YYC Adventures - MTrench

Last night I had the pleasure of spending my evening viewing an extremely well done live music performance. A close friend, Wifey and me all went together to go and watch the Marianas Trench concert. Let me start by saying I am not a huge fan of the band, sure I have a bunch of their songs on my iPod so I do actually enjoy listening to their music.

The close friend of mine, Kenneth the Third, is the reason that we went because Wifey and I took him for his birthday. The reason that we decided to do this was twofold firstly the concert took place just over a week after his birthday so it was the perfect time. The second reason that this gift was perfect for Kenneth aside from the fact that he is actually a fan is a little bit of a story.

Two years ago as a group we decided that we were going to take a trip to the stampede because our friend Devo had lived in Calgary most of his life but had never actually gone to the iconic event. While we were deciding on a day to go Kenneth spoke up and said that he would like to go on the day that Marianas Trench was playing and he wanted to see them. We agreed and it was all decided that this would be our plan, little did we know that the weather had other plans for us. While Devo and I were at the top of the drop of Doom we saw lightning strike very close to the grounds and just as our feet hit the ground of the ride the skies opened up and it poured down, then the rain turned to hail the size of golf balls. Instead of running for cover we all played in the rain and I got some of my favorite photos of my friends that day.

Essentially we got rained out of seeing their show then and I felt kind of bad because Kenneth didn’t get to see the show. With that in mind Wifey and I decided that this would be the perfect gift for him as a sort of redemption for the past.

On to my review of the show, like all bands there was an opening act and the act that we caught was Down With Webster (DWW). Before this show I knew maybe only two of their songs but as for an opening act these guys really got the crowd going, their set was filled with audience interaction. DWW reminds me of a modern version of what Limp Biscuit was in the 90’s a rap rock infusion.

After DWW performed their set and there was energy coursing through the crowd the main act hit the stage. The way that I would initially describe my experience was that I was taken aback, I did not expect this kind of performance at all. The entire show had an extremely high production value and was well put together straight through till the end. This is the tour to continue to celebrate the release of Marianas Trench’s third studio album titled “Ever After”.

The show started with plumes of smoke rolling across the stage and a prerecorded video playing on a large screen at the back of the stage. A movie depicting a great quest started playing it was so enticing I thought that it was a trailer for this years’ summer action movie blockbuster. Then out of the floor grows a larger than life ornate box with a crank on the side that is spinning around, a barrage of sound as the box opens at flies Josh Ramsey the lead singer.

The crowd surges as sea of hands ever stretching towards Josh Ramsey as he soars above the audience. The sheer amount of energy put out by this band is why I would classify them as grade A+ level performers. Each and every song had its’ own feel to it and no two songs really ran together, with constant changing costumes and staging. Personally my favorite costume change was when they all pulled a move out of the movie “Risky Business” and all showed up on stage wearing white socks, white dress shirts and tightie Whities.

As a non fanboy for this particular band I do have to say that this show was one of my top favorites that I have seen. I can tell that the members of this band are not only talented musicians but are also very talented entertainers. It has been a long time since I have seen a show with so much gusto and crowd interaction, at one point the lead singer went out into the stands and while singing went to all the fans who were not up front and centre. This band puts a high emphasis on their fans and even had a slide show with pictures of their fans, I saw a familiar face up there as well which makes me know really how much that they care.  

Seeing this show has restored my faith in current performers and it makes me glad to know that someone out there is still willing to perform a rock opera. If you ever get the chance to see this band I highly recommend it because they are well worth it to see.

Sincerely Urban Yeti

Tablespoon of Geek: Bite sized tacos

Here we go yet another Thursday and time for me to share my exploits from being in the kitchen. Before I get started sharing one of my many recipes with you let me first start by explaining what the near future will hold. For starters if you have not been keeping up with my blog I am moving to a new house, YAY, this good news bring some other things with it. The moving day is swiftly approaching with only three weeks to pack until we can occupy our new home.

What the move means is that up until that time I will not have full access to my all the things in my kitchen. Therefore until after the big move that is happening on the 15^th of November and probably the week after I will not be able to cook anything. Really and truly I hate that I am not able to deliver what I have promised I would with this cooking segment. Sometimes life can really seem to get in the way of the life goals that we set out for ourselves.

Ok now that my sob story is done I can carry onto what I have planned out to show all of you today. Every Friday I tend to have a little geek get together that involves us all throwing dice and end up having a bunch of hungry mouths at my house. We take turns on which one of us is set to provide the nourishment each week and it just so happened to be my turn.

A couple of months ago I re-pinned on Pinterest a recipe for two bite tacos, I remembered this and decided that it would be perfect. One big problem occurred with this plan however when I went back on to Pinterest to find this recipe much to my dismay the link was broken. My only option for making this recipe was to get a little crafty and resourceful with only an image to use as a guide.

Here is my recipe Bite Sized Tacos

For any recipe it is best to start by listing the components that go into making it.

Ingredients:

1 pack of Spring Roll Pastry

1 lb of Ground Beef

½ a Green Pepper chopped

½ a Red Pepper chopped

¼ of a White Onion chopped

2 Cups of Marble Cheese

1 Jar of Salsa (you will not need the whole jar but it helps)

And as Always don’t forget to spice to taste, here is what I use

For starters put a large skillet on the stove element and bring it up to high heat with some cooking oil add turn on the oven to pre-heat at 350 degrees. Once the skillet has reached optimum temperature take the Ground eef and dump it carefully into the pan, and break it up with a spatula. The meat will start to brown and once you have separated it up a bit add the chopped up Green Pepper, Red Pepper and White Onion. Continue mixing it up with the spatula and then add the spices of your choice as well I like to add a little bit lime juice, fresh is best. To help the meat cook nicely you can add ½ a cup of water but this may mean that you have to drain the meat later or make your tack shells soggy.

The meat should be a consistent light brown once this happens then it is time to remove it from the heat. Using a muffin baking pan line all of the cups with the Spring Roll Pastry, one per cup and fold the corners in. Using a common spoon, ladle the cooked meat mixture into the pastry cups eyeball this and try not to have it over flowing. On top of the meat put a spoonful of salsa, I use a corn and bean Salsa because I find it has a little bit more kick to it and is less runny. Top them all of with a sprinkling of the shredded Marble Cheese, this is a to taste type deal so you can add as little or as much cheese as you want.

Take the filled muffin try and place it in the oven to bake for between 10 to 15 minutes, or until the cheese is nice and melted.

And Serve

This is one of those things that takes a lot of prep work to make but is great finger food for parties. The one thing I need to still figure out is what to use instead of the spring roll pastry, any ideas let me know.

Sincerely Urban Yeti

Wow from around the Net: When Creativity Strikes

It hit me today that with all that has already happened and all that is still in the process of happening that I am in a bit of a lull. There are a significant amount of projects that I want to do and yet all of them need to be shelved for now. It is almost to the point of frustrating because of coarse it happens that the second I get inspiration is exactly when I cannot do a thing about it, talk about a serious case of Creative Blue Balls.

I guess for now I will have to live the fact that because I am moving into a new place it means that I just have to be a little patient. Soon enough I will have the space needed to bring all of my imagination’s wondrous creations to life. To keep on top of all these ideas I have been writing lists so that when the chance arises I will remember what I wanted to make.

When my creativity is beginning to hit a low point sometimes I find that all I need is a swift kick in the pants. For this reason I tend to keep a few inspirational quotes saved on my computer for just those moments when I need a lift.

Here are a couple of them.

Or check out this site that a friend showed me when we were in school for random words of encouragement.

Help Me BeFucking Creative

Well ether way my lack of creative output does not stop me from looking at what others have accomplished. Whether I am already inspired or am in despite need of some sort of creative epiphany I am always on the lookout for amazing things.

Here is a video that transitions from black and white to colour without the use of any technical aides.

The world is our oyster as long as we always choose to listen to our imaginations rather than snuff them out of existence.

Sincerely Urban Yeti

Geekdom Crossover: Lego TMNT

Lego is one of those childhood pass times of mine that I thoroughly enjoyed and still utilize to this day. With everything happening with my new home happening one aspect that I am looking forward to is having a space for my Lego. While growing up I always enjoyed creating large buildings that formed expansive Lego cities best.

In recent years Lego has realized that their target audience has grown up and those who are still interested in the colourful bricks have other interests as well. The main group that seems to enjoy the building bricks are also largely interested in Geeky movies and television. This is probably why the Lego Star Wars franchise seems to always be in high demand as they continue to release and re-release these sets.

Recently Lego announced what their newest series was going to be and it got me super excited because I had to share it. Nickelodeon and Lego have teamed up to create the series based on their new rehash of an old show. The new sets will all be based on the classic cartoon reboot of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Here are a few stills of the one set that has been announced.

Before they made this big announcement however they released a teaser to get the hype started. To build all the excitement they released a teaser set, it was a build your own slice of Pepperoni Pizza.

This is not the first time that the martial-art mastered turtle brothers have been reduced down into a brick form. A couple of years ago Mega-Blocks had rights to that franchise and released a few sets based around the movie that came out at the same time. Just like marvel however TMNT has made the jump from the Lego knock off to the real thing and it is a good thing.

Of course I got some of these sets because I just could not resist the urge to get my favorite Turtles in a half shell. This has been on my list of things from the eighties and nineties that have needed to be Legoized, next up the Ghostbusters or Street Sharks.

Sincerely Urban Yeti