillion
  • Molly Hatchet
  • Mr. Big
  • The Narcs
  • Ney Matogrosso
  • Nutz
  • The Outlaws
  • Pepeu Gomes and Baby Consuelo
  • Ray Burton Band
  • Red Baron
  • R.E.O. Speedwagon
  • Rory Gallagher
  • The Royal Dragoon Guards
  • Sea Level
  • Seger
  • Solution
  • Sport of Kings
  • Status Quo
  • Steve Hillage
  • Straight 8
  • Storm
  • Styx
  • Supercharge
  • Taste
  • Teardrop Explodes 
  • Thin Lizzy
  • Tombstone
  • Treat
  • Voyager
  • Whitesnake
  • Yesterday And Today
  • Zas
  • Zeno
  • ZiZi Labor