Thoughts for the Cubically Inclined...

C'est formidable!

2007-09-24T11:02:00.000-06:00

Hey friends—decided it was time for an update, to fill you in and make you jealous of all the incredibly cool things I have been doing. That’s right, another episode of “Me and My Fabulous Life!” Take it awwaaaaayyy…..Rob!

Two weekends ago, Nicole and I attended a jewel-studded musical event known as the Treasure Island Music Festival. And yes, it took place on….Treasure Island!! The most common access route between the East Bay (Berkely, Oakland, Walnut Creek, etc) and the city is the Bay Bridge, which is actually two crazy suspension bridges. Incidentally, from what I understand they are the highest traffic-use bridges in the world, with an average of 300,000 people passing by daily. Anyways, connecting the two bridges is a man-made island called “Treasure Island”. It was first used after the construction of the bridges to house a giant exposition that drew attention to the bridges and America’s engineering genius. Shortly thereafter, it became a naval base and only recently has it been given back to the City, which is in the process of developing the island as super-futuristic, eco friendly condos and living areas. Cool, huh?

Anyways the festival was pretty crazy, relatively small (meaning we could be as close to the stage as we wanted), and a great lineup—we listened to MIA, DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist, Honeycut, the Gotan Project, and of course Thievery Corporation, who was headlining. There were also some cool new finds—in particular, I recommend Ghostland Observatory, a crazy dancey rock/synths duo from Austin Texas. Those guys were so fun to watch—the lead singer was super-flamey, with hair in two braids, girls jeans and a baby-t, he screamed out the vocals (actually a really good singer!) and strutted all over the stage, hahaha it ridiculous but entertaining. The other band member was, if possible, even stranger. He had a wispy blond mullet straight out of the 80s (not in a cool way, like someone who was being retro-ironic—like he had actually been torn out of the background of a Duran Duran video). His ears were also huge, close to the size of my hand, and you know the expression “slack-jawed”? Perfectly describes this guy, whose mouth seemed permanently half-opened in a dull sort of leer. Anyways, in spite of (or perhaps because of) all this, they played a bomb-ass set with everyone dancing away like crazy, so hahaha yeah check them out. MIA was just ok…Thievery was just as awesome as you are imagining right now. Yeah, that good ;p

I’ve also been down in LA a couple of times over the last week, once for work and then again this weekend to visit Nicole’s family. I went down on Monday to work in the LA office and do a Corporate Orientation type-thing—uneventful except for a few details. First, I stayed in this really cool little boutique hotel in Beverly Hills called the Maison 140, take a look at the website or pic below, as you can see it was really interesting and beautifully decorated.

I also ventured out into the exclusive LA club scene, a place called “Area” which I checked out with some co-workers and friends. Hahaha I can’t even begin to describe the experience—picture an Edmonton club, like in WEM but scaled down a little and decorated better, subtract most of the “A-Z-Ns” and replace with guys in diesel jeans and blazers (damn so stylish!) and girls who universally must show at least 3ft of legs and 30 square inches of cleavage, or risk being denied entry. Add rumors of Justin Timberlake’s imminent arrival, douse with expensive alcohol, and voila, you have this club. Do you guys remember those commercials that store Paradox ran like 6 or 7 years ago showing “the latest Italian fashion”? Like that, but on drugs ;p We also enjoyed table service, which included two bottles of Grey Goose, a blond to pour us drinks, and a price tag of $1500 hahaha. Ah well—in spite of how corny this all was, I had a good time hanging out and getting to know my co-workers, and it was fun to see the madness ;p Remember, the only thing cooler then being on the scene is hating on it, apparently I qualify for both ;p

Finally, Nicole and I drove down to LA this past weekend to celebrate her brother’s birthday—pretty uneventful trip, had some incredible sushi in little Tokyo on Saturday night and checked out a sweet bar with some solid funk and soul music—bboy heaven, it was like the old Friday nights at Backroom Vodka but way more people, bigger venue and extra helpings of James Brown ;p I def thought about my brothers back home and around the world—hope you guys are still controlling the floor.

Anyways I guess that sums it up for now—another week of work, and some time to chill and get my study on for the GREs. Hope everyone is doing well, staying healthy and happy—would love to see some emails or msgs darkening the doorstep of my inbox. Love to my family!

Peace&Progress

R

Chung, if you read this, I'm going to see the Klaxons this weekend. So there.

Workers of the world...

2007-07-25T10:23:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone! As promised, I decided it was time to give you an update on my work situation. Unfortunately, if you are not my Mom or Dad—well, maybe just my Mom—this will doubtless be a somewhat boring entry. Fortunately, the only person other then my parents who will read this account is a dude in Maine who stumbled across my blog while Googling the movie “Cube”. Sorry man, you’ll just have to endure.

I’m now into my second week of work for a Management and HR consulting firm in San Francisco called Towers Perrin. I’m working in the Executive Compensation and Rewards group, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like—we provide clients with objective third party analyses of how competitive and appropriate their rewards structure is. It’s been a big change, going from the student life in Edmonton to Corporate America in San Francisco, but things are going really well. My co-workers have been very welcoming and very helpful as I gradually ramp up to the busy schedule that consulting invariably seems to demand. Yes, I’m back in a cubicle once more, but now it’s on the 29th floor of an office tower in the heart of the Financial District in downtown SF. So I guess that means I’ve “moved up” in the world ;) My set of windows looks out over the bay to the south-east—the view is definitely something worth going to work for. When it’s foggy, as it has been most mornings, the tops of the sky scrapers disappear into the clouds above, which is both beautiful and a little eerie at the same time. Down towards the marina, you can watch sailboats as they make their way back and forth across the water.

I won’t go into much detail about the work itself—I’m learning lots, beginning to participate in some client files, and will be heading to Atlanta for some training in August. I’ve been trying to adjust to the tired feeling that hits when I get home, usually between 530 and 600—it’s tough to ignore the voice that begs you just to veg and watch some screen and then fall asleep early every night, but I’m trying to be energized and do other things in the evening. Speaking of which, Monday night I went to a free show at the Mezzanine featuring Chromeo and Flostradamus. It was pretty much one big clap-fest accompanied by some crazy dancing—and all this on a Monday night. Have I mentioned how much I love this city?

Anyways, I guess that’s all for now…I had better return to my current dilemma: whether to re-read some previous Harry Potters to pick up momentum, or to just go out and get the final volume. Ahh, decisions, decisions…

peace&progress

It's all good, from Diego to tha Bay...

2007-07-18T16:26:00.000-06:00

Well my friends—it’s been too long since I’ve posted a decent update—and so, in the hopes of correcting this problem, I’ve finally put some of the events of the past few weeks onto paper…err, word processor. Where to begin…

First, a big thank you to everyone who good-naturedly participated in my week of “last nights”…especially Chung, whose surprise each day at my continued presence in Edmonton was matched only by his poorly disguised disappointment. I’m reminded of a Ben Folds Five song…”last week it was funny…but now the joke’s wearing thin…’cause everyone knows now, that EVERY night now will be Steeeveen’s….last night in town…” For those who were unaware, my supposedly brief homecoming—the purpose of which was to re-enter the US, at which time I could get my work visa—stretched into a week-long ordeal fraught with delays, which I choose to blame on a cripplingly slow law firm in New York. Anyways, eventually I got the word that my paperwork was coming in, drove to the FedEx depot to intercept the package before it was “delivered” (read: driven around Edmonton wasting another entire day) to my home, and then headed straight to the airport to try and make a two pm flight.

I won’t go into too much detail about my passage through customs where I made the application for the visa—suffice it to say that but for some very fast talking and a little bit of eyelash batting on my part, I would not have been approved for my working visa. It is scary the degree of arbitrariness and the discretion that a Free Trade Officer is allowed in granting or denying these applications. I was definitely sweating while I made my case. Thank goodness, eventually the officers caved and granted my visa, and just like that, I was on my way to working (legally!) in the US of A.

I’ll also spare you the details on moving—however, a building with four flights of stairs and no elevator makes moving an even more special experience. Which leads me to the more important stuff—my new apartment. Nicole and I now live on the top floor of an old, 1920s style building with 12 units, located right by 14th St and between Valencia and Guerrero. For those of you who don’t know the city, this is right in the heart of the Mission district, where much of the scene in SF is taking place. The Mission is incredible—definitely a little questionable in some parts, but totally multicultural, a million restaurants serving good, cheap food from every corner of the world, and of course, most of the city’s interesting and fun bars ;) The street we live on is a quiet little side street, which affords us safe parking and peace and quiet—however, we are seconds away from the heart of things. We literally are 3 or 4 blocks from anything—Mexican, Vietnamese, Pakistani, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Salvadorean, Pizza shops, bars with live music—additionally we are like 4 blocks from a really famous indy movie theatre, a few blocks from any number of bomb-ass produce and grocery spots (3 pounds of plums/peaches for $1 hahaha), 5 blocks from the Mission Dolores Catholic Cathedral, 4 blocks from BART (the train) that gets us anywhere else in the city, 2 blocks from a great gym, 4 from a yoga studio…the list goes on and on. And perhaps best of all, I can get to work in 15 minutes by train, and probably about the same by bike. In other words…our location cannot be beat.

The place itself is, like I said, an old school Victorian style apartment across from one of the original Levi Strauss factories. We’re in a reasonable sized one bedroom, hardwood floors, big kitchen with gas stove, tons of windows and French doors connecting the bedroom and the living room. Because we’re on the top floor, roof access is easy (although probably frowned upon) but we have a cool view of the rooftops of San Francisco. I fully intend on posting some pics of the place really soon—although we have no furniture yet. But a couch, dining table, bed and of course, a flat screen LCD TV are all forthcoming.

What does this mean for you, dear readers? If you’re somewhere OTHER then San Francisco, you need to come visit, that’s what it means! We def have room for guests, and trust, when you see how awesome our place and location is, you won’t regret it ;) Anyways, enough for one day—my next update will hopefully include pictures—also, I will begin telling you about my new job! Anyways, till then I apologize for not being better in touch but just give me a little more time to get settled—to those I owe emails, they’re coming, and to the rest of you, drop me some lines, write on my wall or just give me a phone call! As always, peace and love from the Bay~

PS Transformers = Sweet Mercy.

My Friends...

2007-06-20T09:18:00.000-06:00

...still alive, chilling in Florida, very limited internet access but will be able to be in touch soon! Miss you all and updates are coming! Oh and phone still works so can get in touch via my Edmonton number...

Celebrities 101

2007-06-09T11:49:00.000-06:00

Hahaha sorry i'm so slow my friends, I guess I'm still getting into the habit of regular recordings. Rest assured that come work time, I'm sure I'll be getting down a LOT more frequently, know what I'm sayin, naamean?

Ok. First. Celebrity sighting. Did I walk by Mos Def? Hmm...yes, yes I did.

In Rob's Mind:
Checking out some wares on La Brea from Union, Stussy and Undftd. Leaving from Union, Nicole and I start to stroll next door to Stussy. Notice a cat in a Kangol with a lady on his arm and a security guard eyeing us down. It's Mos Def. As we pass each other, less then a foot away, I give a cool-as-hell nod, communicating the following message without words: "What's up my man--thanks for making some bomb ass music that has been in my play list for years. I ain't fazed or anything cause of your celebrity status, but just saying peace and respect. Oh and you did a pretty good job in that cop movie with Bruce Willis." To which, Mos replies (also with a nod) "No problem man--thanks for the props, keep doing your thing, and hit me up if you want to kick it--I have some fresh new vinyl we could get down to. And nice kicks!"

In reality:
Leaving Union and headed for Stussy. Totally preoccupied with finding a quality varsity jacket, thinking about what colors I want. Unaware of my surroundings as usual. Vaguely notice some people walking towards us. Nicole freaks out (quietly) like "Oh my God I can't believe it!" Turn my head to the side in confusion. Notice Mos Def like a foot away with a girl and a security guard. Think DAMN he's small, like 5'4"! Mos Def notices Nicole freaking out and sort of smiles at us as he passes. Forget to give really cool nod, still thinking about how short he is. Decide instead of going back to badger him, play it cool and keep walking (stars ain't no thang). Thoughts return to finding a varsity jacket.

Thus passed my first celebrity sighting...and let me tell you, my friends, it was everything I could have hoped and dreamed for...and more.

The name of the game is negotiations

2007-05-31T19:14:00.000-06:00

Hey friends--time to get you caught up again on what's happening in the great state of CA. As I sit writing this, I'm snacking on plain organic yogurt, raisins, oats and dried dates all mixed together. No, California hasn't changed me into a crazy, tree-hugging, nature loving health nut (although i do like nature). It's just that the Doritos have been open for two weeks and are getting stale.

So let me see--lots of stuff has happened as usual, so I'll just some fun moments. I'm still closing in on the job decisions, but have managed to negotiate my way into a pretty little signing bonus so you'll know soon when I make my decision. What else...a little while back, Nicole and I went to help out our friend Marcy in taking the kids she teaches on a field trip to the park. Marcy runs a class for an after-school program at an elementry school in east oakland, which is sort of like the Ill Hoods for those of you who need a comparison--generally a little bit ghetto. So picture me in a group of maybe 50 elementry school kids, mostly Mexican and African American, not a single Caucausian in the mix--needless to say, my blue eyes were a big hit ;) Anyways tons of fun, the kids are incredbily cute--one kid, Jose, tried to teach me love poems in Spanish to say to Nicole (Me gustas Pepsi, me gustas Coke, something something something i like the taste of your lips even more...damn i need to learn more Spanish). I ran the basketball station and refereed/participated in some pretty intense games of 3 on 3 ;) Also, while sitting in the bleachers and keeping an eye on Cesar and Maceio, I had a conversation with an elderly man dressed all in black--apparently his son had been killed in that same park a year earlier when he was shot 13 times. Although we went on to discuss the importance of providing mentors for kids at an early age, I was sort of struck by what felt to me like a pretty extreme contrast between what i was used to, and what I was hearing about in Oakland. I'm not sure if it's a Canadian/US thing, or just obviously that I grew up in a good neighborhood, but it made me think...sad to hear about that man's loss, but interesting and a little touching to hear his thoughts on how to help young people get a good start.

What else...oh, went to see Manu Chao last night at the Bill Graham auditorium in SF with Nicole, Prya, Marcy, Nadia and Armando, which was a ton of fun. The whole show was super high energy, way too many hippies dancinc their crazy hippie dances, but aside from that, really awesome. And on the topic of music, got to hear my friend Raul play bass with a little combo at an outdoor pizza joint, which was kinda fun. Definately am missing music and performance a little bit, so I'm hoping to hook up with Raul and do some playing, maybe fool around in the studio a little bit.

Finally, I've made some sweet new purchases! In order to tell their story, I've enclosed something of a photo essay. I hope you enjoy!

Hmm...what to do with this....

This also poses a problem...

Sweet! Kestrel carbon fibre racing bike!

Sweet! New Court Forces that I got a bomb ass deal on!

The inevitable conclusion...ah well, at least I can get around now...and look good doin' it ;)

Next stop--LA! Update you guys from there!

The California Chronicles begin

2007-05-23T13:39:00.000-06:00

At last, the moment I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for, a sign of life from the front! To my family, friends, and other readers who have stumbled across this missive by accident—what's happening! This post actually represents something of an important historical moment: first, it is evidence that Cubically Inclined, long dormant, has stirred in the depths and will rear it’s ugly head once more. Second, it marks the inaugural address of my new life here in the USA. Third, it serves the more mundane purpose of filling you in on what has transpired in the week or so since I left Canada for a strange and distant land called “Kahliiphjorn-ya” (the ‘j’ is silent, I think).

Where to begin…a fair amount has happened over the last week, so I’ll try to give you some of the highlights. I arrived late on Tuesday night last week after a relatively painless flight. I say relatively painless because upon learning I had no return ticket, the US customs officer promptly diverted me to an "interview" (read-interrogation) with an immigration officer—apparently they were concerned that upon entering the US, I would join the ranks of illegal immigrant laborers in full defiance of domestic law. Having done my best to reassure the officer that yes, I was going to work in the US but not until I re-entered and applied for my work visa, and no, I was not going remain the US indefinitely, and yes, she could trust me not to connect with migrant Mexican laborers, I was allowed through customs and onto the plane. Some hours later, I watched as we descended into a dense fog bank that was blanketing San Francisco—a little unnerving, not being able to see to the end of the wing during the landing, but the pilot managed to set us down safely.

After completing her last final on Thursday, Nicole walked in the first of her two convocation ceremonies, this being her Development Studies major. I met Mr and Mrs. Anand outside the auditorium along with Nicole’s nephew/cousin (don’t ask, I still don’t get it) Arjun. Mr. Anand promptly delegated the responsibility of the filming to me, so I had my hands full trying to capture the ceremony on video. Later that evening, we went to dinner with the families of Nadia and Priya, Nicole’s two close friends who had also just graduated. The highlight of the meal was my entrée, hazelnut encrusted swordfish on a bed of pearl couscous—all I can say is good, fresh seafood is a treat.

The next day, Mr. and Mrs. Anand took Nicole, Arjun and I car shopping. We looked at a range of vehicles, from the Audi A3 (Mine and Arjun’s favorite) to the Camry (Mr. Anand’s favorite) to the Acura TSX (Nicole’s favorite). No firm decisions have been made yet, although Nicole may end up taking her Mom’s Acura TL—did I mention I test-rode a few bicycles as well? Ball till I fall ;) Anyways, later that night we went to have dinner with some family friends out in Walnut Creek, a suburb north east of Berkeley, and incidentally the location of one of my prospective jobs. Now this is kind of cool—do you guys remember the movie “Mrs. Doubtfire?” You know the scene towards the end, in the restaurant, where they are eating dinner and Robin Williams is changing back and forth between the Dad and Mrs. Doubtfire? We ate at that restaurant! Definitely a fine meal, I had some really good lamb and enjoyed what was possibly the best bottle of wine I’ve tried to date, finishing off with a memorable crème brule.

On Sunday, Nicole walked in her second convocation, for her business degree—her brother Brandon came up from LA, and we sat outside in the Greek amphitheatre with her parents—I got sunburned, of course. Afterwards, Mr. and Mrs. Anand took off to drive back down to LA, and Nicole, Brandon and I came back to the apartment to hang out, which has sort of been the M.O. until now. We’ve spent some time with friends, done a fair amount of cooking (including some tasty Palestinian and Thai food), and even went into the city yesterday to do a little shopping. I got a really sweet pair of court forces from Nort (the shoe store underneath Recon) for only sixty bucks! And that brings me to today—Brandon is leaving back for LA, and Nicole and I will start to look at the apartment situation and do some packing and cleaning. We’ll be here in Berkeley until the start of June, when we’ll head down to LA for a couple of weeks, and then it’s off to the south to see Tallahassee, Miami, New Orleans and maybe Atlanta. Oh, and we’re seeing Manu Chao at the end of May which should be awesome too!

So there you have it, that’s what’s been going on with me so far…I know there’s lots more to update you guys on, but remain patient and I’ll start making some regular posts ;) I’d love to get some emails from everyone so feel free to send me a line—until then, take care, stay healthy, peace love and blessings!

coruscate ya'll

2006-12-01T13:57:00.000-07:00

Whats up, homeys.

Back once again now that I have finally lost all my regular readers (because people definately read my blog EVER). I'm comfortable sharing some more thoughts, secure in the knowledge that the only people to read this blog will be those who stumble across it while Googling "incline", "urban", "style" or "cubicle" which pretty much means i will have indoor rock-climbers, tryhard fashionistas andpeople searching for Dilbert cartoons.

Oh, my mom might read it too ;)

Anyways, what is happening with me...lots, and little, as usual. Since my last update during the ghastly Master Cleanse (damn you Stanley Burroughs) i have:
a) Started working hard at school...well, at least in relative terms...
b) Worked with a couple of human rights conferences trying to encourage kids to pursue positive self-expression through hip hop in the interests of squashing stereotypes
c)most importantly, somehow find myself dating an incredible girl from California

There she is...beautiful, huh? Don't ask how I ended up with her, it's a mystery to me too. If you're lucky, you might get to meet her cause...she's coming up to Edmonton over winter break!! Well, the dudes looking for Dilbert cartoons might not get to...but for you others, its possible ;)

So thats a major development...hmm, what else...I camped outside Bestbuy to get a PS3 in the hopes of flipping it on ebay to make millions--funny, lots of other people had the same idea. To put it in economic terms, a dramatic positive supply shock (the market was flooded) combined with technological externalities (ebay fucked us over by listing our products like 5 hours later then we wanted) and resulted in a drastic reduction in the marginal utility gained from my venture (i only made 450 bucks after waiting out in the cold for like 15 hours). Anyways, chalk it up to experience...

Other then that, I'm studying, reading, writing, skyping, excercising and counting days till the end of december. So thats the brief...i'll be back with something interesting or funny now that the update is out of the way. Err, what i mean to say is i'll be back with an attempt to be iteresting or funny. Ok, lets leave it at i'll be back...

Day 8

2006-09-18T23:26:00.000-06:00

Morning Weight: 152 lbs
Evening Weight: 150 lbs

Well obviously I skipped a couple of days, I blame it on late night phone calls *ahem* that left me no time to journal. Ah well. The important thing is...I'm almost done!! This is the last day of the cleanse, tomorrow I get to start on Orange juice and then in the afternoon, soup broth!! Words cannot begin to describe the excitement that's building inside me. I probably won't sleep tonight. It's that serious. My next two weeks will consist of touring the city with David to partake in all the most wonderful delicacies that Edmonton has to offer.

Anyways, the truth is I could probably go the extra two days if time allowed--obviously being ready for Ryan's going away thing is more of a priority, but food cravings have significantly diminished. Energy level is still pretty good, although i definately had a headache and got dizzy mid afternoon, but I think it was cause I hadn't drank any mix in a couple hours. Oh well. The bottom line is, barring any unforseen accidents, I've survived--guess that's all for now, I will do a real introspective entry pondering the worth and results of the cleanse in the next couple of days--in the mean time, happy eating everyone!

Day 5

2006-09-16T00:42:00.000-06:00

Morning Weight: 154 lbs
Evening Weight: 155 lbs

Man, this was definately a tough day--went to a doctor's appointment cause my throat was sore and I was worried about strep, and of course I had to tell my doc i'm doing this cleanse--basically she laughed in my face and said "if i were you i'd stop doing it right now, and don't do it again." So obviously not a strong supporter. Plus I haven't really noticed any health benefits or anything, and Dave was agreeing with me...we very nearly broke down and went to make some soup. Somehow we held off though, and now the plan is to make it till Monday as our last day--note, this will be day 8, but we can't go any longer because Ryan (one of our best friends) is leaving town this weekend and so has his going away thing--and priorities definately dictate supporting our brother. So yeah, our goal is 8 days, or until monday...hope we can stick to it...lots of doubts today, so we'll see how tomorrow goes. Also, i'm not really losing any weight, which makes me feel like i'm not burning any fat or toxins. Bleh. This whole idea was stupid perhaps. Ah well, pride drives me on...

Day 4

2006-09-14T22:46:00.000-06:00

Starting Weight: 157lbs
Ending Weight: 155 lbs
Mood: Somebody's gonna get'a hurt real bad. I'm not saying who. But somebody

So obviously i missed a day of blogging, ah well it was the same as before--i'm not super hungry but i'm craving food like mad and am getting moody---damn it's like i'm pregnant. Not fun. My will power is tested daily by the sights and smells of food--i thought this was supposed to get easier! My energy is pretty good although a headache earlier tonight--also some ennui, not that i would attribute to energy but more to the idea of without a meal at night, there isn't really anything to look forwards to. Bizzare. Food is actually an addiction. Anyways enough for now, i'll update tomorrow...keep the faith....

Day 2

2006-09-12T23:40:00.000-06:00

Starting Weight: 177 lbs
Ending Weight: 175.5 lbs
Salt Water Flush: Still unpleasent

Ugh, too tired to blog very much--day two passed much like day 1, without serious hunger, but I am craving food all the time almost. I'm starting to realize that eating was almost an addiction--my night seems totally lame without dinner to look forwards to, for example. If nothing else, this cleanse will change my attitude towards food as well as make me more appreciative of it. Energy levels good through the day, very tired now because spent a couple of hours at the gym working on Parkour moves. Time for bed.

Day 1

2006-09-11T23:22:00.000-06:00

Starting Weight: 162 lbs
Finishing Weight: 160 lbs
Health benefits felt: none
Times I wanted food: Lost count after 25

So here it is, the end of the first day of the master cleanse...new experiences included the first *ahem* salt water flush, in which you drink 2 cups of warm salt water, and it...uh...well, it flushes you. Quickly. Need I say more? I thought not. Sort of like drinking lukewarm chicken soup broth, without the chicken flavour. Which is to say, the experience isn't terrible, but it's not pleasent.

Actually preparing the drink is a task for the night before, as it's somewhat labour intensive. Dave and I figured out to make a day's supply, it takes about 6 lemons (juiced on our new citrus juicers, now with reversable citrus reaming action! Hahaha...reversable reaming...), 10 tablespoons of organic maple syrup, and about a half teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Juicing the lemons takes a while, but then you can put the mix in the fridge and you are all set for the next day.

Thoughts so far...hmm...i don't think I'm that HUNGRY per se (well I was earlier but not now), it's just that i'm craving food--the smells of food are tantalizing, and I have to pay attention to stop from opening the fridge to get my drink, seeing some leftovers and eating without thinking. It's crazy the attitude we have towards food--I definately miss it already, but am sorta shocked by the fact that I just want to eat even though i'm not starving or anything. I'm sure the feeling will intensify tomorrow. Oh, the worst temptation, incidentally, was when I went down to the living room to drink my drink and be away from the kitchen, and my Mom comes down with a heaping plate of corn, rice, chicken marinated with prunes and spices and cooked all day, etc etc...what kind of cruel joke is that?! That just ain't right. Lemme hear you say it. That ain't right.

Anyway, my energy level is pretty good, although I experienced a brief dip at about 3PM where i almost started dozing off...but that could just be attributable to normal mid-day tiredness, so i'll have to see what happens tomorrow. Not much else to report...we shall see what the morrow brings. Still alive after Day 1...nine...days...to go....*sob*...

It Begins Anew...

2006-09-10T23:40:00.000-06:00

Greetings at long last my loyal readers--it is I, Rob, back from the ashes of the old CubicallyInclined to bring you a new and harrowing narrative, a story of adversity and courage, of conflict and triumph, of perseverance and, hopefully, of the power of mind over body. Tremble in awe as I unleash the beginnings of...the Master Cleanse.

While working through some health-related goal setting a little while ago, it struck me that I haven't led the most pure of lifestyles, especially in the past year or so. Far too little physical activity, a diet that at best catered to my tastes rather then my physiological needs, excessive alcohol consumption, a work environment that was terrible for my allergies (breathing in wood dust and concrete particles will do that to anyone)--the truth of the matter is that my body is probably filled to the brim with all sorts of unhealthy junk and toxins. In response to this realization, I decided to embark on the Master Cleanse diet to purify my system and get my body back to homeostasis.

The Master Cleanse basically entails restricting your diet to a mixture of fresh squeezed lemon juice mixed with maple sugar for caloric content, as well as cayenne paper to break up toxins and aid your body in getting rid of them. That's it. No food at all. No liquids other then water and the mix. For 10. Days. At this point, if you're not laughing at the thought of Rob giving up eating for even a day, let alone ten, you don't know me well enough. Food is a central part of my life, one of my simplest and most readily available pleasures, and on top of that, I have a crazy metabolism so I eat constantly. So why this insane cleansing diet? I'm not actually sure--perhaps I was looking for a challange, maybe the idea of a pure body appealed to me, or more then likely it was just another stupid idea that I thought it would be funny to talk myself into. At this point, I would like to shift some blame to brother Dave for encouraging me by agreeing to undergo the cleanse at the same time.

Anyways.

This is really just a short entry, the night before the cleanse starts--tomorrow I will begin the actual process, and will keep a daily journal of how i'm feeling and my thoughts on the process. Expect it to be graphic. And whiney. And hopefully funny. But most of all, wish me luck as I embark on what could prove to be one of the most challanging tasks I've ever set myself.

2006-07-07T00:30:00.000-06:00

So it seems at last that it's time for the final post of my six month stay here in South East Asia. Be warned, I have no idea where this post is going, so it may ramble a little. I recently returned from four days in Krabi at the beach, which was really nice--the scenery is truly awesome, giant limestone cliffs surrounding a number of beautiful beaches. Krabi is famous for rock-climbing, so of course I spent a couple of days engaged in said activity--the result of which, my forearms are too sore to play guitar ;) In spite of sore muscles I had a good time--one highlight includes being given a fishing line attached to a waterbottle by a friend from the climbing shop, with which I was instructed to catch a squid while sea-kayaking. Much to my surprise, I did manage to catch one while paddling around, and upon my return we barbequed it with lemon, garlic and pepper--very tasty. The weather was a little grey, but somehow I still managed to get sunburned...I guess I shouldn't be surprised, I'm sure none of you are. Tanning just ain't my gift.

So now, the past two days have been spent frantically trying to organize my departure. My appartment is a total disaster, I have shopping still to do, and of course, I am leaving with more then I came with in spite of having given away most of my original clothes. In short, things are exactly what you would expect of Rob: disorganized, harried, a little out of control but generally entertaining. I'm sure everything will work out in the end. Well, pretty sure...

I've also definately been sinking into introspective mode over the past couple of weeks, trying to sort through my experiences with places and people. This entailed playing some sweet emo guitar, watching a few sad films, looking through pictures and stories and journal entries...all of which has reinforced the ultimate truth: that I have been truly blessed on this trip. When I think of how well things have turned out, and how incredible my time over here has been, it's hard to imagine one person could be so lucky. My trip has been blessed with a wealth of life-shaping experiences, as well as rich and rewarding relationships, both with friends from home and with new friends from around the world. I am greatful to every person who made an effort to stay in touch while I was away from home, and equally greatful to those people who took the time to get to know me here in Thailand. I can only promise that in spite of distance, I'll be staying in touch, and that there is always an open door and a welcome mat out for travellers passing through my neck of the woods. So yeah...I guess that concludes the Bangkok segment of this journal...I'll continue to write, so for those who are interested in what's going on with me, keep checking back. Love and peace as always, Rob signs off from the Asian City of Angels.

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep
but I have promises to keep,
and miles to go before I sleep-
and miles to go before I sleep..."
-Robert Frost

Almost time...

2006-07-01T22:41:00.000-06:00

Hey guys--i am back from what was supposed to be 3 or 4 days in the village in Eastern Thailand, and which turned into a 10 day experience which I will never forget. I'll try to share some of it with you in the next post, when I have some time, this is just a quick hello to let you all know what's up with me. I leave this afternoon for one more stay at the beach in Krabi on the Andaman cost, then it's back to BKK on the night of the 5th, get packed up and deal with appartment and such, and then heading home on the morning of the 8th. Man, it's all coming to a close...I'm definately tripping out a little bit. However I'm looking forward to seeing everyone when I return, and catching up with what has been going on in everyone's lives. I'll prob do another update from Krabi, so yeah, I hope everyone is still doing well, and it won't be too much longer till I'm back in Edmonton. Oh BTW I am (hopefully) recovered from Typhoid and am feeling pretty healthy most of the time, so that's good news...let's just hope there is no relapse...cause then I'd probably be infectious again...and right about the time I'd be seeing lots of you guys...hmmm....but yeah, take care!

How Rob Got Sick--or Typhoid: No Longer Confined to Oregon Trail

2006-06-16T03:32:00.000-06:00

*warning: long post ahead*

My friends. I am reporting to you once again, alive against all odds, from home base in Bangkok. I have had a pretty incredible experience in the latter part of my stay in Vietnam. Think "natural disaster" incredible, as opposed to, say, "Mr. Incredible" incredible. As you've probably guessed from the title, I somehow managed to contract typhoid whilst I was traveling in northern Vietnam. I know what you’re thinking...sounds like a disease from the 1800s, doesn't it? While that sinks in, I feel that I should explain the rest of the title...in elementary, one of the only computer games available to us at school was called Oregon Trail. The premise was simple; you were allotted a sum of money with which you would then purchased supplies and a wagon, and take your entire family out West along the Oregon Trail. The game was complete with hunting sequences, river crossings and encounters with wild animals (anyone else finding this familiar? No? *sigh*...ah well). Now, in naming our settling parties we usually included our close friends, so I might attempt the trail with Matt and Khalid alongside me. Unfortunately, the harsh realty for the settlers was that the trail was fraught with danger and hardship. Almost invariably, Khalid would get a snakebite, Matt would get diphtheria, and wouldn't you know it, Rob might come down with typhoid. At this point, you were given the choice to slow the pace down, maybe give some fresh fruit to your invalids, and try to encourage them back to health. To my great and everlasting shame, I was much more likely to leave them for dead in my hurry to reach the fabled Oregon. Obviously, it seems that I am paying for these computer game sins in some sort of terrible and twisted karmic backlash. Let no man say God doesn’t have a sense of humor. In any event, I tell you this truthfully: if ever again I play the Oregon Trail, I will be sure to nurse the typhoid victims back to health, no matter how much it slows down the party. Because typhoid really sucks. Seriously.

So, how did I get typhoid? Well, having being vaccinated, I was under the impression that it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to get this disease. Apparently not. You can get typhoid from eating something that is infected, and being in Northern Vietnam, the food choices were somewhat limited. Anyways, basically I arrived in Sapa on the night of the 7th, feeling good. I met up with my two Canadian friends who I had met in Mai Chau on the first leg of the trip, and so enjoyed some dinner and conversation with them. The next day, I woke up feeling a little bit off, but I was sure that once I began riding, it would pass. My friends suggested I follow them for the day, to which I agreed; they were headed to a remote village beside a lake, where they would stay the night before heading back to Hanoi. About mid morning, I was feeling decidedly unwell...a high fever, cold shakes, dizziness, and headaches. Not the best conditions for riding a full 8 hour day through some very tricky dirt roads, but what could I do? I managed to stay on the bike somehow, almost passed out with fever, and at 5 or 6 at night, we rolled into this little hill tribe village. Stumbling up the stairs to the bamboo stilt hut where we would be sleeping, I managed to throw my stuff in a corner before passing out on the floor. I was awoken for dinner, which I couldn't manage to eat. Unfortunately, one of the customs is for the men of the family to drink rice wine with dinner, and for me not to accept it would be extremely impolite...so despite my protests I was forced to raise a shot glass of home brew with the others and mime drinking (I poured the stuff out but I may have been busted). Anyways, I slept fitfully all night, by turns freezing cold and burning hot, tossing and turning. In the morning, I once again mounted up, and rode another full day into Hanoi, where we arrived at about 3PM. I won't bore you with details, except to say that the ride was miserable...never ride when really sick if you can possibly avoid it.

Having made it back to Hanoi, I dropped my stuff off at a guesthouse, and went to the Hospital—remember, at this point, I still didn't even know what was wrong with me. My friends thought perhaps malaria, so I went to the hospital to get some blood tests done. Upon seeing my condition, they basically said "you'll be staying here tonight," and I was in no condition to argue. Thus began my 8 day stay at L'Hopital Francaise de Hanoi. As hospitals go, it wasn't actually too bad...decent food, friendly staff, and reasonably competent doctors. However, that didn't stop them from first diagnosing me with a kidney infection, then either an abdominal infection or lymphoma based on my CT scan and ultrasound (yes Lymphoma is cancer), before finally settling onto a nice, even typhoid diagnosis. Truly bizarre. Anyways, I was in quarantine, so no leaving the room except for tests for pretty much 7 days...the first 3 of which I was really sick, so I guess it didn't matter, but after that, I definitely developed a little bit of cabin fever. Anyways, long story short, I was discharged yesterday, escaped Vietnam last night on a plane, and am now back at home recovering. *sigh*. What an ordeal. Want to here something strange, though? As part of my antibiotic regime for home, I noticed bottles of medicine to be taken twice daily for 5 days, along with my pills. Confused, I asked the nurse how to take the medicine. Why, by intravenous injection, of course! You mean like a shot? How am I going to get a shot twice a day? Well, I guess you will have to find a clinic that will do it for you...In other words, at home I now have to track down a clinic that will let me bring in my own medicine for them to shoot into me twice a day for the next little while. Both strange and annoying. But at least I’m free.

Anyways, let me end by saying I appreciate all the thoughts and prayers and support I have received from both friends and family. Being sick away from home is never fun, especially when it's something serious like typhoid. It’s always much more difficult to recover quickly when those people who make you smile and laugh are absent. It was great to get emails and posts from all you guys, I really appreciate your thoughts. I'm on the mend now, so I'll post soon with new plans...for now, stay well, and keep clear of the typhoid at all costs ;)

Welcome to Son La...

2006-06-05T04:06:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone--I am sitting in a small internet cafe in Son La, one of Vietnam's most North-Western cities, surrounded by young Vietnamese playing computer games. Ah, cultural similarities....;) Frustratingly, I can't access tons of normal content, like my ualberta email, or CBC, or even google.ca...so bizzare, cause I could get all of it in Hanoi...is there some strange information restriction that only applies to Son La? Whatever, I was surprised enough to find an internet cafe up in the middle of nowhere. I have completed day 2 of my mountain ride...what an incredible couple of days it has been. I'll give you a brief synopsis...

Day 1: I woke up at 830, determined to make an early start on the journey to Mai Chau, which lays about 150 kms west and slightly south of Hanoi. In spite of the seeming short distance, remember that I was riding a Minsk 125, and so could expect to average at best 40 or 50 km/h through the winding mountain roads. Also, I first had to escape from Hanoi itself, a city whose traffic makes Bangkok's rush hour look like a leisurely sunday drive through the country. After grabbing some supplies, I walked over to the bike rental shop. I was outfitted with my bike, a battered red Minsk, ran over the basic maintenance and refuelling routine with the guy from the shop, and then strapped my pack to the back. The guy from the shop had agreed to lead me to the outskirts of Hanoi and point me in the right direction for Mai Chau (very thoughtful) so I wove through the thousands of scooters that speed through Hanoi like schools of fish, tailing my guide as best I could. By some miracle, we reached highway 6 unscathed, where my guide gave me a wave, a thumbs-up, and took off.

The ride itself to Mai Chau was stunning--it began through townships that exist outside Hanoi, moving into more and more remote territory, until by mid afternoon I was climbing up into my first mountains. At a particularily beautiful lookout point, I stopped for some pics, and was joined by two other Canadians from montreal, who were doing the loop with a guide. At their guide's reccomendation, I followed them to a village near Mai Chau, which was only another 45 minutes away, and secured myself a place to sleep with one of the local families that opens up there house to travellers. Their place was a traditional Vietnamese stilt house, pretty much one big room with bamboo slats on the floor. I enjoyed an incredible meal with my hosts, Ling and Te, and met their two sons--then I spent the night walking around the village, doing a quick ride around the county with the Canadians I met, and reading my book in the stilt house. It all felt very authentic, and I was glad to have been their guest.

This morning I left at about 730 for Son La, some 200 kms away from Mai Chau to the North West. I made really good time, and despite a couple of stops for food, rolled into town at about 1PM. The ride was incredible again--much higher, and a little cooler. Not many others on the rode, leaving me to fly along while listening to some tunes on the old Ipod...a highlight of which was cresting a particularily spectacular pass and having the Beatle's "I've got a feeling" as covered by Beck come on...dave, les, if you read this, you'll know what I mean.

Anyways, i've found myself a place to sleep at at quasi-hotel/guesthouse, and am now exploring the town. I'm not sure if there will be more internet as i continue north, but if so I will send another update. I wish I could check my email, cause I'm sure it's brimming with mail from my friends and family. Am i right? Eh? Am I? Hahaha, love as usual to all.

Off into Northern Vietnam

2006-06-03T21:01:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone--just a shout out from Hanoi, where I am about to depart into the northern mountains for a week, riding a Minsk 125...should be lots of fun, some incredible countryside to see, and it'll be great to get back on a bike again, even if it is a small one. So yeah, i'll be out of contact for a while but I am safe and well and will check in where it's possible. Love to all my friends and fam!

Laos Part II

2006-05-30T22:36:00.000-06:00

Ta Da! Go go gadget video!

Well friends, I have returned from Laos, and am in the midst of planning my next excursion, which will take me to Hanoi in Vietnam. Once I arrive, I plan on renting a motorcycle and travelling up through the mountains to see some of the country--I know what you're thinking: 'Man, that sounds awesome, I'm totally jealous!' Or perhaps it's more like 'Um, Rob, do you remember that time you were riding your motorcycle back home, and were creamed by an 80 year old man in a sports car? And got messed up proper? Wasn't that, like, last September?' To which i reply: 'Aha! But how many 80 year olds will you see driving around in sports cars on dirt roads through Northern Vietnam?' Clearly, Rob wins.

Anyways, this is not really a Vietnam post, but rather a follow up to Part I of my Laos trip. I thought about including some excerpts from my journal to try and convey the absolute majesty of this country, but decided it would be nearly impossible to make you understand how truly wonderful Laos is. And since a picture is worth a thousand words...I've posted some new PICS to save myself some typing ;) Now, these photos don't really do justice to the beauty that seems to exist everywhere in Laos, but at least they'll give you and idea. I hope everyone is well, wouldn't say no to a little more chatter on the comments or email, if only to make my page look like lots of people read it. Good idea? I thought so ;) PS Go oilers. Our first Stanley Cup finals in ages, perfectly timed to correspond with my prolonged absence from the country. Ah well, you can't win 'em all...

Laos--the untold story, part I

2006-05-24T09:45:00.000-06:00

Well homeys, here i am in the middle of Laso--I can't even begin to describe this incredible country. You know, its funny, although a lot of people had told me about how interesting and wonderful Laos was, I never really picked up on it until coming here myself--this country is very different from Thailand but is incredibly beautiful and very refreshing.

So, a brief synopsis of my travels thus far. Sunday night, Juan Cortes, Mark and I boarded an overnight bus from Khao Sarn Rd. that was destined for the capital of Laos, Vang Tien. It picked us up at approximately 8PM--since this is the low season for Laos, it held only 13 people, so i had a whole two seats to myself to stretch out on. About 15 minutes into our trip, we noticed that the bus was moving somewhat slowly compared to other traffic. Sure enough, as soon as we got outside Bangkok, the bus stopped so that the driver could check on the engine. Over the next four hours, as Juan, Mark and I drank Beer Singh and played the geography game where you have to name a place that starts with the last letter of the person before you, the bus made several stops, during which the bus driver revved the engine while staring puzzledly at the dashboard and shaking his head. Fortunately for us, at 1230 at night we stopped at a restaraunt, the thai version of the all night diner. While I ate a bowl of noodles ( and bought another beer), our stuff was transfered over to a different bus, and the trip proceeded accordingly.

Upon arriving in the capital, we discovered that the bus we were supposed to be catching to Vang Viene (the packpacker/adventure tourism destination of choice in Laos) was not coming until 2PM. It was now 930, and we had been travelling for almost 14 hours. Ah well. We ate some lunch--note here, because of French influence in Laos and Vietnam, Laos has INCREDIBLE French food, including baugette...mmm...--anyways, we had some lunch and then decided to check out a nearby Wat for a massage and herbal steam bath--possibly the best decision of the trip. Believe me, there is nothing quite so pleasent as an herbal steam and a vigourous massage from a 5'3" Laotian dude after 14 hours of travel. Hasving completed this mission, we proceeded back to the bus to travel to Vang Viene.

Ok guys, gotta stop here for now--stay tuned for the rest of my Laos stories, and believe me, there are some incredible ones. One benefit of being in a Communist country is that everything shuts down early, so i've been going to bed at like 1030 or 11 PM. So now, it's time for a nap...more later....zzzz.....

New Photos!!

2006-05-20T00:24:00.001-06:00

--get 'em while they're hot. Heading to Laos tomorrow night, whoo hoo!

New Photos!!

2006-05-20T00:24:00.000-06:00

--get 'em while they're hot. Heading to Laos tomorrow night, whoo hoo!

A Storm

2006-05-11T23:36:00.000-06:00

I was awoken today to what sounded like major construction going on just next door. After a second or two of grogginess I realized that it was pitch black outside, and that there was a truly incredible storm taking place. For those of you who know me, there are few things I find more exciting then a really powerful storm, so of course, I threw on some clothes, grabbed my camera and bolted for the observatory deck and garden on the seventh floor of my building.

What greeted me when I arrived was one of the most awe inspiring sights I have ever witnessed. I speak the truth when I tell you that this was the great-grandfather of all thunder storms, and I was right in the middle of its fury. Lightning was striking every couple of seconds, actually hitting buildings around me, and the thunder that rolled off was instantaneous with the strikes, no time differential at all. The noise this storm made was, is…indescribable. I tried taking a video with my camera, saw lightning strike one of the buildings across the way and the thunder that followed made me jump like a…well…I’m not sure of the appropriate metaphor here, but I jumped. It must be true that there is no noise on earth that can compete with a thunder-crash when it occurs right next to you.

Rain was being driven down, sideways, left, right—I swear at one point that it was being forced back upwards by a particularly malevolent blast of wind. Within minutes, the deck of the seventh floor was awash, within half an hour the streets below resembled a town under a flash flood. We are talking about up to a foot of water in some places, laid down in less than thirty minutes by this storm.

After a while, somewhat cowed by the unrelenting fury, (and given that I was getting wet), I returned to my apartment to listen as the storm slowly moved away from my neighborhood to wreak havoc in another part of the city. I imagine it will continue to rage against Bangkok, selfish in its own right for life, until grudgingly it subsides, loosing energy and fervor, before dissipating completely—not without having profoundly changed all in it’s path.
Even now, sirens are reverberating through the city as emergency personnel rushes around, no doubt restoring power, fixing electrical lines, assisting those caught on the streets by the flooding, and returning some semblance of order to this chaotic city. I’m sure there is some profound lesson or wisdom to be gained through the occurrence of this storm—I’ve been trying to discover it while composing this entry. I feel like it’s there on the edge of my mind, and that I’m understanding and accepting some message subconsciously even though I may not realize what it is. Ah well, enough for one day. I shall remain satisfied having been able to observe such a magnificent and humbling event. Love to my friends and family, as always

What's the buzz? (Tell me what's a happenin'...)

2006-05-07T21:47:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone--it's been a little while, n'est pas? I know you guys were all deeply concerned for my well being, rest assured that I am alive and kickin' here in BKK. I just got through a visit from my Dad, whoo-hoo! Very nice to have some family out to see me, although it was only for a couple days we had a great time. Highlights include eating a great lunch at a Thai cafe by my school, an awesome dinner at this Egyptian restaraunt in Sukhumvit, some Phad Thai at Siam Discovery, and a killer full out Thai dinner at a beautiful restaurant that overlooks the Rama bridge as it is light up at night. Oh yeah, and we saw some sights. But the eating.... ;)

We also managed to check out a canal tour, Wat Arun, Chatuchak Weekend market, and an awesome live music venue called the Saxophone Bar for some incredible blues and rock. And the best part? You can check it out in my new set of PICS! or use the link at the side.

Hmm, what else is new...i'm trying to finalize some travel plans, and having a difficult time committing to anything. I have an exam...wait....that's right, tomorrow, hahaha and then another on May 19th, so i'm debating a trip either inside Thailand, or to neighboring Cambodia during this stretch between exams. Ah, some many choices... ;) I do know that I'm going to head out to Indo for some surfing after my last exam, with my crazy Hawaiian surfer friend Radical Edward (hahaha get the reference? Oh, only the few and brave will admit to having knowledge of this one), or Uncle Eddy, as he likes to be called. Am I any good at surfing, you ask? Sure, i mean, how hard can it be, right? I had that whole afternoon when I was with Matt in Hawaii to practice in the 3ft surf of Waikiki beach...so it's pretty much the same in Indo, right? Right, guys?

Anyways, more updates forthcoming (I hope ;) Love to everyone at home, send some emails when you get a chance, hope you guys are enjoying the spring weather. It remains consistantly above 35 here, and humid. Which is a lot less fun then it sounds. Whatever. Tropics for life.

Yeeeahhhh Oilers!!

2006-05-01T20:53:00.000-06:00

Man--just finished listening to game 6 on good ol' 630 CHED--even on the radio, what a crazy game!! Have a beer for me back home, everyone!

Thai cooking with Rob! So tasty, you'll wanna slap your...well...anyways

2006-04-10T03:11:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone--so here i am with ANOTHER post in Chaing Mai! Crazy huh? Getting a little more regular, which is excellent. I just spent an entire day COOKING thai food, which was a total blast! I took this cooking course called Baan Thai (or Thai House) Cooking, which entailed a full day of shopping at the market, preparing the ingredients, cooking them up and then of course eating them! The menu for today included Phad Thai (thai style stir fried noodle, prob the most well known thai dish), Tom Yum Kung or hot and sour soup with shrimp, minced chicken spicy thai style salad, green curry paste, green curry chicken with eggplant and vegetables, and then finally water chessnuts with sweet coconut milk for desert. So good! And best of all, i got a wicked reciepe book to bring home so i can cook for all of your guys--it's going to be quite a feast. I should have some pics before too long that i will post, so stay tuned! I also had an incredible day of rock climbing yesterday at this mountain called Crazy Horse--man, i don't know if i have ever done anything so physically demanding! I have done some climbing in the past in rock gyms and such, but out at these cliffs, it's a whole different story! I am battered and a little bit bruised with some serious blisters, but i had an incredible time. And incidently, one of my guides is an MC (rapper for those who don't get it) and will be performing for the Songhkran festival, so i'm going to see him and his crew! Anyways, it has been an awesome couple of days, and tomorrow i am set for a day trek of elephant treking, bamboo rafting, hiking and visting a hill tribe village. Can't wait! I'll try to keep you guys filled in--hope all is well, gimme comments and send me news!
much love to all!

Back in Black

2006-04-04T09:22:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone—yes, it’s been quite a while since I have updated this thing. Rest assured that it has nothing to do with any wishes on my part to limit our communication. Nor can I blame the lack of updates on laziness (or at least not ENTIRELY on that). Embarrassingly enough, I haven’t been updating recently because…well, nothing much has happened. I know what you’re thinking, “Rob you are away in Thailand on exchange, how can their be nothing to write about? Either you’re not taking full advantage of this trip, or you are lying…” But seriously guys, I have just been trucking away here in the big BKK. Sometimes life on your own means going to school, going to the gym, doing a little cooking and cleaning and occasionally even a little bit of laundry. I’m sure there is some sort of profound lesson to be found in that period of seeming inactivity…it’s right there in front of me…wait…I lost track of what I was doing…where am I again? Ah well.

A items worth mentioning: first, I took a trip with my Thai language class to the Ratchana Floating Market, about an hour and half outside of Bangkok. Although I appreciate the teachers (Ajarns Pontipa and Supattra) trying to involve the class in a cultural activity, I have to say that I was under whelmed by the floating market. It’s basically a collection of pushy Thais used to the ultimate tourists, selling cheap mass produced knick-knacks for grossly inflated prices. For example, a small bunch of bananas costs about B15 in Bangkok, or less then 50 cents. The same fruits were going for B60 at the market—and the sellers looked offended when I jokingly said “Pheng, na?” or “It’s a little expensive, isn’t it?” Anyways, I did manage to snare a collectable dinner plate with a picture of me in a long tail boat, for only B100, so the trip wasn’t a total loss I suppose.

In more exciting news, I am preparing to head out to Chang Mai on Friday for the Thai New Year’s celebration, also known as Songhkran festival. This holiday entails a country-wide water fight that lasts for three days—basically, anyone outside is fair game, be they tourists, locals, street vendors, businessmen or policemen. City buses are ambushed when stopped at lights by pail and hose-wielding Thais, who soak all of the occupants. As if this doesn’t sound fun already, the entire country is in party mode from April 12-15, meaning there will be lots of great music, food, drink, and revelry. Apparently the northerly Chang Mai, Thailand’s second largest city, is one of the best places to be for this incredible festival, so I am going to check it out with pretty much my entire class. It sounds like there will be 20 or 30 exchange students all trekking up to Chang Mai to get wet, so I’m definitely looking forwards to that trip. Also, Chang Mai is a great adventure tourism center, with downhill biking, rock climbing, white water rafting, bungee jumping and of course elephant trekking into the jungle. I imagine it’s going to be a busy couple of weeks, but I can’t wait to take this holiday—I’ll be sure to get some good pics, and will try to collect some funny stories for my next update. Until then, hope everyone is happy and healthy, send me an email if you have the time or just leave a comment below, and be well! Oh and PS HUGE shout out and congrats to my friends Anita and Joel, who have just received an addition to their family via stork-mail: Jordan Jose Elek Rivero, born April 3 at 1AM! Congrats you guys, and God Bless!!

Back to BKK...or AM I?! ... ... yeah...i am...

2006-03-17T05:57:00.000-07:00

What's up friends, I am safely returned to Bangkok after an incredible trip to Koh Tao. I have some new pictures up--click the link on the side (as usual). So...hmmm, what to say about my holiday? Koh Tao, or "Turtle Island" is a small island off the western coast of the Gulf of Thailand, located about 7 hours south of Bangkok, and about 60 km off the main landmass. A combination bus and high-speed catamaran ticket will run you about 700 baht, or just over $20--not too bad, huh? The island is famous for it's diving--it is the cheapest place in the world to get a PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructers) certification. In fact, I enjoyed myself so much while getting my basic open water certification that I decided to do my Advanced open water as well! I am now certified down to 30 meters, and can dive alone (well, with a buddy) whenever I want! Pretty cool, huh?

The dives themselves were wonderful, I logged about 10 different dives over a number of dive sites. Some favourites include the navigation testing dive, where my buddy (Kevin) and I were basically set loose on a dive site after proving we could use a cojmpass, and an INCREDIBLE night dive where we descended to about 16 meters in the dark, using torches to see the coral and marine life, which included everything from angel fish to morray eels to giant schools of barracudas to a few clown fish ie Nemo! This course was one of the most awesome things I have ever done; I highly recommend diving to each and every one of you. Kevin (my friend) got so hooked that he has cancelled his last month of travel in favor of staying in Koh Tao and becomeing a dive master! Crazy, huh? And apparently there is sensational diving off of Vancouver Island--although so cold that you surely have to use a dry suit, which requires special training of it's own. Ah well, projects for another day. Anyways, I had an amazing time but am glad to be "home" here in Bangkok to recover from my holiday...*sigh*...it's a tough life, isn't it? More updates soon, remember to check out the pics and leave me some messages! Or better yet, email! IE Matt or DJ or Chung or Khalid or Les or Ryan or Romus or ANYONE ELSE who SHOULD be keeping in contact with your absent friend/family member. Ok, ryan and romus have each sent an email. Better then the rest of you, but still deplorable. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to my "lonely" corner to sulk.

Swimming with sharks, and other blog titles to make your mother worry...

2006-03-13T03:17:00.000-07:00

Hey, just a quick note, yes i'm alive, here in Koh Tao doing PADI scuba certification, just passed test today! I'm going to be in the south of thailand for at least another 4 or 5 days, big update when i'm home in BKK and out of this outrageously overpriced internet shop.

Rob

PS yes i did snorkel with sharks, as well as diving with all sorts of other marine wildlife. Including nemo. No kidding.

Life in Thailand--tales from the city of angels

2006-03-01T01:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Ash Wednesday, everyone! Are we all getting ready for easter? Picked something to give up for lent? I'm a little behind, but i figure i got some time cause back home it's still early on Wednesday ;) I'm sitting here at school, killing some time before I go to mass, so I thought I'd try for a quick update. Yet another weekend in the big city--activities included lots of eatin', lots of exercise (in the form of basketball, weights and swimming), and lots of chilling. I went and checked out the Bangkok International Film Fest this weekend, which was awesome but a little strange. I picked out a Korean film called "The Duelist", which was based on a Korean manga and set in the Josean dynasty. It was a detecive/romance/action/tango film, imagine how difficult it would be to include all of these aspects in one flick--impressive! Anyways, i arrived about an hour before the film started to get my ticket--"So this film has english subtitles, right?"--these my exact words to the ticket girl, who spoke fluent english. "Yes, absolutely."--her reply to me. Confident in my choice, I went to grab some food. Half an hour later, while I'm sitting in the theatre, a man from the festival comes out to introduce the film and give some background. Just before he leaves, he says: "oh and just to make sure you know, this film will have NO english subtitles. And it's in Thai. Allright, enjoy."--leaving me, and the ten or so other foreigners sitting in slack-jawed surprise. Not only no english subtitles, the film had been dubbed into Thai. That ticket girl was lying through her teeth. I decided to stick it out anyways, and ended up loving the film--luckily the dialogue was minimal, so I could get the story from the pictures, but yet another example of "life in Thailand". The story gets stranger. As I am waiting for the elevator after the show, a 6 or 7 year old Thai boy decides to keep me company. As he munches on a bag of popcorn, he sees that I am woefully lacking in the snack department, and kindly offers me some. Now, I don't even like popcorn, but of course out of politeness I have some, and thank him. I chat a little bit with him as the elevator descends, and at the ground floor, he starts to follow me. Having quickly exhausted my knowledge of the Thai language, I look for a translator to ask where his parents are, or if he's ok, or where he's going. After some walking around, a couple of phone calls, and a trip to a roadside food vendor, I finally manage to locate a translator. I find out the boy's parents may be at home, which is a bus ride away. No idea how he got to the theatre or got the popcorn. So i bought him some food, gave him bus money, and left him with a matronly looking Thai woman. My translator shared a tuk-tuk with me to Khao San rd (where i was meeting friends), during which time I found out the boy may have just been bait, to lead me to his gang of older friends who would politely but firmly relieve me of my wallet, valuables and health. Like I said, "life in Thailand".

Anyways, other highlights include going to the awesome guitar bar (Parking Toys) in Kaset Nawamin for some Cat Stevens, Tracy Chapman and Jack Johnson covers, followed by an enthusiastic 7 piece Thai ska band. Also, I ended up going to hear a british soul singer named Simon Webbe, formally of a boy band called Blue? Remember the band competing for the Christmas record sales title against the old dude in "Love Actually"? Yeah, the black dude from that group! Weird. He also sucked, but meh, another experience.

All else is well except my internet at home is broken again, ah well. Send me emails please, or at least a comment or two. Love to my friends and family, and infinite slippery banana peels to my enemies. Hahaha, just kidding. Maybe not infinite.

Photos!

2006-02-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

Hey all--finally got some photos up, check em out and use the link at the side as well, i will update frequently i hope!

Tiger Temple? Um, are those real....?

2006-02-23T21:36:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! Been a little while since I posted, so thought I might include a lil' update for ya'll to read. Oh and if you're looking for a continuation of the Freedom & Democracy story, forget it, I lost interest already ;) Suffice it to say that I got internet. Then it broke. For like a week. Then I jiggled some cables, and it started working again. I feel like this story is pretty much analogous to life in Thailand. No matter if you're talking about transportation, shopping, bargaining, the weather, services or electricity, things are unpredictable, unreliable and have a habit of kicking you in the teeth when you least expect it. Then again, sometimes all it takes is a little jiggling to fix things ;)

Anyways, hmmm, what else is new...last weekend I spent a couple of days in Katchanaburi with some friends. We stayed about five minutes away from the famous "Death Railway" and the Bridge over the River Kwai from the movie--beautiful scenery, and a pretty crazy history. Anyways, we checked into a lovely guesthouse called the Sugar Cane guesthouse, very quiet, beautiful location and a great (and cheap) little resteraunt overlooking the River Kwai. We arrived at around 2PM on Sunday afternoon, and shortly after took off for the fabled "Tiger Temple" of Katchanaburi, about 45 minutes away by song-taeow (basically a pick-up truck converted into a taxi). The Tiger Temple is exactly what it sounds like, a Buddhist monestary in the midst of a refugee for all sorts of abandoned or injured animals, including a group of tigers. Tourists are taken down to a canyon where the tigers excercise from 3:30 to 5:30, and can then have pictures taken while touching, sitting and walking with the tigers! It was a little touristy, but still very cool--especially when they brought the cubs out for playtime. I have some great photos and an awesome video of the cubs playing--unfortunately I'm having a difficult time uploading right now cause the internet is so crappy here; however, rest assured I will continue to attempt to provide you all with photo evidence.

Anyways, the next day saw us getting up bright and early (8:30AM...yuck!) to visit Erawin National Park and waterfalls. This place was indescribably beautiful--the most incredible waterfalls I have been to yet. There were 7 tiers, and you could swim at pretty much every level (we did, believe me ;). There were also rock waterslide to go down, and cliffs to jump off--in each pool, the water was crystal clear, and schools of curious fish swam around nibbling at toes and legs--please note that this is more then a little surprising when it first happens. At the 7th level--the very top--the waterfall climbs up the mountain to it's source. There is a sign that says "Danger No Climbing" so obviously Sebastian (my german friend) and I had to investigate. We proceeded to climb up some cliffs to get to the very top of the spring, where we swam through a waterfall into a crazy cave! There was a deep pool that went back maybe 10 or 15 meters into the side of the mountain, again with clear water and stalactites hanging over head. This was one of the coolest things I have ever seen or done--swimming through this crushing waterfall at the top of a mountain in the middle of the jungle, to reach a beautiful and untouched cave with an underground pool. Obviously we couldn't take our cameras up--needed both hands for climbing--but i have some good waterfall pics nonetheless, which i will try to upload eventually. Phew. Just telling you about this has worn me out. Pretty incredible, anyways ;).

So yeah, that's all the news for now, I hope everyone at home is doing well, i could use a few more emails friends *ahem*. Or add me on Skype and we will chat. And above all else, know that if you read this blog and don't at least post a "Hi Rob" in the comments, you will be horribly cursed for the remainder of your sad, pathetic life. Which won't be too long! Bwahahaha!!!

Just kidding, hahahaha. But seriously. Post or die.

Victory is mine part II

2006-02-15T02:02:00.000-07:00

Aha! Today I drink from the sweet, sweet cup of victory, my friends! Bring me the finest bagels and muffins in the land! You are now in the presence of...well...reading the post of a man who has the INTERNET at his appartment! It's been a long and bitter fight against the powers of darkness, but at last I have emerged victorious from the fray. Ironically, I am writing this from a computer at school, not at home--hey, it's free here, and I have to pay for my own use in the appartment! But that's beside the point. I decided that the best way to communicate this adventure was to make it analagous to current global events. This may be in terribly poor taste--meh, i don't care so much ;) Allow me, then, to recount the tale of how Rob won Freedom and Democracy (aka the internet) for the People of the World (aka the appartment) against the Axis of Evil (aka the Taliban...err wait, Iraq? Iran? I keep losing track...ok, maybe just the minons of True Internet Company Thailand. Whatever.)

It all began when I moved into my place at Rattanakosin Condos, some 4 weeks ago. I inquired as to whether or not my landlord (who will remain nameless) could provide me with a highspeed connection to the above mentioned "Freedom and Democracy". Wincing, he said "oooohh...that's gonna cost you," (minus the Italian accent). Undettered, I insited upon Freedom and Democracy for the People of the World, no matter the cost. After some haggling, he agreed to check out what the best option would be for acquring F&D.

About two weeks later, Dan (whoops) reported back to me, claiming that F&D could be purchased at the local Tesco supermarket for the low, low price of 2000 baht--this deal would include a router and some prepaid Freedom time. As my Freedom ran out, I could recharge it by purchasing prepaid cards. A neat and handy system, I thought. F&D seemed easy to acchieve, so hopes set high, I instructed Dan to go ahead with the purchase--under his name, to expedite matters. About a week later, he reported back saying he had a package for me to pick up (and also that my rent was due). Sure enough, a well-packaged box of F&D was waiting for me at his appartment.

Overjoyed, I paid the man and rushed back to bring F&D to the People of the World! Only to find that the sneaky Axis of Evil had yet to connect an external line to the People of the World. Frustrated but determined to acchieve that sweet Freedom, i began planning my counter-attack.

Err crap, gotta go to basketball, hey we're the finals tonight, undefeated so far! Um, stay tuned to see whether the People of the World emerge victorious against the Axis of Evil in the fight for Freedom and Democracy!

*cue stiring music...fade to credits....*

Victory is mine!

2006-02-05T21:19:00.000-07:00

Aha! Skype up and running, look me up, it's rob.boothe i guess and my ualberta email addy (rboothe@ualberta.ca) so that's good, i'm actually leeching somebody else's internet right now but should have mine up by tomorrow, so all you deliquants can call me up! Just got back from a weekend at the beach in Koh Samet, very sunburned but otherwise happy with the white sand beaches, snorkelling on the reef, and swimming in the ocean (not to mention great sea food...mmm...) Also would like to note: men who are balding yet have long platinum blond hair around their bald crown and who are like 50 should not be allowed to wear thongs while swimming. Scratch that, men of all shapes and ages should not be allowed to wear thongs while swimming. Err....make that no thongs at all, regardless of activity choice. That is all.

Street Vendor+Raw Chicken = Sick Rob

2006-01-23T00:11:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys! So i'm sitting in a little internet cafe down by my place with Dean and Tom! They just rolled into town last night and are going to stay with me for a little while, as they plan a trip to Nepal. I've got all sorts of good info about diving etc so hopefully i will get certified soon and do some diving! In other news, I got quite sick a couple days ago, I think some street vendors thought it would be funny to give the 'farang' some raw chicken, and accordingly i had crazy fever dreams and a very unhappy digestive system for the past couple of days. Fortunately, one of my friends had some antibiotic that kills everything in your system, so i took some of that and and feeling a little better now. I sincerely hope that my system will settle down and let me get on with life in Bangkok sometime soon!
No pictures yet, but i'm hoping to have interent sometime in the next couple of days, so that will be exciting--i'll post pictures of the incredble resort i stayed at, and hopefully some of the waterfall at Pala-ou. It involved a hike up through the jungle to thie 12 tired waterfall, you walk up along the rocks and such, and when you get up high there are a couple of great places to jump off the waterfall into the pool below, or slide down the rocks. Very fun.
Hmm, what else...i got my hair cut, it's sorta faux-hawkish right now, which is all good, a lot cooler then the big mop i had before. I also got a shave at a barbers--possibly the most excruciating experience i've had yet. I was expecting a hot towel to open up the pores, a nice lather, and a gentle relaxing shave...what i got was cold lather straight on the skin, and a razor being dragged against the grain all over my fac, more pulling the hairs out then slicing them off. Then at the end, to cover up the blood and the redness? Baby powder!! All better, you can't even see the wounds now. Needless to say, i will be looking for a new barber before I repeat that experience.
Anyways, i'm running out of news to tell you...things are good except for my digestive system. I miss all you guys, and will have some real live personal emails getting sent out as soon as i get the net. As well, a little skyping perhaps? So hope everyone is doing well, tty soon!

Ahh...this must be the life...

2006-01-17T22:04:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys!!! Here i am, back in Bangkok at last, which I guess means I'm home--a very weird sensation. I am here to report that I am officially moved into my own place! It's on the 16th floor of a place called Rattanakosin Condos, i have a one bedroom that's quite nice, two ACs, seperate bedroom and bath, balcony, etc etc...oh and I think I mentioned already that on my ground floor there is an incredible resort type spa/swimming pool/gym? Right. That's ok too. Lying on the sandy "beach" they've made and then having a dip in the 75 meter naturally contoured "lake" that goes around the bldg. Plus there is a great resteraunt poolside. So it's ok. ;) Also, i got back from the weekend in the "Hamptons" of Thailand at the Dusit resort in Hua Hin...man. Please go to the link. So you can be jealous. I will send pics soon (i get internet at my place in like a week so expect more stuff then) but for now know that I'm chilling, doing well, sweating profusely, and trying not to have too much fun. Ciao for now! And thanks for the posts, keep em comin'! Next post I will tell you about the jungle hike up to the 12 tiered waterfall at Paala-ou where I did a little swimming and jumping into waterfall pools...stay tuned...

A brief and unfunny update

2006-01-11T02:49:00.000-07:00

Hi guys!! This will be short and low on the humor, but I thought i'd post a little update. What can i say except that Thailand is amazing!! I'm having a good time here, especially now that I'm out of that guesthouse--I stayed in a hotel for a couple of nights and am now crashing at a friend's appartment until mine is ready (next monday). Speaking of the new digs, wait till I post some pics--this place is like a resort! I'm on about the 30th floor, decent sized place with a seperate living area, small kitchen (though no stove) and seperate bedroom and bath. It's part of two twin towers on the west bank of the Chao Praya river. On the seventh floor, there is a giant outdoor garden that joins the two towers, with a park and a running trail etc. And on the main floor, a huge spa type gym called the Oasis, with a lake-like pool--must be 100 meters long, but naturally curved and stuff, sand beach with recliners etc, resteraunt, spa and gym!! Needless to say i'm living the high life. Anyways, more on that when i actually move in. The weather has been chilly here, about 30 degrees or so bwahahaha take that Edmonton! So lying around the pool in the sand has been really tough, but I've managed somehow ;) No major sickess yet, knock on wood, and this weekend we are being taken to a 5 star resort--known as the Hamptons of thailand--with school, all expenses paid. (part of student orientation). So things are lookin' up ;) Classes are good so far, was assigned some thai buddies, so they will probably show me the more local side of bangkok. Also, one of them is Catholic (unheard of, only like .005% of the population so very weird coincidence) so I'm going to try to find a church. But yeah, things are going well, I'll be in touch soon! Stay classy! And don't have the player, hate the game. And Post COMMENTS!

One night in Bangkok...

2006-01-07T22:02:00.000-07:00

Hey guys--well, I guess this is the first official post from Bangkok. I wrote an entry on the plane that I will retro post as soon as I get internet to the laptop and such--right now I am coming to you from the lobby of my guesthouse, Prasuri Guesthouse. I haven't gotten a place yet, have to wait until Monday, but I have high hopes that soon I will have a formal base set up. Not that I'm not appreciating the guesthouse...with the matress like a sheet of rock...the shower that's pretty much in the toilet...the toilet that is flushed by filling up a bowl of water and splashing it into the bowl...you get the picture ;) Anyways, this is really just to see who is checking up on the page, I will do a real overhaul later on. I've met some of the other students, they seem nice, and soon I should get some pics up of the place and the people I've met so far. Bangkok is crazy, but I am starting to adjust (I hope). I miss everybody back home, hope that you will either post some comments or send some email my way when you get a chance. Until then, take care, I'm thinking of cold Edmonton while I walk around in plus 30 weather ;) Later!

Still Alive, against all odds...

2005-09-15T17:06:00.000-06:00

Well, if you know me, then you've probably heard by now, i was in a fairly serious motorcycle accident on friday sept 9th. I WILL be giving an update soon, complete with grisly photos, but for now, know that i'm ok, cast on right leg and arm, only broken bone is my right wrist, the legs were pretty cut up and I went through some ligaments on the right one (hence the cast) but all sewn up now. No permanent damage (we hope hahaha) and oh yeah, it was the other dude's fault (ran a stopsign). So there you have it. More soon.

School is in...or, how I am distracted already

2005-09-07T11:18:00.000-06:00

Wow, first day of school. I'm sitting in my second class, and surprises abound, I decided it was a good time for a quick update. Incredibly, both classes so far have been pretty cool! My professors seem interesting, and relatively kind (which can be important, believe me ;). However, because I have four classes today, we can only hope that I am still as enthusiastic by the end of the day. On the plus side, no classes tomorrow. Oh, and by-the-by, check out EELEMENTS in quad for the rest of the week...over a hundred new sign-ups this year!!

Tada

2005-09-01T09:12:00.000-06:00

Aha. A quiz I took from my friend Kaitlyn's blog. Revel in my awe inspiring perspicuity.

Mmeurrghh....and other news.

2005-08-31T08:37:00.000-06:00

It's...oh, about 830 in the morning, and I am mildly hung over from tuesday night's revelery. Given the way that I'm feeling (slightly, but not deeply, sub-par), I figured that I had a couple of choices for my morning. 1) Do some work...hahaha...is this even really a choice? You people make me laugh... 2) Stare blankly at my computer screen and make intermittent groaning sounds....mmeurrghh.....yeurghhhhh.....bleurrghh....(I actual tried this one for a while, but it didn't really make me feel better, and I got some really strange looks from the guy two cubicles down). 3) I could put some effort into updating the ol' blog, fill some people in on what I've been up to, and hopefully take my mind off my slightly disconteded stomach by getting the creative juices flowing...*shudder*...anybody else think that's a really weird phrase? Anyways, obviously, I opted for the third...well...option. So here I am.

It's been a busy week or so, lots of interesting things going on. First off, thanks to everyone who came to the show at Reds on Friday. Hazeldean played aweomse, we had a ton of fun, and it was wicked to get a real sound system with some compotent techs. The part of the evening that WASN'T so fun, was when Matt and I had to drive back to Calgary at 1030PM, in order to be on the flight hill at 8AM Saturday morning. We played through both CD's of "RENT: The musical" to pass the time, as well as stopping at a greasy spoon to get some bacon and eggs. Funny story, they didn't have any plastic cutlery, so the woman at the counter surreptitiously wrapped some real knives and forks in a couple of napkins, passed them to me, and said "Go! Go!". I went, and the late night breakfast was all the sweeter for the pilfered silverware.

Anyways, Saturday morning found us sleepily wandering around the North part of Calgary, looking for our flight hill. After a few wrong turns and a close encounter with a bus trap (a bizzare geographical formation, essentially a rectangular pit, maybe 4ft. wide by 6 long by 2 deep, with steep sides...apprently used for trapping and taming the wild prarie bus? Who knows.) we made it to the hill. Now, I'm sure you all have visions of Matt and I balancing the glider effortlessly on our shoulders, gracefully launching off a steep cliff and flying away into the sunrise. Ok, well maybe just visions of ME doing that. Anyways. Such was not the case. A glider only weighs between 65-80 pounds, but it is a little, shall we say, unweildy. The glider has a wingspan of more then 35 feet, meaning it wouldn't fit into your living room. The wing is attached to the apex of a triangular control bar made of aircraft-grade aluminum. To launch, you wedge you shoulders between the triangular frame, hold the glider steady, say a quick prayer, and shuffle as quickly as possible down a steep hill while controlling the pitch and roll of the glider. It's that easy. ;)

Anyways, while Matt and I didn't get a lot of airtime, we did learn the basics, and we did have a couple of short-lived flights that I will hopefully post pics and or video footage of at some point. It was a ton of fun, and I can't wait to do the intermediate course, and get some real flying in. The rest of the Calgary trip was fun, including all you can eat sushi, watching "Redeye" (entertaining but not really worth a review, I mean, it was a Wes Craven film. Enough said.) and eating Krispy Kremes. Mmm those donuts'll kill ya. But you'll die happily.

Final event, last night (tuesday night) saw Hazeldean playing a show at the Sidetrack Cafe. Again, thanks to all who came out and supported...I'd like to think that by the end of "Conscription Crisis", we were rocking out pretty hard. And hey, I paid those who came in free beers on the band's tab. So the lesson to be learned is: it's worth it to support Rob, cause chances are you'll get some free ish. The beer consumption, however, is what brought me here...might be time for a few more groans....yeuurrghhhh.....

We interrupt this program to bring you breaking news...

2005-08-25T08:36:00.000-06:00

Ok, so it's pretty early, but I want you all to sing along with me. The tune is "Camptown Races"

V1
"Who has a gig at Red's on Friday?"
"Rob does, Rob does"
"Who's going to be there watching him?"
"All of Rob's real friends!"

Chorus
"Because if you don't show...Then he's going to definately know..."
"That you don't really care about him, oh, doo-dah day!"

Finis

In other news, i am leaving to go hang gliding today. More on that later. As well, I want to give big ups to Tmo, Chris and Les for their regular updates, staving off madness due to excessive boredom. Which leave Chung. Who is funny. But doesn't update. And so must die.

And now, back to your regularly scheduled program...

As old age approaches...

2005-08-24T11:28:00.000-06:00

Milestone alert: Rob has now reached the ripe old middle age of twenty-one. Everything from here on in will be downhill. Including hair-coverage, sexual drive and bladder control. Great.

But seriously folks...

I am now twenty-one, and have mixed feelings about being here. Let me just pull out the ol' mental checklist here....ok, what have we got here...

1. Are you famous yet? Hmmm...well, i guess it all depends on your definition of fame...I'd like to think that I've acchieved a certain infamy amongst my friends and family...

So that's a no, right? Yeah, I guess that's a no. Although there could be a family in Tajikistan that has been following my blog posts...or maybe my meteoric rise to the top-renters at the local Movie Studio...you never know...

2. Are you wealthy yet? Hahaha...*nervous laughter*...well, you see, wealth is a funny thing. You could say that I'm incredibly wealthy in terms of the friends and family that surround me...in good experiences...in collections of obscure fantasy books...

In a strictly monetary sense, are you wealthy? Are you rich? Do you have stacks of paper?

*silence ensues*

Right. Ok, moving on, then...

3. Are you recognized as a noteworthy student, or a genius of some sort, or an incredibly talented up-and-coming musician?

Wait, isn't this kinda like the fame question? Are you trying to rub it in? Rub some salt into the wound? Maybe a little lemon juice? Right into my papercut? Is that what you're trying to do? Is it? Let me be clear....I'm......Not.......FAMOUS!!!!! There, are you happy, you sadistic monster?!

....as your inner vioce, I'd like to take this opportunity to suggest some over the counter anti-psychotics that I'm told are particularily effective....

*sigh*...so there you have it. Twenty-one already, and i'm not exactly at the top of my game. Mozart starting composing when he was only five. Niels H. Abel was admitted to the prestigious Cathedral School of Mathematics in Oslo when he was only thirteen. Bill Gates was....well...i'm sure he was thinking of doing something crazy with computers when he was a teenager. Which leaves me....where?

All fun aside though, despite being a little nervous about the years starting to fly by, I think I'm at a pretty good place in life. I have an incredibly tight family that I actually enjoy spending time with, even if it's playing guitars and having a sing along with embarassed dinner guests. I have a solid group of friends that have been with me through thick and thin. I have an abundance of love in my life. I have done some world travelling, and will soon have an opportunity to do more. I've been blessed with faith, love, compassion, and more interesting and fortuitous opportunities then any one person should be alotted. So you know what? Fame...it's on the way.....Wealth...I am DAMN wealthy, and already have more then one person could ask for. Genius? Well, ok, the jury's out on that one, but I have a great vocabulary, which I'm told is a good start. So for those of you who were expecting more of a rant about encroaching old age, sorry to dissapoint, I wanted to let you know that I consider myself incredibly lucky, and am ready to do battle with whatever gets tossed my way. Wait till the next twenty one ;) This is Rob Boothe, happily twenty-one, saying goodnight and much love.

hey....i'm still around...don't believe this guy, he's actually rampantly insecure about a lack of accomplishments in his life...it's all a front...seriously...anyone? Anybody there?

man am I bored. I wonder if there are any good movies playing...

My Trip to the Mountains...or, how things went wrong.

2005-08-16T16:15:00.000-06:00

Time for an update? Oh, I think so.

As you may or may not have been aware, the original theme of this blog was centered around the observation that, upon reflection, work is not actually that fun. I know what you’re thinking…what a startlingly brilliant observation, hereto unknown by Rob’s reading public! Or something like that. Whatever. Anyways, in the interests of alleviating the pain that has become my working life, I booked a couple of days off last week and took my girlfriend out camping to Gregg Lake, which is west of Hinton but just outside Jasper National Park. It’s a beautiful region in the foothills, usually not too busy, and usually with beautiful weather in mid August.

See how I used "usually" like that? It’s called foreshadowing.

We arrived at about ten pm on Wednesday night. It was already pretty dark, and visibility was steadily decreasing. For those of you who haven’t experienced true “wilderness-darkness”, it’s a bizarre sensation, especially compared to “city-darkness”. In the city, even at the darkest part of night, you can find your car, see where to put your key in the door, watch out for that cat that’s running across the road…in the mountains, the phrase “can’t see your hand in front of your face” takes on a whole new meaning. Still not getting it? All right, let’s try a little exercise. I want you to close both eyes. Now try to find your way to the nearest bathroom. Now pretend the bathroom is just a deep pit with a wooden shack over the hole. Now give yourself a slap, cause if your eyes were closed, you wouldn’t be able to read this. Yep, it was a trick.

Anyways, the next day it proceeded to rain. And rain. And rain some more. And then it rained a little. Thank goodness we had rigged up a giant 40 ft. day-glo orange tarp over our campsite. Not that it kept us that dry, but at least the rescue helicopter would be able to see our campsite and air-lift us to safety from the flood. Barring that, we should be able to attract a tribe of “lost children of the 80’s” with our spectacular color scheme. I hear dem’s good eatin’.

In spite of the rain and damp wood, we managed to build a fire which we could huddle around. The majority of the day was spent chopping firewood, leaning firewood up against the fire-pit to dry, feeding the semi-dry firewood into the fire, and poking the tarp with a stick to prevent too much water from accumulating in the middle and dragging the whole precariously balanced structure down around our ears. However, I did manage to cook up a delicious dinner including pan-fried salmon steaks with a creamy lemon and dill sauce on the side, sautéed peppers and mushrooms, and a broccoli and rice side. Not too bad, huh?

Now up until this point I have neglected to mention the other trump card that fate was holding in her fickle little hand. Remember that foreshadowing about it not being too busy? Well, the campsite itself wasn’t too busy. In fact, it was mostly empty. Except for the site next to us. Which housed a furious and foul-mouthed country woman and her brood of (children/slaves/demon helpers). Throughout the day, this woman kept up a steady litany of curses and threats at her misbehaving children, which ranged from two screaming ten or eleven year old boys, a chain-smoking girl I estimated to be about fourteen, and assorted “visitors” that I can only assume were from Hinton and who had driven out to the campsite to curse, drink and blare eighties and nineties music from their Olds Cutlasses. And to top it off, they brought their two dogs. A Rottweiler and a Doberman. I’m dead serious. These people actually exist. Anyways, needless to say the weekend was not quite as peaceful as I had initially hoped for.

We made it through a very cold and rainy night and arose the next morning to marginally better weather. By noon it was starting to feel quite pleasant out, so we decided to hop in the car and drive into Jasper park to do a hike I’d read about. The Sulphur Skyline trailhead is located right next to the Roche Miete hot springs, which suited us just fine. The plan was to take a brisk hike, enjoy the incredible vista that the trail boasted, and return for a soak in the mineral springs of Roche Miete. I’m sure by now you’ve realized that nothing was going exactly as planned this weekend.

We started the hike in t-shirts and hats, walking up an ominously steep looking segment of trail. Unsurprisingly we were soon to realize that the trail only got steeper as we climbed. For two hours we struggled up the mountainside, covering six kilometers in distance and approximately eight hundred meters in height. We reached what we thought was the top, up above the treeline, marked by a few benches and a stunning view. Our moment of accomplishment was quickly snuffed out as we noticed the trail continued up the bare mountainside to the very summit of a series of ridges. It was at about this time that we noticed the clouds of rain approaching over the valley to the south east. With a little grumbling, we took out the raincoats and began to struggle up the last section of the trail. After an agonizing fifteen minutes of zig-zagging up a slope of what felt like at least sixty degrees, we staggered over the ridge and into a truly incredible panorama of the surrounding mountains. It was about this time that the snow started falling. We managed to hunch behind some boulders and eat our packed lunch while taking in the view. Finally, cold and tired but proud of our accomplishment, we headed down the mountains to a welcome soak in the hot springs.

Wow, this is getting long, so I’ll finish off with the fact that in spite of the trials and tribulations we faced, it was an awesome trip. There is something about the mountains that seems to recharge your energy and make you feel incredibly healthy.

That is, until you return to your cubicle. Which brings me to the present…

Catch you around. ;)

A post I wrote on Friday but didn't have time to post till today...

2005-08-08T09:38:00.000-06:00

Mmmm…slurpee run on a Friday afternoon with the office crew. As much as I complain about being cubicle bound this summer, when it comes right down to it, I have a pretty awesome deal. Regular hours, great pay, a fair share of interesting work, fun co-workers who aren’t averse to taking off at 3 for some sugary snacks…and I can’t forget the brilliant sun-soaked lawn, just waiting for Frisbee playing at lunch. Sound pretty nice? It is. But without a boring work-life to complain about, what happens to the existence of this blog? Isn’t it called “Cubically Inclined”? Doesn’t it depend on work stories for entertaining entries? Will it cease to exist if it turns out my job ain’t so bad?

*poof*

Nope. Doesn’t look like it’s going to disappear. Which leads me to my next morsel of reading. Disappearing blogs. (Not the brilliant segue there…from disappearing blogs to disappearing blogs…man…sometimes it’s like you’re too awesome…*wipes tear from eye*)….hmm…ahem…what? Oh, sorry about that…right, so disappearing blogs. I’ve noticed that after the initial flurry of blogging activity, where everyone and their dog seemed to be recording some sort of narrative online, bloggers are dropping like flies! You can’t begin to imagine how disheartening it is to arrive in the morning, eagerly awaiting the latest from Bewildered Mind or Ramblings of a Former Genius and find…a week old entry. That is half a paragraph long. And includes such witty repertoire as a song recommendation. (disclaimer: any resemblance to any real life bloggers is strictly unintentional and coincidental) C’mon people, it feels like we aren’t even trying here! Where is the flair, the panache that characterized early attempts at sharing views and opinions? Where is the sharply honed sense of humor with its bitingly cynical but infinitely accurate observations? Where is Dave Chung? These, the questions that plague me as I ponder the strange disappearance of blog entries.

So in the interest of encouraging my fellow bloggers to continue to explore their creative capacities as writers, I have suggested the following incentive/disincentive structures. Feel free to vote on the one you’d most like to see implemented. I’ll be sure to take your opinion into account. Because what you think matters to me. Seriously.

1. Provide a cookie to bloggers upon the completion of a new entry
Pros
-Pretty straightforward, do the right thing and you are rewarded.
-Almost everybody likes cookies.
-Make other bloggers fat and gives them bad skin from sugar and chocolate, increases Rob’s feeling of comparative self worth when competition are all chubby and acne-ridden.
Cons
-Could get expensive, delivery issues (nobody wants an internet cookie, they seem set on the real thing).
-As everybody knows, if you give a mouse a cookie, he’ll probably want a glass of milk, and so on and so forth…only in this case, bloggers will probably ask for a book deal. Greedy buggers.

2. Threaten to have Ninjas attack and silently kill any blogger who does not meet a minimum weekly quota of blog entries
Pros
-Fear seems to be a pretty successful deterrent. Look at how long Stalin was in power. And he didn’t have ninjas.
-I like ninjas.
Cons
-I suppose I’ll need to pay this private army of ninjas, and I’m not independently wealthy. Yet.
-Have you ever tried to get blood out of a keyboard?

3. Promise to reward blog entries with scantily clad girls making a house call to fulfill “that particular fantasy” that all computer-geek-guys have
Pros
-Now this a real incentive, the fastest way to a lonely computer-geek’s heart is through his fragile sense of self-worth and lasting desire to share a meaningful conversation with (or at least ogle) a beautiful woman
-It shouldn’t be hard too hard to convince beautiful girls to wear skimpy clothing and play networked World of Warcraft with these geeks. Yes, that was the fantasy I was talking about…what’s that? You thought I meant something different? You’re sick, man. You’re just sick.
Cons
-The only beautiful girl I know and talk to is my girlfriend. No others. Ever. So I wouldn’t be able find any girls to help provide this incentive.

Hmm, so which method seems appropriate? Feel free to share your thoughts with me and once we have a decisive winner, we can start part II, planning and implementation of the strategy. I will be anxiously awaiting your thoughts. Right.

Victory is Mine!

2005-08-02T16:15:00.000-06:00

What a weekend.

How many blog entries have started with that phrase, I wonder? It may not be an incredibly original preface to today’s update, but I feel entirely justified in the use of that phrase, because believe you me; this weekend was definitely a memorable time.

As some of you may have noticed, I may have subtly alluded to a certain hip hop benefit show that I was involved with this weekend. The Second Annual Hip Hop for Hope Benefit Show (worthy of capitalization when you say it like that) took place on Sunday, July 31st at the Winspear Center right here in Edmonton. Now, for various reasons, involved parties were experiencing a certain amount of anxiety about the show. Holding it at the Winspear was a big risk—very expensive venue, and lots of seats to sell. As well, without seeming too bitter, there were some *ahem* organizational discrepancies, shall we say, between some of the producers. Lots of last minute stuff that just added to the stress, and could have easily been avoided with a little common sense and good planning. Needless to say, the whole weekend up till Sunday involved me running around trying to make sure everything was taken care of. The morning of the show found me out of bed early, trying to organize my six different outfits for the show, followed by a brief but nasty fight between a couple of my shirts and the iron (no clear winner, but I maintain that I came out on top). I got to the Winspear a little before one o’clock, and started organizing. I won’t bore you with the details, but suffice it to say that there were TONS of things to stress out about, not the least of which included Jon Jon and I practicing our own acts. I zipped home to grab the folks, came back, pulled on my tux, took a deep breath, and walked out into the lobby…

Incredible. Line-ups going out the door for tickets and seats. People from all walks of life, from real dedicated heads to families with little kids who had never experienced hip hop culture before. Tons of friends and family in from all over to support both myself and the charities. Before I knew it, seven o’clock rolled around and we were starting the show. As I stood in the wings while the opening music for the intro dance number were cued, I looked out into a house that was almost entirely sold out. We were hoping to get a thousand people out, if we were lucky. Imagine our surprise to see close to 1500 people packing the house (Winspear holds about 1600 at maximum capacity). The intro finished to wild applause, and Jon and I ran out on stage…what an incredible crowd. They were totally responsive, tons of energy, willing to get involved and show their love for the performers. The whole show went awesome, right down to an easy fix for the few minor problems in the show (ie running too late and one change of order for performances). Jon Jon and I were given tons of love and support, people went crazy for some of the different acts we did. And at the end of the night, 150-some performers out on stage dancing and singing together, the crowd is giving a standing ovation, Jon and I grab the mics… “I am Rob, I am Jon Jon, we’ve been your hosts for evening, thanks for coming and good-night”.

Some highlights include:
-my little bro painting an incredible canvas that was auctioned off for charity, it went for $240!! And he also has interest for a Mayoral commission for the City of Edmonton
-line dancing to cowboy-hip hop
-singing a sweet R’n’B medley to a cheering crowd
-finishing the show and basking in the love of all my friends and family who came out and supported

So there you have it…truly a memorable weekend. My absolute love and thanks to everyone who came out—without you guys, the victory isn't as sweet. Here’s to proving that hip hop really IS a positive force for change, it’s about self-expression and community and breaking down barriers. And if you don’t believe me, wait till the DVD of the show comes out in a little while. See for yourself…what an incredible weekend…

Morning Post...how bizzare

2005-07-29T08:36:00.000-06:00

Wow, an early morning post...I realize how completly out of character this is, but I like to change it up every now and then. You know...stir the pot. Shake the tree. Get a lil' bit CRAZY up in hurr (in hurr). Whatever. Anyways, here I am, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes while I peer blearily at my computer screen. Another day, another dollar, and all that jazz...so, cool things that have been happening lately? Lots of promo for the big Hip Hop for Hope show at the Winspear this weekend...we did a TV spot on Wednesday morning, and Thursday we did two performances at Klondike Days. So fingers crossed for an awesome turnout, and remember, if you're reading this, you better be there!

In other news, I am developing some strange, hermit like tendancies, and an obsession with eggs. Do you know how many films I've rented in the past week? Five!! Five movies!! Well Rob, (you say to yourself), it's ok, they were probably excellent cinematic choices. Oh, if only this were true! Among my choices were such classics as XXX II: State of the Union and Lara Croft Tomb Raider II: The cradle of life. I can feel the scorn and dissapointment emenating from you readers...but they seemed like good ideas at the time! So instead of going out at night, I have been sitting in, watching films and eating...eggs. I have had eggs pretty much once a day for the past week. Fried, microwaved, hard-boiled...am I the only one who finds eggs delicious and oh so convienent? In ancient Rome the egg was an integeral part of many meals, and was thought of as a near perfect food. Ponder that, gotta go do some work...

aaaand we're back

2005-07-26T16:29:00.000-06:00

Ho hum…I suppose I’ve been somewhat lax in the update department—I blame it on a combination of real work needing to be done, lack of interesting things to write about, and of course a general lethargy that sets in after too many hours in front of the computer screen. Honestly, I have the best intentions to update in the morning, but by three o’clock my creative juices have been completely dried up and replaced by a smothering ennui.

But enough excuses—I am back, and with a vengeance! First, I have to ensure that you all know about the incredible hip hop show I’m throwing this Sunday July 31st at the Winspear Center. It’s called Hip Hop for Hope, and it’s raising money for charities and showing off Edmonton’s awesome local talent. If you’re not there, I will draw one of three conclusions:

1. You are not really a friend of mine; you’re an alien masquerading in a human suit! Well don’t think for one minute that I will let you get away with it, you blood-sucking alien scum. I’ll go Anakin on your ass, and kill your children AND your jedi trainees. So there. Sith for life.
2. You are trying to make me cry. Why are you trying to make me cry? Don’t you know that if I don’t see your face in the crowd, I’ll break down on stage and weep like a little girl? Do you want that to happen? Do you?
3. You were attacked by ninjas and accordingly couldn’t make it to my show. Ok, so this one will get you off the hook, but you better have proof dammit! I want to see some kunai wounds, and a scratched forehead protector, or I ain’t buying it!

Ok but seriously you gotta be there. It’s going to be awesome, and it’s for two great charities. Anyways, what else has happened that’s new and exciting…hmmm…I haven’t really decided how personal this blog is going to get, so accordingly I’m not sure my level of comfort in sharing specific details about either good or bad personal things that happen to me. For now, let’s just say it’s been an interesting couple of weeks, but all seems to be working out for the best right now. I have faith that it will continue to do so. I promise I will do a little more updating soon, so hang in there, it will be worth the wait. Until then…maybe I’ll leave you with these two brief description of myself that friends composed. I found ‘em funny.

“This is rob. He's a bastard. But a devilishly handsome one. He rocked the trucker cap before it was in (or so he says). Of all my friends, I'd have to say Rob is the most Irish. He's quite the drinker, I'll give him that. But what Irishman isn't? In conclusion, on a friends scale from 1-10, I'd give Rob a solid A.”
“An interesting fellow. We go way back to the days of band geekdom. His Irishness enables him to consume immense amounts of the toxin Alcohol. Special skills include barefisticuffs and the dreaded serenade. Dangerous, if seen, approach at your own risk.”

The Battle of Bellvue

2005-07-15T15:48:00.000-06:00

Wow, it’s been a while since my last update! So much has happened…I spent 12 days in St. Johns, Newfoundland for a world choral symposium called Festival 500. What a blast…so many stories to tell that I think I will do them as a series of small posts rather then trying to jam them all into one long and potentially boring narrative. So today, I will relate to you the tragic tale of the Battle of Bellvue, in which Rob decides to take on an army of fresh shellfish…

Pray then, fair reader, undertake to imagine the following scene: a young soldier, after having enjoyed a boat-tour of the bay, finds himself and his comrades together in fellowship at a small house in Bellvue, Newfoundland. A day on the sea will whet even the most severe ascetic’s appetite; thus our young soldier finds himself feeling decidedly peckish. The first order of business is to march with his company down to the local convenience store for to procure some Black Horse, a particularly volatile type of Newfoundland ale, (yes beer is sold in convenience stores in Newfoundland! How awesome!)

Upon requisitioning some of this concoction, the young soldier returns to his lodgings, where much to his dismay, he finds his comrades under attack by 65 lbs of freshly steamed mussels! Without care for life or limb, the brave solider gallantly tied his napkin ‘round his neck, and falls upon the enemie's ranks. Aided by liberal supplies of white vinegar, melted butter and fresh lemons, the soldier manages to rout the enemy hordes, and aided by his companions, lays waste to the villainous mussels, eating no less then 50 of them by himself.

Although exhausted, the soldier was allowed no more then a few minutes rest before the dreadful shellfish launched their next line of troops—hordes of snow crab skirmishers, fresh from the boiler. With scarcely time for a battle-cry and a prayer, our hero found himself surrounded by the enemy. Worse still, their tough armored exterior seemed immune to his attacks! Then, in a moment of providence, the soldier happened upon a pair of heavy-duty battle scissors. With a glad cry, the soldier took the scissors and began to demolish those snow crabs, leg by leg. With no less then eight of the devils down his gullet, the tide of the battle seemed turned in favor of our hero.

Alas though dear reader, for the enemy had not yet done it’s worst. Just when the soldier thought himself in the clear, they came grimly parading towards him. Heavy duty battle lobsters, their armored claws clanking ominously as they closed ranks. Selecting one of their leaders, a hefty 4 lb. monster, the soldier fought desperately to overcome his foe. For hours the fight contuned, back and forth, man against beast, good against evil. Succored only by Black Horse and the hope of a better tomorrow, the soldier desperately pitted himself against his foe. And when the final hour dawned, behold, the lobster lay vanquished and eaten! It’s shell pierced through and through, the meat dragged from it’s claws and tail, it’s very legs pulled off and thrown to the ground. But wherefore our hero? The noble soldier lies in his chair, overcome only seconds after defeating the monsterous lobster! His fork to wave no more, his napkin blowing sadly in the wind, his stomach bulging with his defeated enemeies. Weep, fair reader, weep for the poor soldier who through his sacrifice, saved us all from an army of shellfish. Through his tragic demise are we free from fear of lobster, mussel and crab. Weep, and remember the soldier, that his sacrifice might not be in vain, that his dedication shall not be forgotten, and that his vigilance over the dreadful shellfish shall be a lesson to us all.

Bands

2005-06-29T17:12:00.000-06:00

3:30 PM, you know what that means…time to take a break from…well…let’s be honest…taking a break…anyways, time for an update! And appropriately, “Mr. Blue Sky” by Electric Light Orchestra comes on the ol’ faithful Ipod. (Side note—if you haven’t realized it yet, I often make mention of my Ipod and whatever music I’m listening to. No, I’m not paid to mention their trademarked name. No, I don’t really like Ipods, I think they are a rip-off and are not as good or as cost effective as some of the other players out there. However, I got one as a gift last Christmas, and despite my moaning, I make use of it almost every day. So consider yourself warned. Ipod and music keep me alive here in this box.)

Where was I….oh yeah, ELO! What a fabulous band name…seriously, we are getting way too formulaic these days with band names…there seems to be an unwritten rule that if you are artsy, your band name must start with a “the”. For example:
The Bravery
The Shins
The Music
The Used
The Calling
Etc etc. So in the interests of helping out those needy musicians who want a cool, alternative choice for their group, I have compiled a list of the top 10 bands names I could think of (Some are real, some are made up…obviously)

10. Shout Out Out Out—when in doubt, toss in a little repetition. Note-when spoken, gradually increase volume of voice to a full-throated fortissimo by the last “Out” for best effect, i.e. shout out Out OUT!!

9. Big Yum and the Sour Horror—this needs no explanation as to why it makes the top ten. What a great name

8. Mos Def—possibly one of the greatest MC names of all time. Most Definition? Most Definitely? Does it matter?

7. Electric Light Orchestra—conjures up vivid images of the 70’s, don’t it?

6. John Legend—the man is named Legend! Come on!! That ain’t natural! Wait…is that his real last name? Probably not…damn…this doesn’t deserve to be in the top ten…

5. Thee Michelle Gun Elephant—thought I made this up, didn’t you? Aha! A real live Japanese punk band, awarded the most nonsensical band name ever…but it kinda has a nice ring…check em out!

4. Bloodfountain/Boneface—both these names were considered for my current rock band’s metal-playing alter ego. Unsurprisingly, both were rejected

3. Alan Parsons Project—simple, direct, yet surprisingly mysterious. Who is this Alan Parsons? Is he a robot? What is his project? And where is the bag of Miss Vicki’s I lost last week? Some many questions, so few answers….

2. Godspeed thee, Black Emperor! —what a sweet name, and a pretty decent band as well!

and last but not least, the top band name of all time…

1. Vowel Movement—BWAHAHAHA!! Get it?! Get it?! Like Bowel, only it’s Vowel?! Oh man…*wipes tears from eyes*…that’s great…

In which Rob starts to think and talk like his Mom...

2005-06-28T16:16:00.000-06:00

Wow.

I just spent half an hour writing an entry that I planned on posting that somehow turned into an unfocused, rambling diatribe that criticized Westerners for our lust for material wealth, and our willingness to sacrifice our free time and energy to attain it. I don’t know how it happened. One minute I was complaining about being stuck in a cubicle, and the next thing I know, half an hour has gone by and I’m staring at what is becoming increasingly like a mom-type of argument. Worst fears confirmed: I am morphing into my mother. Needless to say, I deleted the whole thing, best not to leave any evidence.

However.

I now find myself without a particular topic for this day’s post, other then I am motivated by a need to eat some time up, and this seems a reasonable way to do it. On the Ipod is a little Radiohead, the Shins, and hopefully if the shuffle function can read my mind and play the song I want, a little Martina Sobara. Not quite my usual serving of tasty Hip Hop and RnB, but I’m feeling chilled. For those who haven’t heard it, “Motion Picture Soundtrack” by Radiohead is officially the saddest song in the entire world. For some reason, I think there’s an animated artsy-type short film that accompanies this song, although I could be getting it confused with some of the animations for Kid Koala. Must remember to check that out…

So here’s some news—I leave for 10 or 11 days in Newfoundland on Friday, for a world choral symposium called Festival 500. Very exciting, and good timing too—another week in this place and who knows what might happen! In any event, this little holiday should be good; I’m going to go on a whale-watching boat ride, eat some fresh lobster, visit some pubs of ill-repute on George street, and of course, do a whole lot of singing. Now if I can just last through the rest of the week…

Rob+Cartoons=Happiness

2005-06-24T15:43:00.000-06:00

Word of the day: fanatic (fa-na tik) n.

Dictionary.com definition: A person marked or motivated by an extreme, unreasoning enthusiasm, as for a cause.

Rob’s definition: A curious combination of the words “fan” and “addict,” entirely appropriate for my passionate affair with…you guessed it…anime!!
I just thought I should get that out of the way before launching into a gushing review session about "Howl’s Moving Castle" (Hauru no ugoku shiro), the latest masterpiece from acclaimed director Hayao Miyazaki under the Studio Ghibli production house. I had the pleasure of watching this film on the big screen last night, and let me tell you, I have a new favorite Ghibli film.

I thought about trying to explain the attraction of anime to those of you who as yet might not have had the pleasure of enjoying a film from this genre, as I believe anime fans are often misrepresented as nerds, geeks, and basement-dwelling computer-monkeys with little to no sense of personal hygiene. However, I decided to save that bit for a later post, and stick to the important stuff for now: namely this beautiful, intelligent and heartwarming story as lovingly told by Miyazaki. Never heard the name before? You should; his feature film "Princess Mononoke" was the best selling film in Japan up until the release of Titantic. Miyazaki’s 2003 offering "Spirited Away" won the Golden Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival in 2002 and the Oscar for best animated feature film in 2003. In Japan, it recorded box-office sales of 30.4 billion yen, about $280 million US. "Howl’s Moving Castle" chalked up 1.48 billion yen ($13.6 million US) in box-office revenue and attracted an audience of 1.1 million people in its FIRST TWO DAYS of release in Japan. Not too bad for an animated film, huh?

Now let’s get down to business: the details of the film. "Howl’s Moving Castle" is based on a book a British author named Diana Wynne Jones (one of my favorites when I was a little younger…ok…still one of my favorites…) The movie loosely follows the original book, but any changes that were made did not detract from the story—rather, the plot was well-thought out, with a few small exceptions that I will mention later. The music was exceptional—as in all Miyazaki stories—and truly emphasized the magical nature of this film. This was further underscored by the stunning animation and beautiful cinematography. Stunning and vivid mountains, meadows and fields enriched the film in a trademark Miyazaki way. Even the English dubbing added to the film experiences; voices were carefully chosen, and included such stars as Christian Bale and Billy Crystal.

Only a few small features kept this film from getting a perfect rating. First, the character of Madame Suliman leaves us a little confused—is she good, bad, or just misdirected? And the appearance of certain characters at the end seem to be thrown in for convenience…I won’t elaborate any further and spoil the movie, but rest assured, these small details do not detract from this incredible movie.

So there you have it: Lush, vivid, intelligent and heartwarming, "Howl’s Moving Castle" is my new favorite Studio Ghibli film. I would see this one in theatres if you can folks; the big screen only adds to the magical experience. Rest assured, the minute this one hits DVD, I’ll have to pick up a copy and add it to the permanent collection. A wholehearted 4.5/5 for this beautiful film!!

Left and right...

2005-06-22T17:23:00.000-06:00

Well here I am, sitting in my cubicle listening to a little D'Angelo f. Method Man and Redman, hence the title...my question of the day is this: where is D'Angelo? This guy can sing, he has crazy trick beats and backs, he's got so much feel that he can sing completely out of tempo and make it sound cool as hell...but instead of gracing us with another voodoo-flavored album (mmm, take a moment and savor THAT particular flavor…so…voodoo-ey…) he is missing in action. Reward Offered: Anyone with information that leads directly to the apprehension or conviction of one Angelo, D’ will qualify for a reward of no less then 10 million happiness points from Rob.*

I suffered through a two-hour meeting today on Internal Trade Policy that was among the most brain-deadening exercises I have undergone during my short career in the public sector. I can honestly say that I am dumber from the experience. Seriously. I tried reading my notes from the meeting and discovered that about halfway through, my ability to write English letters deteriorated into a cuneiform-like scrawl. And it took me three tries to spell "deteriorated".

But to every cloud there is a silver lining, and this was no exception. The closure of the meeting was followed by a delicious catered lunch from Sunterra markets, complete with fresh fruit and deserts. It’s as if the Internal Trade people were saying, “My God, I’m sorry we made you sit through that horribly boring meeting, please accept our apologies along with these tasty sandwiches.” Who do they think they are, trying to appease me with food?!

But the sandwiches were damn good…
___________________________
*—Some restrictions may apply

And they're off

2005-06-21T16:38:00.000-06:00

It’s time.

Here and now, this 21st day of July, in the year of our Lord 2005, it’s time to begin recording my thoughts along with the quirky daily occurrences in my life. Many came before me, but none shall compare to the sardonic wit, the infectious humor, nay, the sheer unadulterated Chaucerian mirth that these ramblings will imbue mine humble readers with.

Right.

Now that we’ve gotten that bit of machismo out of the way, let’s be honest: starting a blog is terrifying. Think about it for a minute—there are two options when blogging. Option One: you can inform your friends and family that you’ve begun an online journal and they are welcome to read it for their pleasure. What a nightmare—you have the pressure of trying to relate your thoughts in a manner that is interesting, thoughtful, hides your offensive or embarrassing characteristics and most importantly, demonstrates your keenly honed sense of humor. God forbid you should make a post that isn’t at par with your previous entries—“you know, I’ve been reading that blog of yours, funny stuff, but that last post…” They read your material, judging, watching, judging, look at the baby, look at the baby! *shudder*…you see where I’m going…

Option Two isn’t much better. You can jealously guard your online journal, preventing them from reading it and subsequently judging you. No one need know that you are neither funny nor insightful nor the slightest bit interesting, and you can still pour out your thoughts. Unfortunately, this is roughly equivalent to talking to yourself, a sure sign of dementia. Before long, you won’t leave the hotel room, you become paranoid of germs infecting everything, you grow a scraggly beard and claim to have invented a marvelous aircraft called the “Spruce Goose” that will do New York to London in only 6 hours. And the evil monkey in the closet is making threatening gestures.

So why, when faced with these two options, am I starting a blog, you ask? Good question. Perhaps I like being judged. Perhaps I don’t intend for anyone to read this, and I really am just talking to myself. Or perhaps, *cues slowly building music* perhaps I believe there’s a third option. An option where I share my writings, and they are well received. Where friends and family slap me on the back and say “That blog of yours, quality stuff!” Where men and women of all races and beliefs can enjoy my stories under a common banner of decency, respect, and good-natured mockery for those individuals who incur my spleen! *music climaxes in a triumphant fanfare*

Or…

Perhaps I am stuck at work, in front of a computer, and am looking for ways to entertain myself as the long hours of the day pass. Furthermore, I could care less whether you readers approve of or enjoy my writings. This is for my own entertainment, not yours.
So which is it? A little bit of both? None of the above? Couldn’t care less, you’re as bored as I am and will read anything? Welcome to my home…I have a feeling that we are going to be good friends.