The stars were out, too

Good night all around; I didn't do much.  Groceries after work, shower, eating, internet, went downtown, met the guys whom were out riding, drank a cappecino and read Nietzsche at the Honey Pot Cafe.  Warm evening, stars were out, and I wore a new shirt.  The new pic up top was taken while chilling under a eucalyptus grove next to a skate park on a day which was too hot to speak of.  Road trip this weekend.

I didn't know that was actually her name

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSIbfzK2spg&eurl=http://ruk.ca/

This is awesome; that's talent.  I didn't know until yesterday that her name was Imogen Heap; I figured that was a 'group name'.  I went on a mini road trip today; check Picasa for photographic audience.

Lily Allen

I've been listening to "Alfie" by Lily Allen all day, and I love it.  Great day of riding today; lots of sweet street spots were had.  I was a little sore in the left ankle/foot area as I was hit by a car yesterday (the first time in my cycling career).  The hit wasn't too bad; a car just came flying out of a driveway and smoked me.  The car was a little scratched up, but the woman had run over my ankle/foot area, and she was in the wrong, so I just used some choice words and went on my way.  More riding tomorrow; possibly a day trip of hitting up parks all around the area.  Check out my Picasa for pics of some spots/riding; I'll keep updating as I can remember and/or be bothered.

Be stoked

http://gawker.com/5003144/where-the-wild-things-are-looking-as-strong-as-expected?autoplay=true

If only

I really wish I had been able to meet Carl Sagan.  The man was a genius, and had a very clear and logical way of thinking; massive respect for him.

A few people I hope I never meet are Bill O'Reilly and Ann Coulter; read up and hate them with me.  These people are the antithesis of Carl Sagan and the like; they certainly aren't alone in this category, but they are quite loud, which raises my hatred for them. If one of the readers of this blog provide me with solid evidence of he/she causing physical/mental harm to either of these people, I'll send you $20; you'd deserve it.

Nine in the afternoon

It drives me insane when people like/don't like a band/singer/group because of who they are, how popular/unpopular they are, and what 'group' of people listen to them.  Listen to whatever the hell you want; music is supposed to be enjoyed, so if you enjoy something - regardless of who makes it- listen to it.  It's that simple.  I have everything from Celine Dion to Slayer to Elliott Smith to The Mars Volta to FallOut Boy to Ashley Simpson to Panic! At The Disco on my ipod, and I like all of them; it doesn't matter who they are; it's what they create.

$13.50 an hour, yo

I just got home from my first real day of work.  The job is alright, pretty much what I expected and virtually identical to what I did for a period during the set-up of the 'new' Home Hardware Charlottetown.  The people I work with are alright; not from the highest echelons of society (not that I am either, nor is there anything inherently wrong with that), but nice people.  It's decent money, and it only lasts about four weeks so I have no real complaints.  Strange to work again after 6 weeks-ish of doing whatever I want.  I LOVE doing whatever I want without a single worry/care.

It'll never fill up

Not much to report; riding lots with a new guy in town, Jack.  He's pulling the same deal as me; he's come from England (Guernsey, to be precise, which is a small island in the English Channel) to spend some time in a warm place.  He's a great guy, and keen to ride/travel all the time.  I start work in about eight hours, so I should go to bed, alas, I can't see that happening.

Loose as

New Zealand is ridiculous.  There are heaps of 24/7 liquor stores, prostitution is legal (the whore houses even have to pay taxes), there are 'party buses' all over the place (essentially moving parties complete with bars and DJs), and there are 'pill stores' all over the place (basically legalized drugs).

I hope this guy gets AIDS

http://youtube.com/watch?v=kBeB81PPlng

Slugs can't grow arms

The last two days I've been working, and it's really sucked.  The job I'm doing now (putting together/up those scrolling advertisements on the sides of fields at sporting events) is over tomorrow, so it's not horrible, I suppose.  It's a lot of physical labour, and it's about twelve hours a day.  On top of this my boss is one of the dumbest close-minded people I've ever met.  He firmly believes that I (and anyone else who does this) am gay because I wear my pants low.  He also believes that evolution is a farce because "slugs can't just climb out of the water and grow arms".  He then proceeded to butcher the theory of evolution further; I would have tried to explain it to him, but it would have been futile.  Oh well, because of all this I get to see a pro rugby game for free tomorrow.  

On Monday I start my 'real' job; putting the finishing touches on a soon to open grocery store.  It's quite a straightforward job, it pays $13.50 NZ an hour (about $10.60 CAN), and it's only for four weeks.  I'm looking forward to being back in the $scrilla$.

Other that those, not much is new.  The weather is eternally nice, I ride all the time, the bmx guys are great, life is good.  I got a few new bmx parts, which are working fantastically; I also found one of the best street spots I've ever seen (I'll get pics for you, guys).  I'm exhausted from work, so I'm going to watch TV for a bit before I hit the ol'  dusty trail.  Hope you're all enjoying your hellish weather.

Oh yeah, one more thing; what's with my appetite?  For the last three weeks or so I've been eating like I did while I was still growing.  I'm easily killing $100-150 a week in groceries.

Closer

This movie simultaneously fascinates and disgusts me.

Disrespect

I was just lying in bed, and I could hear a few (drunken) people stumbling  home from a Saturday night out as I thought about how little respect I have for so many people.  I'm not really sure where it came from, but I have virtually no respect for so many people; I would go as far as saying that I loathe them.  It is almost all comes down to knowledge and education.  I know that I am not, nor will I ever be, the smartest person, but when confronted with people who have very little knowledge about the world, and subjects which seem to me should be common knowledge I have no patience.  Last night at a friends apartment the topic of the creation/existence of the Universe came up.  While normally I love conversations of this type, it was only a matter of moments before I spaced out, completely giving up on anything worthwhile coming from the discussion.  People were spouting out theories that didn't make any sense, were hypocritical and just plain ran in the face of all scientific theories.  I know there is quite limited knowledge about the Universe's creation (or even if it was ever created at all - see the cyclical expanding-collapsing theories), but I think it should be common knowledge that in the face of potentially viable theories using all existing information, it is beyond reasonable doubt to disagree with said theories without some kind of alternate evidence/viable theory.  I'm not saying that people shouldn't look for alternate possibilities in almost all circumstances, but to disagree without reason is beyond reasonable doubt.  What I'm trying to say with this side-story is that I find it almost impossible to take someone seriously in any area when they don't know what they're talking about when spewing out seemingly 'proven' ideas or when they lack general knowledge.  I see so many of people like this and I view them as a complete waste of space/time/money and a burden on the world.  

This brings me to not seeing people as equals.  I think it's completely unreasonable to believe that all people are equal, or should be treated equally.  It's absurd to believe that every single member of a species is equal with its 6.5ish billion counterparts.  That completely flies in the face of evolutionary theory.  And to go along with this, I don't believe that everyone should be treated equally.  I'm not saying cage certain people up and treat them like animals (animals are an entirely different story...), but to accept all peoples' opinions as equal is ridiculous, dangerous, and counter productive.  For example, accepting each citizen's vote as equal to one another makes no sense.  If one person votes for the first name on the ballot, and another votes using their discretion about the policies of each candidate, is it not absurd to consider these two votes as equal?  

I could go on and on about these topics, among others, but I'm going to try to get to sleep now.

Well I don't really know about that

I just got home from seeing "Juno", which had been bringing in great reviews from almost everyone I know who's seen it.  I don't see what all the fuss is about; I didn't really like it at all.  It had many features that I don't really like; teenagers, their problems, high school, and children.  I already went through high school, it sucked, I don't want to relive it vicariously through strange actors.  Ellen Page, the main actress had been built up a lot, but her character was about as feminine as a testicle.  To each their own, though.

...

No matter how much I post about them, I can't get across to you how incredible the girls down here are.  I just saw a girl on the bus and I stopped breathing for a solid ten minutes; absolutely RIDICULOUS!

A few notes

I love cereal; I really don't know what I'd do without it.  Sometimes I like to sleep covered in cereal boxes.

I still can't get over the girls down here.  They're everywhere, and they're gorgeous.  I had to carry my jaw around in my shopping cart at the grocery store yesterday; ridiculous.

School has just started down here, which means that the buses are crowded in the mornings and afternoons.  That small downside is definitely outweighed by the now empty skate park and getting to see all the kids in their uniforms.  All schools here have uniforms, and most of these are pretty funny to see.  They often incorporate a very gaudy blazer over a dress shirt, but my  favorite part is that they all have to wear shorts with socks pulled up to their knees; fantastic.  

I have a question for those of you reading this: can you look at my Picasa photos without having a Gmail account?  And if you can't, that's really lame on Google's part.

RoAdTRiP!!!!!

Well, not really, more of a day trip.  Yesterday I went with a few of the guys to Reefton to ride their ridiculously large skate park.  It was about a three hour drive each way, which was probably my favorite part, as we drove directly into/through the Southern Alps.  We spent a good hour and a half to two hours driving through the thickest rain forest imaginable, all while weaving through an awe inspiring mountain range.  The drive was incredible, and not even all that scary even though New Zealand has no use for guard rails, even on the dodgiest of roads.  We arrived in the tiny town of Reefton around 12:30pm and road on and off for hours.  The heat was ridiculous, so I decided to take a dip in the semi dried up river that flows next to the skate park.  Some of you might recall a certain video of Dave Osato taking a swim in a river which he declared to be "freezing", this was the very same river.  Unreal day all around, and it's gotten me even more stoked to travel around and hike through the mountains.

Late caffeine

I don't know why there are so few coffee shops open past nine-ish.  I always like/want to go out for coffee anytime from 10pm-3am, but finding somewhere to cater to my needs isn't easy.  I know I'm not the only one who thinks a business of this sort would be a good idea; more than once I've been searching around town (Charlottetown) with a group of friends looking for somewhere to sit, talk, and have a coffee late on a summers night.  Why do they all close so early?  It took me half an hour to find somewhere to get a coffee last night, and it wasn't even 10pm.