Arrested Development

I don't know how many of you know of the show "Arrested Development", but I can say without a doubt that it's one of the best shows I've ever encountered (good job, Travis). The smart humour, absurdity, acting and how it all ties in every episode is pure genius. I'm willing to put money on the fact that there are a few others out there that love it as much as I do.

So if you know anything about the show, you've come to love Gob and his magical madness. I must admit, I am strangely hypnotized every time I see the spectacle that is Gob on stage. I will also fess up to the fact that I now smile to myself each time I hear Europe's (a successful Swedish band from the 80's) smash hit "The Final Countdown" which is always played throughout Gob's act.

I found this video while randomly surfing YouTube.com; I feel compelled to share it as it's quite entertaining for those of us in the know.

Special recognition also goes to Buster (Gob's younger brother) for contributing in the way that only he can.

Teeks

Don't let the door hit you on the way out...

It hasn't been very long since my last roommate update. Although I think this running saga is what keeps people coming back to this blog. The struggle of good (i.e., me) versus evil (i.e., him) in the battlefield affectionately referred to as "the kitchen" has been one of the only constants in this crazy, crazy world.

For entertainment's sake, I wish the trilogy could continue on (merchandising, spin-offs, movies, CDs with music inspired by the show and related international revenues can be rather lucrative these days). And if you read properly into my last statement, yes, it's true. I found out today that my roommate will be moving out. Will I miss him, you ask? Well, I can't really miss him until he leaves. But, I'm a sentimental guy; as a result, I will be taking the next 11 to 14 seconds to reminisce and reflect on our time together.

Sure as the Sun rose in the East and set in West, there was always an unclean dish left by roommate. Not only that, but the biology experiments that have been left in our fridge over the last few months improved my ability to navigate our shelves and to stack food in creative ways. Without a doubt, roommate set the standard for uncleanliness in our flat.

Done and done. See you on the other side, roommate.

Teeks

Utrecht

I've decided that I should stop ignoring the country in which I am situated and travel around the Netherlands more. Nevermind the fact that I've been to Elst, Amsterdam, The Hague, Leiden and Eindhoven (albeit just passing through it as I was on my way to the Eindhoven Airport), which is actually pretty decent in my books. So we set aside an afternoon for fun and frolic somewhere away from Rotterdam.

This time, we decided to check out Utrecht on the advice of several people. It's a gorgeous little town with a abundance of Dutch character. There's canals, little patio cafes & pubs and plenty of people on bikes. And honestly, what's a good European city without a giant church or cathedral? So we scaled the inside of The Dom Tower of Utrecht. At a height of well-over 100 metres, it's the tallest church in the Netherlands.

It's also a neat bit of trivia to find out that Canadian troops liberated Utrecht during WWII.

Utrecht is lovely. It's much like Amsterdam if you remove all the silliness and want to check out the non-tourist sites.

Teeks

The Saturday Market. Open Tuesdays as well.

Today I went to the Saturday Market to shop around. You can buy a tonne of stuff there and at reasonable street market prices. They've got everything from fresh fruits and vegetables to butchers, to clothing and knick knacks. There's also always a whole lot of people trying to purchase goods which can make it rather busy at times, but it usually remains very civil. It's quite the setup.

If you're in Rotterdam and interested in checking out the Saturday Market, it's just behind Blaak Metro Station. Just follow the sounds of the open-air commerce. You can't miss it.

Teeks

Residence Wars Episode VI: Return of the Roommate

"Always two there are, a master and an apprentice." -- Yoda

I'm sure you've all been dying to find out what's going on with my roommate. Well it turns out he wasn't kidnapped or locked up in prison or anything cool like that. I think he was just visiting home for a few weeks. But on his return, he did not come alone. He brought... wait for it...

his mother!

Yes, that's right. Imagine my surprise upon returning one day to find a middle-aged woman cleaning our kitchen. My first thought was that someone new was moving in and the building manager was nice enough to order a cleaning from top to bottom. No such luck... well sort of.

I definitely wasn't getting a new roommate, but she did clean from top to bottom. The aggravating part was that I had finally gotten fed up and cleaned up the mess my roommate left for the past 3 weeks the day before Darth Mother showed up.

This seemingly trivial fact sticks out in my mind because I remember saying to myself "he's going to show up the day after I wash all his dishes". Lo and behold, he's back. Perhaps strong is the Force with me after all.

Teeks

Rotterdam Marathon

Went down to the city centre to check out the Rotterdam Marathon today. Well, I didn't exactly watch the marathon as that would take around 2+ hours of sitting and waiting. I did stick around to watch a couple of friends run the 5Km and 10Km races.

It was mighty hot today at around 24C which is starting to be in the range of slightly uncomfortable even when you're just laying around. Which is exactly what I did in the late afternoon down by the lake or what we like to call "the beach".

Rotterdam has this lovely lake in the middle of the city with a walking and biking (of course) path around the outside. There's also a sandy area where the locals can pretend they're on a beach in a more exotic locale. This lake is an absolute Eden in the middle of Rotterdam's urban expanse. I love it.

Teeks

In capitalist Russia, police mug YOU!

If there's one thing of which I'm sure, it's that Russia is cold. And it will be hard to convince me otherwise since I can still vividly see a wall of snowfall coming towards me while waiting to see Lenin in his final resting place (see above).

Tyler, Sandy, Richard and I took one of the annual SSE tours to Russia. We saw lots of neat stuff and were also warned about about an equal number of stuff of which to be wary, for example:

• Don't drink the tap water, you'll get sick.
• Be ready for random passport checks.
• Careful of fake police performing passport checks.
• Guard your belongings against pickpockets.
• Be careful of cab drivers who will mug you at knifepoint (happened to one couple).
  

Needless to say, it wasn't a stress-free holiday. But was definitely one of the more interesting ones.

To add to the stress was the running theme of "many minor debacles, no major screwups". There were too many small things that almost went wrong to list, but needless to say I'm still standing and back in the comforts of Rotterdam.

Russia, don't call me. I'll call you.

Teeks