So, I'm bored at my second job. This is what is going on the Canada and the world:

Newfoundland is changing! Mr. Smallwood would be proud that his province has good roads, brighter clothing (?) and no longer relies on cod (as much) . . . but now has billions of dollars worth of oil and gas royalties. Rejoice! Newfoundland is a beautiful place. It is one of my favourite places and like many places in Canada it has done fairly well with less but now that the Olympic flame has touched the East coast it's suddenly in the spotlight . . . kind of. It's been dubbed ' land of opportunity'. Yes, Newfoundland is the new USA circa 1900. Just ask the people paying more for insurance and the one doctor moving there from Saudi Arabia.

WATER ON THE MOON. Why is this only a minor headline? If I recall Planet Earth's David Attenborough said "all life on land depends [water]." So, we could live on the moon, right? So, this mean our planet isn't the only possible life orb with the right stuff to produce sentient beings, right? I think we've become way to used to technology.

I remember watching old footage of the Apollo Missions and the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong - whom I'm somehow related to (no lie), and seeing everyone so ecstatic and elated and in just such pure awe of humanity's achievement. Yet, we find water on the moon and its not even a headline but hidden two or three articles below akin to a story on 'Balloon Boy'.

Let's step back. Stop worrying that we won't get that iPhone for Christmas and let's appreciate, for a moment, that we could go to the moon and DRINK water that we didn't bring up ourselves. Or, even just revel in the fact that we can go to Space at all.

Yet, if you ARE worried about not getting an iPhone for Christmas, it is safe to say that it wont be on a new telecommunications courier either. The CRTC has stopped WIND Mobile (Globealive) from launching because it is primary held by an Egyptian company. Rogers is now saying that it is interested in taking over the Spectrum that WIND bought at auction. If you're happy paid one of the world's most expensive cell phone rates, carry on.

Conservative Party MP Shelly Glover plans to give students at a French Immersion school water bottles. Nice of her, right? However, they would all have a CPC logo on them. She insisted that she wanted to congratulate the students for being able to speak a second language (something, I'm sure she cannot even do herself - very well, at least). The school should keep Ms. Glover far away from their students. It is up to them, when they have the capacity to do so, to choose whether or not they will support your party. Until then, how about giving them scholarships for school? More funding for education? The reassurance that when they graduate they will have jobs? Nope. Water bottles.

Religion is silly. That's my belief and I'm sticking to it. Sikhs in Surrey are going to polls over leadership and the pivotal issue is whether or not you sit and eat at a table in chair or on the ground. Silly, right? So silly that over the years people have been pushed into violent brawls so bad that riot police have been called to the temple. How about this: If you want to sit on the floor and eat, do so; if you want to sit in a chair and eat at a table, do so. DONE. I'm not going to write anything further because this is just silly.

Oh, say.

Exciting times. I guess.

The 40th parliament is in session. Do you care? I do. But, that only makes one.

Last weekend, Ian and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary. For it, we decided to go all out - no, not Paris or Venice or Hawaii but Seattle. We took a 4 hour train to Seattle, Washington. For all those who don't know Seattle, its pretty trendy American city that you've probably heard of because a) Kurt Cobain was Emperor in the 90s or b) you've watched Frasier.

We decided on the train because I don't like driving. Also, we have little train experience within North America. The service between Vancouver and Seattle is run by Amtrak and called the 'Cascades' which is an reference to the name that 'they' give to the region from Vancouver to Portland-ish: Cascadia. The trains were modern and comfortable - all leather seats and with decent leg room. Although they have electrical outlets for every seat, they do not have on-board wi-fi which is hi-ghly disappointing. There was also no movie, TV's were old CRT's and the 'Bistro' dining car was really just a guy with a microwave - though that didn't stop me from ordering a $5US cheeseburger in a plastic bag. Cost: $169US for 2, round trip.

We booked a room in a place called Hotel Max - an expensive room. It's a great boutique hotel filled with 'real' art and expensive liquor in tiny bottles. If there's anything that was wrong with this place, it was with the shower which was the size of a milk carton. If I, a tiny person, find the shower claustrophobic then its a pretty goddamn small shower. Also, it has poor pressure. Showers are important to me, okay? I hope, Internet, you know that about me. Cost: $430CA for 2, 2 nights.

Our dinner was on Saturday night and i'm glad I took the advice I got from an old Prof. at Kwantlen. She recommended we go to the 'Purple Cafe and Wine Bar'. It was worth it. This place has hundreds of wines ready to pour by the glass. They have tasting menu (tapas-like) and cheese menu and on both menus each item is paired with wine. The entrees are great and, oh, they're paired with wine too. Desserts are also...well, you get the point. WINE.

So, after a few cheese plates and our entrees, Ian and I order dessert. But, as he was delivering our paired dessert wines, the poor waiter loses his footing and bails. Down goes the wine. INTO MY LAP. So, I'm there, sitting in wine and drenched to the bone. The poor guys is trying to dab me dry to no avail. He brought me a glass of soda water but the dress shirt I was wearing was kaput. KAPUT. The Wine director comes over to console me but I found the incident more funny than infuriating. I couldn't imagine how our server felt. They ended up paying for all out drinks and will pay for my dry cleaning and my new shirt once I send them the bill. Still. I would highly recommend this place. $100US+ for 2 (minus drinks).

I have a lot more I could write about but I hate writing long posts as 'you' do reading them. One last thing to note: Americans = CRAZY. No, my caps is not stuck. I really want to emphasize that. We watched the news only to be witness a spectacle not unlike the McCarthy-era anti-communist protest. They were angry that Obama will be giving Americans insurance coverage. That's bastard! What gives him the right? Oh, yeah. HE'S THE PRESIDENT.

A lot of people would rather die than be given universal health care. More that 70 million Americans have no or little insurance. Unbelievable. My grandpa said it best yesterday since he's recent had a bunch of hospital trips: If he was an American, he'd be homeless given all the surgery and care he's recently undergone. He also told me that years ago he was in hospital and the only bill he got was for a phone call he made.

Bless Canada. Save the States from itself.

Lists: LOVE or LIKE

• Cold but sunny days.


• Warm, fresh, strong coffee (or even just the smell).


• Idealism.


• Sharing.


• Manners.


• Suits.


• Mid-century furniture.


• Music.


• Film.


• Art.


• Canadiana.


• History.


• Cartoons that I watched as a kid.


• Sci-fi: specifically Star Trek, BSG, Star Wars.


• Reading the news.


• Socialism.


• Voting.


• Election night coverage: usually Peter Mansbridge.


• Peter Mansbridge.


• CBCradio3


• Improv/Comedy.


• Theatre.


• Taking photographs.


• Being important.


• Ian. <3


• Arbutus Trees.


• Robins (birds).


• Public Transit.


• New Urbanism.


• Getting hand written letters.


• My record player/records.


• Secrets.


• Gadgets.


• Exploring.


• Traveling.

Lists: HATE

Things that annoy me:

• Loud chewing.


• People who drag their feet when they walk.


• Loud people.


• People who talk on their cell phone on buses/transit - especially just to say "how's it going" etc.


• Cars.


• Urban sprawl i.e. Langley.


• Langley in general.


• Hicks.


• People who wear sweat pants/yoga pants/short shorts/slutty wear.


• Tim Hortons' cream cheese policy of "more is better."


• Facebook quizzes.


• Drunk people (especially teenagers and on transit).


• The way, like, um, some people talk?


• Cigarettes.


• Spitting.


• Big box retail.


• Apathy.


• Couples who block the sidewalk because they walk and hug at the same time.


• Political correctness run amok.


• Human rights tribunals.


• Religion.


• Parents who refuse to discipline their children.


• People who argue but cannot substantiate their claims with evidence.


• Stephen Harper.


• Self-Storage buildings.


• Vancouver architecture post-1990.

Update: Life

So, that was summer.





Time is an odd mistress. Since I don't really post that much I'll update 'you' (i.e. the poor souls who stumble upon this sparsely post populated blog). I have a job now. I currently work for Olympic Broadcasting Services Vancouver as their receptionist/HR admin assistant. I'm enjoying it thoroughly, however, it does take away from some of my street cred/ability to criticize the games. On the other hand, I will be in the thick of it and my perspective will enjoy a first-hand glimpse at the spectacle that is the Vancouver Winter Olympiad.





I've started yoga and Vancouver's YYoga. They have a brand new studio on Burrard and Smithe (I think those are the cross-streets) and they have studios all over the place - one of which is near where I live in Burnaby. I've taken two hot classes so far and they've been really great (see: SO-EFFING-SWEATY). I have been compliment by the teachers both times: "Oh, this can't possibly be your first class!" "I can't believe it's only your second class!" - It's embarassing but reassuring. I am a yogi. Jealous?





I have decided that my dream is to live in the Nederlands and go to the University of Utrecht for Human Geography/Planning. Does anyone have E$10,000 laying around?





All in all, I'm doing well.

Polaris Short List 2009

Last week (July 7th), Polaris organizers announced the Short List for 2009 and since I'm a horrible person/blogger I didn't even post some review on any of the contesting albums from it.

Here is what 181 journalists, bloggers and broadcasters whittled down from the Long List:

• Windsor, Ont.'s Elliott Brood, Mountain Meadows
• Toronto's F---ed Up, The Chemistry Of Common Life
• Toronto's Great Lake Swimmers, Lost Channels
• St. John's, N.L.'s Hey Rosetta!, Into Your Lungs
• Toronto's K'naan, Troubadour
• Montreal's Malajube, Labyrinthes
• Toronto's Metric, Fantasies
• Halifax's Joel Plaskett, Three
• Calgary's Chad VanGaalen, Soft Airplane
• Montreal's Patrick Watson, Wooden Arms

While I'm excited to see such talent go head-to-head, they are all established artists who, for the most part, have already been nominated in past years. Patrick Watson even won in 2007 for his album Close to Paradise. Furthermore, the list is definitely dominated by central and eastern Canada with the only album from west of Windsor being Chad VanGaalen's Soft Airplane.

I would have liked to see more first time nominations make it to the Short List: Cœur De Pirate's self titled album was a catchy Internet success story (though I don't understand the lyrics because its entirely in French) and even Jill Barber's simple and sultry album, Chances that alludes back to the days of smokey lounges and jazz ballads, was also worthy. Though I did not get the chance to check out much more.

So far my money is on Plaskett for his triple album Three, however, I would like Soft Airplane to win. I've followed Chad since before his first album and I find him a man of many talents (considering he plays most of the instruments on his albums and some he even invented in addition to illustrating/animating his own music videos) able to evoke strong emotions with or without vocals.

Hopefully I'll listen to the other albums and let you know if my prediction changes. No promises though.

Canada Day

So today is Canada Day and what have you done? Another year over and a new one's just begun... (Thanks J.L.) For some reason, today has made me reflect on what Canada Day actually means. Perhaps it was the facebook message/newsletter I got that told me that Canada Day marks the day Canada became independent...which is wrong. Just flat WRONG. In fact, there are probably better milestones to celebrate that July 1st, 1867 when the Dominion of Canada was created (they chose 'dominion' because 'Kingdom' would have upset the yanks).

We could celebrate the founding of the first French colony. Or the American Revolution which essentially created two political entities in North America. How about the Balfour Declaration of 1926? It concluded that Canada (among other 'colonies') was "autonomous Communities within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by a common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations."

The Statute of Westminster of 11 December 1931 perhaps deserves the most consideration because it essentially marks Canada's full legislative independence from Britain. Then again we didn't get a flag until 1965, nor an official national anthem until 1980. Hell, our constitution wasn't even in the country until 1982. That was also the year that July 1st became Canada Day. Until then it was Dominion Day.

While I believe that blind nationalistic fervor is evil, ugly and wrong, I consider myself a patriot. I consider the difference between a nationalist and a patriot to be that a nationalism is exclusive and a patriotism is inclusive. This country has seen some horrible things, things that could equate to genocide. We have been complicit to horrible wars. This is not to say that we should focus on the negative but rather be aware that Canada is not just hockey and maple syrup.

I take Canada's history into perspective knowing that while we are not the ideal country (for many reasons it doesn't make sense that Canada continues to exist) we are a young country and we have the ability to shape it more freely, learning from others without being bogged down with the burden of history or precedence. Not to sound too much like an Obama campaign but I sincerely believe that Canada can provide hope. It's up to us to work together to overcome regional, provincial, territorial, and cultural differences.