trash filled evening

Last night was Ketan's birthday and the posse got together to go out and the theme was "trash". Yep, that's right. So where did we go? Well, we went to Hooters for dinner of course and then Cockodile (oops, Crocodile) Rock for drinks. It started off with a bang at Hooters. Sam and Raquel got there first and told the servers that we had a reservation cause we had reserved the couches by the big TV (since there were 7 of us and we wanted to watch the Leafs-Habs game). Apparently when they got there, there were these 3 black guys sitting in the couches and they had to be moved to accomodate us. When the rest of us got there, we were just sitting around shooting the $hit, etc and then we noticed that those three guys that were sitting in the couches AND were now sitting on some crappy benches were actually NBA players. They were Mike Bibby, Francisco Garcia and none other than Ron Artest (as an aside - Ron Artest is the guy that got suspended for the entire season last year cause he got in a fight with fans in Detroit and he's also the guy who said he needed to take time off to work on his album so the suspension was no problem).

Anyway, these guys were having their night before a game dinner at Hooters. They were eating curly fries, wings, burgers but no booze - just water bottles. It was hilarious seeing these guys eating in Hooters. No one was really bothering them and they eventually took off anyway. But man, they are tall. So, we asked our waitress what kind of tip they left. She went and asked the waitress that was taking care of them and apparently, they left a tip BELOW 15%. Can you believe that??? Their total bill was probably no more than $50 CDN and they left below a 15% tip. Wow. That is totally tight! But a story nonetheless.

The fun continued at Cock Rock where of course, the music sucked and so did most of the people. It definitely made for fun people watching. Ketan and I started playing pool and were running the table for a bit. At one point, I was shooting and had one ball left before going for the 8-ball. As I was lining up my shot, there was this girl leaning on the table and her butt was right in my line of site. I joking said to Ketan and Nikhil - what if I hit that girl in the butt with the ball? We all started laughing. It was too perfect. Well, as I was winding up my shot, my conscious got the better of me and I decided - No, I shouldn't do it. But in the end, I said Fugg it and I went for it so as I did my shot, I hit under the cue ball so it hit my ball and then bounced and boom - hit her right in the cheeks. She was so startled and look around and we were all killing ourselves. I went over and apologized and after the game bought her a drink to say I was sorry. But man, that was totally priceless. I couldn't believe it actually worked so well. I didn't get my shot in by the way (it missed by inches). But, we did win the game so that was good.

Off to Quebec City tomorrow morning for the next 4 days for work. Talk later.

New Government, New Investments, New Adventures...

So, the Conservatives are in power now, eh? And with Paul Martin stepping down, it appears that the Liberal party will be in a bit of shambles for a little while. Seems optimal for the Conservatives to get some stuff done because their official opposition is without a leader. Well - our country definitely needed some change. I just don't think this is the right change. Hopefully the NDP and Liberals will keep the Conservatives accountable and we'll probably end up having another election sooner rather than later because that's how it seems to go when you have a Minority government. Here's a funny website with some images of our parliamentary leaders

Saw a condo with Etch last night. Kris, Etch and I were throwing around some investment ideas so we thought we'd check it out. Man, it's funny how different event he subtlest change can make something look/feel. This condo was "identical" to Etchs - only a mirror image. But because it had an enclosed den, the space almost felt completely closed off. So subtle but man, it totally was. Etch's just feels so much more open and liveable. I'm sure part of it has to do with the fact that his is painted very nicely and he's got it set up great with nice furniture but it definitely felt different (although it was "identical"). Needless to say, I think that investment idea is not gonna pan out.

Speaking of investments, I recently got a new Financial Planner who is a friend of the family and will help me learn this stuff and make my money "work for me". Nothing wrong with that. I hope it starts working double time now!

So, my plans for the rest of 2K6 are coming together quite nicely. Everything is finalizing itself and my departure date is February 27. Lots to see and do before then so stay tuned.

in pain...

...first because I had my first DB practice this morning (after a few months). We weren't doing any pool paddling. Just the regular 2 hour cardio, weight and stretching INTENSE practice. My legs are hurting, my arms are in pain, my shoulders are feeling it. It's definitely a good feeling cause I know I worked hard but wow, I haven't felt like this in a while. Its all about proper stretching though. Gotta stay on that.

...second because after practice, I got together for a less than great brunch (just the food was less than great) with Ashwat, Romi and Samp at the Summit Grill at Yonge and Eglinton. The food was OK. It was definitely better the last time I went there but hey, can't win 'em all I guess. I really wanted to get their sweet potato fries with my omelette but instead I got the regular home fries cause I didn't know they had the other ones. Doh! One funny part was when the snooty waiter dropped all of our dishes after clearing the table. That definitely brought a nice smile to my face. Especially cause he wasn't the greatest waiter.

...third because my eyes/brain are confused. This weekend, I saw some shortfilms. First, on Friday night with Kris and Etch, we watched this collection of shorts that Kris brought. There's really nothing else to say other than THEY SUCKED. Man, I couldn't get into any of the 3 we watched. Something about "The Delicious" and some other guy that wanted to become a fish. They were definitely hurting. To make up for it, on Saturday night, I went to the National Film Board to watch another short film. My buddy Nikhil (aka Jugular) was in a movie called Andy in the City. It was a good movie and definitely cool to see Nikhil on screen. The concept was quite heavy and the character development was pretty good, especially for a short. After the movie, we watched some short films in the lobby. It's really cool cause anyone can just go there and sit in the lobby and watch movies. They have these really cool seats that have built in speakers in the headrests so you just sit back and relax. We watched some some "Science is fun-type" movies that simply explained science concepts like Explosions and Fire. They were quite amusing.

...fourth because tomorrow is the big federal election. Should be quite an interesting result. I'm not sure I wanna see the Conservatives in power but the Liberals kinda confuse me too. The mud-slinging is the worst though. Why can't anyone just focus on what they do well? As opposed to pointing out all the faults and shortcomings of the others. No one can build any credibility this way. It's just stupid.

...fifth because tomorrow is the 5th episode of 24: Season 5. I've been waiting a week and man, it's quite good so far! Can't wait for tomorrow although it's only going to be 1 hour so man, that is gonna go by way too fast!

Fun Weekend except for one Stupid move

Back home on a Sunday night just trying to wind down after a fun weekend and get ready for a long, busy week. It was the annual high school gang snowboarding weekend up at Blue Mountain. There were 16 of us and we had this lates-80's style Chalet with a huge kitchen, dining area and common room. I think there were 7 or 8 bedrooms as well so that was good cause everyone got a place to sleep. We even had a hottub which was definitely very cool to chill out in on Friday night and Saturday again after swimming.

As an aside, I'm not gonna get too much into the "stupid part of the weekend". Let's just say it has something to do with my cell phone and being submerged in the hot tub. Oh well, time for a new phone I guess... ;o)

Thanks in advance Cristine - sounds like you are gonna be able to help me out which is totally awesome. And for anyone else, you'll be hearing my voicemail for the next few days if you call cause I need to activate my "new" phone. One thing that sucks is losing all of my phone numbers from my phone book and some funny saved text messages that I had. O well, looks like I'll have to create and save some new memories.

Getting back to the weekend - it was a blast (well, everything except for the snowboarding). I guess it actually started on Thursday night when Etch and I did the grocery shopping at Food Basics. $212 later - we were done and had all the food. Man, I didn't think it would take as long as it did but then again, I don't think I've ever shopped for food for 16 people before. We had tonnes of stuff - main stuff, snacks, appetizers, desserts, drinks - I think we did well overall. The was definitely NO shortage of food the entire weekend either and man, there was a lot of sitting around eating and drinking the whole time. I really wish I could have "sweated" a little at some point cause I was starting to feel gross just sitting or standing around after eating so much.

It rained all afternoon/evening on Friday night and then got really cold overnight so all that did was freeze everything that was on the hill. Needless to say, boarding in that ice was quite difficult (and painful when I fell on my knee or butt). It's so hard to carve and catch an edge on ice like that. Luckily, I had just had my snowboard waxed and tuned up so I think it was in tip top shape.

Changing gears - I haven't posted in a while and one thing I'd like to do is Congratulate the 2006 World Junior Hockey Champions - Canada with their convincing 5 - 0 win over Russia a couple weeks ago. In other sports news, I finally pulled off a deal in my hockey pool and upgraded my defence corps so we'll see what happens now but hopefully it'll pay dividends.

One final thing. 24 Season 5 begins tonight. Although I've been saying all along that I am going to skip this - I just can't and I think I'll be watching the 2 hour season premier. Man, this week to week thing is gonna kill me though.

Happy New Year

It was nice hearing from various friends over the holidays and also getting updates from those with families, etc to find out what's new and exciting and changing. I had a good holiday and as of tomorrow, it's back to the grind. Oh well all good things must come to an end, eh? Or at least - they must be stifled from time to time until we realize how much we miss them and figure out how to get them back...

So I've got a couple "realistic" resolutions for this year...

1. Eat the recommended amount of Fruits and Vegetables every day. Gotta get my vitamins and fibre at all times!!!


2. Exercise/Stretch/Yoga/Walk/Play sports/Do something active at least once a day. Preferably more! But at least once. I have to do something!


3. Read something for at least 10-15 minutes every day. The Newspaper (Sports and another section) count but a book would be better. And preferably before going to bed just to put my mind at ease.

So far, I'm 2 for 2 on all of these but it is only January 2nd, so we'll see how long that lasts.

I also did a great job in 2005 of tracking my expenses with MS Money so I just want to keep that up. This year, I might set up a budget to see how that goes. Oh yeah, with that budget, I do want to get a better handle on my investments as well.


On another note, tonight, I watched the first half of a movie called Human Trafficking. Part 2 concludes on Wednesday night. It's got Mira Sorvino and Donald Sutherland in it and it's quite a heavy story. I think it was made for TV cause I never saw ads for it or heard of it being released in the theatre. Anyway, it comments on and shows quite a serious topic. The sex trade/porn industry is immensely lucrative and the way they lure women (and girls) into the industry is totally scary but I can see how easy it must be. The way they portrayed it was just so simple (getting a passport, pretending to be a "modeling" agency, etc. And then they showed some scenes in Manilla, Phillipines and it totally reminded me of the grossness I saw in Bali and Thailand where local girls were always with these nasty British, American and German men doing just about everything. This is a major problem in the world because unfortunately, the money for trafficking humans is becoming just as large or larger than the money for trafficking drugs.

wanted to update but just didn't find the time

In the past week, there have been several times where I've said "I'll blog about that" but not once have I actually done anything about it. Now it's tough to remember everything that has happened of late.

I think the most notable thing is conquering my stupid fear. The day was December 28, 2004. The scene was Blue Mountain for Snowboarding. The time was about 2:30 pm in the afternoon. As we were going up one of the chairlifts just joking around as usual, Etch, Tom, Rachel, JLo and I were having a good day. Then, at the top of the hill, I promptly took a huge spill after getting off the chair lift. Stupid Blue Mountain doesn't clean the area under their chairlifts and that particular chair exit is so steep AND icy. Anyway, I fell. I twisted my knee and it turns out that I actually tore my MCL in my left knee. I was rolling around in pain and couldn't put wait on it. Etch thought I was crying wolf and kept telling me to get my ass up but I couldn't. In the end I had to go down in the snow stretcher, strapped in and pulled by some ski patroller on skis... It was quite the site I'm told. Thank god no cameras were present.

So, this time around, it was the same day. December 28, 2005. Same chair lift and actually worse conditions cause it was rainy and gross. Well, I got off the chair lift fine and had a day of snowboarding without any issues.

So, I am over it. And I guess I'll see how the next time goes. Stupid Blue Mountain! Take that.

What else can I tell you about? Well, my friend Sam (originally from Sydney, OZ and now living in London, UK came to visit for about 4 days. She was here from Monday the 26th until Friday the 30th. It was a lot of fun hanging out and totally a last minute kinda trip that actually worked out perfectly. My friends took such good care of her and made her trip that much more fun and gave her that much more of a "localized" experience as opposed to a touristy time. While she was here, we partied for Kristian's bday on Monday night, had Dim Sum and did some shopping on Tuesday. Saw the Toronto Marlies play some AHL hockey on Tuesday night. Went snowboarding on Wednesday. Then, she went to Niagara Falls all day on Thursday and at night, she met up with my friends Cris, Cam and Hedia (and their posse) and they had a girls night in Toronto. Friday she got a great tour of the city (thanks Cam) and then we met up for a late lunch on Baldwin before going to the airport. All in all, Sam said she had a GREAT time so I'm glad we were able to show her nice the city is. Although we didn't see the sun or any blue skies at all (until her last day).

This week, I've done a little shopping and going around the city (kinda touristy things). A couple major things stood out. FIRST and FOREMOST - WHY DON'T THEY PUT LIGHTS ON THE CN TOWER DURING THE HOLIDAYS??? I really don't get it. The structure is totally unique and could totally be set out among the skyline (even if it was just for a week or two). Did they used to do that? I am totally sure that they did when I was a kid. Also, my parents and I went driving around downtown on Christmas Day (in the evening). It was so dead and there weren't many lights or anything anywhere. Also, it didn't seem like there were too many people out. I was surprised cause if you go to cities like New York or Chicago - so many people are out and about at Time Square or Navy Pier or something.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't speak to the latest shooting in Toronto that occured on Boxing Day. It's just the latest in a string of violence that has continued all year long. I think the reason this is getting so much more attention because it was an innocent bystandard and I'm sorry to say - but she was an attractive blond white girl. More people definitely take notice once it's someone outside of the gangs that are killing each other. One thing that I just don't get is - WHY ARE JAIL SENTENCES SO LIGHT? WHY CAN SOMEONE ON A GUN RELATED CRIME GET OFF ON BAIL WITHIN A WEEK? What is the motivation for Politicians to allow criminals/gang members, etc who use guns to get off so easy? I just don't understand why there aren't tougher rules and laws. Over the next few days/weeks (and definitely tonight for NYE) we'll see a bulked up police presence. Let's see how long that continues. I'm sure it won't be long enough.

So, 2006 is only 9 hours away. Pretty crazy how quickly the years go by. 2K6 is gonna be a great and exciting year for me. I can't wait to see how it goes! I'll keep you all posted about my plans...

Cheers to everyone for a safe and happy new year.