There’s nothing quite like taking one week of after only working for one week. I think more people should try it. Holiday Monday led into an early morning flight to Vancouver to enjoy some graduation festivities, some see you someday’s and some limited sleep. Well, at least we were supposed to have an early morning flight. Turns out there was some sort of gas leak on our plane and we turned around after being in the air for just under an hour. After landing, there was another two hour wait before we were told what it was we would be able to do about it. Luckily, we managed to get on the first direct flight into Vancouver, and made it by mid-afternoon. I will say that the WestJet team handled everything fairly well, but the ten dollar lunch coupon for our troubles wasn’t quite enough – seeing as that only paid for half an appetizer and the grossly overpriced airport concessions. Otherwise, no complaints. Once we arrived it was a quick visit and off to bed as everyone had to be up and at the graduation ceremony for seven am. Yuck. The ceremony itself was tolerable – nice venue, good acoustics and fairly well paced – but the speakers were atrocious. The first speaker was short and sweet and consisted of a welcome and blessing from an elder of the Musqueam tribe on which the lands of the university were placed. The next speaker, the university Chancellor, blathered on about her garden and not being able to grow beets, trying to tie in to something about renewal or the like, but with outside allusions to some book she was reading and Chris Hadfield’s recent return to Earth, she didn’t make much sense. I doubt her remarks would have received a very good grade. The Vice-Chancellor’s speech was a bit more linear and easier to follow and would have been great if his closing remarks didn’t include “…is really the bread and butter of this institution – or should I say, rice and noodles.” Albeit true, I still feel that’s a tad racist and probably doesn’t belong in a university graduation. Speaking of which, the honourary degree recipient, Lee Lakeman (whom I’m sure is very deserving for the work she does) threw down a completely jaw-dropping tirade against men and the institution. Again, this seemed to be a time and place sort of speech. If she had been addressing the annual Women and the Law dinner, some other organization of feminists, I’m sure that speech would have been extremely inspiring and moving, but at a convocation ceremony there is no need for young children to have to start asking their parents what ‘rape’ means (which several children in my immediate earshot started doing after the eighth or ninth time she used the word). However, some of the female students I asked about it said it was an amazing speech so I guess it really depends on your audience. The final speaker was a fellow student to the graduates and fellow Mexico survivor to me, who was by far and away the saviour of the podium. After listening to the three previous speakers the microphone needed a blast of youth and she did just that, eloquently concluding her speech with a Tom Waits anecdote about a wonderful and weird crooked tree. Kudos to her husband for introducing her to the glory of Tom Waits and kudos to her for hopefully introducing him to the rest of the audience. Then there was the degrees and a whole ton of applause and then it was time for pictures and free champaign.
No breakfast and eight glasses of champaign at eleven in the morning really doesn’t bode well for the remainder of one’s day. However, when it’s free, you take advantage of it. And we did. Then a group of us went off to lunch which featured a few bottles of wine on vocals and a glass of scotch on drums. Then there was a glass of post lunch wine followed by a glass of pre dinner wine. Then we made our way to Darby’s, which of course being Wednesday meant we were taking part in the final meeting of the Karaoke Klub. Jugs of beer were strewn about the table, which was struggling to hold the thirty-plus individuals trying to sit at it in between glorious renditions of such favourites as “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” “Africa,” and “The Graduation Song.” When someone decided to do “American Pie,” we all felt it necessary to not sit through eight minutes of it and went behind the building for our final alley beers. Good stuff. More singing and drinking and drinking and singing. Then there was a house party to go to that no one should have really gone to, and things happened, probably. I only presume this to be true as things are a little hazy. I do know one thing, that Honesty and Integrity prevailed as a reunited Cerveza Pong League formed and enjoyed a riveting match. The next morning was a struggle for us to get up and meet some friends for lunch. We made it though, and enjoyed Stephos and it’s large plates of Greek delights. Afterward there was some naps and then off to dinner at The Eatery for a friend’s birthday. Of all the things to happen, we happened to meet Cody Hodgson who was there with a friend on the way to Hawaii. This was a thrill for me as a Buffalo Sabres fan (I hope he re-signs!) and less for the Canucks fans at the table. Small talk finished, we consumed our Sushi and made it to our flight just as they were beginning to board. Seven hours later we were back in Toronto and exhausted.
One thing that made the flights all the more enjoyable for me was the new record from Daft Punk “Random Access Memories.” I had pre-orded it and luckily received the download code in time to buy it before we left for the airport at five am. Playing on repeat for each flight, I can easily and without a shred of doubt say this is the greatest record of all time. Being on man’s opinion I’m sure many would disagree, but this is my new favourite record, and I believe will really define the next generation of music. “Get Lucky” will be my summer anthem. “Giorgio by Moroder” will be my house cleaning music. “Within” and “Touch” will be there if I’m feeling down, and “Contact” will be there to pick me up. Cover to cover, from the first note to the final oscillator, this record has done nothing but put a smile on my face and put a groove in my neck. I’ve always believed that Disco is Alive. Go! Buy it right now! 🙂
Hashbrown, The 