So, if anyone is looking for a cheap laptop… You know… I might be looking to discard sell an old laptop to someone.

The HP Mini is still hanging around for a bit, but it will be getting an early retirement as well. I am looking at the Dell Vostro 1220, Lenovo ThinkPad x100e and Sony Vaio Y as potential replacements. The ThinkPad Edge 13 and Dell Studio 14 are also contenders, but at 13.3″ in size, they’re a tad bit large… but are much less of a compromise, on the plus side. Which leaves me really unsure of which direction I want to go for my non tank, actually pretty portable machine. Though, the practical/rational choice would be to go with the ultraportable route (NO more netbooks) and pick something like a Vostro 1220, seeing as the Studio XPS is capable of handling anything I can throw at it, has a 5 hour battery life (3.5 under heavy use) and, while heavy comapared to most machines, I am capable of carrying the thing around without much trouble.

I’ll keep you guys posted on whatever I decide to do… I’ll surely make another post on the subject once I get to replace the Mini.

Here they are: out with the old, the Pavilion dv6729ca sitting to the right; in with the new, the Dell Studio XPS 16 on the left.

That’s all for now, I guess…

Cheers,
DBC

Much has gone on since then: A show that I believe I posted about earlier has since been taken on tour and it was probably one of the best experiences that I’ve ever had, despite a rather hectic schedule that we needed to keep to; multiple side projects were also planned, created and put into execution and I must say that things generally went great! Nothing like doing a pre-performance warm-up in front of a crowd of university professors and government officials and belting-out tongue twisters with a heavy Asian accent of sorts… tongue twisters with a LOT of “L” words. *facepalm* And now? One week away from performing one show (our OWN creation: Bus 36) and roughly two months away from performing another one (Gut Girls), gave a workshop last friday, etc.

Busy, busy many-o-months in terms of theater and performance things go…

Now, if I could only find the time to get back to writing and blogging regularly… I’d say I will, but we all know how these promises have worked-out in the past.

And when I say we were plunged in complete darkness, I’m not kidding… This is a quick shot I took from inside my room, via my laptop’s built-in camera:

The mildly creepy picture above is of me, in my dorm room, in a complete blackout... Only illumination is the glow of my laptop's display.

Though a total PITA for some who were working on assignments or who had 8:30am classes, it was quite the adventure. Who knew that a group of university student would be so amused wandering through the hallways of their dorm in total darkness, with cell phones, MP3 players and whatever else they could find as sources of light? Who knew that everyone would be up all night, hanging-out in the lounges and just mess around for hours on end? Isn’t it funny how such simple things can really bring a group together and how people can entertain themselves in the strangest of ways in these times as well? Isn’t it odd that I just wrote a paragraph that almost entirely consisted of questions?

Anyway, we spent the better part of the night just hanging-out and messing around. We theorized about what was happening, especially when those blue or green flashes would happen, with everything you could think of being proposed from zombie attacks to nuclear war. Speaking of nuclear war, I impulsively ducked and covered under a desk after a mention of this… Jokingly, of course and someone else in that same room proceeded to hide in the closet, pulling the same gag I did.

Others went around the house, taking advantage of the situation at hand, to scare the living crap out of people they came across, either by wearing a ski mask and wielding a hammer, or being dressed in black and wearing a Halloween mask… I’m not sure what it is about a blackout that makes people suddenly think that there IS a possibility that ghosts, ghouls and boogeymen are actually out there to get them, but judging by some screams, I’d say they were sometimes successful.

In any case, I believe it was right around 3:00am when the lights finally came on (back-up power was restored), though another hour or so before electricity was fully restored. It was a bittersweet moment, really: we were no longer in the darkness and without our computers and internet and whatnot, but our brief excursion outside of the usual daily grind was over.

Today: Business as usual. Oh well…

First off,  in reference to the show and theatre company I mentioned in my “Post Show Withdrawal” entry, I’ve found out a couple of weeks ago that I have made the it on the list of the touring cast and will therefore be part of the touring version of the show, when we take it on the road in late April and into May. I am both very happy and proud of the fact amd can’t wait for the end of April to come, as far as this goes. I’m thinking it’s going to be quite the experience and I have no reason to believe that I won’t love it. I also know the rest of the list of the touring cast, and am quite happy with the grouping of people that I will spend those few weeks with.

University life has been treating me reasonably well: Courses aren’t ultra easy, but there’s nothing wrong with a challenge and they’ve actually been interesting for the most part. A bit more than I am comfortable with rests on the term papers (weight of the marks), but  I think I’ll be alright if I get cracking early enough so as to not throw something together the day before. Not that I typically do THAT, but I tend to wait a bit too long before starting and have to rush a bit more than I would like. I’ll be sure to not make that mistake again…

Also, I’ve moved from the beautiful town of Riverview to rejoin mes confrères Français in the interesting city of Dieppe. Thanks to the wonderful economy, I’ve had the hellish agony great pleasure of “downsizing” as well. Typically, this would not be too big of a problem, but there still are boxes strewn about while the painstaking task of finding a place for everything proceeds at a snail’s pace. On top of this, the downsizing in question is that of about a 50% reduction of living space… and I’m borderline claustrophobic, to top it all off! This means that I’m uncomfortable as all hell right now, and this early morning post is brought to you by insomnia.

Oh, and my sping break is in February (this week) and it’s been snowing non-stop, including a blizzard yesterday. Fun!

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion sent a letter to Michaelle Jean advising that the Harper government has lost the confidence of the House of Commons.

He said the Liberals and NDP — backed by the Bloc Quebecois — have reached a deal to form a coalition for at least 18 months.

“Canadians elected 308 members of Parliament in October, not just Stephen Harper,” Dion told a news conference after signing the coalition deal with NDP Leader Jack Layton and Bloc chief Gilles Duceppe.

“We are ready to form a new government that will address the best interests of the people instead of plunging Canadians into another election.”

Dion would serve as prime minister until spring when he is to be replaced as Liberal leader.

His letter states that the new government “will effectively, prudently, promptly and competently address these critical economic times.”

So, Dion has essentially decided that the results of the election we just had don’t suit him: this can’t possibly be what Canada wanted, right? Obviously it isn’t… Therefore, he will save us from ourselves and impose himself as the leader of the country, through the formation of his own, non-elected government. Just thought I’d bold that, in case you happened to miss it… Mr. Dion, I believe that having a leader in power which has not been elected is a main attribute of an authoritarian government: While I am certainly not a big fan of the DisHonourable Stephen Harper, I would suggest that you have a little bit more respect for your country and its people than to impose yourself as leader and tell us it’s for the best.

Worst of all, the Bloc Québecois, which has strived to break the country up since its inception, would be a part of this new, unelected government. Despite being French-Canadian myself, this still doesn’t sit very well with me and I still can’t help but stare blankly at the screen as I read about this and think “Why?” The LAST thing we need in this time of uncertainty and turmoil on a GLOBAL scale is to have our country plunged into political instability on top of this. it is said that the coalition has an economic stimulus plan, but this miracle pill has been less than 100% successful in the US and the world is sure to be less likely to invest into a country which is in politcal turmoil. Do we need this now? No.

So, Mr. Dion, I suggest you grow-up, admit defeat once and for all, resign as the Liberal leader earlier than planned and leave us all alone.

A play I had been working on for the past NINE weeks, along with the rest of the collaborative troupe I am a part of, has been performed for the last time during the evening of last saturday. Nine weeks of constant work with these people, this group that has become almost like a family… and it’s done! Thankfully, there will be more of this: Next semester, we’re already starting to work on the next project (we typically do one per academic year). So, we won’t be suffering through withdrawal for too long!

I should probably pull a shameless plug here and mention that the show title was Argument and the theatre troupe is Tintamarre, based at Mount Allison University, in Sackville, New Brunswick.

Though, I loved the character I played in this particular show, and that *is* gone… Also loved a certain scene I was in, which we will never get to perform again. But, such is life and it’s time to move on to other things! for the time being, it is time to move on to the horror that is/will be the exam season. Next semester, it will be time to move on to other projects and possibly (hopefully) (an)other show(s)… Besides, I need the free time if I ever want to be able to hit the keyboard again and get any new (non-academic) writing done!