Ah, the holidays are great aren't they, well unless you have the misfortune to get the flu (damn I shouldn't have mocked the flu shots and old people). At least I get to spend most of my day in bed sleeping not a bad deal in a way, though it would be nice to get some fresh air for a change we actually managed to get some snow on the ground... I really find that quite scary - I remember having fist snowfall by Halloween and now we have warm weather all the way up to December (relatively warm).
Bootwhistle

Merry Christmas! The phrase is reknown and for the most part gives some degree of cheer. Actually even the most pessimistic person could be warmed by the joy of the season.. well actually I think the meaning of holidays is having fun with friends and family, and I guess I should go before I sound like one of those christmas specials on TV. Tis the Season.
Bootwhistle

Ah, its good to be alive, things are starting to work themselves out... well actually I'm just happy my exams are over for this semester, not that I really stressed out and studied or anything but at least now I can slack off without a guilty concience (haha). So now the stress of studies have been replaced by the stress surrounding that most wonderous of holidays -- its Christmas time hurrah! Despite the almost complete (mmm, total) focus being commercialism the holidays can be relaxing if you are prepared to skip the buying and focusing on spending time with family and friends, personally this is the best part. Also cooking, I love cooking for people on the holidays, something about preparing a feast is good for the soul. Though eating vast quantities of food is also good for the soul if not for the beltline. Anyway have a merry Christmas and Happy new year.
Bootwhistle

Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed. Today was definately one of those days, it is amazing how much one can take things for granted even relatively simple information. I'm reminded of an old school project where we had to write an essay about how we know what we know... basically how reliable is our perception, and if our senses can fully be trusted. I'm also remined of another more colourful saying to assume is the ass u and me, doesn't make too much sense but the idea gets across. Assumptions be bad and therefore information should always be checked and double checked especially if it is of great importance. Well at least there is some comfort in the fact little can be done so the only option is to keep going and try to deal with the bumps in the road as they appear and even the really friggin hugh land mines.
Well besides my little mistake everything else is going along well, I feel pretty pissed but a few hours of watching tv and computer games will clear that right up for a while... maybe I should get drunk too, naw too expensive. What I wouldn't give for an all you can eat east indian buffet on campus right now (they do exist and can be quite reasonably priced)
Bootwhistle

The years' end is fast approaching -one can tell by the plethora of annoying Christmas 'junk' being displayer everywhere, you can't escape it, no matter where one turns there is some essential gift that your special someone will love that spreads that warm almost about to vomit feeling. The latest is a commercial featuring a disturbing little snowman scene that jiggles and sings ho ho ho, this hallmark gem is left on the porch of some poor unsuspecting old man whose reaction is strangely obscured... anyway I'm sorry but if anyone thinks that is something a sane person would want they should get serious help. Honestly this Christmas thing is sooo out of hand things that have no use except on Christmas are becoming acceptable gifts... basically we are just buying crap that no one would use for the sake of giving - or more precisely buying! There is no meaning in Christmas gifts anymore (though I'm not too sure what meaning they had in the first place). I call for a boycott on buying Christmas gifts, instead opting to just spend time with friends and family, maybe give a meaningful card or hand made gift,(eh last minute through some pine cones and leaves in a bowl). That's it for now, final exams look near and its getting late. yawn. merry chr... awh forget it.
Bootwhistle

Its a dark and foggy night.. seriously it is, the campus looks like something out of a horror movie! Well not much else happening in the world, besides the usual stuff; the US is bombing someplace, the world has something up their butt yet won't say anything. The rabbits are eating grass, the grass is growing... you get the idea. I want to say something about the 'Fallujah' thing but seriously, my brain is on vacation.. it is a real accomplishment that I'm able to use a computer let alone type right now. So to conserve what little mental activivty I have I'll talk about the entertainment scene (IQ dropping) .... must watch TV mmmmhh TV, must see reality show, the american news is so accurate and informative oohhhh. Me want to vote for Bush.
Bootwhistle

Bootwhistle
The living dead are amoung us.... they are the ones who finished midterm exams and fried their brains, or work the night shift dealing with crack heads... and on tuesday they all voted for W. I think this election proved to the world that the united states has the lowest collective IQ in the entire planet (I include the democratic party in their as well). Seriously I don't believe the democrats have any moral high ground especially with that whole... if we knew then what we know now... what a pile of bullshit. Hopefully this will make the democrats realize they really need to change instead of being the bad carbon copy of the republicans... ah who gives a shit anymore. I say let Bush deal with the mess he created and I will cackle with glee as he pulls the US into the toilet.
On a lighter note, I am feeling like crap. There isn't a real reason why.. I guess this time of the year just makes me depressed and think how good the world would be with a few billion less people in it... then I realize that would mean more work for me so I shut up.
This is really getting me nowhere but really I actually am so brain dead that I can't stop this verbal (typal?) spewage.. so i'll just write on and on and on untill the end of this sentance.

Bootwhistle
Yawn, kind of tired today. Some idiots went around campus pulling fire alarms so had to evacuate building at 2 am, the fire department was pretty annoyed and we had to wait about an hour before going back to our rooms. If those idiots are caught by any of the residents I'm sure they would get the crap kicked out of them then stuffed down their throats and kicked out again. Also I hear they might be expelled... personally I like the crap kicking better.
There is so much that is just too incredibly stupid in the world that its hard to figure out what pisses me off more. From the list of 'Greatest Canadians' , the French ban on religious symbols, US election (or just US in general), the lemon submarines, kidnappings in Iraq, the British, and latest the flu vaccine shortage (insert scream of horrow).
Honestly this probably makes the least sense to me (though that doesn't say too much), why is this such a big deal? According to news reports, there are people from the States panicing and racing across the border to buy the flu shot from Canadian pharmacies, are people really sitting around fearing the flu and paralyzed with fear that they will be stricken down by this yearly plague if they don't get the shot? Well, maybe for old people who have to worry about lower imune systems but the average person really shouldn't have to worry. Unfortunately the Americans are so used to living in fear that any threat "real or imagined" is blown out of proportion and causes a group stupidity - the same thing that led people to duct tape their hopes and stock up with supplies for the "Y2K".
I think the main factor behind this is a dangerous combination of ignorance and an aversion to questioning assumptions. Ignorance in itself isn't too bad since if you have ask questions one eventually learns more about a situation. The average american is practically dumb as a stump when it comes to seeing what's going around them and when something bad happens they just listen to the loudest idiot on a soapbox and accept their counsel. I'm beginning to wonder if people are really deserving of democracy, honestly the system only works if people are informed and engaged with issues and concerned about more than sports and their own lives. Actually that's a good idea for a thesis... Democracy the way to choose a kingly successor (president)amoung the royalty (upper-class society), and maybe that isn't really a bad thing, actually its worse than a real monarchy since the elected monarch has to pay attetion to the drivel of idiots (public) who don't their ass from their elbow... well I may not be giving the masses enough credit, but honestly they haven't earned any.

Bootwhistle

Head scarf ban in France damn those Frenchies
Troops from britain to Iraq -elections
Bush - off target yet firm.
Martin - is he alive?
Don Cherry - Greatest Canadian top 10? WTF!
Kerry - Lesser of two evils?

Bootwhistle
Midterms are piling up, but the weather is nice. Uhm, getting back to important matters - there is actually a lot to complain about today. My fist beef is with the "Greatest Canadian" contest/poll run by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), while a lot of the people deserve the honor I'm a little confused by the order. On is that Avril Lavigne is 48 and Rick Mercer is #50. I don't feel like explaining who either of them is at the moment (I might edit later), well simply Lavigne-pop singer, Mercer-Political Satirist. Maybe this goes to what the definition of Greatest Canadian should be... seriously I believe that a great Canadian is someone who enhances Canadian culture (I wonder if that's an oxymoron) or lets say makes us think about our Country. While Avril is popular (actually not so much anymore) she is more a part of the american music industry than a reflection of Canada. Now Rick Mercer is an experct at taking accurate and hilarious jabs at the Countries political leaders and questioning the events in our Country (kind of like Daily show with more satire less shtick), when he started a petition to have Stockwell Day legally change his name to Doris Day.. that was priceless (the petition has the required number of applicants but for some reason Day didn't comply). So from my perspective something is really wrong with that list... the problem is popularity does not equate to greatness.

Bootwhistle
Well its been a few days (15) since my last post, though I did try a week ago but the 'special' computers at campus ate my blog entry. Actually it isn't too bad living without a home computer.. the only downside I suppose is that you can't look at internet porn (just kidding... maybe). Anyway there has been quite a lot stuff in the news, probably the most relevant to Canada is the fire on the 'new' submarine we bought from England. The fire resulted in the death of a crewmember and injured several others, and this was equivalent to take a new car from the lot to drive home and it exploding before you get two blocks away. As I recall there have been quite a few problems with these submarines, even a couple of years ago they found a phonebook size dent in one of the hulls which meant that it could go very far under water without risking the hull buckling. Actually now that I think about it Why in gods name does Canada need a submarine? Sure, it can be used to capture the odd drunken fisherman or to start another war with Spain over turbots (some kind of flat fish, eh). When they were first built submarines main purpose was to destroy ships... then we got the fancy nuclear missile subs the 'moving silos'. I seem to have lost my point... so to conclud we should just sell the subs to West Edmonton Mall, and use the money to build a big slingshot off Newfoundland.

Bootwhistle
I actually did blog before this but unfortunately (or fortunately as the blog was extremely incoherent) it was obliterated by the marvel of technology. There hasn't been a lot to talk about in Canadian politics that I noticed, though honestly compared the fun the americans are having politics here seems pretty boring. Seriously while I abhor the thought,having a prime minister that would single handedly decide to invade other countries for resources would be a lot to talk about er aboot. I've comes to terms with it though, so Canadian politicians aren't exactly up to the world threatening level of the US but some of them can be just as entertaining. Probably the most entertaining would have been Pierre Trudeau, in all the clips from that era, he seemed to have an aura of self confidence and arrogance that was hard to ignore... but when you think about it Ol' George kind of has the same image. Granted Trudeau could run intellectual circles around Bush, but the same charisma is there.
Hmm, its been known that Trudeau got around quite a bit... hmm, naw, though you never know... eh.

Bootwhistle
It's been a while since I last posted but without a home computer find I really can only check email dilligently (plus the school computers aren't that great *sigh*), anyway for this week we have a company called imaginus on campus selling various posters to students at ridiculous costs. Actually I went looking for something since my room is decidedly spartan at the moment, however when looking through the posters and pictures I found that nothing really 'spoke' to me, most of the posters were from movies or crush pics of desired actress/actors (as well as the semi famous). There were also quite a few funny pictures and some inspired posters... my favourite being the periodic table of mixing drinks, but overall there wasn't anything that I wanted to see everyday, well there was a few but of course the better it is the price went up ... way up. I just can't justify spending over $30 on one poster - actually that's not the real problem I have, seriously if you have the money and it speaks to you then go ahead... but the impression I got from the whole scenario was one of mass capitalism disguising itself as setting yourself apart and individualizing. Exactly how individual can you be when you're buying mass produced posters from classic movies, and insightful wisdom that have been around for centuries (I also find it ironic that they sell posters with communist themes).
They say pictures are worth a thousand words, well I'm beginning to think your own art is worth a thousand pictures. I do have some artistic talent and while I may not be able to draw a masterpiece I can create something that has meaning to me and hang it with pride on my wall (also at almost no cost but thats a different issue). I'm not saying everyone should create their own art (because really some of you people suck big time) but at least think about what speaks to you (your soul to put it in another way), instead of what is popular/pricey. Jeez I can't seem to stop going on about the cost, arrgh, well you know what? I'm sick of this just do whatever other wierdos do, besides its a good thing for some students to have something shiny/glossy to look at while stoned.

Well the topic I find most interesting today is the apparent (yawn) lockout by the NHL franchise owners. Not that I really follow sports but this story kind of caught my attention a little late, so from what I gather the NHL commissioner wants to impose some new payment scheme designed to help the ailing NHL franchises that are losing money. Under the recalculation of revenue the average players salary drops from 1.83 million to only a mere 1.3 million per year... pardon me while I lower the heat to keep gas costs down (actually heat is included in my res but couldn't think of another good example). Now while I'm of the opinion that sports players in general are among the most grossly overpaid people in the world that doesn't mean I give the owners a passing grade either. I've always wanted to know EXACTLY how much are these teams taking in and what exactly are they spending it on? Interestingly enough that is one of the beefs the NHL players association has, they were able to look at the books only after signing a non-disclosure agreement. Of course that could just be a ploy, since a lot of companies don't have books open to the public. That said, I really wonder how much of the revenue goes directly to the owners of these teams and how much goes back into the franchise? Its not beyond the realm of possibility that the franchise might be paying for lavish lifestyles of the owners a la Tyco (ice statue of Michelangelo's David that urinated Vodka).
Bah, the whole system reeks of corruption top to bottom, anytime money is involved everything can go to pot. Actually that's an idea to end the lockout, put the players and owners in a small room filled only with happy weed, matches and bongs. Then the lockout would be over real fast, heck the owners might try playing on the ice, just have to make sure to install a burger stand by each team bench (okay I'll stop with the silly weed jokes). That's about it for now

School life is pretty nice, I can see why some people may want to stay here forever. In the real world there is no way you could get away with drinking till 3 am and then show up for work (also based on personal experience). Moving on, I was watching CNN, which is really looking less and less than a real news channel and more like a day time opinion talk show (with skewed opinions at that) and I kind of realized something. That scrolling text on the bottom of the screen is a truly igenious and evil form of brain washing ( I say evil in the way Dr. Evil is evil). The text would distract me enough so that I couldn't really think about what the reporters were saying and just take at face value, if I ignored the text completely I found real loopholes in their 'logic' and how they altered the facts enough to give a certain impression which might not be 'exactly' the truth.
Now this might not have been done intentionally but that doesn't make it any less wrong. Especially now we have to question everything that is 'told' to us, nothing can ever be taken at face value from the media anymore. With the monopolization of media but corporations and individuals it would be ignorant to believe that their isn't an agenda that they want to either push or hide information from the public. I want to say people should treat the news like commercials but some people still believe everything in advertising is also 'the truth', hopefull we'll all come to our sense in the end, if it isn't too late.

There isn't anything too remarkable to 'remark' on today however, yesterday was quite interesting. My dad had come down from Edmonton so we went to downtown Victoria to do some sight seeing, while we were there a reporter from global, stopped us and asked us about how we felt about the 3rd anniversery of September 11 (cue eerie or bandstand music). To be honest I kind of knew that is was Sept. 11 since while flipping channels in the morning every american station had someone talking about the Terrorist Attacks.
The whole event is being overused to the point that for most people who really have no connection to the event, are really desensitized to the coverage, though I'm sure the polite thing to do for americans is to feign outrage and yell hysterically about protecting freedom. Especially with the upcoming elections in the US the republican party (while maintaining that they won't exploit 9/11) use every opportunity to bring it into the limelight.
So what I should of said to the reporter was that I think that the tragedy that befell the friend and famillies of 9/11 have been overshadowed by politics, people really should stop talking about it, when someone dies you don't keep talking about their death for years on end - one remembers their lives and the impact they had on your own life, the good times and the hard ones. If 9/11 keeps being used by politicians, film directors and sensationalistic media then they are all stomping on the living memories of the people who died.

Wow, posting finally worked again! and it magically posted a blog I though was zonked. Anyway its finally friday and I manged to survive my first (half) week of classes, everything seems to be going smoothly but its getting to be a bit lonely on campus I think the weekend is going to really suck. I never realized how much time computer games and anime watching took up before I left my computer in Calgary... well only another couple of months to go then I can bring them with me :)
Well there were a couple of interesting news items, the oppostion parties in Canada have apparently made a list of demands to the government so now the liberals basically have to agree or parliment will be dissolved and I don't think Martin wants to risk another election especially since he has yet to do anything that proves he is a capable prime minister. The list however is what really piques my interest so far I haven't been able to find out exactly what is on it, hopefully with the NDP as part of the opposition the list isn't too right wing.
Running short on time so I'll cut this short for now. Remember 2+2 can sometimes equal 5 (well not really but it can make one think)

This is really just a test, my last couple of blogs were eradicated by the school computer, not sure what's wrong since the first time I posted just fine. Maybe its all the traffic which would mean I have to come here during the off peak times... man this blog is going to die.

First day of classes! Feeling pretty good despite nagging doubts about how well I'll do, but hey have to try and just do ones best. Victoria is a little different than other places I've been in, actually from what I've seen of BC the majority of people are either under 30 or over 60, the middle aged are in the defininate minority, kind of odd to see but interesting none the less. The city seems to have everything that one needs but haven't been able to explore that much of it yet. Still trying to catch up on the news but so far just enjoying the scenery and rabbits and deer that wander around campus.

Well, I'm here in Victoria BC, the campus is pretty nice. Still feeling a little nervous for some reason but hopefully once classes start I'll settle down a bit.
It feels a little different, but everthing is still the same I suppose anywhere in Canada, its probably only when you leave to explore the more remote areas that you really feel the personality of the place your in.
Looking forward to getting the rest of my stuff done today, then can relax just before first day of classes on Wensday, now I'm getting even more nervous, I am deteremined to succeed for this year, and not be afraid of what others may think - easier said than done hehe. Anyway signing off for now.

This will be my last post from Calgary, starting tomorrow I'm off to Victoria to attend Uvic, it still kind of feels unreal but still exciting and stressfull. I finally managed to get my packing done, but as always there is the nagging feeling I've forgotten something. Its sad to leave a place you call home even if its just for a year, plus if things work out I won't be seeing my family for a few years.
One thing I found kind of odd is that whenever I tell someone I'm going to Uvic they always say its "a nice place" or "I wish I was going", somehow I don't think its because of the excellent 'academic' facilites. Anyway I'll see first hand what they mean when I'm there. All I have to do is survive the 20h bus ride and then the registration line ups... sigh, sometimes it might be easier to just stay in bed.

Ahhhh, extended weekends are always great... untill you have to go back to work :(
Well, I finally got some stuff done so feel a lot lighter, its amazing how much little things can weigh on oneself without even noticing.
So the Olympics are well underway now and Canada has some medals in swimming aparently... every time the Olympics come around I think any real meaning diminishes beyond existance. This year the big deal is that the event has come 'back to its roots' in Greece, even though the greeks had a difficult time finishing everything, though if a really stiff wind blows I wonder how many buildings will fall over. Really the Olympics were originally supposed for amateur atheletes yet more and more professionals are entering the scene, though I'm happy it enabled Canada to win the Gold medal in Men's hockey a while back.. it really doesn't seem like a real victory.
Whenever money is involved corruption seems to inevitably follow, same thing with politics and business, why should the Olympics be any different? The thing that pisses me off is they try to pretend the Olympics still stand for purity of sport and competition for glory, well actually its just a money festival where atheletes look for endorsements from companies that think plastering their products with 'heroic' gold medal winners get people to buy more. Sadly it actually seems to work, I'm sure there are hardworking amateur atheletes who compete but do they stand a chance against the money put into some of these people who can afford to train 24/7? (Which would be more of a PROffession for them - wouldn't it).

No matter how much I try to ignore things, they keep piling up... while I was working night shift my Bicycle was stolen from the apartment garage. To say this upset me is a bit of an understatement, I don't get to ride as often as I'd like but cycling is one of my favourite things to do, plus that bike cost me more than average at about 700, and I'm not exactly rich.. well downright poor especially with school fees. Its kind of ironic since the reason I got that bike was becaue my previous bike was stolen.. kind of funny hahaha.... . Well maybe its my own fault for trying so hard to procrastinate on doing a lot of stuff, like getting a better lock, and various errand that while might not have prevented my bike from being stolen would have let me feel a little bit better.

So, it kind of just struck me its now halfway through August... I could have sworn that it was April just a few days ago (1999), time seems to be going by in a blur. Either this is some sort of "point of view" phenomenom or its our brains way of saving us from living through the monotony of our own lives.
Well whatever it is the realization of just how much time has passed causes me to remember all the stuff I haven't done and never got around too. Ah enough with that, not much else happening really so thats it for now.

Well another night ended. Today was a fun shift working (cue spooky music) Friday the 13th! Overall it wasn't too bad, yet I still get those really irritating drunks and customers that come in at 3 in the morning. I must remember to relax, only 10 more shifts then off to victoria and the stress of studying... (half-hearted yeah!).
I find it kind of disturbing that I haven't really followed politics in a while, actually the only thing happening apparently is the fight between provinces and the feds about health care. Well there was the Helicopter scandel but haven't heard anything about it recently. The only other big Canadian news is that the venerable Hudson's bay company might be taken over by US discount supertore Target. The Hudson's bay company predates the constitution of Canada and was influencial in building it, if bought over by Target it would mean the last of Canada's large department stores since Eatons kicked the bucket (though I still shudder at thought of Eatons "hip" ads... brown brick...)
The election in america seams to be following the natural mudslide campaigning, not sure if its worth following for anything other than entertainment. Though it just seems to be dragging on and on and on... the Canadian Elections were announced after Bush and held back in July.. so it was a relatively painless experience .. except for having Paul Martin as Prime Minister - I try not to think of it as often as possible. Actually when I think PM its automatically Jean Chretien, Martin hasn't done anything to distinguish himself to the office he now carries. Hopefully his minority government collapses and the Rhino party takes over.

Today I definately feel a bit better, finally got residence confirmed and all that is left is to pay the huge sum of money... sigh. Even though I know lottery tickets are a tax on stupidity it is nice to actually believe one has a chance of winning.. eh.
I find myself amused at work once more.. not so much at the idoiticy of the customers but at some of the pettiness I've seen. Everybody should always take a step back from their day and just reflect on what they've done and what exactly their intentions were.
I could give in to my mischievious side and play things out a bit but that wouldn't go over very well, besides don't really have desire play puppeteer more than once a year. Hmm, guess I'm rambling .. but this is my blog so I can do what I want muhahaha... not that anyone reads it.... damn.

Is it just me or has news taken on an unreal kind of otherworldly feel to it. Whenever I read a newspaper or watch TV news I find that it never really connects that events both horrific and uplifting are taking place around the globe. Though even news in itself has become more about entertaining the audience than giving the facts. Not that I mind really.. but sometimes you wonder if you really need to know that a guy can juggle 5 bowling balls while sewing a shirt.
Of course this leads to the question what do we really need to know? From a survivalist standpoint just eat and sleep. Probably what one "needs" to know depends on what your goals and desires in life are... well maybe thats all bullshit. I suppose its just a choice of either being ignorant and happy or informed and depressed.

Sigh, another day er I mean night of work ended. I increasingly find myself irritated at the various customers and now after some thought I realize its just anger at myself for being in that job. As a bit of background I've always been pretty smart yet have never really applied myself to get anywhere. Now that fact is starting to catch up to me as I look around and find myself stuck somewhere that is as increadible useless to soceity as an SUV. My personal dream would be to in a position that allowed me bring out the best of people instead of dealing with the lower dredges - of course I realize how stupid that is.. truly to be a great person is to acknowledge the best of even the most ill mannered crack-head but like a lot of people I lack the energy to try. Often one tends to think mostly of how they are inconvienced by the stupidity of others rather than look for the humanity that resides in most people. Sometimes for brief moments I look at people and wonder what their 'story' is... who are they really?
You try to ask people who they are and of course they are defined by their name and occupation in life... but that isn't who they are. Personally I think what makes a person is what they feel, what brings them joy or pain. Its kind of difficult to even think about the nature of oneself, to ask the question 'who am I', has plagued many people and will continue for eternity.. whether there is any real answer or if we just need to realize that the question might be an answer in itself doesn't help anyone.
Bah, the fact I actually have time to think of this stuff is a terrible sign of my own stupidity. If I had any brains I would be working hard to make myself into a better person mentally and physically but its soooo much easier to sit by a computer and waste away the minutes... days... years of ones life. Damn that sucks.

I have no idea where this is going, but just felt the need to ponder my own foolishness.

At what point does one lose a battle of common sense and self control? As people ruled by emotion, how do we gauge when the actions we take are the right ones rather than mistakes fueled with irrational anger. I often like to think that I am able to distinguish between nescesasry conflict and stupid ones but its easy to be influenced by emotion you didn't even think related to current situations.
I doubt many people think about how they act on a daily basis but it is interesting to step back and look at the way one has acted in a particular day... we all know the "right" thing to do in most cases but rarely do most people behave the way they themselves want. Take for instance, a drunk lying in a crowed street, how many people would stop and help the unfortunate soul, or walk past and pretend to ignore him.
Unfortunately I find myself in the latter category.. but it doesn't bother me too much since that is what everyone does - its pretty sad to see that acts of compassion are rarities to be admired. Though I seem to be losing track of my original thought, hmm oh yeah... basically why does one make relatively stupid descisions. For myself I think it is out of frustration, so that something that should at worst be mildy annoying turns to be infuriating. It's probably a similar to the reason some people are happy or mean drunks.. does one drink to enjoy the company of others or to forget about the problems life affords.

However that doesn't excuse the consequences of ones own actions, what I often wonder is how do people guage the appropriatness of their actions. Obviously it would be different for a lot of people, some might be following rules or ettiquite, others might just rely on instinct, or maybe its just something you learn through constant interation. Dealing with many different people builds a repetoire of situations and experience in handling them, but ones own perspective determines how they would react based that knowledge... hmm what I think I'm trying to say is that even if two people shared the same experience their own personalities would determine what they learn, and how they will act in the future.

Well, Finally a nice day off. Not much to do though, except again ponder the nature of humanity. Today thoughts centered around the nature of a utopian society - what exactly would that be? The central problem is that many people have entirely different ideas as to what makes a perfect world. That in itself would lead to conflict and obvious results... but I know most people want a better world for themselves, so again I have to ask "What is going on?"
.... After a bit of brain wracking I have a possible answer...
For the most part the average person is concerned only with existing in as stable an environment as possible, people don't like change that much.
Expanding experience beyond what we usually know is something few people every really do. hmm, I seem to be losing cohesion.. getting back to point.. it is a lot easier to look after "ones own" than be open to everyone, we always actively look for ways to seperate ourselves from other people, for example things as innocent as sports team are used to divide groups, while I admit its not really a divisive agent it can easily get out of hand - soccer riots.
But that's just a minor case really, the most common ways we divide ourselves is by race and nationality. It is healthy to have a certain pride in ones self and culture but there is a fine line between pride and zealousness.
Its fine to say that your group is great because ____________, but at the point you say your group is better that other because... then that crosses into the same ultra-nationalistic fevor that gripped Germany from 1938 - 1945.
What scares me is our neighboring country is also in a fevor reaching ultra-nationalistic levels (US). Though even that view might be a bit skewed of course, since nothing is more the rage than good ol' America bashing.. all things considered they could be a lot worse... which isn't to say they couldn't be a whole lot better.

Do you know the feeling when everything seems like a practical joke at your expense? That's kind of how I'm beginning to see the world now. Everything seem pretty unbelievable... really can people be that stupid? Though I have to admit for the most part the answer is YES their idoiticy beyond the scope of normal imagination.
Or maybe my expectations are too high.
In any event, the reason behind these thoughts are the fault of reading newspapers and working as a clerk at 7-11. I get to deal with a wide spectrum of people though mostly the nuts seem to stand out. There is a lot I can say about the customers I have to deal with but don't have enough energy to write the 122 pages it deserves, so until next time

Another mind numbing day at work... the night shift is the best way to lose the capacity for higher thought (besides narcotics and television of course).
Though being bored gave me time to ponder things that probably have no real answer... today it was the nature of humanity as a whole.
I often wonder what makes this world bad or why is there so much suffering, wars, politics, Teletubbies ect. I mean for the most part people just want to live their lives and exist peacefully, its just a few that decide they want power and don't care how they get it. Even if that is the case why does the majority of people give virtually no resistance to being dragged into conflicts they don't want. Perhaps its a kind of herd mentality? I'm sure sociologists have filled entire libraries trying to explain the ins and outs of human behaviour.
Eh, this line of thought is starting to hurt my head so I'm going to talk about something more frivolous...
Transformers LIVE action movie in 2006!
Recently heard on the radio that this 80's cartoon classic is going to be made into
a live action movie with direction from.... Stephen Spielburg! Actually I'm kind of leary of the idea since so many many things can go wrong if you're trying to take a sub par cartoon from the 80's (as a kid I loved it but watching it now is very painful) and turn it into a serious movie. But who knows it could be good, though probably not great.
Ahhhh my head doesn't hurt anymore... till next time.

This is getting frustrating.... just recieved word that I probably won't get into residence for the coming school session in Victoria. Even applying in advance is not good I guess, so now I get the fun pass time of looking for apartments (probably a room in a cellar) in a City over 500 km away. Life is grand, well actually this good be an interesting experience in itself but the lazy side of me still just wants to watch TV and play more computer games... uhm, I mean study and review my old courses.

In the big picture probably not too much to worry about, worst case scenario I can just live off campus as outline in one of my previous rants.

Boy, I haven't updated in a good long time... as if anyone reads this.... anyway letting the internet world know that planning to get this blog into gear and link with my other (sigh) geocities site, which has my more articulate rants about various topics... which also has to be updated. No wonder so many sites die all the time, updating is a full time job that you don't get paid for (though I suppose if your website is a business, arg) . Anyway, hopefully I can put some of my limited html knowledge to use and get moving on building web presence.

While taking the Ctrain (public transportation), I was lost in thought just stareing down aimlessly when I realized as well as the lady in front of my that my gaze seemed to be directed in shall we say inappropriate areas. This incident begs the question what are the proper social procedures to follow in situations? I'm sure everyone has had to endure uncomfortable silences and akward public gaffs mainly caused by an uncertainty of what to do.
This could be solved by reading a book on ettiquite but really who would spend the time reading a book (let alone an ettiquite book), if you're lucky you may catch a daytime talk show that deals with the subject but really that is as likely as Oprah bitch slapping Dr. Phil.
It would be so much easier we weren't such an uptight society, when you think about they probably had a lot more freedom in the dark ages (though admittingly much shorter life spans) than today.
I wonder how much of it just to cover oneself from critizism, other than a respect for others.
Just today I had the misfortune to fall in the snow which I find really embarrasing, while another group of students just laughed, only one old guy asked if I was alright. In all fairness I was fine and the fall only injured my pride, but I wonder what would have occured if I did incur injury.
This leads to the fun of watching the social dynamics of a ride on the bus - how you may ask, well just observe. Its interesting especially when every seat is taken and the next person to get on has to decide who will they sit beside; will it be the funny smelling man with the onion, the babbling older lady, the businessman, the attractive white lady, or the punk wearing headphones. Depending on the person who the subject is you can get a variety of results including the descision to just stand at the back. Probably the exception would be old people who usually sit at the closest seat to the exit. So next time you take the bus take the time to be entertained by the observation of others - but not in a creepy way.

so to continue....

Today is turning to as boring as watching Stephen Harper explain the theory of relativity - acutally it may be entertaining to watch a politician try to coherently explain something. Speaking of politicians, I always wonder what they do when the media has its attention turned, for example is Paul Martin in some secret meeting with the lord of the underworld to raise Canada's temperature in return for making it hell on earth? or is he choking on a pretzel. That isn't to say that Mr. Martin is in the same league as Bush when it comes to idoicy, but the way those two get along...

Orignally I wanted to blog about the weather but that proved to be extremely boring, so what is new and exciting, well not much. Oh sure there are events in the world that have catastrophic consequences but really that is neither here nor there. (continue later)

This is my first blog, though I have made quite a few rants that could have been blog entries but then I digress. So right now I am at school typing on a Laptop... enough said. Anyway there isn't much new in the news that I've heard about, no new Dean-isms Bush-isms or any other ism. Belinda mania (PC party leadership candidate) seems to have crashed now just waiting for the burning, well not really. While I am impressed at the well generated hype around Belinda the fact is when you hype something too much usually it creates unrealistic expectations or hides the fact there is little or no substance (think back to any overly hyped Hollywood movie, Godzilla anyone?). I find it funny how Belinda (apparently I'm just following a trend by calling her by first name instead of Ms. Stronach) is using her image to appeal to voters though mainly it would be male voters. It would be interesting to see if she can win the leadership and what kind of leader she would be, while I hold no illusions that she would be any more ethical or concerned for the 'average Canadian' than any other leader - it would help if she does generates some interest in the politics of this country, at the very least it would keep Mr. Martin in check.