... they came by a little while ago to take a food order from me. They went to Pier 17 in Davis Bay and brought me back two coffees, a freshly-made avocado and roast beef sandwich, and Espresso Flake ice cream!
They also told me that they don't expect me to work tomorrow. They said if I end up pulling another all-nighter tonight, that I should just go to the cottage and sleep and make sure I leave for the ferry by 2 o'clock. They are the best!
Tuesday, August 05, 2003
Monday, August 04, 2003
BC Day
Oh goody, here it is, BC Day and aside from being under self-imposed exile on the Sunshine Coast, it's looking OK. At least I started it out right -- a nice brunch with my employers on their sunny deck. I am so happy to be eating real food that isn't from either a convenience store or a drive-thru window... The Sunflower Cafe, the place I normally get food from, decided to shut down early the past couple of days, leaving me to wander weakly through the dangerous streets of Sechelt on a food mission.
Sunday, August 03, 2003
Queen of Procrastination
I am now going to prove that I can procrastinate just as well on the Sunshine Coast as I can on Beach Avenue. I just started a comment posting capability on my blog, so all you beautiful readers can now give feedback! Is that a good thing???
I am Man: Hear Me Roar
**new edition posted noonish Tuesday, August 5. To all my friends, 99% of whom had no idea who these people were in the first place: names and details have been changed [see asterisks **] to assure anonymity to those who fear of being hunted down by a pack of stark raving mad gay male stalkers with a fetish for black lace thongs**
Well, how appropriate... I saved that last post to talk about the male ego.
And on Friday night I sparred with four of them: a Norwegian, an Aussie, a Newfie, and an Edmontonian! (That sounds like the beginning of a bad joke!) When I arrived home at 4:30am from two back-to-back parties, still alive after a week of sleep deprivation, I contemplated the absurdity of the past five hours or so. Friday itself was a very full day, to say the least. I did more in this one day than I could possibly recall, so I spent almost two hours reviewing it by downloading the photos and video off the camera.
I'm sitting in Kevin's office in Sechelt. Yes, Sechelt. I can't believe I'm here on a holiday long weekend when I could be at home, continuing my social streak. But alas, I must try to pull the proverbial rabbit out of the academic hat and write a paper in American History that's worthy of 30% of my final mark.
By far the most amusing part of Friday, aside from maybe a few choice moments during the Kiddie Roadshow (PhotoJam available as of an hour or so ago), was the little gathering **somewhere beyond the rainbow**. After the Swiss Day BBQ at Bernie and Martine's in New Westminster, Kristin and I drove back downtown. When I dropped her off, she invited me to have a look upstairs at **Cookie Monster's** new place. She told me before that the view was amazing, and it really was... it's **just like the palace of the Wizard of Oz**, and it's about twice the size of my apartment. Kristin and **Cookie Monster** were supposed to go to a going-away party at **Never Never Land**, but there was a slight misunderstanding and neither of them were fit to drive there. I offered to drive them, but they didn't look so enthusiastic about going, so we just ended up hanging out with the others -- namely, **Elmo**, the official homeowner, and **Elmo's** friends **Big Bird** and **Snuffleupagus**. I was mystified with **Big Bird's** accent, and I spent some time just listening to it and trying to figure it out. It's a good thing I kept my guesses to myself, because none of them were anywhere remotely near Newfoundland. I should've known, though -- what a talker **Big Bird**was! There was no mistaking the Irish ancestry! In fact, he broke out into full song, which was really impressive, considering how drunk he was. I was MOST AMAZED by his full rendition of "Waltzing Mathilda" -- we sat silently while he sang all the verses, barely able to see straight but not hesitating over a single word. WOW. Did I mention I was impressed?! I only knew the chorus, and had no idea there were so many verses -- **Big Bird** must've been singing for 10 full minutes! **Snuffleupagus**, the Aussie, was just as impressed!
In keeping with my abundant usage of the word "impressed," I should also mention that I was impressed with **Big Bird's** apparent verbal versatility, that is, he's learning Portuguese, too! He and his Brazilian girlfriend set aside Thursday as the day they speak only Portuguese. Sheesh. It's a good thing I didn't mention I'm majoring in Linguistics. I feel so inadequate.
Speaking of impressed, I think I impressed **Elmo** the Norwegian with my non-linear style of conversational acrobatics. I jumped from talking about the arbitrariness of pedagogy in history to a little country in the former USSR called Tuva to a joke about how only men who are gay can talk authoritatively about the colours on paint cans (as opposed to straight men). What a character **Elmo** is. I couldn't really tell if he was drunk or not, since he wasn't slurring his words and he followed my erratic trains of thought very carefully -- probably more carefully than I did.
Meanwhile, **Cookie Monster** kept making more drinks, there were countless more trips to the bathroom (was the black lace thong on the hand towel some kind of joke??), I kept taking more photos and video, the bantering got louder, the music got louder, **Big Bird** tried to win arguments by simply drowning out anyone who disagreed with him, and during this chaotic display of male ego I completely lost all track of time.
Next thing I know, **Cookie Monster** announces that it's dinnertime. I didn't object, since they were only one step away from alcohol poisoning. We all paraded out of the apartment to **Sesame Street**, my digicam recording all the antics... including a mock scuffle in the elevator between **Elmo** and **Big Bird**, who fell into the elevator wall and broke the glass! Obviously, they never expected the glass to crack like that, and the look of horror on their faces -- captured on video -- was like a couple of Catholic school boys caught red-handed with a porn mag. About as remoseful, too.
Luckily Denny's was **literally down the yellow brick road**, that's how wobbly these lads were, particularly **Big Bird**. After walking out of **somewhere beyond the rainbow**, **Cookie Monster** pointed out the relatively worse condition of a guy who was slumped over the steering wheel of his Jeep. The others continued down the street, and I walked over to see if I could prevent the guy from starting his vehicle and killing himself. He was so pissed, he didn't even notice me poking and prodding him and trying to wake him up. So I reached over through his open window and fumbled around the ignition area for keys. I figured, if the keys were not in the ignition, he was probably too uncoordinated to find them, start the engine or take it out of gear and roll down **Sesame Street**. At least before waking up. I couldn't find the keys, so I thought it was OK to leave him.
Weaving down **Sesame Street**, **Cookie Monster** picked out a flower from a planter and put it behind his ear, while **Big Bird** unceremoniously whipped himself out to take a leak. Yeah, it was that kind of evening. I couldn't even tell if he was consciously standing north to face away from me, or if that was just my luck. After all, I'll happily sit in the second row to watch willies flop about in a choreographed musical, but I am not keen to watch streams of thinly-filtered beer flow forth from one.
Denny's was abuzz with other inebriated folk in a decibel competition. I noticed people staring at my bright blue "Superland" Swiss t-shirt as I grabbed a chair so I would not be held captive in the booth occupied by the others. There was a very real potential for vomiting that I was happy to avoid. A quick trip to the ladies' was met with more breaking of glass as a woman in the first stall dropped a pint glass on the floor. I told the Denny's people tout suite, since I was feeling especially shard-conscious after cutting myself slightly earlier in the day, trying to clean up a glass that Maddy broke at Tinseltown.
I kept filming the absurd conversations that we were having at Denny's, and noticed mid-recording that **Big Bird** had been gone for what suddenly seemed like an awfully long time. **Cookie Monster** went after him, and I was in a time warp, so I really had no idea how long either of them were gone for. After **Cookie Monster** returned, sans **Big Bird**, he reported that he couldn't make **Big Bird** budge, and was rewarded for his efforts by shoe-covering vomit. Lovely. Not to be outdone in volume or inflammatory remarks, **Cookie Monster** declared loudly that at least Canadians took care of each other, unlike the shithead Norwegians and Aussies... which was followed, of course, by the obligatory counter-attack. At some point the heated debate over the stupidity of taking care of drunk people was interrupted by the arrival of the bill, and **Cookie Monster** borrowed **Elmo's** keys to go find **Big Bird**. He even argued with me -- the only sober one in the bunch -- that **only Count Dracula knew his buzzer code**! I was not about to waste my time arguing with a guy who would not remember this conversation in an hour.
**Snuffleupagus** took off north towards home, and **Elmo** and I headed south up **Sesame Street**. I only found out a number of hours later that **Big Bird** was huddled in front of the **Hotel California** across the street, and with help from **Cookie Monster** ended up back **at somewhere beyond the rainbow** as he could not remember where he lived. Well, **Cookie Monster** says **Big Bird** may have remembered his address, but he couldn't communicate it.
Yeah, it was that kind of evening.
Either **Elmo** holds his alcohol very well, or he was just too busy verbally jousting with me to drink at the same pace as the others. Because in an indirect yet articulate way, he apologized for the uncouthness of the evening and hoped that I would not view them as just a drunken bunch of louts. In a show of cheekiness keeping in the spirit of things, I told him not to worry, the evening had not changed my view of men...
(It hadn't. If anything, it reinforced it -- men are competitive in ways that women are not. I'm glad that we don't try to compete with them in these ways, either -- that would be about as attractive as a woman with a willy.... **No, make that Oscar the Grouch with a willy!**)
Well, how appropriate... I saved that last post to talk about the male ego.
And on Friday night I sparred with four of them: a Norwegian, an Aussie, a Newfie, and an Edmontonian! (That sounds like the beginning of a bad joke!) When I arrived home at 4:30am from two back-to-back parties, still alive after a week of sleep deprivation, I contemplated the absurdity of the past five hours or so. Friday itself was a very full day, to say the least. I did more in this one day than I could possibly recall, so I spent almost two hours reviewing it by downloading the photos and video off the camera.
I'm sitting in Kevin's office in Sechelt. Yes, Sechelt. I can't believe I'm here on a holiday long weekend when I could be at home, continuing my social streak. But alas, I must try to pull the proverbial rabbit out of the academic hat and write a paper in American History that's worthy of 30% of my final mark.
By far the most amusing part of Friday, aside from maybe a few choice moments during the Kiddie Roadshow (PhotoJam available as of an hour or so ago), was the little gathering **somewhere beyond the rainbow**. After the Swiss Day BBQ at Bernie and Martine's in New Westminster, Kristin and I drove back downtown. When I dropped her off, she invited me to have a look upstairs at **Cookie Monster's** new place. She told me before that the view was amazing, and it really was... it's **just like the palace of the Wizard of Oz**, and it's about twice the size of my apartment. Kristin and **Cookie Monster** were supposed to go to a going-away party at **Never Never Land**, but there was a slight misunderstanding and neither of them were fit to drive there. I offered to drive them, but they didn't look so enthusiastic about going, so we just ended up hanging out with the others -- namely, **Elmo**, the official homeowner, and **Elmo's** friends **Big Bird** and **Snuffleupagus**. I was mystified with **Big Bird's** accent, and I spent some time just listening to it and trying to figure it out. It's a good thing I kept my guesses to myself, because none of them were anywhere remotely near Newfoundland. I should've known, though -- what a talker **Big Bird**was! There was no mistaking the Irish ancestry! In fact, he broke out into full song, which was really impressive, considering how drunk he was. I was MOST AMAZED by his full rendition of "Waltzing Mathilda" -- we sat silently while he sang all the verses, barely able to see straight but not hesitating over a single word. WOW. Did I mention I was impressed?! I only knew the chorus, and had no idea there were so many verses -- **Big Bird** must've been singing for 10 full minutes! **Snuffleupagus**, the Aussie, was just as impressed!
In keeping with my abundant usage of the word "impressed," I should also mention that I was impressed with **Big Bird's** apparent verbal versatility, that is, he's learning Portuguese, too! He and his Brazilian girlfriend set aside Thursday as the day they speak only Portuguese. Sheesh. It's a good thing I didn't mention I'm majoring in Linguistics. I feel so inadequate.
Speaking of impressed, I think I impressed **Elmo** the Norwegian with my non-linear style of conversational acrobatics. I jumped from talking about the arbitrariness of pedagogy in history to a little country in the former USSR called Tuva to a joke about how only men who are gay can talk authoritatively about the colours on paint cans (as opposed to straight men). What a character **Elmo** is. I couldn't really tell if he was drunk or not, since he wasn't slurring his words and he followed my erratic trains of thought very carefully -- probably more carefully than I did.
Meanwhile, **Cookie Monster** kept making more drinks, there were countless more trips to the bathroom (was the black lace thong on the hand towel some kind of joke??), I kept taking more photos and video, the bantering got louder, the music got louder, **Big Bird** tried to win arguments by simply drowning out anyone who disagreed with him, and during this chaotic display of male ego I completely lost all track of time.
Next thing I know, **Cookie Monster** announces that it's dinnertime. I didn't object, since they were only one step away from alcohol poisoning. We all paraded out of the apartment to **Sesame Street**, my digicam recording all the antics... including a mock scuffle in the elevator between **Elmo** and **Big Bird**, who fell into the elevator wall and broke the glass! Obviously, they never expected the glass to crack like that, and the look of horror on their faces -- captured on video -- was like a couple of Catholic school boys caught red-handed with a porn mag. About as remoseful, too.
Luckily Denny's was **literally down the yellow brick road**, that's how wobbly these lads were, particularly **Big Bird**. After walking out of **somewhere beyond the rainbow**, **Cookie Monster** pointed out the relatively worse condition of a guy who was slumped over the steering wheel of his Jeep. The others continued down the street, and I walked over to see if I could prevent the guy from starting his vehicle and killing himself. He was so pissed, he didn't even notice me poking and prodding him and trying to wake him up. So I reached over through his open window and fumbled around the ignition area for keys. I figured, if the keys were not in the ignition, he was probably too uncoordinated to find them, start the engine or take it out of gear and roll down **Sesame Street**. At least before waking up. I couldn't find the keys, so I thought it was OK to leave him.
Weaving down **Sesame Street**, **Cookie Monster** picked out a flower from a planter and put it behind his ear, while **Big Bird** unceremoniously whipped himself out to take a leak. Yeah, it was that kind of evening. I couldn't even tell if he was consciously standing north to face away from me, or if that was just my luck. After all, I'll happily sit in the second row to watch willies flop about in a choreographed musical, but I am not keen to watch streams of thinly-filtered beer flow forth from one.
Denny's was abuzz with other inebriated folk in a decibel competition. I noticed people staring at my bright blue "Superland" Swiss t-shirt as I grabbed a chair so I would not be held captive in the booth occupied by the others. There was a very real potential for vomiting that I was happy to avoid. A quick trip to the ladies' was met with more breaking of glass as a woman in the first stall dropped a pint glass on the floor. I told the Denny's people tout suite, since I was feeling especially shard-conscious after cutting myself slightly earlier in the day, trying to clean up a glass that Maddy broke at Tinseltown.
I kept filming the absurd conversations that we were having at Denny's, and noticed mid-recording that **Big Bird** had been gone for what suddenly seemed like an awfully long time. **Cookie Monster** went after him, and I was in a time warp, so I really had no idea how long either of them were gone for. After **Cookie Monster** returned, sans **Big Bird**, he reported that he couldn't make **Big Bird** budge, and was rewarded for his efforts by shoe-covering vomit. Lovely. Not to be outdone in volume or inflammatory remarks, **Cookie Monster** declared loudly that at least Canadians took care of each other, unlike the shithead Norwegians and Aussies... which was followed, of course, by the obligatory counter-attack. At some point the heated debate over the stupidity of taking care of drunk people was interrupted by the arrival of the bill, and **Cookie Monster** borrowed **Elmo's** keys to go find **Big Bird**. He even argued with me -- the only sober one in the bunch -- that **only Count Dracula knew his buzzer code**! I was not about to waste my time arguing with a guy who would not remember this conversation in an hour.
**Snuffleupagus** took off north towards home, and **Elmo** and I headed south up **Sesame Street**. I only found out a number of hours later that **Big Bird** was huddled in front of the **Hotel California** across the street, and with help from **Cookie Monster** ended up back **at somewhere beyond the rainbow** as he could not remember where he lived. Well, **Cookie Monster** says **Big Bird** may have remembered his address, but he couldn't communicate it.
Yeah, it was that kind of evening.
Either **Elmo** holds his alcohol very well, or he was just too busy verbally jousting with me to drink at the same pace as the others. Because in an indirect yet articulate way, he apologized for the uncouthness of the evening and hoped that I would not view them as just a drunken bunch of louts. In a show of cheekiness keeping in the spirit of things, I told him not to worry, the evening had not changed my view of men...
(It hadn't. If anything, it reinforced it -- men are competitive in ways that women are not. I'm glad that we don't try to compete with them in these ways, either -- that would be about as attractive as a woman with a willy.... **No, make that Oscar the Grouch with a willy!**)
Wednesday, July 30, 2003
The Big Woof
This is to hold onto for later.
The Big Woof
Where Have All the Heroes Gone?
by Nelson Montana
The Big Woof
The Big Woof
Where Have All the Heroes Gone?
by Nelson Montana
The Big Woof
Saturday, July 26, 2003
Mr. Stoppelenburg Stops By
Bye bye Ramon!
Ramon Stoppelenburg of LetMeStayforaDay.com was here again for a while last Tuesday. I'd e-mailed him last week, and asked if he needed a lift to the airport. Helijet sponsored Ramon to fly him from Victoria to Vancouver Airport earlier today, so he didn't need a lift to the airport, but he asked if I could take him to the ferry terminal. He was arriving by train early Tuesday morning, but his host in Victoria didn't finish work until 5 o'clock.
I didn't want to fight the commuter traffic to get back into Vancouver if I'd taken him straight to the ferry terminal from the train station. So I made a deal whereby I would pick Ramon up at the train station, and then he'd stay in the apartment until I could take him at lunchtime. Christa was still sleeping when we arrived back at the apartment, so I took Ramon to my local coffee house across the street for breakfast. We sat outside with our coffee and muffins and chatted away until it was time for me to start work. By this time Christa finally woke up, and decided to skip her first class, so there we were -- all three of us studious and hardworking people! Christa was busy writing, I'd plugged Ramon into the network, and I got going on more graphs. Then, oh dread of dreads, the final report of newsprint data from the PPPC (Pulp and Paper Products Council) came in, and I couldn't take Ramon to the ferry terminal. He ended up staying until about 3pm, which was the absolute latest he could leave to catch all his connections to get to the ferry terminal, but I had this feeling he would miss the Tsawwassen bus after the Skytrain... go Ramon go!
I made a little Shockwave PhotoJam tribute show of Ramon:
The Ramon Show
You'll need Quicktime to view these files:
- a little AVI clip of Ramon talking about the wankers he met on his Canadian trip (7.63MB)
- another little video clip of Ramon talking about being a "man's man"(6.71MB)
Thursday, July 24, 2003
Naked Boys Singing
That's right. Last night I was enraptured by eight stark naked men prancing around the stage at The Vogue Theatre, singing at the top of their lungs as their willies flopped about, all from the second row!!! Thanks to A Loving Spoonful for making this all happen, for free!!
Naked Boys Singing
Naked Boys Singing
Friday, July 18, 2003
What Do I Know About Luaus, Anyway?
What a relief! I wrote another Linguistics mid-term a couple of hours ago, and I am another step closer to finishing this term, and salvaging at least three weeks of summer before the next term starts! This week was pretty brutal, what with an American History paper and Linguistics exam only two days apart. But I felt quite good about both papers, and I attribute that feeling of relative calm to the systematic way in which I tackled each one. I think that's been my problem lately, just not having a process, feeling overwhelmed, and not focusing.
On a completely different note, at the LetMeStayForaDay forum a lady named Lise mentioned she was hosting a luau, and needed some ideas for adult games. This is the thread:
Luau
« on: Jul 17th, 2003, 11:45pm » Quote Modify
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm looking for ideas to host a luau. We are hosting one in a couple of weeks and I'm looking for game ideas for adults. I've got the limbo poles made up, hoola hoop contest, but I'm desperate for more ideas. It will be held outdoors by the pool. I am expecting approximately 40 people. If you can help, please post your ideas. thanks
Lise
Ramon S.
Forum Administrator
Re: Luau
« Reply #1 on: Today at 12:29am » Quote Modify
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Without even knowing what a 'luau' is, I just did a search for that on Google:
http://www.hawaii-luaus.com/
That's I guess a lot of information already.
gail
Re: Luau
« Reply #2 on: Today at 1:44am »
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lise,
What about a trivia game, using Hawaii- or island- shows like Hawaii Five-O, Magnum, P.I., Fantasy Island, etc. etc... if you have a mixed-age crowd, they'll know those cheesy shows from the 70s and 80s (maybe Love Boat, too, but that's a bit of a stretch for your theme), with maybe some older films like From Here to Eternity, and don't forget Elvis Presley's Blue Hawaii... to make it more interesting than just reading out trivia questions, you could play a clip from a show and get people to identify it, or turn portions of it into charades or Pictionary or Taboo...
You could have teams and give out kitsch prizes, like those dashboard wobbly things, or an ice cube tray that makes forms ice in weird shapes... you get the idea.
I went to a party once where the hosts actually hired a Polynesian dance group, and that was really interesting, especially when it came to audience participation!! (get out your cameras and watch your friends make fools of themselves!)
In Canada, cultures with traditional dancing put a great deal of effort in keeping it alive, and many compete internationally, so I don't think it should be too difficult to find a troupe (especially if you pay 'em).
That's what I could come up with off the top of my head, but I could probably think up more if you're still in need of some ideas...
Happy Luauing,
Gail
On a completely different note, at the LetMeStayForaDay forum a lady named Lise mentioned she was hosting a luau, and needed some ideas for adult games. This is the thread:
Luau
« on: Jul 17th, 2003, 11:45pm » Quote Modify
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm looking for ideas to host a luau. We are hosting one in a couple of weeks and I'm looking for game ideas for adults. I've got the limbo poles made up, hoola hoop contest, but I'm desperate for more ideas. It will be held outdoors by the pool. I am expecting approximately 40 people. If you can help, please post your ideas. thanks
Lise
Ramon S.
Forum Administrator
Re: Luau
« Reply #1 on: Today at 12:29am » Quote Modify
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Without even knowing what a 'luau' is, I just did a search for that on Google:
http://www.hawaii-luaus.com/
That's I guess a lot of information already.
gail
Re: Luau
« Reply #2 on: Today at 1:44am »
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lise,
What about a trivia game, using Hawaii- or island- shows like Hawaii Five-O, Magnum, P.I., Fantasy Island, etc. etc... if you have a mixed-age crowd, they'll know those cheesy shows from the 70s and 80s (maybe Love Boat, too, but that's a bit of a stretch for your theme), with maybe some older films like From Here to Eternity, and don't forget Elvis Presley's Blue Hawaii... to make it more interesting than just reading out trivia questions, you could play a clip from a show and get people to identify it, or turn portions of it into charades or Pictionary or Taboo...
You could have teams and give out kitsch prizes, like those dashboard wobbly things, or an ice cube tray that makes forms ice in weird shapes... you get the idea.
I went to a party once where the hosts actually hired a Polynesian dance group, and that was really interesting, especially when it came to audience participation!! (get out your cameras and watch your friends make fools of themselves!)
In Canada, cultures with traditional dancing put a great deal of effort in keeping it alive, and many compete internationally, so I don't think it should be too difficult to find a troupe (especially if you pay 'em).
That's what I could come up with off the top of my head, but I could probably think up more if you're still in need of some ideas...
Happy Luauing,
Gail
Wednesday, July 16, 2003
No Water!!!
Early this morning a water pipe burst in my building and we had no water ALL DAY! Christa refused to go to school without having a shower, and I felt even worse than that. If I didn't have a really long shower, I would never have stayed awake through American History class. Thankfully, they got it going before class started.
Thursday, July 10, 2003
Same-Sex Marriage
I posted more of my rantings in SOUNDOFF (Canada.com) on BC's ruling on same-sex marriages.
There is a pervasive double standard for heterosexuals when it comes to homosexuality. So many posts in the Soundoff condemn homosexuals and their behaviour as "disgusting", whereas I find some "acceptable" heterosexual behaviour just as disgusting: wet t-shirt contests, reality TV shows like "Temptation Island," men groping women in clubs... you get the idea.
There is a pervasive double standard for heterosexuals when it comes to homosexuality. So many posts in the Soundoff condemn homosexuals and their behaviour as "disgusting", whereas I find some "acceptable" heterosexual behaviour just as disgusting: wet t-shirt contests, reality TV shows like "Temptation Island," men groping women in clubs... you get the idea.
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