the closest thing we will get to the north american house hippo.

I always wanted a North American House Hippo

Oh hey

 

Yes!

 lil guy

what?

found here

reading break

So I totally wasted my reading break.  I guess I did a few hours of research and planning on friday, but only because I had to submit a topic for approval a week before the due date.  Otherwise I spent a great deal of time in bed, got my house dirty, hung out with friends and family and didn't get up to much.

Since I now have crap to do, I am going to guilt myself into working on it since I was so lazy during my time off.  The theory goes like this, since I was super lazy for a week, my lazy tendencies can take a hike since they were obliged so much last week.  Hopefully then the proactive and productive parts of me have been growing in strength and will be unleashed on the busy week ahead.

its all theory.

exploding mice and senior's fitness

So far this morning I have;
blogged, for the first time in months
Mutilated a dead mouse we found with fire crackers and fireworks
Worked on my sitting fitness, I feel a lot better for it.

excuses

I have decided to address the reasons that I do not blog often

1. I don't covet/have enough money to covet cool consumer goods that I could post pictures of.
2. For some reason I feel that everytime I update it should be something profound.
3. If I were to write stories about my exploits I would have to censor too much and it would ruin the stories
- I am starting an anon blog for that purpose
4. I am often busy with school and other writing.
5. I'm Lazy.
6. I don't have a cool camera to post pics/vids

Costa Rica vs Realism.

COSTA RICA

Costa Rica is a small, beautiful, and peaceful country in middle America. Known for its natural beauty it is a popular tourist destination. Costa Rica is also known for having a great degree of biological diversity and is very proactive and involved with preserving and exploring the important natural splendor that Costa Ricans call home. It is even considered THE greenest nation on earth by the Happy Planet Index. The environment is constantly being explored to find new species of plants and animals, in the hopes of learning something from nature to apply to human problems (specifically for medical purposes). This is called biomimicry, a growing, important, and interesting new frontier for science.


Costa Rica is also special in being the first country to ever abolish it's own military. This was done after a civil war in 1949, they have not had a civil war since, unlike many of it's neighbouring countries. It is also the site for the UN's University of Peace, which I would love to attend one day.

So that's Costa Rica.


REALISM - Classic Political Realism

Classical political realism is all about power.

Realists believe that humans are fundamentally self interested, greedy, and anything but altruistic. Political realists suppose these ideas about human nature onto the nature of states' behavior within the international system.

So in this sense, self interest for individuals translates to national interest for states. States are fundamentally nationally interested, especially when it comes to safety and security. Realists believe that one, when looking at behaviors of states, does not have to look within any country when looking to learn and predict state behavior. They believe that the state will be doing whatever it can to serve its national interest by exerting as much power as it can, and by attempting always to gain more power than other nations, which it is in competition with due to the "zero-sum" nature of the world. Basically this means that when one gains another will lose. In a sense it is similar to the laws of matter and energy, in that there is a finite 'amount' of power and that if one state is gaining, another is losing.

Realists believe that, as a policymaker:
it is rational to accumulate power and exert power over lesser states whenever possible.
it is irrational to not use superior power on lesser states, and to attempt to exert power on a state with superior power.


Here is what I have drawn from comparing this nation to this concept:

• The policymakers in Costa Rica are not classical political realists

• The peaceful existence of Costa Rica undermines the ideas of classical realism

• While realism does explain much of the conflict the world has experienced throughout history, starting with Thucydide's History of The Peloponesian War from 431 BCE. There are now examples of states in the international community who have chosen to opt out of the realists' model of constant power struggles in preference of relationships of peace and harmony.
  

• Humanity is growing, evolving, and moving towards more a cooperative existence.

• Costa Rica is a bright example of intelligent, and creative ideas at work. Hopefully more nations can follow their lead!
  

a warm welcome back.

"Nothing really exists, but human life is governed by convention"

"Nothing is in itself more this than that"

(Diogenes Laertius IX.61)

I found this today while chasing an interesting word combination I havent seen before:

Greco-Buddhism.

I then looked at the wikipedia article. Today my program head, who is also my professor for 2 consecutive classes likened Wikipedia to something good for bullshit and barfights, in a medium length verbal lashing of the prodigous user-based online encyclopedia.

I found this word while on a rampant quest to learn as much as I can about Afghanistan, but avoiding wikipedia in my research like the plague, or H1N1 (which I learned is being taken very seriously. Seriously enough, that I am somewhat concerned that I may be mistaken for having H1N1 when hungover, or getting H1N1 from someone I may or may not know, yikes!).

This is part of why I love university. I enjoy having the time to explore something interesting looking, and end up finding a nice little proverb, by a wise antiquitous greek buddhist. I love learning.

So Afghanistan, I was informed today that a large part of one of my classes is based on a simulation of NATO involvment in the war torn middle eastern nation. After our two professors (both dope) finished the syllabus. We made groups, and now I am in a group with two new, like minded friends in the challenging role of "ambassador" which is simultaniously daunting and exciting to me. The other 2 members of my group (The Foreign Minister and The Foreign Ministry Representitve) will pick the country in my absence this friday.

Exciting stuff. I am glad to be back at school learning all sorts of crazy things. I am also excited to play rugby and get drunk with my friends, and make some new ones along the way. All is well.

I'll try to update this more often now that I am actually using my brain. Good riddance summer!

:)

Oh so fun.

Parkour is something that has recently came into my life and I am really excited about it. Its such a beautiful and organic way to go about getting from A to B. By definition parkour is about moving forward in the most efficent way possible, using your body, mind, and whatever is around you. This is not exactly the way I have been practicing but I recognize the value and artistry in this method.

What me and my hell raiser friends have been doing is just a little more fun. Our work invovles codenames, bandana's to conceal idendity, and doing some serious tresspassing. Hopefully I can get some pictures of us in action before the snow begins to fly.

roofin, floorin.

thanks to roommate/brother http://chodubs.blogspot.com/ for the last post. He had a [sic] bight.

Last night I covered a decent amount of ground, went to my campus bar which is only open once a month during the summer with my favorite peeps. saw old and new friends, put a big dent in my 40 of scotch, chugged some beer, yelled, hugged, high fived, talked, danced and had an awesome time.

I had my first walk to and from the den which was pretty special. on the way home we ended up climbing some shit and ended up playing on a roof, this was good because I spent a lot of the night doing work on the floor. Some things don't change.

All is well. I just have to get over my hangover in time to play a match for the calgary team against edmonton, I have 3 hours, its a non issue.

CRAZY BIGHT

AYO

TOUR

There is something about hitting the road with a bus load of rugby players. The fun is automatic, the conversation crude, everyone enjoys being up to no good, and the nights out are always memorable. Also you get to push around a team on their home soil. Saskatchewan tour 09.

hesse

Therefore, I see whatever exists as good, death is to me like life, sin like holiness, wisdom like foolishness, everything has to be as it is, everything only requires my consent, only my willingness, my loving agreement, to be good for me, to do nothing but work for my benefit, to be unable to ever harm me. I have experienced on my body and on my soul that I needed sin very much, I needed lust, the desire for possessions, vanity, and needed the most shameful despair, in order to learn how to give up all resistance, in order to learn how to love the world, in order to stop comparing it to some world I wished, I imagined, some kind of perfection I had made up, but to leave it as it is and to love it and to enjoy being a part of it.

getting by

Though living on my own is a lot of fun.

I certainly have a new found respect for my moms ability to retain socks through loads of laundry.

I have much to learn.

lao tzu

47

There is no need to run outside

For better seeing,

Nor to peer from a window. Rather abide 

At the center of your being;

For the more you leave it, the less you learn.

Search your heart and see

If he is wise who takes each turn

The way to do is to be.

wisdom

goodbye wisdom teeth, it was nice to have you chillin under my gums for so long.

Rager Recap

So it all went down.  after a day of furious party planning and proofing, mass texts and numerous phone calls, we successfully hosted a rager,  this little house has proven itself, as expected, to be able to hold heaps of party people.  On friday night, our humble student housing turned into a party destination, complete with a dance floor, kitchen keg stand area, tippy cup/beer pong table, secondary kitchen, bonfire and patio party outside, videogame/tv living room, and multiple hot boxed rooms and a general mayhem area which overencompassed the house.  the house has now almost recovered, and is awaiting the next time it opens its doors to the masses.

First Big Boy House Party

On may 1st. after 18 years and 345 days of living with my family, things changed for the better and i finally moved out on my own. 

the thing is I am not on my own at all, I moved into a nice house close to my university, with three close friends and one of those friend's older brother, all of whom's company i enjoy immensley. 

So as it stands right now we are:

those guys.

after years of partying and generally causeing mayhem most of us have developed/accomplished reputations for having more fun than they average person.

with 

that house

our house is pretty much designed for having fun university parties, and that has been the norm in this house for a number of years as it has been student housing for quite some time.  This house has been able to take a beating so far, yet I am somewhat worried, as my friends and I have often exceeded and destroyed, expectations and precedents.  We have also been known to destroy houses.

we are also the first of most of our circle(s) of friends to move into a place like this, and it has a lot of people very excited, including friend's parents who no doubt would like our their kids to spend more time here and less at home.

This all sounds like fun and games

But..............

We arent your average partiers, our friends can be described a number of ways: unique, special, idiotic, party animals, criminals, lovers, fighters ect.  And we have been known to get pretty crazy. Our high school heros were terry and deaner from the movie fubar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIpD1kXDpWI

which was actually filmed on the streets of our city.

Can we manage to have a large fun house party with most of our close friends in attendance?

without attracting police attention or property damage?

we might have a better idea 24 hours from now, after.....

our epic keg party!

ill keep you updated. goodbye.

feel free to comment

its all up to chance

welcome to my life.

Lets see what happens.