Melissa's CMT Casting Call Acceptance

Just in case anyone hasn't heard, Melissa did manage to win the CMT Casting Call after all. But that's old news now. However, if you haven't seen her yet on CMT, check out her acceptance as the winner. She's quite the natural!

Newfoundland Lacrosse

A while ago, in one of my infrequent blog updates, I mentioned that myself and a few others were trying to get a little lacrosse league going. I believe when I first wrote, the league was just starting. I actually don't know if we had even played up to that point. Well, since then much has happened, so I figure I'll let you in on what's been going on:

First of all, we started off playing in the school gym of Larkhall Academy which was a little small, but perfect for the half dozen bodies we had come out. Then, we finally landed our first goalie, Darren. People seem a little more interested in playing when they're shooting at someone, not to mention the fact that Darren had quite a bit of lacrosse experience and was able to teach a lot. Eventually, more and more bodies started showing up and we moved to Brother O'Herir Arena, which was much better for playing with more people, other than the fact that many of us couldn't run the length of the rink. It was really turning out to be something else. James (the other person who was significantly involved with the league) and I were quite proud of what we had accomplished, but it wasn't done yet. A short time later, we got another goalie, some legititmate lacrosse nets and we started getting anywhere from 14 to 18 bodies out a night. Everyone was improving and it was a great time.

So, in my opinion, it would have been a success story if it stayed like that. But, it didn't. More people were interested, and though attendance didn't grow a whole lot with people moving in and out of the province, there was certainly a small buzz about the sport growing. We even had a girl join us for a while, which turned out even better after we found out she was always up for a few post-game beers like myself and a few of the other guys.

Guess what, the growth didn't stop there. Unfortunately for me, I've been out of the province, so I've missed most of it, though I've been keeping up to date. James has been in contact with the CLA (Canadian Lacrosse Association) and they've been great to us. They sent down a coach to teach us how to coach at absolutely no cost. So, now we've got over a dozen certified coaches in the province with plans on getting kids started with lacrosse. The CLA has also offered to ship us a few dozen sticks so we can have the equipment needed to introduce the sport.

And that's basically where we stand today... other than the former NLL player that decided he wouldn't mind coming out for a rec game once a week. Maybe when I get back, I'll get a shot at catching him running through the kill zone with his head down... or maybe it'll be the other way around. Either way, it's great fun!

So, stay tuned for some more updates (trust me, we've got some more tricks up our sleeves) or you can check out the new website at nllacrosse.com... it's still under construction, but if anything comes up, it'll be posted there!

Vote for Melissa!

So, Country Music Television (CMT) is running a contest to determine who will be a CMT host for the summer. In order to enter, the contestants had to submit a video showing why they're the ultimate superfan. Then, 16 semi-finalists were chosen from the bunch. I don't know how many people submitted videos (though I hear it was a lot) but my little sis Melissa made it through to the next round. Now, it's up to the fans to decide. So, if you get a chance, go vote for her... and keep voting until your fingers are cramped. She deserves it, she'll be perfect for the job.

What are you waiting for... VOTE!

Sprechen Sie Englisch?

As anyone who reads this is probably aware, I haven't been updating often. I'd like to say that trend will not continue, however, I'm not so sure about that. Actually, I probably wouldn't even be writing this at all, except I want inform you that MB and I have started a blog about our short-term move to Germany. So, please check it out. I imagine there'll be a good few posts in the coming week or two. So, keep an eye out. It's called Sprechen Sie Englisch? Hope you enjoy!

Michael Crichton (1942 - 2008)

Michael Crichton died yesterday. He was my first favourite author (unless you count Dr. Seuss and R.L. Stine) and I think he'll continue to be so for a while since I've still got a handful more of his books to read. Everyone knows him for Jurassic Park and ER, however, most, if not all of his books, from Andromeda Strain to Next, are worth reading. Of course if you're not into sci-fi then you'd probably disagree. But for me, he always managed to get my brain juices flowing with the infamous, "what if?". His stories always seemed to have a feeling of realism to them as if they were actually possible. Even the most extraordinary events in his novels really made the reader ponder the likelihood of such a thing occurring.

Not only did he have the ability to make the impossible seem possible, a number of his books really changed my way of thinking. I've actually just finished reading one of his older books, Rising Sun. Very interesting read about the Japanese influence in American business, particularly the education and technology sectors. Now the technology is a little dated but it still really managed to change my perspective on how I viewed other cultures. It made me really notice how much people from the west expect other cultures to conform to western ideologies.

However, his book that really impacted me the most was State of Fear. If anyone has any opinion whatsoever on "global warming" this is a book to read. It is super controversial in that "environmentalists" believe Crichton was misinterpreting information and that the novel was hurting efforts to change government policy on carbon emissions. And, although that may be slightly true, I think the main purpose of the book is to simply force the reader to look at the other side of the argument. My opinion on global warming has significantly changed since I've read the novel (and I'll save my rant about that for another time), but more importantly, I've learned to look at both sides of any claim or argument. Just because you learn something from one source doesn't really make it true. There are always multiple sides to every story and until they are all considered, it is almost ignorant to form an opinion. Like I said, the novel is a great read, and will really cause you to look at things, particularly scientific claims, in a whole new light.

Random fact: Crichton was 6'9" tall. I didn't know that. And, I've also got to give thanks to a teacher at my high school, Mr. Grejtek, who introduced me to Crichton. I've been hooked ever since.

In other news, Obama is the new president. I was kind of hoping for McCain, but I guess the underdog wasn't able to pull through this time. Oh well, I guess we'll all find out what Obama is made of come January.

My New Old House

So, I bought a house. Well, actually a friend and I bought a house. I've been wanting to buy one for quite some time now, and I've put a lot of time and effort into researching the whole process of real estate investing. However, once the ball started rolling it really didn't take much time in between looking at houses and owning one of them (pending certain things such as an inspection and whatnot).

It's an old, attached house and it wasn't very expensive, though it is surprisingly nice for the money. Of course a little TLC won't hurt it, particularly in the case of the lovely, little design someone kindly spray painted under the front window. But, other than that and a few more odds and ends, it's pretty much ready to go. Of course now we've just got to find someone to rent the place.

Mothballs and Moths' Balls

Last night, which happened to be the evening of my 23rd birthday, a group of us gathered around my parents' fire pit thing. The group consisted of family, friends, and neighbours. And, as it turns out, such a group tends to create fairly interesting and unique conversation, to say the least. Last night was no different, and as usual Melissa was in the middle of the entire thing.

You see, somehow, the conversation turned to mothballs. As you can imagine, once Melissa got going, no one was talking about mothballs in the traditional sense. Instead, it was the actual testicles of moths that was of interest. Anyway, to make a long story short, Melissa eventually started wondering if a moth does in fact have "balls". So, I figured I might as well look it up. If anyone knows, it would be Google. I typed in everything I could think of that had to do with a moth's reproductive system. Apparently, Google doesn't really know much about the topic either. Then I tried butterflies. There was a little more information on this subject, however, I never did get a definitive answer. A couple of the more useful sites were the MSN Encarta page on moths and butterflies and some site by a Butterfly Farmer. From what I understand, moths (assuming they're as similar to butterflies as they seem) have sperm producing organs and a penis. However, as to whether they actually have "balls" is still unknown to me.

"Guten Tag?" My First German Words

And, I don't think they'll be my last. You see, I've just been accepted into a scholarship program to study in Germany for five months next year. And, I'm pumped. Except, I know very little about Germany or the German language. Which I wouldn't really worry about except that my classes are going to be taught in German.

Anyway, I'm going to have to work through that because I don't know that I'll get this opportunity again anytime soon. As for where I'm going, well it's a city called Mannheim. I guess you'd say that's kind of in the southwest somewhat. Either way, I hear it's a cool place. It's got a population of about 350,000 which isn't tiny, and it's pretty darn close to France, Luxembourg, Belgium and Switzerland. Actually, everything in Europe seems to be pretty close to everything else which will make traveling convenient.

Though it's not going to be all play and no work. I will have to go to school sometimes at Hochschule Mannheim. But I'm ok with that. What better way to meet people than go to class with them? Well, that's my good news of the week.

Oh, and that news is "unofficial" as of now, so I guess nothing is set in stone... but lets just say I'm very confident in it.


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Happy Birthday Mary-Beth

And I almost forgot to post that it's MB's birthday today! She's the big 2-1. I think she's planning a trip to Vegas. Or at least dreaming about Vegas.

She seems to be having a great day though! And that's what's most important! Happy Birthday MB!!

Final Exam - Computer Organization

My last exam is tomorrow. It's in a course called Computer Organization. Unfortunately, computer organization doesn't refer to positioning the monitor, speakers, mouse and keyboard in the correct locations. It also doesn't refer to sorting pictures in the pictures directory and music in the music directory.

Actually, I'm still trying to figure it what it has to do with but from what I can tell, circuits seem to be fairly important. So do a whole lot of other things that are based around circuits. There are also some other odds and ends tossed in there too. Surprisingly, I think I may actually do well. Let's hope I'm right.

Banned in Schools, Malls, and even Bars... Why Not a Child's Presents?

I don't know if anyone has come across it, but there's a group on Facebook (with almost 1500 members) called "Ban Smoking in the Presents of Child."

The group has been around for quite a while now, and I've been puzzled by it ever since I first laid eyes on it. See, I don't smoke, but I've grown up around smokers all my life and never have I had a problem with anyone smoking in my presents. They've smoked in the same room as me, and with me in the car. Actually, during the holidays, people even light up cigarettes while sitting quite near my Christmas presents. However, I've never actually experienced someone smoking IN my presents. Has anyone else had this problem?

Alright, before I take this too far, a guy who posted in the group's wall had an interesting take on the situation. He wrote:

"I am a firefighter. I would just like to say that I have experienced the problem you are trying to ban. It was a quiet day until my pager alerted me of a a possible house fire on Christmas day. I got on the truck and eventually went to the house and there it was....under the Christmas tree.....smoke coming from the presents! It was a dangerous fire to fight because each time I would apply the water, the midgets in the presents would just light up another cigarette. Oh it was terrible!"

Note that the group owner did eventually catch his error, though Facebook doesn't allow groups to be renamed, so he was unable to change it. However, with the emergence of social networking websites, I am becoming amazed at how terrible so many people are with grammar. I'm not talking about writing things such as "gonna" or "luv" or anything. I'm talking about dropping the 'e' before adding 'ing', or the difference in synonyms such as "there" and "their", "here" and "hear", "presents" and "presence". Don't you learn that stuff in elementary school? Maybe it's just ignorance...

Anywayz ime gonna quite bitcheing now cuz its probbly geting anoying.

Playoff Beard or Study Beard?

I have an exam tomorrow at 9:00 am. The Calgary Flames are currently playing the San Jose Sharks at 12:15 am.

I've studied... a little.

I've watched the playoffs... a lot.

This is going to be a problem. Not to mention that this game won't be over until 3ish at the earliest. Also, not to mention my 2 other exams this week (both of which are early morning exams) and my girlfriend's birthday which I'm apparently not allowed to celebrate the day after.

Anyway, I just think it is an interesting, yet cruel, way of scheduling MUN exams, particularly for Computer Science students.

First post of the New Year

So, after taking most of December, January, February, and March off from my not so frequent in the first place posts, I'm back. A lot has happened since my last post. I got married, had a kid, bought a house... nah, I'm kidding. Life hasn't gotten that exciting yet. However, I did finish a semester at university and partially developed a computer game (based on the board game Clue) in the process. I also applied for, and have a good shot at receiving, a scholarship to study in Germany next winter semester. Man, I'm pumped about that. I hear they've got some pretty good beer... err, I mean educational facilities, over that way. However, that's not the point of this post.

The point of this post is to complain about online help forums. As a university student, I have better things to waste my money on then books. It's like $200 a pop to buy some of these piles of paper which turn out to be about as useful as a warm beer when it comes to teaching me anything about anything. So, as my education continued I've learned that Google is as good as, or better than, most textbooks out there. There have been countless projects I've completed through searching the information (and sometimes the answers themselves) on Google. Then, as time went on, I noticed that online forums seemed to hold some pretty good information. But lately, I've been finding that more often than not, when I find what I think is good information on an online forum, all the replies say, "I have the same problem." Like, who gives a shit? Why is it necessary to tell the world that you have the same problem? It just forces me to read 10 pages of replies only to find that 400 people have the same problem as the first guy. Anyway, that annoys me, so I thought I'd share my frustration with the world. And, I know, I know... who gives a shit?!

Southern Shore Cup

My first time on skates in about two months was this weekend. A buddy of mine, I used to play junior hockey with, asked me to play on his team for the Southern Shore Cup. Apparently it's a pretty big thing up that way, with community rivalries coming out in full force. I was playing for the Witless Bay Warriors, which was kind of nice since I have relatives from that part of the shore. Anyway, the team ended up going 3-0. We didn't lose one game... even though at times it seemed as though the odds were against us. We had a hard working bunch, who, for what they lacked in skill, made up for in grit and determination.

However, even with our perfect record, and competitive team, we didn't make the playoffs this afternoon. It turns out that everyone in our division went 3-0 as well. Just as everyone in the other division went 0-3. The tournament was laid out so that each team played every team in the other division. And, a tie in the standings was broken by the teams' plus-minus. So, even with a perfect record, we were last in our division and didn't make the playoffs, yet two teams in the other division who we beat, and were 0-3, did make it. Doesn't make sense to me. I think we could have actually won the whole thing, but that's how it goes and I guess next year will have to be the year the Warriors take it all.

Master of the MasterLock

Next on the list of things I've done over the past few weeks is crack a combination lock. For years I have had this MasterLock combination lock in my room. I can't remember what I used it for, but I didn't use it much, and eventually I forgot the combination all together. So, every once in a while, I'd pick it up and fiddle with it a bit, but to no avail. I even tried listening for the little clicks, but that didn't work either. Even the internet was no help since the only method I could find to open it was by using a shim. But, I didn't just want to open it... I wanted to know the combination so I could use it again. Of course, I could have mailed a photocopy of the back of the lock to the company and they would have sent the combination, but I didn't really care to put that much effort into it.

Anyway, I had totally forgotten about it until the other day when I picked it up again. I played around for a while, but I was still unable to crack it. So, I did another internet search and came across a YouTube video on how to crack a MasterLock... without a shim. I liked the sound of it, but I was still skeptical, so I checked it out. The method actually seemed legit, but there was a possibility I'd have to try 100 different combinations! I figured there is no way in hell I was trying that many combinations... even though in reality it would have only taken 10 minutes or so. It's also a hell of a lot more efficient than the 64,000 possible combinations it would have been. Anyway, to make a long story short, I picked out some numbers that looked familiar, and a few minutes later it popped. I had the combination! The ease with which I cracked it is actually pretty sketchy all the same. I don't know if I'd ever lock something valuable up behind a MasterLock again.

Anyway, if you've ever got the need to crack a MasterLock... here's the combo. It really does work too, but you've gotta be patient:

A little flash and some action too

Wow, it has been quite some time since I've been on here. It's not even that I haven't been in front of a computer lately, because I'm pretty sure I've spent every waking hour of the past two weeks in front of a computer. It's just that I've had hours upon hours of school work to complete and haven't had a chance to post anything. There hasn't been much interesting going on either... though over the past few weeks I have come up with a few things that I'll get to over the next couple of days.

The first thing is about that computer ethics class I posted about before. The class is no longer about ethics though. It's now about usability. But, it's still pretty interesting, and I guess fairly important since it's pretty pointless to design a program that isn't usable by its targeted users. Anyway, I had to design a program to test the usability of an aspect of a chronological forum. I decided to test the task of posting a thread. Therefore, my design is basically just a mock-up of what it could be like to go through the process of determining a date to post to, and then clicking post. It really doesn't actually do anything. It was quite fun to make though since it was pretty much the first time I've ever used Flash... particularly Actionscript. It turned out to be pretty neat to use too. I still suck at it, but after a few web tutorials I was able to put something together. Check out what I managed to do here if you want. It's really not much, and is very pointless, but it's not bad for a first go at it. Oh, and I do realize that every month has 31 days, but it was a pain in the ass to change it and I was tired. There's also no back button, which is annoying, but I couldn't get it to work properly, so I left it out. When I have some free time, I'm definitely going to have another try at making something cool.

Mardi Gras on George Street

I've been waiting to write about this forever... well, for a week. But, I just couldn't do it without a picture. I really need my own camera so I can take my own pictures without having to rely on other people. Anyway, I finally came across a picture of what I looked like for George Street's celebration of Halloween. That's me, Mary-Beth (Ghostbuster) and MB's friend (little red riding hood). I'm supposed to be a Geico Caveman. I think it worked out alright. Apparently people recognized me, though I'm not so sure. I spent more time that night pretending I heard what people said instead of actually hearing it. I think I look more like an ugly dude who needs a shave and to cut his hair... and lay off the fake tanner. Not much different than a regular day in my life... minus the fake tanner. But if people figured out I was a caveman, I'm happy. Mardi Gras is definitely one of my favourite nights downtown. Can't beat thousands of drunk people dressed up in costumes.

As for my costume, lets just say it was an easy costume that was hard to make... and hard to get off. Most of my friends were cavemen too, and at first (when sober) we really wanted to make it look good and even had some fake skin to give us more of an authentic caveman look. Unfortunately the fake skin stuck more to my fingers than my face and we ended up scrapping that idea. Of course, the decision was made after I had my eyebrows covered in wax. I ended up having to cover them with make-up to offset the waxy, white colour. Everything else went pretty straight forward. Just a bit of brown make-up, a wig, and gluing a beard on my face. In hindsight, that turned out to be a terrible idea. Gluing a beard to my face! I already had a freakin' beard and I glued another one on top of it! Anyway, to make a long story short, I got home at some point in the night, loaded drunk, and had to shave off both my fake beard and my real beard. Pretty sure I destroyed a brand new blade in the process too. Though I did only nick myself once. Which I thought to be pretty impressive.

So, that's my Mardi Gras story. Oh, and in case you don't know who the Geico cavemen are, here's a little clip. I think we had a resemblance going:

I love MUNdays' Friday

Today is another MUNday... no not Monday, it's actually Friday... I mean a MUNday. Trust me, it's not so bad when reading it, but when you hear it, your schedule can get totally thrown off. Anyway, MUNdays is a promotional thing Memorial does that encourages people to participate in many different events, ironically from Tuesday to Saturday. The events involve things from health, to drinking, to community service, to drinking, to public speaking, to... well you get the drift.

Well, today just happens to be Kindness Friday. It's basically a day to do what the name implies: be kind. For instance, my prof brought our class in cookies, people in the cafeteria were treated to free coffee, and any student is given the option to print off 50 free pages of whatever they like (usually they cost 5¢). I enjoyed the cookies, don't drink coffee, and am too lazy to walk all the way to the library to print the pages that I really don't need anyways (I'm being kind to the earth). However it's the thought that counts, and I really appreciate being given the opportunity to do these things that would have cost me no more than $2.50 to do in the first place.

The point of this post is not to brag about what luxuries my school is offering me though. It's to promote the idea of being kind for a day. That's it... you can all go back to being asses tomorrow. But today give a stranger a helping hand, toss a loonie in the charity box, get your husband/boyfriend a beer, or even ask him what he'd like to watch on television. There is no such thing as an act of kindness being too small or too large. The idea is to just do it with a smile on your face, knowing that you're putting a smile on somebody else's.

Ethics of online gambling

Today, I've got to submit a project for my computer science ethics class concerning the ethics of online gambling. To do so, my project partner, Josh, and I created a blog. It is only small with a few posts, but it can be worth a read if you're interested in online gambling. The posts focus on basically whether it was right or wrong for the U.S. to ban online gambling back in 2006. So, check it out if you want and feel free to comment... maybe you can even score me some bonus points. Here's the link: The Rise and Fall of Online Gambling

Oh, this was also my first experience using WordPress to create a blog. I enjoyed that. It seems as though a lot more tweaking can be done than for a blogger blog. Now I've just got to brush up on my web editing skills... or actually get some web editing skills in the first place.

Big plans for Newfoundland rec lacrosse

It seems as though I'm following the paths of many other blogger wannabes: blogging faithfully for a few weeks and then blogging less and less as time goes on... and then blogging about not keeping up with blogging. I think that's always a bad sign when a blogger has to blog about not being able to blog. I guess writer's block really starts kicking in after a while. Unfortunately my life just isn't as interesting as I'd like to believe it is, but really, whose is? Even Britney's shenanigans are starting to get old to me now. So after getting out the few weeks of stories that I do have, everything seems to come to a halt. Personally I think it's because last week the university profs all got together and decided to put all their tests and assignments on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, but they'd never admit to that. Either way, I'm going to make it a point now to have something interesting to say at least every second or third day. Sure, sure, every blogger says that, but I'm going to make it happen. I really am.

Like today for instance, I am going to write about an attempt by a friend of mine and myself to start a Newfoundland Rec Lacrosse League. Being our national sport (or formerly national sport) one would think that lacrosse would be available to play in every province. I guess Newfoundland just got left out of that being the last province to join Canada in 1949.

Luckily, I got the opportunity to play when I went to high school in Ohio. I loved it. It really works the body to the extreme. It's like sprinting a marathon with people whacking you with sticks the whole time. It's really great. My friend, who also played in Ohio, and I finally realized that it's about time to get a league going in Newfoundland. Actually, it was him, but I jumped on the bandwagon early on. So, we started a Facebook group and the interest has been amazing so far.

We're going to play a version called box lacrosse, which is basically an indoor version of the outdoor game. It requires less people so we figure it's the best way to start. We've got big plans for the league though, and really think it could catch on and maybe even expand to women and younger players. But that's all just hopes and dreams at the moment. For now we just want to get out there and throw around the ball a little, or at least watch people try to throw around the ball a little.

Here's a little clip to show you what it's all about: