Neglected, but not forgotten

Kind of like that toy you got from the cousins that live in a far away place. The one that was kinda neat, but not very exciting. That's kind of what this has turned into during my school time. Not much exciting happens to me when I'm at school. And if it does, well, something embarassing probably happened that I probably shouldn't talk about.

This semester has been...long. I feel little motivation in my classes, and an inordinate amount of frustration. Barely anything I'm doing is immediately applicable to what I want to be doing. More hoops. I'm tired of hoops. I would like to start working.

Dear University, I would like to start my life now, can I please have my degree? At least the next two years will (hopefully) teach me something I can use. For now, I have to sit through lectures about marketing useless imaginary products to consumer. While interesting, is not exactly what I wanted to be learning about business. It seems nothing is applicable to my future career plans this year. Paleobiology was interesting, for hte sole purpose of being able to see the evolutionary lineage, not just learning about the theories behind it. Other than that though, it was pretty dry. Give me igneous petrology, Give me geomorphology, give me some goddamn rocks. no more calculus, no more chemistry.

Hmm, I see I've started bitching again.

Well, on the plus side, the organization of the EOS ski trip is coming together nicely, I made the order for my first ever kegs today, and the bus is booked. It sold out in a timely fashion and Jeff and I are pretty much on track for where we wanted to be before the break.

Over reading break I had a nice relaxing time of it. Saw Modest Mouse for the second time. I have to admit though, the crowd sucked. A bunch of Orange County ho bags with no appreciation for the weirder side of the Mouse. Their new album should be pretty kickin' though, and I am looking forward to it greatly. I also got to see Joshua Tree National Park, which is pretty cool. i've never really been to a Desert, or really appreciated the vast, rugged, dustiness of it. Cactus and red dirt and crazy hardy plants as far as one can see. I am also goign to get into rock climbing as 1) I need the exercise and 2) it's bad ass. We climbed around on some of the easy stuff there (as our campsite backed onto a huge mound of coarse-weathered diorite).

Also hit Tofino last weekend before the big snow in victoria, saw some old friends, met some new ones. it was good times. i'd post pictures but, I'm lazy, and many are quite inappropriate. I probably shouldn't have gone swimming in the ocean at 1am while it was snowing. That was probably a poor choice.

Well, it's now time for the EOS christmas party, and I should probably attend. So I will get right on top of that.

Mundane

Being back in school made me realize my life is really not that interesting. And if anyone still reads this, I hope you gain something from it. Useful or otherwise.

I will comment on the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Mars Volta show on September the 14th.

BAD MOTHERFUCKIN' ASS.

I had tickets to row SIX. Went with a friend from Victoria,and during the second song of the Chili's set (Dani California) we joined the surge and ended up around 2 people from the front grating. My only qualm was that I watched roughly 10% of the concert from behind people's cell phones. I understand this is part of the reaosn they're so popular, you can take video and pictures with them, but godamnit people, i don't want to see your cell phone hovering over where FLEA should be rocking out. TURN THE FUCKING THINGS OFF YOU"RE AT A CONCERT.

However it was quite stunning to look up, around, behind and see the massive amounts of people all around me. The sound was intense. The show was amazing. I wish a leaked video of it would showup somewhere, i'd kill a man for it.

The only other thing of import that has happened lately was Kate's Birthday last wednesday. We hit up Swans (cheap pitchers of their own brew!) and then Evo(lution) for 80's night. this was made that much sweeter by the fact that a few of us took the time to dress up all 80's cheese style. Blazers, big sunglasses, and bright shirts were the order of the evening. It rocked pretty hard.

Hockey starts up tomorrow, and I'm pretty excited for it, classes are OK, my only eos class is fairly dry (paleobiology), and my business courses are pretty intuitive. Math, as always, is a selfish lover, and I decided to drop spanish, I really just want to pass calculus this semester. that is job one.

Also, I'm prtty stoked as allyson is coming uup in the first weekend of October (Canadian Thanksgiving for all you yanks). Exciting.

Back to school, back to school, prove to dad that I'm not a fool

Whew, been awhile...

Back in Victoria now, have been for several days. Things of note that have happened recently that are awesome:

• Getting a macbook...so sleek and well designed. awesome.
• seeing all my friends in Vancover, their new digs
• Going to Tom's cabin on Thormanberry Island
• DFX is awesome. Dock Frisbee XTREME. we're hardcore
• moving back to Victoria
• Seeing all my friends in Victoria
• classes aren't all terrible
• a calculus professor who speaks english as his first language

That..uh...realy kind of sums up everything that's happened since I left Colorado.

The wolf parade concert was just bad ass. Leaving Colorado, not so bad ass. But not because I like Colorado (dot dot dot). Everything that's happened in the last two weeks has been a bit of a whirlwind. Getting back to Vancouver, going to Tom's cabin for 2 days, moving to Victoria. I've barely seen my family...or had any time for myself. I ended up doing that this weekend. Kind of went Recluse on all my friends...I really just needed a weekend to breathe, and sit in the sun with a cold beer. That was basically the plan of action for Saturday and Sunday, and I have to say, it was much needed. I've basically been feeling exhausted every day when I wake up since well...since I moved back to Vic. I think I've finally gotten enough sleep from long nights and naps, so now I get ot get into the swing of things as far as classes are concerned. First quiz on Wednesday...then Red Hot Chili Peppers on Thursday, and back to Vic on Friday afternoon or Saturday.

so busy...so much I need to do that I still haven't.

ANd I can't finish unpacking until Staples gets my goddamn bookshelves in. So many books, nowhere to put them.

Wolf Parade

How do you go about rocking your way into becoming my band?
You take a song I think is mediocre on the album, and you rock the fuck out of it for 20 minutes at the very end of your show. Along with just being awesome, and pumping out every song you have in a wave of unleashed energy.

A band that is fairly mellow on their album, really brings it out when they play shows. It was amazing. I didn't think anyone down here in the ol' states would know who Wolf Parade is, but the Fox Theatre sold out. The whole venue is about the size of the dance floor at the commodore, and a bit bigger than Sugar Nightclub in Vic. We were up on the side, in the under 21 section (stupid allyson not being old enough to buy liqour) which in my o pinion was a great spot. Usually I like being down on the floor for shows, but the crowd was pretty young and well, I wasn't so much up for crazy moshing to Wolf parade. allyson and I just rocked out on the side with a great view. Being eye level with the band isn't so bad. They played all my favourite songs, which is most of the album. All in all, definitely one of the best performances i've ever seen. It was that good. I hope these guys last and continue to churn out amazing albums. They really know how to put on a good show.

As for that last song, Dinner Bells....it's hard to find a band that can have all 5 members playing their instrument at the same time, with two other people from the opening band also playing, and have it sound as amazingly good as Wolf Parade did last night. Everything about the show was ..well....perfect. It was much more than I could have hoped for.

Going to the old high school today to see a few teachers, and then it'll be a nice relaxing day of....relaxing. I love vacation.

C to the Olorado

Back in the old stomping grounds. Had some serious nostalgia last night after I arrived in colorado. Drove through some of the old neighbourhoods, and felt awkward. Party tonight and I expect to be ridiculous. Not sure what else is in store for me this week, but it turns out Wolf Parade is playing up in Boulder on Monday, so I think allyson and I will be going to see that. crazy and awesome. back in 'couver on the 31st if anyone wants to hit the pub. and then to Vic on the 4th if anyone wants to hit the pub.

can you tell I've been in a dry camp for 2 months? I spent all morning/early afternoon at the pub.

awesome.

Almost Out

My last few days on the tundra. Camp is gearing down, stuff is starting to be packed. The last of the core boxes are being logged.

It's been a long summer, but very much a good time. And I did learn alot again this year.

Looks like I'll most likely be back again next year, and I gain more responsibility and knowledge every time.

Not much for this post, other than my mustache is coming along nicely.

This is from a couple weeks ago when we were out at the fly camp.

The mustache curls a lot more easily now.

The Day the Seagull Laughed

So, as I was saying, fly camp was interesting. Lots of hard work. Finally finished it and got out of there and back to the real camp with communications equipment.

I seem to have finally found a solution to my University problem. Hopefully the professor helps me out getting my courses sorted, as neither the chem department, nor the lab coordinators wanted to do anything for me. Hooray for 3 years of Uni instead of 4.

I have 6 days left in camp, and they're dragging out pretty slowly. The work isn't as intense as fly camp was, with normal hours, and dinner at 6.00 instead of 8.30.

Today has been spent water sampling. And the day is only half done. We had to break for lunch early as I was getting too cold and bad shakes. Basically I stand balls deep in a sub-zero celsius lake and fill little bottles with water. This sounds easy. Except we have no gloves that go nearly high enough up the arm to stop the water getting in. I eventually gave up on the gloves as they were just holding the water and getting me colder, faster, without a chance to warm up. The hip waders I'm using aren't exactly the most water-proof things either, and the water slowly seeps through them as I'm standing there.

It might also help if the opening of the bottle was a little bit larger than 1cm to fill a 500ml bottle. Takes a bit of time. By 11am my hands and arms were pretty numb, and we needed to refuel the chopper anyways, so here I am back at camp for an early lunch, sitting by the heating stove cranked on fool, trying to dry out and warm up before going back out to do it again for another 4 hours.

As for the seagull, we were landed on a small island about to prepare our sample, when over head I heard a segull cawing as they constantly do. But then, right as I was about to wade out into the frigid liquid, I heard it change to a stuttering laughing sound. I have never heard this from a seagull before. The bastard was laughing at us. I was not amused.

But it's better than till sampling.

And in 6 days I'll be on my way to Colorado for some much needed relaxation, and a cold damn beer.

I have survived

Peanut Camp was..umm...interesting. Our kilometre hike to work and back every day was in face, uphill both ways

I'd write more, but I have been invited to a tent to partake in drinking festivities.

Adieu.

Fly Camp

Well, there won't be much from me for the next 10 days or so. Heading out to a Fly camp, basically 4 small camping tents, camp stoves, and doing some field work further up north, about 50 clicks from the arctic ocean. Pretty exciting, and I get to be in charge of the gun, as I'm apparently the only one who knows how to work a shotgun.

Uh oh.

Well, Until then muchachos/chas

Prey

I've never been hunted before. It's....terrifying.

I was casually walking along my gird lines with my magnetic survey equipment, a 5 foot metal pole with a blunt point on one end and a 10lb magnet on the other, and a little box that hangs on my chest. Rocking out to my tunes and trying to ignore the bugs, i see some quick movement out of the corner of my eye. Upon closer observation, there was a medium sized, white with sooty black spots, wolf. Now, you might not think 50m is very close for a wolf to circle you, but, when you're all alone with no one within 20 some-odd miles of you, and your radio and sat phone are sitting four kilometres away because you can't carry them with you for the survey....it's pretty fuckin' close.

As I stood there, with my aluminum blunt pole in hand, ready to fend off a ferocious attack, I watched the wolf saunter around me, and head upwind. This is when I got scared. From all those damned nature programs, I figured he was going upwind so the pack/mate can attack from downwind. I started looking all around me, but nothing. Eventually the beast disappeared behind a low hill to the east, but I didn't relax my guard for one second.

this all happened around 10am. I was freaked out and paranoid until my pickup at 5.

needlesss to say it was a very interesting and exciting day. Part of me wishes it had made a charge or something, and I could take home a nice pelt for the wall, slightly punctured/clubbed. The other part of me, the rational and sane part refuted with "jesus fuck thank god it disappeared".

Today: less than interesting. Back to laying out pickets on a second, much large grid to the northwest. Pretty boring. I wish I could be looking at some actual rocks, but....such is the life of a student. Sucks for the people doing this that aren't students anymore. Suckers.


It is very nice to be back to working in the field. My week in Rankin Inlet really made me appreciate the time I have alone, in absolute silence (when there is no wind and it's too cold for bugs), to think. I really do love this job, and I certainly can make a life out of this. Though eventually I'd like to be working in some more...let's say....tropical locales.

Back to the Tundra

So I left Rankin, hungover, and half asleep at 10 this morning after loading two truckloads of cargo and food. The same two truckloads we'd loaded and unloaded a number of times the previous days. Apparently there was a severe bacon and toilet paper shortage in camp as we couldn't get the plane out of Rankin for 4 days. Tough times at Bullion. While it was nice to be back with a working toilet and uh...well...actually that's about all the nice things I have to say about Rankin...

Overall it was a pretty decent break, didn't have to work too crazy hard like last year when I helped expedite for 5 companies. 15 hour days are not fun, in any way. At least in camp I don't have to clean up dog puke at 4:30 in the morning after the damn animal eats a stick of butter (and not just one of those 1 inch x 1 inch x 5 inches sticks, we're talking a brick of butter).

Tomorrow I start up doing magnetic surveys again, and hopefully some more prospecting is in my future.

That's all for now, need to go find something to do.

Fog-gistics

I love waking up early in the morning and getting out to the plane, just to have it loaded and not go anywhere for 3 hours because there is fog so thick you can't see 30 feet in front of you. Just when we get things running smoothly, fog shuts us right down.

Another thing I don't really enjoy about Rankin, stereotypes of aborginal peoples just being proven true over and over again. It's a dry community, but they still manage to get their hands on booze quite a bit. It's difficult to get anything done without being overly persistent. Sometimes they just take off and don't finish doing what they're being paid to...it's frustrating.

But on the other hand, they are very friendly, and always smiling. Even if they're seething and probaly pissed off because you interrupted their morning coffee. Ah well. I'll be out of here tomorrow, and back to camp.

Should be nice.

Spankin Rankin

So, here I am again this year, in Rankin, running some logistics for the company. I'm helping out a new guy learn the ropes and cope with the crazyness of organizing cargo to and from camps, food orders, people...it's kind of hectic.

I'm also back in pseudo-civilisation...Though it's hard to think of Rankin and much more than a third world location. Reminds me of villages in Thailand and Mexico. Not exactly your portrait of Canada.

Anyways, I've got to run and get to another plain to unload..work days here last about 15 hours...though the weekend might be a touch slow, hopefully...

more to come later...

Weather Days

Soooo

TOday is a weather day, low fog, blowing rain, around 3 degrees celsius.

SO, I'm going to go ahead and do one of these cheesey things, as there is nothing else to do.

11 LAYERS OF YOU

LAYER ONE: ON THE OUTSIDE
Name: alexander stewart wallis
Nickname: wally, wallis, the professor
Birth date: may 23, 1984
Current Location: Kiavalliq region, Northeastern Nunavut, Arctic Circle (but I live in Victoria most of the year)
Eye Color: Blue/Grey/Green/crazy
Hair Color: brown
Righty or Lefty: Righty, at least that's what I'm best with, it's my hammerin' arm.
Zodiac Sign: Gemini

LAYER TWO: ON THE INSIDE
Your heritage: Irish/scottish/welsh/Australian/South African (my family roots are drifters)
Your fears: damage to my achilles tendon, dying before I've accomplished what I want, not being able to travel.
Your weakness: travel, good food, rocks, good beer, good wine
Your perfect pizza: garlic sauce, cheese, bacon, chives, chicken
Goal you’d like to achieve: visit every country. EVERY country. Bit of a pipe dream. I'd also like to own a sailboat, and property on a Gulf Island in BC.

LAYER THREE: YESTERDAY, TODAY, TOMORROW:
Your thoughts first waking up: "Oh fuck it's 7am and I have to scramble over boulders" "Oh fuck it's 6:45, but oh, look at that, it's raining and visibility is at 100 metres, maybe it'll be a weather day" "Oh Fuck, it's 7am and I have to fly to Rankin Inlet at some point today"
Your bedtime: When I'm tired. ALternates between 8 pm and 1am.
Your most missed memory: How can I remember a memory I miss? Obviously if I can't remember it I meant to forget it and don't miss it. No.

LAYER FOUR: YOUR PICK:
Pepsi or Coke: Coke (glass bottle, third world countries, straw)
McDonald’s or Burger King: Neither
Single or group dates: Single.
Adidas or Nike: Adidas, though I can't say I actually own anything made by either of these companies
Lipton Tea or Nestea: not a big tea fan, except green and Chai
Chocolate or vanilla: Both
Cappuccino or coffee: both, though I'll drink anything with caffeine in it when I'm in the field.

LAYER FIVE: DO YOU?
Smoke: Cigars(occasionally) and Cannabis.
Curse: More than any self-respecting person should in a professional environment
Take a shower: well..in the field...every few days....but back home it's a much more regular thing.
Have a crush: I do. I do indeed.
Like(d) school: Yes. I'd better seeing as how I"ll be there for 3 or 4 more years
Want to get married: Eventually. I'm not really in any kind of rush, I'm young and have lots to see and do first.
Believe in yourself: more than I used to.
Think you’re a health freak: Not really. I don't go to a gym, and I pretty much just eat what I want, though it is admittedly more healthy than it used to be. My vices probably don't help much, but ...meh.

LAYER SIX: IN THE PAST MONTH
Drank alcohol: oh yes. It hasn't quite been a month since Matt's wedding, and before getting into the field I was essentially on a 4 week bender.
Gone to the mall: Nooo. I didn't even go to the West Edmonton Mall, the biggest mall in North America while I was in Edmo...I don't like malls.
Been on stage: No
Eaten Sushi: No
Been dumped: Not in a loooong time. This requires some kind of lasting relationship....
Gone skating: no, but I wish I had.
Dyed your hair: No

LAYER SEVEN: HAVE YOU EVER
Played a stripping game: Yes
Gotten beaten up: Yes, my sister broke my pinky once.
Changed who you were to fit in: perhaps a bit. But not much. I changed more because I wasn't happy with who I was.

LAYER EIGHT: GETTING OLD
Age your hoping to be married? Yes, but I'd like to travel more (perhaps with that person?) and own a house, and possibly property.
What age would you wanna die at? I'm hoping to be bitten by a Vampire, so I can live forever in a youngish state. But just in case, probably in my late 80's. Seems like a good time. When I turned 20 I said "well, looks like a quarter of my life is over".

LAYER NINE: IN A GIRL/GUY
Best eye color: Green, and deep
Best hair color: Not Blonde. Dark brown/reddish is er..very attractive
Short or long hair: medim to short. Depends if the gal can pull it off. I know a certain someone is acutally pulling it off fantastically these days.
What do you look for?: i'm not too sure...I have pretty random attractions sometimes. As long as I'm entertained and they can hold my interest (a rarity these days) it's good to go.

LAYER TEN: WHAT WERE YOU DOING
1 MINUTE AGO: writing this goddamn thing
1 HOUR AGO: eating dinner
1 WEEK AGO: finishing dinner, probably spray-painting grid pickets
1 YEAR AGO: Saaaame thing as this year. In Nunavut, same camp and everything. Though we didn't have nearly as many amenities. We didnt' even have a phone that worked very well.

LAYER 11:FINISH THE SENTENCE
I LOVE: Lamp. and wine and beer, and relaxing in a hammock in the sun.
I FEEL: Cold and tired, and kind of alone
I HATE: stupid people, dickhead professors, incompetence, jumping through University hoops
I HIDE: what I really think of some people.
I MISS: my cat, my friends, and my bed. (and...also someone else right now)
I NEED: more travel, more free time, and a good stiff drink.

that was fun...kind of.

Wonderful Weather

So, today, in a glorious burst of typical Nunavut weather, I experienced nearly the entire spectrum o f what our atmosphere can drop. Started out with a weather delay due to fog. When we finally got out, it was very windy and raining. Cleared up, sun came out, heated up a bit, then after ...oh....twenty minutes the snow started. There was some alternating between rain and snow for a while, then it became sunny again. Then more rain, coupled with fog...then it decided that wasn't quite enough and the hail started.

More rain and fog closed out the day. Wasn't too terrible because I finally got to look at some rocks again. It had been too long since I'd been able to sample.

Not much else to comment on. The wolf was in camp the other day, but left pretty quick. Seems a little less inclined to come sniffing around camp this year with 30 some odd people. There was a few weeks last year with 13 of us where he wouldn't leave. Ah well.

Nick uploaded some pictures tonight, so I'm going to hijack his photo link as soon as I can. There have been some pretty spectacular sunsets as of late. But not much else is happening.

Core Boxes

Had a break from the monotony of laying out pickets in a 8km by 500 metre grid at 25 metre intervals today. Went up to one of last year's camps and laid out about 200 core boxes for some people to look at this week. Still a lot of hard work, but not roaming over the endless tundra or tramping through ponds fighting off mosquitos.

All in all, an excellent day, as I got a slight break, and it's also Ham for dinner, which is goddamn delicious.

Not much has really happened the last few days. Camp life is pretty much the same every day. Helicopter out at 8:30, helicopter in at 5:00, dinner at 6, sometimes more work after, usually a movie or poker, or I listen to music and work on my caribou antler carving skills (almost as cool as nunchuk skills)

Oh, I did recieve a couple of packages a couple days ago, which are awesome. I love having parents who drink almost as much as I do, and come through with requests that might be slightly against the camp regulations. Awesome.

Also, the other package from a certain person who usually comments here, which was, to say the least, a riot. That pink and blue princess eye cover is realy helping me sleep well. Thanks.
(that "gift" is going to come right back and bite you. Hard. You've been warned.)

Make up your mind Nunavut

Are you going to be hot? or cold? This swapping every couple days is bullshit. I never know what I need to take into the field anymore. Last week, sub-zero temperatures. Today, up in the mid 20's. Which feels like 30 after last week. So hot, milk was bad choice. So I managed to get pretty burned on my arms and face, got a pretty wicked farmer tan going on now.

Finished off the day with some extra carpentry after dinner, and since it was still pretty warm out, Nick and I decided it'd be a good idea to go for a swim.

...


It wasn't a very good idea. When you see snow that is still frozen in July on the riverbank, the river is probably pretty effin' cold. Sure enough, it was pretty cold. Though it was very refreshing after the body adjusted to it.

Mosquitos have come back full force, when we went to the river we were swarmed pretty bad due to the lack of clothing... But at least it's sunny again.

I am not a poker champion

I like to think I'm decent at the game of Texas Hold'em. But I've recently learned...that I am nothing special. There are a couple of very good players up here. We have a game every few days and I just got stomped the first game. Did alright tonight, was big stack for a little while, then just made some decent bets that just got beat by better hands . It happens.

Our three days of horrible weather are gone now, apparenlty a high pressure system has moved back in with a slight warmth...

The wind is still just cold. Bitterly cold. But at least it was sunny today.

Oh, and the shitty weather also means all the mosquitos are dead. Or at least the ones that had hatched thus far. A new batch will pop up in a day or two though. There's no stopping the little bastards.

I'm on a mission to destroy as many mosquitos as I possibly can.

Watch out.

killin' time

So, we had a second day off today.

yesterday the weather was terrible in the morning, but we did get out into the field to map some boulder fields for a bit in the afternoon.

Today there was a minor problem with the drill, so both the helicopters were occupied in trying to get more parts for it. So us geo's got to hang around camp looking for odd jobs to do. Lots of coffee breaks, and wandering around. Not much time spent outside, as again, the weather ended up being pretty bad. No snow today, but it was bitterly cold with occasional rain. Just another beautiful day in Nunavut.

I'm picking up a new skill/hobby. One of Geo's here broughtup a bunch of different files and such, and he's beginning to learn how to carve caribou antler. I became quite interested, and have decided to try my hand at it. Starting pretty basic, but hopefully I get some decent looking things as the summer goes on. Pretty much I can make rings. File out the middle, polish the surface...and there you have it. Rafael, the geo who started me on this is getting pretty good, and can actually create shapes on the rings and such. It's a pretty time consuming process, already killed a couple hours, and I just have the basic shape, and fitted to my finger, now just have to wear down the outside edges and polish it up.

I've also decided to grow a classic handlebar mustache. So, if anyone can suggest a decent mustache wax, I'd be much appreciative. I've almost got the curls going, just need the ends to be a bit longer. This is a classy Wyatt Earp style handlebar, not the biker handlebar. Think Captain Hook style. Oh yea. I'm bringing this to UVic, and it's going to be awesome.

Snow Hey Oh

It is 8:40am on July 7th. and it is snowing.

A lot.

With no sign of let up.


Summer seems to be over.

Oh right....I'm in the Arctic

So, last couple of days have definitly NOT been t-shirt days. I seem to ahve jinxed us with my boasting of the warm weather. That night the wind changed direction, and we had a pretty heavy downpour at around 4am. If you've ever slept under a tarp with heavy rain and 30km/hr winds, you know it's not a very quiet night.

Anyways, temperature has been hovering around 5-10 degrees, but the wind chill is keeping it below zero for the most part. The wind is the worst part. Just cuts right through every layer of clothing you're wearing. Even my "wind breaker" jacket doesn't work when you're out in the open for 7 hours.

Did some prospecting the other day, found a very nice sample which very likely contains at least trace amounts of gold, so hopefully I can win the 500$ they give away for the highest gold containing sample this year. Woo. Lord knows I could use it..

So there ya go. That's my 2 day update. It's cold. Surprise, surprise. Probably going out tomorrow night to do some fishing, maybe take a swim if it's at all warm (relatively speaking).

T-Shirts and Tundra

A strange combination to say the least.

The last 3 days it's been above 20 degrees (celsius) for the better part of the day. WHen you start hiking 5-10km a day with a backpack full of rocks, it feels like 35. It's absolutely unbelievable. This time last year it was pissing rain and hovering around zero most of the day, with the windchill taking it down 5 or 6 degrees further.

Only problem with the warmth and wearing a t-shirt is the mosquitos have started coming out. Have had to start layering on the DEET several times a day at this point...which also kind of melts down the sunscreen...oh well, I"d rather be burned than scratching bites all night.

They still manage to get me though...One even got under my watch and started sucking before I crushed him. Little bastards.

I was going to put some pictures up, but the uploading thing, and webshots seem to have shit all over themselves...either that or the satellite internet can't choke down the big picture files to get them up. Can't even email them right now. It's a bit frustrating. Nothing much interesting yet...had a couple wolves in camp, though I wasn't here to see them.. They'll e around more though, they now know there are people here, which usually means food.

I'll work on the picture thing, have gotten some good landscapes (there's not much else to shoot here) so far, and want ot get them up. ahh well, back to work.

Prospectin'

So I head out in the chopper this morning to do a little prospecting, one of my favourite things about field work. It's by far the most interesting thing I get to do (unless we actually do some mapping of the area, which is also kickass). I basically hike around a given area and smash rocks and figure out if they're worth sampling. Woo!

Also, some good news, I now have a camera, the boss was nice enough to hook me up with one of the company digitals, not that great quality, but it's better than nothing. Stupid lation heat party and my camera getting stolen....ah well, what can you do. expect more pictures soon.


Does anyone actually read this at all? (I know you do allyson, just wondering if there's anyone else.....)

Anyone who does read this and feel like writting me:
Alex Wallis
Comittee Bay Bullion Camp
C/O Apex Geoscience
P.O. Box 885
Rankin Inlet, NU X0C 0G0
call for pickup: 867-645-2228

that's it..maybe something exciting will happen in the next few days (I hope) or else this is going to be a drrryyyyy blog.

In which, we enter the tundra

Today was my first day into the field in 9 or so months. It wasn't too bad, not as cold as last year, but it definitly wasn't as nice as the first day in camp. Wind chill was probably around 0, possibly lower...cloudy skies, threatening rain. It was apretty easy day, hiked only abotu 8km or so in a small area. We had to stake out a grid to go over with ground geophysical equipment. Not every interesting to people not into this stuff, but, we did get to see the drill running, which is always exciting.

As usual the weather was fast moving, but usually just cloudy today...but the clouds did do this crazy thing in the afternoon. They looked like giant rolling waves in the sky. The bottom layer was undulating quite a bit. It was actually really, really cool. Wish I had a camera.

Anyways, got to put my rubber boots to good use, got back out into the tundra, now I get to start working and losing weight and it's goign to be fantastic. I think, for now I might go for a short hike, maybe to the canyon, we'll see, possibly go fishing...the sun is still bright (as usual) and I'm not really that tired yet.

I'm still having trouble not going crazy thinking about the end of the summer...I can't wait for it to be here, not that I don't love what I'm doing...I just...really want August to get here soon.

Back To Bullion

Arrived in Camp around 6pm tonight (central time). It's been expanded from last year, as there are a few more people around (about 25, instead of 13) It's not bad, a few of the same people from last year, some new people, the cooks are kinda cute, it's not so bad.

We should be starting up our field program here in a couple days, But I think there's more camp stuff to get done.

It is SO good to be back in camp. But at the same time, it will be even better when August 25th rolls around and I head back south (way south...yeah Colorado).

Anyways, I need to unpack my gear and get ready for tomorrow, and eat some more pie, and also start writing a certain letter. Weeeee

Middle. Of. Nowhere

Coordinates for Bullion Camp, Northeastern Nunavut.

You can actually see the tents, and from the state of the camp it looks like the airphoto is from the end of the summer last year, probably around september.

66°23'48.10"N, 93° 7'41.06"W

If you have Google Earth you can just copy/paste those into it and find the camp.

Also, I've been rocking the Wolf Parade pretty hard....
I'll believe in Anything has been the current favourite..for...uh, reasons...

Give me your eyes
I need sunshine
Give me your eyes
I need sunshine
Your blood
Your bones
Your voice
and your ghost

We've both been very brave
Walk around with both legs
Fight the scary day
We both pull the tricks out of our sleeves

but I'll believe in anything
and you'll believe in anything
said I'll believe in anything
and you'll believe in anything

If I could take the fire out from the water
I'd share a life and you'd share a life
If I could take the fire out from the water
I'd share a life and you'd share a life
If I could take the fire out from the water
I'd take you where nobody knows you
And nobody gives a damn
said nobody knows you
and nobody gives a damn

and I could take another hit for you
and I could take away your trips from you
and I could take away the salt from your eyes
and take away the spitting salt in you
and I could give you my apologies
by handing over my neologies
and I could take away the shaking knees
and I could give you all the olive trees
oh look at the trees and look at my face and look at a place far away from here

Give me your eyes
I need sunshine
Give me your eyes
I need sunshine
Your blood
Your bones
Your voice
and your ghost

We've both been very brave
Walk around with both legs
Fight the scary day
We both pull the tricks out of our sleeves

but I'll believe in anything
and you'll believe in anything

If I could take the fire out from the water
I'd share a life and you'd share a life
If I could take the fire out from the water
I'd share a life and you'd share a life
If I could take the fire out from the water
I'd take you where nobody knows you
And nobody gives a damn
I said nobody knows you
and nobody gives a damn
I said nobody knows you
and nobody gives a damn either way
About your blood
your bones
your voice
and ghost
because nobody knows you
and nobody gives a damn either way

and now I'll believe in anything

Alright kiddos.
Next post will be from the Arctic.

Until then.

This is the part of me that thinks ants are cavemen

So, I'm back in Edmonton for the night, and I leave at 7am to fly north to Yellowknife, NWT and then on to Rankin Inlet, NU.

Yesterday was a long, long day. A word of advice for long-trip drives, don't do anything that could set you into a brooding mood. As you will continue to brood until you either get where your'e going, or go crazy and run your car through that guard rail at the top of the pass. Sometimes I wonder why my brain lets me do the things I do. Stupid brain, just because I drown you in alcohol on a regular basis doesn't mean I don't care what you make me do.

Anyways, driving through Idaho and Washington in mid to high 30 degree Celsius clear weather is a bitch. and as I was trying to conserve my gas, no airconditioning. all windows down, shorts, no shirt, bright sun....it was intense. I have a wicked, wicked "driver burn" on my left arm, and I have this almost bandolier looking white strip across my shoulder and chest from my seatbelt. SWEEEEET.

Got into Vancouver around Ten, total drive time was just over 12.5 horus.
(this is a long drive for someone with nothing to think about)
Modest Mouse is some of my favourite driving music ever, I definitely listened to all 100+ songs I have of theirs. every album got played at least once.

I had the easiest border crossing ever coming back in to Vancouver...
I just held my passport open to my picture as I pulled up, and the following conversation insued:

Lazy Guard: "Where were you?"
Me: "Montana"
Lazy Guard: "What for?"
Me: "A buddy's wedding"
Lazy Guard: "How long?"
Me: "8 days"
Lazy Guard: "value of goods coming back?"
Me: "Zero"
Lazy Guard: "Bye"



Alright, so tomorrow I will officially be on the tundra, well north of the Arctic Circle. You can actually see our camp from last year on Google Earth, but I can't remember the exact coordinates right now (maybe I"ll get those tonight and throw them on here for any interested)
Anyways, I'm excited, but need to repack all my bags and somehow find some room for some booze.

The guys and Shannon

Matt (the groom), Myself, and Grant (best man)

Paintballin'

The infamous Ball and Chain from the bachelor party, which is now part of a tradition, to be passed on to the next person from the wedding party who ..er...gets hitched.

Misadventure documentation

Uploaded several photos from the bachelor party to my Misadventure Photos link on the right. Will get some more up when I get home (t-minus 12-13 hours of driving).

4 week bender is coming to a close..maybe one last hoorah tonight or tomorrow in White Rock, butI have a feeling it will be more herbally based than alcohol.

whatever that means.

I am now entering my 2 month dryspell...which sucks...maybe I'll get lucky and the company I work for with hire a hottie or two for camp.

C'est la Vie.

I think I can manage until August, which will hopefully be a hot month....maybe in more ways than one.

Off for now, Ally f you see this this morning, you'd better call or text me to keep me awake on that drive.

Vacation is Almost up

I'm sitting here, on my last evening in Montana for..probably a couple more years. I'm just kind of thinking about all the craziness of the past few days. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. My best friend Matt Root was married yesterday at 5pm to Shannon Terry. A woman who is absolutely perfect for him. The bachelor party was nuts, the wedding was a long process, but a lot of fun when it was finally on. The reception was a good time, lots of drunk family and friends, some very good toasts by the best man and others. I finally got to get drunk with Matt's parents, which was a very good time, his dad, Tom Root, is one of the funniest and intellectual people I've ever known.

The Bachelor Party:
Matt and I were picked up at 6 am by all his friends here, and a few of us out of towners. We promptly shackled Matt up with a ball and chain. Not a fake pansy ass costume one. Grant and Todd, a guy he works with, welded together a shackle from some scrap steel, and attatched a chain long enough that Matt couldn't put it over his shoulder. The ball itself was attached with a very long bolt and JB Weld. It was a bowling ball. He was not happy, even when we handed him his 6am beer.

We drove for a few hours up past Helena Montana to Kyle's cabin on a very nice, large lake. Fucked around for a bit and drank some beers until Eric and Todd arrrived with the paintball guns. We drove up into the woods a bit to anice overgrown road, set the ball and chain down in the middle of a crossroads, and started our battle for it. Unfortunately the guy at the rental shop really shit the bed and our guns all ran out of air about 20 minutes into the match. It was short, but it was also my first time paintballing, and it was pretty sweet.

So we ditched the paintballs and got out the shotguns, shot some clay pigeons and stuff. I'd forgotten how stress relieving and fun shooting is. Gooood times.

So we went back to the cabin on the lake and ripped around in the boat, did a little lake surfing (kind of like a wakeboard, but you're not attached, and it can't be ridden switch) and tubing. it was pretty sweet. Got real drunk and later that night after a barbecue, dragged matt, Shackled, to this little dive of a bar in Seeley Montana (population....small). It was a riot, all these old ladies kidnapped matt and kept him busy with free drinks and dancing to various tunes, etc.
Some of those ladies..were...scary.

"FOUR FUCKING TIMES!" was the phrase of the evening from a particluar older lady, who was also prone to copious crotch grabs on the entire bachelor party...creepy.

eventually called it a night anddrove back. During one round of mooning between the trucks, Matt decided to up the ante with a windshield moon. Except he was drunk, and sort of put his ass through the windshield. Shattered it. Classic Matt (and this guy's married? daaaamn).

Bachelor party was a good time. Just kind of kicked it around Bozeman on Thursday and Friday, did some drinking..er...a lot of drinking...in the evenings...and Saturday was the big day, lots of pictures, but damn, I look fuckin' good in a tux. The whole bridal party looked really good, they did an excellent job putting it all together.

Then today (Sunday) we had an excellent hungover brunch, and then floated down the Madison River in big tubes for a few hours in hte afternoon drinking beer.

Anyways, I think my liver is finally ready for a break, which it may or may not get, depending on who the project geologists are up in Nunavut. next three days are going to be crazy busy travelling again. Drive for 13 hours tomorrow, leave at 2.30 on Tuesday for Edmonton, 8am on Wednesdsay for Rankin Inlet. I'll be above the arctic circle by around 4pm.



But, I must leave, as we're going to a barbecue to cook the rest of the food from the wedding.

Guns don't kill people....Marriage Does

My God, so much work has been put into this thing in the last few days, I either never want to deal with it on my own, or get someone else to do it. Stuff to pickup, things to make, people to greet....It's all prety crazy.

The bachelor party was insane...not your typical one though. WHen Ihave more than 10 minutes I'll get some pictures up, from the party and the wedding. I have to go help set up this morning, but by 2.30 I'll be gangsta in my tux, and by 6 we'll all probably be drunk.

Open baaaaar dude.

Return to Montana

So, i'm back in Bozeman. But for awesome reasons.

Matt Root and Shannon Terry....the soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Root, are being wed this saturday, and I'm in town to help mat celebrate his last days of freedom.

Hopefully there will be some excellent ammunition for the future after tomorrow's day long bachelor party. No details. yet. Only after the fact

My drive today was interesting...12.5 hours on the road.

Thought it was nice to be able to drive longer than 2 hours without having to stop and get gas.

First I was hasseled at the border due to my permanent resident card...first one guy says I should have handed it in, then the people inside say I can in fact, keep it as long as I'm a student...which is what i was told when I tried to turn it in last time.

I was also selected for a "random" search. This always seem to happen when I have long hair.

Also probably doesn't help that I drive a jetta these days....

Then almost getting a ticket in Washington, though I talked my way out of it by being "canadian"

Nice.

Finally got to Montana, which is fun. Tomorrow is going to be sweeeeeeet.

Fortune Cookies

For once I recieved a fortune cookie which is both accurate, and believable.

I got it at this place here in Edmonton a couple weeks ago at lunch, OPM, a crazy blend of asian and western food, delicious.

But anyways:

"You are loved by children and puppies that have poor judgement."

At least they know what's up.

We love our hockey

Dear Edmonton Police,

While I appreciate your fervor for maintaining peace, and preventing riots. When there are many, many more people than can actually fit on the sidewalk, perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to give us one lane of the road. Instead of pushing people back onto teh sidewalk, and yelling at them, maybe just let them in a bit. Or better yet, close down teh street, but maintain a heavy police presence in the middle. It IS a little rediculous when you can only cross the street every 10 blocks or so.

Perhaps if I'd been allowed to just walk in the street, I might not have been forced off the sidewalk, with one foot going into a pothole, and I wouldn't be in as much pain today.

Also, Ellie rocks, and is a great drinking partner.

Either way, sweet night.


Part II: not related to hockey.

I want a tree house.

Not some dinky little play thing with one room.

I want, a big, artfully constructed tree house.
Ideally I would turn it into an office of sorts, but a very, very comfortable one.

there are some excellent examples of what I'm talking about here:
http://www.treehouseworkshop.com/
and,
http://www.blueforest.com/index.php

and while not really a tree house, fricken sweet:
http://www.inhabitat.com/entry_594.php

I leave tomorrow for Vancouver, and subsequently Montana for my friends Matt and Shannon's wedding in Bozeman. So this might be the last one for a little while.

About 10 days from now I'll be in northeastern Nunavut.

I can't feel my hands.

I high fived more people tonight than I have ever high fived anyone..ever.

In case you live in a) a cave, or b) the US, Edmonton beat Carolina tonight to tie the series at 3 apiece.

But not only did they win, they shut them the fuck out. Woo!

Whyte Avenue was pretty crazy, but walking around and being shoved back onto the sidewalk by the cops got old after a couple hours, and the crowd wasn't downwith retaking the streets...so...
meh.

Too bad I won't be here on Monday w hen the Stanley Cup comes back to Edmonton.

So much clapping, so many high fives....oh god...Can't wait to sleep in again tomorrow.

Ah! Ellie rolled one up...goodnight!

Sometimes, you just don't know.

So, in the last 24 hours I've slept...maybe 2.

All in all I'm surprised at my functionality.

managed to finish all my work at...work..
got back to heh condo, made dinner..drank some beer.....more beer..then some more beer.
Got to the Pub around 10, a great irish pub in Edmonton, O'Byrnes
It's good times.

noting like a good Black and Tan followd up with vodka redbull.

And doing jagerbombs with your boss.

This is the guy that told me last summer that it was a dry camp.....
Not many are as fun a drunk. Good times tonight, especially when it's on his credit card.


er...

Don't be sorry for my lack of sleep. Be glad I've learned to cope with it. I mus apologize for any late night random drunken phone calls. though there's a good chance there may be more tomorrow.
We'll seee


Good night.

Oh shit..I'ts 4:20 am....again.

Thanks Ally.

Full time alcoholic, part time student

Man, I swear this will be better once I actually get to the arctic.

Hopefully something zany will happen this weekend in Edmonton


SO FUCKING ZANY.

So I'm lame

pretty fuckin' lame

1) Where was your last kiss? Attic apartment in Victoria

2) What color boxers/underwear are you wearing? Plaid, bitches

3) What are you listening to right now? Snow Hey Oh, Red Hot Chili Peppers (Sept. 14th, hooly s hit cannot wait.), and also queued up with She Wants Revenge. Gotta love rock'n'roll with violent sexual energy. yesssssss

4) Whats your favorite number? 22

5) What was the last thing you ate? Delicious terriyaki thai chili stir fry chicken. Also lunch tomorrow.

6) When was the last time you smiled? Probably very recently, but not nearly as frequently as last night....er....

7) How is the weather right now? Thunder Storms. Been a while since I've seen one of these. Amazing, I love it.

8) Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? My boss.

9) What is your worst habit? Judging people quickly.

11) Do you smoke? cigarettes: very rarely when i'm too drunk to think any better; cigars: sometimes; hookah: You bet your ass; other: Yessum.

12) When was the last time, if ever, you blacked out? I'm not sure I've ever really blacked out.

13) Do you have a girlfriend/boyfriend? Nope, they can't keep up.

14) Your Hair color? Brown. and too fucking long. Cut your hair you damn dirty hippy.

15) Eye Color? Grey, blue, greyblue, sometimes hazel, soemtimes greenish. I'm all over the place.

16) Do you wear contacts? No, but glasses because computer screens have rotted my eyes.

17) Favorite Holiday? St. paddy's

18) Favorite Month? May

19) Have you ever cried for no reason? yea....I'm not quite that fucked up.

20) What was the last movie you watched in a theater? Lucky Number Slevin. For the second time. what a good movie.

21) Favorite Day of the Year? last day of exams

22) Are you too shy to ask someone out? not recently.

23) Last advice you gave to someone? the gist of it was, if you're not happy where you are, with what you're doing, change something, and change it fast.

24) What was the highlight of your weekend? Getting drunk with people I don't work with watching hockey.

25) Chocolate or Vanilla? Combination. Ben and Jerry's Fossil Fuel. even the ice cream I eat is geologic.

26) Where is the last place you went? work...no..wait..the liqour store on the way home.

27) What did your last message on myspace say?I don't...use myspace.

28) Who was the last person to call you? My mom. (so lame! yes!)

29) What was the last sports game you watched? Edmonton Oilers, Carolina Hurricanes, game 5. Game six is on Saturday...wooooo

30) When was the last time you slept in someone else’s bed? Saturday night. I'm not actually sure yet whose bed it was.....

31) Favorite colors? green

32) What are you wearing? A grin.

33) What were you doing before this? sitting outside, watching the thunderstorm/rain, drinking beer, getting stoned, and talking to ally. Still am

34) Any pets? Thompson and Tasha (RIP Nikki)

35) coke or pepsi? Sprite...or Barq's

36) Butter, Plain or Salted popcorn? Kettle

37) Favorite flower? Lotus flowers are pretty sweet....

38) When was the last time you got in trouble? When I got fired/banned from the video store I used to work at. Still banned.

39) What is your favorite type of food? Thai, or my own cooking.

40) Have you ever loved someone? Geographical Location? yes, someone?.... In the sense this is asking....Doubtful.

41) Who would you like to see right now? Hunter S. Thompson, Joseph Heller, Ally, my Sister, and my cat: Thompson

42) Are you still friends with people from kindergarten? Jon franz. You're it buddy.

43) Have you ever fired a gun? Yessum. Very stress relieving. After Easter Decoration Sales + Shotgun = a good weekend.

44) Do you like to travel by plane? More than many things.

45) What websites do you go to frequently? Torch The Bridge, Fark.com, gmail

46) If you could be anywhere right now where would it be? Koh Chang, Thailand, or northeastern Australia, or Santorini Greece.

47) How many pillows do you sleep with? 3, 1 awesome collapsable campign pillow, 1 terrible over fluffed crappy pillow, and 1 couch cushion.

48) Are you missing someone? A little differently than normal...yea.

49) How was your day? Alright. I am a GIS machine. 9 maps made, and the 20,000 report is almost done.

50) What are you doing tomorrow? Friday? Working. until 5. Then going to the bar for a co-workers birthday. Expect drunken rambling.

and now….round 2 I guess.....Blame Ally
1) Who is the last person you high-fived?
roomate Karen after Pisani scored short handed to beat Carolina in game 5

2) If you were drafted into a war, would you survive?
I'm Canadian, we dont' do the whole draft thing.

But yes..I'd survive.

3) Do you sleep with the TV on?
No.....sometimes music though.

4) Have you ever drank milk straight out of the carton? Definitely

5) Have you ever won a spelling bee? Probably

6) Have you ever been stung by a bee? Several times. Too bad they died though, suckers.

7) How fast can you type? Fast enough. Sometimes too fast.

8) Are you afraid of the dark? Not really. Unless the evironment is actually genuinely creepy. like the UBC school of Theology when it was still under construction. Fucking cool though.

9) Eye color? unless you're reading this backwards you already know

11) When is the last time you took a bath over a shower? ...do hot tubs count? If not..I have no idea.

12) Do you knock on wood? Yessum

13) Are you drinking anything right now? Sleeman's Honey Brown. Edmonton has turned me into an alcoholic.

14) Where is 14? At highschool and too damn young.

15) Can you hula hoop? probably. These hips are pretty versatile.

16) Are you good at keeping secrets? I guess so?

17) What do you want for Christmas? peace and quiet.

18) Do you know the Muffin Man? Only Once. I was drunk. Oh god.

19) Do you talk in your sleep? Probably. My dreams are messed up and lucid enough that I imagine I probably mutter stuff every now and then. I certainly flail enough.

20) Who wrote the book of love? What the fuck? Work of fiction.

21) Have you ever flown a kite? Indeed I have.

23) Do you consider yourself successful? Right now, yes. in 3 months..maybe a little less. As long as I graduate in less than 3 years, I'm successful.

24) How many people are on your contact list of your cell phone? let's find out! 72. Some doubles.

25) Have you ever asked for a pony? Nope. I did ask for a rock sledge hammer for christmas though. is that about as bad?

26) Plans for tomorrow? Get up, shower, drink coffee, go to work, get drunk, maybe make some drunken phone calls.

27) Can you juggle? Only women.

28) Missing someone now? Again..a bit off from the recent normall..yes, I am missing someone.

29) When was the last time you told someone I Love You? Probably christmas

30) And truly meant it? same time...It was my parents. But they're currently the only ones. I guess.

31) How often do you drink alcohol? As soon as I get off work. Earlier if it's a weekend.

32) How did you feel today? Productive.

33) Are you black? As a moonless night.

34) Have you ever been suspended or expelled from school? yes. but only once.

35.) What are you looking forward to? Getting into the field in Nunavut. Also Graduating. more in the time frame of sooon, the end of the field season (hit up the ol' Colorado stomping grounds), and also thanksgiving break in October. Always wanted to see those redwoods.

36) Have you ever crawled through a window? More than I like to admit.

37) Have you ever eaten dog food? Not yet.

38) Can you handle the truth? Depends on what the truth is really.....

39) Do you like green eggs and ham? Dr. Seuss is the shit. But not a very good cook.

40). What 3 things can always be found in your refrigerator? Beer, Tomatoes, juice

41) Any cool scars? Not visible. Though there is a pronounced protrustion just below my right knee from geting hit in the shin with a stick coaching hockey....little bastards.

42) Are you single or taken? There are two of me.

43) Do you like or have a crush on anyone? Yes..but damn, this one is pretty fierce.

44) How many kids do you plan on having? Undecided.

46) Have you ever been in love?? Doubtful, yet.

47) Do you talk to yourself? More than might be considered rational.

48) Do you like dancing? when I'm A) drunk and b) trying to mock someone/something.

49) Three of your favorite foods: Curry Shrimp, Orange Chicken, Whiskey Steak

50) Who are you thinking about right now? She knows.

51) Who did you last talk to on the phone? my boss, Mike

52) Where is your phone? in the backpack.

53) What was the last thing you ate?: Terriyaki Thai Chili Chicken.

54) What is your favorite color?: Goddamnit, green.

55) What is the last movie watched?: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

56) What song do you currently hear?: She wants Revenge - red Flags and Long nights

57) Are you currently suffering from a broken heart? Negative.

58) What book are you currently reading? The Bourne ultimatum, and also Catch 22 (but I'm always reading that, so ...yea, not sure if it counts)

59) Do you have a camera? not anymore..some bastard stole it at a Lation heat party...go figure....

60) Who do you hate? George W. Bush. And cowboys.

61) Who are you talking to right now? Still Ally. Again.

yes Carolina, Eat it.

Edmonton Oilers

Now, first and foremost I'm a Colorado Avalanche Fan (go Sakic!). Then after that I'm a Vancouver Canucks fan. But when the last Canadian team left in the Stanley Cup Finals is the Edmonton Oilers....There is no one else I'm chearing for. Especially as I'm currently in Edmonton working.

This Saturday night you can find me down on Whyte Ave drinking beers and celebrating one more game at Rexall. Who knows, maybe they'll win and Edmonton will riot, and go on to win the Cup back in Raleigh.


Go Oilers.

Just been one of those days

So part of this was just so I coudl bitch blindly to the internet. yes.


No details here


Aww well, this time next week I'll be in Montana, getting ready for one of my best bud's weddings.

Then after that I'll be heading the arctic, I can't wait. Anything to get out of here.

subliminal message to Ally:

If you went to UVicUVicUVicUVicUVicUVicUVicUVicUVicUVicUVicUVic, She Wants Revenge is playing on June 30th.

Well, I guess you'd have to UVicUVicUVicUVicUVicUVicUVicUVic live in Victoria in June, but still.....UVicUVicUVicUVicUVicUVicUVicUVicUVicUVicUVic

Ally is pretty awesome

just thought you should know.

Guten Tag

To whom it may concern:

I am currently a 3rd year Geology student at the University of Victoria. During my summer months, instead of lounging on the luxurious beaches of British Columbia, I sacrifice my sun filled months of freedom, for the sub-zero temperatures of the north-central arctic. Committee Bay to be exact, just above the 62nd parallel.

I'll try to keep things brief for now, as this is post one.

I'm currently sitting around Edmonton, Alberta, doing office work. But in a couple weeks time I'll be on a cargo plane headed north to Rankin Inlet, and from there I'll board a 14 person Twin otter plane to our field camp, Bullion. The weather will be chilly, with wind chill probably around -15 degrees Celsius, more likely than not raining. The lakes and rivers will still be frozen over, and snow fields will abound. After several weeks the snow will melt, and the Arctic tundra is exposed for what it really is, a wet, mosquito-ridden bog. But I love it.

There is nothing quite as beautiful as the midnight sun. Kinda creepy too.

I will try to keep track of my misadventures, and make the rock stories as interesting as possible (no guarantees.)

Jus so you can have a taste, here's who I am:

I'm 22, I live in Victoria, BC when I'm not working.

I enjoy snowboarding, rocks, alcoholism, good times, good bars, pub crawls, and good wines.

here's a nice little shot of me at the last night of geology Field School (2 weeks spent on northern Vancouver Island). We had a bonfire..and..well, a lot to drink. Grey sweater, bottle of wine...it's not that hard to pick me out.



I'm obsessive-compulsive with my music, and constantly seeking new tunes to keep my mind from running away with itself. I also love traveling, I try to get out as much as humanly possible.

There you have it..That's me.

some pictures:
El Salvador, April 2005



Ingot Camp, Northern numbed. 1:30 in the morning of a drunken party.