Saturday, June 12, 2004

"Next in importance to freedom and justice is popular education, without which neither freedom nor justice can be permanently maintained." ~~ James A. Garfield

Oy vey.

I come wandering through the door yesterday afternoon and who should be sitting on my couch except Cadrin. A nice surprise. So we then proceeded to hit the pubs on Whyte at 2:30pm on a Friday afternoon, snagging a good patio seat at the Elephant & Castle. We shot the breeze until 5:00, then I went out with Megan's parents for Beth's graduation dinner, which was really good. Thanks for dinner Mr. & Mrs. K!

Then I hooked up with Cadrin, Al, and Chantelle at about 9:30pm, and back to Whyte we went, the Black Dog to be particular. It was a great after-work day, I basically drank from 2:30-10:30pm.

And yes, this morning, at 3:45am, I had a bit of headache, but it was gone by the 3rd hole. Now I'm poor again, tired, but still glad yesterday played out like it did.

This morning sucked however. It was pouring rain on the course, so I was all dudded up in my raingear. Plus we had a new person starting, and I was supposed to show her how to run the little sandtrap groomer. But Andrew (curse him) got on the Sandpro first and we never saw him again. Usually we switch it up after 6 holes, that way everyone gets a sitting on a machine break. But Andrew took off, leaving me and Nadine to rake the whole freaking course.

We finished raking #17 and were coming onto #18 when I see Andrew coming back to rake #18. I drove right by him, let him rake #18 all by himself. And when he came back to the shop, the first thing I said to him was that he wasn't getting anywhere near the Sandpro tomorrow. He got this stupid, shit eating grin on his face, so then I let him have it, told him he's walking all 18 tomorrow. Yeah I'm an ass, but it was 7:30am , I was soaking wet, hungry and hung over. Plus he's 18, so I'm pulling bitter old man rank on him.

I know I always complain about stupid politics for stupid jobs, but I see this as more of an issue about sharing the workload evenly. Plus he's a self-centered loser, so screw him, he can walk. On the plus side, my boss, who I usually think is a pecker, tore a strip off Andrew right after I did, so that was satisfying. Damn, I'm an ass today.

But now I am warm, drinking good coffee, and I just read the paper with my feet up. So things are looking up. I should study today, but I'm not gonna. 4 days left and I'm sitting pretty in this course. Plus I'm just flat out tired of booky books.

Speaking of my imminent departure from university, I will be publishing, on the blog of course, a rather long and detailed retrospective of my post-secondary nomadic journey. It should be before the end of this week, so do check back.

Hope you are dry and warm. Take care.

A sovereign thought, delivered to your door at 10:33 AM ~~ 0 bonsai trees

shout out out out out out

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Thursday, June 10, 2004

"The life which is unexamined is not worth living." ~~ Plato

Lots of fun stuff today, just because.

Firstly, I encourage you to check out the trailer for Michael Moore's new film Fahrenheit 9/11. Kudos to Todd for sending the link.

Reading the paper today and came across an article suggesting that the Conservatives will form a minority government this election. The article cited a series of poll analyses that have been combined since the writ came down and the election buses started to roll. As well, the front page of my Mclean's magazine was a picture of (potential) Prime Minister Steven Harper.

I'm not happy about this by any means, but that being said, the Liberal campaign is a rudderless boat right now, seemingly without any direction or theme, except the constant repetition comparing Harper to Bush. It seems to me that the Liberals are in a state of desparation and attacking Harper is a near-sighted way of getting votes.

On the home front, the local NDP candidate, Malcolm Azania, is in hot water for some comments he made 10 years ago on an internet chat room. These comments suggested that Jews were equivalent to white supremacists in the treatment of Africans. Azania, who is black, has apologized profusely for this and his past political actions have always been geared toward equality and justice. I suspect that this was a regrettable mistake, nothing more.

I didn't even now there were chat rooms 10 years ago. What an age I live in....

On a sad note, the great soul man Ray Charles passed away today at the age of 73. A true pioneer, this blind musician rose from poverty in Georgia to become of the most famous black artists of all time. Indeed, he was a "crossover" success, as his white audience was enormous as well. Rest in peace, Mr. Charles.

I was watching the news today and there was a piece about the Communist party, who is fielding a few representatives in this election. The leader was speaking to a grade 12 social studies class and was accompanied by another candidate for the party. The other candidate, who looked a little sketchy in a 80s metal band hairdo sort of way, commented that he was working at Wal-Mart.

Now I have nothing against the Wal-Martians, as long as they don't greet me when I come in. But it seems to me that this young candidate, who professes to be a communist, ought to be experiencing a crisis of faith, working for one of the largest capitalist companies to ever have existed. I suspect he may be limited in his education, but surely if one believes in communist ideology, they could find a less anatagonistic job to hold. I dunno, struck me as a little odd.

For those of you who went to Archbishop Jordan many years ago, just a note to say that Mr. Whalley and Mr. Pozerniak (Joe P!) are retiring this year. I guess that means the future students of Jordan won't get verbally assaulted by Mr. P, or see Mr. Whalley smoking his pipe.

Finally. Megan and I have offcially entered the 1990s, as we now have a cordless phone. Today I stood out on my balcony with the phone to my ear, and anytime someone walked by I pretended that I was a big shot businessman. "Sell, SELL, dammit. The NASDAQ's at 2000pts! SELL!" And everyone looked at me, I can only assume, out of envy, for me and my cordless phone must have looked mighty impressive.

Whew. That is a lot of bloggin. Hope your Friday goes quickly and a shout out to Linds in Calgary, just cause I know she reads the blog daily. She's hardcore!

A sovereign thought, delivered to your door at 6:45 PM ~~ 0 bonsai trees

shout out out out out out

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Wednesday, June 09, 2004

"It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in argument." ~~ William G. McAdoo

It has been a few days since the last blog. I missed you all so much.

Jeff's grad went off without a hitch, although it was a battle to get his giant Archibald cranium into that stupid grad hat. It was a funny battle, because it wasn't my head. But he done good.

Highlight of the ceremony was the guy who went to shake the Dean of Education's hand, pulled out a disposable camera and snaped a 'self picture' of the two of them. Big laugh.

Only two more class days left, as I write my final next Wednesday. I did a lab today, somewhat horribly wrong, thus wasting 1.5 hours of my life. I re-did the lab in half that time, but I was still PO'ed. I think it is not so much that I am dying to get out of university, it is more so that my patience level is very low for this kinda stuff. But it was a beautiful day out and the music on my walkman was great, so the walk home calmed me down. I just have such a hard time living with out Rageohol....

The Separation Party of Alberta is again making noise that they want to take Alberta out of Confederation. Of course these wackos won't come close to getting elected, and rightfully so. What kind of country would it be if we had no solid army, lots of oil and a cocky leader? It would be a soon-to-be-invaded-by-the-US kind of country, thats what.

Seriously, these people need to get something else going on in their lives. This is just dumb. Kind of like protesting rising tution costs, we all know it will amount to no change in the end.

Oh and if anyone is wondering who posted the smart-ass comment about "new" life long Flames fans, it was Cadrin, the only one of us who actively cheered against Calgary. Par for the course, I hate it when he gets the last word.

Good night Canada.

A sovereign thought, delivered to your door at 4:51 PM ~~ 0 bonsai trees

shout out out out out out

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Monday, June 07, 2004

"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance." ~~ Socrates

You know those days that it seems all you do is run around putting out little fires? Just had one. Man. I'm quite tired of university and jumping through hoops. Red tape, how I hate thee.

Got up and went to class today, only to find out from Felix "I'm Ultracool" Scott, my lab instructor, that my last two labs hadn't arrived over WebCT. "I know Felix, WebCT was being dumb, that is why I emailed them to you. You said last class that it was okay."

"Oh, I must have deleted them. Do you still have them?"

Arrrgh. "Yes Felix, but they are at home on my computer. I guess I'll spend my lunch hour walking home and back again."

So I walked home.

I also had to call DynaCare Kasper Labs to find out why they still have not sent some results to my doctor. You see, to get into Kuwait and begin warping minds, I need to have a clean bill of health. Everything was accounted for except my test for Hep C. Apparently it was possibly sent to Alberta Health, but no one is really sure. 3 phone calls later, I sit here waiting for DynaCare to call me back. Still waiting.

Then I walked back to the U and started my lab. It went fine, but at the end I expreienced an 'awkward moment.' Even though I had emailed Felix the assignments on their assigned due date, because they didn't arrive, I was submitting them today.

It was awkward because Felix was looking at me as I got up to leave, with that kind of face that begs to be acknowledged and thanked. "Thanks for your help today Felix" I croaked, hating myself. I didn't want to thank him, it seemed that he hadn't done much except delete my assignments. But, because I am handing them in late, it was implied. Plus he looked like if I didn't acknowledge him, he might cry. It was a bitter tasting end to a stupid day.

Two happier notes:

Jeff, my little bro, is graduating tomorrow, which means he'll be wearing a gown. Enjoying it too, I'd bet. I'm rather proud of him, he has done a good job. So I'll be out and about for that. I'm also happy that I get to duck out of work at lunch. I guess that means I only work one and a half days a week, eh Tim? Screw you Tim.

Today is also Megan's last day of her 3rd year placements. She s wrapping up 3 5-week long sessions, 2 of which saw her pass "with distinction." She's so humble, I figure that I'd better brag for her. Good for you Megan! You truly are the brains of this operation.

Enough for today.

A sovereign thought, delivered to your door at 3:58 PM ~~ 0 bonsai trees

shout out out out out out

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Sunday, June 06, 2004

"Wars of nations are fought to change maps. But wars of poverty are fought to map change." ~~Muhammad Ali

A breezy Sunday night, nice and cool. It was 45 degrees Celcius in Kuwait City today. Shit.

I was out last night for dinner with Megan and her family. As we walked out of the restaurant, I noticed a rather decorated Honda Civic. At the bottom of the back window there was a sticker that proclaimed this car to be a gas/electric hybrid. Not something you see everyday, but what makes this random slice of urban life blog-worthy? Well, on the rear bumper of the car there were two stickers. One was proclaiming that this driver still loves Alberta beef. The other was a anti-Eastern sticker I have only seen a few times. It said: No to Wheat Board, No to Gun Control, and No to Kyoto.

Now, fine, if you love beef as much as Jeff does, you can proclaim it on any car or truck you want. And even a lefty like me will admit the gun registry is a financial toilet. But I was rather floored by the the anti-Kyoto Protocol sticker on a hybrid car. Seems to me that if I was anti-Kyoto, I wouldn't be so concerned about the environment to go out and buy a hybrid car. Maybe I'm missing the bigger picture, but I just found it to be a rather large contradiction and, if nothing else, a mixed meassge.

Ronald Reagan died yesterday, after a 10 year battle with Alzheimer's. I was not very politically conscious in the 80s, as I was still trying to pass Mario Brothers One. Still am. Anyway, I do know this. Reagan was the beginning of the ultra-conservative movement in the Republican party, and his legacy can be seen in both Bush Sr. & Jr, as well as the intense distrust that exists between the two major parties. Reagan and his brand of economics ("Reaganomics") was responsible for the absolute destruction of particular unions and organized labour groups. He, however, remained immensely popular and is partially (and I stress partially) responsible for the fall of Soviet-style communism. He was the Great Communicator and his brand of pro-America rhetoric is echoing quite loudly in the White House to this very day. Over the next few days, as his body lies in state, many accolades will pour forth on CNN, ABC and other major news sources. And some are deserved. It is important to remember that there is always 3 sides to every story and one would be wise to look beyond the surface to get a full picture of the man.

Speaking of conservatives, one of the Conservative candidates in Ontario suggested today that by protecting sexual orientation under the recently introduced Hate Speech legislation, the door is opened to protecting child abusers under the same legislation. This is not the same thing. This is the same vein of arguement that suggests letting two people of the same gender get married will allow men to marry animals, or have more than one wife. It's panic-mode, angry-up-the-ill-informed masses politics and it's cheap and see through. Look, protecting a minority is the duty of a democracy. This legislation won't outlaw the Bible, men won't marry their sisters, and Hades will not open up. It's just progression, something that we must acknowledge and deal with if we as a country are going to continue to advance and be seen as a beacon of light for the disenfranchised of the world.

On a side note why would any guy want two wives anyway? Twice the cost, twice the "Honey Do" lists, and twice the trips to clutter crap stores like Hallmark and Michael's. Ugh, thanks, one woman is enough. Now Megan is gonna kick my ass. As soon as she finds her ladder. Hee hee.

And from the "Jay's Pretty Sure It Can't Get Any Dumber Than This" file, I urge you to check out a new reality show that is on in the UK. I swear this is true.

And now you know the rest of the story...

A sovereign thought, delivered to your door at 5:53 PM ~~ 0 bonsai trees

shout out out out out out

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