Recording session and cupcakes!

On Friday, March 30, 2007, I helped with the production of a student movie by taking part in the recording of a soundtrack. The music was fun, and I enjoyed myself a lot more than at orchestra.

The best part was the end, when I got to eat some cupcakes... I haven't had cupcakes in ages... I think the last time I had a cupcake was when I was in high school? It has been so long that I don't even remember!

It was enjoyable, all in all.

Ghost Rider

On Tuesday, March 27, 2007, I went to see the movie Ghost Rider, featuring Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes. This movie was based on the Marvel Comic Ghost Rider, the dude who changes into a flaming skull at night, which was part of his contract.

The movie starts off with a young Johnny Blaze who finds out that his father is dying of cancer, and makes a deal to save his father's life, to rid him of his cancer. However, that same day, the father dies from an accident on his motorbike in a stunt. From that day on, we see Johnny Blaze's guilt, or his perceived guilt of having his father die.

Johnny grows up to continue to be a motorcycle stunt person, and every time, his stunts get more and more daring, but he continues to cheat death again and again. Finally, the contract is called, and Johnny Blaze becomes the Ghost Rider. The rest of the movie is him learning about what the Ghost Rider is, and him doing what he was ordered to do.

This movie isn't too big on the acting, but the animation, the special effects are worth it. This was a very good movie, considering it's a February release.

On another note, the Federal budget survived... And it's only because the Bloc supported the Conservatives... Yet another do as I say, not as I do moment... Mr. Harper explicitly said that he would not work with a party that does not federalism, and yet, he has counted on the support of the Bloc Quebecois to pass his budget. I really hope that the Conservatives get whatever is coming to them, for breaking all these promises that they made during election time. However, the people who vote Conservative either won't remember all the promises he has broken, or are too stupid to vote another choice, or both... Since this budget is so good... This pretty much ensures that the next time we have an election, it's going to be a Conservative majority goverment. * shudder *

ADQ a viable choice?

As the election trail has come to a close in Quebec, I'm reading about the results of the election. The ADQ has won 41 seats. The ADQ, being a party of such inconsistencies... Mr. Dumont says that Quebec should be more autonomous within Canada, and by achieving that, then we don't need to separate... But who Mr. Dumont ran the Oui campaign (to separate) in 1995 in Rivière-du-Loup? Why it was none other than... Mario Dumont!

And then we have his Conservative platform... Private health care, raising tuition fees. Most of the support that he gained were in the outskirts, the rural areas... Most of these areas are lower class to middle class... So, you people have voted in a party that doesn't give a rat's ass about funding the existing health care, which you probably need, and raising tuition fees, which you and/or your children may actually suffer from?

And also, we have Mr. Dumont's comment about how Quebec should stop bending over backwards for religious minorities. Canada is a country about accepting differences in the cultures. Though some communities may be a little too demanding in having their differences acknowledged, which is usually just a small fraction of people, they have decided to paint this picture to all minorities.

One of Mr. Dumont's MPs have made a comment about how Quebecers need to have more births so that Quebec isn't going to be inhabited by immigrants. Either the voters who voted for ADQ did not know this statement, this statement of blatant ignorance and hatred, or the voters actually feel this way themselves... If it is the former, then perhaps the next election, results will reflect this... If it is the latter, the people in Quebec have nothing to bitch about when the survey results show that 56% of Quebecers are racist. Voting in the ADQ clearly proves this.

The ADQ, in my opinion, is clearly not a viable choice... If this is an exercise of voting against both the Liberals and PQ, then it is a very poor one, since this vote was done out of revenge, and not out of thought. Green would have been a better vote against both the Liberal and PQ.

The stupidity continues...

So, the stupidity continues today, later on in the day... Though, this is a different incident, and not one involving Shopper's Drug Mart or Pharmaprix...

I had finished teaching today, and I thought I would try to pass by the Pharmaprix at the corner of Guy and Ste. Catherine to see if I can get some of the specials they offered. I took the bus 66 back to my house, because it passes right in front of my place from downtown.

So, I was enjoying my bus ride home, since I was able to score all the stuff I wanted last night (or tecnically speaking, this morning, the period of time when it's Saturday, but according to the workers there, it wasn't Saturday). At the intersection of Decarie and Côte St. Luc. (The latter being the street that the bus was traveling on, and Decarie being a major road). A small little car on Côte St. Luc, needing to turn left onto Decarie to head north, decided that it had enough time to cut the bus off. The bus had to brake hard in order for people to not have been injured and for the two people in the small car to not have been killed.

How much more time would the people in the small car have saved by cutting in front of the bus? There might have been a few more cars behind the bus, at most, and the difference would have been one minute... But no, they decided to risk their lives by cutting in front of a bus... Which is more smart? Waiting a minute, or being hit by a bus and being killed instantly?

Here's a formula: small car turning left cutting bus off + big bus going forward and can't brake in time = big accident involving at least two dead, the two in the car.

This is pretty stupid, and in my opinion, definitely more stupid than the Saturday/not-Saturday incident at the Pharmaprix. But it still doesn't take the cake for a certain organization, one which I will no longer comment on.

When Saturday is not Saturday...

On Saturday morning, March 24, 2007, at about 12:30 a.m., my friend and I (after having had coffee at Tim Horton's) went to a Pharmaprix (or Shopper's Drug Mart, for the rest of Canada), because they had some Saturday specials that were worth buying. However, when we got to the cash, we realized that the items did not scan through at the correct price. And for the toothpaste, there were four different prices... The flyer advertised it for $0.39, at three different prices at the store, the prices were $0.49, $0.79 and $1.09 respectively. How is the customer supposed to know what the correct price is? Is this store developing a sliding scale approach to pricing? (If your annual household income is between $0 - $25 000, then you pay $0.39, if your annual household income is between $25 001 - $50 000, then you pay $0.49, if your annual household income is between $50 001 - $75 000, then you pay $0.79 and if your annual household income is $75 001 and more, then you pay $1.09)

The cashier actually tried to give us a crap reason about how she cannot do a price change, because it's the office in Toronto that is in charge of changing the prices for the Saturday specials... And that we would have to wait until the price change for the items to go through at the special prices... She then went on to say that the clients here all know that the specials go on sale at 1:00 a.m. or 1:30 a.m., which made me feel like a criminal for attempting to buy something on special... She also called the manager (floor manager) in charge, but he didn't even bother showing up to answer our questions and attempt to give coherent answers. My friend and I were so upset and fed up, we just stormed out of the store without buying anything, and we left the cart at the store.

What type of stupid reasoning is this? I don't think I could think of something that's anymore stupid... Oh wait, I just found something... But if I write something about it, that would mean that I would go back on my word about a month and a half (to two months) ago about a certain organization, and how I would no longer comment on a certain issue.

At least blogger's date reasoning is correct... This comment is being posted on Saturday, and it is Saturday...

Premonition

On Tuesday, March 20, 2007, I went to see the movie Premonition, featuring Sandra Bullock.

This movie was about her character, Linda Hanson, has a housewife who wakes up one day and realizes that her husband has died from a car crash. However, she wakes up the next day, and he's still alive. So, she has a hard time dealing with this, and finally comes to terms that it's a premonition, so she's trying to do everything she can to stop it.

This movie lacked clarity. She randomly jumps between days of the week, and I would say about into 30 - 45 minutes into the movie, I was very confused. I saw this movie with my friend, Flavio, and he fell asleep half way through the movie. This film was the longest 1 hour and 50 minutes of my life. I wouldn't say that it was this amount of time I'll never get back, because the movie Dead Funny takes the cake for that, but the confusion within the film really annoyed me.

I think the fact that I didn't take the time to write up a review immediately says bundles about this movie... I mean, I do like Sandra Bullock, from time to time, but this movie was definitely a miss.

If you really want to see this movie and try to attempt to understand it... I recommend either going to see it at a second hand theatre for cheap (if you like the big screen effect), or wait for the DVD, as a rental would make this less painful.

Unless of course, you're a fan of post-20th century film making (where things don't make sense), then I think this film would be right up your alley... I think however, 8% on rotten tomatoes by general reviewers, and 14% by cream of the crop says it all.

Conservative Budget 2007

So, I am reading lots of articles on the new Conservative budget. This new budget is, as predicted by many political analysts, a budget that pleases everyone... Spending here, spending there, spending spending everywhere. However, there are a few areas where people in Canada (as far as I can see) won't be benefitting from this budget...

1) People in urban centres... The budget focuses on too many small things, that cities won't be getting more money to help run their cities more efficiently, and major cities who want/need money to improve their public transit systems will probably not get any;

2) Aboriginal people. I believe that this budget has completely ignored Aboriginal needs. But then again, the Conservatives have not been the best party for Aboriginals... Neither have the Liberals, but Liberals have at least been better.

What worries me about this budget is that there is spending spending and spending. Where's the cutting cutting and cutting going to come from? You do not invest in many many things, but not cut from somewhere... Is he going to cut from the army? But Mr. Harper promised to invest more in the army... But now he's promised money to help women who have been victims to violence.

Mr. Harper, either you're supremely naive, and think that the Canadian public will believe your budget, and how it's balanced, or you have a money tree in your back yard. My common sense tells me that you cannot invest in all these areas and have a balanced budget without having cut from some other areas that you are not telling us.

And besides, since when did the Conservatives give a crap about culture, and violence against women? This is just a desperate attempt to buy votes for the next election (and of course, most Canadians will fall for this), and then they'll be voted in for a majority government. Then, perhaps, the real face of this Conservative party will emerge, and we will all pay for it. * Sigh *

Wow... The French version of Kingston

Today, I spent about six hours in a town northeast of Montreal, in Terrebonne.

The reason for going there was actually quite silly, but there was a dude who was selling his Lucky Strike leather jacket for $200, and these usually go for about $500 - $800. The reason why he was selling it was because he sold his bike, and he said that he only worn this jacket twice... I'm not so sure about that.

Anyway, I went and explored a bit this town/village, and this place reminded me of Kingston, Ontario. Except, there was no university right in the centre of it, and everyone spoke French. I don't think many people there spoke English.

Speaking of the jacket, it's nice... It's mostly white, with some blue and red on it... I like it. lol

I didn't think it was possible to have a transit system that was worse than KT (Kingston Transit). I think I might have just found one today. Whoever planned the system needs to be shot, because the buses don't arrive at the terminus within five minutes of each other, so that people can get places effectively. I think I had to wait for 45 minutes for each bus today.

I guess I'm not out of the woods yet...

So, I was having a conversation with my romantic love interest today, and for the second time, he's mentioned that I seem to have a stronger attraction to him. He told me that he doesn't find me hot, but he likes my character and personality... Now, I'm worried about this... I'm worried that this will turn out to be a similar situation with previous attempts at relationships/dating, since I've always been on the rotten end of it... You know, the being dumped end... And with my luck, it'll be in another cafe.

I feel like either that the boy is not going to find me attractive, or he's going to tell me after a long period of time that it's not going to work.

When I first met this individual, I thought, after him relating stories of how guys just sort of let him go without giving a valid reason, that we had a lot in common. I also thought that he and I had the same amount of emotional maturity. I mean, I agree somewhat... There are certain circumstances where you can tell with one date right away that it's not going to work, but most other times, you need more than one...

So, I feel like I'm back at square one... I feel like even though this wouldn't be a waste, I'm going to end up where I was before, because that seems to be how my love life is... I see others around me, and I see what they have. Yes, true, there are sometimes trials and tribulations associated with that, but it would be nice to be on the other side of the single fence. Therefore, for those of you who are lucky enough to find someone, treasure them... Every day with them is a gift.

I also feel like I'm being settled for... That's not a feeling I would like to have. I'm not going to latch on for convenience... I'm not a rent-a-boyfriend, or a blow-up doll, thank you very much.

Sigh, maybe it's time to re-read Steven Bereznai...

Breach

On Tuesday, March 13, 2007, I wanted to go see the film Night at the Museum, but the AMC didn't play it after 5:20 p.m.. So, I changed my mind and I saw the movie Breach.

This movie is an adaption of the biggest spy in the history of the United States. It was a political thriller. And it was long. Though, Ryan Phillippe did act quite well in it.

This movie was good, but I just have very little interest in politics, especially American politics, to write up a decent review. It was nice though to see Laura Tinney in a role with a bit more meat.

What bugged me was the religious symbolism in it. Of course, the character probably in real life had a bit of that, so they had to do it, but it's scary to see some really powerful people in the FBI with very scary right-wing Christian views... And how they use derogatory terms, but that's to be expected, I guess.

And of course, the snoopy wife also bugged me too... I mean, it's great that she wants to help, but she also needs to understand that confidentiality means exactly just that, so even if the husband is dying to tell you, he is bound by that word to not say anything. Since anything he says can jeopardize the whole operation!

Oh my gosh... Clock it, clock it, clock it!

On Tuesday, March 13, 2007, at 11:39:49 a.m., my boss at the YMCA (the one that I don't particularly care for, the harbinger) sent me an e-mail, and it actually has a positive message of encouragement on it...

Since whenever I talk to him/her, it's always negative feedback, I have decided that these little words, though few, require to be framed, because I might never get positive words of encouragement ever again... And here they are:

J'ai croisé une de tes participantes hier et elle m'a dit qu'elle avait beaucoup aimé les changements apportés à ta routine. Tu es dans la bonne voie.

Translation:

I came across one of your participants and she told me that she really liked the changes that you made on your combos. You're on the right track.

I got the e-mail now... Wow... S/he actually said something positive... It's not a full moon, since that was a couple of days ago... Does this mean that I should go buy the Super 7 this Friday or something?

Pak-Kei prend le métro?

Today, while I was taking the metro, I finally saw my reading suggestion on the metro. It was very cool, and they took most of the keywords from my e-mail. It was bizarre however, to read my own name on the screens of the metro.

So, if you happen to be a Montrealer who takes the metro, look for my reading suggestion! You can buy the book - The Cafe Toscanini in Fremolia by Mika Oehling at chapters.indigo.ca.

Breaking and Entering

On Tuesday, March 6, 2007, I went to see the movie Breaking and Entering. This is a movie about Jude Law's character, Will who is an architect in King's Cross, a rough part of London, England. The movie starts off with a brief introduction of characters, and the actors and actresses that play them. Then, all of a sudden, we see a very lavish party, happening in some office. The next thing we know, there's a break-in, and all the expensive equipment is stolen, one of which was Will's laptop, which he later reveals in the movie that his life is on there.

So, Will and his firm partner architect report the robbery, and the insurance covers their new equipment. And the same dudes rob the same office again. However, this time, Will's partner needed something from the office late at night, so he foils their plans by showing up, and actually ended up crashing into the burglars' cars.

And thus, this started the nightly stakeouts at the office. To see if they can find out how the robbery takes place, who does them, etc. Intertwined into this storyline is also the family situation of Will, who has a teenager daughter with some issues. She doesn't sleep, she throws temper tantrums, and is also a gymnast. There was also a scandal between Will and the mother of the boy who was part of the burglar gang, since Will ends up having an affair with the mother.

The movie wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible. What I found unrealistic was that the burglars had the nerve to replace to the same place to rob computer equipment again. And on top of that, use the same method of entry as last time! The nerve of these robbers! They should be painfully shot and be made examples of.

The Cafe Toscanini in Fremolia: A review

So, I've finally finished reading the book by Mika Oehling: The Cafe Toscanini in Fremolia. Ms. Oehling graduated from Queen's University, and then went on to do a Master's degree in Contemporary history at the Université de Savoie in France.

The story takes place in the town of Fremolia, up high the mountains, where one finds artists and philosophers. There are painters, sculptors, writers, philosophers, dancers etc. in this town, and like in any other town, there are scandals of all sorts.

However, the biggest scandal of them all was the war that was approaching this innocent town, and the citizens who were not prepared for the harsh realities of the war, one that involved initially 13 countries, then 14, and then 12. This war would forever change the lives of the small-town citizens of Fremolia. This story narrates in detail the harsh realities of war, and gives the reader a reminder of what war was like, and that we should not take our liberty for granted.

Ms. Oehling's writing is very intricate, and there is a lot of storytelling that has occurred in the first 40 pages or so. And in this first 40 pages, she has laid enough ground work into unravelling the story, it is completely and utterly unbelievable. As well, we never find out the name of the protagonist in this story, the narrator, whom we only knows as tender. Mika really weaves two literature styles into one: The post-modern (nouveau romancier) with some of the earlier authors.

This book is a very good example of Ms. Oehling applying the knowledge that she learned from her knowledge of history. This is not a light read, but it is a good read. The storytelling is clear, crisp and you never know what to expect with the turn of every page.

In my opinion, Ms. Oehling has a bright future ahead of her in her writing career.

Unity (Club) in Montreal

On Saturday, March 3, 2007, I was invited to go to Unity, which is a club in the gay village of Montreal.

I have never been to Unity, and I thought that since I've been to Montreal, I haven't been to Unity (the old one - Unity II), and the new one Unity. I thought that maybe I should at least go once to see how it is...

I can understand why it burned down the last time... I would not be surprised if it were some sort of insurance fraud... The service there is terrible... I got to the coat check, and I tried to walk in, but they security guards didn't allow me. They said that I had to leave my coat at the coat check. At that point, I was only wanting to go into the club to see if my friends arrived yet, but the big shot security guard made me check my coat... I asked him, "OK, what if my friends aren't here, and I want to leave, are you going to refund my $1.50?"

Needless to say, I checked my coat, because I knew that my friends were going to show up, but I was not a happy camper. Basically, the security guard screwed the coat check people out of a tip. It paid with a $2 coin, and I took my change of $0.50 (the cost was $1.50) gladly.

And then when I went to get my coat this evening... I found out that if you forget something, or you want to add something to your coat check, it's an additional cost of $1! What type of crappy customer service, money grabbing club is this?

This club hires many security guards, to make sure that things are in check... Well, maybe they need to fire some of these guards, and use the money they save to teach their staff about customer service and/or satisfaction. Or, the owner actually might benefit from some courses in customer service. I believe this will be my first and last time going to Unity.

As Elizabeth Bennett (in the movie Pride & Prejudice, played by Keira Knightley) put it nicely (when asked whether or not she played duets on the pianoforte): "Only when forced."

For me, I'll be going to Unity, "only when forced", and it would have to be some very, very, very, very strong forcing.

I wonder how long it's going to be before this Unity has another fire accident and burns down again? So they can claim insurance?

Week from Twilight Zone...

This past week, I feel like I've been in the twilight zone... Things I didn't think would happen to me actually happened, that made no sense at all... I feel like I was going crazy.

It all started off Tuesday, when I replaced someone from 12:00 p.m. (noon) to 1:00 p.m. for a step class... During the warm up, I was trying to teach the V-step forward and V-step back. I had never expected that it would be possible for someone to fall while doing that. However, it was possible, and was demonstrated live in my class... Granted of course, the lady was okay, and she was able to finish the class, but I nearly shit my pants, because I have never actually had a full fledge fall in any of my classes.

And then on Thursday, I get an e-mail from a prof whom I mark for, his class of MATH 205 (Calculus II). He asked me why I didn't pick up the assignments he left on February 15, 2007 (the Thursday before reading week). Now, I clearly recall picking up these assignments, and marking them on the train back to Toronto, because I was having difficulty marking these calculus assignments on that little tray by my seat... And I clearly remember returning these assignments back to the assignment cabinet on February 27, 2007 (Tuesday).

So, I went back to check on the assignments yesterday, Friday, and I discovered that they weren't in the folder... I got an e-mail from the prof this morning, asking if I put them in the right folder, which I recall doing, but I could be wrong... So now, I find out that he doesn't have the assignments, and I have no idea where they are...

And today, I left my apartment really early to shoot to get to my aerobics class by 9:45 a.m., so that I can chat and get to know the people better. Between Villa-Maria and Vendôme station, a man fell in my car of the metro, so the emergency break was activated. There was a pretty cute nurse (in his baby blue scrubs and a nice brown leather jacket) who was assisting the man who fell. The driver came, and an ambulance was called. However, we didn't even wait for the ambulance to show up... The driver just called the ambulance, asked the man be assisted out of the metro to this bench at Vendôme, and then he went back to the front, and started the metro again... We didn't even hear the chimes and the lady telling us something was wrong... I just hope that the man got his proper care... I got to my class at about 9:55 a.m., and I started right on the dot at 10:00 a.m.. The week that I leave early because I want to get there early, I still end up barely on time... * Sigh *