LeeMobile

Oh Canadians!

So as some of you may or may not know, I absolutely love Mixed Martial Arts… aka that sport where two guys beat the crap out of each other in a steel cage… aka the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Well, not so much the UFC… I prefer to watch Pride as it’s the premier international league set in Japan. But anyways, I digress…

In a lot of ways, I think the UFC execs has been doing some dumb moves that mimic pro wrestling or Don King boxing fights. This means putting together absolutely lopsided bouts, or hamming and hyping up fights that really shouldn’t be hyped up. Of course, this lands them huge wads of cash and plays to the audience… but at the same time this removes from the sport. I don’t want to watch pro-wrestling, and sometimes this gives it a pro-wrestling-esque feel to it. I know I whine, and what they’re doing is probably really good for the popularity of the sport, but it removes the “class” of it that’s felt in other leagues (such as in Pride Fighting Championship).

Anyways, what’s been bothering me more specifically is the UFC’s openness to manufacture a feud between Canadians and Americans in the ring. They seem to pull in Canadian unknowns and pit them against Americans who are “superior” on paper.

My point is that two events ago, their main fight night was labelled “USA vs. Canada”. Now do we really need to call it “USA vs. Canada”? Why not remove the nationalism from the sport and focus more on the fighters themselves, rather than where they’re coming from. That’d be like promoting this year’s Stanley Cup Final as “Canada vs. USA”.

More recently, this week’s airing of Ultimate Fight Night pitted 3 different and “unknown” Canadian fighters against 3 American fighters who were slated to win. I’m not sure what the reasoning for this is, but it seems like the UFC execs are trying to put up some American fighters on a pedestal and maybe make Canada look bad. Well, boo-frickin-hoo… because our Canadian boys crushed their opponents. This brought a lot of joy to this canuck, as their precious plans were foiled, and also because I was really surprised to see the caliber of contenders we put out considering we have only 1/10th their size in population.

Anyways, I’m eagerly awaiting a title match between a Montreal fighter by the name of George St. Pierre to fight the current all-American welterweight champion Matt Hughes. St. Pierre is the number one contender who has fought his way up the ladder and has earned himself a title fight. He’s basically ready to become the new champion and usher in the next generation of fighters. The UFC have thrown all sorts of fighters at him in an attempt to avoid giving him a title shot, and he’s come out winning each time. Essentially, there’s no one left in the UFC for him to fight except the champ.

Instead of giving him what’s due, they setup some joke fight where the current champ fights an old “legend” who should really be retired from the sport. Hughes vs. Gracie was a joke, with the Hughes (the current champ) crushing his opponent in the first round. I don’t even think he suffered a single blow. In all fairness, St. Pierre should have gotten his shot at the title, even if he is a Canadian.

Alright, so all that I’ve written is a conspiracy theory I’ve made up. No, I don’t wear a tin foil hat. But I can only guess that this is what’s occurring in the UFC from their actions.  This is pure commentary from a fan watching what he sees on TV.  But the coincidences really make me wonder…

I just wanted to say that our boys are doing an awesome job, and that it makes me a proud Canadian. It makes me happy to see that we do so well in this sport that’s exploding in North America too. I really hope St. Pierre gets his title shot and his belt, that would make for one sweet summer.

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Living Recklessly

So, I guess I was a bit vague as to why I’m so happy this summer in my last post.  I wasn’t sure if I could write about her, so I asked her before I could.  You guessed it, it’s a woman… and I’ve become completely smitten with her.

In a lot of ways, it feels like the “reason” I’ve come out here this summer is to find her.  I’m not sure if I believe in “fate” or something similar, but I feel incredibly lucky that we have crossed paths.  I should start buying lottery tickets.

We compliment each other so nicely and in so many ways, yet in spirit we’re almost like mirror images.  We’re both very boom or bust types of people, and so the spark between us has been pushed full throttle.  She’s only really been a part of my life for over a week, but it feels like we’ve known each other for years.  Things have been moving in a frantic pace, and we’re closer in a lot of ways than most “long-term” couples.

This is really reckless and scary.  I say this because I’m leaving at the end of August, and my future after I graduate is very uncertain.  I’ve never had to deal with a long term relationship before, and I have always shied away from the idea in the past, but I’m completely re-evaluating my stance on this now.

I wish I could say more about her, but for many reasons I can’t.

I can only say that I’m completely smitten, and that this summer may be a huge fork in my life.

–

I spent the weekend camping at Silver Lake, about an hour’s drive from Ottawa.  It was a very restful and relaxed weekend.  Frank and Mel’s over packing meant that we camped in absolute luxury.  I’m pretty sure that if we stayed for another few days we’d have more than enough supplies to last us.

It was nice to get out of the city and enjoy whatever “nature” the park provided us.  Even though it was busy and a little cramped, it was a nice and quiet getaway.  The weekend left me completely drained however, and I felt like passing out in my cubicle on Monday from exhaustion.

I never knew lounging around all weekend in a tent could be so exhausting.

–

I finally have some work to do at work.  Not only that, but I find it to be completely interesting and I know I’ll be totally engrossed in it while at work.

The project is to basically convert a lot of our data to an open standard, so that it can be shared internationally and, more importantly, with the American agencies.  As you can tell from my Linux post a few weeks ago, I’m all about open standards and open source projects, and this is right up my alley.

My main job is to write an interface to allow for the extraction and conversion of our proprietary data into the open standard.  What’s really strange is that I’d never expect my division to do this type of work, as we seem to be really entrenched in proprietary tools and products.

It’s a sign of hope that government agencies will discover the many reasons to accept the “open” philosophy of software.  Internationally many government agencies already have converted, or are in the process of doing so.  I would not be surprised if in the near future (like, a decade or so) that the Canadian government would openly accept and embrace open source software.

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Golf Tournament

Yesterday was the day of my division’s annual golf tournament.  It was also the first time I’ve played a game of golf, ever.

I can say that I actually enjoyed playing the game… despite the fact that it is expensive, can be so frustrating sometimes, and you’re really just walking around whacking a little white ball on some grass.  I wish I could say that I did well too, but I didn’t.  It didn’t matter though, because I had so much fun anyways.

Luckily we were playing best ball, and Manish (who is also new to the sport) is a complete natural at it.  I swear, all his years of cricket must’ve factored into things.  After 18 holes we were about 19 over par… which apparently for beginners isn’t too bad at all.  Maybe if we didn’t drink cold beers while in the sun all day we’d play better too.

What I enjoy about golf is the Zen involved in the sport.  For every swing, you must focus your mind on the task at hand and concentrate.  There’s definitely a physical part to the game, but skill is the determining factor.  You draw yourself into the moment, take a deep breath, make the swing and watch that frickin’ ball slice way far right.  Then you breathe out, swear, and take a swig of beer.  Pure Zen I tell you.

Hopefully this summer I’ll get a chance to go out and play another game or two.  I’m thinking it’ll be a good idea to get Manish to play with me and have some drunken golf kart races again.

–

To be honest, I was somewhat regretting flying out here for the summer.  A few weeks ago I really questioned the logic of ditching my friends back home, all the amazing trips they’re going on, and all the career options I maybe missing out on.  But now, through a weird twist of fate, I think this summer may be my best yet.

Tons of stuff happening this summer, and it’s turning out to be greater than I thought it would be.  In no way have I ever thought I would spend my summer like this (and I say this in a really good way).  I really can’t go into details, but I can only express that I haven’t been happier in a long time.

Hurray for vagueness.

Anyways, I’ve got a very active summer coming up.  I’m camping this weekend and mountain biking the next.  This is followed by possibly a week long musical binge at the Ottawa Bluesfest.  I’m strongly leaning towards buying the all-access pass, which gives me a week to check out acts like Sam Roberts, Blue Rodeo, Metric, Michael Franti, Ani DiFranco, John Lee Hooker…etc…

I might also find myself in New York City at the end of the summer.  I might as well visit since I’m already out East, and who knows when I’ll get a chance like this again.

Yes, call me a masochist, but I may (this is a long shot) participate in a duathalon, or maybe even a tri-tri (a shortened down version of a triathalon).  Of course, I’m thinking this will probably not happen… but the possibility is there.  This just means a lot more training than my 44 km daily bike rides.  It’ll be so painful yet so pleasurable at the same time.

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56 in a 60 Zone

On the weekend I hit my fastest top speed on my bike.  It’s nothing really to brag about, as you can definitely go way faster than this on a bike.  But it’s big for me!

Coming down on the big hill on my way to the beach on Sunday I hit 56 KM/h for a few seconds.  It’s such a wicked feeling to glide that fast on the pavement.  With the bike being so light, and me being so close to the pavement, I could feel every bump and the vibration of the wheels coasting on the ground.  Cycling is fun.

I’ve never felt this good in a summer before.  I’m glad I am cycling fairly often.  Last week I biked 5 of the 7 days, and I hit the 400 KM mark on my odometer.  I’d say that’s pretty decent, since I’ve had my bike for only a few weeks.

Ever since I got out of my cast last year from my knee injury, I hadn’t fully developed the strength back in my legs.  I’ve never been fit, but last year (especially during the winter back in school) I’ve never felt worse about my health.  From all this cycling, I don’t think I’ve ever had my cardio up like this before.  My quads and calves are getting some nice definition, and each passing day I can push my bike harder and faster.

This is just a start, and hopefully I can keep it up for the rest of the summer.  My friend Brandon and I back in Edmonton have attempted to hike up Mt. Roche Miette in Jasper twice already, and both times our lack of conditioning has failed us.  I don’t think anything can hold us back at the end of this summer.

–

Ashleigh and I got a chance to finally talk after all the drama that has occurred.  Mutually we’ve agreed to both start seeing other people.  In some ways I feel that it’s a relief for the both of us.

I really do want her to be happy and to find that special someone and I don’t want to tie her down from that.  At the same time, things haven’t been peachy since I got back here.  Since we broke up there’s heavy air between us that never seems to go away, so why grind something out that won’t work.

That’s about all that I can share in the “romance” department in my life right now.  For reasons of tact, I think I’ll avoid the topic… at least for the time being.  I’ve always worried that blogging about the people in my life might cause drama, so I’ll put this sensitive issue on hold for the summer.

–

RE: comments from my last post:

I posted that one for you Ash.  Jay, thanks for the humour and support.  As long as one person enjoys this I’m happy.

And Tom, you just don’t get it.  Maybe you’d get to her more directly if you emailed her instead of posting a comment on my site directed AT her.

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Dark Side of Blogging

As we start to become more integrated with the internet, and when it becomes a greater source of socializing new problems will crop up.  Mainly, the division between what’s said and happens in real life is much different than what’s done on the internet.

I say things over email/chat/blogs which I would never really say to someone straight to their face.  Not only is it easy just to pour out exactly what’s on your mind for everyone to read, but it’s a one way avenue of communication which can be problematic.  Problematic because in a moment of anger/frustration/jubilation/etc… you would broadcast without filtering what you’re saying, and often without thinking much to the consequences of what you’re saying.

Yes, hiding behind a keyboard is very easy.

Within this past week something strange has happened to me.  Rumours of Ashleigh, that would affect our friendship, were brought publicly through the form of blog posts.  Now things have been rocky before with me and her, and this just brought things to a whole new level.  Behind the comfort of a keyboard rumours were spread, and messages that should have been sent in private were made public for all to see.  Maybe this was done out of frustration, or angst, or retaliation… I’m not sure exactly, but it made a profound impact on my friendship/”relationship” with Ashleigh, as well as between her and her friends.

So because of this, I have lost a lot of motivation for blogging.  I know I haven’t been doing it often lately, and that will probably stay the same in the next little while.  What really sucks though is that I do enjoy posting my poorly written blog, and as of late I’ve had a lot of interesting things to say.  This summer just keeps on getting weirder and weirder.

In the meantime though, I will do my damndest to finish off my Coachella trip report.  It’s been over a month since that trip ended, so I better do it soon before the memories fade.

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Mmm… Spontaneity

My weekend started off with a nice bowl of pho on Friday night with Anne-Marie.  We then watched “The Omen”.  It wasn’t a great movie and there were a lot of “wtf?  that’s retarded” elements to the movie but I was entertained.  I had low expectations for the film anyways, and they were met, so I wasn’t let down.

Saturday I was asked if I wanted to join Frank, Mel, and his dad to go to the Agriculture Museum.  His dad is in town for two weeks, so this was my last chance to check it out (cause I probably wouldn’t have gone otherwise).  To be honest, I hadn’t heard of the Agriculture Museum before, and it wasn’t as exciting as I thought it’d be (I never thought it would be to begin with), but I did get to see some animals and get a photo of riding a pig, yet another photo to add to the “riding” album.  And anyways, animals are cute!

Father and Son:

That night we went out to Moxie’s near St. Laurent for Chrystal’s birthday.  We spent over 2 and half hours eating, drinking, and staring at the mini-skirted waitresses.  Watching Chuck, who recently turned 37, hit on the 18 year old waitress was pure entertainment.  This was followed by some drunken bowling.  Renata and I were the only ones drinking, but I’m glad I had someone to get sloshed with at the bowling alley.

On a roll, one of my friends asked if I’d like to go clubbing that night.  Why not?  This act of spontaneity turned out beautifully.  She’s a complete social butterfly, so we managed to meet a ton of people at the club.  Pier 21 had a great atmosphere, with smiling “clubbers” inside and a wicked live band that belted out all your favourite maritime songs.  Sometimes things that just happen out of the blue also are the most enjoyable.

The shots of tequila and packed dance floor made the night whiz by.  The $60 cab fare to get back home in my suburb wasn’t so nice though, but in my drunken state money didn’t seem to have much value.

Sunday was spent curing my hangover by hanging out on the driving range.  I’m not a golfer, but I’ve definitely learned to appreciate the game.  It was a good chance to get some lessons from Renata, since she’s been golfing for years.  Hopefully the upcoming golf tournament I’m in won’t be such a gong show after a few more lessons.

Posted in The Mundane | 1 Comment »

The Linux Revolution

Studying Computing Science implies that I’m quite the computer geek. This also means that I love to tout Linux distributions as the operating system of choice. WinDoze? Not for me, no thanks.

Truthfully though, I had never touched Linux until university, and even to this day I’m not a “power user” and can’t do all the hardcore customizations. However, I still love to tout Linux. Not because I have to uphold the geek stereotype, but because it is superior to WinDoze in so many ways.

My affair with Linux started a few years ago. A school mate introduced me to Mandrake so that I could program more efficiently. Our school has mainly Unix/Linux operating systems installed on the lab machines, so we were accustomed to using them for doing our assignments. For good reason too: if programming was like surgery, using Linux would be like working with a scalpel compared to the rusty butter knife that is Windows.

So it was like a godsend to have a machine at home from which I could work on my projects. At the time, installing it wasn’t so hard, but getting new programs installed was difficult. Compile and configure source code? Missing dependencies? If you don’t understand what I just said, neither did I at the time. Also, there were tons of things I couldn’t do on Linux easily, like watch videos, in which I could do on Windows. So after installing it, it just sat there unused.
Fast forward a few years and I’m back in university after being away for amost two years on internship. With my brand new PC I give Ubuntu a chance. I’d never used it before, but my friends kept on telling me that Ubuntu would revolutionize the Linux experience. For me it did just that.

It’s very user friendly. It’s graphically gorgeous, and it has software to do almost everything that Windoze can do. Not am I happy to ditch Windows, but the software on Linux runs better than the Windows counterparts. It’s seemingly immune to spyware and viruses, and installing new software is even EASIER than in Windows. Not to mention that almost all the software is free. Yes, legally free.

Ever since installing Ubuntu on my machine, I’ve been using Windows a lot less often. There was a bit of adjustment at first, because after years of Windows I’d become accustomed to its interface. But after using Ubuntu for a few short weeks I dreaded ever having to come back into Windows. The only shortcoming is that the Linux distributions out there right now can’t handle the latest and greatest games all that well, so that’s mainly the only reason I boot into Windows nowadays. But that’s to change too over the next little while.

Why am I writing all this? Well, the latest release of Ubuntu, codenamed “Dapper”, has just come out. It’s been 8 months since the last release, and the developers have made a lot of fixes and improvemnts. I have been excitedly anticipating its release, and tonight I’m going to give it a go. At the same time, I just wanted it to be known that there is an alternative to Windows out there that is superior. Why get stuck in the clutches of M$? Give the happy penguin a try, you won’t regret it.

Posted in G33k | 3 Comments »

Internet Randomness

Sunday was a complete write off. I sat around and played some XBox.

I also downloaded the third season of “Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares”. Yes, it is a cooking show, and yes, I am addicted to cooking shows. What’s really sad is that I don’t really know how to cook at all. But at least this cooking show isn’t really about the food, and more about restaurant management. Basically, it’s about a renowned chef who goes around and tries to fix failing restaurants. He swears like a trucker and is totally in your face. It’s great.

This week is also World Environment Awareness week. In the government there’s a competition to see which division is most environmentally friendly by logging sustainable commutes. I’m hoping to help out by logging in a good 200 km’s on my bike for the week.

The biking so far has been going really well, and my butt has adapted to sitting on the seat. Honestly, it’s so rewarding and enjoyable to bike into work, I wish more people would do it.

That’s about all I can blog about for my mundane life at the moment. So I present to you some internet randomness that I found through slashdot:

Rubik’s cubes in 4D and 5D. Apparently a few people have already solved the 5D cubes. I can’t even solve a 3D cube. Try your hand at it:

The 4D Cube: http://www.superliminal.com/cube/cube.htm

The 5D Cube: http://www.gravitation3d.com/magiccube5d/

Also, crazy choreography by using mentos and diet coke: What happens when you add mentos to some diet coke? Well, the mentos removes the surface tension in the coke releasing the carbon in the carboninated goodness. Essentially, if you add some of those mints to a 2 liter bottle you effectively create a diet coke cannon to shoot sweet sweet aspartame into the air. Check out this video:

http://eepybird.com/dcm1.html

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The Universal Constant

Things between Ash and myself have been getting better each time we see each other. There was a bit of a rocky start when I first got here in Ottawa, but we are becoming “reacquinted” with each other and learning to be in each others’ company without arguing. I hope things get better as the Summer progresses, because we get along so well together when things are good.

We did get a chance to spend a bit of time together last night, although it was more spread with her friends. We went out for some Thai and afterwards we headed over to Melissa and Christiano’s place for some drinking action. It was a fun and random night. We crashed their place, and in the drunk and stoned state that I was in I became introspective on where she and I stand.

The “relationship” we have is kind of in a grey area. I’m not sure I can call her my girlfriend, but she’s definitely more than a friend. I can’t say that she’s my “bed buddy” either, because neither of us believe in polyamorous relationships and there’re lingering emotions between us. Usually it’s easy to slap a label on something, and I hate labelling things, but I wish there was some sort of label that we could pin what’s happening. Maybe I’ll be bland and say that we’re “casually dating”.

I think we’ve come to this point due to the “damage” left over from our break up during reading week. We’ve both grown from it, and it is hard to move on as if it didn’t happen. I’m leaving in a few short months, so there’s a lot of uncertainty between us. There’s also uncertainty in her life right now too, as she could be leaving Ottawa as well. This hasn’t stopped us before from being “happy together” in the past. I remember quite fond times with her back when we were dating, and the situation of me moving was no different than it is now.

But the damage has been done, and things have changed.

Lately the idea that everything we encounter in life is in constant flux arises often. The relationship we have with those around us is always changing, sometimes for better or worse. Right now I get to see “love” blossoming before me with some friends of mine, I experience the changes occurring between Ash and myself, and I get to watch a new friend go through a tough divorce. If there’s anything that’s ever constant, it’s that there is nothing that’s constant. “Love” is never a constant, it’s just something that changes over time.

We can’t ever rely on things to be constant, even with people. Relationships are fleeting too. I say this not to mean that they fade and disappear, but that that they are always changing form. Things can never be what they once were. So it’s kind of silly of me to compare my time with her to what was once past, because it can never be that way again. I should focus on the present, and enjoy what I can without thinking too much of what will happen or what has happened. At least this way I won’t take her company for granted. We only have the present moment after all.

But anyways, blogging about someone who reads this blog has just made this weirder than it already is.

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