Saturday, July 30, 2005

Photos

More to come for sure.

posted by Steven 9:40 AM  3 comments

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Wow. Okay, just arrived at an OFFICIAL YHA hostel. It fucking sucks. Kids everywhere. Old people everywhere. No one our age in sight. The Internet costs four POUNDS a god damned hour. What a rip off. And to make matters worse, I can't do much at the moment because it's pouring outside. I think my cast already got quite wet which is not good at all.

There are these five bloody kids sitting next to me. They are pissing me off.

*sigh* Anyway I saw my family yesterday in Sheriff Hutton, got to go through one of England's only privately owned castles, which is essentially in the backyard of my cousin's. Though he doesn't own it, his neighbours do.

So I gotta keep this short cuz I already only have fucking 8 minutes left. BLAH.

York Minster is cool, as is the city. YHA hostels, meanwhile are not. I KNEW I should have stayed elsewhere. Oh well. What's done is done, and it's clean, which is nice after the smell I experienced at the place in Edinburgh on my return.

posted by Not Indie Enough 8:46 AM  3 comments

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Raging Alcoholic Boy Drunk Report:
Parting is such sweet sorrow. I was sooo disappointed to see Paula and Christine off the bus today. It sucked to be alone again. But then again I am sure that my travels and adventures will afford me with many more opportunities to greet and harrass lovely young ladies with that hot Swiss accent, or something similar.

Anyway I went to Fort William two nights ago, and that place rocked. The manager of the hostel, Maca, was a fucking insane Aussie with a wicked wit and overall was a cool guy. Our tour bus broke down before it even got to us so in return for our waiting, the hostel gave us free pizza and booze. I ate like...one slice...cuz honestly they got three pizzas and they were SMALLS. Like small, as in individuals, that is a bit of a cock up. But anyway I had much free beer, played some cards with the lovely ladies of Sweden and Switzerland, and went to bed content.

The following morning I climbed Glen Nevis. You might know Glen's bigger brother Ben, which is the tallest mountain in Britain. Glen Nevis meanwhile is a bit of an easier climb (a scant 3 and a half hours up and down, compared to Ben's 8 or 9), and rewards your toils with a waterfall that can only be described as "wow." No exclamation mark, just a period. Wow. Anyway so then we took off for Oban in the afternoon after teaching our lovely Aussie couple friends how to teach Spite and Malice, which I managed to get the two Swiss ladies hooked on.

In Oban the highlight was the sunlight. Or it's fading, that is. Sunset was backdropped over mountains, with the ocean beneath, and all of this witnessed from a ruined castle that is completely covered in moss. Alas - I lack many photos because being the idiot that I am, my batteries died, and I neglected to take any with me to the castle. Oh well, it shall live on in my memory forever, I promise you, as it even topped the sunset at The Isle of Skye...and the one at Fort William. What the fuck, I think Scotland is the best place to tour for sunsets ever, seriously, you have nooo idea.


Anyyyyyway so I am back in Edinburgh today and WHOA holy shit I have to be in York tomorrow to have a lovely dinner with my family in the sleepy Yorkshire town of Sheriff Hutton. And then holy fuck my cast comes off like four days later. That is pretty fucking bizarre. Felt like no time at all (which in the grand scheme of things, it was not).

Now as if I haven't said enough about Scotland already, let me just make one thing clear. I AM coming back next September. I think this may truly be my favourite place in the whole damned world. The people are friendly (both tourists and the wonderful locals) the food is good (haggis is fucking delicious, fuck anyone who says otherwise) and the locations are mind-boggling. Just...BAH! Seriously I mean I knew this trip would be once in a lifetime and it would be just the most incredible thing ever but up to now, Scotland has fucking done it right the way I wanted. I've been drunk every night with beautiful women by my side, good friends and fantastic stories...its heaven on earth.

I think the next part of the trip will be a nice slowdown for me, visiting the family and such, and I LIKE the sound of it. And then after that I'll tour around Southwest England a bit, and then pop on down to Nice and then ITS FUCKING PARTY TIME BOYS. LET'S BREAK MY OTHER ARM!!!

Okay Paul calm down.

Aight I'm out!

posted by Not Indie Enough 1:31 PM  3 comments

Monday, July 25, 2005

did the eiffel tower, visited the louvre, sharing room with 2 Serbian girls with a curiosity for flip culture.

trip winding down, thank you boys, thank you mom and dad, thank you house 77.

Tracey, wish you saw what I saw.

good night, last call.

posted by Steven 7:56 PM  0 comments

Saturday, July 23, 2005

Okay ladies and gents. Short of the long is - I have given today a title:
Dr.Strangearm (Or how I learned to stop worrying and love the cast)

I'll make a long story short. I hitchhiked, I saw a beautiful sunset, I have two wonderful Swiss girls to hang out with, and the Isle of Skye is aptly named because it puts your head in the clouds.

So in other words:

EUROTRIP PART 2: SEPTEMBER 2006 - the SKYE TOUR.
Yah, for serious here folks. I am planning to come back for three weeks in September of next year. DEADLY fucking serious. Look up the place online, and see who wants to join me. I am limiting the party to four because you NEED to rent a car here. But the point is that I am coming back next year. Honestly. Like shit it is BEAUTIFUL here.

This post brought to you by:
Lucozade. "That's a lotta caffiene."

PS - Yah, I hitchhiked, haha, it rocked. Love and kisses.

posted by Not Indie Enough 2:24 PM  0 comments

Amsterdam!!! For the most part, we have been keeping eachother away from trouble. I'll shut my face before I dig a bigger hole than the one I've made on July 21st. Concerned parents and perturbed girlfriends needn't worry.

Today is our last day in Amsterdam. I will be taking a canal tour and visiting the Flower Market. I doubt I'll have time but it would be cool to see Anne Frank's house. The Van Gogh Museum was wicked. I think the day we went was the same day they unveiled a new wing with his drawings and sketches.

Ok, time to embark on another adventure.

CHECK YOU LATER!!! CHECK YOU LATER!!! CHECK YOU LATER!!! CHECK YOU LATER!!!

I'm moving to Amsterdam. Seriously.

posted by Steven 10:04 AM  0 comments

Friday, July 22, 2005

Aight well,
I am infinitely jealous of all those in Amsterdam, it sounds like I'm missing out on a trip of a lifetime (funny...I PLANNED a trip of a lifetime...haha). But yah in the meantime I'm having a fucking awesome time too. I am touring around Scotland by bus. And fuck it's fantastic. The scenery is just as good as New Zealand if not better in some places if you can believe it. What's more, the bus tour concept is just AMAZING and I have met a TON of really awesome people from Scotland, Australia, Canada, just all over.

Last night we went to a bar and did traditional celtic dancing...that's right...I danced. And I might add I looked damned fucking good doing it too. It was a fucking blast and I spent most of the evening chatting with a very, very lovely Aussie girl named Angela. Hey guys get this - why did she come up to me? Sympathy for the arm. BOO YA the theory works. Oh...oh....and btw fellas...you guys have sex shows but you'll lose your fucking mind when I tell you what I have... three .... blonde...SWEDISH girls. haha they are RIGHT fucking behind me too so I must be careful. I had a nice chat with the one girl Ida, absolutely stunningly beautiful the lot of them. haha I j ust fucking laughed and laughed when I heard where they were from. And yah they are here at the Isle of Skye with me, I might try to convince them to drive me around in a rented car cuz the bus tour around here is full.

But yah, fucking grand times here too. Oh man, I got RIGHT fucking ripped in Edinburgh the night before I took off on this bus tour. Andddddddd I nearly fucking missed the bus. It left at 9:00am and I woke up at fucking 8:50, haha I was damned fucking panicking. Best part is that I left behind a fucking book I bought the day before and was halfway finished. Whoops. Oh and yah I just left my passport at Inverness (that is the place next to Loch Ness, P.S - which is a BEAUTIFUL place) but I get it back tomorrow apparently.

Whoa boy what else...well yah, I've decided fellas that I'll meet you in Nice. It just makes sense and it gives me time to decide what the fuck I should do if surgery is required once the cast is off. Andy - pens are my BEST FRIEND IN THE WORLD. The sharper and longer the better. I must be the weirdest sight in the world with my fucking plastered arm and pens shoved down it.

Back to what I mentioned earlier - Aussie girl Angela - fuck she was awesome. Danced with her at the ceili (yah that's right...I had to look up how the fuck to spell that word...sounds like Kay-Lee) and we chatted up a storm. haha another bonus of the arm being the way it is - it's perfect for holding the arm of a lovely companion and walking her back along riverbanks late at night. Although she wasn't too fond of the lack of warmth, haha.

Anyway, I think that's all to report for now - I'm at the Isle of Skye now, which is I think the farthest north I've ever been in my entire life...or maybe Inverness. Either way its light out till like 10:30pm so it's pretty insane. Old Speckled Hen, a warm beer, is my friend. I love it to death. I want it at home I swear. I'll be back in Edinburgh on Monday and off to York Tuesday. PEASH OUT everyone Imma go do some hiking or walking or something I dunno....I think that Cafe Mocha I had is kicking in at the moment.

posted by Not Indie Enough 8:32 AM  0 comments

Thursday, July 21, 2005

THIS POST IS RATED XXX
... maybe PG-13

AMSTERDAMNED!!!

Seriously this place is out of it's freaking mind. The trip is just about to finish for Kien and myself. It's not even winding down, it's speeding up and tossing us around like ragdolls.

We are down 1 Paul Day. Insert 1 Eric Amodeo into the mix and the concusion is still disastrous. I feel out of touch with what's going on back home. Everyone else is emailing, sending postcards, and calling. I just get up and wander about. I sent 1 postcard to the folks whilst in Dublin.

Paul man, the liveshows are just as crazy as I thought. We caught one in the afternoon and it was a let down. Nothing hot about it. The evening show on the other hand is messed up. Dancers, girl on guy, girl on girl, male strippers, female strippers. Kien said I looked like a kid in a candy shop. Haha I don't think I'd disagree but it's only human nature to be curious and excited on the topic of sex. Those who know me know it's one of my favourite topics. Half the audience were girls and they had an amazing time too. Especially when the male strippers had audience participation haha. My personal favourite was when these two girls locked horns. Sorry I apologize. It was cool.

The art in this city stands out as well. The Hans Brinker (the place where we're staying) is right beside a comic store/gallery. They have an original Chris Ware hanging on the wall. I was there first thing in the morning to talk about his books and Jimmy Corrigan over a cup of coffee. He was definately proud of his store.

Girls, art, coffeshops.

Tomorrow I hope to rent a bike and see the entire city. Everyone here bikes. We got a good bitch out by the locals after obstructing a bike lane. I swore at them even though I knew we were at fault. I also have to see Van Gogh's museum. I also want to see at least one freaking windmill while wearing clogs. When in Rome.

posted by Steven 12:27 PM  0 comments

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

So even though I'm across an ocean I do read Canadian news over here. And I would like to be the first to congratulate and praise the Canadian government for passing Bill C-38 related to same-sex legislation. I think that it's a fantastic indicator of how forward-thinking and liberally-minded Canada and Canadians can be.

I read the article on the CBC website, and had to laugh at one quote from senator Gerry St.Germain, "If we don't stop this ... I know what the next steps are. Euthanasia. Decriminalization of marijuana." Now, don't get me wrong, I am not laughing at the matter of Euthanasia, I think that's a very serious issue, far more serious than the same-sex debate, but I feel that it should at least be reviewed and considered, not cast away as being too extreme. As for decriminalization of marijuana...AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh man. I love how that guy is a senator for BC too. Guaranteed his kids or grandkids smoke it.

Anyway, my news from Edinburgh is that I don't know where I'm going next. Maybe the Isle of Skye or Inverness. Then down to York. I gotta say, typing with a cast sucks, as does standing. My posture is awful right now, I can't keep my back straight. *sigh* okay I'd best get on with my day.

Peash!

posted by Not Indie Enough 6:17 AM  0 comments

Monday, July 18, 2005

tonight's our last night in edinbrugh, it's been fun, and super relaxing. prolly gonna check out the castle. gotta get up stupid early tomorrow, and paul's not gonna be with us for the next bit of our trip, i'm sure he'll fill you guys in on the details. anyway, next stop, amsterdam.

posted by theonlybradever 9:27 AM  0 comments

Saturday, July 16, 2005

So Edinburgh is better than Dublin. Its so so so beautiful. Unbelievable. ALL of you must visit it once in your life. The pubs are insane. The people are cheerful. Everything is out of this world.

I cant make this too long cuz today *cough* I dislocated my elbow. That's right folks! the hard fall I took last week weakened my arm so that when I leant on it, I dislocated it. I'm in a cast for six weeks!

So yah. arm is getting sore from typing. Peace out folks!

posted by Not Indie Enough 7:58 PM  0 comments

Thursday, July 14, 2005

holy crap. i was wondering how dublin would top london. but it has, in its own special way. pubs are everywhere, and pints have been a constant friend. highlights include, meeting some cool canadians, singing songs in packed pubs on a monday night, pouring water on unsuspecting passerbys from our balcony at the hostel, and some crazy angry old dude in a speedo yelling at us to be quiet. today is a day of rest before scotland. don't worry, somehow we're all still going pretty strong, and we'll have plently of ridiculous stories to share in more detail when we get back. quotes of the week include, "that better not be piss!!", and "there's a pizza trough!?"

hahahah. tooooooooooooo funnny. peace out ladies. we're off to scotland!

posted by theonlybradever 11:00 AM  0 comments

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Greetings from Dublin. I just read Paul's post, I think we're all at different Internet Cafes at the moment.

London was crazy. Cip showed us all an amazing time and took us everywhere. Whatever you want, London caters. A definate diversity in people, activities, and smells haha. If given the choice to live there, I would have to consider London's beauty over it's pace. It is one busy city, I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed a lot of the times. It was also something to be at city where world news was happening. The first day we land, London wins the 2012 bid. The following day the terrorist attack happen. Its hard to guage what's going on outside my narrow GTA perspective. You see the news and put in the back of your mind. Seeing London and it's people the day of the events remind you that it is real and is not confined in a box.

Dublin is amazing. I thought all the other places we'd visit would overshadow D-town but it seems she's giving more than her fair share. The hostel we're staying at is powerballing, and the Temple Bar area is awesome. Good luck doing a Pub Crawl here, there's like 309874 of them on one street (yes I counted). I've lost a lot of brain cells in Dublin. A lot. I feel slow and am having a hard time putting sentences together. It took me like 5 minutes to explain that I was leaving the hostel to Kien.

There is debate over the girls of Dublin. The ratio of hot chicks to horny tourists is favourable. We just don't know whether they are locals or fellow tourists. There was a barrage of chicks last night actually. A barrage.

I am also celebrating my 23rd birthday here in Dublin. We had festivities last night with fellow Canadians from our hostel. The night ended after we all found our way to the roof and sprayed unsuspecting passerbys with water and skittles. That sucks for them. I hope to take it easy tonight so that my brain doesn't turn into a mushy poisoned blob for the rest of the trip. Someone should put up a vacant sign pointing to my head. No profound insights at 23, just a beautiful city for my rowdy friends and myself to exploit... I mean explore...

Cheers.

posted by Steven 11:10 AM  0 comments

Well, we are on our third day in Dublin, and it's an awesome place. A lot of drinking going on, a lot of chilling out and enjoying the sights and sounds of Temple Bar, which is undoubtedly the tourist heart of the city. Shame it's not a bit bigger though. Doing two pub crawls thus far means that we have almost exhausted all the pubs to visit in this little jewel of Ireland's crown.

Gotta say though, it's super expensive. Its like 7 or 8 dollars for a beer, which is where London beats it hands down. Kien and I paid a visit to The Bank pub today, which is single-handedly the most spectacular pub I've ever seen in terms of decoration. It is just gorgeous in there.

Our hostel is mind-blowing too. We have a balcony about six floors up. The room is nice and clean, the washroom is big, and overall it's a really kickass place to be.

Unfortunately I think Dublin is going to have to be where I pay a visit to the hospital to see if my arm is indeed just sprained, bruised...or something more dire has occured. Falling on one's arm sucks a lot, when drunk, and when you think its broken at first. Anyway, peace out from the land of the field of forty greens.

posted by Not Indie Enough 10:59 AM  0 comments

Sunday, July 10, 2005

the last few days have been intense. definitely more fun than i really expected out of london. cip has shown us a great time. as paul mentioned, this morning i came back from my second straight all nighter out at a club, as in, we got to the bars at like 11 and were there till 7:30am. it was ridiculous. at fridge, paul, andy, drix and i were the only ones that made it through the whole night out of a group of like 15 of us that went there. at fabric last night, only cip, andy, and i went, and we lost cip, he passed out somewhere apparently. and andy went home around 6 or something cause he was trashed, i ended up hanging out there till 7:30 and went home by myself. amazingly, when i got to the canada water tube station, and went to change to the last bus i needed to get home, it was like 8am, and i checked the time for the next bus, and then i turned around, only to find cip standing right there. just wow. ok, dublin tomorrow. i'm out.

posted by theonlybradever 6:18 PM  0 comments

Not sure what to tell you all. Andy and Brad got back from their second all-night rave in London, this time at Fabric instead of Fridge. We all went to Fridge the night before. Insanity. Tis an interesting place folks. You'll hear all the stories upon our return.

posted by Not Indie Enough 6:06 AM  0 comments

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Well we have arrived in London, safely. And we remain safe despite the tragedy that has occured here today. In case anyone is wondering, just go to whatever news site you want, it will be a big story. Anyway we are all safe, quite far away to the east.

Really, really sad.

posted by Not Indie Enough 6:28 AM  0 comments

Monday, July 04, 2005

EURRUPTIONN 05
EURO-DISASTER 2005
DEBBY DOES EUROPE

Whatever you call it, she's gonna be ridiculous.

posted by Steven 9:03 PM  0 comments

Sunday, July 03, 2005

ok, this is just such a cool idea. anyone that has Apple's Garage Band should check this out for sure!

posted by theonlybradever 3:52 PM  0 comments

Friday, July 01, 2005

I have just returned home after a lovely evening out at Failte's with many CCITers and Gram and Ben. We set off fireworks from the 13th floor balcony. Fun times.

But more importantly...House 70, and the era of the reign of House 77 over the kingdom of Erindale and its boroughs...has come to its final conclusion. No longer are Brad "Mehhhh" Cale, Andrew "Mehhhhhhh" MacKenzie, Hendrix "Mehhhhhhhhhhhhh", or Paul "Meh" Day roommates. I can still remember the first day. I thought Julie had said that Hendrix's name was Henrick or Heinrick, so I full on expected some blonde German dude. Boy oh boy was I surprised. Then there was Brad...who sounded fairly clean cut and preppy...*cough*....Andy sounded like he was pretty geeky. I pictured some dude with glasses, and weighing 98lbs wet with quarters in his pockets. Turns out he is a Yeti...still has glasses though. And he's pretty geeky too.

Then there was me. I was a well overweight, naive, and absolutely introverted straight-edger.

Now I am a merely unfit, jaded, and absolutely introverted straight-edger. Get beer in me, however, and unleash an entirely different person.

If someone were to ask me what I expected university would be like before I was actually there, I wouldn't have known what to say. I would have been dreaming about the parties, the friends, the life-changing stories that you can only tell to a room full of people and never to just one person because it needs the atmosphere...

I had no idea that all those things would come true thanks to all the wonderful people I have met over the past four years. The boys of House 77, the wonderful people of Phase 2, the cynical classmates from CCIT, and of course those friends met during Frosh Week, reading week, drinking beer, or at parties...all of you made House 77, and all of you made university what it was. And in case you couldn't tell...it was a hell of a ride.

From Andy's failed attempt to commit suicide, and coming out of the closet(if you haven't heard that story - it's a funny one...no one died...just ask about it), to the first moment we saw Halo, to the party that came out of no where after pub that one night. The residence formal. First pub. Last pub. Sex pub. Hallowe'en pub. New Years pub. Pyjama pub (never chug two bottles of wine kids). Late night movies. The week between last class and first exams during first year, with BBQs, soccer, football, and glorious sunshine. The shopping cart incident. The concerts. The first sight of House 70. The reunification in third year.

And of course the keg parties. January, 2003 was the first one. We had another in April, then September. And suddenly every four months there was a good reason to be in Mississauga with nothing to do. Those keggers were something to remember - even if we couldn't do so afterward.

I dunno really what else to say but thanks to everyone who made the past four years the biggest adventure of our lives. And do us all a favour and leave comments with your own memories of the good times.

posted by Not Indie Enough 2:59 AM  1 comments