DJ Champion

Last night a bunch of us went to see DJ Champion at Legends. I'd heard a couple of his songs on the radio, but the live show was awesome. The DJ does all the beats and precussion, three guitarists, a bassist, and a vocalist. The DJ directs the guitarists and bassist on when to make changes - pretty cool.

Chrio

Lately my back has been bugging me again. I used to have issues with it in 2002-2003. I think it's probably from a combination of the uncomfortable chair I had at PMC, hunching over textbooks, and stress. So I decided to go see the chiropractor on campus for a fix up. It's pretty amazing how much they can tell from just feeling your back - he felt my spine and was able to pinpoint the exact spots which have been causing me trouble. He also checked the length of my legs - apparently my right leg is sitting about 3/4" shorter than my left! Anyway, we're on a plan to get me all fixed up and straightened out - 3 times/week for 2 weeks, then down to 2 times/week for 2 week, the 1 for 2 week. Fortunately, my insurance coverage through the school covers it!

Midterms Finished!

Just finished my last midterm this evening. Labour law last Monday, Entrepreneurship yesterday, and finance tonight.

Scary thought... only 6 more weeks of classes left!

Whales!

Yesterday we went out on my dad's boat for Father's Day. We sailed to Montague Harbour where we had lunch. There's a marine park on the island and a little ranger station which provided information about the local wildlife. They had a touch pool that they collect animals for daily (starfish, clams, oysters, crabs, shrimp, etc). It was pretty neat to watch what went on inside the pool. A big starfish came near a clam (which they eat) and the clam opened up and used its foot (yes, apparently clams have feet) it push itself away from the starfish.

On the way back home we were sailing through on of the passes and noticed a couple whale watching boats in the area. When the whale watching boats slow down, you know there's whales nearby. So we decided to wait and see what happened. Sure enough, a minute later we saw fins nearby and coming in our direction. There must have been about three dozen orcas (killer whales), even some juveniles. We maneuvered around a little bit and the whole pod ended up coming about 300 feet from our boat. They were so close we could hear the sound of their blowholes when they surfaced. I'd never seen orcas in the wild before - it was definitely very cool.

Last Comic Standing

Watched season premiere of Last Comic Standing last night. My two complaints with the show:

1. Why do they let about eight people in from each of the US auditions, but only three from the Canadian audition?
2. They let a guy in a gorilla suit "Mel Silverback" through at the Canadian audition. The guy is not even funny. There's just something wrong with using a gimmick when doing stand-up. The whole point is that there are no gimmicks, it's just supposed to be funny! What's worse is that he took one of the three Canadian spots when there was a couple others who deserved it more.

The highlight of the show was definitely Gerry Dee from Toronto. Watch the clip here.

Brasserie L'Ecole

We went to Brasserie L'Ecole last night for dinner - sooooooooo good! There's something really nice about a good restaurant that's not pretentious about it. The menu was as follows:

Appetisers:

• Creamed Morels on Toast with bacon
• Wild Boar Prosciutto

Mains:

• Steak with blue cheese butter and Frites tossed in garlic, parmesan, and truffle oil
• Roasted Chicken Breast on a bed of spinach, snow peas, and bacon

Desert:

• A three cheese plate with hazelnuts and quince paste
• Creme Brule

VI Brewery Tour

As part of the dodgeball tournament, we all received a pass for a free tour at Vancouver Island Brewery. So yesterday about 15 of us went on the tour. I knew about most of the process from making beer at a U-brew. Of course, it's quite a bit more sophisticated at the brewery! What I didn't know is that depending on what kind of beer they're making, Ale or Lager, the yeast ferments either from the top of the tank down, or the bottom up. Also interesting, is the fact that VI Brewery uses only recycled bottles from the local Return-It depots. Their facility removes the labels, sterilizes, and inspects the bottles. In addition, their keg line can fill 60 kegs in an hour - one a minute!

Best of all, the tour ended with a tasting of their five beers: Vancouver Islander Lager, Victoria Lager, Piper's Pale Ale, Wolf's Scottish Cream Ale, and Hermann's Dark Lager. Now, I'm not usually a beer drinker, but I would say that my favorite was the Wolf's, followed by Hermann's. My least favorite was the Islander.

Jessica Beats the Man!

YES!!! An envelope came in the mail today from the Attorney General's office. I now owe $46 on my Skytrain ticket. Still not great, but a lot better than the $173 they initially wanted me to pay! It also took less than the 6-8 months they told me it would take.

In the last six months I've had to deal with Passport Canada, Vital Statistics BC, and the courts. But it looks like at least in this case, things worked in my favour.

BearingPoint

This afternoon I went to an information session for BearingPoint. BearingPoint is a worldwide management and technology consulting company. I like the thought of doing consulting because you get the opportunity to work across all of the functional business areas. Also, your work environment is always changing as you move from client to client. I tend to get bored doing the same thing day in and day out. Consulting is definitely an option to consider come August.

Networking

Studies have shown that over 65% of careers are found through networking. Networking is the process of making contacts for the purpose of finding jobs and furthering your career. The most interesting and unique jobs are never posted on job search websites. Personally, I am not the best person at striking up a conversation with people I don't know. I tend to be pretty reserved, especially when I feel uncomfortable.

However, with the end of my degree fast approaching, I though I'd better bite the bullet and put myself out there. So I signed up for the mentorship program run through the UVic business program. The program pairs up students with professionals from the Victoria business community. I had my first meeting with my mentor this morning. I was a little nervous, but she was very friendly and put me completely at ease. We talked for an hour about my experiences, my likes and dislikes, her career, etc.

My network is growing already - she agreed to introduce me to a couple of her contacts. When I checked my email this afternoon, her contacts had already emailed me to set up meetings! Exciting... and scary!

Definitely Need New Runners

Yep - definitely need to get some new runners. My hips and shins are SORE today! I guess thats what 45 minutes of jogging on pavement in old runners will do to you.

24 Hour Relay

This weekend I ran in the Easter Seals 24 Hour Relay. The relay raises funds to send disabled children to summer camp. It started at 9am Saturday morning and went until 9am Sunday morning and each team has a person running (or walking) at all times. Fortunately, my shift was 7-7:30am Sunday morning. Early, I know, but better than running at 3am! I ended up starting my run at 6:45 (nobody ended up running the shift in front of me) and doing two laps (2 or 3 kilometers each). I definitely need to get some new runners - my feet hurt by the end of it!