A Weekend of People

Well, it is safe to say that I achieved absolutely nothing of what I wanted to do this weekend: the laundry is piled high, the kitchen cupboards are looking sparse, my face is scruffy and I've yet to read one page for my lenten book group tomorrow night. And now I'm back to work in 8 hours for another week at the office...

That said, it was a fantastic weekend! Friday night, Kyle and I had supper at Nando's, then bought some Guinness and rented The Boondock Saints from Videosyncratic in honour of St. Paddy's day. Afterwards we stayed up til 2am talking theology. Good shit.

Saturday afternoon I spontaneously went for a pint (and a half) with a friend from the coffee shop who I hadn't seen in what felt like ages and we discussed our current lives, as such. Later that day, I went over to Rich's place and he fed me supper. He showed me his pictures from the Czech Republic and then we wrestled with his computer for a while trying to get it to read the Downfall DVD, but it wouldn't, so we ended up watching The Motorcycle Diaries instead, which was an excellent film in itself.

Sunday afternoon I met Rich again at the Jericho Tavern, along with 6 or so other folks from hOME and we had lunch, looked through the papers and hung out. We went our separate ways for the afternoon but then met up again for the hOME eucharist service this evening (which Kyle fondly and lovingly refers to as 'technomass'). When I got back, Kyle and I went to the kebab shop around the corner and ended up watching Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back with Cody, the other Canadian who lives here.

Of course, the usually quiet introvert inside me is now screaming for some time alone, and there's some merit to that, however I am very grateful to be surrounded by such wonderful people and feel blessed to have had the chance to spend some time this weekend with each of them!

Reflections

I went to the lent book discussion group tonight which was attended solely by myself, Kyle and Jim. It quickly degenerated (in the best possible way) into a theological discussion and our observations of the condition of the church in the world. It was great, I need more of those in my life.

Tomorrow I'm going into work an hour early (7:30!!!) to help plow through some paperwork. Sure I'll get paid for the hour but I'm not sure the lack of sleep and extra effort is really worth the £6.50 I will receive for it - I think hours before 11am should be paid double time...or at least time and a half. I'm really only doing it to help them out.

I'm enjoying temping so far...I still come home tired at the end of the day, but at least I'm not sweating profusely and emotionally in tatters. It's nice to retain a semblance of myself after. Today I spent almost half the day doing change of addresses, which is exactly what it sounds like: I open up the database and delete the old address and replace it with the new one, check it off the list and move on. It would be better if I could listen to music while I work, but I don't want to push my luck yet.

As for the ladies in my department, well, they're mostly friendly but in a way I feel really sad for them. There's 4 or 5 of them and they've all got to be in their 40's or older and it's obvious that their job is their life. They gossip about other staff members and complain when they get more work and when the systems go down and generally act like if they weren't around to hold things together the entire universe would implode upon itself. And I think part of the reason I can say this is because I'm just a temp with no real responisibility or pressure and so there's not much for me to stress over, but honestly, these people are working in the financial department of an office, it's not like they're fighting injustice or negotiating world peace.

Maybe I'm just an arrogant, idealistic kid (well, no maybe about it) but I really want to make a difference in this world with my life. Which isn't to say that you can't make a difference from an office, there are certainly many people who do. But if I'm doing what they do when I get to that age, please folks, just put me out of my misery.

PS: I feel the growing desire to watch Office Space again...

WONDERFALL!

HOLY CRAP! I just discovered the series Wonderfalls. It is absolutely fantastic! It's about a 24 year old university graduate who goes to work at a tourist shop in Niagara Falls and starts hearing things from stuffed animals which tell her how to help people. Now, I'm sure this appeals to me for many reasons, not the least of which being the fact that my home is 15 minutes down the road from Niagara Falls, that I'm a 24 year old graduate who works a minimum wage job, and that I like stuffed animals (unfortunately, none of which talk to me). It pretends to take place on the American side (supposedly to appeal to the American television audience) but it's clear to anyone who's ever actually been that it's all on the Canadian side (indeed the whole series was shot in Canada, starring many Canadian actors) and it's fun to pick out the locations I recognize from real life. But on top of that, the writing is fantastic. Each episode I've seen so far has actually made me laugh out loud several times, which is no small feat! It can also be very poignant as well.

So why did I not hear about this sooner? Well, apparently Fox, in its infinite wisdom, only ever aired 4 episodes and then cancelled the series (as it does with so many good series - Family Guy and Arrested Development to name but 2....it's a well-documented fact that they nearly cancelled 24 during the first season) but thankfully they released the whole first run on DVD, so an entire 13 episodes are available. They're not available in the UK but thanks to the interweb, I've got em all! I will DEFINITELY be picking up this DVD set next time I'm home. I might even get a region 1 copy shipped over the pond. It is SUPERB! I can't recommend it highly enough!

PS: According to good ol' Wikipedia, it can be found in the UK on Sky One/Mix (that one's for you jim!)

New Job

I started temping at an office down Botley way. Here is a list of things I didn't have to do at work today:

• spray, polish, mop or clean anything (including toilets)
• deal with angry customers
• stand
• take less than a full hour for lunch
• handle physical money
• listen to the same music on repeat

Ok, so I'm not saying my new job is perfect by any means - I certainly wouldn't want to do it forever. That said, I'm getting paid more to sit in a comfy chair in front of a computer and do less. Most of my day consisted of entering membership info into a computer. I also moved around about £20,000 from peoples' pay cheques into their bank accounts. I'm actually kinda surprised that they let/made me do that on my first day...

Anyhow, now I've got the weekend off (like a normal person) but I'll be back on Monday morning. We'll see how I'm coping this time next week.

Ta.

Work

Who starts a new job on a Friday? Well, me, apparently....

I got some temp work for a couple weeks entering info into a computer (they couldn't stop raving about my typing skills at the agency :D). I start tomorrow at 8:30am, have the weekend off, then go back in again on Monday morning. I've already packed my lunch and everything. Man, I can't remember the last time I packed my own lunch.

I spent £40 on a pair of dress shoes today because they said I couldn't wear 'trainers,' which kinda sucks, but this job does pay £1.50 more per hour than the coffee shop, so I should make that up in no time. Plus, I won't have to deal with folks who are angry about their latte, or clean bathrooms that people have shit all over. Hurray!


(You think I'm kidding about the toilets? Click here to see a low resolution, moderately gross picture that I took with my phone's camera one day last summer. Cleaning that up deserved more than minimum wage!)

Hrumph

This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about.

How many people has bird flu killed? Oh, right 95. And a couple of cats.

Yeah, way worse than AIDS...

Contrast

It was snowing a little bit in Oxford this past week so I hastily took the following snap outside my window:

Over here you can find some photos taken by Suzie with a little more artistic credibility.

But then today my uncle sent me this picture from back home:


I gotta admit, it made me a little homesick...

Birthday cards

My friends and family have a great sense of humour! Here are the cards I have received so far (note: the copyright on these cards belongs to the content creator or, more likely, the evil corporation they sold their soul to). As per usual, click on the card to get a bigger image.

24

beep-beep-beep-beeeeeeeeeeeep

The following takes place between 3:00pm and 4:00pm

So today is my birthday, and as I recall, I was born at 3:30pm (that is, as I recall my mother telling me, not actually remembering the moment of my birth)

24 really isn't that special as far as years go. If I was back home, I would be expecting gifts of two-fours of various kinds, but seeing as how I am in the good ol' Land of Eng, I will settle for pints. Several folks came out last night to celebrate my birth and to them I am grateful. I definitely had a good time.

When I was a kid, I used to wish that my birthday was closer to summer so that Christmas and birthday presents would be more spread out. However, these days I'm enjoying my date of birth. It reminds me of the end of winter and the beginning of spring. Much like the song Oleander by Sarah Harmer on the CD which my mother sent to me as a present. Check out that link and listen to the song, it's a good one. It can be found in the navigation bar on the right hand side of the page - be patient while it loads.

I'm not sure what else to say. Let the e-cards, MSN messages and comments commence (ha!) Props to anyone who is able to beat my mom to get the first comment ;)

Love you all,
Chris

---


Pics from last night:


























































From left to right: Matt, Tom, Elaine, Martin, Jules, Gormless Rich, Me, Martin and Jules again.

For the last photo, Martin & Jules asked for an expression. I suggested "distinguished" but Rich insisted the outcome was actually more "uppity."

4

Rich has "tagged" me to complete a list of fours. So here we go...

FOUR JOBS I'VE HAD

1. Paper boy
2. Domino's pizza customer service representative
3. Skateboarding park supervisor
4. Coffee bitch

FOUR MOVIES/SHOWS I'VE BEEN ADDICTED TO:
1. Lost
2. 24
3. Family Guy
4. The Chumscrubber (ok so this one is relatively new, but I wanted to give it a link, check it out, it's fantastic!)

FOUR PLACES I'VE LIVED:
1. Burlington, Ontario
2. Kingston, Ontario
3. Hartfield, East Sussex
4. Oxford, Oxfordshire

FOUR COUNTRIES I WOULD LIKE TO VISIT:
1. India
2. New Zealand
3. Japan
4. Antarctica (does that count?)

FOUR POPULAR FALSE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT ME:
1. I play a musical instrument (guitar usually)
2. I'm a good source for weed (I honestly can't count the number of times I've been asked for it)
3. I'm a vegetarian (not any more!)
4. I graduated with some sort of film qualifications (it was actually just a BA in Religious Studies but I usually tell people I studied film as well because I took just as many courses)

FOUR PEOPLE I LOOK LIKE (according to some people):
1. I'm generally compared to anyone who's tall and wears glasses (people aren't very imaginative)
2.
3.
4.

FOUR THINGS (I HOPE) TO DO BEFORE I DIE:
1. Travel to every continent
2. Procreate
3. Publish a book
4. Become fluent in another language

PEOPLE I TAG NEXT:
1. Marypat
2. Kyle
3. Matt
4. Oria

OMG!@!!BIRDFLU!!!1

Is anyone else tired of the culture of fear that is spread by the sensationalist media in order to sell units and make a profit? For whatever reason today, seeing yet another story on bird flu just pissed me right off.

The BBC has a good FAQ about bird flu.

Quick test: does anybody know how you get bird flu? Anyone? The answer from the article:

Humans catch the disease through close contact with live infected birds.

Birds excrete the virus in their faeces, which dry and become pulverised, and are then inhaled.

You get it by inhaling dried bird shit. The total number of worldwide deaths from bird flu so far? Ninety-three. 93 of 6,000,000,000. More people will die in car accidents or starve to death today than that (and you don't see people doing much to change that). It should also be noted that 50% of the people who contracted bird flu have survived it.

So I guess all the fear-mongering is around the suggestions that 'experts' say it could mutate into a human virus and start wiping us all out. Well, fair enough. Here is a list of some other things that COULD happen:

• a big-ass meteor could hit earth and cause hundreds of years of perpetual winter from the fallout enterting the atmosphere
• another earthquake could happen beneath the ocean causing another devastating tsunami
• Jesus could return to earth and start whisking people away

Now, I'm all for seeing problems and pre-empting them - that is, coming up with solutions before they actually become a problem. I just take issue when so much misinformation and hysteria is spread. It seems like every week there's a story that "H5N1 HAS BEEN FOUND IN A BIRD IN [REMOTE PART] OF [EUROPEAN COUNTRY]. BIRD FLU IS HERE! NEXT WEEK PEOPLE ALL AROUND THE WORLD WILL BE DROPPING DEAD! AT LEAST WE HOPE SO BECAUSE THAT WOULD SELL A LOT OF PAPERS!" I guess ultimately that's what I read between the (head)lines, and that's what frustrates me.

My heart goes out to the families of the people who have died from the illness, and I would advise workers on poultry farms in infected countries to exercise precaution, but for the rest of us, let's not start panicking until there's something the panic about, ok?

Saw this today...

Dedicated to my Oxford crew:

"...Being British is about driving in a German car to an Irish pub for a Belgian beer, then travelling home, grabbing an Indian curry or a Turkish kebab on the way, to sit on Swedish furniture and watch American shows on a Japanese TV. And the most British thing of all? Suspicion of anything foreign..."

Sad but true

A young man was found guilty of stabbing both his parents to death. Where, of all places? Wiltshire.

Olympic Hockey

I'm actually really glad that Canada got shut out of medal contention in men's hockey at the winter olympics. I think we really ought to put more effort into defining ourselves by our social values rather than sporting achievements. Just my 2 cents though.

And actually, all that said, it's not like I even really believe in nationalism....

Good stuff

After disappointingly scant updates from my fellow bloggers lately, I was treated to not one but TWO great entries that I suggest you spend some time with:

• Suzie's soundtrack to her life
• MP's list of things she likes
  

I may make similar entries in the future, we shall see...

Honestly..

You train your entire life for it, every last bit of your energy is focused on it, finally, your dream comes true and you make it to the olympics, only to be banned because you were insecure about your hairline.

Pardon the language, but honestly, how fucking stupid do you have to be? If you're gonna dedicate your life to something, don't blow it because of some superficial nonsense. It's only hair for pete's sake. This is coming from a guy who's already balding at the age of 23. Lots of people have full and bushy heads of hair. Not many people have olympic medals. I'm much more impressed by the latter.

Then again, it did say that it was banned for being a 'steroid mask' - so it's quite possible he was taking the 'hair-restoration medication' just to hide his juicing. Either way, that's dumb.

A little perspective, please...

According to the CBC, well, I don't know how to summarize, just go scan this story quickly.

Now, to be fair, I am not a parent. I have no capacity to begin to imagine what it must be like to lose a child. I also have no idea what it would be like to discover that said child's brain was not incinerated with the rest of him. However, I don't understand how getting $15,000 from a hospital is going to right this wrong.

Who decides on these values anyways? $15,000 seems like such an arbitrary number. Missing a liver? $7,000. Missing the left arm? $22,000. Again, all my sympathy to the father for losing his son but $15,000 is not going to bring him back to life, and it's going to be taken from an institution that would otherwise be trying to help people. Surely there is a better solution to this conundrum. To me, this story just underlines how we've all become driven by money and really care little for one another.



As a PostScript, to give you a better understanding of my worldview; I guess I've also never really understood the whole 'respect for the dead' thing either. I mean, to me, a body is just a vessel which carries the soul, which is really the 'consistency' of a person - their love and hopes and dreams and fears and personality traits and all of that. So I don't really understand why people venerate the carcass after the true 'person' has departed it. It would be like giving an old car a nice, pretty paint job before taking it to the junkyard - nonsensical. Celebrate the person, not the thing that contained them. Just my 2 pence.

Valentine's Day

meh.

Living the dream

While I certainly don't approve of violence or what this man did by any means (and I do hope he gets prison time for it), I can at least say that I understand where he is coming from.

There were several times when I fantasized about throwing a boiling hot latte in a customers face. Sadly I'm not joking. The difference is, I never *ACTUALLY* did it...

Pure Genius

I thought nothing would ever top Fight Club for my favourite flick of all time. That was, until I found out that they're doing a BOLLYWOOD REMAKE of Fight Club. Surely dancing and musical numbers can only improve on what is already perfection, no?

Follow the link to watch some samples.

My favourite so far is the 3rd one, where, in the midst of the (presumably hindi?) singing, are the english lyrics "You gotta go Fight Club!"

*shudder*

If only they were really like this...

I just stumbled across this video and thought it was worth sharing. It is a speech by Bush which has been extremely well edited to make him sound like he's telling the truth for once :P

I especially like his message to the Iraqi people...

More election reform

Ok, just a quick one before I go to sleep.

The situation: Canadians elect a Conservative Minority government. David Emerson runs in Vancouver as a Liberal. Emerson wins his riding. Days after winning, he is offered a position in the new Conservative cabinet, and accepts, thus defecting to the Conservative party.

If this is 'within the rules,' then what the HELL is the point of having an election? This means that, in theory, couldn't the conservatives (or any party) place a lot of phony candidates within the other parties, have them win their seats, and then give them all cabinet positions in order to bolster their ranks? This could, in theory, change a minority government into a majority. Granted it's a bit of a stretch, but the fact that it's even possible indicates to me that something is clearly wrong with the system.

I'm not saying people shouldn't ever be allowed to change their minds or their political viewpoints during the course of their life, far from it in fact. However, I do feel that defecting to the opposing party mere DAYS after being elected within different party is just plain wrong. Apparently, I'm not alone in this either.

A Boy and His Blob

I made another comic.

because it's more fun than looking for a job.

Enjoy. or don't. i couldn't care less.

Misdirected Anger - The Sequel

WARNING: I am about to expound on two very contentious and controversial issues. It should be known that my opinions are based upon the information that I have, however I am always open to new suggestions and any positive, helpful discussion. If you feel differently than I do, please feel free to leave a comment stating why.


Ok, so first of all, I saw Munich last night. I thought it was an ok film up until the last scene. In it, the Israeli guy who's assassinated a bunch of the Munich kidnappers is talking to his director in Brooklyn in the 1970's. They have the following conversation:

Avner: Did we kill to replace the terrorist leadership, or the Palestinian leadership? You tell me what we've done!
Ephraim: You killed them for the sake of a country you now choose to abandon. The country your mother and father built, that you were born into. You killed them for Munich, for the future, for peace.
Avner: There's no peace at the end of this, no matter what you believe, you know this is true.

Then there's a little bit more about how Avner should go back to Israel, he says no but invites Ephraim over for supper, he declines and they both walk away as the camera pans up to this image:


I know Spielberg (who is an American Jew) claims that he was trying to address both sides of the issue, however by ending with this image, it seems to suggest that Palestinians had something to do with September 11th, or that the Palestine-Israel conflict was somehow the motivation for the attack. This, despite the fact that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi Arabian, and that NONE of them were Palestinian nationals. The only, ONLY connections I can see between the Munich kidnappings and September 11th is that both were carried out by groups of Islam extremists. However, even there, they had different motives and different goals. I suppose it could be argued that the September 11th attackers were angry with the US for supporting Israel, however I think the issue is much larger and more complex than that. By making this tenuous link, Spielberg seems to paint all Arabs with a broad stroke which I am uncomfortable with.


On the other hand, I turn to the protests and riots (which are now killing people) over the Muhammad cartoons originally printed in Denmark and Norway. What baffles me is why people in Muslim countries would boycott Danish brands like Arla, when in fact, Arla has nothing to do with the newspaper that printed the cartoons in the first place. And actually, the only thing they DO have in common is their nationality. Why should they be punished for something in which they had no part contributing? Such behaviour is akin to, oh, I don't know, suggesting that all Arabs are terrorists...

Write what you know.

I had so much fun that I decided to make another one, although I think that's it for today.

[edit] I worked on the speech bubbles so that they now look, well, I wouldn't say 'good,' but at least 'improved' - I embiggened the font as well, for easier-reading purposes [/edit]

A Masterpiece...

...it is not, but it may become the first in a series of cartoons I share with you folks. I'm fairly certain what I'm doing is illegal, but until I hear that for a fact, I'll continue to make some more (notice to copyright holders: let me know if you want these removed - I certainly don't claim any rights to the artwork). As you can tell, my paint shop pro skills are rather feeble, but hopefully they will improve over time. I'll write more about my 'life' later on...for now, enjoy this (click on the thumbnail for the large version)

Paper blog

Today was my last regularly scheduled shift at the coffee shop (I'm doing one more next friday to cover someone) and so during my lunch I thought I would write out some thoughts while they were still fresh. Then I decided that since I have a shiny, new, high-resolution camera, I would just post pictures of the pages rather than type it all out. Besides, I prefer writing with a pen to writing with a keyboard. You will, quite obviously, have to click on the images to get the bigger, readable version, and then you might even have to click on it again because most browsers scale the image down to fit it within the frame. I would apologize for my handwriting, but then it is what it is.

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

I should also mention that I had a good chat after hOME tonight with Naomi about service and servile attitudes vis a vis British culture...interesting food for thought...

Well that's it for now, but maybe I'll post a follow up soon. Tomorrow is a day for rest, then on Tuesday I'm heading to Brighton to visit my friend Julia who is quite the impressive graphic design artist (check out some of those pictures on her site!) I'll keep you all informed and let you know when i have a new job :P

Much love,
Chris

Tales of Scaffolding

Well it's a good thing I got up at 7:30 this morning because the roofers who were supposed to show up at 8 NEVER ACTUALLY CAME. Grrrrr...who knows how long this stuff is gonna stay here! If it's anything like the scaffolding outside the building, I'll be moving out before it does!

On a more positive note, the digital camera that I got for christmas (which was shipped to me with a manufacturer's defect) was returned in working condition today. Huzzah! So, at the very least I can share pictures of the scaffolding in my room!

Now, I know most of you haven't seen inside my room, and it was kind of hard to get an all-encompassing angle, but I tried my best:

This is the view from beneath...let me reiterate that all of this is INSIDE my room.

This is view I currently have from the head of my bed staring at the foot. That wooden railing? Usually there. The metal beams jutting out? Not so much...

This is a shot from my steps, looking up to the foot of my bed.

Finally, this is from in between the beams (the flash is reflecting off the metal) looking at the support all the way downstairs.

Well I hope you all find this somewhat entertaining, cuz I sure don't :P

Rude awakening

So I woke up this morning, went to the loo, put on the kettle and poured a bowl of cereal as I usually do. Heading back to my room, I ran into a guy I didn't recognize who asked if I was in room 2. I said yes, and he asked if I minded if he did electrics work in my room and I said no, that's fine (thinking it would be one electrician with his tools or something). So I ate my breakfast in the lounge and went back to my room to discover four surly blokes setting up scaffolding! (My room is a loft and the ceiling is high so it's the only way to reach the top).

Now normally, this would be fine, had I been given any sort of notice whatsoever! Usually when someone is coming in to do something like this there's a note in the kitchen a few days before saying 'so-and-so will be in on this date between these times to do this thing' - and that's fine, but that definitely didn't happen with this one. So I scrambled around, still wearing my bathrobe, trying to get together everything I needed for a shower and then for work later that day. And anyone who knows me well will know that for the first hour or so after I wake up, I'm not really with it, so this was not a pleasant experience.

I apologized to the guys who were doing the work for not being more prepared, and then told them that no one had warned me that this would be happening. I asked them who asked them to come in today and who I should talk to about this (turns out it's 'Glen Miller' from the property trust...'Glen Miller,' my new arch-nemesis) and then went for a shower.

So, just now actually, in the middle of this post, the guy asked me to come have a look, and apparenly the scaffolding is going to stay there until tomorrow morning when they come to replace my skylight - at 8am. Again, more information that would have been helpful to have before!

So while I was in the shower, I got to thinking about why this little event bothered me so much, and I came up with two reasons:

1.) I'm a rather territorial animal, perhaps more than other folks, and I don't like strangers in my 'space' without my invitation.
2.) This one is a bit more difficult to explain, but I guess I feel that for much of my life I've been pushed-over/walked-on. However, I'm tired of other people thinking that their goals/aims are more important than my own. That said, I am a firm beliver in the 'servant-attitude' - in fact, I think the main reason that our Western society has gone to shit is because people have become too independent, and too self-focused and have stopped helping one another out. I suppose it was perfectly within my rights to refuse the guy entry to my room, but it wasn't their fault that no one had told me, and it would have made their job that much more frustrating since they'd have to come back the next day. So, on the one hand, I don't want to give in to this culture of 'me first, I'm the most important,' and yet on the other, it REALLY pisses me off when people don't consider me as a person. I'm not sure what the solution/balance is to this....

Anyhow, I'm off to work now. What a great start to the day :P

Found some temp work today

VERY temp work, actually. I was leaving Mice's after printing out my CV/resume to take to the temp agency and as I was leaving, a guy asked if I'd like to participate in a study they were doing inside. He said it would take 15 minutes and pay £10. That is FOUR times my current rate of pay, so I agreed. It turns out it was this was a marketing thing for Orange phones. When I found this out, my morality alarm went off a little bit, as I don't particularly fancy helping a big corporation make more money, but I thought 10 quid for very little work was worth it, and it gave me a chance to let them know what I thought. Plus the Australian girl who was in charge was really nice (read: cute). I'm still curious whether asking my age and place of employment at the end was part of the survey or just her own curiosity, but I'll give her the benefit of the doubt.

So they sat me in front of this crazy monitor thing which tracked my eye movements and then she showed me this website and asked me to have a look around. When I was finished, she showed me the video of where my eyes went and asked a few questions.
"Can you tell me what the site was for?"
"Yeah, you sign up and get e-mails and a chance to win a PSP."
"Does this interest you?"
"Not in the least."
"Why not?"
"Cuz I hate getting e-mails and I know that there's no chance I'm going to win it."
"Do you think we're going to give your e-mail address to other companies."
"Probably."
"But you didn't even follow this link (referring to the disclaimer about signing up)."
"That's because everyone has one and it's full of legal crap that I can't understand or don't care about. Plus I know the odds of winning are so low that I'm never going to win. Why would I sign up?"

After that she was like "Well, pretend you DO want to sign up..." and I had to fill in boxes and go through several methods of which was better (dragging things over, ticking boxes, highlighting selections, etc.) and that was it.

I told her flat out near the beginning that I hate e-mails from companies and that I dislike advertising in general. Now, I'm sure I'm not gonna turn the world around or anything, but at least I got to give them my opinion. And I got 10 quid for it too. However, now thanks to me they'll probably just come up with a sneakier way of advertising to folks like myself in the future. Ahhh, cynicism and idealism really are two sides of the same coin.

Election round-up.

Well it's a Conservative minority. Can't say it's the result I was looking for, but there you have it. Obviously in my ideal world it would be an NDP majority, but that's not going to happen any time soon. That said, they did gain 12 or 13 seats since the last election, which I'm quite pleased with.

I'd like to see some election reforms involving a more propotional representation. I'm not entirely sure how this would work, but it just seems unfair as it stands. For example, the Bloc Quebecois won 51 seats (all in Quebec, they don't have candidates anywhere else) but only got 10.5% of the popular vote. The NDP only got 29 seats, but 17.5% of the vote. As well, although the Green Party didn't have any members elected, they still managed 5% of the vote. Surely that should stand for something.

One comforting thought came as I was watching some coverage via the CPAC live stream late last night (or early this morning depending how you look at it) when a caller phoned in and pointed out that the Conservatives are going to have to tread lightly if they want to retain power. Getting the budget passed is almost always the first confidence vote, and if they can't do that then there's going to be another election. Now, I doubt this will happen, but it will mean that they won't be as radical as they would have been with a majority government.

I'll be interested to see whether Harper really follows through on his promise to cut the GST. I don't like paying taxes any more than the next guy but I'm also afraid that getting rid of it would really hurt our social programs. That said, this was a big promise he made during his campaign, and if he doesn't follow through it will reflect poorly on his character.

I watched Paul Martin's concession speech as I ate my breakfast this morning and saw that he will be stepping down as party leader. I think this is a good move for the liberals. What they need now is a new Pierre Trudeau to take the reigns of the party and steer it back into a majority government. Now, like I said, obviously I'd prefer an NDP majority, but I know that's unlikely in the near future. At least the Liberals are further left than the Conservatives and with a majority they could actually make stuff happen.

Well, that's all the insight I have for now. Join us next week when our guest will be...oh...wait, this isn't actually my own talkshow, is it?

Canadian Election

shit.

I thought old people were supposed to vote Conservative? Well, this dude is 104 and he's voting NDP! awwww yeah.

From the Man himself...

So I have been rekindling my love affair with Kevin Smith as of late. I had been following the video diaries on the Clerks 2 website, but last week I watched the first flick again with a couple of my mates from work (we have very clerk-ish jobs).

Tonight I watched the "An Evening With Kevin Smith" DVDs recorded from his Q&A sessions across the states a few years back. The man is a genius, not the least of which due to the comments made in this video (30 seconds, divx 5, 3mb)

Toothpaste for Dinner

lol, Matty just introduced me to www.toothpastefordinner.com - it's hilarious!

I can relate to many of them but I like this one:



Go explore for yourself!

Dinner with Hermione.

I went for a curry after work with Rich and Matt. We were having a good time but there was a table of many teenage girls across from us who were rather noisy in what was already a confined space. We still had a good chat though, and joked about how we were old men wanting our peace and quiet. As they got up to leave, I noticed that one of them was none other than Miss Granger herself. Neat.

---

after telling britton on MSN:
britton ... says:
did you yell out "I loved you in narnia!!"

We're screwed.

We might as well surrender to the US now and avoid all those civilian casualties.

Blah.

At this very moment I am rather frustrated with my life. I think I might go for a walk to figure out why exactly. I think this walk might well culminate in the purchase of a bottle of Bailey's.

More Malta

Well, Rich did what I was intending to do. Click here to see more pictures from Malta. My camera is on the fritz so all the photos were taken expertly by Rich himself.

Regarding Malta, I should add that while it was a neat place to explore, I'm in no rush to return. While we were there Rich commented that it all looked quite run down, and I replied that on a scale of first, second and third world, Malta was kind of a 1.5

Everything was this yellowish-brown colour and it all seemed to be cracked and slowly crumbling. I don't know, maybe it's different in the summer or maybe I'm just spoiled having grown up with access to the vast Canadian wilderness. At any rate, it was a good trip and an eye opener. I always love learning how people live in other parts of the world. And I must admit that the temples absolutely blew me away. They were unfathomable...as we were walking through them I was trying to use my imagination as to what the people must have been like who built them but I couldn't do it. I realized I have absolutely NO context for what life must have been like 5000 years ago. The idea that people even existed back then, it does my head in. Here's some more pictures of the temples (click em for the bigger version):

Proof.

Quick note

We are in Malta.
Our hotel is filled with pensioners.
Weather has been slightly rainy but mostly sunny.
Cold at nights.
Today we saw where Paul (supposedly) stayed on the island.
We hired a car and it's true what they say about driving/ers in Malta.
It's nice to see somewhere new again.

The Great Escapism

Well, I'm off to Malta for a few days. I'll be back in the UK on Saturday the 7th. Maybe I'll update in between from there, who knows.

Happy New Year

It occured to me last night as I stuck my head out my window to watch fireworks and listened to the drunken group of Russians partying in the room next to me that New Year's is one of the few celebrations which unites all of humanity. Ok, granted that groups like the Chinese & others have their own systems and what not, but they still have to do business with the rest of the world. And fair enough, different time zones mean it doesn't happen all at once, but like, it's crazy to think that there's this one day where people all across the planet celebrate the same thing - our continued existence - regardless of politics or religions or ideologies or anything else. We need more of that I think...I guess that's the positive effects of globalization...let's find some more occassions to bring human beings together in joy and celebration....

But in the mean time, happy new year one and all!

Sun, sand, shipwreck

The destination has been decided: Rich and I are headed to Malta for 3 days next week.

^"1Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. ²The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold."
- Acts 28

Fire

The best thing about staying at Matt's place:

ho ho ho

All right, so I didn't get to see any of my family for Christmas this year, but I did go kayaking on the Thames! What did YOU do for Christmas??

Eeeeek

Just saw this story on the CBC website...

It's unlikely that I would actually know the family involved, but I definitely know that junction/intersection - I grew up near there. It's terrible because cars and trucks come flying down the hill and don't stop at the lights. Say a prayer for this family...

And just a reminder to everyone to drive safely and soberly this holiday season!!

It would be cool to hang them from the ceiling instead...

To all who were worried about me spending Christmas alone, feast your eyes on this setup:

That's a good haul no matter how you look at it!

Matt and Pip have gone away for Christmas so I am cat/house-sitting for them and co-opting their tree in the mean time. You know, it occurred to me just how odd a tradition it is to leave wrapped presents at the base of a tree...I mean, I'm sure there's reasons for why it started in the first place, but why not hang them from the ceiling instead? That seems no less random than bringing a tree into your house for the sole purpose of overseeing gifts. And yet, I found it strangely comforting once it was all set up...


Anyhow, I'm working tomorrow until 6pm, then I'm going to go to my friends' house for a traditional Polish Christmas dinner (which apparently has 12 dishes?!?!) and then probably midnight mass at Christchurch cathedral (mmmm...Anglican liturgy). Since Christmas day is my only day off, I plan on sleeping in until 1pm or so, opening my presents, talking to my fam on the phone and then going for a walk if it's nice outside. I also might call around to anyone who's still here and see if they'd like to go for a drink. Then it's back to work on the 26th.

Well that's all from here...Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it!

Dreaming of Adventure

Looking at the schedule at work today I realized that I am free from 12pm on Jan 3 and don't have to be back at work until 2pm on Jan 6. That's 74 hours off.

So I'm thinking Dublin, Geneva or Lisbon. Any comments on these destinations or suggestions of others? Keep in mind this 74 hours includes travel time to and from Oxford. Also keep in mind the time of year...

It must be Christmas...

There is

lots of

good news

today!

Brilliant

Another genius is Spike Jonze.

Too bad he's a corporate sellout (I avoided using the word 'whore' because I know that my mother reads this site ;D)

Sweet release

A day off - ahhhhhh....

To continue the story, that £10 note was used after work this evening to purchase the best beer and kebab this kid has ever tasted.

Something else I'd like to share: the song "I Believe in Symmetry" by Bright Eyes has become a bit of an anthem for me as of late. Conor is a genius.

Listen here.

Sing along here.

I particularly love that last verse:

The levity of longing that
Distills each dream inside my head
By morning, watered down, forget
On silver stars I wish and wish and wish

9

Rather than do any of my own work, I will just refer you to this link for information about our carol service last night. In short, it rocked. Pictures found here.

Surprises in the mail

I got 3 significant pieces of mail today.

The first was a tablecloth which my mother fashioned to put over my bedside table. Well I call it my bedside table, but it's actually just the box that my duvet came in. It is the perfect size and height for a bedside table though, and this cloth will make a nice covering.

The second was my ballot for the Canadian election (which is returned by placing an envelope within an envelope within an envelope). I've always voted NDP but I'm tempted to vote Liberal just to avoid a Conservative minority. However, I suppose I don't really believe in strategic voting.

The last and most peculiar piece was a plain white envelope with my name written in capital letters on the front. Inside was a £10 note and that was it. No card, no explanation, nothing! I would like to believe that it came from the lady who ripped me off £10 yesterday but that is rather unlikely seeing as how she doesn't know where I live. Regardless, I am grateful to the kind soul who did leave this for me and can assure him or her that the gesture is extremely appreciated. Merry Christmas indeed!

Here's a pic of the goods:

My friend Carol

Nothing makes a bad day better than belting out a few Christmas Carols with your friends.

Why I need a new job

Yesterday I went to in to work, despite it being my day off, to cover for my friend who was too ill to get out of bed. Now, I didn't have to do this, but I was the only person who could (all the other keyholders have left for christmas). Ultimately it made my friend feel better since she didn't have to come in, and the manager feel better since he didn't have to work a 14 hour day.
This is fine. I don't mind doing this because I hope that they would do the same for me if the situation were reversed. However, now I don't have another day off until Wednesday, which means today was day 5 in a row of 7.

This morning, a woman pulled the old "but I gave you a 20" routine. I told her that I was pretty sure she gave me a 10 and that we could take her number and she could come back at 1 when we cash up and see whether or not we were up or down. She became very rude and we got into a row about it, however during this time the queue was building and there was only one other guy working. In the end, I threw the 10 pound note on the counter, slammed the till drawer shut, and walked away. Sure enough when I was cashing up in the afternoon, we were £10 down. Now I've lost 2 hours of my wages because she is either stupid or evil.
Thanks a lot. Merry Christmas bitch.

Then, around 1:30pm, the guy who was supposed to come into work at 11 calls me to say he has the flu (fakes a cough) and says he won't be in today. Or tomorrow. I say fine, and tell him to call back and tell that to the manager when he gets in at 2:30. And I slam down the phone without listening to anything else he has to say. Of course, this wouldn't be an issue if the manager had hired more people to cover shifts, but he hasn't. And since most of the staff are gone for Christmas, that means we're pretty much screwed. He could hire more people now, but it usually takes a week or two to get the hang of it all. It wasn't so bad without him today because business was rather slow, but tomorrow all the kids will be out of school and people are going to be shopping like mad, so it's supposed to be one of the busiest days of the year. The girl I'm scheduled to be working with is good, but it will be her first shift in months since she's been away at university, so she's not exactly 'fresh.' And really, you need 3 people to close properly, so that means the two of us will be there for an extra hour or so to make sure everything gets done. Thanks a lot jackass.

And after all of that, I will still have another shift before I finally get a day off on Wednesday. Great.

This is why I need a new job...not just because of the stress, but because I hate the person it turns me into. I used to be light-hearted. I used to have faith in humanity but now I'm cynical and distrusting. I'm always on the lookout for the next person to steal 10 quid from me, or for someone to let me down cuz they just don't feel like upholding their end of the bargain. I hate being that bitter...I hate seeing the world through those lenses. I want to be able to dream again. To see the good in others and not always worry about my own well-being. To care and to make a difference in the world. Right now, none of that is happening.

Multimedia

Wow, Rick Mercer is really helping me reach my multimedia goal! Here are some clips handpicked by me in case you didn't want to sift through all of them yourself (all quicktime links):

• A tribute to America's Ambassador to Canada
  
• A Day with Canada's Ambassor to America
(this guy is hilarious!)
• On Denmark and the Gay Marriage Debate
  
• Rick Mercer and the actual Prime Minister of Canada
• The Prime Minister promoting Viagara...well, not really

And here's a couple of older ones...you'll need RealPlayer for these. The first is Rick Mercer interviewing people on my university campus... I remember my flatmate said he saw him on his way to class that day. And here's two more for good measure.

All of these clips are taken from here

Well, after watching all these clips I'm feeling rather patriotic....which is odd because I don't really believe in nationalism.

Canadian Politics

Well, they've triggered an election in Canada to be held in the new year. I've already faxed my required paperwork in, so hopefully I should be receiving an absentee ballot by post in the next few weeks. In the mean time, here is an interesting story to keep you entertained.

A little background before you read it:

So one of the campaign promises of the Conservative Party was that rather than give families childcare, they would just cut them a cheque each month for a certain amount of money (based on their family size, number of children, etc.)

So, a member of the Liberal party (which, for my British readers, is basically the equivalent to Labour) shot back saying that the money probably wouldn't go to child care but rather to 'beer and popcorn.'

So, an anti-Liberal party blogger decided to set up an on-line petition to question the Liberal party leader (and current Canadian Prime Minister) whether he agrees with his aide who suggested that parents would choose beer over their kids.

HOWEVER, in response to that, a famous (well, within Canada at least) comedian/satirist named Rick Mercer (he's kind of like a Canadian version of Jon Stewart...see above for some online clips) decided to set up his OWN petition demanding that the interests of beer drinkers be taken into consideration by the candidates. It can be found at www.beernotkids.com

I guess I've pretty much summarized the whole article now. And perhaps it's funnier if you're actually a Canadian citizen...ah well...

Spruce it up

In an effort to make my blog more multimedic, i will try to continue to post more pictures/video/audio files.

As a free taste test, please enjoy this sample from Family Guy:

Download the MP3 by clicking here.

Teaser

Well i STILL haven't got all my pictures up on my walls, but I thought that as a teaser I would post this pixelated picture of me brooding on the stairs in my room.


"Stairs in his room?!" you say?? Yes, it's all true....stay tuned for more.

Good quotes

Just got off the phone with my friend Rich who I hadn't heard from since that night we played pool. He had a good quote which I told him I would probably put on my blog, and here it is:

"It sounds like you don't want to be a coffee bitch any more... so... ummm... stop it."

:D

Thanks man, I'm gonna try....

Truth on the Internet

I was reading through a message board on AintItCoolNews.com (cuz I'm a geek like that) and came across the following comment:

by seppukudkurosawa		December 8th, 2005 11:09:24 PM CST
What do Christians have to do with Jesus?

I chuckled to myself and thought "Far too little, far too often."

Climate change

Believe it or not, I think this is a good thing.

Meeting God at the pub

Well, I was having a rather shit day today so I decided to nip across the street for a pint of beer during my lunch. Now, this isn't really allowed, however the manager wasn't in today and there were other keyholders there, so I figured I could get away with it. And I can't tell you how much it helped the rest of my day.

As I was sitting there, the song Bittersweet Symphony by the Verve came on the stereo. I've heard it many times before, but the first verse really struck a chord with me today...

"Cuz it's a bittersweet symphony, this life,
trying to make ends meet, you're a slave to money then you die."

It just made me think about why I'm on this planet and what I'm meant to be doing with my life. It made me realize that working in the coffee shop is just a temporary means to an end... that there's so much more out there. When I got back to work I decided to put on the new U2 cd (which also really isn't allowed, but again, I'm so much the better for it) and rocked out for the afternoon.

I'll be back there in 10 hours from now to open up, but then at 3pm tomorrow I am off until Tuesday afternoon, so it isn't so bad. I think I'll spend most of my free time applying to new jobs...and exploring my own sense of wonder.

Langford out.

Amusing conversations

I am currently on my break at work, using one of the internet terminals. My sole reason for doing so is to post this amusing conversation I had just moments ago.

Me (trying to choose my items for lunch): Aww man, are we out of fruit salad?
Katie: Yeah...but you can have one of these, we got them delivered by mistake...
Me: This is not so much a fruit salad as it is a BAG OF APPLES AND GRAPES.
Aga: Please! Don't be fussy.

Forgot one

I forgot one sign from yesterday's collection. I found this one while wandering around Hackney last year on Christmas day.

To quote Bart Simpson, "The ironing is delicious."



Click on the picture to get the big version.

If you still don't get it, might I duly recommend that you read 1984.

Signs

All right, my room is almost there but not quite ready to be photographed yet. To tide you over, here are some of the humourous signs I have photographed throughout my travels thus far.



This one from Stockholm I have already posted.



This one was in Brussels or Bruges....Belgian at any rate. Well, at least it's self-explanatory.




This one was from a fast-food joint menu in Lille, France I believe. Ok, I know that 'assiette' is french for plate or dish or whatever, but you really can't just shorten it like that. I was quite tempted to ask for the 'Ass Steak' or 'Ass Hamburger' but I think in the end I just went with a kebab or something...



This one is from Venice. Again, English clearly is not their first language, but at least they gave it a shot!


Ok, so technically this isn't a sign but rather grafitti (from Pisa, Italy). Still I thought it was cool enough to include. I remain undetermined as to whether that is hair or fire on the first person's head. Sometimes I like to think it's fire.



Lastly, apparently God doesn't approve of bare shoulders and knees. Or at least the Pope doesn't.


Ok that's all for now...pictures of my new digs soon!

Voila

Preamble: I had 3+ pints and no supper after a 8 1/2 hour work day, please take this into consideration.


Well, after work I went to the pool hall to meet my mate Rich, and his two friends. We played some 2-on-2 pool and had a good time., don't get me wrong. Two things to mention tho:

1.) There was a lot of 'male' activity going on. Even in jest, I've just never been able to get into competition. Maybe it's my socialist leanings or maybe it's the fact that I was raised by a single woman, but I simply don't get the whole need-for-superiority thing...

2.) There was a girl who was playing the fruit machine (slot machine for my North American counterparts) in the bar. After winning the £250 jackpot (the maximum you could win) she STILL continued to put money into the machine. It would be easy to make fun of her, but honestly I just felt sorry for her. Everyone knows that once you win the big prize, you walk away...you're not gonna do better than that. I hate to see people deceived out of their money.


And completely unrelated to any of this, I have come to the conclusion that I am a diasporic intellectual.

Londontown

Well it turns out that I have 2 days off in a row! Which is good, cuz I'm going to need them before working on Saturday.

It was the Swedish girls' last shift at the coffee shop yesterday, and although I hadn't worked with them a whole lot, I offered to take them out for a drink last night to celebrate. Well, one thing led to another and suddenly it was 3am and we were still at the bar...

Over the course of the evening, I somehow got invited to go Christmas shopping in London with them today, and since I've been wanting to go back to London for some time now and had the day off, I figured why not!

So yes, after very few hours sleep I reawoke and met them on the bus to London. Most of the day was spent in girls' clothing stores along Oxford St., but I knew that's what I was getting into and therefore couldn't really complain. We had lunch at Subway and dinner at the Knightsbridge cafe. We also stopped by Picadilly Circus and Harrod's to see all the Christmas stuff. I'm knackered but honestly, you can do a lot worse than spending the day watching Swedish girls try on different clothes in London...

So it's early to bed tonight and then early to rise tomorrow...I have to sort out a bunch of paperwork for the job and the flat as well as finish decorating and cleaning it up - not a very eventful day to be sure, but I need a lowkey one after the last week...


Also, if you have a few free minutes, I suggest you check out this post by my friend Rich - it is both interesting and hilarious. Here is a sample to whet your appetite:

"No one can judge the exact amount of room it takes to pass a truck and get back on the right side of the road as well as he can. After the first few trouser filling moments of seeing this skill, I relax. Jane, having driven with you in London and seen how nervous you get, don't go to Indonesia...


Akok is also very fond of The Horn, as is, it seems, the whole of Java. Akok uses The Horn at the following times: When something is in the way. When something might be in the way. When he wants attention. When it is raining. When it is dark. When the Cranberries are on the tape deck. When he's happy. Akok is always happy."

Weekend away

Well I was going to post stuff about our weekend away, but I think Suzie has done a more than adequate job here. So go read her stuff and pretend like I wrote it.

Work

Man, I forgot how much TIME work takes up. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's good to have something to do, and it's nice to think that I banked 50 quid today, but it's just so consuming...

There's a bunch of stuff I want to read and write...I also need to finish decorating, but I spent 9 1/2 hours at work today and will be back in another 9 (this includes time to sleep). Thankfully after noon tomorrow I'm not scheduled again til Friday, so hopefully I'll get some stuff done during that time.

It's kind of nice to be back there, in a way...I worked with a lot of good people today, and it's neat to have more seniority. I've also decided that even though it's going to be busy and terrible, I am going to actively try to be a blessing to the other folks who work there so that it's a good environment to be in. Well, that's the plan at least...

all right, so still no pictures of my room yet, but that's for two reasons. the first being that i still haven't gotten all of my posters and stuff from the loft in my last place, so i'm still not fully decorated. the second being that the internet access here has been down for the last two days so even if i wanted to post pictures i couldn't. however, if that is the case, you may ask yourself how i am posting this entry. great question! through the wonders of modern technology i am able to link my laptop to my mobile phone via an infrared connection and then use GPRS on the mobile phone to connect to the internet. brilliant! the only problem is that GPRS is really, REALLY expensive, and they charge by the amount of data transfered, so it's not really practical for anything more than e-mail and blog entries (generally text-based activities). it is kind of cool to think that i could send an e-mail from anywhere i can get a mobile phone signal though.

at any rate, it has kind of been nice not having regular internet access the last couple days. well, in many ways its a pain in the ass, but it has forced me to get settled in and get to know the other people here, which is a good thing. oh speaking of which, i guess i should describe the place where i'm living.

well, it's called "The Old Mission Hall" (or Mish for short) because it used to be, well, the old mission hall for St. Clement's church. At some point it stopped being a mission hall and they converted it into living accomodations. So now I am one of 10 people living here...5 on the top floor and 5 on the bottom. We each have our own room that locks but share kitchen, bathroom and living room facilities. Everyone I've met so far seems to be in their 20s and they have all been really friendly. It's a great location in Oxford and the rent is super-cheap, at least by Oxford standards. And the rooms, man, they're just incredible...I can't wait to get pictures up here!

In other news, I love the BBC! Don't get me wrong, I love the CBC too, but they just don't have the same quality programming that one can find on the BBC. Last night I ended up randomly watching this documentary on BBC2 about this muslim lady in Dubai who was running a shelter out of her house, essentially. She took in battered wives and children who were forced into camel racing and stuff. I think the lady was born & grew up in the United States but her parents were Arab? I'm not sure...anyhow, it was so inspiring to see her and the work she was doing...nothing short of incredible! You just don't get stuff like that anywhere else...

Well, I'm going away to Wales this weekend with some friends from hOME. This will actually be my first time in Wales, seeing as I've yet to make it there. But hopefully I will post some more before that though. Maybe even get some pictures up. Until then...

Greetings to Nunavut!

So I just signed up for a ClustrMap the other day, and according to this link, most of the visitors to my blog so far reside in Nunavut?? This is quite odd, seeing as how I don't know anyone in or from Nunavut, but greetings nevertheless! I'll try to spice things up for you a bit in the next few days...

Drop me a line if you really are from Nunavut and tell me what it's like up there!

Looking at the map some more (my northern geography is somewhat lacking) I suppose it could be northern Manitoba as well...

The up and up

So I'm moving into my new place tomorrow. I'll be sure to take some pictures once I have decorated and turned it into my home.

I'm also thinking of going back to work at the coffee shop. Yes, I know I hated it by the end last time, however it has been 3 months since I was there, and I'm going to need money to pay the rent. My manager said he'd take me back, even if it was just temporarily, so I'm thinking maybe until the new year, just to make a quick buck (or...quid?) and being determined to find something better by mid-January.

Also prayerfully considering applying to Regent in Vancouver for next year, seeing as how the Queen is going to kick me out of this country come September. Well, probably not the Queen herself, but some of her cronies anyway.

Yeehaw, comment spam!

Well I suppose it was only a matter of time. I'm surprised I got away with it for as long as I did! But eventually they always get you. I'm not talking about my rampant piracy, but rather comment spam! Yes, I had my first two messages last night, posted here. Therefore I have decided to turn on word-verification when posting comments, which means now you have to type a series of numbers/letters into a box to confirm that you a real person entering a real comment and not a marketing machine. Oh well, such is life I suppose.

My Canadian Hero

I just read this quote from Douglas Coupland and it rang so very true. It's not something I had really considered before, but I think it's quite accurate:

"Canadians also know darn well that, more often than not, our existence suits the Americans. We're indeed their back door, their underground railroad, their matrix - or whatever metaphor you choose. In some ways, if the war of 1812 had gone differently and North America was one big United States, the Americans would have had to invent Canada as a diplomatic construct, precisely for all the alternative strategies and options our presence affords them."

Week in review

All right, so I've been a crap blogger lately. But I've been busy every night since I got back from Sweden. Seriously, this is the first night when I didn't have something planned!

Tuesday I watched the Daily Show with Rich and Jim (thank goodness for More4) then went out for a pint.
Wednesday I went to Tom's house and played XBox with the boys.
Thursday was hOME small groups.
Friday was the Canadian poetry team at the Zodiac.
Saturday I spent the day here before going on a random trip to Ikea in Brent Cross. Or was it Brent Park? At any rate, it was near Wembley stadium in the end, wasn't it? We eventually met up with Suzie and Esme and had Swedish suppers before heading back to Oxford and watching I Heart Huckabees (and some Eddie Izzard) at Matt and Pip's place.
Last night was hOME which should about bring you up to speed.

In the midst of all of that, I managed to find a new place to live, but more on that another time.

I was downstairs in Blackwell's today (Britain's #1 book store!) and while I was looking in the travel section, a couple came along who were looking at guidebooks to Canada and specifically Montreal. I stuck around and watched them for a bit before heading out and just chuckled to myself. I'm sure they'd probably feel the same way about my guide to Oxford, but it's funny to think how one person's home is another person's exciting adventure...

Back from Sweden

Well, I'm back in Oxford now after a week in Sweden with Emmi. I had a good time, and we got along well, but we both knew that we just weren't right for each other. That's ok though - I had fun and made a new friend, and I can't complain about that.

However, now it's time for me to find a job and a place to live. My friend Jim has been kind enough to let me stay in his spare room, but I'd like to intrude as little as possible. So to all you Oxfordites (Oxfordians? Oxforders?) out there, if you know of anyone looking for an employee or flatmate, let me know!

Also, now that I'm actually going to stay in one city for more than a week, I hope to post more regularly. No promises though.

Shady's back, tell a friend...

All right, so I believe that the entry before this one was dated sometime in early September. Well, I've been busy...or if not busy, then at least away. Regardless, I'm not going to attempt to fill in the missing details in the middle...I've been across the Atlantic a couple of times and across the North Sea too..I'm going to cross that one again in a few days...if you really want to know what else I've been up to, just ask.

With that said, I hope to update more regularly now that I am back in the Kingdom of the United.

Walking through the city centre today, I ran into 3 people that I know...I think I've said it before, but that's kinda cool considering I'm not even FROM this side of the ocean. All right, that's it for now...a few more days in Oxford then I'm off to Sweden for another week and then I'm back here for good.

If you need my e-mail address just leave a comment on this story and I'll send it to you...I don't like to post it on the WWW in order than I may avoid unsolicited advertisements for penis enlarging solutions.

Night train to Berlin

Night train to Berlin, day train to Amsterdam, with a 2 and a half hour stopover in the middle (at 6:30 on a Sunday morning...what is there to do for 2 hours at 6:30 on a sunday morning in Berlin?!)

We thought we booked beds on the train to Berlin, but it turns out that it was just a seat in a compartment with 4 other people. Damn. Thankfully we went to the Carlsberg brewery in Copenhagen today and bought enough "medicine" to knock us out for the evening ;)

Oslo

We were randomly walking through Oslo last night when Mark's mouth got rather pasty. He horked a good sized loogie and spit it on the grass of the building next to us. It was then that I looked up and saw a bust of Alfred Nobel.



"Dude," I said, "you just spit on the Nobel Peace Prize!"

Things you learn in Norway...

The homemade meatball subs didnt quite go as planned.

I will be lucky if I dont have the runs tomorrow.

Pictures

The hostel we're staying at in Sundsvall has a Mac in the common room which is free to use, so I decided to brave iPhoto (in Swedish no less!) to bring these pictures to you...


Mark, meet Stockholm - Stockholm, Mark.



I took this shot under a bridge in Stockholm...I love it!



This helpful sign was posted all around Stockholm. Mark and I felt it belonged in the "Oh, no shit!' category...



This is a lake near beautiful Sundsvall...



And this is beautiful Sundsvall!

That's all for now...we're taking the train to Trondheim tomorrow, staying there for a few days and then down to Oslo.

Sundsvall

Spending a couple days and nights in Sundsvall, Sweden. We have yet to decide whether to head further north to the arctic circle, or across to Trondheim and then back down to Lillehamer, Oslo, Gothenburg, etc.

My impression of Sweden so far is, well, it's a lot like Canada....in all the good ways! Clean, woodsy, nice people. It's a little expensive, but I could get used to it here...might have to visit again in the winter.

In other news, it's nice to be on holiday...we went for a walk along one of the rivers in Stockholm this morning and it hit me that I was actually on vacation. No cappucinos, no medium popcorns, just Stockholm and sunshine. Excellent. I really could get used to it here....

Arrived safely!

Mark and I found each other and arrived safely in Stockholm!

The women here are all tall, blonde and gorgeous!

Life is good.

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go...

Well, it's finally here...tomorrow night I fly out of Luton and into Stockholm. I spent most of today packing up the remainder of my stuff and storing it up in the attic.

It didn't really hit me until Sunday afternoon, when I finished my last shift at the coffee shop. I'm finally done all of that. Wow. The long term future is still a little bit scary, but I try to assuage that with a healthy dose of denial. And hey, it seems to be working....I'm spending the next 3 weeks backpacking through Scandinavia! Then I'm going home for 6 weeks! I'll worry about what happens after that once I start getting closer to the date.

I wish I could leave you with some thoughtful, profound words, but frankly I got nothing. I'll update next from a different country :)

It started as a joke...

So I posted a comment on Julia's photo blog that I'd have to learn Portuguese in order to read what she had written. Originally, it was a throwaway comment, but we played it up a little bit and the more I thought about it, the more it didn't seem like such a bad idea! Now, some may think that I should be working on one of the scandinavian languages since I will be headed there soon, but honestly I'm only going to be in each place for a little while, and they aren't widely spoken outside of scandinavia. Portuguese, on the other hand, has a significant presence on almost every continent in the world (according to Wikipedia). It is apparently one of the top 6 most widely spoken languages! Now others may say that I should perfect my french before moving on to a new language, however I think that my french is about as good as it's going to get without living in an environment where I'm speaking it every day. I'm sure that the same will be said about my portuguese eventually...surely I'm not going to be fluent unless I immerse myself in it, however there is a certain amount that can be learned from books and CDs. Hence my purchase of this package:

Things to look forward to...

As I was telling Julia at the Phoenix today (who, might I add, is the coolest brazilian I know!) as I was on my way to work this morning I came up with a list of things I'm looking forward to when I come home. Now don't get me wrong - there's lots about Oxford that I love and that I will miss, however I've been here for 7 months and I'm only going to be home for 6 weeks. So here is an unnumbered list, in no particular order of things I am looking forward to:

• hugging friends/family members
• canoeing on the Big East River
• sitting in a muskoka chair, drinking a bottle of Alexander Keith's or Rickard's Red in front of a campfire
• visiting OPC
  
• waking up at 6am, driving for 20 minutes still half-asleep behind the wheel, making it to the highway, pulling over and stopping for a Tim Horton's coffee and donut before continuing on a road trip
• meeting Ryan's fiancee (yeah, he's freakin engaged!!)
  
• being able to say 'pants' without other people giggling
• driving over the Burlington skyway at 3am on my way to sneak back into my room in St. Catharines
• i'm sure there's lots more, that's all i've thought of so far....
• oh! Using pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters instead of pennies, tuppence, 5p, 10p, 20p and 50p's
• 8.5" x 11" sheets of paper
  

Feeling Very European

I went over to Alberto's place (or at least the place he's housesitting) for supper last night and he made me pasta in a four cheese sauce. Absolutely delicious! I never eat that well! It went quite well with the bottle of Chianti that I brought along. Afterward we watched 21 Grams which I hadn't actually seen yet but have been meaning to see for some time. It was quite powerful!

This morning I woke up and took it slow. I've been finalizing my travelling plans. I can't believe it's only 2 weeks away! My last shift at the coffee shop is scheduled for Sunday Aug. 14th. On the 17th, Mark and I fly out of London Luton at 6:30pm and land somewhere in the vicinity of Stockholm around 9:45pm local time. From then, we have until Sept. 6 to explore & make it to Amsterdam where Mark will be flying back to Toronto. I opted not to leave Amsterdam until the morning of Sept. 8 (mostly due to the cost of flights) when I will land in Birmingham just after 10am. THEN, 2 days later, I will be leaving Birmingham EARLY in the morning (check in opens at 6:15am) and flying to Toronto! I will be returning to Birmingham on Oct. 22 at 11 o'clock in the morning. Now, this is where life becomes scary since, at the moment, I have no idea where I will be living or working. However, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it...in the mean time, I have Scandinavia to explore and friends/family to see back in Canada!

As I understand it, a few of my local friends are going on adventures of their own around the same time. Rich is flying to Australasia (including his home country of New Zealand) for several weeks and then spending a week in Norway once he returns. Alberto is also off to only God knows where...

It will be interesting to see people again come Autumn!