south american football rules my world

hey y'all...yeah, haven't been around in a while..have a couple of buddies down from hanna...went to the football game last night...river vs. brazil corinthians. wild times...south american football...it doesn't get much better than that...be around in a while. take care all.

check...check...is this thing on???

train roundhouse
Originally uploaded by dbuc.

recent conversation with ana...

me. i'm sorry i'm so gross and disgusting all the time. it's just that i really love you.

her. 'working, not really listening.'

me. so, i guess you're all prepared to go to the movie, right? like, you've applied your preparation h and everything?

her. i hate you.

in other news, i saw a great terry gilliam movie lastnight called tideland, which was filmed in southern saskatchewan. fricken awesome, and i highly recommend you check it out. unless you're close minded, in which case we can't be friends.

you know when you're going around, doing whatever it is that you do, and you have these random thoughts or memories, and think to yourself...hey, buddy, i should write that down...but then, for lack of pen, or laziness, you convince yourself that you'll never forget what it is you thought of. only to try and think of it again later that night, and obviously you've forgotten the brilliant brainwave by that point? i hate that. i'm going to end one of my all time biggest foes as far as forgetting thoughts goes right now. from now on, i'll always remember that i think amanda peet looks like piper perabo. there. i have it written down.

also, the us is going to bomb iran. don't say i didn't warn you.



insert....um, it turns out my girlfriend didn't know what preparation H was, so, basically, she just hates me. have a good saturday.

pps...(in know there was no ps) be nice to old people. you really don't know what a difference you make to them. (don't laugh and call me a fag. just be nice to them.)

as the pursuit of happiness would say, I'm an adult now

city park, buenos aires
Originally uploaded by dbuc.

well, i neglected to tell everyone it was my birthday 2 days ago, on the 18th. yep, some years ago, in that awkward period linking the 70's with the 80's, my parents (mostly my mom) gave birth to me in Hanna, alberta. little could they have predicted that they'd still be giving me some money, so many years into the future, to help me get by. thanks, guys!

it's at ages like this that age becomes relative. for all intents and purposes, i should have been an adult 4 years ago. or is that more for the 30 somethings? i dunno...some of my friends have been married long enough to have those meaningful anniversaries...like, five years is the ..... anniversary, 10 is the....i don't really know the appropriate gifts, but i guess they do. i also have to start thinking about my 10 year high school anniversary...it's not the 10th year, but planning should begin this year, if we're going to have one. ah, the anniversary...where people go in shame for what they were. where people go in shame of what they have become. where people don't go.

I'll go. i won't make cheesey amends. i wasn't an asshole in school. i also wasn't particularly nice. i got mad at my friends for picking on the 'heathens' as we called them. i was part of the problem, in labelling them as such, but i didn't pick on them. and i told my friends not to. in hindsight, it wasn't much and i wish i had done more.

here's the story behind the heathens. In our town, around age 14, all of the outcasts, geeks, dweebs, dweeby geeks, etc, were branded with a name...heathen. hanna heathens. at first, i can assume they hated it. then, they accepted it, and actually became a large group. maybe they had nothing in common before, but now they were linked as heathens, and the rest of us had created it. it was awful and cruel. you couldn't be with a heathen...of course, there were crossover heathens who played football etc, but, for the most part, they were quite poor, had low low self esteem, and would have been brutalized by a lot of assholes who, while ultra cool in high school, have amounted to nothing outside of high school.

in the end, the heathens all dropped out of school, for the most part, with was a huge number. my grad class was 46. it should have have been more like 60. awful. and our teachers did nothing about it. small towns can be cruel.

well, anyway, that's that. i'm old. i regret the way i was in high school. i receive money from my parents. this was random, and i thank anyone who read the whole thing and got any sense out of it. i don't think i did.

ooooooooooooh, what a weekend

wild mushrooms 3
Originally uploaded by dbuc.

haven't really been around much lately, maybe needed a break...i dunno, i hate it when blogging starts to feel more like a chore or obligation than something that i enjoy doing, so, we'll see how i feel in days to come.

went to the beach this week.end, which was fantastic..fresh air, good company, and all that jazz...didn't accomplish very much, but then again, i am on vacation.

saw a douglas coupland (sp) documentary on friday night before we left called souvegnirs of canada....it was awesome, and timely. i'll admit i had wet eyes a couple of times. it was great because it didn't focus on obvious things like hockey and wolverines and igloos...

he talked a lot about his relationship with his dad, and there were clips about terry fox, brands of beer, dad's cookies, and genuine canadian stuff. see it if you get a chance...it's not a glorifying piece of propoganda telling the world why canada is great...in fact, it's one of the few things i've seen or read that attempts and succeeds in displaying the canadian character beyond that of differentiating ourselves from americans.

hmmm, got a welcome home card from my mom...or rather, a glad you're coming home card, which was nice...you never appreciate those things until you miss them, really.

so, hope all had a good weekend with food and drink and friends, if you have them. chau for now

i know you want to go to arizona for a year...here's how!!!

handprint
Originally uploaded by dbuc.

i was going through some old photo cd's the other day and found this beauty...they were all full of testosterone that night after winning the gretzky cup. yeah, my friend host the gretzky cup in edmonton. what is it? well, there are two teams, team walt, and team wayne...and they play each other 2 times per year (i think) They have draft picks, trades, and coaches. they play in west edmonton mall, the university, and at rexall, home of the oilers. it's become quite a big deal, and, as you can see, lots of testosterone is involved.

in other news, the buenos aires international independant film festival is on now...i have over 35 movie tickets for the next 2 weeks. there better be something good on.

flames won last night, no biggie...

in other ironic news, turns out there was a jet crash in kenya yesterday. not so crazy kenyans after all, Mike and Smelly. not so crazy after all...

In other huge news, got an email from Kyle MacDonald the other day...he's the guy that I have linked several times on the side, and also the mastermind behind one red paperclip...he just had an interview on K-roc in LA, and, he just traded a recording contract in Toronto for, and check this out, a free year's stay in Phoenix. It's a sweet house, and, the airfare is included. If you want this, and have something you feel you can trade for, something really cool and valuable, contact Kyle here...remember, his goal in this is to get a house for himself, after starting out by trading a red paperclip....george stroumboulopoulis is in--why aren't you?

so, free rent in phoenix for a year...who wants it?

que divirtido!

feast all of your eyes on this thing of wonder and beauty....yes, the kona 2006 dawg primo...it was about three years ago that i promised myself that after going to europe, i would buy myself this bike...an investment in my health.

well, as things went, i kind of took a divergent path in europe, and, three years later, find myself just now about to return to calgary for a prolonged period. so, i guess now is as good a time as any to re-invest in my health. i could join clubs etc, but those add up over time...it's really much more cost- effective to buy this bike. it's a sexy beast that can handle the uphills but also rip it up going down.

to some, it probably sounds like bullshit, but biking is one of the things that is bringing me back to calgary. perfect location (almost), and lots of other riders. before i left, i was just getting into the community and lifestyle...that's kind of what biking is...a lifestyle that you buy into, not unlike surfing, snowboarding, or golf....so, anyway, i'm jacked to the nines about gettin' this shit rolling....if anyone wants to plan some serious bike trip, i'm in...i'm looking now at a camping/biking trip in the nwt,which would be an adventure..i'll drive. Of course, i'm not limited to the nwt...it could be northern bc, sask, or the north shore...

other than that, things are going pretty well...had sushi the other night, which was out of this world...and price range, but, ooooooooooooh, so good.

i have two buddies coming down here to visit on the 25th...not the best timing, what with me taking off at the start of may, but, meh...the thing is, the one guy, we'll call him lennon, is super jacked about uruguay!!what? uruguay? who goes across the world to go to uruguay? so, i'm trying to convince them to go hiking in the andes instead...but that's falling on deaf ears, i'm sure.

jackass was down here recently, filming for the wild boys. they did a scene where they used cattle prods to shock eachother in front of the pink house, which is the residence of the national government...um, little did they know that, during the military dictatorship, when more that 30,000...yes, thirty thousand, people 'disappeared', the cattle prod was one of the main devices of torture, before the people were eventually killed and dumped in the river from a plane. 30,000. that number is insane, and why it's not more well-known around the world, no one knows. needless to say, i'm sure the little prank didn't fly too well with anyone from here.

in other kenya news, they arrested 14 poachers the other day for poaching elephants and rhinos. i hate poachers...hmmm, what should happen to poachers? any ideas? not death, as i don't believe in that...but, something to learn them real good...do share any ideas...

Maestro Fresh Wes Rings True....yet again.

cats. who knew that the old addage 'curiousity killed the cat' (coined by maestro fresh wes, i believe) was so true. i woke up last night to one of the cats jumping at the window in our bedroom. i couldn't figure out what she was doing until i looked out and saw the bats flying around and making noise. it's great, because now we can't sleep with the bedroom window open, or in her thirst for bat blood, she'll kill herself falling 6 stories. That's one thing learned about cats. The other thing I learned about cats today was that they are not to be trusted with the bathroom door slightly ajar while i'm peeing. They've grown curious to running water. To them, pee is like running water. When they hear it, apparently they run for it. Our littlest cat got a wet head today.In true buenos aires fashion, i went to a cafe last night to read. it's what they do. they go to cafes alone, and read. nothing big. nothing exciting....save for last night. i was just getting into the first chapter of dorian grey when this lady came in, accompanied by 3 or 4 concerned men. she was crying hysterically, and from what i could make out in between sobs, her daughter had just gone missing. they were all trying to comfort her, etc, and tell her it would be alright...but frick..when i looked outside, all i saw was a sea of people. the girl was 8 years old. they brought in the police etc, and it was a big deal. before i could offer to help, the lady was taken out and put into a taxi...who knows why-to go search for the girl in a car? to see if she went home? it has to be the most helpless feeling in the world and i only hope that everything turns out alright for the family.eating cereal around other people is the most heinous eating experience possible. first of all, if you're eating cereal, you're probably not at your best, sleep in your eyes, pillow wrinkles, etc. not nice to look at. then comes the difficulty of transporting the cereal and milk from the spoon to the mouth. apparently this is quite a feat in the mornings for most people. inevitably, people end up slobbering milk down their chins. not just once, but several times during the cerealing. come on...how hard is it? a litte coordination, a little less milk and cereal on the spoon, a wider mouth, more insertion...apparently in Kenya today, they faked a jet crash in order to simulate the real experience. they lied to people at the airport, and to the press-- all in the name of simulation. great jokers, those kenyans....just ask the relatives waiting at the airport.

'....i hated how she always emptied the styrofoam cup before throwing it away.' --just a random character trait i thought of today.

of montréal

The top photo was taken in 2004 in Hanna....there's the railroad station and some leftover trains...(yes, the same railroad station from the nickelback video.) Though things have been really strange and stressful around here lately, my girlfriend continues to surprise me...she's much stronger than I thought she would be...which doesn't mean to say that this next month isn't going to be difficult as hell, but so far, she's doing very well...i guess in part to the fact that I'm so excited to go back, she knows it's the right decision. I'm proud of her for being so strong.
I've been listening a lot lately to of Montreal, who are, apparently, from Texas, actually. man, really catchy, nice songs. i highly recommend it. Got a sweet-ass email from blogger unknown today, doing the teacherly thing and explaining very well the situation in as far as teachers go in BC. I like to keep my options open, and bc is definitely an option, if not for this year, than the next...or one day...if i can afford it.
Humans are strange. I know I have nothing to be embarrassed of being on the computer for a couple of hours everyday. I have things to do here, hobbies, if you will. Still, sometimes, when I hear the familiar jingle of Juan's keys outside our door, sometimes i'll rush to the kitchen just so that he doesn't see me on the computer yet again. I'm sure he doesn't care, and he's never said anything to me about it...just a little mental effin on my part.
The illuminated part in the background of this photo is a hockey rink on the lake. I guess this is my most canadian photo...mtns, trees, cabin, lake, snow, water, and hockey rink. To update, the flames lost last night in overtime...frick, they aren't a scoring team, and need to avoid that shootout crap whenever they can...they snuck out a point, and remain in first, and should be above 100 points this season, barring a collapse. The west is so tight...it's exciting. can't wait to be back in calgary for the playoffs this year...should be a messy, messy time. take care, all....sorry to hear about matt good getting sick...hope he's well soon and can make up some dates.

nuestra gatita

nuestra gatita
Originally uploaded by dbuc.

hmmmmmm, long goodbyes are hard. what can you say...a long goodbye is better than a short one, and then you're left wishing you'd taken more time.

we went to watch a dance/theatre performance last night. we were waiting outside, and the performance was 15 mins late or so, and people were getting antsy.

we were in a really nice spot in downtown buenos aires, so i took out the camera and took some great photos. all around the patio were high apartment complexes, casting off a really nice light. i was taking a picture of one when i noticed a guy on the top terrace, looking over the edge. no big deal..i've done that on our terrace hundreds of times. i took a couple of pics of him and then moved on to other buildings.

all of a sudden, people started to scream. the guy was on the top of the railing surrounding the terrace, apparently ready to jump.

he looked back one time and leapt. it was unreal. from like 15 stories up. I was in a state of shock, and ana was screaming so hard.

just kidding back there... we went to the dance and it was good. that's all. have a good weekend.