Earl Cook

This is the project that Jessica and I did on Earl Cook.

He's truely wonderful!

There should be more people out there like him!

Earl Cook from Melyssa Ward on Vimeo.

Creative Writing: Video Games

What an opportune time to write about video games after we had to make our own!
It's frustrating! You really need to pay attention to what you're writing as you go along. I have a new apreciation for video games and the people that make them. No wonder they take soooo long and some of them can be quite expensive. I'd charge people a lot of money if I had a career building these comlpex storylines, and I only had one straight storyline!

Anyways...

I've played a whole bunch of video games! I love my Wii and my PS2. Yes, I know PS3 game out a long time ago... but I still love it. My favourite game of all time is still Kingdom Hearts. The first and second one! They are long and complex and I do love my Disney characters.

Another group of games that I love are the LEGO ones (Star Wars, Batman, etc.). I'm counting down the days until the LEGO Harry Potter game comes out!

AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Alright, yes, I am a loser, but I'm pretty sure we established that a long time ago!

My Pet Peeves

A quick list of my top pet peeves:

-Not using a turning signal. I'll punch you...

-Expressing an opinion as your own that EVERYONE else has. Don't tell me that you think war is bad and the world would be better without it. Everyone thinks that...

-Talking about the weather. Worst conversation topic ever. Be creative and talk about something else that I wouldn't know if I walked outside. Next time someone starts the weather talk with me, I think I will pretend that I haven't noticed.

-Andrew Kress and Jessica Cable.

That's all for now! What are your pet peeves?

Maybe more people would use their turning signals if they were like this

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I truely am a loser...

OoooooH DeaR! It's been far tooo long! (Sorry Kenton, my bad...)





Anywho, if you didn't already know, the fourth Shrek movie is coming out this year! I know, you're just as excited as I am! I'm so very, very excited!












But a couple of things have got me thinking. First of all, I read some comments on the YouTube trailer about how the last ones were crappy and this one should be better and the first and the second were good and the third one sucked, Bla Bla Bla. For some reason, this bugged me. I'm rarely picky about movies and there's very few that I have thought were bad. Even when everyone thought they were terrible, I probably sat there and loved every second of it (ex. Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny. Still one of my favourite movies ever!) So I've been telling people for a while that I have crappy taste in movies. Now I think I'm going to start telling people that I'm actually open minded and don't discriminate in the movie realm. No movie will ever be perfect, there will always be someone that thinks it's crappy and we should all just enjoy every movie for what it is. Except for the most recent Mummy series movie. That was utter shight...


Second of all. You should all know that I am a PACK-RAT! It's getting to be a problem. Slightly rediculous. I keep EVERYTHING. I have a bag of clothes that I'm "getting rid of" and it's still sitting at my door and has been for at least 6 months. I also love to collect things that are related in any way, shape of form, to anything I hold near and dear to my heart. So here's the new issue: what do I do when the next movie comes out and I continue to buy (and sometimes receive) more Shrek paraphernalia. It's getting out of hand. Yes, maybe someone has a bigger collection than me, but considering the size of my tiny room and all the junk I already have in it, what will I do?!?!?!








Okay I'm gonna be honest, I'm friggen looking forward to it!


Hope you like the pictures! Some things you may want to take special note of:

• The original Shrek story book.
• My movie ticket from seeing Shrek in theatres when it first came out.
• The first movie on VHS and DVD
• The Shrek bank sings and dances (Livin' La Vida Loca is an annoying song...)
• Shrek 2 popcorn bucket from when I went to see it.
• Shrek 2 window sticky thingies.

Missing:

• Shrek 3 DVD (Someone in my family might be gettin a beating if I don't find it soon.)
• Shrek 2 soundtrack (My friend saw it at a garage sale and thought it would be funny to get for me.)
• Various limited edition food items as the movies came out, including a large, hallow chocolate Shrek.
• My Shrek tattoo. HAHAHAHA just kidding
  
  Please don't think any less of me, I'm seeking help (just kidding!)

This ain't no game! This is life!

So in our P.R. class today, my fantastic CreComm class had a conversation about advertisement placement. We touched on advertising in sports. I'm aware that sports, particularly professional, would pretty much not exist if it wasn't for the money they get from advertising, but I can't help but ask where you draw the line.
Apparently there was supposed to be Spiderman on the bases of a professional baseball game at one point, but the plug was pulled at the last minute. Thank goodness!! This kind of pushed one of my buttons a little. I grew up in a baseball loving family. My dad is the only person I know that watches games on TV all summer long. So I hold the game in a very special place in my heart.
Now in any sport, advertisements around the edges of the field, rink or court have never bothered me. Same goes for advertisements on jerseys and other equipment. But right on the sacred ground of the game?! It's a sad truth that players come and go, but first base will always be first base. Even in sports like football, where the ads are put right into the turf. That doesn't make me want to drink a beer or read the local newspaper.
Now, at the same time, I believe that sports and athletics are a very important part of life. I have a crazy workload for school and I still try to make it to both my volleyball and soccer games each week. It breaks my heart when athletic programs don't have funding for everything they need, or they are having a hard time getting the people they need to run the teams. I know many recreational sports have a difficult time getting coaches for younger and adolescent teams. So for that reason, I guess we have to do what we have to do.
All I ask is that please, please don't put ads on the bases. Cleats and dirt only!

My soccer jersey!! Wooooo!!! Goooooo _____!! Can you guess the name of my team?!

I bet you can guess who our sponsor is!

hahaha (psst we're the Celtic!)

sorry, it's sideways :(

What the....

What the heck happened to the Darkness?

I miss them. I thought they were hilarious and their songs were kind of catchy.

I wish they had become superstars. Is that weird?

They're myspace page says that they split up in 2006, which is sad to hear.

Anywho... Here is there video for "I Believe In A Thing Called Love." One of my favourite songs ever!!

Enjoy!

I want one...but don't tell anyone!

So there's this new invention of Apple. Maybe you've heard about it. It's called an iPad. *insert giggles and jokes about iTampon here*
A combination of a smartphone and a laptop.
I want one!!
I love the idea of a computer that is completely touchscreen and I've been anticipating it with every new innovation they've released. Something about touchscreen has always been so appealing to me. Even when I was little, I can remember seeing touchscreens and resisting the urge to just go and, well, touch it (don't take that in a dirty way).
My current job uses a touchscreen program and I love it (I know, I'm easily amused. I just realized how creepy this all seems...).
Don't get me wrong, it's not the only thing that I like about it. It might be what I like the most, but it's not the only thing.
First of all, I love Macs. I don't have one at home, but I love when the opportunity comes up to use one. Don't ask me why, I just find them easy to use and I love the technology of them. I feel smart :) (haha).
Second of all, by the looks of it, it can get a job done. So many fancy little features, yet all the classics you need. I still don't know a whole lot about it, but I want to know.
Now here's the problem. I'm clumsy and have a curse when it comes to possessions. Hard as I try to protect them and keep them out of harms way, I often fail. I'm constantly staining brand new clothes and losing jewelery. So what happens when I get my lovely new iPad and put a big scratch on the screen as I'm taking it out of the box?
I guess it's something that will just have to wait. When I can hold something in my hands and not drop it, then I'll consider it. Until then, I'll just admire it from a far and creepily poke it.
I want one!!
Every time I tell someone, they give me a funny look. So until it's cool and everyone else has one...don't tell anyone!

I always enjoy a good night out at the theatre!

That being said, In The Chamber was a new experience for me. I've never been to a show that was only monologues. While these may not have been the most interesting or entertaining for me, they did not discourage me from these types of shows forever. This was not because the performances weren't amazing (they were!) or because the work wasn't top notch (it was!), it was more a case of that I could not really relate to the pieces. I guess I just do not have enough life experience to fully enjoy what they were trying to say. Much of the crowd that was there (that were not CreCommers) were "more mature," so to speak, and they seemed to be loving it, Laughing at the jokes and nodding their heads to the deep insights of the men.

Don't get me wrong, I did understand the pieces, what was going on and what they were getting at, I just couldn't relate to them. I knew that they were both wanting to get out of a system that they were imprisoned in and I got that these were great epiphanies for these men.

At one point in Steven Ratzlaff's piece, Last Man in Puntarenas , he mentions "human error," which I found to be a sort of theme between the two pieces. In the first, Gordon Tanner's character, realizes that the company he works for is supplying equipment that can be dangerous for people and is cruel and incredibly harmful for hogs. The ex-wife of the man in the second one had feelings of guilt for rejecting medical assessment and checkups during her pregnancy, which resulted in the child dieing of disease. Both realized that what they thought were effective and efficient systems were harmful and fatal in the end.

I also really liked the concept of choosing awareness. Sometimes the facts that something is not what it seems, lays right under our noses and we choose to ignore them. In the first piece, the man got over that and had a great realization of what he had been doing.

Like I said, I thought they were both excellent pieces and both actors were brilliant. Had I more "life experience," I may have laughed when everyone else did.

I did, however, really enjoy the sets and the props and the style of performance of each piece. Who would have thought that each man alone on stage, with only a camera or balloons to talk to, could be captivating for 50 minutes. I'm sure it's been done, but I've never seen it, so I give it a thumbs up for sure.

Here are a couple of my favourite lines. They're not exactly what was said, but you get the idea.
-I want comfort and I fear uncomfort.
-I can no longer carry on work that I neither life or believe in.
-Health care is the anti-Christ
-I believe you to the point of being vulnerable.

I Gotta Catch Up!

First of all, I am completely aware that I have been slacking in the blog department, but I have a good reason!

Lack of inspiration

I have lots to say, but nothing substantial. I can never really think of anything to blog about that other people may be interested in reading. I haven't found a particular theme to my blog and there haven't been any recent events that I have felt a strong enough connection to to publish on the web. I'm not saying I don't care about the earthquake in Haiti. I really do and my heart goes out to everyone involved or connected, I just don't really have much more to say on that.

Team Conan and Team Leno? I hope there's a place for both of them out there in TV land because I think they both deserve their audiences and I'm sorry that not everyone can be happy at the same time.

The magazine we're developing in CreComm? I love it. Love it. Love it. Love it. Things are moving smoothly and we're all very happy with what we're creating. Again though, there's not much I can say. It's called TOYBOX and it's about toys, and we're in the development stages. I CAN tell you that it's going to be awesome...

This could be a good thing though.

Imagine I started 2010 off with something absolutely incredibly interesting that was all the buzz, what would I write about for the rest of the year?

Now all of my obsessed fans (hi mom!) will have something to look forward to from now on. It can only get better from here!

Right?

...because I think everyone should watch this!

The final curtain... of this semester

Well this is it folks. The end of semester 1 of the first year of CreComm. I had originally planned to post my faourite assignment for you all to see, but I broke my jump stick this morning. If it was gonna happen, at least it was on the very last day after I finished the very last assignment. It's almost liberating.
I usually leave the list writing for my other blog (yea, I'm a nerd), but as a replacement, I'm going to list my top 10 favourite (least favourite?) assignments of this semester.

The Assignment List for Y1S1
10. Bomber
9. Rememberance Day
8. Projector
7. Tv Commercial- I did mine for Kenko Sushi on Corydon.
6. Humane Society Ad
5. Parody Ads
4. Short Story
3. Game Show
2. Review
1. Talk Show

Not all of them were the most fun assignment to do, but in the end, I'm proud of them and when I look back, it sounds corny, but I learned a lot. Looking forward to next semester. I think...

My New Favourite Time Waster!

@everyone

I have discovered my new favourite way to develop my hermit abilities!


TWITTER!


I joined in April, but neglected to be active and really put a good effort into it. Since starting CreComm, however, I'm suddenly magnatized to it. Still, I've yet to figure out the appeal. For me, I think it's the ability of following my friends and celebs. I'm a celebrity gossip junky. It may also be that I can tell everyone what I'm doing at every moment, because I know everyone wants to know.


I'm sort of kidding, I don't give all the details of my life, but every once and a while, it's fun to just put it out there.

I've also been practicing my hermiting through blogging (like now!) and Twitter has served as a good way of connecting to my blogs (that's right I said blogs).

When I think about it, I feel silly for using these "networking services" because I don't really feel like I'm connecting to real people, while I do appreciate when people slot me into their hermit schedule.

I would also like to send a special shout out to Facebook, which is equally as aimlessly time consuming and hermitish.

So what makes these things so addicting? I couldn't tell you.

Happy Twittering/Facebooking/Blogging!!

While procrastinating when I should have been writing a paper, I just so happened to have stumbled across this. Ironic, eh?

How to write a paper in college/university:
1. Sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a well lit place in front of your computer.
2. Log onto MSN and ICQ (be sure to go on away!). Check your email.
3. Read over the assignment carefully, to make certain you understand it.
4. Walk down to the vending machines and buy some chocolate to help you concentrate.
5. Check your email.
6. Call up a friend and ask if he/she wants to go to grab a coffee. Just to get settled down and ready to work.
7. When you get back to your room, sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a clean, well lit place.
8. Read over the assignment again to make absolutely certain you understand it.
9. Check your email.
10. You know, you haven't written to that kid you met at camp since fourth grade. You'd better write that letter now and get it out of the way so you can concentrate.
11. Look at your teeth in the bathroom mirror.
12. Grab some mp3z off of kazaa.
13. Check your email. ANY OF THIS SOUND FAMILIAR YET?!
14. MSN chat with one of your friends about the future. (ie summer plans).
15. Check your email.
16. Listen to your new mp3z and download some more.
17. Phone your friend on the other floor and ask if she's started writing yet. Exchange derogatory emarks about your prof, thecourse, the college, the world at large.
18. Walk to the store and buy a pack of gum. You've probably run out.
19. While you've got the gum you may as well buy a magazine and read it.
20. Check your email.
21. Check the newspaper listings to make sure you aren't missing something truly worthwhile on TV.
22. Play some solitare (or age of legends!).
23. Check out bored.com.
24. Wash your hands.
25. Call up a friend to see how much they have done, probably haven't started either.
26. Look through your housemate's book of pictures from home. Ask who everyone is.
27. Sit down and do some serious thinking about your plans for the future.
28. Check to see if bored.com has been updated yet.
29. Check your email and listen to your new mp3z.
30. You should be rebooting by now, assuming that windows is crashing on schedule.
31. Read over the assignment one more time, just for heck of it.
32. Scoot your chair across the room to the window and watch the sunrise.
33. Lie face down on the floor and moan.
34. Punch the wall and break something.
35. Check your email.
36. Mumble obscenities.
37. 5am - start hacking on the paper without stopping. 6am -paper is finished.
38. Complain to everyone that you didn't get any sleep because you had to write that stupid paper.
39. Go to class, hand in paper, and leave right away so you can take a nap.

I think that anyone who is in a post-secondary school can think of at least once (or maybe 20) that they have had this experience. I know I'm following this list right now. So maybe I'll go write that paper right now, before it's 5 am...

What's wrong with loving a vampire?

Here's is yet another blog confession: I love the Twilight series!
And for this, I am teased and mocked. Particularly by the guys in my life.
My dear friend, who shall remain nameless, very openly scoffs at me whenever I bring it up (I won't mention, however, that he thinks the movie looks like it might be pretty good). I have known him to actually put in writing that the author is his least favourite author and he has tried to justify to me why he thinks that her writing is more or less an insult to literature, questioning how it got published in the first place. Now, I'm sure many people would stand up and fight for what they love, but I don't. I'm fairly convinced that if I could get him to start reading the books, he would probably be hooked (but deny it).
Then their's my boyfriend. I don't usually like to talk about him too much in my school work because I feel awkward and personally unprofessional, but I'm making an exception. Any time I mention the series around him, he starts in with this silly voice. "Ooooh. Scaaaary vampires that GLITTER in the sunlight." Or the classic "Twilight is heroine for girls. Go get your fix now."

They just don't understand.

I found a website called http://www.lovevampires.com/. They review the "vampire genre and urban fantasy fiction," including books, authors and movies. It's a well layed out sight and covers a vast amount of vampire literature. In their words, "Twilight is simply and yet beautifully written. The descriptions of Forks leave you feeling like you can almost smell the damp air and hear the rain falling on the roof." They also really like how the stories are written in first person, from Bella's perspective, making Edward and his vampire family that much more mysterious. The twists, turns and secrets are revealed to the reader as they are revealed to Bella. Meyers' description of the scences are so well painted that any one with a sense of imagination can describe in full how the town of Forks apears and what the people, and not-so-people, are like. Lovevampires.com also gave the book 5 out of 5 stars, as well as the 3 books to follow in the series (Eclipse only received 4 1/2 stars. Oh, the tragedy!) To read the full review of Twilight, click on the vampire teeth \/\/.

I can understand why the fellers out there aren't interested in this series and why they think that girls that read it go crazy. It's because we do. I'm sure just by posting this blog, everyone who thought I was a big, macho, tough-as-steel sort of lady is quite disappointed and now thinks I'm a flake. Say what you will, I've more than likely already heard it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a date with vampire.

Enjoy!

Blogging for the Non-Blogger

Blogging has become the new popular way of expressing an opinion to world from the very comfort of your own home. Until I entered Creative Communications at Red River College, I had never even considered becoming a blogger, partially because I had no interest and partially because I didn't really know what it was.



I guess you could say I have been forced into doing it, but secretly, I'm kind of enjoying it.
I'm not really an opinionated person. My opinion is have your own opinion. It's this weird curse I've had my whole life where I'm always in the middle of everything. Every time I think of the pro-side of something, the con automatically jumps into my head.



I find a lot of blogs are a lot like journalism, dealing with topics in the news and hot events and issues that everyone is talking about. They uncover facts and stories and display them from a certain perspective or point of view. People are starting to find out the information they are seeking from blogs alone.



I have chosen to take a different approach to blogging. I don't really have a direction, or particular interest that I share with other people. I'm also not the greatest journalist on the planet, so uncovering government slip-ups is not something that I can devote a public part of my life to. I just write about the silly things that may not be relavent or related to current events, but people may find them funny or entertaining. That's what interests me. When I have a topic I'm more passionate about, I'll guide my blog in that direction.



In the mean time, here are a few things I have learned about blogging:
1. Make it interesting to people other than yourself. People don't want to hear about your weekend.
2. Don't write long, wordy entries that use a vocabulary that a dictionary wouldn't understand. Use words that everyone understands.
3. Include visual things like videos, pictures and links to other websites or blogs that you like or are related to the topic. Interaction = interesting.
4. Strive to get recognition. The idea is to share your mind with the rest of the world. There are people that can make a living blogging. Any recognition from others is a crucial part to a good blog. For example, get noticed on a Citytv segment. Just for example. (Wink, Wink, Nudge, Nudge)
5. Update as much as possible. People are only going to continue to come back if you stay up to date and present fresh, new stuff as often as possible.
6. Check out the blogs of others. You can learn some new things. I've always had an addiction to cartoons and comics, so one of my new favourite blogs to check out is by Dan Piraro and it features his strip called Bizarro http://bizarrocomic.blogspot.com/search/label/contest. His blog and his comics easily get the attention of any passer-byer.
7. The "Automatic Save" function is probably the greatest thing to ever be invented! Every part of life should ahve this option

There are some downsides to blogging though. If you don't want everyone to see what you have to say, than blogging is not for you. It is also having an impact on media as a whole. People seem to be wanting their news from someone other than the TV or newspaper. Journalists who aim to get the facts and the truth are not as interesting as the people that can say it with passion and style. That may be why many journalists are turning to blogging as an alternative outlet for their writing.

Although my blog may be rediculous to many because of it's lack of current event content, I will continue to post the wierd and wacky stuff that I find in hopes that it will be interesting to at least a couple of people. Even if it's just me and my mom.

Happy Blogging!!!



Here's as close as I can get to knowing anything about current events. Who better to go to than Anderson Cooper for your important GNN News (that's right, I said GNN).

Buyer Beware: Things to Consider When Renting

For our Buyer Beware project, my group members (Cindy, Neal and Aggie) and I looked at things to consider when renting an apartment, as well as the rules and regulations for tenants and landlords.



We started off by conducting a survey that asked 70 people questions pertaining to how much they pay for rent, what company they rent through, if they have encountered any problems and how efficiently the issues were taken care of.



We were actually quite surprised at the results from the survey. Most of the people who were surveyed were generally happy with their rental agency and there were very few who had serious problems. As far as agency reputations within Winnipeg, Sussex Reality seemed to have the slowest response time for repairs, while three quarters of the tenants of A.S.H. Management had encountered no issues at all with their unit in the last 12 monthes.



Another form of research we did was reading the guidebook on the website for the Residential Tenancies Branch. It gave a lot of insightful information on what is acceptable and legal when it comes to things like rental agreements, privacy policies, rental unit maintenance and termination of rental agreements. From that we were able to compile a list of suggestions to potential renters, tenants and landlords that will hopefully make for a better understanding of each side of an agreement and prevent serious problems from occuring. Here are some of the suggestions we came up with:

• Landlords and tenants should always be in contact with one another, particularly on changes that occur, to ensure that problems can be dealt with appropriately or avoided all together.
• Potential tenants should always make themselves aware of rules and expectations, particularly those outlined in the rental agreement, as well as for their potential landlords. They should also ensure that landlords are living up to the expectations and duties, and acknowledge when issues are neglected.
• Landlords and tenants are both responsible for maintenance in accordance with health, building and occupance standards. If one or the other does not comply, it can be considered grounds for terminating a tenance agreement.
• Be aware fo when rent is due, as it may not be aligned with a monthly calendar, and be willing to accept teh consequences of failure to pay on time. Late fees may be applicable and after the fifth day of non-payment, a landlord can deliver a termination notice.
• Landlords and tenants shoyuld both be aware of what constitutes reasonable grounds for terminating a tenancy agreement.
• Tenants should be respectful of other tenants in the complex as well as residents in neighbouring buildings.

Another interesting rental tool that we found while researching the internet were checklists for renters and landlords. Just by searching "renters checklist," a number of different type come up. Some are very short and cover the basics, while other go into great detail, asking things like "is there is a power outlet in the backthroom?" and "how cleanable are the floors?" Checklists for landlords are also very useful because they can provide renters with a good idea of what a landlord is looking for when reviewing tenants.

We think that with all the information we have compiled from our research, people who are looking to rent an apartment will have an easier time and be better educated on what to look for when renting. This will hopefully make for better tenant and landlord relationships as well as help people find units that are suitable for them.

No Thanks H1N1 Vaccine, I Think I'll Fight It On My Own!

It seems like on of the more popular news topic recently is the one that no one actually wants.

It seems like everytime I hear about how important it is for Canadians to get the vaccination, I hear a story about how it has the potential to actually be more dangerous. I read an article in the National Post called "Getting ready for swine flu? Read this first" by Yoel Abells and he says that there have been signs that it may actually cause the disease. I am not convinced so far that getting the shot will actually benefit me this year, even though I am not among the demographic that is threatened by the virus.

Now that I've said that, I'll probably get the disease.

I do not like needles. Not that anyone really does, but I do everything I can to avoid them. So when I hear things along the lines of "[a]n extremely rare but possible side-effect of getting the flu shot is Guillain-Barre syndrome, a disorder where the body's immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system," I don't really have the urge to go out and get vaccinated. If I someday have a greater risk of getting the disease and there has been a vaccine developed that poses no bigger risk to me than the virus itself, I'll consider it.

Until than, if given the choice between getting poked in the arm, with what could potentially make my life worse, and washing my hands often, while I avoid kissing strangers, I think I'll just grab the soap and hold my breath.

Picture from punditkitchen.com and thetartan.org

Article about GBS

I Can't Wait For These Movies!

CONFESSION: I am the type of person that is still strongly attached to their childhood (is that actually a "type of person" or am I the only one?). Anytime I see a cartoon or toy that I enjoyed as a kid, I can't turn away. Other people are slowly starting to learn this about me too. My Minnie Mouse ring might be giving it away.

So it comes as no surprise that I am overly excited about three movies that are going to be premiering within the next six monthes.

First we have Astro Boy. I have a hard time finding people that actually know who this little robot is, never mind people who want to go see the movie. I watched the cartoon when I was pretty young and had almost forgotten about it until a couple of years ago when it randomly popped into my head. Suddenly it was everywhere! I saw people dressing up as Astro Boy for halloween and wearing t-shirts with the adorable face printed on them ("bad-ass" face for you masculinists...)

While the brand new movie, set to premier October 23, isn't exactly the same as the original cartoon, I'm still planning on going to see it as soon as possible. I'm embracing the 3D approach and am willing to give the star-studded cast a chance at doing justice to the originally-Japanese animated characters. Some of the voice talents include Freddie Highmore as Astro (Finding Neverland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and Nicolas Cage as Dr. Tenma, as well as Samuel L. Jackson, Donald Sutherland, Kristen Bell, Charlize Theron and Eugenne Levy.

Next up is Where The Wild Things Are. I'm surprised to find that so many people my age have never read, or even heard of this book! It's a classic in my mind. It's imagination for the brats! This book also features a bunch of monsters that are friendly. If you have never read this book, you better get on it, than go see the movie. I heard it was also very good.

And last, but not least is Alice in Wonderland, a Tim Burton movie. I think Tim Burton is one of the few directors that is still coming up with original ideas, but when he takes an idea that already exists, he blows it out of the water. He did this with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and it turned out to be much different than the original movie that everyone loves. (I've heard a few complaints about his rendition of this, but I heard that he's never actually seen the original and based it purely on his perception of the book, hence the reason it's so different. Why would you want it to be the same?) I've already seen a preview of this movie and it's gonna be good. Johnny Depp is the Mad Hatter. I'm exploding with anticipation.

So, now that I've embaressed myself with my rambling of how much I love childish things, here's the previews. Maybe I'll see you there...?

If this doesn't make you laugh...

This is probably one of the funniest videos I have ever seen. I had a cat Tito and I loved him so much. He died in the spring when he was less than 4 years old but I think he would have been good friends with this cat. He did wierd things like this too (like play fetch!). If there's anyone who doesn't find this hilarious, than I don't know what's wrong with you!

(I recommend watching it without the sound. For some reason it makes it so much funnier!)

My Theories About The Dog On The Roof

(This is actually a post I started at the beginning of last semester that I never got close to finishing. Now the dog is gone. But don't worry, I've got theories for that too!)

If you go to Red River College at the Princess St. Campus and you have recently been in one of the classes on the upper floors of the William Building, you may have noticed the large, brown, stuffed bull dog that has made itself comfortable on the roof of one of the buildings down the street. I noticed it the first day of classes, and it hasn't moved yet. That got me thinking. How did it get there?!

So I have decided to post my theories on how the poor thing got there. As the weather cools off, I also begin to wonder how it's going to survive the winter.

(This is where I ended the first time around. I guess we all know how he survived, eh?)

1. Fell from a plane overhead that was carrying toys.

2. A group of young hooligans were being rebellious and climbed the building, panicked when they heard the sirens coming to get them (why else would there be sirens downtown?), and forgot our poor friend when they ran.

3. A kid with aspirations to be an Olympic shot put gold medalist was doing his daily training in the district, using the stuffed dog to work on his balance. He broke his own personal record.

4. He was set free through one of the windows of an adjacent building.

5. Someone at RRC wanted to give us something to look at while we're sitting in Kenton's class (juuuuuuust kidding Kenton!)

It kind of reminds me of when you see an old, lonely shoe on the road. I could never figure out how someone could just lose one shoe on the road. I always wonder where the other shoe is and what that person is wearing on their foot now. It's not something you typically see hanging off of vehicles just waiting to fly off and most shoes are usually too big to let slip through your fingers while walking down the sidewalk.

(Now we jump into the future that is now.)

THE DOG IS GONE!!

My heart is broken.

We came back from our Christmas break and the rooftop was covered with snow, but the dog was gone.

So here are my new theories on what happened:

1. The toy company that lost him during the flight sent out a rescue team.

2. The Winnipeg Humane Society rescued him.

3. The hooligans, who are no longer grounded by their parents, returned when they knew the school would be empty (no witnesses) to retrieve him.

4. The little shot put hopeful needed exact measurements for his record and decided to grab him while he was there.

5. Kenton wanted his students to pay attention in class, so he climbed up and got it himself.

All of these are possible, but who really knows. Maybe there's some surveillance footage that has an angle on that rooftop that could solve the mystery.

Or maybe it should just remain a mystery.

For a week I wanted to be a veteranarian. For most of grade one, I wanted to be a ballerina. For most of my middle school years, I wanted to be an animator.
I have had my heart set on coming to Cre Comm for many years. I took graphics althrough high school and got my hands dirty (sometimes literally) in everything from screen printing and photography to creating videos and cartoons. I competed in the video production competition for Skills Manitoba and filmed and photographed my schools fashion show for 3 years (being behind the camera and not actually sewing anything may be part to blame for my lack of fashion sense...). My class took a field trip to the Princess campus of Red River and we were informed on the Cre Comm program, among others. Then they let us make a few fake news broadcasts where we got to just goof around, but it was awesome and I loved it! It was something I had to sign up for. And so far the waiting has paid off and the first couple of weeks have been a blast, a little strenuous, but well worth it. I love the possibilties that the program has to offer and it seems to be just my style, except for the whole not being a slacker thing, I'm still working on that, but hey, I'm getting better!

Now, let's assume this does not work out (heaven forbid!). Here is a list of my back up career choices:

1. Esthetician: I love painting my nails! I love manicurs and I love pedicures and I love nail polish and hand lotion and the list goes on. Other people's hands and feet don't gross me out (unless they're oozing out places they shouldn't be).

When I was younger, I used to paint pictures on my nails. It was usually my left thumb nail (I'm right handed and thumbs are the biggest canvas). It sounds wierd, I know, but it actually is. Once I drew Snoopy, another time I drew an alien and a space ship. At Christmas it was almost always a snowman. There have been an infinate number of flowers. I think I did a beach scene once. Whatever I was inspired to do, provided I had the right colours, that's what I did. It was definately wierd but my friends were always interested and it was a great excuse to stay up late.

2. Pastry Chef: More of a pastry decorator than anything. I love being really creative with things like cakes, cupcakes and cookies. There are endless possibilities! Have you ever watched "Ace of Cakes" on the Food Network? The stuff they do is amazing! All you need is some cake, some icing and a little imagination and you can whip up something that people will not believe is made almost entirely out of sugar. During the summer, I work at a restaurant at The Forks called Muddy Waters Smokehouse. The menu consists primarly of wings, ribs and burger (yes, I've had vegetarians leave when they realize that their only options are a salad or a plate of carrots). There is one burger called the "Double Muddy Burger." It's more or less a nice, big helping of clogged artery with a side of heartattack. Chilli. Cheese. Bacon. Four hamburger patties. It's big. And it's one of those things that if you eat the whole burger in one sitting, you get a gift certificate and your picture put on the wall. Probably wondering where I'm going with this? Well we had our end of summer staff party tonight and a couple of days ago, my manager convinced me to make a cake that looked like the burger (apparently I'm building up a repuatation, you make spaghetti and meatball cupcakes once and it's assumed you can make anything). I'm am all for these kinds of things. It combines two of my favourite things. Sugar and being creative.

Here are some pictures of the process and the final product. I thought it turned out pretty cool, look like a big gnarly burger, and everyone at the staff party loved it.

Buns: Vanilla Cake

Patties: Chocolate Cake

Fried/Pickles/Tomatoes: Sugar Cookies

Bacon/Cheese: Fondant

Lettuce: White Chocolate dyed green

Chilli: Chocolate icing, Cloddhoppers and jelly beans.

I even made a little photograph of my manager to go with it.

My best one so far. I'm pretty proud.

3. Stunt Car Driver: I like to drive fast. Don't worry, my dad's a traffic cop so I know better than to actually gamble more than I can spare, but I'm not a Sunday driver either. I drive a Pontiac G3 Wave. It's no fancy sportscar, but it's a pretty cool little car. It's also "Inferno Orange." My favourite thing is to take the turn on over passes and see how far I can get around them before I have to apply my brakes. It sounds dangerous, but it's not. I'm not going at any kind of reckless speed and I have never come close to running off the road. A little cintrifical force feels good once and a while. I also love parallel parking, what does that have to do with it? And my dad has tought me to be a pretty evassive driver. Now that I've said all this, I'll likely get 3 tickets tomorrow. One for speeding, one for reckless driving and one for parking in front of a fire hydrant. Seriously though, I am a good driver. I think...

4. Storm Chaser: Lightning is by far one of the coolest things on the planet. I could watch it for hours on end. There's a gravel road along a field near my house that for some reason is always the perfect place to watch lightning. It's really quiet too so thunder sounds awesome. There's been a few times where I've seen flashes in the distance and actually gone for a drive towards them to see if there's a good storm going down on the horizon. I've even attempted to see a funnel cloud. I thought I saw one once and got a little nervous, so I turned around and went home. I kind of have the feeling that some kind of science degree is needed in order to be a storm chaser, so that might be a little hard (I'm not the most amazing scientist) but it's still pretty fun. The adrenaline of possibley being stuck in a terrential downpoor is exciting and the way that kind of nature works is really poetic and awe inspiring. I also just love the thrill of the chase. Just kidding. But seriously...

5. Mascot: It's like acting but no one knows it's you! I love goofing around and just being as silly as possible, but for some reason, it often gets me some funny looks. Mascots are expected to be silly and goofy and fall down. I love making kids and adults laugh but I'm not that funny (I love puns). Mascots are always funny though! Who doesn't want to run around a football field or a baseball field and fall down and throw props around and get a whole crowd cheering? I've seen a few interviews with a man called Kevin Clash. He is the puppeteer and voice of Elmo from Sesame Street. I've heard him say that when children come to the show, they don't hide themselves from them as they are performing their characters. Children's imaginations are so huge that they don't make the connection between their favourite character and the person with his or her hand up it's back. I like the idea of being able to be something that is totally wild and entertaining yet still be myself. Maybe I actually want to be a puppeteer. No, mascot. Maybe both.

Basically what I'm saying is I have a plan. If this doesn't work out, I'll find something equally as entertaining and nerve-wracking as this. If you are ever at a sporting event, and a mascot starts to approach you, before brushing them off, consider that it could possibly be me, fullfulling my life goals and living to my true potential.

Hopefully I pass Cre Comm...