Sunday, March 25, 2007
Monday, March 19, 2007
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Thursday, March 01, 2007
The Ultimate Flashback
I was playing Ultimate Frisbee last night in the MUN gym, something I've gotten into in the past couple of weeks, and for the most part, I'm enjoying it. It gets me out of the house, meet some new people, and gets me some physical activity aside from walking back and forth to MUN everyday. But last night, in the middle of play, something happened to flash me right back 30 years to public school.
There was a 'rockstar' playing on the team. You know the type. He's big, loud and he's wearing the t-shirt from the Mile Zero Ultimate Tournament that he attended way back in 1992, just to prove that he's a serious athlete. This in a sport where most people show up in cutoffs and t-shirts that advertise beer or old rock concerts.
So the Rockstar has the disc and he's looking for someone to pass to. I'm about 15 feet away, in the clear, and he sees me. But does he pass to me? NO. he wastes the pass on an overhead hammer throw all the way to the endzone where there is NO ONE WAITING!!! Let me make a pertinent point in ultimate frisbee: short passes win the game. It's a frisbee, not an exocet missile! You can throw it as hard as you want, but in the end, it's still a big hunk of plastic creating a whole lot of drag, and if you throw a long shot, there is an ever increasing possibility that someone from the other team will throw themselves in front of it.
So the frisbee bounces off the wall, which makes it an incomplete pass, and the other team gets the disc. And then Mr. Rockstar has the fucking nerve to exhort the rest of the team to 'get closer' to him so he doesn't have to throw long shots. This is just like public school all over again; where the cool kids (they thought they were cool back then, but 99% of the cool kids from my public school are doing hard time now) would throw to their buddies, or waste their shot trying, unsuccessfully, to score the winning point by themselves.
When I was in public school, three little words that never failed to make me feel like shit were, "Let's pick teams", cause I knew that I was going to be the last one picked. So I avoided sports in public school and for the most part in high school as well. I've never understood just what in fact, the PE teachers in public school were trying to instill in me, when they forced me to participate. Was it some sense of fair play? Cause there was nothing fair about it.
Was it some out moded idea that sports would bring us all together in some sort of an alpha male bonding ritual? Cause all it did was push me further to the margins of public school society.
Was it a love of the game? Cause all it instilled in me was a total hatred of anything even remotely sports related.
In fact, I was so totally pleased to get to high school cause I knew that PE was an option, not a requirement. I was thinking on the way home, that part of the reason that I'm enjoying ultimate is that teams are decided on the basis of what colour t-shirt you are wearing when you show up. And that if I'd had more balls in public school, I would have told them to shove their archaic system of torture up their ass, or at least said, "No. I'm not playing."
There was a 'rockstar' playing on the team. You know the type. He's big, loud and he's wearing the t-shirt from the Mile Zero Ultimate Tournament that he attended way back in 1992, just to prove that he's a serious athlete. This in a sport where most people show up in cutoffs and t-shirts that advertise beer or old rock concerts.
So the Rockstar has the disc and he's looking for someone to pass to. I'm about 15 feet away, in the clear, and he sees me. But does he pass to me? NO. he wastes the pass on an overhead hammer throw all the way to the endzone where there is NO ONE WAITING!!! Let me make a pertinent point in ultimate frisbee: short passes win the game. It's a frisbee, not an exocet missile! You can throw it as hard as you want, but in the end, it's still a big hunk of plastic creating a whole lot of drag, and if you throw a long shot, there is an ever increasing possibility that someone from the other team will throw themselves in front of it.
So the frisbee bounces off the wall, which makes it an incomplete pass, and the other team gets the disc. And then Mr. Rockstar has the fucking nerve to exhort the rest of the team to 'get closer' to him so he doesn't have to throw long shots. This is just like public school all over again; where the cool kids (they thought they were cool back then, but 99% of the cool kids from my public school are doing hard time now) would throw to their buddies, or waste their shot trying, unsuccessfully, to score the winning point by themselves.
When I was in public school, three little words that never failed to make me feel like shit were, "Let's pick teams", cause I knew that I was going to be the last one picked. So I avoided sports in public school and for the most part in high school as well. I've never understood just what in fact, the PE teachers in public school were trying to instill in me, when they forced me to participate. Was it some sense of fair play? Cause there was nothing fair about it.
Was it some out moded idea that sports would bring us all together in some sort of an alpha male bonding ritual? Cause all it did was push me further to the margins of public school society.
Was it a love of the game? Cause all it instilled in me was a total hatred of anything even remotely sports related.
In fact, I was so totally pleased to get to high school cause I knew that PE was an option, not a requirement. I was thinking on the way home, that part of the reason that I'm enjoying ultimate is that teams are decided on the basis of what colour t-shirt you are wearing when you show up. And that if I'd had more balls in public school, I would have told them to shove their archaic system of torture up their ass, or at least said, "No. I'm not playing."
Monday, February 26, 2007
Easiest Pizza Dough Ever
Pizza dough from scratch is harder than you might think. I've been trying to come up with a decent one, but to no avail, until I stumbled across this website (thanks to stumble upon) and got this awesome recipe. It's quick, it's easy, practically makes itself.
3-4
servings
time to make 40 min 30 min prep
3 cups flour
1 1/4 cups warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon fast rising yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1. Throw all ingredients into a bowl and mix together with a food processor (using dough hooks) or by hand.
2. The dough will be fairly sticky but don't add any more flour.
3. Instead scrape it into an oiled bowl, cover with a cloth and leave to rise for 30 minutes or until doubled in size. I like to let my dough rise in an ever-so-slightly warmed oven or in an airing cupboard.
4. When dough is finished rising, pre-heat oven to 400 F degrees.
5. Turn onto a floured surface and work in a bit more flour until the dough loses its stickiness -- you shouldn't need too much -- then roll out to desired size, keeping the dough about 1/2 inch thick.
6. Leave to rise for about 10 minutes, before topping with your favourite ingredients.
7. Put on a baking sheet sprinkled with flour or cornmeal and bake for 10-15 minutes in a very hot oven until lightly browned. Our standard is 230-240 C in a fan oven for 10 minutes on a top shelf.
© 2007 Recipezaar. All Rights Reserved. http://www.recipezaar.com
3-4
servings
time to make 40 min 30 min prep
3 cups flour
1 1/4 cups warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon fast rising yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1. Throw all ingredients into a bowl and mix together with a food processor (using dough hooks) or by hand.
2. The dough will be fairly sticky but don't add any more flour.
3. Instead scrape it into an oiled bowl, cover with a cloth and leave to rise for 30 minutes or until doubled in size. I like to let my dough rise in an ever-so-slightly warmed oven or in an airing cupboard.
4. When dough is finished rising, pre-heat oven to 400 F degrees.
5. Turn onto a floured surface and work in a bit more flour until the dough loses its stickiness -- you shouldn't need too much -- then roll out to desired size, keeping the dough about 1/2 inch thick.
6. Leave to rise for about 10 minutes, before topping with your favourite ingredients.
7. Put on a baking sheet sprinkled with flour or cornmeal and bake for 10-15 minutes in a very hot oven until lightly browned. Our standard is 230-240 C in a fan oven for 10 minutes on a top shelf.
© 2007 Recipezaar. All Rights Reserved. http://www.recipezaar.com
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Spring Break = Snow Day
Figures doesn't it? We are in the middle of Spring Break - a misnamed vacation if there ever was one - and the university closes for the day (the whole day mind you), so that the city can dig itself out from underneath cataclysmic snowstorm #45. I actually went out at one point in time, just in time to see the bulldozer clearing the driveway
(yes, I actually changed out of my pajamas - don't have a cow), to see if I could get to Sobey's for essential snow day supplies (milk, peanut butter, bread) and to see the carnage in the neighbourhood. After negotiating the herculean snow drifts at the back of Our Lady of Perpetual Agony High School, I gained the Sobey's parking lot only to discover that the store was closed. But thankfully, the Georgetown Convenience & Deli was open as usual, and I got my supplies.
Over on Maxse street, the plow only went 3/4's of the way down, and then reversed its way back up the street, leaving the citizens to dig themselves out, except for one guy who was too busy running on his snowshoes up and down his neighbour's snow piles. This is the kind of neighbour that you "accidentally" deck with your shovel while tossing the snow.
Note to self: When buying a house in Georgetown, make sure front door opens IN!
I had to help this poor schmuck get out his front door. He was standing in the window with his shovel, frantically gesticulating to anyone who was walking by. He managed to crack the door about an inch to pass his shovel out. Thank God, I didn't rent the rowhouse I had originally looked at: I couldn't even see the front door!
(yes, I actually changed out of my pajamas - don't have a cow), to see if I could get to Sobey's for essential snow day supplies (milk, peanut butter, bread) and to see the carnage in the neighbourhood. After negotiating the herculean snow drifts at the back of Our Lady of Perpetual Agony High School, I gained the Sobey's parking lot only to discover that the store was closed. But thankfully, the Georgetown Convenience & Deli was open as usual, and I got my supplies.
Over on Maxse street, the plow only went 3/4's of the way down, and then reversed its way back up the street, leaving the citizens to dig themselves out, except for one guy who was too busy running on his snowshoes up and down his neighbour's snow piles. This is the kind of neighbour that you "accidentally" deck with your shovel while tossing the snow.
Note to self: When buying a house in Georgetown, make sure front door opens IN!
I had to help this poor schmuck get out his front door. He was standing in the window with his shovel, frantically gesticulating to anyone who was walking by. He managed to crack the door about an inch to pass his shovel out. Thank God, I didn't rent the rowhouse I had originally looked at: I couldn't even see the front door!
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Hangin' With The Purity Girls
Last night was the Valentines Burlesque Show at The Majestic (The Molestic) Theatre. Aside from the fact that I hung out with The Purity Girls,
who kept smuggling me free beer from back stage, I was able to catch local icon Gary Palen in drag singing "Cocksuckers for Love":
This was the kind of evening that makes me glad that I live in St. John's, despite it's many hardships. The crowd was raucous and lively, and kept the energy level up throughout the show. I wasn't sure what to expect, never having been to The Majestic before. I was glad to see the bar though, and even gladder when Sarah smuggled me a $20 bill out from backstage in her bra, seeing as I didn't have time to make it to an ATM before the show.
Local band "oddly enough" sings some old Cyndi Lauper
while Miss Jezebel Express needs a little technical support.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Now here's what we need in St. John's!
Video Provided by Red Bull Flugtag USA
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Never beam down in a red shirt
This is another funny thing from the wilds of the interweb. As any self-respecting trekkie knows, anyone who beams down wearing a red shirt is pretty well toast.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Get a bathmat, you moron!
I'm sorry, but I'm a sucker for slapstick comedy. This is just like that show MXC on Spike TV, I watch that and laugh until the tears come.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Capital Video
Capital Video resides in a small shop in Rawlin's Cross. I never paid much attention to it in passing before I started going in this year. A friend introduced me to it, and when I finally realized what she was talking about, I said,"you mean that boarded up place that is always closed?" Little did I know that that little oasis of old VHS tapes stacked on sagging shelves behind the unwashed cobwebby windows was a movie junkie's fix. Not only are the proprietors knowledgeable about the movies they rent, they are also not above dissing the customer who rents a movie they don't approve of.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Overheard at "The Ship"
I went down to The Ship for happy hour yesterday where I overheard this little gem:
"How was your week?"
"Well, the Prime Minister of Canada isn't spanking me with a bible, but aside from that, not bad"
Later on, I went out to the Rose & Thistle to hear the first set of Blair Harvey & The Dregs. Blair was in fine form, as usual, howling and wailing away on the tiny stage. I ducked out in the break and went down to CBTG's (if the original CBGB stands for Country Bluegrass Blues - what does CBTG stand for?) to see if anything good was playing. Unfortunately, I was sucked in by the poster on the door which promised "non-stop pounding from 11 till close" by some band called Queen's Maid. If it weren't for the beer being sold, I could have sworn that I'd walked into an all-ages show. The band had to be 19 at the maximum, and were either missing an amp (or two), or had been told by the management (or their parents) that they couldn't turn the volume up. They were so damn quiet (considering they were playing Zeppelin, Idol and a few others that they'd massacred into oblivion) that I could have a normal conversation in the back of the bar. At one point, the lead singer stopped playing and thanked someone named Erica for something. I didn't catch what it was for as I was laughing too hard, thinking that he was going to go on to thank "my mother for driving us down here in the mini-van." It was that kind of show. I got a couple of photos to comemorate the event and I got the hell out of there.
"How was your week?"
"Well, the Prime Minister of Canada isn't spanking me with a bible, but aside from that, not bad"
Later on, I went out to the Rose & Thistle to hear the first set of Blair Harvey & The Dregs. Blair was in fine form, as usual, howling and wailing away on the tiny stage. I ducked out in the break and went down to CBTG's (if the original CBGB stands for Country Bluegrass Blues - what does CBTG stand for?) to see if anything good was playing. Unfortunately, I was sucked in by the poster on the door which promised "non-stop pounding from 11 till close" by some band called Queen's Maid. If it weren't for the beer being sold, I could have sworn that I'd walked into an all-ages show. The band had to be 19 at the maximum, and were either missing an amp (or two), or had been told by the management (or their parents) that they couldn't turn the volume up. They were so damn quiet (considering they were playing Zeppelin, Idol and a few others that they'd massacred into oblivion) that I could have a normal conversation in the back of the bar. At one point, the lead singer stopped playing and thanked someone named Erica for something. I didn't catch what it was for as I was laughing too hard, thinking that he was going to go on to thank "my mother for driving us down here in the mini-van." It was that kind of show. I got a couple of photos to comemorate the event and I got the hell out of there.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Oh Crap! It''s "Delurking Week"
Oh crap...it's "delurking week" and I had to find out from someone else.
Snow and Classes...Wheee!
This post head is like that old internet video about the squirrel (WHEEE!), except instead of "gonads and strife" it's snow and classes. It has at last, snowed! And we are in for more of it tomorrow. And I've dropped one of my distance classes already. 3 days into the new semester and I'm already sick of it. The main problem with this distance class, is that there is no textbook and the powerpoint (the saving grace of pathetic teachers) slides that are supposed to help me are next to useless. So I've dropped it and hopefully in the fall, someone more qualified (or enthusiastic) is teaching it.
And onto the snow! I've noticed looking out my kitchen window that someone has already shovelled the walk! I do like the included snow clearing in this place, after the herculean snow clearing at my last place.
Up at MI the other day, the instructor for my stability class was reading the attendance list, when I heard a familiar name, and sitting behind me was a woman, that had sailed on the Picton Castle with me! I haven't seen her in 8 years. Needless to say (seeing as the class was only about 20 minutes long) we got the hell out of there and went to The Ship to catch up on history over some India beer.
And onto the snow! I've noticed looking out my kitchen window that someone has already shovelled the walk! I do like the included snow clearing in this place, after the herculean snow clearing at my last place.
Up at MI the other day, the instructor for my stability class was reading the attendance list, when I heard a familiar name, and sitting behind me was a woman, that had sailed on the Picton Castle with me! I haven't seen her in 8 years. Needless to say (seeing as the class was only about 20 minutes long) we got the hell out of there and went to The Ship to catch up on history over some India beer.
Monday, January 08, 2007
First day of school.
My laptop decided that last night would be a good time for it to "up and die" on me. Actually it was probably my fault, as I was in the middle of my yearly "re-format the hard-drive and re-install windows" event. Apparently my restore disks are slightly corrupted (or maybe there is some sort of "you can only do this 3 times and then you should buy a new computer" code written into the operating system), or the system just doesn't like being erased and re-installed. Anyrate, I am now on the 4th installation of windows and at last it seems stable. It was a bit of a hassle that I didn't need on the night before school.
School has begun again! I saw a few familiar faces, but no one that I knew from my classes last year. I've only got the one class at MUN this year(1st year French), but my afternoons look to be pretty busy until spring break, with 3 hours per day of Stability up at the Marine Institute. People have been busy signing on to the distance education sites and introducing themselves. As soon as I come up with something interesting to say, I'll have to do the same.
The great unpacking is going well...well at least it's not totally stagnating. I put together a set of shelves and the kitchen table and tomorrow morning I hope to put together the big set of shelves and get the rest of the books out of their boxes.
I apologize to everyone whose link I deleted from the sidebar when I deleted the template. I've been hesitant to put them back up as I keep mulling over taking this blog to a different host. Stay tuned to this space for more news...
School has begun again! I saw a few familiar faces, but no one that I knew from my classes last year. I've only got the one class at MUN this year(1st year French), but my afternoons look to be pretty busy until spring break, with 3 hours per day of Stability up at the Marine Institute. People have been busy signing on to the distance education sites and introducing themselves. As soon as I come up with something interesting to say, I'll have to do the same.
The great unpacking is going well...well at least it's not totally stagnating. I put together a set of shelves and the kitchen table and tomorrow morning I hope to put together the big set of shelves and get the rest of the books out of their boxes.
I apologize to everyone whose link I deleted from the sidebar when I deleted the template. I've been hesitant to put them back up as I keep mulling over taking this blog to a different host. Stay tuned to this space for more news...
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Setting Up
I'm now on my 3rd official day in new apt! It's gone from this:
to this:
The kitchen is put away, and semi-organized, the storage room is put away and semi-organized, the bedroom is a disaster, the bathroom is a disaster, the living room is half a disaster, and the dining room is still full of boxes, chairs and un-assembled IKEA shelves. Gromit has been set up in the kitchen (Lord of all he surveys), and I'm slowly taming the mess in the other rooms. At least I can cook for myself, and don't need to rely on take-out or friends to feed me. Self-reliance is very important. After months at sea, having my own place seems to be taking top priority over everything else. Even though, I know it's going to take weeks to get everything sorted out and put away, I can't seem to stop obsessing over the apartment. On a brighter note, school starts tomorrow and will give me something new to obsess over. But I did go see the professor who will be grading my technical report and she likes my topic, and suggested some ways that I might go about doing it, so I'm hopeful that the actual writing (which I've been dreading for months) won't be too bad.
Monday, January 01, 2007
New Year, New Apt, New Attitude (?), New Blog...
It's a brand New Year!:
- Trashed the old template: Lost the links, the webcam, and the site meter. Feeling like I should start over with the blogging thing. Will try to blog more often and say something worth reading. More stuff, less gromit?
- Most excellent new apt in St. John's: out of rabbittown, into the upscale part of town. close to downtown still (sort of halfway between the Ship and MUN), and close enough to the funky DVD store and still get the partridgeberry icecream at MooMoo's. It's good to have priorities in life.
- Gonna be the public transportation King of St. John's this year. Jeep died an untimely death (okay, helped considerably by failing safety inspection), thankfully in a garage and not on the open road. Although would be nice to have car if only to take advantage of included snowclearing/plowing service at the new apt.
- Got all my stuff in 1 place finally!! Looking forward to unpacking and cataloguing extensive book and DVD collection. Then to doing lots of baking and cooking utilizing new present from the folks.
- School: 2 part thesis left to write (and taking French, just because I can) and feeling galvanised to get writing. Okay mainly to get done, so I can get out of debt, and get on with life.
- More patience, less stress. More 'go with the flow' and less 'in control.' More humble, less arrogant. More exercise, less sloth. More Newfoundland, less Canada.
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