Challenges

Friday's Challenge: Find a place to party.
Sounds easy enough right? Well when you've got about 20 people and all of their opinions it makes things a little more difficult. Deciding on Wreck beach we hauled ridiculous amounts of food and drink (thanks to Carine the French summer student) down the 438 steps - passing many peope who warned us of the police and imminent crashing of the party they would bring. Fearing persecution (beach closes at sundown, it was 8:30) we walked far along the beach, around the corner and out of sight. Broke into the salads, snacks and sweets and were just about to get into the swing of things when a few hippies came by- warning us to hide the drinks b/c the cops were coming. Sure enough a few minutes later I was looking directly into a maglight and putting $200 worth of food back into bags. Trudging up the stairs not 2 hours after going down them we formulated our back up plan. The rest of the night was spent in my frat house, playing cards, dancing, playing pool and generally carrying on. It was fun to let loose a bit with some co-workers.

After cleaning up after Friday's festivities, and a few hours of volleyball at the beach Saturday's challenge was upon me. This was a Centurion contest (100 beer shots, 100 minutes) About 50 people participated with about a 60% completion rate. 137 minutes after beginning I dropped out to the eventual winner (159 shots). Various chants, beer can pyramids, songs and dances passed the minutes between the drinks and good times were had by all.

Sunday was a volleyball tournament in the bright, hot sun of the UBC sandy courts. A few hours later we found our team in the championship game, losing out in the third set of the best 2 of 3 format round by 5 points. Slightly disappointing but eager to get some shade I headed back to the frat house.

About an hour later I headed out for what was promised to be the largest and best italian meal I'd ever had. Apparently many people knew of this gem so we put our names down and went to wait it out while touring the SFU campus at the top of Burnaby mountain. A nice view, a garden and an hour later we returned to the restaurant. I order Spinach Cheese-stuffed Tortellini and a Ceasar salad. The plate was bigger than my keyboard and had over 60 good-sized tortellini on it smothered in tomato sauce. The challenge: finish the meal. I didn't think I could make it at about the 1/2 way point. But with 20 to go I found my incentive. A free pen. So with my eyes on the prize I buckled down (actually loosened by belt buckle) and ate away. My friends may have helped by nabbing a bite here n there but I got through it and received my "I ate the WHOLE things at Anton's Pasta" pen. One of my motto's "I will not let a meal defeat me" was proved true last night.

Having completed each weekend challenge, tonight I hope to rest up before tomorrow's rockfest with the Stills, BSS and Sam Roberts. Tomorrow Deer Lake Park will be where all the good people have gone.

WARped SUCKS! Let's Party!

Having decided only the night before to attend this years' fest I was stuck haggling with snarly sun-burned scalpers and sketchy asian women women for an eventual $45 ticket, below the gate asking price of $62.75. I remembered why I wanted to be there so bad once inside the gates when the familiar sights of insane cutoff shorts, old skool shoes, mohawks, and studded accessories met my eyes, while basslines and drum booms rang in my ears and a lovely combination of dust and sweat filled my nose. Ahh the warped tour. A summer tradition of mine for the past five years - and to think I was going to skip it this year because of an apparent lack of talent. The warped tour is a launch pad for tonnes of new bands though so I made it my goal for this fest to take in some of these up&comers whenever there was a lull in the "must-see" action.

First things first: Find the large inflatable board of set times. On the way to this unmistakable landmark I listened as Thursday played part of their extended set to a mostly appreciative crowd. The slight disappointment I felt when realizing I'd already missed some bands was pushed aside as best as possible as I scheduled my activities for the remainder of the afternoon. Even though Rise Against, The Sounds, Less than Jake, Protest the Hero and Anti-Flag had already played there was still a reasonable amount of talent coming up. The most immediate of which was Moneen and The Academy Is.. So I booked it over to the side stage area and watched the remainder of T.A.I.. since they started first. They were enjoyable hard-hitting punk rock with a sizable crowd. I got the annual singer-climbing-the-stage

-apparatus quota over with early this year. First set: not bad.

From here it was a short walk two stages down to hear the end of one of my fave Moneen tunes "are we really happy with who we are right now?" They rocked through a few more tunes as their set was well-underway by the time I got there. They were very good, slightly more polished than the previous time I'd danced on stage with them two September's ago in the UoG basement hall.

Having forgotten a pen and paper, and obviously not having a very good memory in general I had to make the crossover back down to the stadium to recheck the set times. This allowed me to catch the last couple tunes from the Bouncing Souls. The guys were showing their age and not much else. The singer seemed to be somewhat bored with the whole ordeal - though the closer "True Believer" still sounded great while I got my first taste of the pit for the day.

Now there was a slight break in recognizable names so being near the merch tents I took the opportunity to wander around. The standard fare was available, tees, cd's, hats, posters. An Anti-flag shirt reading "War Sucks. Let's Party" piqued my interest with its bomb disguised as a disco ball but having paid $45 for entry I restrained myself. There was a solid band on a tiny stage here that I didn't catch the name of but they were decent until they demanded that everyone grab a partner and slow-dance sway before they started the next song. I lost interest and decided to go back to checking out new bands.

Every Time I Die had made a name for themselves in the underground metal scene and had now emerged so I thought I would give them a look. Turns out they were all they promised to be; loud and metalish. Wasn't my cup of tea though so I only stayed long enough to watch the metalheads karate-kick, roundhouse, flail and otherwise try to injure other onlookers.

This led me to a band I'd heard of but hadn't heard. The Bled. They earned a fan yesterday. Containing 5 members, they played hard punk rock with a twinge of screamo, in a good way though. The drums hit hard and the basslines were resounding. There was always one or the other guitar keeping rhythm while the other doodled a bit, not quite into Mars Volta prog-rock territory, but enough to keep things very interesting. The singer was charismatic and amusing. He mentioned how he'd like to be interviewed by Nardwuar because he'd be funnier than any politician. Their merch ten,t in addition to having a shirt with elephants on it that I nearly bought, also had a charming sign that read "tip me, not cows". At this point I'd like to be an advocate for The Bled. If you are into slightly heavier but extremely well done punk or rock music check them out. I can vouch for the live show and presume the recorded music is just as good. I joined the 13 other shirtless men in the pit for the last couple tracks and the small but mighty crowd enjoyed themselves.

Next came a band that I'd "heard they suck live" but thought I would give them a shot anyways ;) Yes I'm talking about the granddaddies of this year's tour: NOFX. Nonchalantly walking on stage, they stood and chatted with the audience for a solid 5 minutes. I know they are known for their sense of humour and some of the remarks were funny, even if mostly surrounding race and the Canada-US border. Finally they broke into song but it was more of a laid back reggae tune. After this they still didn't break out the fast, funny punk. In fact it took awhile; too long for most of the largest crowd of the afternoon. After some presumably pre-planned joking about not playing "Bob" they did it. Twas good but then they went back to newer stuff. Closing with a couple quick tunes and playing two from recent release "the War on Errorism" (Franco Unamerican, she's nubs) Perhaps it was because Fat Mike's (young) kids and wife were in attendance and therefore he was sober and not "allowed" to swear, or perhaps because their live show had been built up so much, the set ended up being somewhat of a disappointment overall. And I mean c'mon - no Don't Call Me White!

Making the 5 minutes journey back through the stadium up to the side stages I took in a bit of Underoath's set who were rather spastic and not too bad but not captivating enough to hold my attention. I saw a few songs from a few other tiny bands. Plain White T's were a pop-punk band that did what they did alright but no different than the plethora of other bands that have come before. I'd heard of Saves the Day but didnt love much of what I watched from them either.

I was disappointed when not two hours after my, albeit late, arrival, the side stage tents and stages started coming down. I still had plenty of energy to go and was not going to be able to use it here. Back over to mainstage I went.

AFI played one of the most anticipated sets of the day and lived up to it. Having caught them on their 2001 Warped swing (before i knew who they were and before they 'sold out' - more on that later) I wasn't sure what to expect this time. They played basically only singles from their most recent discs - both of which were well received by the masses. This led many to believe they had sold out. Not having been a huge fan of them ahead of time and not one to toss around the term "sellout" (unless at a Reel Big Fish concert) I won't comment on this. Still the set sounded great. Crowd was into it. And they left us chanting for more even as the living end took the stage next door, pleading "hey - there's still two more bands to see!"

Melbourne Australia's the living end opened with the one track i know by them "roll on" which was enough to bring me over for a peek. Boy was I happy I did. I spent most of the set admiring the three piece, especially the bassist. Holding a beautiful red standup bass he wowed the crowd and made me think that if i were to join a band that would be my instrument of choice. not only can i hide behind it if ever overcome with stage fright, but i could play it while standing on it (as demonstrated here). How many other instruments can you do that with? Their set also included a round of solos including the guitarist who played the solo using a full bottle of beer instead of his fingers on the frets, then downed what was left of the spilly beer, before completing the solo!

Now was time for the (too early at 8 pm) last set of the day. Choice: Motion City Soundtrack vs. Alexisonfire. Having seen alexis a few times before and with motion city as my most recent guilty pleasure I went with MCS. Joining the throng of 13 year old boys and girls I had no problem getting a good vantage point over their 4'10" bodies. An overly emo set was what I saw. With a keyboard thrown in the mix they played most of the favourites (except my inexplicable personal favourite "When You're Around") I thought young people were supposed to be spry and have good eyesight but I managed to follow the flight path of the guitarist's pick and grab it from the ground since everyone else was oblivious. The promised funny story took place here near the end of the day as well. A dude lifted up his buddy next to me so the one guy was standing up facing the crowd. After getting everyone's attention he quickly pulled down his pants and crowd-surf-mooned the band. The buddy got an up close glimpse and proceeded to drop the mooner on his face in the dirt. Hi-larious!

Hoping to catch the end of Alexis' set I (literally) ran up the stadium steps to find a crowd twice the size of MCS' around the side stage. As I arrived I heard the final chords of the closing song and a "thank you - we're alexisonfire." This seemed to be the theme for the day, showing up a little bit late and missing some things that I really would have liked to have seen. Still the sets I did take in were enjoyable, and my warped streak stays alive for another year! Hopefully next year I will return to the favourable (though dusty) Barrie Molson Park venue and will have a full day of warped punkrock fun.

Oh, and I nearly forgot. At one point a lady named Joan Jett or something thought it would be funny to close with a cover of Britney Spears' "I Love Rock and Roll". Surprisingly it went over really well. Those young punks don't know anything!

Adventures: B.C.

I think I'm a little early for my monthly check-in but I've been super busy lately so before my memory fails me I figured I'd better get it all down on paper - or email as the case may be. Let's see... where did I last leave you? Right - just before the Canada Day long weekend. How was yours by the way - see any good fireworks? I was disappointed that I didn't.

I spent Canada's birthday at a cool outdoor venue in the city listening to great Canadian musical talent. A few up and comers, and then the big guns: Thornley and Billy Talent. Thornley blew me away with every member playing exceptionally and sounding sooo good. Billy Talent had a fun-filled set as well; I was mixing it up in the pit. The rest of the long weekend involved me going to various beaches including Wreck (nude) Beach which provided some high quality people-watching!
After a weekend of concert watching and lounging on beaches the next weekend I decided to "step-up" the physical activity. So Saturday I climbed Grouse Mountain which is 853m of elevation gain in a mere 2900m climb. Forty-four minutes later I was at the top of a mountain in North Vancouver looking out over the entire city on a clear afternoon. Spectacular. I ran over to check out the grizzly bears then took the gondola back down to the bottom because I was due at the Canada cup of beer. Located in the outdoor Thunderbird stadium at UBC were 30 beer vendors with hundreds of kegs of samples. We made our way through the throngs of beer-bellied, mostly-mustached men, sampling at least one beer from nearly each of the brewers. Some tasty local beers were enjoyed that afternoon and it was a great time though the alcohol and sunshine sure did take a lot out of me. That's okay its not like I had promised to go on a 23 kilometre hike the next morning at 6 or anything...

Wait. That's exactly what I had done. And being a man of my word I begrudgingly hauled myself out of bed at 6am to meet up with the Triumf hiking group. We drove up to a spot just before Whistler and started heading up the hill. I've got to admit the first 3 hours and 7km of the hike up the mountain were not too enjoyable. However once we reached the top and rested while having some lunch my outlook changed (food cures all). The views were gorgeous and the lakes we came across were fairly amazing. So fairly amazing in fact, that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to toss my body off the dock and plunge into the ~55 degree water. Refreshing may not be as good a word as numbing to describe the feeling. The hike progressed along the mountain and eventually wound its way back down. The long, slow, painful start of the day was all worthwhile to enjoy the fantastic views and lakes at the top of Garibaldi Mountain.

The past weekend was physically taxing and so I decided to tone it down the next weekend by going white-water rafting. Myself, a buddy named Carl, and four (thankfully skinny) Irish girls packed ourselves into Carl's tiny little Isuzu hatchback and trekked out to Chilliwack. It being the girls' first time (I'm an expert having gone once 4 years ago) we decided to take the easier of the two rivers but this did not mean less excitement. The trip started out well, and besides the shrieks in my ears, I was loving sitting in the front and crashing through the rocks and waves. We then stopped off to walk underneath a 6m (20') tall waterfall that crashed down, penetrating both the life jacket and wetsuit I was wearing to sting my back. Carrying on the with the trip our guide, Pip- the kiwi, told us about a large rock named "Death Fang" and then proceeded to guide us straight into it. As i grasped for the rope and attempted to haul my body up to the top of the raft and out of the water that was swelling around me, I was overwhelmed by the tremendous strength of the river and in a split-second "decision" (really the river made the choice for me) I let go of the rope, kicked my foot free of its hold, and allowed the surging water to drag me down the river. Staying rather calm (considering) I held my breath as I got pulled through the rest of the short rapid and then my head popped up in a calmer area. Having forgotten all of the safety training we had gone through just 30 minutes prior, I picked up two loose paddles, then realized that was pointless, I let them go and decided I'd better get myself out of the water. Looking ahead in the river I saw one raft from our fleet and then looked back and saw another. Figuring it would be better to swim against the current and let the raft catch me that's what I did. Reaching the raft I was hauled over the side. It was exhilarating and I'm glad that it happened to me; I would have been jealous had it been another raft that flipped. The girls on the other hand were not so impressed. They were all stranded at the top of Fang Rock with no way of getting off. Eventually they each in turn worked up the courage to slip off the edge of the rock and follow a similar path to the one I had taken, except theirs ended with grabbing a rope tossed from shore and being pulled in to shore for the rescue. At least back at the campfire we had a story to tell! After that, the girls weren't up for too much adventure on Sunday, so we traded in the plans to go to the water park for chilling on Chilliwack Lake's beaches.

Monday I visited the much over-hyped Capilano Suspension bridge tourist attraction. A walk across a suspension bridge and through a series of hanging walkways through the forest would hardly have made my $20 worthwhile and so I was glad connections had got me in sans charge.

Yesterday I attended the annual travelling punk fest affectionately known as "Warped". Joining all the studded belts, mohawks and patched denim jackets, I enjoyed my afternoon and evening skanking it up in the pit with fellow punk music aficionados (and impressionable 13 year old boys and girls).

That brings you up to date. For the future I've got some dinner plans, some camping plans, some centurion plans and some Seattle plans in the works. We'll see what comes to fruition and you can read all about it in my next email, scratch that, blog entry.

Ah yes! My big news. I've found myself gainful employment for the fall semester. Here it is: To try and trump the beautiful summer I've spent surrounded by mountains and oceans in Vancouver, British Columbia I'm going to pass my fall and early winter in the superb mining town of Sudbury, Ontario! Woo hoo! Just kidding, I'm actually very much looking forward to this term. I've got some friends at Laurentian University and will only be about a 4 hour drive from home so the living conditions should be decent. I'm working with the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory where I will be dividing my time between 2000m below ground level and the surface. While deep within an old mine I will be operating scientific machinery and water pumps, as well as working with detectors to make observations of tiny little sub-atomic particles of nearly no mass (~0.2eV). My time at the surface will be focused mostly on research - the project is wrapping up and we need to produce the most precise data as possible. By offering a solid mix of hands-on experience and research I feel it will help to build my skill set and allows me to venture into the real-life physics world.

Midsummer Message

I think I've settled in pretty well now. The place feels homey enough - though sometimes my house is a little too quiet for my liking. Perhaps that is in comparison to the other frat houses that are all hosting Irish people who've come for the summer (they came for partying and not much else). They're enjoyable in small doses- probably better that I can go visit and then retreat from their rowdy houses whenever i need.

i think the summer is finally here for good. For the longest time we were getting mixed days of rain and sun, cold one day, chilly the next. the last few have been spectacular though. I headed up to a little known camping site about 50km before Whistler called Cat Lake which is nestled amongst the huge pine trees that cover the surrounding mountains. The lake was gorgeous and I spent two days floating around and attempting to run on logs in the water. I've checked out the night life recently too, going to an Irish pub (with canadians) and going to a popular student hangout (with Irish). Also ventured into East Hastings, the sketchiest area of Van, safely with a group of other people for a local concert. The things you see on the street are somewhat scary and sad in that part of town. I really hope the government can devise some methods of helping these people and cleaning up the city a little. Last night I went down to the art gallery, there were some really neat time-lapse films of public areas covering approximately a day every 10 mins. I also checked out Wreck (nude) beach on Sunday, but it was cold and the sun was just about set so everyone i saw was clothed. Maybe another time.

the triumf volleyball league started today with the student team winning the opening match. We've been playing on our lunch hour any chance we get so we're actually pretty good. things are competitive and our sights are set on knocking off the reigning 7 year champs.

My long weekend hasn't quite shaped up yet. Saturday I'm going to an all day concert with Billy Talent and Thornley, similar to toronto's Edgefest. Sunday I may do some shopping. Monday?? There's a hike up a mountain called the Grouse Grind that people have been doing lately and I want to check out. Also hoping to go to the Capilano Suspension bridge sometime, and am trying to round up the troops for a skydive at the end of the summer. there's talk of a start of september swing through seattle for sightseeing and shopping -perhaps stop at bumbershoot. I secured some win-your-way-in tix to a show with Vancouver's Hot Hot Heat for tomorrow night too!

I got my new macbook about a month ago and am fairly pleased with it. for the most part I have adjusted to the new operating system and have found out some of the perks of owning a mac and a laptop. applying for jobs in the sun on the front porch is much more appealing than alone in my room!

The co-op job search is limping along so far. I've applied to a job in Nova Scotia with the Cdn. Gov't, a couple in the Guelph area, and a bunch of Vancouver-based fuel cell companies. I'd really like to explore the fuel cell industry, or perhaps nanotechnology. Something more developmental and science-based, as opposed to the programming I've been doing.

That's a bit of an insight into what I've been doing recently. I suppose I'm nearing the halfway point of my summer. Time sure is flying by but I feel I've been making the most of it.

Post May 24 Message

Things are going very well in Vancouver. I've been keeping busy; work during the week, touring/hanging out/biking outside of that. I've visited Stanley Park and went to the aquarium there. (Dolphin, Beluga Whale and Sea Lion shows were sweet), on my birthday I went out for some drinks (and Dairy Queen) with a bunch of frat friends, and I've played some tennis.

My long weekend was enjoyable. i made the last minute decision to go to victoria (on vancouver island) headed over there EARLY saturday morning (i was up at 5:30) took the ferry, had some nice lunch on the edge of the harbour, toured parliament, walked along the coast at "Mile 0" of the transcanada highway where a terry fox statue stands. played on the beach for a bit, saw the world's largest totem pole at 127 ft, greek dinner, hit "the sticky wicket" pub which offered pub and dance floor and roof top patio! really nifty place. then we continued with the tourist stuff on sunday - going to the museum which had a cool climate change exhibit, and one on BC natives. saw some glass blowing and walked down the worlds smallest street (4 ft across) ate a 3 hour italian dinner then went on a midnight stroll to see the parliament bdgs lit up with 3,333 white bulbs! Monday was a tour of a castle and then headed back home via the ferry. enjoyable weekend all around!

my hunt for the next co-op position (Sept-Dec) should be starting soon. I may look around in the Vancouver area but have the feeling that Ontario will once again become my home. I doubt that I will extend my stay with Triumf. The position isn't too bad, but its a near repeat of what I did in my last co-op job. I think once I'm done the current project that may change though; there's talk of an auto-cad project coming up...

my new macbook arrived yesterday.. but no one answered the door :( so i left a note with phone numbers for the fedex guy who said he'd try again today. so hopefully i get it. that would likely lead to increased communication with you!

other than that, I'm going to 3 concerts this weekend.(architecture in helsinki, we are scientists/arctic monkeys, alkaline trio) going out after the one on friday for Mark who's leaving for europe next week. there's also a festival coming up in July (broken social scene, sam roberts, the stills) and I am considering a few other shows (ie: Billy Talent, Foo Fighters). Next weekend I'm probably heading to a cottage on the island with a bunch of people from the frat.

hope everyone's doing well! feels like I'm gonna be back in Ontario before I know it. [not that that's a bad thing ; ) ]

Arrival in Vancouver

Vancouver has been treating me well so far. I arrived a week ago Sunday without issue and hopped in a cab. My decision to bring my bike with me was almost immediately validated because there are trails Everywhere! Plus with the warmer weather coming here a bit earlier a lot of the landscaping has already started to flower, so some of the gardens are rather impressive and work well with the mountains as a backdrop. I really didn't know what to expect, but seeing the mountains right over the city is cool, I must admit. I've also been down to the beach briefly on a bike ride, so its nice to have the water within a km or so.

I'm staying in the alpha-delta-phi frat house, conveniently located on the UBC campus, about a 4min bike ride from my work. The place is only a couple years old, so my single bedroom serves my purposes just fine. The basement is decked out with a big screen TV, wall of sound, pool table, bar and about 6 leather couches...so the hockey games are enjoyable - even though most start at 4pm! The five 'brothers' are rather easy-going so there was little adjustment necessary on my part :P The other ~20 people in the house seem alright too; just general boarders from all around, including France, Australia, and Austria.

Working at Triumf is a new experience. I'm getting to know the place. I think there are a few hundred employees, mostly physicists, plus about 30 co-op/summer students. My supervisor has shown me around a bit and has indicated I'll be working on some database systems, as well as writing some small utility programs and who knows what else. Again the atmosphere is not too tense, he says he stresses output over hours so I guess that could be interpreted in two ways.

As for my plans for the summer, this weekend the co-op students here met up at Granville Island (market, and restaurants) on Saturday. There has been talk of going to Whistler, as well as probably heading over to Victoria Island at some point. For my birthday I will probably check out one of the places downtown Vancouver, but thats still a week or so away. At this point I'm already wondering how I'm going to fit everything into my 4 months.. have to stay busy I suppose.