being canadian means being lucky

i've only been a resident of canada for 1295 days and i'm proud to be here. i can't think of any better place to be at right in this very moment (oooohhhh....greek islands). so far, canada has been really good to me and my family. and living in edmonton has been swell.

i'm gonna share with you what the metro ran the other day. something from rick mercer that made me smile...

being canadian means being lucky. there are almost seven billion people in this planet and we make up around 33 million of them.

the odds of a random citizen on this earth being canadian is about half of one percent.

it's a long shot that delivers a hell of a jackpot.

a citizenship, that for most of us, cost nothing to acquire, but yet is our most prized possession.

being canadian means we have freedom of mobility. if you want to change your name to a symbol and move to british columbia - you wouldn't be the first, you won't be the last.

being canadian means we can worship whoever and however we want. which is why when we meet a member of the worldwide church of the raelians (who worship a holy trinity of UFOs, extraterrestrials and tantric sex), we shrug and say to each his own.

being canadian means that if your finger comes into contact with a band saw, you pop it in a plastic bag along with some ice, and it gets sewn back on for free.

being canadian means there is now a five-cent surcharge for shopping bags to encourage cloth bags. don't use this for a severed finger. in that case, pay the nickel and go with the plastic.

being canadian means we are each protected under the charter of rights and freedoms. in canada, harold can marry samantha, carol can marry johann, and achmed can make an honest man out of frank.

being canadian means you can vote. and when we do, governments come and governments go - and yet not a single shot is fired. which is appropriate because in our nation's capital, the canadian flag flies proudly over a tower that we named peace.

EH? EH!

happy canada day!

you rocked my world, you know did

i swear to lucifer, writing this down is hard. there's just way too many of them.

my top 15 (10 is not enough) michael jackson songs (in random order)...

01. bad

02. you rock my world

03. man in the mirror

04. scream

05. smooth criminal

06. rock with you

07. remember the time

08. i just can't stop loving you

09. black or white

10. they don't care about us

11. thriller

12. beat it

13. don't stop till you get enough

14. heaven can wait

15. billie jean

...i'm starting with the man in the mirror

i'm asking him to change his ways...

in repair

1958 - 2009

it's been almost a week since Michael Jackson passed away. i still can't believe that he is gone. i'm not a superfan but i'm a fan. i think everybody is...even for a tiny bit. i'm glad my parents listened to him when i was growing up...specially mi padre.

when i got home that eerie afternoon...madre: "hey! your idol died! remember when you were little, you were dancing to (then she, true story, started singing...) ~you know i'm bad i'm bad you know it..."

say what you will about michael jackson, the man revolutionized music like no one else has ever did. he used his passion to inspire, help and reach out to people all over the world. it's sad that people forgot the humanitarian things he did. it is heartbreaking to see an accomplished individual such as michael jackson, spend the last years of his life under the lair of loneliness and the company of scandals and controversies. so unfortunate that he didn't get this much support when he was still alive...when he desperately needed it.

enjoy your peace and quiet, MJ

leaving but i am coming back again

i am leaving again for california in 12 days. it has eventually become an annual thing for me to do. i love california...but i am not one to move there. filipino overload down there. everybody knows everybody.

anyhoo, yes, i'm going to california again. same routine...bay area and a MUST trip down to socal. on this particular voyage, i'm adding a side trip to the rainy shattel...errr...seattle. word.

you'll hear epictuous (is that a word?) stories in the future.

i'm a find, i'm a catch, and very gifted at ddr

i'm obsessing with this song "i know it's today" from shrek the musical. this is the part of the musical where they introduce a seven-year old princess fiona, dreaming of the brave knight who, her storybooks tell her, will one day rescue her from her tower and end her mysterious curse. as she grows into a teenager, and then a headstrong woman, she becomes a little bit crazy, but never loses her faith in her fairy tales.

Now I know, he’ll appear
Cause there are rules and there are strictures
I believe the storybooks I read by candlelight
My white knight, my knight and his steed
Will look just like these pictures!
It won’t be long now, I guarantee!

for the record, i am not complaining about being single. oh god no. singleness is awesomeness in all sorts of ways. as i've said before, i am on the waiting side of the boat. not in a hurry or anything. but i'm hopeful. if i see it, i see it. if it comes, it comes. patience is virtue. f'realz, hombre!

if you're not like me and is complaining about your singleness dry vajayjay situation or late nights with the lotion sessions, answer me this...would you date you?

that's how you assess yourself. for this matter, i'll turn to the horoscopes.

i'm a capricorn. this is generally how we are...according to them...

Personality Traits of a Capricorn:

• Good organizational skills
• Neat & tidy
• Practical
• Realistic
• Strong work ethic
  
• Materialistic tendencies
• Conventional
• Respects authority
• Egotism
• Cruel taskmaster
• Servility
• Excessive perfectionism

Likes... Simple food Antiques History Responsibility Not being pressured Unconditional love Privacy Elitism Family

Dislikes... Untidiness Disorder Being teased Familiarity Surprises New ideas & paths Loneliness Being useless Public embarrasment

Their occupations can include most professions that have to do with math or money and they are strongly attracted to music (you know it!). In their personal relationships they are often ill-at-ease, if not downright unhappy. They are somewhat self-centered but not excessively so, wary and cautious around people they do not know very well, preferring not to meddle with others and in turn not to allow interference with themselves, thus they tend to attract people who do not understand them. Casual acquaintances they will treat with diplomacy, tact and, above all, reticence. They make few good friends but are intensely loyal to those they do make (so mofo true!), and they can become bitter, and powerful enemies. They sometimes dislike the opposite sex and test the waters of affection gingerly before judging the temperature right for marriage. Once married, however, they are faithful, though inclined to jealousy. Most Capricornians marry for life. astrology-online.com

you can also lean on the 4 types of personality.

the last time i checked, i'm choleric sanguine. in the last few years, i've keeping the sanguine part of me and yet leaning more on to being a phlegmatic. phlegmatic sanguine...whatever how that works. the two kinda contradict each other.

in addition to those...

i LOVE music so much. if i could possibly marry it, i would. i'm not like those who only appreciates one genre or two of music. i listen to various kinds of music. will let you in on that on a different entry. seriously, i you go through my ipod, it'll blow your betlogs.

i make a good travel companion. i know how to pack light and use maps. i find joy in getting lost. i've mastered the art of patiently waiting for the baggage carousel to spit out my luggage. i can spot them right away too.

i play basketball and watch tennis (novak djokovic anybody?).

i know how to use a lawn mower.

i watch a lot of tv (except in the summer).

i am freakishly strong (deal breaker?).

i don't lie.

i'm on twitter a lot.

oh and i don't bite. i just growl.

i think i'd date me. would you?

i know, he'll appear...

quickie

who? where?

"married a lesbian, left a man in the altar, fell in love w a gay ice dance, threw a girl's wooden leg in the fire, live in a box!"

go...

i know the winning word!

i was watching the spelling bee championship and realized how really that my vocabulary is still not big enough. here are some of the words from the last few rounds of the bout...

simnel - a crisp bread made of fine wheat flour

passacaglia - a slow, dignified dance of Spanish origin

apodyterium - the apartment at the entrance of the baths, or in the palestra, where one stripped; a dressing room

axolotl - an amphibian of the salamander tribe found in the elevated lakes of Mexico

goombay - the style of calypso music or rhythm popular in the Bahamas

iliopsoas - the great flexor muscle of the hip joint, divisible into two parts, the iliac and great psoas

xebec - a small, three-masted vessel of the Mediterranean, formerly much used by corsairs, now employed to some extent in commerce

grisaille - monochromatic painting in shades of gray

huisache - a tropical and subtropical New World shrub, Acacia farnesiana, of the legume family, having clusters of fragrant, deep-yellow flower heads

neufchatel - a soft, white cheese similar to cream cheese, made from whole or partly skimmed milk in Neufchâtel, a town in N France

cretonne - a heavy cotton material in colorfully printed designs, used esp. for drapery and slipcovers

caerphilly - a mild, white, crumbly, medium-hard cheese, originally made in Wales

jacqueminot - a half-hardy, deep crimson rose of the remontant class; -- so named after General Jacqueminot, of France

reredos - a screen or a decorated part of the wall behind an altar in a church

isagoge - an introduction, esp. a scholarly introduction to a field of study or research

sophrosyne - moderation; discretion; prudence

menhir - an upright monumental stone standing either alone or with others, as in an alignment, found chiefly in Cornwall and Brittany

and the winning word...

laodicean - lukewarm or indifferent, esp. in religion, as were the early Christians of Laodicea.

if you know your bible, you know that word.

word.

stop not in the name of love

Stop motion (or frame-by-frame) is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small amounts between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames are played as a continuous sequence. Clay figures are often used in stop motion for their ease of repositioning. Stop motion animation that uses clay is knows as claymation. wikipedia.com

enjoy...

so....

and the tony went to...

sunday night's Tony Awards has "awesome" written all over it. from the opening to the very last minute of it is pure joy. Neil Patrick Harris hosted and man, he looks deliciously fine.....ggrrrrrr.

i posted a list of who i wanted to win. unfortunately, out of my "wants" list, only 2 took home the tony. Tom Kitt & Brian Yorkey won Best Original Score for Next To Normal and the very talented Karen Olivo won Best Featured Actress in a Musical for reprising the role of Anita in the revival of The West Side Story.

here is Karen's acceptance speech....

so genuine, eh? she brought Josefina Scaglione to tears. you can really tell that she's not expecting it all. see the funny peace sign she gave the camera? her win/speech reminded me of Laura Benanti's win for Gypsy from last year. well actually, their Tony wins has a lot in common. both from a revival of a musical...both musicals by Stephen Sondhem (Gypsy and West Side Story)...their 1st Tony award...both were directed by Arthur Laurents...both gave Arthur a major shout in their speeches...and they're both kinda shaking on stage. pardon me, i really tend to do this 6 degrees of separation stuff.

if you are following me on twitter or a theatre/tony dork, i bet you can answer this question: what does Krysta Rodriguez, Karen Olivo, & Daniel breaker have in common?

congratulations to the winners! "dreams come true, bitches!" -Karen Olivo

my favorite parts of the show:

• the opening performance. it can't get any better than that. they totally beat Hugh Jackman's opening back in 2004. come on, Elton John jumping whilst singing "let the sunshine, let the sunshine in"? that is epicness!
• Brett Michaels getting "dropped". epic fail at the Tonys. totally his fault. his bandmates know how to pay attention at rehearsals.
• the droolage that were caused Neil Patrick Harris, Gavin Creel, Aaron Tveit, Matt Cavenaugh, and Curtis Holbrook.
• Laura Benanti's shout to the Patti Lupone incident where she had someone removed from the audience for taking photos.
• NPH's shout to Jeremy Piven's mercury poisoning incident.
• Lin-Manuel Miranda's "wepa!" while walking on stage.
• Karen Olivo's speech.
• West Side Story's performance (dance at the gym).
• smell-o-vision.
• Hair nabbing the Best Revival of a Musical award. the tribe nearly drowned Kristin Chenoweth on stage.
• the Rock Of Ages' performance. let your lighter shine!
• the Hair performance. they owned RCMH.
• NPH's closing number.

yes! take Neil's advice, go see a broadway show!

44 llib

the very controversial bill 44 passes through alberta legislature.

the bill gives the right for parents to pull their children from classrooms in which teachers discuss sexual orientation, sexuality, or religion.

crappy bill.

i honestly feel bad for those kids who will get opted out and deprived from such knowledge. i think this bill will produce moronic close-minded individuals. i must have had a "sheltered" liberating educational experience, who knows. i've attended a christian school for most of my in-school learning years. i remember being encouraged to question and discuss things that others tend to ignore. i've had a handful of exceptionally opinionated teachers who taught about what to expect in the so-called "real world". it was a christian school where gay students, closeted or not, are treated with the same amount of respect. at least it was like that when i was there.

i see no need for my parents to pull me out of class that teaches about the existence of the third sex and religion and other what have yous. they supply me with their own views and opinions about things. the most fun part is they know that i have a well functioning brain that judges well and a useful heart that knows how love. they know that they can only teach me as much....it is always up to me and my own judgment if i'm gonna agree with them or not.

compromising your own opinion is far different from avoiding a fist fight, i tell ya.

as @eadnams said on twitter, "I think world religions/cultre shud b a clas in public sch.d majority of d world blieves in *something*"

with that, i am lead to believe that growing up in a 2nd world country is a major. plus why? because we give a crap about what the 1st world countries and the rest of the world are up to. we talk about them in....wait for it......yeah, you got that right,....school. we talk about them in school. i am thankful.

alberta is moving backwards with this bill.

hence, the "44 llib" title of this post