Children’s Day
I suppose I should update this with something. My brother has asked me to write more so he has something to read on the bus home. So while I sit with nothing to do waiting for my next class I guess I will write.
This is going to the be the typical “update-what-i-have-been-doing-because-i-don’t-write-often-enough.” I may try and do a few more posts later about more interesting stuff, so I just gotta get this out of the way.
Christmas came and went. Girlfriend and I stayed in Victoria and it was my first Christmas away from home. It was nice and quiet and we had the whole house to ourselves which was amazing. She got me a PS3 which is awesome and the best present ever, and I got her the entire series of the X Files. Something like 61 discs over 9 seasons. So we’ve been watching that, and I’ve been playing a lot of playstation.
Then I went home for a few days post christmas. I did the family thing and saw my friends. And I’ve realized I only do three things when I come home:
- Go take pictures
- Go to the mall
- Go to the bar
Each activity has a certain set of people who are associated with it. But really that’s all Calgary is anymore. Just a stop along the way in order to appease my parents.
Then I came home for a few days, had two days of school and left back for Alberta with Girlfriend. Her cousin was getting married so we attended the wedding. It was a good weekend on the whole, hanging out with her family and what have you, but the wedding itself was pretty boring. But we both did look really good! Pictures will follow shortly.
Now I’m back in school, 5 classes again. Had to quit work at the Gap because I couldn’t work it with my schedule this semester. I’d only be able to work weekends, and that just wouldn’t fly with homework. I’m still going to do the recording job so I will still have some income.
Other than that, I can’t think of anything else that interesting to talk about. So I shall sign off. Have a good one.
~ J
Related Articles
- Strathmore treats stranded motorists like family (calgaryherald.com)
The NHL Needs to Screw It’s Head On Right
Image by clydeorama via Flickr
Over the years since the lock out, the NHL has been refining it’s rules on body checking, in particular dangerous checks from behind and hits to the head. In the more recent years, the guys behind the NHL have made rules defining a blindside hit, and bumped up the amount of games that would be given if an incident should occur.
Unfortunately, this is all great in theory, the NHL has not done a good job of this in practice. There are many hits that should be penalized more heavily; suspensions for 5 or 6 games versus suspensions for 2 or 3 and fines.
A clear example of this happened last night in two separate games.
In the first clip, the Tampa Bay Lightening’s Mattias Ritola hits Matt Moulson from behind into the boards. In the replay you can clearly see him leaving his feet and jumping into Moulsons back. Moulson has his back turned the entire time and Ritola makes no attempt to avoid the crushing check. This was given only a two game suspension. I haven’t found out what has happened to Moulson
In the second clip, Calgary’s Olli Jokinen cross checks the Coyotes Wojtek Wolski in the face. Granted it was a glancing blow off the shoulders, but still a cross check to the head none the less. Wolski was not injured and returned to play later in the game. This cross check was given 3 games suspension.
Frankly I think the NHL got this one wrong. Much has been written and said about the discrepancies in the suspension handouts. This was no exception. The Ritola hit should have been given 4 to 5 games according to the new rules, while the Jokinen cross check may have been bumped up due to his prior history.
Hopefully within a few years the NHL will figure it out and get a call right.
But that’s just an opinion from another guy in the stands…
Related Articles
- NHL suspends Lightning forward Mattias Ritola (theglobeandmail.com)
- NHL Wheel of Justice (sports.yahoo.ca)
- NHL suspends Jokinen, Ritola (cbc.ca)
Faust Arp
Why hello there internet land! Long time no speak.
I feel like I haven’t written a meaningful post in ages. Mostly because my life was rather dull. Let me just check and see where I last left off…Good grief. It was May 5th when I last wrote something that pertains closely to my life. So let’s see, I’ll try and begin from there.
School had ended, it was the best semester I had ever had. My jazz band mark sucked, so I appealed it and got a better one. I decided to go home to Calgary.
The Gap
Found work with the Gap, and eventually the City of Calgary. Applied to countless jobs. Had an interview to be an audio editor with CJSW, the University of Calgary radio station. Didn’t get it. Sad. Missed lover. Was missed by lover. Hated Calgary. Lots of friends who I thought were closer didn’t seem interested. Saw my good friends and that was good. Had fun. Went to a show. Saw my old band teacher (awkward). Went to Thunder Bay to see my grandparents. Drank rye and had es cargo with them. Hated life. Fought with Parents. Folded Jeans @ the Gap. Folded Shirts @ the Gap. Put up tents for the City. Folded more jeans. Put up more tents. Hated Calgary. Decided to move. Fought with Parents. Came to Victoria. Had to deal with psycho mother. Found a place. Living with lover. Happy.
That’s more or less the last two months of my life. In a nutshell. Calgary just doesn’t suit me that well. I dislike the lifestyle, and just the atmosphere of the city. It was good to see a couple of my close friends, but they’ll still be my friends no matter where I am so coming back to Victoria didn’t matter. I left playing on a ultimate frisbee team, which I’ll miss, but I’ll survive. It was good being active again. I just have to get out running. I finally finished my book (The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova) and it was good, the ending was a little unexpected. I’m going to start reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon which I mentioned in a previous post.
The last week has been hell though, but it’s looking up. I was here with my mom looking for a place to live. I used mainly Craigslist, Kijiji, and the UVic housing site to scope out places. It sucked trying to remember what each place offered and who lived there and stuff. I saw a lot of really shitty places where 9 other people lived and some with owners that wanted to be my parents. And I didn’t want that. I wanted to be independent in a nice household, with ceilings that weren’t so low that I hit my head.
I ended up finding a great little character home close to my lover. The owner is a 49 old mother of three who has a little shitzhu. The bathroom has been converted to a splash room, which as most of you don’t know, is a room where everything can get wet. The shower head hangs from the ceiling, which means I will have no problems washing my hair on the top of my large 6’4″ frame. And a vintage oven/stove. So I’m pretty stoked, I move in sometime this coming week.
My mother drove my absolutely crazy over this week. Hell, the entire time I was home, both my parents drove me crazy. I think my mom asked me 4 or 5 times if I was depressed. Had me rate my happiness levels from 1 – 10. Pestered me why I wasn’t eating a lot or why I didn’t go out or whatever. I just didn’t want to be around them. They continually asked me if my lover was the only reason why I wanted to move and they questioned her character which was insulting to me and her. When in Victoria, my mother was indecisive, emotional (she cried at least 10 times over the course of 3 days), and just overall really stupid. It doesn’t make sense to me that she would be this emotional over me moving. This has happened twice before when I’ve had school. You’d think she’d be used to it by now. And I’m not one who is emotional or shows very much emotion, so it’s hard for me to be sincere about it. Sigh, she’s gone now so I can relax and enjoy myself in Victoria.
Tokyo Police Club's new CD: "Champ"
But I have to find a job now. I’ve already applied at quite a few places and the Gap might hire me back as well. So things are looking up and I’m trying to stay busy, without spending a lot of money. That being said, I am going to the casino tonight. So shush. Maybe I’ll win $100 in blackjack or something. That’d be pretty awesome.
I’ve been listening to a lot of new music lately. The new Broken Social Scene CD = not good. The new New Pornographers CD = good. Citizen Cope = really good. New Deftones CD = really good. New Secret and Whisper = good. The new Tokyo Police Club CD = really good. Go check them out now!
Pixar's best new short: "Day and Night"
I saw Toy Story 3 yesterday! It was really good for a 3rd movie. Not sure if it’s good as a stand-alone film. But still really great. I loved the short Day and Night at the beginning. May be one of the best ever, behind the chess player of course. Pixar really knows how to get things done.
I’ll leave you with that short! Hopefully I can start posting more now that I feel up to it. Have a good one!
Follow your heart…
This song came on my iTunes tonight. It really makes me want to drop everything here in Calgary and move back to Victoria.
You need not, to climb mountaintops
You need not, to cross the sea
You need not, to find a cure
for everything that makes you weak.
You need not to reach for the stars,
when life becomes so dark
and when the wind
does blow against the grain
you must follow your heart
you must follow your heart
when all your friends
have come and gone
the sun no longer shines
the happiness for which you long
is washed away, like an oceans tide
when all the hard times, outweigh the good
and all your words are misunderstood
when the day seems lost from the stars
you must follow your heart
you must follow your heart
If you feel, you paid the price
and your wounds should cease to heal
and everything you love in life,
spins like a winding wheel
if you should wake, to find you’re abandoned.
and the road you travel, leads to a dead end
when death creeps in, to play it’s part.
you must follow your heart
you must follow your heart
Allegretto poco Scherzoso
I am finally coming off of one of the most hectic weeks of my year. Last week almost killed me. Starting on the Friday previous, making that the 12th. I worked that night, the next night, and the night after that. On that Wednesday my parents arrived in time for my jazz band concert on Saturday. That Thursday night I had a rehearsal for said jazz band, and then a midterm the day after in my recording class. Then Saturday was the concert and dress rehearsal, so that day was basically a write off. And then to top it all off, on Sunday I had to finish a 1300+ line assignment for my computer science class. Throw in seeing your parents everyday and them harping on you about just about everything. It did not make for a good week.
My parents being here caused me a lot of stress. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned, but Girlfriend and I are, or were, hoping to move in together in September. As of now it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. My parents flat out told me that if her and I wanted to live together then I would have to pay for all on my own. My parents very generously cover a large amount of my expenses while I am in school. And depending on whether or not I find a job this summer, I could have little to no funds of my own. This has caused a point of conflict for me and girlfriend, and for my parents and I. Girlfriend is questioning whether or not she wants to maintain this relationship, when in the long run it is probable that it will not last due to our individual goals. My parents like to think that they’re letting me make my own decisions in what I do, when really I feel as though they are adding a significant amount of influence by saying that they won’t pay. It’s ridiculous and stupid and grr.
In other news…well I don’t really have other news. It’s looking like I’m moving back to Calgary this summer. I really don’t have many other options, nobody here has looked promising with jobs. And I’ve been applying much earlier than I did last year. The thought of taking more courses has crossed my mind. But I think I would go insane going almost 3 years straight without a break. Maybe I’ll apply to Banff again. They rejected me this time, but that could be because the competition was so great and my recordings weren’t that good.
Speaking of recordings, I get to do something pretty cool tomorrow. My recording class wants to do a session on recording drums, so I get to play for them! It’ll be fun being on the other side of things for a change. Hopefully I’ll be able to listen to something to drum along to…I feel that it’s really hard to play drums to nothing. Oh well, we shall see tomorrow. Maybe I’ll get a recording of it and I can post it for everyone to hear!
Oh drums! Jazz band. Sucked. Go figure. I played my three songs and left. There was nothing to stay there for, our ‘leader’ was just using the forum as a promotion for her and her band. The ‘guest’ artist she invited is a blues harmonica player. Together, him and our leader have two bands together, and they will be touring to Germany in May. Definitely a big fucking joke. I was so pissed at that, and really glad I left. The school is trying to find a new jazz teacher. Thank God, and one of the candidates is Matt Brubeck (Dave Brubeck’s son) and he taught us a class on Friday which was pretty cool. See video of Dave Brubeck playing piano and you will understand how good his son is.
And with that, I think I’ll sign off.
Later days,
- J
Tonight Feels Like a Matthew Good Night…
Blahh. That is the best way to describe the entirety of today. Blah.
I officially hate reading break. It’s so terribly boring. I have absolutely nothing to do. I suppose I could be playing guitar or recording or actually doing some reading, but I just have no motivation. I am in just a very blah zone this week.
My friend told me about one of his friends who is putting on an art show featuring younger people, and he told me to look into it to display my photos. So I did and I am going to be in this show later next week. So I’m trying to prepare to get some photographs together, and I’ve decided I’m going to get 3 printed for this show, two 8 x 10′s and one 11 x 14 to kinda be the feature piece. So I put in my order to Black’s and figure they’ll be ready by the afternoon sometime. So a few hours go by and my two 8 x 10′s are ready, and I’m like okay, the 11 x 14 will take a little longer that’s understandable. So I wait and I wait, constantly checking my email to see if this 11 x 14 is done. Eventually I got sick of waiting and met up with a friend for coffee (which is probably why I am up so late yet again). And she told me she had the same problem with Black’s last Christmas, she said it took them a week to print her photo because they have to do it in Toronto or something. So I was like fuck and eventually went home, called Black’s and they told me it should be ready in about ten days, which is just fucking great, I’m not going to have it in time for the showing. So I basically wasted my entire waiting for this photo to be ready, when really it’s going to be a whole week.
Hopefully tomorrow will be better, I’m going to go pick up my 8 x 10′s and find some frames for them @ Value Village. Maybe I’ll do something productive. Unlike today.
This whole week has been full of waiting and hoping. Girlfriend has been busy just about everyday except Monday (my birthday) with her papers, and with one roommate at work, one roommate in Calgary and the last having his long-distance girlfriend here, I’m pretty lonely. So I’m waiting for either Girlfriend to be done for the day, and then I get to spend a little bit of time with her before she goes back to work or to bed. And I’ve bought those shoes and waiting for them to come, I also won a new camera lens on Ebay, so I’m waiting for that, I’m got an iPod for my birthday using Aeroplan points, and that’s going to take 4 – 6 weeks to get here, so I’ m waiting for that to arrive, my best friend sent me a birthday package yesterday, so I’m waiting for that, and my brother is suppose to be sending Girlfriend her Christmas present sometime, so I’m waiting for that too. All in all, I’m waiting for 6 things to get here. And whoever invented package tracking sucks. Because I will check the status of these things about 15+ times a day to see if they’ve moved.
I’m not sure what else there is to say…my life has been far from interesting. Oh!
So it was my birthday last week. Well technically still this week, and for that I got some nice Lego and a guitar strap from Girlfriend, and amaretto and a mini-tripod from my roommates. But the best part was what my mom gave me. Well, made me. Well…knit me. I got a dark purple sweater vest from her. Great. Just great. She had me open it while I was on the phone with her, even worse. I had to pretend like I liked it. I am never going to wear it ever, I will provide a picture for your comedic enjoyment. So that’s just perfect. Now she can knit big things, I’ll be expecting a full sweater and mitts and toques for Christmas now. Blah.
I feel like I’ve probably posted this song before, but it’s one of my favourites. And since I said it was a Matthew Good night, I figure I should post some Matthew Good.
And with that, I bid you adieu.
- J
Roll With It
So, I’ve decided that I am never going to bed before 9 pm. Ever again. My body has some weird problem/curse where no matter when I go to sleep. I will wake up 6 – 8 hours later. So last night, I went to bed at 9, and I was up at 4 am. Great. I had to leave Girlfriend’s house to come home because I couldn’t fall asleep. We watched “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” yesterday. Which is about an eight-year-old boy who grows up in WWII Germany. His father is the kommandant of the extermination camp Auschwitz. It’s quite a tragic story and I would highly recommend seeing it. Girlfriend didn’t like the ending though. I did, I think it was probably the most realistic thing that would have happened given the circumstances.
In case you DON’T know. I had lost my computer to problems for the second time in about 3 months. After about 3 weeks of waiting I finally got it back this week. And I am definitely happier with it. Is that sad? Probably. Oh well. I had a lot of stuff on here that I couldn’t do. Like a music paper, a whole bunch of CD reviews and writing blogs! So I am getting started on that again. Maybe I’ll finish all three of those things this morning! It could turn out to be a productive day!
My jazz band concert is tonight. Great. I am so excited. Except not at all. I have dreaded jazz band and hate the class. I barely do anything so it’s practically a waste of time for me. I guess I set myself up for this, my teacher/conductor lady said that I’d be bored most of the time. I originally wanted to play vibraphone, but that doesn’t really happen because it’s so much of a hassle to get my instruments. I had to go buy a shaker for myself so that I had one to use. So once this is over I won’t have to deal with it for a while. I’m probably going to send an email to the conductor of the Symphonic Band for Non-Music majors and see if I can join that next semester. It should be more rewarding.
Plans have been made for coming home @ Christmas. I will be arriving on the 19th, staying the night in Calgary, going to Thunder Bay to visit my grandparents there for 3 days, and return on the 23rd. This second part is tentative, but probable. On the 23rd, Girlfriend comes home too! So I get to pick her up at the airport and bring her home (hopefully.), then we can go to a party with my friends. I’m pretty excited for that, no one has met her and I want to show them the girl I’m happy to be with!
What else is newsworthy here….I finished my season of NHL 10 yesterday. This really means nothing to anyone but me. But I feel like sharing. I created a character and played through a whole 82 game season and then playoffs. I finished with 120 points in the regular season, 31 in the playoffs. I won 7 awards and the Stanley Cup. Man I am a loser.
It’s been pissing rain for the past 3/4 days. It absolutely sucks. Everything is so fucking water-logged and soaked it’s just gross.
Christmas is coming up slowly. I’m probably just going to get my parents/family/friends small things. I saw ‘Up’ with my mom when I was in Calgary this summer, so I might get her that. Or a puzzle. I’ll probably get my Dad some movie that he always says is so good. Or maybe I’ll buy them “The Proposal.” There’s a funny story behind this: When my parents came in October, they told me and Girlfriend, “You guys should go see the Proposal, we saw it and it was so good.” And Girlfriend and I kinda look at each other…and we’re like…what? Is there some kind of hint behind this? Awkward….So now we’ve kinda made it our own personal joke.
School has been going terribly for the past few weeks. Every Monday comes around and I say to myself “It’s just going to be one of those weeks.” Well, when every week has become “one of those weeks,” I think somethings wrong. I hate all of my classes, nothing really interests me and I just want to do what I enjoy. Because of this, I’ve looked into going somewhere else for school. The next closest thing to the program we have here at UVic is in Lethbridge. I am not at all close to deciding on a place and I’m just inquiring now. Next semester I am going to drop the two Computer Science courses I have scheduled to take, and maybe take a photography class. Or something that legitimately interests me. None of this stupid electrical engineering crap. I’ve only talked to a few people about this, and I am planning to meet with my boss (who is also the head of our program and become kind of a mentor for me) and see what he has to say. I sent him this lengthy email about how much I hate the program, he said we should go for lunch and talk. Which will be good.
Hopefully I’ve given you something to read and enjoy and think about. More to come soon.
Later days,
- J
On nights like tonight when no one’s around
Good morning to you all in internet-land! It’s been a while since I’ve posted so I figure I should do one since I’m up so early! Or earlier than usual. Hopefully this won’t make me crazy tired later in the day.
I have been quite busy and equally distracted lately. I find that I tend to have a bit of an obsessive personality. I will find something that I enjoy doing, or something that keeps me mildly entertained for a while, and I will just do that forever. The last few weeks, it’s been Bejeweled on Facebook, and I got all the way up to 279 000 points. And now, my roommate bought NHL 10 for the PS3. Which is all fine and dandy with me, but now it’s more or less the only thing I want to do when I’m home. I don’t know why I find it so fun or whatever but I just enjoy it. Hopefully this fad passes sooner rather than later so I can get some homework done.
It’s been one of those weeks where I don’t really feel like doing much of anything ever. I just want a break sometimes. I know reading week is coming up for us soon. So maybe that will be a good time to relax. I have been having the urge to just play guitar and write down some new stuff, but no time or motivation. I feel like I’m addicted to all the wrong things, Bejeweled, video games. One of the guys in my program is like “I wanna get home and play with this new MIDI controller that I have hooked up to all these faders and effects and stuff.” For those of you not musically inclined, this won’t make sense. But I just wish I was doing that kind of stuff. I have my recording gear here and a few mics. But I feel like I have nothing to record or nothing to do to it. I personally like music that can be recorded straight from the floor. As in, there doesn’t have to be any effects added to it. So I generally don’t do that. I’ve fooled around with positioning and stuff, but who knows.
Speaking of my career choice, the school newspaper for which I write is putting on a concert on November 5th, and I get to be the sound guy! Which is pretty nifty. It helps to have connections to different parts of the school I guess. This is either going to be pretty sweet or pretty difficult as I’m pretty much setting up from scratch, (I think). Oh well, lots of time to plan.
One “song” I’ve been thinking about is my current Msn name, it goes something like this:
Dear Friends Forgotten; Measure your success your way, I’ll do the same, I’m happy to never see you again.
Basically I’m planning on writing a song to my friends who I’ve lost over the past years. I was thinking about this a few days ago and how people just seem to fall out of your life. And what if you had the chance to talk to them or see them again, or write them a letter. And that’s what this is about. I feel like if I saw my one friend, We’ll denote him E for “privacy” sake, that he would be all like, “Oh yeah? Well I’m going here and I’m going to be doing this and when I get done I’m going to be on TV and make a shit load of money.” Where as I know what he’s really been doing for the past year *coughwashingdishesandsnortingcopiousamountsofcoke* So I feel like I might not ever become as big of a global “success” as him, but I know that I will be better off for doing so. I was also thinking about my friend who I completely cut off, you may have read about her in earlier posts. I have yet to hear from her or about her. She’s clearly made no attempts to be my friend, so that message is pretty clear to me. I’ve heard a little bit about her and people are saying that she’s really changed. Go figure.
If there’s one thing about Calgary I miss a lot, it’s the gossip. I’m horrible for wanting to know what’s going on in other people’s lives, and who’s dating who, and who screwed who and who is dropping out of school and what so and so is doing. I am just curious like that. And with Em over in England, I don’t get to find out as much. We were both complaining how we miss out on the gossip because we’re away from home. But I think that that’s the smallest of reasons to go home.
In leiu of home, I need to call my parents today. I haven’t been a good son and called them for a while. Blah.
My girlfriend is going to be experimenting this weekend with the whole “Tights as Pants” dilemma. It will be chronicled in full on the JSTB website (Link in the sidebar). Things have been going good with us, school often keeps us busy but we’re still trying to see each other lots and watch lots of the Office, and Hell’s Kitchen, amongst other things. I’ve already started planning for her birthday in December, should be a good time! 
Also, it’s definitely fall here in Victoria, all the leaves have turned and it’s making for some great picture taking. I really need to get out there and snap a few to show you guys! Hopefully this weekend. There’s also this really creepy crane that the school is using to build a new residence, and the light on it is always on every night. Definitely makes for some eerie stuff. Will snap photos soon.
I guess that’s all I can think of really for now. Maybe I’ll catch the blog bug again and start blogging lots today.
Later days,
- J
Postmarked
Man, I feel bad. I rag on people all the time about not updating their blogs, and here I am, not updating mine. Sigh. It’s hard sometimes! I can understand. Also, there was really nothing that interesting happening in the news this past week. Yes I know you’re all going to say Obama won a Nobel Peace Prize, what do you think?!
Well I’ll let you know. I think he deserves it! He’s inspired a nation to turn around their country and a bunch of other crap. And honestly, who else would they give it to? Some random that no one cares about? Great. Another year Nobel goes on being an irrelevant part of society. But instead they picked Obama, so good on them!
“for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples”
Need I remind you people that Al Gore won in 2007? I think Obama has the right and has accomplished enough to be in the same boat as some of these people, and its just a precursor for things to come. 
Thank god for a long weekend. Man it feels good. Yesterday was a busy day, the girlfriend and I had a splendid time downtown. Shopping and taking pictures. I got a roll of film developed (See flickr in the side) and some of those olympic mittens! Hurray. I feel so patriotic. I can’t wait to wear them. It’s kinda sad that gloves make me feel patriotic. Considering I’m not all that passionate about Canada to begin with. Oh well. There’s a lot of controversy over here about the olympics and building it on Native land, and the Bay making the Cowichan sweaters and now local Natives, and now there’s a law in progress against making noise and interrupting entertainment at the games. It’s directed at marketing and trying to prevent people from just handing out flyers and stuff which causes litter. But I think there are some underlying parts that prevent protesting or anything and would make it illegal. Read more here: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/10/09/bc-anti-olympic-sign-law-bccla.html
So yesterday was a good day, we ended off the night watching a documentary called “Please Vote for Me.” It was about a 3rd grade class in China, who are participating in democracy! They’re voting for a new class monitor! It’s pretty funny to see the lengths that these kids go to: backstab, memorize speeches, debate, lie, bribe and all the other things regular politicians do. It was a really cute and funny movie that you should see if you have nothing better to do and like politics, or China, or anything! 
I think B and Geoffrey (her hippo) and I are going to have our thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. We were going to go to a potluck tonight, but we were just not in the mood to get out of sweatpants today after a long day of studying. We’re probably just going to get a chicken and have some mashed potatoes or something. Thanksgiving isn’t really a big deal to me like it is to some people. I did miss the food, having a turkey and mashed potatoes and all but these kind of occasions aren’t my thing. I’m not a very sentimental person to begin with. And there’s only so much you can do to make a thanksgiving dinner different from year to year. My parents do a good job and I think I did miss that, but it’s nothing overwhelming. I’ll survive. It’ll just make Christmas that much better when I do come home. (Yes you Calgary readers, I am coming home for Christmas).
This week coming up is going to suck for me. Two midterms and a tough Software Engineering assignment. So blah. Hopefully I’ll be able to live. I always say that, and I feel like there is never a reason that I would die. I just like to talk in hyperbole.
B’s friend from Lethbridge/Calgary came last week, and it was really neat to meet someone she talks so much about. It was also interesting to see into that part of her life. I really only know the part of my girlfriend from Victoria, I don’t think I’ll ever know what she used to be like when she was in her first years of university. And hearing her friend tell stories about people and see B laugh and smile around her made me happy to know her. And to know the girl she is now. I believe strongly in who you were makes you who you are. And whatever happened to her that made her who she is now, I don’t need to know that, because I know it’s who she is now that is the person I like.
I’m not sure what else to say. I’m going to post a music I’ve been listening to lately. And I think I need to beat Em with an awesome youtube video too!
Later days,
- J
Ongoing History Of New Music, and Then Some.
One thing I do enjoy about being home is driving. And when driving, I get to listen to the radio. And when I listen to the radio, I get to listen to sweet shows like “The Ongoing History of New Music.”
The Ongoing History of New Music debuted in February 1993 on radio station 102.1 The Edge/Toronto. Since then it’s…well, it’s taken on a life of its own. Consider: More than 500 different one-hour episodes have been produced, making it the longest-running music documentary in Canada and one of the longest in North America. More than 5,000 one-minute daily features have been written and produced. The program is syndicated on virtually every major rock station in Canada. The Ongoing History of New Music show has spun off four books (all written by Alan Cross), which have worldwide sales of over 30,000 copies, not to mention almost 20 different compilation CDs (including four official Ongoing History discs).
This is the little bio on the website – http://exploremusic.com/ongoing-history-of-new-music/ - which is now in the blogroll. I really enjoy listening to this show as it encorporates a lot of music that I really like listening to. The host also brings up some really cool facts. Like I learnt today that super producer Brian Eno composed the Window’s Start-Up theme.
So being in Calgary feels kind of like a big PR trip, as in personal relations. I’m basically spending all my days seeing people, telling them what my summer is like, what my girlfriend is like, what my life is like etc. I’ve refined the story to about 4 or 5 sentances by now. It’s just nice to see some of these friends. But I think that this is a good amount of visiting. I know that if I lived here, I defintely wouldn’t make this kind of effort to see any of these people. So it’s nessecary. I’ve been here four days, and that means I have one week left. Hopefully I’ll find enough things to do to keep me occupied. Still waiting on some people who I thought were my friends before I left to make an effort to hang out. It’ll be interesting if it ever happens, I’m doubting it but you never know. And if she doesn’t try to hang out, I’ll know what to consider her. 
I’m missing my girlfriend a lot. I really want to be back with her and at least talking to her more. Since I’ve been here we’ve barely talked for more than an hour. Granted we don’t usually talk all that much, but it’s nice to at least communicate with her. I went and saw Up today, and the main character and his wife reminded me a lot of my girlfriend and me. In the movie, the characters have their own chair that they sit in and just read. And that’s like us, we don’t have to be doing anything, or talking, we just like being together, and that’s something I love and is really important to me. 
You know what I hate? People who handshake too hard. I was at the bar last night, and one guy who I went to high school with came over and gave me a deathgrip. I know that guys are told to have a firm handshake, but it’s suppose to be that. Firm. Not circulation cutting-off tight. I don’t know if it’s like a competition to see who’s handshake is tighter, and if he walks away feeling good about himself for destroying my hand. To me it comes off more as a guy who is trying to hard or too much of a douche bag. Guys, have a firm handshake, give a decent squeeze and then that’s it. Be professional.
Today I met with a friend whom I haven’t seen in 2 years and it was fun catching up with her for a few hours. Sadly I realized we probably won’t see each other again for another two years. I got some new shoes and I’ll be going shopping again tomorrow for some other clothes, so good times will ensue.
Counting down the days,
- J
Calgary – The Heart Of The New West
Or maybe the new slogan should be:
Everything’s bigger in Texas Calgary
It’s weird to say, but I think it’s true. Calgary has become like it’s oil counterpart of the south and has monster-sized everything. Being here is quite weird. Upon arriving into YYC, my mother and brother and I went to the new CrossIron Mills http://www.crossironmills.com/. The new supersized mall in Balzac (which is just outside of Calgary), it’s the same size as West Edmonton Mall, but all on one floor. It is quite the spectacle. And I think that it’s more or less just than than an actual mall. People are not going to go there to shop, you’re going there to gawk and stare at the ridiculous of the scale of this mall.
And it’s patrons. We ate lunch at a burger joint, South St. Burgers, which is basically like a Subway for burgers, but not as good. The burgers were nothing spectacular and I was expecting more. But I was not suprised to see a 12 year old who probably weighed as much as I do chowing down on a few burgers.
After burgers, my mother insisted we go to the Bass Store. Which is basically a hunter/hick/redneck’s wetdream. The first you have to do to enter this store is pass through a turnstile. A turnstile. Sorry, is this a theme park? Apparently it is. There was one of those electronic shooting ranges for kids, and all your Buck Hunter arcade games. Upon every wall, surface and floor of this store there was some kind of dead, stuffed animal. I swear that the wildlife population of Alberta has decreased by 30% to just fill this store with stuff. There’s moose, elk, a herd of reindeer, duck, geese, packs of wolves, bears. If it loves in the Canadian Wilderness, it’s in this store. It’s ridiculous, but apparently Calgary lives through the phrase – “bigger is better.” As clearly evident by this mall.
Anywho, after this mall, we came home. To a workzone. Our house is currently being renovated, we are getting our main floor repainted, hardwood floors, new kitchen, the words. And by we, I mean my parents. They are doing all said renovations. We are all currently cooking on a barbeque, microwave and toaster oven. We have our fridge in our garage and the kitchen table is down by our TV. Secluded to basically one floor as the basement is being used for storing all of the stuff from upstairs. Not exactly what I was looking forward to when I came home, but it will have to do.
Amongst all this chaos, my brother is moving up to Edmonton shortly, so this adds to the stress and a few fights have been caused by arguing over whats going where and who’s doing what. I, being probably the most laid-back member of the family, just get to sit back and stay out of everything here.
So this is day 2/3 away from my girlfriend in Victoria, and I can definitely tell it’s more wearing on her than me. Here I have a lot of my friends and I am going to be busy just about everyday I am here. And she’s feeling pretty lonely at home in Victoria. I’m not really sure what to do in my situation. It’s hard for me to just be like, “Yes Dear I won’t do this” and “Okay I miss you too” a lot of the time. And I really do miss her and care for her and love her, I just worry about her and whether I am the biggest thing in her life and if she can survive without me. I was in a situation before in my life where I felt like my girlfriend was dependant on me and NEEDED me to survive. I don’t feel that my girlfriend is this way, but I’m trying to be cautious that it doesn’t become like that. I know that she’s mature and can handle being by herself and that’s one of the things I like so much about her. I’m hoping she meets me at the airport and we can drive home together and pick up right where we left off.
Speaking of picking up where I left off. I think that’s a sign of a real and true friend. I feel that there are people here that I can hang out with, for the first time in four months, and it’s like I never left. We’re cracking jokes and being dicks to each other and all that, and it’s great. That’s one of the greatest things about coming back is bein able to hang out with these people just like you did before you left. But that’s not the case with everyone here. Apparently a lot of my friends don’t even talk to each other and they live here together, I’ve kept in better touch with some of them while I’ve been away. Maybe that’s because of force of being away and you HAVE to make an effort to talk to find out everything. At the bar on Thursday night, we were talking about our one friend in England right now, and how many postcards we had gotten from her. Everyone there had gotten about four or five. And I’ve gotten something like 10+. Maybe that’s just because of the bond I have with this person, or maybe it’s bad posting, or maybe it’s because I’ve made the effort to talk to her while she’s gone and I think I’ve tried to maintain the relationship we had before we left. She’s said that our bond has even gotten stronger, and I don’t think that’s a false statement. Which is good.
So after some much needed catching up time, it was party night! I got prepared by dressing up as a WWII Jew. Which is horribly offensive and such I understand, but it was a good costume and I don’t think I did anything to disgraceful, which was good. The party was great, combining my friends and my brothers friends in a few games of socialbles. Which is quite a feat considering I have never actually finished an entire game of socialbles ever. I was impressed that everyone got dressed up and glad that quite a few people came! I had a really good time and hope to catch up with a lot more people later.
So, here we are again. That glorious time of night that seems to reek havoc on my soul, oh 3:30 am, woe is me. My mother blames it on the coffee. I don’t know what it is that makes this time of night so odd to my system, but here I am again. I was up @ 3:30 my first night here and moments after I woke up, my girlfriend sent me a text asking if I was up, maybe subconciously we both wake up at that time to be with each other?
Anywho it is most definitely time for bed, I hope this entry suffices those who check this often. I may not get another chance to post until I’m up til 3:30 again. I don’t really like blogging around my family, in fear that they might see it and want to read it, and then find other blogs I have…
Later days,
- J
A Day In The Life…
Aloha Internet,
It has been quite some time since I have posted because I have been pretty friggen busy over the last three days! So I figured I’ll write a post early this morning and get it out of the way!
So on Friday my brother flew into Victoria and he’s spent the last two days here. He leaves tonight, so we’re going to try and cram as much as possible into today. On Friday it was our last party in our current residence, and it was SUPPOSE to be a costume party, but I guess no one had costumes, so I was the only one dressed up and looked pretty lame. So I quickly changed back to normal clothes and enjoyed myself. 2:30 am sleep on that night.
Saturday we were woken up early, 7:15 to be exact. By our other roommate. He was moving out. Very nosily. At 7:15 in the morning. After we had had a party. In other words, this guy is a douche bag. He was banging around in our hallway and running back and forth from his car. My other roommate and I were sitting in our living room, and watched him run by over and over again. We never heard him say good-bye or any of those general courtesys associated with living with someone for four months. But whatever. You know what this guy did that pissed me off most? He stole my fucking toilet paper. I had bought a 24 pack of NICE toilet paper, not the construction paper stuff that you get in rez, but nice stuff. And I had used about all of one or two rolls. And when I went to go get it. It was gone. The fucker stole so much of my shit and he’s just a fuckin douchebag. I’ve deleted him off facebook and don’t want to ever hear about him again.
After that, my brother and I went to the beach here, and then downtown and did a little shopping. I picked up a nifty track-jacket and then we went to the harbour and then home. Later we (being girlfriend, roommate and brother) went to see the new Quentin Tarantino film, “Inglorious Basterds”, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I might do a review of it later on here, but not yet. It was great movie, you definitely get what you pay for. I was laughing, cringing, and gripping the edge of my seat. This was the first movie in a long time that got me worked up over the ending. I highly recommend it. So after the movie, we all went to the keg for a fabulous prime rib dinner. Yum yum. And then after that, girlfriend and brother and I went to a bar downtown and had another drink. Then we went home and promptly passed out.
Sunday started early, I had to move all my stuff from cluster to my girlfriends which took a few hours. We definitely left that place in tatters, we hardly cleaned up. But frankly, I don’t give a damn. Haha woo go me for quoting Gone With The Wind. Once that was finished, the four of us headed down to watch the Victoria Seals play the Calgary Vipers in a baseball game. This was definitely the highlight of the day, if not the whole visit of my brother. We were the only 3 fans from Calgary cheering in a sea of 4 225 Seals fans (My roommate was a loyal BC/Victoria fan). It was really quite awesome. We got to the be the obnoxious fans who booed the home team and cheered when the away team got a home run. I think we got a little out of hand, apparently a little kid in front of us started crying, and then eventually they’re whole family moved. I feel kinda bad for ruining a family’s day out but on the the other hand, I was enjoying myself. Calgary ended up scoring 7 runs in one inning, and after that…we toned it down. The final score was 14-4. As much as I do enjoy being here, I have a little bit of Calgary pride in me.
After the game, brother and I went for another steak dinner, and then we ended up at the pool hall which I apparently take all my family when they come here. I took my parents and grandparents to the same place when they visited earlier this summer. So I guess pool is a family tradition I guess. Needless to say. I lost every game.
Anyways, that’s all for today.
Later Days,
- J
Home.
Ahoy!
I was thinking about home again today, and again how much Victoria has become mine. I have a place where I can go to get my hair cut and the stylist knows who am I and how I like my haircut (yes, for those perceptive folk, I did get my haircut today, maybe I’ll post a picture later), I can give directions, I can tell people which bus to take. I feel like I am now a citizen of Victoria and can call this place home. It’s a pretty weird feeling. After being here only one year and I feel like this. Calgary never seems the to change everytime I’m back. It’s always the same streets, the same route home from the airport, the same buildings, the same crappy architechural statues on the street corners. I still find things to explore and discover here in Victoria, and it’s awesome.
Today was mostly a chore day, getting a haircut, getting shoes for work, paying bills, etc etc. Tomorrow is laundry. I need something interesting to happen to me! I’m running out of things to say and things to talk about. I fired off an email to the Martlet to see if they still want my reviews, hopefully you read them, enjoyed them and went and listened to some of the music! I need to know if these reviews are valid or not. On that note, when I was reviewing Sora’s CD “Heartwood”, I noticed the picture on the back cover was quite familiar. I ended up finding her on Facebook, learning she was from Calgary, and that the picture was taken about a minute away from my house (in Stonehenge for those of you who know). So that was pretty nifty.
My roommate came home from New York/Toronto last night! It’s great having him around again, I was getting quite lonely and bored all by myself. Now I have someone to play video games with and converse with and go shopping with and not be all by myself in the computer labs all day.
And holy lame! I was just checking this computer to see if it had Photobooth, which is the program on Mac to take pictures using the webcam, and either this version doesn’t have it, or they got rid of it on these computers! How silly.
It’s only a few more days until my brother comes to visit. 4 to be exact. He’ll be here on Friday, when we have our final summer ending costume bananza! It shall be grand. I was planning on going as Bleeker from Juno, but I have yet to find a pair of shorts short enough and gold enough to be sufficent for that costume. I am excercising back up ideas. Do you have any? Leave a comment with a sweet costume idea
Later days,
- J
