long entry on recent events...

(Mood (which didn't fit in the actual mood field): Cabin Fever - and the only thing that can cure it is more cowbell!!!)

So, it's time for another giant entry where I recap things that happened in the not-too-distant past...

But first, a message from our sponsors;) - Ryan's got a new blog up here. He's also got a photo gallery started, as well. They're actually on some server space a few of us are sharing; I'll be moving my sites there fairly soon, and repointing the redirects.

Back to me... let's blast to the past, to a long ago time, all the way back to the year 2004...

Halifax Trip

Shortly before Christmas (or should I say U-Day), after Ryan was back from his Moncton work term, I went to visit for a few days. I arrived on a Sunday, and Dad (who was dropping me off, of course) and I were treated to some awesome pasta Tasha had made (which I consequently ate for breakfast each morning for the next few days).

For some reason, though, I couldn't sleep that night. I ended up watching some Joan of Arcadia and eating a snack shortly after dawn, and playing some FFVII on the ol' top after another failed attempt to sleep. Luckily, I tend to get hyper on lack of sleep, rather than just falling asleep all day.

So, Monday, once the others got up and Mike arrived, we went off to Halifax Shopping Centre area. First we went to Wal-Mart, where I picked up The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Platinum Extended Edition Collector's Gift Set (or whatever it's called). Then, in a video game store, I was finally able to get another copy of the FFVII game guide that I lost back in high school:) Which was especially good, given I'd started replaying the game (one of my faves of all time). I also picked up Trivial Pursuit Unhinged, which we had some fun with (granted, we had to mute it what with the chipmunk voices it produced for some nonapparent reason...)

Monday night we had some taco salad Ryan and Tasha made before heading off to Blade: Trinity. I'd watched the first 2 the week previous to get caught up. They were neat, but number 3 was definitely my favourite of the series. Ryan Reynolds definitely made the movie with his comic relief (though he held his own in the action too, of course). Jessica Biel was also good, with her awesome gadgetry.

That night, I slept quite well. The next day, we made a pilgrimage to Mic Mac Mall. The high point being our inevitable addiction to Dance Dance Revolution!!! (DDR for short) Ryan has thrown up a few pics here in his gallery. Basically, you stand in the centre of a 9 square grid, and left, right, up, and down are buttons you step on. The steps you're supposed to make scroll up the screen and you have to hit 'em in time with the music. Our favourite tune at the mall version was a latin one, with "Ole Ole Ole" combined with 3 stamps being a main motif (at least on beginner).

Of course, our addiction didn't end there... We went off in search of a video game store, to purchase beat pads (home version of the grid thing, like a giant resistor dealie you lay on the floor) and a game. The one in the mall was DDR Extreme, we found DDRMax2, which has some cool tunes, like Dirty Vegas' hit "Days Go By", a techno "In the Navy", and, my personal favourite, Captain Jack's "Dream a Dream", which features a techno "In the Hall of the Mountain King".

Wednesday Ryan and I journeyed across the bridge, so I could get stuff at the computer store, and we could check out the Salvation Army Store (I got some awesome swing cds!) Then we took it easy, playing more DDR in the evening of course till Dad arrived.

And so ended another Halifax saga...

The epilogue, of course, is that Mike was so addicted that not only did he pick up a game (DDRMax) and a beat pad, but also a Playstation 2.

And, it suddenly occurs to me, that if the beat pads work on the original Playstation (as I just got a used one yesterday), and I find a PS DDR game, I could get into it now, too! (Though I probably won't, since I like the fact that my downstairs neighbour praises how quiet I am:) ) I have A Bug's Life, The Bombing Islands, and a demo disc to keep me busy for now at any rate. (The Bombing Islands is much like the PC game Chips, if you've ever played it. But way better, cause it's silly and fun too. That Chips guy was so damn serious...)

But someday DDR will be mine... oh yes... it will be mine...

Now, fast-forwarding to the almost present:

Science Soiree

This year at Acadia, we've got a student union science rep who is big into actually getting the science students together to do stuff. Hence, some stuff is happening this term, the first event being the Science Soiree we had Friday night in the MacKeen room.

Basically, it was like a typical DJ'ed dancing mingling sort of event (so I'm told, as I've never gone to anything like it before), though it was also a costume party, where each Department had a theme. Math had chosen Ninjas, so Physics of course went as Pirates, the archnemesis of the ninja (as detailed here, and, if you have more time on your hands, strips 28 - 34 and 41 - 42 of the original Counter Culture webcomic are pirate/ninja related (viewer discretion may apply...)).

I, of course, dressed up in full pirate garb for the event, with my skull and crossbones-ified Tilley Hat, my black flames shirt and black pants, my pirate belt (well, it's a belt anyway), my sliding eyepatch (as eyepatches are really a pain, so I just slid it on when I needed extra effect), and, la piece de resistance, my magic pirate sword that glows blue when orcs are about!



Yarrr!... Pirates are vicious!... me... not so much...


When I arrived shortly after seeing Angry Beavers (improv comedy group at Acadia), it was going relatively slow, with people just sitting at tables for the most part, but it really picked up after awhile (due to people arriving, and also (sadly) due to likelihood that many people imbibed alcohol which then allowed them to get dancing. I, of course, spent the whole evening alcohol-free, though I'm sure the mood of the crowd raised my spirits:)

Throughout the evening, I showed several girls swing dancing (the main form of dancing I've had some training in... the fox trot didn't apply in this case). Granted, most of the music we did swing dancing for you wouldn't normally swing dance to - the most bizarre example being "Ice Ice Baby". Of course, the whole evening was full of zany music; random pieces from the 70s through 90s (a surprising number of which I could recognize the sound of).

Meanwhile, I learned how people my age "dance" or "groove" to the music, often in circles of varying sizes, and I was dancing to music I never would've danced (or even listened to) a couple years ago. My DDR experiences weren't as helpful as I thought they might be in such cases, but then I only got up to Light mode in the game. I did impress/amuse people with some of my spin moves at times:)

Daniel and I also had some pirate/ninja duels on the dance floor (he, of course, can dance to *anything*).

The song that got everybody dancing, though, was "The Night that Paddy Murphy Died". People were bouncing around and swinging arm-in-arm; definitely the liveliest tune of the night.

Overall, it was a really good time, and a brand new experience for my part. Yarrr!

Other Recently Attended Things:

A few other neat things I attended recently were:

-a Physics presentation on String Theory that analogized the whole thing to Casablanca

-a Coffee Haus in the Michener Lounge, where people can sign up to play music. I was partly scoping it out, as I might want to play there myself someday, though there's no piano readily available:( Also, pretty much every act was emo/angst/indie whatever stuff, which gets kinda tiring after awhile. But then came Pickup and the Letdowns - doing bluegrass!!! It was awesome, they had banjo, guitar, and what might have been a mandolin or something, and they even did Man of Constant Sorrow.

-and finally, Friday I got to sit in on a music class the jazz band prof invited us to, where a guest of his was doing some mixing using 4-track and 2-track equipment. It was pretty cool. (especially since I'm planning to go into Music Technology next year).

The Suit:

Oh, and I mustn't forget to mention the survival suit... my legs had been getting cold walking down to class, and longjohns are annoying (as I don't get down there in time to go to the washroom and change out of them), henceforth came - the survival suit - part of my nautical heritage. I can stand up to all sorts of weather now!



This pic was taken outside of the Library Pub after a few of us had lunch. They make great burgers there:)


So, I guess I'm finally up-to-date, for now... Thanks for reading:)