Peter says...

i say you
1. reject your offer in toronto
2. stay in vancouver
3. start your own design firm
4. make lots of dough
5. buy one of them penthouses at the shangri-la =D

on a more serious note, the last one definitely looks very promising. to me, the way a condo looks on the inside matters infinitely more than the exterior structure or even the location. scrolling through the pictures in that listing, i really like the huge windows (and the blue paint, whether it's standard or not, gives you an idea of how you could personalize the place). it also seems very high up, and despite cindy's comment, the higher the better IMO (for the view and the urban feel).

Gordon says...

hmm.... a volcanic eruption in the middle of downtown Toronto. That's something new. hehe

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

oye....@.@

i'd say go for the one on the third floor
the sole reason being that if an earthquake or a volcanic eruption or some other natural disaster strikes, u might actually make it out of the building alive.

Joanne says...

For those of you who are bored, real-estate savvy, or just plain nosey, which one of these condos in Toronto would you most likely want to buy? All are at the same corner, so location isn't a variable...

http://www.torontomls.net/PublicWeb/CL_CF.asp?link_no=7876694.078300&t=l&fm=M

Unknown says...

Hi! Muoahahaha haven't been in here for a while. Just read like 3 months worth of blogs blech =P. Anyway, just to throw my two cents into this discussion, I wanted to say that another way to ensure that rural areas of Canada don't get left out (i.e. places like northern Manitoba), is to impose a sort of minimum practice time that fresh MD grads must spend before he can practice anywhere in the nation. So the government could impose that all MD grads spend 1 year in a rural area as defined by the government. And then he's off to where ever. Of course, this would
1. Enrage a LOT of MD students
2. May not ensure the greatest quality of care in these rural areas
3. Perhaps discourage some people who were thinking of going for MD
4. Perhaps slow down the brain drain?
Meh, our health system is so fucked up I would give this a try. (I know this is kinda off topic but hahah whateva).

----------------------------------------------------
"Why don't you... possess... your own dead body?" -Caboose
"Oh, so... I'd be... living inside of my deadbody.... unable to move... and rotting in the sun for all eternity... " -Ghost of Church

Joanne says...

Procrastinating until my meeting with my PI...

If you ask me, reserving spots in professional schools for natives is necessary not because for affirmative action or reverse discrimination or positive reinforcement or whatever the hell these euphenisms are trying to get across, but to ensure that health care gets delivered to these groups on the reserves. Come on, there will be a few MDs in this group. Which one of you will honestly consider working on a reserve for even your rural clerkship? AAANNNNNNNNNYYYYYYYYYOOOOOONNNNNNEEEEE? My point exactly. And no matter how good-hearted these other future MDs paint themselves to be, they're exactly like you. They don't want to be stuck providing health care to some First Nations tribe with no running water and electricity. Sure, Doctors Without Borders travel to developing nations to provide medical care to impoverished communities as well, but saying that you worked with some tribe in Northern Manitoba just doesn't resonate as well as "I spent the summer rescuing orphans of the Ewok tribe from the warlords of a landlocked African nation."

I have been told that I look 75 by an 8-year-old. I think I win 8D.

Gordon says...

Hmm... when I first posted that question, i actually never had the First Nations in mind nor the special status that they get in application pools. I was actually having the whole idea of feminism in mind and how some women want the best of both worlds of having the benefits of a man, yet retaining the old advantages of being a woman. I just don't know how the latter can be achieved when equality is what we want to achieve. But that seems like a completely differnet topic then what has been brought on this blog. Just a thought. Anyhow, First Nations in BC (and possibly other provinces/territories) don't seem to have it as bad as it's painted to be (of course, it can possibly be better, and I beleive it will). In fact, Joanne and I visited this awesome elementary school that was just built for them...and dudes..this place was amazing. Heck, it was better than my high school! let alone my elementary school. The inside was a modernized Burnaby South and their school population is like...30 with 3 teachers. And with a ratio of 10:1, that's a pretty good deal.

Nevetheless, I agree with Peter that, the reason why we need to give 'special' scholarships/positions/etc. is to try and get groups of under-represented individuals (= non-white males) participating at all levels of society. i'm not knowledgeable enough on this subject to really argue it with anything more than opinion - however, if reserving spots/scholarships, etc. for under-represented groups is the only way to get them 'through the door', i have no problem with it. why? because we have to start somewhere... , to get the ball rolling, to give people roll models and evidence that not only white-males can do X, and eventually competetion will be on completely equal grounds.

HOWEVER, since we are on the topic of equality, applicant pools, and having them set aside for under-represented groups, such as the first nations, why not put EVERYONE who has had a difficult time to be in the same pool of "special consideration" (with the First Nations included in this category instead of giving them the different category?) Infact, maybe scholarships based on grades and family income would be best since it doesn't discriminate against colour, creed, religion, etc. And it would really serve the people that desperately need it.

Also, sorry for bringing up the notion of affirmitive action (or was it me?) I don't believe that there is affirmitive action at all in Canada but is just a "PR" term coined by the rich old men down south and meant to keep them their job (and thus in power, maintaining, less superficially, the rich, white man agenda). I think all we have in Canada is "compensation."

Anyhow, thanks guys. This has been great! Gives me a lot to think about as I drift off to sleep.

Peter says...

Steve: I agree with you when you differentiate affirmitive action from compensation. I was, however trying to use the phrase "form of compensation" in the broader sense of the term (i.e. "to even out") in an attempt to simplify the concept. Thanks for clearing that up though.

First Nations kids, provided they stay in school, will learn of the atrocities committed in the past just as African American kids learn about slavery in elemetary school. In this context, I really don't see how policies of affirmitive action could cause any more room for animosity against non-natives (directly or indirectly). But let's say it does. How is financial compensation any different? How would kids see a difference between university policy and a lump sum of cash?

I also don't believe that affirmitive action separates the people its intended to help. In fact, with the typical First Nations childhood experience as fucked up as it is, affirmitive action makes just as much sense to me as "special consideration" given to applicants who have had exceptionally difficult times in their lives that have caused them to underachieve. If a few people want to be ignorant and blow it out of proportion, that's their problem. It's an unfortunate fact that should not influence a university's policy. Yes, there may be alot of negativity expressed towards First Nations people in light of this "special consideration" or "elite status" but I think, given their current situation across Canada, that kind of thing is the least of their worries.

vivienne says...

Cindy: Yeah, don't worry about those kids. They really don't have a concept of what's "correct" to say or what not to say, they just say it. I mean, they ARE kids, right? I'm sure that your skinny pants will look fat to them just because they're probably young enough to fit BOTH their legs into your pantlegs at their age. And if it makes you feel any better, because my dad came back for my graduation for the past two weeks (Meh..he flew back today...I already kinda miss him), and been eating out because of it...today I went to Pacific Center to try on clothes....and found out that I'M GETTING FAT....WAAHH at the waistline! I SWEAR I can see a line of fat gathering at my waist! But in my case, I WANT to be able to wear my bro's pants...he's skinnier than I am. ;(

Karen: Agreed. They think 40 is an old age, and to them we're old. 'Nuff said.

So sad....my term helping out with the church kids is over. Like Karen said, kids are awfully cute when they're not being bratty. I got gifts from the teachers I worked with and the kids too. Heheh...they were so happy to hear that I'll be moving up with them to Grade 4. It's nice to be appreciated.

Stephen says...

Peter: You may forget that I come from Winnipeg when making your argument. Winnipeg has the highest First Nations population in Canada (10% - 80,000 people), 99% of whom are below the poverty line. Manitoba also has the highest First Nations population, and more than half of their reserves are without electricity. I think that we are confusing "affirmative action" for "compensation". They are different things. "Affirmative action" has a notion of giving elite status to a minority group, basically it's a PR-friendly name given by the US media; "compensation" is merely admitting when something was wrong or unfair, and taking means to right those wrongs by attempting to give something to the wronged party.

They may seem like the same thing, affirmative action started out as straight compensation. It then became an excuse for people to segregate themselves from one another. People will blow it out of context because they don't understand it, and it never gets explained to them fully. Reserving spots in professional schools for First Nations students is affirmative action in the compensation sense, but when Tommy the First Nations kid only understands affirmative action as his people getting retribution for how they were wronged in the past and beats up Billy the White-boy, when he gets in trouble for it he won't understand why and he'll be angry about it.

Karen says...

re: reverse discrimination

so how do monetary compensations that first nations people and WWII japanese-americans get come into play? i mean, it seems fair to me that they get what they do. or am i totally missing the point?

- edit - never mind...i posted this before peter's but somehow this ended up after.

re: little kids (cindy)

*lol* take heart in the fact that i've been told i look like i'm 40. hahaha. tip: when little kids ask how old you are... do NOT tell them to take a guess. but when they're not being annoying and bratty, most days, you really just wanna take them home and keep them. =P this coming from someone who spent last sunday trying to stop a 3rd grader from repeating to everybody what ADIDAS "REALLY" stands for and the sunday before that lecturing 8 year old boys on not to discuss 'humping' in class. hahahaha.

Peter says...

Steve and Gordon: I must respectfully disagree (here comes my real arguement). First of all, I think the term "reverse discrimination" carries with it a very negative connotation that really misrepresents what affirmitive action really does. In my humble opinion, affirmitive action is essentially a form of compensation for certain minority groups who have received or perhaps continue to receive unfair treatment by society. This by no means indicates that all minority groups should receive special treatment. There are two prominent examples of affirmitive action in North America: one for Canada's First Nations people and one for African Americans. You only need to take a stroll down East Hastings to see where many of the First Nations people in the Vancouver area are up to these days. Or perhaps even a drive down to the Musqueam reserve on Dunbar street. Or maybe you would like read the UN report on civil rights around the world, which singles out Canada and it's treatment of First Nations people (both past and present) as terribly poor. I hope nobody honestly thinks that just because we stick those totem poles all over Vancouver and have that Inuit symbol for our Olympic games, that these people are the elite in our society? So what do you do for these people that have been forced off their land and marginalized by society to this day? With youth suicide rates five to six times higher than the non-native population, what does that say about how much of a future these kids think they have? What does that say about the kind of surroundings these people are growing up in? (Note that suicide was by no means common in First Nations tribes until recently). Affirmitive action, by giving these people an enhanced oppurtunity to become doctors, lawyers, or other trained high-income professionals, we can create role-models for the future. I think it's the least we can do.

Now I must note that I used to completely despise affirmitive action for purely selfish reasons. I hated the fact that they had to reserve spots in med school, law school, grad school, what have you, for First Nations people. I didn't get it. And yes it made my angry. But it has also made me wonder what this is all about. As I continue to learn, my view on this has since changed drastically.

Gordon says...

Exactly, that's exactly what I think about reverse discrimination or affirmative action for that matter. It seems like all it acheives is discrimination against the past majority, which is just back-tracking or going against our present goal of equality. Of course equality will probably never be achieved, but favoring a specific group just hinders this process further. For example, In the states, a group of rich white boys sponsored a scholarship at a prestigous university to be given to a white male. There was outrage when this occured and these students were likened to the KKK. My question is, why is it that a scholarship for a black woman or a chinese woman is not viewed with equal distaste? I often hear students preach that they want equality. Students who are equal don't have special scholarships set aside for them. How can universities claim they are anti-racism yet preach affirmative action.

I once saw a line that said "We are an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer". Isn't that contradictory?

How do we right the wrongs of the past? I don't think it is through the use of affirmative action or "reverse discrimination". There is no way to compensate for the past... (look at what happened with Isreal). If we strive for fairness now...we can reach equality later!

PS...no..this is NOT a med question =P (hmm..but i guess it could be..)...yeah..just bored hehe

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

a little story about myself and some little kids.

yesterday i was playing cards with my fellow first-aiders in the ambulance when several little kids invited themselves and hopped onto the difficult stairs of the ambulance. there were approximately 7 of them and i dont know why, all the rest of the other attendants just got out of the ambulance leaving me to deal with them. they were a cute bunch tho, asking all sorts of questions about myself and the ambulance such as "what is that?" "how do u use that" "can i drive" "can i honk" "how old are you?"

then comes the question no woman should ever be asked: "why do you wear such fat pants?"

*sob*...my pants are NOT fat!!!

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

joanne: i'd like to propose the question, do I REALLY want to know the virginity status of anybody in the group? NO...it would scar me for life...

gordon: cant say i know what it is. but thanks (and thanks steve) for the little tutorial. but i have to agree with steve...i dont think compensating minorities today by revenging on yesterday's majority really matures or achieves much. then again how DO you, or do you ever compensate?

Joanne says...

Justin Trudeau got married.

...sigh...

Side note:
Since I didn't know that Peter wasn't a virgin (actually, do I REALLY know the viginity status ANYBODY in this group? Hmm...) and since it's highly probable that I'm a lesbian, can I still call him a girl?

Stephen says...

I don't know about affirmative action. I suppose that it sounds like I'm just worried because I'm white, but that's not the case (I speak enough Spanish to get by as a Latino, and Star looks Colombian - and is). I think it's great to be proud of who you are, ethnically, sexually, or whatever else I'm forgetting, but I don't think that any sort of discrimination is justified. Personally, I wouldn't really be scarred if I was refused service by a Chinese retailer because I'm white, I would think he was an asshole, but if the clerk at the next store I went to was Chinese and a nice guy, I wouldn't let my original experience sour me on the new clerk. There are many people, however, who would take that experience and hold it against Chinese people (or whatever race, it's just an example) on the whole. I think that reverse discrimination would make those people prone to hatred have even more reason to do so.

I love other cultures and other people, and I'm really glad when people are proud of who they are. I don't feel, though, that it is right to discriminate against others because it embitters them and makes them isolate themselves even more. If your going to make other cultures jealous, do it in a positive way. Have big fucking festivals to show you heritage and make people become awed and interested in it. Don't make them jealous by refusing them rights or services based on not being whatever race/gender/sexual orientation, because that will both make them hate you al the more and it is the exact same thing we did to you back then, making you no better than us. You don't learn from mistakes by repeating them.

Gordon says...

Hey Jason, yeah, reverse discrimination is pretty much like affirmitive action...where we try to compensate minorities today for what was taken away from them in the past. (or their earlier generations).

Sorry..I can't come to the party that day cause I have a bday party on the same night... Have fun though!

Peter says...

reverse discrimination is the bomb. asian girls are the prettiest... ever. asian guys... well we may not be the hottest, but our parents buy us nicer cars. asian pride!!! white people are cockroaches!!! (steve is cool, tho)

Jason: it's basically like affirmitive action. when a minority (racial or otherwise) is given higher preference over a dominant group in a given society (instead of the other way around, which would be discrimination)

Gordon says...

What do you guys think about "reverse" discrimination?

Joyce says...

who posts at 3am?

ME!!!!!

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

you know that your waistline is in trouble when...

you can wear your younger brothers' pants
AHHHHH!!!

Joyce says...

OMG OMG!! I'm in heaven!!!

Ever since the Hemlock trip, I'm finally breathing from two nostrils again. TWO, COMPLETELY UNCONGESTED NASAL PASAGES!!!! Hope this will last more than 10 min.
wow, the this is amazing, and air is free!!!

The new extra-strength Claritin with anticongestant is awesome. AWESOME!!!!

Joanne says...

Blogging from Kathleen's house since I have been denied of ADSL for the next week *sob.* (Yes, that's why Joanne was so late to enter the whole fashion debate.)

Let's go through pink guy by guy:
Chris - Can you imagine him discussing World of Warcraft in a shade of rose or salmon? I didn't think so.
Gordon - Definitely no unless he wants to look like a retiree who's spent too much time suntanning on the beaches of Florida
Jason - Too pale, his frame is too slight, and hair is too soft (sigh) to pull off the colour without someone comparing him to a girl.
Leo - If he layers the pink (think pink Tshirt under a light checkered button down shirt - totally Abercrombie it up), I think the colour could totally do it for him.
Li Kai - Haha, even though he'll never go for it, I think a pink dress shirt could work on him. It would be good for softening his look...
Peter - Now, the trick to pulling off a pink dress without looking like a bridesmaid is to make sure it's patterned rather than a solid colour...
Stephen - Don't ask me why, but I can totally imagine you in a pink polo shirt and a sweater vest golfing.
Tim - Like with Leo, I think you can totally pull off pink if you start layering...but in a Mexx kinda way rather than Abercrombie.

As for the other topics vehemently discussed on this blog as of late:
- I didn't buy a frame either. The diploma will sit in a drawer.
- I actually liked Star Wars, but I refuse to turn to the Dark Side. Go Obi Wan!
- Haha to people who still have to register.

Peter says...

tim: how the hell do you wear a half-shirt? oh... i get it... you mean a pink tube top? yeah i think that suits you too - cept you're kinda flat. meh, nothing a few packs of saline solution can't fix.

Tim says...

1.)I think Peter is too full of himself....
Hez not good looking at all but for some reason he *thinks* hez sooo good looking that even guys are to be attracted to him -_-'

2.)I agree with Steve, I could only pull off half a pink shirt ;-)

3.)I don't know about the Chancellor looking like Jabba the Hutt, but I think the Chancellor is a dark sith lord....and Leo is his apprentice, Darth Ridiculous...watch out!

Peter says...

btw, steve, for a decent quote repository, check out www.wikiquote.com

cindy: i just read the rest of the posts. thanks for the kind words and good luck to you too on... uh... enjoying summer?

Peter says...

steve, thanks for taking a stand for me, buddy. i get picked on now and then, but let's face it: the only reason why GUYS make cracks about me is because it's the only way they can express their admiration without giving off potentially awkward homosexual vibes. and the only reason why the girls make cracks about me is because they don't know how to express their undying love in any other way.

as for the virgin thing. yeah... sex is fun. you should all do it (if you haven't already)... ASAP and ad nauseam (if there is such a thing with sex) while you're young and attractive. right steve? just show some self-respect and common decency in how you give it away.

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

i just ate 4 cups of ice cream :) :) :) :)

vivienne says...

It's....so....friggin'.....hot...........

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

we're not taking anything out on peter! are we, peter?

Stephen says...

There's nothing wrong with being a virgin (well, unless you've been making an attempt not to be a virgin), I'm just saying that before you all take it out of Peter, you should actually have some experience.

LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRROOOOOOOYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

pink shirt: i think skinny tall guys can pull of the pink shirt with a scholarly, intelligent kind of look just like a buff, black guy can pull of the pink shirt in a sexy way

frames: bah, i didn't get one. am i supposed to?

comments on the ceremony: it was okay, i enjoyed checking all the grads out. i cant believe how uncomfortable sporting a grad gown and mortarboard is. p.s. my mom thinks joanne is pretty!!!

karen's card: totally loved it, too. thanks for the thought that went behind it!

peter and the girl joke: well, honestly, i think peter's HOT. i'd totally drool all over him if not for the fact he's outta my league. besides that tho, he is so easy to bully...it's too hard to resist the temptation...p.s. good luck on your LSAT

Gordon says...

kk...a few things in random order =)

1) Sorry for getting Jabba the hut wrong =P But i am NOT even close to being a fan of Star Wars.

2) k...the chancellor looks like the father of Jabba the Hut..but Barton looks more like him.

3) I dun think the race matters (or even if they are "not so skinny"/skinny) on who looks good in pink ... it really depends on the person...i.e. facial features and despite popular demand...ALL ASIANS DONT LOOK ALIKE

4) I got that frame too viv!! seems like everyone is getting that

5) I had a registration date...but now they just deleted it =(

6) LOOK AT THE WEATHER!!!! IT FINALLY FEELS LIKE A VANCOUVER SUMMER!!!

7) i actually haven't tanned much lately ....after one incident of getting burned ...but today looks like my chance!

8) As for the whole virgin thing... not everyone kiss and tells right? So...we might have more virgins in P&C than actually known...oooohhh..the mystery.

9) Thanks steve&star for the parking... =) btw..do you guys have a wedding registry anywhere?

eh..might as well make it 10

10) How come leo isn't on this blog? He wasn't on the list that was shown earlier (the one where Karen was at the top =P). And I never knew Howard was on this blog! haha...wow...interesting...where is that list?

(yes..i have way too much time on my hands...)

Karen says...

coop slash 5th year students

did you guys get your registration dates yet? cuz i know every other year has theirs. we don't need to do anything to reactivate our status right? cuz i know our ubc card expires this summer...don't know if that affects anything?

vivienne says...

Steve: Wow...thanks for caring about changing the quote of the week so quickly. This blog rocks with you admins!

Karen: Thanks for your card! The different scenes on it are so awesome! And then I realized how awful I look in short hair...~O.o~ waaaahhh..........

Re: Graduation...man, it actually was a lot more boring than I thought it'd be. Except for that EIGHT SECONDS OF FAME, it was actually pretty lame sitting down below the stage, except for the random funny and/or long name being called out. It wouldn't be so bad except that even some of the "important" people on stage were flipping through their booklets in a random, listless manner. Hmmm....makes you wonder, eh? Zaneta was laughing at them the whole time. I agree that the Chancellor look more like Jabba the Hut. I mean...you don't see Jabba the Hut winning a teaching award, do you? *imagines scene....* Heheeheheheh...funny.

Hahah..I got that really expensive certificate frame they were selling at UBC yesterday. My dad went all out. O.o;

Re: Pink shirts. I think it's okay on guys. I mean, the guy I sat next to in biochem wore one all the time! (What's his name again, Chris? I forget.) Anyhow, it would probably look better on a skinny guy than on a ..--uh---not so skinny guy. So....in summary, Steve and Pete would look the hottest in a pink shirt. ^___^ How's that for sucking up, eh?

Anyway, what's wrong with being a virgin? :p Just because we've never got laid...anyway, it's a biased girl. Girls AREN'T virgins are "used" and guys who DO the using are just "players." (Sorry for the mixed lingo....I just woke up.) So, it's totally sexist. :p Meh.

Karen says...

i vote steve. i think white guys pull off pink shirts very well. remember ross on friends?? he looked pretty good in his 'salmon' shirt. if you have darker skin, wouldn't wearing a pink shirt just make you look even darker??

Stephen says...

Gordon: you tend to look Philipino during the summer because of your love of tanning. Thus you would probably look best in pink. Also, it's JABBA the Hut, not Java the Hut. He has nothing to do with coffee or polynesian islands.

Not to be arrogant (who am I kidding?), but I think I agree with Cindy in that I could pull off a pink shirt. Peter could do it too. What's with all the girl jokes about Peter? He had sex before all the rest of you guys (and girls) anyways, you should be looking up to him.

Virgins.

Gordon says...

Guys on P&C would not look great (but possibly decent) in pink. But... since the criteria was also "least horrible" I'd have to say tim as well (even though Leo is darker, tim seems to be able to ...look better in pink?) haha...I tried picturing both in pink, and can only see Leo in orange...haha.

On the other hand....I do know a pale, skinny dude in PCTH who wears pink shirts (remember David, Cin?) And I think he looks half decent.

And gosh..the chancellor sucks...when does he get replaced? He looked bored throughout the entire ceremony (well, i dun blame him..but atleast pretend to be interested). as for Java the Hut, I think that Dr. Barton looked more like Java the Hut. hehe..no offense you BIOC people.

And joanne, i think i really do bring rain on trips....LOOK AT THE FRIGGEN WEATHER THIS WEEK!!! can you imagine if we went on the hike this week?

Joyce says...

i think rosey pink goes well with darker skin or pale skin, definitely NOT with yellow undertoned ones. there's definitely a shade of pink to go with your skintone. (note: one should avoid hot pink to avoid looking like an Elle Woods explosion.) Now it comes down to personalities that go with pink, guy's personality specifically. generally, i'd say it requires a masculine looking guy with soft eyes, compassionate, caring, determined and somehow conserved, e.g. Colin Firth. hmmm, so this leads us to the conclusion that guys of P&C should avoid pink.

btw, is it me or Dr. Mackie looked REALLY good with that gown?
OH, and when Martha Piper was giving her speech, the bored-looking Chancellor, leaning on his chair, totally looked like Jaba the Hut. Steve, too bad you are not going to the ceremony. I think this scene worths that $40.

Peter says...

nah i don't think it'd ever work for me. skinny dude in pink shirt = fugly. but i appreciate the support nonetheless... oh yeah, and by pink, i mean PINK. not fuschia, not light red, but PINK!

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

i think steve looks good in darker shade of pink dress shirt...cuz steve is manly enough to pulll it off (do i get brownie points?)

as for a lighter pink dress shirt...my vote goes to peter. if im wrong then he just looks more like a girl...if im right, he'll just look like another metrosexual guy!

Stephen says...

That's hard to say. It depends on the shade of pink and the style of the shirt. Somebody might look really good in a pale pink dress shirt, but awful in a rosy pink polo shirt. It's a very difficult colour to pull of as a white guy, so I'm counting myself out. I have lots of brightly coloured shirts, but I haven't found a pink one that looks good yet.

Black guys look good in pink, so my vote goes for Tim. But he's only allowed to wear half of a pink shirt.

Peter says...

Poll:
Men's wear stores are being flooded with bright greens, baby blues and yes, pinks. So my question is, out of the people on this blog, which guy would look the best (or least horrible) in a pink shirt? Oh, I'm sorry... did I say "pink"? I meant "salmon-coloured"

I haven't made up my own mind yet, so I'll vote later.

Joyce says...

hmm... man, i just reported you missing.

hey, green is the summer colour. should be glad that it's not pink. (ugh, pink)

Pat says...

green?!?! .. wtf.. i say.. w.. t..f...

Stephen says...

This kind of fits in with our Star Wars conversation. I find it very relevant to all sci-fi movies.

Gordon says...

weeeeeeeeeeeeee......Graduation!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stephen says...

Joyce: I fixed up the sidebar a little so that the archives weren't indented (there was a ul tag missing and a /li tag there instead). Thanks for working so hard on revamping the blog. It looks great!

Vivienne: I hereby absolve myself of re-posting a quote that you've already had (I'm admin, I can do that!). I joined the blog later than anyone else so I can't be held responsible for re-quoting. I'll probably change it later today anyways because now I'm pissed off about it (well, not really, I'm just going to be home all day).

I hate calling cards! I've been trying to call my friend in Japan all weekend and none of the cards with good asian rates will connect to his number. Instead I'm using my Canada card which gives me 150 minutes instead of 500. Fucking cheap-ass calling cards...

Joyce says...

after playing with the template here and ther (and taught myself some CSS), guys, this is the most comfortable look i can get. (and yes, i'm anal about the format, indent and such, thnx to type A personality) Still, the side bar can be narrower and give more space for the post, so that lazy people like us won't have to scroll as much. However, it'll require major graphics modification .... o.k. the rant stops here. (haha, i kinda enjoyed spending tons of time on some minute detail.)

To the Admin's:
feel free to use [p] instead of a bunch of [br] now
the reason why we used empty line following a [br] tag is because the [p] tag renders the text ugly in the previes template. I have messed around the [p] tags specific to the sidebar area that 1) the text are indented (the fact that content following a title are not indented bug the hell out of me) 2) a nice lower border (in dotted style) is added. I've adjusted the padding and such so that paragraphed sections won't look awkward together.
feel free to use [p] instead of a bunch of [br] now

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

steve: that really sucks, the moving and also didnt u have fabulous rates at the family housing unit? i dont know if u can find comparable rates around ubc at all...

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

excellent work, joyce! sorry been too busy today, didnt get to visit the blog until now

man all these star wars talk makes me feel like i am not geeky enough. i dont get star wars...then again the episode iv i watched was several years ago before i knew much english

we graduate tomorrow! well, by we, i mean some of us. i dont know what to wear!

vivienne says...

Joyce: Nice layout. It's very cute. I like the green colour.

Re: quote of the week. Didn't we have that one before? It's very familiar....and Somerset Maugham book, Of Human Bondage, that I read when I was in elementary school was very disturbing. I remember that the book is about a semi-disabled man who gets it on with a beautiful chick towards the end.

Lightsabers, huh? I actually have on from last year or so when Duracell or Energizer had their Star Wars promotion. I think you get it for free if you buy enough batteries or something. *shrug* However, the one I got was blue, and it lights up and makes all sorts of cool noises when you hit something with it.

Usually "the something" my brother chooses to hit is me.

Joyce says...

AHHHH. the sidebar looks ugly.... need modification... css styling is crazy, CRAZY

Stephen says...

Bad news everyone, well annoying at least. Star and I have to move this summer. We're staying in B.C. of course, because Star has to finish her program, but we can't stay in our apartment too much longer. In family housing, you can only stay for four years before they kick you out, and our four years are up. So we have a six month extension as of July because we pleaded with the housing and conferences lady, then she's going to try and move us into Faculty Housing for the rest of the year after the extension expires. So in the middle of the year, we have to pack up all of our stuff and move out for six months until Star finishes her program.

I really liked this apartment, too. Fuck.

Karen says...

hahahahahahahaha. i love the variations on the star wars theme of today's posts.

a postdoc in my lab is actually considering buying the $150 darth vader light saber after i told him about it. and if i had a dollar for every star wars joke i've heard today... who would've thunk it? scientists and star wars...stereotypes are so under-rated!!

aside: love the quote of the week. one of my all time favorites. =)

Stephen says...

You guys are such nerds. Everybody knows that Luke's FXII lightsaber was green, not blue. He made the green one after rifling through Obi-Wan's things while the whole Shadows of the Empire thing was going on between the time that Empire and Jedi take place. The FX saber was handed down to him by Obi-Wan in the first movie and he lost it when his hand was cut off in Empire, that was the blue one.

What a bunch of dorks.

Tim says...

Karen, take a look at these links!

http://www.ultimatetoys.com.my/New/Star%20Wars/new_starwars.htm
List of a bunch of Star Wars toys including the lightsaber you saw at futureshop

http://www.rebelscum.com/gallery/c3/MRparty/
Pictures of the lightsaber you saw at futureshop 'in action' at a Star Wars party somewhere

Also some reviews on the blade:

"The instructions say it's not supposed to be used for dueling...but I suppose you could anyway However, I probably won't use mine for any real dueling, just in case the blade cracks or breaks. The hilt is made with steel and hard plastic, and the blade is about four feet long...about the length as the lightsabers in the movie"

"I have the Luke Ep VI saber, and the Anakin Force FX sabers from Episodes II & III. The new one is a GREAT improvement over the original. Better light on the blade (as mentioned above, it powers up & down the blade length, where the old one just came on & faded out) and it's brighter. The hilt is almost the perfect, actual size, where the old one was much larger. The sound is better & louder on this one, and it runs on half the battery power! Plus the batteries are even easier to change. It's really fun. I recommend them to anyone."
http://www.killermovies.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-342093

Gordon says...

omg..what happened to our blog!?!?!

Joyce says...

*Joyce, the relationship retard, dashes to her own comp, changes the template, opens Dreamweaver to make minor modifications*

phew, there we go - another summer look. more to come~~

Karen says...

awww...what happened to the blogger list? it was just there a second ago! i liked how i was at the very top...haha.

Karen says...

ohhh...preeettty!! thumbs up joyce!!

the new blog karen likes!!! hahahahahahahahahhaahaha. was talking to a fellow coop student/star wars fanatic, she says there's a lightsaber selling at future shop for 150 dollars!! so i just went to the futureshop website to take a look...it's the Master Replica's Star Wars Darth Vader FX Lightsaber. it comes with motion sensor controlled sound effects and ignites with realistic power-up and power-down light effects...whatever that means but it sounds cool!! oh man, i really should stop before i ruin my image forever...*lol*

Peter says...

wow... watch the girl traffic increase 10-fold.

Stephen says...

Aaaahhhhh!!! Now this blog looks like my wedding blog! Damn you Joyce, I'd change it back, but I'm kind of bored of the layout as well. I'm also lazy.

Joyce says...

enjoy your summer P&C.

The following dialogue happened during the Star Wars Marathon.

Karen: Light sabers are soooo cool!
Mike, Joyce's brother: You know, it is physically impossible to construct a light saber.
Karen (with utter enthusiasm): What are you talking about? They have it at Toys R Us.

having geeky sibling and close friend, no wonder i'm staying up to change the blog's look

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

I AM SO ASHAMED...WAAAAAAAH!

*sigh* that's it, gotta whip myself back into shape for the next grouse grind...jogging around my neighborhood anybody?

Stephen says...

Well, I'm back from Victoria and I notice that the blog has been somewhat productive in my absence. Namely Joanne has been posting lots and somtimes other people say things. I do find it funny that you point out spelling errors in LA when you misspelled Los Angeles, Joanne.

Victoria was fun. We stayed with Star's grandparents in a hotel downtown, and I had no idea that Victoria was so touristy. We went for tea at The Empress and it was AMAZING! The food was kind of crazy though, buttered cucumber sandwiches on white bread with no crusts. No wonder the English are fat (not that North Americans do any better on an all-fast-food-and-Starbucks diet). I definitely saw the "British" of British Columbia after being there. I didn't see Sam Logan there though, but he probably doesn't hang out downtown at tourist spots considering he lives there.

Dammit, I missed the Star Wars marathon! Now I'll never find out how it ends... for the sixtieth time. I suppose I can't really complain because I was spoiled by Star's grandparents all weekend and didn't pay for a thing. Tell me when you're doing Indiana Jones, I'll have to be at that one.

Still waiting to hear from U of M med, letters go out May 31^st, anybody know what their future entails yet?

Joanne says...

Joanne's San Diego Diary - Instalment One

LOS ANGELOS IS A HOLE (this is coming from a person who thinks Toronto is a hole - I suspect I'm not a fan of big cities). It's smoggy, the people are rude, the poverty of the Hispanic community is overwhelming, there are no left turn traffic signals, and every other sign has a spelling or grammar mistake in it.

On the other hand...
I LOVE SAN DIEGO (I have a feeling I go for the mid-sized cities). Nice Mexican historic touches throughout the city. Cleaner air. Cleaner streets. I especially love the portion just north of my hotel. And by portion I mean that GIGANTIC mall across the street. To give you an idea of how fabulous it was, think of Jason Brenneman in Hitch, who had to reach for his inhaler everytime something exciting was about to happen. That was me. I almost regretted not bringing my Salbutamol because I almost forgot to breathe at one point when I was standing right in the middle of FOUR shoe stores. Get this, in this ONE mall, there's
- JC Penney
- Robinsons-May
- Macy's
- Nordstrom
- Neiman Marcus
- Saks Fifth Avenue

The mall closes at NINE on Saturdays (although not the department stores, which is why I haven't tried on Jimmy Choos yet). There's also a YOGOURT BAR! I had half a litre of ginger mango pineapple frozen yogourt today...mmm...heaven... AND...the store that REALLY got me hyperventilating: SEPHORA.

I spent 2 hours there and still haven't gone through half the mall. BUT, I did buy FOURTEEN DOLLAR JEANS AT THE GAP and two really comfortable bras from Victoria's Secret. Makes me almost wish I was intimate with a guy, because I really want to show them off to someone - they're so cute! Joyce, you interested? ;)

Plus, the Starbucks had an epic lineup at 9pm. These are my kind of people here...not like thos whack jobs in Toronto who would leave a Starbucks half empty in the middle of a nice day...

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

star wars marathon sunday: ehh, i dunno, im kinda interested cuz my bros are laughing at my lack of any star wars knowledge. but i might be too tired for it cuz im gonna be volunteering until 4:30 at the international children's festival...anybody want to come with me?

grouse on monday: kinda interested. can anyone give me a lift?

farewell recital wednesday: totally there. is it BYOI (bring your own instrument) again?

guess what? i bumped into vivienne today at FM photos when chris and i went to pick up the class composite. huge ass composite! couldn't even fit them into the trunk of chris' car.

oh ya and went to a wave pool today. i dunno how much of those urinated chlorinated water i swallowed cuz the wave prevents you from surfacing from the water properly. just as you thought you were on top, wham the wave drowns you again. oh ya and after fighting with tonnes of little kids over floation device, chris and i won! muhahahaha. but note to self: sea sickness is not fun even when the wave is mechanically generated...

Gordon says...

the name of this blog is DEFINITELY fitting... after being in the bitter cold and rain for 6 days. Imagine being cold and wet for 6 days..then multiply that by like...100... and being on the verge of hypothermia. ugh... but must agree with joanne. It wasn't the toilet i missed (i was very regular with my no. 2's!!! even if I had to go against a tree...) nor the shower (we actually were able to have one on the 4th day..but i chose not to) nor even my comfy bed and blanket. but HEAT. My gosh. How will I survive in the east... MANY MANY layers of clothing i guess...

Joyce: Star Wars marathon eh? i'm there...but just for you joyce ;)

Everyone: Tim and I are planning to go grouse grinding on monday, so if you were interested, give either one of us a call.

PS..ironic how it is sunny (or partially) the day Joanne and I finished the damn hike. that's life I guess.

Joyce says...

STAR WARS Marathon
Yes, after watching Revenge of the Sith, Karen, Tim and I decided to watch Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi, all in one sitting.

Time: Sunday, May 21st from 5pm to 11pm
Place: My House, which previously hosted "The Smart Romantic Comedy Night - Annie Hall"
BYOB and BYOLS
Everyone's invited!

My brother has the tapes (our DVD player broke down), and we have a huge @$$ TV. Come, and if you cannot make it for the whole marathon, drop by at anytime to catch some sci-fi classics.

-- and stay tuned for an Indiana Jones marathon --

Joanne says...

Frozen Phish and Chips...heh, how fitting. After 6 days of mucking around through the wilderness in the pouring rain (I swear, Gordon just brings rain wherever he goes...this trip broke records in terms of rainfall), I realized that what I missed most about modern life was not the shower, the flush toilet, or the refridgerator/microwave, but rather indoor heating. Heating that can make you dry. Heating that can prevent constant shivering. Heating that keeps you from hacking your lungs out throughout the night.

But new discovery: Salbutamol does wonders for coughs! New drug addiction coming up? I think so!

vivienne says...

As a sidenote, if anyone is in dire need of good summer reading, I highly suggest Freakonomics. It's AWESOME. Check out website.

Btw, it wasn't even something that I picked up for myself...my 12 year old brother saw it at Virgin Megastores the other day and HE wanted to get it. Go fig. Ugh......he's so damn scary for a kid.

vivienne says...

Steve: I feel exactly as you do...I haven't gone back to help out Ms. Kelly either. :p But then again, I hate Playland....so it can't be helped.

Anybody need an extra seat for the graduation ceremony for the 25th? I have an extra one if needed.

Man...ever since my dad got back, I've been doing so many GUY-oriented stuff. Like? Learning how to change kitchen pipes (under the sink), how to detach old dryer/attach new dryer without electrocuting myself :p, unplugging clogged drain in bathroom by taking it apart (and learning the names of all parts involved in the passageway from the sink to the pipe in the basement), and today, how to replace old outdoor stairs, which basically encompasses ripping out old boards, etc, etc. --good anger management here btw, and putting new ones in. I don't think I've ever done so much with a hammer in my life. :p

I swear I should've been born a guy or something. O.o; I think my dad would've been much more happier if I was.

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

steve: u know i never knew u taught Ashley's class last year until Adrian told me. lol.

joyce: i support a bigger margin. why waste the space? i hate scrolling anyways...

Stephen says...

Heh, I knew I'd find something else to post today.

Joyce: This will be your life in a few years. Better start working out to lift it.

Stephen says...

Joyce: Don't worry about it. My comments in the sidebar are mostly making fun of myself (or at least my own name), I don't expect anybody to be able to spell it properly. Besides, after the wedding it will just be "Nap" anyways.

Final post before I leave for Victoria this weekend (probably), so here's a mini-rant:

I have applied for no less than 10 jobs for the summer, and almost all of the applications I sent were sent off at or near the beginning of May. Originally, I had planned not to work at all until after the wedding, however my current financial situation tells me otherwise. I have had two job interviews so far, one last week and one on Monday. The one last week did not work out (in fact, the woman who interviewed me passed my resume on to the woman who interviewed me on Monday). The job I interviewed for on Monday gave me the job. Yay!

My gripe (or at least curiosity) stems from this: Yesterday, six hours after accepting a job, I receive phone calls and emails to come for interviews for three other jobs! The three that are calling me now were among the first that I sent resumes to, so where the hell have they been? I manage (finally) to land a job, after weeks of hearing nothing, and suddenly I'm a hot commodity? Make up your bloody minds!

I suppose that I really shouldn't be complaining about have this many (potential) job interviews, and I probably sound really arrogant, I just wish I had known about all of the interviews that I was going to have before accepting the first job that came along.

Besides, I'm only slightly arrogant.

Karen says...

i vote for the MUCH WIDER space one. in fact, i think it'd look even better if it was MUCH MUCH WIDER...less empty room on the sides.

Joyce says...

steve: my goodnes, did i spell your name wrong? I went to the membership page for the correct spelling, and typed it in letter by letter, AND i still managed to spell it wrong? *hitting self* sorry...

Stephen says...

In re to this blog referendum, more posting space is not a bad idea. Good for you, Joyce, for thinking of it. Me? I'm lazy and don't really care, stretch those margins all you want.

A note regarding the sideboard. Star and I, while we are graduating, are not attending the ceremony. This is mainly due to apathy, but also due to the realization that at $60 per ticket with gown rental et cetera, it's $120 for both of us to go. That's a lot of hot pot dinners for the two of us (3.5 to be exact). Thus we have formally decided to take the stance of "fuck that, let's go for a meal we'll like". Our high school was in a university, and we've had the whole university-grad experience twice (if you get awards in non-graduating grades, you have to sit through the grad to have them presented to you), and honestly, I couldn't sit through it again.

Cindy: I'm glad to know that Adrian got in at McGill. He was our partner in teaching at Wolfe, and he, Star, and I taught an all-encompassing biology section in her class (animal, plant, and bacteria). Now it's us who feel guilty knowing that he went back and did so much extra, while we basically did nothing after our term ended.

Joyce says...

BLOG REFERENDUM!!!
My geeky nature drove me to figure out what are the codes that define the structure of this page (w/ no java script or CSS styling background, mwahaha). And I've adjusted the width of the left column so that some longer updates won't look "choppy."
Now, in the desperation to save the plunging stock value of P&C, your favorite admin (*wink wink*) will be holding a blog referendum deciding whether or not the width of the posting space should be increased. I have experimented with two modifications: click here to see the samples.
Please post your two cents on this issue!!!

k. I REALLY have to go to bed. mwahaha, summer rocks!

OH. My quintet is having a recital/music party next week. This is our farewell recital, and we will be playing the first and last quintet pieces we've done. Come if you like classical music or want to be more cultured. haha

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

:) hey y'all
i thought i'd write some not so interesting stuff to fill this blog...

let's talk about my first flea market experience with my beloved papie. so we went to the flea market beside science world the other day, and it was so fun! admissions was $0.75 and what a cheap way to spend an afternoon. it kind of smelled a little funky but that was to be expected. the stuff there was very interesting and affordable - you just gotta look thru a whole bunch of stuff for it. i bought a gamecube game for my bros for $30 :D was very proud of my find. was also looking for a jewelry box but unfortunately the one i liked the most wasn't for sale. if only i was more of an impulse buyer,...

ok. that was kinda short. so let's talk about my playland experience from a couple days ago. believe it or not, i only went on one ride, and that was the swinging thing. i felt a little awkward among kids who do not know me, and unlike last year with bby south, this time i actually had to stick with the 5 kids. they were a pretty loud bunch, with the girls arguing with the guys, etc. but most of the time they were in agreement on what rides to go on next. i guess it's either cuz i'm shy or it was way too early in the morning (i had to arrive at 8am. but i dont sleep until 4am) but i was just not having as much fun as i expected. p.s. i also got us lost so i was feeling extremely guilty towards the kids.

i met adrien though, the guy from last year's cust class that ashley (our teacher) totally adores. he kinda reminds me of dr. bingle with the shaved head, untied skater shoes and the like. but obviously he's better looking :) he was such a nice guy! for the first time in my life, a guy opened the door for me. not that i expect that of my guy friends (*nudge nudge*) but i was pleasantly surprised. he's entering med this year in mcgill so ashley was pretty sad to see him leave.

what else can i write? i think 3 big paragraphs should be enough. woohoo for cindy for donating her stories!

Joyce says...

mwahaha, the 1st post in 2 days

Peter says...

Post by Peter

Tim says...

Don't worry Joanne, I distinctly remember you taking it away from Earl's 'cause I handed you the camera personally. So if anything, it's either at home (and you can't find it), in Gordon's car, or Kathleen has it. That is, unless you took it with you to Dragonboat yesterday...

Joyce says...

sorry joanne, I haven't seen it since the waitress took a pic of us at Earls.

painful realization: always use a sponge to apply liquid foundation - to avoid cakey and scary pasted-on make up and get a more natural look with balanced skin tone. BAH!!!!!!

lalalalalala

P. TAM, WHERE ARE YOU???

Joanne says...

Hey Everyone

Does anybody have my camera? It's a Kodak.

Karen says...

my alcohol-tolerance has reached new lows.

1) semi-tranquil/content state in leo's car lasted all of half an hour.
2) passed out within 30 minutes of getting home.
3) my entire body was RED. remember how i said my legs felt warm?? that's because i looked like i got sunburned everywhere!
4) slight headache when i fell asleep transformed into massive head-splitting headache and woke me up at about 2am...i tried ignoring it (unsuccessfully) til 6am and finally popped two tylenol extra strengths and finally fell asleep.

no more alcohol until i can forget my pounding head from last night. i suppose i should be glad that the redness of skin didn't turn into rashes...*sigh* stupid asian genes.

PS: happy birthday joanne!

Stephen says...

Happy Birthday Joanne!

You're only 21? I thought you were the same year as me...

I hope you get lots of Starbucks today, and compliments on your Aviators! (see how nice I am when it's your birthday?)

---

What's up with that letter verification thing below?

Gordon says...

Happy 21st birthday Joanne!

Stephen says...

The new title is mine (obviously). I think we're old enough to swear here, and can give the number keys a break.

vivienne says...

You tell 'em , Joanne. :p

Joanne says...

@#$%ing son of mother@#$% @%!$#es.

Gordon says...

...still a little confused....do you mean "...corporation"?

Peter says...

yeah... what the hell is a coopration?

Gordon says...

K...now i think it's joyce that's changing the names.... what is the name of this blog?

Gordon says...

Ditto Pete,....Tim...Joyce is WAY too hot for YOU... and hmm....my speculations would be Pat on who made this Joanne's blog...since I doubt steve will EVER give joanne the time of day of any glory and joyce is just.... yeah... anyway... (hehe)

Joyce: don't forget DENTAL FLOSS! You get free dental floss... and toothpaste!

Joyce says...

disadvantage of working in a dental office: own appointments are easily sacrificed for other patients' convenience.

advantage of working in a dental office: can take home free gossip/fashion magazines. oh, and, can just reschedule own appointments whenever.

------------- edited at 1453
WHOA, now I'm hot?

Peter says...

Tim: Joyce is too hot for YOU man. She's mine so bugger off home and "enjoy" some of that "bandwidth" of yours.

Gordon: That was the longest post from you... like EVER. I guess it's all in the battle for "Joanne's Blog" (which, by the way, I have nothing to do with because i'm not admin)

Gordon says...

OMG...joanne's blog?? that means..time for long post about absolutely nothing (aka..my summer holiday)..haha..so this morning...I was waken up again by this friggen ass lawnmower for the umteenth time (however you spell that)...does that just annoy the hell outta you when people OUTSIDE of the house wake u up when you're trying to sleep? and just hearing it more just makes you more annoyed...and you get sooo annoyed that you end up having to go to the washroom and so you have to end up getting up from you warm, comfy bed to go pee? ugh..I hate it when that happens..then when you go back to bed..you can't sleep cause now you're wide awake from walking all the way to the washroom....anyway..that was how my brutle morning started.

And then I found out that the Apprentice finale isn't actually this Thursday!... I was so annoyed... cause now I have to wait till I come back from the week hike to find out what happens. And the survivor finale and Joey finale are ALSO on the week i'm gone... IT'S A FRIGGEN CONSPIRACY!!!!

And what's even worse is the UBC med results will be out probably next week too..and so I have to wait till the end of the week to find out since I won't be here. AHHHH!!! the anxiety sux... The results are all figured out and stuff..and they just want to make people wait...stupid adcom...

Anyway...joanne, are you still in pain from the hike? My quads and calves still kill from the mountain... and my blisters just seem to be growing bigger and bigger by the day..and not getting better... Any suggestions peeps?

And...worst of all is definiltey the friggen gas prices. What's up with it changing on an hourly basis? Like, I know going up ....10 cents or going down 10 cents isn't a big deal in the per fill up....but don't you just feel screwed over when you paid like...105.9/L...when others pay 94.9? It adds up if you do that for like..a whole year..or even 10 years! That cash might be what makes or breaks you.

And then yesterday, all I watched on every news channel was about that whole steve nash MVP thing ..and how he might have won because he was white and shaq was black. HAHAHA..that's just hilarious..considering that...the the majority of the MVP's have been black (hm...I guess it's cause there are more black players...anyway)... stupid news person.

So now beacuse I don't want to feel totally useless this summer (and no...NO JOB...weee...last free summer EVER).... Anyway... I think I'll do some traveling again. I"m debating between the Australian Outback..and Egypt and the Nile. Have any of you guys gone to those places? I think in both places, I can go ride a camel! isn't that exciting? it's probably sucky... but to tell people you rode a camel is pretty cool ..hehehe. Or cruising down the Nile...I guess I"m afraid of Egypt cause..what if Cairo gets bombed again!!!! But..hmm...I wonder what the chances of that happening are. Or what if I get some type of disease from Egypt? then I'm screwed.

Anywya..enough ranting... hopefully we can divert back to P&C...

Tim says...

Hi people, my goal here is simple....to steal some of Joanne's spotlight (so that the moderators can change the site back to Phish and Chips..the way it's SUPPOSED TO BE). Who was the idiot that changed the website anyways? *Cough cough..I'm looking your direction Peter* So here we go! A post about....absolutely nothing but my very "exciting" day *clears throat*

So I woke up at 11am, quite early by my standards. I think I was dreaming about Vivienne or something like that lol, 'cause shez so sexy..hehe j/k (or am I? ;-) ). As my eyes slowly grew accustomed to the light, I knew right away it was gonna be an awesome day! After doing my daily routine (ie. morning piss, morning shit, scratching my balls, taking a shower etc), I checked my stocks to find out that I had made $3000 in one night (Whoohoo!).

I had made an appointment to meet up with Gordon later that day so I waited for my mom to pick up my sister so I could get the car. When my sister came home she started yelling at me for using too much bandwidth..oh well. On the car ride to Gordon's place, traffic was horrible and I was stuck a good portion of the time so I started dreaming about Joanne...cause shez sexy too..and because I miss her 'cause shez in Toronto.

Finally got to Gordon's place where he immediately handed me a low calorie creamsicle (mmm..MMMM!). Afterwards, went to Metro to shop and look at travel brochures. Meh, Metro was actually pretty boring but then we went to a sushi restaurant where the food was awesome..especially the sashimi. I think Gordon became constipated but I'm sure he could go into more detail himself.

Last part of the night, we played RISK..the board game! Leo came over and we talked about Karen a little bit which made me daydream about Karen...cause shez a fox....*growl* ;-) lol. Yeah, RISK didn't go TOO TOO well 'cause tempers flared a little and we all got annoyed at each other but in the end, no harm done.

It was a long drive home..(actually not that long, 27 min. which is actually a record time!) so I did some more thinking. I finally realized, "Screw the other girls...Joyce is the hottest one of all..so I should try wooing her"

Joyce says...

During dinner in a chinese restaurant today, I observed two things of horrendous nature:
1) a ~2-yr-old todller's parents brought a portable DVD player to play Barney's Show for him during dinner time.
2) a ~4-yr-old girl wearing the same Tommy Hilfiger polo dress I have (but mine is green, hers is pink).

It is scary to see how kids are being spoiled, and it is even scareir to have the purchase in the kids department of T.H. comming back to bite me in the @$$.

Stephen says...

Aviators are not cool. They were "hip" in the seventies, then people looked back for the next twenty years saying "I can't believe we wore those", now they are retro and only worn by people who still say "hip" and those who will look back at them in two years saying "I can't believe I wore those".

As if it's Joanne's blog... We'll see about that!

Joanne says...

Finally got through all of Stephen's rants. Man, after verbally duking it out with you on this blog (Aviators ARE cool, dammit. You should hear all the compliments I get from random people regarding those shades), I would have never thought you were this mature on in the inside.

But of course, I wouldn't be Joanne if there weren't a few rebuttals, or things to add.

First of all, hurrah for army of slaves (Peter's comment). I'm just kidding. Sometimes, it is easier for a girl to amass an army of slaves, I mean guy buddies, because girls are generally harder to get along with. You guys don't do all the gossiping and scheming that females have a propensity for. (Yes, I know, I'm stabbing my own kind in the back. For the record, I'm a girl who freely admits that women ARE irrational. I think it's the FSH...) Aside from those psychotic hermits, humans crave companionship. And if a girl has trouble finding girl buddies, she'll naturally turn to men. I mean, you guys make up 50% of the human population! It would be preposterous to automatically eliminate you guys from the eligible friend pool.

So of course we're nice to you! Have you ever seen friends who are mean to each other? And if you're nice to us because you like us, well here's a news flash: women are NOT cold, callous creatures without a sense of social responsibility. We do feel a sort of obligation to return the kindness. At least I know I do. Perhaps it's just me and my cowardly nature, but I find it just as uncomfortable to reject a guy after he's invested so much effort as you guys find asking that cute girl out. (And since I'm a horribly oblivious person, it usually does take an unimaginable amount of effort before I realize something is up...) It's unfortunate that men interpret every thoughtful gesture as a sign of interest. To that, I have to say: WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU GENTLEMEN???? The Apocalypse has yet to fulfill itself. There IS still humanity in the world. Accept it for what it is, rather than as a signal to get it on. And if a girl asks you to have lunch with her, well, maybe it's just because some girls have a horrible fear of eating alone and you were the first remotely familiar being within her field of view when her leptin levels were dropping.

As for girls liking nice guys...well that's sort of true...and sort of not. True, we no longer go for the greasy haired, basketball jersey-wearing, boxer baring, overzealous cologne applying dumbass. (I look back and wonder what on earth was I thinking when I was 13...) But truthfully, the nice nice guys never get the girl. The guy always has to have some edginess to him. You may interpret that as a jerky element. Mmm...like beef jerky...j/k j/k. It's because women like to amass novel things...I think it harks back to those hunter and gatherer days... And that propensity is no different when it comes to boyfriends. If a guy bends over backwards for her, as far as she's concerned, he bends over backwards for every other person. It's this whole perception deficit thing - we only have one so we won't know if you're a jackass to your next door neighbour! You know that saying, "Why buy the cow when you already have the milk?" for sluts? Same goes for guys. Why should we bother putting out for a nice guy who gives the same nice treatment to everyone else? It's like we're cheapening ourselves. Us gals like to feel special. You gotta make it OBVIOUS that what you're doing for the girl is for her, and her only. However, that would require bringing along all your other girl friends along whenever you guys hang out to prove your point, and that's just sheer inconvenience. What's easier is to give the impression that she's not on your list of people who deserve special treatment...yet.

Let her come to you. Stephen made a good point. The girls at UBC are not the hairspraying, platform Skecher-wearing, midriff baring, execssive eyeliner-applying bimbos you boys all gravitated towards (man, what were you guys thinking when you were 13...). Chances are, UBC girls were that soft-spoken intellectual or scarily motivated overachiever in high school who was too busy studying, practicing her musical instrument, training on the track, or chairing a charity fundraiser to realize that you guys even existed. These girls are goal oriented and are willing to work for what they want. Heck, the pursuit is the fun part. Assume the same applies to relationships. Smart women want what they can't get for this reason. Non-smart women want what they can't get for sociopathological reasons...uhh, let's not go there. So play games! Even though we complain about them, I can bet you that most women secretly enjoy it. Why else do you think we bother stalking you guys on Google? I mean...*ahem* no..we don't Google random guys...

Yar, this is what happens when I'm afraid to explore a strange city on my own at midnight...

Joanne says...

Joanne's Toronto Diary - Instalment Two

Yar, indeed I am in the 416 (or is it 950...I think it's both) area. So if you need anything done for your wedding here, give me a shout.

So why does this city have so much garbage??? And I have just been informed that they get acid rain. Aaaaaagggggghhhhh. I have concluded that with the exception of the nice posh area of downtown and the University campus, Toronto is ugly. At least in Vancouver, the ghetto parts are offset with the mountains in the background. But oh! They have a gay district here too!!! Time to get crunk...

Interviewing potential supervisors is a nice ego-booster. It's nice talking to interviewers knowing that they want you more than you want them...unlike those stupid med schools....grrrr... Oh well, I found a Starbucks near my lab that satisfies the one block requirement. It's insane; today, I was walking in a certain direction, and it took me EIGHT BLOCKS before I encountered a Starbucks. I think the nice old Jewish woman at my Bed and Breakfast is starting to wonder why I always have a cup of coffee at 10pm though...

Food here isn't as bad as people say! I had a nice Italian meal today...in Chinatown. Korea Town is full of nice cheap food too, albeit every restaurant serves the same thing. The Koreans here can actually tell I'm not Korean! So I have concluded that the Koreans on Kingsway are just dumb...or lack the gene for a Korean radar. FRUIT IS DIRT CHEAP. Too bad Dr. Adeli gave me a review article about how high fructose consumption induces obesity and diabetes...

Stephen says...

Joanne's in Toronto?

Joanne says...

Joanne's Toronto Diary - Instalment One

JOANNE IS NO LONGER A FLIGHT VIRGIN. But I guess you guys are right. Riding a plane isn't that fun. I managed to finish one third of my poster, read half a Russian play, fall asleep, sing along to Ciara (yes, I did that on the plane with people around me...) and stare out the window with my mouth wide open (to equalize the pressure via my Eustachian tubes of course...clouds ain't that exciting). And yes, PLANE FOOD SUCKS. It's so small...and sucky. Are we supposed to survive a 4.5 hour plane ride on that??? And where are the peanuts?!?!?!?!

So I got lost in the hippie portion of downtown Toronto (think: Kitsilano, but less hot gym babes). I talked to more random people in one hour than I usually do in a week (and I talk to A LOT of random people when you guys aren't around). I must say, people in Vancouver are nicer. The Torontonians tried to help me of course, but THEY'RE SO DAMN SERIOUS. Even the students look more mature than the UBCers. Attention avid readers: there's like two antique/used bookstores every block down here. Must do some perusing before I leave...

So Joanne is only two blocks away from Bloor Street...not good...expect blocked credit cards when I return back to Vancouver. I FOUND A REALLY GOOD VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT. Oh man, the meal was so chocked full of fibre, which led to a really good experience in the washroom...I'll save the details for Gordon and Joyce. You guys think pot cake is good? Try pot pesto!!!!!!! So during dinner, there was this really attractive blonde sitting kitty corner to me. BEAUTIFUL skin, excellent bone structure, voluptuous hair...I think she caught me staring at her cause she started looking really weirded out...so you boys will have to teach me how to discretely check out girls when I return.

I had to walk TWO WHOLE BLOCKS before I came across a Starbucks. This will take some getting used to... They have the same desserts as the Starbucks in Vancouver...bah, that sucks the fun out of it. I found a cheese shop though! Will keep you posted on that.

Ok, must get back to work. Hope this wasn't too boring for ya. It's strange, it's already 10:30pm out here and I'm only on my fourth cup of coffee....why oh why must the earth rotate...

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

thanks for the pix Gordon! lol
where are the rest of the lodging pix? and the grad pix?

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

thanks for the pix Gordon! lol
where are the rest of the lodging pix? and the grad pix?

Gordon says...

here are my okanogan lodge trip pics. ENJOY!

Stephen says...

I have far more horrible stories of the wilderness than sharing a latrine with 40 other people. Since this blog contains people who would probably freak out completely if I posted said experiences here, I shall save them for a more opportune time.

Joyce: We're not leaving until July, and are coming back for the fall term. Star's starting a the year-long education program in the fall, so we're here for at least another year.

On teenagers in general: I find that the sexual comments and innuendoes end once the kids have actually had sex. So any time you hear some kid bragging about their sex life in public, you know they've never gotten any.

Gordon says...

haha......yeah...those 15 year olds were so awesome..they were like us...in fact, the leaders thought I was 15 =( and kept asking me to do chores with the kids..hehe...oh well..I guess it's a compliment to look 15 at almost 22... (ahhh..so old). But yeah, I have to say..these kids are bit more sexually confused than we are...with every second word dealing with some sexual context..of course we probably average...every third word. But damn....no toilet...I almost died. Haha..and apparetly, "cup of tea" and "yar" were contagious...mwhahahah.... (Seriously Joyce, you would NOT be having any malls or walks in the park when you have to go in the wilderness....and share a latrine with 40 other people...it's nasty dudes!!!!)

MODERATORS! What's up with the side saying SUMMER BOREDOM... it's summer! Go outside (as peter suggested earlier)... or get a job! but don't complain....it's not boredom..it's FREEDOM!!! Enjoy it while it lasts... some of you wont enjoy another LONG summer for the REST OF YOUR LIFE!

Karen: Drinking... that's such an awesome idea (and it's so rare that u'd suggest it...)..hehe... but I'll be busy but HAVE FUN and run around campus while you're at it..maybe you'll find yourself a gay person to shop with!

Everyone: Any suggestions for what to do that would be interesing, fun, exciting and creative this summer??

Karen says...

monday mornings at the lab...woo...hooo...oooo...

i console myself with the knowledge that coop students everywhere are suffering the same fate this very humid may day...

let's go drinking this weekend!!! (by 'drinking' i mean, i'll have my ONE WHOLE BEER (!!!...maybe two!!! i'm feeling restless...) and you guys can have your dozens. =P yeah? yeah??

Joanne says...

Well, to explain me and Gordon's absence, the reason is simple. For the past two days, we were stuck 3000 feet above sea level with absolutely no access to running water, electricity, and yes, flush toilets. Let me tell you, a clumsy No.2 outdoors is better than no No. 2 at all. In addition, we were blessed with the company of six very rambunctuous 15-year-olds, whose behaviour really reminds us of this dear group. Wait, "really" would be an understatement. They're like us but 20 pounds lighter and without a degree. Really, you guys gotta meet these kids and tell them to do a Jerry Springer Rendition for them. And feel free to ask for a cup of tea...

Peter says...

remember way back when... gordon posted something about where we would be in 10 years? well i wrote part of my piece. it's on my blog (which has been reinstated after being discovered by my sister)

p.s. why is this blog so dead?

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

so how has everyone been since the lodging trip?

Peter says...

pat! ur alive???

(... and i was beginning to think there was a god...)

Joyce says...

pat: i have everyone's except yours!!! Tell me when you are going to be online, so I can get it from you.

Should I just post everyone's picture in one album?

Pat says...

does anyone have pictures of the grad night up somewhere?

Joyce says...

steve, you are SO right on that article! Saying f*** and sh** in every sentence and in any conversation demonstrates bad manner, appearant poor vocabulary and ill-respect to the intented and non-intended audiences. (now to think of it, one can use f***-ing, -ed, to replace any verb and adjetives. wow, convenient.)
Oh, are you staying in vancouver till graduation?

bah, no more 1/2 and 1/2 with coffee for now. skim it is.

Stephen says...

New rants, not about Stephen Harper.

Karen says...

looks like bush is gonna need a whole zoo of animals in the white house to salvage any part of his image. hmm...perhaps that's the difference between canadian political leaders and the american ones. in the states, a good proportion of them always seem to blindly love all their presidents while canadian politicians are criticized day in and out regardless of what the hell they do. paul martin needs a pet, or better yet, a very publicized good-looking dog that saves people from burning buildings and drowning people from swimming pools.

happy 22nd birthday viviENNE!

Stephen says...

I wouldn't blame journalists, often they are in a position where they wish they could endorse their own views, unfortunately that's not what pays their bills. Most likely, Harper paid to have that article on the front page, and his PR people went over every word in the article to make sure it said what they wanted to say. Clinton did the same thing, he was originally famous (before the skirt-chasing) for being the first president to have a cat instead of a dog, Socks the White House cat, remember? After a while however, his PR people decided that to reach more American voters he would need a dog, because most "God-fearing, red blooded Americans" have "man's best friend" at their sides. So he got a dog, what kind of dog? Loyal yet smart, he chose a Lab, and what kind of Lab? Well, black is bad for photographs, yellow dogs clash with his dark suits, so he got a chocolate Lab because it matched more of his attire. The dog was named "buddy". Clinton, however, hates dogs (or at least likes cats a lot better), and got rid of the dog when he left office. His PR people sure as hell made a big deal of showing he had a dog though. Do the journalists give a shit that he has a dog? No, but the way to make the most money in such a cutthroat profession is to do the job that pays the most.

Anyways, sorry to rant. Harper's just a dick, and I'm sick of how the Canadian news services refuse to portray him as the right-wing, racist homophobe that he is. How the fuck does gay marriage lead to polygamy? That's the same argument they used against interracial marriage! Do you see a bunch of Indo-African kids with six mommies around? Neither do I.

Karen says...

haven't yet read the stephen harper blurbs. although doesn't it make you wonder sometimes what motive the magazine has for printing something like that? i mean, it's fine when they're reporting politics as news but when they go out of their way to 'reveal the REAL person' esp. during election time, it just looks kinda fishy. i was flipping through it quickly and saw the picture of harper with his wife and kids...isn't that ALWAYS the tactic politicians use to enhance or well 'soften' their image? (remember the glen clark/ndp election way back when, glen clark's cute toddler-aged daughter got LOTS of press time...) i suppose journalists are entitled to endorse their own favorites in editorials and such, but when it makes the front page of the magazine...makes you wonder...

Peter says...

hmmm never used to read that column. one thing tho, maybe it's just me, but this week's cover story on stephen harper really spurred my interest at first. i was like, wow, finally they show his soft, HUMAN side! but the article was a TOTAL BORE from start to finish... only the last bit gave so much as a hint of harper's real personality. I dunno if this guy Gedes is just a crappy writer or if Harper really is that bland. either way, note to Maclean's: don't have a f*cking title that says "the real stephen harper" when you really have nothing new to say.

Karen says...

what a perfect day to crawl into a hole and die. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. poster presentation at the conference tomorrow and i'm still making the poster panels today. muahahah.

this fine day, i'm running on 5 hours of sleep plus a 50mL concoction of 3 randomly chosen kinds of instant coffee on my kitchen cabinet, 2 teaspoons of sugar and 3 large heaps of coffeemate. don't ask what that tasted like.

PS: i miss the maclean's old editor-in-chief's column.

Karen says...

hahahahahhaa. long live totipotent plant cells!!

Stephen says...

Two things:

Firstly, foster parents (not adoptive parents) are paid by the government to care for childrenuntil they are 18. I have heard of cases where the parents kick the children out at 18 so that they can get more foster children because they current "child" is no longer worth anything to them. So, guess where kids go when they're not adopted...

Secondly, ALL plant cells are totipotent! Take that you zoocentric dorks! ANY plant cell can become a new, complete organism. They're just so much better than we who can't even create new offspring by exfoliating (not that I'd be too content with losing my ability to move from place to place... or to smack people).

Have fun on your trip. I'm going to spend the week trying to make human-plant hybrids capable of cloning themselves, yet completely under my mental control. I think I'll call them Sphagnum Warriors...

Peter says...

cheers to:

1) not letting karen get the last post of the day.

Karen says...

cheers to:

1) chai lattes everywhere!
2) long-assed paragraph blog postings
3) "nerdy" ramblings of students trying to find the missing link between science and the 'real world'
4) the summer u-pass!!
and of course,
5) the ever so positive correlation between frequency of blog postings by individuals and the impending work load of those very individuals...

Peter says...

tim = ugly

Joanne says...

Muahahahaha. I'm not sure if you guys realized this but with ONE post, I have managed to get the entire group discussing nerdy stuff! Ok, some some of the trimester stuff thrown in by Cindy helped out as well... Note: totipotent = 4 syllables! Who's the nerd now, huh huh huh? 8P

Tim says...

Yeah, totally differentiated cells would be too difficult to revert. What makes them unique (and also unreceptive to differentiation) is the fact that it no longer expresses the receptors needed to understand the signals required for differentiation in the first place. Therefore, unless you knew exactly what to express, it'd just be easier to find undifferentiated cells.

Peter says...

rain = water

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

i wish i could play outside. but it's RAINING!!!

Peter says...

wow. i don't know whether i should be happy for you guys for keeping up p&c traffic or to feel sorry for you guys for passionately discussing SCIENCE in the SUMMER.

GO PLAY OUTSIDE.
i don't care if you have a trip in 2 days. you can't treat summer this way!

(no one make fun of me, i have lsats in 5 weeks).

Karen says...

the 'reversible' cells i believe only occur in the very, very primitive cells very early in specific cell lineages, i've read about it in reference to hair follicles and other specific cell types, not totipotency (but still would be interesting for those amongst us who are worrying about balding...hehehe). but it's likely still currently very difficult to maintain for applications. for fully differentiated cells of any type though, i don't believe it's possible to induce even multi-potency again. so no, not every cell in our body is capable becoming 'human life'. they have the genes, but to generate that mechanism is way beyond what we can accomplish.

Gordon says...

Sorry, I guess i wasn't too clear. By potential, i meant by either in vitro fertilization or via somatic cell nuclear transfer. In the latter case, the egg (after having its genetic material removed, and having a set of FULL chromosomes inserted) can actually survive on its own since it can undergo cell division after being stimulated by an electric current or some type of chemicals (this is how Dolly was created!). And eventually, the embryo could be transferred to the uterus of some surrogate.

And even though I sound pro-choice in my previous post, i'm only pro-choice up to a point in the developmental process of the fetus/embryo. Lke Tim said, if the mother was pregnant to the point where the fetus can actualy survive on its own, then I do believe it is murder to some degree. However, when the embryo is just some lump of cells, then I don't believe there's any difference between abortion, menses, or even, the extreme of exfoliation since with today's technology, i think eventually, any cell will have the potential to become it's own living, breathing, defecating, thinking being.

Clearly, it's been one boring morning for me..hehe....

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

back to peter's original post on the silly american article, i am glad i live in BC where you can abort up until 16 weeks of gestation, since the thingie the woman carries up to that point is called an embryo, and is called a fetus after 13 weeks.

i believe in having the option of aborting the embryo. as gordon has mentioned, fertility clinics abort failed embryos like we dispose of our garbage. as well, viv u were talking about potential - yes, the embryo might have potential, but it has even greater potential for psychological damage. the mother's stress hormones during pregnancy especially when she doesnt not want to have the baby will forever alter the brain development of the embryo and that is one life i would not want to give my child. as for adoption? i'm sorry, but like many people, i don't feel comfortable giving my flesh and blood to somebody else and have them feel abandoned from their birth parents for life. also, the vast majority of babies do not get adopted and the chance of being adopted decrease exponentially with age.

i dont know about the option of aborting the fetus. technically the same argument listed above applies, but why wouldn't you do it a lot earlier than 3 months before the fetus actually can survive beyond the womb? (well technically the smallest fetus surviving outside of the womb for a couple of days was 5 months, not 3. so maybe we should extend the abortion period to 5 months of gestation and not 3?) then of course, if i know my baby is going to have genetic diseases which is undetectable until that point, then i'd like to have the option of aborting it...i dunno. im all confused.

Tim says...

Man I haven't posted in a long time. Anyways, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to somewhat agree with Joanne here, as I'm a genetics major and all. The fact is, every cell of our body is diploid, as is the zygote/embryo after fertilization. The only difference (that I see) is a change in the cellular machinery that 'causes differentiation to express certain genes. Also, many embryos of many species share similar developmental processes in the first few weeks-months which wouldn't really make a human embryo any different than any other embryo, and so aborting at an early enough stage should be ok in my opinion. So the question is, what defines human life? Developmental potential to become a human? If so then the egg has 'developmental potential'. Perhaps it could be defined as human life after the first heart beat, one of the first signs of independency. I personally think it's considered wrong to abort as soon as the mother CAN give birth to a healthy baby (in the long run), whether it be currently malnutrished (yes I know) and underweight. Im guessing there is a wide open margin of time where this could happen so I wouldn't be sure what to say when a mother wished to abort during that time.

Peter says...

an ovum, by itself, no matter how well you nurture it, does not have the potential to be a human being though. the distinction between ovum and fetus is pretty big i.m.o. that's almost like saying we should keep our sperm. sperm is technically limited too (limited to several trillion that is hehehe)

Gordon says...

Well, like i said, you have to weigh out the costs and benefits. Statistically, it is MUCH more likely that you'll be adopted to a psycho family that would actually mistreat you than having your biological mother/father treat you with any kinda harm (especially sexual abuse). So even if you were born to a parent who's a murderer/rapist, they probably won't be one to you.

As for joanne's comment...maybe I won't go extreme as to exfoliation...hehe...but what about you girl's monthly cycles? the egg you flush out definitely has potential to live a life on its own. so...instead of...doing what you girls do to the flushed out eggs, you guys should keep them in some safe place (with proper medium of course) cause you don't want to kill it right? And don't the people in fertilization agencies (or whatever you call them) throw away a lot of eggs/potential humans? Wouldn't that kinda be the same thing as aborting a child?

And I thought there were cells that can be turned back to the pluripotent/totipotent stage? Like bone marrow cells, brain cells, liver cells, kidney cells? Eh, that's what I heard, but not too sure. I think they were looking into those type of "reversible" cells for CNS disorders like alzheimers or something.

Karen says...

re: generation of babies from cells...

having spent most of my life for the past year (yes it's been exactly a year today) in a stem cell research lab, i feel i must comment on this one to justify the careers of the 30 some people in my lab.

at this point in time, nobody has been able to identify and maintain a cell in a state where it can be pluripotent or totipotent. once the cell is differentiated, there's no turning back. which is unfortunate, 'cause well, then i wouldn't have to wake up and go to work tomorrow. so no worries guys, no random baby clonings just yet!! and judging by the rate our lab is going at, i wouldn't let our kids hold their breaths for it either. =P

PS: have a good trip, you guys!

vivienne says...

Gordon: No, I'm not offended at all, it's your view so I can't say anything about it. Your look on the adoption is a bit skewed, rather, because if that's the case, technically ANY child in the world could be born to psychos/potential rapists/whatever. Wouldn't that make it so that ANY potential child is at risk? In that case, none of us should be born, should we?

Joanne: Heheh...well, technically, I don't think you're growing fetuses on your skin. O.o;;;; Your cells might have your DNA, but I think it's a little bit different than what happens when your eggs are fertilized...~.~ Unless you fertilize your skin cells? O.o;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

Joanne says...

To extend the mini Joanne post-fest since she hasn't posted for days...

Lining the inside of your eyes with a pencil eyeliner yields the same results as the Laura Mercier Eyelining system...except it with more blinking and tears.

Also, totally loving my new Laura Mercier Camouflage concealer.

Joanne says...

Hello my soon-to-be Fellow Lodgers

READ THE ENTIRE POST. I stuck the important stuff at the bottom just to force you to do so, muahahaha.

First things first:
I NEED $89.70 IN CASH AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TRIP This is to pay for our accomodations - they don't accept credit cards. Or, you can do what Cindy did and write a cheque to "Joanne Hsieh" and I'll provide the cash. People who have paid so far:
Cindy Lee

For detailed information about the place we're staying, please visit: http://www.ponderosapoint.com/
If you wanna check out our cottages, we'll be staying at "Ash" and "Birch." Looks like we won't have to drop off our garbage at the dump! Weeeeee.

My correspondence with one of the managers have revealed that:
- Each cottage has its own propane-burning grill. LET'S DO SOME GRILLING. So we'll need to purchase propane in Penticton...someone remind me of that.
- The Phone shed has a data port for internet access. She didn't specify whether it was high speed or dial-up...but sorry Chris, I suspect it's dial-up, so no gaming for you.

Notice that they have
- Tennis
- Basketball
- Volleyball
- Swimming
- Golf nearby
so pack accordingly. It doesn't look like they have canoeing...hmmmm...I'll bring my paddle anyhow.

I also want to bring to your attention that Okanagan Lake is very close by, and IT'S BEAUTIFUL. The beach is absolutely fantastic for a lake beach AND if you can prove the existence of Ogo Pogo, you win $1 million... So perhaps instead of having half the group bum around the lodge while the rest of us are getting drunk in the Okanagan, you guys can enjoy the beach.

It's Vivienne's birthday on the 6th...what do you guys think of going out to dinner on the night of the 5th to celebrate? I don't think we can pull off cooking a nice meal for her with lodge utensils, haha.

Another quirky idea: CLUBBING IN PENTICTON! Apparently there are clubs that don't just play country music! But it's an amusing idea...a bunch of Asians raiding a white club. Check out the venues in Penticton here:
http://www.clubvibes.com/listings/results.asp?CityID=110&C=3,6,12,15
We can just go after dinner! Yeah? Yeah? Come on, we can't play Mafia, Osama, Poker, or Truth and Truth every night we're there. So to prepare for anything, please bring a decent pair of clothes on the trip. It doesn't have to be dressy, just something you won't be ashamed to wear to say...Earls or Cactus Club (shouldn't be too hard, right?).

Lastly, you guys need to consider how you will be getting to my house. Li Kai and Chris (confirm?) will be our drivers so you people on the West Side should have no problems. My concerns are Leo, Tim, and Vivienne. We can choose to pick Vivienne up along the way, but as experience has told us, New Westminster is to everybody what anything east of Main is to Joyce... I know...scarey. So Viv, I know you would have to bring your luggage, but would you mind skytraining to Joyce Station or something? If not, please email me your exact address.

So I want EVERYBODY (Li-Kai: please forward this to Shian) to email me ASAP and answer
1) Do you want to go out for dinner for Vivienne's birthday?
2) Do you want to clubbing in Penticton?
3) Would you want to go to Okanagan Lake while others go to the wineries?
4) Do you want to go horseback riding even though it will be expensive?
5) Do you want to go golfing?
6) Who's driving you to my house on Tuesday?
7) Will you be giving me cash or a cheque?
8) Do you have any other concerns?

It's a lot of questions, I know, but I need them so I can locate these activities on a map. I shall be abusing the colour laser printer at my lab tomorrow, muahahahahaahaha....

Regards,
Joanne

P.S. Remember, burn a cd of your music! We are going to tolerate each other's music no matter whose, be it Pop, Gangsta rap, Classical, Initial D, infantile soundtracks...

Joanne says...

Wow, what did I miss when I went and got 13 hours of sleep.

Anyhow, going with the theme of Joanne-has-no-morals-nor-values, of course I'm pro-choice. I'm not going to rant about it (but soooooo tempted to) but I want you all to consider one thing. A major argument for the pro-life side is that you're killing something that has the potential to be a fully breathing, living, defecating, thinking human being. But with our ability to clone, provided the right chemical and electrical conditions, ANY differentiated cell in our body can be induced to acquire totipotency. Stick it into a woman's uterus, take some hormone therapy and BAM! you got a little version of yourself running around. So technically, everytime you exfoliate, you're aborting thousands and thousands of embryos/fetuses.

So unless these pro-lifers don't exfoliate, I don't want them preaching to me about terminating a life.

Sorry in advance because I know for sure this will offend someone...and annoy everyone else with its nerdiness 8P.