First month 2007

Hello again everyone. I know I promised a post 3 weeks ago, 2 weeks ago, 1 week ago and everywhere in-between but that is all in the past now. If you really have to know a very subtle “I know it was promised to all of us about 3 weeks ago; but I can't see it !!!” from my dad is the thing that got me working on this post.


The Week of Nothing.

When we last left our hero he was at his new house in Ottawa. He found himself heroically accomplishing absolutely nothing for all his time before school started. Well all referring to myself as a hero aside, I really did absolutely nothing for the week leading up to school. Now you may ask me “Jon, surely you did something, don’t you have to eat or drink or breath?” Well you got me there but trust me, if I didn’t have to I probably wouldn’t have done those things either. It was really that bad, I ate wasted time and slept. Hmmm, I really don’t know what else to say about that week, oh I was going to get a job, and then decided working was overrated... Now I just need to figure out how to make money without working. Oh that’s right government! I knew I was in the right faculty.


School again School again lickety split

After the week of nothing had concluded it was time to head back to class. Walking back onto campus was like walking back into a dream (and on some days nightmare) from which summer vacation was only a brief awaking. With each step came a million memories of last year, and I quickly found myself back in the student mind set. It was good to see everyone from last year again, especially those people in my program who I had gotten to know well. I suppose I could re-cap each and every individual class I have experienced over the last month with painstaking detail, but not only would it put you all into a deep REM sleep, it would also be missing the point, which is how the classes have effected me. Overall I think I like class selection a bit more this year than I did last year. The most significant difference is the lack of Canadian history, which is an important subject, but also one I find extremely boring. I am currently enroled in 6 classes this semester they are: ECON, PHIL, PAPM, PSCI, LAW, COOP. Of course most of these shortened forms mean little or nothing to most of you, so let me go through each individually. ECON is economics, this year because I am in the development stream of my faculty I am studying Economic development. Overall I am really liking this class, the prof is good and the information we are learning is right down the ally of the job I will (hopefully) have one day. PHIL stands for philosophy, and the PHIL class I am currently enroled in is The History of Ethics. Right now we are reading Aristotle’s writings on ‘The good life’. As most of you are probably aware I love philosophy so this class is always a delight. PAPM stands for Public Affairs and Policy Management, which is basically political science. Right now we are studying ‘the policy cycle’. Not exactly riveting stuff, but I could think of many worse classes (grade 12 math!!!!). PSCI stands for political science. This particular class is called Empirical Research methods in political science. Again this isn’t riveting but could be much worse. LAW stands for law (didn’t see that coming did you?). The law class I am enroled in is public law and is in a large part review from my social 30 class, but I don’t mind because we have a cool professor (who is also a lawyer). Finally the last class I have is called COOP, which stands for Co-op surprisingly. This class is a pre-requisite to getting a co-op job. In this class we learn ‘work related skills’ (most specifically how to write a proper resume). So overall school is treating me alright, I just handing in my first assignment and did my first presentation this last Thursday, and they both went well.


6 guys + 1 house = good outcome????

Who would have thought it eh? My money was on the health inspectors breaking down the door some time in the second week after we all moved in. But we some how managed to keep the house clean, and it is starting to feel more and more like a home. I finished setting up my room and am happy with the results. Although we some times have trouble determining whose turn it is to do the dishes (the dish washer is still broken....) we are all getting along pretty well.


A Series of Protests

Yes as the crazed left wing hippy communist I am, I have found myself participating in a few protests over the last little while (mostly at the beginning of September).

9/11 Protest

Now I can hear the questions coming in just from the title ‘Why on earth would you protest 9/11?’. We’ll its hard to answer the question in few words but I will try. First of all it was not a protest ‘of’ 9/11 (ie. Saying something ridiculous like 9/11 never happened) it was a protest to re-investigate 9/11. My friend Karl introduced me to a number of interesting facts about 9/11 that seemed to question the traditional explanation of what happened. I can imagine the look on my dads face (the skeptic he is) as he is reading all of this, and in response, yes I do realize we shouldn’t believe everything we read and I don’t, but there were a lot of interesting and compelling arguments made against the conventional explanation of 9/11. Questions like ‘why did World Trade Center building #7 collapse?’ And ‘Why did NORAD fail?’ Are questions that I don’t believe are answered satisfactorily by the conventional explanation. I believe a re-investigation is critical because 9/11 was an event that justified a dramatic and aggressive shift in American Foreign Policy.

These Ideas and many others caused Karl and I to express ourselves in the way any good citizen would, through peaceful protest. On September 11 we took our signs and stood outside Parliament and the American Embassy where we handed out flyers and answered question from people. Unfortunately for use it rained, so our signs got wet and we got cold, but we still ran the protests from 9:30-3:00. The protests was originally designed as a two man protest (Karl and I) but a couple other guys who were looking for a 9/11 protest in Ottawa joined us for a bit. I feel the protest itself went well, though admittedly it would have gone better on a warmer and dryer day.

AIDS walk

The Annual Carleton AIDS walk happened again this year, and just like last year I walked and pledged money for this important cause. The turn out was not as good as last year due to a strike that happened on campus for the first few weeks of classes. Although the turn out could have been better, the weather was beautiful and the walk ended just in time for me to make it to my philosophy class.

Eco-Criminals

This was a small protest on parliament hill I got an email about and Karl and I decided to attend. Basically the premise of this protests was that Stephen Harper and his environmental minister were ‘Eco-Criminals’ and we were being deputized to ‘arrest’ them next time we saw them. We lined up and said the ‘eco deputy pledge’ and after a few speeches the protest was over. Overall it was a cute protest, and it gave Karl and I an excuse to be down town where we later bought our bikes.


New Bike

As I mentioned before Karl and I went bike shopping. We went to a place called ‘The Bike Dump’ where there were literally hundreds of used bikes to chose from. The store had a really cool feel to it and I found myself looking at some of the cheaper (and older) bikes. Although I didn’t intend to buy a bike, I found one that I really liked. I took for a test ride and I was sold. The bike was 70$, and I won’t waste any time explaining what it looks like, because that’s what the pictures are for.


The OCTOBER CHALLENGE!!!!

Well maybe that is a little over dramatic. My October challenge is to use my $70 bike as a replacement for a 65$ bus pass for the month of October. If I manage to do this without dyeing of a heart attack my bike will only have cost me 5$ (70$ bike - 65$ pass = 5$). So far (7 days in) its working out well. I’ve gotten to every class on time and have only had to have double bypass surgery twice (just kidding). Hopefully it doesn’t dump snow anytime soon, but if it does I can always buy bus tickets, which are way cheaper than a pass.

The Philosophical Dilemma
I am currently experiencing a dilemma on wether or not I want to stay in my program or switch into philosophy. I find myself more and more drawn to philosophy and less and less interested in the specifics I am learning in PAPM. This is not to say that I dislike PAPM, it is just to say that it is not something I would learn on my own time, unlike philosophy. The two main benefits PAPM has is that 1) it will provide a good job 2) it will allow me to impact an issue that I feel I have a moral obligation too (world poverty and human development). Despite these benefits I cannot deny my love for philosophy, and the immediate enjoyment I find in contemplation. But alas this problem has no simple resolution, and for fear of the repercussions I will probably stay in the program I am in.


Pictures


Room Pictures:

































New Bike










Aids Walk












Eco-Criminals













9/11 Protest

Blog: Summer edition

Well long time no text everyone. I’m sure some people may be unhappy about the fact that I haven’t updated my blog in over 300 melania, but look on the bright side, you have no doubt used the time you could have spent reading my blog doing something far more productive, like sleeping or twiddling your thumbs. Well since you have decided to spend your precious thumb twiddling time reading this I’ll do my best to make it worth your while. Here’s a condensed version of my summer that will shock, entertain, and distract you from whatever it is you should be doing for a short amount of time.


Summer Job:

Ah yes summer time, a time for fun, sun and... employment. Yes just as many other people young and old I spent much of my summer at a job. You may have noticed I have said ‘job’ and ‘employment’ but never ‘work’. This is no accident, my summer job was certainly not work by any extent of the imagination. The position utilized my honed skills of sitting, opening beer and taking money. What position requires these skills you may ask? Working in a kiosk at the golf corse in my town (Redwood Meadows). This ‘job’ required me to sit in a kiosk on hole 4 or 14 and serve the golfers beer or other refreshments. Of corse the beauty of this is that golfers only came by every ten minutes (because of the time it took to play the corse) and only every second group wanted something. This equates to 20 minutes of free time and then 1 minute of the backbreaking task of opening beer. Sufficed to say it was not the most trying position. On top of the simplicity of the 10 hour shifts I would work (and the 10 hours of pay that felt like robbery) I had a great boss and some great co-workers (even though I only saw them about 2 hours of the 10 hour work day).

Although it may seem like a dream job, the excessive amounts of ‘free’ time became taxing. After enough music and reading one becomes tired of being restricted to the same place 10 hours a day 5-6 days a week. This desire to actually do something with my summer led to the road trip Greer and I went on.

Road Trip:

For those of you who don’t know Greer is a friend I have had since I was 5, and as such almost feels more like a sister than a friend. About 3 weeks before this road trip Greer had jaw surgery to correct a chronic under bight. Due to this surgery, she was wearing a mouth cast the entire time we were on this trip (giving her a lisp that only cruel people like me could find hilarious). The idea of a road trip happened when I was visiting her after a long day of ‘work’. I mentioned I wanted to do something other than sit in a booth all day. Having to be in bed for quite some time after the surgery Greer understood where I was coming from and together we came up with the idea of a road trip. She knew of a really good camp spot that was 4 hours away and so I got off 3 days in a row and we head out on the road. It has been a while now since the trip so I don’t remember all the details, but the memories I do have are all good. We drove down through Longview and had some famous Longview beef jerky, after visiting the Longview Liquor store. We also drove through Frank Slide where I picked up a souvenir rock. After a couple more hundred kilometers we arrived at Kickaman lake (don’t know how to spell it but it sounds like kick-a-man). It was so incredibly hot out when we arrived (36 degrees celsius before humidity) we went straight to the water. The lake we were camping near was the ‘boating lake’ so the water was not very clear and there was a lot of drift wood but that didn’t stop my stinking-sweating-pasty-sunburnt body from diving in. Getting in that water made the entire trip worth while, I cant remember the last time I felt so refreshed. Greer assured me that there was a better lake a short drive up the road, so after setting up our tent we got back in the car and headed to the other lake. It was absolutely beautiful. Crystal clear water, surrounded by sand and forest. That evening there were a good number of families and other groups enjoying that same beautiful spot. We headed back to the campsite and had dinner and a few drinks before passing out and going to sleep. The next day we packed up the campsite and enjoyed a picnic lunch at the lake. The lake was even more beautiful in the morning when there was no one there. Floating on a air mattress in the lake I saw a loon in the water followed by a dear on the shore. Eventually we had to pack up and head back to the car to make it home in good time. We stopped at a Tim’s on the way back where by some incredible luck we ran into Greer’s friend from Scotland who she was planing to meet the next week. After a ‘short’ chat (I would hate to see a long chat...) we headed back on the road, stopping along the way to cool off in the rivers. This trip was most certainly a highlight of my summer.

The next several months past in what seemed like a never ending routine. This routine was defined by the triad of eating, going to work, and sleeping. Although this may seem like a recipe for insanity, my routine was fortunately interrupted by my friends, and the occasional out of house adventure.

This exiting chapter of my summer was ended when I headed east with my family. For those of you who don’t know, my family always heads out east to visit our extended family. This year was a bit different than most. The first difference was that the kids weren’t heading home with the parents. I stayed in Ottawa and my sister took a train ride across Canada with my Grandmother. The second big difference was that we scheduled our trip so we could go to my cousins wedding. This was a big deal because I have never been to a wedding and because it was my first cousin to get married.

The Trip Out East:

We began our trip out east as many begin trips of great distances, with a single step. The difference between us and about 100 other people is that step led us into the ‘executive’ line, where the checked-in took less than 2 minutes. After a ‘short’ plane trip we arrived in Montreal where we continued to exercise dads old company benefit by checking into the Hilton. We had some R and R by the pool and then went to visit my Grandmother Gill. After a nice visit we heading back to the Hilton to rest up and prepare for the days to come. Future events in Montreal included going to Ambers wedding, visiting the La Ronde Theme park, and chilling with the rest of the family.

The Wedding:

My cousin Ambers wedding was certainly one of the highlights of my summer. Not only was this the first wedding I have ever been to, but this is also the first Jewish Wedding I have ever been to. Now I don’t know what normal weddings are like but I can only assume they are less festive than Amber’s wedding was. Although the meet and greet and the ceremony were fairly low key, the dinner and dancing after were crazier than any party I have ever been to. Regardless of the amount of Alcohol consumed this is the first time I have witnessed people running around in circles, tossing people around on chairs, and throwing people into the air. It was like a mosh pit on steroids, needless to say a lot of fun. If the dancing wasn’t enough there was also the food, 4 large corse servings that even I had a hard time finishing (If you know me you know that’s a lot of food.) By the time I got the last fork full of the last corse down, I swore to myself I would never eat again. Shortly after I mad this vow to never eat again, a fake wall on one side of the auditorium parted to reveal a full desert table complete with cake, truffles and a chocolate fondue fountain. Despite the fact that it hurt to move, I managed to make it over to sample a bit of everything. After the food was done I hardly felt like partaking in the open bar, but that certainly didn’t stop my cousins or my uncle. I don’t think the grooms family will ever make the mistake of having an open bar around the Gill boys again. By the time my family left, to my count Trevor (my cousin) had finished his 8th Heineken and was starting whisky shots at the bar.

La Ronde:

The day after Ambers wedding we planed to go to the six flags theme park La Ronde. After some breakfast Alison (my sister) met up with her friend from Calgary, Cam, who was coincidently in Montreal the same time we were. We then drove to the Trevor and Ryan’s family and relaxed with them for awhile. We then convinced a very hung over Trevor to accompany us to La Ronde. We were really lucky with the weather because it was overcast in the morning, but cleared up in the afternoon. This meant that no one went to La Ronde and so we could just walk on to all the rides. I could go on for pages about how each ride was, but I’ll spare the detail. The one thing all the rides had in common were enjoyment and that they were followed by the moans of a hung over Trevor. We rode all the rides we wanted to, and many we rode more than once. Overall it was a great time.


For the following days we continued to visit our Gill relatives include Mary Rose and Lilly’s family. When we finished our long goodbyes we hit the road to North Bay and my Grandmother Jane’s Cottage.


The Cottage:

Every year when my family goes east we always stop at my Grandmas cottage in North Bay. There are many years when my Dad, his two brothers and their respected families all invade at the same time. Unfortunately that was not the case this time. This time only my family and my uncle John’s family (minus Joel) visited. We spent a lot of time in or on the water. One night when there was a meteor shower we rowed out into the middle of the lake to watch the night sky. I have never seen the stars in such a pronounced way before. It was really good to see the other Courtney’s again and in what felt like an instant our several days at the cottage had run out. My parents drove my Grandmother and my sister to the train station in North Bay to catch a train all the way to Vancouver. My Grandmother has always wanted to do this, and she invited my sister along for the ride. I’ve talked to them both about their trip and they both agree it was a great experience. After my parents dropped off my sister they came and had dinner with Uncle John’s family and me. A delicious meal and some long goodbyes later, we hit the road to Ottawa.

Ottawa:

After a long and scenic drive of Ontario (Rocks and trees and trees and rocks...) we arrived at my mothers friend MiMi’s house. As always MiMi was in an upbeat mood and was there to greet us and help us with our luggage. After showing me to my room, Mimi brought my folks down stairs to their room. My mom quickly noticed that the room they were staying in was usually MiMi’s room. “Where are you sleeping?” My mom asked. Mimi only responed “Don’t worry about it.” MiMi often houses students from other countries studying in Ottawa, and at this time she had two guys, one from Korea and the other from Kazakstan. We found out later that because her billets were taking up the other rooms, MiMi slept on the sofa and let my parents have her bed. She is one heck of a lady.

The next few days were dominated by buying things for me and my new house. We dropped by the house the day after we arrived in Ottawa. I met up with Rafik at the house and my parents toured the residence that I will be spending the next (at least) 8 months in. My mom stayed behind to clean the basement while dad and I went to find the most important article in any bed room, the bed. For those of you who know me well, you know I love to sleep so I had considerable invested interest in finding a comfortable bed. We found a great queen sized bed at a good price and tied it and the bed set to the top of our van and headed back to the house. The rest of the day was spent buying and setting up a desk a chair and all the cleaning products that are very necessary when you have a house of 6 guys. That night my parents went back to Mimi’s to sleep and I slept at my house for the very first time. The next day we bought food and a number of other things we needed. After a long goodbye and a few “mommy mommy mommy”s my parents headed out to Montreal to fly home.



The Stop the SPP Rally:

Shortly after I finished setting up house in Ottawa a friend of mine, Karl told me about a protest he wanted to go to. The protest was held to raise awareness and demonstrate our disapproval of the SPP. For those of you who don’t know what it is, the SPP is the Security and Prosperity Partnership, an attempt to bring further economic and security unity between America, Canada and Mexico. The SPP talks occurred between the presidents and prime minister of the three countries and also a select group of cooperate representatives from big businesses. The discussion would take place at Montebello Quebec, behind closed doors with no video or audio recording of what was happening. People who took part in the protests represented interests from environmentalists to aboriginal rights activists to trade union executives. I am personally apposed to the SPP for many reasons, the main one is that increased North American unity would mean that Canadian troops would be used for Americas War on Terror (continuing the trend Afghanistan has started). Another reason I appose the SPP is that increased Economic unity usually disproportionally benefits the rich and would put more economic and therefore political power in the hands of a smaller elite. But that is enough about my crazy communist beliefs, if you want to know more about the protests and the SPP please check out http://www.stopspp.ca/stopspp/index.php


All right, well that brings you guys more or less up to speed. Hopefully I will have another post up in a couple weeks to talk about my first weeks of year two. Until next time, keep on rocking in the free world.



Pictures:


Stop The SPP Protest:



Speech's starting up on the hill


KKKAAARRRRLLLLLL











moving from parliament to the street




Ambers Wedding:


MAZEL TOV!!!!!!!!!!!


Grandma Gill and the father of the bride











awwwwww


Road Trip:


On the road again...


Lunch





yes jerky!


Frank Slide


Thats one fine looking souvenir


Campsite











ah refreshing!


Greer is not feeling very photogenic
(perhaps its the face cast?)


Glorious!



You think you have a big truck?


Cooling off on the way home.




First house meal: