Wednesday, May 21, 2008
#
David. As if I'm going to spoil it for you. I will say though the winning song is one crappy song.
Does anybody else watch Criminal Minds? In particular, did anybody watch today's season finale?? I hate season finales with cliff hangers. It makes me want to watch the next season in the fall even less, not more. It also gives me time for the story to be leaked.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
#
My brother bought the book
The Game - penetrating the secret society of pickup artists. Actually both my brothers did - the one living in Calgary has a copy and my brother living here in Edmonton does too. It's a habit of mine to pick up any reading material, no matter what it is, and just start reading; it's how I get around not having to talk. But that's a story for another time.
Anyways the book itself is quite a spectacle you really have to see for yourself. I have a set of Encyclopedias where the lettering on the cover is fake gold and the trims around every page is made up of this fake gold material too and
The Game is exactly the same. The covers are all black and the pages inside the covers are all red with no writing on them. So even before I started reading it it tries to give off an impression of holiness. And indeed I've heard this book referred to as a bible.
So I began reading it while watching the NBA playoffs; yeah I'm pretty talented that way in multitasking. "The Game" the title refers to is the game of picking up girls. The author of this book has taken supposedly the best "routines" and "patterns" from allegedly the best pick up artists in the world and wrote a book about it in the form of stories of either his experiences or someone he witnessed. These guys (no mention of women pickup artists in this book) believe they have everything done to a science. They have openers, counters, and a bunch of other stuff that reminds me of a chess game which in fact was used to demonstrate a particular routine described in the book.
The more I read the more I thought to myself, "every action and every word being said is so clearly pre-planned; how could girls fall for this? I know they are smarter than that". Then one story the author was talking about his friend who had this girlfriend who he thought was too well educated to fall for these ploys and the author wrote "The smarter a girl is, the better it works. Party girls with attention deficit disorder generally don't stick around to hear the routines. A more perceptive, worldly, or educated girl will listen and think, and soon find herself ensnared". And that particular story concludes with the well educated girlfriend jumping in bed with one of the pickup artists who wasn't even trying to pick her up.
The sad part is I have seen these "routines" work in person. I never thought of referring to these guys as pickup artists, I've always called them jack assess. Don't worry it's no one I associate myself with, so I'm not talking about any mutual friends. I'm not sure if I should think less of girls who fall for these routines. It's kind of like falling for a conn. In fact it's exactly like falling for a conn and the pickup artist is a conn artist. When you hear about someone being conned you feel sorry for them but a part of you secretly thinks "how stupid are you to fall for it?"
The author who talks about how he feels guilty for using girls as a measurement on how good he is as a pickup artists. He started referring to girls as "blonde 7" or "brunette 10" referring to hair color and the rating of how good looking the girl is on a scale of 1 to 10. Not guilty enough to stop however. Clearly these pickup artists are fulfilling some need for girls, otherwise they wouldn't work. But no, it's not for me. If you ever see me even attempt to try something like this you need to slap me full in the face. It's just not my "style" (Style is the nickname of the author in the pickup up artist society).
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
#
David Archuleta is making me mad. His fake modesty trying to hide his arrogance is really making me mad. Maybe all his success, even before joining American Idol, at such a young age is getting to him. I can't even comment on his singing because of the way he acts. Of course it doesn't matter what I think because America thinks he's all cute and cuddly.
Friday, March 21, 2008
#
As some of you may remember I am reading Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series. One of my favourite things about books is awesome passages. Here is just a small sample from Robert Jordan.
"Uh...Min, you know I like you. I like you, but ... Uh... you sort of remind me of my sisters."
"Why, Perrin, you must know I love you.....Like a brother, you great wooden-headed lummox! The arrogance of men never ceases to amaze me. You all think everything has to do with you, and every woman has to desire you."
"Lan is like an onion. You think you get to know something about him and then there is another layer".
"I will never shame you. I will hate the man you choose because he is not me, and love him if he makes you smile".
"A man who will not die to save a woman is no man"
And of course the very first paragraph of the first book (and all books thereafter) that got me hooked:
"The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose.... The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of time. But it was a beginning."
Thursday, March 13, 2008
#
Has anyone been watching? This is the first time the contestants have been allowed to use instruments other than their voices and most people chose the guitar and some chose the piano and keyboard. Not sure what I feel about that - it's kind of mixed feelings. Are we looking for the best performer or are we looking for the best singer? I know I've asked the same question at least half a dozen times now. When I listen to a song I don't care if the singer is playing the guitar himself/herself or not, I just care if it is a good song or not and how well it is sung. Here's a crazy idea for the contestants......why not try singing one of your own songs you wrote?
Monday, February 18, 2008
#
The streets and aves here in Red Deer are opposite of Edmonton. If you took an Edmonton map, rotated it clockwise 90 degrees, flipped it from top to bottom, and re-labeled North, East, South, and West accordingly that would be how the streets and aves in Red Deer are named. That is, from North to South are aves with the streets going in decreasing order. From West to East are streets with the aves going in decreasing order.
There are far more radio stations playing country in Red Deer than in Edmonton. Pretty much any FM radio station you tune into is either playing country music or is a religious radio station. I think it's clear which one is the lesser of two evils. Hah just kidding I actually don't mind country music.
The gyms here are pretty darn expensive. Since I am only here for 2 months it makes sense to only get monthly memberships. At one gym the membership is $99/ month; at another gym the membership is $60/month but there is also an $80 administration few - so that ends up being $200 for 2 months. I ended up settling for a gym that costs $37.50/ month which is right beside the school I will be teaching at. This gym is very much like the Kinsmen gym in Edmonton with 2 additional indoor soccer fields, one extra indoor hockey area, one extra gymnastics arena, and instead of a swimming pool they have a water park. $37.50/ month for all these facilities and being right beside the school I teach at seems awesome except the weight room at this gym is just as crappy as the one in Kinsmen and well weight lifting is the only thing I do these days. This gym has one pretty slutty setup though - instead of walls, the fitness (weights and cardio) center is surrounded by see through glass which lets you see right into the water park.
I won't be all alone here in Red Deer as I originally thought; a few of my APT classmates are here student teaching as well and 2 are even in the same school as me and teaching 2 classes that are the same as me. One of them in particular, who I just finished having dinner with in fact, is really awesome; too bad she already has a boyfriend as you would expect.
Friday, February 15, 2008
#
Been packing for Red Deer and I had 2 suit cases for clothes - one big and one small. I packed the big one with shirts (~15-20) and the little one with socks and underwear and was about to call it a day (cuz really, what else do guys need to pack?) And I was off but checked the laundry basket just in case I was forgetting some of my favourite shirts. Looking in the laundry basket I saw a whole pile of pants and thought there is no way I have that many pairs of pants. It's almost like every pair of pants I own is on display. Oh wait, that IS every pair of pants I have!! I guess I could take out half my shirts and replace them with pants, but I'm not liking that idea. So I have taken out an even bigger suitcase and trying to fit all my shirts and pants in it; as a guy having 3 suitcases for clothes is kind of embarrassing. Thankfully I don't need a separate suitcase for makeup, one for hair products, and another for shoes. Anyways wish me luck.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
#
Setting: Mens locker room at the gym
Characters:
Guy 1 - A man just entering the locker room getting ready to leave.
Guy 2 - A man tying up his shoes getting ready to go out on the gym floor.
And the story is off and it happened so fast you would have missed it if you blinked.
Guy 1: (in a sarcastic tone to guy 1) Have fun.
Guy 2: I don't think that's possible.
That conversation was so brilliant!! Nobody ever goes to the gym to "have fun". You can have fun playing basketball, or hockey, or any other physical activity except weight lifting. There are only 2 reasons people goto the gym: To improve their looks or to be healthy. You can also have a linear combination of the two (my APT math class would have been proud). Whoever knew such brilliance could come out of a men's locker room. I could probably go the rest of my life without overhearing anything meaningful in the men's locker room. Which begs the question........what do women do in the women's locker room?
Sunday, February 03, 2008
#
I was having coffee with a friend on Friday and I told her about a "new" fantasy series I was reading - the first book in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. The book and the series themselves aren't new, but they are new to me because I just started reading them. If I had known that Robert Jordan had died before finishing the 12th and final book the series I may not having started reading them. But now that I started the first book it's too late now -- the book is just so darn good. Tolkien has nothing on Robert Jordan.
Anyways as I told my friend I was reading the book she said to me, "you are definitely a junior high teacher from the books you read". I didn't respond to the comment at the time as I didn't think much of it. Then today my cousin saw me reading the book and she said to me, "we aren't in junior high anymore. You don't have to read so much". That reminded me of what my friend told me on Friday and now that I am writing this I remember in my IPT practicum I was in the school library looking at the fantasy books section and one of the teachers said, "that's our kids section for our students who are reading below grade level".
Now that I think about it, I DO read books that are generally considered teen's books or even kids book's. Some of my favourite books are always found in the "ages 9-12" section in the book stores. After this realization I actually don't feel as foolish as I thought I would be. I'm more offended that these books are considered children's books. Just because a book takes place in a fantasy world where magic is used does not automatically make it a children's book. The idea that only children fantasize about a fantastic (fantasy) world is ridiculous.
That's enough ranting for me. I gotta get back to the book and the series; only about 10,000 more pages to go.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
#
I've been sick since last Monday and this isn't the usual sniffles I get everyday when it starts snowing. I've been so cold that it actually physically feels like the bones inside my body are frozen. So really no amount of blankets or clothing makes me any less cold. The spine especially hurts like heck. I guess it doesn't really help matters much that since last Monday I've been to the gym 4 times and my gym routine is specifically designed to put my system in a state of shock and awe (ask Hor about it if you are interested). But a cold hasn't defeated me yet and I don't intend to let this one defeat me.
I think I've mentioned this before but it's worth mentioning again,
GROUP WORK EFIN SUCKS!! The assignment is due tomorrow which we've known about since the first day of school and my group decided they didn't want to start it until mid week this past week - as in like 4 or 5 days ago. Apparently some people didn't get the memo that you shouldn't work during your APT and you shouldn't be planning vacations during your APT!! Anyways all of you know by now I am definitely not an A or A+ type of student, but I do at least like to make the work I put my name on look half decent. It's kind of funny how almost from the first group meeting you can already see who are the students that will not be pulling their weight. So this other group member and I, although never spoken out loud, kind of came to the same conclusion and we gave those two girls the least amount of work. If I had to put a percentage weighting on how much of the assignment they are doing it would be somewhere between the 5-10% range. So me and this other guy are picking up the bulk of the workload even though I have been extremely immobile this past week.
Back to the work those two girls are supposed to be doing.........2 parts of the assignment........1 part they did wrong which I have to angrily fix up and practically re-do right now..........and the second part which they claim has been done yet hasn't been sent to either one of us as they would like us to proof read it. I honestly have my doubts whether it is done or not and it is due tomorrow.
We are also expected to give a group assessment and a rationale to that assessment. Luckily for those 2 girls the assessment has to be written as a group and I'm too lazy to find a sneaky way to show how little they did. Honestly I would have rather did this massive assignment on my own. Tuesday or Wednesday we are supposed to make a group presentation and of course I am the one doing most of the teaching. I am very tempted to take my sick days on Tuesday and Wednesday and have them try to figure out what the heck we are presenting on.
Screw this I'm going to bed. I'll fix up that girls work tomorrow if feel up for it.