Maximum respect

Full story here.

Not much to say about this one apart from "LOL!". I love how the guy who took the picture feels guilty now about how that worker is probably going to get fired. If someone took a picture like this in England, they'd probably be foaming at the mouth and wouldn't rest until he was on the streets with only a cardboard sign to his name...

I do see a lot of TTC workers lounging around though which, when they apparently get paid quite a lot (I mean, how hard is driving a tram IN A STRAIGHT LINE!?), shouldn't really happen, eh?

TOthousand and TOn in TO

"This isn't cold. I'm not even wearing my winter jacket!"

Yo, I finally found enough motivation to write another one of these and hey, it's a new decade after all. Or is it? Someone argued with me last week about the fact that this isn't a new decade, because they started at 1AD, not 0AD, when Mary squeezed out that magic fetus amongst disease-ridden donkeys in a wooden shack in the modern day Gaza Strip (or whatever). I choose to ignore them. Happy New Decade you arse! But anyway, what's been going on since I last blogged way back in November...

Well, work. And a lot of it. I was finally freed from the shackles of popcorn selling in December and given the run of the cinema. That's right, I now get to do jobs as varied as ripping up people's tickets, walking into theatres and making a noise to check if anyone else is making a noise, cleaning people's mess after the shows, cleaning people's mess in the toilets or (and this one's been quite prominent this month), sitting in our big IMAX and making sure no one steals the 3D glasses, which are apparently worth 40 bucks or something. I don't understand why everyone gets excited about IMAX, I mean, it's alright, but there's one in fucking Bradford, and it's got a museum with it...

Part of the reason I've been working so much and in IMAX is because of that film about the Iraq war the blue men, y'know, Smurfatar. Avatwat. Avargoifyouthinkyerardenoughtar. It's a pretty good film and most definitely impressive, despite a pretty rubbish story, but it's been sold out on IMAX everyday since it's release and the regular 3D shows also tend to sell very well, which meant that over the Christmas period at least, I did nine out of 10 days, with Christmas Day my only respite (which was a bloody good respite, more on that later). I've seen the film way too many times now though and find it more interesting staring at guests or at the wall, which is a shame. Working a great deal has been a bit of a hard hitting novelty for me, considering I've never really worked fulltime. It's also a ballache when you have to count all the glasses at the end of the day and miss the last subway and have to wait for the nightbus in the bitter, freezing, hellish cold....

Oh yes, the cold. Last blog I complained about the lack of snow. Well, to be honest, we haven't had much. It seems there's been a lot more of the white stuff (easy) at home which is very strange. But I doubt they've had "feels like -29 degrees celsius" temperatures at home. I'm not programmed for this kind of weather, my face tends to go redder than usual and I can't feel any of my toes. And yet Torontonians (see subtitle) still call me a pansy and tell me this isn't cold. HOW MUCH COLDER DO YOU WANT TO GO!? It slightly concerns me that there's months of this yet and my primary goal is to survive.

But anyway, despite the long hours and coldness, I still don't hate work and it's having its advantages. I'm still living on the worst food possible for my health at work, yet the amount of walking around I do has caused me to lose weight and feel generally fitter. And of course, I'm getting paid more, so instead of buying one tin of tuna, I might buy two tins and a tin of sweetcorn. And a high quality carrot. No but seriously, the extra money, plus the funds I got from my family for Christmas, will bolster my bank account so I can escape the city whilst I'm still legally allowed to be in this country. Oh and also, I've been eating these.. the best cookies.. no.. food I think I've ever tasted, along with Pop Tarts. They're like crack. Except crack isn't on offer at Walmart. Everyone start putting money into my Paypal account, and I'll bring you some back. Probably.



So yeah, other than work... CHRISTMAS! Yes, that happened. This one was the first time away from my family, and I was very kindly invited to Steve and Sophie's, fellow British people, where a load of us had a very British Christmas, eating too much and drinking too much. I managed to call my family on Christmas Day and of course, that time of the year is always where you're gonna be thinking about your producers and fellow producees more and of course, although I haven't really been homesick since I've been here, I do miss my family, naturally. I bought myself some trainers and a pair of Gears of War boxer shorts, the latter of which are probably the coolest gift anyone has ever bought me. Take note, everyone else.

A few days later and it was New Years Eve. For me, the most overrated night of the year and despite being in a different country, it still blew chunks. Literally. Playing catch up made me go home early and make a mess of the subway (SO sorry TTC cleaners). At least I got to see in the New Year. Also this month I went to some lovely celebrations of birthdays.

On the downside, some lovely people left the country. Ahh.. the downsides of being a traveller. R.I.P Vanesa from work, Aidan from my house and if I didn't mention it, Mr Daniel Thornton from err. Bradford. All shall be missed.

In sports news, I worked the NFL Bills vs Jets game at the Rogers Centre. Once a year, The Buffalo Bills (a rubbish team) play a game in Toronto and naturally, I was excited at seeing "futuristic rugby", as I've played Madden games for years and since I've been over here, watched plenty of it on TV (It's better than ice hockey, come on. And I just saw an advert for "The National World Cup of Curling".. Canadian sports blow). So I was vastly disappointed when, after serving fat Americans buffalo wings (whatever they are) for hours, I got a break at midnight and I could finally sneak out and have a look at the game. Of course, it was over and I went home disappointed. CHAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGGGGEEEEEEEEEE!1111111

Another sporting disappointment occurred yesterday. Well, of course, it wasn't disappointing, it was the biggest victory my beloved Leeds United have had in years, yet I missed it because I was sleeping. ARGHHHHH!

2010 then. Have my plans changed? They change all the time. Originally it was to stay here until spring, then go to Vancouver and work. But I'm not so sure now, after the hassle of finding a job in Toronto, and the fact I'm not a wealthy man to be able to fund myself without a job for very long. But, as long as I get to a few trips out - Montreal, New York and something incredibly great outdoors-ish WILL be done - I'll be happy. And with the extra hours at work, I will definitely get to trek out of the city for the first time in almost three months, like a clear air deprived Victorian smog monkey-child.

I've also had ideas recently about doing this whole thing again but going and staying out west instead as I'm technically doing this "working holiday" as a student, and I'm allowed to do it once again before I'm 30, so.. we shall see. Another thing to look forward to are the visits from buddies at home in the next few months, which will be proper champion. Seriously, if anyone is thinking of coming or is gonna be around, PLEASE let me know, I'd love to put you up and show you around. I might let you touch me as well.

So everything is cool yo, don't worry. I can see the CN Tower from my window and Canadian Blind Date is about to start. Ahem. Bye for now!