Movies...I've seen a few lately. Some were repeat viewings, one was new to me.

Last night we saw Super Size Me (we being Rol, Katie, Loren, & myself). It's a documentary about fast food...McDonalds in particular. As part of it, the documentarian went on a 30 day McDonalds binge. Breakfask, lunch , and dinner for every day of 1 month was to consist of McDonald's food. He gained weight and it affected his body in ways his doctors had not expected. I won't say to much and ruin it for you, but I do recommend it. It is definitely worth seeing. I'm loving how documentaries are getting more attention these days. I just hope it doesn't get out of hand...a documentary can not be a commercial endeavour, otherwise it loses credibility.

I also watched a couple movies from my DVD collection recently:

Shawshank Redemption - There is a reason this movie is ranked #2 on the IMDB Top #250 movies....it's just damn good. Frank Darabont is a great director, as well as a screenplay writer. The pacing is great, the visuals are captivating, and the story just draws you in. It's well acted by all involved and the costumes and sets are convincing (for me anyways...not having lived in those times). It feels like a real story...like anything in that movie could have happened in the real world. That's what I like...a believable story. Sometimes, sure, it's nice to escape reality in a movie...but usually I find myself disappointed in those type because they just seem to push the limits of reality without relating it to reality enough (does that make sense?).

My Cousin Vinny - I picked this movie up a while ago for cheap. I hadn't seen it in years (ok, I caught the last half on TV a couple months ago). It's no wonder to me that Marissa Tomei was awarded Best Supporting Actress for her role in this flick...she's truly wonderful to watch. In fact, I enjoyed all the acting in this movie...it's another one that is set in reality...in a situation that could conceivably happen in this world we live in. Maybe some parts are exaggerated for comedic emphasis, but for the most part it feels real. No special effects or digital enhancements as far as I can tell. It's just good old fashioned film making where the story is the focus. And this story is excellent.

All of those movies are 4 star in my mind. When I watch them, I am not unimpressed, I am not displeased by factual errors or bad acting or continuity mess ups...although I'm sure these things may exist in these films, it's just not as noticeable as in some films.

I can take a simple task and turn it into the most complicated thing on the planet.

I went outside to setup the sprinkler today to water the lawn. Firstly, I went out in bare feet, apparently not thinking that my feet would get dirty and I'd be coming back into the house. Then, I get the hose and take off the nozzle (after realizing the water was still turned on. I attach the sprinkler and start to yard on the hose to bring it out to where I want to position the sprinkler. The hose is wrapped around a drain spout, but instead of walking over to it and unhooking it, I try to whip the hose and slip it off. So the hose is dirty, rubbing against my nice clean shorts, I'm spraying myself with water as I whip the hose, and it's still not coming off the drain. I give up and walk over to unhook it, I get the sprinkler setup and start it going. Ok, so now I've got the dirty feet and I gotta go back in the house. I end up crawling up the stairs and into the bathroom to wash my feet off in the tub..and then end up getting my nice clean bath mat all dirty.

Maybe that wasn't the most complicated thing on the planet, but it was definitely tougher than that task should have been.

We have grass growing! Exciting times at Chez CMT!

Went sailing on Wednesday with Rol and Melinda. I skippered the Karacki II the whole time, except for launch and dock. I tried to dock it but failed miserably and came close to hitting some other boats, so I handed it over to Captain Rol. We had lots of wind and the trip was fun. Got close to Forest Island and noticed that something fairly substanstial was being built on it...but couldn't figure out what. It's not that big of an island. A huge tugboat gave us a some major wake and then a big Boston Whaler cut through it and gave us some more wake from another angle. The Karacki II handled it without incident, but I will admit it was a tad scary. Fun though.

Pretty dull weekend...working graveyards puts a bit of a damper on it. I missed out on behind a boat sports today because I was sleeping. Oh well, gotta do what I gotta do. I like the full time and I need the money.

Saw Shrek 2 on friday...it was quite good. Very entertaining, love the parodies and such. The animation is excellent...I quite like the animation in Ice Age, but Shrek is equally as excellent...especially in the human character's features. Still need to see Kill Bill Volume 2.

The price of gas is encroaching on $1 per litre. It's not as big a shock to me as it is to some people...when I lived in New Zealand, the price averaged about $1.02 per litre while I was there. Many people are bitching and moaning about the price...and while I agree it's not pleasant, I do know that there's not much I can do about it and so I look to the brighter side. There's two bright sides I can see: I get a bunch more Petro Points every time I fill up, and also the high cost of fuel may motivate people to find alternative means of travel or power...which could benefit our environment better. I know that those hybrid cars being produced by Toyota and Honda are gaining in popularity. I wouldn't mind owning one, but they're a tad expensive.

I helped Choy prep the yard for grass seeding last friday...lots of raking. So now it's been seeded and limed and it's on constant moisturization control for the next while. I hate watering the potential lawn. Everytime I go out to move the sprinklers I sink into the muck at least twice, leaving big ugly footprints in what is to become a field of grass. And if I try to fix my footprint by tamping it down and leveling out the mud again, it just makes things worse because I put in more footprints all around it. Then the sprinkler makes it's way towards me as I'm tamping down my mistake and I can either stand there and get wet, which I know isn't a big deal and yet it seems like it is, or I can move to get out of the way...at which time I usually end up making more footprints in the soft frickin mud. I think I've done more bad than good and I dunno how this lawn is gonna look. I hope it turns out ok, but I have my doubts.

When I was in Vancouver last week, I listened to the Fox as I always do. I'd listen to it in Victoria as well, but the reception isn't always that great and it is sort of nice to listen to a local station because of the locality of it. The Fox is superior in my opinion...although it's changed some in the years since I used to listen to it religiously. Jeff O'Neil is the only jock left from the original crew I loved (and he was always the best anyways). Larry & Willy have moved on, Courage got canned, and Dunbar got moved around when Corus took over (I never cared for Dunbar much anyways). Bob Mills is no longer the Program Director, and for the life of me I can't remember his name, but the old Music Director left a while back as well. They changed format a few times...always remaining with the rock, but going fully "new rock" and including some rap as well. I didn't like it when they did that. It seems they have changed format again and it closer to the Fox of the mid nineties that I loved. New rock mixed with classic rock, an excellent mix in my opinion.

I've listened to O'Neil work his way up from evenings all the way to the morning show. He's always been funny and entertaining and I loved it when he used to fill in for time slots other than his own because he brought his evening show wit to the daytime. I'm happy he's doing well and that he has managed to stick with the Fox through all the changes. Melle Mel is still the Fox production guru as far as I know, and what I heard last week was just frickin' awesome. That guy can image a station like no other...it's amazing the sounds and mixes he creates. I would love to be able to produce the auditory bliss that he manages to put out. I'm not sure if the Kaye man is back as the voice...it was a little tough to tell, but the voicing sounds good. Not quite as cool as it was in the mid-late nineties...but then I did only hear it for portions of one day. The Kaye man is kick ass as far as voicing goes and there are few that come close to his talent. Al Murdoch is pretty damn good too, although I don't know if he has the range that Kaye does.

The Fox Rocks!

I'm not sure exactly when, but sometime in the past year or so, I began to draw my 8's differently. I used to flow right through the figure of 8 with one pen stroke, but I've realized that now I've started to draw two circles...one on top of the other. I'm not sure what brought on the change, but it wasn't a conscious decision I'm pretty sure. Most likely I realized that my original 8's were terrible...the circles were quite ovular and the end result didn't really look like an 8. I just realized this today.

My S's have always been bad. They looks like 5's. Usually you should be able to realize that it's an S, not an 5...but in certain instances where the next thing could be a letter or a number, like a licence plate, it could be mis-read. I definitely make my 5's look like 5's...I give a clear squared angle in the top left corner. But if you don't know that I do that, an you see one of my S's, you could mistake it for a 5, cause it probably looks enough like a 5, just with a rounded top left corner. My postal code is probably where I notice it the most and am conscious of the fact that it could be mis-read...and yet the way postal code's are structured, you'd hope the person reading it would realize it has to be an S and not a 5 because they go Letter Number Letter Number Letter Number...but I wonder how many people truly realize that. I'm sure a higher percentage than not do, I would hope...but I'm also quite certain that it is not 100%...especially if the reader is not Canadian.

While I'm on this topic, I may as well add that I quite like the way I do my M's. I make the right peak higher than the left peak and it looks good in an off-balance sort of way.

I feel like I've been made.

I wasn't posting anything lately cause nothing was happening...in fact I was getting a bit down on myself cause nothing was happening in my life and I seemed to be spinning my wheels. But...

Yesterday was a good day. Work went well and it got even better when I went upstairs to check the schedule and the boss asked me into his office to tell me I was getting the full time position I had applied for! Up until now I had been part time, although working full time hours for the past few months. Very happy indeed about this positive turn of events.

And as far as not doing much in life, it wasn't the case this past weekend.

Friday I went to Vancouver to visit my grandparents, which was good. Catching the ferry's is always a bit of an adventure, especially when you have a specific time to be on the other side. Going over I didn't have a specific time to be there, although I'd told G&G that I'd be on the 9am sailing. I got there with what used to be ample time, especially for a non-holiday friday morning that's not summertime...but alas I missed the boat by 3 vehicles. They just couldn't squeeze us on. Normally I think I would have made it, but one of the Spirit vessels is in the shop for regular maintenance right now, so they're using a smaller ferry in it's place, and it can't hold as many vehicles. No big deal though, the next ferry was at 10am and I was right at the front.

I had a good visit with the grandfolks, and managed to get in a tour and meet/greet at City TV. It was good to see the facility and technology that they have and it gave me a better idea of the whole CHUM West operation. Then I picked up some Swiss Chalet for dinner and played some Scrabble and Cribbage with G&G. I won at Scrabble and lost to my Grandpa at crib. We'll have to have a re-match. Stayed the night and returned Saturday morning for work @ 2pm. Aimed for the 11am ferry and caught the 10, being thr 2nd to last vehicle on board. It's amazing when you're that close when you think about how you got to the ferry. The fact that me and this guy in a Mazda 3 (I like the styling on those things) where neck & neck since highway 99 and he actually beat me into the terminal but I made it through the ticket booth first...had I not beat him through the booth, I may not have made it on that ferry. Similarly, if I had just sped up a bit more on my way to Swartz Bay, I could have made it on the 9am friday morning. Ah the ferry race...good times, good times.

Anyway, Saturday work went well. Sunday was Mommy's day and I actually got to spend it with my Mommy, and Grandmommy...and dad and brother and his girlfriend and her parents and their pets...I think that's all. It was good, checked out Gord & Brandy's new place, had a barbecue of a ton of food.

Saw Van Helsing yesterday...don't bother. Kate Beckinsale is attractive, and so are the female vampires. There's a couple cool effects, but really they tried too hard to make some parts funny and as a whole the movie didn't work. I still need to see Kill Bill 2...hopefully while it's still in theatres.

So I've decided to kick my life into gear and motivate myself more. Gotta stop sitting around watching tube and wasting time on this 'puter. I'll still update on a somewhat regular basis, but I can't waste the days away. I gotta get out and do shit. I bought climbing gear, so I'm getting that started. I need to start walking more and get out on my rollerblades and bike more often. The days are nice and long and I need to take advantage.

This is long enough, but, it brings things up to date.

My head feels cool.

That Aussie band Jet is sounding pretty good. In their video for Are You Gonna Be My Girl one of the guys is wearing an AC/DC shirt. In their latest single, Cold Hard Bitch, I can definitely hear an AC/DC influence, and I like it. Not so much in the singing, but definitely in the music...especially at the beginning. AC/DC is truly the best act to have ever come out of Australia, and it's nice to hear complimentary tunes out of a newer, up and coming act from the same country/continent.

Mother's Day is Sunday...this is the first time in about 6 years that I'm actually in the same postal code as my mom for it. What will I do?

Played some soccer tonight...didn't do too well although my team did win. I let in a few goals that were pretty lame, and I didn't score any. Oh well...I got some good exercise. It's fun, and I like playin'.

I thought of something else I wanted to write here on the way home, but now I've completely forgotten. Fuck I hate that.