If there is one thing I love, it’s demotivational posters, and this is the website to get your fix.

Here are some of my favorites:

After all the snow we received this week, things are starting to get back to normal. The main highlight of the storm this week was the cartoon in the newspaper:

Let’s face it, it was a bad storm for Toronto. Maybe they should have called in the Maritimers instead?

1. Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor on the highway.

2. “Vacation” means going to Moncton for the weekend.

3. You measure distance in hours.

4. You know several people who have hit a deer.

5. You often switch from “Heat” to “A/C” in the same day.

6. You use a down filled comforter in the summer.

7. Your Grandparents drive 100km/h through 13 feet of snow during raging blizzard without flinching.

8. You see people wearing hunting clothes at social events.

9. You install security lights on both your house and garage then go and leave both unlocked.

10. You think of the major food groups as: Meat, Fish and Tim Hortons.

11. You carry jumper cables in your car and your wife knows how to use them.

12. There are seven empty cars running in the parking lot of the Canadian Tire store at any given time.

13. You design your kid’s Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.

14. Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.

15. Your lingerie consists of tube socks and flannel pyjamas.

16. You know all 4 seasons: Almost Winter, Winter, Still Winter, and Construction.

17. It takes three hours to go to the store for one item, even when you’re in a hurry because you have to stop and talk to everybody in town.

18. You actually understand these jokes and forward them to all your friends from the Maritimes.

I like to think that I know a fair amount when it comes to history. However, every now and then I realize just how little I actually know. Take for instance New Brunswick Day. It sounds like a fairly obvious holiday, a day to celebrate living in the best province in Canada - New Brunswick! I assumed that there was some historical significance - maybe it was the date of an early colony in the area, or maybe it was when we became a separate colony from Nova Scotia? It wasn’t until I started looking that I realized I was sadly mistaken. It was simply a way to give people in the province a holiday in August.  Just look at the writeup on the government website:

In June 1976, the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick adopted the New Brunswick Day Act, making the first Monday in August the provincial holiday. In 1989, the Department of Tourism, Recreation and Heritage was made responsible for organizing New Brunswick Day. At that time, New Brunswick Day had little purpose, other than allowing New Brunswickers to benefit from an extra holiday.

During that year, it was proposed that a merit award be made on New Brunswick Day to recognize exceptional New Brunswickers. However, sufficient funding could not be secured. As a result, in 1989 and 1990, the program consisted of a news release, schedule of events, and a list of festivals and events being held on the New Brunswick Day weekend.

In September 1990, a funding proposal was submitted which recommended developing a common theme, promotional material, a New Brunswick Day Merit Award, publicity campaign, and a schedule of events. In order to obtain additional resources and funds, an interdepartmental New Brunswick Day Committee was formed, and an improved program was prepared to celebrate this holiday.

So there you have it, another random piece of provincial history solved!

This is one movie you should really check out. I had been seeing some previews and reviews; but, I was never that interested in watching it. So, what better to do on a lazy Sunday then checked it out. I’m glad I did. It was a well done documentary on the American health care system. It went over the problems from the everyday person’s point of view, which I think most of us already know of; but, it also did some comparisons to Canada, Great Britain, France, and Cuba. It provided some information on how the system came about and where it stands right now.

My favorite parts involved the comparisons. The Canadian comparison involved interviewing people traveling to the United States and purchasing insurance, just for a day trip. He also interviewed people in a waiting room, asking them how much it would cost and how long they had to wait. Most estimates sounded very quick, but the more I think about it now, anytime I have gone to the hospital, I have seen someone within half an hour. I know we all love to complain, but at the end of the day we do have it good here. I can still remember working part time in school when I fell and broke my elbow. If we had been in the United States, sometime like that could have put my family into debt, something that we all just take for granted. We love to complain about 14% HST, but nobody would be willing to give that up for outrageous medial costs!

I found the other comparisons to Great Britain and France very interesting. They all have different systems, but the core is that we all contribute to ensure that the people who need help get it. I think that is the real message. That is the message that needs to be drilled into Americans who think that they can do it alone, because when it comes down to it, you need all the help you can get, and nobody will be there to help you then!

The Cuban trip was really great to see. Michael Moore took a boatload of 9/11 survivors to Guantanamo Bay where he asked for them to get the same level of health care that the terrorists receive (which is far better then anything I can ever imagine getting myself!). Needless to say, they were ignored. So what was left to do but take them to the hospital in Havana. In Havana, they received the care they needed, similar to any other Cuban. I found it really interesting when some locals told them where the hospital and pharmacy was located, a block away. They also said there are so many that you never have to go far. I liked that because I know that is true. When I worked in Cienfuegos, I had to walk by a hospital everyday. There was also another one near the University in the other direction. That’s closer then the hospital where I live now!

I think you should watch this movie if you get a chance, it really got me thinking about our system and ways to improve it. Nothing is perfect, but I would still have to say I am pretty happy with what we have right now!

That’s right, we eventually found a case of Moosehead Light at the Sobey’s liquor store in Fort McMurray. Although Sobey’s does not have grocery stores out west, they do manage to run a liquor store with some Maritime beers in it. Needless to say, I was excited at the opportunity to have a great beer while out in boomtown. We purchased a 12 pack for later.

When we eventually got home, I quickly opened the case and put some beer away in the fridge. This is where I became worried. The bottles did not look like your typical Moosehead Light bottles. These ones were green in color. I shrugged and continued putting the beer in the fridge. I then patiently waited for the beer to become cold. Chris also froze some beer mugs. The wait seemed to take forever, but finally, they were cold.

I bolted to the fridge, opened up a bottle, and smelled the contents. It smelled normal. Safe to drink? Lets try! So I take a drink. Bahh! What was that? Did I just drink watered down moutain lion urine? I must have because this is absolutely nothing like Moosehead Light. I’m sorry, but if it doen’t even taste similar it shouldn’t have the label. I’m planning on emailing Moosehead to let them know the beer in Fort McMurray is making them look bad. Seriously, imagine someone else wasting their money on this! They would think they Moosehead beer sucks in the Maritimes too!

Needless to say, the beer was only fit for the dogs!

Like any good adventure, it begins early in the morning. Too early in the morning if you ask me; however, that’s the way it is. Beth and I got up around 4am, got ready then headed to the Saint John airport. Everything went smoothly until it came to leaving. We sat on the airplane for about 30 minutes before someone asked what was going on. The stewardess lets us know they are working on it. This is exactly what you want to hear before the airplane takes off. Turns out there was a hydraulic problem with the door Luckly, they didn’t risk it and canceled the flight. So we had to speed walk back to the Air Canada counter to get another flight. We got there quick enough to make the flight to Montreal. We got on that plane just before it took off!

The highlight of this flight was the airplane magazine I was reading. Someone wrote with a red pen “This is Sparta” over every person on the pages. They also had things like “This IS Sparta” when looking at places, and “These are Spartans” when there was a group of people. It cracked me up, but Beth didn’t really appreciate it.

Once in Montreal, we ran around looking for the next gate as we now had to fly to Edmonton. The bad news was that the next flight from Edmonton to Fort McMurray involved at least a seven hour stay in Edmonton. Not what we wanted, but it was that or not getting there that day. We had a chance to get a bite to eat before leaving on the next flight. This one was long, four hours, and we didn’t get seats together. So I sat between two random people and watched Wild Hogs and Austin Powers - The Spy Who Shagged Me. Eventually, we arrived in Edmonton. Five minutes later a flight to Fort McMurray was boarding. We asked to fly standby on this and were lucky enough to get on and seats together! So instead of a long wait at the airport all day, we were able to get into Fort McMurray only a few hours later then we had originally planned.

The downside? Our luggage was left behind in Saint John on that plane. We had to make a claim here and luckly they just called (the next morning), so we will hopefully be getting it soon! Hurray, change of clothes!

So what is Fort McMurray like? Let me help explain with a top five list.

How you know your in Fort McMurray:

1. It’s dry and there is dust everywhere.
2. Trucks outnumber people and cars by a factor of twenty to one.
3. Stores close early because they can’t find people to work.
4. Drunk drivers roam the streets at 10am.
5. Getting a Tim Hortons coffee in the morning lineup takes an hour!

Like many people, I was sad to see Corey and Trevor missing from the seventh season of the Trailer Park Boys. They were my favorite characters on the show! Finally, thanks to Andrew for sending me the link, I have found out why they are missing and what caused them to leave! Trevor, played by Michael Jackson, has written to explain the changes to the show since the first season and what lead to their departure. See the original message here!

edit: it has been brought to my attention that some of what i originally wrote was insulting to my fellow cast mates and that was never my intention when i wrote this bog. i agree with this and i have decided to edit my blog and take out the offensive material. i’m sorry to those people that i offended. i love you guys. i’m leaving in the part about the sandwiches because i think it’s funny.

most people know that i don’t really like to talk about TPB and i really don’t. in my mind it’s in the past and it isn’t worth talking about. recently, i’ve had a lot of TPB fans message me and ask what happened and why i’m not on the show anymore and that it isn’t the same without cory and trevor. this is flattering but it wasn’t my intention when i decided to leave the show. i can’t answer all the questions that i get and TPB isn’t something i like to talk about but i will give a summary of what happened and why i left the show. this is going to be the truth and probably not what a lot of people want to hear and i don’t mean to sling shit at certain people but sometimes it has to be done. if you enjoy the show i hope you continue to enjoy it.

Season 1

the first season of TPB was really fun and i felt we were doing something really creative and it felt like a group effort. a lot of the scenes were improv’d and i don’t remember even seeing a script during the first season. during this time we were getting paid scale which is the lowest the producer’s were allowed to pay us and still have it be a union show (ACTRA). this was fair as we really didn’t have any acting experience and i don’t think anybody thought the show would be successful. season 1 bombed and the ratings were low and i don’t think anybody really understood what we were trying to do with the show. i remember a superfan from ottawa organized a party at a bar here in halifax and the only people that showed up to it was the entire cast of the show and this one superfan and his girlfriend. it was humiliating but really funny at the same time. luckily for us Showcase didn’t have a lot of shows and they played the episodes over and over and over. eventually people took notice and the fans spread the show by word of mouth. this didn’t have anything to do with marketing or business plans or focus groups. we all owe everything we have from this first group of TPB fans. i think we were all amazed when we were informed that we would be shooting a second season. it was weird because a lot of the production staff and an awesome lady named judy seemed to get let go before season 2. i’m not really sure why this happened but it seemed kind of shitty. i bet mike volpe and barrie dunn would know something about this.

Season 2

clattenburg wanted me to have a mullet for season 2 and i’m not sure why i let him talk me into this but i did. i also somehow signed on to be a grip for this season. the show had a new woman named karen wentzell who might have worked with barrie dunn at CBC. i had to go in and meet her and do my deal memo for the grip gig and she made me an insanely low offer and pretended not to know what kit rental was. for those that don’t know kit rental is what you get paid to rent your own equipment to a production. normally a show would have a gaffer and a key grip and anywhere from 3 to 5 grips and 3 to 5 electricians. i understood that TPB was low budget and didn’t need a huge crew but they didn’t have any electrics and i was the only grip. i don’t know a lot about electricity and they had me running extension cords all over the trailer park and eventually the breaker would blow and it would somehow be my job to figure it out. the camera dept. had 1 guy who held the camera when it wasn’t being used, a guy who operated the camera and a guy who held the slate. the lighting department had me running around like a nut. eventually they let me bring in raddie dave to help me but this was no way to work. eventually i told barrie dunn that it isn’t my fault they don’t know the difference between a grip and an electric and that what they were doing was dangerous and i took my tools and went home. i had worked on a lot of movies and this thing was a fucking joke. working as an actor on season 2 was ok and we were still getting paid scale and i think that is fair as the show still wasn’t very popular. bubbles played a much larger role in season 2 but he was still a great character. i’m so proud of the first 2 seasons of the show. i really think we were doing something special and for the most part it was a lot of fun. i wish the show would have ended here. what a legacy we would have had. oh well.

In case you haven’t heard, the 2012 summer Olympic games will be held in London, England. The interesting news is that on Monday, they released the logo for the games. The jigsaw-style logo is made up of four jagged pieces that form “2012″ in a series of colours, and was meant to engage people with a dynamic, modern and moving style, organizers said. “I wouldn’t pay a penny for such a catastrophic mistake,” said Ken Livingstone, mayor of London, questioning why organizers would ask for such a design. Keep in mind they paid $841,775 for the design.

You can pretty much picture anything you want when you look at it; however, you do have to admit that it looks a lot like Lisa Simpson doing things to Milhouse (original link). Use your imagination:

Well that’s funny and all, but the best part comes later. The BBC then puts up a gallery of user submitted alternate logos. The end result? The BBC gets Goatse’d on live tv and their website! The logo is shown to the left.

My favorite part is the explanation that went with the logo on the website: Sean Stayte, “Here is my design for the Olympic logo. It is very simple and so memorable. The hands represent Britain pulling together to reveal the Olympics.” Simply hillarious.

Here is the clip of it being shown on TV. You have to watch it just for the music:

And that’s it right? Not with this story. Today television commercials using the logo had to be pulled over epilepsy fears! CBC has a good story on it here. Here’s the info:

While the logo itself does not pose a health hazard, 18 people have reported having epileptic seizures after viewing the animated footage. A section depicting a diver plunging into a pool that has a multicoloured rippled effect triggered the most complaints. “I’m really shocked,” said Simon Wigglesworth of Epilepsy Action, a British health charity. “They know flashing lights can cause problems.”

The footage failed a test used to measure whether photosensitivity levels in animated TV footage are safe for people with epilepsy, said Prof. Graham Harding, an expert in clinical neurophysiology who developed the test. “It fails the Harding FPA machine test, which is the machine the television industry uses to test images,” Harding told the BBC. “And so it does not comply with Ofcom guidelines and is in contravention of them.”

This week I had the chance to see a few movies. Oddly enough they were both the third in a series of movies, and they were both hands-down lacking compared to the first two.

The first movie I watched was Spiderman 3. I saw this one at the IMAX in Halifax. Before I begin, let me mention that I was expecting a giant screen and insane resolution video; however, it just looked slightly taller and I couldn’t see much difference in the resolution. Anyways, the movie was long and had many pointless scenes. Seriously, I can only watch Peter Parker part his hair on the opposite side and smile at women while walking down the street for so long. Did it have to go on forever? Also, what was with all of the singing? The movie needed to be cut up much more before heading to the theaters. This is the crap they usually save for special features on the DVD!

Here is the good part: the action, when there was action, is pretty cool to watch! There were a few new bad guys that provided some interesting fight scenes, but the endless romance and awful comedy really make these few and far between.

My rating? A bland 2/5. My solution? Cut out the stupid scenes and focus on the action and it’s an easy 3 or 4!

The next movie I watched was Shrek the Third. I was actually looking forward to seeing this as the first two are pretty well done. The sad part is that this one is not quite up to par with the others. The story is rather bland and many of the jokes just aren’t that funny. That’s not to say there isn’t anything to laugh at - the best part in the movie is when then gingerbread guy has a flashback of his life! But, that was one of the few good jokes. The movie seemed like it was focused on just kids, while the first two had a ton of things that adults would enjoy.

My rating? A solid 3/5. It’s simply an average movie.