Edmonton and Change: Not a Match Made in Heaven

If Edmonton were a person, it would be about average. Maybe around 5 foot 8, 170 pounds, definitely male. He might drive a truck, probably with rims, but hopefully he doesn’t have any truck balls hanging off of it (we are in Alberta, after all). He votes for the Conservative party, if he votes at all, because he quite enjoys the status quo. Change scares him. He may rant and rave online about city politics, but he really just likes to pretend that he knows what he is talking about, and would never attend a mayoral forum. He is content with his life, his job, and his city. He likes driving to work, skiing on the weekends, and watching the hockey game with a pint of Keiths. He tells everyone he hates his brother, Calgary, but he really doesn’t give two shits and just says it because everyone else does. Edmonton doesn’t go to City Hall to look at the City Centre Redevelopment Proposals, because Edmonton just doesn’t care.

Edmonton’s issue is that a virus is slowly invading him. Let’s call her Change. Change sees potential in Edmonton, and like a girl who has never had a boyfriend before, thinks that she can transform him. Change values education, sustainability, and community living. Change wants Edmonton to exchange his truck in for a Prius, but for reasons she does not understand cannot get him to do so. Change frequents the Art Gallery of Alberta, supports local musicians, and values education. Change visits City Hall and ponders long and hard over which conceptual design is best for her city, which she sees so much potential in. Change could go a long way, but Edmonton is holding her back. The struggle between the two will likely end in Change finding another city that is better suited for her needs, and Edmonton staying the same. There is a glimpse of hope for Edmonton to give in to Change, and to slowly accept her ideas and values, but it doesn’t seem likely.

Starbucks announces its fat older brother

I'm going to extend a hearty thank you to Starbucks, for showing us once again what a gluttonous and disgusting society we are. The coffee company recently announced its new size...the Trenta. Though it sounds more like a pro wrestler than a drink size, you won't be able to wear any figure-revealing spandex after drinking this bad boy: expect your body to reveal one mad food-baby, because the contents of the Trenta are actually larger than the capacity of an average stomach.

The Trenta is 31 ounces, or 916 ml. The average capacity of an adult stomach is 900 ml. What could we possibly need a drink that is larger than our stomachs for?! Not only is the Trenta almost 4 times larger than the smallest Starbucks size (a "short"), but it can hold an entire bottle of wine (at an average of 750ml) with room to spare!

And just when you thought the North American obesity problem couldn't get any worse...

Things that need to be shared

I came across this blog while doing some travel research.

Taken from http://monkinthailand.blogspot.com/2008/01/how-do-you-pronounce-phuket.html.

This is why I couldn't survive in Thailand:

"THAILAND, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2008

How do you pronounce Phuket?

Phuket pronunciation...

Endless schoolboyish giggles surround the pronunciation of Phuket, and indeed Phi Phi, while everyone is mystified by the new Bangkok Airport - Suvarnabhumi.

Phuket is my home, so I get a bit annoyed sometimes by people saying Fookit or FooKet or anything else with an F sound. There is no F in Phuket, but the transliteration of Thai words is sometimes nearly impossible. You can see signs in Phuket to the same places with slightly different spellings. The "Ph" in Phuket is a hard P sound, but not as hard as a normal "P", slightly softer with undertones of "B"...The island was once called Bukit, which is Malay for "hill".

No F'ing please (although I guess that could apply if talking about Nadi Phuket), the correct pronunciation of Phuket is "Poo-ket", though as I say, the P is softened slightly, the K can sound more like a G and indeed the final T is not a hard T either. Easy, huh.

Oh, and Phi Phi is "Pee Pee", which could be funny if you are 6 years old, like Phuket there is no F in Phi Phi. Oh, and Phi does not mean ghost.

What of the airport - Suvarnabhumi, Suwanapoom is how you pronounce it. The V is a W, the R is silent and the BH is a P. With 4 M's and a silent Q.

Happy New Year from Fookit.

Jamie"

Thinking Ahead

The gates open, and they're off! Hundreds of them pushing and shoving to get through the entrance, determined looks on their faces, each one claims a spot - a small victory - a big payoff for the waiting, the preparation, the stress.

A marathon? A concert? A sample sale?

No. Libraries during finals season.

As I struggled to find a spot in Rutherford today I realized that April will be here soon enough, and with it will return the competition for the best seats around. In my first few years of University I attempted to study at Starbucks during finals, until I finally tried out the library and realized (gasp!) that I could actually read a chapter of my textbooks in less than 5 hours if I wasn't surrounded by friends to chat with and coffee shop noises to distract me. Since then I've picked my favourite study hole: Med Sci. However, this comes with new challenges, such as being run over by stampeding pre-med students on Sunday morning at opening time. My first such experience was overwhelming: I watched people bolt through the doors, throw their mittens down the central atrium to claim tables three floors below, and elbow each other for the cubicles under the skylights.

This year I will prepare myself in advance. Maybe I should start breathing exercises and yoga to prepare myself from the stress of fighting the crowds. I could always purchase new runners and be the first through the doors. Perhaps I could take self-defense classes, stick my elbows out, and fight my way to victory.

Or maybe, just maybe...I'll go back to Starbucks. Because the fact that I'm stressed about it two months in advance just doesn't seem worth it.

Do you want fries with that degree?

Ok, I get it: having a degree is commonplace. My Bachelor of Arts means little more to employers than anyone else's. A Masters is the new Bachelors, and a Bachelors is the new High School Diploma. As someone who is on the verge of graduating, and not planning on jumping up the ladder of post-secondary this upcoming September, this scares me. Here I go, four (...ish) years later, with...what exactly? What have I accomplished during my undergrad? Have I really just levelled the playing field of employment, or have I come out bettered to some extent? The fact of the matter is, I have basically accepted that I will be getting an entry-level, low-paying, probably boring job once I no longer bear the title of Student, and until I am willing to pick that title up again I'll probably have to settle for what I can get.

This is depressing for more than a few reasons. Aside from the obvious, it is upsetting because I feel like I have gotten heaps of value out of my degree. I've spent the last half-decade of my life learning how to think critically, write convincingly, and generally opening my eyes to learn about the vast world around me. Or so I feel, anyways. But the value that I have gotten out of this degree doesn't seem to translate into employability. I really hope that I'm wrong, and I'm crossing my fingers that - in a world where degrees are like hamburgers - someone takes a chance on my all-too-common McPsyc Degree and hires me into a decent position. Maybe I'll find a job that I love, and work my way up - putting off grad school until I really want to go back. I'm fairly certain though, that like many of my friends who were/are in this situation already, I'll find myself disappointed, send in applications for grad school, and peace out of Canada for as long as I can fund myself. Not the end of the world, of course, but mildly depressing at the same time.