I Miss The Days Where Rage Equalled Good Posts

Good afternoon, class.

So I’m at work, and it sucks. And it’s Monday. And I’m tired. And everything that everyone is doing at any time seems to be pissing me off. When I started this blog in ’03 with Steve – that would have equalled a golden post. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, that no longer seems to be the case. I think, at least today, it’s because I’m just a whiney cranky bitch as opposed to having anything close to a “real” problem to complain about. For example, all day people have been chatting directly behind my desk, using the photo-copier directly behind my desk (which someone began right as I typed that) and just generally making innocent enough small talk than I’m just in no mood to respond to. Hard to make a post out of that. I’m just a bitch.

But, irregardless, I’m going to write. If for no other reason than that I’ll be typing away which should destract me from the irritations around me which doing the midless work that this afternoon has brought me, would not accomplish. Plus, for some reason, if someone sees you typing away at something quickly as opposed to studying your sheet or screen, they seem to pass you by assuming you’re doing something important. Foolish.

The weekend wasn’t bad. I had back to Belleville. The party’s were not as plentiful as advertised, but the group of us that usually chills together had a pretty good time. I wouldn’t quite call it a bust – but certainly not up to par with what I was expecting. Maybe that’s my fault for too high of expectations. Whatever.

Great hockey game Saturday night, Jays lose a series to Detroit and the Argo’s sign a suspended NFL pot-head. I’ll leave the sports at that since there no longer seems to be a large portion of sports fans.

Last night I actually ordered the ECW PPV. First one I’ve paid for since WrestleMania which I get every year. Before that the last one I paid for was probably… the previous ECW PPV and WrestleMania. All in all a pretty decent show which had much more of a “let’s kick off the new brand” feel than a “let’s hit all the old highspots from the past” like last year. Nothing wrong with that. Main Event finish was fairly predictable in that there would be controversy. That’s probably also fine as they couldn’t really afford to make either guy look bad. That should be fixed up tonight. For the third Monday in a row there is a huge hockey game on the same night as RAW so I guess I’ll be missing it, but perhaps some channel surfing if the game is a bore.

Speaking of channel surfing. WWE is doing that frantically right now in Canada trying to find someone to air the new ECW show. TSN has said they have no interest in picking up another live wrestling show as they’re already going to be pre-empting RAw in favour of Monday Night Football in the fall and will probably have to have a Tuesday replay of the show (the night ECW would air). The Score supposedly may have an interest but are fully aware with how much SmackDown! sucks that ECW may out do it in the ratings and so would most likely want to dump SmackDown in exchange for ECW. WWE doesn’t want any part of that scenario either because then they’re still looking for somewhere to air that Dud. So if you’re in Canada don’t bother looking for the ECW show tomorrow night as it doesn’t have a home yet. IF anything changes and you give a shit, I’m sure you’ll hear.

There’s supposed to be a pretty good story on the supposed Toronto Terrorists tonight on Global. Or was it CTV? I don’t remember. If you care to see it you’ll figure it out. Or maybe someone else knows and can chime in with a comment.

Well. I was right. Rage, today anyways, equals Snooze. But I pissed away some time. So the only real loser here is… well… you.

On that note. Fair well.

Answer Me This

I figured since Carin already has the
things I’ll miss about my old place when I move
beat covered, that it would only be fitting for one of us negative assholes to come on here and talk about things we won’t miss. And since Matt’s not moving and Carin wrote about the good things the other day and a lot of the shitty ones are pretty well documented, I guess it falls to me. I’m not going to bother with a huge list of complaints and grievances, since other than having absolutely no space and being unable to get my mail when I need it because I share a mailbox with the people upstairs who don’t like to be home or return phone calls in a timely fashion, I’ve been pretty happy here. Instead I’m just going to focus on one thing that I hope some of you might be able to help me figure out.

I live in a basement apartment where the radio reception absolutely sucks. I can get somewhere around 5 FM stations on a good day, of which approximately 0 are consistently any good. AM is pretty decent, but there’s only so much talk radio any man can handle, no matter how hard that man may try. So unless I listen to CD’s or internet streams, I’m subjected to some pretty piss poor programming on a pretty regular basis. This leads me to a question, actually no, 2 questions.

First, why is it that no matter where you are in the world, the worst radio stations are always the ones with the strongest signals? And second, why in hell is Coldplay so popular? While I’m at it, I should throw in one more. Is there a law around here that I’m unaware of that says that unless you’re a country radio station, you’re required to play a minimum of 37 Coldplay songs a day? Yes, in case you haven’t figured it out by now, one of the things I’m most looking forward to about the new place is being able to turn off a Coldplay song without running headlong into another one.

Come on guys, help me out here. If you’re a Coldplay fan, please explain one simple thing to me. Why? I can’t figure it out. I can think of 2 Coldplay songs that I don’t absolutely despise, and I don’t even care for them very much. They’re Clocks and Yellow in case anybody cares, but back to the point. Everywhere I go, all I hear and read about is how great and how revolutionary these guys are, and I just don’t understand. Every Coldplay song sounds like every other Coldplay song, and I don’t care what anybody says, Chris Martin always sounds to me like he’s either got a yap full of food that he’s swallowed half way, or like he’s doing his best imitation of an animal that’s just been hit by a truck. I won’t go so far as to say that this band sucks donkey dicks, but that’s only because I don’t think it would be fair to insult donkey diccks that way.

Anyway, now that I’ve got that out of my system, I should probably eat some lunch and do some packing. And by the way, if the site is quiet for the next few days, it’s because Carin and I will both be in Ottawa for our friend’s wedding. So hopefully Matt can entertain you, and hopefully we’ll have some fun stories to tell when we get home.

See you all soon, and always remember…um…never mind, I forget.

Original! Yay!

So I’m at work – as usual – and rediculously unmotivated today. Yesterday seemed to fly by and I got tons accomplished but this morning is just so blah. So I cam on here. But I’ll warn. If you have things to do but are sticking around in case I say something funny/relevant/important you’re probably wasting your time.

So I just read Carin’s post on all the things she’d miss about her place. I haven’t been to visit her since she moved out of her last place so haven’t seen it but I thoroughall enjoyed the read. Mostly because it was original. So often on these things it’s not and we post links or stories or things like that. And they’re funny or interesting but I’ve always enjoyed the content that Steve, Carin and even sometimes myself have been able to come up with on our own. From everyday life to great stories or takes on pop-culture, it just seems more fun. I know I’m probably the most guilty of unoriginality (when I’m here that is). I seem to recall a few years back posting nothing but rip-offs from X Entertainment as Hallowe’en and Christmas countdowns. I dunno. Not that any of this matters. I just kinda hit me after reading Carin’s post.

The whole “Terror In Toronto” thing is everywhere right now. It’s made International headlines all over the world. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be big news…. here. Sure most people know and it’s getting lots of coverage – but it’s amazing how many people know nothing about it. Can’t imagine being that oblivious. Turn on a radio, grab a paper, anything. Good god, man, it’s the world around you.

I saw a man interviewed walking in to the Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday morning (one of the buildings supposedly targetted) who had no idea that the very building he worked at could have been blown off the map before he showed up to work. It’s scarey.

This whole thing makes me feel compelled to say something about tollerance. We have a small group of loyal readers that makes up, in reality, an extremely low percentage of the population, and I think that they’re all smart enough to already know this but I still feel like it should be put out there as often as possible.

There have already been incidents at different Muslim houses of worship and other structures, strikes against Muslim homes and general coldness towards anyone appearing to practise the Islamic faith. This is a terribly unfair and racist re-action. An entire race of people cannot be grouped in with one group of evil people. An overwhelming majority of Arabs in our country are here because a member of their family came here to enjoy the freedoms that we enjoy, not to destroy them. We need not be reminded that Timothy McVeigh, the man killed many in the Oklahoma City bombings was the shitest redneck you’ll ever meet. Evil knows no skin colour or religious belief.

Tollerance is more important these days than it ever has been before – but as I said – I’m sure I”m speaking to a group who doesn’t need me to point this out.

Be Safe

Something Tells Me They Had the Brain Damage Part Covered Long Before This Happened

Two students found dead inside large helium balloon

LUTZ, FLA. (Jun 5, 2006)

Two university students were found dead inside a large, deflated helium balloon after apparently pulling it down and crawling inside it.

The deaths of Jason Ackerman and Sara Rydman, both 21, appear to be accidental, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Major Bob Schrader said.

Their bodies were found Saturday inside a deflated helium balloon at a condo complex a few kilometres north of Tampa. The 2.4-metre-diameter balloon was used to advertise the complex.

“It was more a fun thing they thought they were doing,” said Sara Rydman’s mother Linda. “You know how you blow up the balloon and suck the helium.”

The county medical examiner said yesterday the cause of death will not be released for weeks, until test results come back. Inhaling helium can quickly lead to brain damage and death from lack of oxygen.

Goodbye Old House, I’ll Miss You….A Little

Well, I’ve pissed and moaned about my house a lot lately. But now that it’s almost time to say goodbye to it, it makes me think of all the little things I’ll miss about living there.

I’ll miss the guys at the little store down the street, who, at first, could barely understand me, but now remember everything I ever get from there, and make jokes about how often I come buy for little things, especially the older guy who seemed really rude because he greeted us the first time with, “What! ” But now wonders how I’ll ever get the milk home and tells me not to fall in the winter.

I’ll miss the guy who lives in the main part of the building who appears randomly and asks me how I am. He always told me he was there if I needed him for things, and worried about me when the creeps started moving in next door.

I’ll miss the lady who brings the mail. Whenever I’d run into her, she’d stop and talk to me, and she was so excited for me when I went away for Babs. She was also excited when I said I was leaving my house of chaos. She genuinely cared about me, and said I deserved better than that. How cool is that?

I’ll miss the landlord. He was always good to me. I know the new one will probably be good to me, but I feel bad for this one, because when I leave, who knows what he’ll get? He’s such a good guy, I hate to see him abused like this. I know you’re saying, he’s the landlord, he can say no…but in this case, I don’t think he can very easily since he’s not the head hauncho. They pick the people, he cleans up their shit, and has to do it with a smile. Poor guy.

I’ll miss the short walks to all the bars and restaurants nearby. It made parties much easier. I know it won’t be a long walk from this place, but these places were essentially right outside my door.

And most of all, I’ll miss the place itself. It was a cute bachelor pad that didn’t make you feel like you were living in a closet. Hey, I managed to have me and five other people in it for a new years party. Who can do that in most little places like that? It fit everything I had and there was still room to move. It served its purpose, it was the place where I learned I could make it on my own, and it was cool. So I’ll always look back on it with nostalgia…as I do a dance of joy and move into our new home. Onward and upward!

That’s What Happens When You’re Too Small.

Ok, I hate doing whiny posts like this, but I’m frustrated.

Today, on my way home, I got to a street that I had to cross. I cross it all the time. So I’m standing there. When it seemed like the light had turned and it was time to go, I was about to step out. I even heard someone say something like, “that’s right”, but just then, a car drove out in front of me. So I didn’t go. Then the guy decided to go across with me. He felt he had to tell me where everything was, as if I had no idea I was crossing a street. When I got to the other side, I said to him, “What was up with that car?” What he said pissed me off supremely. He proceeded to explain to me, even after I repeatedly told him I knew these things and just wanted to know if the light was red or green when I tried to cross, the entire mechanism of crossing a goddamn street, that there was a time for the cars and a time for people to go. He even felt like he had to tell me we were at an intersection. No shit, skippy. I do have some concept of the world around me.

If it were this one guy alone, I’d just say the poor guy probably thought I didn’t know what I was doing. I mean, I almost stepped out in front of a car in his eyes, so he probably thought I was completely unaware of what was going on. After all, lots of people think that if somebody’s blind, it’s amazing that they can make it out of the house, and some people think we should all be warehoused together in little houses for blind people and cared for by workers. But this felt like more than that. I have noticed I get a few different kinds of help, sometimes when I ask for it, and sometimes because people just decide I need it. I get the nice people who are cool. I get the ones that like to make themselves feel good by doing their good deed. And then I get the ones who make me feel small because, well, they think I am small.

Sadly, the fact is, I’m too damned short. I’m about 4 foot 7, so I guess I look like a kid. I’ve been told I look 12, like I’m in high school, or like I’m 18. That’s the best estimate I’ve had. I even won a toy at one of those guess my age booths at a fair because somebody guessed I was 12 when I was about 17. Once, I went to get on a greyhound bus, and the driver stopped me and said, “Do you have an unaccompanied child form?” I was 21, so she got pretty embarrassed. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been given kids menus and crayons in restaurants. Need I say more?

So when people see me on the street, I guess some of them freak out. They talk all babyish to me, they ask me where my mother is, they ask me why I’m walking around at night, and it’s maybe 8:00. Some of them feel the need to take me by the hand and lead me places and make me feel like the neglected child someone let out of the group home. They won’t leave me until I get where I say I’m going, even though I tell them I’m fine. I appreciate their concern, it just frustrates the shit out of me, especially when they descend upon me when I’m doing fine. Sometimes it feels like I could single-handedly save a bus-load of people, and I’d still be thought of as a helpless little kid. What do I have to do to show these people I’m a competent adult? It makes me start to wonder if there is something else I’m doing to send this kid message, and if I’ll ever be taken seriously. I mean, not only have I got the blink factor working against me sometimes, I’ve got the shrimp factor that makes people feel like I have to be scooped up and taken back home. . But then I think I should stop whining. Apparently, I would have been a lot shorter, so I should consider myself lucky. If doctors hadn’t given me stuff to convince my body to grow, who knows, maybe I’d be the height of Bilbo Baggins.

Ok now I just sound like a whiny baby. I probably wouldn’t even be writing this post at all if it didn’t seem like lately, I’ve been made to feel inferior and incapable almost everywhere I go. I appreciate everyone’s concern, but gees. Do I really need rescuing that often?

Another Reason Not to Live in the UK.

Read this, and tell me one good purpose it serves. Apparently, in the UK, there is such a backlog of court cases that the penalty for several serious offenses ranging from burglary to sex with children has been reduced to sending these assholes home with a caution. This means they have a criminal record, but don’t have to worry about, oh, say, the consequences of committing those crimes, like a fine, community service or jail. So what’s the fucking point of saying, “Don’t do that again!”? I can just hear it now. “Or what? You’ll tell me to not do it again again? (ooo! I’m shaking in my boots!” Can the UK go to hell in a handbasket any faster?

Things Get Naked. Tale Of Toronto Cont’d

So after finishing up at Murphy’s Law and leaving noticeable vacancies on the wall, we decided it was time to move on. Aaron’s eye was beginning to swell shut but the trooper swore he was still good to go. You gotta love guys with heart.

We headed out to the limo and told the driver he could starting making his way back towards Oshawa but we would make a stop or two more along the way. We weren’t sure where yet. Leave it to Melissa to come up with the best idea. “STRIP CLUB!” were her exact words out of nowhere. No one argued and we went to some place that I was too piss tanked to remember the name of. It was fairly seedy to say the least.

So we went in and the place was basically empty save for a couple guys playing pool and 2 other guys at a table on the far side of the bar. We sat down for a bit with another beer to take in the entertainment. While one girl was dancing, another one of the girls came over to talk to us. She sat there for a quite a while clapping for the other dancers and making general conversation. Then she asks an interesting question that we all pondered for a bit.

“Do you think it’s weird for a guy to want to come and watch his fiance do this for a living?” We all thought that was pretty weird and all agreed that none of us would wanna see our loved ones dancing for someone else. Perhaps shallow on our part, but seemed to be the consensus. She then caught us off gaurd by saying “See, I think so too – but yet there’s my fiance, just like every other night.” and pointed to a guy at another table. He looked…. creepy. but different strokes for different folks I guess.

Eventually 2 of my friends went outside with her to have a smoke and her boyfriend of coarse followed. They said afterwards that he seemed like a nice guy – just kinda protective. But they smoked and chatted and my friends congratulated them (I guess) on their engagement.

Meanwhile inside Aaron narrowly avoided another fight after looking at a pool player dude’s girl the wrong way I guess. But things were quickly calmed down when one of the other guys with us quickly said “this guy’s already gotten his ass kicked once tonight, he doesn’t need it again” and the guys just kinda laughed and all was forgotten.

After chatting with the odd stripper couple and the menacing pool players a bit longer we piled back in the limo and headed back to Oshawa. We all ended up at Aaron’s parents place first, being what drunk people think is “quiet” and doing shots of very dirty whiskey. 2 people ended up throwing up outside. Not bad out of 8. A few headed back to my parents place with me and the rest crashed at Aaron’s, not before 3 tried to get high in Chris’ car in my parents driveway and having that end with one throwing up right in the middle of the driveway out his car door.

the next morning we all went back to Aaron’s parents place where his mom made breakfast that not many people felt up for eating. Aaron, in his drunken stooper had forgotten to hide the pictures that we stole so his mother asked him where they came from. He quickly and swiftly answered “We won them at this cool pub.”. He seemed quite proud of himself and we were all impressed with the quick wit. But it didn’t last long as his mom followed up with “Oh ya? That’s cool. You usually don’t see bars giving away pictures with nails still stick in them and drywall all over the back.”. We all just laughed. No sense in trying to climb out of it. But she didn’t care.

The following night was embarassing. As I forgot to mention earlier that 2 people who came on the trip are in the television program at our college and have nice video cameras and we had forgotten that from time to time they were powered up and some of the stupider moments were caught on tape. No one likes watching themself drunk. But we all did. We sat in shock and awe silently through the whole tape, no one wanting to comment on anyone elses supidity cuz no one knew when their own stupid comment was coming up next. When it was all over, instead of trying to never speak of it again, Chris broke the tention with something we all agreed on. “Fuck, guys. We’re doin’ this every year!”