Monday, August 13, 2007
I HEART Beverley McLachlin
Also - the interesting tidbit that I commented on in July seems to be a theme for our CJ. Hmmm ... very interesting indeed. Definitely something that could make for interesting papers this year.
Don't Know Which Career Path is For You?
Applied Disaster and Emergency Studies
Looks pretty neat - only program of it's kind in Canada.
As per an article in the Star Phoenix (Saskatoon), looks like there's lots of work in the field.
What A Lovely Weekend
If I hadn't read the book, I could see how the movie may appear slightly disjointed. There were parts that wouldn't make sense without the background, or the ENTIRE plot of the book (obviously, a lot had to be cut out). When Neville tells Harry that he isn't ready for everyone to know about his parents, it seems out of place without knowing that in the book Harry saw Neville's parents in the hospital (and they skipped that part in the movie). Stuff like that. The parts that were done in the movie, though, were awesome. I loved every second. SOOO cool that we get to see them doing more magic. Oh MAN! I could go on forever about this, so I'll stop myself now.
Saturday, we started to get organized for moving (which was pretty much exactly as you picture it).
Sunday, we had a grand day. It was our second wedding anniversary, and we took to the streets.
We started off by running a few errands, and grabbing a bite to eat on 4 St. Then, we hit the Big Secret Theatre to take in one of the offerings of the Calgary Fringe Festival which is on right now (until August 19th - check it out, but don't expect it to be anything like the Edmonton Fringe, Calgary was very sedate, and really seemed like a secret ... if you weren't already aware, you'd wonder what all those crazy people with buttons were doing hanging around the theatre disctrict).
We saw the Deer on the Highway show put on by Red Deer College Theatre, which consisted of two shows; Young Marrieds at Play and The Blue Note Lounge.
Next, we went to Marda Gras at Marda Loop, and did a tour of that festival. There was music, merchant booths, and a big beach volleyball tournament that we watched for awhile.
For dinner, we checked out GlobeFish (recomended by a co-worker of mine) for sushi. We went to the Marda Loop location, and tried a bunch of their rolls, including the FABULOUS Vancouver roll, and the sweet and sexy Mango Paradise roll. This place reminded us a lot of Sushi Samba in NYC, there is a huge variety of sushi, and many choices are put together a little differently than at your regular neighbourhood sushi joint. We'll definitely be heading back to this one.
Finally, we rented Casino Royale. According to the Blockbuster dude, we must be the last two people that haven't seen it. Definitely, I would say that it's the best recent Bond flick. The movies with Pierce Brosnan were so cheesy, it was hard for me to take. This flick definitely brought back the sexy, and laid off the cheese.
Also - I was surprised the Chris Cornell did the opening song. I don't really remember hearing about it when the movie first came out. Weird, didn't really sound like him. It was such a big deal when Madonna et. al. did their Bond songs, and I seriously don't remember any hype over this one.
It was a great day, puts me in a reminiscing kinda mood too. Last year, for our anniversary, we drove home from our Oregon vacation. Of course, the year before that was our amazing wedding. Makes me excited for where we'll be a year (or two, or three) from now.

Thank you to everyone that called to wish us congratulations on Sunday. It means a lot to us, and makes us feel ever so loved!
And ... of course, it wouldn't be me without doing a rant of some kind, so here it is. I know that a lot of people love that you can now have Blockbuster movies for a week, so late fees aren't such a big issue anymore etc. etc. etc. BUT ... there are NEVER any movies on the shelves anymore. No wonder we never rent movies. Earlier this summer, we had a certificate for one of their guaranteed movies (where they guarantee that the movie will be in, or you get a credit on your account that is good for two weeks to rent that movie for free). We had this credit for, like, 6 weeks in a row because the movie was NEVER in. AURGH. How frustrating. What a waste of time to go in there. I guess you have to hit Blockbuster mid to late week to even get a choice of anything. No wonder Netflix is so huge. And ... rant over.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Consumed by Something
I think in the next few weeks I'm going to have to scale back on my sports participation, and really focus on the issues that have been CONSUMING MY LIFE.
Time to start sorting out the house; packing, cleaning, laundry, and organization in general. Once we secure a place to live (hardy har har), a huge stress should be lifted. I'm almost SICK of looking at listings in SK.
PS. Why are so many of the listings empty houses? What the heck is going on? Alien abductions of furniture? Are we saying that, if furniture is worthy of alien abduction, our couches and chairs are alive? They have feelings? Yeah ... I know, but I'm on a sugar high, and I am so tired about talking about SK real estate and evil Albertan investors and flipping and scams and fraud and all the rest of it. I much prefer a story about aliens. In fact, I'll take a story about aliens over a story about pretty much anything else.
I STILL haven't seen the next Harry Potter movie, either. That's really been getting me down. Why, oh why can't I find the time to go? Jason and I are NOT late movie people (we sleep through late movies), and between mini-vacations, trips to Saskatoon to sort out our lives, and soccer, volleyball and ultimate frisbee, we've had nary a minute to spare for floofy entertainment like movies (although, I have managed to keep current with Big Brother 8, and even though he'll try to deny it, I think Jason loves watching Evel Dick as much as I do ... AND ... how about a guy as normal as Zach being in the house with all those other crazy personalities - not that I don't love them all - but Zach seems SOOOO straight-laced in comparison, non?).
Last night, since our volleyball game wasn't until 8:00, I even managed to actually cook dinner for once (I've been a sandwich girl so far this week). What a luxury.
An Update That Shocks Me
It was listed at $X.
We were told by our real estate agent that it's market value was probably more like $X+10K or $X+15K (i.e. that's what she thought it would actually sell for).
It SOLD for $X+30K.
YUP. $30K over the list price. AND ... this place needs work.
I know. I'm as shocked as you are. I don't understand why people are paying so much. BUT ... I didn't understand when it was happening in Calgary, either.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Winning Streak is Over
We lost by 1 point in each of the games that we played ... they were neck and neck, so close, which makes it even more heartbreaking.
On the plus, we seemed to have some really nice plays, a few people even pulled out some new tricks (Joey, Chad with their quick pass backs), and we were pretty strong on our defensive plays, when we made them, we pulled them off well.
Sigh.
There's always next week.
Tonight, I'm wondering if we'll be playing beach volleyball (which is outside in this Calgary rain). Yikes.
Reverse Sexual Discrimination
This article (Rona building bad blood with TV ad by Chris Cobb) at the National Post discusses a Rona commercial on TV that depicts all husbands as lazy guys who don't help around the house.
I'm glad that someone is making a stink about the discrimination aspect. Discrimination isn't right, no matter what form it takes. I think it's a real step backwards to keep throwing sexual discrimination around ... it really undermines the serious issues that so many people face when we're making jokes about it on any level.
It Isn't Just the Real Estate BUYER Market
When rental units are listed at $1200/month for a 1-bedroom place - who are they marketing to? Students? Hardly.
Here's a CBCnews article about this:
Saskatoon housing crunch putting squeeze on students
With school starting in about a month, thousands of post-secondary students heading to Saskatoon are having to deal with a rental housing crunch.
"Our housing registry is two pages long; the people that need housing is eight pages long," said James Pepler, president of the University of Saskatchewan's student union.
"This doesn't include international students who are coming from overseas, who come here and find out they have nowhere to live."
Saskatoon's red-hot housing market in recent months has meant skyrocketing purchase prices and booming sales. On the rental side, some people have been hit with double-digit increases.
Pepler said something needs to be done soon to find more affordable housing for students.
Across town at the Kelsey campus of the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology, things aren't any better.
Loans don't cover rent costs: student groups
Brittany Holderness, president of the Kelsey student association, said several members of her executive can't find apartments and are storing their possessions at her place.
Holderness said she plans to track the situation.
"One of the projects we're hopefully going to be working on in the fall is actually get students to list what they're actually paying in rent, if they're having trouble, what the general outline of their budget is," she said.
Both groups said student loans haven't accommodated sharp rises in rent either. Pepler said the student union plans to hold a tent city rally at the university this fall to draw attention to the housing problem.
Earlier this week, dozens of people camped out in a Saskatoon park to protest the lack of affordable rental housing for low-income and working people.
Macleans.ca has a similar article (click to read it, although I think I should still be mad at Macleans for their "Lawyers are Rats" debacle).
As does the StarPhoenix, published this morning, by Lori Coolican (most detailed account - read this one if you're going to read any of them).
Not only is this entirely scary, I wonder how long this can last. Those of us looking to buy a house are being thwarted (expensive, offer presentations as opposed to classical bidding, people paying WAY over list price), those of us looking to rent won't be able to afford it/won't find any available? Seems like a dicey situation.
Sustainability should be a word at the front of everyone's mind (well ... those that live in Saskatoon for sure ... for others, I suppose, it wouldn't hurt ... well ... as long as we don't get our wires crossed and start debating about being "green", since that's a discussion that I don't want to get into ... today, anyway).
Wow.
A woman in Ohio shot and killed a homeless man that asked her for 25 cents.
http://www.wlwt.com/news/13845999/detail.html
Looks like the lawyer is setting up for a shot at a defence in mental illness, maybe to show that Geraldine Beasley actually believed she was in danger and was acting in self-defence? Would love to follow this case and see what happens.
How sad. Makes you wonder if there is a back story. One thing about most cases/media stories etc. is that you never get the whole back story.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Like I Need Another Reason to Feed My Addiction
This Thursday (August 9th ... yeah, that's right ... tomorrow) is Dairy Queen's Miracle Treat Day. What does that mean? Proceeds from every Blizzard sold goes to the Children's Miracle Network.
Here's the press release from CNW Telbec:
Country singer Carolyn Dawn Johnson named honorary spokesperson of annual Dairy Queen(R) Miracle Treat Day
BURLINGTON, ON, Aug. 7 /CNW/ - When is a mass of summer blizzard activity throughout Canada and the United States a good forecast? On Thursday,August 9, because it's not about the weather; it's about helping kids in need.That's the day Dairy Queen(R) will host the 2nd-annual North American "Miracle Treat Day" to benefit Children's Miracle Network. Miracle Treat Day began as a Canadian initiative to raise funds five years ago and was so successful that the concept was adopted by Dairy Queen locations across the US.
During Miracle Treat Day, participating Dairy Queen and DQ Grill &Chill(R) locations will donate proceeds from every Blizzard(R) sold to Children's Miracle Network, a non-profit organization dedicated to saving and improving the lives of children by raising funds for 14 Canadian children's hospitals, and a total of 170 children's hospitals across North America.
Carolyn Dawn Johnson, a national goodwill ambassador for Children's Miracle Network, is this year's honorary spokesperson for Dairy Queen's Miracle Treat Day. Johnson, a popular country pop singer, was raised in Deadwood, Alberta. She has worked with the Children's Miracle Network since2003. Johnson will be part of this year's Country Music Association Awards in September, where she won last year's Female Artist of the Year Award.
"Miracle Treat Day is about raising funds for children's hospitals across Canada," said Johnson. "If you want to do something for your local children's hospitals, buying a Blizzard on August 9th is an easy and delicious way to make an impact."
Dairy Queen has been a supporter of Children's Miracle Network since1984, raising more than $65 million during that time."Carolyn's songs and voice have been inspiring her fans for years," said Jean Champagne, COO for International Dairy Queen. "We are proud to have her as our honorary spokesperson. Canada raised $1.5 million through last year's Miracle Treat Day and Carolyn's here to help us beat that amount this year."
Instead of snow-filled blizzards, Dairy Queen will serve up a variety of Blizzard Flavour Treats during Miracle Treat Day including the August Blizzard
of the Month, Oreo(R). The Oreo Blizzard debuted in late 1985, the Blizzard's inaugural year, and to this day remains the most popular flavour.
For more information about Dairy Queen or to find a location, visit www.dairyqueen.com. To join the Blizzard Fan Club, log on to www.blizzardfanclub.com. The DQ site for kids 13 and younger is www.thedqcentral.com.
So ... if you ever needed a reason to get a blizzard, this is it. Oh - and be careful about asking me to go with you ... I won't be able to say no.
My Dreams ...
WELL ... never more so has this been true!
I was listening to QR77 on the radio last night, it was Rob Breakenridge's show The World Tonight. Rob was talking about ... yeah ... FLYING (freakin') CARS!
Here's a link to the show's blurb on the web about it.
How awesomely cool is that?
Here's a link to the website of Moller International, the company making the Skycar.
and a link, on their website to video of these cars (and other stuff, like interviews).
Some callers/Breakenridge had some very interesting comments on the radio program ... namely that they don't see this type of vehicle becoming accessible to the general public anytime soon, but that people trained properly would pilot others around (seeing as the whole FLIGHT thing is pretty complex, especially when variables like weather are factored in).
It's about as Jetsons as you can get.
Here's the June 28, 2007 press release from the Moller International website:
MOLLER INTERNATIONAL LAUNCHES PRODUCTION OF JETSONS-LIKE GROUND-EFFECT VEHICLE
Davis, CA, [June 28, 2007]--Moller International (OTCBB: MLER) has completed tooling and has begun producing parts for its Jetsons-like M200G volantor, a small airborne two passenger saucer-shaped vehicle that is designed to take-off and land vertically (see http://www.moller.com/).
The M200G is the size of a small automobile and is powered by eight of the Company’s Rotapower® rotary engines. This vehicle is intended for operation continuously in “ground effect” up to approximately 10 feet altitude.
Dr. Moller calls the M200G, “the ultimate off-road vehicle” able to travel over any surface. “It’s not a hovercraft, although its operation is just as easy. You can speed over rocks, swampland, fences, or log infested waterways with ease because you’re not limited by the surface. The electronics keep the craft stabilized at no more than 10 feet altitude, which places the craft within ground effect where extra lift is obtained from operating near the ground. This lets you glide over terrain at 50 mph that would stop most other vehicles” he continued. While the Company does not foresee the requirement for significant training or licensing to operate the vehicle, it is prepared to offer demonstration sessions in Davis, California once the vehicle is ready for market.
Production on the initial six airframes started earlier this week using hard-tooled molds with the capability of producing one fuselage per day.
Depending upon engine production volume the M200G price could start as low as $90,000. The key component in determining the M200G production price is the cost of its Rotapower® engines. The Company is working with a strategic partner to produce this engine for a number of different applications in order to obtain the cost benefits of high volume production.Persons interested in purchasing a M200G volantor may reserve a delivery position by making a refundable escrowed deposit.
For more details please contact Mr. Bruce Calkins, email: bruce@moller.com , Voice: (530) 756-5086 ext. 33, Fax: (530) 756-5179
Safe Harbor Statement:
Except for historic information contained in this release, the statements in this news release are forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause a company's actual results in the future to differ materially from forecasted results. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the company's ability to attract qualified management, raise sufficient capital to execute its business plan, and effectively compete against similar companies.
Skycar® and Rotapower® are registered trademarks of Moller International, Inc. in the US and other countries.
Oh yeah, and we won our soccer game last night (woo hoo). In the league that I play in, there must be two girls on the field. When we were just starting to get going, there were only two girls there period, myself being one of them. Yikes, I thought, this is going to be a long game. Luckily, two more showed up, so it was a nice pace. I got lots of play time, but got to drag my butt off the field when my lungs were trying to collapse on themselves.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Long Weekends are Awesome
I was lucky enough to tag along on a weekend family adventure to Whitefish, Montana. My parents, Julie, Joe and I (Kristin had a baseball tournament in Revelstoke, and Jason went to the lake to visit his family) left right after work on Friday, and leisurely wound our way down around Glacier National Park to a condo rental in Whitefish.

What really struck us, when we started to get close to Browning (in MT), was the heavy smoke that seemed to be hanging over everything. Suddenly, as we cleared one area of mountainous terrain, we could see the forest fires blazing. They were way off in the distance, and looked immense, ominous, and kinda scary (especially in the twilight).
As we drove along the southern border of Glacier National Park, we passed one spot where there was a small fire blazing ... we could feel the heat from it on our faces as we drove by.
Soon after passing this small fire spot, we passed the fire camp where all of the forest fire fighters were based. There were tons of tents, meal trucks, and lots of equipment parked in a clearing where there were a lot of people and lots of activity going on. It was kind of exciting to see.
Soon after we got to Whitefish, we heard that the fire camp had been evacuated to the town of Whitefish, and that the highway that we had been travelling on had been closed.
Dramatic!
In Whitefish, we got to have an excellent and relaxing weekend. We stayed at Ptarmigan Village, in a very nice condo. It was pretty fancy, with a neat loft, and a steam shower. There was both an outdoor pool (super close to our condo) and an indoor pool (a short drive away) that Julie and Joe took advantage of. Only thing that sucked, was that it appears that a cat sometimes lives there, since there was what looked like a cat door, and Julie and I stuffed up pretty quick in there.

There was also private beach access, which we did check out, but "beach" here referred to a rocky shoreline, so we didn't really hang out there for too long, just long enough for Julie and Joe to take a dip. From the pictures below, you can really see how smoky it was (it was so smoky that we'd wake up in the morning to ash on the vehicle).



We checked out the town site where we shopped and partook in some grub from the Red Caboose cafe (service was not good, food was decent, you could get yam fries, which is kinda fun). Here's Joe, Julie, ME, and Dad sitting on the moose bench outside some Whitefish shops.
We also took a spin down to Kalispell to check out the shops (yeah Famous Footwear and TJ Maxx ... I got shoes, shoes, shoes! And ... a Tinkerbell t-shirt at Target ... I do love Tinkerbell ... even dressed as Tink for my T-Party back in March (of which there are far more embarrassing pictures ... the one I posted on my blog is pretty tame, though).
Down by Kalispell, we took a look around Flathead lake, and watched people launching their boats for awhile. It looked pretty, but because of the ever pervasive smoke, it was hard to get a true appreciation for where we were at. Not much we could do about that.
On the way back to Calgary, we drove through Glacier National Park. We stopped at Lake McDonald Lodge, which was just gorgeous. Really reminded me of Crater Lake Lodge, where Jason and I had breakfast on our Oregon vacation last year. Same feel to it. It'd be a neat place to spend a weekend (either Lodge, really).

In this pic you can see the line of the road across the side of the mountain:

The drive was surreal, it was absolutely beautiful, with gorgeous waterfalls on the way up and down.


At the peak of the road, there is a stop at Logan Pass. They have an interpretive center there, with a boardwalk hike up to some views. I remember this boardwalk from when I was so little that Julie and Joe didn't even exist yet. Mom has a picture of Kristin and I sitting on the stairs when we were knee high. Funny. There were lots of mountain sheep up there, posing for tourist pictures, and even a mountain goat with a wee baby.
Here's Julie and I, at Logan Pass:
And ... Joe and I, same place, different view:
The entire drive through Glacier National Park was a haven for motorcyclists. They even have specified motorcycle parking at Logan Pass. Hilarious.
All in all it was a pretty awesome weekend. I actually do feel relaxed and refreshed, and ready to tackle my moving adventure.
Now ... if only I had a place to move to.
Friday, August 03, 2007
Another Book I Have to Read
Misconceptions: Truth, Lies, and the Unexpected on the Journey to Motherhood by Naomi Wolf.
Here's the Publisher's summary (as per Chapter's):
In The Beauty Myth the fearless Naomi Wolf revolutionized the way we think about beauty. In Misconceptions, she demythologizes motherhood and reveals the dangers
of common assumptions about childbirth. With uncompromising honesty she describes how hormones eroded her sense of independence, ultrasounds tested her commitment to abortion rights, and the keepers of the OB/GYN establishment lacked compassion. The weeks after her first daughter’s birth taught her how society, employers, and even husbands can manipulate new mothers. She had bewildering post partum depression, but learned that a surprisingly high percentage of women experience it. Wolf’s courageous willingness to talk about the unexpected difficulties of childbirth will help every woman become a more knowledgeable planner of her pregnancy and better prepare her for the challenges of balancing a career, freedom, and a growing family. Invaluable in its advice to parents,Misconceptions speaks to anyone connected–personally, medically, or rofessionally–to a new mother.
What Do You Think?
http://www.casemp.com/
Scary, either way.
We Won, We Won, We Won - Part Deux
Exciting. For this sport, as well (like ultimate), the first three weeks were a seeding round, so now that we're playing newbies (like ourselves), it's a little more fun.Thursday, August 02, 2007
We Won, We Won, We Won!
In both of the games that we played last night, I played in a marathon round that really had me running my caboose off. Each half of a game lasts about 20 min
utes (so in a night, we play 4 halves - two games) ... and last night, I played two rounds that SEEMED like they were almost an entire half (in reality, they were probably only about 12 minutes or so, but holy crikey Batman).But ... in our second game, we won 4-3 ... it was a great, close game. Sure makes a difference to be done the seeding rounds, and to be playing against other teams that are a lot closer in experience and skill level (i.e. at the bottom ... the newbies ... the unskilled ... inexperienced).
Sigh. I really love Ultimate Frisbee ... just wish I was a little better at throwing/catching the friggin disc. Must practice that up ... perhaps this weekend.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Balloting for Classes
In the meantime, it's killing me to wait for my class schedule. AURGH. Three more weeks, still? Why ... oh why ... so much waiting??!?!??!
To distract myself, I've downloaded a copy of BlawgWorld07 as put out by TechnoLawyer, it can be found here:
BlawgWorld07
Law Society of Upper Canada Means Business
http://www.lsuc.on.ca/media/jul3007_macleans_article.pdf
Maclean's = a tabloid ... hunh? How dramatic! This keeps getting better and better!!!
YCJA Poll
My old poll can still be viewed here, though.
As you can see, I had 7 total votes:
2 votes for "The YCJA needs reform, but just the more serious offences, like murder."
5 votes for "The YCJA needs reform all over the place!"
My original post can be read here ... and there's some great commenting done at the bottom.