Tomorrow's Just Your Future Yesterday

"It's a great day for America!"

"Welcome back my cheeky little monkeys!"

"My frisky badgers!"

"Remind you of anyone?"

"Oprah’s announced that she’s quitting her show in 2011. Now you know why the Mayans ended their calendar in 2012. Once Oprah leaves her show, the most powerful woman on TV will be Ryan Seacrest. There was also news about Dr. Phil’s show: Unfortunately, he’s going to keep going."

 - Craig Ferguson

First off, let me apologize. It has been way too long since I have posted anything here. So much for my new year's resolution...yikes. But what better way to get back at it again than with a post about one of my idols - the one and only Craig Ferguson, or as he sometimes calls himself, "the Scottish Conan guy." I love this guy so much - I find him so incredibly funny and entertaining - but I have also chosen to write about him today because I am actually going to see him do a stand-up show tomorrow evening at the River Rock casino in Richmond!

For those of you who don't know, Craig Ferguson is a Scottish-born comedian who hosts a late night talk show on CBS called The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Prior to this he played Drew Carey's boss, Nigel Wick, on The Drew Carey Show, and he has also written and starred in several films.

I began watching The Late Late Show a few short years ago, and stumbled across his show while watching tv late at night (his show only starts at 12:35am PT). Since then I've watched on a fairly regular basis, often watching clips that people have uploaded onto youtube the day after its aired on television. These users often post the entire show in several segments, and if you're interested, the user that I always rely on is Malinky2Stoatir.

The main reason that I love this man and his show so much is not just for his jokes about the news, celebrities, bodily functions, his own sexual preference, CBS, the lighting (or lack thereof) on his show, or his self-deprecating sense of humor in general, but the fact that he is honest and genuinely seems to be having a great time while doing the show. He is not afraid to laugh at himself, even when he does mess up a joke; and every now and again he actually has to pause for a moment because he has made himself laugh so hard. 

Anyways, to give you a bit of an idea of what I mean, check out these two clips. The first is from the intro he gives at the beginning of each show (before the titles and monologue), and in this specific clip, from last Friday's show, he actually mentions that he is coming to Canada and to 'tropical' Vancouver!




This clip, also from last Friday's show, will give you an idea of what his monologues are usually like:




Anyways, I'm really excited about seeing him perform live. It will be interesting to compare his stand-up to his usual performance on The Late Late Show (which is of course on public television). I will definitely post my thoughts after I've seen the show, and hopefully I will blog on a more regular basis as well.

Happy New Year!

2010 has begun! I hope it is going well for everyone so far. The first two days of the year have been pretty fantastic: spent in the company of family and (mostly) old friends. I got the chance on New Year's Day to jam with my old band after nearly two years, which brought back many great memories. I used to spend many weekends making music with those guys; from the end of Grade 10 right up until the beginning of my second year at university. It will always remain a big part of my life.

I also just got back from a rather belated birthday celebration for another good friend, who I first met in first year. Over the years we've kept in touch - going out for dinners, or 'date nights', having lunch together on a regular basis during some semesters, potlucks etc - and it is amazing to look back on where we've begun and where we are now, doing completely different things but still being able to get together and always have a great time. After most people had left, four of us sat drinking tea and discussing the environment, society, democracy, religion, and memes (which I learned about for the first time tonight - it's mind-blowing!). What a great start to the year!

Anyways, before another busy semester starts, I just want to collect my thoughts and record some of my resolutions for this year, as well as some quotes to keep in mind. Here they are:

1. "I may be able to speak the languages of men and even of angels, but if I have no love, my speech is no more than a noisy gong or a clanging bell" (1 Corinthians 13:1)

I have to work at being better at loving the world, and everyone in it. I also need to be aware that my words and actions have consequences on other people.

2. "One who bears hate for no creature
is friendly, compassionate, unselfish,
free of individuality, patient,
the same in suffering and joy"
(Bhagavad-Gita 12:13)


Something else I need to work on is being more selfless. This ties into my first resolution, in that it means that I need to be better at accepting people for who they are.


3. "Verily, with every difficulty
There is relief"
(The Holy Qur'an 94:6).

I also need to curb my tendency to over-worry and over-analyze things. And finally,

4. "Thou shalt blog on a more frequent basis"
(The Bloggers Bible, 26:01)

Ok, I made that last one up...but I will try to blog more frequently! At least once a week.

So that's what I've got so far. We were talking about resolutions tonight at my friend's celebration, and I realize that these are all pretty intangible, and therefore may be hard to achieve, or at least hard to always follow or even measure one's success. So I need to think of more tangible, achievable goals that correspond to these ambitions.

More on that later.