Transit Suxx
Okay, okay, I know. I've been neglecting the Bomb Shelter for a few days. Well, I'm here to update and let people know I'm still alive, if currently trying to get everything in order.
University is really enjoyable so far, and I'm surprised with how interested I am in absolutely everything. I find myself looking to volunteer with student groups and the like, and I'm not sure if that worrysome or exciting. I have very little free time as it is.
But that's not what I wanted to bitch about.
This morning I was about one minute late for my bus, arriving at roughly 7:52 AM. I didn't see it drive away, I simply waited for a few moments and came to the conclusion that I must have missed my bus because it wasn't coming. So, resolutely, I decide to wait for the next bus.
And wait and wait.
40 minutes later the next bus toddles on down the road to my stop. As a result I was 20 minutes late for my first lecture. What the fuck!? 40 minutes is
not a convenient time between busses!
I blame this entirely on St. Albert's fancy transit system. You see, St. Albert decided they would rather have
fancy busses, then
convenient busses. So yes, we have crazy luxury busses. Plush seats, sleek design, even a few accordian busses for the commuters. This is all fine and dandy.
However, there is a fatal flaw with these fancy busses. They cost more. Apparently
a whole lot more then regular bueses. As such, St. Albert has far fewer busses then they need to maintain a regular bus system during the day.
Fancy busses equals
fewer busses.
Secondly, these busses require more money not only to purchase, but to maintain as well! As such it costs more to ride a St. Albert bus, then an Edmonton bus. My four month commutter pass costs me almost $
100 more then an Edmonton bus pass.
Ultimately, this all leads us to the conclusions that
fancy busses are about as convenient to the average bus rider as an
appendectomy.
I for one would be happy with crappy uncomfortable busses, if it meant I could catch a ride every twenty minutes.
Dreaming of a White Campus
In Japanese culture, white is the colour of death. I think I now understand why, as when I awoke this morning I was greeted with the joy of a snow covered world.
Now, I do have to point out that I have absolutely no problem with Canadian winters. They are simply a fact of life that I have grown up with, and I'm used to them. In fact, I get somewhat annoyed with fellow Canadians who complain bitterly throughout the winter. "If you don't like the weather," I tell them "then leave."
That said, may I say that snow in early September is
fucking ridiculous!
What the hell happened to fall? You know, that season that happens between summer and winter, when the trees all change colour and the leaves start to carpet the ground?
Where did it go!? What the shit have we done to our weather systems that this is the result?
Oh well, on to lighter topics.
So, with the second day of classes wrapped up, I've now met all of my teachers, gotten an idea what all my classes are about, and figured out fast routes between all my classrooms. So, here's my first impressions, in order of when I attended the class.
SOC 100: Sociology is interesting. I'm a fan of social studies, and this class looks like it'll be a great introduction into more advanced stuff. I'm quite looking forward to tomorrow and my first lecture.
RUSS 111: Russian is a freakin' hard language. Having to learn the Cyrillic alphabet is proving difficult, but the teacher is interesting and I do want to learn Russian. However, I do have this class every day for both terms, so I may get tired of it before the end.
PHIL 101: Ah the art of philosophy. A gentlemen's sport of questioning the questionable. Hopefully this will be an enlightening course. The professor seems interesting (and for that matter, interested) so I have good feelings here.
ENGL 111: English language arts are my personal forte. I took one look at this year's reading list and couldn't stop myself from grinning stupidly. Longer works such as
The Scarlet Letter,
Doctor Faustus, shorter works by authors like Hunter S. Thompson and Edgar Allen Poe. To say I'm excited would be downplaying my emotions.
CMPUT 101: Here's where the breaks really hit hard. Now I'm interested in learning how computer languages work and such, but there's one component here that's going to hurt.
Math. Ugh, I hate it. No matter, I'm determined to give this class a fair go and not get discouraged. Still, this will be my most challenging course.
So there we go. See y'all on the flip flop.
Off to the U of A
Well, tomorrow is my first day at the
University of Alberta.
I find that I'm not as nervous as I was even last week. That may be in part to the Orientation the University offered yesterday (yes, on Labour Day Monday), in which alot of my questions were put to rest.
So, now I find that I'm actually quite looking forward to tomorrow and the start of my career as a student of arts. I have a pretty full course load, so I may not be able to update as often, but I will certainly try.
On a side note, to anyone reading this who is also attending the U of A, I am an Arts student with a tentative English major. If you have any of these classes this term, keep an eye out for me:
ENGL 111 A
RUSS 111
CMPUT 101
PHIL 101
SOC 100
On that note, I'm off to put together some binders.
Mr. Constantine, please stand up.
John Constantine is one of my new favourite characters, and it breaks my heart to think that Keanu Reeves will be playing him in the upcoming movie
Constantine. It breaks my heart enough to make me consider missing the movie and waiting for the cheap theatre version (if I see it at all). Here's a good link talking about the movie in more depth, written by a fan of the comic:
Straight to Hell.
Ah well, the comic book
Hellblazer is as good as Dr. Teeth said it would be, and I know find myself recommending it to others. The plots are complex and deep, and the main character, John Constantine, is a fantastic persona with depth you don't often see in comic book heroes... or indeed characters at all now adays.
All in all, I think I'll be picking up the second volume of the
Hellblazer comics as soon as I have money again. A worthy read, for those who like horror.
Hero
Hero
Wirtten By: Feng Li and Bin Wang
Directed By: Yimou Zhang
Starring: Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Ziyi Zhang, Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung
Wow.
It took me almost ten minutes after seeing
Hero before I could say that. I was actually stunned speechless by the movie, and was unable to speak until I had reached the car. Even then, ten minutes later, the only word I could muster was "Wow."
Never before have I been so moved by a film. I honestly felt charged after the movie, experiencing a number of emotions in a mix I couldn't even express. Maybe it was the fantastic acting, or the masterfull choreography... perhaps the mix of vibrant colours or the amazing story. I can't say for sure what moved me, but I felt good after seeing this movie.
I don't want to ruin the movie for anyone who hasn't seen it (the movie came out 2 years ago in China), so I won't delve into the sotry too much. The basis of the plot is that a hero has been summoned by the king to explain how he was able to kill three of the best assassins in the nation. The movie, for the most part, is the hero and the king telling each other the story. It's deceptively simple, but brilliantly orchestrated.
I went into
Hero with very high expectations, and I was still unprepared for what I saw. I can't even say which part was my favourite, becuase I honestly enjoyed the whole movie equally. Quentin Tarantino can sure spot a good movie.
Hero is one of the best movies, if not
the best movie, I have every ever seen. I give it:
10 bombs out of 10.
The only bad part was when some asshole teenager's cellphone rang five minutes into the movie, and he decided to have a short conversation rather then turn his phone off... oh and then he was called back a moment later.
