In Transit

2007-10-14T16:10:00.000-03:00

Havn't posted in much too long, but that is due to the beginning of my last year of University. Started back in September and have not had much of a break since. Taking 6 courses each semester is a ton of work, but well worth it to graduate on time. The only thing it has kept me from is being more involved in the recent troubles at UNBSJ, which you can learn more about here.

In regards to my 101 Goals, I have not had much time to focus on completing any specific goals, but one of the most important to me came about last evening:

- 15: Go to a Matthew Good concert, time and monetary constraints be damned! Enjoyed Matt Good in concert last night at the Fredericton Playhouse. It was excellent!

2007-08-07T13:43:00.000-03:00

Been meaning to update for quite some time, but I would rather be busy than have tons of time to blog. Working as the HR Co-op Student at Irving Pulp & Paper has been a very worthwhile experience and come the end of the month, it will seem to quick to have finished already. In one way, however, I am looking forward to my final year of University.

In regards to my 101 Goals, I have been making steep progress since the last time I updated it roughly two months prior. Completed goals:

- 26: Rewatch all seasons of Arrested Development. I rewatched all seasons of Arrested Development with Sarah. Was quite sad to have the series come to an end for the second time, but I really enjoyed watching it again, especially seeing someone enjoy it for the first time as I was once able to.

- 37: Sell something on eBay or Amazon. I have sold several items on Amazon.ca recently. Looking to move many of my movies and books off of shelves and put a little extra cash aside to pay for school next month.

- 49: Buy an iPod (or similar mp3 player. I originally purchased a Sandisk Sansa 8GB model in June, but it quickly began malfunctioning. I am much happier with my Creative Zen V Plus 8GB.

- 59: Buy Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows the day it comes out (July 21).
Pre-ordered the novel roughly a week prior to its release.

- 74: Go camping/tenting. Took Sarah tenting in PEI for Canada Day with a few friends. Was a great time.

I will be completing goal #15 come October as Matthew Good tickets go on sale tomorrow for a concert in Fredricton, October 13th. Excitement is setting in.

One problem I have run into is changing tastes. It is unlikely that I will read Freakonomics or read any further Chuck Palahniuk novels; however, I will be pleased to donate money to a serious cause in lieu of completing those goals. In the future, I will create a small set of alternate goals as I have seen others doing when using this system.

2007-06-23T13:12:00.000-03:00

Been home for a couple of weeks now. Miss lazing around and traveling as well as all of the people I met in France, but I sure am glad to be back home.

Been trying to meet up with friends a fair amount recently which has included parties, campfires, concerts, etc. I also was able to cross #55 off of my list because I received a Senators jersey for my birthday.

Going away next weekend to Charlottetown for Canada Day. Sarah has never been to PEI so it should be a blast.

Last Week in France

2007-05-28T09:47:00.000-03:00

This is my last week in France. It's been a fun and quick 5 months, but it is now almost time to return home. Many people have already left in the past few days and only a couple of us remain.

My trip to London and Ireland was fantastic. We had great weather and plenty of time to see everything that I wanted to. Not sure what I will do with my remaining time here. I had planned to rent a bike, but was not able to since I had closed my bank account and needed a security check. Good thing I didn't, though, as the weather has not been the best since I got back from my trip. It has barely topped 15 and has been accompanied by rain and thunderstorms. Though, the day I returned it hit 27.

Looking forward to the Stanley Cup finals starting tonight. Not only that, but I am only missing the first two games before returning home.

All for now. I have much to update on the my 1001 goals list as well.

Off I Go: London/Dublin

2007-05-15T05:55:00.000-03:00

Final presentation is tomorrow morning and then I take my flight to London at 6PM. Really looking forward to it and this will likely be the last trip of my entire stay. Only just over two weeks until I go back home.

I will be spending the 16th-19th in London with Tom and everyone else on his intersession and then the 19th-24th in Ireland with Eric, Paul, Charles, and Jennifer.

Been having some awful computer problems the last two days so we ended up reinstalling Windows last night.

Anyways, a bit of work left to complete on my project and then I need to begin packing.

Take care,

Brian

Go Canada Go!

2007-05-12T15:29:00.000-03:00

Just finished watching the semifinal match between Canada and Sweden on the IIHF World Championship website. They offer all of the games live for a very cheap price. We will be watching the final tomorrow night between Canada and Finland. Should be very good.

I wish we could watch the NHL matches as well as Ottawa is doing really well. It would be a shame to miss the Senators first Stanley Cup win.

Philippe drove, Eric, Ben, and I to La Rochelle where we spent the day. I had been before during our driving adventures a few months ago, but it was very nice to be there during a summer month.

All for now. My final project is due on Wednesday so I have a far amount of work to continue on with before our presentation.

Safe and sound, and back from Spain and Hungary

2007-05-03T09:49:00.000-03:00

Much has happened since my last post 2 weeks ago and during our long and adventurous trip, but I will try and keep it as brief as possible.

We spent our day in Barcelona at Park Güell, a champagne bar, and going up Montjuïc in a cable car. It was a very nice and busy city filled with street vendors and our hostel was awesome. On the 22nd, we went to pick up our rental car. That proved to be a bit difficult and we ended up with a van for seven people instead of two cars. It ended up being a better situation since we could all stick together more easily, however, Courtney had to spend the whole trip squished between two seats sitting on her belongings. Haha.

Upon arriving in Valencia, we saw the local area including a cathedral that claims to posess the last cup. We also visited a very nice local park and the beach. The 32nd America's Cup was also in the preliminary stages and we got to see some of the footage and boats. On the 23rd, we visited the Alhambra in Granada and on the 24th, we visited the Mezquita in Cordoba and arrived in Sevilla that evening where we went to the Feria that night. We spent the day looking around Sevilla before catching our flight to London Stansted airport in which we spent the night.

Charles and I caught our flight the next morning, April 26th, to Balaton, Hungary. We both got our passports heavily inspected as, we figured, they do not see very many from the North America. They looked at every single page and felt the paper and seams. We took a van to Révfülöp where our hostel was located and, on the way, saw a horse drawn carriage and a refrigerator strapped to a car roof. It did not take very long to notice that we were in a completely different country. Révfülöp was a very small tourist town on the Lake, but it was very nice nonetheless. We trekked up to the viewing tower that was built in 2000 and got a very nice view of Lake Balaton, which is, at 592 km², the largest lake in central Europe. It is so large is is often referred to as the Hungarian sea.

We took a train the next day to Budapest where we stayed until May 1st, at which point we met back up with everyone else, who either stayed in Spain, London, or Sweden, at Stansted for our flight back to Poitiers. We were able to see very many sights in Budapest and too be completely honest, I enjoyed it even more than Paris. There are many thinks to see and do and we were very occupied for our entire stay. One of the things I enjoyed best was on our last day, April 30th, when I went to Széchenyi Medicinal Bath, the largest medicinal bath in Europe. It was very relaxing.

Our stay in Hungary was very cheap. One euro equals roughly 250 Hungarian forints and we lived like kings. Our meals were all under 10€ and our hostel was only 8€ per night.

Only one month left in France and then back home, so I will be trying to make the best of my time left. I am still planning a trip to Vimy Ridge as well as London and Ireland.

1001 Day Challenge:

#46: This goal became less important when Emilio, a friend of ours at ESCEM from Mexico, joined our trip to Spain. However, I feel like I picked up a fair amount of Spanish before and on our trip from him, audio lessons, and a phrase book.

#72: We spent about 4 of our days driving across Spain.

#85: Sent a total of five postcards.

Greetings from Barcelona, Spain

2007-04-21T03:29:00.000-03:00

I have a few spare minutes so I decided to write a quick update. It´s 9:15 and I am the only one up.

Caught our train on time yesterday to Paris at 1:33 and it arrived around 3. Given that we did not have to catcg our shuttle until 7, we had a few spare hours in Paris. So, Tim, Charles, and I took a walk around the 5th arrondisement and ate an ice cream near the River before catching the metro to get our shuttle: It was a very hot day in Paris and, so it seems, even hotter than here in Barcelona.

Our flight left on time without any snafus, but we were unable to land at Girona because, due to fog, there was only 200m of visability and you need 600m. So, after circling the airport for an hour, we got diverted to Barcelona´s main airport. This ended up saving us money and we got to the hostel at about the same time as if we had landed earlier at Girona. We shared a cab into town with a French girl who had just been visiting family and was working in Barcelona. Luckily, she spoke fluent French, English, and Spanish. Along with our taxi driver, she was very nice and they both provided us with some important tips.

We arrived at the hostel around 1am and met G and Ben still at the bar. Everyone else had already headed off to bed. We checked out the nearby area a little bit and ended up heading off to bed at 3am.

Take care for now,

Brian

4:24PM RST 04/15/07

2007-04-15T11:20:00.000-03:00

Busy week coming up and then we are on our spring break. Exam on Wednesday, project due on Wednesday, and a progress report on Friday. Then I am off to Spain and Hungary.

We trekked our way to St. Benoit yesterday and rented canoes for 2 hours. It was a blast. Tim and I were also able to listen to the Sens game last night while we all enjoyed a great barbecue. Much to do in preparation for the rest of my time here, so I will have to keep this one as brief as it is.

Take care,

Brian

10:06PM RST 04/03/07

2007-04-02T11:24:00.000-03:00

Busy week ahead with a fair amount of class, presentations, and an exam, but its almost clear sailing from here on out.

Our travel plans for Spring Break have changed slightly. Spain is still a go for the first half, but then Charles and I will move onto Hungary for the last of the break. I am definitely looking forward to it. There is a festival with bull fights on our last day in Spain, so that should be interesting as well.

The weather has been very nice so far this week and it's not supposed to let up. Eric, Topi, and I had some great ice cream at a shop on Monday and it got as high as 20 degrees the last two days. Looking at the possibility of going for a side trip this weekend to relax after our presentation and exam.

Cheers for now

9:40 PM RST 03/25/2007

2007-03-25T15:57:00.000-03:00

Much has happened to change the week in the last few days. Plans for Bordeaux got derailed as Marie was having bank troubles. Instead, I was able to get a last minute spot on the Disneyland Paris trip and went there all day yesterday. It was a blast. The visit did not start off on the best foot as we waited in line for Big Thunder Mountain for 20 minutes before it broke down. After being told three times that the ride would be back up in 5 minutes, they ended up telling everyone that it was going to be closed for about an hour. However, we did eventually get to ride it and many other rides due to the free fast pass system that the park has set up. I got to ride:

Big Thunder Mountain
Star Tours
Space Mountain x2 (One of the, if not the, best rides I have ever been on)
Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril)
Honey, I Shrunk the Audience
Pirates of the Caribbean
Phantom Manor

I have a lot of work to do this week, but only class tomorrow because it is BDE week. Should be a ton of fun in between the project work and studying.

Many updates on my 1001 Day challenge:

#17 Played chess twice with Faraz on March 20th
#19 Completed - went to Disneyland on March 25th
#61 Completed the first week of the Couch-to-5K Running Plan
#85 Sent a postcard

On top of that, I also modified goal #46 somewhat. I purchased a basic phrases book from Amazon that I want to learn from before our trip. It is not as important anymore as Emilio, a fellow student here from Mexico, is now going on our trip, but I still want to learn some basics. As a side note, Amazon is amazingly fast here. I ordered it one day and it came the very next day. It was supposed to take 2-3 days. Not only that, but I paid 0€ in shipping and the next-day shipping costs 8€.

As well, I also tried another recipe from Recipezaar: Hamburger Noodle Bake. Even though I knew it would only be me eating it, I made the full recipe so it would last a few days. Very quick and very delicious, and I have not gotten bored of it even after eating it for a couple of days. If I was to make it again, though, I may use more cheddar cheese. 4 out of 5

Another "recipe" I tried was Homemade Tortilla Chips. Not counting it in my challenge, but I decided to try it as to use some of the leftover tortillas I had sitting around. Not as good as the real thing, but a healthier option if your looking for one. 2 out of 5

9:06 PM RST 03/20/2007

2007-03-20T16:42:00.000-03:00

My minor, Business and Development in the New Europe, begins tomorrow. I received an e-mail from the intstructor today telling us that our first lesson will take place at the World Trade Center at Futuroscope, where we will have a presentation given by the Director, Mr. Michel Thomas:

Mr. Thomas will be speaking about the work of the WTC and of the unique association, Futurallia, which works to improve the global business opportunities of small and medium enterprises in our region

Should be interesting, in the least.

In regards to my 1001 Day Challenge, I have already begun some of my tasks.

#89 I tried my first new recipe tonight: Ritz Cracker Crumb Chicken. A very easy recipe, with a great outcome. The chicken was some of the juiciest I have ever tasted and even fell apart in some places. I did not have any Ritz crackers, but the ones I did had seemed to do the trick. I would like to try it again with Ritz crackers as I think they would turn into finer crumbs. As well, some people suggest using flavoured Ritz crackers. Would also work nicely with a sauce. I ate the last half with Ranch and it tasted even better. I might consider trying this with another recipe I had for Ranch chicken and substituting the bread crumbs for Ritz crackers. 4 out of 5

#68 Plan on beginning to floss everyday beginning tonight. This is something I have always had trouble with as it is never on my mind.

#69 Will try my best to exercise every other day. I often get a good start to this, but if I miss a day, it usually goes downhill from there.

#60 I would like to begin running on a regular basis following this plan starting tomorrow.

101 Things To Do in 1001 Days

2007-03-20T06:40:00.001-03:00

Been working on this for quite some time and I finally got enough items to begin it. Information about starting your own can be found here.

101 Things To Do in 1001 Days

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as new year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Some common goal setting tips:
1. Be decisive. Know exactly what you want, why you want it, and how you plan to achieve it.

2. Stay Focussed. Any goal requires sustained focus from beginning to end. Constantly evaluate your progress.

3. Welcome Failure. Frequently, very little is learned from a venture that did not experience failure in some form. Failure presents the opportunity to learn and makes the success more worthy.

4. Write down your goals. It clarifies your thinking and reinforces your commitment.

5. Keep your goals in sight. Review them frequently, and ensure that they are always at the forefront of your thinking.

My List
Started: March 20, 2007
End Date: December 15, 2009

101 Things To Do in 1001 Days

Entertainment
1. Read Freakonomics
2. Read Stephen Hawking’s “A Briefer History of Time
3. For one week, go to bed at 9 and read books
4. Attend at least five theatre or other artistic productions (1/5)
5. Read all Chuck Palahniuk books I have not read
6. Read all Augusten Burrough books I have not read
7. Read all David Sedaris books I have not read
8. Read all Douglas Coupland books I have not read
9. Finish reading the Narnia Series
10. Watch all films nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, 2007
a. Babel
b. ~~The Departed~~
c. ~~Letters from Iwo Jima~~
d. ~~Little Miss Sunshine~~
e. The Queen
11. Watch all films nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, 2008
12. Watch all films nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, 2009
13. See a midnight movie
14. Attend Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival
15. ~~Go to a Matthew Good concert, time and monetary constraints be damned!~~ (Completed: October 13th, 2007)
16. Attend an Ottawa Senators game
17. Play chess (2/15)
18. See a high school musical or play
19. ~~Visit an amusement park~~ (Completed: March 24th, 2007 - Visited Disneyland Resort Paris)
20. Stay up all night
21. Watch the second season of Dead Like Me
22. Go to concerts in New Brunswick (3/10)
23. Watch Band of Brothers
24. Attend 10 Saint John Sea Dogs games (1/10)
25. Watch the IMDb Top 15 Movies
26. ~~Rewatch all seasons of Arrested Development~~ (Completed: July, 2007)
27. Watch all seasons of The Shield
28. Watch all seasons of The Sopranos
29. Listen to the top 50 of Pitchfork's Top 100 Albums of the 1990s
30. Listen to the top 100 of Pitchfork's Top 100 Albums of the 1990s

Career/Finances/Life
31. Graduate with my Bachelor of Business Administration degree (Expected: Spring 2008)
32. Write the LSAT
33. Get a full time job
34. Learn about investing
35. Start a stock portfolio
36. Have a garage sale
37. ~~Sell something on eBay or Amazon~~ (Completed: June, 2007)
38. Move out
39. Volunteer

Personal Education/Training
40. Read the Joy of Simple Living by Jeff Davidson
41. Read The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need: Expanded and Updated Throughout by Andrew Tobias
42. Read Wealth on Minimal Wage by James Steamer
43. Read How to Win Friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie
44. Take piano lessons again
45. Start guitar lessons
46. ~~Learn basic Spanish before our trip to Spain (April 2007)~~ (Completed: April 2007)
47. Learn to drive a standard
48. Learn how to type properly

Purchases
49. ~~Buy an iPod (or similar mp3 player)~~ (Completed: June, 2007)
50. Buy a guitar
51. Buy an external hard drive
52. Buy a pet
53. Buy a video game console
54. Buy a domain
55. ~~Buy an Ottawa Senators jersey~~ (Completed: June 6, 2007 - Received one from Sarah on my birthday)
56. Buy a new cell phone/cell phone plan
57. Buy The Mole DVD
58. Buy Life is Beautiful DVD
59. ~~Buy Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows the day it comes out (July 21)~~ (Completed: July 21, 2007)
60. Buy a new board game

Fitness/Health/Medical
61. Complete the Couch-to-5K Running Plan
62. Complete the Beginner Marathon Program
63. Run a marathon
64. Go for a month without any fast food or eating out
65. Donate blood
66. Inquire about contacts at my next optometrist visit
67. Inquire about braces at my next dental visit
68. Relax by taking an hour-long bath once a week for a month
69. ~~Floss every night for 1 month~~ (Completed: May 26th, 2007)
70. Work out 2-3 times/week (286-429 times) (20 times as of June 23th, 2007)
71. Try to snowboard

Travel
72. ~~Go on a road trip~~ (Completed: April 2007 - travelled from Barcelona to Sevilla with stops at Valencia, Cordoba, and Granada in between)
73. Go whale watching
74. ~~Go camping/tenting~~ (Completed: June 30, 2007)
75. Visit a province I’ve never been to before
76. Visit a state I’ve never been to before
77. See and/or swim in an ocean I’ve never been to before
78. Go rock climbing

Family/Friends
79. Spend a day doing something with just my sister
80. Spend a day doing something with just my mom
81. Spend a day doing something with just my dad
82. Play Risk w/ friends
83. Build a large jigsaw puzzle with my family
84. Write and send Christmas cards
85. ~~Send postcards (5/5)~~ (Completed: April 20th, 2007)

Technical
86. Set my e-mail addresses up in Outlook
87. Move my pictures to CD

Cooking
88. Bake a birthday cake
89. Bake cookies
90. Try new recipes on Recipezaar and post reviews/ratings (2/10)

Miscellaneous
91. Send someone flowers for no reason
92. Tip 50% to a deserving waiter or waitress
93. Catch at least 10 sunrises (0/10)
94. Watch a new movie of Sarah’s choice without any complaint (1/5)
95. Plant, grow, and tend to a plant in my bedroom
96. Read the newspaper every day for a month
97. Finish 20 books (6/20)

Completion
98. ~~Complete this list~~ (Completed: March 20th, 2007)
99. Complete a second list to begin after 1001 days
100. Save $1 for every completed item and splurge on myself at the end of 1001 days
101. Donate $1 to the Empty Stocking Fund for every uncompleted item when it airs in 2009

3:42PM RST

2007-03-19T11:22:00.000-03:00

Back to another week of school after a wonderful weekend in Saint-Malo. Though, I do not have class until Wednesday when my minor begins. Not sure our trip to Bordeaux next weekend will go through as Aloha were not able to book a bus.

The weather has changed drastically from the beautiful weather we had last week. The temperature today was around 4-6 degrees and we had freezing rain and rain all afternoon/evening. Hopefully it gets back to the way it was soon.

Course registration for next year opened today. I am registered in the following courses:

Fall:

BA3425 (Managerial Finance):
TTh 02:30PM-03:50PM (Huq,A.)

BA3304 (Marketing Management):
M 07:00PM-10:00PM (Civi)

BA3715 (Labour Law):
W 04:30PM-06:50PM (TBA)

BA3129 (Business Research Methods) transfers for 4829:
M 04:30PM-06:50PM (Farnsworth,R.)

SOCI2611 (Language, Crime & Human Agency):
MWF 09:30AM-10:20AM (Doran,C.)

SOCI3214 (Soci of Communications):
F 01:30PM-03:50PM (Galbo,J.)

Winter:

BA3653 (Prod'n & Optns Mgmt I):
TTh 10:00AM-11:20AM (Cho)

BA4898 (Strategic Hum Res Policy):
M 04:30PM-06:50PM (Farnsworth, R.)

BA3672 (Inro to Mgt Info Systems):
M 01:30PM-04:20PM (Kim)

BA4857 (Mgt of Occupat.Health/Emp Well):
T 04:30PM-06:50PM (Mendelson,M.)

SOCI2323 (Sociology of Work):
TTh 01:00PM-02:20PM (Chalmers,L.)

SOCI2533 (Social Movements/Revol):
MWF 10:30AM-11:20AM (Duchesne,R.)

3:35PM RST

2007-03-15T11:52:00.000-03:00

Not too much to report. Sarah left last Saturday and I've been otherwise keeping myself quite busy this week with various activities and school work. Going away this weekend to a cottage in Saint-Malo, a "walled port city in Brittany in northwestern France on the English Channel." Then on Monday, class registration for next year opens. Enjoying the nice weather here and hoping for a just-as-nice weekend.

Dinner tonight with some people and then an open bar tonight for Saint Patrick's day.

Hope all is well,

Brian

8:50PM RST - Might As Well Be Summer

2007-03-04T15:19:00.000-04:00

Today was the nicest day we have had so far: sunny with a light breeze that had the temperature as high as 20 degrees celsius. A matter of fact, it's still warm enough tonight to have the window open at 10 degrees right now. Besides school work this evening, had a nice walk around Poitiers to show Sarah the parc Blossac this afternoon. I also had churros for the first time from one of the vendors that are often around the city. As well, the water flow has risen really high since I have been away this week and the other park near my house is now impossible to traverse.

Now I should probably briefly summarize our trip. On Tuesday morning, I left for Nantes. I had not traveled alone before, but after a bit of time getting my bearings, I was able to find my way around quite easily. I was able to visit all of the things on my list aside from the Jules Verne museum. After that, I went to my hostel and then began to trek my way to the concert venue, L'Olympic. The directions I printed off were very good until near the end when I was not quite certain if I was going the correct direction. At which point, two guys in a car, Nicolas and Fabien, pulled over to ask me if I knew how to get to L'Olympic. I told them I was looking for the same place and they offered me a drive. We eventually found it and were there at 6:30. I for some reason had thought that the concert started at 7, but it did not start until 8:30. Therefore, I hung around with them speaking French for the next two hours.

The concert was great. The Spores were supposed to be opening, but ended up cancelling the rest of their European tour. The band that opened were awful, but the Eagles of Death Metal put on the best show I have even seen. A ton of energy from them as well as the crowd.

I then had about 2 hours of sleep before getting up for my train the next morning. Was able to find Sarah without much trouble even though she originally told me over the phone the wrong terminal she was at. The hotel we stayed in was very nice, especially for the price, including a very full breakfast every morning. We were able to see much of everything is Paris and we have enjoyed very good weather so far.

Other than that, having a great time and very little class this week. Need to get some shopping done this week as well.

Take care,

Brian

7:44 RST - BREAK!

2007-02-24T14:35:00.000-04:00

It's going to be a bit difficult to recount everything that has happened in the last 10 days, but I shall do my best:

- received a job offer from a previous professor of mine to work for Irving Pulp & Paper for my last co-op work term. I will be working in Human Resources to work on Training Development. I am really excited about this opporunity.
- received a really thoughtful card from the co-op office
- studied all week for an yesterday's strategy exam
- various get togethers for birthdays, arrivals, departures, etc.
- MARCH BREAK BEGINS!!!

Will be sitting around for the next few days getting group work done so that I do not have to think about it the week after as Sarah flies into Paris this Wednesday and stays until the next Saturday, the 10th. I am going to Nantes on Tuesday for a quick day trip and a concert and then I meet her the next morning in Paris where we stay until Saturday before coming back to Poitiers.

Plans for those days include:

Nantes:

Musée Jules Verne (Butte Sainte Anne)
Passage Pommeray
Le Chateau des Ducs de Bretagne
La Cathédrale
l'Opéra Graslin
Quartier Le Bouffay
Le Jardin des Plantes

Paris:

Eiffel Tower
Basilique du Sacré-Coeur and The Montmartre Hill
Tour Montparnasse
Tulleries Gardens (between the Louvre and Place de la Concorde)
Bateaux Mouches
The Arc de Triomphe
Notre Dame
Luxembourg Castle
Les Invalides
The Pantheon
Catacombes
Les Halles
etc...

Take care,

Brian

11:37AM RST

2007-02-14T06:18:00.000-04:00

The next few days are going to be quite busy with a cabaret (essentially a talent show) tonight, an open bar tomorrow, and a birthday party for Ben on Saturday. Nothing too overly exciting to recount from the last week or so, but I'll sum it up briefly.

Last Monday, I had my phone interview with Irving. Also, I was finally able to purchase my other train tickets and they arrived over the next 2 days along with my concert ticket. On Wednesday, we had a small party at Ben's. On Friday, some people went away for the weekend and a half dozen of us went to a get-together at a French girl's flat. On Saturday, I got my haircut at Ben's, went to the Archie Bronson Outfit concert, and then back to Ben's. Then, last night, we watched Casino Royale. Aside from that, lots of school work, group meetings, and classes.

11:31PM RST - Weekend Adventures

2007-02-04T17:42:00.000-04:00

Had a blast this weekend.

On Thursday we drove straight from Poitiers to La Rochelle and looked around briefly before going for a seafood lunch. Having already packed a lunch, I just had a couple of things off others plates that they offered me. They all shared three plates of seafood with shrimp, mussels, crab, etc. Not as exciting for me as for some of them who had never tried, let alone seen, some of the menu. We then traveled to Ile de Ré, a small and lovely island not far from La Rochelle. Quite deserted at this time of year, but Latisha (the French girl we traveled with) said that it is even nicer in May.

Friday and Saturday was spent traveling to see different chateaus and castles.

On Friday, we first went to Loudun, where both the church and tower we went to see were closed. Nice sites, nonetheless. We then took a quick jaunt to Richelieu, where it turned out that the castle there had been demolished in WW2. The grounds were still vast and many buildings still standing. Our next stop was to Chinon. Chateau de Chinon had a fair amount of history to it and also provided a great view of the town and river. We did, however, almost get locked in there overnight. Haha. The final town we visited was Saumur which had one large and very nice castle. Unfortunately, the day had passed by too quickly. As would be expected, it was too late to get in, but I was able to get a decent photo out of it despite the darkness.

Yesterday, having only so many kilometers left, we tried to stay nearby. We first went to Chauvigny and saw a glassblower, a nice church, and a castle. We then traveled to Saint-Savin to see the Abbaye de Saint-Savin. We were not able to get into the actual church due to renovations, but there were several exhibitions set up and a lovely courtyard and watermill. We went back to Poitiers around 5pm, filled up and returned the car, and used our extra cash to indulge in a quick coffee/crepe/ice cream, etc. Then, Louis and I went to Leclerc to pick up a few groceries. Was not too far to walk and I may end up walking there more often rather than taking the bus. Though, I also found out yesterday that you can buy tickets in multiples of 5's at Tabac shops which make the tickets cost .80€ instead of 1€20.

When I got back last night, after being told by Latisha that it is cheaper to order online, I began ordering my tickets back and forth to Paris. Sarah will be here at the end of the month and it should be a load of fun. Cannot wait. I decided to go to Nantes on the 27th to see a concert and then spend the night before going straight from there to Paris. Will be nice to see another city for the day, but it also allows me to arrive in Paris earlier that morning as well. All of my train tickets, hostel stay, and concert ticket are paid for save for the tickets from Poitiers to Nantes and Nantes to Paris. I purchased all of the other train tickets and then, when I went to purchase the others, my credit card would not work on the SNCF site for some reason. I went and purchased my concert ticket and hostel and they both worked, but I am still unable to purchase tickets from the SNCF site. Must be a problem on their end. I will wait a few days and then, if it is still not working, will venture down to the train station to buy the tickets.

I had no plans for today, but received a text message from Paul asking is I wanted to go to the museum in Poitiers. M. Gervis, our landlord, told him that it was free on the first Sunday of every month and today was the last day of an exhibit here in collaboration with the Louvre. I met Paul at the bank, as I had to get cash out to pay my rent, and we then went to the Musée St-Croix. A small museum, but it had some great art for the price. We then toured around town as it was a gorgeous day outside.

Phew, that was a long one. Night folks and take care.

10:56PM RST

2007-01-31T17:50:00.000-04:00

Good evening,

A fair amount of people are leaving for London tomorrow, but I have gotten together with a group of people who are renting two cars to take day trips for the next few days. We are meeting at 8am tomorrow morning and will be traveling to La Rochelle for the day. On Friday, we are traveling to the Vallée de la Loire and on Saturday, we are heading East, though I am do not know exactly where. There is one American, several Indians, and several French people coming along for the trips and they should be a blast. For the 3 trips, it will only cost us each €40 to pay for the rental, gas, and tolls.

Other than that, not too much else new to report. I received an e-mail from the co-op program secretary that JDI wanted to perform an interview with me on Friday. Unfortunately, as I will be away, I am hoping that it can happen on another.

Take care,

Brian

3:31PM RST

2007-01-25T10:16:00.000-04:00

The week has been filled with class and group work, but it is almost time relax for the weekend.

The initial weather reports for this week were snow on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. It ended up snowing very briefly on Monday, but we did receive a small share of snow last evening.

We had been considering a trip for next weekend as each group only has class on Monday and Tuesday and then a 5-day weekend. The initial idea was to travel to the more Southern region of France, but the weather is not supposed to be that great right now. We all eventually decided it would be best to save this trip for another time and the new destination became London. Since I am already going in May, I decided against it.

Last night we went to the Rocktambule put on by the school. For the short time we were there, the bands were great, but I've never been in such a cramped venue before in my life. Not to mention the smoke. So we decided to hope over next door to another bar where we sat around and chatted for a few hours. Great night overall.

Tonight is another Pot'k fet at the school and then we may be going out afterward. Friday is a day to relax and then Saturday is the Gala.

I also found out on Monday that I received an A on my 2nd co-op workterm report. Quite pleased with that. As well, I applied for another co-op position today at IBM: Sales Operation Support. I have a feeling that if I do not receive one of these positions, I will likely go work for IBM in Saint John again.

Take care all!

4:51PM RST

2007-01-20T12:54:00.000-04:00

It's our first weekend since school began and it was certainly a relaxing one. As was mentioned, there was a party at Ben's on Friday and another gathering here last night. Mostly just lazied around today and will be going to dinner and watching a movie later on this evening.

As well, on Saturday, a couple of us went to one of the larger grocery stores that takes about 10 minutes by bus. A return ticket for the bus cost 1€20, but I probably saved about €10 and was able to spend some time in a much larger selection. Geant was basically a Wal-mart type store and I will probably make a weekly trek there.

Meanwhile, I also spent some time on Saturday applying for co-op positions as they began posting them on the online job board. I applied to three positions for IBM at their Markham office: Public Sector Consulting Analyst, Project Office Analyst, and Marketing Specialist. I am hoping to have a bit of a leg up for these ones as I have already worked for IBM in the past. As well, I also applied for a Human Resources Co-op Student position at J. D. Irving, Limited and for a position at the Public Service Commission of Canada as a Human Resource Analyst.

If I am around, I am also looking into going to a concert on the 10th. Archie Bronson Outfit are coming here, which is strange since they mostly get smaller bands like back in Saint John.

Other than that, enjoyed a nice long weekend and will getting back to the grind on Monday with class and group work.

11:06PM RST

2007-01-18T11:24:00.000-04:00

School started this week. I currently have three classes: Human Resource Management, Strategic Management, and Sustainable Development. The HR course is taught by an American. I feel like it will be quite easy because it is essentially Business Law, but will be great to have to get a basis on the differences between our regulations and home and those of France. Strategic Management is taught by an Irish gentleman who has taught all around the world. His classes have been very interesting so far. The class has been somewhat of a mix between marketing an industrial relations. Sustainable development, taught by a German named Christoph, on the other hand has been the most engaging so far. It is basically a business ethics course focused on sustaining our planet.

Our group had Tuesday off so I spent time getting groceries, signing documents for my banking account, and wandering around the park as well as hanging out at some of the students apartments. Last night was spent meeting everyone at Eric's before moving on to Ben's for a couple of hours and then moving on to a birthday party for a Chinese student. I knew I had class in the morning so I called it a night a bit earlier than them around 2AM while the groups who had today off went out to the club for a couple of hours.

This evening was spent with Katy making cookies and other people coming over to do laundry and hang-out before going to a small party at the University from 7:30-9PM and then off to Ben's for some cards. We called it an early night as we are having a party at Ben's tomorrow and possibly one here on Saturday. The people here so far are great and we've been having a blast.

No class tomorrow so not quite sure what I will be up to.

12:28PM RST

2007-01-13T07:12:00.000-04:00

It has only been a few days, but much has happened. We only spent about 12 hours, which was mostly spent sleeping, in London on our way to Cambridge, but we did drive by Parliament and Big Ben. I cannot wait to go back in May for a real opportunity to see the city. Much of our time in Cambridge was spent exploring the city and its many colleges as well as meeting many of Craig's friends. It was a great side trip to pass time before coming back here. I arrived at around 6PM and the other students began to arrive or return within the next 2 hours. I am living with someone from London, New Jersey, Finland, Lithuania, and a French couple. I believe there are two other people who have yet to arrive.

Yesterday was our orientation which was very interesting. The rest of our day was spent eating lunch, getting school ID pictures taken, opening bank accounts, etc... Afterward, we all went to a French restaurant called Buffet-Grill. The meal that most chose and was suggested was 16€90 and you had a choice of an appetizer, a main course, and it also included a desert buffet. I had foie gras and duck which were both wonderful. Many of the students, including myself, then went to one of the larger apartments to mingle for a while before going out to a club where we stayed until about 3AM.

Not sure how to spend my weekend, but I have been doing laundry and need to get some food. Yes, very exciting; I know. However, I will need to put up some pictures soon from the past week.

12:00PM RST

2007-01-07T15:42:00.000-04:00

Good morning,

I have about two and a half hours before I must leave for our flight, but decided to update the blog before I left for the next couple of days.

Bordeaux was very nice. It was great to get out for a day and see a different area of France. It provided for some great photos that I have put up (http://www.flickr.com/photos/briancleveland/) as well as a great pizza. I then spent my weekend relaxing, doing laundry, and taking pictures of the area.

We went to the school today and were offered a drive to the airport for our flight. Our flight leaves at 5:40PM, but we are supposed to be there about two hours early. We then spend a night in a hostel in London and leave in the morning for Cambridge. We spend two days there and then make our way back on Thursday arriving back at about 6PM. Should be a nice, small trip and once we are back, everyone else should be here.

10:24PM RST

2007-01-04T07:07:00.000-04:00

Thus begins my third day in Poitiers, but I should update you on the past few days first.

Joanna left us on the morning on the 1st and we ended up sleeping in until about 10AM. We decided to indulge in a little taste of home: McDonalds. It may not have been the most luxurious thing to eat in Paris, but it was certainly on of the cheapest. We then ventured out to meet the person who was holding Alma's train tickets and to purchase our own tickets for the next day to Poitiers. After this was all accomplished, we carried out our plans to visit Notre Dame Cathedral, which was very amazing in itself.

The following day, Alma left for Switzerland at 7 and Eric and I took our train to Poitiers a couple of hours later. Everything ran perfectly on time and we met Mr. Phillipe Gervis shortly after 12PM. He was a very nice gentleman, as I had heard, and should be a great landlord. We are both quite pleased with our apartments.

The past three days in Poitiers have combined exploring the area, planning trips to take this week with Eric, planning Sarah's trip to visit me in February/March, and being a little homesick. I am antsy for the other students to arrive and for school to begin. My apartment, which will house 7 students, is currently resided in by me alone.

Eric and I are taking a day trip to Bordeaux tomorrow and then a trip to London and Cambridge from Monday to Thursday. The airport here flies directly to London and the entire trip, including airfare, bus fare, and hostels will only cost me $225 CAD. Should pass the time by quite quickly before I get into school and am able to meet the other students.

As a side note, I began posting pictures a few days ago here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/briancleveland/

11AM RST

2007-01-01T06:16:00.000-04:00

Good morning!

Last night, after spending some time at the hotel lounging around, we went to the Moose, but the owner who has spoke with Alma was not in and the tables were all reserved. Therefore, we decided to go eat somewhere first and to then come back to the bar. We ate at a restaurant that had Mexican and American food and I had a club sandwich while the rest had nachos.

Back at the Moose, we met some American hockey players our age that said it was a great stop. I decided to try a French beer to see what it would be like. It was very light. After some time at the bar, we began speaking with two Austrians our age that ended up following us to the Eiffel Tower region for fireworks. The street between the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, Champ D’Elysees, was packed with thousands of people and it was very exciting.

Around 1AM, we took the metro back to the hotel at which time the other three decided to call home and I spent some time on MSN speaking to Sarah and Heather. Overall, it was a very eventful day.

Joanna had to leave early this morning to catch her train to Germany and then to Denmark. We intend to purchase our train tickets today and then to visit some additional sites. Until then:

Happy and healthy New Year to everyone!

6:42 PM RST

2006-12-31T21:18:00.000-04:00

I am sure the next five months will have more sporadic and short entries, but I have had quite an exciting and filled time thus far.

Yesterday, after Eric and I had a much-needed shower and woke up the girls, we left our hotel to find somewhere to eat. The concierge at our hotel recommended a cheap restaurant to go eat at, but it was around 3PM and they were closed until 6PM. I had forgotten that they eat at different times here and many restaurants open and close throughout the day. We then ate at a different restaurant across the street: authentic French onion soup (ours is better, ha!), chicken, and chocolate mousse. A bit pricey (€22), but it was filling enough to count as lunch and supper.

We then ventured to see the Eiffel Tower. An unbelievable structure, but a bit gaudy with neon lights and other stuff clearly marketed towards the tourists. We did see it light up at 6PM with flashing lights, as it does on the hour, which was beautiful. We went back to the hotel and I spent some time talking to Sarah and Heather on MSN and replying to some e-mail. As my battery ran out and the outlet was in use, I returned to my room at 8PM to watch a bit of TV. I subsequently watched for about 10 minutes before passing out for another 10. When Eric returned at 8:20PM, we were both ready for bed. Hence, I went to sleep at 8:30PM and set an alarm for 8:15AM as we both wanted to get up early. As far as I can tell, we both slept soundly until the alarm went off and was then turned off as we both slept for another hour.

I did not have any jet lag, but now I am quite well rested as I got up this morning at about 9:15AM to a mild day which has been cloudy and about 8 degrees Celsius. I then got ready, and spent some time checking my e-mail and hockey pool in which I had a 10-point night to put me in 6-point lead and first place. Went we for a breakfast at a café where I ordered dejeuner d’Anglais: sunny side up eggs, bacon, croissants, coffee, and one of the best glasses of orange juice I have ever had.

We decided against our original plan to take a bus tour and figured we would spend much of our day at the Louvre. Admission was only 8€50 and I took many pictures of some amazing sculptures and artifacts. As expected, photography is forbidden at the Mona Lisa and Venus De Milo. The crowds around some of these more popular exhibits were large and filled with people trying to sneak a quick picture. Joanna has a great guide to Paris which told us where many of the pieces we wanted to see were. Funny enough, there was a guided tour for the Da Vinci Code. I could not believe that the Louvre embraced such a cheesy idea, though a quick way to make some extra money from foolish American tourists. We then went outside and took many photos of the surrounding area, which included glass pyramids, ponds, a large Ferris wheel, and unimaginably large buildings we had just traversed.

As we trekked the few kilometers back to the metro, we saw many beautiful sites and passed by the Eiffel Tower, which looks even more spectacular and impressive in the day. Not sure if we will eventually, but we have twice decided against waiting in the very long line to go to the top of the tower. We stopped in some shops before coming back to the hotel as we wanted to purchase some water and snacks at about half the prices that they were at the over-priced tourist traps.

The other three purchased some wine and beer, but I decided against it for tonight. It is still a bit early in the trip for that, though I did enjoy a nice wine on the flight from Toronto to Paris. We plan on going to the Moosehead bar in Paris that Alma (who has spent her last two co-op terms working for the Moosehead marketing department in Saint John) was told about. It is supposed to be very nice and serves food we may be a bit more accustomed to. As well, we should be able to see the fireworks at the Eiffel Tower, which would be a zoo, from there. The year has come by very fast and it certainly does not feel like it is almost 2007 already.

I have many, many pictures, which I will be uploading tonight or tomorrow onto a Flickr account a created tonight.

2006-12-30T08:38:00.000-04:00

Friday, December 29, 2006 – 3PM EST

Hey folks!

Currently writing this in the Toronto airport. They offer wi-fi access for $10/day, but not really worth it as we are boarding at 5:40. I am not sure when I will have a chance to post this. The flight from Saint John was uneventful. I spent my time reading a book and talking to the nice lady sitting next to me. She was a part-time professor at the law school at Queen’s University down in Saint John to visit family. I talked to her about my trip, my co-op term, places she has been, and my plans for law school.

Well, I guess for now I will watch some shows on my laptop and wait for our flight to leave.

Monday, December 30, 2006 – 12:20 RST

We just arrived at our hotel about 20 minutes ago. The rooms are small, but cozy and the owner seems like a nice guy. The other three wanted to have a short hour nap, but I am wide-awake. There is wi-fi access, but the signal is weak as we are three floors up. I will likely hop downstairs soon to be able to post this and send some quick e-mails before we go to eat, explore, and see some sites.

Our plane left about 20 minutes late last night as it was late arriving from Tel Aviv. The flight was 6-and-a-half hours long and we arrived at 8 AM local time; perfectly as scheduled. We had no trouble getting through customs, getting our luggage, or making our way by the metro, but it did take some time to get a cab to take us to our hotel. We did get a quick glimpse of the Eiffel Tower on the way here though.

Maybe We'll Have Some Snow in 2007, until then...

2006-12-24T15:40:00.000-04:00

A special tribute to Calvin, Hobbes and the Underappreciated Art of the Snowman

bonus: Inkless pen- will last forever!

Anticipation is settling in

2006-12-22T20:16:00.001-04:00

One week from today, I will be boarding my first flight in Saint John to travel to Paris via Toronto. I imagine that this week will go by very quickly as, with most people, it is packed with stuff to do.

Eric Savoie and myself (another UNB Saint John student who is staying in Poitiers) made our way up to Fredericton to purchase International Student ID cards. I had planned on going to the CFMH Christmas party, but decided against it. As well, I work tomorrow and then have a going away party with a fairly large group of friends tomorrow evening/night.

Other than that, I filled this previous week with relaxation and preparation. I've come across several great Add-ons for Firefox including Sage (an RSS reader), Performancing (a blog editor), Foxytunes (media player), and Forecastfox. As well, both Oink (a music private tracker) and BitMeTV (a TV private tracker) have loosened up their ratio rules for the holidays, so I have been actively downloading a fair amount of tunes and TV.

Items of Note:

The phenomenon of teachers accused or convicted of having sex with their students has come to the forefront of national and international news in recent years. A fairly interesting read including full accounts of female teaches accused and convicted of raping their students. Some of them are noteworthy including on person saying, essentially, that if a male teacher had done the same thing, he would have received several years in prison.

Listening to: "Those Pockets are People" by Electrelane

Time to dust it off and try again

2006-12-20T19:00:00.000-04:00

Not counting the number of previous attempts, I am going to make another effort at starting a blog. I leave next Friday to study abroad in France until June 1 and I am certainly going to try and keep track of my trek. I have not done much traveling in the past so I will have a substantial amount to share over these next 5 months.

Over the past few months since last posting, I completed 6 courses over the summer and spent my 2nd work term from August 14th till last Friday working at IBM. It was a wonderful term and I have a place there for my 3rd work term next summer if I want it.

Anyway, I will leave this post brief, but anticipate an attempt to revive this blog over the next few weeks.

2006-03-25T01:40:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we left the school at about 9:45 am. The van that they had brought us was a bit too small, so Deb called and they quickly sent a larger one. It just so happened that this new van had a DVD player. So, on our first pit stop at a PetroCan, we bought two movies: About A Boy and The Majestic. So, we popped in the first movie and watched it until we got to Woodstock around noontime at which point we ate at Stiles. After our lunch, we drove all the way to Quebec City while watching the end of the movie and then talking about today’s competition. We decided to stop here 5 PM (of course, the time changes back an hour so we were quite hungry by this point) and to go done to Old Quebec for supper. After shortly discussing where we would eat (we had thought about going to a Crepperie first), we decided to park and look around. We ended up going to this small little place called La The Du Sahara that served Moroccan food. We got a plate with a bunch of different appetizers (meat pastries, chicken, lamb sausage, etc…) and then plates filled with couscous, chicken, lamb, beef, and veggies. It was all right.

We arrived in Montreal around 10:30, but had a hard time getting to our hotel. First, our hotel was on Sherbrooke St., but there is also a place just outside of Montreal called Sherbrooke. So we kept following those signs until we realized we were leaving the city. We finally ended up on the right street, but could not find our hotel. So, we looked up what the street number was and turned around. We find it and realize the reason we didn’t notice it is because their lights broke earlier that day and the person was going to fix it the next day (only the L and the NI was lit). We arrived at a little before 11:30 PM.

Turns out they sold our rooms and so they placed a “twin bed,” which they assured us was not a cot, in the two rooms that were supposed to have 2 beds; it is definitely a cot. So, planned to go to talk to them to see if they can change it, but other than that, we would just switch off nights. The girls just ended up both sleeping in the king-size bed and Deb. has a twin in her room. Also, it turns out they are fixing the pool this winter and so it is closed. It is an outdoor pool, however, I imagine it is heated like the one we saw people at the Hilton in. Hans and I went to bed around 12 PM as we had to get up at 6:30 to go for breakfast at 8.

We had a hard time getting to the Hilton but once we got there we had a decent breakfast in the morning and then the team went to compete at 10:15. Deb and I decided it would be best to get our bearings and found the quickest way back to the hotel. We met the team when they were done and they were ecstatic about what a great job they had felt they had done. We had the provided lunch and then went for a little walk. The team had to be back for the second part of the day at 2:15 and then Deb and I went to Indigo. I got a couple of movies, but kept myself from buying anymore books. We met the team 70 minutes later and they were extremely excited about what a good job they felt they had done on the second part.

We walked back to the hotel and spent some time in the hot tub and sauna before we had to go to a cocktail party at 6. After the cocktail party, we went to eat at a restaurant. As we had a $45 stipend a day for meals and had not spent any yet for the day so two other team members and I had a delicious sirloin steak dinner. Afterwards, we went back to the hotel and asked the front desk about the changing of the rooms. They informed us that someone had just moved out of a room with 2 twins so Hans and I moved from the 11th floor to the 26th. I let the girls and Hans check their e-mails and then they went down to their room. We sat around and watched a little TV and decided to go for a walk around Montreal. It was at 10:30 and we went to see if the girls wanted to come but they had already started to get ready for bed. We walked around for a while (there were bums everywhere, but I did see a guy with a sign that said "I need a joint. Please help" lol) and stopped in a microbrewery for a drink. I do not particularly like beer, but the amber ale that Hans ordered was quite good as it had a sweet flavour.

Anyway, that leads me to this moment as I have arrived back at the hotel and am about to go to bed. We need to be at the Hilton for 7:45 and will find out at that point if the team will move on or not.

2006-03-22T11:03:00.000-04:00

Well, I guess there can a be a bit too much of a good thing. Posting every single day on a blog was not as easy as I thought. I ended up not feeling like doing it one day and, somehow, that turned into 20+ days. I had planned on writing an entry today as a lot has happened recently, but I am way too busy right now.I leave for the Excaliber competition tommorrow. Can't wait to arrive in Montreal.

2006-03-01T19:29:00.000-04:00

In between watching Lost (which is on 3-hours early in Canada for some reason) and commcericals, I figured I might as well write a new entry.

I told Tom I would mentioned him so, "Hi Tom!". Now, don't you feel foolish? Ha.

Few things have happened in the past few days, but I have somehow found myself with lots of things I want to do and less time to do them. Certainly better than being bored out of my mind with nothing to do.

The most people we had at one time in my Law class of 55 students was 15 individuals on Monday. When class started, there were 12 people, then 15 before the break, and then 12 again afterwords. Everyone seems to be very busy with midterms, but it was very cold that night too. Hopefully it was not because people did very poorly on their midterm for this classa and plan on dropping it.

I happened to see two of my teachers from High School during my break. I certainly would have liked to have been to able to talk with them for a bit longer, but they were on their way as was I.

Class registration opened today for Spring courses and, though some classes were filling up quickly, I got all of the classes I needed/wanted. The registration was supposed to open at midnight, but they had problems and it did not open until quarter to 9. It would not have mattered if I had not statyed up late to try to register.

Items of note:

The Navy’s Swimming Spy Plane: If nothing else, a little interesting and futuristic.

'DNA target' to block HIV found: A step in the right direction scientifically.

Canadian ISP is throttling Bittorrent traffic: Good thing I have Bell.

Ready For Takeoff?: A man makes his own jetpack.

Kids Build Soybean-Fueled Car: If they can do it, we may see this as a more viable idea in the future.

2006-02-27T21:44:00.000-04:00

I will have to write up a bit more regarding Walk the Line as it was by far one of the best movies I have seen from 2005. There is a good chance that I will end up buying this sometime as the DVD comes out on Tuesday.

I looked at the course timetable for Spring session a bit more today as registration opens on Wednesday. I am somewhat conflicted between taking 5 or 6 classes, but I will most likely end up taking 6. This will put me further along in my degree and 4 of the 6 classes I want to take will be done by the end of June. Here's a list of classes I want to take:

BA 2123: Introduction to Electronic Commerce
BA 2303: Introduction to Marketing
BA 2606: Business Decision Analysis II
BA 3425: Managerial Finance
BA 3623: Management Science: Deterministic Models
SCI 2001: An Introduction to Space Studies

Items of note:

Sad Girl music: One of the bands whose CD I am reviewing for the campus radio is called Sad Girl. Their debut, Twenty Years, is a collaboration between a screenwriter for movies such as Cool Runnings and Snow Dogs. Really good debut and an interesting history behind it.

Exercising the body can benefit the mind: As if we weren't given enough reasons to exercise, this article has come to the surface.

Apple to offer films to download on iTunes: About time.

Top 10 Strangest iPod Accessories: Yep, there certainly are some weird ones available.

Listening to: "Sad Girl - Template #4"

2006-02-26T18:56:00.000-04:00

I am quite exhausted, but, nevertheless, I had a good and relaxing afternoon/evening. After working from 6am-1pm, I came home and started to watch Walk the Line (I still have an hour to go, but I will most likely post my thoughts on it tommorrow evening. It is really good so far. In the mean time, you can find a great review at Cinema Blend.

Of course, as I have mentioned, today was my father's birthday. So, we had a nice steak dinner and delicious cake. Also, I went for two nice long walks in the woods the last two nights with my dad. It is really tranquil and you can literal walk as far as you so wish without coming to an end. As long as I can remember, my family has taken walks along the paths out back of our house. Unfortunately, I no longer get towed behind in a sled. The trees have started to slowly grow over the path more and more over the last few years so my dad and I may take up the task of clearing it back some this summer.

I ended up watching The Constant Gardener last night. It tended to go a bit slow at the start, but picked up a lot after about 45mins - 1 hr in. I normally do not enjoy movies of this topic as much as some, but it did have an engaging story; it could have just been told more smoothly ie. less fractured. One thing I keep hearing about that did not bother be while watching, but got me thinking afterward, was how unbelieveable a relationship the married characters had. They have the cliched "opposites attract" relationship. She only takes an interest in him to go to Africa and he only seems to take interest in her once she is murdered. Despite this lack of plausability, the movie was really enjoyable and the ended is fulfulling.

Items of Note:

Alzheimer's Progresses Faster in Educated People: Alzheimer's has hit my family hard. I have little real memories of my grandfather who contracted the disease when I was very young and just about a year ago my great-aunt was diagnosed. Unlike other diseases which are extremely painful for the individual, Alheimer's seems to hit the families the hardest as they lose the real individual to this disease. My great-aunt was, and still is, one of the most wonderful people in my family, she cared so much for everyone and it is hard to see her unknowingly change like this. It is truly devistating and I can only hope that they can prevent it from happening to others in the coming years.

Star 26 light years away could harbour alien life: Not that it is even proven or that it will see any development in my lifetime, but still cool nonetheless.

Explorers Discover Huge Cave and New Poison Frogs: Despite milleniums of exploration, it is truly astounding how unique and vast our planet is.

The world’s most advanced LCD TV - 56-inch and 3840 x 2160 pixels: Wow; impessive, yet unnecessary? I wonder how much it will cost and when it will become the norm.

Off to finish Walk the Line now and to hit the sack early.

Listening to: Tom Vek - "If You Want"

2006-02-25T19:34:00.000-04:00

Well, the olympics are basically over. The final listings can be found here and probably quite a few other places.

The Canadian organization was predicting 25 medals, so 24 is quite impressive considering how many close 4th places we had, too. Also, I think the most medals Canada ever got before was 18.

One thing that my dad noted that I found amusing was that, despite how well the country did this year, the one thing that will be remembered is how badly the men's hockey team screwed up.

I watched Munich this afternoon. Here is what I had to say about it at Cinema Blend:

I watched this movie this afternoon/evening. Ok, I admit that there were some memorable and especially well done scenes, however, a bit of a let down overall. It builds up a lot of excitement to little payoff. I think it had a great story to tell, but it could've been done much better, in my opinion, from what I expect from Spielberg. For one thing, I did enjoy Bana's, as well as some of the other actors, performances. At least it was much better than what I expected way back when he said he wanted to do a film about the Olympics (Note that I am too young to have known at the time that there was anything important about the 1972 olympics. Sure, I had heard about the terrorist attacks before, but I was not aware of which year or locale it had happened.)

I tend to agree with the majority of the people in this thread. While I didn't love the movie, it was enjoyable and some of the scenes (specically when they were taking out hits) were very impressive and memorable.

I then started to watch Walk the Line, but my mother just came home from a matinee showing of Grease and grocery shopping with two rented movies. She got Just Like Heaven, which I have no interest in watching, and The Constant Gardener, which was on my list of movies to watch before the Oscars. I will most likely start watching it soon.

My dad's birthday is tommorrow. I ended up getting him some gift certificates from Tim Hortons last night as well as a 4-pack of aero bars at work today.

Anyways, I have to work to work at 6am, so I won't spend any more time blogging tonight.

2006-02-24T17:06:00.000-04:00

This was a very good week at work. I ended up being able to create a comparison for the four best online learning software packages and find a great example that I think will help us create what Jana was looking for regarding the "puzzle presentation." I have certainly been enjoying my position so far at P&I. I have been able to learn a lot and get a substantial amount of experience. Some of the other co-op students that I have heard from are not as pleased as I with some of them having too little work and others way too much. I even heard of someone passing out at work from stress. Whether or not I end up coming back in the fall, that is not completely up to me, but I certainly wouldn't rule it out at this point in time.

I work tommorrow morning at Sobeys from 10am-4pm and then I plan on watching a few movies. I will probably watch Munich, Good Night and Good Luck, Walk the Line, and Brokeback Mountain this weekend and maybe another movie or two. As I said before, I am trying to catch up quickly so that I can enjoy this year's Oscars next weekend. If nothing else, Jon Stewart will certainly be a formidable host for the evening.

I am going to the St. Mac's production of Grease this evening with Sarah. I anticipate that it will be good despite the fact that it is not the most exciting choice of musical. I expect that their choice for next year will be better, but I have heard good things about this year's production.

Be sure to look at some of the links below. I found and compiled some interesting/informative ones from the past few days.

Items of note:

ABC Greenlights "Masters of Science Fiction": Hopefully they bring justic to Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov's work.

Torrent sites under attack: Not much the MPAA can do since these sites have done nothing illegal. It makes me even happier to read people predicting the demise of the MPAA and RIAA.

A Banned Mortal Kombat commercial: No surprises here regarding why it didn't air.

Canadian school bans Wi-Fi: I found the link that I mentioned yesterday.

World's largest Windows error message: What a screw-up.

VeriSign is trying to buy .com registry: Wow, this could be really bad and it's quite shocking that it even came as far as being considered.

Sleep May Become A Thing Of The Past: This could be really bad or really good. I cannot decide.

Mozilla Talks About Its Plans For Firefox 2.0: Hopefully they can continue to surpass the competition. By far the feature I enjoy the most is multiple tabs, but Microsoft plans to integrate that and many other features that Mozilla already has in their next release.

2006-02-23T20:33:00.000-04:00

Sarah (hah, you do too get mentioned) is teaching piano tonight for two hours so I have a fair amount of time, while waiting for her to finish, to write this and sort through the various interesting links I've looked at the last few nights.

I forgot to mention a while back that I got the Viva La Bam: Complete Seasons 2 and 3 set for Valentine's Day from Sarah. I got her to watch the first season the week before (Sarah, Heather, and I watched the first two episodes one night at home) and I'd been thinking about getting the set for quite some time. Tonight I started to watch the 2003 Battlestar Galactica miniseries. It is pretty good so far and I plan on catching up to the current episodes that are airing right now on SciFi. I've heard that it is fantastic.

I went to the dentist this morning for my 6 month check-up and now my teeth are pearly white. I ended up getting to work at 8:34 and then I had to go to a 2-and-a-half hour training session for Novell Groupwise. It was basically a waste of time, but I did learn how to use some of the features a bit better. I've been using a paper DayMinder so far this year, but using the program may have convinced me to switch to a computer-based one. I may end up using Outlook once I finish this work term and no longer have access to GroupWise.

After that I spent most of my day focusing on the research I have been doing on Online Learning software. I also looked further into creating a "puzzle based" presentation using PowerPoint. Jana mentioned this as an idea last week for marketing the University and I mentioned that it might done best in Java. I am not quite sure how to do it, but I am looking into if it can/has been done.

I finally got another package of CDs from the radio station to review. The music director changed this year the new person has had to do a lot of learning and catching up. Well, she did a great job at least on my end by sending me 3 CDs that I am quite enjoying. Music truly makes the work day go more faster and smoothly.

And, finally, as any Canadian/hockey fan would know the men's team is, unsurprisingly, out of the Olympic competition. I was quite dissappointed in that aspect, but the Canadian Olympic team is otherwise extremely impressive so far this year. A lot of people are especially excited for the men's curling final tommorrow. They were saying on CBC that they expect Newfoundland to basically be shut down tommorrow afternoon; even the schools have a half day.

Items of note:

Literacy Limps Into the Kill Zone (Wired News): I don't exactly have the best grammar or writing skills, but this article shines some light on a big issue as our attention spans are waning. It is not all bad, however, as I have seem some rather impressive writing even (or, perhaps, especially) on blogs.

Automated Taco Bell Ordering: I posted this on Cinema Blend the other day. Will cashiers disappear altogether?

Wi-Fi to Go: I read, but cannot find, another article recently about a school banning wifi because their was the potential for harmful effects. On the other hand, our campus embraces the technology and I cannot wait until what this link describes becomes more widespread.

Apple to hold special event on Feb. 28: New products to be announced.

Build Your Own Hoverboard: If only because I wish I had the time to make my own.

Toyota and BMW Park Themselves: For those of us who a) can't park b) are lazy.

Listening to: Carmen playing a song on the piano.

2006-02-22T13:55:00.000-04:00

Well, I got mostly through the day without a blogging fix, but I need a midafternoon break.

I forgot to mention before that I got my BA Law midterm back on Monday. I wasn't completely sure what to expect for a mark as it was only 10 MC, 10 T/F, and 5 short answer. However, I got a B+. I'm quite content with that mark especially, as I gathered, most people didn't do so well. I only saw one other person with a B+, one with a B-, and one with a C, but people were scrounging for extra marks by trying to argue certain answers. Anyways, the next midterm isn't until March 20th and then the exam is a month from that date.

The mens hockey team ended up winning yesterday 3-2. Now they play against Russia today in the quarter final. Russia is coming in off of 4 consecutive wins while the Canadian team has been struggling. It starts at 3:30, so I will at least be able to catch the end either way.

My dad's birthday is this Saturday. He turns 54 and I'm not quite sure what to get him. I know my mother got him a gift certificate from Coles, but I feel like I should get him something myself. I really wanted to get him one of the UNBSJ sweaters that say Dad on them, but I don't know if they have any. I may just get him one of the regular sweatshirts or t-shirts with the logo on them, though.

Any ideas?

I took a few pictures the other day of the sky as the sun was rising in the morning and, also, of the dent in my car. I'm waiting until I download PhotoPlus editing software tonight before I post them, but I also set up a deviantart account. I've always had a small interest in photography and this may get me more interested as I can post pictures on an internet showcase.

Anyways, I have to finish up some research and then I have a meeting this evening at 7pm. I also have a dentist appointment tommorrow at 8am and then a training session for Nowell Groupwise from 9-11:30am. So, I will probably make a quick post sometime in the afternoon/evening. I will also probably go through many of the interesting links I saved on the weekend from digg.

Listening to: Editors - "Someone Says"

2006-02-21T12:39:00.000-04:00

I truly enjoyed this article listing the top ten reasons Geeks make good fathers. Personally, I can't wait until I have kids so that I can play with legos again.

I posted on Cinemablend's forums earlier about catching up with movies before the Oscars air on March 5th.

As I said:

Well, I didn't watch a lot of movies last year due to lack of time/interest. However, I realized that I missed a lot of good movies. So, now I intend to watch several of tthe highly acclaimed movies up for awards before March 5th.

Just last week I watched Crash and yesterday I watched Capote. I think I'll watch Brokeback Mountain next.

Anyways, I know what movies are up for awards, but tell me which ones to watch next or which ones to avoid, if you so wish.

Edit: I've also seen Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Murderball, and Star Wars, though they are all only up for one small award each.

Here's a list of the CDs that were released yesterday. I've been listening to the Arctic Monkeys for a few weeks and it's been getting really great reviews. No surprise there and I've been really enjoying it. I don't have much interest in anything else listed there except maybe for the new Elbow release.

A former professor of mine posted a link to this website with picture of "various [objects] made with recycled paper." There are some pretty good ones in there.

I think I've made it much easier to navigate through my blogs by splitting up seperate topics by line breaks. Let me know if you think it works or if it's worse> I think I will tend to continue making 1 or 2 big posts a day as I take small breaks from work. I also think this is easier than having to navigate through several different posts a day.

Finally, I happened upon some videos of Kurt Steiner setting the Guiness World Record for stone skipping. Impressive.

Anyways, I have a fair chunk of work to do regarding the Chinese students coming in the summer and my project on Africa. Back to it.

Listening to: Belle and Sebastian - "Sukie in the Graveyard"

Edit: I didn't realize that the Men's hockey game was this afternoon; they lead 3-2 in the 3rd.

2006-02-21T08:43:00.000-04:00

I just read on digg that Serenity [made] more money from DVD than from [the] box office. I don't think they'll make another as Whedon said it was done, but this bodes very well for it. I plan on buying it sometime and I've been meaning to buy the complete Firefly series for a long time.

If you're a fan of the olympics and a Canadian, you probably know that the Canadian women's hockey team won gold yesterday. Well, at least we got it and hopefully the men's team can turn it around tonight against the Czech team.

In local news:
- There are plans for new transit routes in the outlying areas of Saint John. They said that one of the stops would be at the Westfield store (near my house) and Sobeys in Grand Bay (my part-time job). They also said that they wanted to make the stops on the East, West and near the Uni/Hospital have buses coming by every ten minutes. Sounds ambitious and I may even use the service a bit if it works with my schedule.

- I also heard on CBC this morning that the YMCA plans to buy the Canada Games Aquatic Centre.

Anyways, I'll probably post again later in the day if I take a small break and find some cool/interesting stuff.

Listening to: The Flaming Lips - "Haven't Got A Clue"

2006-02-20T10:52:00.000-04:00

- Great, I just went outside and someone dinged the passenger side door on my car. Fucker!

- Been fooling around with the template a bit this morning. I think I'll stick with this one.

- Women's hockey final between Canada and Sweden starts at 3:30 pm. Can't wait.

Cool Stuff for Monday, February 20, 2006

3D Paint Jobs - I wish my office looked like one of these.

A Real Transformer - another example of real transformers. I've seen a lot of videos in the last few years of different robots like this. The geeks shall inherit the earth!

Listening to: "Perhaps Vampires Is A Bit Strong But..." by Arctic Monkeys

2006-02-20T10:42:00.000-04:00

Well, it's another Monday morning at the ol' P&I office, but at least I get another big pay cheque this week. One of the best things that occured from working two jobs was that I get paid every single week. Though my Sobeys pay is usually pretty small from my 1 or 2 shifts a week, it is all spending money, which is great.

I'm sure few of you knew, but my main project for this work term was going to be coordinating UNB's side of a conference scheduled for April. This conference was going to be a gathering of all of the African students in New Brunswick and would've been a great learning experience. Unfortunately, because the politician in charge of this type of funding was recently changed when the government changed and he has decided to postpone any spending until he is up to par on everything. This means that the conference has to be postponed until the fall. I'm not really sure if I'll be working here in the fall. That is when my next work term starts and I think they would take me back in a second, but it all depends on where else I can get employment at. I'm even looking into maybe getting a job in Fredricton for a term.

And, to Brandon or anyone else wondering, Champagne from a Papercup is a song from Death Cab for Cutie. It was what I used as the title for this blog when I did it last year and, as I wasn't sure what to change it to, I left it. Any better ideas? If not, I'll probably just leave it. lol

Listening to: Symbolistic White Walls - Matthew Good

2006-02-14T14:22:00.000-04:00

It's the third post of the day and only now am I thinking to wish everyone a happy valentine's day. I even have a nice thing of smarties from my mother sitting on my desk reminding me that Feb. 14 is about chocolate.

I bought Sarah a nice flower and The Muppet Show: Season One

Have a good day and, if you don't have anyone to celebrate with, there's always cybersex <3 . lol

listening to: Sleater-Kinney - "Anonymous"

2006-02-14T13:57:00.000-04:00

I forgot to mention that most of this blog will probably be extremely geeky because, well, I am.

Ever since movies and tv had become available on Kazaa, I've watched less and less tv on an actual set. Now that torrents are the new "it" Peer2Peer device and most programs are available by the next day if not earlier (within an hour or less in some cases), I have found myself downloading shows. It should come as no surprise to anyone that the fat cats in the industry don't like it, but it does help to think about how easily they usually pass off other technologys. Say, for instance, when they said that the TV would go nowhere? That the VCR was a bad idea? That the VCR was here to stay and that it would not be replaced by some "disc"?

Though I have not yet purchased any tv shows now that some networks have realized the capabilities and are offering them for sale for video iPods, I can see this as the future. Even TorrentSpy's owner and administrator, Justin, has come out saying that their secondary goal is get involved in the distribution of authorized, licensed content such as music, television, and video.

Though I enjoy being able to test out music/TV/movies before I buy them, I do intend to support the creation of media. I know it's a tired argument, but I sincerely believe that I have purchased music by bands I would never have heard of before the era of Napster and tv shows on dvd that I never would have seen since I don't have HBO and wouldn't have blindly spent $30+ on.

currently listening to: HorrorPops - It's Been So Long

technology = the best waste of time ever

2006-02-14T10:07:00.000-04:00

I tried blogging a few years back with livejournal and then again last year with blogger, but boredom and a need to write has persuaded me back into it again. I guess.

I'll probably fill this with randomness and, in the least, it will entertain me.