Hello once again. Today, I have been hard at work enhancing the blog. Since it was a nice day outside, I sat on my balcony and programmed a mailing list for you all. If you guys would like to be emailed everytime I add a new entry to the blog, just fill in the form in this entry, or add your email in the box on the right side of the blog and click on "Join". That way, the next time I write something, you will know within a few minutes!!
Ain't life grand?
Sunday, June 27, 2004
Saturday, June 26, 2004
There is no place like the pool
Another day gone by. And I have done an amazing job of doing nothing. I should be working on my assignment, but I cannot get myself in that schoolwork zone. I did however manage to haul myself to the pool. I did 80 laps, which is ok. I was doing 100m in 2 mins. Thats actually faster than what I could them last summer when I was training like a mad man. I can only attribute the improvement to a better technique in the water. I know for a fact that I am not in a better shape. The weird thing about swimming is that I find my performance varies greatly from one session to the next.
While I was swimming today I couldn't help by wonder why more people dont swim. The pool was practically empty, there were only 3 or 4 other swimmers there. That meant I had an entire lane to myself. Hey, I am not complaining, I just don't understand why more people don't swim. I took a look at the pool schedule today, and it seems there is a free swim in the evenings during the week. So, I think I am just going to swim in the evenings.
Tomorrow I am going to try and get some indoor running done. I know it sounds stupid, why run indoors when there is a whole world outside just waiting to be ran on. Well, its all about controling the elements. I know what the conditions are on the threadmill, I can control the speed, the incline and I don't have to worry about finding water to drink or how hot the temperature is going to be. Lately my asthma has been acting up and I can't afford to be in the middle of nowhere. Actually, I don't remember my asthma ever beeing this bad. I know Patrick thinks its lame to be running indoors when I live on the Mountain, but the fact is, I like the privacy of the treadmill. I don't really like running outside where people can see you. I know it sounds weird, but its my preference. So too bad.
Now the next thing I need to work on is my hill-climbing abilities on the bike. I just can't climb hills. I suck. Completely. I could go for miles and miles on flat courses, but hills freaking kill me. Patrick suggested I do some hill-repeats. That should be easy considering how I live on a big huge mountain.
As for the Profanity Poll. THE POLLS ARE CLOSED! Mouahahaha. FUCK FUCKETY FUCK FUCK. Can you guess what the results were? Go see for yourself
While I was swimming today I couldn't help by wonder why more people dont swim. The pool was practically empty, there were only 3 or 4 other swimmers there. That meant I had an entire lane to myself. Hey, I am not complaining, I just don't understand why more people don't swim. I took a look at the pool schedule today, and it seems there is a free swim in the evenings during the week. So, I think I am just going to swim in the evenings.
Tomorrow I am going to try and get some indoor running done. I know it sounds stupid, why run indoors when there is a whole world outside just waiting to be ran on. Well, its all about controling the elements. I know what the conditions are on the threadmill, I can control the speed, the incline and I don't have to worry about finding water to drink or how hot the temperature is going to be. Lately my asthma has been acting up and I can't afford to be in the middle of nowhere. Actually, I don't remember my asthma ever beeing this bad. I know Patrick thinks its lame to be running indoors when I live on the Mountain, but the fact is, I like the privacy of the treadmill. I don't really like running outside where people can see you. I know it sounds weird, but its my preference. So too bad.
Now the next thing I need to work on is my hill-climbing abilities on the bike. I just can't climb hills. I suck. Completely. I could go for miles and miles on flat courses, but hills freaking kill me. Patrick suggested I do some hill-repeats. That should be easy considering how I live on a big huge mountain.
As for the Profanity Poll. THE POLLS ARE CLOSED! Mouahahaha. FUCK FUCKETY FUCK FUCK. Can you guess what the results were? Go see for yourself
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
My big TV Premiere
Its happening. I am finally going to see my speedo clad butt on TV. Aren't you excited? On Friday july 2nd and july 9th 2004, if you tune into the French-Canadian channel "Canal Vie" to watch Out in The City II, you will have the pleasure of seeing me in my daily life. Oh yeah baby!
I am not sure how to feel about this. The filming of this series went on over a period of 4 months, and it was brutal. They had me doing the weirdest things. I don't want to give away the story line, but at one point they had me dressed up in my triathlon gear, in a phonebooth in downtown montreal calling family members. Ok... The only thing real about that was that it was on the corner of the street where I live... but in reality, I have a telephone in my appartment, and a cell phone. Why the hell would I be calling long-distance in a phone both during rush hour in downtown Montreal? Oh, the beauty of it all, is that while we were filming, my cell phone rang. HA HA! I bet they edited that part out.
Another thing they made me do that I thought was absolutely ridiculous, was when my brother Joël came down to visit. They wanted shots of Joël and I hangin out and doing stuff and have us do a little interview. Well... I can garantee you that Joël and I don't normal sit in a coffee shop on an Oprah like stage (i kid you not) talking about existential meanings in our lives. *puke*
Most of my friends and family have not been told very much about the whole filming process. There will be some interesting shots of New-Brunswick and people I know from there. Unfortunately, I have no control over the production. I have no idea what did or didn't make it past the cutting room floor. I did however get to see a preview of what is coming at the premiere a few weeks ago. I saw 8 seconds of footage from my segments, and I was embarrassed enough to be speechless the rest of the evening. At the première, when they were showing the preview, I was so nervous, I thought I was gonna hurl. Thankfully I didn't. It might have something to do with the free Cosmos they kept pouring into my martini glass.
Remember that if you havent voted for the profanity poll yet, vote now. The polls will be closing on Friday. There has been way too much voting going on these days.
Also, I have been thinking of adding a feature to the blog. Auto-emails sent everytime I update the blog. That way, people who wish to receive alerts everytime I add a new entry could opt-in. I was surprised to hear from some of you that you read this regularly. Pleasantly surprised, but surprised.
I really enjoy spilling my guts on here. Thanks for reading y'all!
I am not sure how to feel about this. The filming of this series went on over a period of 4 months, and it was brutal. They had me doing the weirdest things. I don't want to give away the story line, but at one point they had me dressed up in my triathlon gear, in a phonebooth in downtown montreal calling family members. Ok... The only thing real about that was that it was on the corner of the street where I live... but in reality, I have a telephone in my appartment, and a cell phone. Why the hell would I be calling long-distance in a phone both during rush hour in downtown Montreal? Oh, the beauty of it all, is that while we were filming, my cell phone rang. HA HA! I bet they edited that part out.
Another thing they made me do that I thought was absolutely ridiculous, was when my brother Joël came down to visit. They wanted shots of Joël and I hangin out and doing stuff and have us do a little interview. Well... I can garantee you that Joël and I don't normal sit in a coffee shop on an Oprah like stage (i kid you not) talking about existential meanings in our lives. *puke*
Most of my friends and family have not been told very much about the whole filming process. There will be some interesting shots of New-Brunswick and people I know from there. Unfortunately, I have no control over the production. I have no idea what did or didn't make it past the cutting room floor. I did however get to see a preview of what is coming at the premiere a few weeks ago. I saw 8 seconds of footage from my segments, and I was embarrassed enough to be speechless the rest of the evening. At the première, when they were showing the preview, I was so nervous, I thought I was gonna hurl. Thankfully I didn't. It might have something to do with the free Cosmos they kept pouring into my martini glass.
Remember that if you havent voted for the profanity poll yet, vote now. The polls will be closing on Friday. There has been way too much voting going on these days.
Also, I have been thinking of adding a feature to the blog. Auto-emails sent everytime I update the blog. That way, people who wish to receive alerts everytime I add a new entry could opt-in. I was surprised to hear from some of you that you read this regularly. Pleasantly surprised, but surprised.
I really enjoy spilling my guts on here. Thanks for reading y'all!
Monday, June 14, 2004
Metroid Prime
In 1986, some brilliant people came out with a new game for the Nintendo Entertainment System: "Metroid". At the time, this was what I thought the coolest game ever! I played and played and played and eventually beat the game. Then came Metroid Fusion for the Gameboy Advanced, after almost 15 years of no Metroid. I was so excited! Then Metroid Prime came out for the Nintendo Gamecube, I was in heaven. I told you before, I am nerd. I nerded out again on Friday and Saturday. I spend hours playing Metroid Prime. I got this game almost a year ago, and since I am not a teenager and I cannot spend all my time playing video games, I am only 41% done... But I will not rest until this game is beat! Oh no. I will not.
The fringe Festival
In Montreal, we have what we call "The Fringe Festival" every Spring. It is basically a reason for giving exposure to local writers, directors and actors so they can showcase their crappy plays. This year was no exception. I went to see "Wanting" on Saturday evening. YACK, CACAC! First of all, the venue was an old abandoned building that was recently sheetrocked, unpainted and way too hot for early June. The lighting sucked, the sound sucked, the actors were horrible and the script VERY weak. Oh! Did I mention nudity? Every five minutes someone was taking off their clothes, then putting them on again. Its been done. Frankly, NOTHING about this play warranted that kind of artistic expression. So the guy was hot but he was only naked for like 10 seconds, however the two girls were practically exposing their muff all over the stage, for no apparent reason. People don't normally put their clothes on and off every 10 minutes. Yet, that's what happened in this play. Wanting left me wanting more. More of a script, more of a venue, more direction, more acting and more of my money back. Just because you took a creative writing class does not mean you should be writing plays. I have been to amateur produced plays before, and I have really enjoyed most of them... But this....But that's par for the course with the Fringe Festival. Usually the stuff is crap. The idea is great... I mean, what a great way to put local artists on stage, but do we have to produce every piece of artistic drool that is coughed up by granola munching "plateau residents"?
Rent
Now, Sunday, I went to see RENT. For the first time ever, translated into French. If you don't know, RENT is loosely based on Puccini's La Boheme and revolves around a bunch of squatters in a loft in NYC, most of which are HIV positive, some gay, some straight some bisexual and some questionable. The show was very well executed and had immense production value. It did not get great reviews and will probably not be extended. The major problem: the main character, Mark, could not sing, dance or act. HELLO THIS IS A MUSICAL you need to be able to do all three!Thank god, the rest of the cast was stellar. The show was stolen by the Collins and Angel (Angel the African-American transvestite/drag queen). These two had a chemistry on stage that grabbed the audience by the heart. I was deeply moved when Angel lost her battle against AIDS in one of the final scenes in Act Two. The second act was very strong, only brought down by that prancing "Mark" who just got on everyone's nerves. I felt like getting up and screaming : "Give me a gong!". (Remember the Gong Show!) It was a good thing we saw less of him in Act Two than Act One.
The audience gave the cast a standing ovation, it was well deserved. The actors did a tremendous job. However, I would like to smack the director, casting director, sound director and lighting director in the face with a smelly rotten herring. What were you all thinking? In a lot of the numbers, the sound was horrible, the band muffling the singing. In some of the scenes, the actors chests were lit up while their faces were in the dark: Bravo! There was too much fighting for attention on stage, actors upstaging each other. Director HELLO! And who the heck casted Mark? You get 3 smelly herring slaps, whoever you are.
Now my last beef... Why did this production flop you might ask? Easy: something got lost in the translation. I mean, seriously, they translated "The cow jumped over the moon" literally. This metaphor was the focus of the musical and many references were made to this... But this means something in English. I MEANS NOTHING IN FRENCH. Bravo. Beautifull translation. I hope you never translate anything ever again! 5 smelly herring slaps for the translator!
BY THE WAY : :) Your big sister loves you! ;)
Phew.. I feel better now :)
Thursday, June 10, 2004
GMAIL - EBay? Is there a connection?
Many of you have asked me : "Gabriel, do you have any GMAIL invites left?" Well, I did, and now they are all gone. Ha ha! No soup for you! Before I tell you the secret to getting your very own Gmail account (and yes, if you really desperately want one, it is possible), I must say something to my fellow bloggers from the blogging community:
Recently I was asked by a fellow blogger if I had any invites left. This left me wondering why this bloggerite was asking me for an invite because most active bloggers have received invitations from gmail. Blogger was purchased recently by Google. Gmail is also owned by Google. See the connection? Naturally, Gmail asked Blogger users to join GMAIL to help in the beta testing. So, shame on you bloggers! Shame on you for trying to scam me out of my GMAIL invites. I guess that you got your invites as well and are trying to get mine!!
Why would she/he want my invites? Well the answer lies in the search for Nirvana, or like I said yesterday, EBay. See, people are selling their GMAIL invites on EBay. You don't believe me? Go see for yourself. Last time I checked gmail account invitations were selling for about 80 to 100$ US a couple of weeks ago. Folks, that's almost 150 Canadian clams. That's a lot of clams. So shame on you bloggers, trying to get my gmail invites. As for those of you without GMAIL accounts, If you desperately want one and have money to through around, just go buy one on an EBay auction. The good news is that the price of Gmail accounts has gone down dramatically on EBay, and you should be able to get one today for 5-6$ Canadian.
However, if I ever have more invitations for gmail sent my way, I might consider giving you one if you drop me a line... Or maybe I'll make a capitalist out of myself and sell them on EBay.
Thanks for reading!
Recently I was asked by a fellow blogger if I had any invites left. This left me wondering why this bloggerite was asking me for an invite because most active bloggers have received invitations from gmail. Blogger was purchased recently by Google. Gmail is also owned by Google. See the connection? Naturally, Gmail asked Blogger users to join GMAIL to help in the beta testing. So, shame on you bloggers! Shame on you for trying to scam me out of my GMAIL invites. I guess that you got your invites as well and are trying to get mine!!
Why would she/he want my invites? Well the answer lies in the search for Nirvana, or like I said yesterday, EBay. See, people are selling their GMAIL invites on EBay. You don't believe me? Go see for yourself. Last time I checked gmail account invitations were selling for about 80 to 100$ US a couple of weeks ago. Folks, that's almost 150 Canadian clams. That's a lot of clams. So shame on you bloggers, trying to get my gmail invites. As for those of you without GMAIL accounts, If you desperately want one and have money to through around, just go buy one on an EBay auction. The good news is that the price of Gmail accounts has gone down dramatically on EBay, and you should be able to get one today for 5-6$ Canadian.
However, if I ever have more invitations for gmail sent my way, I might consider giving you one if you drop me a line... Or maybe I'll make a capitalist out of myself and sell them on EBay.
Thanks for reading!
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Ebay is evil... Or is it nirvana?
Why you might ask? Because, I actually sat there, clutching my mouse, counting down the minutes to my Ebay auction. I felt like a mad man. Slapping the refresh button with a passion than can only be found in the deepest cackles of the Douglas Hospital (the local funny farm). When I finally got the bloody Zelda Collector's Edition that you can't buy in stores not for resale Nintendo Gamecube Game, for a brief minute, a heartbeat of time, I think I transcended spiritually to what some have described as nirvana. No, not the 90's grunge band lead by Kurt Cobain (god rest his soul), but that ultimate state of being that spiritual leaders around the world have searched for millennia!
So, I am telling you my dear readers, Ebay = Nirvana.
So, I am telling you my dear readers, Ebay = Nirvana.
Tuesday, June 08, 2004
What is it with this city?
Its like 30 degrees. I am dying from the heat. *ugh* I don't know what it is about this city, but yesturday morning I was freezing my butt, and today its so hot I can't bloody sleep!!
Sunday, June 06, 2004
5 Pounds Later
Well, Dr Phil's low-cost high-yield foods are paying off! I have shed 5 pounds in about a week! Wooo hooo! I went swimming again yesturday, and I did a decent 2 hour bike ride thursday morning. So things are going in the right direction. Just need to keep the effort up! The hardest part is not binging on everything I see. I took Dr. Phil's advince and dug up my knitting needles from the bottom of my closet and started knitting again. It helps keep my mind off food. Since knitting requires the use of both hands, its not like I can eat and knit at the same time.
I am doing a very good job of staying away from sugars and chocalates. I had to make an exception this weekend though, it was JR's 33rd birthday on Saturday. So there was plenty of chocolate and cake to go around. Well over the course of the entire weekend, I had 2 peices of cake and 6 chcolate truffles. I guess thats ok. It doesn't happen. I got JR a nice wooden chess set, truffles and Monopoly. Last night I ruled at Monopoly! hehehe.
Thursday evening, Adrienne came over to spend the night since she is working in Montreal again. It was fun to just sit with her and chat. I dont think the two of us have had any alone time in at least 3 years. There usually is people around and so it was refreshing to chat with the candor we did back when she was living on Holy Cross St. She has always been a great friend, and I am very happy that she is working on the Island again, this way I will get to see here more. I know, its selfish, but I don't care.
Tonight I have to go to my Curling Banquet. I dont even feel like going. I am not a big fan of the people in the group, but I said I was going, and made them prepare a vegetarian meal for me, so if I don't go, they will notice that I am not there.
I am doing a very good job of staying away from sugars and chocalates. I had to make an exception this weekend though, it was JR's 33rd birthday on Saturday. So there was plenty of chocolate and cake to go around. Well over the course of the entire weekend, I had 2 peices of cake and 6 chcolate truffles. I guess thats ok. It doesn't happen. I got JR a nice wooden chess set, truffles and Monopoly. Last night I ruled at Monopoly! hehehe.
Thursday evening, Adrienne came over to spend the night since she is working in Montreal again. It was fun to just sit with her and chat. I dont think the two of us have had any alone time in at least 3 years. There usually is people around and so it was refreshing to chat with the candor we did back when she was living on Holy Cross St. She has always been a great friend, and I am very happy that she is working on the Island again, this way I will get to see here more. I know, its selfish, but I don't care.
Tonight I have to go to my Curling Banquet. I dont even feel like going. I am not a big fan of the people in the group, but I said I was going, and made them prepare a vegetarian meal for me, so if I don't go, they will notice that I am not there.
Monday, May 31, 2004
60 laps later!
I am so exhausted. This morning I was up at 5am. I don't know why, but I couldn't sleep past 5am. Not a big deal considering how I set my alarm clock for 5:45 anyway. I decided today is the day.
So after a quick breakfast (low fat, low carb, high protein) I headed to the pool for my first masters' swim in a while. I am so outta shape. I only managed to swim 60 laps, which is about 1500m. Not much. I used to swim about 4km. Argh! Oh well. So that was 14 hours ago and I can already feel my triceps, biceps, quads, lats, traps, etc. YIKES! I am going to one hurting number. So now, on top of this, I have to figure out what my training schedule is going to be like because I am going to be in that JBL triathlon, come hell or high water. I am going to give my self this week to get back into swimming and this weekend I'll take Brandon out for a ride (Brandon is my Specialized road bike!)
Other than that there really isn't much going on right now. BORING! I spent the weekend doing school work. Woo hoo! I am telling you, Management Frameworks are not that interesting.
My mother used to say : "If you don't have anything intelligent to say, don't say anything at all."
So... That's all folks!
So after a quick breakfast (low fat, low carb, high protein) I headed to the pool for my first masters' swim in a while. I am so outta shape. I only managed to swim 60 laps, which is about 1500m. Not much. I used to swim about 4km. Argh! Oh well. So that was 14 hours ago and I can already feel my triceps, biceps, quads, lats, traps, etc. YIKES! I am going to one hurting number. So now, on top of this, I have to figure out what my training schedule is going to be like because I am going to be in that JBL triathlon, come hell or high water. I am going to give my self this week to get back into swimming and this weekend I'll take Brandon out for a ride (Brandon is my Specialized road bike!)
Other than that there really isn't much going on right now. BORING! I spent the weekend doing school work. Woo hoo! I am telling you, Management Frameworks are not that interesting.
My mother used to say : "If you don't have anything intelligent to say, don't say anything at all."
So... That's all folks!
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Toronto Photos Are Here!!
Hey all! My brother finally sent me the pics from the weekend! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
Top Left : Micheal (Joel's Roomate)
Top Right : Me
Bottom Left : Marc (Joel's Roomate)
Bottom Right: Joel (my Brother)
Top Left : Micheal (Joel's Roomate)
Top Right : Me
Bottom Left : Marc (Joel's Roomate)
Bottom Right: Joel (my Brother)
Royal Alexandra Theatre
Here I am in front of the Roayl Alexandra Theatre before going to see Mamma Mia!
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Photoblogging... what will they think of next?
Well well well. Photo Blogging is here! I am just testing this out. Here is a picture of Patrick (on the right) and me at my first Triathlon in Lac Beauport!
Monday, May 24, 2004
Mamma Mia!
Well, once again, I marvel at the technology that we are lucky enough to have in this day and age. Today’s blog is coming to you from seat 7F on West Jet flight 766 with service to Montreal. As I already commented previously, West Jet, has offered a smooth as butter flight, boarding and service. The main difference being that the French recording has been replaced by a French speaking flight attendant. She is definitely not a francophone but I definitely appreciate the fact that they have someone who speaks French on staff! Way to go West Jet!
So, my trip to Toronto is over. To be honest I am really looking forward to landing in Montreal. There is nothing like leaving your home to make you realize just how much you like it there. Don’t get me wrong, Toronto is a great city, and I am sure I will visit again sometime, but I am too much of a Montrealer to spend extended time away from my adopted home city.
An interesting thing happened this weekend. I actually got to relax. I forgot about work, forgot about school, and forgot about everything really. I got to spend time walking around and doing things I like without giving much attention to price or reason. I think is going to be my last attempt at self indulgence for a while. I need to bolt myself down and get serious about a lot of things in the very near future!
So what have I been up to this weekend? Well first things first.
Friday night!
I was greeted at the Airport by Michelle, Melissa and Joël (my little brodah, one of 3). When then went to some Irish pub in the Annex, had a beer, then walked around downtown T.O. I was really exhausted and decided to head on home and to bed around midnight. I slept like a baby.
Saturday!
Saturday morning we slowly awoke. Joël, Bruno and I went to eat a juice/vegetarian place somewhere across the street from Much Music studios. After some more walking around and grabbing a digital camera from Médiatique, we then ventured into Moutain Equipment Coop for a quick look around. Well, to our joy, they were offering free wall climbing to all their members that day. Joël and I watched little children climb up and figured we could do better than those little brats, so off we went. I got about ¾ of of the way up, and of course Joël made it all the way to the top. It was valiant effort nonetheless. It is very hard to climb walls. But I really enjoyed it. I think I might actually join a climbing club. JR has been bugging me to do it for a while now; maybe I will actually get around to doing it.
After wearing out our body climbing, a more relaxed afternoon was in order. Completely by chance, we came across the St-Alexandria Theatre, and there was a 2pm showing of Mamma Mia! with tickets available at the orchestra level. Well, 94$ x 2 later, were laughing and singing along with the cast enjoying what can only be described as one of the funniest, most entertaining musicals I have ever seen!!
I spent the rest of the evening relaxing, reading and surfing.
Sunday :
Sunday was spent wandering the streets of Toronto, but not before we had breakfast at the Pulp Kitchen, a vegan restaurant where Bruno works. I had a very delicious eggless omelette, complete with potatoes, salad and fair trade coffee.
Joël and went to see a movie, 13 going 30. A light comedy about a girl who, on her 13th birthday, wishes she was 30, and does get her wish. As you can tell, a masterpiece of Hollywood cinema again!
Monday, we went for breakfast at "Hello Toast", and then we just ran around the city, sipping coffee. Yay Tim Horton!
I will put some pictures up as soon as I have a chance. The flight attendant just announced that we are landing. So, gotta go ya all!
So, my trip to Toronto is over. To be honest I am really looking forward to landing in Montreal. There is nothing like leaving your home to make you realize just how much you like it there. Don’t get me wrong, Toronto is a great city, and I am sure I will visit again sometime, but I am too much of a Montrealer to spend extended time away from my adopted home city.
An interesting thing happened this weekend. I actually got to relax. I forgot about work, forgot about school, and forgot about everything really. I got to spend time walking around and doing things I like without giving much attention to price or reason. I think is going to be my last attempt at self indulgence for a while. I need to bolt myself down and get serious about a lot of things in the very near future!
So what have I been up to this weekend? Well first things first.
Friday night!
I was greeted at the Airport by Michelle, Melissa and Joël (my little brodah, one of 3). When then went to some Irish pub in the Annex, had a beer, then walked around downtown T.O. I was really exhausted and decided to head on home and to bed around midnight. I slept like a baby.
Saturday!
Saturday morning we slowly awoke. Joël, Bruno and I went to eat a juice/vegetarian place somewhere across the street from Much Music studios. After some more walking around and grabbing a digital camera from Médiatique, we then ventured into Moutain Equipment Coop for a quick look around. Well, to our joy, they were offering free wall climbing to all their members that day. Joël and I watched little children climb up and figured we could do better than those little brats, so off we went. I got about ¾ of of the way up, and of course Joël made it all the way to the top. It was valiant effort nonetheless. It is very hard to climb walls. But I really enjoyed it. I think I might actually join a climbing club. JR has been bugging me to do it for a while now; maybe I will actually get around to doing it.
After wearing out our body climbing, a more relaxed afternoon was in order. Completely by chance, we came across the St-Alexandria Theatre, and there was a 2pm showing of Mamma Mia! with tickets available at the orchestra level. Well, 94$ x 2 later, were laughing and singing along with the cast enjoying what can only be described as one of the funniest, most entertaining musicals I have ever seen!!
I spent the rest of the evening relaxing, reading and surfing.
Sunday :
Sunday was spent wandering the streets of Toronto, but not before we had breakfast at the Pulp Kitchen, a vegan restaurant where Bruno works. I had a very delicious eggless omelette, complete with potatoes, salad and fair trade coffee.
Joël and went to see a movie, 13 going 30. A light comedy about a girl who, on her 13th birthday, wishes she was 30, and does get her wish. As you can tell, a masterpiece of Hollywood cinema again!
Monday, we went for breakfast at "Hello Toast", and then we just ran around the city, sipping coffee. Yay Tim Horton!
I will put some pictures up as soon as I have a chance. The flight attendant just announced that we are landing. So, gotta go ya all!
Saturday, May 22, 2004
Ok... So now what
Well hello from T.O..
I don't have much to report so far. I got here all in one piece and so far so good! The flight was fantastic!! THANK YOU WESTJET!! Honestly, I have never had a more enjoyable experience in aviation. What a fantastic airline! The staff was friendly, the ride was amazing, and they actually arrived 20 minutes early. The whole ticketing & boarding process was so efficient, I thought I was on a German train not a Canadian plane!! What really amazed me was how friendly the staff were, they actually smiled and looked like they enjoyed their jobs! They had team spirit! And the plane had leather seats for everyone. I had more leg room on Westjet than compared to any other air carrier I know. The only thing that slightly pissed me off is that the flight crew did not speak French. This is not acceptable for an airline flying out of Montreal. However, I will give credit to the co-pilot who did the captain's spiel in French, but that was the only French that did not come out of a cheesy recording. All the English stuff was done verbaly by the flight attendants. I found that a bit insulting, specially since the flight attendants did not instruct the anglos to be quiet, so you couldn't hear anything anyway. But, lets give them time, they have only recently been serving a bigger share of the French Canadian market.
You are probably wondering at this point why I am not writting my blog in French Since I feel so strongly about language issues... Ugh. Well, I will save that for another blog, another day. As a French-Canadian born outside of Québec, now living in Québec but visiting Toronto, boy do I ever have a thing or two say about the language issue. Starting with those idiots who mocked my brother and I while we were walking down Bloor St just because we were speaking in French. I'll probably have more to say about that later on this weekend.
So what should I do next. I think I might go visit the CN Tower tommorrow.
Have you guys checked out the Profanity Poll. So far, the NO side is winning by a significant margin. If you haven't voted yet, what are you waiting for... CLICK HERE.
Thanks for reading guys!
I don't have much to report so far. I got here all in one piece and so far so good! The flight was fantastic!! THANK YOU WESTJET!! Honestly, I have never had a more enjoyable experience in aviation. What a fantastic airline! The staff was friendly, the ride was amazing, and they actually arrived 20 minutes early. The whole ticketing & boarding process was so efficient, I thought I was on a German train not a Canadian plane!! What really amazed me was how friendly the staff were, they actually smiled and looked like they enjoyed their jobs! They had team spirit! And the plane had leather seats for everyone. I had more leg room on Westjet than compared to any other air carrier I know. The only thing that slightly pissed me off is that the flight crew did not speak French. This is not acceptable for an airline flying out of Montreal. However, I will give credit to the co-pilot who did the captain's spiel in French, but that was the only French that did not come out of a cheesy recording. All the English stuff was done verbaly by the flight attendants. I found that a bit insulting, specially since the flight attendants did not instruct the anglos to be quiet, so you couldn't hear anything anyway. But, lets give them time, they have only recently been serving a bigger share of the French Canadian market.
You are probably wondering at this point why I am not writting my blog in French Since I feel so strongly about language issues... Ugh. Well, I will save that for another blog, another day. As a French-Canadian born outside of Québec, now living in Québec but visiting Toronto, boy do I ever have a thing or two say about the language issue. Starting with those idiots who mocked my brother and I while we were walking down Bloor St just because we were speaking in French. I'll probably have more to say about that later on this weekend.
So what should I do next. I think I might go visit the CN Tower tommorrow.
Have you guys checked out the Profanity Poll. So far, the NO side is winning by a significant margin. If you haven't voted yet, what are you waiting for... CLICK HERE.
Thanks for reading guys!
Thursday, May 20, 2004
Warning, This Blog has been rated R!
OK. Some of you, do not like the four letter F word or the four letter S word very much. In fact, some of you dislike it so much that you took time to write me about it. Some of you might have even been offend by my choice of adjectives in some of my previous blogs. Well, I respect that. Its your opinion. However... I am not sure that changes anything for me. I can see how someone who only knows me through certain channels might be surprised by a more colorful usage of the English language. I do not run around the office, or any place for that matter, shooting my mouth off trying to offend people. So I guess the point I am trying to make is that, this blog, in some way is to me an art form. I like the idea of having my thoughts written down and having someone, anyone or you, reading them and then telling me what they think. I was thrilled to get such an eloquent response from one of the readers of the blog. Seriously, this person wrote me in a very nice way to tell me that she was disappointed and thought that such language was not warranted (I am paraphrasing).
In a way, she is right. She is right, because it can be considered offensive. I am certain to some people it is. But its not offensive to me. I don't think my mother would even be offended. Actually, I am sure she will tell me next time I talk to her because I did inviter her and her girlfriend to come visit my blog. In fact, I am very proud of my blog, I like how it looks, I like the content I have provided so far, so I am extremely pleased with the results. Now, this content. Should I abstain from using profanity. I wonder what you guys think. Well, here is an idea. Why don't you answer that question yourself. Click here to take my profanity poll. Do you think I should abstain from using profanity on my blog? Let me know what you think. The poll is 100% anonymous, I will not log your IP, or anything. The only think I will do is place a cookie on your machine so that I know you haven't voted a billion times.
In a couple of weeks, I will close the poll and we can see what you think. Ok.. Enough of that.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN. Yes boys and girls, I am taking my laptop and I am off to T.O. tomorrow. I am rewarding myself with a plane ticket as soon as my paycheck is deposited into my bank account later this evening, and I am flying to T.O. My brother says he will be happy to see me. I am going to ask James to borrow his digicamera, and we will be all set to go to Toronto. I will be blogging from Toronto! So I should have some interesting things to report while I am there. I am actually going to check to see if there is any SARS left. Hehehe.
So don't forget to vote!
In a way, she is right. She is right, because it can be considered offensive. I am certain to some people it is. But its not offensive to me. I don't think my mother would even be offended. Actually, I am sure she will tell me next time I talk to her because I did inviter her and her girlfriend to come visit my blog. In fact, I am very proud of my blog, I like how it looks, I like the content I have provided so far, so I am extremely pleased with the results. Now, this content. Should I abstain from using profanity. I wonder what you guys think. Well, here is an idea. Why don't you answer that question yourself. Click here to take my profanity poll. Do you think I should abstain from using profanity on my blog? Let me know what you think. The poll is 100% anonymous, I will not log your IP, or anything. The only think I will do is place a cookie on your machine so that I know you haven't voted a billion times.
In a couple of weeks, I will close the poll and we can see what you think. Ok.. Enough of that.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN. Yes boys and girls, I am taking my laptop and I am off to T.O. tomorrow. I am rewarding myself with a plane ticket as soon as my paycheck is deposited into my bank account later this evening, and I am flying to T.O. My brother says he will be happy to see me. I am going to ask James to borrow his digicamera, and we will be all set to go to Toronto. I will be blogging from Toronto! So I should have some interesting things to report while I am there. I am actually going to check to see if there is any SARS left. Hehehe.
So don't forget to vote!
Monday, May 17, 2004
Hi. My name is Gabriel and I am a geek.
Yes, the rumors are true, I am a geek. In fact, I am such a big geek that I have some geek news to share with you all. Today, after I got home from work, I tuned into TechTV, my absolute favorite TV Channel. Of course, its only available through digital TV providers, but it is well worth the cash. And to my great pleasure, they announced that WIL WHEATON will be hosting Call For Help on Friday the 21st and Monday the 24th of May 2004. Ok... I was so excited, I just had to share the news.
And since we are on a geek mode today, I will also share this with you : GMAIL ROCKS. I have had a few weeks to test this web based email service, and my advice to you, is you better line up now to get your email account before its too late. Well actually, you can't line up right away because they are only offering it to a few thousand beta testers (HA HA), but you should put your name down on the waiting list ASAP. You would hate to miss the opportunity to have youname@gmail.com and be stuck with youname23432342@gmail.com.
Ok, why should you consider this email service? There are hundreds of really good services already available. You might even think that the web based email market does not need another email service. Well, I really believe that GMAIL is going to change how we view email and force Hotmail and Yahoo! to rethink what service they offer, and here is why:
So... Hurry hard, and point your browsers to http://gmail.google.com. Trust me on this one.
Gabriel
And since we are on a geek mode today, I will also share this with you : GMAIL ROCKS. I have had a few weeks to test this web based email service, and my advice to you, is you better line up now to get your email account before its too late. Well actually, you can't line up right away because they are only offering it to a few thousand beta testers (HA HA), but you should put your name down on the waiting list ASAP. You would hate to miss the opportunity to have youname@gmail.com and be stuck with youname23432342@gmail.com.
Ok, why should you consider this email service? There are hundreds of really good services already available. You might even think that the web based email market does not need another email service. Well, I really believe that GMAIL is going to change how we view email and force Hotmail and Yahoo! to rethink what service they offer, and here is why:
- 1 GIGABYTE of space
- Keep all your emails forever
- Google Like searching
- Easy to use interface
- Fantastic Conversation tracking feature lets you group emails by topic
- Better than most email services that charge you for 100 megs of space
- Google adds are hardly noticeable and actually relevant to YOUR interests
So... Hurry hard, and point your browsers to http://gmail.google.com. Trust me on this one.
Gabriel
Sunday, May 16, 2004
The laundry room occupation
I am sure you have all heard about the west-bank, Palestinians vs Jews vs the world, etc. I think that as a gay Acadian man, I know a thing or two about genocide. I know what its like to be part of an oppressed people... But this whole squatting in the homeland gets me so riled up and pissed off... ARGH! Anyway, that's not what I want to talk about today. What I would like to talk about, is the two very retarded looking gentlemen who decided that they were going to occupy my dryer today. You will see how these two topics related later. Keep reading...
So, the events of the last few weeks, finishing my second graduate class, work, funeral, etc, have led me to forsake some of my activities of daily living. Laundry, dishwashing, carpet cleaning, bed making and sometimes deodorant wearing have had to make way for more pressing matters. So, now that things seem to have calmed down a little bit, I decreed Sunday, today, my catch up day. I even went through my stack of mail that was sitting on the microwaves (yes, with an "s" because there are 2 microwaves stacked neatly one over the other, long story).
I got started on my laundry ritual after 1 hour of washing dishes. No, they are not all done, I just got really bored of washing dishes. I proceeded to the closet of doom and tried to make 3 piles of clothes: dirty white clothes, dirty dark clothes and clean clothes. I then stuffed all the dirty clothes clothes into my laundry bag. My laundry bag is actually a blue US Postal Service M-Bag that has FOREIGN MAIL written across it. I hauled my M-Bag down to the laundry room and begun my laundry. The wash cycle ended and then I moved the clothes from the washer to the dryer. No incidents yet. You need to understand something about my laundry ritual. I have carefully studied the art of doing laundry, and I have fined tuned my skills so I know, how much laundry the dryer can support and dry correctly on a 1.25$.
So... 40 minutes pass, down I go to fetch my pail of laundry. I get down there, as expected, there is 5 minutes left to the cycle. So I wait patiently, breathing in the fresh laundry smell. Then... I see, what can only be described as the most retarded looking Jewish guys I have ever seen. Now, they are not retarded because they are Jewish, they just happen to be Jewish and retarded. So... I am the only who has been doing laundry that day, so I wonder why these empty handed bozos are heading my way. They are looking very sheepish, and seem to be perturbed by the fact that I am standing in front of my clothes. The events that then ensued can only be compared to an Armistead Maupin novel. The weirdest looking one of two (bugley eyes, big mouth, big nose, disproportionate body, and frazzled brown curly hair) approached and spoke : "Uhm, we borrowed your machine". Ok... What the hell is this moron talking about. I said : "What do you mean you borrowed my machine?" Then the genius's friend repeated "We borrowed your machine, can you get out of the way please?" I had a surge of panic flow from my toes to my brain as I watched the weirdoes bend over, stop the dryer cycle, and rummage though my work clothes to fetch out an old, dirty, disgusting looking shoulder bag. Ok... The big mouth of destruction open up and then I yelled "You can't put your shit in other people's laundry!" They turned around, thanked me and proceeded back to the elevator. OH MY GOD I WAS SO MAD. This is insane! My work clothes!!!!! Thank god they didn't shove into the whites... But then again... ITS A BUCK AND 25 CENTS. Cheap bastards.
So, from now on, I am going to sit on top of my laundry like a hen on her eggs.
DAMN YOU CHEAP MORONS!
So, the events of the last few weeks, finishing my second graduate class, work, funeral, etc, have led me to forsake some of my activities of daily living. Laundry, dishwashing, carpet cleaning, bed making and sometimes deodorant wearing have had to make way for more pressing matters. So, now that things seem to have calmed down a little bit, I decreed Sunday, today, my catch up day. I even went through my stack of mail that was sitting on the microwaves (yes, with an "s" because there are 2 microwaves stacked neatly one over the other, long story).
I got started on my laundry ritual after 1 hour of washing dishes. No, they are not all done, I just got really bored of washing dishes. I proceeded to the closet of doom and tried to make 3 piles of clothes: dirty white clothes, dirty dark clothes and clean clothes. I then stuffed all the dirty clothes clothes into my laundry bag. My laundry bag is actually a blue US Postal Service M-Bag that has FOREIGN MAIL written across it. I hauled my M-Bag down to the laundry room and begun my laundry. The wash cycle ended and then I moved the clothes from the washer to the dryer. No incidents yet. You need to understand something about my laundry ritual. I have carefully studied the art of doing laundry, and I have fined tuned my skills so I know, how much laundry the dryer can support and dry correctly on a 1.25$.
So... 40 minutes pass, down I go to fetch my pail of laundry. I get down there, as expected, there is 5 minutes left to the cycle. So I wait patiently, breathing in the fresh laundry smell. Then... I see, what can only be described as the most retarded looking Jewish guys I have ever seen. Now, they are not retarded because they are Jewish, they just happen to be Jewish and retarded. So... I am the only who has been doing laundry that day, so I wonder why these empty handed bozos are heading my way. They are looking very sheepish, and seem to be perturbed by the fact that I am standing in front of my clothes. The events that then ensued can only be compared to an Armistead Maupin novel. The weirdest looking one of two (bugley eyes, big mouth, big nose, disproportionate body, and frazzled brown curly hair) approached and spoke : "Uhm, we borrowed your machine". Ok... What the hell is this moron talking about. I said : "What do you mean you borrowed my machine?" Then the genius's friend repeated "We borrowed your machine, can you get out of the way please?" I had a surge of panic flow from my toes to my brain as I watched the weirdoes bend over, stop the dryer cycle, and rummage though my work clothes to fetch out an old, dirty, disgusting looking shoulder bag. Ok... The big mouth of destruction open up and then I yelled "You can't put your shit in other people's laundry!" They turned around, thanked me and proceeded back to the elevator. OH MY GOD I WAS SO MAD. This is insane! My work clothes!!!!! Thank god they didn't shove into the whites... But then again... ITS A BUCK AND 25 CENTS. Cheap bastards.
So, from now on, I am going to sit on top of my laundry like a hen on her eggs.
DAMN YOU CHEAP MORONS!
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