At the outset of creating this account, the goal was well, daily posts. Clearly, seeing as how my last entry dates back a little over a month, that goal appears to have been a touch optimistic. But hey, maybe I should take a book out of the Olympic men’s Canadian gymnastics team, and be proud of a 15th place finish.
The lacklustre activity here can be attributed, partly to laziness, but probably more towards a hectic and some would say stressful past couple of weeks. I’m finally done with my summer courses, which I passed with incredible grace and sheer luck. And for the record, I was surprisingly able to unleash some pwnage on that sociology of health exam I discussed previously. So with these summer credits officially under my belt, I can say with near certainty that I am a UofT Alumni, although not confident enough to change my Facebook profile to reflect it. I guess it isn’t official until it’s on Facebook. So where does a degree in sociology and economics get me? Please let me know. Until then I’ll be in a short 2 year program in IT. While other people are stacking paper, I’m here stacking degrees.
But the past month hasn’t all been about school. In fact the lack of posts != lack of material (boolean reference ftw!). So here’s a quick run down in no specific order:
1. Tokyo (and my absence from it)
A flagrant3 trip to the land of the rising sun has been in the works for a while now. Unfortunately in that time, yours truly has gone the hobo route with unemployment. Sure I may have had enough resources for airfare and accommodations, but I clearly lacked the financial freedom to enjoy the full Tokyo experience. As such, while I’m in my room working on this post, my colleagues are living the dream of the vending machine. My turn is hopefully not too far in the horizon.
2. Beijing 2008 (not what you think)
Sure GameRankings.com has it at an overall 61%, but don’t let that fool you - it’s a strong C-. But obviously if you have no connection or interest in the summer games, then this game isn’t for you. I would go further in saying that this game doesn’t shine in single player - it’s appeal lies purely in its local multi-player mode.
Move to, unknowingly the day of the actual opening ceremonies, and given the absence of the Wii’s Big Brain Academy, we decide to pick up a copy of Beijing 2008 from a local Blockbuster. What happened after that, was pure Olympic spirit. The real life Beijing games may have just been beginning, but the competitive and ethnically political nature of the Olympic games was alive and well in my basement. Our chosen event of competition? The whole Olympics - well at least the around 40 events the game covers (unheard of in previous Olympic offerings). Harkening back to the marathon sessions of Sydney 2000 on the Dreamcast, what was a hesitant rental, turned into a six hour mono-a-mono-a-mono mini-Olympics. While Sydney’s video game envisioning was merely a game of button-mashing, Beijing’s is more than that (although the majority of the games are of the button-masher nature). Events like Diving and Gymnastics utilize the dual analog sticks, and face buttons quite well - and in some events frantically moving an analog stick in a circular motion substitutes the frantic X, O, X, O…etc. bashing. My only critique of the game is in it’s limited offering of selectable countries - I know the Philippines or *insert obscure African nation here* may not be Olympic powerhouses, but it is a video game, and hey, isn’t the Olympics about celebrating the world’s athletes?
The outcome, 1. Julian’s Spain; 2. Anthony’s Japan; 3. My Kenya.
But at the end of the day it wasn’t about the standings. Call me Canada, but all I remember were my victories in the 800m track and the 3m springboard - along with the constant trash talk and taunting (particularly at Japan) that the real Olympic games are severely lacking (thank God for the French).
3. Beijing 2008 (yes the actual Olympics)
Awesome. Simply stated. I haven’t found myself caught up in a Summer games, or Olympics altogether since the 1996 Atlanta games. I still remember eating a then local favourite 241 Pizza, and switching between Dudley the Dragon, and Olympic coverage. I remember Donovan Bailey breaking the record, Kerry Strug’s Paul Pierce-like performance, in fact I’m quite confident in my ability to name the full US women’s gymnastic’s team off memory.
My interest in the Olympics have dwindled since, probably due to the time-zone issues. But fast forward 12 years, and this 12 hour time difference has probably further increased my interest in these current games. So far, I’ve found that most of the deemed popular events, ie. swimming and gymnastics, have occurred at around 10PM, and the more obscure events like wrestling and rowing, between 3 and 6 in the morning. This scheduling lends quite well to my sleeping habit of 6AM - noon. And so I was able to witness live, Canada’s first medals of the games in wrestling. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, need I mention the Hart Family? And 3 out of the 4 Canadian medals in rowing - again not surprising given the rowing history of the first nations people of the country.
The only problems I’ve had with the events so far, have been its questionable coverage, and the Canadian mindset that qualifying for the Olympics is enough to deem a successful games.
The CBC/NBC coverage I’ve been constantly following has been pretty good. Like I said I was able to follow a number of events “live,” or at least as live as they can get it on TV. Which brings me to my first point…why is it that NBC keeps its “live” icon on their telecasts during their re-airing of the day’s events? And as for CBC, please give me a rough idea of your outlined telecast. On the day of the rowing finals, I decided to stay up until 5 or 6 in the morning to catch the men’s 8 rowing final - in which Canada actually had a realistic Gold medal potential. At around 3:30 in the morning I hear their Bob Costas late night alternative, say that the 8 man rowing was coming up soon. Five event rowing finals later, I thought “finally…it has to be up next.” Then they cut to a wrestling event… Granted I did end up catching the two bronze medal finals for Canada, but I missed out on the gold medal race I was patiently waiting for until finally giving in to sleep. I understand how difficult it can be to telecast the Olympics live, there are probably tens of events occurring simultaneously, but I should at least been given a rough outline or countdown to the next event - much like NBC has done with it’s pimetime events, and Phelps coverage. And yes I know about the online feeds, but being in Canada, I’m stuck with CBC’s not so great online offering - unless I proxy my way through NBC, which I rather not do.
And as for Canada’s half-full perspective on the performance of its athletes: Phelps = 8; Canada = 9. I know that the US and China spending on their athletic programs probably dwarfs Canada, but it’s not so much the medal count I have issue with, it’s the Canadian mindset. I can’t recall the number of Canadian athletes interviewed after placing in the double-digits, putting forth an optimistic recap of their Olympic experience. Sure it’s the Olympics, where everything should be happy and perfect, but it’s okay to be upset. These athletes have basically been training for the past 4 years, and I would seriously hope that they weren’t training to finish 15th in their event, but from the sounds of their post-event interviews, they were. “That’s a new Canadian record…that’s a new personal best…” are just some phrases I’ve heard describe the performance of Canada’s athletes. But that’s like growing up wanting to be vice-president of a country or manager of a business, instead of president or owner. If you’re going to dream, and work towards something, do it big. You may not achieve it, but at least you can say that you worked towards a goal bigger than 15th place, or breaking a Canadian record that probably shouldn’t have been kept in the record books anyway. Canada suffers from this vice-president condition.
But yes, for an Olympics that has garnered so much controversy even prior to its opening ceremonies, I think it’s pretty safe to deem these Beijing games an overall success for the Olympics as a whole.
4. Avenue Q
As much as it sucked to be missing out on a Tokyo adventure and all, catching this musical at Toronto’s Elgin Theatre made it a lot more bearable.
If flagrant3 ever got to writing a play/musical, it would be a lot like Avenue Q. This part of the musical probably captures us in our essence:
Black Jewsus? You better believe it.
As the program states, Avenue Q is more than a puppet show, “it’s about the underdog who is venturing out into the world to find his way and a purpose in life.”
Our hero, Princeton, is an idealistic college graduate with big dreams and a small bank account. He ventures into the world, in this case New York City, looking for an apartment on Avenue A and soon learns hat he can only afford an apartment on Avenue Q. That’s reality but how do you make the best of it?
In this case, Princeton is not alone and he meets an assortment of characters, both human and fuzzy, and together they help him along the way. He learns that life constantly presents challenges, and as he deals with them, he develops into his own person a contributing member of society.
I went into the theatre not knowing what to expect, and really not expecting much at all. But from the opening scene, I was enthralled with the story, but particularly with the way it was told, basically forcing people to look at society quite openly, without the need for being politically correct. The fact that it did so through the use of puppets just adds to its genius.
Avenue Q = remedy to missing out on an insane trip, and the sickening politeness and political correctness of the Olympic games.
As Gary Coleman says, “Schedenfreude.” (PS. Gary Coleman was played by a woman in Toronto’s run)
5. Bad Beer
Prior to the Tokyo trip, we decided to get together. Beer and video games? Why not. So walking around the LCBO, initial instincts were to grab a pack of Corona’s and go. Of course, me being me, I push the idea of experimenting with other beers. But I guess I should start by saying that what I describe as “Bad Beer” is probably good to others out there, I mean I’m sure that’s the case, with these products still in existence.
The first one we tested was Asahi, fittingly straight from Japan. This one in retrospect wasn’t too bad. It definitely is a smooth beer, but suffers from a weird/different after taste, that we didn’t enjoy so much.
The second beer we 
tried was Peroni. When I said that Asahi was decent in retrospect, it was because of my experience with this lager. While Asahi suffered from a unique after-taste, Peroni suffers from straight-out constant bitterness, so much so that it made finishing the bottle almost chore-like.
We also picked up a Korean Soju, and Japanese chilled Sake that we never got to, but expect an entry about those in the next couple of weeks.
So at the end of the night, my beer line-up, or go-to lagers have remained the same: Keith’s, Heineken, Corona, and Stella.
Good, decent, or awful tasting, whatever the case, I’m sure that I’ll be the reddest individual in the room after a bottle. And yes even in a room full of Asians.
…
I’m sure I’m forgetting a number of things that have gone on, but I think this post is long enough as it is.
finis.
Notable Mentions:
- Dark Knight: Given that an entry about the awesomeness of this movie is redundant at this time, I still feel it deserves some mention. Yes it was awesome.
- Shanghai Cowgirl: Probably being the only non-Chinese restaurant spots open late/early on Friday and Saturday, this self proclaimed “Rock n’ Roll Diner” provides a chill and laid-back environment with decent to good food.
- CNE: If you’ve been, there’s really no reason to return. Nothing really ever changes, asides from some reorganization of sites, it’s been the same, year after year. I wouldn’t have issue with its constant fixed offerings if they were of some great level. The sad part is, even the food, a staple of local fairs isn’t that good. Sure corn dogs and cotton candy are awesome, but you can’t really mess those up. Why can’t we have those county fair foods featured on the Food network? So X, “theex” of your list of summer must-do activities.
- Macbook: This past month has consisted of me, visiting the macrumors site daily for news of a refreshing of the Apple Macbook/pro line-up. Please DO IT ALREADY!
- Daily reformats: Yes I’ve been unable to shake this weird habit. But with my system running rather smooth and configured to my liking, I’m hopeful that this addiction has seen its last days.
delajed
nodons
jubbles
