Sin City

I went to see Sin City the other night. I don't know how it was received in the West, but the theatre was packed when I went. I was surprised. When I went to see Star Wars there was no one there. But so many people came out to see Sin City I was blown away.

I think that it will be one of those movies that will stay in my mind for a long long time. The visual style was amazing. It felt just like reading a comic book. And it had some of the best lines I have heard in a long time. My favorite had to be when Bruce Willis's character confeses: When it comes to consoling 19-year-old girls, I'm about as expert as a palsy patient performing brain surgery with a pipe wrench. I don't think that this line translated very well, because my friends and I were the only ones in the theatre who were laughing.

What Does Your Name Mean?

click here to find out

MICHAEL ANTHONY ROBERT CARRON
M is for Mellow
I is for Irresistible
C is for Calm
H is for Happy
A is for Astounding
E is for Explosive
L is for Lively

A is for Amorous
N is for Neat
T is for Tame
H is for Humorous
O is for Overwhelming
N is for Natural
Y is for Young

R is for Rebellious
O is for Odd
B is for Bewitching
E is for Energetic
R is for Radical
T is for Twisted

C is for Cheerful
A is for Amorous
R is for Revolutionary
R is for Radical
O is for Openhearted
N is for Neglected

Stolen Stuff

I stole this from some girl named Autumn, who stole it from some girl named Andrea. I have no idea who these people are, but according to Al, Autumn is a hottie.

TWELVE MOVIES (in no order):
12. Trainspotting
11. Fight Club
10. Super Troopers
09. Hulk
08. The Mummy
07. Office Space
06. The Shawshank Redemption
05. Nurse Betty
04. Last Samurai
03. Kill Bill
02. Requiem for a Dream
01. Dawn of the Dead

ELEVEN GOOD BANDS/ARTISTS:
11. NOFX
10. Nine Inch Nails
09. The Watchmen
08. The Verve
07. The Chemical Brothers
06. Oasis
05. Duran Duran
04. Jay-Z
03. DJ Shadow
02. They Might Be Giants
01. NWA

TWELVE THINGS ABOUT YOU:
12. I always get confused between Nickles and Dimes.
11. I like to sing when I drive and I don't care who sees/hears me.
10. I pull my baby toenails out using my fingers.
09. I like to run my fingernails across the lines in my jeans so that it makes that rvvt rvvt sound.
08. I have always wondered if ugly people know that they are ugly.
07. I love playing gangsta rap at full volume and singing along by myself.
06. The coolest onomatopoeia word I have ever read is "Chumping." Steven King used in a book to describe an axe cutting off someone's leg. I don't know the exact quotation, but it's something along the lines of - with a thick chumping sound he brought the axe down on [person's] leg.
05. I own the Britney Spears's "Baby, One More Time" single with the b-side "Autumn Goodbye."
04. My favorite drink is Crown Royal and Coke.
03. I drink 3 liters, or more, of cold water every day.
02. I get frustrated when I'm made to wait, but I am rarely on time.
01. I have always been proud of my elbows. Some people have really ugly elbows. I don't.

NINE GOOD BOOKS:(Read in the last 12 months)
09. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
08. Life of Pi
07. I'm Not Scared
06. Naked
05. Way of the Peaceful Warrior
04. Monstrous Regiment
03. White Noise
02. Prey
01. The Da Vinci Code

EIGHT FAVORITE FOODS/DRINKS:
08. Kung Pao Chicken
07. Caesar Salad
06. V8 Juice
05. Passionfruit Slush
04. Mrs. Little's Flank Steak
03. My mom's Japanese chicken wings
02. Louise's mom's Braised Pork on Rice
01. Oreos

SEVEN THINGS YOU WEAR DAILY:
07. Watch
06. Underwear
05. Leather Wrist cuff
04. Blue and Black beaded bracelet
03. Glasses
02. Scowl
01. Shoes of somesort

SIX THINGS THAT YOU HATE:
06. Ignoramuses
05. Music/Movie snobs. Even though I am one myself.
04. Loud talkers
03. Loud eaters
02. The fact that my scooter always needs repairs
01. Bad drivers/Slow drivers

FIVE THINGS YOU DO DAILY:
05. Yell at someone
04. Play a computer game
03. Check myself for breast cancer
02. Listen to music
01. Go to my photos website to see if anyone has commented on my shots

FOUR SHOWS YOU WATCH:
04. Smallville
03. Lost
02. Scrubs
01. Amazing Race

THREE PLACES YOU'VE LIVED:
03. Taiwan
02. Calgary
01. Denial

TWO THINGS YOU WANT:
02. An mp3 player with 100GB of space.
01. The Canon 1D Mark II.

ONE PERSON YOU WANT TO SEE RIGHT NOW:
01. I can't think of just one. Basically all of my friends in Canada. But I guess if I had to choose 1, I would say Erin. I haven't seen her in 4 years.

Do you remember?

Mike by Numbers

1. The number of times I have eaten snake, pigs intestines, chicken neck, chicken heart, duck's tongue, and stinky tofu.
2. How many times I have been accepted to the University of Calgary Education program.
3. How many times I have applied.
4. The number of times that I used a public toilet to have a little sit during my first year in Taiwan. I have a serious diversion to public toilets. It's so bad that I will avoid using them until my only alternative is going in my own pants. Otherwise it is a mad dash home and up five flights of stairs.
5. The number of consecutive times my student said the word fish to me in one conversation.
"I don't like cats or dogs, I like fish."
"OK."
"Fish."
"Gotcha."
"Fish."
"I know, you like fish."
"Fish."
6. The number of days I work every week.
7. The number of hours that I did "actual" work at Indigo while I was in charge of the Music department. (Scheduled hours:34. Store's performance:2nd or 1st in the country.)
8. The number of times I was on time or early for work during my two years of full-time employment at Indigo.
9. The average number of weeks I wait before I pull my baby toenails out. It hurts like an S.O.B., but I can't help myself. I pull them out.
10. Where my volume is usually set.
11. What time I wake up at. I start work at 8, but those first 3 hours are spent in a sleepy haze. Also the number of times I have watched "Encino Man."
12. A time that I would like to go to bed, but just can't seem to do.
13. My digestive cycle in hours.
14. The number of classes I teach at the High School. Each class has an average of 25 students. You do the math.
15. One of my favorite ages. Learning to drive, the excitement of youth and the thrill of adolesence.
16. The number of beers I used to be able to drink in one night. (Now if I have more than 4 I am a mess in the corner.)
17. The number of times I have unsuccessfully tried to read "Gravity's Rainbow."
18. The number of times I have seen the movie "Fight Club."
19. The number of hours I am awake in one day.
20. A number I like to say repeatedly in a jive accent. "Twehnay twehnay twehnay!!"
21. The number of times in one day that I will compulsively touch my wallet when I drive to make sure that it hasn't fallen out of my pocket.
22. The age at which I became disenfranchised with Canadian politics.
23. My age when I graduated from University.
24. The time in minutes that it seems to take me to get to any job from my house. In canada and Taiwan.
25. My scary age. I was terrified of turning 25. Something about being "Quarter-Century Man" just freaked me out. Also the number of CDs that I own by the Chemical Brothers.
26. The number of balls I will hit at the driving range.
27. My present age.
28. The number of Nine Inch Nails CDs that I own.
29. The age at which I'd hoped to graduate from University.
30. The age at which I will graduate from University.

Miscellaneous Numbers
1191 - the Number of CDs that I presently own.
73 - the number of DVDs that I own.
6 - the number of times my balls shrink up in fear each day while I drive.
3-4 - The number of students who will continue talking after I tell them to be quiet.
1 - The number of students who will talk after I yell at the class to be quiet. What the hell is this person thinking? Honestly?
10 - the number of television stations I watch in taiwan. There are 105 to choose from.
1272 - The number of stais I climbed to take this picture:

What would YOU do?

They should teach a course called consequences to kids in high school. We see these after school specials that tell us, "don't do drugs," "don't get pregnant," "don't do things just to be cool," "don't give in to peer pressure." But the biggest and most important life lesson that they never seemed to teach is: your actions and inactions which at the time may seem inconsequential, can have a huge effect on your future. Never assume that something small won't come back to kick you in the ass.

Let me tell you a story.

Once upon a time there was a young headstrong boy who was attending classes at the University of Calgary. He had a good opinion of himself and had developed a world-view that he felt was fairly level.

He took this cockiness and stubborness into a first year Religious Studies course on Eastern Religion.

During the first class he got into an argument with the teacher on the nature of belief and religion. They were talking about the definition of religion. The teacher claimed that Religion can only be based on the belief in a powerful being or spirit.

The headstrong individual argued that this is not entirely true. What about Idolotry, and cults of personality. He believed that the beliefs and worship of the followers could be considered to match those who are devout followers of more substantiated faiths.

After being insulted by the teacher. The teacher's exact words are not on file, but it did involve: Thank you for your opinion, but maybe you aren't clear on what you are talking about.

Unfortunately the young boy became angry at the teacher and made a decision to no longer attend the classes. The syllabus made no mention of class assignments, but there ended up being a couple. So I missed them and therefore didn't get as high of a grade as I could have.

Now becuase of this grade I have a big decision to make. Let me tell you one more thing. "After review of your application the faculty has determined that you are not competitive compared to the other applicants for this department."

Read it a few times, I did.

So now I have to decide on what I'm going to do.

1. Go home in September and take a few courses to boost my gpa. Come back to Taiwan in January for 8 months.

2. Go home at Xmas and take course starting in January and stay in Canada during the summer and hope I get in for 2006.

3. Go home for summer session this year so that I can then come back to Taiwan for a full year.

4. Take a correspondance course that will allow me to continue working and will also help boost my gpa.

Each decision has its pros and cons. I just need to take a few days to figure out which one is the right one for me.

What would you do?

allah wa'akbar

I stole this from my friend Al, but I think that it is a cool idea. So leave your name and I'll give an answer

1) Comment with your name and I'll write something about you.
2) I'll then tell what song reminds me of you.
3) I'll tell you what celebrity you remind me of.
4) I will try to use a single word to best describe you.
5) I'll tell you the most memorable moment I've had with you.
6) I'll tell you what color you remind me of.
7) I'll then tell you something that I've always wondered about you

An addendum

I would like to clarify for all you out there that my planned date of departure has not yet been finalized, but it will not be until the end of August.

When I Return!

I was driving on the road today (as opposed to all the times I drive on the sidewalk) and I passed a truck with a box built from what smelt like fresh cut lumber. Somehow this inspired me to create a list of the first things I will do upon my return to Canada.

1. Go to home depot and smell all the different types of wood they have.
2. Lay in a field and look up at the big blue sky.
3. Rollerblade to the Circle K for a slurpee.
4. Drive Jenny nuts by playing song after song that she just HAS to love.
5. Drive north of Calgary and just gaze in wonder at the vastness and openness.
6. Lay in the grass in my backyard. I don't know how my dad does it, but I swear we have the softest lawn in the world.
7. Have a Bbq with friends and fam.
8. Drink Canadian beer.
9. Eat at Co'do.
10. Try to figure out the bus sched. since I may not have a vehicle at the time.
11. Get a Mango Hurricane from Booster Juice.
12. Go downtown at 2am for a hotdog.
13. Go to Friar's for poutine and Strongbow.
14. Rent all the movies that I have wanted to see for four years but never came out in Taiwan.
15. Rent all the crazy movies I have seen in Taiwan that I think are good and force my friends to watch them.
16. Look for a job :(

The start of Thailand

Clash Of The Titans, originally uploaded by Fat Mike.

I have been to Thailand twice since February. Here is a smattering of pics from those two trips and some from previous trips as well

Wat Arun Night, originally uploaded by Fat Mike.

Tiger Cave Temple, originally uploaded by Fat Mike.

Railey Sunset Dancer, originally uploaded by Fat Mike.

Prah Nang Bay, originally uploaded by Fat Mike.

Sunset on Ko Lanta, originally uploaded by Fat Mike.

That's it for now. If you would like to see more you are welcome to view my photos at Flickr