Stomp...

Yesterday I went to see Stomp...

...

...

...

sorry, I've got no words... pure magic.

They made me remember something that neil gaiman says about the fact that his parents used to ask him to stop making things up, and that it's a good thing he didn't listen because now that pays his bills. The guys from Stomp could say the same, he he he he... I can listen to my own mom saying hector stop making noise in the table... it's a good thing some guys found out a way to make a living out of those noises.

Yesterday was great... from breakfast in those tacos to going to bed reading a good tale... it was all good.

Cats are cool...

There used to be a time in which I would claim that I am a dog person and that's it... no cats please. That was motivated by several reasons: a) I am allergic to cats and b) dogs are much better pets... right?.

Now I am not so sure... I can see the good in each, but to be honest I am quite liking our cat a lot. Indeed, dogs are better in the sense that they do come when you call them, and stuff like that. But cats are there too, very independent, but with a lot of personality, they do take care of you, and love you. But they do it in a very undependant way. Besides I am doing some research on the topic and cats are rather magical creatures, extremelly bright, sometimes I even get the feeling that our cat is judging me through those eyes.

I like him, the way he walks, and the way he purrrs, the way he makes me feel, like he is in control and taking care of things around the house. It's an odd feeling, but I do get it... On the other hand I forced my self to not be allergic anymore, and I was able to do it... he he he... which is amusing to be honest...

I used to like dogs more, but now I am not so sure. Dogs you can control, cats they are in control... they are cool. I like them.

** cheers

On faith...

I realized something interesting a couple of days ago, it's something that I already knew somehow, but it really struck me as amazing... do you know why Japan is such a strong country nowadays?, why do they have such technology, culture and economy?.

Well, after WW2 they were torn appart, and they were FORCED to NOT do anything belic, so war stuff whatsoever, so, instead of doing military research and investment, they took all that money and time and built the Japan that we see today. See?, what you can accomplish devoting your energy to something other than war?. I find it funny when people say that all our technological advances have been because of war, so we should be thankful in a way... thankful?! I mean... it is a true statement, but damn, does that mean that we humans could not advance, or even go further, when motivated by something other than fear and hatred?. I hope that may happen someday. (no pun intended).

That brings me to another topic, faith. Is faith the strongest of forces?, the one that can accomplish everything?. Even above dreams, and imagination and hope?. I hate to be such a perfectionist, but I believe it comes down to a matter of deffinition. What is faith?. I'll have to admit though, that faith can be the strongest of them all, because after all, faith could be propelled by hope, dreams and imagination, and the strong belief that they will indeed happen no matter what. I think faith, if is was a function, would be in terms of imagination and will, or hope (the good active hope) and will, certainty and trust, strenght. So yes, faith is stronger... but it believe it is defined in terms of all the others.

By the way, wouldn't it be cool to have a female cat named faith?... or a daugther maybe?... he he he... could be a good name.

Hope and stuff...

Recently my brother posted something in his blog regarding hope, imagination and dreams. Hope was, according to me, the least important. The issue though is that it seems that both for memo and him, "Dream's" way to win the game by saying I AM HOPE was way too much, and of course there is no other way to view things, after all, what is the point of life without hope?... he he he...

Ok, I was a little bit sarcastic there, yet I want to state my point. Life as it is shows a lot of challenge for us, mostly because we tend to complicate things, and well, as tools we have several forces to aid us. Yet I believe that hope is one of the least important, hope is passive and a lot of the times leads to mediocricy.

But how?... hope is so important!!!... right?.

The problem now I believe pertains to language, since hope can be interpreted in several ways I believe. Hope is valuable as a drive tool, something to keep us going towards an end. Maybe ambition works too, or having just expectations out of life. And someone without hope or expectations is really an emty vessel taking up our air... I agree.

But still, hope leads a lot of the times to such a passice mediocre attitude!, "I hope things will get better... I hope this and that"... no, no, no. Why don't you stop hoping and start acting upon it?. Do you see my point?. It's like the difference between dreams and goals. We have such power, and our will can do wonders, yet a lot of the times hoping leads people to disassociate themselves from the problem and wait for something (rather external) to happen, and make things right.

So probably I am not against hope... but against such use of the concept or deffinition. I am up for ambition and for having goals, and if we can fit that in hope then good, but the other connotations of the word are the ones I personally dislike. Please, not the word personally.

You keep looking up...

"That's your problem, Bruce. That's everybody's problem. You keep looking up." - God

I just saw Bruce Almigthy, now that is a good funny movie with quite a message... it could be the fact that I am all damped on the topic, or just that I am looking for signs all over the place that prove my theory right, (which sometimes happens, when you do want to see something, to start looking at it all over the place), but the fact is that this movie, is not only another Jim Carrey silly movie, it actually proposes something rather nice.

"People want me to do everything for them. What they don't realize is that they have the power. You want to see a miracle? Be the miracle". - God, Bruce Almigthy... again.

It states the fact that miracles are in our hands, and they are up to us... and how the problem is that we keep looking up to have our lives fixed, waiting for a miracle, instead of getting our hands dirty and BECOME the miracle. Now we don't need Jim Carrey telling us that, a bunch of guys have done it all over history, with a casts that includes such guys as Jesus or Buddha, it's all within us, all that power to achieve change and do good. Why do we not believe it?... why don't I believe it?.

Anyway, it's a good laugh too...

ps. "Behind every great man... is a woman rolling her eyes". Bruce - Bruce Almigthy
I just found this phrase hilarious.

Strange anxiety attack...

Well... it's not an anxiety attack as much as it is some weird rather be doing something else attack... quite weird actually, because no matter what I start doing, it feels like I should be doing something else... and although I feel bored, something inside of me is craving to do something... it beats me though, since nothing seems to satisfy that something... and just the fact that I have said something like a 100 times in this sentence already, is enough of a sign to prove my point... which is actually rather unknown to me... yet proven.... riiiiight.

It's one of those times in which, if I keep writting, I will rant a huge amount of nonsense that will, probably, amuse a few, but scare off and bore mostly everyone including my self. Somebody once told me it's a good excercice though, to just sit and write and let it all flow out despite the fact that it may not make sense. I guess I will open a blog to just do that, some mindflow sort of blog...

Yes... let's do that.

**cheers

Magick and Coffee Beans...

The other day I started thinking about coffee and how much I like it, for some reason I made a point of remembering all the places in which I have had good coffee, and the list is quite long and international... always a memory that isn't only formed of pictures, but of scents and tastes as well. Then I started thinking of toasted coffee beans, the great way they smell, and the nice taste it gives me to keep one around in my mouth for a while.

And then it struck me: I didn't know where coffee comes from!.

I mean, I know there is some plant... but are they really bean-like plants?, is it a bush?, a tree?, how does it look like?... Are the coffee beans the core of some fruit?, I mean... how come did I consider my self a coffee lover, and I didn't know any of this?!?!?!...

So, I did some research and coffee does come from some sort of bush, and the beans look like this. Ok, that doesn't make me a huge connoisseur on the matter, but it gives me enough info to be able to drink my coffee again and not feel guilty about the oblivion in which I used to live regarding this fine drink.

On the other hand, after all, this post has the word "magick" on it's title, so I might as well comment on that. It is not a secret that I am interested in magick and energies and such things, well, doing some research I bumped into a very interesting deffinition by a guy named Aleister Crowley. Now, we could talk for hours about this guy, what he did, and whether or not you should read his stuff... but we won't. What I have found though is that he manages some very cool concepts, and his deffinition is one that I like a lot:

Magick is the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will.

(Illustration: It is my Will to inform the World of certain facts within my knowledge. I therefore take "magical weapons," pen, ink, and paper; I write "incantations"?these sentences?in the "magical language" i.e. that which is understood by people I wish to instruct. I call forth "spirits" such as printers, publishers, booksellers, and so forth, and constrain them to convey my message to those people. The composition and distribution is thus an act of MAGICK by which I cause Changes to take place in conformity with my Will.)

He goes on and on about it, but the idea is great... and it pretty much states how everything we do is an act of magic, and how much we succed depends on how strong is our will, and how suited were our mechanism to accomplish things... now, based on this, I like tremendously the part in which he sais that if everything is, after all, an act of magic, why shouldn't we learn to do it the proper way?.

ps. Jaime, I got your comment from haloscan, I agree in every possible way... love is such a weird feeling after all, but a feeling we all crave for and need... and I my self, just as you, hope that I get to feel it at least once more in my life...

Movie weekend

This weekend was filled with movies and videos, which was very cool. I saw Shrek 2, Underworld, Lost in Translation, and several videos from the band Lamb. All those movies I loved, shrek 2 was hilarious, underworld was decent, and well... lost in translation... I believe I already have a huge post somewhere about that movie.

I wish I could see it over and over, to a point in which I know all the dialogs (that aren't that much). It's such a sweet movie, really, leaves me with the feeling of a sweet and tender kiss, but one that was too quick... the feeling of a laaaarge sigh... and with a small smile.

It was a good weekend, friday night I ended up in this "opium" bar which was actually fun (that was the name of the bar, there was no opium involved... I think), on saturday I got to have fun with the kok's , and saw the 1st copy of our printed stuff. It's bad that I say it, but I like it a lot!. he he he... sunday?... movies of course, and a pretty neat evening with Memo, Pollo and James... very interesting discussions, only obscured by the fact that I got a very bad stomach ache at some point, and it got the better of me for most of the time.

I like those talks, I like walking around a nice place and having a conversation with someone, or maybe just being quiet, but being "there". With this guys it's fun, most of the times is a discussion based conversation, in which you are hardly able to construct something with joint efforts, but then you are able to practice your logic and arguments.... and to laugh... it's always a good laugh.

What did I do once I got home?... of course!!... I finished reading the 3rd TPB of Promethea... wow...

I'm hooked...

When I read something, and I get this feeling that I am terribly ignorant about the topic, and there is a huge universe behind every word, I feel excited, and I just want to learn more and more about it. That's what happening with Promethea every panel I read I want to learn more, and I get this idea that there is so much meaning behing all those words... and there is, of that I am sure.

There is one panel in which Hermes the tree times great looks right into your eyes - yes, the eyes of the comic book reader - and it's one of those "wow" moments in comics. Because of reading it I want to learn more about magic in general, about tarot and all those things. All the symbols that we have, etc. And yet again, I feel like life is too short to be able to do all that I want to during my life span. (which, as for now, is rather unknown to me).

I think the next issue of the TPB's will be out soon, or I may even go and get it on hardcover, I am just liking the series that much. Probably I am making too much of a deal because of it, but I am sure Alan Moore is giving us a lot of info in there, just waiting to be decripted by those willing and smart enough to do it. After all, as one of the characters say, "it's not rocket science".

Storytelling

Picture a scene in your mind
Look at all the people and take note of the setting behind
Listen, watch, and wait
A plot beings to take shape
There's a story
And then characters will come to you
Relating events as they choose to
But all their words and actions come entirely from you
If you're a storyteller you might think you're without responsibility
And you can lead your characters anywhere you want
You have immunity

Have you considered the way
People might react to all the things that your characters say?
And are their actions hand in hand with what you want to portray?
Are you sick?
Arre you crippled? Insane?
Expressing the desires that daren't speak their name?
Are you the one to blamed?
Now you're a storyteller you might think you're without responsibility But in directions, actions and words Cause and effect You need consistency How can you finish the tale? Lives which have played a part Are summarised from the very start And episodes left out to make it all go your way "It's a mighty big world Some of it I've seen But mostly I've only heard And stories are all fiction from their moment of birth" You're just a storyteller You're not trying to escape responsibilty If we believe you then you're successful But you don't make claims of verity

by Belle and Sebastian. (great music)/

My bday no more...

And now a normal day again!!!...

Yesterday was almost terrible, just because I wasn't able to find the one comic that I wanted to buy as a "self gift"... and it sucks when you've been thinking all week about getting something and then, once you are about to grab it, it's not there. The guy from the store went looking for it, me, and some other dude, and it WASN'T IN THE STAND!!... but for some magical reason my brother was able to summon it all of a sudden, and it was right there in front of my eyes... in a spot in whish I swear I looked for it!!!... why does that happens sometimes?. It's almost scary in a way.

Anyway, the day was nice, and at the end I did do something with some friends, and had good laughs with them all. Beers, good friends, and a good setting will always do that, I don't think I could ask for anything more on a bday. Though, there is deffinitelly a lack of girls in my life, I have a couple of female friends. But because of what I do, and what not, I am pretty much either a loner, or just another freak among several other male freaks... I have a blast with them, good laughs, good talks, and all that... but where are the girls?...

Some strategy is starting to be cooked on that matter...

**cheers.

Place to be

Bananas, 7:00pm, today... ok ibmist and other people alike?...
See you there!.

Feliz Cumpleaños a mi...

Bdays are funny, and I've never been a bday man... no, let me restate that, I have never been a "my bday" man, I love going to someone else's celebration, give a hug, and have a laugh, but when it comes to my self, well, I just see it as any other regular day.

There are people that MUST have some sort of celebration, other wise they will just feel devastated, me, on the other hand, I tend to be self conscious and in a deep though mood. Last year for example nothing really happened either, there was some good celebration but that was for graduation purposes.

It's deffinitelly not the fact that I am getting older, it's the fact that I am NOT getting younger and still have so much things do say and do in my life. A good mail that I received was from Jorge and it stated how the guys from "shooting stars comics" loved all out portfolio and they wanted us to do entirely a new comic. They don't pay as much as marvel, but we are getting there!. Yay!!...

Bdays for me are funny because I guess I live with the strong idea that every day is a "new day" and a "new game", and could well be the last. Some people wait till their bdays to realize that times is passing, me, on the other hand, live with that constant thought. I wonder that is better... if anything can be.

Will something special happen today?. I believe I'll give my self a gift, and then probably we will go hang out for a while in "the bananas" by chapalita... ok guys?. That could be fun... he he he.

** Cheers to you all, and this day, cheers to my self too.

Enternaiting web comic...

New entertaining web comic to read, tons of inside jokes for RPG gamers:
http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/GiantITP/ootscript?SK=13
it's a good laugh.

Just for one day....

We can be heeeeee-e-e-roes... for eee-ver and eee-ver....

One of the many silly things from my previous post made me wonder a lot of things. It's been about 7 months since I kind of closed the opportunity to a relationship in my life, mostly because I was (and still am), sure that I am going to move sometime soon away from this city... and I am one of those that tend to live a little too much in the future, or a little too much in the past. And because of all those things that happened, or could happen, I decided that, during the present, I didn't want to get into a relationship...

It wasn't really a subconscious decision, it's something that I knew... and that I just wanted to have fun while I was here... but still, it will probably be a year till I go and the odds are that some relationship will only last some months anyway... and I am closing my mind to that just because of something that may happen?....

I just don't get my self...

Still... I am so busy doing all this kinds of things!, I need a woman that is as crazy and busy as me... so that we could share sometimes, when possible, and those will be great, and those will be just fine...

But a lot of the times women seem to be time consuming machines, they just crave it and devour it, and when you don't feed them enough, they start "malfunctioning" and giving you all sorts of crap... hmmm... exageration?... maybe, but there is a spark of truth to that. They do want their space, but they do want you to be available whenever they feel like you should be available, no matter what.

Am I letting my previous experiences get in the way again?.

**cheers...

Any way to port?

It was obvious that blogger was about to release some sort of coments system soon, yet while that happened haloscan was a pretty neat choice... the thing that I don't like now, is that having the blogger system doing that now, I lost all the coments that were typed bia haloscan... now, I could have both things, but that'd be just messy... and unstylish... and we are all about style, right?.

Going into more interesting things, I got a very good mail from Alan about Abraxas and his ways, I do want to know more about him... and I am starting to develop a theory about this god of chaos. Hmmm... its not strong enough to write it down now though.

What I found amuzing today was an insight that was shared to me... how we always tend to live in a time which is not our own. We constantly go to our memories (living in the past), to search trough our experiences and see what works and what doesn't, so that we can apply them and this have a better outcome for the future. So, we keep looking to the past, a no longer existent time, to resolve a future that doesn't exists yet. And thus we forget that the only one time we have is the here and now. Is that what the buddhist unatachment is all about?, just not minding about anything but the present?.

So many questions...

And if any of you guys have a C++ book, a visual c++ book, if I could borrow it that would be awesome. I need to learn the stuff... I got a book about game programming, very good, yet once I started I saw that I needed more background, so I got this book about OpenGl and DirectX, yet once I started reading, I saw that I needed more on windows programming and visual c++, the MFC and stuff like that. The problem now is that I DO KNOW how to program, I just need to learn to move my self around this new paradigm, not wasting my time on reading about "for loops"... if you know what I mean.

Anyway... cheers. (what a messed up, inconsistent post this was... a reflection of the current status of my mind I believe).

queloco.tk

As for now, this site will no longer be known as latide. Thats the name of a project that never came to be, and there is no point in me clingling to it. "Queloco" is a much more descriptive adress for a site of mine, so now www.queloco.tk is the good one. Still, it latilde.tk works as usual.

On the other hand, I am trying to get aquainted with the new features of blogger, that, well, aren't that new to be honest, but I just didn't have the time up until now to play around with the new templates and options... this guys really are doing a good job with this stuff.

My first attempt to exorcism

A lot of weird stuff has been going on around the house for quite some time, not "nice" stuff to be honest, and every time it gets creepier... now we are all into reiki and the "white light" sort of thing, so we have felt protected and over darker stuff for quite a while, but this past couple of days... well... it's been too much.

It's known that hard reiki practicioners, or just people aligned with some "higher" level of understanding in dealing with energies and such, do get to experience weird things. Blanco, our friend, claims that in this house there are always weird noises and beings. It sounds almost unbelievable, yet it happens and it's very true. You learn to live with those, and to expel the ones that you definitelly don't want around.

Now, I don't want to freak people out, so that they don't come back to my house. But since this past week bad stuff has happened to us all in one way or the other, we have had terrible arguments between us, and the energy just doesn't feel right. Saturday night my parents say that, while hey were with another couple having a nice time in the living room, things started getting so bad that at a point they all light up all the candles around and started praying. You could feel it around, and worst of all, you could hear it too. Noises, things moving, a scared cat, and very scared visits. Now after that couple left, my mom and that tried to do some cleaning around the house. (as that cleaning is ought to happen). But they were so afraid that, to be honest, it didn't work.

Last night it happened again, now with victor and I in the house... it was scary!!. Really, it was... Kike was about to live the house, we all had a terrible argument, my dad was about to lose it, and I couldn't keep the calm attitude that I try to keep in every discussion. All of a sudden we all got goose bumps at the same time, (my vision got blurry too, which to me, has always being a sign... kind of a shift of planes sort of thing), noises were heard, and we could sense it.

Now my mom started freaking out, and my dad started saying how afraid he was.

THAT IS NOT THE WAY!.

Let me tell you, if you ever have to deal with something like that, YOU have to be the one in control, to be strong, and completelly sure that the precense is unwanted and you can just command it to go away. Just be sure, those things feed on fear so to speak, fearing them is giving them the control. Now, don't get me wrong, I was trully scared, and that's why I think we didn't get rid of it just yet, still, Victor and I did quite good I think, and whatever it was we made it, at least, back off for a while... While I was in some other room doing some cleaning, victor said that he heard a guttural sound in the studio, which for some reason was the place that gave us all the worst vibes. (on the other hand, the room in which our cats sleeps was the cleanest one, cats do have something, and I almost bet we got this one to help us out with this one situation).

Anyway, right now the plan is to be protected, stay focus and grounded... and let's see what happens tonight. We might, as well, call upon our Reiki teacher, she's used to dealing with stuff like this all the time.

** cheers

New blog to read...

Ok, I have to admit... my brother has put up a really nice blog, and his writting skills kind of show, altough he isn't trying. Right now he is dealing with some personal issues... and those are exposed in there... yet he said it would be ok if I post his address here. Chek it out if you have some time guys, it's worth the reading I believe :: http://www.victorcillo.tk/

3rd weekend, the end of a saga?

They say every end marks a new begining, and so my "gap" process was over yesterday, but still, although the "official" thing is over, we have a long way to go as a team. The 3rd weekend was lovely, and I'll hold onto it dearly for all the years to come, it was filled with gifts, just a nice conclussion of quite a long process, a journey into my self so to speak... a journey into my self that actually led me to discover my self in others, and to understand the view of all other people as a reflection of my self.

The whole process was great, from the intro to the eip and then "gap"... as I was going through gap I didn't like it that much, because it's an exhausting process... but just as you cannot judge a movie until the end, I can now see why everything was the way it was, and how living that process will affect me for the rest of my life. It may sound cocky, yet it's true!.

love is a funny thing...

Love is a funny thing, one of those concepts and ideas that are hard to grasp, worthy of sonets and entire dramas, music has done it's share trying to portray it, as well as any other media in art... I guess it's art because love is anythign but mathematical, and cannot be really expressed in words... it's just a concept... and everyone portrays it as they have felt it in the guts.

Guts are fun... umpredictable... and sensible... guts hurt as much as they can be joyful...

Love is one of those "things" that can make you feel like floating, and then revolve in the ground as with the feeling that you get after a kick in the nuts... love is all this, and how is it that one single thing that cause such different emotions?... Entire wars have been fought in the name of love...

If love was a god, I bet it would be someone like Abraxas... he rejoices in chaos, and in anything that is far from stable... probably love was invented by him, and it's one of his tools to make this world still fun to watch sometimes. You know, one of those little devices placed in all our souls to entertain those "higher" guys...

Damn... that does sound like bastardizing such a nice feeling... because it is nice... but it's double edged, and the other side... oh man...

Anyway... there isn't really a point in me writting this... so I might as well stop... love is good, I want to love someone, be loved... even if it may hurt, and even if it's to amuze Abraxas... it's worth it...

Waiting for the con....

Now we are waiting for the comicon... we worked VERY hard this weekend, got everything ready... now let's see what happens... 72 hours almost non-stop is enough to turn everyone crazy, the good thing is that we already are... which makes things easier... still it was tiresome, but we loved it. Those are the moments that make me realize I could do that for the rest of my life, being part of a creative team, in a project bigger than my self, with a bunch of creative guys that share a vision, a passion, and the will to make things happen.

Right now I have a lot of "to-do's" and to be honest I don't know if I will make everything happen... one of the things is GAP, and well... that's getting tricky... this would be the last weekend, but as for now, I really don't know if I am going to be a part of it or not... I'd like to, just to close that circle, but I have so many other things, and right now, If I have to chose, I will certainly go for the kok stuff... that's my dream after all.

At the moment I am reading about videogame programming, comic book scripting, and playing NWN... and loving every minute of it... the idea of being able to devote a life to those areas is just way too appealing... as well I got an email from the supervisor at alberta saying that he is looking forward to my "candidacy"... which, for some reason, I think is a very good thing... he he he...

The table is served... I just have to settle things to be able to eat!!... yay!!... Six months, tops one year, I'll be living in edmonton... either working or studying... let's see what happens.

so... cheers... I gotta get more work done!.

During this weekend...

We (at karaokulta)have been working like crazy to get waaay to many things done... inking, separations, colors, editorial, and all sort of things... it's been fun though, and all this moments are the ones that empower us all as a team... to be honest I like it, I wish it could be like this all day long, good music, good laughs and jokes... fun job...

Here are some pretty cool pictures of the process during the weekend. (the las 2 galleries have them).

Being back

Being back in Guadalajara has been rather harsh... I believe even my body didn´t like it since I am getting this sort of flu... and to he honest all I am thinking is a way to make it so that I can go back there... is it an escape?... going away from my house and it´s "issues"?...

Whatever, but I'd like out... and I really liked what I saw over there...

Still... much to do for the time being...

ps. the 2nd trade paper back of promethea is very good, I can see though that most people won't enjoy it, but I can think of some guys that I'd like to discuss it with (allan, memo, daniel...). The 1st is good, and by the end is very good... but the 2nd is a whole other thing.

end of Canadian Saga... for now.

Monday was one of the most "eye opener" days during my stay in Canada. Early in the morning I went walking and what not, went to a bookstore, etc. But the real good thing happened at 2:30 when I meet two guys from the graduate department of computer sciences in the UofA (University of Alberta), they were really nice and fun, and so they told me a lot about what goes on in there... (they were john and nathan). At 3:00 pm I had a meeting with Pierre, who was Daniel´s supervisor, and who showed all of his projects... wow... I couldn´t believe there was such a place, it´s like the convergence of art and technology all in one place, a "somewhere" that allows a singer to make her thesis about how virtual characters react to her voice, and things of the sort... so much about virtual reality, inmersive worlds, intellingent characters and mazes... all!... I had a great talk with this guy, to be honest, now I feel like studying a masters is not such a bad idea after all. He gave me about and hour, so at about 4:00 I joined John and Nathan again, and they showed me all of the facilities, and everything that goes on in the department...

the walk back to the apartment was, of course, on filled with thoughts...

then I went with Sandra to the West Edmonton Mall... Some say it´s the largest in America, I will just say it´s pretty darn big. It has it´s own Chimulco inside... (yes, a great acuatic park), it has several places with live animals like flamingoes, a huge artificial river with all sorts of cool things (like pirate ships and stuff), and you can go in an underwater ride through it, by a submarine of course. Over there I bought some stuff for my family, and had a pretty nice talk with Sandra. So nice actually that we came back when we realized it was 9:00 pm!!!...

Back at home we meet with Daniel, had some dinner, chatted, and saw a movie called "hero"... very good movie, with a decent story, but an amazing photography... that´s what makes it worth watching.

On tuesday I went to buy some books, to the univertisity to ask for information and forms, and then I had lunch with Daniel with some guys from BioWare. This guys are the ones that are in charge of the combat sistems, the cameras, collisions and things of the sort. It was great to meet them, talk to them, and realize what is it that they did to end up working there... I feel like I have so much inside info!!!... During the meal they talked about all this problems, and it was fun to see all the things hey have to deal with, and try to come up with solutions in my head.

Hmmm... after the meal I had a nice coffee with Daniel, and then we went to BioWare, there Daniel had a couple of gifts to me!!!... yay!. One of them being an art book, but the coolest part was that we went to meet a bunch of the artist who did all that stuff, and had them sign it!... yay!. he he he... I felt like such a little kid (just as happy).

What did I do afterwards?... yes!... I went back to the apartment, and then with Sandra to visit Mariel, Omar and Gabriel... that was nice and fun, gabriel is a fun-cute little baby... he he he. A little later I meet up with Karyn, emmanuel's wife, and she drove me to the movie theater were we meet Daniel and Emmanuel. It was so much fun!!... the drive over there was cool, she is a very fun interesting woman, and when we got there it got even better. Emmanuel makes me laugh so much, he has such a keen black humor... he he he. So we saw spiderman 2, BioWare bought the entire display for the company so the room was filled with guys from over there (an odd bunch they all). After the movie we went to Daniel´s apartment where we meet sandra, and had a pretty nice dinner. We all cooked creppes, (they are not that hard to cook at all!), and had a nice talk and some good laughs.

After some time Emmanuel and Karyn left, and so Daniel, Sandra and I were left to say our goodbyes... **sigh**... On wednesday I woke up early in the morning and took the shuttle that was going to take me to the airport... Daniel walked me over there, and well... it was a nice good bye.

The travel back home was good and without much hassle, enough time to transfer and all...

It was a great trip... so much in my mind... but all good.

I LOVED IT... (thanks Daniel!... thanks Sandra!).

Now let´s see what happens next.

Long long time ago...

I can still remember...

Man, to be honest I feel tired just when thinking about the idea of writting everything down... but since this past wednesday so much has happened. I AM LOVING IT HERE!.

Ok well, probably one of the nicest thigs was my interview with Jason, he is the Senior Graphics Programmer and a VERY nice guy... we were supposed to meet on tuesday but he cancelled, and he was SO upset about it!. He he he... still, the interview did happen, and it happened in the "Knights of the Old Republic" room... yay!!... they have several meeting rooms, each one with a different theme, and they are like nice living rooms with great couches and all... anyway, we talked for about 45 minutes or so, and he was pretty pacient and answered all my questions. I get the picture now of what a graphics programmer does, and to be honest, it's quite interesting... it's a technical job, but still, it's based in creativity, and very visual too... you are always working with art, and artists... hmmm... it's hard to explain.

Anyway, so he told me what he looks for in a person, studies, knowledge, attitude, etc... in a way, I felt like cheating because he was giving me all this great insights before I would aske him for a job... he he he. But still is very cool, and even better was that, after the talk, that pretty much turned into a nice conversation by the end, he gave me his card and said that he would be willing to help me during my process... wheter it was a masters, or anything else... wow....

I still haven't gotten over that talk... and actually I've done nothing but thinking about a cool thesis to write during my masters!!... ha ha ha ha... funny how things work.

That same day I got to spent the whole time in BioWare, I stayed in the rec room, watched tv, played a little, read a lot, drew, had some soda... man, I wish I had gotten some ice cream... but that is sacred you know, and stealing their ice cream just didn't seem right. he he he... still, I really liked the "ambience" over there.

After that we went to the Taiko class, which was great because the next day a show was going to be presented so they rehearsed the whole thing and I got to listen and so some pretty nice things. It's so serious and martial... so nice.

Then we went to some club close to white Av. to a "good bye" party... it was SO MUCH FUN!!... Daniel and I did drank more beer than usual, he he he... so we had this great philosophical "merry" talk about life and all... and of course, we had to cheer for raistlin. At a moment we all went inside to the dance floor, and thus became the kings and queens of the night. We danced for about 3 or 4 hours non stop... and by the end several Canadians were just partying with us. When we were "kicked out" beucase they were closing, some girls approached and said to us all "yous guys rock, it was so much fun, I had the time of my life, thank you so much"... and on and on stuff like that... he he he... I liked it... there are several prictures from that night too. he he he.

After that we walked a lot on white avenue, then had some dinner, and at a point we just came back to sleep. The day after, when we woke up, it was at about 12, and it was a holiday... CANADA DAY!!!... a pretty fun day too. Daniel, Sandra and I spent the day together, and then at a point we joined the others and went downtown. Downtown Edmonton is very nice, it reminded me a little of chicago, just a smaller version of it. Anyway, we went by a bridge that had set up nice nice water fall, then there was music all over the place, people with Canada painted all over them, flags, stuff... There is some sort of court house with a huge fountain in front... well, tons of guys and girls were having fun IN the fountain... he he he. It was nice walking around there, and to see the Canadians get as crazy as they can get, yelling "HAPPY CANADA DAY" all over the place, and honking their cars. For a while we walked down white avenue again, and then at a point we came back to see the fire works. Those were, to me, honestly the best fireworks I've even seen... I just don't know how they make them do that... I just don't.

Hmm... what else?... after the fire works we went to have dinner with some guys to Boston Pizza (yummmy), and then to bed... he he he.

On friday we woke up kind of early, and went downtown to pick up the car... after all we drove all the way to Calgary. The road was extremely nice, straight, and taken care of... thus it was terribly boring. It was so nice and well done, and so straight, that there is no way you won't fall asleep... I don't know how this guys stay awake... I guess that's why there are so many second cups and star bucks all over.

So we arrived to Calgary at a decent time, did some stuff, and head over to the circus... Calgary is an awesome city, much larger than Edmonton... I wonder why edmonton is the capital though... probably it was settled before... who knows. About the circus... what can I say?... nothing but magic... just like that... there were so many awesome numbers... I was of course breathless and in complete awe all the time.

Wow... a time of silence for that wonderful experience.

After the circus we went to Carlos' house, he lives with his girl Dee (who is a doctor), and they gave us housing during the weekend... we went to buy stuff for dinner, ate, had a pretty good talk, and pretty much feel asleep because the next day was going to be a tire some one!!!!...

And so it was, we went to Banff and Lake Louise!!!!... hmmm... I really can't say a lot about those places, is all about looking at them... maybe I should post pictures on this thing... Banff is a lovelly mountain town that has a great Arts centre... very very cool... it's like the "shangrilah" of arts... and lake louise wow... those views... hard to explain... What can I say though?... well, we walked a lot, had some good talks, but mostly, I was quiet and loving the views... thinking so much... I do that a lot don't I?.

When we came back to Calgary we just stayed in and have a nice time, watched a movie and what not... Sunday... what did we do?... Hmmm... yes!!... we had "brunch" in a Vietnamese place called Pho Kim (sounds like fuck him... he he he), and they had the bestest noodles... delicious... then we helped carlos and dee because they had a flat tire, and eventually we drove back to Edmonton. On the way back we talked a lot of course, trying to entertain Sandra and keep her awake. (she was driving).

Once we arrived, Daniel and I took the stuff to the apartment, and Sandra went to have dinner with her supervisor. Daniel and I had dinner in a very cool japanese place, and yet again, one of those great talks... it lasted till after 10pm, since after dinner we walked a lot around the avenue... When we came back we joined Sandra and watched some episodes from "dead like me"... then... went to bed...

He he he... this has sooo little detail!!!!... still, I don't have that much time... that's pretty much it though, so we will see...

CHEERS YOU ALL!... TAKE CARE!!...

comming up next...

My interview with the leader of the graphics team in BioWare, and me spending the day over there... games and ice cream... yummy. Then, Taiko yet again and a party to remember... (cheers for raistlin)