SaskBlogs Get Together

So, I had another post planned, but this got in the way. I just discovered some plans for a SaskBlogs Get Together for all the Saskatchewan bloggers. The tentative date is July 22 in Wascana Park in Regina. It's being organized by SaskBoy and Stephen Glauser.

Oh, and it just so happens, that's my birthday!! July 22!!

So, I decided to aid in spreading the word and am going to post their announcement here on Heciticity.

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July 22, 2006 Saturday - Regina
We would start out at about 1pm with a barbecue in Wascana Park. Kids, and Everyone of course, will be welcome. After the barbecue we could head to the Rider game (if enough people express interest, Stephen might be able to line up some discounted tickets). After that we could all head out for supper, or do another BBQ and then head out to a pub for some drinks.

The option of a Saskatoon meet has also been discussed, but we would like to have one big meet as opposed to two large ones, but we’ll see what everyone has to say. Saskatoon dates that have been discussed include June 17 and August 19.

If most people would prefer a Saskatoon meet on July 22nd, we could possibly change it up.

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If you're interested, head to one of their blogs and leave a comment.

SaskBoy
Stephen Glauser

Wikipedia

I'll say it. I LOVE WIKIPEDIA.

I can spend hours there. I read one article, and a word is linked to a page about it, so I click on that. Then, in that article, I find another thing to click on. Suddenly, I'm lost in the world of Wikipedia.

Any time I don't know something, I just go to Wikipedia. It never fails me. And I'm not the only one. I was recently chatting with some girls, one of which who was from India. When lacrosse was mentioned she says "What's lacrosse?" Then immediately, "never mind, I looked it up on Wikipedia." It's just great.

The only downside to it is that a lot of academic institutions don't consider it a suitable source. But I feel that will change soon enough.

I love Wikipedia.

Who's the Most Jedi?? Part 7

Vul Tazaene

1. What species is he?
2. What is his former occupation?
3. Who is he searching for?
4. Where is he searching for (3)?
5. What is his home world?

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The Hermits - "A Cubicle Will Do"

So, I had class tonight, Commerce 402, Management Skills. Tonight we got put into groups and every evening we have class, we will spend some time with this group doing some small group activities.

The first day, we did a shortened version of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. This a survey you fill out that will say what your preferences are and will group you into 4 categories. You are either one of 2 types in each category:

• Introvert/Extrovert
• Sensing/Intuitive
• Thinking/Feeling
• Perceiving/Judging

So, we had done these and he grouped us with people like us, so that we could see what we were like. I am an ISTJ - Introvert, Sensing, Thinking, Judging. So was every single other person in my group. So, an entire group of introverts. Wow, there were a lot of silences. It would just lapse into quiet. The group in the room next to us must have been extroverts, because they were talking non-stop.

We had to choose a group name and we settled on The Hermits. We're introverts, we just want to sit in a cave and think. And our slogan is, "A Cubicle Will Do." As that's all we need in an office to work happily. Everyone in our group is either an accounting or finance major. We learned when we got back to the bigger group that another small group had the same occurence, with everyone being of the same major. Just goes to show how the same type of people gravitate towards the same type of job.

Anyway, I really like my group. We all just want to get stuff done and then move on. It's great. We don't talk a lot, true. But we have good group sense of humour and all get along.

Maybe this class won't be quite as shitty as I expected.

Question for Discussion

"Everyone knows Rock 'n Roll reached perfection in 1974."
-Homer Simpson

Any comments??

Surfin' the Net

Had a lazy day today. Didn't wake up until noon and didn't bother to shower until 2pm. Right now I'm just havin' fun surfin' the net. Here's some cool stuff I found:

• The McDonald's Simulator - see what it's like in the life of a McDonald's worker
  
• Dig a Hole - dig a hole from where you are and see where it comes out!! Mine comes out in the Indian Ocean. Midway between McDonald/Heard Islands and French Southern and Antarctic Lands. Just above Antarctica. Cool!!
• E-mail Capsules - send an e-mail to yourself or someone else for them to get in the future...up to 100 years from now!! I sent one to one of you!!
  
• Digital Charity - read people's pleas for money and donate to them online!! OR, if you need money you can try your hand at getting your own digital charity.
• Eric Conveys an Emotion - request and emotion and Eric will convey it for you
• Men Who Look Like Kenny Rogers - I think the title explains it all
• Photo Retouching - see the before and after of a magazine cover
• Amy's Diary - the diary of a 3rd grader
  

My Weekend so Far

So, I went and saw the Da Vinci Code movie on Friday night. It was good. However, I have not read the book. SO, don't take my word on the whole "it was good" thing if you've read the book. You may hate it. I'm not too sure. I felt the story was a bit obvious. As well, I would have written a different ending.

Spent the day with the family today. It was my cousin Dustin's wedding. The parents and Michelle picked me up early and took me grocery shopping which was awesome. Then we went to campus and went to The Cove, our arcade. I got mom to play Dance Dance Revolution with me, which kicked some serious ass. Wish I had pictures. Man, that game is a workout. Then we went back to the hotel and me and Michelle sat in the hot tub for a bit before getting ready for the wedding. I thought the wedding and everything were good, but my parents disagree. Whatever.

Anyway, classes suck and it would take too long to type out exactly how they suck, so you'll just have to take my word on it.

And I'm still disappointed about that poop deck thing.

Poop Deck

From the latin word puppis.

I really thought it would have a more interesting explanation.

I Can't Think of a Title

I'm a shitty blogger when I'm in Weyburn. The juices just don't flow there.

But now I'm back in Saskatoon!!! So, here's a boring update on my life...

Just met my new roommate and she's great!! Really nice and soft spoken. She'll be good.

Start classes tomorrow. Turns out I have Comm 402. I hadn't even had a clue which class came first. I checked today, but just only realized that I didn't check what room it's in. Shit. I'll have to go do that. I bought my 401 book from a friend today, so that's taken care of. The 402 book is just like a reading package, so it should cost less than $20. Awesome. Both of my profs are sessionals and new, so I have no idea what to expect as I don't know anyone who's had them. Should be interesting. But it's only 6 weeks, so if it's not a good experience, it should be over quickly.

Other than that...nothing. I'm leading a boring life right now. I applied for a job in Regina as an Administrative Assistant at Concentra Financial and I'm really hoping it comes through. It sounds just perfect for me. So, I have my hopes up which probably isn't a good thing, but whatever. I'm allowed to be excited.

Anyway, that's about it!!

Vancouver

Well, we made it here!! I survived the flight. Basically, I kept my eyes closed for each take-off. I figure flying is scary, but not quite as scary as some rides are at the amusement park. As long as my eyes are closed. I had a window seat, but gave it to Andrew and sat in the middle between him and my mom. I think Andrew likes to fly, he just stared out the window the whole time.

We had a tour of the boy's school and found him a house. But I'll let him blog about that.

Tomorrow we will hopefully go to the Aquarium and see a whale and some dolphins. I offered to buy mom a swim with the dolphins for mother's day, but she didn't quite like that idea.

Oh, and I got to talk on Speaker's Corner. I didn't have much to say. Just said that the 'Riders are going to kick some ass this season.

Anyway, I'll write a good blog about the trip once we get back. For now, here's a picture or two.

Who's the Most Jedi? Part 6

Who was the Chief Model Maker for Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope?

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United 93

So, I just got back from watching United 93. I promise not to talk about anything directly related to the movie until later, and I'll make some space and give a spoiler alert, so that if you don't want to read it, you don't have to. I'm not sure it was wise for me to go see this when I'm going to take my first plane trip in less than two weeks, which I am very nervous about. But I did anyway.

First thing...if you get motion sick easily, don't go see this movie. It has a very unsteady camera througout and I had a very upset stomach when I left and I still have a headache.

What a great movie. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but the reviews were good, so, I figured my $10.75 was worth spending.

***Spoiler Alert***
I'm putting the rest of the post in white font, so if you want to read it, highlight it. If not then don't. I will be talking about scenes in the movie.

I was surprised at how much time was spent in the air control centres. I didn't even think of this facet of the entire day. It showed really the disbelief when they were told of a possible hijacking. The general response seemed to be "You're joking." Really, in 2001, who would have thought that a plane would be hijacked?? Obviously not the military or anyone who worked in air traffic control. If the movie is accurate, it seems that one control man figured it out and really had to argue to make people believe him. This raises a good point. Sure we train everyone on what to do if a certain occurence happens, but if everyone thinks you're joking or that it's a drill, what good is all that training?? Time should not be wasted having to "convince" one's superior that action needs to be taken.

I think what I expected in place of the many minutes spent in air traffic control was a bit more focus on the people of United 93. I expected that a few people would be focused on and it would show a bit of their life before the flight and show them saying good-bye to their family members. But what I realize now is that that is hollywood. When it's a fake story with fake poeple, you can do this. United 93 was real. These are real lives and it would be insulting to try and summarize them in 2 minutes. It would be equally insulting to only focus on some of the passengers, as if others weren't worth the time to put them on screen. What did happen was that everyone on the plane was afforded equal time and no one passenger was the "hero" of the movie. They worked together and were all in the same circumstances. One life was not better than the other and the movie really showed that these people were all heros.

Another facet which really surprised me was the portrayal of the hijackers themselves. The extreme nervousness with what they were about to do. Would they get through security?? Would they reach their target?? What if the passengers rebelled?? What was happening on the other planes?? Could they pull this off?? These questions were so evidently running through their heads. As was put in another review I read of this movie, they were not portrayed as "monsters". They were portrayed as human beings. People who were afraid of what was to come yet determined to do what they felt was right. I don't think the audience was meant to connect with them, but I felt that this aspect just made the movie much more believable. I think after 9/11 we tend to just think of them as things with no feelings and no fears and as invincible. But even from the start, showing one of the hijackers phoning home to say "I Love You" shows that they aren't some "cartoon monster". This really lent to the credibility of the film and just made it even better.

Finally, the part I liked the best was the end. The crash was not shown, but it was obvious. You go from yelling and screaming as the passengers overcome the pilot, to dead silence. And I mean dead silence. There was not a sound in the entire theatre from anyone in the audience. You just sit there watching a black screen and reflecting on what you just saw. Obviously, the words came on the screen about the crash, as happens in any documentary at the end. But I felt it was a great dramatic ending that really worked. There was not a sound in the theatre. Even walking out no one was talking. The first thing I heard was outside the theatre, someone commenting on the shakiness of the camera. As if we could not yet speak of what we just saw.

It really was a great film. I'd suggest watching it in theatre, as long as you can hold the food in your stomach. Watch it with the proper respect and I think it will only give you an even greater respect for the people who died on September 11, 2001. And it will make you think about yourself and which one of those people you would have been had you been on the plane. The teenage girl crying in a ball?? The man phoning his wife to tell her he loved her?? Or one of the ones who decided it was time to fight back?? Whichever one you are, it will give you a greater respect for your life.

United 93...go see it.

If you read my review and are commenting, please don't comment on the plot so that those who wish to see the movie won't have it ruined for them.