Friday, December 30, 2016

Hannibal, Simply Grusome

It had been a long time that I wanted to see Hannibal, the sequence to one of the greatest movies of all time, The silence of the lambs. I eventually succeeded and got very disappointed at the same time, last time! I saw the DVD a few times in different stores including HMV, where I normally go for my movie and music shopping and wanted to buy it but hesitated. I'm happy today that I didn't! I wouldn't spend even a Penny on a movie like that although I must have the movie I liked regardless of the number of the time that I have watched it.
The movie starts with a hideous face that I don't even want to remember it. Apparently this is a guy who have mutilated his own face under the influence of what Dr. Hannibal Lecter has given him and his instruction. So the movie is based on this guy (played by Gary Oldman whom cannot be recognized!) trying to lure Dr. Lecter to his place, which is by the way a big palace and Special Agent Clarice Starling trying to finish her mission by arresting Dr. Lecter
The problem is there's no Jodi Foster now and Julianne Moore plays Clarice which by the way is awful. I had seen only one movie of Moore prior to this and that was the small role she had in The Fugitive which was fine but here when you compare her to J. Foster, she does not deliver even 1/4 of Foster did in the previous movie. She is very mechanical, cold and emotionless. Even when she's holding a gun it's very uncomfortable! As per Hopkins I have to say that he's more active here in this movie and as smart as the previous one but he eventually is caught by the defaced guy guys(!) and is about to be fed to pigs! 
Another amazing thing that I experienced about this movie is that it's directed by Ridley Scott! I couldn't believe such a bad movie comes out of his hand. The guy has Alien, Blade Runner, Prometheus and Black Hawk Down in his resume but at the same time he has the ridiculous The Martian as well, the movie that I could not stand and didn't even finish it! 
In addition to directing there are a number of good actors such as, as I mention above Gary Oldman, Ray Liotta, Hopkins and a few foreigners but none of them help the movie. This is one few movies that I've watched and they all despised me. I'd better name the other two that I disliked a lot and will never watch:
1. The Revenant.
2. The Martian.
I guess enough has said about this wasteful, disgusting movies. I give 1 out of 5 to this movie.
(Photo: Picture from the final scene of the movie. In fact Julianne Moore beauty was the only pleasing part of this movie, especially when she was in this black dress showing one of his boobs. However her cold, bellow average performance helped the other elements of the movie to have a very bad experience. She is not even comparable to Jodie Foster in the previous movie Silence of the lambs)

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

A New Hope, finally!

I received an e-mail from CAF finally before Christmas asking me to sign an Enlorment Offer. I was a bit surprised as I expected that to be happening in Jan. or Feb. if happens at all! Was I happy or am I happy now?! I got excited just a little bit but that was not much knowing that Basic Officer Qualification Test is very hard! I was training for a number of month and just a few days after I received the offer, signed it and was accepted by CAF, my Gout problem started again and had not been gone completely so far! Exactly when I needed to continue my exercises to be able to beat that test, this happens! The Captain during the interview told me that if I failed that test, I would be given 90 days to practice and give it another shot but I don't want to be humiliated in front of everyone! There are lots to do before I can be sent to the garrison and fortunately there's enough time to get ready. I only have to recover from this damn Gout Flare as the physician called it when I went to a local clinic in Boxing Day
So it's a hope and unlike what Gorge in Seinfeld says(!) I want hope! I need hope. I have two other jobs still lined up for me, one with the Government of British Columbia and one with the Government of Alberta.  They will definitely notify me of the result in January but I will go to the CAF job of course. I only need to recover from this damn attack! 
But why did I chose this title for my post? It is true that it is finally a new hope for me but at the same time yesterday one of the stars of A New Hope, Carrie Fisher died. She was not very old, only 60! As this weblog is not a news-blog and everyone who is interested in the late actress can simply learn everything about her by a little search online (or in the bookshops as she was apparently a best-seller author) I limit the post about her here by adding that A New Hope has always been my favorite Star Wars movie. I never had the chance to see the movie in theater like many Star Wars fans as I was a little kid in those days but read the original book and watched the movie a few times and enjoyed it. I also saw Fisher once in an episode of The Big Bang Theory. She appeared briefly, probably for about 15 sec. and had a line. Unbelievable to see she's gone so soon and so young.
(Photo: Four of the main characters of the first Star Wars movie, A New Hope. Needless to say who's who. Everyone knows them!)

Saturday, December 24, 2016

Christmas Eve. 2016

After two weeks of extreme cold finally the temperature rose in a way that the coldest in the past 10 days was probably not less than -10 ℃ which is considered warm for Calgary and Alberta in general! Yesterday though a beautiful snow started in the morning and was going down non-stop until when I came home from a small shopping around 20:00.
I tried to talk The Chef into a hike possibly Malagne Canyon or Star Mine Suspension Bridge but our experience in extreme cold last time, has not been so pleasant to him and he kind of hesitated. Furthermore he is in such a bad shit now and in the verge of losing his home. So he cannot quite think of an entertainment! That is in fact his own fucking fault. He bought a house about a year and half ago with this African friend of his and the guy got into some financial problem a few month ago. He had been paying the mortgage since or better to say, according to him, he paid for a few months by himself and nothing has been paid in the past two months. So what he is going to do is not to pay for the third month. So the bank can take over. There's no doubt that he is a fucking idiot! They had three tenants. One in the basement and two in two bedrooms of the house. They all left about a months ago one after another and that is because the house is a fucking dumpster! But seriously who would live in the house that The Chef lives?! Two of them were Africans brought by The Chef's friend and there was a Latino small family of three in the basement!
Partially frozen and snow covered Bow River. The thickness of ice slab is near 35 cm at some spot. This remind me of that stupid movie The Revenant! The guy falls in a frozen river and swims in it for as long as 20 min. What a goof off! Anyone who swam in such water, would be dead in the first 5 min.! I will write about this silly movie later
Anyways I checked the condition of the roads which would take me to those two places and they are all covered in snow or are icy. So I think it would not be such a good idea to go to either hikes particularly Malagne Canyon which is about 5 hours away! The closest place to go and should be nice is Lake Louse and Grotto Canyon. I've been to Grotto Canyon in spring and it can't be as nice as Malagne Canyon and Lake Louise is nice of course but it's too far, I would have to pay for admission and it should be busy. If I go anywhere I will post about it here.
Today though I had a pain in my left foot again but decided to have a walk. So I popped up a pill(!) and went to the Bow River Pathway. It was so much snow that I could barely walk. I guess as much is 15 cm. Most of the pathway had not been plowed but then I saw the small vehicle at the other side of the river when I was leaving. Then I headed to North Glenmore Park. It was cold and there were not many people around. I just went and sit in the nearby McDonald's for a coffee and returned to the vehicle and went home! That was it. Nothing especial or exciting! 
(Photo: One of many cameras installed by Government of Alberta on the major road. You can see what's going on there. This one as you can see shows just a few minutes ago Highway # 2 or QEII north just south of Road 581)

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

The Best News of 2016

We are approaching to the end of 2016. The year which many, including me, believe has been a very tough year. I have been unemployed the entire freaking year. So have been many others. I lost a few good opportunities which could turn my life around. However just in the last day I heard something that enlightened some hope. I will write about that in a separate post before the end of the year.
However something I read yesterday which I believe is the best news of 2016. You can call me anything you want but I truly enjoyed the news when I heard it: A wealthy, disgusting, blood-sucking pig was shot in front of his multi-million dollar home in Calgary in his fucking Rolls-Royce
This nasty, worse-than-cockroach creature which (not who!) sounds from East Indian origin was apparently the president of Strategic Group. I have nothing against East Indians and in fact I will be going to India to enjoy their food, the beautiful places and history one day and as proof I bought a Mix Pickle from an East Indian store in the city and it's very good (Shan brand) but I hate both greedy and cheap people. 
In case you don't know this company, Strategic Group,  owns several buildings in the city which lease them out to companies and such. I know that the day that all these disgusting creatures are shot in the head never comes, unfortunately at least in my time but I hope in a capitalist society that the rich always robs the poor, all of the similar people are killed but not the way that this nasty animal got killed. They should be tortured to death. They should be tortured for months and then die of hunger, thirst and pain worse than concentration camps. The only difference is the people who died in those camps were innocent civilians. These are freaking disgusting creatures which (not who!) deserve to get killed by the way of torture. Seriously. And last thing: I hope they shot him in the head or to be specific in the eye and he suffered much pain when he was dying. At the end, and it's not very important, I would like to add that this pig was subject of multi-million lawsuits which he would probably come out a winner from them as these guys hire wise lawyers and pay them plenty! Sorry man (the greedy lawyer) one of your sources of income is gone!
(Photo: The vehicle of the disgusting pig in front of his fenced property in Calgary. Looks like whoever did this favour got him when he was behind the wheel. Apparently he lost control and hit somewhere or something. Who cares? The important thing is he is ceased to existence! By the way a vehicle like this costs probably around $500,000! It is unbelievable that in the world that is in such a chaos people still think of such extravagant vehicle.I saw one when I was in Munich in BMW Welt. I guess BMW has purchased Rolls-Royce, not that it is important! One of the guys whom I was working with, named Stray Dog, had a good point once. He said the world's situation is similar to 1914 when the WWI started! He asked me whether I thought that would happen soon?! I know there are people in the US who convince that WWIII is inevitable especially after Russia annexed Crimea but it is not that bad. While these are subjects of different posts, which I hopefully write about in near future, we [I and the Stray Dog] never got the chance to discuss this. before I go, I was reading an article in Maclean's about how Iran-Iraq War still is going on and that was interesting. The columnist was saying that what happened to the oil market in 2015 and 2016 is similar to what happened in the mid./late 80's and in both cases the US intended to harm both the Soviet Union [now Russia] and Iran. This could also be another topic. By the way read about this fucking Stray Dog to know him a little bit. He still works for the same company and I was kicked out more than a year ago! Why/ Because a motherfucker countryman of him is a manager in that country!)  

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Temp., Part-time Job

I received a call from a lady who coordinates volunteer jobs at, of course a place that I volunteered for a few months. She wanted to know whether I was interested in a temporary part-time job! In fact she said that they had contacted her and I came to her mind! Good! It means that I have done something good. However the position was a shit one and not very attractive but I found it rude to say no to her. I accepted that and then went for a meeting/interview after I received a call from another lady. The interview took place by a manager and a lady. Seemed OK and they called me and asked me to go for a sort of orientation meeting later which lunch was supposed to be served as well.
I went there and there were a few other guys, one from previous years and one new. The lunch, which has been the most pathetic and disgusting launch I've ever seen (I didn't even touch it!) was a number of disgusting Processed Meat-Croissant Sandwiches!!! which had been bought from a supermarket's Deli!! And they wasted time for about half an hour by presenting nonsense childish, stupid things and that was it! The only good thing was that I was given a $100 allowance which I later spent on a pair of nice Columbia shoes! The pair was for $129.93 originally which I guess I paid around $116 and then was reimbursed for $100 later!
Anyways the first day of work came and I was supposed to do a 12:00 to 20:00 shift which sounded tough in a -16 ℃ weather (not considering windchill!) I noticed that our small group considers of 5 Natives, one Caucasian and me! The piece of shit Native guy who apparently have been working full-time in there started showing signs of being a big asshole by saying stuff such as " I'm the boss here " or " I'm the supervisor " and nonsense similar to that. The other guys were fine. One of the was a dick head who just referred everything and everyone to this asshole supervisor-like creature! The Caucasian guy left in the afternoon as he had started early morning.
It got really cold when the sun went down around 16:00 although there was not much wind. I couldn't get myself warm and that was despite a few layers I had put on. Then this asshole walked up to me and said that someone had said to him that I was not polite to him!! That was it. I asked him how could that be?! and he kept telling me that I should not even talk about that and just have to take it!! I asked him if he wants me to come tomorrow and he said since ... (the manager) had hired me, he would not want me not to come(!) meaning if he had hired me, I would have been gone!
I had a hard time deciding that night then I said; Fuck it! I don't need this asshole! I e-mailed the lady who had the interview with me alongside that manager and told her that I had an injured leg. She called me after a few minutes and asked what had happened. I first hesitated to say about the fucking asshole Native but then I told her and she pretended or maybe truly was sympathetic. I asked to consider the e-mail I had sent her as my official resignation note and donate my one day wage to their organization! She accepted and hung up after regular goodbye. The same afternoon another lady, her boss, called! She also wanted to know what had happened. I gave her the same version and she insisted that I should go back! I accepted but the next day I sent another e-mail and indicated that I decided no to go to avoid confrontation. 
I then received an e-mail from one of them. My pay-stub and ROE were attached to that! I knew that would create some trouble for my EI but that was too late. Those assholes not only caused me grief and disturbance but also interfered with my EI which took me about an hour to fix it later in a Service Canada location (I'm hoping it is fixed because I have not seen the next deposit into my account). 
Then I asked The Lady whether she would pick up my cheque from their office, the cheque for my footwear and she said yes. So we drove there one day after of course checking with the lady to make sure it was ready. We went there and the first native guy either didn't recognize me or pretended not to! Then the main guy appeared in front of our car and he goes: Hello ...! I wasn't expecting him to recognize me that fast but he did! The Lady went to the office to pick up the cheque and I remembered that I had forgotten to give her the bag of their stuff! So I went to the main office and handed the damn bag over to their receptionist. At the same moment The Lady called and said that they needed the disgusting stuff! I ran back to the receptionist and wanted to grab the bag of worthless and useless(!) items while the cheque lady showed! I grabbed the cheque and got the hell out of there. It was not a pleasant last meeting tough but it's over (I hope!). I cashed the cheque and spent some of it already! I still have to wait for Service Canada's reaction to one day wage. I hope they don't make a big deal out of it because the guy whom I got on the phone was making a big one! 
So the lessons learnt here is: Never ever take on a cheap job while you are benefiting from full scale EI!
(Photo: This cartoon quite describes the job I had for one day. I hope CARTOONSTOCK does not mine me using their work)

Monday, December 19, 2016

An Exam for a Ministry Position

The job market, they say, is getting better. I've seen positions and applied for a number but hasn't gotten a good response yet. Maybe my chance comes up when everyone else is hired! For that reason and as usual, I apply for jobs outside my field of study, education and experience. There was a job a few weeks ago through the provincial government which sounded good to me. In fact most of government jobs are good. I received an invitation to write a 1-hour examination for that and I accepted, of course. Then I received a telephone call from a lady in that organization asking me if I had any questions! That's wonderful. She then told me that there would be an information session coming up and gave me the number for the location to sign up. I did and went there. There were a number of very polite and nice guys there who explained different things and answered questions. Their Sergeant was a 26-year-old fella. Imagine working under the supervision of someone who is many years younger than you! I have no problem, absolutely no problem with that as long as the person is not an asshole! 
Anyways I headed to the examination venue on the specified date and it was some -21 ℃ but I managed to get myself there on time. To my surprise almost 90% of examinees were sited. The funny thing was that four people were sitting at a small table, something similar to restaurant's booth but smaller! I remember once in B. C. I wrote an exam for a provincial job and we were sitting very close to each other, shoulder to shoulder. I was able to see what the person in front of me was writing but I didn't care. I just wanted to answer the questions and get the hell back to The Lady. It was not a very hard examination but required some attention and knowledge. Would I pass? I don't know and I don't know what the passing mark is but similar to any government job there are 8 major steps and then when you're hired you could be sent to any corner of the province which is completely fine by me. I'm looking for an excuse to leave Calgary! The other funny thing is that there's a 1 year probationary period for this job which again is expected. That of course comes after passing the 14-week training. We'll see. 

Sunday, December 18, 2016

Missed an Opportunity by 1 Point!


I wrote this examination for a position which sounded very good to me back in Nov. It was a very long exam. and difficult one too. We started at 08:00 and finished at 16:00(!) of course with a few breaks in between but that didn't help me much. I mentioned that in the previous related post that there was a disgusting, nasty, filthy East Indian who made noises like a hungry donkey! I bet he has passed! I, however, failed miserably! These are the results or the main three section:

1- Sub-exam. 1: Passing mark=54/90(60%). My mark= 53/90!

2- Sub-exam. 2: Passing mark=30/50 (60%). My mark= 29/90!

3- Sub-exam. 3: Passing mark=35/50 (70%). My mark= 33/90!

That's it!
(Photo: A quote randomly selected from the web. This pretty much is true about me)

Friday, December 16, 2016

Falling GPS!

I went to a Tim Horton's with The Lady for a coffee the other day as I intend not to disturb her by taking her to where hobo, drug addict and alcoholic hang out (Some of McDonald's locations to be exact). It was very cold as it is usually these days. I don't mind it much tough. I guess it was around -21 ℃ or something. I had my GPS attached to the windshield because I guess I wanted to double check an address. I parked and we went it and sat for half an hour and so. When we came out I saw the vehicle's 4-way hazards are blinking! I couldn't believe that! Then The Lady tried her door and it was open! Jesus! Then looked at the windshield and the GPS was gone! I couldn't believe it!
I was sure that I had locked all the doors. The Lady said: They can easily open the doors. We quickly concluded that someone had broken into the vehicle and stolen the GPS! I was furious because that would have been the second GPS being stolen, Had the theory been correct! What I did not understand was why would they put the hazards on to get others attention and how did they dare doing something like that right in front of the entrance to the cafe in a busy Downtown location at breakfast time!  
I soon would find the answer to all of questions! Apparently the GPS didn't stick to the windshield due to the extreme cold and fell and when it fell, it hit right on the top of the hazard flasher button and turned it on(!) then fell further down underneath the front right seat(!) and because it was early morning and dark, we first didn't see it! As per the damn door. I guess I had unlocked it when I wanted to move something from the backseat to the trunk and forgot to lock it again! It teaches you not to jump to a result quickly! I still believe people could have stolen the GPS in front of a busy cafe in Downtown, if they knew the door was unlocked. All they had to do was to open the door and grab it and no one would suspect that!
(Photo: A regular suction cap for GPS. I guess the extreme cold wouldn't let this function completely and the GPS would fall after a few minutes. However when the windshield was warm later, by using the heater, the problem was resolved)

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Why Do Some People Act Like Donkeys?!

It is said that there are some animals which are smart. There's even a list for that. There are actually many lists on the web and I'm not repeating them here. From Animal Farm by George Orwell which is probably one of the finest stories ever told, in my opinion, we know Pigs and Dogs are smart. From the same story we know Cows, Donkeys and Horses are not so smart. 
With that in mind, I was at a career presentation session the other day and there were a number of us. The employees, whom we would be one of them, if we got the job, after passing probably 11 stages(!) were very polite, very friendly and informative. They would explain different things and they would ask if anyone had a question. We were a small group 8 to 10. Mostly Caucasians including a girl, a descendant of a British Slave(!) and an, I guess from his accent, Eastern European fella. I have lots of experience with that last spicy(!) at the last job of mine. These people, mostly, and don't say I'm racist or I stereotype, have been disgusting! Why? I list a number of attributes and virtues(!) these guys, proudly posses:
1- Aggressive.
2- Repulsive.
3- Rude.
4- Incompetent but very pretentious. 
5- Excellent ass-kissers.
6- Racist (Yes! That is true. Look at what is going on in Russia, Poland and Hungary as well as Bulgaria)
7- Unfriendly.
Orwell from the time he worked for BBC. He is one of my favourite (not favorite!) writers of all times. This post would not be completed without his picture

I guess I have made my point and if you disagree, you will have to prove it to me because the above is what I saw in every single of them. It is just that some posses all and some a few! Having said that we were standing and this fella was explaining and asked if anyone had a question? This idiot, who looked like Sphinx by the way, you know? Just gazing forward. No feeling. Cold. Unfriendly. Ready to jump on you and stab you in the heart, opened his nasty sewer and asked the stupidest question that anyone would have asked: What is the career advancement in this job??!!!!!!
You filthy animal! I believe donkeys in remote villages of central Asia have more wisdom than you! You fucking idiot have at least 5 fucking stages to pass just to get the damn training and you ask about career advancement????!!!!
If I was one of the officers and had the authorities, would contact with the recruiting center right after the presentation and would tell them to cross his name out of the list immediately because I would not want to waste my time on such a dickhead who doesn't even know when he has to ask what question! Just disgusting and stupid! A true example of retard, dumb-ass, shithead! Sorry for my language but I just have very low tolerance for human-like animals like that. I'd prefer to deal with Cows, Horses and Donkeys, instead of them! 
(Photo, top: A scene from animated Animal Farm. The pigs are celebrating in Mr. Jones house) 

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Panhandling in Calgary

If you're somewhere in Downtown of a major North American city, shopping, walking or doing whatever, chances that you're left alone and not approached by a panhandler is very slim. I only say about my experiences here and I'm really tired of this but first let's see who these people are. I have no clear statistics but there's no need to say that most of the people who have ever approached me were Aboriginals and then Caucasians occupy the second spot. There were these past two recent encounters that I'd like to mention here:
1) I was sitting in a local Tim Horton's working on my volunteering things. I at times go to this Tim Horton's because unlike McDonald's not that many hobo, drug dealer, Native and former poor prostitute visit it! However it looked to me that I was wrong on that day. I have to add that certain Horton's location is a gathering point for a certain ethnic people, which I have not seen anything wrong from them in the past few times that I visited the location. So I was sitting and a Caucasian young guy in hoody, a black jacket and a backpack, which is a sign of being homeless most of the time(!), steps in. I need to focus on my work but at the same I have to have an eye on the surrounding because I definitely don't want anyone to grab my little computer and bolt out! He garbs a paper and approaches a young guy who is sitting nearby watching something on his little screen. It appears that he demands money because I hear the young fella saying that he had bought the coffee and has no money. He's a young Black guy, tall like a basketball player and maybe 20. Then he turns to me and asks the same fucking stupid question. I feel bad for these people and especially now that its fatally cold, they have to check into libraries, cafes, you name it to survive. I look at him and he's a young fella, well-groomed and probably between 26 and 30, and say nothing for a few seconds. He gazes back at me and demands an answer. I'm sick of these guys. So I tell him: Look at you! You are well-shaven and you look even better than me. You even are wearing a better and newer jacket compare to mine! He's a little surprised that fucking Black guy keeps saying: Relax! relax! I said: You have to know to whom you'er going to! I'm a fucked up guy! He says nothing but I just needed change and leaves.
The other day I was on a LRT platform in frigid cold and a woman approaches me this time! She's Caucasian close to her 30's. She has a brand new runners and brand new jacket but it's obvious that she's cold! She's ugly compare to most of Caucasian girls. This is the words that we exchanged:
Girl: How are you? (looking at me directly)
Me: I'm bad.
Girl: I'm bad too. (I'm checking her out)
Me: Yeah.
Girl: Could you help me with a few dollars?
Me: I was going to ask you the same! 
Girl: Oh! OK. (Walks away!)

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Ruined Kebab in -20 ℃!

I and The Chef had been discussing to have a hike for a long time. It probably started 6 weeks ago! I know every time he says that he forgets it the next day or two but I came up with this hike in Drumheller area and he agreed to go this past Sat. I had found this short hike in that area over to this old bridge called Star Mine Suspension Bridge. He originally welcomed the idea but the day we were supposed to go he said that we would not enjoy the hike and we would definitely have a problem with Kabob due to the distance and temperature. We then decided to go to North Glenmore Park beside the reservoir where picnic benches and fire-pits are available. 
So we got everything, Chicken, Charcoal, you name it and he had some cut Beef in his freezer and marinated them all. We headed to the park when it was almost -20℃ but fortunately there was no wind. There was barely anyone in the park but a few cars and a few ones on the foot. We got the stuff out and set up our camp. After numerous efforts the damn charcoal would not ignite. The Chef put the Beef cubes on the skewers and the marinated Chicken pieces directly on the grill of the fire pit. He believed that was a bad brand and low quality charcoal because after hours of blowing and adding branches and paper to the damn pit, it didn't get ignited properly but I also believed that he temperature played a major role in the scenario. Everything is freezing cold including the damn Charcoal and you need to warm them up and then increase the temperature for a long time in order to stay ignited but the extreme cold prevents that. All we got was a heavy smoke which got both of us and of course our damn cloths as well as dust which covered the meat! 
This is when we put the meat on a piece of Aluminium foil covering Charcoal pieces. That helped a lot and I guess if we had done in in the first place, we would not have wasted so much time blowing and burning. However the frigid temperature would have prevented the Charcoal pieces to be hot and fiery! 
The Chef then presented another idea: Why don't we covered Charcoal with Aluminium Foil and put the meat on the top of it. He believed the distance between the hot Charcoal and meat prevented them from being fully cocked. We did that but after a minute he said that he didn't think that was very helpful either because the juice from the meat would extinguish the fire!! 
Anyways it was total disaster but the good thing was there was not anybody around to watch two mindless and careless guys trying to cock meat in -20℃ temperature! We tried a few piece of Chicken and they were not very bad but the Beef had been dried, carbonized(!) and distasteful! I looked at my watch and it was almost 14:30 meaning that we had been fighting with cold and fire almost 2 hours and a half! I suggested to take the rest of the meat home and cock them in the oven. We collect everything and got the hell of there. The Chef was very tired from the week work and had a nap in the car until we got home. All the meat and everything else including the fruit, Ale, bread and water had been frozen solid. I guess I was lucky that I didn't lose any foot finger because although I had worn two layers of gloves, I only had a pair of sock on. I guess the only thing that prevented those to be frozen was moving around. Anyway that was the story and we learnt our lesson that not to try to have Kabob in extreme cold of Alberta!
(Photo, top: A sign in the park warns about the coyotes. Unfortunately we didn't see any)

Wednesday, December 07, 2016

Real Winter of Alberta

It started to become really cold last Sat. when I went to The Chef's on my Robobike! I had to dismount and walk the bike a few times because of the snow on the ground. The the temperature plunged and got really cold on Mon. when I did a 12:00 to 20:00 shift which will be told later separably. Lat night it was -30℃ with Windchill and I wanted to go for a walk but didn't! I've lost my gloves and I don't think it's a good idea going out without gloves even I put my hands in my pockets because I might have to take them out whatever reason and that we'll be a disaster. It's -19℃ now and almost -28℃ with windchill and it's only 14:33! I would like to see how down the temperature would go in the evening!
One of LRT stations in Downtown Calgary at 08:44 hours shows -16 C. This is the furthest station on the west side called Kerby. The temperature later went deeper and reached -21 C
I will probably go for a walk in the evening because although I exercise a little bit, I need to be more active, although I will have to do the same shift tomorrow which has a different story.
(Photo, top: This is not new to me but I wanted to have it here. The two-layer window of my bedroom is frozen in morning)

Thursday, December 01, 2016

American Hustle: Nonsense

There are times that I start watching a movie and then as much as I try, I realize I can't continue. For a while I had not have an issue like that until I came across this movie American Hustle. I found it so fake, unreal and phony. I tried it for the second time with the hope that I overcome my dislike, not that it was a big deal or something but I realized that I could not just sit back and listen to their nonsense, particularly because like many recent movies, it's said that it's based on actual events! 
I'm not even going to point at parts and scenes of the movie, not because it'll be a spoiler alert as I'm sure whoever wanted to see it, had watched it  by now but that's it. Not a movie which attracts me.
(Photo: Amy Adams in a scene of the movie. Images like this and girls like Adams is one of the reasons many went to see the movie and came out disappointed!)