December 25, 2005

no Christmas haul over here, partially because I refused to allow a tree in the room where I slept, and partially because of the impending mortgage.

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December 24, 2005

waffling

so I have a waffle maker, but I have no recipe to use in it.
A search of the internet(s) provides countless recipes, all of which seem to have some interestingness. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to try them all out. Years of watching America's Test Kitchen and endless spare time have left me with the ability to pull out what ingredients affect which variables, and from there I'll eventually work out a pretty awesome recipe, I hope.

what does what is beyond the cut

these are pretty much the basics required for waffles and/or pancakes.

dry
baking powder: provides the majority of the lift, but too much leaves an unpleasant aftertaste.
flour: the structure and fillingness. too much and it's sodden, too little and you're eating an omelette.
sugar: not just sweetness, but also browning control.
salt: a pinch is necessary in any baked goods to bring the other flavors forward. put a little in your hot chocolate some time.

wet
milk: most recipes used milk instead of water. I don't know why. Maybe it's a flavor thing.
liquid fat: I don't know what this does. I think it makes the flour not build too many bonds, allowing for a tender waffle.
egg whites: when beaten and then folded in, they provide lightness to the batter.
egg yolks: richness, also so you don't have random yolks kickin' it in the fridge.
vanilla: to reduce the eggyness of it all.

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rundown

tuesday:
Went to Celebrities with the intention to party down, but instead ended up people watching with Al and Neil. Half the people who were coming didn't get in, so Al and I ditched to go back to his place and watch Serenity and play the drinking game. More accurately, we were drinking according to abridged rules, else we get wasted on rules designed for a 40-minute show. Specifically: Drink when Chinese is spoken. Drink when Mal is chivalrous. Drink when powers are used for evil. Drink when people get punched. Discovered that someone had drank the Jack I'd left at Kerrisdale Alpha in preparation for the party I didn't make it to.
Was distracted by Tanqueray and raspberry ginger ale in conjunction with the AlMac on which we were watching Serenity (which was pretty cool and means I'll probably throw Firefly on the iPod next.)

wednesday:
Slept in.
Went to work.
Ran into Vanessa on the 135, which negated any concerns I had about being late. Read book Neil gave me on music writing. Worked and drank gatorade, would have been skull-crushingly bored if not for the other people there, which pretty much sums up work at the PNE.

thursday:
More PNE. Mom gave me a ride into Vancouver on her way to physio, so I got dropped off at 29th Ave station at 7:twentysomething AM, and on a #16 shortly thereafter. Had coffee at nondescript place on Hastings and Nanaimo. Had London Fog at Starbucks while waiting for Asian bakeries to open so I can get some egg tarts and other baked goods for work munching. No egg tarts within timeframe, so I trudge to work and, well, work.
Someone decides that they need to do a Starbucks run, and in a moment of confusion, I order another London Fog instead of something caffeinated to keep me awake. Said drink bites me in the ass again when it gets knocked over and onto the E4's - momentary panic and disassembly later, things are fine.
Later the same day, we get pulled aside individually as to extend contracts, which is when I mention that I won't be renewing mine, and that while it's been fun and the people are great, I think it's time to move on. And so I will. My last shift is the 30th, at which point I'll hand over the key, ID, and uniform, and go down to two jobs for the first time since... September 2004.
On way home, buy coat. You'll probably all see it soonish, as it's warm and less formal than the calf-length one.

Friday:
spend day at home, with exception of errands with mother.
I now own a wafflemaker.

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December 20, 2005

larger news:

we're moving at the end of January.

it's farther into Surrey, but at least I have a bedroom again. And apparently my own bathroom.

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sea change

Looking at the archives, I seem to be posting big huge overviews and then not writing anything for two to three weeks at a time, which means my frontpage posts go all the way back to October.

Weirdly, my hits have gone up.

I don't know if I want to retire this or make more regular (Alasdair-style, perhaps?) posts. Maybe I'll try both and see.

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something original I said

from Koerner's last night with Jon F:

"...Dr. Phil's a grade A douchebag."
"See, now I don't know about that. If I had a vagina, he totally wouldn't be allowed near it."

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December 12, 2005

because I have nothing original to say

that's not entirely true, but since most of the original things I have to say are either mopetacular or involve a certain NES-controller-tattooed girl that I'd like to see more of (and should probably call) that I'm not much in the mood to recount, you'll have to settle for the Winter Holiday A1 Wishlist meme that makes its way around, as memes are wont to do.

it's a bit longish, so it's behind some cuts.

anyway:
the instructions
my wishes
my info
Step One

  • Make a post (public, friendslocked, filtered...whatever you're comfortable with) to your LJ. The post should contain your list of 10 holiday wishes. The wishes can be anything at all, from simple and random ("I'd love a Snape/Hermione icon that's just for me") to medium ("I wish for _____ on DVD") to really big ("All I want for Christmas is a new car/computer/house/TV.") The important thing is, make sure these wishes are things you really, truly want.
  • If you wish for real life things (not pics or icons), make sure you include some sort of contact info in your post, whether it's your address or just your email address where Santa (or one of his elves) could get in touch with you.
  • Also, make sure you post some version of these guidelines in your LJ so that the holiday joy will spread.

Step Two
  • Surf around your friendslist (or friendsfriends, or just random journals) to see who has posted their list. And now here's the important part:
  • If you see a wish you can grant, and it's in your heart to do so, make someone's wish come true. Sometimes someone's trash is another's treasure, and if you have a leather jacket you don't want or a gift certificate you won't use--or even know where you could get someone's dream purebred Basset Hound for free--do it.
  • you needn't spend money on these wishes unless you want to. The point isn't to put people out, it's to provide everyone a chance to be someone else's holiday elf--to spread the joy. Gifts can be made anonymously or not--it's your call.

There are no rules with this project, no guarantees, and no strings attached. Just...wish, and it might come true. Give, and you might receive. And you'll have the joy of knowing you made someone's holiday special
my wishes.

my wishes

  1. Make me a Desert Island mix CD. But don't make it for me. Pick the tracks you'd stick on if they were the only 80 minutes of music you'd have on you until you get rescued (or eaten by The Monster, if this is LOST we're talking about), and then tell me why.
  2. A massage. I've been told carry my stress in my shoulders, and I've been sleeping on a couch half a foot too small for me for the last seven months. Bonus points if you ask anything as ridiculous as if I've been wrestling bears.
  3. Let's do something. Coffee and eyeglass frame shopping? Done. Picking a foggy day to wander around Stanley Park and take photos? Fuck yeah. Drinking Jack and Coke out of Nalgene bottles and making fun of people on Robson for an afternoon? Hells yes. I don't see far too many of you nearly often enough, so let's make it memorable and/or absurdist.
  4. Introduce me to someone you think I'd get along with.
  5. Send me something to decorate my impending bedroom with.
  6. Knit me a scarf, or better, knit a scarf with me.
  7. Beer. The better... the better?
  8. Glasses to go with said beer.
  9. Inform me of your favorite way to destress.
  10. Tell me something I should know. You can do this anonymously on the LJ post - I can't figure out how to enable anonymous commenting on only the one Blogger post.


I totally lost steam between 5 and 8, but whatever.

my info

gerald dot deo at gmail dot com

gerald deo
one one six six three eighty-sixth avenue
delta, bc
v four c two x five

Remember: do what you want, put up your lists so other people can do you... up.

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bleh.

yet another meme/questionnaire beyond the cut:
onwards!



1. Your name spelled backwards? oeD rawhsidgaJ dlareG
2. Where were your parents born? Suva and Navua, Fiji.
3. What is the last thing you downloaded onto your computer? Soulwax's Nite Versions album.
4. What's your favorite restaurant? The Eatery, for now.
5. Last time you swam in a pool? A couple weeks ago.
6. Have you ever been in a school play? Nope.
7.Have you ever worn braces? Not yet.
8. Type of music you DISLIKE most? Noise (the genre, I mean). Pop-punk-rock, ie Billy Talent and others of its ilk.
9. Are you registered to vote? Of course.
10. Do you have cable? Yes.
11. Have you ever ridden on a moped? Not yet.
12. Ever prank-called anybody? Yes.
13. Do you have all 10 fingers and toes? Yeah, but I've almost lost a couple.
14. Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving? Yeah.
15. Furthest place you ever traveled? New Zealand.
16. Do you have a garden? No.
17. What's your favorite comic strip? Calvin and Hobbes.
18. Do you really know all the words to your national anthem? Yes. In both languages.
19. Bath or Shower, morning or night? Shower.
20. Best movie you've seen in the past month? Does the BSG miniseries count? It's about as long as a bollywood movie...
21. Favorite pizza toppings? Chicken, mushrooms and green pepper.
22. Chips or popcorn? Chips.
23. What color lipstick do you usually wear? Don't.
24. Have you ever smoked peanut shells? Raisins would be a better thing to ask.
25. Have you ever played a team sport? Nope.
26. Orange Juice or apple? Apple.
27. Who was the last person you went out to dinner with and where? With just the one person? Sarah Costa at the eatery, I think.
28. Favorite type of chocolate bar? Dark chocolate, usually Lindt 56% or 70%, also a total sucker for anything with hazelnuts.
29.When was the last time you voted at the polls? May 19.
30. Last time you ate a homegrown tomato? No idea.
31. Have you ever won a trophy? No.
32. Are you a good cook? Yes. To the max.
33. Do you know how to pump your own gas? No. I also forget how to walk, sometimes.[/sarcasm]
34. Ever ordered from an infomercial? No. Almost everywhere else, though, so maybe it's just a matter of time.
35. Sprite or 7up? 7up.
36. Have you ever had to wear a uniform to work? Yeah. House of Brussels Chocolates had me in a ridiculous maroon apron, but nothing comes close to PNE Parking's uniform of yellow polo and black pants, and no sunglasses that obscured your eyes allowed.
37. Last thing you bought at a Walgreens?
38. Ever thrown up in public? Only the once, and we all know that story...
39. Would you prefer being a millionaire or finding true love? Love.
40. Do you believe in love at first sight? ...or do I need to walk by again?
41. Can ex's be just friends? If both parties want to, and if they're okay with it not being the same.
42. Who was the last person you visited in a hospital? The last three times I've been to a hospital, it was because I was accompanying someone to emergency, so while that's not what's specifically being asked, it's the closest to an answer I've got.
43. Did you have a lot of hair as a baby? Oddly, no.
44. What message is on your answering machine? Hey, you've reached Gerald; sorry I can't take your call. Please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
45. Where would you like to go? Back to New Zealand, and probably into Southeast Asia from there. Perhaps also South America.
46. What was the name of your first pet? My aquatic snail, Pac-Man. He had four fish friends, each named after the ghosts. I was allergic to anything with fur as a child, as we found out when my sister had a rabbit.
47. What kind of backpack do you have, and what's in it? I have a Swiss Army messenger bag and it's usually got school stuff in it (books, clipboard, notebook, dayplanner, etc) but at the moment it's got my overnight gear in.
48. Who is your best friend of the opposite sex? Patricia, Naf, Costa. I don't think of people as "best friends" all that much.
49. What is one thing you are grateful for today? Today it's painkillers.
50. What do you think about most? Change.

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November 21, 2005

give me your eyes / I need sunshine

a standard updatey post follows:
____
the fog makes everything seem post-apocalyptic.
I want to pull out the camera, bundle up, and idly take photos while listening to Autechre or Mogwai or something equally quasihuman.
I can't, mostly because my coat's in my closet, and I can't get to my closet, and that's a dead horse and I'll beat it no more.

____
Things that have happened since Meltdown Monday:

  • Costa's birthday, which included:
    • surprising her with 21 candles stuck into a pendulum brownie
    • jeans shopping, retail hilarity, and Keystonean underwear advice
    • the Odyssey
    • the Lotus Long Weekend
    • Eating chips on Sarah's couch at 3am
    • IHOP with Gavin and Collins the next day
  • Retail Therapy
  • the beginning of Elections Rumor Season.
  • a very quiet weekend, filled with sleeping and movies
  • a weird non-week of school, in which my classes were either cancelled or missed due to ICBC/lawyer appointments
  • a lot of people asking me if I liked guys.
  • an unremarkable EA meeting, followed by an oddly frank discussion with a couple of the ambassadors
  • me settling with ICBC, which was unexpected
  • my last shift at the PNE (forever? I dunno yet)
  • my office being fucking freezing due to the floor-to-ceiling window and brock hall's terrible heating
  • other stuff I probably should've written down as it happened

___
the Cliff Notes: down to two jobs, schoolwork all over the place, work work to catch up on, iPod in mail, a fairly slack exam schedule, and no move in sight.

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November 15, 2005

decisions, decisions

do I want a laptop (specifically: 15" Powerbook), or do I want to go to Montreal for reading week?

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November 07, 2005

down the rabbit hole.

The pool was where it all started going downhill, in retrospect. The water was colder than usual, I was in the moderate lane because the slow one was too full and the outdoor pool is now closed, and it was too soon after eating (30 minutes, they say. It wasn't enough.)

So I cramped, like they warn you. Left calf went right when the water became warm again, roughly 150 meters in (I usually swim 500).

Stop. Stretch. Breathe. Go.

Right calf at 225m. You can't gasp underwater. Trust me.

Walked out, showered, left. I think, somewhere in there, among the chlorine and pool noodles, my groove/mojo/whatever continues to float, blissfully abandoned amongst the lapping water and cheery flags, free of my (mainly, but not limited to, work/work/work/school) stress and assorted hangups.

Fucker.

Get back to the Orientations Office to pick my iPod up from Rob (don't take your valuables to the Aquatic Centre, the signs say. So I don't.) Plug my headphones back in, wire up (cords go down the back of my shirt, else I swear I'd choke myself inadvertently.), and go to change the song, because Rob had been listening to Blur and I felt like the Cardigans.

It freezes. I grumble, wait, and reset.
The logo flashes, silver on a black screen.
The hard drive makes several ugly, obstructed clicking noises, and then simply shuts down. Sad iPod pops up and tells me to visit Apple Support's website.

I swear. A lot. It looks like a total hard drive failure. It's three weeks old. Part of me is relieved that it happened under warranty. Most of me is mad, though - I didn't drop $540 to have it die on me in three weeks and have to send it in, with only a chance of receiving a new one.

Forward to 4pm. I'm in my office, replying to emails (so far, four people have emailed to say they'll be skipping the next EA meeting. Time management: clearly not a strong suit.) Also, Brie's USB-to-iPod cable in hand, jumping through Apple Support hoops to perhaps restore my iPod. And failing miserably. And trying to resist the urge to two-fist Diet Mountain Dew Energy. Succeed.
Vanessa calls. "Hey, you're scheduled to be here. Where are you?"

Swear some more. Give up on iPod. Run to Gage, return cable to Brie. Then to the bus loop.

Bus to PNE, e-headphone-ated and stuck listening to the conversations of others without actually meaning to; I blame ACF radios and years of headphone usage for allowing me to timeslice well enough to follow two conversations at once. Kill 2.5 hours on MSN, news sites and blogs. Make Apple send me a box to ship my iPod to them so they can send me another one. Commiserate with boss about how stupid this day has been. Get away with breaking dress code to small pieces, and spend shift in a New Pornographers tee and jeans, as opposed to the business casual that is laid out in Policies and Procedures. This is, perhaps, an aluminum lining.

Leave PNE for home. Miss bus. Go to Starbucks to kill the half-hour. Make fun of eggnog barista. Am told that I'll be remembered, because she can ask me if I want Chicken Milk Chai Lattes. I didn't, and don't think that'll change. One Pumpkin Spice Latte and about twently minutes later, I get on the #16. About five minutes later, someone vomits in the stairwell of the bus.Magical. Everyone opens the nearest window and the bus' temperature drops. Huddled in my coat, resenting everyone and everything packed into this metal-and-rubber trolleywired contraption, I remember what the word I'm looking for: Ack.

Ack ack ack, Jackie would say.

Now, I'm writing the first lab report since the ill-fated Crab Paper of first year, on how dilute a solution of orange extract in water can be before it stops being detectable by a variety of noses. Before this month is over, I'll have to write another one about experiments I've performed on a virtual lab rat.

Egh. Ack.
Fuck, whatever. I have work to do.

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November 04, 2005

this doesn't change anything, but:

Velociraptor Boyfriend: a pair of my favorite pointless one-shot comics.
I've probably referenced them before, but they're that good.

additionally, I was quoted in today's Metro. I blame Spencer.

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I need a vacation.

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October 23, 2005

breaking form:

there's a music-meme-thing up on the Livejournal, which you should give a shot.

In terms of me:
- the new iPod is fantastic, but it's got slight scratches already somehow.
- work is the same
- school is the same
- I need to buy sweaters
- Brie still has my damn scarf
- I go to the pool from 12:30 to 1:30 five days a week. you should come.

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October 16, 2005

catalytic

it's been a weird-ass couple of days.

but first, a small recap of earlier this week:
- Claudia revealed that she'd been playing Six Degrees of Gerald, which is awesome but mostly horrifying (in an ego-boost-tastic way).
- Had a phone conversation with Siraz in which he nudged me towards saying yes to Control.
- Joblink Dave had a dream with me in it.
- I talked with someone who wasn't really a friend in highschool, but is becoming more of one, and she somehow managed to take my disparate interests and skills and fuse them into a career (socially sustainable HR consulting) which sounds doable and exciting.
- I spoke to Naf on the phone.
- The 7 statements meme exploded on my LJ friends page, which led to some interesting insight on how I'm seen and how I see other people.
- Along those lines, Butterscotch Superman is an awesome descriptor.

Now, for some Braun-Fu:
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
______
Thursday was marked by the Money Order Fiasco, in which I managed to lose and then find $1300 in money orders, with the help of one of the pastors at the Lutheran Centre and an anonymous person who saw me drop them from the 3rd floor of GSAB, and returned them to the bank. It was a scary fucking hour, retracing my steps and trying desperately to catch a glimpse of the envelope on the background of leaves, until I gave up and trudged back to the bank.
Devoid of any feeling, wondering what the hell I was going to do about my now-missing $1300, I trudged back to the CIBC in the village, only to find that some anonymous benefactor had returned them. I went weak in the knees. I almost jumped the counter and hugged the teller.

It was relief on a seismic scale.

Two absolute strangers, one of whom ended her conversation and put off whatever she was doing to help me find the envelope, and another who returned the envelope and refused to provide any contact information to the bank tellers. I'm still sort of surprised, in a good way.

Friday wasn't at all what I was expecting - I had planned on going to class, then Exec Committee, and then working on EA stuff and my distance ed course before making an appearance chez Hicks and then going home.
Started off the day with buying large Toblerones with which to thank the Rescuers of Thursday. Ended up missing them both entirely, and leaving notes with respective secretaries. Exec Meeting was blissfully uneventful. Ended up wandering around the SUB with Jackie post AMS-birthday-cupcakepalooza, buying a leather cuff, and then taking the bus downtown together, conversing the entire time, parting at Granville Station, as I got off to catch a Skytrain.
After returning a shirt and recieving a phone call, I went home, prepared to gird my loins and do battle with Canada Customs about some sort of $352 charge levied on my free iPod. It turned out that it was assessed at $352, so I had to cough up roughly $60 (GST, PST, and an $8 Express Postage Handling Fee, which is nine kinds of BS),which is still stupid, but since I had to sell the thing the next day, I figured "what the hell" and paid it. Went home, downloaded comics and didn't do much. Apparently missed an epic desk crawl.

Saturday's plan: sell iPod, go swimming, hole up in office and work, go drinking.
Most of it went well, I sold the iPod (yes, Brie, I sold it for far more than I should have, but if people can't be arsed to look up that there's a new one out and that my resale should've been about $70 lower, then it's not my fault... right?) then beelined to the bank (for obvious reasons).

I didn't go swimming, and I didn't get nearly as much work done as I would've liked (see also: 64-person list meme on the LJ), and I missed the closing of the campus LDB by twenty minutes, so I had to make a detour to the one on 4th and Alma. Ran into Britt and Hurley, with whom I ended up buying SoCo, Coke, Colts, and limes before walking with them back to Hurley's place upon which I kept going to Drew's party.

I didn't hang out with Hurley in high school; we sat next to each other in Info Tech 11, and he dated someone in the mini in the year ahead of me, so we'd garner a nod in passing, or a micro-conversation at parties, but it was good to catch up with him and have the same conversation that people who've left somewhere (high school, college, working at an office, etc) have: where you talk about who's doing what now, and how weird it is to be "Dave, who plays poker."

It's not like it matters, but: Britt, I approve. ;)

Drew (and his party) were delightful. Got horribly drunk and a little high, argued that eight pairs of shoes doesn't merit a collection, was confused by girls, probably confused some girls, offended Nate, and ended up walking back to Rob's at about 3am. Apparently, me and Rob walk too damn fast, because Eurassia and Jordie showed up a bunch later and were... less than pleased with us.

On the walk back, though, I had a good, long talk with Rob about a lot of things that I don't entirely remember, but by the end of the whole thing, I felt a lot more sure of stuff than I had for a good long while.

_______
The upshot of it all?

I walked home from the bus stop in the rain, headphones on, listening to the New Pornographers, being pleased.
It's been too long.

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October 15, 2005

nerd update:

sold the iPod. got $360 for it, which went into buying this. 60 gigs, black, ETA: November 1.

combined with this amp and these canalphones, I'll finally have the portable setup I've wanted for ages.

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October 10, 2005

unreasonable crushes: an ongoing series.

one of the many reasons I like the new Batgirl (other than the fact she's a walking tribute to neuroplasticity) is that that she can pull all sorts of stuff that Batman can't. Like PUNCHING THROUGH SWORDS.

I won't lie. I thought that frame was sorta hot.

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October 08, 2005

separation anxiety

it feels sort of weird that I'm not in Whistler this weekend.

just a little.

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October 05, 2005

stolen from Caitlin's blog (ie, the one most of you don't know)

Leave your name and

1. I'll respond with something random about you.
2. I'll tell you what song/movie reminds me of you.
3. I'll pick a flavor of jello to wrestle with you in.
4. I'll say something that only makes sense to you and me.
5. I'll tell you my first/clearest memory of you.
6. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of.
7. I'll ask you something that I've always wondered about you.
8. If I do this for you, you must post this on your journal. You MUST. It is written. (or whatever, I don't really give a shit)

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October 01, 2005

I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but I firmly believe that one day, I'll make it through a leadership multi-day orientation/focus thing without acquiring a stunning hangover.

This wasn't that day.

Between the two halves of the Equity Ambassador Fall Retreat, there was Kerrisdale Alpha's Housewarming Party, which was a fantastic time. I can't list all the moments of absurdity, stunningly geeky one-liners, so here're seven top choices, or more accurately, the seven I remember, because chances are high people said sillier and/or funnier things, and I just don't remember them now.

  • "so, what you're saying is, if your mom was expressed in RGB, she'd be #FFFFFF?" me to Lindsay Woo, whilst discussing her half-Asianity.
  • Brie lecturing Rob on his unexciting underpants, the citing of me as a paragon of boxer taste, and the dropping of my pants (as requested by Brie) to fully display said awesome boxer taste.
  • Sock Cat.
  • "Ellen Allien's coming?!" "Yes." "No." "Yes." "No." "Yes." "No." "Yes." "No." "Yes." "No." "Yes." "When?" "Sunday, Richards." "Fuck you." "I'm serious." "No." "Yes." "No." "Before this goes any further: she's here. On Sunday. At Richards. With Matthew Dear. Will I see you there?" A conversation between myself and Thor... edited for brevity.
  • Breaking Rob's bed while watching Futurama.
  • The Giant Squid Made of Newspaper Skullfuck hat I was given because I hadn't brought a silly hat.
  • the toast to bandwagons


The EA retreat went really, really well. I've got a good group full of good ideas, and as long as I can keep them focused, they'll produce fantastic works. I think I'm getting the hang of this whole leading thing, too.

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September 30, 2005

I love that I can make it all the way to campus, and only then realize that I've left my UPass at home.

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September 28, 2005

123go!

to do:

    School:
    • pay tuition
    • track down Sniffy the lab rat
    • catch up on reading
    • do distance ed assignment
    • sell old books to discount bookstore
    Equity Ambassadors:
    • tidy office
    • call Videomatica
    • figure out when BinderComm meets
    • interview applicants
    • find cheap binders & little red dots.
    • start finding speakers for meetings
    • book positive space
    • TIMESHEETS.
    • design business cards.
    AMS
    • nag classroom services some more
    • catch up on minute backlog
    • mess with Spencer a little.
    PNE:
    • figure out database system
    • double-check hours are correct
    • quit? arrange for time off
    ACF:
    • email Siraz
    • talk to Ari
    • decide.
    Social/Geek/etc:
    • buy tickets to: Stars/BSS
    • figure out where to crash after respective shows.
    • keep looking into cameras
    • bug Jill some more
    • buy sweater(s)
    • go for more coffee with people
    • make time for Naf
    • start stencilling things again
    Sanity:
    • hold onto
    • buy more diet coke

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September 27, 2005

fun gerald fact:

you can tell how stressed out I am by how much diet coke I drink in a day.

today's count? 3.
a bad day's count? upwards of 5.

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September 25, 2005

tripartite

1. The New Pornographers show was fantastic. I should start taking my camera to shows again.
Bought a shirt at the show, which my father hugely disapproved of. I can't say I'm surprised.

2. This is, apparently, what I'd look like as a South Park character. You can make your own here.

3. I feel behind and I don't know why. Aside from the one class (which is distance ed and the textbook is still on back order), I've been pretty good about stuff.
Egh.

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September 19, 2005

more tracking fun!

for reasons I've never fully grasped, I enjoy tracking packages. It's the ideal combination of excitement about packages in the mail, minus the worry of "am I going to miss it?"

hence: the newest one.

it's my free iPod; since I used Jill's address to sign up for it when it was a US-only site, it has to get shipped to her and then up to me.

whee!

if you want a free full-size iPod, sign up under Spencer here (self-promotion is useless because I've gone as far as they'll let me go)

if you want a free iPod Nano, sign up under me here.

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September 17, 2005

for kaitlin (and others):

Blogger has word verification on comments, so that spambots don't lay waste to one's comment box in hopes of peddling pills or other less... savory things.

the blogger article on it is here: Blogger Help, and even if it hasn't started being a problem, (I'm looking at you, Aleks), I recommend turning it on. Plus, it's sort of fun to see what random words you'll have to put in before you can leave a message.

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September 14, 2005

like pulling thoughts out of a hat.

first EA meeting went well; people were excited and we have a good team and there's lots of good ideas.

can't shake the feeling that I'm going to make a giant clusterfuck of things.
--

the PNE is (finally, thankfully) winding down, so I'm only working a couple evenings for the rest of the month and even less in October, so I'm no longer considering going down to two jobs.
--

classes are interesting. I'm going to try and finish my distance ed course by the end of April instead of August. We'll see how it goes.
--

I always enjoy it when life imitates art.
--

having had success in obtaining a free iPod, I'm trying again for a free iPod nano. Blame geek lust, I guess. Click here if you want to help me get one and start your own free electronics odyssey.

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September 06, 2005

leave it to my sister to add a less-than-wonderful end to what was otherwise probably the best first day of classes I've had at UBC.

interesting class? check.
good times at Imagine? check.
people? check.
beer? check.

stupid sanctimonious room-thieving cow of a sister lecturing me because I complain too much about my a) bedroomlessness and b) commute? could've done without it.

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August 30, 2005

bullet point living.

I haven't written much lately, mostly because there isn't much to write about - I've basically been working or drinking, with little of the inbetween state or much in the way of other activity.
Patricia thinks I should write more, and though she claims it's because she needs more reading material I think it's actually because she knows I feel better about things when they're available for the world to see.

A rundown of things follows:

Work: there's too much of it. I quit at tours. Maybe I should go down to two jobs.
Home: my sister won't be getting divorced until January. Moving out is now a higher priority.
School: two classes left to get into (POLI 100 and 220), and I should buy textbooks soonish.
Free iPod: I've been approved, now I just have to order one. I'm going to wait until Apple reveals whatever it reveals next Wednesday, so that maybe I can get whatever's new and awesome for free.
Music: Listening to The Cardigans a lot. Can't wait to go on a ticket-buying spree. Going to the Killers/BSP show, by which I mean going to BSP and then walking out of the Killers.
Other Geekery: I'm tempted to redesign.

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August 20, 2005

two small updates

1. comments are open to all, as long as you can prove you're a person.
2. I'm on the facebook now.

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August 09, 2005

I just quit a job.
It feels sort of weird, but we both knew why it was the case, and there's nothing but mild regrets all around.
and I get to keep the nametags, which is nifty.

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August 08, 2005

Ultra Secret Shirt Preview

Ultra Secret Shirt Preview

this is pretty much what I'll be submitting to Threadless.
Thoughts?
Comments?

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August 07, 2005

as much as I enjoy getting comments from anyone and everyone, I don't appreciate comment spam. As such, I've turned anonymous commenting off, at least until blogger finds some vaguely elegant way of stopping it.

If you don't want to register but still want to comment, drop me an email; moc [dot] liamg [at] oed [dot] dlareg is the address to send them to (but backwards).

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August 05, 2005

more about the shirt

here's a mockup:


It's somewhat Neil-inspired, because he says "serenity now" a lot.
previous designs were in different colors (the color scheme still isn't settled), used different fonts/placements, and one even had the text upside down; logic being that you'd look down at your shirt and be calmed.

thoughts?

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August 03, 2005

today!

so, I spent my "day off" (I didn't go to work, but I emailed people like there was no tomorrow) designing a shirt for threadless.com. Sort of. The process went more like this:

  1. decide on text for shirt.
  2. try to decide what font to use.
  3. become frustrated with font selection, go hunting on the internet for fonts.
  4. read typography blogs.
  5. stumble across Gill Sans, which is just right for my needs.
  6. hunt down and install Gill Sans.
  7. feel guilty for ripping off a typographer; it's fairly difficult work.
  8. see that it'd cost me a whole damn lot to buy, feel less guilty.
  9. notice that Threadless prefers vector images over bitmaps (it's a way of thinking about images; ask me later if you want to know more), attempt to find bitmap-to-vector converter.
  10. find out that Flash MX does a fine job of this.
  11. figure that I may as well upgrade Fireworks so that all my Macromedia products are up to date.
  12. find, install, and crack aforementioned programs, and get down to actual work.
  13. get nowhere due to (lack of) speed of desktop.
  14. convince sister to let me use her laptop.
  15. install/crack programs again, and move my source images over to her computer.
  16. graphics program + trackpads = disaster.
  17. get some stuff done anyway, for a solid 45 minutes.
  18. move stuff done over to desktop.
  19. return laptop to previous state and then to sister.
  20. grumble.
Sprinkle in a liberal amount of email checking, livejournal reading, and geek website commenting, and you've got the closest thing I get to a vacation this summer. I got a design done, and now I'm fiddling with colour schemes before submitting to threadless, and I'll post samples for comment tomorrow.
for now, though, I'm going to bed.

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August 02, 2005

shilling, round 2

so, remember this post, with the getting people to sign up and the having gotten my requisite five?

yeah, I didn't quite do that.

so, if you're looking to acquire a free iPod and want to help me out, click this link and sign up.

if you're entirely uninterested and wouldn't mind $10 for jumping through a couple internet hoops, email me (gerald.deo@gmail.NINJAcom; vanquish ninja to proceed.) and then click this link.

I figure $10 for an iPod is still better than $400.

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July 31, 2005

photos, as promised.

island daytrip 001
island daytrip 001,
originally uploaded by heeeraldo.
probably the best photo I've taken in a while.
now that I have some semblance of free time, I can do more stuff like this.

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July 30, 2005

2.5fold: public service announcement, parentheses, pictures

Jenn Lau (to know her is to love her) is off to LA for three weeks to TA a course, and while she's gone, she's keeping a journal of her adventures over at Tales of Hollywood/North.

Go say hi.
___
Pictures from my day trip to Victoria (for a wedding) up soon. I feel like a jerk for not using the Flickr Pro account (the lovely and talented) Oana gave me, so expect to see more stuff up soon.

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July 29, 2005

a note:

so, my summer started yesterday, by which I mean classes are over and
I just have a 6-day workweek.

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July 27, 2005

what's becoming an unfortunate habit:

so, apple's rocking some sort of contest for Canadian students, in which you're given $2500 to build an imaginary prize pack, and then a random draw at the end of the whole thing gives you a coupon to the online Apple store.

there's a twist, though: if you refer people, your "prize pool money" goes up, by $250 a person to a maximum of $2500 extra - so you could, in theory, get a $5000 prize pack thing.

unfortunately, there's no handy link or anything - I have to email people with the offer. since I don't want to spam you all, campaign-style, I'm going to ask that if you're interested, drop a comment or send an email to [gerald at interchange dot ubc dot ca]

info at: www.winwhatyouwant.ca - but don't sign up! email me first!

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July 23, 2005

decompression

I'm spending the weekend at home, recovering from the last few weeks of my rather absurdist work/school schedule. There's no work to be done (I actually managed to not have to work on the weekend at the PNE; I've been trying and failing since, like, June) , just some review before next weeks finals, and maybe some designing of t-shirts and clearing out the mix CD waiting list (Aleks, I'm thinking of you specifically.)

As much as I'd like to be out with you all (I've been invited to three parties. In one day. Jesus.), right now, what I need is a quiet weekend to erase my sleep deficit (currently standing at 12 hours1, fresh socks, some lazing in the sun listening to Feist and the Dismemberment Plan (good call, Neil2), and a nice, relaxed run or three.

I'll see some people soonish, and others not so much, but I'm okay with that.
and I think I'm closer to okay than I have been for a good long while.

1I define sleep deficit as (number of hours slept in the last week) - (number of hours I sleep on average in a night * 7), which worked out to (37 - 49 = -12)
2I really should get on listening to things recommended to me faster.

___
In the meantime, here's a meme, taken from the lovely and talented J-Fung: ask me for a "top five" list of pretty much anything, and I'll do my best to list you my top five of that thing.

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July 19, 2005

Fwd: Gouranga

every now and then, I get weird-ass spam, and feel the need to share it.
here's another, that got sent to the equity ambassadors account.

-----Original Message-----

> Date: Mon Jul 18 20:50:48 PDT 2005
> From: "Neateye" <nitaigouranga@aol.com>
> Subject: Gouranga
> To: "Equity" <equity@(I don't want more spam)>
>
> Call out Gouranga be happy!!!
> Gouranga Gouranga Gouranga ....
> That which brings the highest happiness!!
>
>



In the original Grand Theft Auto, there were a group of monks in orange robes who could be found in every city, and if you managed to run them all over in one go, you'd get a huge points bonus, the word GOURANGA!!! up on your screen in bright yellow, and the cops after you. I can't find a picture, though...

edit: Wikipedia to the rescue.

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repost for jackie

Hello from YouSendIt,

You've got a file called "scrap-mix.zip" (98417 KB) waiting for download.

You can click on the following link to retrieve your file. The link
will expire in 7 days and will be available for a limited number of
downloads.

Regular link (for all web browsers):
http://s21.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0N9AU1K3OYSS72ILHZ23NFI489



it's a repost of the mix from this post.

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July 18, 2005

geek points: +10

an article I submitted to slashdot got accepted.
yay me!

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July 16, 2005

linkpost

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July 12, 2005

shilling:

so, the freeipods site does now work in Canada.

this was where my referral link was, but now that I've gotten my five, I'm going to put their links up as soon as they get them to me.
here's two, seeing as Spencer's gotten his done, apparently.
David
Mel

if you're interested in signing up, please use one of theirs.

    four things you should know:
  • a list of the offers and what they end up costing is available here.
  • if you do sign up, it'd be best to get yourself a throwaway email address first - I have gmail accounts if you want them.
  • I have yet to any spam from them, either virtual or real. In fact, I have yet to get any spam sent to my primary gmail account, which is how I can be sure of this.
  • one needs to have five other people referred by them who complete an offer before they get their respective ipods. I have one down (yay Quinn) and this is about as direct as I plan on getting, aside from the friendster post.


EDIT: having checked out the Canadian offers, the $1 "Galleria" trial membership thing looks to be the easiest one to do. Unless you want to buy cheap DVDs, in which case Columbia House looks like your best bet. The Audiobooks one is the worst, though - $3 for the first month and $22 for the second... and you can't cancel until the end of the month!

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July 06, 2005

bonus material

I don't want to talk about my day, mostly because I spent entirely too much of it on the bus.

I'll throw down a little commentary on things I am listening to, and maybe download links later.

Vitalic - "My Friend Dario"
This track is so much kitschy Eurohouse at once. I really shouldn't like it, but I do. A lot. The rev sample, the robotic-sounding woman, the bridge... it's like Daft Punk succeeding at being tongue in cheek, instead of producing "Robot Rock".

Maximo Park - "The Night I Lost My Head"
They're like the Kaiser Chiefs without the lame!
And on Warp*!
Which I can't figure out but don't care about any more!

*Warp is a record label known for being home to a bunch of crazy-ass glitch-loving electronic artists, so having a new-new-wave band on it is puzzling since some indie labels tend to have a unifying theme, and Warp is one of those.

Gorillaz - "White Light"
Damon Albarn takes a break from providing iPod ad music to take two minutes and mock dancepunk. All it needs to be complete is a little cowbell. Or would that take it too far?

Soulwax - "NY Excuse"
It's no "E-Talking", but I have an irrational liking for the interlude that happens about a minute and a half in (1:26, to be exact).
Female voice:"I didn't shout. I said, I didn't shout."
Male voice:"You don't have to shout at me."
FV: "Um, um, okay, well stop making me, then."
MV: "Hey... hey."
FV: "I'M BEING LOUD WITH YOU."

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July 01, 2005

some things you can't invent.

so, it's been a week since Drinkball, and I'm in no mood to do a full recap on it.

Thusly: it was awesome. I got loaded on Jack Daniels, kicked some balls around, threw a frisbee, had a small amount of quality time with Payne (which I don't do enough of and would like to fix), had a particularly amusing fall, managed to not vomit, and ended the evening watching The Wall at Jon's. Which happens to be right. next. door. to The C&C Awesome Factory.

The rest of the week has been a blur of school/work/school/work/etc. The only vaguely interesting things that happen at work happen in the AMS, and I can't talk about those, so, um, zut. I did have an interview for a fifth job with International Student Orientation, which I thought went well, and then I had to take myself out of the running because the PNE gave me a bunch more hours.

which leads to the next point: I'm working Monday/Wednesday/Friday at the PNE for the entire month of July. Somewhere during that month, I have EA group interviews to do. I still give the Thursday tour. And we all know I'm not leaving the AMS.

lost some weight, too, although having roughly a third of my pants collection no longer fit sucks.

so that's me in a nutshell: busy and slowly becoming skinnier.

---
anyway, I owe you all a mix CD, in lieu of a bunch of Five in Heavy Rotation's that I've missed, so here it is:

  1. Final Fantasy - The CN Tower Belongs to the Dead (3:31)
  2. Spoon - I Summon You (3:55)
  3. Doves - Sky Starts Falling (4:11)
  4. Coldplay - Speed of Sound (4:48)
  5. The Futureheads - Hounds of Love (3:02)
  6. Maxïmo Park - Postcard of a Painting (2:14)
  7. Bloc Party - Luno (Polysics Harajuku Mix) (4:00)
  8. Soulwax - E-Talking (radio edit) (2:59)
  9. Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc. (feat. De La Soul) (3:41)
  10. Caribou - Barnowl (5:50)
  11. The Postal Service - Brand New Colony (4:12)
  12. Vitalic - Wooo (3:52)
  13. Ellen Allien - Ghost Train (3:06)
  14. Ratatat - Desert Eagle (4:25)
  15. Daft Punk - Around the World (7:09)
  16. autechre - arch carrier (6:49)
download link here

25 downloads and/or seven days, so get on it...

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June 27, 2005

five small things

  1. I'm dangerously close to burning out.
  2. The image host I use has mysteriously shut down my accounts, so I won't have photos up until I get some time to find a new host, reupload the photos, and update the photo links.
  3. mix CD up soon because I haven't done a Five in Heavy Rotation in a while.
  4. also weekend (or, more accurately, Drinkball) recap up probably tomorrow.
  5. I'm picking up the three dollar CD player (ebay page here) tomorrow.

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June 22, 2005

I may have inadvertently declared war on my stomach:

the pork tonkatsu at the honor roll was a bad idea.

if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go fill up on digestive biscuits.

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June 19, 2005

stuff! I'm! thinking!

someone remind me why I have four jobs, again?
once you're done that, tell me why I have an interview for a fifth on wednesday.

also: spoon was delightful. getting up at 6:45 so I could be at the PNE by 8:30 was not. three shots of espresso in a tall latte (3 oz espresso, 4 oz milk, 1 oz foam for those of you keeping score) was a terrible and fantastic idea. large-scale group interviews are a logistical nightmare.

my backache would kill a lesser man.

I'm currently bidding on this camera on ebay. I started out looking for this. What I sort of want is one of these - fishing games are awesome.

I hate data entry.

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June 12, 2005

and again

stuff 064
stuff 064,
originally uploaded by heeeraldo.
look!
it's the same photo, but with different exposure.

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testing yet another silly feature

stuff 062
stuff 062,
originally uploaded by heeeraldo.
so, um, these are shoes I bought.

they're horrifically ugly. but comfortable, and I guess it means my detached hipster ironicism now extends to the gym.

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June 05, 2005

lazy list poster gerald

  • new coldplay = very... large. I dunno how I feel about that.
  • Alias = pretty good - I've rented the last three seasons over the last few weeks, and so I'm caught up until the season that just finished, which I'm going to have to download because it's not out on DVD yet.


fuck, who am I kidding?
I'm stuck in a rut again.

work/school/commute/geekery - it's not bad, but it's not great. Haven't been to the gym or made a shirt or taken photos in ages.

I feel like I've lost half of myself.

I've sort of taken steps to fix that; Costa and I are going to have weekly Power Yoga and Aquacize classes, once I get my schedule all ironed out, I'll either start going to the gym extremely early (in Delta) or after class (at the Bird Coop), as well as lunchtime swimming either way.

anyone else in for any of the above? I always felt better about things when I was hitting the gym regularly... maybe there is something to that "endorphin high" that Neil's always talking about.

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May 31, 2005

ring ring ring ring ring...

...bananaphone!



no, seriously, check it out - it's the most intensely pointless yet awesome cell phone accessory I've seen in a while.

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May 23, 2005

what the hell is a newsboost buccaneer, anyway?

in addition to putting out some awesome music, British Sea Power is one crazy bunch of Englishmen. I get their newsletters on occasion, and this one's pretty cool.

Newsletter No. 25


BRITISH SEA POWER
Newsletter No. 25

An exclusive on-the-road report from the North American tour.

At time of writing, British Sea Power have played their last concert of their current North American tour - at Chicago Logan Square Auditorium. Tired but happy and perhaps with a little money hidden in a sock, our men now make ready to board a gigantic aircraft. To an extent unbelievable to those who have never seen a jet aeroplane, this gigantic craft will fly the band high and home - heading over the Hudson Straits with a groundspeed of 527 miles per hour, onward at 36,000 feet over the Greenland ice packs at Disko.

As the BSP quintet decompress, they will sink slowly into their seats. Perhaps they will imagine themselves already back inside their secret Sussex wine cellar - deep inside the Downland chalk somewhere to the north of the camera obscura at Foredown Tower. Maybe they will enjoy mineral water bottled in Blackford, Perthshire, and then watch the in-flight entertainment system as it shows actress Emily Blunt going for a swim. Possibly they will drink wine, while the mind’s eye flickers toward reassuring thoughts of solariums and the Citizen’s Advice Bureau. Only then will they even begin to consider the incident and interludes of the past month.

As Tracey Shaw famously observed, England and America are two countries divided by a common ocean. Sometimes it seems we don’t speak the same language either. The first date on this tour found BSP playing in Seattle. Their concert at Neumos is vigourously plugged in Seattle Stranger newspaper, alongside adverts for The Erotic Bakery and SEATTLE’S FIRST HOME OF THE BRAZILIAN. The Seattle show is a good un, with refreshing supports from The Turns Ons and The Glasses. But the real advent of the night is Charlie, driver of the band’s shiny silver Prevost tour bus.

A treacle-voiced native of the Kentucky/Virginia borderlands, Charlie used to play guitar in the successful country troubadours Billy Crash & The Dream Lovers. Soon Charlie and Noble will be whiling away off-duty moments by playing endless Dolly Parton songs. Charlie is a continual font of dignified good humour. He is also partial to nicknames. It seems, Billy Craddock was known as Doctor Country Rock. Charlie is determined to uphold such traditions. Soon Hamilton is renamed Doctor Love. Woody is Doctor Drums, Yan Doctor Duke, Noble Doctor Drunk and Eamon Doctor Donut.

After Seattle, it is on to Portland and then down past the Mount Lasson National Park and a town called Weed. The next stop in San Francisco, where the band buy Eamon a new drum and walk past the St John Coltrane African Orthodox Church. This is religion as it should be - relaxed and, no doubt, with some vigourous sermons from visiting pastor Bobby Gillespie. The San Francisco show is packed and pretty, but soon all eyes are on the next show - at the Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival.

British Sea Power approach their slot at the Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival with the same spirit they approach most things - amazement, glee and raw wonder that they have let them in. Here they are sat on the grass, ringed by the shimmering purple peaks of the San Jacinto mountains and playing on the same bill as New Order, Gang Of Four and The Sexy Magazines. Nice enough, but even all of this pales beside the real point of getting to Coachella - back-door entrance to the polo scene.

As you will no doubt know, the Coachella festival site is also home to the Empire Polo Field. The polo scene has enough excess and buck-toothed oddity to make rock look like a pre-pubescent boy chorister asking for extra toothpaste. Polo, remember, is home to the Debii Dollar Western Women’s Challenge, the Barbara Sinatra Skins League and, above all, the Jackson Hole Horse Emporium And Hawaiian Iced Tea Tournament And Open House. It is a world in which grown men will pay $8000 for six-chukka membership and all comers can visit the onsite Polo Grill for American classics in a comfortable setting. However, our excitement is short-lived.

Within minutes, it becomes clear that there will be little polo activity this weekend - that the nearest we will come to the thunder of hoof on turf is the sight of the some polo ponies gambolling in an adjacent field. It sure is good to see Mr Topspot and Wansdyke Lass as they run and play. But all too soon, we must say au revoir both to them and to their companions Polar Force, Subtle Shandy and Boogaloo Boyzee. There is work to be done and BSP must move on to the more familiar sights and sounds of rock - of Trent Reznor sending back his on-site Humvee because it ain’t got Attila The Hun’s actual bones in the tool-kit, of Ms Chloe Sevigny erotically detuning Conor Oberst’s backwoods mandolin in the VIP compound and of an excellent set from The Arcade Fire.

As soon as BSP get to their exclusive pop-star bungalow, they get free massages and beer in a bin. The programme promises much. Not only is there Secret Machines, The Futureheads and mind-bending sister Sapphists Tegan & Sara, but the sculpture park also promises The Lucent Misting Oasis. Can it be true - a lifesize effigy of Liam Gallagher lighting up and crying as he gets homesick for chips and beans in his rowdy Manchester homeland? No it can’t - it’s a robot pond made by hippies with nice teeth. So, then, off over to the Gobi Tent to see MIA. Also known as Maya Arulpragasam, this young lady is the new queen of big-tune UK dancehall grime and, all across America, her track Bucky Done Gun has been the toast of the BSP tour bus. Bouncing in reflective bounty-hunter safari outfit and MC-ing with effervescent joy, she does not disappoint. After MIA’s set, we head over to the Sahara Tent to see the DJ set from Ms Kittin.

As BSP enter the tent, Ms K’s only gone done started playing her own, up-front mix of Bucky Done Gun! Imagine that. Like totally spangled 4AM ravers overjoyed at remembering their own names, BSP spontaneously thrust their arms aloft. In the heat, it’s almost too much. But then it gets worse. As Ms Kittin bends over the decks, you really, REALLY can’t help noticing that her cleavage is revealed like that of 17th Century courtesan leaning out of a coach to give oranges to the poor. In the nick of time, tour manager Mark orders BSP back to their artist cabin.

The band sign CDs and pictures of polar bears at the Virgin tent. This is enlivened by the sudden appearance of the inspirational BSP audience veteran known as De Lacey. Kindly, he has brought the band a recording contract to sign, which they do without hesitation. We are sure that Rough Trade will not mind.

BSP are playing on the Outdoor Theatre Stage, after the composed PC rap of Aesop Rock and before the glorious glam-funk crawdaddies of The Faint. The crucial stage decoration is completed - a fan or beech leaves around the drums, two pine cones on the keyboard riser and a plastic pheasant on the top of the Marshall stack. Then, an unfortunate reality becomes real. As BSP soundman Joe attempts to complete the line-check, it becomes clear that no sound at all is coming our of the PA. Heart-stoppingly, the band are due on stage in 30 seconds. Then, miracle of miracles, the PA starts working. They are on.

The 40-minute set flashes by in an instant, compressed by the heat and the Californian night. Noble climbs to the top of the 60-foot lighting rigging and looks around. Then he climbs down again. Soon the show is just a blur in the memory hole, the only tangible remainder being the hand-annotated plastic sack of garden peat that one young lady has been kind enough to throw on stage.

In the backstage compound, within minutes BSP are all drunken and scared at how fast it went. Then, just what they need, their friend Carlos Of Interpol beams out of the night. They can’t believe it. On the plane over, BSP were amazed enough to see Carlos featuring in the in-flight entertainment - skilfully taking the role of Joaquin Phoenix in M Night Shyamalan’s 2004 thriller The Village. And now here he is in the flesh. Sing hallelujah! He tells BSP they were great, the dirty fucking liar, and then soon all of time is gone. Not one of BSP remembers getting from Carlos to the tour bus. But it happened. As we leave the festival site, Eamon wakes momentarily to hear a joyous, spirited whinnying resounding through the night. Goodbye Miss Kittin, goodbye Wansdyke Lass and goodbye Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival.

After Coachella, the band head down through San Diego and Texas. The Canadian singer Feist joins the tour in San Diego and is something of a revelation. Alone at the mic, accompanied only by guitar and some taped effects, she is bold to the utmost. She also benefits from a lovely, remarkable voice. Occupying the sought-after middle ground between Joni Mitchell, Nina Simone and Billy Bragg, Feist is fine indeed. You will be hearing more from this lady.

After Texas, the band enjoy a day off in New Orleans. Topically, Eamon is mistaken for Baron Samedi, the popular local undead Voodoo-ist spirit guide. Naturally, this makes Eamon quite the celebrity and he sure enough takes advantage. Soon he has even arranged a date with Kim Basinger - on the basis that he can get her eternal life and a part in the next Bond movie.

Atlanta, North Carolina, Washington DC, Philadelphia, the road winds ever onward. The sun shines and the band are pleased and awed to note that the Manchester-based BSP tour expert Cath Aubergine has joined the trail in Atlanta. Amazing, Cath! You have truly travelled far.

Soon, BSP reach New York and their two sold-out shows at the Bowery Ballroom. The first night is a Saturday and the soundcheck is enlivened by the way Noble leads the band through both Bohemian Rhapsody and the theme tune from Chariots Of Fire. Come the show and come one of the best BSP performance in living memory. Later, a review on the esteemed Tripwire website will be headlined British Sea Power Obliterate NYC Bowery. The review itself reports how, “Brighton’s finest stunned onlookers with ferocious intensity, wind-swept balladry, ceramic ducks and frequent crowd invasions.”

Hey, those were no ceramic ducks folks, but this can be excused. For the full review, please sign up at: www.thetripwire.com

The second night at the Bowery was more relaxed, but still shimmeringly moving. It was attended by the lovely lads from Interpol, Dean Wareham of Galaxie 500, plus Sofiane Sylve, leading dancer with the New York City Ballet. After hours, there was time for Creedence Clearwater, T-Rex and imported Old Speckled Hen at a delightful bar called Black & White. Then it was off into the night and the last four shows of the tour.

Soon, BSP will be back in the homeland, ready for an intriguing portfolio of UK appearances - all the way from the Chelsea Flower Show to bonny Newcastle. There will also be the release of the Please Stand Up single on 23 May. As they board the plane and head out to south-east of Quebec City and the north-west of Halifax, Nova Scotia, please spare a though for them.There they go - Doctor Love and his good friends Duke, Drums, Drunk and Donut.


Tour report by Old Sarge. Thanks you ye, dear reader.

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the boring episode with the exposition

after my emo blowout of last week, I haven't been up to anything terribly exciting, and thus I haven't posted anything for a while. I figure, simply for archival purposes (and for those people who are gallavanting in faraway locales), I may as well throw down what I've been up to.

can't quite get the hang of multiple cuts, because they don't work quite the same way, so this could almost be a Neil-style post. I guess my Braun-fu is weak.

[onwards]

    werkin'
  • The AMS is, as always, an interesting and largely informative place to work. I somehow got invited to the health and dental plan/executive dinner, which'll be at Tojo's. Also, David the Joblink Coordinator = hilarity. It'll be a good year.
  • As of the week after next, I give campus tours every Thursday - I'm not entirely sure why the other guy is giving his up, but I hope things are going well for him.
  • I do very little at the PNE. It feels like a waste of my time, some days.
  • I'm still reading for Equity; some of it's starting to settle in.
apropos of nothing: Soulwax's E-Talking is entirely too addictive.
    learnin'
  • My Social Psych prof is crazy, but very good. I'm feeling actual remorse over having to miss a class for meetings on Thursday.
  • Theory of Personality is far closer to the (proto)typical lectures/wrist cramps psych class, but the material keeps me from passing out. Also the small bet I have going with a class buddy over when the person that sits next to her will show up again induces me to show up.
another pointless interlude: why, daft punk, why?
    socializin'
  • what was an unfortunately lame Autechre concert was salvaged by the awesomeness that is Rob Cross, slurpees, and midnight tours of Kerrisdale. But mostly it was Rob. He's good people.
  • Spent a pleasant afternoon/evening with Chris and Jenn last night. It was a delightful time, and one of these days, Chris being a person who merits a "the" will stop being hilarious.
  • not going to Sasquatch; Gav's not driving and it appears to be too late to find a replacement. On the upside, anyone else planning on seeing Bloc Party on Sunday?
so, I guess some normalcy has returned, although I have no idea as to when/if that'll change again.

...anyone want to start a pool?

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May 15, 2005

progress report

slightly edited conversation with Neil.
it's surprising what four-month-old babies can teach you.

more pseudocut action
Neil: yeah. How's it going? Feeling any better?
gerald`: hugely.
gerald`: I think writing it out made me realize what it was instead of letting it be simply a rather high-level malaise
gerald`: and then I could start dealing with it
gerald`: so, um, good work on your part.
Neil: that's good. Is it just a matter of needing to quit one of your jobs?
Neil: yes, uh, that's what I'm here for....
gerald`: nope. like things are ever that simple.
Neil: true
gerald`: I'm leaving one at the end of the summer.
gerald`: the only real thing to do about work/work/work/work/school/school is to stay organized and thereby on top of things
gerald`: so I bought a dayplanner
gerald`: for three dollars!
gerald`: and I've been using it
gerald`: of course, knowing that I have 7 hours of work tomorrow followed by two hours of meetings and then three of class doesn't make it any better, it just means that I know it's happening tomorrow.
Neil: that's good. Don't be afraid to prioritize the things you want and what's important to you. If you live only for others you'll regret it and then there won't be anything you can do about it.
Neil: ....that wasn't so profound that it shut you up, was it?
gerald`: no, started another conversation
gerald`: also was trying to figure out how best to bring up last night, in which I saw a cousin and her husband who had managed to walk the line I'm supposed to aspire to
Neil: oh. so I'm no longer important to you. I see. I go stand in a corner and weep silently then.
Neil: that was a good way of bringing it up.
gerald`: and were definitely more interested in what I'm up to both in terms of equity work and the possibilities for the future than anyone at home.
gerald`: and had a beautiful daughter (who is my niece because there's no word for second cousin in hindi) that required me to bust out my teddy bear (now twenty years old. gods.) and realize, somehow, that identity finding is a gradual thing, and that I've got the ball rolling, but it's not something I can wrap up in any given timeframe
Neil: Welcome to your 20s, Gerald.
gerald`: so, with three all but out of the way, I can deal with the family.
Neil: yeah, how's that?
gerald`: rocked some sideways thinking, i guess, and now my brother and I get along better than we used to; I put up with his good-natured harassment and he deals with me studying on his floor because mine is nowhere to be seen.
gerald`: I've all but lost a couple pairs of pants to the back of my closet that I can no longer access, and my back ache would continue to kill a lesser man, but it's nothing I haven't dealt with before.
Neil: okay, but let's get to what's really important here: were they good pants?
gerald`: charcoal herringbone w/red pinstripes
gerald`: they were fantastic pants.
Neil: so yes. Sigh. Would anyone in your family help?
gerald`: to be fair, it's a bit warm for those pants
Neil: they won't be needed for awhile
gerald`: yeah
Neil: so what kind of shorts look business casual?
gerald`: was going to riff on "do you guys just dress up in business casual and hang out?" and the fact that rob doesn't wear shorts.
gerald`: but then left it out.
gerald`: and, um, I dunno. let's email GQ.
gerald`: or would that be very american psycho of us?

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May 14, 2005

explained:

it's a lot of things at once, that would be better if I could deal with them separately but can't.

down the rabbit hole


  1. quarter-life crisis. coupled with all the reading I'm doing forequity, things just got a whole lot more complex.
  2. my sister's moved in. permanently.
  3. 4 jobs + 2 classes is doable but unsustainable and I don't know what to cut.
I don't know where to start. I guess #1 would be a good place.
  1. "I'm 20. Who am I? What have I done? etc." - this, I assume, is a typical thing to go through, but coupled with the books I'm reading on various things I have to know for Equity, I'm seeing parts of myself that I'd never really considered, well, parts of myself that I should probably look at integrating into this ideal holistic self-vision which would leave me feeling a little better about the world because I have some idea of a starting point. Instead, though, I'm delving into
    books on biculturalism and identity formation and development of ethnic identity, and finding that:
    1. there's more of me than I thought - I am a lot of things to a lot of people, and sometimes I forget some of those things and people.
    2. I developed backwards to most of these case studies, and am genuinely curious as to how it affected me; I went to a diverse elementary school, then an almost homogenous high school, and then university which is somewhere in between, which as far as I can tell left me far healthier than most, but at what cost?
    3. I can't make everyone happy. Who do I screw?

    so, yeah, I'm hung up on who I am.
  2. my sister's back. for good. which is a good thing but has huge downsides, both in the physical sense (I can't access my closet because her suitcases are in the way and my backache would kill a lesser man) and also in the shift in the atmosphere. we're all broodier, which means that reading more into actions and words is
    required and it's just a bad scene that I'd prefer to avoid if I didn't have to be there to make things run a little better. I've always been better at talking to/dealing with my sister (goes both ways) and so I've become the conduit through which my parents find out how she's doing, but it's taxing.
    I don't know if it's going to get any better; there's supposedly a move on the way, either at the end of june (midterms) or july (finals) which would alleviate some things, but also make other things a whole lot worse. It's also a very "boy who called wolf" scenario; they've said it enough times that I don't know if I can believe it, or if I can let myself get let down again.
  3. Each job has its ups and downs, but I think I'm leaving one of them at the end of the summer; it's the least pay and the most dissatisfaction. Four was a bad idea, driven by my previously mentioned urge to be at home as little as possible both because I hate the space and not my family but what living in a space entirely too small has done to us.
    Rob Cross called me a masochist for doing it and maybe he's right.

It's the combination of the four that's doing me in. I know it'll pass and working through it will only make it faster, but it's difficult.

Writing this out was surprisingly helpful, too.

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May 13, 2005

I'm not okay.

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May 04, 2005

I am gripped by an inexplicable desire to learn Cockney Rhyming Slang.

Update: Wikipedia to the rescue!

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May 01, 2005

decemberist'd!

man, the Decemberists are awesome. It was unfortunate that I missed Steve and Christina's Happy Fun Bowen Adventures, but I think the show made up for it.

anyway, photos are up here: the flickr set page.

---
In other news, my first thing to do for Spencer is to devise a filing system. Any ideas? Although a chronological ordering seems intuitive, the next president probably won't deal with things in the same order, so I'm thinking of getting as specific as possible and then ordering those things into larger categories, and working some color coding in there, too.

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April 28, 2005

got the chief of staff job.

my personal favorite question of the interview was from Spencer: "What sort of animal would you say I was last year, and what do you think I should be for the next year?"

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April 27, 2005

phew for a minute there / I lost myself my blog

  • lame reference. I'm sorry.
  • fun with burst mode.
  • my pants came in the mail.
  • why are things from the mail so much awesomer? I mean, they're pants, but they came in the mail, so a healthy portion of the prosaicness is gone.
  • I am, apparently, never leaving Access and Diversity.
  • Recruitment photo shoots are silly and fun; I feel like the new Chris Payne (in that he was in a lot of photos for UBC recruitment stuff)
  • I have a lot on my plate for the summer, and most of it's on campus. I can't help but wonder how much of it is tied to the fact I hate being at home. In a slightly irrational manner.
  • I hate the bookstore.
more later, bed now.

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April 21, 2005

waaaaaaaaaaaaank (now with camera!)

exercises - a photoset on Flickr

as previously mentioned, Oana gave me a flickr pro account, so I've spent a chunk of the last couple days uploading and organizing photos I've taken. Here's some from the last couple of years (!); the ones from ACF staff dinner should be up soon, and whatever gets taken tomorrow will also show up there.

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download and discuss

new coldplay single: here.

I'm not sure how I feel about it; it's not terribly... new sounding, but at the same time, it's sort of growing on me...

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April 19, 2005

stuff

  • done exams, some assignments left, though. almost there.
  • Oana gave me a flickr pro account! expect more photos.
  • so stoked for Blarney, because I've never been to one and because it's the closest I'm getting to having a birthday thing.
  • bought a pink shirt. I'm surprised at how well it's working out.
  • up for five E7A Awards, in the categories of:
    • Most likely a spy of some sort award, for For his close proximity to AMS politicians giving him an unassuming “in”
    • The J K Rowling Turning our Kids Back to Reading Award, twice for both 100 Bullets and Batman:Hush.
    • The Get your Buzz on Award – Best Performance While Under the Influence - co-nominated with Spencer for rumors of snuggling.
    • The Other Award – For the Person who Embodies the Greatest Level of Cultural/Racial/Ethnic/Gender Otherness because, y'know, I'm brown.
    • Best Blog, for, um, this.
    • Best Music.
Last year, I won both the Best Performance While Drunk for "One More Keg Stand for the Road" and the JK Rowling for turning the gang onto Transmetropolitan. It'll be interesting to see how these turn out.

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April 16, 2005

naf > you

went for belated birthday dinner with Naf, which was a lot of fun. We went for Nando's, which was a twist on our usual Chalet-centric chicken adventures.

along with some bitchin' boxers, she gave me this shirt:


the color's a bit off in the photo, but the awesomeness remains.

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April 14, 2005

goodbye teenage angst

so, uh, I'm 20.

birthday celebrations will be rolled into the wonderspectacular that will be the Blarney, because exam period is lame.

also, because no birthday is complete without some sort of comment request, here's one I've taken verbatim from Britt: If you read this, even if I don't speak to you often, you must post a memory of me.

It can be anything you want, it can be good or bad, just so long as it happened.

and for those of you i don't know.. ummm, post an adventure that you would have us go on. ya, that sounds good.


also, if you're reading this from Lithuania, drop a comment at some point, just to satisfy my curiousity.

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April 12, 2005

worlds collide

fell asleep on the 311 bus (goes downtown -> 73rd and 120th; roughly 17 blocks from home) on my way home.

had a dream where it was the fair, I was still PMO, but instead of the usual radio chatter, I was walking Jack Bauer (!) through neuroanatomy (!!) so he could get the terrorists, for some reason.

and we did keep to regular radio protocol.

in the end, we saved the day.
then I woke up in Delta.

that'll teach me to watch 24 and read my brain and behavior text during commercials.

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April 10, 2005

PMO to... never mind.

I had my doubts.
I had my worries.
I had an inordinate amount of old ACFers asking me what the hell was going on with all these changes.

I am pleased as all fuck that they were proven entirely unnecessary because this fair ran incredibly. Yeah, we had our hiccups and the odd forgotten step (pre-opening station check, anyone?) but there was nothing on the magnitude of previous years.

In the style of Matt, here's my top ten ACF moments:

  1. pre- and post-fair radio silliness with the A-Team, especially when Dave and I were doing the number signs (I was in the booth, he was putting them up)
  2. jumping up and down in a dumpster with Corbett and Quinn so we could pack more garbage in.
  3. The rampant homoeroticism; I lost track of the friendly cuppings I received (among other things).
  4. Naf kisses. (all fourteen of them)
  5. Watching Gavin experience deep fried mozzarella sticks at Denny's at 2am post-fair
  6. Running into ACF Old People, who were consistently impressed with the work we were doing and always, always understood when I spaced out into my radio and had to hastily excuse myself before running off.
  7. "Control to PMO."
    "Go for PMO."
    "What magic did you just work down there, PMO?"
  8. Kevin Wilson having phone conversations with my parents. He was a driver without a phone, and because most anyone who would need to call me was on the radio, I gave him mine. Forgot, though, that my parents weren't on the radio.
  9. All of Saturday. The people who show up the day after tend to be the awesome ones, and even though cleanup and teardown and all that business tends to be ultra-lame, the people make a difference. Also, the late afternoon drinking that segued into a drunken trip to Mongolian BBQ and then back to MASS with half a Canadian Springs bottle full of beer and a half-dozen people definitely isn't a "moment" per se, but still belongs here.
  10. the sudden feeling of peace one feels after taking off their radio headset, and knowing they won't need it for another year.
I guess what it comes down to is the people, who are, for the most part, fantastic, and who I get to see again tonight.

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April 05, 2005

Words for Life, Neil Braun Edition.

"I think I'm the perfect height for everyone to do something to my body"



Now, to grow 6 inches...

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April 04, 2005

half-finished thoughts:

Having two jobs on campus and one off is a giant pain in the ass, most of the time. Sometimes it doesn't.

Saturday was an example; after training at the PNE, me and the new girl drove to campus where I caught the last chunk of Tours wrap-up, and then went to a Recruitment BBQ afterwards, where various exciting things happened, most of which I don't really feel like talking about.

Except for one thing: We all got "awards" as tour guides, silly (but very nice) sheets of paper with something about Recruitment 2004/05 and "Most Likely To" or "Best X". Mine was "Most Likely to Become A Puppet Master."

About half the people got it, and I sort of preferred it that way.
whee!

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April 01, 2005

terrible work habits, volume 1

at about 5:12, I got this message:

graham says: do me a quick favour?
gerald` - last! friday! shift! says: shoot
graham says: ditch work for ten minutes, run over to hebb plaza and chug a free RBF beer for me
graham says: I won't make it tonight
gerald` - last! friday! shift! says: ...the things I do for you.
graham says: just go
gerald` - last! friday! shift! says: haha
gerald` - last! friday! shift! says: done
graham says: hot
[ten minutes pass]
gerald` - last! friday! shift! says: back!

so, yes, if you saw me in that ten minutes, wondered why I was in a huge rush and/or toasting Graham, it's because I was technically at work.

whee!

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March 29, 2005

yowza

it's weird to see yourself change.
moreso when it's documented in text.

time for year #3.

bonus: omg angst!!

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an old favorite:

what're you listening to... right now?!

me: Doves - The Sulphur Man (Rebelski Remix)

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March 27, 2005

fun with shipping!!

EMS Trace

this is probably my favorite part of buying things online: the shipping, or, more accurately, the tracking process.

the item number is EI250621538JP, so put that into the form on the page above and you can track the progress of my headphones.

(really, though, this is more a post so I don't have to dig through emails and half-remembered URLs to track the damn things)

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March 25, 2005

...a little bit louder and a little bit worse

so, I lost another Senate race.

I've learned not to take these things personally, so it's not a huge thing, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed.

such is life.

plus, things could totally be worse.

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March 24, 2005

Third.

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March 23, 2005

although I tidy up my room fairly frequently, I hadn't gone the whole nine yards for a while, digging things out of corners and under the bed before (for the most part) throwing them out.

did one of those today, and found all sorts of stuff; the most interesting/bizarre of which is listed below.

  • Spencer handbills (both 2004 and 2005)
  • Spencer's Best Diplomat award from the Model UN
  • my old PNE contract
  • a Hard Hat Area sign I stole from Vanier during the summer
  • every backstage pass I own (ACF 12/13, Welcome Back 2004, Radiohead 2003)
  • an unused stencil with a quote from High Fidelity
  • a postcard from Paige
  • the I (map of Hunan) Hunan stencil I used for Gavin's birthday shirt
  • a 64 megabyte stick of PC100 RAM
  • a postcard from British Sea Power
  • a bunch of stickers used to identify the party of a scrutineer during the federal election, including (among others):
    • the Marxist-Leninist Party
    • the Reform Party
    • the Bloc Quebecois

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I love how I only get sick when I have absolutely no time to do so.

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March 20, 2005

i think this one's going to stick.

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March 19, 2005

elections nostalgia

Naf's current MSN name is the slogan I used for the only election I've ever won: "Hello Kitty has no mouth. I do. Let me represent you."

which, of course, came from this site, which is good for a laugh.

also of note are their three FAQs(first second third), which boast such delightful things as:
"Hello-Kitty, in fact, uses Morse code to communicate with the outside world. You may have heard of the book Johnny Got His Gun, in which a soldier was so badly wounded that the only communication he had with the outside world was by tapping Morse code with his head.

That soldier was Hello-Kitty. "

Also, newish design.
some fiddling remains, and I'm pretty sure I'm due for a new name that doesn't involve some sort of metal. oh, and I switched over to blogger comments, which don't expire after 6 months.

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March 17, 2005

headphones!

having gotten extremely tired of the behind-the-ear ones I have currently, I ordered another pair of eggo's.

courtesy of exchange rates changing, they were $30 cheaper this time.

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March 16, 2005

britrock crisis!

snow patrol - may 6 at the vogue
doves - may 6 at the commodore

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March 14, 2005

for those of you that still go to UBC:

I'm running for the Faculty of Arts Senate Representative spot. Again.

My campaign website is here, and I've got some stiff competition, so spread the word and make sure you vote between March 17 and 24.

That's all I'm going to do for elections on this blog.

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March 10, 2005

my life! your hands!

I'm buying an iPod, 30 gig/colour screen model. I figure $54 more than the 20 gig/monochrome one is worth it.

it's free engraving time, so I'm wondering what I should put on the back.

I'm torn between "FUCK COMMUNISM" and "when the power runs out / we'll just hum"

the first one is awesome, but probably belongs on a Zippo.
the second is a radiohead quote from My Iron Lung and it's both fitting and radiohead, but seems almost too perfect.

so, yes, suggest away. you've got three days.

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March 06, 2005

we all meme for ice cream

it's that time again:

"Ten Things I've Done That You Haven't, Mwa, etc."

  1. never eaten beef.
  2. had someone appoint themselves as my mentor.
  3. gone snorkelling in Fiji.
  4. gone to a Shakespeare festival in Oregon only to fall asleep halfway through the "all's well that ends well".
  5. survived three car accidents in eight months.
  6. been flashed while at work. at a chocolate store. in Metrotown.
  7. told Kazzer's tour manager that no, in fact, they couldn't play an acoustic set up here. (graham was there)
  8. managed two campaigns in the AMS elections, which resulted in enough weight loss and change in mood that my parents entertained the notion that I was on some sort of drug.
  9. written a Chemistry final, seen Andrew WK, and moved out of Vancouver all in one day.
  10. given panties with "well, shit" stencilled on the back as a birthday gift.
  11. been trained to forge a signature which I was then paid to reproduce.

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March 05, 2005

a break from my papers:

things that I am listening to that are awesome:

  • Doves - Some Cities
  • Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
  • Apostle of Hustle - Folkloric Feel
  • Doves - Lost Sides
  • Iron and Wine - Woman King EP

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March 03, 2005

apropos of nothing, #2

six weeks until I'm twenty.


...weird.

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March 01, 2005

today's quote:

"Jesus fuck! What have you been doing, wrestling goddamn bears? Lift your arm. Holy mother of god, you're tense. How have you not just snapped?! My hands are pretty strong and I'm getting fucking nowhere. God!"
- Corbett, whilst administering a neck massage.

so, yeah, I'm sore and stressed out.
if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go write a paper.

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February 27, 2005

it's surprising how warm two pairs of boxers are.

it's funny, sometimes, when there's a lot to say and you just don't know where to start.

in any case, the Inaugural Ball was fantastic, the morning after was better than the standard issue, and I generally feel better about dealing with all the things I have to deal with, like Gav's "man vs narwhal" shirt; I'm fairly sure that every time we have a post-drunk sleep-deprived morning discussion, I'm going to end up making a shirt based on it.

speaking of, I should probably start on some of those, but I think I'm going for a swim first, which will hopefully get me back on the wagon*.

*regular swimming means I'm in the pool at seven, instead of getting out of bed at nine; giving me basically an extra couple hours in which to get things done, thereby only really making fitting things into my day easier. weird, I know.

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February 25, 2005

meta-waaaaaaaaaaaaank

by very nature of blogging, couldn't I, in theory, rename every post I write to "waaaaank"?

this is what happens when I combine alcohol and the buchanan labs.

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waaaaaaaaaaaaank, cont.'d

so, I got a haircut at On the Fringe this morning.

nobody noticed.

I'm unsurprised - it's not something as drastic as the ones I used to get, and I quite like it, especially since it'll grow out into less of the weird flat top and poofy side thing that tends to afflict me.

also, if I saw you today and you didn't comment, don't worry about it; I was expecting that to happen.

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February 23, 2005

waaaaaaaaaaaaank

I think Monday was just a bad day; after a couple discussions, a midterm that didn't rock me as hard as I thought it would, and watching Jack Bauer swear, things seemed a lot better. Granted, the first half of it sucked a lot, but I'll deal with that later.

I need to cut down/back/out on some stuff, though, and in trying to take advantage of dead time on campus, I'm going to do less generalized hanging out, so unless we have plans or I'm at work, chances are I won't be as visible.

In further me-related news, I had quite possibly the least exciting mall trip ever, in which I opened an investment savings account and then bought boxers.

...exciting life I lead, I know.

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February 19, 2005

bleh.

I'm feeling a little rudderless as of late.

It's not for lack of things to do, but a simple (and temporary) loss of drive.

Or it's just this cold.
I hope it's just this cold.

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February 14, 2005

five in heavy rotation - feb 14 edition.

these aren't terribly romantic, they're just what I've been listening to a lot of.
the usual applies; download these, do your own, put the tracks up if you're so inclined.
what's odd is that they're all rather liberal in usage of strings and samples thereof, which was unintentional on my part.

also, I don't feel like writing blurbs, so I've googled and stolen other people's.

  • M83 - Run Into Flowers
    • A perfect representation of M83's strengths, the song is remarkable for both its intensity and its tenderness. Its hushed vocals, juxtaposed with glorious swells of digital strings, are the beating heart of Dead Cities, providing a locus of humanity amidst the album's surprisingly wrenching synthesized arrangements. taken from Pitchfork

  • Stars - Celebration Guns
    • The moral is clear: we may be fighting a war so far uphill that we're falling flat on our backs from three miles up in the air, but it can't break our spirits. We have to live life here as if it were as precious as it is in the impossible utopia that exists on the back wall of our brains. We have to sing songs of love and, indeed, fall in love. We have to celebrate victory even when defeat may be looming at every corner. And most importantly, we must keep believing in ourselves and each other, even when everything we have strived for has turned from nothing into a black hole. taken from epinions

  • Kylie - Fragile
    • "But I get butterflies / Water in my eyes / 'Cause I'm fragile when I hear your name / Fragile when you call / This could be the nearest thing to love / And I'm fragile when I hear you speak / Fragile feeling small / This could be the closest thing to love" coos Kylie at the chorus. And once again, it's so simple and direct and goes straight for the heart. Who hasn't felt that way before when falling hard for someone? taken from PopMatters

  • Autechre - Arch Carrier
    • It's generally agreed that the record's standout track is "Corc," whose laidback beats and subtle melody is a perfect soundtrack for cruising through the futuristic nitetime ghettos of Tokyo. But there's something about "Arch Carrier" that seems much more artistically unique, and altogether more powerful. The track kicks off with a seemingly random melodic structure that eventually becomes the song's backbone as heartbeat- like drumlines and eerie string sections enter the mix. taken from Pitchfork

  • Hope of The States - The Red The White The Black The Blue
    • More a movie-in-waiting than a song (there’s even a crazed Irish jig segment), ‘The Red...’ blasts HOTS out of their Mogwai-with-tunes pigeonhole into a scary/beautiful hellscape of sonic invention all their own. taken from NME
remember, kids, the words aren't mine, I just like the songs.
download links should hopefully be up soon.

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February 13, 2005

in which I am officially inducted into the Cult of 24:

having watched a full half of Season 3 of 24 in one go, I am filled with questions and shock and emotional trauma.

Mostly, though, I'm full of admiration for a man who can kill a man with just his legs while lying down, handcuffed to some sort of railing, while going through heroin withdrawal.

Jack Bauer... *swoon*

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