welcome to web 2.0

Well the 'person' found my blog and decided to email the entry to the entire 601 team. If that's what you call taking the high road, by all means, go nuts. I don't know how familiar people are with the point of a blog, but let me remind you, this is my personal space. I am freely sharing it with my friends and all that, but it remains mine. I have no responsibility to anyone and I stand behind all the things I say, mainly 'cos this is an expression of my thoughts and feelings and I need to justify them to no one. If I'm okay with my parents reading this, no one else matters as much to me.

That being said, if Anyone feels strongly about anything said here, feel free to comment (try not to be annonymous if you actually have something to say - own up, in this country it's okay to have an opinion), and I will not delete it. I love a good debate.

What's that I smell? Oh yeah, rampant sexism

Seriously, WTF.

I should be working on my 601 presentation right now, but I'm still livid from our meeting earlier. As expected the 'grade allocation' did not end well, but it was not unexpected. Still, I fought the good fight, and if nothing else, I'm okay with that. Those that refused to take their dues - well, there's nothing left to say at this point.

I was arguing with Steph some weeks ago about whether or not sexism was a real threat. I didn't consider it as such, I figured, keep your head up, reality is what it is, you do your thing and so what if you have to work a little harder than people who think having a penis automatically makes you superior, just play the game right and you will win in the end.

But today I finally started to doubt myself. In my 601 meeting today, while trying to figure out this grading business, all the men ended up voting (after two of them changed their minds) to giving everyone an even '0', which meant that the person that deserved a higher grade would be gypped out of it. The women (3/4 of them were present) were clearly diasgreeing, and had yet to cast their votes on how to proceed.

One male member of this group actually had the gall to say that since all the men had already voted, we should proceed using the "Muslim" way - which means it doesn't matter what the women think as their opinions are valued less.

I lost it. I'd been getting mildly offensive comments from him all through this project, but ignoring them because I figured he (despite being a grown man) didn't understand social niceties. This time, I had to physically leave the room so that I wouldn't rail on him.

The sad, absolutely pathetic thing was that after I left, he was actually confused about why I was angry - to him that was a perfectly normal way to think, and after all, that was how things are done in 'his country'. Well, guess what (and I'm restraining myself from using expletives here), you ain't in Kansas anymore. And let me tell you, I've contributed a hundred times more value to this project than you have, and somehow, when I was picking up Your slack, you didn't seem to mind my opinions then, did you?

So, 20 minutes in the loo later, after splashing cold water on my face, finishing up the meeting, walking home in lovely weather, I'm still pissed off as hell.

Sticks and Stones...

You know those kids in the schoolyard that always went around hitting other kids for no reason? You know what I'm talking about, the kind that you stayed away from and always thought were mildly retarded? I think we've got one of those in the MBA program.

Steph's lovely blog, which discusses her views (as blogs tend to do), has suddenly been attacked by a schoolyard bully. And, as all bullies tend to be, this one's a coward, too afraid to man up. And we know its a man, and I'll tell you why in a second.

His first comment, well actually comments, because he made two under different names ("misc" and "anon" are the same person) really set the mood for the delight that he is. Here, he gallantly defends the Level pub night on Friday (cos every pub night needs a knight defending its perilous honour), and calls everyone that is going to attend the "Real" pub night - the one at Bedford, a loser. Of course, he claims to be attending it, but that's beside the point. The real doozy, which was deleted by Steph, was that he actually opened by making possibly the most derogatory comment about lesbians (way to play to the crowd, genius) I've read in a while. Did we learn nothing from the Imus incident?

The second burst of inspiration was here, in a conversation that I was actually a part of, and while Steph and I disagreed on most things related to it, we do agree that this guy is a world class weenie. Our man busts out the Darwinism, saying that survival of the fittest really means men should rule the world (or as the infamous saying goes "boyz rool, girlz drool"). He goes on to say that women are weak, and therefore "succumbed to allow male domination", and (I quote because it's really too precious to paraphrase):

for the most part around the world, homos are weak too until recently with their uprising against a natural system.

He closes with the stunner:

the less-privileged sometimes are comfortable where they are…any one thought of that….or else maybe most homos would come out of the closet, or create a system of their own?

Now, one's natural instinct would be to, I dunno... point, laugh, possibly shake one's head in dismay, and then let loose a verbal plethora of rebuttals. Maybe even a joke or two about erectile dysfunction.

But, I'm not going to. As much as I am a believer in spreading knowledge to cure ignorance, if someone's come this far, has gotten admission into a world class academic program, and existed in the world in general, and still carries these views, I don't have the energy to waste in trying to change them. I would have had and encouraged debate had he the balls to own up using his real name. The sad thing is that I probably know this person, and lord knows, I might even like and get along with them in real life.

Although I will say this. Lord help the woman or man (come on, can you say Repressed Sexuality?) he ends up with, cos he's going to be a real delight to come home to every night.

the requisite 601 post

I've been ignoring the post-bunny telling me to update with every inch of my life as it happens, however I've had too much work, no energy and frankly, little inclination to do so this past week. 601 is semi-over - we have Phase 4 on Friday (which of course means I can't get Rockstar anything on Thursday), but after the fiasco that was the report submission process, I'm unsure of anything at this point.

I've been listening/ reading about some of the other experiences, and ours is going to be relatively genteel I think, to get to the 'sign off' for grade equivalency. Follies aside, I think everyone pulled their weight fairly equally (with some more than required) over the course of the two terms. At least we all tried to, each in our own special way. However, I was very unhappy with how things went this time, I know I'm not the only one that did work, but we should have performed more cohesively as a group.

*blinks furiously*

Got eyes that are so dry from staring at your portion of a 601/Brand/Strategy/any other paper that they actually make a scraping sound when you blink? Do they itch when you are trying to make sure Appendix 267 (ii) as referenced in the paper is in the right place in your attachments? Does your left eye twitch when someone asks you whether you've gotten a job yet - no thanks, not since two days ago when you last asked me.

Is there a Visene for that?

One way trip to Paris, please

I love google maps sometimes. Today, I entered 'Paris' in the 'to here' section and then my postal code in the 'from here' section. Not only did the blessed program not bat a binary eyelash, but it also gave me lovely directions - the journey would take me 29 days and 12 hours to complete, it said. It also asked me to swim 5,572 kms across the atlantic ocean.

So, that means, the average hourly speed of the entire journey was 9.4 kmph. I'm sure there are people that can swim that fast. Unfortunately, in my case, with my complete inability to swim in a straight line, I'd probably crash into Iceland and wonder why the seals were looking so ansty.

Top 15 "Holy Shit" moments in Hollywood.

I saw this collection somewhere and couldn't resist. These are 15 of the biggest "Holy Shit" moments in some of the finest movies Hollywood has ever produced. And yeah, I still couldn't watch the scene from Scarface.

Beware: Most of these contain spoilery things of some sort. Don't say I didn't warn ya. Also many of them are bloody, violent or just seriously messed up.

15) The Departed - I actually jumped out of my seat at this one



14) Meet Joe Black - A vaguely exciting scene in an otherwise painful waste of my time.



13) Reservoir Dogs - Hee. I had a crush on Steve Buscemi and Michael Madsen at the same time. Is that wrong?



12) American Psycho



11) Seven



10) Casino



09) Alien - Only slightly ahead of having to watch Sigourney Weaver in a wifebeater.



08) Goodfellas



07) Full Metal Jacket



06) The Exorcist (my personal ultimate squick)



06) Pulp Fiction - I actually thought this was kinda funny



05) Pulp Fiction (again)



04) Scarface *shudders*



03) Misery - Kathy Bates at her deliciously psychotic best



02) Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the original)



01) American History X (This one actually made me cry)

One last shot

Well, we're almost at the end people. Yet, there's one thing I am yet to see, and boy would I love to. I want someone, some brave, brilliant, ballsy soul to break into some form of interpretive dance for a presentation. Also, warn me in advance so that I can sneak in and watch.

If you do it, not only will I buy you a well-deserved drink of your choice (Karen? Stella?), but I will also get you one of these. If they're sold out, I will have one like this made for you.

Now do you see?

This is for all my people that look at me funny when I natter on about Schulich. This, I think, encapsulates fairly well what the past year and a half of my life has been like.



Lord help me, I'm going to miss all of this. Well, after the stupid 601, I'm going to miss all of this.

Ah Spring. When the fruits are in full bloom

Someone on my MSN list has the nickname "Ignorance is like a delicate, exotic fruit. Touch it, and the bloom is gone!"

When I first read this, I happily remonstrated that they were an idiot. Turns out, the joke was on me, and they were quoting one of my favourite authors of all time (The Ballad of Reading Gaol notwithstanding), and I was the one that had forgotten the line. It's a good thing that fact checking has now become second nature to me.

Clearly I get very bitchy when I'm running on no sleep for three days. Who knew?

On the topic of Blooms (albeit the non-ignorant kind), everyone should encourage him to youtube his MBA Rant from the formal. I still giggle when I remember it, and I've already heard it three times.

No more pencils, no more books

It is 7:40 PM on Wednesday. Class is set to end by 9 PM. Which means I have about 4.5 hours of class left. Ever.

...

I've been a student since I was two and a half years old. I've always either had class, or had to anticipate classes, or something. I've never NOT had class. And, as of tomorrow night, I'm NEVER going to have class again.

*flails*

This is why I love Teh Groban

Maybe we can recruit him to be the spokesperson for the Toronto Zoo? I know some marmots that need some good lovin'.

heh

My favourite is when she headbutts the Blues Brother wannabe. Oh Alanis, these are the things that make me like you again.

Colin does a remarkable imitation of an angry monkey

The lovely people at the Toronto Zoo Foundation sent me two free passes as thanks for doing a marketing strategy project for them.

Anyone wanna go check out the lions and tigers and bears?

I've been meaning to do one on this...

This, my friends, is a list that has been developed over some time, by the illustrious CubaCrew. Learn it well, for it will help you someday.

Levels of Class (ranked Highest to Lowest)

1) Classy - the regular kind. The Queen, your gramma, that sorta thing.
2) Klassy - The special kind of classy where you drink wine out of a screw top bottle, or possibly eat pizza and hamburgers with a knife and a fork.
3) Classie - The kind where you wear white capri pants and white patent leather clogs at the same time.
4) Klaüsy - One's behaviour after one hour too many spent at Oktoberfest.
5) Klazzie - The kind when you get solidly mashed and spend the night dancing the can-can on a table. Not your own, but that of the nice couple sitting next to you.

Also, the formal was last night... it was fun. The Four Seasons is pretty, but not pretty enough to charge $9.50 for a Hinekein as Dee pointed out. More on that later, someone should put together a best/worst dressed list, just like the oscars.

However, the night was fairly fun, I can proudly claim the level (2) Klassy - I managed to do the limbo (rather well, I might add) in a sari. More about the formal later... along with all the embarassing details of everyone's drunken behaviour. You know who you are.


...


I kid. I would never do that, you know, golden rule and all. Besides, everyone was fairly well behaved and looked all pretty and sparkly. However I Have to say that noone had more fun than Terry and Jon, and had I not been in a sari, I would have been right up there doing the Terry Dance with them all night.