Wow, I feel kinda christmasy for once. It started snowing on Saturday and hasn't stopped since. Suprisingly, it's even settled down in vancouver (I was in Burnaby when it started, but thats another story) to a couple of inches deep. I managed to take some ace photos, but I've been too busy to upload them.

Also, for those of you who enjoy my random musing and will miss the end of them when I've finished with this little adventure of mine (the end could be relatively nigh, my visa expires on Feb 22nd) fear not. It's my intention to start another blog, probably with a differant theme I'm intrested in when I get home.

Ok, so I gots some back tracking to do; but first, let me set the scene, if you will. For conditions for this post. About a fortnight ago, my adorable lady friend, Shana, expressed some intrest in playing the online game FFXI. Since I used to play, I said I would return to my old account so she could test play on it and I could play with her once I had either bought an additional copy or returned home and worked out how to pay for her account (we'll get to that part).

Two weeks later, after many phonecalls, texts, wasted time online and so on, I final resorted to getting up a 7am (on a day off T_T) to go to an internet cafe so I could talk to the tec support in england (office hours 1am-9am pacific time) and pass them the various bits of information I had gleaned in my spare time. My props to the person on the end of the line for being pleasent, respectful and very very helpfull. Never the less, it was still a fucking trial. That was just to get accsess back to an account I already owned.

So now it's 10am. I've still got the nightmare of setting Shana up with her own account. I've acctauly taken RBC up on thier offer of a pre-approved card JUST so I can charge an EPassporte up untill HSBC (the worlds local bank, who apparently no, can't help me with speeding up any transactions in england even though they have branches here *headsmack*) send my card paperwork home, and then it gets here, then I fill it out, sign it and send it back. There will be complications. The stupid thing is, I don't want credit. I hate credit. Square Enix, however, are dead set against anything that isn't visa or mastercard.

In short, I got up stupidly early this morning to bring a stupid convoluted chase to a close. I'm tired, but mildly satisfied. So now I'll talk about the rest of my week that DIDN'T involve making repeate phone calls/emails/complaints to my family/bank/video game company.

On Sunday I went to The Grates gig at the media club. Just as, if not more awesome than the Limerick Junction gig I had seen a few months ago. The Grates are the cutest thing to come out of New Zealand ever. I rant into a work friends roomate and an Aussie guy (they get everywhere in Vancouver, it's something to do with Whis-lah :p). I also picked up thier CD, really really cool. Best box art I've seen in years. The tunes are pretty good. Although thier live work is supirior. Theres nothing quite the same as seeing how crazy, bouncy and smily thier lead singer gets on stage. Also, the band that oppened for the, TV Heart Attack, where pretty good. If not a little generic.

Monday, I was supposed to go to the poetry slam but skipped out. I wanted to take Shana but she wasn't in a people mood. Apparently it was Triple D Day at the arcade (don't ask me, danmed if I know) and the place would be packed. Instead I sat around at home and played Katamari Damancy.

Toosday was Jen's gig at Limerick Junction. A little jam session with a few other people on the vancouver music scene. A bunch of JJBeaners went, Sophie (the cute french one), Jordan (the one who wears too much denim) and Meg (the dangerously well adjusted one). Together, we had waaaay to much to drink. Sophie and I had plotted to stop Meg from going home to her boyfriend, but that fell through. I went and rescued her from the ladies washroom, a rather daring move for me I think, and we leaned on each other back to the skytrain station. Apparently, I'm the only one who doesn't have girl/boy problems right now. Or at least problems I hadn't fully expected to come up against.

Wednesday. I checked in at the re-opened Video Monster loung (Duran's chef ran off. I think he owed somone money) and found out Duran was throwing a gaming event on Thursdays. I got a couple of people to show up (Matt and the Gaming friends and one attached girl). Although as usual Duran was kinda patchy and it took about an hour to get the gaming going. It was still pretty awesome though. I'm going to discuss it with Naomi to see if theres much I can do to help ship the event cos I think it rocks.

I also managed to find time to book an appointment at Joji's to get my hair cut. I have this alergic reaction to people holding sharp objects near my face; but feel marginaly safer with a student than just a cheap barber cut. I do have semi-difficult hair. Either way, I'm going to be shorter and lighter soon. But I do have a couple of photos of the mop of black I have right now. I just haven't gotten around to copying them off my camera.

I hung out with Shana over the weekend, and compleatly failed to get FFXI working for her. I did however start playing FFXII, Balthier is my hero. Gaming friends (Matt, Adam and Peter) came and hung out on Saturday and we played Soul Calibur.

More details to follow, I have a gig to be at.

So last night we went to a party at Monica's place. I say "we" because after some convincing from the combined forces of me and her mother, Shanan was brought around to the idea of hanging out for half an hour with me. She hates parties, mostly because she doesn't know about the cool ones. Luckily I do. We spent about 3 hours there in the end, I managed to drop my contact details with some friends of Mo, one of who teaches poetry at UBC and wants to get to know more about video games so she can understand some of her students better. Which is awesome; I'm intriuged as to the view of an open outsider on games today. The view from the inside of the industry now, it sucks. Every time I walk into a video game store I see something else that disgusts me.

I'm still getting my head around Shana, which is good I guess. Sometimes I feel like her mentor as much as her boyfriend. Often she seems somewhat of a brat, even though she recognises how much growing up she still has to do. I'm very protective of her in the sense that I don't want her to be smashed through random parts of maturity any more. Something thats really come to me whilst I've been out here is that it is ok for growing up to be fun; rather than some crazy search for the bits of social and personal development you need along the way.

Anyway, enough fear and loathing. Lotta cool stuff coming up this month. The 17th is release day for the Wii and PS3 (not that I care much, I don't have one reserved) AND the new james bond "prequal", I'm planing to see "The Grates" play at thier CD release party (Gravity Won't Get you High) at the media club on the 19th, then the next day theres a Poetry Slam at Cafe Duex Soliel that I want to hit up. 21st Jen is playing Limerick Junction, which I wanna check out too. The Video Monster loung is starting to boom too now it's open fixed ours. Thier new Waitress is from Pompy :)

Apparently the old waitress thought I had a crush on her. People who don't get it are funny.

Apparently, blogger has been eaten by google. Hopefully it won't start to suck any time soon.

So I had my Level 2 barista test yesterday. I was going to write about it after but was just too tired and icky from my cold. I got 80% and needed 85%, lost a handfull of marks on stupid things and a big portion on something nobody had told me was important on the test (suprise suprise). I'm onto day 9 of the trial of our temporary boss, who annoyes the hell out of me on pretty much a daily basis. I don't enjoy being patronised which seems to be ground into her state of being.

Also, I died my hair black. Pictures to follow.

People complain about me not writing enough, but don't comment when I do. Bah!

Caught my first cold of the winter. I feel dehydrated and crappy. The beer last night probably didn't help...

I lost my battle against the Vancouver Rain yesterday. It's been tipping it down for the past 2-3 days. On my cycle home from Commercial Drive skytrain station, after coming back from my movie date with Shana; I was unlucky enough to not notice the 1/2 foot deep stretch of water pooling where one of the side roads dipped down rather than up. Instead I plowed throught it at high speed and soaked pretty much everything below the thighs. Additionaly, for the first time ever the wetness began to soak through my jacket and make my arms cold. It was however, only a little. I took and executive decision to ride the bus rather than cycle in the rain to work today.

Shana got another cold and has been coughing and spluttering for the past few days. Unfortuantly for her it just boosts my girly instincts to look after her, which she only tolerates up to a point. I ran into Matt at the arcade, although he managed to dodge out of a re-match on "In the Groove" by sneakly running off for bubble tea (bubble tea is a strange asian smoothie beverage with tapioca "bubbles" in it. It's yummy).

Christmas is going to be so hectic, I don't even want to think about it. I thought I got away from all this moving away from home T_T.

Da-na-na-na-na-nana-na Katamari Damancy~

I bought we love Katamari yesterday, to comiserate the lack of good parties. It's an object rolling crack fest that I played untill 2am. Didn't even watch any of Fruits Basket that Megan, my work friend lent me.

Also, Jordan, another of the super happy barista friends. Moved into the building today. Unfortunatly, I was out at Metrotown so I couldn't help him move. Shucks...