the art of e

Hate being sick

2007-04-09T10:38:00.000-04:00

Well, I went home for the weekend to hang out with the Family. The kids were both sick and I think I picked up a cold from them. But, I figure I will be able to go home early tonight and relax. I really think that I did this to myself though. I spent like 4 days in a row of only a few hours of sleep, and then topped it off with a night of drinking on Friday. But, like I said to my friend Angela, I think the drinking hurt with the cold but helped with my sanity.

So, tonight will be skipping wrestling. Although, I do want to go to the gym today for a light workout. I feel like I need to move around a bit. Too bad there wasn't a park or something near here where I could go for a walk. But, Mississauga is a wasteland, so you can't expect it to have anything that would be good for you. That has been a huge factor in my decision to go to New Zealand. That's right, I've got my offer and I'll be going in June. I just can't work in this city anymore. I need to get out of here. Honestly, when I come back from New Zealand, I may try to go back to NEBS up in Midland. That was a great little town. Or, maybe I'll email up Greg Douglas in Barrie to see if they're doing anything interesting that they need help with. Then I could commute from Midland to Barrie.

At the wrestling competition I was at last weekend, (I weighed in at 167.6lbs) there were a few guys from Barrie Jiu Jitsu, and they did really well. I had no idea there was a grappling gym up there at all.

Orlando Pt 2

2007-03-21T17:05:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm officially back from Orlando, and officially sunburned. We got some pretty decent weather while I was down there. Over 21 degrees and sunny for most days. Although, the nights were pretty chilly.

But, the real meat of the story was the competition.

http://www.americheer.com/page6698.cfm

The girls were competing in the Large Senior Girls division. The first day was pretty rough. They went out and everyone tried really hard, but not at the same time. Everything looked out of sync, and not everything stuck. But, we managed to place third, just due to the difficulty of the routine. Then on Day 2, things looked grim. There was some fighting going on among the girls, an injury, and nerves. Then when we ran our practice run, it was offtime, stunts fell, and people didn't tumble. It was awful. Then the girls got on the floor, and blew everyone away. The routine was virtually flawless and they executed it with style and power. This actually pulled us ahead of the next team on the Ladder and left us with the second place overall finish for our division. Not only that, but second place has won us a bid to the NLCC World Championships in May.

Congratulations girls, you did a fantastic job. And a special congratulations to Trista for hitting everything, even with a sprained hand.

Orlando pt.1

2007-03-14T10:54:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm sitting in the Buffalo Airport waiting for my flight. Here's the competition that my team is competing in this weekend. Wish us luck!

http://www.americheer.com/page6698.cfm

Heading to Orlando and other news...

2007-03-07T10:10:00.000-05:00

So, last week I had an interview for a job in New Zealand. It seemed to go "OK", but not great. I know it wasn't great, because they haven't called me back yet. So, this leaves me thinking that I'll have to start applying to jobs soon. They still love me here, but I'm not sure if I can handle Mississauga. This city really is a wasteland, although Kombat Arts is still the most amazing martial arts gym I've ever been to. They're having Matt Lindland in to do a seminar this weekend. He's the #1 185lb fighter in the world if you're wondering. And he's following on the tail of BJ Penn, Renata Sobral, Frank Trigg, and Georges St. Pierre, all of who did seminars there in the past year. Plus the head BJJ coach, Mark Bocek, is one of the 10 best grapplers in North America.
Also, I'm heading to Orlando next week with my Cheerleading team. I think the girls will do really well in the competition, they've been training very hard and I know my exercises have been increasing their power output for the past 5 months. Still, one of the girls, Amy, was able to base some partner stunts last weekend that I was unable to perform. So, I'm hoping Orlando will give me a chance to improve my technique. We're staying very close to Disney in a cool looking house with a pool. Oh, and I'll need to get some green food colouring for my beer, as St. Patricks day is that Saturday.
On a final note, I'm going to look at an apartment tonight. I think I'll be staying in the GTA for the next little while, so I might as well have my own place. Plus, if I set up an office, I can write off part of my rent. Huzzah!

Prank Backfire

2007-02-12T23:02:00.000-05:00

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1733379

I don't know what I can add that would make this any more awesome.

I found a Wal Mart!

2007-02-12T13:53:00.000-05:00

It's not that far from my aunts house at all!

Islington and Rexdale

Holy Mother F&%ing S&t

2007-02-09T11:20:00.000-05:00

Wow. What a day. First, the Sens beat Montreal 4-1 to pull ahead of them in the standings. Then, I find out today that Led Zeppelin is touring again!!!!!

That's right, with Jason Bonham on Drums, it could be insane!
I'll keep you posted on details.

Awesome Guitar

2007-01-27T23:38:00.000-05:00

Well, I didn't really do much today. I sat around and ate a couple of sandwiches, watched Talladega Nights, and surfed the web. It's weird... I used to enjoy days like today. But, I just wanted to be out doing stuff. Oh well, at least my knee should be good for stunting tomorrow.
Anyways, I found this great guitar piece on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjA5faZF1A8&mode=related&search=
Sorry, I don't have a youtube account so I don't have the video right in my blog. But, here is also a collection of the 10 best Will Ferrell sketches ever. They don't all work, but there are some golden moments here. Notably Will Ferrell raping Ben Stiller.
http://www.cracked.com/index.php?name=News&sid=795

A New Post!! No, Really!!

2007-01-18T23:20:00.000-05:00

Wow... so, it's been a while since my last post. Like, 2 months + 3 days. A little bit has changed since then. First of all, I don't live in Midland anymore. I know this may come as a shock to some of you who thought I was going to be a lifer, but I found a new job in Mississauga that pays nearly twice as much. Yes, I'm back on contract. And yes, I have to live in the wasteland of humanity known as Mississauga. But, I'm finally able to do martial arts (http://www.kombatarts.com/) and I'm actually busy most of the time now. I'm a Junior Performance Engineer, although I've heard my boss describe me as a junior project manager to other people. Anyways, I interviewed for the former job, but I think I got the latter.
I'm still coaching cheerleading on Thursdays and Sundays. Honestly, that's one of the highlights of my week. It's really nice to help out with young people. Especially when they come up and tell you how much they think you've helped them improve. Like tonight, one of the girls, Nikki came up and told me she aced some pushup test by doing 21 consecutive and 35 total pushups. 4 months ago she could only do 2. Stuff like that brings a tear to my eye.
So anyways, right now I'm staying with my Grand-Aunt in Rexdale and commuting to TO. Although, I've talked to a guy about renting his spare bedroom in a new condo that's going up near Square One. It'll be nice to be able to bike to work in the summer if I'm still here. There is still a possibility that I'll go to New Zealand to work for a bit. But, I won't find out more about that for around a month.
Also, I've decided TVs new hottest show is "How I met your mother". I'm not sure when it's on TV, because it's always on mininova. But, the one liners are truly, say it with me, Legen.... wait for it... dary. Awesome, blogfive.

Well, that's all that I have for now.
Good Luck, and Godspeed.
Etrain

I know you have already read this but...

2006-11-16T09:34:00.000-05:00

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/292378_timeguy15.html

Which car are you?

2006-11-13T11:21:00.000-05:00

I'm a Lamborghini Murcielago!

You're not subtle, but you don't want to be. Fast, loud, and dramatic, you want people to notice you, and then get out of the way. In a world full of sheep, you're a raging bull.

Take the http://www.tomorrowland.us/sportscar">Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Just when you thought the republicans couldn't get any creepier...

2006-11-06T17:44:00.000-05:00

http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/06/2011251&from=rss

First trip to the Casino

2006-11-02T09:17:00.000-05:00

Jason called me last week to ask if it was alright if he came up to visit me in Midland for a few days. So, after I went to Trick'or'Treat with my cousins in Barrie, I went and picked up Jason at the Bus Station. From there we journeyed North on Highway 400 and 11 then cut through Orillia to CasinoRama.
Now, I was there very briefly in the past. Once on the way from Home to Midland I went over to get a look at it. It's big and inside it's really nice. They don't allow smoking so it's really clean and classy.
Now, when Jason and I went, I had the idea that I'd play poker. But, I had to sign up to the waiting list to play in the $1-$2 no limit table. While waiting, Jason and I went and played Roulette. Now, we didn't' have any system, but we did make fairly conservative bets. We usually only threw money on black/red or odd/even. Fairly quickly we were up about $80 each. Then my luck started to change and I busted back down to being up only $10. But, then my luck swung back around again and I was up around $100. Jason was up around $250, and we were the only people at the table. Then they closed the table on us!! They said we weren't making enough bets to justify keeping it open. Bastards.
So, we went over to another table, but then they called me over to play poker. I played two hands of poker. The first two I was dealt. right away I got A-J Diamonds and caught both and Ace and a Jack on the flop. That netted me about $60. The next hand I caught pocket rockets (A-A) and an Ace landed on the board with a 3 and a 9 as the other cards, nothing suited. Some guy pushed me all in and I threw down my Aces. I thought he was going to have a seizure. He had A-K, so he had good reason to be confident, but it didn't stand up against my 3 of a kind.
I wound up walking away from the Poker tables with 317 in chips (up $297 ). I met Jason back at the Roulette tables. He had gone down a bit but was still up over a hundred. I made one $10 bet on roulette and lost and then headed over and cashed out. It was really nice being asked "Would you like that in large bills sir?".
Jason cashed out a few minutes later, he was up $150. So, between the two of us we took $437 out of the Casino, plus 4 cups of coffee and a bottle of water. Needless to say, we had an excellent time. Which is exactly what the Casino wants to happen to you. Now we'll be tempted to go back and bet bigger, then we'll lose it all.

Saturday Night

2006-10-15T01:42:00.000-04:00

So, in a dissapointing turn of events I didn't get so drunk that I could hardly stand last night. That's because I had to drive, so I only had a Coors Light and a Jack on the Rocks. But, interestingly, my bartending instructor was one of the bartenders at the bar and kept giving me free drinks. To be fair, it was one shot of Jack and one bottle of water. But still, it's interesting how I've only been here a year, and I already have bartenders who know me by name.
Anyways, tonight I went over to my friend Rory's house to watch UFC 64. Unfortunately, one of my favorite fighters, Rich Franklin, lost his belt to a very deserving Anderson Silva after a quick 1st round knockout that left Rich with a very nasty broken nose. I wish both fighters all the best, what a fight.
Well, I should go to bed. I've got a cheerleading team to coach in the morning. Good night all!

A new technology on the energy front

2006-09-26T12:55:00.000-04:00

Well, this sounds too good to be true, so I'm going to hold my excitement until I see some examples, but this technology could actually be able to replace the internal combustion engines in personal transport. These dudes in the US have designed a new type of battery that they claim could charge in 5 minutes for $9 (US) and would then power a car over a 500 mile journey. They also claim that this technology would deliver that power in a way that would " a 4 person sedan drive like a Ferrari", which isn't much depending on the Ferrari.
This technology would basically make hybrids, hydrogen fuel cells, and quasi-turbine engines obsolete all in one swift stroke. Still, it's not impossible, see for yourself:
CNN Money Article

Torrent Site Rankings

2006-09-25T10:26:00.000-04:00

This is a brilliant listing of the quality of various Bittorrent sites. Out of them I've only used Mininova. Please try them and let me know if you agree with the rankings!

http://comparebt.blogspot.com/

Top Gear update

2006-09-22T09:36:00.000-04:00

Well as many of my faithful readers already know. Richard Hammond has been seriously injured in a jet-car crash while filming for the show. He was trying to set the land speed record for the UK in a jet powered dragster. On what was supposed to be the last run of the day he lost control of the car and crashed. He was conscious when people got to the car and is now in stable condition in Hospital. Hopefully we can have him on the programme next month when it comes back on telivision.
Right now Hammond is actually the number 1 news story in Britain (it's the top headline on the BBC website)
For more info.
Original Post
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5367516.stm
http://www.finalgear.com/

You know you're a geek when...

2006-09-20T21:56:00.000-04:00

... the other geeks on Slashdot are making fun of you for not having a life.
http://slashdot.org/articles/06/09/20/1552236.shtml

C'mon, study

2006-09-11T09:16:00.000-04:00

Well, the weekend was a complete write-off as far as CFA studying is concerned. This weekend is going to have to be better. I'm starting to get that panicked feeling in my gullet, which is not conducive to effective studying.
So, I read funny things to calm me down. Like this list of the most dangerous things to Americans. Apparently most Americans need to be more concerned with their local police force than with Al Qaida.

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,71743-0.html?tw=rss.index

Ahhh... Waterloo

2006-09-07T23:51:00.000-04:00

Well, since I'm going back to Waterloo for 2 or maybe 3 weekends this month. Plus with the realization that this is the 2nd frosh week that I have not been around for since I started Waterloo in 2000, I have grown a little nostalgic.
Then my friend Annie emailed me this link (Thanks Annie (she's in England!!))
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3379318756649188453&q=waterloo+university
I recognize tons of people in this video!!!

And, if anyone from Walk/Ridesafe checks my blog, here is a video that Jesse Ariss made:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6609862159221878352&q=waterloo+university
I also recognize tons of people in this video.

Awww... well, maybe I'll do a masters. Then learn to hate the school because all of my friends have left.
Cheers!

Actually, it's not the AE86

2006-09-07T08:41:00.001-04:00

The Corolla SR5 was an 1989 model. So, it's built on the front wheel drive AE92 platform. But, they did only want $500 for it. However, needless to say, I didn't purchase that flaming piece of crap.
Anyways, then I went and played poker at Bleachers. I managed to come 3rd. But, before we started one of the guys who normally bounces at the bar on Saturdays came over and asked me if I wanted a job on Saturdays working with him. So, I told him I'd think about it. But, I realized I'm not going to be in Midland for the next 5 Saturdays. So, I need to let him know that I won't be able to do it. Still, it's nice to be asked!!

Yep, the Corolla SR5 is the AE-85

2006-09-06T09:08:00.000-04:00

So, the Corolla SR5 is not the super sporty version AE-86, it's the more pedestrian AE-85. But, it's still RWD. So, if I can get it for $200-$500 I'll still consider buying. Then Dad and I can spend the winter tearing out the engine, brakes, suspension, transmission, and differential. Then next year we just replace it all with parts from sportier cars. I do hope it's standard though. Then I can drive it for a bit before we start hammering on it.
I'd love to take some pictures of the Corolla, and my Pathfinder for that matter, but my camera is CRAP!! I was looking at a Canon and a Sony on the weekend. I'd have probably bought the Sony on the weekend, except they only support memory stick duo making them completely useless to me. It's amazing how Sony took all the worst features of Wintel, and all of the worst features of Apple and managed to combine those features in their products. They have both the traditional unreliability of wintel as well as the incompatibility of apple and gave them both to their PCs. I think I'm going to have to wait a while for the price of the Canon I was looking at to drop. Although, I may just go buy it tonight. Who knows.

Truck!!

2006-09-06T08:24:00.000-04:00

Well, my friend Cynthia drove me to Newmarket/Aurora to pick up my Pathfinder on Saturday. It's working great. Everything runs awesome, the 4 wheel drive system is good, the engine is powerful. The only real problem that I've noticed so far is the smell. It was a smokers car and it shows. There is that sort of stank smell kicking around. But, there's also a film of slime on everything in the car. I imagine it's the liquified ashes of 10 years of cigarettes. On the bright side, it's a leather interior, so the smell is mostly confined to surfaces, not embedded in the upholstery.
However, it may be time to buy another car. I was driving around in Midland last night and I stumbled across a Toyota Corolla SR5 for sale. This was the last "sporty" model of the Corolla that had rear-wheel-drive. It may even be built on the legendary AE-86 chassis (I need to look into that, it may also be an AE-85). But, either way, if the frame is in good shape and I can get it for $200-$500 then I might have a 3rd car in the driveway by tonight. The Corolla along with the Tercel and the Pathfinder. That won't piss my landlord off at all.

Ethics Schmethics

2006-09-01T21:56:00.000-04:00

I've been studying the Ethics section of the CFA for the past few days. What a load of crap. Especially now that I'm into the Corporate Governance sections. The notes are talking about "provisions that should be included in a strong corporate code of ethics". Obviously a code of ethics won't change whether or not people do unethical things. "Oh, well, I was going to secretly funnel millions of dollars out of the company, but since that sign on the wall told me not to, I won't". I mean, come the fuck on, it's just going to make people work harder to avoid getting caught. I think it's far better to have a lack ethical code. Then if someone is a thieving prick, it's easier to catch them. You just have to keep good records. Record-keeping is far more important than a code of ethics. I know I do things a lot differently when I know I'm being watched.
To paraphrase something I heard the other day "If you're ethical because of the money, you'll be unethical for more money."

I Want My Truck!!

2006-08-31T11:09:00.000-04:00

So, this has been the slowest week ever. I wake up every morning and I'm like "Is it Saturday yet? Can I get my new car?!" And every day the answer has been no.
I know it's only a 97 pathfinder, and that it's not really the greatest truck in the world. But, it will be all my own, to do with as I please. What I please may involve some offroading next week. I'll keep you posted.

In other news, someone has managed to hook a Commodore 64 up to a PC via USB. I don't care how non-geeky you are, if you don't think this is at least a little cool then you're a loser.
http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/31/connect-your-commodore-64-keyboard-to-your-pc-via-usb/

Back to an investing mindset

2006-08-30T08:52:00.000-04:00

Rummaging through my CFA notes has led me to start thinking about investments again. Not that I have the money to worry about such things for myself, but my mom wants me to help decide what to put the proceeds from the sale of my grandmothers house in. That being said, it looks like my Grandmother got out of the housing market at the right time.
http://money.cnn.com/2006/08/24/real_estate/pluggedin_
tully.fortune/index.htm
Hopefully in a year or two the price of a home will have dropped enough to make it cheap for me to buy a house. Although, that means that all of my friends who buy houses now will lose thousands of dollars. Well, I hope they don't. Homes really are like other assets. During a bear market there are always stocks that shoot up in value. Same with home prices. You can't use the market as a measuring stick when deciding on a specific home. You can find a steal in a really hot housing market by looking for fixer uppers and property in older, dirtier neighborhoods that are cleaning up (I'm looking at you Queen and Carlaw http://www.mls.ca/PropertyResults.aspx?Mode=0&Page=1&vs=1&rlt=&cp=&pt=0&mp=0-300000-0&mrt=-1-0-0&Beds=3-0&Baths=0-0&f=&ft=all&o=A&of=1&ps=10&ptgid=1&aid=3347&MapURL=%3fAreaID%3d6368 That's right folks, 3 bedroom homes for under 300,000 that are steps from downtown!). That being said, I don't have much faith in the new homes going up in Vaughan.

The Great Stevia Wars

2006-08-29T10:59:00.000-04:00

So, my friend Cynthia came down at break and we were chatting. I mentioned that I felt like having my diet Dr. Pepper. I pulled out the can and then she starts bugging me about Aspartame. I told her that I haven't really ever heard of any real studies linking aspartame to health problems.
So, I got to looking for research and found this interesting website:
http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/
which contains a lot of reports on the health detriments of Aspartame. Unfortunately for them, I couldnt' find any genuine studies they had done linking Aspartame to anything truly bad. Also, they have the word "holistic" in their name, which is a synonym for "bat-shit crazy".
Here is the Monsanto site about their profitable little chemical:
http://www.aspartame.org/

And here is a CBC article about a natural sweetener which is running into all kinds of regulatory problems in Canada and the US despite the fact that it is used by Coke to make Diet Coke in Japan. This is actually pretty interesting. There might be some serious money to be made on that front.
http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/food/stevia/

The end of a weekend...

2006-08-27T01:57:00.000-04:00

.. involved buying a car. The '97 Pathfinder from the last post to be specific. I go to pick it up next weekend. It seems in great shape. Everyone wish me luck.
Now on to Ultimate Fighting. Wow. Chuck Liddell truly is the man. He KTFO'd Renato Sobral in about one and a half minutes. It's not like it was even close. The only bad part about it is that 'Babalu' Sobral was the only person in the UFC in a position to challenge for the 205 belt. Still, it's great to see a real champion in the wings.
However, I watched the show with a group of 20-22 year olds. Talk about feeling old. They all seem very similar in age to me, except that while I'm out in the real world, they're in college etc. However, Rory already owns his own house and everything and they seem to have firm grasp on reality. Firmer than my grasp at least. But, I'll have to take some pictures of Rory's basement and post them.. Coolest basement ever. Seriously.

Shopping for a car...

2006-08-24T13:06:00.000-04:00

... is turning out to be more challenging than I thought. It seems like every time I find a vehicle that might be a good deal it turns out to be already sold or not in very good shape at all. Tonight I'm heading into TO to go car shopping, and I'll be stopping in Aurora to look at a Nissan Pathfinder tonight on my way in. It looks like it's in decent shape:

On another note, I made it to the final table at the local poker game again. 8th place this time. So, I'm probably sitting in 6th or 7th place overall in the rankings.

Also, I've been studying for the CFA. Now, that's a lot of boring, dry material that I am going to need to cover in a relatively short period of time. But, since most of it is review of things I learned in School, I'm not that afraid.

John Hemming got married

2006-08-22T08:41:00.000-04:00

Wow, so my cousin John from St. Catherines got married this past weekend. It's strange because he's the same age as me and now he's heading off to start a family and whatnot. I hope that he and Diane are happy. They should be happy, they're in St. Lucia right now. Meanwhile I sit and rot in Midland. Yaaaayy... to echo Justin Hartwig from Grade seven (my EDPS peeps will know what I'm on about).
I'm taking the day off of work on Friday to go shopping for a car. I'm actually looking for a little SUV so I get decent ground clearance back home. So far the best deals I've found are on Nissan Pathfinders. So, I may be driving one of those by this time next week.
Last night after I got back from the Gym I finally sat down and started studying for the CFA. I set up a schedule for studying and then read a bit about Ethics. Tonight, after gymnastics, I'm going to make flash card copies of the "cheat sheet" that comes with the Schweser notes. Then I can start memorizing LOS's (learning outcome statements) on my walk to and from work. I was much more worried about the test last week, but after reading over the material I've realized it's mostly a regurgitation of material from school. So, I shouldn't have too much trouble putting the information into my head. I hope.

Poker and BP

2006-08-17T08:43:00.000-04:00

So, I'm quitting Boston Pizza for a position as assistant coach of the Midland Secondary School senior cheerleading team. Which is kind of funny, because some of these kids have waaaay more experience than I do. But, it should be fun, and it's only 4 hours a week. So, it's shouldn't conflict with my CFA studying.
On another note, I played in the weekly poker game at Bleachers last night and came sixth! We don't play for money (or at least, I don't), but I managed to come 6th out of about 60 people. I played fairly loose at the start while the blinds were small which led to a run of catching top pair and other small hands. But, those small hands were enough to win me the pots. Then once the blinds went up I started playing more conservatively. Finally, I was at the final table and in sixth place. I also had the smallest stack of chips. I caught K-10 suited hearts and went all in. I got called by a dude with A-10 suited clubs. I caught a K on the flop, but he got his A on the river. So, I packed my bags and went home. Fun night though!

NAFTA superhighway

2006-08-16T14:02:00.000-04:00

http://www.nascocorridor.com/

Not sure if I posted this before. But, pretty cool how they're integrating these highways and making a supercorridor.

Long Live Free Trade!

CFA studying

2006-08-16T10:42:00.000-04:00

Ok, so, I've just realized that there is no way in Hell I will be able to pass the CFA AND work at Boston Pizza. It just WILL NOT happen. I've got skills, but not those kinds of mad skills.
I kind of need the money, but I need to pass the CFA more. It kind of sucks, but I've got to make this decision. Boooooo!! I just wish I'd realized this before I had started training at BP. Now I look like an ass.
But yeah, I went onto this website http://www.analystnotes.com/index.php and started reading some of the exam hints in the forums. They seem to recommend 3 hours of studying per day, for 6 months leading up to the exams. I don't even have 6 months left. Only 108 days. really, only a little more than 4 months. So, I've gotta get my ass in gear.
Wow, I'm really freaking out here.

Boston Pizza

2006-08-11T15:16:00.000-04:00

Well, tonight at 5:00 I start my new part-time job. I'm going to be working at Boston Pizza. No, I don't know what I'm going to be doing there, and no, I didn't quit my current job here at NEBS to take this.
I'm just thinking it would be nice to work 3 or 4 nights a week in a social atmosphere, instead of spending my evenings sitting around playing video games. Also, some extra money is never frowned upon. The big downside is that this will make it more difficult to get to the gym. But, I already told Andy, the manager, that I won't be able to stay on if it's too much work.

In other news, I bought a music CD last night. I haven't done that in a while. I was in CD plus and the CD they were playing just sounded so cool I had to have it. The CD is called 'Madvillain' by Madvillainy. Madvillany is composed of Doom as the MC and Madlib as the DJ. It's just really strange stuff. And the entire album has this comic book feel to it which is very interesting.

Either the grossest or most delicious thing ever. You decide.

2006-08-01T11:26:00.000-04:00

When my friend Raymond showed me this, my stomach almost emptied itself. But, by the time I got to the bottom of the article my mouth was watering and I was starving!

http://www.blackwidowbakery.com/demo/meatcake/

Update

2006-07-31T12:38:00.000-04:00

Ok, first of all. I just gotta say that I love the redesign of the Dr. Pepper cans. Especially the Diet can. It looks awesome. Very minimalistic.
what else has been going on...
Ok, so I've started going to Gymnastics at Huronia on tuesdays. That's a ton of fun. I've got my roundoff-handspring down and I can do my standing back tuck. So, the next in line is roundoff-tuck, then roundoff-handspring-tuck. Eventually I'd like to be able to do lines of handsprings ending in a tuck. Also, there are some pretty cute girls that hang around at Gymnastics clubs. Who knew?
Lets see. I've been playing poker at Bleachers here in Midland on Wednesdays. Also fun stuff. I finished in the points for the first time 2 weeks ago.
Thursdays have been reserved for chilling and relaxing. I've played some video games and downloaded and watched the first season of "How I met your Mother". Absolutley hilarious show. Go NPH!!

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/how_i_met_your_mother/barneys_blog/10_13.shtml

Oh yeah, I've got the final class of my bartending course tonight at 6. So, I've kind of got to hurry to get to that after work. It's the flair section. So, I had to learn how to toss bottles a la "Cocktail". It's been pretty fun. I'm glad they gave me a plastic bottle to practice with. Because glass would be very broken by now.
I read this book on the history of Cities. It was really good and talked about how cities have grown over the centuries as well as the way that cities interact with their citizens and their environments. The author shows how cities have grown and how the things that are required for them to be successful.

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0871138980/701-2079355-6686721?v=glance&n=916520&s=books&v=glance

Now I'm re-reading Peter Lynch's "One up on Wall Street". Fun book on investing, but potentially dangerous in the wrong hands. He kind of makes investing in Stocks sound easy and fun. And it can be, but I don't know how many people would have the discipline to stick with the tips he outlines.

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0743200403/701-2079355-6686721?v=glance&n=916520&s=books&v=glance

And, I'm just coming off a month with no booze. It was great, I got my Bench press back up into the 225lb x 5 reps range. Which is nice. Plus, I just feel good. Now, I had a few drinks on Saturday at Raylenes Farewell Party, but I didn't go overboard. Still, I don't think I'll drink this weekend. I just find that I was doing it too much. I'd rather do like I have been and have one really good night where I drink every once in a while instead of a whole lot of so-so nights. I have also saved tons of money. Oh, I also gave up sugary snacks for the month. Yay for me!

So this is what it feels like to be stuck in a rut

2006-06-26T11:09:00.000-04:00

In the most traditional sense a rut is a hole in the ground that extends in 2 directions, forward and back created by wheels moving over that patch of ground repeatedly. The wheels are dragged through the same place over and over in the same direction. So really, being stuck in a rut isn't just being stuck on one track, it's also a lack of control over direction and innovation. After all, a rut is created by those who go before. Therefore, if you are stuck in a rut you cannot be doing anything original, or else it's not a rut.
When we say we are stuck in a rut, we say that we are feeling out of control in terms of what we are doing and where we are going. There is also a sense of futility because we know we are not creating anything valuable, because everything that we do has been done before.

This is not to say that I definitely feel like I'm in a rut. Although, on a monday morning when I have nothing to do at work I certainly feel like I'm underutilizing my life. The big problem is that I can't think of anything better to do with my time than write about some random thought floating through my head. Usually I have a sense of mission that at the very least makes me feel frustrated at wasting time. That feeling seems to be missing this morning, instead I just feel apathetic towards everything.

More Cowbell!!

2006-06-19T09:53:00.000-04:00

http://www.explosm.net/comics/308/

uninspired

2006-06-15T15:01:00.000-04:00

Is it sad that the most motivating thing in my life right now is the TV show "Las Vegas". Those guys all love their jobs! I mean, using technology that doesn't exist and relying on coincidental information to track down the daily criminals that stalk their casino. Who wouldn't love that job! Too bad Vegas is absolutely nothing like that.
Still, it makes me think that there has to be something better to do than what I do for a living. Analysing sales data does not a passionate career make. I think this fall I may have to take a dramatic pay hit in order to do a job that I enjoy more. Maybe do some volunteer work. Who knows. Maybe I'll try and join the Military again.

Gotta love wasting time

2006-06-13T09:22:00.000-04:00

So, the servers that we use to do all of our work here at NEBS are down. That means I've been spending the morning reading magasine and web articles because there isn't anything else to do. Huzzah.
But, that's not all bad, I'm going to do some studying of the drinks I need to know for my bartending course. That would be the course I've been taking at Georgian College in Barrie for the past 2 months. We have a review session tonight, and then the final exam is next week. If I fail this course I will have never ending shame.
This weekend it's off to Waterloo after the company golf tournament on Saturday. Apparently at this golf tournament there's no winner. So, it's not so much a tournament as much as just going to play golf and drink. But, for once, I won't be the one doing the crazy drinking, because I'm heading to Waterloo after that. Hopefully I can make it in time for the start of the 24 hours of Le Mans, because that's this weekend. We'll see if the Audi R10 can be the first Diesel to ever win the race.

Lazy Investing

2006-06-05T13:56:00.000-04:00

This is a great article that explains one of my favorite concepts about investing money: That it is often far better to not work too hard at it. Remember, when it comes to deciding where to invest your money, the more decisions you make mean there are more opportunities to make wrong decisions.

http://www.fool.com/news/commentary/2004/commentary040507sj.htm

Anyways... I suppose I should get back to my real job. Huzzah.

Worst video ever

2006-05-25T20:12:00.000-04:00

http://gorillamask.net/wsbible.shtml

I think I'm going to hell for even watching it

Conspiracies and Conspiracy Conspiracies

2006-05-12T09:44:00.000-04:00

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5137581991288263801&q=loose+change

So, I watched this video last night. And it attempted to answer two of the questions that I've always had about 9/11.
#1. How could the people on flight 93 make cell phone calls to the ground?
#2. How come the passengers of flight 93 weren't able to take back the cabin and take control of the aircraft?

Unfortunately. It's explanation is that the US government was organizing the Attack to create an excuse for the subsequent forays into the middle east. Now, I'm not saying that this is impossible. However, it strikes me that it's highly improbable. It would take thousands, if not tens of thousands of people to organise something of this magnitude. That is far too many people to watch to prevent the one guy with a guilty concience from giving evidence to the media. I mean, since most far leftists love criticizing the Government for it's lack of competence in most things. They're giving them a ton of credit for being able to pull off a plan of this magnitude and complexity.
Also, most of the "research" in this film is easily explained away, and in some cases the sources that they cite are furious for having their comments taken out of context, or being edited in a way to spread misinformation.
So, my personal conclusion is that the US government did not conduct the attacks. But, that doesn't mean they did all they could to prevent the attacks either. I suggest watching the documentary above to familiarize yourself with the conspiracy theories, and then reading the article below to debunk them. Then do some research on your own to make a better decision.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/defense/1227842.html?page=1&c=y

One Futureshop saga ends, another begins

2006-04-24T10:29:00.000-04:00

Well, I went to Futureshop on Friday to pick up my replacement notebook. And that is what they had for me. A crappy old gateway that actually had inferior specs compared to my old notebook. However, the big problem with it was that it was missing TV out. But, they didn't want to give me the lowest level laptop they had with that feature, so I managed to pay the difference for it which worked out to $150. Then I asked if I could buy a 3 year warranty with it, and of course, they saw cash and so now I have a 3 year warranty on a brand new laptop. Total price $500.
Here's the link:
http://www.hp.ca/products/static/presario-notebooks/v2570ca/index.php

Also, more good News, on Sunday I went to the Hospital to get a doctor to look at my shoulder injury. And it turns out that it's actually just a pulled muscle. He gave me some exercises to help it heal faster and get stronger. So, it's not a joint problem like I was worried about!
Huzzah!

Futureshop continues...

2006-04-20T10:38:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm heading to Barrie tomorrow to pick up my new laptop. It's a repackaged model, but it's current. I'm very excited to get a hold of it and finally be able to work on my resume and download music, and most of all, watch Top Gear. I just hope there isn't any more drama. For those of you keeping track i took the computer in on July 27th 2005, or 268 days ago. 268 days to get a problem with the keyboard fixed. That's 73.4% of a year I know that seems reasonable to me!
On another issue, I'm going to test drive a Cadillac CTS on monday. I hope they don't actually expect me to buy one, because I can in no way, shape, or form afford one.
Oh! I'm going to the hospital after work tonight to get a doctor to look at my shoulder. I hope it's not too late for it to heal properly.
Well... back to work!

I want her to teach ME ju jitsu

2006-03-28T21:23:00.000-05:00

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3859044792692707713&q=shamrock+gracie&pl=true

I don't remember there being that many hot chicks doing ju jitsu when I was there... :-(

hahahahahahahahahaha

2006-03-17T09:31:00.000-05:00

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/03/17/senator-seal060317.html

Another cool Energy link

2006-03-15T21:10:00.000-05:00

Well, another cool energy source. Apparently Chevron and Headwaters Inc are working on Nanotechnology to increase the efficiency of Oil Sands petroleum production.

http://ca.us.biz.yahoo.com/fool/060306/114166279910.html?.v=1

Of course, there is concern that Headwaters will be able to make progress because they are basically making all of their profit off of free tax money they recieve from the government.

http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,1167738,00.html

Almost St. Paddys

2006-03-15T08:59:00.000-05:00

No cool articles or anything today. I'm just really excited about this weekend. I intend to drink so much booze! Also, it looks like I'm going skiing with Neeta to celebrate her birthday monday, and that should be fun too!
But, yeah. Last night I went to the LCBO and picked up about $100 worth of alchohol. So, now I've got 3 types of beer, some Jack Daniels, wine, baileys, tequila, rasberry rum, and gin. Mwa ha ha ha.
Drinky Drinky!!

Cool Energy sources

2006-03-14T14:34:00.000-05:00

So, this guy in the states, Dr. J. Craig Venter may be on track to developing a completely renewable energy source. And not only renewable but plentiful. Basically, he wants to develop a type of yeast, that when it ferments with food byproducts creates hydrogen.
He also wants to genetically engineer corn. Since he knows he may not be able to create the hydrogen producing bacteria he is also thinking about ethanol gasoline. Currently there is not enough Land in North America to produce the ethanol we would need to run our cars. That's why he is trying to genetically engineer a type of corn that produces dramatically more ethanol per stalk than current corn.
While these inventions would be awesome for his company and likely make him one of the wealthiest men alive, it would seriously fuck up the Canadian Economy. But, it would mean cleaner air for all of us to breathe. So, I guess we'll just wait and see what happens.

http://www.syntheticgenomics.com/

Fortunately, there is something standing in his way. Hydrogen is pretty useless as a fuel right now. Fuel Cells can only get about a 200km range on hundreds of litres of fuel, and they produce about as much horsepower as, well, a horse.
However, the Saint-Hilaire family from Quebec that has developed a new type of engine that may be able to run on both petrol AND liquid hydrogen. It's called the Quasiturbine engine. Even if it can't burn Hydrogen, it so efficiently uses the energy in petrol that a 900cc motor could easily produce 300hp and give a mid-sized car about 150 miles per gallon. There are still some issues to be worked out with lubrication, but if they can get this motor to work it will change the way cars run forever, as well as cleaning up the air and extending the life of the worlds petroleum resources.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/quasiturbine.htm

Canada: We're Rich Biatch!!

2006-03-10T11:44:00.000-05:00

So, it turns out that the Hubbert Curve, which is used to predict oil production in the world, only applies to oil wells. It doesn't apply to oil alternatives such as rock shale, tar sands, and coal. However, since liquid oil is the easiest to extract, it may still be accurat in predicting the peak of petroleum production in the world. And this curve is still predicting an oil peak sometime between 2005 and 2010.
For the middle east, this means boo-fricken-hoo. For Canada, yippee-kay-ay!
Let's just put it this way. There is an estimated equivalent of 3 trillion barrels in the Alberta oil sands. And, since it takes longer to extract than conventional oil, and since demand for oil is increasing at it's fastest rate in history it means it will be worth even more once liquid oil supplies drop into decline.
However, even that much oil is only good for about 150 years at current rates of use. Well, boo hoo, by that time we should have figured out how to access the methane hydrates frozen under the tundra. The methane hydrates that Canada controls about 85% of. And they're not a big problem, considering we have about 160 QUADRILLION barrels of that locked away.
Don't get me wrong. Since all of these sources are slower and more difficult to extract than conventional oil, and there is a huge increase in demand from developing countries, the price of gas will still skyrocket in future years. Fortunately, disgusting suburban sprawl will be more difficult with $8/litre fuel prices, so cities should become more livable. So, Canada gets all the benefit of high gas prices, and high oil prices. Huzzah.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.12/gas.html

http://www.endofsuburbia.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubberts_peak

What's next, Ultimate Poker Fighting?

2006-03-07T15:41:00.000-05:00

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1564233.html?menu=news.quirkies.sportingquirkies

I can't believe this sport exists. I wonder who would win... Kasparov or Lennox Lewis? I have a feeling it would depend on whether they boxed or played chess first.

A level playing field

2006-03-07T14:06:00.000-05:00

First of all let's read this statement:
"Russia is also a key player in the U.S. drive to limit aid to the extremist group Hamas, which has taken control of the Palestinian legislature."
It really doesn't make it sound like Hamas is a political party voted into office in a democratic election that was fully supported by the US and UN. But, alas, CNN is a bastion of journalistic integrity that would never even imagine altering facts to make the story more politically appealing. For the full story:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/03/07/us.iran.ap/index.html?section=cnn_topstories

I love how whenever Iran comes up, the news stories always talk about how Iran is disobeying orders by the UN regarding it's nuclear program. But those same news stories never mention that the US and Russia are also breaking orders by the UN regarding their nuclear programs. I suppose "US gov't blatantly disregarding Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty" doesn't rile up the crowds the way it does when it's an extremist islamic government. Still, not exactly a level playing field in terms of peoples perception.
Yay, nuclear weapons. Fun stuff. Like Pete's msn name said today :"The nuclear arms race is like two men standing waist deep in gasoline.; one with three matches, the other with five."

Repo Man

2006-02-27T09:38:00.000-05:00

So, I watched this movie called "Repo Man" last night. It starred Emilio Estevez and was made in like 1984. Very, very strange movie. Kind of funny, but wow... I can't describe it. You'll have to see it for yourself.

Goram Futureshop??

2006-02-20T14:11:00.000-05:00

Well,
the people at futureshop have told me that they're going to put in an application to have my computer replaced. I hope that this happens, because I can't afford to replace it, and I don't think they're actually going to get it repaired.
So, I'll keep you posted. Maybe futureshop isn't the devilspawn I once thought they were.

Google comes to Waterloo

2006-02-06T13:21:00.000-05:00

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=c4f6f084-d72f-43ea-8a82-affe38df3830&k=58579

Wow. So apparently all this speculation about whether or not Google is going to open an office in Waterloo is a little outdated. They've announced that they purchased Reqwireless, which is a firm in Waterloo. That essentially leaves them a foothold to drop developers in and expand on. I agree with a blog I saw: it would be cool to see "Google" on the side of buildings in the tech park, even though that may not be happening right yet.

Goram Futureshop

2006-02-02T13:26:00.000-05:00

Those lying bastards!! On Saturday when I called Futureshop, they told me that the laptop had already been sent to Compaq. Today! Today (the next Thursday) I call and they tell me it was only sent to Compaq yesterday!!!
I cannot believe how absolutely atrocious the service has been. Since September 2004 my laptop has been in the shop for 11 months
ELEVEN!!!!!
If they were big problems I could see it taking a while, but the 2 problems I've had have been: loose hinges, and keyboard malfunction. Nothing to make me sweat here, but apparently they are completely useless.
I cannot stress this enough. NEVER buy anything that might need servicing from FutureShop. You will never see the product again. Just to let you know, I took my laptop in for the keyboard repair in July 2005. It is now February 2006.

New Canadian Territory??

2006-02-01T12:52:00.000-05:00

Hey, has anyone heard anything Recently about what progress has been made with regards to the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean joining Canada? This is something I think would just be awesome, to have a Canadian vacation destination, as well as to help out a country that is less well endowed than we are economically.
I imagine the debate about their annexation fell off the map with the last minority government, but it could be something that the new Prime Minister would be interested in.
And I see President Bush is encouraging people to become less dependent on oil... except his solution is COAL!! Does anyone else see this as a step backward?

Scared Canadian

2006-01-31T16:40:00.000-05:00

Well, I finished that Chomsky book. Terrifying shit. Between that and "The End of Suburbia", which is a documentary I have, the future looks pretty bleak. Except that "Hegemony or Survival" talks about things that may happen, whereas "The End of Suburbia" talks about things that are guaranteed to happen. Well, some of the things anyways. Finite amounts of a heavily used commodity tend to do that.

The last chapter of "Hegemony or Survival" is entitled "A Passing Nightmare?" so it makes you think that it's going to have a not so terrible ending. Nope. It talks about US nuclear proliferation. How they have never spent as much money developing new nuclear weapons as they are right now and how their plans to put missiles in space could have catastrophic effects and will continue to encourage other nations to create WMDs that provide the only level of safety from the US. Then I turn on my computer this morning and see all of the crazy shit about Iran basically telling the UN that if they're brought under inspection they will stop cooperating with the UN and will begin enriching their own uranium. Lovely.

I've finally beaten GTA: San Andreas and I'm back into Forza Motorsports. Racing in video games is fun, I hope I get the chance to do it for real someday before all the oil dries up.

Anyways, I'm off to my apartment. I think I'm going to stay in tonight and read some Book 11 of the Wheel of Time series. It will be nice to get caught up so that I can read the forums without being worried about spoilers.

Ahhhh!!! The US is coming!!

2006-01-23T08:43:00.000-05:00

Well, it's election day and it looks like I'm going to get my wish of a conservative minority. I'm still basing most of my opinions on the parties on James' observation that we basically have sane liars represented by the liberals vs. the honestly crazy conservatives. So, I'm hoping that getting knocked out of power will a cleanup of the liberal party so that I can stop voting conservative.
I'm also reading this book right now: Noam Chomsky "Hegemony or Survival" which is basically a listing (so far) of state terrorism and propaganda that has been funded by the US. It starts out in Cuba in the early 60's then moves to Nicaragua in the 80's then Iraq and Kosovo in the 90's and finally Iraq in the new millenium. Chomsky has been arguing so far that the US is by far the biggest threat to world peace and has been directly and indirectly responsible for tens of millions of deaths in the past 20 years, and then he cites evidence... it's the evidence which disturbs me the most because it's what keeps me from dismissing him as a leftist nut. Especially the recounting of Kosovo, because I remember that happening, but then he basically changed my mind on how I remember it going down and then provides evidence that the major news channels were... well, maybe not lying, but at least reproducing misinformation with regards to the conflict and it's resolution. In fact, just thinking about the book is making my stomach kind of ill... so, time for something completely different.
I'm almost done GTA... I may need to get a new game soon. I've heard that the game "Gun" is basically GTA on a horse. So, I may rent that from Rogers tonight and give it a try.
I'm also on chapter... 8 I think... of Knife of Dreams. So far it's been much more energetic than the past few books of the Wheel of Time.
Also, I know that I said in my last post that Jim was the only one reading, and I've recieved some strongly worded emails since then. So, thank you everyone who has been reading. I'm really going to try hard to publish more often.
Drinky Drinky!

GTA: San Andreas

2006-01-16T12:54:00.000-05:00

I can honestly say that I'm completely addicted to this game. And I'm not ashamed of that. This game is damn near perfect. Where else could I take a mission from a Government agent to ride a motorcycle onto an airplane that's speeding down a runway and attach a bomb to the plane and then jump off the airplane parachuting to the ground. And do it all in a completely intuitive way. Oh, and then when I'm on the plane I battle government agents with the Katana I used to fight a Yakuza boss a few days earlier. Because, on a plane full of explosives you can't just shoot guns! Then after that, I go and work my way in with the mob in order to rob their Casino with my friends in the Chinese Triads.
And the voice acting!! James Woods, Big Boi, Chris Penn, and of course Samuel L. Jackson. The game is just polished from top to bottom.
Anyways, I'm off for the weekend, hopefully I can start making posts more regularly. Not that anyone but Jim has been reading these... of course I haven't exactly been advertising my literary adventures... oh well.

Those Wacky Evangelical Christians

2006-01-06T16:53:00.000-05:00

So, Pat Robertson told his congregation that Ariel Sharon's stroke was punishment from God for giving up part of the holy land (Israel) to the Heathens (Palestinians). Wow. Talk about being a fucking jack-ass.
But really, given how brave some of these Christian right activists have gotten recently, it doesn't really surprise me that much. I'm surprised he hasn't told all of the non-christians that we're going to have strokes too, just so God can send us to hell quicker!
The way these stupid bastards talk about God, you'd think he was some kind of school yard bully asking for change. "Yeah, you can come to Heaven, but only if you give me your cookies, otherwise I'll stick your head in Hell until the end of recess." I know it sounds like a religion I'd like to join.
The best is the new push to put Christianity back into school systems in Canada and the US by these nuts. Not only are they evil, but apparently they're illiterate. Jesus never said to force people to worship him by rule of law, he said become fishermen of men. Using government mandate to force children to learn Christianity is like instead of bringing fish to the surface with bait, just poison the waters so that the fish die and float to the surface. Same general result right?

Big Friday

2005-11-18T14:27:00.000-05:00

Well, today was a big day full of accomplishments.
I ordered an iPod off eBay. I got a pretty good deal on it ($185CAD) because it doesn't have any accessories. Which of course doesn't matter, because I still have all of the accessories from my old one. I also made some DVDs of my music from the iPod. I hope they work because the old ones didn't.
Then tonight, I'm heading into Toronto to watch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire with Jason and some of his friends.
Well, Cheerio,
Ernie Hass

The solution to Suburbia

2005-11-14T18:05:00.000-05:00

Malcolm Gladwells book: "The Tipping Point" has got me to wonder if the problems I see in everyday life aren't really just a collection of small things that became epidemics. Obesity is commonly referred to in media as an epidemic, and I think I would consider suburban living to be an epidemic as well. There was even a tipping point to get suburban living started. And, surprisingly enough it wasn't the automobile itself, but rather the spread of highways.
Before the 1920s roads were mostly dirt and there was no such thing as a multilane highway. Therefore, it was still not feasible for urban populations to live away from mass transit systems, or to live far away from their wok workplaces. But, with the introduction of massive paved highways during and after WWII, suburban expansion followed swiftly.
Similarly, many are predicting that the suburban experiment will fail, not because of a new technology, but because of high oil prices. I tend to agree, but even if we can still operate our vehicles cheaply in the future. It doesn't mean that we need to live in these sprawling communities.
Even though obesity and suburban living have been shown to be directly linked, there has been no move to change lifestyles. Maybe high gas prices will be the cure to more than one epidemic in North American Society.

Google

2005-10-28T16:01:00.000-04:00

I was sitting in a meeting this morning trying to stay awake, when the beauty of Google's business plan dawned on me. They sort information based on links, and ads are treated as a link. So, they have created a mass incentive to advertise on the web. Now suddenly, the more you advertise, the more google references you. Specifically, the more google will refer to ads you place on their website.
They are essentially single handedly creating the whole source of their revenue from nothing, but in a very intelligent monopolizing way. And the best part is, they're sharing the wealth with other websites. They're like a big advertising symbiote.

Selling Ice to Eskimoes

2005-10-27T11:43:00.000-04:00

As flawed as the suburban lifestyle is, it definitely has it's appeals. However, there must be some way to sell a better urban design scheme to the masses. The current layout has practically turned the entire easter seaboard in the US into one giant suburb. And we obviously can't go back and make everyone tear down their homes to live in more compact communities. But, there must be a way to reform those communities into something better.
I guess the big questions aren't just "How?" but also "How to get people to buy it?".

Coffee

2005-10-27T10:25:00.000-04:00

Well, it looks like the job in Boston was merely a joke. Oh well.

I saw the movie: Doom last night. It was terrible. The acting was awful, the characters didn't make any sense. I mean, if they're supposed to be the United States best marines, why do they suck so very, very much? The only even remotely cool moment in the movie comes when the Rock walks into the Armory, looks at the BFG (Bioforce Gun) and says: "Big, Fuckin' Gun". But, there at that point the worst was yet to come. I mean, the only recognizable Doom Demon was the imp. The freakin' imp?? Those things took like 5 handgun shots to kill. Then there is the music which cuts in and out seemingly at Random. Although, I have to admit the premise of the movie is alright. That humans came from Mars and we had to flee the planet because we were tinkering with our own Genetics and accidentally created a race of monsters that we had to run away from.... ok, so it's not that interesting.

Oh, and they have coffee here which helps keep me awake. Especially when I'm recovering from a night of crazy nightmares. I know I don't usually drink coffee, but this stuff is French Vanilla, which isn't that bad.

Boston??

2005-10-24T19:08:00.000-04:00

In an interesting development I may be moving to Boston. Apparently there is a position open there that may be coming available in the near future.
I wouldn't mind seeing Boston. It was one of the few places that I didn't get to see when I was on the road trip. I guess this means I'm going to have to get a passport too.

Midland

2005-10-24T09:55:00.000-04:00

I know that I haven't posted in a while so I doubt there is anyone who will check this blog anyways. But, for those people who do check this, I am now living in Midland, Ontario where I am working as Statistician for the marketing department of a company that makes business cheques.
Considering that I'd originally hoped to be joining the Royal Canadian Airforce, this has been a real step down in my career aspirations. But, the job is good and the people are nice even if Midland is the most boring place this side of Eganville. With one difference, I know tons of people in Eganville so there is always something to do. Here, I just feel trapped in nothingness.

American Mythology

2005-08-16T14:05:00.000-04:00

Since I've been sitting around doing a whole lot of nothing this summer I've had a lot of time to think. But, instead of thinking about anything productive, I've been thinking about American Mythology.
You can fault the Americans if you want, but they sure have some interesting stories to tell. That's not to say that we as Canadians don't. But since most of our popular culture is based on American popular culture, these myths tend to dominate our own stories of Louis Riel or Montcalm.

Besides, American mythology tends to be a lot more sinister than our those in Canada. When Robert Johnson sold his soul at the crossroads of 61 and 49 in Mississippi to learn rock and roll, it was to the devil. This harmless menace in American mythology is one of the main reasons I think people are so attracted to it.

Other American myths either have this sort of threatening air or the are a story of the underdog. The old west is a perfect example of this. It has just enough fact that the fiction is believable. After all, there was a shootout at the Ok Corrall. It was in a town in a desert at the farthest edges of civilization. And the name of the town was Tombstone. The people that were actually involved seem larger than life by todays standards. Especially names like Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. Other names in the old west conjure up images of heroes and rogues. Billy the Kid did exist. There are photos of him. That is in stark contrast with King Arthur or Hercules, who no one can definitively prove existed. Whereas in Kansas when Wild Bill Hickock outdrew 4 men in a gunfight, their names were in the obituaries the next day. And the theme of menace has also turned into tragedy. The assassination of JFK is one of the most important stories of American mythology, especially considering 95% of Americans believe that he was killed in a conspiracy. And then there is the death of Elvis, the King of Rock and Roll, that a considerable number of people don't even believe happened.

Then there is the aspect of the underdog. When the Thirteen Colonies declared their independence, it was from the most powerful nation the world had ever seen. Yet they managed to pull ahead and win the war. When Ford won the LeMans 24 hours in 1966 it was only after they were told by Ferrari to give up on racing because Ferrari was so dominant that no one could challenge them. When Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, it was only after the Soviets had already beaten the US into space. This story of the underdog is not just seen in America, but it is still a major theme in American folklore.

Well. Back to the job search. Maybe I'll get lucky and I'll find myself in another American myth, that of the successful entrepreneur, and my beer business will really take off.

Bland and Boring Summer Continued...

2005-07-22T13:50:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm in Waterloo right now. It was an interesting night on wednesday. Besides getting ditched by my friends after Bomber, and not getting let into Bomber, oh and having my interview with Swifttrade moved to Tuesday from Thursday!
Argh!
But, I called the nice people at Swifttrade today and found out that they won't pay me for training. So, now I need to decide whether or not to wait around in Southern Ontario for the next few days, or if I should just go home.
I'm thinking I'll just go home. I want to jump in a lake.
ugh.
E

Drinky Drinky!

2005-06-30T23:26:00.000-04:00

Y'know, it's been a long assed time since my last post. And right now I'm pretty toasted. See, I'm in Ottawa and it's the night before Canada Day. Always a dangerous time.
Since the last time I posted I've been to Winnepeg, Regina, Calgary, Seattle, San Francisco, Las Vegas, The Grand Canyon, Albequerque, Amarillo, Dallas, New Orleans, Mobile, Atlanta, Charlotte, Richmond (Virginia), Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York for the Very first time!!
I went on a road trip with my (ex?)-roommates Jimmy and Curtis. I say Ex with a question mark because I think we've all applied for jobs in the 'loo.
Anyways, off to the bar!
E

Mustang 5.0

2005-04-13T22:52:00.000-04:00

Well, it wasn't a Mustang 5.0 V8 it was a version 5.0. It was a 4.0 that my friend Kelly and I test drove on monday. 4.0 V6 with a 5 speed manual to be precise. But, it was still a really, really fun car to drive. The V6 was peppy and made a pretty convincing noise. My only regret is that we didn't keep the car out longer. :-(
I also test drove an F150, although Kelly wasn't very interested in that. Then, after the test drive we went for dinner at a Greek restaurant. Funny, we went to a Greek restaurant the last time too. After dinner she went home and I drove the long trip from Arnprior. See when I was at my cousin Lisa's birthday party on Saturday I discovered one of my Dad's friends worked at a Ford dealership in Arnprior and he invited me down to test drive the mustang.
It was one of the highlights of the weekend. But, I also had fun going for hikes, boiling maple syrup and playing with the kids. All in all, it was a good trip home.

The End of Suburbia: The Musical!

2005-04-13T22:47:00.000-04:00

So, in relation to one of my older blogs, I found a documentary entitled 'The End of Suburbia'. It is coming to the Princess on the 22nd, or you can rent it from Gen X in Waterloo (Corner of Dupont and Regina). It documents many of the problems with Suburbia. Although, it really doesn't put much faith in new energy methods, it does ask what people will do when gas is $2.50/litre or even $5/litre. This comes to one of my sneaking suspicions. That traditional suburban real estate may not be a particularly good investment.

Got kicked out of Bomber!

2005-03-31T01:53:00.000-05:00

Last bomber ever.
Got kicked out. But, I won an MP3 player. yay!

Jimmy stole my LOTR DVDs!!

2005-03-27T23:41:00.000-05:00

I couldn't believe it. I came into the house and James passed me a nickel. Then after I had put the nickel in my nickel box, he comes into my room and is like "You stupid mother fucker. Give me my Nickel back!!". To which I replied "I'm sorry James, I cannot. I have put it away". Then he says "Fine Asshole, I'm taking your movies!!" So he took them and I had to defend my property.
Alas, I was successful.

2005-03-21T00:30:00.000-05:00

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4286755
Interesting article supporting my argument about China not being the great investment opportunity that some people think it is.

Playing to Win. The right way.

2005-03-18T15:38:00.000-05:00

There is an article in the Financial Post today in the Comment Section entitled 'Playing to Win'. It was written by George Stalk a senior business consultant in Toronto. It's an interesting read; basically, Georgie is arguing that companies best serve their shareholders, the environment, indigenous peoples, and their employees when they are fighting tooth and nail to produce products while disregarding all of the externalities they cause. He argues that the best companies are the ones who focus on dominating the market instead of being a good corporate citizen and growing slowly. Unfortunately, his examples don't really make much sense. Ie. Wal mart not paying employees much, and... actually that's his only example, he then says something about Wal Mart being dominant. Yay, one example. To quote Georgie:
"Assume two companies both play by the rules. One company is highly focused on dominating the market; the other company is focused on increasing its market share by some marginal percentage, while being the kind of "good corporate citizen" that will win favour with the popular business press and consumer and political activists. You can be certain of this: First, the company focused on creating, and exploiting its competitive advantage will grow, prosper and crate more profits and jobs than the company worried about it's image."
Assume one company is focused on dominating the market (General Motors) and the other company is focused on increasing market share by some marginal percentage (Toyota). Wait Georgie, your argument just fell apart. Nice timing with the Article: The day after GM announced that it had to cut it's profit projection in half and today Toyota announced the opening of it's New F1 facility that it built with it's cash. In fact, Toyota makes so much money being a "good corporate citizen" which it then lends out to other companies that, in Japan, it is viewed as almost a central bank.
Way to go Georgie, dumbass.

On being poor

2005-03-17T22:46:00.000-05:00

Well, I know I can't actually complain about being really poor. I was looking around our house. Right now, there are 3 guys sitting on nice couches working on laptops, surfing the internet wirelessly while watching one of our several hundred cable channels on a flatscreen TV.
But. I really have no money. So poor!!!
Anyways. That's about all I have to say. It's St. Paddy's day and I've been dipping into the homebrew.
Adios.

The Corporation

2005-03-08T13:17:00.000-05:00

So I watched the documentary "The Corporation" yesterday. It was kind of a terrifying movie. Especially since I'm in business. But, it was very provocative. I agree with some of the points in the movie: that governments need to take more control representing the interests of the public against corporations and that if corporations are going to exist as a legal 'person' they should also be able to face the consequences that a legal 'person' would, otherwise they are designed to perform unethically. However, they don't make much of a point talking about the many positive benefits of the corporate world. They do mention them though, and so in this I feel the film deserves a Kudos. They also don't talk very much about the companies that already follow the 'sustainable' lifestyle and the side effects that they get. For instance, Toyota is extremely environmentally conscious, treats their full time employees exceptionally well, gives everyone in the plants a say and a way to make things better, and they make more money than Ford, GM, Daimler-Chrysler and Volkswagen COMBINED while doing it. However, Toyota is the exception rather than the rule and there are changes that could be made to the corporate structure that would be better for everyone.
But, the arguments about companies continually moving to the next cheapest economy, I fear, may soon become horribly out of date. To the detriment of the developing world there is a good chance that companies will begin moving manufacturing back the US in the near future. The threat doesn't come from protectionism or crazy texans, but rather, technology.
As soon as product control robots come down in price to the point where they can operate cheaper than an employee in the third world. Cormpanies will begin moving production back to the US so that they are closer to their target markets. I'm worried that this will happen before China gets much of a chance to stand on, and then, suddenly it's whole economy will crash in a very catastrophic fashion. Mix this fear in with the fear of state-control, currency-fixing and them threatening war on their neighbors and I, as an investor, want nothing to do with the Chinese boom.
I think that countries that can offer semi-skilled to skilled workers at cheap will be the ones to benefit. So, China may not lose out completely, but they are not as close as Mexico or even Brasil where similar skills can be found.
Thus, I would rather invest in new robotics and expert systems technologies than in an emerging market that is standing on wobbly legs.

Update

2005-03-07T02:11:00.000-05:00

Well, grad ball was fun. I could have used a bigger meal though. Much bigger. They gave us some nice glasses to take home, but since I'm not much one for heirlooms I gave mine away. I'd probably break them anyway.
Oh, and I hit a skunk with the ridesafe van tonight. Yay me.

Thought processes

2005-03-04T23:10:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking about how some people are supposedly 'smarter' than others. I wonder if it actually has anything to do with actual brain 'horsepower' or more about the models that we use to analyze information. I mean, if 2 cars have the same horsepower and one has to go on a windy course while the other goes on a straight course, the one on the straight course will win. It could be that so called 'smart' people think with models that allow them to a)handle more information at once and b) process the information more efficiently. And, of course, all of this is done without trying. Smart people just are smart, they don't know why. And of course, some people aren't as smart at somethings as they are at others. Guass could bury almost any and everyone at math, but he couldn't punch his way out of a paper bag. Mohammed Ali instinctively created new boxing techniques that he used to destroy men twice his size, but there's no indication he could do long division. If we could actually identify and train the models they use to analyze information, maybe someday we will all be as smart as Guass in math, Shakespeare in language and Mohammed Ali in the sweet science.

Avi Lewis

2005-03-01T22:16:00.000-05:00

Well, it's the night before my Bus468 midterm is due so naturally I decided to go to a guest speaker event and delay any more actual work.
The talk was by Avi Lewis, filmmaker, journalist, socialist. While I agree with a lot of what he said the way that he presented the material that irked me. He seemed to spend a lot of time attacking captialist structures, and quoting sources that are at best economically illiterate, and quoting a lot of stats without quoting their sources. He also tried to impress us with some flawed logic about how lower personal savings and higher corporate profits is a bad thing. But, all I could think is that corporate profits are higher BECAUSE savings are lower. Instead of investing people are taking advantage of record low interest rates to buy stuff. Would he rather people had high savings and low corporate profits? Then all of the companies could go bankrupt and we wouldn't have any jobs and we could just be Japan.
But, he made some good points about tax rates and things. Unfortunately he wrapped it all up in socialist rethoric. It almost seems as if he's a capitalist trying to appeal to socialists.
K. Back to work.
Ernie

World Wrestling Entertainment

2005-03-01T01:29:00.000-05:00

Finishing off a walksafe shift that I didn't know I had until this afternoon. Apparently I accepted the shift from one of my friends last friday. Unfortunately, I had been indulging in my homebrew and had forgotten about the shift. Fortunately, he saw me in the gym today and reminded me. I spent some time on the shift sitting in Village 1 watching wrestling. I forgot how outrageous the show is; truly a spectacle.
Today was a pretty big day. I did 2 things that will have a huge impact on my life. One was submit my intent to graduate form. So, assuming I don't fail anything, I will graduate in June. The other was submitting my military application. I'm still not 100% sure that it's what I want to do, but if I don't apply I don't get the chance to do it at all. The guy from Clarica also called today. Apparently I was mistaken. They did want to interview me for a position in Waterloo. I guess they assumed that just because this city has eaten 5 years of my life and I currently live here that I want to work here. Except my application was for Vancouver. They say I need to do that interview in Vancouver, so I'll need to schedule it for the roadtrip.
I also happened to see some Lou Dobbs on CNN tonight. What a dumbass show. A bunch of people wrote in about how jobs are getting shipped overseas and it's destroying the American middle class. Right, the number of jobs getting created in the US vastly overwhelms the number of jobs getting shipped overseas. Unfortunately, it doesn't overwhelm the number of jobs replaced by technology. And even with the small volume of outsourcing and the large volume of job displacement, the American job market is still a fairly good place. If only Americans weren't so good at inventing new technology. I guess a bunch of people who are bitter their jobs rolling cigarettes for Players have been taken over by a machine that can roll cigarettes have decided to get mad at Indians for some reason. I'm not sure if that sentence made sense or not.

2005-02-25T00:50:00.000-05:00

I have to say that I'm a little disappointed that Jim doesn't have a post about me being a plague-carrier. I was really hoping for that after I got him and Zach sick.
Ok, so tomorrow, I'm going to be more productive. At least until the drinking starts in the nighttime. Crap. Starting to panic about school. That's good, maybe I'll actually get something done then. I've been beginning to wonder if my laziness is just my way of being afraid of success. Or maybe, that's what laziness is for most people; just a fear of success.
Wow I'm tired. I'm surprised because I'm usually up much later than this working. Like last night after I got home, Jim and Zach hung out in my room until like 2:45. Crazy bastards were swearing up my ridesafe van.

My Day

2005-02-24T21:52:00.000-05:00

Well, I spent the entire day doing very little. I managed to get some readings done for my Bus491 class. But, other than that, I spent most of the day playing Capitalism II. It's this business simulator that I got at EB for 6 bucks. It's very, very good. You can run all sorts of different businesses; from mom and pop grocery stores to Pharmeceutical Research Labs to Automobile conglomerates. There's even a simulated Stock market where you can go in and trade stock of companies in the game. Very addicting, but I'm going to recommend it to the Business club because it would be a great way to learn about all of these things.

Bush Bashing as a popular passtime

2005-02-24T21:44:00.000-05:00

I was watching Jon Stewart today (it was the one from last night) and I couldn't help but notice that the writers of that show sometimes really stretch for stuff to criticize W on. W announced in his State of the Union address that he planned on changing social security to a system where you pay into your own plan and you can even choose what products you want to put into your plan. Basically, it turns into a mandatory 401k. They were making fun of Bush for saying that the government couldn't invest the money any better than an individual. Well, sorry Jon, but Bush has you there. Market efficiency is something that all investors have to deal with and even the federal government can't do any better than me throwing darts at a wall. However, this change isn't being implemented because of the government being crap at investing, it's being implemented because of something else Jon said: that there aren't enough people paying into the system to support it in it's current form.
So, bashing Bush because he's implementing this is just plain stupid. I mean c'mon, save your bashing for when he totally screws up the implementation. After all, everyone knows that Bushs biggest fault isn't his ideas, but the way he executes them.

The Plague of Suburbia

2005-02-24T20:43:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking about urban sprawl a lot lately, trying to figure out if there is a way to cure it. Because, for the life of me, I can't figure out the appeal of living in the suburbs. Sure, you have your own house, but the yard is so small that you can't do anything in it and you don't have any of the privacy that you want because your neighbors are so close. I don't see why people don't like Condos more for their ability to keep you close to amenities and at the same time it provides an environment that you aren't responsible for cleaning and maintaining. Of course, a lot of people, who have nothing else to look forward to in their lives seem to get a lot of pleasure about putting a lot of work into their ugly houses that look exactly the same as their neighbors. But, the work can't make the house look too different, or you might be fined by the city for not being enough of a conformist sheep.
The biggest problem that I have with suburbia is it's lack of positive externalities. While a rural area provides recreation space, carbon sinks and water purification and High density urban areas create dynamic environments full of interesting shops and are very easily maneuverable using public transit; suburban areas provide nothing of benefit except for a box to live in. They aren't dense enough to provide services that urbanites enjoy, yet they are too dense to provide the lifestyle that ruralites enjoy. Therefore, you need to drive everywhere in your Toyota Camry or Ford Explorer (the staples of the suburban sheep) and you spend half your day commuting which increases stress and makes you fat. It seems like a high price to pay for the ability to have a barbecue in your own backyard. Y'know, because the professional quality outdoor grills that are available in modern condos are so unappealing.
I was reading the wikipedia article about urban planning. Apparently there is a new movement called 'new urbanism'. The jist of it is that New Urbanism encourages design based on walkable communities. The community is no more than half a mile in diameter, and is fairly high density. In the community centre there is a public school, doctors office, community centre, set of shops, and a transit centre. Apparently Florida has several communities designed like this and they work quite well. I've even read about an infill project in Toronto that is using this design scheme.
Basically, I spend a lot of time driving around suburbia and observing suburbanites, and I can't help but feel that this way of living is nothing but wasteful and inefficient.

2005-02-22T16:57:00.000-05:00

I just got back from home. I was there over the weekend. I had to come back and write an exam. CS, blech, it went terribly. So much for the inspiration to succeed.
One of the funny things is, that I went home to get my T4 from Toyota so that I could do my taxes. And it wasn't there. Well, I got an email from my mom and it arrived. Today. The day after I got back!! So now I need to wait for it to be mailed to me. Ugh.
But, weekend was good. I went and studied at the lake for a bit. Studied at home for a bit. Went to a movie with my cousin John and went to dinner with my friend Kelly. Other than that, it was a pretty quiet weekend.

Sunuva. I've got a blog

2005-02-16T15:23:00.000-05:00

Well. Notable accomplishments of the past few weeks: Getting all of my roommates sick, writing my Business ethics exam, buying pants, and now posting my thoughts on a site no one will read.

Got my military reference letters dropped off at the offices of Larry Smith and Rick Theisz. I'm really struggling with my decision about what to do when I graduate. Do I join the army? Or do I go looking for a job in Toronto. The finance jobs in Toronto will be better paying. But, I really don't think that I will get the type of training I need to run my own business working on excel for a firm on Bay Street.

I'm going home on Thursday, I'm planning on talking to my parents about my decisions. I'm also going to be studying on the weekend for my CS430 midterm. I can't believe my prof scheduled an exam during reading week. Ugh.

the art of e

Hate being sick

Orlando Pt 2

Orlando pt.1

Heading to Orlando and other news...

Prank Backfire

I found a Wal Mart!

Holy Mother F*&%ing S&*t

Awesome Guitar

A New Post!! No, Really!!

I know you have already read this but...

Which car are you?

I'm a Lamborghini Murcielago!

Just when you thought the republicans couldn't get any creepier...

First trip to the Casino

Saturday Night

A new technology on the energy front

Torrent Site Rankings

Top Gear update

You know you're a geek when...

C'mon, study

Ahhh... Waterloo

Actually, it's not the AE86

Yep, the Corolla SR5 is the AE-85

Truck!!

Ethics Schmethics

I Want My Truck!!

Back to an investing mindset

The Great Stevia Wars

The end of a weekend...

Shopping for a car...

John Hemming got married

Poker and BP

NAFTA superhighway

CFA studying

Boston Pizza

Either the grossest or most delicious thing ever. You decide.

Update

So this is what it feels like to be stuck in a rut

More Cowbell!!

uninspired

Gotta love wasting time

Lazy Investing

Worst video ever

Conspiracies and Conspiracy Conspiracies

One Futureshop saga ends, another begins

Futureshop continues...

I want her to teach ME ju jitsu

hahahahahahahahahaha

Another cool Energy link

Almost St. Paddys

Cool Energy sources

Canada: We're Rich Biatch!!

What's next, Ultimate Poker Fighting?

A level playing field

Repo Man

Goram Futureshop??

Google comes to Waterloo

Goram Futureshop

New Canadian Territory??

Scared Canadian

Ahhhh!!! The US is coming!!

GTA: San Andreas

Those Wacky Evangelical Christians

Big Friday

The solution to Suburbia

Google

Selling Ice to Eskimoes

Coffee

Boston??

Midland

American Mythology

Bland and Boring Summer Continued...

Drinky Drinky!

Mustang 5.0

The End of Suburbia: The Musical!

Got kicked out of Bomber!

Jimmy stole my LOTR DVDs!!

Playing to Win. The right way.

On being poor

Holy Mother F&%ing S&t