Hitter and Friends

Found a new podcast recently and it's really good!
Hitter and Friends is mainly about Mark or "Hitter" as his friends call him. He's just a guy trying to get by in the world. Topics on his show include trying to find a date (or lack of trying), being a gentlemen of leisure, and sex (of course!).

Friends include his roommate Ira, his gay best friend Mijo, and Mijo's sister Marisa. Lots of fun. Check it out!

Also read up on Hitter's live journal.

Hanged For Being Gay

I stumbled onto this news story that was making the rounds today. Two Iranian boys (16 and 18) were executed for being gay. I felt weak and nauseous when I read this story. A part of me wanted it to be a bad joke because it just sounded totally ridiculous.

But that was just wishful thinking. Perhaps it was just denial kicking in. In the back of my mind, I knew it was true. I'm horrified, saddened and angered. Those boys didn't deserve to die.

I met this guy a couple years ago who was working at UBC hospital. He was Iranian. He was thinking of going back to school to get his Ph.D in Psychology. We got to talking numerous times where he told me about his family and how some were still back in Iran. He said he wanted to go back to Iran to see his family again. At the time, this comment was taken for granted by me. Now that I think about it, I hope that he does get to see his family again, but I also hope that he gets back to Canada safely afterwards.

Read the story HERE.
More details can be found HERE as well as some message board reactions.

It's Now Official

"Same-sex legislation now law in Canada"

During my crazy week, something of great importance occurred. The legislation got royal assent yesterday and officially became law in Canada. This makes Canada the fourth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage following Belgium, the Netherlands, and Spain.

What a CRAZY Week!

Well, this past week has been pretty hectic for me. My life went from pretty calm to crazy all in one week!

Let's see, first there was the wasp incident on Tuesday. Turns out there were a total of 3 nests on my property. One was in the wall of the house, another under the sundeck, and finally there was another one under a tree in the yard. Turns out this one wasn't wasps, but bald hornets! Very nasty insects that not only sting but bite!

My parents finally hired an exterminator to get rid of all of them. It cost $180 but it was money well spent!

On Wednesday I went to my first gay youth meeting. It was pretty low key which I liked for my first meeting. We watching a Hollywood version of a Bollywood movie. It was called "Bride and Prejudice". It was ok, but not really something I would personally pick out to watch. It was fun nonetheless. I met some really nice people who made me feel welcomed.

On Friday, I went to my first Gay dance. Initially I was hesitant about going, but I'm glad I made the trip. They had auctions for charity, games, and selecting the King and Queen of the prom! The couple that got my vote didn't win (two hot lesbians who did a steamy kiss won instead).

On Sunday, I finally got the comments from my committee member which I been waiting for all week. There were EXTENSIVE. Luckily, after I stopped hyperventilating and went through them carefully, they weren't that bad. Most were just questions on clarification. It turns out that this member got confused about some points thus she misunderstood my tables.

I went to see my advisor on Monday to go over the comments. In that one day, I met my advisor, met the committee member who gave me comments, appointed a chair for my defense, and set a date for my presentation! After weeks of just sitting around waiting for my thesis comments, things got set into overdrive!

I spent the majority of Tuesday reworking my measures section of my thesis to give to my committee as well as redrafting a clean version for my new Chairperson. On the side, I was working on my powerpoint which I'll need by Monday so I can do a "dry-run" for my advisor.

If that wasn't enough, on Wednesday after I handed in my redraft to my advisor, I went to another group meeting where I took part in a video promo for next year's pride! Me and some of the other youth workers and people at the meeting basically yelled out "Happy Pride !" It was surreal! haha

After that we went to the beach to hang out, chat and play some charades...very briefly. A guy I met at the dance came to the group for the first time, so it was nice seeing him again.

Right now, it's Thursday and I'm continuing to work on my slides for Monday's dry run presentation. Well...I think we're all caught up by now, don't you think!?

Wasps!

A couple days ago, my neighbors and I noticed that both our properties has wasp nests. We stupidly tried to get rid of them but now the wasps has congregated in the attic of my home. They burrowed a small hole in the wall and this morning they began crawling out!

Creepy...like a scene in a horror movie, there were dozens of them. Apparently, if you kill one of them, they emit a pheromone that alerts other wasps to come to the rescue! I'm amazed at how smart they are.

I'm going to wait until dusk to tackle this problem because that's when they are less active and the majority of them are in their nest. Hopefully their new nest is near the hole that they made in the wall. If this is so, some wasp Raid in the hole should take care of the problem.

In the event that it should fail, I've already called an exterminator but he won't be able to come by for an estimate till Saturday. That's a long time to wait!

Wish me luck!

Doctor Who

I've watch two episodes of the new Doctor Who. I think it's pretty good. Taken alone, it could be a little corny. But when you consider the show in the context of its 42 year history it becomes more than just a show. It becomes a part of history.

I remember watching a Doctor Who tv movie years ago. It was suppose to be an attempt at a relaunch of the franchise on American television, but unfortunately that didn't happen. Too bad, because I remember I really like that movie.

This new BRITISH television series is very true to the original show and is a great way for new viewers to be introduced to the world of Doctor Who.

I want a TARDIS!