I'm so relieved.

After weeks of major anxiety, Matthew has a job-- and it's not in Waterloo.

Phew.

I think I was more afraid of having to work in Waterloo, than acutally just being unemployed. Believe it or not, once I was aware that the job matches are up, I logged onto Jobmine, and clicked on the links one by one. As the page loaded, I literally closed one of my eyes and peaked with the other one, just because I was afraid of what I will find.

I'm working as a Transit Planner for the Toronto Transit Commission, aka Laurence's position. In other words, I will be 'filling him in' when he departs. Haha.

My initial choice was with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing-- working with very interesting files like the OMB reform, and the continuance of the Greenbelt legislation work.

Nevertheless, I'm excited to have an opportunity to work at the TTC-- and generally, I think it's just an exciting time to work in the transit field, because for the first time in more than a decade, political leaders are finally backing up transit.

Go Transit! (Not to be mistaken with GO Transit)

I'm off. Happy Halloween everyone!

It's seems like its been a few weeks of hell, but I think I've resurfaced-- although with a few scapes and scars. But nonetheless, here's a briefing:

Interviews are done...
where I'm working is another question. I didn't get an offer for the position I really want. Nevertheless, I'm going to take a chance. Oh please let me work in Toronto.

It's funny how things turn out. The interviews were I thought I did well, didn't turn out so great, but for the interviews I thought I totally bombed, I managed to get an offer. I just find that quite peculiar.

FYI: I loathe interviews, especially interviews with midterms lingering. The inevitable joys of a co-op program.

I'll let you know when or if I get a job.

Midterms are done...
how well I did is another good question-- especially Law. I'm really freaked out. Having answered 1.5 questions out of 3 doesn't make me very confident about my result. Ah.

Assignments are done (for now)...
Word of advice, don't take PLAN320: Economic Analyses in Regional Planning-- this course yields no sleep-- just ask Shawn and me.

I can say the same with PLAN 355: GIS. MAD has upgraded to a new version of ArcGIS, and seriously I've never seen a program with that many bugs. What I find most funny is that I remember being frustrated with PLAN 255, but somewtime during course selection, I managed to forget all about that. And now here I am again in the same situation.

Matthew never learns.

Whoa, finishing this entry is leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. Pit-tooo-eeee.

Well, at least it's all done now.

Living on campus is just wonderful.

Sure I'm forking about $640 a month in rent this term, but nothing can compare the gizillion files of multimedia on the local Resnet network. Downloading is great, but sometimes, you just want to be able to sample other people's files-- and that's just so great about it, plus it downloads in seconds! Beat that, fucking Rogers!

Upon browsing people's collection of videos and music, I have to say that there were so much music that I've forgotten over the years, and it was so good to have that music part of your collection again?

I actually really miss my high school teeny-bopper pop music of the nineties. Remember before when 90s bop music was generally happier and cheerful? Not to mention that when compared the prominent figures of the recent decade, people were just not as skanky as Jessica Simpson, and Britney Spears-- which seems to define, to a certain extent, the pop age of this decade. The Spice Girls was probably the closest I could think of to skankiness, but that is still nothing compared to Boots Were Made For Walking.

Anyways, here's a list of pop songs I've rediscovered from the Resnet file sharing escapades.

Cream of the Crop
ATC - Around the World
This is the song that has a special place in my heart. Those who listening to Z103.5 (formerly Hits 1035) and enjoyed 'Gino Beats' have to remember this song.

Back in my days at working at Chapters, my colleagues and I would spend countless overnights until 4 or 5 in the morning re-merchandising sections of the store. Anyways, we would always blast the Digital Music Express terminal, and play the Top 40 station-- where they would always play this song. We would go crazy on the now-extinct big comfy couches and shake our stuff. It was just one of those old dance feel good songs, the ones were you just blast it and shake it, shake it like a polaroid picture.

Oh wait, wrong song, but you get the idea. As evident in Urban Design studio courses, tiredness makes people do crazy things like shaking your booty.

Canadiana
McMaster and James - Loves Wins Everytime
I have to say that I really enjoyed their work, and especially their distinctive sound. Their harmonies were particularly different, and used brass instrumentation, as per this song, that added that extra spice to pop music of the time.

What I don't understand is how these great Canadian pop artists just suddenly disappeared from the music scene-- in exchange for bland artists like Keisha Chante, and Canadian Idol's Ryan Malcolm and Kalan Porter. Ew.

The Moffatts - Walking Behind
Aside from my love for Dave Moffat on Canadian Idol, I think that they made a significant contribution to the Canadian pop sphere. I wasn't not really fond of their earlier 'bubble gum' work (a la Girl of My Dreams, Miss You Like Crazy) but the work near their end of the career was super.

Walking Behind for example remained pop with complementary but not overbearing elements of rock-- I really enjoyed this. It is unlike current artists like Kelly Clarkson, Fefe Dobson, where it is rock music with a pop voice.

Come back Moffatts!

Barenaked Ladies - Brian Wilson
This selection is off from my definition of pop music, however, Barenaked totally rocks. This song, as well as This Old Apartment, definitely hold a great place in my heart. The Ladies really know how to have fun and just forget all your troubles away-- unlike songs that are always angry, or involving teen angst and how life sucks (Simple Plan suddenly comes to mind).

Also, Barenaked is from neighbouring Scarborough, so there was that sense of local pride as well.

Other Canadiana:

• soulDecision - Faded


• Sky - Something Kinda Wonderful


• Joee - Angel


• Len - Steal My Sunshine


• B-44 (!) - I'll Get Down on You


• Alanis Morissette - You Learn

World Domination
Los Del Rio - Macarena
Macarena! That was the best dance of the decade! I remember those school dances in elementary school, I think that during those dancs that I started to learn to get my groove on, albeit ridiculously. It was just so fun because everyone was just so into it.

I think I still remember how to do it.

Toni Braxton - Unbreak My Heart
I love Toni Braxton. This song doesn't necessary speak to me, but the fact that it brings back so many teen-hood memories. It was one of those first songs where I slow-danced with a girl. Remember those days in elementary school where we would marginally touch the girl at her waist-- and making sure that you have a metre's distance between the two dance parties?

It was great.

Ace of Base - The Sign
If you don't know this song, shame on you. This song rocks. Ace of Base was cool because their music was so dance-able. Remember all those dirty spinoffs of this that seemed to have infiltrated in elementary schools across the board?

I saw your mom, she opened up her legs and said "c'mon."

To be honest, I don't think we were any less dirtier than this generation of youth. Or maybe it's just me.

Anyways, everytime I hear this song, I think of Beverley. Haha!

House of Pain - Jump Around
I remember in Grade Six, we were assigned into groups to perform a song of our choice. I believe it was for the art component of our curriculum. Larry, Ryan and I proformed this song, and let me tell you, there was a lot of jumping and summersaults.

Jump around, j-j-jump around...Jump up, jump up, and get down!

If only I had a video of that performance. It was so bad because it was that "special time" in my adolescence when I was really uncoordinated-- even more so.

I think we should have a reunion tour.

Other 'World Domination':

• Le Click - Tonight Is The Night


• Hanson - mmmbop


• Savage Garden - To the Moon and Back


• O-Town - Liquid Dreams (How could I resist?)


• Janet Jackson - Together Again


• New Kids on the Block - The Right Stuff

I think it's quite powerful how music can invoke so much memories. What songs do you remember treasuring?

Bow and I made quick adventure from Waterloo to Toronto and back to Waterloo in less than 7 hours for the final rehearsal of Billy Crystal's solo play, 700 Sundays.

Our generation may not be too familiar with Billy Crystal, but I'm many of you are still either recognize his name and/or his face. You may remember him from older movies such as When Harry Met Sally, or a more recent one, Analyse This and Analyse That-- of which he produced and starred. You may also recognize him as the host of the Grammys and the Academy Awards several years back.

He's a funny man.

This one-man play predominately revolves around the "good old days" of Billy and his times he had with his father up to his death. Billy spent most of time with his busy father on the weekends, and "700 Sundays" signifies the many weeks he had with him before his heart attack. He talks about the wacky detailed accounts of his birth, the joys of the 50s jazz, his "awkardness" in his teens, and up to the events of September 11th. He pretty much bared his life-- at 58-- in just shy of three hours.

You will sense a great deal of nostalgia seeing this play. He makes stark contrasts, in a comical sense, between the good old days in America during the 60s and 70s -- when life was simple and people are free-- to the present time -- where life is more based on fear.

It's quite sad actually, but ironically he puts it in a way that just makes people hysterical. I totally would love to be an American during the time after the war. It seemed like there was so much hope, happiness, opportunity, and freedom in the country at that time.

If you have a love for jazz, you should definitely check it out. He talks about his encounters with great jazz legends like Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, and Ella Fitzgerald.

In a nutshell, the production was satisfying pleasant, no more, no less. Like many standups shows, I had trouble to relating to him-- there were too many instances where I just couldn't connect with his jokes. It just seemed that there were too many references to American history that the average Canadian of this generation simply wouldn't know. In addition, I couldn't relate to him on many levels related to his Jewish upbringing, and just simply the life and times of the booming 50s and 60s.

Also, I question the amount of truth in some of his accounts related to his life, because I felt that ther were some moments that seemed "perfectly dramatic," especially as it relates to his father's death.

But at the same time, Billy Crystal's great because he can just do it all. He seem to have such a dynamic presence on stage, and it's really captivating to witness. There is no one set of adjectives that you can describe him-- perhaps that just his great ability to perform: he is silly, vulgar, crude, witty, loud, but he's also sensitive, dramatic, compassionate.

It's a bit late so, I'm going to cut it short. I'm not going to "grammaritize," so please forgive me.

I will say: 2.5 stars (out of 4).

Last Sunday was my first time participating in the CIBC Run for the Cure. For those whose email got sifted into the Bulk Folder, the Run for the Cure is an annual event held in cities and communities across Canada to raise funds and awareness for Breast Cancer.

I received a total of $90 in online and in-person pledges, and I would like to thank everyone for their contributions as well as words of encouragement.

The first vibe I got was the fact that there was a hell-lot of people converged around Nathan Phillips Square. It was just so great to see this crazily large volume of people gathered together for one reason and for one cause. Call me a super-idealist, but I'm so fascinated and compelled to events where people come together for a common reason-- whether it is a charitible cause, grassroots movement, political rally, or even a concert.

There was indeed a lot of love in the air that humid and sunny morning, with numerous local community and cultural groups supporting the runner through music and dance. Running the 5K was a great time because not only are you supporting a cause, but you get to experience and absorb the spirit and energy of a city.

Also you get to see not a hint of cars on University Ave. This is always a bonus.

According to Les, most of us in the team finished the race in 1:30:58. Woo! Some others in the team members were much faster and ran the course, while some lazy planners and their significant others, including me, decided to take it easy and walk. Walking is better.

Thanks Shimster for inviting us in the team. Boob Troop is the wittiest team name ever.