Uninventivegate

In response to someone claiming that I didn't update my blog enough, here is a new post. It will deal with another pet peeve, similar to my previous ones about '-aholisms'. Coincidentally, it also deals with an improper suffix being added on to words.

(somewhat interesting sidenote: if i waited one week it would be a year to the day since my last pet peeve post, but we'll make it early this year. maybe this can become an annual post-birthday activity for me).

So here it is. This one was spawned by this CBC article. Go have a read then come back.

Now, the original Watergate scandal was named such because (according to Wikipedia) it "began with five men being arrested after breaking and entering into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate hotel complex in Washington, D.C. on June 17, 1972."

That seems quite sensical to me. What does NOT seem sensical is adding the suffix -gate to any sort of mild scandal which occurred afterwards.

NAFTA-gate?? Really? That just seems like lazy journalism. There are MANY WORDS in the English language that we can use to accurately describe events. Even just calling it a scandal would be more reasonable that attaching these 4 letters to the end of a word.

Wikipedia also maintains a "List of scandals with -gate suffix" - that's how widespread and ridiculous this problem is!! Gates have NOTHING TO DO with any of these issues! (they had nothing to do with the Nixon issue either, it was merely a PART of the name where relevant events occurred). Nor are any of these issues NEARLY as important as the impeachment/resignation of an American president! I must say, my favourite from that list is "Spygate." I can just imagine some macho sports writers sitting around and thinking "well, they were caught spying, AND it's scandalous...let's call it Spygate!"

I'm all for the evolution and changing of languages, but let's do it in ways that enhance their quality, not ways that dumb it down (and illogically at that). Who's with me?

ARGH!!!!

Just read this article -- it's about the only Canadian detainee in Guantanamo bay. It's absolutely ridiculous that such a place even exists!!!

When in Norge, do as the nordmanns do

Well, I finally got to use my rented cross-country skis today! I went with my friends Lixian and Mila, and man, was it ever a trial by fire!

I have been cross-country skiing before, but certainly not in the last 10 years, possibly not in the last 15. Where I went skiing before was peaceful and devoid of people. Oslo? Not so much. At least, not on a Sunday afternoon. Holy shit, do the Norwegians love them some skiing! The trails at the north of the city were crowded with people, and went down and up and sometimes CURVED on the way down and it was exhausting!

So, knowing this, did we go for an hour or two? No, we went out for 6 hours, from which we only took a 1 hour break at a chalet along the way. We skied almost SIXTEEN KILOMETRES. Remember, this was essentially my and Mila's first time out! (I think Lixian over-estimated our abilities a bit since she's already gone a few times this year...)

I did really enjoy myself, but man was it difficult and frustrating at times. Allow me to make two lists, first of the things that sucked, then of the things that were great.

Things that sucked:

• Well, me. At cross-country skiing. This is fine though, cuz it was my first time out in a long time
• My gloves -- I had snowboarding gloves which kept my hands warm but aren't really good for gripping ski poles
• Too many other people -- I really have no problem making an ass of myself, but going down a steep hill I was more concerned about crashing into complete strangers. This meant waiting til the coast was clear, but with the number of people around that sometimes took several minutes. Also, it's not a very relaxing trip through nature when you're surrounded by others and terrified of hurting them
• Glasses -- I was producing so much heat that my glasses kept fogging up in the cold making it hard to see. This didn't help when I was already frustrated at falling over so much
• Soreness -- I honestly don't know if I will be able to MOVE tomorrow
• Getting passed by 7 year olds -- seriously, there were kids flying by us who were amazing! So disheartening! But maybe it's like learning a language, it's easier if you start at an early age
  
• Brand new skis -- you think it would be a good thing that my rented skis were brand new (still had the price tag on them!) but this meant that they weren't waxed properly and I sure don't know how to wax skis! I didn't apply enough in front of the foot area which meant I kept sliding backwards on hills for the first half of the trip, even when I did the V-walk thing
• Lack of food -- I woke up late so I only had a bowl of cereal before leaving. That is not enough food for a 16km ski!
  

Things that were awesome:

• Flat skiing with no people -- we did find a trail for a little while that was mostly flat with no one else around and that was great. We got into the rhythm and really enjoyed the view.
• Long underwear + Snow pants -- my mom got me long underwear for christmas (both top and bottom) and it was perfect! I wore my snow pants over my legs and rain jacket over top and it kept me warm without being too bulky
• Exercise -- WE SKIED SIXTEEN KILOMETRES! I used muscles I didn't know existed. That's probably healthy for me (what's probably not so good is the double whopper with cheese I had for supper immediately afterwards!)
• Going downhill -- when the way was clear, going down the hills was lots of fun! It didn't matter if I wiped out and sometimes I actually managed to stay vertical!
• Cute Norwegian girls -- there were lots of them out! But there was another group of 2 girls and a guy who sucked as much as we did, so we kept running into them along the way. I chatted with one of them at the chalet where we took a break, but lost track of them after that :(
• Faceplants -- yes, believe it or not, getting a face full of snow bank was kind of fun (after faceplant number six I stopped counting). I was frightened off by stories from Camilla and my mother of breaking their tailbones by falling backwards so I always made sure to go forwards. There was lots of snow and it was very fluffy so it didn't hurt very much. And once people knew I was ok they seemed to laugh along with me
  

I've got these skis until May, so hopefully I will get many more opportunities to practice! Although next time I think I will try somewhere that is more remote and level.

I end with some photos that Mila took:


Us in the chalet (lens got a little bit foggy!)

What I looked like for most of the day.

The Daily Show in Iceland

My Life

Sorry for not writing more expository entries recently, but the reason for that is because nothing overly exciting is happening. That's not to say life is bad -- in fact, far from it! The new semester has started, and I like most of my classes. I'm getting into a weekly routine and enjoying it. I've met some new folks and am enjoying getting to know folks from last semester better. Other than that, it's just homework, movies, video games, and the occasional pint or two of beer.

I'm sure come February or March I'll be sick of the weather (I always am by that point), but for now I'm doing all right! And the days are getting longer...I still saw sunlight at 5pm today....FIVE PM! You have no idea how exciting that is 'round these parts!

Oh man...

This is just horrendously, hideously, amazingly awful. It is (I imagine) the result of what happens when Christians who spend their entire life sheltered from the rest of the world eventually try to engage it on its own terms. If you can get through the agonizing opening sequence, you are in for a great surprise. I will quote the author from Kotaku who first drew my attention to this monstrosity:

"Based on Noah's Ark (we think), the above clips opens with characters in a library. These characters are then turned or "re-shaped" into animals. Those animals then race around a track, run up ladders and are shot out of canons. Then they race around the depths of hell. Then a horse jumps on a rocket. There is more, but watching this clip made my brain hurt."

Y'all ready for this?



Man oh man, where to even begin?? How about that sweet, sweet soundtrack. Or the incredible voice acting by 'God.'

I would also like to point out the many awards they have listed for the game on their website, including "100% clean, no spyware, adware or viruses" and "Fast download, 5/5 stars"

And Christian leaders are wondering why so many young people feel alienated by the church these days....

Oxford Redux

Man, time and memory are weird things. I'm not even sure this is going to be a coherent post, maybe just a list of impressions / observations, we'll see.

Well, I'm back visiting Oxford nearly 3 years after moving here for the first time. It's weird to see what's changed and what's the same. A bunch of my favourite small shops have closed (though not all), and that's sad. Equally sad are the homeless people I recognize who are still sitting in the exact same spots, selling the Big Issue or begging for change. I had hoped that some of them would have pulled life together by now.

On the other hand, so much stays exactly the same. I mean, it's not as if they're about to pick up Magdalen College and move it to a different part of the city. There's some 1000+ year history to parts of this city. And while walking the streets today I ran into one of my regular customers from when I worked at coffee republic -- an aussie guy whose name I can no longer recall. Also on the plus side, I'm still friendly with the managers of Krispy Kreme and the Phoenix Picturehouse, which means I get free donuts and movies whenever I'm in town :)

I guess what always shocks me is how places which were once so familiar go on living and changing even when I'm not there. I guess that speaks more to my own self-centred worldview than perhaps anything else, but there you have it. I feel the same way when I go back to southern Ontario these days...life goes on even though I'm off experiencing different things.

I suppose Oslo will feel like that one day. Maybe 5 years from now I will return to Norway to see friends and have these same conflicting feelings of nostalgia and remorse. Or maybe I'll be used to those feelings by then. Or maybe I won't end up leaving Oslo, who really knows.

One thing I can say is that spending time with my friends here in Oxford is as if I've never been away. Even in the case of Matt & Pip, who have since had a CHILD and had their life dramatically altered in the past year, it feels as if I've never been away. Rich was a bit more flustered cuz, well, the guy got MARRIED (my main reason for visiting) but I could tell the bonds were as strong as ever. And Jim remains the kind, wise man that I have always known. It is wonderful to be in their company again -- I will have to make more of an effort to return to this place over the next two years.

UPDATE: Perhaps wisely, they have finally changed the code on the door to the office at Coffee Republic. I tried the old one on my way back from the toilet but it no longer worked :(