God I was just born in the wrong decade

And there’s also nothing like the idle chatter that goes on between people when they’re dead broke, in the shitter, and appear to have nothing in common. Yesterday, I had to work the second “job”, with one of the legalized prostitutes in Vancouver, Labour Unlimited. And, instead of working on some high-rise condo unit in the city of Vancouver for a conglomerate of construction management companies, I worked for a lady out in the “country”, at least as it applies in the Vancouver area, in the village of Lions Bay. It was a beautiful area with a beautiful view, and Dawn near shot me for not getting a pic, though it was too cloudy to really get a good one.

Well, during the ongoing idle chatter as we moved the stones around on her driveway (she was having it redone), we got into housing costs, and where someone “my age” could affordably get property. As it exists now, until I become rather established in editing, we’re reliant on being around Burnaby as to be within reasonably commutes. So, on a property purchase, condos are the only affordable option at the moment.

Then she dropped the bomb. A spacious house with a view just north of Horseshoe Bay, at the foot of the Lions cost at the time a whopping $100,000. Now the property is worth well over a million. What the duece?

Even where Dawn and I are, to get a condo in our neighborhood could run us $300,000+, we wouldn’t have outdoors to our property less possibly a balcony, and far less space indoors. Our parent’s generation NEVER, EVER had to deal with increasing property values like this.

God I really need to be making more than $9.80 per hour at Best Buy.

That is all.

Rick Mercer’s Photochallenge Part I - The Bushfather

I think this one is self explainitory.

Enjoy

That is all.

Kenny vs. Spenny

Ahh, thank you Showcase Television for giving us wonderful, inspired programming, and not the mainstream, brain dead gruel the big networks keep cranking out. Along with playing syndicated classics like Degrassi Junior High (a big hit with Kevin Smith), it also boasts some clever and original shows, both American and Canadian in origin. Yes, I'm talking about Dead Like Me, Trailer Park Boys, and most specifically, Kenny vs. Spenny.

Though the show is shot here in Toronto, apparently it airs on the Game Show Network, Wednesdays at 10 PM ET south of our border. If you haven't seen it, there's a clip of the short film that seems to have inspired it all here. I wonder when the two moved back to Toronto from California?

As such, it's inspired an idea. I challenge one of my friends to join me in utterly pointless competition, on a monthly basis, if not weekly.

That is all.

Has it really been that long?

What a crazy day in the A-Golden-World-averse yesterday. Well, okay, at least the sporting side of things. First off, after seventeen minutes, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard committed the second of his two yellow cards and got ejected from a tough and intense derby match against rival Everton (ed.'s note… BOO EVERTON). As such, the Reds had to play more than half the game down one player until Everton earned a red card. And after this affair, which boasted far less than a clean sheet, Liverpool bested Everton 3-1.

This led into yet another fabled meeting between the two clubs with the most Stanley Cups in their trophy case. Montreal played Toronto, in the Bell Centre, to which the ever struggling Make Beliefs Maple Leafs fell to the surging Habs, Montreal winning 6-2.

Bwahahahahahahahahaha!!!

Not that I'm a bitter man or anything. Though just as my current hometown Canucks fell short to the Oilers 3-2, my dear friend Laura from Tdot was on MSN, and after a few clicks of the "You're Team Sucks" wink, Laura let me know she's not caring anymore, people are attacking the team (me included).

Now, not to pick on Laura, as she's young enough not to remember the Leafs dismal decade of the eighties clearly, but this season is resonating with the air of a team struggling with respectability and wins. It starts out all hopeful, a few off-season change, inspiring the Leafs faithful fans to believe things will turn around. The Leafs suck through the season, and by the end, the "fans", less the very few who stay true to their club, find that team to support in the playoffs.

It looks like that pattern may soon repeat itself. I just wonder who the Leafs "faithful" will cheer. If the past has any bearing, it will be the team opposing Montreal in the first round. This season, that will be Ottawa. What a conundrum. Maybe the Leafs fans will become Flames fans then. I just wish I could spend a day in Toronto to see what the reactions are like. As a side-note, the Leafs site has the slogan "The Passion That Unites Us All". Is that passion for hockey, or the Leafs. Will the passion for the Leafs die with their playoff chances? Seven points in 11 games is a tough difference to make up. Especially without a class goalie.

That is all.

iTunes March 2006

Current iTunes playlist

1. Viva La Raza WWE - Eddie Guerrero (1)
2. Weapon of Choice Fatboy Slim (2)
3. You Were Always on my Mind Pet Shop Boys (3)
4. Romantic Traffic The Spoons (4)
5. Comfortably Numb Pink Floyd (13)
6. Kyle’s Mom’s A Bitch Eric Cartman (7)
7. Give It Up KC and the Sunshine Band (5)
8. Keep On Rocking In The Free World Neil Young (9)
9. Interstate Love Song Stone Temple Pilots (
10. The Lonely Shepherd Zamfir (6)
11. You May Be Right The Grapes of Wrath (20)
12. Bigmouth Strikes Again The Smiths (14)
13. The Globe Big Audio Dynamite (23)
14. Connection Elastica (15)
15. Papa’s Got A Brand New Pig Bag Pig Bag (12)
16. Sycamore Trees David Lynch & Jimmy Scott (19)
17. Killing In The Name Rage Against the Machine (16)
18. Cannonball The Breeders (10)
19. Crazy Train Pat Boone (11)
20. The River The Tea Party (17)
21. Chemical World Blur (1
22. There’s No Other Way Blur (21)
23. What is Life? George Harrison (NR)
24. Sin Nine Inch Nails (25)
25. The Bazaar The Tea Party (22)

New Digs…

Well, if you are here, you have now been officially re-directed to the new web presence of A Golden World. As always, please update your link lists and bookmarks, my MSN/Yahoo pages, RSS feeds and the like, and this message will self destruct in five seconds.

As a sidenote, I do tip my hat to the owner of these new digs, WordPress, who made it easy to integrate the majority of posts and a few of the comments from Blogger over here. With the template and setup I wanted, I just couldn’t get Haloscan to show comments on the post page, I had issues with linking the top bar, and well, you get the picture. Though WordPress.com doesn’t support user templates, when I expand the webfront for my film endeavours (site coming soon) I can host this blog then on a pay server, and streamline the design.

Thank you for your patience.

I’ve been tagged… again…

Yes, my dear beloved bride to be has tagged me with this meh-me.

So, as such…

Accent: I’m Canadian. I don’t have one.

Booze of Choice: Well, in the past it has been Rye and Coke, though I’m cutting heavily back on the Coke to keep my teeth healthier. Damn being in my thirties and thinking more health consciously. As such, my booze of choice is an ice cold Stella Artois.

Chore I hate: Anything to do with cleaning.

Dog or Cat: Well, in our current apartment, could be neither. I do prefer cats. They’re much more evil.

Essential Electronics: A Mac G5, which is still on the long term wish list. Still working on getting out of Best Buy. Then I’ll be able to save.

Favorite Perfume: Erm… how do I bring this to your attention. I’m a GUY. I don’t wear perfume.

Gold or Silver: Gold. Something we sorely missed in Men’s Hockey this year, though our Women held up the fort admirably.

Hometown: Montreal, PQ. Though being in British Columbia now, Burnaby feels just as much like home now. Too bad for that 20 odd year stint in Ontario.

Insomnia: I did suffer with bouts five years back, but Dawn takes good care of me now, and I do get at least some rest on a night.

Job Title: At Best Buy, it’s Home Theatre Specialist. In IATSE, it’s Lamp Operator. Can’t wait for some calls in April.

Kids: None that I know of.

Living Arrangements: A one bedroom apartment, renovated from a garage. As odd as it sounds, it’s quite comfortable (though the circuit breaker for the heater trips more often than is convenient). I’m still working out how I could fit in a Mac G5 spacewise into the place as it’s a better option for editing than a Powerbook.

Most Admired Trait: I didn’t know I had admired traits. Though, keeping everything in perspective, probably my resiliency.

# of Sexual Partners: At one time, one. Lifetime, more than one.

Over Night Hospital stays: Too many that I care to remember. Most recent one? In Windsor, eight years back, after I had my two front teeth knocked out in a street fight outside a club. Yes I was a cocky little hellraiser.

Phobia: Heights, and yes I’m in film lighting. Wonder if I have any motivation to shift into editing and post production. Though at times it can almost paralyze me, I do force myself to do more with heights, and have pushed my barriers a ton.

Quote: How ironic? Rogers… it almost rhymes with… eliminate.

Religion: Well, I don’t think that Sith Lord counts, and I’m definitely not amalgamated into Christianity, so I’d have to say some odd spiritual cross between indigenous North American beliefs crossed with Zen Buddhism, sprinkled heavily with a strong tendency toward scientific thought.

Siblings: None biologically. A sis in Quesnel who I swear we were seperated at her birth, and my best mate, who’s been like a brother since the days back in diapers in Montreal.

Time I wake up: Too bloody early. Every. Single. Day.

Unusual Skill: Too many. Can wiggle my ears. Can perform complex arithmetic in my head. Can climb up almost anything.

Vegetable I Refuse to Eat: Most of them, especially cooked.

Worst Habit: Worrying too much about everything and taking responsibility to the point I blame myself far too much.

X-Rays: Head, chest, knees, mouth (at the dentist), wrist, elbow, shoulder, ankles.

Yummy Food I Can Make: Swiss Chalet sauce for chicken (though that’s in a packet), Pasta, and I can de-ketchup canned pasta sauce.

Moment of Zen: My first day on set here in Vancouver, surpisingly on Smallville. Made up for all the shit of the past year and a half.

Now, who to tag, who to tag…

All ten people who read this blog regularly. You know who you are.

That is all.

Rick Mercer’s Photochallenge

I've been meaning to do this all year, but finally got the patience to sit down and get one done.

Enjoy!!

Linked with:
The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns

That is all.

Balance to the Dark Side

Having watched EVERY SINGLE STAR WARS FILM a bare minimum of 200 times each, and read hundreds of forums arguing philosophical points of the story, most notably the argument as to whether Anakin is truly the Chosen One. Some people say no, because he turned to evil, that the chosen one is his son, Luke, whose hope sways Vader to destroy the Emperor. Other, George Lucas included, argue that Anakin is the chosen one, and he ultimately brings balance to the force by, surprise, surprise, destroying the Emperor.

However, this post is not about that argument. If you begin to debate any of the above points without reading beyond, you are then dumber than one Peter Gilligan Griffin. This post will start with this point. That most people’s argument about balance to the force is, well, out of balance.

It seems many debaters arguments as to balance is rather askew. When you get to the meat of their argument, “balance” ends up meaning “the end of evil.” Call me crazy, but I thought that equal proportions of good and evil would be balance, not the absence of one or the other. In the beginning of the saga, Good far outweighs evil. Anakin, as Vader, destroys almost all the Jedi in the galaxy, slanting it toward evil. Vader, seeing his son die at the hands of the “friend” who promised to help him protect his family (and utterly fail in the process) sees what a “friend” he is, and in one final act, rids the universe of this strong force of evil, leaving the universe with one Jedi and a whole lot of evil characters in different corners of the universe, hence Anakin’s transformation to Vader is key to bring balance, otherwise there would be far too many Jedi.

To stay away from ultimate dorkdom on my own blog presence (well, okay, there’s about 10 of you who read consistently), my own life has been filled with an odd kind of balance. To summarize:

1. Liverpool FC lost to Benefica in the Champions League, then lost more and slid further into third in the Premiership, behind Chelsea and [sic] Man U.

2. Liverpool then rebounded earlier this week by hammering Birmingham City, in Birmingham, 0-7.

3. Vancouver, after the Olympic break, sucked ass, and slid into 9th in the NHL Western Conference.

4. In a do or die match, beat Edmonton on Tuesday, then repeated the victory in the second of three consecutive matches winning 4-3 after a shootout.

5. The Toronto Maple Leafs start to show life late in the season and may make the playoffs [may I vomit yet?]

6. Montreal (my town of origin) tonight spanks the Leafs 5-1 in the first of two games dans la Centre Bell.

7. Dawn and my wedding plans for Barkerville go askew as they do not offer the $1000 package anymore.

8. We learn we can have the wedding at Grouse Mountain here in Vancouver, which is a favourite spot for the both of us.

9. The wedding will cost well upwards of $6,500.

10. It will be worth the price of admission to see my Mom take the airtram to the peak, as she’s deathly afraid of heights.

11. Best Buy still just plains sucks.

12. Film work is coming in full force soon.

13. Money is tight.

14. One show is calling me regularly trying to get a hold of me.

15. They’re calling me when I’m at work, and the voice at the other end speaks so low that Dawn can’t make out the phone number.

16. I think I have a story now I feel confident I can shoot.

I could go on, but hopefully you get the point at this stage.

That is all.

M.C.F.A.T. Episode X - Dieter Joins the Sith

And here we go…

1) You loved it, but critics hated it, or vice versa. Who’s right?

Well, before I even get into the answers for this, I just want to leave a side comment. My opinion is ALWAYS in contrast to the critics. So who is right? Frankly, I am. For this one reason. Because I watch movies for just one person. Me. So my opinion matters to me much more than some critics. Hell, I use their bad reviews to select films I want to see next. Unless it’s a shitty remake. Then I could very well agree with them almost every time.

2) What’s the most expensive hobby you’ve had?

Well, when I lived in Windsor, Ontario, which, incidentally is right across the river (or detroit) from Detroit, Michigan, I had desires to go see baseball games. Every. Single. Weekend. But the Tigers were just total shit. So I travelled to Cleveland, Ohio, most weekends to see sets of two or sometimes three games. I must have dropped $500-1000 per weekend easily. Oops.

3) What sports, if any, have you played as part of an organized team? What sports, if any, have you played for fun?

As a part of an organized team, I have played baseball, softball, volleyball, giant slalom skiing, freestyle moguls, and of course hockey. For fun, in addition to the above, I’ve played football, Canadian rules North American rugby, basketball, horseshoes, ping pong, golf, full contact golf, ethanol based boat racing, caps, quarters, dice, and of course the most difficult of all drinking games, the Smurfs^TM drinking game.

4) What would you do if you had a pet monkey?

Simple. Change my name to Dieter, then command people to touch my monkey. Touch my monkey. Touch him. Love him.

5) Which is better: extreme heat or extreme cold?

Extreme cold. It provides more excuse for gratuitous shagging with your partner. Good night everybody!!!

Thanks to MCF for another good sequel.

That is all.