Gatsby's

Had a nice little night out at Gastby's with some friends. Drinking, pool, fun stories. It's been a while since we've all been together. It's quite nice.

So back in the city after a long few days in the valley. I really don't know what to do with myself there. It seems like there's never anything going on! As a result, I am often quite bored and tend to play video games the whole time.

The ladies there are a little peculiar as well. There are attractive women in the valley, but to me, there's always something just a little bit off to them. I can't quite put my thumb on it. It's just a little strange. I dunno.

Well happy New Year, y'all.

Trip to the Airport, Christmas Party

Picked up a friend from the airport on Christmas Eve. Completely normal pick up, eh? 'Cept the guy in the giant rooster costume. But this is a classic Halifax Airport pickup to me. Last time I was down, there was someone in a MacPass costume... I'm not sure why.

The next day I went to a Christmas party which was extremely okay. Tons of people, I didn't really know, which would have been fine on its own if they weren't so goony. Some people brought fireworks though, which was pretty nice.

Sorry for the short post. Will get bak to you in the future!

Car Bumpers, the Market and a Dazzling Example of Christmas Trash Reuse

Just thought I'd start this off by showing this picture of a van that I walked by this week. I'm not sure if I'm more surprised at the fact that this happened to this poor guy, or by the fact that this seemed like a normal thing to see on the streets of Halifax these days.

Whatever the case may be, I thought it was pretty funny.

Went to the market this weekend with my friend Sarah. Got there early to avoid the crowds. Or at least we tried to. The place was approaching 90% capacity when we got there. Sarah didn't get much, but I was able to get my hands on some potatoes, some Valley apples, flowers and some wonderful looking Cat-Grass. I'm also taking care of my neighbors plants while she is away with family over the Christmas Break. I'm not a particularly successful horticulturist, but I'm hoping that these plants don't kick the bucket under my purview. Fingers crossed... fingers crossed.

I found the picture (below) on Spacing:Atlantic. What a wonderful way to reuse old laundry containers and caps! If I ever find my way out of debt and buy a house, I would like to give this idea a try.

Doesn't it make you just want to cozy up and forget about the world?

Another post to come later this week!

Bike Center Ride

Went on Dal Bike Center's second ride. The weather was very strange! Isolated showers that rolled through, last ing no more than 15 mins... then all of a sudden, sunny with only partial clouds!

Some pics of the day are below.

Dandy!

Sexy group of cyclists right there!

Overall a great ride! I hope I get some turnout tomorrow for Sunday Funday!!!

I had to pop-off shortly thereafter though as I had a meeting with my group-mate from school about a project we've been working on. This term is literally going to make me want to vomit or commit suicide.

Keep it real, y'all!

Sunday Rides, Parade of Lights

Went out to check out the Parade of Lights last night with Jables and her family. It was pretty cool. I was thrilled to see there were two sections with a sci-fi theme (Hali-Con and Strange Adventures). Great times. To the person dressed as Princess Leah: I would totally fight through the dangerous swamps of Dagobah just to see a sliver of your cleavage!

I'll leave you with a picture of the money-float.

Went on a whicked bike ride today out to the Hydrostone. The weather was incredible! Stopped into Jullienne's Bakery where the spread was divine!

The ensuing croissant and tea was so good, I felt like all the stress and tension I was holding through the week just melted away.

I then crossed through the commons on the way home. Nice to see people still out playing soccer and football and frisbee. I wish more people would have come out with me!

Then I took a few minutes to watch what was going down at the Skate park.

Overall a fantastic morning!!! It's weird but having the morning to myself really made my day seem longer. I got a bunch of work done for school and for my bike group! I can't wait to go next weekend! Hope you guys will join!

Grawood sucks, Halloween Crankiness

So I've put up a photo of my Friday night at the Grawood from a few weeks ago. Dead, dead bar! I swear there were maybe 20 people in the room, the music sucked, drinks --not so good. This really confirms to me that this place sucks.

A couple of days later I went out for Halloween (I know I'm quite behind on my blogging) and saw this character walking up the street. I'm usually alright with guys on stilts, but this particular guy on stilts for whatever reason freaked me out. He then tried to catch a bus home, but the bus-driver wouldn't let him on with his stilts. Total discrimination!

What do you guys think?

The Hole, Jenn Grant, Timber Timbre

What an exciting end of week I've been having. The guest speaker we had in from Portland was incredible. If only Halifax was as proactive about cycling issues. As soon as I'm able to get those videos digitized, I will post a link to them.

Before I go further: I have a little bit of an update to show you, my pretties! The hole is being filled! The Trillium is really starting to come together. I pass the whole weekly on my bike, and to be honest, I've joined the habit of my fellow neighbors. First I get off my bike and take slow careful steps to the edge. When I'm close enough to the fence, I reach out and curl my fingers around the cold metal mesh and take a long, hard look down.

I think I wouldn't mind living here when it's done.

But I went to a show last night with my friend, Jables. It was part of HFX Pop Explosion 2009. The artists of the night were Timber Timbre and Jenn Grant. Jenn was marvelous! She came out in the audience to play her last song, and I was able to snag some very neat photo's of her while she was closeby. A couple are below. I really like how they turned out.

I used to go to Jenn's shows on a weekly basis. There was one night that she performed at Queen Elizabeth High School before it closed down (Jabes came out with me on that night as well). Anyways, this was a CD launch party. I really liked the show, but my heart broke a little because I knew she was going to fly away and do tours all over the place. I was pretty bang on. Up until tonight, I hadn't seen her at a show for nearly 3 years.

I was very happy to see her again.

The opener however was very impressive! Timber Timbre was the name of the band. I haven't heard anything like it. It seems like they concentrate meticulously on the most miniscule things in their songs. They are very good at establishing a very macabre tone in their audience, not just through the lyrics of the songs, but through the composition as well. I will try to set up a link to the recordings I subversively and secretly made during the show last night.

I saw a great band on Friday night as well! They were called the Stogies, and in the right hands, they will make a big impact in Canada music scene. I'd suggest you check out their MySpace page, but the recordings they have on there really do not do them justice. If you do check it out, make a point to write down the time and location of their next show... go to WalMart and buy a protective face mask and birth control... and then attend the show. Why the face mask and BC, you ask? Because if not, the sheer awesomeness of their sound will blow your face off and get you pregnant!

Good night everyone!

Rough Ride for Halifax Critical Mass

Last month's Critical Mass ride got tangled up with the police last month. I can't say I'm surprised, as police involvement is usually involved in many rides to some capacity. What frustrates me is the borderline split personality disorder of Halifax Police. Some months they are kind and courteous towards the Mass, and even escort us during the ride. Other times they are aggressive and very grabby, which is a scary thing when you are on a medium-paced ride with two wheels. I've even had one officer on a motorcycle come up from behind me while I was stopped and try to push me over. I know enough at this point that if you get nabbed by the cops, you get asked 20 questions, none of which you can really give a good answer to, they get frustrated, ask for your ID, rifle through their little law book in their cars and promptly fine you for something. In response to his push, I steadied myself and busted out of there.

Three people were fined last month however, which lead to a "Critical Mass Meeting". A handful of people including myself showed up. It was nice to see that people care about what happened and want to help out the people who got fined.

On another cycling note, the Halifax Cycling Coalition was contacted by the US Consulate General last month about a city planner that will be in Halifax at the end of the week. Roger Geller has been the Bicycling Planner for the City of Portland, OR for the past 15 years. If you don't know about Portland, it's essentially THE cycling Mecca in the US. It will be nice to see and hear what ideas would be feasible in Halifax. He's also meeting with the HRM Active Transportation Advisory Committee. I hope he inspires them to invest their efforts into getting Halifax a Bicycle planner of it's own. I made a poster for this event that I will try and attach below.

That's about it from me. Keep it real you guys!

Duathlon, Bikes are Cool, Nice House

I went and did another race this weekend. It was pretty alright --a duathlon in Riverport (about an hour or so away). Lots of crazy expensive and good looking bikes. Even though I find my own bike quite fetching, there were some very cute other bikes there. At the end of the day, I wished I had a good $10 000 to drop on a sexy carbon fiber bicycle. Something fast and firm!

If you would like more double-entendres, please leave a comment.

The above pictured bike is my OCR3. The OCR line was meant to be an entry level competitive road bike, which has since been discontinued, and revamped into the new line: Defy. It's kind of like the Toyota Tercel transforming into the Toyota Corolla. The 3 (inversely) indicates the degree of performance you will get out of the bike. The OCR2 for example has lighter wheels and some more carbon fiber than the OCR3, making it a little stiffer as well (stiffness = more power transfered directly to the drivetrain). My bike makes me sad however. I don't really think of it as a "he" or "she" as some people tend to see their own bikes. I have not named it either. I sometimes think "What if my bike does have a personality that it wants to have expressed." If this is true, it must be depressed.

On another note, I met an old friend for supper in Bridgewater the night before the race. We used to go to classes at Dal together, and he's just gotten back from a big trip up north. Upon telling him that I was planning on roughing it in my car by the start/finish line, he urged me to stay at his brothers place for the night. My biggest props go out to you big guy! What a dynamite house!

Well that's it from me. Stay real everyone! I mean it... if anyone wakes up as a mannequin tomorrow, I will flip the fuck out.

Friday Night

So here's a little bit of a story.

Went out on Friday to a bar, as I do on occasion. I do this solo, because it's literally me heading out to have 2-3 beers/ciders and watch some sports on the TV. To me, this is incredibly boring, but I don't have cable anymore, and the alternative is staying at home, sitting around, looking around. So really it's a treat to me.

ANYWAY. I went out and met the fellow pictured above. Apparently he is in a management position at a social club based at one of the Universities around here. Pretty snappy dresser, eh? Yeah, he was pretty krunk. So at eventually he looks over at me and tells me his name and about his job and whatnot. I thought I'd be nice and have some conversation with this guy. No big deal, right? So I'm talking to him and he suddenly goes "Okay... I'm a pretty big geek, and this is really difficult, you know? Meeting people? I don't really do it." I said I didn't mind, and he started on about how he's really into the universe and was talking about how quantum mechanics is a frustrating thing, because even if you think you know something, you can never actually see if you are correct.

So he's starting to get energetic, and he's looking to jump over to another bar downtown when his lady-friend comes to see what he's upto. Remember how he was dressy? This lady dressed casual. Like really casual. 70% Thug, even! He turns to her and she makes a little surprised face after looking at him. Then he says to her "This is my friend. This is hard for me," to which she replies "It's okay. You're a geek, but that's fine! You're a cool interesting guy. Now let's get going to Masq." She had a pretty supportive, reassuring tone. I was a little confused and asked how they knew each other: *Awkward pause*. I asked if they worked together: *Uproarious laughter from both*. Then he leans in and says: "We fuck together." I said "ohhhhhhhhh-okay," as though I'm used to hearing this kind of thing. The lady then, still laughing a little, leans in and says, "You know, you should come with us. My girls will be there. I'm sure you'll be able to hit it off with one of them." She told me they had been up at the Marylin Manson concert early to "see what they could get" but then planned to hit this Masq place. I asked her if she was comfortable having her girls go to MM alone. She laughed a bit again, like I was the only one not privy to an inside joke. She said "Oh, they're not my kids. They're my girls. Like my girls..."

So really... I think I may have met a prostitute on Friday. Your thoughts?

I got back a little later than I wanted. I was nice and drunk tho and decided to have a smoke. Often when I'm drunk, I look across the street and see this house. More than any other house I've known, this house makes me think of a giant, smiling head. I sometimes say to myself "Come on, you're being silly... it's not like it's going to eat you." Then another part of me thinks, "Are you nuts? That's precisely what the house wants you to think! Then when you least expect it, it's gonna gobble you up!"

Needless to say, I don't walk on that side of the street. Ever. In mental health, we call this a delusion. I on the other hand call it prudent thinking.

Quick Notes

I've been having some pretty jam-packed weeks as of late. I'll only be able to throw up some quick notes about last week.

This is a picture of one of my classes. I find I'm taking a lot of time to look around at everyone these days. If you ask me why I would be doing such a thing, I might say that it's our last year together, and I'm going to miss some of these people. In reality, I'm looking around at everyone and trying to guess what they are thinking about when I'm looking at them. What to do this weekend? Worrying about a test later today? Trying to figure out whether or not to buy those new shoes?

Don't get the shoes. We both know you have like 6 pairs in your closet that you never wear and this will only add to the pile.

Archie or Archie's Comics: American Golden-boy or World most prolific womanizer?

I did a Century over the weekend. 100 miles (162+ kms) of pure biking fun. If I ever get around to making a short video about it, I'll try to post it up here.

And finally... I've recently found out that the #3 bus is probably the best way for me to get home. It's usually empty and never stops at bus stops for this simple reason: no one knows where the hell it's going! The name of the route is pretty ambiguous (Manors). I've lived here for about 6 years now, people have told me where the different Manors are. I gotta tell ya, it's just in one ear and out the other.

So try the 3! You'll be glad you did! But don't all of you try at once. Because seriously... I wanna get home, start supper... maybe get some laundry done... have a drink or two... read maybe?

Long Week, Dartmouth's Alderny to Woodside Trail, the Morning Ride

Man what a brutal week. School is in full swing, and it's really putting the breaks on my life here. This one week has felt like it's 14 days long. However, I'm quite sure the weekend will feel far too short.

So the people that say "the only good thing bout Dartmouth is the view of Halifax" are dead wrong! I'm biking in to the NS for my clinical days now and they have a 50% decent Trail there. Only 50% because really it's only 50% completed. But it is a doozey!

Nice little fence there. But in all honesty, my fave thing about it is, in fact, the view of Halifax.

Even though it looks far away in this picture, it's quite a nice sight to wake you up in the morning.

So I guess there is some merit to that statement.

Farmers Market

Did something for the first time in a long time: went to the Market this weekend. The place was packed as always. If anyone is unsure of why the Market wants a bigger building, you definitely have to check it out for yourself.

This was a big outing for me as I think I've developed a touch of agoraphobia. But for whatever reason, I really like going to the market. I wonder why?

The rest of my weekend was uneventful. Jables and I hung out for a little bit. In fact it took me well over 40 minutes to decide to actually hang out with her. I also took the chance to visit my friend's new apartment. To be honest I'm a little jealous. I wish I had a swanky new pad. Instead I'm stuck in a basement apt. which I think has the same feel as that hobbit-hole that Yoda lived in while we was exiled on Planet Dagobah.

That's right folks: A LOTR's and a Star Wars joke combined. I hope I didn't blow your faces off too bad.

Business Casual, Mental Health Placement

Another year has started, another placement: begun. This time, instead of my regular scrubs, I had to don a "business casual" look. Not having had anything close to an office job, I'm not sure what this entailed. Did I pull it off? I think the belt buckle speaks for itself.

This placement is revolving around mental health. I was seriously dreading this rotation going in to it, but now that I've been there for a couple days, I'm figuring out it's not so bad. These hospitals aren't filled with nut-cases. Just people who really seem like typical Joes and Janes that want to get better.

One other thing that is fun about this clinical as a whole is the Ferry Ride home. It really gives you a time to decompress and offers a physical distinction between clinical mode and life mode. Something of an inwardly turned catharsis.

Other than that, nothing going on this week. Working through the weekend, but at least I get to sleep in tomorrow. Might pop down to the market.

School, the Hole, Critical Mass and Alberta Healthcare Prequels

I've never really experience this before at the Killam. I think it's what they call the calm before the storm.

Really used to seeing this place packed to the brim with fledgling academics. Today things were empty, and as calm as a cucumber. This is in stark contrast to what this week has been like. Major problems getting the schedule worked out (final year nursing students have started already), and just dealing with what to expect this year.

I'm sure gonna be glad when this is all over.

I've really wanted to talk about this spot for a while now. It's literally a gigantic 30-40 foot hole that will be filled with a rather swanky looking apartment building. But until then, and especially on hot days, people have flocked to this hole in droves. They're really keen on taking it all in for some reason. Maybe they are throwing their troubles in there. Perhaps they think that if these guys dig any deeper, some sort of Godzilla like monster (or perhaps the fire creature from the Lord of the Rings) will pop out, and they will be the first line of defense for Halifax. Other times I think (the majority of the people watching being men) that they are just enjoying the machoism behind the use of the big machines and whatnot. Looking at the sides of the bedrock and just saying to themselves: "What's that, reinforced with rebar? Yeah. That'll hold."

Attended the last Critical Mass and have been keeping an eye on what's going on with healthcare in Alberta (thanks to the info available from an Alberta-bound roommate), so definitely look for some rantings next week.

Co-op Over

No pictures to share today.

A low flying jet passed directly over the hospital last week. The sound was pretty intense, and actually caused a bit of trouble with our patients. They jumped out of bed, pulled their stitches and staples, and required some dressing changes.

I heard 7 people woke up from comas due to the noise.

My 10 week co-op has finally ended. It was a great time. Met a lot of people. Made more money than I ever have in my life. It was pretty sweet, and I'm quite sure I'm going to miss a lot of the people I was working with there. That night I was hit simultaneously with an incredible feeling of accomplishment and exhaustion. Going back to school for another few months before this degree is all over. Not looking forward to it.

We were "hit" by a "hurricane" yesterday. A lot of people really went out of their way to batten down the hatches. But what some people call a "hurricane", I called typical Atlantic weather. This is what people in Atlantic Canada look forward to though: their small towns and cities being pulverized by major weather patterns with names. They secretly crave this because it'll give them something to talk about for upwards from 5 years. Remember Juan? That was a hurricane that hit in 2003... and people STILL love talking about it!

Anyway, I was disappointed that Bill couldn't live up to the hype. Mainly because it would have given me something more substantial to talk about today.

Bummer

Trivia Night and an Old friend

Went to Rogues Roost yesterday for Trivia Night. Always a good time in my books. Having tried trivia at other places in town, the degree of difficulty and atmosphere at Rogues is something that is lacking at other trivias.

We were creamed though. Came close to winning (or at least tying) in 2 rounds, but were blown away in the last. Still good fun...

Good food...

Dynamite Drinks!

An old friend and his fiancee paid us a visit last night too! It was nice to see them. Used to live with this guy down on Rowe Ave., in Fairmount. Miss those days when our group was still tight-knit and together. Now we got a bunch of us in Vancouver, some in Toronto... even London, England! I guess they couldn't stick around Halifax much anymore...

Ya bunch a queers...

Heading into work this weekend. Curious to see if one of our 'guests' is still around. He was touch and go at the start of the week there.

My cushy summer job is almost at an end as well. Back to the drudges of school work. I know there is just a few months left. Less than a year even! But something deep down inside is telling me that the remaining time I have in school is going to be a major drag.

Wish me luck, folks.

Nearly Hit by Idiot Female Motorist, Zombie Walk

Here's something quite irritating. Biking up Barrington, when some lady was coming off the side street. She failed to stop at the stop sign and pulled out right in front of me. Had to jam the breaks hard, the bike started flipping forward, but luckily I landed it. The back wheel hit hard on the street though and had to be replaced. Put me out a good $60.

The lady clearly saw me coming up (we made eye contact) and saw that I was too close to pull out. If I hadn't have landed the fall, I would have definitely hit the car. Needless to say, after knowing she had caused me to fly off my bike, I heard her accelerate up the road and out of sight. Really nice of her.

While I was waiting for my back tire to be replaced, something quite strange came up the street.

Yes. Halifax has a zombie walk. It was pretty fun to watch. I was amazed at the sheer amount of nice dresses that the ladies were wearing for this event. I'd imagine they'd be put to better use at a job interview so these kids could make it in the big leagues. At the very least, they could wear them around the street corners at night and try to turn some well paying tricks.

I actually ran into an old friend of mine who was in the walk. It was nice to see an old friend out of the blue like that...

Well maybe not like that.

Had a few drinks to cap off the day with Jabes and her sister. Why they would make a patio looking out toward Chain Lake Dr. in Bayers Lake, I do not know.