Obligatory?

Has the "end of the year" post become an obligation? Is it my duty as a blogger to write something to sum up the last year? If so, does that really mean I give a shit?
Oh well. I'll do one anyway.

2009: a year in points

- I worried, a lot. I was also sick, a lot. I'm positive that those two things had NOTHING to do with each other.

- I started working at a new library and quit the old one (despite popular opinion that I would be there forever).

- I made it past the quarter of a century mark without too much trouble. I did not have a nervous breakdown, cry or any other "you're 25 now" cliches. In fact, I think I cared about it less than anyone.

- I completed my second short film, this time - Zombies. It was awesome and I am still grateful to everyone who helped out.

- I made some new and seriously awesome friends and walked away from some seriously not-awesome friends.

- I ended up in the hospital, which I wouldn't recommend for fun.

- I got myself a new puppy. Her name is Frankie, BTW.

- I went to Boston to hang out with two of the awesomest people I'm lucky enough to know.

All in all it was a year I probably wouldn't willingly chose to live over again, but it had its good points. Thanks to everyone who was there to make the good stuff awesome and the shittiness stuff I could live through.
See you all next year.

Always,

-Gwenhwyfar

Good To Know

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So, How Was Your Monday?

Chances are it was better than mine.

Sunday I was fine. Paul came over for supper and we hung out for a while. I played with the new puppy and everything was great. My room is a mess and kind of intense for new pets so I decided to close the doors and sleep in the living room with the cats and the puppy. (It certainly isn't unusual for me to sleep on the couch.)

At about 1.45am I woke up with what I thought was stitch in my side. I spent about 20 minutes trying to stretch it out but instead of getting better it got worse. Within an hour I was struggling to get a breath at all. It felt like someone was crushing my ribs.

Here's a Pro Tip - Panicking makes breathing really difficult and when you're panicking because you can't breathe, it makes things worse.

So at about 2.45am I called my mom who came over to see if there was anything she could do. There wasn't.

This is probably the point at which I should mention that I have a MAJOR hospital phobia. I have broken and set bones myself rather than go to the hospital. So when I heard myself saying "we need to go to the hospital", it dawned on me just how serious it was getting.

Another thing I learned - When you show up at the hospital gasping for breath, they don't make you wait. I got a room in record time and had more tubes and things stuck in and to me than the Borg. I got intimately acquainted with both Morphine and Gravol, both of which made me incredibly groggy and neither of which made it any easier to breathe or less painful.

After a lot of drugs, more questions than I've ever been asked in my life, a CT scan, giving enough blood to cover any possible test and eating an icebergs worth of ice chips (which I had to BEG for from the first doctor and then was given as many as I wanted by the second) they decided that it wasn't any of the more horrible of possibilities.

No blood clot, no heart attack, nothing that needed surgery. It is, in fact pneumonia. It's not usual for it to come on so suddenly or severely but I guess I'm just lucky.

They loaded me up with antibiotics and gave some prescriptions. I even got some food, which I managed to keep down for almost an hour. Then I finally got to go home.

All things considered, it was a pretty shitty day. Today I'm feeling a bit better, still hurting everywhere and breathing is a luxury I promise never to take for granted again. But I'm better than yesterday.

So if anyone needs me, I'll be at home, being sick and hanging with the cats and the puppy.

PUPPY!!!

Everyone, I would like you all to meet my new little girl. So far, she remains nameless but we're going to work on that one tomorrow. I'll keep you updated.

I'm Here To Entertain AND Educate

Here are some fun facts for you, the drooling masses. Enjoy.

- Scientists estimate that sleep lost due to daylight saving time reduces the average lifespan by nearly two full months.

- Wind-mills always turn counter-clockwise. Except the ones in England.

- It is physically impossible to urinate and give blood at the same time.

- The western lowland gorilla's scientific name is 'Gorilla gorilla gorilla.'*

- Oranges, lemons, watermelons, and tomatoes are berries.

- Worms reportedly taste like bacon.

- 49% of Americans don't know that white bread is made from wheat.

- Non-dairy creamer is flammable.

- Moths are unable to fly during an earthquake.

- 90% of women who walk into a department store turn to the right.

- Animals will not eat another animal that has been hit by a lightning strike.

- Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.

- The day after George W. Bush was reelected, Canada's main immigration website had 115,000 visitors. There were only 20,000 before.

- For every person on earth, there are an estimated 200 million insects.

- Kevin Spacey's older brother is a professional Rod Stewart impersonator.

- Americans take an average of ten days off per year for vacation. In France, the law guarantees everyone five weeks of vacation.

Don't worry, there are plenty more where those came from. There is almost no end to the stupid, weird and useless facts about the most trivial, ridiculous bullshit out there.

*edit: thanks for catching that, J.

Only 320 Days Left

I take halloween seriously. Maybe a little more seriously than most people. Personally I don't think there's anything wrong with that. It also means that I usually have my halloween costume all planned out almost a year in advance, along with several other people's (being a make-up artist has its perks).

Since I'm bored and not really in the mood to post anything too serious, here are some ideas I've come up with so far.

- Queen of Hearts (my friend and I went as Sweeny and Mrs. Lovett this year and there was talk of doing Hatter and QoH next year)

- Army Man (which would be wicked awesome if I could find a couple more people so we could have one of each pose)

- Knights of the round table (of the Monty Python variety, complete with "coconut shell" horse/personal assistant)

- House Frau (I think everyone I know would die of shock if I actually did this)

- A Lichtenstein

That's all I have for now (aside for some vague ideas about spending the next couple of years going as different Python sketches) but I'm taking ideas.

So much planning to do....

X-Lessons

A couple months ago I bought Vol. 1 of X-Men: The Animated Series. It's one of those things I love because I grew up watching it. I used to get up early on Saturday morning just to watch it. I bought the comics. I know all the characters. So I was excited to be able to watch them again.

Last week I bought some more and since I've got myself a cold again, I've been doing little else but watching through them all.

While I was watching them (really for the first time in years) I started noticing all the little things that had never really occurred to me before.

- Scott Summers is an even bigger asshole than I remember. I never liked Cyclops, he always struck be as a jerk-bag but there were way too many times I wanted to punch him. Why the fuck is Jean even with him? Hell, Logan is a fucking pushover compared to Scott.

- I know Jubilee was meant to be the character the "younger audience" was supposed to think was cool and someone for them to relate to, but Jesus Christ on a cracker that girl is the most annoying moron in the whole line-up of Marvel characters. Her role seems to be less "being cool and relatable" and more "fucking up everything with her raging stupidity and general fuck-wittery".

- I had completely forgotten just how "late 80s/early 90s" the look of the show was. Mostly because when I was watching the show last it was the late 80s/early 90s.

- X-Men should never have done a Christmas special. It is, hands down, the lamest episode ever. I have never seen a christmas special of any show that I liked but this was absolutely bottom of the barrel.

- I do love Nightcrawler but his over the top christian preachiness made me want to puke. The fact that they had Logan kneeling in a church praying after his chat with Kurt was almost more than I could handle. What the fuck was up with that? Thanks for pushing your hardcore religious agenda on a children's show (and the right-wingers are worried about the "subliminal subversive messages" in other shows?).

- For as much as I really do love the show, it is really funny seeing just how watered down a lot of it is. I know it's because it's a kid show meant for Saturday morning viewing but hearing Wolverine coming out with classic lines like "Stop the philosophy, let's go kick his butt!", "What are you doing with her, you pile of dog puke?" and "It's adamantium tasting time, boys!" (I think we can all be thankful that didn't become his catchphrase) is just kind of sad.

- Not just for X-Men, but can all animated shows PLEASE stop creating Scottish characters (or any character with am accent) unless you are willing to either find someone who HAS an accent or can pull one off successfully. I don't know why the Scots get hit so hard in this category, but sweet Jebus... that shitty voice is making me jealous of the deaf.

I feel like at this point I need to reiterate that I do love the show. Like most things tho, that doesn't mean that I don't have plenty to complain about or make fun of.

The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody

As per usual, Beaker made me laugh harder than anyone.

Things I've Learned

- Robin is much tinier than me. I feel like a giant.

- Erik and I have way too much in common. It's a little creepy actually. And yet we haven't been driving each other insane. Weird.

- Traffic in Boston doesn't seem to bother me at all. I'm attributing this to having lived on the cost for a while. I got used to people honking, screaming and trying to kill everyone else on the road.

- The coast here reminds me A LOT of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

- Erik and I are really good at teaming up to tease Robin. I'm surprised she hasn't snapped and killed us both yet.

- My body is not designed for hills. I was born and raised in the prairies, anything other than perfectly level ground makes my everything angry.

- Either Robin and Erik need to move to Canada or I need to move to Boston. Regardless, at the moment we are living entirely too far away from each other.

Lazy Day

I know I haven't posted much over the last couple of days. That's mostly because we've been running around doing stuff and having a good time and partly because I don't really know what to say. It's been a really super awesome trip. I don't think I've laughed so much in forever and we've seen some really cool shit.

When I booked the trip and right up to the day before I left I wasn't worried at all. I honestly didn't even really think about it much. The day I left tho, I did have a brief moment of panic. I couldn't help but worry that things would go horribly, horribly wrong or that it would be terribly awkward.

I shouldn't have worried. More than anything I've been shocked at how not awkward it is. I'm constantly amazed by how much it's like hanging out with any of my friends at home that I've known for years. I love that I have friends I can meet in person for the first time and it's like they've always been there. Robin was even kind enough to point out that I'm already blending in nicely... like a part of the furniture. She's sweet like that.

Yesterday we went out to Cape Ann and I've decided I really need to buy one of the very tiny old houses up there and set up shop selling weird shit, Robin's photos and Erik's stuff. We'll all live happily ever after and I will be remembered forever for my delightfully excentric behaviour.

That or they would get really incredibly sick of me after about a week and spend the rest of their lives cursing ever inviting me out here.

Worth The Price Of A Ticket

So, for anyone who hasn't been paying attention at all this last month - I'm in Boston visiting Robin. I've only been here a day but it's already been totally worth the price of getting here. Robin herself made the whole trip.

"How?" I hear you ask.

She was having trouble with her Facebook today. For some unknown reason it keeps changing to spanish. Her response to the whole thing was priceless...

"See? It keeps switching to spanish! Why does it keep doing that? I wonder if I type if it will be spanish?"

...

We may or may not have laughed very hard at her.

But she's cute, so it's okay.

Odds

And in other news, I bought new shoes! Yay! (no, I am not one of those "shoe freak" girls. The only three pairs of shoes I own are falling apart. It's just time, that's all.)

The Very Special Kind

Romantic? Really?

It really doesn't ever cease to amaze me what people label "romantic" when it comes to movies, TV and music. Somehow things that we would all find really creepy in real life become the most romantic thing ever when portrayed by some big name celebrity.

Need examples? Okay...

Phantom of the Opera - I was asked my opinion on this the other day and I responded that aside from my limited tolerance for people singing about EVERYTHING, I'm not a big fan. See, murdering stalkers who are given to rape and kidnapping aren't really my type. I'm weird like that.

Enrique Iglesias "Escape" - "You can run, you can hide but you can't escape my love" Really? Huh. I could have sworn that was called stalking and I'm pretty sure it's illegal.

Twilight - Oh, don't look at me like that. You knew it would come up. The guy watches her while she sleeps and gets angry when she sees people he doesn't like, just for starters. He's a stalker and a douche of a boyfriend. In real life this shit is NOT ROMANTIC. It's abusive. And the chick is such a classic victim it makes me want to vomit blood. Young women should NOT think that this shit is a good thing! This is shit they teach you in recovering from abuse that you should see as a red flag. It actually concerns the shit out of me that Stephanie Meyer is sending this message to girls and apparently believes it's okay.

James Bond (every movie) - Long live the god of "No means yes and more no means 'kiss me'." I actually like James Bond but the way he treats women has always annoyed the shit out of me. Kirk has this same problem in Star Trek, the idea that women really just want to be bossed around and treated like sex toys. That when we say no, a good smack and forcing a kiss will make us understand that the man was right all along. Again, not romantic. Abusive, yes. Sexual harassment, yes. Total dickwadish, absolutely. Romantic, not even a little.

Aerosmith "I don't wanna miss a thing" - This would be really sweet and romantic if it weren't so incredibly creepy. These are about the clingiest, neediest, obsessive lyrics ever written. If you had a boyfriend this insane you'd be trying to get a restraining order.

Say Anything - Calling someone 8 times in a row and showing up at their house with a boombox to serenade them? Intensely creepy. John Cusack is the only person who should ever, ever, ever attempt this maneuver.

The Police "I'll be watching you" - I almost didn't include this because it's actually a song about a stalker. Then someone reminded me that there are still people who use this song for wedding first dances and other applications that would seem to imply they have no idea that this shit is wrong. Once more people, say it with me - STALKING IS NOT ROMANTIC. Which is why there are so many celebrities who get restraining orders and there are anti-stalking laws.

I know there are lots more examples. These are only a few. Feel free to leave more in the comments. For now, I'm sick and tired and hungry so that's all I've got.

See What Being Sick Does To Me?

I don't know what it is but being sick and geeking out seem to go hand in hand with me. The last time I was really sick I watched the entire animated Star Trek, this time I'm watching the movies (the original series movies anyway). I'm blaming this partly on the fact that I leave for Boston in a week and I will likely have to go a whole five days without any Trek at all.

What does all this mean? It means you get another nerd post*. Feel free to ignore it, read the archives or something, listen to the old episodes of Off Topic. Whatever you like.

- I always love that Khan tells Chekov that he never forgets a face since Chekov didn't even show up until the second season. Part of me can't help but taking some sick pleasure in noting the error and part of me likes to think that Chekov was always there, just not on the bridge (the rest of me is just incredibly sad for those two parts).

- Can someone please tell me why in the hell Scotty would carry his dying nephew to the goddamned bridge rather than sick bay, please? That bugs the shit out of me every time. McCoy isn't even hanging out on the bridge at that point and since they were under attack it's safe to assume that he was trying to help the fucking wounded.

- I love Khan, a lot. Really I do. Ricardo Montalban is wicked hot and Khan is an awesome character. But... I'm still not exactly clear on how Khan figures that all this was Kirk's fault (and believe me, I'm the first one to call Kirk on his fuck-ups of which there are many). He talks about being exiled to Ceti Alpha V, but really he was given an opportunity to colonize the planet. Kirk didn't blow up Ceti Alpha VI, dude and it's more of a Star Fleet fuck-up that no one came to check up on you guys (or notice that Ceti Alpha VI had BLOWN THE FUCK UP).

- Kirstie Alley is the WORST VULCAN EVER. Honestly, if it weren't for Khan's incredible awesomeness she would have ruined the whole fucking movie.

- Tho I'm never surprised to make note of it, it should be mentioned that Kirk pops his collar like the douche we all figured he was.

- What is up with the engineering uniforms? Those are THE ugliest, most ridiculous uniform ever.

*Yeah, I know, it's all been said before and I'm only talking about Wrath of Khan. You don't like it? Get your own blog.

Yet Another Warning

It's 10 days until Boston today, so you get another post about... dun dun DAAAAAAAAAAA.... my trip to Boston. I'll wait a moment while you recover from the shock.

This post is a warning, because I feel one should be given.

I am really not good at being emotional. Aside from anger which had been deemed an acceptable "feeling" by the Germans at some point. Most other things are kept pretty much under wraps. Feelings are something to be feared and ashamed of, something to shove way down deep inside away from the light of day where they can fester and rot until one day they explode and you invade another country and start a major war.

What can I say? I didn't inherit a lot from the German side, but what I did get is generally frustrating.

Why am I warning you about this? Because I've had people tell me in the past that they weren't sure how to read me or that they were disappointed when I under-reacted to something. So I'm telling you now, for the most part my reaction is only a fraction of what's going on in my head. I'm just rubbish at being excited. My family, I am sure, can attest to that from every christmas/birthday/whatever that I've ever had.

This Public Service Announcement has been brought to you by the letters Q, X and N and by the number 8.

Two. Weeks. Bitches.

Holy shit, I cannot believe it's only two weeks until I leave for Boston. I'm actually having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that I'm going at all. It all seems so... unreal. I have a feeling it's probably going to continue to feel that way until I'm on the plane and on my way.

This week I'm going to get my passport so they'll actually let me out of the country. I need to start thinking about what all I need to take and what isn't necessary (for example, toiletries tend to be such a fucking hassle, I might just pick some up when I get there). I also need to contact the airline and check what restrictions there are and if there's anything I need to know before I get there. I'm really hoping to get through all this with a minimum trouble.

Finally, I need to have a plan for keeping myself entertained during my stops. I have two stops there (a total of about 5 hours) and one on the way back (for about three hours) which gives me plenty of time to be bored to death and not enough time to actually do anything interesting. I'll have my laptop, so how about we all cross our fingers and hope for merciful WiFi Gods.

One other thing, I will be in Boston over a Sunday which means we'll actually be doing Off Topic while in the same place. It's should be a ridiculous show, so be sure to tune in for that show if nothing else.

Remember, Remember...

Remember, remember the Fifth of November, The Gunpowder Treason and Plot, I know of no reason Why the Gunpowder Treason Should ever be forgot. Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent To blow up the King and Parli'ment. Three-score barrels of powder below To prove old England's overthrow; By God's providence he was catch'd (or by God's mercy*) With a dark lantern and burning match. Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring. (Holla*) Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King! And what should we do with him? Burn him!

Rice Cooker Pro Tip

This light means "You haven't actually turned the rice cooker on"

This light means "It's on and the rice is cooking".

Learn the difference. It will save you an hour and a lot of cursing.

Why Do I Love Tim Curry?

What's not to love? Now stop asking such stupid questions.

Apparently I Suck At Posting...

It's been almost a week. I know. I'm a terrible, terrible person. I'm sorry. But I'll try to make it up to you by recapping this last week.
Sunday, as I'm sure you're all aware was Flogging Molly Day, which will go down in history as a day made of awesome. Even with all the crap that wasn't so awesome, it still makes the awesome list which almost makes me happy for the crap because at full awesomeness capacity, I probably would have just dropped dead.
The drive up was, well, a drive through the prairie. I was sorry that I forgot my camera tho and I didn't manage to get lost or anything. I also managed to avoid any wildlife around the highway, for which I am endlessly grateful.
Then there was Blue. She started off on the right foot with her perfect call timing. Google maps, as per usual, had given me some seriously stupid directions and I had just dug out my cell phone to call her to ask where in the bloody hell I was meant to go when it rang. Between her and her unfortunately mute husband we managed to get my car and myself there in one piece.
From there I met her kids (one of whom informed me that he can "jump as far as a ninja" and owns an axe specifically for killing zombies - guess who was my favourite), her dogs (both of whom are lovely but unfortunately either too big or too squirmy to steal without being noticed) and her cat (who is not nearly as scary as advertised). Blue, for the record, is not a serial killer which I was a little disappointed to discover.
After a little bit of a directional mishap, some incredibly dusty gas station candy and picking up food we made it to the show on time. The crowd outside was about what I expected, a good mix of people with a generous helping of the "too cool"/"asshole" crowd. When the doors opened and booze was added to the mix they became a pretty standard concert audience (especially for any band connected in any way with Ireland... gotta love the wanna-be Irish).
Neither Blue nor I drink so we spent a fair amount of time shoving drunks away from us and threatening physical violence on the next guy to put his arm around us. We also made friends with a couple of guys who assured us that not all guys are drunken losers and then started keeping score, guys vs. girls, for who was the worst behaved (I'm ashamed to admit it was called a tie by the end).
Flogging Molly was, as you may have guessed, ten shades of awesome. They put on a really good show and I was absolutely, pants-wettingly, excited to find that they sound almost better live than they do recorded (I fucking hate any band that sounds shit live). Super high energy with just the right amount of between song chatting and guinness drinking. I also bought myself some swag including a new jacket (which I've been wearing pretty much constantly since I got my hands on it).
And finally the crap, because you knew I wouldn't skip it.
Like I've said, the drunks were out in full force and while some of them were amusing to be worth it others were decidedly not. If I live to be a thousand I will never understand people who get slobbering drunk before the band even hits the stage nor will I understand people who feel the need to act like fucking assholes at a crowded venue. (For the record, I've been to lots of metal shows and I still think that moshing is fucking stupid. Moshing at FM is even worse. Stop acting like such a motherfucking douche bag.)
I ended up having to leave really, painfully early which blew goats. I had gotten a call from a friend of mine informing me that after a trip down to the states her boyfriend (another good friend of mine) had been denied entry back in to the country and might be deported without so much as a chance to come and pick up his things. I drove home early in case she needed me to come with her down to the border to talk to immigration as she was more than a little wound up and hadn't slept. It wasn't until I'd left the city that my mother called to remind me that I was meant to be teaching a class that afternoon... so no trip, but still a shit ton to do.
And on top of it all, the tooth that had been giving me trouble for a while had gotten worse. A two week migraine, more painkillers than any one person should ever take and a desperate to the dentist later and I'm now short one tooth. I'd complain, but at least my head doesn't hurt anymore.
Oh and in there somewhere was a trip to get a replacement birth certificate (for which they charge me a bloody fortune), a stop at the passport office (directly after the dentist - FUN!) where they informed me that I would need a different guarantor, a trip across town and back, another hour waiting to file my application and catching a cold.
So here we are. A week later. Fun stuff. I'll tell you all about the opening bands another day. They deserve their own post.

Flogging Molly Day!

In a little while I'm leaving to drive to Saskatoon. Why Saskatoon? Because that, my friends, is where I will get to see two very awesome things.
Bluepaintred AND Flogging Molly.
My head might explode from the sheer awesome. I'll report more on that later.

What Robin Is In Store For (And Also Manly Man)

Why yes, I do intend to just keep stealing posts from Robin.

- Realizing I really do curse that much and it gets more creative the more annoyed I am.

- Listening to me try to convince you to move to Canada as much and as often as humanly possible.

- Learning that I am the most indecisive person on the planet. Just make the decision for me, woman!

- Hearing me say "that's dirty" on a fairly regular basis.

- Having me ask a lot of stupid questions.

- My burping

and much, much more!
Excited yet?

Perfect...

I don't know how it works in other countries (I'm sure 5 minutes on Wikipedia would clear up that problem) but in Canada at least, you're not actually required to have a birth certificate. I mean, they have you on record somewhere, but to have a physical copy for yourself is in no way required. So my parents, being my parents, decided "why bother?" and I went about 20 years blissfully unaware that I didn't actually have one. Until it came up that I needed it for some application or something.
I got one, no problem. Put it in my wallet and kind of forgot about it unless it was needed to prove to someone that I don't actually have a middle name (why would I lie about that?). Gradually I stopped carrying my wallet but left a few things in there that I figured I didn't need to carry around all the time, you know, like my birth certificate.
Fast forward to two days ago. I printed off the passport application forms so the US will know I'm not a terrorist plotting to bring them down from within (suckers) and behold! I need my birth certificate so Canada, who is apparently forgetful and not very observant, will know that I am me and that I was born and raised in this wonderful land of hockey and beer.
My birth certificate, you'll remember, is in my wallet. My wallet is always on the table next to the TV by the coat rack. So imagine my surprise to find that now that I actually need the fucking thing, it's gone.
Gone where?
I have no idea. I have torn my house apart, twice. It's no where to be found.
What. The. Fuck.
Luckily, after talking to a surprisingly helpful and chipper woman from Stats Can. or where ever the fuck she was from, it turns out for a few bucks more I can get a replacement same day.
I'm blaming this all on you, America, for making me get a passport to begin with. Don't think we won't be having a chat about this when I get there.

In Person?

Some in-person things you should know about me in case you ever meet me.

- As much as I'm not really a "touchy" person, I hug my friends all the time. It's just how we say hello and good-bye and whatever else needs to be said with hugs.

- I talk a lot. I know I do. I talk more and faster when I'm nervous or excited. Be afraid, be very afraid.

- I am prone to giggle fits, it's some kind of genetic flaw. This gets worse when I'm nervous or excited. (Seriously, all the women in my family have this problem.) This means that something stupid will set me off laughing and I can't stop. It's weird. I know.

- Yes, I am this sarcastic all the time.

- I often make an ass of myself and I stick my foot in my mouth so often it would be easier to say that occasionally I take my foot out of my mouth.

If you're wondering why I'm telling you all this, you obviously need to pay more attention to Robin's blog because I really did just rip off her post. Also, I'm going to Boston to visit Robin and Manly Man! Yay! And we're going to see the new Kevin movie! More YAY!
This, my friends, is going to be epic.

Fact.

Indulge Me For A Minute

I've been sick the last few days and I'm doing what I usually do when I'm sick. I'm watching Star Trek. Season three was still sitting on the coffee table so, rather than walking to the other room, I started with it.
Now for those of you not aware of it, season three is well known as the most over-the-top season made (which is really saying something). I guess that's what happens when you know your days are numbered. Why not just say "fuck it!"? And so, episodes like "Spectre of the Gun" and "The way to Eden" were born.
In a season full of WTF moments picking out just one episode and naming it the best (or worst, depending on how you're judging them) is a difficult task. More often than not the prize is awarded to "Spock's Brain". Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to disagree completely but I just think that "Spock's Brain" is a knee jerk reaction and one I understand. It's bad.
But honestly, in a season complete with space hippies, Chekov and several other men screaming like little girls, a gun fight at the OK Corral (shitty scenery explained by aliens rudimentary knowledge of the time period... riiiiiiight), Kirk being mistaken for a native american (alien civilization) god, Kirk swapping bodies with his ex and acting like a bitchy old queen, is it really so much worse?
As I said, I've been watching the whole season yet again and I defy anyone to watch "Spock's Brain" and "Plato's Stepchildren" back to back and tell me that "Plato" isn't worse.
This scene alone puts it miles ahead of the competition.

Sick Today

I felt like posting something but not enough to be creative. Sorry. I'll post again when I feel less like shit.

One Of Those Weeks

You ever have one of those weeks where you can't seem to decide wether you're up or down? Where one minute everything is wine and roses and the next you just want the whole world to go away? Yeah, kinda like that. The last week has been something of a gong show.

In and amongst the peaks and valleys I got sick, did the zombie walk, got pulled over by the cops, went to my friends birthday, hung out with a friend I haven't seen in way too long, had a stranger let himself in to my house, had my make-up win a contest, got in to a fight and realized that I may have been overestimating some people in my life while underestimating others which has left me feeling incredibly disappointed and amazed all at once.

Maybe I'm just lame, but personally I like things to be a little more even. If the peaks and valleys are separated a little more they're easier to take. When they start jumping up and down that quickly it kind of makes me feel sick.

No, Not Like Big Bang Theory

Imagine if Dawn of the Dead had a love-child with Revenge of the Nerds. That would kind of be like what just walked in to the theatre. All was quiet between shows when suddenly I was surrounded. Honestly, I didn't think that nerds like this existed any more. It's kind of like spotting a rare species of butterfly.

If that rare species happened to have a raging acne problem, BO and no social skills.

I feel like I should be documenting this for science. I wish there was a way I could film them without their knowing. Or even snap a few pictures. But, like a timid heard of deer, I'm afraid they would notice and scatter. After all, every nerd worth his weight can spot a cell phone camera from 100 paces.

First I might need to come up with a good name for a group of nerds. Swarm? Heard? Gaggle?

After years of working here I've learned to spot people who are here for the show and who's just here for the bathroom. These guys threw me a bit. They came in all at once and stood there, just inside the security gates, completely ignoring me. They weren't moving for the desk and no one was running for the can. They just stood there, nerding up the place.

Amongst them were some of the most classic examples of nerdery. It was like they pulled their looks from the Encyclopedia Nerdannica.

They had the classic "Acne Nerd" with his black T, fleece coat and ill fitting jeans. His conversation was mostly filled with criticisms of a french film he'd seen recently (actually, he complained mainly about its title) and talked rather too loudly about being a computer science student and not having a student card because it would mean leaving his house. No, I am not making that up.

Next was the "Awkward Nerd". You know the guy. The one who has always and will always be complete oblivious to fashion trends, hairstyles beyond whatever is cheapest at Supercuts and still wearing the same style of glasses he's had since he was eight. This one was decked out in his finest tan slacks (rolled up to MAKE them flood pants), slip on brown loafers and a red shirt that fitted like he bought it thirty pounds ago. It went well with his attempt at sideburns.

Joining them was "Sweatpants Nerd". Like so many of this breed, he came in the shape of an eerily pale 20-something. With his Reboks that have never run and his matching t-shirt/sweatpant combo and his windbreaker straight out of the 1995 Sears Catalogue, he's ready for a night on the town. If you're imagining him with a nasally voice and an inability to get through a complete sentence without pausing for an awkward gasp of breath, you're spot on.

Their ranks were filled out with "Tubby Nerd" with his "I PWN N00BS" physique and the cargo shorts/sandals combo in weather that any reasonably intelligent person would get out the long pants for (along with the required bunnyhug), "Skinny Nerd" looking a bit too much like a badly designed bird with glasses and obligatory obscure reference t-shirt, "Socially Handicapped Nerd" who seems to go out of his way to be as obnoxious as humanly possible, perpetually standing where ever he shouldn't be, saying whatever he shouldn't say and just generally being someone you'd chew your left arm off to avoid and finally "YouTube Commenter Nerd" otherwise known as "FIRST!" on every message board ever created online, perpetually pointing out "obvious photoshop" and talking like an expert on every subject known to man because he's read it all on Wikipedia.

They're milling slowly started to move toward the desk. I hoped they would buy their tickets and sit out on the bench until the first show was over, but of course, they didn't. They stopped directly in front of my desk and blocked the entrance to the theatre and the mens room all in one amazing move. Slowly they began to drift, still chatting until they were pacing around my desk in circles. It was like some kind of horrible nerdy-go-round.

I felt like I was being hunted. It reminded me of the scene with the raptors in Jurassic Park.

They all arrive almost 30 minutes before the movie started and this all went on for 20 minutes before they finally bought any tickets.

Meanwhile, the projectionist just laughed.

"You seem to attract them."

I guess we all have our cross to bear.

And Now For Some Encouragement

Yahtzee Likes It. See I'm Not Crazy!

Ok.... so that doesn't really prove anything, but it does make me feel better.

Arkham Asylum: Lock Me Up And Throw Away The Key

Games for me are divided in to three camps. 1) Games I play once or twice, never finish and don't really enjoy 2) games I play forever, never really getting to the end because I'm just picking away (but enjoying anyway) 3) and games I can't put away, play right through in one sitting, play again and again, talk about at length until everyone within a 20 mile radius signs a petition in an attempt to get me to shut up about the fucking thing already. Camp 1 has been displaying a "no vacancy" sign for years already but new titles keep showing up and demanding entrance while Camp 3 has always had shitloads of room for its very few occupants.

Well, after a long dry spell I have a new favourite game.

Mondays are my day off. I usually reserve them for doing a whole lot of nothing. Nothing important anyway. It's my day to sleep late, do a bit of shopping, make a dent in any personal projects. That sort of thing. Last Monday I woke up with a plan to play Arkham Asylum for an hour or two, get dressed and get a few things scratched off my list. That was at about 10am.

I got dressed at 9pm. After I finished the game and only because I had plans to go to a movie with my brother.

The game is awesome. I don't think I could have asked for more out of a Batman game. Or any other game for that matter.

Kevin Conroy has always been my favourite Batman voice. Maybe because (other than Adam West) he has been the Batman I've known the longest so I was giddy when Batman opened his mouth for the first time and it was him. I was equally giddy when I hear Mark Hamill's now perfectly familiar Joker joining him. Mark Hamill being, much like Kevin Conroy, forever ingrained in my brain as being Mr. J jumping effortlessly from manic insanity to menacing psycho in less than a beat.

The supporting cast was no less amazing. An army of bad guys, a ton of references, the game is littered with little gems. The only one I really want to mention (just because I really do love her so) is Harley. What would a game with Joker be without Harley Quinn to back him up? Arleen Sorkin's airheaded, drawling, obsessive, psychopathic, hopeless Harley is what made me love the character in the first place. Oh and she's got a new look... goddamn, no one pulls off that look like dearly devoted Harley.

The game itself is fantastic. The game play is awesome and engaging. The story line opens it up to so much. Batman stuck on Arkham Island with every crazy and criminal lose and out to get him. What's not to love?

One of my biggest complaints with some of the games I've been playing is the controls. I don't think every game should be pong-esque in control simplicity but lately it seems like game designers have nothing better to do with their time than to make the controls for every game as complicated as humanly possible. I'm all for options and cool shit but I shouldn't need a magic decoder ring to figure out the diagram explaining the controller set-up. Arkham does really well at giving you lots of cool shit to play with and still keeping everything manageable.

The overall look of the game is really spectacular. Everything is Batman from top to bottom. It captures that universe so well and dumps you in the middle of it. It's not campy Batman either. It's dark. Deliciously dark. People die, bad things happen, criminally insane mass murders live up to their reputation for mayhem and Batman slogs through it all with his typical style.

It's a game I happily played from start to finish in a sitting but what makes it great is that it's so full I can happily do the same again and again. A game that is only good once is hardly a good game. I do love me game with serious replayability.

If you've thought about playing the game, if you're a Batman fan, if you have some spare time just play it already.

Would I lie to you?

Holy Hell...

Has it been that long?

Sorry guys. I honestly haven't forgotten about this place. I've just been stupid busy and occupied with a million other things. It's hard to be motivated to write anything at all when I do have a free minute when all I want to do is lay on the couch and maybe watch an episode or two of something or other.

Tomorrow is the shoot day for my teeny, tiny, very small film. For such a little thing it is causing me massive amounts of stress and costing me a small fortune.

I'm not complaining, mind you. This is really something I'm more excited and happy about than I have been in... maybe ever. Every minute of stress, every penny spent, every sleepless night, every worry I have, every bit of work done is absolutely worth it to be able to spend even one day doing the one thing that makes me happier than anything in the world. And I'm incredibly fortunate to have some really amazing and awesome people on my side, helping me out and putting themselves out just so I can do this. I appreciate it more than I'm sure I'll ever be able to express.

So lets all cross our fingers and hope that tomorrow goes really well.

Send good vibes and happy thoughts. I need all I can get.

At Least It's Not A Crack Habit

I don't smoke, I don't drink, really I have very few vices. Unfortunately one of my few vices tends to get expensive. I don't know how it happens.

I have got to stop going to Best Buy, Future Shop and Rogers. Honestly. I went to Rogers to rent one movie so how the fuck did I end up buying three movies, a season of Dexter, a season of Rome, a season of Corner Gas and renting Arkham Asylum? What the fuck?

Maybe I should just take up smoking.

Bullshit Fact Of The Day

A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that a dollar could buy 1,200 calories of potato chips or 875 calories of soda but just 250 calories of vegetables or 170 calories of fresh fruit.

Happy Blogiversary To Me!

I'm actually having trouble believing that I've been doing this four years already. It seems like only yesterday I wrote my first post. But then, I never was very good with dates.

Five blogs, 1 facebook page, twitter and a whole lot of ranting later - Kill The Body still stands.

Thanks to everyone who's stuck with me!

-Gwenhwyfar

No. Fucking. Way.

Alright, I realize this is one of those moments where you just kind of look at me with that vaguely sad "oh dear, she's really lost it this time" look but stay with me here.

When I was a kid there was a plethora of terrible low budget kids programming, mostly local, to chose from. One such show was a local gem - Puttnam's Prairie Emporium. For years I thought it was just one of those things I had imagined or made up or was really just fragments of other shows crammed into one memory. As it turns out, it was just a seriously local show so only myself and a handful of other freaks who grew up on CKCK kids programming remember it.

But that's hardly the point of this post.

Working at the library there is an abundance of gossip and one of my co-workers is really the gossip hub of the entire library system. Tonight he casually asked me if I remember PPE. I answered in the affirmative. He then, with equal calm, told me that the security guard working upstairs is none other than Mr. Puttnam himself.

What. The. Fuck!

Seriously, that guy always looked familiar but I could never quite place him. As soon as he said it, it all fell in to place. It fucking IS Mr. Puttnam! A little older and a little balder, but it's totally him!

Jesus Christ on a cracker! I just talked to the guy like three hours ago! I was talking to Mr. Fucking Puttnam! And he has a bunch of tattoos, which I think weirds me out almost as much as realizing that someone I can remember vividly from my childhood is now working as a security guard at the library.

How the fucking hell did that happen?

That's just too much weird for one night.

Live Help?

It was my week to host Too Much Pressure (it's the radio show I do with Robin on Sundays, you should know that already) so I got to see the switchboard over at BlogTalk. Usually I don't pay too much attention to anything beyond keeping the show going but today I kept seeing the "live help" icon down in the corner.

I have a question....

Why is that penis wearing headphones?

Punisher: Review Zone

Well, I'll hand it to them. I do feel punished. I don't know what I was being punished for but it was clearly something really bad and I've very, very sorry.
When I watch any action movie I go in knowing it's not going to be Gone With The Wind or, well, anything really amazingly good. I'm not a huge fan of the genre but I can appreciate it, even like it. It's something I do, now and then, when I just want to shut my brain off for a few hours and watch some mindless shit involving a lot of ridiculous scenarios in which many guns are fired and dead evil henchmen litter the ground like confetti at a parade. Is that so wrong?
Last night I really just wanted to watch something along those lines so I borrowed my brother's copy of Punisher: War Zone. To be honest, Punisher was never one of my favourite comic book characters but I liked them enough to have seen and enjoyed the first movie. Also, Ray Stevenson is the new Frank Castle. Have I mentioned my love of Ray Stevenson? Because he's awesomely awesome and he was one of the very big reasons I love Rome as much as I do.
I was hoping for something good.
I was disappointed. Actually that's not even a strong enough word but I'll go with it for now.
Ray was, as I expected, the best part of the movie. I was having a bit of trouble picturing him as an action hero, especially Frank Castle but he managed to pull it off nicely.
And there ends anything good I have to say about the movie.
Wait, that's not true. Wayne Knight was pretty awesome in that "hey, I'm Wayne Knight" kind of way.
There were just so many things about the movie that were bad, wrong, troubling or down-right laughable. The biggest, most glaring problem were the accents. I cringed every time 90% of the actors opened their mouths. They all went for the most over the top, stereo-typical New York drawl with limited and varied success. (By the way - Thanks, Ray, for just going with a general American accent. It worked and I appreciated it. Really.)
Dominic West was absolutely the worst offender. It was so bad I was actually having trouble even paying attention to what he was saying. Would it really have been that fucking hard to find an american actor to play Jigsaw if that was what they wanted? I mean, the US seems to be positively infested with American actors and they couldn't find a single one? Although, to be fair, Doug Hutchinson wasn't any better. He comes in at #2 in the list of "unbelievably bad accents" and he's from Delaware. (Also on the list is the mafia boss at the beginning of the film, who's name I didn't bother committing to memory who was speaking in what can only be described as a bad Godfather impression meets The Simpson's Luigi Risotto voice.)
The acting was equally as bad going from wooden to (Adam West) Batman Villain-esque over the top and back again at alarming speed. All of which was bumped up a notch by how rushed everything felt. The whole movie felt like a speeding car with no breaks.
The creation of Jigsaw being the best example. He went from being shredded in some kind of factory that's never really explained to being up and walking around half a scene later. He even gets to do a half-assed, wannabe Joker/plastic surgeon reveal scene before he spends most of the movie being completely unfazed by his transformation and about 2 seconds being all "oh I'm so damn ugly! boo-hoo!" (Again, to be fair, the make-up was painfully bad. I would have cried too.)
Really, I could spend all day picking the film apart (I could spend an hour just on "Looney Bin" Jim) but I just haven't got the time to devote to that much garbage. Between the painfully bad acting, the shitty accents, the unexplained... well, everything, the plot holes, the cliches, the make-up, the special effects, the costumes (what the FUCK was Jigsaw wearing in that last 1/4 of the movie? Seriously. What. The. Fuck.) and the sound effects (the squishy/splashy/splat sounds that every single injury made went from stupid to ridiculous to annoying to hysterical. It was like something out of a WB cartoon) it was just bad.
I did actually make it through the entire movie but I had, more than once, considered giving up and going to bed which says more about it than anything.
Finally, let me just say this - Ray, I love you. Really I do. This in no way reflects on how awesome I think you are.
But sweet titty fucking Christ, this movie was fucking awful.

*edit: When casting mafia muscle men, do you think it's possible that they could have found anyone LESS intimidating than Keram Malicki-Sanchez? Really? Because he's about as intimidating as a potato.

Meme Time: My Life According To The Beatles

It's Saturday and I'm too tired to be clever or original, so you get a meme! Yay! Aren't you excited? I know I am!

Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions. Pass it on to people you like and include me. You can't use the band I used. Try not to repeat a song title. It's a lot harder than you think! Repost as "my life according to (derp derp derp)"

Pick your Artist:
The Beatles

Are you a male or female?
Girl

Describe yourself:
Everybody's got something to hide except me and my monkey

How do you feel:
Happiness is a warm gun

Describe where you currently live:
Strawberry fields forever

If you could go anywhere, where would you go:
Across the universe

Your favorite form of transportation:
Yellow Submarine

Your best friend is:
Mr. Moonlight

You and your best friends are:
Sgt. Pepper's lonely hearts club band

What's the weather like:
Rain

Favorite time of day:
A hard day's night

If your life was a TV show, what would it be called:
A day in the life

What is life to you:
Carnival of light

Your last relationship:
Bad to me

Your fear:
A world without love

What is the best advice you have to give:
Act naturally

Thought for the Day:
Don't bother me

How I would like to die:
Free as a bird

My soul's present condition:
No Reply

Most Faithful Companion:
Blackbird

My motto:
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da

Oh and I'm tagging Robin, Janna, Ed

Painkillers...

The only thing keeping me from killing everyone right now.

PMS: Inside every woman lurks a homicidal maniac.

Well, I'd Be Screwed...

Created by The Oatmeal

I'm Not Dead, Honest

Just really, fucking, head-splittingly busy.

Aside from my regular work load I also have a wedding cake to do this week. Most of which had to be revised several times because everything was going horribly horribly wrong. This was causing me too much stress and panic. But now that I seem to have it all sorted I am much, much, much happier.

I say that reluctantly, because every time I think I've got it sorted it falls apart again. I feel kind of like I'm trying to build a house of cards in a hurricane.

Anyway, once it's all said and done I'l try to be around more. Really.

Hi I'm Not In Right Now...

But you can leave a message at the beep or you can try me over at Bluepaintred.

30-40% More Badass

I think from now on I am going to start referring to the toaster as the bread scorcher.

Happy Birthday, Little Brother!

Happy birthday, Reid!

Thanks for occasionally making me happy that I never managed to find someone willing to buy you while you were still small enough to be cute.

Goodbye, Mr. Lye

Maybe the name Les Lye is one you're not familiar with but he was a big part of my childhood. He was "the adult" on You Can't Do That On Television and I spent more time watching Les and the rest of the gang than almost anything else for years.

Les passed away yesterday. He was 84.

So, goodbye and thanks for the laughs, Les.

So Who's Coming With Me?

Here's the thing, I love Flogging Molly. I love them a lot. While I'm normally not one to be hung up on concerts (actually for the most part I don't like them, crowds bother me A LOT), I love them. And they are coming here.

Well, not here, here. Saskatchewan here. Saskatoon to be exact. Oct. 25th. (Even better as it's a Sunday and I have Sunday and Monday off! Yay!)

So I'm looking for someone or some people to go with. Seriously. Let me know if you're down, because I can get my crazy Irish freak on all by myself!

Top 10 Reasons Why Robin Should Move To Canada

Despite my nagging, whining, suggesting, hinting at, and insisting Robin has STILL not moved to Canada*. I find this a little disheartening. So I decided maybe if she had some really good reasons she might reconsider.

10. She has an accent and it's a well known fact Canadians have a natural affinity for accents which would surely make her instantly popular, respected and adored.

9. She often complains about her daily commute to work. In my city there is no commute more than 30 mins. Hell, you can drive from one end of the city to the other in 20 mins if the lights are with you. My daily commute - 10 mins, through the park.

8. It's way cheeper here. That should be a good enough reason for anyone.

7. Free health care. (see #8)

6. She is now well versed in Canadian slang making Canada a natural choice as a new country to live in.

5. Our money, while not worth a lot world wide, comes in a variety of colours making it more of a fashion accessory than anything. So you can flaunt your money and be fashionable all at once.

4. Canadians are known world wide for being fairly laid back and friendly people. Why wouldn't you want to live here?

3. Erik wouldn't feel left out of conversations when we talk online. I could just ask him to explain stuff to her in person which would cut down on a lot of confusion.

2. Canada has so many opportunities for photography it's mind boggling. Also, I don't think I've ever gotten poison ivy here.

1. I live here. And so does Blue. How much more convincing do you need? Clearly it's the awesomest country in the world.

If that doesn't get her to move here, nothing will.

*and by Canada I mean Sask.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Stewart!

Happy birthday to the hottest star ship captain, the best Professor, the perfect King Richard and the second best Captain Ahab ever (sorry, Gregory Peck is hard to beat at anything...)!

Grumpy Today

I'm trying really hard to be as pleasant as possible while I'm stuck at work but honestly, I'm just not feeling it today.
Yesterday I had to go to the dentist, something I've been putting off for the better part of a decade. Two weeks ago I broke a large piece of one of my molars out and yesterday was the first time I could get in.
Let me pause here and say that my dentist is one of the world's nicest people and I really do like the guy. It's his job I don't like.
As always, the bitch who cleans your teeth was, well, a bitch. A seriously cunty bitch. She even gave me shit because I said "ow" when she stabbed my gum with her pick thing. Then she gave me shit for not flossing, right before getting the floss stuck on my broken tooth and trying to rip it out (which nearly took out the tooth completely). When I said "ow" again and "that really hurts" she snapped at me.
"Fine! You get it out then!"
What the fuck, bitch?
After that, the dentist had to freeze my mouth, drill out most of my tooth and fill it (which I get to again soon as there's another cavity he wants to deal with... sigh). The freezing I hate, it's damned uncomfortable, the needles suck and it makes my face feel huge. The dental work is a load of suck. On top of which I spent most of my evening popping pain killers, drinking cold water (it was helping numb the pain) and feeling gross.
Today my head feels like someone was kicking me in the face all night and as you may have guessed, it's making me a tad grumpy.
Stupid teeth.

Some Things I Wonder

I have a tiny obsession. Nothing to big or terrible. I mean, there are plenty of other obsessions I have, but this one is probably the longest standing obsession in my collection.

I love cartoons. I do. I love animated shorts, like the old WB cartoons. I love animated series like Spongebob Squarepants and the Simpsons. I love animated movies, both traditional and CG (Pixar has been on my "companies I'd LOVE to work for" list since the first time I saw Toy Story). And I love and adore stop motion animation. Hell, I have favourite voice actors. Really, I do.

But for all my love and adoration, for all the hours I've spent sitting in front of the TV watching and laughing, there are a few things I always wonder about. 

You know, because I'm a five year old trapped inside a cynical, bitter, sarcastic adult.

- How is it that Bugs and Elmer always seem to end up getting married? Really? I'm so not opposed to the gay aspect. No, it's that Bugs is a rabbit. Yeah, he's a talking rabbit but... he's still a rabbit. Even if he does look hot in a dress...

- Am I the only one who thinks Bugs looks hot in a dress? I don't understand it, but you take a scrawny, wise cracking, Brooklyn-accent having, male rabbit, put a dress and some lipstick on him and suddenly he's the hottest chick any gun toting, rabbit hating bad guy has ever seen. Weird.

- How is it possible that I've seen Wile E. Coyote smashed, blown up, flattened, dropped, tied up and generally thwarted by his own bad planning and ACME's subpar products in almost every way imaginable and it's STILL funny? 

- Am I the only one who thinks Tweety is an annoying little shit and is totally on Sylvester's side? 

- I've always wanted to know what Marc Anthony's owners look like. Kind of like the adults on Charlie Brown. I'd also like to smack them every time they wail on their dog. 

- Sam and Ralph punch in and out, I've heard Sam say "another day, another dollar", so what they do is their job but who's employing them? I understand hiring a sheepdog, but did they hire a wolf too? And it must be paying pretty well to have Ralph keep coming back. I mean, the benefits alone would have to be amazing. 

I dunno... maybe I'm thinking about these things too much.

Don't Forget

Tonight is another episode of Too Much Pressure. Be sure to tune in. 

Tonight we're talking about Kevin. If you don't know which Kevin I'm talking about, apparently you haven't been listening. You should fix that. Now.

This I Believe

Knowledge is power. It's power that should be available to everyone. 

An education should be a right not a privilege. People should fight every day for that right, demand it and use it at every given opportunity. No matter who you are or where you live.

Creativity should be actively encouraged in all of its forms. Stifling creativity, especially in children, should never happen. 

Political correctness is driving people further apart than anything else. Making people too uncomfortable to make jokes, ask questions and to simply interact without having to worry will never ease tensions or create unity. 

Humour is essential to life. If you can't laugh, especially at yourself, life just isn't worth living.

Everyone should watch the sun come up at least once. Likewise, everyone should watch the sun set at least once. Everyone should take the time to watch the clouds float by and to stare up at the stars. Even if it's only once. Preferably while sitting outside, in the country. 

There is a world of difference between being alone and being lonely although both can occur even when you are surrounded by people. 

Intentionally hurting an innocent is a truly unforgivable act.

Shopping? For Me? I'll Make It Easy

Have you seen Perpetual Kid yet? Because if you haven't, you should. Now. They have some seriously awesome shit. Including this knife and this apron and this super awesome mug. 

Yeah, I know that's all kitchen stuff, but they have other shit too.

Reservoir Dogs Take Manhattan

This is one of my favourite mash-ups ever. Ever.

The Lazy Thief

Yeah, I totally stole this from Robin.

1. Most hated food. Capers, hands down. I hate them so much they actually make me angry. I would gladly eat a whole jar of olives rather than one single caper.

2. Most hated person. I don't think I can pick one. There are several people currently fighting for the #1 spot.

3. Most hated job. The 12 odd hours I was employed by Wal-Mart. Worst. Job. Ever. Sam Walton and his entire family can eat shit in hell.

4. Most hated city. Probably Winnipeg.  

5. Most hated band. There are a couple. Hootie and the Blowfish, Limp Bizkit, Britney Spears, Pussycat Dolls, Spice Girls.... actually, come to think of it, there are a lot.

6. Most hated web site. I believe the KKK are still maintaining a website which would win that title without much competition.

7. Most hated TV program. Just about anything that spews forth from the cesspool that has become MTV. "My Super Sweet 16", for example, makes me want to hurt people. 

8. Most hated British politician. Tony Blair just for being Bush's lapdog.

9. Most hated artist. I have hated art styles and there are plenty of artist that fall in to each. "Performance Art" makes me violent, "Splatter Painting" too... there are more.

10. Most hated book. That I've read? Murder at Hotel Cinema. What a godawful, horrible, shitty book it is. Don't read it. Ever. Trust me.

11. Most hated shop. Walmart. 

12. Most hated organization. There are a few. The church, unions and a few others top the list.

13. Most hated historical event. There are lots and lots and lots. The first one that comes to mind is the burning of the library in Alexandria. Destruction of knowledge and literature hurts my soul.

14. Most hated sport. Cricket. Not only is it boring as fuck but I've no idea how to play it.

15. Most hated piece of technology. The technology developed expressly for warfare. 

16. Most hated annual event. Christmas.

17. Most hated daily task. Getting up and read for work.

18. Most hated comedian. Either Dane Cook or Carlos Mencia, it's a toss up on that one.