o.o

Since pretty much anyone who reads this is invited, I figured I’d get this out there.
For next Friday, 21st of September, I believe there’s going to be a slightly late dinner and a movie night at my place. The dinner is totally undecided and if anyone wants to come by early and help me make it, that’ll be cool. The movies are going to be Super Troopers and Hot Fuzz. There are some of us who’ve been talking about trying to see these for a while and now is finally the time. If you’re going to drop by, if you could comment here or email me, that would be pretty awesome, like really, really awesome (do it!).

I figured everyone was probably getting slightly bored of looking at the exact same theme for a while now. So here’s something new. I guess I have a bunch of things I could talk about, but I think I’ll pass on that for now.

So this week started off with a lot of positives. It also started off with some negatives. I’ve now fixed one of those negatives (by getting registered in one of my Economics classes). This however couldn’t pan out properly, so I’m now going through a huge hassle and probably won’t get into the 2nd class that I had to still get registered for. Going to go browse through some course catalogues tonight and see if I can find a new 5th course for this semester, or maybe just take 4. In other news, the book store line up is impossible, so waiting until Friday and trying to pirate as many of these books by then. Why pirate? Well, because my book tab is in excess of $600, which I find unacceptable.

On a brighter note…

This is the optional presentation topics from one of my classes, which can be done instead of an essay. If you remotely know me, you’ll get it.

Halo - September 25
Consider the role of humanity in the Halo videogame series. How do the game creators justify the escapist violence? Specifically, how do they de-humanize the targets of Master-Chief’s rampage in order to side-step the inevitable moral dilemma that arises from symbolic slaughter of living creatures? Conversely, what human characteristics do the creators deliberately embed within the villains and how do these characteristics actually enhance the gaming experience? Is this contradiction? Finally, explain the popularity of Halo, and what that popularity suggests about the humanity of the gamers themselves?

Star Trek - October 2
Consider the place of humanity in the overall Star Trek universe (Films and Television Series). How does Star Trek maintain the centrality of humankind amidst an expanded universe populated by innumerable other intelligent life-forms? How are we still somehow special, and what value is placed upon humanity within an expanded universe?

Star Wars Merchandise - October 9
Consider how the commercial juggernaut of Star Wars merchandising relates to the evolution of the Science Fiction genre. Focus specifically on things like collector culture, brand recognition (“look I’m wearing a Star Wars shirt! That makes me a Star Wars fan”) and audience participation (“I can make my own sequel where my Boba Fett doll fights your Chewbacca doll”) relate to the social and cultural attitudes surrounding SF. In comparison with world-building SF such as Foundation how does the world of mass-consumerism fit in and what effect does merchandising have on the overall evolution of the SF genre?

X-men Comics - October 16
Originally created by a pair of Jewish comics artists who had faced a lifetime of prejudice, X-men comics have continually utilized racial persecution as a central metaphor in a variety of circumstances. Draw out the different manifestations of this metaphor, and how the comics series has utilized racial figures and events such as the Holocaust, the American civil rights movement, the Jewish immigrant experience, the Rwandan genocide, Martin Luther King vs. Malcolm X, racial alteration through plastic surgery, or innumerable others. What attitudes are expressed toward race through X-men? What is the moral of the story?

Battlestar Galactica (newer version) - October 23
Unlike the original series, the new Battlestar Galactica incorporates female characters in a variety of different roles. What attitudes, overall, does the series express toward femininity in general? Does Number Six do anything to alter the traditional “femme fatale” archetype, or is she simply a sex object to draw in viewers? Is Starbuck a progressive representation of a female character or simply a masculinized woman? What about the president? How does her femininity contrast with the masculinity of the military leaders she competes with? Does the show establish a binary where politics are characterized as feminine, military order masculine? How does the recurrent theme of motherhood factor in, particularly within an apocalyptic/post-human context?

Radiohead – OK Computer - October 30
This is a very, very tricky one. Address the attitudes expressed toward technology in Radiohead’s 1997 album, OK Computer. You may focus on individual songs, or may look at the album as a cohesive concept. I am specifically interested in concepts of externalization and alienation and how technology accomplishes these things in the eyes of the band. Do not focus simply on the lyrics, but integrate the musical expression as well and the role that it plays in accomplishing specific emotional arguments (pathos) in simpatico with the singing. As a work of art, what is this album trying to express, and where does technology fit within that vision. Finally, consider whether or not this album qualifies as a Science Fiction text. If it does, why? If it doesn’t, what is it?

Reboot - November 6
The television series Reboot seeks to personify the internal workings of the basic computer system. Things that are traditionally considered lifeless and mundane are wholly animated and placed within an epic struggle between good and evil. How well does this construct hold together? What attitudes does Reboot take toward the computer system? Does the show attempt to valorize the computer, or does it simply use the computer as a gimmick through which to set the fantasy? Finally, what is the mission statement of Reboot? If it seeks to change the world on some small level, what specifically does it want to accomplish?

Kino’s Journey (Kino no Tabi) - November 13
Easily one of the most thoughtful anime series ever produced, Kino’s Journey plays off Steampunk concepts of localized history, and the philosophical aspect of technological advancement. Consider how the series utilizes geographical space as historical space. Kino travels from town to town. Some have developed super-intelligent cyborgs while others are still working on the basic principles of flight. What is the series trying to express through this sort of spatial/temporal arrangement? Why not just have Kino travel around contemporary Japan? Also, consider the incorporation of history and mythology throughout the series. Why does Kino relive key historical events? Simply put, where are we in Kino’s world? Define the nuances of Kino’s concept of “travel.”

Final Fantasy VII - November 20
Speaking of “thoughtful,” Final Fantasy VII may be the first video game to advance a complex moral philosophy. Sadly, I’m not interested in that at the moment. Consider FFVII within the context of SF fusion. How does the game incorporate various SF elements (from a variety of SF sub-genres) alongside concepts such as magic and mythology (traditionally held to be external from the SF genre)? How well does this fusion hold together, and if forced to classify the video game (which is exactly what I’m asking you to do now), does it lean more toward fantasy or SF and why?

Cowboy BeBop - November 27
In many ways, Cowboy BeBop defies definition. Let’s move beyond fusion here, though, and consider the role of cultural importation and utilization. Specifically, I am interested in how a Japanese series utilizes two American cultural artifacts (Jazz and the Western) as the key components in an anime? What happens to Jazz and the Western when filtered and reproduced through a Japanese cultural context? Is this distortion, homage, satire, or something that we don’t yet have a word for? Consider what happens to Pastiche as culture becomes increasingly global and less internalized. Where might this be a good thing and where might this be a bad thing?

Today is free hug day!
So go hug someone you know.
Someone you don’t know.
A complete stranger? Future friend!
Just thought I’d get this out there.

Okay!
Let’s try and commit this to virtual paper before I forget half of what happened.

I finished up my work weeks in between exams and DonsO on Friday and headed home. I mostly remember that it was really strange knowing that I was the only person staying in my building, and one of I think 2 or 3 in the entire residence. Saturday morning I woke up fairly early, it was raining, and headed to the mall to get some last minute things and some additions which I needed for my costume (yes a costume, I’ll get to it later). The rest of the day until 4pm I actually just kinda relaxed and took it easy, all the 2 or 3 hours that were actually left until GO time. I packed up a bunch of clothes and my pillow and some other living necessities and began my trek to our temporary residence, closer to where we’d be doing our training. The weather cooperated completely and by the time I made it to the SLC there was not a dry spot anywhere on me, that includes the two t-shirts I was wearing, my shorts, my bag and just about everything in it! I love weather, at least the rain was warm, so it wasn’t too too bad.

Running up to my room I bumped into Nate and a bunch of others; Nate was one of the people I took my First Aid training course with so they stopped and waited for me to throw my wet belongings into my room, throw on the soon to become all too familiar black Don t-shirt and we ran off to begin our activities. The introduction was fairly typical, a bunch of people talked, including the director of housing. I don’t really remember too much from this event, other then there was a lot of us, 117 in total I think.

Dinner!

Ok, so the food for the entire week was catered by the cafeteria in the residence where we were staying. I don’t think I’ve eaten so much in the last year over that week, it was crazy, but since the days were from 7 to 12 or later for the most part it really felt like you needed every bit you could get your hands on. Of course after this huge dinner, it was time for variety night, which was a bunch of events that were arranged by the returning Dons to just allow all of us to meet each other and give us something to do. I ended up playing ultimate frisby for at least 2 hours, I’ve never played it before, I’m really bad at throwing fribies ( I actually was shown just 4 days ago, from present time, how to do it properly ). I thought for a bit that this might be a really exhausting start to what I knew would be a busy week, but meh. By the way, my roommate for the week was Graham. He’s a returning Don and an awesome person to know. Did I mention his short list of talents includes playing several sports, playing guitar, singing, knowing a bunch of music, and loving Family Guy?

Sunday.

Every day began with a group of Dons coming up with some activity to either bring us together, teach us something or just make some kind of positive event. This first D.E.E.D ( Dons Enthusiastically Encouraging Dons ) consisted of a circle and turning left and then around and giving the person in front of you a back rub. Yeah, I could stand events like this most mornings XD

We had a guest speaker who talked about diversity and inclusivity. It’s sometimes an awkward subject and it’s hard to describe why this session was not only educational, but provoking and interesting, I guess you just had to be there. The presenter was from University of Guelph and he had a really interesting tattoo design in which he had Greek letters scattered on his arms, I’m not sure if they formed a message. It was an awesome presentation and it capped off with a poem which was first introduced line by line and it started off with a line which kind of paraphrased said “If you took this backwards”, and the poem was mostly negative, I assumed the first line implied to just think of everything in reverse. I was sort of thinking in the right direction, but not quite to scale, as we got scolded for sort of clapping at the end he showed us the real meaning, reading the poem from the end to the beginning, ending up with an entirely different meaning. Unfortunately we didn’t get a copy, now I have to try and find it. It was that awesome, we stood while applauding.

The Sunday Drum circle.

In the evening, after dinner, we headed over to a different building for some kind of surprise. The event of the night would be a musical evening involving a “band” and some instruments which mostly focused on shakers, bells and drums. The leading lady of this, what could be best described as “a traveling musical group”, was absolutely crazy. She was soooo energetic and sometimes odd that once again it’s hard to entirely convey it unless you were there. I started off on the shakers, then switched with Michelle for her drum and then she got the bells too, it was hilarious and awesome. We managed to form a bunch of different musical beats and songs by either playing as a whole or breaking down into sections and then learning individual beats. Our queues were short stories, for example two were “I like peanut butter, I like peanut butter, I like jelly, BAM!” and “Fishheads, fisheads something something fishheads, I eat fish”. Our favourite moment was definitely when the leading lady would say “freestyle” Did I mention towards the end a belly dancer showed up and some Dons were caught in promiscuous pictures.

Monday.

Some more training, role plays, training, I feel like a sponge that just absorbs what’s around and information. I’m once again reminded of just how bad I am with names and it really annoys me that my name is odd enough that most everyone remembers it after hearing it even once.

Free Time! Finally, it’s only been 2 and a half days and yet we were all so waiting for this already. Some people just fell asleep, some went shopping to finish up their costumes, I ended up running back to my room to pick up an email address I needed and then spent the rest of the time playing soccer. So much for that whole I should conserve some energy idea, 2 hours later.

We had a presentation from a bunch of on campus services, like police, fire safety and resnet. The last one was rather amusing to me.

Masterpiece Theatre.

Remember that costume I mentioned earlier? Yes? Great!
We all donned our alter personalities which consisted of various celebrities and proceeded to showcase for pictures and prepare for another action packed evening. It’s quite a sight to see 117 people in costumes of all kinds from Tom Cruise in Top Gun, to Britney Spears and Madonna and this and that. Raymond and crew opened up not only with some commentary, but also with an absolutely hilarious rap performance to open up the activities. Next we were issued a couple of pieces of paper with various scenarios, some props, a theme song, and an hour to put together a 10 minute long production. We got a really strange mix, and it would be boring to describe it, but by the time Masterpiece Theatre was over we were all laughing, sometimes maybe crying from laughter and generally it was amazing. Our skit had parts in it, delivered by Steph and Vicki on which you couldn’t help but just crack up and laugh. It was probably R rated for some parts of it, but hey, we’re all adults here

Tuesday.

More educational material, more D.E.E.D and more food, so much food, this is ludicrous.
An absolutely necessary part of every DonsO is Bud’s Farm. What is this you may ask? Well, Bud Walker is about the 3rd person in charge of this University in terms of position. Every orientation he takes all the Dons out to his farm, which I guess is about 20 minutes away and treats them to dinner, bonfire, games (more on this in a sec) and an open bar. Yep, that’s right an open bar, seems kind of odd considering how we’re the responsible ones and bla bla bla, so don’t be [i]that[/i] Don
The game, mentioned earlier, consisted of us breaking down into teams and having to run a fairly easy gauntlet, with our fearless leader in the middle knocking off flying water balloons. What water balloons? Oh the ones every other team was throwing at us while we were running this gauntlet and at the same time completing two rotations. We took a couple of hits, dished out way more, and using my powers of time travel and future observation (haha) I can tell you we actually got enough points to be #1. Jamal, our captain, who played Borat for Masterpiece Theatre would certainly say “I like”.

Wednesday.

Team photos — I hate being in photos
Some people are so photogenic it’s crazy, they just look good.
Anyway.

We had a session on crisis situations. We roleplayed the more common ones and then moved onto the more serious ones. When I was going over them with Trish you can’t help but be serious because all of them were taken from actual incidents that happened in residence. In a way I really hope nothing like what the serious cases talked about happens on my floor, in my residence, or in residence period, but it helps a bit to talk about it and know that it can happen, so you don’t just freak out.

Super Services Lunch — more educational hand outs, free stuff, food, free stuff, more free stuff, way more free stuff. Just in case you didn’t get enough, even more free stuff. A backdoor access card to the Bomber, which I guess could be counted as free stuff.

Lego Warrior.
Break up into groups, have a model Lego warrior sitting in a room where only one person from a team at a time can see it with nothing to jot notes down. Give the teams an hour to plan and plot. Have the build it, but as of this moment you just can’t actually talk to anyone. Oh, yeah, that’s just too bad. Did I mention pieces mysteriously go missing from the issued amount and no one can seem to make a complete replica? Fear not, Team Wilmot is sooooo Hot prevails as we complete our model in possibly record time and then go on to pawn it off to the second UW Place team giving them a nice 2nd place finish. UWP represents =D But that’s not really the point, no one breaks the rules, no one gets upset, we all finish, and in the end we’re ecstatic.

Free evening! I spend most of it working on door tags and other misc Don things. I think I did more, but I just can’t remember.

Thursday.

It’s odd that the closer I get to now, the less and less I actually remember from the events. We move into our permament residences for the next 4 months. We meet the staff, we do stuff, I have no hot water, a lot of people don’t have hot water. I, uhm, can’t remember anything else, that’s kinda bad.

Friday.

A tug of war to start the day! Or maybe that was Thursday, but I forget. The new Dons take on the returners, the returners take a hard won battle 2-1 and we absolutely demolish the RLC team

Single and Sexy is an educational play which I believe started the year before I came to University or somewhere around there, it’s still going strong and we went to see it again. I love theatre — maybe I love it because I worked in the theatre setting, or maybe just because. But the point is, I still love this play. It’s smart, it’s witty, it’s educational and sometimes oh so serious. At some parts you laugh, at some parts you marvel, some parts make you sort of want to look away, but yet they do happen. I’m glad every new student coming to this University gets to see this play — it deserves it, they deserve it.

Saturday.
Panic, panic, panic, Aaaaaaah!

Sunday.
Will be the subject of another continuation post. That’s all I’ve got in me for tonight.

Bye!

I meant to write a huge update of the week and then another one of the time since. But I now realise that nearly all of my energy is expended on donning, work and myself. So that’s to say until this week is over and maybe even next I won’t be able to write the wall of post that I really want to

Well, this may very well be the last update for quite a while. For those of you not entirely in the loop I’m going to be a don in one of the university residences this semester. I think this will be a lot of fun and really rewarding in the end, but that doesn’t stop the fact that training starts tomorrow and I have a few things to still finish up before then. Managed to get in a decent amount of hours these last two weeks at work though, I’m still not sure if I want to go more so towards trying to pay next tuition myself or OSAP it. I have a feeling I have to figure this out soon, because too much more and they’ll be huge asses and decline me again; Anyway.

I’m now moved into my new place, it’s pretty nice, I’m going to try to grab some pictures tomorrow and post them before vanishing. There is a lot of white space on the walls though, so I definitely need to finally get around to getting some posters to decorate this place — I’ll be here for 8 months from now after all and that’s a long time. I don’t really have too much to add, except maybe I already miss a few people from Waterloo who aren’t going to be around this upcoming semester or aren’t here right now at least =P

Well, I think I’ll leave it at that, going to go answer a quick quiz about questions from my contract, shouldn’t be too hard.

This is going to be rather short for now.
I just wanted to mention that it’s really annoying when all the doors around here are locked because no one is around
I just spent the last, almost 3 hours at work. Why? Well, sometimes you have things that you didn’t get to, and when you combine that with the fact that they weren’t working when I thought they should be, and the temptation to not go fix it was no match. So yeah, it’s fixed now, it’s also almost 12pm. Night!

One more exam to go, and it’s in about an hour. I feel comfortable with what should be 3/5 to 4/5 of the exam material according to the breakdown. Unfortunately this is all according to the worst teacher in the history of my teachers, so we’ll have to see. My plan is to do better then others and she better bell curve this a lot if we do as well as we did on our 2nd midterm as a class. Anyway, it’s weird, I made a formula sheet for it and it is less then a page, a feat considering I had a page each of material for the first two midterms and this is supposed to be comprehensive, but the rest I honestly feel I remember/know, so we’ll see.

Well that’s it really, going to go run and meet with Linda to double check our formula sheets and see how this all goes!