Depression? Not really.

I am unsure what this is that I seem to be going through, it could be just crazy laziness. I have been given some grace on some papers that I missed during the year. No matter how hard I try, I just cannot gather the willpower and motivation to write them. It's frustrating me out of my mind because now I have to write an apology for wasting my professor's time with my slacking. I don't know what is wrong but I have to shake this before next semester. It just feels like I'm wasting my school money which in turn not only lets down my parents but my grandparents.

I apologize for this emo stint, Christmas went really well for my family and I. I was given many books and chapters gift cards so I plan on doing a fair bit of recreational reading. That's what I was doing today instead of writing my paper. I haven't been able to read through half a book in a day, not fall asleep and enjoy it for a long time.

And yet those papers hang there. I don't even know if it's worth any mark's anymore.

The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning - The Smashing Pumpkins

If you have seen the new watchmen trailer you probably have heard this song. It was originally written for Batman and Robin but was remixed.

Send a heartbeat to
The void that cries through you
Relive the pictures that have come to pass
For now we stand alone
The world is lost and blown
And we are flesh and blood disintegrate
With no more to hate

Is it bright where you are
And Have the people changed
Does it make you happy you're so strange
And in your darkest hour
Now all secrets fade
We can watch the world devoured in its pain

Delivered from the blast
The last of a line of lasts
The pale princess of a palace cracked
And now the kingdom comes
Crashing down undone
And I am a master of a nothing place
Of recoil and grace

Is it bright where you are
And Have the people changed
Does it make you happy you're so strange
And in your darkest hour
Now all secrets fade
We can watch the world devoured in its pain

Time has stopped before us
The sky cannot ignore us
No one can separate us
For we are all that is left
The echo bounces off me
The shadow lost beside me
There's no more need to pretend
Cause now I can begin again

Is it bright where you are
And Have the people changed
Does it make you happy you're so strange
And in your darkest hour
Now all secrets fade
We can watch the world devoured in its pain
Strange
Strange
Strange

Re: Bigger's Not Better

While participating in the New Media class last semester I discovered along with this blog, pod casting. Not that I would be creating these pod casts mind you but I have started watching/listening to them.

I have discovered the G4 cast, which is nice because it was one of the few channels that I watched on tv back home. This now enables me to keep up with the gaming industry some what. Along with their main pod casts are a plethora of smaller ones. One of which is called Sessler's Soapbox. I'm writing this part assuming most of you haven't watched G4 being that its not on basic cable. Anyways Adam Sessler is one of the hosts on the show X-Play which is on G4. He has this podcast where he rants or praises various aspects or events that are going on in the gaming industry.

In his most recent cast, he discussed the original Banjo Kazooie for the Nintendo 64. He, I, and many other gamers thoroughly enjoyed this game. And though I never played it, Sessler was disappointed by the sequel. Though I have heard both good and bad things about it.

Anyways let me get to the point Sessler's qualm with the game was that the Dev team claimed that it was so much bigger than the original and that's what made it better, when in his opinion it did not. This same marketing tactic was used for the newest addition to the series Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. Along with a larger world came the ability and focus on using and building vehicles. To Sessler this was again using a game gimmick to try and improve marketing and move away from the original game.

In my opinion this is a completely different game with a focus completely different from the original. I cannot count the hours I and many friends have spent watching this game and laughing our brains out at the sheer craziness of the thing. Creating and customizing various machines that look like rolling armored pyramids or death stars that are held up with balloons. Just because a game plays differently than the original, it doesn't mean its bad.

Look at the Legend of Zelda series, that in many ways has stayed faithful to the original game. People are getting bored of it. With the meager profits and media coverage of the second installment of Banjo Kazooie I don't see how a step back to the original game would have helped the developers at all.

Anyways I'm going to stop ranting now and write my papers that I need to hand in late.

Let it snow?

So I'm stuck here at YYC Calgary Airport as my second flight was canceled due to snow. I came to appreciate the on board computers and the skills of the pilots using them, because once we took off I didn't see the ground again until 2 seconds before hitting the landing strip. There is so much snow here you can't see more than 200 feet out of the windows of the building. I will eventually make it home but what I really wanted to talk about was.....

People hawking credit cards. I understand that in other cultures having a shop keeper yelling out to potential customers is quite normal. I can accept that and even enjoy it at times in other cultures. But in western society people just don't do a good job of it. As I walked down the hallway to my boarding gate I past three small kiosks each one of them hailed me to see what they were trying to get me to sign up for.

The first one I went to due to sheer boredom and then declined politely. The second kiosk I just waved off as well as the third which was for some RBC credit card of some kind. This kiosk was operated by two men as apposed to one person. Now being that I have been here for a considerable amount of time and I have had to use the washroom several times this kiosk is in between my gate and the washroom. I have also sauntered by in boredom. Each of these times I have been hailed by these two men and eventually I walked up and explained to them as to why I didn't want their piece of plastic.

He acted as if he understood my well formed argument and I walked on. But as I returned to my gate they summoned me as if they had never seen me before. COME ON PEOPLE! That's just bad business, try and remember people. If I were to forget patrons while working at my previous job I would have gotten chewed out not only by the patron but by several different managers.

I cannot tolerate laziness on the job you can slow down but come on use your brain don't just sit in your kiosk and spew words. Acknowledge people properly and respect them.

In other news I tried Glenfiddich scotch tonight. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I Got That Feeling Again

The feeling of having your nose hairs freeze is probabbly the worst feeling on the planet.


That's all I have to say.

We don't need your democracy. Execute them kindly for me.

We don't need your hypocrisy,

Execute real democracy.

Post-industrial society,

The unthinking majority.

- Serj Tankian

I'm growing tired of this thing we call democracy, western democracy is fundamentally borked. This can be see especially in the current events that took place in Parliament a week or so back.

Rex Murphy's take on the situation can be seen here.

I agree with what he has to say about the situation, over recent years the people in Parliament have been acting like children and this has to end. I think an overhaul of the whole system is needed: fire all the officials in the government and hire/elect new ones, keeping some on as advisers until the transition is complete. I know this would never work but I can't see any other way of keeping the current system. Not that its the greatest system out there.

I would ally my self with more of a socialist type style of government, not that I would ever vote for the NDP. Something like what some of the Scandinavian socialist countries have is what I think could work for this country. But for the time being, grow up you fools. You weren't elected so suck it up and do your job with out trying to break the system more than it already is.

End Game

The semester draws to an end and I am very far behind. I have been sick with a plethora of viruses. Why not list them all off: The flu, a stomach flu, a sinus infection, an ear infection, strep throat, eye infection, and bronchitis.

Due to all of these things I am severely behind and have 2 books, 4 papers, and three exams due by Thursday. This semester has not been a good one to me and I may fail several classes.

I would like to explain what I meant a while back about Evangelicalism being a cult. What I was referring to was/is the American Evangelical denomination. What I have seen more and more, this can be represented by the article the post It's always gonna be sour grapes with you boy, until you get right with Jesus. Amen!

The representation that has been portrayed by them in the media has been very negative and harmful to the rest of the Christian public. It saddens me greatly.

There's more I'd like to say but I'm tired so I am going to retire for the evening.