Vegas Vacation…in Edmonton

Posted on August 25, 2008
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It’s been awhile, hasn’t it? Well, I’m not dead. Frankly, I just haven’t felt like blogging. Can’t say I’ll be back to my regular posting frequency, but I haven’t given it up. I’ll still post, just probably not as often.

Onto today’s post, though…

I’ve been talking about going to Las Vegas for my birthday this year. November isn’t exactly the busy season, from what I understand, so I’d probably be able to get a good deal, especially if I waited until the last minute to book it.

Now, though, I’m not so sure, for a number of reasons. First, I don’t know that I can justify the expense of flying to Vegas for the weekend, even if I do get a great rate on a flight + hotel package. Second, I know for a fact that a significant number of my friends wouldn’t be able to join me, either because they can’t afford it or because they aren’t able to get the time off.

What’s the point of celebrating another trip ’round the sun if the people who make the trip worthwhile can’t be there to celebrate with me?

With that in mind, I’ve decided with about 99% certainty that I’ll be celebrating my birthday in Edmonton. No fancy vacations for me this year. Just good friends, good food, and copious amounts of alcohol.

I am, however, thinking about turning it into a mini-Vegas vacation of sorts. Perhaps a trip out to the River Cree Resort and Casino. They’ve got 2 bars, a nightclub, a restaurant, a casino, and a hotel to crash in after partying until the wee hours of the morning.

Of course, that’s not exactly an inexpensive option, either, if I do decide to book a room at the hotel.

But, my birthday is still several months away. There is plenty of time to figure out what I want to do. And, really, as long as the people closest to me can be there to party with me, it will be a good birthday.

Random Thoughts, 28 July 2008

Posted on July 28, 2008
Filed Under Uncategorized | 3 Comments

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) is recruiting employees via the newspaper. Saturday’s “Working” section in the Edmonton Journal had a large ad looking for new staff. Admittedly, they are hiring civilian positions, not spies, but it still seems funny to see the spooks recruiting in the same space that other companies look for new receptionists.
I’m not sure what I think about Knol, Google’s answer to Wikipedia, but the article “How to Backpack” is damn good reading. It’s definitely renewed my interest in back country hiking. Maybe I’ll get off my lazy ass and do some adventuring before the end of summer.
I saw The Dark Knight last week and, damn, it was a good movie—probably the best movie of 2008. I’ll add my voice to the chorus saying that Heath Ledger deserves an Oscar for his performance as the Joker. And, I don’t just say that because of his untimely death. I can’t think of a better performance in a movie this year, and don’t imagine any of the movies yet to come in 2008 will have a performance that tops it.
I’ve been thinking about joining a gym. I don’t really like exercising in public, so I’m hesitant, but I need to start working out. I have a weight set at home, and plan to start running the stairs in the river valley, but eventually I’ll probably need to suck it up and join the Y.
While we’re on the subject of healthier living, I’ve been making some changes to my diet. Nothing too major, just cutting out a lot of the junk food, and eating more “real” food instead of prepared food (I was already pretty good about this, but I can still do better). I’ve also started buying mostly organic food. It’s a lot more expensive, but it’s generally healthier and often tastes better than the non-organic alternative.
On another related note, grass-fed beef is awesome. It’s not as tender as grain-fed, but it tastes much better. I assume it’s because of the type of feed used (i.e.: grass instead of grain) that grass-fed beef is more flavourful. Plus, it’s healthier for both the cow and the person who will eventually eat him.
I’ve been feeling generally antsy lately. I’m not exactly sure why. I feel like I need to make some big changes in my life. I’ll document these as I start to make them.

Dawson City Roadtrip by the Numbers

Posted on July 23, 2008
Filed Under Uncategorized | 2 Comments

I’ve been back from vacation for a few days now, and I’m starting to sort through the photos and compile my thoughts. There will be a fuller blog post coming in the near future. In the meantime, here’s a brief rundown of some “statistics” about the trip.

5,531.9 - Total kilometres driven from the moment we left my house until the moment I returned home.
2 - Number of Sourtoe Cocktails Sara and I drank (each).
10 - Number of campfires Sara started.
1 - Number of campfires I started.
0 - Number of campfires I started without a guy from another campsite giving me a “starter” flame.
4 - Number of moose spotted while driving.
2 - Number of bears spotted while driving.
12 - Approximate number of deer spotted while driving.
8 - Approximate number of caribou spotted while driving.
12 - Approximate number of elk spotted while driving.
1 - Herd of wood bison seen on the side of the road in northern BC.
3 - Number of foxes seen.
2 - Number of ground squirrels I accidentally ran over on the highway.
1 - Number of run-over ground squirrels that survived.
100s - Number of ravens (and crows) seen flying around and making retarded raven-noises.
2 - Number of different hot springs we dipped into.
922 - Average number of kilometres traveled each day (not including the days we spent in Dawson City).
1.750 - Highest price paid for gas (in dollars per litre).
1 - Number of signs we left at the Signpost Forest in Watson Lake, YT.

On Passion

Posted on July 7, 2008
Filed Under Creativity, Personal | 7 Comments

I have been thinking about my various blogging projects lately, and wondering if I have the passion to sustain them.

I enjoy writing. It is my passion. I cannot imagine a life in which I don’t write on at least a semi-regularly basis. This is a big part of why I got into blogging: it was an easy, albeit unprofitable, way of publishing my writing.

Unfortunately, I think I’ve chosen projects that I just don’t feel passionate about.

River City Writer is something that I was, originally, incredibly passionate about. Writing about Edmonton and trying to create a resource for people looking for information about the city’s arts and culture was important to me.

Now, while I’m still very fond of my city and its cultural landscape (as barren as it can appear if you don’t know where to look), I no longer feel a great desire to write about it. At least, I don’t feel a great desire to write about it explicitly in the form of a blog.

I still write about Edmonton a great deal in my poetry—usually more about the inhabitants of the city than about River City itself—but to explicitly write about, for example, the Fringe Festival, just isn’t interesting to me anymore (though, I do enjoy the Fringe).

As for Domestic Dog, well, I thought it was a good idea when I started. Hell, I still think it’s a good idea. I’ve never seen another blog like it, and I think it has (had?) the potential to become very popular. However, as good an idea as I think it is, I’m just not that interested in being a domestic maven and have far less desire to write about it than I originally thought.

Will I continue with these projects? I’m not sure. If I don’t continue with them, do the websites (or at least their domain names) have a future?

River City Writer is a good domain name (in my opinion), and could be re-worked into a portfolio website to showcase my writing or something along that line. Domestic Dog on the other hand, doesn’t seem to have much use other than in its current form, or as a website about dogs (a subject that I have next to zero interest in writing about).

Regardless of what I do with those blogs/websites, this blog will continue to exist in some form or another. And, I will continue to write on the web, it just might not be in the form of my River City Writer or Domestic Dog projects.

Weekend Round-up

Posted on July 2, 2008
Filed Under Entertainment, Personal | 2 Comments

I took Monday off this week, so I had a 4-day Canada Day weekend. It was just what I need to recharge my batteries after what have been a long and drawn out few weeks. I haven’t been sleeping right for weeks, and then my dad ended up in the hospital for a while, so I was out of whack.

This I didn’t do a lot this weekend, I just chilled out for 4-days with Sara and took it easy. This morning was the first time I woke up on time and got to work at a reasonable hour in weeks. Clearly, the mini-vacation was good for me.

Here’s a brief round-up of what I did this weekend.

Sara and I rented a couple of movies on Friday night: 30 Days of Night and The Host. We had planned on watching them both on Friday night, but a lengthy game of chess meant that we only ended up watching 30 Days of Night on Friday. I found it to be rather long and tedious, and not particularly frightening. The first few vampire scenes were nothing more than semi-gory slaughter scenes, and the rest of the movie was simply slow—there was no real tension or suspense during the supposedly scary moments. I also found the ending rather ridiculous, though I won’t spoil it in case you decide to watch the movie yourself.
On Saturday, we went shopping for camping gear and other things that we’ll need for our upcoming road trip to Dawson City, YT. I had been wanting to get my own camping gear for a while now (other than a few things like a sleeping bag and a cooler, I’ve been borrowing my parents’ gear whenever I go camping…not exactly ideal if they or my brothers decide to go camping the same weekend that I do), so it was nice to go out and pick up a tent, a new sleeping bag (my old one is pretty threadbare and no longer keeps me warm), an axe and bow saw, and a small camp stove. It wasn’t fun dropping the money on those items but, all things considered, it was much cheaper than I thought it would be.
Sara cooked an excellent dinner on Saturday night, as well, before we got around to watching The Host, which is apparently Korea’s all-time biggest box office success. The Host is a monster movie with a great mix of humour and horror. As is the case with most good monster movies, the main source of horror comes not so much from the monster itself, but from the human situations that develop around the monster attack. In the case of The Host, it’s essentially a story about a dysfunctional family coming together to rescue one of their own who has been taken by the monster. I definitely recommend you check it out. I’m sure that it will soon become a cult classic in North America, if it isn’t one already.
Sunday afternoon and evening was spent with my family, as we celebrated my youngest brother’s birthday. He turned 14 (he claims 19, but what does he know?), so I made sure to tell him about some of the “awkward changes” he will soon start to experience.
Monday was a busy day, starting with Sara and I going to Red Robin for lunch. The downtown location has a patio, so we sat out there to eat our meal. Unfortunately, for some reason, the tables don’t have umbrellas, so the scorching sun got to be a bit much toward the end of our meal.
After Red Robin, we went down to the Works Festival and checked out the 3 works on display in the Stanley A. Milner Library. I have to say that Betty Kovacic’s “A Room Full of Missing Women” was a great installation, though it wasn’t quite as powerful as I had expected it to be. I still recommend that you check it out, along with the other works in the library’s gallery (on display until the end of the Works Festival on July 6, 2008).
On Monday night, we went to see Wanted, which turned out to be much better than I expected. I had originally not been interested in seeing it, but heard a few positive reviews and so changed my mind. Though it was fairly predictable, and I wasn’t completely satisfied with the ending, I still think it was a great action movie, partly because it was completely ridiculous and over-the-top.
Tuesday was Canada Day, so we headed down to the Legislature Grounds and enjoyed the sun and the wading pools for several hours before watching the fireworks display at the end of the night. After that, we walked home, and I was glad for the cool evening. It was the first night all week that I didn’t sleep with a fan on. In fact, it cooled down enough overnight that, at some point, I actually crawled under the sheets, which definitely contributed to last night being the best sleep I’ve had in weeks.

Summer Travel Plans

Posted on June 26, 2008
Filed Under Entertainment, Personal | 3 Comments

I like to take road trips. I’ve spoken about this in the past, most recently when writing about some of the road trips I’d like to take this summer. Despite the ever increasing price of gas, I still hope to do all of these trips. But, my main travel plans involve 2 main road trips:

The Great Yukon Adventure: In just a few weeks, Sara and I will be driving from Edmonton to Dawson City, YT, and back. The plan is still pretty loose, but at least 2 things are sure: I will drink a Sour Toe Cocktail, and we will stop at the Signpost Forest (and possibly add a sign or two of our own). If you have any suggestions for this trip, please share them. Keep in mind, though, that we only have 9 days for a round-trip that already involves approximately 3 days worth of driving time.
The Big Stuff Tour: Aaron Braaten recently wrote a hilarious post called “What Must I Do to be Albertan?” In this post, he mentioned driving around the province to visit the various “World’s Biggest Stuff” in the province. Although Aaron’s post was written tongue-in-cheek (there’s a lot of truth in it, though), I honestly think that driving the Big Stuff Tour could be pretty fun. It would start with an obligitory visit to the stupid baseball bat at 118 Avenue and 97 Street (which is supposedly the world’s biggest, but I suspect the giant Louisville Slugger in Louisville, Kentucky is bigger). As ridiculous as that bat is, it’s part of the tour, so it must be visited. After that, we’d drive around the province over the course of a weekend or two and stop at each of the various locations. Anyone want to join in on this one?

Those are my big plans for the summer. What are your travel plans? Are you doing the Haunted Alberta tour? Do you plan to visit Smoky Lake during their annual Pumpkin Festival? Leave me a comment and let me know your plans.

Young People Fucking Reviewed

Posted on June 18, 2008
Filed Under Entertainment | 3 Comments

Sara and I went to see Young People Fucking last night, after hearing nothing but positive reviews. Of course, I was curious to see the movie that has so much controversy surrounding it (proponents of Bill C-10 have been crucifying the movie as pornographic based solely on its title; clearly none of the film’s detractors have actually watched it), but mostly I wanted to see it because I had heard that it was a genuinely good movie.

Young People Fucking turned out to be a surprisingly charming and endearing comedy (romantic comedy?). It’s smart, funny, and a surprisingly accurate portrayal of modern sexual/romantic relationships. It’s a great Canadian film, one of the best I’ve seen in recent years, but I suspect that the title will keep a lot of people away.

In fact, the title is the weakest point about the movie. While I don’t have an alternate suggestion, I think the title was chosen mostly for shock value and, while it will get people talking about the movie, it’ll likely keep many of those same people from actually watching it.

It’s also not the most accurate title. I’ll leave the explanation of that point for you to discover yourself by watching the movie. Check it out.

Bill C-61 According to Ministers Prentice and Verner

Posted on June 12, 2008
Filed Under Politics | 5 Comments

I’ve been hearing about scary new copyright laws being proposed in Canada by Ministers Prentice and Verner. From what I’ve been hearing, the changes will result in draconian legislation that resembles the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in the United States.

I was bothered enough by what I’d heard that I emailed my Member of Parliament, the Prime Minister’s Office, and Minister Prentice. To my surprise, my emails actually garnered some responses.

The PM’s office basically told me that the PM doesn’t handle these matters, and that they would forward the email to the appropriate people. The email to my MP was first replied to by his assistant, but I later got a reply from the man himself. It basically said thanks for writing, I’ll forward your concerns to Minister Prentice.

Today, I got an email from Ministers Prentice and Verner, providing a brief summary of the proposed legislation. This is what the Ministers said in their email:

The Government of Canada has introduced Bill C-61, An Act to Amend the Copyright Act. The proposed legislation is a made-in-Canada approach that balances the needs of Canadian consumers and copyright owners, promoting culture, innovation and competition in the digital age.

What does Bill C-61 mean to Canadians?

Specifically, it includes measures that would:

expressly allow you to record TV shows for later viewing; copy legally purchased music onto other devices, such as MP3 players or cell phones; make back-up copies of legally purchased books, newspapers, videocassettes and photographs onto devices you own; and limit the “statutory damages” a court could award for all private use copyright infringements;

implement new rights and protections for copyright holders, tailored to the Internet, to encourage participation in the online economy, as well as stronger legal remedies to address Internet piracy;

clarify the roles and responsibilities of Internet Service Providers related to the copyright content flowing over their network facilities; and

provide photographers with the same rights as other creators.

What Bill C-61 does not do:

it would not empower border agents to seize your iPod or laptop at border crossings, contrary to recent public speculation

What this Bill is not:

it is not a mirror image of U.S. copyright laws. Our Bill is made-in-Canada with different exceptions for educators, consumers and others and brings us into line with more than 60 countries including Japan, France, Germany and Australia

Bill C-61 was introduced in the Commons on June 12, 2008 by Industry Minister Jim Prentice and Heritage Minister Josée Verner.

For more information, please visit the Copyright Reform Process website at www.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/crp-prda.nsf/en/home

Thank you for sharing your views on this important matter.
The Honourable Jim Prentice, P.C., Q.C., M.P.
Minister of Industry

The Honourable Josée Verner, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women
and Official Languages and Minister for
La Francophonie

While I was pleased to get a response, reading that email doesn’t leave me much happier than I was before I read it, since it’s very vague and doesn’t actually explain much of anything. However, I was pleased to see that the Bill will not make it illegal for me to rip copies of CDs that I have legally paid for, so that I may transfer the songs to my mp3 player. I’m also glad to see that it will not grant border guards the power to seize & inspect portable devices at border crossings.

Beyond that, this email does little to convince me that this Bill is a good idea, and that it is as different from US laws as Minister Prentice would have us believe.

New Poetry Reading Series

Posted on May 30, 2008
Filed Under Creativity, Entertainment | 3 Comments

Starting on 05 June 2008, I’m going to be hosting a new reading series at Steeps Glenora (12411 Stony Plain Road). It’s going to be an open mic affair, so if you want to read, drop me a line[1]. The readings will run from 7-9pm on the first Thursday of each month.

I’m hoping that this new reading series will bring out a new crowd of poets (and poetry appreciators) who may not have been present in the community prior to this point. Of course, I definitely hope to hear some familiar voices, as well.

The series doesn’t have an official name yet, other than “Spoken Word Open Mic Night,” so if you can come up with something better, please let me know.

In the meantime, come check it out on June 5th. Bring a poem if you’ve got one, or just sit and drink some tea while taking in the verse of others.

—–

[1] If you just show up on the night of the reading, you’ll probably still be able to get on the list, but the folks at Steeps have run an ad in both Vue Weekly and SEE Magazine, asking interested parties to email me to get on the list. So, if you email me, the odds your name making the list will be better than if you just show up.

How Many 5-Year-Olds Could You Take in a Fight?

Posted on May 25, 2008
Filed Under Uncategorized | 13 Comments

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