All Work and No Play Makes Jack a Dull Boy

"All I want to do is have some fun.
I got a feeling that I'm not the only one."
- Pitbull, Have Some Fun

Growing up, I was a bit of a workaholic. At the age of 15, I got my first job. Since then, I've always been employed. Before I graduated, I almost always had at least two jobs and a full course load. I was fortunate enough to land a full-time, salary paid, job right out of University. It felt so rewarding to be able to put the part-time job(s) life behind me. But, more on that another day.

I strongly believe that it's important to go out and enjoy yourself. Life is too short to spend it working all the time (unless that's what makes you happier than anything else).

This weekend, we definitely went out and enjoyed ourselves!

Friday night, Andrew, Chris, Randy and I went to Dave and Busters (my favourite place ever). In my opinion, it's a Chuck E Cheese for adults. It's also 1000x better than Chuck E Cheese. It has tons of arcade games, games where you can win tickets (to redeem for prizes) and it even has skeeball and basketball. It is missing a ball pit though. Although, I'm not sure how much fun that would be as an adult. You've got to be pretty miserable to go to Dave and Busters and not have a good time (or just really hate games). It's a little slice of heaven for me.

Me, Randy and Andrew; intently focused on a game

Dave and Busters was followed by Chili's Grill & Bar, which once again, I was disappointed by. It tastes great in the States, but not so much in Ontario.

On Saturday, we had one last lunch together before Chris and Randy headed back to their hometowns. Andrew and I took them to our favourite little spot on Yonge Street, just north of Dundas: Made in China. It's an "Asian fusion" restaurant, which is attached to a Korean Grill House. Made in China has a Hot Pot option, which we haven't tried yet. We mainly go because they have weekly specials that start at $5.99. The specials come with unlimited tea and one soft drink. The portion sizes are big too! You seriously can't go wrong with that price.

Our last group picture together before the boys headed back home

Shortly after lunch, Andrew and I had to say farewell to our dear friends (who I'm sure we'll see in the summer). After we finished shedding our tears, we met up with Jerome and headed to Casino Rama.

Andrew and I don't gamble. At all. We went to Vegas in November and spent a maximum of $10 on gambling. But, we enjoy watching Jerome lose win lots of money.

This was in the foyer of Casino Rama, to celebrate Chinese New Year. I thought it was gorgeous!

Oddly, after being at Rama for two hours, when we moved to a new roulette table (the third of the night), the three of us were ID'd. The dealer made kind of a big deal about it and mumbled to a player at the table that we should take it as a compliment. I wasn't too impressed. We were ID'd at the door. Why are we getting ID'd again? Has anyone else ever been ID'd at a casino after getting in?

We left late enough that the only places that were still open for food were drive-thrus. We hit up an A&W on the way home (we had coupons for it, of course), which didn't sit too well with my stomach the next day. Still, Jerome and I hit up the gym on Sunday and got a good two and half hours in.

I went home and decided to make a big batch of chili. This weekend left my wallet on the lighter side, so I've vowed to not eat out at all this week. I love chili because it's easy to make and it's cheap! Not to mention healthy as well.

I added pieces of chicken thighs, tomatoes, salsa, corn, two cans of mixed beans, an onion (chopped) and chili powder to mine. I threw it all in the slow cooker (not in that order) and let it sit for four hours. Top with cheese and you have a yummy meal for days!

Misty came over for a quick visit. She definitely wanted in on the chili action. Sorry, Misty. It's not for dogs!

Andrew enjoying his chili (and teasing Misty with it;
gotta love how she's sticking her tongue out a little)

Where Art Thou Rock Band?

"'Cause it's nine in the afternoon / And your eyes are the size of the moon / You could, 'cause you can, so you do / We're feeling so good, just the way that we do / When it's nine in the afternoon."
- Panic! At The Disco, Nine In The Afternoon

I woke up with this song in my head today, which is strange because I haven't heard it in over a year. As I was racking my brain, trying to determine the significance of this song to me, it hit me: Rock Band.
This was one of my favourite songs that Rock Band would allow me to sing off-key and still give me a good score on (to the dismay of everyone in the room, of course).

This brings me to an important point: What ever happened to Rock Band?

Rock Band was amazing! When it first came out, you'd constantly be at your friends' house who had it, and your friend knew that's what the two (or three, or even four!) of you would be doing. Now, most people I know who have Rock Band have locked in up in their storage units to collect dust (as someone who has a small apartment, I was never too impressed with how much space it took up). If you want to go out and buy Rock Band now, you'll have a bit of difficulty. It's easy enough to find the expansions for it still, but not the actual system itself.

A quick Google search brought me to this article: Activision Bails Out of Guitar Hero

It turns out that although Guitar Hero and Rock Band were developed by the same company (Harmonix), they were distributed by different companies (Guitar Hero by Activision and Rock Band by EA). When sales for Guitar Hero started slowing, causing Activision to bail, it in turn caused Harmonix to end their contract with MTV Games. Thus, ends the saga of an awesome series.

The good news is that you can find Guitar Hero at some arcades now. The cool ones, that is, like Dave and Busters and Disney Quest. Yes, Disney Quest is in Florida, but if you're ever there and you enjoy video games, check it out!

If you're still cringing for a game that allows you to interact with songs, at least we still have Just Dance!

Oh, Freddie Mercury.