Across The Universe

On Tuesday, October 30, 2007, I went to see the movie Across the Universe. This movie is about a pair of teenagers, one from Liverpool, whose name is Jude, and a girl, whose name is Lucy. And they fall in love. They however fall in love in during the time when the United States were active in fighting the Vietnam War.

Lucy's brother, Max gets drafted into the US Army, and actually does go off to fight in the war... Lucy, joins a campus group to fight for the end of the war, and as the movie goes along, the campus group for democracy becomes more and more radical, and at one point of the movie, end up creating home made explosives!

This movie was a musical, with lots of singing. It is also considered a romantic comedy, but I believe that is more a romantic musical. Very few places that are very very funny. It was a good movie overall... In my opinion, even though it didn't win any prizes, it was much better than the movie I saw last week - Lust, Caution.

This film may not get nominated for an Oscar, but it is definitely a great film that is not to be missed. There are also lots of Beatles songs as well, so if you are a fan of them, this is a definitely must-see film.

Lust, Caution

On Tuesday, October 23, 2007, I went to see the movie Lust, Caution, directed by award-winning director - Ang Lee, for Brokeback Mountain.

Don't get me wrong, I loved Brokeback Mountain, I saw it many, many times, and I cried every time. I went into this movie thinking that I would get as good of a movie as Brokeback Mountain, if not better... However, I was disappointed.

Granted of course, it featured a lot of Chinese talent, as well as other actors and actresses who are from Asia. The story takes place in occupied Shanghai, where the main character, Mai Tai Tai is playing out her part to try and assassinate a key political figure in the Chinese government, who is playing guard dog for the Japanese army.

A story of lust erupts between our main character and the perceived bad guy. With flashbacks on how she (the main character) came to be in her position today.

The ending to the film, I didn't get it. Either that, or I am not mature enough to understand it, and it made me feel that my whole time in the theatre was wasted.

I think the film should have been entitled: Watch? Caution.

A little bit of manners goes a long way

I was browsing through a website online where I have a profile up, and I noticed that someone popped by my profile. So, as a courtesy, I decided to write a message back and thank this individual for popping by my profile and complimenting him on his nice pictures. I didn't expect anything, I didn't want him to do me, or to do him, etc.. And I got a message back saying "yak", and that I had been blocked.

You know, a little bit of courtesy online goes a long way. I send a message perhaps because I just want to meet other people with similar interests from around the world. It doesn't mean that I want to do everyone whom I send a message to. Sheesh. Get with the program and open your mind to meet other people around the world.

Addendum to last two posts

And since when did we start to consider The Throne Speech and a Crime Bill as confidence motions?

I agree with a comment that a friend made.

If Mr. Harper wants an election, then he should have the balls to call one.

The Conservatives are bullies

How fitting is it for the Conservatives to continue to bully the opposition parties by pushing or attempting to push terrible legislation through the House of Commons?

First, we have a terrible throne speech. We have completely abandoned Kyoto, because according to the Conservatives, it is not realistic to reduce our emissions to the levels that we are supposed to. Well, if you Conservatives didn't actually delay the legislation before hand from passing, we wouldn't be in this mess now, would we?

The Liberals have decided to add an amendment to the throne speech, because they know that Canadians don't want another election. There are other reasons too, like dissident Liberals within the party, who are questioning Stephane Dion's leadership. In my opinion, dissident politicians who do not like a leader should all be shot painfully, or just suck it up and work with the leader to strengthen the party as a whole. But no, we have decided to bitch and whine at each other.

The Conservatives have already said that they are rejecting any amendments to the throne speech, and that it is going to be seen as a confidence issue.

Now, the Conservatives are attempting to ram through legislation to get tough on crime. Click here to read an article regarding this.

And now, the Conservatives have put together a big list of things that didn't get passed in the last session of parliament, and attempting to ram all these things through. And they have said that they will not accept any amendments neither, and that this bill is also a confidence issue. And if the oppositions don't support it, then the government will fall.

It appears that the Conservative Party of Canada wants to provoke the oppositions parties to have an election, because they believe they can win a majority this time. Clearly, the Conservatives are not respecting the number one wish of the people of Canada - that we don't want another election in 20 months. And we will abuse the fact that the Liberal Party, the official opposition, who want to respect these wishes, by declaring anything that they want passed as a confidence vote.

In my opinion, we no longer have a government, but a fascist dictator who tries to give off the illusion that we have a government. The fact that this party has pulled this trick twice, gives me the impression that we will use this to ram through any legislature that the Conservatives want, and we will declare everything as a confidence motion. I just hope that the Senate and/or the Governor General sends legislature back to the House of Commons. Heck, they could re-introduce legislature to redefine marriage back to one man and one woman, and then declare it as a confidence motion. How they can justify that, I don't know, but this is clearly something that could happen.

I no longer have confidence in this government, but because the Liberals are still bickering at each other (all the non-supporters should be shot painfully, between the eyes), we will not have an election. I don't want one, but I no longer have confidence in Mr. Harper and his Conservatives.

Throne Speech, October 2007

Today, our Governor General delivered Harper's throne speech. It's unacceptable. I actually didn't get a chance to actually hear the speech, but upon reading an article, I got the summary of it, and there are many things I do not like. Below are the three major ones:

1) Abandoning Kyoto - Ever since Harper took power, he has dilly-dallied about the issue of the environment and creating these excuses how the targets for Kyoto are not realistic. They were realistic when we signed the treaty, and because of Harper's dilly-dallying, as well as his attempts at slowing the process, it is now semi-non realistic. And a few days ago, he had 40% popular vote. Why are Canadians so stupid? You can't have an economy if you have no Earth!

2) The ambiguity on the date of the Afghanistan issue - Even though the Liberals were responsible (supposedly) for sending our troops there, Harper is the one who is keeping them there. We are cleaning up for Bush, because he started the mess, and he expects us to help him finish it. And then we have Harper, who was stupid enough to actually send troops there! He wants to extend our mission to 2011! That's an extra two years!

3) The anti-crime legislation - Don't get me wrong, I believe that crime needs to be dealt with. However, I do not like the age of consent bit... What does age of consent have to with crime? Why the hell do we even talk about this?

However, Stephane Dion is not exactly in the best situation. There is a lot of dissent in his party, and if he votes against the throne speech, then he has to run an election, and he will probably run the Liberals into the ground... But, if he doesn't vote against the throne speech, then he has pretty much sided with the evil government so that he saves his own skin.

Either way, Dion is not in a good situation. I think all the dissident Liberals who don't like him should be all shot. In this time of needing to topple the Conservatives, we are taking our jolly time to bitch within the party.

What scares me the most is that the Conservatives could come back as a majority government... And if that happens, we can see our dollar plummet.

The Jane Austen Book Club

On Tuesday, October 16, 2007, I went to see the movie The Jane Austen Book Club. This is a movie about six people who started a book club discussing Jane Austen's works. However, as the story progresses, they realize or rather, we the watchers of the film, realize that their lives are resembling those that are being portrayed in the novels written by Austen.

The movie stars Emily Blunt, who played Emily in the movie The Devil Wears Prada. However, she plays a really different character in this movie. She's a high school French teacher who is in a relationship where she's not happy. Her husband cares more about his career, basketball and video games than her. He canceled a trip to Paris to take a boss' client(s) to a basketball game. She is also tempted by a student of hers, Kevin Zegers, who played Toby in the film TranAamerica.

All the individuals in this movie catch on the characteristics of the relationships in all the Austen books. I haven't read all of them, but I am not interested in reading the ones that I haven't read.

The movie is filled with clever humour, and the ending is a bit cheesy, very Austen-like in the sense of her books relating to the movie. Everyone ends up being in love, and that's kind of cheesy, but also kind of sweet. How come it doesn't happen to me? * Sigh *

Longest palindrome I know

The longest palindrome that I know was from a professor with whom I took a history class. It is the following: Dog sex at noon taxes God. (20 letters)

I learned one today that is even longer: Golf? No sir, prefer prison flog! (25 letters)

Granted of course, you could categorize it as the following: The first one is the longest one I know with only one period at the end of the sentence (i.e. a phrase, or a simple sentence), while the second one takes into consideration multiple punctuations (i.e. a more elegant sentence).

Either way, it's cool.

Cat-sitting, Last Day

Sunday, October 14, 2007 was the last day of me cat-sitting for my friends... I think the hissy cat only hissed at me once. But she could have hissed at me once while my friends were there.

Hopefully, the next time I go and cat-sit, the hissy cat will be a little bit more friendly. But then again, she could have also forgotten my scent. And then we'll start the whole process again!

Cat-sitting, Day 5

I forgot to give an update for my cat-sitting adventures yesterday: Saturday, October 13, 2007.

Nothing really much to update today... Cats are eating regularly. The problematic/moody cat only hissed at me once or twice today, and attacked me only once with her declawed front paws. She actually even played a little while when I was playing with the other cat.

So, the moody cat is slowly warming up to me... She still freaks out however, when I attempt to pick her up to brush her, so that's still out of the question.

I understand that because she was a stray, and she was probably abandoned beforehand that takes her longer to trust strangers, but at the rate we're going, it's ridiculous... But animals are animals, and just like different children or people, we all have different rates at which we adapt. I find that ignoring her works.

Cat-sitting, Day 5

On Friday, October 12, 2007, it was the fifth day of my cat-sitting adventure.

The hissy cat seems to be getting more accustomed to me... She actually had both her meals, and both her feedings. However, she still goes crazy when I approach her, and she hisses at me... I'm not afraid of her, I'm just going to ignore her.

Still thinking that I'll have to clean this huge furball tomorrow or Sunday.

Cat-sitting, Day 4

Thursday, October 11, 2007 was my fourth day of cat-sitting.

Nothing really special today... The other cat still hisses at me, but I just ignore her now, and she seems to like that, so it works for me. I don't have to go and pick her up, etc... She'll just have to hack out a furball at the end of the week, and I hope I don't have to clean it up. I doubt it though, after all, it's probably Murphy's law.

The other cat, the Siamese cat, is her usual self... She jumped into the recycling box today and sat in there for a while... I don't know why, I think she was interested in the chocolate soy milk, even though chocolate is really bad for dogs and cats. I rinsed the box very clean, and I just double-rinsed it now to be sure. It should be okay.

I'm getting better at the eye-cleaning and the brushing of the one cat... The other, well, I can't brush her... She just sits in the chair, or somewhere, and if I approach, she growls at me... I was talking about the subject of difficult cats today in my French conversation group, and someone told me that cats apparently view themselves as the owners of the house, so if a stranger tries to approach them (i.e. me, to try and take care of them), then they find it too aggressive, and they hiss. But, if I just ignore them, apparently, it's fine, and they will eventually come around, and they will eventually learn to cope with me, and even maybe let me brush them. Though, this takes about a week, and by the end of the week, I'm going to be home-home.

Cat-sitting, Day 3

Today is day three in my career as a cat-sitter. Things are about the same... The other cat still hisses at me. This morning, it was sitting on the brushing bed, and when I approached, it hissed at me... And then it hid underneath the bed for a good long while.

At least it ate tonight. The other cat is friendly, although it was doing bad stuff to get my attention (i.e. on the stove). I played with it twice today, but she stops in the middle of play, and I assume she's done.

I have to feed them their second serving of the food... I haven't gotten dinner myself, actually. This is quite hectic!

We'll see if I can brush the other cat tonight, she seems to be hissing less at me. Who knows.

Cat-sitting, Day 2

So, today is day two in my cat-sitting for my friend... They have been on a relatively weird eating schedule... For example, last night, when I fed them, or tried to feed them, they rarely touched their food... This morning, when I was to feed them for their first morning meal, they didn't touch their food... I just fed them first evening meal, and they ate it... I'll feed them the second meal soon. I also need to wash the eyes of one of the two cats, and feed them a second time. As well, I also need to clean the litter boxes.

I thought that the cat that is hissing at me is better. She was very quiet when she ate the food. But no, she's back to hissing at me again. She's now got strength, since she ate the food.

Other than that, no real updates with regards to the cats. I had my class tonight, looks like I won't be able to watch a movie (at least at the cinema), since I'm cat-sitting.

Cat-sitting, Day 1

So, I thought I would sort of let you all in on my daily thoughts about cat-sitting, and let you in on the progress of how the kitties are...

I am cat-sitting for a friend. He has two cats, one Siamese, and one regular cat (I don't recall what type of cat she is). The Siamese is friendly, but this other one, well, she's not friendly at all... She's been hissing at me since I got in... She was okay when I got in, but then she decided that she didn't like me when I tried to feed her the food. In fact, she only ate half her portion at the second feeding in the morning. The other cat wolfed up her portion, and left her own... We'll see if the difficult cat will eat up the other cat's portion.

This "regular" cat has been hissing at me whenever she got a chance, and I'm just saying, "No, no no." whenever she does it. We're off to a great start.

L'Art prend le métro

On Thursday, October 4, 2007, or technically speaking, Friday, October 5, 2007, I took the metro home from my friend's place, after some more lessons about cats, and I was lucky enough to take the metro cart (there's only one in the entire system) that an artist modified the inside of as a piece of art... I saw that and I literally ran to the cart to get on... It's very nice, the art. There are no screens that show you what station is coming up next, and what buses, etc., but there is still the lady that announces the station.

I don't know whether the little sounds of the opera and other excerpts of other art pieces are done on purpose, or if there was someone in the metro who was just being smart and playing with an Ipod with speakers or a cell phone with speakers. In either case, when I heard the opera being sung, for about five seconds, I was looking around to see who was doing it.

I'm glad I had the opportunity to ride the metro. I believe now that people will try to graffiti and tag it. * Sigh *

Odette Toulemonde

On Tuesday, October 2, 2007, I went to see the movie Odette Toulemonde. This is the film with Catherine Frot, Albert Dupontel and by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt.

The film is about Odette Toulemonde, played by Frot, who is a cosmetics salesperson in a department store. Her all-time favourite author is Balthazar Balsan, played by Albert Dupontel. The story starts off with Odette taking a half day off of work, so she can take the bus to Brussels to meet her favourite author, since she will be attending a book signing.

However, when she gets there, she was too nervous, and so she couldn't say her name. Balthazar thought that her name was Dette, so he made the book out to her, that was kind of funny.

The film is really about Odette Toulemonde, and the life of Balthazar Balsan. We also see how each of their lives are intertwined with each other... Odette has gay son, who goes through boyfriends like kleenex. Perhaps not as bad as my friend Raoul, but who knows... Odette is always happy, always energetic, and she is the nicest person in the world. Of course, the people whom she work with, they are not as nice and sympathetic. Unfortunately, no one really takes note of her, and what she does. That's kind of sad, and she is almost constantly overlooked.

I feel like I am like Odette Toulemonde, I'm nice, I help people, but no one really takes notice of me. I feel like I'm constantly overlooked. And I feel that I'm going to be like Odette, widowed, have a family and need to do so many things. * Sigh *

But all in all, it's a fun movie... Although, there were parts of it that I was confused about... For example, why does Odette float when she is ecstatic about something? Is that kind of a cheesy representation of the metaphor of being on Cloud number nine? Oh well, something to think about.

This is a French film... Probably best to get it with subtitles, unless you speak French.

2 year anniversary

I didn't remember to actually put a two year anniversary on my blog... But apparently, it was September 17, 2007... So, that was the day where my blog hit the second anniversary.

Thanks everyone for reading my comments, and mostly about my bitching and ranting about men.

Wow... Ooh-aah... Quite the high tech lab...

I discovered that the Graduate student lab in the math department here at Concordia University has a French dictionary built into the software of Office, and thus, can edit documents in French. This made my life so much more easier.

Also, when I went to print my document, the printer could double-side, and it was the first time I ever saw a laser printer do that by itself, so it was fun. When I first saw my page exit, I was thinking, "OK, I can pick it up." But then the printer took the page back in, so I was wondering what the hell was going on.. Now I know!

Maybe I will get a printer like that someday. Haha.

Now, off to read some assignments... Some people are way too offering with their time diaries...

Saloon

On Monday, October 1, 2007, I went to this restaurant called Saloon. This restaurant is one of many in Montreal's gay village.

Now, I am not a fan of dining in the village. A friend of mine told me that the restaurants in the village are overpriced, offer mediocre food, and have bad service. The only two exceptions for me are Resto du village (which is a diner, and not a restaurant), and Tim Horton's (which is a franchise). However, Raoul wanted to try Saloon. And so we go.

First, we got there, and we waited an hour before someone came and took our order. We got two coffees and a sprite, and that was the last thing that was served to us. I asked for more milk for my coffee, and I had to ask twice for it. Finally, Rupert waved a waiter to come and take our order.

After we ordered, we had to wait even more time for our food... Both Raoul and I had burgers (different types of burgers). On the menu, it said that the burger platter comes with fries or salad. Then there were all these prices for extras... For example, extra rodeo was $2.50, extra three pepper sauce was $1.00, extra fries and salad was $1.75. When we read the description in the menu, the Rodeo was a poutine with three pepper sauce, which sounded good. And the regular Rodeo was $5.95. When we got our bill, both Raoul and I were charged $1.75 + $2.50. It was not marked anywhere in the menu that the Rodeo was just the cheese curds and the sauce. For $4.25 each, we both got a really small portion of the Rodeo fries... For an extra $1.70, I would have paid that for a large plate that maybe two people could have shared.

When time came to pay the bill, we did not leave a tip... And the waiter asked if there was something about the service that bugged us? Well, you tell me?

It seems to me that restaurant owners think that because they are in the village, and that they are catering to queers, that it gives them the right to offer bad service, mediocre food and to overcharge. What even bugs me more is that so many gays will fall for that! Why go to a place that overcharges? Why such a need to belong?

All I can say is that I will never return to Saloon. And I will be telling all my gay friends not to eat there as well. For about $60, Saloon lost more than three customers, that's all I will say. I even dare say that for once, I received worse service at this restaurant, than I would at any Chinese restaurant, and Chinese restaurants are not known for service!

I've also had a pretty rough afternoon/evening. I teach my fitness class, again, two people. Raoul says that we should do dinner, which I thought would be a highlight in my evening, and he ends up being thirty minutes late, because Rupert needed to go and exchange some milk at the grocery store. Then, I thought my friend Flavio was going to call me (via Raoul) to go for coffee after dinner. When I got home, I discovered that he was already there having coffee, and that he didn't call me. I thought that after the bad dinner, maybe coffee with my friends Flavio and Roger would cheer me up. I was again disappointed. This evening has just been one big disappointment after another.

Word of advice - Don't dine at Saloon. You would get more enjoyment wiping your ass with your money than dining at Saloon.

Wow, what a milestone...

On October 4, 2007, Raoul and Rupert (the same ones I've talked about before, names have been changed) are celebrating their six month anniversary...

What's to celebrate? The drama? The lies? The cheating? The intention to cheat? The issues? The high-maintenance of one of the two people?

This six month anniversary shows everything that it should not be... I just hope that when I have my own relationship, mine is not like this. I believe I would see all the tell tale signs, and I would be out of something like this in about three weeks.