These dreams seem to cost money, but money costs some dreams

It seems to me that most people are glad the year 2008 is over with and done.
Most people are probably just pissed off due to the economy, but alot of friends have legitimate claims that it was a shite year for all sorts of other reasons.
My year was, if nothing else, interesting as hell.

In 08 I,

• finally graduated from university

• took a trip to the mountains (never to return)

• drove the best relationship of my life into the ground for no apparent reason

• got my first real job

• sat in the front row, and sat in the bleeders

• could've died a few times

• met a ton of new people and made some solid new friends

• lost alot of respect for old ones

• spent way to fuckin much money, and saved none

• did more in one year than the past five combined

Even though it's an arbitrary mark on a calendar, lets hope the new year brings more good than bad. This last one was a little rough.

Please tell me there isn't another election on the way

I just finished watching Stephen Harper address the nation, and I've decided one thing from it:
politicians are robots

Did ya see how he seemed so warm and wholesome at the start, then moved through what appeared to be the pre-programmed straightening of papers, followed by some oh-so-timely Italian hand motions to emphasize his points? Then he turned back into a human being again a mere two seconds before the speech was over? Did ya see it?

Flat out embarrassing.

It's pretty amazing that only two weeks ago he was happy (I use that word with a heavy dose of sarcasm, since we all know he wanted a majority) with his strengthened minority government. Now he's pretty well screwed. Either be ousted by the hated Liberals taking the helm, or resign because nobody has any trust or confidence in him.

In the speech he noted that the people voted him into power. Yes, I guess they did, but is it just me or did 62.4% of the country vote against you? Did 55% of the seats not end up in the hands of other parties? Gotta love our system... so long as a minority government is elected, most of the country hates our leader. Ya wonder why voter apathy is so rampant...

Harper also did a great job of painting all Quebeckers with the same brush: the separatists.
Funny, those were the same evil people that you Conservatives were in talks with back in 2000 there chief, back when you were toying with the idea of aligning yourself with the separatists to take on the Liberals.

Hell, back then you even said that it was against the idea of democracy for the Liberals to freeze parliament to avoid being taken down. Now you're planning the same thing?? Pot.kettle.black.

Fucking politicians, always saying whatever is convenient at the time. But in our system, why not bullshit your way through 4 years (oops, I mean less than 4 years... but isn't it now against the law to call an election whenever the powerful parties decide to? guess not...)

But let's face it, Harper fucked himself.
Making it illegal for federal workers to strike?
Presenting no ideas to help the economy, instead looking for a barely-above-water surplus that had us selling assets to appear to be breaking even?
Telling the other (poorer) parties that their $1.95 (not exact on that) per federal vote would be eliminated?

Did this cocksucker really think he'd get away with this?
That's just arrogance, plain and simple. You can only pull that sort of BS with a majority.

And now, without reaching out a hand to say "hey guys, let's all look for a way to sort this out and actually help Canadians", he instead decides to get his back up in order to save his own ass. To this date, parliament has done sweet fuck all in since the election, and ya just know he's gonna ask Jean to prorogue so we can sit on our hands while the world economy crumbles. Great plan...

And now on to the coalition:

This is just stupid.
Do you really think that Duceppe isn't licking his chops at the idea of feasting at the big-boy table? Not to mention Layton, who's eager as hell to get his foot in the door of power. And the Liberals seem to be pulling all the stops just to get back into power. You don't go that long in the land of milk and honey without getting pissed off once it's all taken away.

Not to mention the joke of a leader that they elected. So now what? Wait for the Liberals to elect the new Prime Minister, while Dion runs the show for a few months. Pretty strange that it would come to that.

This whole plan may look good on paper, but in action it'll probably falter like a Ford Pinto.
And the alienation of the West is a huge factor too. Much like Harper has thrown in the towel in Quebec, so have the Liberals in any province west of Ontario.

Nothing like a little national unity in a time of crisis, right?

I'm hoping to see Dion's response to the Harper address. But there will be one major difference: Dion won't look or act like a robot. He'll look confused as hell. That's why he's such a shit leader... he's only pretending to be a robot!

Stay Positive

Today started out pretty rough.
I've got the old man's car for the week, so after pulling into work (on time for once) I almost took a huge spill on some ice in the parking lot. I managed to catch myself, but not before stomping on the bag that had been on my shoulder. Once I got up to the lunch room I saw that during my tumble I had crushed the shit out of a juicebox that had been in my lunch bag, and it was all over the damn place. A garbage can of paper towels later, and I was finally headed for the lab.
Then I realized I had forgotten my keycard so I had to creep around the access door until this asian chick went in, and I grabbed the door behind her.
Plus the weather was shit, which didn't help with the ol' Monday blues.

But besides that I had a good day. Busy at work, but I got some shit done tonight so that was good. Most nights I just bum around these days.

My friend Kristen actually called me out on that last week at the bar. Apparently I used to be fun, now I'm just shitty and tired all the time. Can't say that I disagree really...

For the first time in about half a year I picked up a CD tonight. The Hold Steady's Stay Positive. Pretty mint from the first listen, I must say. Plus my cuz Sean said it was solid, and I generally trust his opinion in matters of music.


Pretty hilarious that the album is titled as it is, and one of the more notable songs on the disc is called "Lord I'm Discouraged". Mint them!

I also scoped out a sweet winter jacket tonight. The thing is pretty classy, and running at almost three hundo, but it'll be a grad gift from my dad and step-mom so I'm not too concerned about the cost. haha.
It's Kashmir too. ooh-la-fuckin-la...

This past weekend was pretty fun. Went up to the dirty 'Shwa to watch a hockey tourny that a bunch of buddies were playing in. Plus there was a pretty solid bday party for a buddy up in Barrie on Saturday night. The boys ended up taking 2nd place, which is pretty amazing considering we all slept for about 4 hrs each night, and drank like fish. It all caught up with me last night though. After watching the mini-movie thing of 24, I crashed early. Might do the same tonight.

On that night, better get some grub and get some shit sorted for the morn.

Tupac rolls in his grave...

If he is indeed dead. Considering the amount of material the guy has released in the past decade and a half, it's a little fishy in my books.

Anyway, as we all know, a black President has been elected.
The night of the election I had planned on staying up all night to watch the results roll in, but I passed out around 10 and didn't hear a word until I read the Globe the next day.
And I must admit it's pretty exciting. In our lives we've seen some pretty historic shit, especially in the last 8 years. From 9/11 to the worst world leader in history, and now onto an unprecedented new beginning.


But there are a few things to be remembered about how this all fell into place. The following is a short list of circumstances that helped Obama do his thang:

• George W. Bush had the worst approval rating ever. Ergo, the people wanted him out, and his policies along with him.
• McCain picked an absolute wreck of a running mate. Is "maverick" hillbillyspeak for "idiot"?
• Barrack ain't all that black.
• People are tired of the wars, so a the title of "crippled war vet" doesn't hold as much water as it used to.

Those things piled together, mixed with a healthy dose of people getting off their lazy asses and actually voting, and you've got yourself a drastic change in the country, and the world along with it.

That was really something to behold, wasn't it? Worldwide celebrations for the leader of a country that hosts less that 5% of the world's population. Pretty damn ridiculous if you ask me.

But Obama's got a hell of a challenge ahead. Horrific economic problems, war, a terrible American reputation around the globe, the housing crisis, the Gitmo problem, etc etc.
Should be interesting...


Oh ya, and I forgot to mention my thoughts on the Canadian election. In short, it was fucking pointless, against the law (that Harper himself brought in), and a waste of 300 million of MY dollars. Well played you assholes.

Never underestimate stupid people in large masses

I just got in the door from a brutally long day at work (2.5 hrs overtime fack) and before I turn on the TV or look at any news websites I'd like to say this:

I would not be surprised in the least if the next American president is a god-fearin, nigga hatin, pro-life, pro-war, pro-Bush, anti-freedom geopolitical disaster.

The American people were stupid enough to vote Bush into a close 2nd place 8 years ago, stupid enough to re-elect the goon for a second term, and you can be damn sure they're racist enough to replace him with yet another republican fuckup.

Here's hoping Obama wins in a landslide. Imagine how pissed the republicans and McCain would be. Not only to lose, but to lose to a black guy. Oh the humiliation!! hahaha

I've got ot my fingers crossed...



As a little aside, I flipped by Boston Legal on TV last night and Spader v. Shatner was quite an interesting battle/conversation. The episode was about election day, and both main characters went off on each other about Obama, McCain, and Palin. I thought it was pretty strange to see that kind of thing the day before an actual election, not to mention the fact that they actually used the names of the real politicians involved - no beating around the bush.

Ballsy play by the writers/producers, I liked it. Needless to say Shore kicked Crane's ass, though I can't help but hope that Shatner would support Obama, were he to actually vote in this thing.

Here I am back home again, and I'm here to rest. All they ask is where I've been, knowin I've been west

It's funny to think back on all the places I've called "home" in my day.
This year between April and September I used the word for six different houses or rooms, all told. One of which included a drafty garage for three months, but that's a different story all together.

And my newest home reminds me of the good old days. AKA it's got slanty floors, questionable windows, beer bottles galore, and a mint balcony to boot. Toss in a couple of couches that we picked up off the side of the road in a rainstorm and you've essentially got my old undergrad house.
Except now I supposed to be grown up and shit. But I'm still clingin to that dream...

Anyway, after a month of being home from BC, I finally landed myself a job back here in London. I've been at it for about a month now, and so far everything has been pretty good. I'm working in a microbiology lab that's close to the university, and fortunately my roomie drives to campus every day so I catch a lift up with him. The money isn't great but it's decent enough coming straight outta school.
More than anything I'm getting a ton of good experience so far. It's so damn hard to find jobs that aren't posted as needing "a minimum of two years experience" and whatnot. And once my contract runs out at the end of February, it looks like another client might be in talks with my boss, which in turn means I might get extended. Fingers crossed that I don't fuck things up...

Can't think of much else to say at the moment, but I can guarantee I'll be writing on here more often. I wanna get some of the summer's stories on paper before my booze-riddled brain forgets all the sordid details. Not to mention all the other shit I'd like to rant about these days.

Poli-ticks

Which of the bloodsuckers shall I vote for... hmmm....


Considering I can't even imagine anyone but Layton actually being a reasonable leader of this country, and there isn't a chance in hell he'll even come close to winning, I still haven't decided. Hell, I've heard there's a little box you can check off that says you don't like any of the candidates so you'd rather vote for thin air.

Maybe I'll do that.

She said yer pretty good with words, but words won't save your life and they didn't so he died

This year's top 5's, and as per usual I'm too lazy to describe any of it.

Top 5 Albums

5.

4.

3.

2.

1.

Top 5 Songs

5. Kings of Leon - Fans

4. Tegan and Sara - The Con

3. Against Me - Borne of the FM Waves of the Heart

2. The Hold Steady - Stuck Between Stations

1. Billy Joel - Only The Good Die Young

Top 5 Movies

5.

4.

3.

2.

1.

Top 5 Pictures

5.

4.

3.

2.

1.

It's 9.8 straight down. I can't stop my knees

It's hard to believe it's been half a summer out here already. Time flies when you're having fun I guess. And it flies faster when you're boozed up 4 nights a week...

For a few years now I've been itching to head out West to have some time away from the everyday humdrum crap back home. And after 5 years of university, the world had honestly fallen into two dimensions. And what spells 3D like a shitload of mountains?


And so far it's worked pretty well. I'm honestly having the time of my life out here, with only a few negatives being outweighed heavily by all of the fun and wicked memories. My boss is awesome, he has the coolest dog in the world. My job starts early, but we get off at two so the day is never killed by work, even if we have to a nap. And I've met a ton of new people, with more showing up all the time. And the golf is amazing, even though I haven't been out in a couple of weeks.

One of the big negatives of my time out here has been the fact that I got evicted from staff residence along with three other guys. The story is absolutely ridiculous, and basically comes down to the fact that a girl cried and a sexist bitch had the authority to overreact to an innocent misunderstanding and kick us out.


But like I said, my boss is awesome. So three of us have been living with him in his garage. It's actually not as bad as it sounds, and once Bryan leaves this weekend Danny Boy and I will have more space. But it absolutely sucks being distant from all of our friends, not to mention the fact that we have hardly any fridge space and limited privacy. I hope we can find a place to rent soon though, cuz I'm getting pretty tired of living out of a suitcase and sleeping next to snoring fools.

This weekend we're heading to the Stampede, which should be amazing. Especially since we'll be meeting up with some old friends to party and check out all the hillbilly events going on.

Anyway, there's far too many stories to write about, and I'm far too tired to tell em at the moment. So here are a few pics worth a few thousand words.