Hello my foreign friends. If you visit my website a lot, you'll notice that there have been some important changes to the blogs that are on the website. If not, more information can be found here. Anyway, it has been a long time since I've last updated my blog, which means that this blog update alone could take hours to read, or minutes, if you just skim through it.
But before I go into detail about the boring details of my life, there are many things on my mind that I would like to get off my chest...
The first thing is the general election that will occur in Britain on May 6, 2010. As you may or may not know, Gordon Brown and his Labour government are pretty unpopular in Britain at this time, and on Tuesday, he dissolved Parliament, setting the stage for a general election on May 6, 2010, which is the date an election must occur (either on that day or before). Now, if you remember, many Labour MPs were involved in a scandal that involved claiming expenses on things such as repairs to swimming pools and dog food. However, this year's election is going to be unpredictable, as Labour has a pretty high chance of being replaced by the Conservatives. However, the Conservatives haven't enjoyed poll numbers decent enough to form a majority government, which is something Canada has not seen in an election since 2000. At this point, if Labour wins with a minority government (or hung Parliament as they call it over there), they may decide to reach out to the Liberal Democrats and work with them. But if the Conservatives win, we will have to see how long they last before another election is triggered, either by a motion of non-confidence, or a defeat of the budget. If the British elect a minority government, it will be the first since 1974. Now, that fact is getting old and boring. What's really interesting to me, however, is the fact that Britain will have its first televised debates, ever. Thankfully, they're not copying Canada's format, as Canada's format is terrible, and should not include the Bloc Québécois. Those televised debates will air on April 15, 22 and 29. Now, aside from that, Gordon Brown recently promised a referendum on an overhaul to the electoral system in Britain if elected, which could include switching from a first-past-the-post system to a system that involves proportional representation, which would require a candidate receive more than 50% of the votes in their riding to be elected, and giving citizens the right to "recall" their elected officials, which were things the Liberal Democrats have been wanting to do for years. However, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, has said that he has no interest in forming a coalition with Labour. In my opinion, what Mr. Brown is proposing is a terrible idea, because it would make it harder for people to be elected. However, I live in Canada, and this does not really affect me. But as a Canadian, I would be very upset if Canada adopted an electoral system of proportional representation. Why? Well, let's just say that I was part of a political party called the "Eye-patch Wearing Party of Canada," whose goal is to make it law for every single Canadian citizen to wear an eye-patch and talk like a pirate. Well, as a potential Member of Parliament for the Eye-patch Wearing party that could be elected with 35% of the vote, I think I'd rather work for 35% of the votes than 50% of the votes, as less work is involved. So as you can see, I am against proportional representation, as it may hamper my own efforts to someday run for office in Canada. However, at this point, with that aside, I am hoping that Conservative leader David Cameron wins the election.
The next thing I would like to discuss is the recent launch of the iPad in the United States, which has reportedly sold hundreds of thousands already. I have only one word to describe the phenomenon: LAME! That's right, it's stupid. Why? Well, when I first heard that Steve Jobs, and Apple, would be introducing something new, I was a little excited. But when I learned that it would be the iPad, or an "iPhone on steroids," I dismissed it as useless, and still stand by my belief that it is indeed useless, and whoever buys the iPad must be as crazy as Steve Jobs. Anyway, for those of you who like the idea of an iPad and are willing to buy it, but also live in Canada, it will be available for you to purchase before the end of the month.
Moving on, 2010 is an exciting year for construction activity in Saskatoon. I, for one, am excited about the Circle Drive South Bridge project, which will complete Circle Drive and make it a complete loop around the city. That is exciting beyond comprehension, as there are times I will never have to go downtown again to get to my uncle's house in Stonebridge, where my cousins Ky, Tho and Tony live. But in addition to that, there will be hotels constructed. Soon, construction will begin on a new Holiday Inn hotel at the corner of 22nd Street East and Pacific Avenue, replacing a temporary parking lot that replaced the Pacific Cinemas that previously occupied the site before it relocated to the current Galaxy Cinemas at the corner of 2nd Avenue South and 20th Street East. Right now, however, construction is currently on-going at the Bridgewater Hotel on 22nd Street West, as well as the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel in Stonebridge, which is expected to open next month. But, what I'm really excited about is the pending construction of River Landing Village, which includes a hotel that could possibly be a Courtyard hotel.
Up next, there is a story that's going around that indicates that Prime Minister Stephen Harper will not be renewing Governor General Michaëlle Jean's term as Governor General, and I think that's kind of a shame. But, as Prime Minister of Canada, he does have every right to replace her if he wants, even if this situation will be my first disagreement with Mr. Harper. I like Michaëlle Jean as Governor General, but not because of her race. I like her because she shows compassion and a seemingly-true appreciation of Canadian culture and society. In fact, I think she is a hell of a lot better than Adrienne Clarkson. And as for my views about Michaëlle Jean, other Canadians may not like her for the same reasons as I do, but it is clear that a majority of Canadians that were polled have said that they do indeed like Michaëlle Jean and that she is doing a good job of being the Governor General of Canada, and it would be a shame to see her replaced. Besides, politically-speaking, Michaëlle Jean has done a lot more than Adrienne Clarkson has ever done, in my opinion. Michaëlle Jean has gone through three elections that have resulted in minority governments in Canada, and was at the centre of a constitutional crisis in late 2008 that almost saw a Liberal-NDP coalition (the first in Canadian history) with the support of the Bloc Québécois come to power without an election. If you ask me, going through something like that makes Michaëlle Jean one heck of a Governor General. But now, let's presume that Michaëlle Jean does get replaced and that Mr. Harper is set on his decision to replace her, who will the next Governor General of Canada be? People have suggested Rick Hansen, while others have rumoured that it could be Captain Kirk from Star Trek (real name William Shatner). But whoever it is, I probably won't like them as much as Michaëlle Jean. And as for Paul Martin, the then-Liberal-prime-minister that appointed her to the post of Governor General in 2005, that's probably the best thing he did while he was the Prime Minister of Canada. But, if it were up to me, I would appoint someone incredibly lazy. Sadly, Reverend Nathan Dutnall has said that he would not want to become the Governor General of Canada unless he is allowed to slack on the job. So, who does that leave us with? Well, I asked Peter Poorman the same question, but he also declined.
Recently, I received an email from kodakgallery.ca about something called "photo cheese." Yes, you can have your picture on cheese that people would eat! If you don't believe me, click here to read the email.
And more recently, I was told about a weblog called "Dead Man Eating Weblog," which features the names of death row inmates in the United States and their last meal requests, and I must say that some inmates had a selection of interesting foods, such as onion rings, strawberry cake and fried chicken... the basics. Man, these inmates were crazy. If I were to be executed, my last meal request wouldn't be something as lame as onion rings, strawberry cake or fried chicken; it would be something extravagant, such as an expensive steak, lobster tails and cheesecake. To check out the blog, you can click here.
Now, speaking of blogs, there is a post here that you may find hilarious. It's a blog post from Steve Janke about a Canadian woman who is convinced that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is part of a conspiracy to somehow drive her insane with the use of Toronto's fire and ambulance services. Based on what I have read so far, it has been hilarious, but I have yet to read the entire post. However, I do encourage you to check it out.
Now, the moment you have all been waiting for... my boring life...
Since my last blog update, things have been interesting. At that time, Members of Parliament had just agreed to scrap all "ten-percenter"-mailings, meaning that MPs were not allowed to use taxpayer money to send stuff outside of their ridings. Well, as "good" as that may seem, I am going to miss seeing Jack Layton's partisan mail-outs, because they are usually funny. On March 22, I was asked an important question: "If you went to another city where they had a contest winning a free trip to Saskatoon, would you enter it?" Well, if I were in that situation, I would have to say yes, because it is nonsensical and would have contest organizers asking "What the hell is wrong with this guy?!" And before the end of the day, I faced a major hurdle while planning my trip to Ottawa.
Later that week (Wednesday), I found out the mystery behind the name of Indratmo. For months, I have been wondering... was that his real name, and was that his only name? When I asked Indratmo if his name were real, he explained: "Yes, that is my real name." When I asked him if he had a first name or last name, he just said, "I have only one name, for now," which opens up another mystery... does he plan to change his name to something less cool soon? Based on the fact that he only has one name, I am going to assume that he is Indonesian. Now, speaking of one-names, there's another guy out there with only one name: Stilgherrian, although it is not as cool as Indratmo. After finding out the "mystery" behind Indratmo's name, I eventually went home, and this is where things got interesting. Why? Well, after checking my PO box at the Shoppers Drug Mart store on 22nd Street West, I boarded Saskatoon Transit route 2 (8th Street) to go home. The transit operator was late. However, that was only one pet peeve. Everything, besides the lateness, seemed fine, as the transit operator travelled south along Witney Avenue South, then headed west on 20th Street West then headed south on Winnipeg Avenue South. At this point, things got stupid, as city crews had shut down Winnipeg Avenue between 18th Street and 19th Street. So, this is where the transit operator was considered a "dumb ass." Instead of moving forward and going around the closed street, he went an opposite direction and skipped a bus stop (this is bad because it was "cold" that day and there was a woman with a baby in a stroller that he missed), as well as three city blocks. To see the usual route via Google Maps that was affected, click here. To see the suggested route, click here. To see the "new" route the transit operator took, click here.
And by the end of the week, I found myself finishing a ten-paged essay on Thursday night when it was due on Friday morning. As a result, I had a very tiring Thursday evening and a very tiring Friday morning, and also learned something very valuable: when a professor gives you an entire month to finish an eight-to-ten-paged essay, you should probably start as soon as possible, instead of waiting two weeks to get books and then start typing three days before the due date. However, this lesson will probably be forgotten over the summer months. However, despite the lesson learned, March 26, 2010 would be a special and important day: it was the last day the Marriott global reservations centre in Saskatoon would be open. The centre closed at 10:30 pm on Friday, March 26, 2010, thus marking the end of an era of reservationists working in an office in Saskatoon. Also, unofficial results for the recent USSU elections were released, and Chris Stoicheff will be USSU President for the 2010-to-2011 academic school year.
Saturday, March 27, 2010 was another interesting day that involved me bringing my evil cousins Ky and Tho over to my house. That day, I didn't have to work because I eventually had some personal business to attend to, and nobody was willing to take my shift. As a result, I was forced to use an "unpaid sick" day. But, before the end of the day, Ky left his Nintendo DS Lite at my house, meaning I got a free Nintendo DS Lite. And eventually, I got my mom's friend to be my guarantor for my passport application. Sadly, I had to go through the entire application process again, as I failed to renew my passport in 2007, when I was still able to use the simplified renewal form and pay only $57 instead of the $87 I had to pay now.
The week of March 29 to April 2 was an interesting week. On Monday, I saw a 2002 New Flyer D40LF sitting in front of the Place Riel Student Centre at school, leaking fluids. This situation clearly proved Alex Short's point that New Flyer buses suck. But as a Saskatoon Transit passenger, I refuse to believe that. Meanwhile, Tuesday, March 30 was the last day of sociology class for the term. But, during the class, I learned that although the poutine is not offered at McDonald's, it is offered in locations in Quebec. So, when I visit Ottawa, I plan to cross the river over to Gatineau to have one... and while I consume that poutine, I will call up my cousin Tho and tell him that I'm having a poutine, just to spite him, because I am evil... and because he is evil to me. Also, that was the same week that the Circle Drive South Bridge project was approved, and I couldn't be more excited. At some point during the week, I was planning my trip to Ottawa and was looking for the closest Petro-Canada station to the Ottawa International Airport. During my search, I found that there was one station that offered Krispy Kreme donuts. So, I headed on over to their website and found that their Canadian head office is located in Manitoba, but interestingly enough, there were no Krispy Kreme locations in Manitoba, or any of the prairie provinces for that matter. Anyway, another interesting thing I found while researching dim sum restaurants in Ottawa was that there is one restaurant in particular that seems to have a "bad rap." That restaurant is the Sea King Shark Fin Seafood Restaurant. And later that week, I found a portable trailer that told people how fast they were travelling on campus. However, they placed the device in the most useless spot, ever: the Place Riel bus loop. Now, on the morning of March 31, 2010, I was reading about a charter airline called Skyservice Airlines on that fancy Wikipedia website for some general information because I was bored. Later that same day, the airline filed for bankruptcy and ceased all operations immediately. Strange coincidence, isn't it? Now, although the timing was funny, I was disappointed later that day when I learned that the Portrait Gallery of Canada doesn't exist. Oh yeah, I did visit Jesse Sayese at his workplace that day too. April 1 was April Fools' Day, as well as payday. However, the first thing I noticed was that I was not paid enough for the hours I worked. In fact, I was short by about six hours... and sadly, it was not an April Fools' Day joke. But on the bright side, I had no classes at all that day. However, that didn't stop me from visiting the campus because there were things I needed to do. While there, I saw an interesting safety alert. Of course, I also worked four entire hours on that Thursday, April 1, 2010. It wasn't an April Fools' Day joke, unfortunately. But, the highlight of the day was when I received something that I thought was a card of some sort. But when I opened it up, it was actually an angry letter disguised as a greeting card. Essentially, someone I know wrote me an angry letter and opened up their feelings, but wrote it on a card so that I would get excited and not expect an angry letter. The letter certainly took me by surprise, and I did not know what to say after reading it. And in case you were wondering, it does indeed have something to do with a previous romance and a friendship that hasn't been good in years.
Friday, April 2, 2010 was Good Friday. Sure, it was Friday, but it felt like a boring Sunday. But anyway, I spent part of the day visiting my cousins at my uncle's house before going home. But on the way home, I stopped at the Midtown Plaza to go to HMV. When I was there, I bought myself a CD featuring the sounds of the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games. My particular favourite song is the duet with Bryan Adams and Nelly Furtado titled "Bang the Drum." And while I was there, I decided to stop by Randy River to bug Tammy Poorman, but she was too busy to chat. Eventually, I went home and started to work a depressing eight-hour shift.
Saturday morning was a little bit different, I guess. I did stop by the Midtown Plaza, again. But this time, it was for an optometry appointment, and I told Tammy some interesting things about The Constitution Act, 1982, and she was surprised to learn that federal or provincial leaders or government have access to something called the notwithstanding clause, which would essentially allow the Prime Minister of Canada to override the Constitution. So, let's just say that the Government of Saskatchewan decided to throw Peter Poorman in prison because they "thought he was evil" and had no proof. Well, they could do that, but Mr. Poorman could challenge that, and it would eventually be considered unconstitutional. This is where the government would be out of luck, right? Wrong! They can invoke the notwithstanding clause and throw him in prison anyway! Yeah, Canada has the best Constitution, ever! Anyway, Saturday was interesting because of my cousins. After visiting the ophthalmologist for an eye exam, I left happy because I didn't need glasses, yet. So, I went to my uncle's house to visit Ky, Tho and Tony. Yeah, Tony was actually home. Eventually, we went to Burger King and stuffed ourselves to the extent that we were "full." But, before I went there, Tony "stole my car."
This past Sunday, I woke up feeling a sense of accomplishment, even though I did nothing. Then, I learned that Prime Minister Stephen Harper wanted to replace Governor General Michaëlle Jean with a new Governor General. And, of course, it was also Easter. Then, in the morning, I received a threatening phone call from Tony, who asked: "Huy, can I come over, please?!" And as much as I wanted to say no, he kept saying "Please, I won't annoy you." Eventually, after deciding that I missed him after not seeing him for a month, I grudgingly decided to say yes, and eventually went across town to pick up the evil young man, as well as his two older brothers, who smell funny. Eventually, I started to write a reply to that angry letter I received last week, which was mailed as of Monday morning.
On Monday morning, I was able to use the 3D feature on the Street View feature of Google Maps, and I have one word to describe its "greatness:" lame! But on Monday, I learned that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was expected to dissolve Parliament and call an election on Tuesday... and on Tuesday, he did just that, kicking off an unpredictable election campaign with the country's first televised leaders' debates, ever! Now, the exciting part is that it could result in a minority government, or as they call it over there in Britain, a hung Parliament.
On Tuesday, I visited the new Uptown Market grocery store downtown that opened on Monday. Although the store had Gyro Tech automatic doors, the store was still lame. However, for a small business, the store is downright impressive, for a small business. If I lived downtown, I would still do all of my grocery shopping at suburban stores, such as the Real Canadian Superstore. And on Tuesday, I started playing The Sims 3 again, but my video card kept failing every fifteen minutes or so, and I learned from AMD that the particular video card (ATI Radeon X1900) I was using wasn't officially supported by Windows 7, meaning that I may have to purchase a new video card that supports WDDM 1.1 features from Windows 7 for an error-free game-playing experience. At this point, I haven't made a firm decision yet, but will most likely do something about it, soon. And on Tuesday evening, I did some more trip-planning before going to bed.
Wednesday, meanwhile, was just another boring day, and my cousins came back from their pointless trip to Calgary. Eventually, I came over to their house to pick up some groceries that my mom had requested that their step-mother purchase. And while I was there, I swiped (with his permission, of course) my uncle's Sony NV-U83T nav-u GPS navigation system. So, out of boredom, I set it up in my car and decided to plug in my home address. It told me to take 22nd Street West to get home, even though taking 20th Street West would have been more economical and less time-consuming. So, I took a left turn at 20th Street from Idylwyld Drive to head west, and I presumed that the device would recalculate my route and give me new directions, like David's navigation system. Instead, it told me to take a right at Avenue B South and then head down to 22nd Street West, making me want to believe that my uncle either somehow "programmed" the device to avoid perceived-ghetto-areas or the device itself has a mind of its own and that it somehow learned that 20th Street is deemed unfavourable by pedestrians and drivers alike. Either way, my uncle's GPS navigation system sucks ass. So, when I took it home and decided to perform a software update on it, I wasn't able to. Why? Well, in 2008, they released the software with a version number of 3.02. However, you can only update it with the computer if you have version 3.00 on the unit. If you had 1.00 or 2.00, you would have to order a CD to install it manually. So, when I looked on the unit for the version number, it was 1.00, meaning that I could not update it that day. Now I'm wondering... should I just borrow David's?
Thursday was the official last day of classes at the University of Saskatchewan. But I had no classes, but that didn't stop me from going to the campus, because there were other things that I needed to do. Eventually, after getting my business done, I started to do some more trip-planning, and while "travelling" around Montréal, I found that they have a street named after René Lévesque... and I wonder, why the hell does that bastard have a street named after him? And later that day, it was sunny and beautiful out and I thought I saw Jeff Meville. Unfortunately, it wasn't him, but it was someone who looked similar to him. Yeah, this should show some people how much I really miss Mr. Meville, who I used to call on a weekly or occasionally bi-weekly basis to discuss nonsensical affairs. Then, Larry Chen suggested that I drive like a douche while I'm in Ottawa so that I could receive a traffic violation ticket. He stated that he would pay for it, it would entertain him and that I could keep the ticket as a souvenir from the City of Ottawa or Government of Ontario, depending on what type of violation would be committed. After giving the idea some thought, I have decided to say "hell no!" Now, the most kick-ass part of the day was when I received a letter from Rogers with an envelope that said "By Invitation Only: An Exclusive Savings Opportunity." Inside was a letter stating that I could choose from four smartphones for a low price. In addition to that, I could have the $35 upgrade fee waived, as well as two months of unlimited data. It's certainly something to think about, and I have decided that I may want the HTC Magic, which I can get for $29.99, instead of $79.99, as long as I sign a newer three-year agreement.
Friday was a windy day in Saskatoon, which also saw a lot of snow that wreaked havoc on city streets and covered many traffic signals. Thankfully, I did not have to go out for any reason whatsoever. Eventually, it was time to work at 3pm, but I had a "killer" headache and called off my shift. Eventually, that headache stopped, and by 6pm, I was feeling normal again, but it was too late to get back to work, so I spent the evening doing a little bit of studying for my final exams before watching Home Improvement, Friends, The Simpsons, South Park and local news on Global Saskatoon before going to bed, tired.
Yesterday was a lame day. I spent a good portion of the day at school in the basement of the Physics Building before heading out to Burger King at Preston Crossing for lunch. For that location, I must say that it is busier than the location at The Centre Mall. Anyway, after having lunch, I dropped by Ky and Tho's house for half an hour before heading home to work until 11:30 pm. So, yeah, my Saturday was filled with studying and working. How lame. Well, earlier, in the morning, I did pay a visit to the Real Canadian Superstore located at 2901 8th Street East to do some grocery shopping. And while I was there, I noticed that they had just started renovating the store. Now, as excited as I am about the renovations at the store, I am worried about one thing: my favourite old-school Gyro Tech automatic sliding doors. At the Confederation store, they replaced Stanley doors that had been installed for no more than seven years. If automatic sliding doors that were only seven years old were replaced by surprise overnight, then what chance do the Gyro Tech doors at the 8th Street store have of not being replaced? That is the only thing that I'm worried about.
Well, that's enough talk about my boring life. And since it is Sunday now, which means the start of a new week, there are things to look forward to, and things to dread. For starters, tonight, on FOX, there will be new episodes of my favourite animated television shows, including American Dad, which is premiering in a "time-period premiere," or its original timeslot, replacing Sons of Tucson, which has mysteriously disappeared from the schedule. At this point, I'm starting to think that Sons of Tucson just got cancelled, and I hope that it did, because that show is stupid. Tomorrow, there will be a new episode of Two and a Half Men. Also, tomorrow will be the launch of Adobe Creative Suite 5. And, now for the dreadful stuff... on Wednesday, I will write my first final exam of the term, which will be followed by two more weeks of writing finals on various days, with my last final ending on April 28, 2010. However, April 26, 2010 would be my mom's birthday, and I have yet to buy her a present. Then, at some point in time before the end of May, I will be getting a new phone that will allow me to do more than just talk. However, absolutely nothing will beat the fact that I will be going to Ottawa on May 1, 2010. Now that's exciting, and I can't wait! To see where I plan to go so far, click here. And yes, I am pretty organized, even if my plans don't always work out the way I want them too. Keep in mind that the "plan" that I've drafted so far is temporary and will go through many more tweaks/modifications before it is actually finalized.
Anyway, I hope that you have had fun reading my nonsensical blog post, but now I must bid you farewell. So, remember, DON'T GET RIPPED BY THE RIPTIDE! I'm Reverend Huy Dang, and thank you for reading.
