Josh and Steph have gotten married. It was a nice, small wedding and the reception afterwards was fantastic. Getting to sit with Jamie, Nicole, Vicky, and Paul made the evening that much more fun. Heck, we even got small board game keychains as wedding presents. This I like.
We hit a small snag in our group effort for a wedding gift. As Jamie put it, the three men sat around my apartment two weeks ago congratulating each other on our gift idea as though we had won the nobel prize. This would have been fine if our purchase, a new Wii console and a few accessories, hadn't been mirrored by at least two other guests at the wedding.
We spent time suggesting a variety of other uses for the surplus Wiis. You could put on the bedroom, one in the living room, one in the bathroom etc. Or else you could use two as a sort of sandwich maker. Maybe use one to prop up a shelf or a couch. Use one as a hammer to put nails in the wall where you'll display another Wii.
The possibilities are endless.
At any rate, congratulations to the happy couple.
In other news, some days I'm bored. I do my best to fill it up with activities that I'll enjoy, but some days it just feels like pulling teeth.
The danger here isn't that I'll die from boredom but rather that I might get used to the tranquil pointlessness that I'm now confronted with. I made an attempt to divert myself off of this path with something of a summer job, but that was a lot more hassle than it was worth and not something that I'm likely to attempt again. At least not in that manner.
For the past two weeks I worked as an ESL teacher at a language center around Yonge and Eglinton. It's not that the place was bad but rather it just felt pointless. The majority of the students were only in Toronto for a short time and just looking for English lessons. You'd think the school would have some sort of plan in mind but it doesn't. The lesson plans include giving you a random sheet of paper and telling you to "teach this" for an hour.
It's not so much that the idea of a summer job isn't good, it's that you can't do something so similar to your chosen career to "relax" with during your vacation time. Next year, supposing I have the funds, I'd like to do a little bit of traveling and maybe some film extra work. Something that involves either fun or little thinking.
As it is, I mostly have been watching my television DVDs and in particular Lost and Battlestar Galactica.
What an odd thing to complain about... having too much spare time. I'll stop now.
Again... No spoilers. I don't discuss a thing at all in this book. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem as though many major news outlets, such as the New York Times, are able to restrain themselves in the same way.
Catherine and I pre-ordered the last Harry Potter book a couple of months ago, knowing that to do otherwise would make things difficult when it came out. Pre-ordering is a brilliant thing to do, especially if you're into video games or other properties that you know will be hot. I pre-ordered the Wii in June before the November release which makes things so much easier. You just stroll in and pick it up.
But with a product like the Wii, you don't have to worry about spoilers. I was lucky this time and escaped knowing anything at all about the last Harry Potter book, but when the New York Times publishes a spoiler-filled book review three days before the release of the book, they pissed off a ton of people, including the author.
Didn't stop Catherine and I from being paranoid, though. We dreaded every minute at the midnight release at Bay & Bloor, which had been turned into a massive circus sideshow with a 'Diagon Alley' set up in the street filled with a double decker bus, food, and plenty of rides. I have never seen that many people crowd at a bookstore. It was nothing short of insane.
We got home that night slightly after midnight, and I stayed up until 2:30am reading. The next day, Catherine and I spent trading the book off to each other every hour. Normally we don't read at such a breakneck pace, but, much like the fiasco of The Sopranos finale, you just know you're going to run into some moron who blurts out key plot points or the ending. You know the guy... he's the asshole who yells out that Darth Vader is Luke's father.
That's not going to happen here. I stayed up until about 3:30am last night and finished the book. I beat the spoilers. Now Catherine has some work to do today to reach the same landmark... unless I yell out something just to tick her off.
Now that the book is out, though, I'm left wondering what series I'm going to get this hyped over next? Will there ever again be something as rich and enjoyable as Harry Potter?
I stumbled across this eBay auction for the complete set of Transformer toys from 1984-1986 with a ton of figs from 87 to 89 being included. For those of you who were raised on these things, you know that means there are a LOT of figures being included in this auction.
What makes the auction extra special is the fact that all of them are in their original packaging with most having never been opened at all. The collection was started by a woman and her now deceased husband and she's decided it's time to sell it off. The downside is that the price she's listed her collection at is a cool million bucks.
Now the figures in of themselves aren't worth the price, but what may make it appealing to collectors is the fact that it's complete. Heck, if I had the cash I'd probably buy this set (just so long as I had a house and early retirement wrapped up).
Still, this is a drool-worthy display that I thought many of you would like to see.
Kids say the darndest things. I stumbled across this earlier today and it made me laugh. I need to laugh because otherwise the boredom will strangle me to death as I wait for a phone that refuses to ring.
There's no other phrase to describe my posting habits as of late. Not that many people actually read this humble blog of mine, but I'll provide all the necessary updates for my two fans (hi mom!).
1. Algonquin What a great trip. Supremely tiring thanks the many portages along with setting up and taking down our campsite every day (not to mention the rain which followed us around most of the trip and even being so kind as to pelt us in the face when we were paddling in the middle of the lake and heading to a new campsite). Other than that, you can't beat the scenery. The loons, a couple of moose, great camp food, and time beneath the country stars. All of it was brilliant.
That said, I hurt myself. Raise your hand if you're surprised. The second day there I was getting out a canoe and I slipped on the steep shore, resulting in a very badly scraped knee. This wouldn't have been so bad if the next day I hadn't accidentally walked into a stick that jabbed right in the sore spot. Again, not so bad if on a repeat trip down the path I hadn't done the exact same thing to myself a second time.
Then the day after I slipped while carrying too packs and scrapped my knee again, this time adding a lot of mud into the mixture.
Lastly, I was carrying a canoe by myself when I tripped, scraped my knee, then dropped the canoe down on top of me. That one sucked. My leg still hurts.
Good trip, though. No sarcasm intended. Paul, Vicky, Tracey, and Catherine were excellent travelling companions. My apologies to Firecrotch (Tracey) for slamming her in the groin with a lit piece of firewood.
It would seem I had safety issues on this trip.
2. Transformers Brian liked this movie. Is it perfect? No. Is it good summer fare? Hell yes. I knew what to expect going in and I was not disappointed. This is a big budget movie featuring toys and there was a lot to geek out about. Some of the actors could have been dispatched, but damn it if I wasn't happy as hell each and every time the big robots were on screen.
3. Job Search Sadly, one of the days I got a phone call I was up at Algonquin and missed out. I wasn't happy about that. However, the next day I got a call for a position. I went out the next morning for the interview and by that afternoon they offered me the job.
I turned it down, however, because it wasn't what I wanted. It was a full time position, but it was for a year round alternative school that only deals with 16-18 year olds who need a few credits to graduate. It's not the kind of place I got into when I wanted to teach as I really want to be part of a school community and taking a job like this on will have a pigeon-hole effect later on.
I didn't like turning it down because I do want a job. Ultimately, this just wasn't the right position for me. That said, I found out a person from my class was offered the job after I turned it down. This amuses me as she wrote to tell me about her new position. I didn't bother telling her she was the second choice. I keep that news inside and feel all smug and whatnot.
4. Ratatouille Catherine and I went to see this today. It's Pixar, so it's good.
To be honest, I don't know if Pixar can make a bad movie. Yes, some of their efforts are better than others, but I've liked each and every one of the flicks they've made so far. I'm also very interested in seeing next year's film, Wall-E, which is about a garbage robot 700 years in the future.
That's about it. I have nothing else here to amuse you.
Josh and Steph have gotten married. It was a nice, small wedding and the reception afterwards was fantastic. Getting to sit with Jamie, Nicole, Vicky, and Paul made the evening that much more fun. Heck, we even got small board game keychains as wedding presents. This I like.
We got home that night slightly after midnight, and I stayed up until 2:30am reading. The next day, Catherine and I spent trading the book off to each other every hour. Normally we don't read at such a breakneck pace, but, much like the fiasco of 
There's no other phrase to describe my posting habits as of late. Not that many people actually read this humble blog of mine, but I'll provide all the necessary updates for my two fans (hi mom!).
