RIP MJ

One of the best - maybe THE best - performer ever. Very sad. I grew up listening to his legendary music.

Movie Reviews

Here are short movie reviews for the films I have recently seen (or at least the ones I can remember).

The Hangover - saw this one tonight. Funny, and had some laugh out loud parts. The Allan character was the highlight. I like Ed Helms (from The Daily Show and now The Office) and got worried at the beginning because he was playing the exact same character. Thankfully, that didn't last. Not that I don't like him in The Office, but he should be doing different characters. Also Heather Graham was hot. Overall, not as good as Superbad - and I haven't seen a comedy since that compares, but it was right up there with Role Models and I Love You Man.

I Love You Man - great movie, and the best comedy I've seen since Superbad. It's been out for a while, so go give it a rent. Hilarious.

Up- Another great Pixar film. Highly enjoyable, and the 3D effects really add to the movie. It's not the best animated film I've seen. It's close to Wall-E, but not on the same level as Monsters INC.

I can't remember what other films I've seen lately. You can't go wrong with any of the 3 I mentioned though.

Not All Albertans Are Dumb - Just The Ones Running The Government

This is what one of our MLAs had to say:

Edmonton-Calder Conservative MLA Doug Elniski apologized late Monday afternoon for controversial comments that he posted on his blog, and insisted that he is not sexist.

Elniski posted the text of a speech on June 13 that he said he gives to junior high school students at Grade 9 graduation ceremonies.

Part of the posting included advice to girls saying, "Ladies, always smile when you walk into a room, there is nothing a man wants less than a woman scowling because he thinks he is going to get s--t for something and has no idea what."

It continues, "Men are attracted to smiles, so smile, don't give me that 'treated equal' stuff. If you want Equal, it comes in little packages at Starbucks."

This next one comes from Iris Evans who is our Finance Minster. What qualifications she has for such a role, no one knows, and why she is speaking on the "proper" way to raise children is anyone's guess.

'When you're raising children, you don't both go off to work and leave them for somebody else to raise.'

The sad thing in all of this is next election, both will no doubt be re-elected. Thanks rural Alberta. And Calgary isn't any better. I'm moving when I can.

I <3 Kate Voegele

On Suday, I went to a concert at a little place downtown for Kate Voegele.

I knew very little about Kate. I did know that she is in One Tree Hill as Mia. Yeah, I've watched that show a bit. How else would my love of Sophia Bush blossomed?

Anywho, I went with the GF and a good friend of mine not knowing what to expect.

What I got was a wonderful concert. She is just amazing and is going to be a big thing soon. Wonderful live, and you have to love a girl who writes her own songs and knows how to play a guitar. She promised the crowd that she would be back in the fall, and I will most certainly go see her when she comes again. I've basically listened to her music non-stop all week.

Here's a couple YouTube videos from the Edmonton show.

Her lastest single 99 Times:

Her cover of Hallelujah - which quite frankly is the best I've ever heard:

If you're looking for some great music, give Kate a try. You can't go wrong.

Also, I have a slight crush on her now.

Fuck You Manpower and ATCO Gas

You may have heard of a temp agency called Manpower. They're a pretty big outfit based in Milwaukee. Essentially they recruit employees to work at numerous companies. They're like a temp agency.

This past April, I was looking for a job on the University job website (where outside employers can post job openings for students, new grads, etc). I saw this one job with Manpower which started at the beginning of May and ended July 31st. Manpower was recruiting people to work at a call centre for a well-known utility company here in Alberta.

I thought this would be perfect, since I'm going on vacation at the beginning of August - I can work for three months, make some money, then enjoy the remainder of my summer.

I applied and was hired the next day. A group of 14 people, all students trained over the next 3 weeks. I really enjoyed the job, and especially the people I was training with.

Imagine our surprise when at the start of the fourth week, we were told that the utility company was moving the call centre to the Philippines and we would be out of jobs after May 29th.

These are the problems I have with all this:

• we were told in the job posting, interview, and orientation that we would have jobs until July 31. Period.
  
• both Manpower and ATCO, the utility company, knew that they'd be moving the call centre, yet hired a group of students anyway.
  
• Manpower has done nothing to find any of us new jobs.

I have been in contact with people from Manpower today, and they really don't give a damn. This is a company that preaches "responsible business practices" and "integrity" and "ethics". Bullshit.

Some of the people I was working with will have to delay going back to school in September because they don't have the money to pay tuition now.

I understand the need for them to make money. But the bottom line is a company like this should stand by its employees. They have not.

Hopefully a few people will read this and avoid working for this crooked company. Hopefully, a few people will read this a refuse to hire Manpower employees for their businesses. Don't stand for their bullshit.

I'm going to keep fighting them. I want them to know they can't fuck with people like that. I'll let you know how it goes.

Oh, and fuck ATCO Gas for shipping good Alberta based jobs overseas. This is an Alberta based company too. Where is their loyalty? Yet another legacy of Ralph Klein's deregulation era.

To summarize:
-fuck Manpower. Don't work for them. Don't hire their employees.
-fuck ATCO Gas for shipping the call centre, based in downtown Edmonton, overseas. ALTA Gas is where it's at!
-fuck Ralph Klein. Ah, he's gotten enough shit from people in this province.

To voice your displeasure with ATCO, go here: http://www.atco.com/contact.aspx

K, Im Back

Whew, that was quite a hiatus. I'm going to try to get back into the blogging groove now.

So I'm going to Japan in August for three weeks. Tickets and room are booked. I even bought some yen.

I had a sweet job for the month of May. Thought it would last til the end of July, but it didn't. Long story, and I'll let you know about it (it's a rant) another day.

I actually have quite a bit to rant about. I'd do an official rant later. This is just me getting back in the swing of things.

Did The Geese Do It Again?!

Hello all,

I'm watching CNN right now, and there is breaking news of a plane crash in Buffalo.

New York State has a little streak of plane crashes going. It's getting ridiculous. This one took off from Newark. I've been through that airport. Very nice. I was also at LaGuardia, where the famous Hudson crash originated from. Rest easy, flyers of New York, that those are the only two airports I have flown in/out of so you're safe now.

Over the years, much has been made of my charm over the girls at work. This trend is continuing. The number of girls who lust for me rises, but their ages seem to go the other way. Where was this charm when I was 15?!!!? Goddamnit. But seriously, there's this one girl, she's 16, and if was only a few years younger...like, you don't understand - she looks older "But your honour, she looked so much older!". She could/should be a model. My god. There's another one who just turned 15 :\ who I'm pretty sure is smitten with me. I can't blame her. Let me make it abundantly clear I in no way bring this on myself. It's simply my natural charm. 15, to say nothing of being illegal, is even a bit too young for me. Unless I go with my "once they're in high school, they're fair game" rule.

Which brings me to my next point. You're thinking to yourself, A/B, what is it that get the women hot and bothered? What's your secret? This is it: CONFIDENCE. Not to be confused with cockyness. They're different. You need to excude a confidence in yourself. Be humble, be polite, and friendly. Don't be a douche. You're welcome. Now go out there and score some womens.

My favorite band, Thornley released their 2nd album on Tuesday. It's been years in the making. 5 I believe. Well, the wait has been 5 years. I'm not sure how long he's been working on the album. So how is it? In a word, wonderful. I'm not just saying that either. There's one song called Your Song which should go down in rock history as one of the best rock songs of the decade. Find a way to listen to it, and fall in love.

Does anyone else watch Kenny vs Spenny? Is it the greatest TV show ever produced in Canada? It's the funniest. It even beats Trailer Park Boys. This show makes Jackass look like it's made by a bunch of pussies. And how can you not love the dynamic between Kenneth and Spencer? Although I must say, Kenny isn't doing anything to help the already tarnished reputation of Jews. You can watch episodes on YouTube if you're interested.

So I'm going to Japan in August. Haven't book tix yet, but will do that before month's end. I'm really excited. I think we'll go for a 2 weeks. Maybe a few days more. I'm planning on getting two really nice suits that I can wear to interviews which I have in Sept and the ever engrossing accounting dinners in the same month. I want to dress to impress.

So yeah, I'm graduating in December. So 1.5 semsters to go. I'll only have 3 classes, but two will be brutal accounting courses, so it could be the death of me. But at least I'll go out in style.

I have fallen in love with another woman. Her name is Sophia Bush.

I would kill 100 homeless men just to touch her. She's also my current desktop wallpaper (which looks great on my new monitor. Boo Ya!).

Mr Obama, I invested some of my savings into US Equity mutual funds. Please fix the economy now so I can reap massive profits.

I also invested just as much money into European Equity so whenever you Euros want to get your ass in gear, and fix the economies, please do so. I'm looking at you Britain. I'm heavily invested in you. Surly Elton John can do something to help you guys out. Maybe a new CD? Oh, you should bring back S Club 7 too.

I'm going to go read your blogs and try to leave a witty, yet pointed comment.

Everything Is Fine

Thankfully, the whole serious post business in the past are irrelevant now. Things are all worked out. I'll update more later.