The latest from West Bone

Truth be told, there have been many a time when there have been occurances in the past little while where I have had more than enough reason to throw something down on the blog but ultimately, the lack of sleep and associated ailments which have come with that put a major halt on that. Today though has been a different story as I got more than a good nights sleep today and am brimming with pros to lay down. And so, to catch everyone up in a quick and effecient manner, I present a series of short blurbs from Bone in the West.

Furniture
After quite the ordeal in sorting out a delievery date and a broken door knob, furniture has found its way into my apartment. Now I must say that while I knew the apartment needed furniture, I was still taken back when the sofa and loveseat were put into place as it completely overhauled the atmosphere in apartment. In the end there was a completeness to the apartment in their presence and a feeling that I'd finally attained all the basics to call this a home.



























Bone's off Nights... soon
After a brief discussion with the department manager last weekend, a decision was made that I would come off nights. My argument wasn't anything much more than the nights wern't agreeing with me as my health was suffering due to the lack of sleep. Strangely enough, there wasn't any real counter discussion to convince me to stay on nights and so at the end of March, when all the student are highered and they can staff nights better, I'll be comming off nights.

First Visit Downtown
I had three days off last weekend and decided to make the most of it and spend the night hanging out with Giles for the first time in months. After a day of getting things done around the house, I met up with Giles and we decided to grab some dinner. I suggested the 'Cactus club cafe' which I'd passed by several times in recent months. This decision paid off in the end as the food and the service were definately quite good. Aside from this, the atmosphere in the restaurant was quite nice as well and will definately be a location I will return to in the future. From there Giles and I then walked down which took about 30 minutes as far as I could guess. Now, while this may seem archaic to some as I could have easily taken a bus, I preferd the walk as it allowed me to both take in the scenery and learn more about downtown at a decent pace.
Nothing overly eventful happend at the bar that night. I met a few of Giles friend's, a random girl from the hospital decided to start flirting with me and some decent scotch was had. For those that are curious, I didn't reciprocate any real interest.
We decieded to walk back home as well as a means to save money on a taxi. The walk back home was just about the same as the walk there other than the folk who drove by and screamed out the taxi window the Giles and I were a 'bunch of fagots'. Now while I have always been comfortable with my heterosexuality in the face of gay accusations, I found this to be enerving
due to the cowardly nature of someone making a deragatory comment like that behind the safety of cover. I guess that's to be expected in a city as big as Vancouver.

Ipod Video!
After having my alarm somewhat crapped out coupled to the fact that I wanted some music in my room since my desk is outside, I decided to add an Ipod Video and JBL on time radial speaker set to my 'to get' list. Now initially I was going to wait a few months and save up bits of pay checks for it but after finding a pretty good deal on a used one, I moved up my purchasing time and acquired a 30gb Ipod video. Overall, this is a very top notch product as the video quality is quite good and decently sized. The only downside is the amount of time required to change everything into an mp4 video file for the ipod.

Dine out Vancouver
One of my peers at work invited me to join her to the Stone Grill where she had made a reservation for two and naturally I decided to take her up on that offer. Now for those few who know of my potential work interest, this was not her but none the less I still had a very good time. The food was exsquisite as was the method that they choose to serve everything. We both ordered the steak and instead of cooking the items for you, they instead serve it on a hot stone which has been heated to 400 deg and thus it cooks the meat while you're actually eating it.
The other good thing about this Dine Out Vancouver special is that you get an appetizer and dessert with the meal. Overall the meal and the atmosphere is definately worth the price paid.

Closing comments:
- Can't wait til I'm not on nights anymore
- Cmon UBC; Daddy needs a new Jitsu club...
- Everytime, I hear the new JT single, I remember a time in Peterborough dancing on the bar celebrating amongst good friends
- Diggin the tune 'Welcome to the Black Parade' by My Chemcial Romance. Cool name for a band too.
- Quite a few people I owe an e-mail to and need to get to that
- Today has to be a study day. I'm so behind on my classes and midterms are next week.

Current Song: Welcome to the Black Parade - My Chemical Romance
Current Mood: Lamenting that I have to go to work tonight

Rocky Balboa

Today, before heading to work, I found myself watching Rocky Balboa for the third time. Truth be told, for a movie that I thought would be a joke, it is slowly creeping its way into my list of overall favourites. Aside from the fact that it's a nice way to way to end the Rocky series of movies, Stallone and company portray a solid story of a man who's got all he ever needs for the rest of his days; Heart.

(Spoiler alert)

Adrian
The movie starts off in a very nostalgic manner with Rocky going about his daily routine and highlighting a man's life whose very nature pays homage to the romantic notion of 'better to have loved and lost'. The small subtleties of Balboa remembering all the small things about his dearly departed Adrian are reminiscent of a notion that is of an old coda which is that of a 'Gentleman and his Lady'. All the details the are so meticulously pointed out all relate to the simple fact that all he ever needed from his lady were trust and honesty and that is all he needed to get by.

Drive
Throughout the movie, the constant symbol of the basement is brought back time and time again and that no matter where one finds himself in life, there's nothing more worthwhile than putting yourself behind a drive to be the absolute best you can be. The interesting thing about this movie though is not only do they show drive of the Hero Balboa, but also of the apparent enemy. Both characters train and push themselves with the soul intent of findind a satisfaction within themselves.

Never say Die
The line rings in your head like a bad backstreet boy song at the end of the movie. "What is it you told the kid? Dosn't matter how hard you get hit, it's your job to get up". The beauty of the whole scene when he says this is that all the sentiments of grit, tenacity and ire and the accompanying will of a champion just resonate and surge forth as you watch the scene. Very well done in this bit of film.

Truth be told is that I could go on and find other noble virtues that are portrayed in the movie as there are many. Overall, the entire piece is well done from top to bottom and definately worth the watch (but not during sex as its worth more than that).

Some more resolutions

Some more resolutions popped into my head recently. These are all things I was already intending to do beforehand but getting them down in writing makes it more of a must in terms of getting them done.

6. Reduce my student loan 25% of the total by years's end. (Naturally the goal is right down to 0)
7. Become a man that people could portray as being 'A man who lived the dream'

(The old one's)

1. Set into motion the Jitsu Van domain of Jitsu Canada
2. Stop fearing that decisions made in the past will have the same repricussions. Every situation is different.
3. Get off these bloody night shifts.
4. Finish at least two CT courses (work related stuff).
5. Let everything be. If drama comes, it comes; if it goes, it goes. Everything happens for a reason.