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Xinjiang, Xinjiang

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

Way back in May I had the absolute pleasure of heading to China’s Western Frontier, Xinjiang Province. It was simply a breath-taking experience. I got to see pristine mountains, vast seas of desert, and bargain for goods in several different languages.

The main reason that I have not made a post about it here, is because I had the chance to make a post for it elsewhere. I had the chance to write about my experiences on ChinaTravel.net a very popular and excellent China Travel website. If you are at all interested in reading about my experiences in a very unique setting, then give it a read.

Now I was very lucky to go to Xinjiang in May, as opposed to July. As many of you know, there were a series of riots in Urumqi by the Uighurs against the Han Chinese. Since then the province has been more or less on lockdown, and the tourism industry has slowed down. While it is apparently safe at this point, there are still a wide range of restrictions including a complete blackout of the internet and international phone calls.

A fantastic blog worth following about Xinjiang is FarWestChina.com, ran by Josh Summers, an expat living in the province. While he is understandably blogging less than usual at this point he made an excellent post entitled “Urumqi: A Week After the Riots” were he describes a visit to “Ground Zero” for the riots. Powerful, powerful stuff there.

So if any of you are interested in heading out that way, I would HIGHLY recommend it. It is one of my favourite trips that I have ever made (remember, you can read what my thoughts here). But as always, be sure to stay informed of the political situation.

Safe journeys,

G

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The Seven Habits of Highly Ineffective Expats

Friday, July 3rd, 2009

Here we have another post that I put on Lost Lao Wai a little while ago, it has generated a rather lengthy debate which should be worth checking out if you are interested in.

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We’ve all seen them, and chances are we’ve all been them at one point or another. A quick walk to the nearest Starbucks or Metro in China, and you will notice that expats come in all shapes, sizes, and dispositions. In general, most of the laowais living here in the Middle Kingdom are fantastic people trying to make the most of their experiences. However, we all have our down points.

I have noticed in strangers, friends, and yes, even myself, seven habits that I think make you a very ineffective expat. My rookie year in China is nearing a close, so I plan on making a New Year’s resolution of sorts to break these bad habits that I know I have, and I sure to not be alone in them.

Habit #1
Comparisons

“It’s not like this back home”
“In [insert home country back home] it’s like….”

If you’ve never heard this whine then you must not be talking to many foreigners, and if you’ve never said this then you must not talk to anyone period. For a number of people nothing here can ever be as good as it is back home, wherever that may be.

Obviously, the coffee here is not going to be as good as it is in the West. Clearly the Chinese are not experts at making hamburgers and french fries. The public transport is very clearly going to be much, much more crowded here than back home. Yes, the streets are probably dirtier here than a street in the suburbs.

These are the charms that keep China interesting, and very different from home. You will not be able to get a cup of tea back home like you can here, no Western chain will be able to satisfy your fried rice cravings, and just where are you going to spit when you have to back home?

I will never claim to be innocent of this ugly habit, but there has to be a time and place where you need to accept China for what it is, a wildly different place. While some things are better at home, there are definitely things that are better here. It is important to try to keep that in context, especially when you are experiencing the worst this nation has to offer.

Habit #2
Counting Down

“Thank God, only six more months until I go home!”
“What’s the point in learning the language if I’ll only be here for two years?”

It’s very natural to be excited to get home (only thirteen days for me!!!!), but that excitement should really not consume you. Being obsessed with going home is a logical extension of Habit #1.

There are always going to be great things to look forward to in the future, but if you take a look around there are probably some pretty great things to look forward to right now.

Rarely is it ever healthy to live for the future, as it often lets your present fly by.

Habit #3
Getting Stuck in a Rut

“Let’s meet at the usual Starbucks”
“It’s [Insert Day of the week] are you going to [Insert usual location for said day of the week]“

Ready to go out for dinner? Well be sure to go to the same place you went to last week since you know the food is “safe”. Of course, the fact that the staff speak English helps since you are in the mood for an “easy” dinner experience. Afterward be sure to go to the nearby Starbucks for the taste of home. Oh, and don’t forget to pick up some groceries from the nearby market to pick up some peanut butter and Western cereal.

Sounds familiar? Lord knows it has for me on many, many nights.

Humans are by our very nature creatures of habit. However, it is really, really easy to go too far on that one, especially when you live in a foreign country. While there is certainly no harm in a little routine and structure, there is certainly a line to be drawn. If you’re not careful you’ll end up in the same habits that you were trying to escape from back home.

Habit #4
Obsessive Traveling

“I have three days off, I think I’ll head to Thailand”
“I’ve seen all of China, time to explore a new country”

Oh lord am I ever guilty of this one.

Part of the joy of living in China is the proximity to such dream destinations as Thailand and Cambodia. This coupled with the frequent holidays often afforded to expats seems to lead to a mass exodus of the country whenever there is any sort of break.

I was very, very guilty of this one during my first six months in the country. I was lucky enough to have a week off in October, two weeks off at Christmas, and two weeks off for the Lunar New Year (I’m a teacher what can I say?) during those five total weeks I went to Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand, with a brief stop-over in Hong Kong for one of those trips. That’s right, with five weeks off I spent no time in Mainland China. Granted, I had previously visited the “main sites” such as Beijing, Xi’an, and Guilin, but clearly it is not right to say that I have done China.

This is definitely the attitude of several people who have been here, even for a short amount of time. However, upon even an ounce of reflection, you should realize that of all countries in the world China is probably the most difficult to fully do. China has the largest population in the world, the third or fourth largest land area (depending on who you ask), and the longest uninterrupted history (depending on who you ask) making it a very hard place to fully see, and an even harder place to understand. If someone has only been to New York and Washington, they would never be able to rightly claim to say that they have seen all of the United States, so why is it ok to make that claim after you have seen Beijing and Xi’an?

By all means use your time to travel, and makes those trips to some of the fantastic places Asia has to offer, but don’t forget the one that you live in. It’s certainly worth looking at.

In case you are curious, I spent my most recent holiday in Xinjiang and plan to go to Sichuan and Yunnan during the summer, lessons learned.


Habit #5
Increased Alcohol Consumption

“A litre of beer costs less than a dollar!”
“Liange pijiu”

Clearly the most dangerous of the seven habits listed here. Given the incredibly low prices on alcohol, coupled with the equally low existence of liquor laws can lead to an increased consumption of alcohol.

To make matters worse is the problem of boredom. In a recent edition of Business Week, they ranked the 20 Worst Places to Work, and 5 cities in China were on the list, including my current location. On all five Chinese cities one of the concerns listed was a lack of cultural and recreational facilities. Regardless of whether you feel that the report was accurate or not, this shows that there is at least the perception that there is nothing to do as an expat in China. If people have nothing to do, or feel that they have nothing to do, then alcohol becomes an obvious source of recreation.

The consequences of this can be too vast to mention on a site like this, if you know anyone who is abusing alcohol please, please seek help from someone more qualified as anyone on this blog.

On a lighter side, I personally have not come anywhere close to having to make 12 difficult steps, but having additional beers with dinner has certainly increased my waist line far more than would be ideal.

Habit #6
Decadence

“Don’t worry about spilling anything, the ayi will clean it”
“I don’t cook anymore, eating out is so cheap”

It’s pretty easy to see just how cheap China is.

It’s also easy to see that so many expat packages include accommodation, annual airfare, and health care. This leaves your money to be, well your money.

It’s also pretty easy to see that there are so many inexpensive luxuries ranging from ayis to cheap DVDs to delivery on anything to spend some of your disposable income.

What’s difficult is knowing when and where to stop. Life here can get very infantile if you have someone clean up for you, deliver your food for you, and you can get whatever you want by pointing at it. In many ways living in China can be like being five years old all over again.

While this is part of the attraction for a lot of people, I hope that you ask yourself what you think of the people who have that sort of a lifestyle back home.

Habit #7
Know it All

“I understand China”

Compared to some of your family and friends back home you may be an expert on all things Chinese. However, the reality of it is that at the end of the day you are not.

China has a very ancient and idiosyncratic culture, history, and language. These three things and intricately connected, and I think that it is difficult if not impossible to fully understand one of the three without understanding all of them.

So how do you get to understand any of these things? The only idea I can really come up with is trial and error, with a heavy emphasis on the error side of things. It is not very realistic to be able to think that you will be able to fully “get” this country, especially in as short of a time frame as one or two years.

A simple look through the comments and yes even some of the posts (including me, I fully admit) and it is not hard to see the Know-it-Alls out in full force. It is so easy to get caught up in the knowledge of the world that you do earn, but very difficult to know when to put a cap on it. But when it doubt, realize that you probably don’t get it and may never will.

So that just about does it for me, anyone have any ideas for any more habits? Lord knows there are more…

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Again, it is well worth looking at the comment section on this one. There has been a lot of intelligent, and a lot of very unintelligent debate posted there. I’ll leave it to you to sort through that yourself.

Safe journeys,

G

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Signs You Like in an Expat Encave

Wednesday, May 13th, 2009

And here we have yet another LLW repost, you can see the original (And the multitude of comments) here….enjoy!
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“You know how every major city in the West has a China town? Well, I live in the opposite of that”

Yes, I hate to say it, but I am a resident of one of the many laowai ghettos that exist in the major cities all around China. Whenever my family or friends from home ask me about where I am living, I often have to answer with the above statement.

While I make many efforts to go and explore “Real China” as often as I can, I notice far too often that my friends and colleagues appear to be completely ignorant of their surroundings, and consider going to Starbucks to order their double-mocha-latte-something-or-other in English to be a genuine part of their Chinese experience. To assist these people (or anyone else in their situation) I have devised a surefire 25 point checklist to tell if you are not living in a section of “Real” China.

You might be in an Expat Enclave if:

  1. You give your fork back to get chopsticks

  2. You have no place to sate your craving for squid, starfish, or scorpion

  3. You have no desire to take a picture of any of the signs

  4. You have heard it pronounced “Nee Hey-oh”

  5. The Budweiser costs the same as Tsingtao

  6. There are more ads for Chinese Language schools than English ones

  7. Those Nike shoes, are actually Nike shoes

  8. The parks have 5 soccer games going on but only 1 Tai Chi group

  9. You start to ask Chinese people to take their picture

  10. You enjoy the coffee

  11. The toilets are inside the buildings

  12. You ask someone where the nearest bus stop is and they hail a taxi

  13. A sport other than ping-pong is playing on the TV (exception: Houston Rockets games)

  14. You get less than 5 strangers staring at you when you walk down the street (double if you have blonde hair and/or black skin)

  15. It’s safe to cross the street

  16. You start to wonder where everyone is spitting, since it’s clearly not on the sidewalk

  17. You wonder the same for using the toilet

  18. The pirated DVDs work

  19. You hear “I’ll just have a pee jew” said a to a waiter on more than one occasion

  20. The locals can speak more than one European language

  21. There are multiple restaurants that sell good Western food (or Indian, or Thai, or….)

  22. The “No Smoking” Signs are frequently posted and adhered to

  23. The babies are only showing one pair of their cheeks

  24. Everybody knows your name

  25. None of the above seems strange to you

So if much of the above list applies to you, please, do yourself a favour and branch out, because you’re probably missing out on a heck of a lot of this great country.

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Suzhou: At Least We’re Not Lagos

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

Followers of this blog will notice that I have not made any real comment about Suzhou since moving here. To be honest, I haven’t felt fully qualified to comment on the city since I know that I haven’t experienced enough of it in the past few months to make a fully informative comment, and frankly, I haven’t been all that inspired to talk about Suzhou for a variety of reasons. However, today I finally found a bit of a Suzhouese muse.

The above title, is my new suggestion for motto of the fair town that I live in. Tourism ministry, it is all yours. This is coming from an article that I just saw in Business Week, which profiled the 20 worst places to work in the world, and good ol’ Suzhou ranked 14th.

Just to give it a bit of context, the article researched 55 cities outside of Canada, the US, and Western Europe, omitting any obvious places like Baghdad, Kabul, or Khartoum. They took into account a variety of factors including “levels of pollution, disease, political violence, and availability of goods and services”.

The worst offender as you would probably guess from my title was Lagos which is classed as a “Very High Risk Location” due to a lack of infrastructure, a high risk of violence, high pollution, disease, lack of medical facilities, and a low availability of goods and services.

However, I certainly was surprised to see Suzhou rank 13 spots lower as a “High Risk Location”, the report classes pollution and a lack of culture and recreation facilities as “Major Problems”, while levels of disease, sub-par medical and education facilities, and a low availability of goods and services as “Other Problems”.

Suzhou was one of five Chinese cities (joining Guangzhou, Tianjin, Qingdao, and Shenzhen) and was ranked in the middle of the five. All of these cities faced similar problems, with “pollution” being a major problem for all of them.

So the obvious quesiton is, how accurate is the report?

To be honest, I don’t really know, as I have only lived in one of the cities on the list, and I have only traveled to a handful of the others (Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City), however I feel that they have certainly hit some very good points about Suzhou.

While I am no scientist, I certainly feel that I can’t accurately comment on the pollution level, however back in January I had to miss four days of work with a chest infection, which could certainly say something about the risk of diseases. However, I was given first class medical treatment at a local clinic, which is an antecdotal strike against the “Medical Facilities” concern.

Also, as someone who works in one of the “educational facilities”, I certainly take a bit of offense to that one. There are a few western schools here (including mine) which seem to be every bit as good as are available in other major cities.

The major one to me though is the “culture and recreational facilities”. To be honest, there is a part of me that wants to agree wholeheartedily, and a part of me that wants to flat our disagree. See Suzhou is dividied into three distinct areas, there is the Old Town, which has canals and old gardens, Suzhou Industrial Park, a newer area where I live, and Suzhou New Development, which is on the other side of the city and I do not know too much about to be honest.

The Old Town is simply a great place for culture. The gardens, vibrant shopping district, and museums can great for culture vultures. However, it can be quite the challenge to access the Old Town from other parts of the city, as traffic can be dreadful.

Suzhou Industrial Park is a much newer area, which by definition, makes it lower on culture. However, there are some new and exciting developments that increase the culture and recreation in the area. A few years ago the Suzhou Science & Culture Arts Centre (SSCAC) opened up, and it plays English movies, Chinese ballet and operas, and a variety of other concerts and events, including one that I talked about once before. Also, there is a new area of nice restaurants and classy cafes that is still being developed called Li Gong Di, that should up the culture in the surrounding area.

Also, and more importantly, is the development of a subway line that links the three regions of Suzhou together. It is scheduled to be open in 2010, and should go a long way to opening up the Old Town, and thus improving everyone’s culture and recreational activities.

So while, I do find myself bored or unstimulated here on occasion, I think that there is help in the future. It seems to me that Suzhou, like so many other cities in China, just expanded far too fast in recent years and the developers did not take recreation into account. However, they seem to be trying to fix that, so I would expect they city to drop a bit if Business Week wants to do another survey based on this fact alone.

Who knows, we may even rank better than Kiev or Santo Domingo?

Now about tackling that pollution thing….

Safe Journeys,

G

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The Eighth Layer of Injustice

Friday, January 16th, 2009

Date: November 4, 2008

Prologue: Does love deserve a chance to live and die on its own? This past year many people thought that it didn’t, and tried to put a stop to love…


Like many states in America, groups in California had presented a ballot measure during this falls election. There was a choice to ban gay marriage or to allow it. While California was far from the first state to have such a measure, it stood as the best hope for gay rights activists.

Not only has California long had it’s laissez-faire attitude, but the California Supreme Court had already struck down a ban on gay marriage that spring. However, any hope was for naught, as Proposition 8 (also dubbed Proposition Hate) was enacted, and gay marriage was once again banned in California.

This marked the first time in America that people have democratically elected to take away the rights of others.

There has been a lot of blame thrown around as to why Proposition 8 passed, everything from homophobia in blacks, to money from Idaho, to a nasty smear-filled campaign have taken centre stage.

No matter what the reason for this change, one important question does remain. Why are so many people opposed to gay marriage? I mean, really, if you don’t like gay marriage then DO NOT GET ONE!!! Who are you to stop anyone else from getting one?

It really is amazing that so many people got so involved in an issue that really has nothing to do with their lives. In no way did the Supreme Court say that any churches had to perform any gay marriages, thus giving them the full authority as to who they want to allow to get married and who they do not. Really for the “Yes” crowd, gay marriage is nothing more than an inconvenience, something that they do not want to see, but does not do anything to them.

However, for the people who had their rights repealed, it is an entirely different story. They were allowed one of the most fundamental rights and had it taken away on a whim. Somehow or another, getting married was not considered to be an element of “the pursuit of happiness”, and ws not deemed unalienable enough.

Epilogue: There have been protests against Proposition 8, and a public outcry over this. However, it appears that it will be a long time before this can be changed again. Until then, gays will have to continue to be second class citizens.

Until next time,

G

Achieved Year in Review Posts:

The Fall of the Prophet – January 6th
The Rise of the Ice Queen -January 7th
An Unlikely Fruition – January 7th
Attack of the Three-Headed Terror – January 9th
A Most Sincere Inquiry – January 10th
The Golden League – January 14th
The Fall from Grace – January 16th
The Eighth Layer of Injustice – January 16th
The Transmuter of Nations – January 22nd

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Looking Back at My Crystal Ball

Saturday, December 13th, 2008

Well it’s that time of year where I look back at my most daring of predictions that I made back at the start of the year. After doing fairly well predicting 2007 with a 9-2-2 record, I can only hope that the spirits were as kind to me this time around…

1. Obama vs. Huckabee – Well I was half right!!!! To be honest, when I made this prediction, I thought that I would be half right, but I couldn’t quite figure out which half. Needless to say, I am still a little shocked at Obama’s amazing rise from obscurity to celebrity. Gotta say, good on me for this one :)

I’ll call it a tie…

Glen’s Prediction Record: 0-0-1

2. Prolonged Strike – In reference to the Hollywood writer’s strike said “I would be shocked if this is over by spring time.”, and well, it was over by spring time, colour me shocked. I’ll count this one as a loss.

Glen’s Prediction Record: 0-1-1

3. Abrams will not Disappoint – Uhhh…did you see Cloverfield? Also, how awesome was the finale of Lost? I have high hopes for Season 5!!!

Glen’s Prediction Record: 1-1-1


4. Score one more for California – Yes, I foolishly predicted that a team from Califronia would claim the Stanley Cup, and funnily enough, I thought that my Ottawa Senators had the best chance of ruining my prediction. Needless to say with both Anaheim and Ottawa winning a combined 2 games in the playoffs, and the Sharks bowing out the next round, I was wrong on that one.

Stupid Red Wings…

Glen’s Prediction Record: 1-2-1

5. Another Three Countries Scratched off the List – Heck yes!!!! I sure was right on this one, or will be by next week. Back in March, I went to Laos, in October I got to Malaysia, and next week, for Christmas Holidays, I will be in Cambodia. Looks like I am up to .500!!!

Glen’s Prediction Record: 2-2-1

6. The Temperature Will Continue To Rise – Yeah, an easy prediction, global temperatures continue to rise, what a surprise.

Glen’s Prediction Record: 3-2-1

7. Another Conservative Minority – Perhaps truer words have never been spoken by me than “…I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there were another Canadian Federal election, I just don’t see much coming about it.”

That was almost as obvious as the temperature thing…

Glen’s Prediction Record: 4-2-1

8. More Record Label Rebellions – Hells yeah!!!! A free album by Nine Inch Nails proves me right again. While it wasn’t as well-publicized, or even in the same artistic league as In Rainbows, it was still a coup against the record labels. Hopefully we have much more to follow from this.

Glen’s Prediction Record: 5-2-1

9. The Patriots will Lose - As January rolled on I was really starting to doubt myself on this one, but in the end when I said “I don’t know why I think this, but I have this sneaking suspicion that the New England Patriots will NOT win the Superbowl, making their 16-0 season completely worthless.” I was so right, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

Glen’s Prediction Record: 6-2-1

10. Samoa Joe will FINALLY win the TNA World Title – March proved me right here!!! Thankfully TNA got their heads out of their asses and gave Joe the big belt. Sadly, they really messed up with it once they gave it to him. Ahh well, at least this Main Event Mafia thing is going alright. Hopefully he’ll get it again soon, and they can do something great with him.

Glen’s Prediction Record: 7-2-1

11. Further Republican Misdoings – Yeah, another easy prediction. The Republicans are a bunch of screw-ups right now. I don’t know which ones to event point out, but the idea of investigating which Democrats are pro-America is a good place to start. Perhaps we can finish with any of Palin’s bizare witch hunts or Trooper scandals.

Glen’s Prediction Record: 8-2-1

12. Someone will Follow in Feist’s Footsteps – Not sure I was right on this one. While there have been some breakout musicians in 2008, few can even hold a candle to Feist’s massive iPod related explosion last year. What a shame…

Glen’s Prediction Record: 8-3-1

13. I will have a great year – Hells yeah!!! I had a great time teaching in Canada, and now I’m in China. Thigns have been busy but pretty great over here, so no complaints!!!

Glen’s Prediction Record: 9-3-1

Well not quite as solid as my record from last year, but pretty close. Tune back for my predictions for 2009! Also, while you’re here. Due to my time constraints, and my plan to go on a trip next week, I will be holding off on my 2008 in review series until the New Year, it should coincide with yet another new look to the blog to debut in 2009. I hope that you enjoy it.

Until next time,

G

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The Red Detachment of Women

Saturday, November 29th, 2008

Last week, I had the opportunity for a unique cultural experience, I got to go to my first Chinese Ballet. It was an important and very popular number called The Red Detachment of Women. After I saw the production, I wanted to run right home and right a blog all about it, but for one of the few times in my life, I was absolutely speechless. It is only now, after some reflection, that I am able to properly explain what I witnessed.

Allow me to provide a bit of context and history first. The Red Detachment of Women, was the ballet shown to Richard Nixon during his visit to China in 1972, and it is one of the “eight model plays” which were the only operas or ballets allowed during China during the Cultural Revolution. Therefore, it is very, very pro-communist. Do not believe me? Well here is a scene from the film version of the movie. Pay extra attention to the oh-so-subtle Party overtones at around the one minute mark.


If you had trouble reading between the lines, understand one thing: she loves communism, and communism loves her.

The basic plot synopsis, is that the main character, Wu Qinghua, escapes from being a slave by an evil lord. She stumbles upon the Red Army (and in particular their female detachment) and joins them. They strike back against the lord, save the day, and continue to march on to victory.

Moral of the story: Workers of the world always unite.

At first viewing, myself and my friends were absolutely blown away by the shear blatancy of the Red-love-in. However, after doing some thought, we came to an important conclusion. It is not that different than most American films, especially from that time frame.

So many Western movies, even today, are centred around the idea of Freedom, and Democracy. The villains are Russian, Chinese, Arabic, or Latino, and the good guy comes in to free the day, and allow America to prosper over all.

Don’t believe me? Watch Saving Private Ryan or any John Wayne movie.

My point is that proganda pervades entertainment in any culture, at any time, however it is always easiest to see it in different places and different times. So obviously, the question must remain, what exactly are people trying to get us to think right now?

I have some ideas, but I have a feeling that future generations will have a much clearer picture. Until then, I think that I’ll continue criticizing these happy soliders.

Until next time,

G

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Predicting 2008

Friday, January 11th, 2008

Well after doing fairly well with my 2007 Crystal Ball, I think that it’s time for me to try and build on this success by looking forward to the coming year. After staring into a crystal ball, reading some tea leaves, and depriving myself of all sensory stimulation for 24 hours I have came up with the following GUARANTEED* predictions for the following 12 months.

* Guarantee not valid anywhere

1. Obama vs. Huckabee – You heard it here first, the election this year is going to come down to an African-American proponent of change taking on a baptist minister who once equated homosexuality with necrophilia. It’s going to be a wild, wild ride…

2. Prolonged Strike – The crystal ball tells me that the Hollywood Writers Strike is going to last a very long time. I would be shocked if this is over by spring time.

3. Abrams will not Disappoint – I have HIGH hopes for both season 4 of Lost, and for Cloverfield. Because really, how awesome does this look?

4. Score one more for California – Mark my words, either the Anaheim Ducks will repeat as champs, or the San Jose Sharks will finally take that next step. As a Senators fan, I desperately hope that I am wrong on this one, but we’ll see here…

5. Another Three Countries Scratched off the List – Sorry while I take a break for the personal here, but I think that I’ll get to visit another three countries this year. I know that I‘m going to Laos in March, but I have a feeling that there will be two more there, somehow, someway.

6. The Temperature Will Continue To Rise – Sure I made this prediction last year, but I don’t see much changing on that one…

7. Another Conservative Minority – Sure last year I predicted that we would see a Liberal Minority, but I think that the opportunity to see that has passed, unfortunately. But I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there were another Canadian Federal election, I just don’t see much coming about it.

8. More Record Label Rebellions – So Radiohead started something by releasing the amazing In Rainbows on-line for free, I wouldn’t be shocked to see some other major bands follow in their footsteps.

9. The Patriots will Lose - I don’t know why I think this, but I have this sneaking suspicion that the New England Patriots will NOT win the Superbowl, making their 16-0 season completely worthless.

10. Samoa Joe will FINALLY win the TNA World Title – Yes, another repeat from last year. I think that even Vince Russo is not dumb enough to keep the gold off of Joe for another year.

11. Further Republican Misdoings – This may be the easiest and vaguest prediction I could ever make, but I am certain that we will find out about something incredibly schemey and evil that Bush, Cheney, and co have been up to, that will even push Fox News’s ability to present them in a positive light.

12. Someone will Follow in Feist’s Footsteps – Another Indie-Darling will break into the mainstream in a big way, just like Lesley Feist was able to do thanks to Steve Jobs.

13. I will have a great year – My third redo from last year. I figure that this is a safe one, 2007 was pretty dang good, and 2008 seems like it could be even better.

Just like last year, the spirits are keeping their signs to only 13….I’ll look back sometime next year and see if I can top my 9-2-2 record!

Until next time,

G

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Looking Back at My Crystal Ball

Wednesday, January 9th, 2008

Last year, I made some bold and daring predictions for the Year 2007, and now, 367 days later I see how my clairvoyant abilities turned out….


1. A Liberal Minority – Wow, was I ever wrong with this one!!!! While I still think very highly of Mr. Dion, he has not exactly set the country on fire, as the Conservatives are still leading the poll, and somehow, someway, Canada avoided an election during 2007.

2. The Arcade Fire’s New Album Will Kick All Sorts of Ass – Alright so this one was a bit of an easy prediction, as Neon Bible was my pick for best Album of the Year, in a year that really was full of some artistic brilliance. Follow this link to find out exactly why I loved this one so much….

3. Canada Will Win More Hockey Gold – I thought that I was going out on a bit of a limb here, as we don’t always win the Men’s World Hockey Championships, but hoorah, the boys won a medal for me!!! Also, add to the fact that we won yet another Women’s World Championship, we took the Under 17 tourney, and of course the Under 20 just a few days ago, and things are looking up for hockey in our country.

4. I Will Go To At Least Three New Countries – Done and done. I went to China and Vietnam in April, some jaunts into Hong Kong and Macau in May (while sort of part of China, they have their own border patrols, and currency, making them more of their own country than say, Scotland), plus I just made the trip to both the French and Dutch West Indies, not sure if those count as separate entities from their mother countries or not…either way, I’m up on this one.

5. “Here We Go Again” by OK Go Will Remain the Coolest Music Video I Have Ever Seen – Duh…

6. I Will Retire from Kodiak – I’m still non-commital on this one, I think that I won’t be heading to my Home Away From Home for the entire summer this year….we shall see though.

7. The US will not leave Iraq, but Canada will leave Afghanistan – A half-botch here, as the US, predictably decided to stay in Iraq, and sent a “surge” to boot, where as Canada has stuck around in Afghanistan, despite a growing amount of opposition and repatriation ceremonies.

8. This Blog Will Hit 200 Posts – Well this is my 216th post, so…well met.

9. Some New Indie Band Will Blow My Mind – The term “Indie” is a hard one to define, as many of these bands are in fact on major labels. But I will say that it came true, as I fell even more in love with Stars and Wilco than before, discovered Guillemots, Besnard Lakes, LCD Soundsystem, and The National. Surely one of those must be an Indie Band of some sort.

If you don’t know any of those artists then type some of their names into YouTube and be prepared to be amazed, if you are too lazy here is “Fake Empire” by The National

Awesome, eh?

10. I Will Not Eat Meat – That’s right still going strong without the flesh. In fact, I think that I’ve become a bit more passionate about this over the past 12 months, as more and more
has made its way onto this blog.

11. Samoa Joe Will Win the NWA World Title – Man, oh man, another epic fail!!! Samoa Joe has every right to be World Champion, yet somehow, someway, TNA has failed to do so. They had three EXCELLENT opportunities to give him the gold this year and botched every one of them.

12. The Temperature Will Only Get Higher – Can I point out that yesterday in Toronto it was 15 Degrees outside? Can I also point out that it’s F’n JANUARY?!?!?!??!?!

Score one more for the G Man

13. I Will Have a Great Year – This year was yet another Roller Coaster for me, but what the heck, I wouldn’t want it any other way, so yes, another great year for me.

I guess that leaves my final score to be 9-2-2, not bad I dare say, even if some of the picks were pretty obvious. Over the next few days I will put forward some more predictions for 2008, and I hope to have an even better record in the coming year!

Until next time,

G

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Christmas Shopping List

Tuesday, December 4th, 2007

Well now that December and the snow are upon us, even the most grinchy of us (i.e. me) can not deny that the Christmas season is upon us. I suppose that means that I need to start my shopping….uggh…I have came up with the following list for a few people, hopefully you can help me add a few more. So, I would like to give…

…a clue and a conscience…to all of the world leaders descending in Bali this week. They are going to be meeting with scientists and activists to discuss the key issue of our time, Global Warming. Their plan is to draft a follow up to the Kyoto Protocol, which is set to expire in a few years. Hopefully they can learn from the mistakes of Kyoto, and maybe, just maybe there will be some buy in from the important players who skipped out on the previous rulings (i.e. Canada and the United States).

…a few more wins…to my Ottawa Senators. They have been slumping a lot lately, yet still have the best record in the Eastern Conference. Kind of bitter sweet to be honest. I’m sure it’s just a little slump, they just need to make sure that they don’t loose four games in a playoff series.

…a rattle-free saber..for Bush, Cheney, and co. Given the recent intelligence report that Iran STOPPED their nuclear weapons program over four years ago. Maybe, we can stop talking about bombing them to prevent World War III.

…the ruins of the Statue of Liberty…to future generations. This is because the apes are clearly taking over. A recent study in Japan showed that a group of chimpanzees outperformed University Students on memory tests. I just hope that they remember that the doll talks…damn dirty apes.

…this song…to everyone who hasn’t heard it. It’s just awesome and full of great advice, easily one of the best of 2007… It’s called “Thou Shalt Always Kill” by Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip, by the way.

Embedded Video

…cruel, delicious irony…for the Conservative Party of Canada. Having won an election in 2006 with a platform of accountability, they now find themselves dealing with their own mess, as Parliament begins to investigate the relationship between Schreiber and Mulroney from over a decade ago. Pardon me while I laugh about this one.

…763 career homeruns… for anyone not named Barry Bonds. Let’s get that cheating ass out of the record books.

…an understanding of limonene…to the entire planet. Limonene is an oil found in orange peels, that can be mixed with regular old carbon dioxide (yes THAT carbon dioxide) to make a renewable, biodegradable, plastic. How cool is that?

…some alternative source of revenue…for the good people at Facebook. While they have made my life easier in all sorts of ways (i.e. helped me stay in touch with people by making virtually no effort), I hate how many ads are creeping into my Facebooking. So what if my status is listed as single, it doesn’t mean that I am going to go to an on-line dating site!!!!

…anti-Zombie spray…for everyone. Because we all know that Zombies will try to take over the world someday. However, there is no telling if this will come before or after the apes get us…better be ready for either eventuality.

…a happy holiday…for everyone reading this blog! Thanks a ton for wasting some of your free time on this site. I hope that this holiday season is a good one for all of you!!!

Until next time,

G

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