Misc.
Saturday, July 31, 2004
I was hoping to get out ot Birds Hill Park today with Jennie to hang out, but she had to go and take an extra shift today, so balls to that.
So now my Saturday is shiftless, probably just play some Tales of Symphonia. I could finally finish painting this room, but that'd involve going to buy another quart of paint, which I don't feel like spending money on right now. So it'll remain in this state of almost-completed for a while longer.
In other news, I hooked up a second monitor to my computer, and have it sitting above my current one. It's small, (15inch) and beige (eww) and I don't know how much use I'll actually get out of it, but for now it's a fun novelty. Dragging stuff up and down from one to the other has proved a relatively fun passtime.
Now I'm typing on my primary monitor...
and now I'm looking up and typing on the secondary one. In fact, I'll be here until I finish this post.
Which is now.
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*coughslutcough*
Friday, July 30, 2004
Check this out.
WHEN AM I GOING TO DIE?
According to our calculations, your estimated life span is:
76.80 years
I lose. But, I guess that'll come with being inactive and overweight.
Though, even if I knock off a buncha poundage, and am 'very active', I can still only look forward to 77.53 years. Whee. Post your death age in the comments.
DO IT!
hahahaha! stupid CIBC bank.
Take that, you sons of bitches! The only bad news now, is that all the quacks come out saying about how unstable the Canadian banking system might be, and that the banks should spend more money on ensuring flawless service. Well surprise, surprise... humans are fallible. And who do you think programs/manages computers?
RBC has spent over $2 billion on technological research in the past 10 or 20 years, the exact figures are on the intranet, which I can't access unless I'm at work, so that's an educated guess based on reading it.
This is a long but interesting read. Samurai vs. Knight
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Closed.
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Battle Royal, the aftermath
Thursday, July 29, 2004
Well I must say, even though the premis of the game was different, I really enjoyed the film version. It managed to pay homage to the book, even while leaving much out. The book is almost 700 pages after all, and the movie's only 2 hours.
Had I not read the book first, the movie still would have been enjoyable, but not as. The book helped me to know the characters a lot better (of course), and the movie tended to rush over a few of the deaths, but I knew how they came to happen anyways. The only problem, is that the subtitles tend to use the characters first name only, where I know them by their last name from the book (or the other way around, however the Japanese call themselves). So I had to try my best to listen to the names when they were said to catch both names, as both were actually said.
I still have the second dvd with the bonus features to partake of, which should prove interesting.
All in all, I'm very happy with the dvd purchase. Be jealous. And comment, goddammit.
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Battle Royale
My Battle Royale dvd came in today! hooray, now I'll stay up until 6am watching it.
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Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Walkway to one of the water bus docks. It's not as dark in real life.
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Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Just a reminder.
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blech
Monday, July 26, 2004
So yeah, I know I haven't updated this in a few days, I just couldn't bring myself to type anything out.
Saw two movies over the weekend, Farenheit 9/11 and I, Robot.
Both get my recommendation.
Farenheit for its often hilarious, sometimes jaw-dropping portrayal of Bush and his cronies.
I, Robot for its very cool robots and smash-em up ending.
Click here.
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New Post
Sunday, July 18, 2004
So last night I saw Spiderman. Now, I hate writing reviews of movies or books, so I'm not going to review the damn movie. Suffice it to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it, even if it was more of a love story than the first one. It also had a pretty good ending, which leads me to look forward to the next installment. The one thing I didn't appreciate, however, was the implication that some new incarnation of Green Goblin would be around for the next movie. I didn't like him much as a villain in the first movie, so here's hoping that if he's in the third movie, he has a minor part to play.
Today afternoon was spent outside reading, I've started this book called The Rotter's Club. I'll let you know what I think when I get further into it.
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Jennie doesn't like having her picture taken.
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Oh sunny day, in Winnipeg town...
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eBay...
Saturday, July 17, 2004
Normally I dislike eBay, as it makes me spend money. However, I managed to find the 2 dvd director's cut version of Battle Royale last night, and won the auction today with the one and only bid. Huzzah!
I'm really looking forward to seeing how the movie stacks up against the excellent book. All of the reviews I've read about it on amazon.ca/.com have been excellent, so here's hoping.
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The Final Body Count
Okay, so I finished Battle Royale tonight. This is part of my problem, I get a book and if I really like it end up finishing it in 2-3 days. Oh well. Here's how the entire body count (including stats from the previous post) stacks up, no pun intended:
1 shot before the game started
1 killed with a throwing knife before the game started
5 killed via machine gun
10 killed via handgun
3 killed via uzi
4 killed via slit throats
2 killed via shotgun
2 killed via 'arrow gun'
2 killed via sickle
1 killed via hatchet
1 killed via chocking with belt
1 killed via baseball bat
1 killed via poison
1 killed via fall
1 killed when, after trying to rape a girl, getting a thumb and middle finger in his eyes, his crotch stomped on, his neck stepped on, and an icepick jammed through his throat via his mouth
1 killed via his electronic tracking collar exploding as he was caught in a forbidden zone as it was activated
And that's what happened to the 42 students of Third Year Class B, Shiroiwa Junior High School. Well, except for the 'winner'... but I won't ruin the story.
Suffice it to say that this is one book that comes highly recommended by Me. I won't comment on my feelings about the ending, as that may give away too much to someone wanting to read this. Which you should.
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Such carnage...
Friday, July 16, 2004
Wow, the blog posting utility has been upgraded quite a bit. I can even upload pictures right into my posts here.
Anyways, the purpose of this post is to recap the deaths so far from Battle Royale. So with no further ado:
1 shot before the game started
1 killed with a throwing knife before the game started
1 killed via machine gun
4 killed via handgun
4 killed via slit throats
1 killed via shotgun
2 killed via 'arrow gun'
2 killed via sickle
1 killed via hatchet
1 killed when, after trying to rape a girl, getting a thumb and middle finger in his eyes, his crotch stomped on, his neck stepped on, and an icepick jammed through his throat via his mouth
1 killed via his electronic tracking collar exploding as he was caught in a forbidden zone as it was activated
So now you're up to speed.
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King Arthur movie tidbits
Thursday, July 15, 2004
Here's a really great article I stumbled across from cbc.ca. It basically covers some of the protests about innacuracy/whatever of the film. Plus it's got some great pictures of Kiera (two of which you see below this). Give it a read here
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More Kiera....
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Keira,
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Wednesday, July 14, 2004
.
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Wrasslin', only not...
Yesterday afternoon I decided to go to Zellers to see if they had any clocks, to replace the one that fell and smashed after I rehung it on the wall. I have a $25 gift card for Zellers, so I figured it'd be a good place to start. As it turns out, the Zellers closest to my place (at Grant Park) only had 4 or 5 differnt clocks, each of which was all garden-y and covered in fake vines. Eugh.
So, I figured I'd take a stroll down the mall to McNally Robinson, one hell of a bookstore. I usually drop by there every few weeks to check on the discount book section, as it's usually very good. Besides the fact that I need to always have a book to read. I found Robert Jordan's 'new' book, the prequel he wrote to his yet-unfinished Wheel of Time series. On my way to the discount section I passed the Staff Picks table, and happened to glance down at a red book titled Battle Royale. The book synopsis reads as follows:
Koushun Takami's notorious high-octane thriller is based on an irresistible premis: a class of junior high school students is taken to a deserted island where, as part of a ruthless authoritarian program, they are provided arms and forced to kill one another until only one survivor is left standing. Chriticized as violent exploitation when first published in Japan--where it then proceeded to become a runaway bestseller--Battle Royale is a Lord of the Flies for the 21st century, a potent allegory of what it means to be young and (barely) alive in a dog-eat-dog world. MAde into a controversial hit movie of the same name, Battle Royale is already a contemporary Japenese pulp classic, now available for the first time in the English language.
So, that was working in my mind as I went to grab RJ's prequel book. Then, as I started walking towards the till, I realised that I didn't even really want RJ's book anyways, I just needed to buy it to have it, the full series. I decided I'd just buy it when it came out in paperback, and pick up this Takami book instead.
The book starts out with 42 children, 21 males and 21 females. All with Japanese names. This should be fun to try to keep track of. At least they'll be dying off, so the number of characters I'll need to know will dwindle as the book goes on.
I'm really looking forward to reading this book, but don't think I can at work, because I won't be able to focus enough. Reading books at work usually isn't a problem for me, but I plan on giving this one more focus.
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Random News Bits
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
In lieu of any new pictures to upload, or anything relevant to say, I'm just going to comment on a few headlines I noticed at cbc.ca
"Athletics Canada is sending 23 athletes to the Athens Games, 20 fewer than it sent to the 2000 Sydney Games."
At first I was upset about that fact, 23 Olympic calibre athletes out of a population of 30 million plus? Seems rather pathetic. If I recall correctly, the US sends something in the neighbourhood of over 200. I'm too lazy right now to check. Considering the US has a population of about ten times us, 23 is about on-par. The reason for the reduction in the athletes, is "due in part to stringent new qualifying standards, which Athletics Canada implemented in conjunction with the Canadian Olympic Committee. " Well, I suppose that paring the contingent down results in a higher quality team. I suppose we shall see if this is true.
NEXT
"The Philippines said it would withdraw its peacekeeping force from Iraq "as soon as possible," in accordance with the demands of the extremist kidnappers of Filipino Angelo dela Cruz."
After originally vowing to "not bow to terrorist blackmail," the Philippine government made its apparent about-face as the Tuesday deadline set by the abductors loomed.
Well, isn't that big of The Phillippines? Hey, at least they put on a brave face last week, or whenever dela Cruz was first kidnapped. If I lived in a country that had lost someone to Iraqi kidnappers, I sure would be pissed off at this country. In a way, it cheapens the sacrifices made by those countries who have lost hostages to the Islamic Army of Iraq, or whoever else has been kidnapping foreign nationals in the Mid East.
NEXT
Internet search engine Google Inc. will list on Nasdaq National Market when it goes through with its initial public stock offering.
I'm indeed looking forward to this IPO. Both because Google's pledging to run it differently from most any other, in that rather than having their share price set by a investment bank, plans to have their share price by conducting an auction, which should give the public a better chance of buying into the company before the stock hits the market. They also have other unusal things planned for the public company. The ones that come immedietly to mind is the fact that the company is run by a triumvirate, rather than a CEO/Chairman and a board. As well, I recall reading that they plan on making large investments in technology start-up companies... but I'll have to check their website/IPO again sometime. I'll post more on that later. It'll be neat to see how Google unfolds, and if they can keep up with all their plans for their 'different kind of company'.
NEXT
CALGARY - Alberta is now debt-free, due in part to the high price of oil and gas.
"Today I'm very, very proud to announce that Alberta has slain its debt," Premier Ralph Klein said on Monday in Calgary.
"Those days are over and they're over for good, as far as my government is concerned, and if need be we will put in place legislation to make sure that we never have a debt again," he added.
Go Alberta. Congrats on cutting public spending on things like healthcare to the bone, to the point of people in Alberta considering private, for-profit healthcare. "A lone protester heckled Klein during his announcement by saying the government paid its debt on the backs of Albertans who are having a hard time making ends meet.".
I think that's enough for now.
news quotes courtesy cbc.ca
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More from Matt Good
Monday, July 12, 2004
All right, every single person who checks out this blog (all one of you) MUST follow this link and read the post about that pompous windbag Bill O'Reilly vs. Canada.
GO NOW!
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Painting
So I spent some time last night, and some more time this afternoon painting the computer/dining room. We're going with a shade called 'natural calm', for whatever it's worth. Either way, it looks incredibly better than it did when the whole room was an off-white sorta thing. Now, as can be seen below, it's the 'natural calm' colour, with black and stained wood accents. I especially like the look of the black on the window frame. The colours wash out a bit in the picture, so you'll all just have to come over here to be amazed at my painting skills.
*sighs* work tomorrow... boo.
I better fucking hear about my new job before the end of August, or I'll continue being pissed off.
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The new paint scheme for the dining/computer room. Again, a side-by-side would helpful, but just think 'everything white' and you'll get the idea.
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Sunday, July 11, 2004
So uh yeah.. here's my new glasses. Tough to see the difference between them and my old ones here. I suppose a side-by-side comparison might have been appropriate, but too bad.
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Free game...
Thursday, July 08, 2004
I was surfing around ign.com today and noticed that one can download the full version of Hidden and Dangerous Deluxe for FREE, at this link:
http://www.gathering.com/hd2/hddeluxe.html
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Another thought
I saw a special on CBC Newsworld about a story like this, a kid literally escaping from the US. Telling the Canadian border patrol that he's coming into Canada to visit for a few days, not being able to tell his family what he's doing. It was all very secretive and reminded me of the things that citizens had to do in order to defect from communist countries while the Iron Curtain was up. Anyways, this is what i'm talking about:
TORONTO - A pair of U.S. soldiers have applied for refugee status in Canada, arguing the war in Iraq is unconscionable and not worth fighting for.
Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey arrived in Canada separately earlier this year. The two have applied for refugee status, saying if they return to the United States they'll have to serve in Iraq.
Both say they believe the war in Iraq is illegal.
"You assume that it's going to be a good cause and you're going to defend your country," said Hughey. "But in the case of Iraq, it's just not a moral conflict."
"My life isn't that significant, but also it's not so worthless as to be killed or to go kill innocent people," said Hinzman.
The Newsworld special was very interesting and enlightening, as to just how much fear these soldiers have of what punishment they'll face at home.
Follow their story
here.
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As if you needed another reason to avoid Australia...
This from the news today:
Another woman told how a kangaroo drowned one of the four dogs she was walking with a friend, attacking it in a pond and holding it under the water with its hind legs while it hit out at one of the other dogs with its front legs.
"My friend started shouting: 'There's a kangaroo in the pond. It's got Summer'. It was surreal, like your worst nightmare," Christine Canham told the Canberra Times newspaper.
"She was screaming and screaming. The kangaroo just stared back at us. I will never forget that."
Evans said it was not unusual for kangaroos to flee into water if they felt under threat and, as a last defence, they would try to drown their predator with their powerful hind legs.
Okay, so the animals are malicious in their killing of a potential threat...Isn't that interesting? Threaten a kangaroo and it'll drown you in the nearest pond. That's fucked up. Really fucked up.
In other news, I'm watching a commercial for MCI (a US telephone company) where lots of happy people are shown using its services to the singing of "It's a Wonderful World". Yes, I'm sure it is a wonderful world for the company. Well, more wonderful than when it was Worldcom was scamming its customers and fucking over its shareholders. Long live American-style capitalism!
In related news, Kenneth Lay, the ex-CEO amd chairman of Enron was indicted today, however the indictment was sealed, so the public does not yet know the charges. He's said that he'll turn himself in Thursday morning. Can you imagine his last truly free night? What would you do the night before you surrendered yourself for what will unlikely be quite a long prison term (after the trial and appeals of course)? Being that the trial is held in Texas, there's little doubt that his term will be quite a long one indeed. I read a quote from him saying that a few years ago his fortune was an estimated $400 million. Now it's less than $2 million, thanks to the utter collapse of Enron stock, which made up most of his fortune. The stupid bastard couldn't even do some insider trading and get rid of his stock before it plummetted.
I don't know why, but for some reason the formatting for this post is different from my others... stupid piece of shit.
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Work, etc.
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
I hate going back to work after being off for an extended/semi-extended period of time. However, I did notice one thing. Upon returning to work I found myself much more patient with customers. That lasted for the first 4 or 5 hours of Monday. Oh well, better than nothing, right?
I also purchased new glasses on Friday, I don't remember if I've blogged about that yet. I'll pick them up this Friday and provide proof. I also decided to get new prescription sunglasses, thanks to a $190 off 2 pair of glasses. I'm not sure if I'll keep them or not, since the ones I have now are great. But, I guess having 2 sunglasses will be convenient, one to leave in the car. I just don't think that some 'cheap' noname sunglass frames can compare to my Armani frames I have now. And with my new regular glasses frames, I'll have matching brandname glasses again. Shame I couldn't find any Roots frames at Lenscrafters. But, thanks to a 30-day moneyback guarantee I'll go look at frames at The Bay after I pick up my new frames from Lenscrafters. For this reason, I'll hold off submitting my benefits claim for refund.
Isn't that just so interesting?
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Sunday, July 04, 2004
This is a fun picture, and my update for today.
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The Day After...
Saturday, July 03, 2004
So Shane's wedding was yesterday, and it was quite an experience. From the sponatneous perogie lunch for us groomsmen before the wedding, to Shane's yawning while at the altar, to all the damn people who wanted pictures of all of us. Thankfully, not one thing went wrong. Standing up at the front of the church we all thought it was hot, then we were shown what hot and humid was during the reception. The reception was held outside in a massive tent, whose environment proved inhospitible to mosquitoes. Stepping outside of the tent provided relief from the humidity at least, but subjected us to hordes of hungry mosquitoes. All in all it was a great time. Polkaing with Jennie was goodstuff, even if neither of us were very good at it, and most ran into other people.
I'm very satisfied with my purchase of the lithium AA batteries for my digital camera, after all day and night yesterday the camera still shows a full charge. I've posted some pics below, I'm not sure why they look so dark here, but there you have them. I'll upload all my pics to my webspace when I feel like getting around to it.
As well, there was a photographer there taking professional pictures of the whole thing, which should be posted at www.joelross.com sometime this week for viewing/purchasing. The password instructions are as follows: It should be '020704sks', without the single quotes of course.
Now today is a day-after party called a 'Provenya' (said with a Ukranian accent), which I should attend. I suppose sometime I should sort my tux out from the pile I left it in last night and hang it up for returning.
Oh well, I'll do that later.
*note* The pictures below are in reverse order, incase you're not smart enough to work that out by the level of sunlight.
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....even later that evening.
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Kim was so embarassed. That stupid guy on the left stepped into the frame just as I took the picture.
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...later that evening, James' version of disco dancing.
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Jennie and I, finally in a decent picture.
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Shane looking tired of meeting and greeting people. James looking like a fool.
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The happy couple, Shane and Kim.
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The classic 'walking in suits' picture, without me.
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Before the wedding, all us snazzy Groomsmen.
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Please dear god...
Thursday, July 01, 2004
Today was spent going through the wedding rehearsal, which lasted all of 30 minutes, if that. Afterwards was a BBQ and the bride's parent's house, which is where the picture from below is. I hope that things tomorrow morning work out... otherwise I'll feel like a fucking idiot.
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Shane and Kim, those who shall be wed.
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