Monday, March 29, 2004
A requiem won't change your fate...
or "Of X's, C's, and the inhumanity of humanity"
I want to offer perhaps an explanation for why some people might have "jumped on the bandwagon" and put the C's or X's in front of their MSN names after Cecilia Zhang's body was found.
I of course realize that, as a sign of support, it doesn't do much - the Zhang's won't see it, and it does them no good. But also remember, while the Zhang's won't see the letter in front of your name, neither will the millions who died in war see when you stand in silence on Remembrance Day.
I used to be part of the crowd that scoffed at others for, again, "jumping on the bandwagon", or showing support just to seem more caring than others. But I've changed my mind on this issue, after much deliberation, and hopefully I'll be able to explain my logic.
Stalin once said "One death is a tragedy, a thousand is a statistic" (I'm paraphrasing here). And it's true. Humans mourn individual people; we are not capable of mournina statistic - there's no attachment. Yes, there are thousands of people who die each day, and yes, except for the media coverage, Cecilia's death is no different from any of those other ones.
But she serves to put a face to that statistic. She is the poster child, in a way, for all those who die before their time, each and every day. By showing support in whatever way we choose to, we are recognizing the deaths we see, and those we don't. We protest the inhumanity of humanity.
It's not "why mourn Cecilia and ignore the 1000s of others", it's "THROUGH mourning Cecilia, I also mourn the 1000s of others". Her death is symbolic of all needless deaths.
Just something that was mulling through my head...having been a proponent of both views, I see where each is coming from. Of course, there are those who just follow the crowd and put the letter there to seem caring or from social pressure. And there are those who do nothing, yet recognize and support as much or more than those who do put a letter there.
Maybe this got you thinking, and hopefully I've been able to explain my view enough so that, even if you don't agree with it, you might understand it.
or "Of X's, C's, and the inhumanity of humanity"
I want to offer perhaps an explanation for why some people might have "jumped on the bandwagon" and put the C's or X's in front of their MSN names after Cecilia Zhang's body was found.
I of course realize that, as a sign of support, it doesn't do much - the Zhang's won't see it, and it does them no good. But also remember, while the Zhang's won't see the letter in front of your name, neither will the millions who died in war see when you stand in silence on Remembrance Day.
I used to be part of the crowd that scoffed at others for, again, "jumping on the bandwagon", or showing support just to seem more caring than others. But I've changed my mind on this issue, after much deliberation, and hopefully I'll be able to explain my logic.
Stalin once said "One death is a tragedy, a thousand is a statistic" (I'm paraphrasing here). And it's true. Humans mourn individual people; we are not capable of mournina statistic - there's no attachment. Yes, there are thousands of people who die each day, and yes, except for the media coverage, Cecilia's death is no different from any of those other ones.
But she serves to put a face to that statistic. She is the poster child, in a way, for all those who die before their time, each and every day. By showing support in whatever way we choose to, we are recognizing the deaths we see, and those we don't. We protest the inhumanity of humanity.
It's not "why mourn Cecilia and ignore the 1000s of others", it's "THROUGH mourning Cecilia, I also mourn the 1000s of others". Her death is symbolic of all needless deaths.
Just something that was mulling through my head...having been a proponent of both views, I see where each is coming from. Of course, there are those who just follow the crowd and put the letter there to seem caring or from social pressure. And there are those who do nothing, yet recognize and support as much or more than those who do put a letter there.
Maybe this got you thinking, and hopefully I've been able to explain my view enough so that, even if you don't agree with it, you might understand it.
Sunday, March 28, 2004
It's a beautiful day...
Spring has come to Kingston, if only for today.
With the warm weather and abundant sunshine, one can immediately see two things coming out from hibernation: frisbees, and lovers.
Yes, in my short walk to and from Stauffer, I saw more smooching and hand-holding than I've seen in the past 5 months, in or out of doors. It warms the cockles of my cold, dead heart (is this Al I'm ripping off here? Whomever it is, just remember imitation is the highest form of flattery) to see young people in love, even as it painfully reminds me of my own empty, lonely existance. But even that can't keep me down with the sun shining and the birds chirping away melodiously. It's impossible to work on such a beautiful day, and thankfully I don't have much to do anyway...although I doubt I'll find someone in the same situation with whom to enjoy this marvellous day.
Man will never create a drug to match the euphoria of spring after a Canadian winter.
This was my first time inside Stauffer since Frosh Week (dropping off Hui in the entrance doesn't count!), and I have to say it is a very nice building. Elegant, modern (but not too modern), well-lit and comfortable. Damn it, but I may be starting to like these libraries...
In a classic example of library imitating grocery store, Stauffer has installed a convenient Loblaws-style self-checkout counter. It works fairly decently, and it saves me the embarassment of having to ask someone where the checkout desk is (all I could see was a return desk and a reserve desk :/).
And I managed to walk back with my two books tucked snugly into the inner pockets of my ArtSci jacket. Yet another reason these jackets are cool.
Spring has come to Kingston, if only for today.
With the warm weather and abundant sunshine, one can immediately see two things coming out from hibernation: frisbees, and lovers.
Yes, in my short walk to and from Stauffer, I saw more smooching and hand-holding than I've seen in the past 5 months, in or out of doors. It warms the cockles of my cold, dead heart (is this Al I'm ripping off here? Whomever it is, just remember imitation is the highest form of flattery) to see young people in love, even as it painfully reminds me of my own empty, lonely existance. But even that can't keep me down with the sun shining and the birds chirping away melodiously. It's impossible to work on such a beautiful day, and thankfully I don't have much to do anyway...although I doubt I'll find someone in the same situation with whom to enjoy this marvellous day.
Man will never create a drug to match the euphoria of spring after a Canadian winter.
This was my first time inside Stauffer since Frosh Week (dropping off Hui in the entrance doesn't count!), and I have to say it is a very nice building. Elegant, modern (but not too modern), well-lit and comfortable. Damn it, but I may be starting to like these libraries...
In a classic example of library imitating grocery store, Stauffer has installed a convenient Loblaws-style self-checkout counter. It works fairly decently, and it saves me the embarassment of having to ask someone where the checkout desk is (all I could see was a return desk and a reserve desk :/).
And I managed to walk back with my two books tucked snugly into the inner pockets of my ArtSci jacket. Yet another reason these jackets are cool.
Friday, March 26, 2004
We're not gonna make it...
While reading the PA news for the first time in a while, I stumbled upon this site.
No, before you try, the accents aren't bad enough to be funny. I find this site extremely interesting, tho. Especially reading the general "mistakes" people with different mother tongues make when speaking english.
Also, what's with all the native Mandarin-speakers also speaking Japanese? I thought the Chinese thought the Japanese were inferior or something...
Oh well.
On the topic of weird things in languages, how on God's quasi-green Earth did the word "tomorrow" get shortened to "tml"?!?
I leave you with one last thing:
"Good morning! how much does that weigh?"
"HAM!"
I love PA! ^.^
While reading the PA news for the first time in a while, I stumbled upon this site.
No, before you try, the accents aren't bad enough to be funny. I find this site extremely interesting, tho. Especially reading the general "mistakes" people with different mother tongues make when speaking english.
Also, what's with all the native Mandarin-speakers also speaking Japanese? I thought the Chinese thought the Japanese were inferior or something...
Oh well.
On the topic of weird things in languages, how on God's quasi-green Earth did the word "tomorrow" get shortened to "tml"?!?
I leave you with one last thing:
"Good morning! how much does that weigh?"
"HAM!"
I love PA! ^.^
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Oh baby please, give a little respect to me...
What do you do when you're lazy and don't want to do work?
Blog!
Even if you have nothing to talk about.
I think I've had too much caffeine today...half a cup of coffee at breakfast, another cup at lunch, now just finishing off a pot of green tea...my right eyelid is twitching.
Not good...
Bri kicked my ass at pool tonight. Damn my not-sinking-anything-but-setting-up-my-opponent-for-a-perfect-shot-ness! Even while playing "my game" (9-ball), I managed to pull one of my usual sink-the-white-ball-with-the-9-ball automatic losing shots.
And while so close to victory...
Things are kinda winding down here - mastery test finished today, so no more calc 'til exam. No more physics labs/assignments, nothing left in psyc...just chem lab, bio seminar, and chem quiz and bio final lab writeup (worth 20% of overall mark >.<) next week.
Then we're done...except for exams >.<
Oh yeah, and this is why you should never let me fill in those professor evaluations for you:
"What are things you particularly like about this course?"
"Dr. Eckert! He's soooooo cute! ^.^ [drawing of heart]"
I was toying with the idea of putting the person-who's-form-it-was's name afterwards, but desisted.
I'm not THAT cruel...
What do you do when you're lazy and don't want to do work?
Blog!
Even if you have nothing to talk about.
I think I've had too much caffeine today...half a cup of coffee at breakfast, another cup at lunch, now just finishing off a pot of green tea...my right eyelid is twitching.
Not good...
Bri kicked my ass at pool tonight. Damn my not-sinking-anything-but-setting-up-my-opponent-for-a-perfect-shot-ness! Even while playing "my game" (9-ball), I managed to pull one of my usual sink-the-white-ball-with-the-9-ball automatic losing shots.
And while so close to victory...
Things are kinda winding down here - mastery test finished today, so no more calc 'til exam. No more physics labs/assignments, nothing left in psyc...just chem lab, bio seminar, and chem quiz and bio final lab writeup (worth 20% of overall mark >.<) next week.
Then we're done...except for exams >.<
Oh yeah, and this is why you should never let me fill in those professor evaluations for you:
"What are things you particularly like about this course?"
"Dr. Eckert! He's soooooo cute! ^.^ [drawing of heart]"
I was toying with the idea of putting the person-who's-form-it-was's name afterwards, but desisted.
I'm not THAT cruel...
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
I would stop time to stay with you...
The people who run the PEC are being completely unreasonable.
Today, at the beginning of our gumdo class, a PEC employee came in and told us that we couldn't use our swords. Apparently, there's holes in the mats, and since we're the only ones who use swords (actually hardwood sticks, really), they're basically saying it was us.
Of course, the official standpoint is "we are investigating where these holes are coming from, but until it's figured out no swords, sticks, etc. in the combat room". Now, if you look at the holes, most of them look like shoe marks. Hence the no-shoes-in-the-combat-room policy, which makes sense. Unfortunately, I've been told that the wrestlers (who dig into the mat frequently with their feet anyway) often don't follow that rule. Chances are, the damage is due to them.
Regardless, it's virtually impossibly to put a hole in the mats with our blunt wooden mok-gum, even if you deliberately try to.
Once the girl left, Grant told us to just ignore them and practice with the swords anyway (yay for Grant! ^.^). Unfortunately, within 20 minutes someone higher up at the PEC came down and layed the smack-down. So no gumdo in the combat room. That means our Tuesday and Thursday practices are gone, and we've got belt testing on April 2nd and 3rd.
This all amounts to one thing: the PEC sucks.
Alright, there's my rant. Hopefully it's a little more entertaining than my usual posts.
Honestly, sometimes I almost hate this place...
The people who run the PEC are being completely unreasonable.
Today, at the beginning of our gumdo class, a PEC employee came in and told us that we couldn't use our swords. Apparently, there's holes in the mats, and since we're the only ones who use swords (actually hardwood sticks, really), they're basically saying it was us.
Of course, the official standpoint is "we are investigating where these holes are coming from, but until it's figured out no swords, sticks, etc. in the combat room". Now, if you look at the holes, most of them look like shoe marks. Hence the no-shoes-in-the-combat-room policy, which makes sense. Unfortunately, I've been told that the wrestlers (who dig into the mat frequently with their feet anyway) often don't follow that rule. Chances are, the damage is due to them.
Regardless, it's virtually impossibly to put a hole in the mats with our blunt wooden mok-gum, even if you deliberately try to.
Once the girl left, Grant told us to just ignore them and practice with the swords anyway (yay for Grant! ^.^). Unfortunately, within 20 minutes someone higher up at the PEC came down and layed the smack-down. So no gumdo in the combat room. That means our Tuesday and Thursday practices are gone, and we've got belt testing on April 2nd and 3rd.
This all amounts to one thing: the PEC sucks.
Alright, there's my rant. Hopefully it's a little more entertaining than my usual posts.
Honestly, sometimes I almost hate this place...
Sunday, March 21, 2004
[instrumental]
While on the topic of good music, may I suggest taking a listen to the following:
Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A Major - the only thing Mozart's done that I actually enjoy. But I enjoy it quite a bit.
Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2, Adagio Sostenuto - don't know about the rest of this concerto, but this movement (opens with a piano/flute duet that quickly shifts to piano/clarinet(?) for the first bit) is one of the most calming, soothing pieces of music I've ever heard. Gets a bit rowdy about halfway through, but the first 3-4ish minutes...heartwrenchingly gorgeous. Of course, the rowdy bit is good too.
Just another reason why Rachmaninov is in my quar-thenon of best composers ever (along with Beethoven, Chopin, and Bach).
While on the topic of good music, may I suggest taking a listen to the following:
Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A Major - the only thing Mozart's done that I actually enjoy. But I enjoy it quite a bit.
Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2, Adagio Sostenuto - don't know about the rest of this concerto, but this movement (opens with a piano/flute duet that quickly shifts to piano/clarinet(?) for the first bit) is one of the most calming, soothing pieces of music I've ever heard. Gets a bit rowdy about halfway through, but the first 3-4ish minutes...heartwrenchingly gorgeous. Of course, the rowdy bit is good too.
Just another reason why Rachmaninov is in my quar-thenon of best composers ever (along with Beethoven, Chopin, and Bach).
I don't know how to change from being me...
I've been listening to it more and more recently, and I have to say that "Start Something" by LostProphets is one of the most fun CDs I've ever heard.
Despite all his faults (and ask anyone, there are many ;), I must say that m'man Dan [see sidebar, too lazy to link :P] has EXCELLENT taste in music.
Back to chem/bio/calc...
I've been listening to it more and more recently, and I have to say that "Start Something" by LostProphets is one of the most fun CDs I've ever heard.
Despite all his faults (and ask anyone, there are many ;), I must say that m'man Dan [see sidebar, too lazy to link :P] has EXCELLENT taste in music.
Back to chem/bio/calc...
Saturday, March 20, 2004
Kasiwa i, kasiwa i ndaka simba ere ndakasimba kana makasimba ohhh...
I guess March Break is winding down for those young high school whippersnappers. I didn't realize how close it was to ending until Celine msged me saying she'd come back from Italy.
Serves them right - how dare they have fun and no responsibility while we're slaving away with bio labs (among other things).
Which reminds me, I got up at 9 this morning, and worked on my bio labs in various capacities until about an hour ago, stopping only to eat.
Let me tell you, my eyes are killing me...
Thankfully, I think my partner and I have this ecology seminar pretty much summed up. Now if only I could find some useful sites/articles about the evolutionary progression of Cetaceans.
Ok, BIOSIS, that's great - we all know now that Cetaceans are related to ungulates, and that they all form one big happy Artiodactyla family (well, actually it's an order, but whatever). But you'd think at least ONE person in the entire world would want to determine the phylogenetics of, say, families, or even genuses, in the cetacean suborder, wouldn't you?
Apparently, it's good enough for biologists to say "well, you got your dolphins, whales, and porpoises all grouped together in the cetacean order, and after that who the fuck cares what the difference between all them is, or how they evolved from each other or anything. I mean, I'm comparing 57 tonne Sperm Whales to fucking pigs here, so fuck off!"
Oi.
Bri gave me UT2k4. Not too much different from UT2k3, except that it's even more of a resource-hog. Haven't played an FPS in a while, and I'm sucking it up pretty bad. That game always did seem like a normal FPS on a simultaneous sugar, caffeine, and crack high. I'm really happy tho - for once, I've found a game with a mouse scroll speed at least 1/10th of what my windows scroll speed is. Warcraft III is ridiculous in this way - no variable mouse speed, and slower than a beached whale (note: beached whales don't really locomote...or move...at all).
I guess this is what I get for having a ridiculously high mouse sensitivity...
Oh yeah, what's with the bank machines on campus never having any money?
I guess March Break is winding down for those young high school whippersnappers. I didn't realize how close it was to ending until Celine msged me saying she'd come back from Italy.
Serves them right - how dare they have fun and no responsibility while we're slaving away with bio labs (among other things).
Which reminds me, I got up at 9 this morning, and worked on my bio labs in various capacities until about an hour ago, stopping only to eat.
Let me tell you, my eyes are killing me...
Thankfully, I think my partner and I have this ecology seminar pretty much summed up. Now if only I could find some useful sites/articles about the evolutionary progression of Cetaceans.
Ok, BIOSIS, that's great - we all know now that Cetaceans are related to ungulates, and that they all form one big happy Artiodactyla family (well, actually it's an order, but whatever). But you'd think at least ONE person in the entire world would want to determine the phylogenetics of, say, families, or even genuses, in the cetacean suborder, wouldn't you?
Apparently, it's good enough for biologists to say "well, you got your dolphins, whales, and porpoises all grouped together in the cetacean order, and after that who the fuck cares what the difference between all them is, or how they evolved from each other or anything. I mean, I'm comparing 57 tonne Sperm Whales to fucking pigs here, so fuck off!"
Oi.
Bri gave me UT2k4. Not too much different from UT2k3, except that it's even more of a resource-hog. Haven't played an FPS in a while, and I'm sucking it up pretty bad. That game always did seem like a normal FPS on a simultaneous sugar, caffeine, and crack high. I'm really happy tho - for once, I've found a game with a mouse scroll speed at least 1/10th of what my windows scroll speed is. Warcraft III is ridiculous in this way - no variable mouse speed, and slower than a beached whale (note: beached whales don't really locomote...or move...at all).
I guess this is what I get for having a ridiculously high mouse sensitivity...
Oh yeah, what's with the bank machines on campus never having any money?
Monday, March 15, 2004
There's a long line of cars and they're trying to get free...
So I tried my hand at this "sabre fencing" that Tom has been touting all year.
Despite the huge blister on my left foot, the horrible muscle pain in my right thigh, the headache, and the incredible amount of water loss due to sweat, it was a fun time.
I could definitely see myself getting into this. I want to watch a foil match just too see what that's like, but the trigger-style handles already has me put off. What's that? Come on...fucking pansy Frenchies.
The little bit I saw was not nearly as aggressive as the sabre-ing (or maybe it was just Tom's teaching?), so I doubt I'd enjoy that.
Only thing is - is it really worth the time and money? Gumdo is good because there's always plenty of new gum-bop (forms) to learn, and they involve fun stuff like jumps, rolls, and sword twirls. I can see a possibility of fencing getting old fast. Sure, you can always refine your technique, but...are there really the extensive number of forms and such of gumdo? I would love to be able to go to fencing practice, learn and practice a new "move" for the first half, then fence some. I guess...kinda like how my brother explained kung fu (? - I think...maybe just the weapons part - a whole hell-of-a-lot of forms, anyway, all put together in a nearly infinite number of combinations), with the added advantage of "sparring".
I would definitely like to get a better feel for the whole fencing thing, go out a few more times. Wish I could have seen what a team practice was like...
Fun stuff, tho...but really hot...and sweaty...ewww....
So I tried my hand at this "sabre fencing" that Tom has been touting all year.
Despite the huge blister on my left foot, the horrible muscle pain in my right thigh, the headache, and the incredible amount of water loss due to sweat, it was a fun time.
I could definitely see myself getting into this. I want to watch a foil match just too see what that's like, but the trigger-style handles already has me put off. What's that? Come on...fucking pansy Frenchies.
The little bit I saw was not nearly as aggressive as the sabre-ing (or maybe it was just Tom's teaching?), so I doubt I'd enjoy that.
Only thing is - is it really worth the time and money? Gumdo is good because there's always plenty of new gum-bop (forms) to learn, and they involve fun stuff like jumps, rolls, and sword twirls. I can see a possibility of fencing getting old fast. Sure, you can always refine your technique, but...are there really the extensive number of forms and such of gumdo? I would love to be able to go to fencing practice, learn and practice a new "move" for the first half, then fence some. I guess...kinda like how my brother explained kung fu (? - I think...maybe just the weapons part - a whole hell-of-a-lot of forms, anyway, all put together in a nearly infinite number of combinations), with the added advantage of "sparring".
I would definitely like to get a better feel for the whole fencing thing, go out a few more times. Wish I could have seen what a team practice was like...
Fun stuff, tho...but really hot...and sweaty...ewww....
Saturday, March 13, 2004
Nobody said it was easy...
So I haven't heard from any of the UofT Med Biophys supervisors yet, and considering the deadline is Monday and I doubt they'd call on the weekend, I think that blows my chance of working there. I do get a list of unfilled positions on Monday, with emails of the supervisors, so I'll send out some spam then and see how that goes...
Of the 12 or so emails I sent out to NSERC industries, I got 2 "we have no positions", 1 "could not deliver mail" (I got this company's name from the NSERC site, and their url from a list of biochemical companies...unfortunately, the innocent-sounding url (http://www.iccttech.com) leads to a foot-fetish porn site), and 1 "we aren't sure if we'll have spots, but send a resume and we'll keep it on file".
I'll send that last industry an email back...eventually...
I called Sheridan and told them I might not come back this year, since I was betting on getting a UT or NSERC position - they told me if that doesn't work out, they'll see what they can do to give me a shift here or there, but no guaranteed full-time position.
So we'll see how the spamming goes on Monday. If I don't get a UofT position after that, I think I'll commit financial suicide: take Stats in summer school here (there goes $850...I hope I can get access to my bond before then, or it'll be time to take out a loan), then try to find a job for the other 2 months of summer, hopefully in Markham. Next year, put social psyc in where I would have had stats, and still take 6 courses (another $850 on top of usual tuition).
Assuming I get some sort of job for those 2 summer months, I *should* be able to get through 2nd year, although I'll be completely and utterly broke after it.
And, of course, without a mid-size fancy scholarship for 3rd year, since the Queen's Principal award is only valid for 2 years...
...damn...I need to have a rich relative die.
Of course, I'd need a rich relative first...
Anyone got a couple thousand dollars to spare?
Addendum: haha...you know what they say it means to assume? It makes an ass out of u and me.
And by "u", I mean me...so it just makes an ass out of me...twice!
I neglected to check the summer school list...no stats on it...only course I could take in the summer is social psyc, and that's something I'd want to take during the school year, so I could savour it for 8 months instead of cramming for 2.
Looks like no summer school for me...which means I really do have to get a job :/
So I haven't heard from any of the UofT Med Biophys supervisors yet, and considering the deadline is Monday and I doubt they'd call on the weekend, I think that blows my chance of working there. I do get a list of unfilled positions on Monday, with emails of the supervisors, so I'll send out some spam then and see how that goes...
Of the 12 or so emails I sent out to NSERC industries, I got 2 "we have no positions", 1 "could not deliver mail" (I got this company's name from the NSERC site, and their url from a list of biochemical companies...unfortunately, the innocent-sounding url (http://www.iccttech.com) leads to a foot-fetish porn site), and 1 "we aren't sure if we'll have spots, but send a resume and we'll keep it on file".
I'll send that last industry an email back...eventually...
I called Sheridan and told them I might not come back this year, since I was betting on getting a UT or NSERC position - they told me if that doesn't work out, they'll see what they can do to give me a shift here or there, but no guaranteed full-time position.
So we'll see how the spamming goes on Monday. If I don't get a UofT position after that, I think I'll commit financial suicide: take Stats in summer school here (there goes $850...I hope I can get access to my bond before then, or it'll be time to take out a loan), then try to find a job for the other 2 months of summer, hopefully in Markham. Next year, put social psyc in where I would have had stats, and still take 6 courses (another $850 on top of usual tuition).
Assuming I get some sort of job for those 2 summer months, I *should* be able to get through 2nd year, although I'll be completely and utterly broke after it.
And, of course, without a mid-size fancy scholarship for 3rd year, since the Queen's Principal award is only valid for 2 years...
...damn...I need to have a rich relative die.
Of course, I'd need a rich relative first...
Anyone got a couple thousand dollars to spare?
Addendum: haha...you know what they say it means to assume? It makes an ass out of u and me.
And by "u", I mean me...so it just makes an ass out of me...twice!
I neglected to check the summer school list...no stats on it...only course I could take in the summer is social psyc, and that's something I'd want to take during the school year, so I could savour it for 8 months instead of cramming for 2.
Looks like no summer school for me...which means I really do have to get a job :/
Thursday, March 11, 2004
This one, he said he wants to buy you rockets...
Tonight, Gary's MUSC 153 (Composition) class held their recital, debuting some of the vocal works and theme/variations they'd written over the year.
And yours truly was the MC.
Overall, it was a good night. Some of the musicians snubbed me, starting to play before I could introduce their selections, but I mean what can you do? They're musicians, and by extension that means they're too self-absorbed to notice the guy standing in tuxedo pants and a borrowed suit jacket at the stand in the corner. I shot a biting comment out after one of these occurrences, and it never happened again.
Of course, it might have helped that there were only about 3 pieces left in the program by that point.
Most of the gags consisted of corny jokes and cheesy word play, but they garnered a few chuckles here and there. If there's anything Mr. Jull taught me, it's that corny jokes always work.
Most of the music was really very good. A few musicians of dubious talent, and a few groups that couldn't stay together, but overall it was very enjoyable. It's a pity that none of the early songs opted to mike their singers - generally, the background obliterated the vocals. It may be just as well, seeing as how the mike gave out on the one vocalist who decided to use it - during Gary's Ozymandias.
On the topic of Gary, thanks for letting me do this, yo! It was fun. Also, thanks for the suit jacket. And the help with the blurbs and such - most of the jokes that hit were yours.
But the biggest winner of the night - "make you bladder gladder". One of my old music teachers used to say that, and I used it to introduce the intermission. It was an instant hit.
I only wish I could say I came up with it myself.
Tonight, Gary's MUSC 153 (Composition) class held their recital, debuting some of the vocal works and theme/variations they'd written over the year.
And yours truly was the MC.
Overall, it was a good night. Some of the musicians snubbed me, starting to play before I could introduce their selections, but I mean what can you do? They're musicians, and by extension that means they're too self-absorbed to notice the guy standing in tuxedo pants and a borrowed suit jacket at the stand in the corner. I shot a biting comment out after one of these occurrences, and it never happened again.
Of course, it might have helped that there were only about 3 pieces left in the program by that point.
Most of the gags consisted of corny jokes and cheesy word play, but they garnered a few chuckles here and there. If there's anything Mr. Jull taught me, it's that corny jokes always work.
Most of the music was really very good. A few musicians of dubious talent, and a few groups that couldn't stay together, but overall it was very enjoyable. It's a pity that none of the early songs opted to mike their singers - generally, the background obliterated the vocals. It may be just as well, seeing as how the mike gave out on the one vocalist who decided to use it - during Gary's Ozymandias.
On the topic of Gary, thanks for letting me do this, yo! It was fun. Also, thanks for the suit jacket. And the help with the blurbs and such - most of the jokes that hit were yours.
But the biggest winner of the night - "make you bladder gladder". One of my old music teachers used to say that, and I used it to introduce the intermission. It was an instant hit.
I only wish I could say I came up with it myself.
Tuesday, March 09, 2004
Pearls and swine bereft of me...
We are in the calm before the storm.
Only 3.5 more weeks of classes, and then it's exam time. This week is pretty lax, but next week things start picking up again, what with big final lab write-ups in physics and bio (along with the seminar to start worrying about), along with interviews for AMS positions and such for next year.
And, if I don't get a call from someone affiliated with the UofT Medical Biophysics program, a frantic rush to find a job for the summer.
But I'm sure everything will work out fine. I know most of you are going through the same kind of craziness et al.
I hear you high school kids have march break coming up next week. Have fun y'all, whatever you end up doing. Hopefully your plans include a trip up to good Kingston, Ontario, to visit curmudgeonly ol' Uncle Lee.
If not...well...then I don't like you.
Addendum: You learn something new everyday: playing almost an hour of squash and doing an hour of gumdo in a mere 3 hours is not a good idea.
Especially if you haven't had dinner yet.
Mmmm...foood.....finally. [addendum posted at 9:29pm]
We are in the calm before the storm.
Only 3.5 more weeks of classes, and then it's exam time. This week is pretty lax, but next week things start picking up again, what with big final lab write-ups in physics and bio (along with the seminar to start worrying about), along with interviews for AMS positions and such for next year.
And, if I don't get a call from someone affiliated with the UofT Medical Biophysics program, a frantic rush to find a job for the summer.
But I'm sure everything will work out fine. I know most of you are going through the same kind of craziness et al.
I hear you high school kids have march break coming up next week. Have fun y'all, whatever you end up doing. Hopefully your plans include a trip up to good Kingston, Ontario, to visit curmudgeonly ol' Uncle Lee.
If not...well...then I don't like you.
Addendum: You learn something new everyday: playing almost an hour of squash and doing an hour of gumdo in a mere 3 hours is not a good idea.
Especially if you haven't had dinner yet.
Mmmm...foood.....finally. [addendum posted at 9:29pm]
Thursday, March 04, 2004
The fake sound of progress...
So last night I was awakened at 2am by some girl screaming in my hallway: "I'm going to be a gael!!!"
No, you won't, bitch. Cuz when I find you I'm going to tear out your intestines and force-feed them to you. (as you can see, I don't like being woken up in the middle of the night).
But I was intrigued, so I checked the asus froshweek website this morning.
And what can I say?
I'm a gael, mamma jamma.
All 3 of us from our interview group got in (myself, Ryan Lee and Bon Ryu).
So next year, the frosh of group 21 will be subjected to the wild antics of Lee, Jenna, Ashley, and Desmond. It's gonna be fun times.
Oh yeah, props to Eileen, Sarah, Brian, Alysha, and Monique, who are also gaels next year.
If anyone else made the cut, props to you too, and I'm terribly embarrassed for forgetting you...feel free to harass me about it incessantly.
So last night I was awakened at 2am by some girl screaming in my hallway: "I'm going to be a gael!!!"
No, you won't, bitch. Cuz when I find you I'm going to tear out your intestines and force-feed them to you. (as you can see, I don't like being woken up in the middle of the night).
But I was intrigued, so I checked the asus froshweek website this morning.
And what can I say?
I'm a gael, mamma jamma.
All 3 of us from our interview group got in (myself, Ryan Lee and Bon Ryu).
So next year, the frosh of group 21 will be subjected to the wild antics of Lee, Jenna, Ashley, and Desmond. It's gonna be fun times.
Oh yeah, props to Eileen, Sarah, Brian, Alysha, and Monique, who are also gaels next year.
If anyone else made the cut, props to you too, and I'm terribly embarrassed for forgetting you...feel free to harass me about it incessantly.
Wednesday, March 03, 2004
I want to give you whatever you need...
Remember that UofT Biomedical Physics summer research/job program I applied for? I got an email from them today.
There were 400 applicants, and they've narrowed it down to 200 eligible candidates.
Yours truly is one of those 200.
Unfortunately, there are only 45 positions. In the next 2 weeks supervisors are going to be contacting people to offer them jobs, and on March 15th, the names and contact info for the supervisors of unfilled positions will be sent via email to us so we can bug the supes ourselves.
22.5% chance of getting a position...it's tight.
I'm praying that everything works out...
In other news, Mr. Thomas Hazelton will be gracing our fine campus this weekend. Let's show him a good time, shall we?
Addendum: Mr. Hazelton just informed me that, due to transportation issue, his presence will not grace our fair campus. However, Ms. Vuthirong (I hope I spelled that right) will be coming up, so it will be a good weekend after all!
Remember that UofT Biomedical Physics summer research/job program I applied for? I got an email from them today.
There were 400 applicants, and they've narrowed it down to 200 eligible candidates.
Yours truly is one of those 200.
Unfortunately, there are only 45 positions. In the next 2 weeks supervisors are going to be contacting people to offer them jobs, and on March 15th, the names and contact info for the supervisors of unfilled positions will be sent via email to us so we can bug the supes ourselves.
22.5% chance of getting a position...it's tight.
I'm praying that everything works out...
In other news, Mr. Thomas Hazelton will be gracing our fine campus this weekend. Let's show him a good time, shall we?
Addendum: Mr. Hazelton just informed me that, due to transportation issue, his presence will not grace our fair campus. However, Ms. Vuthirong (I hope I spelled that right) will be coming up, so it will be a good weekend after all!
