There's Something in the Money

I was reading recently about a plane crash in the U.S. and started thinking about how common they are in the U.S. I did a bit of research (i know i can't believe it either) and i learned something kind of shocking. In the U.S. the basic salary for an airline pilot ranges between $20k-$25k. this is after paying $100k to be trained as a proper airline pilot. this is ridiculous. I can see now why pilots are constantly falling asleep at the controls and accidents are happening. Reading this got me thinking in a bigger perspective about the U.S. and money. I know lots of people have been thinknig about money in the U.S. and rightfully so. i mean the american economy is bassicly going down the toilet very, very fast. but i looked into this a bit more. i also found out that teachers in america are getting paid very little. something in the range of the high $30k to low $40k. Teachers!! the people that parents trust to look after and educate their kids while they are growing up and developing. on canadian airlines and in canadaian schools there seems to be more incentive to work better. this must be because many of the areas in the U.S. that recieve low pay are getting at least fair pay in Canada. this got me thinking more. when was the last time that you heard of a Canadian CEO taking a huge multi-million dollar bonus when his company was bankrupt. I've never heard anything like that. To the american people money is an infection. CEO's taking money they don't have. Big corporate bosses slowly siphoning off money until pilots only get paid $20k instead of $50k or maybe even $100k. the U.S. is falling apart slowly because of money. it doesn't seem to be happening as much in canada. i'm not saying that it's not happening somewhere. it's just not as bad. Canadians don't seem to have that craving for money as much as the U.S. I mean look at how much of it the government takes from us. it seems they are the only ones who have that hunger for money round here.

Just a few ideas and thoughts.

Here are a few of my thoughts that aren't really long enough to have their own individual posts.


1. A great album title

Have you ever been talking with friends and you or someone you are with has said something that would make a great name for a band or the name for a CD title? It happens a lot with band names but not that much with album titles. I have stumbled upon one that made me laugh and I even stopped what I was doing to write it down. It is "why are there clams in my milkshake?" I know it's random but you have to admit. It would be good.

Thanks to Eddie Cheung for that.


2. Forgetting.

The world is moving into a time where paper and pens are being used less and less and social networking is all the rage. I am a fan of quoting comedians and lines from movies that I enjoy or just things I hear. I also have very random thoughts (as you probably noticed). The problem I'm havin is that I keep F**KING FORGETTING what I'm going to post! So I have started writing stuff down as I think of it. Only now have I realized that I am using more paper now that paper saving technology is around then I did when it wasn't.


3. IF I HAVE TO HEAR THE SONG "JAI HO" OR HAVE SOMEONE SAY "IN THE WORDS OF WILL.I.AM "I GOTTA FEELING TONIGHTS GONNA BE A GOOD NIGHT""ONE MORE TIME IM GOING TO STAB SOMEONE!!!!!


4. I think the H1N1 flu shot is a load of crap. All it's done for me do far is made my arm ache quite a bit.

Why do I do it?

So I'm sitting here watching some sort of variety show that is in another language (parts of it) thinking why am I here. I suppose I should explain what I'm doing. I'm sitting in the auditorium at my school in a fairly comfy swivel/ wheely chair at the lighting board doing f**k all and watching this show which is "HQ variety show to celebrate hazer imams 73rd birthday". I don't know what it is either. I got here because when an outside group rents a school auditorium space there has to be a student or two there as well as a "media technician/school designate". I am one of the students. In order to show how pointless it is for me to be here I shall tell you what is going on around me. The "media technician/school designate" is using his laptop playing games it seems. Actually no. He's reading an ebook. I am typing this on my itouch. There is a camera guy up here too who is supposed to be filming and it looks like he's died or something or maybe just passed out from boredom. Now people are onstage talking. Telling crap "jokes" it seems and introducing the next act which seems to be some old ladies dancing. I think one of them is a guy but I'm not sure... Hmm... I was reading but I'm bored of that too... This is awful. I'm so bored that I'm blogging about being bored. Why do I do this? Oh yeah. HOLY S**T THEY ARE DOING THE TWIST!!! Sorry got a bit distracted. Why do I do this? Oh that's right... I'm gettig paid to sit here and do nothing. Well not exactly nothing. But you know what I mean. Basically I'm getting paid $10 an hour (actually I think it's $9.50) to sit here and play games on my iPod, text people (well one person) and read. If I had an iPhone instead of an itouch I would be even happier but this is fine. In fact I think I'll write a second blog post just because I can. Actually I think i'll play tap tap revolution for a bit. Or both. I've got time.

And it begins...

I have taken a step forward in my technical stage career and accepted the position of stage manager for my schools sears festival play. This is the first time I've been put in charge of something that is actually quite important and I have to say I'm a little nervous. It seems like a lot of work at first but once you break it down it really isn't much. Once I decide who will be doing what I just sit down and call the shots from "the box" if you will. Of course then I was told that in theory I end up running the show because during the actual performances I'm the one in charge of the whole show, not the director(s). Also during the rehersals I'm the one who has to keep track of what is needed (props, sets, etc.) where everyone is, who is supposed to be at rehesals and everything in between. It seems that all I don't have to do is get up on stage and act. But oh well it's stuff I enjoy so I suppose it could be fun. If anyone has any advice that they could give me that could help me in my task it would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. I saw a bumper sticker today that said "it's all eves fault". I know it has nothing to do with anything I said I just thought i'd mention it.

SERIOUSLY!! Enough is enough!

Through the life of this blog i will probably mention how fed up i am about many things but right now nothing and i mean NOTHING annoys me more than Miley Cyrus. Honestly i have no idea where she came from. every time i search something on YouTube or Google or any other search engine there is almost always one result that has something to do with her. here is an example of the SHIT!! (sorry, language, i know) that shows up.


this makes me HATE not just Miley but all other "teen" "tween" and any other variation of teen star. HATE!! when all this started i thought "oh its just a fad it will be gone soon enough" but obviously had no idea. everywhere i go i see "Hannah Montana" or "Camp Rock" or "Jonas Brothers" everything. i use the term everything literally. its not just posters, Cd's, and t-shirts any more its lip gloss, toothpaste, notepads, pyjamas, board games, video games, USB drives, and that's just a small handful of things I've seen. honestly the Jonas Brothers are lucky that parents care so much for their kids happiness otherwise I'm sure at least one person would have tried to take them out by now. and its not like they will all be stars forever. teen stars have what i like to call a "shelf life" if they don't make the right decisions by the time they are 18 they end up like Britney Spears. Predicting the future by watching Miley Cyrus's last music video i'm seeing her with a shaved head dropping babies before she's able to buy alchohol (in the U.S.). if you haven't seen it here it is watch if you think you can handle it. honestly you'd be better off just trusting me on this one. but for you people who won't.


I don't think i should say anything more than "Don't worry Britney..I mean Miley, maybe you will still have one or two fans when you get out of rehab"

CLUE wrap-up.

I mentioned the real life game of CLUE in an earlier post. I went (I was Mr. Green) and had a lot of fun. There was lots of people (estimated between 150 and 300) and everyone seemed really excited and had lots of fun. The game started at three o'clock and people were off and running trying to find the characters and clues. I was standing outside the apple store with my clue memorized and questions to ask. the first group of people arrived about ten minutes after three and quickly got to work solving the question i asked. I soon developed more questions and would change them up randomly. i was surprised at the number of people who took this really seriously. some people dressed up like detectives and some groups split up and were literally running around at top speed to make sure they were the first ones to solve the mystery. here are a few pics of things that went on and some people that had fun.


Mr. Green (Me) gets cornered by a group of people



Professor Plum gives out clues



Ms. Scarlet



Ms. White and her assistant



Col. Mustard in a thumb war



Ms. Peacock



some people really got involved in the game



The detective congratulates some of the people who got the right answer.


The final answer was "it was Col. mustard in the HMV with the golf club". this was an awesome mission. i had fun and I'm sure many others did too.

for more things like this visit:

http://www.improvintoronto.com

or search facebook for "improv in toronto"


there will be a video which i will post a link to when it ready

Kudos to you but you still wouldn't get my vote.

With every mention of Stephen Harper or an election there is mention of Harper singing "with a little help from my friends". I saw this and I think he was actually good. Well done him. The thing is even if I could vote I wouldn't vote for him. That is just my opinion and you are perfectly entitled to it I won't make fun of you or be mean to you because you have your own beliefs and it is not my job to change them. I just think that Harper singing a song is going to help him very much in the polls. Maybe if he was auditioning for Canadian idol it would help. In fact if he was in Canadian idol and I actually cared about it I would probably vote for him. The thing is he's not in Canadian idol, he's a politician. This thing might get you a vote here and there during an election but not during a time when there isn't one. I think re people who say that they are going to vote for him because of the song should have their voting priviladges taken away and forced to wear a sign with something along the lines of "I can't vote because of harper" and have a big picture of him playing the piano on it. That way wherever they go people can laugh at them.

And one last thing for you to think about. I would like to point out the irony of the title of the song he was singing. "with a little help from my friends". Think about it. You'll get it eventually ot someone will explain it and you will laugh.

A little ignorance? Maybe.

While playing the real life game of clue today (I was Mr. Green) part of my role was to ask questions related to money (because Mr. Green is supposedly attached to money). I was given the suggestions of "name four major banks in Canada" (easy) or "name three types of accountants" (not so easy). Neither of these I was very keen on using so I created one on the spur of the moment. It was "who is on the Canadian five dollar bill?". Now I'm sure most of you are saying "simple" but aparantly it wasn't. After using that I went on to the ten dollar bill and the twenty. Then the hundred. Most people got the twenty fairly easily because they either knew the answer or had a twenty with them (the answer is the queen by the way). But I was shocked by the number of people who didn't know who was on the five. The most popular guess was Sir John A. MacDonald which it isn't. By then someone would pop up with Wilfred Laurier who is the correct answer but a surprising amount of people would panic and then say something like "damn I just spent one" and a surprising amount of people would say "I don't have any cash on me, s**t!". In my opinion the five dollar bill is the most common bill and I'm sure many people go through at least five or six a week. The point i'm getting at is money is something that passes through our hands so fast that we don't know anymore. And it's not like it's changed at all in the last twenty years. I'm sure if you went to another country they would know what's on their money. I can understand why many people don't know who is on the hundred because so many people and stores are not accepting them any more that many people just don't ask for them when they are at the bank any more. Just in case you think I don't know who is on the money, Wilfred Laurier is on the five, John A. MacDonald is on the ten, the queen is on the twenty, and Borden is on the hundred. And I didn't have to look those up or check my wallet.

Blatant sexism: blame the IOC not Canada.

It seems that there has been a dissapointing result in the case of the Canadian women ski jumpers. In case you didn't know, there will be no womens ski jumping event in the 2010 olympics. This was challenged by some women ski jumpers who claim that it is a violation of their human rights or something along those lines. It is. There is no question. Men have the event and women, who use the same jump (no additional facility needed), do not. It is blatant and the IOC should be ashamed. Anyway the women took their case to the supreme court of B.C. where they have lost their case to have womens ski jumping in the 2010 olympics. Now they are saying things like "we are disappointed" and they have every right to be. But what some people will not realize is that the supreme court of British Columbia has no affect on the IOC which stands for "international" Olympic committee. The key word in this is international. The B.C. court has no jurisdiction on international issues. And in the event that the IOC has a country that it is based in (does it? I'm not sure) it is certainly not Canada. So I agree with most people. This is definitely sexist. I agree 100% and I'm sure you do. But don't blame Canada. It's not our fault.

CLUE

i thought i would just mention that improv in toronto is having a real life game of clue in the Eaton Centre this saturday (november 14th) at 3:00pm. for more information visit

www.improvintoronto.com

or if you have facebook

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=195666375015&index=1

hope to see lots of you there.

False hope

I don't really want to be negative but that's the way this is going to sound. As you probably know Twitter is becoming a big thing in social networking. Or is it. So far about 4 or 5 people I actually know and talk to or communicate with reguarly use Twitter. This means that in total I might have about 10 followers taking into account the people I don't want to follow or who are accidentally following me and just haven't stopped following me. Now you have to factor in celebrities and companies and bands etc. who also use Twitter that I am following. Maybe 10. 20 at the most. These are people that won't follow me unless they follow everyone that is following them on Twitter. This should bring up the number of my followers to about 20-25 at the most. So I ask you this. Why do I have upwards of 40 followers which is nearly double of my estimated number of people who should be following me. Now for those of you who don't know, Twitter is all about achieving the most number of followers possible. If I was famous I might have upwards of a million followers. Now I have found out that most of the people following you that you are not following are "porn bots". You can identify these by looking at the number of tweets that they have made and the number of people they are following and the number of people following them. I they are following 900 people and have 3 followers and have made 1 tweet (usually something like "check out this site" followed by a link) they are "porn bots". I think people are being given a false hope because of these spammers (that's really what they are). They start to believe that the have a huge popularity because of the number of followers they have. Try asking a question to everyone on Twitter and see how many answers or replied you get. You might get one or two from people you see everyday at work or school who you could probably ask in person. There is one last way that Twitter give us hope. That is the celebrities that are on Twitter. They post stuff and make you feel like you know more about them and maybe feel a connection to them. You don't. I'm sure if people stopped sending them crap like "OMG I love you! Come to Argentina!!" then they might respond to legit questions and statements that everyone makes. So stop sending crap to celebrities and give up hope. Twitter is for delusioned people and people with lots of "friends" and celebrities.

God save the queen? Maybe not...

In my world politics class I recently had to hold a seminar about wether Canada should remain acknowledging the queen as our head of state or wether we should remove the influence of the British monarchy. It was the basic sovereignty debate. I just watched a show on CBC about the royal family and was shown a debate that took place in England about removing the monarchy from England. After hours of tiring research and in depth analysis (yeah right) I realized that not too many people like the queen. I kind of feel sorry for her. She's really just an old lady with a big pair of outdated glasses that make her look a bit like an owl (thanks eddie izzard for that simile. That's not much of a simile is it. Oh well). We should be kind. In Canada we don't actually send any money to the royal family so why be mad at her. She hasn't done anything bad really. Yet. Maybe if she does then we can start complaining. But for now let's just leave her alone. Also, don't forget you get the odd day off here and there because of her.

Top box office

Apparently the movie "a Christmas carol" beat "this is it" in the UK. Now as much as I liked michael jackson while he was alive (I didn't actually like him that much but his music was good) I think it's time to leave him in peace and get on with our lives. At this point the Jackson family is trying to get every penny they can from his death. I've seen "a Christmas carol". It was a very good movie. Not as good as the original I'll admit because that was amazing but this is the best remake I've ever seen. If you compared the animated Scrooge to jim carrey, he doesn't just sound like jim but also has the same manerisms and movements and characteristics. It's really quite amazing.

A new trend

Is it just me or do other celebrities seem to dislike Taylor Swift? First Kanyé and now wynona judd. Who's going to be next? Any suggestions? I'm hoping it'll be britney spears. Wouldn't that be a shock. No it wouldn't really. I take that back.

In the beginning (hello)

This is the first post in this blog. No one will read it because... Well it's the first post and honestly who reads them. I suppost this makes this post kind of pointless doesn't it. Oh well. In case anyone decides to read this this blog is about someone trying to get through the last year of high school in toronto and into university doubting myself all the way along. I might ask for help with some stuff so if you can send a message. Thanks

Will