I never went to college or university after high school, as I got a job that started me upon the career path I’m still on today. With that in mind, I’ll just answer these questions with my high school years in mind:

1. What decade did you attend/are you attending high school or college?

I attended high school in the mid-1990’s.

2. What clothing fashion from that time are you glad/do you wish went out of style?

Adidas track suits as normal clothing. Unfortunately, anytime I see someone jogging in those outfits, I am reminded of how idiotic those kids looked. They thought they looked cool… but ignorance is bliss.  

3. Do you still listen to the music from your high school/college years on a regular basis?

Yep. Alternative rock and grunge music was really popular then, and it still is today. I didn’t really go for the whole “R’n'B” music that was starting to become popular then, and I’m not a fan of the crap that seems to be shit-hot these days either (it all sounds the same to me). I guess I’m starting to hate what the kids listen to these days… am I really that old? *sigh*

4. What hairstyle/hair color did/do you wear during high school/college?

Back then, I didn’t really do anything crazy or try to keep myself looking neat. I didn’t really care about my appearance, which is unfortunate. I kept my hair short, but when it grew out too long, it would explode into an unkempt mess. I wish I dyed it different colours back then, or even let it grow long, but I didn’t have the laid-back and care-free mentality back then that I do now. My Father would have killed me if I had dyed my hair red like it is now; “my house, my rules”. Feh.  

5. What was/is “the cool thing to do” while in high school/college?

Same as it is today, I guess: sneak beers out of your parent’s fridge, meet up with friends in the park or at a friend’s place where their parents are out for the evening or weekend, and get trashed. Don Mills was a pretty neat place to grow up as the entire community shut down around 10pm. No one was around. So, we had free-reign to do whatever we wanted… within reason. I guess another “cool thing to do” was to beat up on Evan, but I never participated in that.  

1. Do you like the look of your country’s currency (bills and coins)?

Yes. There are some that say that Canadian bills resemble Monopoly money, but I like the fact that I can tell the denomination of a bill by it’s colour. Blue? $5. Purple? $10. Red? $50? Sweet!

I’m not a fan of the bills in the United States. The “greenback” as they call it. Their bills lacks character (in my opinion) and their bills are all the same colour, which would drive me nuts. It would be way too easy to mix up the denominations, and I’d rather not pay more than I needed to because I was too non-sober to realise what I was forking out.  

2. Regardless of their actual value, do you like bills or coins better?

Bills. They take up less space in my wallet, and weigh a hell of a lot less. Coins are a good idea in some respects, but we don’t need the penny anymore. Round things up (or down) to the nearest 5th or 10th cent. I hate getting pennies in change.

3. What is your favorite foreign currency? And why?

Australian money. It looks cool, and as long as you don’t leave it in your pants when they go through the dryer, it’s practically indestructible. I tried ripping an Australian bank note once. Didn’t take long for me to give up as I realised it was a futile effort.

Yes, Frank, I like your cash. How about sending me some!?  

4. Do you collect coins or bills? Elaborate.

No. I cannot elaborate further.

5. Do you think human society could make do completely without money? Explain.

I’m not so sure. The world operates on greed, and the idea of something being free is scorned upon… for example, one of my recent posts. Unfortunately, there will always be greed. It is what drives people. You work, you expect to be paid. There is a perceived value to what you do. Some people believe they need money to be happy in this world. Some people over-value their own worth or talents, and when they get more than they should, they want exponentially more than anyone else. In some cases, greed is a good thing, as it spurns competition, but in a lot of ways greed is bad, as it dehumanises those who are captivated by it. Gambling… famine… war. Only when energy is not an issue… oh, and corporate greed too, don’t forget that… will we be able to start stepping away from money. But even then, we’ll need some sort of barter system. All through human history has one existed. I can’t imagine a world without it.

With that in mind, all I ask is the chance to PROVE that money can’t make me happy.  

Hah… whoops! A bit late.

1. What is your favourite fruit?

Granny Smith apples. Strawberries are a close second.

2. What is the last book you read?

“Confessor” by Terry Goodkind. It was the end of an 11 book series, which I found to be quite good… in the beginning. Later on in the series things started to get “preachy”.

3. Do you like any of your school photos?

Very few.

4. Do you ever blow dry your armpits to get the deodorant to dry quicker?

…what the fuck? NO.

5. What was the last film you watched?

“Let The Right One In“. A very cool Swedish vampire movie. Highly recommended if you like foreign films with subtitles, and can handle a LOT of blood.  

A blurb about this Friday Five:

Ear worms are those annoying little songs that get stuck in your head. Sometimes they are the last song you hear on the radio before you go into the office, sometimes they just randomly pop in.

1. What is a common ear worm that you get?

Generally it is the song that I really like at any given moment, which can last for a week or two. Examples of past songs are “Let It Die - Foo Fighters” and “Falling Down - Atreyu”. There are also times it’s some crappy song I hear from one of the many YouTube videos sent my way.

2. How long do they last?

Not very long. Ask me what I do to get rid of them, and I’ll tell you.

3. What do you do to get rid of them?

Glad you asked. Generally, all I have to do is listen to something else, anything, really, and that “ear worm” will be purged. I’m not really one to have a song repeating over and over again in my head driving me to the brink of madness, but I may hum it without knowing it, thus annoying others around me.

4. What is the worse ear worm you’ve ever had?

This fucking song that Sandy (my manager) played over and over again for a while. Some kids singing “Castaways… we’re all castaways”. I’m sure he’ll start playing it again now that I’ve said that, but it doesn’t bother me much anymore. I have headphones.  

Oh, and this is a great song that was somewhat stuck in my head for a few minutes today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-NOZU2iPA8

Thanks Molly.

5. Do you get some guilty pleasure in passing the ear worm along?

Sorry, are you asking me if I enjoy mentally torturing people? Come now. You know the answer to that one.  

1. What made you happy this week?

My Xbox 360 was delivered successfully to the repair depot, and I finally got confirmation that they are working on it. With any luck, I should have it repaired and returned to me soon. I need my “GTA IV” fix!!!

2. What made you sad this week?

“Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts” was released for the Xbox 360, a game I’ve been waiting for for a few months, and I can’t play it as my console is in the shop. Don’t get me wrong, I have tons of other things I can be doing, but I’ve been looking forward to this one game for so long, and now I have to wait even more. Bah!

Also, I am nearing the end of the Sword Of Truth series! I’m almost done the last book, and I don’t know what I’m going to read next. I’m a very picky reader, and it’s rare that I find an author or a series that I can sink my teeth into. I’ve been reading Terry Goodkind’s books for over a year, and it’s been an adventure, but now I have to find something that hopefully compares to the awesome storytelling that I am now used to.

Dang it.

3. What made you angry this week?

The ongoing issues I’m having with Rogers and their billing… or lack there of. I think I’m one of the only customers on the planet who is concerned when he DOESN’T get a bill from a large corporation. Having worked at a few large telcos (Primus, Telus, etc), I know that eventually they sort out the billing issue, and they WILL charge you for the time they missed. I’d rather get this sorted now and out of the way before a bill with four digits is delivered through my mail slot.

Thankfully, a co-worker has a friend that works at Rogers, and he asked him to look into this for me. I’ve called Rogers at least three times over the last two months about this issue, and the reps on the phone were not able to assist me. It’s not really their fault; they probably don’t have the tools necessary to correct a weird error such as this. But, my co-worker’s friend does have some pull, so it looks like this will all be sorted out soon, and I can happily start paying my Rogers bills.

Joy.  

4. What are you looking forward to in the next week?

Not spending any cash. This means that I won’t be going out as often for the next little bit, which means I’ll have plenty of time to stay at home and watch movies or play games. Right now, I have two games going on: “The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker“, which is a game from the GameCube that I last played in 2003 and decided to give a run through again. The other game is “World Of Goo” for the Wii, which if you have one, you MUST get this game. It is a physics puzzler, and an extremely good one at that.

5. What are you not looking forward to in the next week?

Not sure yet. Usually the things that I generally don’t look forward to doing end up being a ton of fun, so I’m trying to stop feeling a sense of dread ahead of time. This coming week is pretty clear too, so I don’t have anything on the horizon at the moment.