Jungle Boogie Boulevard

Well friday night I went to Vancouver to see Shy FX and MC Skibadee. I went with Ashley Chernoff, Jordan Frisky, Shawn Smewing, Steve Colome (sp?), Andrew Thornley, Aaron (DJ Halmut), and Nicole. The Dj that opended was pretty fun. As for the headliners, I thought Shy FX did a decent job with the beats, but nothing outrageous. And Skibadee, well he got the crowd going, but I don't think I really needed to hear him go off for the whole set. Moderation in everything. I did my share of dancing but started to burn out after a while. I was totally straight edge until the end of the night. After the club, we went to an after-party at some small warehouse downtown. About 50 ppl, better sound system than the club, and both Shy FX and Skibadee showed up, but there was some conflict between the DJs and after a little while, the two left, which was fine, cuz Skibadee's mic was turned up way to loud. I managed to summon some more energy and really throw down but then I burned out again. We got back to Nicole's in North Van and smoked weed until 7am when her sister got up for work. Saturday I made my way to the ferry. I'd started a new book, Path of the Peaceful Warrior, and I'm quite enjoying it, but I find the dialogue to be a bit tedious. It's supposed to be non-fiction, and I found the dialogue in Castaneda's (alleged) non-fiction to suffer from the same problem. Anyways, it was a great ferry ride. Not much win and a somewhat clear sky. I climbed onto the roof of the ferry and sat by a heat vent and just chilled out to the great view of Vancouver, Nanaimo, the Sunshine Coast, and the stars.

I really dislike the pharmaceutical industry. One example: Commericals for cough syrup telling you that if you drink their syrup, you'll still be able to have a normal day. While the claim is likely true, it suffers from deranged logic. You're not SUPPOSED to have a normal day when you're sick. You're supposed to take care of yourself. Eat right, get rest, drink fluids, etc. So when you mask the symptoms, you're pushing your body beyond it's limits and the only way you can handle it, is by numbing the pain. Pain exists for a reason, it tells you your limits. But because of the way our society works, you're expected to ahve a damn good reason for staying home, and if you do have a reason, you probably don't get paid for the day. Masking symptoms by taking cough syrup and similar products makes you MORE sick than if you didn't take them. I refuse to take pain killers except when really necessary. I don't mask symptoms, I attack the cause. Our medicinal system is too superficial, and we're suffering because of it.

Blast Femur

Well I finally have something to contribute regarding the countless hours of researching of Christianity that I've been doing. I seriously read articles for like an hour a day, trying to sort out the different denominations and major themes, and I read a few pages of the New Testament each night. While I do have opinions, I'm definitely not arrogant enough to share them on a public level such as this one. However, while my opinion incubates, check out this Wikipedia article on Original Sin. I like it because it summarizes nicely and it really illustrates the contrast between different perspectives. So far, I think I have a somewhat decent grasp on the basics of Lutheranism, the split between Protestant and Catholic, as well as the split between Catholic and Eastern Orthodox, Jehova's Witnesses, and a few others. If you really wanna see a funky hybrid of beliefs, check out the Essenes. They're unrelated to the historical group of the same name. A good site for cross-comparison, quick facts such as numbers, and all sorts of info, check out Religion Facts.

In other news, my hours at Save-On are dropping. Looks like they'l be hitting the low mark of 20hrs/wk, so I'm going to look around for other work. There seems to be growing conflict between the Union (UFCW) and the employer (Overwaitea Food Group). It's certainly no anomaly, it's happening everywhere these days, but I won't bore you with the details unless I can figure out an easy way to summarize it, once I fully understand the issue. It's definitely a polarizing issue though. The top manager at the store had a team huddle today and tried to spin things in favor of the employer, because he knew we'd all gotten a letter from the union giving us their perspective on the issue. So looking at people's reactions and talking to people afterwards, you can really tell how naive some people are, and who really gets it.

Check out this site. They deliver organic food to your door at a seemingly reasonable and competitive price, and they operate in Qualicum Beach, so they probably operate all over the place in Canada. I was getting something similar when I was in Golden fo rthe summer, and I loved it. A fresh bin of organic fruits and veggies every friday. It was so exciting to see what each new week brought in terms of variation.

As far as the election goes, the only new thoughts I have are that i'm defintiely happy that the NDP gained 5 seats in BC, 4 of which came from the Conservatives, so it's nice to see that BC has gone against the grian, i just wish it was in a riding I've lived in. Kamloops, Golden, and Qualicum all went Tory.

Well I must say I'm pretty saddened by the results. On the bright side, at least it wasn't a Conservative majority and at least the NDP gained about 10 seats. But on the other hand, while I didn't expect any Green candidates to actually win, I thought they would've gained a lot more than a 0.2% increase over the last election. Both my riding here on Vancouver Island of Alberni-Nanaimo and Golden's riding of Kootenay-Columbia went Conservative. I'm still intersted in seeing more detailed results. But overall, I'm defnitely choked. The reality of a Conservative government is setting in, which I realize scares me way more than a Liberal minority ever did. Possible private health care, more military, more buddy-buddy with the US, possible same sex marriage rollbacks. UGH! But the overall seats narrowed this time. Conservatives have less seats now than the Liberals had, and the NDP gained, but I'm sure that'll will probably jsut mean that nothing gets done, which of course can be good in some ways and bad in others. My biggest concern though is about electoral reform. It seemed that the Conservatives and NDP supported it, so godammit, there better be some fucking changes to the way my vote is counted.

If you're dumb enough to vote, then you're dumb enough to believe 'em

I pity the Americans. They have to put up with much longer election campaigns and they only have two major parties! Eight weeks has been more than enough for me to stay interested. I've decided to vote for the Green Party again. The NDP candidate here has a good chance of winning this riding, so I don't feel bad about not supporting him. To be honest, I just trust the Green Party more. Sure I buy what the NDP says, but it's what they don't say that I wonder about. I agree with what is said, but I know that if I were to dig a lot deeper, I'd find even more reasons not to feel bad about not voting strategically. I've been thinking all along about how my number one issue as always is the environment, but I think a close second would definitely be electoral reform. Canada's system of electing leaders is ridiculously outdated. We need Single Transferrable Voting, or at least some other method of proportional representation. Anyways, hope you vote. Let me know, anonymously if you wish, how you voted. I'd be interested in knowing the demographics of my reader(s).

That link didn't work. So the text to Bin Laden's new tape is HERE. I keep reading articles saying how he's obviously panicking and on the run, but that sounds like major spin to me. But then again, i don't personally know Osama.

Well that was a lovely 2.5hr visit to the dentist. I hope I never get another filling. Odds are against me though, since I've now had about 45. The whole issue of why my teeth enjoy such rampant decay is such a mystery to me. It makes no sense. I'm definitely gonna be flossing everyday though.

Before the dentist appointment, I went to a volunteer centre and they are trying to set me up to work with youth at risk. So I'm gonna give it a shot and go to the orientation and stuff like that. I'll let you know how thigns go once I actually spend time with some kid.

The Debate

Well the day I've been waiting for. There was an all candidates debate in Parksville tonight that my mom and I attended. It was a full house, although the average age was well over 50. In fact, of the hundereds of people tehre, less than 10 looked to be under the age of 25. Sad. There was no shortage of candidates. There was the Liberals, Conservatives, NDP, Greens, Christian Heritage Party, Canadian Action Party, Marxist-Leninist Party, and an independent.

Liberal Candidate - Dead in the water, weighted down by his party. Clinging to Paul Martin, I felt bad for him. No chance in hell

Conservative Candidate - The incumbent. Experienced, gave fairly clear answers, sounded pretty similiar to Stephen Harper. A strong reaction against him, i think he's going down.

NDP Candidate- Nice guy, definitely picked up some points tonight. Had good stuff to say, fairly straightforward and clear, and got a very positive reaction from the crowd. I'd say 7:3 that he'll win.

Green Candidate - Fairly soft spoken, but very clear, had lots to say, and definitely impressed some people. Considering that the Conservatives are probably gonna lose, I think the green will get good support.

Christian Heritage Candidate - Absolutely wild! Completely out of touch with reality, reminded me exactly of the minsiter that gave me a ride to Smithers when I was hitchhiking to QCI. Totally clueless. A one trick pony, he managed to segue from war to abortion. He also supported bulk water exports, which was absolutely opposed by the crowd, but the Liberal and Conservative candidates both hinted that they supported it too. Anyways, this guy called the NDP communists, the Greens environmental worshippers, and he also proposed building a bridge from teh mainland to the island. Total wackjob

Canadian Action Party - Pissed off! They're mad. I generally agree with their analysis, but I think they push a little too hard for complete Canadian sovereignty to the point where they don't care about teh outside world. Interesting ideas, but I definitely disagreed. Nationalists is what they were. No flags for me, sorry

Marxist-Leninist Candidate - I think she would've had a better chance running as an independent, but the stigma of being a communist probably hurt her. A good speaker though and liked by the audience, and she was smart by not really sounding like a relic from the Mother Russia.

I'm still undecided between voting Green and NDP. There's so many factors. I wholeheartedly support the Green party, but with our system, it makes it tough to feel confident voting for someone that won't win. So I could vote for the NDP who would try to bring in electoral reform and proportional representation so that I could vote green in the future. But the thing is, I think the NDP are going in the right direction (although remain to vague and uninspiring), whereas the Greens are already there. Direct hits on all the issues and creative solutions. ALso, it's hard balancing the natnional view with the local view. Jack Layton can seem dronish to me, whereas a local Green candidate might just be filling the spot. I've gone from Green to NDP to Green to NDP and back to Green again. I'll let you know my decision pretty quick though. I'm just having trouble trying to figure out the ultimate criteria. My biggest pull towards the Greens is because they have momentum and need to keep it up, whereas if I voted NDP and they lost, I'd consider my vote wasted, whereas even if the Green guy loses, I'll still feel like my vote was productive.

I've been paying very close attention to the campaign. I must say, the Conservatives have ben doing a pretty god job. In fact, there's even some issues we share in common, like electoral reform. However, there's a lot more to the Conservative package than meets the eye, and while they made moderate themselves in the short-term, a conservative government would certainly take the country in a direction I wouldn't like to see at all. The Liberals are a joke, simple as that. I'd say I agree with most of teh NDP's platform, but I think they're still as burdened by party politics as the other two, and Jack Layton is geting awfully repetitive. I think the Green Party can only get stronger. I'm not sure how i feel about their stategy of stubbornly running in every single riding, because that oftens means bringing in candidates that aren't strong, experienced, or even local. But I am in love with the Green's platform and even if they don't win any seats this time around, I think they'll only get stronger from here on out, and I think it'll be a lot harder to keep them out of the debate next election.

The Decision

Well I decided to follow up on mylabour complaint, so I called the person investigating my case. She was very patient and helpful, but the botom line is that I don't have a case. Unless I'd waited three months before complaining about the practice of not paying for orientation, there's nothing wrong with Mt Washington firing me. Well actually there is something 'wrong', as far as I'm concerned, but the bottom line is that it's not illegal. So on a personal level, I didn't directly gain anything by following through with this. However, as an indirect result of complaining and getting fired, I got hired at Save-On and have made much more money in the short-term, so that's good enough for me I guess. On a grander level, they will investigate whether Mt Washingotn has breen breaking the law, but it's basically confidential, so I'll never find out what happens with that.

Well it's been a good few days, no doubt. After skiing Mt Washington on friday, my mom and I got up at 4:30am to drive 3hrs up island to Mount Cain. The shuttle bus from the highway was broked, so we had to hitch a ride up. Busier than normal, the parking lot was full. Maybe a few hundred people. it's a small, community-owned hill with 2 t-bars. But it's higher than Mt Washington and only has slightly less vert. Ten times better quality of snow, plus they're only open weekends, so the snow piles up during the week to make Saturday a godsend. Almost 80cm has fallen over the week, but it had settled, so it only looked like maybe 40cm. I had what I think must be the best and funnest day of skiing I've ever had. The snow was phenomenal and the mountain is really sweet. The views are phenomenal, the atmosphere is friendly and the whole place is very quaint. No hot water, no lifts, and no flush toilets. I loved it. Some great tree-skiing too. I can't praise that hill enough, i defintely would go back. Full days cost $33, as opposed to $55 at Mt Washington. So unless Mt Washingotn gets dumped on during the week and has a perfect weather forecast, I can't imagine going back up. Even then, I don't think I'd be willing to pay that price. I'd much rather pay the extra in gas money to go to Cain, plus there are (very small) hostel rooms for rent for cheap too and you can rent a cabin that sleeps 12 for $140.

Today I was quite sore, but it was a blue-bird day, so me and a former co-worker hiked up to the radio tower lookout I discovered last year. So I've had 3 pretty rad days. I'm stoked for the local election debate on tuesday and then my birthday on saturday, and then probably going to see Shy FX in Van the following weekend.

Well I finally made it up to Mt Washington. 40cm of new snow and the claim that they were finally opening up the double-black diamond 'Outback'. I was up there for the opnening, but it was far to windy for them to be running some of the lifts, and the amount of snow meant snow stability issues. So I didn't get to check out the new area, but since it was my first time, and tickets were half off, i won't complain. It was snowing like mad all day and at one point, I was trying to find a run, and it was so windy and snowy, i couldn't say anything at all. I got drenched, and quite cold at times, but still had afun. The runs are pretty short, but the snow is so heavy that you still get a workout. however, the wetness of the snow makes the whole experience much less enjoyable. I did get some wicked powder turns in, but for the most part, it was tough going. People said it wasn't that busy, but I thought it was. Anyways, it was fun, but I'm gonna try to convince my mom to go up to Mt Cain tomorrow, which is about 3hrs up the island. It's a community owned ski hill in the middle of nowhere, with dryer snow, and they aren't open during the week, so tomorrow there will be half a metre(!!!) of freshness.

A little bit of research I'd like to share:

Quiksilver owns DC, Roxy, Rossignol, and Dynastar
Nike owns Converse, those Livestrong bracelets, Air Jordn, and Hurley
Sole Technology owns Etnies, eS, and Emerica
VF Corporation (world's largest apparel company) owns Wrangler, Lee, Riders, Nautica, North Face, and Vans

oh and if you didn't know, apparently you should NEVER EVER EVER mix bleach and ammonia, any fumes produced by the smalest amount of each is DEADLY DEADLY DEADLY. Think instant death.

Oh and I guess Mitch met Will Farrell at the ski hill in Golden yesterday.

twenty oh six

Ed Rush & Optical was a rad night in Van. Got my stomp on with Sarah, Ben, Ashley, Steve, and Nicole. Good music, good venue, much fun.

I rang in the new year like I did last year: reviewing the year while meditating on the beach. It was low tide and nice weather, so from way out on the beach, after the 360 degree firework display (Parksville, Qualicum, Hornby Island, Texada Island, and maybe even Courtney), which was very cool, I slowly recalled my entire year, month by month, which probably took about half an hour. It was a fantastic experience, just like last year, and I defintely learned a lot of things. However, I don't think I could express my insights in a way that would convey the true feeling of their meaning. Mostly things that sound liek cliches, but really mean a lot to me, like 'live in the moment' and stuff like that. The first half of the year was highlighted by all my outdoorsy stuff like hitchhiking, camping, and exploring, and the second half of the year was defnitely all about the hitchhiking. Reading books was a big part of my year, as was karate. My spritual journey has progressed as well, but that's far too asbtract to attempt to type up. Independence was a new theme. Anyways, I sincerely wish you all a very happy new year and hope this last year has been great and that the next one will be even better.