DADDY NEEDS A JOB

Sorry for being absent from my blog for the last few days. I've been concentrating on getting a job for the summer. I've been looking since the beginning of May. Ideally, I'd like a job on campus. The commute would be non-existant and I wouldn't have to worry about the bus everyday.

It's been very difficult getting responses from anyone. Most of the time, people just don't even contact you. I've sent out nearly twenty applications. Out of those, only two had the courtesy to tell me they selected another candidate.

I actually had a phone interview today for a position I really want. It would involve a bit of teaching and that's something I've always enjoyed. I hope I get the job because I'd honestly have a lot of fun doing it.

Let's see, what else have I done lately. Well, I caught a preview screening of Reloaded. There are a million reviews out there, so I won't write my own long-winded one. I will, however, say that it wasn't as good as the first one. Does that make it a bad movie? As Morpheus said, "Far from it...". Every middle installment of a trilogy suffers from inherent flaws. It cannot be as fresh as the first movie, nor can it offer the satisfaction of a conclusion of the last movie. That being said, one of the greatest movies ever made was a middle installment. I'll let you guess what that movie was.

In general, Reloaded falters at times, but the action sequences are breathtaking in their execution. Some have written they serve no purpose plotwise, but irregardless, the visual impact of these scenes cannot be dismissed. I believe a second viewing will reveal that there is much more of a story to be discovered. One will be less dazzled by the action and can concentrate more on the story. I won't reveal anything, but near the end, new information comes fast and furious. I'm sure I missed some important points.

Does it make me want to see Revolutions? Definitely. There will be those who say Reloaded sucked, but they won't be missing Revolutions in November. In that sense, the Wachowski brothers have already guaranteed the success of their franchise.

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E3 REDUX

This week in LA, the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is being held at LA Convention Center. This is the video game industry's biggest showcase.

Like clockwork, every year a former co-worker of mine, Anthony Ahamed goes to E3 where he takes lots of photos. Tony is kind enough to let me host his photos on my site. You can see some of his work from 2001 and 2002.

Last week, one of the subjects in Tony's photos actually e-mailed me. She found my site when she was looking for E3 photos. Tony is standing with her and her best friend. I noticed that she had some C++ code on her shirt, but I couldn't make it out. Here's the photo below:



Anyways, Kimberly on the left sent me an e-mail and revealed what was on her shirt. The code is as follows:

// fun-loving programmer.cpp
Chick->Submit(myResume);
// hybit.h
class CCuteChick {
public: Submit( CProgrammerResume* resume );
};

She was working for a recruitment firm and code tells programmers to submit their resumes to her. I'm assuming that Chick is a pointer to a CCuteChick object.

Anyways, this is the first time a stranger has contacted me because their photo was on my site. A milestone for sure.

By the way, Tony will unfortunately not be at E3 2003 this year. He has decided that other places are worth visiting as well! Rest assured though, many other web sites will have E3 photos to no end!

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STUPID BLOGGER

The last three weeks or so of my posts haven't been archived properly. It's something out of my control. Blogger is free, so what can you do?

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DRESSINGS OFF

I removed the surgical dressings from my gums last night. It didn't hurt and my gums aren't the revolting mess that I thought it might be.

One of the stitches came off with the dressings. A few came out in the days previous. I think there's only one left now. My gums look... smaller... They don't go up the tooth as much. When I run my tongue over the teeth on that side, I feel more enamel now rather than gum. It feels weird.

I'm hesitant to start brushing on that side now. I have a follow-up appointment tomorrow, so I'll ask my periodontist what to do.

That is all.

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A GREAT WEEKEND

I had a great weekend, which is surprising since I haven't had one of those in quite a while.

On Friday I was reminded that food is something that can be universally enjoyed. I enjoy watching hockey, but some guy in Peru might not like it. A good meal, on the other hand, that's something everyone can enjoy.

I was given this reminder when I went over to Dan and Tracy's place for a dinner party. Tracy is quite the budding chef. She had planned a spring themed dinner. For starters, they made lemondrop martinis for the guests. The appetizer was five different types of mushrooms baked in a light puff pastry. It was perfectly garnished by some pesto. It was delightful!

The main offering was rack of lamb brushed with mustard. This was accompanied by mashed potatoes with fennel and fresh asparagus spears. Ringed around all of this was a smattering of blueberries and sauce. It was fantastic.

For dessert, Tracy made creme brulee with raspberries. She carmelized the sugar right in front of us with a butane torch. For me, the true assessment of how good a creme brulee is comes when you tap your spoon on the top. Does it go, "tap, tap, tap"? Or does it go, "splat, splat, splat"? I was happy to find it went tap, tap, tap. Like I was tapping my spoon on a frozen Canadian pond right before some shinny.

I must say it was an enjoyable evening of food and drink. Tracy's cooking skills increase with every meal. Thanks to Dan and Tracy for having me over.

On Saturday, I spent waaaaaaaaay too much money, but I had a blast doing it. Early in the afternoon, I met up with Rhonda downtown and we proceeded to keep the Canadian economy afloat. I bought shoes which I desperately needed. My old ones had holes in several different places. I also bought two shirts. I then remembered the new Special Edition Hunt for Red October DVD was out, so I bought that too. Then we went to Sportchek and got some tennis balls and a few softballs.

All told, that was a lot money exchanging hands. Of course, after a long day of spending money, one has to relax, so we spent just a little more $$$ on dinner and drinks. Sure, it cost a bit, but it was fun day!

On Sunday, it was Sports Day at SJC! I was in charge of organizing the tennis portion. We played doubles to foster a more social environment (plus, it was less hassle for me). I came in third out of four teams! Woo-hoo! There were also croquet, badminton, ping-pong, basketball, and volleyball events, but I ony watched a few of those. What I did do was play catch for just about the entire day. I must have thrown over 100 balls. My arm was sore! I love playing catch.

After the events had finished, there was an outdoor BBQ to signal the end of day. There were hot dogs, hamburgers and corn on the cob!

I didn't get any work done on the weekend, but I sure had a whole lot of fun.

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