Jesse, Jen, and Jeff talk about tanks at the diner table:

And I did.

Posted at 09:40 PM | Comments (0)

Oh the weather outside's disgusting
While it snows, the wind is gusting
I've got too many places to go
Stop the snow! Stop the snow! Stop the snow!

Well the car is stuck in a snowbank
Do I want more cold? Well no, thanks
But I think we might need a tow
Stop the snow! Stop the snow! Stop the snow!

Oh help me go back in time
('Cause I must have been totally drunk)
To the moment I wished
For a white Christmas
So I can kick myself in the junk

My enthusiasm is waning
I can't wait for it to start raining
Tell Mother Nature that "No means no"
Stop the snow! Stop the snow! Stop the snow!

Posted at 09:33 AM | Comments (1)

Good evening folks.

I'm glad that I managed to get today off and subsequently planned to do nothing with the time. Oh rather, I planned that this would be the day that I spent digging out my car and then driving out to my parents' for Christmas eve. That turned out to be an accurate estimate, as it took me a solid chunk of my morning and early afternoon to remove the snow drift from around my car.

Unfortunately, we decided that it might not be a good idea to attempt to truck Angela out from New West for Christmas Eve, mostly because we were afraid we might not be able to put her back again afterward. Sad; I'll have to give her Christmas gifts later.

For those of you who don't know, Metro Vancouver is buried under 2 1/2 feet of snow, in some places (mostly around your car... mostly). Though there have been short breaks, it snowed almost the entire day today. This is in addition to all the snow we've had since last weekend. Rain is in the forecast, so within the next week we may have flooding to contend with too.

So if you live in the lower mainland, I suggest you snuggle in for Christmas and enjoy the festive atmosphere. Merry Christmas everyone.

Posted at 07:52 PM | Comments (0)

I've been really busy lately, thus lack of updates. I shall try (and fail) to be succinct.

Last night was the office Christmas party, which was an absolute blast (as usual). I'm glad to have such good employers and such likable coworkers (for the most part, anyway). Lots of family members were there too, such as Andrew's parents (Jeff, they asked a lot about you). Food and drinks were awesome as usual, and much fun was had.

I'm looking forward to giving out gifts, there are quite a few this year that I know will please people.

I don't consider myself to be an outgoing person by nature, in fact, I'm quite an introvert at heart. Sometimes I border on downright autistic tendencies. So, as I've mentioned before, it began to surprise me when a few years ago people started referring to me with such words as "confident", "outgoing", and even "personable". Baffling. And I've realized that socializing is a skill that, like others, I've been able to hone somewhat if I approached it as an intellectual pursuit. My naturally shy tendencies and broad hatred of the public at large can be melted away using this approach.

But socializing can be a mentally taxing, tiring activity. An activity which, if I'm forced to mingle with people I've virtually nothing in common with, and whose social behaviors I can hold in very little other than utter contempt, and whose voices grate on me like 50-grit sandpaper, is wholly exhausting. Particularly when those aforementioned persons have had far too much to drink and are exceptionally loud.

I certainly don't mean to come across as an elitist, or a snob. I don't delight in putting people down. I don't act to be cruel. However, there are times when I feel like an absolute alien among other human beings. Before I learned subtle social nuance, when I was a shy, clutzy, grasping conversationalist, people made no bones about pointing out what an absolute doofus I was at expressing myself in groups (there is, one particular comment from one of you that stung me so hard it's burned into my memory still today).

So after working so hard to better myself at expression, not for me, but for everyone else in this world who seemed intolerant of any degree of social roughness, I find I can't abide someone who hasn't figured out by now what bad form it is to be a loud, beer-reeking drunk at a classy Christmas party.

Does that make me a hypocrite? A bad person? A snob? Hmm, perhaps. If so, I beg your forgiveness. But keep this in mind: that difficulty in chewing the fat; that taxing fatigue I feel in socializing with the people I've no interest in; it forces me to pick and keep only the best of the best friends. If I'm keeping you close, or desperately trying to keep you close in this crazy-busy adult world, it's because you're one of the people whose presence is one of those oh-so-rare-in-this-world presences that does not grate on my mind with an unpleasant psychic dissonance. For me, you are one whose nearness is like a soothing balm on my brain after it has spent a day out in the "real world" being char-broiled by humanity's naturally inflammatory ethos.

So that's how I end a stressful encounter on a happy note: I love my friends and family. Thank you.

Posted at 09:53 PM | Comments (0)

Battlestar Galactica returns on January 16, 2009 for its final ten episodes: aka Season 4.5.

Just in case you need to a refresher on everything that's happened over the years, here's a brand new extended version of "What the Frak".

Also, Season 4.0 DVDs go on sale Jan. 6, 2009.

Posted at 01:37 PM | Comments (0)

You wouldn't buy our cars...

Posted at 01:23 PM | Comments (0)

The last "free" weekend is officially over. From now until Christmas, I am BOOKED. The next three weekends are almost entirely spoken for. Sometime in there Angela and I also have to find a weekday evening with "good" weather when we can go see the Festival of Lights at VanDusen gardens. Also, I will need to fit in some quality time with Iain and Jen during their visit from Ontario.

The weekend of the 20-21st, I have three Christmas parties to attend: Friday, Saturday, Sunday. This begins with our office party, which is likely to meet or exceed my liquor and raucousness quotas for the month. Hoh boy.

So anyway, it's a damn good thing that I am pretty much finished all my Christmas shopping. I may feel the need to grab a couple of small things, but I can basically get them when I'm on my lunch break from work (thank you Pacific Centre). I resolved to get shopping done early this year, and it has panned out *pat pat on the back*.

But the best feeling is knowing that there are going to be some folks who will be absolutely thrilled with their gifts. Giving really is the best part, and I can't wait!

Now all we need is some snow...

Posted at 09:59 PM | Comments (1)

I don't particularly feel like writing, but what kind of blogger would I be if I didn't comment on what is arguably one of the most important events in Canadian political history?

So unless you have your head buried in the turf, you've heard that Canada's three opposition parties, the Liberals, the NDP, and the Bloc Quebecois, have agreed to form a coalition to overthrow Stephen Harper's Conservative minority government.

And unless your head has been buried in that turf a little longer, you've no doubt heard ordinary Canadians with little to no previous political interest screaming bloody-murder and hurling vitriol at everyone who could perpetrate such a sham against democracy.

Stop.

Let's talk about political theory for a moment. In Canada, we have a British-style parliamentary democracy. In short, our districts (ridings) elect representatives (Members of Parliament) to the main house of government (Parliament) where said MPs choose our Executive (the Prime Minister, who is not technically Head of State, but honestly, when was the last time the Queen held any real political power).

Now, many countries, particularly in Europe, happen to have a very similar democratic model to the basic system I've described. In fact, many countries have more active political parties than we do, and *gasp* proportional representation. So minority governments are much more frequent. So how does government function? Well, the parties work together and broker deals.

I'll give you a moment to recover while the shock wears off.

The Conservative party of Canada has utterly refused to make deals, concessions, or otherwise be co-operative to the opposition parties in any way, shape or form. As a result of this, we do not currently have a functional government.

Another way that other democracies function in minority situations is for political parties to form coalitions. That is, two or more like-minded parties try to put aside their differences and govern based on commonality. Imagine that!

Let's dispel some myths:

1. "What the opposition parties are doing is illegal and undemocratic!!!"

   Not really. As I explained, it's fairly common in other democracies. And while it's rare in Canada, it is not unprecedented. In the mid-1920s, Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King's Liberal party was elected as a minority government. But the official opposition eventually got fed up and formed a coalition with the Progressive Party of Canada to overthrow the government, sans election. Who was that opposition party?

   Why, none other than the Conservatives.

2. "This is going against a majority of Canadians' wishes!!!"

   Wrong again. If you look at the results of the 2008 Canadian Federal Election, you'll find that only 36% of Canadians voted Conservative. 55% voted either Liberal, NDP, or Bloc. So a coalition represents the majority of Canadians, and their views.

3. "The Bloc Quebecois is the root of all evil!!!"

   Okay, you know what? I'm gonna go out on a limb here: I like Giles Duceppe.

   Yeah, I said it! And while I'm at it, I don't particularly have a problem with the Bloc Quebecois either! Of course I support a united Canada, but honestly, when was the last time the Bloc pushed the issue of separation? That would be 1995: 13 years ago. Since then, the Bloc Quebecois has simply been a voice for Quebec interests in the federal parliament. Which, as a distinct and unique society within Canada, is a voice I think they are more than entitled to.

   And need I mention the many times that the Conservative party has negotiated political maneuvers with the Bloc to work against the Liberal Party? Utter hypocrisy.

4. "This will just end in another election in a few weeks that will cost Canadian taxpayers $$$!!!"

   The Liberals and the NDP have signed an accord. Their coalition will last until June 30, 2011. The Bloc Quebecois have committed to support that coalition in parliament until June 30, 2010. Until those times, these parties have to work together.

5. "This parliamentary crisis is the opposition parties' fault!!!"

   If you're going to blame the opposition parties for not supporting the Conservative government carte blache, you're ignoring that Stephen Harper and the Conservatives refused to broker any concessions with the opposition parties. Such diplomacy could have prevented this coalition before it even started.

Whether Canadians realize it or not, this deal is GOOD for them. It gives Canada a functional government which represents, through compromise, a majority of Canadians' political beliefs. I for one am greatly looking forward to what these three parties can accomplish by working together, and I hope you'll join me.

Posted at 06:59 PM | Comments (3)

Still feeling pretty shitty today. Better blogposts later.

In the meantime, here's an apple pie shaped like a Mac Mini.

Posted at 03:11 PM | Comments (1)