Brock Skywalker

CNSL · 9 August 06

Last night I made my final payment on my Canadian National Student Loan! WOOHOO!

It was supposed to take another 5 years to pay off but at 8.5% interest I say – Hell no! I was paying $0.86 interest per day! Yes, a portion of the interest is tax deductable but still I feel good having paid the sucker off. Using my RSP as my tax cushion seems a lot more proactive and productive than throwing money into the Can-Learn folk’s pocket. I appreaciated them well when I needed them, but I am not at all sad to usher them out of my life!

So long student debt… now on to bigger and better debts!

18 August 06 – Update: I just found out yesterday that somehow my payment didn’t go through until the next day so with the daily interest being added I still owed $0.83 after my payment. After a week more of interest I owed $0.86 as of Aug 16. I made a payment of $0.90 last night. That should take care of it, even if the payment didn’t go through until today. Yeesh!

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Spitting guy · 12 June 06

On the way back to work this afternoon I walked behind a guy for a measly 5 blocks who spat big loogies on the sidewalk 4 times! 4 times in 5 blocks! Now, not only is that pretty gross and un-necessary but I don’t know about you but my life is a constant struggle to stay hydrated without needlessly expectorating every block and a quarter. How does this guy keep from drying up and blowing away? Seriously.

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Playoff aggravations · 8 June 06

Along with the obvious aggravation of having lost the second game of the series last night… Why does the Carolina announcer, at the RBC Center in Raleigh, sound like an animatronic moose? Everytime he announces a goal or a penalty I expect him to say “Isn’t that right, Rocky?”. Sheesh!

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Idiots pretending to enjoy hockey · 29 May 06

If you look closely you might notice that I like hockey. For instance, my personal website and business are called FrozenPuck! If you read my blog you might also notice that I have been watching the games all year, cheering on my home team – The Edmonton Oilers. But you know what… when they won the western conference finals on Saturday night I oddly did not feel the urge to go smash, break, burn or assault anyone (especially not any of the brave folks who provide emergency services for our city). Not even slightly. No, I was actually happy, proud, one might even say I was contented that my hockey world is as it should be… that apparently does not stand for all Edmontonians.

From today’s Edmonton Journal:

Most in the crowd estimated at up to 50,000 spent the night cheering, drinking and slapping high-fives. But as morning edged closer, shop windows were smashed and phone booths pushed over, their windows kicked in. Bonfires erupted in the centre of the avenue. From the rooftops, fire crews rained water down on the flames and the crowd. Some in the crowd danced in mist and smoke. Others lobbed beer bottles at the firefighters.

This behaviour has absolutely nothing to do with the Oilers or to do with hockey in general. This is just pure stupidity and hooliganism. There is no excuse for this; certainly not the great game of hockey.

From today’s Edmonton Sun:

“You want to enjoy (the Oilers’ success thus far), but you certainly have to do it responsibly,” Oilers coach MacTavish said yesterday. “Don’t get carried away to the point it’s dangerous … we want to make it a run we’ll remember (for positive reasons).”

See, even Mac T is disappointed. C’mon Edmonton. We all made fun of the “Red Mile” in 2004, now we are proving that not only are we not better than that but we are actually even bigger jackasses than that. Sigh… C’mon, get it together and celebrate in… um, say… a celebratory fashion.

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It has become hate · 28 April 06

I hate Chris Chelios. I really really do. And it has nothing to do with the Wings beating the Oilers last night. Nothing at all. This is pure hatred from a calmly objective sports fan.

Chelios is a fine example of how not to age gracefully in the world of sports. After 23 years in the NHL, it would seem to me that he has actually gotten dirtier and whinier more than he has gotten older and slower… and that is just not right.

Set a positive example for the kids for once and retire, Chris! Please retire.

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Please explain · 21 March 06

On the front page of the Edmonton Journal today I read that Premier Ralph Klein says Albertans may receive another round of prosperity cheques next year (back in January everyone in the province received a $400 cheque from the Alberta government at a cost of $1.4 billion to the provincial treasury).

Klein says he might continue giving away money if oil prices remain high.

But he also says we can’t afford to sustain public health care in Alberta.

How do you explain this, Premier Klein?

Oh well, at least we are not this far gone.

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Our Premier throws books · 2 March 06

The incident occurred during question period yesterday when a member of the opposition asked a page to deliver a copy of the Liberal’s 78-page handbook on health care to the premier.

Alberta Premier, Ralph Klein, tossed the book back at the 17-year-old female page uttering “I don’t need this crap”.

At the time Klein was being flippant responding to criticism over his rich people first ‘Third Way’ health care reforms.

• Read more about the incident
• Find out how to help preserve health care

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Rock stars and peace? · 24 February 06

Rock stars Bono and Bob Geldof are among the nominees for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

Previous Nobel Peace Prize winners include:

• U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt for organizing a 1905 peace treaty between Russia and Japan
• Martin Luther King in 1964 for his civil rights campaign
• Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu (Mother Teresa) in 1979 for her Leadership of Missionaries of Charity
• former USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990 for helping to end the Cold War
• The International Committee of the Red Cross won the award three times (1917, 1945 & 1963)

And again I repeat – Rock stars Bono and Bob Geldof are nominees for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for campaigning to cancel third world debt (while bathing in champagne, getting driven in fancy cars from summer mansion to autumn villa, and having their floors waxed with super models). Sigh… I think it is pretty easy to talk big when your monthly radio royalty cheques add up to more than the third world debt.

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Some one must pay! · 17 February 06

I am totally pissed of with the Olympics, or CBC, or… someone. I wanted to watch the men’s hockey last night. I tuned in to CBC at 7:00 pm. Watched a bunch of creeps (and a little Don Wittman) chit chatting and very little sports (I think they were skating in circles or something). Then 8:00 ish – Finally, men’s hockey… for like 20 minutes and then back to the talk again for ages (with updates of free – skate – jump – boarding – whathaveyou). Cut back to the game for maybe 10 minutes and then back to talk and updates. Then back to the game (mid 3rd period already!) and by the time I got back from the bathroom the game was over and freakin’ figure skating was on. What kind of crap is that!? I know it is a rebroadcast of the game but on a Thursday who the hell can watch the live coverage? No one with a job! So, we have to watch a truncated version of the hockey game and then get hit in the face with little lord fancy pantses whipping around the rink and falling on their glittery behinds. BAH! BAH, I say! Bah.

I think I am done with the Olympics now… except maybe for the Women’s Hockey Finals. Let’s just hope they actually show some of the game this time. I want to actually see the 15 goals they score!

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Who is this Valentine anyway? · 14 February 06

One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured.

In another legend, Valentine actually sent the first ‘valentine’ greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl (who may have been his jailor’s daughter) who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed ‘From your Valentine,’ an expression that is still in use today.

It’s too bad that yet another historical occurance has been reduced to a day to spend money we don’t have on things we don’t need. Where did we go wrong as a society that our feelings for our sweety are measured in dollar signs? Valentine must be rolling in his saintly grave. If you feel the urge to do something valentiney today, do something novel and write a heart felt letter/note to your sweety yourself instead of giving your money to Hallmark. If your true love doesn’t appreciate that more than an expensive box of candy then your devotion is probably misplaced… or you really suck at poetry.

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