Ring of Fire

This past weekend, saw another Easter Sunday come and go, and with this special time, another family dinner of astronomical proportions, where family and in-laws are to be avoided at all costs, and the presence of left-overs is completely unacceptable.

With my parents heading for the hills to visit my sister in Revelstoke, and my other sister heading down to Calgary, it looked like I'd have to fend for myself, though this situation turned out to be easily rectified. In the welcoming comforts of Nicole's family, I gorged myself on ham and turkey, mashed potatoes and salad, and enough gravy to enlarge your heart. What made this meal even more special was that it was pot-luck, and Nicole and I's contribution was the East Indian dish Aloo Gobi. It was our first time preparing the dish, and through luck or skill, it turned out to be a hit.

It's a simple vegetarian dish that doesn't cost all that much to make, and has the capacity to fill you up quite nicely. Depending on your tastes it can pack a decent amount of heat, and it's the perfect compliment to tandoori chicken or whatever else you desire. I got the recipe off my sister, and through I don't quite think she divulged all her secrets, she certainly put Nicole and I on the right path.

I look forward to experimenting a bit more in the kitchen, as Shake'n'Bake is starting to gross me out, and cereal shouldn't be considered a "meal" more than twice in one day.

Currently listening to: Rage Against The Machine - Wind Below

Pure BS or Pure Genius?

Ha-zah, I say! Ha-zah! I received one of my most favourable marks this past week, and it concerns a commentary paper I was writing for my Globalization course. I'll be completely honest - this assignment had me on the ropes. I didn't really know what I was going to talk about, and I didn't really make a solid outline before hand, so I kinda winged it during one frantic night of caffeine-fueled typing.

When all was said and done, I was left with 4 pages of what could be considered pure bullshit or pure genius. There really was no middle-ground, as far as I could see. Now that I've received my mark, I can officially declare that it was pure genius...or a level of bullshit so incomprehensible that my professor had no choice but to reward the ballsy endeavour with an equally absurd mark: 19.5/20.0

Currently listening to: Bush - Monkey

Ralph's A-okay

I'm not about to begin arguing politics here, or try to sway your perception of Ralph Klein's provincial government here in Alberta, but I'd like to state that they've been nothing but kind to me when it comes to my student loans. During the summer, as I was getting ready to start making a few payments, I was informed that the provincial government had paid off my entire outstanding balance with Edulinx, a debt load of nearly $7000! I made sure to get a conformation of that in writing, as I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I hadn't applied for any special debt relief, and I'm not even finished with school yet - I was simply taking a year off.

Then this month I get a statement from Royal Bank, who holds the other half of my student loans. Once again, the provincial government, seemingly out of the blue, has seen fit to pay nearly $5000 off my loans! I don't know what the hell is going on, but I'm sure not complaining about it.

Who knows, if I stay in University long enough they might just clear up all my debts!

Currently: Shaking and mumbling from not having gone to bed yet.

Caffeine is Brain Juice

Ah yes, the magnificent final weeks of another academic semester at the University of Alberta. What precipitates this particular point in being so poignant, you ask? Why, it's the necessity to push your body and your mind to extraordinary plateaus in order to complete end-of-term papers and cram your noodle with enough knowledge to ace final exams, that's what!

Now, I may be a humble Arts student, and a wishy-washy Sociology student at that, but I've got my fair share of pressures during this time of the year. There comes a time when I have to complete those essays I've been putting off "until I'm hit with a surge of creativity," and finally crack open those over-priced textbooks I bought, a time which incidentally happens to be right about now. So if it seems like I'm avoiding you, or have dropped off the face of the earth, please don't take it personally, because it's simply that I'm engrossed with schoolwork. I've enjoyed a particularly long and eventful university career up to this point, but I really have no particular desire to prolong it for much longer.

So between now and the middle of April, I look forward to drinking more coffee than is good for me, sleeping when I should be awake and being awake when I should be sleeping, all the while contemplating the inherent injustices of the world in a manner that can be easily transcribed on 3 - 4, double-spaced pages, in a 12-pt font.

Currently listening to: My erratic heartbeat from half a dozen cups of black java.

Communist Plot

Short post this Friday.

If it's the intention of the National Hockey League to ensure a great percentage of Canadian university undergraduates perform poorly on their final exams and term projects, then I say they've been dangerously successful. Why in their right mind would they schedule the most important part of the hockey season for April!? What makes this year's hockey season even more distracting is the way the Edmonton Oilers are vying for a playoff spot. I swear, this team will be the death of us, the way they wait until the last game of the season to potentially seal the deal, playing havoc on our stressed-out nerves at every turn.

Bah! I'm so far behind on schoolwork it's not even funny - maybe it's best that they don't make the playoffs. For my GPA's sake.

Currently: Ploughing through an insane amount of readings

Zombies Ate My Neighbours

All this studying, writing essays, and completing end-of-term assignments is for the birds! Though I'm sure I've wasted plenty of time and have procrastinated whenever possible, it just doesn't feel like I'm killing enough time. So while we're on the topic of killing, I'm proud to announce that tonight I'll be heading out to scream in fear and excitement at Dawn of the Dead.

I can't remember the last time I've watched a decent zombie movie. 28 Days Later was okay, but there just wasn't enough zombies on screen at once, and not enough of those zombies were exploding into gooey, undead messes. I've mastered all the Resident Evil games, so my love for zombies does run deep, though the majority of the fear in those games was induced by the inability to move your character in an easy, fast manner.

Nonetheless, tonight should be a fun time, and I expect far more campy laughs than that Jesus movie had.

Currently listening to: Pearl Jam - Once

Downright Crafty

The extent to which I can be frugal and cost-effective seemingly knows no bounds - at times. A while ago I was faced with a very disturbing dilemma. During one of our many visits to Value Village for fantastic bargains, Jeremy and I happened upon an orange Che Guevara shirt, vintage, straight from Cuba. It was one of the most unique finds at the time, which was before the mass-market push of Che shirts, which can now be found at nearly every t-shirt shop and mall kiosk.

I'll be honest, I wore my Value Village Che shirt quite a lot. I wore it so often, in fact, that the ancient colours started to fade with each subsequent wash. It was a gradual change that I never really took note of. It's kinda like how you don't notice a change in your friend if you see him on a regular basis, but go a month or two, and suddenly you remark "Man, you've changed alot since I last saw you! How'd you pack on those extra 50lbs!?" So yeah, it wasn't until a co-worker of mine at Tri-City Drilling questioned just why I was wearing a light pink shirt that I finally took notice.

It's true. The vibrant orange had faded to a dull pink, making the shirt bland and almost unwearable. Now, most people would simply dispose of a shirt that cost them $2.99, but no, I couldn't bear the thought. So one hour and one packet of orange RIT dye later, I had a brand new t-shirt and the legend of Che will continue to live on!

Currently listening to: Hex - Sirf (Hedfunk Remix)

Super Mario

Hey y'all. I just thought this was a great download, so head on over and check it out!

Currently: Working like a madman to finish a Commentary Paper

Procrastination 64

Between cleaning my apartment, doing my laundry, lazing about at Nicole's, and surfing the internet, I was beginning to run out of things to eat up my time before I seriously tackled a few semester-end projects. Normally I'd throw in a healthy dose of Gamecube to consume any productive hours I had remaining, but after a week of not playing, Nicole was so rabid to play Animal Crossing that come hell or high water there was no way I could refuse her subtle coercion to lend her my precious Cube.

Enter Nintendo 64 from stage left.

I haven't hooked up this 64-bit cartridge-based beast in over a year, but let me tell you, a few rounds of Mario Kart 64 or a few levels of Goldeneye was more than sufficient to appease my videogame hunger. Between the two controllers, one has a loose analog stick from overuse, while the other has sticky buttons from New Year's champagne, back in 1998, over at Dean's place. But hey, beggars can't be choosers, and I can only get my ass kicked at UT2004 so many times before I declare competition against those hardcore computer nerds beyond the scope of human capability.

Currently: Cooking some good ol' extra spicy Shake'n'Bake!

Team Pitchers For All

To be completely honest, between work and the pressures of wrapping up another successful year at University, I haven't got much to talk about today. One of the more interesting developments this week has been Lambda Chi Alpha's winning of a student group contest at Boston Pizza on Whyte Avenue.

Looking to save a few bucks, one member discovered that if you register your student group at BP's you get 10% off your total bill. In theory you're supposed to have at least 6 members at the table to receive the discount, but they've been very flexible with this stipulation. This program was actually a contest, and the student group spending the most money would be rewarded with an evening in the Party Room and a $1000 tab!

Let me repeat that. A $1000 tab!

We were informed of our victory on Monday. Now, seeing as how Lambda Chi Alpha has less than 30 Active Members this year, we'll assume that around 20 people will be available to finish off this tab. That's still $50/person! That's enough for everyone to order a Team Pitcher and a steak! I don't know about you, but this is a pretty amazing windfall for a group of University students who were looking to save a buck or two for supper.

Currently listening to: Those old radio shows on 630 CHED.