A new era. So they say.

Today, Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States of America. Tomorrow will be the judge.

In other news, Stephen Harper's approval rate is down to 35%. Michael Ignatieff's is 44%.

I would love to shake people out of their apathy. To move them to take up causes; to dislodge them from being 'just content'. I find this most frustrating on the university campus. Students who should rightly have a say in their education do not bother to exercise their basic freedoms. "Why bother? I'm only here for 4 years. Protest is for left wing nut bags." Universities, for that matter ALL public educational institutions, should be for the benefit of student and faculty. I'm mostly upset at the out of touch governance structures. UBC will become a UniversCity. It will be the death of the place.

End of random thoughts.

What a weird and crazy night last night.

So, Ian and I were in our room relaxing. He was on his computer and I was reading on the bed. *CRUNCH* Ian hears a sounds in the parking lot. Ian looks out and says "What the fuck!" and I get up and look. At first, I thought he was angry because it might be snowing again but it turns out someone hit Ian's car. They seemed to be stuck. While Ian went down to check things I watched from the window: The white car tried to back out and go forward. I was very clear they had no idea what they were doing.

Ian goes down and I watch as he approaches the car. I run down after him and dial 911 at exactly 11:45pm. I hand the phone to Ian but there is a cop car already pulling in. Turns out the guy in the white car was being followed by a couple of people that called the police just shortly before. They approached the guy in the white car but he was completely out of it. Whatever he was speaking was not a known language. When he was asked to get out of the car, he could barely stand or hold himself up.

An hour standing the light rain and we gave out witness statements. His car was towed and luckily there was no real damage to Ian's car.

Finally got to bed at 2am.

Today, Sunday.

   Friday we had a shindig at our friend's house in the Westend and what was supposed to be a board game night + drinking became just drinking. But I had some glorious fun.

   Saturday was Billy's baby shower and it was fun. In a non-alcoholic way. I was the unofficial official photographer. I shot about 2gigs worth of photos. It was just nice to hang out with Jake whom I haven't seen in a long time. There was a copious amount of 'awing'. Cuteness can be disgusting. She's going to make a great mom.

   Later that night Johnny held his Rock Band Party. Which, with out group of friends, usual ends up being more party than Rock Band. Maybe it's because we just don't give a damn about Rock Band or that drinking and gossiping is just more fun. Who knows. Good times were had by all.

   Sunday, today. Ian and myself hung out with Kyle and Jen. They're back from Minneapolis. PhD and Law Degree, what? We had sushi then played Settlers of Catan for a while. Newbie Jen won with a monopoly on Sheep.

   No homework was completed. Peer pressure gets me every time.

  

Alright, today was slow.

My boots can be fixed! $15 give or take.

If tomorrow isn't productive, I'll shoot someone. Maybe even a puppy. No, I could never shoot a puppy. I'd adopt it. I WANT A PUPPY.

So I forgot to post yesterday. It's not my fault, I swear. I got up early for class at 9:30am and stayed at UBC until 9:30pm. That IS TOOOO LONG. Damnit.

Anyways. What did you miss yesterday? Well, I woke up at an hour I didn't know still existed until recently. My classes were back to back in Swing Space. Sure, I should have checked where on campus they were before I left, but I didn't. So, I was 15min. late and soaking wet before I found the stupid, if not overly ugly, building. Classes were good. Teachers seemed like rational beings. Hurray. Improv meeting at 6pm then practice at 7pm. So good to be goofy for a few hours. I hate Black Christian Jews by the way. I'm with the band. (Inside joke!)

Came home and was exhausted.

Today wasn't really eventful. Class at 11am. I got my paper back: A-! Woo. I wrote on King and Roosevelt's very gay relationship. Makes me and Ian look Hetero.

My new boots have a tear by the sole and I couldn't get them replaced by the store said they'd pay for the repair! Huzzah.

Also, I phoned Fido to say I was disappointed that I pay more with them than I did with Rogers and they guys switched my plans, knocked $23 off my last bill and now I have unlimited texting. My bills will also be only $40+tax for EVER!

I'm quite proud of those last two items.

Also, today some guy, who I suspect was homeless or thereabouts, tried to start a fight with me at Broadway station. Well, he didn't say anything but he did bump my arm aggressively and push me to the side then glare back. Them's fighting actions! So, I glared back defiantly and got on the train. That was my story. Why do I hate Vancouver commuters?

On Saturday I'm photographing Billy's baby shower! Yay!

    I tried to go to school today but Translink had other plans. I usually take the Skytrain to Broadway then to VCC-Clark and catch the 84 but skytrain was running slow today so I decided to play it safe and catch the 49 from Metrotown which goes directly to UBC (actually takes a bit longer than plan A!). I got there for the bus...didn't come...okay, I thought "Well, maybe it was early, i'll just catch the next one that comes in 10 minutes." Nope, that bus didn't come. I was there for 30min and only one bus came. It was a 49 but it stopped at Langara. I wish, I wish that Translink had an able warning system or an up-to-date delay/cancellation notice. I checked the web before I left. Moral of the story, Translink CEO's get paid waaaay too much. Oh, and never plan ahead or play it safe. (Sounds like a recipe for unplanned pregnancies).


   I ended up going to UBC anyways to sign up for a presentation, to drop of library books and to buy my texts. $300 later.

   I have a plan. A plan to finish my essays by the end of the month. I want to finish essay 1 by end of next week. Essays 2 and three by the end of the month. Huzzah. This won't happen but it MUST. These are last semester papers by the way. I just couldn't do them last month with a the 'stuff' that was going on.

 

I'm continually disappointed that the 'rain' we were supposed to get has turned to snow. Vancouver is never satisfied.

School starts tomorrow. I dropped the Tibet class mostly because I can't afford it. Sorry Tibet.

I went out for Chinese dinner with my Uncle and my Auntie. So much fooood. Then I got a ride back to Langley with my Dad. You don't know fear until you've driven with a Chinese man in a Kia Rio on slippery, icy, slushy roads. I went to Dan's house and hung  out with him, Alex and Jason. T'was grand. We played Bond on N64 then a little Wii. Mostly interspersed with drinking. Stayed up to 4am. Sometimes I miss Langley.

3 classes. 5 days a week. It just ain't fair.

Lastly, I finished The Watchmen. Brilliant stuff. Now I can watch the movie and have a legitimate reason to complain that is sucks (I secretly hope it doesn't!). Not to mention Doc Manhattan will bear all. PG NOTHIN'!

    Tonight I will see Dan. I will drink. It will be epic.

    Note: I'm turning into a clean dishes fiend. I consistently need a clean kitchen.

    Tomorrow, our Christmas tree will be chipped and then used as food for future Christmas trees. Cue Elton John.

    Also, I've finally put my Macbook in my room. It's new permanent home. Yes, there is enough room for TWO sexy bitches in my room.

Alright everyone,

    So, I haven't made an resolutions. I did however get a Wii Fit for Christmas (thank you Ian!). Now, I know what you're all thinking: "But Brandon, you're so ripped already" "Your muscles scare small children and cats" "How will you afford all the new tight fitting clothing your muscles on muscles will need?" I hate to break it to you but I'm out of shape. Clearly, I have no shape at all. So, I am going to work out and attempt to gain weight (see: muscle) and be healthy.

    So far Wii Fit has motivated me everyday this week to work out. I'm even considering a light jaunt around the block and maybe to Central Park. Who knows. All I know is I can hula one hell of a hoop. Challenge me, I dare you.

  Today, I tried to buy a discounted calendar (best time of the year to buy one! DEALS!) but saw none that appealed to my strict notion of 'tastefulness'. While puppies may be cute, Golden Retrievers go out of style by March. Also, I went to Chapters to buy an agenda (best time of the year to buy one! DEALS!!!!) but Chapters thwarted my efforts. In the 50% off bin there was Moleskin Daily Planner. I snagged it and waited in line - got to a cashier and voila! It wasn't 50% off. Regular agendas were, Moleskins not so much. DAMN YOU PICASSO AND HEMINGWAY! I proceeded to melt the cashier's face off with my glare and then politely walk away.

   School starts on Monday. TOO SOON. I'm taking History 325: Canada from 1896 to 1945; History 326: Canada since 1945; History 412: American influence on Canada; and maybe ASTU 400G: History of Tibet from 1900. This last one (the 'odd' one out) is a last minute decision and I might not go through with it. It's a student run seminar and I think it will be very interesting. I was only hoping for a 3 course semester.

   Lastly, I'm reading the Watchmen. Such a good 'graphic novel' or dare I say COMIC BOOK? If I was a superhero or masked vigilante I'd fight crime by teaching people proper manners. Like not to spit or swear in public. To stop wearing Yoga pants as if its evening wear. I get that last one is taste. Fuck it, I'm a superhero.
  

Dear the World,


    This is the beginning of a new year. While I could be an ass and rant about how 'time' is a 'social construction' (and so is everything else, as I have learned in last years English Lit class) let us give thanks and remember.

   The last few month have been hard for me and especially my family. I lost two of my uncles and a close family friend. Oh, my brother was hit by a drunk driver. Don't worry he's fine now. And while all this came so fast and it was so hard to process all at once, it puts things in perspective. We are all finite. So, please for the love of fuck, be careful.

   In October I went to Europe for the first time. To this I must thank Ian and his wonderful, wonderful family. And not to mention Hannah and her family for being our adoptive Dutch family. Try some Dutch Potats.

   I shot my first wedding.

  Earlier still, I joined UBCimprov. I love it. No regrets there. Thanks to them for giving me the chance.

   I'm hoping to start a new semester in January but because of the last few months I have yet to finish my last semesters' final papers. I am going to try and complete before January is over. Wish me luck.

  Here's to 2009. And World Peace.

  

I am in London. Far more things have happened than I care to write out.

Things I did:

Trafalgar Square
National Gallery
National PORTRAIT Gallery
Ate at the 'Portrait' restaurant in the National Portrait Gallery (AMAZING VIEW)
Saw Big Ben
" The Houses of Parliament
Westminster Abbey
Hyde Park
Green Park
Saw Buckingham Palace (THE QUEEN'S HOUSE!)
Portabello Road Market
Soho
Rode the tube more than I can recall (I have an Oyster card!) - "Mind the Gap" and "Tap in and tap out!"
Saw Spamalot in the Westend (Palace Theatre)
Tate Modern, and I care not for Rothko (sorry)
Saw the Globe Theatre
Walked across the Millenium Bridge (not that impressive as it seems)
Rode slightly drunk on the top of a double decker bus
Went to a gay club (Heaven) and sung "A Spoon Full of Sugar" in the queue
Still have "Always look on the bright side of life" in my head
Saw a fox in my hostel's parking lot
Was in London for the first snow of the year
...more, I guess.


Love,
B

So I can now swear in Dutch. Apparently they all revolve around diseases. What fun!

Yesterday we did some museum hopping. We saw the prolific 'Night Watch' by Rembrandt. The Rijks is under renovation so we may have only seen 1% of what they have to offer.

Also, before that we stumbled upon the world shortest ceremony at the 'Dam (D-om). Some African leader laid a wreath at the war memorial in the central square. The Mayor of A'dam was there and most likely some Dutch Royal Family. There was tons of soldiers but the spectacle literally took only 10min.

Sinterklaaus is coming! (Santa Claus) He's pretty big here, by the way. They have special candy and everything. He looks more like a bishop than a jolly consumer wet dream.

Off to stay with Hannah's family!

Love,

 B

    Yesterday, we made a trek to Hannah's city of Utrecht (OO-Trekked). Like Amsterdam it is perhaps some of the most pedestrian friendly places. However, there's a distinct feeling about Utrecht - smaller, less touristy than A'dam. There, we had some coffee (koffie) and then had some 'Dutch' food called Frites which if you haven't guessed by now is french fries with a Dutch twist - Mayo. Lot's and lot's of Mayo. GOBS of it. You thought poutine was bad? I had the 'Speciaal' which is Ketchup, Mayo and onions. We also had some meat paste something or other. 

   Later we met Hannah's girlfriend who has a really nice apartment and then went for dinner at a tapas bar. However, jet lag is still in effect and I felt like passing out half way through. LAME.


Today is more A'dam!


 Love, 
    B

With very little notice to anyone, I have fled to the Netherlands to seek solace in their liberal and interesting ways. Well, I have actually known that I was coming since last month but it did not feel 'real' until I was at the Vancouver Airport. Even now as I sit and type a step away from a century's old canal, I feel as if I'm in a really large 'Epcot' centre. "TRAVEL THE WORLD IN A DAY'S AMBLE - DON'T FORGET TO BY SOME CHURROS!" 

The flight was most excruciating. Airplanes lacks moisture - so much so that life should not even be introduced in such dry conditions. I got very little sleep. However, from my window seat, I was able to glance my first ever Aurora Borealis. It was pretty amazing. I had to cover my head and the window in a blanket in order to get a better view but I'm sure the flight attendants thought were retarded. Maybe not retarded but 'special.'  

We landed in London little over 9 hours after leaving. Our lay over was 6 hours, most of which was spent in a coma-like state in a comfy leather chair.

The flight to Amsterdam (A'dam) was short and relatively painless. We arrived at around 9:30pm A'dam time. After much confusion in a dutch faerie world we found the right train to take us into the city and then managed to get onto the Metro. The Metro was something like out of the Bronx circa 1970 and gave me a whole new appreciation for Skytrain. However, once to the right station (Waterlooplein) we had no idea how to find the hostel but stumbled upon it rather luckily. The roads here make little sense to the new-comer and street signs are hard to spot.

Today, we spend most of the morning trying to find a phone to call our friend Hannah. Hours, I tell you! Once we did find a phone after many attempts at asking people where they were we had no idea how to use it. They are all computerized and very, very dutch. The damned things ate our coins and so we had to walk all the way to the tourist office to find out how to use them. Turns out the work a whole lot better with an appropriate phone card.

Got in contact with Hannah and we had some lunch together then went to the Van Goh Museum. Beautiful.

A'dam is a lovely little/big city. It feel within your grasp but you can walk for days and still not see half of it. Some parts look as if they're from Dr. Seusse's crazy fucked up world - building facades tilting left, right and centre. They tilt over you as if they're about to tumble right over. Oh, the Dutch.

We had dinner with Hannah's family which was great. It was her brother's, Thomas (pronounced Dom-as), birthday. Pannekoekans! (sp???) I am ridiculously tired. Tomorrow, we're off to Utrecht to have dinner with Hannah and her girlfriend.

Until then.


Oh, by the way, We're safe and alive.

Until then.

Seriously. Imagine being paid to push smash people into trains.

I'm waiting for the mailman person to bring me my text book that I ordered on Chapters.ca. Canada post is the world's worst inconvenience when it comes to me learning about Modern China!

Is anyone else creeped out by the disembodied Santa boots delivering your mail?

Asian kids beware: Fall asleep next to me and I will scream at you.
I'm not racist or anything. I am a 1/2 Asian myself. BUT, it seems that transit induces coma's on my Asian brethren. So, for the 40 minute bus ride I have sitting next to me a narcoleptic Nancy. Awake, sleep, awake, sleep. Continually slumping over but then realizing that they're slumping, repositions, only to slump once again. They probably don't get any sleep because their parents hound them to learn calculus and the violin - at the same time. Argh. I'm ranting. Join me, won't you?

In other news...no body likes Eunuchs. My Chinese history professor is mad great. He's a fantastic lecturer; very energetic. He complains of our Eurocentric ways each class and then demands that China get fair game play. Today he lectured on the rise of Manchu China. FREE TIBET! In the end, its the Eunuch's fault. Maybe they were just angry at having their bits chopped off and a brass plug inserted instead? Talk about peer pressure.



Your new track for today is something that I JUST heard while returning home. It's by a band called Ghost Bees and the track is Sinai.

They're from Halifax and the song is a great piece of melody and lyrical beauty...whatever that means.


Also, I bought 2 new CD's today.

The Constantine - Kensington Heights.
I haven't had much time to listen fully but I am in love with it. There's no new stuff up on their New Music Canada profile, so here's some older stuff.






Luke Doucet - Blood's Too Rich.
The title track is perhaps the best known. It borders on country and pop. Coptry? Anyways, give a listen.

Hello all, out there in inter-web land. Sometimes, I wonder at who actually ends up reading my journal posts (I'd say 'blog posts' but it isn't a blog, is it?). Only sometimes, though. Okay, rarely.

It was my birthday on the 1st of May, as usual. Birthdays are weird days. Almost for dollar store card cartels than for real people, like you or me. I bet OPEC is behind it too (they just raked in over $1 Trillion - a number so ridiculous that you that it was made up when you were young, like dragons and manners). I'm 22, no big deal. But in a way it is. The jury is out.

My friend Leah bought me Douglas Coupland's latest novel Glove Pond The Gum Thief. I just finished it not more than 10min. ago. I enjoyed it. I'll leave it for you to all read rather than explaining why I liked it. Can novels ever be perfect? What does that even mean? If an author finishes his (women can't write because they're attached to the stove/laundry machine...I KID!)/her novel, would it not be perfect? I guess, I related to the novel is better than I liked it. I'm not the English major.

I've started my two summer courses after an excruciating Spring semester. Chinese History from 1840: Really energetic professor - but I guess you have to be because it's a three hour lecture, twice a week. The second is Urban Geography which is very interesting. I'm a simcity addict so this is like candy. Only problem is that its a distance course and I'll have to be motivated to do the work.

To take my two summer courses I refused two well-paying summer jobs. $18/hr well-paying. Instead, I'll be working sporadically at the Playhouse Theatre Company, filing paper. Go me. By my estimates, I'll be broke now by mid-summer.

Music choice for right now: Petunia and the Loons - Cold Heart Breaker
It reminds me of music that should have been on the radio in years long past (is that even a correct sentence?). It will probably make you want to go for a long walk to town, no the city. THE TOWN. The one where there isn't a cement sidewalk in sight, just cedar planks or dirt. I'm pretty much just having an affair with the trumpet in this song.


Random Notes: May 5th, 2007
If I see you listening to a cassette player/walkman or even a CD player, I'm going to assume you're homeless. iPods are God.

If you think about it, we give money human traits. It has ceased to be a thing. It's more like Uncle Gus: judgmental, alcoholic, pretentious, evil. Or like a Pegasus: Flighty, strong, magical. Whatever, maybe I'm just in a communist mood. Heil, Marx.