The History Boys

On Tuesday, December 19, 2006, I went to see the movie The History Boys. This was a movie about a bunch of intelligent school boys who got really high grades on their exams, and thus is now under more pressure to succeed on these exams to get into Oxford or Cambridge.

The headmaster of the school, of course, does not care about making these students well-rounded individuals, but as people who can get into Oxford or Cambridge, so that the school becomes more reknown, and then he can charge more for students to go there. He had no interest in his teachers, or rarely he had interest in them, but always for bad things.

There was also the problem of one of the teachers who couldn't control himself and groped his young students, while he was giving them a ride home on his motorbike.

This was a very clever film, lots of clever English humour, and heartfelt and warm. The French part of the movie (when they were in a general studies class, studying French), was not so hot, because their French accent is heavily anglicized, but it was fun nonetheless.

It condenses the play into two hours and two minutes, which I did not find dull at any moment. In fact, when the end of the movie came, I found it abrupt, I had no idea that it was the end.

The only thing that ruined the movie for me, which I had no control over, was the two idiots who sat behind me. They arrived late, they sat down and were chatty. I gave them a nasty stare, they stopped for about five minutes, and then they chatted throughout the movie. I nearly left the theatre having snapped their necks. Or performing one of those Mortal Kombat III Trilogy fatalities...

Am I the only one who sees this? Or is it just me...

Today, after teaching an aerobics and a muscle toning class, I talked to my boss again, to get comments about how to improve my teaching. And she assured me that it was already better than last time, but of course there is still work to be done.

But it seems to me that every time I talk to her, she gives me bad news. I swear, she hates my guts...

And the bad news is: Tada - the course that I'm teaching currently on Saturday, has to be cut due to the fact that she's faced with cutbacks at the gym. So, the only way for me to keep the course is if I teach it on a volunteer basis. I agreed to do this on a volunteer basis, because at this point in the game, I'm trying to build a rapport with a bunch of students who like me, my style, and improve my teaching.

But what bugs me is that every time I talk to my boss, I always get bad news...

Little Children

On Tuesday, December 12, 2006, I went to see the movie Little Children. The two major stars of this film were Kate Winslet and Patrick Wilson, even though there were other stars that were recognizable. (For example, Jennifer Connelly as the wife of Patrick Wilson's character).

This story is about several lives of suburban people who do things that are not quite approved in the suburban areas. It's about the lack of communication in relationships, and the lack of needs being addressed in relationships. Thus, people have to turn to other outlets to fulfill the needs. It is also about a small suburban town's reaction to a pedophile who has moved into their neighbourhood.

The actor who played Ronnie, the pedophile, deserves at least an Oscar nod for his acting in this movie... The acting in general was acceptable, and this movie was definitely a lot better than Fast Food Nation. It's a movie that makes you think, and gets your emotions all up in turmoil.

Kate Winslet has been in many movies recently... All the Kings' Men, Flushed Away (voice work), Little Children, and The Holiday, which I hope to see as well. I suppose making out with Jack Black is a small price to pay, considering she also got to make out with hot Patrick Wilson. I thought it was also funny how they made all these jabs about pedophiles, since Patrick Wilson played one in the last movie he was in - Hard Candy.

Wow... Gold mine!

On Saturday, December 9, 2006, I went to the staff party for YMCA Guy-Favreau, the one where I work at. We went to this really classy Brazilian restaurant. Originally, we were supposed to have dancing after the dinner, but the restaurant told the boss that they couldn't arrange it, so it was sad.

The restaurant was good, I enjoyed myself, and the food was good. I had the salmon fillet, which was very tasty, but very small for my liking. Also, they only had one choice of dessert for us, crème brûlée, so even though I tasted my first dessert of this type, it wasn't like we had a choice.

I stayed after the dinner, and chatted with other employees that work there. Here's where I struck gold... Remember a few months ago, I started working at the YMCA, and I talked about Louis, a guy who works at the front desk, whom I noticed would wink at me while I was leaving? Well, he was wearing a really nice leather bracelet today, (on his right hand as well, so that could signify something as well), and I asked him, "Where did you get it?". He replied that he bought it at Priape, which is a store that caters to the needs of gay men. Now, I'm sure that there are some straight people who shop at Priape, but when I asked him what he was doing for the evening, he said that he called a friend, and that he was walking towards the village. He was also wearing a very nice leather bike-esque jacket tonight... His jeans (Diesel) didn't do much for me, but his jacket.... Mmm-Mmm-Good!

So, what this means for me is that I have confirmation that Louis is bi or gay. And I told him that I would love to go to Club Date. He probably registered, and he just chuckled, but perhaps this would lead to something further, who knows... I wouldn't mind being friends with this Louis.

And on top of that, I found out that at least one of the other two step instructors (my gaydar tells me both), is gay. I was one of the last ones to leave, along with the two step instructors, and one of the co-ordinators for physical training and her partner (boyfriend). Anyway, the co-ordinator mentioned to one of the step instructors, "You don't have a boyfriend?", and he replied, no. And she also jokingly said that the other step instructor was the boyfriend.

What a gold mine eh? It's nice to know that my intuitions are right... Granted of course, the two step instructors don't really appeal to me sexually. Well, one of the two is kind of my taste, but Louis is really good looking.

Also, on a side note. I got an e-mail from my co-discussion animator/facilitator this evening, and he said that meeting on Tuesday for AT LEAST 1.5 hours would be enough to plan our discussion on bisexuality. He told me that he has a list of questions from last year, when they did do the discussion on bisexuality, but HE DOESN'T WANT TO USE IT, since we don't want to seem like we're "doing the same discussion" for the benefit of the people who may be there again this year. Well, I don't give a fiddler's fuck if the people going there will recognize the questions. I'm just a regular facilitator, who actually is thinking of stopping faciliating discussions at Lambda because it's so boring, immature, and brainless, I'm not part of the CA, and frankly, I've run more discussions than the elected responsable des animations. I nicely wrote an e-mail back saying that I have a long day on Tuesday, and that meeting for 2 hours is the max, since I wouldn't be productive after that. The true reason, really, is that I'm unwilling to give up my usual cheap movie night for Lambda. If I had been elected, as responsable des animations, or treasurer, maybe. But since I wasn't... Up theirs.

Corneille and Bell Centre

On Friday, December 8, 2006, instead of going to Jeunesse Lambda for improv, I went to a concert at the Bell Centre, featuring Corneille. My friend won free tickets off the radio, about one and a half hours before the start of the concert, so I profited from that, I guess!

Corneille is an artist who has had an interesting past... When he was young, he was victim to the genocide (his family moved back to Rwanda). He witnessed his family being massacred one by one. He faked his death so that he lived... He escaped to Montreal and lived with his aunt and uncle. He graduated from Concordia in music, I believe.

The concert was good, and I thought it was a little long, but still good. What I was annoyed about, was the overpricing of items at the Bell Centre:

$4.25 for a bottle of water;
$9.25 for a beer (not bottle, in a cup);
$6.00 for a bag of popcorn (probably not freshly popped);
$12.95 plus tax for two hot dogs, a nacho and a pop.

I'm proud to say that I didn't buy anything at the Bell Centre, although I was tempted to buy a Haagen Daaz ice-cream bar. They didn't have any of those however.

Fast Food Nation

On Tuesday, December 5, 2006. I went to see Fast Food Nation. This movie was a look about fast food chains, and their promotion techniques, and things that happen behind the scenes. It is based on a book, which I have not read. However, if the movie were an accurate depiction of the book, then I don't want to read it.

The story spends more time with side stories and tangents, rather than on the actual issue, from the name of the film. Certainly, the image that they use from slaughterhouses is quite powerful, but I believe that's about all it has going for it. The movie was so boring, my friend Flavio who went to see it with me, he fell asleep in it for the last at least five minutes.

This was a bit disappointing. The critics weren't wrong for this one...

Even Paul Dano, dropping a frozen hamburger patty on the floor and then cooking it couldn't redeem this film, and I thought he did a wonderful job in Little Miss Sunshine.