The Buried Life

I've never allowed myself to watch a TV Series on MTV... I don't even have MTV. However, The Buried Life is one exception. Today my sister came to me and proposed that I should watch this one show. It's about four close friends from Victoria, B.C. who make a list of all the things they want to accomplish before they die! They also help others in doing so and make their ambitions/dreams possible (in the first episode they busk to raise money in order to get a computer for a grade 5 class).

They hit the road in a big ol' purple bus with a 100 things-to-do list and cross 'em off each time they achieve their goal! It's only a couple episodes into the first season. You should definitely check it out. The first episode is about attending a Playboy Mansion party! SO funny! Follow this link:

Click Here to watch the hilarious Oompa Loompa Smuggling into the Playboy MANSION episode!

I Spy...

I spy with my little eye, something that is different about Manuel's Life Lessons! I have taken my classic "Manuel thinking" pose and have given it a winter touch spin. In spirit of the upcoming Vancouver Winter Olympic games and the cold weather of Winnipeg (basically in the spirit of just WINTER!), I have changed my blog's main display picture for the first time ever! It's just been under a year since I started bloggin'. Unreal! Let me know what you think.

Ping Pong Assembly

Remember when I mentioned our new Ping Pong table, and how I promised a Vlog of how it was assembled?! Well, it took me long enough to mold the product, but here it is! Don't panic when you realize how long it is, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. A lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into this production (maybe not so much blood...). Our fun escalates throughout the construction, so it's worth watching the whole thing!

Please excuse my bed ridden, holiday hair as well!! It would be much appreciated. Check it out!
Songs: Genesis and Let There Be Light by Justice! You know it's gonna be good when...

Ping Pong Assembly from MannyG on Vimeo.

It Wasn't My Fault!

Let me just say that I would consider my journey on the way to school Monday, very similar to the one Luke Skywalker endured when he was lost on the Planet Hoth (the second Star Wars movie was my favourite). Let me take you through this Hoth-like excursion I encountered...

I literally could not see anything when I stepped outside of my house to go and catch the bus to school. The sidewalks were non-accessible, so I trudged on the road, pushing against the raging winds that pierced my face. I finally made it to the bus stop. I immediately took cover in the bus shelter. I glanced to my right and found that the fierce winds had blown a tonne of snow on to the exit ramp of my bus stop! NO! I called Telebus (the very convenient bus schedule line) to find out if there were delays or significant changes to my stop. Nope, everything was normal apparently. The bus was delayed a couple minutes and when it came, it actually stopped and hesitated on exiting the main road to get to my stop. I waved and the driver decided to come and pick me up. This is what she said: "You're lucky, all buses were told not to enter this stop because the exit ramp isn't cleared." She thought that it had been cleared, that's why she came and picked me up.

"Let's hope we make it!" She exclaimed, as she plowed through the snowy exit ramp. We were moving, we were going to make it! Almost there... then it happened. The bus was just rev'n and the driver couldn't do anything about it. "Well, we're stuck," she concluded. "Shoot," I said, "sorry, I should have came to the main road to get on." She proceeded to call for a tow-truck. There was an off-duty driver in the back, he eventually came up and joined the front of the bus. Luckily, he provided comic relief. Plus the driver wasn't even that mad! Although, I guess this did mean that she didn't have to work for the moment. I would be in a cheerful mood too! The real worry/question was: Were the passengers angry?! The number on the bus was few, but there were a couple "Oh Great!" sarcastic comments that came from the back. It technically wasn't my fault, though it did happen because of me; I was the only one at the stop.

While we were waiting for the tow-truck, the driver explained how this was her first time ever getting stuck. She's been driving for as long as I've been alive! Twenty years, and she has never been stuck! Great... now I feel special. It didn't take long for the tow-truck to get here. Thankfully it was only a 15 min wait. The rescuers did some shovelling around the tires, hooked up the bus to the truck, and then the one guy came into the bus. He told us to sit down and then took over the wheel. When the driver came to sit down, she murmured: "It's not my fault, it's this guy's," with a laugh. I shrugged, sh#% happens (don't worry, I didn't actually say that; I handled the situation with class)!

It was a quick tug (that's what...) and we were finally free! The bus driver took over again and we were back on the road. When we came to my stop, I apologized to the driver. She replied with: "It's not your fault!" We both laughed and that was the end of it. What's really funny is, that on the way home, my bus pulled into my stop only to find another bus stuck right in front of it on the exit ramp! There was no way out for the bus I was on. Again, I was the only one to get off at the stop... Sorry!

One Thing I've Noticed

Alright, what I've come to notice over the duration of the last few weeks is that I always overhear women talking/complaining/worrying/discussing/whining/gossiping about their relationship troubles! Does this happen all the time!? I've heard it in the library, on the bus, and even in my physics lab! It always happens right beside me too. It's not my fault that I'm listening in (even though I love to eavesdrop sometimes). It's just right there beside me, I can't help it. Plus it's usually quite interesting. Here are some quotes from a few of the people that were venting their troubles.

Girl in the library talking to one of her girl friends: "It's just weird. When I want him, I draw him in. Then the next day, when I don't, it's like I just, like, push him away! Hahaha, complicated eh?"

Girl beside me in my lab consulting another girl beside me in my physics lab: "I just love the cuddling... I know it may be wrong but it's happening. Should I just ignore it? Or should we talk about the whole thing?"

Girl on her phone in the bus, sounding very concerned: "If he can find that out about my friend, who knows what he can do! ...If I stabbed him, that's self-defense right?"

Ya, no joke. For this last one, my jaw dropped when I heard this. The conversation quickly descended after that though. I was in shock. It got me thinking. Do I want to be in a relationship right now? Or are these just special cases? UNREAL!

~~~

Anyways, yesterday when I was on the bus going home, I saw the same girl from before, but my attention was not on her this time. It was on this little boy who was with his mother, older brother, and baby sister. He went to the back of the bus with his bro and they were being very violent towards one another (well, it was mostly the younger brother!). He would often flail his arms at his older brother. I tried not to laugh. But then he started to spit on the bus! I could not believe this kid's manners! All of this was happening when the mother was sitting in the front with her baby. The next stop came and the little boy (maybe around 5 or 6 yrs old) actually pressed the yellow strips to get off! The mom freaked, the boy ran outside and eventually went to the front doors of the bus. It was craziness. The mom brought him back, scolding him harshly. The boy was not happy. In the midst of all this, the baby sister was casually and comfortably sitting there in her stroller. She gave me a look, like the "this is nothing new" look. She just kept eyein' her brother up and down and then she would glance at me. Wow, what a calm and collected baby. All in all, what a bus ride!

Just a Few Quirky Things

Yesterday, a few quirky things happened during my day at school. It all started during my spare at 1:30pm. I had to finish writing up my Physics lab report, so I headed out to find a quiet place. I thought I was going to be a keener and sit by myself to finish the dang thing, but I was wrong. I initially sat in the open casual area of Dafoe library (the place to be) to primarily eat my lunch. I was going to find a quieter spot after, but I decided to stay there. I was making progress until I got distracted by the girl across from me; she unexpectedly answered her phone. It was not English she was speaking. I was immediately intrigued. She fluently mixed her speech with English and Russian and had a sweet Russian accent. Her male friend then joined the table as well. They went off on tangents, speaking in Russian with breaks of English for the next 20 mins or so! I wasn't annoyed at all but actually was quite entertained with what was going on. They were hilarious. The guy started talking about how he had a date on Saturday, but if it fell through, then he would go skating at the forks with her instead. He compared himself to a character in that one skating comedy with Will Ferrel. They couldn't remember the name and I was just dying to shout it out. After he guessed Balls of Fury, I laughed and then butted-in and said Blades of Glory. They laughed and proceeded to talk about other Will Ferrel and Jon Heder comedies, quoting many of their hilarious lines. We then talked about school, the girl tried to convince me to go into Nursing because that's what she wanted to do. I said what I always say, "we'll see," said good-bye and then headed to my class (not finished my lab, mind you).

What was odd next, happened during my entrance to my next class. I was enjoying my delicious apple walking down the hallway when I noticed that the girl who was walking in front of me was also chomping down on one! We were the only two people in the hallway and we were both enjoying an apple. Now, we were in the same class and when she entered eating her apple, I followed doing the same. If I saw this happen, I would think: What are the CHANCES! Unless the two people knew each other. How many people do you see walking around school, who chomp on an apple when they walk, let alone two people in a ROW!? Unreal.

After my class, I headed straight back to Dafoe to finish my lab. On the way, I ran into my Russian friends again! I wasn't sure whether I should say hi or if I should just walk by. It turned out there was no need to decide; the girl said, "Hey, it's the Library Guy!" I said, "Hey! I'm actually heading to the same spot right now!" She laughed and then said, "Cya later!" So now I'm known as "The Library Guy" (not the best title, but I'll take it). I finished my lab, handed it in, and went straight to the bus stop to catch my bus.

This is where my final quirky thing happened for the day. Lately, I've been really enjoying the strange things that go on in buses. First of all, last week there was a woman who sat at the front of the bus and kept talking to the driver. You could tell the driver was really annoyed. It was hilarious. What's more is that the woman had a balloon beside her that said Happy Valentines Day!!! Why? It's not even close to Valentines Day! Secondly, last week while waiting for my bus, I saw the shortest white woman I have ever seen. She must have been around 4'7"ish, no joke! Thirdly, yesterday I saw the newest shortest woman I have ever seen! She was Asian (any surprise there?) and must have been less than 4'5", closer to 4 feet!!! I'm not kiddin' around here. I couldn't believe it and I actually let out a short burst of a chuckle. And Finally, I saw the craziest MP3 player on the bus yesterday. It was like an iPod touch but looked like an upgraded Creative player. It also had a menu like a PS3 or a PSP. It was very enticing. I keep forgetting that not everybody has iPods! Now I want one of these mysterious devices.

~~~

Speaking of quirky things, here's a short clip of a very funny, quirky thing that I saw while heading back to school from skiing in Austria. Check it out:

Little Drummer Boy from MannyG on Vimeo.

Blundstones

Well, during the past few weeks I happened to mention to a few people that I wanted some stylish boots for the winter! I fulfilled that dream yesterday. No, I didn't get gangster Timberland's or outlandish cowboy boots. I acquired a stylish pair from the Australian boot company known as Blundstones. These will last me the rest of my life! I wore them today at school and the leather formed to my foot like a glove. It's amazingly comfortable. I love 'em!! Look at these beauties:

Stakeout!?

Now that I'm back at the UofM, I do in fact, take the bus to and from school. On the way there I catch the bus on Osborne and then transfer at Dakota and Bishop Grandin in order to get to the university. However, the way back is a bit trickier. I get off at St. Mary's by the mall (if I'm lucky the second bus will already be stopped waiting at the red light) then further down I have the option of getting off at Glenlawn or staying on until the stop at my street. The bus at Glenlawn brings me to the stop where I first begin (thus a shorter walk home). What's convenient, is that there is such a thing as Telebus! So I call the number and it tells me when my bus will arrive at a certain stop. What's not convenient, is that the bus that passes Glenlawn either comes right away or comes approximately 20 mins after I get there. So on those days, I neglect the option to get off at Glenlawn and instead, I get off at my street to walk the "decent" walking distance (meaning it's harsh and way too long when I endure ultra sub-zero wind-chill temperatures) to my house. Thankfully the weather has been amazing recently, so I actually loved the walk I experienced coming home from school that evening... especially since there was a potential crime busting situation awaiting to unravel!

When I reached the 1/4 mark of my journey, I saw an idling Dodge Ram with a conspicuous man leaning back in the driver's seat. I walked a little further and saw two idling cop cars about a cars length apart, each with two cops inside. I was immediately intrigued and scanned my surroundings in order to catch a glimpse of the reason why they were all waiting there (I even thought about a scenario in which I actually tapped on their window and asked what was going on). At this point I dismissed the idling truck from having anything to do with the police situation. I walked on, laughing in awe of the situation and carried on with my stroll down the street. When I passed under the bridge and came up around bend, I saw two more cop cars and another ghost cop car! I could not believe it, they had all the exits covered on my street! What if it was me they were after (I really did pretend this for a split second; I do love to act... lame but sweet to think about, I know)!? There was a man who looked concerned on his cellphone and beside him was a woman. One of the undercover cops was standing there as well as if he was supervising. When I walked by I heard the man ask, if "she" (he was on the cell still) had the right to contact her lawyer. Was he talking of the woman beside him!? Was I walking beside a dangerous felon or was she just someone who skipped her court date?! I will never know...

Anyways, after passing those three police vehicles, there was yet again another idling Dodge RAM! The guy was leaning back in the front seat just like in the previous Dodge. Unreal. This must have been significant!

When I walked past the same area the next day I could not help but look around to see if there was any progress on the sitch (situation, if you forgot). All I saw was just a guy clearing out his garage; although, why were all his lights on in his house!? Hmmm... I think it's time for some covertness.

Covert

If there is one personal thing I love to do, it is being covert in various ways that are fun and amusing.

Life Lesson: "Simple things amuse simple minds," (a quote from my grade 9 gym teacher) is WRONG.

If it's simple, it might be hilarious, which ultimately may be amusing to all minds no matter how complex they are! If they don't find it amusing it just means they have a different sense of humour. That's my reasoning, disagree all you want. Anyways, I tried a small simple covert mission last Friday morning when I arrived at school. I love to people-watch and get into the minds of others. It is fascinating how you can act in a certain way that will lead people to believe that nothing is out of the ordinary! There was a girl standing in front of the Chemistry bill board figuring out her lab schedule, I decided to walk up beside her and pretend to look for my name and information as well. She obviously had no clue that I wasn't even registered in a Chemistry course this term or that I took that course last year (and she shouldn't, she doesn't know me)! It amused me to know that she will always think that the person beside her at that very moment was a student in her same lab (well, until she notices that I did not show up at any of them). I guess it wasn't covert in a physical sense because I wasn't disguised... but that's not the point. The point is, I created a false thought process and she will never figure out that she, essentially, was deceived! Don't worry, I'm not a creep who does this for sick and twisted kicks. It's just simply fun and amusing. Also, she was very pretty, maybe that was part of the reason why I did it; but again that's beside the point.

Speaking of covert missions, the two men in this video accomplish the most thrill-seeking covert mission ever. They are referred to as "birdmen" who are involved in a crazy extreme sport in which they sky dive/glide in flying squirrel-like suits. They jump into fjords and canyons and also jump from the peaks of mountains. It's UNREAL! Here, they disguise themselves in order to jump from the newest tallest building in the world, The Burj Tower in Dubai. Take a look!

The Burj Birdmen from Jan-Paul Bednarz on Vimeo.

Vimeo!

I have fallen into the wonderful trap of Vimeo. It's an excellent site where you can watch your friend's and random people's film magic at work. It's awesome. I've now posted a widget on the side bar to the right for my vids. Also at the very bottom is a vimeo movie player where you can watch the movies I enjoyed as well.

p.s. I saw Avatar yesterday and it was UNREAL! So impressive in regards to the visual effects!

Cheers to the New Year/Decade

Well, it's now upon us! A new year has begun and a new decade is within our sight. I cannot wait to see what new opportunities await. This new year's eve I didn't do anything too exciting. I actually hung out with three others and played Settlers of Catan (the best board game ever). I didn't win either of the two games we played but it was still loads of fun (Life Lesson: You can, in fact, have fun without winning. Take bingo for example; I played tonight and did not win, but I do know that I had a fun time).

When there was 4 minutes to midnight we turned on Madonna and J.T.'s classic tune (hence the time) to count down the new year (fricka fricka 4 minutes!)! Next, we decided to do something that we've never done before while entering into a new year... us three lads decided to urinate in the time period connecting the years 2009 and 2010! Therefore we can now say that we have indeed, within one isolated session, experienced life in two different years while urinating simultaneously! (I would have said "peed", but I didn't because it was such a profound statement). We went outside, filmed it, and accomplished the feat. The other two lads smoothly did so, I however was not as clutch and cut in and out under the pressure from the nerve-racking 5 second count-down (it was not as satisfying; you can hear me yelling in the video, which will hopefully soon surface). When we were finished hanging out, I actually made an appearance at another party for the rest of my night and enjoyed the company there as well (thanks to C Flow and other Red Rockers).

~~~

Speaking of new year's celebrations, here's a vid from my '07-'08 new year's Europe endeavors. Cheers!

Manny & Dan's CHRiSTMAS BReAK! from MannyG on Vimeo.